Y^ale University Library

'

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE

AMERICAN CONFLICT:
A. HISTORY

OP

THE GREAT REBELLION
IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
1860-'65.
ITS
CAUSES, INCIDENTS, AND RESULTS:
INTENDED TO EXHIBIT ESPECIALLY ITS MORAL AND POLITICAL PHASES,
WITH THE *
DRIFT AND PROGRESS OF AMERICAN OPINION
RESPECTING
HUMAN SLAVERY
From XT^G to -the Clope of the "War for the Union.
By HOEACE GEEELEY.

ILLUSTRATED BY PORTRAITS ON STEEL OF GENERALS, STATESMEN, AND OTHER EMINENT MEN! VIEWS OF
PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST I MAPS, DIAGRAMS OF BATTLE-FIELDS, NATAL
ACTIONS, ETC. : FEOM OFFICIAL SOURCES.

YOL. II.
HARTFORD.
PUBLISHED BY O. D. CASE & COMPANY.
1867.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866,
By O. D. CASE & COMPANY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
District of Connecticut.

MAfrUPACTtTEED BY
CASE, LOCKWOOD & CO.
Printers and Bookbinders,
HARTFORD, CONN.

TO f
THE UNION VOLUNTEERS
of 1861-4:
WHO FLEW TO THE RESCUE OF THEIR IMPERILED OOUNTRT
BECAUSE
THEY SO LOVED HER
THAT THEY JOYFULLY PROFFERED THEIR OWN LITES TO SAVE HERS;
©ftte ¥ atom*,
BEING A RECOBD OF
THEIR PRIVATIONS, HARDSHIPS, AND SUFFERINGS,
AS ALSO OF THEIB
VALOR, FIDELITY, CONSTANCY, AND TRIUMPH,
la iltespwtfallg Inscribe BY
THE AUTHOR.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The author had expected to finish this work early in the cur
rent year, but he found himself unable to compress it within the
limits originally intended. The important events of the War for the
Union were so many ; its area was so vast, its duration so con
siderable ; the minor collisions and other incidents were so multifa
rious, yet often so essential to a clear understanding of its progress
and results, that this volume has expanded far beyond his intent,
and required for its preparation extra months of assiduous and
engrossing labor. Even now, though its contents probably exceed
in amount those of any other single volume which the War has
called forth, it barely touches some points which may be deemed
essential to a clear understanding of the whole matter. Of the War
itself, however — that is, of the Military events which made up the
physical struggle initiated by Secession — this volume aspires to
give a clear though necessarily condensed account, from the open
ing of the year 1862 down to the final and complete overthrow of
the Confederacy. That all his judgments will be concurred in by
every reader, the author has no right to expect ; but his aim has
been to set forth events as they occurred, and as they will appear
to clear-sighted observers, a century hence ; and he rests in the
confident belief that those who dissent from his conclusions will
nevertheless respect the sincerity with which they are cherished,
and the frankness wherewith they are avowed.

EXPLANATORY.

The History which this Volume completes was not contemplated by its author till jnst
after the Draft Riots by which this Emporium was damaged and disgraced in July, 1863.
Up to the occurrence of those Riots, I had not been habitually confident of an auspicious
immediate issue from our momentous struggle. Never doubting that the ultimate
result would be such as to vindicate emphatically the profoundly wise beneficence of
God, it had seemed to me more probable — in view of the protracted and culpable com
plicity of the North in whatever of guilt or shame, of immorality or debasement, was
inseparable from the existence and growth of American Slavery — that a temporary tri
umph might accrue to the Confederates. The real danger of the Republic was not that
of permanent division, but of general saturation by and subjugation to the despotic
ideas and aims of the Slaveholding Oligarchy. Had the Confederacy proved able to
wrest from the Federal authorities an acknowledgment of its Independence, and had Peace
been established and ratified on that basis, I believe the Democratic Party in the loyal
States would have forthwith taken ground for 'restoration' by the secession of their
respective States, whether jointly or severally, from the Union, and their adhesion to the
Confederacy under its Montgomery Constitution — making Slavery universal and per
petual. And, under the moral influence of Southern triumph and Northern defeat, in
full view of the certainty that thus only could reunion be achieved, there can be little
doubt that the law of political gravitation, of centripetal force, thus appealed to, must
have ultimately prevailed. Commercial and manufacturing thrift would have gradually
vanquished moral repugnance. It might have required some years to heal the wounds
of War and secure a popular majority in three or four of the Border States in favor of
Annexation ; but the geographic and economic incitements to Union are so urgent and
palpable, that State after State would have concluded to go to the mountain, since it
stubbornly refused to come to Mahomet ; and, all the States that the Confederacy would
consent to accept, on conditions of penitence and abjuration, would, in time, have
knocked humbly at its grim portals for admission and fellowship. That we have been
saved from such a fate is due to the valor of our soldiers, the constancy of our ruling
statesmen, the patriotic faith and courage of those citizens who, within a period of
three years, loaned more than Two Billions to their Government when it seemed to
many just tottering on the brink of ruin ; yet, more than all else, to the favor and bless
ing of Almighty God. They who, whether, in Europe or America, from July, 1862, to
July, 1863, believed the Union death-stricken, had the balance of material probabilities
on their side : they erred only in underrating the potency of those intellectual, moral,
and Providential forces, which in our age operate with accelerated power and activity in
behalf of Liberty, Intelligence, and Civilization.
So long as it seemed probable that our War would result more immediately in a Rebel
triumph, I had no wish, no heart, to be one of its historians ; and it was only when —
following closely on the heels of the great Union successes of July, 1863, at Gettysburg,
Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Helena — I had seen the Rebellion resisted and defeated in

8 EXPLANATORY.
this City of New York (where its ideas and vital aims were more generally cherished
than even in South Carolina or Louisiana), that I confidently hoped for an immediate and
palpable, rather than a remote and circuitous triumph of the Union, now and evermore
blended inseparably with Emancipation — with the legal and National recognition of
every man's right to himself. Thenceforward, with momentary intervals of anxiety,
depression, and doubt, it has been to me a labor of love to devote every available hour
to the history of the American Conflict.
This Volume is essentially Military, as the former was Civil : that is, it treats mainly
of Armies, Marches, Battles, Sieges, and the alternations of good and ill fortune that,
from January, 1862, to May, 1865, befell the contending forces respectively ofthe Union
and the Confederacy. But he who reads with attention will discern that I have
regarded even these under a moral rather than a purely material aspect. Others have
doubtless surpassed me in the vividness, the graphic power, of their delineations of 'the
noise of the captains, and the shouting:' I have sought more especially to portray the
silent influence of these collisions, with the efforts, burdens, sacrifices, bereavements,
they involved, in gradually molding and refining Public Opinion to accept, and ultimately
demand, the overthrow and extinction of Human Slavery, as the one vital, implacable
enemy of our Nationality and our Peace. Hence, while at least three-fourths of this
Volume narrates Military or Naval occurrences, I presume a larger space of it than of any
rival is devoted to tracing, with all practicable brevity, the succession of Political events;
the sequences of legislation in Congress with regard to Slavery and the War ; the varying
phases of Public Sentiment ; the rise, growth, and decline, of hopes that the War would be
ended through the accession of its adversaries to power in the Union. I labor under a
grave mistake if this be not judged by our grandchildren (should any of them condescend
to read it) the most important and interesting feature of my work.
I have differed from most annalists, in preferring to follow a campaign or distinct
military movement to its close before interrupting its narration "to give accounts of simul
taneous movements or campaigns in distant regions, between other armies, led by other
commanders. In my historical reading, I have often been perplexed and confused by
the facility wherewith chroniclers leap from the Euphrates to the Danube, and from the
Ebro to the Vistula. In full view of the necessary inter-dependence of events occurring
on widely separated arenas, it has seemed to me preferable to follow one movement to
its culmination before dealing with another ; deeming the inconveniences and obscurities
involved in this method less serious than those unavoidable (by me, at least) on any dif
ferent plan. Others will judge between my method and that which has usually been
followed. I have bestowed more attention on marches, and on the minor incidents of a campaign,
than is common : historians usually devoting their time and force mainly to the portrayal
of great, decisive (or at least destructive) battles. But battles are so often won or lost
by sagaciously planned movements, skillful combinations, well-conducted marches, and
wise dispositions, that I have extended to these a prominence which seemed to me more
clearly justified than usually conceded. He was not aa incapable general who observed
that he chose to win battles with his soldiers' legs rather than their muskets.
As to dates, I could wish that commanders on all hands were more precise than they
usually are ; but, wherever dates were accessible, I have given them, even though in
vested with no special or obvious consequence. Printed. mainly as foot-notes, they con
sume little space, and do not interrupt the flow of the narrative. The reader who does

EXPLANATORY. 9
\not value need .not heed them ; while the critical student will often find them of decided
tse. Should any one demur to this, I urge him to examine thoughtfully the dates of
the dispatches received and sent by MoClellan between his retreat to Harrison's bar and
Pope's defeat at Groveton ; also, those given in my account of his movements from the
hour of his arrival at Frederick to that of Lee's retreat from Sharpsburg across the
Potomac I trust it will he observed by candid critics that, while I seek not to disguise the fact
that I honor and esteem some of our commanders as I do not others, I have been blind
neither to the', errors of the former nor to the just claims of the latter — that my high
estimation of Grant and Sherman (for instance) has not led me to conceal or soften the
lack of reasonable precautions which so nearly involved their country in deplorable if
not irremediable disaster at Pittsburg Landing. So with Banks's mishap at Sabine
Cross-roads and Butler's failure at Fort Fisher. On the other hand, I trust my lack of
faith in such officers as Buell and Fitz John Porter has not led me to represent them as
incapable or timorous soldiers. What I believe in regard to these and many more of
their school is, that they were misplaced — that they halted between their love of country
and their traditional devotion to Slavery — that they clung to the hope of a compromise
which should preserve both Slavery and the Union, long after all reasonable ground of
hope had vanished ; fighting the Rebellion with gloved hands and relaxed sinews because
they mistakenly held that so only was the result they sighed for (deeming it most be
neficent) to be attained. If the facts do not justify my conviction, I trust they will be
found so fairly presented in the following pages as to furnish the proper corrective for
my errors.
Without having given much heed to rival issues, I presume this volume will be found
to contain accounts (necessarily very brief) of many minor actions and skirmishes which
have been passed unheeded hy other historians, on the assumption that, as they did not
perceptibly affect the great issue, they are unworthy of record. But the nature and
extent of that influence is matter of opinion, while the qualities displayed in these col
lisions were frequently deserving of grateful remembrance. And, beside, an affair of out
posts or foraging expeditions has often exerted a most signal influence over the spirits
of two great antagonist armies, and thus over the issues of a battle, and even of a cam
paign. Compressed within the narrowest limits, I have chosen to glance at nearly every
conflict of armed forces, and to give time to these which others have devoted to more
elaborate and florid descriptions of great battles. It has been my aim to compress within
the allotted space the greatest number of notable facts and circumstances; others must
judge how fully this end has been achieved.
Doubtless, many errors of fact, and some of judgment, are embodied in the following
pages : for, as yet, even the official reports, &c, which every historian of this war must
desire to study, are but partially accessible. I have missed especially the Confederate
reports of the later campaigns ; only a few of which have been made publio, though
many more, it is probable, will in time be. Some of these may have been destroyed at
the hasty evacuation of Richmond; but many must have been preserved, in manu
script if not in print, and will yet see the light. So far as they were attainable, I have
used the reports of Confederate officers as freely as those of their antagonists, and have
accorded them nearly if not quite equal credit. I judge that the habit of understating
or concealing their losses was more prevalent with Confederate than with Union com
manders ; in over-estimating the numbers they resisted, I have not been able to perceive

10 EXPLANATORY.
any difference. It is simple truth to say that such over-estimates seem to have been
quite common on both sides.
I shall be personally obliged to any one, no matter on what side he served, who will
furnish me with trustworthy data for the correction of any misstatement embodied in
this work. If such correction shall dictate a revision of any harsh judgment on friend
or foe, it will be received and conformed to with profound gratitude. My convictions
touching the origin, incitements, and character, of the War from which we have so
happily emerged, are very positive, being the fruits of many years' almost exclusive
devotion to National affairs ; but my judgments as to occurrences and persons are held
subject to modification upon further and clearer presentments of facts. It is my pur
pose to revise and correct the following pages from day to day as new light shall be
afforded ; and I ask those who may feel aggrieved by any statement I shall herein have
given to the public, to favor me with the proofs of its inaccuracy. Unwilling to be
drawn into controversy, I am most anxious to render exact justice to each and all.
The subject of Reconstruction (or Restoration) is not within the purview of this work,
and I have taken pains to avoid it so far as possible. The time is not yet for treating it
exhaustively, or even historically ; its importance, as well as its immaturity, demand for
its treatment thoughtful hesitation as well as fullness of knowledge. Should I be living
when the work is at length complete, I may submit a survey of its nature, progress, and
results : meantime, I will only avow my undoubting faith that the same Divine Benignity
which has guided our country through perils more palpable if not more formidable, will
pilot her safely, .even though slowly, through those which now yawn before her, and
bring her at last into the haven of perfect Peace, genuine Fraternity, and everlasting
Union — a Peace grounded on reciprocal esteem ; a Fraternity based on sincere, fervent
love of our common country ; and a Union cemented by hearty and general recognition
of the truth, that the only abiding security for the cherished rights of any is to be found
in a full and hearty recognition of Human Brotherhood as well as State sisterhood — in
the establishment and assured maintenance of All Rights for All. TT p
Mw York, July 21, 1866.

INDEX BY CHAPTERS.

I. Texas and New Mexico in 1862  17
Twiggs's Treason — Texas State Convention pasBes
Ordinance of Secession— Surrender of tbe Regulars
—Their Loyalty and Sufferings— New Mexico re
peals Act legalizing Slavery — Can by in command —
Prepares to hold New Mexico— Sibley Brigade —
Fort Craig— Sibley declines to attack— Battle of
Valverde— Heroism and Death of McEtae— Fight
at Apache Pass— Rebels occupy Santa F6— They
abandon New Mexico.
IL Missouri and Arkansas in 1862  26
Price returns to Missouri — Guerrilla Operations —
Rains and Stein routed— Capture of Milford— Price
retreats to Arkansas— Sigel's Retreat from Benton-
ville— Battle of Pea Ridge— Rebels defeated— The
War among the Indians — Fight at the Cache —
Guerrilla operations— Fight at Newl on ia— Hind-
man driven ' into Arkansas — Cooper routed at
MaySville — Battle of Prairie Grove,
HI. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama in
1862 — Forts Henry and Donelson
— Pittsburg Landing  41
Battle of Mill Springs-Capture of Fort Henry-
Naval Bombardment of Fort Donelson — Gen. Pil
low's Sortie — Countercharge of Lew Wallace and
C. F. Smith— Escape of Floyd and Pillow— Surren
der by Buckner— Retreat ot Sidney Johnston from
the Cumberland across the Tennessee — Nashville
recovered — Columbus, Ky. — New Madrid — Island
No. 10 — Fort Pillow— Memphis — First Siege of
Vicksburg— Grant moves up the Tennessee to Pitts
burg Landing — Sidney Johnston advances from
Corinth, Miss.— AsBa^k Grunt's front near Shiloh
Church— Sherman andMcClernand driven— Grant
borne back— Buell and Lew Wallace arrive— Tbe
Rebels driven — Louses — Halleck takes Corinth —
Mitchel repossesses Huntsville and most of North
Alabama.
IY. Burnside's Expedition to N.Carolina. 73
Roanoke Island carried — Elizabeth cily submits —
Defenses of Newberu stormed — Newborn surren
dered—Fort Macon reduced— Fight at South Mills
— Foster advances to Kinston — Fails to carry
Goldaboro'.
V". Butler's Expedition to the Gulf — Cap
ture of New Orleans  81
Gen. B. F. Butler concentrates 15,000 men on Ship
Island — Capt. Farragut at tbe mouths of tbe Mis
sissippi — Assails and passes Forts Jackson and St.
Philip — Destroys the Rebel Flotilla — Pushes on to
New Orleans — The Forts surrender to Capt. Porter
—Gasconade of Mayor Monroe — New Orleans suc
cumbs — Butler convinvs- the Rebels that he is
wanted there — General Order No. 28 — Execution
of Mumford — Farragut and Gen. Williams ascend
the River to Vicksburg — Baffled there — Breckin
ridge attacks Baton Rouge — Williams killed —
Rebels repubed— Ram Arkansas destroyed— Weifc-
zel reduces tbe Lafourche country — Flanders and
Hahn chosen to Congress — Butler superseded by
Banks — Butler's parting Address— Jeff. Davis dis
satisfied with Ilia policy.
TL Virginia in '62— McClellan's Advance. 107
Obstinate 'De-lays — The Routes to Richmond — Bat
tle cf KernBtown— Raid of the Irou-clad Merrimac
or Virginia in Hampton Roads — McClellnn on the
Peninsula — Siege of Vorktown — Battle of Williams
burg — Fight at west Point — Advance to the Chicka-
liominy — Recovery of Norfolk — Strength of our
Armies — McClellan's Complaints — Fight at Mc
Dowell — Jackson surprises Front Royal — Banks
driven through Winchester to the Potomac — Jack
son retreats — Fremont strikes Ewell at Cross-Keys
—Jackson crosses the South Fork at Fort Repub
lic, and beats Tyler — Heth routed by Crook at
Lewisburg.
VII. MoClellan before Richmond  140
Fitz John Porter worsts Branch at Mechanicsville
— 'McClellnn partially across the Chicknhominy —
Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines — McClellan
reenlorced, but still grumbles and hesitates — Stone
wall Jackson joins Lee — A. P. Hill attacks our
right at Mechanicsville — Battle of Gaines's Mill —
Fitz John Porter worsted — McClellan retreats to
tbe James — Fight at Glendale, or White Oak

Swamp Bridge— Rebels attack, and are repelled
¦with loss at Malvern Hill— McClellan retreats to
Harrison's Bar — Hooker returns to Malvern —
McClellan withdraws to Fortress Monroe, and em
barks his Army for Alexandria.
YIIL Gen. Pope's Virginia Campaign.  172
Pope appointed to command the forces of Fremont,
Banks, and McDowell— Advances to the Rapidan —
Banks worsted by Jackson at Cedar Mountain —
Pope retreats across the Rappahannock— Jackson
flanks his right — Strikes tha Railroad in his rear
at Bristow— Seizes Manassas Junction— Compelled
to retreat — Longstreet hurrying to his rescue —
Jackson worsts King— Two Days' Battle of Gaines
ville and Groveton, or Second Bull Run — Pope
driven back on Centerville — Jackson flanks his
right, and attacks Kearny at Chnnti liy— Pope re
treats to the defenses ot Washington, and gives
place to McClellan— His LosseB— McCIel lan's fail
ure to support Pope — His Correspondence with
Lincoln, Halleck & Co.
IX Lee's Invasion of Maryland in 1862. .193
McClellan crosses the Potomac, and advances to
Frederick— Address to Maryland— McClellan fol
lows to Frederick— Lee's plans discovered— He is
intent on the capture of Harper's Ferry — McClellan
tights and beate his rear-guard at Turner's Gap —
Franklin drives Howell Cobb out of Crampton's
Gap— Miles surrenders Harper's Ferry, with 15,000
men, to Stonewall^Jackson — McClellan follows
Lee to the Antietam— Battle of Antietam or Sharps-
burg — Losses — Lee retreats across the Potomac —
Porter follows — McClellan hesitates to pursue—
J. JE. B. Stuart raids around "his Army — McClellan
moves down to the Rappahannock— Is relieved by
Burnside.
X. Tennessee — Kentucky — Mississippi —
Bragg's Invasion — Corinth  212
Bragg crosses the Tennessee and Cumberland —
Kirby Smith routs M. D. Manson and Nelson at
Richmond, Ky. — Bragg captures 4,000 men at
Munfordaville — Advances to Frankfort and inau
gurates Richard Hawes as Governor of Kentucky —
Buell follows him from the Tennessee to Bnrdstown
and Springfield — Battle of Perry ville — Bragg re
treats out of Kentucky by Cumberland Gap — Rose-
crans fights Price at luka — Price retreats to Ripley,
Miss. — Van Dom assails Rosecrans at Corinth — Is '
beaten off with great slaughter— Van Dora pursued
to Ripley — Losses.
XL Slavery in tbe "War — Emancipation... 232
Patrick Henry on Federal Power over Slavery —
Edmund Randolph — John Quincy A dame — Joshua
R. Giddings — Mr. Lincoln — Gov. Seward — Gen.
Butler — Gen. Fremont — Gen. T. W. Sherman — Gen.
Wool— Gen. Dix— <3en. Halleck— Gen. Cameron —
His Report revised by President Lincoln — Seward
to McClellan — Gen. BurnBide — Gen. Buell — Gen.
Hooker— Gen. Sickles— Gen. McCook— Gen. Double-
day— Gen. Williams— Col. Anthony— Gen. Hunter
— Overruled by the President — Gen. McClellan on
the Negro — Horace Greeley to Lincoln — The Re
sponse — Do. to the Chicago Clergymen — Lincoln's
First Proclamation of Freedom — The Elections of
1862— Second Proclamation of Freedom— Edward
Everett on its Validity. V
XIL Slavery and Emancipation in Congress . 256
E. R. Potter on Emancipation by War— Lincoln
for colonizing the Blacks— Congress forbids Mili
tary Officers returning Fugitives from Slavery —
Abolishes Slavery in the District of Columbia —
Lincoln proposes, and Congress enactSj Compen
sated Emancipation— Prohibits Slavery in IbeTer-
ritories— Confiscates the Slaves of Rebels— Opens
Diplomatic Intercourse with Liberia and Hayti —
Requires Equality in Education and Punishment
between Whites and Blacks— Right of Search on
the African CoaBt conceded— Fugitive Slave Act
repealed— Confinement of suspected Slaves in Fed
eral Jails forbidden — Coastwise Slave-Trade for
bidden— Color no Impediment to giving Testimony.
TTTT, Rosecrans's "Winter Campaign, 1862-3 . 270
The Army of the Ohio at Bowl ing Green— Reorgan
ized by Rosecrans — Morgan's Raids — Surprise of
Moore" at Hartsville— Onr Advance from Nash
ville—Battle of Stone River, near Mnrfreesboro' — ..
Bragg retreats — Cavalry Raids on our rear — Innes's
Defense of Lavergne — Losses —Forrest routed by

12

INDEX BY CHAPTERS.

Sullivan at Parker's CrosB-Roada— Morgan cap
tures Elizabethtown— Gen. H. Carter'B Raid into
East Tennessee— Wheeler raids down the Tennes
see to Fort Donelson— Beaten off by Col. Hnrding
— Van Dorn captures 1,500 Unionists at Spring Hill
—Col. A. S. Hall defeats Morgan at Vaught'a Hill
— Gordon Granger repulses Van Dorn at Franklin
—Col. A. D. Streight raids intaNorthern Georgia
— Ib overpowered aud captured near Rome.
XTV. Siege and Capture of Yicksburg... .286
Position and Importance of Vicksburg— Grant
. moves against it from Lagrange — Advances to Ox
ford, Miss.— Van Dorn captures Holly Springs-
Murphy's Cowardice— Grant compelled to fall
back— Hovey and Washburn on the Coldwater-
Gcn. Wm. T. Sherman embarks 30,000 men at
Memphis— Debarks on the Yazoo, north of Mem
phis— Com. Porter's Gunboats— Sherman storms
the Yazoo Bluffs— Repulsed at all pointB with
heavy loss— Attempts to flank by Drumgould's
Bluff—Is baffled— Superseded by Gen.McClernand
—Who invests and captures the Post of Arkansas —
Gen. GrantaBsnmes command— Debarks — Digging
the Canal — Proves an Abortion — Yazoo Pass Ex
pedition—Stopped at Greenwood— Compelled to
return — Grant tries the Sunflower route — Baffled
again — The Queen of the West raids up Red River
— Disabled and abandoned — The Indianola cap
tured by the Webb and Queen of the West — The
Indianola blown up in a panic — The Webb flees np
Red River — Grant moves down the Mississippi —
Com. Porter runB the Vicksburg Batteries — Grier-
son's Raid to Baton Rouge — Porter attacks the Bat
teries at Grand Gulf— Grant crosses at Bruinsburg
— Sherman feints on Haines's Bluff— Crosses the
Mississippi at Hankinson's Ferry— Fight at Port
Gibson — Fight at Raymond — Fight at and capture
of Jackson— Battle of Champion Hills— Fight at
the Big Black— Haines's Bluff abandoned— Vicks
burg invested— General Assault repulsed — The
Siege vigorously pressed — Pemberton calls a par
ley — Surrenders — Grant drives Jo. Johnston from
Jackson — Fight at Milliken's Bend— Holmes as-
BailB Helena, and is routed.
XT. Texas and Louisiana in 1863 — Cap
ture of Port Hudson  322
Galveston — Retaken by Com. Renshnw — Sur
prised by Magruder,and carried — Our Fleet dis
abled and beaten— Disaster at Sabine PasB— The
Alabama captures the Hatteras — Gen. Banks in
command at New Orleans — Clearing the Atchafa-
laya — Fight at Carney's Bridge — Farragut passes
the BatterieB at Port Hudson — Banks returns to
Berwick's Buy — Advances to Opelousas and Alex
andria, La. — Moves thence to Bayou Sara, and
crosses the Mississippi — Invests Port Hudson —
Combined Attack ou its Defenses — Repulsed with
a loss of 2,000— Bank- presses the Siege — Second i
Attack — The Rebel supplies exhausted— Gardner
surrenders — Dick Taylor surprises BraBhear City
— Fighting at DonaidBonville — Franklin attacks
Sabine Pass, and is beaten off — Dana surprised at
Morganzia — Burbridge surprised near Opelousas
— Gen. Banks embarks for the Rio Grande — De
barks at Brazos Santiago, and takes Brownsville
— Capture of AransaB Pass and Pass Cavallo — Fort
Esperanza abandoned — Indianola in our hands —
Banks returns to New Orleans.
XYL Army of the Potomac under Burn-
side and Hooker — Fredericksburg
— Chancellorsville  342
Gen. Burnside in command in Virginia — Crosses
the Rappahannock — Attacks Lee's Army.strongly
posted on the Southern Heights — Is repulsed with
heavy loss — Recrosses the River — A fresh Ad
vance arrested by the President — The Mud March
— Rebel Raids in Virginia — Burnside gives place
to Hooker — Stoneman's Raid on Lee's rear —
Hooker crosses the Rappahannock, and advances
to Chancellorsville— His right wing turned and
shattered by Jackson — Pleasanton checks the
Enemy — Jackson mortally wounded — Desperate
fighting aronnd Chancellorsville — Hooker stunned
— Our Army recoils— Sedgwick storms Marye's
Heights— Strikes Lee's Rear— Is driven across the
River — Hooter recrosses also — Stoneman's Raid a
Failure — Longstreet assails Feck at Suffolk — Is
beaten off with loss.
XYH. Lee's Army on Free Soil — Gettys
burg  367
Lee silently flanks Hooker's right, and move's
northward— Cavalry Fight near Fairfax— Mill ov,
at Winchester, surprised and driven over the
Potomac, with heavy loss — Cavalry encounters
along the Blue Ridge— Jenkins raids to Cham-
beraburg— Lee crosses the Potomac— Hooker and
Halleck at odds — Hooker relieved — Meade in
command — Ewell at York — Collision of van
guards at Gettysburg— Reynolds killed— Union
ists outnumbered and driven — Howard halts on
Cemetery Hill— Sickles cornea np— Hancock takes
command — Meade arrives — Both Armies concen

trated—Sickles driven back with loss— Rebel Ad
vance checked— Night falls— Rebel Grand Charge
led by Pickett^Terribly repulsed— Lee retreats-
Heavy losses— Feeble pursuit by Sedgwick-r-Lee
halts at Williamsport— Meade hesitates— Lee gets
across the Potomac^-Kilpatrick routs the Rebel
rear-guard — Meade crosses at Berlin, and moves
down to the Rappahannock— Fight at Manassas
Gap — Dix's Advance on Richmond — Pleasanton
crosses the Rapidan— Lee flankB Meade, -who re-
treatB to Centerville— Warren worsts A. P. HiU
 Lee retires across the Rappahannock — Irnboden
surprises Charlestown — Gen. D. A. Russell storms
Rappahannock Station, capturing 1,600 prisoners
— Meadn crosses the Rapidan — Affair of Mine
Run— Toland's raid to Wytheville— Averill's to
•LewiBburg — Fight at Droop Mountain.
XVIII. Tbe Chattanooga Campaign  404
Morgan's Raid through Kentucky into Indiana
and, Ohio — He is Burrounded,routcd,and captured
— His Imprisonment and Escape — Rosecrans ad
vances from Murfreesboro' by Shelbyville and
Tullahoma, to tho Tennessee at Bridgeport —
Bragg flanked out of Chattanooga — Rosecrans
eagerly pursues — Bragg concentrates at Lafayette,
and turns upon his pursuers — Rosecrans concen
trates on theChickamauga — Desperate battle there
— Rosecrans, worsted, retreats to Chattanooga —
Losses — Rosecrans superseded — Pegram'sraid in
to Kentucky — Saunders's into East Tennessee —
Burnside ctosscs the Cumberland Mountains —
Knoxville liberated — Burnside retakes Cumber
land Gap, with 2,000 prisoners — Longstreet impel
led by Bragg against nim — Wolford struck at Phil
adelphia, Tenn. — Fight at Campbell's Station —
Burnside withdraws into Knoxville — Longstreet
besieges and assaults — Is repulsed with loss —
Raises the Siege and retreats — Gran t rel ievea Rose
crans — Hooker and Slocuin hurried to the Tennes
see — Wheeler's and Roddy's raids — Grant reaches
Chattanooga — Hooker crosses the Tennessee —
Fight at Wauhatchie — Sherman arrives from
Vicksburg — Grant impels attacks on Bragg hy
Granger, Hooker, and Sherman — Hooker carries
Lookout Mountain— Bragg, on .Mission Ridge, at
tacked from all Bides and routed — His Bulletin — <
Hooker pursues to Ringgold — Cleburne checks him
In a gap in White Oak Ridge — Sherman and Gran
ger dispatched to Knoxville — Losses at Mission
Ridge. 0
XIX. The War in Missouri and Arkansas,
in 1863  k  446
Marmaduke attacks Springfield, Mo. — Is repulsed
— Again at Hartsville— Waring routs him at Bates-
ville,Ark. — The Sam Gaty captured — Fayetteville
attacked by Cabell — Marmaduke assails Cape
Girardeau — McNeil repels him — Coffey assailB
Fort Blunt — Standwatie repulsed at Cabin Creek
— Coffey repulsed by Catherwood, at Pineville,
Mo. — Quantrell's Arson and Butchery at Law
rence, Kansas — Gen. Steele moves on Little Rock
— Fignt at Bayou Metea — Davidson defeats Mar
maduke at Bayou Fourche — Price abandons Little
Rock to Steele — Bluet's Escort destroyed by Quan-
trell — Col. Clayton defeats Marmaduke at Pine
Bluff— Gen. K. ii. Brown defeats Cabell and Coffey
at Arrow Rock — McNeil chases tbem to Clarks
ville — Standwatie and Quantrell repulsed by Col.
Phillips at Fort Gibson— Sioux Butcheries in Min
nesota—Gen. Sibley routs Little Crow at Wood
Lake — 500 Iodianj captured and tried for mnrder
¦ — Gen. Pope in command — Sibley and Sully pur
sue and drive the Savages — Gen! Conner in Utah
— Defeats Shoshonees on Bear River — Enemies
vanish.
XX. The Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida
in 1862-3— Siege of Charleston. .455
Siege and Capture of Fort Pulaski hy Gillmore —
Sinking of Stono Fleet in Charleston Harbor —
Com. Dupont Bweeps down the Coaat to St Au
gustine—Union Movement at Jacksonville — Pen-
Bacola and Jacksonville abandoned — Edisto Island
relinquished— Gen. Hunter attacks Secession vi lie,
and is repulsed — Gen. Brannan threatens the Sa
vannah Railroad — Fight at Coosawhatchie — De
struction of the Nashville — Dupont repulsed at
Fort McAllister— The Isaac Smith lost near Lt>-
Sareville— Iron-clad Raid from Charleston— The
lercedita and Keystone Stato disabled — Beau
regard and Ingraham proclaim the Blockade of
Charleston raised — Dupont with his Iron-clads at
tacks Fort Sumter, and is repulsed — Col. Montgom
ery's Raid up the Combahee— The Atlanta cornea
out from Savannah — Capt. Rogers, in the Wee-
hawken, disables and captures her — Gen. Gillmore
seizes half of Morris Island — Gen. Strong assaults
Fort Wagner, and is bloodily repulsed— Gillmore
opens Trenches — The 'Swamp Angel' talks to
Charleston— The Rebels driven out of Fort Wagner
—Com. Stephens assaults Fort Sumter— Charles
ton bombarded from Wagner— Foundering of the
Weehawken-D. H. HiU repelled at Newbern—
Attacks Washington, N. C — Is driven off bv
Foster— Fight at Gum Swamp.

INDEX BY CHAPTERS.

13

VPAGB XXI. The Political History of 1863  484
Lord Lyons on Democratic ' Peace '— SpringElec-
tions ofl8B3— Conscription ordered, first by RebeL
next by Union Congress — Judge Woodward
pronounces the latter unconstitutional — Suspen
sion of Habeas Corpus — Military Arrest and Con
viction of Vallandigham — Democrats of Albany
thereon — President Lincoln's Response — Ohio
Democratic Convention's Resolves — Vallandig
ham nominated for Governor — Convention de
mand his Release— President Lincoln's Reply—
The New York Journalists on the Freedom of the
Press — Ex-President Pierce'B Fourth of July Ora
tion— Gov. Seymour's ditto— The Draft Riots in
New York — Arson, Devastation, and Murder —
Gov. Seymour's Speech — He demands a stoppage
of the Draft — President Lincoln's Reply — The
Autumn Elections — The Draft adjudged valid —
The Government sustained by the People.
XXH. Negro Soldiery  .511
Negroes in the Revolutionary Armies — Royal At
tempt* to win them to the British side — The War
of 1814 — Gen. Jackson at New Orleans — Negro
soldiering suppressed in 1861 — Gen. Hunter di
rects a recruiting of Blacke — Gov. Wickliffe's In
quiry — Gen. Hunter's Response — Saxton author
ized to arm Negroes — Gen. Phelps's Black recruit
ing in Louisiana — Gen, Butler thereon — Jeff.
Davis on fiubler and Phelps together — Congress
orders a general enrollment, regardless of Color —
Democratic Denunciation thereof— Gov. Andrew,
of Mass., raises two Black Regiments — New York,

by her Loyal League, follows the Exmnple — Reb
el employment of Negroes in War — Beauregard
and Jeff. Davis on Federal nrraing of Blacks— The

Confederate Congress punishes it with Death —
President Lincoln threatens Retaliation — Garrett
Davis, S. S. Cox & Co. denounce the arming of
Blacks — A'ljt.-Gen. Thomas engages in the work
— His Speech at Lake Providence — Gen. Banks's
Order — Negro recruiting goes ahead — Efficiency
of Black Soldiers.
XXIIL The War along the Coast in 1864. . 528
Organization of the XXXVIHth Congress —
Lincoln's proffer of Amnesty — Gillmore and Sey
mour in Florida — Finoegan defeats Seymour at
Olnstee — Rebel Salt-Works in Florida destroyed
— Union Convention at Jacksonville — Union Re
pulse at Bloody Bridge, S. C, — Pickett assails
Newbern, N. C. — Hoke besieges Wessells iu
Plymouth — The Rebel ram Albemarle disables
ourV easels — Wesaells surrenders — The Albemarle
tights our Fleet off the mouth of the Roanoke —
Is beaten off by them — Blown up by Lt. Cushing
— Plymouth retaken— Wild's Raid into Camden
County.
XXTV. The "War "beyond the Mississippi in
1864;  536
Banks in New Orleans — Porter's Fleet in the
Mississippi — Captures Fort De Rusbv — Our Army
and Fleet advance to Alexandria — Both move up
Red River — Banks presses on toward Shreve-
port — Col. Gooding's Fight — Our Advance routed
by Kirby Smith at Sabine CrosB-Roads — Emory
checks the Rebel Pursuit at Pleasant Grove-
Fierce and indecisive Battle at Pleasant Hill-
Banks retreata to Grand Ecore — Porter works
and tights his way down the River — Bunks tights
and drives Bee at Cane River — Return of Army
and Fleet to Alexandria— Lt,- Col. Bailey engi
neers our Vessels over the Rapids — Union Losb
of three Veesels at Dunn's Bayou — Texas Coast
nearly abandoned — Banks retreats to Simmsport
— Fight at Mansura — Cotton Operations on Red
River — Steele's Advance from Little Rock —
Fight at Prairie d'Anne — Steele enters Camden
— Union Disaster at MarkB's Mills — Steele re
treats—Attacked by Kirby Smith at Jenkins's
Ferry — Rebels repulsed — Steele, burning his
Trains, escapes- to Little Rock — Gen. Carr worsts
Shelby at SL Charles— Col. Brooks fights Dob
bins at Big Creek— Shelby captures the 54th Illi
nois — Union State Convention in Arkansas —
Steele's Inefficiency — Rosecrans in command In
Missouri — Arrests the Chiefs of the Sons of Lib
erty — Price's last Invasion — Hugh Ewing with
stands bim at Pilot Knob— Retreats to Rollo —
Rebel uprising — Price threatens St. Louis — Ap
pears before Jefferson City— Gen. Mower follows
him from Arkansas — Rebels capture Glasgow —
Price at Lexington— Fights Bliint on the Little
Blue— Fights Curtis on the Big Blue— Escapes
southward, by Little Santa Fe— Pleasanton routs
him on the Little Osage — Blunt routs him at
Newtonia — Curtis chases him to Fayetteville,
Ark,
XXV. Gen. Grant's Advance on Richmond. 562
Grant made Lieutenant-General — His Concep
tion of the War — Assumes command — Army of
the Potomac reorganized — Kilpatrick's Raid to
Richmond — Col. Dahlgren killed — Grant crosses
the Rapidan— Battle of the Wilderness— Grant

pushes on to Spottsylvania C. H. — Heavy, inde
cisive fighting — Hancock storms the Enemy's
Lines, capturing Maj.-Gen. Ed. Johnson and
8,000 Men — Sheridan's Raid to Richmond —
Death of J. E. B. Stuart — Butler moves againBt
Richmond by the James — W. F. Smith fights D.
IL Hill at Port Walthall Junction-r-Besuregard
arrives from Charleston — Attacks Butler on the
James — Mpre Fighting there — Kautz'a first Raid
— Three Union Gunboats blown up — Grant
moves by his Left to the North Anna — Hancock
and Wright across — Burnside repulsed — Fight
ing on both Wings — Lee's Position impregnable'
— Grant moves by his Left to theChickahominy
— Reenforced by W. F. Smith from Butler^ Po
sition — Bloody Repulse at Cold Harbor — Sheri
dan's Raid to Louisa C. H. — Grant moves by his
Left across the James, below Richmond— Re-
crosBeB for his Overland Advance — Butler impels
Gillem and Kautz againBt Petersburg — W. F.
Smith's Corps follows — Failures to carry it —
General Assault repulsed — Meade's costly Ad
vance to the Weldon Railroad — Wilson's and
Kautz's expensive Raid to Burkesville — Butler
pontoonB the JameB — Sheridan fights on the
Peninsula — Miles carries an Outpost at Deep
^ Bottom — Burnside's Mine — Hancock on our
Left, Gregg on our Right, advance, and are both
worsted — Warren seizes and holds the Weldon
Railroad — Hill defeats Hancock at Reama's Sta
tion — Warren advances to nnd over the Squir
rel Level Road — Butler assaults and carries Fort
Harrison — Field fails to retake it — Meade ad
vances to Hatcher's Run — Egan routs Heth — >
Hancock repelB Wade Hampton — Hancock re
tires — Losses of the Campaign — Criticisms.
XXVI. West Virginia and North of the
Rapidan in 1864  598
Sam Jones captures Beera at JoneBville — Roaser
takes Petersburg — Averill hits him at Spring
field— Sigel's defeat at Newmarket — Averfll
¦worsted at Wytheville — Crook's Fight near
Dublin Station — Hunter's victory at Piedmont —
He takes Staunton, and advances to Lynchburg
— Retreats acrosB the Allegbaniea — Early chases
Sigel out of Virginia — Wallace beaten on the
Monocacy — Early threatens Washington —
Wright repulsed by Early — Avery worsted
near Winchester — Early defeats Creole — Cham-
bersburg burned by McCausland — Col. Stough
routed at Oldtown — Sheridan appointed to
command — Beats Early at Opequan — Routs
him at Fisher's Hill — Devastates the Valley —
The Richmond Whig on Retaliation — Early
surprises Crook at Cedar Creek — Sheridan
transforms defeat into victory — Losses.
XXVII. Between Virginia and the Missis
sippi, 1863-4  615
Phillips's Raid to Grenada — McPherson ad
vances from Vicksburg — Forrest's Raid to Jack
son — W. T. Sherman's Advance to Meridian —
Sovy Smith's Failure — Oeband'e Fight at Yazoo
City — Palmer's Advance to Dalton — Forrest
takes Union City — Repulsed by Hicks at Padn-
cah — Assaults and carries Fort Pillow — Butch
ery after Surrender — Stu'rgis routed by Forrest
at Guntown — A. J. Smith worsts Forrest at
Tupelo — ForreBt's Raid into Memphis — Fights
at) Bean's Station, Charleston, Mossy Creek,
Dandridge. and Maryville, East Tennessee —
.Morgan's lost Raid into Kentucky — HobBon's
Surrender — Burbridge strikes Morgan at Mt.
Sterling, and routs bim near Cynthiana — Mor
gan killed — Burbridge beaten at Saltville, Va.
— Attempt on Johnson's Island.
XXVIII. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign  625
Strength of Sherman's and Jo. Johnston's Ar
mies—Sherman flanks Johnston out of Dalton
— Hooker takes Resaca — Jeff. C. Davis takes
Rome — Fight at Pumpkin-vine Creek — At
New Hope Church — At Dallas — Allatoona
Pass won — Gen. Polk killed — Rebel Repulse at
Kulp House— Sherman assaults Kenesaw, and
is repulsed with a loss of 3,000 — Flanks John
ston out of it — Passes the Chattahoochee —
Hood relieves Johnston — Rousseau defeats Clan-
ton — Hood strikes our left heavily, and is
repulsed— Strikes more heavily, and is badly
worsted — Stoneman's wretched Raid to Macon
— He surrenders — Hood strikes our right at
Proctor's Creak — la badly beaten by Howard
and Logan — Kilpatrick's Raid around Atlanta
—Sherman moves by bis right behind Atlanta
— Howard beats Hardee at Jonesboro' — J. C.
Davis repeats the lesson — Hood abandons At-
lanta-7-Sherman enters — Orders it cleared of
inhabitants — Pillow raids to Lafayette —
Wheeler to Dalton and through Southern Ten
nessee— Jeff. Davis at Macon — Hood flanks
Sherman — French attacks Allatoona — Corse
beats him off— Hood crosses Sand Mountain —
Thomas intrusted, with the defense of Tennes
see— Sherman turns southward.

lfe

INDEX BY CHAPTERS.

TTTY, The War on the Ocean — Mobile

.641

\

The Confederate Navy — Their Torpedoes —
British-built Privateers — The Sumter — The
Alabama — The Florida — Seizure of the Chesa
peake— The Tallahassee — The Olustee — The
Cbickamauga — Capt. Collins seizeB the Florida
in Bahia Harbor— Gov. Seward on Rebel bel
ligerency— The Georgia— Fight ofthe Kearsartfe
and Alabama— Criticisms thereon — Farragut
before Mobile — Bombards and passes Fort Mor
gan—The Rebel ram Tennessee fights our
fleets-Is captured— Fort Powell blown up —
' Fort Gaines surrenders— Fort Morgan succumbs
— Mobile sealed up.'
TTT. Political Mutations and Results —
Presidential Canvass of 1864. .654
Slate ElectionB reflect the varying phases of
the War — Kentucky .Unionism — Lincoln to
Hodges — Lincoln at Gettysburg — Fremont
nominated for President — Radical PJatlbim-*-
Union National Convention — Its Platform — Lin
coln and Johnson nominated — Johnson's Letter
— A Season of Gloom — The National Finances
during the War — National Dubt — Currency De
preciation — Peace Overtures at Niagara and at
Richmond — Davis inflexible — Chicago Demo
cratic Convention — ' Peace ' Utterances — The
Platform — McClellan and Pendleton nominated
—National victories stimulate populnr dissent
— Gen. McClellan tries to hedge. — Seward's
Criticisms — Fremont declines — The Autumn
Elections — Maryland free — Death of Roger B.
Tansy — Lincoln elected — The Soldiers' Vote —
The XXXVIIIlh CongreBS — Lincoln's last
Message— Slavery prohibited by Constitutional
Amendment — Peace Overtures at Richmond,
and Negotiations in Hampton Roads — Lincoln's
Second Inaugural. ,
TTTXT Hood's Tennessee Campaign  6*77
Forrest's last Raid — Captures Athens, Ala. —
la chased out of Tennessee by Rousseau — Hood
presses Gordon Granger at Decatur — Crosses
the Tennessee at Florence — Thomas retires on
Nashville — Hood follows — Fighting at Duek
River and at Spring Hill — Schofield makes a
stand at Franklin — Bloody drawn battle —
Heavy Rebel loss — Pat. Cleburne killed —
Thomas strong in Nashville — Fights around
Murlreesboro' — A Cold Week — Thomas assumes
the Offensive — Steedman strikes on our left —
A. J. Smith, Johnson, and Wilson on our right
— Col. Post storms Montgomery Hill — T. J.
Wood and A. J. Smith carry first line of
Rebel defenses — OveTton's Hill stormed and
taken — Rebels routed and pursued to Franklin
— Their losses — Hood chased across the Ten
nessee— Lyon'B feeble Raid— Stoneman in East
Tennessee — Gillem routs Duke, and then Vaughn
— Breckinridge driven into North Carolina —
Saltville captured — Thomas's Captures — Mood
relieved.
x*:xn. Sherman's Great March  689
His Army in Northern Georgia— Concentrated
at Atlanta — He moves southward — Fis;ht at
Lovejoy'u — Kil patiick before Macon — Slocum
at Milledgeville — Howard at SandeTsville —
Kilpatrick at Waynesboro' — Fights Wheeler —
Blair at Millen — Hazen at Statesboro' — Fight at
the Ogoechee — Blair crosses at Fort Argyle —
Slocum crosses at Louisville — Sherman ap-
{iroaches Savannah — Hazen storms Fort McAl-
ister — Sherman hears from Foster and Dahl-
tren^-Starts for Hilton Head — Hardee evacuates
a van n ah —Sherman's losses and captures in
Georgia — Correspondence with Lincoln— Dana's,
Davidson's, and Grieraon's Raids — Grierson's
Victory at Egypt — Hatch worsted at Honey
Hill — Foster occupies Pocotaligo — Sherman en
ters South Carolina — Pushes for the Edisto —
Horrible Roads — Fight near Branchville — Kil
patrick at Aiken — Blair fights and wins near
Orangeburg — Fight at the Congaree — Hood'a
remnant, under Cheatham, pass our left — Co
lumbia surrendered — Great Conflagration —
Sherman's and Wade Hampton's accounts of it —
Hardee evacuates Charleston and its defenses
— Pollard's account of its devastation — Our
Flag raised on Forts Sumter, Ripley, and Pinck
ney— Sherman's Foraging — His 'Bummers* —
Fight at Williston's Station — Atkins's repulsa
— Sherman at Winflsboro' — Blair at Cheraw —
Occupies Fayetteville, N, C. — Hampton sur
prises Kilpatrick — la beaten off — Slocum at
tacked by Hardee at Averyiboro" — Rebels recoil
¦ — Jo. Johnston strikes Slocum at Bentonville—
Indecisive Fighting-^Johnston decamps — Sher
man entere Goldsboro' — Butler and Weitzel's
Expedition to Fort Fisher— The Powder Ship —
Porter's Bombardment — Butler returns to the
James — Grant dissatisfied — Expedition sent
back under Terry— Fort FiBher invested— Bom

barded bvthe Fleet— The Sailors' assault— Re
pulsed — 6en. Ames assaults from the land Bide
— Desperate Fighting— The Fort carried— Losses
—Explosion ot Magazine — Gen. Schofield ar
rives — Advances on Wilmington — Fight at
Town Creek — Fort Anderson evacuated — Hoke
retreats — Burns Vessels and Stores— Wilming
ton given up — Advance to Kinston — TJpham.
surprised at Southwest Creek — Jiuke Btrikes
out— Is repulsed, and retreats — Schofield enters
Goldsboro'.
TTTTTT. The Repossession of Alabama. . .T16

Wilson at Eastport, Miss. — Crosses the Tennes
see, and moves southward— Routs Roddy at
Montevallo — Hurries Forrest from Boyle's Creek
— Charges over the defenses of Selma, and takes
2,700 Prisoners — Montgomery surrenders — La
grange i outs Buford — Wilson takes Columbus,
Ga., by Assault — Lagrange charges and captures
Fort Tyler — Wilson in Macon — Cuxton cap
tures Tuskalooaa — Zigzags to Macon— Canby
in New Orleans — Advances on Mobile — Steele
moves up from Pensacola — Routs Clantou at
Mitchell's Creek— Spanish Fort besieged — Its
garrison driven out — Desperate assault on
Blakely— The Works carried, with 3,000 pris
oners — Mobile evacuated — Fate of the ram W.
H. Webb.
XXXIV. Pall of Richmond — End of the
War  ?24
Grant passive — Rebel attempt to arm Negroes
— Warren's advance to the Meherrin — Raid of
the Rebel gunboats — Fight at Dabney's Mill —
Our left on Hatcher's Run — Rosser's Raid to
Beverly — Capture of Kelly and Crook — Sheri
dan up the Valley — Annihilates Early at
Waynesboro' — Captures Charlottesville — Fails
to cross the James above Richmond — Crosses
below and reaches Grant — Gordon surprises
Fort Sieedman — Is repulsed at Fort Haskell —
Surrender of 2,000 Rebels — Meade counter-as
saults — Grant directs a General Advance by our
left^Griffin's Fight at tho White Oak Road—
Sheridan advances to Five Forks — Fulls back
to Dinwiddie C. H. — Lee strikes Warren heavi
ly — Ib successful, but finally stopped — Sheridan
again pushed back to Dinwiddie C. H — Repels
his assailants — Warren hurried to his support
,(, — Rebels recoil — SheHdnn again advances to
Five Forks, and attackB — Warren's corps or
dered to strike Enemy's left flank — Combined
Attack completely successful — Pickett routed
and driven westward — Witrren superseded by
Sheridan — Our guns reopen on Petersburg—
General assault along our front — Forts Gregg
and Alexander carried — Miles dislodges the
enemy at Sutherland's Depot — Longstreet joins
Lee— Heth repulsed— A. P. Hill killed— Lee.
notifies Davis that Richmond must be evacuated
— The Confederacy fires and quits that City —
Weitzel enters it unopposed— Captures of pris
oners and arms — The news flashed over the
loyal States — Universal rejoicings — Connecti
cut Election — Petersburg abandoned — Lee con
centrates at Chesterfield C. H.— Retreats west
ward by Amelia C. H.— Sheridan heads him off"
from Danville, at Jetersville — Davies strikes.
his train at Paine's Cross-Roads — Lee hasten
ing westward— Crook strikes him in flank— Is
repulsed— Custer strikes his train at Sailor's
Creek, and destroys 400 wagons — Ewell cut
off, and, after a fight^ compelled to surrender
— Ord Btrikes Lee's van near Farmville— Is re
pulsed, and Gen. Read killed— Lee crosses the
Appomattox at Farmville — His Desperate
Condition — Grant proposes a surrender —
Humphreys attacks Lee, and is bloodily re-
Julsed — Lee resumes his flight — Sheridan
eads him at Appomattox C. H.— Last Charge
of the Army of Virgiui a— Correspondence be
tween Lee and Grant — Lee Surrenders — Parting
with his Soldiers— His Army dissolved.
XXXV. DeathofPresidentLincoln — Peace. 146
The President at City Point^He enters Rich
mond—Letter to Weilzel— Recruiting stopped
—Celebration at Fort Sumter— The President
assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth— Gov. Seward
murderously assaulted by Payne Powell— Ac
cession of Andrew Johnson to the Presidency-
Offers rewards for arrest of Jefferson Davis
and others— Stoneman's Raid into North Caro
lina—Sherman's Arrangement with Jo. John-
Bton— Repudiated by the Governments-Reasons
therefor— JohnBton surrenders— Dick Tavlor
ditto— Dtssolution of tbe Confederacv— Flieht
Sfi £aPwre °£ Davi8r£irby Smi"i's voice
still for War-Sheridan's Expedition— The Re
bellion's final collapse-Career of the Shenan-
doah-Grant'B Parting Address to his Soldiers
—Dissolution of our Armies.
Appended Notes  ^5q
Analytical Index  7,35

ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOL. II.

UNION GENERALS.
Fkostispieob.
Lieut-Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Major-Gren. William T. Sherman.
Major-Gen. Philip H. Sheridan,,
Major-Gren. George G. Meade.
Major-Gen. Winfield S. Hancock,

6. MajorGren. Oliver O. Howard.

Frohtispieoe.
7. Major-Gen. Alfred H. Terry.
8. Major-Gen. Frank P. Blair.
9. Major-Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks.
10. Major-Gen. Samuel R. Curtis.
11. Major-Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore.
12, Major-Gen. George H Thomas.

PAGE
Horace Greeley  17

PATRIOTIC GOVERNORS.

Edwin D. Morgan, of N. York. 128
"William Sprague, of R. L . "
Richard Yates, of Illinois . . "
Thos. C. Fletcher, of Missouri. "
Charles S. Olden, of N. Jersey "

19. Austin Blair, of Michigan
20. John Brough, of Ohio . . .
21. Wm. A. Buckingham, of Conn.
22. Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana.
23. John A. Andrew, of Mass.
24. Samuel Cony, of Maine . .

PAGE128

25. Andrew G. Curtin, of Penn.

128

EMINENT UPHOLDERS IN CONGRESS OE THE
THE UNION.

WAR FOR

26. Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio . 256
27. Zachariah Chandler, of Mich. "
28. Henry S. Lane, of Indiana . . "
29. Lyman Trumbull, of Illinois . "
30. Elihu B. Washburne, of Illinois. "
31. William D. Kelley, of Penna. "

32. Henry Winter Davis, of Md. 256
33. Reuben E. Fenton, of N. York. "
34. George W. Julian, of Indiana "
35. John A. Easson, of Iowa . . "
36. John P. Hale, of N. Hampshire. "
3V. Roscoe Conkling, of New York "

UNION DEFENDERS.

38. Major-Gen.
39. Major-Gen.
40. Major-Gen.
41. Major-Gen.
42. Major-Gren.
43. Major-Gren.

Wm. S. Rosecrans
Franz Sigel . .
Godfrey Weitzel
James B. Steedman.
Gordon Granger
E. R S. Canby .

272

44. Major-Gen. Judson Kilpatrick. 272
45. Major-Gen. P. J. Osterhaus . "
46. Major-Gren. Alfred Pleasanton. "
47. Major-Gen. Carl Schurz. . . "
48. Brig.-Gen. Thos. F. Meagher . "
49. Com. John A. Winslow ..."

OUR HEROIC DEAD.

50. MajorGen. John Sedgwick
51. Major-Gren. Isaac I. Stevens .
52. Brig.-Gren. Edward D. Baker .
53. Brig.-Gren. George D. Bayard.
54. Major-Gren. Philip Kearny
55. MajorGen. John F. Reynolds .

352

56. Major-Gren. Ormsby M. Mitchel.
57. Major-Gen. Jas. S. Wadsworth.
58. Major-Gen. Jas. B. MoPherson.
59. Major-Gen. Edwin V. Sumner.
60. Brig.-Gen. Fred. W. Lander .
61. Brig.-Gen. Nathaniel Lyon .

352

16

ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOL. 1 1 .— Continued.

president; new

62. Andrew Johnson, President
63. Lafayette S. Foster, . .
Vice-President.
64. Hugh McCulloch, . . .
Secretary of the Treasury.
65. James Harlan, Sec. Interior
66. William Dennison, . . .
Postmaster-General.
67. James Speed, Attorney-General
68. Schuyler Colfax, . . .
Speaker of the House of Representatives.

752

Fight of the Merrimac and Monitor in
View of Fredericksburg .....
View of Cumberland Gap 
Fort Sumter Repossessed by the Union

CABINET, &c.
PAGE
. Thaddeus Stevens, .... 752
Chairman Com. on Ways and Means, House of Reps.
. John Sherman,  ''
Committee on Finance, Senate.
Henry Wilson,  "
Chairman Committee on Military Affairs, Senate.
Gen. Robert C. Schenck, . . "
Chairman Com. on [Military Affairs, House of Reps.
William Pitt Fessenden, . . "
Ex-Secretary of the. Treasury.
Hampton Roads  112
 344
 432
 736

ILLUSTRATIONS- Continued.

Battle-field of Pea Ridge . . 29
Battle-field of Mill Spring . . 44
Forts Henry and Donelson . . 46
New Madrid and Island No. 10 . 55
Pittsburg Landing — Shiloh . . 62
Roanoke Island — Croatan Sound. 75
Newbern and Neuse River . . 77
New Orleans and its Defenses . 86
Forts Jackson and St. Philip . . 88
Richmond and its Approaches . Ill
McClellan before Yorktown . 121
Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks . . . 143
Mechanicsville  153
Gaines's Mill  156
Malvern Hill  165
Pope's Virginia and Lee's Mary
land Campaigns  174
Cedar Mountain  176
Gainesville, or Second Bull Run 184
South Mountain — Turner's and
Crampton's Gaps  197
Harper's Ferry  200
Antietam, or Sharpsburg . . . 205
Perryville, or Chaplin's Creek . 219
Iuka  223
Corinth — Defeat of Van Dorn . 226
Stone River, or Murfreesboro' . 275
The Yazoo Region  297
Vicksburg, Jackson, Yazoo City. 305

Port Hudson besieged by Banks.
Fredericksburg — Burnside, Lee .
Chancellorsville — Hooker, Lee.
Winchester, Va., and Vicinity
Gettysburg — First Day's Fight .
Gettysburg — Final Assault . .
Mine Run and the Rapidan . . .
Chattanooga, Chickamauga, &c. .
East Tennessee — Knoxville, , &c.
Fort Pulaski — Gillmore's Siege .
Secessionville, S. C  461
Charleston, S. C, and its Defenses 467
Red River Region, Alexandria, &c. 538
The Wilderness — Grant, Lee
Spottsylvania C. H. and Vicinity.
Lee at bay on the North Anna .
Cold Harbor and its Vicinity .
Richmond and Petersburg . . .
Defenses of Washington City
Sheridan in the Valley of Va.
Sherman's Advance to Atlanta .
Mobile Bay and its Defenses .
Franklin, Tenn. — Hood's Fight
Nashville, Tenn. — Thomas, Hood
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's March through South
Carolina  ggg
Wilmington, N. C— Fort Fisher. 710
Lee's Retreat — Appomattox C. H. 729

332
343
356 371
378 384399
416429
457

567 572
578
580 594
604 609
627650681
685
690

Engrave i "by- J C Buttre KewTark:.

THE AIEKICAN CONFLICT.
VOLUME II.

TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO.

The frontiers of Texas, Mexican
and savage, were guarded, prior to
tbe outbreak of Secession, by a line of
forts or military posts stretching from
Brownsville, opposite Matamoras, to
the Red River. These forts were
located at average distances of one
hundred miles, and were severally
held by detachments of from 50 to
150 of the regular army. San Anto
nio, 150 miles inland from Indianola,
on Matagorda Bay, was the head
quarters of the department, whence
the most remote post — Fort Bliss, on
the usual route thence to New Mex
ico — was distant 675 miles. The
whole number of regulars distributed
throughout Texas was 2,612, compri
sing nearly half the .effective force of
our little army.
When, soon after Mr. Lincoln's
election, but months prior to his in
auguration, Gen. David E. Twiggs
was dispatched by Secretary Eloyd

from New Orleans to San Antonio,
and assigned to the command of the
department, it was doubtless under
stood between them that his business
in Texas was to betray this entire
force, or so much of it as possible,
into the hands of the yet undevel
oped traitors with whom Floyd was
secretly in league. Twiggs's age
and infirmities had for some time
excused him from active service, un
til this ungracious duty — if duty it
can be called — was imposed upon
and readily accepted by him. With
in 90 days after his arrival ' at Indi
anola, he had surrendered2 the entire
force at and near San Antonio, with
all their arms, munitions, and sup
plies, to three persons acting as
" Commissioners on behalf of the
Committee of Public Safety," se
cretly appointed3 by the Convention
which had just before assumed to
take Texas out of the Union.4 The

1 December 5, 1860.
2 February 18, 1861. He immediately and
openly declared that the Union could not last
60 days, and warned officers, if they had pay
due them, to draw it at once, as this would be
the last.
5 February 5, 1861.
2

4 Feb. 1. The Convention met this day at
Austin, and at once passed an ordinance of
Secession, subject to a vote of the people at an
election to be held on the 23d inst. ; the ordi
nance, if approved, to take effect on the 2d of
March. Texas was therefore still in the Union,
even according to the logic of Secession,

18

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

betrayal was colored, not fairly
cloaked, by a slim display of mili
tary force in behalf of the sovereign
State of Texas, Col. Ben. McCulloch,
an original and ardent Secessionist,
having undertaken and fulfilled the
duty of raising that force and post
ing it in and around San Antonio,
so as to give countenance to the de
mand for capitulation. It was fairly
stipulated in writing between the
contracting parties, that our troops
should simply evacuate Texas, march
ing to and embarking at the coast,
where their artillery and means of
transportation were to be given up,
while they, with their small arms,
should proceed by water to any point
outside of Texas; but these condi
tions, though made by a traitor in
Federal uniform with fellow-traitors
who had cast off all disguise, were
shamefully violated. Col. C. A.
Waite, who, after the withdrawal of
Floyd from the Cabinet, had been
sent down to supersede Twiggs in
his command, reached San Antonio
the morning after the capitulation,
when all the material of war had been
turned over to the Rebel Commis
sioners, and 1,500 armed Texans sur
rounded our httle band, in the first
flush of exultation over their easy
triumph. Unable to resist this rap
idly augmenting force, Waite had no
alternative but to ratify the surren
der, dispatching, by permission, mes
sengers to the frontier posts, to ap
prise the other commanders that they
were included in its terms. Collect
ing and dispatching his men as rap
idly as he might, he had some 1,200
encamped at Indianola ready for em
barkation, when they were visited by
Col. E. Van Dorn, of the Confeder

ate service, recently a captain in our
army, who had been sent from Mont
gomery with authority to offer in
creased rank and pay to all who
would take service with the Rebels.
His mission was a confessed failure.
A few of the higher officers had par
ticipated in Twiggs's treason ; but no
more of these, and no private sol
diers, could be cajoled or bribed into
deserting the flag of their country.
Col. Waite was still at San Anto
nio, when news reached Indianola"
of the reduction6 of Fort Sumter;
and Col. Yan Dorn, with three armed
steamers from Galveston, arrived with
instructions from Montgomery to cap
ture and hold as prisoners of war all
Federal soldiers and officers remain
ing in Texas. Maj. Sibley, in com
mand at that port, had chartered two
small schooners and embarked there
on a part of his force, when he was
compelled to surrender again uncon
ditionally. Col. Waite was in like
manner captured at San Antonio, by
order of Maj. Macklin, late an officer
in our service, under Twiggs ; Capt.
Wilcox, who made the arrest, an
swering Waite's protest with the
simple words, " I have the force."
Waite, and a few officers with him,
were compelled to accept paroles not
to serve against the Confederacy un
less regularly exchanged.
Of course, the forces at the several
posts protecting the frontiers of Texas,
being isolated and cut off from all
communication with each other, or
with a common head-quarters, fell an
easy prey to the Rebels. A part of
them were commanded by officers in
full sympathy and perfect under
standing with the Texas conspirators
for Secession, who, by means of the se-

' April 17, 1861.

' April 13.

MILITARY TREASON ON THE RIO aRANDB.

19

cret organization known as " Knights
of the Golden Circle," having its
Texas head-quarters at San Antonio,
and its ' castles' or affiliated lodges in
every part of the State, had prose
cuted its undertaking at immense
advantage over the unorganized and
often unsuspecting as well as unin
formed Unionists. The conspirators
had long before made themselves ac
quainted with the loyal or disloyal
proclivities of the Federal officers;
and, wherever an important position
was held by an inflexible Unionist,
they were able, by secret representa
tions at the War Department, to pro
cure such a substitution as they de
sired ; and thus Col. Loring, a North
Carolinian, deep in their counsels, had
been sent out by Floyd, in the Spring
of 1860, to take command of the de
partment of New Mexico, while Col.
G. B. Crittenden, a Kentuckian, of
like spirit and purposes, was appointed
by Loring to command an expedition
against the Apaches, to start from
Fort Staunton in the Spring of 1861.
Lieut. Col. B. S. Roberts, however,
who here joined the expedition with
two companies of cavalry, soon dis
covered that Crittenden was devoting
all his sober moments — which were
few — to the systematic corruption of
his subordinates, with intent to lead
his regiment to Texas, and there turn
it over to the service and support of
the Rebellion. Roberts repelled his
solicitations,7 and refused to obey any
of his orders which should be prompt
ed by the spirit of treason. He finally
accepted a furlough, suggested by
Loring, and quickly repaired under
it to Santa Fe, the head-quarters of
the department, making a revelation
of Crittenden's treachery to its com

mander, Col. Loring, and his adju
tant, but only to find them both as
thoroughly disloyal as Crittenden.
He was rudely rebuked by them as a
meddler with other men's business,
and ordered directly back to Fort
Staunton, but found opportunity to
give notice to Capt. Hatch, com
manding at Albuquerque, to Capt.
Morris, who held Fort Craig, and
other loyal officers, of the treachery
of their superiors, and the duty in
cumbent on them of resisting it..
Meantime, desperate efforts were
made by the prominent traitors to
bring their men over to their views,
by assurances that the Union had
ceased to exist — that it had no longer
a Government able to pay them or
feed them — while, if they would but
consent to go to Texas and take ser
vice with the Confederacy, they should
be paid in full, and more than paid,
beside having great chances of pro
motion. To their honor be it record
ed, not one man listened to the voice
of the charmer, though Capt. Clai-
born, at Fort Staunton, made several
harangues to his company, intended
to entice them into the Confederate
service. Of the 1,200 regulars in
New Mexico, one only deserted during
this time of trial, and he, it is be
lieved, did not join the enemy. Fi
nally, the disloyal officers, headed
by Loring and Crittenden, were glad
to escape unattended, making their
rendezvous at Fort Fillmore, twenty
miles from the Texas line, not far
from El Paso, where Maj. Lynde
commanded. Here they renewed
their intrigues and importunities,
finding a large portion of the officers
equally traitorous with themselves.
But Maj. Lynde appeared to hold out

' See his testimony before 'the Committee on the Conduct of the War. — Report, Part 3, pp. 364-72.

20

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

against their solicitations. His forces,
however, were so demoralized that,
soon afterward,8 when he led 480
of them, out of 700, to the village of
Mesilla, some twenty miles distant, he
fell into an ambuscade of 200 badly
armed Texans, and, after a skirmish,
wherein his conduct can only be vin
dicated from the imputation of cow
ardice by the presumption of treason,
he ordered a retreat to the fort, which
his men were next day engaged in
fortifying, when surprised, at 10£ a. m.,
by an order to evacuate that night.
The commissary was ordered to roll
out the whisky, from which the men
were allowed to fill their canteens,
and drink at discretion. No water
was furnished for the weary march
before them, over a hot and thirsty
desert. They started as ordered ; but,
before they had advanced ten miles,
men were dropping out of the ranks,
and falling to the earth exhausted or
dead drunk.
At 2 a. m., a Texan force was seen
advancing on their flank, whereupon
Lynde's Adjutant remarked, " They
have nothing to fear from us." Our
men were halted, so many of them,
at least, as had not already halted of
their own accord; and the officers
held a long council of war. Many
privates of the command likewise
took counsel, and decided to fight.
Just then, Capt. Gibbs appeared from
the officers' council, and ordered a
retreat upon the camp, saying, " We
will fight them there." Arrived at
the camp, our soldiers were ordered
to lay down tfieir arms, and inform
ed, " You are turned over as prison
ers of war." The subordinate offi
cers disclaimed any responsibility for
this disgraceful surrender, laying the

blame wholly upon Lynde. Our
men. were paroled, and permitted, as
prisoners, to pursue their course
northward, after listening to a speech
from Col. Baylor, of their captors,
intended to win their good-will.
Their sufferings, on that forlorn
march to Albuquerque and Fort
Wise, were protracted and terrible ;
some becoming deranged from the
agony of their thirst; some seeking
to quench it by opening their veins,
and drinking their own blood. Maj.
Lynde, instead of being court-mar
tialed and shot, was simply dropped
from the rolls of the army, his dis
missal to date from his surrender f
and Capt. A. H. Plummer, his com
missary, who held $17,000 in drafts,
which he might at any moment have
destroyed, but which were handed
over to and used by the Rebels, was
sentenced by court-martial to be rep
rimanded in general orders, and sus
pended from duty for six months !
New Mexico, thus shamefully be
reft, at a blow, of half her defend
ers, was now reckoned an easy prey
to the gathering forces of the Rebel
lion. Her Mexican population, ig
norant, timid, and superstitious, had
been attached to the Union by con
quest, scarcely fifteen years before,
and had, meantime, been mainly un
der the training of Democratic offi
cials of strong pro-Slavery sympathies,
who had induced her Territorial
Legislature, some two years before,
to pass an act recognizing Slavery as
legally existing among them, and
providing stringent safeguards for its
protection and security — an act
which was still unrepealed. Her
Democratic officials had not yet been

1 July 24, 1861.

8 July 27, 1861.

CANBY PREPARES TO HOLD NEW MEXICO.

21

replaced by appointees of President
Lincoln. Her Delegate in Congress,
Miguel A. Otero, had issued10 and
circulated an address to her people,
intended to disaffect them toward the
Union, and incite them to favor the
Rebellion ; but her Democratic Gov
ernor, Abraham Rencher, though a
North Carolinian, upon receiving
news of Lynde's surrender, issued a
proclamation calling out the entire
militia force of the Territory, to act
as a home guard ; which call, though
it added inconsiderably to the effec
tive force of her defenders, was cal
culated to exert a wholesome influ
ence upon public opinion, and keep
restless spirits out of mischief. Col.
E. R. S. Canby, who had succeeded
to the command, of the Department,
was a loyal and capable soldier, and
was surrounded, for the most part,
by good and true men. When the
new Governor, Henry Connolly,
met11 the Territorial Legislature, a
very wholesome and earnest loyalty
was found well-nigh universal, so
that the Governor's cautious recom
mendation that the act for the pro
tection of slave property be modified,
as needlessly severe and rigorous,
was promptly responded to by an al
most' unanimous repeal of the entire
act, leaving the statute-book of New
Mexico clean of all complicity with
the chattelizing of man.
Meantime, Col. Canby was quietly
proceeding with the organization of
his militia and other forces for the
inevitable contest, crippled through
out by the want of money, munitions,
and supplies of all kinds. Even di
rections and orders, so plentifully be
stowed on most subordinates, were
not vouchsafed him from Washing

ton, where the absorption of all ener
gies in the more immediate and mo
mentous struggle on the Potomac and
the Missouri, denied him even an an
swer to his frequent and importunate
requisitions and representations. An
urgent appeal, however, to the Gov
ernor of the adjacent Territory of
Colorado, had procured him thence a
regiment of volunteers, who, though
falling far enough short of the effi
ciency of trained soldiers, were worth
five to ten times their number of his
New Mexican levies. Making the
best use possible of his scanty or in
different materials, he was probably
about half ready to take the field
when apprised that the Texans were
upon him.
Gen. H. F. Sibley had encounter
ed similar difficulties, save in the
qualities of bis men, in organizing
and arming, in north-western Texas,
the " Sibley Brigade," designed for
the conquest of New Mexico. His
funds were scanty, and the credit of
his Government quite as low as that
depended on by Canby; but the
settled, productive districts of Texas
were not very remote nor inaccessible,
while Canby's soldiers were for weeks
on short allowance, simply because
provisions for their comfortable sub
sistence were not to be had in New
Mexico, nor nearer than Missouri,
then a revolutionary volcano, where
production had nearly ceased. Two
insignificant collisions had taken
place near Fort Craig.12 In the
earlier, a company of New Mexican
volunteers, Capt. Mink, were routed
and pursued by a party of Texans,
who, in their turn, were beaten and
chased away, with considerable loss,
by about 100 regulars from the fort.

10 Feb. 15, 1861.

' Dec. 2, 1861.

" In October, 1861.

22

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

The surviving Texans escaped to
Mesilla; and Canby occupied the
frontier posts so far down as Fort
Staunton, leaving Fort Fillmore still
in the hands of the Texans.
Gen. Sibley, who had hoped to ad
vance in the Autumn of 1861, was
still at Fort Bliss, within the limits
of Texas, on the 1st of January,
1862 ; but moved forward, a few days
thereafter, with 2,300 men, many of
them trained to efficiency in the Mexi
can War and in successive expeditions
against Apaches and other savages,
wherein they had made the name of
" Texan Rangers " a sound of terror
to their foes. For Canby's regulars
and American volunteers, they had
some little respect — for his five or
six thousand New Mexicans, none at
all. Advancing confidently, but
slowly, by way of Fort Thorn, he
found Canby in force at Fort Craig,
which he confronted about the mid
dle of February. A careful recon-
noissance convinced him that it was
madness, with his light field-guns, to
undertake a siege ; while his offer of
battle in the open plain, just outside
the range of the guns of the fort,
was wisely declined. He would not
retreat, and could not afford to re
main, consuming his scanty supplies ;
while to pass the fort without a con
test, leaving a superior force unde-
moralized in his rear, was an experi
ment full of hazard; he therefore
resolved to force a battle, and, with
that view, forded the Rio Grande to
its east bank, passed the fort at a
distance of a mile and a half, and
encamped nearly opposite, in a posi
tion of much strength, but entirely
destitute of water, losing 100 of the
mules of his baggage-train during

the night, by their breaking away, in
the frenzy of their thirst, from the
weary and sleepy guards appointed
to herd them. He was thus compel
led to abandon a part of his wagons
and baggage next morning, as he
started for the river, the smallness of
his force not permitting him to di
vide it in the_ presence of a capable
and vigilant enemy.
When his advance, 250 strong,
under Maj. Pyron, reached, at Yal-
verde, a point, at 8 A. m., where the
river bottom was accessible, fully
seven miles from the fort, they found
themselves confronted by a portion of
our regular cavalry, Lt.-Col. Ro
berts, with two most efficient batte
ries, Capt. McRae and Lt. Hall,
supported by a large force of regular
and volunteer infantry. Our bat
teries opening upon him, Pyron,
greatly outnumbered, recoiled, with
some loss, and our troops exultingly
crossed the river to the east bank,
where a thick wood covered a con
centration ofthe enemy's entire force.
The day wore on, with more noise
than execution, until nearly 2 p. m.,
when Sibley, who had risen from a
sick bed that morning, was compelled
to dismount and quit the field, turn
ing over the command-in-chief to
Col. Thomas Green, of the 5th
Texas, whose regiment had mean
time been ordered to the front. The
battle was continued, mainly with
artillery, wherein the Federal supe-
ljiority, both in guns and in service,
was decided, so that the Texans were
losing the most men in spite of their
comparatively sheltered position. To
protract the fight in this manner was
to expose his men to constant deci
mation without a chance of success.

13 Feb. 19, 1862.

OUR DEFEAT AT VALVERDE.

23

Canby, who had reached the field at
1 p. m., considered the day his own,
and was about to order a general ad
vance, when he found himself antici
pated by Green, at whose' command
his men, armed mainly with revolv
ers, burst from the wooded cover and
leaped over the line of low sand-hills
behind which they had lain, and
made a desperate rush upon McRae's
battery confronting them. Volley
after volley of grape and canister was
poured through .their ranks, cutting
them down by scores, but not for an
instant checking their advance. They
were 1,000 when they started ; a few
minutes later, they were but 900 ;
but the battery was taken ; while Mc
Rae, choosing death rather than
flight, Lieut. Michler, and most of
their men, lay dead beside their guns.
Our supporting infantry, twice or
thrice the Texans in number, and in
cluding more than man for man of
regulars, shamefully withstood every
entreaty to charge. They lay grov
eling in the sand in the rear of the
battery, until the Texans came so
near as to make their revolvers dan
gerous, when the whole herd ran
madly down to and across the river,
save those who were overtaken by a
cowardly death on the way. The
Colorado volunteers vied with the
regulars in this infamous flight.
Simultaneously with this charge in
front, Maj. Raguet, commanding the
Texas left, charged our right at the
head of his cavalry ; but the dispar
ity of numbers was so great that he
was easily repulsed. The defeat of
our center, however, soon altered the
situation ; our admirable guns being
quickly turned upon this portion of
the field, along with those of the
Texans, when a few volleys of small-

arms, and the charging shout of the
victors, sufficed to complete the dis
aster. No part of our army seems to
have stopped to breathe until safe
under the walls of the fort. Six ex
cellent guns, with their entire equi
page, and many small-arms, were
among the trophies secured by the
victors. The losses of men were
about equal — 60 killed and 140
wounded on either side. But among
the Confederate dead or severely
wounded in the decisive charge,
were Lt.-Col. Sutton, Maj. Lockridge,
Capts. Lang and Heurel, and several
lieutenants. Col. W. L. Robards
and Maj. Raguet were also wound
ed, though not mortally. The celer
ity of the flight precluded the taking
of more than half-a-dozen prisoners,
among them Capt. Rossel, of the
regulars, captured while crossing the
river. Fort Craig was still invulnerable ;
though a flag of truce, dispatched by
Canby as he reached its gates, was
fondly mistaken for a time by the
Texans as bearing a proposition to
surrender. It covered an invitation
to a truce for the burial of the dead
and proper care of the wounded, to
which two days were given by both
armies ; when a Rebel council of war
decided that an assault was not justi
fiable, but that they might now safely
leave Canby to his meditations, and
push on up the river into the heart of
the Territory. They did so, as they
anticipated, without further opposi
tion from the force they had so sig
nally beaten. Leaving their wounded
at Socorro, 30 miles on the way, they
advanced to Albuquerque, 50 miles
further, which fell without resistance,
and where their scanty stock of pro
visions was considerably replenished.

24

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

At Cubero, 60 miles westward, they
obtained more provisions and some
ammunition. Still advancing on
Santa Fe, the Confederates encoun
tered," at Canon Glorietta, or Apache
Pass, 15 miles from Santa Fe, near
Fort Union, a new Federal force of
1,300, composed partly of regulars,
but mainly of green Colorado volun
teers, the whole commanded by Col.
John P. Slough. The Rebel force
actually present, under Col. W- R-
Scurry,15 was decidedly inferior in
numbers,18 but in nothing else. The
narrowness of the canon precluded
all flanking, enabhng the Rebels to
span it with a line of infantry, which
instantly charged, with the Texan
yell, revolver and knife in either hand.
Our forces scarcely waited to be in
danger before breaking and flying in
the wildest confusion. > In a few mo
ments, not a man of them remained
in sight of the Rebels.
Scurry halted, re-formed his men,
brought up his guns, and fired a few
shots to ascertain the position (if po
sition they still had) of his adversa
ries, and then ordered Maj. Shrop
shire, with his right, and Maj. Rag
uet, with his left, to charge with cav
alry and develop the new Federal
line, while he would lead forward the
center at the first sound of their guns.
Delay ensuing, he moved to the right
to ascertain its cause, and found that
Shropshire had been killed. Imme
diately taking command of that wing,
he advanced and attacked — the left
opening fire, and the center advanc
ing, as he did so. Three batteries of
8 guns each opened a deadly fire of
grape, canister, and shell, as chey

came within range, tearing through
their ranks, but not stopping their
advance. A short but desperate
hand-to-hand conflict ensued, our in
fantry interposing to protect their
guns, which were saved and brought
off, with most of our wagons. But
our infantry soon gave way, and the
Texan victory was complete. Their
loss was reported by Scurry as 36
killed and 60 wounded; but among
the former were Majors Shropshire
and Raguet, Capt. Buckholt, and
Lt. Mills. During the fight, which
lasted from noon until about 4 p. M.,
Maj. Chivington, of Colorado, with
four companies, gained the rear of
the Rebel position, and destroyed a
part of their train, also a cannon,
which he spiked ; when, learning that
Slough was defeated, he decamped.
Our total loss was reported at 23
killed and 50 wounded ; while in a
skirmish with Pyron's cavalry, the
morning before, Slough took 57 pris
oners, with a loss of only 15.
Sibley entered Santa Fe in triumph
soon afterward, meeting no further
resistance. He collected there all
that remained of his little army, and
confiscated to its use whatever of
provisions and clothing, of wagons
and animals, he could lay hands on.
But he found the population, with
few exceptions, indifferent or hostile,
the resources of food and forage ex
tremely limited, and his hold upon
the country bounded by the range of
his guns. Never had heroic valor
been persistently evinced to less pur
pose. Before he had rested a month,
he found himself compelled to evacu
ate his hard-won conquest, and retreat

14 March 24.
15 Representative from Texas in the XXXIHd
Congress.

10 Col. Scurry, in his official report, de
clares that he had but 600 men present fit for
duty.

THE TEXANS ABANDON NEW MEXIGO.

25

by forced marches to Albuquerque,
his depot, which Canby, advancing
from Fort Craig, was seriously threat
ening. He reached it in time to save
his supplies, but only to realize more
completely the impossibility of attach
ing New Mexico to the Confederacy,
or even of remaining in it. He evac
uated it on the 12th of April, moving
down both banks of the river to Los
Lunal, thence to Peralto on the east
side, where he found Canby looking
for him. Some fighting at long range
ensued, with no serious results; but
Sibley, largely outnumbered, crossed
the river during the night, and pur
sued his retreat down the west bank
next morning, Canby moving almost
parallel with him on the east. The
two armies encamped at evening in
plain sight of each other.
Sibley, in his weakened condition,
evidently did not like this proximity.
"In order," as he says in his re
port, " to avoid the contingency of
another general action in our then
crippled condition," he set his forces
silently in motion Soon after night
fall, not down the river, but over the
trackless mountains, through a des
olate, waterless waste, abandoning
most of his wagons, but packing
seven days' provisions on mules, and
thus giving his adversary the slip.
Dragging his cannon by hand up
and down the sides of most rugged.
mountains, he was ten days in ma
king his way to a point on the river
below, where supplies had been or
dered to meet him, leaving his sick
and wounded in hospitals at Santa
Fe, Albuquerque, and Socorro, to fare
as they might. He naively reports

that " sufficient funds in Confederate
paper was provided them to meet
every want, if it oe negotiated;"
and honors the brothers Raphael
and Manuel Armijo — wealthy native
merchants — who, on his arrival at
Albuquerque, had boldly avowed
their sympathy with the Confederate
cause, and placed stores containing
$200,000 worth of goods at his dis
posal. He states that, when he evac
uated Albuquerque, they abandoned
luxurious homes to identify their
future fortunes with those of the
Southern Confederacy, and consid
erately adds, " I trust they will not
be forgotten in the final settlement."
In closing, Gen. Sibley expresses
the unflattering conviction that, "ex
cept for its political geographical po
sition, the Territory of New Mexico
is not worth a quarter of the blood
expended in its conquest ;" and inti
mates that his soldiers would deci
dedly object to returning to that
inhospitable, undesirable country.
These and kindred considerations
had induced his return to Fort Bliss,
Texas, and now impelled him to
meditate a movement without orders
still further down the country.
Col. Canby wisely declined to run
a race of starvation across those des
olate mountains, in the rear of the
flying foe, but returned to Santa F6,
whence his order, of even date " with
Sibley's official report, claims that
the latter had been "compelled to
abandon a country he had en
tered to conquer and occupy, leav
ing behind him, in dead and wound
ed, and in sick and prisoners, one-
half of his original force."

' May 4, 1862.

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

II.
MISSOURI— ARKANSAS.

Geit. Steeling Peice was a good
deal less indignant than any Union
ist at the unaccountable desertion1 ®f
south-western Missouri by the new
Union commander, directly on the
heels of Fremont's triumphant and
unresisted advance, when assured
that his scouts were not mistaken in
reporting the evacuation of Spring
field and retreat to Rolla, by an army
which he would not have dared to
attack. He gradually retraced his
steps from the Arkansas border, en
tering Springfield in triumph, and
subsequently advancing to Osceola,
on the Osage, thence pushing forward
his forces unresisted over the greater
part of southern and western Mis
souri, occupying in force Lexington
and other points on the great river,
where Slavery and Rebellion were
strong, and subsisting his army on
the State from which they might and
should have been excluded. The
village of Warsaw was burned,2 and
Platte City partially so,3 by Rebel
incendiaries or guerrillas ; and there
were insignificant combats at Salem,4
Rogers' Mill,6 near Glasgow, Potosi,
Lexington, Mount Zion,0 near Stur
geon, and some other points, at which
the preponderance of advantage was
generally on the side of the Unionists.
Even in North Missouri, nearly a
hundred miles of the railroad crossing
that section was disabled and in good
part destroyed T by a concerted night
foray of guerrillas. Gen. Halleck

1 Nov. 2-15, 1861. See Vol. I., pages 593-4.
' Nov. 19, 1861. 3 Dec. 16.

thereupon issued an order, threaten
ing to shoot any Rebel caught bridge-
burning within the Union lines — a
threat which the guerrillas habitually
defied, and President Lincoln declined
to make good.
Gen. John Pope, commanding the
district of Central Missouri, having
collected and equipped an adequate
force, at length demonstrated 8 against
the Rebels occupying Lexington, un
der Rains and Stein, compelling them
to abandon the line of the Missouri,
and retreat southward. Having, by
forced marches and his strength in
cavalry, gained a position between
them and their base at Osceola, he
forced them to a hurried flight; with
the loss of nearly 300 prisoners and
most of their baggage, including 70
wagons laden with clothing and sup
plies for Price, who lay at Osceola
with 8,000 men. Meantime, a de
tachment of Pope's forces, under Col.
Jeff. C. Davis, surprised" a Rebel
camp at Milford, not far from War-
rensburg, and compelled its surrender
at discretion. Three colonels, 17
captains, over 1,000 prisoners, 1,000
stand of arms, 1,000 horses, and an
abundance of tents, baggage, and
supplies, were among the trophies of
this easy triumph. Pope's losses in
these operations scarcely exceeded
100 men; while his prisoners alone
were said to be 2,500. Among them
was Col. Magoffin, brother of the
late Governor of Kentucky.

4 Dec. 3.
7 Dec. 20.

' Dec. 7.
' Dec. 15.

* Dec. 28.
' Dec. 18.

SIGEL'S- RETREAT FROM BENTONTILLE.

27

Price, thus roughly handled before
he had been able to concentrate his
forces, did not choose to risk a general
engagement. He retreated rapidly
through Springfield and Cassville,
closely pursued, and fighting at inter
vals, until he had crossed the Arkan
sas line, forming a junction, soon
afterward, near Boston Mountains,
with Gen. Ben McCulloch, command
ing a division of Texas and Arkansas
Confederates, thus raising his entire
force to a number fully equal with
that which had so keenly pursued
him, which was now commanded
by Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, of Iowa,
and which, after continuing the pur
suit down to Fayetteville, Arkansas,
had retraced its steps to and halted
at Sugar creek, not far over the
State line. Meantime, Price was
joined10 and backed by Earl Yan
Dorn, late a captain " of U. S. regu
lars, now Confederate major-general,
commanding the Trans-Mississippi
department, and by Gen. Albert
Pike, of Arkansas, heading a consid
erable brigade of Indians, swelling
the numbers of the Rebels to about
20,000. Yan Dorn promptly resolved to
give battle, and to fight it in such
manner that the defeat of the Union
ists should involve their destruction.
Advancing rapidly from his camp at
Cross Hollows, covering Fayetteville,
he struck at ia the division of Gen.
Franz Sigel, holding Bentonville, the
extreme advance of the Union posi
tion, 8 or 10 miles southwest from
Gen. Curtis's center, near Mottsville,
on the direct road from Fayetteville
to Springfield. This attempt to iso
late, overwhelm, and crush Sigel was
baffled by the coolness and skill of

that general. Sending his train
ahead under escort, he covered its
retreat with his best battery and in
fantry, planting his guns on each
favorable position, and pouring grape
and shell into the pursuing masses,
until their advance was arrested and
disorganized, when he would limber
up and fall back to the next eleva
tion or turn in the road, where he
would renew the dispensation of
grape with like results, then con
cede another half-mile, and repeat the
operation. Thus fighting and falling
back, he wore out the day and the
distance, repelling his foes, who at
times enveloped his flanks as well as
his rear, with a loss of less than 100
men, a good part of these from the
2d Missouri, Col. Schaefer, who, mis
taking an order, had left Bentonville
considerably in advance, and who
fell into an ambuscade by the way.
Before 4 p. m., Sigel was met by re-
enforcements sent him by Gen. Cur
tis, when the pursuit was arrested,
and he deliberately encamped near
Leetown, across Sugar creek, and in
close proximity to General Curtis's
center position. Pea Ridge is the
designation ofthe elevated table-land,
broken by ravines, and filling a large
bend of Sugar creek, on which the
ensuing battle was fought.
Gen. Curtis, knowing himself
largely outnumbered by the motley
host collected to overwhelm him,
had chosen a very strong position on
which to concentrate his retreating
force, provided the Rebels would at
tack it in front, as he expected. The
country being generally wooded, he
had obstructed most of the lateral
roads with fallen trees ; while his ar
tillery and infantry, well posted and

1 March 3, 1862.

11 See page 18.

12 March 6.

28

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

strongly intrenched, were prepared
to give the foe the warmest kind of re
ception as he advanced against them
up the main road, leading from Texas
through Fayetteville northward to
Keytesville and Springfield. But
Yan Dorn perceived neither the ne
cessity nor the wisdom of running
into such a trap. Advancing from
Fayetteville obliquely by way of
Bentonville, and chasing Sigel off
the direct road from the latter to
Keytesville upon the cross-road that
passes through the little village of
Leetown and intersects the Fayette
ville road at Elkhorn Tavern, he dili
gently improved the night following
Sigel's retreat in placing his entire
army along the road from Benton
ville toward Keytesville, on the flank
and in the rear of his foe; so that
all Curtis's elaborate preparations to
receive him on the Fayetteville road
went for nothing.
Curtis woke late on the morning
of the 7th to a realizing sense of his
critical condition, with a far more
numerous foe practicably between
him and his resources, rendering re
treat ruinous, and compelling him to
. fight the Rebels on the ground they
had chosen, which proffered him no
advantage, and with which their
guides were far more familiar than
his. But every moment's delay must
necessarily be improved by Yan Dorn
in making matters worse ; so Curtis
promptly changed front to rear, mak
ing the first and second divisions, un
der Sigel and Asboth, his left, the
third, under Jeff. C. Davis, his center,
and the fourth, Col. Carr, his right.
The line thus formed stretched about
three miles, from Sugar creek,
through Leetown, to Elkhorn Tav
ern ; of the Rebel line confronting it,

Price, with his Missourians, formed
the right ; Mcintosh was in the cen
ter, and McCulloch on the left.
The dispositions being made, at 10|
o'clock, Osterhaus was directed by
Curtis to advance, supporting his
cavalry and light artillery, and open
the ball; while, at nearly the same
moment, McCulloch fell with over
whelming force upon Carr's division
at and near Elkhorn Tavern. A
broad, deep ravine, known as Cross-
Timber Hollow, but termed in some
reports Big Sugar creek, rendered
almost impassable by a windfall of
heavy timber, crossed the battle-field,
severing the lines of either army, but
especially those of the Rebels.
Osterhaus advanced with great gal
lantry from Leetown nearly to the
Bentonville road, on which he found
the enemy moving rapidly in great
force toward Elkhorn Tavern, where
McCulloch's attack upon Carr was
already in progress. Assailed in turn
by greatly superior numbers, he was
soon driven back in disorder, with
the loss of his battery. Col. Davis,
who had been ordered by Curtis to
support Carr, was now directed to
advance through Leetown to the res
cue of Osterhaus, which he did with
such vigor and determination that,
though largely outnumbered and re
peatedly compelled to recoil, his divi
sion held the ground assigned them,
losing two guns of Davidson's bat
tery by the sudden advance of the
enemy when their horses were disa
bled, but regaining them by a des
perate charge of the 18th Indiana,
which, with the 22d, was honorably
conspicuous throughout the day. Col.
Hendricks, of the 22d, was killed
while leading a charge of his regi
ment Night closed on this division.

THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE.

29

CREEV-

sinking weary but undaunted on the
field it had so nobly won — a field red
dened by the blood of many of their
foes, including Gens. McCulloch and
Mcintosh, both mortally wounded.
Carr was so fearfully overmatched
throughout the day that, though al
ways presenting a bold front to the
enemy, he was compelled to give
ground, sending repeated and urgent
representations to Gen. Curtis that
he could hold out but little longer
unless reenforced. Curtis sent him
from time to time a battalion or a
few Hght guns, with orders to perse
vere ; and at length, at 2 p. m., find
ing his left wholly un assailed, ordered
Gen. Asboth to move to the right
by the Fayetteville road to Elkhorn
Tavern, to support Carr, while Gen.
Sigel should reenforce Davis at Lee
town, pushing on to Elkhorn if not
needed in the center.
Gen. Curtis, with Asboth's divi
sion, reached Elkhorn at 5 p. m. He

found Carr still fiercely fighting, hav
ing received three or four shots, one
of which inflicted a severe wound.
Many of his field officers had fallen,
with about one-fourth of his entire
command. He had been seven hours
under fire, during which he had been
forced back about half a mile. As
Curtis came up, he saw the 4th Iowa
faihng back in perfect order, dressing
on their colors as if on parade, and
ordered it to face about. Col. Dodge
explained that it was entirely out of
ammunition, and was only retiring to
refill its cartridge-boxes. Curtis or
dered a bayonet-charge, and the regi
ment at once moved steadily back to
its former position.
Meantime, Gen. Asboth had plant
ed his artillery in the road and open
ed a heavy fire on the Rebel masses
just at hand, while, of his infantry,
the 2d Missouri plunged into the
fight. The fire on both sides was
close and deadly. Gen. Asboth was

30

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

severely wounded, Gen. Curtis's or
derly was hit, and one of his body
guard fell dead. As the shades of
night fell, a messenger from Sigel
gave tidings that he was coming up
on the left, and would soon open fire.
Asboth's batteries fell back, being
out of ammunition, and the Rebels
were enabled to fire the last shot. A
little after dark, both armies sank
down on the battle-field, and slept
amid the dead and the dying.
Curtis, finding that Yan Dorn had
concentrated all his forces on this
point, directed Davis to withdraw all
Ms reserve frojn the center, and move
forward to the ground on Carr's left,
which was effected by midnight.
Sigel, though he had reported him
self just at hand at dark, was obliged
to make a detour, and did not reach
headquarters till 2 a. m.
Yan Dorn slept that night at the
Elkhorn Tavern, from which he had
dislodged Davis by such desperate
efforts.13 He had thus far been fight
ing a part of our forces with all of his
own, and had only gained ground
where his preponderance of numbers
was overwhelming. Curtis reports
his entire command in Arkansas at
10,500, cavalry and infantry — of
whom 250 were absent after forage
throughout the battle — and 48 pieces
of artillery. He estimates the Rebel
force in battle at 30,000, including
5,000 Indians.14 Pollard says, " Yan
Dorn's whole force was about 16,000
men." But now our whole army was

in hand, while at least a third of it
had not yet fired a shot. Not a man
in our ranks doubted that our vic
tory must be speedy as well as de
cisive. The sun rose ; Gen. Curtis awaited
the completion of his line of battle
by Asboth's and Sigel's divisions get
ting into position ; but no shot was
fired by the enemy. At length, Cur
tis ordered Col. Davis, in our center,
to begin the day's work. He was
instantly replied to from new bat
teries and lines which the Rebels had
prepared during the night, some of
the batteries raking our right wing
so that it was constrained to fall back
a little, but without slackening its
fire. Asboth's and Sigel's divisions
were soon in position, completing our
line of battle a little to the rear of
the first, but without a break, and
much of it on open ground, our left
wing extended so that it could not be
flanked. Gen. Curtis ordered his
right to advance to the positions held
the night before, and, finding him
self an elevation on the extreme
right, considerably in advance, which
commanded the enemy's center and
left, here posted the Dubuque bat
tery, directing the right wing to ad
vance to its support, while Capt.
Hayden opened from it a most gall
ing fire. Returning to the center,
he directed the 1st Iowa battery,
Capt. David, to take position in an
open field and commence operations ;
and so battery after battery opened

18 Pollard says, " We had taken during the
day 1 cannon and about 200 prisoners."
14 The Richmond Whig of April 9th, 1862, has
a Rebel letter from one present to Hon. G. G.
Vest, which says :
" When the enemy left Cove creek, which is
south of Boston Mountain, Gens. Price, McCul
loch, Pike, and Mcintosh seemed, to think— at

least camp-talk amongst officers high in com
mand so represented — that our united forces
would carry into action nearly 30,000 men,
more frequently estimated at 35,000 than a lower
figure. I believe Gen. Van Dorn was confident
that not a man less than 25,000 were panting to
follow his victorious plume to a, field where
prouder honors awaited them than any he had
yet gathered." •

VAN DORN RETIRES FROM PEA RIDGE.

31

fire, the infantry moving steadily to
their support, while the left wing
was pushed rapidly forward, climb
ing a low cliff from which the Rebels
had been driven by our guns, and
crowding them back into the deep
ravines of Cross-Timber Hollow.
The 36th Hlinois was prominent in
this movement ; while the 12th Mis
souri, pushing into the enemy's lines,
captured a flag and two guns.
The flight ofthe Rebels was so sud
den and swift,, and the ravines where
in they disappeared so impracticable
for cavalry, that our commanders
were for some time at fault in the
pursuit. Gen. Sigel pushed north on
the Keytesville road, where but few
of them had gone ; and it was not
till afternoon that Gen. Curtis ascer
tained that, after entering the Hol
low, the main Rebel force had turn
ed to the right, following obscure
ravines which led into the Hunts-
ville road, on which they escaped.
Col. Bussey, with our cavalry and
howitzers, followed them beyond
Bentonville.16 Gen. Curtis reports his entire loss
in the battle at 1,351, of whom 701
— more than half — were of Col.
Carr's division. The Rebel loss can
hardly have been less ; since, in ad
dition to Gens. Ben McCulloch and
Mcintosh killed, Gens. Price and
Slack were wounded.
The victory at Pea Ridge was un

mistakably ours, but the trophies
were not abundant. No cannon, nor
caissons, nor prisoners of any account,
save a few too severely wounded to
hobble off, were taken ; and, though
a letter to The New York Herald,
written from the battle-field on the
9th, speaks of " a considerable quan
tity of wagons, supplies, etc., a load
of powder, and nearly a thousand
stand of arms," as captured by Sigel
during his pursuit of the fugitives
upon the Keytesville road, they do
not figure in either of Sigel's official
reports of the battle, nor yet in those
of Curtis. The beaten Confederates,
fleeing with celerity in different di
rections and by many paths, finally
came together in the direction of
Bentonville, some 8 miles from the
Elkhorn Tavern, whence Yan Dorn
dispatched a flag of truce to Curtis,
soliciting an arrangement for bury
ing the dead, which was accorded.
Pollard makes a scarcity of ammu
nition a main reason for Yan Dorn's
retreat, and it is probable that neither
army was well supplied with car
tridges at the close of this protracted
though desultory struggle. He adds
that " Gen. Curtis was forced to fall
back into Missouri," and that the
" total abandonment of their enter
prise of subjugation in Arkansas is
the most conclusive evidence in the
world that the Federals were worsted
by Gen. Yan Dorn;" but fails to

16 Pollard says :
" About 91 o'clock, Van Dorn had completed
his arrangements to withdraw his forces. Find
ing that his right wing was much disorganized,
and that the batteries were, one after another,
retiring from the field, with every shot expend
ed, he had determined to withdraw his forces in
the direction of their supplies. This was ac
complished with almost perfect success. The
ambulances, crowded with the wounded, were
sent in advance ; a portion of McCulloch's di

vision was placed in position to follow; while
Gen. Van Dorn so disposed of his remaining
force as best to deceive the enemy as to his in
tention, and to hold him in check while execu
ting it. An attempt was made by the enemy to
follow the retreating column. It was effectually
checked, however; and, about 2 p.m., the Con
federates encamped about six miles from the
field of battle, all the artillery and baggage
joining the army in safety. They brought away
from the field of battle 300 prisoners, 4 cannon,
and 3 baggage-wagons."

82

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

mention the fact that.the Confederate
army was also compelled to fall back
to a region less wasted and exhaust
ed than that which for many miles
surrounded the well-fought field of
Pea Ridge.
As this was the only important
battle in which ' Indians ' in consid
erable numbers took part, and as
they were all found fighting — or,
more strictly, yelling — on the side of
the Confederacy, a few words of ex
planation may be pertinent.
We have seen 10 that the important
aboriginal tribes known to us as
Creeks and Cherokees, holding from
time immemorial extensive and de
sirable territories, mainly within the
States of North Carolina and Georgia,
but extending also into Tennessee
and Alabama, were constrained to
surrender those lands to the lust of
the neighboring Whites, and migrate
across the Mississippi, at the in
stance of the State authorities, re
sisted, in obedience to treaties, by
President John Quincy Adams, and
succumbed to, in defiance of treaties
and repeated judgments of the Su
preme Court, by President Andrew
Jackson. They were located, with
some smaller tribes, in a region lying
directly westward of Arkansas and
north of the Red river, to which the
name of Indian Territory was given,
and which, lying between the 34th
and 37th parallels of North latitude,
and well watered by the Arkansas
and several affluents of that and of
Red river, was probably as genial
and inviting as any new region to
which they could have been transfer
red. Yet, though their removal had
been effected nearly a quarter of a

century, it is certain that the mass of
the Indians there collected still re
garded with just indignation the
wrongs they had experienced, remem
bering fondly the pleasant streams
and valleys of the lower Alleghanies,
from which they had been forcibly
and wrongfully expelled. But their
Chiefs had been early corrupted in
their old homes, by the example and
practice among their White neigh
bors of slaveholding — a practice novel
indeed, but eminently congenial to
the natural indolence and pride of
the savage character. They, conse
quently, adhered to it in their new
location; and, since to hold slaves
was a proof of wealth and import
ance, nearly every one who by any
means obtained property, exchanged
a part of it for one or more negroes ;
who, if they did not by labor increase
his wealth, were certain, by flattery
and servility, to magnify his conscious
importance. Thus thoroughly satu
rated with the virus of slaveholding,
the most civilized Indian tribes fell-
an easy prey to the arts of the Con
federate emissaries. The agents
through whom they received their
annuities and transacted most of their
business with the Federal Govern
ment, had nearly always been Demo
cratic politicians — of course, pro-Sla
very, and generally Southern — and
for the last eight years emphatically so.
These agents had little difficulty, at
the outset of the Rebellion, in per
suading their Chiefs that the old
Union was irrecoverably destroyed;
that' it was scarcely probable that an
effort would be made to restore it ;
and that, at all events, their interests
and their safety dictated an alliance
with that Confederacy which was

' See VoL I., pages. 102-6.

THE WAR AMONG THE INDIANS.

33

their immediate neighbor, and of
which the conservation and perpetu
ity of slaveholding was the most
cherished idea. Some of those Chiefs
have since insisted that they were
deceived by the Confederate emissa
ries, and especially by Gen. Albert
Pike, chief Commissioner for Indian
Affairs of the Confederacy, who had
led them to confound that concern
with the Union. What is certain is,
that, directly after tidings reached
them of the battles of Bull Run and
Wilson's creek — the latter reported
to them from that side as a complete
discomfiture of the North, which
view the undoubted death of Lyon
and abandonment of Springfield tend
ed strongly to corroborate — the Chiefs
of most of the tribes very generally
entered into a close offensive and de
fensive alliance with the Confeder
acy; even so cautious and politic a
diplomatist as John Ross throwing
his weight into that scale. It is said
that, after the death of Lyon, Ben
McCulloch's brigade of Texans was
marched back to the Indian border,
and that the Creeks and Cherokees
were impressively required to decide
quickly between the North and the
South; else, betwixt Texas on the one
side and Arkansas on the other, a
force of 20,000 Confederates would
speedily ravage and lay waste their
country. They decided accordingly.
Yet a very large minority of both
Creeks and Cherokees rallied around
the Chief Opothleyolo, made head
against the current, and stood firm
for the Union. Assembling near the
Creek Agency, they tore down the
Rebel flag'there flying and replanted
the Stars and Stripes; and a letter"
from CoL Mcintosh to the True Dem

ocrat1* called loudly for reenforce-
ments to the Rebel array in the In
dian Territory, and expressed appre
hension that the Northern party
might prove the stronger. A battle
between the antagonistic Indian
forces took place Dec. 9th, 1861, on
Bushy creek, near the Yerdigris
river, 180 miles west of Fort Smith,
the Confederates being led by CoL
Cooper, the Unionists by Opothleyolo.
The result was not decisive, but the
advantage appears to have been with
the Rebel party, the Unionists being
constrained soon after to make their
way northward to Kansas, where they
received the supplies they so much
needed, and where a treaty of close
alliance was negotiated18 between
Opothleyolo and his followers on one
side, and CoL Dole, U. S. Commis
sioner of Indian Affairs, on the other.
The Rebels were thus left in un
disputed possession of the Indian
Territory, from which they collected
the four or five thousand warriors
who appeared at Pea Ridge; but,
though the ground was mainly bro
ken and wooded, affording every fa
cility for irregular warfare, they do
not seem to have proved of much
account, save in the consumption
of rations and massacre of the
Union wounded, of whom at least
a score fell victims to their barbar
ities. Their war-whoop was over
borne by the roar of our heavy
guns ; they were displeased with the
frequent falling on their heads of
great branches and tops of the trees
behind which they had sought shelter;
and, in fact, the whole conduct of
the battle on our part was, to their ap
prehension, disgusting. The amount
of effort and of profanity expended

" Oct. 17, 186L » Little Rock, Arkansas. " At Leavenworth, Feb. 1, 1862.
VOL. n.— 3

34

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

by their White officers in trying to
keep them in line at the front, prob
ably overbalanced the total value of
. their services ; so that, if they chose
to depart for their homes soon after
the close of the battle, it is not prob
able that any strenuous efforts were
made to detain them.20

Gen. Curtis, after resting and re
fitting his army, finding no enemy in
its vicinity, again put his column in
motion, proceeding S. S. E. through
north-western Arkansas to Bates-
ville,21 on White river, near which
point he had expected to meet gun
boats with supplies from below. He
found the river, however, at an un
usually low stage for the season —
barely four feet ; while the gunboats
required six or seven ; beside which,
the Mound City, which attempted
the ascent, had been resisted and
blown up in a fight with the Rebel
battery at St. Charles some days be
fore. Being compelled, therefore, to
depend for all his supplies on wagon-
trains from Rolla, Mo., now several
hundred miles distant, he did not feel
strong enough to advance on Little
Rock, the capital of Arkansas, nearly
100 miles S. S. W. from his present
position. Having halted seven weeks,
wholly unmolested, at Batesville, he
again set forth," crossing the Big
Black by a pontoon-bridge, and pur
suing a southerly course through a

generally swampy, wooded, and thin
ly settled country, where none but
negroes made any professions of
Unionism, and, being joined at Jack-
sonport23 by Gen. C. C. Washburne,
with the 3d Wisconsin cavalry, which
had come through from Springfield
alone and unassailed, proceeded to
Augusta, where he took leave24 of the
White, and, assuming a generally S.
W. direction, took his way across the
cypress swamps and canebrakes of
the Cache, where his advance (the
33d Illinois, Col. Hovey), which had
been struggling over roads heavily
obstructed by fallen trees, was at
tacked20 by some 1,500 Rebel cavalry,
mainly Texans, led by Gen. Albert
Rust, who held him in check for an
hour, until he was joined by the 1st
Indiana cavalry, Lt.-Col. Wood, with
two howitzers, when an impetuous
charge was made by the Indianians,
whereby the enemy were routed and
put to flight. The bodies of 110 dead
Rebels were buried by our soldiers,
whose loss was but 8 killed and 45
wounded, including Maj. Glenden-
nin, who led the charge, receiving a
shot in the breast, which proved mor
tal. The Rebels were satisfied with
this experiment, and gave no further
trouble. Gen. Curtis again struck20 White
river at Clarendon, just below the
mouth of the Cache, only to learn,
with intense chagrin, that Col. Fitch,

™ Pollard says:
" The Indian regiments, under Gen. Pike, had
not come up in time to take any important part
in the battle. Some of the red men behaved
well, and a portion of them assisted in taking a
battery; but they were difficult to manage in
the deafening roar of artillery, to which they
were unaccustomed, and were naturally amazed
at the sight of guns that ran on wheels. They
knew what to do with the rifle ; they were ac
customed to the sounds of battle as loud as their
own war-whoop ; and the amazement of these

simple children of the forest may be imagined at
the sight of such roaring, deafening, crashing
monsters as 12-pounders running around on
wheels. Gen. Van Dorn, in his official report
of the battle, does not mention that any assist
ance was derived from the Indians — an ally that
had, perhaps, cost us much more trouble, ex
pense, and annoyance than their services in
modern warfare could, under any circumstances,
be worth."
21 Arriving there May 6.
23 June 25. » July 4,

1 July 1.

"June 24.
86 July 9.

SCHOFIELD AND MoNEIL HOLD MISSOURI.

35

with the expected gunboats and
transports, had gone down the river
barely 24 hours previous. Being
short of provisions, in a thoroughly
inhospitable country, he had no choice
but to make his way to the most ac
cessible point on the Mississippi.
This was Helena, 65 miles S. E.,
which was made27 by Gen. Wash
burne, with 2,500 cavalry and 5 how
itzers, in a march of 24 hours, the
infantry coming through during the
two following days, bringing about
half a regiment of white Arkansas
volunteers, with a large number of
negroes, who, having been employed
to block the roads in our front hj
felling trees across them, were entitled
to hberty and protection under the
regnant military policy. A single
train of 40 wagons, laden with sup
phes, being. wholly unguarded, was
captured by Rebel guerrillas in Mis
souri, within 30 miles of Rolla, its
starting-point.

Gen. John M. Schofield had at an
early day 2S been placed by Gen. Hal
leck in command of all the Missouri
militia — a force then visible only to
the eye of faith. By the middle of
April following, he had an array of
^.3,800 men in the field, mainly cav
alry ; to which was intrusted the de
fense of the State, while our other
troops were drawn away to Arkan
sas and the Tennessee. Gen. Curtis's
movements eastward toward the Mis
sissippi opened the State to incur
sions from the Rebels, still in force
in western Arkansas ; while consider-
ble numbers of Price's men were
clandestinely sent home to enlist re
cruits and organize guerrilla bands for
activity during the summer. Scho

field persisted in enrolling and organ
izing militia until he had 50,900 men
on his lists, of whom about 30,000
were armed. Upon full considera
tion, he decided to enroll only loyal
men, since passive were often con
verted into active Rebels by a re
quirement to serve in the Union
forces. He had 20,000 men ready
for service, when, late in July, 1862,
the tidings of McClellan's disastrous
failure before Richmond combined
with other influences to fill the
interior of the State with formid
able bands of Rebel partisans. Of
these, Col. Porter's, two or three
thousand strong, was attacked2' at
Kirksville, Adair County, by Col.
John McNeil, with 1,000 cavalry
and a battery of 6 guns, and, after a
desperate fight of four hours, utterly
defeated, with a loss of 180 killed
and 500 wounded. Several wagon-
loads of arms were among the spoils
of victory, and Porter's force was
by this defeat practically destroyed.
McNeil's loss was reported at 28
killed and 60 wounded.
Four days thereafter, Col. Poin-
dexter's band of about 1,200 Rebels
was attacked, while crossing the
Chariton river, by Col. Odin Guitar,
9th militia cavalry, 600 men, with 2
guns, and thoroughly routed ; many
of the Rebels being driven into the
river and drowned. "Many horses
and arms, and all their spare ammu
nition and other supplies, were cap-
tared." 30 Poindexter, with what re
mained of his force, fled northward
to join Porter ; but was intercepted
and driven back by another Union
foyce under Gen. Ben. Loan, and
again struck by Guitar; ^ho, in a
running fight of nearly. 48 hours,

'July 11.

! Nov. 27, 1861.

' Aug 6, 1862. M Gen. Sohofield's official report.

36

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

killed, captured, or dispersed his
entire command. Poindexter, after
wandering alone through the woods
for several days, was made a pris
oner ; and Porter, driven back upon
McNeil by the same movement of
Gen. Loan, was compelled to disperse
his band to save it from destruction.
This was the last appearance of the
Rebels in formidable force northward
of the Missouri river ; though small
bands of guerrillas continued to
plunder and murder there, as else
where, for more than a year.
Independence, on the western bor
der of the State, was about this time
attacked31 by a Rebel band of 500 to
800, under Col. Hughes ; and its gar
rison, 312 men of the 7th Missouri
cavalry, was surrendered by Lt.-Col.
Buel, after a short resistance. Gen.
Coffey, with 1,500 Rebel cavalry from
Arkansas, early in August, invaded
south-western Missouri, and, avoid
ing Springfield, moved rapidly north
ward. Col. Clark Wright, 6th Mis
souri cavalry, was sent with 1,200
men in pursuit; Gen. Totten being
directed by Schofield to strike the
band which had just captured Inde
pendence, before it could be joined
by Coffey; while Gen. Blunt, com
manding in Arkansas, was requested
to send a force from Fort Scott, to
cooperate in cutting off Coffey's re
treat ; and Col. Fitz-Henry Warren,
1st Iowa cavalry, was dispatched from
Clinton with 1,500 men to effect a
junction with Maj. Foster ; who, with
the 7th militia cavalry, 800 strong,
had been pushed out from Lexington
by Totten, in quest of Hughes.
These combinations upon our side
failed most signally. Coffey and
Hughes united their forces and fought

31 Aug. n.

Maj. Foster at Lone Jack, Jackson
county, wounded and defeated him,
with the loss of his two guns, and
compelled him to fall back to Lex
ington, upon which place Coffey was
advancing with an army now aug
mented to 4,500 men ; when, finding
that Gen. Blunt was in strong force,
threatening his line of retreat, while
Loan's and Wright's and other com
mands were concentrating upon him
from every direction, he relinquished
the hope of capturing Lexington and
relieving the Rebels north of the
river, and turned to fly. Eluding
Gen. Blunt in the night, he was hotly
pursued to the Arkansas line, but
escaped without serious disaster.
Gen. Schofield was soon after32 su
perseded in the command of the de
partment, by Gen. Curtis, but imme
diately placed at the head of the
forces confronting the enemy in the
south-west, where the Rebels, now
led by Gen. T. C. Hindman,33 were
threatening a fresh invasion. Setting
forward from Springfield34 to Sarcoxie
to reconnoiter the enemy's position,
Gen. Salomon's advance had been
overwhelmed at Newtonia by a large
body of Rebel cavalry. Salomon had
thereupon moved forward to their
support, and renewed the battle aft
noon; fighting until sunset without
serious loss,ultimately retiring in good
order from the field. He estimated his
strength at 4,500, and the enemy's in
his front at 7,000. Gen. Schofield,
being reenforced by Gen. Blunt from
Arkansas, found himself at the head
of 10,000 men ; while the Rebels at
Newtonia were estimated at 13,000
to 20,000. He resolved to advance
that night and attack at daylight
next morning ; Gen. Blunt approach-

Sept. 24.

1 Late M. C. from Arkansas.

34 Oct. 1.

GEN. SCHOFIELD ADVANCES INTO ARKANSAS.

37

ing Newtonia from the north and
west, and Gen. Totten from the east.
He found, on coming up, that the
enemy had sent their baggage to the
rear, and were preparing to retreat.
Immediately charging with cavalry
and artillery, the Rebels fled without
resistance, and were chased 30 miles
into Arkansas. It appeared that,
though in great numbers, they were
badly armed, many of them not at
all ; having been sorely disappointed
by the capture of a vessel laden with
arms for their use on the Mississippi
some time previously. Schofield
pressed on" to the old battle-ground
of Pea Ridge, only to find the ene
my's forces divided: a part, under
Cooper, having moved westward to
ward Maysville, with intent to oper
ate on our communications with Fort
Scott, while the main body had re
treated south-westerly toward Hunts-
ville, leaving two or three thousand
cavalry in our front to screen these
movements. Gen. Blunt was there
upon sent after Cooper ; and, after a
hard night's march, found him in
camp near Maysville, and at once at
tacked, capturing his 4 guns and
completely routing his command.
The Rebels fled in disorder across
the Arkansas to Fort Gibson. Their
loss in material would have been
greater had they had more to lose.
Gen. Schofield, with the residue of
his army, made a forced march over
White River Mountains, to a point 8
miles west of Huntsville, where Rains
had encamped the day before. His
advance was next morning pushed
forward into Huntsville, whence a
few Rebel cavalry fled at his ap
proach. ' He here learned that Rains
was retreating across the mountains

to Ozark, resolved not to fight until
reenforcements should arrive, and
that further pursuit would be useless;
so he retraced his steps, via Benton
ville, to Cross Hollows and Osage
Springs, sending Gen. Herron, with
the 1st Iowa and 7th militia cavalry,
about 1,000 in all, to attack in the
rear some 3,000 or 4,000 Rebel cav
alry who were encamped on White
river, 8 miles from Fayetteville ; while
Gen. Totten, advancing via Fayette
ville, was to assail them in front.
Gen. Herron reached their camp at
early dawn,30 and immediately at
tacked with such vigor that the
Rebels, though in superior numbers,
fled rapidly into the mountains, with
the loss of their camp equipage. Gen.
Totten did not arrive till after they
had vanished. Gen. Schofield found
no further enemies within striking
distance, until compelled by sickness
to resign his command,31 leaving Mis
souri substantially pacified.
But Gen. Hindman, commanding
the Confederate forces in Arkansas,
was not disposed to rest satisfied with
such a conclusion of the campaign.
Having collected, by concentration
and conscription, a force estimated
by our officers in his front at 25,000
to 30,000 men — while he officially re
ports that, for want of stores, etc., he
was able to take on this expedition
but 9,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and
his artillery — he crossed the Arkan
sas river at or near Yan Buren, and
advanced upon our scattered and nu
merically far inferior division, which
was watching him from the neigh
borhood of the last conflict. It was
now December ; but the weather was
clear and dry, and the days bright
and warm, though the nights were

35 Oct 11.

1 Oct 28.

' Nov. 20.

38

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

chilly ; while the roads were in good
condition. Gen. Blunt, commanding
the 1st division, in good part of Kan
sas troops, numbering about 5,000
men, was at Cane Hill, or Boones-
borough, some 10 miles north-west of
Yan Buren, and 18 south-west of
Fayetteville, when he was apprised
of this advance,39 with one of his
three brigades (Gen. Salomon's), pro
tecting his trains at Rhea's Mills, 8
miles north. Determined not to be
driven out of Arkansas, he tele
graphed in various directions for
Gen. Herron, commanding the 2d
and 3d divisions, now in Missouri,
and left subject to his orders by Gen.
Schofield's departure; and attempted,
by showing a bold front and direct
ing his cavalry to skirmish sharply
with the Rebel vanguard, to delay
Hindman's advance until Herron
could reach him. Blunt's dispatch
found S9 that able and earnest leader
at Wilson's creek, some 10 miles
south of Springfield, but with most
of his command from 10 to 20 miles
nearer the Arkansas line. Within
three hours, his divisions were in mo
tion southerly, making marches of
fully 20 miles per day, with all their
guns and trains. Having reached
Elkhorn,40 he dispatched Col. Wick-
ersham, with his 3,000 cavalry, to
the more immediate relief of Blunt ;
and pushing on to Fayetteville,
marching all night, he entered that
place at 4 A. m., on Sunday morning,
Dec. 7th. Impressed with the peril

88 Dec. 2. MDec. 3. 4° On the evening of the 5th.
41 Gen. Herron, in a private letter to a friend
at Dubuque, Iowa, dated Dec. 16, says:
"For four miles, we fought their cavalry, dri
ving them back to Illinois creek, where I found
their whole force strongly posted on a long
ridge, with magnificent positions for batteries.
For one mile in front, it was clear ground, and
my road lay right in the center of their line.

of Blunt, he rested his men but an
hour or so before putting his column
again in motion, and had proceeded
but 5 or 6 miles when his advance
was met by the 1st Arkansas and
7th Missouri (Union) cavalry, being a
part of those he had dispatched from
Elkhorn to the aid of Blunt, who had
just before been attacked and thrown
into great disorder by Marmaduke's
Rebel cavalry, forming the vanguard
of Hindman's army.
Gen. Blunt had been skirmishing
for the last two days with what he
supposed the advance of the enemy's
main body ; but learned, at 8 p. m. of
the 6th, that Hindman had turned
his left and interposed between him
and all of Herron's infantry and ar
tillery. Col. Wickersham, with 4 cav
alry regiments, reported to Blunt at
Cane Hill two hours afterward, with
tidings that Herron would be at Fay
etteville early next morning.
Blunt now attempted to warn Her
ron of his danger, but it was too late ;
his messengers were intercepted by
Marmaduke's cavalry. Hindman was
probably reaching for Blunt's trains
at Rhea's Mills, when, to their mu
tual astonishment, he locked horns
with Herron on Illinois creek, near
the settlement known as Peaieie
Geove.
Herron, divested of his cavalry,
had but about 4,000 men in hand,
and ought to have stood on the de
fensive,41 availing himself of every
advantage of position and shelter.

From a prisoner taken, I learned that Hindman
was on the ridge, with his whole force, and in
tended to whjr-'ae out before Blunt could get
up; in other wo^ds, to take us one at a time.
The case looked tough, with Blunt ten miles
away, and 25,000 men between us; but I saw
at a glance there were just two things that could
be done; namely, fight them without delay, and
depend on the chance of Blunt's hearing me

BATTLE OF PRAIRIE GROVE.

39

Anxious, however, for Blunt's safe
ty, and apprehending that he might
be at that moment enveloped by an
overwhelming Rebel force, he drove
the Rebel cavalry impetuously across
the creek, only to find their infantry
and artillery strongly postea on a
high, wooded ridge, three-quarters of
a mile distant; their numbers con
cealed by the timber and thick un
derbrush. Sending across a light
battery, which was instantly driven
• back, he, while still threatening a
fresh advance on the road, cut a
path to the creek, half a mile farther
down, and pushed across a battery
at a point which enabled it to draw
the fire of the Rebel artillery. This
movement, being unsuspected and
unperceived by the enemy, was en
tirely successful ; and, before the Reb
els had recovered from their surprise
and confusion, Herron had pushed
three full batteries, backed by three
good regiments of infantry, across
the regular ford. These batteries
were so excellent and so admirably
served that they had silenced, in one
hour's firing, their Rebel antagonists.
Ours were thereupon advanced
across an open field, firing volleys
of grape and canister, until within
a hundred yards of the ridge held
by the Rebels, when the 20th Wis
consin and 19th Iowa infantry were
ordered to charge the Rebel battery
in their front. They did so most
gallantly, hurling back its supports
and taking the battery ; but were un
able to hold it, and compelled to
fall back. Their charge was at once
returned with interest by the Rebel
infantry, intent on the capture of
our three batteries, and rushing up to
within a hundred yards of the guns,

when they were likewise repulsed
with great slaughter. A fresh bri
gade, consisting of the 26th Indiana
and 37th Illinois infantry, being now
brought up from the right to the
relief of our exhausted center, Col.
Houston ordered and led a charge
against the same Rebel battery which
had been fruitlessly charged already.
Again it was taken, and again the
captors were compelled to abandon
it by the overwhelming fire of infan
try concentrated upon them.
Thus the battle stood, still desper
ately contested, neither lost nor won,
when, at 2 J p. m., Herron heard the
welcome music of a battery opening •
at some distance on his right, and
was soon assured that Blunt's division
was on hand.
Blunt had that morning sent Col.
Wickersham, with his cavalry, in ad
vance, followed by Gen. Salomon's
infantry brigade, with directions to
move rapidly on the Fayetteville road,
and form a junction, if possible, with
Herron. Three miles north of Cane
Hill, however, Wickersham had taken
the left-hand road to Rhea's Mills,
instead of the right, leading directly
to Fayetteville ; and Blunt, on reach
ing the fork, had followed, deeming
it imprudent to dislocate his com
mand. Coming up aj length with
Wickersham, he ordered him to face
toward Fayetteville, and endeavor to
reach Herron. Wickersham had
barely started, when, a little after
noon, the boom of artillery was heard
in the north-east, and, leaving Gen.
Salomon's brigade to guard his trains
at Rhea's Mills, Blunt set forward,
over a blind, hilly road, with his two
others, in the direction of the fire.
At 1:45 p. m., Gen. Blunt, in ad-

and coming up, or retreat and lose my whole train. It required no time to make, a decision."

40

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

vance of his division, came into full
view of the field where the battle
was fiercely raging. The Rebels were
very strongly posted on high, rolling
ground, covered by timber, and only
approached from the north over
large, open fields, which afforded no
cover, save that a part of them bore
a crop of ripe corn. Blunt's eccen
tric advance had brought him in front
of the enemy's left, where they had
been massing a large force for the
purpose of flanking Herron's position.
The flankers found an enemy much
nearer than they expected, and were
at once hotly engaged with Blunt's
division. Its three batteries, firing
shell and case-shot at short range,
soon proved an overmatch for the two
Rebel batteries opposed to them,
driving them and their supports back
into the woods; where they were
charged by Col. Weer, leading the
10th, 13th, and part of the 2d and
llth Kansas and 20th Iowa, and a
musketry fight of three hours was
maintained with equal energy by the
contending hosts. Meantime, our
batteries were advanced at various
points and served with rare efficiency ;
Lieut. Tenney, with six 10-pound
Parrotts, repelling with shell and can
ister, while unsupported, a formidable
infantry attack. Here fell the Rebel
Gen.- Stein, of Missouri. A battery
of 10 guns, well supported, opening
upon Tenney, he in ten minutes si
lenced its clamor, dismounting two
of the guns, and driving off the resi
due. An attempt to capture Rabb's
and Hopkins's batteries, which were
supported by the llth Kansas, Lt.-
Col. Moonlight, was defeated with
fearful slaughter.

42 Gen. Blunt, in his official report, says :
" The enemy's loss in killed and wounded can

As darkness came on, the firing
gradually slackened and ceased ; the
Rebels recoiling into their woody
covert, our soldiers sleeping on their
arms in the open field where they
had so bravely struggled, expecting
to renew the combat at daylight.
Meanwhile, our wounded were all
cared for, the trains of the whole
army sent to Fayetteville ; and Gen.
Salomon's brigade, relieved from the
duty of guarding them, ordered to
the field; ammunition brought up
and distributed, and everything made
ready for proceeding to business at
dawn ; but, just before daylight, Gen.
Blunt received a flag of truce from
Hindman, asking a personal inter
view with reference to the burial of
the dead and relief of the wounded.
Blunt met Hindman accordingly, and
was soon satisfied that the meeting
so solicited was but a trick; that
Hindman had no force present or
near but his staff-escort, and a party
left to gather up his wounded ; that
the bulk of his army had commenced
retreating several hours before.
Our loss in this battle was 167
killed, 798 wounded, and 183 miss
ing — total, 1,148. Most of the miss
ing were captured in Marmaduke's
initial attack on our cavalry, and
were exchanged directly afterward.
Of our loss, no less than 953 fell on
Herron's command of hardly more
than 4,000 men. Lt.-Col. McFar-
land, who led the 19th Iowa in its
first charge, was killed ; as was Maj.
Burdett, of the 7th Missouri cavalry.
Lt.-Col. Black, 37th Illinois, and
Maj. Thompson, 20th Iowa, were
among the wounded. The Rebel
loss42 must have been greater, because

not fall short of 3,000, and will probably much
exceed that number, as many of them, not se-

THE TENNESSEE RIVER.

41

of our superiority in artillery, with
which the principal execution was
done. Hindman's official report
makes it, 164 killed, 817 wounded,

336 missing — total, 1,317; and claims

to have taken 275 prisoners, 5
flags, 23 wagons,
small arms.

and over 500

III.

KENTUCKY— TENNESSEE— ALABAMA.

The river Tennessee, taking rise
in the rugged valleys of south-west
ern Yirginia, between the Alleghany
and the Cumberland ranges of moun
tains, but drawing tribute also from
western North Carolina and northern
Georgia, traverses East Tennessee in
a generally W. S. W. direction, en
tering Alabama at its N. E. corner ;
and, after a detour of some 300 miles,
through the northern part of that
State, passes out at its N. W. corner ;
reentering Tennessee, and, passing
again through that State in a course
due north, and forming the boundary
between what are designated respec
tively West and Middle Tennessee,
thence flowing N. N. W. till it falls
into the Ohio scarcely 70 miles above
the mouth of that river, whereof it

is the largest tributary, draining an
area of over 40,000 square miles.
Yery rarely frozen, it is usually navi
gable, save in dry summers, from its
mouth to the Muscle Shoals, toward
the lower end of its course through
Alabama, and thence by smaller boats
at high stages of water some 500
miles, to Knoxville, the capital of
East Tennessee. The Cumberland,
draining the opposite slope of the
Cumberland Mountains, takes its rise
in the heart of eastern Kentucky, and,
pursuing a similar but shorter course,
runs W. S. W. into Middle Tennes
see, which it traverses very much as
the Tennessee does northern Alaba
ma, passing Nashville, its capital,
bending N. W. into Kentucky some
20 miles eastward of the latter river,

Verely wounded, were taken to Van Buren.
Their loss in killed upon the ground will reach
1,000; the greater number of whom have been
buried by my command."
Pollard, on the other hand, says of this battle:
" Our whole line of infantry were in close con
flict nearly the whole day 'with the enemy, who
were attempting, with their force of 18,000 men,
to drive us from our position. In every instance,
they were repulsed, and finally driven back
from the field ; Gen. Hindman driving them to
within 8 miles of Fayetteville ; when our forces
fell back to their supply depot, between Cane
Hill and Van Buren. We captured 300 prison
ers, and vast quantities of stores. i The enemy's
loss in killed and wounded was about 1,000; the
Confederate loss, in killed, wounded, and missing,
about 300."
(Jen. Blunt further says of this Pollard victory :

" Their transportation had been left south of
the mountains, and their retreat thereby made
unincumbered and stealthy. I am assured by
my own men who were prisoners with them, as
well as by deserters from their ranks, that they
tore up the blankets of their men to muffle the
wheels of their artillery."
Gen. Herron, in a private letter, dated Dec.
15th, says :
"The loss of the enemy is terrific. After
their burial-parties had been on the ground for
three days, we had to turn in and bury 300 for
them. The country for 25 miles around is full
of their wounded. We have, as captures, 4
caissons full of ammunition, and about 300 stand
of arms. Hindman had prepared himself, and
risked all on this fight. His movements were
shrewdly managed ; and nothing but desperately
hard fighting ever carried us through."

42

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and pursuing a generally parallel
course to that stream, to its own re
ception by the Ohio, and being navi
gable for 250 miles by large steam
boats, save in seasons of summer
drouth, and by boats of 500 tuns for
some 300 miles further. These two —
the only rivers, save the Mississippi,
navigable southward from the border
of the Free into the Slave States —
were obviously regarded on both
sides, in view of the notorious im
practicability of Southern roads in
Winter and Spring, as the natural
routes of advance for our Western
armies collected and drilled on and
near the Ohio during the Autumn of
1861 and the Winter following.
The close of 1861 left Gen. Hum
phrey Marshall, commanding the Con
federate forces in south-eastern Ken
tucky, intrenched at Paintville, John
son county,- intent on gathering sup
plies and recruiting. Col. James A.
Garfield, of Ohio, commanding a
Union brigade consisting of the 42d
Ohio, 14th Kentucky, and a squad
ron of Ohio cavalry, moved up the
Big Sandy early in 1862, occupying
Paintville1 without resistance, and
pushing on to Prestonburg, Floyd
county; near which town, at the forks
of Middle creek, he encountered Mar
shall, whom he put to flight with
little loss on either side. Garfield
reported his full strength in this
engagement at 1,800, and estimated
that of Marshall at 2,500. Marshall
was obliged to retreat into Yirginia.
Cumberland Gap was abandoned
without resistance to the Unionists
next month;" and Gen. Garfield,
with 600 men, made a rapid excur
sion3 to Pound Gap, where he sur
prised a Rebel camp, capturing 300

rifles, destroying the camp equipage,
and ¦ returning to Pikeville without
loss.

Gen. Zollicoffer, at the close of
1861, held a position on the Cumber
land, near the head of steamboat nav
igation on that sinuous stream, which
may be regarded as the right of the
Rebel army covering Tennessee and
holding a small part of southern Ken
tucky. His force did not exceed
5,000 men ; but even this was with
great difficulty meagerly subsisted by
inexorable foraging on that thinly
settled and poorly cultivated region.
His principal camp was at Mill
Speing, in Wayne county, on the
south side of the river ; but, finding
himself unmolested, he established
himself on the opposite bank, in
a substantial earthwork, which he
named Camp Beach Grove. He had
one small steamboat, which had run
up with munitions from Nashville,
and was employed in gathering sup- '
plies for his hungry men; but the
advance of a Union detachment to
Columbia, on his left, had rendered
his navigation of the river below him
precarious, if not entirely obstructed
it. On his right front, Gen. Schoepf,
with a force of 8,000 men, occupied
Somerset ; but was content to occupy
it, without attempting or desiring to
make trouble. But Gen. George H.
Thomas, having _ been ordered4 by
Gen. Buell to take command in this
quarter, had scarcely reached Lo
gan's Cross-Roads ° when Maj. -Gen.
George B. Crittenden, who had re
cently joined Zollicoffer and super
seded him in command, finding him
self nearly destitute of subsistence,
and apprehending an attack in over-

1 Jan. 7, 1862. a About Feb. 22. a March 16. * Dec. 29, 1861. » Jan. 17 1862.

BATTLE OF LOGAN'S CROSS-ROADS.

43

whelming strength from all our forces
in that part of Kentucky, resolved to
anticipate it ; " and, at midnight after
the next day,7 advanced with his en
tire available force, consisting of six
Tennessee, one Alabama, and one
Mississippi regiments of infantry, six
cannon, and two battalions of cav
alry, to strike and surprise the three
or four Union regiments which he
was assured were alone posted be
tween him and Somerset. He struck
them as he had expected, but did not
surprise them ; Gen. Thomas having
taken the precaution to send out
Strong pickets of infantry on the
roads leading toward the enemy,
with a picket of cavalry still farther
in advance. These were encountered
by Crittenden's vanguard before day
light ; " but, after firing, retired slowly
and in good order, and reported to
Col. M. D. Mansoh, commanding the
advance brigade, who in ten minutes
had his two regiments — 10th Indiana
and 4th Kentucky, Col. S. S. Fry-
in readiness ; and the Rebels, in that
hour .of darkness, necessarily pro
ceeded with caution, doubling them
selves as they advanced. Thomas
was of course, at the front, having or
dered up his remaining regiments,
within ten minutes afterward.
The charge of the Rebels was des
perate, and the battle raged with
great fury for nearly two hours,
during which the muskets of the
combatants were often fired through
the same fence. Barely five Union
regiments in all — the 10th Indiana,
2d Minnesota, 9th Ohio, 4th Ken
tucky, and 1st Kentucky cavalry,

with Kinney's battery — were serious
ly engaged ; but the 12th Kentucky,
and two or three Tennessee regiments,
reached the field just as the day was
won by a charge of the 9th Ohio on
our left flank with fixed bayonets,
supported by a galling fire from the
2d Minnesota in fkmt, under which
the Rebels gave way and fled,
scarcely halting until they reached
their intrenched camp by the river ;
leaving one gun on the battle-field
and another by the way.
In -the heat of the battle, when
the combatants were scarcely sepa
rated by an open space, Gen. Zolli
coffer was shot by Col. Fry, and fell
dead on the field, where his body
was left by his followers. Col. Fry's
horse was shot dead directly after
ward. Col. Robert L. McCook, 9th
Ohio, was wounded in the leg, and
also had his horse shot. The Rebels
lost 192 killed, 62 wounded and
captured, besides those carried off
by them, and 89 taken unhurt. Our
loss was 39 killed, and 207 wounded.
It rained, as »usual; and the roads
were horrible ; but the victors, con
siderably reenforced, were, before 4
p. m., in front of the intrenchments
at Camp Beech Grove, within which
the flying Rebels had taken refuge
an hour or two before. Shelling
was immediately commenced on our
side, feebly responded to on the
other ; and this continued until 7 at
night, when our soldiers desisted and
lay down to rest. Gen. Schoepf's
brigade came up that night, and
were so disposed by Gen. Thomas
as to make sure of the capture of

6 A Rebel letter to the Louisville (Nashville)
Cov/rier, says:
" The enemy in front occupied Somerset with
several regiments, and Columbia with an equal
force. On the 17th and 18th, it rained so much

that Fishing creek could not be crossed; and so
the Somerset force of several thousand could not
join the force from Columbia before the 20th."

' Jan. 18-19.

1 Sunday, Jan. 19.

44

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

7^
yyy\.

««R.0P0BDliaN.CB4'NDlNFANTflrrSAIM

the enemy. At daylight, their little
steamer was seen lying in the river,
and was quickly set on fire by our
shells ; cutting off, as was fondly cal
culated, all chance of farther Rebel
retreat. Fire was then opened on
their intrenchments, but there was
no response ; and it was soon discov
ered that, taking advantage of their

MILL SPRING.

little boat, they had silently escaped
across the river during the night,
leaving 10 more guns," with caissons,
and many small arms, 1,200 or 1,500
horses and mules, with tents, blankets,
and all the material of an army, be
hind them.

The Rebel engineers had cori-

' A Rebel letter to the Memphis Avalanche, says 11 guns were spiked and thrown into the river.

GRANT AND FOOTE AT FORT HENRY.

45

structed — mainly by slave labor —
at a point some 80 or 90 miles up
the Tennessee and Cumberland,
where those rivers first approach
within 10 or 12 miles of each
other, a few miles south of the
Kentucky line, and north of the
Louisville and Memphis Railroad,
two strong and spacious works;
Fobt Henet, commanding the Ten
nessee from its eastern bank, and
Foet Donelson, controlling the pas
sage of the Cumberland from the
west, a Httle below the Tennessee
village of Dover. A dirt road con
nected the two forts, whereof the
garrisons were expected to support
each other if assailed. Fort Henry,
situated on a point or bend of the
river, and scarcely above its surface
when in flood, menaced the approach
by water for a mile on either hand,
but was overlooked by three points10
within cannon-shot on either bank of
the river. It covered two or three
acres of ground, mounted 17 large
guns, 11 of them bearing upon any
vessels approaching from below, with
a spacious intrenched camp in its
rear, and a wide abatis encircling
alL It was defended by" Gen. Lloyd
Tilghman, of Kentucky, with 2,600
men. To Brig.-Gen. U. S. Grant, of Illi
nois, was assigned the task of its
reduction, with the powerful aid of
Commodore A. H. Foote and his
fleet of seven gunboats, four of them
partially iron-clad. Leaving Cairo"
with some 15,000 men on steam
transports, he moved up the Ohio to
the mouth ofthe Tennessee, then as
cended that stream to within ten
miles of Fort Henry, where his trans
ports halted," while Com. Foote,

with his gunboats, proceeded cau
tiously up the river, shelling the
woods on either side to discover any
masked batteries that might there be
planted. Having pushed this recon-
noissance far enough to receive a 32-
pouhd ball through the unprotected
side of one of his boats, Gen. Grant
decided that the proper landing-place
for the troops was about four miles
below the fort, where he and they
were debarked " accordingly. The
next day was spent in preparations,
and the next appointed for the at
tack : Gen. Grant directing the main
body of his forces, under Gen. John
A. McClernand, to move diagonally
across the country and seize the road
leading from the fort to Donelson
and Dover, while Gen. C. F. Smith,
with his brigade, advanced along the
west bank of the river, and Com.
Foote, with his gunboats, moved
slowly up and attacked the fort from
the water.
Com. Foote formed his vessels in
two lines : the iron-clads Cincinnati
(flag-ship), Essex, Carondelet, and St.
Louis, in front, while the old wooden
Conestoga, Tyler, and Lexington,
formed a second line some distance
astern, and out of the range of the
enemy's fire, throwing shell over the
iron-clads into and about the fort.
Thus advancing slowly and firing
deliberately, the iron-clads steadily
neared the fort, using only their bow-
guns, because unwilling to expose
their weak, unsheltered sides to the
heavy guns of the fort, one of them
having a caliber of 128 and another
of 60 pounds, and but 12 of ours in
all of our front line being available.
For a moment only was there hesita
tion in the attack ; when, after an

"So says Gen. Tflghman's official report. "Feb. 2, 1862. BFeb. 4-5. "Feb. 4.

46

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

FORTS HENRY AUD DONELSON.

hour's mutual cannonade, a 24-pound
shot from the fort pierced the Essex
at an unguarded spot, and, .tearing
through her thick oak planking as
though it had been cheese, penetrated
her starboard boiler, instantly filling
her from stem to stern with burning
steam, killing both her pilots at their
post of duty, and severely scalding
Capt. W. D. Porter and nearly 40 of
his gunners and crew. Thus com
pletely disabled, the Essex drifted
out of the action, to the great joy of
the Rebels, who for a moment
thought the victory their own ; but
her consorts kept on firing and near-
ing for twenty minutes more, when
they were within 600 .yards of the
Rebel guns, whereof all but four had
by this time been silenced : one hav
ing burst, disabling every man who
served it, while the vent ofthe great
10-inch columbiad had been closed,
rendering it useless ; while our fire at
short range grew hotter and hotter.
Gen. McClernand, as Com. Foote
had apprehended, had not yet worked

his way through the miry woods and
over the difficult trails he was obliged
to traverse in order to reach and
occupy the main road from Henry
to Donelson. Had he been directed
to start at o instead of 11 that
morning, he would probably have
intercepted and captured Tilghman's
entire force. As it was, the latter
says he ordered all but the hundred
or so inside the fort, and employed
in working its guns, to take the road
to Donelson, under Col. Heiman, his
second in command ; and that order
was obeyed with great promptness
and celerity. Tilghman remained
himself with the handful in the fort ;
and, at 1:45 p. m., seeing further de
fense alike impotent and hopeless,
and being urged by his officers to
surrender, he, intending to negotiate
for terms, raised a flag of truce, which,
being unperceived, amid the dense
smoke, had no effect on the fire of the
fleet. Five minutes later, by the advice
of his officers, he, having ceased firing,
lowered his flag, thereby surrender-

GEN. GRANT BEFORE FORT DONELSON.

47

ing at discretion." Our loss in this
conflict, in addition to that on the
Essex, was 1 killed and 9 wounded
on the Cincinnati ; none on our other
vessels. Gen. Tilghman says our
total casualties were reported to him
at 73, while his own were 21. Com.
Foote reports his captures at 60 or
70 men, besides the General and his
staff, and a hospital-ship containing
60 invalids, with barracks, tents, &c,
sufficient for 15,000 men."

Fort Donelson — two miles below
Dover, where the Cumberland makes
a short bend westward from its
northerly course — was a much larger
and stronger work than Fort Henry,
covering a level plateau of nearly a
hundred acres, which surmounts the
steep bluff, 100 feet high, with two
strong water batteries on the bank
at its base, of 9 and 3 guns respect
ively, one of them a 10-inch colum-
biad, three 64-pounders, and the rest
32-pounders ; all protected by very
heavy earthworks, and all bearing on
the approach up the river. The fort
itself had but 8 heavy guns mounted
in addition to the field batteries of
its garrison. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow 10
had been in command there " until
the arrival 1S of Gen. John B. Floyd,19
when the number of its defenders
had been swelled by successive re-

enforcements to about 15,000 2° men.
Most of them were Tennesseans, with
about 2,000 Mississippians, 1,200
Virginians, 1,000 Kentuckians, and
a thin regiment each from Alabama,
Arkansas, and Texas. The fort was
commanded by two or three points
farther inland, within cannon-shot;
the country rolling to the bluffs of
the Tennessee : some of the hills
midway having an elevation of about
300 feet. Deep ravines, with steep,
rocky sides, especially near the bluffs
of the Cumberland, separated these
hills, and, with the tall, dense, prim
itive forests generally prevailing, af
forded admirable positions for defen
sive warfare. A heavy and difficult
abatis in good part' surrounded the
fortress landward, rendering assault
at many points all but impracticable.
Gen. Grant, bringing Smith's
division across the Tennessee, and
sending an officer down that river
to turn back all vessels ascending it
with troops or supplies, crossed from
Fort Henry " to the neighborhood
of Donelson, gradually extending
his lines52 so as to invest the Rebel
stronghold nearly from river to river,
by a line some three miles long, and
100 to 300 rods distant from the
Rebel rifle-pits and batteries, wliich
formed an irregular crescent, encir
cling their fort at a distance of one

M Gen. Grant's official dispatch says: "In
a little over one hour, all the batteries were
silenced." Com Foote says: "The Rebel flag
was hauled down after a very severe and
closely contested action of one hour and fifteen
minutes." Gen. Tilghman says he surrendered
" after an engagement of two hours and ten
minutes." The time probably seemed longer
on that side than on ours.
"Tilghman says he surrendered 66 beside
his staff (11), and 16 on the hospital-boat; and
adds that his escaping force was overtaken,
Borne three miles from Fort Heilry, by our

cavalry, who were easily repulsed, but who
picked up about 20 of his stragglers, while
several of his field-guns were lost on the way,
owing to poor teams and bad roads.
16 Of Nashville, Tennessee. " Since Jan. 18.
18 Feb. 13. I9 Of Tirginia.
™ The Richmond Dispatch has a letter' from
one ofthe officers, dated Augusta, Ga., Feb. 22,
who says: "Our troops number about 18,000."
The NashviOe Patriot, of about Feb. 19, gives
a list of the regiments present, with the strength
of each, which- foots up 13,829, and is evidently
incomplete. al Feb. 12. 22 Feb. 13.

48

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

or two miles. Skirmishing by sharp
shooters on both sides was maintained
with spirit throughout the day, main
ly from behind the trees of the great
forest, which at most points covered
our army and the space between the
hostile lines. The weather was thus
far hke a clear, bright, Northern Octo
ber, and our men in the highest spirits.
Com. Foote now arrived23 with his
gunboats — four iron-clad, and two
wooden — and it was determined that
he should attempt to silence and
carry the water batteries. He did
so at 3 p. m. next day, steadily ad
vancing with his iron-clads to within
400 yards of the Rebels' great guns ;
when, by an hour's desperate fight
ing, he had driven most of the
enemy's gunners from their batteries,
and seemed on the point of complete
success. Just here, however, the
wheel of his flag-ship St. Louis and
the tiller of its consort, the Louis
ville, were shot away, rendering both
boats unmanageable, and causing
them to drift helplessly down the
river. All his iron-clads had endured
serious damage : the St. Louis hav
ing received 59 shots, and each of the
others about half so many, with an
aggregate loss of 54 killed and
wounde'd. Of his twelve guns, one
had burst, while the enemy had
brought over 20 — most of them very
heavy — to bear upon him from Don
elson, as well as the water batteries,
to which the gunners returned on
observing his predicament, and again
poured in their hottest fire. Com.
Foote, perceiving victory hopeless,
gave up the contest, and retired
with his boats down the river, badly
crippled.

Gen. Grant decided to complete
the investment of the fort, at least on
that side, while he fortified his weak
points, and awaited the return of
the gunboats in fighting condition.
Floyd, however, not concurring in
that view of the matter, decided to
assume at once a vigorous offensive,
while his men were elated with their
defeat of the gunboats. Massing14
heavily on his extreme left, com
manded by Pillow, and ordering
Buckner,26 in the center, to attack
likewise, he made a desperate effort
to beat back our investing and aug
menting forces, and open for his army
a fine of retreat up river toward
Nashville. The attack of Pillow on
our right, held by Gen. McClernand,
was impetuous, daring, and persist
ent. After two hours' desperate
fighting, McClernand was worsted
and fell back on our center, sending
urgently for reenforcements, but still
contesting every inch of ground.
Two or three of his regiments were
badly broken, and several more re
ported out of ammunition ; which
should not have been, since it was
not yet noon. Our men, however,
had the bad habit generally of using
ammunition wastefully, loading and
firing as fast as possible, even when
there was not one chance in a thou
sand of hitting an enemy. The
Rebels usually economized their car
tridges, firing only when they could
do so with effect.
Pillow, still successful and slowly
advancing, about noon joined hands
with Buckner in the center, and took
command of their united forces, when
a charge was made by Forrest's cav
alry on our infantry supporting a

"Evening ofthe 13th.
1 At daylight on the morning of the 15th.

x Gen. Simon B. Buckner, of Kentucky; for
merly commander of her State Guard.

THE FIGHTING AT FORT DONELSON.

49

battery of six pieces, which was
taken.20 Gen. Grant — not expecting this
striking proof of Rebel vitality— was
some miles distant on a gunboat, con
ferring with Com. Foote, when Mc-
Clernand's cry for assistance reached
headquarters. Gen. Lew. Wallace,
commanding our center, ordered Col.
Oruft, with his first brigade, to the
rescue. Cruft, misdirected by his
guide, took a wrong road ; but it led
him nevertheless into the fight, and
served to draw off some Rebel atten
tion from McClerna.nd's overmatched
column. Meantime, Col. Thayer,2'
commanding his 3d brigade, was or
dered by "Wallace to the further supr
port of McClernand; and his fresh
troops, admirably handled, uniting
with Craft's, succeeded in stopping
. and turning back the Rebel advance.
Gen. Grant reached the scene of
conflict about 3 p. m., and, after a
survey of the ground, ordered a gen
eral advance ; Gen. ¦-Lew. Wallace
leading the attack on the enemy's
left, while Gen. C. F. Smith, on our
left, should charge his right. This
combined effort proved entirely suc
cessful. Wallace recovered all the
ground lost during the day, resting
at 5 p. m. within 150 yards of the
intrenchments whence Buqkner had
sallied, only to return baffled at
night; while Gen. Smith's charge
on our left, magnificently led by him
against breastworks wherepf the de
fense had doubtless been weakened
to strengthen Pillow's effort, suc
ceeded with little loss. The 2d Iowa

went into them on a run, closely fol
lowed by the 7th and 14th, with the
25th Indiana, cutting down or chas
ing off their defenders; and the po
sition thus gained was soon made
secure against any effort to retake it.
So closed the work of that bloody
day. Since the siege began, the weather
had suddenly changed to cold, with
a light snow, followed by a piercing
N- W. wind, rendering the sufferings
on either side fearful and almost uni
versal. Our men were without tents,
and at many points without fires;
while the Rebels, worse clad#and lit
tle better sheltered, shivered in their
fireless trenches through weary day
and sleepless, night. Hundreds on
either side were frost-bitten ; and it
is said that quite a number of the
wounded, left uncared for by the
shifting tide of battle, were actually
frozen to death.
The night following the conflict
just described was one of anxiety
and trouble on the part of the Reb
els. Gen. Grant's force had been in
creased by the arrival of transport
after transport, until it must have
amounted to 30,000, if not nearer
40,000 men, and was magnified by
their apprehensions to 50,OOO.28 The
effort to cut their way out through
our right had been gallantly made,
and had signally failed. Their out
numbered, roughly handled force,
had endured 84 hours of alternate
fighting and watching, while suffer
ing all the hardships of a Winter
campaign, and were so outworn as to

36 Col. Hanson, 2d Kentucky, and Col. Cook,
32d Tennessee, as well as Maj. Brown, 20th
Mississippi, officially jeport that, after Buckner's
defeat of McClernand, on the morning of the
15th, there was no obstacle to the escape of
their entire force southward or up the Cumber-
vol. n,

land. Col. Hanson says the way of escape re
mained open till they were ordered back to the
trenches, late in the afternoon.
" John M., 1st Nebraska.
28 "Eighty-three regiments," says one of their
reports.

50

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

fall asleep standing in line of battle,
when actually under fire. The posi
tion gained by Smith would enable
him to take other of their intrench-
inents in reverse, or to advance under
cover of a ridge directly upon their
most important battery and field-
work. Buckner declared that his
post would certainly be attacked in
the morning, and that he could not
hold it half an hour ; he thought they
might yet fight their way out, with a
loss of three-fourths of their number,
but did not deem it right to sacrifice
so large a proportion. These repre
sentations being undisputed, a sur
render became inevitable. Yet Floyd,
the sunset of whose career as Secre
tary of War had not appeared bril
liant at the North, at once protested
that he would never surrender. Buck
ner — who, for obvious reasons, was
scarcely more popular with Kentucky
Unionists than was Floyd with those
ofthe Free States — presented no such
obstacle. Floyd, therefore, turned the
command over to Pillow, who passed
it to Buckner, whose late superiors
now devoted their attention to the
means of escape. Two Rebel steam
boats having arrived a little before
daylight from above,Floyd filled them
with his soldiers, especially those of
his own brigade, and, a httle before
sunrise, cast off and steamed up the
river, leaving the residue to their fate.29
Col. Forrest, with some 800 cavalry,
escaped by the road up the immediate
bank of the river, which was partly
overflowed, and therefore deemed
impracticable for infantry, but which
Forrest's troopers appear to have tra
versed without difficulty or loss.

During the night, a negro had es
caped from the Rebel lines, and given
our leaders their first clear informa
tion of the straits of the enemy. Gen.
Grant was therefore not surprised at
receiving, about daylight, the follow
ing overture :
" Headquartees Fort Donelson,
" Feb. 16, 1862.
"Sie: In consideration of all the circum
stances governing the present situation of
affairs at this station, I propose to the com
manding officer of the Federal forces the
appointment of commissioners to agree upon
terms of capitulation of the forces at this
post under my command. In that view, I
suggest an armistice until 12 o'clock to-day.
" I am, very respectfully, your obedient
servant, S. B. Buoknee,
"Brig.-Gen. 0. S. Army.
"To Brig.-Gen. U. S. Grant, commanding
U. S. forces near Fort Donelson."
The reply was hardly so diplo
matic, but quite lucid — as follows :
" Headqtjaetees on the Field,
"Foet Donelson, Feb. 16, 1862.
"To Gen. S. B. Buoknee:
" Sis : Yours of this date, proposing an
armistice and the appointment of commis
sioners to settle on the terms of capitula
tion, is just received.
"No terms, except unconditional and im
mediate surrender, can be accepted.
" I propose to move immediately on your
works. "I am, very respectfully, your obedient
servant, U. S. Geant,
" Brig.-General Commanding."
Gen. Buckner's response closed the
correspondence thus :
" Headqttaetees Doves (Tenn.),
"Feb. 16, 1862.
" Brig.-Gen. TJ. S. Grant, TJ, S. Army :
"Sie: The distribution of the forces un
der my command incident to an unexpected
change of commanders, and tlie overwhelm
ing force under your command, compel me,
notwithstanding the brilliant success of the
Confederate arms, to accept the ungenerous
and unchivalrous terms which you propose.
•> "I am, sir, your servant,
lit. ¦ "®- B- Bd°KNEK,
Brig.-General C. S. Army."

29 Maj. W. M. Brown, 20th Miss., in his official
report, says one of the boats did not appear to
£ave over 50 men on board, and that Floyd took

away about 1,500; but this is probably an un-
der-estimate. As all would naturally wish to go,
it is probable that all went who could.

GEN. MITCHEL AT BOWLING GREEN.

51

The Rebel loss by this conflict and
capitulation must have been fully
10,000 men, including 2,000 killed
and wounded,30 to say nothing of
arms and munitions. Our loss in
killed and wounded was probably
the larger."
The blow so well struck at Donel
son was swiftly followed by important
successes throughout Kentucky and
in Tennessee.
Gen. Don Carlos Buell had, at the
then recent partition of departments,
been assigned32 to that of the Ohio,
including, besides three Free States,
Tennessee, and all of Kentucky east
of the Cumberland, with his head
quarters at Louisville ; where he still
remained when his advance, consist
ing of some 16,000 men, led by Gen.
O. M. Mitchel, moved," simulta
neously with Gen. Grant's demon
stration on Donelson, upon Bowling
Green, the Rebel sti^nghold in Ken
tucky, where Gen. Albert Sidney
Johnston had succeeded to the com
mand, while Gen. Beauregard had
been sent him from the east as a re-
enforcement. But Johnston's force,
enormously and purposely magnified

by currentreport, had never amounted
to 25,000 effectives, and had ere this
in good part been sent to the defense
of Donelson, until it had been re
duced to about 7,000 or 8,000 men.
As Mitchel advanced across Green
river from his camp at Bacon creek,
Johnston commenced his retreat on
Nashville ; so that, when Mitchel had
reached " the north bank of Barren
river, and looked across into Bowl
ing Green, sending over Col. Tur-
chin's brigade during the night, at a
ferry a mile and a half below, he
found the railroad depot on fire, with
7 locomotives, and a large amount of
corn and other provisions, with the
bridges of course destroyed, and the
last of the Rebel army, consisting of
Texas Rangers, just moving off on
a railroad train, which had been re
tained for the purpose. The river,
being wide and at a high stage,
could not here be crossed till next
day ; so that Mitchel's forced march
of 42 miles in 37 horn's, clearing his
road of trees which had been felled
across it, was rewarded by very
moderate captures, including a brass.
6-pounder, and some $5,000 worth
of commissary stores ; but it was

" Gen. Pillow, in his supplemental report,
says: "We sent up from Dover, 1,134 wounded. A
Federal surgeon's certificate, which I have seen,
says that there were about 400 Confederate pris
oners wounded in hospital at Paducah, making
1, 534 wounded. I was satisfied the killed would
increase the number to 2,000."
Pollard gives what he terms a correct list, by
regiments, of the Confederate prisoners taken at
Fort Donelson, footing up 5,079 ; but he evi
dently does not include in this total the wound
ed, of whom many must have been left on the
field or in the hospital at the fort, as he says:
"The village of Dover, which was within our
lines, contained in every room in every house
sick, wounded, or dead men. Bloody rags were
everywhere, and a door could not be opened
without hearing groans." And in his list of regi

ments we do not find the 20th Mississippi, whose
commander, Maj. W. M. Brown, officially reports
that he surrendered 454; nor the 32d Tennes
see, CoL Cook, who reports that ie surrendered
538. Gen. Grant's report makes his captures 12.000
to 15,000 prisoners, at least 40 pieces of artil
lery, and a large amount of stores, horses, mules,
and other public property.
M Gen. Grant, speaking of the battle of the
15th, says: "Our loss can not fall far short of
1,200 killed, wounded, and missing," including:
250 taken prisoners. The reports of Col. Cruft,
Gen. W. H L. Wallace, and Col. Lauman, show
an aggregate loss of 1,306 in their three bri
gades, clearly indicating that Gen. Grant under
estimated his casualties.
* Xov. 9, 1861. H Feb. 11, 1862. M Feb. 11,

52

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

computed that the Rebels had been
compelled to destroy not less than
half a million dollars' worth of
munitions, including many arms.
Large quantities of provisions and
other stores, industriously collected
throughout the preceding Fall and
"Winter, had been removed to Nash
ville during the last three or four
days. Nashville had been electrified,
during the 15th (Saturday), with a
telegraphic dispatch from Dover,
announcing a Rebel victory ; some
what tempered by reports from
Bowling Green that Johnston would
be obliged to evacuate that post.
Next morning, however, came news
of the capture of Donelson, with most
of its defenders; and along with
it a first installment of Johnston's
army retreating from dismantled
Bowling Green. The general aston
ishment was only equaled by the
general consternation. Churches were
closed, or failed to open ; there were
hurried consultations and whispered
adieus in every quarter, whence bank
directors rushed to impel specie and
other valuables toward the cars,
soon to bear them to Chattanooga,
to Columbia, and other points of
comparative safety. Gov. Harris and

his Legislature, with the State ar
chives and treasure, betook them
selves swiftly to Memphis; while
Confederate officers' devoted then-
attention to moving as rapidly as pos
sible, the vast stores of provisions
and munitions here accumulated.
Two fine gunboats, being built at the
river-side, were prepared for instant
conflagration; and the magnificent
and costly railroad and wire suspen*
sion-bridges over the Cumberland
were likewise made ready for speedy
destruction — a fate which overtook
them two or three days later. A
fortification had in the mean time
been commenced on the Cumberland,
four miles below the city, calculated
to dispute and prevent the passage
of our gunboats ; but this was soon
abandoned upon information that
Gen. Johnston had decided not to
fight for Nashville, but to continue
his retreat ; which he did, unassailed,
to Corinth, Miss>., south of the Ten
nessee^ river, and nearly 300 miles
from Bowling Green. Six weeks
were consumed in that retreat ; which,
with a green and undisciplined army,
was probably quite as disastrous as a
battle.35 Directly after the capture of Fort
Henry, Commander Phelps, with the

55 "An Impressed New-Yorker," inhis narra
tive of personal adventures, entitled " Thirteen
Months in the Rebel Army," says :
"The army was not far from 60,000 strong,
after Gen. George B. Crittenden's forces were
added to it at Murfreesboro'. The season of
the year was the worst possible in that latitude.
Rain fell — sometimes sleet — four days out of
the seven. The roads were bad enough at
best ; but, under such a tramping of horses and
cutting of wheels as the march produced, soon
became horrible. About 100 regiments were
numbered in the army. The full complement
of wagons to each regiment (24), would give
above 2,000 wagons. Imagine such a train of
heavily loaded wagons passing along a single
mud road, accompanied by 55,000 infantry and

5,000 horsemen, in the midst of rain and sleet,
day after day, camping at night in wet fields, or
dripping woods, without sufficient food adapted
to their wants, and often without any tents ; the
men lying down in their wet clothes, and rising
chilled through and through. And let this con
tinue for six weeks of incessant retreat, and
you get a feeble glimpse of what we endured.
The army suffered great loss from sickness, and
some from desertion ; some regiments leaving
Bowling Green with six or seven hundred men,
and reaching Corinth with but half of this num
ber. The towns through which we passed were
left full of sick men ; and many were sent off
to hospitals at some distance from our route."
Pollard makes Johnston's army at Murfrees
boro' but 17,000.

NASHTILLE RESTORED TO THE UNION.

53

wooden gunboats Conestoga, Tyler,
and Lexington, steamed up the Ten
nessee to Florence, Ala., at the foot
of the Muscle Shoals, where he cap
tured two steamboats, and constrained
the Rebels to burn six others ; he hav
ing burnt the railroad bridge near
Benton on the way. The wholly un
expected appearance of the National
flag in North Alabama, where slaves
were comparatively few, and at least
three-fourths of the people hadv stub
bornly opposed Secession, was a wel
come spectacle to thousands, and was
greeted with enthusiastic demonstra
tions of loyalty.
Com. Foote, with the gunboats
Conestoga and Cairo, moved*upss the
Cumberland from Donelson, three
days after its surrender. At Clarks-
.ville, he found the railroad bridge
destroyed; while the wealthier citi
zens had generally fled, and he en
countered no resistance. As it would
have been absurd ,to attack a city
like Nashville with such* a force, he
now returned to Cairo for* addi
tional boats ; while Gen. Smith, with
the advance of our victorious army,
marched up to Clarksville; whence
Lieut. Bryant, ofthe Cairo, followed
by 7 trans.ports,conveying the brigade
of Gen. Nelson, moved up the river
to Nashville, where they arrived on

the 24th, but found no enemy pre
pared to resist them. In fact, the
city had virtually surrendered al
ready to the 4th Ohio cavalry, Col.
John Kennett, being the advance
of Buell's army. Col. Kennett had
reached Edgefield Junction, 8 or 10
miles from Nashville, and thence sent
forward a detachment, under Maj.
H. 0. Rodgers, who occupied with
out resistance the village of Edgefield,
opposite Nashville, on the Cumber
land, and communicated with Mayor
Cheatham, who surrendered the city
to Col. Kennett on his arrival, which
was before that of Gen. Nelson's com
mand. A small squad of the 4th
Ohio crossed over into the city and
returned, their orders not contem
plating its occupation ; but the bat
tery ofthe regiment had been planted
where it commanded the heart of the
city, and a reasonable fear of shells
impelled Mayor Cheatham to proffer
and. hasten a surrender, by which he
agreed to protect and preserve the
public property in Nashville until it
could be regularly turned over to the
use of the United States.
But, in fact, the spoils of victory
had already been clutched by the
Nashville mob; so that, while the
Rebel loss was enormous," the posi
tive "Union gain was inconsiderable.

" Feb. 19.
*7 Pollard says : '
"Gen. Johnston had moved the main body
of his command to Murfreesboro' — a rear-guard
being left in Nashville under Gen. Floyd, who
had arrived from Donelson, to secure the stores
and provisions. In the first wild excitement of
the panic, the store-houses had been thrown open
to the poor. They were besieged by a mob rav
enous for spoils, and who had to be dispersed
from the commissariat by jets of water from a
steam fire-engine. Women and children, even,
were seen scudding through the streets under
loads of greasy pork, which they had taken as
prizes from the store-houses. It is believed that
hundreds of families, among the lower orders of
he population, secured and secreted Govern

ment stores enough to open respectable groce
ries. It was with the greatest difficulty that
Gen. Floyd could restore order and get his mar
tial law into any thing like an effective system.
Blacks and Whites had to be chased and cap
tured and forced to help the movement of Gov
ernment stores. One man, who, after a long
chase, was captured, offered fight, and was in
consequence shot and badly wounded. Not less
than one million of dollars in stores was lost
through the acts of the cowardly and ravenous
mob of Nashville. Gen. Floyd and Col. Forrest
exhibited extraordinary energy and efficiency in
getting off Government stores. Col. Forrest re
mained in the city about 24 hours, with only 40
men, after the arrival of the enemy at Edge
field."

54

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Gen. Buell soon afterward reached
Nashville, and established there his
headquarters, while his army was
quartered around the city. Col.
Stanley Matthews, 51st Ohio, was
appointed Provost-Marshal, and soon
restored the city to order ; discover
ing and reclaiming a considerable
amount of Rebel stores which had
been appropriated to private use.
The bridges and roads northward
were speedily repaired, and railroad
connection with Louisville reopened.
The wealthier classes had in great
part left, or remained sullenly dis
loyal ; but among the mechanics and
laboring poor a good degree of Union
feeling was soon developed.

By the Union successes recorded
in this chapter, the Rebel stronghold
at Columbus, Ky., commanding the
navigation of the Mississippi, had
been rendered untenable. It was
held by Maj.-Gen. Polk, Episcopal
Bishop of Louisiana, who had ex
pended a vast amount of labor in
strengthening its defenses, while the
adjacent country had been nearly di
vested of food and forage to replenish
its stores. Its garrison had been re
ported at 20,000 men ; but had been
reduced by successive detachments to
2,000 or 3,000. Com. Foote, on re
turning from Clarksville to Cairo,
speedily collected a flotilla of six
gunboats, apparently for service at
Nashville ; but, when all was ready,
dropped down the Mississippi, fol
lowed by three transports, conveying
some 2,000 or 3,000 soldiers, under
Gen. W. T. Sherman, while a sup
porting force moved overland from
Paducah.38 Arriving opposite Co
lumbus, he learned that the last of

the Rebels had left some hours be
fore, after burning 18,000 bushels of
corn, 5,000 tons of hay, their cavalry
stables, and much other property;
while many of their heavy guns,
which they were unable to take
away, had been rolled off the bluff,
here 150 feet high, into the river.
The 2d Illinois cavalry, Col. Hogg,
from Paducah, had entered and
taken possession the evening before.
A massive chain, intended to bar the
descent of the Mississippi, had here
been* stretched across the great river,
but to no purpose ; the Missouri end
being loose, and buried in the mud
of the river-bed.
Island No. 10 lies in a sharp bend
in' the Mississippi, 45 miles below
Columbus, and a few miles above
New Madrid on the Missouri bank.
This island had been strongly for
tified, its works well supplied with
powerful guns and ammunition,
under the direction of Gen. Beau
regard, so 'that it was confidently
counted on to stop the progress of
the Union armies down the river.
Gen. Pope with a land force of nearly
40,000 men, had previously marched
down the Missouri shore of the river,
reaching and investing Njgv Madrid,
March 3. Finding it defended by
stout earthworks, mounting 20 heavy
guns, with six strongly armed gun
boats anchored along the shore to aid
in holding it, he sent back to Cairo
for siege-guns ; while he intrenched
three regiments and a battery under
Col. Plummer, llth Missouri, at
Point Pleasant, ten miles below, so
as to command the passage of the
river directly in the rear of No. 10.
The Rebel gunboats attempted to
dislodge Col. Plummer, but without

38 March 4.

THE REBELS ABANDON NEW MADRID.

55

success. Pope's siege-guns arrived
at sunset on the 12th, and, before
morning, had been planted within
half a mile of the enemy's main
work, so as to open fire at daylight,
just 34 hours after their embarkation
at Cairo. The Rebel garrison had
meantime been swelled to 9,000 in
fantry, under Maj. -Gen. McCown,
and nine gunboats .directed by Com.
Hollins, on which our fire was mainly
concentrated. A heavy cannonade
from both sides was kept up through
out the day, with little damage to
the Unionists, who, driving in the
Rebel pickets, steadily pushed for
ward their trenches.
A violent thunder-storm raged
through most of the following night;
and at daylight it was discovered
that the Rebels had left, taking
very little with them. Thirty-three
cannon, several thousand small arms,
with ammunition, tents, partridges,
wagons, &c, were abandoned by the
fugitives, with scarcely an attempt
even to destroy them. Our loss
during the siege was barely 51 killed
and wounded.
Com. Foote, with his gunboats, had
moved down from Columbus early
in March, opening on the Rebel
works at No. 10 on the 15th. Two
days later, a general attack was made,
with five gunboats and four mortar-
boats; but, though maintained for
nine hours, it did very little damage.
Beauregard telegraphed to Rich
mond s> that our vessels had thrown
3,000 shells, expended 50 tons of
powder, and had killed but one of
his men, without damaging his bat
teries. He soon left for Corinth,40
ceding the command at No. 10 to

CEN. POPl
CROSSED APR. 7 18tf

MAP SHOWING THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OP ISLAND
NO. 10, NEW MADRID, TIPTONVILLE, ETO.
Brig.-Gen. Makall, who assumed it
in a bombastic proclamation. Mean
time, Gen. Pope's engineers were
quietly engaged in cutting a canal,
12 miles long, across the Missouri
peninsula, opposite No. 10, through
which steamboats and barges were
safely transferred to the river below
the Rebel stronghold ; while two of
our heavier gunboats succeeded in
passing the island 41 in a heavy fog.
Gen. Pope, thus relieved from all
peril from the Rebel flotilla, pushed
a division " across the river toward
the rear of the remaining Rebel
stronghold, and was preparing to
follow with the rest of his army,
when the Rebels under McCown,
sinking their gunboat Grampus, and
six transports, abandoned No. 10 to
its fate, and escaped eastward, leav
ing Makall to be driven back upon
the swamps, and forced to surrender
some thousands of men, several gun-

" April 1.
10 April 5.

41 The Carondelet, April 4, and the Pittsburg,
April 6. *' April 1.

56

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

boats, and more than a hundred
cannon.43 Com. Foote, having refitted, moved
down44 the river in %rder of battle,
followed by transports conveying
part of Gen. Pope's army ; finding
his way first impeded at Fort Pillow,
or Wright, situated on the first
Chickasaw Bluffs, near the Islands
Nos. 33 and 34, about 70 miles above
Memphis. Landing his mortars on
the Arkansas bank, he commenced "
a bombardment of the fort at a dis
tance of three-fourths of a mile, and
was replied to with energy and ac
curacy. The high stage of the river
prevented cooperation by our army ;
so the cannonade was kept up for
two weeks with spirit on both sides,
but with little effect.
A powerful ram having been re
ceived by the Rebels from below, they
resolved to test its efficiency ; and
accordingly made an attack on our
fleet,48 the ram leading, backed by
three gunboats, and making a rush
at the Cincinnati, whose rapid broad
sides at short range made no impres
sion on her assailant's iron mail.
The boats collided with a fearful
crash, instantly followed by a broad
side from the Cincinnati and a vol
ley of musketry ; directly after which,
Commander Stembel fired his pistol
at the head of the Confederate pilot,
killing him instantly. The pilot's
mate thereupon shot the Commander
through his shoulder and neck, dis
abling but not killing him. The
Cincinnati, though crippled and sink
ing, was able to withdraw from the

43 Gen. Pope, inhis official report, says:
"Three Generals, 213 field and company
officers, 6,700 prisoners, 123 pieces of heavy
artillery — all of the very best character, and of
the latest patterns — 7,000 stand of small arms,
several wharf-boat loads of provisions, an im-

fight, and was run upon a shoal,
where she sank ; while the Mallory,
which had attempted to crush her,
was herself caught by the St. Louis,
cut into and sunk, most of her crew
going down with her. One of the
Confederate gunboats had ere this
been burnt ; another had her boiler
exploded by a shot; while the rest
were so crippled as to render them
nearly ineffective ; so they gave up
the fight and drifted down the river,
under cover of the smoke, to the pro
tection of their batteries. The Cin
cinnati was our only vessel that had
suffered, and she had but 4 wounded.
A month later,'" Fort Pillow was
evacuated, as was Fort Randolph,
twelve miles below. Some damaged
guns were left in them, but nothing
of much value. Com. Davis dropped
down next day to within gun-shot of
Memphis^ where he came to anchor ;
and next morning, with five gunboats
and four rams, slowly approached
the city. Soon, a Rebel fleet of eight
gunboats was seen approaching . in
order of battle, opening fire when
within three-fourths of a mile. The
Union ram, Queen of the "West, soon
struck the Rebel gunboat, Gen.
Price, crushing in her wheel-house,
and causing her to leak so badly
that she was headed at once for the
Arkansas shore. The Rebel gun
boat, Beauregard, now made at the
Queen, which attempted to strike
her; but the shock was skillfully
evaded by the Beauregard's pilot,
who struck the Queen aft so heavily
as to disable her. The Union ram

mense quantity of ammunition of all kinds, many
hundred horses and mules, with wagons and
harness, &c, are among the spoils."
"April 12. "April 17.
4r'May4. "7 June 4.

MEMPHIS SURRENDERED BY THE REBELS.

57

Monarch thereupon made at the
Beauregard, and struck her heavily
on the bow, causing her to fill rapidly
and sink, while the Monarch took
the Queen in tow and drew her out
of peril. Com. Davis's flag-boat,
the Benton, threw a 50-pound ball
from a rifled Parrott into the Rebel
gunboat Gen. Lovell, striking her
aft, just above the water-line, and
tearing a great hole, into which the
water rushed in a torrent. In four
minutes, she had sunk in 75 feet
of water, carrying down a part
of her crew. There remained but
four of the Rebel boats ; and
these, which had been for some time
drifting, though firing, now turned
their bows toward the Arkansas
shore, which the Jeff. Thompson
soon reached, when her officers and
crew leaped off and ran into the
woods, while a shell exploding on
her deck, set her on fire, and she was
burned down to the water. The
crew of the Gen. Bragg and the
Sumter escaped in hke manner;
while the swifter Gen. Yan Dorn
fled down the river. The battle had
lasted a httle over an hour, and its
result was most decisive. No man
was killed on board our fleet. Mem
phis, whose population had all been
interested spectators of the combat,
surrendered immediately.
An expedition, comprising four
gunboats and a steam transport,
conveying the 46th Indiana, Col.
Fitch, was soon dispatched up the
Arkansas and White rivers, to open
communication with Gen. Curtis,
known to be approaching from the
West. Reaching St. Charles, the
Mound City, then in advance, was
fired on from two concealed batteries,

48 June 24.

and replied, while our troops were
landed below to take those batteries
in the rear. A ball, from a siege-
gun on the bluff, pierced the side of
the Mound City, and passed through
her steam-drum, filling the vessel in
stantly with the scalding vapor. Of
the 175 persons on board, barely 23
escaped injury. Many jumped over
board, frantic with pain, and were
drowned ; while the boats sent from
the Conestoga to their relief, were
fired on by the Rebels with grape
and canister, killing most of our
scalded and frantic fugitives. In a
few minutes, Col. Fitch had carried
the works by a charge, capturing 9
guns and about 30 prisoners, inclu
ding Col. Frye, the commandant.
The expedition failed to effect its
purpose. The triumphant Union fleet soon
proceeded down the river, encoun
tering no serious obstacle till near
Yicksburg,48 where it communicated
with Com. Farragut, whose fleet
from the Gulf- lay below this natural
stronghold, accompanied by Gen.
Williams, with four regiments of
infantry. The Rebel fortifications
were bombarded 4° for several hours,
without result ; but Lt.-Col. Ellet,
with two rams, went that day up the
Yazoo river, to capture three Rebel
gunboats, which, on his approach,
were set on fire and impelled down
the current, with intent to envelop
our vessels in the flames. The Rebel
boats were destroyed.
The siege of Yicksburg was con
tinued by our fleet, and a determined
attack' made on it July 1, but de
feated. The Rebel ram Arkansas
came down 60 the Yazoo, ran through
the astonished Union fleet, and took

49 June 26.

'" July 15.

58

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT

refuge under the batteries of Yicks
burg, unharmed. Repeated attempts
to destroy or sink her" were defeated
by the shore batteries ; and, on the
24th, the siege was raised; Com.
Farragut, with Gen. Williams, re
turning down the river ; while Com.
Davis, with his fleet, steamed up to
the mouth of the Yazoo, thus aban
doning, for the time, the reopening
of the Mississippi.

Gen. Grant's victorious army, after
a brief rest at Fort Donelson, re-
crossed, considerably strengthened,
to the Tennessee, just above Fort
Henry, where several gunboats and a
large number of transports, passing
down the Cumberland into the Ohio,
and thence into the Tennessee, took
up our soldiers by regiments and
started with them on a new move
ment up the Tenn'essee. General
Charles F. Smith had been desig
nated by Gen. Halleck to direct this
movement, but was soon disabled by
the sickness of which he died not lone
after reaching Savannah, Tenn., and
Gen. Grant was thus restored to chief
command. The rendezvous of the
expedition was at a little place called
Danville, where the railroad from
Memphis to Clarkesville and Louis
ville crosses the river. The gunboats
Tyler and Lexington had already
made a reconnoissance up the Ten
nessee, meeting their first resistance
at Pittsbueg Lauding, an insignifi
cant two-house nucleus of a prospec
tive village, 8 miles above Savannah
and 20 miles N.N.E. of Corinth, Miss.,
at the junction of the Memphis and
Charleston with the Mobile and Ohio
Railroad. The country hence to
Corinth is rolling, and generally

wooded. Two or three miles south
ward is Shiloh Church, and some ten
miles farther is the road-crossing
known as Monterey, where there
were half-a-dozen houses. The re
gion is thinly and recently settled ;
still mainly covered by the primitive
forest; gently rolling, and traversed
by a number of inconsiderable creeks,
making eastward and northward, to
be lost in the Tennessee.
At Pittsburg Landing, the Tyler
found a Rebel battery of six guns,
which it silenced, after a mutual can
nonade of two hours; returning
thence to Danville and reporting.
The movement of the army south
ward on transports was continued —
the 46th Ohio, Col. Worthington,
leading, on the transport B. J.
Adams — so far as Savannah, where
it was landed, " and proceeded to
take military possession. All the
transports, 69 in number, conveying
nearly 40,000 men, were soon de
barking the army, with its material,
at and near this place, whence Gen.
Lew. Wallace's division was dis
patched " to Purdy, a station 16 miles
W.S.W., where the railroad was de
stroyed. Gen. Sherman's first divi
sion was next 54 conveyed up the river
to Tyler's Landing, just across the
Mississippi State line ; whence the
6th Ohio cavalry was dispatched to
Burnsville, on the Memphis and
Charleston road, some miles eastward
of Corinth, which was likewise de
stroyed without resistance. The ex
pedition .then returned unmolested
to Savannah.
These easy successes, and the fact
that no enemy came near or seemed
to meditate annoyance, must have
imbued our leading officers with a

61 July 15-22.

w March 10.

' March 12.

64 March 14.

GRANT'S ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING.

59

contempt for the power or the prowess
of their enemy ; sinpe'our regiments,
as they arrived, were mainly de
barked at Pittsburg Landing, on the
side of the Tennessee nearest to and
within easy striking distance of the
Rebel headquarters at Corinth. One
ofthe six divisions, under Gen. Lew.
Wallace, was encamped nearly op
posite Savannah ; the other five were
thrown out in a semicircle southward
of Pittsburg Landing, with a front
like a Methodist camp-meeting, strag
gling from Lick creek on the south
or left, to Snake creek on the north
or right, a distance of some three or
four miles. Gen. Prentiss's division
was encamped across the direct road
to Corinth, with Gen. McClernand's
behind his right, and Gen. Sherman's
still further to the right, with Shiloh
church in his front, on a road lead
ing also, but more circuitously, to
Corinth. Gen. Hurlbut's division
lay in the rear of Gen. Prentiss.
Gen. Smith's division, commanded,
because of Smith's sickness, by Gen.
W. H. L. Wallace, was on the left of
and behind McClernand, with its
right near Pittsburg Landing and its
front somewhat protected by the
ravines of two rivulets running into
Snake creek.
Though the vicinity of the enemy
was notorious, not an intrenchment
nor defense of any kind, not even an
abatis, here so easily made, covered
and protected our front; no recon-
noitering parties were thrown for
ward to watch for and report an ad
vance of the enemy ; and even the

pickets were scarcely a musket-shot
from the tents of our foremost regi
ments ; some of which, it was asserted,
had not even feeen provided with
ammunition, though it was known
that the woods, scarcely a mile away,
had suddenly been found swarming
with Rebel scouts and sharp-shooters
in such strength as to forbid observa- •
tion on our part.66 Low but ominous
whispers and meaning glances of ex
ultation among the Rebel civilians
in our rear had already given indi
cations that a blow was about to be
struck ; and alarmed Unionists had
sought the tents of our Generals with
monitions of danger, which were re
ceived with sneering intimations that
every one should stick to his trade.
Gen. Grant was at Savannah, super
intending the reception of supplies.
Such was the condition of our forces
on Saturday evening, April 5th.
Albert Sidney Johnston was prob
ably the ablest commander at any
time engaged in the Rebel service.
He had braved unpopularity and re
proach from the herd of chimney-
corner critics who supposed it the
duty of a General to run his head
against every stone-wall within reach,
by refusing to fight losing battles for
BowlingGreen and Nashville, and had
thus brought off his army intact and
undemoralized ; retreating across the
Tennessee and into a region at once
undevastated and unappalled by war,
full of resources, wherein devotion
to the Union ha*d been utterly sup
pressed, if not eradicated, and whence,
by a net-work of railroads and tele-

50 " Agate" [Whitelaw Reid], of the Cincin
nati Gazette, in his report of the battle, says :
" We had lain three weeks at Pittsburg Land
ing, within 20 miles of the Rebels, that were
likely to attack us iu superior numbers, with

out throwing up a single breastwork or prepar
ing a single protection for a battery, and with
the brigades of one division [Sherman's]
stretched from extreme right to extreme left of
our line, while four other divisions had been
crowded in between, as they arrived."

60

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

graphs, he communicated easily with
Richmond, and with every portion of
the Cotton States. The recent evac
uation of 'Columbus by Polk was
probably ordered by him, in obedi
ence to his policy of concentrating
around Corinth the greatest possible
force, with intent to rush upon and
overwhelm the Union army, so care
lessly encamped just before him on
the hither bank of the Tennessee.
Having a spy in nearly every dwell
ing in southern Tennessee, he was
doubtless aware that the command
of that army had just been turned
over by Gen. C. F. Smith, an expe
rienced and capable soldier, to Gen.
Grant, so recently from civil life ;
and he had no doubt of his ability to
accomplish its destruction. Galling
urgently upon the Governors of Ten
nessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana,
for all the troops they could spare
or raise, and being strongly reen-
forced by Gen. Braxton Bragg, with
a drilled corps from Mobile and Pen-
sacola,68 he had, by the 1st of April,
collected an army of about 50,000.67
Moving silently out from Corinth, in
light marching order and without
tents, at 3 A. m., on the 3d, the ad
vance of his infantry preceded and

masked by cavalry, he confidently
expected to attack in full force on
the morning of the 5th ; but a heavy
rain on the 4th so deepened the mire
of the narrow, wretched roads, that
his army was by that time but fairly
concentrated at Monterey, thence
moving with the utmost caution un
til within three and a half miles of
our pickets, where, unable to advance
farther without braving discovery, he
halted for the night.68 Here, with
double guards along his front, in
structed to shoot any man who, upon
whatever pretext, should attempt to
pass, a council of war was held at 8
p. m., and every preparation made for
a stealthy and. desperate assault at
daybreak ; while the soldiers, forbid
den to make fires, sank on the cold,
damp ground, under the open sky,
and shivered through a part of the
night. Each Colonel had orders to
have his regiment under arms and
ready to move by 3 a. m.
At early dawn, the advance was
resumed in fine of battle : Maj .-Gen.
Hardee, with the 3d corps, in front,
with the 2d, and strongest, under
Gen. Bragg, 500 yards behind him ;
the 1st, under Gen. Polk, half a mile
in the rear of this, with the reserve,

66 About this time abandoned by the Rebels.
" Beauregard, in his field return of the ' Ar
my of the Mississippi,' before and after the bat
tle of Shiloh, makes his effective total, before
battle, 40,355 men, of whom 4,382 were cavalry,
which he says was useless and could not oper
ate at all, the battle-field being so thickly wood
ed. But this return includes none of his troops
left to guard his base at Corinth, or his trains in
the rear of the battle-field, and conceals the fact
that his cavalry were usefully employed in guard
ing, on their way to Corinth, his prisoners as
well as his wounded. Beside, when he comes
to sum up his losses, he states the loss of his
cavalry at 301 — rather inexplicable, if that cav
alry was useless and unemployed.

58 "An Impressed New-Yorker," who was
then serving on Beauregard's staff, in his " Thir
teen Months in the Rebel Army," says:
"While it is no part of my duty, in this narra
tive, to criticise military movements, and espe
cially those of the Union forces, I may state that
the total absence of cavalry pickets from Gen.
Grant's, army was a matter of perfect amazement
to the Rebel officers. There were absolutely
none on Grant's left, where Gen. Breckinridge's
division was meeting him; so that we were able
to eome up within hearing of their drums en
tirely unperceived. The Southern Generals al
ways kept cavalry pickets out for miles, £ven
when no enemy was supposed to be within a
day's march of them. The infantry pickets of
Grant's forces were not above three-fourths of a
mjle from his advance camps, and they were too
few to make any resistance." -

THE REBEL ATTACK AT PITTSBURG LANDING.

61

under Gen. John C. Breckinridge,
closely following. This order, how
ever, was soon sacrificed to the exi
gencies of the contest.
Rumors of a Rebel advance, and
the capture of some of our officers
thereby, had reached our camps on
Friday;6" and an Ohio brigade had
been sent out to reconnoiter, which
had a brush with a smaller Rebel
force, and pushed it back to a battery
which was found in position near our
lines. Gen. Lew. Wallace's division
was thereupon ordered out, and ad
vanced to Adamsville, on the road to
Purdy; but, meeting no opponent,
after passing a night in drenching
rain, it returned to its camp. On
Saturday, there was firing along our
front, which ought to have incited
inquiry, if not alarm, but did not.
As day broke,80 our pickets in
Prentiss's front came rushing into
camp, barely in advance ofthe pursu
ing Rebels, whose shells were tearing
through our tents a moment after
ward. Some of our men were dress
ing ; others washing or cooking ; a
few eating their breakfasts ; many,
especially officers, had not yet risen.
The next instant, magnificent lines
of battle poured out of the woods in
front of our camps, and at double-
quick rushed in upon our bewildered,
half-dressed, and not yet half-formed
men, firing, deadly volleys at close
range, then springing upon the help
less, coatless, musketless mob with
the bayonet. Some fell as they ran ;
others as they emerged from their
tents, or as they strove to buckle on
their accouterments ; some tried to
surrender ; but the Rebels could not
stop then to take prisoners. Some
of these were found, though disabled,

still alive, when we recovered those
tents next evening.
Thus was Prentiss's division routed
before it had time to form in line of
battle; and Hildebrand's brigade,
on Sherman's right, was demolished
with equal expedition, in spite of
Sherman's best exertions. His ef
forts and influence, backed by the
most reckless self-exposure, held his
remaining brigades, under Buckland
and McDowell, steady for a time ;
but these were soon compelled to
fall back behind the next ravine,
leaving their camps, with all their
tents and tent equipage, to the enemy.
McClernand's division, comprising
10 regiments and 4 batteries, had
been astonished with the rest, but
not yet directly assailed. Moving
up, at 7 A. m., to the support of Sher
man, it .found his division mostly
gone or going ; its best officers killed
or wounded, its batteries either cap
tured or badly cut up. Buckland's
brigade, which had gone after Hilde
brand's, forming our extreme right
on the front, had fallen back to avoid
certain destruction. To all practical
intents, and in spite of its leader's
despe'rate and untiring exertions,
Sherman's division was out of the
fight by 8 o'clock that ominous morn
ing. It seemed a miracle that their
commander, always in the hottest of
the Rebel fire, escaped with a single
musket-ball through his hand.
Prentiss formed his division as
quickly as possible, and not far in
the rear of their camps, where his
men faced to the front and fought
stubbornly for a time ; but they had
been strangely drawn up in an open
field, leaving to the enemy the cover
of a dense scrub-oak thicket in our

69 April 4.

60 On Sunday, April 6.

62

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

PITTSBTTKG LANDING.

A Positions of Maj.-Gen. Grant's forces on the morning
of April 6th.
B Positions of Grant, with the divisions of Nelson and
Crittenden, on the evening of April 6th.

C Positions of Grant and Bnell on the morning of
April Tth.
D Positions of Grant and Buell on the evening of
April Tth.
E Reserve ArtiUery.

front, whence they could pour volley
after volley in comparative security.
Soon, our men were flanked on either
side, and fell back, perceiving that
they were squandering their lives to
no purpose. Thus the division lost
all coherence and efficiency ; its lead
er became separated from a large

61 This did not occur till about 4 p.m.; but he
had long before ceased to form a part of our

portion of his command ; and by 10
o'clock it had been virtually demol
ished. Prentiss himself, with three
regiments, held an unassailed posi
tion until, having long since become
completely surrounded, he was finally
obliged to surrender;" when over
2,000 of our men in one body were

line of battle, the Rebels having flanked and
passed on beyond him.

PRENTISS CAPTURED — MoCLERNAND WORSTED.

63

hurried to the Rebel rear as prisoners,
and soon started on the road to
Corinth. McClernand for a while stood firm ;
but the defection of Sherman's divi
sion on one side, and Prentiss's on
the other, left the Rebels free to
hurl themselves against him in tre
mendous force. Two green regi
ments, the 15th and 16th Iowa, which
he now brought to the front under
a heavy, fire, gave way at once in
disorder. Changing his front to
meet the Rebel onset, he faced along
the Corinth road and planted his
batteries to command it ; so that the
Rebels were for a time foiled in their
efforts to advance ; and an effort to
come in on his rear, over ground
abandoned by Sherman's division, was
handsomely repulsed, with heavy mu
tual loss, by Dresser's rifled battery.
But one division could not sustain
the weight of more than half the
Rebel army, admirably handled, and
constantly advancing fresh regiments
to replace those already blown or
too badly cut up. After repulsing
several determined attacks, some
times advancing a httle, but gener
ally giving ground, and losing three
Colonels of the line and three officers
of his staff, with at least half the
effective force of his batteries, Mc
Clernand, by 11 a. m., found himself
pushed back, with Hurlbut's fresh
division on his left, and the debris
of Sherman's on his right.
Meantime, a brigade of Sherman's
division, under Col. David Stuart,
which had been oddly posted on our
extreme left, holding what was known
as the Hamburg road, had been sud
denly shelled from the opposite bluffs
of Lick creek, by a force which the
next instant peppered them with

grape, and the next rushed across the
creek and began pouring in sharp vol
leys of musketry, while the Rebel bat
teries, firing over the heads of their
infantry, soon made our position un
tenable. Stuart fell back to the next
ridge ; and, finding the Rebels who
had followed Prentiss beginning to
come in on his right, sent to Gen.
W. H. L.Wallace for assistance. Gen.
McArth'ur's brigade was promptly
dispatched to Stuart's support ; but,
bearing too much to the right, was
soon sharply engaged with the pur
suers of Prentiss. Falling back to a
good position, he held it, though
wounded, until Wallace came to his
aid; but Stuart, receiving no direct
support, was driven back from one
ridge to another, until by noon, him
self wounded, several of his officers
fallen, and his command sadly shat
tered, he fell in behind McArthur to
reorganize. And thus, of our six di
visions, three had been thoroughly
routed before mid-day.
Gen. Grant had arrived on the,bat-
tle-field about 8 a. m. ; but, early as
was the hour, his army was already
beaten. As this, however, is a circum
stance* of which he is not easily con
vinced, it did not seem to make as
vivid an impression on him as on
others. Sending word to Lew. Wal
lace to hasten up with his division
on our right, he devoted his personal
attention to reforming his shattered
brigades, reestablishing his silenced
batteries, and forming new lines of
defense to replace those so suddenly
demolished. Hurlbut's and W. H. L.
Wallace's divisions were still intact ;
while of the others the better but not
the larger part of those not already
disabled fell into line on their flanks,
or just behind them-.

64

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Hurlbut held the direct road to
Corinth, with woods at his back
and open fields commanded by his
batteries in his front; and here he
stood, fighting a more numerous,
equally gallant, and victory-flushed
enemy, for more than five hours.
Here he was thrice charged in full
force, and thrice he repulsed the foe
with terrible slaughter. The close
ranks which rushed upon him were
first plowed through and through
with, grape, then, as they came
nearer, with more deadly musketry ;
until the shouted orders, entreaties,
menaces, of frantic officers no longer
availed, and the long lines sank back
defeated to the shelter in their rear.
Here fell, at %\ o'clock, Albert Sidney
Johnston, the Rebel commander-in-
chief, struck in the thigh by a frag
ment of shell, but sitting silently on
his horse for some minutes, and only
taken off to die. Beauregard at once
assumed command ; but the death of
Johnston was concealed, so far as
possible, until his army had returned
to Corinth. An hour later, Hurl
but's division, worn out by incessant
fighting against fresh regiments, fell
back nearly half a mile, to a position
about that distance from the Landing.
W. H. L. Wallace's division was in
like manner exposed to and attacked
by the exultant Rebels about 10 a. m. ;
and for six hours was hotly engaged,
with scarcely an intermission. Four
times was it charged along its whole
fine ; and every charge was repulsed
with heavy slaughter. Once or twice,
our men pursued their retreating foes ;
but the disparity of numbers was too
great, and they were soon pushed
back to their lines. They were still
fighting as eagerly and confidently
as ever, when Hurlbut's retreat com

pelled them to fall back also, or be
flanked and surrounded as Prentiss
had been. Just now, their leader fell,
mortally wounded ; closing in death
a day's work which had won for him
the admiration of all beholders and
the lasting gratitude of his country.
The division fell back into line with
Hurlbut's nfew position ; losing of its
batteries but a single gun, whereof
the carriage had been disabled.
Lew. Wallace was at Crump's
Landing, with his force extended on
the road to Purdy, when he received,
at 11J a. m., Grant's order to bring
his division into the fight. He had
been anxiously awaiting that order,
listening to the sound of the mutual
cannonade since morning; and his
column was instantly put in motion.
Snake creek, with steep banks and
swampy bottom, was in his way ; but
his men were eager for the fray, and
were soon making good time in the
direction indicated. But he was
met, near the creek, by messengers
from Grant with tidings that our ad
vanced divisions had been over
powered and beaten back ; so that the
road on which he was hastening
would now lead him directly into the
midst of the enemy, who could easily
envelop him with thrice his num
bers. He thereupon turned abruptly
to the left, moving down the west
bank of Snake creek to the river
road, which follows the windings of
the Tennessee bottom, and crosses
the creek at its mouth, close by Pitts
burg Landing. This countermarch
delayed his junction with our sorely-
pressed combatants until after night
fall ; and thus 11 regiments of our in
fantry, 2 batteries, and 2 battalions
of cavalry, remained useless through
out that day's bloody struggle.

WEBSTER'S GUNS STOP THE REBEL ADYANCE.

65

At 4J p. m., our surprised but
otherwise over-matched army, apart
from Lew. Wallace's division, had
been crowded back into a semicircle
of three or four hundred acres imme
diately around, but rather to the left
of the Landing. It could retreat no
farther. A deep, rapid river in its
rear could only be crossed with the
loss of half its remaining men " and
every thing beside. Of its five divi
sions, two had been beaten back ; the
other three utterly routed. Our ar
tillery was half lost or disabled ; our
field-hospitals overflowing ; our tents
and camp-equipage mainly in the
hands of the enemy; our losses in
men enormous ; and those who had
not fallen were in good part dis
heartened ; not less than 5,000 men
in uniform, possibly twice that num
ber — to say nothing of sutlers, com
missaries, and the usual rabble of
camp-followers — were huddled under
the bank of the river, not all of them
privates, but all repeating the stereo
typed excuse, " Our regiment is all
cut to pieces," and resisting every
entreaty of their more zealous officers
to bring them again into line.
But the Rebels, whose losses had
also been heavy, fearing a trap, hesi
tated for a few minutes to follow W.
H. L. Wallace's division, as it recoiled
from the position it had so long and
so stoutly defended. Those mo
ments were incalculably precious,
and were thoroughly improved. Col.
J. D. Webster, chief of staff, to Gen.
Grant, a believer in artillery, im
proved the opportunity to collect our

remaining guns — 22 only — and' plant
them on the bluff in a semicircle,
commanding the roads whereby the
Rebels must approach. Gunners
proving scarce, Dr. Cornyn, surgeon
of the 1st . Missouri artillery, volun
teered in that capacity, and proved
himself a workman who needed not
to be ashamed. There was rare
virtue inherent in those 22 guns, and
men around them who knew how to
evoke it.
It was hardly 6 o'clock when the
Rebel batteries, once more in posi
tion, opened, at a distance of a few
hundred yards, on our last possible
holding-ground. Our next recoil
must be over the bank, into the
hideous, helpless massacre of a grand
er Ball's Bluff. Promptly and most
efficiently, Webster's guns make re
ply. Soon, the Rebel infantry was
seen crowding up to their guns, open
ing fire at rather long range, to find
our shattered battalions reformed and
giving abundant answer. At this
moment, the gunboats Tyler and
Lexington, whieh had all day been
chafing at their impotence, opened
on our left, firing up a deep. ravine
that seemed to have been cut through
the bluff on purpose. Seven-inch
shell and 64-pound shot were hurled
by them diagonally across the new
Rebel front, decidedly interfering
with the regularity of its formation,
and preventing that final rush upon
our guns and the supporting infantry
whose success would have perfected
their triumph. So, far into the. even
ing of that busy, lurid Sabbath, our

02 Among the apocryphal anecdotes in circular
tion, one represents Gen. Buell as remonstrat
ing, two or three days afterward, against the
soldiership which placed Grant's army on the
south rather than on the north bank of the
Tennessee. "Where was your line of retreat ?"
VOL. II.  5

asked Buell. " Oh, across the river," responded
Grant. " But you could not have ferried over
more than 10,000 men," persisted Buell. " Well,
there would not have been more than that," re
plied Grant. Temerity was then so rare among
our Generals that it seemed a virtue.

66

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

batteries and boats kept up their
thunders, fairly silencing the Rebel
guns, and compelling their infantry
to take post farther and farther back,
in order to be out of the reach of our
shells ; and all through the night, at
intervals of 10 to 15 minutes, the
gunboats continued to send their
compliments into the Rebel lines, as
if the pouring rain which fell at mid
night might not suffice to break the
slumbers of the weary thousands who
had lain down on their arms wher
ever night found them, to gather
strength and refreshment for the in
evitable struggle of the morrow.
Before seeking his couch in the
httle church at Shiloh, the surviving
Rebel leader dispatched a messenger
to Corinth with this exhilarating dis
patch for Richmond :
" Battle-field of Shiloh,
" Via Corinth and Chattanooga,
"April 6th, 1862.
"Gen. S. Cooper, Adjutant-General:
" "We have this morning attacked the
enemy in strong position in front of Pitts
burg; and, after a severe battle of ten
hours, thanks to Almighty God, gained a
complete victory, driving the enemy from
every position.
" The loss on both sides is heavy, includ
ing our commander-in-chief, Gen. Albert
Sidney Johnston, who fell gallantly leading
his troops into the thickest of the fight.
i " G. T. Beauregard,
" General Commanding."
Maj .-Gen. Buell's long-expected
' Army of the Ohio ' had been de
layed on its march from Nashville,

repairing roads and rebuilding the
bridge over Duck river at Columbia ;
which place Gen. B. himself left with
his rear division on the 2d of April ;
reaching Savannah with his advance
division, Gen. Nelson's, on the even
ing of the 5th: the remaining di
visions were strung along the road
from Columbia at intervals of six
miles. A halt to rest on reaching
the Tennessee was generally expect
ed ; but, on the morning of the 6th,
ominous and persistent reports of
musketry as well as cannon in the
direction of Pittsburg Landing dis
pelled this illusion. Buell hastened
to Gen. Grant's headquarters, only to
learn that he had just started on a
steamboat for the Landing; having
left orders for Gen. Nelson, with
Buell's advance, to push on up the
right bank of the river, leaving his
cannon, because of the badness of
the roads, to be taken by steamboats.
Though it was still believed at Sa
vannah that there was nothing going
on above more serious than an affair
of outposts, Gen. Buell sent orders
to his rear divisions to hurry forward,
and, taking a steamboat, proceeded
to the Landing ; where the multipli
city and constant increase of strag
glers soon convinced him that the
matter in hand was urgent and im
portant." Finding Gen. Grant at
the Landing, he requested the dis-

03 His official report says :
" As we proceeded up the river, groups of
soldiers were seen on the west bank; and it soon
became evident that they were stragglers from
the engaged army. The groups increased in
size and frequency, until, as we approached the
Landing, they numbered whole companies, and
almost regiments; and at the Landing the banks
swarmed with a confused mass of men of vari
ous regiments. There could not have been less
than 4,000 or 5,000. Late in the day, it became
much greater. Finding Gen. Grant at the
Landing, I requested him to send steamers to

Savannah to bring up Gen. Crittenden's division
which had arrived during the morning, and then
went ashore with him. The throng of disor
ganized and demoralized troops increased con
tinually by fresh fugitives from the battle, which
steadily drew nearer the Landing; and with
these were intermingled great numbers of teams,
all striving to get as near as possible to the
river. With few exceptions, all efforts to form
the troops and move them forward to the fight
utterly failed. In the mean time, the enemy had
made such progress against our troops, that his
artillery and musketry began to play into the

SECOND DAY'S FIGHT AT PITTSBURG LANDING.

67

patch of steamers to Savannah, for
Gen. Crittenden's, his 2d division,
while he landed to take part in the
fray. Gen. Nelson, starting at 1:30, ar
rived at 5 p. m. opposite the Landing
with his leading (Col. Ammen's) bri
gade, which was immediately crossed
and formed in fine, under a fire of
Rebel artillery, on the right of Web
ster's guns. Ammen's men were just
able to put in an appearance before
dark, firing a few volleys and repuls
ing a Rebel charge on their guns at
6^ p. m., when the enemy desisted
and withdrew. By 7, the whole di
vision was over, and soon in position ;
lying down on their arms, under or
ders from Buell to advance and at
tack at early daylight ; which were
implicitly obeyed.
Crittenden's division reached Sa
vannah at nightfall of Sunday, and
was forwarded by steamboats direct
ly to the Landing; where it was
rapidly debarked and formed on the
right of Nelson.
Buell's next division, Gen. A. Mc-
D. McCook, was 12 miles from Sa
vannah when it received orders,
which it made haste to obey, arriving
at Savannah at 7 to 8 p. m. ; but,
finding there no boats ready for its
service, McCook routed up the cap
tains of the boats lying at the dock,
and embarked Rousseau's brigade,
with which he reached the Landing
at 5£ a. m. ; his other brigades, Cols.
Gibson and Kirk, arriving some time

later, on boats which had been press
ed into service as they successively
reached Savannah. The residue of
Buell's army was too far behind on
the Columbia road to be even hoped
for. Two brigades of Wood's divi
sion arrived, however, just at the
close of the battle.
The fighting reopened along the
whole line at daylight of the 7th, and
under conditions bravely altered from
those of the day preceding. The
arrival of part of Buell's and all Lew.
Wallace's commands had brought to
the field not less than 25,000 troops ;
fresh, so far as fighting was con
cerned, for this day's action ; while
Beauregard, whose men, throughout
the 6th, had been on foot 16 hours,
and fighting most of the time had
barely 3,000 left of his reserve where
with to match them. His force had
been fearfully reduced by the casual
ties of battle, and scarcely less by
skulking, or scattering in quest of
plunder — faults common to all raw
troops, but of which he complains
in his report as though they were
novel and amazing." He had hith
erto been buoyed up, or at least had
buoyed up the spirits of his soldiers,
by expectations and assurances that
Gens. Price and Yan Dorn, with
some 30,000 men from across the
Mississippi, were close at hand, and
would reach him in time for this
day's battle. But they did not come,
and Buell did. The hot fire of mus
ketry and artillery poured in upon

vital spot of the position, and some persons
were killed on the bank, at the very Landing."
" He says :
"From this agreeable duty [of praising the
meritorious], I turn to one in the highest degree
unpleasant— one due, however, to the brave men
under me, as a contrast to the behavior of most
of the army who fought so heroically. I allude

to the fact that some officers, non-commissioned
officers, and- men, abandoned their colors, early in
the first day, to pillage the captured encamp
ments ; others retired shamefully from the field
on both days, while the thunder of cannon and
the roar and rattle of musketry told' them that
their brothers were being slaughtered by the
fresh legions of the enemy."

68

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

his entire front before sunrise, gave
him ample assurance of this ; while
his soldiers, exhausted and stiffened
by yesterday's protracted efforts, and
chilled, like ours, by the rain of the
intervening night, stood to their arms
firmly, but without alacrity or enthu

siasm.

Nelson had quietly aroused his
men at 4 a. m. ; and he advanced in
parade order at &i ; soon concentrat
ing upon himself the fire of half the
Rebel army. Not having received
his artillery, his infantry, annoyed
by two Rebel batteries, began, at 7£,
to give ground; when, on applying
to Gen. Buell, the battery of Capt.
Mendenhall, and at 9 that of Capt.
Terrill — both regulars — were sent to
his support, and the Rebel batteries
in front thereby silenced. Meantime,
the Rebel concentration upon this
division was continued ; but its beha
vior was splendid, especially that of
Ammen's brigade, admirably han
dled by its chief; while that of Ha-
gen, on the right, maintained its po
sition with equal gallantry. The loss
by this division of 739 out of 4,541 —
more than half of it in Hagen's bri
gade—attests the tenacity of the
Rebel resistance this day.
Crittenden's and McCook's divi
sions were engaged later, but not less
earnestly. Advancing across a ra
vine, McCook's right and center were
immediately attacked in force; but
the steady valor of Rousseau's bri
gade prevailed, and their assailants,
recoiling, were pursued nearly a mile ;
when they were reenforced and ral
lied among the tents whence McCler-
nand's left had been so hurriedly
driven the previous morning. Two
of his guns, being now turned against
us by the enemy,' were finally cap

tured by a charge of Col. Buckley's
5th Kentucky; while McClernand's
headquarters were retaken by Rous
seau, who, impetuously pursuing
across a level field, opened too wide
a gap between his right and Gen.
Crittenden's division, which was filled
by Col. Willich's regiment advancing,
under a deadly fire of shell, shot, and
musketry, to its support ; rushing up
for a bayonet-charge to within 200
yards of the enemy's line, when the
latter gave way, and the regiment
was deployed in line of battle to give
them a hastening volley. Disordered
by bad management, which brought
its skirmishers under a fire of our
own regiments on either side, Col.
Willich's 32d Indiana hastily fell
back; but was soon reformed and
deployed, advancing with the entire
division until the retreat of the
enemy was decided.
Lew. Wallace, on our extreme
right, with Sherman and McCler
nand between him and Buell's divi
sions, had likewise opened fire at day
light, dismounting a gun of the Rebel
battery before him. Throwing for
ward his right, by Gen. Grant's per
sonal direction, until his line, which
had been parallel, formed a right •
angle with the river, he advanced
en echelon, preceded by skirmishers,
across a ravine to the opposite bluff,
where he waited for Sherman to
come up ; and meantime, finding his
right secured by a swamp, attempted
to turn the enemy's left, which was
thereupon heavily reenforced, being
effectively cannonaded by the bat
teries of Thompson and Thurber.
An attempt was made to capture
Thurber's battery by a dash of cavr
airy, which was easily defeated by
the skirmishers of the 8th Missouri;

BEAUREGARD RETREATS FROM PITTSBURG LANDING. 69

when the battery was charged by in
fantry; who were easily repelled by
Col. Morgan L. Smith's brigade.
Meantime, Gen. Sherman, who had
waited for the sound of Buell's
guns upon the main Corinth road,
advanced at 8 a. m., steadily and
slowly, under fire, until he reached
the point where the Corinth road
crosses the line of McClernand's
abandoned camps, and saw Willich's
regiment, on his right, fighting gal
lantly for the possession of a point
of timber some 500 yards east of
Shiloh church. Hence the Rebel
army could be seen re-forming its
lines to the southward, with a bat
tery by the church, and another near
the Hamburg road, pouring grape
and canister into any column of our
troops that advanced upon that green
point of timber whence Willich's
regiment had just been repulsed, but
into which one of McCook's brigades
(Rousseau's) was now advancing.
Directing the fire of two 24-pound
howitzers of McAllister's battery
upon the Rebel guns, Sherman form
ed his two brigades (David Stuart's,
now commanded by Col. T. Kilby
Smith, and CoL Buekland's) to ad
vance in line with Rousseau ; which
they did superbly, sweeping every

""An Impressed New-Yorker" says:
"No heroism of officers or men could avail to
stay the advance of the Federal troops. At 3
p. U., the Confederates decided on a retreat to
Corinth; and Gen. Breckinridge, strengthened
by three regiments of cavalry — Forrest's,
Adams's, and the Texas Rangers, raising his ef
fective force to 12,000 men — received orders to
protect the rear. By 4 p. it, the Confederates
were in full retreat The main body of the
army passed silently and swiftly along the road
toward Corinth ; our division bringing up the
rear, determined to make a desperate stand if
pursued. At this time, the Union forces might
have closed in upon our retreating columns and
cut off Breckinridge's division, and perhaps cap
tured it A Federal battery threw some shells,
as a feeler, across the road on which we were

thing before them. At 4 p. m., our
soldiers held the original front line
whence we had been so hurriedly
driven 34 hours before ; and the whole
Rebel army was retreating, unpur-
sued, on Corinth." Gen. Sherman,
with two brigades and the cavalry,
went out a few miles next morning
on the Corinth road, and had a smart
skirmish with a small Rebel force,
mainly of cavalry, which he repuls
ed, destroying a camp, and captur
ing a hospital, wherein he found 280
Confederate and 50 Union wounded ;
returning with the former to his
camp near Shiloh next morning.
Beauregard, in his official report,
states that his effective force had now
been reduced, " from exhaustion and
other causes, from 40,000 to less than
20,000 men;" and adds:
"Hour by hour opposed to an enemy
constantly reenforced, our ranks were per
ceptibly thinned nnder the increasing,
withering fire of the enemy ; and, by 12 m.
[of the second day], 18 hours of hard fight
ing had sensibly exhausted a large number ;
my last reserves had necessarily been dis
posed of; and the enemy was evidently re
ceiving fresh reenforcements after each
repulse; accordingly, about 1 p. m., I deter
mined to withdraw from so unequal a con
flict ; securing such of the results of the vic
tory ofthe day before as were practicable."
This is pretty fair, but not strictly
accordant with the dispatch which

retreating, between our division and the main
body ; but no reply was made to them, as this
would have betrayed our position. We passed
on with little opposition or loss, and by 5 o'clock
had reached a point one and a half miles nearer
Corinth than the point of attack Sabbath morn
ing. Up to this time, the pursuit seemed feeble,
and the Confederates were surprised that the
victorious Federals made no more of their ad
vantage. Nor is ilj yet understood why the pur
suit was not pressed. A rapid and persistent
pursuit would have created a complete rout of
the now broken, weary, and dispirited Rebels.
Two hours more of such fighting as Buell's fresh
men could have made would have demoralized
and destroyed Beauregard's army. For some
reason, this was not done; and night dosed the
battle."

70

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

he, after sending back from Monterey
a request to Gen. Grant for permis
sion to send a mounted party to the
battle-field under a flag of truce to
bury his dead, and being answered
that, owing to the warmth of the
weather, they had already been
buried, transmitted to Richmond,
namely :
" Coeinth, Tuesday, April 8th, 1862.
" To the Secretary of "War, Richmond : _
"We have gained a great and glorious
victory. Eight to ten thousand prisoners,
and 36 pieces of cannon."6 Buell reenforced
Grant, and we retired to our intrenchments
at Corinth, which we can hold. Loss
heavy on both sides. Bkaueegabd."
Beauregard officially reports his
loss in this battle at 1,728 killed,
8,012 wounded, 957 missing: total,
10,699, or a httle more than one-
fourth of the admitted strength of

his army." Gen. Grant, writing on
the 9th, gives his losses approxi
mately at 1,500 killed and 3,500
wounded, and. says nothing of a loss
of prisoners, of whom about 2,200
effectives were marched off the field
with Prentiss, with possibly 200 or
300 more of our wounded of Sunday.
A later and more circumstantial
statement summed up our losses as
1,735 killed, 7,882 wounded, 3,956
prisoners; total, 13,573. Recurring
to the reports of subordinates — all
we have — we find their losses stated
as follows :

1,164 2,4

Killed. Wonn'd. Missing. Total.
8d Division— Sen. W. H. L. Wal
lace (2 regt's not reported)... 226
4th Division— Gen. Hurlbut... 818
Sth Division— Gen. Sherman. . . 818
Bnell's army  , 266

1,083 1,449
1,215 1,816

441

1,9852,034 2,161

Total  1,128 5,513 1,916 8,609
Add to these our loss in prisoners,

86 These cannon were unquestionably taken
on* Sunday; but how many of them were re
tained on Monday and carried off in the retreat,
does not appear. It is not probable that Beau
regard returned to Corinth with so many or so
effective guns as he had taken thence when he
advanced. " Beauregard's official report enumerates,
among the casualties on his side, in addition to
the loss of their commander-in-chief, Albert S.
Johnston, that Hon. Geo. W. Johnson, " Provi
sional Governor of Kentucky," was killed on
Monday, having had his horse shot under him
on Sunday; Brig.-Gen. Gladding, of Withers's
corps, was mortally wounded ; that Gen. Bragg
had two horses shot under him; Gen. Hardee
was slightly wounded, his coat cut with balls,
and his horse disabled ; that Gen. Breckinridge
was twice struck by spent balls; that Gen.
Cheatham was slightly wounded and had three
horses shot under him ; that Brig.-Gens. Clark,
Bowen, and B. R. Johnson were severely
wounded ; and that Gen. Hindman had his horse
shot under him and was severely injured by his
falL [He was hoisted ten feet into the air by the
explosion of a shell, which tore his horse to
shreds, and was himself supposed to be killed;
but he rose at once to his feet and called for
another horse.] SeveraJ Colonels were killed,
and many more severely wounded; among them,
Henry W. Allen, 4th Louisiana, who was chosen

next Rebel Governor of the State, and whose
official report of the second day's fight contains
the following:
" Having suffered from loss of blood and in
tense pain, I placed the regiment under the com
mand of Lt.-Col. S. E. Hunter, and rode over
to the hospital to get relief. After haying my
wound dressed, I was about lying down, in
order to take a little rest, when a general stam
pede began of wagons, ambulances, and men.
I mounted my horse immediately, and rode after
the disgraceful refugees. I succeeded in putting
a stop to the stampede, and placed cavalry in
the rear, with orders to cut down all who at
tempted to pass. Here I met an aid of Gen.
Bragg, who ordered me to rally all the strag
glers and form them in line. This I did. After
forming a battalion, Lieut.-CoL Barrow, com
manding the llth Louisiana, came to me with
the remnant of his regiment, and placed
himself and regiment under my com
mand. This force, together with the remnants
of two Alabama and one Tennessee regiment,
made a large body of men, who stood firm in
front of the hospitals, ready to receive the ad
vancing column of the enemy.
" While rallying the stragglers, I came across
two batteries that had lost all their commis
sioned officers. These I took possession of,
sent for ammunition, supplied them with men
from my command, and sent one of them to
Gen. Beauregard. This battery fired the
last shots against the enemy. The other bat
tery, and the forces under my command, held
their position in the very face of the enemy,
until ordered to be retired by command of Gen.
Bragg."

GEN. HALLECK'S APPROACHES TO CORINTH.

71

and the killed and wounded in Pren
tiss's, McClernand's, and Lew. "Wal
lace's divisions — the latter known to
be very light — and our actual losses
in these two days' desperate conflict
can hardly have been less than 15,000
men ; and it is probable that Beaure
gard's, including the skulkers who
here saw enough of fighting and never
rejoined their regiments, was barely,
if any thing, less than this.'8
The victory was clearly ours ; for
we had the field and the dead ; but
the losses were fairly equalized, while
the Rebels had the spoil of our camps
— though they could carry off but
little of it — and the prisoners.

Maj. Gen. Halleck, commanding
the Department of the Mississippi,
left St. Louis directly after receiving
news of the Shiloh battles," and
reached Pittsburg Landing by steam
boat two or three days thereafter.
Meantime, and for weeks following,
no attempt was made against the
Rebel army at Corinth ; and, though
Gen. Pope arrived from Missouri on
the 22d, with' a reenforcement of
25,000 men, even Monterey was not
occupied by us till1 the 1st of May,
when Gen. Halleek's army had been

increased by accessions from various
quarters to a little over 100,000 men.
All this time, and afterward, Gen.
Beauregard industriously strengthen
ed his works, covering Corinth with
an irregular semicircle of intrench-
ments, 15 miles long, and well-mount
ed with artillery ; destroying the
roads and bridges beyond, and block
ing the approaches with abatis. Gen.
Halleck saw fit not to flank these for
midable defenses, but to overcome
them by regular and necessarily slow
approaches, involving constant and
mutual artillery practice and picket
fighting, with very little loss ; three
weeks of which brought our near
est batteries within three miles of
Corinth." A reconnoissance under
Gen. Paine to Farmington," five
miles N". "W. of Corinth, had brought
on a skirmish, in which he took 200
prisoners, striking the Charleston
and Memphis Railroad at Glendale,
three miles farther, and partially
destroying it ; while the Ohio road
was in like manner broken at Purdy.
Col. Elliott, with two regiments of
cavalry, was dispatched on the night
ofthe 27th to flank Corinth and cut
the railroad south of it, so as to in
tercept the enemy's supplies. He

M "An Impressed New-Yorker," writing of
the retreat from this Rebel victory, says:
" I made a detour from the road on which the
army was retreating, that I might travel faster
and get ahead of the main body. In this ride of
twelve miles alongside of the routed army, I
saw more of human agony and woe than I trust
I wiU ever again be coiled to witness. The re
treating host wound along a narrow and almost
impassable road, extending some seven or eight
miles in length. Here was a long line of wag
ons loaded with wouuded, piled in like bags of
grain, groaning and cursing ; while the mules
plunged on in mud and water belly-deep, the
water sometimes coming into the wagons. Next
came a straggling regiment of infantry, pressing
ou past tho train of wagons; then a stretcher
borne upon the shoulders of four men, carrying a
wounded officer; then soldiers staggering along,
with an arm broken and hanging down, or other

fearful wounds, which were enough to destroy
life. And, to add to the horrors of the seene,
the elements of heaven marshaled their forces —
a fitting accompaniment of the tempest of human
desolation and passion which was raging. A
cold, drizzling rain commenced about nightfall,
and soon came harder and fester, then turned to
pitiless, blinding hail This storm raged with
unrelenting violence for three hours. I passed
long wagon-trains filled with wounded and dy
ing soldiers, without even a blanket to shield
them from the driving sleet and hail, which fell
in stones as large as partridge-eggs, until it lay
on the ground two inches deep.
"Some 300 men died during that awful re
treat, and their bodies were thrown out to make
room for others who, although wounded, had
struggled on through the storm, hoping to find
shelter, rest, and medical care,"
" April 19, 1S62. T0 May 81. " May 21.

72

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

struck it on the 30th, at Booneville,
24 miles from Corinth, in the midst
of an unexpected retreat ofthe Rebel
army, which had commenced on the
26th. Beauregard had held Corinth
so long as possible agamst Halleck's
overwhelming force, and had com
menced its evacuation by sending off
a part of his sick and wounded. El
liott captured 20 cars, laden with
small arms, ammunition, stores, bag
gage, &c, with some hundreds of
Confederate sick, whom he paroled,
burning the engine and trains. The
evacuation was completed during the
night of the 29th; the Rebel mus
ketry-firing having ceased at 9 a. m.
of the preceding day. Explosions
and fires during the night gave plain
intimations ofthe enemy's departure ;
so that some of our officers in the
advance rode safely into town at 6£
next morning, and reported no enemy
present. Piles of provisions were
found in flames, and one ¦ full ware
house undamaged ; but never a gun.
Beauregard retreated to Tupelo, pur
sued by Gen. Pope so far as Baldwin
and Guntown, but without material
results. Our army was disposed
along the line of the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad ; which, by the
falling of the Tennessee to a Summer
stage, had become its line of supply.

Gen. 0. M. Mitchel, with a division
of Buell's army, had left Nashville
simultaneously with his commander,
but by a more easterly route, advanc
ing through Murfreesboro', Shelby-
ville, Fayetteville, to Huntsville,
Ala., which he surprised at day
light," capturing 17 locomotives and
a large number of passenger and
freight-cars, beside a train which he

had taken, with 159 prisoners, two
hours before. Thus provided, he had
uncontested possession • of 100 miles
of the Memphis and Charleston road
before night, or from Stevenson on
the east to Decatur on the west ;
seizing five more locomotives at Ste
venson, and pushing on so far west
as Tuscumbia, whence he sent an
expedition so far south as Russelville,
Ala., capturing and appropriating
Confederate property on all hands,
without the loss of a life. He took"
Bridgeport, Ala., with a force of five
regiments, by striking rapidly and-
attacking from a quarter whence he
was not looked for, driving out a
force nearly equal in number to his
own, with a ' loss of 72 killed and
wounded, 350 prisoners, and 2 guns ;
while his own loss was inconsiderable.
He was sqpn compelled, by the gath
ering of Rebel forces around him, to
abandon Tuscumbia and all south
ofthe Tennessee, burning the railroad
bridges at Decatur and Bridgeport,
but holding firmly and peaceably all
of Alabama north of that river. Had
he been even moderately reenforced,
he would have struck and probably
could have destroyed the great Rebel
armories and founderies in Georgia,
or have captured Chattanooga ; which
was assailed," under his orders, by
Gen. Negley, who was driven off by
a Rebel force under Gen. E. Kirby
Smith. Mitchel's activity and energy
poorly qualified him for a subordinate
position under Buell ; so he was trans
ferred, in June, to the command at
Port Royal, S. 0., where he oied."
Gen. Halleck was likewise summon
ed70 from the West to serve as Gen
eral-in-Chief at Washington, leaving
Gen. Grant in command at Corinth.

™ April 9

n April 29.

" June 6.

" Oct. 20.

1 July 23.

GEN. BURNSIDE AT HATTERAS INLET.

73

IV.
BURNSIDE IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Gen. Ambrose E. Bukbtside and
Com. L. M. Goldsborough led an
expedition, which had in good part
been fitted out in New York, and
which left Portress Monroe at the
opening of the year ; * and, doub
ling Cape Henry, moved southward
to Hatteras Inlet, whose defenses had
been quietly held by our troops since
tlieir capture by Gen. Butler and
Com. Stringham five months before.2
The naval part of this expedition con
sisted of 31 steam gunboats,_ mount
ing 94 guns ; the military of about
11,500 men, mainly from New Eng
land, organized in three brigades, un
der Gens. Foster, Reno, and Parke,
and embarked with their material on
some 30 to 40 steam transports. The
van of the expedition reached the
entrance of the Inlet on the 13th ;
when it was found that, though care
had been taken to select or obtain
gunboats of such draft as could read
ily be worked over the bar at high
water, yet a large proportion of the
transports, through the incompetence
or dishonesty of those employed to
procure them, were of such draft as
rendered them totally unfit for this
service. Of these, the propeller City
of New York, 600 tons, heavily laden
with rifles, ammunition, tents, bed
ding, and forage, and drawing 16 feet
water, when the greatest depth attain
able on the bar was but 13, grounded,
of course, in attempting to pass it ;'
when the sea broke completely over
her stern, every breaker lifting her,
and causing her, as it subsided, to set

tle still deeper in the sand, until she
became a perfect wreck— her masts
and smoke-stack cut1 away, her crew,
with life-preservers tied about them,
lashed to the rigging to save them
selves from being washed overboard
by each succeeding billow; and at
last, after an endurance of 12 to 15
hours, the raging sea began to lift
the deck from the hull with every
surge. Ere this, her fires had been
extinguished, her boats, all but one,
filled or Btove, and her men utterly
exhausted by long fasting and expo
sure to the cold waves which broke
over them continually ; while no at
tention was paid from the fleet to
their Bignal of distress, or even their
hail to the S. R. Spaulding, which
passed out to sea. • At length, two
mechanics, W. H. and Charles A.
Beach, of Newark, N. J., launched
the yawl, and, aided by engineer
Wm. Miller, steward Geo. Mason,
and Hugh McCabe, fireman, pulled
successfully through the surf, over the
bar, to the fleet, whence boats were
at once dispatched to take off the re
mainder of the crew, who were speed
ily rescued. The vessel and cargo
were totally lost ; as were the steam
gunboat Zouave, the transports Lou
isiana and Pocahontas, and two or
three others. Col. J. W. Allen and
Surgeon S. F. Weller, 9th New Jer
sey, were drowned* by the upsetting
of their small boat in the breakers, as
they returned to the transport Ann
E. Thompson from reporting the ar
rival of their regiment to Gen. Burn-

1 Jan. 11-12, 1862.

* See Vol. I, p. 599.

5 Jan. 13.

* Jan. 15.

74

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

side. The National loss in precious
time, as well as life and property, by
the villainy which palmed off on the
Government vessels totally unfit for
this service, can hardly be overesti
mated. Two or three weeks of des
perately hard work were expended
on getting over such of the craft as
were not wrecked ; giving the alarmed
Rebels the amplest time to concen
trate and fortify.
At length, every thing being in
readiness, our fleet moved slowly up
Pamlico and Croatan Sounds;" the
gunboats in advance and on the
flanks of the transports, formed in
three columns, each headed by its flag
ship, every large steamer having one
or two schooners in tow, with the
spaces between the columns kept
carefully clear, and all moving at the
regulated pace of four miles per hour.
The fleet consisted in all of 65 ves
sels, covering a space about two
miles square; some 50 transports,
mainly schooners, having been left
at the Inlet. The day was beautiful ;
the distance made about 28 miles,
when they halted, near sunset, still
10 miles from the southern point of
Roanoke Island, and lay undisturbed
through the bright, moonlit night.
At 8 a.m., the signal to weigh an
chor was given. At 11, progress was
arrested, near the south point, by a
storm ; and the fleet again lay at an
chor till next morning, when, at 10
a. m., the order was given to move
forward, and the gunboats led the
way through the narrow passage
known as Roanoke Inlet, into Croa
tan Sound, driving 7 Rebel gunboats
before them. At noon, our gunboats
were under fire of the chief Rebel
battery on the Island, known as Fort

Bartow, when the Rebel gunboats
halted and added their fire to that
of the fort. A line of piles driven
across the channel was evidently ex
pected to obstruct our advance, but
proved inadequate. Soon, our soldier-
crowded transports were seen swarm
ing through the Inlet, and prepara
tions were made for landing at
Ashby's Harbor, two miles below
the fort, which had now been set on
fire by our shells. The flames were •
soon checked, however, and the can
nonade on both sides continued; while
the Rebel gunboats, which had re
treated up the Sound, again appeared
and engaged our fleet, till the Cur
lew, their flag-ship, was struck by a
100-pound shell from the Southfield,
and soon enveloped in flames. The
firing was continued on both sides till
night, without serious loss in men on
either. The Rebel barracks in the
reai- of the fort were destroyed by
fire, and their remaining gunboats
compelled to withdraw from the con
test. All our transports had passed
through the Inlet and anchored by 4
p. m., when debarkation commenced
under the fire of our gunboats ; and
7,500 men were ashore, and most of
them in bivouac, before 11 p. m.
The Rebel forces in that region
were commanded by Brig.-Gen.
Henry A. Wise,' whose headquar
ters were at Nag's Head, across
Roanoke Sound, and whose forces
numbered from 3,000 to 4,000 ; but
hardly 1,000 of them were on the
Island, prior to the approach of our
fleet, when reenforcements were hur-
ried over, raising the number of its
defenders to about 3,000. Col. Shaw,
8th North Carolina, was in immedi-
ate command. Fort Bartow, other-

' February 5.

" Ex-Go yemor of Virginia.

ATTACK ON ROANOKE ISLAND.

75

wise Pork Point battery, was a sub
stantial earthwork, strengthened by
abatis and a moat, and mounting
10 guns ; battery Huger, on Weir's
Point, farther north, had likewise
10 guns; battery Blanchard, mid
way, but 4. The swampy nature of
the approaches, covered with thick
ets of shrubs and bushes, was counted
on to bar access to Fort Bartow, save
by a causeway road completely com
manded by its fire.

After crouching through a rainy
night, some of them in miry bogs,
our soldiers were formed and led on
at an early hour of the morning.7 A
large portion of the Rebel force was
deployed as skirmishers, and contest
ed our floundering advance through
the bog with spirit and effect until
near 10 A. m., when our leading regi
ments were close under the fire of the
fort. They had by this time found it
impossible to obey the orders which

KOANOKE ISLAND.

' Saturday, February 8.

76

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

directed them to flank the enemy on
either side of the swamp — the abatis
proving at most places impassable;
and it was resolved to charge over
the causeway directly in front. This
was done by the 9th New York.
(Zouaves), Col. Rush C. Hawkins,
the 51st, Col. Edward Ferrero, the
23d Massachusetts, Col. John Kurtz,
and 21st, Lt.-Col. A. 0. Maggi. The
25th and 27th Massachusetts, and
10th Connecticut, Col. Russell, were
honorably distinguished in the at
tack. Col. R. was killed ; as was Lt.-
Col. Yiguier de Monteuil, 53d New
York, who was serving as a volun
teer with Hawkins's Zouaves. Lying
down to receive a fire of grape from
the Rebel batteries, part of the 51st
New York, with Hawkins's Zouaves
and the 21st Massachusetts, instantly
rose and rushed over the Rebel breast
works, chasing' out their defenders
and following them in their retreat ;
securing, by their impetuosity, the
capture of the larger number, as no
time was given for their escape from
the Island. Their loss in killed and
wounded was but 55 ; but among the
former were Capt. 0. J. Wise, son of
the General, and other valuable offi
cers; while their loss in prisoners was
not far from 2,700, including Cols.
Shaw and Jordan, Lt.-Cols. Fowle
and Price, Majors Hill, Yates, and
Williamson. Our loss in the bom
bardment and assault was about 50
killed and 250 wounded. All the
cannon, small arms, munitions, pro
visions, etc., on the Island, were
among the spoils of victory.
Com. Rowan, with 14 gunboats,
was dispatched next evening up
Albemarle Sound and Pasquotank
river in pursuit of the Rebel gun

boats. He found them, 7 in number,
at Elizabeth City; where, after a
smart fight, they were set on fire by
their crews and abandoned. • One of
them was captured, the others de
stroyed. The city itself was likewise
get on fire, and in good part de
stroyed. Four of the gunboats were
sent thence to Edenton, on the west
end of Albemarle Sound, where eight
cannon and a schooner were de
stroyed, and two schooners, with
4,000 bushels of corn, captured.
Com. Rowan's flotilla next moved8
five miles up the Chowan river to
Winton, Hereford county, upon as
surances that its citizens wished to
return to and be protected by the
Union. Their reception was even
warmer than they had expected. On
reaching the town, they were saluted
by a hailstorm of bullets, which con
strained them to fall down the river
for the night ; returning next morn
ing, the village was shelled by them
until abandoned, and then burnt.
Gen. Burnside next concentrated
his forces at Hatteras Inlet, for an
attack on Newbeen, at the junction
of the Neuse and Trent rivers, near
Pamlico Sound, and the most im
portant seaport of North Carolina.
Com. Goldsborough having been re
lieved, Commander Rowan directed
the fleet. Leaving Hatteras in the
morning,8 the expedition came to
about sunset at Slocum's creek, on
the south side of the river, 18 miles
below Newbern, where a landing
was effected next morning, and the
troops pushed forward, so fast as
ready, to within a mile and a half of
the Rebel defenses; the gunboats
moving up the river in advance of
the troops, and shelling the road

8 Feb. 19.

' March 12.

BURNSIDE ADVANCES UPON NEWBERN.

77

whereon they marched. No resist
ance was encountered by land ; but
the fleet found the channel of the
Neuse obstructed, half way up, by
24 vessels sunk in the channel, sev
eral torpedoes, and a number of iron-
pointed spars firmly planted in the
bed and inclined down stream, under
water, after the manner of the snags
of the Mississippi. These obstruc
tions were speedily removed or sur
mounted ; while two or three batteries
along the bank were successively
silenced by a few shots from our flag
ship Delaware. The fleet halted for
the night nearly abreast of the army ;
which had had a hard day's work,
dragging its guns through the deep
clay of the roads, sodden with several
days' rain ; and the men sank on the
ground at night around their pitch-
pine fires to enjoy a drenching from
the freshly pouring skies.
A dense' fog covered land and
water next morning,10 as our fleet,
having safely passed the obstructions,
steamed up past Forts Thompson and
Ellis ; which, after firing a few shots,
were hastily evacuated, a shell from
one of the gunboats having exploded
the magazine of the latter. Fort
Lane, the last and strongest defense
of Newbern on the water, was more
carefully approached, in expectation
of a sanguinary struggle ; but it had
by this time been likewise evacuated,
in deference to the successes of our
army ; and our fleet steamed directly
up to the wharves, shelling the dep6t
and track whereby the Rebels were
escaping from the eity.
The Rebel defenses consisted of a
well constructed breastwork, running
a mile and a half from the Neuse
across the railroad to an impenetra

ble swamp which connects Newbern
with Morehead. City, with a battery
of 13 heavy guns next the river,
several redoubts, all of them well
mounted, 3 batteries of field artil
lery, and 8 regiments of infantry,
numbering about 5|000 men, com
manded by Gen. Louis O'B. Branch.
Our guns were few and hght, be
cause of the difficulty of landing and
dragging heavier.

Gen. Burnside was on the alert at
6 a. m., and by 7 had his forces in
motion. Moving up to within short
range of the enemy's intrenchments,
his men were formed in order of bat
tle, and opened fire along their en
tire front ; the ground being swampy
on the left, and elsewhere cut up by

" Sunday, March 14.

78

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

gullies and ravines which opened
toward the enemy, affording no pro
tection from his fire. The naval bat
tery was in our center, Gen. Reno's
brigade on the right, Gen. Parke's in
the center, and Gen. Foster's on the
left ; and the regiments most effective
at Roanoke were all honorably dis
tinguished here, as were the 4th and
5th Rhode Island, the 8th and llth
Connecticut, 9th New Jersey, and
51st Pennsylvania. There was, of
course, a great disparity of numbers
— probably three to one — but this
was in effect a contest wherein infan
try were required to charge and carry
strong intrenchments, well' provided.
with artillery. The loss was naturally
much the greater on our side. Af
ter an hour's Bharp fighting, the 21st
Massachusetts, Col. Clark, accom
panied by Gen. Reno, was ordered
forward on a double-quick, and went
over the Rebel breastworks. It was
immediately charged by two Rebel
regiments, and repulsed; when Capt.
Fraser, being wounded, was taken
prisoner, but soon captured his guard
and escaped. The 4th Rhode Island,
disliking its position in front of a
Rebel battery of 5 guns, well backed
by a fire from rifle-pits, next at
tempted a charge, and carried the
battery at double-quick ; finding an
entrance between a brick-yard and
the parapet. Once inside, the Colonel
formed his right wing in line, and
charged down upon the guns at full
speed, capturing the entire battery,
routing its supports, and planting his
flag on the parapet. The 5th Rhode
Island arid 8th and llth Connecticut
immediately rushing up, our triumph
at that point was secure.
Gen. Reno, on our right, seeing
that he was losing heavily from the

Rebel battery in his front, called up
his reserve regiment, the 51st Penn
sylvania, Col. Hartranft, and ordered
a charge, in wliich the 21st and 24th
Massachusetts, 51st New York, and
9th New Jersey participated. Its
success wal complete ; and the whole
line of Rebel works was very soon in
our hands.
The enemy were now in full flight ;
and Gen. Burnside ordered an ad
vance on their track, which was led
by Gen. Foster ; but the speed of the
fugitives was inimitable, and, when
our van reached the bank of the
Trent, opposite Newbern, they found
that city on fire in seven different
places ; the splendid railroad bridge
over the Trent a sheet of flame, hav
ing been fired by a scow-load of tur
pentine, drifted against it ; and the
Rebel troops, with all the locomotives
and cars in and about Newbern, on
their way inland toward Goldsboro'.
The wind suddenly lulling, the fires
were soon extinguished by sailors
from our fleet ; but the railroad
bridge, market-house, and about a
dozen other structures, were burned.
Our captures at the Rebel intrench
ments and in the city included 69
cannon, two steamboats, large quan
tities of munitions and stores, with
some 500 prisoners. Our total loss
was about 100 killed and 500 wound
ed: the former including Lt.-Col.
Henry Merritt, 23d Massachusetts,
Adjt. Frazer A. Stearns, of the 21st,
Maj. Charles W. Le Gendre and
Capt. D. R. Johnson, of the 51st,
and Capt. Charles Tillinghast, ofthe
4th Rhode Island. The Rebel loss,
beside prisoners, hardly exceeded
200, including Maj. Carmichael,
killed, and Col. Avery, captured.
Gen. Burnside, having undisturbed

FORT MACON TAKEN — FIGHT NEAR. SOUTH MILLS.

79

possession of Newbern, sent Gen.
Parke" with his brigade, 3,500 strong,
southwestward to the coast, where
he occupied" Morehead City with
out resistance ; as also the more im
portant village of Beaufort, across
the inlet known as Newport river ;
and proceeded to invest Foet Macon,
a regular fortress of great cost and
strength, seized by Gov. Ellis before
the secession of the State." This
work stands on an island, or rather
ocean sand-bank, whence it looks off
on the broad Atlantic, and com
mands the entrance to the Newport
river. It is approached from the
laud with much difficulty, but was
soon invested, and. a regular siege
commenced," its pickets driven in,
.and a good position for siege-guns
obtained within fair distance, while
the fleet menaced it on the side of
the ocean. All being at length in
readiness, fire was opened" from a
breaching battery at 1,100 feet dis
tance, with flanking mortars behind
sand-banks at 1,400 yards ; the fleet
also, consisting of three gunboats
and a bark, steamed around in a
circle, after the fashion inaugurated
by Dupont at Port Royal, and fired
a^ they severally came opposite the
fort, until the roughness of the sea
compelled them to desist. The land
batteries were kept at work until
late in the afternoon ; when, 7 of the
garrison being killed, 18 wounded,
and most of the available guns dis
mounted, CoL White raised the white
flag, and next morning surrendered
his garrison of 500 men, with the
fort and all it contained. Fort Ma
con was among the first of the im
portant fortresses of the old Union,
which, having been seized by the

Rebels, was repossessed by the Re
public. Meantime, Washington, Plymouth,
and some other towns on the coast,
were quietly occupied by our forces,
which ascended the Chowan river
without serious resistance so far as
Wilton. Gen. Reno was dispatched by
Gen. Burnside from Newbern to
Roanoke Island, whence his brigade
was conveyed up Albemarle Sound
to within three miles of Elizabeth
City, where it was disembarked
during the night" and pushed north
ward, with intent to intercept a
Rebel force known to be about leav
ing Elizabeth City for Norfolk ; but
Col. Hawkins of the 9th New York
(Zouaves), who had the advance,
mistook his road, and marched ten
miles out of the way ; so that, on
retracing his steps, and gaining the
right road, his men were intensely
fatigued, and he in the rear of the
main column. The anticipated sur
prise proved a failure ; and, at a
point nearly 20 miles inland, within
a mile and a half of South Mills,
our weary, overmarched men, who
had been nearly 24 hours on their
feet, were confronted by a less nu
merous Rebel force, very strongly
posted in woods flanked by swamps,
and with a large clearing in their
front; upon entering which, they
were saluted by a fire of grape, well
supported by musketry, whereby a
gallant but rashly ordered charge of
the Zouaves was repulsed with con
siderable loss. The position was
soon flanked by our superior num
bers, and the Rebels compelled to
draw off, leaving nothing on the
field but a very few dead and

° March 20. n Maich 23. "See VoL L, p. 411. M April 11. K April 25. » April 19.

80

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

wounded. We lost 15 killed, inclu
ding Adjutant Gadsden, of the
Zouaves, and 98 wounded, which
was probably more than the loss of
the Rebels. Gen. Reno gave his
men six hours' much needed rest
on the battle-field, and then returned
to his boats, being under peremptory
orders to do so. He was obliged to
leave behind 14 of his more severely
wounded. As Camden Court House
was the only village traversed by
Gen. Reno on his advance, this en
gagement has been sometimes desig
nated the battle of Camden.
By this time, Burnside's division,
which had at no time exceeded
15,000 men, had become so widely
dispersed, and had so many import
ant points to guard, that its offensive
efficiency was destroyed; and very
little more of moment occurred in
his department, until he was ordered
by telegraph from Washington17 to
hasten with all the force he could
collect to Fortress Monroe, where he
arrived three days afterward.
Gen. Foster was left in command
of the department of North Caro
lina, with a force barely sufficient to
hold the important positions left him
by Gen. Burnside, until late in the
Autumn, when, having been consid
erably reenforced by new regiments,
mainly from Massachusetts, he re
solved to assume the offensive. He
led one expedition from Washington,18
through Williamston to Hamilton,
on the Roanoke, where he expected
to find and destroy some iron-clads
in process of construction ; but there
were none. Pushing thence inland,10
in the direction of-Tarboro', he ad
vanced to within ten miles of that
place, expecting to surround and

capture three Rebel regiments who
had there been stationed; but by
this time a far superior Rebel force
had, by means of telegraphs and
railroads, been concentrated at that
point, and he wisely retreated with
out molestation or loss, other than
that inflicted by the rain, sleet, and
deep mud through which the retreat
was effected. The liberation of
several hundred slaves was the chief
result of this expedition.
A few weeks later, Gen. Foster,
with a considerably larger force — all
that he could collect — set out from
Newbern80 on a march directly in
land, intending to reach and destroy
the important railroad junction at
Goldsboro'. He encountered no im
pediments, save from trees felled •
across the road, until he reached
South-west creek, where the bridge
had been destroyed, and a regiment
was found posted on the opposite
bank, supporting three pieces of ar
tillery. These were driven off by a
charge of the 9th New Jersey, and
1 gun captured ; when, after two or
three more skirmishes, Foster ad
vanced"1 to within a mile of Kinston ;
where he encountered a considera
ble Rebel force under Gen. Evans,
strongly posted between the Neuse
and a deep swamp, whence they
were driven after a short but sharp
fight, and the bridge over the Neuse
saved, though it had been fired by
the fugitives, of whom 400 were
taken prisoners. Evans fled through
and abandoned the town; but re
formed two miles beyond it, and
continued his retreat, before Foster
could bring his artillery over the
injured bridge and attack him.
Gen. Foster, having bewildered the

" July 4, 1862.

1 Nov. 3.

10 Nov. 6.

' Deo. 11.

" Sunday, uth.

GEN. BUTLER ON A SECRET EXPEDITION.

SI

enemy by feints in different direc
tions, advanced" directly on Golds
boro' ; but did not reach that point,
because of a concentration in his front
of more than double his force, under
Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith," with regi
ments drawn from Petersburg on the
one hand, and Wilmington on the
other ; but the Wilmington and Wel
don Railroad bridge over the Neuse
was fired by Lt. Geo. W. Graham,
23d New York battery, after several
who attempted the daring feat had
been picked off by the Rebel sharp

shooters. The bridge

being

de

stroyed, Gen. Foster commenced a
rapid retreat on Newbern, which he
effected without difficulty. Hfi total
loss in this expedition was 90 killed,
(including Col. Gray, 96th New
York, while charging at the head of
his regiment at TClnston bridge), 478
wounded, and 9 missing. Smith's
official report admits a Rebel loss of
71 killed, 268 wounded, and about
400 missing. Gen. Foster paroled
496 prisoners. Thus closed the year
1S62 in North Carolina.

NEW ORLEANS AND THE GULF.

Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, having,
after the capture ' of Fort Hatteras,
returned to the North to find him
self an officer without soldiers or em
ployment, sought and obtained per
mission from the War Department to
raise, in the New England States, six
regiments of volunteers for special
and confidential service. This un
dertaking involved fitful collisions
with the general efforts then being
made by the authorities of all the
States to raise troops for service un
der Gen. McClellan; and Gen. B.
was peculiarly unfortunate in thus
colliding with Gov. Andrew, of Mas
sachusetts, from which State he nat
urally expected the larger number of
his troops. But his indefatigable en
ergy and activity at length triumphed
over all impediments; he having
meantime been appointed, in facili
tation of his enterprise, commander
of a new military department com
posed of the six New England States,

with his headquarters at Boston.
When his 6,000 men had been fully
raised, and part of them dispatched^
under Gen. J. W. Phelps, to Ship
Island,«he was stopped for a season
by the lowering aspects of our rela
tions with England, consequent on
the seizure of Mason and Slidell;
whose ultimate surrender ho- pro
foundly deprecated, believing that a
war waged against us by Great Brit
ain would double our effective miH
tary strength, while paralyzing that
of the Rebellion, by the spectacle of
hostilities waged against us in our
extremity by that nation, which very
many, alike in the North and in the
South, regarded as our hereditary foe.
The substitution' of Mr: Edwin: M.
Stanton for Gen. Simon Cameron, as
head of the War Department, caused
some further delay, during wliich an
order was once issued to send Gen.
Butler's troops from Fortress Monroe
to Port Rovrtl ; but it was, on his re-

1S61. See VoL I., pp. 599-600. * Jan. 13, 1S62.

" Dec 17. " Formerly of New York.
vol. n. — 6

82

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

monstrance, annulled before it had
been acted on.
SMp Island is one of quite a num
ber of inconsiderable sand-bars which
barely rise above the level of the Gulf
between the mouths of the Mississippi
and the Bay of Mobile. It is accounted
7 miles long by three-fourths of a mile
in width, though its size, as well as its
shape, is usually altered by each vio
lent inland-driving storm. It has a
good harbor at its western end, with
groves of pine and stunted oak at
the far east ; while fresh water is ob
tained in plenty by sinking a barrel
in the sand. Oysters and fish abound
in the encircling waters ; while the
climate in Winter is soft, sunny, and
tropical. New Orleans bears 65 miles
W. S. W. ; the mouth of Mobile Bay
50 miles E. N. E. ; the mouths of the
, Mississippi from 90 to 110 S. S. W. ;
while Biloxi, on the Mississippi coast,
is but 10 miles due north. Here
Gen. Phelps and his brigade, having
landed early in December, spent the
Winter in very necessary (frilling ; the
General having signalized his advent
by issuing a an elaborate proclamation
to the loyal citizens of the South
west, declaring Slavery incompati
ble with free institutions and free
labor, and its overthrow the end and
aim of our Government — a declara
tion most unlikely to increase the
number of White loyal citizens at
that time and in that quarter, while
pretty certain to be carefully kept
from the knowledge of most others.
Its first result was a feeling of amaze
ment and dissatisfaction among a part
of Gen. Phelps's subordinates ; while
a single copy, taken to the Missis
sippi shore, and dispensed to the first
comer, was there eagerly diffused and

employed to arouse and embitter hos*
tility to the Union.
Mobile had been generally guessed
the object of Gen. Butler's mysteri
ous expedition, whose destination
was not absolutely fixed even in the
councils of its authors. An effort to
reannex Texas had been considered,
if not actually contemplated. It was
finally decided, in a conference be
tween Secretary Stanton and Gen.
Butler, that a resolute attempt should
be made on New Orleans; and
though Gen. McClellan, when re
quested to give his opinion of the
feasibility of the enterprise, reported
that it could not be prudently under
taken with a less force than 50,000
men, while all that could be spared
to Gen. Butler was 15,000, Presi
dent Lincoln, after hearing all sides,
gave judgment for the prosecution.
A fortnight later, Gen. Butler went
home to superintend the embarkation
of the residue of his New England
troops, 8,500 in number, 2,200 being
already on ship-board, beside 2,000,
under Phelps, at the Island. Three
excellent Western regiments were
finally spared him from Baltimore
by Gen. McClellan, swelling his force
on paper to 14,400 infantry, 580 ar
tillery, 275 cavalry; total, 15,255
men, to which it was calculated that
Key West might temporarily add
two regiments, and Fort Pickens an
other, raising the aggregate to nearly
18,000. It in fact amounted, when
collected at Ship Island, to 13,700.
Gen. Butler set out from Hauu>
ton Roads,4 in the steamship Mis
sissippi, with his staff, his wife, and
1,400 men. The next night, the ship
barely escaped wreck on a shoal off
Hatteras Inlet ; and the next day waa

' Dec. 4, 1861.

4 Feb. 25, 1862, 9 p.m.

BUTLER'S VOYAGE TO SHIP ISLAND.

83

run hard upon the rocks five miles
from land, off TJape Fear, while going
at full speed. Her Captain, be
wildered, gave the order to let go the
bow anchor, when she instantly drove
upon its fluke, piercing her forward
compartments and letting in a deluge
of water. An hour later, she was
hard and fast upon Frying Pan
Shoals, one compartment filled to the
water-line, and her forward berths
afloat, her Captain manifestly incom
petent, and now nearly distracted.
The coast in. sight was strongly held
by the enemy, whose horse patrol
could be descried from the ship ;
and any Confederate cruiser, darting
out from Cape Fear river, would
have found the steamship and all on
board an easy prey. An ordinary
squall would very soon have broken
up the vessel and strewed her wreck
along the sands.
Toward noon, a steamer hove in
sight, wliich, cautiously approaching,
proved to be the H. S. gunboat
Mount Vernon, of the squadron
blockading Wilmington. Her com
mander, 0. S. Glisson, came on
board, and placed his vessel at the
service of Gen. Butler. A hawser
from the Mount Vernon was attached
to the Mississippi, and many fruitless
attempts made to drag her off. Three
hundred of the soldiers were trans
ferred to the Mount Vernon ; shells
were thrown overboard; and every
device known to nautical experience
tried to move the imperiled ship —
all in vain. As the sun went down,
the wind rose, and the waves swelled,
till the huge ship began to roll and
beat upon the rocks, the danger of
wreck constantly increasing. At
length, just after 7 p. m., and when
the tide was within an hour of flood,

she moved forward a few feet and
was fairly afloat; slowly following
the piloting Mount Vernon — the
lead for a whole hour showing but
six inches of water under her keel.
At midnight, both came to anchor in
the Cape Fear, and were next morn
ing, which was calm, on their way
to Port Royal, where the Mississippi
was unladen and repaired ; but was
run aground again while moving
down to the mouth of the harbor.
The Captain was now deposed, Act
ing-Master Sturgis, of the Mount
Vernon, appointed to his place ; the
troops once more debarked, and the
ship pulled into deep water by the
help of all the tugs in port. She
again put to sea March 13th, having
been eleven days in the port; and
seven more brought her safely in
sight of Ship Island ; where so heavy
a gale was blowing that landing
troops was for two days impossible.
It was the 25th of March when — 30
days from Hampton Roads — they
were debarked on that desolate sand
bank ; where Gen. Butler was soon
deep in consultation with Captains
Farragut and Bailey, of the Navy,
as well as with his military associates.
Of these, Lt. Godfrey Weitzel, who
had for two years been stationed at
Fort St. Philip, and who had trav
ersed all the adjacent country,
duck-shooting, was able to give the
fullest and most valuable informa
tion. Gen. Butler made him his
chief engineer.
It was decided that the first attack
on the forts defending the passage of
the Mississippi below New Orleans
should be made by the fleet ; Capt.
Porter, with his 21 bomb-schooners,
anchoring below them and bombard
ing them till they should be reduced,

84

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

or his ammunition nearly exhausted.
Capt. Farragut, with his larger and
stronger vessels, would remain just
out of fire as a reserve, awaiting the
issue of the bombardment. That
faihng, he should attempt with his
steamers to run by the forts. If he
succeeded in this, he would try to
clear the river of the enemy's fleet,
isolate the forts, and push on so far
as circumstances should dictate. Gen.
Butler, so soon as Capt. Farragut
had passed, was to land his troops
from their transports in the rear of
Fort St. Philip, and attempt to carry
it by assault ; while the enemy, sup
posing the swamps in that quarter
impassable, should be entirely absorb
ed in his contest with the fleet. The
forts being thus reduced, the whole
expedition would advance upon the
city, in such manner as should then
seem expedient. Gen. Butler en
gaged to have 6,000 men embarked on
transports and ready for service in
seven days; Capt. Farragut sailing
at once for the mouths of the river,
to prepare his fleet for action.
The troops were formed into three
brigades, under Gens. Phelps and

Williams, and Col. Shepley ; 100 car
penters detailed to make scaling-lad
ders ; 100 boatmen to manage the 30
boats which were to make their way
through the reedy creeks and marshes
to the rear of Fort St. Philip. On
the sixth day, 7 regiments and 2 bat
teries were embarked, awaiting the
word to move from Capt. Farragut ;
but high winds and low tides ob
structed the movements of the fleet;
several of the larger vessels being
many days in getting over the bar; so
that Gen. Butler was obliged to disenir
bark his troops and wear out another
fortnight as patiently as he might.
Meantime, the Rebels alongshore,
who had by this time become satis
fied that New Orleans was aimed at,
resorted to the expedients which had
proved effective with most of our
commanders up to that time, and
which stood them in good stead with
several for many months afterward.
Having been compelled nearly to de
plete the Gulf region of soldiers in
order to make head against Grant
and Buell on the Tennessee, they
supplied their places with imaginary
regiments and batteries * in generous

6 The New Orleans journals, frequently
brought over from Biloxi, bristled with such
awe-inspiring paragraphs as the following :
"The Mississippi is fortified so as to be im
passable for any hostile fleet or flotilla. Forts
Jackson and St. Philip are armed with 170
heavy guns (63-pounders, rifled by Barkley
Britton, and received from England). The navi
gation of the river is stopped by a dam about a
quarter of a mile from the above forts. No flo
tilla on earth could force that dam in less
than two hours ; during which it would be with
in short and cross range of 170 guns of the
heaviest caliber, many of which would be serv
ed with red-hot shot ; numerous furnaces for
which have been erected in every fort and bat
tery. " In a day or two, we shall have ready two
iron-cased floating batteries. The plates are 4-J
inches thick, of the best hammered iron, receiv
ed from England and France. Each iron-cased
battery will mount twenty 68-pounders, placed
so as to skim the water, and strike the enemy's

hull between wind and water. We have an
abundant supply of incendiary shells, cupola
furnaces for molten iron, congreve rockets, and
fire-ships. " Between New Orleans and the forts, there is
a constant succession of earthworks. At the
Plain of Chalmette, near Janin's property, there
are redoubts, armed with rifled cannon which
have been found to be effective at five miles'
range. A ditch 30 feet wide and 20 deep ex
tends from the Mississippi to La Ciprione. In
Forts St. Philip and Jackson, there are 3,000
men ; of whom a goodly portion are experienced
artillery-men and gunners who have served in
the navy.
" At New Orleans itself, we have 32,000 in
fantry, and as many more quartered in the im
mediate neighborhood. In discipline and drill,
they are far superior to the Yankees. We have
two very able and active Generals, who possess
our entire confidence — Gen. Mansfield Lovell and
Brig.-Gen. Ruggles. For Commodore, we have
old Hollins — a Nelson in his way." — N. 0. Pica
yune, April 5, 1862.

THE DEFENSES OF NEW ORLEANS.

85

profusion; but these were not the
forces required to paralyze such com-
manders as Butler and Farragut. At
length,' the joyful tidings reached
the former from the latter that his
fleet was all over the bar, reloaded,
and ready for action; and that he
hoped to move up the river next day.
Two days later, Gen. Butler, with
his 8,000 troops, was at the mouth
of the river.
New Orleans, situated on the left
bank of the Mississippi, 100 miles
above its mouths, with the large
sheet of water known as Lake Pont-
chartrain closely approaching it on
the north, • and the smaller Lake
Borgne some 20 miles distant on the
east, was by far the largest and most
important city of the Confederacy,
with a population of 170,000, and
the greatest export trade, just prior
to the war, of any city in the world.
Unable to perceive the wisdom of
expatriating those magnificent feed
ers of its commerce, the Missouri,
the Ohio, and the. upper Mississippi,
a majority of its people had opposed
Secession, until the carefully nursed
tempest of pro-Slavery folly, fury,
fanaticism, and ruffianism, stifled all
outspoken dissent, about the time the
war was formally opened by the Con
federate attack on Fort Sumter.
Thenceforward, New Orleans became
the virtual heart of the Confederacy ;
and its immense wealth of coin and
produce was lavished in all directions
in support of the military operations
directed from Richmond. Regiment
after regiment of Louisianians and
foreign residents were raised and
equipped here; but most of them
had, when the hour of peril came,
been drafted off, from time to time,

to meet pressing exigencies on the
Potomac and higher Mississippi, or
the Tennessee; so that but about
3,000 of these, neither well armed,
well drilled, nor particularly well af
fected to the cause, remained to dis
pute the advance of the Yankee in
vaders. Gen. David E. Twiggs had been
rewarded for his stupendous treach
ery to the Union in Texas, by the
command of the Confederate defenses
of New Orleans, until stern expe
rience proved him as incapable, su
perannuated, and inefficient, as even
our own Scott. At length, on a plea
of declining health, he was sent home
to die ; and Gen. Mansfield Lovell,
who had abandoned a lucrative office
under the Democratic municipality
of New York to take service with
the Confederates, was appointed his
successor. On assuming command,' Lovell
found the defenses of the great slave-
mart more pretentious than formi
dable. The variety of water ap
proaches by Lakes Pontchartrain and
Borgne, and the Bayous Barataria
and La Fourche, all needed defenses
against an enemy of preponderant
naval force ; while even the Missis
sippi required fortifying and watch
ing above as well as below, to render
the city entirely safe. Artillery by
parks was indispensable ; and a good
many guns had been supplied from
the plunder of the Norfolk Navy
Yard, and elsewhere; but most of
them were old, of moderate caliber, ,
unrifled, and every way unsuited to
the requirements of modern warfare.
He telegraphed to Richmond, to
Mobile, and other points, for heavier
and better cannon; but obtained very

9 April 15, 1862.

'Oct. 18, 1861.

86

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

HISSISSIPPIJ*

GOlT'^m, ,

b f^opas9

jMl>ASsA'0UTB£ OB.
^TfiSl"'"' <&
¦-'¦¦¦¦ *&1W-,'ABS<F
^rrr/i of

HEW ORLEANS AND ITS APPROACHES.

few, mainly from Pensacola, when
that place was abandoned ; and had
just begun to cast new ones, adapted
to his needs, as also to provide him
self with iron-clads, when confronted
by a military necessity for leaving
that part of the country.
Lovell, knowing far better than
our commanders the essential weak
ness of his position, and early warned
of his danger by the gathering of our
forces on Ship Island, seems to have
exerted himself to the utmost. He
'¦ had fortified and guarded all the
land approaches to the city ; so that,
though Gen. Butler's army, had it
advanced otherwise than by the Mis
sissippi, would probably have carried
it, the cost in time, effort, and blood,
would doubtless have been far greater

than that actually incurred. But
the operations of Farragut, in and
about the passes, gave unmistakable
indications of the real point of dan
ger; so that the Rebel General's
forces and means of annoyance were
mainly concentrated in and around
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, which,
from opposite banks,- command the
passage of the river, 75 miles below
New Orleans. Beside these respect
able and regularly constructed fort
resses of brick and earth, abundantly
supplied with smooth-bore 24 and
32-pounders, and a few better' guns,
Lovell and his naval compatriots,
after blocking up most of the water
approaches to New Orleans from the
Gulf with strongly-braced piles, green
live-oaks, and other obstructions, and

REBEL DEFENSES BELOW NEW ORLEANS.

87

calling 8 on the Governor of Louisi
ana for 10,000 militia — receiving for'
answer that there Were but 6,000, of
whom half had just been sent to Ten
nessee, upon the requisition of Gen.
Beauregard; — and placing his de
partment under martial law,9 turned
their attention almost entirely to the
lower Mississippi. It was high time.
A great raft, or boom, composed
of cypress-trees 40 feet long and 4 to
5 feet through, standing 3 feet apart,
and fastened to two great 2J-inch
chain-cables, had been stretched
across the river just under the guns
of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and
made fast to large trees, immense
anchors, timbers, &c, imbedded as
firmly as possible ; but. the annual
flood in the Mississippi, which com
mences early in the year, had, by the
first of March, brought its surface
considerably above the country out
side of its levees, and piled against
the obstructions a large amount of
drift-wood; softening the earth and
strengthening the current, until the
anchors and other hold-fasts gave
way, and the raft, with its chains
snapped and its timbers swept down
stream, ceased to be an impediment.
But for the delays and disappoint
ments which so sorely taxed Gen.
Butler's patience, it is likely that our
fleet would have found this their
most formidable antagonist. Lovell
at once sent down Col. Higgins to
repair it, clothed with the amplest
powers; but the Father of Waters
refused to recognize them. A new
obstruction was patched up, com
posed of parts of the old raft, with
schooners anchored jn the interstices,
and all fastened together with such
chains as could be procured ; but the

net result was more formidable in
appearance than in reality. And
still the river kept on rising, until
nearly all the adjacent country was
submerged, becoming temporarily a
part of the Gulf of Mexico. Even
the parade-plain and casemates of
Fort Jackson were from 3 to 18
inches under water, and its maga
zines were only kept dry by incessant
pumping. Hollins had been superseded as
naval commandant by Commodore
Whittle, whose fleet consisted of the
new iron-clad Louisiana, mounting
16 guns, many of them large and ex
cellent, with Hollins's ram Manassas
and 13 gunboats — that is, commer
cial steamboats, impressed or lent for
this service, and armed and manned
as well as might be — with a number
of old sailing craft fitted up as fire-
ships, and very dangerous to wooden
vessels attacking from below, by rea
son of the uniform strength of the
current. Gen. J. K. Duncan, who had been
appointed by Lovell to the command
of the coast defenses, and had there
upon repaired'0 to Fort Jackson, had
been working the garrisons of both
forts night and day, covering their
main magazines with sand-bags;
wliich had been barely completed
when our fleet hove in sight. Two
gunboats had appeared, reconnoiter-
ing, four days before.
Our naval force consisted of 47 arm
ed vessels, 8 of them large and power-
'ful steam sloops-of-war ; 17 heavily
armed steam gunboats, 2 sailing
sloops-of-War, and 21 mortar-schoon
ers, each throwing a 215-pound shell.
The steam sloops carried from 9 to
28 guns ; the gunboats, 5 to 6 guns

'Feb. 25, 1862.

• March 15, 1862.

10 March 27.

88

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

each ; the whole number of guns and
mortars was 310, many of them very
heavy and very good. Capt. Farra
gut, our commander, had passed 52
of his 63 years in the navy, having
been a midshipman in the war of
1812 ; a Tennessean, his loyalty was
of that stern and sterling quality
whereof the best examples were fur
nished by the South. His time, and
that of his officers, had for weeks
been well spent in providing and
preparing every thing likely to be re
quired in the intended combat; so
that when, on the day after our
fleet reached the vicinity ofthe forts,"
and before it had opened fire, a
Rebel flat-boat, piled with wood
saturated with tar and turpentine,
and then cut adrift, came rushing
down the heady current — a crackling,
roaring, flaming volcano — into the
midst of our thickly clustering ves
sels, a few shells were thrown into it
from the gunboat Mississippi, with
out the designed effect of exploding
and sinking it; when a row-boat from
the Iroquois quietly tackled it, fixed
three grappling-irons in its bow, and
towed it obliquely to the river bank,
where it was permitted to burn itself
harmlessly away, while the fleet pro
ceeded with its preparations for
the morrow's bombardment. Axes,
ropes, fire-buckets, and whatever else
might be needed, were placed exactly
where they would be at hand when
wanted, and every thing made ready
for business.
At daylight next morning, each of
the small steamers took four of the
schooners in tow and drew them slow
ly up the river, their decks and yards
covered with great branches of trees,
whose green foliage rendered them

undistinguishable, save by close ob
servation, from the. dense woods that
skirted the river. Fourteen of them
were ranged in line close under the
wooded bank, over which they were
to throw their shells into Fort Jack
son, at distances of two to three
miles. Six were stationed near the
farther or eastern bank, in full view
of both forts, but within range only

POETS JACKSON AOT> ST. PHILIP.

¦A, B, C, D, &c, are points on the left
bank, andi, 2, 8, 4, &c, points on the right bank of tho
river, selected for placing the gunboats and mortars in
position. The position of the mortar-boats on the 18th
was as follows: 6 mortarB on the left bank, between G
and J, 8,900 to 4,500 yards from Fort Jackson ; 14 mor
tars on the right bank, from 1 to 5, distant 2 880 to 8,190
yards from Tort Jackson. On the 19th, they were all on
the right bank, 8,010 to 4,100 yards from Fort Jackson,
and remained nearly in the1 same position through the
20th and 21st The large steamers and gunboats were
placed from i to li miles below the mortaAoats. On the
first day the small steam sloops and gunboats wentnpto
abreast ofthe smoke-stack, -where they engaged the forts

and the enemy's steamers.

u4prill1.

BOMBARDMENT OF FORTS JACKSON AND ST. PHILIP. 89

of Jackson, distant 2J to three miles ;
all were under orders to concentrate
their fire on Fort Jackson, that being
the larger and more important work,
whose fall necessarily involved that
of Fort St. Philip.
At 9 a. m., before our mortar vessels
were ready, Fort Jackson opened fire ;
but her balls struck the water 100
yards short of our gunboat Owasco,
which held the advance, and which
was first to reply. Capt. Porter, who
commanded the mortar fleet, watched
through his glass the effect of our
very deliberate fire, constantly giving
new directions, founded on his ob
servations, as to the elevation of
pieces, length of fuse, and weight of
charge. By 10 a. m., both parties
had closed their experiments, and
were firing steadily and heartily,
.'though as yet with httle visible
effect, save that the fish in the river,
stunned and killed by the tremendous
concussions, had begun to float past
our anchored vessels. ' Soon, three
more rafts are seen sweeping down
from the new barrier of chains and
hulks, and, as they approach, are
dealt with as their predecessor had
been, without interrupting the fire
of our guns. At 4 p. m., Gen. But
ler's httle dispatch steamer Saxon
arrived, with news that the army
was below, ready and waiting for ser
vice, and that the Monitor had dis
abled the Merrimac in Hampton
Roads. At 5, flames were seen
, bursting from Fort Jackson, whose
fire slackened ; and it was manifest
that its wooden interior had been
ignited, Hke that of Fort Sumter in
the initial bombardment of the war.
The Rebel forts ceased firing, as our
boats did, an hour later, and the
night passed silently; the flames in

Fort Jackson not being extinguished
till 2 next morning. But its batteries
opened as lively as ever at sunrise,
and at 11:30 one of their rifled bolts
crashed through one of our schooners,
sinking her in 20 minutes ; while the
Oneida, in our advance, was twice
hit in the afternoon, two of her gun-
carriages smashed, and 9 of her men
wounded. The fort had evidently
suffered by the day's work ; but the
fathomless mud of the Mississippi
seemed exactly constituted to absorb
our shells, with the least possible
harm to all around. Gen. Butler
and staff arrived during that after
noon, and went up in a small boat to
take a look at the chain ; which, it
had begun by this time to be under
stood, was badly in the way, and
must be subjected to an operation.
The bombardment having been
continued through a third day with
out encouraging result, Capt. Farra
gut called a council of captains in
the cabin of his flag-ship Hartford,
and, having heard all opinions, de- •
cided on an attempt to force a pas
sage by the forts. To this end, it
was essential that the cable should
first be broken ; and to Capt. Bell,
with the gunboats Pinola and Itasca,
supported by the Iroquois, Kennebec,
and Winona, was assigned the con
duct of this critical undertaking ;
which, the night being dark, it was
determined to attempt forthwith ;
and, at 10 p. m., the Pinola and
Itasca had set out on their perilous
errand ; Capt. Porter, so soon as they
were out of range of his guns, open
ing upon Fort Jackson a tremendous
fire from all his mortar-schooners,
under which the Pinola ran up
toward the cable near the western
shore, directly under the guns of the

90

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

fort ; and, nearing one of the hulks,
Mr. Kroehl, the inventor of a new
and powerful petard, threw it on
board; but it failed to explode, be
cause the Pinola, having stopped her
engine a moment too soon, was
whirled away on the rushing current,
snapping the wire hitherto connected
with the petard. The wind blowing
fiercely from the north, it was half
an hour before the Pinola was again
minding her helm, with her bow to
ward the chain.
Meanwhile, the Itasca, Captain
Caldwell, had steamed up to the
chain-supporting hulk next in order
eastward,- and, making fast to its
side, her men, who had boarded
the hulk, were studying in the dark
ness the economy of the cable. A
rocket thrown up from Fort Jackson
favored them with a fitful, transient
light, to which a cannonade, instantly
opened on them from both forts,
seemed to add very little ; but they
steadily went on with their business ;
and in half an hour the great chain,
vigorously plied with sledge and
chisel, had been cut ; the cables
by which the hulk was anchored
had been slipped; and now the
hulk, still chained to the nearer
shore, was swept resistlessly round
by flood and wind until it
grounded in the mud of the bank,
pulling the lashed Itasca along with
it, and driving her fast aground
directly in the range of both forts.
By this time, however, the Pinola was
ready to come to her rescue ; and,
after an hour of earnest tugging, and
parting two 5-inch hawsers, she
Anally grappled her with an 11-inch
cable, and, by help of steam and cur
rent, dragged her again into deep

water and down into the kindly
darkness ; each vessel entirely un
harmed : and the opening thus made
in the barrier was speedily and con
stantly enlarged by the current, so
that a boat's crew from the Itasca,
pulling up in the thick darkness two
nights later, found nothing to ob
struct the upward passage of our
fleet. A new and grander fire-raft was
sent down two hours after the chains.,
were broken, only to be caught and
served as her predecessors had been.
The bombardment was continued
two days farther; in part, because
two of our gunboats had been so
much injured as to require assistance
for their rapid repair. The morning
of the 24th was fixed on for the grand
attempt, of which the Rebel officers
somehow had an intimation ; so that,
throughout the preceding day, the
forts were silently preparing for the
eventful hour at hand, while our
bombardment was httle more than
a formality. Meantime, Duncan re
ported from Fort Jackson that he
had suffered very little, though
25,000 13-inch shells had been fired
at him, whereof 1,000 had fallen
within the fort. (We had actually
fired 5,000 only.) " God is certainly
protecting us," was his assurance.
Farragut's arrangements for pass
ing the forts were completed at sun
set.12 The mortar-boats, retaining
their stations, were to cover the
advance with 'their utmost possible
fire. Six small steamers — the Har
riet Lane, Westfield, Owasco, Clin- i
ton, Miami, and Jackson, the last
towing the Portsmouth — were to
engage the water battery below Fort
Jackson, but not attempt to pass.
Capt. Farragut himself, with his

n April 23.

OUR FLEET ATTEMPTS TO PASS THE FORTS.

91

three largest ships — the Hartford,
Richmond,, and Brooklyn— was to
keep near the western bank, fighting
Fort Jackson; while Capt. Bailey,
with the Cayuga, Pensacola,i Missis
sippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin,
Kiheo, and Wissahickon, was to hug.
the eastern bank, exchanging com
pliments with Fort St. Philip. Capt.
Bell, with the third division — con
sisting of the Scioto, Iroquois, Pinola,
Winona, Itasca, and Kennebec — was
to keep the middle of the river, and,
disregarding the forts, to attack and
vanquish the Rebel fleet in waiting
above. Lieut. Weitzel had wisely
suggested that, as the guns of the
forts had been fired at a high
elevation in order to reach their re
mote assailants, and as the vessels
would naturally be expected to keep
the middle of the river, the Rebel
gunners would be pretty sure to fire
over them if they kept close to the
respective shores. All being ready,
Gen. Butler and his staff went on
board the Saxon ; every naval officer
was at his post ; and the silence was
only broken by an occasional fire
from the mortar-sloops. At 11 p. m.,
a signal from the Itasca announced
that the opening in the cable was
Btill unclosed. The night was dark
and heavy; the moon — what there
was of it— would rise at 3 a. m.
At 1," all hands were called, steam
got up, the last preparations made,
and at 2 the signal to weigh anchor
was given from the flag-ship. Half
an hour later, Farragut's division was
ready. Capt. Bailey, a httle slower,
was farther away ; it was 3£ before
the latter was fairly abreast of Far
ragut, when each division moved si
lently up stream. The current was

so swift ^ the night so heavy, that the
fleet advanced but four miles per
hour. The silence was broken by our mor
tars, whose gunners, prepared for the
rapidest possible fire, at once filled
the air with their shells, and roared
out to the Rebels their warning that
the hour had come. As our ships
in their three fines closely followed
each other, Capt. Bailey, in the Ca
yuga, was first observed and opened
upon by both forts as he was passing
through the breach in the barrier.
He did not choose to give better di
rection to the enemy's fire by reply
ing; and, though their balls were
abundant, they mainly passed over
and around him. Approaching Fort
St. Philip, he ran close under her
guns, giving her broadsides of grape
and canister as he passed ; the Pen-
sacola^ Mississippi, and Yaruna, press
ing closely in his wake, followed his
commendable example. All of his
division passed the forts essentially
uninjured. Capt. Bell's division was less for
tunate. The Pinola, Scioto, and
Iroquois, ran the gauntlet of the forts
unharmed; but the Itasca, when di
rectly opposite St. Philip, received a
volley of balls, one of which pierced
her boiler and compelled her to drift
down the river. The Winona recoil
ed from that fire, and failed to pass.
The. Kennebec was caught in the
cable; and, when liberated, lost her
way in the dense smoke ; finally re
turning to her former anchorage be-
low the forts.
Capt. Farragut, in the fore rigging
of the Hartford, anxiously watching
every visible movement through his
night-glass, had advanced within a

"April 24.

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

mile and a quarter of Fort Jackson,
when he was opened upon from that
Fort and repeatedly struck. Still
steaming directly for the fort, and re
plying only from his two forecastle
guns, when within half a mile he
sheered and gave them broadsides of
grape and canister, which soon drove
every man from their barbette guns ;
but those in the casemates rendered
full and quick returns for every vol
ley received. The Richmond, closely
following, hurled grape and canister
in profusion. The Brooklyn, bring
ing up the rear, ran over one of the
hulks which had upheld the chain,
during a hot fire from Fort St. Phil
ip. Hardly had she been freed from
the hulk and her head turned up
stream, when the ram Manassas came
butting into her starboard gangway,
first opening her iron trap-door at
ten feet distance and firing at the
smoke-stack of the Brooklyn a heavy
bolt, which was caught and stopped
by the sand-bags protecting her
steam-drum. A guard of chain
armor, wliich had been woven over
her sides, shielded her from destruc
tion by the ram, which soon slid off
and disappeared in the darkness. A
few minutes later, while still under a
raking fire from Fort Jackson, the
Brooklyn' was attacked by a large
Rebel steamer, to which she gave a
broadside at 50 yards, setting it in
stantly on fire and putting an end to
its career. Still groping onward in
the thick darkness, Capt. Craven
soon found himself abreast of Fort
St. Philip, and so near that his leads
man reported 13 feet of water. Bring
ing all his guns to bear for a few mo
ments, he poured in grape and canis
ter so that the fort was completely

silenced, and her garrison were seen
by our men in the tops of the Brook
lyn, by the fitful flashes of their
bursting shrapnel, running like sheep
to their coverts. Thus passing the
upper fort, Capt. Craven engaged
several of the Rebel gunboats, at 60
to 100 yards. He was an hour and
a half under fire, lost 8 killed and 26
wounded, while his ship was badly
cut up by shot and shell ; but she
bore her full part in the attack on
the Rebel batteries below New Or
leans next morning.
The Cayuga, having saluted and
passed Fort St. Philip at short range,
still pushing on, encountered, when
just out of fire of the fort, the entire
Rebel flotilla, consisting of 18 gun
boats, including the Manassas and
Louisiana. For a moment, her doom
seemed certain, as no supporting ship
was to be seen. By skillful steering,
however, Capt. Bailey avoided all
their attempts to butt and board,
and had already forced three of the
less formidable to surrender, when
the Yaruna and Oneida were seen
coming to the rescue. At early
dawn, perceiving a Rebel camp on
the right bank of the river, Capt.
Bailey anchored close beside it, and
ordered the Rebels to pile their arms
on the bank and. come on board as
prisoners, which was obeyed. The
captives proved to be the Chalmette
regiment, Col. Sysmanski. Their flag,
tents, and camp equipage, formed a
part of the spoils.
The Yaruna, having safely passed
the forts, found herself " amid a nest
of Rebel steamers," 14 into which she
plunged, firing broadsides at each as
she passed it, exploding the boiler
of the first, which appeared to be

" Commander Boggs's official report.

THE REBEL FLOTILLA VANQUISHED.

93

crowded with troops ; when it drifted
ashore, a wreck. Three other ves
sels, one of them a gunboat, were
likewise driven ashore and blown
up. At 6 A. m., the Morgan, partially
iron-clad, commanded by Beverly
Kennon (late of our navy), attack
ed the Yaruna, giving her a raking
fire along the port gangway, which
killed 4 and wounded 9 of her crew,
then butted her on the quarter and
again on the starboard side, but with
out sinking or disabling her. Mean
while, the Yaruna had planted three
8-inch shells in her assailant, abaft
her armor, with several shot from
one of our rifled guns; when she
drifted out of the fight, partially dis
abled. Ere this time, another Rebel
iron-clad, with a beak under water,
had struck the Yaruna in the port
gangway, doing considerable damage,
while our shot glanced harmlessly
from the armor of the Rebel boat.
The enemy then backed off for an
other blow, and struck again in the
same place, crushing im the Yaruna's
side ; but she being under full head
way, her enemy's beak for a moment
stuck fast in her side, and the ram
was drawn around nearly beside our
steamer, which was thereby enabled
to plow her with five 8-inch shells
abaft her armor. This finished her
performance, and she drifted ashore,
a burning wreck ; while the Yaruna,
now in a sinking condition, was run
into the bank by her commander,
her anchor let go, and her bow made
fast to the trees ; her guns all the
time at work crippling the Morgan,
which was making feeble efforts to
get up steam. When the water had
risen over his gunTtrucks, Commander
Boggs turned his attention to getting
the wounded and crew out of his ves

sel. The Oneida, seeing her sinking,
had rushed to her assistance; but
Boggs waved her on to the Morgan,
which, already in" flames, surren
dered; she had lost over 50 of her
crew killed and wounded, and was
set on fire by her commander, who
left his wounded to the flames. Fif
teen minutes after she struck, the
Yaruna was on the bottom, with
only her top-gallant forecastle out of
water. Her crew gained the shore,
losing every thing but the clothes
they stood in.
Our loss in this desperate fight,
not including 6 or 7 previously disar
bled on the mortar-boats, was re
ported as only 30 killed and 119
wounded; the fleet surgeon adding
that several vessels had not yet made
their official return. The Brooklyn,
Pensacola, and Iroquois, had suffered
most severely. f

Gen. Lovell, who had witnessed
the combat of our fleet with his forts
and flotilla, and its triumph, hastened
up to the city on horseback, narrowly
escaping capture on the way, and
gave orders to Gen. Smith, in com
mand of the land defenses, to make
all possible resistance at the earth
works below the town ; but the high
stage of water, causing the guns of
our vessels to command the earth
works, rendered them untenable by
infantry. An attempt was made to
raise 1,000 desperate volunteers who
would undertake to board and carry
our vessels by assault ; but only 100
could be found. In short, New Or
leans was lost when our fleet had
passed the forts ; and all her intelli
gent Rebels knew it.
Gen. Lovell, after consultation
with the mumcipal authorities, began

94

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

at once to send off his munitions
and provisions by steamboat and rail
road, while the greater part of his
conscripted militia disbanded and
dispersed. What was left worth tak
ing was sent off to Camp Moore, 78
miles above, on the Jackson Rail
road. The Rebel flotilla having been
mainly destroyed, Capt. Farragut,
with his nine vessels that had safely
run the gauntlet of Rebel forts, fire-
ships, rams, and gunboats, while
steaming slowly and cautiously up
the river, had not yet reached New
Orleans when he was met by ample
evidence that the city was virtually
in his hands. Cotton-loaded and
other valuable ships came floating
down the river wrapped in flames, the
mute bnt vivid witnesses of the
enemy's despair. " I never witnessed
such Yandalism in my life," he re
ports, " as the destruction of prop
erty: all the shipping, steamboats,
&c, were set on fire and consumed."
On reaching16 the English Turn,
six or seven miles below the city, he
descried the new earthworks on both
banks, known as the Chalmette bat
teries ; when, forming his fleet in two
lines, and allotting to each its proper

work, he moved on. The Cayuga,
not having observed the signal for
close order, was considerably in ad
vance, and so for 20 minutes exposed
alone to the fire of the Rebel bat
teries. But the Hartford now came
up, dispensing liberal broadsides of
shell, shrapnel, and grape, the first
of which drove the Rebels on the
right bank from their guns ; while the
fire of the Pensacola, the Brooklyn,
and the residue of the fleet, which
came up in quick succession, very
soon silenced the remaining forts,
and set their gunners in rapid motion
toward places of greater safety. No
further obstacles nor perils but those
presented by burning steamers, cot
ton-ships, rafts, &c, were encountered
until, at 1 p. m., the squadron an
chored, during a violent thunder
storm, in front of New Orleans,
whose levee for miles afforded a mag
nificent but melancholy spectacle of
burning cotton, sugar, and other
staples of South-western commerce;
while the river in front was so full of
burning ships that great vigilance
and skill were required to avoid
them.18 There was no attempt at resistance,
but on shore anarchy and impotent

15 At 10:30 A. M. on the 25th.
19 Pollard says:
" No sooner had the Federal fleet turned the
point, and come within sight of the city, than
the work of destruction of property commenced.
Vast columns of smoke ascended to the sky,
darkening the face of heaven and obscuring the
noon-day sun; for five miles along the levee,
fierce flames darted through the lurid atmosphere,
their baleful glare struggling in rivalry with
the sunlight ; great ships and steamers, wrapped
in fire, floated down the river, threatening the
Federal vessels with destruction by their fiery
contact. In front ofthe various presses, and at
other points along the levee, the cotton had
been piled up and submitted to the torch. It
was burned by order of the Governor of Louisi
ana and of the military commander of the Con
federate States. Fifteen thousand' bales were

consumed; the value of which would have been
about a million and a half of dollars. The to
bacco stored in the city, being all held by for
eign residents on foreign account, was not de
stroyed. The specie of the banks, to the amount
of twelve or fifteen millions, was removed from
the city and placed in a secure place ; so were
nearly all the stores and movable property of
the Confederate States. But other materials
were embraced in the awful conflagration.
About a dozen large river steamboats, twelve or
fifteen ships, some of them laden with cotton, a
great floating battery, several unfinished gun
boats, the immense ram, the Mississippi, and
the docks on the other side of the river, were
all embraced in the fiery sacrifice. The Missis
sippi was an iron-clad frigate, a superior vessel
of her class, and accounted to be by far the most
important naval structure the Confederate Gov
ernment had yet undertaken."

MAYOR MONROE ON EXHIBITION.

95

rage strove for the mastery. As our
squadron neared the levee, our sailors
gave a cheer, to which some few in
the adjacent crowd responded, pro
voking thereby pistol-shots from
the irate Rebels surrounding them.
After a brief delay, Capt. Bailey was
sent ashore to demand the surrender
of the city ; when the valorous mob
received him with groans, hootings,
and threats of violence, which did
not prevent his proceeding, under the
escort of more considerate citizens, to
the Mayor's office ; the mob that fol
lowed him contenting itself with
assaults on such citizens as were sus
pected of Unionism. On reaching
the City Hall, he made his demand,
requiring that the Federal flag be
displayed from the public edifices ;
to which the Mayor responded, dis
claiming any authority to comply.
A messenger was thereupon sent to
Gen. Lovell, who informed Capt.

Bailey that he had already evacuated
the city, which he now formally
turned over to the municipal autho
rities, leaving them to act as they
should see fit. Capt. Bailey now re
turned to the fleet to await such
action; and the Mayor, refusing to
haul down the State flag from the
City Hall, sent to the Common
Council, which was in session, a mes
sage recommending that an answer
be returned to Capt. Farragut, stat
ing that the city, being incapable of
offering further resistance, yielded to
physical force alone, without giving
up its allegiance to the Confederate
Government, while it had no au
thority over the Custom-House, Post-
Office, and Mint, and would do
nothing with regard to them. This
undignified and ridiculous betrayal
of spite and chagrin was reiterated
by the Mayor in a letter17 to Capt.
Farragut, which was tersely and fitly

17 " Mayor's Office, City of New Oeleaits,
"City Hali^ April 26, 1862.
"Flag- Officer D. G. Fabbagut, United States
flag-ship Hartford:
"Sir — In pursuance of a resolution which we
thought proper to take, out of regard for the
lives of the women andchildreD who still crowd
the metropolis, General Lovell has evacuated it
with his troops, and restored back to me the ad
ministration of its government and the custody
of its honor. I have, in council with the City
Fathers, considered the demand you made of me
yesterday of an unconditional surrender of the
city, coupled with a requisition to hoist the flag
of the United States on the public edifices, and
haul down the flag that still floats upon the
breeze from the dome of this Hall. It becomes
my duty to transmit to you an answer which is
the universal sentiment of my constituents no
less than the promptings of my own heart on
this sad and solemn occasion. The city is with
out the means of defense ; and is utterly destitute
of the force and material that might enable it to
resist an overpowering armament displayed in
sight of it.
"I am no military man, and possess no au
thority beyond that of executing the municipal
laws of the city of New Orleans. It would be
presumptuous in me to attempt to lead an army
in the field, if I had one at command; and I
know still less how to surrender an undefended

place, held, as this is, at the mercy of your gun
ners and your mortars. To surrender such a place
were an idle and unmeaning ceremony. The
city is yours by the power of brutal force, not
by my choice or the consent of its inhabitants.
It is for you to determine what will be the fate
that awaits us here. As to hoisting any flag not
of our own adoption and allegiance, let me say
to you that the man lives not in our midst whose
hand and heart would not be paralyzed at the
mere thought of such an act; nor could I find in
my entire constituency so desperate and wretched
a renegade as would dare to profane with his
hand the sacred emblem of our aspirations.
" Sir, you have manifested sentiments which
would become one engaged in a better cause
than that to wliich you have devoted your
sword. I doubt not that they spring from a no
ble though deluded nature ; and I know how to
appreciate the emotions which inspired them.
You have a gallant people to administrate during
your occupancy of this city — a people sensitive
to all that can in the least affect their dignity
and self-respect. Pray, Sir, do not fail to regard
their susceptibilities. The obligations whieh I
shall assume in their name shall be religiously
complied with. You may trust their honor,
though you might not count on their submission
to unmerited wrong.
"In conclusion, I beg you to understand that
the people of New Orleans, while unable to re-

96

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

answered." The malevolent folly of
the municipal authorities served only
to expose their city to destruction. A
force landed from the Pensacola had
hoisted, unopposed, a Federal flag
over the Mint, and left it there un
guarded. Ere it had thus remained
many hours, a number of young
Rebels mounted to the dome, tore it
down, and dragged it through the
streets. It would have been entirely
justifiable and proper on the part of
Farragut to have required of the au
thorities its immediate and respectful
replacement, on penalty of the de
struction of their city; but he forbore ;
and, even when he required them,
two days afterward, to take down the
flag of Louisiana, still floating over
the City Hall, the Mayor positively
refused. Capt. F. finally closed"
the absurd altercation by sending a

force from his ships to take down tho
flag : a vast crowd looking sullenly
on, or giving vent to their wrath only
in idle curses. They failed to com
prehend their position ; but they re
spected the two brass howitzers, well
manned and supported, which stood
in front of the City Hall while the
operation was quietly and thorough
ly performed.
Capt. Farragut had not waited to
obtain formal possession of the city
before moving up20 to the two forts
at Carrollton, eight miles above,
where he was surprised to find the
gun-carriages on fire and the guns
spiked. The works were formidable,
but constructed to resist an advance
from above ; so that, being taken in
reverse, they had been adjudged
indefensible. Gen. Butler, having witnessed from

sist your force, do not allow themselves to be in
sulted by the interference of such as have ren
dered themselves odious and contemptible by
their dastardly desertion of our cause in the
mighty struggle in which we are engaged, or
such as might remind them too forcibly that they
are the conquered and you the conquerors.
Peace and order may be preserved without re
sort to measures which I could not at this mo
ment prevent. Your occupying the city does
not transfer allegiance from the government of
their choice to one which they have deliberately
repudiated ; and they yield the obedience which
the conqueror is entitled to extort from the con
quered. Respectfully,
" John T. Monroe, Mayor."
¦ " " U. S. Flag-ship Hartfoed, at anchor
off the City of New Orleans,
"April 28, 1862.
" To His Honor the Mayor and City Council of
the Gity of New Orleans :
" Your communication of the 26th inst. has
been received, together with that of the City
Council. "I deeply regret to see, both by their con
tents and the continued display of the flag of
Louisiana on the Court-House, a determination
on the part of the city authorities not to haul it
down. Moreover, when my officers and men
were sent on shore to communicate with the au
thorities, and to hoist the United State3 flag on
the Custom-House, with the strictest order not
to use their arms unless assailed, they were in
sulted in the grossest manner, and the flag

which had been hoisted by my orders on the
Mint was pulled down and dragged through the
streets. All' of which goes to show that the
fire of this fleet may be drawn upon the city at
any moment ; and in such an event the levee
would, in all probability, be cut by the shells,
and an amount of distress ensue to the innocent
population which I have hitherto endeavored to
assure you that I desire by all means to avoid.
" The election, therefore, is with you. But it
becomes my duty to notify you to remove the
women and children from the city within 48
hours; if I rightly understand your determina
tion. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) " D. G. Farragut,
"Flag-Officer Western Gulf
Blockading Squadron."
It seems incredible, yet it is a fact,, that Mon
roe sent a rejoinder to this letter; in which,
amid bombastic and turgid babble about flagrant
violation of those courtesies which prevail be
tween belligerents, and shells tearing up the
graves of those who are so dear to them, he
whimpered out: " Our women and children can
not escape from your shells, if it be your pleasure
to murder them on a question of mere eti
quette." Even Pollard barely represses his dis
gust at the silly repetitions and vanity of liter
ary style protruded by this Bobadil of a Mayor.
u May 1. » Afternoon of April 26.

SURRENDER OF THE REBEL FORTS.

97

the Saxon the success of Farragut's
attempt to, pass the Rebel forts and
barrier and destroy their fleet for-
jbidding approach to New Orleans,
fmade haste to join his land forces
below, and to conduct them, under
Weitzel's piloting, through the shal
low bays and bayous in the rear of
Fort St. Philip, landing them from
his row-boats on the first firm ground
that he reached above the fort;
thence occupying the levee and
throwing a detachment across the
river so as completely to isolate both
forts and their garrisons. While he
was effecting this, Commander Por
ter, with his mortar-fleet below,
resumed and continued the bombard
ment, sending up" a flag of truce to
demand a surrender, which was re
fused ; but,* next day, 250 of the
garrison of Fort Jackson, having
heard, or inferred from the blackened
fragments floating down the river,
that New Orleans was captured, re
fused to fight longer, and, spiking
the guns on the upper side of the
fort, sallied out and surrendered
themselves to Gen. Butler's pickets.
Lt.-Col. Higgins, who commanded
the forts, seeing that all was lost,
now made haste to accept the favor
able terms of capitulation previously
offered by Commander Porter, before
the latter should be made aware of
Butler's position above and the
mutiny and surrender of half the
garrison. While the terms of capitu
lation were being reduced to writing,
the Confederate naval officers just

above the forts towed their ram
Louisiana out into the current, set
her on fire and abandoned her, with
all her guns shotted, expecting her
to drift down upon and explode in
the midst of Porter's fleet ; but, just
as she was abreast of Fort St. Philip,
she blew up and sunk, injuring no
one but a Rebel soldier in the fort,
who was killed by a fragment. Of
the three remaining Rebel steamers,
one had been scuttled; the others
surrendered without resistance : their
officers, with those of the Louisiana,
being sent North as close prisoners,
because of their attempt to destroy
our fleet while a capitulation was in
progress. Commander Porter turned
the forts and their contents imme
diately over to Gen. Phelps," and
they were very soon being repaired
and fitted for effective service ; while
Gen. Butler, leaving Gen. Williams
in command there, and having easily
reduced Forts Pike and Wood, at
the entrance of Lake Pontchartrain,
brought his steamers around into the
Mississippi, and, taking on board
2,000 of his men, moved up to the
city and took possession — Capt. Far
ragut very gladly relinquishing to
him the difficult and disagreeable
duty of bandying words with its
spiteful, shuffling authorities,and deal
ing with its ferocious and ruffianly
mob, who would have taken exquisite
pleasure in making mince-meat of
either of them.
In the conferences which ensued
between the commanding General

S1 April 27.
w The Rebel loss by the bombardment of Forts
Jackson and St. Philip was reported by them at
11 killed and 39 wounded. The prisoners
taken by us at the surrender were 393. This does
not include about 300 captured with the last of
vol. n. — 7

their gunboats, nor the Chalmette regiment en
camped on the levee, which surrendered to Capt.
Bailey. Our total loss of men in the bombard
ment, running the batteries, destruction of tho
Rebel fleet, and capture of the city, was but 40
killed and 11 7 wounded.

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and the municipality, Mayor Monroe
was counseled and prompted by Hon.
Pierre Soule, a gentleman whose
ability and tact shone forth in strik
ing contrast with the pitiable exhibi
tion previously made of himself by
the Mayor. In fact, if Soule had
had 10 or 15 good regiments and as
many batteries at his back, he might
have argued Butler out of New
Orleans. A wide diversity as to
premises rendered the progress and
results of these discussions quite un
satisfactory to the weaker party. In
the contemplation of Gen. Butler,
New Orleans was a city ofthe United
States, wherein Rebellion had been
temporarily dominant, but which had
now been restored to its rightful and
lawful allegiance, and wherein no
authority must be asserted, no flag
displayed, but those of the Union.
Soule, Monroe, and the mob, could
not see the matter in that light ; but
insisted on regarding our forces as
intruders, who ought in simple de
cency to abscond; but who, since
they refused to do this, should in all
things consult the feelings and tastes
of the patriotic and indomitable
Southrons, who, from behind their
barricades of women and children,
delighted in hallooing, wherever
Butler appeared or was expected,
" Where 's old cock-eye ?" " Let me
see the damned rascal !" " I see
the damned old villain," &c, &c,
interspersed with " Hurrah for Jeff.
Davis !" " Hurrah for Beauregard !"
" Go home, you damned Yankees !"
• &c, &c. It was amid a tempest of
such outcries from the throats of
50,000 venomous Rebels, that the
General, after vainly endeavoring to
comply with a popular demand for

" Picayune Butler," which none of
his bands were able to play, and after
having waited upon Capt. Farragut;
and heard his account of all that had
occurred since our fleet first appeared
before the city, ordered the imme
diate debarkation of his troops, which
began at 4 o'clock that afternoon :"
the crowd requiring to be slowly
pressed back with the bayonet to ob
tain space on which our regiments
were thus enabled successively to
land and form ; Gen. Butler and his
staff — no horses having yet been
landed — marching on foot at the
head of the 31st Massachusetts and
4th Wisconsin to the music of the
" Star-Spangled Banner," variegated
by nowise complimentary observa- \ \
tions from the mob, along the levee
to Poydras street, thence through
St. Charles street and Canal street,
to the vast, unfinished Custom-House,
where our artillery was duly posted
and the men fitly quartered ; while
the General and his staff returned to
his steamboat, and the 12th Connec
ticut, Col. Deming, bivouacked on
the levee by its side.
That evening, Gen. Butler finished
his preclamation and sent it to the
office of The True Delta to be printed,
only to learn that the application was
too late. Next morning, it was re
newed, and plumply refused by the
proprietor. Two hours later, a file
of soldiers drew up before the build
ing, when half a dozen of their num
ber entered the printing office and
proceeded inoffensively to print the
obnoxious paper. The True Delta,
of next day commenting rebelliously
on this performance, Gen. Butler sup
pressed it till further orders : which
brought the concern to reason. The

ra May 1.

BUTLER AND THE SHE-REBELS.

99

next day, its publication was re
sumed ; and on the 6th the proclama
tion duly appeared in its columns.
The great St. Charles Hotel hav
ing been suddenly closed, Gen. But
ler reopened and made it his head
quarters, summoning the Mayor and
Council to meet him there at 2 p. m.
next day, wliich they did ; and, after
considerable debate, were satisfied,
first, that Gen. Butler was master of
the situation; secondly, that he in
tended to remain so ; thirdly, that any
who should undertake to dispute or
defy his authority would certainly get
into trouble ; and fourthly, that the
mob, though it might hoot and howl
with impunity, must stop short of ac
tual violence and mutiny, or their
streets would be swept by grape and
their gutters run red with blood. It
took some time to impress these
truths clearly on the average Rebel
mind ; but the work was effectively
done; and New Orleans ultimately
confessed that she had not before in
a generation been nearly so clean, so
quiet, so orderly, so free from rob
bery, violence, outrage, and murder,
as she was under the rule of ' Beast
Butler' in the year of grace 1862.
Two conspicuous instances out of
many must here serve as examples
of his dealings with the spirit of
treason. The women of New Orleans — that
portion of them who arrogated to
themselves the designation of ladies,
with a large majority of their sisters
throughout the Confederacy — had ere
this become most impassioned Reb
els. The aristocratic instinct being
stronger in women than in men,
Slavery, though it debauched the
men and degraded the women of the
South, had come to be regarded by

the latter — that is, by those of the
ruling caste — as their patent of no
bility ; and they clung to it, and
stood ready to sacrifice and dare for
it, as aristocrats are always ready to
' stand by their order.' They talked
loudly of shedding their blood, if
need be, for the Confederacy; they
acted so as to insure the shedding in
that behalf of the blood of their male
relatives and neighbors. To pro
claim a rigid non-intercourse with
all young men who did not promptly
enhst in the Confederate armies, and
to exhort, entreat, and finally insult,
those who hesitated to do so, was a
very common exhibition of Southern
female patriotism. To treat our offi
cers and soldiers at all times, and
under all circumstances, with indica
tions of hatred, contempt, disgust,
and loathing, was their still more
natural and general practice. The
display of a miniature Secession flag
on their persons was a harmless, in
offensive exhibition of their feelings
which was never objected to on our
side. To vacate a church-pew, quit a
street-car, or other public vehicle,
upon the entrance of one of our offi
cers, was admissible ; to strum " The
Bonny Blue Flag" on the piano
whenever a Union officer entered the
house, or a Union platoon marched
by, could be endured; but when
ladies, by breeding or brevet, saw fit
to take several reefs in their respec
tive noses, to make an ostentatious
display of drawing aside their dresses,
to oblique into the middle of the
street and then back again, in order
to avoid the possibility of contact
with a passing officer, or being over
shadowed by the American flag ; still
more, when, to contemptuous and in
sulting gestures, they added > oppro-

100

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

brious and venomous language, they
passed the limits of any indulgence
which may properly be accorded to
even feminine malignity. In New
Orleans, the climax of these cowardly
insults was only reached when some
thing dressed like a lady saw fit to
spit in the faces of two officers quietly
passing along the street. It was this
experiment on his forbearance which
decided Gen. Butler to issue his
famous Order No. 28. It reads as
follows :
" Headquarters, Department of the
Gulf, New Orleans, May 15, 1862.
'' General Order No. 28 :
" As the officers and soldiers of the Uni
ted States have been subjected to repeated
insults from the women (calling themselves
ladies) of New Orleans, in return for the
most scrupulous non-interference and cour
tesy on our part, it is ordered that hereaf
ter, when any female shall, by word, ges
ture, or movement, insult or show contempt
for any officer or soldier of the United
States, she shall be regarded and held liable
to be treated as a woman of the town ply--
ing her avocation.
" By command of Maj.-Gen. Butler.
" Geo. 0. Strong, A. A. G., Chief of Staff."
This order was subjected to the
worst possible construction, first by
Mayor Monroe and his secret prompt
ers ; next by the Rebel Governor of
Louisiana and the Secessionists gen
erally ; and so on, until Lord Palmer-
ston, in the British House of Com
mons, took occasion to be astonished,
to blush, and to proclaim his " deep
est indignation " at the tenor of that
order; Punch eagerly echoing his
perversions. Gen. Butler was finally
constrained, after too long enduring
his palterings and equivocations, to
send Mayor Monroe to prison, abol
ish his municipality, banish Pierre
Soule, and appoint Col. G. F. Shep-
ley military commandant, to the sig
nal improvement of the government
of New Orleans and the peace and

security of its inhabitants; and all
that need be added in explanation or
in defense of the hated order is this :
that no soldier under Gen. Butler's
command ever acted upon the vile
construction of that order which his
enemies set up; and no woman in
New Orleans ever pretended that she
was anywise abused or insulted be
cause thereof; while its success in
arresting the scandalous behavior at
which it aimed was immediate and
complete. The other case, wherein Gen. But
ler especially displeased his enemies
and those of his country, was that of
Wm. B. Mumford, a New Orleans
gambler, who had led the Rebel mob
who tore down our National flag
from the roof of the Mint, where it
had been hoisted by our sailors de
tailed for that duty by Capt. Morris,
of the Pensacola, on the 27th, after
Lovell had evacuated the city, and its
Mayor and Common Council had offi
cially declared themselves incapable
of making any resistance, and that,
yielding to physical force alone, they
would make none, to the forces of the
United States. The outrage thus
committed by Mumford and his
backers, furtive and riotous as it was,
drew a shot from the howitzers in the
main-top of the Pensacola, and might
have provoked and justified the de
struction of the city by our fleet;
since the authorities did not disclaim,
while the mob vociferously applaud
ed and adopted it. So The Pica
yune of next morning eulogized its
gallantry and patriotism, and pro
claimed it an act of the city, and a
proof of her " unflinching determina
tion to sustain to the uttermost the
righteous cause for which she has
done so much and made such sacri-

FARRAGUT BEFORE VICESBURG.

101

fices." The city having been com
pletely occupied, and the National
authority reestablished, Gen. Butler
caused Mumford to be arrested, tried,
and, he being convicted and sen
tenced to death by hanging, that sen
tence was duly executed," in the face
of all New Orleans anxiously looking
on, and in defiance of the confident
prediction of the Rebels that Butler
would not dare to do it. They did
not dare ; he did. And his hold on
the city was firmer and safer from
that moment.
About the same time," he pardon
ed and set at hberty six humbler
Rebels, who, having been captured
and paroled at the surrender of the
forts, had been induced secretly to
reenlist in the Rebel service, conspir
ing to force or evade our pickets and
hasten to join Beauregard's army in
Mississippi. Their guilt was undoubt
ed ; their crime one that military law
sternly punishes with death.

The occupation of New Orleans,
its defenses and approaches, having
been completed and assured, Com
mander Porter, with a part of our
fleet, returned to Ship Island ; a part
was stationed near New Orleans to
assist in its defense ; and the residue,
under Capt. Craven, steamed up the
river to extend our sway in that di
rection. Baton Rouge, the State
c'apital, was captured without resist
ance." The Mayor refusing to sur
render, Commander Palmer, of the
Iroquois, landed and took possession
of the U. S. Arsenal. Capt. Farra
gut arrived soon afterward, and took
measures to render our possession
permanent. Natchez was in hke
manner given up to. the Iroquois;"

but, as the Confederates had not oc
cupied it as a military post, it was
left unmolested.
The advance of our squadron, un
der Commander S. P. Lee, encoun
tered no opposition until it reached
Vicksburg," whence a summons to
surrender was answered with de
fiance. Our force was inadequate
to attack until the arrival, a few days
later, of Capt. Farragut, accompa
nied by 4,000 soldiers under Gen.
Thomas Williams. Yicksburg is
naturally so strong, and was so firmly
held, that it was not until after still
further reenforcements had come up,
including Commander Porter's mor
tar fleet, that a bombardment was
opened." Not much impression was
made on the elevated and formida
ble Rebel batteijes by our fire ; but,
at 3 a. m. of the 28th, Capt. Farra
gut, in the Hartford, with six more
of his vessels, passed Yicksburg tri
umphantly, with a total loss of 15
killed and 30 wounded, and exchang
ed cheers above with Capt. Davis's
fleet of mortar ahd gun-boats, which
had fought their way down from Cairo.
Still, our forces were not strong
enough for assault, and the bombard
ment remained ineffective ; while
Gen. Williams, who, on his way up
from Baton Rouge, had been fired
on from Grand Gulf, and ha'a burn
ed that village in retaliation, was
losing men daily by sickness, which
ultimately reduced his effective force
by more than half. He had under
taken to cut a canal, or water-course,
across the peninsula opposite Yicks
burg, and had gathered some 1,200
negroes from the adjacent planta
tions ,to assist in the work ; but it
did not succeed. The soil to be ex-

* June 1.

"May 31. » May T. " May 12.

1 May 18.

1 Night of June 26.

102

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

cavated was an exceedingly tenacious
clay, in good . part covered with
large trees. The strong current ob
stinately kept to the old channel,
and could not be attracted to the
right bank. An expedition, started sa
to go up the Yazoo, having unex
pectedly encountered, near the mouth
of that river, and been worsted by,
the Rebel ram Arkansas,31 Capt. Far
ragut, having no prospect of further
usefulness above, determined to re
pass the frowning batteries, cutting
out and destroying the Arkansas by
the way. He succeeded in running
by Yicksburg with httle loss ; but
his designs upon the Arkansas were
baffled by darkness. A few days
later, Commander Porter, with the
iron-clad Essex, and Lt.-Col. Ellet,
with the ram Queqn. of the West,
made33 another attempt to cut out
the Arkansas, which was likewise
defeated. The village of Donaldsonville,
which had the bad habit of firing
upon our weaker steamers, as they
passed up or down the river, was
bombarded therefor by Capt. Farra
gut, and partially destroyed. As the
river Was now falling fast, threaten
ing to greatly impair the efficiency
of our fleet, the siege of Yicksburg
was abandoned, under instructions
from Washington, and Capt. Farra
gut dropped down the river, reaching
New Orleans on the 28th, with the
greater part of his fleet.
Gen. Williams, with his soldiers,
debarked on the way at Baton Rouge ;
he resuming command of that post.
Rumors of a meditated attack in
force by the enemy were soon cur
rent ; and hence the General had, on

the afternoon35 prior to its occurrence.
warned his subordinates to be ready
and watchful, so as not to be sur
prised next morning. The Rebels
had been assured by their spies that
our men were mostly sick in hospi
tal, which was measurably true ; but
regiments that numbered but 150 on
parade, counted 500 on the battle
field. The Rebel force had been organ
ized for this effort at Tangipahoa, 60
miles north-eastward, and 78 N. N.W.
of New Orleans. It consisted of 13
regiments, and must have considera
bly outnumbered ours, which was
composed of nine thinned regiments
in all. Each side, in its account of
the action, made its own force 2,500,
and that of its adversary twice or
thrice as great. The Rebels were
commanded in chief by Maj.-Gen.
John C. Breckinridge, with Brig.-
Gen. Daniel Ruggles Si leading their
left wing, and Brig.-Gen. Charles
Clarke their right. The attack was
made at daylight,35 simultaneously
and vigorously, by the entire Rebel
force, on the two roads which lead
from the south-west into Baton
Rouge ; and, as but three of our
regiments — the 14th Maine, 21st In
diana, and 6th Wisconsin — were im
mediately engaged, these were soon
compelled to fall back, barely saving
their batteries, whereof two were for
a few moments in the hands of the
Rebels. A dense fog precluded a
clear comprehension on our side of
the position, and caused the 7th Yer
mont to fire into the 21st Indiana,
mistaking it for a Rebel regiment.
Our lines were formed nearly two
miles back from the river, where our

w July 15. " See page 58. " July 22.
* Aug. 4.

"From Massachusetts; formerly Lt.-CoL of
the 5th Regular Infantry. w Aug. 5.

BRECKINRIDGE ATTACK3 BATON ROUGE.

10$

gunboats could give them Httle sup
port ; but, as the famous Rebel ram
Arkansas, hitherto so successful, was
counted on as a part of the attacking
force, supported by two improvised
gunboats, and as our front was wood
ed, with a cross-road and open fields
just beyond it, Gen. Williams may
fairly be supposed to have understood
his business. The battle raged fierce
ly for two hours, during which the
Rebel right was advanced across the
lateral road, driving back the 14th
Maine, pillaging and burning its
camp ; and, while four successive as
saults were unsuccessfully made on
our front, Gen. Clarke made a reso
lute effort to flank our left and estab
lish himself in its rear. Gen. Wil
liams, anticipating this movement,
Kad placed a battery, supported by
two regiments, to resist it ; and the
Rebels were repulsed with considera
ble loss. Meanwhile, the 21st Indi
ana, posted at the crossing of the
roads — whose Colonel, suffering from
wounds previously received, had twice
essayed to join it, and each time fallen
from his horse — had lost its Lt.-CoL,
Keith, Maj. Hayes, and Adj. Tjtrtmm
— the two former severely wounded,
the latter killed — when Gen. Wil
liams, seeing Latham feB, exclaimed,
<; Indianians ! your field-officers are
all killed : I will lead you !" and was
that moment shot through the breast
and fell dead ; the command devolv
ing on CoL T. W. Cahfll, 9th Con
necticut. But the battle was already won.
The Rebel attack bad exhausted its
vitality without achieving any deci
ded success ; while the Arkansas,from
which so much had been expected,
had failed to come to time. Leaving

Yicksbuig,Mshehad steamed leisurely
down the river until within 15 miles
of Baton Rouge, where her starboard
engine broke down ; and it had been
but partially repaired when the sound
of his guns announced to her the
opening of Breckinridge's attack.
Coming down to within five miles
of the city, she was cleared for ac
tion ; when her engine again broke
down, and she drifted ashore on the
right bank of the river. Her tenders,
the Music and the Webb, were of no
account without her ; and now her
strong armament of six 8-inch and
four 50-pound guns, with ISO men,
could not be brought into action; and
our gunboats, the Kineo and Katah-
din below, and Essex, Cayuga, and
Sumter above Baton Rouge, were.
enabled to devote their attention to
the Rebels on land ; firing over the
heads of our soldiers at the enemy,
nearly two miles distant. It is not
probable that their shells did any
great harm to the Rebels, and they
; certainly annoyed and imperiled our
own men ; but they served Breckin
ridge as an excuse for ordering a re
treat, which a part of his men had
already begun. Byl0A.it, his forces
were all on the back track, having
lost Borne 300 to 400 men, including
Gen. Clarke, mortally wounded and
left a prisoner ; Cols. Allen, Boyd,
and Jones, of Louisiana; Cols. A. P.
Thompson and T. EL Hunt, of Ken
tucky; CoL J. W.Robertson, of Ala
bama, and other valuable officers.
On our side, beside Gen. Williams, I
and the entire staff of the 21st Indi
ana, we lost CoL Roberts, of the 7th
Yermont ; Maj. Bickmore and Adj.
Metcalfe, of the Wth Maine ; Capt
Eugene Kelty, 30th Massachusetts,

! Al S A. JL, Ane. 3.

104

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and from 200 to 300 others. We
took about 100 prisoners, half of
them wounded. Neither party had
more cannon at the close than at the
beginning of the battle; but the Reb
els boasted that they had destroyed
Federal munitions and camp equi
page of very considerable value.
Next morning, Commander Por
ter, with the Essex, 7 guns and 40
men, accompanied by the Cayuga
and Sumter, moved up in quest of
the Arkansas, whose two consorts
had already fled up the river. The
ram at first made for the Essex, in
tending to run her down ; but her
remaining engine soon gave out, and
she was headed toward the river
bank, the Essex pursuing and shelling
her; the Arkansas replying feebly
from her stern. When the Essex had
approached within 400 yards, Lt.
Stevens, of the ram, set her on fire
and abandoned her, escaping with
his crew to the shore. The Essex
continued to shell her for an hour ;
when her magazine was fired and she
blew up,

Commander Porter,

having

re

mained at Baton Rouge until it was
evacuated by our troops — who were
concentrated to repel a threatened
attack on New Orleans — returned up
the river3' to reconnoiter Rebel bat
teries that were said to be in progress
at Port Hudson. Ascending thence
to coal at Bayou Sara, his boat's
crew was there fired upon by guerril
las, whereupon some buildings were
burned in retaliation ; and, the fir
ing being repeated a few days after
ward, the remaining structures were
in like manner destroyed. A boat's
crew from the Essex was sent ashore,
some days later, at Natchez, to pro

cure ice for our sick sailors, and was
unexpectedly attacked by some 200
armed civilians, who killed or
wounded 7 of her crew. Porter
thereupon opened fire on the town,
bombarding it for an hour, and set
ting a number of its houses on fire,
when the Mayor surrendered. On
her way down the river, the Essex
had a smart engagement with the
rising batteries at Port Hudson.38
Gen.. Butler's preparations having
rendered the retaking of New Or
leans hopeless, the meditated attack
on it was abandoned, and the forces
collected for that purpose transferred
to other service. An incursion into
the rich district known as Lafourche,
lying south-west of New Orleans,
between that city and the Gulf, was
thereupon projected, and General —
late Lieut. — Weitzel, was sent with
"a brigade of infantry and the requisite
artillery and cavalry, to reestablish
there the authority of the Union.
This was a section of great wealth :
its industry being devoted mainly to
the production of sugar from cane,
its population more than half slaves ;
and its Whites, being entirely slave
holders and their dependents, had ere
this been brought to at least a sem
blance • of unanimity in support of
the Rebel cause ; but their military
strength, always moderate, had in
good part been drafted away for ser
vice elsewhere ; so that Gen. Weitzel,
with little difficulty and great expe
dition, made himself master of the
entire region,38 after two or three
collisions, in which he sustained little
loss. But the wealthy Whites gen
erally fled from their homes at his
approach ; while the negroes, joyful
ly hailing him as their liberator,

' August 23.

* Sept. 7.

" Oct. 22-29.

BUTLER SUPERSEDED BY BANES.

105

speedily filled his camps with crowds
of men, women, and children, desti
tute of food, and fearing to go outside
of his lines lest they should be re
duced again to Slavery. Gen. But
ler, after anxious consideration, felt
obliged to subject the whole district
to sequestration, in order to secure
the cutting and grinding of the cane,
so as to save the remaining inhabit
ants from death by famine. Maj.
Bell, Lt.-Col. Kinsman, and Capt.
Fuller, were appointed a commission,
who were to take charge of all per
sonal property, and either apply it to
the use of the army or transport it to
New Orleans and there sell it to the
highest- bidders, dispensing to loyal
citizens and neutral foreigners their
just share of the proceeds, and ap
plying the residue to the uses of the
.Federal service in this military de-
"partment. Thus were the negroes
employed, paid, and subsisted, the
crops saved, and a large sum turned
over to the support of our armies,
while the number of White loyalists
in Lafourche was rapidly and largely
increased. Two Congressional dis
tricts having thus been recovered,
Messrs. Benjamin F. Flanders and
Michael Halm "were elected" there
from to the Federal House of Repre
sentatives : the former receiving 2,370
votes, to 173 for others, and the lat
ter 2,581, which was 144 more than
were cast against him. The voting
was confined to electors under the
laws of Louisiana who had taken
the Federal oath of allegiance since
the repossession of New Orleans;
and the aggregate poll in that city
dfctnumbered, it was stated, its total
vote for Secession by about 1,000.
When Gen. Butler first reached that

city, there were not a hundred persons
in Louisiana outside of our army and
fleet who would have dared take the
oath, however willing to do so.
Toward the end of November, Gen.
Butler's spies brought him informa
tion from the nearest Rebel camps
that he had been superseded in his
command, and that Gen. N. P. Banks
either was or soon would be on his
way to relieve him. Some days be
fore information of the purposed
change reached our side, Secessionists
in New Orleans were offering to bet
a hundred to ten that Gen. Butler
would be recalled before New Year's. ¦
The fact was known to Jefferson
Davis before it was to Gen. Banks —
long before it was communicated
from Washington to Gen. Butler.
It is probable that the French Min
ister, whose Government had not
been pleased with Gen. Butler's
management in New Orleans, was
the immediate source of Rebel assur
ance on this point. Gen. Banks's
assignment to the Department of the
Gulf is dated November 9th, but was
not made known to him till some
weeks afterward.
Gen. Banks reached New Orleans
Dec. 14th, was received with every
honor, and on the 16th formally as
sumed the high trust to which he
had been appointed. On the 23d,
Gen. Butler took personal leave of
his many friends, and next day issued
his farewell address to the people of
New Orleans ; leaving for New York,
via Havana, by that day's boat. He
was not then aware that he had been
honored, the day previous, by a pro
clamation from Jefferson Davis, de
claring him a felon, outlaw, and
common enemy of mankind, and

' Early in December.

106

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

directing any Confederate officer who
should capture him to hang him
without trial immediately ; and fur
ther directing that all commissioned
officers in his command be regarded
as robbers and criminals, deserving
death ; and each of them, whenever
captured, reserved for execution."
Mr. Richard Yeadon, of Charleston,
S. C, backed this proclamation by
an offer" of $10,000 reward, payable
in Confederate currency, for the cap
ture and delivery of the said Benja
min F. Butler, dead or alive, to any
proper Confederate authority.
Gen. Butler had taken 13,700 sol
diers from the North for the capture
of New Orleans. He had received
no reenforcements since ; and he now
turned over to his successor 17,800
drilled and disciplined men, includ
ing three regiments and two batteries
of negroes. He sent home to the
treasury the sum of $345,000 ; ex
pended $525,000 in feeding the poor
of New Orleans ; and turned over
about $200,000 to the Commissary
and Quartermaster of his successor.
He had collected, by taxation, assess
ments, fines, forfeitures, and confis
cations, an aggregate of $1,088,000,

41 Mr. Davis's proclamation recites the hang
ing of Mumford ; the neglect of our Government
to explain or disavow that act; the imprison
ment of non-combatants ; Butler's woman order
aforesaid; his sequestration of estates in west
ern Louisiana; and the inciting to insurrection
and arming of slaves on our side, as his justifi
cations for proclaiming —
" First. That all commissioned officers in the
command of said Benjamin F. Butler be declared
not entitled to be considered as soldiers engaged
in honorable warfare, but as robbers and crim
inals, deserving death ; and that they and each
of them be, whenever captured, reserved for ex
ecution. " Second. That the private soldiers and non
commissioned officers in the army of said Butler
be considered as only the instruments used for
the commission of crimes perpetrated by his or-

which he had faithfully applied to
the public service. He had, of course,
made himself very unpopular with
the wealthy Rebels, whom he had, in
proportion to their several volunteer
contributions of money in aid of the
Rebel cause, assessed for the support
of the New Orleans poor, deprived
of employment by the war ; and he
was especially detested by that large
body of influential foreigners who,
having freely devoted their efforts
and their means to the support of
the Rebellion, were neither regarded
nor treated by him as though they had
been honestly neutral in the contest.
In his farewell address to the people
of New Orleans, he forcibly says :
" I saw that this Rebellion was a war of
the aristocrats against the middling men — •
of the rich against the poor ; a war of the
land-owner against the laborer ; that it was
a struggle for the retention of power in the
hands of the few against the many ; and I'
found no conclusion to it, save in the sub
jugation of the few and the disenthrallment
of the many. I, therefore, felt no hesita
tion in taking the substance of the wealthy,
who had caused the war, to feed the inno
cent poor, who had suffered by the war.
And I shall now leave you with the proud
consciousness that I carry with me the bless
ings of the humble and loyal, under the roof
of the cottage and in the cabin of the slave ;
and so am quite content to incur the sneers
of the salon or the curses of the rich."

ders, and not as free agents; that they, there
fore, be treated, when captured as prisoners of
war, with kindness and humanity, and be sent
home on the usual parole that they will in no
manner aid or serve the United States in any ca
pacity during the continuance of this war, unless
duly exchanged.
"Third. That all negro slaves captured in
arms be at once delivered over to the executive
authorities of the respective States to which they
belong, to be dealt with according to the laws of
said States.
" Fourth. That the like orders be executed in
all cases with respect to all commissioned officers
of the United States, when found serving in com
pany with said slaves in insurrection against tto
authorities of the different States of this Confed
eracy. [Signed and sealed at Richmond, Dec. 23, 1862.]
., _ "Jeffebson Davis."
" Jan. 1, 1863.

MoCLELLAN IN WASHINGTON.

107

VI.
YIRGINIA— MoCLELLAN'S ADYANCE.

The rooted inaction of the Army
of the Potomac,1 with the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad obstructed and
broken up. on its right, and the navi
gation ofthe Potomac precluded3 by
Rebel batteries on its left, was stub
bornly maintained,, in spite of fit
ful, delusive promises of movement,
throughout the Winter of 1861-2.
Gen. McClellan, who, from his com
fortable house in Washington, issued
orders to all the military forces of
our country, retained likewise the

immediate and especial command of
this grand army of 200,000 men, ap
parently fatigued by the necessity of
framing excuse after excuse for its
inaction,' though the most of it re
mained under tents, exposed to the
vicissitudes of a Winter which —
though it had been remarkably dry
and fine, with the roads in admirable
condition, until Christmas — became
stormy and inhospitable soon after
ward ; so that the since famous Stone
wall Jackson, who, for eminent ser-

1 See Vol. I., p. 627-9.
3 Capt Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy,
as early as July 1st, 1861, notified the War De
partment that the Potomac would "soon be
closed by the batteries of the Rebels ; " and
Secretary Welles reiterated the warning on the
20th of August.
"In October, 1861, the Navy Department
again urged the matter upon the consideration
of the War Department, * * ^ representing
that the question was simply : Would the Army
cooperate with the Navy in securing the unob
structed navigation of the Potomac, or, by
withholding that cooperation at that time, per
mit so important a channel of communication
to be closed ?"
McClellan at last agreed to spare 4,00P men
for the cooperative measure; but, whe/ Capt.
Craven assembled his flotilla at the appointed
time and place, the troops were not on hand.
The General's excuse was that his engineers
were of the opinion that so large a body of
troops could not be landed at Matthias Point —
the place agreed upon. Upon Capt. Fox's as
surance that the Navy Department would at
tend to the landing of the troops, he (McClellan)
agreed that they should be sent on the follow
ing night. Again the flotilla was in readiness ;
again the troops were missing. No troops were
then, nor ever, sent down for that purpose ; the
only reason elicited from McClellan being that
he feared it might bring on a general engage
ment. Capt. Craven indignantly threw up his
command on the Potomac, and applied to be
sent to sea — not wishing to lose iis own reputa
tion, on account of non-cooperation on the part
of the army.

(The foregoing note is condensed from the
first Report of the Joint Committee of Congress
on the Conduct of the War.) I
sGen. John G. Barnard, Chief of Engineers to
the Army of the Potomac, in a report to Gen.
MoClellan at the close of the Peninsula cam
paign, says:
" One ofthe prominent among the causes of
ultimate failure was the inaction tif eight months,
from August, 1861, to April, 1862. More than
any other wars, Rebellion demands rapid mea
sures. In November, 1861, the Army of the
Potomac, if not fully supplied with all the ' ma
teriel,' was yet about as complete in numbers,
discipline, and organization as it ever became.
For four months, the great marine avenue to
the capital of the nation was blockaded, and
that capital kept in a partial state of siege, by a
greatly inferior enemy, in face of a movable
army of 150,000 men.
"In the Winter of 1861 and 1862, Norfolk
could and should have been taken. The navy
demanded it, the country demanded it, and the
means were ample. By its capture, the career
of the Merrimac, which proved so disastrous to
our subsequent operations, would have been
prevented. The preparation of this vessel was
known, and the Navy Department was not with
out forebodings of the mischief it would do.
" Though tlelay might mature more compre
hensive plans and promise greater results, it is ¦
not the first case in which it has been shown
that successful war involves something more
than abstract military principles. The true poli
cy was to seize the first practicable moment to
satisfy the perhaps unreasonable but natural
longing of an impatient nation for results to justi
fy its lavish confidence, and to take advantage
of an undivided command and untrammeled
liberty of action while they were possessed."

108

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

vices in the battle of Bull Run, had,
in September, been promoted to a
Major-Generalship, and assigned to
command at Winchester, and who
had led4 a strong force westward,
expecting to surprise and capture our
detachments holding Bath and Rom-
ney, though he succeeded in taking
both those places, driving out their
garrisons, capturing a few prisoners,
and destroying at Romney very con
siderable supphes, yet his unsheltered
troops suffered so severely from storm
and frost, while so many of his horses
were disabled by falling on the icy
roads, that his losses probably ex
ceeded the damage inflicted on us;
and his blow was fairly countered by
Gen. F. W. Lander, who led 4,000
men southward from the Potomac,'
and, bridging the Great Cacapon in
the night, made a dash at Blooming
Gap, which he surprised, killing 13
and capturing 75 Rebels, including
17 officers, with a loss of 2 men and
6 horses. Gen. Simon Cameron had been
succeeded" by Hon. Edwin M. Stan
ton — an eminent lawyer, without
pretensions to military knowledge,
and of limited experience in public
affairs, but evincing a rough energy
and zeal for decisive efforts, which
the country hailed as of auspicious
augury. Two weeks later,7 a War
Order was issued by the President,
commanding a general advance upon
the enemy from every quarter on. the
22d of February proximo, and de
claring that " the Secretaries of War
and of the Navy, with all their sub
ordinates, and the General-in-Chief,
with all other commanders and sub
ordinates of land and naval forces,
will severally be held to their strict

and full responsibilities for the prompt
execution of this order." Four days
later, a ' Special War Order No. 1'
was likewise issued to Gen. McClel
lan, commanding him, on or before
the 22d prox. aforesaid, to impel " all
the disposable force of the Army of
the Potomac," "for the immediate
object of seizing and occupying a
point upon the railroad south-west
ward of what is known as Manassas
Junction." Though these orders are
signed Abraham Lincoln, they doubt
less received their initial impulse from
the new Secretary of War, who had
already urged Gen. McClellan to take
immediate steps to "secure the re
opening of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, and free the banks of the
lower Potomac from the Rebel bat
teries which annoyed passing ves
sels." ' Gen. M. had been previously
urged by the President, to organize
his army into four or five distinct
corps, under Generals of his own
choice ; which he had declined, and
still declined, to do ; alleging that he
wished first to test his officers in ac
tive service as division commanders,
so that he " might be able to decide
from actual trial who were best fit
ted to exercise those important com
mands." At length,' the President
issued 'General War Order No. 2,'
directing the organization of the
Army of the Potomac into four
corps, to be commanded by Gens.
McDowell, Sumner, Heintzelman,
and Keyes respectively, beside the
forces to be left for the defense of
Washington under Brig.-Gen. James
S. Wadsworth, who should also be
Military Governor of the District of
Columbia, and a fifth, composed of
the forces on the upper Potomac, to

4 Jan. 1, 1862. * Feb. 13. ' Jan. 13. T Jan. 27. • Gen. McClellan's Report. • March 8.

LINCOLN AND MoCLELLAN ON ROUTES.

109

be commanded by Gen. Nath'l P.
Banks. Gen. MeOlollan, "in com
pliance with the President's War
Order No. 2," made this disposi
tion."
Gen. McClellan's original plan con
templated an advance on Richmond
by way of the lower Rappahannock,
landing at Urbana, and making a
secondary base of West Point, at the
head of York river ; and this would
seem, whether regarded abstractly or
in the light of subsequent experience,
to be far preferable to the route on
which he ultimately decided, having
its base at Fortress Monroe; but
either of these, and indeed any ap
proach to l\iehmoiui otherwise than
from the north, was exposed to the
serious if not fatal objection that it
involved a division and dispersion of
our forces, or left the National me
tropolis, with its enormous depots of
arms, munitions, and provisions, to
say nothing of its edifices and ar
chives, at the mercy of the Rebels,
who could hardly fail to rush upon,
sack, and burn it, if our grand army
were transferred bodily to the base
of the Yirginian Peninsula. The
President, therefore, before giving
his assent to Gen. McClellan's pro
ject, addressed to him tho following
letter :
" Executive Mansion, "Washington, \
"February S, 180«-J. \
" Mt Drar Sin : You and I have distinct
and different plans for a movement of the
Army of the Potomac ; your* to bo done by
the Chesapeake, np the Rappahannock t<*
l'rbana, and across land to the terminus of
the railroad on the York river; mine to
move directly to a point on the railroad
southwest of Manassas.
'• It' von will give satisfactory answers to
tho folio wins questions, I shall gladly yield
my plan to yours :
" 1st. Does not your plan involve a

greatly larger expenditure of tima and
moiit-i/ than mine ?
'• "2d. Wherein is a victory more certain
by your plan than mine ?
" 8d. "Wherein is a victory nu>r« valuable
hy your plan titan mine t
'• 4th. In fact, -would it not bo 7«w valu
able in this : that it would break no great
line of the enemy's communications, while
mine would f
" 5th. In oaso of disaster, would not a
retreat he more difficult by your plan than
mine ? '¦ Yours, truly,
'• Abraham Lincoln."
These inquhies seem not to have
been directly answered; but, in a
long letter of even date, to the Secre
tary of War, Gen. MoClellan urges
the -strength ofthe Rebel position at
and around Manassas Junction ; the
reported fact that the fords of the
Oeeoqnan were watched by the
Eebels and defended by concealed
batteries on the heights in their rear,
which were being strengthened by
additional intrenchments ; that, dur
ing our advance from the Aeeotink
to the Oecoquan, our right flank be
comes exposed to an attack from
Fairfax Station, Sangster's, and
Union Mills ; that it would not do
to divide our army by leaving a por
tion in front of Centerville while the
rest crosses the Oeeoqnan ; that the
roads in this quarter were liable, for
some time yet, to be obstructed by
rains and snow, so that " it seems
certain that many weeks may elapse
before it is possible to commence the
march :" and that —
" Assuming the success of this operation,
and the defeat of the enemy as certain, the
question at 'once arises as to the importance
of the results gained. I think those results
would be confined to the possession of the_
field of battle, the evacuation of the line of
the upper Potomac by the enemy, and the
moral effect of the victory ; important re
sults, it is true : but nor decisive ofthe war,
nor securing the destruction of the enemy's

* March 13,

110

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

main army; for he could fall back upon
other positions, and fight us again and
again, should the condition of his troops
permit. If he is in no condition to fight us
again out of the range of the intrenchments
at Richmond, we would find it a very diffi
cult and tedious matter to follow him up
there ; for1 he would destroy his railroad
bridges and otherwise impede our progress,
through a region where the roads are as
bad as they well can be ; and we would
probably find ourselves forced at last to
change the whole theater of war, or to seek
a shorter land route to Richmond, with a
smaller available force, and at an expendi
ture of much more time than were we to
adopt the short line at once. We would
also have forced the enemy to concentrate
his forces and perfect his defensive mea
sures, at the very points where it is desir
able. to strike him when least prepared."
On the other hand, Gen. McClel
lan urged in favor of an advance by
the route he preferred, that —
"It affords the shortest possible land-
route to Richmond, and strikes directly at
the heart of the enemy's power in the East.
" The roads in that region are passable at
all seasons of the year.
"The country now alluded to is much
more favorable for offensive operations than
that in front of Washington (which is very
unfavorable), much more level, more cleared
land, the woods less dense, the soil more
sandy, and the Spring some two or three
weeks earlier. A movement in force on
that line obliges the enemy to abandon his
intrenched position at Manassas, in order
to hasten to cover Richmond and Norfolk.
He must do this ; for, should he permit us
to occupy Richmond, his destruction can be
averted only by entirely defeating us in a
battle, in which he must be the assailant.
This movement, if successful, gives us the
capital, the communications, the supplies of
the Rebels; Norfolk would fall; all the
waters of the Chesapeake would be ours ;
all Virginia would be in our power, and the
enemy forced to abandon Tennessee and
North Carolina. The alternative presented
to the enemy would be, to beat us in a
position selected by ourselves, disperse, or
pass beneath the Oaudine Forks.
" Should we be beaten in a battle, we
have a perfectly secure retreat down the
Peninsula upon Fortress Monroe, with our
flanks perfectly covered by the fleet.
"During the whole movement, our left
flank is covered by the water. Our right
is secure, for the reason that the enemy is
too distant to reach us in time ; he can only

oppose us in front; we bring our fleet into
full play."
He further urged, in favor of a
landing at Urbana, that —
" This point is easily reached by vessels
of heavy draught ; it is neither occupied nor
observed by the enemy ; it is but one march
from "West Point, the key of that region,
and thence but two marches to Richmond.
A rapid movement from Urbana would pre
bably cut off Magruder in the Peninsula,
and enable us to occupy Riohmond before
it could be strongly reenforced. Should
we fail in that, we could, with the coopera
tion of the navy, cross the James and show
ourselves in rear of Richmond, thus forcing
the enemy to come out and attack us ; for
his position would be untenable with us on
the southern bank of the river. Should
circumstances render it not advisable to
land at Urbana, we can use Mob Jack Bay ;
or, the worst coming to the worst, we can
take Fortress Monroe as a base, and operate
with complete security — although with less
celerity and brilliancy of results — up the
Peninsula." The President deferred to these
urgent representations, though they
involved the necessity of a long delay
and a heavy expense in procuring
transportation by water for so great
an army. The duty of obtaining the
requisite vessels was devolved on
John Tucker, Assistant-Secretary of
War ; who, on the 5th of April, re
ported that he had chartered 'there
for 113 steamers, 188 schooners, and
88 barges, and that these had — with
in 37 days from the time he first re
ceived the order, and most of it
within 30 days — transported from
Perryville, Alexandria, and Wash
ington, to Fortress Monroe, 121,500
men, 14,592 animals, 1,150 wagons,
4& batteries, and 74 ambulances, be
side pontoon-bridges, telegraph ma
terials, and the enormous quantity of
equipage, &c, required for such an
army ; with a total los3 of 9 barges
and 8 mules : the former having been
driven ashore in a gale when within
a few miles of Fortress Monroe. He

THE RIVAL ROUTES TO RICHMOND.

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AprKOicnKS to bicidioxp.

Not*.— The above map does Dot pretend to trace tbo various wagon
roads that traverse south-eastern Virginia, and thus may be deemed iin-
perfact ; but any map that purported to giro such roads, would be more
likely to deceive than to enlighten. There an different views aa to

what constitutes ' a road— the Virginia estimate being remarkably
liberal. Roads abound and radiate in every direction throughout
this ngion : but nine-ten tha of them range, save in the dryer portions
of Summer and Fall, than vwy bad to impassable.

112

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

adds that the change which had
meantime been made from Urbana
to Fortress Monroe, as the point of
debarkation, had caused delay in the
movement. The force of Gen. McClellan's ob
jections to the advance desired and
at first commanded by President
Lincoln, depends entirely on the cor
rectness of his estimate of the Rebel
numbers in his front. He estimated
throughout that these ranged from
80,000 to 120,000 men, with over
300 camion.11 On the other hand,
those who were eager for a direct and
decisive blow, insisted, from first to
last, that the Rebel army at no time
exceeded 60,000 in number, and was
oftener below 50,000.1S
Gen. Beauregard had relinquished13
the command of the Army of Vir
ginia, to take direction in„the "West,
and been succeeded by Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston, who soon commenced a
o^uiet and careful evacuation of his
Winter camps, which he completed
on the 8th of March ; retiring south
ward behind the Rapidan, leaving
nothing of the least value to our ser
vice. So admirably was' this usually
perilous movement conducted, or so

worthless was McClellan's observa
tion and secret service, that no hint
of it appears to have reached our
General until the day after its com
pletion.14 He then ordered an ad
vance of our grand army upon Cen
terville and Manassas, as transports
had not yet been provided for their
passage down the Potomac and Ches
apeake, and with a view of giving
them, he says, " an opportunity to
gain some experience on the march
and bivouac, preparatory to the cam
paign, and to get rid of the superflu
ous baggage and other 'impedi
menta,' which accumulate so easily
around an army encamped for a long
time in one locality." ' His cavalry
advance, Col. Averill, reached the
enemy's deserted lines at Centerville
at noon next day. Of course, no
enemy was found there, nor nearer
than "Warrenton Junction; where
Gen. Stoneman, with our cavalry,
discovered them in force on the 14th,
and returned without attacking
them. The main body of our army
had commenced its return to the Po
tomac on the llth ; on which day the
President issued ' "War Order No. 3,'
relieving Gen. McClellan from the

uHe states in his official Report that the
chief of his secret service corps, Mr. E. J. Al
len, reported, on the 8th of March, that the
forces of the Rebel Army of the Potomac at
that date were as follows :
At Manassas, Centerville, Bull Kun, Upper
Occoquan, and vicinity  80,000 men.
At Brooks's Station, Dumfries, Lower Oeeo
qnan, and vicinity  18,000 "
At Leesburg and vicinity  4,500 "
Intho Shenandoah Valley... S  13,000 "
Total number  115,500 "
E The writer visited, early in January, Gen.
Wadsworth, in his camp near Ball's Cross-
Roads; when, on this point, Gen. W. said: " I
see and examine all deserters and contrabands
who reach us from the Rebel camps in our front ;
and their testimony convinces me that they have
but fifty or sixty regiments in all — certainly not
over 50,000 men." This, of course, did not in

clude outlying detachments, whether at and
toward Winchester or below the Occoquan.
Most Rebel writers who touch this poiiit, and
British officers who served with or visited the
Rebel army during the ensuing campaign, were
unanimous in making their total effective force
during that Winter less than 50,000.
"Jan. 30.
"Pollard says:
" For the space of three weeks before the army
left its intrenchments at Manassas, preparations
were being made for falling back to the line of
the Rappahannock, by the quiet and gradual re
moval of the vast accumulations of army stores;
and, with such consummate address, was this
managed, that our own troops had no idea of
what was intended until the march was taken
up. The first intimation the enemy had of the
evacuation of Manassas was the smoke of the
soldiers' huts that had been fired by our army."

THE MONITOR AT WORK ON THE MERRIMAC (OR VIRGINIA).

ADVANCE BT THE PENINSULA DECIDED ON.

113

command of all military departments
but that of the Potomac ; extending
Gen. Halleck's department in the
"West so as to include all the Missis
sippi Yalley northward of the Gulf
States and west of a north and south
line drawn through Knoxville, Tenn. ;
and creating a new ' Mountain De
partment,' consisting of the country
between McClellan's and Halleck's,
to be commanded by Gen. Fremont.
Undoubtedly, this order indicated
a diminution, if not absolute, failure,
of the President's confidence in his
senior General ; and, while it is very
obvious that the commander -of a
great army operating from the Pen
insula against Richmond could not
properly and safely direct the move
ments of other armies, scattered all
over the country, and with which his
telegraphic communications would
probably be often interrrupted, it is
certain that all our movements
. should have been directed by a com
mon head, responsible for the proper
distribution and concentration of our
forces. A Secretary of War, how
ever able and fit, is perplexed by
duties and anxieties too multifarious
and distracting to permit of his serv
ing to advantage as Generalissimo.
Two days later, at a council of
corps commanders at Fairfax Court
House, it was decided — for reasons
not given and not apparent — to de
bark our army at Old Point Comfort,
between the York and James rivers,
instead of Urbana or Mob Jack Bay
— a most unfortunate decision, though
materially qualified by the following
provisos :
" 1st. That the enemy's vessel Merrimac
can be neutralized.
" 2d. That the means of transportation,
sufficient for an immediate transfer of the
force to its new base, can be ready at Wash-
vol. n. — 8

ington and Alexandria to move down the
Potomac; and
" 3d. That a naval auxiliary force can be
had to silence, or aid in silencing, the
enemy's batteries on York river.
" 4th. That the forces to' he left to cover
Washington shall be such as to give an en
tire feeling of security for its safety from
menace. (Unanimous.)
" If the foregoing can not be, the army
should then be moved against the en
emy, behind the Rappahannock, at the
earliest possible moment; and the means
for reconstructing bridges, repairing rail
roads and stocking them with material suf
ficient for supplying the army, should at
once be collected for both the Orange and
Alexandria and Acquia and Richmond Rail
roads. (Unanimous.)
" N. B. That with the forts on the right
bank of the Potomac fully garrisoned, and
those on the left bank occupied, a covering
force in front of the Virginia line of 25,000
men would suffice. (Keyes, Heintzelman
and McDowell.) A total of 40,000 men for
the defense of the city would suffice. (Sum
ner.)" This decision, being communicated
to the "War Department, was prompt
ly responded to as follows :
" War Department, March 13, 1862.
" To Maj. -Gen. Geo. B. MoClellan :
"The President, having considered the
plan of operations agreed upon by yourself
and the commanders of army corps, makes
no objection to the same, hut gives the fol
lowing directions as to its execution :
" 1st. Leave such force at Manassas
Junction as shall make it entirely certain
that the enemy shall not repossess himself
of that position and line of communication.
" 2d. Leave "Washington entirely secure.
"3d. Move the remainder of the force
down the Potomac, choosing a new base at
Portress Monroe, or anywhere between
here and there; or, at all events, move such
remainder of the army at once in pursuit
of the enemy by some route.
" Edwin M. Stanton,
" Secretary of War."'
Gen. McClellan hereupon ordered;
Gen. Banks, with his corps, to move-
both his divisions down from th©
Shenandoah* Yalley to Manassas;
there to intrench and rebuil&therail-
roads and bridges, " occupy by grand'
guards Warrenton Junction, or War-
renton itself, and also some littles

114

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

more advanced point on the Orange
and Alexandria Railway," leaving
but two regiments of cavalry to " oc
cupy 'Winchester and thoroughly
scour the country south of the rail
way and up the Shenandoah Yalley."
Gen. Banks had already thrown
across the Potomac, at Harper's
Ferry,16 the 28th Pennsylvania, Col.
Geary, following himself,18 taking
possession of Bolivar and Loudon
Heights, Leesburg, Charlestown,17
and Martinsburg,18 and pushing back
the Rebels to Winchester, which
Stonewall Jackson evacuated" with
out a struggle. Gen. Shields, com
manding Lander's division,20 pursued
Jackson to Newmarket," where he
found him strongly posted and ready
for action. He thereupon fell back
rapidly to "Winchester, pursued by
Jackson's cavalry, under Turner
Ashby. Gen. Banks, having dis
patched one division toward Center
ville,22 Jackson's spies assured him
that Shields had but four regiments
left, and might easily be captured or
routed ; so Ashby drove in our pick
ets and pressed hard upon Shields,
who kept the larger part of his force
concealed until Jackson was induced
to advance in force and attack. In
the slight skirmish which occurred,23
Gen. Shields was struck by a frag
ment of shell which broke his arm,
and so injured his shoulder and side
that he fought next day's • battle in
bed. Jackson had 10 regiments of
infantry, all Yirginians, but reports
their aggregate strength at only 3,087
men, with 27 guns and 290 cavalry.24

Gen. Shields had 6,000 infantry, 750
cavalry, and 24 guns, well posted
some three miles south of Winchester,
and half a mile north of the little
village of Keknstown, covering the
three principal roads which enter
Winchester from the south-east,
south, and south-west.
Gen. Banks had remained with
Shields until about 10 a. m. f when,
a careful reconnoissance having dis
covered no enemy in front but
Ashby's cavalry, he concluded that
Jackson was too weak or too cautious
to risk an attack, and departed for
Washington via Harper's Ferry. Be
fore noon, however, Shields was ad
vised by Col. Kimball, on his left,
that a Rebel battery had opened on
his position, and appeared to be sup
ported by a considerable force of in
fantry. Thereupon, Sullivan's bri
gade was pushed forward to support
Kimball, and our artillery opened
simultaneously with one or two more
Rebel batteries ; but at such distance
as to do little harm. Soon, a still
larger force of all arms was develop
ed by Jackson on his right, and an
effort made to turn our left, which
was gallantly resisted and foiled by
Sullivan's brigade, supporting Jenks's
artillery. Jackson then reenforced
heavily his left, sending two addition
al batteries and his reserve to sup
port the movement; when Shields
ordered up Tyler's brigade of 4 regi
ments to the support of Col. Kim
ball, commanding that wing, where
by the Rebels were outnumbered and
hurled back upon their main body,

16 Feb. 24. "Feb. 26. " Feb. 28.
"March 3. "March 11.
20 Gen. F. W. Lander,- one of the bravest and
best of our early commanders, had died March
2d, of congestion of the brain, caused by hard
ship, exposure, and anxiety.

"March 19. *> March 22.
53 About sunset, March 22.
** Pollard says the Confederate forces amount
ed to 6,000 men, with Capt. McLaughlin's bat
tery and CoL Ashby's cavalry.
"Sunday, March 23.

FIGHT AT KERNSTOWN. — THE MERRIMAC.

115

strongly posted behind a high and
solid stone wall, crossing a hill,
where a desperate stand was made
by Jackson's famous ' Stonewall Bri
gade,' and others, whose fire was for
a few minutes rapid and deadly ; but
their position was soon flanked and
carried by our eager, determined ad
vance, and they retreated in disor
der, leaving 2 guns, 4 caissons, and
many small arms. Night now fell,
and saved them, doubtless, from a
heavier loss. Our men secured their
prisoners, cared for their wounded —
those of the Rebels having mostly
been carried off by them prior to
, their retreat — and sank down to rest
on the battle-field. The Rebels re
treated a few miles, rapidly but in
good order, ere they, too, rested for
the night.
Jackson attributes his defeat in
part to Gen. R. B. Garnett's error of
judgment in repeatedly ordering his
men'to retreat, when he should have
held on and fought. It seems clear,
however, that the capital mistake
was his own in fighting at all, when
his total force, according to his own
estimate, was less than 5,000 men,
and he estimates our infantry on the
field at over 11,000. He makes his
loss 80 killed, 342 wounded, and 269
missing, mainly prisoners; total, 691;
while Shields claims 300 prisoners,
and estimates the Rebel loss in killed
and wounded at 1,000 to 1,500.2°
Our own loss in this engagement was
103 killed, including Col. Murray,
of the 84th Pennsylvania ; 441
wounded, and 24 misBing.
Gen. Shields, well aware that

28 Shields's official report says :
"The enemy's loss is more difficult to ascer
tain than our own. Two hundred and seventy
were found dead on the battle-field ; 40 were
buried by the inhabitants of the adjacent vil-

heavy reenforcements for Jackson1
were at hand, immediately sent an
express after "Williams's division — by
this time well on its way to Harper's'
Ferry-Mlesiring its immediate return ;
but Gen. Banks, hearing of the bat
tle by telegraph from "Winchester,
had already stopped at Harper's Fer
ry and anticipated this order ; him
self rejoining Shields early next day,
and resuming command. He pur
sued Jackson vigorously up the Yal-
ley to "Woodstock, but was unable to
bring him to bay.

"We have seen that Gen. McClel
lan's council of corps commanders
decided, on the 13th of March, to
abandon his original plan of debark
ing at Urbana, on the Rappahan
nock, and advancing thence on Rich
mond by West Point, at the head of
York river, making this a secondary
base. This most unfortunate de
cision is rendered unaccountable by
a destructive if not disastrous naval
collision which had just occurred in
Hampton Roads, and of which the
results were well known to the coun
cil. Of our naval officers' most calami
tous, cowardly, disgraceful desertion
of and flight from the Norfolk Navy
Yard and Arsenal at the beginning
of the struggle, the revolting particu
lars have already been given.2'
Among the vessels there abandoned
to the Rebels, after being fired, was
the first-class 40-gun steam-frigate
Merrimac, which, by Capt. McCau-
ley's orders, had been scuttled and
partly sunk, so that only her rig-

lage ; and, by a calculation made by the num
ber of graves found on both sides of the Valley
road between here and Strasburg, their loss in
killed must have been about 500, and in wounded
1,000." "See Vol.1, p. 413-1.

116

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ging and upper works were burned ;
her hull being saved by a speedy
submersion. Having thus fallen
an easy prey to the Rebels, she
was adopted by them as the basis of
an iron-clad, whereof Lieut. John M.
Brooke furnished the original plan,
which Chief Engineer Williamson
and Naval Constructor Porter, to
gether with Lt. Brooke, ultimately
fashioned into the terrible engine of
destruction known to us as the Mer
rimac, but designated by her rebuild-
ers the Yirginia. Messrs. Brooke,
Williamson, and Porter, were all
graduates from our navy, as was
Commodore Franklin Buchanan, who
became her commander. In prepar
ing her for her new service, the hull
of the Merrimac was cut down near
ly to the water's edge, after she had
been plugged, pumped out, and
raised ; when a sloping roof of heavy
timber, strongly and thoroughly
plated with railroad iron, rose from
two feet below the water-line to
about ten feet above : the ends and
sides being alike and thoroughly
shielded. A light bulwark, or false
bow, was added, designed to divide
the water, and serve as a tank to reg
ulate the vessel's draft ; and beyond
this projected a strong iron beak.
Being thus rendered thoroughly shot-
proof, she was armed with 10 heavy
and most effective guns ; and so, hav
ing been largely refitted from the
spoils of the deserted Navy Yard,
became at once the cheapest and
most formidable naval engine of de
struction that the world had ever
seen. Whether she had or had not
the ability to live in an open, turbu
lent sea, was left undecided by her
brief but memorable career.
A little before noon, on Saturday,

March 8th, a strange craft was de
scried from our vessels off Newport
News, coming down the Elizabeth
river from Norfolk, past Craney
Island, attended by two unremarka
ble steam gunboats, Two other Rebel
gunboats, which had, evidently by
preconcert, dropped down the James
from Richmond, had been discovered
at anchor off Smithfield Point, some
12 miles distant, about three hours
before. The nondescript and her
tenders gradually approached our
war-ships awaiting, her, and, passing
across the bow of the Congress frig
ate, bore down on the Cumberland,
in utter disdain of her rapid and
well aimed but utterly ineffective
shots, which glanced as harmless
from the iron shield of the foe as
though they had been peas. Not a
gun was fired by the mysterious and
terrible stranger until she struck the
Cumberland with full force under her
starboard fore-channels, at the same
moment delivering a most destructive
fire ; while her blow had opened such
a chasm in the bow of the Cumber
land that her forward magazine was
drowned in 30 minutes. Still, her
fire was kept up until, at 3:35 p. m.,
the water had risen to the main
hatchway, and the ship canted to
port ; when, giving . a parting fire,
Lt. Morris ordered every man to
jump overboard and save himself if
possible. The dead, and sick, and
severely wounded, were unavoidably
left in her bay and on her decks, to
the number of at least 100 ; and she
sank to the bottom in 54-feet water,
with her flag still flying from her
topmast. Meanwhile, the Congress — which
had exchanged broadsides with the
Merrimac as she passed — was attacked

THE ROANOKE GOES IN.

117

by the Rebel gunboats, and was bat
tling them to the best of her ability,
until, seeing the fate of the Cumber
land, she set her jib and topsail, and,
with the assistance of the gunboat
Zouave, ran aground not far from
our batteries at Newport News,
where she was soon again assailed
by the Merrimac, which, taking po
sition about 150 yards from her stern,
raked her fore and aft with shell,
while one of the smaller steamers
from Norfolk kept up a fire, on her
starboard quarter ; while the Patrick
Henry and Thomas Jefferson — Rebel
steamers from up the James — like
wise poured in their broadsides with
precision and effect. The hapless
Congress could only reply from her
two stern guns, whereof one was soon
dismounted and the other had its
muzzle knocked off. Her command
er, Lt. Joseph B. Smith, Acting-
Master Thomas Moore, and Pilot
William Rhodes, with nearly half
her crew, having been killed or
wounded, the ship on fire in seve
ral places, without a gun that could
be brought to bear on her destroyers,
Lt. Pendergrast, on whom the com
mand had devolved, at 4:30 p. m.
hauled down our flag. She was soon
boarded by an officer from the Mer
rimac, who took her in charge, but
left shortly afterward ; when a small
Rebel tug came alongside and de
manded that her crew should get out
of the ship, as her captors intended
to burn her immediately. But our
soldiers on shore, who had not sur
rendered, and who regarded the Con
gress as now a Rebel vessel, opened
so brisk a fire upon her that the tug
and her crew suddenly departed;
when the Merrimac again opened on
the luckless craft, though she had a

white flag flying to intimate her sur
render. Having fired several shells
into her, the Merrimac left her to en
gage the Minnesota, giving opportu
nity for her crew to escape to the
shore in small boats, with their
wounded. About dark, the Merri
mac returned and poured hot shot
into the deserted hulk, until she was
set on fire and utterly destroyed, her
guns going off as they became heated
— a shell from one of them striking
a sloop at anchor at Newport News,
and blowing her up. At midnight,
the fire had reached her magazines,
containing five tuiK^)f powder, and
she blew up with a tremendous ex
plosion. Of her crew of 434 men,
218 answered to their names at roll-"
call at Newport News next morning.
Capt. John Marston, of the steam
ship Roanoke, whereof the machinery
was disabled, being off Fortress Mon
roe, was in command of our fleet,
when, at 1 p. m., one of his look-out
vessels reported by signal that the
enemy was coming. Signaling the
steam-frigate Minnesota to get under
way, and slipping his cable, he had
the Roanoke taken in tow by two
tugs, and started for the scene of
action ; but, before he reached it, he
had the mortification of seeing the
Minnesota hard aground. Continu
ing on his course, but unable to make
tolerable headway, he came in sight
of the Cumberland, only to find her
virtually destroyed ; having soon
after the further mortification of see
ing the Congress haul down her flag.
Continuing to stand on, he was soon
himself aground astern, in 3^ fathoms,
and was obliged to be haided off by
one of his tugs ; when he decided to
come to the relief of the stranded
Minnesota, hoping with assistance to

118

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

pull her off; but found himself un
able to do so. Meantime, at 5 p.m.,
-the frigate St. Lawrence, towed by
the Cambridge, passed them, and
Boon also grounded, but was hauled
off by the Cambridge, when she re
turned to the harbor of the fort.
The Minnesota, Capt. Yan Brunt,
having, in passing Sewell's Point,
received and returned a fire from the
Rebel battery, which crippled her
mainmast, had approached within a
mile and a half of Newport News,
when she grounded, with an ebbing
tide, and was still hard at work try
ing to get oflf^when, at 4 p. m., the
Merrimac, Jamestown, and Patrick
Henry, having finished their work at
the News, bore down upon her. The
shallowness of the water forbade the
Merrimac to come within a mile of
her, from which distance she fired
for the next two or three hours, but
once hulling the Minnesota by a shot
through her bow. The Jamestown
and the Patrick Henry, taking posi
tion on the port bow and stern of the
Minnesota, where only her heavy
pivot-gun could be brought to bear
upon them, kept up a vigorous and
effective fire on her, by which several
of her crew were killed and wounded ;
but they finally desisted and retired,
one of them apparently crippled.
At 7 p. m., the Merrimac hauled off
also, and all three steamed toward
Norfolk, leaving the Minnesota deep
ly imbedded, by the fire of her broad
side guns, in the mud-bank on which
she rested ; so thaf it was impossible,
even at high tide, by the help of
steam-tugs and hawsers, with all
hands at work through the night, to
haul her off.
The prospect for the coming day

was dark enough, until, at 10 p. m.,
the new iron-clad Monitor, 2 guns,
Lt. John L. Worden, reached Fort
ress Monroe on her trial trip from
New York, and was immediately
dispatched to the aid of the Minne
sota, reporting to Capt. Yan Brunt
at 2 A. m." Though but a pigmy
beside the Merrimac, and an entire
novelty for either land or water — " a
cheese-box on a raft" — the previous
day's sore experience of the might
and invulnerability of iron-clads in
sured her a hearty welcome. Never
had there been a moreisignal example
of the value of a friend in need.
At 6 a. m., the Rebel flotilla reap
peared, and the drums of the Min
nesota beat to quarters. But the
enemy ran past, as if heading for
Fortress Monroe, and came around
in the channel by which the Minne
sota had reached her uncomfortable
position. Again all hands were called
to quarters, and the Minnesota, open
ing with her stern guns, signaled the
Monitor to attack, when the un
daunted little cheese-box steamed
down upon the Rebel Apollyon and
laid herself alongside, directly be
tween the Minnesota and her as
sailant. Gun after gun from the
Monitor, responded to with whole
broadsides from the Merrimac, seemed
to produce no more impression than
a hailstorm on a mountain-cliff; until,
tired of thus wasting their ammuni
tion, they commenced maneuvering
for the better position. In this, the
Monitor, being lighter and far more
manageable than her foe, had decid
edly the advantage ; and the Merri
mac, disgusted, renewed her atten
tions to the Minnesota, disregarding
a broadside which would have sunk

88 Sunday, March 9.

FIGHT OF THE MERRIMAC AND MONITOR.

119

any unplated ship on the globe, and
put a shell from her rifled bow-gun
through the Minnesota's side, which
tore four of her rooms into one and
set her on fire ; but the flames were
promptly extinguished. The Merri-
' mac's next shot pierced the boiler of
the tug-boat Dragon, which was
made fast to the port side of the Min
nesota, to be ready to assist in tow
ing her off; killing or badly wound
ing 7 of her crew and setting her on
fire. By this time, the Minnesota
was raining iron upon her assailant ;
at least 50 solid shot from her great
guns having struck the Rebel's side
without apparent effect. Now the
little Monitor again interposed be
tween the larger combatants, com
pelling the Merrimac to change her
position ; in doing which she ground
ed ; and again a broadside was poured
upon her at close range from all the
guns of the Minnesota that could be
brought to bear. The Merrimac was
soon afloat once more, and stood
down the bay, chased by the Monitor ;
when suddenly the former turned and
ran full speed into her pursuer, giving
her a tremendous shock, but inflicting
no serious damage. The Rebel's prow
grated over the deck of the Moni
tor ; and was badly cut by it ; so that
she was not inclined to repeat the
experiment. The Monitor soon after
ward stood down the Roads toward
Fortress Monroe ; but the Merrimac
and her tenders did not see fit to
pursue her, nor even to renew the
attack on the now exposed Minne
sota ; on the contrary, they gave up
the fight, which they were destined
never to renew, and steamed back to

Norfolk. The Minnesota, despite.
persistent efforts, was not fairly afloat
until 2 o'clock next morning.
In this memorable fight, the turret
of the Monitor was struck by Rebel
bolts nine times, her side armor eight
times, her deck thrice, and her pilot
house twice — the last being her
only vulnerable point. One of these
bolts struck her pilot-house squarely
in front of the peep-hole through
which Lt. Worden was watching his
enemy, knocking off some cement
into his face with such force as ut
terly to blind him for some days, and
permanently to destroy his left eye.
Three men standing in the turret
when it was struck were knocked
down, one of .them being Chief En
gineer Alban C. Stimers, who man
aged the revolving of the turret. The
Merrimac had her prow twisted in her
collision with the Monitor, her anchor
and flag-staff shot away, her smoke
stack and steam-pipe riddled, 2 of her
crew killed and 8 wounded, includ
ing her commander, Buchanan. The
Patrick Henry was disabled by a shot
through one of her boilers, by which 4
of her crew were killed and 3 wound
ed. The other Rebel gunboats report
ed an aggregate loss of only 6 men.
The Merrimac was undoubtedly
disabled " in this two-days' conflict,
or she would not have closed it as she
did, or would have renewed it di
rectly afterward.
Our total loss by this raid, beside
the frigates Cumberland and Con
gress, with all their armament, the
tug Dragon, and the serious damage
inflicted on the Minnesota, can hard
ly have fallen short of 400men,includ-

m A letter from Petersburg, March 10, to the
Raleigh Standard, says: "The Merrimac lost her
enormous iron beak in the plunge at the Erics

son, and damaged her machinery, and is leaking
a little." It was probably this leak which con
strained her to abandon the fight as she did.

120

THE AMERICA

ing 23 taken from the Congress and
carried off by the gunboat Beaufort.

Gen. McClellan left Washington
on the 1st of April, arriving next day
at Fortress Monroe. Of his army,
58,000 men and 100 guns were there
before him, andnearly as many more
on the way. Gen. Wool's force, hold
ing the Fortress, is not included in
these numbers.
Gen. J. B. Magruder, at Yorktown,
watched this ominous gathering in
his front at the head of a Rebel force
officially reported by him at 11,000
in all : 6,000 being required to gar
rison Gloucester Point, Yorktown,
and Mulberry Island; leaving but
5,000 available for the defense of a
line of 13 miles. Gen. McClellan
says his information placed Magru-
der's command at 15,000 to 20,000
men, aside from Gen. Huger's force
at Norfolk, estimated by him at
20,000. Feeling the importance of
dealing decisively with Magruder
before he could be reenforced by
Johnston, McClellan ordered an ad-

N CONFLICT.
vance on the morning of the 4th;
and, before evening of the next day,
Gen. Heintzelman, in front of York-
town, and Gen. Keyes, before Winn's
Mill,3' on the Warwick, were brought
to a halt by the fire of Rebel bat
teries." Gen. McClellan had been
misled with regard to the topography
of the country as well as the number
of his i foes. On his map, the War
wick was traced as heading in or very
near Skiff's creek, directly up the
Peninsula from its mouth, some six
or eight miles west of Yorktown ;
whereas it actually heads within
a mile of that post, running diag
onally and crookedly nearly across
the Peninsula, while it was in
good part navigable by Rebel gun
boats. His false information regard
ing it was furnished, he states, by
Gen. Wool's topographical engineers ;
though there must have been a hun
dred negroes about the Fortress, each
of whom could and gladly would
have corrected it. Our ships of war
— what the Merrimac had left of
them — were intently watching for

30 Called by Gen. McClellan, Lee's Mill.
31 Pollard says :
" General Magruder, the hero of Bethel, and
a commander who was capable of much greater
achievements, was left to confront the growing
forces on the Peninsula, which daily menaced
him, with an army of 7,500 men, while the
great bulk of the Confederate forces were still in
motion in the neighborhood of the Rappahan
nock and the Rapidan, and he had no assurance
of reenforcements. The force ofthe enemy was
ten times his own ; they had commenced a daily
cannonading upon his lines ; and a council of
general officers was convened, to consult whe
ther the httle army of 7,500 men should main
tain its position in the face of tenfold odds, or
retire before the enemy. The opinion of the
council was unanimous for the latter alternative,
with the exception of one officer, who declared
that every man should die in the intrenchments
before the little army should fall back. ' By
G — , it shall be sol' was the sudden exclamation
of Gen. Magruder, in sympathy with the gallant
suggestion. The resolution demonstrated a re
markable heroism and spirit. Our little force
was adroitly extended over a distance of several

miles, reaching from Mulberry Island to Glou
cester Point, a regiment being posted here and
there, in every gap plainly open to observation,
and on other portions of the line the men being
posted at long intervals, to give the appearance
of numbers to the enemy. Had the weakness
of Gen. Magruder at this time been known to
the enemy, he might have suffered the conse
quences of his devoted and self-sacrificing cour
age ; but, as it was, he held his lines on the
Peninsula until they were reenforced by the
most considerable portion of Gen. Johnston's
forces, and made the situation of a contest upon
which the attention of the public was unani
mously fixed as the most decisive of the war."
CoL Fremantle, of the British Coldstream
Guards, in his "Three Months in the Southern
States," says :
" He [Magruder] told me the different dodges
he resorted to to blind and deceive McClellan
as to his strength ; and he spoke of the intense
relief and amusement with which he at length
saw that General with his magnificent army,
begin to break ground before miserable earthworks
defended only by 8,000 men."

MoCLELLAN BEFORE YOEKIOVN.

121

h'clellan before yokktown.

the reappearance down the Elizabeth
of that marine monster and her three
satellite gunboats ; and Com. Golds-
borough did not feel justified in de
taching a part of them to reduce the
water batteries at Yorktown and
Gloucester. The Commodore does
not seem to have been asked to clear
the Warwick river of Rebel gunboats
— if, indeed, any were there. Ma
gruder seems wholly unconscious of
ever having had any naval assistance.
McClellan felt of the Rebel lines
at different points, but did not, though

aware that time was precious, and
that a few days might greatly in
crease the number of his foes, venture
to order a determined assault.22 On
the contrary, he sat down before
Magruder's lines, began to throw up
earthworks, and sent orders to Wash
ington for siege-guns. Pressing too
close to Yorktown, the besiegers
were repulsed by a sudden charge of
two battalions under Col. Ward.
On the 16th, a reconnoissance in force
by the 2d division of the 4th corps,
Gen. W. F. Smith, was made at Dam

M Magruder says:
" On every portion of my lines, he attacked
us with a furious cannonading and musketry,
which was responded to with effect by our bat
teries and troops of the line. His skirmishers
were also well thrown forward on this and the
succeeding day, and energetically felt our whole
liije; but were everywhere repulsed by the

steadiness of our troops. Thus, with 5, 000 men,
exclusive of the garrisons, we stopped and held
iu check over 100,000 of the enemy. Every pre
paration was made in anticipation of another
attack by the enemy. The men slept in the
trenches and under arms ; but, to my utter sur
prise, he permitted day after day to elapse with
out an assault."

122

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

No. 1, on the Warwick, which was
to have been converted into a real
attack if successful at the outset.
Though gallantly made, it failed;
our advance being driven back across
the stream with the loss of 100 men.
The Rebels lost about 75 men, in
cluding Col. R. M. McKinney, 15th
North Carolina, killed.
Gen. McClellan had been thirty
days in front of Yorktown, and was
intending to open the siege in due
form by the fire of breaching batteries
on the morning of May 6th ; but he
found, two days earlier, that Magru
der had abandoned his works, includ
ing Yorktown, during the preceding
night, retreating up the Peninsula.83
The pursuit of the flying Rebels
was prompt and energetic. It was
led by Gen. George D. Stoneman,
with 4 regiments and a squadron of
cavalry, and 4 batteries of horse-artil
lery, followed, on the Yorktown road
to Williamsburg, by Hooker's and
Kearny's divisions, and on the Winn's
Mill road by those of W. F. Smith,
Couch, and Casey. Gen. McClellan
remained at Yorktown to supervise
the embarkation of Gen. Franklin's
and other troops for West Point.

Fort Magruder, just in front of
Williamsburg, at the junction of sev
eral roads, commanded, with its 13
adjuncts, substantially all the roads
leading farther up the Peninsula.
Though not calculated to stand a
siege, it was a large and strong
earthwork, with a wet ditch nine feet
wide. Here Stoneman was stopped
by a sharp and accurate cannonad
ing, which compelled him to recoil
.and await the arrival of infantry.
Gen. Sumner, with Smith's division,
came up at 5:30 p. m. A heavy rain
soon set in, and continued through
the night, making the roads nearly
impassable. The several commands,
marching on different roads, had in
terfered with and obstructed each
other's progress at the junction of
those roads as they concentered upon
Williamsburg. Gen. Hooker, ad
vancing34 on the direct road from
Yorktown to Williamsburg, was
stopped, five or six miles out, by
finding Gen. Smith's division in his
way, and compelled to wait some
hours. Impatient at this delay, he
sought and obtained of Gen. Heint-
zelman permission to move over to
the Hampton road on his left, on

33 Gen. John G. Barnard, Gen. McClellan's
chief engineer through the Peninsula campaign,
in a report to his commander at the close of that
campaign, says:
"At the time the Army of the Potomac landed
on the Peninsula, the Rebel cause was at its
lowest ebb. Its armies were demoralized by the
defeats of Port Royal, Mill Spring, Fort Henry,
Fort Donelson, Roanoke Island, and Pea Ridge ;
and reduced by sickness, loss in battle, expira
tions of period of service, etc. ; while the con
scription law was not yet even passed. . It
seemed as if it needed but one vigorous gripe to
end forever this Rebellion, so nearly throttled.
How, then, happened it, that the day of the ini
tiation of the campaign of this magnificent Army
of the Potomac was the day of the resuscitation
of the Rebel cause, which seemed to grow^iari
passu with the slow progress of its operations ?
"However I may be committed to any ex
pression of professional opinion to the contrary

(I certainly did suggest it), my opinion now is that
the lines of Yorktown should have been-assault-
ed. There is reason to believe that they were
not held in strong force when our army appeared
before them ; and we know that they were far
from complete. The prestige of power, the mo
rale, were on our side. It was due to ourselves
to confirm and sustain it. We should probably
have succeeded. But, if we had failed, it may
well be doubted whether the shock of an unsuc
cessful assault would be more demoralizing than
the labors of a siege.
" Our troops toiled a month in the trenches,
or lay in the swamps of Warwick. We lost few
men by the siege ; but disease took a fearful
hold of the army ; and toil and hardship, unre
deemed by the excitement of combat, impaired
their morale. We did not carry with us from
Yorktown so good an army as we took there.
Of'the bitter fruits of that month gained by the
enemy, we have tasted to our heart's content"
84 May 4.

THE FIGHTING AT WILLIAMSBURG.

123

which he advanced through the rain
and deep mud and the dense dark
ness till nearly midnight, when his
troops were halted in the road, and
rested as they might until dawn ;
then they pressed on until, emerg
ing from a forest, they came in Bight,
about 5:30 a. m., of the Rebel works
before Williamsburg ; Fort Magruder
in the. center, at the junction of the
Yorktown and Hampton roads, with
its cordon of 13 redoubts, extending
clear across the Peninsula.^ hence
widening quite rapidly and perma
nently just above the town. The
ground had of course been chosen to
give the greatest advantage to its
defenders: the forest felled for a
breadth of nearly half a mile, to ob
struct the advance of our infantry ;
while a belt of open, level land, 600
or 700 yards wide, dotted all over
with rifle-pits, intervened between
this tangled abatis and the fort and
redoubts. Williamsburg lay in plain
sight of Hooker's position, two miles
distant. After a careful survey of
the ground, knowing that there were
30,000 of our troops within two miles,
and the main body of our army with
in twelve, Plooker decided to attack,
in order to hold the Rebel force en
gaged until the rest of our army
could come up. Accordingly, send
ing the 1st Massachusetts into the
felled timber on the left, and the 2d
New Hampshire into that on the
right, with directions to skirmish up
to the further edge of the abatis, and
ordering the llth Massachusetts and
26th Pennsylvania to form on the
right of the 2d New Hampshire and
advance as skirmishers until they
reached the Yorktown road, he threw
forward into the cleared field on the
right of the road, barely 700 yards

from Fort Magruder, Webber's bat
tery, which at once drew the fire of
the Rebel batteries, whereby 4 of his
ca'nnoniers were shot down and the
rest driven off before we had fired a
gun ; but their places were soon sup'
plied, and Bramhall's battery brought
into action on the right of Webber's ;
when, between them, Fort Magruder
was silenced before 9 a. m.< Patter*
son's brigade, composed of the 6th,
7th, and 8th New Jersey, was formed
behind these batteries as their sup
port, and was soon desperately en
gaged with the Rebel infantry and
sharp-shooters, who were found un
comfortably numerous; so that the
1st Massachusetts, 72d and 70th
New York were sent to their aid,
and, though fighting gallantly, found
themselves still overmatched. Mean
while, our skirmishers on the right
having reached the Yorktown road,
the llth Massachusetts and 26th
Pennsylvania were sent down that
road to press the enemy and estab
lish a connection with Heintzel-
man's corps, supposed to be estab
lished upon it ; Hooker, at 11:20
a. m., sending a pressing message to
Heintzelman for assistance, and not
finding him. By 1 p. m., Hooker
had sent in the 73d and 74th New
York, his last regiments ; and, though
his force was fighting gallantly, with
varying success, he was losing men
fast, yet making no headway. Three
times he had repulsed Rebel charges
upon his center, each made with
fresh troops in increasing numbers
and with more resolute purpose.
Soon, word came from the regiments
thus engaged that their ammunition
was giving out, while no supply-train
had yet come up ; and it was found
necessary to glean the cartridges

124

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

from the boxes of our fallen heroes,
while our most advanced regiments
were drawn back to a position whence
they could guard our left, yet form a
portion, of our front.
Gen. Long'street's division of the
Rebel main army — which army,
under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston as
commander-in-chief, had hastened ere
this to the defense of Richmond from
the side of the Peninsula/ — had passed
through Williamsburg on the retreat,
when it was recalled to aid in the
defense.35 Having now arrived on
the field, a fresh attempt was made
to drive in our left, which, after a
protracted struggle, was repulsed
with mutual slaughter; but a simul
taneous attack on our front, from the
direction of Fort Magruder, was suc
cessful to the extent of capturing 4
of our guns and making 200 or 300
prisoners. Thus, for nine hours, — from 7:30
a. m. to 4:30 p. m., — Hooker's single
division was pitted against substan
tially the whole Rebel army, with
every advantage of a chosen and
skillfully fortified position on their
side. No division ever fought better ;
and, though its General estimates the
Rebel killed as double his own, he is
doubtless mistaken.
Gen. Heintzelman and staff, but
no troops, had arrived early in the
afternoon. At 4:30 p. m., Gen.
Kearny arrived, with his division,
and pressed to the front; allowing
Hooker's thinned regiments to with
draw from the fight and be held as a
reserve. Kearny, under Gen. Heint-
zelman's orders, at once deployed

35 Gen. McClellan, in his report, says :
" It is my opinion that the enemy opposed us
here with only a portion of his army. When
our cavalry first appeared, there was nothing
but the enemy's rear-guard in Williamsburg;

Berry's brigade to the left of the
Williamsburg road, and Birney's to
the right, leading forward two com
panies of the 2d Michigan to beat
back the enemy's skirmishers, now
annoying our batteries ; while Maj.
Wainwright, Hooker's chief of artil
lery, collected his gunners and
reopened a fire from his remaining
pieces; whereupon the 5th New
Jersey, though fearfully cut up, ral
lied promptly to their support. Our
musketry fire was renewed along the
whole line, and our regiments began
to gain ground.
Finding that the heavy timber in
his front defied all direct approach,
Gen. Kearny ordered Col. Hobart
Ward, with the 38th New York, to
charge down the road and take the
rifle-pits on the center of the abatis
by their flank ; which was gallantly
done, the regiment losing 9 of its 19
officers during the brief hour of its
engagement. The success of its
charge not being perfect, the left
wing of Col. Riley's 40th New York
(Mozart) charged up to the open
space, and, taking the rifle-pits in re
verse, drove out their occupants and
held the ground. By this time, Gen.
Jameson had «brought up the rear
brigade of the division ; whereby,
under a severe fire, a second line was
established, and two columns of regi
ments made disposable for further
operations, when thick darkness
closed in, and our soldiers rested, in
rain and mire, on the field they had
barely won.
Gen. Heintzelman, who had at
Yorktown been charged by Gen.

although troops were brought back during the
night and the next day, to hold the works as
long as possible, in order to gain time for the
trains, etc., already well on their way to Rich
mond, to make their escape."

HcCLKLLAN AT WILLIA JTSBrEG.

125

McClellan with the direction of the
pursuit, had this day been superseded
by an order which placed Gen. Sum
ner in command at the front. To
Sumner, accordingly, Hooker had
sent, at different times throughout
die afternoon, pressing applications
for aid, but had received none : and
Hooker says in his report :
"History will not be believed when it is
told that the noble officers and men of my
division were permitted to carry on this
unequal straggle from morning until night
unaided, in the presence of more than
80.000 of their comrades trith arms in then-
hands. Nevertheless, it is trueA
Gen. Sumner explains that, before
these applications reached him, he
had dispatched Gen. Hancock, with
his brigade, to the extreme right : so
that he had but about 3,000 infantry
left, whUe cavalry was useless in that
wooded and unknown region : hence,
he was unable to give the assistance
required. Gen. Hancock duly accomplished
the flanking movemoit assigned him,
and, by a brilliant bayonet charge,
carried the Rebel works on our
right, with a loss of less than 50
men.3* Soon, Gen. McClellan — after
whom the Prince De Joinville and
Gov. Sprague, of Rhode Island, had
ridden post haste to Yorktown, where
he was superintending the dispatch

ing of Franklin's division to "West
Point — was induced, after some de
lay, to ride to the front, reaching
Hancock's position about 5 p. m.
Before dark, several other divisions
had arrived on the ground : that of
Gen. Couch, or a part of it. in season
to claim the honor of having been
engaged in the battle.
Gen. McClellan, at 10 p. x.. dis
patched to Washington the following
account of this bloody affair, which
proves that he was still quite in the
dark respecting it :
" After arranging for movement np York
river, I was urgently sent for here. I find
Joe Johnston in front of me in strong force,
probably greater, a good deal, than my »«-»,
and very strongly intrenched. Hancock has
taken two redoubts, and repulsed Early's
brirade by a real charge with the bayonet,
taking one Colonel and 150 prisoners, kill
ing at least two Colonels and as many Lt.-
i Colonels, and many privates. His conduct
was brilliant in the extreme. I do not know
our exact loss, but fear Hooker has lost con
siderably on our left. I learn from prison
ers thai they intend disputing every step to
Richmond. I siall run the risk o: at least
holding them in check here, while I resume
tbe original plan. J/y entire /orvv i*. un
doubtedly considerably inferior to that of
rV Jlebels, who still fight wen: bit I wfll
do all I can with the force at my disposal-"'
Had he supposed that the Rebels
were at that moment evacuating
"WUhamsbiirg in such haste as to
leave all their severely wounded, 700
or S00 in number, to become prison-

¦ Gen. McClellan. in his Report, says tha: he
crs» heard, at 1 P. it, that every thing was n:t
progressing favorably when:
"Completing the necesary arrangements. I
retained to my camp without delay rode rapii-r
to the front, a distance of some fourteen tcSrS.
through roads much obstructed by troops ami
wagons, and reached the Seld between 4 and 5
p M_ in time to take a Tapki surrey of the
ground. I soon learned that there was no
direct communication between our center and
tie Mt under Gen. Heintaehnan- Ihe center
was chiefly in tbe nearer edge of the weeds asu-
ated between ns and the enemy. As heavy
{•ring was heard in Sie direction of Gen. Han-
coot's command. I immediately ordered Gen.
Smith to proceed with his two remaining bri

gades to support that part of ihe line. Gea-
Xagke. with his brigade, received similar or
ders. I thai directed oar center to advance
j te the further edge of the woods mentioned
; above, which was dene, and attempted to open
eommnniessian with Geo. Heintzelman. but was
\ prevented by Sie marshy stare of the ground
i in the direction in whwi the a~ ei^rt -sras made.
f Before Gens. Smith and Xajise oc ¦— i reach the
t field of Gen. Hancock's eyeravic-sis. although they
• moved with great rapidity, he bad been con-
fronted by a superior force. Fe-gnice to re-
i treat slowly, he awaited their onset and then
j turned upon than: aiter some teniae volleys cf
! musketry, he charged than with the bayonet,
| rooting and disputfciug their whole force, killing;
wounding, and capturing from 500 to 600 men;
. he himself losing cnly 31 mas.9

126

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ers, he must have written a very dif
ferent dispatch ; and it is not proba
ble that they would have carried off,
over the drenched and miry roads,
more cannon than they could boast
on the morning before the battle."
Gen. Hooker reports a loss in
this engagement of 338 killed, 902
wounded, and 335 missing, who of
course were prisoners. Gen. McClel
lan makes our total loss during the
day 456 killed, 1,400 wounded, and
372 missing; total, 2,228.38 Many of
those prisoners, knowing that we had
an overwhelming force just at hand,
confidently looked for recapture dur
ing the night, and were sorely cha
grined to find themselves deliberately
marching toward a Kebel prison next
day. 
While the battle at Williamsburg
was raging, Gen. Franklin's division,

which had been kept on board the
transports which brought it from
Alexandria two or three weeks be
fore, had been preparing to move
from Yorktown up York river to
West Point ; where its 1st brigade,
under Gen. Newton, landed unop
posed next day.30 It debarked on a
spacious, open plain on the west side
of the York and its south-western
affluent, the Pamunkey; no enemy
appearing till next day. Meantime,
Gen. Dana had arrived with a part
of Gen. Sedgwick's division, but not
debarked. Our gunboats took quiet
possession of the little village at the
Point, and hoisted our flag over it ;
no white man appearing to greet
their arrival. During the night, one
of our vedettes was shot through the
heart, from the wood that fringed the
plain whereon our troops were en-

"' On waking, next morning, to find the Reb
els vanished and his forces in quiet possession
of Williamsburg, Gen. MoClellan forwarded the
following more cheerful dispatches :
"Headquarters Army op the Potomac,')
" Williamsburg, Ya., May 6. j
" Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
"I have the pleasure to announce the occupa
tion of this place as the result of the hard-fought
action of yesterday. The effect of Hancock's
brilliant engagement yesterday afternoon was to
turn the left of their line of works. He was
strongly reenforced, and the enemy abandoned
the entire position during the night, leaving all
his sick and wounded in our hands. His loss
yesterday was very severe. We have some 300
uninjured prisoners, and more than a thousand
wounded. Their loss in killed is heavy. The
victory is complete.
" I have sent cavalry in pursuit ; but the roads
are in such Condition that I cannot move artil
lery nor supphes. I shall therefore push the
other movement most energetically. The con
duct of our men has been excellent, with scarcely
an exception. The enemy's works are very ex
tensive and exceedingly strong, both in respect
to their position and the works themselves. Our
loss was heavy in Hooker's division, but very
little on other parts of the field. Hancock's
success was gained with a loss of not over 20
killed and wounded. Weather good to-day, but
great difficulty in getting up food on account of
the roads. "Very few wagons have yet come up.
Am I authorized to follow the example of other
Generals, and direct names of battles to be

placed on the colors of regiments? We have
other battles to fight before reaching Richmond.
" G. B. MoClellan,
" Maj.-Gen. Commanding."
" Headquarters Army op the Potomao, )
" Williamsburo, May 6. j
"Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
" Every hour proves our victory more com
plete. The enemy's loss is great, especially in
officers. I have just heard of five more of their
guns captured. Prisoners are constantly arriv
ing. G. B. MoClellan,
" Maj.-Gen. Commanding.''
ae No official account of the Rebel losses in
this engagement is at hand; but the Richmond
Dispatch of May 8th has a bulletin, professedly
based on an official dispatch from Gen. John
ston, which, claiming 11 cannon and 623 pris
oners captured, admits a Rebel loss of but 220;
yet names Gen. Anderson, of North Carolina,
Col. Mott, of Mississippi, Col. Ward, 4th Flor
ida, and Col. Wm. H. Palmer, 1st Virginia, ns
among the killed; and Gen. Early, Gen. Rains,
CoL Kemper, Tth Virginia, Col. Corse, llth
Virginia, and CoL Garland, of Lynohburg, as
wounded; adding: "The 1st Virginia was badly
cut up. Out of 200 men in the fight, some 80
or 90 are reported killed or wounded. Col.
Kemper's regiment suffered terribly, though we
have no account of the extent of the casualties."
These items indicate a total loss of certainly not
less than 1,000. "May 6.

NORFOLK EVACITATED BT THE REBELS.

127

camped, though no hostile force had
appeared. Next morning, however,
a regiment or two of the enemy was
descried and shelled from our gun
boats; whereupon Gen. Dana, by
order of Gen. Slocum, hastened the
landing of his men and horses ; while
the 16th, 31st, and 32d New York,
with the 95th and 96th Pennsylvania,
were pushed forward into the woods
in our front, with orders to drive out
the few Rebel scouts who were sup
posed to be skulking there. They
soon found themselves engaged with
a far larger force than they had
expected, whereof Gen. Whiting's
Texan division and Wade Hampton's
South Carolina Legion formed a part ;
and who, with every advantage of
position and knowledge of the
ground, drove our men out in haste
and disorder. Twice the attempt
was renewed, with similar results;
but at length, our batteries having
been landed and posted, they, with the
aid of the gunboats, easily silenced
the single Eebel battery of small
howitzers, which, from an elevated
clearing in the woods, had assisted to
repel the advance of our infantry ;
and now that infantry pushed once
more into the woods, and found no
enemy to contest their possession.
We lost in this affair 194 men, mainly
of the 31st and 32d New York, in
cluding two Captains and two Lieu
tenants ; while the Rebel loss was tri
fling. Gen. Stoneman, with the advance
of our main army, moved from Wil
liamsburg on the 8th to open com
munication with Gen. Franklin, fol
lowed by Smith's division on the
direct road to Richmond. Rain fell
frequently ; the roads were horrible ;

so that Gen. McClellan's head
quarters only reached White House
on the 16th, Tunstall's Station on
the 19th, and Coal Harbor on the
22d. Our advanced light troops had
reached the Chickahominy at Bot
tom's Bridge two days before.

The movement of our grand army
up the Peninsula, in connection with
Burnside's successes and captures in
North Carolina,40 had rendered the
possession of Norfolk by the Rebels
no longer tenable. To hold it by
any force less than an army would be
simply exposing that force to capture
or destruction at the pleasure of our
strategists. Gen. Wool,, commanding
at Fortress Monroe, having organized
an expedition designed to reduce that
important city, led it thither on the
10th ; finding the bridge over Tan
ner's creek on fire, but no enemy to
dispute possession of Norfolk, which
was quietly surrendered by its Mayor.
The Navy Yard and Portsmouth
were in like manner repossessed ;
the Rebels, ere they left, destroying
every thing that would burn, partially
blowing up the Dry Dock, and com
pletely destroying their famous iron
clad known to us as the Merrimac."
They left about 200 cannon, in
cluding 39 of large caliber at Craney
Island, and those in the Sewell's
Point batteries, which, though spik
ed, were valuable; 29 pieces were
found mounted on strong earthworks
two miles from Norfolk, but deserted.
In fact, it had been decided, at a
council held at Norfolk some days
before, that no attempt should be
made to defend that city. The Mer
rimac, though she never fully re
covered from the effects of her strug-

,0 See pages 73-81.

'May 11, 5 A. II.

128

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

gle with the Monitor, had come down
the river and shown fight when our
vessels first undertook to shell out
the Rebel batteries at Sewell's Point,
three days before her self-destruc
tion." Two unfinished iron-clads
were among the vessels fired by the
Rebels ere they left.

The serious difference between the
Administration and Gen. McClellan
respecting the strength of his army,
and the detachment therefrom of
McDowell's and other forces for ser
vice elsewhere, now demands our de
liberate consideration. Gen. McClel
lan, upon first assuming command"
of the Army of the Potomac, had ad
dressed to the President a memoran
dum, wherein, in addition to the
armies required to make " a strong
movement on the Mississippi," to
drive the Rebels " out of Missouri,"
to hold Kentucky, and sustain " a
movement through that State into
Eastern Tennessee," to guard secure
ly the passes into Western Virginia,
" to protect and reopen the Balti
more and Ohio Railroad," to " gar

rison Baltimore and Fortress Mon
roe," and leave 20,000 "for the
defense of Washington," he required
for his "main army of operations"
225,000 infantry, 25,500 cavalry,
Yj500 engineer troops, and 15,000
artillery men, with 600 field guns ;
in all, 273,000 men. Even this
mighty army was deemed by him in
sufficient, unless aided by a strong
naval force.44
Nearly three months later, in a
letter to the Secretary of War, he so
modified this demand as to evince a
willingness to begin offensive opera
tions with a total effective force on
the Potomac and in Maryland — but
not including the garrison of Fortress
Monroe— of 208,000 men and 488
guns; but to secure this, he calcu
lated, would require an aggregate of
240,000 men on his muster-rolls, in
cluding tbe sick and absent, while he
had but 168,318, with 228 field guns,
present, and 6 more batteries on the
way from New York. Thus his
army^ which by December 1st had
been swelled nearly to 200,000, and
for the three months succeeding

" Com. Tatnall, in his official report of the loss
of the Merrimac, lays the blame entirely on his
pEots, who on the 7th assured him that they
could take her to within 40 miles of Richmond
if her draft were lessened to 18 feet ; but, after
five or six hours had been devoted to this work,
and she had thus been disabled for action, they,
for the first time, declared that, as the winds
had for two days been westerly, the water in the
James was. too low, so that she could not now
be run above the Jamestown flats, up to which
point each shore was occupied by our armies.
He had now no alternative but to fire her, land
his crew, and make the best of his way to Suf
folk. A Court of Inquiry, presided over by Capt.
French Forrest, after an investigation protracted
from May 22d to June llth, decided that her
destruction was unnecessary, and that she might,
after being lightened to a draft of 20 feet 6
inches, have been taken up James river to Hog

Island. Part of the blame, however, was laid
on the hasty retreat from Norfolk of the military
under Gen. Huger.
43 August 4, 1861.
44 He says :
" Its general line of operations should be so
directed that water transportation can be availed
of, from point to point, by means of the ocean
and the rivers emptying into it. An essential
feature of the plan of operations will be the
employment of a strong naval force, to protect
the movements of a fleet of transports intended
to convey a considerable body of troops from
point to point of the enemy's sea-coast, thus
either creating diversions, and rendering it neces
sary to detach largely from their main body in
order to protect such of their cities as may be
threatened, or else landing and forming estab
lishments on their coast, at any favorable places
that opportunity might offer. This naval, force
should also cooperate with the main army, in its
efforts to seize the important sea-board towns of
the Rebels." — McClellan's Official Memorandum.

"WASHINGTON CITT TO BE COVERED.

129

averaged about 220,000 men,46 was
at no time large enough, according
to his computation, to justify a deter
mined offensive, since he persisted in
computing the Rebel army confront
ing him at no less than "150,000
strong, well drilled and equipped,
ably commanded and strongly in
trenched." 4e
Now, the movement first contem
plated, by way of the Rappahannock
and Urbana — still more, that ulti
mately decided on by way of Fortress
Monroe and the, Peninsula — involved
a division of this army, and the reser
vation of a considerable part of it for
the protection of Washington, as also
the securing of Maryland and the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from
desolating raids down the Shenan
doah Valley. President Lincoln
had reluctantly given his assent to
this circumhttoral advance, on these
expressed conditions :
"Executive Mansion, "Washington, )
"March 8, 1862. ]
" Peesident's General "War Order, No. 3 :
" Ordered, That no change of the base of
operations of the Army of the Potomac
shall be made without leaving in and about
"Washington such a force as, in the opinion
ofthe General-in-Chief and the commanders
of army corps, shall leave said city entirely
secure. " That no more than two army corps
(about 50,000 troops) of said Army of the
Potomac shall be moved en route for a new
base of operations until the navigation of
the Potomac, from "Washington to the
Chesapeake Bay, shall be freed from the
enemy's batteries, and other obstructions,
or until the President shall hereafter give
express permission.
"That any movement as aforesaid, en
route for a new base of operations, which
may he ordered by the General-in-Chief,
and which may he intended to move upon
the Chesapeake Bay, shall begin to move
upon the hay as early as the 18th of March
instant ; and the General-in-Chief shall be
responsible that it so moves as early as that
day.

" Ordered, That the armv and navy co
operate in an immediate effort to capture
the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac
between "Washington and the Chesapeake
Bay. Abraham Lincoln.
"L. Thomas, Adjutant- General."
Gen. McClellan's chief of spies had
by this time reduced the force of the
Rebels in Northern Virginia47 to
115,500 men, with 300 field and 26
to 30 siege-guns — quite a formidable
army, if its leader should conclude,
after Gen. McClellan's embarking
the bulk of his forces for Fortress
Monroe, to make a rush upon Wash
ington from behind the Rappahan
nock. Five days later, Secretary
Stanton wrote, as we have already
seen, to Gen. McClellan, that the
President made no objection to his
plan of operations, provided he
would —
" 1st. Leave such force at Manassas Junc
tion as shall make it entirely certain that
the enemy shall not repossess himself of
that position and line of communication.
" 2d. Leave Washington entirely secure.
"3d. Move the remainder of the force
down the Potomac — choosing a new base
at Fortress Monroe, or, anywhere' between
here and there ; or, at all events, move such
remainder of the army at once in pursuit of
the enemy by some route."
Just before starting for the Penin
sula, Gen. McClellan received, " with
surprise," the following note, involv
ing a subtraction, he estimates, of
10,000 troops from the force which
he expected to have transferred to
the Peninsula :
" Executive Mansion, "Washington, )
"March 31, 1862. j
"Major-General McClellan :
" My Dear Sie : This morning I felt con
strained to order Blenker's division to Fre
mont ; and I write this to assure you that I
did so with great pain, understanding that
you would wish it otherwise. If you could
know the full pressure of the case, I am
confident that you would justify it, even

"Dec. 1, 198,213; Jan. 1, 219,T07; Feb. 1,
222,196; March 1, 221,981.
vol. n. — 9

46 Letter to the Secretary of War.
" Report to McClellan, March 8.

130

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

beyond the mere acknowledgment that the
Commander-in-Chief may order what he
pleases. Yours, very truly,
"A. Lincoln."
Stonewall Jackson's advance to
and fight at Winchester, indicating
further pugnacity in that quarter,
were soon found to interfere with
Gen. McClellan's order48 to Gen.
Banks to move his division down to
Manassas, leaving only two regi
ments of cavalry to " occupy Win
chester, and thoroughly .scour the
country south of the railway and up
the Shenandoah Valley."
Gen. McClellan, on embarking,
calculated that he left behind, in
cluding Blenker's division, ordered
to Fremont, and not including
McDowell's corps, which he intended
should follow him, no less than
75,000 men. But, as Blenker's divi
sion was known to be ordered to
Fremont, in West Virginia, they are
improperly included. Even exclud
ing these, he computes the whole
number available for the defense of
Washington, including 35,467 under
Banks in the Valley of the Shenan
doah, at 67,428 men, with 85 pieces
of light artillery. Yet he had barely
departed when Gens. Hitchcock and
L. Thomas, who had been instructed
to investigate the matter, reported,48
" that the requirement of the Presi
dent, that this city [Washington]
shall be left entirely secure, has not
been fully complied with." Gen.
Wadsworth, Military Governor of
Washington, and as brave a man as
ever lived, submitted to the War De
partment a statement that the entire
force left under his command for the
defense of Washington amounted to
20,477, of whom 19,022 were present
.for duty ; nearly all of them new and

imperfectly disciplined, several of the
regiments in a very disorganized con
dition ; 2 heavy artillery and 1 infan
try regiment, which had been drilled
for some months for artillery service,,
had been withdrawn from the forts
on the south side of the Potomac;
while he was at this time under
orders from McClellan to detail 3
regiments to join divisions on their
way to the Peninsula, and another
for service at Budd's Ferry ; while a
further order directed him to send
4,000 men to Manassas and Warren-
ton to relieve Gen. Sumner, so as to
enable him to embark for Yorktown.
Upon the report of Gens. Hitchcock
and Thomas, the President gave
orders60 that either McDowell's or
Sumner's corps should remain in
front of Washington until" otherwise
directed. Gen. McClellan, from his camp in
front of Yorktown, remonstrated ; "
saying :
"I am now of the opinion that I shall
have to fight all the available force of the
Bebels not far from here. Do not force me
to do so with diminished numbers; but,
whatever your decision may he, 1 will
leave nothing undone to obtain success. If
you cannot leave me the whole of the 1st
corps, I urgently ask that I may not lose
Franklin and his division."
Two days later, he telegraphed to
the War Department that :
"It seems clear that I shall have the
whole force of the enemy on my hands-*
probably not less, than 100,000 men, and
possibly more. In- consequence of the loss
of Blenker's division and the 1st corps, my
force is possibly less than that, of the
enemy, while they have all the advantage
of position." In a dispatch of even date to the
President, he says :
" Tour telegram of yesterday received.
In reply, I have the honor to state that my

"March 16.

49 April 2

•April 3.

61 April 5.

THE PRESIDENT URGES MoCLELLAN TO ACT.

131

entire force for duty amounts to only about
(85,000) eighty-five thousand men. Gen.
Wool's command, as you will observe from
the accompanying order, has been taken
out of my control, although he hate most
cheerfully cooperated with me. The only
Use that can be made of his command is to
protect my communications in rear of this
point. At this time, only 53,000 men have
joined me; but they are coming up as rap
idly as my means of transportation will
permit. Please refer to my dispatch to the
Secretary of War to-night, for the details of
our present situation."
The President responded by this
letter: " Washington, April 9, 1862.
"Maj.-Gen. MoClellan:
"My Deae Sie: Tour dispatches, com
plaining that you are not properly.sustained,
while they do not offend me, do pain me
very much. Blenker's- division was with
drawn from you before you left here ; and
you know the pressure under which I did
it, and, as I thought, acquiesced in it — cer
tainly, not without reluctance. After you
left, I ascertained that less than 20,000 un
organized men, without a single field--bat-
tery, were all you designed to be left for the
defense of Washington and Manassas Junc
tion ; and part of this, even, was to go to
Gen. Hooker's old position. Gen. Banks's
corps, once designed for Manassas Junction,
was diverted, and tied up on the line of
Winchester and Strasburg, and could, not
leave it without again exposing the Upper
Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Bail-
road. This presented (or would present,
when McDowell and Sumner should be
gone)' a great temptation to the enemy to
turn back from the Bappahannock and sack
Washington. My explicit order that Wash
ington should, by the judgment of all the
commanders of army corps, be left entirely
secure, had been neglected. It was precise
ly this that drove me to detain. McDowell.
"I do not forget that I was satisfied with
your arrangement to leave Banks at Manas
sas Junction ; but, when that arrangement
was broken up, and nothing was substi
tuted for it, of course I was constrained to
substitute something for it myself; and al
low me to ask : Do you really think I should
permit the line fronl Richmond via Manas
sas Junction to this city to be entirely open,
except what resistance could be presented
by _ less than 20,000 unorganized troops?
This is a question which the country will
not allow me to evade.
"There is a curious mystery about the
number of troops now with you. WhenI
telegraphed you on the 6th, saying you had
over a hundred thousand with you, I had

just obtained from the Secretary of War a
statement taken, as he said, from your own
returns, making 108,000 then with you and
en route to you. You how say you will
have but 85,000 when all en route to you
shall have reached you. How can the dis
crepancy" of 23,000 be accounted for?
" As to Gen. Wool's command, I under
stand it is doing for you precisely what a
like number of your own would have to do
if that command waa away.
"I suppose the whole force which hag
gone forward for you, is .with you by this
time ; and, if so, I think it is the precise time
for you to strike a blow. By delay, the ene
my will relatively gain upon you ; that is,
he will gain faster by fortifications and re
enforcements than you can by reenforce
ments alone. And once more let me tell
you, it is indispensable to you that you
strike a blow, I am powerless to help this.
You will do me the justice to remember I
always insisted that going down the Bay in
search of a field, instead of fighting at or
near Manassas, was only shifting, and not
surmounting, a difficulty; that we would
find the same enemy, and the' same or equal
intrenchments, at either place. The coun
try will not fail to note — is now noting — .
that the present hesitation to move upon
an intrenched enemy is but the story of
Manassas repeated.
" I beg to assure you that I have never
written you, or spoken to you, in greater
kindness of feeling than now, nor with a
fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as in my
most anxious judgment I consistently can.
But you must act.
" Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln."
The President's question as to the
grave discrepancy between the 85,000
men, admitted to be with or on their
way to him by Gen. M., and the
108,000 asserted by Secretary Stan
ton, was never answered, and proba
bly could not' be ; since an official re
turn of the number of his army April
30th, while if was still before York-
town, makes its aggregate 130,378,
whereof 112,392 were present and
fit for duty; Franklin's division of
12,448 men having in the mean time
been sent to him.
But, on another point, miHtary men
are not likely to agree with the Presi
dent. Gen. Wool's command may
very probably have been doing just

132

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

what an equal number of McClel
lan's troops must have done "if that
command was away;" but it is by
no means the same thing to a com
mander in the field to have 10,000
men holding an important post in
his rear, but wholly independent of
his authority, and having them sub
ject implicitly to his orders. Gen.
McClellan was therefore manifestly
right in not regarding Gen. Wool's
10,000 as equivalent to a reenforce-
ment of his army by that number ;
and the order which detached this
division from his command has not
been justified. True, he had more
men than he needed, had he pos
sessed the ability and the nerve to
use them.62 But a General, in such
a position as his then was, should
either be fully trusted or superseded.

Stonewall Jackson, after his de
feat •63 by Shields at Kernstown, had
retreated up the Valley, pursued by
Gen. Banks, to the vicinity of Harri
sonburg. Jackson, after holding some

days a strong position near Mount
Jackson, crossed " the South Fork of
the Shenandoah and took position in
Elk Run Valley; but he was soon
startled by tidings that Gen. Milroy,
with the advance of Gen. Schenck's
division of Fremont's West Virginia
force, was threatening Staunton from
the direction of Monterey. As a
junction of Fremont's and Banks's
commands would have involved the
fall of Staunton, and the complete
possession ofthe Valley by our troops,
Jackson resolved to prevent it by
striking a swift and hard blow at
Fremont's advance. Leaving EwelL
whose division had recently joined
him from Gordonsville, to observe
and check Banks, Jackson moved
rapidly to Staunton, being reenforced
by the division of Gen. Edward
Johnson, which he dispatched" in
advance of his own, agamst Milroy ;
who, being decidedly overmatched,
retreated westwardly across Shenan
doah Mountain, concentrating his
command at McDowell, and sending

a When he had fairly set down before York-
town, he telegraphed to Washmgton as follows :
" Headquarters Army of the Potomac, )
"April 10. j
" Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
" The reconnoissance to-day proves that it is
necessary to invest and attack Gloucester Point.
Give me Franklin's and McCall's divisions, un
der command of Franklin, and I will at once
undertake it. .If circumstances of whieh I am
not aware make it impossible for you to send
me two divisions to carry out this final plan of
campaign, I will run the risk, and hold myself
responsible for the result, if you will give me
Franklin's division. If you still confide in my
judgment, I entreat that you will grant this re
quest. The fate of our cause depends upon it.
Although willing, under the pressure of neces
sity, to carry this through with Franklin alone,
I wish it to be distinctly understood that I think
two divisions necessary. Franklin and his di
vision are indispensable to me. Gen. Barnard
ooncurs in this view. I have determined on the
point of attack, and am at this moment engaged
in fixing the position of the batteries.
"G. B. McClellan, Maj.-GeneraL"
The prompt response was as follows:

"Wak Department, April 11, 1862.
"Maj.-Gen. G. B. MoClellan, Commanding Ar
my of Potomac, Portress Monroe, Virginia:
"By direction of the President, Franklin's di
vision has been ordered to march back to Alex
andria and immediately embark for Fort Monroe.
"L. Thomas, Adjutant-General.''1
Which McClellan thus acknowledged:
" Headquarters Army op the Potomac, )
"Near Yorktown, April 12 — 12 m. J
" Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
" Tour dispatch received. I thank, you most
sincerely for the reenforcements sent to me.
Franklin will attack on the other side. The
moment I hear from him, I will state point of
rendezvous. I am confident as to results now.
"G. B. MoClellan, Jlaj.-General."
All this promise ended in no performance.
Gloucester was not attacked. Franklin's divi
sion was not even debarked, but lay idle more
than a fortnight in the transports which brought
it to the Peninsula, until Magruder saw fit to
evacuate Yorktown.
"March 23. "April 19.
" May ?.

THE FIGHT AT MoDOWELL.

133

to Schenck for assistance. Schenck
was at Franklin, 34 miles north,
which distance he traversed, with his
brigade, in 23 hours, joining Milroy
at 10 a. m. of the 8th ; but he
brought only three regiments, reduced
by details to less than 2,000 men;
while Milroy's force was but very
Httle stronger. Jackson's column
was considerably the larger, though
it is stated that but six regiments were
actually engaged in the fight.
The Rebels advanced to and posted
themselves on the top of a ridge in
the Bull Pasture Mountain, where it
is traversed by the Staunton turn
pike, a mile or two west of McDow
ell. Schenck saw that Milroy's posi
tion was untenable, being command
ed by hights in several directions;
but he could not safely abandon it in
broad daylight, and so decided to re
main.^ Some desultory skirmishing
and cannonading followed ; until, at
3 p. m., upon information that the
Rebels were trying to plant a bat
tery on the mountain, where it would
command our whole encampment,
Schenck directed Milroy, with the
3d Virginia, 25th, 32d, and 82d
Ohio, numbering a httle over 2,000
men, to advance and feel of the ene
my. Led by Col. K C. McLean, of
the 75th Ohio, they charged up the
mountain with great gallantry, defy
ing the fire of a superior force, whose
heads only were visible, and were
engaged at close range for an hour
and a half, during which an attempt
was made to turn the Rebel right,
but repulsed. The fight did not
wholly cease till 8 p. m., when our
men were withdrawn by order,
bringing in their dead and wounded,
taking 4 prisoners and reporting but

3 missing. Our total loss in this well
contested action wag 256, including
145 slightly wounded. Gen. Jack
son's report admits a loss on his part
of 461—71 killed, including 3 Co
lonels and 2 Majors, and 390 wound
ed, among whom was Gen. Johnson.
Our troops retreated to Franklin
during the night, carrying off their
wounded, but burning a part of their
stores. Jackson pursued next day toward
Franklin, but did not see fit to at
tack. Returning to McDowell,68 he
recrossed the Shenandoah Mountain
to Lebanon White Sulphur Springs ;
where he gave his troops a brief rest,
and then resumed" his march to
Harrisonburg, having ascertained
that Banks had fallen back to Stras-
burg. Being joined near Newmarket
by Ewell's division, he moved via
Luray upon Front Royal, keeping
his advance carefully masked by
Ashby's cavalry, so that he swooped
down58 almost unannounced on our
small force holding that position,
under Col. John R. Kenly, who
nevertheless made a spirited resist
ance, but was soon driven out with
loss by the enemy's overwhelming
numbers. Kenly, after abandoning
the town, attempted to make a stand
on a ridge scarcely a mile in its rear ;
but, his force being hardly a tenth of
that assailing him, he was soon com
pelled to retreat across the river, after
destroying his camp and stores. He
tried to burn the bridge over the
North Fork of the Shenandoah, but
the Rebels were upon him and extin
guished the flames. A few miles
farther on, he was overtaken by the
Rebel cavalry under Ashby and
Flournoy, and a fight ensued, in

" May 14.

' May 17.

' May 23.

134

THE AMERICAN" CONFLICT.

which Col. K. was severely wounded,
his train captured, and his command
nearly destroyed. Fully 700 prison
ers, a section of rifled 10-pounders,
and a large amount of stores, were
among the trophies of this Rebel
triumph. Our men fought nobly;
but they were 900 against 8,000.
Gen. Banks remained quiet and
unsuspecting at Strasburg, with no
enemy in his front, and no sign of
danger, until the evening of the 23d,
when he was astounded by tidings of
Kenly's disaster, and assurances that
the Rebels, 15,000 to 20,000 strong,
were pressing forward to Winchester,
directly in his rear. Shields's divi
sion having been sent, by order from
Washington, to the Rappahannock,
he had hardly 5,000 men at hand,
with perhaps 2,000 or 3,000 more
scattered through the Valley in his
rear. Jackson's force must have ex
ceeded 20,000 men." Banks had,
on the first tidings of trouble at
Front Royal, dispatched a small
force to the aid of Kenly ; but this
was now recalled, and our trains sent
forward on the road to Winchester,
escorted by Gen. Hatch, with our
cavalry, and 6 pieces of artillery.
At 9 a. m.6° our column was in mo
tion, and had hardly proceeded three
miles when it was apprised that the
train had been attacked, and that
the Rebels held the road at Middle-

town — a report soon confirmed by a
disorderly rush of fugitives and
wagons to the rear. The column
was thereupon reorganized, with the
train in the rear ; and, on reaching
Middletown, Col. D. Donnelly, com
manding the vanguard, encountered
a small force of Rebels, who were
easily repulsed and driven back on
the road to Front Royal. Col. Brod
head, 1st Michigan cavalry, now took
the advance, and soon reported the
road clear to Winchester. Before all
our army had passed, the Rebels ad
vanced on the Front Royal road in
such force as to occupy Middletown,
compelling our rear-guard to fall back
to Strasburg, making a circuit thence
to the north, whereby the 1st Ver
mont, Col. Tompkins, was enabled
to rejoin Banks at Winchester in
season for the fight of next morning ;
while the 5th New York, Col. De
Forrest, made its way through the
mountains to the Potomac, bringing
in a train of 32 wagons and many
stragglers. There was some fighting
with om* rear-guard at Strasburg,
and again at Newtown, eight miles
from Winchester; but our men re
treated with moderate loss, and our
infantry and artillery were again
concentrated at Winchester by mid
night. Here they were allowed a
rest of two or three hours, broken at
brief intervals by the rattle of mus-

M Lt.-Gen. Jackson, in his official report, says :
." My command at this time embraced Ashby's
cavalry; the 1st brigade, under Gen. Winder;
the 2d brigade, Col. Campbell commanding ; 3d
brigade, CoL Fulkerson commanding ; the troops
recently under command of Brig.-Gen. Edward
Johnson ; and the division of Gen. Ewell, com
prising the brigades of Gens. Elzey, Taylor,
Trimble, and the Maryland Line, consisting of
the 1st Maryland regiment and Brockenbrough's
battery, under Brig.-Gren. Geo. H. Stewart, and
the 2d and 6th Virginia cavalry, under CoL
Flournoy."

On our side, Brig.-Gen. Gordon, in his official
report, says:
" From the testimony of our signal officers,
and from a fair estimate of the number in Rebel
lines drawn up on the hights, from fugitives
aud deserters, the number of regiments in the
Rebel army opposite Winchester was 28, being
EwelTs division, Jackson's and Johnson's forces ; .
the whole being commanded by Gen. Jackson.
These regiments were full, and could not have
numbered less than 22,000 men, with a corre
sponding proportion of artillery."
"May 24.

BANKS DRIVEN OUT OF THE VALLEY.

135

ketry, as the Rebels closed around
them, their artillery opening at day
light." Banks had now less than 7,000
men,6" opposed to more than 20,000,
flushed with victory, and confident
that the day would witness the cap
ture or .destruction of our little army.
Col. Geo. H. Gordon commanded
our right ; Col. Dudley Donnelly our
left. Gen. Hatch, who had been cut
off at Middletown, had just rejoined
with his cavalry. Facing the enemy
boldly, our men held their ground for
five hours, inflicting and suffering
considerable loss; until, Jackson's
entire army having by this time been
brought up, it was manifest that
further resistance was madness, and
could only result in our destruction.
Our trains being by this time well on
the road, the order to retreat was
given, and our line of battle, under a
withering fire of musketry from left,
right, and center, broke into column
of march and moved rapidly through
Winchester, amid the deafening yells
of their exulting pursuers, which were
echoed with delirious frenzy by the
Winchester Rebels.83 The 2d Massa
chusetts, Lt.-Col. Andrews, which,
with the 3d Wisconsin, Col. Ruger,
formed our rear-guard, halted, undis
mayed by the hideous din, in a street
of the town, to re-foym its line, and
then resumed its rapid but steady
march, sharply followed, but not
seriously annoyed, by the eager foe.
Our troops moved in three parallel

columns, each protected by an efi>
cient rear-guard, and reached Mar-
tinsburg, 22 miles distant, in the
course of the afternoon. Here a halt
of two and a half hours was taken, to
rest and refresh ; our rear-guard leav
ing that town at 7 p, m., and reaching
the Potomac, opposite Williamsport,
12 miles farther, in the course of the
evening. Gen. Geo. H. Stewart, with the
Rebel cavalry, pursued so far as
Martinsburg ; but Jackson halted his
infantry not far beyond Winchester ;
though he sent a brigade, three days
later,64 to Charlestown, driving out a
small Union force which held that
place, and pursuing it to Halltown,
which was occu§ied next day by the
main body of his army.
Gen. Banks admits a loss, in his
hurried retreat for 53 miles, of 38
killed, 155 wounded, and 711 miss
ing ; total, 904 ; with 55 out of 500
wagons, and no guns. This of course
does not include the losses by Col.
Kenly's rout at Front Royal, nor the
sick and wounded leff in hospitals at
Strasburg and Winchester. We lost
also a large amount of quartermaster
and commissary stores, most of which
were destroyed. Jackson admits a
total loss, including that at Front
Royal, of 68 killed and 329 wounded ;
and claims to have captured 2 guns,
9,354 small arms, and about 3,050
prisoners, including 750 sick and
wounded, whom he paroled and left
in the hospitals when he retreated1,

" May 25.
ra Gen. Banks's official report says':
" My own command consisted of 2 brigades of
less than 4,000 men, all told, with 900 cavalry,
10 Parrott guns, and one battery of 6-pounders,
smooth-bore cannon. To this should be added
the 10th Maine regiment of infantry, a%l 5 com
panies of Maryland cavalry, stationed at Win
chester, which were engaged in the action."

"3 Gen. Gordon, in his official report, says :
" My retreating column suffered serious loss
in the. streets of Winchester: males and females
vied with each other in increasing the number of
their victims by firing from the houses, throwing
hand-grenades, hot water, and missiles of every
description." Yet Winchester was not burned when we re
took it. "May 28.

136

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

sending some 2,300 up the Valley.
He attributes his failure to crush
Banks entirely to the misconduct of
Ashby's cavalry, who stopped to pil
lage our abandoned wagons between
Middletown and Newtown, and could
not thereafter be brought to the front
till too late.66
Jackson, after menacing Harper's
Ferry,66 which was held by Gen.
Rufus Saxton, called in his detach
ments and commenced a rapid re
treat.87 It was high time. Gen.
Shields, whose division had been
detached from Banks, and marched
over a hundred miles to join Mc
Dowell at Fredericksburg, to replace
the division of Gen. Franklin — al
ready sent to McClellan — and enable
McDowell to move directly on Rich
mond, was now ordered68 from Wash
ington to postpone this movement,
and push 20,000 men rapidly to the
Shenandoah, along the line of the
Manassas Gap Railroad. Gen. Fre
mont, who had concentrated his httle

army at Franklin, Pendleton county,
24 miles north of Monterey, was
likewise ordered60 by telegraph from
Washmgton to hasten across the
main range of the Alleghanies to
Harrisonburg, hardly 50 miles dis
tant, and thus intercept the retreat
of Jackson up the valley, and coop
erate with McDowell and Shields to
crush him.
There is a direct road from Frank
lin to Harrisonburg, not absolutely
impassable by an army, though it
crosses four distinct ranges of steep
mountains ; but Gen. Fremont's
trains were at Moorefield, 40 miles
north by east, and to attempt cross
ing without them was to doom his
army to starvation, there being little
for man or beast to eat in those wild
mountains. He therefore decided to
go by Moorefield, which compelled
him to go 20 miles farther north
east, to Wardensville, in order to
find a practicable route across the
mountains. Stripping his army as

M Speaking of our retreat from Winchester,
he says :
" The Federal forces, upon falling back into the
town, preserved their organization remarkably
well. In passing through its streets, however,
they were thrown into confusion ; and, shortly
after debouching into the plain and turnpike to
Martinsburg, and after being fired upon by our
artillery, they presented the aspect of a mass of
disordered fugitives. Never have I seen an op
portunity when it was in the power of cavalry to
reap a richer harvest of the fruits of victory."
08 May 29 " May 30.
88 Gen. McDowell, in his testimony before the
Committee on the Conduct of the War, states
that Shields's division, 11,000 strong, raising his
entire force — not including Franklin's division,
already sent to McClellan — to 41,000 men, joined
bim at or near Fredericksburg either on the 22d
or 23d of May, but in want of artillery ammuni
tion: that which they had having just been con-
d^nned at Catlett's Station, and the new supply
Ordered from the Washington arsenal having got
aground on the flats of the Potomac and thus
been delayed. On Saturday, the 24th, the Presi
dent and Secretary of ."fcr came down to confer

with him, and found him not yet ready for the
contemplated advance on Richmond, but that he
would be that afternoon, and that Shields's di
vision could go on Sunday. He [McDowell]
added, that he had once before moved on Sunday
— alluding to the battle of Bull Run — and had
been very much condemned for it all over the
country, but that he was ready to do so again.
The President therefore suggested that he might
get a "good ready," and start on Monday, which
was agreed on. Me'ssrs. Lincoln and Stanton
returned to Washmgton that night, and "had
hardly left before a telegram came announcing
this raid of Jackson up [down] the Shenandoah
Valley." This was soon followed by an order
to send a division up after Jackson. McDowell
adds : "I did so, although I replied that it was
a crushing blow to us alL" The President or
dered another brigade to move up there, and
then another brigade, and then another regi
ment. Two divisions were thus sent before
McDowell, whose heart was set on the Rich
mond mA-ement, followed himself.
" May 24

CAPTURE OF COL. KANE. — DEATH OF ASHBY.

137

naked as possible, he left Franklin
next morning,70 the soldiers discard
ing even their knapsacks, but taking
five days' rations of hard bread ; and
thus, through constant rain, and over
mountain roads that could be made
barely passable, he crossed 'the Al-
leghanies and descended into the
Valley, reaching and occupying Stras
burg on the evening of June 1st, just
in time to be too late to head Jack
son, who had retreated through that
place a few hours before. Next
morning, Gen. Bayard," with the
cavalry advance of Shields's division,
reached that point.
Shields, however, pushed up the
South Fork of the Shenandoah, on
the other side of Massanutten Moun
tain, expecting to head Jackson at
some point farther south ; while Fre
mont followed him directly down the
North Fork, by Woodstock and
Mount Jackson, to Harrisonburg.
The advance of each was greatly em
barrassed by the many streams which
make their way down from the moun
tains into either branch of the She
nandoah, and which were now swollen
to raging torrents by the incessant
rains ; Jackson of course burning or
breaking down the bridges as he
passed them, and sending cavalry
across to destroy the more important

of those in front of Shields. Passing
through Harrisonburg,72 Jackson di
verged from the great road leading
southwardly to Staunton, moving
south-easterly, with intent to cross
the South Fork at Port Republic.
His rear was bravely and ably pro
tected by the 2d and 6th Virginia
cavalry, - Gen. Turner Ashby, who
that day repulsed a spirited charge
of our cavalry in advance, capturing
Col. Percy Wyndham and 63 men.
Being still sharply pressed, Ashby
called for an infantry support ; when
the brigade of Gen. Geo. H. Stewart
was promptly ordered up, and was
soon hotly engaged with the Penn
sylvania Bucktails, whose comman
der, Lt.-Col. Kane, was wounded and
taken prisoner. The Rebel loss in
this affair was numerically less than
ours, being but 20 killed and 50
wounded ; but among the killed was
Ashby himself, whose loss was at
least equal to that of a regiment.
Always fighting at the head of his
men, with the most reckless self-ex
posure, his fate was merely a ques
tion of time. For outpost and skir
mishing service, he left no equal
behind him in either army.
Being now within a few miles of
Port Republic, where his trains and
artillery must be taken over a

" May 25.
" Gen. McDowell, in his testimony aforesaid,
blames Gen. Ord, commanding one of his divi
sions, for lack of energy in pushing it on from
Front Royal to Strasburg, and adds, that he sent
forward Gen. Shields from Front Royal with
express orders "to go on the direct road to
Strasburg, and not cross the North Fork of the
Shenandoah until near that place." He adds :
" After some time in getting Ord's, or rather
Rioketts's, division together, I started out to the
front. I met one of Gen. Shields's aids-de
camp coming in from Front Royal, and asked him
how far out ho had met Gen. Shields. He said

he had not met him at all. I told him he had
started to go out, and he said he must have lost
his way. Without stopping to see what had
become of him, I took Bayard's cavalry "brigade,
the only one ready to move, and sent it forward
by the direct road to Strasburg. I then went
to see where Gen. Shields was, and found him
over on the road toward Winchester. He had
sent his troops on that road, instead of on the
one I had ordered him to send them on. He
said that he had received information from his
aid-de-oamp that Jackson had fallen back, and
he had sent his troops this way. When I got
up there, they were coming in. Well, it was
too late to get ahead of Jackson then."
" J.une 6.

138

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

wooden bridge across the larger of
the two streams into which the south
branch again forks at this place, and
over the other and smaller branch
by a ford, Jackson was obliged to
turn and fight in order to gain time.
Accordingly, Maj.-Gen. Ewell, with
the rear division of his army, halted "
near Union Church, and took up a
strong position alqng a ridge which
here crosses the road, with his flanks
well protected by timber. He had
but 5,000 men directly in hand ; but
the residue of Jackson's army was
between him and Port Republic, 4
or 5 miles distant, ready to be sent
up as required.
Fremont pushed out of Harrison
burg at 6 o'clock next morning,74 and
before 9 his advance was engaged
near a little hamlet known as Ceoss-
Kets, some seven miles on. Ewell's
three brigades, under Trimble, Elzey,
and Stewart, ranged from right to
left, with his artillery in the center.
Gen. Dick Taylor, with a Louisiana,
and Col. Patton, with a Virginia
brigade, came to his aid when
wanted. Gen. Fremont's order of battle, a
mile and a half long, was formed
with the 32d, 55th, 73d, 75th, and
82d Ohio, under Brig.-Gen. Schenck,
on the right, and the 2d, 3d, and 5th
Virginia, with the 25th Ohio, under
Gen. Milroy, in the center, with the
8th, 41st, and 45th New York, and
27th Pennsylvania, and what were
left of the Bucktails, under Gen.
Stahl, on the left, supported by Gen.
Bohlen's brigade ; while the remain
der of Blenker's division was held in
reserve. Col. Cluseret, with the 60th
Ohio, 8th Virginia, and Garibaldi
Guards, had held the advance
"June 1. ~

through the morning, but had now
fallen in between Schenck and Mil
roy.- Thus formed, our army ad
vanced steadily and successfully, un
der a storm of shot and shell, losing
heavily in men, but constantly gain
ing ground, until after 3 o'clock;
when Stahl's brigade, having passed
through the wood in its front to a
clover-field, which gradually ascend
ed to another wood filled with Rebels
beyond, encountered a murderous
fire, by which its ranks were fear
fully thinned and its progress arrest
ed. Two of Bohlen's regiments were
ordered up to its support ; but, before
they could arrive, the brigade had re
coiled; understanding, it was said,
that they were to give place to
Bohlen's men, instead of being sus
tained by them. Up to this moment,
Schenck, on our right, had been mak
ing slow but steady progress ; but he
now halted by order, and finally re
ceded for a mile, finding that Milroy
had moved toward the left, and that
he must follow or be isolated. Two
hours later, the Rebels cannonaded
him in his new position, but were
easily and quickly driven off by bis
batteries. Our total- loss in this indecisive
action was 664, two-thirds of it in
Stahl's brigade ; and our troops slept
on the battle-field, expecting to re
new the fight next morning. Gen.
Ewell's report admits a total loss on
their side of 329 ; but among their
severely wounded were Gens. Elzey
and Stewart. During the night,
Ewell silently moved off, carrying
away all but bis mortally wounded,
Jackson had turned aside from his
direct line of retreat, because he
found that, with an army nearly or
~ "June 8. "

THE FIGHT AT PORT REPUBLIC.

139

quite equal to his own pressing close
ly on his rear, he must sometimes
turn and fight, and thus permit the
other hostile army, advancing on his
flank, to gain on him. He was at
Port Republic during the conflict at
Cross-Keys, preparing to cross, . and
watching for Shields, whose column,
though delayed by burnt bridges and
swollen streams, had reached Con
rad's Store, only 15 miles distant,
and whose advance of eavalry and
artillery, under Col. Carroll, appear
ed that day.'5
Carroll had been told that Jack
son's train was parked near Port Re
public, with a drove of beef cattle ;
the whole guarded by some 200 or
300 cavalry ; and he dashed into the
village with his troopers and two
guns, expecting to cross the bridge
and make an easy capture of the
aforesaid train and cattle. Had he
comprehended the situation, he might
have burned the bridge, and thereby
exposed the enemy to serious loss, if
not utter destruction. But Jackson
was already there, with 2 infantry
brigades and 3 batteries ; by the fire
of which Carroll was driven out in
20 minutes, faihng back two miles
and a half, upon Gen. Tyler's brig
ade of infantry, 2,000 strong.
Tyler, who, on hearing of trouble
ahead, had been rapidly hurrying to
the rescue, ought now to have re
treated also ; instead of which, he
sent his men to bivouac, and went
forward with Carroll to reconnoiter.
His vedettes, at 4 A. m.,70 reported
that there had been no advance of
the enemy across the bridge during
the night, and that only their pickets
were visible. Returning to his camp,

Tyler received and replied to a
dispatch from Shields ; but, before
finishing his answer, he was apprised
that the Rebels were in his front,
endeavoring to outflank his left.
The struggle that ensued was short :
the Rebel attack being resisted with
great gallantry by our men ; but they
were 3,000 at most, while their as
sailants were 8,000, with more be
hind them. We were even success
ful at first over Winder on our right ;
but to no purpose, since the odds
against us were constantly increas
ing; and, at length, Dick Taylor's
Louisiana brigade, which had flanked
our left by an unobserved advance
through the forest, made so sudden
and overwhelming a dash at Col.
Candy's battery on our left, that it
was captured ; its horses having been
killed or disabled. Exasperated ra
ther than dismayed by this loss, Col.
Candy, with the 5th and 7th Ohio,
made a spirited counter-charge, and
retook his battery ; ' but was unable,
for lack of horses, to bring it off,"
though he drove back the Rebel in
fantry and artillery, and actually
captured one of their guns, which,
with 67 prisoners, was brought off
in our retreat, which was admirably
covered by Col. Carroll. The Rebels
pursued about 5 miles, capturing 450
prisoners and about 800 muskets.
Disastrous as was its result, there is
no battle whereof the soldiers of the
Union have more reason to be proud
than that of Port Republic.
Fremont awoke that morning to
find his enemy vanished, and to fol
low on his track to Port Republic ;
arriving just in time to find the last
Rebel safely across the river and the

"June 8. "June 9.
" Jackson's official report says : " Three times

was this battery lost and won, in the desperate
and determined efforts to capture and recover it"

140

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

bridge in flames. Some of Jackson's
officers had been obliged to abandon
their horses in order to make good
their escape.
Gen. Jackson makes his total loss
in these engagements, 133 killed,
929 wounded, and 34 missing — in
all, 1,096 ; or, since he left Winches
ter, 1,167, with 1 gun ; while he had
captured, including wounded in hos
pital, 975 men and 7 guns. Con
sidering the perils he braved, and
the odds which, ought to have been,
but were not, brought to bear against
him, his campaign was one of the
most brilliant of the war, and stamps
him a true military genius.78
Both Fremont and Shields, being
recalled by orders from Washington,
here relinquished the pursuit and
slowly retired; while Jackson, master
of the situation, recrossed the South
Fork on the 12th, and encamped at
Weyer's Cave; whence he. was sum

moned on the 17th, with the bulk of
his army, to Richmond.

On the same day70 with Jackson's
demolition of Kenly at Front Royal,
Gen. Heth, with 3 regiments of Vir
ginia Rebels, attacked at Lewisburg,
in West Virginia, the 36th and 44th
Ohio, Col. Geo. Crook, by whom he
was quickly routed, though Heth
seems to have had decidedly the ad
vantage in numbers. Before our ar
tillery could be brought into position,
the Rebels were broken and flying,
with a loss of 4 guns, 300 muskets,
and 100 prisoners. Our loss was 11
killed and 52 wounded, including
Col. Crook in the foot. The Rebel
loss is stated at 50 killed and 75
wounded, part of whom were doubt
less included in the prisoners. Heth
burnt the bridge over the Green
brier, three miles distant, and thus
arrested the pursuit.

VII.
MoCLELLAN BEFORE RICHMOND.

The capture of Norfolk and the
destruction of the Merrimac, alias
Virginia, having opened James river
to our navy, Commander John Rodg-
ers, in the steamer Galena, backed by
the Monitor, Aroostook, Port Royal,
and Naugatuck, moved up that river
unimpeded, save by the shallows on
which they repeatedly grounded, to
within eight miles of Richmond,

where he found1 the channel thor
oughly obstructed by two separate
barriers of piles and vessels, the banks
lined with sharp-shooters in rifle-pits,
and a battery of heavy guns mounted
on Drewry's Bluff,-2 200 feet above
the surface of the water. The river
was here so narrow as to compel him
to come to anchor; which he did very
near the lower barrier, and within

78 Confidential letters, unpublished, from Lee
and Jackson to Johnson and Ewell, show that
the movement was suggested, and in fact direct
ed, from Richmond: Jackson and Ewell being
ordered to combine their forces and strike a
blow at Banks or at McDowell, as circumstances
should render advisable. The detachment of

Shields from Banks, and sending the former to
McDowell at Fredericksburg, in order to enable
the latter to advance to the aid of McClellan be
fore Richmond, determined the direction of the.
blow. " May 23. > May 15—1 A. M.
3 Called ' Fort Darling' in some of our reports.

FIGHT AT HANOTER- COURT HOUSE.

141

600 yards of the Rebel guns. He at
once opened fire on the battery, and
maintained a most unequal contest
for 3| hours ; when, having exhaust
ed his ammunition, he desisted and
fell down the river. The Galena had
13 men killed and 11 wounded ; the
Naugatuck 2, and the Port Royal 1
wounded. The bursting of a 100-
pound Parrott on the Naugatuck
threatened a more serious disaster.
Capt. Farrand, commanding the
Rebel battery, reports his loss at 7
killed- and 8 wounded.

The first collision on the Chicka-
hoininy between the advance of Gen.
McClellan's army and the Rebels oc
curred s near New Bridge ; where the
4th Michigan, Col.- Woodbury, waded
the Stream and assailed and drove
off a superior Rebel force, losing but
8 men in all, and taking 37 prisoners,
of whom 15 were wounded.
Directly afterward, Gen. Fitz- John
Porter, commanding the 5th corps,
on our right, was ordered by Gen.
McClellan to advance from New
Bridge, via Mechanicsville, to Hano
ver Court House, in order to facili
tate and render secure Gen. McDow
ell's expected junction from Freder
icksburg. Starting at 3 a. m.,4 in a
pouring rain, our cavalry advance,
under Gen. W. H. Emory, had
reached at noon a point two miles
southward of the Court House, where
the road forks to Ashland, and where
the enemy were found in position to
bar our further progress. The 25th
New York and Berdan's sharp-shoot
ers speedily coming up, they were
deployed by Gen. Emory, with a
Section of Benson's battery, and thus
advanced slowly toward the enemy
'May 24.

until reenforced by Gen. D. C. But
terfield, with four regiments of his
brigade, when the enemy was charged
and quickly routed ; one of his gunsj
being captured by Col. Lansing's
17th New York. The cavalry, Ben
son's battery, and Gen. Morell's in
fantry and artillery, keenly pursued
the fugitives ; while Martindale's bri
gade, with a section of artillery, ad
vanced on the Ashland road, push
ing back the enemy in his front,
until ordered to reform his brigade
and move up the railroad to the
Court House. One regiment having
taken that course, Gen. Martindale
was left with but two and a half
regiments and one section of Mar
tin's battery, when he was attacked
by a superior force and compelled to
maintain the unequal contest for an
hour. Meantime, Gen. Porter, at the
Court House, learning that his rear
was thus attacked, faced his whole
column about and moved rapidly to
the rescue, sending the 13th and 14th
New York, with Griffin's battery, di
rectly to Martindale's assistance,push-
ing the 9th Massachusetts and 62d
Pennsylvania through the woods on
the right (west) to take the enemy
in flank ; while Butterfield, with the
83d Pennsylvania and 16th Michi
gan, hastened through the woods still
farther to the right, and completed
the rout of the enemy. The 13th
New York, of Col. G. K. Warren's
brigade, which, having been delayed
repairing bridges, had not hitherto
been in action, now came up on our
left ; and, the odds being too palpa
ble, the Confederates made a rapid
retreat. Their loss is stated by Gen.
McClellan at some 200 killed, 730
_____ _ _____

142

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

prisoners,, including wounded, one
12-pound howitzer, many small arms,
two railroad trains, and their camp
at Hanover Court House captured
and destroyed. We lost 53 killed
and 344 wounded. The Rebel force
thus defeated consisted of Gen*. L.
O'B. Branch's division of North Caro
lina and Georgia troops, supposed by
Gen. McClellan to be 9,000 strong.

The Chickahominy, opposite Rich
mond, 20 to 30 miles from its mouth,
is a sluggish, oozy mill-stream, three
to four rods wide, often fordable, but
traversing a swampy, miry bottom,
generally wooded, half a mile to a
mile wide, bordered by low, irregular
bluffs. All the bridges by which it
was previously crossed were of course
destroyed in their retreat by the Reb
els ; but Brig.-Gen. H. M. Naglee, of
Casey's division, Keyes's (4th) corps,
leading our advance on the left,
crossed it near Bottom's Bridge6
without difficulty, wholly unopposed ;
followed by the rest of the corps
three days later, the bridge having
meantime been rebuilt. During the
three following days,6 Naglee made a
spirited reconnoissance toward Rich
mond, and to within two miles of the
James, on our left ; Couch's division
took up,7 by order, a position some
miles in advance, at a place known
as the Seven Pines, on the direct
road from Bottom's Bridge to Rich
mond; which he proceeded hastily
to fortify with abatis, rifle-pits, etc.,
and by building and arming a small
redoubt. Meantime, the remaining
division (Casey's) of Keyes's corps
was advanced to and encamped
about the station known as Fa_k
Oaks, on the Richmond and York

River Railroad, to the right and
rather in advance of Couch's posi
tion. Heintzelman's (3d) corps had
crossed after Keyes's, and been sta
tioned in his rear, but rather to the
left, so as to observe the roads de
bouching on that side from White
Oak Swamp, whereby we might be
unexpectedly assailed in flank. Sum
ner's corps was still north of the
Chickahominy, some miles higher up,
ready to cross at command. Gen.
McClellan was with Fitz-John Por
ter's and Franklin's corps, at and
near New Bridge, nearly 10 miles
above Bottom's Bridge. Heintzel
man, as senior Major-General, was in
command on the left until Sumner
appeared. The enemy being seen in force
barely a mile from our front, Casey's
pickets were posted some half a mile
in advance of his line. It rained
heavily throughout the night of May
30, swelling the Chickahominy to an
extraordinary height, flooding its
miry bottom, and setting afloat seve
ral of our new-made bridges. Gen.
Jo. Johnston, who commanded the
Rebel army, saw his opportunity,
and resolved to profit by it. The
roads of all that region center on-
Richmond, radiating thence hke the
folds of a fan, and affording a con
siderable advantage in manceuvering
to the combatant who holds the city.
Informed by his scouts of the num
bers and isolated position of Keyes's
corps, Johnston resolved to assail
and crush it before it could be ade
quately reenforced. To this end, he
directed Maj.-Gen. Longstreet, with
his own and Gen. D. H. Hill's divi
sion, the latter in advance, to push
out by the Williamsburg road and

' May 20.

! May 24, 25, 26.

' May 28.

BATTLE OF SEVEN PINE3 OR FAIR OAKS.

143

attack our position in front, while
Gen. Huger's, on his right, was to
move down the Charles City road
and come in on our left flank ; and
Gen. Gustavus W. Smith was to
move out on the New Bridge road to
Old Tavern, taking thence the Nine-
mile road to Fair Oaks Station, and

so come in on our. right. The entire
Rebel army defending Richmond — ¦
some 40,000 to 50,000 strong — was
either engaged in or supporting this
movement, with Jefferson Davis,
Gen. Lee, and other magnates, ob
serving, directing, animating, and
giving counsel.

SEVEN FINES.

The attacking columns were to
move at day-break ;" but the tremen
dous rains of the preceding afternoon
and night had so flooded the earth
as to render the moving of artillery
exceedingly difficult; the infantry
often wading through mudand water
two or three feet deep. Huger's
flank movement had not yet culmi

nated, when Hill, who had for some
time waited impatiently in our im
mediate front, gave, at 1 p. m., the
signal to his division to advance and
attack. Casey's division was surprised as
well as largely outnumbered. Hav
ing been scarcely two days in this
position, their defensive works were

' May 31.

144

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

not of much account ; and even their
commander did not consider the mat
ter serious until a vedette reported
the enemy advancing in force, about
the same moment that two shells
came hissing over their heads ; when,
dropping the axes and spades where
with they were felling trees for abatis
and digging rifle-pits, our soldiers at
the front hurriedly stood to their
arms as our pickets came running
in. Gen. Casey promptly sent forward
Spratt's battery of 4 3-inch rifled
guns to a position in front of his
rifle-pits, and ordered up Gen.
Naglee's infantry brigade, consisting
of the 56th and 100th New York,
llth Maine, and 104th Pennsylvania,
to its support ; while he disposed his
7 remaining regiments and 3 bat
teries on either side of a small re
doubt, which he had hastily con
structed, expecting to hold his ground
until the arrival of reenforcements ;
and ordered his artillery to open on
the advancing enemy.
But the odds were too great. The
three brigades of Rhodes, Garland,
and Anderson, were immediately in
his front ; while that of Rains, by
a flank movement, was coming in on
his left. The 104th Pennsylvania,
which he had sent forward to the
support of his pickets, came rushing
back in confusion, and went to the
rear in disorder, having lost heavily
by the Rebel fire ; and, though mus
ketry and artillery were doing fear
ful execution on either side, it was
plain that we must soon be over
whelmed. Seeing that the enemy were closing
in on him on both wings, Gen. Casey
ordered Gen. Naglee, with what re
mained of his brigade, to charge bay

onets and drive them back; which
was done, but under a musketry fire
that mowed down our men by hun
dreds." Here fell Col. James M.
Brown, ofthe 100th New York, and
Col. Davis, of the 104th Pennsylva
nia, whose Major also was mortally
wounded; and, our flanks being
again enveloped, Rains having gained
the rear of our redoubt, and firing
thence on the flank of our infantry,
Casey's division was driven back in
disorderly retreat upon Couch, with
the loss of 6 guns. Col. G. D. Bailey,
Major Van Valkenburg, and Adjt.
Ramsey, of the 1st New York artil
lery, were killed, while endeavoring
to save the guns in the redoubt;
which were the next moment seized
by Rhodes, and turned upon our fly
ing columns. To the credit of this
shattered division be it recorded, that,
under a fearful enfilading fire from
Rains, in addition to that thundered
on their rear from Rhodes, they
brought off three-fourths of our gun&
The storm of battle now fell upon
the 93d Pennsylvania, Col. McCarter,
55th New York, Lt.-Col. Thourot^
23d Pennsylvania, Col. Neill, and
61st, Col. Rippey, of Couch's divi
sion, who were sent forward by
Keyes to the relief of Casey, on the
right, where they fought gallantly
and lost heavily. The 7th Massa
chusetts, Col. Russell, and 62d New
York, Col. J. L. Riker, were after
ward sent to reenforce them; but
were pressed back upon Fair Oaks
by the enemy's overpowering ad
vance, and there, uniting with the
1st TJ. S. Chasseurs, Col. John Coch
rane, and 31st Pennsylvania, Col.
Williams, held their ground until
the advance of Gen. Sumner's corpSj
which had with great difficulty mad.

SUMNER'S CORPS SAVES THE DAT.

145

its way across the swollen Chicka
hominy, checked the Rebel advance
in that direction.
Brig.-Gen. Peck, who held the left
of Couch's position, had been divested
of most of his regiments aforesaid,
which were successively ordered up
to the front by Couch or Keyes,
until, at 4£ p. m., he led the 102d
Pennsylvania, Col. Rowley, and 93d,
Col. McCarter, to the aid of our
crumbling right, and was for half an
hour sharply engaged with the tri
umphant enemy near Seven Pines,
losing some ground,' but encamping
very near his field of conflict.
Heintzelman was promptly sum
moned to the aid of Couch; but there
was an unaccounted-for delay in the
reception of the message, and some
of his regiments did not rush to
the front quite so impetuously as a
good portion of Couch's, especially
the 55th New York (De Trobriand's
Frenchmen), made tracks for the
rear. It was a quarter past 3 o'clock
before Heintzelman came fairly into
the fight; Jamison's Maine and
Berry's Michigan brigades eagerly
pushing to the front. ¦
On the Rebel left, Gen. Smith's
attack was delayed by Johnston,
who was there in person, until 4
p. m., listening for the sound of Long-
street's musketry, which, for some
atmospheric reason, he failed to hear.
It was now too late for complete suc
cess, though his men fought desper
ately. The Richmond and York
River Railroad, near its crossing of
the Nine-mile road, runs for a con
siderable distance on an embank
ment 4 or 5 feet high, forming an
effective breastwork, behind which
our men held stubbornly and fought
gallantly.
vol. n. — 10

Gen. Abercrombie, with five regi
ments, was at Fair Oaks (the cross
ing aforesaid), instructed to hold the
position at all hazards. Here fell
Gen. C. Devens, severely wounded ;
while of the 61st Pennsylvania, Col.
Rippey, Lt.-CoI. Spear, and Maj.
Smith fell dead, and 27 of the line
officers were either killed or wound
ed; and near this point, at sunset,
Gen. Jo. Johnston, the Rebel Com
mander-in-chief, was struck in the
side by a shell and badly wounded,
breaking two ribs in falling from his
horse, so that he was disabled for
service for several months. Gen. G.
W. Smith succeeded him in com
mand ; but he was very soon disabled
by a paralytic stroke, and removed
from the field. One of the last Rebel
charges on this part of the field was
led by Jefferson Davis in person.
Hearing vaguely of trouble on the
left, McClellan, still at New Bridge,
had ordered Sumner, who had Sedg
wick's and Richardson's divisions, to
cross to the relief of Couch; and
Sedgwick, with the advance, reached
the field on our right an hour and a
half before sunset, just as the trium
phant Rebels had turned Couch's
left, interposing between him and
Heintzelman (who, in coming up,
had swayed to the right), with in
tent to sever and defeat our two corps
on the south of the Chickahominy.
But Sedgwick, advancing rapidly,
interposed at the critical moment,
and, forming in line of battle in the
edge of a wood, with a large open
field in his front, commenced a fire
of canister from his 24 guns on the
head of the enemy's advancing
column, which staggered it; and
then, moving forward his whole divi
sion in line of battle, he completely

146

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

swept the field, recovering much of
the ground that had been lost. At
nightfall, Richardson's division, hav
ing also crossed over, came up on the
left of Sedgwick, connecting with
Birney's brigade of Heintzelman's
corps on his left; thus making all
secure in that quarter.
At 6 p. m., Abercrombie, farther
to our right, still desperately fight
ing, had been compelled to give
ground, and seemed about to be en
veloped by an overwhelming force ;
when the long-expected succor ar
rived. Gorman's brigade, leading
Sedgwick's division, deployed into
line of battle along the crest of a hill
in the rear of Fair Oaks, and ad
vanced down a gentle slope to the
field where Col. Cochrane's IT. S.
Chasseurs and Neill's 23d Pennsyl
vania were fighting against heavy
odds. At this moment, a furions
enfilading fire of musketry was re
ceived on our right, indicating an
effort to turn us on that flank, and
repeat the sharp lesson of Casey's
disaster. Gen. Sedgwick instantly
directed Gen. Burns to deploy the
69th and 72d Pennsylvania to the
right, himself holding the 71st and
106th in support of Gorman. The
Rebels attacked with great fury,
stampeding two or three battery
teams, so that for a moment our lines

seemed to waver ; but Burns's calm,
full-voiced order, "Steady, men,
steady !" evoked a thundering cheer,
followed by volley after volley of
musketry, under which the enemy
advanced steadily, and were charg
ing Kirby's battery, when he poured
into their close ranks a murderous
fire of canister, which sent them
rapidly to the woods in their rear.
Meanwhile, Dana's brigade had
come into line on Gorman's left, and
the Rebels renewed, as darkness fell,
their attempt to outflank our right,
extending their left farther and
farther ; but in vain. Gens. Snmner,
Sedgwick, Dana, whose horse was
killed under him, Burns, and Gor
man, each exerted himself to the
utmost to animate and encourage
their men. Dana's wing was grad
ually advanced as the Rebels ex
tended their left, and the battle
swayed more and more to our right,
until our line was nearly at right
angles with that on which we had
been fighting two hours before. And
thus the fight raged on until after 8
o'clock; when the Rebels desisted
and fell back, leaving us in undis
puted possession of the ground
whereon the final struggle was made.'
Sumner's heavier artillery had been
left stalled in the swamps of the
Chickahominy, as his infantry hur-

9 Gen. McClellan, in his elaborate report on
this campaign, after relating Gen. Sumner's
arrival on the battle-field, with Sedgwick's divi
sion, says:
" The leading regiment (1st Minnesota, Col.
Sully) was immediately deployed to the right of
Couch to protect the flank, and the rest of the
division formed in line of battle; Kirby's battery
near the center, in au angle of the woods. One
of Gen., Couch's regiments was sent to open
communication with Gen. Heintzelman. No
sooner were these dispositions made, than the
enemy came on in strong force, and opened a
heavy fire along the line. He made several
charges, but was repulsed with great loss, by

the steady fire of the infantry and the splendid
practice of the battery. After sustaining the
enemy's fire for a considerable time, Gen. Sum
ner ordered five regiments (the 34th New York,
CoL Smith, 82d New York, Lt.-Col. Hudson,
15th Massachusetts, Lt.-Col. Kimball, 20th Mas
sachusetts, CoL Lee, 1th. Michigan, Maj. Rich
ardson, the three former of Gen. Gorman's bri
gade, the two latter of Gen. Dana's brigade) to
advance and charge with bayonet. This charge
was executed in the most brilliant manner. Our
troops, springing over two fences which were
between them and the enemy, rushed upon his
lines, and drove him in confusion from that part
of the field. Darkness now ended the battle for
that day."

:eCLELLAN FAILS' TO IMPROVE HIS OPPORTUNITY. I4.7

ried forward to the battle. It was
extricated during the night, brought
forward, and properly posted by
morning ; when Gen. McClellan also
had arrived ; but, alas ! without the
corps of Fitz- John Porter and Frank
lin, which, could they but have come
up on the New Bridge road during
the night, might have converted
Casey's demolition into a Rebel over
throw. It does not appear that even

an attempt was made to bring them
forward.10 In the morning,11 McClellan await
ed an attack, which he says was made
at 6 A. m., on the left of Sumner's
corps, by Gen. Pickett, supported by
Gen. Roger A. Pryor's brigade of
Huger's division ; to which French's
brigade, on our side, stood opposed.
The fight between them was noisy,
but not very bloody : due caution and

10 Gen. McClellan, in his report, states that the
still rising Chickahominy floated the log-way
approaches to Gen. Sumner's brigade, after that
officer had crossed his corps, so as to render
them impassable; hence he [McClellan] was
obliged to send his horse around by Bottom's
Bridge, six miles below, in returning to his
headquarters. He adds :
" The approaches to New and Mechanicsville
bridges were also overflowed, and both of them
were enfiladed by the enemy's batteries estab
lished upon commanding bights on the oppo
site side. These batteries were supported by
strong forces of the enemy, having numerous
rifle-pits in their front, which would have made
it necessary, even had the approaches been in
the best possible condition, to have fought a san
guinary battle, with but little prospect of suc
cess, before a passage could have been secured.
'.' The only available means, therefore, of
uniting our forces at F_air Oaks, for an advance
on Richmond soon after the battle, was to march
the troops from Mechanicsville, and other points
on the left bank of the Chickahominy, down to
Bottom's Bridge, and thence over the Williams
burg road to the position near Fair Oaks, a dis
tance of about twenty-three (23) miles. In the
condition of the roads at that time, this march
could not have been made with artillery in less
than two days ; by which time the enemy would
have been secure within his. intrenchments
around Richmond."
It is hard for non-military readers to appre
ciate admiringly the Generalship which con
fessedly exposes one wing of an army for two
days to the entire force of its adversary, with
out assistance in any form from the other. If
there be any military reason why Gen. McClel
lan should have thrown two corps across the
Chickahominy on his left, within a few miles of
Richmond, without simultaneously, or for five
days thereafter, pushing over his right also, and
Seizing the commanding hights which were en
filaded by the enemy's batteries, no indications
of them appear in his report; which, with re
ference to following up our advantage of the 1st,
naively says:

" An advance involving the separation of the
two wings by the impassable Chickahominy
would have exposed each to defeat in detail."
That Gen. McClellan greatly over-estimated the
strength of the Rebel batteries and their sup
ports opposite Fitz-John Porter and Franklin,
and the difficulty of crossing there, is made plain
by his dispateh, four days later, to the War De
partment, as follows :
" Headquarters Army of the Potomac, )
" New Bridge, June 5, 1862. )
" Rained most of the night ; has now ceased,
but is not clear. The river still very high and
troublesome. Enemy opened with several bat
teries on our bridges near here this morning ;
our batteries seem, to have pretty much si
lenced them, though some firing still kept up.
The rain forces us to remain in statu, quo. With
great difficulty, a division of infantry has been
crossed this morning to support the troops on
the other side, should the enemy renew attack.
I felt obliged to do this, although it leaves us
rather weak here. G. B. McClellan,
" Major- General Commanding.
"Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War."
Gen. J. G. Barnard, chief engineer, in his re
port of the campaign, says :
"The repulse of the Rebels at Fair Oaks
should have been taken advantage of. It was
one of those occasions which, if not seized, do
not repeat themselves. We now know the state
of disorganization and dismay in which the
Rebel army retreated. We now know that it
could have been followed into Richmond. Had
it been so, there would have been no resistance
to overcome to bring over our right wing. Al
though we . did not then know all that we now
do, it was obvious at that time that, when the
Rebels struck the blow at our left wing, they
did not leave any means in their hands unused
to secure success. It was obvious enough that
they struck with their whole force ; and yet we
repulsed them in disorder with three-fifths of
ours. We should have followed them up at the
same time that we brought over the other two-
fifths." " June 1.

148

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

distance being maintained on either
side. Mahone's brigade was brought
up to the aid of Pryor, and Howard's
to that of French ; and finally
Meagher's Irish regiments went to
the front, and a desultory conflict was
maintained for some two or three
hours, during which Gen. Howard
lost his arm and had two of his staff
wounded. The Rebels at length
desisted, and retreated unpursued.
Their reports assert that they made
no attack, but only repelled one.
The Rebels remained through the
day in quiet possession of Couch's
and Casey's camps, sending off mus
kets, tents, and camp equipage to
Richmond ; following themselves
after nightfall. Johnston says that
Smith did not renew his attack on
our right, because of his discovery of
strong intrenchments in that quarter,
which he had not seen the night be
fore. It is certain that he was not
disturbed by any demonstration on
our part, and retired wholly unmo
lested. Ten days later, we had not
recovered the ground held by Casey's
advance on the morning of May 31.
Johnston reports the loss in
Smith's division at 1,233, and in
Longstreet's 12 at "about" 3,000;
total, 4,233 ; saying nothing of any
loss sustained by Huger. Among
his killed were Gen. Robert Hatton,
of Tenn. ; Cols. Lomax, 3d Ala.,
Jones, 12th Ala., Giles, 5th S. C,
and Lightfoot, 22d N. C; while, be
side himself, Gens. Rhodes and Gar
land, with Cols. Goodwin, -9th Va.,
and Wade Hampton, S. C, were
wounded. He also lost Gen. Petti-

grew and Col. C. Davis, of S. O,
and Col. Long, taken prisoners. He
claims to have taken 10 guns, 6,000
muskets, and " several hundred "
prisoners — an expression which the
number of our wounded who fell
into his hands must have fully justi
fied. He probably took few others,
and no officer of distinction.
Gen. McClellan reports our total
loss at 5,739,13 whereof 890 were
killed, 3,627 wounded, and 1,222
missing : some of these probably
dead, and others left on the field
wounded, to fall into the hands of
the enemy. Among our killed were
Col. G. D. Bailey, Maj. Van Valken-
burg, and Adjt. Ramsey, of the 1st
N. Y. artillery ; Cols. J. L. Riker,
62d, and James M. Brown, 100th
N. Y., Rippey, 61st, and Miller, 81st
Pa. Among our wounded were
Gens. Naglee, Pa., Devens, Mass.^
O. O. Howard, Maine, and WesBells ;
Col. E. E. Cross, 5th N. H., and
many other valuable officers.
Considering that the bulk of the
loss on either side fell on regiments
which together brought less than
15,000 men into the field, the admit
ted loss is quite heavy. Keyes's
corps numbered about 12,000 men
present ; of whom 4,000 were dead or
wounded before 5 p. m. of the 31st.
Perhaps as many had fled to the
rear ; yet Gen. McClellan's dispatch
to the War Department, written so
late as noon of the second day, in
saying that " Casey's division gave
way unaccountably and discredit
ably," is indiscriminate and unjust.
A green division of less than 7,000

t ° Gen." McClellan says that Hill estimates' his
loss at 2,500, and adds this number to the above
total, making in all &,1%Z : but it is evident that
Johnston includes Hill's loss in that of Long-
Street, who was in command of both divisions.

13 But in a confidential dispatch of June 4th,
to the War Department, he says : " The losses
in the battles of the 31st and 1st will amount to
?,000." Though this may have been an esti
mate merely, it was very near the truth.

men could not fairly be expected to
arrest and repel a determined ad
vance of the entire Rebel army,
whereof two choice divisions, num
bering 15,000 men, were hurled
directly upon them. That some of
our men behaved badly is true ; but
the responsibility of their failure rests
on the Generals by whom they were
badly handled. They were sent up
by brigades to confront Rebel divi
sions, and thus beaten in detail ; and,
when at last the time came for fight
ing with the advantage of numbers
on our side, the directing, impelling
will was absent.
k Gen. Hooker, next morning," by
Heintzelman's order, made a recon-
noissance in force, advancing to with
in four miles of Richmond, unresisted
save by pickets. Gen. McClellan,
on learning this movement, ordered
Hooker to.be recalled to and take
position at Fair Oaks. The General
commanding wrote this day to the
Secretary of War :
" The enemy attacked in force and with
great spirit yesterday morning ; hut are eve
rywhere most signally repulsed with great
loss. Our troops charged frequently on
both days, and uniformly broke the enemy.
The result is, that our left is within four
miles of Richmond. I only wait for the
river to fall to cross with the rest of the
force and make a general attack. Should I
find them holding firm in a very strong po
sition, I may wait for what troops I can
bring up from Fortress Monroe. But the
morale of my troops is now such that I can
venture much. I do not fear for odds
against me. The victory is complete ; and
all credit is due to the gallantry of our offl-
(cers and men."
The President, on hearing of this
bloody battle, placed the disposable
troops at Fortress Monroe at the ser
vice of Gen. McClellan, sent five new
regiments from Baltimore by water
to his aid, and notified him that Mc-

MORE DELAYS AND EXCUSES. 149
Call's division of McDowelrs corps
should follow as speedily as might
be. Gen. McClellan responded :"

" June 2.

a June 7.

" I am glad to learn that you are pressing
forward ^enforcements so vigorously. I
shall be in perfect readiness to move for
ward and take Bichmond the moment
McCall reaches here, and the ground will
admit the passage of artillery. I have ad
vanced my pickets about a mile to-day;
driving off the Bebel pickets, and securing
a very advantageous position."
He soon afterward" telegraphed :
" I am completely checked by the weathr
er. The roads and fields are literally im
passable for artillery — almost so for infan
try. The Chickahominy is in a dreadful
state. We have another rain-storm on our
hands. I shall attack as soon as the
weather and ground will permit ; hut there
will he a delay, the extent of whioh no
one can foresee, for the season is alto
gether abnormal. In view of these cir
cumstances, I present for your considera
tion the propriety of .detaching largely from
Halleck's army, to strengthen this ; for it
would seem that Halleck has now no large
organized force in front of him, while we
have. If this cannot be done, or even in
connection with it, allow me to suggest the
movement of a heavy column from Dalton
upon Atlanta. If but the one can be done,
it would better conform to military princi
ples to strengthen this army. And, even
although the reenforcements might not ar
rive in season to take part in the attack
upon Bichmond, the moral effect would be
great, and they would furnish valuable as
sistance in ulterior movements. I wish to
be distinctly understood that, whenever the
weather permits, I will attack with what
ever force I may have, although a larger
force would enable me to gain much more
decided results. I would be glad to have
McOall's infantry sent forward hy water at
once, without waiting for his artillery and
cavalry." Secretary Stanton promptly re
sponded : "
"Your dispatch of 3:30, yesterday, has
been received. I am fully impressed with
the difficulties mentioned, and which no art
or skill can avoid, hut only endure, and am
striving to the uttermost to render yon
every aid in the power of the Government.
Your suggestions will he immediately com
municated to Gen. Halleck, with a request
that he shall conform to them. At last ad-

16 June 10.

17 June 11.

150

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

vice, he contemplated sending a column to
operate with Mitchel agamst Chattanooga,
and thence upon East Tennessee. Buell re
ports Kentucky and Tennessee to he in a
critical condition, demanding immediate at
tention. Halleck says the main body of
Beauregard's forces is with him at Okolo-
na. McOall's force was reported yesterday
as having embarked, and on its way to join
you. It is intended to send the residue of
McDowell's force also to join you as speed
ily as possible.
"Fremont had a hard fight, day before
yesterday, with Jackson's force at Union
Church, eight miles from Harrisonburg. He
claims the victory, but was badly handled.
It is clear that a pretty strong force is op
erating with Jackson, for the purpose of de
taining the forces here from you. I am
urging, as fast as possible, the new levies.
"Be assured, General, that there never
has been a moment when mj desire has
been otherwise than to aid you with my
whole heart, mind, and strength, since the
hour we first met; and, whatever others
may say for their own purposes, you have
never had, and never can have, any one
more truly your friend, or more anxious to
support you, or more joyful than I shall be
at the success which I have no doubt will
soon be achieved by your arms."
Gen. McCall's division arrived by
water during the two following
days ; ia on the last of which, Gen. J.
E. B. Stuart, with 1,500 Rebel cavalry
and 4 guns, attacked and dispersed
two squadrons of the 5th U. S. caval
ry, Capt. Royall, near Hanover Old
Church ; thence proceeding to make
a rapid circuit of our grand army, via
Tunstall's Station, seizing and burn
ing two schooners laden with forage,
and 14 wagons ; capturing and taking
off 165 prisoners, 260 mules and
horses; halting three hours to rest
at Talleysville, in the rear of our
army ; resuming his march at mid
night; crossing the Chickahominy
near Long Bridge, by hastily impro
vised bridges, next forenoon ; and
reaching Richmond unassailed next
morning. This was the first of the
notable cavalry raids of the war,

tempting to many imitations, some
of them brilliant in design and exe
cution ; some of them damaging to
the adverse party ; others disastrous
to their executors ; but, on the whole,-
involving a squandering of horse
flesh and an amount of useless devas
tation which rendered them decidedly
unprofitable, and hardly reconcilable
with the legitimate ends of warfare.
Gen. McClellan, at midnight on
the 14th, telegraphed to the War
Department as follows :
" Headqtjaeters Akmy of the Potomao, )
" Camp Lincoln, June 14, 1862. )
" All quiet in every direction. The stam
pede of last night has passed away. "Wea
ther now very favorable. I hope two days
more -will make the ground practicable. I
shall advance as soon as the bridges are
completed and the ground fit for artillery
to move. At the same time, I would be
glad to have whatever troops can be sent
to me. I can use several new regiments to
advantage. " It ought to be distinctly understood
that McDowell and his troops are com
pletely under my control. I received a
telegram from him requesting that McCall's
division might be placed so as to join him
immediately on his arrival.
" That request does not breathe the pro
per spirit. Whatever troops come to me
must be disposed of so as to do the most
good. I do not feel that, in such circum
stances as those in which I am now placed,
Gen. McDowell should wish the general in
terests to be sacrificed for the purpose of
increasing his command.
" If I cannot fully control all his troops, I
want none of them, but would prefer to
fight the battle with what I have, and let
others be responsible for the results.
" The department lines should not be al
lowed to interfere with me ; but Gen. McD.,
and all other troops sent to me, should be
placed completely at my disposal, to do
with them as I think best. In no other
way can they be of assistance to me. I
therefore request that I may have entire
and full control. The stake at issue is
too great to allow personal considerations
to be entertained; you know that I have
none. "The indications are, from our balloon
reconnoissances and from all other sources,
that the enemy are intrenching, daily in-

1 June 12-13.

STONEWALL JACICSON JOINS LEE.

151

Creasing in numbers, and determined to
fight desperately."
On the 20th, he telegraphed to the
President :
"By to-morrow night, the defensive
works, covering our position on this side of
the Chickahominy, should he completed.
I am (forced to this by my inferiority .of
numbers, so that I may bring the greatest
possible numbers into action, and secure the
army against the consequences of unfore
seen disaster."
At this time, his returns to the
Adjutant-General's office give the
following as the strength of his army
on the Peninsula : Present for duty,
115,102 ; special duty, sick, and in
arrest, 12,225 ; absent, 29,511 — total,
156,838.

Stonewall Jackson, having done
us all the mischief he could in the
Valley, arrested McDowell's overland
march to join McClellan, and sent
40,000 or 50,000 of our men on all
manner of wild-goose chases, was
now on his way in full force to Rich
mond ; hence, misleading reports of
his movements were artfully circu
lated among our commanders. Gen.
McClellan telegraphed18 to the War
Department that he had information
from deserters that troops had left
Richmond to reenforce Jackson, and
that they were probably not less than
10,000 men. To this the President
responded, that he had similar infor
mation from Gen. King at Fredericks-
.burg ; and added : " If this is true, it
is as good as a reenforcement to you."
McClellan on that day telegraphed
to the President :
" A general engagement may take place
at any hour. An advance by us involves a
battle more or less decisive. The enemy
exhibit at every point a readiness to meet
us. They certainly have great numbers
and extensive works. If ten or fifteen

thousand men have left Bichmond to reen
force Jackson, it illustrates their strength
and confidence. After to-morrow, we shall
fight the Rebel army as soon as Providence
will permit. We shall await only a favor
able condition of the earth and sky, and the
completion of some necessary prelimina
ries." To-morrow and to-morrow passed,
and still our army did not advance ;
until, on the 24th, a young man of
suspicious character was brought in
by Gen. McClellan's scouts from the
direction* of Hanover Court House,
who, after some prevarication, con
fessed himself a deserter" from Jack
son's command, which he had left
near Gordonsville on the 21st, mov
ing along the Virginia Central Rail
road to Frederickshall, with intent
to turn our right and attack our rear
on the. 28th. To McClellan's des
patch announcing this capture, and
asking information of Jackson's posi
tion and movements, Secretary Stan
ton replied 20 as follows :
"We have no definite information as to
the numbers or position of Jackson's force.
Gen. King yesterday reported a deserter's
statement, that Jackson's force was, nine
days ago, 40,000 men. Some reports place
10,000 Eebels under Jackson at Gordons
ville ; others that his force is at Port Re
public, Harrisonburg, and Luray. Fremont
yesterday reported rumors that Western
Virginia was threatened ; and Gen. Kelly,
that Ewell was advancing to New Creek,
where Fremont has his depdts. The last
telegram from Fremont contradicts this
rumor. The last telegram from Banks says
the enemy's pickets are strong in advance
at Luray. The people decline to give^ any
information of his whereabouts. Within
the last two days, the evidence is strong
that, for some purpose, the enemy is circu
lating rumors of Jackson's advance in
various directions, with a view to conceal
the real point of attack. Neither McDowell,
who is at Manassas, nor Banks and Fre
mont, who are at Middletown, appear to have
any accurate knowledge on the subject.
" A letter transmitted to the department
yesterday, purporting to be dated Gordons
ville, on the 14th inst., stated that the ac
tual attack was designed for Washington

48 June 18.

20 June 25.

152

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and Baltimore, as soon as you attacked
Kichmond ; but that the report was to be
circulated that Jackson had gone to Bich
mond, in order to mislead. This letter
looked very much like a blind, and induces
me to suspect that Jackson's real movement
now is toward Bichmond. It came from
Alexandria, and is certainly designed, like
the numerous rumors put afloat, to mislead.
I think, therefore, that, while the warning
of the deserter to you may also be a blind,
that it could not safely be disregarded. I
will transmit to you any further informa
tion on this subject that may be received
here." That day, having his bridges com
pleted, Gen. McClellan ordered an
advance of his picket-line on the left,
preparatory to a general forward
movement; and, during the day,
Heintzelman's corps, with part of
Keyes's and Sumner's, were pushed
forward,21 he reports, through a
swampy wood, though Bmartly re
sisted, with a loss on om* side of 51
killed, 401 wounded, and 64 missing :
total, 516. Returning from over
looking this affair, Gen. McClellan
telegraphed to the War Department
as follows :
" Several contrabands, just in, give infor
mation confirming the supposition that
Jackson's advance is at or near Hanover
Court House, and that Beauregard arrived,
with strong reenforcements, in Bichmond
yesterday. I incline to think that Jackson
¦will attack my right and rear. The Bebel
force is stated at 200,000, including Jackson
and Beauregard. I shall have to contend
against vastly superior odds, if these reports
be true. But this army will do all in the
power of men to hold their position and re
pulse any attack. I regret my great inferi
ority in numbers, but feel that I am in no
way responsible for it, as I have not failed
to represent repeatedly the necessity of re
enforcements ; that this was the decisive

point, and that all the available means of
the Government should be concentrated
here. I will do all that a General can do
with the splendid army I have the honor
to command ; and, if it is destroyed by over
whelming numbers, can at least die with it
and share its fate. But, if the result of the
action, which will probably occur to-mor
row, or within a short time, is a disaster,
the responsibility cannot he thrown on my
shoulders ; it must rest where it belongs.
Since I commenced this, I have reoeived
additional intelligence, confirming the sup
position in regard to Jaokson's movements
and Beauregard's arrival. I shall probably
be attaoked to-morrow, and now go to the
other side of the Chickahominy to arrange
for the defense on that side. I feel that
there is no use in again asking for reen
forcements." The President responded as fol
lows : — "Washington, June 26, 1862.
" Your three dispatches of yesterday in
relation to the affair, ending with the state
ment that you completely succeeded in
making your point, are very gratifying.
The later one, suggesting the probability
of your being overwhelmed by 200,000 men,
and talking of to whom the responsibility
will belong, pains me very much. I give
you all I can, and act on the presumption
that you will do the best you can with what
you have ; while you continue — ungene
rously I think — to assume that I could give
you more if I would. I have omitted — I
shall omit — no opportunity to send you re
enforcements whenever I can."

Gen. Robert E. Lee, having suc
ceeded to the chief command of the
Rebel army, had, in counsel with the
master spirits of the Rebellion, at
length resolved on striking a decisive
blow. To this end, reenforcements
had been quietly called in from all
available quarters, swelling the Rebel
Army of Virginia, including Jack-

31 But Brig.-Gen. A R. Wright, of Huger's di
vision, who opposed this movement, reports
that he had 3,000 men in all, resisting not less
than 8,000 or 10,000 on our side ; and adds :
" The object of the enemy was to drive us
back from our picket-line, occupy it himself,
and thereby enable him to advance his works
several hundred yards nearer our lines.
In this, he completely failed; and, although

Gen. McClellan at night telegraphed, over his
own signature, to the War office in Washington,
that he had accomplished his object, had driven
me back for more than a mile, had silenced my
batteries, and occupied our camps, there is not
one word of truth in the whole statement. When
the fight ceased at dark, I occupied the very
line my pickets had been driven from in the
morning ; and which I continued to hold until
the total rout ofthe Federal army on the 29th."

FIGHT MAE MECHANICSVILLE.

153

son's corps, summoned from the Val
ley, to not far from 70,000 men. In
order to mask this concentration,
Whiting's division, consisting f>£
Hood's Texas brigade and his own,
had l>een sent off from Richmond to
Jackson ; to whom also the brigade
of Lawton had been ordered up from
the South. When all things were
ripe, Jackson moved, by order, rapid
ly and secretly from the Valley to
Ashland, facing our extreme right,
whence he was directed to advance"
so as to flank our right, holding Me
chanicsville. Moving on at 3 next
morning," he was directed to connect
with Gen. Branch, immediately south
of the Chickahominy, who was to
cross that stream and advance on
Mechanicsville; while Gen. A. P.
Hill, lower down, was to cross near
Meadow Bridge so soon as Branch's
movement was discovered, and move
directly upon Mechanicsville, where
on the Rebel batteries on the south
ern bluffs ofthe Chickahominy were to
open ; Longstreet's division following
in support of Hill, while D. H. Hill's in
like manner supported Jackson ; thus
only Huger's and Magruder 's divisions
were left in front of our left and cen
ter, immediately before Richmond.
Jackson was unable to reach Ash
land quite so soon as had been anti
cipated ; so that A. P. Hill did not
cross the stream to attack us till 3
p. m." His advance had been dis
covered three hours before ; so that
our pickets were called in before it,
and the regiment and battery hold
ing Mechanicsville fell back, fighting,
on a strong position across Beaver
Dam creek. Here Gen. McCall's
Pennsylvania Reserves, which had
recently been sent down to reenforce

McClellan, and had never till now
been in action^ were strongly posted
on advantageous ground, supported
by Morell's division and Sykes's
regulars, the whole forming Fitz- John
Porter's corps of about 27,000 men.

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HEOHAMICSVrLLE.
Advancing rapidly and resolutely,
in the face of a destructive fire, which
they could not effectively return, the
leading brigades of A. P. Hill's, and
ultimately of D. H. Hill's and Long-
street's divisions, attacked our posi
tion and attempted to turn our left,
but were repulsed with fearful car
nage. Jackson being vainly expect
ed to arrive and assail our right, it
was not turned ; and night fell on a
decided and animating success of our
mainly green soldiers, though the
fighting did not cease till after dark,
and the Rebels remained in force not
far from our front. Our total loss in
aa June 25.
33 June 26.
"June 26.
154

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

this affair had been less than 400;
while that of the Rebels must have
been many times larger ; and when,
near the close of the battle, fresh
troops came up to relieve the exult
ing Reserves, they refused to give
place, but, replenishing their ammu
nition, lay down on their arms to
await the encounter of the morrow.
Before daylight," however, an or
der from Gen. McClellan (who had
learned, meantime, that Jackson was
approaching) directed the evacuation
of their strong position, and a retreat
to Gaines's Mill — an order easy of
execution had it arrived three or four
hours earlier, but very difficult now,
as the Rebel attack was renewed a
few minutes afterward. The Rebels
were repulsed, however, though our
men were retiring' at the time ;
Me'ade's, Griffin's, Reynolds's, and
Morell's commands moving steadily
off the field as if on parade ; our dead
all buried, our wounded and arms
brought away, with the loss of no
caisson, hardly of a musket, by a lit
tle after 7 a. m. ; leaving the Rebels
unaware for the moment that there
was no longer an enemy before them.
Before noon, each regiment and bat
tery had taken up the new position
assigned it, at Gaines's Mill, and
was ready to receive the now eagerly
advancing Rebels. Meantime, our
trains and siege-guns had, by order,
been sent off across the Chickahomi
ny during the night.
Gen. McClellan had been38 with
Fitz-John Porter, behind the Me
chanicsville defenses, at 10 p. m. — an
hour after the triumphant and san
guinary repulse of their assailants.
Four hours later, he sent orders for
their prompt evacuation. This he

must have done under the correct
impression that they were about to
be overwhelmingly assailed in front
b;j_ the Hills and Longstreet, and in
flank by the yet fresh division of
Jackson. In other words, it was
now plain that the Rebel chiefs had
resolved to .precipitate the bulk of
their force on our right wing, crush
ing it back on our center by the sheer
momentum of their columns.
This.striking a great army on one
end, and rolling it up on itself in inex
tricable confusion, carnage, and rout,
is no novelty in warfare. The Allied
Emperors tried it. on Napoleon at
Austerlitz ; our strategists attempted
it on the Rebels at first Bull Run.
It is a critical manoeuver ; but likely
to succeed, provided your antagonist
passively awaits its consummation.
("Hunting the tiger, gentlemen,"
explained the returned East Indian
to his associates at the United Service
Club, " is capital sport — capital —
unless the tiger turns to hunt you ;
when it becomes rather too exciting.")
Gen. McClellan, as usual, believed
the Rebels were assailing or threaten
ing him with twice as many men as
they had, supposing them to have
175,000 to 200,000 troops in his front,'
when they never, from the beginning
to the end of the war, had so many
as 100,000 effectives concentrated in
a single army, or within a day's
march. Even had he been outnum
bered, as he supposed, by a Rebel
force on either flank nearly or quite
equal to his whole army, he should
have quietly and rapidly concen
trated, and struck one of those assail
ants before it could be supported by
the other. Had he chosen thus to
rush upon Richmond, on the morning

86 June 27.

88 June 26.

BATTLE OF GAINES'S MILL.

155

of the 2Gth, directing Porter to make
as imposing a demonstration and de
tain the enemy as long as he could,
then to withdraw across the Chicka
hominy with the least possible loss,
burn the bridges, and defend the pas
sage till night-fall, he might have
gone right over the 25,000 Rebels
between him and Richmond, taken
that city, and then turned in over
whelming foreo on the 50,000 Rebels
in his rear, pressing Porter. But,
deceived and faint-hearted, he stood
perplexed and hesitating between
the real and overwhelming attaek
on his right and the imposing but
hollow succession of feints and alarms
on his left, letting two-thirds of Lee's
entire force crush one-third of his
own, while 60,000 good rffen and
true stood idle between the Chicka
hominy and Richmond, watching
and guarding against 25,000 Rebels.
Only Slocum's division of Sumner's
corps was seasonably sent to the aid
of Porter, raising his total force to
barely 35,000 men, who were to
resist the desperate efforts of 50,000
Rebels, directed by Lee, and led on
to assault om* position by Longstreet,
the Hills, Stonewall Jackson, and
Ewell. Though the Rebels had quickly
discerned and sharply pursued our
withdrawal from the Mocha niesville
defenses, arriving in front of our new
position soon after noon," it was
2 p. m. before A. P. Hill, who
had been awaiting Jackson's arrival,
advanced and opened the battle.
The Rebels were received with heroic
bravery by Sykes's regulars, who
confronted them, by whose fire they
were staggered and temporarily re
pulsed. Meantime, Longstreet, who

had been ordered to make a feint on
our left, had perceived the necessity
of converting that feint into a deter
mined attack ; but, before his dispo
sitions had been completed, Jackson
arrived and formed his division on
Longstreet's left; while D. II. Hill,
on the extreme Rebel left, had forced
his way through a swamp and some
abatis, driving out our skirmishers ;
and now Ewell came into action on
Jackson's right, and two of Jackson's
brigades were sent to the relief of A.
P. Hill, who was being worsted.
Lee's whole force being thus brought
into action, a general advance from
left to right. was ordered and made,
under a terrific fire of cannon and
musketry from both sides.
Porter had a strong position, on
ground rising gradually froni the
ravine of an inconsiderable stream,
screened in part by trees and under
brush, with Morell's and Sykes's
divisions in front, and McCall's
forming a second line behind them ;
and his cavalry, under P. St. George
Gooke, iu the valley of the Chicka
hominy, watching for a Rebel ad
vance in that quarter. The siege-
guns of Porter's corps, whieh had
been withdrawn across the Chicka
hominy during the night, were
planted, in battery on the right bank
of that stream, so as to cheek the ad
vance of the Rebel right, and prevent
their turning our left. Porter was
unaccountably in want of axes, where
with to cover his front and right with
abatis ; his request for theni to Gen.
Barnard not reaching McClellan till
too late. When he next called, they
were furnished, but without Aehvs ;
and, while these were being supplied,
the opportunity for using axes was

"June 27.

156

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

lost. His first call on McClellan for
reenforcements likewise miscarried.
His next was made at 2 p. m. ; when
Slocum's division, of the 6th corps,
was ordered to his support, arriving
on the field at 3:30, after our position
had been assailed in force at every
point, and after McCall's division had
been ordered up to support our sorely

pressed front. So urgent and instant
was the pressure, that Slocum's divi
sion had to be divided and sent by
brigades, and even regiments, to the
points where the need of aid seemed
greatest ; Bartlett's brigade going to
the help of Sykes on our right, while
a portion ofi Newton's was sent in
between Morell and Sykes.

A/ ;

K j V/

I

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SUMNERl^Sfc^^
UPPER BB. ^^^^
gautbs'b mill.
Morell's Div,
j A Butterfield's
J B Martindale's
( C Griffin's
I-G.8, "Warren's
Sykes's Div. < E H. Chapman's
( F I. T. Buchanan's
I K Meade's
McCall's Div. •< L Seymour's
( M Reynolds's
N Cavalry. .
Brigade.
Art -Reaprvo i ° Robertson's Battery.
Art. Keserve. ^ p Tj^^pg
Bartlett's brigade of Slocum's division. Franklin's
corps in reserve ; Taylor's and Newton's brigades being
distributed on weak points of the line.
First line was held as shown, from noon to 8 p. M.,
when the Reserves were moved up to sustain it. Gen.
Slocum's division arrived about S^ p. m. The whole
line retired to the high ground in the rear about
7 P. M.
Gen. Reynolds, with one brigade
of McCall's Pennsylvania Reserves,
having reached the front and repelled
the enemy immediately before him,
hearing the noise of a terrific contest
on his left, moved immediately to the
point where his assistance seemed ne
cessary. And thus the battle raged
for hours; repeated charges on our
lines being repulsed ; but fresh brig
ades advancing promptly to replace
those which had been hurled back,
until our wasted regiments, having
exhausted their ammunition, were
obliged to retire and replenish it.
At 5 p. m., Porter, though he had
PORTER DEFEATED AT GAINES'S MILL.

15T

lost little ground, telegraphed again
to McClellan that his position was
critical, when French's and Meagher's
brigades ofthe 2d corps were ordered
to cross to his support. They moved
promptly and rapidly; but, before
they could reach the field, the
Rebels, rallying all their forces, just
at sunset, for a last desperate effort,
had stormed our intrenchments both
on the left and on the right,, and
driven back their defenders with
mutual carnage, capturing several of
our guns.
Porter, seeing his infantry beaten,
now called into action all his reserved
and remaining artillery, and thus
bringing at once about 80 guns into
action, was covering the retreat of
his infantry and dealing fearful retri
bution on their assailants, whose ad
vance was suddenly checked ; when
Gen. Cooke, without orders, under
took to charge, with a battalion of
cavalry, the right flank of the Rebels
advancing on our left, and still
covered in good part by woods. This
charge being met by a withering fire
of musketry, amidst the roar of a
hundred belching cannon, resulted in
instant rout : the frightened horses,
whether with or without the consent
of their riders, wheeling abruptly
and crashing through our batteries ;
leading our gunners to suppose, for
the moment, that they were charged
by regiments of Rebel horse. " To
_his alone," says Fitz-John Porter,
in his report, " is to be attributed
our failure to hold the field, and to
bring off all our guns and wounded."
In another moment, the cheering
shouts of French's and Meagher's men
were heard, as they advanced rapidly

to the front. Rallying behind these
two fresh brigades, our wearied,
decimated regiments advanced up
the hill down which they had recently
been driven, ready to meet a fresh
attack, had one been at tempted. But
the enemy, perceiving that they
were confronted by fresh combatants,
and not knowing our force, halted for
the night on the field they had so
hardly won.
During that night, our forces were
by order withdrawn, unmolested,
across the Chickahominy, losing three
guns, that were run off a bridge into
the stream, in addition to 19 that
they had left on the battle-field.
Our loss in this action, though not
specifically reported, probably ex
ceeded 6,000 killed and wounded :
among the former were Cols. Samuel
W. Black, 62d Pa., McLean, of the
83d, Gove, of the 22d Mass., Maj. IST.
B. Rossell, 3d regular infantry, and
many other brave and valuable offi
cers. The llth Pennsylvania Re
serves, Col. Gallagher, and 4th N. J.,
Col. Simpson, while enveloped in
the smoke of battle, having too long
maintained their position in the far
thest front, found themselves at last
completely enveloped by overwhelm
ing forces of the enemy, and com
pelled to surrender ; and Gen. John
F. Reynolds, of the 1st brigade of
Reserves, with his Adjutant, Capt.
Charles Kingsbury, were taken pris
oners just at dark, riding into a
Rebel regiment, which they supposed
to be one of their own. Altogether,
our losses in this desperate action
were hardly less than 8,000 men;
those of the Rebels being probably
about two-thirds as many.28.

™ Gen. Jackson officially reports the losses of
his corps in this battle at 589 killed, 2,671

•wounded, and 24 missing: total, 3,284. The
other division and corps commanders make no

158

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Gen. McClellan, during and after
the close of the eventful 27th, tele
graphed to the War Department as
follows :
" Headqttabtebs Aemt of the Potomac, )
, " June 27—10 a. m. j
"The night passed quietly. During it,
we brought all wagons, heavy guns, &c, to
this side, and at daybreak drew in McCall's
division about three miles. This change of
position was beautifully executed, under a
sharp fire, with but little loss. The troops
on the other side are now well in hand, and
the whole army so concentrated that it can
take advantage of the first mistake made by
the enemy. White House yet undisturbed.
Success of yesterday complete."
" Headquaetebs Akmt of the Potomao, )
"June 27—12 m. (
" My change of position on the other side
just in time. Heavy attack now being
made by Jackson and two divisions. Ex
pect attack also on this side."
" Headquaetebs Aemt of the Potomac,
" Savage's Station,
"June 28, 1862—12:20 a. m.
" I now know the whole history of the
day. On this side of the river — the right
bank — we repulsed several strong attacks.
On the left bank, our men did all that men
could do, all that soldiers could accomplish ;
but they were overwhelmed by vastly su
perior numbers soon after I brought my last
reserves into action. The loss on both sides
is terrible. I believe it will prove to be the
most desperate battle of the war. The sad
remnants of my men behave as men ; those
battalions which fought most bravely, and
suffered most, are still in the best order.
My regulars were superb, and I count upon
what are left to turn another battle in com
pany with their gallant comrades of the
volunteers. Had I 20,000 or even 10,000
fresh troops to use to-morrow, I could take
Eichmond; but I have not a man in re
serve, and shall be glad to cover my retreat
and save the material and personnel of the
army. If we have lost the day, we have
yet preserved our honor, and no one need
blush for the Army of the Potomac. I have
lost this battle because my force was too
small. I again repeat, that I am not respon
sible for this ; and I say it with the earnest
ness of a General who feels in his heart the
loss of every brave man who has been need
lessly sacrificed to-day. I still hope to re

trieve our fortunes ; but to do this the Gov
ernment must view the matter in the same
earnest light that I do. Tf ou must send me
very large reenforcements, and send them at
once. I shall draw back to this side of the
Chickahominy, and think I can withdraw
all our material. Please understand that in
this' battle we have lost nothing but men,
and those the best we have. In addition to
what I have already said, I only wish to say
to the President that I think he is wrong in
regarding me as ungenerous when I said that
my force was too weak. I merely reitera
ted a truth which to-day has been too plainly
proved. If, at this instant, I could dispose
of 10,000 fresh men, I could gain the victory
to-morrow. I know that a few thousand
more men would have changed this battle
from a defeat to a victory. As it is, the
Government must not, and can not, hold me
responsible for the result. I feel too earn
estly t.o-night— I have seen too many dead
and wounded comrades to feel otherwise
than that the Government has not sustained
this army. If you do not do so now, the
game is lost. If I save this army now, I
tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you,
or to any other persons in Washington. You
have done ytrar best to sacrifice this army.
" G. B. MoClellan, Maj.-Gen.
" To Hon. B. M. Stanton,
" Secretary of War."
To these reproachful missives, the
President thus responded :
""Washington, June 28, 1862.
" Save your army at all events. Will send
reenforcements as fast as we can. Of course,
they can not reach you to-day, to-morrow,
or next day. I have not said you were un
generous for saying you needed reenforce
ments ; I thought you were ungenerous in
assuming that I did not send them as fast as
I could. I feel any misfortune to you and
your army quite as keenly as you feel it
yourself. If you have had a drawn battle or
a repulse, it is the price we pay for the ene
my not being in Washington. We protected
Washington, and the enemy concentrated
on you. Had we stripped Washington, ha
would have been upon us before the troops
sent could have got to you. Less than a
week ago, you notified us that reenforce
ments were leaving Richmond to come in
front of us. It is the nature of the case ;
and neither you nor the Government that
is to blame.

separate report of their losses in this action.
Gen. C. M. Wilcox, 4th brigade, Longstreet's di
vision, states his losses at 584, out of a total of
1,850. Among the Rebel killed were Cols. J.

J. Woodward, 10th Ala.; S. T. Hale, llth Ala.;
John Marshall, 4th Texas ; among the severely
wounded, Cols. Rainey, 1st Texas, and Robinson,
5th Texas.

MoCLELLAN DECIDES TO RETREAT.

159

" Please tell at once the present condition
or aspect of things."
Gen. McClellan's army had now
been concentrated by the enemy in
a very strong position, between the
Chickahominy on one side, and our
General's elaborate and powerful'
works facing Richmond on the oth
er. It was still more than 100,000
strong; while, save in his imagina
tion, there were not nearly so many
armed Rebels within a circuit of
50 miles. Properly handled, it was
abundantly able and willing to meet
and beat Lee's entire forces in fair
battle ; or it might have taken Rich
mond and the Rebel works below
it," on the James ; thus reopening its
communications and receiving fresh
supphes by that river, most efficiently
patroled by our gunboats. One thing
it could not do without invoking dis
aster, and that was to remain cooped
up in its intrenchments ; since Por
ter's defeat and retreat across the
Chickahominy had severed its com
munication with its base of supphes
at West Point ; Gen. J. E. B. Stuart,
with the Rebel cavalry, supported
by Ewell's infantry, striking and de
stroying the York River Railroad
and severing the telegraph line at
Dispatch Station next morning,30 and
pushing thence down the road toward
White House, meeting no serious op

position, but resting at Tunstall's Sta
tion for the night, which our force
holding White House devoted to the
destruction of the vast aggregate of
munitions and provisions there stored.
Nine large loaded barges, 5 locomo
tives, with great numbers of tents,
wagons, cars, &c, were involved in
this general destruction ; while our
cavalry, under Stoneman and Emo
ry, fled down the Peninsula, leaving
large quantities of forage and provi
sions to fall into the hands of the en
emy. Stuart arrived next morning,"
and found nothing prepared to dispute
possession with him but a gunboat,
which very soon crowded on all steam
and hurried off in quest of safety.
McClellan decided not to fight, but
to fly. Assembling his corps com
manders on the evening after Porter's
defeat, he told them that he had
determined on a flank movement
through White Oak Swamp to the
James ; Gen. Keyes, with his corps,
being directed to move at once across
the Swamp in the advance, so as to
seize and hold the debouches of the
roads on the James river side of the
Swamp, thus covering the passage of
the other troops and trains. Our
commander, during the night, re
moved his headquarters to Savage's
Station, thence to superintend the
movement of the corps and trains.

w Gen. Magruder, in his official report of his
participation in the memorable Seven Days'
Struggle, says
" From the , time at which the enemy with
drew his forces to this side of the Chickahominy
and destroyed the bridges, to the moment of his
evacuation — that is, from Friday night until Sun
day morning — I considered the situation of our
army as extremely critical and perilous. The
larger portion of it was on the opposite side of
the Chickahominy ; the bridges had been all de
stroyed; but one was rebuilt, the New Bridge,
which was commanded fully by the enemy's
guns from Golding's; and there were but 25,000

men between his army of 100,000 and Rich
mond. "Had McClellan massed his whole force in
column, and advanced it against any point of
our line of battle, as was done at Austerlitz, un
der similar circumstances, by the greatest Cap
tain of any age, though the head of his column
would have suffered greatly, its momentum
would have insured him success, and the oc
cupation of our works about Richmond; and
consequently the city might have been his re
ward. His failure to do so is the best evidence
that our wise commander fully understood the
character of his opponent."
" June 28. * June 29.

160

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

The immense amounts of provisions,
munitions, and supplies of all kinds
that could not be removed, were con
signed to destruction; while 2,500
wounded, who were unable to walk,
and for whom no ambulances could
be afforded, were left in hospital,
with surgeons and attendants, to fall
into the hands of the enemy.
Lee was evidently puzzled with
regard to McClellan's intentions, not
believing that he could abandon his
position and the siege without a bat
tle. He sent Ewell's infantry, as
well as some cavalry, down the left
bank of the Chickahominy, to watch
the roads leading down the Peninsu
la ; but, receiving no advices from
Huger and Magruder, still between
our army and Richmond, of any
movement of our trains or forces to
ward the James, did not divine that
movement till late in the afternoon.82
No serious attack or forward move
ment was made by the enemy during
that day; though in the morning,
perceiving that Gen. Franklin's corps
were being withdrawn from their
front at Golding's farm, opposite
Woodbury's Bridge, the Rebels
opened on them from Garrett's and
Gaines's Hill, and soon advanced two
Georgia regiments to assault our
works ; but they were easily repulsed
by the 23d New York and 49th
Pennsylvania, with a section of
Mott's battery.
McCall's weakened division was
ordered to follow Porter across the
Swamp during the ensuing night,33
while Sumner's and Heintzelman's
corps and Smith's division were di
rected to take up a line of 'advance
stretching eastward from Keyes's old
intrenchments, and covering Savage's

Station, which was held by Slocum's
division. This position they were to
hold until dark,51 so as to cover the
withdrawal of the trains, and then
fall back on the roads leading through
the Swamp.
Our line of movement — that is, of
retreat — being now fully compre
hended by the enemy, Lee ordered
Longstreet and A. P. Hill to recross
the Chickahominy at New Bridge
and pursue and attack our rear;
Jackson moving down on their left,
but between them and the Chicka
hominy; while Magruder and Hu
ger, advancing from before Richmond
on the Williamsburg and Charles
City roads respectively, were to strike
us in flank.
Magruder, on the Williamsburg
road, came in sight of our rear, near
Savage's Station, about noon ; but,
finding the business serious, halted
and sent to Huger for reenforce
ments. Meantime, an attack in
light force had been made, at 9
a. m.,3B on Gen. Sumner's front ; but
it was easily repulsed; and Gen. Slo
cum, pursuant to order, had fallen
back from Savage's Station, and was
crossing White Oak Swamp. At 4
p. m.., Magruder attacked in full
force; and, though Gen. Heintzel
man, under a misapprehension oi
orders, had posted his corps so far in
the rear as to leave a gap of three-
fourths of a mile between Sumner
and Franklin, Magruder's attack was
gallantly repelled by Gen. Burns's
brigade, supported by those of
Brooks and Hancock, reenforced by
two lines of reserves, and finally by
the 69th New York ; Hazzard's,
Pettit's, Osborn's, and Bramhall's
batteries playing a most effective

38 June 28.

83 Of June 28.

31 Of the 29th.

s June 29.

BATTLE OF WHITE OAK SWAMP.

161

part in this struggle. By 9 p. at, the
enemy had recoiled, without having
gained the least advantage ; and our
soldiers fell back, by order, upon
White Oak Swamp : Gen. French's
brigade, forming our rear-guard, be
ing in motion by midnight ; crossing
and destroying White Oak/ Swamp
Bridge at 5 a. m. next morning.3"
Jackson, who had been delayed by
the necessity of rebuilding the Grape
vine Bridge over the Chickahominy,
reached Savage's Station early this
morning, and was ordered, with
Longstreet and A. P. Hill, to follow
immediately on the track of our
army, while Huger, supported by
Magruder, pushed down on our
right. McClellan, with perhaps a third of
our army, had already emerged from
the Swamp, upon the high, open
ground near M___vek_t Hill ; while
Gen. Holmes, who had just brought
part of a Rebel division across from
the south side of James river to Rich
mond, moved down upon the river
road, reenforced by Gen. Wise, with
part of his brigade. Coming in sight
of our advance near Malvern, he was
about to open with his artillery,
when he found that we were far too
strong for him, and recoiled, await
ing the advance of Magruder to his
aid. Jackson was to have deflected to
ward the Chickahominy, so as to gain
our right flank and rear ; but his ad
vance was checked by the destruc
tion of the bridge in his front ; and
on reaching, at noon, White Oak
Swamp Bridge, he was confronted
by Gen. IVanklin, with Smith's divi
sion of his own corps, and Richard
son's, of Sumner's, and Naglee's brig

ade, by which all his efforts to cross
during the day and evening were
repelled and baffled. A heavy fire
of artillery, directed by Capt. Ayres,-
was maintained throughout that day
and evening; Capt. Hazzard's bat
tery being badly cut up and its com
mander mortally wounded ; but,
though the enemy replied with equal
spirit, and inflicted as well as suffered
much loss, our position was too
strong to be carried by assault ; and
every attempt of the Rebels to cross
the marsh and creek — the bridge
having been destroyed — was worsted.
During the night, our troops retired
by order, leaving 350 sick and
wounded, and some disabled guns, to
fall an easy prey to the enemy, as he
advanced unopposed next morning.
But the main conflict of the day
occurred at the crossing of the creek
some two miles farther up, or to the
right of Jackson, where Lee in person,
with Jefferson Davis, accompanied
Longstreet's advance, at the head of
his own and A. P. Hill's divisions;
encountering no resistance until
noon, when their advance descried
our rear-guard, strongly posted upon
the road leading from New Market
to Long Bridge, and having a small
branch of the White Oak Swamp
creek in their front. Seeing that we
were in force, Longstreet waited till
3 p. m. for the coming up of Huger,
who was some 3 or 4 miles distant,
on his right, or Jackson, who was
still nearer, on his left; but, as
neither arrived, he at length ordered
his batteries to open and his infantry
to charge, under cover of a shower of
shells. McCall, with his Pennsylvania
Reserves, which hard fighting had

vol. n. — 11

» June 30.

162

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

reduced from 10,000 to 6,000 strong,
was immediately in their front, and
his men for a time held their ground
gallantly ; but days of fighting, suc
ceeded by nights of marching — al
ways, alas ! in the wrong direction —
had told upon the spirits as well as
the numbers of these green troops, so
suddenly transformed into veterans ;
while the flushed and confident ene
my who assailed them were twice if
not thrice their number. An attempt
to crush their left by the Rebels was
met by a charge of the 5th, 8th, 9th,
and 10th regiments, led by Col. Sim
mons, -of the 5th, which hurled the
enemy back to the woods in their
rear, leaving about 200 prisoners in
our hands, who were triumphantly
marched off the field. But here
Simmons fell, mortally wounded ;
while hundreds of his soldiers strewed
the field ; and the charging column,
broken as it entered the woods, was
unable to reform under the murder
ous fire of the enemy's infantry and
artillery, and fell back in disorder to
the woods behind its original posi
tion, which they held until night put
an end to the contest.
A succession of desperate struggles
ensued : the Rebels rushing forward
in charge after charge to capture our
guns, which poured volleys of grape
and canister, at short range, into
their close masses, sweeping them
down by hundreds and forcing them
to recoil in dismay ; when our sup
porting regiments would pour a
leaden hail of musketry upon the

flanks of the baffled column, hurling
it back in confusion to the sheltering
forest. Thus, for two hours, the des
perate conflict raged ; until Kerns's
battery, having fired its last charge,
was, by McCall's order, withdrawn
from the field, and Col. Roberts's in
fantry, having just repulsed a Rebel
charge, was charged again on its
left flank and driven from the field
by a fresh force, which, rushing furi
ously on Cooper's battery, drove off
the gunners and captured the guns.
A counter-charge was instantly made
by the 9th, with parts of other regi
ments; and, after a desperate but
brief struggle, the battery was re
covered, and the standard of the 10th
Alabama taken. The Reserves still
held the field, and not one of fheii
guns had been lost, when, between
sunset and dark, Meagher's Irish brig
ade, of Hooker's division, came up
on our left, and, charging desperately
across the open field, drove the
Rebels back again into the woods.
McCall's right, under Gen. Meade,
had been likewise engaged with over
whelming numbers, by whom a final
charge was made, just at dark, for
the possession of Randall's battery ;
which was carried at the point of the
bayonet, though at a fearful cost.
Gens. McCall and Meade instantly
rallied their infantry for its recapture,
and a hand-to-hand struggle of un
surpassed ferocity ensued, wherein
the Reserves were overpowered and
driven back, though the Rebels had
suffered37 too severely to pursue

37 Brig.-Gen. Roger A. Pryor, 5th brigade of
Longstreet's corps, says :
" About 4 o'clock, I received an order from
Maj.-Gen. Longstreet to go into the fight. At
once, I moved in line toward the field ; but the
wood and other obstructions forced me to form
column and send my regiments in successively.
Arriving on the field, I discovered that the brig

ade on my right had been repulsed, and that my
command were exposed to a destructive fire on
the flank as well as in front. Nevertheless.
they stood their ground, and sustained the un
equal combat until reenforced by the brigade of
Gen. Gregg. We did not return to our original
position until the enemy had abandoned the field
and surrendered his artillery into our possession.

CLOSE OF THE GLENDALE FIGHT.

163

them. Even the guns, so severely
contested, were not held by them ;
the cheers of a New Jersey brigade,
advancing in the dusk to the relief
of McCall, impelling them to fall
back in haste to the woods. In this
closing struggle, Gen. Meade was
severely wounded in the arm and
hip ; Gen. McCall, who had lost all
his brigadiers, riding forward a short
distance to reconnoiter the apparently
deserted field, was suddenly con
fronted by the leveled muskets of
Rebel infantry, and compelled to
yield himself a prisoner ; and when
Gen. Seymour, who had succeeded to
the command, withdrew by order, at
11 p. m., to share in or cover the
general retreat, the batteries of the
division, their horses long since
killed, their men worn out with
desperate fighting, were left on the
hard-fought field, where nearly one-
fourth ofthe division had been killed
or wounded.
The noise of this vehement strug
gle had brought Hooker, from our
left, and Burns's brigade, and Tay
lor's 1st New Jersey brigade, from
Slocum's division, to the aid of
McCall; so that we were doubtless
in force to have won the battle just
after we had lost it, had any daylight
remained. Gen. Sumner, speaking
from hear-say, thus mistakenly re
ports it :
"The battle of Glendale was the most
severe action since the battle of Fair Oaks.
About three o'clock p. m., the action coin-

In this engagement, my loss was uncommonly
heavy in officers as well as men. The 14th
Alabama, bearing the brunt of the struggle,
was nearly annihilated. I crossed the Chicka
hominy on the 26th, with 1,400 men. In the
fights that followed, I suffered a loss of 849
killed and wounded, -and 11 missing."
Col. J. B. Strange, commanding 3d brigade, 2d
division of Longstreet's corps, in his report of
this fight, says:

menced ; and, after a furious contest, lasting
till after dark, the enemy was routed at all
points and driven from the field."
Heintzelman, who was present
after the battle, also very mistakenly
reports that McCall was not attacked
till 5 p. m., and that in less than an
hour his division gave way ; adding :
. " General Hooker, being on his left, by
moving to his right, repulsed the Rebels
in the handsomest manner, with great
slaughter. Gen. Sumner, who was with
Gen. Sedgwick in McCall's rear, also greatly
aided with his artillery and infantry in driv
ing back the enemy. They now renewed
their attack with vigor on Gen. Kearny's
left, and were again repulsed with heavy
loss." Lee, more plausibly though not
quite fairly, says :
" The superiority of numbers and advan
tage of position were on the side of the ene
my. The battle raged furiously until 9 p. m.
By that time, the enemy had been driven
with great slaughter from every position but
one, which he maintained until he was
enabled to withdraw under cover of dark
ness. At the close of the struggle, nearly
the entire field remained in our possession,
covered with the enemy's dead and wound
ed. Many prisoners, including a General
of division, were captured ; and several bat
teries, with some thousands of small arms,
taken. Could the other commands have
cooperated in the action, the result would
have proved most disastrous to the enemy.
After the engagement, Magruder was re
called to relieve the troops of Longstreet
and Hill. His men, much fatigued by their
long, hot march, arrived during the night."

Fitz-John Porter, having been
misled as well as delayed in his pas
sage through the Swamp, had only
reached Malvebit Hill at 9 a. m.,38
when he proceeded to post his troops,
as they arrived, so as to command

" The brigade carried into action 723 muskets ;
and of this small number the loss was 228, in
cluding 4 officers killed and 13 wounded."
Gen. 0. M. Wilcox reports the loss of his Ala
bama brigade in this battle at 471. Among the
Rebel wounded were Brig.-Gens. Anderson and
Featherston. It is probable that the respective
losses here were about equal
"June 30.

164

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

all the approaches, but especially
those from Richmond and the
Swamp. The last of our trains and
our reserve artillery reached him
about 4 p. m. of this day ; about the
time that Holmes's force, moving
down the James, appeared on our
left flank (our army having here
faced about), and opened a fire of
artillery on Warren's brigade, on our
extreme left. He was at once aston
ished by a concentrated fire from 30
guns, and recoiled in haste, abandon
ing two of his cannon.
The rear of our wasted, wayworn
army reached the position assigned
it, upon and around Malvern Hill,
during the next forenoon,39 closely
pursued by the converging columns
of the Rebels. The anxious days
and sleepless nights of the preceding
week; the constant and resolute
efforts required to force their 40 miles
of guns and trains over the narrow,
wretched roads which traverse White
Oak Swamp ; their ignorance of the
locality and exposure to be ambushed

and assailed at every turn, rendered
this retreat an ordeal for our men
long to be remembered." Gen. Mc
Clellan had reached Malvern the pre
ceding day. Early this morning,
leaving Gen. Barnard with directions
for posting the troops as they arrived,
he had gone down the river on the
gunboat Galena from Haxall's, to
select a position whereon his retreat
should definitively terminate. •
Jackson's corps, consisting of his
own, with Whiting's, D. H. Hill's,
and Ewell's divisions, came in the
Rebel advance down the . Quaker
Road, whereon our army had mainly
emerged from the Swamp; while
Magruder, with most of Huger's
division, advancing on the direct
roads from Richmond, menaced and
soon assailed our left. Longstreet's
and A. P. Hill's divisions, having
had the heaviest of the fighting thus
far, and been badly cut up, were held
in reserve by Lee in the rear of Jack
son, and were not brought into
action. It is none the less true, how-

39 July 1.
40 Mr. Samuel Wilkeson, who shared in this ex
perience, wrote of it as follows to The New York
Tribune :
"Huddled among the wagons were 10,000
stragglers — for the credit of the nation be it said
that' four-fifths of them were wounded, sick, or
utterly exhausted, and could not have stirred
but for dread of the tobacco warehouses of the
South. The confusion of this herd of men and
mules, wagons and wounded, men on horses,
men on foot, meu by the road-side, men perched
on wagons, men searching for water, men fam
ishing for food, men lame and bleeding, men with
ghostly eyes, looking out between bloody band
ages, that hid the face — turn to some vivid ac
count of the most pitiful part of Napoleon's re
treat from Russia, and fill out the picture — the
grim, gaunt, bloody picture of war in its most
terrible features.
"It was determined to move on during the
night. The distance to Turkey Island Bridge,
the point on James river which was to be
reached, by the direct road was six miles. But
those vast numbers could not move over one
narrow road in days; hence every by-road, no

matter how circuitous, had been searched out by
questioning prisoners and by cavalry excursions.
Everyone was filled by one of the advancing
columns. The whole front was in motion by
seven p. M., Gen. Keyes in command of the ad
vance. " I rode with Gen. Howe's brigade of Couch's
division, taking a wagon-track through dense
woods and precipitous ravines winding sinuously
far around to the left, and striking the river
some distance below Turkey Island. Commenc
ing at dusk, the march continued until daylight.
The night was dark and fearful. Heavy thunder
rolled in turn along each point ofthe heavens, and
dark clouds overspread the entire canopy. We
were forbidden to speak aloud ; and, lest the light
of a cigar should present a target for an am
bushed rifle, we were cautioned not to smoke.
Ten miles of weary marching, with frequent
halts, as some one of the hundred vehicles of
the artillery train, in our center, by a slight de
viation, crashed against a tree, wore away the
hours to dawn, when we debouched into a mag
nificent wheat-fiejd, and the smoke-stack of the
Galena was in sight. Xenophon's remnant of
the Ten Thousand, shouting, ' The seal the seal'
were not more glad than we."

IHl! .BATTLE OF MALTEK_ !___,_!.

165

ever, that the entire Army of Vir
ginia was present, engaged in or sup
porting the attack, and animated by
a sanguine confidence that its re
sults could differ only in being more
decisive from those of 'the recent
bloody conflicts. But much time
was consumed in getting into position
and bringing up the artillery neces
sary to respond to our heavy and
well-placed batteries, so as to cover
the advance of assaulting colunms of
infantry. Jackson, at 3 p. m., pushed forward
D. H. Hill's division on his right,
and Whiting's on his left, with part
of Ewell's in the center, holding his
own division in reserve; Huger
simultaneously advancing on their
right, with Magruder's three divi
sions on his right, under general
orders to break our lines by a con
centric fire of artillery, and then
" charge with a yell" on our entire
front with columns of infantry,
which, however torn and thinned by
our fire, should rush right over our
defense., as they did in the final as
sault at Gaines's Mill, and drive our
fugitive army into the James far more
hurriedly than Porter's wing had been
driven across the CMckahominy.
The infantry attack, after a brief
cannonade, was made accordingly, and
for the most part with great intrepid
ity ; and, though the carnage was fear
ful, some ground was gained by Ma
gruder on our left, where Kershaw's
and Semmes's brigades, of McLaws's
division, charged through a dense
wood, nearly up to our guns ; as did
those of Wright, Mahone, and An
derson, still farther to their right,
and Barksdale, nearer to the center ;
while D. H. Hill, with Jackson's fore
most division, charged on Couch's

and Griffin's divisions, holding our
advance on the right. Being unsup
ported, however, by the general ad
vance which had been ordered, Hill
was hurled back with heavy loss,
though Ewell's and Jackson's own
divisions had meantime been sent
forward to his aid ; as A. P. Hill's
division was brought up by Long-
street to the aid of Magruder.

MALVERN HUL.
JBkuplanaMons.
A Warren's brigade
B Buohanan's "
0 Chapman's "
D Griffin's "
E Martindale's "
F Butterflold's "
6 Couoh's div
H Casey's "
I Kearny's div.
J Hooker's "
K Sedgwick's div.
L Richardson's
M Smith's
N Sioouni's
0 MoCall's div.
P Cavalry.

Porter's corps.
Keyes's corps.
¦ Heintzelman's corps.
¦ Sumner's corps.
^T' I Franklin's corps.

Porter, with Sykes's and Morell's
divisions, held our left, with Couch's

166

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

division next, then Kearny and Hook
er, forming Heintzelman's corps ; next
to theset Sedgwick and Richardson,
under Sumner ; with Smith and Slo
cum, under Franklin, on our right ;
while McCall's shattered Pennsylva
nia Reserves and our cavalry were
posted in the rear, near the river.
Batteries above batteries, along the
brow of the hill, rendered the attack
little less than madness, on any other
presumption than that our men were
cowards, who, if resolutely charged,
would inevitably run. Apart from
the great strength of our position, we
had more men than the Rebels, and
many more and heavier guns ; and
then the battle opened too late in
the day to justify a rational hope of
success : the main assault being made,
after a very considerable pause for
preparation, so late as 6 p. m. ; yet it
was made with such desperation — the
sheltering woods enabling the Rebels
to form their columns of assault with
in a few hundred yards of our bat
teries, emerging on a full run, and
rushing upon our lines in utter reck
lessness of their withering fire — that
Sickles's brigade of Hooker's division,
and Meagher's, of Richardson's divis

ion, were ordered up to the support
of Porter and Couch, who held our
right front, wliich Jackson was charg
ing ; but not one of our guns was
even temporarily captured or seri
ously imperifed throughout the fight,
wherein the losses of the Rebels must
have been at least treble our own.41
Darkness closed this one-sided car
nage ; though our guns were not all
silent till 9 o'clock, when the Rebels
on our front had been fairly driven
out of range; though on our left they
sunk to rest in ravines and hollows
somewhat in advance of the ground
they had held when their artillery
first opened. And still, as through
out the struggle, our gunboats con
tinued to throw their great missiles
clear over the left of our position,
into the fields and woods occu
pied by the enemy, probably doing
little positive execution, since that
enemy was not in sight, but adding
materially to the discomforts of his
position. Gen. McClellan, who had
been down to Harrison's Bar in the
Galena, in the morning, landed to
ward night, and was on the field
during the last desperate charge of
the enemy."

41 Jackson reports the loss of his corps (com
prising his own, Ewell's, Whiting's, and D. H.
Hill's divisions) in this fight: 377 killed, 1,746
wounded, 39 missing; total, 2,162. Magruder
thinks his loss will not exceed 2,900 killed and
wounded, out of 26,000 or 28,000 under his or
ders. Brig.-Gen. Ransom reports the losses in
his brigade at 499, out of 3,000. Brig.-Gen.
Mahone, of Huger's division, reports a total loss
of 321, out of 1,226. Gen. A. R. Wright reports
the loss of his already weakened brigade, in
this fight, at 362. D. R. Jones reports the
losses in his division at 833. Among the
wounded in this fight were Brig.-Gen. Jones,
Ta. ; Col. Ransom, 35th N. C, severely; and
CoL Ramseur, 49th N. C.
Brig.-Gen. J. R. Trimble, of Ewell's divis
ion, giving an account of the conduct of his bri
gade in this battle, says :

" The next morning, by dawn, I went off to
ask for orders ; when I found the whole army
in the utmost disorder ; thousands of straggling
men asking every passer-by for their regiment;
ambulances, wagons, and. artillery, obstructing
every road ; and altogether, in a drenching rain,
presenting a scene of the most woeful and dis
heartening confusion."
" There has been much unseemly controversy
respecting McClellan's being or not being on a
gunboat during this action ; the interest thereof
being heightened by this passage in Gen. M.'s
testimony before the Committee on the Conduct
ofthe War:
"Question: Were you down to the river, or on
board the gunboats during any part of that day,
between the time you left the field and your re
turn to it ?
"Answer: I do not remember; it is possible I
may have been, as my camp was directly on the

OUR RETREAT TO HARRISON'S BAR.

167

Our victorious army began at once
to evacuate, by order,43 the strong
position wherein they had just
achieved so decided and bloody a
success, leaving their dead unburied
and many of their wounded to fall
into the hands of the enemy ; mak
ing a hurried and disorderly" night-
march, over roads badly overcrowd
ed, to the next position selected by
their commander, at Harrison's Bar,
seven miles down the James. The
movement was covered by Keyes's
corps, with the cavalry, which did

not leave Malvern till after daylight
of the 2d. The last of our wagons
was not .in place at the new position
till the evening of the 3d, when the
rear-guard moved into camp, and
the army was at rest. A small
Rebel force had followed our rear
guard, and this day threw a few
shells; but was soon driven off by
the response of our batteries and
gunboats. Gen. McClellan reports the aggre
gate losses of his army in the Seven
Days' fighting and retreating, from

The following extract from the Diary of Dr.
R. E. Van Grieson, then Surgeon of the gunboat
Galena, of which the accuracy is not disputed,
seems to embody all the essential facts :
"U. S. Steamer Galena, July 1, 1862.
"9 A. M. McClellan has just come on board
again. " 10 A. M. Under way down the river, taking
McClellan with us ; who, being considerably fa
tigued, has gone into the cabin for a little sleep.
About noon, we came to Harrison's Bar.
"12:30 p. M. Tug came alongside, and took
McClellan and Franklin to the encampment. In
about anhour, McClellan returned, when we start
ed up the river. As we pass on up, we can hear
heavy firing. After passing Carter's Landing, it
increases to a perfect roar. McClellan, though
quietly smoking a cigar on the quarter-deck,
seems a little anxious, and looks now and then
Inquiringly at the signal officer, who is receiving
$ message from shore. ' After a while, the sig-
hal officer reports 'Heavy firing near Porter's
Division.' Next came a message demanding his
presence on shore. A boat is manned, and Mc
Clellan left. The firing still continues — nearer
and louder than before. About 6 p. M., we ran
a little farther up, and threw in a few shell with
good effect.
" 9 P. M. The firing has about ceased. News
on shore — ' Slaughter immense ' — ' Enemy in
full retreat.'
" 10 P. M. McClellan has just returned with
Gen. Marcy. Mac says ' They took one gun
from us yesterday ; but to-day we have taken
many of their guns and colors.'
" ' Yes, ' said Marcy, ' we whipped them like the
devil to-day.'
"12 m. From what I can gather from the
conversation of McClellan, we may expect to see
the major part of the army at Harrison's Land
ing to-morrow."
Gen. McClellan, in his report, says :
"I left Haxall's for Malvern soon after day-
' break. Accompanied by several general officers,
I once more made the entir.e circuit of the posi
tion, and then returned to naxall's, whence I
went with Capt. Rodgers to select the final loca

tion for the army and its depots. I returned to
Malvern before the serious fighting commenced ;
and, after riding along the lines, and seeing most
cause to feel anxious about the right, remained
in that vicinity."
The Rebels made no attack on our right, and
it was at no time in action.
"Even Fitz-John Porter's devotion to his
chief was temporarily shaken by this order,
which elicited his most indignant protest.
44 Gen. Hooker, when examined before the
Committee on the Conduct of the War, testified
with regard to this affair as follows :
" Ques. : Were you in the battle of Malvern ?
"Answer: Yes, sir; and at that place we
won a great victory.
" Q. : Could you have gone into Richmond
after that fight ?
"A.: I have no doubt we could. The day
before, I had had a fight at Glendale ; and, un
der the orders, I had to leave my wounded be
hind me, and I left two surgeons to take care of
them. The enemy, in coming to Malvern, had
to march right by my hospital. My surgeons
afterward reported to me that, about 3 p. M. on
the day of the battle of Malvern, the enemy
commenced falling back, and kept it up all
night ; that they were totally demoralized,
many of the men going off into the woods and
trying to conceal themselves from their officers;
and that they were two days collecting their
forces together.
" Q. : Had the defeat of the enemy at Malvern
been followed up by our whole force, what
would have been the probable result ?
" A. : Richmond would have been ours be
yond a doubt. ^
" Q. : Instead of that, you fell back to Harri
son's Landing ?
" A. : Yes sir. We were ordered to retreat ;
and it was like the retreat of a whipped army.
We retreated like a parcel of sheep ; everybody
on the road at the same time; and a few shots
from the Rebels would have panic-stricken the
whole command."

168

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Mechanicsville to Harrison's Bar, at
1,582 killed, 7,709 wounded, and
5,958 missing ; total, 15,249.". This
may or may not include those aban
doned to the enemy in hospitals,
most of whom are probably numbered
among the wounded. Lee's report
does not state the amount of his
losses, but says it is contained in
" the accompanying tables ;" which
the Confederate authorities did not
see fit to print with his report. He
sums up his trophies as follows :
" The siege of Bichmond was raised ; and
the object of a campaign which had been
prosecuted, after months of preparation, at
an enormous expenditure of men and
money, completely frustrated. More than
10,000 prisoners, including officers of rank,
62 pieces of artillery, and upwards of 35,000
stand of small arms, were captured. The
stores and supplies of every description,
which fell into our hands, were great in
amount and value, but small in comparison
with those destroyed by the enemy. His
losses in- battle exceeded our own, as attest
ed by the thousands of dead and wounded
left on every field; while his subsequent
inaction shows in what condition the sur
vivors reached the protection to which they
fled." The " inaction" thus vaunted was
mutual. Lee did not see fit to re
peat at Harrison's Bar his costly ex
periment at Malvern ; but, after
scrutinizing our hastily constructed
defenses, and guessing at the num
bers and spirit of the men behind
them, withdrew " to Richmond, leav
ing but a brigade of cavalry to watch
and report any fresh evidences of ac
tivity on our side. None being af
forded, he sent Gen. French, with 43
guns, to approach Harrison's Bar
stealthily on the south side of the

46 List of hilled, wounded and missing vn, the Army of
the Potomac, from the 26„i of June to the 10 of
July, 1862, inclusive. Killed. Wbwi'd. Miss'g. Total
1. McUall's division  258 1,240 1,581 8,074
2. Sumner's corps  187 1,076 848 2,111
8. Heratzelmsn's "  189 1,051 888 2,073
4 Keyes' ' ,"  69 60T 201 777

river, during the night," and open a.
fire on our camps and vessels, where
by we had 10 killed and 15 wounded,
with some little damage to tents, &c.
French desisted after half an hour's,
firing, or so soon as our guns were
brought to bear upon him, and de
camped before daylight. Gen. Mc
Clellan thereupon occupied and for
tified Coggin's Point, on that side of
the river; and was no farther mo
lested.

34 yi ft 0 MILES

POSITION AT HARRISON'S LAUDING.
Even if we raise our actual losses
of men in the Seven Days' to 20,000,
it is doubtful that they much, if at all,
exceeded those of the Rebels, whose

, _ Killed. WowiCd. Mlss'g. Total
6. Porter's corps  620 2,460 1,198 4.278
6. Franklin's "  245 1,818 1,179 2.787
Engineers.  _ 2 .21 28
Cavalry.  19 60 97 176

Total 
48 July 8.

¦U

7,709 5,958 16 249
"July 31.

OUR ARMY AT HARRISON'S BAR.

169

reckless attacks on our strong posi
tions at Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill,
Glendale, and Malvern, being stoutly
resisted, must have cost them very
dearly. The official reports of two
corps commanders show an aggre
gate of 9,336 killed, wounded, and
missing ;" while other " subordinate
reports indicate heavy losses in other
divisions. On the whole, it is fair to
estimate our total loss at 15,000
killed and wounded, and 5,000 un-
wounded prisoners ; and the Rebel
as at least equal to ours, minus the
prisoners and the guns.

Gen. McClellan had telegraphed
the President from Haxall's, on the
morning of this battle, that: "My
men are completely exhausted, and I
dread the result if we are attacked
to-day by fresh troops." Next day
(2d), he telegraphed from Harrison's
Bar that, " As usual, we had a severe
battle yesterday, and beat the enemy
badly ; the men fighting even better
than before." Next day (3d), he
telegraphed again to the Secretary
of War that he presumed he had not
over "50,000 men left with their
colors;" and that, "To accomplish
the great task of capturing Rich
mond and putting an end to this Re
beUion, reenforcements should be sent
to me rather much over than less
than 100,000 men." The President
had advised him, the day before, that
*• Kitted. WowrCd. Misig. Total.
Jackson's  966 4,417 63 5,446
A. P. Hill's  619 8,271 — 8,890
Total  1,585 7,688 68 9,886
" Brig.-Gen. R. S. Ripley, Rebel chief of ar
tillery, reports that his brigade entered into
these fights 2,366 strong, including pioneers and
ambulance corps, of whom 889 fell,at Malvern,
and 3 out of 4 Colonels were killed. Brig.-Gen.
Garland reports his loss in all the battles at 192
killed, 637 wounded, 15 missing; total, 844.

there were, in all, east of the Alle-
ghanies, less than 75,000 men not
already on the James, including
those under Gen. Wool at Fortress
Monroe; so that to send him even
50,000 was impossible.
The President went down " to the
Army at Harrison's Bar, and found
86,000. men there. As 160,000 had
gone into that Army on the Penin
sula, he wrote for an account of the
residue. Gen. M. replied " that his
force then " present for duty" num
bered 88,665 ; absent by authority,
34,472; absent without authority,
3,778 ; sick, 16,619 ; present and ab
sent,. 144,407. Of those absent by
authority, he says that one-half were
probably fit for duty ; but, having got
away on sick leave or otherwise, had
failed to return. The Adjutant-
General's office reported (July 20th)
Gen. McClellan's army as numbering
— Present for duty, 101,691 ; on spe
cial duty, sick, or in arrest, 17,828 ;
absent, 38,795 ; total, 158,314. This
does not include Gen. Wool's nor
Gen. Burnside's force, then at or
near Fortress Monroe.

Upon a suggestion" from Gen.
Halleck at Washington that deserters
had reported the Rebels moving
southward of the James, leaving but
a small force in Richmond, Gen.
McClellan ordered Gen. Hooker,
with his own division and Pleasan-

Howell Cobb reports that his brigade, of Ma-
gruder's division, went into battle at Savage's
Station 2,700 strong; whereof but 1,500 ap
peared on the battle-field of Malvern, where
nearly 500 of them were killed and wounded.
Among the Rebel officers killed during the
Seven Days were Gen. Griffith, Miss.; Cols. C.
C. Pegues, 5th Ala., Allen, 2d Va., Fulkerson,
commanding Texas brigade, and Lt.-Col. Faison,
3d N. C.
" July 1. " July 15. M July 30.

170

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ton's cavalry, to advance upon and
seize Malvern Hill. Through the
incompetency of his guides, Hooker's
first attempt miscarried ; but it was
renewed the next night/3 and, not
withstanding the ample notice of it
given to the enemy, proved an easy
success; Hooker driving the Rebels
from Malvern with a loss of barely
14, and taking 100 prisoners ; Col.
Averill, with part of Pleasanton's
cavalry, pushing north to White Oak
Swamp Bridge, driving thence the
10th Yirginia cavalry and capturing
28 men and horses. This advance,
promptly and vigorously followed up
in force, would doubtless have placed
McClellan in Richmond forthwith.
But Gen. M. had already received
an order " directing a withdrawal of
his army by water to Acquia creek,
to support a fresh demonstration on
Richmond from the Rappahannock ;
which order he began " most reluct
antly to obey ; of course, recalling
Gen. Hooker from Malvern. He was
now eager to resume the offensive
with far smaller reenforcements than
he had recently pronounced indis
pensable, and suggested that, in ad
dition to Burnside's men, they might
be spared him from Pope's army on
the Rappahannock and from the
West. Gen. Halleck — assuming the
correctness of McClellan's own mis
taken assumption as to the strength
of the Rebel Army of Virginia — re
plied M with crushing cogency as fol
lows :
" Allow me to allude to a few of the facta
in the case.
" You and your officers at our interview
estimated the enemy's forces in and around
Richmond at 200,000 men. Since then,
you and others report that they have re
ceived and are receiving large reenforce

ments from the South. Gen._ Pope's army,
now covering "Washington, is only about
40,000. Tour effective force is only about
90,000. You are about thirty miles from
Richmond, and Gen. Pope eighty or ninety,
with the enemy directly between you,
ready to fall with his superior numbers
upon one or the other, as he may elect ;
neither can reenforce the other in case of
such an attack.
" If Gen. Pope's army be diminished to
reenforce you, Washington, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania would be left uncovered and
exposed. If your force be reduced to
strengthen Pope, you would be too Wsgak to
even hold the position you now cJBcupy,
should the enemy turn around and attack
you in full force. In other worjls, the old
Army of the Potomac is split into two parts,
with the entire force of the enemy directly
between them. They cannot be united by
land without exposing both to destruction ;
and yet they must be united. To send
Pope's forces by water to the Peninsula, is,
under present circumstances, a military im
possibility. The only alternative is to send
the forces on the Peninsula to some point
hy water — say Fredericksburg — where the
two armies can be united. * * *
" But, you will reply, why not reenforce
me here, so that I can strike Richmond
from my present position ? To do this, you
said at our ifiterview, that you required
30,000 additional troops. I told you that
it was impossible to give you so many.
You finally thought that you would have
some chance of success with 20,000. But
you afterward telegraphed me that you
would require 35,000, as the enemy was
being .largely reenforced.
" If your estimate of the enemy's strength
was correct, your requisition was perfectly
reasonable ; but it was utterly impossible to
fill it until new troops could be enlisted
and organized ; which would require several
weeks. " To keep your army in its present posi
tion until it could be so reenforced, would
almost destroy it in that climate. The
months of August and September are al
most fatal to whites who live on that part
of James river ; and, even after you receive
the reenforcements asked for, you admitted
that you must reduce Fort Darling and the
river batteries before you could advance on
Richmond. " It is by no means certain that the re
duction of these fortifications would not re
quire considerable time — perhaps as much
as those at Yorktown.
" This delay might not only be fatal to
the health of your army, but in the mean

' August 4-5. M On the 4th, dated 3d.

66 August 7.

M August 6.

RETREAT FROM THE PENINSULA.

171

time Gen. Pope's forces would be exposed
to the heavy blows of the enemy, without
the slightest hope of assistance from you.
" In regard to the demoralizing effect of
a withdrawal from the Peninsula to the
Rappahannock, I must remark that a large
number of your highest officers — indeed, a
majority of those whose opinions have been
reported to me — are decidedly in favor of
the movement. Even several of those who
originally advocated the line of the Penin
sula, now advise its abandonment."
Gen. McClellan forthwith com
menced embarking his sick and
five of his batteries, which had been
assigned to Burnside; who, having
been ordered on the 1st to Acquia
creek, had immediately reembarked
his men, reaching his destination on
the 3d, and promptly sending back
his vessels to McClellan, who had
been invested with complete control
over the immense fleet of transports
then in the Potomac, Hampton
Roads, and the James. The latter
commenced as if expecting to embark
his entire force, including even the
cavalry, at Harrison's Bar; but re
peated and urgent messages from
Washington, announcing " that the
Bebels were crossing the Rapidan in
force, and pressing Pope, soon im
pelled him to move the bulk of his
troops by land to Fortress Monroe ;
the two leading corps (Porter's and
Heintzehnan's), preceded by Averill's

cavalry, taking that road on the 14th,
crossing the Chickahominy by a pon
toon-bridge at Barrett's Ferry and
at Jones's Bridge; and Gen. M.,
with the rear-guard, breaking camp
and following the army on the 16th ;
crossing and removing the pontoon-
bridge on the morning of the 18th.
The retreat was covered by Gen.
Pleasanton with the remaining
cavalry. Gen. Porter was under orders to
halt the advance at Williamsburg
until the crossing was complete ; but,
intercepting there a letter which ap
prised him that the enemy were con
centrating rapidly on Pope, with
intent to crush him before he could
be reenforced, he took the responsi
bility of pressing on to Newport
News, which he reached on the 18th,
having marched 60 miles in three
days ; and on the 20th his corps had
embarked and was on its way to
Acquia creek. On that day, the last
of the army had reached its prescrib
ed points of embarkation* at York-
town, Newport News, and Fortress
Monroe." Heintzelman embarked
at Yorktown on the 21st ; Franklin
at Fortress Monroe on the 22d;
Keyes had been left at Yorktown to
cover the embarkation, should any

•* August 10.
68 Gen. Victor Le Due, who entered the service
as Captain and A. Q. M., and who acted as Di
vision Quartermaster throughout the retreat
from before Richmond, and thence to Fortress
Monroe, being promoted for eminent efficiency
to be a Corps Quartermaster thereafter, thus
sums up, in his private diary, under date of Sept.
lst-8th, 1862, the results of his experience and
observation :
" I am confident that there has been gross
mismanagement in this whole affair. With all
the resources that Government places in the
hands of officers, the Army of the Potomac
should have been transferred from the Peninsula
to Acquia creek or Alexandria and landed, and

in as good condition as when they embarked, all
within two weeks. Each corps as a unit should
have been embarked and landed by itself, and
its transportation have accompanied it; and,
with the two wharves at Newport News, incon
venient as they are, three days and nights was
ample time in which to put the transportation
on shipboard ; three days more would have been
occupied in discharging it off and setting it up,
and one day in transitu — seven days. Three
corps could have shipped at the same time — one
at Fortress Monroe, one at Newport News, and
one at Yorktown. It has taken, in fact, nearly
one month ; and will be an entire month before
all have arrived."
This view assumes that sufficient transporta
tion was always in readiness exactly where and
when it was required; which is unproved.

172

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Rebel force be sent down the Penin
sula on the track of our army ; .but
there was none, and our retreat was
entirely unmolested — the attention
and forces of the enemy being now
absorbingly devoted to Pope. Gen.
McClellan and staff embarked at
Fortress Monroe on the 23d, and re
ported at Acquia creek next day;
coming up to Alexandria, by Gen.
Halleck's request, on the 26th.
Thus ended the unfortunate Pen
insular campaign of the magnificent
Army of the Potomac. Its unsuc-
cess was due to the fact that the
enemy nearly always chose the time
and place of combat; and, though
uniformly inferior in aggregate num

bers, usually contrived to bring the,
larger force into action — fighting two-
thirds to three-fourths of his entire
strength against one-fourth to one-
half of ours. Our commander, in
cessantly calling urgently for reen
forcements, never brought into action
nearly all he already had, save that
at Malvern the enemy forced a con
flict before our army could again be
scattered, and thus incurred a sting
ing repulse, though a large portion
of our men were, even then, not
enabled to fire a shot. Never before
did an army so constantly, pressingly
need to be reenforced — not by a
corps, but by a leader ; not by men,
but by a man.

VIII.

GEN. POPE'S VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN.

Gen. John Pope, having been
summoned .from the West for the
purpose, was selected by the Presi
dent, after consultation with Gen.
Scott, for the command of a force to
be designated the Army of Virginia,
and to consist of all the troops then
covering Washington or holding the
lower end of the Shenandoah Valley.
This army was to be composed of
three corps, under Maj.-Gens. Fre
mont, Banks, and McDowell respec
tively; but Gen. Fremont was re
lieved, at his own request, from serv
ing under one whom he regarded as
his junior, and the command of his
corps assigned to Gen. Sigel. The
entire strength of this newly organ
ized army was nearly 50,000 men,
scattered from Fredericksburg to

Winchester, of whom 40,000 might
be considered disposable. To Gen.
Pope was assigned the duty of cover
ing Washington and protecting Ma
ryland, with its great railroad, while
threatening Richmond from the north.
He had at first intended and expected
to advance to the neighborhood of
Richmond, and there unite in the
operations of McClellan against that
city. But he was appointed on the
very day1 when Lee's designs against
McClellan's right wing were devel
oped at Mechanicsville ; and, before
he could concentrate his army, the re
treat through White Oak Swamp to
Harrison's Landing, by exposing his
meditated advance, unaided, to a
succession of blows from the entire
Rebel Army of Virginia, rendered

1 July 26.

POPE ADVANCES INTO YIRGINIA.

173

Such a movement simple madness.
In order, however, to effect at least
a diversion in favor of McClellan's
worsted army, and to enable it to
abandon the Peninsula without fur
ther loss, he drew Sigel from Middle-
town, via Front Royal, to Sperryville,
on one of the sources of the Rappa
hannock, near the Blue Ridge ; while
Banks, following nearly the same
route from the Valley, came in a few
miles farther east; and Ricketts's
division of Gen. McDowell's corps ad
vanced south-westwardly from Ma
nassas Junction to a point a little
eastward of Banks. Pope wrote to
Gen. McClellan, then on the Penin
sula, a letter proposing hearty coop
eration and soliciting suggestions,
which elicited but a vague and by
no means cordial response.' He had
doubtless suggested to the President
the appointment of a common mili
tary superior ; whereupon Maj.-Gen,
Halleck was relieved of his command
in the West and called3 to Washing
ton as General-in-Chief, assuming
command July 23d.

Before quitting Washington4 for
the field, Pope had ordered Gen.
King, at Fredericksburg, to push
forward detachments of his cavalry
to the Virginia Central Railroad and
break it up at several points, so as to
impede the enemy's communication
between Richmond and the Valley ;
which was effected. He had like
wise directed Gen. Banks to advance
an infantry brigade, with all his
cavalry, to Culpepper Court House,
thence pushing forward cavalry so
as to threaten Gordonsville. The
advance to Culpepper having been
unresisted, Banks was next ordered *
to send Hatch, with all his cavalry,
to capture Gordonsville, destroy the
railroad for 10 or 15 miles east of it,
and thence push a detachment as far
as Charlottesville, burning bridges
and breaking up railroads as far as
possible; but Hatch, taking along
infantry, artillery, and heavy trains,
was so impeded by bad roads that he
had only reached Madison Court
House on the 17th — a day after
Ewell, with a division of Lee's army

* McClellan and his lieutenants had of course
read and resented Pope's address to his army on
taking the field, which they, not unreasonably,
interpreted as reflecting on their strategy,
though Pope disclaims such an application. Its
text is as follows :
"Washington, July 14, 1862.
" To the Officers and Soldiers of the Army of

"By special assignment ofthe President of
the United States, I have assumed command of
this army. I have spent two weeks in learning
your whereabouts, your condition, and your
wants; in preparing you for active operations,
and in placing you in positions from which you
can act promptly and to the purpose.
" I have come to you from tbe West, where
we have always seen the backs of our enemies
— from an army whose business it has been to
seek the adversary, and to beat him when found
— whose policy has been attack, and not defense.
"In but one instance has the enemy been
able to place our Western armies in a defensive
attitude. I presume that I have been called
here to pursue the same system, and to lead you

against the enemy. It is my purpose to do so;
and that speedily.
"I am sure you long for an opportunity to
win the distinction you are capable of achieving.
That opportunity I shall endeavor to give you.
" Meantime, I desire you to dismiss from your
minds certain phrases which I am sorry to find
much in vogue amongst you.
" I hear constantly of taking strong positions
and holding them — of lines of retreat and of bases
of supplies. Let us discard such ideas.
" The strongest position a soldier should de
sire to occupy is one from which he can most
easily advance against the enemy.
" Let us study the probable lines of retreat of
our opponents, and leave our own to take care
of themselves. Let us look before, and not be
hind. Success and glory are in the advance.
Disaster and shame lurk in the rear.
"Let us act on this understanding, and it is
safe to predict that your banners shall be in
scribed with many a glorious deed, and that
your names will be dear to your countrymen
forever. J°Hir p°pE>
" Maj.-Gen. Commanding."
3 July 11. 4 July 29. • July 14

174

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

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THB ABBA OP POPE'S YIEGINIA A3TO OP UCOLEL_A_'s MARYLAND CAMPAIGN.

BANKS PUSHES ON TO CEDAR MOUNTAIN.

175

from Richmond, had reached Gor
donsville, rendering its capture by
cavalry impossible. Pope at once
ordered Hatch, through Banks, to
move westwardly across the Blue
Ridge from Madison, with 1,500 to
2,000 picked men, and swoop down
upon and destroy the railroad west
ward of that barrier. Hatch com
menced this movement ; but, soon
becoming discouraged, gave it up,
and returned, via Sperryville, to
Madison. Pope thereupon relieved
him from command, appointing Gen.
Buford, chief of artillery to Banks's
corps, in his stead.
At length, Pope, having joined
his army, ordered a Banks to move
forward to Hazel- Run, while Gen.
McDowell, with Ricketts's division,
advanced from Waterloo Bridge to
Culpepper, which Crawford's brigade
of Banks's corps had already occu
pied for several days. Buford, with
his cavalry, held Madison C. H.,
picketing the upper fords of the Ra
pidan, and as low down as Barnett's
Ford; while Bayard was posted on
the Orange and Alexandria Railroad,
near the Rapidan river, picketing
the fords from Barnett's as low down
as Raccoon Ford. The enemy cross
ing a considerable force in the
vicinity of the junction of Buford's
and Bayard's pickets, both Generals
reported their advance; but it was
some days before it was determined
whether they were intending to ad
vance in force on Madison C. H., or
toward Culpepper C. H. On the
8th, the Rebels pressed Bayard's
pickets, and his force fell back
toward Culpepper C. H., followed by
the enemy.
Pope, under instructions to pre

serve his communications with Gen.
King at Fredericksburg, ordered' a
concentration of his infantry and
artillery upon Culpepper, his head
quarters, and pushed forward Craw
ford's brigade toward Cedar (or
rather Slaughter's) Mountain: an
eminence commanding a wide pros
pect to the south and east, and which
should have been occupied and forti
fied by our forces some days before.
Banks, by order, advanced prompt
ly from Hazel Run to Culpepper;
but Sigel, still at Sperryville, instead
of moving at once, sent to ascertain
by which route he should come;
thus losing several hours, and ar
riving too late to be of use. Gen.
Banks, by order, moved forward next
morning8 toward Cedar Mountain,
supporting, with the rest of his corps,
the advance of Gen. Crawford, under
verbal orders from Pope, which were
reduced to writing by his Adjutant,
in these words :
" Culpepper, Aug. 9th — 9:45 a. m.
"From Col. Lewis Marshall : Gen. Banks
will move to the front immediately, assume
command of all the forces in the front, de
ploy his skirmishers if the enemy approach
es, and attack him immediately as soon as
he approaches, and be reenforced from
here." Calling on Pope as he left Culpep
per, Banks asked if there were fur
ther orders, and was referred to Gen.
Roberts, Pope's chief of staff, who
was to accompany him and indicate
the line he was to occupy ; which he
took : Roberts saying to him repeat
edly before he left, " There must be
no backing out this day;" words
needing no interpretation, and hardly
such as should be addressed by a
Brigadier to a Major-General com
manding a corps.

" August 1.

' August 8.

8 August 9.

176

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Stonewall Jackson, with his own
division, following Ewell's, had
reached Gordonsville July 19th,
and, sending thence for reenforce
ments, had received A. P. Hill's di
vision, increasing his force to. some
25,000 men; with which he ad
vanced," driving back our cavalry
and reaching Slaughter's or Cedar
Mountain this day.10 From the
splendid outlook afforded by this
mountain, he. saw his opportunity,
and resolved to profit by it. Push
ing forward Ewell's division on the
Culpepper road, and thence to the
right along the western slope of the
mountain, but keeping it thoroughly
covered by woods which concealed

its numbers, he advanced four guns
to the front, and opened fire upon
Crawford's batteries; his own divi
sion, under Winder, being thrown
out to the left as it arrived, still
under cover of the woods. Ewell's
batteries were successfully posted at
the foot of the mountain, some 200
feet above the valley, whence their
fire was far more effective- than
ours. Meantime, Hill's division was
arriving, and being sent in to the
support of whatever portion of the
Rebel line was Weakest, until not
less than 20,000 veterans, with every
advantage of position and shelter,
formed the Rebel line of battle;
against which Banks's 6,000 or 8,000

OEDAK MOTTHTAIN.

Explanations
A Position of Gen, Banks's corps both before and after
his advance upon the enemy, on the afternoon of Aug. 9.
B Farthest advance of Gen, Banks's corps, and place of
severest fighting.

b Position of Eebel troops corresponding with posi
tion B.

* August 7.

a Farthest advance of Rebels in tlie afternoon, from
which point they were driven evening of Aug. 9.
10 August a

BANKS DEFEATED AT CEDAR MOUNTAIN.

177

advanced, at 5 p. m., across open fields
and up gentle acclivities, thoroughly
swept by the Rebel cannon and mus
ketry. Had, victory been possible, they
would have won it. Early's brigade
of Ewell's division held the road, and
was so desperately charged in front
and on its right flank, that it held its
ground only by the opportune arrival
of Thomas's brigade of Hill's divi
sion ; while the left of Jackson's di
vision, under Taliaferro, was so as
sailed in flank and rear that one
brigade was routed and the whole
flank gave way, as did also Early's.
But the odds were too heavy ; and,
though our men proved themselves
heroes, they could not defeat three
times their number, holding the foot
of a mountain and covered by woods.
The best blood of the Union was
poured out like water, but in vain.
Gen. Geary, who, with five Ohio re
giments and the 28th Pennsylvania,
made the most desperate charge of
the day, was himself wounded, with
most of his officers. Gen. Crawford's
brigade came out of the fight a mere
skeleton. The 109th Pennsylvania,
102d New York, and several other
regiments, left half their number
dead or wounded on that fatal field.
Gens. Augur and Carroll were se
verely wounded ; as were Cols. Don
nelly, 46th Pa., Creighton, 7th Ohio,
and Majors Savage, 2d Mass., Arm
strong, 5th Ohio, and Pelouze,
Banks's Adjutant. Gen. Prince waB
taken prisoner after dark, by acci
dent, while passing from one part of
his command to another. Our loss
in killed and wounded could hardly
have been less than 2,000 men.
We were not so much beaten as fair
ly crowded off the field ; where Jack-
vol. n. — 12

son claims to have taken 400 pris
oners, 1 gun, and 5,302 small arms,
with a loss on his part of 223 killed,
including Gen. C. S. Winder, 2 Lt.-
Colonels, and a Major; with 1,060
wounded : among them Cols. Wil
liams and Sheffield, 3 Majors, and 31
missing ; total, 1,314.
Gen. Pope had remained through
out the day at Culpepper, neither
desiring nor expecting a serious en
gagement, and assured from time to
time that only skirmishing was going
on at the front ; until the continuous
roar of cannon assured him, soon
after 5 o'clock, that the matter was
grave. Ordering forward Ricketts's
division, he arrived with it on the
field just before dark, and directed
BankB to draw in his right wing upon
his center, so as to give room for
Ricketts to come into the fight ; but
the Rebels, though victorious, ad
vanced with great caution, and, find
ing themselves confronted by fresh
batteries, recoiled, after a sharp ar
tillery duel, and took shelter in the
woods. Ricketts's guns continued
vocal until midnight ; but of course
to little purpose. Meantime, Sigel's
corps began to arrive* and was sent
to the front abreast of Ricketts's;
Banks's corps being withdrawn two
miles to the rear to rest and reorgan
ize. But there was no more fighting.
Jackson clung to his mountain and
his woods till the night of the llth ;
when, aware that King's division had
just come up from Fredericksburg,
and that Pope was about to strike at
his communications, and thus com
pel him to fight on equal terms, he,
leaving a part of his dead unburied,
retreated rapidly across the Rapidan.
Our cavalry pursued him to that

178

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

stream, picking up a number of
stragglers. Gen. Reno, with 8,000 of Burn-
side's corps, having joined" him,
Gen. Pope advanced his infantry to
Robertson's river and Raccoon Ford,
with his center at and around Cedar
Mountain, and began again to operate
with his cavalry on the enemy's com
munications, until satisfied that the
whole Rebel Army of Yirginia was
rapidly assembling to overwhelm
him ; one of his cavalry expeditions
having captured J. E. B. Stuart's
Adjutant, bearing a letter from Gen.
Lee,12 at Gordonsville, which clearly
indicated that purpose. Holding his
advanced position to the last, so as
to afford time for the arrival of Mc
Clellan's army, he commenced 1S a re
treat across the Rappahannock, which
was effected in two days without loss ;
and, though the Rebels, of course,
followed sharply with their cavalry,
reaching the river on the morning of
the 20th, they found the fords so
guarded and fortified that they could
not be forced without heavy loss; so,
after three days of skirmishing and
artillery-firing at Kelly's Ford and
Rappahannock' Station, they com
menced a movement up the stream,
with intent to turn our right.
Pope, still under orders to main
tain his communications with Fre
dericksburg, was unable to extend
his right farther without too much
weakening his center, and tele
graphed again and again to Wash
ington that he must be reenforced or
retreat. He was assured, on the
21st, that, if he could hold on two
days longer, he should be so amply
strengthened, as to enable him to as
sume the offensive ; yet, on the 25th,

barely 7,000 men had reached him.
He had resolved to recross the Rap
pahannock on the night of the 22d,
and fall upon the flank and rear of
the long Rebel column constantly
passing up the river ; but, during
that night, a heavy rain set in, which,
before morning, had drowned all the
fords and carried away the bridges in
his front, rendering his meditated
blow impossible.
During that night, Gen. J. E. B.
Stuart, with 1,500 Rebel cavalry and
2 guns, having crossed the Rappa?
hannock at Waterloo Bridge and
Hart's Mill during the preceding day,
pushed on unobserved to Warrenton,
surprised Gen. Pope's headquarters*-
train near Catlett's Station, during the
intense rain and darkness ; capturing
Pope's field Quartermaster and his
dispatch-book, with a quantity of uni
forms and personal baggage, burn
ing the wagons, and trying to burn
the railroad bridge over Cedar Run ;
but the tremendous rain then fall
ing defeated this design. Stuart
claims to have reached the Rap
pahannock at Warrenton Springs, on
his return next day, with 300 pris
oners and many horses, here crossing
unharmed, after a night's bivouac
and a little skirmishing. Pope's
actual headquarters during this raid
were near Rappahannock Station ;
but our army trains were parked
around Catlett's, and guarded by
1,500 infantry and five companies of
cavalry ; so that Stuart's cheap suc
cess inflicted on us more disgrace
than injury — a disgrace which the
intense darkness and pouring rain
explain, but do not excuse.
Still, the enemy confronting us in
ample force at Rappahannock Sta-

" August 14.

"Dated August 15.

"August 18.

POPE PREPARING TO FIGHT.

179

tion, Sulphur Springs, a_td Waterloo
Bridge, kept moving heavy columns
up their side of the river, with evi
dent intent to flank and fall upon
our right; and Pope, facing along
the turnpike from Warrenton to
Gainesville, resolved there to give
battle. Meantime, Heintzelman's
long-expected corps from McClellan's
army had reached Warrenton Junc
tion," and Porter had reported from
the neighborhood of Bealton Station ;
while Sturgis, Cox, and Franklin,
were telegraphed from Washington
to be just at hand. Pope, therefore,
believed, and had a right to believe,
that he was to be supported, in the
struggle now imminent, by 40,000 to
50,000 veterans from the Army of
the Potomac, and had made disposi
tions and given orders accordingly.
He requested Gen. Halleck to push
Franklin with all speed to Gaines
ville ; and sent orders to Manassas
Junction that the first division which
reached that point from Alexandria
should halt and take post in the
works at that place, pushing forward
its cavalry toward Thoroughfare Gap
to watch the enemy's movements in
that quarter; while Gen. Sturgis,
commanding at Alexandria, had al
ready been directed " by him to post
strong guards along the railroad from
Manassas Junction to Catlett's, per
sonally superintending the execution
of this order.
Sigel, who had slowly moved up
the Rappahannock, and encountered"
a Rebel force at Great Run, two
miles below the Sulphur Springs, had
easily driven it, but not till" it had
had time to destroy certain bridges ;
and the great flood then prevailing
compelled hfm to halt and rebuild

them before advancing. Supported
by Gens. Reno and Banks, he crossed
Great Run next morning " and occu
pied Sulphur Springs under a heavy
fire of artillery from the Rebel bat
teries over the Rappahannock, re
building the Sulphur Springs bridge,
and pushing forward in the direction
of Waterloo Bridge, which was oc
cupied by Gen. Buford's cavalry at
noon of that day; Sigel's advance,
under Milroy, arriving late in the
afternoon : when our army may be
said to have been concentrated,
facing to the west, with Sigel's corps
and Buford's cavalry near the Rap
pahannock at Waterloo Bridge, with
Banks's behind it; Reno's farther
east, and very near Sulphur Springs ;
McDowell, with Ricketts's and King's
divisions, at Warrenton ; Heintzel
man behind him at Warrenton Junc
tion, where Sturgis and Cox were
hourly looked for; while Franklin
was expected to come in on his right,
and Porter to push forward and join
Reno. But unsuccessful fighting
and constant marching had by this
time reduced Sigel's corps to 9,000
effectives ; Banks's • to 5,000 ; Mc
Dowell's, including Reynolds's divi
sion, to 15,500 ; and Reno's to 7,000 ;
to which add 4,000 thoroughly used-
up cavalry, and Pope's army proper
could bring into action hardly
40,000 men. Add to these the corps
of Heintzelman and Porter, just ar
rived from McClellan's army, and it
might be said that his whole com
mand numbered nearly 60,000 ; but
Heintzelman had reached Warren
ton Junction by railroad, without
artillery or wagons, with only four
rounds of ammunition to the man,
and without horses even for his field

"August 25.

"August 22.

M August 23.

' August 2 _

180

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

officers ; while Porter, at Warrenton
Junction, had a very small supply of
provisions and barely 40 rounds of
cartridges per man.
Lee, who had by this time nearly
his whole army on the Rappahan
nock, had abandoned the idea of
forcing a passage of that river, in
favor of an effort, by a long flank
movement, to turn our right. To
this end, Jackson was directed to
take the advance, cross above Water
loo, and move around our army so
as to strike the railroad in its rear ;
while Longstreet, following, was to
menace our front and fix Pope's at
tention until Jackson's hazardous
movement should be accomplished.
Jackson moved rapidly across"
the Rappahannock at Hinson's Mill,
four miles above Waterloo, and en
camped that night at Salem, behind
the Bull Run Mountains, between
Thoroughfare and Manassas Gaps.
Starting early next morning, he
passed through Thoroughfare Gap
and moved south-easterly by Gaines
ville, where he was joined by Stuart
with two cavalry brigades ; striking
before dark19 the Alexandria Railroad
at Bristow Station, thus -placing him
self directly between Pope's far su
perior force and his base at Alexan
dria or Washington ; having encoun
tered no resistance. In fact, Pope
seems to have been completely de
ceived,20 with his cavalry still watch
ing for a Rebel advance from the
Rappahannock ; as two trains of cars,
moving northward from Warrenton,

arrived at Btistow soon after Jack
son, to whom they fell an easy prey.
So far, Jackson's success had been
without flaw; but his position was
critical, and there was obviously no
time to be lost. Weary and foot
sore as were his men, he at once dis
patched Gen. Trimble, with the 21st
North Carolina and 21st Georgia in
fantry, under Stuart — who took part
of his cavalry — with orders to strike
Manassas Junction, seven miles far
ther north, carry it at all hazards,
and capture the large amount of
stores there collected. Stuart moved
slowly, because of the. darkness of
the night, as well as the weariness
of his command ; but, sending Col.
Wickham, with the 4th Virginia cav
alry, to the rear of the Junction, he
charged and carried it with his in
fantry before midnight, capturing 8
guns, 300 prisoners, 175 horses, 200
new tents, 10 locomotives, 7 trains
loaded with provisions and muni
tions, and immense quantities of
quartermaster and commissary stores.
Our forces, consisting of the llth
New York battery and 4 or 5 com
panies of infantry, seem to have been
taken by surprise; which is the more
unaccountable since a train, which
had barely escaped capture at Bris
tow, had, some hours before, run by
the Junction at full speed, rushing
into a down train loaded with sol
diers, which was standing on the
track at Bull Run bridge, four miles
east of Manassas, completely demol
ishing 5 freight cars, killing 3 sol-

18 Aug. 25. "Aug. 26.
M Geu. Banks, from his position near the Rap
pahannock, reported to Pope at 11:25 a. m. on
the 25th, that his Aid, Col. Clark, in charge of
the Signal Corps, had observed a general move
ment of the Rebel army to the west and north.
Banks adds : " It seems to be apparent that the en

emy is threatening, or moving up the VaUey of the
Shenandoah, via Front Royal, with designs upon
the Potomac — possibly beyond." Pope, at War
renton Junction, at 9:30 that night, sent to Mc
Dowell at Warrenton, that, " I believe the whole
force ofthe enemy has marched/or the Shenandoah
VaUey, by way of Luray and Front Royal."

DEFEATS OF SCAMMON AND G. W. TAYLOR.

181

diers, and severely wounding others ;
the conductor and engineer of the
fugitive trairt being themselves badly
injured. A surprise at the Junction,
whereby 4 of our guns were taken at
the first dash of the Rebel cavalry,
and an immense amount of property
lost, which a well-officered regiment
might have saved, could never have
occurred in any service but ours.
Col. Scammon, with the llth and
12th Ohio, of Gen. Cox's division,
recently from West Virginia, was sta
tioned at Union Mills, across Bull
Run, whither a few of our routed
handful at Manassas escaped, giving
the alarm. He at once ordered an
advance upon the Junction, which
brought on, at daylight,21 a conflict ;
wherein our men were worsted and
driven back across Bull Run Bridge,
which Scammon attempted to hold ;
but by noon he was fairly beaten off,
retreating up the railroad toward
Alexandria ; while part of the Rebel
cavalry, justly elated with their tri
umph, pushed across and raided,
burnt, and destroyed at will, at Fair
fax, and on to Burke's Station.
Meantime} Brig.-Gen. George W.
Taylor, with the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th
New Jersey infantry, of Franklin's
division, had been sent forward by
rail from Alexandria, and, debarking
near Centerville, pushed eagerly for
ward to regain the lost fight; but
by this time Jackson, who was quite
aware that moments were precious,
had brought up from Bristow his
own and A. P. Hill's divisions, com
prising 10 brigades and 12 batteries :
by which Taylor was quickly routed,
himself losing a leg in the encoun
ter; the Rebels remaining com
pletely masters of the situation.

Pope, considerably astonished, be
gan by this time to have a realizing
sense of his condition. He had this
morning " ordered McDowell, with
Sigel and Reynolds, to move rapidly
on Gainesville, so as to reach it that
night; while Reno, followed by
Kearny's division of Heintzelman's
corps, was directed to move on
parallel roads to Greenwich, and
thence communicate at once with
McDowell, supporting him if re
quired. Pope himself, with Hooker's
division of Heintzelman's corps,
moved directly up the railroad
toward Manassas, ordering Porter
to remain at Warrenton Junction
until Banks should arrive from Fay
etteville, when he should march
forthwith on Gainesville, where a
battle was anticipated. The trains
were instructed to keep in the rear
of Hooker, protected by the corps
behind him from attack.
Approaching Bristow Station that
afternoon, Hooker encountered the
division of Ewell, which had been
left there by Jackson on his advance
to Manassas; when a sharp fight
occurred, in which Ewell was over
powered and driven, with a loss of
some 300 on each side ; Ewell losing
a part of his baggage, but burning
the bridge and thoroughly destroying
the railroad. He of course fell back
on Jackson at Manassas; while
Hooker, from want of ammunition,
was unable vigorously to pursue him.
Jackson, justly afraid of being as
sailed by Pope's entire army, was
forced to evacuate Manassas, moving
westward, in order to unite more
readily with Longstreet, then known
to be approaching; and compelled
to burn some thousands of barrels of

1 Aug. 27.

"August 27.

182

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

flour, beef, pork, and bacon, whereof
the Rebel army stood in greater need
than did ours. McDowell, Kearny,
and Reno reached, during the night,
;the positions assigned them by Pope.
Longstreet had only started the
day before from the south side of the
Rappahannock, opposite Warrenton
Springs, and had not yet entered
Thoroughfare Gap. Could McDow
ell but block it effectually with a few
regiments and batteries, while the
rest of our army was hurled upon
Jackson, our triumph must be cer
tain and decisive. Hence Pope,
about dark, sent back explicit orders
to Porter, at Warrenton Junction, to
move forward at 1 A. m.,23 and report
to headquarters at Bristow, 10 miles
distant, during the night or early next
morning. This order Porter failed to
obey ; not moving till after daylight,
and not reaching Bristow till 10^ a. m.
McDowell was likewise ordered,
at 9 p. m.,24 to press forward, at the
very earliest dawn, toward Manassas
Junction, resting his right on the
Manassas Gap Railroad, while Reno
advanced simultaneously from Green
wich upon Manassas, and Kearny
upon Bristow. Kearny reached Bris
tow at 8 A. m.,2S with Reno on his
left,, and was immediately pushed
forward, followed by Hooker, on the
track of Ewell. McDowell gave
orders for the required movement at
2 a. m. ; but Sigel, who held his ad
vance, had not fairly cleared Gaines
ville at 7£ a. m.
Meantime, Jackson, who was not
easily caught napping, had com
menced his evacuation of Manassas at
3 a. m., moving via Centerville ; and
thus escaping the destruction which
probably awaited him had he per

sisted in seeking a more immediate
junction with Longstreet's advance.
Pope reached Manassas, with Kear
ny's division and Reno's corps, about
noon; Jackson having left with his
rear-guard an hour earlier. Pope
immediately pushed forward all his
forces in hand upon Centerville,
ordered Porter to come up at once
to Manassas, and McDowell to ad
vance toward Centerville. Mean
while, McDowell, unordered, had
detached Ricketts's division and sent
it toward Thoroughfare Gap ; so that
it was no longer available for the
directed movement on Centerville.
Late in the afternoon, Kearny
occupied Centerville ; Jackson's rear
guard retreating by Sudley Springs ;
while part of his force took the War-,
renton turnpike toward Gainesville,
impeding our advance on both roads
by destroying the bridges over Bull
Run and Cub Run. At 6 p. m.,
Jackson's advance, now moving
toward Thoroughfare Gap, encoun
tered King's division of McDowell's
corps, and a sanguinary combat en
sued, which was terminated by dark
ness, the advantage being on the side
of the Rebels. The loss on both sides
was heavy ; and among the Rebel
wounded were Maj.-Gen. Ewell and
Brig.-Gen. Taliaferro; the former
severely. Pope, still at Centerville, was ap
prised of this collision at 10 p. m.,
and then felt that he had Jackson
sure. Sending orders to McDowell
and King to hold their ground at all
hazards, and directing Kearny to
push forward at 1 a. m.20 from Cen
terville, along the Warrenton turn
pike, and to hug Jackson close, so as
to prevent his retreating northward

'August 28.

1 August 27.

' August 28.

"August 29.

LONGSTREET ON HAND — BATTLE OF GAINESVILLE. 183

toward Leesburg ; and to Porter,
whom he supposed to Jjje now at
Manassas Junction, to move upon
Centerville at dawn, he confidently
expected to have Jackson inclosed
and early in the morning assailed by
25,000 on either side, who were to
crush him before Longstreet could
possibly arrive.
But he was reckoning without his
host — or rather, without the other
one. Gen. Longstreet's advance had
reached Thoroughfare Gap at 3
p. m.,2' and passed through it; but
encountered on this side a superior
force, strongly posted, by which it
was easily repulsed. As there was
no time to be lost, Gen. D. R. Jones,
with two brigades, was sent in at
once ; while Hood, with two others,
following a mountain foot-path, at
tempted to turn our right ; and Wil
cox, with two more, making a circuit
through Hopewell Gap, three miles
north, was to come in on our rear.
Ricketts's single division was of
course unable to stand against Long-
street's heavy corps, and was driven off
with loss, commencing its retreat just
at dark. Longstreet's whole force
was pushed rapidly through the pass,
and, early next day,28 its van was in
Gainesville, pressing on to the rescue
of Jackson, its steps quickened by the
roar of cannon, and meeting no re
sistance to the desired concentration ;
McDowell and King having got out
of the way during the night, retreat
ing on Manassas Junction. When
Longstreet, before noon, came rapidly
into action on the right of Jackson,
already hotly engaged, the Rebel
army was once more reunited, and
felt itself invincible.
Pope, apprised, just before morn-

August 28.

ing, of King's abandonment of the
Gainesville road, had sent orders to
Sigel, at Groveton, to advance and
attack vigorously at daylight, sup
ported by Reynolds ; while Heintzel
man, with Hooker's and Kearny's
divisions, was to push forward from
Centerville toward Gainesville ; Reno
following, witljL orders to attack
promptly and vigorously. Fitz-John
Porter, with his own corps and King's
division, was to move from Manassas
upon the Gainesville road with all
speed, with intent to turn Jackson's
flank at the intersection of the War
renton turnpike.
Sigel, who was nearest the enemy,
with the division of Schurz forming
his right, that of Schenck his left,
and the brigade of Milroy between
them, advanced, by order, at 5 A. m.,
and was fully engaged before 7;
gaining ground by hard fighting till
half past 10, when Milroy and
Schurz had advanced a mile, and
Schenck two miles, though obstinately
resisted by the enemy. But the
Rebel strength in their front was
constantly increasing, and now as
sumed the offensive, hurling heavy
masses of infantry against our right ;
which held its ground firmly by the
aid of its batteries, but not without
heavy loss.
Schenck, being now ordered by
Sigel to strike the Rebel assailants
in flank and rear, was soon briskly
engaged; the enemy attempting to
flank him in turn. At this moment,
Gen. Kearny's division of Heintzel
man's corps arrived on the field, by
the Sudley Springs road, and went
in on Sigel's right; while Reno, com
ing up by the Gainesville turnpike,
supported our center ; and Reynolds,
» August 29.

184

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

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PLAN OF SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RU_T, INCLUDING THE MORE IMPOKTANT POSITIONS OCCUPIED FEOM AUGUST 27
TO SEPTEMBER 1.

Explanations.

A A — (arrow-heads) — indicate the route pursued by
Jackson's forces, viz.: to Manassas Junction, Aug. 27;
via Centerville to Groveton and Sudley Springs on the
28th, and on the 1st of September to near Germantown.
The position of Hooker's and Ewell's forces in their
engagement on the 27th, near Bristow, is shown ; while
the position of the commands of McDowell and Sigel, at
Gainesville, and Eeno and Kearny, at Greenwich, as held
that night, are also shown, being indicated by the respec
tive initials, viz. :
M— McDowell. S— Sigel.
E— Eeno. K— Kearny.
The positions of Gens. McDowell and Sigel were some
what farther advanced toward Centerville, at the time
of their collision with Jackson's advance on the 28th.
A, B, C, represent the lines formed by the commands
of Heintzelman, Sigel, and Eeynolds, afterward reen

forced by McDowell and Beno, and confronted by Jack
son (a, o, c), who was afterward reenforced by Long-
street, Aug. 29.
The same position substantially, but extending farther
to the left, was held on the 80th, by Heintzelman, Eeno,
Porter, Sigel, and Eeynolds (named in order from right
to left), supported by McDowell.
No attempt is made to represent the changes of posi
tion which occurred during the two days of severe fight
ing. The position of the several commands at Centerville
on the 31st August, and near Germantown on the 1st
September, are indicated by initials, whore the full name
does not occur, viz. :
P— Porter. H— Heintzelman.
F— Franklin. S— Sigel.
E— Eeno. M— McDowell.

BATTLE OF GAINESVILLE. OR SECOND BULL RUN.

185

with the Pennsylvania Reserves,
came into position, at noon, on our
extreme left. About 2 p. m., Gen.
Hooker, with Heintzelman's remain
ing division, came down the Sudley
Springs road on our extreme right ;
and his troops immediately went in
to the aid of the wasted and hungry
commands of Schurz and Milroy,
who were thus enabled to refill their
cartridge boxes and obtain some
much needed food and rest.
The fighting thence till 4 p. m.
was desultory — a succession of heavy
skirmishes from point to point along
the front ; either General being intent
on his approaching reenforcements,
and trusting to time as his friend.
At 4£, McDowell being announced
as at hand, Pope sent a peremptory
order to Porter to go into action on
the enemy's right, turning it if pos
sible ; and, an hour later, presuming
this order obeyed, directed Heintzel
man and Reno to attack the enemy
in front ; which order was gallantly
obeyed.29 And now, though Fitz-John Por
ter was still missing, and King's di
vision did not reach the field till near
sunset, our army was for once supe
rior in numbers ; Kearny's and Hook
er's fresh regiments pressing forward
and crowding back the enemy's left,
which had been skillfully disposed for
a good part of the day behind the
embankment of an abandoned rail
road, which served most effectively
as a breast-work. At 5 p. m., Kear
ny, bringing up nearly his entire
division, and changing his front to

the left, advanced by order, charged
the enemy's left and swept back his
first line, rolling it up on his center
and right. King's division was sent
into the fight about sunset, and ad
vanced considerably beyond our gen
eral line of battle ; but, soon finding
itself confronted by a heavier force
of the enemy, was brought to a stand.
Meantime, Hood charged in turn,
with a fresh division of Longstreet's
corps, which had marched through
the Gap that day and been sent by
Lee to the relief of Jackson, now
clearly outnumbered. Hood's famous
Texas brigade and that of Law rushed
forward with great intrepidity, re
pulsing Kearny's most advanced re
giments, taking 1 gun, 4 flags, and
100 prisoners. Darkness arrested the
conflict, either army resting on the
field of battle ; but Pope, with some
reason, claiming the advantage, in
that he held some ground which had
been wrested from the enemy during
the day. The losses on either side
were probably not far from 7,000

men.

But Pope was really beaten, though
he did not yet know it. His aim had
been to overwhelm Jackson before
Lee, with Longstreet, could come to
his assistance; and in this he had
conspicuously failed. Had his entire
army been in hand and in line of
battle by 9 o'clock that morning, his
success would have been certain and
easy; but, dropping in by brigades
and divisions throughout the day,
and Porter not even getting into ac
tion at all,30 he had barely held his

29 Pope, in his official report, says :
" In this attack, Graver's brigade of Hooker's
division was particularly distinguished by a deter
mined bayonet-charge, breaking two of the ene
my's lines, and penetrating to the third before it
could be checked."

30 Pope, in his official report, says:
" About 8 p. M., the greater portion of the field
of battle was occupied by our army. Nothing
was heard of Gen. Porter up to that time; and
his forces took no part whatever in the action ;
but were suffered by him to lie idle on their

186

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

own ; and now his opportunity had
vanished. Longstreet's corps had
been arriving throughout the day,
and was now all present — much of it
perfectly fresh, so far as fighting was
concerned, and ready for most- effec
tive service on the morrow.
Pope, so often disappointed and
baffled, found his fighting force re
duced by casualties and by strag
gling, on the morning of that event
ful morrow, to about 40,000 men.31
These had had a surfeit of marching
and fighting, with very little eating,
for the two preceding days; while
his artillery and cavalry horses had
been ten days in harness, and two
days without food. To his appeal of
the 28th to Gen. Halleck for rations,
for forage, and fresh horses, he had
that morning at daylight32 received
an answer from Gen. Franklin, writ
ten by direction of Gen. McClellan,
and dated 8 p. m. of the 29th, inform

ing him that rations would be loaded
in the available wagons and cars at
Alexandria so soon as he would send
oack a cavalry escort to oring out the
trains. If cavalry had been ever so
necessary to the guarding of railroad
trains, he had probably not then a
regiment that could have gone to
Alexandria and back within 48
hours. He had received no reen
forcements or supplies since the 26th,
and had no assurance that any were
on the way. To retreat was diffi
cult ; to stand still and famish un ad
visable; so he ordered Porter, sup
ported bj King, to advance down
the Warrenton turnpike and attack ;
while Heintzelman and Reno, sup
ported by Ricketts's division, were
to assail and turn the enemy's left.
Porter's attack was feeble ; and not
unreasonably so, since he encoun
tered the enemy in greatly superior
numbers, and was speedily thrown

and cheeked by the destruction of this large
force as to have been no longer in condition to
prosecute further operations of an aggressive
character." 31 In his official report, he says :
"At that time, my effective force, greatly re
duced by losses in killed, wounded, missing, and
broken-down men, during the severe operations
of the two or three days and nights previous ;
the sharp actions of Hooker, King, and Ricketts
on the 2 Tth and 28th, and the furious battle on the
29th, were estimated by me and others as follows :
McDowell's corps, including Reynolds's division,
12,000 men; Sigel's corps, 7,000 ; Reno's corps,
7,000; Heintzelman's corps, 7,000; Porter's corps,
which had been in no engagement, and was, or
ought to have been, perfectly fresh, I estimated at
about 12,000 men, including the brigade of Piatt,
which formed a part of Sturgis's division, and
the only portion that ever joined me. But of
this force the brigades of Piatt and Griffin, num
bering, as I understood, about 5,000 men, had
been suffered to march off at daylight on the
30th for Centerville, and were not available for
operations on that day. This reduced Porter's
effective force in the field to about 7,000 men;
which gave me a total force of 40,000 men.
Banks's corps, about 5,000 strong, was at Bris
tow Station, in charge of the railroad trains, and
of a portion of the wagon trains of the army,
still at that place."
sa Aug. 30

arms, within sight and sound of the battle during
the whole day. So far as I know, he made no
effort whatever to comply with my orders or to
take any part in the action. I do not hesitate to
say that, if he had discharged his duty as be
came a soldier under the circumstances, and had
made a vigorous attack on the enemy, as he was
expected and directed to do, at any time up to
8 o'clock that night, we should have utterly
crushed or captured the larger portion of Jack
son's force before he could have been by any
ppssibility sufficiently reenforced to have made
an effective resistance. I did not myself feel for
a moment that it was necessary for me, having
given Gen. Porter an order to march toward the
enemy, in a particular direction, to send him in
addition specific orders to attack; it being his
clear duty, and in accordance with every military
prepept, to have brought his forces into action
wherever he encountered the enemy, when a
furious battle with that enemy was raging during
the whole day in his immediate presence. I be
lieve — in fact, I am positive — that at 5 o'clock on
the afternoon of the 29th, Gen. Porter had in
his front no considerable body of the enemy. I
believed then, as I am very sure now, that it was
easily practicable for him to have turned the
right flank of Jackson, and to have fallen upon
Ilia rear; that, if he had done so, we should have
gained a decisive victory over the army under
Jackson before he could have been joined by
any of the forces of Longstreet; and that the
army of Gen. Lee would have been so crippled

POPE DEFEATED AT GAINESVILLE.

187

back in confusion ; the Confederates
pursuing eagerly and joining battle
along the entire front, but struggling
especially to overwhelm and turn
our left, where Schenck, Milroy, and
Reynolds, soon reenforced by Rick
etts, maintained the unequal contest
throughout the afternoon ; while Por
ter's weakened corps was rallied, re
formed, and pushed up to their sup
port; rendering good service, espe
cially the brigade of regulars under
Col. Buchanan. Gen. Tower led his
brigade, of Ricketts's division, into
action, in support of Reynolds, with
eminent skill and gallantry ; its con
duct being such as to elicit enthusi
astic cheers from our entire left wing.
Reno's corps, also, being withdrawn
from our right center, was thrown
into action on our left, and displayed
conspicuous gallantry.
But the fates were against us.
The enemy was aware of his ad
vantage, and resolved to press it to
¦the utmost. Our attack on his left,
under Jackson, for a time promised
success ; until our advancing troops
were mowed down by the cross-fire
of 4 batteries from Longstreet's left,
which decimated and drove them
back in confusion. Jackson, seeing
them recoil, immediately ordered an
advance ; which Longstreet.supported
by pushing forward his whole com
mand against our center and left.'

33 Lee, in his official report, says :
"The obscurity of night and the uncertainty
of the fords of Bull Run rendered it necessary
to suspend operations until morning ; when the
, cavalry, being pushed forward, discovered that
the enemy had escaped to the strong position of
Centerville, about four miles beyond Bull Run.
The prevalence of a heavy rain, which began
during the night, threatened to render Bull Run
impassable, and impeded our movements.
Longstreet remained on the battle-field to en
gage the attention of the enemy, and Gover the
burial of the dead and the removal of the
wounded ; while Jackson proceeded by Sudley's
Fdrd to the Little River turnpike, to turn the

Hood's two brigades again led. the
charge, followed by the divisions of
Evans, R. H. Anderson, and Wilcox,
sustained by those of Kemper and
D. R. Jones ; the Rebel artillery
doing fearful execution on our dis
ordered and recoiling infantry. At
dark, our left had been forced back
considerably, but still stood firm and
unbroken, and still covered the turn
pike which was our only safe line of
retreat. At 8 p. m., Pope sent writ
ten instructions to his corps com
manders _o withdraw deliberately
toward Centerville, designating the
route of each, and the position he
was to take ; while Reno was ordered
to cover the retreat ; which was made
slowly, quietly, and in good order :
no pursuit across Bull Run being
attempted.33 Franklin's corps, from McClellan's
army, reported 8,000 strong, was,
unknown to . Pope, throughout this
mournful day, a little east of Center
ville.34 Pope reached that point be
tween 9 and 10 p. m., and at once
made his dispositions for resisting a
Rebel attack. But none was at
tempted. Sumner, as well as Frank
lin, from McClellan's army, joined
him here, raising his total force to
fully 60,000 men ; which was proba
bly more than the enemy could now
bring against him.
Pope evidently expected to be at-

enemy's right and intercept his retreat to Wash
ington. Jackson's progress was retarded^ by
the inclemency of the weather and the fatigue
of his troops ; who, in addition to their arduous
marches, had fought three severe engagements
in as many days. He reached Little River turn
pike in the evening, and the next day, Septem
ber 1st, advanced by that road toward Fairfax
Court House."
34 Pope, in his official report, says :
" About 6 p. M., I heard accidentally that
Franklin's corps had arrived at a point about
four miles east of Centerville, and 12 miles in our
rear, and that it was only about 8,000 strong."

188

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

tacked next morning in this strong
position ; but Lee, not unmindful of
the still recent and sore experience
of Malvern Heights, was too good a
General to repeat his own blunders.
Aware that a demoralized army un
der an inapt commander may be
most safely and surely assailed on its
flank and rear — by blows that threat
en to cut off its line of supply and
retreat — he started Jackson north
ward, with his own and Ewell's divi
sions, at an early hour next morn
ing,35 with instructions to turn and
assail our right. Crossing Bull Run
at Sudley Ford, Jackson took a coun
try road thence to Little River turn
pike, on which, turning sharply to
the right, he moved down toward
Fairfax C. H. ; and, toward evening
of the next day,36 when nearing the
little village of Germantown, a mile
or two from Fairfax C. H., he found
his advance resisted. Pope, not even
threatened with a front attack, had
ere this suspected the Rebels of a
fresh attempt to flank his right, and
had directed Gen. Sumner to push
forward two brigades toward the
turnpike, while Gen. Hooker was
that afternoon dispatched to Fairfax
C. H. to support the movement.
Skirmishing commenced at 5 p. m.
Gen. Reno, near Chantilly, with the
remains of two divisions, poorly sup
plied with ammunition, found him
self confronted by Jackson's far su
perior numbers, but composed wholly
of infantry ; the rapidity of his march
having left his artillery behind on
the road. Gen. Isaac J. Stevens,
commanding Reno's 2d or left divi

sion, at once ordered a charge, and
was shot dead while leading it,
by a bullet through his head. His
command thereupon fell back in dis
order, uncovering the flank of Reno's
other division, which thereupon fell
back also.
Gen. Phil. Kearny, with his divi
sion of Heintzelman's corps, now ad
vanced and renewed the action, in
the midst of a thunder-storm so
furious that ammunition could with
great difficulty be kept serviceable ;
while the roar of cannon was utterly
unheard at Centerville, barely three
miles distant. Riding forward too
recklessly, Kearny, about sunset, was
shot dead, when almost within the
Rebel lines, and the command of his
division devolved on Gen. Birney,
who promptly ordered a bayonet-
charge by his own brigade, consist
ing of the 1st, 38th, and 40th New
York. The order was executed by
Col. Egan with great gallantry, and
the enemy's advance driven back
considerably; Gen. Birney holding
the field of conflict through the night,
burying our dead and removing our
wounded. Our total loss here can
not have exceeded 500 men ; but
among them were Gens. Kearny and
Stevens, and Maj. Tilden, 38th New
York, who fell in the closing bayonet-
charge. Jackson's flanking movement and
attack, though wisely conceived and
vigorously made, had failed to
achieve any material results. His
report claims no prisoners nor arms
captured. ST
Pope's retreat from Centerville

35 August 31. 36 Sept. 1.
37 He says :
" Early next morning, Sept. 1st, we moved
forward; and, late in the evening, after reaching
Ox TTill, came in contact with the enemy, who

were in position on our right and front, cover
ing his line of retreat from Centerville to Fair
fax Court House. Our line of battle was
formed — Gen. Hill's division on the right;
Ewell's division, (Jen. Lawton commanding, in

THE LOSSES OF POPE'S CAMPAIGN.

189

had in effect commenced on the 1st,
when he found himself flanked by
Jackson; and was continued through
out that and the following day, with
out further annoyance from the
enemy, until his whole army was
drawn back within the intrench
ments which, along the south bank
of the Potomac, cover the approaches
to Washington; when he resigned
his command, and was succeeded by
Gen. McClellan.

Gen. Lee officially claims to have
captured, during his campaign
against Pope, more than 7,000 pris
oners, beside 2,000 of our wounded
left in his hands, with 30 pieces of
artillery, and 20,000 small arms;
while our losses of railroad cars,
munitions, tents, and camp equipage,
must have been immense. Lee's
Medical Director makes the Rebel
losses in the two days' fighting on
Manassas Plains, 1,090 killed, 6,154
wounded : total, 7,244. Longstreet
reports his losses from the 23d to the
30th of August, inclusive, at 4,725.
A. P. Hill reports the losses in his
division, from the 24th to the 31st,
at 1,548. Probably the entire Rebel
loss from Cedar Mountain to Chan
tilly did not fall short of 15, 000 men ;
while Pope's, if we include that by
stragglers who never rejoined their
regiments, must have been fully
double that number. Among our

killed, beside those already named,
were Cols. Fletcher Webster, son of
the great Daniel, Roberts, 1st Mich.,
O'Connor, 2d Wise, Koltes, 73d
Pa., commanding a brigade, Cant-
well, 82d Ohio, and Brown, 20th
Ind. Among our wounded on the
30th, were Maj.-Gen. Robert C.
Schenck and Col. Hardin, of the
Pa. Reserves. Among the Rebels
wounded in these fights, were Brig.-
Gens. Field and Trimble, and Cols.
Forno and Baylor, commanding brig
ades.

How far Pope's disasters are justly
attributable to his own incapacity,
and how far to the failure or with
holding of support on which he had
a right to calculate, it is time now to
consider. In his report, he says :
• " It seems proper for me, since so much
misrepresentation has been put into circula
tion as to the support I received from the
Army of the Potomac, to state precisely
what forces of that army came under my
command, and. were at any time engaged in
the active operations of the campaign.
Reynolds's division of Pennsylvania Re
serves, about 2,500, joined me on the 23d
of August, at Rappahannock Station. The
corps of Heintzelman and Porter, about
18,000 strong, joined me on the 26th and
and 27th of August, at "Warrenton Junction.
The Pennsylvania Reserves, under Rey
nolds, and Heintzelman's corps, consisting
of the divisions of Hooker and Kearny,
rendered most gallant and efficient service
in all the operations which occurred after
they had reported to me. Porter's corps,
from unnecessary and unusual delays, and
frequent and flagrant disregard of my
orders, took no part whatever except in

the center, and Jackson's division, Gen. Starke
commanding, on the left — all on the right of the
turnpike road. Artillery was posted on an emi
nence to the left of the road. The brigades of
Branch and Field, CoL Brockenbrough com
manding the latter, were sent forward to feel
and engage the enemy. A cold and drenching
thunder-shower swept over the field at this
time, striking directly into the faces of our
troops. These two brigades gallantly engaged
the enemy ; but so severe was the fire in front
and flank of Branch's brigade as to produce in
' ' it some disorder and' falling back. The brigades

of Gregg, Thomas, and Pender were then
thrown into the fight. Soon, a portion of
Ewell's division became engaged. The conflict
now raged with great fury ; the enemy obsti
nately and desperately contesting the ground un
til their Gens. Kearny and Stevens fell in front
of Thomas's brigade; after which, they retired
from the field. By the following morning, the
Federal army had entirely disappeared from our
view ; and it soon appeared, by a report from
Gen. Stuart, that it had passed Fairfax Court
House and had moved in the direction of Wash
ington city."

190

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the action of the 30th of August. This
small fraction of 20,500 men was all of the
91,000 veteran troops from Harrison's
Landing which ever drew trigger under
my command, or in any way took part in
that campaign. By the time the corps of
Franklin and Sumner, 19,000 strong, joined
me at Centerville, the original Army of Vir
ginia, as well as the corps of Heintzelman,
and the division of Reynolds, had been so
much cut up in the severe actions in which
they had been engaged, and were so much
broken down and diminished in numbers by
the constant and excessive duties they had
performed, that they were in little condition
for any effective service whatever, and re
quired, and should have had, some days of
rest to put them into anything like condition
to perform their duties in the field."
Gen. McClellan, we have seen,
was ordered on the 3d of August to
withdraw his army from the Penin
sula. He hesitated, and remon
strated; but the orders were reite
rated more peremptorily ; and he left
Harrison's Bar with his rear-guard
on the 16th of August. Having
embarked and dispatched his corps
successively at and near Fortress
Monroe, he left that post on the 23d,
arriving at Acquia creek on the 24th,
removing to Alexandria on the 27th ;
on which day Halleck telegraphed
him: " Porter reports a general battle immi
nent. Franklin's corps should move out by
forced marches, carrying three or four days'
provisions, and to be supplied, as far as
possible, by railroad. Perhaps you may
prefer some other road than to Centerville."
To this, he replied, at 10:20 a. m. :
" I have sent orders to Franklin to pre
pare to march with his corps at once, and to
repair here in person to inform me as to his
means of transportation."
At 1:15 p. m., he again tele
graphed Gen. Halleck as follows :
" Franklin's artillery has no horses except
for four guns without caissons. I can pick up
no cavalry. In view of these facts, will it
not be well to push Sumner's corps here by
water as rapidly as possible, to make imme
diate arrangements for placing the works in
front of "Washington in an efficient condition
of defense ? I have no means of knowing

the enemy's force between Pope and our
selves. Can Franklin, without his artillery
or cavalry, effect any useful purpose in
front? Should not Burnside at once take
steps to evacuate Falmouth and Acquia, at
the same time covering the retreat of any
of Pope's troops who may fall back in that
direction ? I do not see that we have force
enough in hand to form a connexion with
Pope, whose exact position we do not
know. Are we safe in the direction of the
Valley?" Half an hour later, he telegraphed :
" I think our policy now is to make these
works perfectly safe, and mobilize a couple
of corps as soon as possible ; but not to ad
vance them until they can -lave their artil
lery and cavalry."
An hour later, he telegraphed
again :
" I still think that we should first provide
for the immediate defense of Washington
on both sides ofthe Potomac.
"lam not responsible for the past, and
cannot be for the future, unless I receive
authority to dispose of the available troops
according to my judgment. Please inform
me at once what my position is. I do not
wish to act in the dark."
At 6 p. m., he telegraphed again :
"I have just received the copy of a dis
patch from General Pope to you, dated 10
a. m., this morning, in which he says : 'All.
forces now sent forward should be sent to
my right at Gainesville.'
" I now have at my disposal here about
10,000 men of Franklin's corps, about 2,800
of Gen. Tyler's brigade, and Col. Tyler's
1st Connecticut Artillery, which I recom
mend should be held in hand for the defense
of Washington.
" If you wish me to order any part of
this force to the front, it is in readiness to
march at a moment's notice to any point
you may indicate.
" In view of the existing state of things in
our front, I have deemed it best to order
Gen. Casey to hold his men for [from] York-
town in readiness to move, but not to send
them off till further orders."
At 4:40 p. m. next day, Aug. 28th,
he telegraphed Gen. Halleck : • i
" Gen. Franklin is with me here. I will
know in a few minutes the condition of ar
tillery and cavalry. "We are not yet in con
dition to move; may be by to-morrow
morning. Pope must cut through to-day,
or adopt the plan I suggested. I have
ordered troops to garrison the works at
Upton's Hill. They' must be held at any

MoCLELLAN 'MARKING' TIME.

191

cost. As soon as I can see the way to spare
them, I will send a good corps of troops
there. It is the key to "Washington, which
connot be seriously menaced so long as it is
held." At 4:45 p. m., he telegraphed
again :
" Your dispatch received. Neither Frank
lin's nor Sumner's corps is now in condition
to move and fight a battle. It would be a
sacrifice to send them out now. I have
sent aids to ascertain the condition of the
commands of Cox and Tyler ; but I still
think that a premature movement in small
force will accomplish nothing but the de
struction of the troops sent out. I repeat
that I will lose no time in preparing the
troops now here for the field; and that
whatever orders you may give, after hear
ing what I have to say, will be carried out."
To these dispatches, Gen. Halleck,
at 8:40 p. m., responded as follows :
"There must be no further delay in
moving Franklin's corps toward Manassas.
They must go to-morrow morning, ready
or not ready. If we delay too long to get
ready, there will be no necessity to go at
all ; for Pope will either be defeated or vic
torious without our aid. If there is a want
of wagons, the men must carry provisions
with them till the wagons can come to their
relief." At 10:30 of the following day38—
the day of Pope's first indecisive
battle at Gainesville or Groveton —
McClellan telegraphed to Gen. Hal
leck as follows :
" Franklin's corps is in motion ; started
about 6 a. m. I can give him but two
squadrons of cavalry. I propose moving
Gen. Cox to Upton's Hill, to hold that im
portant point with its works, and to push
cavalry scouts to Vienna, via Freedom Hill
and Hunter's Lane. Cox has two squadrons
of cavalry. Please answer at once whether
this meets your approval. I have directed
Woodbury, with the Engineer brigade, to
hold Fort Lyon, however. Detailed last
night two regiments to the vicinity of Forts
Ethan Allen and Marcy. Meagher's brigade
is still at Acquia. If he moves in support
of Franklin, it leaves us without any reliable
troops in and near "Washington. Yet Frank
lin is too weak alone. "What shall be done ?
No more cavalry arrived ; have but three
squadrons. Franklin has but forty rounds
of ammunition, and no wagons to move
more. I do not think Franklin is in condi

tion to accomplish much, if he meets with
serious resistance. I should not have moved
him but for your pressing order of last
night. What have you from Vienna and
Dranesville ?"
At noon, he telegraphed again :
" Your telegram received. Do you wish
the movement of Franklin's corps to con
tinue ? He is without reserve ammunition
and without transportation. Would it meet
you" views to post the rest of Sumner's
corps between Arlington and Fort Corcoran,
where they can either support Cox, Frank
lin, or Chain Bridge, and even Tenally-
town? "Franklin has only between 10,000 and
11, 000 -ready for duty. How far do you
wish this force to advance ?"
Gen. McClellan had already di
rected Franklin to halt his command
near Anandale ; and, at 1 p. m. this
day, he telegraphed Gen. Halleck as
follows :
" I shall endeavor to hold a line in ad
vance of Forts Allen and Marcy, at least
with strong advanced guards. I wish to
hold the line through Prospect Hill, Mack-
all's, Minor's, and Hall's Hill. This will
give us timely warning. Shall I do as seems
best to me with all the troops in this vi
cinity, including Franklin, who, I really
think, ought not, under present circum
stances, to advance beyond Anandale ?"
Halleck, at 3 p. m., replied :
" I want Franklin's corps to go far
enough to find out something about the
enemy. Perhaps he may get such informa
tion at Anandale as to prevent his going
farther. Otherwise, he will push on toward
Fairfax. Try to get something from direc
tion of Manassas, either by telegram or
through Franklin's scouts. Our people
must move more actively, and find out
where the enemy is. I am tired of guesses."
Fifteen minutes before, McClellan
had telegraphed the President as fol
lows: "I am clear that one of two courses
should be adopted : 1st. To concentrate all
our available forces to open communication
with Pope ; 2d. To leave Pope to get out of
his scrape, and at once use all our means to
make the Capital perfectly safe.
" No middle ground will now answer.
Tell me what you wish me to do, and I will
do all in my power to accomplish it. I wish

"August 29.

192

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

to know what my orders and authority are.
I ask for nothing, but will obey whatever
orders you give. I only ask a prompt deci
sion, that I may at once give the necessary
orders. It will not do to delay longer."
To which the President, at 4:10
p. m., responded as follows :
" Yours of to-day just received. I think
your first alternative — to wit : ' to concen
trate all our available forces to open com
munication with Pope' — is the right one.
But I wish not to control. That I now leave
to Gen. Halleck, aided by your counsels.
"A. Lincoln."
But McClellan had already not
only arrested Franklin's mardh at
Anandale, but sent Sumner's corps
northward toward Arlington and
Chain Bridge, instead of toward the
enemy. At 7:50 p. m., Halleck tele
graphed him thus :
"You will immediately send construction
train and guards to repair railroad to Ma
nassas. Let there be no delay in this. I
have just been told that Franklin's corps
stopped at Anandale, and that he was this
evening in Alexandria. This is all contrary
to my orders. Investigate and report the
fact of this disobedience. That corps must
push forward, as I directed, to protect the
railroad and open our communications with
Manassas." McClellan, at 8 p. m., telegraphed
to Halleck :
" It was not safe for Franklin to move
beyond Anandale, under the circumstances,
until we knew what was at Vienna. Gen.
Franklin remained here until about 1 p. m.,
endeavoring to arrange for supplies for his
command. I am responsible for both these
circumstances, and do not see that either
was in disobedience to your orders. Please
give distinct orders in reference to Frank
lin's movements of to-morrow."
At 10 p. m., Gen. McClellan tele
graphed again :
"Not hearing from you, I have sent
orders to Gen. Franklin to place himself in
communication with Gen. Pope by advanc
ing, as soon as possible, and, at the same
time, cover the transit of Pope's supplies.
Orders have been given for railway and

wagon trains to mo veto Pope with the least
possible delay."
Gen. Halleck, at 9:40 a. m. on the
fatal 30th, telegraphed McClellan :
" I am by no means satisfied with Gen.
Franklin's march of yesterday, considering
the circumstances of the case. He was very
wrong in stopping at Anandale. Moreover,
I learned last night that the quartermaster's
department would have given him plenty of
transportation if he had applied for it any
time since his arrival at Alexandria. He
knew the importance of opening communi
cation with Gen. Pope's army, and should
have acted more promptly."
At 11 A. m., McClellan responded :
"Have ordered Sumner to leave one
brigade in the vicinity of Chain Bridge, and
to move the rest, via Columbia pike, on
Anandale and Fairfax Court House, if this
is the route you wish them to take. He
and Franklin are both instructed to join
Pope as promptly as possible. Shall Couch
move also when he arrives ?"
To which Halleck, at 12:20 p. m.,
responded as follows :
"I think Couch should land at Alexan
dria and be immediately pushed out to Pope.
Send the troops where the fighting is. Let
me know when Couch arrives."
Franklin's and Sumner's corps
were now actually pushed forward,
and found Pope without difficulty,
defeated and driven back on Center
ville. Had they been there two days
earlier, and had Porter now and then
condescended to obey an order, that
defeat might have been transformed
into a victory. It seems clear that
neither McClellan, nor any of his
devoted lieutenants, was anxious that
victory, under such auspices, should
be achieved. Pope's appointment to
the command, and his address to his
army on opening the campaign,3" had
been understood by them as reflecting
on the strategy of the Peninsular cam
paign ; and this was their mode of
resenting the indignity.

39 See page 173.

LEE'S ADVANCE INTO MARYLAND.

193

IX.

'MY MARYLAND'— LEE'S INVASION.

Gen. McClellart had already1
been verbally charged with the com
mand ofthe defenses of Washington;
and was, upon fuller advices of Pope's
disasters, invested2 by the President
and Gen. Halleck with the entire
control, not only of those fortifica
tions, but of " all the troops for the
defense of the capital," in obedience
to the imperious demand of a large
majority of the surviving officers and
soldiers. Pope's original army had
in great part been demolished ; while
that brought from the Peninsula by
McClellan had been taught to attrib
ute the general ill-fortune not to the
tardiness and heartlessness wherewith
Pope had been reenforced and sup
ported by their leaders, but to his
own incapacity, presumption, and
folly. McClellan at once ordered a
concentration of his forces within the
defenses of Washington ; where they
were soon prepared to resist the ene
my, but whither Lee had no idea of
following them. Having been joined 3
by D. H Hill's fresh division, from
Richmond, he sent that division at
once in the van of his army to Lees-
burg; thence crossing the Potomac
and moving on Frederick. Jackson
followed with a heavy corps, consist
ing of A. P. Hill's, Ewell's, and his
own divisions, embracing 14 brigades,
crossing 4 at White's Ford and mov
ing on Frederick, which was occu
pied on the 6th, without resistance.
Gen. Lee, with the rest of his army,
rapidly followed, concentrating at
Frederick ; whence he issued the fol
lowing seductive address :

" Headquarters Aemt of Northern 1
" Virginia, near Frederick, >
"Sept. 8,1862. )
" To fhe People of Maryland :
"It is right that you should know the
purpose that has brought the army under
my command within the limits of your
State, so far as that purpose concerns your-

" The people of the Confederate States
have long watched with the deepest sym
pathy the wrongs and outrages that have
been inflicted upon the citizens of a Com
monwealth allied to the States of the South
by the strongest social, political, and com
mercial ties, and reduced, to the condition
of a conquered province.
"Under the pretense of supporting the
Constitution, but in violation of its most
valuable provisions, your citizens have been
arrested and imprisoned, upon no charge,
and contrary to all the forms of law.
"A faithful and manly protest against
this outrage, made by a venerable and illus
trious Marylander,6 to whom in better days
no citizen appealed for right in vain, was
treated with scorn and contempt.
" The government of your chief city has
been usurped by armed strangers; your
Legislature has been dissolved by the un
lawful arrest of its members; freedom of
the press and of speech has been sup
pressed ; words have been declared offenses
by an arbitrary decree of the Federal Exec
utive ; and citizens ordered to be tried by
military commissions for what they may
dare to speak.
" Believing that the people of Maryland
possess a spirit too lofty to submit to such
a Government, the people of the South have
long wished to aid you in throwing off this
foreign yoke, to enable you again to enjoy
the inalienable rights of freemen, and restore
the independence and sovereignty of your

In obedience to this wish, our army has
come among you, and is prepared to assist
you with the power of its arms in regaining
the rights of which you have been so un
justly despoiled.
" This, citizens of Maryland, is our mis
sion, so far as you are concerned. No re
straint upon your free will is intended-™
intimidation will be allowed within the lim
its of this army at least. Marylanders shall
once more enjoy their ancient freedom of
thought and speech. We know no enemies

1 Sept. 1. a Sept. 2. • Sept. 2. * Sept. 5.
vol. n. — 13

' Roger B. Taney, to wit.

194

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

among you, and will protect all of you in
every opinion.
"It is for you to decide your destiny
freely and without constraint. This army
will respect your choice, whatever it may
be; and, while the Southern people will
rejoice to welcome you to your natural po
sition among them, they will only welcome
you when you come of your own free will.
" R. E. Lee, General Commanding."
The fond expectations whieh had
prompted this address were never
realized. The Marylanders had no
gluttonous appetite for fighting on
the side of the Union ; still less for
risking their lives in support of the
Confederacy. All who were inclined
to fighting on that side had found
their way into the Rebel lines long
before; there being little difficulty
in stealing across the Potomac, and
none at all in crossing by night to
Virginia from the intensely disloyal,
slaveholding counties of south-west
ern Maryland. In vain was Gen.
Bradley T. Johnson — who had left
Frederick at the outset of the war to
serve in the Rebel army — made Pro
vost-Marshal of that town, recruit
ing offices opened, and all man
ner of solicitations to enlistment set
forth. The number of recruits won
to the Rebel standard while it floated
over Maryland probably just about
equaled its loss by deserters — say from
200 to 300.
The conduct of the Rebel soldiery
was in the main exemplary. Hun
gry, ragged, and shoeless, as they
often were, they rarely entered a
house except by order, and never
abused women; but cattle, horses,
and everything that might contribute
to the subsistence or efficiency of an
army, were seized by wholesale, not
only for present use, but thousands
of animals were driven across the Po-
5 Sept. 3.

tomac to replenish their wasted and
inadequate resources.
Gen. McClellan was early ap
prised ' of the disappearance of the
Rebels from his front, and soon ad
vised that they were crossing into
Maryland. His several corps were
accordingly brought across the Poto
mac and posted on the north of
Washington; which city he left7 in
command of Gen. Banks, making his
headquarters that night with the 6th
corps, at Rockville. He moved slow
ly, because uncertain, as were his
superiors, that the Rebel movement
across the Potomac was not a feint.
But his advance, after a brisk skir
mish, on the 12th entered Frederick,
which the Rebels had evacuated,
moving westward, during the two
preceding days, and through which
his main body passed next day.
Here he was so lucky as to obtain a
copy of Lee's general order, only
four days old, developing his pro-'
spective movements, as follows :
" Headquarters Army of Northern )
" Virginia, September 9, 1862. j
"The army will resume its march to
morrow, taking the Hagerstown road. Gen.
Jackson's command will form the advance;
and, after passing Middletown, with such
portion as he may select, take the route to
ward Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the
most convenient point, and, by Friday night,
take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, capture such of the enemy as may
be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as
may attempt to escape from Harper's Ferry.
" Gen. Longstreet's command will pursue
the same road as far as Boonsborough,
where it will halt with the reserve, supply,
and baggage trains of the army.
"Gen. McLaws, with his own division
and that of Gen. R. H. Anderson, will fol
low Gen. Longstreet ; on reaching Middle-
town, he will take the route to Harper's
Ferry, and, by Friday morning, possess him
self of the Maryland Heights, and endeavor
to capture the enemy at Harper's Ferry and
vicinity. " Gen. "Walker, with his division, after
* Sept. 1.

MoCLELLAN'S BLUNDER AT • FREDERICK.

195

accomplishing the object in which he is now
engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cheek's
Ford, ascend its right bank to Lovettsville,
take possession of Loudon Heights, if prac
ticable, by Friday morning ; Key's Ford on
his left, and the road between the end of
the mountain and the Potomac on his right.
He will, as far as practicable, cooperate
with Gen. McLaws and Gen. Jackson in in
tercepting the retreat of the enemy.
" Gen. D. H. Hill's division will form the
rear guard of the army, pursuing the road
taken by the main body. The reserve ar
tillery, ordnance and supply trains, &c,
will precede Gem Hill.
" Gen. Stuart will detach a squadron of
cavalry to accompany the commands of
Gens. Longstreet, Jackson, and McLaws,
and, with the main body of the cavalry, will
cover the route of the army, and bring up all
stragglers that may have been left behind.
" The commands of Gens. Jackson, Mc
Laws, and Walker, after accomplishing the
objects for which they have been detached,
will join the main body of the army at
Boonsborough or Hagerstown.
"Each regiment on the march will habit
ually carry its axes in the regimental ord
nance wagons, for use of the men at their
encampments, to procure wood, &c.
" By command of Gen. R. E. Lee.
" R. H. Chilton,
" Assistant Adjutant- General.
"Maj.-Gen. D. H. Hill, Com'ding Div."
McClellan had thus, by a rare
stroke of good fortune, become pos
sessed of his adversary's designs,
when it was too late to change them,
and when it could not be known to
that adversary, at least until devel
oped by counteracting movements,
that he had this knowledge, and was
acting upon it. Lee had ventured
the hazardous maneuver of dividing
his army in a hostile country, and
placing a considerable and treacher
ous, though fordable, river between
its parts, while an enemy superior in
numbers to the whole of it hung
closely upon its rear. Such strategy
must have been dictated by an in
effable contempt either for the capa
city of his antagonist or for the most
obvious rules of war.
The order above given rendered it

clear not only that Harper's Ferry
was Lee's object, and that Jackson's
corps and Walker's division were ere
this across the Potomac in eager
quest of it, but that only McLaws's
corps — 20,000 men at the utmost —
was now between our whole army
and the coveted prize. Our corps
happened then to be mainly concen
trated around Frederick ; but Frank
lin's division — nearly 17,000 strong
— was some miles southward, and
thus nearer to Harper's Ferry, and
in front of McLaws. Had McClellan
instantly put his whole army in mo
tion, marching by the left flank on
parallel roads leading directly toward
the Potomac and the Ferry, and
sending orders to Franklin to ad
vance and either force his way to the
Ferry or engage whomsoever might
attempt to resist him, assured that
corps after corps would follow swift
ly his advance and second his at
tacks, McLaws must have been
utterly crushed before sunset of the
14th, and Harper's Ferry relieved by
midnight at farthest. That, instead
of this, McClellan should have ad
vanced his main body on the road
tending rather north of west, through
Turner's Gap to Boonsborough and
Hagerstown, rather than on roads
leading to Crampton's Gap and to
the Potomac, is unexplained and in
explicable. The 'South Mountain' range of
hills, which stretch north-eastwardly
from the Potomac across Maryland,
are a modified continuation of Vir
ginia's 'Blue Ridge,' as the less con
siderable Catoctin range, near Fred
erick, are an extension of the ' Bull
Run' range. Between them is the
valley of Catoctin creek, some ten
miles wide at the Potomac, but nar-

196

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

rowing to a point at its head. Seve
ral roads cross both ranges ; the best
being the National Road from Balti
more through Frederick and Middle-
town (the chief village of the Catoc
tin Valley), to Hagerstown and Cum
berland. Lee, having divided his army in
order to swoop down on Harper's
Ferry, was compelled by McClellan's
quickened and assured pursuit, based
on the captured order aforesaid, to
fight all our army with half of his
own — reversing the strategy usual in
this quarter ; for, if McClellan's ad
vance were not impeded, Harper's
Ferry would be relieved. So, Gen.
Pleasanton, leading our cavalry ad
vance on the road to Hagerstown,
encountered some resistance8 at the
crossing of Catoctin creek in Middle-
town ; but, skirmishing occasionally
with Stuart's cavalry, pressed on,
backed by Cox's division of Burn-
side's corps, to find ' the enemy in
force before Tuenee's Gap of South
Mountain, a few miles beyond.
This gap is about 400 feet high ;
the crests on either side rising some
600 feet higher ; the old Hagerstown
and Sharpsburg roads, half a mile to
a mile distant, on either side, rising
higher than the National Road, and
materially increasing the difficulty of
holding the pass against a largely
superior force.
Lee, in his eagerness to grasp the
prize whereon he was intent, and in
his confident assurance that McClel
lan would continue the cautious and
hesitating movement of six or seven
miles a day by which he had hither
to advanced from Washington, had
pushed Longstreet forward on Jack
son's track to Hagerstown," whence
8 Sept. 13.

six of his brigades, under Anderson,
had been sent to cooperate with Mc
Laws against Maryland Heights and
Harper's Ferry. This left only D.
H. Hill's division of five brigades to
hold Turner's Gap and the adjacent
passes, with such help as might be
afforded by Stuart's cavalry ; Stuart
having reported to Hill, on the 13th,
that only two brigades were pursu
ing them. He was undeceived, how
ever, when, at 7 a. m. next morning,
Cox's division of Burnside's corps
advanced up the turnpike from Mid
dletown, preceded by Pleasanton's
cavalry and a battery, and opened
on that defending the Gap ; while by
far the larger portion of the Army of
the Potomac could be seen, by the
aid of a good field-glass, from a fa
vorable position on the mountain,
either advancing across the valley or
winding down the opposite heights
into it.
Hill reports his division as but
5,000 strong ; and even this small
force had been somewhat dispersed
in pursuance of the orders of Lee
and the erroneous information of
Stuart. The brigade of Gen. Gar
land, which was first pushed forward
to meet our advance, was instantly
and badly cut up, its commander be
ing killed ; when it retired in disorder,
and was replaced by that of Ander
son, supported by those of Rhodes
and Ripley, who held the pass firmly
for hours against the most gallant ef
forts of Cox's Ohio regiments. But,
meanwhile, our superior numbers,
backed by desperate fighting, enabled
us steadily to gain ground on either
side, until the crest of the heights on
the left of the pass was fairly ours,
though, one of our batteries had
' Sept. 11.

BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN.

197

meantime been all but lost ; its gun
ners having been shot down or dri
ven off, and its guns saved from cap
ture only by a determined charge of
the 23d Ohio, 100th Pennsylvania,
and 45th New York.

SOUTH MOtTNTAIS.

The rattle of musketry ceased at
noon, and for two hours only the
roar of cannon was heard ; the com
batants on either side awaiting the
arrival of reenforcements. Hitherto,

only Reno's division on our side, and
Hill's on that of the Rebels, had
been engaged. But, at 2 p. m., Hook
er's corps came up on our side, and
took the old Hagerstown road, lead
ing away from the turnpike on our
right, with intent to flank and crush
the Rebel left. At 3 p. m., our line
of battle was formed, with Ricketts's
division on the right ; King's, com
manded by Hatch, in the center,
with its right resting on the turn
pike, and Reno's on the left; and a
general advance commenced, under
a heavy fire of artillery.
Meantime, Hill had sent pressing
messages to Longstreet, at Hagers
town, for help ; and two brigades
had already arrived; as Longstreet
himself, with seven more brigades,
did very soon afterward ; raising the
Rebel force in action thereafter to
some 25,000 or 30,000 men. Long-
street, ranking Hill, of course took
command ; little to the satisfaction
of Hill, who evidently thinks he could
have done much better.10
The enemy's advantage in position
was still very great, every movement
on our part being plainly visible to
them ; while we could know nothing
of their positions nor their strength,
except from their fire and its effect.
Our men were constantly struggling
up rocky steeps, mainly wooded,
where every wall, or fence, or in
equality of ground, favors the com
batants who stand on the defensive.
The disparity in numbers between
those actually engaged was not very
great — possibly three to two-^but
then, our men were inspirited by the

10 Hill, in his official report, says :
"Maj.-Gen. Longstreet came up about _
o'clock, with the commands of Brig.-Gens:
Evans and D. R. Jones I had now become fa
miliar with the ground, and knew all the vital

points ; and, had these troops reported to me,
tho result might have been different. As it
was, they took wrong positions : and, in their
exhausted condition after a long march, they
were broken and scattered."

198

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

consciousness that a great army stood
behind them. „
Still, the ground was stubbornly
contested, foot by foot ; Gen. Hatch,
commanding the 1st division, being
disabled by a wound, and succeeded
by Gen. A. Doubleday. Col. Wain
wright, 76th New York, who now
took command of Doubleday's brig
ade, was likewise wounded. But
Hooker steadily advanced ; and had
fairly flanked and worsted the Rebel
left, when darkness put an end to the
fray. The struggle on pur left com
menced later, and was signalized by
similar gallantry on both sides ; but
numbers prevailed over desperation,
and the Rebels were steadily forced
back until the crest of the mountain
was won. Here fell, about sunset,
Maj.-Gen. Jesse L. Reno, mortally
wounded by a musket-ball, while, at
the head of his division, he was
watching through a glass the enemy's
movements. Gen. Meade, with the Pennsyl
vania Reserves, had followed Hooker
from Catoctin creek up the old
Hagerstown road, so far as Mount
Tabor church. He went into action
on the right of Hatch's division, and
was soon heavily engaged ; his brig
ades being admirably handled by
Gen. Seymour and Cols. Magilton
and Gallagher, the last of whom was
wounded. It had not fully reached
the summit in its front, when dark

ness arrested the conflict. Gen.
Duryea's brigade of Ricketts's divi
sion, which had been ordered to its
support, was just then coming into
action. Our advance up the turnpike in
the center, being contingent on suc
cess at either side, was made last, by
Gibbon's brigade of Hatch's, and
Hartsuff s of Ricketts's division ;
the artillery fighting its way up the
road, with the infantry supporting
on either side. The struggle here
was obstinate, and protracted till 9
o'clock, when Gibbon's brigade had
nearly reached the top of the pass,
and had exhausted every cartridge ;
suffering, of course, severely. At
midnight, it was relieved by Gor
man's brigade of Sumner's corps,
which, with Williams's, had reached
the foot of the mountain a little after
dark. Richardson's division had also
arrived, and taken position in the
rear of Hooker ; while Sykes's divi
sion of regulars and the artillery re
serve had halted for the night at Mid
dletown ; so that McClellan had most
of his army in hand, ready to renew
the action next morning.
But Lee, who was also present, and
whose end had been secured by the
precious hours here gained for his
Harper's Ferry operations, withdrew
his forces during the night ; so that,
when our skirmishers advanced next
morning, they encountered only the
dead and the desperately wounded."

11 Gen. McClellan sent four successive dis
patches to Gen. Halleck concerning this affair ;
whereof the following is the latest and most
erroneous :
"Headquarters Army of the Potomac, )
" Bolivar. Sept. 15 — 10 a. m. J
•' To H W. Halleck, General-in-Chief:
" Information this moment received completely
confirms the rout and demoralization of the
Rebel army. Gen. Lee is reported wounded

and Garland killed. Gen. Hooker alone has
over a thousand more prisoners; TOO having
been sent to Frederick. It is stated that Lee
gives his loss aa fifteen thousand. We are follow
ing as rapidly as the men can move.
" George B. McClellan, Major-Gen.''
McClellan seems here to suppose that he had
fought and beaten the main body of the Rebel
army; yet how could he think so with Lee's
order ofthe 9th before him?

FIGHT AT CRAMPTON'S GAP — HARPER'S FERRY.

199

McClellan states his losses in this
affair at 312 killed, 1 ,234 wounded,
and 22 missing : total, 1,568 ; claims
about 1,500 prisoners — no guns — and
says: "The loss to the enemy in
killed was much greater than our
own, and probably also in wounded."
This is hardly credible; since the
Rebels fought with every advantage
of position and shelter, and were
nowhere so driven as to lose heavily
by a fire upon huddled, disorganized
masses, when retreating in disorder.12

Maj.-Gen. Franklin, with the 6th
corps, composed of his own, Couch's,
and Sykes's divisions, forming the
left wing of McClellan's army, had
advanced cautiously up the north
bank of the Potomac, through Tenal-
lytown, Darnestown, and Poolesville
— his right passing through Rock-
ville — until McClellan's discovery
that Lee had divided his army in
order to clutch Harper's Ferry in
duced a general quickening of move
ment on our side. Still advancing,
he approached, at noon on the 14th,
the pass through Ceamptoit's Gap in
the South Mountain, just beyond
Burkettsville, several miles south-
westward of that at which Burnside,
leading our main advance, had, some
hours earlier, found his march ob
structed by Hill. Before him was
Howell Cobb, with two or three brig
ades of McLaws's division, whereof
the larger portion was some miles
farther on, operating against Mary
land Heights and Harper's Ferry.
The Gap afforded good positions for
defense ; but the disparity of num
bers was decisive ; and Cobb — who,

of course, had orders to hold on at any
cost — was finally driven out, after a
smart contest of four or five hours,
wherein his force was badly cut up.
Our loss here was 115 killed and 418
wounded ; our trophies, 400 prison
ers, one gun, and 700 small arms.
Could Franklin but have realized
how precious were the moments, he
was still in time to have relieved
Harper's Ferry; whence, following
up his advantage with moderate vig
or, he was but six miles distant when
it surrendered at 8 next morning.

"Hill says that Gen. Rhodes, commanding
one of his brigades, estimates his loss at 422
out of 1,200 taken into action. Col- Gayle, 12th

Stonewall Jackson, leaving Fred
erick on the 10th, had pushed swiftly
through Middletown and Boonsbor
rough to Williamsport, where he re-
crossed the- Potomac next day ; strik
ing thence at Martinsburg, which
was held by Gen. Julius White, with
some 2,000 Unionists. But White,
warned of Jackson's approach in
overwhelming strength, fled during
the night of the llth to Harper's
Ferry; where he found Col. D. S.
Miles, of Bull Run dishonor, in com
mand of some 10,000 men, partly
withdrawn from Winchester and
other points up the Yalley, but in
good part composed of green regi
ments, hastily levied on tidings of
the Chickahominy disasters, and offi
cered by local politicians, who had
never yet seen a shot fired at a line
of armed men. White ranked Miles,
and shoul d have taken command ; but
he waived his right in deference to
Miles's experience as an old army
officer, and offered to serve under
him ; which was accepted.
Jackson, who had cheaply acquired

Alabama, was among his killed; and CoL
O'Neal, 24th, and Lt.-Col. Pickens, 12th Ala
bama, were severely wounded.

200

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

a good supply of provisions and muni
tions at Martinsburg, did not allow
himself to be detained by them ; but,
hurrying on, was before Harper's Fer
ry at 11 A. m. of the 13th. Waiting
only to ascertain that McLaws, who
was to cooperate on the other side
of the Potomac, and Walker, who
was dispatched simultaneously from
Frederick, with orders to cross the
Potomac at Point of Rocks and come
up on the south; so as to shut in
and assail our garrison from that side
of the Shenandoah, were already in
position, he ordered A. P. Hill, with
his division, to move down the north
bank ofthe Shenandoah into Harper's
Ferry ; while Lawton, with Ewell's,
and J. R. Jones, with Jackson's own
division, were to advance upon and
threaten the beleaguered Unionists
farther and farther to their right.
Harper's Ferry is little more than
a deep ravine or gorge, commanded
on three sides by steep mountains,
and of course defensible only from
one or more of these. A commander
who was neither a fool nor a traitor,
seeing enemies swarming against him
from every side, would either have
evacuated in haste, and tried to make
his way out of the trap, or concentra
ted his force on one of the adjacent
heights, and here held out, until time
had been afforded for his relief.
Miles did neither. He posted 1S the
32d Ohio, Col. T. H. Ford, on Mary
land Heights ; where they were reen
forced14 by the 39th and 126th New
York, and next day by the 115th
New York and part of a Maryland
regiment. Ford's requisition for axes
and spades was not filled; and the
only 10 axes that could be obtained
were used in constructing16 a slight

breastwork of trees near the crest,
with an abatis in its front; where Mc
Laws's advance appeared and com
menced skirmishing the same day.

hakpeb's ferky.
An attack in force was made, early
next morning,16 and was repulsed;
but was followed at 9 o'clock by an
other and more determined, when —
Col. E. Sherrill, 126th New York,
being severely wounded — his regi
ment broke and fled in utter rout,
and the remaining regiments , soon
followed the example, alleging an
order to retreat, from Maj. Hewitt,
who denied having given it. Our
men were rallied after running a
short distance, and reoccupied part
of the ground they had so culpably
abandoned, but did not regain their
breastwork; and of course left the
enemy in a commanding position.
At 2 o'clock next morning, " Ford,
without being further assailed, aban
doned the Heights, so far as we still
retained them, spiking his guns : 4 of
which, at a later hour in the morn
ing, were brought off by four com
panies, under Maj. Wood, who went
over on a reconnoissance and encoun
tered no opposition.
McLaws, with his own and Ander
son's divisions, leaving Frederick on
the 10th, had entered Pleasant Valley,

1 Sept. 5.

" Sept. 12.

16 Sept. 12.

' Sept. 13.

' Sept. 14.

MILES SURRENDERS HARPER'S FERRY.

201

via Burkettsville, on the llth ; and,
perceiving at once that Maryland
Heights was the key of the position,
had sent18 Kershaw, with his own
and Barksdale's brigades, up a rug
ged mountain road, impracticable
for artillery, to the crest of the Elk
Mountains, two or three miles north
ward of Maryland Heights, with or
ders to follow along that crest, and
so approach and carry our position ;
while Wright's brigade, with 2 guns,
was to take post on the southern face
of South Mountain, and so command
all the approaches along the Poto
mac. Meanwhile, McLaws, with the
rest of his force, save the brigades
holding Crampton's Gap, moved down
Pleasant Valley to the river.
Kershaw advanced according to or
der, through dense woods and over
very rough ground, until he encoun
tered and worsted Ford's command on
the Heights, as we have seen ; while
Wright and' Anderson took, unop
posed, the positions assigned them,
and McLaws advanced to Sandy
Hook, barring all egress from Har
per's Ferry down the Potomac.
The morning of the 14th was spent
by McLaws in cutting a road practi
cable for artillery to the crest of
Maryland Heights, whence fire was
opened from 4 guns at 2 p. m. ; not
only shelling our forces at the Ferry,
but commanding our position on
Bolivar Heights, beyond it. Before
night, Walker's guns opened like
wise from Loudon Heights, and
Jackson's batteries were playing
from several points, some of them
enfilading our batteries on Bolivar
Heights ; while shots from others
reached our helpless and huddled
men in their rear. During the night,

Col. Crutchfield, Jackson's chief of
artillery, ferried 10 of Ewell's guns
across the Shenandoah, and estab^
lished them where they could take
iii reverse our best intrenchments on
Bolivar Heights ; soon compelling
their evacuation and our retreat to an
inferior position, considerably nearer
the Ferry, and of course more ex
posed to and commanded by Mc
Laws's guns on Maryland Heights.
At 9 p. m.," our cavalry, some
2,000 strong, under Col. Davis, 12th
Ulinois, made their escape from the
Ferry, across the pontoon-bridge, to
the Maryland bank ; passing up the
Potomac unassailed, through a re
gion swarming with enemies, to the
mouth of the Antietam, thence stri
king northward across Maryland,
reaching Greencastle, Pa., next morn
ing ; having captured by the way the
ammunition train of Gen. Longstreet,
consisting of 50 to 60 wagons. Miles
assented to this escape ; but refused
permission to infantry officers who
asked leave to cut their way out : say
ing he was ordered to hold the Ferry
to the last extremity.
Next morning at daybreak,20 the
Rebel batteries reopened from seven
commanding points, directing their
fire principally at our batteries on
Bolivar Heights. At 7 a. m., Miles
stated to Gen. White that a surrender
was inevitable, his artillery ammu
nition being all but exhausted ; when
the brigade commanders were called
together and assented. A white flag
was thereupon raised ; but the Rebels,
not perceiving it, continued their
fire some 30 to 40 minutes, whereby
Miles was mortally wounded. Jack
son was just impelling a general in
fantry attack, when informed that the

1 Sept. 12.

16 Sept. 14.

a0 Sept. 15,

202

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

white flag had been raised on the de
fenses. At 8 A. m., a capitulation
was agreed to, under which 11,583
men were passed over to the enemy
— about half of them New Yorkers ;
the residue mainly from Ohio and
Maryland. Nearly all were raw
levies ; some of them militia, called
out for three months. Among the
spoils were 73 guns, ranging from
excellent to worthless ; 13,000 small
arms, 200 wagons, and a large quan
tity of tents and camp-equipage. Of
horses, provisions, and munitions, the
captures were of small account.
Jackson, whose appreciation of the
value of time was unsurpassed, did
not wait to receive the surrender;
but, leaving that duty to Hill, hur
ried off the mass of his followers to
rejoin Gen. Lee ; and, by marching
day and night, reached the Antietam
next morning.21
It is impossible to resist the con
clusion that Miles, in this affair,
acted the part of a traitor. He had
been ordered, one month before
his surrender, to fortify Maryland
Heights ; which he totally neglected
to do. He refused or neglected to
send the axes and spades required by
Col. Ford, giving no reason therefor.
He paroled, on the 13th, 16 Rebel
prisoners, authorizing them to pass
out of our lines into those of the
enemy ; thus giving the Rebel com
manders the fullest knowledge of all
wherewith ours should have wished
to keep them ignorant. Another
Rebel, an officer named Rouse, who
had been captured and had escaped,
being retaken, was allowed a private
interview by Miles, and thereupon
paroled to go without our lines. He,
still under parole, appeared in arms

at the head of his men, among the
first to enter our lines after the sur
render. As to Gen. McClellan, his most
glaring fault in the premises would
seem to have been his designation"
of Col. Miles, after his shameful be
havior at Bull Run, to the command
of a post so important as Harper's
Ferry. It is easy now to reproach
him with the slowness of his advance
from Washington to Frederick ; but
it must be borne in mind that his
force consisted of the remains of two
beaten armies — his own and Pope's
— not so much strengthened as
swelled by raw troops, hastily levied
for an emergency ; while opposed to
him was an army of veterans, inferior
indeed in numbers, but boasting of a
succession of victories from first Bull
Run onward, and proudly regarding
itself as invincible. Perplexed as to
Lee's intentions, and hampered by
the necessity of covering at once
Washington and Baltimore, McClel
lan moved slowly, indeed ; but only
a great military genius, or a rash,
headstrong fool, would have ventured
to do otherwise. After he learned
at Frederick that Lee had divided
his army, in his eagerness to clutch
the tempting prize, McClellan blun
dered sadly in not hurling his army
at once on McLaws, and thus cutting
his way swiftly to the Ferry ; yet,
with all his mistakes, he moved vig
orously enough to have seasonably
relieved Miles, had that officer
evinced loyalty and decent fitness
for his position, or ha,d Ford defend
ed Maryland Heights with vigor and
tenacity. Halleck's insisting that Harper's
Ferry should be held, after he knew

"Sept. 16.

'March 29.

MoCLELLAN ADVANCES TO THE ANTIETAM.

203

that the Rebel army had crossed into
Maryland, is one of those puzzles so
frequently exhibited in the strategy
of that Generalissimo, which must
find their solution in some higher,
subtler, and more leisurely existence.

Gen. McClellan, at 3 a. m. of the
15th, was aware — for he telegraphed
to Halleck— that he had been fight
ing the forces of D. H. Hill and
Longstreet ; that they had disap
peared from his front; and that
Franklin had likewise been com
pletely successful at Crampton's Gap,
on his left. He says in this dispatch :
" The enemy disappeared during the
night ; our troops are now advancing
in pursuit." At 8 a. m., he tele
graphed again — still from Bolivar, at
the foot of Turner's Gap :
" I have just learned from Gen. Hooker,
in the advance — who states that the infor
mation is perfectly reliable — that the enemy
is making for the river in a perfect panic ;
and Gen. Lee last night stated publicly that
he must admit they had been shockingly
whipped. I am hurrying every thing for
ward to endeavor to press their retreat to
the utmost."
Had even the last sentence of this
dispatch been literally true, Lee's
destruction was imminent and cer
tain. It was now too late to save Har
per's Ferry — for it had this moment
fallen — but not too late to superbly
avenge it. With Lee's order in his
hand, McClellan must have known
that the forces from which he and
Franklin had just wrested the passes
of the South Mountain were all that
Lee had to depend upon, save those
which he had detached and sent —
mainly by long -circuits — to reduce
Harper's Ferry, and which must now
be mainly on the other side of the

Potomac. Precious hours had been
lost by massing on his right instead
of his left, and fighting for Turner's
Gap, when he should only by a feint
have kept as many Rebels there as
possible, while he poured the great
body of his army, in overwhelming
strength and with the utmost celer
ity, through Crampton's Gap, crush
ing McLaws and relieving Harper's
Ferry. But there was still time, if
not to retrieve the error, at least to
amend it. Our soldiers, flushed with
unwonted victory, and full in the
faith that they had just wrested two
strong mountain-passes from the en
tire Rebel army, were ready for any
effort, any peril. To press forward
with the utmost rapidity, and so re
lieve Harper's Ferry, if that might
still be, but at all events to crush
that portion of the Rebel army still
north of the Potomac, if it should
stand at bay, and rout and shatter it
should it attempt to ford the river ;
at the very worst, to interpose be
tween it and the other half, under
Jackson and Walker, should it at
tempt to escape westward by Hagers
town and Williamsport, and thus be
in position to assail and overwhelm
either half before it could unite with
the other, was the course which seems
to have been as obvious to Mc
Clellan as it must be to every one
else. The advance was again led by
Gen. Pleasanton's cavalry, who over
took at Boonsborough the Rebel cav
alry rear-guard, charged it with spirit,
and routed it, capturing 250 prison
ers and 2 guns. Richardson's divi
sion, of Sumner's corps, followed;
pressing eagerly on that afternoon ; "
and, after a march of 10 or 12 miles,

1 Sept. 15.

204

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

descried the Rebels posted in force
across Antietam Greek, in front of
the little village of Shaepsbtteg.
Richardson halted and deployed on
the right of the road from Keedys
ville to Sharpsburg ; Sykes, with his
division of regulars, following closely
after, came up and deployed on the
left of that road. Gen. McClellan
himself, with three corps in all, came
up during the evening.
Lee had of course chosen a strong
position ; but delay could only serve
to strengthen it, while giving oppor
tunity for the arrival of Jackson,
Walker, and McLaws, from Harper's
Ferry ; which McClellan now knew
had fallen that morning: Franklin
having apprised him of the hour
when the sound of guns from that
quarter ceased. Had McClellan then
resolved to attack at daylight next
morning,24 he might before noon have
hurled 60,000 gallant troops against
not more than half their number of
Rebels ; for, though Jackson arrived
with his overmarched men that morn
ing, he left A. P. Hill behind at
the Ferry, while McLaws, still con
fronting Franklin in Pleasant Val
ley, was obliged to cross the Potomac
at Harper's Ferry, and recross it at
Shepherdstown, in order to come up
at all ; and did not arrive until the
morning of the 17th. Walker, clear
ing Loudon Heights and crossing the
Shenandoah on the 15th, had fol
lowed Jackson during the night, and

arrived at Shepherdstown early on
the morning of the 16th ; crossing
and reporting to Lee at Sharpsburg
by noon."
' Lee, aware that every hour's delay
was an inestimable advantage to him,
made as great a display of force as
possible throughout the 15th and
16th, though he thereby exposed his
infantry — it seemed wantonly — to the
fire of our artillery. But, on the
morning of the 17th, when our col
umns advanced to the attack, and the
battle began in earnest, his whole
army, save A. P. Hill's division, be
ing on hand, the regiments and brig
ades hitherto so ostentatiously para
ded seemed to have sunk into the
earth ; and nothing but grim and
frowning batteries were seen cover
ing each hill-crest and trained on
every stretch of open ground where
by our soldiers might attempt to
scale those rugged steeps.
The struggle was inaugurated on
the afternoon of the 16th, by our old
familiar maneuver: Hooker, on our
right, being directed to flank and
beat the enemy's left, backed by
Sumner, Franklin, and Mansfield,
who were to come into action suc
cessively, somewhat nearer the ene
my's center. It would have been
a serious objection, ten hours before,
to this strategy, that it tended, even
if successful, to concentrate the ene
my, by driving him back on his divi
sions arriving or expected from Har-

M Sept. 16.
a5 McClellan, in his report, says :
"It had been hoped to engage the enemy
during the 15th;" but, "after a rapid examina
tion of the position, I found that it was too late
to attack that day, and at once directed the plac
ing of the batteries in position in the center,
and indicated the bivouacs for the different
corps, massing them near and on both sides of
the Sharpsburg turnpike. The corps were not

all in their positions until the next morning after
sunrise." George W. Smalley, correspondent of The
Tribune, writes from the battle-field on the 17th
as follows:
"After the brilliant victory near Middletown,
Gen. McClellan pushed forward his army rapidly,
and reached Keedysville with three corps on
Monday night. On the day following,' the two
armies faced each other idly until night."

HOOKER ADVANCES AT ANTIETAM.

205

ANTIETAM.

per's Ferry, rather than to interpose
between him and them.
Hooker moved at 4 p. m. ; and,
making a long detour, crossed the
Antietam out of sight and range
of the Rebel batteries. Turning at
length sharply to the left, he came
to an open field, with woods in front
and on either side, whence our skir
mishers were saluted by scattering

shots, followed by volleys of musketry
from the left and front. Here Hooker
— reconnoitering in the advance, as
usual — halted and formed his lines ;
Ricketts's division on the left ; Meade,
with the Pennsylvania Reserves, in
the center; while Doubleday, on the
right, planting his guns on a hill,
opened at once on a Rebel battery
that had begun to enfilade our een-

206

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ter. By this time, it was dark, and
the firing soon ceased ; the hostile
infantry lying down for the night at
points within half musket-shot of
each other.
At daylight next morning,28 the
battle was commenced in earnest:
the left of Meade's and the right of
Ricketts's line becoming engaged at
nearly the same moment, the former
with artillery, the latter with infan
try ; while a battery was pushed for
ward beyond the woods directly in
Hooker's front, across a plowed field,
to the edge of a corn-field beyond it,
destined before night to be soaked
with blood.
Hood's thin division, which had
confronted us at evening, had been
withdrawn during the night, and re
placed byLawton's and Trimble's brig
ades of Ewell's division, under Law-
ton, with Jackson's own division, un
der D. R. Jones, on its left, supported
by the remaining brigades of Ewell.
Jackson was in chief command on
this wing, and here was substantially
his old corps around him. Against
these iron soldiers, Hooker's corps
hurled itself, and, being superior in
numbers, compelled them to give
ground ; but not until Jones and
Lawton had been wounded, with
many more field officers, and Starke,
who succeeded Jones in command,
killed. Early, who succeeded Law-
ton, was ordered by Jackson to re
place Jackson's own division, which
had suffered so severely and was
so nearly out of ammunition that
it had to be temporarily withdrawn
from the combat. By this time,
Ricketts and Meade had pushed
the Rebel line back across the corn
field and the road, into the woods

beyond, and was following with
eager, exulting cheers.
But Hood's division, somewhat re
freshed, had by this time returned to
the front, backed by the brigades of
Ripley, Colquitt, Garland (now under
Col. McRae), and D. R. Jones, by
whom the equilibrium of the fight
was restored ; our men being hurled
back by terrible volleys from the
woods, followed by a charge across
the corn-field in heavy force. Hook
er called up his nearest brigade ; but
it was not strong enough, and he sent
at once to Doubleday : " Give me.
your best brigade instantly !" That
brigade came down the hill on our
right at double-quick, and was led
by Hartsuff into the corn-field, and
steadily up the slope beyond it, form
ing on the crest of the ridge, under a
hurricane of shot and shell, and fir
ing steadily and rapidly at the Rebel
masses just before them. They held
their position half an hour, unsup
ported, though many fell; among
them their leader, Hartsuff, wounded
severely ; until for a second time the
enemy was driven out of the corn
field into the woods.
Meantime, both sides were strength
ening this wing. Ricketts's division,
having attempted to advance and
failed, had fallen back. Part of
Mansfield's corps had gone in to their
aid, and been driven back likewise,
with their General mortally wound
ed. Doubleday's guns were still
busy on our extreme right, and had
silenced a Rebel battery which for
half an hour had enfiladed Hooker's
center. Ricketts sent word that he
could not advance, but could hold
his ground. Hooker, with Craw
ford's and Gordon's fresh brigades of

1 Sept. 17.

THE FIGHT ON OUR RIGHT AND CENTER.

207

Mansfield's corps, came up to his
support, determined again to advance
and carry the woods to the right of
and beyond the corn-field. Going
forward to reconnoiter on foot, Hook
er satisfied himself as to the nature
of the ground, returned and re
mounted amid a shower of Rebel
bullets, which he had all the morning
disregarded ; but the next moment a
musket-ball went through his foot, in
flicting a severe and intensely pain
ful wound; which compelled, him,
after giving his orders fully and de
liberately, to leave the field at 9 a. m.
Sumner, arriving at this moment,
assumed command, sending forward
Sedgwick's division of his own corps
to support Crawford and Gordon;
while Richardson and French, with
his two remaining divisions, went for
ward farther to the left; Sedgwick
again advancing in line through the
corn-field already won and lost.
But by this time McLaws — who,
by marching all night, had reached
Shepherdstown from Harper's Ferry
that morning, and instantly crossed
— had been sent forward by Lee to
the aid of Jackson ; while Walker's
division had been hurried across from
their as yet unassailed right. . Again
Hood's brigade was withdrawn from
the front, while the fresh forces un
der Walker and McLaws advanced
with desperate energy, seconded by
Early on their left. Sedgwick was
thrice badly wounded, and compelled
to retire ; Gens. Dana and Crawford
were likewise wounded. The 34th
New York — which had broken at a
critical moment, while attempting a
maneuver under a terrible fire — was
nearly cut to pieces; and the 15th
Massachusetts, which went into action
600 strong, was speedily reduced to

134. Gen. Howard, who took com
mand of Sedgwick's division, was
unable* to restore its formation, and
Sumner himself had no better success.
Again the center of our right gave
back, and the corn-field was retaken
by the enemy.
But the attempt of the Rebels to
advance beyond it, under the fire of
our batteries, was repelled with
heavy loss on their part ; Col. Man
ning, who led Walker's own brigade,
being severely wounded, and his
brigade driven back. Doubleday, on
our farther right, held firmly ; and it
seemed settled that, while either
party could repel a charge on this
part of the line, neither could afford
to make one.
But now Franklin had come up
with his fresh corps, and formed on
the left ; Slocum, commanding one of
his divisions, was sent forward to
ward the center ; while Smith, with
the other, was ordered to retake the
ground that had been so long and 60
hotly contested.
It was no sooner said than done.
Smith's regiments, cheering, went
forward on a run, swept through the
corn-field and the woods, cleared
them in ten minutes, and held them.
Their rush was so sudden and unex
pected that their loss was compara
tively small ; and the ground thus
retaken was not again lost.
Nearer the center, French's divi
sion of Sumner's corps had attempted
to carry the line of heights whereon
the Rebels were posted, and had
made some progress, repulsing a
countercharge and capturing a num
ber of prisoners, with some flags.
Attempts successively to turn his
right and then his left were foiled ;
but, after a bloody combat of four

208

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT-.

hours, French paused, considerably
in advance of the position on which
the fight had commenced, but with
out having carried the heights.
Richardson's division of Sumner's
corps advanced on the left of French,
crossing the Antietam at 9 J a. m.,
and going steadily forward under a
heavy artillery fire, half way up from
the creek to Sharpsburg, over very
rugged ground, much of it covered
with growing corn, and intersected
by stone walls, which afforded every
advantage to the defensive. The
musketry fire on both sides was se
vere ; but our men steadily gained
ground; Caldwell's and Meagher's
(Irish) brigade vieing with each other
in steadiness and gallantry. Here
Col. Francis C. Barlow, of Caldwell's
brigade, signalized himself by seizing
an opportunity to advance the 61st
and 64th New York on the left, and
take in flank a Rebel force, which,
sheltered by a sunken road, was at
tempting to enfilade our line, captur
ing over 300 prisoners and 3 flags.
The left of this division being now
well advanced, the enemy, maneu
vering behind a ridge, attempted to
take it in flank and rear, but was
signally defeated ; the 5th New
Hampshire and the 81st Pennsylvania
facing to the left and meeting their
charge by a countercharge, which
was entirely successful. Some pris
oners and the colors of the 4th North
Carolina remained in our hands.
The enemy next assailed the right of
this division ; but Col. Barlow, again
advancing his two New York regi
ments, aided by Kimball's brigade
on the right, easily repulsed it. Next,
a charge was made directly on Rich
ardson's front, which was defeated as
before, and our line still farther ad

vanced as far as Dr. Piper's house,
very near to Sharpsburg, -and about
the center of the Rebel army at the
beginning of the battle. Here artil
lery was brought up — this division
having thus far fought without it —
and, while personally directing the
fire of Capt. Graham's battery, 1st
U. S. Artillery, Richardson fell mor
tally wounded, and was succeeded
by Hancock. Gen. Meagher had
fallen some time before: the com
mand of his brigade devolving on
Col. Burke, of the 63d New York.
One or two more attempts or
menaces were made on this part of
our line, but not in great force ; and,
though its advance was drawn back
a little to avoid an enfilading fire
from Rebel batteries, to which it
could not respond, it held its well
advanced position when night closed
the battle.
Porter's corps, in our center, hold
ing the roads from Sharpsburg to
Middletown and Boonsborough, re
mained unengaged, east of the An
tietam, until late in the afternoon ;
when two brigades of it were sent by
McClellan to support our right;
while six battalions of Sykes's reg
ulars were thrown across the bridge
on the main road to repel Rebel
sharp-shooters, who were annoying
Pleasanton's horse-batteries at that
point. Warren's brigade was de
tached and sent to the right and rear
of Burnside, leaving but little over
3,000 men with Porter.
Burnside's corps held our extreme
left, opposite the lowest of the three
bridges crossing the Antietam. He
was ordered, at 8 a. m., to cross this
one, which was held by Gen. R.
Toombs, with the 2d and 20th Georgia,
backed by some sharp-shooters and

CLOSE OF THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM.

209

the batteries of Gen. D. R. Jones, on
Longstreet's right wing. . Several fee
ble attempts to execute this order hav
ing been successively repulsed, Burn
side .was further ordered to carry not
only the bridge but the heights be
yond, and advance along their crest
upon Sharpsburg ; but it was not till
1 p. m. that the bridge was actually
taken, by a charge of the 51st New
York and the 51st Pennsylvania ; the
enemy making no serious resistance,
and retreating to the heights as our
troops came over in force. More
hours passed idly ; and it was after
3 p. m. before Burnside, under peremp
tory orders, charged up the heights,
carrying them handsomely ; some of
his troops reaching even the outskirts
of Sharpsburg.
It was an. easy but a short-lived
triumph ; for, thus far, Lee had been
able to spare but about 3,000 men,
under D. R. Jones, to hold this flank
of his position. Had this success
been obtained hours earlier, it might
have proved decisive. The Rebel
forces throughout the greater part of
the day had abundant occupation on
our right, so that Lee was unable to
spare sufficient troops to resist a de
termined advance by our left ; but
now, just as victory seemed to smile
upon our arms, A. P. Hill's division
— which had only been ordered from
Harper's Ferry that morning, and
started at 7J o'clock — came on the
ground, and, covered by a heavy fire
of artillery, charged our extreme left,
when disordered by charging and
fighting, and drove it back in still
greater confusion. Gen. Rodman,
who commanded it, was mortally
wounded; and the enemy, rallying
with spirit and redoubling the fire of

his artillery, charged in front and
flank, and drove our men in confu
sion down the hill toward the Antie
tam, pursuing until checked by the
fire of our batteries across the river.
Gen. L. O'B. Branch, of N. C, was
killed in this charge. Our reserves
on the left bank now advancing, while
our batteries redoubled their fire, the
Rebels wisely desisted, without at
tempting to carry the bridge, and re
tired to their lines on the heights, as
darkness put an end to the fray.
Jackson, during the afternoon, had
been ordered by Lee to turn'our right,
and attack it in flank and rear ; but^
on reconnoitering for this purpose^,
he found our line extended nearly to>
the Potomac, and so strongly defend
ed with artillery that to carry it was,
impossible ; so he declined to make,
the attempt.
So closed, indecisively, the bloodi
est day that America ever saw..
Gen. McClellan states his strength
— no doubt truly — in this battle at
87,164, including 4,320 cavalry ,,which.
was of small account on such ground.
and in such a struggle. General
Couch's division, 5,000 strong,, had
been sent away toward Harper's Fer
ry — evidently through some misap
prehension — and only arrived at a,
late hour next morning;2' as did.
Humphrey's division of raw recruits,,
whichhadleftFrederick— 23miles dis
tant— at 4£ p.m. of the sanguinary 17th.
McClellan estimates-Lee's strength
at 97,445, including 6,000 artillery
(400 guns), 6,400 cavalry, and mak
ing Jackson's corps* number 24,778-
—all far too high. Lee says he had
"under 40,000 men;" which proba
bly includes neither cavalry nor A.,
P. Hill's division ; and perhaps, not

vol. n. — 14

'Sept 18.

210

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

McLaws's. The Richmond Enquirer
of the 23d (four days after the battle)
says it has " authentic particulars" of
the battle ; and that " the ball was
. opened on Tuesday evening about 6
! o'clock, by all of our available force,
60,000 strong, commanded by Gen.
Robert E. Lee in person." And this
seems to be the more probable aggre
gate. Pollard, in his " Southern History
ofthe War," says of this battle : " It
was fought for half the day with
45,000 men on the Confederate side ;
and for the remaining half with no
more than an aggregate of 70,000
men." Gen. McClellan makes his entire
loss in this battle 12,469: 2,010
killed, 9,416 wounded, and 1,043 miss
ing ; and says his army counted and
i buried " about 2,700" of the enemy,
beside those buried by themselves:
whence he estimates their total loss
as "much greater" than ours. As
the Rebels fought mainly on the de
fensive, under shelter of woods, and
on ground commanded by their ar
tillery, this might seem improbable.
But Lee (writing his report on the 6th
of March following) is silent as to his
losses, while the account of them given
as complete in the official publication
of " Reports of the Operations of
the Army of Virginia, from June,
1862, to Dec. 13th, 1862," is palpably
and purposely an under-statement.
That account makes the total Rebel
loss in the Maryland battles only
; 10,291 : viz., killed, 1,567 ; wounded,
' 8,724 ; and says nothing of missing ;
while McClellan gives details of con
siderable captures on several occa
sions, and sums up as follows :
" Thirteen guns, 39 colors, npward of

15,000 stand of small arms, and more than
6,000 prisoners, were the trophies which
attest the success of our arms in the battles
of South Mountain, Crampton's Gap, and
Antietam. Not a single gun or color was
lost by our army during these battles."
And the reports of Lee's corps or
division commanders give the follow
ing aggregates:

Killed.
Longstreet's .... 964
Jackson's  851
D. H. Hill's  464
A. P. Hill's as.. 68
Total  1,842

Wounded. Missing, Total.
5,284 1,810 7,508
2,080 67 2,488
1,852 925 8,241
283 — 848
9,899 2,292 18,588

D. H. Hill reports 3,241 disabled,
including 4 Colonels, out of less than
5,000; and Lawton's brigade lost
554 out of 1,150.
Among the Rebel killed were
Maj.-Gen. Starke, of Miss., Brig.-
Gens. L. O'B. Branch, of N. C, and
G.B.Anderson; Cols. Douglass (com
manding Lawton's brigade), Liddell,
llth Miss., Tew, 2d N. C, Barnes,
12th S. C, Mulligan, 15th Ga., Bar
clay, 23d do., and Smith, 27th do.
Among their wounded were Maj.-
Gen. R. H. Anderson, Brig. -Gens.
Lawton, Rhodes, Ripley, Armistead,
Gregg, of S. C, R. Toombs and
Wright, of Ga.
Lee, of course, did not care to re
new the battle on the morrow of such
a day ; and McClellan, though reen
forced that morning by about 14,000
men, stood still also. He says he
purposed to renew the combat the
next morning ;2B but, when his cav
alry advance reached the river, they
discovered that Lee had quietly
moved off across the Potomac dur
ing the night, leaving us only his
dead and some 2,000 of his despe
rately wounded.
Lee having posted 8 batteries on
the Virginia bluffs of the Potomac,
supported by 600 infantry under Pen-

1 Jackson expressly states that A P. Hill's losses were not include- in his return. " Sept. 19.

STUART RIDES AGAIN AROUND OUR ARMY.

211

dleton, to cover his crossing, Gen.
Porter, at dark,30 sent across Gen.
Griffin, with his own and Barnes's
brigades, to carry them. This was
gallantly done, under the fire of
those batteries, and 4 guns taken;
but a reeonnoissance in force, made
by part of Porter's division next
morning," was ambushed by A. P.
Hill, a mile from the ford, and driven
pell-mell into the river, with consid
erable loss, after a brief struggle ; the
Rebels taking 200 prisoners. They
held that bank thenceforth unmo
lested until next day, and then qui
etly disappeared.
Lee moved westward, with the
bulk of his army, to the Opequan
creek, near Martinsburg; his cav
alry, under Stuart, recrossing the
Potomac to Williamsport, whence he
escaped on the approach of Gen.
Couch's division. The Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad was now pretty thor
oughly destroyed for some distance
by the Rebels — neither for the first
nor the last time. Gen. McClellan
sent forward Gen. Williams on his
left to retake Maryland Heights,
which he did82 without opposition;
as Gen. Sumner, two days later, oc
cupied Harper's Ferry.
Lee soon retired to the vicinity
of Bunker Hill and Winchester;
whence, seeing that he was not' pur
sued nor imperiled by McClellan, he
dispatched 3S Stuart, with 1,800 cav
alry, on a bold raid into Pennsylva
nia. Crossing the Potomac above
Williamsport, Stuart pushed on rap
idly to Chambersburg, where he de
stroyed a large amount of supplies ;
and, retiring as hurriedly as he
came, he made a second circuit of
McClellan's army, recrossing without

loss into Virginia at White's Ford,
below Harper's Ferry. McClellan,
hearing he had gone on this raid,
felt .entirely confident that he could
not escape destruction, and made ex
tensive preparations to insure it ; but
his plans were foiled by lack of en
ergy and zeal. Stuart paroled, at
Chambersburg 275 sick and wound
ed, whom he found there in hospital ;
burned the railroad depot, machine-
shops, and several trains of loaded
cars, destroying 5,000 muskets and
large amounts of army clothing.
Perhaps these paid the Rebels for
their inevitable waste of horse-flesh,
and perhaps not.
Here ensued a renewal of the old
game of cross-purposes — McClellan
calling loudly and frequently for re
enforcements, horses, clothing, shoes,
and supplies of all kinds, which were
readily promised, but not always so
promptly supplied ; Halleck sending
orders to advance, which were not
obeyed with alacrity, if at all. A dis
temper among the horses threw 4,000
out of service, in addition to the
heavy losses by Rebel bullets and
by over-work. Halleck states that
McClellan's army had 31,000 horses
on the 14th of October; McClellan
responds that 10,980 were required
to move ten days' provisions for that
army, now swelled to 110,000 men,
beside 12,000 teamsters, &c. ; and
that, after picketing the line of the
Potomac, he had not 1,000 desirable
cavalry. His entire cavalry force
was 5,046 ; his artillery horses, 6,836 ;
he needed 17,832 animals to draw his
forage; so that he was still 10,000
short of the number actually required
for an advance.
At length, Gen. McClellan crossed

0 Sept. 19.

'Sept. 20.

! Sept. 20.

33 Oct. 10.

212

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the Potomac, between the 26 th of
October and the 2d of November ;
and, moving unopposed down the
east side of the Blue Ridge (Lee's
army being still in the Valley, but
moving parallel with ours), occupied
Snicker's Gap and Manassas; and

had advanced to Warrenton, when
he was relieved from command,"
directed to turn it over to Gen.
Burnside, and report by letter from
Trenton, N. J. ; which he proceeded
forthwith to do. Thus ended his
active participation in the war.

X.

TENNESSEE— KENTUCKY— MISSISSIPPI.
BUELL— BRAGG— EOSEOBANS— GEANT— VAN DORN.

The comatose condition into which
the war on the Tennessee had fallen,
after the removal of Mitchel to the
South, was fitfully broken by patter-
ings of Rebel enterprise far in the
rear of our main army. While. Bu-
. ell, at or near Huntsville, Ala., was
deliberately reorganizing and disci
plining his forces, schooling them
to an unwonted deference for Rebel
rights of property — especially of prop
erty in men — guerrilla raids and at
tacks became increasingly and disa
greeably frequent throughout Ken
tucky and Tennessee — the Confed
erate leaders, especially those of cav
alry regiments, on finding that they
were not needed in our front, trans
ferring their assiduous and vehement
attentions to our flanks and rear.
The names of Forrest and John
Morgan began to be decidedly noto
rious. Horse-stealing — in fact, steal
ing in general — in the name and be
half of Liberty and Patriotism, is apt
to increase in popularity so long as
it is practiced with impunity; and
the horses of Kentucky are eminently
calculated to inflame the love of
country glowing in the breast of

every cavalier. Burning bridges,
and clutching whatever property
could be made useful. in war, had
been for some time current; when
at length a bolder blow was struck
in the capture ' of Lebanon, Ky. [not
Tenn.J, and almost simultaneously
of Murfreesboro', Tenn., which For
rest surprised ; making prisoners of
Brig.-Gens. Duffield and Crittenden,
of Ind., with the 9th Michigan, 3d
Minnesota, 4 companies of the 4th
Ky. cavalry, and 3 companies of the
7th Pa. cavalry, after a spirited but
brief resistance. Henderson, Ky., on
the Ohio, was likewise seized by a
guerrilla band, who clutched a large
amount of hospital stores ; and, being
.piloted across by some Indiana trai
tors; captured a hospital also at New-
burg, Ind., and paroled its helpless in
mates. Col. John Morgan likewise
captured " Cynthiana, in north-eastern
Kentucky; but was run off directly
by a superior cavalry force under
Gen. Green Clay Smith. Morgan
claims in his report to have captured
and paroled 1,200 Union soldiers
during this raid, with a total loss
of but 90 of his men. Large quan-

' Not. 1.

1 July 5, 1862.

' July 2.

BRAGG AND KIRBT SMITH INVADE KENTUCKY.

tities of plunder were thus obtained,
while property of much greater value
was destroyed ; and enough recruits
were doubtless gathered to offset the
waste of war. Still, military opera
tions, without a base and without
regular supplies, seldom produce sub
stantial, enduring results; and the
Confederate guerrillas either soon
abandoned Kentucky or concealed
themselves and lay quiet therein.
The leaders, with most of their fol
lowers, retired into Tennessee, where
they captured Clarksville 3 and pos
sessed themselves of ample military
stores ; and a sharp cavalry fight at
Gallatin resulted in a Union defeat,
with a loss of 30 killed, 50 wounded,
and 75 prisoners.
Gen. Buell had left Corinth in
June, moving eastward, as if intent
on Chattanooga; but Gen. Bragg —
who had succeeded to the chief com
mand of the Rebels confronting him
— had thereupon moved more rapid
ly, on parallel roads, from Tupelo,
Miss., through northern Alabama
and Georgia, to Chattanooga, which
he reached ahead of Buell's van
guard. Bragg's army had been
swelled by conscription to some
45,000 men, organized in three
corps, under Hardee, Bishop Polk,
and Kirby Smith respectively, where
of the last was sent to Knoxville,
while the two former sufficed to hold
Chattanooga against any effort which
Buell was likely to make.
McClellan's Richmond campaign
having proved abortive, while con
scription had largely replenished the
Rebel ranks, Bragg was impelled to
try a bold stroke for the recovery of
Tennessee and the 'liberation' of
Kentucky. As with Lee's kindred

213
advance into Maryland, the increas
ing scarcity of food was the more
immediate, while fond expectations
of a general rising in support of the
Confederate cause, afforded the re
moter incitement to this step. Louis-
ville, with its immense resources,
was the immediate object of this
gigantic raid, though Cincinnati was
thought to be also within its pur
view. Crossing4 the Tennessee at
Harrison, a few miles above Chatta
nooga, with 36 regiments of infan
try, 5 of cavalry, and 40 guns, Bragg
traversed the rugged mountain ridges
which hem in the Sequatchie Val
ley, passing through Dunlap,6 Pike-
Yiile," Crossville,T masking his move
ment by a feint with cavalry on Mc-
Minnville, but rapidly withdrawing
this when its purpose was accom-^
plished, and pressing hurriedly north
ward, to Kentucky; which he en
tered on the 5th.
Kirby Smith, with his division,
from Knoxville, advanced by Jack-
sonborough" across the Cumberland
range, through Big Creek Gap, mov
ing as rapidly as possible, with a very
light train ; his men subsisting mainly
on green corn — which is scarce enough
in that poor, thinly-peopled region —
his hungry, foot-sore, dusty followers
buoyed up with the assurance pf
plenty and comfort ahead. Hi'h cav
alry advance, 900 strong, under Col.
J. S. Scott, moving* from Kingston,
Tenn., passed through Montgomery
and Jamestown, Tenn., and Monti
cello and Somerset, Ky., to London,
where it surprised10 and routed a.
battalion of Union cavalry, inflicting
a loss of 30 killed and wounded and
111 prisoners; thence pushing on,
making additional captures by the

"Aug. 19. 4 Aug. 24. 'Aug. 27. « Aug. 30. * Sept. 1. 8 Aug. 22. • Aug. 13. "Aug. 17.

214

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

w'ay, to Richmond, Ky. ; thence fall
ing back to rejoin Smith, who had
not yet come up.
The Cumberland Mountains are
a broad range of table-land, some
2,000 feet in average height, de
scending sharply to the upper waters
of the Tennessee and Cumberland
on either hand, and pierced by a
single considerable pass — the Cum
berland Gap — which had been for
some time quietly held by a Union
force under Gen. Geo. W. Morgan ;
who, on learning that he had thus
been flanked, blew up his works and
commenced11 a precipitate race for
the Ohio, which he in due time
reached, having been constantly har
assed, for most of the way, by John
Morgan with 700 Rebel cavalry.
* Moving rapidly northward, Smith
J found himself confronted12 at Rich
mond, Ky., by a green Union force,
nearly equal in numbers to his own,
under command of Brig.-Gen. M. D.
Manson, who immediately pushed
forward to engage him, taking posi
tion on a range of hills, a mile or
two south of the town, which was
otherwise indefensible. Here he had
a smart skirmish with the Rebel
advance, and drove it back ; which
prompted him to quit his strong po
sition for one still farther advanced,
at Rogersville, where his men slept
on their arms that night. Next
morning, he advanced half a mile
farther, and here engaged Smith's
: entire command, with no chance of
I success. His force was quite equal
in numbers and in guns to Smith's,
but in nothing else. He attempted
to flank the Rebel right, but was
defeated with loss by Col. Preston
Smith's brigade ; when his right was
" ' "Aug. 17.

successfully turned by the Rebel left,
Gen. T. J. Churchill, and routed in
a daring charge ; whereupon our
whole line gave way and retreated.
The Rebel Gen. Pat. Cleburne, after
ward so distinguished, was here badly
wounded in the face, and succeeded
in his command by Col. Smith.
Gen. Craft, with the 95th Ohio,
had reached the field just before, and
shared in this defeat ; but he had
three more regiments coming up as
our line gave way. Using two of
these as a rear-guard, Manson at
tempted to halt and reform just be
yond Rogersville • but soon saw that
this would not answer, and again re
tired to the position wherefrom he had
commenced the fight the evening be
fore, and which he ought not to have
left. Here, at 12| p. m., he received,
just as the battle was recommencing,
an order from Gen. Nelson, who was
coming up, to retreat on Lancaster,-
if menaced by the enemy in force —
an order which came entirely too late :
the exultant Rebels being close upon
him, and opening fire along their
whole line within five minutes after
ward. The fight beyond Rogersville had
been maintained through three hours ;
here an hour sufficed to end it. Again
our right was charged and routed,
compelling a general retreat; and
again — having been driven back to
his camp — Manson was trying to re
form and make head, when, Gen.
Nelson having reached the ground,
the command was turned over to
him, and another stand made near
the town and cemetery, which was
converted into a total rout in less
than half an hour ; Gen. Nelson be
ing here wounded, as Cols. Link,
— — — _

KIRBY SMITH ROUTS MANSON AT RICHMOND, KY. 215

12th Indiana, McMillan, 95th Ohio,
and. ether valuable officers, had al
ready been. Lt.-Col. Topping and
Maj. Conkling, 71st Indiana, had
been killed.
The rout was now total and com
plete ; and, to make the most of it,
Smith had, hours before, sent Scott,
with his cavalry, around to our rear,
with instructions to prepare for and
intercept the expected fugitives.
Manson, who had resumed command
when Nelson fell, had formed a new
rear-guard, which was keeping the
Rebel pursuit within bounds ; when,
four miles from Richmond, the flee
ing rabble were halted by a body of
Rebel horse. Manson, hurrying up,
attempted to form a vanguard ; but
only 100 responded to his call, who
were speedily cut up by a fire from
a force of Rebels hidden in a corn
field on the left of the road, whereby
Lt.-Col. Wolfe and 41 others were
killed or wounded. The road was
here choked with wounded horses
and other debris of a shattered army ;
it was growing dusk (7 p. m.), and
the remains of our thoroughly beaten
force scattered through the fields;
every one attempting to save himself
as he could. Gen. Manson, with other
officers, attempting escape by flight,
was fired on by a squadron of Scott's
cavalry ; his horse, mortally wounded,
fell on him, injuring him severely, and
he was taken prisoner ; as were many
if not most of his compatriots in dis
aster. Manson's report says that his en
tire force this day " did not exceed
6,500," of whom not over 2,500 were
engaged at once — a sad commentary
on his generalship — and he adds:
" The enemy say they had 12,000 in

fantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 15 guns"
— which they don't. He estimates'
his loss at 200 killed, 700 wounded,
and 2,000 prisoners. Kirby Smith,
on the contrary, makes our force
fully 10,000— his own but 5,000;
and states his total loss at 400, and
ours at 1,000 killed and wounded,
5,000 prisoners, 9 guns, 10,000 small
arms, and large spoil of munitions
and provisions. It is quite probable
that his story, though exaggerated,
is nearer the truth than Manson's.
Smith set forward directly" for
Lexington, which he entered in tri
umph three days, afterward, amid the
frantic acclamations of the numerous
Rebel sympathizers of that intensely
pro-Slavery region. He moved on
through Paris to Cynthiana, within
striking distance of either Cincinnati
or Louisville, which seemed for a few
days to lie at his mercy ; though con
siderable numbers, mainly of militia
and very green volunteers, had been
hastily gathered for the defense of
the former, and were busily em
ployed in erecting defenses covering
the Kentucky approaches to that
city, at some distance back from the
Ohio. Gen. Bragg had now completely
flanked Buell's left, and passed be
hind him, without a struggle and
without loss, keeping well eastward
of Nashville, and advancing by Car
thage, Tenn., and Glasgow, Ky. ; first
striking the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad — which was our main line
of supply and reenforcements- after
he entered Kentucky.14 His advance,
under Gen. J. R. Chalmers, first en
countered1' a considerable force at
Mdotokdsville, where the railroad
crosses Green river, and where Col.

1 Sept. 1.

1 Sept. 5.

" Sept. 13.

216

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

J. T. Wilder, with about 2,100 men,
had assumed command five days be
fore, by order of Gen. J. T. Boyle,
commanding in Kentucky, and had
hastily thrown up fortifications, with
intent to dispute the passage of the
river. Chalmers had already sent
a mounted force to the north of
Munfbrdsville, by which a first de
mand for surrender was made at 8
p. M. The demand being repelled,
an assault was made at daylight next
morning, but speedily repulsed with
Iosb. At 9 a. m., Wilder was reen
forced by six companies of the 50th
Indiana, Col. C. L. Dunham, who,
being his senior, after hesitating, as
sumed command; but was superse
ded soon afterward by an order from
Boyle, and Wilder restored.
The Rebels, after their first re
pulse, kept mainly out of sight, know
ing that their ultimate success was
inevitable, and allowed two more
regiments and six guns to make their
way into the town ; assured that all
who were there would soon fall into
their hands. At length, at 9£ a. m.
on Tuesday,1' Bragg, having brought
up his main body and surrounded the
place with not less than 25,000 men,
renewed the attack. Advancing cau
tiously, keeping his men well cov
ered, but crowding up on the weak
and exposed points of our defenses
in such numbers as absolutely to
compel the gradual contraction of
our lines, he, about sunset, sent in a
flag of truce, demanding a surrender.
As Buell was not at hand, nor likely
to be, and as there was no hope of
relief from any quarter, and no ade
quate reason for sacrificing the lives
of his men, Wilder, at 2 a. m. next
day," after the fullest consultation
» Sept. 16.

with his officers, surrendered ; being
allowed to march out with drums
beating and colors flying, take four
days' rations, and set forth immedi
ately, under parole, for Louisville.
He says in his report that his entire
loss was 37 killed and wounded,
" while the enemy admit a loss of
714 on Sunday alone." Bragg, on
the contrary, says, "Our [Rebel] loss
was about 50 killed and wounded ;"
and claims 4,000 prisoners and as
many muskets, beside guns and mu
nitions. Bragg now issued the following
address to the people of Kentucky,
which, read backward, will indicate
the objects and motives of his inva
sion: "Glasgow, Ky., Sept. 18, 1862.
" Kentuckians : I have entered your
State with the Confederate Array of the
West, and offer you au opportunity to free
yourselves from the tyranny of a despotic
ruler. We come, not as conquerors or de-
spoilers, hut to restore to you the liberties
of which you have been deprived by a cruel
and relentless foe. We come to guarantee
to all the sanctity of their homes and altars ;
to punish with a rod of iron the despoilers
of your peace, and to avenge the cowardly-
insults to your women. With all non-com
batants, the past shall be forgotten. Need
ful supplies must he had for my army ; but
they shall he paid for at fair and remunera
ting prices.
_" Believing that the heart of Kentucky is
with us in our great struggle for Constitu
tional Freedom, we have transferred from
our own soil to yours, not a band of marau
ders, but a powerful and well-disciplined
army. Your gallant Buckner leads the van.
Marshall is on the right; while Breckin
ridge, dear to us as to you, is advancing
with Kentucky's valiant sons, to receive
the honor and applause due to their hero
ism. The strong hands which in part have
sent Shiloh down to history, and the nerved
arms which have kept at bay from our own
homes the boastful army of the enemy, are
here to assist, to sustain, to liberate you.
Will you remain indifferent to our call ? or
will you not rather vindicate the fair fame
of your once free and envied State ? We
believe that you will ; and that the memory
17 Sept. 17.

BUELL ADVANCES AGAINST BRAGG.

217

of your gallant dead -who fell at Shiloh,
their faces turned homeward, will rouse
you to a manly effort for yourselves and
posterity. "Kentuckians! we have come with joy
ous hopes. Let us not depart in sorrow, as
we shall if we find you wedded in your
choice to your present lot. If you prefer
Federal rule, show it hy your frowns, and
we shall return whence we came. If you
choose rather to come within the folds of
our brotherhood, then cheer us with the
smiles of your women, and lend your will
ing hands to secure you in your heritage of
liberty. "Women of Kentucky! your persecu
tions and heroic bearing have reached our
ear. Banish henceforth, forever, from your
minds the fear of loathsome prisons or in
sulting visitations. Let your enthusiasm
have free rein. Buckle on the armor of
your kindred, your husbands, sons, and
brothers, and scoff with shame him who
would prove recreant in his duty to you,
his country, and his God.
"Bbaxton Bragg,
" Gen. Commanding."
It was not the fault of the General
..commanding that his army must ne
cessarily have subsisted on the re
gion of Kentucky it traversed ; but,
when it is considered that he swept
off in his retreat all the abundant
horses and cattle that came within
his reach, with whatever else he
could carry, and that he did not and
could not pay for any thing, it seems
that the mockery of his promise of
payment might wisely have been for
borne. From Munfordsville, Bragg con
tinued his unresisted march north
ward, through Bardstown, to Prank-
fort,18 the State capital, where Smith
had preceded him, and where Rich
ard Hawes,1' a weak old man, was
inaugurated.20 "Provisional Governor
of Kentucky." " This ceremony,"
says Pollard, "was scarcely more
than a pretentious farce : hardly was
it completed when the Yankees
threatened Frankfort ; and the new

ly installed Governor had to flee
from their approach." *
Gen. Buell, after leaving Nash
ville21 strongly garrisoned, had
marched directly for Louisville, 170
miles ; where his army arrived be
tween the 25th and 29th. It had by
this time been swelled by reenforce
ments, mainly raw, to nearly 100,000
men ; but it was not, in his judgment,
yet in condition to fight Bragg's far
inferior numbers. Hence, time was
taken to reorganize- and supply it;
while the Rebel cavalry galloped at
will over the plenteous central dis
tricts of the State, collecting large
quantities of cattle and hogs not
only, but of serviceable fabrics and
other manufactures as well. Buell's
delays, synchronizing with McClel
lan's last, were so distasteful at Wash
ington, that an order relieving him
from command was issued; but its
execution was suspended on the em
phatic remonstrance of his subordi
nate commanders. The hint being a
pretty strong one, Buell set his face
toward the enemy ; 22 moving in five
columns: his left on Frankfort, his
right on Shepardsville, intending to
concentrate on Bardstown, where
Bragg, with his main body, was sup
posed to be ; skirmishing by the way
with small parties of Rebel . cavalry
and artillery. Thus advancing stead
ily, though not rapidly, he passed
through Bardstown, and thence to
Springfield,23 62 miles from Louis
ville ; Bragg slowly retreating before
him, harassing rather than resisting
his advance, so as to gain time for
the escape of his now immense trains,
consisting mainly of captured Fed
eral army wagons, heavily laden with
the spoils of Kentucky. Here Buell

"Octl. "Formerly a member of Congress. *° Oct. 4. "Sept 15. " Oct. 1. a Oct. 6.

218

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

learned that Kirby Smith had crossed
the Kentucky, and that Bragg was
moving to concentrate his forces
either at Harrodsburg or Perey-
ville. His own movement was
therefore directed toward Perry-
ville ; three miles in front of which,
moving with his 3d or central corps,
he encountered, on the afternoon of
the 7th, a considerable Rebel force,
drawn up in order of battle; but
which his advance pressed back a
mile or so without much fighting;
when he, expecting a battle, sent
orders to McCook and Crittenden,
commanding his flank corps, to ad
vance on his right and left at 3 next
morning. McCook did not receive the order
till 2£ a. m., and he marched at 5 ;
but Crittenden, unable to find water
for his corps at the place where Buell
had expected it to encamp for the
night, had moved off the road in
quest of it, and was six miles farther
away than he otherwise would have
been; so that the order to advance
was not duly received, and his arri
val at Perry ville was delayed several
hours. A great drouth then prevailing in
Kentucky, causing severe privation
and suffering to men and animals,
the fight commenced early next morn
ing, by an attempt of the enemy to
repel the brigade of Col. D. McCook,
which had been pushed forward by
Buell on his immediate front to
cover some hollows in the bed of
Doctor's creek, whence a little bad
water was obtained. This attempt
was defeated by sending up the di
visions of Gens. Mitchell and Sheri
dan, to hold the ground until our
two flank corps should arrive ; which
the left, Gen. A. D. McCook, did

between 10 and 11 a. m. ; and the
batteries of his advance division were
sharply engaged with the enemy not
long afterward.
Bragg was present in person ; but
his forces were commanded more im
mediately by Maj.-Gen. Bishop Polk,
who had in hand five divisions — two
under Hardee, and those of Patton
Anderson, Cheatham, and Buckner
— that of Withers having been sent
by Bragg, the day before, to support
Smith, who was retreating farther to
the east, and was deemed in danger
of being enveloped and cut off.
Bragg gives no other reason for
fighting before concentrating his en
tire command than that the enemy
were pressing heavily on his rear;
but it is clear that he had deliber
ately resolved to turn and fight at
Perryville. Maj.-Gen. McCook, having reached
the position assigned him with but
two of his three divisions — that of
Gen. Sill having been detached and,
sent to Frankfort — had directed the
posting of his troops and formation
of his line of battle — Gen. Rousseau's
division on the right, in line with the
left of Gilbert's corps, and Gen. Jack
son's on the left, near the little ham
let of Maxwell, on the Harrodsburg
road — rode off and reported in per
son to Gen. Buell, 2£ miles distant,
in the rear of his right ; and received
verbal orders to make a reconnois-
sance in front of his position to Chap
lin creek. Returning to his com-r
mand, and finding nothing in pro-'
gress but mutual artillery practice,
to little purpose, he ordered his bat
teries to save their ammunition,
while he made the directed reconnois-
sance; at the same time advancing
his skirmishers and extending his

BATTLE OF PERR Y VILLE — GEN. JACKSON KILLED. 219

left, in order to obtain a more advan
tageous position, and enable his men
to procure from the creek the water
for which they were suffering. So
much being accomplished, and no
enemy in sight save some cavalry on
the bluffs across the creek, he pro
ceeded, at 1% p. m., to the left of his
line ; in no apprehension of an attack
until he should see fit to make one.

BATTLE OF PBE»TVII.1_.

He was grievously mistaken.
Hardly had he been half an hour
away from his front, when his left,
composed mainly of green soldiers,
under a brave but inexperienced com
mander, and not fully formed in order
of battle, was suddenly and vehe
mently assailed in front and flank by

' "Union Member of Congress from the
Hd district of Kentucky; elected in 1861,

rapidly charging masses of infantry
and artillery, hitherto concealed in
woods and hollows, but which seemed
as if magically evoked from the
earth. Cheatham's division, which had
been silently moved from the Rebel
left to their right, led this assault,
responding with terrific yells and
more hurried step to the fire of our
batteries, until within short musket-
range, when, at their very first vol
ley, Maj.-Gen. James S. Jackson24
fell dead. His fall disorganized the
raw and over-matched brigade of
Gen. Terrill, which he was desper
ately exerting himself to steady, and
it gave way in utter panic; Gen.
Terrill himself following his chiefs
example and sharing his fate not long
afterward ; as did, at a later hour,
Col. George Webster, 98th Ohio, com
manding a brigade.
Terrill's brigade being thus instan
taneously routed, with the loss of
Parsons's battery, the whole force of
the Rebel charge fell upon Rousseau,
who was ready to receive it. An at
tempt to flank and crush his left was
promptly met by new dispositions :
Starkweather's brigade, with Stone's
and Bush's batteries, being faced to
that flank, and receiving the enemy
with volley after volley, which tore
his ranks and arrested his momentum
for two or three hours, until our am
munition was exhausted, and Bush's
battery had lost 35 horses ; when our
guns were drawn back a short dis-
tance, and our infantry retired to re- ;
plenish their cartridge-boxes ; then '
resuming their position in line.
Rousseau's center and right were
held respectively by the brigades of

by 9,281 votes, to 3,364 for Bunch, "State
Rights," i. e., semi-Rebel.

220

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Harris and Ly tie, who fought bravely,
but lost ground, in consequence of
the disaster, on our farther left. Fi
nally, a desperate charge was made
upon Lytle's front and right, favored
by irregularities of ground, which
covered and concealed ' it, and his
brigade was hurled back ; Lytle him
self falling at this moment, and, be
lieving his wound mortal, refusing
to be carried off the field.
The charging Rebels now struck
the left flank of Gilbert's corps, held
by R. B. Mitchell and Sheridan,
which had been for some little time
engaged along its front. The key of
its position was held — and of course
well held — by Brig.-Gen. Philip H.
Sheridan, who had been engaged in
the morning, but had driven the
enemy back out of sight, after a
short but sharp contest, and had just
repelled another assault on his front ;
advancing his line as his assailants
retired, and then turning his guns
upon the force which had just driven
Rousseau's right. And now Gen.
Mitchell pushed forward the 31st
brigade, Col. Carlin, on Sheridan's
right, and charged at double-quick,
breaking and driving the enemy into
and through Perryville, to the pro
tection of two batteries on the bluffs
beyond, capturing 15 heavily laden
ammunition wagons, 2 caissons with
their horses, and a train-guard of 140 ;
retiring amid the Rebel confusion to
this side of the town, and thence
opening fire with his battery as dark
ness came on.
Meantime, the 30th brigade, Col.
Gooding, which had been sent by
Gilbert to the aid of McCook, had
formed on our extreme left, confront
ing the division of the Rebel Gen.

Wood, and here, fought desperately
for two hours against superior num
bers. A lull occurring in the fusil
lade, Gooding rode forward, about
dark, to ascertain the Rebel position ;
when his horse was shot under him"
and he made prisoner. His brigade
then fell back, having lost 549 men
out of 1,423 ; taking position in line
with McCook. There was some ran
dom artillery firing afterward; but
darkness substantially closed the bat
tle. Gen. Buell did not learn until 4
p. m. that any serious conflict was in
progress. He now heard with as
tonishment from McCook that he had
been two hours hotly engaged ; that
both the right and the left of his
corps were turned, or being turned ;
and that he was severely pressed on
every hand. Reenforcements were
immediately ordered to McCook from
the center, and orders sent to Crit
tenden — who was advancing with
our right division — to push forward
and attack the enemy's left; but
Crittenden's advance only reached
the field at nightfall, when a single
brigade (Wagner's) went into action
on the right of Mitchell's division,
just before the battle was terminated
by darkness.
At 6 a. m. next day,25 Gilbert's
corps advanced by order to assail the
Rebel front, while Crittenden struck
hard on his left flank ; but they found
no enemy to dispute their progress.
Bragg had decamped during the
night, marching on Harrodsburg;
where he was joined by Kirby Smith
and Withers ; retreating thence south
ward by Bryantsville to Camp Dick
Robinson, near Danville.
Bragg admits a total loss in this

* Oct. 9.

BRAGG DECAMPS FROM KENTUCKY.

221

battle of not less than 2,500 ; includ
ing Brig.-Gens. Wood, Cleburne, and
Brown, wounded ; and claims to have
driven us two miles, captured 15
guns, 400 prisoners, and inflicted a
total loss of 4,000. Buell's report
admits a loss on our part of 4,348 —
916 killed, 2,943 wounded, and 489
missing ; but as to guns, he concedes
a loss of but ten, whereof all but two
were left on the ground, with more
than 1,000 of their wounded, by the
Eebels. Gen. Buell officially reports his
effective force which advanced on
Perryville at 58,000 ; whereof 22,000
were raw troops, who had received
little or no instruction. He estimates
the Rebel army in Kentucky at
55,000 to 65,000 men ; but of this
aggregate not more than two-thirds
were present. As the fighting of
all but the raw troops in this battle,
on our side, was remarkably good,
that of the Rebels present must have
been still better, since they inflicted
the greater loss, gained the more
ground, and captured some cannon ;
yet it is plain that Bragg obtained
here all the fighting he was anxious
for ; since he abandoned some 1,200
of his sick and wounded at Harrods
burg, and 25,000 barrels of pork,
with other stores, at various points ;
making no stand even at Camp Dick
Robinson — a very strong position,
behind the perpendicular bluffs of
Dick's river — but retreated precipi
tately by Crab Orchard, Mount Ver
non, London, and Barboursville, to
Cumberland Gap, and thus into East
Tennessee ; burning even large quan
tities of cloths and other precious
goods, for which transportation over
the rough mountain roads necessarily
traversed was not to be had.

The retreat was conducted by
Bishop Polk, and covered by Wheel
er's cavalry. And, though Kentucky
was minus many thousands of ani
mals, with other spoils of all kinds,
by reason of this gigantic raid, it is
not probable, in view of the inevi
table suffering and loss of animals on
their long, hurried, famished flight
through the rugged, sterile, thinly
peopled mountain region, that all the
Rebels took back into East Tennessee
was equal in value to the outfit with
which they had set forth on this ad
venture. Sill's division — which had followed
Kirby Smith from Frankfort, and
had had a little fight with his rear
guard near Lawrenceburg — reached
Perryville at nightfall on the llth ;
up to which time Buell had made rio
decided advance. Pushing forward
a strong reconnoissance next day to
Dick's river, he found no enemy this
side ; and he learned at Danville, two
days later, that Bragg was in full re
treat. He sent forward in pursuit at
midnight Wood's division, followed
by the rest of Crittenden's and then
by McCook's corps, while Gilbert's
marched on the Lancaster road to the
left. Wood struck the Rebel rear
guard next morning at Stanford, but
to little purpose ; the enemy retiring
when assailed in force, felling trees
across the road behind him, and con
suming all the forage of the region
he traversed, rendering extended pur- -
suit impossible. McCook's and Gil
bert's divisions were halted at Crab
Orchard; while Crittenden kept on
to London, whence he was recalled
by Buell; farther pursuit being evi
dently useless. The Government,
deeply dissatisfied with this impotent
conclusion of the campaign, now re-

222

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

lieved29 Buell from command, ap
pointing Maj.-Gen. Rosecrans in his
stead. If the disappointment on our side
at the escape of Bragg with his plun
der was great, the chagrin of the
Rebels was even greater. They had
so loudly and boastingly proclaimed
that they entered Kentucky to stay,
that they had incited their partisans
throughout the State to compromise
themselves by demonstrations which
were now shown to have been rash
and useless ; so that thousands of the
more prominent were impelled to fly
with Bragg, who embarrassed his
march and devoured his scanty sup
plies, yet were of no value to the
cause when they had together en
tered — not in triumph — their beloved
Dixie. Bragg's invasion had demon
strated afresh the antagonism of at
least two-thirds of the Kentuckians
to the Rebellion — a demonstration
more conclusive than that uniformly
afforded by her elections, because
there could now be no pretense that
the people were overawed or their
verdict corrupted. For weeks, a gal
lant, formidable, triumphant Rebel
army had held undisputed possession
of the heart of the State ; its cavalry
had traversed two-thirds of it, afford
ing opportunity and solicitation to
all who were inclined to enter the
Confederate service ; their cause had
enjoyed the prestige of several bril
liant and profitable successes, while
the Union forces everywhere fled be-

28 Oct. 30.
" Pollard says:
" It is to be admitted that the South was bit
terly disappointed in the manifestations of pub
lic sentiment in Kentucky ; that the exhibitions
of sympathy in this State were meager and senti
mental, and amounted to but little practical aid
of our cause. Indeed, no subject was at once
more dispiriting and perplexing to the South
than the cautious and unmanly reception given

fore them, or made a stand only to be
routed; yet the number of recruits
to their standard was confessedly
moderate. Excepting in a few of
the rich slaveholding counties around
Lexington, and in that south-western
portion of the State which Bragg
failed to reach, those in sympathy
with the Rebellion were everywhere
a decided and in many counties an
inconsiderable minority.2'

The transfer of Gen. Halleck to
Washington had left Gen. Grant in
command of the district of West Ten
nessee, with his headquarters at Jack
son or at Bolivar, while Gen. Rose
crans was left in command in north
ern Mississippi and Alabama, when
Gen. Buell, taking28 two of his divi
sions, moved northward in. pursuit of
Bragg. Rosecrans was at Tuscum
bia when advised,29 by telegram from
Gen. Grant, that a considerable Rebel
force was moving northward between
them, and that its cavalry had al
ready attacked Bolivar, and cut the
line of railroad between that post and
Jackson. Hereupon, leaving Iuka in
charge of Col. R. C. Murphy, 8th
Wisconsin, Rosecrans moved east
ward with Stanley's division to his
old encampment at Clear creek, sev
en miles from Corinth. Murphy pre
cipitately abandoned his post on the
approach of the Rebel cavalry, allow
ing a large amount of stores, with 680
barrels of flour, to fall into the hands
of the enemy. A reconnoissance in

to our armies both in Kentucky and Maryland.
The references we have made to the sentiment
of each of these States leaves but little room to
doubt the general conclusion, that the dread of
Yankee vengeance and love of property were
too powerful to "make them take risks against
these in favor of a cause for which their people
had a mere preference, without any attachments
to it higher than those of selfish calculation/'
38 Aug. 20. » About Sept. 1.

ROSECRANS ATTACKS PRICE AT IUKA.

223

force, under Col. Mower, having sat
isfied Rosecrans that the Rebel army
under Gen. Price now occupied Iuka,
he so advised Gen. Grant ; who there
upon resolved on a combined attack,
sending down Gen. Ord, with some
5,000 men, to Burnsville, seven miles
west of Iuka, and following from
Bolivar with such troops as could be
spared to reenforce him. Ord was
to move on Iuka from the north ;
while Rosecrans, with Stanley's, was
to rejoin his remaining division, un
der Hamilton, at Jacinto, nine miles
south of Burnsville, thence advancing
on Price from the south. This con
centration was duly effected ; s° and
Gen. Grant, who had now reached
Burnsville, was advised that Rose
crans would attack Iuka, 19£ miles
» Sept. 18.

from Jacinto, between 2£ and 4£
p. m. next day.
Rosecrans moved accordingly, at
3 A. m,81 in light marching order,
duly advising Gen. Grant ; and was
within 7£ miles of Iuka at noon, hav
ing been driving in the enemy's skir
mishers for the last two miles. Dis
appointed in hearing no guns from
Ord's column, he did not choose "to
push his four brigades against the
more numerous army in their front
on separate roads, which precluded
their reciprocal support, but advanced
slowly— Hamilton's division in front
—up to a point two miles from Iuka,
where a cross-road connected that
from Jacinto, on which he was mov
ing, with the road leading south-east
ward from Iuka to Fulton; where,
" 31 Sept. 19.

224

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

at 4 p. m., the Rebels were found
drawn up in force, holding a strong
position along a deep ravine crossing
the main road, and behind the crest
of a hill. Here our skirmishers were
driven back on the head of the col
umn in advance, which was suddenly
saluted with a heavy fire of musketry,
grape, canister, and shell, under which
the llth Ohio battery was with diffi
culty brought into position, with the
5th Iowa, Col. Matthias, and 26th
Missouri, Col. Boomer, supporting it;
the 48th Indiana, Col. Eddy, posted
a little in advance of the battery, on
the left of the road, holding their
ground under a terrible fire; while
the 4th Minnesota, Capt. Le Gro,
and 16th Iowa, Col. Chambers, were
hurried up to their support. The
nature of the ground forbidding any
extension of our front, the battle was
thus maintained by a single brigade,
against at least three times their
numbers, until Col. Eddy was killed;
when the remnant of his regiment
was hurled back in disorder and our
advanced battery clutched by the
Rebels ; but not till its every horse
had been disabled and every officer
killed or wounded. A charge was
instantly made to recover it, and the
guns were repeatedly taken and re
taken ; but they were finally dragged
off the field by the Rebels, only to be
•abandoned in their flight from Iuka.
Stanley's division had meantime
come up, pushing forward the llth
Missouri to the front ; where, uniting
with the 5th Iowa and 26th Missouri,
it first checked the Rebel advance
and then drove it back to the shelter
of the ravine; while Col. Perczel,
with the 10th Iowa and a section of
Immell's battery, repulsed a Rebel

attempt to turn our left. Col.
Boomer fell, severely wounded, and
darkness at length closed the battle :
our men lying down on their arms,
expecting to renew the struggle next
morning ; Gen. Stanley himself being
at the front, along with Brig.-Gen.
Sullivan and Col. J. B. Sanborn,
who had bravely and skillfully
directed the movements of Hamil
ton's two brigades ; but not a regi
ment of Stanley's division, save the
llth Missouri, had been enabled to
participate in the action ; ai_d not a
shot had been fired from- the direc
tion whence Ord's advance had been
confidently expected— the excuse for
this being that Ord had only ex
pected to attack after hearing the
sound of Rosecrans'sguns ; and these
a high wind from the north-west pre
vented his hearing at all.
Ord had been watching a Rebel
demonstration from the south and
west upon Corinth — which proved a
mere feint — but had returned to
Burnsville at 4 p. M.,82 when he was
directed by Grant to move his entire
force — which had been swelled by
the arrival of Ross's division — to
within four miles of Iuka, and there
await the. sound of Rosecrans's guns.
Ross, in his advance, reported to him
a dense smoke arising from the direc
tion of Iuka; whence he inferred
that Price was burning his stores
and preparing to retreat. Next
morning, hearing guns in his front,
Ord moved rapidly into Iuka, but
found no enemy there ; Price having
retreated on the Fulton road during
the night. Ord, leaving Crocker's
brigade to garrison Iuka, returned
directly, by order, to Corinth ; while
Rosecrans — having first sent Stan-

2 Sept. 19.

VAN DORN ATTACKS ROSECRANS AT CORINTH.

225

ley's division into Iuka and found
it abandoned — turned on the trail of
the Rebels, and followed until night ;
but found they had too much start to
be overtaken.
Hamilton reports that, in this affair
of Iuka, not more than 2,800 men
on our side were actually engaged,
against a Rebel force of 11,000, hold
ing a chosen and very strong posi
tion. Rosecrans reports our total
loss in this battle at 782 — 144 killed,
598 wounded, and 40 missing ; and
that we buried on the field 265
Rebels, while 120 more died in hos
pital of wounds here received ; 342
more were left Wounded in hospital
by the Rebels, and 361 were made
prisoners. He estimates that they
carried off 350 more of their less
severely wounded; making their
total loss 1,438. He states that he
captured 1,629 stand of arms, 13,000
rounds of ammunition, beside large
quantities of equipments and stores.
Pollard says that the Rebel loss " was
probably 800 in killed and wounded."

Price retreated to Ripley, Miss.,
where he united with a still stronger
Rebel force, under Van Dorn, who
had been menacing Corinth during
the conflict at Iuka, but'had retreated
after its close, and who now assumed
command, and, marching northward,
struck the Memphis Railroad at
Pocahontas, considerably westward
of Corinth, thence pushing 3S rapidly
down the road to Chewalla, with
intent to surprise, or at least storm,
Corinth next day. Rosecrans — who
had received34 his promotion to a
Major-Generalship directly after the
affair at Iuka, — had been left in chief
command at Corinth by Grant, who

had returned to his own headquarters'
at Jackson, withdrawing Ord's divi-^
sion to Bolivar. Rosecrans had in and
about Corinth not far from 20,000
men — too few to man the extensive
works constructed around it by Beau
regard, when he held that position
against Halleck's besieging army.
Realizing this, Rosecrans had hastily
constructed an inner line of fortifica
tions, covering Corinth, especially
toward the west, at distances of a
mile or so from the center of the
village. Promptly advised by his
cavalry of the formidable Rebel
movement northward, until it struck
the line of his communications with
Grant, he supposed its object to be
Bolivar or Jackson, and that only a
feint would be made on Corinth ; but
he was prepared for any emergency,
having his forces well in hand and
thrown out westward, into and
beyond Beauregard's fortifications
already mentioned. Hamilton held
the right, with Davies in the center,
and McKean on the left ; while three
regiments, under Col. Oliver, were
thrown out in advance on the Che
walla road, down which the Rebels
were advancing.
Van Dorn moved at an early hour,
and, forming in order of battle at a
distance from our outworks, his
right, under Gen. Mansfield Lovell,
encountered, at 7£ a. m.,'b our left
advance, under Col. Oliver, holding
a hill which afforded a strong posi
tion, and a broad and extensive view
of the country beyond it. He had
orders to hold it pretty firmly, so as
to compel the enemy to develop his
strength. Rosecrans, still distrusting that this
attack was more than a feint, de-

M Oct. 2.
vol. n. — 15

"Sept. 20.

' Oct. 3.

226

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

signed to cover a movement on Boli
var and Jackson, at 9 o'clock sent
Gen. McArthur to the front, who
reported widespread but slack skir
mishing, and said the hill was of
great value to test the strength of our
assailants. McArthur, finding him
self hotly assailed, called up four
more regiments from McKean's divi
sion, and continued what by this time
had become a serious engagement,
until a determined Rebel charge, in
terposing between his right and the
left of Gen. Davies, forced him
rapidly back from the hill, with the
loss of 2 heavy guns ; thus compel
ling a slight recoil of Davies also.
By 1 p. m., it had become evident
that the attack was no feint, but
meant the capture of Corinth, with
its immense stores ; and that success
was to be struggled for right here.
Accordingly, McKean's division, on

our left, was drawn back to the ridge
next beyond our inner intrenchments,
and ordered to close with his right
on Davies's left ; Hamilton's division
was moved down until its left
touched Davies's right ; while Stan
ley, moving northward and eastward,
was to stand in close echelon with
McKean, but nearer Corinth. These
dispositions hadr scarcely been com
pleted, under a most determined
pressure on our center by the Rebels,
which compelled Davies to give
ground and call upon Stanley for aid,
when night compelled a pause in the
engagement; Col. Mower, with one
of Stanley's brigades, having just
come into the fight ; while Hamilton,
working his way through an imprac
ticable thicket, was just swinging in
on the enemy's left. Van Dorn, sup
posing Corinth virtually his own,
sent off to Richmond an electrifying

PRICE'S CHARGE AT CORINTH.

227

dispatch, claiming a great victory,
and rested for the night on his lau
rels. At 3 a. m.,88 the fight was reopened
by the fire of a Rebel battery which
had been planted during the night in
front and but 200 yards distant from
Fort Robinett, in our center, cover
ing the road W.N.W. from Corinth
to Chewalla. Shell were thrown into
Corinth, exploding in streets and
houses, and causing a sudden stam
pede of teamsters, sutlers, and non-
combatants generally. No reply was
made by our batteries till fair day
light ; when Capt. Williams opened
from Fort Williams with his 20-pound
Parrotts, and in three minutes si
lenced the unseasonable disturber;
two of whose guns were dragged off,
while the third, being deserted, was
taken and brought within our lines.
By this time, the skirmishers of both
sides had wormed their way into the
swampy thickets separating the hos
tile forces; and their shots, at first
scattering, came thicker and faster.
Occasionally, there would be a lull
in this fusillade, swiftly followed by
considerable volleys.' Batteries on
both sides now came into full play,
and shells were falling and bursting
everywhere ; but no Rebel masses, nor
even lines of infantry, were visible ;
until suddenly, about 9£ a. m., a vast
column of gleaming bayonets flashed
out from the woods east of the rail
road, and moved sternly up the Boli
var road. Says the witnessing cor
respondent of the Cincinnati Com
mercial :
" A prodigious mass, with gleaming bayo
nets, suddenly loomed out, dark and threat
ening, on the east of the railroad, moving
sternly up the Bolivar road in column by
divisions. Directly, it opened out in the

shape of a monstrous wedge, and drove for
ward impetuously toward the heart of Cor
inth. It was a splendid target for our bat
teries, and it was soon perforated. Hideous
gaps were rent in it, but those massive lines
were closed almost as soon as they were torn
open. At this period, the skillful manage
ment of Gen. Rosecrans began to develop.
It was discovered that the enemy had been
enticed to attack precisely at the point
where the artillery could sweep them with
direct, cross, and enfilading fire. He had pre
pared for such an occasion. Our shell swept
through the mass with awful effect; but the
brave Rebels pressed onward inflexibly. Di
rectly, the wedge opened and spread out
magnificently, right and left, like great
wings, seeming to swoop over the whole
field before them. But there was a fearful
march in front. A broad, turfy glacis, slo
ping upward at an angle of thirty degrees
to a crest fringed with determined, disci
plined soldiers, and clad with terrible bat
teries, frowned, upon them. There were a
few obstructions — fallen timber — -which dis
ordered their lines ajittle. But every break
was instantly welded. Our whole line open
ed fire ; hut the enemy, seemingly insensible
to fear, or infuriated by passion, bent their
necks downward and marched steadily to
deathj with their faces averted like men striv
ing to protect themselves against a driving
storm of hail. The Yates and Burgess
sharp-shooters, lying snugly behind their
rude breastworks, poured in a destructive
fire ; but it seemed no more effectual than
if they had been firing potato-balls, except
ing that somebody was killed. The enemy
still pressed onward undismayed. At last,
they reached the crest of the hill in front
and to the right of Fort Richardson, and
Gen. Davies's division gave way. It began
to fall back in disorder. Gen. Rosecrans,
who had been watching the conflict with
eagle eye, and who is described as having
expressed his delight at the trap into which
Gen. Price was blindly plunging, discovered
the break, and dashed to the front, inflamed
with indignation. He rallied the men by
his splendid example in the thickest of the
fight. Before the- line was demoralized, he
succeeded in restoring it, and the men, brave
when bravely led, fought again. But it had
yielded much space ; and the loss of Fort
Richardson was certain. Price's right moved
swiftly to the headquarters^ of Gen. Rose
crans, took possession of it, and posted
themselves under cover of the portico of
the house, and behind its corners, whence
they opened fire upon our troops on the op
posite side of the public square. Seven Reb
els were killed within the little inclosure in

" Saturday, Oct. _

228

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

front of the General's cottage. The struc
ture is a sort of sieve now — bullets have
punctured it so well. But the desperadoes
got no farther into town.
" Battle was raging about Fort Richard-.
son. Gallant Richardson, for whom it was
named, fought his battery well. Had His sup
ports fought as his artillerymen did, the rec
ord would have been different. The Rebels
gained the crest of the hill, swarmed around
the little redoubt, and were swept away
from it as a breath will dissipate smoke.
Again they swarmed like infuriated tigers.
At last, a desperate dash, with a yell. Rich
ardson goes down to rise no more. His
supports are not on hand. The foe shouts
triumphantly and seizes the guns. The
horses are fifty yards down the hill toward
Corinth. A score of Rebels seize them.
The 56th Illinois suddenly rises from cover
in the ravine. One terrible volley, and
there are sixteen dead artillery horses and a
dozen dead Rebels. Illinois shouts, charges
up the hill, across the plateau into the bat
tery. The Rebels fly out through embra
sures and around the wings. The 56th yells
again and pursues.
" The Rebels do not stop. Hamilton's vet
erans, meantime, have been working quietly
: — no lung-work, hut gun-work enough. A
steady stream of fire tore the Rebel ranks
to pieces. When Davies broke, it was ne
cessary for all to fall back. Gen. Rosecrans
thought it well enough to get Price in
deeply. A Rebel soldier says Van Dorn
sat on his horse grimly and saw it all.
'That's Rosecrans's trick,' said he; 'he's
got Price where he must suffer.' Maybe
this is one of the apocrypha of battle. A
Rebel soldier says it 's truth. But Ham
ilton's division receded under orders — at
backward step ; slowly, grimly, face to the
foe, and firing. But when the 56th Il
linois charged, this was changed. Da
vies's misfortune had been remedied. The
whole line advanced. The Rebel host was
broken. A destroying Nemesis pursued
them. Arms were flung away wildly.
They ran to the woods. They fled into
the forests. Oh ! what a shout of triumph
and what a gleaming line of steel followed
them. It is strange, but true. Our men
do not often shout before battle. Heavens !
what thunder there is in their throats after
victory ! ' They ' report that such a shout
was never before heard in Corinth. Price's
once ' invincible ' now invisible legions were
broken, demoralized, fugitive, and remorse
lessly pursued down the hill, iuto the
swamps, through the thickets, into the for
ests. Newly disturbed earth shows where
they fell, and how very often.
"Gen. Van Dorn's attack was to have
been simultaneous with that of Price. The

Generals had arranged to carry Corinth by
one grand assault. In their reconnoissance
Friday evening, they had found no fort w h ere
Fort Richardson was, and they overlooked
Fort Robinett. Ugly obstacles. When they
drove their wedge toward Corinth, one
flange on the Bolivar road, the other on a
branch of the Ohewalla, they intended both
wings should extend together. Topographi
cal and artificial obstructions interrupted
Van Dorn. He was obliged to sweep over
a rugged ravine, through dense thickets, up
hill, over a heavy abatis, with his left; it
was necessary for his center to dip down
hill under the fire of Fort Williams, Capt.
Gau's siege-guns in the rear of the town,
and under heavy musketry, while his right
had to girdle a ridge and move over almost
insurmountable abatis under a point-blank
fire of both Fort Williams and Fort Robin
ett, supported by a splendid division of
veteran troops. The latter fort had Im
pounder Parrotts, three of them — the for
mer 30-pounder Parrotts, which devour
men. It was a task to be accomplished, or
a terrible failure to be recorded. Price had
comparatively plain sailing, and lost no time.
Van Dorn was seven or eight minutes be
hind time. During that precious seven min
utes, Price was overwhelmed, and Van Dorn
was left with a feat of desperation to be ac
complished. He tried it audaciously. His
men obeyed magnificently. Evidently, he
relied chiefly on Texas and Mississippi ; for
the troops of those States were in front.
The wings were sorely distressed in the en
tanglement on either side. Two girdles of
bristling steel glistened on the waist of the
ridge. Two brigades, one supporting the
front at close distance, moved up solidly to
ward the face of the fort. The Parrotts of
both redoubts were pouring shot, and shell,
and grape, and canister, into them from the
moment of command — ' Forward — Charge I'
shouted clearly from the brave Col. Rogers
(acting Brigadier) of Texas. They tell me
it was a noble exhibition of desperate dar
ing. At every discharge, great gaps were
cut through their ranks. No faltering, but
the ranks were closed, and they moved stead
ily to the front, bending their heads to the
storm. Dozens were slaughtered while
thrusting themselves through the rugged
timber, but no man wavered. Onward, on
ward, steady and unyielding as fate, their
General in front. At last, they reach the
ditch. It is an awful moment. They pause
to take breath for a surge — a fatal pause.
Texas Rogers, with the Rebel flag in his
left, revolver in his right, advanced firing,
leaped the ditch, scaled the parapet, waved
his banner aloft, and tumbled headlong into
the ditch. A patriot's bullet had killed him
in the moment of triumph. Five Texans

REBEL DEFEAT AT CORINTH.s

229

who followed pitched forward through the
embrasures like logs, and fell into the fort.
" But we anticipate. Remember that the
two redoubts are on the same ridge : Fort
Williams commanding Fort Robinett, which
is in front. Had- the Rebels taken the latter,
the guns of the former would have destroyed
them. They were separated hy a space not
exceeding one hundred and fifty yards. The
Ohio brigade, commanded by Col. Fuller,
was formed behind the ridge, on the right
of the redoubts. The left of the 63d Ohio
rested on Fort Robinett, its right joining
the left of the 27th Ohio ; the 39th was
behind the 27th, supporting it; the right
of the 43d joined the left of the 63d, form
ing a right angle with it, and extending to
Fort Williams, behind the crest of the ridge.
The llth Missouri, Col. Mower (U. S. A.),
was formed behind the 63d Ohio, its left in
the angle, and the regiment faced obliquely
to the right of the 63d. The positions of
these gallant regiments should be described,
because their actions are memorable.
" Col. Fuller, perfectly collected, required
his brigade to lie flat on their faces when
not engaged. While the enemy was steadily
approaching, he warned them to wait till
they could see the whites of their eyes, then
fire coolly. It was at the moment the Tex
an Rogers was flaunting his flag on our
parapet, that the 63d was ordered to fire.
Dead Capt. McFadden gave the first com
mand of his life to fire on the field of battle,
and he fell mortally wounded. There were
only 250 of the 63d in the conflict; but
their volley was fearful. It is said fifty Reb
els fell at once. Six volleys were fired, and
the Rebels were gone. The 63d again lay
down. Directly, the supporting brigade of
the Rebels advanced. The 63d was ordered
to make a half left wheel to sweep the front
of the redoubt, and the maneuver was hand
somely executed. The llth Missouri moved
on the left into line into the vacant space ;
the 43d moved by the right of companies
to the left, and the 27th half-faced to the
left. Suddenly, the enemy appeared ; and a
furious storm of lead and grape was launched
at them. The 63d fired five or six volleys,
and the Rebels rushed upon them. A ter
rific hand-to-hand combat ensued. The
rage of the combatants was furious and the
uproar hideous. It lasted hardly a minute,
but the carnage was dreadful. Bayonets
were used, muskets clubbed, and men were
felled With brawny fists. Our noble fellows
were victors^ but at sickening cost. Of
the 250 of the splendid 63d, 125 lay there
on the field, wounded, dead, or dying. The
last final struggle terminated with a howl
of rage and dismay. The foe flung away
their arms and fled like frightened stags to
the abatis and forests. The batteries were

still vomiting destruction. With the enemy-
plunging in upon him, brave Robinett, with
his faithful gunners of the 1st United States
Artillery, had double-shotted his guns and
belched death upon the infuriate enemy ; and
now he sent the iron hail after the fugitives
with relentless fury. The abatis was full of
them, but they were subdued. Directly,
they began to wave their handkerchiefs
upon sticks in token of submission, shout
ing to spare them ' for God's sake.' Over
two hundred of them were taken within an
area of a hundred yards, and more than two
hundred of them fell in that frightful assault
upon Fort Robinett. Fifty-six dead Reb
els were heaped np together in front of
that redoubt, most of whom were of the
2d Texas and 4th Mississippi. They were
buried in one pit ; but their brave General
sleeps alone: our own noble fellows tes
tifying their respect by rounding his grave
smoothly and marking his resting-place.
" A great shout went up all over Corinth.
The battle was a shock. It really began at
half-past 9 o'clock, and pursuit was com
menced at 11 o'clock. The pursuit of the
beaten foe was terrible. ¦ Sheets of flame
blazed through the forest. Huge trunks
were shattered by crashing shells. You
may track the flying conflict for miles by
scarified trees, broken branches, twisted gun-
barrels and shattered stocks, blood-stained
garments and mats of human hair, which lie
on the ground where men died; hillocks
which mark ditches where dead Rebels were
covered, and smoothly rounded graves where
slaughtered patriots were tenderly buried."
Gen. Rosecrans's official report

"When Price's left bore down on our
center in gallant style, their force .was so
overpowering that our wearied and jaded'
troops yielded and fell back, scattering
among the houses. I had the personal mor
tification of witnessing this untoward and
untimely stampede.
" Riddled and scattered, the ragged head
of Price's right storming columns advanced
to near the house, north side of the square,
in front of Gen. Halleck's former headquar
ters; when it Was greeted by a storm of
grape from a section of Immell's battery,
soon reenforced by the 10th Ohio, which
sent them whirling back, pursued by the 5th
Minnesota, which advanced on them from
their position near the d6p6t.
" Gen. Sullivan was ordered and promptly
advanced to support Gen. Davies's center.
His right rallied and retook battery Powell,
into which a few of the storming eotam_
had penetrated; While Hamilton, having
played upon the Rebels on his right, over

230

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the open space effectively swept by his ar
tillery, advanced on them, and they fled.
The battle was over on the right.
"During all this, the skirmishers of the
left were moving in our front. A line of
battle was formed on the ridge. About
twenty minutes after the attack on the
right, the enemy advanced in four columns
on battery Robinett, and were treated to
grape and canister until within fifty yards ;
when the Ohio brigade arose and gave them
a murderous fire of musketry, before which
they reeled and fell back to the woods.
They, however, gallantly reformed and ad
vanced again to the charge, led by Col.
Rogers, of the 2d Texas. This time, they
reached the edge of the ditch ; but the dead
ly musketry fire of the Ohio brigade again
broke them; and, at the word charge, the
llth Missouri and 27th Ohio sprang up and
forward at them, chasing their broken frag
ments back to the woods. Thus by noon
ended the battle'of the 4th of October."
In his testimony before the Com
mittee on the Conduct of the War,
he says :
" Between 3£ and 4o'clock a. m., the enemy
opened his batteries furiously from a point
in front of battery Robinett; but in the
course of an hour he was silenced and driv
en from his position. Our troops, thus
aroused from their brief rest, which could
scarcely be called slumber, nerved them
selves for the coming fight ; the brunt of
which came on about 10 o'clock, when, the
enemy charging our right center, Davies's
division gave way, but speedily rallied, and,
with the aid of Hamilton's division and a
cross-fire from battery Robinett, poured in
a fire so destructive that the enemy were
thrown into confusion and finally driven
from this part of the field ; at the same time,
he also charged battery Robinett ; but was
thoroughly repulsed, after two or three ef
forts, and retired to the woods. With our
inferior numbers of exhausted troops, we
stood on the defensive, sending skirmishers
to the front and expecting another charge
from the enemy, till about 3 o'clock p. m. ;
when, finding that their skirmishers yielded
to ours, we began to push them, and by 4
o'clock became satisfied that they intended
to retire from our immediate front ; but so
superior was their strength that I could not
believe they would altogether abandon the
operation. By 6 p. m., our skirmishers had
pushed theirs back five miles."
Our soldiers, having now been
marching and fighting some 48 hours,

with very Httle rest, Gen. Rosecrans
ordered all but those on the skirmish
line to lie down, while five days'
rations should be issued to them, and
that they should start in" pursuit ofthe
enemy early next morning ; but, just
before sunset, Gen. McPherson ar
rived, with five fresh regiments from
Gen. Grant, and was given the ad
vance on the trail of the flying
enemy, whom he followed 15 miles
next day ; " having a skirmish with
his rear-guard that night.
Meantime, another division, which
Gen. Grant had pushed forward from
Bolivar, at 3 a. m. of the eventful
4th, under Gen. Hurlbut, to the re
lief of Corinth, had struck the head
of the enemy's retreating forces and
skirmished with it considerably dur
ing the afternoon. Hurlbut was
joined and ranked, next morning, by
Ord. The Rebel advance, having
crossed the Hatchie river at Davis's
bridge, were encountered by Ord and
driven back so precipitately that they
were unable to burn the bridge, los
ing 2 batteries and 300 prisoners.
Ord, being in inferior numbers, did
not pursue across the river, but
gathered up 900 small arms which
the Rebels had thrown away. He
reports that his losses in killed and
wounded during that day's pursuit
were several hundreds — probably ex
ceeding those of the enemy, who
fought only under dense cover, with
every advantage of ground, compel
ling our men to advance across open
fields and up hills against them.
Gen. Veatch was among our wounded.
Van Dorn crossed the Hatchie
that night at Crumm's Mill, 12 miles
farther south, burning the bridge be
hind him. McPherson rebuilt the

" Oct. 5.

UNION AND REBEL LOSSES, AT CORINTH.

231

bridge and crossed next day ; 8e con
tinuing the pursuit to Ripley, fol
lowed by Rosecrans with most of his
army, gathering up deserters and
stragglers by the way. Rosecrans
was anxiously eager to continue the
pursuit, and telegraphed to Grant for
permission to do so,88 believing the
Rebel army utterly demoralized and
incapable of resistance ; but he was
directed to desist and. return to
Corinth. Nine days after his return,
he was relieved from his command at
Corinth, and ordered to report at
Cincinnati; where he found a dis-
patch directing him to supersede
Gen. Buell in command of the Army
of the Ohio and Department of the
Cumberland, including all of Tennes
see east of the Tennessee river.
Gen. Rosecrans reports his total
loss at Corinth and in the pursuit at
2,359—315 killed, 1,812 wounded,
and 232 missing ; and says that the
Rebel loss in killed alone was 1,423,

with 2,248 prisoners." He estimated
their loss in wounded at 5,692. He
says the prisoners represented 53 regi
ments of infantry, 16 of cavalry, 13
batteries, and 7 battalions ; and that
their numbers engaged were nearly
double his own,41 which he makes less
than 20,000 in all." Among his tro
phies were 14 flags, 2 guns, 3,300
small arms, &c. ; while the Rebels, in
their retreat, blew up many ammu
nition and other wagons, and left the
ground strewn with tents, accouter-
ments, &c. Among our killed were
Gen. Pleasant A. Hackleman," CoL
Thomas Kilby Smith, 43d Ohio, and
Cols. Thrush, Baker,* and Miles ;
while Gen. Richard J. Oglesby,"
Adjt.-Gen. Clark, of Rosecrans's
staff, and Col. Mower, llth Missouri,
were among the severely wounded.
On the Rebel side, Acting Brigadiers
Rogers, Johnston, and Martin were
killed, and Cols. Pritchard, Daily,
and McClain were wounded.

38 Oct. 6.
38 He gives these reasons for his eagerness,
in his testimony before the Committee on the
Conduct ofthe War:
" Mississippi was in our hands. The enemy
had concentrated all his available force for an
offensive movement, had been thoroughly beaten
at Corinth, and had then retreated, blowing up
his ammunition wagons and caissons ; their men
throwing away their camp and garrison equi
page in the flight. The weather was cool ; the
roads were dry, and likely to be so for a month
to come. Corn was ripe, and, as yet, untouched.
We had 3,000,000 of rations in Corinth, and
ammunition for six months. There was but one
bridge injured on the Mobile and Ohio road; and
it could be put in running order by a regiment
in half a day. The enemy were so alarmed that,
when Hamilton sent a reconnoissance to Black-
land, they vacated Tupelo, burning even the
bacon which they could not take away on the
first train. I had eighty wagon-loads of as
sorted rations which had reached me that night
at Ripley, and had ordered the 30,000 from
Chewalla to Hurlbut." .

40 Pollard — who rarely or never finds the Reb
el losses the greater — says:
" Our loss in all the three days' engagements
was probably quite double that of the enemy.
In killed and wounded, it exceeded 3,000 ; and
it was estimated, beside, that we had left more
than 1,500 prisoners in the hands of the ene
my." 41 He says, in his official report :
" We fought the combined Rebel force of
Mississippi, commanded by Van Dorn, Price,-
Lovell, Villipigue, and Rust in person ; number
ing, according to their own authority, 38,000
men." *¦ He says, in his testimony before the Com
mittee on the Conduct ofthe War:
" Our own force in the fight was about 15,700
infantry and artillery, and about 2,500 effective
cavalry." 43 Repeatedly a Whig candidate for Congress
in the Franklin district, Indiana.
44 Since elected Governor of Illinois.

232

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

XI.

SLAVERY IN THE WAR— EMANCIPATION.

The Pederal Constitution was
framed in General Convention, and
carried in the several State Conven
tions, by the aid of adroit and politic
evasions and reserves on the part of
its framers and champions. The
existing necessity for a stronger cen
tral authority, which had been devel
oped during the painful experiences
of our preceding years^of indepen
dence, were most keenly felt by the
mercantile and mechanical or manu
facturing classes, who were conse
quently zealous advocates of a " more
perfect Union." The rural districts,
on the other hand, were far less
seriously affected by commercial em
barrassment and currency dilapida
tion, and were naturally jealous of a
distant and unfamiliar power. Hence
the reticence, if not ambiguity, of the
text with regard to what has recently
been termed " coercion," or the right
of the Federal Government to subdue
by arms the forcible resistance of a
State, or of several States, to its legit
imate authority — a reticence which
was imitated by the most prominent
advocates of ratification, whether in
The Federalist or in the several State
Conventions. So with regard to
Slavery as well. It is plain that the
General Convention would have
utterly and instantly prohibited the
Foreign Slave-Trade, but for the pro
claimed fact that this would insure
the rejection of their handiwork by
the still slave-hungry States of South
Carolina and Georgia, if not of North
Carolina also ; though Virginia was
among the most earnest advocates of

the prohibition. Hence, when the
State Conventions were assembled to
ratify or reject it, with such eminent
Revolutionary patriots as Patrick
Henry, John Hancock, Samuel
Adams, George Clinton, and Luther
Martin, leading in the opposition,
the clauses affecting Slavery were,
vigilantly, and not unsuccessfully,
scrutinized for grounds of attack —
the provision concerning the African
Slave-Trade being assailed in some
States from the side of Slavery, in
others from that of anti-Slavery, with
vigor and effect. In the North,
these assaults were parried by points
ing to the power conferred on Con
gress to abolish the traffic after twen
ty years, as so much clear gain : to
reject the Constitution would not
arrest the traffic now, but would
destroy tho power to prohibit it here
after. On the other hand, the Fed
eralists in the Southern Conventions
met their adversaries by pointing to
the privilege secured to the slave
holders of hunting their fugitive
chattels in other States than their
own — a privilege hitherto non-exist
ent — and asked1 them what was to be
gained by rejecting that. In fact,
the Constitution was essentially a
matter of compromise and mutual
concession — a proceeding wherein
Thrift is apt to gain at the cost of
Principle. Perhaps the majority in
no State obtained exactly what they
wanted, but were satisfied that, on
the whole, they were better with the
Constitution than without it.
Patrick Henry alone, in opposing

VIEWS OF PATRICE HENRT AND J. Q. ADAMSA £33

ratification, assailed the Constitution
as a measure of thorough, undis
guised, all-absorbing consolidation,
and, though himself a professed con
temner of Slavery, sought to arouse
the fears of the Virginia slaveholders
as follows :
"Anions? ten thousand implied powers
¦which they may assume, they may, if we be
engaged in war, liberate ovory 0110 of your
slaves, if thoy please ; and tins must and
will be done by men, a majority of whom
have not a common interest with you.
They will, therefore, have no fooling of your
interests. It has boon ropoatodly said hero,
that tho great object of a National Govern
ment was national defense. That power,
¦which is said to bo intended for security
and safety, may be rendered detestable and
oppressive. If they give power to the
General Government to provide for tho
general defense, the means must be com
mensurate to the end. All the means in the
possession of the people must be given to
the Government which is intrusted with tho
public defense. In this State, there are
236,000 Blacks; and there are many in
several other States : but there are few or
none in the Northern States; and yet, if the
Northern States shall be of opinion that our
slaves are numberless, they may call forth
every national resource. May Congress not
Bay that ewy Mark man m'mt, fight ? Did
wo not see a little of this last war ? We
were not so hard pushed as to make eman
cipation general ; but acts of Assembly
passed, that every slave who would go to
the army should be free. Another tiling
will contribute to bring this event about:
Slavery is detested ; we feel its fatal effects ;
we deplore it with all th© pity of humanity.
Let all these considerations, at some future
period, press with Ml force on the minds of
Congress — let that urbanity, which I trust
will distinguish America, and the necessity
of national defense — let all these things
operate on their minds: thoy will search
thatpaner, and see if they have the power of
manumission. And have they not, Sir.
Have they not power to provide for the
general defense and welfare? May they
not think that these will for the abolition of
Slavery t May they not pronounce all
slaves free? and will thev not be warranted

1 In closing the aigunient in fivvor of ratifying
the Federal Constitution, Mr. Zachariah John-
sou said:
"They tell ns that they soe a progressive
danger of bringing about emancipation. Tho
principle has begun since the Revolution. Lot

by that power? There is no ambiguous
implication or logioal deduotion. The
paper speaks to the point. Thoy have the
power, in clear, unequivocal terms, and will
clearly and certainly eseroise it. As much
as I deplore Slavery, I see that prudence
forbids, its abolition. I deny that the
General Government ought to sot them
five, because a decided majority of the
States have not the ties of sympathy and
fellow-feeling for those • whose interest
would be affected by tlieir emancipation.
The majority of Congress is to the North,
and the slaves are to the South."
Gov. Edmund Randolph — who be
came "Washington's Attorney-Gene
ral — answered Mr. Henry : denying
most strenuously that there is any
power of abolition given to Congress
by the Constitution : but not alluding
to what Henry had urged with re
gard to the AYar power and the right
of Congress to summon every slave
to the military defense of the coun
try. Nor does this view of the sub
ject appear to have attracted much
attention elsewhere — at least, it does
not appear to have been anywhere
controverted.1 In lS3t>,* Mr. John Quincy Adams,
having been required to vote Yea or
Nay, in the House, on a proposition
reported by Mr. H. L. Pinckney, of
South Carolina, in these words—
'* Ke&>lr>ea\ That Congress possesses no
constitutional power to interfere in <iny tray
with the institution of Slavery in any of
the States of this confederacy" —
voted Nay. in company with but
eight others ; and, obtaining the floor
in Committee soon afterward, on a
proposition that rations be distributed
from the public stores to citizens of
Georgia and Alabama who have been
driven from their homes by Indian

us do what we will, it will eome around. Slav
ery has been tho foundation of that impiety and
dissipation, whieh have boon so much dissemin
ated among our countrymen. If it were totally
abolished, it would do much good."
•May 25.

234

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

depredations, proceeded to show that
such distribution (which he advocat
ed) was justifiable only under the con
stitutional power of Congress " to pro
mote the general welfare," which
Southern statesmen habitually repu
diated, or under the still more sweep
ing AVar power. In the course of
his argument, he said :
" Sir, in the authority given to Congress by
the Constitution of the United States to de
clare war, all the powers incidental to war
are, by necessary implication, conferred upon
the Government of the United States. Now,
the powers incidental to war are derived,
not from their internal municipal source,
out from the laws and usages of nations.
* * * There are, then, Mr. Chairman,
in the authority of Congress and of the
Executive, two classes of powers, altogether
different in their nature, and often incom
patible with each other — the War power
and the Peace power. The Peace power is
limited by regulations, and restricted by
provisions, prescribed within the Constitu
tion itself. The "War power is limited only
by the laws and usages of. nations. This
power is tremendous ; it is strictly constitu
tional ; but it breaks down every barrier so
anxiously erected for the protection of lib
erty, of property, and of life. This, Sir, is
the power which authorizes you to pass the
resolution now before you ; and, in my opin
ion, there is no other. * * * There are,
indeed, powers of Peace conferred upon Con
gress which also come within the scope and
jurisdiction of the laws of nations ; such as
the negotiation of treaties of amity and
comrilerce ; the interchange of public minis
ters and consuls ; and all the personal and
social intercourse between the individual
inhabitants of the United States and foreign
nations, and the Indian tribes, whieh re
quire the interposition of any law. But
the powers of War are all regulated by
the laws of nations, and are subject to no
other limitation. * * * It was upon
this principle that I voted against the reso
lution reported by the Slavery Committee,
'that Congress possesses no constitutional
authority to interfere, in any way, with the
institution of Slavery in any of the States
of this confederacy;' to which resolution
most of those with whom I usually concur,
and even my own colleagues in this House,
gave their assent. I do not admit that
there is, even among the Peace powers of
Congress, no such authority ; but in war,
there are many ways by which Congress
not only have the authority, but are bound,

to interfere with the institution of Slavery
in the States. The existing law prohibiting
the importation of slaves into the United
States from foreign countries is itself an in
terference with the institution of Slavery in
the States. It was so considered by the
founders of the Constitution of the United
States, in which it was stipulated that Con
gress should not interfere, in that way, with
the institution, prior to the year 1808.
" During the war with Great Britain, the
military and naval commanders of that na
tion issued proclamations inviting the slaves
to repair to their standard, with promises
of freedom and of settlements some of the
British colonial establishments. This, sure
ly, was an interference with the institution
of Slavery in the States. By the treaty of
peace, Great Britain stipulated to evacuate
all the forts and places in the United States,
without carrying away any slaves. If the
Government of the United States had no
power to interfere, in any way, with the
institution of Slavery in the States, they
would not have had the authority to require
this stipulation. It is well known that this
engagement was not fulfilled by the British
naval and military commanders ; that, on
the contrary, they did carry away all the
slaves whom they had induced to join them ;
and that the British Government inflexibly
refused to restore aDy of them to their mas
ters; that a claim of indemnity was conse
quently instituted in behalf of the owners
of the slaves, and was successfully main
tained. All that series of transactions was
an interference by Congress with the insti
tution of Slavery in the States in one way
— in the way of protection and support. It
was by the institution of Slavery alone that
the restitution of slaves, enticed by procla
mations into the British service, could be
claimed as property. But for the institu
tion of Slavery, the British commanders
could neither have allured them to their
standard, nor restored them, otherwise than
as liberated prisoners of war. But for the
institution of Slavery, there could have been
no stipulation that they should not be carried
away as property, nor any claim of indemni
ty for the violation of that engagement.
" But the War power of Congress over
the institution of Slavery in the States is
yet far more extensive. Suppose the case
of a servile war, complicated, to some ex
tent — as it is even now — with an Indian
war ; suppose Congress were called to raise
armies, to supply money from the whole
Union to suppress a servile insurrection:
would they have no authority to interfere
with the institution of Slavery ? The issue
of a servile war may be disastrous ; it may
become necessary for the master of the
slave to recognize his emancipation by a

MR. ADAMS ON SLATERT IN WAR.

235

treaty of peace : can it, for an instant, be
pretended that Congress, in such a contin
gency, would have no authority to interfere
with the institution of Slavery, in any way,
in the States? Why, it would be equiva
lent to saying that Congress has no con
stitutional authority to make peace."
Mr. Adams proceeded to show that
Texas was then [prior to her annex
ation] the arena of a war concerning
Slavery —a war based on an effort to
reestablish Slavery where it had been
abolished by Mexico; and that our
country was powerfully incited to
take part directly therein, on the
side of Slavery; and might yet be
impelled to do so. In view of this
probability, he asked —
"Do you imagine that while, in the very
nature of things, your own Southern and
South-western States must be the battle-field
upon which the last great conflict must be
. fought between Slavery and Emancipation
^-do you imagine that your Congress will
have no constitutional authority to interfere
with the institution of Slavery in any way,
in the States of this confederacy ? Sir, they
must and' will interfere with it — perhaps
to sustain it by war ; perhaps to abolish it
by treaties of peace : and they will not only
possess the constitutional power so to inter
fere, but they will be bound in duty to do
it, hy the express provisions of the Consti
tution itself. Prom the instant that your
slaveholding States become the theater of
war — civil, servile, or foreign — from that
instant, the War powers of Congress extend
to interference with the institution of Slav
ery in every way by which it can be inter
fered with, from a claim of indemnity for
slaves taken or destroyed, to the cession of
the State burdened with Slavery to a for-
iegn power."
In 1842,3 when the prospective
annexation of Texas, and a conse
quent war with Mexico, first loomed
above the horizon, Mr. Adams re
turned to the subject ; and, with ref
erence to certain anti-Slavery resolves
recently offered by Mr Giddings, of
Ohio, and the action of the House
thereupon, said :
" What I am now to say, I say with great
reluctance and with great pain. I am well

aware that it is touching upon a sore place ;
and I would gladly get over it if I could.
It has been my effort, so far as was in my
power, to avoid any allusion whatever to
that question which the gentleman from
Virginia'tells us that the most lamb-like dis
position in the South never can approach
without anger and indignation. Sir, that is
my sorrow. I admit that the fact is so.
We can not touch that subject without rais
ing, throughout the whole South, a mass of
violence and passion, with which one might
as well reason as with a hurricane. That, I
know, is the fact in the South ; and that is
the fact in this House. And it is the reason
why members coming from a Free State are
silenced as soon as they rise on this floor ;
why they are pronounced out of order ;
made to sit down ; and, if they proceed, are
censured and expelled. But in behalf of
the South and of Southern institutions, a
man may get up in this House and expatiate
for weeks together. On this point, I do
complain ; and I must say I have been
rather disappointed ' that I have not been
put down already, as speaking out of order.
What I say is involuntary, because the sub
ject has been brought into the House from
another quarter, as the gentleman himself
admits. I would leave that institution to
the exclusive consideration and manage
ment of the States more peculiarly inter
ested in it, just so long as they can keep it
within their own bounds. So far, I admit
that Congress has no power to meddle with
it. So long as they do not step out of their
own bounds, and do not put the question to
the people ofthe United States, whose peace,
welfare, and happiness, are all at stake, so
long I will, agree to leave them to them
selves. But when a member from a Free
State brings forward certain resolutions, for
which, instead of reasoning to disprove his
positions, you vote a censure upon him — and
that without hearing — it is quite another
affair. At the time this was done, I said
that, so far as I could understand the reso
lutions proposed by the gentleman from
Ohio [Mr. Giddings], there were some of
them for which I was ready to vote, and
some which I must vote against ; and I will
now tell this House, my constituents, and
the world of mankind, that the resolution
against which I would have voted was that
in which he declares that what are called
the Slave States have the exclusive right of
consultation on the subject of Slavery. For
that resolution, 1 never would vote; be
cause I believe that it is not just, and does
not contain constitutional doctrine. I be
lieve that, so long as the Slave States are
able to sustain their institutions, without
going abroad or calling upon other parts of

' April 15.

236

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the Union to aid them or act on the sub
ject, so long I will consent never to inter
fere. I have said this; and I repeat it:
but, if they come to the Free States and say
to them, ' You must help us to keep down
our slaves ; you must aid us in an insurrec
tion and a civil war;' then I say that, with
that call, comes a .full and plenary power
to this House and to the Senate over the
whole subject. It is a War power. I say it is
a War power ; and w_en your country is ac
tually in war, whether it be a war of invasion
or a war of insurrection, Congress has power
to carry on the war, and must carry it on ac
cording to the laws of war ; and, by the laws
of war, an invaded country has all its laws and
municipal institutions swept by the board,
and martial law takes the place of them.
"This power in Congress has, perhaps,
never been called into exercise under the
present Constitution of the United States.
But, when the laws of war are in force,
what, I ask, is one of those laws? It is
this: that when a country is invaded, and
two hostile armies are set in martial array,
the commanders of both armies have power
to emancipate all the slaves in the invaded
territory. Nor is this a mere theoretic
statement. The history of South America
shows that the doctrine has been carried
into practical execution within the last
thirty years. Slavery was abolished in
Colombia, first by the Spanish General
Murillo ; and, secondly, by the American
General Bolivar. It was abolished by virtue
of a military command, given at the head of
the army; and its abolition continues to be
law to this day. It was abolished by the
laws of war, and not by municipal enact
ments. The power was exercised by mili
tary commanders, under instructions, of
course, from their respective Governments.
" And here I recur again to the example
of Gen. Jackson. What are you now about
in Congress ? You are about passing a grant
to refund to Gen. Jackson the amount of a
certain fine imposed upon him by a judge
under the laws of the State of Louisiana.
You are going to refund him the money,
with interest ; and this you are going to do,
because the imposition of the fine was un
just. And why was it unjust? Because
Gen. Jackson was acting under the laws of
war ; and because, the moment you place a
military commander in a district which is
the theater of war, the laws of war apply to
that district. * * * I might furnish a
thousand proofs to show that the preten
sions of gentlemen to the sanctity of their
municipal institutions, under a state of actual
invasion and of actual War, whether servile,
civil, or foreign, is wholly unfounded; and
that the laws of war do, in all such cases,
take precedence. _ I lay this down as the

law of nations. I say that the military
authority takes, for the time, the place of
all municipal institutions, and of Slavery
among the rest ; and that, under that state
of things, so far from its being true that the
States where Slavery exists have the exclu
sive management of the subject, not only
the President of the United States, but the
commander of the army, has power to order
the universal emancipation of the slaves. I
have given here more in detail a principle
which I have asserted on this floor before
now, and of which I have no more doubt
than that you, Sir, occupy that chair. I
give it in its development, in order that any
gentleman from any part of the Union may,
if he think proper, deny the truth of the
position, and may maintain his denial — not
by indignation, not by passion and fury, but
by sound and sober reasoning from the laws
of nations and the laws of war. And, if my
position can be answered, and refuted, I
shall receive the refutation with pleasure ; I
shall be glad to listen to reason, aside, as I
say, from indignation and passion. And if,
by the force of reasoning, my understanding
can be convinced, I here pledge myself to
recant what I have asserted.
" Let my position be answered ; let me be
told, let my constituents be told, let the peo
ple of my State be told — a State whose soil
tolerates not the foot of a slave — that
they are bound by the Constitution to
a long and toilsome march under burning
Summer suns and a deadly Southern ^clime,
for the suppression of a servile war ; that
they are bound to leave their bodies to rot
upon the sands of Carolina — to leave their
wives widows and their children orphans —
that those who can not march are bound to
pour out their treasure, while their sons or
brothers are pouring out their blood, to sup
press a servile, combined with a civil or a
foreign war ; and yet that there exists no
power, beyond the limits of the Slave State
where such war' is raging, to emancipate the
slaves! I say, let this be proved — I am
open to conviction ; but, till that conviction
comes, I put it forth not as a dictate of feel
ing, but as a settled maxim of the laws of na
tions, that in such a case the military super
sedes the civil power ; and on this account
I should have been obliged to vote, as I have
said, against one of the resolutions of my ex
cellent friend from Ohio [Mr. Giddings], or
should at least have required that it be
amended in conformity with the Constitu
tion of the United States."
Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, while a
member of the House of Represen
tatives, thirteen years prior to the
appearance of Mr. Lincoln's Procla-

TIEWS OF MR.. GIDDINGS AND GOT. SEWARD.

237

mation of Freedom, in reply to slave-
holding threats of a dissolution of
the Union, said :
" When that contest shall come ; when the
thunder shall roll and the lightnings flash ;
when the slaves of the South shall rise in
the spirit of Freedom, actuated by the soul-
stirring emotion that they are men, destined
to immortality, entitled to the rights which
God bestowed upon them ; when the mas
ters shall turn pale and tremble ; when their
dwellings shall smoke, and dismay sit on each
countenance; then, Sir, I do not say we will
laugh at your calamity, and mock when
your fear cometh, but I do say, the lover of
our race will then stand forth and exert the
legitimate powers of this Government of
freedom. We shall then have constitutional
power to act for the good of our country,
and to do justice to the slave. We will
THEN STEIKE OFF THE SHACKLES FEOM HIS
limbs. The Government will then have
power to act between Slavery and Freedom ;
and it can best mahe peace by giving liberty
to the slaves. And let me tell you, Mr.
Speaker, that time hastens; the President
is exerting a power that will hurry it on ;
and I shall hail it as the approaching dawn
of that Millennium which I know must come
upon the earth."
Our great Civil War was opened
on the part of the Union, not
only with an anxious desire, but
with a general expectation, that it
would be prosecuted to a successful
issue without seriously disturbing the
foundations and buttresses of Slav
ery. Mr. Lincoln's solicitude on this
head, as evinced in his Inaugural Ad
dress,4 was deepened by the dubious,
vacillating attitude of the Border
Slave States, especially of his native
Kentucky, which he was particularly
anxious to attach firmly to the cause
of the Union, while she seemed fran
tically wedded to Slavery.
Gov. Seward, in his elaborate ini
tial dispatch 5 to Mr. Dayton, our new
Minister to the Court of France, ap
proaching the topic of Slavery with

unfeigned reluctance, in a paper
designed to modify the ideas and in
fluence the action of a foreign Gov
ernment — indeed, of all foreign gov
ernments — argued that the Rebellion
had no pretext that did not grow out
of Slavery, and that it was causeless,
objectless, irrational, even in view of
Slavery, because of the " incontesta
ble " fact set forth by him, as follows :
" Moral and physical causes have .deter
mined inflexibly the character of each one
of the Territories over which the dispute
has arisen ; and both parties, after the elec
tion [of Lincoln to the Presidency], harmo
niously agreed on all the Federal laws
required for their organization. The Ter
ritories will remain in all respects the same,
whether the revolution shall succeed or fail.
The condition of Slavery in the several
States will remain just the same, whether it
succeed or fail. There is not even a pretext
for the complaint that the disaffected States
are to be conquered by the United States,
if the revolution fail ; but the rights of the
States, and the condition of every human
being in them, will remain subject to tha
same laws and forms of administration,
whether the revolution shall succeed or
whether it shall fail. In the one case, the
States would be federally connected with
the new confederacy ; in the other, they
would, as now, be members of the United
States; but their constitutions and laws,
customs, habits, and institutions, will in
either case remain the same."
Our regular Army officers, educa
ted at West Point in a faith that
identified devotion to Slavery with
loyalty to the Federal Constitution
and Government, were of course im
bued with a like spirit. Gen. Mc
Dowell, in his General Order " gov
erning the first advance from the
Potomac into Yirginia, was as pro
foundly silent respecting Slavery and
slaves as if the latter had no modern
existence ; while Gen. McClellan, on
making a like advance into Western
Virginia, issued 7 an address to the
people thereof, wherein he said :

4 Tol I., pp. 422-6. " Dated April 22, 1861. • June 20. See Yol. I., pp. 534-5. ' May 26"

238

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

" I have ordered troops to cross the river.
They come as your friends and your broth
ers — as enemies only to armed Rebels who
are preying upon you. Your homes, your
families, and your property, are safe under
our protection. All your rights shall be
religiously respected.
" Notwithstanding all that has been said by
the traitors to induce you to believe that our
advent among you will be signalized by in
terference with your slaves, understand one
thing clearly — not only will we abstain from
all such interference, but we will, on the
contrary, with an iron hand, crush any at
tempt at insurrection on their part."
Those volunteer officers, however,
who had not been blessed with a
West Point training, did not always
view the matter in precisely this
light. Directly after8 Gen. Butler's
accession to command at Fortress
Monroe, three negro slaves came
within his lines from the Rebel lines
adjacent ; stating that they were held
as property by Col. Mallory, of the
Confederate forces in his front, who
was about -to send them to the North
Carolina seaboard, to work on the
Rebel fortifications there in progress,
intended to bar that coast against
our arms. Gen. Butler heard their
story, was satisfied of its truth, and
said: "These men are contraband of
war:' set them at work." He was,
very soon afterward, invited to a con
ference by Maj. Carey, commanding
opposite; and accordingly met the
Major (in whom he recognized an
old political compatriot) a mile from
the fort. Maj. Carey, as agent of his
absent friend Mallory, demanded a
return of those negroes ; which Gen.
Butler courteously but firmly de

clined; and, after due debate, the con
ference terminated fruitlessly. Yery
naturally, the transit of negroes from
Slavery to Fortress Monroe was
thenceforth almost continuous.
Gen. Butler wrote10 forthwith to
Lt.-Gen. Scott, soliciting advice and
direction. In this, letter, he said :
" Since I wrote my last, the question in
regard to slave property is becoming one of
very serious magnitude. The inhabitants
of Virginia are using their negroes in the
batteries, and are preparing to send their
women and children south. The escapes
from them are very numerous ; and a squad
has come in this morning," and my
pickets are bringing in their women and
children. Of course, these can not be dealt
with upon the theory on which I designed
to treat the services, of able-bodied men and
women who might come within my lines,
and of which I gave you a detailed account
in my last dispatch.
" I am in the utmost doubt what to do
with this . species of property. Up to this
time, I have had come within my line's men
and women, with their children — entire
families— each family belonging to the same
owner. I have, therefore, determined to
employ — as I can do very profitably — tho
able-bodied persons in the party, issuing
proper food for the support of all ; charging
against their services the expense of care
and sustenance of the non-laborers ; keep
ing a strict and accurate account, as well
of the services as of the expenditures, hav
ing the worth of the services and the cost
of the expenditure determined by a board
of survey hereafter to be detailed. I know
of no other manner in which to dispose of
this subject, and the questions connected
therewith. As a matter of property, to the
insurgents it will be of very great moment
— the number that I now have amounting,
as I am informed, to what in good times
would be of the value of $60,000.
" Twelve of these negroes, I am informed,
have escaped from the erection of the bat
teries on Sewell's Point, which fired upon
my expedition as it passed by out of range.
As a means of offense, therefore, in the ene-

" May 22, 1861.
* " In this matter, he [Gen. Butler] has struck
this Southern Insurrection in a place which is
as vulnerable as the heel of Achilles ; and we
dare say that, in receiving and seizing the slaves
of Rebels as contraband of war, this Southern
Confederacy will be substantially suppressed
with the paciBcation of Tirginia."— N. Y. Herald,
May 31, 1861.

10 May 27, 1861.
11 "These fugitive slaves, at this rate, will soon
prove more powerful in suffocating this Southern
White insurrection than all the armies of Gen.
Seott. This man Butler, in this thing, has
proved himself the greatest lawyer we have be
tween a pair of epaulets."— ._. 7. Herald, June
28, 1861.

BUTLER — CAMERON— FREMONT — LINCOLN.

239

my's hands, these negroes, when able-bod
ied, are of great importance. Without them,
the batteries could not have been erected ;
at least, for many weeks. As a military
question, it would seem to be a, measure of
necessity, and deprives their masters of their
services. "How can this be done? As a political
question, and a question of humanity, can I
receive the services of a father and a mother
and not take the children ? Of the humani
tarian aspect, I have no doubt ; of the po
litical one, I have no right to judge. I
therefore submit all this to your better
judgment; and, as these questions have a
political aspect, I have ventured — and I
trust I am not wrong in so doing — to dupli
cate the parts of my dispatch relating to this
subject, and forward them to the Secretary
of War. Your obedient servant,
" Benj. F. Butlee.
"Lt.-General Soott."
He was answered by the head of
the War Department as follows :
"Sie: — Your action in respect to the
negroes who came within your lines, from
the service of the Rebels, is approved. The
Department is sensible of the embarrass
ments which must surround officers con
ducting military operations in a State, by
the laws of which Slavery is sanctioned.
The Government can not recognize the re
jection by any State of its Federal obliga
tions, resting npon itself. Among these Fed
eral obligations, however, no one can be
more important than that of suppressing
and dispersing any combination of the
former for the purpose of overthrowing
its whole constitutional authority. While,
therefore, you will permit no interference,
hy persons under your command, with the
relations of persons held to service under
the laws of any State, you will, on the
other hand, so long as any State within
which your military operations are conduct
ed remains under the control of such armed
combinations, refrain from surrendering to
alleged masters any persons who come with
in your lines. You will employ such persons
in the services to which they will be best
adapted ; keeping an account of the labor
by them performed, of the value of it, and
the expenses of their maintenance. The
question of their final disposition will be re
served for future determination.
" Simon Cameeon, Secretary of War.
"To Maj.-Gen. Butler."
Time passed. Bull Run had been
fought and lost ; the called session of
Congress, had been held ; public opin

ion on the Slavery question had made
very considerable strides ; when Gen.
Fremont, on assuming civil as well
as military control of the State of
Missouri, issued the memorable Gen
eral Order,12 wherein he proclaimed
that " The property, real and person
al, of all persons in the State of Mis
souri who shall take up arms against
the United States, or shall be direct
ly proven to have taken active part
with their enemies in the field, is de
clared to be confiscated to the public
use ; and their slaves, if any they have,
are hereby declared free men."
This position was in advance of
any that had yet been sanctioned at
Washington ; and, though it was very
generally sustained or acquiesced in
by the journals supporting the War,
President Lincoln wrote Gen. Fre
mont that he must withdraw or mod
ify it. This, Gen. F. declined to do,
unless openly directed by his superior ;
hence the following order :
"Washington, D. 0.,. Sept. 11, 1861.
" Maj.-Gen. John C. Feemont :
"Sik: — Yours of the 8th, in answer to
mine of the 2d inst, is just received. As
sured that you, upon the ground, could
better judge of the necessities of your posi
tion than I could at this distance, on seeing
your proclamation of August 30, I perceived
no general objection to it ; the particular
clause, however, in relation to the confisca
tion of property and the liberation of slaves,
appeared to me to be objectionable in its
non-conformity to the Act of Congress,
passed the 6th of last August, npon the
same subjects ; and hence I wrote you ex
pressing my wish that that clause should
be modified accordingly. Your answer, just
received, expresses the preference on your
part, that I should make an open order
for the modification ; which I very cheer
fully do. It is, therefore, ordered that the
said clause of said proclamation be so modi
fied, held, and construed, as to conform
with, and not to transcend, the provisions
on the same subject contained in the Act
qf Congress entitled ' An act to confiscate
property used for insurrectionary purposes,'

» See it in full, Yol. I . p. 586.

240

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

approved August 6, 1861 ; and that the said
act be published at length with this order.
Your obedient servant, ' A. Lincoln."
In view of the sailing from Fort
ress Monroe of the Port Rbyal expe
dition against the Sea Islands and
coast of South Carolina, General In
structions were issued 13 to its military
chief, whereof the gist is as follows :
"You will, in general, avail yourself of
the services of- any persons, whether fugi
tives from labor or not, who may offer them
to the National Government ; you will em
ploy such persons in such service as they
may be fitted for, either as ordinary em
ploye's, or, if special circumstances seem to
require it, in any other capacity, with such
organization, in squads, companies, or other
wise, as you deem most beneficial to the
service. This, however, not to mean a gen
eral arming of them for military service.1*
You will assure all loyal masters that Con
gress will provide just compensation to them
for the loss of the services of the persons so
employed. It is believed that the course
thus indicated will best secure the substan
tial rights of loyal masters, and the benefits
to the United States of the services of all
disposed to support the Government, while
it avoids all interference with the social
systems or local institutions of every State,
beyond that which insurrection makes un
avoidable, and which a restoration of peace
ful relations to the Union, under the Con
stitution, will immediately remove.
" Simon Cameron, Secretary of War."
Gen. T. W. Sherman," having oc
cupied the forts guarding the entrance
to Port Royal, and firmly established
himself on that and the adjacent
islands, issued a. proclamation to the
people of South Carolina, wherein he
said: "In obedience to the orders ofthe Presi
dent of these United States of America, I
have landed on your shores with a small
force of National troops. The dictates of a
duty which, under the Constitution, I owe
to a great sovereign .State, and to a proud
and hospitable people, among whom I have
passed some of the pleasantest days of my
life, prompt me to proclaim that we have
come among you with no feelings of per

sonal animosity; no desire to harm your
citizens, destroy your property, or interfere
with any of your lawful rights,, or your so
cial and local institutions, beyond what the
causes herein briefly alluded to may render
unavoidable." All in vain. None of the Whites
on the adjacent mainland could be
induced even to accept a copy of this
document — those who were brought
to parley insisting that there were no
"loyal persons" (in Gen. Sherman's
sense) — that is, no loyal Whites —
within their knowledge. And no
South Carolina journal intimated
that Gen. Sherman's virtual pledge
not to intermeddle with Slavery ren
dered his presence on their coast one
whit less unwelcome than it would
otherwise have been. If any White
native of South Carolina came over
to us, or evinced a desire to do so,
thenceforth till near the end of the
Rebellion, his name has not been
given to the public.

Maj.-Gen. Wool, who succeeded
Gen. Butler in command at Fortress"
Monroe, issued18 an order directing
that " all colored persons called con
trabands" employed by officers or
others within his command, must be
furnished with subsistence by their
employers, and paid, if males, not
less than $8 ; if females, not less than
$4 per month ; and that " all able-
bodied colored persons, not employed
as aforesaid," will be immediately
put' to work in the Engineer's or the
Quartermaster's Department. By a
subsequent order," he directed that
the compensation of 'contrabands'
working for the Government should
be $5 to $10 per month, with soldiers'
rations. 

B Oct. 14, 1861.
"It is well understood that this sentence was
inserted by the President in revising the order.

"Not William T, who became so famous,
but an old army officer, formerly 5th Artillery.
" Oct. 14, 1861. "Nov. i, 1861.

GENS.

DIX 'AND HALLECK ON SLATES.
1

241

Maj.-Gen. Dix, being about to take
possession of the counties of Accomac
and Northampton, Va., on the east
ern shore of Chesapeake Bay, issued "
a Proclamation, which says :
" The military forces of the United States
are about to enter your counties as a part
of the Union. They will go among you as
Mends, and with the earnest hope that
they may not, by your own acts, be forced
to become your enemies. They will invade
no rights of person or property. On the
contrary, your laws, your institutions, your
usages, will be scrupulously respected.
There need be no fear that the quietude of
any fireside will be disturbed, unless the
disturbance is caused by yourselves.
"Special directions have been given not
to interfere with the condition of any person
held to domestic service ; and, in order that
there may be no ground for mistake or pre
text for misrepresentation, commanders of
regiments and corps have been instructed
not to permit any such persons to come
within their lines."
Maj.-Gen. Halleck, soon after suc
ceeding Gen. Fremont in command
in Missouri, issued his famous ' Order
No. 3,' which sets forth that
"It has been represented that important
information, respecting the number and con
dition of our forces, is conveyed to the
enemy by means of fugitive slaves who are
admitted within our lines. In order to
remedy this evil, it is directed that no such
persons be hereafter permitted to enter the
lines of any camp, or of any forces on the
march ; and that any now within such lines
be immediately excluded therefrom."
Gen. Halleck afterward, in a letter
to F. P. Blair, explained and justified
this order, as follows :
" Order No. 3 was, in my mind, clearly a
military necessity. Unauthorized persons,
Black or White, free or slave, must be kept
out of our camps, unless we are willing to
publish to the enemy every thing we do or
intend to do. It was a military, and not a
political order. •
" I am ready to carry out any lawful in
structions in regard to fugitive slaves which
my superiors may give me, and to enforce
any law which Congress may pass. But I
ean not make law, and will not violate it.
You know my private opinion on the policy
of confiscating the slave property of Rebels

in arms. If Congress shall pass it, you may
be certain that I shall enforce it. Perhaps
my policy as to the treatment of Rebels and
their property is as well set out in Order
No. 13, issued the day your letter was writ
ten, as I could now describe it."
That deserters from the enemy,
entering the lines or camp of an army
in time of war, are "unauthorized
persons," is quite obvious ; that they
very often give false information, and
are in fact spies, deserting back again
at the first fair opportunity, is well
known. Yet no commander prior to
Gen. Halleck ever directed deserters
to be repelled from his front and
thrown back on the enemy ; on the
contrary^ the risks of dissimulation,
falsehood, and treachery, are pre
sumed to be far overbalanced by the
chance of thus obtaining valuable in
formation and aid. That the Whites
of Missouri were far more likely than
the Blacks to be traitors at heart,
and infinitely more apt to steal away
to the Rebels with important infor
mation, was as palpable as noonday ;
yet Gen. Halleck's No. 3 repelled
Blacks only.
Gen. Halleck's order No. 13 sheds
no further light on this subject ; but,
in a subsequent order," he says :
" It does not belong to the military to
decide upon the relation of master and
slave. Such questions must be settled by
the civil courts. No fugitive slaves will,
therefore, be admitted within our lines or
camps, except when specially ordered by
the General commanding."
Never was a "therefore" more
misplaced. How were the persons
presenting themselves adjudged to
be or known as " fugitive slaves " ?
Plainly, by the color of their skins,
and that only. The sole end of this
regulation was the remanding of all
slaves to their masters — seven-eightha
of whom were most envenomed, im-

IBNov. 13, 1861.
vol. n. — 16

» Feb. 23, 1862.

242

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

placable Rebels — by depriving them
of refuge within our lines from those
masters' power.

Gen. Cameron, the Secretary of
War, had already become an ardent
and open convert to the policy of re
cognizing Slavery as the Union's real
assailant, and fighting her accord
ingly. In his Annual Report !° to the
President of the operations of his
Department, he said :
" It has become a grave question for de
termination what shall be done with the
slaves abandoned by their owners on the
advance of our troops into Southern terri
tory, as in the Beaufort district of South
Carolina. The whole White population
therein is six thousand, while the number
of negroes exceeds thirty-two thousand.
The panic which drove their masters in wild
oonfusion from their homes leaves them in
undisputed possession of the soil. Shall
they, armed by their masters, be placed in
fhe field to fight against us ? or shall their
labor be continually employed in repro
ducing the means for supporting the armies
of rebellion?
"The war into which this Government
has been forced by rebellious traitors is
carried on for the purpose of repossessing
the property violently and treacherously
seized upon by the enemies of the Govern
ment, and to reestablish the authority and
laws of the United States in the places
where they are opposed or overthrown by
armed insurrection and rebellion. Its pur
pose is to recover and defend what is justly
its own.
" War, even between independent nations,
is made to subdue the enemy, and all that
belongs to that enemy, hy occupying the
hostile country, and exercising dominion
over all the men and things within its ter
ritory. This being true in respect to inde
pendent nations at war with each other, it
follows that ' Rebels, who are laboring by
force of arms to overthrow a Government,
justly bring upon themselves all the conse
quences of war, and provoke the destruc
tion merited by the worst of crimes. That
Government would be false to national
trust, and would justly excite the ridicule
of the civilized world, that would abstain
from the use of any efficient means to pre
serve its own existence, or to overcome a
rebellious and traitorous enemy, by sparing

or protecting the property of those who
are waging war against it.
"The principal wealth and power of the
Rebel States is a peculiar species of proper
ty, consisting of the service or labor of
African slaves, or the descendants of Afri
cans. This property has been variously es
timated at the value of from seven hundred
million to one thousand million dollars.
"Why should this property be exempt
from the hazards and consequences of a re
bellious war ?
" It was the boast of the leader of the Re
bellion, while he yet had a seat in the Sen
ate of the United States, that the Southern
States would be comparatively safe and free
from the burdens of war, if it should be
brought on by the contemplated Rebellion ;
and that boast was accompanied by the
savage threat that 'Northern towns and
cities would become the victims of rapine
and military spoil,' and that 'Northern men
should smell Southern gunpowder and feel
Southern steel.' No one doubts the disposi
tion of the Rebels to carry that threat into
execution. The wealth of Northern towns
and cities, the produce of Northern farms,
Northern workshops and manufactories,
would certainly be seized, destroyed, or ap
propriated as military spoil. No property in '
the North would be spared from the hands
of the Rebels ; and their rapine would be de
fended under the laws of war. While the
loyal States thus have all their property
and possessions at stake, are the insurgent
Rebels to carry on warfare against the Gov
ernment in peace and security to their own
property ?
"Reason and justice and self-preservation
forbid that Such should be the policy of this
Government, but demand, on the contrary,
that, being forced by traitors and Rebels to
the extremity of war, all the rights and
powers of war should be exercised to bring
it to a speedy end.
"Those who war against the Govern
ment justly forfeit all rights of property,
privilege, or security, derived from the Con
stitution and laws, against which they are
in armed rebellion; and, as the labor and
service of their slaves constitute the chiei
property of the Rebels, such property should
share the common fate of war to which
they have devoted the property of loyal
citizens. " While it is plain that the slave property
of the South is justly subjected to all tbe
consequences of this rebellious war, and
that the Government would be untrue to
its trust in not employing all the rights and
powers of war to bring it to a speedy close,
the details of the plan for doing so, like all

' Dec. 1, 1861.

CAMERON AND LINCOLN ON CONTRABANDS.

243

other military measures, must, in a great
degree, be left to be determined by particu
lar exigencies. The disposition of other
property belonging to the Rebels that be
comes subject to our arms is governed by
the circumstances of the case. The Gov
ernment has no power to hold slaves, none
to restrain a slave of his liberty, or to ex
act his service. It has a right, however, to
use the voluntary service of slaves liberated
by war from their Rebel masters, like any
other property of the Rebels, in whatever
mode may be most efficient for the defense
of the Government, the prosecution of the
war, and the suppression of »ebellion. It
is as clearly a right of the Government to
arm slaves when it may become necessary
as it is to take gunpowder from the enemy.
Whether it is expedient to do so, is purely a
military questibn. The right is unquestion
able by the laws of war. . The expediency
must be determined by circumstances, keep
ing in view the great object of overcoming
the Rebels, reestablishing the laws, and re
storing peace to the nation.
" It is vain and idle for the Government to
carry on this war, or hope to maintain its
existence against rebellious force, without
employing all the rights and powers of war.
As has been said, the right to deprive the
Rebels of their property in slaves and slave
labor is as clear and absolute as the right
to take forage from the field, or cotton from
the warehouse, or powder and arms from
the magazine. To leave the enemy in the
possession of such property as forage, and
cotton, and military stores, and the means
of constantly reproducing them, would be
madness. It is, therefore, equal madness
to leave them in peaceful and secure posses
sion of slave property, more valuable and
efficient to them for war than forage, cot
ton, and military stores. Such policy would
he national suicide. What to do with that
species of property is a question that time
and circumstances will solve, and need not
be anticipated, further than to repeat that
they can not be held by the Government as
slaves. It would be useless to keep them
as prisoners of war ; and Self-preservation,
the highest duty of a Government, or of in
dividuals, demands that they should be dis
posed of or employed in the most effective
manner that will tend most speedily to sup
press the insurrection and restore the au
thority of the Government. If it shall be
found that the men who have been held by
the Rebels as slaves are capable of bearing
arms and performing efficient military ser
vice, it is the right, and may become the
duty, of this Government to arm and equip
them, and employ their services against the
Rebels, under proper military regulations,
discipline, and command.

I " But, in whatever manner they may be
used by the Government, it is plain that,
once liberated by the rebellious act of their
masters, they should never again be restored
to bondage. By the master's treason and
rebellion, he forfeits all right to the labor
and service of his slave ; and the slave of
the rebellious master, by his service to the
Government, becomes justly entitled to free
dom and protection.
" The disposition to be made of the slaves
of Rebels, after the close of the war, can be
safely left to the wisdom and patriotism of
Congress. The representatives of the peo
ple will unquestionably secure to the loyal
slaveholders every right to which they are
entitled under the Constitution of the
country." Mr. Lincoln struck out and sup
pressed this portion of Gen. Came
ron's Report, inserting in its stead the
following :
" It is already a grave question what shall
be done with those slaves who were aban
doned by their owners on the advance of
our troops into Southern territory, as at
Beaufort district* in South Carolina. The
number left within our control at that point
is very considerable ; and similar cases will
probably occur. What shall be done with
them ? Can we afford to send them forward
to their masters, to be by them armed
against us, or used in producing supplies to
sustain the Rebellion ? Their labor may be
useful to us ; withheld from the enemy, it
lessens his military resources ; and withhold
ing them has no tendency to induce the hor
rors of insurrection, even in the Rebel com
munities. They constitute a military re
source ; and, being such, that they should
not be turned over to the enemy is too plain
to discuss. Why deprive him of supplies by
a blockade, and voluntarily give him men to
produce them ?
" The disposition to be made of the slaves
of Rebels, after the close of the war, can be
safely left to the wisdom and patriotism of
Congress. The Representatives of the peo
ple will unquestionably secure to the loyal
slaveholders every right To which they are
entitled under the Constitution of the coun
try. Simon Cameeon,
"Secretary of War.''
The abuse of negroes who had
escaped from Rebel masters in Vir--
ginia and taken shelter within the
lines of the Army of the Potomac,
elicited the following:

244

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

" Department of State, )
" Washington, Dec. 4, 1861. f
" To Maj.-Gen. Geo. B. MoClellan :
" General : I am directed by the Presi
dent to call your attention to the following
subject :
" Persons claimed to be held to service or
labor under the laws of the State of Vir
ginia, and actually employed in hostile ser
vice against the Government of the United
States, frequently escape from the lines of
the enemy's forces, and are received within
the lines of the Army of the Potomac.
" This Department understands that such
persons, afterward coming into the city of
Washington, are liable to be arrested by the
city police, upon the presumption, arising
from color, that they are fugitives from ser
vice or labor.
" By the 4th section of the Act of Con
gress approved August 6, 1861, entitled
'An aot to confiscate property used for
insurrectionary purposes,' such hostile em
ployment is made a full and sufficient
answer to any further claim to service or
labor. Persons thus employed and escaping
are received into the military protection of
the United States ; and their arrest as fugi
tives from service or labor should be imme
diately followed by the military arrest of
the parties making the seizure.
" Copies of this communication will be
sent to the Mayor of the City of Washington
and to the Marshal of the District of Colum
bia, that any collision between the civil and
military authorities may be avoided.
" I am, General, your very obedient,
" William H. Sewaed."

Maj.-Gen. Burnside, having estab
lished himself on Roanoke Island,
issued," conjointly with Com. Golds-
borough, a Proclamation, in which
he said :
" The Government asks only that its au
thority may be recognized ; and we repeat,
in no manner or way does it desire to inter
fere with your laws, constitutionally estab
lished, your institutions of any kind what
ever, your property of any sort, or your
usages in any respect."
Maj.-Gen. Buell, soon after estab
lishing himself at Nashville, Tenn.,
thus demonstrated his undoubted
devotion to the " constitutional
guaranties;" making no distinction
between Rebels and loyal citizens :

" Headquaetebs Department )
of the Ohio, >
" Nashville, March 6, 1862. )
" Dear Sir : I have had the honor to re
ceive your communication ofthe 1st instant,
on the subject of fugitive slaves in the camps
of the army.
" It has come to my knowledge that
slaves sometimes make their way improp
erly into our lines ; and in some instances
they may be enticed there ; but I think the
number has been magnified by report.
Several applications have been made to me
by persons whose servants have been found
in our camps>; and, in every instance that I
know of, the master has recovered his serf
vant and taken him away.
" I need hardly remind you that there
will always be found some lawless and mis
chievous persons in every army ; but I as
sure you that the mass of this army is law-
abiding, and that it is neither its disposition
nor its policy to violate law or the rights of
individuals in any particular.
" With great respect, your obedient ser
vant, D. 0. Buell,
" Brig.-Gen. Commanding Department.
" Hon. J. R. Underwood, Chairman Military
Committee, Frankfort, Ky."
Gen. Joseph Hooker, commanding
on the Upper Potomac, issued sa the
following order :
" To Brigade and Regimental Commanders
of this Division :
" Messrs. Nally, Gray, Dunnington, Dent,
Adams, Speake, Price, Posey, and Cobey,
citizens of Maryland, have negroes supposed
to be with some of the regiments of this
division: the Brigadier-General command
ing directs that they be permitted to visit
all the camps of his command, in search
of their property ; and, if found, that they
be allowed to take possession of the same,
without any interference whatever. Should
any obstacle be thrown in their way by any
officer or soldier in the division, he will
be at once reported by the regimental com
mander, to these headquarters."
Hereupon, some fifteen mounted
civilians rode up to the camp of
Brig.-Gen. Sickles's Excelsior Brig
ade, having just fired two pistol-shots,
with evident intent to kill, at a negro
running off; and thus created no lit
tle excitement among the soldiers;
who, though generally enlisted with

"Feb. 18, 1862.

M March 26, 1862.

McCOOK — BUELL — DOUBLEDAY ON SLATE-HUNTING. 245

strong" anti-negro prejudices, quite
commonly experienced a gradual
change, under the discipline of ser
vice at the front, where they found
every Black their ready, active, zeal
ous friend, and nearly every slave
holder or overseer their quiet but
deadly, implacable foe. Maj. Tolen,
commanding the 2d regiment, find
ing the order to direct the admission
of but nine persons, ordered the resi
due to remain without the lines ; and
— the repugnance of the soldiers to
slave-hunting threatening to break
out into open violence — Gen. Sickles,
who arrived soon afterward, ordered
the nine out of camp likewise; so
that the fugitives, if such were there,
were not there captured.
In the West, especially within the
commands of Gens. Halleck and
Buell, slave-hunters fared much bet
ter; as one of their number about this
time admiringly reported to a Nash
ville journal, as follows :
" He visited the camp of Gen. McCook, in
Maury county, in quest of a fugitive ; and
that (Officer, instead of throwing obstacles in
the way, afforded him every facility for the
successful prosecution of his search. That
General treated him in the most courteous
and gentlemanly manner ; as also did Gen.
Johnson and Capt. Blake, the brigade Pro
vost-Marshal. Their conduct toward him
was in all respects that of high-toned gen
tlemen, desirous of discharging their duties
promptly and honorably. It is impossible
for the army to prevent slaves from follow
ing them ; tut, whenever the fugitives come
into the lines of Gen. McCook, they are se
cured, and a record made of their names and
the names of their owners. All the owner
has to do is to apply, either in person or
through an agent, examine the record, or
look at the slaves ; and, if he finds any that
belong to him, take them away."
In no case does it appear that any
of our pro-Slavery commanders ever
inquired into or cared for the loyalty
of either slaveholders or slave-hunt

ers, nor asked whether the persons
claimed as fugitives had given im
portant information, or rendered
other service to the cause of the
Union. In the same spirit, Gen. Buell's
Provost-Marshal, Dent, at Louisville,
Ky., issued an order to his (mounted)
provost-guard to flog all Blacks, free
or slave, whom they should find in
the streets after dark ; and for weeks
the spectacle was exhibited, to the
admiration of the thousands of active
and passive Rebels in that city, of
this chivaMc provost-guard, wearing
the national uniform, chasing scores
of unquestionably loyal and harm
less persons at nightfall through the
streets, over the pavements, and down
the lanes and alleys, of that city;
cutting and slashing them with cow
hide and cat, while their screams of
fright and agony made merry music
for traitors of every degree. Many
were lashed unmercifully ; but with
no obvious advantage to the national
cause, nor even to the improvement
of the dubious loyalty of those whom
the exhibition most delighted and
edified. 
Gen. Abner Doubleday, being
placed in command of the defenses of
Washington, answered," through his
Adjutant, to an inquiry on the sub
ject, as follows :
" Sie :— I am directed by Gen. Doubleday
to say, in answer to your letter of the 2d
instant, that all negroes coming into the
lines of any of the camps or forts under his
command are to be treated as persons, and
not as chattels.
" Under no circumstances, has the com
mander of a fort or camp the power of sur
rendering persons claimed as fugitive slaves ;
as it can not be done without determining
their character. •
" The additional article of war recently
passed by Congress positively prohibits this.
"The question has been asked, wh.ejher

"April 6, 1862.

246

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

' it would not be better to exclude negroes
altogether from the lines. The General is
of the opinion that they bring much valu
able information, which can not be obtained
from any other source. They are acquaint
ed with all the roads, paths, fords, and
other natural features, of the country ; and
they make excellent guides. They also
know, and frequently have exposed, the
haunts. of Secession spies and traitors and
the existence of Rebel organizations. They
will not, therefore, be excluded "

The following order was issued by
a Brigadier in the Department of the
Gulf: " In consequence ot the demoralizing and
disorganizing tendencies to the troops of
harboring runaway negroes, it is hereby
ordered that the respective commanders of
the camps and garrisons of the several re
giments, 2d brigade, turn all such fugitives
in their camps or garrisons out beyond the
limits of their respective guards and senti
nels. By order of
" Brig.-Gen. T. Williams."
Col. Halbert E. Paine," 4th Wis
consin, declining to obey this order,
as " a violation of law for the pur
pose of returning fugitives to Rebels,"
was arrested and deprived of his com
mand. 
Lt.-Col. D. R. Anthony, 7th Kan
sas, was likewise arrested and de
prived of his command in Tennessee,
for issuing " an order, which said :
" The impudence and impertinence of the
open and armed Rebels, traitors, Secession
ists, and Southern-rights men of this section
ofthe State of Tennessee, in arrogantly de
manding the right to search our camp for
fugitive slaves, has become a nuisance, and
will no longer be tolerated. Officers will
see that this cl&ss of men, who visit our
camp for this purpose, are excluded from our
lines. " Should any such person be found within
our lines, he will be arrested and sent to
headquarters. " Any officer or soldier of this command,
who shall arrest and deliver to his master a
fugitive slave, shall be summarily and. se
verely punished, according to the laws rela
tive to such crimes."

Maj.-Gen. David Hunter, having
succeeded2" to command at Hilton
Head, issued the following :
" Headquarters Dep't op the South, )
Hilton Head, S. C, May 9, 1862. \
" General Order, No. 11.
"The three States of Georgia, Florida,
and South Carolina, comprising the Military
Department of the South, having deliberate
ly declared themselves no longer under the
United States of America, and having taken
up arms agamst the United States, it be
comes a military necessity to declare them
under martial law.
" This was accordingly done on the 26th
day of April, 1862. Slavery and martial law
in a free country are altogether incompati
ble. The persons in these States^Georgia,
Florida, and South Carolina — heretofore
held as slaves, are therefore declared for
ever free."
This order was rescinded or an
nulled by President Lincoln, in a
Proclamation " which recites it and
proceeds :
" And, whereas, the same is producing
some excitement and misunderstanding,
therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of
the United States, proclaim and declare
that the Government of the United States
had no knowledge or belief of an intention
on the part of Gen. Hunter to issue such
proclamation, nor has it yet any authentic
information that the document is genuine:
and, further, that neither Gen. Hunter nor
any other commander or person has been
authorized by the Government of the Unit
ed States to make proclamation declaring
the slaves of any State free ; and that the
supposed proclamation now in question,
whether genuine or false, is altogether void,
so far as respects such declaration. I fur
ther make known that, whether it be com
petent for me, as Commander-in-Chief of
the Army and Navy, to declare the slaves
of any State or States free ; and whether at
any time, or in any case, it shall have be
come a necessity indispensable to the main
tenance of the Government to exercise
such supposed power, are questions which,
under my responsibility, I reserve to my
self, and which I can not feel justified in
leaving to the decision of commanders in
the field.
"Those are totally different questions
from those of police regulations in armiea
or in camps.
" On the sixth day of March last, by a

* Elected to the XXXIXth Congress (House)
as a Unionist, from the Milwaukee District.

"June 18, 1862.

M March 31.

May 19.

MoCLELLAN ON THE COLORED ELEMENT.

247

special Message, I recommended to Con
gress the adoption of a joint resolution, to
be substantially as follows :
14 ' Resolved, That tho United States ought to cooper
ate with any State which may adopt gradual abolish
ment of Slavery, giving to such, State pecuniary aid, to
be used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for
the' inconveniences, public and private, produced by such
change of system.1
" The resolution, in the language above
quoted, was adopted by large majorities in
both branches of Congress, and now stands
an authentic, definite, and solemn proposal
of the Nation to the States and people^.
most interested in the subject-matter. To
the people of these States now, I mostly ap
peal. I do not argue — I beseech you to
make the arguments for yourselves. You
can not, if you would, be blind to the signs
of the times.
" I beg of you a calm and enlarged con
sideration of them, ranging, if it may be, far
above partisan and personal politics.
" This proposal makes common cause for
a common object, casting no reproaches
upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The
change it Contemplates would come gently
as the dews of Heaven, not rending or
wrecking any thing. Will you not embrace
it? So much good has not been done by
one effort in all past time, as, in the Provi
dence of God, it is now your high privilege
to do. May the vast future not have to
lament that you have neglected it !
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set
my hand and caused thjg seal of the United
States to be hereunto affixed. .
"Done at the city of Washington this
19th day of May, in the year of our
Lord 1862, and ofthe independence of
the United States the eighty-sixth.
" (Signed) Abeaham Lincoln.
" By the President :
"W. H. Seward, Secretary of State."

Contrary to a very general impres
sion, Gen. McClellan was among the
first not only to perceive, but to as
sert, that the Rebellion was essential
ly a slaveholders' enterprise, and
that it might be effectively assailed
through Slavery. Thus, in his Mem
orandum privately addressed to the
President, Aug. 4th, 1861, when he
had but just taken command of the
Army of the Potomac, he says :
" In this contest, it has become necessary
to crush a population sufficiently numerous,
intelligent, and warlike, to constitute a na
tion. We have not only to defeat their arm

ed and organized forces in the field, but to
display such an overwhelming strength as
will convince all our antagonists, especially
those of the governing aristocratic class, of
the utter impossibility of resistance. Our
late reverses make this course imperative.
Had we been successful in the recent battle
[first Bull Run], it is possible that we
might have been spared the labor and ex
pense of a great effort ; now, we have no
alternative. Their success will enable the
political* leaders of the Rebels to convince
the mass of their people that we are in
ferior to them in force and courage, and to
command all their resources. The contest
began with a class ; now it is with a people ;
our military success can alone restore the
former issue."
After suggesting various military
movements, including one down the
Mississippi, as required to constitute a
general advance upon the strongholds
of the Rebellion, he proceeds :
"There is another independent move
ment which has often been suggested, and
which has always recommended itself to
my judgment. I refer to a movement from
Kansas and Nebraska, through the Indian
Territory, upon Red river and western
Texas, for the purpose of protecting and
developing the latent Union and Free-State
sentiment, well known to predominate in
western Texas ; and which, like a similar
sentiment in Western Virginia, will, if pro
tected, ultimately organize that section into
a Free State."
In view of these sensible and per
tinent suggestions, it is impossible
not to feel that Gen. McClellan's
naturally fair though not brilliant
mind was subjected, during his long
sojourn thereafter in Washington, to
sinister political influences and the
whispered appeals and tempting sug
gestions of a selfish and sordid ambi
tion. " During that Fall and Winter,
his house was thronged with partisans
of the extreme " Peace " wing of the
Democratic party, who must have
held out to him the golden lure of
the Presidency as the reward of a for
bearing, temporizing, procrastinating
policy, which would exhaust the re
sources and chill the ardor of the

248

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

North, in enormous preparations and
fruitless undertakings, until the con
joint pressure of Conscription and
Taxation, the impossibility of further
borrowing, and the heart-sickness of
hope deferred, should impel a major
ity to acquiesce in any adjustment or
compromise that would restore Peace
to the country. Such seems the only
plausible explanation of his timid
and dawdling military policy, his
habitual doubling or trebling of the
Rebel force confronting him, and of
the signal incoherence and incon
sequence, especially with regard to
Slavery and negroes, of the lecture
which, directly after his retreat from
the Chickahominy to the James had
been consummated, he found time to
indite — or at least to transcribe and
dispatch — to his perplexed and sore
ly tried superior. It is as follows :
" Headquaetebs Aemt op the Potomac,
Camp neae Habeison's Landing, Va.,
July 7, 1862.
" Me. Peesident : You have been fully in
formed that the Rebel army is in the front,
with the purpose of overwhelming us by
attacking our position or reducing us by
blocking our river communications. I can
not but regard our condition as critical ; and
I earnestly desire, in view of possible con
tingencies, to lay before your excellency, for
your private consideration, my general
views concerning the existing state of the
Rebellion, although they do not strictly re
late to the situation of this army, or strictly
come within the scope of my official duties.
These views amount to convictions, and are
deeply impressed upon my mind and heart.
Our cause must never be abandoned ; it is
the cause of free institutions and self-gov
ernment. The Constitution and the Union
must be preserved, whatever may be the
cost in time, treasure, and blood. If Seces
sion is successful, other dissolutions are
clearly to be seen in the future. Let neither
military disaster, political faction, nor for
eign war, shake your settled purpose to en
force the equal operation of the laws of the
United States upon the people of every State.
" The time has come when the Govern
ment must determine upon a civil and mili
tary policy, covering the whole ground of
our national trouble.

" The responsibility of determining, de
claring, and supporting such civil and mili
tary policy, and of directing the whole
course of national affairs in regard to the
Rebellion, must now be assumed and exer
cised by you, or our cause will be lost. The
Constitution gives you power, even for the
present terrible exigency.
" This Rebellion has assumed the charac
ter of a war ; as such it should be regarded ;
and it should be conducted upon the highest
principles known to Christian civilization.
It should not be a war looking to the subju
gation of the people of any State, in any
event. It should not be at all a war upon
populations but against armed forces and
political organizations. Neither confisca
tion of property, political executions of per
sons, territorial organization of States, nor
forcible abolition of Slavery, should be con
templated for a moment.
" In prosecuting the war, all private prop
erty and unarmed persons should be strictly
protected, subject only to the necessity Of
military operations; all private property
taken for military use should be paid or re
ceipted for; pillage and waste should be
treated as high crimes ; all unnecessary tres
pass sternly prohibited, and offensive de
meanor by the military toward citizens.
promptly rebuked. Military arrests should
not be tolerated, except in places where
active hostilities exist; and oaths, not re
quired by enactments, constitutionally made,
should be neither demanded nor received.
" Military government should be confined
to the preservation of public order and the
protection of political right. Military pow
er should not be allowed to interfere with
the relations of servitude, either by sup
porting or impairing the authority of the
master, except for repressing disorder, as
in other cases. Slaves, contraband, under
the act of Congress, seeking military pro
tection, should receive it. The right of the
Government to appropriate permanently to
its own service claims to slave labor should
be asserted, and the right of the owner to
compensation therefor should be recognized.
This principle might be extended, upon
grounds of military necessity and security,
to all the slaves of a particular State, thus
working manumission in such State ; and in
Missouri, perhaps in Western Virginia also,
and possibly even in Maryland, the expe
diency of such a measure is only a question
of time. A system of policy thus constitu
tional, and pervaded by the influences of
Christianity and freedom, would receive
the support of almost all truly loyal men,
would deeply impress the Rebel masses and
all foreign nations, and it might be humbly
hoped that it would commend itself to the
favor of the Almighty.

MR. GREELEY TO THE PRESIDENT.

249

" Unless the principles governing the fu
ture conduot of our struggle shall be made
known and approved, the effort to obtain
requisite forces will be almost hopeless. A
declaration of radical views, especially upon
Slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our pres
ent armies. The polioy of the Government
must be supported by concentration of mili
tary power. The national forces should not
be dispersed in expeditions, posts of occupa
tion, and numerous armies, but should be
mainly collected into masses, and brought
to bear upon the armies of the Confederate
States. Those armies thoroughly defeated,
the political structure which they support
would soon cease to exist.
"In carrying out any system of policy
wliich you may form, you will require a
cominander-in-chief of the army, one who
possesses your confidence, understands your
views, and who is competent to execute
your orders, by directing the military forces
of the nation to the accomplishment of the
objects by you proposed. I do not ask that
place for myself. I am willing to serve you
in such position as you may assign me,
and I will do so as faithfully as ever subor
dinate served superior.
"I may be on the brink of eternity ; and,
as I hope forgiveness from my Maker, I
have written this letter with sincerity to
ward you and from love for my country.
" Very respectfully,
" Your obedient servant,
" Geoege B. MoClellan,
"Maj.-Gen. Commanding.
"His Excellency A. Lincoln, President."
If Gen. M. had been asked to re
concile the precepts of this letter re
garding Slavery — how "the relations
of servitude," for example, could be
preserved in a district subject to
" military power," without a distinct
recognition and support of those "re
lations" by the military authority
there dominant ; or in what manner
he would have " disorder " repressed,
when it was caused by the slave's as
serting his right to control his own
actions and the master's resisting it
— he might have answered ingen
iously, but to what purpose ? Mani
festly, the ruling authority, whether
civil or military, must either support
the slaveholder's claim of property in

and power over his slaves, or it wiU
be seriously impaired — nay, utterly
defied and overthrown. In "re
pressing" the "disorder" certain, to
arise in the premises, the commander
must inevitably decide which to sup
port — the master's assertion of au
thority, or the slave's claim to liberty.
"Political rights" can receive "pro
tection " only when it has been de
termined where the right lies. The
" manumission," which Gen. M. fore
shadowed in Missouri, West Virginia,
and Maryland, was not merely "a
question of time." It was a ques
tion of power as well ; since he plain
ly contemplated its achievement, not
by popular action, but by military
force. Paying the " owner " might,
indeed, modify his wrath ; but could
not affect the fundamental question
of authority and right.

A letter addressed"1 to the Presi
dent some weeks after this, entitled
" The Prayer of Twenty Millions,"
and exhorting Mr. Lincoln — not to
proclaim all the slaves in our country
free, but to execute the laws of the
land wliich operated to free large
classes of the slaves of Rebels — con
cludes as follows :
" On the face of this wide earth, Mr. Presi
dent, there is not one disinterested, deter
mined, intelligent champion of the Union
cause who does not feel that all attempts to
put down the Rebellion, and at the same
time uphold its inciting cause, are prepos
terous and futile — that the Rebellion, if
crushed out to-morrow, would be renewed
within a year if Slavery were left in full
vigor — that army officers, who remain to
this day devoted to Slavery, can at best be
but half-way loyal to the Union— and that
every hour of deference to Slavery is an
hour of added and deepened peril to the
Union. I appeal to the testimony of your
Embassadors in Europe. It is freely at
your service, not mine. Ask them to tell
you candidly whether the seeming subser-

1 Aug. 19, 1862.

250

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

viency of your policy to the slaveholding,
Slavery-upholding interest, is not the per
plexity, the despair, of statesmen of all par
ties ; and be admonished by the general
answer !
" I close as I began, with the statement
that what an immense majority of the loyal
millions of your countrymen require of you
is a frank, declared, unqualified, ungrudg
ing execution of the laws of the land, more
especially of the Confiscation Act. That
act gives freedom to the slaves of Rebels
coming within our lines, or whom those
lines may at any time inclose — we ask you
to render it due obedience by publicly re
quiring all your subordinates to recognize
and obey it. The Rebels are everywhere
using the late anti-negro riots in the North
— as they have long used your officers'
treatment of negroes in the South — to con
vince the slaves that they have nothing to
hope from a Union success — that we mean
in that case to sell them into a bitter bond
age to defray the cost of the war. Let
them impress this as a truth on the great
mass of their ignorant and credulous bond
men, and the Union will never be restored
— never. We can not conquer ten millions
of people united in solid phalanx against
us, powerfully aided by Northern sympa
thizers and European allies. We must have
scouts, guides, spies, cooks, teamsters, dig
gers, and choppers, from the Blacks of the
South — whether we allow them to fight for
us or not — or we shall- be baffled and re
pelled. As one of the millions who would
gladly have avoided this struggle at any
sacrifice but that of principle and honor,
but who now feel that the triumph of the
Union is indispensable not only to the ex
istence of our country, but to the well-being
of mankind, I entreat you to render a hearty
and unequivocal obedience to the law of the
land. Yours, Hoeaoe Geeelet."
The President — very unexpected
ly — replied to this appeal by tele
graph : in order, doubtless, to place
before the public matter deemed by
him important, and which had prob
ably been prepared for issue before
the receipt of the letter to which he
thus obliquely responded :
" Executive Mansion, Washington, )
Aug. 22, 1862. ]
"Hon. Hoeaoe Geeeley:
" Dear Sie : I have just read yours of the
19th instant, addressed to myself through
The New York Tribune.
" If there be in it any statements or as
sumptions of fact which I may know to be

erroneous, I do not now and here contro
vert them.
" If there be any inferences which I may
believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now
and here argue against them.
" If there be perceptible in it an impatient
and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deferenoe
to an old friend whose heart I have always
supposed to be right.
"As to the policy I 'seem to be pursu
ing,' as you say, I have not meant to leave
any one in doubt. I would save the Union.
I would save it in the shortest way under
the Constitution.
" The sooner the national authority can
be restored, the nearer the Union will be
the Union as it was.
"If there be those who would not save
the Union unless they could at the same
time save Slavery, I do not agree with
them. " If there be those who would not save
the Union unless they could at the same
time destroy Slavery, I do not agree with
them. "My paramount object is to save the
Union, and not either to save or destroy
Slavery. " If I could save the Union without free
ing any slave, I would do it — if I could save
it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it —
and if I could do it by freeing some and
leaving others alone, I would also do that.
" What I do about Slavery and the
Colored Race, I do because I believe it
helps to save this Union ; and what I for
bear, I forbear because I do not believe it
would help to save the Union.
" I shall do less whenever I shall believe
what I am doing hurts the cause; and I
shall do n>ore whenever I believe doing
more will help the cause.
" I shall try to correct errors when shown
to be errors ; and I shall adopt new views
so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
" I have here stated my purpose accord
ing to my views of official duty ; and I in
tend no modification of my oft-expressed
personal wish that all men everywhere could
be free. Yours, A. Lincoln."
Many others called on or wrote to
the President about this time, urging
him to action in the spirit of Mr.
Greeley's letter. He heard all with
courtesy, suggesting objections that
were not intended for conclusions,
but rather to indicate and enforce
the grave importance of the topic,
the peril of making a mistake upon
it, and the difficulty of reaching the

MR. LINCOLN TO THE EMANCIPATIONISTS.-

251

Blacks with any proffer, of Freedom.
The slaveholders — especially those in
the loyal States — would all hear of it
forthwith, and be influenced by it ;
the slaves in the disloyal States would
receive all tidings of it through hos
tile channels — from those interested
in deceiving and misleading them
with regard to it. Even if correctly
and promptly advised, what could
they do ? Bayonets glittered on eve
ry side ; arms were borne by nearly
every able-bodied White ; while the
Blacks could oppose to these but their
empty (and shackled) hands. What
good, then, could be secured by an
Abolition policy? "It is a Pope's
bull against the comet," suggested the
^President. " It will unite the South
and divide the North," fiercely clam
ored the entire Opposition. So the
President — habitually cautious, dil
atory, reticent — hesitated, and de
murred, and resisted — possibly after
he had silently resolved that the step
must finally be taken.
Mr. Lincoln was soon visited,"
among others, by a deputation from
the various Protestant denominations
of Chicago, Illinois, charged with the
duty of urging on him the adoption
of a more decided and vigorous policy
of Emancipation. He listened to the
reading of their memorial, and re
sponded in substance as follows :
" The subject is difficult, and good men
do not agree. For instance : the other day,
four gentlemen of standing and intelligence
fr&m New York called as a delegation on
business connected with the war; but be
fore leaving two of them earnestly besought
me to proclaim general Emancipation ; upon
which the other two at once attacked them.
You know also that the last session of Con
gress had a decided majority of anti-Slavery
men, yet they could not unite on this policy.
And the same is true of the.religious people.
Why, the Rebel soldiers are praying with a

great deal more earnestness, I fear, than our
own troops, and expecting God to favor their
side : for one of our soldiers, who had been
taken prisoner, told Senator Wilson a few
days since that he met nothing so discourag
ing as the evident sincerity of those he was
among in their prayers. But we will tali
over the merits of the case.
" What good would a proclamation of
Emancipation from me do, especially as we
are now situated ? I do not-want to issue a
document that the whole world will see must
necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's
bull against the comet. Would my word free
the slaves, when I can not even enforce the
Constitution in the Rebel- States ? Is there a
single court, or magistrate, or individual, that
would be influenced by it there ? And what
reason is there to think it would have any
greater effect upon the slaves than the late law
of Congress, which I approved, and which
offers protection and freedom to. the slaves
of Rebel masters who come within our
lines ? Yet I can not learn that that law has
caused a single slave to come over to us.
And, suppose they could be induced by a
proclamation of freedom from me to throw
themselves upon us, what should we do with
them 1 How can we feed and care for such
a multitude ? Gen. Butler wrote me a few
days since that he was issuing more rations
to the slaves who have rushed to him than
to all the White troops under his command.
They eat, and that is all ; though it is true
Gen. Butler is feeding the Whiles also by
the thousand; for it nearly amounts to a
famine there. If, now, the. pressure of the
war should call off our forces from New
Orleans to defend some other point, what is
to prevent the masters from reducing the
Blacks to Slavery again ; for I am told that
whenever the Rebels take any Black prison
ers, free or slave, they immediately auction
them off 1 They did so with those they
took from a boat that was aground in the
Tennessee river a few days ago. And then
I am very ungenerously attacked for it I
For instance, when, after the late battles at
and near Bull Run, an expedition went out
from Washington,- under a flag of truce, to
bury the dead and bring in the wounded,
and the Rebels seized the Blacks who went
along to help, and sent them into Slavery,
Horace Greeley said in his paper that the
Government would probably do nothing
about it. What could I do ?
" Now, then, tell me, if you please, what
possible result of good would follow the
issuing of such a proclamation as you desire?
Understand : I raise no objections against it
on legal or constitutional grounds; for, as
Commander-in-chief of the army and navy

'Sept. 13.

252

THE AMERIOA.N CONFLICT.

in time of war, I suppose I have a right to
take any measure whioh may best subdue
the enemy ; nor do I urge objections of a
moral nature, in view of possible conse
quences of insurrection and massacre at the
South. I view this matter as a practical
war measure, to be decided on according to
the advantages or disadvantages it may offer
to the suppression of the Rebellion."
The deputation responded, urging
that an Emancipation policy would
greatly strengthen(us in Europe, and
would justify us in appealing to the
God of the oppressed and down-trod
den for His blessing on our future
efforts to crush the Rebellion. The
President rejoined :
" I admit that Slavery is at the root of the
Rebellion, or at least its sine gud non. The
ambition of politicians may have instigated
them to act ; but they would have been im
potent without Slavery as their instrument.
I will also concede that Emancipation would
help us in Europe, and convinoe them that
we are incited by something more than am
bition. I grant, further, that it would help
somewhat at the North, though not so much,
I fear, as you and those you represent im
agine. Still, some additional strength would
be added iiL that way to the war ; and then,
unquestionably, it would weaken the Rebels
by drawing off their laborers, which is of
great importance ; but I am not so sure wo
could do much with the Blacks. If we were
to arm them, I fear that in a few weeks the
arms would be in the hands of the Rebels ;
and, indeed, thus far, we have not had arms
enough to equip our White troops. I will
mention another thing, though it meet only
your scorn and contempt. There are 50,000
bayonets in the Union army from the Border
Slave States. It would be a serious matter
if, in Consequence of a proclamation such as
you desire, they should go over to the
Rebels. I do not think they all would — not
so many, indeed, as a year ago, or as six
months ago — not so many to-day as yester
day. Every day increases their Union feel
ing. They are also getting their pride en
listed, and want to beat the Rebels. Let me
say one thing more : I think you should
admit that we already have an important
principle to rally and unite the people, in
the fact that constitutional government is
at stake. This is a fundamental idea, going
down about as deep as any thing;"
The deputation again developed
and enforced their views ; and the

President closed the conference with
these pregnant words :
"Do not misunderstand me because I
have mentioned these objections. They
indicate the difficulties that have thus far
prevented my aotion in some such way as
you desire. I have not deoided against a
proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but
hold the matter under advisement. And I
can assure you that the subject is on my
mind, by day and by night, more than any
other. Whatever shall appear to be God's
will, I will do. • I trust that, in the freedom
with whioh I have oanvassed your views, I
have not in any respect injured your feel
ings." The deputation had scarcely re
turned to Chicago and reported to
their constituents, when the great
body of the President's supporters
were electrified, while his opponents
in general were only still farther
alienated, by the unheralded appear
ance of the following proclamation :
" I, Abeaham Lincoln, President of the
United States of America, and Commander-
in-chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do
hereby proclaim and deolare that hereafter,
as heretofore, the war will be proseouted
for the object of practioally restoring the
constitutional relation between the United
States and each of the States, and the
people thereof, in which States that rela
tion is or may be suspended or disturbed.
"That it is my purpose, upon the next
meeting of Congress, to again recommend
the adoption of a practical measure tender
ing pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or
rejection of all Slave States; so called, the
people whereof may not then be in rebel
lion against the United States, and which
States may then have voluntarily adopted,
or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, imme
diate or gradual abolishment of Slavery
within tlieir respective limits ; and that the
effort to colonize persons of African descent,
with their consent, upon this continent or
elsewhere, with the previously obtained
consent of the governments existing there,
will be continued.
"Th^t, on the first day of January, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, all persons held
as slaves within any State, or designated
part of a State, the people whereof shall
then' be in rebellion against the United
States, shall be then, thenceforward, and
forever free; and the Executive Govern
ment of the United States, including the

LINCOLN'S FIRST PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM.

253

military and naval authority thereof, will
reoognize and. maintain the freedom of suoh
persons, and will do no act. or acts to re
press such persons, or any of them, in any
efforts they may make for their actual free
dom. ".That the Exeoutive will, on the 1st
day of January aforesaid, by proclamation,
designate the States and parts of States, if
any, in which the people thereof respect
ively shall then be in rebellion against the
United States ; and the fact that any State,
or the people thereof, shall on that day be
In good faith represented in the Congress
of the United States, by members chosen
thereto at elections wherein a msyority of
the qualified voters of such State shall have
participated, shall, in the absence of strong
countervailing testimony, be deemed con
clusive evidence that such State, and the
people thereof, are not then in rebellion
against the United States.
"That attention is hereby called to an
aot of Congress entitled 'An Act to make
an additional Artiole of War,' approved
March 18th, 1862; and whioh act is in the
words and figures following :
" 'Se it "enacted by the Senate and Mouse of Repre
sentatives ofthe United States of America in Congress
assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promul
gated as an additional article of war for the government
of the Army of the United States, and shall be obeyed
and observed as suoh:
"'Skotiou 1. All officers or persons In the military
or naval service ofthe United States are prohibited from
employing any of the forces under their respective com
mands for tho purpose of returning fugitives from service
or labor who may have escaped from any persons to
whom such service or labor is claimed to be tine ; and
any officer who shall be found guilty by a oourt-martial
of violating this artiole shall De dismissed from the
service. '"Sko.2. And be it further enacted, That this act
shall take effect from and after Its passage.1
" Also, to the ninth and tenth sections of
an act entitled ' An Act to Suppress Insur
rection, to Punish Treason and Rebellion,
to Seize and Confiscate Property of Rebels,
and for other Purposes,' approved July 16,
1862 ; and which seotions are in the words
and figures following:
"'Sua 9. And be itfufther enacted. That all slaves
of persons who shall hereafter be engaged In rebellion
•gainst the Government of the United States, or who
snail in any way give aid or comfort thereto, oscaping
from such persons and taking refuge within the lines or
the army; and all slaves captured from such persons, or
deserted by them and coming under the control of the
Government ofthe United States; and all slaves of suoh
persons found on Tori being within any place occupied
by Eebel forces ana afterward occupied by forces of the
united States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall
be forever free of their servitude, and not again held aa
slaves. " ' Sko. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave
woaplng into any State, Territory, or the District of
Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or
In any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except
lor crime, or some offense against the laws, unless the
8erson claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that
le person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive
le alleged to be due Is his lawful owner, and has not
borne arms against tbe United States in the present

Rebellion, nor In any way given aid and comfort thereto;
" in the "
er lidlty i
person to the service or labor of any other person, or

and no person engaged in die military or naval service of
/ pretense whatever,
assume to decide on tbe validity' of the olalm of any

surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain
of being dismissed from the service.'
" And I do hereby enjoin upon and order
all persons engaged "in the military and
naval servioe of the United States to ob
serve, obey, and enforce, within their re
spective spheres of service, the aot and
sections above recited.
' " And the Executive will in due time
recommend that all oitizens of the United
States, who shall have remained loyal there
to throughout the Rebellion, shall (upon the
restoration of the constitutional relation
between the United States and their re
spective States and people, if that relation
shall have been suspended or disturbed) be
compensated for all losses by acts of the
United States, including the loss of slaves.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set
my hand and caused the seal of the Unite-
States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington,
this twenty-second day of Septem
ber, in the year of our Lord one
[l. s.] ¦ thousand eight hundred and sixty-
two, and of the independence
of the United States the eighty-
seventh.
"Abeaham Lincoln.
11 By the President :
" William H. S_w_kd, Secretary of State."
It has been alleged that the ap
pearance of this document was hast
ened by confidential representations
from our Embassadors at the Courts
of "Western Europe, that a recogni
tion of the Confederacy was immi
nent, and could hardly be averted
otherwise than by a policy of Eman
cipation. The then Attorney-Gen
eral so has been quoted as authority
for this statement ; but it is still gen
erally regarded as apocryphal. It has
been likewise asserted that the Presi
dent had fully decided on resorting
to this policy some weeks before the
Proclamation appeared, and that he
only withheld it till the military
situation should assume a brighter
aspect. Remarks made long after
ward in Congress render highly

"Edward Bates, of Missouri.

254:

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

probable the assumption that its
appearance was somewhat delayed,
awaiting the issue of the struggle in
Maryland, which terminated with
the battle of Antietam."
Whether the open adhesion of the
President at last to the policy of
Emancipation did or did not contri
bute to the general defeat of his sup
porters in the State Elections which
soon followed, is still fairly disput
able. By those elections, Horatio
Seymour was made Governor of New
York and Joel Parker of New Jersey :
supplanting Governors Morgan and
Olden; while Pennsylvania, Ohio, In
diana, and Illinois, also gave Opposi
tion majorities ; and Michigan, "Wis
consin, and most other Western
States, showed a decided falling off in
Administration strength. The gene
ral result of those elections is summed
up in the following table :
I860— Pkisident. 1862— Gov. ok Congbkss.
States. Lincoln. AU others. Admin. Opp.
New York.... 862,646 812,610 295,897 806,649
New Jersey... 58,324 62,801 46,710 61,807
Pennsylvania.. 268,080 208,412 215,616 219,140
Ohio  281,610 210,881 178,755 184,832
Indiana  139,033 183,110 118,517 128,160
Illinois  172,161 160,215 120,116 186,662
Michigan  88,480 66,267 68,716 62,102
Wisconsin.... 86,110 66,070 66,801 67,985
Iowa  70,409 57,922 m66,014 60,898
Minnesota  22,069 12,668 15,754 11,442

10 States  1,498,872 1,290,806 1,192,8961,228,677
1860— Lincoln's maj.— 208,066. 1862— Opp. maj.— 85,781.
The Representatives in Congress
chosen from these States were politi
cally classified as follows :
I860. 1362.
Eepdb. Bern. Admin. Opp.
New York  ,  28 10 14 17
NewJqrsey  2 8 14
Pennsylvania  18 T 12 12
Ohio  18 8 5 14
Indiana  7 4 4 7
Illinois  4 5 5 9
Michigan  4 0 5 1
Wisconsin  8 0 8 8
Iowa  •.. 2 0 6 0
Minnesota  2 0 2 0
Total, 10 States  T8 87 67 67
1860— Lincoln maj.— 41. 1662— Opposition maj., 10.
Note. — A new apportionment nnder the Census of 1860
changed materially, between 1860 and 1862, the number
of Representatives from several of the States.

"Fought Sept. 17th— Proclamation of Free
dom, dated 22d.
""Soldiers' vote: Admn., 14,874; Opp., 4,115.

There were some counterbalancing
changes in the States of Delaware,
Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri,
as also in that of California, where
the larger share of the Douglas vote
of 1860 was in '62 cast for the Union
tickets ; but it was clear, at the close
of the State Elections of that year,
that the general ill success of the
War for the Union, the wide-spread
and increasing repugnance to Con
scription, Taxation, a depreciated
Currency, and high-priced Fabrics,
were arraying Public Sentiment
against the further prosecution of the
contest. Of course, the Opposition
inveighed against the management
of the War and of the Finances, the
treatment of Gen. McClellan, and the
general inefficiency and incapacity of
the Administration ; but the strength
of that Opposition inhered in popu
lar repugnance to the" sacrifices ex
acted by and the perils involved in a
prosecution of the struggle, though
its most general and taking clamor
deprecated only " The perversion of
the "War for the Union into a War
for the Negro." Ignoring the sol
diers battling for the Union-^of
whom at least three-fourths voted
Republican at each election wherein
they were allowed to vote at all ; but
who had not yet begn enabled to vote
in the field, while their absence cre
ated a chasm in the Administration
vote at home — it is quite probable
that, had a popular election been
held at any time during the year fol
lowing the Fourth of July, 1862, on
the question of continuing the War
or arresting it on the best attainable
terms, a majority would have voted
for Peace ; while it is highly proba-

Wisconsin Soldiers' Vote: Admn., 8,373; Opp.,
2,046. No other States had yet authorized their
soldiers in the field to vote.

LINCOLN'S SECOND PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM. 255

ble that a still larger majority would
have voted against Emancipation.
From an early hour of the struggle,
the public mind slowly and steadily
gravitated toward the conclusion that
the Rebellion was vulnerable only or
mainly through Slavery ; but that
conclusion was scarcely reached by a
majority before the occurrence of the
New York Riots, in July, 1863. The
President, though widely reproached
with tardiness and reluctance in tak
ing up the gage plainly thrown down
by the Slave Power, was probably
ahead of a majority of the people of
the loyal States in definitively accept
ing the issue of Emancipation or Dis
union. Having taken a long step in the
right direction, he never retracted nor
seemed to regret it ; though he some
times observed that the beneficial re
sults ofthe Emancipation policy were
neither so signal nor so promptly
realized as its sanguine promoters
had anticipated. Nevertheless, on the
day appointed, he issued his absolute
Proclamation of Freedom, as follows :
" Whereas, on the 22d day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1862, a proclamation
was iesned by the President of the United
States, containing, among other things, the
following, to wit :
" 'That on the 1st day of January, in the year of our
Lord 1S63, all persons held as slaves within any State
or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall
then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be
then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Executive
Government of the United States, including the'military
and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain
the freedom of such persons, and will do no aot or acts
to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts
they may make for their actual freedom.'
" ' That the Executive will, on the first day of January
aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts
of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively
shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and
the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on
that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of
the United States, by members chosen thereto at elec
tions wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such
State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of
Btrong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclnsive
evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not
then in rebellion against the United States.'
" Now, therefore, I, Abeaham Lincoln,
President of the United States, by virtue of
the power in me vested as Commander-in-
chief of the Army and Navy of the United

States in time of actual armed rebellion
against the authority and Government of
the United States, and as a fit and necessary
war measure for suppressing said rebellion,
do, on this first day of January, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty- three, and in accordance with my pur
pose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the
full period of one hundred days from the
day first above mentioned, order and des
ignate as the States and parts of States
wherein the people thereof respectively are
this day in rebellion against the United
States, the following : to wit :
" Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the
parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemine, Jeffer
son, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascen
sion, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche,
St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including
the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alaba
ma, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North
Carolina, andVirginia (except the forty-eight
counties designated as AVest Virginia, and
also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac,
Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Prin
cess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities
of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which ex
cepted parts are, for the present, left precise
ly as if this proclamation were not issued.
" And, by virtue of the power and for the
purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare
that all persons held as slaves within said'
designated States and parts of States are
and henceforward shall be free; and that
the Executive Government of the United
States, including the military and naval au
thorities thereof, will recognize and main
tain the freedom of said persons.
"And I hereby enjoin upon the people so
declared to be free to abstain from all vio
lence, unless in necessary self-defense; and
I recommend to them that, in all cases
when allowed, they labor faithfully for rea
sonable wages.
" And I further declare and make known
that such persons, of suitable condition, will
be received into the armed service of the
United States to garrison forts, positions,
stations, and other places, and to man ves
sels of all sorts in said service.
" And upon this act, sincerely believed to
be an act of justice, warranted by the Con
stitution npon military necessity, I invoke
the considerate judgment of mankind, and
the gracious favor of Almighty God.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto
set my name, and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
"Done at the city of Washington, this
1st day of January, in the year of ouf
[_. s.] Lord 1863, and of the -independence
of the United States the 87th.
" By the President : Abraham Lincoln.
""William H. Sewabd, Secretary of State."

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

On the abstract question of the
right of the Government to proclaim
and enforce Emancipation, Edward
Everett, in a speech in Faneuil Hall,
Boston, October, 1864, forcibly said :
"It is very doubtful whether any act of
the Government of the United States was
necessary to liberate the slaves in a State
which is in rebellion. There is much reason
for the opinion that, by the simple. act of
levying war against the Unite'd States, the
relation of Slavery was terminated ; certain
ly, so far as concerns the duty of the United
States to recognize it, or to refrain from
interfering with it. • Not being founded on
the law of nature, and resting solely on posi
tive local law — and that not of the United
States — as soon as it becomes either the
motive or pretext of an unjust war against

the Union — an efficient instrument in the
hands of the Kebels for carrying on the war
— a source of military strength to the Rebel
lion, and of danger to the Government at
home and abroad, with the additional cer
tainty that, in any event but its abandon
ment, it will continue in all future time t«
work these mischiefs, who can suppose it is
the duty of the United States to continue to
recognize it? To maintain this would be a
contradiction in terms. It would be to re
cognize a right in a Rebel master to employ
his slave in acts of rebellion and treason,
and the duty of the slave to aid and abet
his master in the commission of the greatest
crime known to the law. No such absurdity
can be admitted ; and any citizen ofthe Uni
ted States, from the President down, who
should, by any overt act, recognise the duty
of a slave to obey a Rebel master in a hos
tile operation, would himself be giving aid
and comfort to the enemy."

XII.
SLAVERY AND EMANCIPATION IN CONGRESS.

The XXXVIIth Congress, as we
have seen1— while endeavoring to
evade or to avert its eyes from the
fact that it was Slavery which was
waging deadly war on the Union —
did yet give fair notice, through the
guarded but decisive language of
some of the more conservative Re
publicans, that, if the Rebellion were
persisted in,. it must inevitably result
in the overthrow of Slavery. And
the action of that Congress, even at

the extra session, evinced a steadi
ly growing consciousness — steadily
growing in the legislative as well as
the popular a mind — that Slavery had
closed with the Union in mortal
strtfe — a struggle which both could
not survive."
Still, President Lincoln, hesitated
and held back; anxious that the
Union should retain its hold on the
Border Slave States, especially on
Kentucky; and apparently hoping

1 Vol. I., pp. 564-8.
'On the day after the Bull Run rout, the
writer first heard this conviction openly de
clared. The credit of the avowal belongs to
Gen. John Cochrane.
"Hon. Elisha R. Potter, of Rhode Island —
who may be fairly styled the hereditary chief of
the Democratic party of that State — made a
Bgeech on the War to the Senate thereof on the
10th of August, 1861. After distributing the
blame of inciting the War between the Northern
and the Southern ' ultras,' dilating on the re
sources of the South, and elucidating the no-
fighting, anaconda' mode of warfare proposed

by Gen. Seott, and apparently acceded to by the
Cabinet, he proceeds:
" I have said that the war may assume anoth
er aspect, and be a short and bloody one. And
to such a war — an anti-Slavery war — it seems
to me we are inevitably drifting. It seems to
me hardly in the power of human wisdom to
prevent it. We may commence the war without
meaning to interfere with Slavery; but let us
have one or two battles, and get our blood exci
ted, and we shall not only not restore any more
slaves, but shall proclaim freedom wherever we
go. And it seems to me almost judicial blind
ness on the part of the South that they do not
see that this must be the inevitable result, if
the contest is prolonged."

Ii res i$ AA / , i
1 I

a

ARMY SLAVE-CATCHING PROHIBITED.

257

that the alternative of conceded Dis
union or constrained Emancipation
might yet be avoided. His first An
nual Message * cautiously avoided the
subject; but proposed a systematic
colonization — in some territory to be
acquired outside of the present limits
of our country — of those Blacks who
had already, or might thereafter, be
come free in consequence of the war.
He coolly added :
" It might be well to consider, too,
whether the free colored people already in
the United States could not,, so far as indi
viduals may desire, be included in such colo
nization." Congress acceded to this, so far a3
to appropriate $100,000 in aid of the
colonization as aforesaid of the freed-
men of the District of Columbia ;
which sum, or most of it, was duly
squandered — to the satisfaction of cer
tain speculators, and the intense, pro
tracted misery of a few deluded
Blacks, who were taken to a wretch
ed sand-spit, known as Cow Island,
on the coast of Hayti, and kept there
so long as they could be : and this was
the practical finale of the Coloniza
tion project.

The XXXVIIth Congress having
convened 6 for its second (or first reg
ular) session, Gen. "Wilson, of Mass.,
gave " notice in Senate of a bill to
punish .officers and privates of our
armies for arresting, detaining, or de
livering persons claimed as fugitive
slaves; and Mr. O. Lovejoy, of DI.,
simultaneously introduced a bill of
like tenor in the House. Mr. "Wilson
submitted his bill on the 23d ; a re
solve to the same effect having been
submitted by Mr. Sumner six days
before ; as one of like nature was
this day laid before the House by

Mr. James F. "Wilson, of Iowa. Mr.
"Wilson, of Mass., soon reported7 his
bill ; of which he pressed the consid
eration ten days afterward; but it
was resisted with great ingenuity and
earnestness by all the Opposition and
by a few of the more conservative
Administration Senators. Other bills
having obtained precedence in the
Senate, Mr. F. P. Blair reported 8 to
the House from its Military Commit
tee, an additional Article of "War, as
follows :
" All officers are prohibited from employ
ing any of the forces under their respective
commands for the purpose of returning fu-y
gitives from service or labor who may have
escaped from any persons to whom such ser
vice or labor is qlaimed to be, due. Any
officer who shall be found guilty by court-
martial of violating this article shall be dis
missed from the service."
This bill was strenuously opposed
by Messrs. Mallory and "Wickliffe,
of Kentucky, as also by Mr." Val-
landigham, of Ohio, while ably
advocated by Mr. Bingham, of Ohio
and passed by a (substantially) party _,
vote : Yeas 83 ; Nays __. • Having
been received by the Senate and re
ferred to its Military Committee, it
was duly reported " therefrom by Mr.
H. "Wilson ; vehemently opposed by
Messrs. Garret Davis, of Ky., Carliler
of Va., Saulsbury, of Del., and sup
ported by Messrs. Wilson, of Mass.,
Howard, of Michigan, Sherman, of
Ohio, McDougall, of Cal., and An
thony, of R. I., and passed :'" Yeas
29 ; Nays 9 — a party vote, save that"'
Mr. McDougall, of Cal., voted Yea.
The bill thus enacted was approved
by the President, March 13th, 1862.
Gen. Wilson, upon evidence that
the above act was inadequate to re
strain the negro-catching propensities
of some officers in the. service, pro«

?Dec. 3, 1861. 'Dec. 2, 1861.
vol. n. — 17

¦ Dec. 4. ' Jan. 6, 1862. e Feb. 25. ' March 4. " March 10.

258

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

posed" further action to the same
end ; and the Senate considered " his
resolution of inquiry. Mr. Grimes,
of Iowa, in supporting it, made a
statement as follows :
"In the month of February last, an
officer of the 3d regiment of Iowa infantry,
stationed at a small town in Missouri, suc
ceeded in capturing several Rebel bridge-
burners, and some recruiting officers be
longing to Price's army. The information
that led to their capture was furnished by
two or three remarkably shrewd and intelli
gent slaves, claimed by a Lt.-Colonel in the
Rebel army. Shortly afterward, the master
dispatched an agent, with instructions to
seize the slaves, and convey them within
the Rebel lines: whereupon, the Iowa officer
seized them, and reported the circumstances
to headquarters. The slaves, soon under
standing the full import of Gen. Halleck's
celebrated Order No. 3, two of them attempt
ed an escape. This was regarded as an unpar
donable sin. The Iowa officer was imme
diately placed under arrest ; and a detach
ment of the Missouri State Militia — men in
the pay of this Government, and under the
command of Gen. Halleck — were sent in pur
suit ofthe fugitives. The hunt was successful.
The slaves were caught, and returned to
their traitor master ; but not until one of
them had been shot by order of the soldier
in command of the pursuing party."
Mr. Sumner followed in an able
speech in advocacy ; but the subject
was overlaid by others deemed more
urgent ; and the bill was not conclu
sively acted on.
At an early period " of the session,
Gen. Wilson had proposed a refer
ence of all laws relating to persons of
color in the District of Columbia,
and to the arrest of fugitives from
labor, to the Standing Committee on
said District, with instructions that
they consider the expediency of a
compensated Abolition of Slavery
therein ; and he soon afterward in
troduced" a bill of like purport;
which was read twice and referred "
to the Committee aforesaid. Mr.
Morrill, of Maine, duly reported"
from said Committee Gen. Wilson's

bill; which provided for the Aboli
tion of Slavery in the District, and /
the payment to the masters from the
Treasury of an average compensation
of $300 each for the slaves thus
manumitted. The bill was so amended
as to abolish also the Black Laws of
said District. Mr. G. Davis, of Ky.,
bitterly opposed the bill ; proposing
so to amend it as to send out of the
country all persons freed thereby ;
which was ardently supported by
Mr. Saulsbury, of Del. Mr. Doolittle
(Repub.), of Wise, favored coloniz
ing the freedmen, but moved to add
" with their own consent ;" which
prevailed — Yeas 23 ; Nays 16 — and
Mr. Davis's proposition, as thus
amended, was lost by a tie vote— 19
to 19; and the emancipating bill —
after having been ably supported by
Messrs. Wilmot, of Pa., Hale, of
N. H., Pomeroy, of Kansas (against
paying the masters), King, of N. Y.,
Wilson, of Mass., Harlan, of Iowa,
Wilkinson, of Minn., Sumner, of
Mass., Fessenden, of Maine, Brown
ing, of 111., and Morrill, of Maine,
and further opposed by Messrs.
Wright (Union), of Ind., Willey, of
West Va. (who wished the question
of Emancipation submitted to a pop
ular vote of the District), Kennedy,
of Md., McDougall, of Cal., and
Bayard, of Del. — was passed :" Yeas '
29 ; Nays 14 — as follows :
"Yeas — Messrs. Anthony, Browning,
Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolit-
t]e, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale,
Harlan, Harris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane,
of Ind., Lane, of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy,
Sherman, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull,
Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmot, and Wilson, of
Mass.— 29.
Nats — Messrs. Bayard, Carlile, Davis,
Henderson, Kennedy, Latham, McDougall,
Nesmith, Powell, Saulsbury, Stark, Willey,
Wilson, of Mo., and Wriglit — 14.

'Aprils. "Aprill- " Dec 14. M Dec. 16. "Dec. 22. >8 Feb. 13. » April 3.

LINCOLN PROPOSES AID TO EMANCIPATION.

259

This bill having reached the
House, Mr. Stevens, of Pa., in Com
mittee of the Whole, moved18 the
laying aside successively of each bill
preceding it on the calendar, and
thus reached this one ; which was
taken up and debated by Judge
Thomas, of Mass., and Mr. Crittenden,
of Ky., in opposition. Mr. Stevens
tried to close the debate next day,
but failed ; and the bill was advoca
ted by Messrs. F. P. Blair, of Mo.,
Bingham, Blake, Riddle, Ashley, and
Hutchins, of Ohio, Rollins, of N. H.,
and Van Horn, of N. Y. Mr. Ste
vens at length induced the Commit
tee to rise and report the bill ; when
the measure was further opposed by
Messrs. H. B. Wright, of Pa., Wads
worth, Harding, Menzies, and Wick
liffe, of Ky., and supported by Messrs.
Hickman, of Pa., Train, of Mass.,
Lovejoy, of 111., Dunn, of Ind., Cox
and Vallandigham, of Ohio ; and
k passed under the Previous Question :
VYeas 92 ; Nays 39. [Messrs. G. H.
Browne, of R. I., English, of Conn.,
Haight and Odell, of N. Y., Sheffield,
of R. I., and B. F. Thomas, of Mass.,
voted Yea with the Republicans ;
while Messrs. J. B. Blair and Wm.
G. Brown, of Va., James S. Rollins,
of Mo., and Francis Thomas, of Md.,
voted Nay with the Democrats and
Kentuckians.] The bill, thus passed
on the llth, was signed by the Presi
dent on the 16th of April, 1862."

President Lincoln made his first
overt, yet cautious, demonstration

against Slavery as the main cause of
our subsisting troubles in a Special
Message," which proposed that the
Houses of Congress should unite in
adopting this joint resolution :
"Pesolved, That the United States, in or
der to cooperate with any State which may
adopt gradual abolition of Slavery, give to
such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such
State, in its discretion, to compensate it for
the inconvenience, public and private, pro
duced by such change of system."
This proposition he commended in
these guarded and deferential terms :
" If the proposition contained in the reso
lution does not meet the approval of Con
gress and the country, there is an end of it.
But, if it does command such approval, I
deem it of importance that the States and
people immediately interested should be at
once distinctly notified of the fact, so that
they may begin to consider whether to
accept or reject it.
"The Federal Government would find
its highest interest in such a measure, as
one of the most important means of self-
preservation. The leaders of the existing
Rebellion entertain the hope that this Gov
ernment will ultimately be forced to ac
knowledge the independence of some part
of the disaffected region, and that all the
Slave States north of such part will then
say, ' The Union for which we have strug
gled being already gone, we now choose to
go with the Southern section.' To deprive
them of this hope substantially ends the
Rebellion ; and the initiation of Emancipa
tion deprives them of it, and of all the States
initiating it.
" The point is not that all the States tol
erating Slavery would very soon, if at all,
initiate Emancipation ; but, while the offer
is equally made to all, the more Northern
shall, by such initiation, make it certain to
the more Southern that in no event will the
former ever join the latter in their proposed
Confederacy. * * * While it is true that
the adoption of the proposed resolution
would be merely initiatory, and not within
itself a practical measure, it is recommended
in the hope that it would soon lead to im
portant practical results. In full view of
my great responsibility to my God and to

"April 10.
18 Some of the anomalies of the slaveholding
system were brought to light in the execution
of this measure. For instance: while it had
long been usual for White men to sell their
parti-colored children, there were no known
precedents for a like thrifty procedure on the

part of Blacks; but U. S. Treasurer Spinner
was waited on by a District negro (free), who
had bought and paid for his (slave) wife, and
who required payment not only for her but for
their half-dozen children — all his legal and sala
ble chattels — and the claim could not be disat
lowed. m March 6, 1862.

260

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

my country, I earnestly beg the attention
of Congress and the people to the sub
ject." Mr. Stevens, of Pa., having moved
and carried a reference of this Mes
sage by the House to a Committee of
the Whole on the State of the Union,
and Mr. R. Conkling, of N. Y., hav
ing moved" the resolve above recom
mended, a debate sprung up thereon ;
which is notable only as developing
, the repugnance ofthe Unionists of the
Border Slave States, with that of the
Democrats of all the States, to com
pensated or any other Emancipation.
Messrs. Wadsworth, Mallory, Wick
liffe, and Crittenden, of Ky., and Cris-
field, of Md., spoke for the former;
Messrs. Richardson, of 111., Voorhees,
of Ind., Biddle, of Pa., for the lat
ter. All the Republicans who spoke
supported the proposition; though
Messrs. Stevens and Hickman, of Pa.,
characterized it as timid, temporizing,
and of small account. It passed the
-House" by 89 Yeas (Republicans,
West Virginians, and a few others
not strictly partisans) to 31 Nays (in
cluding Crisfield, Leary, and Francis
Thomas, of Md., with Crittenden,
Dunlap, Harding, Wadsworth, and
Wickliffe, of Ky. — the rest Demo
crats). The resolve having reached the
Senate and been duly referred, Mr.
Trumbull, of 111., reported23 it favo
rably from the Judiciary Committee ;
when, on its coming up,24 it was
fiercely assailed by Mr. Saulsbury,
of Delaware, and more temperately
opposed by Messrs. Willey, of Va.,
McDougall and Latham, of Cal., and
•Powell, of Ky. Mr. Henderson, of
Mo., supported it, and thenceforward
acted as an emancipationist. Messrs.

Sherman, of Ohio, Doolittle, of
Wise, Browning, of 111., and Mor
rill, of Maine, also advocated the
measure ; and it passed " — Yeas 32/
(including Davis, of Ky., Henderson, '
of Mo., Thomson [Dem.], of N. J.,
and Willey, of Va.) ; Nays — Messrs.
Bayard and Saulsbury, of Del., Ken
nedy, of Md., Carlile, of Va., Powell,
of Ky., Wilson, of Mo., Wright, of
N. J., Latham, of Cal., Nesmith and
Stark, of Oregon. It is noteworthy
that a majority of these Nays were
the votes of Senators from Border
States, to Which it proffered compen
sation for their- slaves, all whom have
since been freed without compensa
tion. The President of course ap
proved 26 the measure ; but no single
Slave State ever claimed its benefits ;
and its only use inhered in its demon
stration of the willingness of the
Unionists to increase their already
heavy burdens to pay for the slaves
of the Border States — a willingness
which the infatuation of the ruling
class in those States rendered abor
tive, save in its inevitable tendency
to soften prejudice and reconcile the
minds of loyal slaveholders to a social
revolution fast becoming inevitable.

Mr. Wilson, of Mass., having giv
en notice " of a joint resolve granting
aid to the States of Delaware and
Maryland to emancipate their slaves,
Mr. Saulsbury, of Del., objected to
its consideration; and it lay over.
When called up,28 he declared his in
flexible hostility to it, and his pur
pose to interpose every available
obstacle to its passage. It was intro
duced, however, and had its first read
ing ; but was not again taken up.
Soon, however, Mr. White, of Ind.,

'Mar.10. "Mar.ll. "Mar.20. MMar.24 ^Apr^. "Apr.10. a' Mar. 1, 1862. "Mar.lO.

SLAVERY EXCLUDED FROM THE TERRITORIES.

261

proposed3' a more comprehensive
measure ; contemplating the gradual
extinguishment, at the National cost,
of Slavery in all the Border Slave
States, and moved its reference to a
Select Committee of nine. Mr. Mal
lory, of Ky., moved that this propo
sition do He on the table; which
failed: Yeas 51; Nays 68; and it then
prevailed : Yeas 67 ; Nays 52.
The Committee having been ap
pointed,30 Mr. White reported 31 there
from a bill offering $300 per head
from the Treasury for the legal eman
cipation of the slaves of Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Ten
nessee, and Missouri, or either of
them. The bill was committed, but
not acted on ; having been reported
too near the close of the Session.
Next winter, Mr. Henderson,82 in the
Senate, and Mr. Noell,33 in the House,
submitted bills of similar tenor, pro
viding for compensated emancipation
in Missouri alone. Each encountered
a bitter opposition from the Demo
cratic and most of the Border-State
Members; but Mr. Noell's finally
passed " the House — Yeas 73 ; Nays
46. The Senate acted on Mr. Hen
derson's bill, which provided only for
very Gradual Emancipation — he de
claring that if Congress should offer
his State $10,000,000 for an act of
Immediate Abolition, he would op
pose its acceptance. The Senate de
bated hotly and tediously the rival
advantages of Immediate and Grad
ual Emancipation: the Democrats
opposing both, but inclining the scale
in favor of the latter; which pre
vailed— 26 to 11— and in this shape
the bill passed : " Yeas 23 ; Nays 18.
On reaching the House, it was re-

* April i.
" Dea 19.

"April 14.
"Dea 15.

"July 16.
"Jan. 6,1863.

ferred — Yeas 81; Nays 51 — to the
Select Committee aforesaid; which
was only enabled to perfect it on the
last 3* day of the session ; when the
House refused — Yeas 63 ; Nays 57 —
to suspend the rules in favor of its
immediate consideration, which re
quired a vote of two-thirds. So per
ished the last effort to compensate the
loyal States for the Emancipation of
their Slaves — the Democrats and all
the Border-State members who were
not friends of the Administration
unanimously resisting it in every
shape and to the extent of their pow

er.

We have seen " that the XXXVIth
Congress, after it had become Re
publican through the withdrawal of
the representatives of the Gulf
States, organized the new Territories
of Colorado, Nevada, and Dakotah,^
by acts which maintained a profound
silence with regard to Slavery. The
hope of thus winning a portion of the
slaveholding interest to active loyalty
in the approaching struggle having
been disappointed, Mr. Arnold, of
111., submitted 38 to the next House a
bill abolishing and prohibiting Slav^
ery in every Territory of the Union ;
which Mr. Lovejoy, of 111., duly re
ported 3S and pressed to a vote ; ulti
mately modifying the bill so as to
read as follows :
" An Aot to secure freedom to aU persons Trithin the
Territories of the United States ;
" To the end that freedom may be and'
remain forever the fundamental law of the*
land in all places whatsoever, so far as fy
lies within the power or depends upon the
action of the Government of the United
States to make it so, therefore —
"£e it enacted, &c, That Slavery or in
voluntary servitude, in all cases whatsoever
(other than in the punishment of crime,
whereof the party shall have been duly con
victed), shall henceforth cease, and be pro^

ss Feb. 12, 1863. " March 3. ¦' Vol. I., p. 388.
'" March 24, 1862. " May 1.

262

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

hibited forever, in all the Territories of the
United States now existing, or hereafter to
be formed or acquired in any way."
No measure ofthe session was more
. vehemently opposed, not only by the
Democrats without exception, but by
the Border-State Unionists with equal
zeal and unanimity ; even Mr. Fish
er, of Del., denouncing it, though he
did not vote on the final passage.
Mr. Cox, of Ohio, stigmatized it in
debate as " a bill for the benefit of
Secession and Jeff. Davis." Mr.
Crisfield, of Md., characterized it as
" a palpable violation of the rights of
the States, and an unwarrantable in
terference with private property — a
fraud upon the States which have
made cessions of land to this Govern
ment, a violation ofthe Constitution,
and a breach of the pledges which
brought the dominant [Republican]
party into power " — " a usurpation "
— " destructive of the good of the
country," &c., &c. Judge Thomas,
of Mass., held that Congress could
not warrantably pass this act without
providing compensation for slave
holders in the Territories. Messrs.
Bingham, of Ohio, Stevens and Kel
ley, of Pa., R. Conkling and Diven,
of N. Y., Arnold and Lovejoy, of 111.,
and others, defended the bill, and it
passed," under the Previous Question:
Yeas,85 (allRepublicansbut Sheffield,
of R. I., and Judge Thomas, of Mass.
— to meet whose objections the origi
nal bill had been modified) : Nays, 50 :
composed of all the Democrats and
-Border-State Unionists who voted,
including Messrs. Calvert, Crisfield,
Leary, Francis Thomas, and Webster,
of Md., J. B. Blair, Wm. G. Brown,
and Segar, of Va., Casey, Crittenden,
Dunlap, Grider, Harding, Mallory,

Menzies, Wadsworth, andWickliffe, of
Ky.,Clements and Maynard,of Tenn.,
Hall,Noell, and J. S. Phelps, of Mo.—
22 of the 50 from Border Slave States.
The bill having reached the Senate,
it was reported4' by Mr. Browning,
of Illinois, substituting for the terms
above cited the following :
" That, from and after the passage of this
act, there shall be neither Slavery nor in
voluntary servitude in any of the Territories
ofthe United States now existing, or which
may at any time hereafter be formed or ac
quired by the United States, otherwise than
in punishment of crime, whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted."
In this shape it passed : " Yeas 28/
(all Republicans) ; Nays 10 (all Op
position) ; and the House concurred **
in the Senate's amendment — Yeas
72 ; Nays 38 — and the bill, being ap
proved " by the President,, became
henceforth and evermore the law of
the land. 
The policy of confiscating or eman
cipating the slaves of those engaged
in the Rebellion was very cautiously
and timidly approached at the first *'
or extra session of this Congress.
Very early in the ensuing session, it
was again suggested in the Senate by
Mr. Trumbull," of Illinois, and in the
House by Mr. Eliot," of Mass.
At the former session, Congress
had ventured only to direct the con
fiscation of the right or property
of masters in such slaves as those
masters permitted or directed to la
bor on fortifications or other works
designed to aid the Rebellion; but
now, a bolder and more sweeping
measure was deemed requisite. Mr.
Eliot's joint resolve — after disclaim
ing all right to interfere with the in
ternal affairs and institutions of loyal
States in peace — affirmed that the ex-

' May 12. " May 15. " June 9.
w June IT. " June 19.

" See Vol. I., chap, xxxiv., particularly page
569-10. « Deo. 5, 1861. " Deo. 2, 186L

ON FREEING THE SLAVES OF REBELS.

263

isting war must be prosecuted ac
cording to the laws of war, and
"That, therefore, we do hereby declare
\that the President, as the Commander-in-
chief of our army, and the officers in com
mand under him, have the right to eman
cipate all persons held as slaves in any
military district in a state of insurrection
against the National Government; and that
we respectfully advise that such order of
Emancipation be issued, whenever the same
will avail to weaken the power of the Reb
els in arms, or to strengthen the military
power of the loyal forces."
Mr. Trumbull proposed to enact
that the slaves of all persons who
shall take up arms against the Uni
ted States, or in any manner aid or
abet the existing Rebellion, shall
thereupon be discharged from service
or labor, and become thenceforth for
ever free ; any existing law to the
contrary notwithstanding.
These propositions, with various
modifications, were vehemently dis
cussed in either House, not continu
ously, but alternately with other
measures, nearly to the end of that
long and excited session. By friend
and foe, they were debated as though
their success or failure would decide
the issue of Union or Disunion. By
all the anti-Republicans, and by some
of the more conservative Republicans,
they were denounced as utterly, glar
ingly, in antagonism to the Federal
Constitution, and as calculated to ex
tinguish the last vestige of Unionism
in the Slave States, but especially in
those that had seceded. Said Senator
\ Cowan," of Pennsylvania :
\ " Pass this bill, and the same messenger
\ who carries it to the South will come back
to us with the news of their complete con
solidation as one man. We shall then have
done that which treason could not do : we
ourselves shall then have dissolved the
Union ; we shall have rent its sacred char
ter, and extinguished the last vestige of affec
tion for it in the Slave States by our blind
and passionate folly."

** Elected as a RepubUcan in 1861.

In the same spirit, but more tem
perately, the bill was opposed by
Messrs. Browning, of 111., Willey, of
Va., Henderson, of Mo., and Col-
lamer, of Vt. (the first and last .Re
publicans ; the others very decided
Unionists), as well as more unspar
ingly by Messrs. Garret Davis and
Powell, of Ky., Saulsbury, of Del.,
Carlile, of Va., and others of the
Opposition ; while it was supported
by Messrs. Trumbull, of 111., Wilson
and Sumner, of Mass., Howard, of
Mich., Wade and Sherman, of Ohio,
Morrill and Fessenden, of Maine,
Clark and Hale, of N. H., and nearly
all the more decided Republicans.
So intense and formidable was the
resistance that the Senate at length "
referred the bill to a Select Commit
tee of seven — Mr. Clark, of N. H.,
chairman — who duly reported there
from " A bill to suppress Insurrec
tion, and punish Treason and Rebel
lion;" which merely authorized the
President, at his discretion, to pro
claim free all slaves of persons who
shall be found in arms against the
United States thirty days after the
issue of such proclamation. On this
bill being taken up," Mr. Davis, of
Ky., tried to have it so amended
that the said slaves, instead of being
freed, should be sold and the pro
ceeds put into the Treasury; but
only seven Senators were found suffi
ciently Democratic to sustain that
proposition. He next proposed that
no slave should be emancipated
under this act, until he should be on <
his way to be colonized at some
point outside of the United States :
which proposition received but six
votes. Here the Senate bill was
dropped, in deference to the action

' May 6, 1862.

M May 16.

264

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

of the House; in which, after a long,
arduous, doubtful struggle, during
which Mr. Eliot's resolve was refer
red to the Judiciary Committee and
reported against " by Mr. Hickman,
of Pa., its Chairman — " because the
President has all power now" — it had
been referred " to a Select Committee
of seven,- whereof Mr. Sedgwick, of
N. Y., was Chairman ; whence Mr.
Eliot, of Mass., reported " two bills,
one providing for confiscating the
property, the other for emancipating
the slaves, of persistent Rebels;
whereupon debate was renewed and
continued for days— every Democrat
and nearly every Border-State mem
ber resisting Emancipation as ruinous
to the National cause. Said Mr. W.
S. Holman, of Ind. (one of the most
loyal and non-partisan of those elected
as Democrats) :
" I have supported, Sir, and will still sup
port, every just measure of this Administra
tion to restore the Union. No partisan in
terest shall control me when the Republic is
in' danger. I place the interest of my coun
try far above every, other interest. I will
make any sacrifice to uphold the Govern
ment ; but I will not be deterred from con
demning, at this time, this or any other
series of measures — the offspring of mis
guided zeal and passion, or of want of faith
in our people — which tends to defeat the
hope of a restoration of the Union. The
citizen soldier, striken down in battle or
yfora out by the weary march, falls a will
ing sacrifice for the Constitution of his coun
try, and his dying eyes light np with hope
as they catch the gleam of its starry sym
bol ; While we deliberate on measures which
wonld Overthrow the one,, and blot out the
stars from the other."
Said Judge Thomas (Conservative),
of Massachusetts :
" That the bills before the House are in
violation of the law of nations, and of the
Constitution, I can hot — I say it with all
deference to others — I can not entertain a
doubt. My path of duty is plain. The duty
of obedience to that Constitution was never
more imperative than now. I am not dis
posed to deny that I have for it a supersti

tious reverence. I have ' worshiped it from
my forefathers.' In the school of rigid dis
cipline by which we were prepared for it, in
the struggles out of which it was born, the
seven years of bitter conflict, and the seven
darker years in which that conflict seemed
to be fruitless of good ; in the wisdom with
which it was constructed and first adminis
tered and set in motion ; in the beneficent
Government it has secured for more than
two generations; in the blessed influences
it has exerted upon the cause of Freedom
and Humanity the world over, I can not fail
to recognize the hand of a guiding and lov
ing* Providence. But not for the blessed
memories of the past only do I cling to it.
He must be blinded ' with excess of light,'
or with the want of it, who does not see
that to this nation, trembling on the verge
of dissolution, it is- the only possible bond of
unity." Mr. Samuel S. Cox, of Ohio, asked :
" Must these Northern fanatics be sated
with negroes, taxes, and blood, with division
North and devastation South, and peril to
constitutional liberty everywhere, before re
lief shall come? They will not halt until
their darling schemes' are consummated.
History tells us that such zealots do not and
can not go backward."
Said Mr. John Law, of Indiana :
"The man who dreams of closing the
present unhappy contest by reconstructing
this Union upon any other basis than that
prescribed by our fathers, in the compact
formed by them, is a madman — ay, worse,
a traitor — and should be hung as high as
Haman. Sir, pass these acts, confiscate un
der these bills the property of these men,
emancipate their negroes, place arms in the
hands of these human gorillas, to murder
their masters and violate their wives and
daughters, and you will have a war such as
was never witnessed in the worst days of
the French Revolution, and horrors never
exceeded in St. Domingo, for the balance
of this century at least."
Mr. Eliot closed the debate" in
an able speech for the bills ; and the
Confiscation bill was passed — Yeas
82; Nays 68.
The Emancipation bill was next
taken up ; when, after rejecting seve
ral amendments, the vote was taken
on its passage, and it was defeated :
Yeas 74 (all Republicans) ; Nays 78^-/
fifteen members elected as Repub-

61 March 20, 1862.

1 April 23.

"April 30.

1 May 26.

HATTl AND LIBERIA RECOGNIZED.

265

BcanB voting Nay, with all the Demo
crats and all the Border-State men.
The Republicans voting Nay were
Messrs. Dawes and Delano, of Mass.,
Diven, of N. Y., Dunn, of Ind., Fishr
er, of Del., Horton, of Ohio, Wm.
Kelloggj of 111., Killinger, of Pa.,
Mitchell, of Ind., Nixon, of N. J.,
Norton, of 111., Porter, of Ind., A. H.
Rice, of Mass,, Stratton, of N. J.,
and Train, of Mass.
Mr. Porter, of Ind., now moved "
a reconsideration; which narrowly
escaped defeat, on a motion by Mr.
Holman that it do lie on the table :
Yeas 69 ; Nays 73. Thereconsidera-
tion prevailed: Yeas 84; Nays- 64:
and the bill was recommitted, with
instructions to report a substitute al
ready proposed by Mr. P., which pre
vailed—Yeas 84; Nays 66: and Mr.
*kEliot again reported68 a bill eman-
Hcipating the slaves of certain specified
classes of prominent Rebels, and also
of all persons who shall continue in
armed rebellion sixty days after the
President shall have issued his proc
lamation requiring them to desist
\therefrom. The bill thus modified
passed the House : Yeas 82 ; Nays 54.
The House Confiscation bill afore
said was taken up in the Senate ;"
and, after debate, so amended,88 on
motion of Mr. Clark, of N. H., as to
recombine Emancipation therewith ;
v when it was passed : Yeas 28 ; Nays
13. The House non-concurred3" in
this action : Yeas 8 ; Nays 124; where
upon, the Senate insisted, and asked
a committee of conference; which
was granted ; and the Committee °°
reported a bill which was in sub
stance Mr. Clark's, providing for
both Confiscation and Emancipa

tion. Its purport is that all slaves
of persons who shall give aid or com
fort to the Rebellion, who shall take
refuge within the lines of the army ;
all slaves captured from such persons,
or deserted by them, and coming un
der the control of the Government ;
and. all slaves of such persons found
or being within any place occupied
by Rebel forces, and afterward occu
pied by the forces of the United
States — shall be deemed captives of
war, and shall be for ever free,,
and not again held as slaves; that
fugitive slaves shall not be surren
dered to persons who have given aid
and comfort to the Rebellion ; that
no person engaged in the military or
naval service shall surrender fugitive
slaves, on pain of being dismissed
from the service ; that the President
may employ persons of African de
scent for the suppression of the Re
bellion, and organize and use them
in such manner as he may judge best
for the public welfare.
This bill passed the House by the
decisive majority of 82 Yeas to 42/
Nays ; also the Senate, by 27 Yeas to
12 Nays ; and, being approved by the
President,"1 became the law of the
land. 
President Lmcoln having recom
mended, in his first Annual Mes
sage," the establishment of Diplo
matic intercourse with the republics
of Hayti and Liberia, Mr. Sumner "
reported °3 to the Senate, from its Com
mittee on Foreign Relations, a bill
for that purpose ; which in due time
was taken up,34 supported by its
author, opposed" by Mr. G. Davis,
of Ky., who proclaimed his dis
gust at the continued " introduction

s May 27.
1 June 28.

* June IT.
" July 3.

" June 23.
"July 11.

1 July 11. MDec. 3, 1862. "Feb. 4, '63.
"April 22. "April 24.

266

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

of the subject of slaves and Slavery
into this chamber;" though no one
but himself had mentioned either in
connection with this measure. He
drew a- ludicrous picture of " a big
negro fellow," fantastically arrayed,
being presented as Minister from
Hayti. Mr. Sumner rejoined ; and
Mr. Davis's substitute, providing for
consular relations only with the re
publics aforesaid, was voted down —
Yeas 8 ; Nays 31 — and then the bill
passed : Yeas 32 ; Nays 7. On reach
ing the House, it was referred to its
Committee on Foreign Affairs ; which
Committee was discharged 6° from its
further consideration, on motion of
Mr. Gooch, of Mass., who ably and
temperately advocated its passage.
Mr. Cox, of Ohio, replied, a la Davis ;
and, after further debate by Messrs.
Fessenden, of Maine, Eliot, of Mass.,
McKnight and Kelley, of Pa., and
Maynard, of Tenn., in favor, and
Messrs. Biddle, of Pa., and Critten
den, of Ky., in opposition, it was
passed — Yeas 86 ; Nays 37 — and,
being signed " by the President, be
came the law of the land.

Previous to the triumph of Eman
cipation in the Federal District, there
was no public provision for the edu
cation of the Blacks, whether bond
or free ; and very few, even of the
latter, received any schooling what
ever. The great obstacle to improve
ment having been swept away, Mr.
Grimes, of Iowa, submitted 6S to the"
Senate a bill providing for the edu
cation of colored children in the city
of Washington ; prefacing it by a
statement that, whereas the number
of those children was in 1860 no less
than 3,172, and while the Free Blacks

of the District were taxed $36,000
per annum, whereof a tenth was ap
propriated to the support of schools,
not one of their children was per
mitted to enter those schools or to
receive any benefit whatever from'the
money thus wrested from them by
law for the education of the children
of the Whites, many of whom paid
no tax whatever. His bill proposed
simply that the city revenue raised
for schools by the taxation of Blacks
should be devoted to the education
of their own children, and not those
of the Whites.
This bill having been referred to
and reported " from the District Com
mittee, it was taken up,'0 on motion
of Mr. Grimes ; and certain non
essential amendments of the Com
mittee agreed to. Mr. Wilson, of
Mass., then moved to add a new sec
tion, as follows : j
" That all persons of color in the District
of Columbia, or within the corporate limits
of the cities of Washington and George
town, shall be subject and amenable to the
same laws and ordinances to which free
White persons are or may be subject or
amenable ; that they shall be tried for any
offenses against the laws in the same man
ner as free White persons are or may be
tried for the same offenses ; and that, upon
being legally convicted of any crime or
offense against any law or ordinance, such
persons of color shall be liable to such
penalty or punishment, and only such, as
would be imposed or inflicted upon free
White persons for the same crime or offense :
and all acts, or parts of acts, inconsistent
with the provisions of this act, are hereby
repealed." This important amendment pre
vailed ; and the bill, thus improved,
passed :" Yeas 29 ; Nays 7. Reach-*
ing the House, it was there referred
to its District Committee ; reported"
therefrom without amendment, by
Mr. Rollins, of N. H., and, on his
motion, passed, under the Previous

"June 2. •' June 5. " April 29.

•April 30.

'May 8. "May 9. '-May 15.

RENDITION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES.

267

Question, without a call of tht Yeas
and Nays. It received the President's
signature on the 21st. Bills making
further and better provision for the
education of colored children were
matured and enacted in the course of
that and the two following sessions.

A treaty between the Great Pow
ers of Western Europe, intended to
provide for the more effectual sup
pression of the African Slave-Trade,
was matured and signed at Paris in
1841. It necessarily accorded a qual
ified reciprocal right to search sus
pected cruisers to the National ves
sels of the subscribing parties. Gen.
Cass, then our Envoy at Paris, and a
prospective candidate for President,
resisted and defeated the accession of
our Government to this most right
eous and necessary increase of power
to the international police of the
ocean, and earned thereby the quali
fied approbation of the Slave Power ;
as was evinced in the Presidential elec
tion of 1848. A similar treaty was
now negotiated between the United
States and Great Britain ; and a bill
designed to give effect to its provisions
was reported73 to the Senate by Mr.
\Sumner, considered, and passed:"
Yeas 34 ; Nays 4. The House con
curred;'6 and the bill became a
law."

The first proposition looking to a
repeal of the Fugitive Slave act of
1850 by the XXXVIIth Congress
was made" by Mr. Howe, of Wis
consin, to the Senate; whereby it
was read twice, referred to the Ju
diciary Committee, and reported"
against by Mr. Ten Eyck, of New

Jersey. That report killed it. But
Mr. Wilmot, of Pa., soon revived"
the proposition, by a bill which re
quired every person, who should ap^
ply for the legal process required for
the arrest of a fugitive slave, to take
a stringent oath of loyalty. The
bill further provided that each al
leged fugitive shall have compulsory
process against witnesses deemed es
sential to his defense, and that such
witnesses should be sworn and heard,
irrespective of their color. Mr. Wade
promptly reported80 this bill ; but it
shared the fate of its predecessor.
Mr. Wilson, of Mass., proposed31
•to amend the bill of 1850 aforesaid,
so as to secure to every one claimed
as a fugitive slave a trial by jury ;
which, though once taken up82 — "
Yeas 25 ; Nays' 10 — failed to com
mand the attention of the Senate.
Soon after the meeting of the next
Congress, Mr. Stevens, of Pa., sub
mitted B3 to the House a bill contem
plating an absolute repeal, not only
of the act of 1850, but also of the
Fugitive Slave act of 1793. Messrs.
Ashley, of Ohio, and Julian, of Ind.,
introduced bills of like tenor. Mr.
Julian further proposed that the Ju
diciary Committee be instructed to
report a bill to repeal the most ob
noxious provisions of the acts in
question; but this was, on motion
of Mr. Holman, of Ind., laid on the
table: Yeas 82; Nays 73.
In the Senate, Mr. Sumner next
introduced34 a bill sweeping away
all slave-catching by statute ; which
was referred to a Select Committee
of seven, whereof he was Chairman,
which had been raised to consider all
propositions affecting Slavery. He

"June 12, 1862. "June 16. "July 7.
" July 11. " Dec. 26, 1861. " Feb. 11, 1862.

"May 23. M May 27. » May 24.
"June 10. B Dee. 14, 1863. "Feb. 8, 1864.

268

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

soon reported"6 his bill, with ample
reasons for its passage — Mr. Bucka-
lew, of Pa., making a minority report
in opposition. Mr. Sumner persist
ently and successfully pressed the
consideration of his bill, offering not
to debate it ; and, after some discus
sion, the Senate adopted" an amend
ment proposed by Mr. Sherman, of
Ohio, excepting the act of 1793 from
the contemplated repeal: Yeas 24;
Nays 17. The debate was still fur
ther continued; but no final action
was had on the bill.
Mr. Morris, of N. Y., reported87
from the Judiciary Committee a bill
^repealing all acts and parts of acts
contemplating the rendition of fugi
tive slaves ; which was debated with
great spirit by a score of members —
Messrs. Mallory, of Ky., Cox, of Ohio,
and others, opposing it as equivalent
to annulling the Constitution. Mr.
Mallory observed that the majority
had already crushed out the Union
ism of the revolted States, and were
now extending the process to that of
the Border Slave States, and impres
sively warned the House to forbear.
Finally, after having once moved and
withdrawn the Previous Question, Mr.
Morris moved it again ;83 when it pre
vailed, and the bill passed under it :
"" Yeas 88 ; Nays 57.
Mr. Sumner demanded 8° the consid
eration of this bill in Senate ; and it
was, after a fiery debate, ordered :
Yeas 25 ; Nays 17. Mr. Johnson, of
Md., endeavored to save the act of
1793 ; but the Senate refused : Yeas
17; Nays 22. The bill, after being
laid over one day to enable Mr. Da
vis, of Ky., to make a speech against
^it, was passed:30 Yeas 27; Nays 12
' — Messrs. Cowan, of Pa., and Van

Winkle and Willey, of West Va.,
voting with the Opposition. The
President's signature, five days there
after, made it a law of the land, abol
ishing for ever the least creditable
and most disagreeable function of theil
marshals of our Federal Courts.

The District of Columbia had been
governed mainly by the laws of th©
States which ceded it; and those
laws were framed in the interest of
slave-holding. They presumed eve
ry colored person a slave who could
not produce White evidence of his
freedom ; and there had grown up in
Washington a practice, highly lucra
tive to her Federal Marshal, but
most disgraceful to the city and Na
tion, of seizing Blacks on the streets,
immuring them in the jail, advertis
ing them, and waiting for masters to
appear, prove property, pay charges,
an^ take the human chattels away.
Mr. Lincoln's Marshal, Col. Ward H.
Lamon, came with him from Illinois,
but was a Virginian by birth, and did
not revolt at the abundant and profi
table custom brought to his shop by
the practice just depicted. Gen.
Wilson, of Mass., early91 called the
attention of the Senate to this pain
ful subject ; saying that he had " vis
ited the jail; and such a scene of
degradation and inhumanity he had
never witnessed. There were per
sons almost entirely naked ; some
of them without a shirt. Some of
those persons were free ; most of them
had run away from disloyal masters,
or had been sent there by disloyal
persons, for safe keeping until the
war is over." He thereupon propos
ed a discharge by joint resolve of all
persons confined in the District jail

" Feb. 29. M Mar. 19. " June 6. "" June 13. 8" June 21. ™ June 23, 1864. " Dec 4, 1861.

NO SLAVE-TRADE — LAW OF EVIDENCE.

269

as fugitive slaves. In the debate
which ensued, Mr. Wilson stated
that the French legation had recent
ly taken to that jail gentlemen who
had traversed the world inspecting
prisons, with a view to their im
provement ; and that, after examin
ing this, they observed to the jailer
that they had never before seen but
one so bad ; and that was in Austria.
Mr. Grimes, of Iowa, remarked that
he believed there was never a jail so
bad as this, save the French Bastile,
and some of the dungeons of Venice.
When he visited it, a few days be
fore, he found among the prisoners a
boy who claimed to be free-born, yet
who had been confined there thirteen
months and four days on suspicion of
being a runaway slave. He further
stated that Marshal Lamon had for
bidden Members of Congress access
to the prison without his written per
mission. Messrs. PoWell, of Kentucky,
Pearce, of Maryland, and Carlile, of
Virginia, opposed the resolve ; but it
was warmly supported and passed :92
Yeas 31 ; Nays 4.
A similar resolve had already33
been submitted to the House. No
action was taken, however, upon this,
nor upon the Senate's kindred meas
ure ; because the President, through
Secretary Seward, addressed " an or
der to Marshal Lamon, directing him
not to receive into custody any per
sons caught up as fugitives from Sla
very, but to discharge, ten days there

after, all such persons now in his jail.
This put a stop to one of the most
flagrant and glaring iniquities habit
ually perpetrated in a Christian and
civilized community.

A bill reported36 by Mr. Sumner,
from the Select Committee on Slave
ry and Freedom, to prohibit the hold
ing of slaves on National vessels,
and also the coastwise Slave-Trade,
was lost ""— Yeas 13; Nays 20— but
he again moved a prohibition of the
coastwise Slave-Trade, and of all
laws sanctioning and regulating the
same, as an amendment to the' Civil
Appropriation bill ; and it was adopt
ed : Yeas 23 ; Nays 14. Thus fast
ened to a necessary measure, the
proposition was duly enacted, and
received the President's signature on
the 2d of July, 1864.
Mr. Sumner proposed37 another
Amendment to this bill, providing
that "in the Courts ofthe United
States, there shall be no exclusion of
any witness ou account of color."
Mr. Buckalew moved to add, " or be
cause he is a party to or interested in
the issue tried."'' This was agreed
to ; and Mr. Sumner's amendment,
thus amen/led, was adopted: Yeas
22 ; Nays 16 ; and the1 bill passed, as
already stated ; making it the law of
the land that uo person shall hence
forth be precluded from giving testi
mony either because of his color or
because he is interested in the pend
ing issue.

J Jan. 14, 1862. •» Dec. 9, 1861. " Jan. 25, 1862. 96 March 23, 1864. " June 24. " June 25.

270

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

XIII.

ROSECRANS'S WINTER CAMPAIGN.

Gen. RosECEAisrs, on assuming '
command of Buell's Army of the
Ohio, found it seriously depleted
and demoralized by the exhaustive
marches and indecisive conflicts of
the last six months. With a strength
fully adequate to the rout and de
struction of all the forces led into
Kentucky by Bragg and Kirby
Smith, it had seen that State ravaged
throughout by that locust horde,
which had in due time recrossed the
Cumberland Mountains unassailed,
returning to East Tennessee as if in
triumph. Of the 100,000 men for
merly borne on its muster-rolls, he
found, on examination, no less than
26,482 " absent by authority"— most,
but not nearly all of them, doubtless,
in hospitals — sick or wounded; while
6,484 more were "absent wit/tout
authority" — in other words, had de
serted. His effective force was thus
reduced to about 65,000 men ; while
his cavalry was so inferior in num
bers and efficiency that the troopers
of Forrest and John Morgan rode
around us at will, striking at posts
and supply trains, and compelling
enormous and constantly increasing,
exhausting details to keep open our
communications and preserve our
army from starvation.
The railroad from Louisville to
Nashville had been reopened to and
across Green river; so that, though
there was no considerable force of
the enemy in its front — Bragg's
army being still on its tedious, toil
some, circuitous retreat through East

Tennessee — our army was clustered
around Bowling Green, whence it
could advance only so fast as the re
pair of its sole line of supply should
be perfected. Its designation had
been changed to " Fourteenth Army
Corps ;" the Department having been
curtailed, and rechristened that of
the Cumberland. It was now or
ganized into three grand divisions :
the Right, under Maj.-Gen. McCook,
with Brig.-Gens. J. W. Sill, Phil. H.
Sheridan, and Col. W. E. Woodruff
at the head of its subordinate divi
sions respectively ; the Center, under
Maj.-Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, with its
subordinate divisions led by Maj.-
Gen. L. H. Rousseau, Brig.-Gens.
Negley, Palmer, Dumont, and Fry ;
whereof Dumont and Fry were soon
relieved, and Palmer transferred to
the Left Wing, of which Maj.-Gen.
T. L. Crittenden had command, and
which consisted of the sub-divisiona
of Brig.-Gens. T. J. Wood, H. P.
Van Cleve, and W. S. Smith. Rose
crans assigned the chief command of
his dilapidated cavalry to Maj.-Gen.
D. S. Stanley ; while Lt.-Col. Julius
P. Garesch£ — an officer of rare capa
city and merit — was placed at the
head of his staff, with Capt. J. St.
Clair Morton as Chief Engineer,
and Col. Wm. Truesdail as Chief of
Army Police.
The railroad having been rendered
serviceable, Rosecrans left 2 Bowling
Green by special train for Mitchells-
ville ; where he took horse and pro
ceeded to Nashville, whose garrison,

1 Oct. 30, 1862.

3 Nov. 10.

MOORE'S DISGRACE AT HARTSVILLE.

271

commanded by Gen. Negley, he re
viewed next day. His divisions, as
they arrived, were thrown out in
front of the city, covering the roads
leading southward ; the command of
the Right here devolviug on Gen.
Jeff. C. Davis ; Gen. R. B. Mitchell
relieved Negley as commandant at
Nashville, enabling him to go to the
front ; while Dumont's division was
merged : a new one being created,
and Brig.-Gen. J. J. Reynolds as
signed to its command. Until the
railroad was fully reopened3 hence to
'Louisville, our men only lived from
hand to mouth, rendering a farther
advance impossible ; so tbat Bragg's
army had time to conclude its long
march and reappear in our front at
Mukfeeesbobough, before Rosecrans
was prepared to assume the offensive.
Meantime, Morgan had been ex
hibiting his audacity and vigor as a
leader of cavalry. Several daring
dashes on our supply trains below
Mitchellsville had resulted in the
capture of a number of our wagons
and at least 150 men ; Lt. Beals and
20 men of the 4th Michigan cavalry
had been picked up4 near Stone
river ; but Gen. Stanley, reporting
for duty about this time, soon drove
the Rebel raiders from our rear ; and,
in several partisan affairs occurring
directly afterward, the advantage
was with us — a Texas regiment
being chased 6 by Col. L. M. Kennett
6ome 15 miles down the Franklin
turnpike; while Brig.-Gen. E. N.
Kirk that day drove Wheeler out of
Lavergne — Wheeler himself being
wounded. Phil. Sheridan, on ano
ther road, pressed the enemy back to
Nolensville, without loss on our part ;
and Col. Roberts, 42d Illinois, sur

prised and captured Capt. Portch
and a small squad of Morgan's men ;
bringing -in their arms and horses.
A Rebel force having, about this
time, dashed across the Cumberland
near HartBville, capturing a forage
train and its escort, Major Hill,
2d Indiana, chased the captors 18
miles, recovering all we had lost, and
killing some 18 or 20 Rebels— for
which he was publicly complimented
by Rosecrans; who, finding that
some of his soldiers were base enough
to surrender wantonly to the enemy,
in order to be paroled and sent home,
had fifty of the caitiffs dressed up
in ridiculous night-caps,' and thus
paraded, before their jeering com
rades, through Nashville, to the
music of the Rogue's March; after
which, they were forwarded to the
parole camp in Indiana. The lesson
did not require repetition.
Gen. Thomas having thrown for
ward on our left a brigade — nearly
2,000 strong — to Hartsville, its com
mand fell to Col. A. B. Moore, 104th
Illinois, who allowed himself to be
surprised 7 by Morgan, at the head of
1,500 cavalry and mounted infantry,
and most disgracefully captured;
though the residue of Gen. Dumont's
division was at Castilian Springs,
only nine miles distant. Moore had
neglected to fortify or even intrench
himself; his vedettes were surprised
and picked up; Morgan advanced on
him at 7 a. m., in broad daylight,
having previously gained his rear
without exciting an alarm ; when
Moore, who had hastily taken post on
a hill, and w*ho soon contrived to
evince every species of incapacity,
cowardice inclusive, surrendered,
and was hurried off with about 1,500

"Nov. 26.

? Nov. 13.

* Nov. 21.

" Nov. 28.

7 Dec. 1.

272

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

of his men ; the residue escaping and
giving the alarm at the Springs;
whence Col. Harlan's brigade arrived
just in time to throw a few shells
after the escaping Rebels, scaring
them from some of their plunder and
taking a few prisoners. Moore's men
were first hurried to Murfreesboro',
stripped by the way of their blankets
and over-coats, and thence marched
' directly up to our lines to be there
exchanged — contrary to the cartel
¦ agreed on by the military chiefs of
the belligerents. Gen. Rosecrans ex
changed them ; but gave notice that
he would do so no more. In the
Hartsville disgrace, some 150 on
either side were killed or wounded.8
Two days later, Wheeler, with a
large force of mounted infantry and
cavalry, attacked a brigade 6f our
infantry, under Col. Stanley Mat
thews, which was foraging between
the two armies ; but was received
with determined spirit, and driven
off, with a loss of 100 to our 40.
Matthews returned in triumph, bring
ing in his train ; and was publicly
thanked by Rosecrans.
Gen. Stanley, having received and
distributed among his best horsemen
some 2,000 revolving rifles, resolved
to test their efficiency. Pushing
down the turnpike leading to Frank
lin, he rode into " that town, driving
the Rebel vedettes before him, taking
a few prisoners, gaining important
intelligence, and returning to his
camp in triumph.
At length — two months' provisions

having been accumulated at Nash
ville, and a good part of the Rebel
cavalry having been dispatched to
West Tennessee and to Kentucky, to
operate on our lines of supply —
Rosecrans determined to advance.
His disposable force had been
reduced by details and by casualties
to 46,910 men : of whom 41,421 were
infantry, 2,223 artillery, and 3,266
cavalry — much of -the cavalry very
raw. The 1Right Wing, under Mc
Cook, numbered 15,933 ; the Center,
under Thomas, 13,395 ; the Left,
under Crittenden, 13,288; beside
Morton's brigade of Engineers, num
bering 1,700. This army was essen
tially weakened by its division — or
rather dispersion — into no less than
110 infantry and 10 cavalry regi
ments ; its artillerymen serving no
less than 24 batteries, or 150 guns.
Our army, now well concentrated
in front of Nashville, commenced its
advance at daylight, Dec. 26 ; Rose
crans and staff riding out of Nash
ville to join it, several hours after
ward. The three grand divisions
covered all the roads leading south
and south-west from that city. Of
course, it rained heavily, as usual
when our Generals attempted an im-'
portant movement in Winter; and
McCook, on our right, was soon en
veloped in a fog so dense as to bring
him to a halt. Within two miles
•after passing our picket-line, our ad
vance was resisted by heavy bodies
of cavalry, well backed by infantry
and artillery; who skirmished sharply

8 Moore says he had but 1,200 men in the
fight, and that he " was hemmed in on all sides
by an overwhelming force of five or six to one."
Bragg says Morgan had "not more than 1,200
in action," and that he took "1,800 prisoners,"
¦with two guns and 2,000 small arms. The Rebel
Banner (Murfreesboro', Dec. 11) says : " All

told, our forces were about 1,300." Moore says
the Rebel loss in killed and wounded was " about
400 :" Bragg says their loss in killed and wounded
was 125, and ours 500. Moore lays. his defeat at
the door of the 106th Ohio, CoL Taffle, whom he
charges with intense cowardice.
• Dec. 12.

$ orxi*

PREPARING FOR BATTLE AT STONE RIVER.

273

and constantly, taking advantage of
the continually increasing roughness
of the country, which is in good part
heavily wooded with forests of oak
and dense thickets of cedar, render
ing the movement slow and by no
means bloodless. McCook, with our
right, rested that night at Nolens-
ville, and the next at Triune; Crit
tenden, with our left, advanced the
first day to Lavergne, and the next
to Stewart's creek, where Rosecrans
seems to have expected that the
Rebels might give him battle. The
third day, being Sunday, our troops
mainly rested. Next morning, Mc
Cook pressed on to Wilkinson's
Cross-Roads, six miles from Mur
freesboro' ; while Crittenden, with
Palmer's division in advance, moved
on the main Murfreesboro' pike to
Stone Rivee ; finding the Rebel army
in position along the bluffs across that
stream. Palmer, observing an ap
parently retrogade movement on the
part of the enemy, erroneously re
ported to headquarters that they
were retreating ; and Crittenden was
thereupon ordered to push across a
division and occupy Murfreesboro'.
Harker's brigade was accordingly
sent across — the stream being almost
everywhere fordable — and drove a
Rebel regiment back upon their
main body in some confusion; but
prisoners thus captured reporting
that Breckinridge's entire corps was
there present, Crittenden wisely took
the responsibility of disobeying Rose-
crans's order, and, favored by night
fall, withdrew Harker across the river
without serious loss.
Next day,10 McCook fought his way
down nearly to Stone river, some
what west of Murfreesboro' ; and be

fore night our army was nearly all in
position along a line stretching ir
regularly from north to south, a dis
tance of some three or four miles :
Crittenden on the left, Thomas in the
center, and McCook on the right ;
and, at 9 p. m., the three met, by in
vitation, at Rosecrans's headquarters,
and received their orders for the
morrow. It being now certain that Bragg
had deliberately chosen this as his
ground whereon to stand and fight,
and that he had concentrated here
his forces, while his cavalry so stub
bornly contested and impeded our
advance, Rosecrans proposed at day
light to throw forward his left and
center, crushing Breckinridge, who
held the Rebel right, and then, wheel
ing rapidly, fall' with overwhelm
ing force in front and flank on their
center, sweeping through Murfrees
boro' and gaining the rear of the
enemy's center and left, pushing
them off their natural line of retreat,
and so cutting up and destroying
their entire army. In pursuance of
this plan, Van Cleve's division, on
our extreme left, advanced soon after
daylight ; Wood's being ready to sup
port and follow him.
Bragg, however, had already de
cided to fight his own battle, and
not Rosecrans's. To this end, he had
concentrated heavily on his left,
where Hardee was in command,
with orders to attack McCook at
daylight." Bishop Polk, in his center,
strengthened by McCown's division,
was directed to second and support
Hardee's attack ; the two corps mov
ing by a constant' right wheel, and
crushing back our routed right upon
our center, seizing first the Wilkin-

10 Dec. 30.
vol. ii. — 18

11 Dec. 31.

274

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

son and then the Nashville turnpike ;
interposing between our army and
its supply-trains, whenever they
should have flanked our right and
gained our rear.
According to Rosecrans's plan,
McCook, however strongly assailed,
was to hold his position for three
hours, receding — if attacked in over
whelming force — very slowly, and
fighting desperately; which he had
undertaken to do. But there was
a serious mistake in the calcula
tion. Before 7 a. m., Hardee's corps
burst from the thickets in McCook's
front and on his right; Cleburne's
four brigades charging vehemently
its extreme right, Cheatham's and
McCown's divisions striking it more
directly in front, hurling back our
skirmishers at once on our lines, and
crumbling these into a fleeing mob
within a few minutes. Of the two
brigade commanders in Johnson's
division, holding our extreme right,
Gen. Kirk was severely wounded at
the first fire ; while Gen. Willich had
his horse killed and was himself cap
tured. So sudden and unexpected
was the attack, that a portion of our
battery horses had been unhitched
from the guns and sent off to drink,
a few minutes before. The guns, of

course, were lost.

McCook attempted to reform in
the woods behind his first position;
but his right was too thoroughly
routed, and was chased rapidly back
toward our center. A large part
of this (Johnson's) division was
gathered up as prisoners by the Rebel
cavalry ; the rest was of little account
during the remainder of the fight.
McCook's remaining divisions,
under Jeff. C. Davis and Sheri
dan, had repulsed several resolute

attacks on their front, when the dis
appearance of Johnson's division en
abled the Rebels to come in on their
flank, compelling them also to give
ground ; and, though repeated efforts
were made by Davis and his subor
dinates to bring their men again up
to the work, their fighting did not
amount to much thereafter.
Sheridan's division fought longer
and better ; but of his brigade com
manders, Gen. J. W. Sill was killed
early in the day, while leading a suc
cessful charge, and Cols. Roberts and
Shaeffer at later periods — each falling
dead at the head of his brigade, while
charging or being charged. This
division fought well throughout ; but
was pushed back nearly or quite to
the Nashville turnpike, with the
loss of Houghtaling's and a section
of Bush's battery.
By 11 a. m., the day was appa
rently lost. McCook's corps — a full
third of our army — was practically
demolished, and the Rebel cavalry
in our rear working its wicked will
upon our supply trains and strag
glers. Nearly half the ground held
by our army at daylight had been
won by the triumphant enemy, who
had now several batteries in position,
playing upon our center, where Neg-
ley's division of Thomas's corps was
desperately engaged, with its ammu
nition nearly expended, its artillery
horses disabled, and a heavy Rebel
column pushing in between it and
what was left of McCook's corps,
with intent to surround and capture
it. This compelled Negley to re
coil ; when Gen. Rousseau, pushing
up his reserve division to the front,
sent Maj. Ring's battalion of regulars
to Negley's assistance. The regulars
made a most gallant and effective

THE BATTLE-GROUND AT STONE RIVER

STONE BIVBB, OE UTTBFKEESBORO'.

276

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

charge, losing heavily, but rendering
admirable service.
The weight of the Rebel attack
had by this time fallen wholly on
Thomas, commanding our center;
Sheridan, entirely out of ammuni
tion, falling still farther to the rear,
and the triumphant Rebels pressing
on until they had reached a position
which gave them a concentric cross
fire at short-range on Negley's and
Rousseau's divisions. This compelled
Thomas to withdraw them from the
cedar woods to more open and favor
able ground ; his artillery holding a
ridge on the right (south) of the
Nashville turnpike. In executing
this movement, the regulars, Lt.-Col.
Shepherd, were brought under a mur
derous fire, by which they lost 530
men. But the ground now taken
was held ; our batteries here concen
trated, and the Rebels' progress finally
arrested ; their repeated attempts to
advance out of the cedar thicket on
our right and front being defeated
with great slaughter.
Palmer's division, holding the right
of our left wing, had advanced, at 8
a. m., to support Negley's movement,
covering his left; but had not pro
ceeded far when Palmer found his
safety compromised by a Rebel ad
vance on his rear. Halting Craft's
brigade, and ordering Col. Grose to
face to the rear, he opened fire on the
Rebels, and quickly repulsed them;
while CoL Hazen, faihng back a short
distance, occupied the crest of a low,
wooded hill, between the Nashville
turnpike and railroad, and held it
firmly until Grose, having driven the
enemy from his rear, came up to his
assistance ; as did two or three other
regiments. Again and again was his
position assailed ; but each attack

was repulsed ; and the fight closed on
this part of the field with our troops
entirely successful.
Bragg had brought all his army
across the creek to overwhelm our
right and center, save that Breckin
ridge, with his division, remained op
posite our left. At 10J a. m., he, too,
received an order to advance and at
tack ; but he had only moved half a
mile, when a new order came to de
tach one or two brigades to the sup
port of Polk, in the center ; and he
sent two brigades accordingly. He
soon received a still further order to
advance and attack, and then one to
report to Polk with all but Hanson's
brigade. Moving his remaining brig
ades, under Preston and Palmer, by
the left flank, he crossed the creek
and reported to Polk and Bragg just
in season to see the brigades of Jack
son and Adams, which he had previ
ously sent, recoil from an assault on
our lines; Adams being among the
wounded. Breckinridge was now or
dered to charge with Preston's and
Palmer's brigades, and did so ; gain
ing some ground, but losing consid
erably, and Anally desisting, as night
fell, because the position in his front
was too strong to be carried by his
force. During the night, he was or
dered back, with Palmer's brigade,
to his old position on the Rebel right.
Gen. Wood, who was in command
of our division thus assailed, was
wounded in the foot at 10 a. m. ; but
remained in the saddle till evening,
when he turned over his command to
Gen. M. S. Hascall. Though he had
been obliged, early in the fight, to
spare Hascall's and Harker's brigades
to the relief of the center and right,
he held his ground nobly through the
day; his batteries replying forcibly

CLOSE OF THE FIRST DAY'S CONFLICT.

277

to those with which the enemy an
noyed us from the heights south of
the river, and his infantry repelling
every charge made by tbe enemy.
Before night, Estep's battery, which,
with Cox's,had been splendidly served
throughout, had lost so heavily that
a detail of infantry was required to
aid in working its guns. Bradley's
6th Ohio»battery at one time lost two
of its guns; but they were subse
quently recaptured by the 13th Michi
gan. Night fell on our army successful
against every attempt which had for
some hours been made to drive it;
but with little reason for exultation.
It had lost, since daylight, including
stragglers, at least one-fourth of its
numbers, with an equal proportion
of its guns. It had lost half the
ground on wliich it was encamped
in the morning ; and the Rebel cav
alry were on its line of communica
tions, making free with its baggage
and supplies. Almost any General
but Rosecrans would have supposed
that there was but one point now to be
considered : how to get back to Nash
ville with the least additional loss.
But Rosecrans took stock of his am
munition, and found that there was
enough left for another battle ; so he
resolved to stay. His guns were now
well posted, and had the range of the
ground in their front; and it had
been fairly proved that the enemy
could not take them, even with the
help of the _S we had lost So, giv
ing orders for the issue of all the re
maining ammunition, drawing in his
left a few rods, so that it might rest

advantageously on the creek, and
welcoming and posting the brigades
of Starkweather and Walker, which
had come up as night fell, he lay
down with his army to await such^a
New Year's Day as it should please
God to send them. Ammunition be
ing rather scanty, and fresh supplies
expected, he proposed to keep the
holiday in quiet, unless Bragg should
decide otherwise.
On a calm review of this day's
desperate and doubtful carnage, there
can not be a doubt that the battle
was saved after it had been lost ; and
that the man who saved it was
William S. Rosecrans. Thousands
had done nobly — Thomas, Sheridan,
Wood, Rousseau, Palmer, Van Cleve,
and others, eminently so — but the
day might have been saved without
any of them ; while without Rose
crans it must have been lost. It was
he who, when apprised too late of
the sudden and utter demolition of
his right wing, instantly pushed up
Rousseau from his center to its re
lief, and hurried across Van Cleve's
and other divisions from the left to
stay the tide of Rebel success ; it was
he who — Yan Cleve having just
fallen — led the charge by a part of
his' division, which finally arrested
the Rebels and repelled their ad
vance on our right — Rousseau forth
with emulating his example, charging
desperately the enemy in his front,
and hurling them back into the
cedars with fearful loss on both sides,
but with prisoners taken by ours
only." And when, later in the day,
the storm of battle rolled around to

"Rousseau, in his official report, says :
" As the enemy emerged from the woods in
great force, shouting and cheering, the batteries
of Loomis and Guenther, double-shotted with
canister, opened upon them. They moved

straight ahead for a while; but were finally
driven back with immense loss. In a little
while, they rallied again, and, as it seemed, with
fresh troops, again assailed our position; and
were again, after a fierce struggle, driven hack.

278

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT,

our center and left, falling heavily on
Palmer's and Wood's divisions, Rose
crans was there, directing, encourag
ing, steadying ; though the head of
his chief of staff, Garesche, was blown
to pieces by a shell while riding by
the General's side, and three or four
others of his staff or escort were
wounded — one of them mortally —
and as many more lost their horses.
To Garesche, he was deeply attached
— they two being Roman Catholics,
as were none other of his military
family — but he was too intent on his
work to seem to heed the fall of his
beloved friend; and when another
of the staff said to him, " Garesche is
dead," "I am very sorry," was the
quiet response, " but we can not help
it." Soon word came (erroneously),
" McCook is killed." " We can not
help it," was the General's calm re
ply; "this battle must be won."
And it was won. Before sunset, the
Rebels had tried him on every side,
and been beaten back — with fearful
carnage, indeed, but no greater on
our side than on theirs — their ad
vantage being confined to our loss of
guns and prisoners in the morning,
consequent on McCook's sudden,
overwhelming disaster. In the fight
ing since 11 o'clock, the carnage had
been greater on the side of the
Rebels ; and they had lost confidence,
if not ground. At 9 a. m., they had
supposed our army in their hands;
at sunset, Bragg had enough to do

to save his own. Says Rosecrans, in
his official report :
" The day closed, leaving us masters of
the original ground on our left, and our line
advantageously posted, with open ground
in front, swept at all points hy our artillery.
We had lost heavily in killed and wounded,
and a considerable number in stragglers and
prisoners ; also, 28 pieces of artillery : the
horses having been slain, and our troops
being unable to withdraw them, by hand,
over the rough ground ; but the enemy had
been roughly handled, and badly damaged
at all points, having had no success where
we had open ground, and our troops prop
erly posted; none, which did not depend
on the original crushing of our right and
the superior masses which were, in conse
quence, brought to bear upon the narrow
front of Sheridan's and Negley's divisions,
and a part of Palmer's, coupled with the
scarcity of ammunition, caused hy the cir
cuitous road which the train had taken,
and the inconvenience of getting it from a
remote distance through the cedars."
Both armies maintained their re
spective positions throughout the fol
lowing day.13 There were artillery
duels at intervals, and considerable
picket-firing, whereby some casual
ties were suffered, mainly on our
center and left ; but nothing like a
serious attack : the lines of the two
armies confronting each other at
close range, alert and vigilant ;' while
brigades and regiments were silently
moved from point to point, and rifle-
pits and other hasty defenses were
constructed on either side, in prepa
ration for the impending struggle.
Meantime, some ammunition trains —
which the Rebel cavalry had driven
from their proper positions in our
rear, and compelled to make long

Four deliberate and fiercely sustained assaults
¦were made upon our position, and repulsed.
During the last assault, I was informed that our
troops were advancing on our right, and saw
troops, out of my division, led by Gen. Rose
crans, moving in that direction. I informed
Gen. Thomas of the fact, and asked leave to ad
vance my lines. He directed me to do so. We
made a charge upon the enemy, and drove him
into the woods ; my staff and orderlies captur
ing some 17 prisoners, including a Captain and

Lieutenant, who were within 130 yards of the
batteries. This ended the fighting of that day:
the enemy in immense force hovering in the
woods during the night, while we slept on our
arms on the field of battle. We occupied this
position during the three following days and
nights of the fight. Under Gen. Thomas's
direction, I had it intrenched by rifle-pits, and
believe the enemy could not have taken it at
all." "Friday, Jan. 1, 1863.

BRECKINRIDGE'S CHARGE ON OUR LEFT.

279

circuits to rejoin their commands —
were brought up and their contents
distributed. At night, our men lay
down on their arms again, and all
was quiet. Hitherto, the weather
had been bright and mild; so that
there was no suffering save on the
part of the wounded.
The quiet remained unbroken till
8 next morning ; " when the Rebels
suddenly opened fire from many bat
teries which had meantime been
stealthily planted in front of our cen
ter and left. Hascall's division of
Crittenden's corps was exposed to the
heaviest of this fire, and suffered se
verely — Estep's battery being quickly
disabled, losing so many horses that
its guns were necessarily drawn off
by infantry. But Bradley's and
other batteries now opened on our
side ; and, after half an hour's firing,
the Rebels ceased as suddenly as
they had begun. Our infantry,
though losing heavily, did not change
its position.
Van Cleve's division, after losing
its chief, had been moved back
toward our left, Col. Sam. Beatty
commanding; and, at daybreak this
morning, had in good part been sent
across the stream, taking post on the
bluff beyond, as if in pursuance of
Rosecrans's original purpose to take
Murfreesboro' by a determined ad
vance of his left. Throughout the
morning, the rest of Van Cleve's in
fantry, and two or three batteries,
followed. The Rebel army having
been nearly all moved farther to our
right, in executing or in following up
the original demonstration on that
wing, this movement encountered no
opposition; though skirmishing along
Beatty's front grew livelier and more

determined toward midday ; showing
that the enemy were gradually
creeping up. At noon, a battery*
opened on our front, while other bat
teries were seen moving to our left,
as if to flank us in that quarter. At
3 p. m., our skirmishers reported that
the enemy were throwing down the
fences before them, as if making
ready to charge; and, before any
dispositions could be made to receive
them, Breckinridge's entire corps,
strengthened by 10 Napoleon 12-
pounders, forming three magnificent
columns of assault, seemed to emerge
from the earth, and, aided by a heavy
enfilading fire of Bishop Polk's artil
lery, toward the center, swept on to
the charge.
Their strength was overwhelming ;
and the .fire of our first line, consist
ing of the 51st Ohio, 8th Kentucky,
35th and 78th Indiana, barely suf
ficed to check their determined and
confident advance. In a few min
utes, our men gave way in disorder,
sweeping the second line with them,
or constraining it to follow their ex
ample. The reserve, consisting of
the 19th Ohio, 9th and llth Ken
tucky, was then sent up, and fought
gallantly; but were far too weak,
and, being threatened by a move
ment on their right flank, fell back,
fighting, to the river and across it,
losing heavily.
But now the solid Rebel masses,
formed six deep, eagerly pursuing,
came within the range of Crittenden's
carefully planted batteries across the
stream, and were plowed through and
through ; while the divisions of Neg
ley and Jeff. C. Davis, with St. Clair
Morton's engineers, pressed forward
to the rescue. The Rebels were in

"Jan. 2.

280

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

turn overmatched and hurled back
in disorder ; losing four of their guns,
the flag of the 26th Tennessee, and a
considerable body of prisoners. Had
not darkness fallen directly, while a
heavy rain had set in, Rosecrans
would have pursued the fugitives
right into Murfreesboro'." As it
was, Crittenden's corps and Davis's
division both passed over, reoccupied
the commanding ground, and, before
morning, were solidly intrenched
there, ready for whatever emergency.
Another night of anxious watchful
ness gave place to a morning 16 of
pouring rain, by which the ground
was so sodden as to impede the move
ment of artillery. We were short of
ammunition till 10 A. M., when an
anxiously expected train was wel
comed. Batteries were now con
structed on the ground so handsome
ly gained on our left, by which even
Murfreesboro' could be shelled ; and
Gens. Thomas and Rousseau, who
had for days been annoyed by Rebel
sharp-shooters from the cedar thickets
in their front, obtained permission
from Rosecrans to dislodge them by
a charge, following a sharp fire of
artillery — four regiments entering
and soon clearing the woods, captur
ing 70 or 80 prisoners. No coun
ter-movement being attempted, the
fourth day closed peacefully, and
was followed by a quiet night.
Quiet on our side only. Bragg
had concluded to leave, and com-

ls He says, in his report :
" The enemy retreated more rapidly than they
had advanced. In twenty minutes, they had
lost 2,000 men."
16 Saturday, Jan. 3. " Sunday, Jan. 4
18 Rosecrans, in his official report, says he re
ceived news on Sunday morning that the enemy
had fled from Murfreesboro1; when burial par
ties were sent out to inter the dead, and the
cavalry ordered to reconnoiter. He adds that

menced the movement, as stealthily
as possible, at 11 p. m. ; gathering up
his men and guns so cautiously that
even our pickets were not aware of
his Hegira till broad daylight," when
too late for effective pursuit ; whieh,
in fact, our inferiority in cavalry
must at any rate have rendered com
paratively fruitless. We do not seem
even to have advanced on his track
till Monday."
Wheeler's cavalry, after vigorously
resisting our advance to Stone river,
had been dispatched18 by Bragg to
the rear of our army ; capturing La-
vergne,20 taking 700 prisoners, and
destroying heavy army trains, with
a large amount of stores. Thence
hastening to Rock Spring and No-
lensville, they made still further cap
tures at each; and, having passed
around21 our army, reached the left
flank of Bragg's, just as it commenced
its great and successful charge on
McCook; guarding that flank, and
coming into action as it gained the
Nashville turnpike, just north of
Overall's creek. Wheeler of course
claims the advantage in this fight ;
but admits that he fell back at the
close, numbering Col. Allen and Lt.-
Col. Webb among his wounded.* Next
morning, he went up the turnpike to
Lavergne ; capturing another train
and a gun ; regaining, by order, the
front during the night; and, being
again sent, at 9 p. m.. to our rear;

Thomas, on Monday morning, drove the Rebel
rear-guard (cavalry) six or seven miles south
ward, and that —
"We learned that the enemy's infantry had
reached Shelbyville by 12 m. on Sunday; but,
owing to the impracticability of bringing up
supphes, and the loss of 557 artillery horses,
farther pursuit was deemed inadvisable."
19 Night of Dec 29-30.
"Deo. 30, "Dee. 31.

INNES'S GALLANT DEFENSE OF LATERGNE.

281

where he, at 2 p. m. next day," had a
fight with a heavily guarded ordnance
train, which he stopped, and claims to
have damaged, but was unable to
capture or destroy ; returning during
the night to Bragg's left flank, and
covering his retreat on the 4th and 5th.
On the whole, the enemy's opera
tions in the rear of our army, during
this memorable conflict, reflect no
credit on the intelligence and energy
with which they were resisted. The
prisoners — 2,000 or more — taken by
the Rebels were of course mainly
stragglers and fugitives, barely worth
paroling ; but they figure largely in
Wheeler's and in Bragg's reports.
And it is not doubtful that Rose
crans's inability to improve his ulti
mate success was largely owing to
the destruction of his trains by these
triumphant raiders.
The silver lining to this cloud is a
most gallant defense made on the 1st
by Col. Innes's 1st Michigan Engi
neers and Mechanics, only 39" 1 strong,
who had taken post on high ground
near Lavergne, and formed such a
barricade of cedars, &c, as they hur
riedly might. Here they were " at
tacked, at 2 p. m., by Wharton's cav
alry, whom they successfully resisted
and beat off. Wharton's official re
port is their best eulogium. He was
in command of six or eight regiments,
and here is his account of this affair :
" A regiment of infantry, under Col.
Dennis, also was stationed in a cedaf -brake,
and fortifications, near this point. I caused
the battery, under Lt. Pike, who acted with
great gallantry, to open on it. The fire, at
a range of not more than 400 yards, was
kept up for more than an hour ; and must

have resulted in great damage to the enemy.
I caused the enemy to be charged on three
sides at the same time, hy Ools. Oox and
Smith and Lt.-Ool. Malone ; and the charge
was repeated four times; but the enemy
was so strongly posted that it was found
impossible to dislodge him."

"Jan. 3. ssJan. 1.
" Among our killed, beside those already men
tioned, were Cols. Jones, 24th Ohio, MoKee, 3d
Ky., Williams, 25th 111., Harrington, 27th 111.,
Stem, 101st Ohio, and Millikin, 3d Ohio cavalry.

Rosecrans makes his entire force
who participated in this struggle
37,977 infantry, 3,200 cavalry, and
2,223 artillery: total, 43,400; and
states his losses as follows: killed,
1,533 ;" wounded, 7,245 ; total, 8,778,
or fully 20 per cent, of the number
engaged. He adds that his provost-
marshal says his loss of prisoners will
fall below 2,800. He says nothing
of prisoners taken by him, though we
certainly did take at least 500, beside
wounded. He judges that the Reb
els had fifteen per cent, advantage in
their choice of ground and knowledge
of the country; and says that they
had present 132 regiments of infantry
and 20 of cavalry, beside 24 smaller
organizations of cavalry, 12 battalions
of sharp-shooters, and 23 batteries of
artillery — all which, he estimates,
must have presented an aggregate of
fully 62,720 men. He thinks their
killed and wounded must have
amounted to 14,560 men. If he had
only told us how many of them he
buried, and how many wounded (or
others) fell into his hands, he would
have earned our gratitude.
Bragg, per contra, says he had but
35,000 men on the field when the
fight commenced, of whom but
about 30,000 were infantry and artil
lery ; and that he lost of these over
10,000, of whom 9,000 were killed

Among our wounded, beside those already
named, were Cols. Forman, 15th Ky., Hum
phreys, 88th Ind., Alexander, 21st 111., Hines,
57th Ind., Blake, 40th Ind., and Lt.-CoL Tanner,
22d Ind.

282

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and wounded." He claims to have
taken 6,273 prisoners, many of them
by the raids of his cavalry on the
trains and fugitives between our army
and Nashville ; and he estimates our
losses at 24,000 killed and wounded,
with over 30 guns to his 3. He
claims to have captured, in addition,
6,000 small arms and much other
valuable spoil, beside burning 800
wagons, &c, &c. It seems odd that,
after such a fight, he should have
retired so hastily as to leave 1,500 of
his sick and wounded (Union ac
counts says 2,600), with 200 medical
and other attendants, in his deserted
hospitals at Murfreesboro'.28
It is a fair presumption that our
losses, both in men (prisoners includ
ed) and material, were greater than
those of the Rebels ; and that Rose
crans's army was disabled by those
losses for any effective pursuit ; but
this does not and can not demolish
the fact that the battle of Stone river,
so gallantly, obstinately, desperately
fought, was lost by Bragg and the
Rebels, and won by the army of
the Cumberland and its heroic com
mander.  —
On the day 27 of the great struggle
at Stone river, Gen. Forrest, who,
with 3,500 cavalry, had been detach
ed 2S by Bragg to operate on our com
munications in West Tennessee, and
who had for two weeks or more been
raiding through that section, threat
ening Jackson, capturing Trenton,

aB Among his killed were Gens. James B.
Rains (Missouri), and Roger W. Hanson (Ken
tucky) ; and Cols. Moore, 8th Tenn., Burks, llth
Texas, Fisk, 16th La., Cunningham, 28th Tenn,
and Black, 5th Ga. Among his wounded were
Gens. James R. Chalmers and D. W. Adams.
28 He says, in his report, that his men were
" greatly exhausted" by the long contest and its
privations — as if they were peculiar in that re
spect — when they had Murfreesboro' just behind

Humboldt, Union City, &c, burning
bridges, tearing up rails, and parol
ing captured Federals (over 1,000,
according to his reports — 700 of them
at Trenton alone), was struck on his
return at Pabker's Ckoss-Roads,
between Huntingdon and Lexington,
and thoroughly routed. He first en
countered Col. C. L. Dunham, with
a small brigade of 1,600 ; who had,
the day before, been pushed forward
from Huntingdon by Geri. J. C. Sul
livan, and who was getting the worst
of the fight — having been nearly sur
rounded, his train captured, and he
summoned to surrender — when Sul
livan came up at double-quick, with
the two fresh brigades of Gen. Hay-
nie and Col. Fuller, and rushed upon
the astonished Rebels, who fled in
utter rout, not attempting to make a
stand, nor hardly to fire a shot. For
rest himself narrowly escaped capture ;
losing 4 guns, over 400 prisoners,
including his Adjutant, Strange,
two Colonels, many horses, arms,
&c, &c. He fled eastward to Clif
ton, where he recrossed the Tennes
see, and thence made his way back
to Bragg. He lost in the fight about
50 killed and 150 wounded — the lat
ter being included among, the pris
oners. Dunham reports his loss at
220 : 23 killed, 139 wounded, and 58
missing. 
Gen. John H. Morgan, who had
been likewise dispatched by Bragg
to operate on Rosecrans's communi-

them, with their depots and hospitals; while
our troops had scarcely a roof to their heads—
and that —
" The only question with me was, whether
the movement should be made at once, or de
layed 24 hours to save a few of our wounded.
As it was probable that we should lose by ex
haustion as many as we should remove of the
wounded, my inclination to remain was yielded."
27 Dec. 31.
M Crossing the Tennessee at Clifton, Dec. 13.

RAIDS OE CARTER AND WHEELER.

283

cations, simnltaneously with Forrest's
doings in West Tennessee, passing
the left of Rosecrans's army, rode in
to the heart of Kentucky ; and, after
inconsiderable skirmishes at Glas
gow, Upton, and Nolin,M pressed on
to Ehzabethtown, which he took, af
ter a brief, one-sided conflict, captur
ing there and at the trestlework on
the railroad, five or six miles above,
several hundred prisoners, destroy
ing '" the railroad for miles, with a
quantity of army stores. He then
raided up to Bardstown, where he
turned" abruptly southward, being
threatened by a far superior force ;
retreating into Tennessee by Spring
field and Campbellsville ; having in
flicted considerable damage and in
curred very little loss.
But his raid was fully countered
by one led ™ about the same time by
Brig.-Gen. H. Carter (formerly Col.
2d Tennessee) from Winchester, Ky.,
across the Cumberland, Powell's, and
Clinch mountains, through a corner
of Lee county, Va., to Blountsville
and Zollicoffer (formerly Union Sta
tion), East Tennessee, where 150 of
the 62d North Carolina, Maj. Mc
Dowell, were surprised and captured
without a shot, and the railroad
bridge, 720 feet long, over the Hols-
ton, destroyed, with 700 small arms
and much other material of war.
Pushing on ten miles, to Clinch's Sta
tion, Carter had a little fight, captur
ed 75 prisoners, and destroyed the
railroad bridge, 400 feet long, over
the Watauga, with a locomotive and
several cars; returning thence by
Jonesville, Lee county, Va., recross
ing the Cumberland range at Hank's
Gap ; and, after two or three smart
skirmishes, returning in triumph to

his old quarters; having lost but
20 men, mainly prisoners — and killed
or captured over 500. Having been
ridden all but incessantly 690 miles,
with very little to eat, many of his
horses gave out and were left to die
on the return.

Gen. Wheeler, in chief command
of Bragg's cavalry, 4,500 strong,
with Forrest and Wharton as Briga
diers, passing Rosecrans's army by
its right, concentrated his forces at
Franklin, and pushed north-west
ward rapidly to Dover, near the site
of old Fort Donelson, which our
Generals had seen no reason to re
pair and occupy. But he found"
Dover held by Col. A. C. Harding,
83d Illinois, with some 600 men fit
for dutv ; his battery and one or two
companies being absent ; but Hard
ing proved the man for the exigency.
He at once sent across to Fort Hen
ry for assistance, and dispatched a
steamboat down the Cumberland for
gunboats; at the same time throw
ing out and deploying his men so as
to impede to the utmost the advance
of the Rebels, and opening upon
them so soon as they came within
range, with a 32-pounder and 4 brass
guns, which were all he had. Thus
fighting with equal energy and judg
ment, he repelled alternate charges
and invitations to surrender until
dark, though nearly surrounded and
pressed from both sides by bis assail
ants, who, with reason, confidently
expected to capture him. In their
last charge, the Rebels lost CoL Mc-
Xairy, of Nashville, who fell while
vainly endeavoring to rally his men.
No relief arrived from Fort Hemy
till next -morning ; but the gunboat

"Dec 24.

•Dea 23.

S1 Dee. 30.

""Dec 20.

sFeb. 3, 1863.

284

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Fair Play, Lt. Fitch, leading four
others, all of them convoying a fleet
of transports up the river, had been
hailed 24 miles below by Harding's
messenger, and incited to make all
speed to the rescue. Harding was
still holding his ground firmly,
though nearly out of ammunition —
having lost one of his guns and 45
out of 60 artillery horses — when, at
8 p. m., the Fair Play arrived, and
considerably astonished the Rebels
by a raking fire along their line.
The other gunboats were soon on
hand, and doing likewise, but to Little
purpose ; since the Rebels had taken
to their heels at the first sound of
guns from the water, leaving 150
dead and an equal number of prison
ers behind them. Harding estimates
their wounded at 400, and makes his
own loss 16 killed, 60 wounded, and
50 prisoners. Wheeler, as if satis
fied with this experience, returned
quietly to Franklin.
Gen. Jeff. C. Davis, with his divi
sion of infantry and two brigades of
cavalry, under Col. Minty, had been
sent 34 westward by Rosecrans, as if to
intercept Wheeler on his way south
ward. He captured 141 of Wheel
er's men, including two Colonels;
but returned 3B to Murfreesboro' with
out a fight and without loss.
Gen. P. H. Sheridan next made s° a
similar demonstration southward,
nearly to Shelbyville, then turning
north-westward to Franklin ; having
two or three skirmishes with inferior
forces, under Forrest and Van Dorn,
who fled, losing in all about 100,
mainly prisoners ; while our loss was
10. Sheridan returned to Murfrees
boro' after an absence of ten days.
Meantime, Van Dorn had dealt

us a skillful blow at Spring Hill, 10
miles south of Franklin, and 30 from
Nashville, whither Col. John Co-
burn, 33d Indiana, had been dis
patched from Franklin, with 2,000
infantry, 600 cavalry, and a light
battery, simultaneously with Sheri
dan's advance from Murfreesboro'.
Before reaching Spring Hill, his
advance was contested ; and, on the
morning of the next day," he was
assailed by a far superior force, by
which he was in the course of the
day all but surrounded; and, after
fighting until his ammunition was
exhausted, was compelled to sur
render his remaining infantry, 1,306
in number. His cavalry and artillery,
having run away in excellent season,
escaped with little loss. Van Dorn's
force consisted of six brigades of
cavalry and mounted infantry.
A fortnight later, Col. A. S. Hall,
105th Ohio, with four regiments,
numbering 1,323 men, moved nearly
east from Murfreesboro', intending to
surprise a Rebel camp at Gainesville ;
but he missed his aim, and was soon
confronted by a regiment of hostile
cavalry; before which, Hall slowly
withdrew to the little village of Mil
ton, 12 miles north-east of Murfrees
boro', taking post on Vaught's Hill,
a mile or so distant ; where he was
assailed38 by a superior Rebel force,
under Gen. Morgan. But his men
were skillfully posted, supporting a
section of Harris's 19th Indiana bat
tery, which was admirably served,
and doubtless contributed very essen
tially to Morgan's defeat, with a loss
of 63 killed and some 200 or 300
wounded, including himself. Hall's
entire loss was but 55.
Franklin, being occupied by a

1 Jan. 31.

86 Feb. 13.

36 March 4.

' March 5.

38 March 20.

STRKIGHT'S RAID INTO GEORGIA.

2S5

Union force of 4,500 men, under
Gen. Gordon Granger, Van Dorn,
with a superior force, assailed,53 with
intent to capture it ; but was easily
beaten off. with a loss of 200 or 300,
including SO prisoners ; our loss
being 37 only.
A few days later, Maj.-Gen. J. J.
Reynolds pushed out,** with his divi
sion and two brigades of cavalry, to
McMhvrtviHe ; whence be drove out
Morgan, taking 130 prisoners, de
stroying a large amount of Rebel
stores, and returning ''" without loss.
CoL Watkins, 6th Kentucky, with
500 cavalry, surprised" a Rebel camp
on the Carter's creek pike, S miles
from Franklin ; capturing 140 men.
2o0 horses and mules, and destroying
a large amount of camp equipage
CoL A. D. Straight, 51st Indiana,
at the head of 1,800 cavalry, was
next dispatched" by Rosecrans to
the rear of Bragg's army, with in
structions to cut tie railroadsin north
western Georgia, and destroy gen
erally all depots of supplies and
manufactories of arms, clothing, _rc
Having been taken up the Tennessee
on steamboats from Fort Henry to
Eastport. Ala, where he was joined
by an infantry force under Gen.
Dodge, they attacked and captured
Tuscumbia, inflicting considerable
los on the Rebels; and, while Gen.
Dodge made a sweeping raid through
North Alabama, returning ultimate
ly to his headquarters at Corinth,
CoL Street struck for Northern

Georgia, expecting to swoop down
successively on Rome and Atlanta,
destroying there large manufactories,
machine-shops, and magazines. He
was hardly weU on his road, however,
before Forrest and Roddy, with a
superior force of Rebel cavalry, were
after bim ; following sharply, and
easily gaining upon bim, through, a
running fight of over 100 miles;
when, his ammunition being ex
hausted and his men nearly worn out,
Streight surrendered, when 15 miles
from Rome His men were treated as
other eaptives and exchanged; while
Streight and his officers were retained
for a time in close prison, on a de
mand of Gov. Brown, of Georgia,
that they be treated as felons, under
a law of that State, which makes the
inciting of afaves to rebellion a high
crime The specific charge was that
negroes were found among their men
in uniform and bearing arms ; which
was strenuously denied: the few
negroes with them being claimed as
servants of officers ; and the only
one who was armed insisting that he
was carrying his employers sword,
as an act of duty. After a long con
finement, Streight. with 107 other of
our officers, escaped" from libby
Prison, Richmond : 60 of them, in
cluding Streight, making their way
to our lines. He estimates his loss in
killed and wounded during this raid
at 100, including CoL Hathaway,
killed; and puts the Rebel loss at
five times that number. He sur
rendered, in all, 1.365 men.

' April 10.

"April 20. "Aprils. "April...

' April 29. ** Feb. 9, 1S64.

286

THB AMERICAN CONFLICT.

XIV.
OPERATIONS AGAINST VICKSBURG.

Vicksbubg, on the lower Missis
sippi, about midway between Cairo
and its mouth, was the natural cen
ter and chief citadel of the Slave
holders' Confederacy. Located on an
almost unique ridge of high, rolling
land adjoining the great river, sur
rounded by the richest and best cul
tivated Cotton region in America,
whereof the slave population con
siderably outnumbered the free, it
had early devoted itself, heart and
soul, to the Rebel cause. Its natural
strength and importance, as com
manding the navigation of the great
artery of the South-west, were early
appreciated; and it was so fortified
and garrisoned as to repel — as we
have seen1 — the efforts of our fleets
and expeditions, which, after the fall
of New Orleans and that of Mem
phis, assailed it from below and from
above respectively and conjointly.
Being the chief outlet for the surplus
products of the State of Mississippi,
connected with Jackson, its capital,
44 miles east, by a railroad, and thus
with all the railroads which traverse
the State, as also with the Washita
Valley, in northern Louisiana, by a
railroad to Monroe, while the Yazoo
brought to its doors the commerce of
another rich and capacious valley,
Vicksburg, with 4,591 inhabitants in
1860, was flourishing signally and
growing rapidly until plunged head
long into the vortex of Rebellion and
Civil War.
Both parties to the struggle hav
ing early recognized its importance

— Jefferson Davis, in a speech at Jack
son, having in 1862 pronounced it
indispensable to the Confederacy that
the control of the Mississippi should
not be surrendered to Federal power
— fresh preparations to "repossess"
it were early set on foot among the
Union commanders above. Gen.
Grant's department of West Tennes
see having been so enlarged" as to
include Mississippi, he at once com
menced preparations for an advance ;
transferring,3 soon after, his head
quarters from Jackson to Lagrange ;
whence he pushed out* Gen. Mc
Pherson, with 10,000 infantry, and
1,500 cavalry, under Col. Lee, to
Lamar, driving back the Rebel cav
alry. At length, all things being
ready, Grant impelled" a movement
of his army down the great South
ern Railroad from Grand Junction
through Holly Springs to Oxford;
our cavalry advance, 2,000 strong,
being pushed forward to Coffeeville,
where it was suddenly confronted and
attacked by Van Dorn," with a supe
rior infantry force, by whom it was
beaten back three miles, with a loss
of 100 m,en.
Grant was, with his main body,
still at Oxford, preparing to move on
to Jackson and Vicksburg, when
Van Dorn struck7 a damaging blow
at his communications. The railroad «
having by this time been repaired
and operated to Holly Springs, that
village had been made our temporary
depot of arms, provisions, and muni
tions, which had here been accumu-

1 See pages 57 and 101. » Oct. 16, 1862. 3 Nov. 4. ' Nov. 8. • Nov. 28. ¦ Deo. 5. ' Dec 20.

VAN DORN CAPTURES HOLLY SPRINGS.

287

lated, while the railroad farther south
was being repaired, to such an extent
that they were estimated by the ene
my as worth at least $4,000,000. The
post was in charge of Col. R. C. Mur
phy, 8th Wisconsin, who had over
1,000 men under his command ; while
bales of cotton and barrels of flour
by thousands proffered the readiest
means of barricading its streets and
keeping out ten times his force, until
it could be reduced by heavy guns
and regular approaches, or at least
consumed by volleys of shells.
Grant had warned Murphy of his
danger the night before, and did not
imagine his capture a possibility ; but
no preparation had been made for
resistance, no street barricaded ; not
even our men posted to resist an as
sault ; when, at daybreak, Van Dorn
burst into the town with his wild
cavalry, captured the imbecile or
traitorous wretch who should have
defended it, and burned all but the
little plunder his men were able to
carry off", including a large hospital
full of our sick and wounded soldiers,
which his Adjutant had promised to
spare. Our cavalry (2d Illinois) re
fused to surrender, and cut their way
out by a resolute charge, in which
they lost but 7 men, disabling 30
Rebels. Murphy filled up the meas
ure of his infamy by accepting pa
roles, with his men ; so as to prevent
their recapture and relieve the ene
my of the trouble of guarding them.
The Rebels claim ' to have captured

8 Richmond Dispatch, Jan. 15, 1863.
The enraptured writer elsewhere says:
"The scene was wild, exciting, tumultuous.
Yankees running; tents burning; torches flam
ing; Confederates shouting; guns popping; sa
bers clanking ; Abolitionists begging for mercy ;
'Rebels' shouting exultingly; women, en disha
bille, clapping their hands, frantic with joy, cry
ing, 'Kill them! kill them 1'— a heterogeneous

and paroled 1,800 men and 150 offi
cers ; but this must include the sick
and wounded whom they found in
the hospital. Two locomotives and
40 or 50 cars were among the prop
erty destroyed; the Rebels coming
prepared with cans of spirits of tur
pentine to hasten the conflagration :
the burning arsenal blowing up, at 3
p. M., with a concussion which shat
tered several buildings, while 20 men
were wounded by flying balls and
shell. The Rebels left at 5, after a
stay of ten hours, which they had
improved to the utmost : thence pro
ceeding to assail, in rapid succes
sion, Coldwater, Davis's Mill, Mid-
dleburg, and Bolivar, farther north ;
but, though the defenders of each
were fewer than Murphy might have
rallied to his aid at Holly Springs,
each was firmly held, and the raiders
easily driven off. Murphy, it need
hardly be added, was dismissed from
the service in a stinging order" by
Gen. Grant — said order " to take ef
fect from Dec. 20th, the date of his
cowardly and disgraceful conduct."
Grant had seasonably dispatched
4,000 men by rail to the relief of
Holly Springs — or rather, to guard
against the possibility of its capture,
so vital was its importance ; but they
were stopped midway by some ob
struction on the track, and only ar
rived two hours after the enemy had
departed. Thus, by the baseness of one mis
creant, were not only 2,000 men and

mass of excited, frantic, frightened human be
ings — presented an indescribable picture, adapt
ed to the pencil of Hogarth."
And again :
" The ladies rushed out from the houses, wild
with joy, crying out: 'There's some at the
Fair Grounds: chase them I kill them I for God's
sake I'"
• Dated Holly Springs, Jan. 8.

288

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

several millions' worth of property
sacrificed, but the fair promise of an
important expedition utterly blight
ed. By the loss of his stores and
trains, Grant was completely para
lyzed, and compelled to fall back to
Grand Junction : thence moving
westward to Memphis, so as to de
scend by the river to Vicksburg.

Gens. A. P. Hovey and C. C. Wash
burne, with some 3,000 men, had
crossed I0 the Mississippi from Helena
simultaneously with Grant's advance;
taking post near the head of Yazoo
Pass, capturing a Rebel camp, and
moving down the Coldwater and
Tallahatchie rivers, with intent to
reenforce Grant; but this was now
frustrated, and their force recalled to
the Mississippi.
The day after the Holly Springs
disaster, Gen. W. T. Sherman had
left Memphis with the Right Wing
of the " Army of the Tennessee" —
some 30,000 strong — on boats which
passed down the Mississippi and 12
miles up the Yazoo to Johnston's
Landing, where the troops were de
barked," and a general assault was
made next day on the well-manned
fortifications and batteries which de
fended Vicksburg on the north. The
ground between the Yazoo and the
precipitous bluffs whereon the Rebels
were fortified, is agreeably (to al
ligators) diversified by ' swamps,'
' sloughs,' ' lagoons,' and ' bayous ;'
and is in the main a profound mire,
resting on quicksand. 'Chickasaw
Bayou,' connecting the two rivers, is
its most salient feature; but much
of it had been a cedar swamp, or
boggy thicket, whereof so much as
lay directly in front of the Rebel

defenses had been transformed into
abatis, covering rifle-pits. Unknown
to Sherman, Grant's recoil from Ox
ford had liberated the Rebel army
previously confronting him; which
had forthwith been apprised " of the
cloud gathering on the Mississippi.
Gen. Pemberton, who was in chief
command at Grenada, had at once
faced about; and, three days later,
having definite advices that Sher
man's gunboats had reached the
mouth of the Yazoo, he began to
send his men southward by rail ; fol
lowing himself next day. Thus, ex
peditious as were Sherman's move
ments, most of the Rebel forces in
all that region, except Van Dorn
and his cavalry, were on hand to re
sist him.
Sherman's army was uniquely
Western; and, with the West, the
reopening of the Mississippi was an
absorbing passion. It was brave,
well officered, and ably commanded ;
while Com. Porter's gunboats were
ready to render it every assistance
that gunboats could ; it encountered
none of those unforeseen, fortuitous
mischances, against which even Ge
nius is impotent, and Valor fruitless ;
it fought superbly, and piled the
earth with its dead and wounded ;
yet it failed, simply because such
defenses as it was required to assail
are, when fairly armed and manned,
absolutely impregnable to simple as
sault. They may be overcome by
regular approaches ; they may be
mastered by the surprise of some un
guarded but vital point ; they must
yield at last to famine, if closely and
persistently invested; but to hurl
column after column of infantry upon
them is simple, useless slaughter.

10 Nov. 20.

11 Dec 26.

u Dec. 21.

SHERMAN APPROACHES THE YAZOO BLUFFS.

289

Yet this nowise impeaches the gen
eralship of Sherman, who could not
tell what they were, nor who were
behind them, until he had given
them a trial.
Let us condense the painful de
tails :
Gen. Sherman was quite aware of
the natural strength of the Rebel line
of defense, and that the labor of
thousands of slaves had for months
been devoted to its increase, by the
digging of trenches and rifle-pits, the
planting of batteries, felling of trees
for abatis, &c, &c. But, he rea
soned, that line is at least 15 miles
long, from Vicksburg to Haines's
Bluff; there are but about 15,000
men behind it, which is but 1,000 to
the mile ; and it must be that a se
ries of vigorous attacks will develop
some point whereon an instant and
overwhelming superiority of num
bers can be made to tell. And so it
would, had not the bayous, lagoons,
and swamps — but more especially
Chickasaw bayou — so protected the
entire Rebel front that there were
but four points at wliich it could
be reached from the Yazoo ; and
these were so covered and enfi
laded by hostile batteries, rifle-pits,
&c, that approach was all but cer
tain destruction. The knowledge of
this impregnability was one of the
costly lessons of the war.
During the 26th and 27th, our men
were debarked without resistance,
on the south bank of the Yazoo;
and, being formed in four columns,
gradually pushed forward, driving
back the enemy's pickets, toward the
frowning bluffs southward. During
the ensuing night, the ground and
obstacles in our front were carefully

reconnoitered, and found even more
difficult than rumor had made them^
Chickasaw bayou was conclusively
ascertained to be passable but at two
points — one a narrow levee ; the
other a sand-bar — each completely
commanded by the enemy's sharp
shooters, who were thoroughly
covered by their rifle-pits and other
defenses; while batteries, trenches,
and rifle-pits rose, tier above tier, up
the steep bluffs beyond, which were
crowned by still heavier batteries.
And Gen. Steele, whose division, ex
cept Blair's brigade, had been de
barked above the junction of the
bayou with the Yazoo and the
cypress swamp and slough beyond,
on advancing next day,13 found his-
progress barred by an impassable
swamp, traversed only by a long
corduroy causeway, so thoroughly
swept and enfiladed by Rebel bat
teries and rifle-pits that he could
hardly hope to take across it half
the men who made the attempt ;
which he properly declined, and was
justified by Sherman in so doing.
Meantime, Gen. Geo. W. Morgan's
division had advanced, under cover
of a dense fog and the fire of its
artillery, against the center of the
Rebel defenses : reaching the bank of
the bayou where it runs nearest to
the bluffs, whereby its progress was
completely arrested ; but it held its
ground through the ensuing night.
Gen. Morgan L. Smith's division
simultaneously advanced over less
favorable ground, considerably to the
right; its leader being disabled be
fore noon by a sharp-shooter's bullet
through his hip, while reconnoiter-
ing; when his command devolved
on Gen. David Stuart. A narrow

vol. nv

-19

13 Dec. 28.

290

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

sand-spit crossed the bayou in front
of this division ; but it was so swept
and enfiladed by Rebel batteries and
rifle-pits, while a difficult abatis for
bade egress therefrom on the enemy's
side, that to attempt its passage was
certain destruction. Nevertheless,
Stuart made his dispositions, and was
ready to tempt the desperate hazard
so soon as Morgan should do likewise.
Still farther to the right was A. J.
Smith's division, whereof Burbridge's
brigade arrived about noon on the
27th ; having been dispatched 14 from
Milliken's Bend by Sherman to
break up the (uncompleted) Vicks
burg and Shreveport Railroad at the
Tensas river, burn several long
bridges and trestles, and destroy the
cotton, corn, &c, there held for the
Confederacy — an order which it had
thoroughly obeyed. It was now
pushed forward to the bayou, with
instructions to cannonade the Rebel
defenses opposite, while- its infantry
should hastily construct rafts and
cross ; A. J. Smith's 2d (Landrum's)
brigade holding a key position to the
right and rear, having its pickets
pushed forward into the abatis in
front, with Vicksburg in plain view
on its right.
During the ensuing night, Steele's
division was reembarked and brought
around to the right of the junction
of the bayou with the Yazoo, so as to
connect closely with Morgan's left ;
and, all being in readiness, Sherman
— having heard nothing as yet of the
Holly Springs disaster, though disap
pointed at the lack of cooperation, or
even of tidings, from Grant, being
aware that the Rebels in his front
were being constantly strengthened,
and that time was on the side of his

enemy — ordered a general advance
and assault.
Morgan, being well forward, was
expected to cross the bayou first, and
carry the batteries and heights di
rectly before him; but it was noon
before he was ready ; and, by this
time, Frank Blair's and Thayer's
brigades of Steele's division were fully
abreast of him and neady to go in ;
Steele's remaining (Hovey's) brigade
being close behind them.
Blair's brigade had been debarked
between Morgan's and M. L. Smith's
divisions ; but, in advancing, it had
obliqued to the left, crossing the
track of Morgan's division, detach
ing, by order, two regiments to sup
port his batteries ; working its way
to the extreme front of Morgan's left,
and crossing the Chickasaw bayou in
Steele's van, where both banks were
covered by tangled abatis, and where
the bayou presents a quicksand bed
300 feet wide, containing water 15
feet wide by 3 deep. Through this,
Blair led his brigade fairly across,
leaving his horse floundering in the
quicksand, while he carried two lines
of rifle-pits beyond, under a deluge
of shot and shell from front and
flanks, which struck down a third of
his command; among them Col. T.
C. Fletcher,15 31st Missouri, who,
being wounded, fell into the hands
of the enemy; while his Lt.-Col.,
Simpson, was also wounded, and his
Major, Jaensen, was killed. Lt.-Col.
Dister, 58th Ohio, was also killed
here. Col. J. B. Wyman, 13th
Illinois, had fallen the day before.
De Coufcy's brigade of Morgan's
division charged on Blair's right;
while Thayer, with the 4th Iowa
(his other regiments having been

"Dec. 21-22.

15 Since chosen Governor of Missouri

SHERMAN FAILS TO TAKE VICKSBURG.

291

misdirected), also shared in the peril
and glory of the assault. But what
could valor — the valor of half-a-dozen
regiments — avail against such im
pediments? Pemberton had been
reenforced, during the 27th, by three
fresh brigades from Grenada; and
more were constantly coming in.
His rifle-pits were filled with sharp
shooters, whose every bullet drew
blood ; his gunners had the range of
the ford, such as it was, and poured
grape and canister into our dauntless
but momently decimated heroes, who
could not advance, and were stung
by the consciousness that they were
dying in vain. They fell back, by
De Courcy's order, quite as rapidly,
though not so proudly, as they had
advanced : the 17th and 26th Loui
siana, by a charge on their flank,
capturing 4 flags, with 332 prisoners,
and gathering up 500 small arms.
Morgan, who had endeavored to
throw a pontoon across, had ordered
Col. Lindsey, with his own, Shel
don's, and two regiments of Thayer's
brigade, to advance simultaneously
with Blair and De Courcy, and ford
the bayou farther to the right ; but
Lindsey failed to execute the order :
reporting the narrow point at which
the bayou was here fordable covered
by a masked battery.
On our right, the 6th Missouri, in
A. J. Smith's advance, likewise went
forward at noon, and crossed the
bayou on a narrow sand-bar; but
they found the bank so steep and so
thoroughly swept by the enemy's ri
fles, that they could not force an as
cent, but crouched under the bank,
occasionally fired down upon by some
eager sharp-shooter, till after dark;
when they were withdrawn ; having

lost but 14 kille^ and 43 wounded.
But Blair's brigade alone lost 636
men this day ; Thayer's, 111 ; Mor
gan's division, 875 ; Stuart's brigade,
55 : total (including that of the 6th
Missouri), 1,734 : so that this at
tempt on Vicksburg can not have cost
us less than 2,000 men ; while Pem
berton reports his casualties at only
63 killed, 134 wounded, and 10 miss
ing: total, 207.
Sherman was baffled, but would
not give it up. During the rainy
night which followed, our men stood
or lay without fire in the swamp bor
dering the execrated- bayou, while
their leader visited Admiral Porter
on board his flag-boat and concerted
new efforts. Next day,16 he scruti
nized his own and his enemy's posi
tion, and became satisfied that the
Rebel lines could not #be broken.
But might they not be turned ? He
proposed to the Admiral a combined
demonstration against the batteries
on their extreme right, upon Drum-
gould's Bluff, some miles farther up
the Yazoo ; the Admiral to approach
and bombard them, while 10,000
choice troops should attempt to car
ry them by assault: the residue of
our army distracting the enemy's at
tention by menacing his front nearer
Vicksburg with a fresh attack.
Porter, as ever, lent a prompt and
hearty cooperation; and the troops
were accordingly ' embarked : 17 the
gunboats being directed to move at
midnight slowly and silently up the
Yazoo to Drumgould's Bluff;, at 4
a. m., engage and silence the Rebel
batteries there; then the troops to
disembark, storm the bluff and hold
it, while cannonades, attacks, and
alarms along the bayou, were to pre-

" Dec. 30.

17 Night of Dec. 31.

292

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

vent the sending oigRebel reenforce
ments to the vital point. The bat
teries carried, our whole army was to
be hurried .thither and solidly estab
lished on the bluff; thence taking
all the remaining defenses in flank
or in reverse, and fighting its way
on equal terms along the heights into
Vicksburg. Steele's division and one brigade
of M. L. Smith's were accordingly
embarked; and Sherman, who had
left them at midnight, had, by 4 a. m.,
every man at his post, listening for
the sound of Porter's guns; but no
sound came. -At daybreak, a line
from Steele apprised the General
that the fog on the river had been so
dense that the Admiral had been un
able to move ; so that the enterprise
must be postponed to the next night.
But, when th.e next night came, it
was bright moonlight, rendering the
proposed attack quite too hazardous ;
while each hour's delay must inevi
tably increase the sad probability
that the enemy would divine, or at
least suspect, what was meditated,
and prepare to render the purposed
assault more costly than that of the
29th. The swamp wherein our men
were encamped would be drowned
by the next heavy rain ; there were
already ominous rumors afloat, which
every thing tended to confirm, that
Grant had fallen back, leaving the
Rebels free to concentrate 40,000
men at Vicksburg ; there was no use
in staying : so Sherman resolved to
go ; and, by sunrise next morning,18
he had every thing on board, and was
on the point of starting for Milliken's
Bend ; when he was apprised by Ad
miral Porter that an officer, his senior
in rank, had arrived ; to whom he

accordingly turned over the com
mand. John A. McClernand, of Illinois,
—a "political General," according
to the West Point classification — was
the coming man. He had been for
years a Democratic Representative in
Congress of some note, but had hith
erto won no distinction in the field.
Having been dispatched from Mem
phis by Gen. Grant to Vicksburg, he,
on his arrival, acquiesced in Sherman's
decision to return to Milliken's Bend,
where he formally assumed" com
mand, and at once addressed himself
to the execution of a purpose which
he had formed while on his way down
the river.20 This was the reduction
of Fort Hindman, otherwise known
as The Post of Arkansas, 50 miles
from the Mississippi ; where a settle
ment had been made by the French
in 1685, on the first high ground
reached in ascending from the great
river; eligibly situated in a fertile
and productive, though swampy, re
gion, and commanding the naviga
tion of the important river whose
name it bears. It had been fortified
by the Confederates, having a para
pet 18 feet across and a ditch 20 feet
wide by 8 deep, with strong case
mates, a banquette for infantry, and
a cordon of rifle-pits. But its guns
were too few and light, and their
powder inferior ; so that Gen. T J.
Churchill, who commanded, had nev
er a chance to hold it, with his garri
son of hardly 5,000,21 against the army
that now advanced for its reduction
— 54 regiments in all — which, though
doubtless sadly wasted by the bloody
campaigns of 1862, must— to say
nothing ofthe fleet— have numbered
more than 20,000 men— probably

18 Jan. 2, 1863.

"Jan. 4.

1 Dec. 30.

1 But 3,000 effectives, he reports.

ARKANSAS 'POST TAKEN BY MoCLERNAND.

293

25,000 to 30,000. Directly after as
suming command, Gen. McClernand
moved up White river 15 miles, to
the cut-off; thence across (8 miles)
into the Arkansas,83 and up to No-
trib's fapn, three miles below the
Fort; where his land forces were
all debarked by noon of next day ;
by which time, our gunboats had
shelled the enemy's sharp-shooters
out of their rifle-pits along the levee,
and were soon furiously bombarding
the Fort. And now our soldiers,
under Gens. Sherman, Morgan, Steele,
D. Stuart, A. J. Smith, and Oster
haus, were pushed up to and nearly
around the Fort, despite the obsta
cles presented by bayous and miry
swamps; our men lying on their
arms that night, without fires or
tents, and being in position for a
general assault at 10_- next morn
ing." At 1 p. m., the gunboats re
opened ; and, half an hour later, the
brigades of Hovey, Thayer, Giles A.
and T. R. Smith, had crossed at
double-quick the narrow space of
open ground directly in tlieir front,
gaining partial shelter in a belt of
woods from the heavy Rebel fire
which here brought them to a tem
porary halt; when, supported by
Blair's brigade, they charged up to
within musket-range of the enemy's
defenses, where they again found par
tial shelter in some ravines, skirted
by bushes and fallen timber. Mean
time, Gen. Hovey had been wounded
by a fragment of shell, and Gen. Thay
er had had his horse shot under him ;
but our gunboats and Gen/Morgan's
batteries had covered the advance by
a rapid fire, silencing a part of the
enemy's artillery ; Lt. Webster's and
Blount's Parrott guns, with Hoff-
MJam9.

man's, Wood's, and Barrett's batte
ries, rendering efficient service ; while
Gen. A. J. Smith deployed nine regi
ments of Burbridge's and Landrum's
brigades, supported by three more in
reserve, and pressed back the Rebel
right behind a cluster of cabins near
his intrenchments, whence it was
dislodged and driven in by a charge
of the 23d Wisconsin, Col. Guppy.
Following up his advantage, Smith
pushed on his division until it was
within 200 yards of the Fort, whence
he sent McClernand word that he
could almost shake hands with the
enemy. By this time, Col. Sheldon,
of Osterhaus's division, had sent up
Cooley's battery on another face to
within 200 yards ofthe enemy's lines,
supported by the 118th and 120th
Ohio, with the 69th Indiana in re
serve ; soon clearing the rifle-pits
before them; when the 120th Ohio
attempted to scale and carry by as
sault the east face of the Fort, but
were stopped short of the fosse by an
impassable ravine.
At 3J p. m., the guns of the Fort
having been silenced by the fire of
our far superior artillery, and Sher
man's right having been strengthen
ed by three regiments from Smith's
division, McClernand ordered a gen
eral assault : when our men dashed
forward, and — farther resistance be
ing hopeless — a white flag was raised
from the ramparts, just as the 120th
Ohio, leading the 83d Ohio and 16th
Indiana, under Gen. Burbridge, were
swarming over the intrenchments on
the east, barely in advance of Sher
man's and Steele's leading regiments
on the north and west.
Churchill had received from Lt-
Gen. T. H. Hobnes [Little Rock],
M Jan. 11.

294

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

commanding in Arkansas, a tele
graphic order to " hold on till help
arrived, or till all are dead" — a piece
of silly gasconade, which had no
warrant in the proximity of a reliev
ing force ; but which he says he
would have obeyed to the letter, had
not " several white flags" been raised,
" to my great surprise," by the 24th
Texas (dismounted) cavalry. He had
no right to be surprised, nor even
vexed, if it had really been his inten
tion to subject his men to useless
butchery. They had fought with
signal gallantry and resolution, so
long as hope remained; he admits
that the " Fort had now been silenced
about an hourj most of the field-
pieces being disabled ;" and that his
men had " nothing to rely upon now.
save their muskets and bayonets,"
against an enemy whose ample artil
lery was still efficient, who had mas
tered their defenses, and whose num
bers were several times their own.
Yet he says he had still a " great
hope" to keep our whole army " in
check till night ; and then, if re
enforcements did not reach me, to
cut my way out ;" and trusts " that
the traitor who raised the white
flag" — (he had already stated that
there' were " several " such) — " will
yet be discovered, brought to justice,
and suffer the full penalty of the
law." Such swagger had for years
diffused an impression that the South
rons were less brave than they were
proved by the stern ordeal of battle.
Churchill reports his loss at not
exceeding 60 killed, and 75 to 80

* The Missouri Republican has a letter from an
eye-witness, dated Arkansas Post, January 12,
who makes them 4,500 — all of them, but 1,000,
from Texas — and adds :
"Of the entire force garrisoning the Fort,

wounded, and thinks ours was from
1,500 to 2,000. McClernand reports
his spoils at "5,000" prisoners, 17
guns, 3,000 small arms, beside large
quantities of munitions and commis
sary stores." He makes his losses —
killed, 129; wounded, 831; missing,
17 : total, 977. Having dismantled
the Fort, destroyed whatever was
combustible that he could not take
away, and forwarded his prisoners to
St. Louis, he reembarked," pursuant
to orders from General Grant, and
returned to Milliken's Bend; having
meantime sent an expedition, under
Gen. Gorman and Lt.-Com. Walker,
up the White river, which captured
Des Arc and- Duval's Bluff, without
resistance. Gen. Grant having reorganized and
refitted at Memphis his more imme
diate command, personally dropped
down the Mississippi on a swift
steamer and met26 McClernand, Sher
man, and Porter, near the mouth of
White river, on their return from
their triumphant incursion into Ar
kansas, accompanying them to Napo
leon, where consultations were held,
and a plan of action agreed on. Mc-
Clernand's force moved down the
Mississippi next day ; somewhat im
peded by a violent storm ; but reach
ed, on the 21st, Young's Point, nine
miles above Vicksburg, on the oppo
site bank, facing the mouth of the
Yazoo. Here was the head of the
canal projected and partly opened,
months before, by Gen. Williams,"
intended to secure a passage up and
down the Mississippi for our vessels,

1,000 — mostly Texas cavalry — escaped, taking
with them a great portion of the baggage. These
effected an exit on the night our forces were
surrounding the place, and before it could be
fully accomplished. "

M Jan. IT. » Jan. 18. "

See page 101.

GRANT'S ATTEMPTS TO FLANK THE MISSISSIPPI. 295

out of the range of the Vicksburg
batteries, and perhaps change the
main channel of the mighty river so
as to leave Vicksburg on a bayou
two or three miles back from that
channel. Here our men were de
barked,*8 and work on the canal re
commenced ; while Grant's corps was
brought down on transports to their
aid, and Porter's fleet strengthened
.by several additional iron-clads and
gonboats. Gen. Grant arrived and
assumed chief command Feb. 2d.
Williams's engineers had located
their embryo canal unwisely. At
its head, a strong eddy set the cur
rent away from the bank, rendering
difficult tbe coaxing of a large body
of water into it if it were completed ;
while its lower terminus was com
manded by the batteries of Vicks
burg — a serious drawback upon its
prospective usefulness. Still, it was
judged expedient to complete this,
rather than commence a new one;
and the river was rising so fast,
under the stimulus of incessant rains
(which by no means increased the
attractiveness to our soldiers of dig
ging up the mire and tough clay),
that it was confidently expected soon
to obliterate all traces of our engin
eering blunders. As there was daily
increasing peril that it would drown
out our camps, compelling our men
to reembark, the excavated earth was
all thrown up on the west side, form
ing an embankment in front of our
camps, between them and Vicks
burg. Thus the work was proceed
ing vigorously and hopefully, when*9
the swelling flood of the Mississippi
— now eight feet above the bottom
ofthe canal — broke over the precau
tionary dam erected aero® its head,
" Jan. 22.

and at once poured in a flood which
filled the embryo internal improve
ment in a few minutes, burying
myriads of implements, and con-
straining the diggers to run for their
lives. Several regiments, quartered
in exposed positions, were obliged to
move their tents and furniture with
remarkable celerity; while some
companies were isolated from our
main body, and had to be ferried
across the new lagoon to rejoin it.
The embankment of the Vicksburg
and Shreveport Railroad arrested the
progress of the inundation north
ward; and our soldiers stationed
below were required to move their
tents to the ground above that em
bankment. And now, after some
days' consideration and hesitating
effort, it was decided that the canal
was an abortion — the Father of
Waters having paralyzed it by his
veto ; while the batteries of Vicksburg
frowned grimly, defiantly as ever.
Ere this, Gen. Grant — having more
hands than work — had had a channel
cut from the Mississippi, some 40 to
50 miles above, into Lake Provi
dence ; whence there was a continu
ous water-way, through bayous Bax
ter and Macon, into the Tensas, and
thus into the Mississippi far below
Vicksburg, as also into the Washita
and Red rivers ; while another side-
cut, leaving the great river near
Milliken's Bend, communicated,
through a net-work of bayous and
connecting streams, with the eastern
(shorter) branch of the Tensas, and
thence, through- a similar net-work,
regained the lower Mississippi near
New Carthage. This one had ac
tually been made so far available, by
the help of dredge-boats, that a small
B March 8.

296

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

steamer and several barges had pass
ed through it ; when the rapid fall ao
of the river closed it for the season.
A third and more determined
effort to flank the defenses of Vicks
burg was made on the east side of the
Mississippi, by way of the ' Yazoo
Pass ;' which, leaving the great river
a little below Helena, flows through
Moon Lake into the Coldwater, and
down this stream into the Tallahat-
chie^ which, uniting with the Yallo-
busha, forms the Yazoo.
Brig.-Gen. L. F. Ross, with a divi
sion of Gen. McClernand's corps from
Helena, and the 12th and 17th Mis
souri, of Sherman's corps, headed
this expedition, some 5,000 strong,
which included the large gunboats
Chilicothe and De Kalb, five smaller
ones, and eighteen transports, under
the command of Lt. Watson Smith.
The passage through the levee of the
Mississippi having been considerably
enlarged, our vessels in succession
boldly entered on the narrow, tortu
ous, but now headlong current, which
bore them under a gigantic, over
arching forest, into Moon Lake, and
thus onward to the Coldwater. So
constant and formidable were the
obstacles encountered, in the shape
of abrupt turns, fallen trees, inade
quate depth, and sturdy limbs that
swept away smoke-stacks and other
standing fixtures, that three days
were required for this transit, though
the distance was barely twelve miles.
Of course, the Rebels, who were fully
and constantly posted, did not dimin
ish these impediments, but were
prone to aggravate them.

30 April 10 to 25. 31 March 2.
' 32 March 11. 3S Feb. 17.
34 Loring reports that this raft had not been
completed when our fleet arrived. The New
York Tribune correspondent with the expedition

Proceeding" down the Coldwater,
the obstacles to be overcome were
'changed rather than diminished.
The channel was "a little wider, but
hardly less crooked, while its cur
rent was sluggish ; the - impulse
gained from the Mississippi having
been lost by a diffusion of the water
over the swamps and bottoms on
either side. Two mortar-boats' here
overtook the flotilla ; and the mouth
of the Coldwater was at length
reached: our vessels having expe
rienced some damage to rudders,
wheels, and other works, but having
encountered no serious resistance
from the enemy ; and with no vessel
sunk or disabled.
Moving down the Tallahatchie, to
a sharp easterly bend ten miles above
its junction with the Yallobusha, the
expedition was brought 32 to a stand,
just above the little village of Green
wood. Maj.-Gen. W. W. Loring had been
dispatched 3S from Jackson to the
Yazoo to bar any access by our
forces to the valley of that river;
and, having hastily studied its con
figuration and that of its chief tributa
ries, had chosen this as the point
most favorable for resistance. The
meeting streams approach within a
mile, two or three miles above their
junction ; receding directly after
ward. Loring, with his engineer,
Maj. Meriwether, had obstructed fhe
Tallahatchie by a raft,34 with an
old steamboat sunk behind it, and
thrown a line of defenses, composed
of cotton-bales and earth, across the
neck ofthe peninsula ; its best guns,

says Lt. Smith's invincible lack of resolution
and energy, and manifest indifference, retarded,
by several days, the arrival of our vessels at this
point, and was the true cause of our utterly
needless failure.

ROSS FAILS TO REACH THE YAZOO.

297

of course, trained upon the approach
down the Tallahatchie, which a bend
just here rendered as difficult and
perilous as could be.

TAZOO BEOION.

The Chilicothe, Lt. Foster, first
attempted to pass ; when the Rebel
battery opened, and a 32-pound shell
struck her turret, ¦ slackening her
speed ; and she soon backed around
the bend until onlyther bow pro
truded. ; when she renewed the can
nonade with her heavy bow-guns,
and received one or two more shots,
which did her no essential harm.

An hour of this satisfied her, and she
backed completely out of the fight;
when the De Kalb came forward and
fired away for two hours : then she,
too, gave it up; leaving the Rebel
works essentially intact.
The next day was devoted by Ross
to erecting a land battery in front of
the Rebel fines, undercover of woods ;
Loring withholding his fire on it to
economize his scanty ammunition.
At 10 next morning,36 both gunboats
renewed the bombardment, aided by
our land battery. During the day,
one of the Chilicothe's shells tore
through the enemy's parapet, knock
ing out a cotton-bale, and igniting a
tub of cartridges beside the Whit-
worth gun ; whereby Lt. Waul,
serving it, was wounded, and 15 of
his men burned — some of them
badly. Other damage was done ;
but the Rebels worked throughout
the ensuing night, repairing and
strengthening their works. Our fire
was renewed for a short time next
day ; and the day after was devoted
on both sides to fortifying.
Next morning,36 the attack was
renewed with spirit on our side ; but
the Chilicothe was soon hulled by an
18-pound shot from the enemy's
rifled Whitworth gun, which entered
one of her port-holes, striking and
exploding a shell, whereby 14 men
were killed or severely wounded.
The Chilicothe then drew out of
the fight; and, though it was kept
up till sunset by the De Kalb and
our land batteries, it was plainly of
no use : so Ross, next morning, con
cluded to give it up, and return by
the way he came ; which he did un
molested. Brig.-Gen. J. F. Quinby,
of McPherson's corps, joined " him

1 March 13.

™ March 16.

sr March 21.

298

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and assumed command on his retreat.
Quinby now returned to the ground
just abandoned before the defenses ;
but had scarcely done so when he
received38 an order from Grant to
withdraw the expedition ; which he
forthwith obeyed, returning to the
Mississippi unmolested.
Admiral Porter, having reconnoi-
tered the country directly eastward
of the Mississippi from Steele's
bayou, just above Milliken's Bend,
and listened to the testimony of
friendly negroes, informed39 Gen.
Grant that a devious route, practica
ble at that stage of water for lighter
iron-clads, might be found or opened
thence into the Sunflower, and so
into the Yazoo below Yazoo City,
but above Haines's Bluff; where
upon, Grant decided to attempt it.
Ascending 40 with Porter, in the ram
Price, pioneered by several other
iron-clads, through Steele's bayou to
Black Fork or bayou, which makes
across from Steele's into Deer creek,
Grant, finding their way constantly
impeded by overhanging trees, hur
ried back to Young's Point for a
pioneer corps ; but was soon advised
by Porter that there was more seri
ous work ahead ; when Sherman was
sent with a division ; most of which
was debarked at Eagle Bend, on the
Mississippi, and thence marched
across to the bayou (Steele's), here
but a mile from the river — much of
the distance being now under water,
and requiring to be bridged or cordu
royed before it could be passed. And
such was the height of ^the water in
the bayous and streams that our
boats could with difficulty be forced
through the branches of the trees
which thickly overlaced those nar

row water-courses ; so that they were
severally scraped clean of everything
above their decks when they had
been wearily driven and warped up
the bayou and across Little Black
Fork into Deer creek, up that stream
to Rolling Fork, and across into the
Sunflower ; down which they floated
almost to the Yazoo; where their
progress was finally arrested, and
vessels and men obliged to retrace
their toilsome, devious way to the
Mississippi. Col. C. R. Ellet, commanding the
ram Queen of the West, having the
gunboat De Soto and a coal-barge in
company, ran" the Vicksburg bat
teries without injury, and thence
steamed down to the mouth of Red
river, thence raiding" down the
Atchafalaya to Simmsport; thence
returning to the Red, and going up
that river to a point 15 miles above
the mouth of the Black, where he
captured, the steamboat Era, with
4,500 bushels of corn; thence as
cending the Black and Washita to
Gordon's Landing, where his treach
erous pilot, Garvey, ran the Queen
ashore, just as she was opened on
from the bank by a Rebel battery,
which soon shot away her lever and
escape-pipe, then cut in two her
steam- pipe, filling her with scalding
steam, and compelling Ellet and his
crew to abandon her — she being
wholly disabled and impotent — es
caping on cotton-bales, and reaching
the De Soto, which was just below.
Going down the river, the De Soto
was run into .the bank and lost her
rudder; when she and her barge
were scuttled and burnt ; Ellet and
his crew taking refuge on the Era,
throwing overboard her corn. Con-

38 March 23.

38 March 14.

40 March 15,

41 Feb. 10.

42 Feb. 12.

THE INDIANOLA CAPTURED — THEN DESTROYED. 299

tinuing down the river, well aware
that the Rebels would soon be after
them, the traitor Garvey was installed
as pilot, and soon contrived to run
the- Era hard aground also, just after
reaching the Mississippi — she draw
ing two feet water, and the shallow
est of these rivers being now good
for at least thirty. Ellet, by the time
she was with difficulty got off, ap
pears to have suspected that Rebels
were not the safest pilots for Na
tional war vessels ; though he does not
seem to have shot the scoundrel, or
done any thing else but intimate that
his style of piloting was not approved.
Four armed boats were sent down af
ter him, but turned back by their lead
er, the Webb, unexpectedly meeting
our heavy iron-clad Indianola, which
they did not choose to encounter ; so
the Era made her way up to the sta
tion just below Vicksburg ; receiving,
by the way, salutes that meant mis
chief from Grand Gulf and Warren
ton. The Indianola, Lt.-Com'g. Brown,
was one of our finest iron-clads : 174
feet long by 50 broad, with five boil
ers, seven engines, thoroughly shield
ed, and armed with two 11-inch and
two 9-inch guns. Leaving the mouth
of the Yazoo, she had drifted43 nearly
by Vicksburg undiscovered; and the
batteries finally opened on her had
done her no harm whatever. Keep
ing on down, she was just in season,
as We have seen, to shield Ellet and
the Era from probable capture ; and
she now swept proudly down the riv
er, expecting to drive all before her.
After blockading for some days
the mouth of Red river, wliich she
did not enter for want of pilots, she
was returning up the Mississippi;

and, when nearly opposite Grand
Gulf, encountered44 the Rebel ram
Webb, as also the captured Queen of
the West (which had somehow been
repaired so as to be serviceable), with
two other less formidable gunboats,
in all mounting ten heavy guns, and
maimed by several hundred men.
These attacked her with such energy
and skill, mainly by butting her with
their rams, while they danced about
her, dodging her shots, that she was
soon disabled ; having been rammed
for the seventh time by the Webb,
and now directly in her stern, which
was completely stove in. Being in
a sinking condition, she was surren
dered and immediately run ashore.
Farragut being away on the Gulf
coast, the Rebels had now fhe mas
tery of the river between Vicksburg
and New Orleans — a mastery whicb
they soon lost by a Yankee trick. A
worthless coal flat-boat, fitted up,
covered, and decorated by Porter,
with furnaces of mud and smoke
stacks of pork-barrels, to counterfeit
a terrible ram, was let loose46 by
him, unmanned, above Vicksburg;
and floated down by the batteries,
eliciting and surviving a tremendous
cannonade. The Rebels in Vicks
burg hastened to give warning of this
fearful monster to the Queen, lying
under their batteries at Warrenton,
eight miles below; whereupon, the
Queen fled down the river at her
best speed. The Indianola was now
undergoing repairs near the point
where she was captured ; and word
was sent from Vicksburg that she
must be burned at once to save her
from the monster's clutches. A few
hours later, when it had been discov
ered that they had been thrown into

'Night of Feb. 13.

1 Feb. 24, 9£ P- m.

45 About Feb. 24.

300

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT:

hysterics by an old coal-boat, fresh
word was sent that they had been
sold ; but, ere this arrived, the Indian
ola had been blown to splinters — not
even her priceless guns having been
saved. The Webb now escaped up
the Red river; leaving our supremacy
on the Mississippi once more undis
puted and unbroken.
Admiral Farragut, commanding
below Vicksburg, having applied to
Admiral Porter for iron-clads and
rams to operate against certain small
but formidable Rebel iron-clads and
rams which held possession of Red
river, the rams Switzerland, Col.
Chas. R. Ellet, and Lancaster, Lt.-
Col. John A. Ellet, were prepared
for running the Vicksburg batteries ;
which they attempted 4" to do ; but
with ill success. Instead of being
started in due season, it was daylight
when they came under the Rebel
fire; whereby the Lancaster was sunk
and the Switzerland badly cut up.
The latter succeeded in passing. Of
several frailer vessels, which from
time to time made the venture, two
or three were sunk ; the residue
mainly went by unscathed.

Months, had now flitted since our
earlier attempts on Vicksburg —
months of fitful but costly effort to
reduce that Rebel stronghold, which
was only stronger and haughtier than
ever. Gen. Grant — long since con
vinced that it could not be success
fully assailed from above, unless we
had full control of the Yazoo, for
which he had so persistently but
vainly struggled — now decided on
an entirely new fine of operations —
turning Vicksburg on the south, and
assailing her from the east, rather

than the west". It was in pursuance
of this plan that he had so abruptly
ordered a discontinuance of and with
drawal from the various expeditions
looking to the control of the valley
of the Yazoo, and the capture or de
struction of the thirty Rebel steam
boats employed on that river or laid
up near Yazoo City. All being at
length prepared, and the Winter over
flow of the Mississippi so far abated
that the so-called roads of that re
gion were no longer generally under
water, but only beds of the pro
foundest and softest black mud, Gen.
McClernand, with his (13th) corps,
was impelled47 down the west bank
of the great river to New Carthage ;
McPherson following directly with
his (17th) corps ; each moving no
faster than it could be accompanied
by its trains. The roads were so in
conceivably bad that the advance
was inevitably laborious and slow.
The river-bank, being higher than
the country back of it, the march
was mainly along the levee; of
course, under constant observation
from the Rebel pickets and scouts
across the river.
When our van was barely two
miles from New Carthage, it was
stopped by a break- in the levee,
through which the waters of the
Mississippi were pouring out into the
bayou Vidal, forbidding approach to
the village, which was temporarily
transformed into an island. After
boats had been collected to effect a
crossing of the upper break, it was
found that the process would not
only be tedious but would have to
be repeated below. Grant now de
cided to march around the bayou,
avoiding New Carthage, and striking

40 Night of March 24-25.

47 March 29.

PORTER RUNS BY VIOKSB URG — GR.IERSON'S RAID. 301

the Mississippi at Perkins's, 12 miles
farther, or 35 from his base at Milli
ken's Bend. And now the lack of
transportation on the river below
Vicksburg, dictated a still farther
march down to Hard Times, opposite,
but rather below, Grand Gulf; ex
tending the distance traversed from
Milliken's Bend to 70 miles.
Meantime, Commodore Porter, at
the suggestion of Gen. Grant, had
made preparation for running the
batteries of Vicksburg with his iron
clads, followed by three transports ;
and the experiment was made 4e with
fair success. The gunboats Benton,
Lafayette, Price, Louisville, Caron-
delet, Pittsburg, Tuscumbia, and
Mound City (all iron-clads but. the
Price), floated silently down the cur
rent; under cover of thick darkness,
for nearly an hour ; and their crews
were beginning to infer that the
Rebels had, for some reason, con
cluded not to assail them ; when —
.just as they were fairly opposite the
city — fire was opened on them from
the up-stream batteries, and in a
moment the whole bluff was ablaze
with the flashes, and quaking to the
roar, of heavy guns, rising tier above
tier along the entire water-front of
the city. The fleet promptly respond
ed with grape and shrapnel, firing at
the city rather than the batteries,
and went by unharmed; opening
upon the Warrenton batteries, as it
neared them, so furious a cannonade
that they scarcely attempted a reply.
The passage of the gunboats was
thus triumphantly effected ; but of
the three transports — Forest Queen,
Henry Clay, and Silver Wave — which
attempted to follow, under cover of
the smoke, the first-named was hulled

by ; a shot, and received another
through her steam-drum, disabling
her ; yet she floated out of range,
and, being taken in tow by a gun
boat, went through without further
damage ; while the Silver Wave ran
the gauntlet entirely unscathed ; but
the Clay was struck by a shell which
set her protecting cotton-bales on fire,
just as she had been stopped to pre
vent a collision with the crippled
Queen; when her panic-stricken crew
launched her yawl and made for the
shore, leaving their vessel to float
down the river in flames till she
burned to the water's edge and sunk —
a total loss. We had one man killed
and two wounded by a shell on board
the Benton, but lost none beside, on
either gunboats or transports.
Gen. Grant now ordered six more
transports to be sent down, towing
and partially shielded by twelve
barges laden with forage. Five of
the transports made " the venture in
safety ; but the Tigress received a shot
below her water-line which disabled
her, so that sh e drifted helplessly down
and sank near the Louisiana bank,
some distance below. Of the barges,
three, with five of the transports,
were soon made ready for further
usefulness. The effective Rebel force in the
States bordering on the Mississippi
being now mainly engaged in the
defense of Vicksburg and the Yazoo
Valley, Grant had determined to re
taliate one of the destructive cavalry
raids of Morgan, Forrest, and Van
Dorn. To this end, Col. B. H. Grier-
son, with a cavalry brigade, 1,700
strong, composed of the 6th and 7th
Illinois and 2d Iowa, starting 60 from
Lagrange, Tennessee, swept rapidly

'Night of April 16.

'Night of April 22.

1 April 17.

302

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

southward, through Ripley, New
Albany, Pontotoc, Clear Spring,
Starkville, Louisville, Decatur, and
Newton, Miss. — thus passing behind
all the Rebel forces confronting and
resisting Grant — until, having passed
Jackson, he turned sharply to the
right, and made his way W. S. W.
through Raleigh, Westville, Hazle-
hurst, and Gallatin, to Union C. H,
back of Natchez ; thence zigzagging
by Bogue Chito to Greensburg and
Clinton, La., and so to Baton Rouge ;61
having traversed more than 600 miles
of hostile territory in 16 days; cross
ing several considerable rivers by
ferriage, burning great numbers of
railroad bridges, trestles, cars, and
depots of supplies, having several
smart engagements with Rebel forces
hastily gathered to obstruct his prog
ress, killing or wounding about 100 of
them, beside capturing and paroling
over 500 prisoners, and destroying
3,000 stand of arms, at a total cost of
27 men, including Lt.-Col. Blackburn,
7th Illinois. Col. Grierson sent back,
after he was fairly on his way, the
2d Iowa, as also 175 of the least ef
fective men of his remaining regi
ments ; so that this brilliant raid was
actually made with less than 1,000
men. It was a succession of forced
marches, sometimes without rest for
48 hours; often through drenching
rain, over long stretches of swamp,
so. completely submerged that no
road could be discerned; so that, in
crossing one swamp, eight miles wide,
on the Okanoxubee, near Louisville,
no less than twenty fine horses were
drowned. Grierson proved himself
eminently fitted for his place, as did
Col. Prince, of the 6th, and Lt.-Col.
Loomis, 7th Illinois, and their sub

ordinates. Detachments necessarily'
made to the right and left to destroy
Rebel supplies or mislead pursuers—
of whom thousands were sent after
him from Jackson, Vicksburg, and
other points — were frequently com
pelled to ride 60 miles per day of
these horrible roads in order to regain
the main body — which, during the
28 hours preceding its arrival at
Baton Rouge, had marched 76 miles,
enjoyed four fights, and forded the
Comite river where it was necessary
to swim many of the horses. Grier-
son's conclusion that the Confederacy
was a mere shell, which needed but
to be fairly pierced to demonstrate
its rottenness, was justified by his
experience; but a leader less able,
alert, wary, untiring, and courageous,
would have found that shell far easier
to enter than to emerge from.

All being at length ready,63 Gen.
Grant directed a naval attack on the
batteries of Grand Gulf; which was
gallantly made by Admiral Porter,
with his gunboat fleet. But five
hours of mutual cannonade, during
which our larger boats were often
within pistol-shot of the Rebel bat
teries, brought no decisive advantage
to our arms. The enemy's fortifica
tions were strong ; many of their
guns planted on the bluffs at too
great an elevation to be effectively
assailed from the water; the hill
sides were lined with rifle-pits;
beside which, they had field-guns
which could be moved from point to
point, and so concentrated wherever
they could be most effective to pre
vent a landing or defeat an assault.
After watching the cannonade from a
tugboat from 8 a. m. to 1 p. m.,

61 May 2.

1 April 29.

SHERMAN'S FEINT ON HAINES'S BLUFF.

303

Grant decided against, its further
prosecution; having determined to
debark bis troops now on shipboard,
and march still farther down the
Louisiana bank, to a point opposite
Rodney; while the gunboats and
transports should run the Grand
Gulf batteries, as they had run those
of Vicksburg and Warrenton, and
be ready to cross his army at a point
where little resistance was antici
pated. Accordingly, at dark, our gun
boats again engaged the batteries,
while our transports ran by them;
receiving but two or three shots,
which did them no essential harm.
Finally, having learned from a
negro that there was a good road
from the little hamlet of Bruinsburg,
half way down to Rodney, running
back to Port Gibson, in the rear of
Grand Gulf, the General decided to
cross at this point ; and, by daylight
next morning,63 both gunboats and
transports were ferrying over the
13th corps ; our soldiers, so fast as
landed, taking three days' rations in
their haversacks, and pushing out on
the road to Port Gibson, followed by
the 17th corps.
Meantime, Gen. Sherman, with
the 15th corps, had been left above
Vicksburg, expecting to follow on
the track of the 13th and 17th, until
he received M a letter from Gen.
Grant, near Carthage, depicting the
badness of the roads, and directing
him to remain where he was for the
present. Two days later, Grant
wrote him that he proposed to
attack Grand Gulf next day, and
suggesting a simultaneous feint on
the Rebel batteries near Haines's
Bluff. Sherman accordingly em
barked Blair's division on ten steam

boats, and proceeded 6" to the mouth
of the Yazoo, where he found Capt.
Breese, with the iron-clads Black
Hawk, Choctaw, and De Kalb, and
several wooden boats, all ready, with
steam up ; and they at once ascend
ed the Yazoo, stopping for the night
at the mouth of the Chickasaw
bayou, and moving up next morning
to within range of the Haines's Bluff
batteries, which were engaged for
four hours by our iron-clads and the
Tyler — the enemy replying with
spirit; but, though the Tyler was
hit once, and the Choctaw re
peatedly, none of our men were
seriously hurt. Toward evening,
Blair's division was debarked in full
view of the enemy, and seemingly
prepared to assault; our gunboats
thereupon renewing their fire and
provoking the enemy,, to reply.
Thus the menace of an assault was
maintained t_l after dark ; when our
troops were quietly reembarked.
Next day, equally threatening de
monstrations were made, accom
panied by reeonnoissances on all
sides; meanwhile, orders were re
ceived from Grant to desist from the
feint and hurry the whole corps forth
with to Grand Gulf.
Sending orders to the divisions of
Steele and Tuttle to march south
ward at once, Sherman kept up the
feint till after nightfall ; then quietly
dropped down the Yazoo to Young's
Point; and next morning66 Blair's
division moved up to Milliken's
Bend, to remain there as a garrison
till relieved by fresh troops from
above; while Steele's and Tuttle's
hurried down the west bank of the
Mississippi to Hard Times, where
they were ferried across,6' and were

" April 30. M April 26. *» April 29-10 A. U. M May 2.

' May 6 and 1.

304

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

pushed forward 18 miles next day, to
Hankinson's Ferry.
Grant's advance, under McCler
nand, first encountered the enemy 68
when eight miles out from Bruins-
burg ; but the Rebels were not in
force, and fell back unpursued till
morning; when McClernand ad
vanced, and, when approaching Poet
Gibson, was resisted with spirit by a
Rebel force from Vicksburg, under
Maj.-Gen. Bowen ; the country being
broken into narrow ridges, separated
by deep ravines, which afforded
great advantage to the defensive.
Our superiority in numbers being
decisive, however, they were steadily
¦driven ; Grant Anally sending up J.
E. Smith's brigade of McPherson's
corps to the support of our left, under
Osterhaus ; when, late in the after
noon, the enemy was defeated with
heavy loss, and pursued toward Port
Gibson. Our loss was 130 killed,
718 wounded. We captured 3 guns,
4 flags, and 580 prisoners. Night
soon closed in, and our troops slept
on their arms till "morning ; when it
was found that the enemy had re
treated across Bayou Pierre, burning
the bridge behind them, abandoning
Port Gibson, and evacuating Grand
Gulf, as our army advanced "° in its
rear to Hankinson's Ferry on the
Big Black, skirmishing and taking
some prisoners, mainly stragglers,
but not seriously resisted. .
Gen. Grant now rode across to
Grand Gulf, with a small escort of
cavalry, to make arrangements for
changing his base of supplies from
Bruinsburg to this point, while his
army awaited the arrival of wagons,
provisions, and Sherman's corps;
meantime, scouts were busy and re-

.connoissances employed in obtaining
information ofthe enemy.
Grant had expected to remain
some time at Grand Gulf, accumula
ting provisions and munitions, while
he sent a corps down the river to co
operate with Gen. Banks in the re
duction of Port Hudson; but the
information here obtained dictated a
change in his plans — Banks not hav
ing yet invested Port Hudson. Ac
cordingly, his army was pushed for
ward "° on two parallel roads up the
left bank of. the Big Black: Mc
Pherson on that nearest the river;
McClernand on the higher, or ridge
road; while Sherman's corps, divi
ded, followed on each ; all the ferries
on the Big Black being watched to
guard against a surprise from the
enemy, who had taken care to burn
the few bridges.
Thus advancing, our army encoun
tered no serious resistance until its
van, under McPherson, then moving
on Clinton and Jackson, was encoun
tered,61 near Raymond, by two Rebel
brigades, under Gen. Gregg, who had
taken a good position, with two bat
teries, commanding the road in our
front, having his infantry posted on
a range of hills to the right of the
road, and in. the timber and ravines
just in front. The fight here was
a short one. The Rebels opened it
with great fury, attempting to charge
and capture De Golyer's battery,
which was in position on our front ,
but, being repulsed by a terrific fire
of grape and canister, they broke and
fled precipitately, so that McPherson
had scarcely begun the fight when it
was ended ; the Rebels fleeing at full
speed through Raymond, which our
troops occupied at 5 p. m. Only Lo-

1-2 A. M.

9 May 3.

1 May 7.

1 May 12.

Mcpherson triumphs at Raymond.

305

.—  , GEN. GRANT
'-ADMIRAL. PORTER
GEN. BLAIR

VIOKSBUBG AND VICINITY.

gan's division, now numbering less
than 6,000, was seriously engaged on
our side ; but Crocker's division came
up just after the battle was won by
the advance of Stevenson's brigade,
and a splendid charge with fixed
bayonets by the 8th Illinois, Lt.-Col.
Sturgis. The enemy had previously
been strongest in the numbers en
gaged, and had fought .stubbornly ;
charging to turn the left flank of
vol. ii. — 20

Dennis's brigade, which was in ad
vance, and of which the 20th Ohio,
23d Indiana, and 20th Illinois fought
desperately and suffered severely.
Our loss in this affair was 69 killed
(including Col. Richards, 20th Illi
nois, who fell at the head of his regi
ment, and Maj. Kaga, 20th Ohio),
341 wounded, and 32 missing : total
442. The Rebels lost 103 killed,
with 720 wounded and prisoners.

306

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

We took prisoners from ten different
regiments ; and Johnston reports that
Gregg's force numbered 6,000. Here
McPherson and Logan were con
stantly under fire ; the latter having
his horse shot twice. McPherson's
generalship and dash elicited the ad
miration of our soldiers.
McPherson pushed on next morn
ing62 to Clinton, which he entered
unopposed at 2 p, m., and commenced
tearing up the railroad thence toward
Jackson; Gen. Sherman advancing
simultaneously on the direct road
from Raymond to Jackson. McPher
son's march was resumed at 5 a. m.
next day;63 and, at 9 a. m., when
five miles from Jackson, the enemy's
pickets were driven in; and, pro
ceeding 2£ miles farther, their main
body was encountered in strong force,
under Gen. W. H. T. Walker, whose
command consisted partly of South
Carolina and Georgia troops, which
had only arrived the evening before.
A tremendous shower occurred while
McPherson was making his disposi
tions, which delayed his attack for an
hour and a half. At 11 a. m., the
rain having nearly ceased, our sol
diers advanced, preceded by a line of
skirmishers, who were soon exposed
to so heavy a fire that they were re
called to their regiments, when an
order to charge was responded to
with hearty cheers. Our whole line
swept forward in perfect array, driv
ing the enemy out ofthe ravine which
covered their front, and up the hill
whereon their batteries were posted ;
when, without having checked our
momentum, they broke and fled pre
cipitately, eagerly followed for a mile
and a half, till our infantry was with
in range of the guns forming the de

fenses of Jackson ; when McMurray's
and Dillon's batteries were brought
up and poured a deadly fire into the
routed masses of the foe. Here our
troops were halted and our lines
reformed, while skirmishers were
thrown out and officers sent forward
to reconnoiter : these soon reported
the capital of Mississippi evacuated ;
and, at 4 p. m., the flag of the 59th
Indiana was waving over the dome
of the State House ; Sherman's com
mand about this time entering the
city from the south-west.
McPherson's loss in this collision
was 37 killed, 228 wounded and
missing ; while that he inflicted
on the enemy amounted, in killed,
wounded, and prisoners, to 845.
Our captures in Jackson included 17
pieces of artillery; while railroads,
manufactories, and army stores, were
extensively destroyed.
Grant was in Jackson directly after
its capture ; and, after giving orders
to Sherman for the thorough de
struction of its railroads, military
factories, and stores, directed Mc
Pherson to retrace his steps next
morning64 to Clinton, following him
self in the afternoon ; impelling Mc-
Clernand's corps westward next morn
ing "6 upon Edwards's Station ; while
Sherman, having finished his work at
Jackson, was ordered to evacuate that
city and rejoin him so soon as might
be ; for Grant had learned in Jackson
that Gen. Jo. Johnston, who had just
arrived in our front and assumed66
immediate command of the Rebel
forces in this quarter, had ordered
Pemberton to march out from Vicks
burg and assail our rear : the Rebels
routed in Jackson having fled north-
ward from that city, as if intending

1 May 13.

63 May 14.

64 May 15.

' May 16.

1 May 13.

THE BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILLS.

307

to form a junction with Pemberton i
at some point on the Big Black,
above the railroad. It was, there
fore, Grant's business and purpose to
prevent this conjunction by meeting
and beating Pemberton before it could
be effected. At 5 a.m.,67 Grant learned
that Pemberton's force consisted of
80 regiments, with 10 batteries of
artillery, probably numbering in all
about 25,000 men,68 now eagerly ad
vancing with intent to fall unexpect
edly on his rear ; and he resolved to
anticipate the delivery of this blow.
Pushing forward Blair's division to
ward Edwards's Station, he directed
McClernand to follow, with that of
Osterhaus ; McPherson, with his en
tire corps, following directly.
Pemberton was in position near
Edwards's Station, when he received "*
a dispatch from Johnston suggesting
— he says not ordering — a combined
attack on McPherson, then at Clin
ton, and called a council to consider
the proposition. After hearing its
advice, he decided to attack next
morning; but was delayed by the
swollen condition of a branch of Ba
ker's creek till afternoon; when he
advanced four or five miles, and took
up a strong position on Champion
Hills, southward of the railroad, and
about midway between Jackson and
Vicksburg. Here he received, next
morning,'" a note from Johnston, di
recting him to move northward, so
as to form a junction with his own
shattered forces, most of which had
so recently been driven out of Jack
son. Pemberton thereupon ordered
his trains sent back toward the
Black, and would have followed with
his army, but it was too late ; Gen.
Hovey's division, of McClernand's

corps, being now close upon him, and
the rest of McClernand's, followed by
McPherson's corps, rapidly coming
up. Gen. Grant now reached the front,
and found Hovey's skirmishers close
to the enemy's pickets, while his
troops were rapidly coming into line,
and might, had they been strong
enough, have opened the battle at
any moment. The enemy in their
front held a very strong position on
a narrow ridge, with his left resting
on a height, where the road toward
Vicksburg made a sharp turn to the
left, with the crest of the ridge and
his left flank covered by a dense
forest. McPherson's corps, except
Ransom's brigade, soon came up,
and was thrown to the right, so as to
threaten the enemy's rear. Still, our
numbers on the field were inade
quate, and Grant forbade an attack
until he could hear from McCler
nand, whs was advancing with two
divisions, from Bolton Station on our
right, but on parallel roads which
converged two miles east of Ed
wards's Station. But, while Grant
was thus impatiently listening for
the sound of McClernand's guns, and
sending him orders to push forward
rapidly, the firing between Hovey's
and the Rebel skirmishers gradually
grew, by 11 a. m., into a battle; and —
since a single division could not long
resist two or three times its numbers
— one brigade and then another of
Crocker's division was sent in to Ho
vey's support ; while McPherson's oth
er division, under Logan, was working
effectively upon the enemy's left and
rear, essentially weakening his efforts
in front. -McClernand's remaining
divisions failed to arrive at the front,

May 16.

A Rebel report saya 17,500.

'May 14.

1 May 16.

303

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

however, until after the enemy had
been driven with heavy loss from the
field ; Logan's division having pene
trated so nearly to the road leading
to Vicksburg as to cut off Loring's
division from Pemberton, and com
pel it to retreat deviously southward,
evading our left, and narrowly escap
ing capture, by the sacrifice of all
its guns ; thus reaching Jackson on
the 19th;
The credit of this victory devolves
mainly on Hovey and his heroic di
vision, which was for hours closely en
gaged with superior numbers strong
ly posted and well covered by the
dense forest, who fought gallantly,
and repeatedly crowded back our
line by the sheer weight of that op
posing it. When his infantry had
thus been crowded back from the
ridge they had carried by desperate
fighting, and compelled to abandon
11 Rebel guns they had taken, Hovey
massed his artillery, strengthened by
Dillon's Wisconsin battery, on eleva
ted ground at his right, and opened
on the advancing foe an enfilading
fire that arrested and turned them
back, under a tempest of cheers from
our boys. The loss of this single di
vision was 211 killed, 872 wounded,
and 119 missing : total, 1,202 — about
one-third of its force, and nearly half
our entire loss in the battle. But
McPherson's corps fought, so far as
it had opportunity, with equal gal
lantry, and was handled with equal
skill ; Stevenson's brigade making a
brilliant charge across ravines, up a
hill, and through an open field, cap-

" Grant evidently blames McClernand for lack
of energy in this battle ; though he says :
" The delay in the advance of the troops im
mediately with McClernand was caused, no
doubt, by the enemy presenting a front of artil
lery and infantry where it was impossible, from

turing seven guns and several hun
dred prisoners, and thus gaining the
road in the Rebel rear, which cut off
Loring's retreat, and compelled him
to escape as he could.
Before the Rebel defeat was de
cided, Hovey having repeated his call
for reenforcements, Grant ordered
McPherson to advance whatever of
his corps was still disposable by the
left to the enemy's front ; and, pro
ceeding himself to observe this move
ment, he discovered that the Rebels
were in full retreat. On reaching
the Raymond road, he saw Carr's and
then Osterhaus's division of McCler
nand's corps, well advanced on the
left, and ordered them to pursue the
enemy with all speed to the Black,
and, if' possible, across that river.
This pursuit continued till after dark;
resulting in the capture of a train of
cars loaded with provisions and mu
nitions, but very little else ; " though
the Rebels lost considerably in muni
tions and stores, which they were
obliged to abandon to the flames.
Sherman's corps had no part in
this engagement, being still on its
way from Jackson when it closed ;
and Ransom's brigade of McPher
son's corps only arrived after the ene
my had retreated. As but three divi
sions of McClernand's corps were even
constructively present, it is morally
certain that this action was fought
by fewer men on our side than on
that of the Rebels.
Grant reports our loss in this des
perate struggle at 426 killed, 1,842
wounded, and 189 missing: total,

the nature of the ground and the density of the
forest, to discover his numbers. As it was, the
battle of Champion Hills, or Baker's creek, was
fought mainly by Hovey's division of McCler
nand's corps and Logan's and Quinby's divisions
(the latter commanded by Brig-Gen. M. M
Crocker) of McPherson's corps."

GRANT CROSSES THE BIG BLACK.

309

2,457. The Rebels lost quite as
heavily in killed and wounded, some
2,000 ' prisoners, 15 or 20 guns, with
thousands of small arms, &c. Among
their killed was Gen. Lloyd Tilgh
man, of Maryland.
Next morning," the pursuit being
renewed, the enemy were found
strongly posted on the Black, with
a bold, wooded bluff directly at the
water's edge on the west side, while
on the east, an open, cultivated bot
tom, nearly a mile broad, has a
bayou of stagnant water, ten to
twenty feet wide and two to three
feet deep, to the east of it. This had
been made to serve as a wet ditch,
with a line of rifle-pits behind it ; and
here Carr's division was stopped two
or three hours, until Lawler, com
manding his right brigade, discover
ed a way of approach whereby it
could be successfully assaulted, and
ordered a charge, which was gallantly
made ; but the volley which was fired
by the enemy at close range as his
command rushed across the level,
open ground, down to the bayou,
taking' our column in flank, swept
down 150 of our men. None faltered
nor turned back, however, nor even
stopped to fire till they were all
across the bayou ; when, pouring in
a deadly volley, without waiting to
reload, they swept on with, fixed
bayonets, leaving the Rebels, who
had not yet found time to reload, no
choice but surrender. Gen. Oster
haus, who with his division had come
up on our left, was here wounded by
a fragment of shell.
Beside the railroad bridge, Pember
ton had constructed an army bridge
over the Black, composed mainly of
three steamboats ; across which, all
"May 17.

his men who could reach it fled,
leaving 18 guns, 1,500 prisoners, sev
eral thousand stand of arms, and
large quantities of commissary stores,
to fall into the hands of the victors,
whose entire loss here was but 29
killed, and 242 wounded. But the
bridges were of course burned by the
fugitives ; and the deep river, with its
forest-covered western bluff lined
with sharp-shooters, baffled our ad
vance for hours. Our only pontoon
train was with Sherman, now on his
way to Bridgeport, several miles far
ther up ; and our attempts - to force
a passage, under cover of a fire of
artillery, were baffled until after
dark ; when the Rebels, aware that
they would be flanked if they at
tempted to remain here, fell back to
the friendly shelter of the fortifica
tions of Vicksburg.
Floating bridges having been con
structed here and three miles above,
during the night, the passage of both
McClernand's and McPherson's corps
commenced at 8 a. m. ;" Gen. Sher
man crossing simultaneously on his
pontoons at Bridgeport, and pressing
on to within 3| miles of Vicksburg ;
when, turning to the right, he took
possession, unopposed, of Walnut
Hills and the banks of the Yazoo
adjacent. McPherson, striking into
Sherman's road, followed it to the
point where the latter had obliqued
to the Walnut Hills, where he halted
for the night; while McClernand,
advancing on the direct highway
from Jackson nearly to Vicksburg,
swayed to the left, so as to cover the
roads leading into that city from the
south-east ; so that by next morning
the investment of the doomed city
was substantially complete ; while
73 May 18.

310

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Porter, who had returned to the
Yazoo on the 16th, now reopened
communication hence with Grant and
Sherman, sending them much needed
provisions, and preparing to attack
the batteries on Haines's Bluff, which
the enemy had begun " to evacuate,
and which, on the appearance of our
gunboats, they ran away from, leav
ing guns, forts, munitions, tents, and
equipage of all kinds, to fall into our
hands. It would hardly be credited
on other testimony than his own,75
that our Admiral proceeded to de
stroy this inestimable material of
war, with full knowledge that Grant's
triumphant army, more especially
Sherman's corps, were at hand to
defend and utilize it.
The fall of Haines's Bluff com
pletely uncovered Yazoo City, in
fact, the whole Yazoo Valley ; and
Porter at once dispatched Lt.
Walker, with five gunboats, up the
river. Walker reached Yazoo City
at 1 p. m. ; 76 finding the Rebel Navy
Yard and vessels in flames, and the
city ready to surrender. Among the
vessels on the stocks was the ram
Republic, 310 feet long by 75 wide ;
the Mobile, ready for plating, &c,
&c. In the Navy Yard, were five
saw and planing mills, an extensive
machine-shop, beside carpenter and
blacksmith shops, &c, &e. All of
these that the Rebels had not already
fired were burned by Walker, who
found 1,500 Rebel sick and wounded
in hospital and paroled them. He

was ambushed " and fired on by 200
sharp-shooters at Liverpool Landing
on his return, with a loss of 1 killed,
9 wounded ; but encountered no other
resistance.

An immediate assault on the land
ward defenses of Vicksburg was de
termined on by Grant, who appre
hended an attack on his rear by
Johnston, strongly reenforced from
Bragg's army, and who counted much
on the demoralization of Pember
ton's forces by their succession of
defeats and disasters. Accordingly,
after some reciprocal cannonading
and sharp-shooting, a general assault
was ordered at 2 p. m. ;" which only
resulted in an advance of the front
of our several corps to a close prox
imity to the Rebel defenses. Blair's
division of Sherman's corps alone
planted its colors on their works ; the
13th regulars, of Giles Smith's brig
ade, doing so at a cost of 77 out of
250 men ; its leader, Capt. Washing
ton, being among the mortally
wounded. The 83d Indiana, Col.
Spooner, and the 127th Illinois, Col.
Eldridge, likewise carried the outer
slope ©f the Rebel earthworks, and
held their ground till night, firing at
any head that appeared above the
parapet, but were unable to enter;
while the regiments on either side of
these^ though they gained position^
close up to the works, were even les3
successful. Sherman, seeing that
they were here exposed to hourly

" On the llth.
" He says, in his dispatch of May 20th to the
Secretary ofthe Navy:
"The works at Haines's Bluff were very for
midable. There are 14 of the heaviest kind of
mounted 8- and 10-inch and H-hich rifled guns,
with ammunition enough to last a long siege. As
the gun-carriages might again fall into the hands
of the enemy, I had them owned, blew up the maga

zine, and destroyed the works generally. I also
burned up the encampments, which were per
manently and remarkably well constructed, look
ing as though the Rebels intended to stay some
time. Their works and encampments covered
many acres of ground ; and the fortifications and
rifle-pita proper of Haines's Bluff extend about
a mile and a quarter. Such a net- work of forts
I never saw."

' May 20.

May 23.

78 May 19.

THE GRAND ASSAULT ON Y.ICKSBURG.

311

decimation to no purpose, ordered
them, after dark, to fall back a short
distance to a point where the irregu
larities of the ground afforded them
comparative shelter and safety.
The two following days were de
voted to bringing up and distribu
ting provisions — the campaign in
Mississippi having thus far been
prosecuted on our part with scarcely
a day's rations for three days' ser
vice: the country traversed being
drawn upon for whatever it could
afford : while roads were made, can
non planted, &c. ; the enemy like
wise improving the time to the
utmost. And now Gen. Grant
ordered a second and more deter
mined assault at all points, to be
made simultaneously at 10 a. m.™
At the moment named, our sol
diers darted from under cover and
rushed upon the Rebel works before
them — their men all shielded by their
breastworks, while ours were neces
sarily exposed to a close and deadly
fire. Sherman's attack was made by
Frank Blair's division, led by the
brigade of Gen. Hugh S. Ewing,
30th Ohio, with Giles Smith's and
T. Kilby Smith's closely following;
sharp-shooters skirmishing in the
advance, and a storming party car
rying boards and poles wherewith to
bridge the ditch — five batteries con
centrating their fire on the enemy's
bastion constructed to command the
approach. In vain. The storming party had
reached the salient of the bastion
unassailed, and passed toward the
sally-port, when there shot up be
hind the parapet, a double rank of
the enemy, who poured on the head

of the column a fire that swept it
down in an instant. No troops
could or should persist in braving
such utter, useless destruction. The
rear of the column attempted to rush
on ; but it was madness ; and soon
all had sought cover from that deadly
fire. Still, the assault was not aban
doned; but, swerving to the left,
Ewing's men, in the advance, crossed
the ditch on the left face of the bas
tion, and, climbing up its exterior
slope, planted their colors near the
top, and burrowed in the earth for
shelter from the flanking fire of the
enemy ; while Giles Smith's brig
ade, turning down a ravine, found
cover, formed line, and threatened the
parapet still farther to the left ; Kil
by Smith deploying his men on the
off slope of a spur of hill, and keep
ing up, with Ewing's, a fire on any
head that appeared above the para
pet. Our artillery and infantry be
ing still at work, our stormers easily
held their ground; and, at length,
Giles Smith's and Ransom's brigades
attempted to carry the parapet by
assault ; but were repelled with loss.
Meantime, Steele's division, which
had advanced half a mile farther to
the right, was fighting desperately to
little profit ; yet, on the receipt of a
dispatch from McClernand to Grant,
announcing that his corps had car
ried three Rebel forts, Sherman or
dered Tuttle to renew the assault on
his left; and Mower's brigade was
sent up where Ewing's had been re
pulsed. Mower did his best ; and the
colors of his leading regiment (llth
Missouri) were planted beside those
of Blair's storming party, and there
remained till withdrawn after night-

1 May 22.

312

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

fall ; but no substantial success was
achieved to balance the heavy loss.
Steele had like ill success in his
attack ; his men advancing across ra
vines and gullies to a point between
the bastion and the Mississippi;
whence they made their way, under
a heavy fire, up to the parapet, which
they failed to carry, but held posses
sion of the hill-side beneath it till
night ; when they were withdrawn,
like the rest.
The assault by McPherson's corps,
in the center, was equally spirited
and equally fruitless, save in carnage :
our losses being probably tenfold
those of the strongly fortified and
thoroughly sheltered Rebels. Some
ground was here gained in the as
sault ; but it was mainly abandoned
after dark.
On our left, McClernand's attack
seemed for a time more effective, or,
at least, was believed by him to be
so. Rushing forward to the assault
precisely at 10 A. m., Lawler's and
Landrum's brigades had, within 15
minutes, carried the ditch, slope, and
bastion, of the fort they confronted,
which was entered by Sergeant Grif
fith and 11 privates of the 22d Iowa ;
all of whom fell in it but the Ser
geant, who brought away 13 Rebels
as prisoners. The colors of the 48th
Ohio and 77th Illinois were planted
on the bastion ; and, within the next
quarter of an hour, Benton's and
Burbridge's brigades, fired by this
example, had carried the ditch and
slope o'f another strong earthwork,
planting their colors on the slope;
while Capt. White, of the Chicago
Mercantile Battery, carried forward
one of his guns by hand to the ditch,
double-shotted it, and fired it into an
embrasure, disabling a Rebel gun

ready to be fired, and doubtless do
ing execution among its gunners.
McClernand supposed his assault
successful, and reported to Grant that
he had carried two ofthe Rebel forts ;
and again: "We have gained the
enemy's intrenchments at several
points, but are brought to a stand ;"
at the same time asking for reen
forcements. Grant, when he received
the first dispatch, immediately or
dered the assault on Sherman's front
(where he then was) to be renewed ;
while he started back to his original
position with McPherson in the cen
ter ; which he had not reached when
he received from McClernand the fur
ther message above cited ; whereupon,
though distrusting its accuracy, he
ordered Quinby's division of McPher
son's corps to report to McClernand ;
whose dispatches he showed to Mc
Pherson as an incitement to press the
enemy in his front, so as to prevent
a concentration against our left.
Nothing came of all this but ag
gravated losses — mainly on our side.
McClernand's taking of the forts was
after the well-known similitude of the
captured Tartar : his men could get
into them at the cost of not coming
out again. Two hours later, he wrote
again that : " I have lost no ground.
My men are in two of the enemy's
forts [which was partially true of his
dead] ; but they are commanded by
rifle-pits in the rear. Several prison
ers have been taken, who intimate
that the rear is strong. At this mo
ment, I am hard pressed." And that
was the sum total of our progress in
this quarter: the assault of Oster-
haus's and Hovey's divisions, farther
to our left, having been promptly
repulsed by a deadly enfilading, fire,
which drove them to take shelter

FAILURE OF THE GRAND ASSAULT.

313

behind a friendly ridge and remain
there; while McArthur's division,
which had been ordered by Grant to
reenforce McClernand, proved to be
some miles distant, so that it did not
arrive till next morning ; and Quin-
by's two brigades came up, fully
observed by the enemy, who corre
spondingly shifted their own forces.
When these brigades came to hand,
it was nearly dark ; and Col. Boom
er, commanding one of them, was
killed as he led his men into action.
Finally, at 8 p. m., our men were re
called from the more advanced and
imperiled positions they had taken,
leaving pickets to hold the ground
solidly gained, wherever that was
practicable; and our army sank to
rest, having lost nearly 3,000 men in
this wasteful assault — a third of them,
Grant estimates, by reason of McCler
nand's mistake in supposing and re
porting that he had carried two forts
by his initial effort.80
Grant, in his report, gives the fol
lowing excellent reasons for ordering
this assault :
" I believed an assault from the position
gained by this time could be made success
fully. It was known that Johnston was at
Canton with the force taken by him from
Jackson, reenforced by other troops from
the east, and that more were daily reaching
him. With the force I had, a short time

.must have enahled Mm to attack me in the
rear, and possibly to succeed in raising the
siege. Possession of Vicksburg at that
time would have enahled me to have turned
upon Johnston and driven him from the
State, and possess myself of all the railroads
and practical military highways : thus effec
tually securing to ourselves all territory
west of the Tombigbee ; and this before the
season was too far advanced for campaign
ing in this latitude. It would have saved
Government sending large reenforcements,
much needed elsewhere; and, finally, the
troops themselves were impatient to possess
Vicksburg, and would not have worked in
the trenches with the same seal, believing it
unnecessary, that they did after their fail
ure to carry the enemy's works."
He afterward adds :
"The assault of this day proved the
quality of the soldiers of this army. With
out entire success, and with a heavy loss,
there was no murmuring or complaining,
no falling back, nor other evidence of de
moralization. " After the failure of the 22d, I deter
mined npon a regular siege. The troops
now, being fully awake to the necessity of (
this, worked diligently and cheerfully. The
work progressed rapidly and satisfactorily
until the 3d of July, when all was about
ready for a final assault."
Vicksburg was now completely
invested; for Porter's gunboats
watched the river above and below
to prevent any escape to or succor
from the Louisiana side; with 13-
inch mortars and 100-pounder rifled
Parrotts mounted on rafts, anchored
under the high bank, whence, en
tirely out of harm's way, they could

°° The diary of a citizen of Vicksburg, who
was a resident during the siege, gives the fol
lowing account of this day's experiences within
the city among civilians, who had only to con
sult their own safety : '
" The morning of this day opened in the same
manner as the previous one had closed. There
had been no lull in the shelling all night ; and,
as daylight approached, it grew more rapid and
furious. Early in the morning, too, the battle
began to rage in the rear. A terrible onslaught
was made on the center first, and then extended
farther to the left, where a terrific struggle took
place, resulting in the repulse of the attacking
party. Four gunboats also came up to engage
the batteries. At this time, the scene presented
an awfully sublime and terrific spectacle^ — three
points being attacked at once ; to wit, the rifle-

pits by the enemy in the rear ; the city by the
mortars opposite ; and the batteries by the gun
boats. Such cannonading- and shelling has per
haps scarcely ever been equaled ; and the city
was entirely untenable, though women and chil
dren were on the streets. It was not safe from
behind or before ; and every part of the city was
alike within range of the Federal guns. The
gunboats withdrew, after a short engagement ;
but the mortars kept up the shelling, and the
armies continued fighting all day. Several des
perate charges were made in force against the
lines without accomplishing their object. It
would require the pen of a poet to depict the
awful sublimity of this day's work — the inces
sant booming of cannon and the banging of
small arms, intermingled with the howling of
shells, and the whistling . of Minie-balls, made
the day truly most hideous."

314

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

throw shell into the city — some of
them having a range of 3£ miles.
We still held military possession of
the peninsula opposite, which we
had vainly tried to coax the Missis
sippi to cross ; and a 3-gun battery
on the levee annoyed the Rebel gar
rison, finally burning up their foun-
dery, wherein they were casting shot
and shell. The Cincinnati had been
sunk 81 by the Rebel batteries ; but
there were five large gunboats left —
two above and three below the town.
And so, keeping a sharp lookout for
an attack by Jo. Johnston on his
rear, Grant sat down to digging his
way into Vicksburg from the east,
with a force not very much superior
in numbers to that which he had so
badly beaten at Champion Hills and
the Big Black, and whose capture
was now but a question of time.
For Pemberton was notoriously short
of both provisions 8" and ammunition
— 42,000 percussion caps having
been smuggled in to him after the
investment; yet he was ultimately
reduced to ten per man. Of his
30,000 men, 6,000 were in hospital,
sick or wounded, leaving probably
not more than 15,000 thoroughly fit
for duty. His hopes of relief were
slender; for the Big Black in our
rear, with the sharp, wooded ridges
among which our besiegers were
encamped, afforded strong defensive
positions, which were carefully im
proved. The sheltering woods ren
dered our camps much cooler than
the naked, dusty city ; while the

81 May 21.
65 The diary of John W. Sattenwhite, 6th
Missouri (Rebel), who fought throughout the
siege, notes, under date of May 26 : " We have
been on half rations of coarse corn-bread and
poor beef for ten days." June 1 : " We are
now eating bean-bread, and half-rations at that."

deep ravines gave birth to many
welcome springs of cool, sparkling
water. Thus our soldiers actually
improved in health as they dug their
way into Vicksburg; so that, while
Grant could hardly have put 20,000
men into line of* battle the day after
the unlucky assault, he had many
more effectives a month later ; beside
which, he had been reenforced by
Lauman's division, and by two others
from Memphis, under Gen. C. C.
Washburne, one drawn from Mis
souri, under Gen. F. J. Herron, and
two divisions of the 9th corps, un
der Maj.-Gen. J. G. Parke.
Our first mine was sprung under a
principal fort opposite our center, on
the 25th, throwing down a part of
its face : a bloody struggle following
for its possession, in which we but
partially succeeded. Three days
later, another face of the same fort
was blown off; and now the enemy
were obliged to recede a little, con
structing or strengthening other de
fenses behind it ; and thus the siege
went on — the rugged ground render
ing tedious approaches unnecessary
— and fort after fort being mined,
while counter-mines were run by the
enemy — the diggers of either army
often hearing the sound of each other's
picks, which gave token that only a
thin screen of earth divided them.
Had it been essential to dig down
those serried heights, which consti
tuted the Gibraltar of the Rebellion,
the work would doubtless have been
done ; but Famine mines more surely

June 3 : "We are now eating half rations :
bread, rice, and corn-meal mixed." June 10 :
" Our beef gave out to-day. We are now draw
ing one-quarter of a pound of bacon to the
man." June 18: "Our rations changed: ±
pound of flour, £ pound of bacon to the man:
quite hght."

NEGOTIATIONS FOR A SURRENDER.

315

and rapidly than any engineer. The
harassed, shattered garrison could
better fight on their ramparts than
starve behind them. At length, after
45 days of isolation, Pemberton,
hopeless of relief, and at the end of
his resources, hung out a white flag 83
in front of Gen. A. J. Smith's divi
sion ; and our men, sent forward to
inquire as to its purport, were in
formed that Gen. Bowen and Col.
Montgomery, of Pemberton's staff,
bore a communication from their
chief to Gen. Grant. Duly blind
folded, they were taken to Gen. Bur-
bridge's tent, whence their message
was communicated to our com
mander, and proved to be an applica
tion for an armistice, with a view to
arranging terms of capitulation.
Gen. Grant promptly responded,
requiring an unconditional surren
der ; to which Bowen demurred, ex
pressing a wish to converse with
Gen. Grant. This was declined ; but
a willingness avowed to confer with
Gen. Pemberton, if he wished, at
such time as he should appoint.
Pemberton accordingly named 3
p. m. of that day; at which time,
the meeting took place : Pemberton
being attended by Bowen and Mont
gomery ; Grant by McPherson, Ord,
Logan, and A. J. Smith, beside
his staff. Pemberton required that
his men should be paroled and
marched beyond our lines with eight
days' rations drawn from their own
stores [they applied to our commis
sary for rations next day ] ; the
officers to retain their private pro
perty and their body-servants. Grant
heard all that they proposed, then
broke up the conference, promising
to send his answer before night;

hostilities to remain suspended mean
time. Accordingly, after conferring
with his Major-Generals, Grant sent
by Gen. Logan and Lt.-Col. "Wilson
the following letter :
" Headquaetebs, Dep't of Tennessee, )
"Near Vioksbueg, July 3, 1863. (
"Lt.-Gen. J. 0. Pemberton, commanding
Confederate forces, Vicksburg, Miss. :
" General : In conformity with the agree
ment of this afternoon, I will submit the fol
lowing propositions for the surrender of the
city of Vicksburg, public stores, etc. On
your accepting the terms proposed, I will
march in one division as a guard, and take
possession at 8 a. m. to-morrow. As soon
as paroles can be made out and signed by
the officers and men, you will be allowed to
march out of our lines : the officers taking
with them their regimental clothing, and
staff, field, and cavalry officers one horse
each. The rank and file will be allowed all
their clothing, but no other property. If
these conditions are accepted, any amount
of rations you may deem necessary can be
taken from the stores you now have, and
¦also the necessary cooking utensils for pre
paring them, and thirty wagons also, count
ing two two-horse or mule teams as one.
You will be allowed to transport such arti
cles as can not be carried along. The same
conditions will he allowed to all sick and
wounded officers and privates, as fast as they*
become able to travel. The paroles of these
latter must be signed, however, whilst offi
cers are present authorized to sign the roll
of prisoners. "I am, General, very respectfully,
" Your obedient servant,
"U. 8. Geant, Major-General."
Pemberton responded as follows :
"Headquaetebs, Vicksburg, )
"July 3, 1863. \
"Maj.-Gen. Geant, com'ding U. S. forces:
" General : I have the honor to acknow
ledge the receipt of your communication of
this date, proposing terms for the surrender
of this garrison and post. In the main, your
terms are accepted; but, in justice both to
the honor and spirit of my troops, manifest
ed in the defense of Vicksburg, I have the
honor to submit the following amendments ;
which, if acceded to by you, will perfect the
agreement between us. At 10. o'clock to
morrow, I propose to evacuate the works in
and around Vicksburg, and to surrender the
city and garrison under my command, hy
marching out with my colors and arms,
and stacking them in front of my pres-

3 July 3, 8 a. li.

316

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ent lines — after which, you will take pos
session; officers to retain their side-arms
and personal property, and the rights and
property of citizens to be respected.
" I am, General, yours, very respectfully,
"J. 0. Pemberton, Lt.-General."
Grant rejoined, declining to fetter
himself by any stipulations respect
ing citizens and their effects, and in
sisting that officers should take but
their private baggage and side-arms,
with one horse each to mounted offi
cers. Should these terms not be ac
ceded to by 9 a. m., they would be
regarded as rejected. Pemberton
forthwith acceded; and, at 9 A. M.,
on the ' Glorious Fourth,' Gen. Mc
Pherson rode in to receive the stipu
lated surrender ; meeting Pemberton
half a mile within the lines, where
they were soon joined by Grant ; and
all, after a few minutes' parley, rode
together into town ; while Gen. Lo
gan was ordered to establish a pro
vost-guard. At 11£, the National
ensign was hoisted over the Court
House, and "Rally round the flag"
sung beneath it by a crowd of enthu
siastic soldiers, who evidently thought
that the National Anniversary need
ed an extra celebration in that city,
whence it had for two years been ex
cluded. By 3 p. m., our possession
was complete ; our vast fleet of rams,
gunboats, transports, &c, stretched
along the levee ; and the Rebel sol
diers, whose arms had been duly
stacked in the morning, were look
ing sharply for the provisions which
their own commissariat was unable
to supply. After being duly paroled
and supplied with three days' ra
tions, they were escorted across the
Big Black ; thence taking their way
to Jackson.
Gen. Grant reports his aggregate
losses in this memorable campaign,
from the day he landed at Bruinsburg

till that ofthe surrender, at 943 killed,
7,095 wounded, and 537 missing:
total, 8,575 ; of whom 4,236 fell be
fore Vicksburg — most of them in the
assault of May 22d. He adds :
" Of the wounded, many were but slight
ly wounded, and continued on duty ; many
more required but a few days or weeks for
their recovery. Not more than one-half of
the wounded were permanently disabled."
Of the enemy's losses, he says :
"The result of this campaign has been
the defeat of the enemy in five battles out
side of Vicksburg ; the occupation of Jack
son, the capital of the State of Mississippi,
and the capture of Vicksburg and its garrison
and munitions of war ; a loss to the enemy
of 37,000 prisoners, among whom were fif
teen general officers; at least 10,000 killed
and wounded, and among the killed Gene
rals Tracy, Tilghman, and Green, and hun
dreds, perhaps thousands, of stragglers, who
can never be collected and reorganized.
Arms and munitions of war for an army of
60,000 men have fallen into our hands ; be
sides a large amount of other public proper
ty, consisting of railroads, locomotives, cars,
steamboats, cotton, etc. ; and much was de
stroyed to prevent our capturing it."
Of course, the 37,000 prisoners
claimed were not all captured with
Vicksburg ; but the number there pa
roled, including the sick and wound- .
ed, was reported at 27,000, of whom
15,000 only were fit for duty. This
was the heaviest single blow ever
given to the muscular resources of
the Rebellion; and no other cam
paign of the war equals in brilliancy
of conception and general success in
execution that which resulted in the
capitulation of Vicksburg.

Gen. Grant was fully aware,
throughout the progress of the siege,
that Jo. Johnston was behind him,
using every exertion to raise an army
strong enough to fall upon the be
siegers with a rational hope of suc
cess. Hardly had the investment
been completed, when, upon infor
mation that Johnston had crossed the

SHERMAN DRIVES JOHNSTON OUT OF JACKSON.

317

: Big Black, near Canton, he directed **
Gen. Sherman, with five brigades, to
oppose his farther advance. Sher
man moved accordingly ; and, being
afterward reenforced, constructed a
line of defenses from the Vazoo at
Haines's Bluff to the Big Black,
which could not have been carried
: even by a considerably larger force,
save at a fearful cost. Johnston did
not try it ; but was operating farther
down the Black, with probable in
tent86 to cut his way through our
left aud form a junction with Pem
berton south of the city, when the
latter, apprehending an assault on
the 4th, surrendered his famished
forces. That surrender had barely
been effected when Gen. Grant im
pelled all that remained with him of
Sherman's and McPherson's corps to
reenforce Sherman on the Big Black ;
' not even allowing the soldiers to en
ter the stronghold they had so hardly
won. By 2 p. m. of the 4th, our col
umns were in motion ; next evening,
they had united with Sherman's for
mer command, enabling him to cross
the Big Black on the 6th with an
army little less than 50,000 strong.
His right, under Ord, crossed at the
railroad ; his center, under Steele, at
Messenger's Ford, above ; his left, un
der Parke, still higher up the river ;
the latter alone encountering no seri
ous resistance. Thus advancing over
a region already wasted by war, and
now parched to sterility by a fierce

drouth, which maddened men and
animals with heat and thirst, cover
ing all With blinding dust, our army
pressed back Johnston into Jackson,
forcing him to take refuge 80 within
its intrenchments, wherein he was
soon invested ; " Sherman opening
upon the city and its defenders a con
centric fire with 100 heavy guns on
the 12th ; while our cavalry advance
on either flank was pushed forward
to Pearl river.
Johnston says he had but 24,000
men — sufficient to resist an assault,
but not enough to meet Sherman's
force in pitched battle with any hope
of success. Our guns, planted on the
adjacent hills, commanded every part
of the town. A gleam of good for
tune transiently irradiated his som
ber prospect ; Gen. Lauman, misap
prehending an order, having ad
vanced his division so close to the
Rebel works that it was uselessly
torn to pieces by a fire' which in. a
few moments bereft us of 500 men,
of whom 200 were captured, with the
colors ofthe 28th, 41st, and 53d Illi
nois. It being evident that to remain
was simply to court destruction,
Johnston — apprised that heavy trains
of ammunition were coming up- from
Vicksburg to Sherman, who had thus
far been constrained to economize
his cartridges — having sent away
whatever he could — his railroad east
ward being still open — evacuated

M June 22.
85 Gen. Hugh S. Ewing reports that he caught,
on the 3d, a spy attempting to force his way
through his lines into Vicksburg, on the strength
of a pass from one of our Generals ; who, when
searched, was found to have passes also from
Rebel Generals, and who was doubtless sent by
Johnston to Pemberton with assurances that he
would speedily advance to his rescue.

Johnston, in his report, confirms Ewing's sus
picions, as follows:
"On the night of the 3d, a messenger was
sent to Gen. Pemberton with information that
an attempt to create a diversion would be made,
to enable him to cut his way out, and that I
hoped to attack thte enemy about the 7 th.
" On the 5th, however, we learned the fall of
Vicksburg; and therefore fell back to Jackson."
88 July 1. " July 9-10.

318

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Jackson during the night,88 hurrying
across Pearl river, and burning the
bridges behind him; retreating
through Brandon to Morton. Sher
man did not pursue in force beyond
Brandon; but, having thoroughly
broken up the railroads for miles in
every direction, and destroyed every
thing in Jackson that could be use
ful to the enemy, fell back by Clinton
across the Big Black.8" Johnston
reports his loss in Jackson at 71
killed, 504 wounded, and about 25
missing ; but adds : " Desertions
during the siege and on the march
[retreat] were, I regret to say, fre
quent." 
Having perfected the occupation
and insured the retention of Vicks
burg, Gen. Grant embarked 90 an ex
pedition, under Gen. F. J. Herron, to
move down the river to the aid of Gen.
Banks in the siege of Port Hudson ;
but our men were scarcely on board
when tidings of Gardner's surrender
caused the order to be countermand
ed, and Herron directed to proceed
instead up the Tazoo. This involved
a debarkation and reembarkation on
vessels of fighter draft ; which being
promptly effected, Herron set forth
on his new errand;91 his transports
preceded by the iron-clad De Kalb
and two ' tin-clad' [lightly and par
tially shielded] gunboats, under Cap
tain Walker.
The object of this expedition was
the capture of a large fleet of steam
boats, which had been run up this
river for safety and use, and which
had escaped Porter's expedition by
running far up one of the branches

88 July 16-17.
80 July 10-11.
" July 16-17.

1 July 21.

89 July 25.
91 July 12.
1 July 18-19.

of the Tazoo — a feat now incapable
of repetition, by reason of the gene
ral drouth and consequent shallow
ness of those streams. The 29th
North Carolina, Col. Chrisman, with
a battery, holding Tazoo City, de
camped on the approach of our boats ;
but the De Kalb was sunk by a tor
pedo when nearly opposite the city ;
while the coveted steamboats made
off, and but one of them was cap
tured. Herron's cavalry being sent
after the fugitives, however, they
were all — 22 in number — burnt or
sunk, either at this time or when
"Walker was sent back by Com. Por
ter to bring away the guns, &.c, ofthe
De Kalb; so that the Tazoo was
thenceforth clear of Rebel vessels.
Herron captured and brought away
300 prisoners, 6 heavy guns, 250
small arms, 800 horses, and 2,000
bales of Confederate cotton. He
moved °2 across, by order, from Tazoo
City to Benton and Canton, in sup
port of Sherman's advance to Jack
son; but countermarched immedi
ately,93 on information of Johnston's
flight from Jackson, and, reembark-
ing, returned M to Vicksburg.

While the siege of Vicksburg was
in progress, Gen. Grant,' compelled
to present a bold front at once to
Pemberton and to Johnston, had
necessarily drawn to himself nearly
all the forces in his department,
stripping his forts on the river above
him so far as was consistent with
their safety. Milliken's Bend had
thus been left in charge of Brig.-
Gen. E. S. Dennis, with barely 1,061-"
effectives, whereof the 23d Iowa,

95 So Gen. Dennis reports. Mr. G. &. Ed
wards, who was present, reports our numbers as
foUows : 23d Iowa, 160 ; 9th La., 500 ; llth La.
about 600; 1st Miss., 150: total, 1,410.

ATTACKS ON MILLIKEN'S BEND AND HELENA.

319

Col. Glasgow, numbered 160; the
residue were negroes, very recently
enlisted, and organized as the 9th
and llth Louisiana and 1st Missis
sippi. Against this post, a Rebel
force from the interior of Louisiana,
said to consist of six regiments under
Gen. Henry McCulloch, numbering
2,000 to 3,000, advanced 98 from Rich
mond, La., driving in the 9th Louis
iana and two companies of cavalry
who had been out on a reconnois-
sance, and pursuing them nearly up
to our earthworks at the Bend, where
they were stopped by nightfall, and
lay on their arms, not doubting that
they would go in with a rush next
morning. But, just at dark, a steambpat
passed, enabling Dennis to send to
Admiral Porter for aid; when the
gunboats Choctaw and Lexington
were sent down from Helena; the
former arriving just as the Rebels,
at 3 a. m., advanced to the assault,
with cries of " No quarter !" to
negroes and officers of negro troops,
rushing upon and over our intrench
ments, before the green, awkward
Blacks had been able to fire more
than one or two rounds. A hand-to-
hand fight of several minutes, with
bayonets and clubbed muskets,
ensued ; wherein combatants were
mutually transfixed and fell dead:
the struggle resulting favorably to
the Rebels, who had flanked our
works and poured in a deadly en
filading fire, which compelled our
men to give ground and retire, still
fighting, behind the levee. And
now the Choctaw opened on the
exulting foe with such effect as to
compel them also to shrink behind
their side of the levee, keeping up

16 June 6.

a fire, while attempting to outflank
our right. Thus the fight was main
tained with little loss till noon ; when
the Rebels, having the worst of it,
drew off, under a heavy fire from our
troops and gunboats, but without
being pursued. Some of the news
paper correspondents state, what
Dennis's report conceals, that our
Blacks, impelled to charge the Rebels
in their flight, were led directly
under the fire of our gunboats, by
which they were far worse cut up
than by the Rebels. Hence, our
heavy loss of 127 killed, 287 wound
ed, beside some 300 missing at the
close of the action; most of whom
probably turned up afterward. As
Dennis estimates the Rebel loss at
about 150 killed and 300 wounded, it
is probable that the fire of the gun
boats, while it frightened only the
Rebels, killed more of our men than
of theirs.
A Rebel demonstration against
Toung's Point was made simultane
ously with that against Milliken's
Bend; but had no result, and was
probably intended only to distract
attention from the latter. A few
shots from gunboats were sufficient
to compel a retreat.

Helena, Arkansas, had been
quietly held by our forces since its
unresisted occupation by Gen. "Wash
burne,87 with the cavalry advance of
Gen. Curtis's army, and had proved
useful as a depot of recruits and sup
plies destined for operations farther
south ; while its garrison was a con
stant menace and a source of uneasi
ness and alarm to the Rebels still hold
ing most of Arkansas; threatening, as
it did, the more important points

87 July 11, 1862. See page 35.

320

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

therein. Tet it was left unassailed till
near the close of the siege of Vicks
burg, ere which, Lt.-Gen. Holmes,
commanding in Arkansas, had solicit
ed'8 of Lt.-Gen. Kirby Smith, chief of
the trans-Mississippi department, per
mission to attack it ; which was readi
ly granted. Meantime, the Confeder
ate Secretary of War had not merely
sanctioned the enterprise, but sug
gested and urged it. Thus author
ized and stimulated, Holmes left99
Little Rock for Clarendon, which he
had designated as the rendezvous for
his forces. Fagan, with a part of
his men, was promptly on hand ; but
Sterling Price, owing to heavy rains
and consequent high water, was
unable to arrive till four days after
ward.100 The attempt at surprise
was thus baffled; Maj.-Gen. B. M.
Prentiss, commanding at Helena,
being seasonably aware of his peril,
and fully on the alert to repel it.
He had 3,800 effectives, behind
strong earthworks mounted with
serviceable guns, with the main ap
proaches well covered by abatis.
The gunboat Tyler, Lt.-Com'g J. M.
Pritchett, was on hand, and played a
very efficient part in the defense.
And, though Helena lies on a flat
adjoining the river, its outworks had
been judiciously located on the bluffs
a mile back, where deep ravines and
steep ridges favor the defensive and
impede the bringing up of artillery
by their assailants. Brig.-Gen. F.
Salomon,101 who had in good part
planned and constructed them, was
in immediate command of our ex
terior defenses.
Holmes — who had been grossly
deceived both as to the strength of
our works and the number of their

defenders — had never a reasonable
chance of success. His only ground
of rational hope was that he might be
confronted by a coward, a traitor, or
an idiot ; and that did not happen to
be the case.
Two years of sanguinary conflict
had begun to tell on the resources of
the Confederates. Here were Price,
and Parsons, and Marmaduke, with
what the waste of war had left . of
their Missourians ; Holmes had evi
dently swept Arkansas to swell the
brigades of Fagan, McRae, and
Walker; yet he reports his total
force at 7,646; or about twice the
number he vainly struggled to over
come. He needed twice that number
to give his attack a fair chance of
success. His dispositions appear to have
been judicious ; his movements well
timed ; and his soldiers, in the main,
tenacious as well as brave. The
Rebels were rarely deficient in a
charge ; but they often failed where
endurance was required. In this in
stance, beside Sterling Price — emi
nently loved and trusted by the Mis
sourians — the Rebel Governor of
Arkansas, Harris Flanagan, and his
Adjutant-General, Col. Gordon Rear,
were on the field, acting as volunteer
aids to Holmes.
Having arrived within five miles
of Helena on the morning of the
3d, with his front well covered by
cavalry, who permitted no one to
pass them riverward, no matter on
what pretext, he rested his men till
midnight ; when they were moved
forward to within a mile or so of the
outworks, where they halted till day
break, and then pushed on.
Price, with the brigades of Par-

' June 14, 1863. '" June 26. M° June 30. m Brother of the then Governor of Wisconsin.

HOLMES'S FAILURE AT HELENA.

321

sons and McRae, numbering 3,095,
was directed to assault and carry
Graveyard hill (Battery C) ; and he
did it, under a tempest of grape,
canister, and musketry, repelling its
defenders and capturing some of their
guns. But he found them shot-
wedged or divested of friction-
primers, so as to be useless; while
his own, . necessarily left behind in
the charge, were now brought up
with difficulty; meantime, our bat
teries on either hand were playing
upon his exposed infantry, who were
falling rapidly and uselessly. To
escape this fire, hundreds of them
pushed forward, without orders or
organization — a mere mob — and,
being wholly unsupported, were
plowed through and through by shot
and shell from front and flanks, until
the survivors, unable even to flee,
were obliged to surrender; few of
them escaping. Of his 3,095 men,
Price reports a total loss this day of
1,111, or more than a third : 105
killed, 504 wounded, 502 missing.
Fagan had a smaller force — only
four infantry regiments — yet was
assigned what proved the harder
task: to assault and carry the fort
on Hindman's hill (Battery D).
Leaving his artillery where he first
encountered obstructions, he rushed
his men up ravines and precipices,
over abatis, driving our sharp-shoot
ers out of their rifle-pits, under a
heavy, constant, and deadly fire, till
no obstacle remained between them
and the fort they were ordered to
take, just as they were relieved of a
heavy enfilading fire by Price's cap
ture of our works on Graveyard hill.
This fort, Fagan now attempted to
carry by assault; but the utmost
efforts of his men, stimulated by the
vol. n. — 21

frantic entreaties of their officers,
only sufficed to pile the ground with
their bleeding bodies. One Arkansas
regiment, in attempting to force its
way into the fort, lost its Colonel,
Lt.-Colonel, and over 100 men, taken
prisoners. The remainder were
driven back to the last line of rifle-
pits, whence Fagan sent for assist
ance — in vain. Meantime, the guns
of the fort kept busily at work;
fatigue, thirst, and heat — for the day
proved intensely warm — told upon
the thinned ranks of the Rebels ; yet
they held their ground until, at 11
A. m., orders came from Holmes for
a general retreat, which were will
ingly obeyed.
Marmaduke — who had 1,750 men
— was ordered to take the fort on
Righton hill, on the north, in which
he failed ; being exposed to a heavy
flanking fire from artillery and mus
ketry sheltered behind the levee.
He lays the blame of his failure on
Walker, who, with a cavalry brigade,
was still farther to the north, and
who (Marmaduke says) kept about
half a mile back — an assertion coun
tenanced by undisputed facts. Very
likely, his knowledge that to advance
was sheer foolhardiness kept him
back. His loss was trifling ; that
of Marmaduke but 67.
Holmes, in his report, frankly ad
mits his defeat, and makes his loss
173 killed, 687 wounded, 776 miss
ing ; total, 1,636 — over 20 per cent.
of his force. Prentiss makes our
prisoners 1,100, and says he buried
nearly 300 Rebels; while our loss
was less than 250' in all. There was
no pursuit by our still inferior force,
and no capture of guns ; but Helena
was thenceforth free from Rebel
molestation.

322

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

THE

XV.
DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF-
SO JST — T E X A S .

-PORT HUD-

Galveston has one of the very
few tolerable harbors which indent
the continental shore line of the Mexi
can Gulf. The sand, everywhere im
pelled landward by the prevailing
winds and currents, and almost eve
rywhere forming a bank or narrow
strip of usually dry beach closely
skirting the coast, is here broken
through by the very considerable wa
ters ofthe riversTrinity and San Jacin
to, with those of Buffalo bayou, which
unitedly form Galveston Bay; and
the city of Galveston is built on the
sand-spit here called Galveston Isl
and, just south-west of the outlet of
the Bay. It is the natural focus of
the commerce of the larger, more fer
tile, more populous half of Texas,
and by far the most considerable
place in the State; having had, in
1860, regular lines of steamers run
ning to New Tork, to New Orleans,
and to the smaller Texan ports down
the coast, with a population of 5,000,
a yearly export of nearly half a mil
lion bales of cotton, and a very con
siderable trade. Plunged, with the
rest of the State, into the whirlpool
of Secession, it had many Unionists
among its people, who welcomed the
reappearance ofthe oldflag when their
city, after being once idly summon
ed '_ to surrender, was at length occu
pied,2 without resistance, by a naval
force consisting of four steam gun
boats under Commander Renshaw —
the Rebel municipal as well as mili
tary authorities retiring to the main
land.

1 May 17, 1862.

1 Oct. 8.

The possession thus easily acquired
was as easily maintained to the close
of that year : Gen. Banks, at the re
quest of Renshaw, sending down from
New Orleans the 42d Massachusetts,
Col. Burrill ,* whereof three compa
nies, numbering 260 men, were actu
ally debarked,3 and encamped on the
wharf, the residue being still on their
way ; while our gunboats Westfield,
Clifton, Harriet Lane, Owasco, Cory
phaeus, and Salem (disabled), lay at
anchor in the harbor — Renshaw in .
chief command. Some of these boats
had been down the coast during the
summer, and exchanged compliments
with the Rebel batteries at Corpus
Christi* and Lavacca/ without in
flicting or receiving much if any
harm. Since then, they had lain
quiet in the harbor ; their commander
maintaining the most intimate and
cordial relations with the leading
Rebels adjacent, who were in and
out of Galveston at their conveni
ence; having a pretty full use of
that port without the trouble of de
fending it.
Maj.-Gen. Magruder having, about
this time, succeeded to the chief
command in Texas, reports that he
found matters along the coast in a
very unsatisfactory state — the har
bors virtually or actually in Federal
possession, from the Sabine to Corpus
Christi, and the valley of the Rio
Grande almost abandoned. So, after
stopping but a day or two in Hous
ton, he went down to Virginia Point,
opposite Galveston ; thence coolly

s Dec. 28.

'Aug. 16-18.

6 Oct. 31.

MAGRUDER'S GALVESTON FORAY.

323

passing over to the city by night,
with 80 men, supported by some
300 more, coolly inspecting its de
fenses and military capacities with
out resistance or demur. Even the
long wooden bridge connecting the
city with the main land, with the
railroad track leading over it to Vir
ginia Point, were neither broken up
nor guarded ; so that Magruder had
the most liberal facilities afforded him
for the enterprise he meditated. He
decided that, though he could readily
seize the old defenses, he could make
nothing of them, and that he must
operate by steamboats; as he had
advices from New Orleans that more
Federal troops were coming. So, col
lecting guns, troops, and volunteers
from the adjacent region, and steam
boats from all the rivers flowing into
the Bay, he prepared for a speedy
attack. His arrangements appear to have
been made with judgment as well
as energy, and his command of men
was virtually unlimited ; but his guns
(6 siege and 14 field-pieces) were in
adequate, and his vessels (three or
four ordinary river steamboats, their
decks shielded by cotton-bales) glar
ingly so. It is difficult to resist the
impression, on reading his report, not
only that Renshaw was a traitor, but
that Magruder acted with full knowl
edge of that fact ; since otherwise his
enterprise was sheer madness. That
the Rebels were preparing to expel us
from the city and harbor was perfect
ly understood in Galveston through
out at least the day" previous to the
attack. Aside from the " intelligent
contraband" usually present and vo
cal on such occasions, the hush of ex
pectation, broken only by furtive and

ominous whispers, gave proof that
every Rebel in Galveston anticipated
a speedy change of flags. Tet no
preparation was made for resistance ;
no streets were patrolled ; no unusual
vigilance evinced ; even the wooden
bridge, two miles long, connecting
the island city with the hostile main
land, was neither burnt, taken up,
barricaded, nor even observed on our
part ; so Magruder, unresisted and
unchallenged, advanced over it, about
midnight, with his forces and guns
(the latter on cars), into and through
the city, as though he were trav
ersing the streets of Houston, to
within two squares of the wharf
whereon the Massachusetts men were
quartered, posted his guns in the
most advantageous positions, un
hitched their horses and sent them
to a place of safety — the guns hav
ing been brought to bear on our ves
sels, but awaiting the arrival of the
boats before opening fire. At 4 A. m.,
however-— the moon having set, ob
scuring the movements on shore, but
leaving our gunboats distinctly visi
ble to the Rebel gunners in the clear
star-light — Magruder, unable to wait
longer for the fleet, lest he should be
overtaken by daybreak, fired the sig
nal-gun himself; while Col. Cook led
a storming party of 500, supported
by Griffin's battalion and by sharp
shooters, to the assault on our Mas
sachusetts men encamped on the
wharf. The assault miscarried. The wharf-
planks having been taken up between
our men and the .land, and piled up
to form a rude barricade in their
front, it was necessary that the assail
ants should wade through the water
of the bay, carrying scaling-ladders

•Dec. 31,1862.

324

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

as well as muskets ; while not only
were our landsmen by this time wide
awake and firing vigorously, but om'
vessels were dispensing grape and
canister with the proverbial generos
ity of sailors. The water proved
deeper than had been calculated ; the
scaling-ladders were said to be too
short ; and, after a brief struggle, the
stormers recoiled and took shelter
behind the nearest buildings ; while
the guns of our vessels, hardly 300
yards distant, proved too many for
the lighter pieces of the hastily con
structed Rebel batteries, driving off
their gunners and completely si
lencing their fire. Daybreak was
imminent ; and it seemed for a mo
ment that victory was alighting on
the banners of the Union.
But now two Rebel steamboats
appeared, and speedily put a differ
ent face on the matter. Ably han
dled by Commodore (or Major) Leon
Smith, heavily barricaded with cot
ton-bales, and amply manned by
volunteers from Sibley's brigade, un
der Cols. Green and Bagby, they
dashed down the harbor — the Bayou
City and Neptune rushing from
either side on the Harriet Lane, Capt.
Wainwright ; running into her with
all their force, and sweeping her
decks with a deadly fire of small
arms.' They met no traitors nor cowards
among her chief officers. The Nep
tune was disabled by the Harriet
Lane's return blow, sinking soon af
terward, in eight feet water ; and the
Bayou City narrowly escaped a simi
lar fate, barely evading the direct
force of the Lane's crashing assault,
which swept off her larboard wheel-
house. Meanwhile, Wainwright's
heavy guns were crashing through

his adversary, whose only cannon, a
68-pounder, had burst at the third dis
charge, but whose heavy musketry fire
was so annoying that it doubtless in
terfered with the steering of our ves
sel ; so that the Rebel boat, turning
once more, drove her prow into the
iron wheel of- the Lane, fixing it
there; when Smith was enabled to
board with his more numerous crew,
and our overpowered men, after a
brief resistance, surrendered ; but not
till Wainwright had been killed, and
Lt.-Com'g Lee mortally wounded.
Lee's father was a Rebel Major, en
gaged in the attack, and one of the
first to recognize his dying son.
The Owasco had been coaling be
low the town, but had got under way
soon after the fight commenced ; en
gaging the Rebel batteries until she
observed the cotton-boats in conflict
with the Harriet Lane; when she
steamed up to assist her; grounding
repeatedly on the way, owing to the
darkness and the narrowness of the
channel. Approaching the Lane,
she was received with a heavy fire of
musketry, while her own 11-inch gun
could rarely be brought to bear ; so
she speedily backed out of the en
counter, returning to her fruitless
contest with the shore batteries.
The Westfield, Renshaw's flag
ship, had started to meet the Rebel
steamers on the tidings of their ap
proach ; but soon got hard and fast
aground at high tide, and began sig
naling for assistance. The Clifton,
Lt.-Com'g Law, thereupon went up to
her, and began to pull her off; when,
upon seeing the flashes of guns from
the Rebel batteries, Renshaw ordered
her back to the city.
It was now after 7 A. m., and broad
day. The Rebels raised a white flag

OUR LOSSES AT GALVEST0N.

325

,,on the Harriet Lane, and sent a
truce-boat to the Clifton, demanding
the surrender ' of our fleet ! Law re
pelled the suggestion, yet accompa
nied the Rebel officer to Renshaw on
the Westfield, who rejected the pro
posal ; ordering our vessels afloat to
get out of harm's way so soon as
might be, while he, despairing of
getting the Westfield off, would blow
her up, and escape with his crew on
the transports Saxon and Boardman,
lying near him. . He did blow her
up, accordingly; but the explosion
must have been premature, since
Renshaw himself, with Lt. Zimmer-«
man, Engineer Green, and ten or
fifteen of his crew, perished with
her.8 An eye-witness states that
all had left her but ReUshaw him
self when she was fired (it was said
by a drunkard) and blew up, kill
ing eight or ten officers and men in
the captain's gig beside her.
Meantime, our soldiers, left to their
fate, and wholly without artillery,
had been summoned by Gen. W. R.
Scurry " to surrender, and had done

7 There are all manner of conflicting state
ments concerning this truce: each party charg
ing the other with violating it by acting while
it lasted as if it had no existence. One Union
writer says that the Rebels only demanded
that our vessels should quit the harbor with
in three hours. This would render Renshaw's
conduct with regard to his ship less mysterious.
The Houston Telegraph of Jan. 5 had an account
of the whole affair by an eye-witness, who
makes the truce a Rebel trick from its inception.
He says :
" The propeller Owasco lay in the channel,
about' three-fourths of a mile from tho Bayou
City and Harriet Lane. As the Lane was board
ed, the Owasco steamed up to within 200 or'300
yards of them, firing into both. The force of
the collision drove the Bayou City's stem so far
into and under the wheel and gunwale of the
Lane that she could not be got out. The Lane
was also so careened that her guns could not be
worked, and were consequently useless. They
both lay, therefore, at the mercy of the Owas-

so. Two coal-barques — the Cavallo
and the Elias Pike — were captured 10
by the Rebel steamboat Carr — one
of two or three that came down the
bay some time after the Neptune and
Bayou City. And Law, considering
the Owasco his only efficient vessel,
and she not equal in a fight- to the
Harriet Lane, precipitately aban
doned the blockade, running off with
the sad remains of our fleet to New
Orleans ; though hourly expecting a
transport down from that city, which
would almost inevitably run into the
enemy's clutches if not warned of
the changed condition of affairs.
Magruder reports his entire loss
in this fight at 26 killed, 117 wound
ed, and the steamer Neptune — her
crew and guns being saved. "He
says he captured (beside the Harriet
Lane, with all her armament, the
schooner and barques), " 350 prison
ers, beside officers ;" while our losses
include the Westfield also, with her
splendid battery of eight heavy
rifled guns. He came very near en
trapping the steamship Cambria,

co. Herculean efforts were made to extricate
them. " The Owasco, evidently fearing the Lane's
guns, withdrew to a position about a mile dis
tant. It became plainly evident that, unless the
Bayou City and Harriet Lane could be separated,
the enemy could escape if they wished. To gain
time, therefore, a flag of truce was taken to the
Owasco and Clifton, now lying close together,
and a demand for a surrender. Time was asked
to communicate with Com. Renshaw, who was
on the Westfield. . A truce of three hours was
agreed upon. During ihe truce with the vessels,
the unconditional surrender of these [Mass.] men
was demanded and complied with."
¦ 8 Magruder, in his onicial report, unqualifiedly
asserts that he had given Renshaw three hours'
truce, and that the latter had agreed to surren
der — which is so irreconcilable with established .
facts that I can only credit it on the assumption
that they had acted in concert throughout.
9 Formerly representative in Congress from
Texas. 10 Magruder says a schooner also.

326

lfl_E AMERICAN CONFLICT.

which arrived off the bar on the 3d,
containing (he says) " E. J. Davis and
many other apostate Texans, beside
several hundred troops, and 2,500
saddles for the use of native sympa
thizers/' Her captain, however, was
seasonably warned to escape. One
Galveston Unionist, named Thomas
Smith, who was landed from her
yawl, he caught, tried, and shot as a
deserter from the Rebel service. And
that was the sum of his " spoils" —
Com. Farragut, soon after, sending
vessels to reestablish the blockade,
before the Harriet Lane could be got
ready to run out and roam the seas
as a Rebel corsair.
But at Sabine Pass, a perform
ance soon after occurred which was
scarcely less disgraceful to our arms
than this at Galveston. The broad
estuary at the mouth of the Sabine
was blockaded by the Union gunboat
Morning Light, 10 guns, and the
schooner Velocity, 3 guns; which
were attacked " by two Rebel gun
boats — Josiah Bell and Uncle Ben —
fitted out in the Sabine for the pur
pose, under command of Major O. M.
Watkins, who chased our vessels out
to sea and captured them after a very
feeble resistance. Watkins reports
his captures at " 13 guns, 129 prison
ers, and $1,000,000 worth of stores."
The blockade of Galveston having
barely been reestablished under Com.
Bell,' of the Brooklyn, a sail was de
scried " in the south-east ; when the
gunboat Hatteras, Lt.-Com'g R. G.
Blake, was signaled by Bell to over
haul her. The stranger affected to fly ;
but Blake soon observed that he did
not seem in any great hurry. Clear
ing his decks for action, he stood on ;
and, when four miles distant, he saw

that the chase had ceased to steam
and was waiting. Blake, whose guns
were short as well as few, ran down
to within 75 yards and hailed ; when
the stranger answered his hail by
proclaiming his craft Her Britannic
Majesty's ship Vixen. Blake there
upon offered to send a boat aboard ;
and was proceeding to do so — each
of them maneuvering for a better
position — when the stranger shouted,
"We are the Confederate steamer
Alabama," and poured in a broad
side ; which was promptly returned.
The Alabama being every way the
superior vessel, Blake had no hope,
save in closing with and boarding
her ; which he attempted to do ; but
the Alabama had the advantage in
speed as well as force, and easily
baffled him. Both vessels were firing
every gun that could be brought to
bear, and as rapidly as possible, at a
distance of but 30 yards — the Alaba
ma having received considerable in
jury—when two of her shells simul
taneously entered the Hatteras at
the water-line, exploding and setting
her on fire ; and a third pierced her
cylinder, filling her with scalding
steam, crippling her walking-beam,'
and disabling her engine; while
water poured in profusely from the
rift in her side, threatening her with
speedy destruction. The Alabama
now working ahead, beyond the
range of the Hatteras's guns, Blake
ordered his magazine to be flooded,
and fired a lee gun ; when the enemy
afforded assistance in saving our
men — the Hatteras going down ten
minutes afterward. Her crew — (118,
including six wounded) — were trans
ferred to the conqueror ; she having
had two killed. The Alabama,

11 Jan. 21, 1863.

12 Jan. 11, 3i p. m.

GEN. BANKS'S POSITION AND FORCE.

327

though considerably cut up, so as to
be compelled to run into Kingston,
Jamaica, for repairs, had but one
man wounded. And no wonder;
since the Hatteras's heaviest guns
were 32s, while of the Alabama's (9
to our 8), one was an 150-pounder on
a pivot, another a 68 ; and she threw
324 pounds of metal at a broadside
to the Hatteras's 94. With such a
disparity of force, the result was in
evitable. 
Gen. N. P. Banks, having as
sumed 1S command of the Depart
ment of the Gulf, found himself at
the head of a force about 30,000
strong, which had been offieially
designated the 'Nineteenth Army
Corps.' With this, he was expected,
in cooperation with Grant's efforts
up the river, to reopen the Missis
sippi, expel the Rebels in arms from
Louisiana, and take military posses
sion of the Red River country, with
a view to the speedy recovery of
Texas, whose provisional Governor,
Gen. Andrew J. Hamilton, surround
ed by hundreds more of Union refu
gees, was with him at New Orleans,
and naturally anxious for an imme
diate movement upon their State ;
which they believed ripe for restora
tion. Their hopes of such a demon
stration, however, were soon blasted,
as we have seen, by our needless and
shameful disasters at Galveston and
Sabine Pass. Meantime, Gen. Banks
had dispatched " Gen. Cuvier Grover,
with 10,000 men, to reoccupy Baton
Rouge, which had been relinquished
to the enemy, and which was now
recovered without a struggle.
From New Orleans, a single rail
road reaches westward to Brashear
City on the Atchafalaya, where that

jumble of grand canal, river, sound,
and lagoon, receives the waters of the
Bayou Teche — each of them heading
near, and at high water having navi
gable connection with, Red river.
South of the railroad and east of the
Atchafalaya, the country had already
been in good part overrun by our
forces ; but our possession of it was
imperfect and debated. Beyond and
above, all was Rebel; while fortifi
cations at Butte a la Rose, well up
the Atchafalaya, and Fort Bisland,
at Pattersonville, on the Teche, were
intended to bar ingress by our gun
boats from Red river or by our land
forces from New Orleans. Fort Bis
land was flanked by Grand Lake on
the right, and by impassable swamps
on the left ; a Rebel force, estimated
[too high] by Gen. Banks at over
12,000 men, held these strong works
and the adjacent country; while to
hold New Orleans securely, with its
many protecting forts and approach
es, Key West, Pensacola, Ship Isl
and, &c, with all Texas backing the
zealous and active Rebel partisans in
Louisiana, who were promptly ap
prised by their spies of any weak
spot in our defenses — to say nothing
of the danger of hostile attacks from
the side of Alabama and Mississippi
— required the larger part of his
corps ; so that Banks found his dis
posable force reduced by inevitable
details to less than 14,000 men;
while the Rebel array in and around
Port Hudson was reported by his
spies at 18,000; rendering a siege
without large reenforcements impos
sible. He, therefore, turned his at
tention first to the line of the Atch
afalaya. An attempt to open the Bayou

1 Dec. 11, 1862.

14 Dec. 18, 1862.

328

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Plaquemine, connecting with the
Atchafalaya near Butte a la Rose,
having failed — the bayou being found
so choked by three years' accumula
tion of snags and drift as to be im
passable by boats — Gen. Weitzel's
force on Berwick's Bay was increased
to 4,500 men, with a view to an ad
vance to and operations in the Teche
region. Starting I6 from Thibodeaux,
Gen. Weitzel embarked his infantry
next day at Brashear, on the gunboats
Calhoun, Diana, Kinsman, and Es-
trella, Com. McKean Buchanan, who
moved slowly up the bayou to Pat-
tersonville ; the artillery and cavalry
going by land. Encountering for
midable obstructions at a place
known as Carney's Bridge, a few
miles above, Com. Buchanan, after
reconnoitering, dropped down a short
distance for the night ; returning
next morning 1S to attack ; while the
8th Vermont was sent around to
flank the defenses on the north.
The obstructions were found vexa
tious rather than formidable: con
sisting of a steamboat filled with
brick and sunk across the channel,
with the great iron-clad gunboat
Cotton behind it ; a battery on either
flank, and some torpedoes in the
bayou below. One of these was ex
ploded under the Kinsman; lifting
her stern into the air, but not crip
pling her ; when she fell back to
avoid. another just ahead, whereof a
negro fugitive from the Cotton gave
timely warning. Com. Buchanan, on
the Calhoun, either not hearing or
despising the caution, at once took
the advance, standing on the bow of
his vessel, spy-glass in hand, in the
midst of a furious cannonade from
the Cotton and Rebel batteries, and

the more deadly fire of sharp-shooters
from rifle-pits; when, at 10 a. m., a
bullet through his head struck him
dead on the instant.
By this time, the 8th Vermont had
'gained the Rebel rear, and was ma
king a rapid clearance of their rifle-
pits; while the batteries of the 1st
Maine, the 4th and 6th Massachusetts,
supported by sharp-shooters from the
75th and 160th NewTork, had flanked
the defenses on the other side, and
were sweeping the decks of the Cot
ton, whose crew beat a retreat, as did
most of the Rebels on land, whereof
but 40 were taken prisoners. The
Cotton was fired during the ensuing
night, and utterly destroyed. The
force here beaten consisted of the
28th Louisiana, with Simms's and
the Pelican battery, under Col. Gray
— in all, but 1,100 men, beside the
crew of the Cotton. Our loss was
7 killed and 27 wounded.
Gen. Banks being still intent . on
opening the Atchafalaya by the med
itated advance through the Bayou
Plaquemine to the capture of Butte
a la Rose, the next month was wast
ed on this enterprise ; and the suc
cess at Carney's Bridge was not oth
erwise improved. Meantime, some
200 Western boys defeated" a like
number of the 3d Louisiana cavalry
at Old River ; losing 12 men, killing
4, wounding 7, and taking 26 pris
oners. Admiral Farragut, having heard
of our loss of the Queen of the West
and De Soto18 below Vicksburg, de
cided that it was his duty to run the
Rebel batteries at Port Hudson, in
order to recover the command of the
river above ; so he called on Gen.
Banks for cooperation. Hereupon,

"Jan. 11, 1863.

18 Jan. 14.

17 Feb. 10.

1 See page 298.

FARRAGUT PASSES PORT HUDSON.

329

our forces were hastily recalled from
the Atchafalaya and concentrated at
Baton Rouge ; where they crossed
and advanced,19 about 12,000 strong,
driving in the. Rebel pickets, to the
rear of the Port; Farragut having
intended, under cover of a land at
tack on that side, to run the batteries
early next morning. He judged best,
however, to anticipate Gen. Banks's
attack, the night being intensely
dark ; so, in his stout flag-ship Hart
ford, lashed side to side with the Al
batross, he led the perilous adven
ture; arriving abreast of the Rebel
batteries a little before midnight.
If he had counted on passing un
observed, or shrouded in darkness,
he was much mistaken. Hardly was
he within range of the nearest Rebel
guns, when signal-lights were seen
flashing from every direction, includ
ing the opposite .shore ; and, directly,
the flames of a vast bonfire in front
of the heaviest batteries shot up into
the sky, lighting the entire breadth
of the river as though it were mid
day. Rockets were soon streaming
in the air ; now a gun from the west
bank saluted the Hartford, which
instantly returned the compliment ;
and the next moment the earth, trem
bled to the roar of all the Rebel bat
teries; whereupon our mortar-boats
below began firing 13-inch shell at
the enemy; and the frigates ' Hart
ford, Mississippi, Richmond, and Mo-
nongahela, and gunboats Albatross,
Genesee, Kineo, EsBex, and Sachem,
as they severally came within range, ¦
fired broadside after broadside ; the
brass howitzers in their tops and the
heavy pivot guns at the bow and
stern being industriously worked;
while the atmosphere was soon so

thick with sulphurous smoke that
great care was needfully exercised
by our commanders to avoid firing
into each other ; our aim being now
directed by the flashes of the ene
my's guns; which, changing from
shell to grape as our vessels came
within musket and pistol-shot, swept
our decks by murderous discharges ;
some of their batteries being placed
on bluffs so high that they could not
be harmed by our shots ; while the
crescent shape of the defenses,, fol
lowing the curve of the channel, ena
bled them to rake each vessel as it
approached, and again as it receded.
The greatest care was requisite to
avoid grounding or colliding in the
dense darkness which followed the
burning out of the Rebel bonfire;
and there were several narrow es
capes from these ever imminent dis
asters. It was 11J p. m. when the
first gun spoke : and by 1 the fight
was virtually over — the Hartford and
the Albatross having passed ; while
most of their consorts had failed, and
dropped down to their anchorage be
low — when a fresh blaze told of a
heavy loss. The Mississippi had run
aground directly abreast of the heavi
est and most central battery ; where
she was soon discovered and became
a target for them all. Here Capt.
Melancthon Smith fought her nearly
half an hour, till she was completely
riddled ; when he ordered her set on
fire and abandoned ; and she was ;
burning aground till she was so light
ened that she floated ; when she drift
ed down the river a blazing ruin,
exploding, several miles below, when
the fire had reached her magazine.
Of her 233 officers and men, but 29
were missing at roll-call next day.

19 March 13-14.

330

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

The Richmond had been stopped
on her course by a shot through her
steam-drum, and lost 8 killed and 7
wounded. The Kineo was disabled
by a shot through her rudder ; Capt.
McKinstry, of the Monongahela, was
badly wounded. Several of our ves
sels carried ugly marks thereafter;
but the loss of the Mississippi, with
her splendid armament of 21 large
guns and 2 howitzers, was our prin
cipal disaster.
Gen. Banks returned forthwith to
Baton Rouge ; his immediate object
being accomplished ; while he judged
the force holding the Port entirely
too strong 2° to be besieged by his lit
tle army — a point whereon Gen. Hal
leck deems him in error. Our col
umns were again impelled westward
to Brashear City and thence across
Berwick's Bay;21 the main body
moving thence on Franklin, while
Gen. Grover's division was sent by
transports up the Atchafalaya and
Grand Lake to Irish Bend, above
Fort Bisland, where he effected a
landing with great difficulty — the
water being shallow for over a mile
from shore, precluding his expected
cooperation in Gen. Banks's move
ment. Here he was soon attacked
with vigor, but held his ground and
beat off the enemy. Still, the attack
sufficed to keep open the road for
Gen. Dick Taylor, who, evacuating
Fort Bisland, and burning several
steamboats, retreated on Opelousas;
making a brief stand at Vermilion
Bayou, and losing heavily, as he re
ports, by desertion and straggling —
much of his force being made up of

29 He says, in his official report, citing Brig.-
Gen. W. W. R. Beall, of the garrison, as Ms au
thority: " The strength of the enemy at Port Hudson
was then believed to be from 18,000 to 20,000.

unwilling conscripts, who improved
every opportunity to escape and re
turn to their homes. Taylor reports
his men at but 4,000 in all, and blames
his subordinate, Gen. Sibley, for per
sistent disobedience of orders and
other unsoldierly conduct. During
his retreat, the famous Queen of
the West was assailed by our gun
boats in Grand Lake, whither she
had worked her way down the Atch
afalaya from Red river, and destroyed;
her crew being made prisoners.
Banks was delayed by Taylor's
burning, as he fled, the bridges over
the many bayous and sluggish water
courses of this region ; but he entered
Opelousas in triumpb on the same
day 22 that our gunboats, under Lt.-
Com'g A. P. Cooke, captured Butte a
la Rose, opening the Atchafalaya to
Red river; so that communication
was reestablished,28 through the gun
boat Arizona, with Admiral Farra
gut, at the mouth of that stream.
And now a new advance was rapidly
made 24 by our army to Alexandria ;
Taylor, evacuating Fort De Russy,
again retreating on Shreveport with
out a fight; while Admiral Porter
came up the river with his fleet, and
Louisiana, save its north-west corner,
was virtually restored, or subjugated,
as you will. Gen. Banks sent Weit
zel, with a part of his army, on the
track of the flying Rebels, nearly to
Grand Ecore; when Taylor's force
was so reduced that it did not seem
worth farther pursuit ; and he was
unable to retake the field for weeks.
Banks reports his captures in this
campaign at 2,000 prisoners and 22

It is now known, with absolute certainty, that
the garrison, on the night of the 14th of March,
1863, was not less than 16,000 effective troops."
21 APril 9-10. » April 20.
23 Ma7 2. « May 5-9.

BANKS INTESTS PORT HUDSON.

331

guns ; while he had seized 2 and de
stroyed 8 Rebel steamers, beside three
gunboats. An intercepted letter
showed that Taylor had purposed to
attack Brashear City the day prior
to our advance to and attack on Fort
Bisland. Gen. Banks had been notified by
Admiral Farragut, while at Brashear
City, that Gen. Grant — then at his
wits' end before Vicksburg — would
spare him 20,000 men for a move
ment on Port Hudson — a proffer
which was soon afterward, and most
fortunately, retracted. Grant's plan
was to join teams and help Banks
reduce Port Hudson, when the latter
should help him reduce Vicksburg :
an arrangement to which Gen. B.
very gladly assented. Grant's corps ¦
designed to cooperate against Port
Hudson was to be at Bayou Sara
May 25th ; but on the 12th Banks
was advised by letter25 from Grant
that he had crossed the Mississippi
in force, and had entered on his cam
paign which proved so successful.
Of course, he had now no corps to-
spare, but proposed instead that
Banks should join him in his move
ment against Vicksburg. This the
latter was obliged to decline, lacking
the required transportation, and not
daring to leave New Orleans and all
we held in Louisiana at the mercy
of the strong Rebel garrison of Port
Hudson, of whose batteries Farragut
had recently had so sore an experi
ence ; to say nothing of Dick Tay
lor's return, strongly reenforced, from
the side of Texas. So Banks, send
ing Gen. Wm. Dwight to Grant to
explain his position, wisely decided
to move witb all his available force
against Port Hudson, where he could

be in position either to defend New
Orleans below, or to reenforce, in an
emergency, or be reenforced by,
Grant above. And Grant, on hear
ing all the facts as set forth by Gen.
Dwight, heartily concurred in this
decision ; offering to send Banks 5,000
men so soon as he could spare them.
Gen. Banks, directly after Dwight's
return to Alexandria, put 26 his army
in motion ; sending all he had trans
portation for by water ; the residue
marching by land to Simmsport,
where they were with difficulty
ferried across the Atchafalaya, and
moved down the right bank of the
Mississippi till opposite Bayou Sara,
where they crossed,27 and, marching
15 miles next day, proceeded forth
with to invest Port Hudson from the
north ; while Gen. C. C, Augur,
with 3,500 men from Baton Rouge,
in like manner invested it on the
south. Gen. Gardner, commanding at
Port Hudson, sent Col. Miles to resist
their junction behind his fastness by
striking Augur on his march ; but he
was repulsed with a loss of 150 men ;
while our right wing above, under
Gens. Weitzel, Grover, and Dwight,
drove the garrison, after a sharp
fight, within their outer fine of in
trenchments. The next day,28 they
joined hands with Augur behind the
Rebel works, and the investment of
the Port, save on the side of the river,
was complete.
Reports being current that the
enemy had withdrawn — that there
was only a handful of them left be
hind their works, &c. — Banks/after
thorough reconnoissance and giving
time for preparation, gave the order
for a general assault. That assault

"Dated the 10th.

5 May 14-15.

"Night of May 23.

38 May 25.

332

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

A, B, C, D— Redoubts.
E — South Bastion.

POET flTTDSON.
Explanations :
I to Q — Batteries,

F — East Bastion.
G, H — Large forts.

was gallantly made ; 29 but with the
usual ill success of attempts to carry
elaborate, extensive, skillfully plan
ned works, enfilading and supporting
each other, by merely hurling masses
of men against them. Intended, of
course, to be simultaneous in every
quarter, it failed to be so. Our bat
teries opened early in the morning ;
and, after a vigorous bombardment,
Gens. Weitzel, Grover, and Paine,
on our right, assaulted with vigor at

10 a. m., while Gen. Augur, in our
center, and Gen. T. W. Sherman, on
our left, did not attack in earnest till
2 p. m. Meantime, the Hartford
and Albatross above, and the Mo-
nongahela, Richmond, Genesee, and
Essex below the Rebel river batte
ries, under the direction of Admiral
Farragut, rained shot and shell upon
the besieged, who had already been
compelled by our fleet to abandon
their southernmost battery ; spiking

» May 27.

BANKS'S ASSAULT ON PORT HUDSON.

333

its guns. In this day's fight, the fleet
probably did the greater execution
on the Rebels, whose attention was
mainly absorbed by the land attack :
its fire dismounting several of their
heavy guns, and taking in reverse
their landward defenses.
Never was fighting more heroic
than that of our army, assailing
nearly equal numbers behind strong
defenses, approached only through
almost impassable abatis, swept by
Rebel shell and grape. If valor
could have triumphed over such odds,
they would have carried the works ;
but only abject cowardice or pitiable
imbecility could have lost such a
position to so small an army; and
the Rebels also fought well. We
gained ground on both flanks ; hold
ing it thereafter on the north, where
two negro regiments (1st and 3d
Louisiana) vied with the bravest:
making three desperate charges on
Rebel batteries, losing. heavily, but
maintaining their position in the
hottest forefront to the close. The
1st Louisiana (colored) Engineers
were also on trial that day, and justi
fied the most sanguine expectations
by their good conduct. Not that
they fought better than our White
veterans : they did not; and could
not : but there had been so much in
credulity avowed as to negro courage,
so much wit lavished on the idea of
negroes fighting to any purpose, that

Gen. Banks was justified in accord
ing especial commendation to these ;
saying, " No troops could be more
determined or more daring." The
conflict closed about sunset.
We lost in this desperate struggle
293 killed, including Cols. Clarke,
6th Michigan, D. S. Cowles, 128th
New York (transfixed by a bayonet),
Payne, 2d Louisiana, and Chapin,
30th Mass., with 1,549 wounded,
among whom were Gen. T. W. Sher
man, severely, and Gen. Neal Dow,
slightly. The Rebel loss was of course
much less — probably not 300 in all.80
There was a truce next day to en
able us to bury our dead; after
which, our soldiers addressed them
selves in sober earnest to the arduous
labor of digging and battering their
way into the works which had proved
impervious to their more impetuous
endeavor. This was no holiday task,
under the torrid sun of a Southern
June, with Rebel sharp-shooters close
at hand, ever on the keen watch for
chances to obey the Donnybrook in
junction, ' Wherever you see a head,
hit it ;' but our boys worked with a
will; and soon the pick and spade
were pushing zig-zag trenches up to
the Rebel works; while the heavy
guns of our batteries, alternating
their thunders with those of the
fleet, gave fresh illustrations of the
truth that ' there is no peace for the
wicked.' S1

80 Gen. Banks reported that the 15th Arkan
sas, out of a total of 292, lost during the siege
132 ; of whom 16 fell this day.
j SI The following extracts from the diary of a
Rebel soldier (John A. Kennedy, 1st Alabama),
who was captured while endeavoring to make
his way out through our lines with a letter in
cipher from Gardner to Jo. Johnston, gives the
most vivid inside view of the siege :
"May 29.— The fight continued until long after
night yesterday evening. The fight has opened

— it opened at daybreak. The fight has been
very warm to-day. I received a' shot in the
foot, but it is slight. The Tanks attempted to
charge the works, but was repulsed. It has
clouded up and is raining. We have a muddy
time — a very wet time for sleeping.
" May 30. — The fight opened at daylight.
Our company has three wounded in the hospital.
The Yanks have been sharp-shooting all day.
We have lost but one man belonging to com
pany B. The -Banks are building rifle-pits —
they fire very close. I have been sharp-shoot
ing some to-day. The boys are very H. ely.

334

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Gen. Banks's position was far from
enviable. His small army — now
scarcely numbering 12,000 effective
men — was isolated in a thinly settled,
partially devastated,exhausted, and in
tensely hostile region. It was largely
composed of nine-months men, whose
terms of service had expired or
would soon expire, whose hearts
yearned toward loved ones far away,
and who decidedly preferred a sure
prospect of going home to their

chance (if shot) of going to heaven.
There were some 2,500 Rebel cavalry
in close proximity to his rear, in ad
dition to the garrison of 6,000 or
over in his front ; his necessary con
centration for this siege had left
nearly all Louisiana open, to Dick
Taylor, who would inevitably retrace
his steps across the country out of
which he had so lately been driven,
capturing and conscripting by the
way; and he might, very possibly,

"May 31. — We hada very hot time last night.
We have quit living like men and are living like
hogs. The Yanks have built rifle-pits with port
holes. Our battery was silenced this morning;
5 of company A was wounded. Our regiment
has lost 26 killed and 40 or 50 wounded. We
have been relieved from our position by Miles's
Legion. We will return to our position, I guess,
to-morrow. The Yanks are shelling from the
lower fleet. Ten of us are going at a time to
camps to get clean clothes.
"June 1. — I was on guard last night. The
Yanks shelled us last night, but did no damage.
Sam Hagin and Bob Baiiey was killed by a rifle
cannon-shot this morning. The Yanks are still
sharp-shooting, also using their artillery. They
have dismounted all our guns. They are the
best artillerists I ever saw. The lower fleet has
pitched us a few shots from Long Tom.
" June 2. — The lower fleet shelled us last night.
I am _ little unwell this morning. There has
not been much fighting to-day. The artillery is
booming occasionally, and the sharp-shooters are
still popping away. The Yanks threw _ few
balls at one of our batteries near us. to-day. It
is reported that we have reenforcements be
tween Clinton and Osica.
" June 3. — The Yanks has been shooting all
around us to-day. The Hessions seem to be ra
ther afraid to attempt to storm our works again •
but seem rather inclined to starve us out. I
hope we will receive reenforcements in time to
prevent it. Heaven help us 1
"June 4. — I am very unwell this morning. The
lower fleet shelled us last night. The shells
made the boys hunt a place of safety ; such as
ditches, rat-holes, trees, etc. We are goirig to
our old position. I am sick at camp.
"June 5.— ;We are still besieged by the Yanks.
Another day has passed and no reenforcements.
Sim Herring was wounded in the head to-day.
The Yanks are still sharp-shooting, also using
their artillery with but little effect. We hear a
great many different reports.
"June 6. — The river is falling very fast. It
is very, very hot weather. Several shots from
'Whistling Dick' came over our camp to-day.
Sewell is shelling the Yanks. I expect to go to
the breastworks in the morni_g. Several of the
boys are. at camp, sick.
" June 1. — Another day has dawned and no re

enforcements. I shall go to the breastworks
this morning. The Yanks are still popping
away from their rifle-pits. One of company B
was killed to-day while looking over the breast
work. It is very, very hot, and we have lain in
the ditch all day.
"June 8. — The Yanks began to sharp-shoot at
daybreak. We had two men killed yesterday.
I am afraid some of our company will get shot
next. Another day has dawned and no reen
forcements, but I hope we will receive them
soon. The Yanks have been shelling our
breastworks, but no damage done. It is very
disagreeable sitting in these dirty ditches — but
this the Confederate soldier expects and bears
cheerfully; but another long hot day has passed,
and who knows what may be our situation at
this time to-morrow evening ?
" June 9. — The Yanks attempted a charge last
evening but was repulsed. Whistling Dick is at
work to-day; it has played a full hand, too.
Whistling Dick is tearing our camps all to pieces.
Charley Dixon and Berry Hagin was wounded
by fragments of our cook shelter, which was
shot down. Our sick has been removed to the
ravine. It is difficult to get something to eat.
The Yankee artillery is playing upon us all
around. The Heshians burned our commissary
with a shell to-day.
" June 10. — Another day and night has passed,
and this poor, worn-out garrison has received no
assistance. We have lain in the ditches twenty
days, andfstill there is no prospect of succor —
but I truly hope we will soon receive reenforce
ments. The men is getting sick very fast. The
Yankee artillery is keeping a dreadful noise. I
and Mormon have been detailed for some extra
duty. The Hessions gave us a few rounds as we
were crossing the field. I received dispatches
from the General in person.
" June 11.— The Yanks used their artillery at
a tremendous rate last night. I went to or at
tempted to visit Col. Steedman's headquarters.
I had a gay time trying to find them ; falling in
ravines, etc. I was in a hot place, shure. We
captured a Yankee Captain and Lieutenant last
night. The Yanks seemed disposed to make a
general assault last night."
At this point, the journal suddenly stops ; the
author having been taken prisoner.

SECOND ASSAULT ON PORT HUDSON.

335

bring from Texas a force sufficient
to capture New Orleans itself. Jo.
Johnston, with an overwhelming
force, might swoop down from Jack
son at any moment; Alabama and
Georgia might supply a fresh force
adequate to the raising of the siege
and the rout of the besiegers ; add to
which, Lee — so recently victorious at
Chancellorsville — might dispatch a
corps of veterans by rail for the re
lief of Gardner and his important
post. The Rebel line of defense was
three or four miles long ; ours, encir
cling theirs, of course considerably
longer ; so that a stealthy concentra
tion of the garrison on any point
must render it immensely stronger
there, for a time, than all who could
be rallied to resist it. With Vicks
burg proudly defying Grant's most
strenuous efforts, and Lee impelling
his triumphant legions across the
Potomac, the chances were decided
ly against the undisturbed prosecu
tion of this siege to a successful issue.
After a fortnight's steady digging
and firing, a fresh attempt was made,33
under a heavy fire of artillery, to es
tablish our lines within attacking dis
tance ofthe enemy's works, so as to
avoid the heavy losses incurred in
moving over the ground in their
front. Om- men advanced at 3 a. m.,
working their way through the diffi
cult abatis ; but the movement was
promptly detected by the enemy, and
defeated, with the loss on our side of
some scores as prisoners.
Four days later, a second general
assault was made:33 Gen. Dwight,
on our left, attempting to push up
unobserved through a ravine and rush
over the enemy's works while his at
tention should be absorbed by the
ffl June 10.

more palpable advance of Gens. Gro
ver and Weitzel on our right. Nei
ther attack fully succeeded ; but our
lines were permanently advanced, at
some cost, from an average distance
of 300 yards, to one of 50 to 200
yards from the enemy's works ; and
here om* men intrenched themselves
and commenced the erection of new
batteries. On our left, an eminence
was carried and held which com
manded a vital point of the defenses,
known as ' the Citadel ' ; and which
enabled Dwight, some days later, to
seize and hold a point on the same
ridge with ' the Citadel,' and only ten
yards from the enemy's lines. Banks
professes to think the day's gains
worth their price; but, as he had
few men to spare, he did not choose
to pay at that rate for any more
ground, restricting his efforts thence
forth to digging and battering ; Far
ragut still cooperating to make the
slumbers of the besieged as uneasy as
might be.
That garrison was not beaten : it
was worn out and starved out. A
shell fired its mill, burning it, with
over 2,000 bushels of corn. Its guns
were successively disabled by the re
markable accuracy of our fire, till but
15 remained effective on the land
ward defenses. Its ammunition for
small arms was gradually expended,
until but twenty rounds per man re
mained ; and but little more for the
artillery. Its meat at length gave
out ; when its mules were killed and
their flesh served out ; the men eat
ing it without grumbling.. Rats
stood a poor chance in their peopled
trenches : being caught, cooked,
eaten, and pronounced equal as food
to squirrels. And thus the tedious
58 June 14. i

336

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

hours rolled on, until the last hope
of seasonable relief had all but faded
into the deadly stupor of blank de
spair. And still the besiegers worked on ;
losing some men daily by cannon-
balls and the more deadly Minie
bullet of the sharp-shooter, but gain
ing ground foot by foot, until our
saps on the right had been pushed
up to the very line of the defenses ;
while on our left a mine had been
prepared for a charge of thirty bar
rels of powder, where its explosion
must have caused the destruction of
' the Citadel'
Even had the garrison been full
fed and in healthy vigor, they
could not have held the place a
week longer, unless by successful sal
lies that virtually raised the siege;
whereas, they were utterly exhausted,
debilitated, and worn out *y famine,
overwork, and lack of sleep ; until
the hosjaitals were crowded with
them, and not half their number
could have stood up to fight through
a day's earnest battle.
Suddenly, our batteries and gun
boats shook " the heavens with one
tremendous salute, while cheer upon
cheer rose from behind our works,
rolling from the gunboats above to
those below the defenses, and back
again, in billows of unmistakable
exultation. It was not ' the glorious
Fourth,' but two days after it ; and
the sinking hearts of the besieged
anticipated the tidings before our
men shouted across to them, " Vicks-
bubg has subeendeeed !" No one
needed to be told that, if that was
the truth, further resistance was
folly — that reenforcements would
soon be steaming down the river

which would render holding out im
possible. That evening, Gardner summoned
a council of his six highest subordi
nates, who unanimously decided that
the place must be surrendered.
Thereupon, he opened communica
tion with Banks, asking if the news
shouted across the lines was authen
tic. Banks, in reply, inclosed him
Gen. Grant's letter, announcing the
surrender; whereupon, Gardner ap
plied for a cessation of hostilities,
with a view to negotiations as to
terms. This was declined. The
Rebel commander then averred his
willingness to surrender on condi
tions ; when conferees were appointed
on either side, and terms of capitula
tion finally agreed36 upon, whereby
the garrison became prisoners of
war ; our forces entering and taking
formal possession next* morning ;
when thousands of the victors and
the vanquished met and fraternized
rather as friends who had been tem
porarily estranged, than as enemies
so lately confronted in mortal strife.
Gen. Banks does not report his
aggregate loss in this siege ; but it
can hardly have fallen short, in the
entire 45 days, of 3,000 men ; in
cluding, beside those already named,
Cols. Bean, 4th Wise, Holcomb, 1st
La., Smith, 160th N. Y. (Zouaves),
Lt.-Cols. Lowell, 8th N. H, Rodman,
38th Mass., and other valued offi
cers. Brig.-Gen. Paine was wounded
in the assault of June 14th. Banks
says the Rebels admitted a loss dur
ing the siege of 610 only; but. he is
confident that it could not have been
less than 800 to 1,000 ; as he found
500 wounded in the hospitals— most
of them severely in the head, by the

1 July 6.

' July 8.

TAYLOR CAPTURES BRASHEAR CITY.

337

bullets of our sharp-shooters. His
prisoners captured in the Port (the
sick and wounded inclusive) were
6,408, of whom 455 were officers;
while his own force that day was
less than 10,000 men. His captures,
during the campaign so gloriously
terminated, he states at 10,584 men,
73 guns, 6,000 small arms, beside 3
gunboats, 8 other steamboats, and
cotton, cattle, &c, &c, to an im
mense value.

Gen. Banks's sudden withdrawal
from Alexandria and the Red river,
and the employment of nearly all his
disposable force in the siege of Port
Hudson, necessarily proffered oppor
tunities which Dick Taylor was on
the alert to improve. Collecting in
Upper Louisiana a force of some
thousands, including several regi
ments, mainly of cavalry, from Tex
as, he, early in June, reoccupied
Alexandria and Opelousas; moving
thence rapidly down the Atchafalaya,
as if making directly for New Or
leans. His approach appeared to
have been made known to our offi
cers at the front only by vague rumors,
often circulated on purpose to mis
lead; but our advanced posts were
drawn back across the Atchafalaya to
Brashear ; Berwick, just across the
bayou, having been needlessly, there
fore culpably, bombarded and: ulti
mately burned *° by a Mr. Ryder, in
command of our only gunboat in the
bayou. There was abundance of fuss
and aimless activity, but no real
preparation at Brashear, whither Lt.-
Col. Stickney had been recently sent
over by Gen. Emory, at New Orleans,
to take command : there were no. in
trenchments, though thousands of

willing contrabands were there to
dig them ; no mustering and drilling
of the hundreds of idle convalescents
in the hospital camps, awaiting or
ders to rejoin their regiments ; and
when at length word came that the
Rebels had struck our line of com
munication and supply at Lafourche,
well toward New Orleans, Stickney
hurried down, with most of his effec
tives, to its defense. The enemy
easily swept over Thibodeaux, Terre
Bonne, and Bayou Boeuf, capturing
our few men stationed at each post ;
while a cooperating force, under
Gens. Mouton and Green, suddenly
appeared37 amid the ruins of Ber
wick, threatening Brashear, which
was held by a sick Colonel and a
motley garrison, without organization
or discipline ; who had hardly begun
to fight when a charge was made on
their rear by Major Hunter, with
325 Texans, who had crossed the
bayou in row-boats during the pre
ceding night, and, working their way
through swamps which were on our
side supposed impassable, were ready
to rush in at the opportune moment,
while Col. Majors, from the direction
of Lafourche, barred all egress to or
reenforcement from our rear. Fort
Buchanan, mounting ten heavy guns,.
was formidable in front or toward the
bayou only : it could not fire a shot
eastward ; and, in a few minutes, it
was stormed and carried by the rag
ged Texans, who had easily disposed
of the infantry mob behind it. Ry
der, with his gunboat, made all haste
to run away ; affording a fresh proof
that Vandals are almost always cow
ards. It was still early morning
when Taylor, Mouton, and Green, as
well as Hunter, were in Brashear,

M June 19.
vol. n. — 22

*' June 22.

338

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

which we had shamefully lost, with
nearly 1,000 prisoners, a 6trong fort,
10 heavy guns, many small arms, and
tents, equipments, supplies, valued
by the enemy at $6,000,000, and pos
sibly worth to us $2,000,000. Thou
sands of negroes, liberated by Banks's
triumphant advance to Alexandria,
were reduced by this and our kindred
reverses to a harsher slavery than
that from which they had so recently
been delivered.
The road to New Orleans38 — at
least, to Algiers, its western suburb —
was now open; for Lafourche had
been evacuated by Stickney after a
gallant defense by the 47th Massa
chusetts, in which they had repulsed
two assaults; but Taylor was too
weak to make the great venture. If
he had, as is asserted, but 4,000 men
at Brashear and between it and La
fourche, he could not have assailed
New Orleans with more than double
that number at most ; and, so long
as Farragut held the mastery of the
river, this was not enough even to
compel Banks to raise the siege of
Port Hudson.3'
Moving north instead of east,
Taylor's van, under Green, menaced
Donaldsonville, while a small force
•of Texans, raiding into Plaquemine,
burned two steamboats lying there,
and took 68 convalescents prisoners ;
but were soon shelled out by the
gunboat Winona.
Green next attempted" to carry

M T/ie Louisiana Democrat (Alexandria, July
1) has a magnifying Rebel letter from one en
gaged in the capture of Brashear, who claims
for that post an importance hardly second to
Vicksburg, numbers 1,800 prisoners and 6,000
negroes among the spoils, and adds :
" This brilliant campaign of Gen. Taylor has
another great object in view, and one of vast
importance, namely: A diversion to force the
enemy to raise the siege of Port Hudson. He

Donaldsonville by assault ; but Far
ragut had been seasonably apprised
of his intention, and had sent thither
the Princess Royal, Kineo, and Wi
nona; which, cooperating with the
little garrison (225) ofthe 28th Maine,
Maj. Bullen, tore the assaulting col
umn with their shells, and soon put
the Rebels to flight, with a loss of 200
killed and wounded, and 124 prison
ers. Among their killed was Col.
Phillips. Pollard reports another fight," six
miles from Donaldsonville, between
1,200 Texans, under Green, and "the
enemy, over 4,000 strong ;" wherein
we were beaten, with a loss of 500
killed and wounded, 300 prisoners, 3
guns, many small arms, and the flag
of a New York regiment. Banks's
report is silent with regard to this
fight; yet it seems that a collision
actually took place ; the forces on our
side being commanded by Gen. Dud
ley, and our loss considerable — 450
killed and wounded, with two guns,
says a newspaper report. The affair
can not have been creditable to the
Union side, or it would not have been
so completely hushed up.
Gen. Banks's force in the field
having been rendered disposable by
the fall of Port Hudson, Taylor and
his subordinates made haste to aban
don the country east of the Atchafa
laya; evacuating" Brashear City just
one month after its capture ; but not
till they had carefully stripped it of

now has his choice, to lose New Orleans or to
abandon his operations against Port Hudson,
and retire with his beaten and demoralized army
into that city."
59 Banks says that barely 400 of our men at
one time held New Orleans ; but the river and
the fleet, with his army not far away, were its
main defenses.

" June 28, 1 a. m. « July 12.

' July 22r

FRANKLIN'S FAILURE AT SABINE PASS.

339

every thing of value that was either
movable or combustible.
Gen. Banks now united with Gen.
Grant in urging an immediate com
bined movement upon Mobile ; but
the suggestion was overruled at
Washington, in deference to the ur
gent representations of Texan refu
gees; and Gen. B. directed" to op
erate against Texas. He was advised
that a movement by the Red river
on Natchitoches or Shreveport was
deemed most feasible, but was au
thorized to act as his own judgment
should dictate. Deeming the route
suggested impracticable at that sea
son, he decided to demonstrate by
way of the Sabine, with Houston as
his objective point. Accordingly, an
expedition, including a land force of
4,000 men, was fitted out at New
Orleans, and dispatched" to the Sa
bine, under command of Maj.-Gen.
Franklin; the naval force, detailed
by Admiral Farragut, consisting of
the gunboats Clifton, Sachem, Ari-
zoria, and Granite City, under com
mand of Lt. Fred. Crocker. Banks
gave Franklin written instructions
to debark his troops 10 or 12 miles
below Sabine Pass; thence moving
rapidly on the Rebel defenses, unless
a naval reconnoissance should prove
those works unoccupied, or so weak
that they could be easily and prompt
ly reduced by bombardment.
Decently managed, this movement
could not have miscarried. The
troops were abundant and efficient ;
the weather fine; the sea smooth;
and the enemy unwarned of the
point of attack. But Franklin and
Crocker decided to take the works at
once by a naval attack ; and, with
out landing the troops, moved" di

rectly upon them with the gunboats,
after having been 24 hours in sight,
so as to give the Rebels ample warn
ing of their peril.
The result proved this a foolhar
dy procedure. The gunboats were
old merchant steamers, of inferior
strength ; their guns were of mode
rate caliber, and made no impression
on the Rebel works ; while several of
them soon grounded in the shallow
water of the Pass, where they were
exposed to certain destruction by the
fire of the batteries, and were soon
torn to pieces ; when Crocker surren
dered the Clifton, as Lt. Johnson did
the Sachem ; each having been quick
ly disabled by a shot through her
boiler — Franklin thus achieving the
distinction of being the first Ameri
can General [for Renshaw was not
a General] who managed to lose a
fleet in a contest with land batteries
alone. The Arizona grounded, and
had her engine disabled ; but was
kedged off with difficulty at mid
night, having received no damage.
She was, in fact, of too heavy draft
to run fairly abreast of the batteries
— at least, to maneuver there with
safety. Crocker and Johnson fought
their vessels bravely^and well; but
they were light-draft boats, utterly
unfit to assail such batteries, and
should not have been impelled to
their certain destruction. Our loss
in this affair, beside the two boats
and their 15 heavy rifled guns,
was 50 killed and wounded, beside
200 prisoners — in all, just about equal
to the whole number of Rebels en
gaged ; of whom (says Pollard) " not
a man was lost on our side, nor a
gun injured."
Franklin had still his 4,000 sol-

' Aug. 12; by dispatch received Aug. 27.

« Sept. 5.

8, 3 P. M.

340

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

diers, with his transports and two re
maining gunboats ; while there were
not Rebel soldiers enough within a
day's ride to have brought to a halt
one of his regiments, properly led.
Dick Taylor's force, such as it was,
was far away; Houston, flanking
Galveston, was but 40 miles distant ;
Gen. Washburne was at Brashear,
with a force equal to Franklin's,
ready to cooperate in the purposed
advance, in case the latter had taken
these poor earthworks, defended by a
captain 4" and 250 men, and sent back
his transports for reenforcements.
Instead of taking them, however, or
even trying, Franklin — finding no
place to land where he might not get
his feet wet — slunk meekly back to
New Orleans;4' leaving the Texans
to exult, very fairly, over a fruitful
victory gained against odds of at least
twenty to one.
Gen. Banks now concentrated his
disposable forces on the Atchafalaya,
with intent to advance directly upon
Shreveport; but found this utterly
impracticable. The country west
and north-west of Brashear had been
so exhausted by the armies that had
successively occupied it that no food
and little forage was to be gleaned
.from it ; an intense drouth now pre
vailed all over that flat region ; where,
though bayous abound, living springs
and brooks of drinkable water are
scarce ; the roads were few and very
bad, often winding for miles through
dense forests ; and it was not possi
ble to transport by wagons all the
food and forage needed by an army
strong enough to overcome all proba
ble resistance. No course seemed
open for a fulfillment of the desires
and expectations of the Government

concerning Texas but that of a ma
rine expedition; which was accord
ingly resolved on.
Meantime, a considerable force had
been sent, under Gen. F. J. Herron,
to Morganzia, opposite but above
Port Hudson, where the Rebels had
a vicious habit of taking advantage
of the narrowness and crookedness
of the Mississippi to ' bushwhack '
our pa'ssing vessels. No resistance
being here encountered, an outpost
had been established several miles
inland, consisting of the 19th Iowa
and 26th Indiana, with two guns,
under Lt.-Col. Leake, with 150 cav
alry, under Major Montgomery — in
all, some 600 to 800 strong. Though
it was known that Green, with a far
stronger Rebel force, was in their
front across the Atchafalaya, no pro
per vigilance was exercised; and,
three weeks after this outpost had
been established, it was surprised" by
Green, who, with a far superior force,
crossed the bayou during a dark
night, surrounded our camp, and
captured our guns and most of our
infantry — not less than 400, inclu
ding Leake and Lt.-Col. Rose. The
cavalry escaped with a loss of five
men. We had 14 killed and 40
wounded. Gen. N. J. T. Dana had
just succeeded Herron in command
at Morganzia. In order to mask his intended
movement on Texas by sea, Gen.
Banks now pushed out a considera
ble force, under Gen. C. C. Wash
burne, to Opelousas, which was reach
ed without a conflict ; but, when
Washburne commenced 4" his retreat
to the Teche, pursuant to orders, the
Rebels, under Taylor and Green,
followed sharply on his track, and,

46 F. A.- Odlum.

' Arriving Sept. 11.

' Sept. 30.

" Nov. 1.

GENS. BANKS AND DANA IN WESTERN TEXAS.

341

stealing up,60 under cover of woods,
to our right, under Gen. Burbridge,
struck suddenly and heavily, about
noon, while the 23d Wisconsin was
engaged in voting for State officers —
that being election day in their
State. That regiment was speedily
reduced from 226 to 98 men — many
of the rest, of course, prisoners, in
cluding its Colonel, Guppy, who was
wounded ; while the brigade of which
it formed a part went into the fight
numbering 1,010, and came out 361.
The loss was mainly in the 67th In
diana, which ingloriously surrender
ed without having lost a man. Our
right, thus suddenly assailed in great
force, and with intense fury, was
broken, and was saved from utter
destruction by the devoted bravery
of the 23d Wisconsin and the efficient
service of Nim's battery. We lost
one gun, which was not recovered ;
the Rebels, upon the bringing up
of the 3d division, Gen. McGinnis,
retreating rapidly to the shelter of
the adjacent woods. Washburne re
ports a loss of 26 killed, 124 wound
ed, and 566 missing (prisoners) ;
total : 716. The Rebels lost 60 killed,
65 prisoners, and 300 wounded.

Gen. Banks's new expedition, 6,000
strong, led by Banks himself, but
more immediately commanded by
Gen. Dana, made " directly for the
Rio Grande, debarking M at Brazos
Santiago, driving off the small caval
ry force there stationed, and follow
ing it to Brownsville, 30 miles above,
which was entered by our advance on
the 16th ; as was Point Isabel two days
later. The Rebel works commanding
Aransas Pass were next taken by as
sault, which gave us their guns and

100 prisoners. Moving thence on
Pass Cavallo, commanding the west
ern entrance to Matagorda Bay, our
army invested Fort Esperanza, Which
was thereupon abandoned ; most of
its garrison escaping to the main land.
Banks had expected to follow up
this success — which gave us control
of the coast from the Rio Grande to
the Brazos— by a movement on In
dianola or on Matagorda : but this
involved a collision with whatever
Rebel force could be collected in
Texas; and he deemed himself too
weak to challenge such an encounter.
With a moderate reenforcement, he
might have seized Galveston Island —
sealing up the coast of Texas against
blockade-runners : as it was, he felt
obliged to desist and return to New
Orleans. Gen. Dana, after Banks had left
him in command at Brownsville, sent
an expedition up the river 120 miles
to Roma, which encountered much
privation, but no enemy; then an
other 70 miles eastward, toward Cor
pus Christi, which found no Rebel
force in this direction. The Rebels
had shifted their Mexican trade to
Eagle Pass, 350 miles up, whither
Dana was unable to follow them.
Being afterward ordered to Pass Ca^
vallo, he found 5S two of our brigades
in quiet possession of Indianola, on
the main land, with an equal force
on the Matagorda peninsula opposite,
and all Texas west of the Colorado
virtually abandoned to our arms.
He believed we had force enough
then on that coast to have moved
boldly inland and contested the mas
tery of the State ; but he was over
ruled, and soon relieved from com
mand.

60 Nov. 3..

1 Oct. 26.

62 Nov. 2.

03 Jan. 12, 1864.

342

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

XVI.
THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC UNDER BURNSIDE
AND HOOKER.

Ges. Burnside reluctantly, and
with unfeigned self-distrust, succeed
ed ' to the command of the Army of
the Potomac. The devotion to Mc
Clellan of its principal officers, and
of many of their subordinates, was
so ardent that any other commander
must have had a poor chance of
hearty, unquestioning support; and
Burnside would gladly have shrunk
from the ordeal. Having no alterna
tive, however, but disobedience of
orders, he accepted the trust, and im
mediately commenced preparations
for a movement of his forces down
the Rappahannock to Fbedeeicks-
bueg, which he had selected as on
the proper as well as the direct line of
operations from Washington against
Richmond : masking his purpose, for
a few days, by menacing an advance
on Gordonsville. Lee soon1 penetra
ted his real design, and commenced
a parallel movement down the south
bank of the river; while J. E. B.
Stuart, raiding3 across at Warrenton
Springs, entered Warrenton just after
our rear-guard had left it, obtaining
ample confirmation of his chief's
conclusions ; whereupon, the residue of
Longstreet's corps was moved rapidly
eastward. Meantime, Gen. Sumner's
advance had reached4 Falmouth, and
attempted to cross to Fredericksburg,
but been easily repulsed ; the bridges
being burned and our pontoons — ow
ing to a misunderstanding between
Gens. Halleck and Burnside, each of
whom conceived that the other was

to impel their dispatch from Wash
ington — did not start so early as
they should have done, and then ex
perienced detention from bad roads
and grounded vessels on the way : so
that they did not reach Falmouth till
after most of Lee's army had been
concentrated on the heights across the
river, ready to dispute its passage.
Fredericksburg was summoned ' by
Gen. Sumner : the authorities reply
ing that, while it would not be used to
assail us, its occupation by our troops
would be resisted to the utmost.
Most of the inhabitants thereupon
abandoned the place, which was
occupied by Barksdale's Mississippi
brigade, sharp-shooting from behind
houses ; while Lee's engineers pressed
the fortification of the heights behind
it, and Wade Hampton dashed6 across
the river above, raiding up to Dum
fries and the Occoquan, capturing
200 cavalry and a number of wag
ons; and a like dash across was
made below Port Royal, in boats,
by part of Beale's regiment ; taking
some prisoners. Our gunboats hav
ing steamed up the river so far as
Port Royal, D. H. Hill assailed'
them with cannon, and compelled
them to retire; when he proceeded
to fortify the right bank, so as to
prevent their return.
The Rappahannock, above Port
Royal, being generally narrow, with
high bluffs often approaching it, now
on one side, then on the other, Lee
decided that he could not prevent its

1 Nov. 8, 1862. * Nov. 15. ' Nov. 18. * Nov. It. • Nov. 21. • Nov. 28. ' Dec. 5.

BURNSIDE BEFORE FREDERICKSBURG.

343

V CEN.LEE'SHd.Qrsj „ ©\ ^gx< \

IWAMIITON'S'cROSSING

lUOIJ

^

iV

X

FnEDEP.ICKSBirRG.

passage at points where the river was
fully commanded from its bluffs on
the north, while a considerable inter
vale adjoined it on the south; but
the tenacity with which Fredericks
burg was held by sharp-shooters com
pelled Burnside to dislodge them by
bombardment from the Falmouth
bluffs, whereby considerable damage

was done to the buildings, though
less than might naturally have been
expected. What with firing on it
from either side, however, and the
often wanton devastations of our sol
diers, it was ultimately reduced to a
state of general dilapidation.
Our army being at length in posi
tion along the north bank, Burnside

344

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

commenced" throwing over pontoons
to Fredericksburg; also at a point
nearly two miles below. The Engi
neer corps had laid the upper pon
toon two-thirds of the way, when day
light exposed them to the fire of the
enemy's sharp-shooters, which drove
them off; and the work was comple
ted by the 7th Michigan, who had 5
killed and 16 wounded, including
Lt.-Col. Baxter. Supported and fol
lowed by the 19th and 20th Massa
chusetts, they speedily finished the
job, having dashed across the river
in boats ; ' taking 35 prisoners. We
lost 300 in all in laying our pontoons
and clearing the city of the enemy.
Gen. Franklin, on our left, en
countered less resistance — the make
of the land being there favorable to
us — and laid his pontoons without
loss. Possession of both banks being
thus secured, two other pontoons
were laid at either point, and our ar
my mainly pushed across during that
and the following days.10 The next
was that chosen for the assault on
the Rebel position ; whose strength,
though under-estimated by Burnside,
was known to be very considerable.
Lee's army, fully 80,000 strong,
was stretched along and behind the
southern bluffs of the Rappahan
nock from a point a mile or so above
Fredericksburg, to one four or five
miles below. At its right, the bluffs
recede two miles or so : the Massapo-
nax here falling into the Rappahan
nock; the ground being decidedly
less favorable to the defensive. It
was organized in two grand corps,
whereof that of Stonewall Jackson
held the right ; that of Longstreet
the left. A. P. Hill commanded

"Night of Dec. 10-11.
' Among the volunteers first to cross was

the left advance of Jackson's corps ;
which was confronted by Franklin's
grand division, about 40,000 strong.
On our right, or in and before Fred
ericksburg, were the grand divisions
of Hooker and Sumner, numbering
at least 60,000. But, while 300 Rebel
guns were advantageously posted on
every eminence and raked every foot
of ground by which they could be
approached, our heavy guns were all
posted on the north side of the river,
where their fire could rarely reach
the enemy; while they made some
havoc among our own men until
Burnside silenced them.
The weather had been cold, and
the ground was frozen; but an In
dian Summer mildness had succeed
ed, which filled the valley of the Rap
pahannock with a dense fog, covering
for a time the formation of our col
umns of assault ; while a portion of
our guns were firing wildly and use
lessly; but at length a bright sun
dispelled the mist, and, at 11 A. M.,
Couch's division, on our right, emerg
ing from among the battered build
ings, moved swiftly to the assault.
Braver men never smiled at death
than those who climbed Marye's Hill
that fatal day; their ranks plowed
through and torn to pieces by Rebel
batteries even in the process of for
mation ; and when at heavy cost they
had reached the foot of the hill, they
were confronted by a solid stone
wall, four feet high, from behind
which a Confederate brigade of in
fantry mowed them down like grass,
exposing but their heads .to our bul
lets, and these only while themselves
firing. Never did men fight better
or die, alas! more fruitlessly than did

Rev. Arthur B. Fuller, Chaplain 16th Mass., who
was killed by a rifle-shot. 10 Dec. 11-12.

HEROIC ASSAULTS ON MARTE'S HEIGHTS.

345

most of Hancock's corps, especially
Meagher's Irish brigade, composed
of the 63d, 69th, and 88th New York,
the 28th Massachusetts, and the 116th
Pennsylvania, which dashed itself re
peatedly against those impregnable
heights, until two-thirds11 of its num
ber strewed the ground; when the
remnant fell back to a position of
comparative safety, and were suc
ceeded as they had been supported,
by other brigades and divisions ; each
to be exposed in its turn to like
pitiless, useless, hopeless slaughter.
Thus Hancock's and French's corps
were successively sent up against
those slippery heights, girdled with
batteries, rising, tier above tier, to
its crest, all carefully trained upon
the approaches from Fredericksburg ;
while that fatal stone wall — so strong
that even artillery could make no
impression on it — completely shel
tered Barksdale's brigade, which, so
soon as our charging columns came
within rifle-shot, poured into their
faces the deadliest storm of musketry.
Howard's division supported the two
in advance; while one division of
Wilcox's (9th, late Burnside's) corps
was detached to maintain communi
cation with Franklin on our left.
Hooker's grand division was divi
ded, and in good part sent to reen

force Franklin; while Hooker him
self, believing the attack hopeless,
required repeated and imperative or
ders from Burnside to induce him to
order an advance; but Humphreys's
division was at length thrown out from
Fredericksburg, and bore its full part
in the front attack, losing heavily.
And thus the fight was maintained
till after dark — assault after assault
being delivered by divisions advanc
ing against twice their numbers, on
ground where treble the force was
required for the attack that sufficed
for the defense; while a hundred
Rebel cannon, posted on heights
which our few guns on that side of
the river could scarcely reach, and
could not effectually batter, swept
our men down from the moment that
they began to advance, and while
they could do nothing but charge,
and fall, and die. And when night
at length mercifully arrested this
fruitless massacre, though the ter
races and slopes leading up to the
Rebel works were piled with our
dead and our disabled, there was no
pretense that the Rebel front had
been advanced one foot from the
ground held by it in the morning.
We had reason enough for sorrow,
but none for shame.
Franklin, on our left, beside his

11 Gen. Meagher, in his onicial report, says :
"Of the 1,200 I led into aeticm, only 280 ap
peared on parade next morning."
Among his officers who fell, he mentions Col.
Heenan, Lt.-Col. Mulholland, and Maj. Bard-
well, 116th Pa.; Maj. Wm. Horgan and Adj.
J. R. Toung, 88th N. T. ; Maj. James Cavanagh,
6Sth N. T. ; and Maj. Carraher, 28th Mass.
The London Timers correspondent, watching
the battle from the heights, and writing from
Lee's headquarters, says :
" To the Irish division, commanded by Gen.
Meagher, was principally committed the despe
rate task of bursting out of the town of Freder
icksburg, and forming, under the withering Are
of the Confederate batteries; to attack Marye's

Heights, towering immediately in their front-
Never at Fontenoy, Albuera, nor at Waterloo,
was more undoubted courage displayed by the
sons of Erin than during those six frantic dashes
which they directed against the almost impreg
nable position of their foe.
" That any mortal men could have carried the
position before which they were wantonly sacri
ficed, defended as it was, it seems to me idle for
a moment to believe. But the bodies which lie
in dense masses within 40 yards of the muzzles
of Col. Walton's guns are the best evidence what
manner of men, they were who pressed on to
death with the dauntlessness of a race which has
gained glory on a thousand battle-fields, and
never more richly deserved it than at the foot
of Marye's Heights on the 13th day of Decem
ber, 1862."

346

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

own 40,000 men, was reenforced, the
night before, by two divisions (Kear
ny's and Hooker's own) from Hook
er, raising his command nearly to
55,000. At least half our entire force
across the river was thus with Frank
lin on the left, where the main attack
manifestly should have been made,
and where Burnside appears to have
purposed that it should have been
made. But it was after 7 a. m. of the
fatal day when Franklin received his
orders ; which, if they were intended
to direct a determined attack in full
force, were certainly very blindly and
vaguely worded," whereas, a military
order should be as precise and clear as
language will allow, and as positive as
the circumstances will warrant. It is
Very certain that a Massena or a Blu-
cher could have found warrant in that
order for attacking at once with his
entire corps, leaving Hooker's men
to defend the bridges and act as a
reserve ; but, if hot work is wanted
of a Franklin, it should be required
and prescribed in terms more peremp
tory and less equivocal. He asserts
that he expected and awaited further
orders, which he never in terms re
ceived ; at least, not till it was too
late to obey them with any hope of
success. Franklin's grand division consisted

of the two corps of Reynolds (16,000)
and W. F. Smith (21,000), with cav
alry under Bayard, raising it nearly
or quite to 40,000. At 9 A. m., Rey
nolds advanced on the left ; Meade's
division, in front, being immediately
assailed by Rebel batteries (J. E. B.
Stuart's) on his left flank, which com
pelled him to halt and silence them.
At 11 a. m., he pushed on, fighting;
while one of Hooker's divisions in
reserve was brought across, and Bir-
ney's and Gibbon's divisions were
moved up to his support. Reynolds's
corps being thus all in line of battle,
Meade again gallantly advanced into
the woods in his front ; grappling, at
1, in fierce encounter, with A. P.
Hill's corps, crushing back the brig
ades of Archer and Lane, and, forcing
his way in between them, took some
200 prisoners. Here, in attempting
to rally Orr's rifles, which had been
disorganized, fell Brig.-Gen. Maxcy
Gregg,13 mortally wounded.
But the enemy rallied all their
forces ; Early's division, composed of
Lawton's, Trimble's, and his own
brigades, which, with D. H. Hill's
corps, had arrived that morning from
Port Royal, after a severe night-
march, and been posted behind A. P.
Hill, rushed to the front ; and Meade's
division, lacking prompt support,

a "Gen. Hardie will carry this dispatch to
you and remain with you during the day. The
General commanding directs that you keep your
whole command in position for a rapid move
ment down the old Richmond road, and you will
send out at once a division, at least, to pass be
low Smltlifield, to seize, if possible, the heights
near Capt. Hamilton's, on this side of the Massa-
ponax, taking care to keep it well supported and
its line of retreat open. He has ordered another
column, of a division or more, to be moved from
Gen. Sumner's command up the plank road to
its intersection of the telegraph road, where they
will divide, with a view to seizing the heights
on both of those roads. Holding these heights,
with the heights near Capt. Hamilton's, will, I
hope, compel the enemy to evacuate the whole
ridge between these points. He makes these

moves by columns, distant from each other, -frith
a view of avoiding the possibility of a collision
of our own forces, which might occur in a gene
ral movement during the fog. Two of Geo.
Hooker's divisions are in your rear at the
bridges, and will remain there as supports.
Copies of instructions to Gens. Sumner and
Hooker will be forwarded to you by an Orderly
very soon. Tou will keep your whole command
in readiness to move at once as soon as the fog
lifts. The watchword, which, if possible, should
be given to every company, will be ' Scott.'
" I have the honor to be, General, very re
spectfully, your obedient servant,
"John G. Parke, Chief of Staff!
"Major-Gen. Franklin, Commanding Grand
Division Army of Potomac."
™ Governor elect of South Carolina.

OUR LOSSES AT FREDERICKSBURG.

347

was overwhelmed and driven back,
with heavy loss, to the railroad, wliich
they had crossed in their advance,
where they made a brief stand, but
were again hurled back by an im
petuous, determined Rebel charge,
losing many prisoners.
Meade had already called for aid :
and Gen. Gibbon had advanced on
his right, and one of Birney's brig
ades on his left, whereby the enemy
were checked and repulsed ; Col. At
kinson, commanding Lawton's brig
ade, being here wounded and taken
prisoner. Meade's division fell back,
having lost 1,760 men this day out
some 6,000 engaged ; having, of its
three Brigadiers, Gen. C. F. Jackson
killed, and Col. Wm. T. Sinclair se
verely wounded. Maj.-Gen. Gibbon,
on his right, was also wounded and
taken off the field ; whereupon, his
division fell back also.
Sickles's division of Hooker's men,
which had followed Birney's to the
front, took the place of Gibbon's ; but
Smith's corps — 21,000 strong — was
not sent in, and remained nearer to
Fredericksburg, not determinedly en
gaged throughout the day. Yet, even
Reynolds's and Stoneman's corps
(the latter composed of Birney's and
Sickles's divisions) showed so strong
a front that Stonewall Jackson did
not venture to assume the offensive
till nightfall ; when a very brief ex
perience convinced him that he might
bettor let well alone.14

The advance of Reynolds's left was
for some time retarded by Stuart's
cavalry, holding the extreme Rebel
right, whose battery opened a most
annoying cross-fire on om- infantry
as it advanced from the Rappahan
nock. The 9 th New York was first
sent to take this battery, but failed —
taking to their heels instead ; when
a brigade was brought up by Gen.
Tyler, and charged with no better
success. A third charge was stopped
by the deadly fire of the Rebel bat
tery; when more troops were brought
up on our side, and the enemy at
length flanked and gradually crowd
ed back to the Massaponax ; but they
still maintained a bold front, and
kept up the contest till nightfall;
having succeeded in diverting from
Reynolds's main attack in front a
force which he could ill afford to
spare. Our losses on this bloody day were
not less than 15,000 men; though
the number returned as actually
killed, wounded, and taken prisoners,
foots up but 13,771 — as follows:
Kitted, n'oun'd. Miss"g. Total.
Hooker's grand division  S8T 9,469 748 8,648
Franklin's grand division... S88 2,480 1,681 4,«9
Stunner's grand division.... 4S0 4,159 S55 6,494
Enginoors  T 43 100 60

Total.

.1,153

9,101 8,984 18,m
Not one of these died more la
mented than Maj.-Gen. George D.
Bayard, commanding our cavalry on
the left, who was struck by a shell
and mortally wounded; dying that
night. But 28 years old, and on the

" Jackson, with exemplary candor, says in
his offloial report :
" Repulsed on the right, left, and center, the
enemy, soon after, reformed his lines, aud gave
some indications of a purpose to renew tho nt-
taok. I waited some time to receive it ; but, he
making no forward movement, I determined, if
prudent, to do so myself. The artillery of the
enemy was so judiciously posted as to make an
advance of our troops across the plain very
hazardous ; yet it was so promising of good re
sults, if successfully executed, as to induce me

to make preparations for the attempt In order
to guard against disaster, the infantry was to be
preceded by artillery, and the movement post
poned until late in the evening; so that, if com
pelled to retire, it would be under the cover of
night Owing to unexpected delay, the move
ment could not bo got ready till late in the eve
ning. The first gun had hardly moved forward
from the wood a hundred yards, when the ene
my's artillery reopened, and so completely swept
our front as to satisfy me that the proposed
movement should he abandoned."

348

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

eve of marriage, his death fell like a
pall on many loving hearts.
Lee at first reported his losses at
"about 1,800 killed and wounded"
— one of those preposterous misrepre
sentations to which commanders on
either side were too prone. His ac
tual loss, as embodied in the detailed
reports of Longstreet and Jackson,
was over 5,000," 'and may probably
be fairly estimated at 6,000, including
500 unwounded prisoners. He claims
to have taken 900 prisoners and 9,000
small arms, but no guns.
Thus closed what the exulting cor
respondent at Lee's headquarters of
The Times (London) calls " a memo
rable day to the historian of the De
cline and Fall of the American Re
public." Not so, O owl-eyed scribe !
but rather one of those days of
bloody baptism from whose regen
erating flood that Republic was di
vinely appointed to rise to a purer

life, a nobler spirit, a grander, more
beftignant destiny.!

It would be incredible on any tes
timony less conclusive than his own M
that Gen. Burnside, on the very heel
of this prodigal, horrible carnage, re
solved to attack again next day, and
on the very point where the enemy's
lines had been proved impregnable at
a cost of 10,000 men. Another butch
ery as fruitless and still more demor
alizing would doubtless have been hv
curred, but for the timely and forci
ble remonstrance of stern old Sumner
— who never kept out of a fight when
there was a shadow of excuse for go
ing in — and who protested, backed
by nearly every General in the army,
against such suicidal madness. Burn
side finally gave way, and thus prob
ably saved the 9th corps (of old, his
own) from useless, inexcusable sacri
fice.

15 Longstreet reports his losses thus : killed,
251; wounded, 1,516; missing, 127: total, 1,894.
Jackson gives his as — killed, 344; wounded,
2,545; missing, 526: total, 3,415: grand total,
5,309. Among their killed, beside those already
mentioned, was Brig.-Gen. T. R. R. Cobb, of Ga.,
brother of Howell Cobb. Among their wound
ed, were Brig.-Gens. J. R. Cooke and W. ' D.
Pender. 16 He says, in his testimony before the Com
mittee on the Conduct of the War :
"The two attacks were made, and we were
repulsed ; still holding a portion of the ground
we had fought upon, but not our extreme ad
vance. " That night, I went all over the field on our
right ; in fact, I was with the officers and men
until nearly daylight. I found the feeling to be
rather against an attack the next morning; in
fact, it was decidedly against it.
" I returned to my headquarters, and, after
conversation with Gen. Sumner, told him that I
wanted him to order the 9th army corps — which
was the corps I originally commanded — to form
the next morning a column of attack by regi
ments. It consisted of some 18 old regiments,
and some new ones ; and I desired the column to
make a direct attack upon the enemy's works.
I thought that these regiments, by coming quick
ly up after each other, would be able to carry
the stone wall and the batteries in front, forcing

the enemy into their next line, and, by going in
with them, they would not be able to fire upon
us to any great extent. I left Gen. Sumner with
that understanding, and directed him to give the
order. The order was given, and the column of
attack was formed.
" The next morning, just before the column
was to have started, Gen. Sumner came to ma
and said : ' General, I hope you will desist from
this attack ; I do not know of any general officer
who approves of it ; and I think it will prove
disastrous to the army.' Advice of that kind
from Gen. Sumner, who has always been in favor
of an advance whenever it was possible, caused '
me to hesitate. I kept the column of attack
formed, and sent over for the division and corps
commanders, and consulted with them. They
unanimously voted against the attack. I then
went over to see the other officers of the com
mand on the other side, and found that the same
impression prevailed among them. I then sent
for Gen. Franklin, who was on the left, and he
was of exactly the same opinion. This caused
me to decide that I ought not to make the attack
I had contemplated. And besides, inasmuch as
the President of the United States had told me
not to be in haste in making this attack; that
he would give me all the support that he could,
but he did not want the Army of the Potomac
destroyed, I felt that I could not take the respon
sibility of ordering the attack, notwithstanding
my own belief at the time that the works of the
enemy could be carried."

LEE AND BURNSIDE ON FREDERICKSBURG.

349

The two armies stood facing each
other throughout the 14th and 15th :
Lee strengthening his defenses and
awaiting a renewal of the attack;
Burnside at length deciding to with
draw all but Hooker's corps across
the river, and continue to hold Fred
ericksburg ; but this he finally gave
up, on Hooker's representation that
he should be unable to hold the town ;
and decided to reeross his entire army
during the night of the 15th ; which
was quietly effected without serious
loss. A few of our desperately wound
ed, a few pickets, and considerable
ammunition, were left by us in Fred
ericksburg; but Franklin did not lose
a man ; and not one gun was aban
doned as a trophy of this ill-starred
advance on Richmond. Our pon
toons were all taken up and brought
off; the Rebels next day reoccupy-
ing Fredericksburg and their side
of the river ; and thenceforth pickets
and sharp-shooters fired across the
stream, whenever any temptation to
a shot was afforded, with as business
like an air as though the Rappahan
nock had always been the boundary
of two hostile empires, over which no
armed force had ever ventured.
Lee has been blamed for not follow
ing up his advantage ; and it is just
possible that he might have made
something by a tremendous bom
bardment of the town while still
crowded with our decimated, dis
heartened troops — possibly by a sud
den, determined assault upon it, or
upon Franklin's wing, with the great

" Lee's ' General Order No. 38,' dated Dec.
21, congratulating his army on their success in
this encounter, says :
" The immense army of the enemy completed
its preparations for the attack without interrup
tion, and gave battle in its own time, and on
ground of its own selection.
" It was encountered by less than twenty thou-

body of his army. But how could
he know at once how severely we
had suffered ? And, even if he did
know, would it have been wise to
rush his men upon our batteries, as
ours had been rushed upon his?
Jackson had decided against this,
when in the flush of his success ; and
he decided wisely. To push forward
their men till under the fire of our
heavy guns, commandingly posted on
our side of the Rappahannock, would
have been to imitate Burnside's blun
der; and they had not 15,000 men
to spare."
General Burnside's errors in this
movement were errors of judgment
only ; and these were nobly redeemed
by his subsequent conduct and bear
ing. Though he had accepted the
chief command with unfeigned re
luctance and self-distrust, and keenly
felt that he had not been fairly treat
ed in the matter of the pontoons, and
that Franklin had not done his best
in the hour of trial, he excused others
and took all the blame on himself. In
his report to Gen. Halleck,18 he says :
" But for the fog, and the unexpected and
unavoidable delay in building the bridges,
which gave the enemy 24 hours to concen
trate his forces in his strong position, we
should almost certainly have succeeded ; in
which case, the battle would have been, in
my opinion, far more decisive than if we
had crossed at the places first selected. As it
was, we came very near success. Failing
in accomplishing the main object, we re
mained in order of battle two days — long
enough to decide that the enemy would not
come out of his stronghold to fight me with
his infantry — after which, we recrossed to
this side of the river unmolested, without
the loss of men or property.

sand of this brave army; and its columns,
crushed and broken, hurled back at every point,
with such fearful slaughter, that escape from en
tire destruction became the boast of those who
had advanced in full confidence of victory."
This is so unfair as to be essentially false, and
quite unworthy of a great soldier.
18 Dec. 19.

350

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

" As the day broke, our long lines of
troops were seen marching to their different
positions as if going on parade — not the
least demoralization or disorganization ex
isted. " To the brave officers and soldiers who
accomplished the feat of thus recrossing in
the face of the enemy, I owe every thing.
For the failure in the attack, I am respon
sible; as the extreme gallantry, courage,
and endurance shown by them were never
exceeded, and would have Carried the points
had it been possible.
" To the families and friends of the dead,
I can only offer my heartfelt sympathies ;
but for the wounded, I can offer my earnest
prayer for their comfort and final recovery-.
" The fact that I decided to move from
Warrenton on to this line rather against the
opinion of the President, Secretary of War,
and yourself, and that you have left the
whole movement in my hands, without giv
ing me orders, makes me the more respon
sible." But General Burnside's usefulness
as commander of the Army of the
Potomac was at an end. Officers
and soldiers alike felt that he had
sadly misjudged in ordering an as
sault on the bristling heights south
of Fredericksburg — still more,in seek
ing to repeat that assault after the
bloody, calamitous experience of the
13th — and the popularity of Mc
Clellan was immensely strengthened
and widened by that disastrous re
pulse. Whatever his faults, 'Little
Mac ' had ever been careful of the
lives of his men ; and this fact was
now remembered to his credit. Had
the army been polled for the choice
of a commander at any time during
the month following our withdrawal
from Fredericksburg, it is probable
that McClellan would have had a de
cisive majority, and morally certain
that Burnside's supporters would
have proved a still more indubitable
minority. The latter, however, had no idea
of sitting down under his defeat.
J» Dec. 26.

While the Rebel chiefs were con
gratulating each other that the Army
of the Potomac had been paralyzed,
at least for the Winter, he was plan
ning a fresh and determined advance
on Richmond. Within a fortnight
after his bloody repulse, he ordered w
rations cooked, wagons packed, and
every thing made ready for a general
movement ; intending to make a
feint above Fredericksburg, but to
cross at the Sedden House, six or
seven miles below ; while 2,500 cav
alry, with 4 guns, crossing at Kelly's
ford, were to raid across the Virginia
Central, the Lynchburg and the Wel
don Railroads, blowing up the locks
on the James River Canal ; crossing
the Nottoway, and reporting to Gen.
Peck, in command at Suffolk ; while
several other flying expeditions were
to distract the enemy's attention and
deceive him as to the significance of
the general movement. He had just
given20 the initial impulse to this
combined movement, when a tele
gram from the President arrested it ;
and, repairing at once to Washing
ton, Gen. B. learned that represen
tations had been made at headquar
ters by certain of his subordinates,
prompted and sustained by others,
that, if he were permitted to proceed,
in the existing temper of the army,
he would inevitably incur disasters
so grave as to signally belittle, if not
wholly efface, those of the recent fail
ure. In deference to these represen
tations, the President had telegraphed
as he did ; and the Secretary of War
and the General-in-chief, though now
for the first time apprised of the clan
destine communications of army offi
cers to Mr. Lincoln, failed even to
attempt a removal of the impression
s° Dec. 30.

BURNSIDE'S 'MUD MARCH' — HE IS RELIEVED.

351

Jhey had made on the President's
mind. Returning to the army, Gen. Burn
side soon ascertained that certain
details of the proposed cavalry move
ment had transpired —in fact, he was
assured by Gen. Pleasanton that they
were known among Secessionists in
Washington two or three days after
his first interview with the President
—so he abandoned that movement ;
intending to make one somewhat dif
ferent, in the course of a few days.
This new movement contemplated
a crossing in force at Banks's and at
the United States fords, above Fred
ericksburg; the crossing below be-
*ing also made, or at least menaced,
as originally proposed: and again
his preparations were perfected and
his army now put" inmotion ; when,
at 10 p. m., there burst over it one of
the severest and most trying storms
ever experienced in that region.
Snow, driving sleet, pouring rain, a
general breaking up of the roads,
hitherto hard and dry, and a chaos
of the elements which rendered loco
motion impossible and life under the
drenching sky scarcely endurable,
arrested that advance at its outset,
and fixed our army in the mire
wherein it for hours wretchedly, sul
lenly, hopelessly floundered. Day
light exposed to the enemy across the
stream movements which were in
tended to be consummated under the
cover of night : they were not foolish
enough, had they been able, to
squander their men and animals in

attempts to assail our stalled and
struggling forces ; but they guarded
the fords so strongly that Burnside
was glad to order his men back to
their old camps — some of which they
had burned on quitting, in the confi
dent expectation that they should
nevermore need them.
Gen. Burnside, having discovered,
as he believed, the officers who had
paralyzed his efforts by fomenting
discontent in his army, and by dis
heartening communications to Wash
ington, now prepared a general order
(' No. 8'), dismissing " them from
the service ; but, on the advice of a
trusted friend, decided to submit it
to the President before giving it pub
licity or effect. He did so ; and the
President, after consultation with his
official advisers, decided, instead of
approving the order, to relieve Gen.
Burnside from command ; which was
accordingly done : the order stating
that Gen. B. was so relieved at hts
own request — against which, Gen. B.
remonstrated as most unjust, pressing
his demand that his resignation should
be accepted instead ; but he was
finally persuaded to withdraw it, and
agree to serve wherever his aid might.
be required, allowing any order to
be published that might be deemed
essential to the public weal. Thus
ended S3 his command of the Army of
the Potomac.

During this Winter and the ensu
ing Spring, a number of raids were
made by the Rebel cavalry : one M

al Jan. 20, 1863.
w Maj.-Gen. Hooker, with Brig.-Gens. W. T.
H. Brooks and John Newton, were designated
in this order for ignominious dismissal from the
service; while Maj.-Gens. W. B..Franklin and
W. F Smith, and Brig.-Gens. John Cochrane
and Edward Ferrero, with Lt.-CoL J. H.

Taylor, were relieved from duty with this
army. M Jan. 28. Gen. Sumner, at his own request,
and Gen. Franklin, with expressive silence, were
relieved by the same order. Gen. Sumner died
soon afterward, at Syracuse, N. T.
" Dec 25, 1862.

352

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

by J. E. B. Stuart across the Rappa
hannock to Dumfries, where 25
wagons and some 200 prisoners Were
taken, and thence toward Alexandria
and around Fairfax Court House,
burning the railroad bridge across
the Accotink, and returning in tri
umph with their spoils; another,"
by a party of Imboden's troopers,
farther west,, from the Valley to
Romney, where the guards of a
supply train were surprised and
routed: 72 men, 106 horses, and 27
wagons taken and carried off; a
third,20 by Fitz Hugh Lee, across the
Rappahannock, near Falmouth, sur
prising a camp, and taking 150 pris
oners, with a loss of 14 men ; a
fourth," by Gen. W. E. Jones, in the
Yalley, routing two regiments of
Milroy's cavalry, and taking 200 pris
oners, with a loss of 4 men only;
while a more daring raid was made
by Maj. White, of Jones's command,
across the Potomac at Poolesville,
taking 77 prisoners. Lee further re
ports that Capt. Randolph, of the
Black Horse cavalry, by various
raids into Fauquier county, captured
over 200 prisoners and several hun
dred stand of arms ; and that Lt.
Moseby (whose name now makes its
¦ first appearance in a bulletin) '" has
done much to harass the enemy ;
attacking him boldly on several
occasions, and capturing many pris
oners." One or two minor cavalry
exploits, recited by Lee in ' General
Order No. 29,' read too much like
romance to be embodied in sober his
tory ; yet such was the depression on
our side in Virginia, such the elation
and confidence on the other, such

the very great advantage enjoyed by
Rebel raiders in the readiness of the
White inhabitants to give them in
formation, and even to scout in quest
of it, throughout that dreary Winter,
that nothing that might be asserted
of Rebel audacity or Federal imbe
cility is absolutely incredible.
The somber cloud is lighted by a
single flash, not of victory, but of
humor. In a Rebel raid far within our
lines, Gen. Stoughton, a young Ver
mont Brigadier, was taken in his bed,
near Fairfax Court JBLouse, and, with
his guards and five horses, hurried off
across the Rappahannock. Some one
spoke of the loss to Mr. Lincoln next
morning : " Yes," said the President ;
"that of the horses is bad ; but I can
make another General in 5 minutes."

When General Hooker assumed"
command of the Army of the Poto
mac, its spirit and efficiency were at
a very low ebb. Desertions were at
the rate of 200 per day ; soldiers
clandestinely receiving citizens' cloth
ing by express from relatives and
others to facilitate their efforts to
escape from a service wherein they
had lost all heart. The number
shown by the rolls to be absent from
their regiments was no less than 2,922
officers and 81,964 non-commission
ed 29 officers and soldiers — many of
them in hospitals, on leave, or detach
ed on duty ; but a majority, probably,
had deserted. The frequency, auda
city, and success, ofthe Rebel cavalry
raids that Winter forcibly indicate
the elation and confidence felt on one
side, the apathy, born of despon
dency, on the other. Superior as its

26 Feb. 16. «• Feb. 25. " Feb. 26. !8 Jan. 26.
w So Gen. Hooker testified before the Com
mittee on the Conduct of the War. But this

enormous total probably includes all who had
deserted from the regiments composing that
army since they were severally organized, aa
well as the sick and wounded in hospitals.

w J, If

HOOKER'S ADYANCE — STONEMAN'S ORDERS.

353

numbers still were, it is questionable
that this army was a full match, on
equal ground, for its more homoge
neous, better disciplined, more self-
assured, more determined antagonist.
Gen. Hooker very properly de
voted the two ensuing months to im
proving the discipline, perfecting the
organization, and exalting the spirit
of his men ; with such success that
he had, before their close, an army
equal in numbers and efficiency to
any ever seen on this continent, ex
cept that which Gen. McClellan com
manded during the first three months
of 1861. Its infantry was nearly, if
not quite, 100,000 strong ; its artillery
not less than 10,000, every way well
appointed; while its cavalry, number
ing 13,000, needed only a fair field
and a leader to prove itself the most
effective body of horsemen ever brig
aded on American soil. Horses and
forage having both become scarce in
the South, tbere was not, and never
had been, any cavalry force connected
with any Rebel army that could
stand against it.
Being at length ready, Hooker
dispatched so Stoneman, with most of
his cavalry,31 up the north side of the
river," with instructions to cross, at
discretion, above the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad, strike Fitz
Hugh Lee's cavalry brigade (com
puted at 2,000) near Culpepper Court
House, capture Gordonsville, and
then pounce on the Fredericksburg
and Richmond Railroad near Sax-
ton's Junction, cutting telegraphs,
railroads, burning bridges, &c,
thence toward Richmond, fighting at
every opportunity, and harassing by
every means the retreat of the Rebel
army, which, it was calculated, would

now be retiring on Richmond. The
spirit of Hooker's instructions is em
bodied in these sentences :
" Let your watchword he fight, and let
all your orders he fight, fight, fight ; bearing
in mind that time is as valuable to the Gen
eral as the Rebel carcasses.
" It devolves upon you, General, to take
the initiative in the forward movement of
this grand army ; and on you and your nohle
command must depend, in a great measure,
the extent and brilliancy of our success.
Bear in mind that celerity, audacity, and re*
solution, are every thing in war; and espe
cially is it the case with the command you
have, and the enterprise on which you are
about to embark."
These instructions seem to have
been at once terse and perspicuous,.
plainly indicating what was expected,
and why it was required ; yet leaving
ample discretion to him who was to
give them effect. Yet it is hard to
repress a suspicion that irony lurks
in such language, when addressed to
an officer like George D. Stoneman.
Our cavalry, carefully screening
its movements from the enemy }
marched two days westward, and had
thrown across one division, when a
rain raised the river so rapidly that
this vanguard was recalled, swim
ming its horses ; and a succession of
April storms kept the streams so full
and impetuous, while the roads were
rendered so bad, that a fresh advance
was postponed to the 27th; Gen.
Hooker giving the order for the
movement of his infantry and artil
lery next day.
The time was well chosen. Long-
street, with three divisions, had been
detached from Lee's army, and was
operating against Gen. Peck below
the James ; and it is not probable
that Lee had much, if any, over 60,000
men on the Rappahannock. True,
his position at Fredericksburg was

' April 13. SI He says 13,000, in his testimony before the Committee on the Conduct of the War.
vol. n. — 23

354

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

very strong, as we had learned to our
cost; but it might be turned, as
Hooker proceeded to show.
His army was still encamped at
Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg.
The llth (Howard's) and 12th (Slo
cum's) corps moved up the river, but
carefully avoiding observation from
the hostile bank, so far as Kelly's
ford ; crossing there the Rappahan
nock that night and next morning —
the men wading up to their arm
pits — and the Rapidan at Germania
Mills, next day, moving thence rap
idly on Chastoelloksville. The 5th
(Meade's) corps followed; crossing
tbe Rapidan at Ely's ford, lower
down. Meantime, the 2d (Couch's)
corps approached, so nearly as it
might unobserved, to both the United
States and Banks's fords, ready to
cross when these should be flanked
by the advance of the llth, 12th,
and 5th behind these fords to Chan
cellorsville. Resistance had been ex
pected here ; but none was encoun
tered, as none worth mentioning had
been above ; and Couch crossed his
corps" at the United States ford on
pontoons, without the loss of a man.
Gen. Hooker, at Morrisville, superin
tended the movement; following him
self to Chaneellorsville,wherehe estab
lished his headquarters that night.
This important movement had
been skillfully masked by a feint of
crossing below Fredericksburg; the
6th (Sedgwick's) corps laying pon
toons and actually crossing at Frank-
lin's^ two or three miles below ; the
1st (Reynolds's) at Pollock's Mill, still
lower ; the 3d (Sickles's) supporting
either or both. Sedgwick was in
chief command on this wing. The
bridges were ready by daylight of the
83 April 30.

29th ; and, before daylight, Brooks's
division had crossed in boats and
driven off the Rebel pickets ; while
Gen. Wadsworth in like manner led
the advance of Reynolds's division ;
when three pontoon bridges were
laid in front of Sedgwick, and every
thing made ready for crossing in
force. Now Sickles's (3d) corps was
ordered to move33 silently, rapidly to
the United States ford, and thence
to Chancellorsville, while part of the
pontoons were taken up and sent to
Banks's ford; Reynolds, after mak
ing as great a display as possible, and
exchanging some long shots with the
Rebels in his front, following, May
2d; raising Hooker's force at and
near Chancellorsville to 70,000 men.
Sedgwick, on the other side of the
Rebel army, had his own corps, 22,000
strong ; while Gen. Gibbon's division
of the 2d corps, 6,000 strong, which
had been left in its camp at Falmouth
to guard our stores and guns from a
Rebel raid, was subject to his order ;
raising his force to nearly 30,000.
Thus far, Gen. Hooker's success
had been signal and deserved. His
movements had been so skillfully
masked that Lee was completely de
ceived ; and the passage of the Rap
pahannock had been effected, both
above and below him, and all its
fords seized, without any loss what
ever. Never did a General feel more
sanguine of achieving not merely a
great but a crushing victory. "I
have Lee's army in one hand and
Richmond in the other," was his ex
ulting remark to those around him as
he rode up to the single but capacious
brick house — at once mansion and
tavern — that then, with its appenda
ges, constituted Chancellorsville. But
"3 April 30.

N LEE CONCENTRATES IN HOOKER'S FRONT.

355

the order he issued thereupon evinces
an amazing misapprehension of his
real position and its perils. It reads
as follows :
" Headquarters Aemt op the Potomac, ~1
" Camp neak Falmouth, Va., >
"April 30, 1863.)
" It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the
Commanding General announces to the ar
my that the operations of the last three days
have determined that our enemy must either
ingloriously fly or come out from behind his
defenses and give us battle on our own
ground, where certain destruction awaits
him. The operations of the 5th, llth, and
12th corps have been a succession of splen
did achievements. 11 By command of Maj.-Gen. Hooker.
"S. Williams, Ass't Adjt.-Gen."
A General who has but eight days'
provisions at hand, and these in the
haversacks of his men, with a capri
cious river between him and his de
pots, and who has been obliged to
leave behind most of his heavier
guns, as well as his wagons, and is
enveloped in a labyrinth of woods
and thickets, traversed by narrow
roads, and every foot of it familiar
to his enemy, while a terra incognita
even to his guides, has no warrant
for talking in that strain. Never
were a few "intelligent contrabands,"
who had traversed those mazes by
night as well as by day, more im
peratively needed ; yet he does not
seem to have even seasonably sought
their services.; hence, his general or
der just recited, taken in connection
with his pending experience, was
destined to lend a mournful empha
sis to the trite but sound old moni
tion,. " Never halloo till you are out
of the woods."
The fords of the Rappahannock
next above Fredericksburg had been
watched by Gen. Anderson with
three brigades, some 8,000 strong ;
but Hooker's dispositions were so

skillfully made that he did not anti
cipate a crossing in force until it was
too late to call on Lee for reenforce
ments ; and he had no choice but to
fall back rapidly before our ad
vancing columns to Chancellorsville,
where»a fourth brigade joined him ;
but, being still too weak to make
head against an army, he obliqued^
thence five miles toward Fredericks
burg, at the point where the two
roads from Chancellorsville become
one. Here Lee soon appeared from
Fredericksburg, with the divisions of
McLaws and the rest of Anderson^
own. Jackson, with those of A. P.
Hill and Rhodes (late D. H. Hill's),
had been watching our demonstra
tion under Sedgwick, below Freder
icksburg ; but, when Lee heard that
Hooker had crossed in force above,
he at once inferred that the move
ment below was a feint, and called
Jackson away toward Chancellors
ville, adding the division of Trimble
to his command and impelling him on
a movement against Hooker's extreme
right; leaving only Early's division
and Barksdale's brigade in front of
Sedgwick on our remote left, and to
hold the heights overlooking Freder
icksburg, which he judged no longer
likely to be assailed.
Lee had been outgeneraled in the
passage of the Rappahannock on his
left, while he was watching for Hook
er on his right ; but he was not dis
concerted. Leaving a very small
force in his works on the Fredericks
burg heights, he pushed his main
body — at least 50,000 strong — down
the Gordonsville plank and lateral
roads to the point, half-way to Chan
cellorsville, where the old turnpike
intersects the plank road ; and was

356

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

CHANCELLORS VILI.K

A. Positions held by Union troops previous to the
movement.
B. Positions held by Eebel troops previous to the
movement
C. Position taken and held by Union troops, April 29.
D. Small force of Rebels routed, April 80.
E. Farthest advance made by Union forces, May 1.
F. Line which Union forces retired to and intrenched,
May 1.

G. Jackson's attack on the llth corps, May 2.
H. Position which Union forces retired to and Intrenched,
MayS.
I. Heights at Fredericksburg carried by 6th corps,
MayS.
J. Advanced position attained by 6th corps.
K. Interior line intrenched previous to retiring of Union
forces across U. S. ford, night of May 5th.
L. Eoute pursued by Jackson's forces.

here concentrated in time to watch
the development of Hooker's offen
sive strategy.
A reconnoissance down the old
pike for three miles toward Freder
icksburg having developed no hostile
force, Gen. Hooker ordered34 an ad
vance of Sykes's regulars (3d division,
5th corps) oh that road, followed by
part of the 2d corps ; the 1st and 3d
divisions of the 5th corps moving on
a road farther north, in the direction
of Banks's ford ; the llth, followed
by the 12th, being thrown out west
wardly from Chancellorsville, along
the two roads, which are here, for a
short distance, blended, but gradually
separate. An advance of two or
three miles toward Fredericksburg
was meditated ; but Sykes had hardly

traversed a mile when he met the
enemy coming on, in greater force,
and a sharp conflict ensued, with
mutual loss; the Rebels extending
their line so as to outflank ours,
while Sykes vainly attempted to con
nect with Slocum (12th corps) on his
right. Gen. Warren, who was su
perintending Sykes's movement, re
turned and reported progress to
Hooker, who ordered Sykes to fall
back, which he did ; bringing off all
but a few of his wounded, and very
cautiously followed by the enemy.
Thus the prestige of success, in the
first collision of the struggle, was
tamely conceded to the enemy ; and
the day closed with the woods and
thickets in our front filled with Rebel
sharp-shooters, and the crests of the

34 May 1, 9 a. M.

JACKSON ROUTS HOWARD'S CORPS.

357

ridges occupied by his batteries,
whence he opened on our left, upon
our wagons in the cleared space
around the Chancellorsville house,
next morning.3"
The 3d (Sickles's) corps, having
arrived by a hard march from below
Fredericksburg, had been mainly
posted in reserve near our center,
while Hooker, about daybreak, rode
along his right, which he apprehended
was too far extended, or not strongly
posted, and which he found no wise
prepared by earthworks and batteries
for a flank attack; but he was as
sured by Slocum and Howard that
they were equal to any emergency.
Thus oiir army stood still, when, at
8 A. m., Birney, commanding Sickles's
1st division, which had been thrown
well forward toward our right, be
tween the 12th and the llth corps,
reported a continuous movement of
Rebel forces along his front toward
our right; whereupon, Sickles, at his
own suggestion, was ordered by Hook
er to push forward Birney's division,
followed by another, to look into the
matter. Birney, at 10 a. m., directed Clark's
rifled battery to open on the Confed
erate wayfarers, which he did with
great effect, throwing their column
into disorder, and compelling it to
abandon the road. The movement
being evidently continued, however,
on some road a little farther off,
Sickles, at 1 p. m., directed Birney
to charge the passing column ; and
he did so ; bridging with rails a petty
creek in his front, passing over his di
vision and two batteries, and striking
the rear of the Rebel column with
such force that he captured and
brought off 500 prisoners.

Sunset found him thus far ad
vanced, holding the road over wliich
the Rebel's were originally marching;
his division formed in square, with
his artillery in the center; Barlow's
brigade of the 5th corps, which had
advanced to support his right,' being
up with him; but Whipple's divi
sion of the 3d and one of the 12th
corps, which were to have covered
his left, being invisibly distant.
Soon, panic-stricken fugitives from
the llth, now almost directly in Bir
ney's rear, brought tidings of a great
disaster. The Rebel movement to
our right, along our front — which had
been either culpably disregarded by
Howard, or interpreted as a retreat
of the Rebel army on Richmond —
had culminated, a little before 6 p. m.,
in a grand burst of Stonewall Jack
son, with 25,000 men, on the exposed
flank of that corps. Emerging sud
denly from the thick woods which
enveloped that flank, and charging
it from three sides, as it were, the
Rebels caught some of our men pre
paring their suppers, with arms
stacked, and gave them no time to
recover. In a moment, the 1st divis
ion, Gen. Devens, was overwhelmed ;
its commander being among the
the wounded, and one-third of his
force, including every General and
Colonel, either disabled or captured.
Driven back in wild rout down the
Chancellorsville road upon the posi
tion of Gen. Schurz, it was found
that his division had already retreat
ed — perhaps fled is the apter word —
and an attempt made to rally and
form here proved abortive ; the 17th
Connecticut, which bore a resolute
part in the effort, had its Lt.-Col.
killed and its Colonel severely wound-

' Saturday, May 2.

358

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ed. Back upon Steinwehr's division
rolled the rabble rout, in spite of
Howard's frantic exertions ; and, al
though a semblance of organization
and consistency was here maintained,
the great majority of the corps
poured down to Chancellorsville and
beyond, spreading the infection of
their panic, and threatening to stam
pede the entire army.
Sickles had been preparing to
strike a still heavier blow than that
of Birney, and had, to that end,
obtained from Hooker Pleasanton's
cavalry, perhaps 1,000 strong, with
permission to call on Howard and
Slocum for aid ; when he was thun
derstruck by tidings that Howard's
corps was demolished. As he had
heard no firing of consequence, he
refused at first to credit the story;
but he was soon constrained to be
Ueve it. Not only was the llth corps
gone, but the triumphant Rebels were
in his rear, between him and head
quarters ; so that when, recalling
Birney from his advanced position,
he sent to Hooker for his 3d division,
he was informed that it could not be
sent — Hooker having been obliged to
use it to arrest the progress of the
enemy, and prevent their driving
him from Chancellorsville.
Sickles was in a critical position ;
but he had now his two divisions in
hand, with his artillery — which had
not been used in Birney's advance —
massed in a cleared field ; where Pleas-
anton, coming in from the front with
a part of his force, met the rushing
flood of fugitives from the right, and
was told that a charge of cavalry was
required to stop the enemy's advance.
(He had at most 500 men, wherewith
to arrest a charge of 25,000, led by
Stonewall Jackson.) Turning to Maj.

Keenan, 8th Pennsylvania, he said,
" Tou must charge into those woods
with your regiment, and hold the
Rebels until I can get some of these
guns into position. You must do it,
at whatever cost." " I will," was the
calm, smiling response of the patriot,
who well understood that the order was
his death-warrant. Ten minutes later,
he was dead, and a :good part of his
regiment lay bleeding around him;
but their charge had stayed the Rebel
rush, and enabled Pleasanton to get
his own battery of horse artillery into
position, his guns double-shotted with
canister, and trained on the ground,
200 yards distant, over which the
enemy must come on. And now,
clearing the field of fugitives, pick
ing up what guns and ammunition
he could from the wreck of the llth
corps, and adding these to Sickles's,
he had them all properly posted and
double-shotted, and was ready for his
expected visitors.
He had not long to wait. The
woods in his front were by this time
full of them ; darkness was falling ;
and some of the enemv resorted to
*j
the unworthy stratagem (quite too
common on either side) of displaying
a false flag, and pretending to be
friends. One of our gunners ex
claimed, " General, that is our flag !"
whereupon he sent forward an aid to
ascertain. " Come on, we are friends !"
was called out ; and, in another
moment, the woods blazed with mus
ketry, and the Rebels charged out of
them, rushing upon our guns ; which
that instant opened, and swept whole
ranks of them away. Three charges
were thus made — one of them to
within fifty yards of the guns— but
each was repelled with great slaugh
ter; though Pleasanton had no in-

DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON.

359

fantry support worth naming for his
batteries; and his few remaining
troopers, being green recruits, were
not adapted to such an emergency ;
yet these for a time were all tie sup
port he had.
In front of these batteries, fell Stone
wall Jackson, mortally wounded — by
the fire of his own men, they say ; 38
but it was dark, in dense woods,
and men were falling all around
him from our canister and grape;
so that it is not impossible that he
was among them. Prisoners taken
by Pleasanton soon afterward told
him that Jackson was mortally
wounded, and mentioned other high
officers, as, like him, stricken down by
our fire ; adding that their forces were
" badly cut up," and, " as to the
men, they were disorganized." Still,
it seems probable that Jackson fell
by a fire from his own infantry, deliv
ered in accordance with his orders.

His loss was the greatest yet sus
tained by either .party in the fall of a
single man ; though Sidney Johnston
had probably military talents of a
higher order. But Jackson's power
over his men was unequaled; and it
was justified by the soundness of his
judgment as well as the intrepidity
'of his character. Contrary to the
vulgar notion, his attacks were all
well considered, and based on a care
ful calculation of forces; and he
showed as high qualities in refusing
to squander his men towardthe close
ofthe fray at Antietam, and again, at
Fredericksburg, as he did in his most
brilliant charges. Accident seemed
to favor him at times, especially in
his later Yalley campaign.; but then,
accident is apt to favor a commander
who is never asleep when there is
anything to be gained or hoped from
being awake, and who, if required,
can march his men forty miles per

™ " The Life of Stonewall Jackson, by a Vir
ginian," gives the following account of his fall:
" Gen. Jackson ordered Gen. Hill to advance
with his division, reserving his fire unless cavatry
approached from the direction ofthe enemy; and
then, with that burning and intense enthusiasm
for conflict which lay under his calm exterior,
hastened forward to the line of skirmishers who
were hotly engaged in front. Such was his
ardor, at this critical moment, and his anxiety to
penetrate the movements of tbe enemy, doubly
screened as they were by the dense forest and
gathering darkness, that he rode ahead of his
skirmishers, and exposed himself to a close and
dangerous fire from the enemy's sharp-shooters,
posted in the timber.
" So great was the danger which he thus ran,
that one of his staff said: ' General, don't you
think this is the wrong place for you?' He re
plied quickly : ' The danger is all over ; the ene
my is routed. Go back, and tell A. P. Hill to
press right on I' Soon after giving this order,
Gen. Jackson turned, and, accompanied by his
staff and escort, rode back at a trot, on his well-
known ' Old Sorrel,' toward his own men. Un
happily, in the darkness — it was now 9 or 10
o'clock at night — the little body of horsemen was
mistaken for Federal cavalry charging, and the
regiments on the right and left of the road fired
a sudden volley into them with the most lament
able results. Capt. Boswell, of Gen. Jackson's
staff, was killed, and borne into our lines by his

horse ; Col. Crutchfield, Chief of Artillery, was
wounded ; and two couriers were killed. Gfin.
Jackson received one ball in his left arm, two
inches below the shoulder jduit, shattering the
bone and severing the chief artery ; a second
passed through the same arm, between the elbow
and wrist, making its exit through* the palm oi
the hand; a third ball entered the palm of his
right hand, about the middle, and, passing
through, broke two of the bones.
" He fell from his horse, and was caught by
Capt. Wormly, to whom he said, ' All my wounds
are by my own men.'
" The firing was responded to by the. enemy,
who made .a sudden advance ; and, the Confeder
ates falling back, their foes actually charged over
Jackson's body. He was not discovered, how
ever; and, the Federals being .driven back in
turn, he was rescued. Ready hands placed him
upon a litter, and he was borne to the rear, amid
a heavy fire from the enemy. One of the litter-
bearers was shot down, and the -General fell
from the shoulders of the men, receiving a
severe contusion, adding to the injury of the arm,
and injuring the side severely. : The enemy's
fire of artillery on the point was terrible. -Gen
Jackson was left for five minutes. until .the fire
slackened, then placed in an ambulance and' car
ried to the field hospital at Wilderness Run."
He died, eight days afterward, at Guineas'
Station, five miles from the place of his fall, and
his remains rest at Lexington, Va., his home.

360

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

day. It is doubtful if all the advan
tages; including prestige, which the
Rebels gained around Chancellors
ville, were not dearly purchased by
the loss of Thomas Jonathan Jackson.
Pleasanton, no longer annoyed,
proceeded with his work, getting
batteries arranged, with caissons, &c,
from the debris left behind by the
stampeded corps, until he had forty
guns in position, and three roads
built across an adjacent marsh; so
that, with the support of Sickles's
infantry, he deemed his position
tenable against the entire Rebel
army. Sickles, who was again in
communication with Hooker, ad
vanced Birney's division at midnight,
Hobart Ward's brigade in front,
charging down the plank road, driv
ing back the Rebels, and recovering
a part of the ground lost by Howard ;
bringing away several of our aban
doned guns and caissons. And now,
reporting in person to Hooker, he was
ordered to fall back on Chancellors
ville — the collapse of the llth corps
having rendered our force inadequate,
as was judged, for the defense of so
extended a front. This order would
seem to have been unfortunate. At
daylight,37 Sickles commenced the
movement — Birney in the rear — and
was of course closely followed by the
enemy, whose infantry filled the
woods ; but our men retired slowly
and steadily, by successive forma
tions, and left nothing to the enemy
but one dismounted gun, a shattered
caisson, and our dead.
Lee's army was nearly all now
concentrated in Hooker's front, and
on his left flank, elated with its easy
rout of the llth corps and its gene
ral success ; covered by woods, which

not merely concealed its inferiority
in numbers, but rendered it immate
rial ; while Hooker had lost heart, by
reason of Howard's sudden disaster;
and Ms subordinates were paralyzed
by their ignorance of this region of
woods and dense thickets, in which
they could rarely determine whether
they were confronting a regiment or
a division, and in which, with 60,000
men at hand, they were never able to
put in half that number so as to
render them of any service.
At daylight, the Rebels pushed for
ward heavy columns on their chosen
points of attack, infesting our whole
front with sharp-shooters, and keep
ing each of our corps which they had
determined not to attack in constant
expectation of a charge in force.
But their main effort was made from
the west, by direct advance on Chan
cellorsville down the plank road on
the ground wherefrom Howard had
been hurled. Never did men charge
with more desperate determination,
more utter recklessness of their own
lives, than did that morning the Reb
els, now led by J. E. B. Stuart (A. P.
Hill having been disabled soon after
Jackson was, in front of Pleasanton's
batteries), dashing themselves upon
Sickles's corps; whose forty guns,
ably fought, tore through their close
ranks with frightful carnage. Those
guns were supported by Berry's and
Birney's divisions of their own corps ;
the remaining division (Whipple's)
supporting Berry's, as Williams's (of
Slocum's corps) supported Birney's.
Charging up to the mouths of our
cannon, the Rebels were mowed down
by hundreds; but fresh regiments
constantly succeeded those which had
been shattered ; until Sickles, finding

Sunday, May 3.

HOOKER STUNNED — SICKLES DRIVEN.

361

his cartridges running low, sent word
to Hooker that he could not hold his
ground without assistance.
Major Tremaine, who bore this
message, found the General stunned
and senseless. A cannon-ball had
just now struck a pillar of the Chan
cellorsville house, against which he
was leaning, and hurled him to the
floor. He was supposed by his staff
to be dead or dying ; so Tremaine
could get no response to Sickles's
message; and, after sending once
more to headquarters in vain, Sickles
— his artillery being now out of am
munition — was obliged to recede to
his second line of defenses, expecting
to be sharply followed, and to be
compelled to hold his ground with
the bayonet. But the enemy's for
mation had been so completely pul
verized by our guns, and their losses
had been so fearful, that half an hour
elapsed before they renewed their at
tack. Had a corps been, promptly
sent to his assistance, Sickles believes
that victory was his own.
The precious hour passed, while
our army was without a head. Gen.
Couch was next in rank, and might
have assumed active command dur
ing Hooker's insensibility, but hesi
tated to do so. Nothing had been
done to relieve Sickles's corps of the
weight of all Jackson's force, save

that French and Hancock, with two
divisions of Couch's corps,had charged
the left of the Rebel attacking force,
then threatening Meade's front, and
forced it back. But this scarcely
abated the pressure on Sickles, who
was freshly assailed in his new posi
tion, and — being still nearly desti
tute of ammunition — was again com
pelled to recoil, after repelling, mainly
with the bayonet, five fierce charges,
and capturing eight flags. Under
Couch's orders, our army was gener
ally withdrawn a mile northward, or
toward the Rappahannock,leavingthe
wreck of the Chancellorsville house
to the enemy, whose guns had by thiB
time reduced it to a heap of ruins.
Sickles testified, when before the
Committee on the Conduct of the
War, that only his and a part of the
12th (Slocum's) corps were engaged
when he first sent to Hooker for
help ; and that, with 10,000 of the
30,000 then unengaged, he could
have won a decided victory. As it
was, the fact that he lost no prison
ers, while he took several hundred,
and that nearly 4,000 of his 18,000
men were that day disabled, includ
ing two of his three division com
manders (Berry and Whipple) killed,
and Gen. Mott, of the New Jersey
brigade, wounded, without the loss
of a gun 38 on his repeated retreats,

88 Sickles, in his testimony, says:
" At the conclusion of the battle of Sunday,
Capt. Seeley's battery, which was the last that
fired a shot in the battle of Chancellorsville, had 45
horses killed, and in the neighborhood of 40 men
killed and wounded ; but, being a soldier of great
pride and ambition, and not wishing to leave any
of his material in the hands of the enemy, he
withdrew so entirely at his leisure that he carr
ried off all the harness from his dead horses,
loading his cannoniers with it ; he even took a
part of a set of harness on his own arm, and so
moved to the rear. I think this is as significant
a fact as I can state to you, indicating the ina
bility of the enemy to follow up."

Gen. Hancock, commanding a division of the
2d corps, thus describes, in his testimony, the
retirement of our army from Chancellorsville :
" My position was on the other side of the
Chancellor house ; and I had a fair view of this
battle, although my troops were facing and fight
ing the other way. The first lines referred to
finally melted away, and the whole front ap
peared to pass out. First the 3d corps went
out; then the 12th corps, after fighting a long
time; and there was nothing left on that part
of the line but my own division — that is,, on
that extreme point of the line on the side of the
Chancellor house toward the enemy. I was di
rected to hold that position until a change of

362

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

save that lost at daylight, sufficiently
proves that the ground we conceded
was lost by reason of misfortune or
bad generalship, not by lack of valor
or endurance in our soldiers.
Gen. Hooker recovered his con
sciousness and resumed command by
noon ; but the fighting on this front
was now nearly over : Lee's attention
being forcibly drawn to Sedgwick,
who was operating on his rear, where
Hooker had expected him to strike
heavily at an early hour this morning.
Sedgwick, whose operations had
hitherto been intended only to dis
tract attention from the movement
on our right, had been directed 3a by
Hooker to cross at Fredericksburg,
and advance forthwith on the road
to Chancellorsville, demolishing any
force that might attempt to bar his
progress, until he should fall upon
Lee's rear, simultaneously with an
attack by Hooker on his front, and
thus crush him between them. How
hazardous such attempts at concerted
attack on a great army from opposite
and distant points are, was not now
to be first learned.
The order found Sedgwick already
across the river, but at a point two
or three miles below the city Gen.
Warren, who was sent by Hooker,
after the stampede of the llth corps,

to urge Sedgwick to evince all possi
ble alacrity, found him, at 3 A. m. of
the eventful Sunday, just getting his
corps in motion, and explained to him
Hooker's. criticalposition and the ne
cessity for prompt action in this quar
ter. The night was clear; there was
a full moon ; and it would not have
been impossible to march a corps from
Sedgwick's pontoons to Chancellors
ville between midnight and 6 a. k,,
had there been nothing in his way.
But there was a serious obstacle — to
wit, Lee's army; some portion of
which was in Sedgwick's immediate
front, and opened a straggling fire
on the heads of his columns so soon
as he commenced his march ; and at
daylight he was just entering Fred
ericksburg, instead of approaching
Chancellorsville. By this time, Gib
bon had laid a pontoon, and was
crossing into the city, raising Sedg
wick's force to nearly 30,000 men.
Meanwhile, the Rebel troops in this
quarter had been concentrating on
Marye's hill, where they had several
guns in position ; while a canal cov
ering their left, with the bridges all
taken up, increased the difficulty of
carrying the hill by assault.
One attempt to clear the enemy's
rifle-pits at the foot of the hill was
repulsed ; and it was nearly 11 A. M.,

line of battle could be made, and was to hold it
until I was notified that all the other troops had
gotten off. This necessitated my fighting for a time
both ways. . I had two lines of battle ; one facing
toward Fredericksburg, and the other line behind
that. And I had to face about the troops in the
rear line, so as to be ready for the enemy in that
direction, who were coming on. I had a good
deal of artillery; and, although the enemymassed
their infantry in the woods very near me, aud
attempted to advance, and always held a very
threatening attitude, I judge they had exhaust
ed their troops so much that they dared not
attack me, although I remained there for some
time alone in this position, very heavily engaged
with artillery all the time, and some of my men
of the rear line occasionally being shot by their

infantry at a distance of several hundred yards.
There was no forcible attack on me ; and, when the
time came, I marched off to my new position,
probably three-quarters of a mile from the old
position, toward Untied States ford, where the
new line of battle was laid out.
"We immediately commenced to fortify that
position by throwing up rifle-pits, and held it
until we recrossed the river. In the mean time,
we had given up all those great roads connect
ing with Fredericksburg. The enemy took pos
session of the belt of woods between us and
those roads, and held us in the open space, and
commenced using the roads we had abandoned,
and marched down and attacked Sedgwick, as it
proved afterward."
89 By order dated May 2, 9 p. m. ; received at 11.

SEDGWICK ADVANCES ON LEE'S REAR.

.363

before Sedgwick had completed such
dispositions as he deemed requisite to
storm- the heights ; when, advancing
resolutely, those heights were quickly
Garried; Gen. Howe's (2d) division
forming three storming columns, un
der Gen. Neill and Cols. Grant and
Seaver, and carrying Cemetery hill
under a heavy fire of artillery, push
ing thence to Marye's hill, which
was likewise carried with little loss ;
our columns having scarcely been
checked in their advance : the Rebel
force (the 19th and 20th Mississippi,
under Barksdale) being too light.
Among the trophies of this success
were 200 prisoners, some guns, camp
equipage, &c.
Having reformed his brigades,
Sedgwick, leaving Gibbon at Fred
ericksburg, moved out on the Chan
cellorsville road' on the track of
Barksdale, following him three or
four miles to Salem church, where
the Rebels halted and began to fight
in earnest ; being joined by Wilcox,
who had fallen back from Banks's
ford. The position was strong, its
flanks well covered by woods, and
repeated attempts to carry it proved
abortive. By this time (5 p. ,m.), Lee — the fight
ing around Chancellorsville being
over — had thrown McLaws this way,
with orders and men to stop Sedg
wick's* progress ; and they did it.
The fight continued till dark; but
the enemy were on high ground, and
held it ; McLaws now taking com
mand against us, with his force con
tinually augmenting. Being the

assailants, we of course lost the
greater number; and our men lay
down on their arms, with little hope
of forcing their way through to
Hooker on that line, especially since
he gave' no signs of vitality, and
afforded no promise of vigorous
cooperation. Morning broke ;4° and Sedgwick's
position was fast becoming critical.
The enemy were not only in force on
his front, but were feeling around his
left, and even l^ck to the heights
above Fredericksburg. He was not
strong enough to fight the whole
Rebel army ; yet, should Hooker re
main torpid, that luxury was jnst
ahead. He received several dis
patches from his chief during the day,
evincing a very unsettled frame of
mind : one, written early in the
morning, saying, "You must not
try to force the position you attacked
at 5 p. m. Look to the safety of your
corps ;" another, dated 11 a. m., say
ing, " If it is practicable for you to
maintain a position on the south side
of the Rappahannock, near Banks's
ford, do so ;" and another, dated fifty
minutes later :
" If the necessary information can be ob
tained to-day, and, if it shall be of the char
acter the commanding General anticipates,
it is his intention to advance upon the ene
my to-morrow. In this event, the position
of your corps on the south bank of the
Rappahannock will be as favorable as the
General could desire. It is for this reason
that he desires that your corps should not
cross the Rappahannock."
While Hooker was thus hesitating
and vacillating," the Rebels were
acting. No linger dreading an offen-

° Monday, May 4
" At 1 A. m., May 5, Hooker telegraphed him :
"Dispatch this moment received. With
draw; cover the river, and prevent any force
crossing. Acknowledge receipt."
Sedgwick had accordingly brought across most

of his force, under a heavy fire of shell ; when,
at 3:20 A. M., he received this dispatch, dated 20
minutes later than the foregoing, but of course
based on one intermediately received from him,
(S.) saying that he could hold on south of the
river if required :

36_

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

sive from his side, they concentrated
largely" upon his isolated lieuten
ant ; reoccupying the Fredericksburg
heights, and, striking him in flank,
pushed him down toward the river,
and, during the night, over it, at
B&nks's ford, with heavy loss — hard
ly less than 5,000 men."
Sedgwick being now out of the
way, Lee was at liberty to turn with
all his force on Hooker, who still re
mained within his hasty earthworks
between Chancel-brsville' and the
Rappahannock. But the Rebels had
been marched and fought till they
were exhausted, and had been fear
fully slaughtered in their reckless
rushes on our batteries on Sunday.
They may have been willing to re
peat that madness ; but Lee mani
festly was not. The day passed with
little skirmishing and no serious
fighting; and, at evening, Hooker
called a council of corps command
ers, which decided nothing ; but he
determined to recross that night, and
did so, utterly unmolested. He states
that he brought back one gun more
than he took over, and judges that
he inflicted greater injury than he
received. That is probably an over
estimate: since he admits a total

loss, while across the Rappahannock,
of no less than 17,197 men — as fol
lows :

Sedgwick's (6th) Corps, 4,601
Slocum's (12th) " 2,883
Couch's (2d) " 2,025
Reynolds's (1st) " 292

Sickles's (8d) corps, 4,089
Howard's (llth) " 2,608
Meade's (5th) " 699
Cavalry, &c. 150

i He adds that a Rebel surgeon at
Richmond stated the loss of their ¦
side in, these struggles at 18,000;"
and it is significant that no official
statement of their losses was ever
made, and that Pollard is silent on
the subject. It is quite probable
that, while the prestige of success
was wholly with the Rebels, their
losses were actually more exhausting
than ours. And the violent storm
and consequent flood which attended
and covered Hooker's recrossing, set
ting some of his pontoons adrift and
threatening to separate him from his
resources, is cited -on one side to ex
plain his retreat, and on the other to
excuse Lee's failure to molest it.
Hooker, his army having returned
to their familiar camping-ground on
the north of the Rappahannock, is
sued " a congratulatory order, where
in he says :
"The Major-General commanding ten
ders to this army his congratulations on its
achievements of the last seven days. If it
has not accomplished all that was expected,

" Tours received, saying you could hold posi
tion. Order to withdraw countermanded. Ac
knowledge both."
When this came to hand, it is needless to add
that its execution was impossible.
" Pollard gives the following account of this
movement from the Rebel side ; which must
serve for want of a better :
" The enemy, however, was not yet defeated.
One more struggle remained; and, to make that,
the enemy during the night massed _ heavy
force against McLaws's left, in order to establish
communication with Hooker along the river
road. Anderson moved rapidly to the support
of McLaws, and reached the church about 12
M., having marched 15 miles. Gen. Lee having
arrived on the field, ordered Anderson to move
round the church and establish his right on
Early's left (Early having come up from Hamil

ton's crossing, in rear of the enemy). The ene
my having weakened his left, in order to force
McLaws and gain the river road, Gen. Lee
massed a heavy force upon this weakened part
ofthe enemy, and, at a concerted signal, Ander
son and Early rushed upon the enemy's left.
" The signal for the general attack was not
given until just before sunset, when our men
rushed. upon the enemy like a hurricane. But
little resistance was made : the beaten foe having
fled in wild confusion in the direction of Banks's
ford. At dark, a short pause ensued; but,
as soon as the moon rose, the enemy was
speedily driven to Banks's ford, and on that
night of the 4th of May onded this remarkable
series of battles on the lines of the Rappahan
nock." "Among them, Gen. Paxton, killed; and
Gen. Heth, wounded.
" May 6th.

LEE'S ORDER — STONEMAN'S RAID.

365

the reasons are well known to the army.
It is sufficient to say they were of a charac
ter not to be foreseen nor prevented by hu
man sagacity or resources.
" In Withdrawing from the south bank of
the Rappahannock before delivering a gen
eral battle to our adversaries, the army has
given renewed evidence of its confidence in
itself and its fidelity to the principles it rep
resents. In fighting at a -disadvantage, we
would have been recreant to our trust, to
ourselves, our cause, and our country. Pro
foundly loyal, and conscious of its strength,
the Army of the Potomac will give or de
cline battle whenever its interest or honor
may demand. It will also be the guardian
of its own history and its own honor.
" By our celerity and secrecy of move
ment, our advance and passage of the rivers
was undisputed, and, on our withdrawal, not
a Rebel ventured to follow.
" The events of last week may swell with
pride the heart of every officer and soldier
of this army. We have added new luster to
its former renown. We have made long
marches, crossed rivers, surprised the ene
my in his intrenchments, and, wherever we
have fought, have inflicted heavier bl«ws
than we have received. We have taken
from the enemy 5,000 prisoners, 15 colors;
, captured and brought *off 7 pieces of artil
lery ; placed hors de combat 18,000 of his
chosen troops; destroyed his d6p6ts filled
with vast amounts of stores ; deranged his
communications ; captured prisoners within
the fortifications of his capital, and filled nis
country with fear and consternation. We
have no other regret than that caused by
the loss of our hrave companions ; and in
this we are consoled by the conviction that
they have fallen in the holiest cause ever
submitted to the arbitrament of battle."
Lee issued a kindred order next
day; in which, with at least equal
justice and modesty, he says :
" With heartfelt gratification, the Gene
ral commanding expresses to the army his
sense of the heroic conduct displayed by
officers and men, during the arduous opera
tions in which they have just been en-

" Under trying vicissitudes of heat and
storm, you attacked the enemy, strongly
intrenched in the depths of a tangled wil
derness, and again on the hills of Freder
icksburg, fifteen miles distant, and by the
valor that has triumphed on so many fields,
forced him once more to seek safety beyond
the Rappahannock. While this glorious vic
tory entitles yon to the praise and gratitude
of the nation, we are especially called npon
" May 2.

to return our grateful thanks to the only
Giver of victory, for the signal deliverance
He has wrought.
" It is, therefore, earnestly recommended
that the troops unite on Sunday next in
ascribing to the Lord of Hosts the glory due
His name.
" Let us not forget, in our rejoicings, the
brave soldiers who have fallen in defense of
their country ; and, while we mourn their
loss, let us resolve to emulate their noble
example. The army and the country alike
lament the absence for a time of one [Jack
son] to whose bravery, energy, and skill
they are so much indebted for success."

The operations of our cavalry, un
der Stoneman and Averill, had been
ill-judged, feeble, and inefficient as
well could be. Averill, who was on
the right, went out to Culpepper
Court House, and thence to the Rapi
dan; where he remained, attempt
ing nothing and achieving it, till an
order from Hooker reached" him,
directing his return to the north side
of the Rappahannock; which was
obeyed with alacrity.
Stoneman himself pushed down by
Louisa Court House and Yanceyville
to Thompson's Cross-Roads, on the
South Anna ; having meantime sent
Col. Wyndham with a detachment
to Columbia, on the James, where a
little damage was done and more at
tempted to the James and Kanawha
Canal Gen. Gregg, with the 1st
Maine and 10th New York, was im
pelled eastward, to destroy the rail
road bridge on the Fredericksburg
road at Ashland ; but proved unequal
to the task, and contented himself
with burning two or three turnpike
bridges; falling back upon Stone
man. Col. Judson Kilpatrick was
sent, with the Harris Light, to cut
the railroads leading northward from
Richmond still nearer that city, and
struck" the Fredericksburg road at
« May 4.

366

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Hungary, cut it, pressing thence to
the Yirginia Central road, near Mead
ow Bridge, doing there a little mis
chief, and thence pushing north-east
ward across the Pamunkey near Han
over, and the Mattaponyat Aylett's,
to King and Queen Court House', and
thence south-eastwardly to our lines"
at Gloucester Point, on York river.
Lt-Col B. F. Davis, 12th Illinois, had
meantime passed48 down the South
Anna to Ashland, where he tore up
some rails and captured a train of
sick, whom he paroled, and crossed
thence to Hanover Station on the
Central, wliich was fractured, and
considerable Confederate property de
stroyed. Davis then pushed down
to within seven miles of Richmond,
where he bivouacked that night, and
set his face next morning toward
Williamsburg on the Peninsula ; but
was stopped and turned aside by a
Rebel force at Tunstall's Station,
near White House ; moving thence
northward until he fell in with Kil
patrick near King and Queen Court
House, and escaped with him to Gen.
King's outpost at Gloucester Point.
Stoneman, with Gregg and Buford,
turned back" from Yancey ville, re
crossing the Rapidan at Raccoon ford,
and the Rappahannock at Kelly's
ford.60 Attempts were made to represent
Stoneman's movement as successful,
when it was in fact one of the most
conspicuous failures ofthe war, though
it might and should have been far
otherwise. His force, if held well to
gether, was sufficient to have severed
for at least a week all connection
by rail or telegraph between Lee and
Richmond, riding right over any ar
ray of cavalry that could have been

sent against it, and cutting the Fred
ericksburg road at or above its junc
tion with the Central ; as, below that
point, cutting one of those roads,
even permanently, was of little use ;
since communication between Rich
mond and Fredericksburg might be
maintained by either. By keeping
his entire force in hand, and thus go
ing where and as he would, Stone
man might have destroyed the prin
cipal bridges on both roads, render
ing them impassable for weeks ; and
brought away thousands of able-bod
ied negroes, mounted on as many
serviceable horses. As it was, by
dissipating his forces, he rendered
them too weak at most points to effect
any thing, and kept them running
from the enemy instead of running
after them ; thus giving to his expe
dition the appearance rather of a fur
tive raid on smoke-houses and hen
roosts than that of an important
movement in a great war. The few
little gaps made in the railroads
by his detachments were easily and
quickly closed ; while the 300 horses
and mules he brought away would
not half replace the horses broken
down by his men — mainly in keep
ing out of the enemy's way.

While Hooker Was preparing for
and executing his movement across
the Rappahannock, Longstreet, with
a large force, was aiming a similar
blow at the extreme left of our posi
tion in Yirginia ; where Gen. John
J. Peck held the little village of
Suffolk, with a force ultimately in
creased to 14,000 men, aided by three
gunboats on the Blackwater. Suf
folk being an important railroad
junction, covering the landward ap-

*' May 7.

'May 3.

'May 5.

°° May 8.

PECK BAFFLES LONGSTREET AT SUFFOLK.

367

proaches to Norfolk,, and virtually
commanding that portion of North
Carolina which lies east of the Chow
an, had been occupied and fortified
for the Union not long after the re
covery of Norfolk, and a fight had
occurred" at Kelly's Store, eight
miles south of it, between a Rebel
force under Gen. Roger A. Pryor and
a Union expedition under Gen. M.
Corcoran, wherein both sides claimed
the advantage. Our loss was 24
killed and 80 wounded. Pryor re
ports that his loss " will not exceed
50;" among them Col. Poage, 5th
Virginia, and Capt. Dobbins, killed.
Suffolk was never seriously threat
ened till the Spring of 1863, when
Longstreet advanced" against it with
a force which Peck estimates#at
40,000: 24,000 (three divisions) hav
ing been drawn from Lee's army;
while D. H. Hill had brought a full

division from North Carolina. There
was sharp fighting during the ensu
ing week, but the advantages of shel
ter and of naval cooperation on our
side overbalanced that of superior
numbers ; and every attempt to break
through our rather extended lines was
decidedly repulsed. A Rebel battery
having been planted near the west
branch of the Nansemond, it was
stormed and carried by Gen. Getty,
with the 8th Connecticut and 89th
New York, aided by Lt. Lamson and
our gunboats : 6 guns and 200 prison
ers beingthe netprofit. Still, the siege
was prosecuted, with no decided suc
cess, until May 3d ; when Longstreet
gave it up and drew off — doubtless
under orders given by Lee when he
seemed most in need of help on the
Rappahannock. Peck estimates the
Rebel loss during the siege at 2,000
men ; while ours was inconsiderable.

XVII.
LEE'S ARMY ON FREE S OIL— GETTYSBURG.

While Gen. Hooker and his army,
having returned to their old quarters
about Falmouth, were still looking
across the Rappahannock at the
heights and woods so recently and
so fruitlessly crimsoned with their
blood, Gen. Lee was impelled to
break the brief rest by a determined
and daring offensive. He was, of
course, aware that our army had been
depleted, directly after its sanguinary
experience of Chancellorsville, by
the mustering out of some 20,000
nine months' and two years' men;
while his own had been largely
" Jan. 30.

swelled by the hurried return of
Longstreet and his corps from their
sterile and wasteful demonstration
on Suffolk, and by drafts on every
quarter whence a regiment could be
gleaned; so that it is probable that
the superiority in numbers was tem
porarily on his side ; but why not
seek directly a collision, which
" Fighting Joe" would so readily
have accorded ? Why shun the con
venient and inspiring neighborhood
of Cedar Mountain and Bull Run for
one more remote, and which invoked
ominous recollections of South Moun-
M April 10.

368

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

tain and the Antietam ? Grant was
beginning to be triumphant in Mis
sissippi, and would soon be thunder
ing at the gates of Yicksburg ; Dick
Taylor, chased almost out of Louis
iana by Banks, could do little toward
the rescue of threatened Port Hud
son : why not spare Longstreet to
needy, beseeching Jo. Johnston,
enabling him to overwhelm Grant
and then to crush out Banks, restor
ing the Confederate ascendency on
the Mississippi, while simply holding
on along the Rappahannock, trusting
to the great advantages afforded to
the defensive by the rugged topogra
phy of that region, and to the terrors
inspired by the memories of Frede
ricksburg and Chancellorsville?
In fact, Lee's invasion of Maryland
and Pennsylvania at that juncture
was justifiable on political grounds
alone. The Confederate chiefs must
have acted on the strength of trusted
assurances that the Northern Peace
Democracy, detesting the Emancipa
tion policy now steadfastly ascendant
at Washington, and weary of high
taxes, dear fabrics, a disordered cur
rency, and an enormous yet swelling
National Debt, were ripe for revolt :
so that a Rebel victory on Northern
soil would enable the devotees of
Slavery in the loyal States to seize
upon the pending Conscription and
wield it as an engine of revolution.
Lee hints this obscurely where, in
the opening of his report on this
campaign, after trying to give mili
tary reasons for his movement, and
failing to satisfy himself of their
plausibility, he says :
" In addition to these results, it was hoped
that other valuable results might be attained
by military success."

A month had barely elapsed since
Hooker recrossed the Rappahannock,
when Lee put his columns in motion
up the southern bank of that river.
McLaws's division of Longstreet's
corps led ' the march from Freder
icksburg, followed * by Ewell's corps ;
while Hood moved up from the
Rapidan ; all concentrating, with
the cavalry under J. E. B. Stuart,
on Culpepper Court House. These
movements were of course carefully
screened from observation on our
side ; A. P. Hill's corps being left to
make as much display as 'possible
in and around Fredericksburg : but
Hooker was soon aware that some
thing unusual was in progress, and
threw a over Gen. Howe's division of
the £th corps a little below the city,
to ascertain if the enemy were still in
force there. Hill soon convinced him
that they were ; creating an impres
sion that there had been no material
reduction of the Rebel strength in
that quarter ; but, as it was not his
policy to fight, and Howe did not
care to attack the entire Rebel army,
there was no serious conflict. Howe,
after some careful skirmishing, de
sisted, and ultimately withdrew with
out loss.
It being at length clear that the
enemy were operating on our right,
Hooker massed his cavalry near Cat
lett's Station, giving its command to
Pleasanton, who speedily prepared
to look across the Rappahannock and
see what was going on there. He
was backed by two small but choice
brigades of infantry under Gen.
Ames, ofthe llth, and Gen. Russell,
of the 6th corps, each taking a bat
tery ; and the whole moved quietly
down to Kelly's and to Beverly

1 June 3.

' June 4r-5.

3 June 5

PLEASANTON'S CATALRT FIGHT WITH STUART.

369

fords, six miles apart, where they
were to cross in two divisions, and
advance on Culpepper 0. H. {alias
Fairfax), where J. E. B. Stuart was
understood to be. But scarcely had
Gen. Buford's cavalry, supported by
Ames's infantry, crossed1 Beverly
ford, when they were sharply en
gaged; the Rebel ferry guard, whom
they had hoped to surprise, falling
back on Jones's cavalry brigade, en
camped just behind, and checking
our advance until these could mount
and charge ; when the 8th New
York was routed with loss, and Col.
B. F. Davis,5 its commander, killed.
The 8th Illinois cavalry, now charg
ing, drove the enemy back in disor
der : meantime, Gen. Russell brought
over, his infantry, and Pleasanton
directed him to engage them in front,
while Buford, with the cavalry,
should strike them in flank. The
charge was made with spirit by the
6th Pennsylvania, supported by the
5th and 6th regulars ; but, just as the
6th had reached the enemy's guns,
it was charged in turn by two regi
ments of Rebel cavalry which burst
from the woods on its flank, and
routed with heavy loss.
Pleasanton now found himself in a
hornets' nest. Every moment in
creased the force in his front, which
had an infantry corps, at hand to draw
upon ; while Gregg, who had crossed
at Kelly's ford, and had sent word at
8 a. m. that- he would soon be up, did
not make his appearance till after
noons. The fight was therefore al
lowed to drag, in this quarter ; each
side covering itself with woods and
shelling or sharp-shooting, as oppor

tunity offered, until about 1 p. m.,
when Gregg came up. He had been
fighting pretty steadily all the morn
ing, charging and being charged in
turn, and had crowded his antago
nists back to Brandy Station, where,
Col. Wyndham reported, they were
bringing up infantry in railroad cars.
Gregg's cavalry had fought well, and
taken 150 prisoners, but had lost
heavily. The two divisions were
now connected, and the Rebels in
their immediate front pushed back ;
two regiments narrowly escaping cap
ture. And now Pleasanton saw that
he must begin to fall back or prepare
to fight half of Lee's army ; so he re
treated to the fords and recrossed about
dark; having lost about 500 men, and
brought off over 100 prisoners.
J.* E. B. Stuart (who of course
claims the result as his victory) ad
mits a loss of over 600 of his cavalry
in this affair, including Col. Saul Wil
liams, 2d N. C, and Lt.-Col. Frank
Hampton, 2d S. C, killed; Gen. W.
H. F. Lee and Cols. Butler and Har-
man being among his wounded. He
claims 3 guns and a good many small
arms captured ; and ' an unofficial
Rebel account says they took 336
prisoners, including wounded.
Considered as a reconnoissance in
force, Pleasanton's expedition was a
decided success. There was no long
er any doubt — if there had been till
now — that the Rebel army was in
this quarter, and tending westward.
There had been a grand review of
all the cavalry of the army at Cul
pepper Court House, a few days be
fore; Gen. Lee and his staff being
present. Pleasanton sent over next

4 June 9, at daylight.
' Who led .the cavalry safely out of Harpe'r's
Ferry just before Miles surrendered it ; captur-
vol. n. — 24

ing Longstreet's ammunition train on his way to
Pennsylvania. Among our wounded here was
Col. Percy Wyndham.

370

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

day to ascertain the" fate of some of
his missing officers, and received for
answer that every thing had been
done for our wounded that humanity
dictates, but that they could hold no
further communication with him
save by truce-boat on the James.
Nevertheless, it was already ascer
tained by our reconnoissance that
a Rebel column of infantry and ar
tillery, moving westward, had been
three hours and a half in passing
through Sperryville, near the Blue
Ridge ; so that the Rebel army must
be making its way into the Shenan
doah Valley once more.
Two days later, 250 Rebel cavalry
dashed across the Potomac at Ed
wards's ferry, driving back part of the
6th Michigan cavalry, picketing the
river, and burning their camp— re
crossing, of course, but making no
haste to quit that neighborhood. It
was clear that active hostilities in
that direction were meditated.
Still, Howe's division remained
across the lower Rappahannock, well
intrenched, as were the Rebels in
its front; and Gen. Hooker, though
he had begun " to send his sick and
wounded to Washington, lingered on
the Rappahannock, as if doubtful of
Lee's real purpose, and expecting to
find him advancing by Warrenton to
Bull Run ; when a blow was struck
that dissipated all reasonable doubt.
Gen. R. H. Milroy was in com
mand in the Valley, holding Win
chester, under Gen. Schenck as de
partment commander at Baltimore,
to whom Halleck had suggested that
Milroy's position seemed perilous ; he
having too many men to lose, yet
not enough to insure his safety. His
entire force numbered some 10,000
0 June 12.

men, whereof 7,000 may have been
considered effective. Of these, one
brigade, Col. A. T. McReynolds, was
thrown out on his right, holding Ber-
ryville, observing the adjacent passes
of the Blue Ridge and fords of the
Shenandoah ; while his cavalry scouts
patroled the Valley so far as Front
Royal and Strasburg. So early as
June 1st, he felt that the enemy
holding the Valley above him were
inclined to. crowd ; and, on the 12th,
he sent out a strong reconnoissance
on either road to ascertain what this
meant. That on the Strasburg road
went nearly to Middletown, where
its troopers decoyed a Rebel cavalry.
patrol into an ambush, and routed it
with a loss of 50 killed and wounded
and 37 prisoners. Col. Shawl re
turned to Winchester, and reported
no force on that road which had not
been there for months.
On the Front Royal road, the 12th
Pennsylvania cavalry, Lt.-Col. Moss,
400 strong, went only to Cedarville,
12 miles, and returned, reporting
that they had been stopped by a large
Rebel force ; but Milroy refused to
credit the story ; insisting that they
had been too easily frightened, and
that, if any such force could be there,
he should have heard of its approach
from Hooker or Halleck ; neverthe
less, he advised McReynolds to look
sharp. Next morning,7 however, his
patrols on the Front Royal road re
ported the enemy advancing in force ;
whereupon, Milroy signaled McRey
nolds to join him, while he sent out
a considerable force on either road to
learn what was brewing.
They had not far to go. Col. Ely,
on the Front Royal road, was stop
ped barely a mile from Winchester,
¦A June 13.

EWELL TAKES WINCHESTER FROM MILROT.

371

by a Rebel battery, and fell Vack,
after a slight skirmish, unpurt&ed;
while General Elliott, on the Stras
burg road, advanced a very littjM far
ther, and was halted by observing
the enemy in force on his left — that
is, on the Front Royal road. Here
some cannon-balls were exchanged ;
when our men fell back to Applepie
ridge, that next thfe city ; where
more, skirmishing beguiled the time
till dark, when a prisoner was taken
who rather astonished Milroy by
the information that he belonged to
Ewell's (formerly Stonewall Jack
son's) corps, and that Longstreet's also
was just at hand — the two number
ing about 50,000 men.
Col. McReynolds, with his brigade,
arrived from Berryville at 9 p. m.,
and was 'assigned a position ; but
what use in that ? Lee's army was
at hand ; Hooker's was many weary
marches away, had not been heard
from, and knew nothing of the immi
nent peril. A thoroughly brave and
competent commander must have
realized, it would seem, that there is

a time to fly as well as a time to
fight, and that now was the time to
run, after destroying every thing that
could be of use to the enemy. But
Milroy held on, waiting for some
thing to turn up, and let the night
pass unimproved.
The next day 8 was one of ominous
quiet for the most part; but the
enemy was constantly crowding up,
and was of course working around to
cut off the retreat of the garrison.
There was skirmishing at intervals ;
and the numbers of the foe visibly
and steadily increased. At 4 p. m. , they
made a charge up the Front Royal
•road to the edge of the town, but
were repulsed ; when Milroy ordered
a charge in turn, which amounted
to little — the enemy being found in
great force just out of range of our
works ; and, a little later, they open
ed fire from two 8-gun batteries on
the north-west, hardly a mile from
town ; and forthwith Ewell's infantry
swept up to and over our breast
works, disregarding the fire of our
guns, driving out the 110th Ohio
with heavy loss, and planting their
colors on the defenses. Meantime,
the city had been substantially in
vested on every side, and was now
virtually lost ; though an attempt to
storm the main fort from the position
first gained was repulsed; and the
assailants desisted for a time.
At 1 A. M.,a Milroy held a council,
which decided to evacuate and run.
It was too late. Though he spiked
his guns, and drowned his powder, he
was unable to steal off, and obliged
to fight — the enemy attacking so soon
as he had disarmed himself. The
110th Ohio, Col. Keifer, and the 122d
ditto, on one road, the 87th Pennsyl-

' Sunday, June 14.

" Monday, June 15.

372

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

vania, Col. Shawl, and the 15th Con
necticut, Col. Ely, on another, did
most of the fighting that was done
on our side ; the former acting as a
rear-guard ; but the business in hand
was not a fight, but a race — and very
properly so. Four miles from Win
chester, a Rebel division barred the
way ; and here the fugitives were of
course routed, and many of them
captured. Most of those who escap
ed crossed the Potomac at Hancock,
and did not stop running till they
brought up in Bedford county, Penn
sylvania ; the residue headed for
Harper's Ferry, and soon distanced
their pursuers. Milroy says 10 5,000
of his men reported at the Ferry or at
Bloody Run, Pa., and he hoped that
1,000 more would do so ; which hope
was of course a delusion. Lee says
General Rhodes captured 700 pris
oners and 5 guns at Martinsburg,
and proceeds to enumerate "more
than 4,000 prisoners, 29 guns, 277
wagons, and 400 horses," as the fruits
of " these operations " — probably in
cluding in those totals his Martins
burg spoils. . Milroy's great mistake
was holding on just one day too long
— his communications with Schenck
and Halleck having already been
severed. Halleck had suggested to
Schenck the propriety of withdraw
ing him so early as the llth. Early
is credited by Lee with the capture
of Winchester.
Ere this, the Government had ta
ken the alarm, as it well might. An
order" from the War Department
had constituted of Pennsylvania two
new Military Departments — that of
the Susquehanna (eastern),under Gen.
Couch; that of the Monongahela,
Gen. W. T. H. Brooks ; and Gov.

Curtin had called12 out the entire
Hwlitia of that State — the call, though
loud and shrill, awaking but few and
fain/; responses. Now the President
called13 specifically on the nearest
Stales for militia, as follows :
Maryland  10,000 I New York  20,000
Pennsylvania. 50,000 | Ohio  30,000
"• West Virginia  10,000.
JP_.e Governors reechoed the call ;
but the response was still weak. The
uniformed and disciplined regiments
of *^Tew York City generally and
promptly went on; and Gov. Sey-
moiW was publicly thanked therefor
by ^Secretary Stanton ; but the num-
bei\of Pennsylvanians, Marylanders,
andt_ West' Virginians, who set their
facejfe resolutely toward the enemy in
thiswerisis bore but a slim proportion
to tjhit of their brethren who seemed
just^ow to have urgent business
east of the Susquehanna or west of
the Ohio. In other words, the country
was profoundly disheartened; while
the Army had already absorbed what
was bravest and most patriotic of its
militia. The number who actually
responded to these urgent, repeated,
and most reasonable calls from the
several States was (liberally estima
ted) as follows :
New York.. . .15,000 I Pennsylvania. 25,000
New Jersey. . 3,000 | Delaware  2,000
Maryland  5,000.
Gen. Hooker had now begun 14 to
move his army northward — recross
ing Howe's division and evacuating
the valley of the Rappahannock.
Lee had just about a fair week's start
of him. Moving rapidly north-west
ward, with his cavalry thrown well
out on his left flank, watching the
passes of the Blue Ridge, Hooker's
infantry passed through Dumfries,16
to Centerville, covering Washington,

™ June 30.

11 June 9.

13 June 12.

3 June 15.

4 June 13

15 June 14-15.

LEE ENTERS PENNSTLT ANI A.

373

and watching for fresh developments
of the enemy's plans.
Meantime, our cavalry, under Pleas
anton, was constantly confronted by
that of Lee, under Stuart ; and nearly
every day witnessed a fight or a skir
mish, as our troopers crowded up to
the passes of the Blue Ridge; and at
tempted to scan what was going on
beyond them, or the enemy dashed
down into the valleys this side, in
cited by a like laudable thirst for
knowledge. At length, a pretty gen
eral cavalry fight occurred,18 nearly
westward of Washington, on the line
of the great highway from Alexan
dria to Winchester, down which Stu
art had pushed so far as Upperville ;
whence he was repelled by a charge
of Kilpatrick's brigade, and forced
back into Ashby's Gap, after a spir
ited brush, with determined charges
on either side, Kilpatrick was once
taken prisoner, but rescued by a
countercharge directly. Buford and
Gregg were active this day ; as was
W. H. F. Lee on the side of the
Rebels, who lost 2 guns, and perhaps
150 men in all, including Col. M.
Lewis, 9th Virginia, killed. Our loss
did not exceed 100.
Meantime, Gen. Jenkins and his
brigade of Rebel cavalry, had raided
across the Potomac and Maryland
up to Chambersburg, Pa., which they
entered, unopposed, at 11 p. u." They
took horses, cattle, &c, destroyed the
railroad, and swept off into Slavery
some 50 negroes — all they could
catch — but did no wanton injury.
¦Jenkins paid liberally for drugs — in
Confederate scrip — and, some of his
horses having vanished, threatened
to burn the town if they were not
returned or their value made up. The

borough authorities paid the amount
demanded (only $900) in Confederate
scrip, which had suddenly become
abundant there ; and it was pocketed
without remark, but without obvious
relish. Gen. Ewell, with his corps, had
crossed into Maryland at Williams
port,18 on the heels of Milroy's fugi
tives, pushing on unmolested to Cham
bersburg — our force at Harper'sFerry
retiring across the river to Maryland
Heights, where it was not molested.
Early's division of Ewell's corps was
impelled eastward from Chambers
burg to York ; while Johnson's moved
northward to Carlisle ; Imboden, with
his brigade, moving westward up the
Potomac, destroying railroad bridges,
&c, so far as Cumberland. Lee
seems to have meditated a dash on
Washington ; but, Hooker's army re
maining in its front, instead of rushing
over into Maryland, no opportunity
was presented; so the whole Rebel
army forded" the Potomac; A. P.
Hill's corps at Shepherdstown, and
Lee, with Longstreet's, at Williams
port ; both, uniting at Hagerstown,
advanced, unopposed, on the track of
Ewell, to Chambersburg.20 Ewell had
taken quiet possession of Carlisle,
pushing forward his advance to
Kingston, within 13 miles of Harris-
burg. Meanwhile, such militia as
had been mustered in or sent from
Eastern- States to the aid of Penn
sylvania were collected, under Gen.
Couch, at Harrisburg; while Gen.
Brooks, powerfully aided by the vol
unteer efforts of the citizens, hastily
threw up a fine of defenses intended
to cover Pittsburg.
All doubt as to the enemy's pur
poses being now dispelled, Gen.

"June 21.

" June 15.

' June 16.

"June 24-25.

20 June 27.

374

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Hooker crossed21 the Potomac near
Edwards's Ferry, and advanced to
Frederick; himself visiting by the
way Harper's Ferry. He found there
— or rather, on Maryland Heights —
Gen. French, with 11,000 men, whom
he, very naturally, desired to add to
his army in the momentous battle
now impending. For his army, after
being strengthened by 15,000 men
spared him from the defenses of Wash
ington, and 2,100 by Gen. Schenck
froin the Middle Department, was
barely 100,000 strong; while Lee's,
carefully counted by two Union men
independently, as it marched through
Hagerstown, numbered 91,000 infan
try, with 280 guns, and 6,000 caval
ry ; while not less than 5,000 of its
cavalry, under Stuart, crossed the
Potomac below Edwards's Ferry, and
so advanced into Pennsylvania with
out passing through Hagerstown.
Considering that the Rebels had
mustered the best as well as the lar
gest army they ever sent into the
contest, and that its triumph on a
Northern field would almost cer
tainly incite a Northern uprising in
their favor, it was imperative that
they should now be met by the
heroic but luckless Army of the
Potomac in such force as to place
the issue beyond contingency. It
was a high crime to withhold even a
brigade, when a brigade more or less
might decide the fate of a continent.
Hooker had already drawn from
the garrison at Washington all that
Halleck would spare — leaving but
11,000 effectives under Heintzelman ;
which was none too much. But,
having crossed the Potomac, he had
very properly inquired by telegraph
of Halleck, " Is there any reason why

Maryland Heights should not be
abandoned, after the public stores
and property are removed?" and
been answered : 22
" Maryland Heights have always been re
garded as an important point to be held by
ns, and much expense and labor incurred in
fortifying them. I can not approve of their
abandonment, except in case of absolute ne
cessity." Surely, the translator of Jomini
can find no parallel for such strategy
in the whole military career of the
great Napoleon. Hooker at once
rejoined :
" I have received your telegram in regard
to Harper's Ferry. I find 10,000 men here,
in condition to take the field. Here, they
are of no earthly account. They can not
defend a ford of the river; and, so far as
Harper's Ferry is concerned, there is' noth
ing of it. As for the fortifications, _ the
work of the troops, they remain when'the
troops are withdrawn. No enemy will ever
take possession of them for them. This is
my opinion. All the public property could
have been secured to-night, and the troops
marched to where they could have been of
some service. Now, they are but a bait for
the Rebels, should they return. I beg that
this may be presented to the Secretary of
War, and his Excellency, the President.
"Joseph Hookee, Major-General."
In regard to this grave matter of
difference, Hooker was clearly in the
right : not clearly so- in sending this
dispatch immediately afterward :
"Sandy Hook, June 27, 1853.
"Maj.-Gen. H. W. Halleck, General-in-
Chief:
"My original instructions require me to
cover Harper's Ferry and Washington. I
have now imposed upon me, in addition, an
enemy in my front of more than my num
bers. I beg to be understood, respectfully
but firmly, that I am unable to comply with
this condition, with the means at my dispo
sal, and earnestly request that I may at
once be relieved from the position I occupy.
" Joseph Hooker, Major-General."
Halleck had never regarded Hook
er as the proper commander of this
army ; had prevented his selection
as McClellan's immediate successor ;

"June 26.

22 June 27, 10AA.M.

HOOKER RELIETED — MEADE IN COMMAND.

375

had reluctantly assented to his* desig
nation after Burnside's collapse ; had
been strengthened in his conviction
of Hooker's unfitness by the Chan
cellorsville failure ; and now, very
naturally, improved his opportunity..
The next day brought Col. Hardie
to Hooker's headquarters at Fred
erick, with instructions relieving
Hooker and devolving the command
on Gen. Meade ; who was therewith
advised that he might do as he
pleased with the Harper's Ferry
men; while Couch and his militia,
estimated at 20,000 men, were placed
under his orders.
Gen. Hooker a,t once took leave
' of the army, with whose fortunes he
had been so long and so honorably
identified, in the following charac
teristic order :
"Headquaetebs Aemt op the Potomac, )
"Feedeeiok, Md., June 28, 1863. j
"In conformity with the orders of the
"War Department, dated June 27th, 1863, I
relinquish the command of the Army of the
Potomac. It is transferred to Maj.-Gen.
'George G.Meade, a brave and accomplished
officer, who has nobly earned the confidence
and esteem -of the army on many a well-
fought field. Impressed with the belief
that my usefulness as the commander of the
Army of the Potomac is impaired, I part
from it, yet not without the deepest emo
tions. The sorrow of parting with the
comrades of so many battles is relieved by
the .conviction that the courage and devo
tion of this army will never cease nor fail ;
that it will. yield to my successor, as it has
to me, a willing and hearty support. With
the earnest prayer that the triumph of this
army may bring successes worthy of it and
the nation, I bid it farewell.
"Joseph Hookee, Major-General."
Bidding a cordial but hurried fare
well to his general and staff officers,
Gen. Hooker left at once for Balti
more; being instructed to await there
further orders from the Adjutant-
General's office. Three days bring
ing none, he went over to Washing
ton ; where he was forthwith arrest

ed by Halleck for visiting the capital
without leave, and in violation of the
rule which forbade officers to do so.
Thus ended his service with the
Army of the Potomac.

Gen. Meade, astounded by his pro
motion, announced to the army his.
acceptance of the command in these
sincere, fit, modest words :
" Headquaetebs Aemt op the Potomac, )
"June 28, 1863. j
"By direction of the President of the
United States, I hereby assume command
of the Army of the Potomac. As a soldier,
in obeying this order — an order totally un
expected and unsolicited — I have no prom
ises or pledges to make. The country
looks to this army to relieve it from
the devastation and disgrace of a hostile
invasion. Whatever fatigues and sacri
fices we may be called- upon to undergo,
let us have in view constantly the mag
nitude of the interests involved, and let
each man determine to do his duty, leaving
to an all-controlling Providence the deci
sion of the contest. It is with j ust diffidence
that I relieve in the command of this army
an eminent and accomplished soldier, whose
name must ever appear conspicuous in the
history of its achievements ; hut I rely upon
the hearty support of my companions in
arms to assist me in the discharge of the
duties of the important trust which has
been confided to me. " George G. Meade,
" Maj or- General' Commanding."
Such a change of commanders, for
no more urgent reasons, on the very
brink of a great battle, has few paral
lels in history. Whatever his faults,
Hooker was loved and trusted by his
soldiers, who knew less of Meade,
and had less faith in him. Had that
army been polled, it would have
voted to fight the impending battle
under Hooker without the aid of
French's 11,000 men, rather than
under Meade with that reenforce-
ment. But it was inured ere this to
being astonished oftener than delight
ed, and to moving firmly onward in
the path of duty, even when that

376

THE AMERICAN CONELICT.

path was not irradiated by the sun
shine of Hope. And now its heart
was swelling with joyful trust that
the enemy it had so long confronted
was soon to be met in mortal strife
where every circumstance of position
and local knowledge would not tell
in that adversary's favor.
Lee's army had for a few days
traversed south-eastern Pennsylvania
at will, burning railroad and turn
pike bridges, breaking up tracks,
severing telegraph wires, &c, &c,
as was to be expected, and levying
contributions on the country, though
rendering a very general obedience
to Lee's order,23 exhorting and en
joining his men to abstain from all
wanton destruction or of damage to
private property. Col. White, with
his cavalry advance, had reached
the Susquehanna at Wrightsville ; "
where a bridge over the river was
needlessly burned to prevent a cross
ing. Gen. Ewell that day occupied
York, whose Burgess (David Small)
went out several miles to meet him
and surrender the borough, which
was promised special immunity in
consideration thereof; but was, im
mediately upon its occupation, re
quired36 to furnish, in addition to
liberal supplies of food and clothing,
$100,000 in cash, whereof $28,000
was actually raised and paid over,
with a good portion of the creature
comforts likewise required. If this

levy of money on a defenseless place,
which had in all things evinced a
meek and quiet spirit, is justifiable
by the laws of war, it is difficult to
see how the unsupported charges oi
rapacity and extortion leveled against
Gen. Butler's rule in truculent and
venomous New Orleans can be plau
sibly condemned or complained of.
J. E. B. Stuart, with a consid
erable proportion of the Rebel
cavalry, was watching on our left
flank when Hooker crossed the Po
tomac, and crossed himself 2° at
Seneca soon afterward ; moving up
on our right so far as Westminster;
burning. 17 canal boats, also a train
of 178 army wagons, laden with
army stores, and picking up quite a
number of our officers who were
hastening to join their regiments at
the front. From Westminster, he
made his way across our front to
Carlisle, which he found evacuated ;
and, hastening thence on the track
of Longstreet's infantry, was in-
season for the fray at Gettysburg;
whereon Lee, on hearing that Hooker
was across the Potomac in force, had
hastened to concentrate his whole
army. Hooker was preparing, when su
perseded, to strike heavily at Lee's
line of communications, which would
of course compel him to concentrate
and fight ; Meade changed the direc
tion of certain corps, moving more to

33 Dated Chambersburg, June 2 ..
" June 28.
! * " Required for the use of Early's division :
" One hundred and sixty-five barrels of flour,
or 23,000 pounds baked bread; 3,500 pounds
sugar; 1,650 pounds coffee; 300 gallons mo
lasses; 1,200 pounds salt; 32,000 pounds fresh
beef, or 21,000 pounds bacon or pork.
"The above articles to be delivered at the
market-house on Main street, at 4 o'clock, p. M.
" Wm, W. Thornton, Captain and A. C. S."

"Required for the use of Early's command:
" Two thousand pairs shoes or boots ; 1,000
pairs socks; 1,000 felt hats; $100,000 in
money. C. B. Snodsbass,
" Major and Chief Q. M. Early's division.
" June 28, 1863."
" Approved ; and the authorities of the town
of Tork will furnish the above articles and the
money required ; for which certificates will be
given. J. A. Early, Maj.-Gen. Commanding."
20 June 28.

OPENING AT GETTTSBHRG — RETNOLDS KILLED.

377

the right, as if his intended point of
concentration were Gettysburg also.
But, in fact, foreseeing that Lee must
give battle, he had issued a timely
address to his officers," and was mov
ing circumspectly east of north, look
ing for advantageous ground whereon
to fight, and had about fixed on the
fine of Pipe creek, some 15 miles
south-east of Gettysburg, when an un
expected encounter precipitated the
grand collision.
Gettysburg, the capital of Adams
county, is a rural village of 3,000 in
habitants, the focus of a well-culti
vated upland region. Though long
,, settled and blessed with excellent
country roads, all centering on the
borough, much of it is too rugged for
cultivation ; hence, it is covered with
wood. The village is in a valley, or
rather on the nortfiern slope of a hill ;
with a college and other edifices, on
the opposite hill, which rises directly
from the little run at its foot.
Part of our cavalry advance, un
der Gen. Kilpatrick, pushed out
from Frederick,29 moving north-west
through Liberty and Taneytown to
Hanover, Pa., where they were con
siderably astonished23 by an attack
from Stuart's cavalry — not imagin
ing that there was any enemy within
a march of them. A sharp fight en
sued, wherein Gen. G. F. Farnsworth's
brigade was at first roughly handled,
losing 100 men; but Gen. Custer's,
which had passed, returned to its

aid, and the enemy was beaten off.
A similar dash was simultaneously
made on the train of another column
of our cavalry at Littlestown, but
easily repulsed. Meantime, Gen.
Buford, with another division, had
moved directly upon Gettysburg;
where he encountered20 the van of
the Rebel army, under Gen. Heth,
of Hill's corps, and drove it back on
the division, by whom our troopers
were repelled in their turn. And now
the advance division of Gerf. Rey
nolds's (1st) corps, under command
of Gen. J. S. Wadsworth, approach
ing from Emmitsburg, quickened its
pace at the familiar sound of volleys,
and, rushing through the village,
drove back the Rebel van, seizing
and occupying the ridge that over
looks the place from the north-west.
Gen. John F. Reynolds, formerly
of the Pennsylvania Reserves, was
in command of the two corps (1st
and llth) now rapidly coming up,
together numbering about 22,000
men. As Gen. Wadsworth was form
ing his advance division, 4,000 strong,
in order of battle, Gen. Reynolds
went forward to reconnoiter, and, see
ing that the enemy were in force in
a grove just ahead, he dismounted
and was observing them through a
fence, when he was struck in the neck
by a sharp-shooter's bullet, and, fall
ing on his face, was dead in a few
minutes. Born in Lancaster, in 1820 ;
entering the army in 18_6 ; he had

" " Headquarters Abut op the Potomac, )
" June 30, 1863. J
" The commanding general requests that, pre
vious to the engagement soon expected with the
enemy, corps and all other commanding officers
will address their troops, explaining to them
briefly the immense issues involved in the strug
gle. The enemy are on our soil; the whole
country now looks anxiously to this army to de
liver it from the presence of the foe ; our failure
to do so will leave us no such welcome as the
swelling of millions of hearts with pride and joy

at our success would give to every soldier of this
army. Homes, firesides, and domestic altars, are
involved. The army has fought well heretofore ;
it is believed that it will fight more desperately
and bravely than ever, if it is addressed in fitting
terms. Corps and other commanders are author
ized to order the instant death of any soldier
who fails in his duty this hour.
" By command of Maj.-Gen. Meade:
" S. Williams, Assistant Adj.-Gen."

58 June 28.

" June 30. M July 1.

378

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

GETTYSBURG — BATTLE OF JULY 1.

served his country in Mexico, in Cali
fornia, and in nearly every important
action yet fought in Yirginia; re
turning to fall in defense of the soil
of his native State, and almost in
sight, of his home.
Gen. Abner Doubleday came up
half an hour afterward, and assumed
command; but the residue of the
corps, with the whole of the llth,
did not arrive till nearly two hours
later; meantime, the Rebels, under
Hill, were too strong, and pushed
back Wadsworth's division, eagerly
pursuing it. As Wadsworth fell back
with his left, and Archer pressed for
ward on his heels, the right of our
division swung around on the rear of
the pursuers, enveloping the Rebel

advance, and

making

prisoners of

Archer and 800 of his men.
Doubleday fell back to Seminary
ridge, just west of the village where

he was joined by the residue of his
corps ; the llth coming up almost
simultaneously and taking post on
his right ; Howard ranking Double-
day and assuming command, assign
ing the llth corps to Schurz. Here
the struggle was renewed with spirit ;
our men having the better position,
and the best of the fight; until,
about 1 p. m., Ewell's corps, march
ing from York under orders to con
centrate on Gettysburg, came rapidly
into the battle — Rhodes's division
assailing the llth corps in front,
while Early's struck hard on its
right flank. Of course, being greatly
outnumbered, the llth was soon rout
ed, falling back in disorder on Get
tysburg, and compelling the 1st,
which had hitherto fully held its
own, to do likewise — the two divi
sions, under a heavy Rebel fire, com
mingling and obstructing each other

HANCOCK AND SICKLES REACH GETTTSBHRG.

379

in the streets of the village, and thus
losing heavily in prisoners. Their
' wounded, who had thus far been taken
to Gettysburg, were of course aban
doned to the enemy, as the debris of
the two corps, scarcely half the num
ber that had marched so proudly
through those streets a few hours be
fore, fell hastily back and were ral
lied on Cemetery hill, just south of
the village : Buford, with his troopers,
covering the retreat, and trying to
show a bold front to the Rebels ; who
— though there were still several
hours of good daylight — did not see
fit to press their advantage : presum
ing that our whole army was moving
hitherward, and fearing that they
might miscalculate and suffer as Rey
nolds had just done.
And they were right. For Gen.
Sickles, with his (3d)*corps, which
had advanced, the day before, from
Taneytown to Emmitsburg, and had
there received from Meade a circular
to his corps commanders, directing a
concentration on the line of Pipe
creek — the left of the army at Mid-
dleburg, the right at Manchester —
had been preparing to move, as di
rected, to Middleburg, when, at 2
p. m.,31 he received a dispatch from
Howard at Gettysburg, stating that
the 1st and llth corps were there en
gaged with a superior force, and that
Reynolds had.been killed; thereupon,
calling urgently for assistance.
Sickles was perplexed. Meade was
at Taneytown, ten miles away ; and
to wait to hear from him was to leave
Howard to his fate. Sickles had
been moving on Gettysburg till halt
ed by Meade's new circular ; and he
decided that he ought to persist now ;
so, leaving two brigades and two bat

teries to hold Emmitsburg, he put
the rest of his corps in rapid motion
for Gettysburg; arriving just after
Howard had taken post on Cemetery
hill, and coming into position on his
left. As he came up the Emmits
burg road, he might have been as
sailed by Hill's forces, holding the
ridges on his left; but the enemy
were satisfied with their day's work,
and did not molest him.
Gen. Meade was at Taneytown,
when, at 1p.m., news came that there
was fighting at Gettysburg, and that
Gen. Reynolds had been killed. He
at once ordered Hancock to turn
over his (2d) corps to Gibbon, hasten
himself to Gettysburg, and take com
mand there ; which was done : Han
cock reaching Cemetery hill at 3£
p. m., when the rear of our broken
1st and llth corps was retreating in
disorder through the village, hotly
pursued by the triumphant foe.
Howard having already formed a di
vision on Cemetery hill, Hancock or
dered Wadsworth to post his, or what
was left of it (1,600 out ofthe 4,000 he
had led to battle in the morning) on
Culp's hill, at our right ; while Gen.
Geary, with the advance division of
Slocum's p.2th) corps, then coming
up, was directed to take position on
high ground toward Round Top, on
our left. Meade had hurriedly re
quested Hancock to judge whether
Gettysburg afforded us better ground
for a battle than that he had selected
on Pipe creek; and Hancock now
(_ p. m.) sent word that he would
hold on here until Meade could ar
rive and judge for himself. But
Meade had already impelled the 2d
corps, under Gibbon, toward Gettys
burg. Hancock wrote him that the"

J1 July 1.

380

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

position here was good, but liable to
be turned by way of Emmitsburg.
Slocum having arrived at 7, and rank
ing Hancock, the latter turned over
the command, as he had been in
structed to do, and rode back to
Meade, whom he reached at 9 p.m.;
when he was told by Meade that he
had decided to fight at Gettysburg,
and had given orders accordingly.32
Both started for Gettysburg immedi
ately, arriving at 11 p. m.
During that night, our army was
all concentrated before Gettysburg,
save Gen. Sedgwick's (6th) corps,
which was at Manchester, 30 miles
distant, when, at 7 p. m., it received
orders to move at once on Taney
town ; which were so changed, after
it had marched 7 or 8 miles, as to
require its immediate presence at
Gettysburg, where it arrived, weary
enough, at 2 p. m. next day.23
Meantime, Lee also had been bring
ing up his several corps and divis
ions, posting them along the ridges
north and west of Gettysburg and its
rivuiet, facing ours at distances of
one to two miles. Longstreet's corps
held his right, which was stretched
considerably across the Emmitsburg
road; the divisions of Hood, Mc
Laws, and Pickett posted from right
to left. Hill's corps, including the
divisions of Anderson, Pender, and
Heth, held the center ; while Ewell's,
composed of Rhodes's, Early's, and
Johnson's divisions, formed the Rebel
left, which bent well around the east
side of our position, making the ene
my's front considerably longer than

32 Gen. Butterfield, chief of staff, testifies that
Meade directed him to make out, next 'morning,
a General Order of retreat from Gettysburg, pre
scribing the route of each corps. Meade vehe
mently denies that he ever intended to retreat.
These statements seem nowise incompatible. A

ours. Of the entire Rebel army that
had crossed the Potomac, scarcely a
regiment was wanting when Pickett's
division, forming the rear-guard, came
up on the morning of the 2d.
On our side, Sickles's (3d) corps
held the left, opposite Longstreet,
supported by the 5th (Sykes's) ; with
Hancock's (2d) in our center, touch
ing its right ; while* what was left of
Howard's (llth), reenforced by 2,000
Yermonters, under Stannard, and
Reynolds's (1st, now Doubleday's)
corps held the face of Cemetery hill,
looking toward Gettysburg and Ear
ly's division, v but menaced also by
Johnson's division on its right, and
by Hill's corps, facing its left. The
12th corps (Slocum's) held our ex
treme right, facing Johnson's divi
sion of Ewell's corps, and had re
cently been strengthened by Lock-
wood's Marylanders, 2,500 strong ;
raising it to a little over 10,000 men.
Buford's cavalry, pretty roughly han
dled on the 1st, was first sent to the
rear to recruit, but confronted Stu
art on our extreme right before the
close of the 2d ; Kilpatrick's division
being posted on our left.
Meade had resolved to fight a de
fensive battle ; beside, as Sedgwick's
strong corps (15,400) had not yet
come up, while the whole Rebel
army might fairly be presumed pres
ent, it was not his interest to force
the fighting. Yet he had given or
ders to Slocum, commanding on our
right, for an attack on that wing
with the 12th, 5th, and 6th corps so
soon as the 6th should arrive ; but

prudent general might very well forecast and
mark out his line of retreat, even while resolved
to hold on to the utmost. It does not appear
that Meade told either of his corps command
ers that he had any notion of retreating.
33 July 2.

SICKLES WORSTED BT LONGSTREET.

381

Slocum, after reconnoitering, report
ed that the ground in his front was
unfavorable ; whereupon, the attack
was countermanded. The enemy hot
being yet ready, the morning wore out
and the day wore on with the usual
skirmishing and picket-firing at in
tervals along the front, with occa
sional shots from batteries on one
side or the other; but nothing ap
proaching a great battle.
At 3 p. m. — Sedgwick's weary corps
having just arrived — Sykes was or
dered to move the 5th corps over
from our right to our left, while
Meade rode out to see it properly
posted on the left of the 3d ; the 6th
resting in reserve behind them. He
now found that Sickles (who was
very eager to fight, and seems to
have suspected that Meade was not)
had thrown forward his corps from
half to three-fourths of a mile ; so that,
instead of resting his right on Han
cock and his left on Round Top, as
he had been directed to do, his ad
vance was in fact across the Emmits
burg road and in the woods beyond,
in the immediate presence of half

the Rebel army. Meade remon>
strated against this hazardous expo
sure, which Sickles considered with
in the scope of the discretion allowed
him, but said he would withdraw, if
desired, from the ridge he then occu
pied to that behind it, which Meade
indicated as the proper one. Meade
replied that he apprehended that no
such withdrawal would be permitted
by the enemy ; and, as he spoke, the
Rebel batteries opened, and their
charging columns came on.
Lee had ordered Longstreet to at-.
tack Sickles with all his might, while
Ewell should assail Slocum on our
right, and Hill, fronting the apex of
our position, should only menace,
but stand ready to charge if our
troops facing him should be with
drawn or seriously weakened to re
enforce either our left or our right.
Sickles's new position was com
manded by the Rebel batteries post
ed on Seminary ridge .in his front,
scarcely half a mile distant; while
magnificent lines of battle, a mile
and a half long, swept up to his front
and flanks, crushing him back 3* with

34 " Agate " [Whitelaw Reid], of The Cincinnati
Gazette, gives the following incident of this san
guinary fray :
" Let me give one phase of the fight — fit type
of many more. Some Massachusetts batteries —
Capt. Bigelow's, Capt. Phillips's,, two or three
more under Capt. McGilvry, of Maine — were
planted on the extreme left, advanced now well
down to the Emmitsburg road, with infantry in
their front — the first division, I think, of Sickles's
corps. A little after 5, a fierce Rebel charge
drove back the infantry and menaced the batte
ries. Orders are sent to Bigelow on the extreme
loft, to hold his position at every hazard short
of sheer annihilation, till a couple more batteries
cap be brought to his support. Reserving his
fire a little, then with depressed guns opening
with double charges of grape and canister, he
smites and shatters, but cannot break the ad
vancing line. His grape and canister are ex
hausted, and still, closing grandly up over their
slain, ou they come. He falls back on spherical
case, and pours this in at the shortest range.
On, still onward, comes the artillery-defying line,

and still he holds, his position. They are within
six paces of the guns — he fires again. Once
more, and he blows devoted soldiers from his
very muzzles. And, still mindful of that solemn
order, he holds his place, they spring upon his
carriages, and shoot down his horses I And
then, his Tankee artillerists still about him, he
seizes the guns by hand, and from the very front
of that line drags two of them oflf. The caissons
are farther back — five out of the six are saved.
" That single company, in that half-hour's fight,
lost 33 of its men, including every sergeant it
had. The captain himself was wounded. Tet it
was the first time it was ever under fire 1 I give
it simply as a type. So they fought along that
fiery line !
"The Rebels now poured on Phillips's battery,
and it, too, was forced to drag off the pieces by
hand when the horses were shot down. From
a new position, it opened again ; and at last the
two re'enforcing batteries came up on the gallop.
An enfilading fire swept the Rebel line ; Sickles's
gallant infantry charged, the Ret el line swept back
on a refluent tide — we regained the lost ground,
and every gun just lost in this splendid fight."

382

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

heavy loss, and struggling despe
rately to seize Round Top at his
left. Meade regarded this hill as vital
to the maintenance of our position,
and had already ordered Sykes to
advance the 5th corps with all possi
ble haste to save and hold it. A
fierce and bloody struggle ensued;
for the enemy had nearly carried the
hill before Sykes reached it ; while
Humphreys, who, with one of Sykes's
divisions, had been posted in the
morning on Sickles's right, was in

turn assailed in front and flank, and
driven back, with a loss of 2,000 out
of 5,000 men. Ultimately, as Sickles's
corps fell back in disorder to the
ground from which he should not
have advanced, Hancock closed in
from the right, while parts of the 1st,
ofthe 6th, and a division ofthe 12th
corps, were thrown in on the ene
my's front, and they in turn were re
pelled with loss ; falling back to the
ridge to which Sickles had advanced,
and leaving our line where Meade
had intended to place it.25

35 The Richmond Enquirer has the following
account of this fight by an eye-witness on the
Rebel . side, writing from Hagerstown on the
8th: " About the middle of the afternoon, orders
were issued to the different commanders to pre
pare for a general attack upon the enemy's cen
ter and left. Longstreet was to commence the
movement, which was to be followed up on his
left in quick succession by the respective divis
ions of Hm's corps. As Anderson's division,
or at least a portion of it, took a conspicuous
part in this movement, I have ascertained, and
now give you, the order of its different brigades:
On the extreme right of Anderson's division,
connecting with McLaws's left, was Wilcox's.
brigade, then Perry's, Wright's, Posey's, and
Mahone's. At half-past 5 o'clock, Longstreet
commenced the attack, and Wilcox followed it up
by promptly moving forward ; Perry's brigade
quickly followed, and Wright moved simultane
ously with him. The two divisions of Long-
street's corps soon encountered the enemy post
ed a little in rear of the Emmitsburg turnpike,
which winds along the slope of the range upon
which the enemy's main force was concentrated.
After a short but spirited engagement, the ene
my was driven back upon the main line upon
the crest ofthe hill. McLaws's and Hood's di
visions made a desperate assault upon their
main line , but, owing to the precipitate and very
rugged character of the slope, were unable to
reach the summit. The enemy's loss on this
part of the line was very heavy. I have heard
several officers say that they have never seen
the enemy's dead cover the ground so thickly,
not even at the first Fredericksburg fight, as
they did on that portion of the field over which
McLaws's troops fought. While the fight was
raging on our right, Wilcox and Wright, of An
derson's division, were pressing the enemy's
center. Wilcox pushed forward for nearly a
mile, driving the enemy before him and up to
his very guns, over and beyond his batteries,
several guns of which he captured, and nearly
up to the summit of the hill. Wright had swept
over the valley, under a terrific fire from the

enemy's batteries, posted upon McPherson's
heights, had •encountered the enemy's advance
line, and had driven him across the Emmits
burg pike to a, position behind a stone wall or
fence, which runs parallel with the pike, and
about 60 or 80 yards in front of the batteries on
the heights, and immediately under them. Here,
this gallant brigade had a most desperate en
gagement for fifteen or twenty minutes ; but
charging rapidly up the almost perpendicular
side of the mountain, they rushed upon the ene
my's infantry, behind the stone wall, and drove
them from it at the point ofthe bayonet. Now
concentrating their fire upon the heavy batteries
(20 guns) of the enemy on the crest of the
heights, they soon silenced them, and, rushing
forward with a shout, soon gained the summit
of the heights, capturing all the enemy's guns,
and driving their infantry in great disorder and
confusion into the woods beyond.
" We now had the key to the enemy's strong
hold, and, apparently, the victory was won.
McLaws and Hood had pushed their line well
up the slope on the right ; Wilcox had kept well
up on his portion of the line; Wright had
pierced the enemy's main line on the summit of
McPherson's heights, capturing his heavy bat
teries, thus breaking the connection between
their right and left wings. I said that, appa
rently, we had won the victory. It remains to
be stated why our successes were not crowned
with the important results which should have
followed such heroic daring and indomitable
bravery. Although the order was peremptory
that all of Anderson's division should move into
action simultaneously, Brig.-Gen'. Posey, com
manding _ Mississippi brigade, and Brig.-Gen.
Mahone, commanding a Tirginia brigade, failed
to advance. This failure of these two brigades
to advance is assigned, as I learn upon inquiry,
as the reason why Pender's division, of Hill's
corps, did not advance — the order being, that
the advance was to commence from the right,
and be taken up along our whole line. Pender's
failure to advance caused the division on his
left — Heth's — to remain inactive. Here we
have two whole divisions, -and two brigades of
another, standing idle spectators of one of the

LEE PREPARING FOR THE DECISITE CHARGE.

383

Meanwhile, the withdrawal of a
division from Slocum had enabled
Ewell to assail our right wing in su
perior force, crowding part of it back
.considerably, and seizing some of its
rifle-pits. Hence, just at dark, the
enemy assailed the right of Howard's
shattered llth corps, holding the right
face of Cemetery hill ; but gained no
essential advantage.
Night closed the 2d day of July
and of the battle, with the Rebels
decidedly encouraged and confident.
Of the seven corps composing our
army, three had been severely han
dled, and at least half their effective
strength demolished. Reynolds, com
manding the 1st, and Brig.-Gen. Zook,
of Sickles's corps, had been killed;
Sickles, of the 3d, had had his leg
shattered by a cannon-ball, and was
out of the fight ; our total losses
up to this hour were scarcely fewer
than 20,000 men ; and none weise
arriving to replace them. The ground
whereon Reynolds had fought and
fallen so gallantly was about the cen
ter of their army; they held that
also on which Howard had been cut
up, and that from which Sickles had
been hurled in disorder. True, they
also had lost heavily ; but they had
reason for their hope that the mor

row's triumph would richly repay all
their losses.30
The battle opened next day37 on
our right ; where Slocum — his divi
sion having returned from the left —
pushed forward to retake his lost
rifle-pits, and did it, after a sharp
conflict, reestablishing his line, and
resting upon it. Meantime, Lee had
reenforced Longstreet with three
fresh brigades, under Pickett, which
arrived from Chambersburg an hour
or two before Sedgwick came up on
our side, a division from Ewell, and
two detached from Hill; and the
Rebel left was firmly established and
its batteries planted on the ridge
whence Sickles had been driven.
There was a pause of anxious ex
pectation, fitfully broken by spits of
firing here and there, while the Reb
els were making their dispositions
and posting their batteries for the
supreme effort which was to decide
this momentous contest. At length,
at 1 p. m., the signal was given, and
115 heavy guns from Hill's and Long-
street's front crossed their fire on
Cemetery hill, the center and key of
our position. Here, a little behind
the crest, was. Meade's headquarters ;
though the hill had been plowed by
Rebel balls during the fierce fighting

most desperate and important assaults that
has ever been made on this continent — 15,000
or 20,000 armed men resting on their arms, in
plain view of a terrible battle, witnessing the
mighty efforts of two little brigades (Wright's
and Wilcox's ; for Perry had fallen back over
powered), contending with the heavy masses of
Tankee infantry, and subjected to a most deadly
fire from the enemy's heavy artillery, without a
single effort to aid them in the assault, or to as
sist them when the heights were carried. Per
ry's brigade, which was between Wilcox and
Wright, soon after its first advance, was pressed
so heavily as to be forced to retire. This left an
interval in the line between Wright and WilCox,
and which the enemy perceiving, he threw a
heavy column into the gap then made, deploying
a portion of it on Wilcox's left flank, while a large
force was thrown in rear of Wright's right flank.

The failure of Posey and Mahone to advance
upon Wright's left enabled the enemy to throw
forward a strong force on that flank, and to push
it well to his rear along the Emmitsburg pike.
It was now apparent that the day was lost —
lost after it had been won — lost, not because our
army fought badly, but because a large portion
of it did hot fight at all."
38 Lee, in his official report, says :
" After a severe struggle, Longstreet succeed
ed in getting possession of and holding the de
sired ground. Ewell also carried some of the
strong positions which he assailed.; and the re
sult was such as to lead to the belief that he
would ultimately be able to dislodge the enemy.
The battle ceased at dark. These partial suc
cesses determined me to continue the assault
next day." " Friday, July 3.

384

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

GETTYSBURG — POSITIONS HELD EEFOKE THE FINAL ASBATTLT, JULY 8.

of the eve before — some of them com
ing over from our left and annoying
our soldiers on the right. For nearly
two hours, this hill was gashed and
seamed by round-shot and torn by
bursting shells, while perhaps 100
guns from our side made fit reply.
But the enemy had concentrated
their batteries for this trial, while
we had not ; and here was no broad
river valley, like that of the Rappa
hannock at Fredericksburg, to ren
der the fire of guns from bluff to
bluff an idle squandering of ammu
nition. The range was excellent;

the Rebel batteries as well posted as
ours, while superior in number and
in average caliber; so that, gradu
ally, the fire on our side slackened,
and at length nearly ceased. Meade
or Howard, finding that our guns
had become heated, gave the order
to cease firing and cool them ; though
the Rebel balls were still decima
ting our gunners, while our infantry,
crouching behind every projection
and nestling in each hollow, awaited
patiently the expected charge. And
now from behind the enemy's batte
ries emerged their infantry in line of

THE REBEL GRAND CHARGE OF JHLT THIRD.

385

battle, three or four miles long, pre
ceded by a cloud of skirmishers and
supported by a fine of reserves, mov
ing swiftly to the charge upon Ceme
tery hill, and Hancock's corps more
especially, but upon the entire front
westward to Round Top. Let the
Rebel correspondent of The Bich
mond Enquirer describe this grand
assault, as follows :
" Now the storming party was moved up :
Pickett's division in advance, supported on
the right hy Wilcox's brigade and on the
left by Heth's division, commanded by Pet-
tigrew. The left of Pickett's division occu
pied the same ground over which Wright
had passed the day before. I stood upon
an eminence and watched this advance with
great interest ; I had seen brave men pass
over that fated valley the day before ; I had
witnessed their death-struggle with the foe
on the opposite heights ; I had observed
their return with shattered ranks, a bleed
ing mass, but with unstained banners. Now
I saw their valiant comrades prepare for
the same bloody trial, and already felt that
their efforts would be vain unless their sup
ports should be as true as steel and brave
as lions. Now they move forward ; with
steady, measured tread, they advance upon
the foe. Their banners float defiantly in
the breeze, as onward in beautiful order
they press across the plain. I have never
seen since the war began (and I have been
in all the great fights of this army) troops
enter a fight in such splendid order as did
this splendid division of Pickett's. Now
Pettigrew's command emerge from the
woods upon Pickett's left, and sweep down
the slope of the hill to the valley beneath,
and some two or three hundred yards in
rear of Pickett. I saw by the wavering of
this line as they entered the conflict that
they wanted the firmness of nerve and
steadiness of tread which so characterized
Pickett's men, and I felt that these men
would not, could not stand the tremendous
ordeal to which they would soon be sub
jected. These were mostly raw troops,
who had been recently brought from the
South, and who had, perhaps, never been
under fire — who certainly had never been
in any very severe fight — and I trembled for
their conduct. Just as Pickett was getting
well under the enemy's Are, our batteries

ceased firing. This was a fearful moment
for Pickett and his hrave command. Why
do not our guns reopen their fire ? is the in
quiry that rises upon every lip. Still, our
hatteries are silent as death 1 But on press
Pickett's hrave Virginians; and now the
enemy open upon them, from more than
fifty guns, a terrible fire of grape, shell, and
canister. On, on they move in unbroken
line, delivering a deadly fire as they ad
vance. Now they have reached the Em
mitsburg road ; and here they meet a severe
fire from the heavy masses of the enemy's
infantry, posted behind the stone fence;
while their artillery, now free from the
annoyance of our artillery, turn their whole
fire upon this devoted band. Still, they re
main firm. Now again they advance ; they
storm the stone fence; the Tankees fly.
The enemy's batteries are, one by one,
silenced in quick succession as Piokett's men
deliver their fire at the gunners and drive
them from their pieces. I see Kemper and
Armistead plant their banner in the enemy's
works. I hear their glad shout of victory!
" Let us look after Pettigrew's division.
"Where are they now ? While the victorious
shout of the gallant Virginians is still ring
ing in my ears, I turn my eyes to the left,
and there, all over the plain, in utmost con
fusion, is scattered this strong division.
Their line is broken ; they are flying, ap
parently pan#-stricken, to the rear. The
gallant Pettigrew is wounded ; but he still
retains command, and is vainly striving to
rally his men. Still, the moving mass rush
pell-mell to the rear ; ss and Pickett is left
alone to contend with the hordes of the
enemy now pouring in upon him on every
side. Garnett falls, killed by a Minid ball ;
and Kemper, the brave and chivalrous, reels
under a mortal wound, and is taken to the
rear. Now the enemy move around strong
flanking bodies of infantry, and are rapidly
gaining Pickett's rear. The order is given
to fall back, and our men commence the
movement, doggedly contending for every
inch of ground. The enemy press heavily
our retreating line, and many noble spirits
who had passed safely through the fiery
ordeal of the advance and charge now fall on
the right and on the left. Armistead is
wounded and left in the enemy's hands. At
this critical moment, the shattered remnant
of Wright's Georgia hrigade is moved for
ward to cover their retreat, and the fight
closes here. Our loss in this charge was
very severe ; and the Tankee prisoners taken
acknowledge that theirs was immense."

" It is simple justice to brave foes to note that
this imputation on Pettigrew's brigade has been
proved unjust. They fought as well and held as
tenaciously as any of their comrades, having all
vol. n. — 25

but one of their field officers killed or wounded ;
falling back under command of a Major. They
mustered 2, 800 strong on the morning ofthe 1st of
July : at roll-call on the 4th, they numbered 835,

386

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Now let us hear ' Agate,' from our
side, describe that last, determined
effort of the Rebellion to maintain a
foothold on the free soil of the North :
" The great, desperate, final charge came
at 4. The Rebels seemed, to have gathered
up all their strength and desperation for one
fierce, convulsive effort, that should sweep
over and wash out our obstinate resistance.
They swept up as before : the flower of their
army to the front, victory staked upon the
issue. In some places, they literally lifted
up and pushed back our lines; but, that
terrible ' position' of ours ! — wherever they
entered it, enfilading fires from half a score
of crests swept away their columns like
merest chaff. Broken and hurled back,
they easily fell into our hands ; and, on the
center and left, the last half-hour brought
more prisoners than all the rest.
" So it was along the whole line; but it
was on the 2d corps that the flower of the
Rebel army was concentrated ; it was there
that the heaviest shock beat upon,and shook,
and even sometimes crumbled, our line.
" We had some shallow rifle-pits, with
barricades of rails from the fences. The
Rebel line, stretching away miles "to the
left, in magnificent array, but strongest
here — Pickett's splendid division of Long-
street's corps in front, the#>est of A. P.
Hill's veterans in support — came steadily,
and as it seemed resistlessly, sweeping up.
Our skirmishers retired slowly from the
Emmitsburg road, holding their ground
tenaciously to the last. The Rebels reserved
their fire till they reached this same Em
mitsburg road, then opened with a terrific
crash. From ahundred iron throats, mean
time, their artillery had been thundering on
our barricades.
" Hancock was wounded ; Gibbon suc
ceeded to the command — approved soldier,
and ready for the crisis. As the tempest of
flre approached its height, he walked along
the line, and renewed his orders to the men
to reserve their fire. The Rebels — three
lines deep — came steadily up. They were
in point-blank range.
lf At last, the order came ! From thrice
six thousand guns, there came a sheet of
.smoky flame, a crash, a rush of leaden death.
The line literally melted away ; but there
came the second, resistless still. It had
been our supreme effort — on the instant, we
were not equal to another.
"Up to the rifle-pits, across them, over
the barricades — the momentum of their
charge, the mere machine strength of their
combined action — swept them on. Our
thin line could fight, hut it had not weight
enough to oppose to this momentum. It

was pushed behind the guns. Right on came
the Rebels. They were upon the guns —
were bayoneting the gunners — were wav
ing their flags above our pieces.
"But they had penetrated to the fatal
point. A storm of grape and canister tore
its way from man to man, and marked its
track with corpses straight down their line I
They had exposed themselves to the enfi
lading fire of the guns on the western slope
of Cemetery hill ; that exposure sealed their
fate. " The line reeled back — disjointed already
— in an instant in fragments. Our men
were just behind the guns. They leaped
forward upon the disordered mass ; but
there was little need for fighting now. A
regiment threw down its arms, and, with
colors at its head, rushed over and surren
dered. All along the field, smaller detach
ments did the same. Webb's brigade
brought in 800 : taken in as little time as it
requires to write the simple sentence that
tells it. Gibbon's old division took 15
stand of colors.
" Over the fields, the escaped fragments
of the charging line fell back — the battle
there was over. A single brigade, Har
row's (of which the 7th Michigan is part),
came out with 54 less officers, 793 less men,
than it took in ! So the whole corps fought
— so too they fought farther down the line,
" It was fruitless sacrifice. They gathered
up their broken fragments, formed their
lines, and slowly marched away. It was
not a rout, it was a bitter, crushing defeat.
For once, the Army of the Potomac had
won a clean, honest, acknowledged victory."
Gen. Doubleday, testifying before
the Committee on the Conduct of the
"War, says :
" About 2 p. m., a tremendous cannonade
was opened on us from at least 125 guns.
They had our exact range, and the destruc
tion was fearful. Horses were killed in
every direction ; I lost two horses myself,
while almost every officer lost one or more,
and quite a large number of caissons were
blown up. I knew this was the prelude to
a grand infantry charge, as artillery is gen
erally massed in this way, to disorganize
the opposing command, for the infantry to
charge in the interval. I told my men to
shelter themselves in every way behind the
rocks, or little elevations of ground, while
the artillery-firing took place, and to spring
to their feet and hold their ground as soon
as the charge came.
" "When the enemy finally charged, they
came on in three lines, with additional lines
called, in military language, wings: the
object of the wings being to prevent the

CRAWFORD'S AD VANCE — ME ADE'S CAUTION.

387

main force from being flanked. This charge
was first directed toward ay lines; but,
seeing that they were quite strong, five lines
deep, and well strengthened with rails and
stones, behind which the men lay, the ene
my changed his mind, and concluded to make
the attack on the division of the 2d corps,
on my right, where there were but two
lines. He marched by his right flank, and
then marched to his front. In doing this,
the wing apparently did not understand the
movement, hut kept straight on. The con
sequence was, that there was a wide gap
between the wing and the main charging
force, which enabled my men on the right,
the brigade of Gen. Stannard, to form im
mediately "on the flank of the charging
column, while the enemy were subjected
to an awful fire of artillery in front. It is
said some few of them laid their hands on
our guns. The prisoners state that what
ruined them was Stannard's brigade on their
flank, as they found it impossible to contend
•with it in that position ; and they drew off,
all in a huddle, to get away from it. I sent
two regiments to charge them in front at
the same time. While this was going on,
the enemy were subjected to a terrific artil
lery-fire at short range ; and the result was
that they retreated with frightful loss.
" Some five minutes after the charge was
broken np and they began to retreat, a large
number of batteries and regiments of infan
try reported to me, as I sat on horseback,
for orders to repulse the attack. I posted
them, with the approval of the corps com
mander, though they were a little too late to
be of essential service.
" I would state that the wing of the ene
my which got astray was also met by part
of Stannard's brigade, which also formed
on its flank, and it also retreated. Thus
the day was won, and the country
saved." The battle was over; and it was
won ; but that was all. Our guns
were nearly out of cartridges ; the
reserve ammunition had been drawn
upon ; a single brigade, standing at
ease in the rear, composed the entire
reserve of the Army of the Potomac.
All beside had been brought forward
and put in, on one point or another,
to brace up the front for that stern
ordeal. There was very little fighting after
this decisive repulse, save that Gen.
Crawford, of Sykes's division, hold

ing Round Top on our left, at 5
p. m. advanced McCandless's brigade^
by Meade's order, driving back a
battery which confronted him with
out support, and, pushing forward a
mile, took 260 prisoners (Georgians),
of Anderson's division, and recover
ing a 12-pounder, three caissons,
7,000 small arms, and all our wound
ed who had fallen in Sickles's repulse,
after they had lain 24 hours uncared
for within the enemy's lines. It was
manifest that the Rebel force had
mainly been withdrawn from this
wing to strengthen the grand assault
nearer the center, and did not re
turn; as Crawford held the ground
thus gained without objection. He
could see no reason why a decided
advance on this wing of the 5th and
the still comparatively fresh 6th corps
might not then have been made with
out meeting serious opposition.
Gen. Meade has been reproached
as timid and over-cautious; but it is
plain that his strategy, though not
daring, was able and wise. Had he
allowed his hot-heads to dash their
commands at the outset against the
Rebel batteries on Seminary ridge>
as they would gladly have done, he
would have fought a magnificent
battle and probably been magnifi
cently beaten. Between two great
armies, equally brave, equally reso
lute, and equal in numbers and in ef
fectiveness of weapons, the choice of
position naturally decides the fortune
of the day. It is not with these as
with armed mobs, where the assail
ant often triumphs by the mere
audacity of his assault — the assailed
concluding that those who are charg
ing them will not fly, so they must.
Had Lee assailed Burnside on the

388

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

heights of Falmouth, he would have
been beaten most disastrously. And,
though Meade's position at Gettys
burg does not compare in strength
with Lee's on the Fredericksburg
heights, it was probably worth a
reenforcement of 10,000 men.
Nor is Meade justly blamable for
not pushing forward at once, on the
heels of his beaten foes. Around him
lay nearly or quite one-fourth of his
army, killed or wounded ; he knew
that his own ammunition was run
ning low; he did not know that
Lee's was even more completely ex
hausted. If he had ordered a gen
eral advance, and been repelled from
Seminary ridge by such a fire as had
met and crushed the Rebel assailants
of Cemetery hill, he would have been
reproached as rash and fool-hardy by
many who have deemed him defi
cient in courage or in heartiness be
cause he did not make the Union a
Fourth-of-July present of the rem
nant of Lee's army.
His real and grave error dated
several days back of this. He had,
on assuming command, been author
ized to do as he judged best with
French's force on Maryland Heights,
and Couch's in central Pennsylvania.
Had he, on deciding to fight Lee so
soon as circumstances favored, or
dered both these to join him at the
earliest moment, he would now have
been consciously master of the situa
tion, and might have blocked Lee's
return to Virginia. But he gave no
such order to Couch ; and having, at
Butterfield's urgent suggestion, with

drawn French's 11,000 men from
Maryland Heights, he left 7,000 of
them standing idle at Frederick, send
ing the residue as train-guards to
"Washington, and actually apologized
to Halleck, on meeting him, for hav
ing moved them at all ! Had Get
tysburg been lost for want of these
11,000 men, his would have been a
fearful responsibility.
Couch's militia were pronounced
worthless by worthless officers, who
forget what "Washington, Gates, and
Jackson, severally did with militia;
but, though they had been only held
in reserve, or set to guarding trains,
their presence would have had a
wholesome moral effect. And now,
if they had been at hand to set on the
track of the beaten, flying RebelB,
they might have done more, and could
not have done less, than Sedgwick did
when sent on that same errand.

Meade states our losses in this se
ries of battles around Gettysburg at
2,834 killed, 13,709 wounded, and
6,643 missing (mainly taken prison
ers on the 1st) : total, 23,186.3' He
only claims 3 guns as captured this
side of the Potomac, with 41 flags
and 13,621 prisoners — many of them
wounded, of course. He adds that
24,978 small arms were collected on
the field ; but part of them may have
been previously our own.
Lee gives no return of his losses ;
but they were probably not materi
ally greater nor less than ours"— our
men fighting on the defensive, some
what protected by breastworks, and

S9 Among our killed, not already mentioned,
were Brig.-Gens. S. H. Weed, N. T., and E. J.
Farnsworth, Mich. ; Cols. Vincent and Willard
(commanding brigades), Cross, 5th N. H.,
O'Rorke, 140th N. T., Revere, 20th Mass., and
Taylor, Pa. 'Bucktails.' Among our wounded

were Brig.-Gens. Gibbon, Barlow,' Stannard,
Webb, and Paul.
40 Pollard rather candidly says :
" On our side, Pickett's division had been en
gaged in the hottest work of the day, and tbe
havoc in its ranks was appalling. Its losses on

PLEASANTON FOR PURSUIT — ME ADE HESITATES.

having the advantage of position.
Doubtless, our loss was much the
greater on the first day, a little more
than the enemy's on the second, and
far the less on the third. Proba
bly, 18,000 killed and wounded, with
10,000 unwounded prisoners, would
pretty fairly measure the Confederate
losses during their Pennsylvania cam
paign. 
During the 2d and 3d, the cavalry
of either army, hovering around its
flanks, ready to make a dash at the
trains or camps of its adversary if
opportunity should serve, had had
several slight collisions, but no seri
ous contest. On the 3d, an attempt
of Hood, by a movement on the Em
mitsburg road, to turn our left —
which Gen. Meade regarded as our
weak point — was defeated by Merritt's
cavalry brigade, then coming up from
Emmitsburg with intent to strike the
rear and flank of the Rebel right, and
by Farnsworth's brigade, which was
guarding our own flank in that quar
ter. Gregg's division watched our
right flank, confronted by Stuart.
J_To important advantage was gained
on either side ; but a considerable in
fantry force under Hood seems to
have been neutralized, during the
grand assault, by the sturdy efforts
of Merritt and Farnsworth, which
were held to indicate that a strong

this day are famous, and should be commemora
ted in detail. Every Brigadier in the division
was killed or wounded. Out of 24 regimental
officers, only two escaped unhurt. The Colonels
of five Virginia regiments were killed. The
9th Virginia went in 250 strong, and came out
with only 38 men ; while the equally gallant 19th
rivaled the terrible glory of such devoted courage.' '
Among the Rebel killed were Brig.-Gens.
Barksdale, Miss., and Garnett, Va. Among their
wounded, Maj.-Gens. Hood, Trimble, Heth, and
Pender, the latter mortally; Brig.-Gens. Petti-
grew, Kemper, Scales, G. T. Anderson, Hamp
ton, J. M Jones, Jenkins, Armistead, and
Semmes: the two latter mortally.

infantry force was behind them, ready
to strike heavily and attempt to turn
the Rebel right.
The battle being over, Pleasanton,
who was in chief command of the
cavalry, urged Meade to order a
general advance ; being satisfied by
appearances that not only was the
Rebel army demoralized and begin
ning to retreat, but nearly out of
ammunition. But, as it was not
certain that the enemy was going,
Meade chose to be assured on that
point, by a cavalry reconnoissance to
the Rebel rear. Pleasanton accord
ingly dispatched some cavalry on this
errand, who rode all night; Gregg,
who, moving by our right, had been
out 22 miles on the Chambersburg
road, returning first, at 8 A. m.,41 and
reporting that road strewn with
wounded and stragglers, ambulances
and caissons, showing that not only
was the enemy in full retreat, but
that he was completely demoralized.
Gregg had easily taken quite a num
ber of prisoners. Other commanders
of cavalry, returning later from sim
ilar reconnoissances on other roads,
found them likewise covered, and
captured many stragglers and wagons.
Still, as Meade did not advance in
force on their direct line of retreat,"
and as the movement of the artillery
and trains of a . great army requires

41 Saturday, July 4.
"Gen. D. B. Birney, who succeeded Gen.
Sickles in the command ofthe 3d corps, says:
" I was ordered to send out a reconnoissance
at daylight [on the 4th] to ascertain the position
of the enemy. I did so early Sunday morning,
and reported that the enemy were in full retreat.
I also sent back for permission to open upon the
enemy with my rifled batteries as they were
crossing a point very near me, upon the turn
pike going toward Hagerstown; and the staff
officer brought me permission to do so. I had
commenced the movement to attack, when ano
ther staff officer arrived from Gen. Meade with
a written order from him to make no attack;

390

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

time, the Rebel pickets along their
front were not withdrawn till 2 a. m.
of next day." Meantime, an advance
division of Couch's militia, about
5,000 strong, under Gen. W. F.
[' Baldy'] Smith, had come up in our
rear; reporting to Gen. Meade on the
4th. Next morning, there could no
longer be even an affectation of
doubt that the enemy were in full
retreat; and Sedgwick's (6th) corps
was ordered ** to follow on the track
of the fugitives. The spirit in which
this pursuit waB prosecuted is thus
portrayed by Gen. A. P. Howe, com-
mandixig a division of that corps,
who thus narrates " its progress and
results :
" On the 4th of July, it seemed evident
enough that the enemy were retreating.
How far they were gone, we could not see
from the front. We could see but a com
paratively small force from the position
where I was. On Sunday, the 5th and 6th
corps moved in pursuit. As we moved, a
small rear-guard of the enemy retreated.
We followed them, with this small rear
guard of the enemy before us, up to Fair
field, in a gorge of the mountains. There
we again waited for them to go on. There
seemed to be no disposition to push this
rear-guard when we got up to Fairfield. A
lieutenant from the enemy came into our
lines and gave himself up. He was a
Northern Union man", in service in one of
the Georgia regiments ; and, without being
asked, he unhesitatingly told me, when I
met him as he was being brought in, that
he belonged to the artillery of the rear
guard of the enemy, and that they had but
two rounds of ammunition with the rear
guard. But we waited there without re
ceiving any orders to attack. It was a place
where, as I informed Gen. Sedgwick, we
oould easily attack the enemy with advan
tage. But no movement was made by us
until the enemy went away. Then, one
brigade of my division, with some cavalry,
was sent to follow on after them, while the
remainder of the 6th corps moved to the

left. We moved on through Boonsboro',
and passed up on the pike road leading to
Hagerstown. After passing Boonsboro', it
became my turn to lead the 6th corps. That
day, just before we started, Gen. Sedgwick
ordered me to move on and take up the best
position I could over a little stream on the
Frederick side of Funkstown. As I moved
on, it was suggested to me by him to move
carefully. 'Do n't oome into contact with
the enemy ; we do n't want to bring on a
general engagement.' It seemed to be the
current impression that it was not desired
to bring on a general engagement. I moved
on until we came near Funkstown. Gen.
Buford was along that way with his cavalry.
I had passed over the stream referred to,
and found' a strong position, whioh I con
cluded to take and wait for the 6th corps to
come up. In the mean time, Gen. Buford,
who was in front, came back to me and
said, 'I am pretty hardly engaged here; I
have used a great deal of my ammunition ;
it is a strong place in front ; it is an excel
lent position.' It was a little farther out
than I was — nearer Funkstown. He said,
' I have used a great deal of my ammuni
tion, and I ought to go to the right ; sup
pose you move up there, or send up a brig
ade, or even a part of one, and. hold that
position.' Said I, ' I will do so at once, if I
can just communicate with Gen. Sedgwick ;
I am ordered to take up a position over here
and hold it, and the intimation conveyed to
me was that they did not want to get into
a general engagement ; I will send for Gen.
Sedgwick, and ask permission to hold that
position and relieve you.' I accordingly
sent a staff officer to Gen. Sedgwick, with a
request that I might go up at once and assist
Gen. Buford ; stating that he had a strong
position, but his ammunition was giving
out. Gen. Buford remained with me until
I should get an answer. The answer was,
1 No, we do not want to bring on a general
engagement.' ' Well,' said I, ' Buford, what
can I do ?' He said, ' They expect me to go
farther to the right ; my ammunition is
pretty much out. That position is a strong
one, and we ought not to let it .go.' I sent
down again to Gen. Sedgwick, stating the
condition of Gen. Buford, and that he would
have to leave unless he could get some
assistance ; that his position was not far in
front, and that it seemed to me that we
should hold it, and I should like to send
some force up to picket it at least. After a
time, I got a reply that, if Gen. Buford left,
I might occupy the position. Gen. Buford

which was done. My skirmishers advanced and
took possession of their hospitals, with a large
number of their wounded. I had sent some
twenty orderlies with a staff officer, who led the
reoonnoissance ; and I reported these facts con

stantly to Gen. Meade; but this peremptory
order from him not to open fire at all prevented
any pursuit of the enemy."
° July 5. « July 5, 11 A. M.
46 Before Committee on the Conduct ofthe War.

LEE'S RETREAT TO THE POTOMAC.

391

was still with me, and I said to him, ' If you
go away from there, I will have to hold it.'
' That 's all right,' said he ; ' I will go away.'
He did so, and I moved right up. It was a
pretty good position, where you (jould cover
your troops. Soon after relieving Buford,
we saw some Rebel infantry advancing. I
do not know whether they brought them
from Hagerstown, or from some other place.
They made three dashes, not in heavy force,
upon our line to drive us back. The troops
that happened to be there on our line were
what we considered in the Army of the
Potomac unusually good ones. They quietly
repulsed the Rebels twice; and, the third
time they came up, they sent them flying
into Funkstown.
"Yet there was no permission to move
on and follow up the enemy. We remained
there some time, until we had orders to
m'ove on and take a position a mile or more"
nearer Hagerstown. As we moved up, we
saw that the Rebels had some light field-
, works — hurriedly thrown up, apparently —
to cover themselves while they recrossed
the river. I think we remained there three
days ; and the third night, I think, after we
got up into that position, it was said the
Rebels recrossed the river."

The 4th and 5th were devoted by
Gen. Meade to caring for the wound
ed and burying the dead; part of
our cavalry pursuing on the Cash-
town, road, as Sedgwick did on that
by Fairfield. On the 5th, Meade
was satisfied that Lee had retreated ;
but he believed that he was falling
back into the Cumberland Yalley —
not making for the shelter of the
Potomac. He decided to move the
great body of his- forces by the left
flank through Boonsboro' Pass, and
so place himself between the enemy
and his resources. But Sedgwick
soon reported " that the main body
of the enemy was in position in and
around Fairfield Pass, and that it
might be necessary to fight another
battle in those mountains. Here
upon, the 5th corps and some other
troops were sent to reenforce Sedg
wick, and the 1st and 3d, which had

been started by Butterfield, chief of
staff, on the Boonsboro' road, were
halted ; while others, farther in ad
vance, moved on. Soon, word came
from Sedgwick that it was unwise to
push the enemy farther on the route
he was following ; whereupon, the
whole army was impelled down the
Middletown road; Sedgwick being
ordered to move the most of his com
mand from ' Fairfield Pass by Em
mitsburg to join the main body.
Arrived at Middletown, the army
was halted a day to rest and refit,
and then moved through South
Mountain by Boonsboro' to Hagers
town and the Potomac ; where Lee
had of course arrived before it, taken
a strong position, and was prepared
to maintain it. Lee says, in his offi
cial report :
" The army remained at Gettysburg dur
ing the 4th, and at night began to retire by
the road to Fairfield, carrying with it about
4,000 prisoners. Nearly 2,000 had previ
ously been paroled ; but the enemy's numer
ous wounded, that had fallen into our hands
after the first and second day's engagements,
were left behind.
"Little progress was made that night,
owing to a severe storm, "which greatly .em
barrassed our movements. The rear of the
column did not leave its position near Get
tysburg until after daylight on the 5th.
" The march was continued during that
day without interruption by the enemy, ex
cept an unimportant demonstration upon our
rear in the afternoon, when near Fairfield,
which was easily checked. Part of our train
moved by the road through Fairfield, and
the rest by the way of Oashtown, guarded
by Gen. Imhoden. In passing through the
mountains, in advance of the column, the
great length of the trains exposed them to
attack by the enemy's cavalry, which cap
tured a number of wagons and ambulances;
but they succeeded in reaching Williams
port without serious loss.
" They were attacked at that place on the
6th by the enemy's cavalry, which was gal
lantly repulsed by Gen. Imboden. The at
tacking force was subsequently encountered
and driven off by Gen. Stuart, and pursued
for several miles in the direction of Boons-

48 July 6.

392

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

boro'. The army, after an arduous march,
rendered more difficult by the rains, reached
Hagerstown on the afternoon of the 6th and
morning ofthe 7th July."
He had had a marvelous escape.
"When his shattered columns com
menced their retreat from Gettys
burg, few of his officers can have im
agined that they would ever reach
Yirginia with their artillery and most
of their trains. There was not a
probability that they could recross
the Potomac with more than the
wreck of an army. But heavy rains
fell, as usual after great battles ; and
these are apt to impede pursuers
more than pursued, though they need
not. Then, every sort of miscalcula
tion combined with lack of energy to
impede the progress of our army ; so
that Lee had had four days wherein
to strengthen his position at Wil
liamsport before Meade was there"
to assail him.
But neither Lee's army nor his
troubles were yet over. The heavy
rains following the battle had swelled
the Potomac to an unfordable state ;
while Gen. French, who, with 7,000
veterans, had been left idle at Fred
erick during the great events in Penn
sylvania, had, without orders, sent a
cavalry force to Falling Waters and
Williamsport, which captured the
weak guard left by Lee to hold his
bridge, which they forthwith de
stroyed. Lee's hold on the Mary
land bank was therefore compulsory,
while he collected material and re
paired or renewed his bridge. Ere
this was accomplished," Meade's ar
my was before him, strengthened by
French's division, and by part of
Couch's militia, which had reported
at Gettysburg and joined the army
at Boonsboro'. 47 July 12.

The 12th having been spent in get
ting our troops into position, Gen.
Meade called a council of his corps
commanders, to consider the expedi
ency of attacking next morning. The
council sat long and debated earnest
ly. Gens. Howard, Pleasanton, and
Wadsworth (in place of Reynolds,
killed) urged and voted to attack;
but Gens. Sedgwick, Slocum, Sykes,
French, and Hays (in place of Han
cock, wounded at Gettysburg) op
posed it. Gen. Meade, having heard
all, stated that his judgment favored
an attack — that he came there to
fight, and could see no good reason
for not fighting. Still, he could not
take the responsibility of ordering an
assault against the advice' of a major
ity of his corps commanders — four
of them ranking officers of the army
next to himself. His decision would
seem to have been a mistake ; but he
had been in command little more
than a fortnight, and the responsibil
ity of overruling a majority and the
seniors among bis counselors was a-
grave one. At all events, he did
not take it : so our army stood idle
throughout the following day; and
in the night Lee withdrew across the
Potomac, leaving (he says) but two
stalled guns, a few disabled wagons,
and some weary stragglers, to fall
into the hands of his pursuers.
This, however, is not exactly true.
Kilpatrick, commanding our cavalry
on the left, learning at 3 A. m. that
the enemy's pickets in his front were
retiring, started after them, and, at
7i a. m., came up, about two miles
from their bridge at Falling Waters,
with their rear-guard, under Gen.
Pettigrew,who had taken up a strong
position and contested thereon his ad-
48 July 13.

MEADE IN VIRGINIA— FIGHT IN MANASSAS GAP. 393

vance. A gallant saber-charge by
the 6th Michigan, Maj. Webber, into
and over their earthworks, was re
pulsed with loss — Maj. Webber being
among the killed ; but, after a fight
of over two hours, the enemy was
driven to the river, with a loss of 125
killed and 1,500 prisoners, which in
cludes 50 of their wounded. Gen.
Pettigrew was here mortally wound
ed. Our total loss was 105.

Our cavalry advance^ Col. J. I.
Gregg, crossed, the Potomac at Har
per's Ferry that day," and moved
out, next morning, from Bolivar
Heights on the Winchester turnpike
to Hall's Mills, thence taking the road
to Shepherdstown ; where it was soon
involved in a spirited fight with Fitz
Hugh Lee's cavalry, and driven back
a short distance to a strong position,
where it held its ground, repulsing
several determined charges, until the
Rebels were willing to give it up.
The day'B loss was about 100 on
either side ; Cols. Drake (1st Yir
ginia) and Gregg were among the
Rebel killed ; Capt. Fisher, 16th Pa.,
being the highest officer lost on our
side. The ground was so rough and
wooded that nearly all the fighting
was done on foot.
Gen. Meade crossed the Potomac
at Berlin on the 18th; moving by
Lovettsville,60 Union," Upperville,"
and Salem,63 to Warrenton;6' thus
retaking the line of the Rappahan
nock which our army had left hardly
two months before. This movement

being in advance of Lee, who halted
for some days near Bunker Hill, and
made a feint of recrossing the Poto
mac, Meade was enabled to seize all
the passes through the Blue Ridge
north of the Rappahannock, barring
the enemy's egress from the Shenan
doah Yalley save by a tedious flank
march. Meade, misled by his scouts, had
expected to fight a battle in Manas
sas Gap — or rather, on the west side
of it — where our cavalry, under Bu
ford, found the Rebels in force ;
when the 3d (French's) corps was
sent in haste from Ashby's Gap to
Buford's support, and its 1st division,
Gen. Hobart Ward, pushed through "
the Gap, and the Excelsior (New
York) brigade, Gen. F. B. Spinola,
made three heroic charges up so
many steep and difficult ridges, dis
lodging and driving the enemy witfi
mutual loss — General Spinola being
twice wounded. Col. Farnum and
Major McLean, 1st Excelsior, were
also wounded, and Cap?. Ben. Price "
killed. Next morning, our soldiers pushed
forward to Front Royal, but encoun
tered no enemy. Unknown to us,
the Excelsiors had been fighting a
brigade of Ewell's men, who were
holding the Gap while Rhodes's di
vision, forming the rear-guard of
Lee's army, marched past up the
valley, and had, of course, followed
on its footsteps during the night. No
enemy remained to fight; but two
days were lost by Meade getting into

"July 14. M July 19. "July 20. M July 22.
"July 24. 64 July 25. » July 24.
M Capt. Price had been for years honorably
distinguished as an ardent, indefatigable, effi
cient advocate for the limitation of the area of
individual ownership of real estate, and more

especially of the National Homestead bill. He
volunteered at the Very outset of the war, and
gave his best efforts and his life for Freedom
and Equal Rights to all mankind. Though
distinguished by gallantry, capacity, intelli
gence, and zeal, he entered the service a captain,
and died a captain.

394

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and out of the Gap ; during which,
Lee moved rapidly southward, pass
ing around our right flank and ap
pearing in our front when our army
again looked across the Rappahan
nock.

So soon as it was known that Lee
had started for the North with all
the force that he could muster, Gen.
Dix, commanding at Fortress Mon
roe, was directed to make a demon
stration on Richmond. Gen. Keyes
was appointed to lead it. Starting 67
from White House, about 5,000 men
of all arms, under the more immedi
ate command of Gen. Getty, with at
least as many more behind at call,
Keyes moved up to Baltimore Cross
roads, whence some 1,500 cavalry
were sent forward to burn the Central
Railroad bridge over the South Anna,
which they effected. There was some
skirmishing at various points, with
the advantage oftener on the side of
the enemy ; the upshot of all being
that Keyes retreated without a seri
ous fight, and without having accom
plished any thing worth the cost of
the movement. As Richmond was
defended by a single brigade under
Wise, with such help as might be
hastily summoned from points farther
south or obtained from her office
holders and other exempts organized
as militia, it seems obvious that a
more determined leader, who would
not have fallen back without know
ing why, was badly needed. A spir
ited, resolute dash might have given
us Richmond on the same day that
Grant took possession of surrendered
Yicksburg and Lee recoiled from
Meade's unshaken front at Gettys
burg. 

Gen. Buford, with his cavalry di
vision, pushed68 across the river, at
Rappahannock Station, and crowded
back, first a brigade, then a division,
of Stuart's cavalry nearly to Culpep
per Court House, when their infantry
compelled him to retreat, fighting, till
he was supported by the 1st corps ;
when the. foe in turn desisted. Our
loss this day was 110, including 16
killed. Gen. Kilpatrick next crossed60 at
Port Conway below Fredericksburg,
driving before him a Rebel force sta
tioned on this side, and burning two
gunboats recently captured by the
Rebels on the Potomac, and run into
the Rappahannock for future use.
Gen. Pleasanton next crossed "° the
Rappahannock at Kelly's and other
fords with most of our cavalry, in
three divisions, under Buford, Kil
patrick, and Gregg, pressing back
Stuart's cavalry to Brandy Station
and Culpepper Court House, and
thence across the Rapidan, capturing
two guns and quite a body of prison
ers. Otherwise, the losses on either
side were light. Gen. Warren, with
the 2d corps, supported our cavalry,
but was at no time engaged.
This reconnoissance having proved
that Lee had depleted his army to
reenforce Bragg in Tennessee, Gen.
Meade crossed61 the Rappahannock
in force, posting himself at Culpep
per Court House, throwing forward
two corps to the Rapidan ; which he
was preparing to cross when he was
ordered from Washington to detach "
the llth and 12th corps, under Hook
er, to the aid of our army at Chatta
nooga. Being reenforced soon after
ward, he sent63 Gen. Buford, with his
cavalry division, across the Rapidan

' July 1.

"'Aug.l. 69Sept.l. "Sept. 13. "Sept. 16.

' Sept. 24. "3 Oct. 10.

LEE CHASES MEADE UP TO CENTERVILLE.

395

to uncover the upper fords, prepara
tory to an advance of the 1st and 6th
corps ; but Lee at the same time cross
ing Robertson's river and advancing
in force from Madison Court House on
our right, Meade fell back " across the
Rappahannock; our cavalry, under
Pleasanton, covering the retreat, and
being engaged from Culpepper Court
House to Brandy Station, where Bu
ford rejoined him,and the enemy were
held in check till evening, when Pleas
anton withdrew across the river.
Meade now, presuming the enemy
in force at Culpepper Court House,
pushed over66 the 6th, 5th, and 2d
corps to Brandy Station, while Bu
ford's cavalry moved in the van to
Culpepper Court House; when, on
hearing from Gen. Gregg, command
ing the cavalry division on our right,
that the enemy had driven him back
from Hazel run across the Rappa
hannock, and were crossing at Sul
phur Springs and Waterloo in heavy
force, Meade hastily drew back his
army across the river and retreated66
to Catlett's Station and thence67 to
Centerville ; Gregg, with the 4th and
13th Pa. and 1st N. Y. cavalry and
10th N. Y. infantry, being surround
ed and attacked69 near Jefferson, and
routed, with a loss of 5001, mainly
prisoners. Our army was sharply and impu
dently pursued, especially by Stuart's
cavalry, who gathered up quite a
number of prisoners, mainly strag
glers, of little value unless to ex
change. Stuart, with 2,000 of his
cavalry, pressed our rear so eagerly
that, when near Catlett's Station,68
he had inadvertently got ahead, by a
flank movement, of our 2d corps,
Gen. Warren, acting as rear-guard ;

and was hemmed in where his whole
command must have been destroyed
or captured had he not succeeded in
hiding it in a thicket of old-field
pines, close by the road whereon our
men marched by : the rear ofthe corps
encamping close beside the enemy,
utterly unsuspicious of their neigh
borhood, though every Word uttered
in our lines as they passed was dis
tinctly heard by the lurking foe. Stu
art at first resolved to abandon his
guns and attempt to escape with
moderate loss, but finally picked
three of his men, gave them muskets,
made them up so as to look as much
as possible like our soldiers, and thus
drop silently into our ranks as they
passed, march a while, then slip out
on the other side of the column, and
make all haste to Gen. Lee at War
renton, in quest of help. During the
night, two of our officers, who stepped
into the thicket, were quietly captured.
At daylight, the crack of skirmish
ers' muskets in the distance gave to
ken that Lee had received and re
sponded to the prayer for help ; when
Stuart promptly opened with grape
and canister on the rear of our as
tounded column, which had bivou
acked just in his front, throwing it
into such confusion that he easily
dashed by and rejoined his chief;
having inflicted some loss and suf
fered little or none.
But such ventures can not always
prove lucky. That same day,™ A.
P. Hill's corps, which had left War
renton at 5 A. m., moving up the
Alexandria turnpike to Broad Run
church, thence obliquing by Green
wich to strike our rear at Bristow
Station, had obeyed the order, and
fallen in just behind our 3d. corps,

64 Oct. 11. e6 Oct. 12. " Oct. 13. " Oct. 14. 6a Oct. 12. m Night of Oct. 13-14. ,0 Oct. 14.

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

and was eagerly following it, picking
up stragglers, and preparing to charge,
when, about noon, our 2d corps, Gen.
Warren, which was still behind, ap
peared on the scene, and considera
bly deranged Hill's (or Lee's) calcu
lations. Hill turned, of course, to
fight the advancing rather than the
retreating foe, having his batteries
ready for action ; while Warren, who
was for the moment surprised at find
ing an enemy in his front rather than
his rear, required ten minutes to pre
pare for a suitable reply. Soon, how
ever, Brown's and Arnold's batteries
opened on our side, with such effect,
aided by the fire of Webb's and
Hays's divisions of infantry, that the
enemy fell back, abandoning six guns,
whereof five — all that were servicea
ble — were at once seized and put to
use on our side. An attempt to
charge our right flank by Petti
grew's old brigade, now Heth's, was
signally repulsed, with a loss of 450
prisoners. After this, the fighting
was more cautious and desultory;
the enemy recoiling to the woods,
and thence keeping up a long-range
cannonade, which amounted to noth
ing. Our loss in killed and wounded
was about 200, including Col. James
E. Mallon, 42d N.Y., killed, and Gen.
Tile, of Pa., wounded; that of the
enemy was probably 400, including
Gens. Posey (mortally), Kirkland, and
Cooke," wounded, and Cols. Ruffin,
1st N. C, and Thompson, 5th N. C.
cavalry, killed. Our soldiers held the
field till dark, then followed the rest
of our army, whose retreat they had
so effectually covered.
Meade, on reflection, was evidently
ashamed — as well he might be — of
this flight— which, the Rebels assert,

continued up to Fairfax Court House
— and would have attempted to re
trace his steps directly ; but a heavy
rain™ had rendered Bull Run un-
fordable, and obliged him to send for
pontoons ; meantime, the enemy, af
ter skirmishing along his front and
making feints of attack, retreated as
rapidly as they had advanced, com
pletely destroying the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad from Bristow to
the Rappahannock — Stuart, aided by
a flank attack from Fitz Hugh Lee,
worsting Kilpatrick, by force of num
bers, in a not very sanguinary encoun
ter" near Buckland's Mills, whence
our cavalry fell back nimbly to
Gainesville. In this affair, Custer's
brigade did most of the fighting on
our side ; but the enemy was so vastly
the stronger, backed by infantry, that
Kilpatrick did well to escape with
little loss. Stuart claims to have
taken 200 prisoners.
Lee recrossed the Rappahannock
next day ; - leaving Meade, by reason
of his ruined railroad, unable, if will
ing, to follow him farther for some
time. During these operations, General
J. D. Imboden, who, with a Rebel
cavalry division, had been guarding
the gaps of the Blue Ridge, swooped
down 74 upon Charlestown, near Har
per's Ferry, which he took ; capturing
424 men, with a large amount of
stores. Two hours afterward, a su
perior Union force appeared from
Harper's Ferry, before which Imbo
den deliberately fell back, fighting,
to Berryville, saving nearly all his
spoils; thence making good his es
cape by a night-march.
Besides Imboden's, Lee claims to
have taken 2,000 prisoners during

1 Son of Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, Union army. "Oct. 16. "Oct. 19. '4 Oct. 18.

RUSSELL'S ASSAULT AT RAPPAHANNOCK STATION. 397

his dash across the Rappahannock ;
while our captures were hardly half
so many. In killed and wounded,
the losses were nearly equal — not far
from 500 on either side. But the
prestige of skill and daring, of au
dacity and success, inured entirely
to the Rebel commander, who, with
an inferior force, had chased our
army almost up to Washington,
utterly destroyed its main artery of
supply, captured the larger number
of prisoners, destroyed or caused us
to destroy valuable stores, and then
returned to his own side of the Rap
pahannock essentially unharmed ;
having decidedly the advantage in
the only collision which marked his
retreat. Nettled by the trick which had
been played upon him, Meade now
sought permission to make an at
tempt, by a rapid movement to the
left, to seize the heights of Freder
icksburg ; but Halleck negatived the
project ; so Sedgwick, with the 6th
and 5th corps, was sent forward at
daybreak76 from Warrenton to Rap
pahannock Station, where the Rebels
had strongly fortified the north bank
of the river, covering a pontoon
bridge. The works on this side were
held by Hayes's Louisiana brigade ;
while Hoke's brigade, composed of
the 6th, 54th, and 57th N. C, was
sent over to support it by Lee, who,
with Early's division, was just across
the river. Our approach was of
course well known, and Hoke pushed
over on purpose to make all secure.
Arriving at noon opposite the Sta
tion, our troops were halted behind a
hill a good mile away, rested and
carefully formed, and our skirmish
lines gradually advanced to the river

both above and below the enemy's
works ; then our lines were quietly
advanced over rugged ground till
within half a mile of the works;
whence a flat, open vale, traversed
by a wide ditch, with high, steep
banks and three feet of mud and
water in its bed, then by a moa;t 12
feet wide by 5 deep, now dry ; be
yond which, rose a hill or ridge,
directly on the river's bank, on which
were the enemy's works. Gen.
Wright had command of the 6th
corps; while Brig.-Gen. David A.
Russell '" commanded the 1st divis
ion, whereof the 3d brigade, com
prising the 5th Wisconsin, 6th Maine,
49th and 119th Pa., now commanded
by Col. P. C. Ellmaker, ofthe latter,
was his own, and had been carefully
drilled by him into the highest efiv '
ciency. This brigade was advanced
directly opposite the enemy's works ;
and Russell, after a careful observa
tion, reported to Wright, just before
sunset, that those works could be
carried by storm, and was authorized
to try it.
The next moment, his brigade
moved forward in two lines : five
companies of the 6th Maine deploy
ing as skirmishers, while the 5th Wis
consin, dashing in solid column on
the largest and strongest redoubt, fol
lowed close behind them ; the 20th
Maine, of another brigade, closing
on their left, and advancing in line
with the 6th ; Russell himself at the
front, and giving the order to-
' charge ;' whereupon, with fixed bay
onets and without firing a shot, the
line swept forward through a deluge
of case-shot and Minie bullets.
Ten minutes later, the rest of the
brigade came up at double-quick to

"Nov. 7.

1 Of Salem, N. Y.— son of the late Hon. David Russell

398

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

their aid ; but, during those ten min
utes, the 6th Maine had lost 16 out
of 23 officers, and 123 out of 350 en
listed men; three of their veteran
captains lying dead, with Lt.-Col.
Harris, of this regiment, and Maj.
Wheeler, of the 5th Wise, severely
wounded. Adj. Clark, of the former,
and Lt. Russell, a relative and aid of
the General, were likewise wounded.
But now the Pennsylvania regiments
rushed in at their highest speed, and
the struggle at this point was over ;
while the 121st New York and ¦ 5th
Maine, of the 2d brigade, firing but
a single volley, swept, just at dusk,
through the Rebel rifle-pits on Rus
sell's right, and down to the pon
toons in the Rebel rear, cutting off
the retreat of the routed garrison,
and compelling 1,600 of them to sur
render. Four guns, 7 flags, 2,000
small arms, and the pontoon bridge,
were among the captures ; Gen.
Hayes surrendered, but afterward
escaped. Two of his Colonels swam
the river. Several who attempted to
do so were drowned. The whole
was the work of two brigades, num
bering less than 3,000 men ; and
most of it of Russell's, barely 1,549
strong. And, while no praise is too
high for his men, it is not too much
to say that the credit of this rarely
paralleled exploit is mainly due to
David A. Russell— as capable, mod
est, and brave a soldier as the army
of the Potomac ever knew.
Simultaneously with this move
ment, the 2d and 3d corps, Gen.
French, advanced to Kelly's ford;
where pontoons were quickly laid,
under the fire of their guns, and the
3d brigade of Ward's division, Gen.
De Trobriand, at once dashed across,

Berdan's sharp-shooters in front, and
charged into the enemy's rifle-pits,
capturing Col. Gleason, 12th Vir
ginia, and over 400 men, with a loss
of some 40. Our command of the
ford was complete; and Lee, thor
oughly worsted, fell back to Culpep
per that night, and across the Rapi
dan the next. Our railroad was then
rebuilt down to and across the Rap
pahannock, and reopened77 to Bran
dy ^Station; which thus became our
d£pot of supplies.

It was a prevalent conviction
among its more energetic and enter
prising officers that our army might
have advanced directly on the heel
of its brilliant success at Rappahan
nock Station and its seizure of the
fords, and caught that of the enemy
dispersed in Winter cantonments or
compelled it to fight at disadvantage
before it could be concentrated and
intrenched in a strong position.
Meade, however, with his habitual
caution, waited till the bridge at
Rappahannock Station was rebuilt,
and every thing provided for moving
safely; when, finding that he was
not assailed nor likely to be, he
again gave76 the order to advance.
A storm forthwith burst, which dic
tated a delay of three days ; after
which, the start was actually made :
Gen. French, with the 3d corps, fol
lowed by Sedgwick, with the 6th,
crossing the Rapidan at Jacob's mill ;
Gen. Warren, with the 2d, at Ger
mania ford — both moving on Rob
ertson's tavern ; while Sykes, with
the 5th, followed by Newton, with
two divisions of the 1st, crossed at
Culpepper ford, and Gregg, with a
division of cavalry, crossed at Ely's

" Nov. 19.

,a Nov. 23.

MEADE'S ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

399

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CRM>S_1

ICEJ

ROM_,

MILES

MIME KFN AND VICISIIT.

ford, and advanced on the Catharpen
road, covering the left or most ex
posed flank of our infantry: the
other two divisions, under Custer
and Merritt, watching respectively
the upper fords of the Rapidan and
the trains parked, at Richardsville in
our rear. Fully 70,000 men were
engaged in this movement; while

Lee (Longstreet being still absent)
could oppose to it only the two heavy
corps or grand divisions of A. P.
Hill and Ewell, estimated by Meade
at 50,000 strong.
Our troops moved at 6 a.m.; ™ but
energy and punctuality, save in re
treat, seem to have long ere now de
serted this army; and the 3d corps

" Nov. 26.

400

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

— through the mistake, it is said, of
Gen. Prince, commanding one of its
divisions, who took a wrong road —
did not even reach Jacob's mill till
afternoon ; and then the banks of
the river were steep, &c, &c. — the
upshot of all being that the prompt
corps had to wait for the laggard;
so that, instead of concentrating on
Robertson's tavern that evening, as
Meade had prescribed, our army
spent the day in getting across, and
the heads of its columns bivouacked
a mile or two from the fords ; thus
precluding all possibility of surpris
ing the enemy or taking him at dis
advantage. Our troops moved on at daylight
next morning ;8° the 2d corps repel
ling the enemy's skirmishers and
reaching, at 10 A. m., Robertson's
tavern ; where Early's, Rhodes's, and
E. Johnson's divisions of Ewell's
corps confronted it. Warren was
thereupon ordered to halt, and
await the arrival of French, then
momently expected. At 11, word
came from him that he was near the
plank road, and was there waiting
for Warren. He was ordered afresh
to push on at once to Robertson's
tavern, where he would find Warren
engaged and requiring his support.
Several officers having been sent by
Meade to reiterate and emphasize

this order, an answer was received
from French, at 1 p. m., that the
enemy were throwing a force to his
right flank at Raccoon ford. Once
more, he was ordered to advance
forthwith, and, if resisted, to attack
with all his might, throwing forward
his left to connect with Gen. War
ren. French received this order at
2^ p. m., but protested against it as
hazardous, and desired the staff cap
tain who brought it to assume the
responsibility of suspending its exe
cution ! Thus, with all manner
of hesitations and cross-purposes —
Prince once halting two hours at a
fork for orders as to which road he
should take — the day was squan
dered; Meade, sorely disappointed
by French's non-arrival, being at
length obliged to order the 1st corps
over from the plank road to the
support of Warren, who was hard
pressed,81 near Robertson's tavern,
which he regarded as the key of the
position. The 5th corps came up next morn
ing ;M and now Gregg went forward
with his cavalry on the plank road,
and had a smart collision with
Stuart's troopers, whom he pushed
back upon their infantry supports;
when he recoiled and allowed Sykes
to go forward, connecting with War
ren, to the vicinity of Hope Church.

80 Nov.. 21.
81 The Richmond Dispatch has a letter from _
correspondent with the Rebel army, dated Nov.
28, which gives their loss during this day's
fighting as "fully 500 killed and wounded;"
adding :
" Of the loss ofthe enemy, I am not advised ;
but I am now disposed to doubt if it was as
heavy as our own. They fought, I am told,
quite well, and fired more accurately than usual."
Among their casualties he instances Gens.
Stuart (J. E. B.) and J. M.. Jones slightly wound
ed; Col. Nelligan, 1st La., severely; and Lt-
Col. Walton, 23d Va., killed.

Our losses on this day were 309, but this in
cludes none from French's corps, who were
skirmishing a good part of the day ; while we
lost a few more on the 29th and 30th. The
Dispatch correspondent reports that Rosser's
cavalry, raiding in our rear, struck a train near
Wilderness tavern, and captured TO wagons
(whereof they destroyed 50), and brought off 150
prisoners and as many mules or horses.
It is probable that, including deserters, either
army was depleted by fully 1,000 men during
this Mine Run movement.
8'J Nov. 28.

THE MINE RUN FIASCO.

401

Our army being now disposed for a
determined attack, it was found that
the enemy had retreated ; whereupon
the 2d corps moved out two miles
farther, and found the enemy in posi
tion along the west bank of Mine
Run, facing eastward ; where the
2d, 6th, 1st, and part of the 3d corps,
under a pelting November rain, were
brought into line confronting them a
little after dark.
The enemy's deliberately chosen
position was of course a good one.
The ' run' was of little consequence,
so far as water was concerned, being
rarely over two feet deep ; but its
immediate banks were in places
swampy and scarcely passable ; while
a bare, smooth slope ascended gently
for half a mile or so to a crest or-
ridge, perhaps a hundred feet above
the surface of the stream, already
bristling with abatis, infantry para
pets, and epaulements for batteries.
After careful reconnoissance, an at
tack directly in front was negatived :
so Warren, with the 2d and a divi
sion of the 6th corps, was impelled
farther to our left (south), with in
structions to feel for the enemy's
flank and turn it if possible, while
each corps commander should more
closely examine the ground in his
front, and report on the practicability
of an assault.
The next day "* was spent in this
reconnoissance — the Rebel defenses
being of course strengthened every
hour — Gen. Wright, commanding a
division of the 6th corps, reporting,
at 6 p. m., that he had discovered a
point on our extreme right where an
assault might be made with a good
prospect of cheap and decisive suc
cess. Warren soon reported from our

left that he had outflanked the ene
my's line of defenses, and could easily
assault and turn them. Meade there
upon decided to attack at all points
next morning.
At 8 p. m., Warren reported to
Meade in person, expressing such
confidence in his ability to carry
every thing before him, while French
had reported against the assault just
ordered on the enemy's center, that
Meade decided to forego, or at least,
to postpone, that assault, and send
two divisions of the 3d corps to reen
force Warren, so as to give him six
divisions (nearly half the army), and
thus render the success of his con
templated attack a moral certainty.
So our men lay down once more on
their arms, with orders to the corps
commanders that the batteries of the
right and center should open at 8
A. m. ;" at which hour, Warren was
to make the grand assault : Sedgwick
striking in on our right an hour later ;
while the three divisions of the 1st
and 3d corps, left to hold our center,
which were only to demonstrate and
menace in the morning, were to ad
vance and assault whenever the
flank attacks should have proved suc
cessful. Meantime, our cavalry skir
mished at various points with the
enemy's, who attempted to molest
our communications at the fords and
elsewhere; but who were repulsed
and driven off.
Our batteries opened at the desig
nated hour ; our skirmishers in the
center dashed across Mine Run, push
ing back those of the enemy ; while
Sedgwick, who had massed his col
umn during the night, as near the
enemy's lines as possible, awaited
the moment for attack. But nothing

Vol H— 26

"Nov. 29.

84 Nov. 30.

402

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

was heard from Warren, till ten
minutes before 9, when his dispatch
reached Meade, stating that he had
found the enemy's defenses so strong
that he did not feel able to carry
them, and had suspended his attack
in consequence. Sedgwick was there
upon directed to hold off till further
orders, while Meade galloped to
Warren, four miles off, and conferred
with him as to the situation. He
found Warren fixed in the conviction
that an attack on this flank was
hopeless ; and now it was too late to
concentrate for a determined attack
on the center ; while, if the attempt
to flank the enemy's left was to be
further prosecuted, the whole army
must be moved toward our left, aban
doning the turnpike, which was our
main line of communication and of
retreat. Meade concluded to desist for the
day : the 5th and 6th corps, with
two divisions of the 3d, returning to
their former positions. Meanwhile,
the opening of our batteries in the
morning had exposed to the enemy
the point on his left where we had
purposed to attack, and he had made
haste to strengthen it by earthworks,
abatis, and guns.
Our supply trains had been left
north of the Rapidan. If the move
ment should be persisted in, they
must .be brought over, in order that
our soldiers' haversacks mie-ht be re-

86 Dec. 1-2.
85 Gen. A. P. Howe, testifying before the Com
mittee on the Conduct of the War, thus sums up
the judgment of those officers of his army who
were dissatisfied with Meade's leadership ;
" I do not think they have full confidence in
the ability or state of mind of Gen. Meade.
What I mean by that is the animus that directs
the movements of the army. They do not think
there is that heart, and energy, and earnestness
of purpose in the war, to make every use of the
means at his command to injure the enemy and
carry on the war successfully. I do not think

plenished. Then the turnpike and
plank roads must be abandoned, and
our army cut loose from its resources,
at a season when a few hours' rain
would convert the river in its rear
into a raging, foaming flood. All the
important roads in this region run
from Gordonsville and Orange Court
House eastward to Fredericksburg ;
and our army, moving southward to
flank the enemy, must cut and bridge
roads for its guns and trains. That
army, if not discouraged by the bun
gles and failures of the last week,
must by this time have been soured
and intensely disgusted. To rush it
now on the Rebel defenses — which
had grown and were growing strong
er each hour — would be to expose it
to defeat in a position where defeat
was sure to be disastrous, and might
prove ruinous. Meade decided, there
fore, to back out — and this was the
least wretched part of the entire
wretched business. He says he should
have marched to the heights of Fred
ericksburg, if Halleck had left him
at liberty to do so ; but he probably
evinced more sense, if less spirit, in
plumply retreating, so bringing his
army back across the Rapidan during
the night," and taking up his pon
toons next morning, without having
been pursued, or anywise molested
during his retreat.80 And this ter
minated, with the Army of the Poto
mac, the campaign of 1863.

they have, I will not say confidence, but faith in
him. They do not expect from him what the
crisis seems to call for. They believe that, if he
is attacked, he will do all he can to defend his
position. But that he will act with zeal and en
ergy, or that his whole heart and soul are in the
bringing all the means successfully to bear to
break down the enemy, so far as I can judge,
they do not look for that ; they do not expect it.
So far as I can judge, a great many officers think
he can do very well in a defensive fight. If he
was called upon to guard the Potomac or Wash
ington, he will make good marches to stop the
enemy; but that he will be active, zealous, en-

FIGHTS AT WYTHEVILLE AND LEWISBURG.

403

The more important military op
erations in (and from) West Yie-
cunia, during 1863, were as follows :
A raiding expedition, 1,000 strong,
consisting of the 2d Yirginia (Union)
cavalry, Col. John Toland, and 34th
Ohio infantry (mounted), which struck
out87 from Browntown, West Yir
ginia, crossing Lens mountain to
Coal river, and thence moving south
easterly by Raleigh and Wyoming
Court House, zigzagged over the
Guyan, Tug, and several other ranges
of mountains, swooped down"8 on
Wytheville, a village of 1,800 inhab
itants,, and a place of considerable
importance. Hitherto, they had pass
ed over a rugged, wild, and sterile
region, having very few inhabitants
and no elements of resistance ; but,
charging into Wytheville, they were
fired on from the houses, whereby
Col. Toland was soon killed and Col.
Powell, 34th Ohio, mortally wound
ed, as were several of their leading
subordinates. After firing some of
the buildings whence they were thus
assailed, our men, abandoning their
dead and wounded, fell back two
miles and encamped ; starting for
home, under Lt.-Col. Franklin, 34th
Ohio, early next morning. Hungry,
worn out, and dispirited, they lost
nearly half their horses on their de
vious way homeward : wending from
early dawn till midnight over the

roughest mountains, and being four
days without food, till they struck
Tug fork the second night, where
they found and killed some cattle.
Misled by a treacherous guide, they
wasted next day wandering through
the mountains, finding89 rations and
feed at Fayetteville; having ridden
over 400 miles, lost 83 men, with at
least 300 horses, and endured as much
misery as could well be crowded into
a profitless raid of eight days.

Gen. W. W. Averill, setting forth
from Huttonsville, Randolph county,
moved down the line dividing West
from old Yirginia, pushing back the
small Rebel forces in that quarter
under Col. W. S. ['Mudwall'] Jack
son, and menacing an advance on
Staunton. At length, when near Lew
isburg and White Sulphur Springs,
he was met80 by a force about equal
to his own, under Maj.-Gen Sam.
Jones, but more immediately com
manded by Col. Geo. S. Patton, who
had chosen a strong position in a
gorge between steep mountains that
precluded flanking, where a spirited
fight was maintained throughout the
day, and till noon of the next ; when
Averill drew off, short of ammuni
tion, leaving one disabled gun. He
had calculated on help from Gen.
Scammon, commanding on the Ka
nawha, which did not reach him. Our

ergetic, in using his means to strike successful
offensive blows against the enemy, not at all; he
is not the man for that — at least that is my im
pression. " Question : The same observation you apply
to Gen. Meade will apply to the corps command
ers you refer to, will it not ?
" Answer : I think so. I do not know as it
would be proper for me to state here the terms
we use in the army. However, we say there is
too much Copperheadism in it. This is so for
different reasons : with some, there is a desire to
raise up Gen. McClellan ; with others, there is
a dislike to some of the measures of the Gov

ernment ; they do not like the way tho Negro
question is handled. And, again, the impres
sion is made upon my mind that there are some
who have no faith in this war, who have no
heart in it ; they will not do any thing to com
mit themselves ; but there is a wide difference
between doing your duty so as not to commit
yourself, and doing all that might reasonably be
expected of you at these times. I do not know
as I can express myself better than saying that
there is Copperheadism at the root of the mat
ter." " July 13. "8 July 18. " July 23. " Aug. 26.

404

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

total loss here was 207; Patton re
ports his at 156, and says he took 117
prisoners. He attempted to pursue
with cavalry, but to little purpose.
Averill returned to Huttonsville.

Late in the Fall, Averill, starting
from Beverly with some 5,000 men,
and, chasing Col. 'Mudwall' Jack
son, struck81 a somewhat smaller
Rebel force under Gen. Echols,

strongly posted on the top of Droop
mountain, in Greenbrier county,
routed him, and drove him back into
Monroe county, with heavy loss.
Ours was 120 in all; the Rebels
twice or thrice so many, including
100 prisoners,, with 3 guns and 700
small arms. West Yirginia was thus
nearly cleared of armed Rebels at
the close of the campaign ; and they
never after entered it but as raiders.

XVIII.

THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN.

MIDDLE AND EAST TENNESSEE.

While Gen. Rosecrans, at Mur
freesboro', was accumulating wagons,
munitions, and supplies, for a deter
mined advance against Bragg's army
confronting him at Shelbyville or
Tullahoma, the noted and generally
successful raider Morgan was prepar
ing, on our right, for a more exten
sive and daring cavalry expedition
than he had yet undertaken. Mean
time, a party of predatory horsemen,
about 80 in number, claiming to be
long to the 2d Kentucky Confederate
cavalry, crossed the Ohio from west
ern Kentucky near Leavenworth,Ind.,
about the middle of June, raiding
through Orange, Orleans, and Wash
ington counties ; and were trying to
make their way back into Kentucky,
when they were cornered1 by the
Leavenworth home guards, Maj. Clen-
denin, and the steamboat Izetta, and
were soon glad to surrender. Barely
one of them escaped to the Kentucky
shore, and he was immediately cap
tured.

At length, setting out " from Spar
ta, Morgan crossed3 the Cumberland,
then in flood, near Burkesville —
building boats for his trains and
swimming his horses — with a well-
mounted force of 2,028 effectives and
4 guns ; pushing back Col. Wolford's
cavalry, who sought to impede his
march, passing through4 Columbia,
which was partially sacked by his
subordinates, contrary to orders, and
striking ° Green river at Tebb's bend ;
where 200 of the 25th Michigan, Col.
O. H. Moore, had, wholly within the
last 24 hours, intrenched themselves,
formed abatis, &c, and prepared to
stay. Morgan summoned them in
due form, and was courteously in
formed by Moore that, on account of
this being ' the glorious Fourth,' he
could n't entertain the proposition.
Morgan, having two regiments at
hand, forthwith assaulted ; and a des
perate fight of some hours ensued,
wherein Col. Chenault, Maj. Brent,
and several more of his best officers

" Nov. 6;

1 June 19, 1863.

"June 27. s July 1-2.

4 July 3.

8 July 4.

MORGAN'S RAID INTO INDIANA AND OHIO.

405

were killed, and he was finally com
pelled to draw off, badly worsted.
Moore had but 6 killed, 23 wound
ed. Morgan lost 25 killed and 20
wounded.' Moving thence on Lebanon, which
was held by Col. Hanson,7 20th Ky.,
with 400 of his men, Morgan sum
moned it at sunrise,8 and was refused.
After spending seven hours in fruit
less efforts to reduce it, he at length
charged into the town, and set fire
to the buildings whence Hanson was
firing — burning a good part of the
place, and compelling Hanson to sur
render. Here Morgan's young brother
was killed, leading a charge. And
he had lost so much time at Tebb's
bend and here, that our cavalry were
closing in upon him; so the Rebel
raider decamped at dark, during a
furious rain, compelling his prisoners
(whom he had not yet bad time to pa
role) to race ten miles in ninety min
utes to Springfield — one, who could
not or would not keep the pace, being
shot dead by the way.
Moving rapidly by Shepherdsville
and Bardstown,' Morgan struck the
Ohio at Brandenburg,10 40 miles be
low Louisville; seizing there the
steamboats McCombs and Alice
Dean, on which he crossed his com
mand — increased, during his prog
ress, by Kentucky sympathizers, till
it was said now to number 4,000
men, with 10 guns. The Alice Dean
was burned; the McCombs — which
probably belonged to a friend, who had
placed it where it would be wanted
— was left unharmed. Gen. Hobson,
who, with a bad start, had been fol
lowing from the Cumberland, under

" They say. Moore says 50 killed, 250 wounded.
* Brother of Roger W., the Rebel General.

the direction of Gen. H. M. Judah,
reached Brandenburg just after Mor
gan's last boat-load had left it.
Morgan sped inland, by Corydon,
Greenville, and Palmyra, to Salem,
Ind., where he surrounded11 and cap
tured 350 ' Home Guards,' who had
fallen back thus far from Corydon
before him. He here broke up the
railroad, burnt the depot, and or
dered a general conflagration of mills
and factories, but allowed each to be
ransomed by the payment of $1,000
in cash. Thence moving by zigzags,
but in an easterly course, through
Yienna, dividing up his command so
as to cut railroads and telegraphs
on every side, the raider at once
threatened 12 Madison and demanded
the surrender of Old Yernon, where
a body of militia had hastily assem
bled to oppose him ; but he decamped
on finding the militia in earnest.
Passing thence through Yersailles,"
and making capital bargains in horse-
trades all along, his followers concen
trated at Harrison, just across the
Ohio fine ; sweeping around Cincin
nati" at distances of 7 to 20 miles,
and pushing thence by Miamisville,
Williamsburg, Sardinia, Piketon, and
Jackson, they struck the Ohio at
Buffington island, not far below
Parkersburg, whence they counted
on an easy escape through the poor,
thinly settled adjacent region of West
Yirginia and north-eastern Kentucky
to the more congenial shades of south
western Yirginia.
Of course, they levied on the stores
and granaries, as well as the stables
and kitchens, along their route ; but
the pursuit was so hot that they

8 July 5, "July 6. ,0 July 1. "July!
18 July 11. " July 12. " July 13-14.

406

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

found time to do comparatively little
mischief. Crossing the Little Miami
railroad, they obstructed the track at
a spot suited to their purpose, and
watched it till the train, at 7 a. m.,
came down from Morrow ; throwing
off the locomotive, killing the fire
man, and wounding the engineer;
when they rushed out of the adjacent
woods, and, while the cars were being
fired and burnt, they captured and
paroled 200 unarmed recruits, who
they had probably been apprised were
coming. There was some skirmishing from
day to day ; but the raiders were too
strong for any force that could be as
sembled on' the instant, while their
route could not be foreseen, and they
moved too swiftly — burning bridges
and obstructing roads behind them —
to permit the gathering cloud in their
rear to overtake them : these having
but a second and very inferior choice
in swapping horses.
Still, a considerable force had col
lected in their front at Chilicothe;
but Morgan had pressing business in
another direction.
Hobson, on reaching the Ohio, had
foreseen that the chase would be
obliged to take water again, and had
6ent at once to Louisville to have the
river well patrolled by gunboats. And,
so soon as it became evident that Mor
gan was making for Pomeroy or Gal-
lipolis with intent to cross, the inhab
itants along the roads leading thither
began to fall trees across them in his
front, materially interfering with the
freedom and celerity of his move
ments. At length,16 the weary, har
assed raiders struck the Ohio just at
daylight, at a ford a little above
Pomeroy, and sent across two com

panies, who were received with a vol
ley, which plainly said, 'No thor
oughfare;' and the next moment
brought tidings of a gunboat, which
had drawn off when fired at, but
would of course spread the alarm far
and wide.
One of Morgan's Colonels now re
ported that he had charged and rout
ed a hostile force posted in rifle-pits
not far distant, capturing 150 prison
ers ; and the chief was hurrying his
preparations for crossing his men
forthwith, when the roar of guns
down the river argued gunboats at
hand, just as three heavy columns
of infantry appeared, crowning the
bluffs in his rear and on his right,
opening fire on the close columns of
the fugitives. Forthwith, the word
was given to flee up the river, and it
was obeyed with alacrity; leaving
guns, wagons, &c, with dismounted
men, sick, wounded, &c, to the num
ber of 600, to become prisoners.
Morgan and his remaining troop
ers sped up the river some 14 miles
to Belleville ; where they had fairly
begun, at 3 p. m., to swim their horses
across — 330 having got away — when
Gens. Hobson and Shackleford, in
command of a division of their pur
suers, were again upon them ; while
several gunboats confronted them on
the river, manned by Gen. Scammon,
commanding on the Kanawha ; he
having brought down two or three
regiments to share in the hunt. As
there was no hope in fighting, the
raiders took post on a high, scarcely
accessible bluff, where they were sum
moned by Shackleford to surrender.
They asked an hour for considera
tion: he gave them forty minutes;
and, when these expired, all that re-

18 July 19.

CAPTURE AND ESCAPE OF MORGAN.

407

mained (over 1,000) gave up; but
Morgan, with a small body of adhe
rents, had put off, and was not in
cluded in the capitulation. Though
the surrender was made to the mili
tary, it is clear that the gunboats con
strained it ; the river being then so
low that horsemen forded it, aided
by a little swimming, with slight dif
ficulty. But the Moose, Lt.-Com'g
L. Fitch, was always in the way when
a crossing was attempted, dispensing
shell and canister to all comers, and
driving back the haggard, wayworn
raiders to the shore they were so
anxious to leave. Other gunboats
were likewise on the alert; though
* the low stage of the water forbade
the use of any but the lighter and
less effective.
Morgan, with- the remnant of his
force, now stripped of its guns and
wagons, with all the miscellaneous
plunder it had hitherto accumulated,
fled inland to McArthur ; thence
making another forlorn attempt to
. . strike the river and cross just above
Marietta; then pushing inland again
to Eastport, and thence irregularly
north-east till near New Lisbon,
where they were at length so sur
rounded and hemmed in by militia,
home guards, &c, in addition to the
pursuers«ever hot on their track, that
they were driven to take refuge on
a bluff, whence there was no escape ;
and here they surrendered 18 at dis
cretion. Thus, of all who started on
this hare-brained raid, less than 400,
under Col. Adam R. Johnson, who
got across at Belleville, and fled
thence into south-western Yirginia,
escaped death or captivity. Of the
residue, some 500 were killed or
wounded. And, while earnest at

tempts were made to demonstrate
that the loss inflicted on the Fede
rals, in the diversion of forces, cut
ting of railroads, &c, outweighed its
unquestioned cost, it is note-worthy
that the Confederates never seemed
to have any more brigades of cavalry
which they wished to dispose of on
similar terms.
Morgan and several of his officers
were taken to Columbus and con
fined in the penitentiary ; their heads
being shaved, like those of ordinary
felons. No good reason has been
assigned for this treatment, nor does
it appear by whom it was ordered —
certainly not by the Government.
No labor was required of them ; but
they were confined in cells ; whence
seven of them, Morgan included, dug
out and" escaped ; " changing their
clothes in the sentry-box on the outer
wall, and separating so soon as they
were free. Morgan and a Capt.
Hines proceeded at once to the Cin
cinnati depot, got upon the train,
which they knew would start at 1
A. m., and were carried by it very
near to Cincinnati, when they put on
the brakes at the rear of the train,
checked its speed, jumped off, and
ran to the Ohio, across which they
were ferried to Kentucky, and went
at once to a house where shelter and
refreshment awaited them. Thence,
Morgan made his way through Ken
tucky and Tennessee to northern
Georgia ; losing his companion by the
way, but finding himself at last
among those who did not fear to
avow their sympathy with his cause,
and their admiration for his charac
ter. Thence, he proceeded to Rich
mond, where he was greeted with
an ovation, and made a speech, re-

18 July 26.

,T Nov. 26.

408

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

counting his adventures, and protest
ing that the telegraphic blazon which
appeared at the nick of time of his
having just arrived at Toronto, was
" purely fortuitous," and that " his
escape was made entirely without
assistance from any one outside" the
prison — an assertion not needed to
incite and justify a strong presump
tion that the fact was otherwise.
Thence, he returned to service in
East Tennessee ; where he was killed
the next year.
Gen. Rosecrans's remaining inac
tive at Murfreesboro' till late in the
Summer of 1863 was dictated by
imperative necessity. His supplies
were mainly drawn from Louisville,
far distant, over a single railroad,
traversing a semi-hostile country, and
requiring heavy guards at every de
pot, bridge, and trestle, to save it
from destruction by Rebel raiders or
incendiaries. Though his army was
stronger than that which confronted
him under Bragg, its cavalry was
weaker ; 18 as had been proved at
Stone river, and in other collisions.
Though his best efforts were. given to
strengthening it, he could hardly ob
tain horses so fast as they were worn
out or lost through the superior ac
tivity, vigor, or audacity, of the Rebel
partisans, Forrest, Wheeler, and Mor
gan. But, at length — Morgan hav
ing departed on his great raid into
the Free States, and Rosecrans hav
ing obtained, since Winter, about
6,000 beasts of burden, partly by im
pressment — -he felt justified in giving
the order to advance.
Of Bragg's infantry, 18,000, under

' K Halleck, in his report, says he. sent Rose
crans no more horses, because he could not ob
tain forage for those he already had. Rosecrans
responds that there was forage enough in the

Bishop Polk, held a very strong po
sition, formidably intrenched, at Shel-
byville, where over five miles of earth
works had been constructed, mainly
by the labor of 3,000 slaves, drawn
from Alabama and Georgia. Behind
this, 18 miles distant, and behind a
difficult mountain region, traversed
by bad roads, carried for miles
through gorges so narrow that two
wagons could scarcely pass, was an
other intrenched camp at Tullahoma:
Hardee's corps, 12,000 strong, at
War trace, on the right of Shelby ville,
covering the railroad and holding
the mountain gaps in its front. Be
side these, Bragg had a division un
der Buckner, at or near Knoxville
and Chattanooga. Perhaps 40,000
was the extent of the force he would
be able to concentrate for a battle ;
while Rosecrans had not less than
60,000 ; but then, if the former fell
back, destroying the railroads and
bridges, he would naturally be
strengthened ; while Rosecrans, pro
tecting his communications, would .
be steadily becoming weaker.
Rosecrans advanced19 with intent
to flank the enemy's right, concentra
ting on Manchester, and thence men
acing his communications below Tul
lahoma in such manner as to compel
him to come out of his strongholds
and fight a battle on ground which
gave him no advantage. To do this,
it was necessary to deceive Bragg by
a feint of assaulting him in his works
at Shelbyville ; thus compelling him
to concentrate and uncover the diffi
cult mountain passes on his right,
through which our main advance
must be made. And, on the day

country ; yet his horses suffered for it, because
his cavalry was not strong enough to go out and
get it. It is not necessary to add that his is tha
better reason. » June 24.

ROSECRANS ADVANCES TO SHELBTVILLE.

409

our movement commenced, it began
to storm, and continued to rain for
seventeen successive days, swelling
the mountain rills to torrents, and
gullying the roads so badly that one
division was three days in marching
21 miles, though unopposed and mak
ing the utmost exertions.
Our army moved on three main
roads : the 14th corps, Gen. Thomas,
in the center, toward Manchester ;
the 21st, Gen. Crittenden, on our
left, toward McMinnville ; the 20th,
Gen. A. D. McCook, directly on
Shelbyville ; Gen. Gordon Granger's
reserve division supporting both the
llth and 20th. Crittenden's move
ment was to be made last, with one
brigade of cavalry under Turchin;
all the rest, under Stanley, was
thrown out on our right.
Every movement directed, though
impeded and somewhat delayed by
the nearly impassable state of the
roads, was successfully made. Lib
erty gap, in McCook's front, was car
ried by a vigorous advance of John
son's division; while Hoover's gap,
in Thomas's front, was surprised by
Wilder's mounted brigade of Rey
nolds's division, and held against
heavy odds till Reynolds could bring
up his entire division and secure it.
On the 27th, Rosecrans had his head
quarters in Manchester, with Thom
as's corps around him; Sheridan,
with the right division of McCook's
corps, arriving next morning, and
the rest of that corps during the 29th.
The enemy, deceived and overpow
ered, had been forced back, with lit
tle more than smart, persistent skir
mishing, to Fairfield. Manchester
itself had been surprised by Wilder
on the morning of that day.

Granger had started" from Triune,
on our extreme right, moving by Ro
ver and Middleton, pushing back the
enemy, by lively skirmishes at either
place, to Christiana, on the road from
Murfreesboro' to Shelbyville, where
he was joined by Stanley; advan
cing"- thence on Guy's gap, covering
Shelbyville, which was at first firmly
held by the enemy; but, after two
hours' skirmishing, they suddenly fell
back, as though tbey had been cover
ing a retreat. Granger at once di
rected Stanley to advance his cavalry
and clear the gap, which was quickly
done; the Rebels making all speed
for seven miles to .their rifle-pits,
barely three miles north of Shelby
ville, where two well-posted guns
checked the pursuit. But Granger,
now satisfied that the enemy must
be evacuating, ordered a fresh cav
alry charge, before which the foe
again gave way, and were chased to
within a short mile of the town,
where three guns were planted so as
to sweep all the approaches, formida
bly backed by infantry. It was now
6 p. m., and, Granger having his in
fantry well up, Stanley again charged,
and in half an hour Shelbyville was
ours, with three excellent brass guns,
more than 500 prisoners, 3,000 sacks
of corn, &c, &c. Wheeler escaped
by swimming Duck river; but the
1st Confederate cavalry, which had
formed to stop our charge to enable
him to do so, were mainly killed or
taken. Our army now rested a little, while
reconnoissances were made to ascer
tain the position of the enemy, and
Wilder was sent to strike the railroad
in Bragg's rear near Decherd, burn
Elk river bridge, and do whatever

' June 23, 2 s. M.

"June 21.

410

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

other execution he might. He failed
in this — the bridge being too strongly
held — but damaged the railroad a
little, and thoroughly alarmed the
enemy; so that, on a renewal of
Rosecrans's maneuvers to flank Tul-
lahoma as he had flanked Shelby
ville, Bragg decamped,22 and three
divisions of our infantry entered it
at noon next day.
Gens. Sheridan, Thomas, and Tur-
chin, severally struck the Rebel rear
guard on Elk river the day after;
but found that stream so swollen by
the incessant rains as to be scarcely
fordable. When they did cross,23 the
enemy had wholly disappeared, and
were beyond the reach of present
pursuit. Thus, in nine days, Rosecrans had,
without a serious engagement, cleared
Middle Tennessee of the Rebel army,
at a cost of barely 560 men; disa
bling at least as many, and taking
1,634 prisoners, 3 guns, and mucb
other spoil. And only the celerity
of Bragg's flight, with the lack of
suspicion on our side that he would
abandon the State and his strong po
sitions without a struggle, saved him
from still greater disasters.
Bragg, having obtained a fair start,
by running while Rosecrans was in
tent on fighting, and having the use
of a railroad whereon to transport his
heavy guns and supplies, destroying
it behind him, easily made good his
flight over the Cumberland mount
ains and the Tennessee ; crossing the
latter at and near Bridgeport, where
he destroyed the railroad bridge be
hind him. Rosecrans was expected
at Washington to follow him up
sharply : but how could he ? His
army must live ; and it could by no

means subsist on what was left it by
Bragg's devouring host in that rug
ged, sterile region ; while the wagon
ing of food, much more of forage,
over the steep, often waterless mount
ains that abound there, was utterly
impracticable. While, therefore, his
light troops followed the flying enemy
to the river, and his advanced posts
stretched from Stevenson on the right
to Pelham on the left, the General
kept his main body behind the Cum
berland mountains, on a line from
Winchester to McMinnville, while
his engineers repaired the railroad
down to Stevenson; when the East
Tennessee road was in like manner
repaired thence to Bridgeport,24 and
Sheridan's division of McCook's corps
thrown forward to hold it. Even by
the help of such a railroad line, Rose
crans felt that forage could not be
had in that rugged, wooded, scantily
grassed region, until the Indian corn
was far enough matured to afford it.
At length, having already accumula
ted considerable supplies at Steven
son, our army moved on :" Thomas's
corps following the general direc
tion of the railroad to Stevenson
and thence to Bridgeport ; McCook's
corps moving on its right, with Stan
ley's cavalry thrown far out on that
flank; while Crittenden's corps, on
our left, advanced in three columns,
under Wood, Yan Cleve, and Palm
er, from Manchester and McMinn
ville, across the Sequatchie valley at
different points, moved directly on
Chattanooga, the remaining Rebel
stronghold in Tennessee, the key of
East Tennessee and of all practicable
northern approaches to Georgia.
These movements were so thor
oughly prepared and judiciously

"Night of June 30.

' July 3.

1 July 25.

' Aug. 16.

BRAGG ABANDONS CHATTANOOGA.

411

timed that but four or five days
were employed in their execution,
despite the ruggedness of the country
— the Sequatchie valley cleaving the
heart of the Cumberland mountains
for 50 miles, and of course doubling
the labor of crossing them — and
Chattanooga was wakened26 by shells
thrown across the river from the
eminences north of it by Wilder's
mounted brigade, simultaneously with
Yan Cleve's division emerging from
the mountains at Poe's crossing, con
siderably to our left ; while Thomas's
corps and part of McCook's prepared
to pass the Tennessee at several
points below.
The Tennessee is here a very consid
erable river, with its sources 200 miles
distant, while the mountains that
closely imprison it increase the diffi
culties of approach and passage. But
some pontoons were at hand ; while
other material was quietly collected
at points concealed from hostile ob
servation; and a few days sufficed
for the construction of bridges by
Sheridan at Bridgeport, Reynolds at
Shell Mound, some 10 or 15 miles
above, and by McCook at Caperton's
ferry, opposite Stevenson, below ;
while Gen. Brannan prepared to cross
on rafts at Battle creek, between
Bridgeport and Shell Mound. The
passage was commenced27 by Mc
Cook, and completed 28 at all points
within ten days: the several corps
pushing forward, across high, steep
mountains, to concentrate at Tren
ton, Georgia, in the valley of Look
out creek, which runs north-easterly
into the Tennessee just below Chat
tanooga. But it was not the plan to approach
that stronghold in force down this

narrow valley, but only with a.
brigade of Crittenden's corps, which
should climb thence, by a path known
as the Nickajack trace, the lofty
ridge known as Lookout mountain,
looking down, from a fashionable re
sort known as Summertown, into the
streets of Chattanooga; while Tho
mas, with his corps, supported by
McCook, should push boldly forward,
through Frick's or Stevens's gap,
across Mission ridge, into the far
broader valley known as McLamore's
cove, which is traversed by the
Chickamauga creek to the Tennes
see just above Chattanooga.
Bragg was in a quandary. Chat
tanooga was strong, and he could
hold it against an assault by Rose
crans's larger army ; but what use in
this, and how long could he defy
starvation, if that army, having
crossed the river below him, should
cut his communications and establish-
itself across the railroad in his rear ?
To abandon Chattanooga was to
provoke clamor; but to divide his
forces, or allow them to be cooped
up here, was to court destruction.
He did what Johnston tried, when
too late, to have done with regard to
Yicksburg — he relinquished Chatta
nooga and saved his army ; retiring M
southward into Georgia, and posting
his divisions along the highway from
Gordon's mill to Lafayette, facing
Pigeon mountain, through whose
passes our army was expected to
emerge from McLamore's cove.
Rosecrans was evidently misled —
though he does not fairly admit it —
into believing the enemy absorbingly
intent on escaping to Rome. Crit
tenden, having taken s° peaceful pos
session of Chattanooga, was directed

8 Aug. 21.

Aug. 29.

38 Sept. 8.

1 Sept. T-S.

Sept. 9.

412

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

to leave one brigade as a garrison,
and, bringing all his corps across the
Tennessee, pursue the enemy up the
East Chickamauga creek and railroad
to Ringgold and Dalton ; while Tho
mas, backed by McCook, emerging
from McLamore's cove through Dug
gap of Pigeon mountain, should
swoop down on Lafayette, driving or
smashing all before him.
Rosecrans was too fast entirely.
Bragg was not fleeing to Rome, and
had no idea of going thither at pres
ent. On the contrary, he was silently
concentrating around Lafayette the
most numerous and effective army
which had ever yet upheld the Rebel
standard westward of the Allegha-
nies. To render it such, Buckner
had been summoned from Knoxville,
abandoning East Tennessee to Burn
side without a struggle ; Johnson had
been drawn upon for a strong division
under Walker on one hand — matters
being now quiescent in and about
Mississippi — while Lee, having satis
fied himself that Richmond was in no
danger from Meade, had dispatched
Longstreet's heavy corps of veterans
from the Rapidan ; and every thing
in the shape of militia, &c, that
could be gleaned from Georgia, had
been set to guarding bridges, depots,
&c.,so as to send every good soldier
to the front. Rosecrans estimates
Bragg's entire force, when he had
thus been strengthened, at 92,000 —
an enormous excess over ours — and
there is no reasonable doubt that he
had at length more men under his

command than composed the army
which was blindly, eagerly rushing
upon him, as if intent on a deer-hunt
rather than a life-and-death struggle
with a wary and formidable foe.
Crittenden advanced31 to Ring
gold, throwing forward Wilder's
mounted men to Tunnel hill, where
they had a heavy skirmish, while
Hazen, with Crittenden's rear divis
ion, closed up on the advance ; but,
by this time, Negley's division, of
Thomas's corps, advancing to Dug
gap,32 had found it decidedly held by
the enemy, who could not be persua
ded to leave. Baird's division came
up next morning ; but both together
were far too light, and wisely fell
back, after a smart skirmish, retreat
ing down the cove. And now Crit
tenden, justly alarmed for his com
munications, made38 a rapid flank
march to Gordon's mill — Wilder, cov
ering his rear, having to fight smartly
at Sill's tan-yard by the way ; while
McCook, having completely flanked
Bragg's position by a southward ad
vance nearly to Alpine, far on Bragg's
left, became satisfied that the Rebel
army was not retreating, and that he
was in very deep water : so he com
menced,34 by order, a very rapid
movement to connect with Thomas,
away on his left. In doing this, he
was carried down into Lookout valley,
thence up the mountain and down
again ; so that he only closed up to
Thomas on the 17th.
Bragg had sprung his trap too
soon.36 Had he permitted Thomas

31 Sept. 11. ^ Sept. 10. aaSept.l2. "Sept. 13.
55 Pollard sees the matter in a different light ;
and his view seems worth considering. He says :
" During the 9th, it was ascertained that a
column of the enemy had crossed Lookout mount
ain into the cove, by the way of Stevens's and
Cooper's gaps. Thrown off his guard by our
rapid movement, apparently in retreat, when in

reality we had concentrated opposite his center,
and deceived by information from deserters and
others sent into his lines, the enemy pressed on
his columns to intercept us, and thus exposed
himself in detail.
"A splendid opportunity was now presented
to Bragg. The detached force in McLamore's
cove was Thomas's corps. Being immediately
opposite Lafayette, at and nearwhich Gen. Bragg

BRAGG ADVANCES — ROSECRANS CONCENTRATES. 413

to force his way through Dug gap,
with barely a decent show of resist
ance, he might have crushed this first
and our other corps in rapid succes
sion ; or he might, disregarding Tho
mas, have hurled his whole army
upon Crittenden at Ringgold, crush
ed him, and then interposed between
Thomas and Chattanooga. But when
Negley and Baird were forced back
from Dug gap, the game was too
plain. Instead of a keen chase after
a flying enemy, it was at once com
prehended by our Generals that they
must concentrate and fight for their
lives. Lafayette lies some 25 miles south
by east of Chattanooga, on the main
highway leading thence into Georgia,
behind Pigeon mountain, in a valley
whence Pea Yine creek flows north
ward into the Chickamauga. Eight
or ten miles north of Lafayette, the
highway aforesaid passes through a

gap in Pigeon mountain into Mc
Lamore's cove, crossing the West
Chickamauga at Gordon's mill. As
Bragg was well aware that Thomas
was in the upper part of that cove
or valley, he moved down this road
by his right, with intent to flank the
left of our army — or so much of it as
he might find in the cove — meaning
thus to interpose between it and
Chattanooga, and, if possible, be
tween Thomas's corps and Critten
den's. But Crittenden, as we have
seen, had seasonably taken the alarm,
and moved hastily across from Ring
gold to the Chickamauga ; while Mc
Cook, zigzagging down and up Mis
sion ridge, had likewise made his way
into the cove, and was in position,
with most of our army, along the
Lafayette and Chattanooga road, from
above Gordon's mill on our right a
full third of the distance to Rossville,
a small hamlet situated in a gap of

had all his forces concentrated, it was completely
at the mercy of the latter. It was only neces
sary that Gen. Bragg should fall upon it with
suoh a mass as would have crushed it; then
turned down Chattanooga valley, thrown him
self in between the town and Crittenden, and
crushed him ; then passed back between Look
out mountain and the Tennessee river into
Wills's valley, and cut off McCook's retreat to
Bridgeport; thence moved along the Cumber
land range into the rear of Burnside, and disposed
of Aim.
" No time was to be lost in taking advantage
of a blunder of the enemy, into which he had
fallen in his stupid conceit that the Confederates
were retreating. Instant orders were given to
Maj.-Gen. Hindman to prepare his division to
move against Thomas ; and he was informed that
another division from Lt.-Gen. D. H. Hill's com
mand, at Lafayette, would move up to him and
cooperate in the attack.
" Gen. Hill received his orders on the night of
the 9th. He replied that he could not undertake
the movement; that the orders were impractica
ble ; that Cleburne, who commanded one of his
divisions, was sick ; and that both the gaps, Dug
and Catlett's, through which they were required
to move, were impassable, having been blocked
by felled timber.
" Early the next morning, Hindman , was
promptly in position to execute his part of the
critical movement. Disappointed at Hill's refu
sal to move, Gen. Bragg, with desperate haste,

dispatched an order to Maj.-Gen. Buckner to
move from his present position at Anderson,
and execute, without delay, the orders issued to
Hill. -" It was not until the afternoon of the 10th,
that Buckner joined Hindman; the two com
mands being united near Davis's cross-roads in
the cove. The enemy was stil lin flagrant error :
moving his three columns with an apparent dis
position to form a junction at or near Lafayette.
To strike in detail these isolated commands, and
to fall upon Thomas, who had got the enemy's
center into McLamore's cove, such rapidity was
necessary as to surprise the enemy before he
discovered his mistake.
"Lt.-Gen. Polk was ordered to Anderson's,
to cover Hindman's rear; who, at midnight of
the 10th, again received orders at all hazards to
crush the enemy's center, and cut his way through
to Lafayette. The indomitable Cleburne, despite
the obstructions in the road, had moved up to
Dug gap ; was in position at daylight, and only
waited the sound of Hindman's guns to move on
the enemy's flank and rear.
" Courier after courier sped from Dug gap to
urge Hindman on. But it was too late. The ene
my had discovered the mistake that had well-
nigh proved his ruin. He had, taking advantage
of our delay, retreated to the mountain passes;
and so the movement upon Thomas, which prom
ised such brilliant results, was lost by an anach
ronism by which the best-laid military schemes
are so frequently defeated."

414

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Mission ridge, four miles south of
Chattanooga and six or eight north
of Gordon's mill. But Negley's di
vision watched Owen's ford, a mile
or so to our right, where another and
inferior road over Pigeon mountain
crossed the creek near Crawfish
spring ; while Sherman's and Jeff.
C. Davis's divisions of McCook's
corps were posted intermediately on
the right of, but far nearer, our main
fine, holding the road whieh, striking
off from the main Lafayette road a
little north of Gordon's mill, keeps
straight up the cove on the west side
of the Chickamauga. Gordon Gran
ger, with his reserved corps, was
posted two or three miles in the rear
of our left, covering all the roads
leading from the east and south-east
into Rossville, and thus to Chatta
nooga. Rosecrans had been deceived, and
was taken at disadvantage, as many
a good General had been before him.
Instead of being warned, as he should
have been, by Meade and Halleck,
had their spies been worth a rush,
that a heavy corps had been detached
from Lee's army and probably sent
against him, he had very recently re
ceived advices of an opposite tenor. s°
Minty, commanding our cavalry
on the left, had been scouting nearly
to Dalton, and had had several smart
skirmishes " with the enemy's horse
near that place, Ringgold, Lett's, and
Rockspring church. As he still held

the left, after our concentration, being
thrown across the Lafayette road, he
was here attacked38 in force, and
compelled to give ground; showing
that Bragg was massing heavily on
his right, and crossing the Chicka
mauga below (north of) Gordon's mill.
Rosecrans was by this time aware
that the matter threatened to be se
rious. The stubborn attack on Minty
evinced a disposition to turn his left
and cut him off from Rossville, Chat
tanooga, and any practicable line of
retreat. The bulk of his army was
too far up the valley for effective
resistance to such a demonstration.
The next day,39 therefore, was devo
ted by him to concentrating his force
more compactly, and farther to the
left ; Bragg (whose reenforcements
from Yirginia were just coming up
from Dalton, where they had de
barked from the cars), contenting
himself with a fresh attack by Wajk,
er's division on Minty's and onWildi
er's horsemen at Alexander's bridge,
which was carried, but burned ; our
left being now fairly driven in to the
Rossville and Lafayette road : though
heavy clouds of dust were raised in
front of our right also. All the fords
for miles below Gordon's mill were
now in the hands of the enemy, who
were firmly established across the
creek. By night, Bragg was ready
for the onset — a division of Long-
street's men, under Hood, being in
position on his extreme right ; though

30 He had been favored, just before, with the
following dispatch ; which clearly proves that
his rash pursuit of Bragg was dictated from, or
at least expected at, Washington:
"Washington, Sept. 11, 1863.
"Burnside telegraphs from Cumberland gap
that he holds all East Tennessee ¦above Loudon,
and also the gap of the North Carolina moun
tains. A cavalry force is moving toward Athens
to connect with you. After holding the moun

tain passes on the west, and Dalton, or some
other point on the railroad, to prevent the re
turn of Bragg's army, it will be decided whether
your army shall move farther south into Georgia
and Alabama. It is reported here by deserters
that a part of Bragg's army is reenforcing Lee. It
is important that the truth of this should be
ascertained as early as possible,.
"H. W. Halleck, Commander-in-Chief."
37 Sept. 15. " Sept. IY. 3D Friday, Sept. 18.

OPENING OF THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.

415

Longstreet himself did not come up
till next morning."
Our army, now concentrated, was
about 55,000 strong — seven divisions,
under Wood, Yan Cleve, Palmer, J.
J. Reynolds, Johnson (R. W.), Baird,
and Brannan, forming our main line
— perhaps 30,000 strong,rangingfrom
right to left from Gordon's mill north
ward ; the residue posted on the right
and in reserve, as has already been
stated. Bragg's general plan of bat
tle was the same, as at Stone river,
save that he now attempted to turn
and crush our left as he then did our
right. The Yirginians, under B. John
son, were on his extreme right, already
across the creek, and were to flank
and turn our left ; while Walker
was to cross at Alexander's (burned)
bridge, just above, supported by
Buckner (recently arrived with eight
brigades from East Tennessee) ; the
whole advancing upon and crushing
our left by a left-wheel movement,
while Polk was to press our front
at Gordon's mill, fighting his way
straight across, if possible; if not,
then to veer to the right and cross
at Tedford's or Dalton's ford, lower
down ; while Hill (D. H.) should
cover his left flank, and assail in
flank any force that should attempt
to move down from the isolated di
visions on our right to the support
of our front and left. Wheeler's cav
alry was assigned the easy task of
holding the gaps in Pigeon mount
ain, covering the Rebel left and rear,
and gathering up all stragglers from
the front. From favorable points on
Pigeon mountain, Bragg's scouts —
in fact, whole brigades of his men
— had looked down on our army as
it moved generally northward in the

act of concentration, noting its posi
tions and the strength of each corps
and division — theirs being all the
time concealed from us. The advan
tage thus secured was a very great
one, and explains, otherwise than by
superior generalship, the fact that
their troops were so disposed for and
handled in action as to be more effec
tive in proportion to their numbers
than ours were. And thus, when
night fell,41 two-thirds of Bragg's
army was across the creek, holding
firmly all the fords they cared for,
save those directly at Gordon's mill,
and had inflicted quite as much
damage as they had suffered. True,
the stream was often, if not gen
erally, fordable ; but its banks were
in good part steep and rocky; so
that, had they been skilfullly de
fended and firmly held, they could
not have been carried without heavy
loss. Polk was in chief command on the
Rebel right, as was Hood on the left ;
and the former was proceeding42 to
execute Bragg's order aforesaid for a
general flanking movement; but
Thomas, who held our left, confront
ing him, chose to strike first. He
had only reached at daylight that
morning the new position assigned
him by Rosecrans, facing Reid's and
Alexander's bridges or fords, when
Col. Dan. McCook, commanding a
brigade of the reserve corps, reported
that he had been holding the front
here during the night, and had discov
ered a Rebel brigade this side of the
Chickamauga, apparently isolated,
and which he thought might be cut
off, as he (McCook) had destroyed
Reid's bridge directly behind it.
Hereupon, Thomas ordered Brannan

" Sept. 19.

' Friday, Sept. 18.

' Sept. 19.

416

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

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OHATTANOOQA AND VICINITT. — POSITIONS HELD BEPT. 20 AND NOV. 25

THE FIGHTING ON SEPTEMBER 19TH.

417

to advance with two brigades on the
road to Reid's bridge, while Baird
should throw forward the right wing
of his division on the road to Alex
ander's bridge ; thus attempting be
tween them to capture or crush the
Rebel brigade, if such there were
where McCook located, it.
¦ It was now 9 a. m. ; and, while
Baird and Brannan were making the
required movements, Palmer's divis
ion of Crittenden's corps came up
and took post on Baird's right. By
10 A. m., Croxton's brigade of Bran-
nan's division had become engaged,
driving back Forrest's cavalry ; when
Ector's and Wilson's infantry brig-
•ades were sent in by "Walker to For
rest's support. Croxton, of course,
was brought to a dead halt ; but now
Thomas sent up Baird's division, and
the Rebel brigades were hurled back,
badly cut up. Hereupon, Walker
in turn sent up Liddell's division,
making the odds against us two to
one ; when Baird was in turn driven :
the Rebels, charging through the
lines of the 14th, 16th, and 18th TT. S.
regulars, taking two batteries ; while
Walthall's Georgia brigade captured
the 5th regulars, 411 strong, and
Govan's, charging by its side, took
100 more prisoners.
One of the batteries here lost was
the 1st Michigan, formerly Loomis's ;
regarded by the whole army with
pride, and by those who served in it
with an affection little short of idola
try. It had done yeoman service on
many a hard-fought field, and was
fondly regarded as well nigh invin
cible. But now, abandoned by its
supports, who recoiled before a Rebel
charge in overwhelming force, with
all its horses shot and most of its men
killed and wounded, it could not be
vol, n.— 27

drawn off, and was doomed to be lost.
Its commander, Lt. Yan Pelt, refused
to leave it, and died, sword in hand,
fighting — one against a thousand —
by the side of his guns.
And now Johnson's division of
McCook's corps, and Reynolds's of
Thomas's, came up at quick step, and
were instantly put in by Thomas —
as was Palmer's division — on Baird's
right, giving a clear superiority to
our line, which for the moment out
flanked the enemy, driving him back
in disorder and with heavy loss on
his reserves, posted near the creek ;
retaking our lost guns, and enabling
Brannan and Baird to reform their
disorganized commands. In resisting
this advance, the Rebel Gen. Preston
Smith was killed. The enemy's po
sition on the creek was very strong,
and it was not deemed wise to assault
it : so our men rested on their arms,
and there was a lull of an hour, or
from 4 to 5 p. m.
Thomas well understood that the
fight was not over, and made his dis
positions accordingly; expecting that
the next effort would be to flank his
left, carry the road, and gain his rear
(as was Bragg's original programme-
for the battle). But he judged that
the enemy had had enough for the
day, and had given orders for a con
centration of his divisions on more
favorable ground, somewhat to the
rear of that to which they had ad
vanced, pursuing their advantage;
when his front was again charged by
Liddell's and Gist's divisions — Rey
nolds being first struck on his right
(Thomas having been looking for an
attack on his left); then Johnson,
then Baird, then Yan Cleve— the
Rebel charge being so impetuous
and weighty as to throw our front

418

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

into disorder ; but this was soon re
trieved, and the enemy repulsed:
Brig.-Gen. W. Hazen, of Crittenden's
corps, massing 20 guns on a ridge
that commanded- the Rossville road,
forming an infantry support of such
men as he could hastily collect — his
own brigade not being at hand — and
pouring a cross-fire of grape at short
range into the enemy's charging col
umn, till it recoiled in disorder, and
the day was saved.
Another charge was made on John
son's front just at sunset by Pat.
Cleburne, (' the StoneWall Jackson of
the West,') with a division of Hill's
corps, who pressed up to our very
Lines, and claim to have gained some
advantage ; but night soon fell, and
the day's fighting was done — either
army resting without fires in the
keen Autumn night air of that
mountain region, on the field where
it had so stoutly fought.
There had been some artillery prac
tice during the day on our right, but
no serious effort, till afternoon ; when
Stewart threw forward Brown's, Clay
ton's, and Bate's brigades by turns,
charging one of our batteries and
capturing three guns; but he was
soon sent to the right about, and
compelled to leave the guns where
he found them. The attack at this
point, though for some time persisted
in, was a conceded failure.
Hood, holding the Rebel left, hav
ing cannonaded in the morning with
no advantage, threw in, at 3 p. m.,
two of his divisions — his own, under
Law, and Bushrod Johnson's — at
tacking Jeff. C. Davis's division of
McCook's corps, pushing it back from
the road, and capturing a battery;
but Davis maintained a firm front
against superior numbers till near

sunset, when Bradley's brigade of
Sheridan's division came to his aid,
and he charged the enemy in turn,
recapturing the battery (8th Indiana)
that he had lost, taking quite a num
ber of prisoners, and driving the ene
my back across the road, (though
Trigg's brigade of Preston's division
came to his aid), and closing the day
with decided advantage to our arms.
Superficially regarded, the net re
sult of that day's combat was favora
ble. Our army had lost no ground for
which it had contended, and claimed
a net gain of three guns. Our losses
in men had doubtless been less than
those of the enemy. And, as we were
standing on the defensive, we might
fairly claim the result as a success.
But the truth was otherwise. Our
soldiers were clearly outnumbered,
and now they felt it. Every brigade
but two of our army had been under
fire — most of them hotly engaged —
while the enemy had several yet in
reserve. We had no reenforcements
at hand, and etfuld expect none;
while Hindman's division (three bri
gades) and McLaws's (two brigades
of veterans, fresh from Yirginia) came
up during the night, and were posted
just where experience had proved
that they were most needed. And
beside, Longstreet himself came up,
and took command of their right
wing — and he was worth at least a
brigade. The best estimate that can
be formed of their entire force on this
bloody field makes it 70,000 ; which,
on ground affording so little advan
tage to the defensive, was a clear
overmatch for Rosecrans's 55,000.
And, though the profane axiom that
' God is on the side of the strongest
battalions,' is not always and abso
lutely true, it is certain that, as be-

ROSECRANS'S DISPOSITIONS FOR THE 20TH.

419

tween two armies equally brave,
equally disciplined, and equally well
handled, the decidedly larger — the
ground affording no considerable ad
vantage to the defensive — must gen
erally triumph.
During the night, Bragg moved
Breckinridge's division of Hill's
corps from his extreme left to his ex
treme right : being still intent on
flanking our left, and interposing be
tween it and Chattanooga.
Our corps commanders reported
to Rosecrans after nightfall. Negley
had been brought down from our ex
treme right during the afternoon,
and sent in just before night, on Yan
Cleve's right, pushing back the ene
my. He was now ordered to report
to Gen. Thomas ; McCook being re
quired to replace him by one of his
divisions. McCook was ordered to
close well on Thomas, refusing his
right, and covering the position at
widow Glenn's, where Thomas had
his headquarters. Crittenden was
to hold two divisions in reserve,
ready to support McCook on our
right or Thomas on the left, as should
become necessary. These orders be
ing given, our Generals lay down to
snatch a brief rest ; and the silence
was thenceforth unbroken.
At daylight," Rosecrans, attended
by part of his staff, was galloping
along our lines. He found McCook's
right too far extended, and Davis,
with the reserve division, too far to
the right ; as were also Crittenden's
two divisions in reserve, and ordered
the requisite changes of position.
Negley had not yet moved when

the General returned from visiting
our left, and was now directed to send
Thomas his reserve brigade only;
holding his place in the line with the
other two till felieVed. Crittenden,
having his reserves at hand, was now
directed to relieve him ; but failed
promptly to do so ; and it was nearly
10 o'clock when Negley was relieved
and enabled to proceed to strengthen
Thomas, where he was sorely needed.
Both armies stood to their arms at
daylight ; and the battle was to have
opened at once by an attack by Hill's
corps on our left ; but Polk's aid,
sent with the order, oould not find
him; and the fighting did not com
mence till 8^ a. m. In fact, it could
not, without destruction to the as
sailants ; for a dense fog filled the
valley, rendering all objects indistin
guishable at a few yards' distance;
so that an attack might better have
been delivered on any moonless but
starlit night." Meantime, Thomas's
corps (augmented by successive re
enforcements, till it was now more
than half our army) improved the
non-shining hours by throwing up
rude breastworks of logs and rails,
which stood it in good stead there
after. The fog having lifted, Breckin
ridge, facing and overlapping our
extreme left, advanced his fresh di
vision, flanking our army, and push
ing across the Rossville road, fight
ing desperately, and facing to the left
when he had gone forward toward
Rossville so far as his orders required.
The movement was taken up in suc
cession by the divisions farther and

"Sunday, Sept. 20.
" Polk sajs that, when he was ready to ad
vance and attack, he found a division of the left
Wing (Longstreet's) directly in his front ; so that,

had he literally obeyed his orders, he must have
slaughtered their own men. He had no choice
hut to wait till it was taken out of his way ;
and this consumed some two hours.

420

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

farther toward the Rebel center —
Bragg thus renewing the attempt to
interpose between our army and
Chattanooga, which Thomas had dis
concerted by his advance and attack
of the previous day. But now Beat-
ty's brigade of Negley's division,
moving from our right center, came
into action beside Baird, on our ex
treme left, checking Breckinridge's
advance ; and, Baird and Beatty to
gether being still outnumbered and
the latter losing ground, several regi
ments of Johnson's division, hitherto
in reserve, were sent up to Baird and
posted by him on his front; and
these, with Yandever's brigade of
Brannan's division and part of Stan
ley's of Wood's division, completely
restored the battle on this flank,
hurling back Breckinridge's com
mand in disorder ; Gens. Helm and
Deshler being killed, Maj. Graves,
chief of artillery, mortally wounded,
and Gen. Adams severely wounded
and taken prisoner. Breckinridge
rallied his men on a commanding
ridge in the rear of his advanced po
sition, where his heavy guns were
posted to repel assault. Walker's
division first, then Cheatham's Ten
nesseans, then Cleburne's, and final
ly Stewart's, were sent to the support
of Breckinridge ; and the tide of
battle ebbed and flowed on this wing,
with frightful carnage on both sides,
but without material advantage to
either. Still, Bragg's attempt to
turn our flank, so as to interpose his
army between ours and Chattanooga
was baffled by Thomas's firmness
and that of the veterans under his
command ; while the struggle along
our left center was equally desperate,
equally sanguinary, and equally in
decisive.

Our right, however, had ere this
been involved in fearful disaster.
The movement of several divisions
from right to left after the battle had
actually commenced was at best haz
ardous, however necessary, and was
attended with the worst possible re
sults. Negley's and Yan Cleve's di
visions were successively ordered by
Rosecrans to move to the support of
Thomas on our left; while Wood
was directed to close up to Reynolds
on our right center, and Davis to
close on Wood ; McCook, command
ing on this wing, being directed to
close down on the left with all possi
ble dispatch.
Such movements are at all times
difficult of execution in the heat of
battle, and in the face of a skillful,
resolute, and vigilant enemy. In this
instance, the hazard was increased by
the fact that they were not clearly
comprehended. Wood, understand
ing that he was ordered to support
Reynolds, undertook to do so by
withdrawing from the front and pass
ing to the rear of Brannan, who was
in echelon slightly to the rear of Rey
nolds's right ; thus opening a gap iu
our front, into which Longstreet at
once threw Hood's command, sup
ported by an advance of Buckner on
our right flank.
The charge was decisive. Davis,
by McCook's order, was just attempt
ing to fill with three Light brigades
the gap made by Wood's withdrawal,
when Hood's charging column poured
into it, striking Davis on the right,
and Brannan on the left, and Sheri
dan, of Crittenden's corps, farther to
the rear, cutting off five brigades
from the rest of our army, and push
ing them to our right and rear, with
a loss of 40 per cent, of their numbers.

McCOOK ROUTED— THOMAS GIVES GROUND.

421

In short, our right wing, struck heav
ily in flank while moving to the left,
was crumbled into fragments and sent
flying in impotent disorder toward
Rossville and Chattanooga, with a loss
of thousands in killed, wounded, and
prisoners. Rosecrans, McCook, and
many subordinate commanders, were
swept along in the wild rush ; Sheri
dan and Davis rallying and reform
ing the wreck of their divisions by
the way, and halting, with McCook,
at Rossville; while Rosecrans — pre
vented by the enemy from joining
Thomas — hastened to Chattanooga,
there to make all possible provision
for holding the place ; since it now
looked as though our whole army
was or would be routed, and that
desperate effort would be required to
hold Chattanooga, so as to save what
might be left of it from being cap
tured or driven pell-mell into the
Tennessee. But matters, though bad enough,
were not so bad as they seemed to
those who had shared or witnessed
the rout and dispersion of our right.
Thomas was still fighting stoutly and
holding his own on our left ; when,
not long after noon, Capt. Kellogg,
who had been sent to hurry Sheridan,
then expected to reenforce his left,
returned with tidings that he had
met a large Rebel force advancing
cautiously, with skirmishers thrown
out, to the rear of Reynolds's position
in our center. There was some effort
made to believe this was no Rebel
force, but Sheridan, till heavy firing
on Thomas's right and rear decidedly
negatived that presumption. Thomas
ordered Col. Hooker, whose brigade
held a ridge in the direction of the
firing, to resist the advance of these
" Sept. IV.

questionable wayfarers, and return
their fire if it should be persisted in
— an order which that Brigadier pro
ceeded at once to obey. Meantime,
Wood came up, and was directed to
post his troops on the left of Brannan,
who had already taken post on the
slope of Mission ridge, behind Thom
as's line of battle, and just west of
the Chattanooga and Lafayette road,
where Capt. Gaw had ere this, by
Thomas's order, massed all the artil
lery he could find in reserve, and sup
ported it by strong lines of infantry.
To this position, Johnson, Palmer,
and Reynolds, who, behind their log
breastworks, had sustained and re
pulsed a succession of desperate
charges on our center, were with
drawn, and here Thomas's command
was now concentrated.
Gen. Gordon Granger, with his
small reserve corps, had been posted
at Rossville, whence Col. J. B. Steedv
man, with six regiments, made a re
connoissance to within two miles of
Ringgold;" discovering enough by
the way to convince him that a bat
tle was imminent and he out of place ;
when he returned to Rossville. Gen.
Whitaker's and Col. D. McCook's
brigades were next sent forward by
Granger to the Chickamauga — the
latter supporting Col. Minty at Reid's
bridge, where he had a smart skir
mish, as did Gen. Whitaker, farther
down the stream ; each falling back ;
Gen. Steedman ultimately burning"
Reid's bridge and retreating. Gran
ger held the roads in this direction,
on our extreme left, throughout the
19th and till 11 a. m. of the 20th;
when, finding that he was not at
tacked, while the roar of guns on his
right front, where Thomas was posted,
« Sept. 18.

422

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

though three or four miles distant,
had become loud and continuous, he
could no" longer resist their appeal.
Moving, therefore, without orders,
he reported, at 3 p. m., to Thomas-;
whom he found holding the ridge
aforesaid, while the enemy, in over
whelming force, were, pressing him
at once in front and on both flanks,
while they held a ridge on his right
running nearly at rigbt angles with
that he occupied, and were advancing
Hindman's division in a gorge there
of, with intent to assail his right
in flank and rear.
The moment was critical. Thomas
had work for all his men, and could
spare none to confront this new peril.
Instantly forming Gen. Whitaker's
and Col. Mitchell's brigades, Granger
hurled them on the foe : Steed-
man, seizing the flag of a regiment,
heading the charge. Twenty minutes
later, Hindman had disappeared, and
our men held both gorge and ridge ;
but Whitaker was knocked senseless
from his horse by a bullet, with two
of his staff killed and two more mor
tally wounded. Steedman's horse was
killed and he severely bruised by his
fall ; but he remained on duty to the
close of the day. Our loss in this
charge was of course heavy ; that of
the enemy far greater.
There was a pause of half an hour,
while the enemy was forming and
massing for a desperate charge on all
points of our position. About 4 p.m.,
the storm burst in all its fury. The
stampede of our right had swept with
it nearly or quite all our ammunition
trains, so that cartridges Had become
scarce, and the utmost economy in
their use was indispensable. But for
the fortunate arrival with Granger of
a small supply, which afforded about

ten rounds per man, many regiments
would have been compelled to rely
on their bayonets.
Longstreet was now here, in im
mediate command of his own corps
— Hood having been wounded and
had his leg amputated on the field —
with McLaws's, Preston's, Breckin
ridge's, Cleburne's, Stewart's, Hind
man's, Bushrod Johnson's divisions
— in fact, all but a fraction of the
entire Rebel army — swarming around
the foot of the ridge whereon Thomas,
with what remained of seven divis
ions of ours — four having vanished
with the dispersion of our right —
withstood and repelled assault after
assault till sundown; when he, by
order from Rosecrans at Chattanooga,
communicated by his chief of staff,
Gen. Garfield, who reached the ridge
at .p.m., commenced the withdrawal
of his troops to Rossville.
Gen. Reynolds was ordered, at 5|r
p. m., to commence this movement,
which Wood was directed to cover ;
Gen. Thomas was riding over to
Wood's position to point out the
ground he was to hold, when he was
cautioned by two soldiers that a large;
Rebel force was advancing through
the woods toward him. Reynolds
with his division now approaching,
Thomas ordered him to deflect to the
left and form line while marching,
with his right resting on the State
road, thence charging the enemy, who
would thus be in his immediate front.
The order was promptly obeyed:
Turchin's brigade precipitating itself
on the enemy with such vigor as to
rout them and capture more than
200 prisoners, who were taken off the
field in our retreat.
Our divisions were withdrawn in
succession from the ridge : Johnson's

THOMAS RETIRES UNASSAILED.

423

and Baird's, being last, were of
course assailed by the enemy in over
whelming force, and suffered consid
erably. But there was no pursuit ; "
and our army retired into and held
the Rossville and Dry valley gaps
of Mission ridge — Crittenden's corps
holding the left of the Ringgold road ;
McCook's on the right of the Dry
valley road, with his right thrown
forward nearly to the Chickamauga ;
while Negley's, Reynolds's, and
Brannan's divisions were posted in
the Rossville gap and along the ridge
on its right ; Minty's brigade of cav
alry being thrown out over a mile in
advance on the Ringgold road. And
'thus our army stood fronting the en
emy unmolested, until 10 next morn
ing ; when Minty was driven in by
the enemy's advance ; which, proving
merely a reconnoissance, was easily
repulsed, and was not renewed. And

thus our army remained unmolested
throughout the following day ;" and
at night was withdrawn in perfect
order, and without annoyance or loss,
to the position assigned it by Rose
crans in front of Chattanooga. Bragg
followed next day ; taking quiet pos
session of Lookout mountain and the
whole of Mission ridge, whence he,
looked down into the coveted strong
hold, which his army was destined
never to regain.
As Bragg was fiercely assailed for
not pursuing Rosecrans — whom, it is
assumed, he had routed — right into
Chattanooga, on the evening of the
the 20th, the following extract from
a Rebel account of the battle by an
eye-witness," who was nowise par
tial to him, may serve to elucidate
the matter. The reader will excuse
the tropical luxuriance of its imagery,
and its many mistakes of fact, for the

47 Though it is perfectly settled that Bragg did
not pursue, it is not so well established that our
army did not flee. On this point, a few citations
(out of many that might be made) from eye-wit
nesses will here be given :
Gen. Hazen, after reporting the last attack of
the enemy on our right, and its repulse, says :*
" There was no more fighting. At dusk, I re
ceived orders from Gen. Thomas to retire on
Eossville ; which I did quietly and in perfect or
der : the pickets of the enemy following mine
closely as they were withdrawn, and confront
ing an officer, sent to see that it was thoroughly
done." CoL A. Wiley, 41st Ohio, of Granger's corps,
after describing the final Rebel charge on Wood's
division, of which he was among the supports,
says: " The possession of the hill was maintained ;
the regiment losing about a dozen wounded in
this part of the action. As soon as it became
dark, we withdrew from this position, marched
to Rossville, where the regiment bivouacked,
and on Monday morning again went into position
in the first line on Mission ridge."
An account by "Jkfiles," of the part borne by
Steedman's division of Granger's, corps in the
defense of Thomas's last position, says :
"Another assault was made, and with the
same result. The Rebels advanced, were check
ed; we drove and followed them until fresh

troops were arrayed against us, and we in turn
were forced, to retire. But this time we drove
them farther, and kept them at bay longer, than
before. One of our regiments — the 96th Illi
nois — pursued them nearly half a mile, and held
that advanced position until it began to receive
an enfilading fire from some of our own troops.
'• Thus the contest continued until dark, and
all the time we held the ridge. Sometimes, a
regiment or more would fall back beyond tho
ridge ; but enough always remained to hold it.
At last, Gen. Thomas gave the order to retire ; but
it failed to reach a portion of the 96th Illinois,
aDd a remnant of the 121st Ohio, who at the
time occupied a position on the right, somewhat
advanced beyond the line ; and there for a con
siderable time they continued to fight with una
bated vigor. The order to retire was at last
given to this devoted band, who reluctantly left
their position. That closed the fighting for the
day. We retired from the field, not knowing
that the enemy was at the same time also re
treating, baffled and discouraged, in fact beaten.
" So the bloody field was left unoccupied that
night. No, not wholly unoccupied ; for James
T. Gruppy, a private of company D, 96th Illinois,
not knowing that our troops had fallen back,
slept upon the battle-field, and next morning, as
he awoke, found a Rebel surgeon near hiin,
looking for Rebel dead, who advised him, if
lie ever wished to see his regiment again, to
hurry on to Chattanooga."
48 Monday, Sept. 21. .
" S. C. Reid, correspondent Mobile Triburtf.

424

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

sake ofthe unintended proof it affords
that the fortune of the day was only
decided at so late an hour that pur
suit in that wooded, rugged region
was extremely hazardous, if not im
possible. Reid says :
" The western horizon, crimsoned with
vermilion hues, now shed its ruddy light
on the hill-top and forest-plain, painting
the bloody battle-field, still reeking with
human gore ; but the battle-strife had not
yet ceased. Driven to desperation, aud de
termined at all hazards to hold their posi
tion on their left wing, the enemy, with a
resolute ferocity, hurled his battalions upon
our right, at the same time opening his bat
teries with a storm of shell and grape. Lid-
dell and Gist, of Walker's corps, who had
been again ordered forward, being their
fifth engagement with the enemy, were met
by a most destructive fire, which enfiladed
them on both flanks and drove them back.
Our line of battle on the right was now
about half a mile from the Chattanooga
road. The enemy was sorely pressing our
wavering lines. Gen. Polk, who had borne
the brunt of the battle during the day, and
fought his wing against the concentrated
masses ofthe enemy with unequaled brave
ry and endurance, had now marshaled his
forces for a last desperate charge, on which
depended the fate of the day. His flashing
eye at this moment discovered that Gran
ger's reserve corps of Abolition troops was
moving down upon us, and riot a moment
was to be lost. At the same time, it was
reported that Longstreet was driving the
enemy's right flank, which added fresh
nerve and vigor to our already exhausted
men. The signal being given, the whole
line advanced : Breckinridge leading off on
the extreme right, the division making a
left half-wheel, which brought it parallel to
the enemy's lines, whose artillery belched
forth a blasting fire. Forward pressed
Stovall, Gilson, and Helm, in perfect order,
cheered by other lines of troops as they ad
vanced, and passing through the ' unterri-
fied ' of Walker's line, who was then enga
ging the enemy, without halting, and re
serving their fire until within a few yards
of the foe, when they sprang forward with
a wild yell to the charge, receiving a vol
ley from the enemy without effect. A sec
ond volley from the barricades of trees and
stones checked Breckinridge for a moment,
and many a brave, with the noble Helm,
fell; but the officers rushed forward,
mounting the barricades, followed by their
men, dealing destruction to the panic-
strioken hordes, who fled on every side ; a

brigade of V. S. regulars, under Gen. King,
being perfectly routed by Gibson. Still
onward pressed the division of Breckin
ridge, driving the enemy for three-quarters
of a mile, capturing nine pieces of cannon
and hundreds of prisoners, until entering
the woods about 70 yards west of the Chat
tanooga road; the enemy's killed and
wounded marking its bloody track in the
pursuit. "At the same time, on came the chiv
alrous Cleburne, with the brave Deshler,
Wood, and Polk, who soon came in conflict
with Granger's corps, sweeping them before
their ranks like leaves, and facing the mur
derous fire of their barricades. The heroic
and dashing Deshler went down, but still the
men pressed forward: Wood, with Lucius
Polk's brigade, storming breastwork after
breastwork, until the third work was car
ried — Polk capturing three pieces of can
non, the standards of the 2d Ohio, 77th
Pennsylvania, 79th Illinois, and 500 prison
ers. Like the ocean-wave rolled onward
the brigades of the warrior Cheatham to
ward the center of the enemy's works,
which were carried with an irresistible im
petuosity : Maney's brigade adding new lau
rels to its fame, as well as Strahl's, Wright's,
Jackson's, and the lamented Preston Smith's ;
capturing several, pieces of artillery and a
large number of prisoners. This sealed our
victory. The enemy was totally routed from
right, left, and center, and was in full re
treat to Chattanooga ; night alone prevent
ing their farther pursuit. Then arose along
our lines, from wing to wing for miles, one
wild, tumultuous yell, and cheers which
made the hills and forest shake again. The
day was ours ; while the croaking raven of
the night perched on the ill-starred banner
of the vain, boasting Rosecrans, now crest
fallen, defeated, and humiliated. Polk's
wing captured 28 pieces of artillery, and
Longstreet's 21, making 49 pieces of can
non ; both wings taking nearly an equal
number of prisoners, amounting to over
8,000, with 30,000 stand of arms, and 40
stands of regimental colors. The enemy's
loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, by
their own account, is not less than 30,000.
Ours is computed at 12,000 : our wounded
being unusually large compared to the
killed. The enemy is known to have had
all his available force on the field, including
his reserve, ' with a portion of Burnside's
corps, numbering not less than 80,000, while
our whole force did not exceed 50,000.
Nothing was more brilliant in all Bona
parte's Italian campaigns; it was equally
desperate as the battle of Areola, and far
more decisive in its results. So far, it ex
ceeds all previous battles of our revolution ;
and nothing could surpass the irresistible

THE LOSSES AT THE CHICKAMAUGA.

425

courage and heroic intrepidity of our offi
cers and soldiers."
Bragg, in his official report, tersely
and sensibly says :
" The darkness of the night, and the den
sity of the forest, rendered further move
ments uncertain and dangerous ; and the
army bivouacked on the ground it had so
gallantly won."
This is enough for those who con
sider that human endurance has lim
its, and that men who have been
marching their hardest and fighting
their very best for two or three days,
with scarcely a pause, need rest.
But it is not so clear that he should
not have followed up his advantage
next day, by an attack in force on
Thomas and so much of our army as
still confronted him around Ross
ville, barring his way to Chattanooga.
Thomas could not have had over
25,000 men left; Bragg must have
had thousands more, flushed with
victory, and in good part confident
of their ability to improve it by rout
ing what remained of our army and
chasing it into and through Chatta
nooga. Pollard says that Forrest
climbed a tree, just as the fighting
closed ; and, seeing our army in full
retreat, urged a general advance;
and that Longstreet ordered Wheeler
to interpose his cavalry between Ross
ville and Chattanooga; but Bragg
countermanded the order. The fact
officially stated by him, that he had
lost two-fifths of his army in the ter
rible struggle thus terminated, suf
fices to justify his moving cautiously
and surely. 

Our losses on the Chickamauga
were officially stated as follows :
Infantry and ) -KB«* Woun'd. Miss'g. Total
artillery.. \ 1,644" 9,262" 4,945 15,851
Cavalry, in various combats and skir
mishes  500
Total 16,351 ; which it is perfectly
safe to increase, by stragglers and im
perfect reports, to 20,000 from the
hour of crossing the Tennessee till
our army was concentrated in front
of Chattanooga. Rosecrans claims
to have captured and brought off
2,003 prisoners, and admits a loss of
7,500, including 2,500 of his wound
ed; also 36 guns, 20 caissons, and
8,450 small arms.
Bragg admits a total loss on his
part of 18,000 men," of whom 16,000
must have been killed and wounded ;
and claims to have captured over
8,000 prisoners (including wounded),
51 guns, and 15,000 small-arms.
These statements are not neces
sarily incompatible. All the arms
dropped by killed, wounded, or fly
ing soldiers — no matter of which
army — were of course gathered up
by those who held the field, and
counted among their spoils; and,
while the victor counts all the guns
he has taken, his worsted foe sub
tracts his captures from his losses,
and returns only the net loss. And,
as our men fought mainly on the
defensive, often on ridges or behind
rude breastworks, and lost very few
in their retreat, it is probable that
our killed and wounded were the
fewer, as these antagonist reports
would indicate.

" Including Gen. W. H Lytle, Ohio, Cols.
Baldwin and Heg, commanding brigades ; Cols.
E. A. King, 68th' Ind., Alexander, 21st, and
Gilmer, 28th IU.
n Including Cols. Payne, 4th Ohio, Shackle
ford, 6th Ky., and Armstrong, 93d Ohio, with
many others.

M Gen. B. H. Helm's Kentucky brigade went
into this fight 1,763 strong, and came out 432 :
Helm being among the killed. Bate's brigade
lost 608 out of 1,085. A Mississippi brigade
lost 781, and came out with but two regimental
officers uninjured ; and there were several more
brigades which lost fully half their number.

426

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Bragg had won an unmistakable
victory ; yet all its fruits were reaped
on the battle-field. When he ad
vanced in force,53 and appeared be
fore Chattanooga, not even the fierc
est fire-eater inhis camp was anxious
to storm those intrenchments, behind
which Rosecrans stood ready to re
peat the fearful lesson he gave Price
and Yan Dorn, at Corinth. The
victor had the field and the dead
(hundreds of whom he inhumanly
left to rot unburied) ; but his defeated
antagonist had secured the great
strategic object of his campaign,"
and was abundantly able to retain
and defend it.
Chattanooga being unattainable,
Bragg was urged to anticipate a
gigantic, fatal folly in moving by his
left across the Tennessee and advanc
ing on Nashville. He answered, hke
a soldier and man of sense, that half
his army consisted of reenforcements
that had joined him just before the
recent struggle, without a wagon or
an artillery-horse, and that a third of
the artillery horses he had were lost
on the field. Then, a formidable
river was to be crossed, without
pontoons, at a season when any day
might see it swelled, amid those
steep mountains, out of all possibility
of fording. He might have added
that, with a great army on his flank,
and in a country where — its railroads
being destroyed — the difficulties of
an offensive were at best appalling,
to have attempted such a movement

would have insured his ruin; and
rashness was not his weak point.
Bragg could not carry the coveted
strongbold by storm ; he could not
flank it; but he might starve our
army out of it. Holding the left
bank of the Tennessee for miles
below, he commanded not only the
railroads connecting that city with
the North and West, and with Mid
dle Tennessee, but the navigation of
the river, with the roads crowded
against its banks by the steep moun
tains which on both sides overshadow
it. East Tennessee affording insuffi
cient forage and little or no foody our
supplies must, for the present, be
wagoned across the countless moun
tain ridges separating it from Middle
Tennessee, traversed only by roads
of inconceivable badness ; and, for a
time,. our troops were on short allow
ance, while many thousands oi our
horses were starved, or worked to
death in wagoning over supplies.
Gen. Rosecrans, while thus cooped
up in Chattanooga, received " an un- '
heralded order relieving him from
command, which he at once obeyed ;
leaving for the North next day — just
a year having elapsed since he left
Corinth — the theater of his then re
cent victory — to find himself assigned
to command this department.
Deeming it best for the service
that he should depart before it was
known to the soldiers that he was sur
perseded, he bade adieu to his com
rades in the following order :

63 Wednesday, Sept. 23.
61 Pollard very fairly says :
" Chickamauga had conferred a brilliant glory
npon our arms, but little else. Rosecrans still
held the prize of Chattanooga, and with it the
possession of Bast Tennessee. Two-thirds of
our niter-beds were in that region, and a large
proportion of the coal which supplied our foun-
deries. It abounded in the necessaries of life.

It was one of the strongest countries in the
world, so full of loftymountains, that it had been
called, not unaptly, the Switzerland of America.
As the possession of Switzerland opened the
door to the invasion of Italy, Germany, and
France, so the possession of East Tennessee gave
easy access to Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia,
and Alabama."
K Oct. 19.

GILLMORE ROUTS PEGRAM NEAR SOMERSET.

427

" H'dq'es Dep't of the Cumberland, )
"Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 19, 1863. j
" The General commanding announces to
the officers and soldiers of the Army of the
Cumberland that he leaves them, under
orders from the President.
"Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas, in com
pliance with orders, will assume the com
mand of this army and department. The
chiefs of all the staff departments will re
port to him.
" In taking leave of you, his brothers in
arms — officers and soldiers — he congratu
lates you that your new commander comes
not to you, as he did, a stranger. Gen.
Thomas has been identified with this army
from its first organization. He has led you
often in battle. To his known prudence,
dauntless courage, and true patriotism, you
may look with confidence that, under God,
he will lead you to victory.
"The General commanding doubts not you
will be as true to yourselves and your country
px the future as you have been in the past.
" To the division and brigade command
ers, Tie tenders his cordial thanks for their
valuable and hearty cooperation in all that
he has undertaken. To the chiefs of the
staff departments- and their subordinates,
whom he leaves behind, he owes a debt of
gratitude for their fidelity and untiring de
votion to duty.
" Companions in arms — officers and sol
diers — farewell ; and may God bless you !
"W. S. Roseoeans, Major-General."

Gen. Burnside, after he was re
lieved from command on the Rappa
hannock, had been assigned 6S to that
of the Department of the Ohio, and
his old 9th corps dispatched with him
to the West, with a view to an early
and determined advance through east
ern Kentucky for the liberation of
loyal but crushed and suffering East
Tennessee. The exigencies of the
service, however, compelled a diver
sion of the 9th corps to reenforce
Grant, then in the crisis of his strug
gle for Yicksburg. So Burnside was
obliged to remain idle at Cincinnati.
A force of mounted Rebels having,
under Gen. Pegram, emerged from
East Tennessee, crossed the Cumber
land mountains and river, and ad

dressed themselves to the spobation
of southern Kentucky. They pro
claimed their force the vanguard of
a large army advancing, under Breck
inridge, for the rescue of Kentucky
from her Yankee oppressors; paraded
the greater portion of their number
as infantry on entering any consid
erable village; and got up a hand
bill proclamation that every young
man who did not choose to serve in
the Confederate armies must leave
Kentucky ! These pretensions seem
to have imposed, to some extent, on
Gen. S. P. Carter, commanding the
Union forees on that frontier, who
retreated before Pegram from Dan
ville, across Dick's river and the Ken
tucky ; abandoning the heart of the
State to rapine. Pegram lacked the
audacity to continue the pursuit, as
well as the force to justify it, or he
might, perhaps, have chased Carter
and Wolford across the Ohio. But
the Rebels turned here to fly," thus
revealing their weakness; and soon
found a dangerous force on their
heels. They were sharply chased by
Wolford's cavalry through Lancaster,
Stanford, and Waynesburg, to within
three miles of Somerset, where they
were brought to bay:58 meanwhile,
Gen. Q. A. Gillmore had joined the
pursuit with 250 of the 7th Ohio cav
alry and taken command : swelling
the Union force to about 1,200 men.
The Rebels are stated, in the reports
on our side, to have been twice that
number — a statement which is not
confirmed by any returns, and is
probably a gross exaggeration, ex
plained by the efforts of the enemy
to diffuse an extravagant idea of
their numbers. At all events, they
were very easily driven from their

M March 26, 1863.

" March 27.

M March 30.

428

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT

chosen position ; and a charge on our
rear by Col. Scott's Rebel cavalry,
though it threw our forces into tem
porary confusion, was repelled with
spirit by Wolford: when the Reb
els renewed their flight, and were
pursued 5 or 6 miles ; and now they
made another stand, and were not
again attacked — night soon falling;
under the shelter of which, they
moved quietly off; crossing the
Cumberland in squads, and making
good their escape into Tennessee,
with a loss of only about 100" men
and a large share of their plunder.
Our loss was about half so many. It
is plain that most of them might have
been captured, but for the over-esti
mate of their strength by our officers.
Gen. Burnside, two months later,
sent a cavalry force, under Col. H.
S. Saunders, from Williamsburg, Ky.,
across the Cumberland mountains into
East Tennessee; which struck the rail
road at Lenoir, 40 miles below Knox
ville, breaking it thence nearly up to
Knoxville ; then, passing around that
city, struck it again near Strawberry
Plains, burning the bridge, 1,600 feet
long, across the Holston, and that
across Mossy creek, above ; capturing
in all 3 guns, 500 prisoners, and
10,000 small arms, beside destroying
large quantities of Confederate mu
nitions and stores; making its way
out with difficulty — the passes being
all choked or guarded — to Boston,"
Ky. Its loss was trifling.
Gen. Burnside, having thoroughly
organized and equipped his com
mand, about 20,000 strong, at Camp
Nelson, near Richmond, Ky., com
menced," without awaiting the re-

M Gillmore first reports their loss at " over
300;" and again says it " will not fall short of
500 men." But the only account (by a newspa
per correspondent) that gives precise details,

turn of his old corps, his advance on
Knoxville simultaneously with Rose
crans's movement on Chattanooga.
Marching as light as possible — his.
men nearly all mounted ; his muni
tions and stores mainly packed on
mules — concentrating his forces at
Crab Orchard, he pushed vigorously
through Mount Yernon, London,™
Williamsburg, and thence due south
into Tennessee at Chitwood, halting
two days" to rest; and then making
a forced march over the mountains
of 40 miles in two days, to Mont
gomery, and thence reaching King
ston, where the Holston and Clinch
rivers unite to form the Tennessee ;
and where he was greeted by Rose
crans's pickets and communicated
with Col. Minty's cavalry ; while his
army made another forced march of
two days to Loudon, higher up ; hop
ing thus to save the railroad bridge,
2,000 feet long, over the Holston;
which they reached" just in time to
see it in flames. Pushing as rapidly
to Knoxville — which our cavalry ad
vance had occupied on the 1st — Gen.
Burnside was welcomed'0 with such
an outpouring of enthusiastic loyalty
and gratitude as had rarely been
equaled. But East Tennessee had
been overwhelmingly and invincibly
loyal throughout, while the sufferings
of her Unionists, from Rebel conscrip
tion, persecution, and spobation, had
been terrible. Every able-bodied man
having been conscripted into the Con
federate armies, those who refused to
serve were accounted deserters, wor
thy of death ; and the penalty was
freely enforced. But the dungeon,
the bullet, and the rope, whereby it

makes the numbers "19 killed, 6 wounded, and
67 prisoners."
50 June 23. •• Aug. 16. " Aug. 24.
" Aug. 27-8 " Sept. 1. » Sept. 3.

BUCKNER ABANDONS EAST TENNESSEE.

429

was mainly hoped to stifle the loy
alty of this heroic people, had only
served to intensify it ; and the long-
hidden National flags that now waved
from almost every house and fluttered
in so many hands, the bounteous food
and refreshment proffered from every
side and pressed upon our soldiers
without price, by people whose stores
were scanty indeed ; the cheers, and
fond greetings, and happy tears, of
the assembled thousands, attested
their fervent hope and trust that the
National authority and protection,
for which they had prayed and pined
through two long, weary yeare, would
never again be expelled from their
'city. And it has not been.
The flight of the Rebel forces from
all the points readied by our army
in its advance was unexpected, and
was misconstrued. So many passes,
wherein a regiment and a battery
might temporarily repel a corps, had
been precipitately abandoned with
out a shot, as Kingston and Knoxville
were, that it was fondly fancied that
the Rebellion had collapsed — at least,
in this quarter- — that the recent and
signal triumphs of the National arms
at Gettysburg, Yicksburg, Port Hud
son, «$re., had taken the heart out of
the remaining disunionists ; that we
had only thenceforth to advance and
bloodlessly reclaim all that had been
ruthlessly torn away.
It was a great mistake. Buckner
¦was simply withdrawing the Rebel
forces from East Tennessee to reen
force Bragg and enable him to over
whelm Rosecrans; and this facility
of recovery should have aroused sus
picion, and incited the quickest pos
sible transfer of all but a brigade of
Burnside's army to Chattanooga. In
fact, he should have been under Rose-

KAST TENSKSSRK.

crans's orders from the outset, and all
his movements should have been
subordinate to those of the Army of
the Cumberland. When the enemy
were found to be retreating south
ward, they should have been closely
pursued; but Burnside had no su
perior but Halleck, who had no
conviction of Rosecrans's peril till
it was too late to avert it. And
Burnside himself had no idea of look-

430

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ing to Rosecrans's safety — in fact,
this was not in the line of his pre
scribed duty — but proceeded prompt
ly and vigorously to complete the re
covery of East Tennessee. To this
end, he impelled M Gen. Shackleford
directly on the rear of Cumberland
gap ; on which Gen. De Courcy
simultaneously advanced from Lon
don on the north ; Burnside follow
ing in person two days behind
Shackleford, who made a forced
march of 60 miles in 52 hours, and
thus closed in Gen. Frazier, who
with four regiments held the gap,
and had refused to quit it while he
could, supposing himself able to hold
it. But his men were in good part
disaffected or discouraged, while the
mill whereon he depended for flour
was burned " by two companies of
Shackleford's men, who crept through
his lines and fired it unperceived.
When Burnside arrived,08 Frazier
had refused our summons; but he
found, soon afterward, good reason to
change his mind, and surrendered
his 2,000 men and 14 guns. Our
cavalry moved thence rapidly east
ward ; chasing off a small Rebel
force under Sam Jones into Yir
ginia, destroying the principal rail
road bridges, and completing the
recovery of East Tennessee, with the
direct loss, in Burnside's command,
of barely one man.
Halleck says he now ordered
Burnside to concentrate his army
on the Tennessee river westward
from Loudon, so as to connect with
Rosecrans, who had just reached
Chattanooga, and that "it was
hoped that there would be no further
delay in effecting a junction between
the two armies, as had been previ

ously ordered." The military read
ing of the General-in-Chief having
been very extensive, he can probably
cite numerous instances wherein the
leader of a small army has made
haste to unite that army with a large
one, which would necessarily absorb
it, without having been placed under
the orders of its commander ; but,
in the recollection of this writer, such
instances are rare. At all events,
Burnside did not add another, but
continued to diffuse his command
throughout East Tennessee, until it
had been beaten out very thin, and
was thus exposed to be cut up in de
tail. Col. Foster, in the far east,
after one skirmish "" near Bristol, was
sharply assailed ™ at Blue Springs by
Sam Jones, whom he defeated, after
two days' desultory fighting ; taking
150 prisoners and disabling at least
that number, with a loss to our side
of barely 100.
Shackleford now took post at
Jonesboro', with a part of his com
mand, under Wilcox, at Greenville,
with two regiments and a battery,
under Col. Israel Garrard, 7th Ohio
cavalry, at Rogersville, where they
were attacked " by 1,200 mounted
men under Brig.-Gen. W. E. Jones,
acting under the orders of Maj.-Gen.
Sam Jones, who struck them at day
light, surprising and easily routing
them with a loss of 4 guns, 36 wag
ons, and 750 prisoners, and creating
such a panic at Jonesborough and
Greenville that Shackleford's men
raced back to Bull's gap, 18 miles,
while Jones and his party were mak
ing equally good time in the opposite
direction, fearing that Shackleford
would be upon them in overwhelm
ing force if they did not. This back-

6 Sept. 5.

" Sept. 1.

' Sept. 9.

70 Oct 10.

" Nov. 6.

FIGHTS AT PHILADELPHIA AND CAMPBELL'S STATION. 431

to-back race was one of the most
ludicrous incidents ofthe war, though
the laugh was rather the heartier on
the wrong Bide.
The Army of the Cumberland re
maining quiet at Chattanooga, Bragg
(or his superiors) conceived the idea
of improving his leisure by a move
ment on Burnside, which Longstreet
was assigned to lead. Burnside had
by this time spread his force very
widely, holding innumerable points
and places southward and eastward
of Knoxville by brigades and detach
ments; and Longstreet, advancing
¦silently and rapidly, was enabled to
Strike " heavily at the little outpost
* of Philadelphia, held by Col. F. T.
Wolford, with the 1st, llth, and 12th
Kentucky cavalry and 45th Ohio
mounted infantry — in all about 2,000
Tnen. Wolford had dispatched the
1st and llth Kentucky to protect his
trains moving on his right, which a
Eebel advance was reported as men
acing, when he found himself sud
denly assailed in front and on both
flanks by an overwhelming Rebel
force, estimated at 7,000, whom he
withstood several hours, hoping that
the sound of guns would bring him
assistance from Loudon in his rear ;
but none arrived; and he was at
length obliged to cut his way out ;
losing his battery and 32 wagons, but
bringing off most of his command,
with 51 prisoners. Major Delfosse,
leading the 12th Ky., was killed.
The 1st and llth Kentucky, under
Maj. Graham, having proceeded four
miles westward from Philadelphia,
found their train already in the
hands of the enemy, and recaptured
it ; chasing its assailants for some dis
tance, and capturing quite a number
" Oot. 20.

of them ; when our men in turn en
countered a superior force, and were
chased nearly to Loudon, losing
heavily. We took 111 prisoners this
day, and lost 324, with 6 guns ; the
killed and wounded on either side
being about 100. Our total loss in
prisoners to Longstreet southward of
Loudon is stated by Halleck at 650.
The enemy advancing resolutely
yet cautiously, our troops were with--
drawn before them from Lenoir and
from Loudon, concentrating at Camp
bell's Station — Gen. Burnside, who'
had hastened from Knoxville at the
tidings of danger, being personally
in command. Having been joined
by his old (9th) corps, he was now
probably as strong as Longstreet ; but
a large portion of his force was still
dispersed far to the eastward, and he
apprehended being flanked by an ad
vance from Kingston on his left. He
found himself so closely pressed, how
ever, that he must either fight or
sacrifice his trains; so he chose an
advantageous position and suddenly
faced " the foe : his batteries being
all at hand, while those of his pursu
ers were behind ; so that he had de
cidedly the advantage in the fighting
till late in the afternoon, when they
brought up three batteries and open
ed, while their infantry were extend
ed on either hand, as if to outflank
him. He then fell back to the next
ridge, and again faced about ; holding
his position firmly till after night
fall ; when — his trains having mean
time obtained a fair start — he re
sumed his retreat, and continued it
unmolested until safe within the
sheltering intrenchments of Knox
ville. Our loss in this affair was
about 300 ; that of the enemy was
'¦ Nov. 6.

432

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

probably greater. Though not a
sanguinary nor decisive struggle, few
occurred during the war that were
more creditable to the generalship or
the soldierly qualities of either army.
Longstreet continued his pursuit,
and in due time beleaguered the
city," though he can hardly be said
to have invested it. That he intend
ed, and expected, and tried, to carry
it, is true ; and there was very spirit
ed and pretty constant fighting
around it, mainly on its west side ;
but the day of rushing naked infantry
in masses on formidable earthworks
covering heavy batteries was nearly
over with either side. The defenses
were engineered by Capt. Poe, and
were signally effective. Directly on
getting into position, a smart assault
was delivered on our right, held by
the 112th Illinois, 45th Ohio, 3d
Michigan, and 12th Kentucky, and a
hill carried ; but it was not essential
to the defenses. Our loss this day
was about 100; among them was
Gen. W. P. Sanders, of Kentucky,
killed. Shelling and skirmishing
barely served to break the monotony
for ten weary days, when — having
been reenforced by Sam Jones, and
one or two other small commands
from Yirginia — Longstreet delivered
an assault," by a picked storming
party of three brigades, on an un
finished but important work known
as Fort Sanders, on our left, but was
bloodily repelled by Gen. Ferrero,_
who held it — the loss of the assailants
being some 800, including Col. Mc-
Elroy, 13th Mississippi, and Col.
Thomas, 16th Georgia, killed; while
on our side the entire loss that night
was about 100 ; only 15 of these in
the fort.

And now — Bragg having been de
feated by Grant before Chattanooga,
and a relieving force under Sherman
being close at hand — Longstreet ne
cessarily abandoned the siege, and
moved rapidly eastward unassailed
to Russellville, Yirginia : our entire
loss in the defense having been less
than 1,000 ; while his must have been
twice or thrice that number. Sher
man's advance reached the city, and
Burnside officially announced the
raising of the siege, Dec. 5th.

Gen. Halleck had been thoroughly
aroused to the peril of Rosecrans at
Chattanooga just too late to do any
good. On his first advice that Long-
street had been dispatched south
ward from Yirginia — it was said, to
Charleston — he had telegraphed " to
Burnside at Knoxville, to Hurlbut at
Memphis, and to Grant at Yicksburg,
to move troops to the support of
Rosecrans ; and the orders to Burnside
and Hurlbut were reiterated next
day. Schofield at St. Louis and Pope
in the north-west were likewise in
structed respectively to forward to
Tennessee every man they could
spare. And it now occurred to Hal
leck — or did the day after Chicka
mauga — that two independent com
mands on the Tennessee would not
be so likely to insure effective coope
ration as if one mind directed the
movements of both armies ; so — Rose
crans being made the necessary scape
goat of others' mistakes as well as
his own — Gen. Grant was selected
for chief command ; Rosecrans being
relieved, and instructed to turn over
his army to Gen. Thomas. But
Grant was now sick in New Orleans,
out of reach by telegraph ; and Sher-

"Nov. 17.

1 Nov. 28-9.

1 Sept. 13.

IIUp mm

yy

<B^f

fllll

fe.

A3Ss

¦WHEELER'S RAID IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

433

man, who represented him at Yicks
burg, did not receive the dispatch till
it was several days old. Hurlbut
promptly put his West Tennessee
corps in motion eastward ; but this
was not enough ; and Halleck, on
learning of the reverse on the Chick
amauga, — hearing nothing from Grant
or Sherman — detached" the llth
and 12th corps from the Army of
the Potomac, and ordered them, un
der Gen. Hooker, to Middle Tennes
see, to hold, till further orders, Rose
crans's line of communications from
Nashville to Bridgeport. This trans
fer of 20,000 men, with all their ar
tillery, munitions, and baggage, was
made with remarkable celerity,
through the extraordinary exertions
of Gen. D. C. McCallum, govern
ment superintendent of railroads, M.
C. Meigs, Quartermaster General, and
W. Prescott Smith, master of trans
portation on the Baltimore and Ohio
road : the two corps marching from
the Rapidan to Washington, taking
cars, and being transported by Cum
berland, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Lou
isville, and Nashville, to the Tennes
see, and there debarked in fighting
array, within eight days.
Meantime, Bragg had sent a large
portion of his cavalry, under Wheel
er and Wharton, across78 the Ten
nessee at Cottonport, between Chat
tanooga and Bridgeport, instructed to
cut our communications and destroy
our supplies so far as possible. Wheel
er, doubtless thoroughly informed,
made directly for a large portion of
Gen. Thomas's train of 700 to 1,000
wagons, laden with supphes, then in
Sequatchie valley, near Anderson's
Cross-roads, which he captured" and
burned ; being attacked, directly af

terward, by Col. E. M. McCook, who,
with three regiments of cavalry, had
been ordered from Bridgeport to pur
sue him. McCook had the better of
the fight ; but darkness closed it ; and
the enemy moved off during the night,
while McCook had no orders to pur
sue him.
Wheeler next struck McMinnville,
in the heart of Tennessee, which, with
600 men, a train of wagons, and one
of cars, was surrendered to him with
out a struggle, and where he burned
a large quantity of supplies. But
here be was overhauled by Gen. Geo.,
Crook, who, with another cavalry-
division, 2,000 strong, had started!
from Washington, Tenn., and had for
some hours been pursuing and fight
ing Wharton, and by whose order
Col. Long, with the 2d Kentucky,,
charged tbe rear of the now flying foe
with spirit and effect. Wheeler's
force being superior, he halted and
fought dismounted till dark,, and them
struck out for Murfreesboro' ; but that
post was firmly held, and he could
not wait to carry it; so he swept
down to Warren and Shelbyville,
burning bridges, breaking the rail
road, and capturing trains and stores^
taking thence a south-west course
across Duck river to Farmington,,
where another fight8" was had, and
the Rebels worsted by the fire of
Capt. Stokes's battery^ followed by a
charge of infantry, and lost 4 guns,,
captured by Crook, though he was
in inferior force. Wheeler got away
during the night to Pulaski, and
thence into North Alabama; making
his escape across the Tennessee river,
near the mouth of Elk ; losing 2 more
guns and his rear-guard of 70 men
in getting over. Gens. Thomas and

' Sept. 23.
VOL. EC. — 28

' Sept. 30.

»• Oct. 2.

1 Oct. 7.

434

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Crook estimate his loss during this
raid at 2,000 men, mostly prisoners
or deserters. Ours, mainly in pris
oners, must have exceeded that num
ber; while the Government property
destroyed must have been worth mil
lions of dollars. Roddy, who crossed B1
the Tennessee at Guntersville, threat
ening Decherd, retreated on learning
that Wheeler had done so, and escaped
without loss.

Gen. Grant, having assumed82 at
Louisville command of his new de
partment, telegraphed, next day, to
Gen. Thomas at Chattanooga to hold
that place at all hazards, and was
promptly answered, " I will hold on
till we starve." Famine, not fire, was
the foe most dreaded by the Army
of the Cumberland, though it had
a pretty rough experience of both.
Proceeding forthwith to Chattanoo
ga, the new commander found63 Gen.
Hooker's force concentrated at Bridge
port, preparing to argue with Bragg
our claim to supply our forces at
Chattanooga by means of the river
and the highway along its bank, in
stead of sending every thing by wag
ons across the mountains on either
side of the Sequatchie valley — a
most laborious and difficult under
taking, which left our men on short
rations and starved many of our
horses- It is computed that no less
than 10,000 horses were used up in
this service, and that it would have
been impossible, by reason of their
exhaustion and the increasing bad
ness of the roads caused by the Au
tumn rains, to have supplied our army
a -week longer.
Grant proceeded, the day after his
.arrival, accompanied by Thomas and

Brig.-Gen. W. F. Smith, chief engi
neer, to examine the river below Chat
tanooga with reference to crossing. It
was decided that Hooker should cross
at Bridgeport with all the force he
could muster, advancing directly to
Wauhatchie in Lookout valley, mena
cing Bragg with a flank attack. So
much was to be observed and under
stood by the enemy. But, while his
attention was fixed on this move
ment, and on the march of a divis
ion, under Gen. Palmer, down the
north bank of the river from a point
opposite Chattanooga to Whiteside,
where he was to cross and support
Hooker, a force was to be got ready,
under the direction of Smith, and,
at the right moment, thrown across
the river at Brown's ferry, three or
four miles below Chattanooga, and
pushed forward at once to seize the
range of hills skirting the river at
the mouth of Lookout valley, cover
ing the Brown's ferry road and a
pontoon bridge to be quickly thrown
across the ferry ; thus opening a line
of communication between our forces
in Chattanooga and Hooker's in "Wau
hatchie, shorter and better than that
held by Bragg around the foot of
Lookout mountain.
Hooker crossed, unimpeded, on
the 26th ; pushing straight on to
Wauhatchie, which he reached on
the 28th. Meantime, 4,000 men had
been detailed to Smith ; of whom
1,800, under Brig.-Gen. Hazen, were
embarked on 60 pontoon-boats at
Chattanooga, and, at the word,
floated quietly down the river during
the night of the 27th, past the Rebel
pickets watching along the left bank,
and, landing on the south side, at
Brown's ferry, seized the hills over-

B1 Oat 11.

1 Oct. 18.

83 Oct. 23.

GEARY ATTACKED AT "WAUHATCHIE.

435

looking it, -without further loss than
4 or 5 wounded. The residue of Gen.
Smith's men, with further materials
for the bridges, had simultaneously
moved across Moccasin point on
our side, to the ferry, unperceived by
the enemy ; and, before dawn, they
had been ferried across, and the diffi
cult heights rising sharply from the
Tennessee and from Lookout valley
on the south-west were firmly se
cured. By 10 A. m., a capital pon
toon-bridge had been completed at
the ferry ; and now, if Bragg chose
to concentrate on Hooker or on
Chattanooga, we had the shorter line
# of concentration, and were ready.
Before night, Hooker's left rested on
Smith's force and bridge; while
Palmer had pushed across to White
side in his rear; and now the wagon
route of supply for Chattanooga, no
longer infested by Rebel sharp
shooters, was reduced to the 28 miles
of relatively tolerable road from
Bridgeport, or, by using the river
from Bridgeport to Kelly's ferry, to
barely 8 miles. Grant's fighting had
not yet begun ; but Chattanooga was
safe, and Bragg virtually beaten.
Hooker had found no enemy to re
pel, save pickets and perhaps a few
sharp-shooters, until — having passed
through a gorge of Raccoon moun
tain into Lookout valley, some two
miles wide, which is commanded and
observed throughout by the crests of
Raccoon mountain on the one hand
and of Lookout mountain on the
other, while a low range of five or
six hills, 200 to 300 feet high, divides
it nearly in the center — he reached
Wauhatchie, a petty station on the
railroad, some 12 or 15 miles from

1 Oct. 28.
' Hooker saya they were two strong divi-

Chattanooga, directly under the
guns of the Rebel batteries on Look
out mountain. Of course, every
movement on our side was watched
by the enemy, who might almost
count the men in our ranks as they
marched. Through another gorge
on Hooker's left, a road led down
to Kelly's ferry, three miles distant.
Howard's (llth) corps, in our ad
vance, had passed Wauhatchie, and
had lost a few men by shells thrown
from Lookout mountain, and as
many by an irregular musketry fire
from the wooded hills in its front,
whence the enemy was speedily
dislodged by a flanking advance ;
burning the railroad bridge over
Lookout creek as he fled. At 6
p. m.,84 our column was halted for the
night, but little over a mile from
Brown's ferry, toward which three
companies were thrown out; while
Geary's weak division of the 12th
corps bivouacked at Wauhatchie,
three miles back, holding the road
from Kelly's ferry that leads up Look
out valley.
Law's division of Longstreet's
corps held Lookout mountain, and
were deeply interested but quiet
spectators of Hooker's arrangements
for the night. They were not strong
enough to fight his entire force by
dayhght ; but it was calculated that
they would suffice 8b to strike Geary
by surprise in that strange, wooded
region ; routing him before he should
be fairly awake, stampeding his men,
running off his animals, and burning
his trains. Accordingly, about 1
a. m.,86 they attacked him with Rebel
impetuosity and the unearthly yells
wherein they stood confessedly unri-

sions: Pollard says they were but six regi
ments. 860et. 29.

436

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

valed, driving in his pickets on a
run, and following them into his
lines; but they found him wide
awake, and no wise inclined to panic
or running. Charged at once on
three sides, he met the enemy with
a fire as deadly as theirs, and. with
ranks steadier and firmer than those
of a charging column could be, and
was fully holding his own against
them, when Carl Schurz's division of
Howard's corps came rushing from
Hooker to his aid; Tyndale's brig
ade assaulting and carrying the hill
whence they were enfiladed on their
left, while a thin brigade of Stein-
wehr's division, which closely fol
lowed, was led by Col. Orlan Smith,
73d Ohio, on a charge up a very
steep, diftlcult hill farther behind;
carrying it without a shot, and tak
ing some prisoners. It was now
time for the Rebels to be off, and
they left — all save 153 who lay dead
in Geary's front, and over 100 pris
oners. Their reports admit a loss
of 361. Darkness prevented any ef
fective pursuit. Hooker's total loss
here was 416," including Gen. Green
severely, and Col. Underwood, 33d
Mass., desperately wounded. Capt.
Geary, son of the General, was
killed. There can be no severer test of the
quality of soldiers than such a night
attack, in a country whereof they
know nothing and their assailants
know every thing ; and when the pre
sumption is strong that the latter
must have carefully measured their
strength, and know what they have
to do. Geary's men were inferior in
number to their foes; but the ordeal
was nobly passed. No regiment

quailed; and, though the 73d Ohio
suffered most, losing over 100, the
charge of the 33d Massachusetts and
that of the 136th New York, Col.
James Wood, Jr., were equally .in
trepid and effective. This beginning
of its work in the West signally in
spirited and prepared Hooker's com
mand for the arduous labors before it.
The flight of the Rebels occurred
at 4 a. m., before all Howard's corps
had arrived ; those in the rear were
now halted and impelled in an oppo
site direction ; soon clearing Raccoon
mountain of the enemy, with all
west of Lookout valley. And Bragg,
who had weakened himself by send
ing Longstreet against Burnside, did
not feel encouraged to make any
more attacks, but remained quiet
and watchful in his intrenchments
before Chattanooga.
His position was one of remarka
ble strength, along the western and
northern declivities of the difficult
steeps known as Lookout mountain
and Mission ridge, and across the
valley at the mouth of Chattanooga
creek, here very narrow, and so enfi
laded by heavy batteries along its
mountain sides as to be impregnable
to direct assault. Grant was eager
to attack, so as to be able to send aid
to Burnside, who was urgently call
ing for it ; but the utterly broken-
down condition of most of his horses,
rendering them unequal to the task
of hauling his cannon, much less
mounting his cavalry, constrained
him to await the arrival of Sherman,
who, with the 15th corps, then on
the Big Black, had been telegraphed 8'
by Grant, on his assuming command
of this department, to embark a di-

87 Since crossing the Tennessee, 437 : 76
Jfilled, 339 wounded, 22 missing. He estimates

the Rebel loss much higher — some 1,500 ; but
he is clearly in error. M Sept. 22.

SHERMAN REENFORCES GRANT AT CHATTANOOGA. 437

vision at once for Memphis, and had
started it, under Osterhaus, at 4 p. m.
of that day. Repairing next day by
order to Yicksburg, he dispatched
the rest of his corps up the river ; fol
lowing8' himself to Memphis, whence
he marched eastward, repairing and
using the Charleston railroad for his
trains, to Corinth. His forces having
been sent forward from Memphis in
divisions, he took the cars,90 and
reaching, about noon, Colliersville sta
tion, found there the 66th Indiana,
Col. D. C. Anthony, just undergoing
an attack by Chalmers, with 3,000
Bebel cavalry and 8 guns. Having
as escort a battalion of the 13th regu
lars, he helped beat off the assailants,
and moved on ; reaching Corinth that
night. But the Rebels did not seem recon
ciled to his movements, and were con
stantly infesting Osterhaus's division,
who held the advance, supported by
Morgan L. Smith's, both under the
command of Frank Blair, as well as
John E. Smith's, which covered the
working parties engaged in repairing
the railroad ; so that the movement
had to be made circumspectly and
slowly. Stephen D. Lee, with Rod
dy's and Ferguson's brigades, made
up a force of about 5,000 irregular
cavalry, who were constantly watch
ing for chances to do mischief; and,
though not strong enough to be per
ilous, they were so lively as to be
vexatious. At length, they got di
rectly in the way at Cane creek,"
near Tuscumbia, compelling Blair to
hurt some of them before they would
move. By this time — Hooker having
long since arrived on the Tennessee
— Grant had become impatient for
more decisive operations, and a mes

senger reached Sherman with

an

order to drop all work on the rail
road, and push on rapidly to Bridge
port. Moving energetically to East-
port, Sherman found there two gun
boats and a decked coal-barge, which
Admiral Porter, at his request, had
sent up the Tennessee from Cairo, to
facilitate his crossing ; but two trans:
ports and a ferry-boat soon arrived,"
by whose aid Sherman was pushing
on next day, leaving Blair to protect
his rear. Arrived at Rogersville, he
found the Elk unbridged and unford-
able, and was compelled to move up
its right bank to Fayetteville, cross
ing there on a stone bridge, and
marching by Winchester andDecherd
to Bridgeport ; °8 whence he forthwith
reported in person to Grant at Chat
tanooga," being at once made ac
quainted with the plans of the Gen
eral commanding, and accompanying
him to a survey of the positions of
the enemy; returning forthwith to
Bridgeport to expedite the movement
of his troops.
Grant had resolved to put in Sher
man's force mainly on his left — or
up the Tennessee ; so his first point
was to make Bragg believe that he
should use it on his extreme right.
To this end, his divisions were crossed
as they arrived at Bridgeport; the
foremost (Ewing's) moving by Shell
Mound to Trenton, threatening to as
sail and turn Bragg's extreme right.
But the residue of this army, as it
came up, moved quietly and screened
from Rebel observation to Kelly's
ford, recrossing on Smith's pontoons,
and marching around Chattanooga
to its assignedjposition on the left ,of
Thomas, where materials had already
been noiselessly prepared for throw-

" Sept. 27. "° Oct. 11.. " Oct. 27. ™ Oct. 31. 8S Nov. 13. M Nov. 15.

438

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ing a bridge across the river above
the town. At the proper time, Hugh
S. Ewing's division was drawn back
from Trenton and followed the oth
ers to our extreme left ; but the
roads were so bad, and the over
taxed bridges broke so frequently —
the river being swelled by heavy rains
— that unexpected delays occurred;
and Osterhaus's division was left to
aid Hooker on the right.
Grant, impatient to relieve Burn
side, had fixed the 21st for the at
tack ; but it was found impossible for
Sherman to get ready by that time ;
in fact, Ewing was not in position
till the 23d, when the movement was
begun. Grant's eagerness to attack was
stimulated by the misguiding report
of a deserter that Bragg was falling "
J] back, when he was only posting his
forces to strengthen himself for the
coming attack. A most impertinent
message" from the Rebel chief, re
ceived two days before, had strength
ened Grant's suspicion that Bragg was
mainly intent on getting safely away
from that dangerous neighborhood.
Hence, before Sherman was fairly in
position, Thomas was ordered97 to
advance our center, and see what was
behind the Rebel picket-bne facing
Chattanooga. Hooker's purposed at
tack on Lookout mountain was sus
pended, and Howard's (llth) corps
pushed over to Chattanooga and tem
porarily added to Thomas's command.
The movement was initiated by
i Granger's (4th) corps ; Sheridan's di
vision on the right, Wood's on the

left, reaching nearly to Citico creek ;
Palmer, of the 14th corps, supporting
Granger's right with Baird's division,
refused; Johnson's division under
arms in our intrenchments, ready to
move to any point at a word. How
ard's corps was Likewise held in read
iness to act whenever required.
It was 2 p. m. when Granger's
men moved out ; advancing stead
ily, squarely, swiftly, upon the Rebel
intrenchments, driving before them
pickets, reserves, and grand guards,
and rushing into the Rebel rifle-pits,
on the low hill known as Orchard
ridge, where they made some 200
prisoners. This was done so quickly
that no force was, and probably none
could have been, sent from Bragg's ~
main camp, somewhat farther away
from us, to resist it; and Granger,
under orders to secure his new posi
tion at once by temporary breast
works, and throw out strong pickets,
while Howard moved up on his left,
was soon too well established to be
expelled during the remaining day
light: so he held on, unmolested,
through the night.
Hooker was now to take the labor
ing oar, by an assault on the north
face and west side of Lookout moun
tain, attracting the enemy's attention
to that quarter while Sherman should
lay his pontoons and cross the Ten
nessee on our left, near the mouth of
the Chickamauga. Accordingly,
Hooker, at 4 a. m., was under arms
and ready to advance ; but an unex
pected obstacle confronted him. The
heavy rain of the 21st and 22d had

M Nov. 22.
""'HEADQtTAKTBKSAKMTOPTHETBOTrESSEE, )
"In the Field, Nov. 20, 1863. f
"Maj.-Gen. U. S. Ghaut, Commanding U. S.
forces at Chattanooga:
" General : Aa there may still be some non-

combatants in Chattanooga, I deem it proper to
notify you that prudence would dictate then-
early withdrawal.
" I am, General, very respectfully, your obe
dient servant, Bbaxto_ Bragg, Gen. Com'g."
•7 Nov. 23.

HOOKER CARRIES LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN.

439

not only deranged our pontoon
bridges; it had so swelled Lookout
creek that it was unfordable : so he
dispatched Geary, supported by
Cruft, up the creek to Wauhatchie,
there to cross and hold the right
bank, while the residue of bis com-
mand should construct temporary
bridges directly in their front, lower
down. A heavy mist favored this move
ment, which would otherwise have
been perilous ; as it was, the enemy
were so intent on watching Hooker's
bridge-builders that they did not ob
serve Geary, who crossed the creek
at 8 a. m.,98 capturing a picket of 42
men posted at the bridge, resting
here his left, extending his right to
the foot of the mountain, on the
enemy's side of the valley, facing
northward. Gross's brigade now,
by Hooker's order, advanced and
seized the bridge over the creek just
below the railroad crossing, and
pushed across there. Now Oster
haus, who had just come up from
Brown's ferry, pushed forward
Wood's brigade to a point half a mile
above Gross, laid a temporary bridge,
and crossed there. Meanwhile, our
batteries, established on the most
available hills, were so planted as to
enfilade the Rebel infantry, as they
marched down from their camp on
the mountain to man their breast
works and rifle-pits. Part of them
had taken post behind a railroad
embankment, and kept up a deadly
fire with little exposure or loss on
their part. Still, Hooker's men —
they were 9,681, all told, and no two
divisions of them had hitherto fought
in the same battle — acted from the first
as though they were bound to conquer.

By 11 a. m., Wood had his bridge
finished; Geary was close at hand,
skirmishing smartly ; and now all
our guns opened in concert; while
Wood and Gross, springing, across
the creek, joined Geary's left, and
moved down the valley, sweeping all
before them ; taking many prisoners
in their rifle-pits, and allowing few
to escape up the mountain ; our men
from right to left following at full
speed, right under the muzzles of the
enemy's guns ; climbing over ledges
and bowlders, crests and chasms, and
driving the Rebels through their
camp without allowing them to halt
there; hurling them back with Lit
tle more than a show of fighting;
Geary's advance rounding the peak
of the mountain about noon, and still
pressing on ; though Hooker, who
knew that Bragg had reenforced this
wing, but not to what extent, had
given orders that they be halted and
reformed on reaching the summit ;
but the men would not be halted, but
rushed forward, making hundreds of
prisoners, and hurling the residue
down the precipitous eastern declivity
of the mountain.
Darkness, at 2 p. m., arrested our
victorious arms ; the mountain being
now enveloped in a cloud so thick
and black as to render farther move
ment perilous, if not impossible ;
when Hooker's Line was established
along the east brink of the precipice,
its left near the mouth of Chatta
nooga creek ; where, by 4 p. m., it
was so fortified, by whatever means
were at hand, that he sent word to
Grant that his position was impreg
nable. At 5 J, Brig.-Gen. Carlin, of the
14th corps, reported to him, and,

8 Nov. 24.

440

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

with his brigade, was assigned to
duty on the extreme right, where
Geary's men were nearly exhausted
with hours of cHmbing and fighting.
This wing was assailed, about dark,
but to no purpose^Cariin easily re
pelling the enemy ; who, before
morning, abandoned the mountain
altogether, leaving 20,000 rations
and the camp equipage of three brig
ades, as they silently dropped into the
Chattanooga valley.
Sherman had begun to cross the
Tennessee early this morning.99 His
pontoons had been prepared in the
little creek on the north side, called
the North Chickamauga ; whence
they, before daylight, were pushed
out into the river, bearing 30 men
each, and floated silently past the
Rebel pickets, along the south bank,
to the destined point just below the
mouth of the South or real Chicka
mauga, where they struck the hostile
shore, capturing a picket of 20 before
their coming was suspected. The
steamboat Dunbar, with a tow-barge,
having been employed during the
night in ferrying across horses pro
cured from Sherman, wherewith to
move Thomas's artillery, was sent up
to hasten the crossing here ; and, by
daybght, 8,000 of Sherman's men
were over the river and so established
in rifle-trenches as to be prepared for
an assault by twice their number.
By noon, Sherman had bridges across
both the Tennessee and the South
Chickamauga, and was pushing over
the rest of his command ; and, at 8%
p. m., he had, by sharp fighting, car
ried the north end of Mission ridge
nearly to the railroad tunnel; and
here he so fortified himself during
ihe night as to be ready for any

emergency. Meantime, Col. Long,
with his brigade of Thomas's cavaby,
had crossed the Tennessee and the
Chickamauga on our left, and raided
on the enemy's lines of communica
tion; burning Tyner's Station, and,
pushing out to Cleveland, capturing
200 prisoners, with 100 wagons, and
destroying considerable Rebel stores,
with small loss on our side.
,Thomas this day improved and
strengthened his advanced positions ;
pushing Howard's corps up the Ten
nessee till it joined hands with Sher
man, just as -the latter had brought
his rear division across the river.
Thus, by continuous though mode
rate advances, our army, at small
cost, had wrested from the enemy
several important advantages of po
sition, and was now stretched in un
broken line from the north end of
Lookout mountain to the north end
of Mission ridge, with the enemy
compressed between them.
Next morning,100 Hooker moved
down from Lookout mountain, and
across Chattanooga valley, which his
hold of Lookout mountain had com
pelled the enemy to abandon, burn
ing the bridge over the creek ; which
arrested our advance here for three
hours. So soon as our new bridge
could be crossed, Osterhaus pushed
on to Rossville ; driving the enemy
out of the gap in Mission ridge by
flanking them, and capturing guns,
munitions, wagons, &c. By this
time, the bridge was finished, and
Hooker's force all over : so Hooker
undertook, as ordered, to clear Mis
sion ridge, on his left, of the enemy :
Osterhaus moving eastward of the
ridge, Geary on the west of it, and
Cruft directly upon it, the batteries

m Nov. 24.

100 Nov. 25.

HOOKER STILL AD V A NCI NG— SHERMAN CHECKED. 441

with Geary, and all moving together
toward Bragg and Chattanooga. In
the progress of the movement, the
narrowness of the crest compelled a
division of Cruft's command into
two h'nes.
The enemy's front was protected
by breastworks, thrown up by our
men while holding here in front of
Bragg's triumphant army during the
night and day following the fight of
Chickamauga, and they seemed dis
posed to hold on ; but that was not to
be. As their skirmishers advanced to
check our movement, the 9th and the
36th Indiana sprang forward, form
ing Line under their fire, and, in
stantly charging, drove them back ;
while the residue of our column
formed line : Gross's brigade, with
the 51st Ohio and 35th Indiana, in
advance ; the residue of Whitaker's
brigade, closely supporting; Geary
and Osterhaus advancing abreast of
them ; and all, at a charging pace,
swept on, pushing back all opposi
tion; every attempt of the enemy to
make a stand being defeated by a
withering flank-fire from Geary and
Osterhaus, who gathered up as pris
oners all who sought escape by flight
down the ridge. Osterhaus alone
took 2,000 of them. Those who fled
along the ridge were intercepted by
Johnson's division of Thomas's corps,
who were now advancing from the
direction of Chattanooga. At sun
set, Hooker halted for the night, there
being no more enemies in his front ;
his troops going into bivouac on the
rocky steeps they had so nobly won.
Gen. Sherman, who had been for
tifying his position during the night,
received orders to attack at daylight
this morning, and did so ; finding
the ground far more difficult than he

had anticipated. The ridge was not
continuous, but a succession of emi
nences : that which he had carried
being commanded by that in his
front, across quite a valley ; its crest
covered with forest, and bristhng
with breastworks and abatis. But,
difficult as was the task, these works
must be carried; and by sunrise
Sherman had completed his disposi
tions and given the order to ad
vance. Gen. Corse, with a regiment from
Lightburn's brigade, was directed
to advance along the ridge; Gen.
Morgan L. Smith to move along its
east base^ connecting with Corse;
Col. Loomis, in like manner, was to
advance along its west base, support
ed by two reserve brigades under
Gen. John E. Smith. And thus our
line moved on: the 40th Illinois,
supported by the 20th and 46th Ohio,
pushing directly down the face of the
hill held by Sherman and up that
held by the enemy, to within eighty
yards of the Rebel intrenchments,
where Gen. Corse found a secondary
crest, which he gained and held;
catting up his reserves, and preparing
to assault, when a hand-to-hand con
test was maintained for an hour with
varying success and heavy loss on
our part ; but Corse was unable to
carry the enemy's works, as were
they to drive him from his sheltering
hill. But Gen. Morgan L. Smith on
one side, and Col. Loomis on the
other, gained ground on the flanks,
though John E. Smith's supporting
brigades recoiled before a sudden and
heavy artillery fire, giving the im
pression in Chattanooga that Sher
man was losing ground. Yet no
ground was really lost by our ad
vance; and an attempt to pursue

442

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the recoiling brigades was promptly
checked by a flanking fire from the
crest ; the enemy taking to the shel
ter of his crest and his woods. Still,
no decided success had been won by
Sherman's column up to 3 p. m.
Meantime, Gen. Giles A. Smith had
been disabled at 4 p. m. of the day
before ; and Gen. Corse had been se
verely wounded at 10 a.m. of this day.
Gen. Grant had been awaiting ad
vices of Hooker's successful advance
on the right, before giving Thomas
the signal to advance. Unaware of
the long detention of Hooker in bridg
ing Lookout creek, he had expected
such advices before noon; and was
still impatiently awaiting them, when,
seeing that Bragg was weakening his
center to support his right, and judg
ing that Hooker must by this time
be at or near Rossville, he gave
Thomas, at 2 p. m., the order to ad
vance and attack.
At once, Baird's, Wood's, Sheri
dan's, and Johnson's divisions went
forward,with double lines of skirmish
ers in front, followed, at easy support
ing distance, by the entire force, right
into the enemy's rifle-pits at the base
of the ridge ; driving out the occu
pants, and hardly stopping to reform
their Lines before they charged right
up the steep and difficult ascent —
slowly, of course, but steadily and in
order; following so close to the re
treating foe as to embarrass, doubt
less, his gunners firing from the crest
of the ridge. Says Gen. Grant, in
his official report :
" These troops moved forward, drove the
enemy from the rifle-pits at the base of the
ridge like bees from a hive, stopped but a
moment until the whole were in line, and
commenced the ascent of the mountain from
right to left almost simultaneously, follow
ing closely the retreating enemy without
further orders. They encountered a fearful

volley of grape and canister from near 30
pieces of artillery and musketry from still
well-filled rifle-pits on the summit of the
ridge. Not a waver, however, was seen in
all that long line of brave men. Their prog
ress was steadily onward until the summit
was in their possession. In this charge, the
casualties were remarkably few for the fire
encountered. I can account for this only
on the theory that the enemy's surprise at the
audacity of such a charge caused confusion
and purposeless aiming of their pieces.
" The nearness of night, and the enemy
still resisting the advance of Thomas's left,
prevented a general pursuit that night ; hut
Sheridan pushed forward to Mission mills.
"The resistance on Thomas's left being
overcome, the enemy abandoned his posi
tion near the railroad tunnel in front of
Sherman, and by midnight was in full re
treat ; and the whole of his strong position
on Lookout mountain, Chattanooga valley,
and Mission ridge, was in our possession, to
gether with a large number of prisoners,
artillery, and small arms."
Says Gen. Thomas, in his report :
" Our troops advancing steadily in a con
tinuous line, the enemy, seized with panic,
abandoned the works at the foot of the hill
and retreated precipitately to the crest;
whither they were closely followed by our
troops, who, apparently inspired by the im
pulse of victory, carried the hill simultane
ously at six different points, and so closely
upon the heels of the enemy, that many of
them were taken prisoners in the trenches.
We captured all their cannon and ammuni
tion, before they could be removed or de
stroyed. After halting a few moments to
reorganize the troops, who had become
somewhat scattered in the assault ofthe hill,
Gen. Sherman pushed forward in pursuit,
and drove those in his front, who escaped
capture, across Chickamauga creek. Gens.
Wood and Baird, being obstinately resisted
by reenforcements from the enemy's ex
treme right, continued fighting until dark
ness set in ; slowly but steadily driving the
enemy before them. In moving upon Ross
ville, Gen. Hooker encountered Stewart's
division and other troops ; finding his left
flank threatened, Stewart attempted to es
cape by retreating toward Greysville ; but
some of his force, finding their retreat threat
ened in that quarter, retired in disorder to
ward their right along the crest of the ridge;
where they were met by another portion of
Gen. IJooker's command, and were driven
by these troops in the face of Johnson's
division of Palmer's corps, by whom they
were nearly all made prisoners."
As yet, we have looked at this re-

BRAGG'S OFFICIAL REPORT,

443

markable action from our own side
exclusively. Let us now see it as it
appeared to Gen. Bragg, posted on
the crest of Mission ridge (until driv
en off), and enjoying by far the wider
and clearer view of it. His report,
being brief and pungent, is here given
almost entire :
" Headquaetebs Aemt of Tennessee, )
"Dalton, Ga., 30th'Nov., 1863. \
" Gen. S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector
General, Richmond:
"Sib — On Monday, the 23d, the enemy
advanced in heavy force, and drove in our
picket line in front of Missionary ridge, but
made no further effort.
" On Tuesday morning early, they threw
over the river a heavy force, opposite the
north end of the ridge, and just below the
mouth of the Chickamauga; at the same
time displaying a heavy force in our imme
diate front. After visiting the right, and
making dispositions there for the new de
velopment in that direction, I returned
toward the left, to find a heavy cannonad
ing going on from the enemy's batteries on
our forces occupying the slope of Lookout
mountain, between the crest and the river.
A very heavy force soon advanced to the
assault, and was met by one brigade only,
Walthall's, which made a desperate resist
ance, but was finally compelled to yield
ground. Why this command was not sus
tained is yet unexplained. The commander
on that part ofthe field, Maj.-Gen. Steven-
Bon, had six brigades at Ms disposal. Upon
Ms urgent appeal, another brigade was dis
patched in the afternoon to his support —
though it appeared his own forces had not
been brought into action — and I proceeded
to the scene.
" Arriving just before sunset, I found
that we had lost all the advantages of the
position. Orders were immediately given
for the ground to be disputed until we
could withdraw our forces across Chatta
nooga creek, and the movement was com
menced. This having been successfully
accomplished, our whole forces were con
centrated on the ridge, and extended to the
right to meet the movement in that direc
tion. " On Wednesday, the 25th, I again
visited the extreme right, now under Lt.-
Gen. Hardee, and threatened by a heavy
force, whilst strong columns could be seen
inarching in that direction. A very heavy
force in line of battle confronted our left
and center.
"On my return to this point, about 11
A. M., the enemy's forces were being moved

in heavy masses from Lookout, and beyond,
to our front, whilst those in front extended
to our right. They formed their lines with
great deliberation, just beyond the range of
our guns, and in plain view of our position.
" Though greatly outnumbered, such was
the strength of our position that no doubt
was entertained of our ability to hold it,
and every disposition was made for that
purpose. During this time, they had made
several attempts on our extreme right, and
had been handsomely repulsed, with very
heavy loss, by Maj.-Gen. Cleburne's com
mand, under the immediate direction of
Lt.-Gen. Hardee. By the road across the
ridge at Rossville, far to our left, a route
was open to our rear. Maj.-Gen. Breckin
ridge, commanding on the left, had occupied
this with two regiments and a battery. It
being reported to me that a force of the
enemy had moved in that direction, the
General was ordered to have it reconnoi-
tered, and to make every disposition neces
sary to secure his flank ; which he proceeded
to do.
"About half-past 3 p. m., the immense
force in the front of our left and center ad
vanced in three lines, preceded by heavy
skirmishers. Our batteries opened with
fine effect, and much confusion was pro
duced, before they reached musket range.
In a short time, the roar of musketry be
came very heavy, and it was soon apparent
that the enemy had been repulsed in my
immediate front.
" Whilst riding along the crest, congratu
lating the troops, intelligence reached me
that our line was broken on my right, and
the enemy had crowned the ridge. Assist
ance was promptly dispatched to that point
under Brig.-Gen. Bate, who had so success
fully maintained the ground in my front ;
and I proceeded to the rear of the broken
line to rally our retiring troops, and return
them to the crest to drive the enemy back.
Gen. Bate found the disaster so great that
his small force could not repair it. About
this time, I learned that our extreme left
had also given way, and that my position
was almost surrounded. Bate was imme
diately directed to form a second line in the
rear, where, by the efforts of my staff, a
nucleus of stragglers had been formed, upon
which to rally.
"Lt.-Gen. Hardee, leaving Maj.-Gen.
Cleburne in command on the extreme right,
moved toward the left, when he heard the
heavy firing in that direction. He reached
the right of Anderson's division just in time
to find it had nearly all fallen back, com
mencing on its left, where the enemy had
first crowned the ridge. By a prompt and
judicious movement, he threw a portion of
Cheatham's division directly across the

444'

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ridge, facing the enemy, who was now
moving a strong force immediately on his
left flq,nk. By a decided stand here, the
enemy was entirely checked, and that por
tion of our force to the right remained
intact. AH to the left, however, except a
portion of Bate's division, was entirely
routed, and in rapid flight ; nearly all the
artillery having been shamefully abandoned
by its infantry support. Every effort which
could be made by myself and staff, and by
many other mounted officers, availed but
little. A panic, which I had never before
witnessed, seemed to have seized upon offi
cers and m.en, and each seemed to be strug
gling for his personal safety, regardless of
his duty or his character. In this distress
ing and alarming state of affairs, Gen. Bate
was ordered to hold his position, covering
the road for the retreat of Breckinridge's
command ; and orders were immediately
sent to Gens. Hardee and Breckinridge to
retire their forces npon the depdt at Chicka
mauga. Fortunately,, it was now near
nightfall, and the country and roads in our
rear were fully known to us, but equally
unknown to the enemy. The routed left
made its way back in great disorder, effec
tually covered, however, by Bate's small
command, which had a sharp conflict with
the enemy's advance, driving it back.
After night, all being quiet, Bate retired in
good order, the enemy attempting no pur
suit. Lt.-Gen. Hardee's command, under
his judicious management, retired in good
order and unmolested.
" As soon as all the troops had crossed,
the bridges over the Chickamauga were
destroyed, to impede the enemy, though the
stream was fordable in several places.
" No satisfactory excuse can possibly be
given for the shameful conduct of our
troops on the left, in allowing their line to
be penetrated. The position was one
which ought to have been held by a line of
skirmishers against any assaulting column ;
and, wherever resistance was made, the
enemy fled in disorder, after suffering
heavy loss. Those who reached the ridge,
did so in a condition of exhaustion from the
great physical exertion in climbing, which
rendered them powerless ; and the slightest
effort would have destroyed them.
" Having secured much of our artillery,
they soon availed themselves of our panic,
and, turning our guns upon us, enfiladed
our lines, both right and left, rendering
them entirely untenable. Had all parts of
the line been maintained with equal gallan
try and persistence, no enemy could ever
have dislodged us; and but one possible
reason presents itself to my mind in ex
planation of this bad conduct in veteran
troopa, who had never before failed in any

duty assigned them, however difficult and
hazardous. They had for two days con
fronted the enemy, marshaling his immense
forces in plain view, and exhibiting to their
sight such a superiority in numbers, as may
have, intimidated weak minds and untried
soldiers. But our veterans had so often en
countered similar hosts, when the strength
of position was against us, and with perfect
success, that not a doubt crossed my mind.
As yet, I am not fully informed as to the
commands which first fled and brought this
great disaster and disgrace upon our arms.
Investigation will bring out the truth, how
ever ; and full justice shall be done to the
good and the bad.
"After arriving at Chickamauga, and in
forming myself of the full condition of
affairs, it was decided to put the army in
motion for a point farther removed from a
powerful and victorious army, that we
might have some little time to replenish
and recuperate for another struggle. The
enemy made pursuit as far as Ringgold ; but
was so handsomely checked by Maj.-Gen.
Cleburne and Brig.-Gen. Gist, in command
of their respective divisions, that he gave us
but little annoyance.
" Our losses are not yet ascertained ; but
in killed and wounded it is known to have
been very small. In prisoners and strag
glers, I fear it is much larger.
" The chief of artillery reports the loss of
forty (40) pieces.
" I am, sir, very respectfully, your obe
dient servant, Beaxtou Bkagg,
".General Commanding."
He is not usually accounted a good
workman who disparages his tools;
and the soldiers thus discredited by
Bragg were mainly those who fought
so bravely, skillfully, tenaciously, suc
cessfully, at the Chickamauga, barely
two months before. They were prob
ably reduced by the casualties of that
bloody contest, by Longstreet's with
drawal, and otherwise, to 40,000;
while Grant must have had here not
less than ?0,000, nearly all of whom
were brought into action. This dis
parity of numbers, together with the
fact that the movements on our side
appear to have been judiciously
planned, skillfully combined, and
vigorously made, explain the result
more naturally than does Bragg's as-

CLEBURNE TURNS ON HOOKER AT RINGGOLD.

445

sertion, that his men quite generally
and shamefully misbehaved and were
panic-stricken. It is plain that they
were largely outnumbered, and that
they saw and felt it ; yet, with such
dispositions, such handling on both
si_es, as rendered Fredericksburg a
black disaster to us, there is no obvi
ous reason for believing that Bragg's
eyrie, so difficult of approach, might
not have been triumphantly held
Thomas returned directly from the
battle-field to Chattanooga to expe
dite the movement of Granger's corps
thence to the relief of Knoxville ;
while Sherman and Hooker pursued,
at daylight,101 the routed columns of
Bragg : the former, by way of Chick
amauga Station ; the latter by Greys-
ville and Ringgold ; Palmer, in his ad
vance, having overtaken and charged
by the way the Rebel rear-guard un
der Gist, breaking it and capturing
,3 guns : our advance— badly delayed
by the non-arrival of pontoons at the
Chickamauga — bivouacking on the
crest of the ridge east of that stream,
and resuming the pursuit at dawn
next morning;103 Osterhaus leading,
followed by Geary, and he by Cruft ;
and going into Ringgold, 5 miles far
ther, close on the heels of the flying
enemy. Cleburne was now in command
here — a man always hard to drive —
and the gap in Taylor's or White
Oak ridge, through which he was re
treating, was one easy to hold and
difficult to cany. Having guns ad
vantageously posted, he refused to be
hurried ; while our men, flushed and
exultant, could not be restrained
from attacking, though our guns
were still behind, having been de
tained at the crossing of the Chicka

mauga, where the enemy had burned
the bridge behind him. A most gal
lant but rash effort was made to drive
him out, wherein the 13th Illinois
was honorably conspicuous. Two or
three charges on our part were re
pulsed with loss ; and it was not till
afternoon, when some of our guns
had come up, and the mouth of the
gap had been flanked by our infantry
crowning the ridge on either hand,
that Cleburne was persuaded to con
tinue his retreat ; having inflicted on
Hooker a loss of 65 killed and 367
wounded. The enemy left 130 killed
and wounded on the field Hooker
remained at Ringgold till Dec. 1st ;
but was not allowed to advance:
Sherman, with a large portion of
our army, having been dispatched to
the rehef of Knoxville. Meantime,
Gross's brigade visited the battle
field of Chickamauga and buried the
moldering remains of many of our
slain, who had been left by Bragg to
Lie as they fell. Osterhaus took post
in the valley of the Chattanooga,
while Geary and Cruft returned to
their camps in Lookout valley.
Granger's corps turned back from
the battle-field to Chattanooga,103 and
was impelled directly thence to the
rehef of Knoxville — Sherman's corps
Likewise turning back104 from Greys-
ville, he assuming command also over
Granger, and moving rapidly by
Charleston, Athens, and Loudon, to
Knoxville;106 making the last 84
miles over East Tennessee roads in
three December days ; thus compel
ling Longstreet to raise the siege and
decamp; then turning at once and
marching back to Chattanooga.

Grant states om- losses in this se-

"'Nov.26.

m Nov. 27.

103 Nov. 25-6.

'"Nov. 29.

106 Dec 6.

446

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ries of struggles (not including Burn
side's at Knoxville) at 757 killed,
4,529 wounded, and 330 missing:
total, 5,616 ;106 and adds:
"We captured 6,142 prisoners, of whom
239 were commissioned officers ; 40 pieces
of artillery, 69 artillery carriages and cais
sons, and 7,000 stand of small arms."
Bragg's loss in killed and wounded
was comparatively Hght — his men
fighting mainly behind breastworks,
in rifle-pits, or on the crests of high
ridges, where they suffered little, and
getting rapidly out of the way of
danger when it came too near them.
Probably 3,000 J" would cover his
killed and wounded — at least 1,000

of the latter being included in our
lists of prisoners. These, however,
ultimately exceeded the number re
ported by Grant ; while Bragg's loss
by stragglers must have been very
considerable. On the whole, his
army was doubtless weakened by this
struggle and its result by not less
than 10,000 men ; while its losses in
guns, munitions, supplies, and camp
equipage, were seldom paralleled.
No further fighting of consequence
took place in this vicinity that Win
ter, and our possession of Chatta
nooga was not thenceforth seriously
disputed.

XIX.
MISSOURI AND ARKANSAS IN 1863.

Missouri, save when fitfully in
vaded or disturbed by domestic insur
rection, remained under the Union
fiag from and after the expulsion of
Price's army by Eremont near the
close of 1861.1 But the Rebel ele
ment of her population, though over
powered, was still bitter, and was
stirred into fitful activity by frequent
emissaries from compatriots serving
with Price, Marmaduke, and other
chiefs, who, with their Governor,
Claiborne E. Jackson, who died in
Arkansas,2 and his Lieutenant, Tho
mas C. Reynolds, who thenceforth

assumed the role of Confederate*
Governor, invincibly hoped, and in
trigued, and struggled, for a restora
tion to the homes they had deserted
and the power they by treason had
forfeited. Hardly had the year opened, when
a Rebel force, led by Marmaduke,
estimated at 4,000 strong, mostly
mounted, emerged from northern
Arkansas, and, evading our main
body, under Gen. Blunt, struck at
Springfield, known to be filled with
Federal munitions and provisions,
bghtly guarded. But that important

Thomas's  8.955
Total  6,804

me rp^- ret;Urns 0f fag corps commanders add
up as follows :
Hooker's  960
Sherman's  1,989
And even this makes the loss in Granger's
corps (included with Thomas) but 2,391 ; where
as, Granger makes it about 2,700. It is proba
ble that our entire loss here was at least 7,000.
Among our killed were Cols. Putnam, 93d
El., O'iieara, 90th LI., and Torrence, 80th Io

wa ; among our wounded, Cols. Baum, 56th I1L,
Wangeline, 12th Mo., Wiley, 41st Ohio, and Ber
ry, 5th Ky.
107 The Telegraph (London) had a Richmond
correspondent's description of these battles,
which estimates the Confederate loss in killed
and wounded at 2,500, and in prisoners at 5,000.
1 See Yol. I., pp. 592-3.
3 At Little Rock, Dee. 6, 1862.

FIGHT AT HARTSTILLE — THE SAM GATT.

447

post had by this time been rudely
fortified with detached earthworks,
which were of decided service agamst
raw, undisciplined troops, as Marma
duke's appear to have been. Spring
field was held by Brig.-Gen. E. B.
Brown, Missouri militia, whose en
tire strength can not have exceeded
1,200 men, mainly State militia, with
156 ofthe 118th Iowa, Lt.-Col. Thos.
Cook, reenforced, on the instant, by
some 300 convalescents from the hos
pitals, known in army jargon as 'the
Quinine Brigade,' Col. B. Crabb.
With this motley force, Brown fought
the Rebels bravely and skillfully from
10 A. m.s till dark ; when they desist
ed and drew off, having taken one
gun and lost some 200 men. Our
loss was 14 killed, 145 wounded, and
5 missing ; but among our wounded
was Gen. Brown, whose valor had
animated his men to fight gallantly,
and whose able dispositions had pro
bably saved the post.
The Rebels moved eastward ; their
advance striking,* at daylight, at
Wood's fork, the 21st Iowa, Col.
Merrill, which, after some fighting,
they flanked, moving by a more
southerly route, on Haktsville ;
where Col. Merrill was joined by the
99th Illinois, with portions of the 3d
Missouri and 3d Iowa cavalry, sup
porting Lt. Waldschmidt's battery,
and was ready to dispute their prog
ress. A spirited fight ensued, where
in the enemy was repulsed, with a
loss of about 300, including Brig.-
Gen. Emmett McDonald, Cols. Por
ter, Thompson, and Hinkley, killed ;
having 1 gun dismounted and aban
doned. Our. loss was 78, including
7 killed. Merrill, short of ammuni
tion, fell back, after the fight, on Le-

'Jan. 8. * Jan. 10.

sFeb. 4. 'Feb. 28.

banon ; while Marmaduke, moving
13 miles eastward that night, turned
abruptly southward and escaped into
Arkansas before a sufficient force
could be concentrated to intercept
him. Repairing, with a part of his force,
to Batesville, Marmaduke was here
attacked 6 by the 4th Missouri caval
ry, Col. Geo. E. Waring, who drove
him over the river, taking Col. Ad
ams prisoner, with others. In a fight
the day before, a Rebel band of guer
rillas had been routed in Mingo
swamp by Maj. Reeder ; their lead
er, Dan. McGee, being killed, with
7 others, and 20 wounded. Lt.-CoL
Stewart, with 130 of the 10th Illinois
and 1st Arkansas cavalry, scouting
from Fayetteville, Ark., surprised
and captured,6 at Van Buren, the Ar
kansas river steamboat Julia Roon;
making 300 prisoners.
Gen. Curtis was rebeved 7 as com-
manfler of the Department of Mis
souri ; Gen. Schofield being ultimate
ly appointed " to succeed him.
The Missouri steamboat Sam Gaty,
Capt. McCloy, was stopped9 at Sib
ley's landing, near Independence,
by a gang of guerrillas, headed by
George Todd, who frightened the
pilot into running her ashore, robbed
boat and passengers of money and
valuables, and then proceeded to
murder a number of unarmed White
passengers, with 20 out of 80 negroes
who were known to be on board, and
who were the ostensible object of the
raid. The other 60 made their es
cape ; but all who were taken were
drawn up in hne by the side of the
boat and shot, one by one, through
the head. Barely one of them sur
vived. They were probably escaping
sMayl3. 'March 28.

' March 9.

448

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

from slavery to Missouri Rebels ; and
this was their masters' mode of pun
ishing that offense.
Fayetteville was our chief outpost
on the Arkansas frontier ; and here
Col. M. L. Harrison, with the 1st
Arkansas (Union) infantry and 1st
Arkansas cavalry, was charged 10 by
Gen. W. L. Cabell, who, with 2,000
mounted men and 2 guns, had rap
idly crossed the Boston mountains
from Ozark, intending to attack at
daylight, but not arriving till after
sunrise. After due shelling, a spir
ited cavalry charge on our right wing
was led by Col. Munroe, but repulsed;
and by noon the enemy were on their
way back to Ozark. Harrison, hav
ing very few horses, was unable to
pursue. His loss was but 4 killed,
26 wounded, 16 prisoners, and 35
" missing," whom he bluntly reports
as "mostly stampeded to Cassville
during the engagement." He took
55 prisoners, 50 horses, and 100 "shot
guns. He says all of his force Who did
any fighting numbered less than 500.
Marmaduke, after his failure in
south-western Missouri and his mis
hap at Batesville, repaired to Lit
tle Rock ; where a new campaign
was planned, in conjunction with
the choice spirits there assembled.
South-western Missouri was prepon
derantly Union ; while south-eastern,
at least below the Iron mountain,
was considered otherwise. It is an
unprepossessing, swampy, thinly peo
pled region, and had been scouted
over by each party in turn, and
not firmly held by either. Leaving
Little Rock about the middle of
April, with Price's ' 1st corps of the
trans-Mississippi department,' report
ed (doubtless, with exaggeration) as

10,000 strong, he moved north-east
ward into Missouri;11 marching up
the St. Francis to Frederickton,1"
thence striking south-eastward at
Cape Girardeau, a large depot of
Union army stores, on the Missis
sippi, whither Gen. John McNeil had
repaired from Bloomfield, with 1,200
men and 6 guns ; reaching it, by hard
marching, two days before Marma
duke's arrival.1' McNeil found here
500 men, mainly of the 1st Nebraska,
Lt.-Col. Baumer, with 4 more guns,
behind four very rude and simple
earthworks. As a measure, of pru
dence, he sent away most of the
stores on steamboats, and was then
ready for. the fight with whioh Mar-
maduke, with four brigades, soon ac
commodated him: the place being
first formally summoned "by order
of Maj.-Gen. Sterling Price" (who
was not within 100 miles) — 30 min
utes being allowed for an answer;
but only one was taken. The enemy
next shelled a while ; when another
summons was sent ; but McNeil re
fused to stop firing or to make any
answer. And now gunboats were
seen coming up with reenforcements
to the besieged, and Marmaduke
drew off," having lost considerably,
and commenced his retreat toward
Arkansas ; which he was enabled, by
burning bridges, to prosecute with
Httle loss — McNeil having been
ranked by Gen. Yandever, who ar
rived with the reenforcements, and
whose ideas of pursuit were of the
slow-and-easy pattern. Two or three
ineffective skirmishes occurred be
tween our advance and the Rebel
rear : McNeil, in the last, having his
horse shot : but Marmaduke got over
the St. Francis unharmed, and was

M April 18.

11 April 20.

13 April 22.

'April 25.

" April 26.

BLUNT DEFEATS COOPER AT HONET SPRINGS.

449

thenceforth safe ; retreating into Ar
kansas with as many prisoners as we
had taken from him j but bis losses
in killed and wounded were far the
heavier. The next blow in this department
was struck15 by the Rebels, perhaps
3,000 strong, under Col. Coffey, at
Fort Blunt," in the Cherokee Na
tion, which was held by Col. Wm.
A. Phillips, with some 800 mounted
men and a regiment of Creek Indi
ans. Phillips's Indian scouts proved
untrustworthy, letting the enemy ap
proach him unannounced; still, he
had works which they did not care
to attack, but, crossing the Arkansas,
jJbunced upon his cattle, that were
grazing on his left, and took the
whole ; only a part being recovered
by a charge of his mounted men.
"The Creek regiment refused to
charge, or they would all have been
saved," the Colonel dolefully reports.
The enemy posted themselves in
a strong position five miles from
his fort; and there Col. PhilLtps at
tacked them with spirit — he driving
them (or they escaping with their
booty) over the Arkansas, with a loss
of 50 or 60 on each side. Phillips
seems to have conducted his part of
the affair with judgment and energy.
A train of 300 wagons, conveying
supplies from Kansas to Fort Blunt,
and guarded by ten companies of
Western cavalry, with the 1st Kan
sas colored, 800 strong, Col. J. M.
Williams, and 500 Indians, Maj.
Forman, had a fight " at the crossing
of Cabin creek, Indian Territory,
¦with a force of Texans and Indians
under Standwatie, the Cherokee Rebel
chief. The Texans fought well ; but
they were only 700 ; while the Rebel

Indians proved of no account. Stand
watie was driven off, with a total
loss of 23 on our side, including Maj.
Forman, wounded. The Rebels left
40 dead on the field and 9 prisoners.
Gen. Blunt, learning that Fort
Blunt, his advanced post, was in
peril, rode thither from Fort Scott —
175 miles — in five days, arriving just
in time.18 Learning that the Rebel
Gen. Cooper was at Honey Springs,
on Elk creek, 25 miles south, wait
ing, with 6,000 men, for a reenforce-
ment of three regiments from Texas,
which' he expected on the 17th, and
purposed then to advance and fight,
Blunt could not perceive the wisdom
of waiting, but resolved to bring the
matter to issue forthwith. So, set
ting out at midnight," with 250
cavalry and 4 guns, and, moving 13
miles up the Arkansas, he crossed
and came down the other side, driv
ing back the Rebel outpost and be
ginning forthwith to cross in boats
his entire force — 3,000 men, with 12
Light guns. Advancing five miles,
he came upon the enemy, posted
behind Elk creek: their numbers
and position concealed by a -growth
of bushes. At 10 a. _r.,a° Blunt
advanced in two columns, under
Cols. Judson and Phillips ; deploying
rapidly to right and left when within
400 yards of the enemy's fine, with
cavalry dismounted on either flank,
armed with carbines and fighting as
infantry. In two hours, the Rebels
were driven, and, in two or three
more, hunted through two or three
miles of timber to the open prairie,
when they fled in disorder, leaving
behind them 150 dead and 77 pris
oners, with one dismounted gun and
200 small arms. Blunt estimates

" Hay 20. " Near Fort Gibson, Creek Nation.
VOL. II. — 29

"Julyl. "July 10. "July 15-16. "July 17.

450

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

their wounded at 400. Our loss was
17 killed and 60 wounded.
Hardly had Cooper fled, when
Cabell, at 4 p. m., arrived with the
expected Texans, estimated by Blunt
at 3,000 ; but they did not see fit to
attack ; while our men were ex
hausted with marching and fighting,
and were running short of ammuni
tion. So Blunt halted and waited
till next morning; when he ascer
tained that the enemy had decamped
during the night, retreating across
the Canadian.
But, though beaten at the front,
the Rebels soon began to exhibit a
fresh vitabty by means of guerrilla
raids in the rear of our forces. The
6th Missouri cavalry, Col. Cather-
wood, holding Pdsteville, in the
south-west corner of Missouri, was
next attacked 31 by Coffey, raiding up
from Arkansas ; who was beaten off,
with the loss of his wagons, muni
tions, and cattle, with some 200
killed, wounded, and prisoners.
The next raid was more savage and
more successful. It was made by a
bandit termed Quantrell — though
that was not his real name — who,
collecting a force of 300 Rebel
guerrillas on the Blackwater, in
western Missouri, 50 miles from the
State Line, far within the Union
lines, and while no Rebel fiag openly
floated within 100 miles, rode steal
thily across the border and at early
dawn " into the young city of Law
rence, Kansas, where no preparation
for defense existed, for no danger of
attack was ever dreamed of. The
people were surprised in their beds,
the roads picketed, and every one
who emerged from a house with a
weapon was shot down, of course.
81 Aug. 13.

But very few thought of resistance,
which was manifestly idle. The
Eldridge House, the chief hotel, con
tained no arms of any kind, and
was formally surrendered by Capt
Banks, who, frankly avowing himself
a Union officer, insisted on seeing
Quantrell, who assured him that
none who surrendered should receive
personal harm. The banks, stores,
and safes, were all broken open and
robbed, as were the private dwell
ings. All the horses were taken, of
course; otherwise the booty could
not have been carried off. Every
negro and every German who were
caught were killed at once. The
Court-house and many of the best
dwellings were fired and burnt.
Eighteen unarmed recruits were
found at the rendezvous near the city,
and killed ; as were quite a number
of private citizens ; several of them
after they had surrendered and
given up their money under a pro
mise that they should be spared ;
but those taken in the Eldridge
House were protected by Quantrell
and saved., Few, if any, who were
shot, survived. U. S. Senator J. H.
Lane escaped ; as did Col. Deitzler
and some others ; Gen. Collamore,
who hid in a well, was suffocated, as
were two men who successively went
down to help him out. At 10 A. m.,
the work of devastation and murder
was complete — 140 men having been
butchered and 185 buildings burned,
including most of the stores and
one-fourth of the dwellings — and the
bandits left, being fired at by some
soldiers across the Kansas, as they
fled, and three of them killed.
A series of fatahties had prevented
the receipt of any warning of this
"Aug. 21.

STEELE AND DATIDSON MENACE LITTLE ROCK. 451

raid. One man was riding in ad
vance of the raiders, to warn Law
rence, when his horse fell under him
and was killed ; while the rider was
so injured that he died next day.
The banditti had been seen, the
night before, passing five miles south
of Aubrey, near the State Line,
where Capt. Pike, with two cavalry
companies, was stationed ; but Pike,
instead of pursuing them, sent word
to Capt. Coleman, at Little Santa
Fe ; who, with 100 more horsemen,
marched to Aubrey, and, with Pike,
commenced a pursuit ; but the trail
was now cold ; and the pursuers
yere six miles from Lawrence, on
horses thoroughly blown, when the
bandits, with fresh (stolen) horses,
were leaving the scene of .their mur
ders. They were overtaken near
Palmyra by Senator Lane and a weak
party from Lawrence ; but these
could not attack, and were unable to
keep them in sight ; and, in short,
Quantrell, dodging many times his
force, who were after him, rested a
while that night 5 miles north-east of
Paoli, and escaped next day into the
timber of the middle fork of Grand
river, Missouri ; where his band scat
tered, seeking and finding conceal
ment with congenial spirits through
out the surrounding region. Perhaps
100 of them were overtaken and
killed in the pursuit ; but the greater
number escaped, and' were soon in
distinguishable. Col. Woodson, with 600 Missouri
ans, starting" from Pilot JInob, Mo.,
dashed into Pocahontas," Ark., M-here
he captured Gen. M. Jeff. Thompson
and some 50 others; returning un
molested. 
The surrender of Yicksburg and

Port Hudson, with the retreat of Jo.
Johnston from Jackson, having left
Gen. Grant's army at leisure, Maj.-
Gen. F. Steele was sent to Helena,™
to fit out and lead an expedition for
the capture of Little Rook. The
force assigned him for this task num
bered 6,000 men of all arms, includ
ing 500 cavalry, with 22 guns ; but
Gen. Davidson, with nearly 6,000
more men, mainly mounted, and IS
guns, soon joined him from Missouri ;
swelling his aggregate to 12,000 men
and 40 guns. Steele soon moved
out," Davidson's cavaby in advance ;
crossing White river " at Clarendon,
and sending forward 58 Davidson to
reconnoiter the enemy's position at
Brownsville, while he shipped his
extra supplies and his sick — by this
time numbering 1,000 — down to Du-
vall's bluff, which was accounted the
healthiest spot in that unhealthy re
gion. Davidson advanced, skirmishing,
to Brownsville,"0 which Marmaduke
evacuated ; retreating to his intrench
ments at Bayou Metea ; whence he
was, after some fighting, dislodged,;™
and driven over the bayou ; burning\
the bridge behind him, and so check- \
ing pursuit.
Gen. Time's brigade, from Mem
phis, reaching Clarendon on the 20th,
was ferried over the White next
day, and a general advance resumed;
Steele concentrating at Brownsville,
and, after attempting to pass Bayou
Metea on the north and being baffled
by miry swamps, decided to move by
the left to the Arkansas, which he
struck" near Ashley's mills; where
Davidson's cavalry, reconnoitering
in the advance, had another sharp
skirmish with the enemy; Steele,

"Aug. 21. "Aug. 24. "July 31. M Aug. 10. "'Aug. 17. ""Aug. 22. "Aug. 25. "Aug. 27. "Sept. 7.

452

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

finding himself embarrassed with 700
more sick; whom, along with his
train, he was obliged to leave True's
brigade and Bitter's cavalry to guard,
while he pushed up the Arkansas
and fought his way into Little Rock ;
Davidson, supported by two divisions
and two batteries, crossing directly,
and approaching that city on the
south side of the river.
Davidson, having completed his
reconnoissances and fixed on his point
of crossing, threw over his pontoons
during the night,3" and was all over
by 11 a. m. ; the fire of his batteries
having speedily silenced the enemy's
opposition. Advancing directly on
Little Rock, he was more stubbornly
resisted at Bayou Fourche, five miles
out, by Marmaduke's cavalry and
Tappan's brigade of infantry, sup
porting two batteries, strongly post
ed; but Steele, advancing simultane
ously on the north bank of the river,
his batteries fired across at the ene
my obstructing Davidson ; which en
abled the latter slowly to gain
ground, until at length, ordering a
charge by Ritter's brigade and
S/range's howitzers, supported by
;part of the 1st Iowa cavalry, his men
went into the city, saber in hand, on
the heels of the flying enemy ; and,
at 7 p. ar., the capital of Arkansas
was formally surrendered by its civil
authorities : the United States arse
nal being uninjured, and whatever
Rebel stores were there falling into
our hands ; but six steamboats were
completely burned by Price, who had
been in chief command here, with
several railroad cars; while their
three pontoon-bridges and two loco
motives, though also fired by them,
were partially saved.

Steele, moving parallel with Da
vidson, was opposite the city, when
it was evacuated and given up, and
entered it late that evening: the
enemy making for Arkadelphia too
rapidly to be overtaken by our jaded
horses, to say nothing of our men.
Steele says his entire loss to or by
the enemy during this campaign did
not exceed 100 ; yet he had but 7,000
of his 12,000 when he started that
morning to enter Little Rock. True,
he had left many guarding hospitals
and trains; but he had been reen
forced by two brigades : so that his
losses by disease must have been
fearful. He had taken 1,000 pris
oners. ¦ 
Ere this, Gen. Blunt, pursuing the
motley Rebel horde under Stand
watie and Cabell, had very nearly
brought them to a stand at Perry-
ville,sa Choctaw Nation; but they
were too nimble to receive much
damage, and he chased them by Fort
Smith, whereof he took31 bloodless
possession. Col. J. M. Johnson, 1st
[Union] Arkansas, was made post
commander. Cabell, it was said, fell
back to participate in the defense of
Little Rock ; but he failed to arrive
in season ; joining Price's fugitive
force somewhere on its retreat to the
Washita. Price ultimately fell back
to Red river.
Gen. Blunt, having been on busi
ness to Kansas, "was returning with a
small cavalry escort to Fort Smith,
when he was struck,36 near Baxter's
springs, Cherokee Nation, by Quan
trell, with 600 guerrillas, and most
of his small escort killed or disabled:
among the 80 killed— nearly all after
they bad been captured — were Maj.
H.Z. Curtis, son of Maj.-Gen. S. R.

2 Sept. 9-10.

' Aug. 26.

84 Sept. 1.

35 Oct. 4.

DEFENSE OF PINE BLUFF — SHELBY'S RAID.

453

Curtis, and several civilians. Gen.
Blunt, rallying some 15 of his guard,
escaped capture and death by great
coolness and courage : their persist
ency in boldly fighting creating a be
lief .that they were the van of a heavy
force. A considerable train that ac
companied them was sacked and
burned. The attack was made very
near the little post known as Fort
Blair, which was next assailed;
but its defenders, though few, were
brave and well led by Lt. Pond, 3d
Wisconsin cavalry, who beat the en
emy off, inflicting a loss of 11 killed
and many more wounded. Gen.
JSlunt and his remnant of escort kept
the prairie till night, then made their
way to the post. They had not ven
tured thither before, apprehending
that it had been taken.
Pine Bluff, on the south bank of
the Arkansas, 50 miles below Little
Eock, was occupied, early in October,
by Col. Powell Clayton, 5th Kansas
cavalry, with 350 men and 4 guns.
Marmaduke, at Princeton, 45 miles
south, resolved to retake it. By the
time he advanced to do so,38 Clayton
had been reenforced by the 1st Indi
ana cavalry : so that he had now 600
men and 9 hght guns.
Marmaduke, with 12 guns and a
force estimated at 2,500, advanced in
three columns, and poured in shell
and canister for five hours, setting
fire to the place ; but Powell had or
ganized 200 negroes to barricade the
streets with cotton-bales, by whose
services the fire was stopped without
subtracting from his slender fighting
force. The Rebel shells burned the

" Oct. 25. •' Oct. 1. " Oct. 12.
" " St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 14, 1863.
"Maj.-Gen. Halleck, General-in-Chief:
" Gen. Brown brought the Rebels under Shel
by to a decisive engagement yesterday. The

court-house and several dwelbngs,
battering most of the residue ; but
they could not take the town; and,
at 2 p. m., drew off, having lost 150
killed and wounded, beside 33 prison
ers. Our loss was but 17 killed and
40 wounded — 5 of the former and
12 of the latter among the negro
volunteers. Part of Cabell's command, whieh
(as we have seen) had been worsted,
in the Indian Territory, by Blunt and
Phillips, undertook, under Shelby, a
Fall raid into Missouri — probably in
quest of subsistence. Emerging from
the Choctaw region of the Indian
Territory, the raiders passed rapidly
through the north-west corner of
Arkansas, crossing the river eastward
of Fort Smith, and evading any col
lision with our forces near that post
as well as with those holding Little
Rock, and entering south-western
Missouri; being joined37 at Crooked
Prairie by a similar force under Cof
fey, whereby their number was said
to be swelled to 2,500. These ad
vanced rapidly through Western Mis
souri to the river at Booneville, but
forthwith commenced a retreat — -dis
appointed, probably, in their hopes
of reenforcement from the now pa*-
sive Rebels of that disloyal section.
They were pursued by a hastily gath
ered body of Missouri militia, under
Geh. E. B. Brown, who struck38 them
near Arrow Rock at nightfall ; fight
ing them till dark ; renewing the
attack at 8 next morning, and put
ting them to flight, with a loss of
some 300 killed, -wounded, and pris
oners.38

fight was obstinate and lasted five hours. The
Rebels were finally completely routed and scat
tered in all directions, with loss of all their ar
tillery and baggage and a large number of small
arms and prisoners. The enemy's loss in killed

454

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Gen. McNeil was at St. Louis
when first apprised40 of this raid, and
at once set out for his post, Lebanon :
whence, gathering up what force he
could, he advanced on Bolivar, mov
ing by HumansviUe and Stockton on
Lamar, where he hoped to intercept
their flight. But Shelby had already
passed through HumansviUe, hotly
pursued, losing there his last gun,
when McNeil reached that point ; so
the latter joined the hunt through
Greenfield and Sarcoxie into Arkan
sas, and on through Huntsville over
Buffalo mountain, taking prisoners
by the way ; continuing the chase to
Clarksville unable to come fairly up
with the nimble fugitives, who had
now crossed the Arkansas and van
ished among the wilds beyond. Mc
Neil here gave over the pursuit, mov
ing deliberately up the river to Fort
Smith. During this chase, he had
been designated41 to command ofthe
Army of the Frontier, vice Gen.
Blunt, relieved.
Standwatie and Quantrell made
another attack43 on Col. Phillips's
outposts near Fort Gibson, Indian
Territory; but, after a fight of four
or five hours, the assailants were
routed and driven across the Arkan
sas. This terminated the fighting in
this quarter for the year 1863.

A general Indian war on our West
ern frontier had been gravely ap
prehended in 1862 ; and that appre
hension was partially realized. Un
der the administrations of Pierce
and Buchanan, the Indian agents and
other Government employes among
the aboriginal tribes of the great
plains were of course Democrats ;

and wounded is very great. Ours is also large;
Our troops are still pursuing the flying Rebels.
"J. M. Schofield, Major-General."

many of them Southrons, and all
intensely pro-Slavery. These were
generally superseded, under Mr. Lin-
Coin, in the course of 1861 ; and were
suspected of having been stimulated,
by wrath at finding themselves dis
placed and by political and sectional
sympathies, to use their necessarily
great influence among the several
tribes to attach them to the fortunes
and involve them in the struggles of
the Confederacy. Of some of them,
this is probably true ; but it is not
known to be proved, save with those
formerly accredited to the .tribes re
siding within the boundaries of the
Indian Territory. But, however
caused, the general feeling of the
western Indians toward us became
more and more hostile during 1861-2 ;
until at length certain bands of the
Sioux of Minnesota, with some other
tribes, plunged into open war. Little
Crow's band bore a conspicuous part
in these butcheries ; striking in rapid
succession the north-western frontier
settlements at Yellow Medicine,43
New Ulm,44 Cedar City,46 Minn., and
a few other feeble outposts; besieging
for nine days Fort Ridgeley;46 be
leaguering and twice assaulting Fort
Abercrombie, whence they were driv
en with heavy loss ; and butchering
in all some 500 persons, mainly de
fenseless women and children. Mili
tia were promptly called out and sent
against them, under Gen. H. H. Sib
ley ; and the main savage band was
finally struck47 at Wood lake ; where
Little Crow was utterly routed, flee
ing thence into Dakota. Some 500
of the savages -were captured; of
whom 498 were tried by court-mar
tial, and about 300 convicted and

"Oct. 9. "Oct. 20. "Dec. 18. <3 Aug. 18, '62.
4 Aug. 21. » Sept. 3.- " Oct. 17-26. " Sept. 22.

SIBLEY'S AND CONNOR'S INDIAN CAMPAIGNS.

455

sentenced to be hanged ; but Presi
dent Lincoln deferred their execution,
and most of them were ultimately set
at liberty.
Next summer — Gen. Pope being
in command of this department —
the irregular frontier line of settle
ments in the north-west was picketed
by about' 2,000 men; while Gen.
Sibley moved westward from Fort
Snelling in June, with some 2,500
infantry ; Gen. Sully, with a body of
cavalry being sent up the Missouri
on boats to cooperate. The two
commands did not unite ; but Sibley
found and fought 4S some of the hos
tile savages at Missouri Couteau, Big
mound, Dead Buffalo lake, and Stony
lake ; killing or wounding some 130
of them ; while Sully encountered 4S
a band at Whitestone hill, rout
ing them with heavy loss, and tak
ing 156 prisoners. The remnant
fled across the Missouri and evaded
pursuit. This was the virtual close
of the Sioux war. Our men on these

expeditions suffered terribly for water
— a great drouth then prevailing on
the plains.
Far West, Brig.-Gen. P. E. Connor,
1st Cabfornia volunteers, command
ing in Utah, on hearing " of Indian
depredations by the Shoshonees on
Bear river, western Idaho, marched
thither (140 miles) through deep Win
ter snows, wherein 75 of his men
were disabled by frozen feet, and,
with the residue, attacked " 300 sav
ages in their stronghold, killing 224 ;
his own loss being 12 killed and 49
wounded. Four months later, Gen.
Connor, with most of his force, tra
versed the region westward of the
Rocky mountains so far north as old
Fort Hall on Snake river, but found
no enemy to combat.
These Indian hostilities, though
inglorious and most unprofitable,
subtracted considerably from our
military strength, and added largely
to our exhausting outlays during the
trying year 1863.

XX.

THE CAROLINAS, GEORGIA, FLORIDA— 1862-'63.

The Savannah river having, with
its largest affluent, the Tugaloo,
formed the boundary between South
Carolina and Georgia from their
northern verge, after a generally
south-east course of some 300 miles,
passing, at the head of ship naviga
tion, near its mouth, its namesake
city, which is the commercial empo
rium of Georgia, winds its sluggish
way to the Atlantic through a clus-

"July 25-29, 1863.

"Sept. 3.

ter of mud-formed, often sand-fringed
sea islands, matted over with a thin
crust of grass-roots, covering a jelly
like mud several feet deep, resting
uneasily on a bed of light, semi-liquid
clay. Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur
island (a mile long by half as wide),
was a carefully, constructed brick Na
tional fortress 25 feet above ground
by 7£ thick, completely commanding
not only the main channel of the
"Jan. 29.

'January, 1863.

456

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Savannah, but all other inlets prac
ticable for sea-going vessels to the
city and the firm land above. Having
early fallen an easy prey to the devo
tees of Secession, it was held by a
garrison of 385 men, Col. C. H. Olm
stead, 1st Georgia ; its 40 heavy guns
barring access to the river by our
vessels, and affording shelter and pro
tection to blockade-runners and Rebel
corsairs. Yery soon after our recovery 1 of
Port Royal and the adjacent sea-
islands, Gen. T. W. Sherman direct
ed" Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore to re-
connoiter this ugly impediment, and
report on the feasibility of overcom
ing it. Gillmore obeyed ; and re
ported3 that the fort might be re
duced by batteries of mortars and
rifled guns planted on Big Tybee
island, south-east of it, across the
narrower southern channel of the
Savannah, as also from Yenus point,
on Jones island, over two miles from
Cockspur, in the opposite direction :
and submitted his plan ; which was
sent to Washington, returned ap
proved, and the requisite ordnance
and other enginery ultimately for
warded or collected. Meantime, the
46th New York, Col. R. Rosa, was
sent* to occupy Big Tybee, and a
detachment directed quietly to clear
out the Rebel obstructions in " Wall's
cut," an artificial channel connecting
New and Wright rivers, north of
Cockspur, and completing an inland
water passage from Savannah to
Charleston. After some sharp fight
ing and four nights' hard work, this
was achieved ; * and, after some far
ther delay, Yenus point, on Jones
island, north-west of the coveted fort
ress, was selected * as a point whereon

to place a battery, barring all day
light access to the beleaguered fort
from above. To this point, mortars,
weighing 8-J- tuns each, were brought
through New and Wright rivers (each
of them a sluggish tide-course be
tween rush-covered islets of semi-
liquid mud) ; being patiently tugged
across Jones island on a movable
causeway of planks laid on poles —
those behind the moving gun being
taken up and placed in its front ;' and
thus the guns were toilsomely drag
ged across and placed in battery on
strong timber platforms, constructed
by night behind an artfully contrived
screen of bushes and reeds to re
ceive them. Just as the batteries
were completed, the Rebel steamboat
Ida passed down from Savannah to
Pulaski, and the recoil of our guns
fired at her sent all but one of them
off the platforms ; which had there- ,
upon to be enlarged and improved.
Soon, another battery was established
on Bird island, a little nearer Cock
spur: and next, vessels having ar
rived3 in Tybee roads with heavy
guns and munitions, the 7th Conn.,
46th New York, and some detached
companies, were employed in land
ing these on Big Tybee, construct
ing batteries and magazines, making
roads of poles and plank, &c, &c.
Nearly all this work had to be done
by night, within range of Pulaski's
guns — the outline presented to the
enemy by the low bushes skirting
the river being skillfully and gradu
ally altered, night after night, so as
to afford to the garrison no indica
tion of the menacing work going on
behind its friendly shelter.
The moving of each gun over the
quaking, treacherous bog, from it9

1SeeVol.I.,p.605. "Nov. 29, '61. aDec.l. "In Dec. °Jan.H,'62. a Jan. 28. 'Feb.10-11. eFeb.21.

SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF FORT PULASKI.

457

BOMBAKDMENT OF PORT PULASKI.

point of debarkation to its designated
position in battery, was the tedious,
arduous task of 250 men, all per
formed under the cover of darkness :
the men being forbidden to speak;
their movements being directed by a
whistle. When a gun slipped, as it
often would, off the planks and ' skids'
supporting it, the utmost efforts were
required to keep it from plunging
straight down through the 12 feet
of mud to the supporting clay, if no
farther. Thus were the remnant of Febru
ary and the whole of March intently
employed — Maj.-Gen. Hunter, who
had just succeeded" to the command
of the department, with Brig.-Gen.
Benham as district commander, vis
iting the works on Tybee island,
and finding nothing' in them to im
prove. At length, all was in readiness :10
36 10 to 13-inch mortars and heavy
rifled guns being firmly planted in
11 batteries — the farthest two miles,
the nearest less than a mile, from the
doomed fort, with a depot and sepa
rate service magazine where they
should be, and carefully considered

orders given to regulate the firing.
And now the fort was summoned "
in due form by Gen. Hunter — of
course, to no purpose — whereupon,
at 8£ a. m., fire was deliberately open
ed, and kept up till dark — the mor
tars throwing very few of their shells
within the fort ; but the rifled guns
chipping and tearing away its mason-
work, until it became evident that,
unless our batteries should be disa
bled, the fort would soon be a ruin.
Five of the enemy's guns had already
been silenced ; while our widely scat
tered, low-lying, inconspicuous batte
ries had received no damage what
ever. During the ensuing night, four of
our pieces were fired at intervals of
15 or 20 minutes each ; and at sun
rise " our batteries opened afresh ;
and now the breach, already visible,
was steadily and rapidly enlarged:
casemate after casemate being open
ed, in spite of a heavy and well-
directed fire from the fort ; until, at
2 p. m., a white flag was displayed
from its walls, and the siege was end
ed. One only of our men had been
killed, and no gun hit or otherwise

• March 31.

"April 9.

"April 10,

12 April 11.

458

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

damaged ; the garrison had 10 of
their 40 guns dismounted or other
wise disabled, and several men
wounded — one of them fatally. They
were especially impelled to surren
der by the fact that our guns were
purposely trained on their magazine,
which must soon have been pierced
and exploded had our fire continued.
The credit of this almost bloodless
conquest is primarily due to Quincy
A. Gillmore, who was at once Gene
ral and Engineer ; Gen. Yiele, com
manding under him the land forces,
and Com'r John Rodgers their naval
auxiliaries, who were employed only
in transporting and landing the ma-
teriel. But the moral of this siege
was the enormous addition made by
rifling to the range and efficiency of
guns. Our artillerists were as green
as might be ; and their gunnery — as
evinced more especially by the mor
tar-firing — was nowise remarkable
for excellence;' but the penetration
of a sobd brick wall of seven feet
thick at a distance of 1,650 yards by
old 32s (now rifled) to a depth of
20 inches, and by old 42s to a depth
of 26 inches, where the same guns,
when smooth-bore, would have pro
duced no effect whatever, was so un-
looked-fo/ by Gen. Gillmore that he
afterward reported that, had he been
aware at the outset of what this siege
taught him, he might have curtailed
his eight weeks of laborious prepara
tion to one; rejecting altogether his
heavy mortars and columbiads as un-
suited to such service, and increasing,
if that were desirable, the distance at
which his nearer batteries were plant
ed to 2,300 or even 2,500 yards.

A considerable flotilla of worthless

old vessels, picked up at various
northern ports and taken down to
our fleet blockading the entrance to
Charleston harbor, being loaded with
stone, were ¦ sunk 13 across one of the
channels. A tremendous uproar was
raised against this procedure, mainly
by British sympathizers with the
Rebellion, who represented it as an
effort permanently to choke and de
stroy the harbor. This accusation is
absurd. What was intended was to
render it more difficult for blockade-
runners, navigated by Charleston
pilots, to run out and in under the
screen of fog or darkness ; and this
result was probably attained. No
complaint has since been made of
any actual injury thus inflicted on
the peaceful commerce of Charles
ton : on the contrary, it has been
plausibly asserted that the partial
closing of one of the passes, through
which the waters of Ashley and
Cooper rivers find their way to the
ocean, was calculated to deepen and
improve those remaining.
Com. Dupont, in his steam frigate
Wabash, with twenty other armed
vessels, and six unarmed transports,
conveying a brigade of volunteers,
Gen. Wright, and a battabon of ma
rines, Maj. Reynolds, setting out from
Port Royal 14 swept down the coast
to St. Andrew's and Cumberland
sounds ; taking unresisted possession
of Fort Clinch on Amelia island,
Fernandina, St. Mary's, Brunswick,15
Darien,18 St. Simon's island, Jack
sonville,17 and St. Augustine ; where
Fort St. Mark — another of the old
Federal co^st defenses — was " repos
sessed " without bloodshed — Gen.
Trapier, Rebel commander on this
coast, having no force adequate to

a Jan. 23, 1862.

"Feb. 28.

15 March 9.

"March 13.

"March 12.

PENSACOLA AND JACKSONVILLE RETAKEN.

459

resisting such an expedition — Florida
having ere this contributed nearly
10,000 men, out of a total white
population of 80,000, to the Confede
rate armies fighting in other States.
A considerable Union feeling was
evinced at various points ; a Union
meeting held in Jacksonville (the
most populous town in the State),
and a Convention called to assem
ble there on the 10th of April to
organize a Union State Govern
ment ; but, on the Sth, Gen. Wright
withdrew his forces from that place,
sending an invitation to Gen. Tra-
pier to come and reoccupy it. Of
course, the projected Union Con
vention was no more ; and those who
had figured in the meeting or call
whereby the movement was initiated
were glad to save their necks by ac
companying our departing forces.
That settled, for years, the for
tunes of Unionism in Florida. And,
though Com. Dupont, on returning
with his fleet to Port Royal, left a
small force at each of the more de
fensible places he had so easily re
covered to the Union, it is question
able that his expedition effected, on
the whole, more good than harm for
the national cause.
At Mosquito inlet, the farthest
point visited by a detail from his
squadron, a boat expedition, under
Lt. T. A. Budd, ofthe Penguin, was
fired on while returning from an
excursion down Mosquito lagoon,
Lt. Budd and 4 others killed, and
several more wounded or captured.
Thus closed unhappily an enterprise
which was probably adequate to the
complete recovery of Florida, though
not able to hold it against the whole
power of the Confederacy.

Pensacola was evacuated by Brig.-
Gen. Thos. N. Jones, its Rebel com
mander; who burned every thing
combustible in the Navy Yard, Forts
McRae and Barrancas, the hospital,
&c, &c, and retreated " inland with
his command. The place was im
mediately occupied by Com. Porter,
of the Harriet Lane, and by Gen.
Arnold, commanding Fort Pickens.
Another naval expedition from
Port Royal,18 under. Capt. Steedman,
consisting of the gunboats Paul
Jones and Cimarone, with three other
steamboats, visited the Florida coast
in the Autumn, shelling and silenc
ing the Rebel batteries at the mouth
of the St. John's.
Gen. Brannan, with a land force of
1,575 men, with a fleet of six gun
boats under Capt. Steedman, repeated
this visit somewhat later ;"° expecting
to encounter an obstinate resistance :
but the Rebel works on St. John's
bluff were evacuated — 9 guns being
abandoned — on his advancing to
attack them; and he retook Jack
sonville without resistance, but found
it nearly deserted, and did not garri
son it. The Rebel steamboat Gov.
Milton was found up a creek and
captured. Gen. R. Saxton next dispatched,"1
on three transports, an expedition,
composed of two negro regiments
under Col. Thos. W. Higginson, 1st
S. C. Yolunteers, which went up "
to Jacksonville, captured it with
Httle resistance, and held it as a re
cruiting station for colored volun
teers. Two White regiments were
soon afterward sent to reenforce
them ; but hardly had these landed
when a peremptory order came from
Gen. Hunter for the withdrawal of

"May 9-10. B Sept. 13.

0 Sept. 30.

31 March 6, 1S63.

- March 10.

460

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the entire force ; and, as if this were
not enough, several buildings were
fired by our departing soldiers — of
the 8th Maine, it was said, though
that regiment laid it to the 6th Con
necticut — while hundreds of inhabi
tants, who desired to leave with our
forces, were put ashore after they
had embarked, and left to meet the
vengeance of the Rebels as they
might. The beautiful old town was
substantially destroyed ; though our
higher officers did their best to save
it—a high wind fuming the flames,
which swept all within their reach.
The deserted inhabitants — many of
them hearty Unionists— were left to
famish among their ashes and ruins ;
though the few families who were
brought away to Hilton Head were
treated with considerate humanity.
Pensacdla was likewise abandoned "3
and burned — burned by the Rebels,
it was asserted — but that would
neither be reported nor believed
within the bnes of the Confederates
— so that it may be fairly concluded
that by this time whatever Unionism
there had been in Florida — that is,
among the Whites — was pretty thor
oughly eradicated by those who were
sent thither as upholders of the Na
tional cause.

On returning from his Florida ex
pedition to Port Royal,24 Com. Du
pont found that the enemy had, dur
ing his absence, abandoned their for
midable batteries on Skiddaway and
Green islands, conceding to us full
possession of Warsaw and Ossibaw
sounds ; while Gen. Sherman had
long since "5 taken quiet possession of
Edisto island on our right, carrying
our flag more than half way from

Beaufort to Charleston. No inhabi
tants were left on Edisto but negroes ;
and the cotton which the departing
Whites could not remove they had,
for the most part, burned. The fall
of Pulaski, soon afterward, gave us
extension and security on the other
flank; and now Gen. Hunter and
Com. Dupont proposed to extend our
possession still farther toward the
city by the reclamation of Wad-
milaw and Johns islands, bringing
us within cannon-shot of Charleston.
To this end, various and careful re-
connoissances were made, and sound
ings taken ; ending with marking by
buoys the channel of Stono river,
separating Johns from James is
land; whereupon, our gunboats
Unadilla, Pembina, and Ottawa,
crossed26 the bar at its mouth and
proceeded up that river : the Rebel
earthworks along its banks being
abandoned at their approach. Thus
the gunboats made their way slowly,
carefully, up to a point within range
of the Rebel batteries guarding the
junction of Stono with Wappoo
creek, barely three miles from
Charleston, whose spires and cupolas
were plainly visible, over the inter
vening trees, from the mast-heads of
our vessels.
But this bold advance of our gun
boats, unsupported by infantry, was
a blunder. These were too weak to
effect any thing but give the enemy
warning of what they must be pre
pared to meet. Nearly two weeks
had thus been spent ere Gens. Hun
ter and Benham, with their soldiers,
landed "7 on James island ; and three
more days elapsed ere Gen. Wright
came up from Edisto with the
residue of their forces. Such dis-

1 March 3, 1862.

¦¦"March 27.

26 Feb. 11.

1 May 20.

27 June 2.

GEN. "WRIGHT ASSAULTS SECESSION VILLE.

461

GE>\ UlJNi'K—S ATTACK OS SECESSIONTH.LK.

jointed combinations in an intensely
hostile region could have but one re
sult ; since the enemy were probably
twice as strong, both in defenses and
in men, as they would have been
found had our advance been made
with compact celerity.
Secessionville is a petty village
formed of the Summer residences of
a few James island planters, on the
east side of their island, two miles
from the Stono, with salt water on

three sides, and swamps narrowing
to a mere ridge the only practicable
land approach from the west. Pem
berton was in chief command at
Charleston, Brig.-Gen. N. G. Evans
having direction under him in this
quarter ; but Col. J. G. Lamar was
in immediate charge of the works ;
against wliich Gen. H. G. Wright
advanced at early dawn,"8 with a
force of perhaps 6,000 men. though
some 1,500 more were on the island,

" June 16.

462

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

guarding camps, &c. The direct
attack was made by Brig.-Gen. Isaac
I. Stevens,"9 with Col. W. M. Fen-
ton's brigade, composed of the 8th
Michigan, 17th Conn., and 28th
Mass., and Col. Leisure's, comprising
the 79th New York (Highlanders),
46th do., and 100th Pa., with 4 de
tached companies of artillery, &c. —
in all, 3,337 men. Stevens had these
in position at 3J A. m. at our outer
picket line, within rifle-range of the
enemy, and advanced at 4 — the
morning being cloudy and dark — so
swiftly and noiselessly that he cap
tured most of the Rebel pickets, and
was within 100 yards of the main
defenses, not having fired a shot,
when Lamar opened on him with
grape and canister, plowing bloody
lanes through the storming party,
and destroying its compactness if
not impairing the momentum of its
charge. The 8th Michigan — Col. Fenton's
own — was in the direct advance, im
mediately supported by the High
landers, with the residue of both bri
gades ready and eager to do and
dare all that men might; and, if well
directed valor could have carried the
enemy's works by direct assault, they
would have done it. But the neck
of dry land over which it was possi
ble to advance was barely 200 yards
wide, completely swept by grape and
canister at close range from six guns
in the Rebel works, as well as by
their musketry ; while insuperable
abatis, a ditch seven feet deep, and
a parapet nine feet high, rendered
such an assault a simple squandering
of precious lives. The 8th Michigan
lost here 185 out of 534 men, includ
ing 12 out of 22 officers ; the High

landers lost 110 out of 450 ; and our
total loss was at least 574, whereof
Stevens's two brigades lost 529 —
nearly all within half an hour. The
Rebel loss was 204 ; Lamar and
Lt.-Col. Gaillard being among the
wounded. Though it was plain that the ene
my's works could not be carried by
storm, a second but feebler assault
was made on them after the failure
of the first, aided by a flank advance
on the enemy's right by a battalion
of the 3d R. I. artillery, Maj. E.
Metcalf, with the 3d N. H. and 97th
Pa. ; but nothing was accomplished ;
and our entire force fell back, unpur-
sued, but leaving their dead and some
of their severely wounded to fall into
the hands of the enemy. And this
virtually terminated in defeat Gen.
Hunter's ill-managed advance upon
Charleston.

Four months afterward — Gen.
Hunter having been succeeded in
command of this department by Gen.
O. M. Mitchel — the latter planned an
advance, not aimed at Charleston, but
due northward from Beaufort, with
intent to break the railroad connec
tion between Charleston and Savan
nah, by destroying bridges, &c, about
Pocotaligo and Coosawhatchie. Gen.
Mitchel being prostrated by the dis
ease of which he ultimately died, the
execution of this project was confided
to Brig.-Gen. J. M. Brannan, with an
effective force of 4,448 men.
This force, embarked on gunboats
and transports, moved30 up Broad
river to the junction of the Coosaw
hatchie and Tullifinny, where it was
landed and pushed inland ; first meet
ing resistance when 5 or 6 miles on

28 Killed, a few weeks later, at Chantilly.

30 Oct. 21-2.

FIGHT AT POCOTALIGO — FORT MCALLISTER.

463

its way ; but easily driving the ene
my, who burned bridges, &c, before
it, and soon made another stand in a
wood behind a burned bridge, whence
they were expelled by flanking, and
still pursued nearly to Pocotaligo;
where the Rebels, under Gen. Walk
er, opened heavily with artillery from
a swamp behind a creek. Our cais
sons being far behind, our guns were
soon without a cartridge, and none
to be had nearer than ten miles.
Night was coming on ; and Brannan
— aware that his 4,000 men were no
match for all that the railroad would
bring speedily from Charleston and
from Savannah to assail them — wise
ly took the back track to Mackay's
landing; where he at once embarked31
and returned to Hilton Head.
Meantime, Col. Barton, with 400
men, the gunboats Patroon andMar-
blehead, and the Little steamboat
Planter, had gone up the Coosaw-
hatchie nearly to the village of that
name— rthe gunboats getting aground
two or three miles below, and the
Planter about a mile below. Hav
ing debarked bis men, Barton pushed
on, and encountered a train filled
with reenforcements sent to the
enemy from Savannah, under Maj.
Harrison, llth Georgia — Gen. W. S.
Walker, commanding in Brannan's
front, having telegraphed both ways
for all the men that could be spared
him. This train was fired on while
in motion, and considerable loss in
flicted ; Maj. Harrison being among
the killed. The greater number es
caped to the woods and joined the
defenders of the village and railroad
bridge, against whom Barton now
advanced; but, finding himself large
ly outnumbered by men strongly post

ed, supporting 3 guns, and night com
ing on, he, too, retreated to his boats ;
burning bridges behind him. There
was some pursuit notwithstanding;
but the gunboats were ugly custom
ers, and were not seriously molested.
When the tide had risen, they floated ;
and Barton returned with them, un
molested, to Port Royal.
Our loss in this expedition was not
far from 300. Walker reports his at
14 killed, 102 wounded, 9 missing;
but this does not include the losses
at Coosawhatchie.

The river Ogeechee, rising in the
heart of eastern Georgia, after a gen
erally S. E. course of some 200 miles,
usually parallel with the lower half
of the Savannah, and, for the last 40
miles, very near it, falls into Ossabaw
sound, some 10 miles S. W. of Savan
nah. A few miles up the Ogeechee,
the Rebels had constructed a 6trong
earthwork known as Fort McAlbs-
ter, in a bend of the stream, enabling
it to rake any vessel which should
attempt to pass it. A row of heavy
piles across the channel, with some
torpedoes in the river below, ren
dered ascent at once difficult and
perilous. The 6teamer Nashville lay
under the protection of these works ;
having long watched an opportunity
to run out to sea laden with cotton ;
disappointed in this, by the vigilance
of our cruisers, she was unladen, fitted
up as a war vessel, and again watched
her opportunity to run out — not be
ing so easily stopped now as former
ly. Com'r Worden, who was watch
ing her, in the iron-clad Montauk,
at length discovered32 that she had
got aground, just above the fort, and,
at daylight next morning, went up,

" Oct. 23.

32 Feb. 27, 1863.

464

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

backed by the Seneca, Wissahickon,
and Dawn, to attempt her destruction.
He found her still aground ; and,
by disregarding torpedoes and the
fire of the fort, was able to steam
within 1,200 yards of her ; and, by
experiment, soon had her exact range,
and was peppering her with 11 and
15-inch shells ; while his consorts —
forbidden a near approach by the
narrowness of the channel — fired at
her from positions farther down the
stream. Twenty minutes thereafter,
she had been set on fire by shells
which exploded within her, and
flames were seen to burst from every
quarter ; at 9:20 A. m., her large pivot
gun forward was exploded by the
heat ; at 9:40, her smoke-stack went
overboard ; and at 9:55, her magazine
exploded, shattering her into worth
less fragments. Meantime, the fort
kept firing away at the Montauk,
striking her five times, but doing no
damage; and a torpedo whieh ex
ploded beneath her, as she steamed
down the river, accomplished very
Httle. Our other vessels received no
harm. We lost no men.
Com. Dupont, encouraged by this
cheap success, now resolved to give
the fort itself a trial : to which end,
the iron-clads Passaic, Capt. Dray
ton, Patapsco, Montauk, Ericsson,
and Nahant, with three mortar-
schooners, steamed33 up the Ogee
chee, and opened fire: the Passaic
leading, the rest following, and all
firing at the fort at the shortest
range they could severally attain.
But the obstructions proved insuper
able, and forbade the Passaic to ap

proach nearer than 1,200 yards ; the
other iron-clads being, of course, far
ther off, and the schooners farther
still. Thus placed, the Passaic, Pa
tapsco, and Nahant, opened fire ; and
it was kept up, with one or two in
tervals, from 8^ a. m. to 4 p. m., and
by the mortar-schooners every 15
minutes thenceforth till next morn
ing ; when Capt. Drayton — who had
dropped down the river out of range
at nightfall — went up again and took
a look at the enemy's works ; finding
them so substantial and effective
that he concluded to waste no more
good cartridges upon them, and came
away under a double salute of shells
and yells. His 15-ineh shells, each
weighing 345 pounds, bad dismount
ed one of their 9 great guns, and
taken a wheel from another ; but no
man had been killed, and but one
wounded on either side. Captain
Drayton, while standing behind the
turret of his ' Monitor,' had received
a mere scratch from a splinter of
shell, and the Rebel loss was swelled
to 3 wounded by an accident after
the fight; but an enormous expen
diture of ammunition on either side
had effected nothing of moment.
Our shells often tore up the sand to
a depth of ten feet, clouding the air
with it ; but it descended nearly into
its former position ; 34 even the em
brasures of the Rebel battery were
but moderately damaged. Our ves
sels saved their ammunition by let
ting Fort McAllister alone there
after. 
The National steamboat Isaac
Smith, having been sent 36 up Stono

83 March 3.
" The Savannah Republican, March 12, says:
" Considerable havoc was made in tbe sand
banks in the fort; and ttie quarters of the men
were almost entirely demolished. * * * Inside

the fort, and to the rear of it for half a mile, the
earth was dug up into immense pits and gullies
by the enemy's shell and shot." [It sees a Provi
dence in the saving of Confederate life.]
85 Jan. 30, 1863.

RAID OF REBEL IRON-CLADS FROM CHARLESTON. 465

river on a reconnoissance, went seven
miles above Legareville without get
ting sight or sound of an enemy ; but,
when 6 miles on her way back, was
opened upon in a bend by three
masked batteries, which had not
been observed before, and thereby
speedily crippled and captured. The
fJomc McDonough went to her assist
ance ; but arrived too late, and could
do nothing. Several months there
after, the Rebels attempted to run
the Isaac Smith out of Charleston
harbor ; when she was sunk30 by the
gunboat Wissahickon.
The morning after their capture
of the Smith was signalized by the
•Charleston Rebels by a far bolder
and more significant exploit. At 4
A. m., favored by a thick haze, their
iron-clads Palmetto State, Capt. D.
N. Ingraham, and Chicora, Com'r
Tucker, with three steamboats as
tenders, stole upon our blockading
fleet, lying off the bar, while the
Powhatan and the Canandaigua, our
two largest men of war, were at Port
Royal, coaling; and, first nearing
the Mercedita, Capt. Stellwagen, the
Palmetto State ran into her amidships
with full force, and fired into her
side at close range a 7-inch shell,
which passed through her condenser
and Bteam-drum, blowing a hole
through her farther side, scalding
several of her men, and completely
disabling her. Stellwagen, unable
either to fight or fly, surrendered.
The Palmetto, leaving her to sink

if she would, forthwith attacked the
Keystone State, Capt. Leroy; lodging
a shell in her forehold, which set her
on fire. Leroy sheered off, until the
fire was got under ; when, having a
full head of steam, he attempted to
run his assailant down; but, as he
approached at full speed, another
shot was sped through both his ves
sel's steam-chests, utterly disabling
her; ten rifled shells striking her,
and two of them bursting on her
quarter-deck. By this time, it was growing light,
and our fleet nad been thoroughly
aroused. The Augusta, Quaker City,
Memphis, and Housatonic, went in ;
the Memphis taking in tow the Key
stone State — which had one-fourth of
her crew disabled, mainly by scald
ing — and drawing her out of the>
enemy's fire ; when the Rebel gun
boats turned homeward, and took
refuge behind the shoals in the;
Swash channel; thence making theic
way back to Charleston, and issuing;
there a bulletin declaring the block
ade raised and the port open ; " the
British consul at Charleston and the
commander of H. B. M. ship Petrel
corroborating the statement ; and the
foreign consuls in the Confederacy
were officially notified of the alleged
fact in a circular from J. P. Benja
min, Confederate Secretary of State^
" for the information of such vessels.
of your nation as may choose to carry
on commerce with the now open port
of Charleston." The " vessels "" thus;

"June 7.
" "Headq'es Land and Naval Foeoes, )
" Charleston, S. C, Jan. 31. J
"At about 5 o'clock this morning, the Confed
erate States naval force on this station attacked
the United States blockading fleet off the harbor
of the city of Charleston, and sunk, dispersed,
or drove off and out of sight for the time, the en
tire hostile fleet.
"Therefore, we, the undersigned, commanders
vol. ii. — 30

respectively of the Confederate States naval and:
land forces in this quarter, do hereby formally
declare the blockade by the United States of tho
said city of Charleston, South Carolina, to be
raised by a superior force of the Confederat.
States from and after this 31st day of January,
A. D. 1863. „ , - ,_.
" G. T. Beauregard, General Com'ding.
" D. N. Ingraham, Flag-officer Com'ding
' Naval Forces in South Carolina."

466

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

invited did not attempt to profit by
the opportunity thus afforded them,
but continued to steal into and out
of that harbor during the darkest
nights and in the most clandestine,
insidious manner. None of our ves
sels were sunk or lost — the Mercedita
having been deserted by her captors,
who never put a man on board — be
ing clearly no prize. She had but
3 men killed and 4 wounded ; the
Keystone had 20 killed — mainly by
scalding — and 20 wounded.

Gen. Foster, commanding the 18th
corps in North Carolina, having been
ordered to South Carolina, to coop
erate with Com. Dupont in an attack
on Charleston, steamed 38 from Beau
fort, N. C, with 12,000 excellent
troops, landing them at Hilton Head ;
, whence — finding Com. Dupont not
yet ready— he ran up to Fortress
Monroe in quest of siege-guns. Gen.
Hunter — to whom Foster's advent
had been a complete surprise — there
upon took command of Foster's men,
broke up his corps organization, and
— this exercise of authority being de
murred to — ordered Foster's staff out
of his department. Foster thereupon
obtained authority from Gen. Halleck
to return to his own department, leav
ing his 12,000 men to serve as a re-
enforcement to Gen. Hunter ; under
whose auspices, in conjunction with
Com. Dupont, the contemplated at
tack was now to be made. Halleck's
sending of Foster into Hunter's de
partment without notice to the latter
• has not been explained.
Our preparations for this attack
were made, so far as possible, at Hil
ton Head: the iron-clads, so fast as
ready, slipping quietly, one by one,

to their appointed rendezvous in the
mouth of the North Edisto river,
half way to Charleston harbor ; wbere
they were all finally assembled,3'
awaiting the conditions of wind and
tide deemed most favorable. A calm,
clear night,40 following a full moon,
proffered the awaited conjuncture;
and Com. Dupont steamed41 in .full
force up to the harbor bar ; shifting
there his pennant from the gunboat
James Adger to the stately, mailed
' Ironsides,' in which he proposed to
direct and share in the bombardment.
By 9 A. m. next day, his fleet had all
crossed the bar, and was in line along
the east shore of Morris island, head
ing toward the most formidable array
of rifled great guns that had ever
yet tested the defensive resources of
naval warfare.
The iron-clads thus pitted against
the tremendous ordnance of Fort
Sumter and her satellites were the
following :
1. Weehawken, Oapt. John Rodgers ;
2. Passaic, Oapt. Percival Drayton ;
3. Montauk, Oom'r John L. Worden ;
4. Patapsco, Oom'r Daniel Ammen ;
5. New Ironsides, Oom'r Thos. Turner;
6. Catskill, Oom'r Geo. "W. Rodgers ;
*l. Nantucket, Oom'r Donald M. Fairfax ;
8. Nahant, Oom'r John Downes ;
9. Keokuk, Lt.-Com'r Alex. 0. Rhind ;
with the gunboats Canandaigua, Una-
dilla, Housatonic, Wissahickon, and
Huron in reserve, below the bar, ready
to support the iron-clads should they
attack the batteries on Morris island.
The day was bright, bland, and
warm — like one of the finest of the
later days of a Northern May — the
air of midday flashing with the wings
of countless butterflies— though a
slight haze or smoke in the morning
so obscured remoter objects that the
landmarks relied on to give bearings

"".Feb. 2.

39 April 3.

1 April 5.

'April 6.

DUPONT'S IRON-CLADS ASSAIL FORT SUMTER.

467

DEFEN8BS OF CHARLESTON.

in the difficult navigation (for vessels
of heavy draft) of these intricate
channels were indistinguishable, and
the advance thereby postponed till a
gentle northern breeze cleared the
sky. But, as ebb-tide came at 11
A. m., and — the bar being safely
passed — that was deemed the stage
of water best fitted to the steering of
those clumsy albgators — it is not
probable that our plans were seriously
deranged by this circumstance.
Let us improve this pause to
glance at the scene, as it imprinted
itself on the mind of an observer,43
scanning it through a powerful field-

glass from the Coast Survey steam
boat Bibb, lying in the Swash chan
nel, three miles below Sumter :
" We are, this moment, looking directly
up into the harbor and the city, which lies
in the vista beyond — its wharves and ships,
houses and steeples, standing out in the
background like a picture. Steeples and
roofs are crowded with spectators ; the
neighboring shores are lined with onlookers,
just as when, now two years ago, less two
days, the same spectators stood on the same
coignes of vantage to see, in the same har
bor, another bombardment, while another ,
flag from that which now flaunts in our
eyes, floated from the walls of Sumter.
" "We are facing Fort Sumter, and looking
directly up the harbor. We have, accord
ingly, Sullivan's island . on our right, and
Morris island on our left. These two isl
ands end each in curved points of land, and,

"Mr. William Swinton, correspondent of The New York Times.

468

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

at their nearest approach, are separated by
an interval of a mile, formed by the en
trance to the harbor; and, just in the mid
dle of this passage, and right between the
two points of land, stands Fort Sumter,
built on an artificial island made in mid-
channel. Both Morris and Sullivan's isl
ands are scarcely removed above the level
of the sea ; which, indeed, would probably
invade and cover them, were it not that the
margin of the islands on their sea-frontage
is marked by a continuous, narrow strip of
low sand-hills, some five or six feet in height.
Behind the second ridge of the islands, are
alternate salt marsh, sand, and clumps of
wood of live-oak, palmetto, and tangled tro
pical undergrowths. The whole coast of
South Carolina and Georgia consists of a
labyrinth of islands and islets of this char
acter, round which reedy creeks and rivers
wind. " With Sullivan's island on our right, we
run the eye up to its upper or north end,
formed by Breach inlet. Guarding this
point, is Breach inlet battery — a powerful
sand- work, having a circular, dome-like,
bomb-proof magazine in its center. It is,
however, three miles from the entrance of
the harbor, and will not be able to molest
our ships on their passage. Its chief value
has been to aid blockade-runners; as it
covers MafBt's channel (the passage through
which the great majority of these craft run
in) from the approach of our blockaders.
At present, it will- serve to oppose our
landing troops at Breach inlet, should the
attempt be made. Coming down along the
shore of Sullivan's island, from Breach inlet,
we next reach Fort Beauregard, a powerful
sand battery, mounting very heavy guns,
and- situated on the turn of the island a
little right of the 'Moultrie House' hotel,
from which it is separated only by five
intervening sea-shore houses. Next, to the
right of the channel, up and opposite Fort
Sumter, is Fort Moultrie, which has been
prodigiously strengthened by the Rebel
engineers, both in its means of offense and
of defense. Looking up the harbor and
still to the right, the eye takes in the exten
sive line of works, en cremaillaire, called
the Redan, and which has been formed by
throwing up intrenchments on the line of
. the breakwater erected some years ago by
the United States Government, for the pro
tection of that portion of the harbor.
Beyond the Redan, up near the head of the
harbor, on an island, "appears Castle Pinck
ney, in the vista, looking like the Battery
in New York City as seen from the sea-
entrance. " So far as the eye can see, we have now
exhausted the fortifications on the right hand
side of the harbor. It now remains briefly

to glance at those that line the left-hand
side. In the mean while, Fort Sumter
rises up conspicuously before us in mid-
channel. We can see every brick in its
walls. Two faces out of its five, and two
angles only, come within sight from our
point of view : namely, the south face, on
which the sally-port and wharf are placed,
and the eastern face. You are too familiar
with the general features of this historic
work to make any description necessary.
It was, you know, pierced for two tiers
of guns ; hut the lower embrasures had
been filled in to strengthen it. From
the top of the fort frown the barbette
guns, which comprise all the heaviest
portion of its armament. You can count
distinctly each barbette gun — one, two,
three, four, five on this ; one, two, three,
four on that ; and so on all around ; and it is
easy to see that the ordnance is of the
most formidable character. From a flag
staff on one of the angles of the fort,
floats the Confederate flag ; from a flag-staff
on the opposite angle, floats the Palmetto
flag. " Passing now to the left-hand side of tho
harbor, on James island, we first have the
Wappoo battery, near Wappoo creek, effec
tually commanding the embouchure of
Ashley river and the left side of the city.
Next, coming down, we have Fort John
son; and, between it and Castle Pinckney,
on an artificial island raised by the Rebels,
on the 'middle ground,' is Fort Ripley.
Coming down to Cumming's Point, directly
opposite Moultrie, is the Cumming's Point
battery, named by the Rebels Battery Bee,
after the General of that name; south of
Battery Bee, on Morris island, is Fort Wag
ner, a very extensive sand battery of the
most powerful construction. Half-way
down Morris island, again, from Fort Wag
ner, is a new sand-work erected by the
Rebels since I surveyed the ground from
the blockading fleet, a fortnight ago. Fi
nally, down at Lighthouse inlet, which di
vides Morris from Folly island, is another
fortification, guarding against an attempt at
a landing at that point. Such is the for
midable panorama the eye takes in, in
sweeping around the harbor and its ap
proaches." And now let the same observer de
pict for ustihe low, iron-backed turtles
about to crawl up and try conclu
sions with these yawning craters of
brick and stone and iron, so soon to
burst into fierce and scathing erup
tion:

THE IRON-CLADS' ADVANCE ARRESTED.

469

" With respect both to the obstacles we
are to meet, and the engines with which we
are to meet them, every thing is novel and
unprecedented. Comparison is simply im
possible ; for, where there are no points of
resemblance, comparison is out of the ques
tion. " But can yon imagine — if one were per
mitted to play with the elements of time and
space — the shade of Nelson transferred from
his gun-deck off Trafalgar, after but little
over half a century, and placed on board of
one of those iron craft before us ? and can you
imagine the sensations of that consummate
master of all the elements of naval warfare
as known in his day? He must be helpless
as a child, and bewildered as a man in a
dream. From his splendid three-decker,
the Victory, carrying its hundred guns, and
towering majestically on the water, which
it rides like a thing of life, he finds himself
imprisoned in an iron casing, the whole hull
and frame of which is submerged in the
* water, the waves washing clean over its
deck, and depending for its defensive power
on a couple of guns of a caliber that would
astonish him, placed in a circular tower,
rising from the deck amidships. This turret
is in thickness 11 inches of wrought iron,
revolves on an axis by the delicate appli
ances of steam engineering, and contains the
entire armament and fighting crew of the
ship. The fire, the animation, the life, of
an old-time naval fight, when men gave and
took, exposed to plain view — when ships
fought yard-arm to yard-arm, and human
nature in its intensest exaltation appeared —
are here wholly out of the question, with
the combatants shut up in impenetrable iron,
and delivering their fire by refined process
of mathematical and mechanical appliances.
"Nor are the outward shapes of these
craft less divergent from all that the world
'has hitherto seen of naval models than are
their internal economy and fighting arrange
ments removed from all previous modes.
The majesty of a first-class man-of-war,
with its lines of beauty and strength, on
which the aesthetic instincts of ages have
been expended, is here replaced by purely
geometrical combinations of iron, in which
the one paramount and all- controlling con
sideration is the resisting power of lines,
angles, and surfaces. As they stretch in
horrid file before us, along the shore of
Morris island, awaiting the signal from the
flag-ship to move, those nine ships, compris
ing the three different models represented
by the Ironsides, the Monitors, and the Keo
kuk, one might almost fancy that some of
the pachydermous monsters which palaeon
tology brings to view from the ' dark back
ward and abysm of time ' had returned in
an iron resurrection ; and the spectacle they

presented to the Rebels from their posts of
outlook must have been one of portentous
grandeur." At 12£ p. m., our iron-clads ad
vanced in the prescribed order — to
be stopped directly by the anchor ca
ble of the Weehawken, in the van,
becoming rouled with iron grappbngs
protruding from the raft at her bows,
wherewith she was expected to ex
plode any torpedoes and clear away
any obstructions she might encoun
ter. An hour was spent in putting
this right ; and then our fleet moved
on, in order : each vessel passing Mor
ris island without evoking a shot from
Fort Wagner or Battery Bee, and
meaning to make the entrance of the
harbor between Fort Sumter and Sul
livan's island before the former, at
4:03 p. m., opened on the Weehaw
ken the tremendous broadside of her
barbette guns.
And now there dawned upon our
perplexed though undaunted com
mander a revelation of the great and
insuperable difficulty of the attack.
That our nine small though stanch
vessels, mounting 30 guns in all, could
last long under the fire which could
be concentrated on them while lying
close in front or east of Fort Sumter
was not and could not reasonably be
expected. It had therefore been deter
mined, and was distinctly prescribed
in Dupont's order of battle, that
"The squadron will pass up the main
ship channel without returning the fire of
the batteries on Morris island, unless signal
should be made to commence action.
" The ships will open fire on Fort Sumter
when within easy range, and will take up a .
position to the northward and westward of
that fortification, engaging its left or north
west face, at a distance of from 1,000 to 800
yards ; firing low, and aiming at the center
embrasure." But there were other plans than
ours to be taken into account. The

470

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

enemy's engineers were quite as well
aware as ours of the relative weak
ness of the north-west face of Sumter
(which had never been completed
— the fort being designed, indeed, to
guard the harbor, but not against an
offensive so formidable and persistent
as ours), and had no idea of allow
ing our iron-clads to pass their heavi
est batteries and concentrate their
fire upon that quarter. Accordingly,
when the Weehawken had come fully
abreast of Sumter, and completely
under the fire of Moultrie's and other
batteries as well as hers, she found
herself confronted by a stout hawser
buoyed up by empty casks, stretching
completely across the channel from
"the north-west angle of Fort Sum
ter to Moultrie, and festooned with
nets, seines, cables, &c, attached to
torpedoes below — all contrived, if the
torpedoes failed to destroy any vessel
which might attempt to break the
hawser, at least to foul her propeller
and deprive her crew of all command
over her movements, leaving her to
drift helpless and useless where a few
hours at most must insure her demo
lition. Capt. Bodgers did not choose to
squander his vessel so recklessly;
and, after a brief hesitation, attempt
ed to pass westward of Fort Sumter,
between that and Cumming's Point :
but this channel was found obstruct
ed by a row of great piles, driven far
into the earth and rising ten feet
above the surface of the water ; with
another row stretching across its en
tire width a mile or so farther up the
harbor ; with still another behind this,
backed by three Bebel iron-clads, all
smoking and roaring in concert with
the forts and batteries on every side.
And now, as if our embarrassments

were too trivial, the Ironsides is
caught by the tide and veered off her
course, refusing to mind her helm,
and deranging the movements of her
consorts : the Catskill and Nantucket
running afoul of her on either side,
and requiring a precious quarter of
an hour to get clear again. This con
strained Com. Dupont to signal the
rest of the fleet to disregard the
movements of the Ironsides, and take
the positions wherein their Are would
prove most effective. Thus directed,
Lt. Bhind ran the Keokuk within 500
yards of Fort Sumter, and there held
her, pouring in her hottest fire, till
she was riddled and sinking; the
Catskill and the Montauk being
scarcely farther off. Let the ob
server already quoted depict for us
the manner of serving the guns in
those narrow, dim-lit caverns, the
turrets of the monitors :
" Could you look through the smoke, and
through the flame-lit ports, into one of those
revolving towers, a spectacle would meet
your eye such as Vulcan's stithy might pre
sent. Here are the two huge guns which
form the armament of each monitor — the
one 11 and the other 15 inches in diameter
of bore. The gunners, begrimed with pow
der and stripped to the waist, are loading
the gun. The allowance of powder — thirty-
five pounds to each charge — is passed up
rapidly from below ; the shot, weighing four
hundred and twenty pounds, is hoisted up
by mechanical appliances to the muzzle of
the gun, and rammed home ; the gun is run
out to the port, and tightly 'compressed;'
the port is open for an instant, the captain
of the gnn stands behind, lanyard in hand —
'Ready, fire!' and the enormous projectile
rushes through its huge parabola, with the
weight of ten thousand tons, home to its
mark." For half an hour thereafter, our
sailors maintained the unequal and
plainly hopeless contest — all of them
under the fire of hundreds of the
heaviest and best rifled guns that
could be made, or bought, or stolen.
The Bebel gunners had been direct-

OUR MONITORS REPULSED— THE KEOKUK SUNK.

471

ed by Beauregard, then in chief com
mand at Charleston, to fire very de
liberately and with careful aim ; yet
160 shots per minute were counted :
and one of our commanders declared
that the great iron bolts of the ene
my crashed upon the decks and sides
of our vessels in succession as rapid
as the ticks of a watch. Most of
these, of course, rebounded or glanced
off, and were added to the pavement
of the harbor ; but even these often
left ugly mementoes of their hasty
visit; while the attentions of some
were far more impressive. The Na
hant carried off thirteen ugly bruises ;
_ one of them made by a shot which
Btruck her pilot-house, knocking out
several of its bolts, one of which
wounded? all three of the inmates —
captain, pilot, and quartermaster —
the last fatally. Four of her crew
were injured by a similar injury to
her turret. The Passaic had as
many wounds — one of them from a
shot which passed through the 11-
inch plates of her turret, and then
had force left seriously to damage
her pilot-house beyond. The Nan
tucket had, among others, a knock
on her turret which so deranged it
that her port could not be opened
thereafter. The Ironsides had one
of her port shutters shot away ; and
the Catskill was struck by a bolt
which tore through her deck-plating
forward, and still had force to break
an iron beam beneath it.
But the Keokuk, though not the
strongest among them, had dared
most and suffered most. She was
struck 90 times, had both her turrets
riddled, with 19 holes through her
hull ; some of them so large that a

boy might have crawled through,
while her commander and 11 of her
crew were wounded, five of them
severely. She was at length com
pelled to draw off, mortally injured,
and, limping away down the coast of
Morris island to Lighthouse inlet,
she had barely been relieved of her
wounded, when, at 8 p. m., she sunk
— the last of her crew jumping into
the sea as she went down, leaving
only the top of her smoke-stack above
the surface of the water. Three
hours earlier, Com. Dupont, seeing
half his vessels disabled, while Sum
ter, though somewhat damaged,4'
was still vociferous and belbgerent
as ever — gave the signal for retiring;
which was willingly, though not
swiftly, obeyed.
The iron-clad attack on Fort Sum
ter and its adjuncts was a failure —
not a disaster. We lost few men,
and but one vessel ; for all but the
Keokuk were susceptible of easy re
pair; while the expenditure of am
munition was many times greatest
on the side of the Rebels, and one
that they could not afford so well as
we could. It was computed that
3,500 shots were fired by them that
day ; the value of which was hardly
to be measured by Confederate cur
rency in its then advanced stage of
decomposition. Two guns on Fort
Sumter were disabled, and one was
burst ; while they had but few men
injured and only one killed. But
their exultation over our repulse was
unbounded : Beauregard, for once,
hardly going beyond the average
sentiment in averring, in his general
order, that " the happy issue" of this
conflict had " inspired confidence in

pet near the eastern angle," reports Mr. Swinton
aforesaid.

" "Half a dozen pock-marks show conspicu
ous ; while a huge crater is formed in the para-

472

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the country that our ultimate success
will be complete."
Gen. Hunter had a supporting
force of some 4,000 men, under
Gen. Truman Seymour, carefully
concealed behind a thicket of palms
just below Lighthouse inlet, with
pontoons, guns, &c, all ready to
rush across to Morris island and
attack the Bebel forces stationed
thereon — either party screening its
position and numbers by the usu,al
picket-firing at the front. When it
was made manifest that Dupont was
worsted, Adjutant Halpine was sent
with all haste to Seymour with or
ders to desist : so no useless slaugh
ter on land intensified the bitterness
of our failure on the water.
The Bebels say that a blockade-
runner in the harbor during the
fight ran out through our fleet dur
ing the ensuing night, unperceived
or unsuspected ; and it is certain that
our gunboat George Washington,
reconnoitering next day,44 up Broad
river, having got aground, was at
tacked by a party of Bebels, who
succeeded in throwing a shell into
her magazine and blowing her up ;
killing 2 and wounding 8 of the 3d
B. I. Artillery.
Dupont, like most old sailors, was
naturally partial to fighting on deck,
and not a lover of iron-clads. The
issue of this struggle ripened his
distrust into detestation. He had
failed, with 1,000 men and 30 guns,
to take, at the first effort, what was
probably the best fortified seaport
on earth, defended by at least ten
times his force in men and metal ;
and he utterly refused to repeat the
experiment. 
There were no movements there

after in South Carolina under Hun
ter; save that Col. Montgomery,
with 300 of his 2d S. C. (negroes) on
two steamboats, went " 25 miles up
the Combahee river, burnt a pon
toon-bridge, with some private pro
perty, and brought away 727 very
willing slaves — all that they could
take, but not nearly all that wished
to be taken. The 2d S. C. recruited
two full companies out of ' the spoils.'

The Fingal, a British-built block
ade-runner, which had slipped " into
Savannah with a valuable cargo of
arms, and been loaded with cotton
for her return, found herself unable,
especially after the fall of Pulaski,
to slip out again ; and, after many
luckless attempts, was unldaded, and
iron-clad into what was esteemed a
high state of warbke efficiency — 14
months having been devoted to the
work. She was now christened the
Atlanta, and, wafted from the
wharves of Savannah by a breeze of
prayers and good wishes, moved
down the inlet known as Wilming
ton river into Warsaw sound, at
tended by two gunboats and intent
on belligerency. Meantime, two poor
Irishmen, tired of the Confederacy,
had escaped to Hilton Head, and
there revealed the character of the
craft and the nature of her seaward
errand. Hunter's Adjutant, Hal-
pine, a brother Irishman, who had
wormed out their secret, by the help
of a fluid which seldom fails to un
loose the Celtic tongue, at once sped
the information to Dupont; who
forthwith dispatched the Weehawken
and the Nahant to Warsaw sound,
wherein the Cimarone alone had
been previously stationed.

1 April 8.

" June 2.

40 Nov. 12. 1861.

GILLMORE AND DAHLGREN
Capt. John Bodgers, in the Wee
hawken, had been several days in
Warsaw sound ere the Atlanta made
her appearance. At length, just
after daylight," he espied her emerg
ing from Wilmington river, with the
Bebel flag defiantly exalted. Per
ceiving his approach, the Atlanta
gent bim a ball, then halted to await
his coming. The Bebel tenders, it
was said, had only come down to
tow up the prizes, leaving the At
lanta at liberty to pursue her victori-

TAKE COMMAND.

473

ous career : their decks being crowded
with ladies, who had voyaged from
Savannah to enjoy the spectacle and
.exult over the victory.
But there was not much of a
fight — certainly not a long one.
Bodgers disdained to answer the
Rebel's fire till he had shortened the
Bntervening distance to 300 yards;
fwhen, sighting his 15-inch gun, he
struck and shivered the shutter of one
of her port-holes, with the iron and
wood-work adjacent. Loading and
sighting again, he fired and struck
her iron pilot-house ; carrying it away
bodily, and severely wounding two
of her three pilots. His next shot
grazed the wreck of what had been
the pilot-house; his fifth, fired at
100 yards' distance, smashed through
her side, bending in her four inches
of iron armor, shivering eight inches
of plank, killing one and wounding
13 of her gunners ; passing through
and falling into the water. Here
upon, the Bebel flag came down and
a white one went up ; just 26 min
utes after Bodgers first descried his
antagonist; and 15 after she had
opened the battle. Her consorts
slunk away unharmed ; their passen
gers returning to advise their fellow-

citizens that raising the siege of
Charleston was not so easy a task as
they had fondly supposed it. The
Atlanta, it now appeared, had
grounded, broadside to, just as she
began the fight, but had nevertheless
fired briskly and harmlessly to the
end of it. She had 4 large guns and
165 men. 

June 17, 1863.

Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore having
relieved Gen. Hunter,48 as Com. Dabl-
gren soon after relieved4' Com. Du
pont, movements were at once set on
foot looking to systematic operations
against Fort Sumter and Charleston.
To a comprehension of these move
ments, a preliminary glance at the
situation seems necessary.
Gen. Gillmore found in the De
partment of the South a total force
of 17,463 officers and soldiers — the
most of them veterans of approved
quality, in good part brought thither
by Foster. Considering the naval
cooperation that might at all times
be counted on, his real force must,
for all purposes except that of a de
termined advance into the heart of
the enemy's territory, have been fully
equal to 20,000 men. For defense,
against any but a sudden attack or
surprise, it was hardly less than
25,000. But he had so many posts
to hold in a hostile region, and such
an extensive hue (250 miles) to picket,
that 11,000 was the very utmost that
he could venture to concentrate for
any offensive purpose that might not
be consummated within a few dap
at farthest. And he had, apart from
the navy, 96 heavy guns (all service
able but 12 13-inch mortars, which
proved too large, and were left un
used), with an abundance of muni
tions, engineering tools, &c. 
48 June 12. 4* J"1/ ^

474

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

He found our forces in quiet pos
session of nearly or quite all the Sea
islands west of the Stono, with Sea-
brook and Folly islands, east of that
inlet. Our pickets still — as on the
day of Dupont's attack — confronted
those of the enemy across Lighthouse
inlet, which separates these from Mor
ris island. 4
Gillmore's plan of operations —
carefully matured before he entered
upon his command — contemplated a
descent by surprise on the south end
of Morris island — well known to be
strongly fortified and held — which,
being taken, was to be firmly held as
a base for operations against Fort
Wagner, a strong and heavily armed
eartbwork at the north end of that
island, 2,600 yards from Fort Sum
ter, held by a strong garrison under
Col. Lawrence M. Keitt. This car
ried, the less formidable earthwork
at Cumming's Point, on the extreme
north, must fall, enabling us to plant
batteries within a mile of Sumter,
and within extreme shelling distance
of Charleston itself. Thus, even prior
to the reduction of Sumter, it was
calculated that our iron-clads might
pass that fortress, remove the chan
nel obstructions, run the batteries on
James and Sullivan's islands, and go
up to the city. To distract the ene
my's attention and prevent a concen
tration of forces from a distance to
resist our establishment on Morris
island — which Gillmore regarded as
the most critical point in his pro
gramme — Gen. A, H. Terry was sent
up the Stono to make a demonstra
tion on James island ; while Col. Hig-
ginson, steaming up the Edisto, was
to make a fresh attempt to cut the
railroad, so as to prevent the recep

tion of reenforcements from Savan
nah. Save as a distraction of the enemy,
this latter movement proved a fail
ure. Col. Higginson, with 300 men
and 3 guns, on the gunboat John
Adams and two transports, pushed "
up the Edisto, making an opening
through a row of piles at Wiltown,
to within two miles of the railroad
bridge ; but he was so long detained
here as to lose the tide ; so that the
two transports, going farther up, re
peatedly grounded, and found the
bridge defended by a 6-gun battery,
whereby Higginson was worsted and
beaten off; being compelled to burn,
the tug Gov. Milton, as she could
not be floated. He balanced the ac
count by bringing off 200 negroes.
Terry's movement was successful,
not only in calling off the enemy's
attention from the real point of dan
ger, but in drawing away a portion
of their forces from Morris island,
where they were needed, to James
island, where they were not.
Folly island — a long, narrow beacb
or sand-spit, skirting the Atlantic
ocean south of the entrance to
Charleston inner harbor — is, hke
most of the adjacent islands, barely
elevated above the sea-level, and in
part flooded by the highest tides.
Though naked for half a mile toward
the north end, it is, for the most
part, densely wooded ; and ridges of
sand, covered by a thick screen of
forest and underbrush along Light
house inlet, effectually shield it from
observation from Morris island. Here
Saxton found Gen. Yogdes firmly
posted, alert and vigilant, and gradu
ally, circumspectly strengthened him
without attracting hostile observation

1 July 10.

GEN. STRONG ESTABLISHED ON MORRIS ISLAND. 475

till he had 47 guns in battery within
speaking distance of the Bebel pick
ets, with 200 rounds of ammunition
and all necessary appliances for each
— the Bebel batteries right inhis front
being intent on destroying a block
ade-runner which had been chased
aground by our cruisers just south
of the entrance to Lighthouse inlet.
Meantime, Gen.Terry's division,4,000
strong, and Gen. Strong's brigade of
2,500, were quietly transferred to Fol
ly island, under the cover of darkness,
and kept out of sight, while Yogdes
made a great parade of strengthening
his defenses as though he apprehend
ed an attack.
• At length, all being ready, Gen.
Terry, with 3,800 men, was con
veyed" up the Stono, and menaced
the Bebel works on the south end of
James island ; while 2,000 men, un
der Gen. Strong, were silently em
barked " on small boats in Folly riv
er, and rowed stealthily to the junc
tion of Lighthouse inlet ; where they
were halted, behind a screen of
marsh-grass, while Yogdes's batteries
on the north end of Folly island
broke, at daylight," the slumbers of
the unsuspecting foe. Dahlgren's
iron-clads, Catskill, Montauk, Na^
hant, and Weehawken, forthwith
opened a cross-fire, which they main
tained throughout the day ; address
ing their civilities for the most part
to the tranquilizing of Fort Wagner;
After two hours' cannonade, Gen.
Strong threw his men ashore, disre
garding a hot fire of Bebel artillery
and musketry, and, by 9 a. m., we
had carried all the enemy's batteries
on the south end of Morris island,
and held three-fourths of that island
firmly, with our skirmishers pushed

up to within musket-shot of Fort
Wagner. The intense heat and the
exhaustion of our soldiers, who had
been under arms all night, here ar
rested operations for the day. Eleven
heavy guns, with much camp equip
age, were the main trophies of our
success. Next morning, at 5, Gen. Strong
led his men to an assault on Fort
Wagner, whereof they reached the
parapet ; but were here met by so
withering a fire that they recoiled,
with but moderate loss. Thus far,
our casualties on this island were
150 ; those of the Bebels were offi
cially reported by Beauregard at 300.
Convinced by this failure that the
fortress was very much stronger than
it had been supposed, and could only
be taken by regular approaches,
Gillmore now sat down before it, in
full view of the fact that the enemy
could concentrate here at any time a
force far larger than that which as
sailed them. But the narrowness of
the island, while it constrained the
besiegers to work directly and con
stantly under the fire of the fort, pre
cluded flanking sallies, and rendered
an accumulation here of force by
the enemy of httle practical account.
And, beside, every offensive move
ment on their part must be made
under the enfilading fire of our gun
boats ; which constantly aided to
shield our working parties from a fu
sillade that, destructive at best, would
else have been insupportable.
General Terry, on James island,
was attacked at daybreak M by a
more numerous Bebel force of Geor
gians, just arrived from Yirginia,
who, expecting to surprise him, ad
vanced rapidly, driving in the 54th

" July 8, p. m.

1 Evening of July 9.

' July 10.

H July 16.

476

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Mass., then on picket duty; but they
found Terry wide awake and ready,
with the gunboats Pawnee, Huron,
Marblehead, John Adams, and May
flower at hand ; by whose aid they
were easily driven off, with a loss of
some 200. Ours was 100. Terry
proceeded to Morris island forthwith,
to share in the meditated grand as
sault on Fort Wagner.
The preliminary bombardment was
to have opened at daylight;" but
a terrible storm had so delayed our
preparations and dampened our pow
der that it did not actually commence
till 12£ p.m. From that time till
dark, the rain of fire from our semi
circle of batteries, ranged across the
island at the distance of a mile, while
our iron-clads, moving up to within
a few hundred yards, poured in their
heaviest missiles, regardless of the
fire of the fort and that of Sumter.
Wagner, in fact, kept but two great
guns at work ; her men lying close
in their bomb-proofs, till, their flag
being shot away, a dozen or so in
stantly swarmed out to replace it ;
when they as quickly disappeared.
On our side, fully a hundred great
guns steadily thundered ; the shells
of our monitors often throwing up
clouds of sand which must have
nearly choked the entrance to the
garrison's bomb-proof; tearing the
fort out of all regularity of outline,
all appearance of structure or sym
metry. ' By many on our side, it was
fondly counted that her bomb-proof
must have been pierced and riddled,
her garrison shattered and routed,
by that tremendous bombardment.
Events proved how sadly mistaken
were all such sanguine calculations.
The garrison had lain all day in their

bomb-proof substantially unharmed :
returning, for appearance's sake, per
haps one shot for every five hundred
hurled at them, but reserving their
strength and their iron for the sterner,
ordeal which they felt to be at hand. '
As the day declined, the roar of
our great guns, no longer incessant,
was renewed at longer and longer in
tervals, and finally ceased ; our iron
clads, save the Montauk, returning
to their anchorage ; while a thunder
storm burst over land and sea ; sharp
flashes of bghtning intermitting and
intensifying the fast coming dark
ness, as our leaders, galloping hither
and thither, perfected their disposi
tions for the pending assault.
Our men were formed in three
brigades: the first, led by Gen.
Strong, consisting of the 54th Mas
sachusetts (colored), Col. Bobert G.
Shaw, the 6th Connecticut, Col. Chat-
field, the 48th New York, Col. Bar
ton, the 3d New Hampshire, Col.
Jackson, the 76th Pennsylvania, Col.
Strawbridge, and the 9th Maine,
Cob Emery: the 54th Mass. having
been assigned to this brigade at the
request of its young Colonel, between
whom and Gen. Strong a warm at
tachment had sprung up during their
brief acquaintance, formed and ripen
ed in the field. Shaw's was the first
colored regiment organized in a
Free State ; and it shared his anxiety
to prove that it was not in vain that
Blacks as well as Whites had been
summoned to battle for their country
and the Freedom of Man. In order
to be here in season, it had been for
two days marching through heavy
sands and working its way across
creeks and inlets, unsheltered through
the pelting rains of the intervening

06 July 18.

GEN. STRONG'S ASSAULT ON FORT WAGNER.

477

nights : only reaching at 6 p. m. Gen.
Strong's headquarters, about midway
of the island, where it was halted five
minutes; but there was now no time
for rest or food, and it went forward,
hungry and weary, to take its place
in the front line of the assaulting
column. That column, advancing a
few hundred yards under a random
fire from two or three great guns,
halted half an hour, during which
the 54th was addressed by Gen.
Strong and by its Colonel ; and then
— as the dusk was deepening rapidly
into darkness — the order to advance
was given, and, under a storm of shot
and shell from Wagner, Sumter, and
Cumming's Point, our soldiers moved
swiftly on.
The distance traversed at double-
quick was perhaps half a mile ; but
not many had fallen until the pierced
but unshaken column had almost
reached the ditch and were within
short musket-range of the fort, when
a sheet of fire from small arms light
ed up the enshrouding darkness, while
howitzers in the bastions raked the
ditch as our men swept across it, and
hand-grenades from the parapet tore
them astheycbmbed the seamed and
ragged face of the fort and planted
their colors for a, moment on the top.
Here fell Col. Shaw, struck dead;
here, or just in front, fell Gen.
Strong, mortally wounded, with Col.
Chatfield and many noble officers
beside; while Cols. Barton, Green,
and Jackson, were severely wounded.
The remnant of the brigade recoiled
under the command of Maj. Plymp-
ton, 3d N. H. ; while all that was left
of the 54th Mass. was led off by a
boy, Lt. Higginson.
The first brigade being thus de
molished, the second went forward,

led by Col. H. S. Putnam, 7th New
Hampshire, whose regiment, with
the 62d Ohio, Col. Steele, the 67th
ditto, Col. Yoorhees, and the 100th
N. York, Col. Dandy, was now re
quired to attempt what a stronger
brigade had proved impossible.
There was no shrinking, however,
until, after half an hour's bloody
combat before and upon the fort —
Col. Putnam having been killed, and
a large portion of his subordinates
either killed or wounded — no sup
ports arriving, the remains of the
brigade, like the first, fell back into
the friendly darkness, and made their
way, as they best could, to our Hnes,
as the Bebel yell of triumph from
Wagner rose above the thunder of
their guns from Sumter and Cum
ming's Point.
In this fearful assault, we lost fully
1,500 men; while the Bebel killed
and wounded did not much exceed
100. There were few or no prisoners
taken, save our severely wounded :
and the Bebels say they buried 600
of our dead. Among these was Col.
Shaw — a hereditary Abolitionist —
on whom they vainly thought to
heap indignity by " burying him in
the same pit with his niggers." His
relatives and friends gratefully ac
cepted the fitting tribute ; and when
in due time a shaft shall rise from
the free soil of redeemed Carolina
above that honored grave, it will per
petuate, alike for leader and for led,
the memory of their devotion to the
holy cause whereto they offered up
their lives a willing sacrifice.
Fort Wagner being thus proved,
at a heavy cost, impregnable to as
sault — Gillmore — at once General
commanding and Engineer-in-Chief
— resumed the work of its reduction

478

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

by regular approaches. Among the
difficulties to be confronted was the
narrowness of the neck of dry land
along which those approaches must
be carried: the fort covering the
entire width of the island where it
stood; whereas, at the point where
we commenced to run our parallels,
it is but a third, and at a point still
nearer the fort, is but a tenth so
wide. The faces of the fort were
mutually defensive, and it was pro
vided with a sluice-gate for retaining
in its ditch the water admitted at the
highest tides. The problem was
complicated by the cross-fire from
Sumter, Cumming's Point, and se
veral heavy batteries on James isl
and. Its garrison could at all times
be readily suppbed and reenforced
from Charleston ; while the besiegers
were embarrassed, and their opera
tions retarded, by the knowledge that
they might at any moment be as
sailed without notice by a force of
twice or thrice their strength, sud
denly concentrated by railroad from
the Bebel armies in any part of the
Confederacy. Within five days after the bloody
repulse of the 18th, a row of inclined
palisading had been stretched across
the island, some 200 yards in advance
of our front, with every added pre
caution against a sortie that experi
ence suggested, a bomb-proof maga
zine constructed, and a first parallel
opened, with 8 siege and field-guns
and 10 siege mortars in position, be
side three ' Bequa batteries' of rifle-
barrels, designed mainly for defen
sive service if needed. And now 6° a
second parallel was opened, 600
yards in advance of the first, in
which heavy breaching batteries

were established so soon as might be :
their guns being trained partly upon
Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg
behind it, and partly upon Fort
Sumter : fire being opened on the
latter, at a distance of two miles,
from two 8-inch and five 100-pounder
rifled Parrotts. Meantime, a breach
ing battery of two 200-pounder rifled
Parrotts and two 80-pounder Whit-
worths, likewise intended for Fort
Sumter, had been estabbshed by Col.
Serrell in the first parallel, whieh
was manned by Admiral Dahlgren
from the navy, under Captain Fox-
hall A. Parker ; and which, in one
week" of service, made a decided
change in the physiognomy of that
obstinate structure. Com'r Geo. W.
Bodgers, of the Catskill, was killed.
Still other breaching batteries were
simultaneously established on the
left, 800 yards farther from Sumter,
which participated in the bombard
ment of that fort, and contributed to
its measurable success.
All these extensive and difficult
works were of course pushed forward
mainly under the cover of darkness,
which did not cause an intermission of
the enemy's fire, but materially inter
fered with the accuracy of his aim.
The advancing over deep sand and
mounting, under fire', of the great
guns employed in these operations,
was a most arduous labor, taxing the
strength as well as patience and
courage of all engaged.
Gen. Gillmore had long since B8 re
solved to establish a battery in the
marsh westward of Morris island, at
a point whence he bebeved it practi
cable to reach the wharves and ship
ping of Charleston, and had directed
Col. Serrell to make the requisite ex-

' July 23.

Aug. 1T-23.

' July 15.

THE SWAMP ANGEL OPENS ON CHARLESTON.

479

aminations. The marsh here was a
bed of soft, black mud, 16 to 18 feet
deep, overgrown with reeds and grass,
traversed by tortuous, sluggish water
courses, and overflowed at high tide.
Here, at a point midway between
Morris and James islands, fully five
miles from the lower end of Charles
ton, on a capacious and substantial
platform of logs, placed directly on
the surface ofthe marsh, but strength
ened, beneath its gun platform, by
piles, driven through the mud into
the sobd sand below — the rectangu
lar space inclosed by them being
filled in with sand — was established
the 'Marsh Battery;' mounting a
"single 8-inch rifled Parrott, named
by the soldiers ' the Swamp Angel.'
Protected by a sand-bag parapet and
epaulement, it was soon made ready
to transmit the compliments of the
besiegers to the heart of the Bebel-
bon. When all was ready, Are was
opened" with shot and shell, from
twelve batteries of heavy guns, on
Sumter, Wagner, and the Cumming's
Point batteries, but mainly on Sum
ter — the breaching guns being served
with great care and debberation —
the distance of our batteries from
Sumter varying from 3,428 to 4,290
yards, or from two to two and a half
miles. Those in the second parallel
were exposed to a galbng fire from
Wagner, which, though somewhatim-
peded by a cross-fire from our iron
clads, at times caused a partial sus
pension of our bombardment ; while
a heavy north-easter, raging on two
days," seriously affected the accuracy
of our fire at distant Sumter ; which
the Bebels were constantly strength
ening by sand-bags so fast as it was

demolished by our shot. Yet Gill
more ceased firing on the 23d, be
cause he considered, and reported to
Halleck, that Fort Sumter, as an
offensive work, was now practically
demolished : its barbette guns being
mainly dismounted; its stately and
solid walls reduced to a heap of un
sightly ruins, whence most of the
guns were gradually withdrawn by
night, because no longer capable of
effective service upon or within its
walls ; and its garrison of artillerists
exchanged for one mainly of infan
try, who were tolerably safe in the
bomb-proofs covered by its sheltering
ruins, but capable neither of imped
ing our approaches to Wagner nor
offering formidable resistance to our
iron-clads. Gillmore now expected the iron
clads to force their way into the in
ner harbor and up to the city, which
he deemed no longer defensible
against our naval force; but Dahl-
gren did not concur in this opinion
of the feasibility of such an enter
prise, and it was not attempted.
Gillmore, having completed" his
arrangements for opening fire from
' the Swamp Angel,' summoned Beau
regard to abandon Morris island and
Sumter, on penalty of the bombard
ment of Charleston. Beceiving no
reply, he fired a few shots from that
battery, and desisted. Beauregard
thereupon complained that no rea
sonable notice was given of this
opening on an inhabited city; add
ing that he was absent from his post
when Gillmore's message was re
ceived there. Gillmore could not
see how he was blamable for this ab
sence, and insisted that he had done
nothing contrary to the laws of war.

1 Aug. 1 ..

"° Aug. 18-19.

61 Aug. 21.

480

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

The high tides raised by the storm
aforesaid partially filled our works,
washing down parapets and imped
ing our operations as well as destroy
ing our approaches; yet a fourth
parallel was soon established," barely
300 yards from Wagner, and only 100
from a sheltering ridge in its front,
from behind which Bebel sharp-shoot
ers had seriously impeded our work
ing parties and defied efforts to expel
them by infantry, as they afterward
did" to dislodge them by mortar-
firing. But Gen. Terry was now
directed to take it with the bayonet,
and did so : whereupon our fifth par
allel was established behind it, only
240 yards from Wagner. Here, the
dry part of the island is but 25 yards
wide and barely two feet high : high
tides sweeping across in rough weather
to the marsh behind it. Hencefor
ward, the ground was filled with tor
pedo mines ; in spite of which, a rude
trench had been pushed forward, by
daybreak of the 27th, to within 100
yards of the fort.
Yet here the progress of the be
siegers was checked. The fire of
Wagner, concentring from its extend
ed front on this narrow sand-spit at
close range, was necessarily most ef
fective; that of the James island
batteries was steadily increasing in
volume and accuracy; to push the
sap by day was death to all engaged
in it; while a bright harvest-moon
rendered it all but equally hazardous -
by night. It became necessary to
silence the fort utterly by an over
powering curved fire from siege and
Coehorn mortars, at the same time
attempting to breach the bomb-proof
by a fire of rifled guns at close range ;
thus expelling the garrison from its

only available shelter. To this end,
all the light mortars were brought
to the front, and placed in battery ;
the capacity of the fifth parallel and
advanced trenches for sharp-shooters
was greatly enlarged and improved ;
the rifled guns in the left breaching
batteries were trained upon the fort ;
and powerful calcium Hghts prepared
to assist the operations of our cannon-
iers and sharp-shooters, while blind
ing those of the enemy. The New
Ironsides, Capt. Bowan, also moved
up and set to work, during the day
light, on the obstinate fortress. All
being ready, our batteries reopened "
in full chorus : the New Ironsides
pouring in an eight-gun broadside of
11-inch shells agamst the parapet,
whence they dropped nearly verti
cally, exploding within or over the
fort; while calcium lights turned
night into day, bunding the garrison,
and rendering visible to the besiegers
every thing connected with the fort.
This proved too much for the be
sieged, who were compelled to seek
and abide in the shelter of their
bomb-proof, leaving our sappers free
to push forward their work until they
were so close to the fort that the fire
of the James island batteries, which
had become their chief annoyance,
could only be rendered effective at
the peril of friends and foes abke.
And now the sap was pushed with
vigor, and in entire disregard of the
enemy : the workers off duty mount
ing the parapets of their works to
take a survey of the ground ; until,
a little after dark," the sap was
pushed by the south face of the fort,
leaving it on their left, crowning the
crest of the counterscarp near the
flank of the east or sea front, com-

B Night of Aug. 21.

63 Aug. 26.

1 Sept. 5, at daybreak.

>Sept. 6.

pletely masking all the guns in the

DAHLGREN'S LUCKLESS ATTACK ON SUMTER. 481
* '
to the parapet ; but found the slope
far steeper and its ascent more diffi
cult than they appeared when viewed
from a distance through a field-glass.

work, save those on this flank, and

removing a row of long pikes which
had been planted at the foot of the
counterscarp as an impediment to
assault. Gen. Gillmore directed Gen. Terry
to assault in three columns at 9
A. m. ;" that being the hQur of ebb
tide, which gave the broadest beach
whereon to advance the assaulting
columns; but, by midnight, it was
discovered that the garrison were es
caping ; and with such celerity did
they move that we took but 70 pris
oners. They left 18 guns in Wagner
and 7 in Battery Gregg.
? Though 122,300 pounds of metal
had been hurled at it at short range
from breaching guns — none of them
less than a 100-pounder — within the
last two days, the bomb-proof of the
former was found substantially in
tact, and capable of sheltering 1,500
men. Sand was fully proved to pos
sess a power of protracted resistance
to the power of heavy ordnance far
surpassing that of brick or stone.

During the night of the 8th, a
flotilla of 25 to 30 row-boats, from
Admiral Dahlgren's fleet, led by
Oom'r Stephens of the Patapsco, at
tempted to carry Fort Sumter by
assault, whereof no notice was given
to, and of course no cooperation in
vited from, Gen. Gillmore. The
boats, having been towed nearly to
the fort, were cast off and made their
way<to the ragged walls of the old,
inveterate obstacle to our progress,
whereon the crews of three of them,
led by Oom'r Williams, Lt. Bemey,
and Ensign Porter, debarked, and
attempted to clamber up the ruins

The garrison, under Maj. S. Elliot,
proved exceedingly wide awake, and
at once commenced firing and throw
ing hand-grenades ; while, at a signal
given by them, the Rebel batteries
on every side but the offing opened
a terrific fire, whereby our three
boats were soon torn to pieces, and
those they had borne to the fort —
some 200 in number— either killed,
wounded, or compelled to surrender.
The killed and wounded were about
80 ; while 121 were taken prisoners.
The residue of the expedition drew
off unhurt. No life was lost on the
side of the defense.

Gen. Gillmore's 'Swamp Angel'
had rather alarmed than injured the
Charlestonians — no person having
been harmed by its fire, though seve
ral shells had reached and exploded
in the lower part of their city, and
one had entered a warehouse, and,
exploding there, done considerable
damage to its walls and contents.
The ' Swamp Angel,' being fired at
a considerable elevation, with a
charge of 16 pounds of powder, im-
pelhng a projectile weighing 150
pounds, burst at its 36th discharge.
But now Fort Wagner and Batte
ry Gregg were transformed and
strengthened, while other works Were
erected on that end of the island,
armed with mortars and heavy rifled
guns, a full mile nearer to Charles
ton than the ' Marsh Battery,' and of
course far more effective for the bom
bardment of that city, a full half of
which was henceforth under fire, and

vol. n. — 31

raSept. 1.

482

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

was, after some casualties, abandoned
by most of its inhabitants, who either
moved farther up, or left altogether :
while many of the buildings, includ
ing some of the most substantial and
costly edifices, suffered severely.
Blockade-running — which had long
been a source of activity, importance,
and profit to ' the cradle of Secession,'
in spite of all the gunboats, iron
clads, &c, that could be off her bar,
reenforced by the ' stone fleet' — suc
cumbed to and was broken up by the
¦terrible missiles of Gillmore, though
sped by guns mounted fully four
miles from her wharves.
Meantime, Sumter, though still a
volcano, was a volcano asleep — her
guns mainly dismantled, her garrison
bidden in her inmost recesses. At
length, upon advices that the enemy
was remounting some guns on her
south-east face, Gillmore reopened67
on that face from his heavy rifled
guns in Wagner and Gregg, crum
bling it speedily into ruins, which
sloped from the summit of the breach
to the level of the surrounding water.
Thereafter, a slow and irregular fire
from Cumming's Point was main
tained for weeks, or till nearly the
close of the year ; when, all prospect
of a penetration of the harbor by the
iron-clads being over, and no object
seeming to justify a continuance of
the fire, it was suspended, or thence
forth mainly directed agamst Charles
ton alone.
A luckless attempt88 to blow up
by a torpedo boat the new Ironsides,
as she lay off Morris island, and the
foundering0" of the Weehawken, car
rying down 30 of her crew, while at
anchor in the outer harbor during
a gabs — owing to her hatches having

been inconsiderately left open — com
plete the record of notable events in
this department for the year 1863.

In North Carolina, bttle of mo
ment occurred in 1863. Gen. D. H.
Hill attempted to retake Newbern on
the first anniversary70 of its recov
ery to the Union : attacking, with 20
guns, an unfinished earthwork north
of the Neuse: but that work was
firmly held by the 92d New York
until reenforced ; when its assailants
drew off with bttle loss.
Hill next demonstrated71 agamst
Washington, N. C. : erecting batte
ries at Bodman's and Hill's Points,
below the town, which commanded
the navigation of Pamlico river and
isolated the place. But Gen. Foster
had meantime arrived : finding a gar
rison of 1,200 men, with two gun
boats and an armed transport under
Com'r B. Benshaw; while the de
fenses were well placed and in good
condition. Hill had here his corps,
estimated by Foster at 20,000 strong,
with 50 guns. But he paused three
days before assaulting; which pre
cious time was well improved by the
garrison in strengthening and per
fecting their works — Foster peremp
torily refusing to allow any espionage
of his doings under the pretense of
summoning bim to surrender. Those
days being ended, it was understood
on our side that an order to assault
was given, but not obeyed — our
works being deemed too strong to
justify the risk. Hill now com
menced a siege in due form ; mount
ing guns on the several ridges com
manding the town, with one on Bod
man's Point, across the river; our
small force posted there being easily

67 Oct. 26.

<* Oct. 5,

1 Dec. 6.

70 March 14.

71 March 30.

FOSTER REPELS D. H. HILL AT WASHINGTON, N. C. 483

expelled. As this position enabled
the enemy to shell the town and our
vessels lying before it, Foster at
tempted to recover it by an assault,
but failed; and a second attempt,
aided by the gunboat Ceres, which
had just come up, running the Bebel
batteries, was defeated by the un
timely grounding of that vessel.
Hill, having opened upon our
works with 14 heavy guns, Fort
Washington replied; and a mutual
bombardment for 12 days was only
interrupted by the failure of our
ammunition. Meantime, a small fleet of gun
boats had arrived below the Bebel
batteries commanding the river, with
a rebeving force of 3,000 men on
transports, under Brig.-Gen. Henry
Prince, whom Foster ordered to land
and take the Hill's Point battery, so
as to allow the boats to come up.
Prince decided this impracticable,
and refused to attempt it.
Foster was now obhged to supply
his batteries with ammunition by
means of sail and row-boats, which
stole up the river under the cover of
darkness; evading Hill's guard-boats,
which were on the lookout to inter
cept them. Thus, he generally re
ceived enough during each night to
Berve his batteries for the ensuing day.
At length, the steamboat Escort,
Capt. Hall, having on board the 5th
Rhode Island, with a supply of am
munition, ran the blockade by night,73.
and arrived safely at the wharf, giv
ing matters a very different aspect ;
so Foster returned in her by day
light " to Newbern ; she receiving, on
her way down the river, 47 shots,
which killed her pilot and killed or
wounded 7 of her crew; but her ma

chinery was so shielded by pressed
bay-bales that the gunboat was not
disabled. And now, putting himself at the
head of 7,000 men who, under Gen.
J. N. Palmer, had been quietly
awaiting at Newbern the issue of
the siege, Foster started 74 by land to
fight his way back ; gathering up
Prince's 3,000 men by the way, and
occupying, next day, HiU's Point bat
tery, which the enemy abandoned on
his approach. Pushing on, he found
Hill in full retreat, and was unable
to bring him to a stand. Of course,
the presumption is strong that Hill's
force had been over-estimated by Fos
ter at 20,000. 
An expedition composed of three
Mass. regiments, under Col. J. B.
Jones, was. soon dispatched'6 to cap
ture a Bebel outpost at Gum Swamp,
8 miles from Kinston ; and was par
tially successful, taking 165 prison
ers ; but the enemy attacked our out
post in return, killing Col. Jones and
inflicting some other loss, though
finally repulsed.
A cavab-y raid, supported by in
fantry, to Warsaw,76 on the Weldon
and Wilmington Railroad, and an
other, soon afterward, to the Bocky
Mount station, proved successful: the
railroad being broken in either in*
stance, and considerable property de
stroyed ; Tarborough being captured,
and several steamers burned there,
during the latter.
Gen. Foster was soon ordered" to
Fortress Monroe — his command be
ing enlarged to embrace, that section
of Yirginia — but no important move
ment occurred till he was rebeved79 by
Gen. Butler, and ordered to succeed
Gen. Burnside in East Tennessee.

" April 12. " April 14. " April 17. '¦ May 21. ™ July 3. " July 13. ,B Oct. 28.

484

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

XXI.

THE POLITICAL OE CIYIL HISTOBY OF 1863.

Un-qtjesttoetably, the darkest hours
of the National cause were those
which separated Burnside's and Sher
man's bloody repulses, at Fredericks
burg1 and Yicksburg3 respectively
from the triumphs of Meade at Get
tysburg,' Grant in the fall of Yicks
burg,4 and Banks in the surrender of
Port Hudson.6 Our intermediate and
subordinate reverses at Galveston,"
and at Chancellorsville,7 also tended
strongly to sicken the hearts of
Unionists and strengthen into confi
dence the hopes of the Bebels and
those who, whether in the loyal States
or in foreign lands, were in sympa
thy, if not also in act, their virtual
allies. No one in Europe but those
who ardently desired our success
spoke of disunion otherwise than as
an accomplished fact, which only pur
blind obstinacy and the invincible lust
of power constrained us for a time to
ignore. Hence, when the French Em
peror made, during the dark Winter
of 1862-3, a formal, diplomatic prof
fer8 of his good offices as a mediator
between the American belligerents,
he was regarded and treated on all
hands as proposing to arrange the
terms of a just, satisfactory, and con
clusive separation between the North
and the South. Even before this, and
before the repulse of Burnside at Fred
ericksburg, Lord Lyons, British Em
bassador at Washington, had sent a
confidential dispatch to his Govern
ment, narrating the incidents of a

' Dec. 13, 1862. 2 Dec. 28. • July 3, 1863.
4 July _ ' July 9. " Jan. 1, 1863.

visit he had paid to New York di
rectly after our State Election of 1862,
wherein Horatio Seymour was chosen
Governor and an average majority of
over 10,000 returned for the Demo
cratic tickets : he reasonably claiming/
that vote, with the corresponding re
sults of elections in other loyal States,
as a popular verdict against the fur
ther prosecution of the War. for the
Union. While discouraging any pres
ent proffer of European mediation, as
calculated to discredit and embarrass
the ' Conservatives,' and to inspirit
and inflame the ' Badicals,' who were
still intent on subjugating the South, '
and would hear nothing of conceded
Disunion or of foreign intervention,
Lord Lyons gives the following com
prehensive and evidently dispassion
ate view of the current aspects of our
domestic pobtics, as they -were pre
sented to his keenly observant vision :
"Washington, Nov. 17, 1862.
" In his dispatches of the 17th and ofthe
24th ultimo, and of the 7th instant, Mr. Stu
art reported to your lordship the result of
the elections for members of Congress and
State officers, which have recently taken
place in several of the most important States
of the Union. Without repeating the de
tails, it will be sufficient for me to observe
that the success of the Democratic, or (as it
now styles itself) the Conservative party,
has been so great as to manifest a change in
public feeling, among the most rapid and the
most complete that has ever been witnessed,
even in this country.
" On my arrival at New York on the 8th
instant, I found the Conservative leaders ex
ulting in the crowning success achieved by
the party in that State. They appeared to
rejoice, above all, in the conviction that per-

7 May 3-5, 1863. 8 By dispatch of M.
Drouyn de l'Huys, Jan. 9, 1863. >

LORD LTONS ON THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERS.

485

sonal Hberty and freedom of speech had been
secured for the principal State of the Union.
They believed that the Government must at
once desist from exercising in the State of
New York the extraordinary (and as they
regarded them) illegal and unconstitutional
powers which it had assumed. They were
confident that at all events, after the 1st of
January next, on which day the newly elect
ed Governor would come into office, the
suspension ofthe writ of iaA** corpus could
not be practically maintained. They seemed
to be persuaded that the result of flie elec
tions would be accepted by the President as
a declaration of the will of the people ; that
he would increase the moderate and conser
vative element in the Cabinet ; that he Would
seek to terminate the War, not to push it to
extremity; that he would endeavor to effect
a reconciliation with the people ofthe South,
and renounce the idea of subjugating or ex
terminating them.
"On the following morning, however, in
telligence arrived from Washington which
dashed the rising hopes of the Conserva
tives. It was announced that Gen. McClel
lan had been dismissed from the Army of
the Potomac, and ordered to repair to his
home : that he had, in feet, been removed
altogether from active service. The Gen
eral had been regarded as the representa
tive of Conservative principles in the army.
Support of him had been made one of the
articles of the Conservative electoral pro
gramme. His dismissal was taken as a sign
that the President had thrown himself en
tirely into the arms of the extreme Radical
party, and that the attempt to carry out the
poHcy of that party would be persisted_in.
The irritation of the Conservatives at New
York was certainly very great ; it seemed,
however, to be not unmixed with conster
nation and despondency.
" Se veraTof the leaders of the Democratic
party sought interviews with me, both before
and after the arrival of the intelligence of
Geo. McClellan's dismissal. The subject up
permost in their minil?. while they were
speaking to me. was naturally that of foreign
mediation berween the North and the South.
Many of them seemed to think that this me
diation must come at last : but they appeared
to be very much afraid of its eo_i:_g too
soon. It was evident that they apprehended
that a premature proposal of foreign inter
vention would afford the Radical party a
means of reviving the violent war spirit and
of thus defeating the peaeefol plans of the
Conservatives. They appeared to regard
the present moment as peculiarly nnfevora-
hle for such an offer, and, indeed, to hold
that it would be essential to the success of
any proposal from abroad that it should be
deferred until the control of the Executive

Government should be in the hands of the
Conservative party.
"I gave no opinion on the subject. I did
not say whether or no I myself thought for-
eignintervention probable or advisable : but
I listened with attention to the accounts
given me of the plans and hopes of the Con
servative party. At the bottom, I thought I
perceived a desire to pnt an end to the war,
even at the risk of losing the Southern States
altogether; but it was plain that it was not
thought prudent to avow this desire. In
deed, some hints of it, dropped before the
elections, were so ill received that a strong
declaration in the contrary sense was deemed
necessary by the Democratic leaders.
" At the present moment, therefore, the
chiefs of the Conservative party call loudly
for a more vigorous prosecution of the war,
and reproach the Government with slack
ness as well as with want of snecess in its
military measures. But they repudiate all
idea of interfering with the institutions of
the Southern people, or of waging a war of
subjugation or extermination. They main
tain that the object of the military opera
tions should be to place the _< orth in a po-
skion to demand an armistice with honor
and effect. The armistice should (they hold)
be followed by a Convention, in which such
changes of the Constitution should be pro
posed as would give the South ample secu
rity on the subject of its slave property, and
would enable the North and the South to
reunite and to live together in peace and har
mony. The Conservatives profess to think
that the South might be induced to take
part in suoh a Convention, and that a resto
ration of the Tnion would be the result
•• The more sagacious members of the
party must, however, look upon the pro
posal of a Convention merely ss a last ex
periment to test the possibility of reunion.
They are no doubt well aware that the more
probable ccusequence of an armistice would
be the establishment of Southern iuiiepend-
ence ; but they perceive that, if the South is so
utterly alienated that no possible concessions
will induce it to return voI__t_r_y to flie
Union, it is wiser to agree to separation than
to prosecute a cruel and hopeless war._
" It is with reference to such an armistice
as they desire to attain, that the leaders^ of
the Couservative party regard the question
of foreign mediation. They think that the
offer of "mediation, if made to a Radical ad
ministration, would be rejected : that, if made
at an unpropitious moment, it might in
crease the virulence with which the war is
prosecuted. If their own party were in
power, or virtually controlled the adminis
tration, they would rather, if possible, ob
tain an armistice without the aid of foreign
governments ; but they would he disposed to

486

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

accept an offer of mediation if it appeared
to be the only means of putting a stop to
hostilities. They would desire that the offer
should come from the great powers of Eu
rope conjointly, and in particular that as
little prominence as possible should be given
to Great Britain."

The State elections of 1863 opened
in New Hampshire ; * where the Re-
publican party barely escaped defeat;
losing one of the three Representa
tives in Congress for the first time in
some years, and saving their Governor
through his election by the Legisla
ture ; he not having even a plurality
of the popular vote." The regular
Democratic poll was larger than at
any former election.
The next State to hold her Elec
tion was Rhode Island;11 where the
Republicans triumphed, electing both
Representatives in Congress as well
as their State ticket ; but by a ma
jority12 considerably reduced from
that exhibited on any clear trial of
party strength for some years.
Connecticut had, by common con
sent, been chosen as the arena of a
determined trial of strength, at her
State Election this Spring,13 between
the supporters and opponents respec
tively of the War for the Union.
The nomination for Governor by the
Republicans of William A. Bucking
ham, the incumbent, who had, both
officially and personally, been a
strenuous and prominent champion
of 'coercion,' was fairly countered
by the presentation, as his competi
tor, of Col. Thomas H. Seymour, an
ex-Governor of decided personal pop
ularity, but an early, consistent, out
spoken contemner of the War — or

rather, of the National side of it. His
nomination was made by a very large
Convention, and with a degree of
unanimity and genuine enthusiasm
rarely manifested ; while the canvass
that ensued thereon was one of the
most animated and energetic ever
witnessed even in that closely bal
anced State : its result being the tri
umph of the Republicans by a much N
reduced but still decisive majority."
It is quite probable that a candidate
less decidedly and conspicuously hos
tile to the War than Col. Seymour
might, while polling fewer votes,
have come much nearer an election ;
since Seymour's nomination was a >,
challenge to the War party which
incited it to the most vehement ex
ertions. No other general Election was
held in any of the loyal States dur
ing the earlier half of 1863 ; yet the
result in th.ese three — though main
taining the Republican ascendency
in each — left no room for reasonable
doubt that, apart from the soldiers
in the field, a majority of the voters
in the loyal States were still — as had
been indicated by the results of the
elections during the later months of
186216 — opposed to a further prosecu-''
tion of the War, and certainly opposed
to its prosecution on the anti-Slavery
basis established by the action of
Congress and by the President's two
Proclamations of Sept. 22, 1862, and
Jan. 1, 1863. If called to vote di
rectly on the question of making
peace on the basis of a recognition
of the Southern Confederacy, some
of those who voted the Opposition

• March 10.
10 Eastman, Dem., 32,833; Gilmore, Rep.,
29,035; Harriman, Union or War Dem., 4,372:
Eastman lacks of a majority, 514. " April 1.

12 For Governor: Smith, Rep., 10,828; Coz-
zens, Dem., 1,531. "April 6.
14 Buckingham, 41,032; Seymour, 38,395.
15 See page 254.

PASSAGE OS" RIYAL CONSCRIPTION ACTS.

487

tickets might — as was indicated by
Lord Lyons — have shrunk from an
open committal to such a peace ; but
it is none the less certain that their
attitude and action tended directly
to insure a result which their bolder
or more candid compatriots frankly
proclaimed inevitable. Many who
adhered to the Democratic organiza
tion asserted, what some, at least,
must have believed — that the Con
federates, in spite of their persistent,
/ peremptory denials and disclaimers,
might yet, by conciliatory overtures
and proper concessions, be reconciled
to a restoration of the Union ; but
very few who still adhered to that
body, out of the army, averred that,
if all proffers and guaranties should
be rejected, they would favor a prose
cution of the War for their subju
gation. 
The Rebel Congress having long
since passed " a conscrip'tion act,
whereby all the White males in the
Confederacy between the ages of 18
and 35 were placed at the disposal
of their Executive, while all those
already in the service, though they
had enlisted and been accepted for
specific terms of one or two years,
were held to serve through the War,
our Congressxwas constrained to fol
low afar off in the footsteps of the
enemy; since our ranks, since our
heavy losses in the bloody strug
gles of 1862, were filled by volunteers
too slowly for the exigencies of the
service. The act providing " for the
enrollment of the National forces"
was among the last passed " by the
XXXYIIth Congress prior to its dis
solution. It provided for the enroll
ment, by Federal provost-marshals
and enrolling officers, of all able-

bodiedmalecitizens(not Whites only),
including aliens who had declared
their intention to become natural
ized, between the ages of 18 and 45 —
those between 20 and 35 to consti
tute the first class; all others the
second class — from which the Presi
dent was authorized, from and after
July 1, to make drafts at his discre
tion of persons to> serve in the Na
tional armies for not more than three
years ; any one drafted and not
reporting for service to be considered
and treated as a deserter. A com
mutation of $300 was to be received
in lieu of such service: and there
were exemptions provided of certain
heads of Executive Departments ;
Federal judges ; Governors of States ;
the only son of a widow, or of an
aged and infirm father, dependent on
that son's labor for support ; the father
of dependent motherless children
under 12 years of age, or the only
adult brother of such children, being
orphans ; or the residue of a family
which has already two members in
the service, &c, &c.
The passage and execution of this
act inevitably intensified and made
active the spirit of opposition to the'
War. Those who detested every
form of ' coercion' save the coercion
of the Republic by the Rebels, with
those who especially detested the
National effort under its present
aspects as ' a war not for the Union,
but for the Negro,' were aroused by
it to a more determined and active
opposition. The bill passed the
House by Teas 115, Nays 49— the
division being, so nearly as might
be, a party one — while in the Senate,
a motion by Mr. Bayard that it be
indefinitely postponed was supported

18 April 16, 1862.

17 March 3, 1863.

488

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

by 11 Teas (all Democrats) to 35
Nays : consisting of every Repub
lican present, with Messrs. McDou
gall, of California, Harding and Nes-
mith, of Oregon. The bill then passed
without a call ofthe Teas and Nays.
The President proceeding to con
stitute an enrolling board for each
Congress district in the loyal States,
and the Board to enroll those who
were held to military service under
its provisions, the repugnance to
being drafted into the service began
to threaten organized and formidable
resistance. That the enrolling act
was unconstitutional and void, was
very generally held and proclaimed
by the Opposition, and was in due
time formally adjudged by Justice
John H. McCunn, of the New Tork
Supreme Court, as also by the De
mocratic justices 1B forming a majority
of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl
vania. That Court held broadly that
the Federal Government has no
power to recruit its armies otherwise
than by voluntary enlistments ; that
the Militia can be called out only by
State authority, under State officers,
and in accordance with State laws.
Says Judge Woodward :
" The great vice of the conscript law is,
that it is founded on an assumption that
Congress may take away, not the State
rights of the citizen, but the security and
foundation of his State rights. And how
long is civil liberty expected to last, after
the securities of civil liberty are destroyed ?
The Constitution ofthe United States com
mitted the liberties of the citizen in part to
the Federal Government, but expressly re
served to the States, and the people of the
States, all it did not delegate. It gave the
General Government a standing army, but
left to the States their militia. Its purposes,
in all this balancing of powers, were wise
and good ; but this legislation disregards
these distinctions and upturns the whole
system of government when it converts the

18 Chief Justice Lowrie and Justices Wood
ward and Thompson. >

State militia into 'National forces,' and
claims to use and govern them as such."
If, then, the Governors of the
States, or of most of them, should
see fit to respond to the President's
requisitions as Gov. Caleb Strong, of
Massachusetts, did to those of Pre
sident Madison in 1813-14, and as
Govs. Letcher,18 Ellis, Harris, Ma
goffin, Jackson, and- Burton, did to
President Lincoln's requisitions in
1861, the Federal authority may be
successfully defied, and what Mr.
Jefferson Davis terms "the dissolu
tion of a league" secured. It were
absurd to contend that judges who
so held were opposed, either in prin
ciple or in sympathies, to the cause,
or at least to the ethics, of Secession.

The Constitution of the United
States (Art. I., § 9) prescribes that
" The privilege of the writ of habeas cor
pus shall not be suspended, unless when, in
cases of rebellion or invasion, the public
safety may require it."
The implication that it may be
suspended in the cases specified is so
irresistible that its justice has never
been seriously questioned. But by
whom may it be suspended ? And '
with what effect ? That Congress
should authorize the suspension, was
generally held by the early and es
teemed commentators: but suppose
Congress not in session — nay, sup
pose no Congress to be in existence —
when a great and imminent public
peril shall require such suspension —
what then? To this question, no
conclusive answer had been given,
when, at the very outbreak of the
Rebellion, the President authorized "
Gen. Scott to suspend the privilege
of habeas corpus,

19 See Yol. I., pp. 459-60. The Democratic
Governors were a unit. M April 21, 1861.

HABEAS CORPUS — MR. Y ALL ANDIGHAM'S CASE.

489

" if, at any point on or in the vicinity of the
military line which is now or which shall be
used between the city of Philadelphia and
the city of Washington, you find resistance
which renders it necessary."
A similar discretion was soon
afterward21 accorded to our com
mander on the Florida coast; the
authority conferred on Gen. Scott
was soon extended ; 22 it was next
made " general so far as it might
affect persons arrested by military
authority as guilty of disloyal prac
tices ; and — - Congress having at
length by express act authorized"
such suspension — the President pro
claimed a6 a general suspension of the
privilege of habeas corpus — to " con
tinue throughout the duration of
such Rebellion." But, months ere
this, a serious collision between mili
tary authority and Peace Democ
racy had been inaugurated, and had
created much excitement, in Ohio.
Mr. C. L. Yallandigham, having
been defeated in his canvass for re
election by Gen. Robert C. Schenck,
at the Ohio State Election in 1862,
ceased to be a Member at the close
of the XXXYIIth Congress." Re
turning to Ohio, where he had al
ready been suggested as the Demo
cratic candidate for Governor in the
canvass of that year, he speedily en
gaged in a popular canvass of the
War and the Federal Administration,
in a spirit of sweeping hostility to
both. Gen. Burnside, who had just
been transferred to and placed in
command ofthe military department
including Ohio, put forth " a general
order, wherein he proclaimed that
henceforth " All persons found within our lines who
commit acts for the benefit of the enemies
of our country will be tried as spies or
traitors, and, if convicted, will suffer death.

* .* * The habit of declaring sympathies
for the enemy will not be allowed in this
department. Persons committing such of
fenses will be at once arrested, with a view
to being tried, as above stated, or sent
beyond our lines into the lines of their
friends. It must be distinctly understood
that treason, expressed 6r implied, will not
be tolerated in this department."
Whether this was specially aimed
at Yallandigham or not, it was easily
foreseen that he would be one of the
first to expose himself to its penalties ;
and but three weeks elapsed from the
date of the order before he was ar
rested 28 at night while in bed in his
own house, on a charge of having, in
a recent speech at Mount Yernon,
"publicly expressed sympathy for those
in arms against the Government of the
United States, and declared disloyal, senti
ments and opinions, with the object and
purpose of weakening the power ofthe Go
vernment in its efforts to suppress an un
lawful Rebellion."
Being arraigned before a Court-
Martial over which Brig.-Gen. R. B.
Potter presided, he was found guilty
on some of the specifications em
braced in the charge, and sentenced
to close confinement till the end of
the War. Gen. Burnside designated
Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, as
the place of such confinement ; but
the President modified the sentence,
into a direction that Mr. Y. should
be sent through our military lines
into the Southern Confederacy, and,
in case of his return therefrom, he
should be confined as prescribed in
the sentence of the court. Judge
Leavitt, of the U. S. District Court
for Ohio, was applied to for a writ of
habeas corpus to take the prisoner
out of the hands of the miHtary, but
refused it.
This sentence was duly executed
by Gen. Rosecrans, so far as to send
the convict into the Confederacy;

"May 2. fflJuly2. "Sept. 24, '62. MMay 3. 26 Sept. 15. OT March 3, '63. "April 3. 28May4.

490

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

but he remained there only a few-
weeks, taking a blockade-runner from
Wilmington to Nassau, and thence
.making his way in due time to Can
ada, where he remained: having
meantime been nominated for Gov
ernor by an overwhelming vote in a
large Democratic State Convention,
and with an understanding that, in
case of his anticipated election, he
should be escorted from the State
line to its capital by a volunteer pro
cession of Democrats strong enough
to resist successfully any attempt to
rearrest him.
The action in this case of Gen.
Burnside and his Court Martial crea
ted a profound sensation throughout
the country ; and a great meeting
of Democrats was held 2S at Albany,
'wherein very strong resolves con
demning such action were unani
mously passed — among them the fol
lowing :
"Resolved, That we denounce the recent
assumption of a military commander to seize
and try a citizen of Ohio, Clement L. Val-
landigham, for no other reason than words
addressed to a public meeting, in criticism
of the course of the Administration and in
condemnation of the military orders of that
General. "Resolved, That this assumption of power
by a military tribunal, if successfully as
serted, not only abrogates the right of the
people to assemble and discuss the affairs of
government, the liberty of speech and of the
press, the right of trial by jury, the law of
evidence, and the privilege of habeas corpus,
but it strikes a fatal blow at the supremacy
of law an_ the authority of the State and
Federal Constitutions.
"Resolved, That the Constitution ofthe
United States — the supreme law of the land
— has defined the crime of treason against
the United States to consist ' only in levy
ing war against them, or adhering to their
enemies, giving them aid and comfort,' and
has provided that ' no person shall be con
victed of treason, unless on the testimony
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or
on confession in open court.' And it further
provides that 'no person shall be held to

answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indiot-
ment of a grand jury, except in cases arising
in the land and naval forces, or in the mili-.
tia, when in actual servioe in time of war or
public danger;' and further, that 'in all
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall en
joy the right of a speedy and public trial by
an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime was committed.'
"Resolved, That, in the election of Gov.
Seymour, the people of this State, by an em
phatic majority, declared their condemna
tion of the system of arbitrary arrests and
their determination to stand by the Consti
tution. That the revival of this lawless sys
tem can have but one result : to divide and
distract the North, and destroy its confi
dence in the purposes ofthe Administration.
That we deprecate it as an element of con
fusion at home, of weakness to our armies
in the field, and as calculated to lower the
estimate of American character and magnify
the apparent peril of our cause abroad. And
that, regarding the blow struck at a citizen
of Ohio as aimed at the rights of every citi
zen of the North, we denounce it as against
the spirit of our laws and Constitution, and
most earnestly call upon the President of
the United States to reverse the action of
the military tribunal which has passed a
' cruel and unusual punishment ' upon the
party arrested, prohibited in terms by the
Constitution, and to restore him to the lib
erty of which he has been deprived."
Hon. Erastus Corning, President of
the meeting, transmitted, by its order,
these resolves to President Lincoln;
who, after taking ample time to con
sider them, responded frankly, cour
teously, elaborately, cogently ; and, as
the subject discussed is one of grave,
abiding interest, the material portion
of his reply will here be given. He
says: "The resolutions promise to support me
in every constitutional and lawful measure
to suppress the Rebellion ; and I have not
knowingly employed, nor shall knowingly
employ, any other. But the meeting, by
their resolutions, assert and argue that cer- .
tain military arrests, and proceedings fol
lowing them, for which I am ultimately re
sponsible, are unconstitutional. I think they
are not. The resolutions quote from the
Constitution the definition of treason, and
also the limiting safeguards and guaranties
therein provided for the citizen on trial for

' May 16.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN ON ARBITRARY ARRESTS.

491

treason, and on his being held to answer for
capital or otherwise infamous crimes, and,
in criminal prosecutions, his right to a speedy
and public trial by an impartial jury. They
proceed to resolve, 'that these safeguards
of the rights of the citizen against the pre
tensions of arbitrary power were intended
more especially for his protection in times of
civil commotion.' And, apparently to de
monstrate the proposition, the resolutions
proceed : ' They were secured substantially
to the English people after years of pro
tracted civil war, and were adopted into our
Constitution at the close of the Revolution.'
-Would not the demonstration have been
better if it could have been truly said that
these safeguards had been adopted and ap
plied during the civil wars, and during our
Revolution, instead of after the one and at
the close of the other ? I, too, am devotedly
for them after civil war, and before civil
'war, and at all times, ' except when, in cases
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety
may require' their suspension. The resolu
tions proceed to tell us that these safeguards
'have stood the test of seventy-six years of
trial, under our republican system, under
circiunstances which show that, while they
constitute the foundation of all free govern
ment, they are elements of the enduring
stability ofthe Republic' No one denies that
they have so stood the test up to the begin
ning of the present Rebellion, if we except a
certain occurrence at New Orleans ; nor does
anyone question that they will stand the same
test much longer after the Rebellion closes.
But these provisions of the Constitution
have no application to the case we have in
hand, because the arrests complained of
were not made for treason — that is, not for
the treason defined in the -Constitution, and
upon conviction of which the punishment is
death — nor yet were they made to hold per
sons to answer for any capital or otherwise
infamous crimes ; nor were the proceedings
following, in any constitutional or legal sen se,
'criminal prosecutions.' The arrests were
made on totally different grounds, and the
proceedings following accorded with the
grounds of the arrest. Let us consider the
real case with which we are dealing, and
apply to it the parts of the Constitution
plainly made for such cases.
"Prior to my installation here, it had
been inculcated that any State had a lawful
right to secede from the national Union, and
that it would be expedient to exercise the
right whenever the devotees of the doctrine
should fail to elect a President to their own
liking. I was elected contrary to their lik
ing; and accordingly, so far as it was legally
possible, they had taken seven States out of
the Union, had seized many of the United
States forts, and had fired upon the United

States flag, all before I was inaugurated, and,
of course, before I had done any official act
whatever. The Rebellion thus began soon
ran into the present civil war ; and, in cer
tain respects, it began on very unequal terms
between the parties. The insurgents had
been preparing .for it more than thirty years,
while the Government had taken no steps to
resist them. The former had carefully con
sidered all the means which could be turned
to their account. It undoubtedly was a well-
pondered reliance with them that, in their
own unrestricted efforts to. destroy Union,
Constitution, and law, all together, the Gov
ernment would, in great degree, be restrain
ed by the same Constitution and law from
arresting their progress. Their sympathiz
ers pervaded all departments of the Govern
ment and nearly all communities of the peo
ple. From this material, under cover of
'liberty of speech,' 'liberty of the press,'
and ' habeas corpus? they hoped to keep on
foot amongst us a most efficient corps of\
spies, informers, suppliers, and aiders and
abettors of their cause in a thousand ways.
They knew that, in times such as they were
inaugurating, by the Constitution itself, the
' habeas corpus' might be suspended; but
they also knew they had friends who would
make a question as to who was to suspend
it ; meanwhile, their spies .and others might
remain at large to help on their cause. Or
if, as has happened, the Executive should
suspend tbe writ, without ruinous waste of
time, instances of arresting innocent persons
might occur, as are always likely to occur
in such cases : and then a clamor could be
raised in regard to this, which might be at
least of some service to the insurgent cause.
It needed no very keen perception to dis
cover this part of the enemy's programme,
so soon as by open hostilities their machinery
was fairly put in motion. Yet, thoroughly
imbued with a reverence for the guaranteed
rights of individuals, I was slow to adopt
the strong measures which by degrees I
have been forced to regard as being within
the exceptions of the Constitution, and as
indispensable to the public safety. Nothing
is better known to history than that courts
of justice are utterly incompetent to such
cases. Civil courts are organized chiefly for
trials of individuals, or, at most, a few indi
viduals acting in concert ; and this in quiet
times, and on charges of crimes well defined
in the law. Even in times of peace, bands
of horse-thieves and robbers frequently grow
too numerous and powerful for ordinary
courts of justice. But what comparison, in
numbers, have such bands ever borne to the
insurgent sympathizers even in many of the
loyalStates? Again, a jury too frequently has
at least one member more ready to hang the
panel than -to bang the traitor. And yet,

492

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

again, he who dissuades one man from vol
unteering, or induces one soldier to desert,
weakens the Union cause as much as he who
kills a Union soldier in battle. Yet this dis
suasion or inducement may be so conducted
as to be no defined crime of which any civil
court would take cognizance.
"Ours is a case of rebellion — so called
by the resolutions before me — in fact, a
clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of rebellion ;
and the provision of the Constitution, that
' the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety
may require it,' is the provision which
specially applies to our present case. This
provision plainly attests the understanding
of those who made the Constitution, that
ordinary courts of justice are inadequate to
'cases of rebellion' — attests their purpose
that, in such cases, men may be held in cus
tody whom the courts, acting on ordinary
rules, would discharge. Habeas corpus does
not discharge men who are proved to be
guilty of defined crime ; and its suspension
is allowed by the Constitution on purpose
that men may be arrested and held who
cannot be proved to be guilty of defined
crime, ' when, in cases of rebellion or inva
sion, the public safety may require it.'
" This is precisely our present case — a
case of rebellion, wherein the public safety
does require the suspension. Indeed, ar
rests by process of courts and arrests in
cases of rebellion do not proceed altogether
upon the same basis. The former is direct
ed at the small percentage of ordinary and
continuous perpetration of crime ; while the
latter is directed at sudden and extensive
uprisings against the Government, which,
at most, will succeed or fail in no great
length of time. In the latter case, arrests
are made, not so much for what has been
done, as for what probably would be done.
The latter is more ftfr the preventive and
less for the vindictive than the former. In
such cases, the purposes of men are much
more easily understood than in cases of
ordinary crime. The man who stands by
and says nothing, when the peril of his Gov
ernment is discussed, cannot be misunder
stood. If not hindered, he is sure to help
the enemy; much more, if he talks ambigu
ously — talks for his country with ' buts ' and
'ifs' and 'ands.' Of how little value the
constitutional provisions I have quoted will
, be rendered, if arrests shall never be made
until defined crimes shall have been com
mitted, may be illustrated by a few notable
examples. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, Gen.
Robert E. Lee, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston,
Gen. John B. Magruder, Gen. William
Preston, Gen. Simon B. Buckner, and Com.
Eranklin Buchanan, now occupying the

very highest places in the Rebel war ser
vice, were all within the power of the Gov
ernment since the Rebellion began, and
were nearly as well known to be traitors
then as now. Unquestionably, if we had
seized them and held them, the insurgent
cause would be much weaker. But no one
of them had then committed any crime de
fined in the law. Every one of them, if ar
rested, would have been discharged on ha
beas corpus, were the writ allowed to ope
rate. In view of these and similar cases, I
think the time not unlikely to come when I
shall be blamed for having made too few
arrests rather than too many.
"By the third resolution, the meeting in
dicate their opinion that military arrests
may be constitutional in localities where re
bellion actually exists, but that such arrests
are unconstitutional in localities where re
bellion or insurrection does not actually ex
ist. They insist that such arrests shall not>
be made ' outside of the lines of necessary
military occupation, and the scenes of in
surrection.' Inasmuch, however, as the
Constitution itself makes no such distinc-^,
tion, I am unable to believe that there it
any such constitutional distinction. I con
cede that the class of arrests complained of
can be constitutional only when, in cases of
rebellion or invasion, the public safety may
require them, and I insist that in such cases
they are constitutional wherever the public
safety does require them ; as well in places
to which they may prevent the rebellion
extending, as in those where it may be al
ready prevailing ; as well where they may
restrain mischievous interference with the
raising and supplying of armies to suppress
the rebellion, as where the rebellion may
actually be; as well where they may re
strain the enticing men out of the army, as
where they would prevent mutiny in the
army ; equally constitutional at all places
where they will conduce to the public safe
ty, as against the dangers of rebellion or in
vasion. Take the peculiar case mentioned
by the meeting. It is asserted, in substance,
that Mr. Vallandigham was, by a military
commander, seized and tried ' for no other
reason than words addressed to a public
meeting, in criticism of the course of the
Administration, and in condemnation of the
military orders of the General.' Now, if
there be no mistake about this ; if this as
sertion is the truth and the whole truth ; if
there was no other reason for the arrest,
then I concede that the arrest was wrong.
But the arrest, as I understand, was made
for a very different reason. Mr. Vallandig
ham avows his hostility to the war on the
part of the Union ; and his arrest was made''
because he was laboring, with some effect,
to prevent the raising of troops ; to encour-

THE PRESIDENT YS. THE OHIO DEMOCRACY.

493

age desertions from the army ; and to leave
the Rebellion without an adequate military
force to suppress it. He was .not arrested
because he was damaging the political pros
pects ofthe Administration, or the personal
interests of the commanding General, but
because he was damaging the army, upon
the existence and vigor of which the life of
the nation depends. He was warring upon
the military ; and this gave the military con
stitutional jurisdiction to lay hands upon
Mm. If Mr. Yallandigham was not dam
aging the military power of the country,
(hen his arrest was made on mistake of fact,
which I would be glad to correct on reason
ably satisfactory evidence.
" I understand the meeting, whose reso
lutions I am considering, to be in favor of
suppressing the Rebellion by military force
—by armies. Long experience has shown
that armies cannot be maintained unless
desertions shall be punished by the severe
penalty of death. The case requires, and
t_e law and the Constitution sanction, this
punishment. Must I shoot a simple-minded
'Soldier boy who deserts, while I must not
touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces
him to desert? This is none the less injurious
when effected by getting a father, or brother,
or friend, into a public meeting, and there
Working upon his feelings till he is per
suaded to write the soldier boy that he is
fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked Ad
ministration of a contemptible Government,
too weak to arrest and punish him if he
shall desert. I think that, in such a case,
to silence the agitator and save the boy is
not only constitutional but withal a great
mercy. " If I be wrong on this question of con
stitutional power, my error lies in believing
that certain proceedings are constitutional
when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the
public safety requires them, which would
notbeconstitutionalwhen,inthe absence of
rebellion or invasion, the public safety
does not require them : in other words, that
the Constitution is not, in its application, in
all respects the same, in cases of rebellion
or invasion involving the public safety, as
it is in times of profound peace and public
security. The Constitution itself makes
the distinction; and I can no more be per
suaded that the Government can constitu
tionally take no strong measures in time of
rebellion, because it can be shown that the
same could not be lawfully taken in time
of peace, than I can be persuaded that a
particular drug is not good medicine for a
sick man, because it can be shown not to be
good food for a well one. Nor am I able to
appreciate the danger apprehended by the

meeting, that the American people will, by
means of military arrests during the Rebel
lion, lose the right of public discussion, the
liberty of speech and the press, the law of
evidence, trial by jury, and habeas corpus,
throughout the indefinite peaceful future,
which I trust lies before them, any more
than I am able to believe that a man could
contract so strong an appetite for emetics ,
during a temporary illness as to persist in
feeding upon them during the remainder of
his healthful life. * * *
" One of the resolutions expresses the
opinion of the meeting that arbitrary ar
rests will have the effect to divide and dis
tract those who should be united in sup
pressing the Rebellion; and I am specifically
called on to discharge Mr. Vallandigham. I
regard this as, at least, a fair appeal to me
on the expediency of exercising a constitu
tional power which I think exists. In re
sponse to such appeal, I have to say, it gave
me pain when I learned that Mr. Vallan
digham had been arrested — that is, I was
pained that there should have seemed to be
a necessity for arresting him — and that it
will afford me great pleasure to discharge
him so soon as I can, by any means, believe
the public safety will not suffer by it."
The Ohio Democratic Convention,
which met 30 at Columbus, and by ac
clamation nominated Mr. Yallandig
ham as their candidate for Governor,
passed resolves strongly condemning
his banishment as a palpable viola
tion of four specified provisions of
the Federal Constitution, and ap
pointed their President and Yice-
Presidents (nearly all Members or
ex-Members of Cdngress) a Commit
tee to address the President in favor
of a revocation ofthe order of banish
ment. In obeying this direction,
that Committee, claiming to utter
the sentiments of a majority of the
people of Ohio, said : 31
" Mr. Vallandigham may differ with the
President, and even with some of his own
political party, as to the true and most ef
fectual means of maintaining the Constitu
tion and restoring the Union; but this
difference of opinion does not prove him to
be unfaithful to his duties as an American
citizen. If a man, devotedly attached to

30 June 11.

31 June 26.

494

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the Constitution and the Union, conscien
tiously believes that, from the inherent na
ture of the Federal compact, the war, in the
present condition of things in this country,
cannot be used as a means of restoring the
Union; or that a war to subjugate a part of
the States, or a war to revolutionize the
social system in a part of the States, could
.not restore, but would inevitably result in
the final destruction of, both the Constitu
tion and the Union, is he not to be allowed
the right of an American citizen to appeal
to the judgment of the people for a change
of policy by the constitutional remedy of the
ballot-box? "The undersigned are unable to agree
with you in the opinion you have expressed,
that the Constitution is different in time of
insurrection or invasion from what it is in
time of peace and public security. The
Constitution provides for no limitation upon
or exceptions to the guaranties of personal
liberty, except as to the writ of habeas cor
pus. Has the President, at the time of in
vasion or insurrection, the right to engraft
limitations or exceptions upon these consti
tutional guaranties whenever, in his judg
ment, the public safety requires it ?
" True it is, the article of the Constitu
tion which defines the various powers dele
gated to Congress declares that 'the privi
lege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not
be suspended unless when, in cases of rebel
lion or invasion, the public safety may re
quire it.' But this qualification or limita
tion upon this restriction upon the powers
of Congress has no reference to or connec
tion with the other constitutional guar
anties of personal liberty. Expunge from
the Constitution this limitation upon the
power of Congress to suspend the writ of
habeas corpus, and yet the other guaranties
of personal liberty would remain un
changed." Mr. Lincoln responded 32 pungently
to this appeal, but less elaborately
than he had done to the Albany ar
raignment; deeming the argument
in good part exhausted. On the
main point, he said :
"The earnestness with which you insist
that persons can only, in times of rebellion,
be lawfully dealt with, in accordance with
the rules for criminal trials and punishments
in times of peace, induces me to add a word
to what I said on that point in the Albany
response. You claim that men may, if
/ they choose, embarrass those whose duty
it is to combat a giant rebellion, and then be
dealt with only in turn as if there were no

rebellion. The Constitution itself rejects
this view. The military arrests and deten
tions which • have been made, including
those of Mr. Vallandigham, which are not
different in principle from the other, have
been for prevention, and not for punish
ment — as injunctions to stay, injury, as pro
ceedings to keep the peace — and hence, like
proceedings in such cases and for like rea
sons, they have not been accompanied with
indictments, or trials by juries, nor, in a
single case, by any punishment whatever,
beyond what is purely incidental to the
prevention. The original sentence of im
prisonment in Mr. Vallandigham's case was
to prevent injury to the military service
only; and the modification of it was made
as a less disagreeable mode to him of secur
ing the same prevention."
In drawing his argument to a
close, the President said :
"You omit to state or intimate that, in
your opinion, an army is a constitutional
means of saving the Union against a rebel
lion, or even to intimate that you are con
scious of an existing rebellion being in pro
gress with the avowed object of destroying
that very Union. At the same time, your
nominee for Governor, in whose behalf you
appeal, is known to you and to the world to
declare against the use of an army to supy'
press the Rebellion. Your own attitude,
therefore, encourages desertion, resistance
to the draft, and the like ; because it teaches
those who incline to desert and to escape
the draft to believe it is your purpose to
protect them, and to hope that you will be
come strong enough to do so.
" After a short personal intercourse with
you, gentlemen of the committee, I cannot
say I think you desire this effect to follow
your attitude ; but I assure you that both
friends and enemies of the Union look upon
it in this light. It is a substantial hope, and
by consequence a real strength, to the ene
my. It is a false hope, and one which you
would willingly dispel. I will make the
way exceedingly easy. I send you dupli
cates of this letter, in order that you, or a
majority, may, if you choose, indorse your
names upon one of them, and return it thus
indorsed to me, with the understanding
that those signing are thereby committed to
the following propositions, and to nothing
else :
" 1. That there is now a rebellion in the _,
United States, the object and tendency of
which is, to destroy the National Union ;
and that, in your opinion, an army and
navy are constitutional means for suppress
ing that rebellion.

™ June 29.

THE JOURNALISTS ON LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 495

« 2. That no one of you will do any thing
whioh, in his own judgment, will tend to
hinder the inorease or favor the decrease or
lessen the effioienoy of the army and navy,
while engaged in the effort to suppress that
rebellion; and
" 8. That each of you will, in his sphere,
do all he can to have the officers, soldiers,
and seamen of the arniy and navy, while
engaged in the effort to suppress the Rebel
lion, paid, fed, clad, and otherwise well pro
vided for and supported.
"And with the further understanding
that, upon receiving the letter and names
thus indorsed, I will cause them to be pub
lished ; whioh publication shall be, within
itself, a revocation of the order in relation
to Mr. Vallandigham.
"It will not escape observation that I
consent to the release of Mr. Vallandigham
upon terms not embracing any pledge from
him, or from others, as to what he will or
will not do. I do this beoause he is not
present to speak for himself, or to authorize
others to speak for him ; and hence I shall
expect that on returning he would not put
himself practically in antagonism with his
friends. But I do it chiefly beoause I
thereby prevail on other influential gentle
men of Ohio to so define their position as
to be of immense value to the army — thus
more than compensating for the oonse-
quenoesof any mistake in allowing Mr. Val
landigham to return ; so that, on the whole,
the publio safety will not have suffered by
it. Still, in regard to Mr. Vallandigham
and all others, I must hereafter, as hereto
fore, do so muoh as the publio service may
seem to require.
" I have the honor to be, respeotfully,
yours, &c, A. Lincoln."
The Committee rejoined," contro
verting the President's positions ; re
pelling his imputation that they or
their party would encourage deser

tions, or resistance to the draft, sug
gesting that
"The measures of the Administration,
and its changes of policy in the prosecution
of the war, have been tbe fruitful sources
of disoouraging enlistments and induoing
desertions, and furnish a reason for the un
deniable fact that the first call for volun
teers was answered by very many more than
were demanded, and that the next call for
soldiers will probably be responded to by
drafted men alone."
They express surprise at the Pre
sident's proffer to revoke the banish
ment of Mr. Y. on the conditions
above specified, and decline to
" enter into any bargains, terms,
contracts, or conditions, with the
President of the United States, to
procure the release of Mr. Yallandig
ham. They regard the proffer as in
volving an imputation on their own
sincerity and fidelity as citizens of
the United States ;" and declare that
"they have asked the revocation of the
order of banishment not as a favor, but as a
right due to the people of Ohio, and with a
view to avoid the possibility of conflict or
disturbance of the publio tranquillity."
At this point, the argument of this
grave question, concerning the right,
in time of war, of those who question
the justice or the policy of such war,
to denounce its prosecution as mis
taken and ruinous, was rested by the
President and his assailants — or
rather, it was transferred" by the

"Julyl.
" The arbitrary suppression, within a certain
military department, by the General command
ing therein, of the circulation of two or three
journals deemed by him disloyal, having pro
voked much discussion and excited some alarm,
ameetuigof the journalists of New York was
held at the Astor House, June 8th, and the fol
lowing declaration of sentiments unanimously
adopted: " Whereas, Recent events indicate the exist-
once of grave misapprehensions and lamentable
confusion of ideas with regard to this vital ques
tion; therefore,
" Resolied, That our conceptions of the rights

and duties of the Press, in a season of convul
sion and public peril, like the present, are briefly
summed up in the following propositions :
" 1. We recognize and affirm the duty of fidel
ity to the Constitution, Government, and laws
of our country, as a high moral as well as poht
ical obligation resting on every citizen; and
neither claim for ourselves nor concede to others
any exemption from its requirements or privi
lege to evade their sacred and binding force.
" 2. That Treason and Rebellion are crimes,
by the fundamental law of this as of every other
country ; and nowhere else so culpable, so ab
horrent, as in a republio, where each has an
equal voice and vote in the peaceful and legal
direction of public affairs.
" 3. While we thus emphatically disclaim and

496

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

latter to the popular forum, where —
especially in Ohio — it was continued
with decided frankness as well as re
markable pertinacity and vehemence.
And one natural consequence of such
discussion was to render the Demo-
* cratic party more decidedly, openly,
palpably, anti-War than it had hither
to been. 
Perhaps the very darkest days that
the Republic ever saw were the ten
which just preceded the 4th of July,
1863 — when our oft-beaten Army of
the Potomac was moving northward
to cover Washington and Baltimore
— when Milroy's demolition at Win
chester seemed to have filled the bit
ter cup held to our lips at Freder
icksburg and Chancellorsville — when
tidings of the displacement of Hook
er by Meade, just on the eve of a
great, decisive battle, were received
with a painful surprise by many
sad, sinking hearts — when Grant was
held at bay by Yicksburg and Banks
by Port Hudson; while Rosecrans
had for half a year stood still in Mid
dle Tennessee. At this hour of na
tional peril and depression, when the
early appearance of Lee's victory-
crowned legions in the streets of
Philadelphia and New York was con
fidently, exultingly anticipated by
thousands, our leading Democratic
statesmen and orators were preparing
orations and addresses for the ap
proaching anniversary of our Nation
al Independence, which were in due
time delivered to applauding, enthu-

deny any right, as inhering in journalists or
others, to incite, advocate, abet, uphold, or justify
treason or rebellion, we respectfully but firmly
assert and maintain the right of the Press to
criticise freely and fearlessly the acts of those
charged with the administration of the govern
ment, also those of all their civil and military
subordinates, whether with intent directly to se
cure greater energy, efficiency, and fidelity in
the public service, or in order to achieve the

siastic thousands, though the speak
ers were generally as chary as the
Ohio Democratic State Committee
of admitting the existence in our
country of a gigantic Rebellion, and
insisting on the duty of aiding in its
suppression. Not the Rebel chiefs
conspiring, nor the Rebel armies ad
vancing at their behest, to overthrow
the Government and sever finally the
Union, but the directors and chief
functionaries of that Government,
were regarded and reprobated by
those orators as public enemies to be
combated, resisted, and overcome.
Ex-President Franklin Pierce'" was
the orator at a great Democratic mass
meeting held at Concord, N. H; and,
in his carefully prepared oration,amid
the ringing acclaim of thousands, he
said: "The Declaration of Independence laid
the foundation of our political greatness in
the two fundamental ideas of the absolute
independence of the American people, and
of the sovereignty of their respective States.
Under that standard, our wise and heroic
forefathers fought the battle of the Revolu
tion ; under that, they conquered. In this
spirit, they established the Union ; having
the conservative thought ever present to
their minds, of the original sovereignty and
independence of the several States, all with
their diverse institutions, interests, opinions,
and habits, to be maintained intact and se
cure, by the reciprocal stipulations and mu
tual compromises of the Constitution. They
were master builders, who reared up the
grand structure of the Union— that august
temple beneath whose dome three genera
tions have enjoyed such blessings of civil
liberty as were never before vouchsafed by
Providence to man— that temple before
whose altars you and I have not only bowed
with devoutand grateful hearts, brfc where,
with patriotic vows and sacrifices, we have

same ends more remotely, through the substitu
tion of other persons for those now in power.
"4. That any limitations of this right created
by the necessities of war should be confined to
localities wherein hostilities actually exist, or
are imminently threatened; and we deny the
right of any military officer to suppress the is
sues or forbid the general circulation of journals
printed hundreds of miles from the seat of war."
3S See his letter to Jefil Davis, Yol. I., p. 512.

FRANKLIN PIERCE ON THEWAR AND ITS CAUSES. 497

so frequently consecrated ourselves to the
protection and maintenance of those lofty
columns of the Constitution by which it was
upheld. No visionary enthusiasts were they,
dreaming vainly ofthe impossible uniformity
of some wild Utopia of their own imagina
tions. No desperate reformers were they,
madly bent upon schemes which, if consum
mated, could only result in general confu
sion, anarchy, and chaos. Oh, no! high
hearted, but sagacious and practical states
men they were, who saw society as a living
fact, not as a troubled vision ; who knew
that national power consists in the recon
cilement of diversities of institutions and in
terests, not their conflict and obliteration ;
and who saw that variety and adaptation
of parts are the necessary elements of all
there is sublime or beautiful in the works of
art or of nature. Majestic were the solid
foundations, the massive masonry, the col
umned loftiness, of that magnificent struc
ture of the Union. Glorious was the career
^pf prosperity and peace and power, upon
wliich, from its very birthday, the American
Union entered, as with the assured march
of the conscious offspring of those giants of
the Revolution. Such was.the Union, as con
ceived and administered by Washington and
Adams, by Jefferson and Madison and Jack
son. Such, I say, was the Union, ere the evil
times befell us ; ere the madness of sectional
hatreds and animosities possessed us; ere,
in the third generation, the all-comprehen
sive patriotism of the Fathers had died out,
and given place to the passionate emotions
of narrow and aggressive sectionalism. * * *
Glorious, sublime above all that history re
cords of national greatness, was the specta
cle which the Union exhibited to the world,
so long as the true spirit of the Constitution
lived in the hearts of the people, and the
government w as.a government of men recip
rocally respecting one another's rights, and
of States, each moving, planet-like, in the
orbit of its proper place in the firmament of
the Union. Then we were the model repub
lic of the world, honored, loved, or feared
where we were not loved, respected abroad,
peaceful and happy at home. No Ameri
can citizen was then subject to be driven
into exile for opinion's sake, or arbitrarily
arrested and incarcerated in military bastiles
— even as he may now be — not for acts or
words of imputed treason, but if he do but
mourn in silent sorrow over the desolation
of his country ;. no embattled hosts of Ameri
cans were then 'wasting their lives and re
sources in sanguinary civil strife; no suicidal
and parricidal civil war then swept like a ra
ging tempest of death over the stricken home
steads and wailing cities of the Union. Oh,
that such a change should have come over
our country, in a day, as it were — as if all
vol. n. — 32

men in every State of the Union, North and
South, East and West, were suddenly smit
ten with homicidal madness, and. ' the cus
tom of fell deeds ' rendered, as familiar as
if it were a part of our inborn nature ; as
if an avenging angel had been suffered by
Providence to wave a sword of flaming fire
above our heads, to convert so many mil
lions of good men, living together in broth
erly love, into insensate beings, savagely
bent on the destruction of themselves and.
of each other, and leaving but a smoulder
ing ruin of conflagration and of blood in the
place of our once blessed Union. I endeavor
sometimes to close my ears to the sounds
and my eyes to the sights, of woe, and to ask
myself whether all this can be — to inquire
which is true, whether the past happiness
and prosperity of my country are but the
flattering vision of a happy sleep, or its pres
ent misery and desolation haply the delusion
of some disturbed dream. One or the other
seems incredible and impossible : but, alas !
the stern truth can not thus be dispelled from
our minds. Can you forget, ought I espe
cially to be expected to forget, those not re
mote days in the history of our country,
when its greatness and glory shed the
reflection at least of their rays upon all
our lives, and thus enabled us to read the
lessons of the fathers, and of their Constitu
tion, in the light of their principles and their
deeds? Then war was conducted only,against
the foreign enemy, and not in the spirit and
purpose of persecuting non-combatant pop
ulations, nor of burning undefended towns or
private dwellings, and wasting the fields of
the husbandmen, or the workshops of the
artisan, but of subduing armed hosts in the
field. * * * How is all this changed! And
why? Do we not all know that the cause
of our calamities is the vicious intermed
dling of too many of the citizens of the
Northern States with the constitutional
rights of the Southern States, cooperating
with the discontents of the people of those
States ? Do we not know that the disregard
of the Constitution, and of the security it
affords to the rights of States and of individ
uals, has been the cause of the calamity
which our country is called to undergo?
And now, war ! war, in its direst shape —
war, such as it makes the blood run cold to
read of in the history of other nations and
of other times — war, on a scale of a million
of men in arms — war, horrid as that of bar
baric ages, rages in several of the States of
the Union, as its more immediate field, and
casts the lurid shadow of its death and lam
entation athwart the whole expanse, and;
into every nook and corner of our vast do
main. Nor is that all ; for in those of the
States which are exempt from the actual
ravages of war, in which the roar of the

498

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

cannon, and the rattle of the musketry, and
the groans of the dying, are heard but as a
faint echo of terror from other lands, even
here in the loyal States, the mailed hand of
military usurpation strikes down the liber
ties of the people, and its foot tramples on
a desecrated Constitution. Ay, in this land
of free thought, free speech, and free wri
ting — in this republic of free suffrage, with
liberty of thought and expression as the
very essence of republican institutions — ¦
even here, in these free States, it is made
criminal * * * for that noble martyr of free
speech, Mr. Vallandigham, to discuss public
affairs in Ohio — ay, even here, the tempo
rary agents of the sovereign people, the
transitory administrators ofthe government,
tell us that in time of war the mere arbitrary
will of the President takes the place of the
Constitution, and the President himself an
nounces to us that it is treasonable to speak
or to write otherwise than as he may pre
scribe ; nay, that it is treasonable even to
be silent, though we be struck dumb by
the shock of the calamities with which evil
counsels, incompetency,and corruption, have
overwhelmed our country."
Considering that Gen. Lee, at
the head of a formidable Southern
army, composed in good part of the
Yirginians like himself, was on the
soil of the Free States when this ad
dress was written, intent on compel
ling them, by force of arms, to sub
mit to a dissolution of the Union, the
following passage can hardly be sur
passed: " I trust it maybe profitable on this occa
sion, as the call of your meeting suggests, to
revive the memories of that heroic epoch of
the republic, even though they come laden
with regrets, and hold up that period of our
history in contrast with the present — though
they come to remind us of what were our
relations during the Revolution, and in later
years, prior to 1861, to that great common
wealth which we were accustomed to refer
to by the name of ' the Mother of Statesmen
and of States ;' and of what those relations
now are. Can it be that we are never to
think again of the land where the dust of
"Washington and Patrick Henry, of Jefferson
and Madison, repose, with emotions of grati
tude, admiration, and filial regard? Is hate
for all that Virginia has taught, all that Vir
ginia has done, all that Virginia now is, to
take the place of sentiments which we have
cherished all our lives? Other men may be
asked to do this ; but it is in vain to appeal to

me. So far as my heart is concerned, it is
not a subject of volition. While there may
be those in whose breasts such sentiments
as these awaken no responsive feeling, I feel
assured, as I look over this vast assemblage,
that the grateful emotions which have sig
nalized this anniversary in all our past his
tory are not less yours than they are mine
to-day. Let us be thankful, at least, that
we have ever enjoyed them ; that nothing
can take from us the pride and exultation
we have felt as we saw the old flag unfold
over us, and realized its glorious accretion
of stars from the original thirteen to thirty-
four ; that we say much, when we say, in
the language of New Hampshire's greatest
son; if we can with assurance say no more :
'The past at least is secure.' "
Mr. Pierce closed his oration with
a deprecation of civil war and an
appeal for peace on the basis of the
Union and Constitution, which — con
sidering by whom and for what the
War was initiated — seems to this
writer to evince an amazing defiance
of the assumption that Man is a ra
tional being. It is as follows :
"My friends, you have had, most of you
have had, 'great sorrows, overwhelming per
sonal sorrows, it may be; but none like
these, none like these, which come welling
up, day by day, from the great fountain
of national disaster, red with the best and
bravest blood of the country, North and
South — red with the blood of those in both
sections of the Union whose fathers fought
the common battle of Independence. Nor
have these sorrows brought with them any
compensation, whether of national pride or
of victorious arms. For is it not vain to
appeal to you to raise a shout of joy because
the men from the land of Washington, Mari
on, and Sumter, are baring their breasts to
the steel of the men from the land of War
ren, Stark, and Stockton ; or because, if this
war is to continue to be waged, one or the
other must go to the wall — must be con
signed to humiliating subjugation? This
fearful, fruitless, fatal civil war has exhib
ited our amazing resources and vast military
power. It has shown that, united, even in
carrying out, in its widest interpretation,
the Monroe doctrine, on this continent, we
could, with such protection as the broad
ocean which flows between ourselves and
European powers affords, have stood against
the world in arms. I speak of the war as
fruitless; for it is clear that, prosecuted
upon the basis of the proclamations of Sep
tember 22d and September 24th, 1862, pros-

GOV. HORATIO SEYMOUR ON THE CRISIS.

499

ecuted, as I must understand those procla
mations, to say nothing of the kindred brood
which has followed, npon the theory of
emancipation, devastation, subjugation, it
can not fail to be fruitless in every thing ex
cept the harvest of woe which it is ripening
for what was once the peerless republic
" Now, fellow citizens, after having said
thus much, it is right that you should ask me,
What would yon do in this fearful extremi
ty? I reply, From the beginning of this
straggle to the present moment, my hope
has been in moral power. There it reposes
sti! When, in the Spring of 1861, 1 had
occasion to address my fellow citizens of
this city, from the balcony of the hotel be
fore us, I then said I had not believed, and
did not then believe, aggression by arms was
either a suitable or possible remedy for ex
isting evils. All that has occurred since
then has bnt strengthened and confirmed
my convictions in this regard. I repeat,
then, my judgment impels me to rely npon
, moral force, and not upon any of the coer
cive instrumentalities of military power.
We have seen, in the experience of the last
two years, how futile are all our efforts to
maintain the Union by force of arms ; but,
even had war been carried on by ns suc
cessfully, the ruinous result would exhibit
its utter impracticability for the attainment
of the desired end. Through peaceftil agen
cies, and through such agencies alone, can
we hope to 'form a more perfect Union, es
tablish justice, insure domestic tranquillity,
provide for the common defense, promote
the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity:'
the great objects for which, and for which
alone, the Constitution was formed. If you
turn round and ask me, What if these agen
cies fail? what if the passionate anger of
both sections forbids ? what if the ballot-box
is sealed ? Then, all efforts, whether of war
or peace, having failed, my reply is, Yon will
take care of yourselves; with or without
arms, with or without leaders, we will, at
least, in the effort to defend our rights as a
free people, build np a great mausoleum of
hearts, to which men who yearn for liberty
will, in after years, with bowed heads and
reverently, resort, as Christian pilgrims to
the sacred shrines of the Holy Land."
It can not, surely, be needful to de
monstrate that the author of this ora
tion did not regard the Rebel power
as his enemy, nor that of the country.

Gov. Seymour, who addressed a
large gathering in the New York

Academy of Music, in language care
fully weighed beforehand and tem
pered by the obvfous requirements of
his official position, was far more
measured and cautious in his assaults
and imputations than were the great
majority of his compatriots. Yet he
opened with this allusion to the Na-
tion's imminent perils and the disap
pointed hopes, the blighted expecta
tions, of those who, whether in coun
cil or on the field, were charged with
the high responsibility of upholding
its authority and enforcing its laws :
" When I accepted the invitation to speak,
with others, at this meeting, we were pro
mised the downfall of Vicksburg, the open
ing of the Mississippi, the probable capture
of the Confederate capital, and the exhaus
tion of the Rebellion. By common con
sent, all parties had fixed upon this day
when the results of the campaign should be
known, to mark out that line of policy which
they felt that our country should pursue.
But, in the mom ent of expected victory, there
came the midnight cry for help from Penn
sylvania to save its despoiled fields from
the invading foe ; and, almost within sight
of this great commercial metropolis, the
ships of your merchants were burned to the
water's edge."
Having completed his portrayal of
the National calamities and perils, he
proceeded :
" A few years ago, we stood before this
community to warn them of the dangers of
sectional strife ; but our fears were laughed
at. At a later day, when the clouds of war
overhung our country, we implored those
in authority to compromise that difficulty :
for we had been told hy that great orator
and statesman, Barke, that there never yet
was a revolution that might not have been
prevented by a compromise opportunely
and graciously made. [Great applause.]
Our prayers were unheeded. Again, when
the contest was opened, we invoked those
who had the conduct of affairs not to un
derrate the power of the adversary — not to
underrate the courage, and resources, and
endurance, of our own sister States. This
warning was treated as sympathy with
treason. You have the results of these un
heeded warnings and unheeded prayers;
they have stained our soil with blood ; they
have carried mourning into thousands of
homes ; and to-day they have brought our

500

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

oonntry to the very verge of destruction.
Once more, I come before you, to offer again
an earnest prayer, ami beg you to listen to
a warning. Our country is not only at this
time torn by one of the bloodiest wars that
has ever ravaged the face of the earth ; but,
if We turn our faces to our own loyal States,
how is it there? You find the community
divided into political parties, strongly ar
rayed, and using with regard to each other
terms of reproach and defiance. It is said
by those who support more particularly the
Administration, that we, who differ honestly,
patriotically, sincerely, from them with re
gard to the line of duty, are men of treason
able purposes and enemies to our country.
[' Hear, hear.'] On the other hand, the De
mocratic organization look npon this Admin
istration as hostile to their rights and lib
erties ; they look upon their opponents as
men who would do them wrong in regard
to their most sacred franchises. I need not
call your attention to the tone of the press,
or to the tone of public feeling, to show you
how, at this moment, parties are thus exas
perated, and stand in defiant attitudes to
each other. A few years ago, we were told
that sectional strife, waged in words like
these, would do no harm to our country ;
but you have seen the sad and bloody re
sults. Let us be admonished now in time,
and take care that this irritation, this feel
ing which is growing up in our midst, shall
not also ripen into civil troubles that shall
carry the evils of war into our own homes.
" Upon one point, all are agreed, and that
isthis : Until we have aunited North, we can
have no successful war. Until we have a
united, harmonious North, we can have no
beneficent peace. How shall we gain har
mony ? How shall the unity "of all be ob
tained? Is it to be coerced? I appeal to
you, my Republican friends, when you say
to us that the nation's life and existence
hang upon harmony and concord here, if
you yourselves, in your serious moments,
believe that this is to be produced by seizing
our persons, by infringing upon our rights,
by insulting our homes, and by depriving
us of those cherished principles for which
our fathers fought, and to which we have
always sworn allegiance." [Great applause.]
After some variations on this
theme, he continues his appeal to
Eepublicans in these words :
" We only ask that yon shalf give to us
that which you claim for yourselves, and
that which every freeman, and every man
who respects himself, will have, freedom of
speech, the right to exercise all the fran
chises conferred by the Constitution upon
American citizens. [Great applause.] Can

you safely deny us these? Will you not
trample upon your own rights if you refuse
to listen ? Do you not create revolution
when you say that our persons may be
rightfully seized, our property confiscated,
our homes entered ? Are you not exposing
yourselves, your own interests, to as great
a peril as that with which you threaten us?
Remember this, that the bloody, and trea
sonable, and revolutionary, doctrine of pub
lic necessity can be proclaimed by a mob as
well as by a government. [Applause.] * * *
" To-day, the great masses of conserva
tives who still battle for time-honored prin
ciples of government, amid denunciation,
contumely, and abuse, are the only barriers
that stand between this Government and
its own destruction. If we should acquiesce
in the doctrine that, in times of war, Consti
tutions are suspended, and laws have lost
their force, then we should accept a doc
trine that the very right by which this Go
vernment administers its power has lost
its virtue, and we would be brought down
to the level of rebellion itself, having an ex
istence only by virtue of material power.
When men accept despotism, they may
have a choice as to who the despot shall be.
The struggle then will not be, Shall we have
constitutional liberty ? But, having accept
ed the doctrine that the Constitution has lost
its force, every instinct of personal ambition,
every instinct of personal security, will lead
men to put themselves under the protection
of that power which they suppose most
competent to guard their persons."
Near the close of his address, the
Governor says :
" We stand to-day amid new-made
graves, in a land filled with mourning ; up
on a soil saturated with the blood- of the
fiercest conflict of which history gives us an
account. We can, if we will, avert all
these calamities, and evoke a blessing. If
we will do what? Hold that Constitution,
and liberties, and laws, are suspended? —
shrink back from the assertion of right?
Will that restore them ? Or shall we do as
our fathers did, under circumstances of like
trial, when they combated against the
powers of a crown ? They did not say that
liberty was suspended ; that men might be
deprived of the right of trial by jury ; that
they might be torn from their homes by
midnight intruders? [Tremendous and
continued applause.] If you would save
your country, and your liberties, begin
right ; begin at the hearth-stones, which are
ever meant to be the foundations of Ameri
can institutions ; begin in your family
circle ; declare that your privileges shall be
held sacred ; and, having once proclaimed

THE DEMOCRATIC PRESS ON THE DRAFT.

501

your own rights, take care that you do not
invade those of your neighbor." [Applause.]
These orations are mild and cau
tious compared with the great mass of
Democratic harangues on this occa
sion. The allusions to Mr. Yallandig-
ham's arrest as a lawless outrage,
and to the States as guardians of the
rights of their citizens (with direct
reference to the impending draft,
which Gov. Seymour, with the great
mass of his party, was known to re
gard as unconstitutional), and all kin
dred indications of a purpose to resist
the Federal Executive, even unto
blood, in ease his " usurpations " and
"outrages" should be repeated and
persisted in, were everywhere re
ceived with frenzied shouts of con
currence and approbation: and a
proposition to organize at once to
march on Washington, and hurl from
power the tyrant enthroned in the
White House, would have elicited
even more frantic manifestations of
delight and approval.

The first Draft in the city of New
York for conscripts under the Enroll
ment Act was advertised to com
mence at the several enrollment of
fices soon afterward ;a6 and, as a prepa
ration therefor, the several Demo
cratic journals of that city seemed to
vie with each other — especially in
their issues of the eventful morning —
in efforts to inflame the passions of
those who at best detested the idea
of braving peril, privation, suffering,
and death, in the prosecution of an
'Abolition war.' That the enroll
ment here was excessive, and the
quota required of the city was too
high, were vehemently asserted; that
there would be unfairness in the

drawing of names from the wheel
was broadly insinuated ; but that the
Draft itself- — any Draft — was uncon
stitutional, needless, and an outrage
on individual liberty and State rights,
was more emphatically insisted on.
Said The Journal of Gommefce:
" It is a melancholy fact that war, sad
and terrible as it is, becomes oftentimes the
tool of evil-minded men to accomplish their
ends. The horrors of its continuance are
nothing to their view. The blood shed
counts as of no value in their measurement.
The mourning it causes produces no impres
sion on "their sensibilities. Such men lose
all consciousness of personal responsibility
for the war, and only look to selfish desires
to be realized. What right has any man,
or any class of men, to use this war for. any
purpose beyond its original object ? If they,
indeed, have diverted it from that, if they
have prolonged it one day, added one drop
of blood to its sacrifice, by their efforts to
use it for other ends than its original design,
then they are responsible before God and
man for the blood and cost. There is no
evading that responsibility.
" Some men say, ' Now that the war has
commenced, it must not be* stopped till
slaveholding is abolished.' Such men are
neither more nor less than murderers. The
name seems severe : it is nevertheless cor
rect. Would it have been justifiable for the
Northern States to commence a war on the
Southern States for the sole purpose of
abolishing Slavery in them ? No ! it would
have been murder to commence such a war.
By what reasoning, then, does it become
less murder to divert a war, commenced for
other purposes, to that object? How can it
be any less criminal to prolong a war, com
menced for the assertion of governmental
power, into a war for the suppression of
Slavery, wliich, it is agreed, would have
been unjustifiable and sinful if begun for
that purpose?"
Said The World :
" Whether the weak and reckless men who
temporarily administer the Federal Gov
ernment are aware of the fact or not, it is
undeniably a fact that the very existence of
the Government they administer is quite as
seriously involved, in the execution of the
conscription which they are now putting
in force, as it has been in any other measure
or event of the war. The act itself, which
should never have been framed, except with
the most absolute deference to the Consti-

5 Monday, July 13.

502

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

tution and on the broadest attainable basis
of representative support, was fairly forced
to its passage through the Constitution and
over the restraints and decencies of Senato
rial, debate. Such were the circumstances
which attended its final passage, that one
might almost have supposed tbe National
legislature to be an oligarchic conspiracy
plotting a vast scheme of military servitude,
rather than the council of a great people
giving form to its independent determina
tion and organizing its force for the asser
tion of its freedom. The idea of a military
conscription being in itself profoundly re
pugnant to the American mind, it might
have been supposed that unusual steps
would have been taken by the friends of
llhat resort to present it with the utmost
possible frankness, and in the light best
adapted to dissipate the popular hostility.
" Nothing of the sort was done. A meas
ure which could not have been ventured
upon in England even in those dark days
when the press-gang filled the English ships-
of-war with slaves, and dimmed the glory
of England's noblest naval heroes — a meas.
ure wholly repugnant to the habits and
prejudices of our people — was thrust into
the statute-book, as one might say, almost
by force. It was not only a conscription,
but an act passed by conscription.
"The nattfral consequences followed.
Hundreds of thousands of loyal citizens
were led to look with distrust and concern
upon the passage of the bill. Men who
would not hesitate for a moment to risk
their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honors, upon the summons of any legiti
mate National authority, became discon
tented and dissatisfied with what they re
garded (whether justly or unjustly is not
now to the point) as an unnecessary stretch
of Governmental control over individual
liberty."
Said The Daily News :
" It is sincerely to be hoped that meas
ures will be taken to test the constitution
ality of the law which threatens to remove
sixty-odd thousand of our citizens from the
State of New York, before a single individ
ual is permitted to be forced, against his
will, to take part in the ungodly conflict
which is distracting the land. It is said that
Gov. Seymour openly expresses his belief
that neither the President nor Congress,
without the consent of the State authori
ties, has any right to enforce such an act as
is now being carried into effect under the
auspices of the War Department ; but that
he thinks his interference would do more
harm than good, and that the question
ought to be settled by the courts.
" The manner in which the draft is being

conducted in New York is such an outrage
upon all decenoy and fairness as has no
parallel, and can find no apologists. No
proclamation has been issued upon the sub
ject; and it is only a matter of surmise
whether 300,000 or 600,000 men are to be
raised. If, as is supposed, 300,000 addi
tional troops are to be added t© the Union
Army by the present conscription, the pro
per quota to he drawn from this city would
be about 12,000 of our citizens. Instead of
this number, however, over 22,000 are being
drafted; and, with 50 per cent, extra re
quired for exemptions, 33,000! No allow
ance is made for the militia who are in
Pennsylvania and-Maryland; and the $300
to be paid by rich conscripts, instead of
purchasing substitutes, is to be diverted,
against the spirit of the law, to some other
direction. " The evident aim of those who have tha
Conscription Act in hand, in this State, is
to lessen the number of Democratic votes at
the next election. The miscreants at the
head of the Government are bending all
their powers, as was revealed in the late
speech of Wendell Phillips at Framingham,
to securing a perpetuation of their ascend
ency for another four years ; and their
triple method of accomplishing this purpose
is, to kill off Democrats, stuff the ballot-
boxes with bogus soldier votes, and deluge
recusant districts with negro suffrages. The
crafty, quiet way in which the enrollment
has been carried on, forestalled both criti
cism and opposition. Nevertheless, the
work has neither been fairly performed, nor
has it been thorough. And, now that it is
over, the people are notified that' one out
of about two and a half of our citizens are
destined to be brought off into Messrs. Lin
coln &f, Company's charnel-house. God for
bid ! We hope that instant measures will
be taken to prevent the outrage, and to se
cure such a decision from our courts as will
exempt New York from further compelled
participation in the suicidal war which is
desolating the land."
A most incendiary hand-bill appeal
to the people to rise for the vindica
tion of their liberties had been cir
culated anonymously throughout the
city on the night before the _th, with
evident intent to incite an insurrec
tionary movement on that day ; but
the tidings received by telegraph of.
Meade's success at Gettysburg, call
ing all the supporters of the War into
the streets and inclining its opponents

THE DRAFT RIOTS IN NEW YORK CITY.

503

to solitude and seclusion, interfered
with the execution ofthe programme.
•But npw, inflamed by the appeals of
their favorite journals, the commence
ment of drafting in our several
districts was marked by the gather-
ing-^especially in the up-town dis
tricts, where there is a compact pop-
, ulation of laborers, mainly of foreign
birth — of excited crowds, who soon
proceeded to violence, arson, and
bloodshed. In the IXth Congress district, com
prising the most northerly wards of
the City, largely peopled by railroad
employes and other foreign-born la
borers, ¦ the drawing commenced at
10 a. m., in the house where the en
rollment had been made, at the cor
net of Third Avenue and 46th-street,
in the presence of some 300 persons,
mainly spectators. Half an hour
thereafter, when 75 to 100 names had
been drawn, while all was quiet and
orderly within the building, a pistol
was fired in the street, where a large
crowd had rapidly assembled; where
upon, a shower of brickbats and other
missiles was hurled at the house, and
the crowd rushed in, driving out the
officers and clerks, tearing up the
papers, and taking complete posses
sion. In a few minutes, one of the
rioters produced a can of spirits of
turpentine, which he poured over the
floor and set fire to it, and the build
ing was soon in flames — the police
men and draft officers who attempted
resistance being driven off by show
ers of stone's — Mr. John A. Kennedy,
Superintendent of Police, who was
present in plain clothes, being recog
nized and severely beaten. A small
¦ force of the Invalid Corps soon ap
peared, but was promptly overpow
ered and driven off by the mob, now

swelled to furious thousands ; and
a strong detachment of the police,
which attempted to disperse or drive
the mob, was likewise worsted and
forced to retreat. The firemen, who
were tardy in their appearance, and
who were cheered and applauded by
the mob, made no effort to save the
obnoxious house in which . the fire
had been kindled, but finally arrested
the progress of the conflagration;
though not till several more houses
had been destroyed, and the bulk of
the mob had moved off to other
scenes of outrage and devastation.
The organized militia of the city .
were generally absent in the interior
of Pennsylvania; the Government
had no military force within call but
a handful on Governor's island and
in the forts commanding the seaward
approaches ; while the Police, though
well organized and efficient, was not
competent to deal with a virtual in
surrection which had the great body
of the foreign-born laborers of our
city at its back, with nearly every
one of the 10,000 grog-shops for its
block-houses and recruiting-stations.
The outbreak had manifestly been
premeditated and prearranged ; and
the tidings of its initial success, being
instantly diffused throughout the city,
incited an outpouring into the streets
of all who dreaded the Draft, hated
the War, or detested Abolitionists and
Negroes as the culpable causes of
both. The rioters constantly aug
mented their numbers by calling at
the gas-houses, railroad offices, work
shops, and great manufactories, and
there demanding that all work should
be stopped and the laborers allowed
to. fall into their ranks — a demand
which, through sympathy or coward
ice, was too generally acceded to. Of

504

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

course, the thieves, burglars, and other
predatory classes, the graduates of Eu
ropean prisons and the scum and sedi
ment of Old- World felony, who by tens
of thousands have their lairs in the
great emporium, were too glad to em
brace the opportunity afforded them
to plunder and ravage under the garb
of popular resistance to Abolition
despotism, and made haste to swell
the ranks and direct the steps of the
drunken, bellowing, furious mob, who
now rushed through street after street,
attacking the dwellings of peaceful
citizens who were stigmatized as
Abolitionists, or who were exposed
to odium by some sort of connection
with the Government. By 3 p.m.,
the rioters had become many thou
sands in number; and they were
probably more numerous throughout
the two following days.
The most revolting feature of this
carnival of crime and villainous mad
ness was the uniform maltreatment
to which the harmless, frightened
Blacks were subjected. That The
Tribune building should have been
for days beleaguered by a yelling,
frantic crowd, who constantly sought
to incite each other to an attack
which they were too careful of their
own safety to make (save once, just
at dark of the first day, before it had
been armed, and when they for a mo

ment had possession of the business
office, and had just time to dismantle
and set it on fire before they were
charged and driven out by the Police),
was quite intelligible, if not so clearly
justifiable ; and so of the attacks on
enrollment offices, arsenals, police
stations, &c. ; but that an inoffensive
negro boy should be hunted at full
speed by a hundred White miscreants
intent on his murder, while many a
poor Black woman had her humble
habitation sacked and devastated as
she narrowly escaped into the street
— barely saving her life, and nothing
else — several of this abused race be
ing killed without even a suggestion
or suspicion of fault on their part, and
all the rest put in mortal terror — was
an exhibition of human fiendishness
which the Nineteenth Century has
rarely paralleled. In one case that
was noted, (and there were doubtless
others as atrocious,) a colored boy not
ten years of age was set upon in the
most public part of the city, and pelt
ed with sticks and stones by scores of
men and boys until he managed to
make his escape. In another case, a
Black man, no otherwise obnoxious
save by his color, was chased, caught,
hung, and all his clothing burned off.
His dead body remained hanging for
hours, until cut down by the Police.37
The Colored Orphan Asylum was

87 The Tribune of July 15 said:
"It is absurd and futile to attribute this out
burst of ruffianism to any thing else than sym
pathy with the Rebels. If, as some pretend, it
results from dissatisfaction with the $300 ex
emption, why are negroes indiscriminately as
sailed and beaten almost or quite to death? Did
they prescribe this exemption ? On the contrary,
are they not almost uniformly poor men, them
selves exposed to the draft, and unable to pay
$300 ? What single thing have they done to ex
pose them to this infernal, cowardly ruffianism ?
What can be alleged against them, unless it be
that they are generally hostile to the Slavehold
ers' Rebellion ? And how are the drafting officers
responsible for the $300 clause?

" We may just as well look tbe facts in the
face? These riots. are 'a £re in the rear' on
our country's defenders in the field. They are,
in purpose and in essence, a diversion in favor
of Jeff. Davis and Lee. Listen to the yells of
the mob, and the harangues of its* favorite ora
tors, and you will find them surcharged with
'nigger,' 'Abolition,' 'Black Republican,' de
nunciation of prominent Republicans, The Trib
une, &c, &c. — all very wide of the draft and the
exemption. Had the Abolitionists, instead of
the Slaveholders, revolted, and undertaken to
upset the Government and dissolve the Union,
nine-tenths of these rioters would have eagerly '
volunteered to put them down. It is the fear,
I stimulated by the recent and glorious triumphs

MORE ARSON IN NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN.

505

one of the noblest charities of the
city. It had a spacious and elegant
edifice, worth, with its furniture,
some $200,000, at the corner of Fifth
Avenue and 46th-street, not far from
the enrolling office, where the riots
began.- It was a school as well a_ an
asylum, affording shelter, sustenance,
and Christian nurture, to some 200
colored orphans^under the patronage
and management of a society of phi
lanthropic ladies. At 5 p. m., a vast
mob surrounded it, disabled or drove
off the few policemen who attempted
to bar an entrance, and, having af
forded time for the hasty exit of the
inmates, fired and destroyed the edi
fice and all its remaining contents ;
having meantime stolen a liberal
share of the carpets, iron bedsteads,
and other portable furniture, which
women stood ready, at a little dis
tance, to carry off, so soon as they
were handed to them by their hus
bands or sons. Some of the gar
ments, which the fleeing inmates had
left behind in their haste, were thus
appropriated. The cool, business
like manner wherein this wholesale
robbery and arson were perpetrated
astonished even the most callous re
porters. A liberal but not very re
sponsible offer of" $500 for the sight
of a Black Republican," chalked in
gigantic letters on the fence of the
adjacent cattle-market, failed to elicit
any proffers.
The enrolling office of the YIHth
District stood at the corner of Broad
way and 29th-st., in a block of stores
filled with costly goods, including a
goldsmith's shop, heavily stocked
with watches and jewelry. These
were speedily stripped of their con

tents and then fired; the firemen
here, as at the Orphan Asylum and
elsewhere, being forbidden to play ¦
on the obnoxious building — an order
which the mass of them seemed
quite too willing to obey. In twenty
minutes after the matches were igni
ted, the walls fell with a loud crash.
The firemen were allowed to play
upon and save, so far as they might,
all structures not obnoxious to the
rioters. The riots, thus begun on Monday,
July 13th, were kept up throughout
the three following days, and extend
ed to Brooklyn, where an expensive
new Grain Elevator, worth $100,000,
which was obnoxious as reducing the
demand for labor, was among the
buildings burned. But, by this time,
some soldiers had been called in from
the military posts in the harbor, and
some militia mustered in the city;
so that, though there was more fight
ing than on the first day, there was
less devastation ; and the loss of life
was decidedly greatest on the side
of the rioters, who were gradually
crowded back into those quarters
where they were naturally strongest,
and no longer plundered and burned
at will. But the running of the city
railroads was generally stopped by
the mob on these days, in order to
impede the movements of the defend
ers of order, as well as to swell the
ranks of the rioters ; laborers could
not be obtained to load vessels' in
port, and the industry of the city was
very generally paralyzed.
But a riot stoutly confronted and
checked has reached its culminating
point ; and this one — which would
almost certainly have broken out on

of the Union arms, that Slavery and the Rebel
lion must suffer, which is at the bottom of all
this arson, devastation, robbery, and murder.

And this fact should arouse every devotee of
Liberty and Law to oppose to the rioters the
sternest resistance."

506

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the 4th, but for the news of Lee's de
feat at Gettysburg — was now prose
cuted under the heavy discourage
ment of the full tidings of Grant's
triumph at Yicksburg ; while the first
news of Banks's capture of Port Hud
son, of Holmes's bloody repulse at
Helena, and of Gillm ore's initial suc
cess on Morris island, now pouring
in from day to day, proved a quick
succession of wet blankets -for the
spirits of the rioters.
Gov. Seymour had been in the city
on the Saturday previous; but left
that afternoon for New Jersey, and
did not return till Tuesday forenoon ;
when he was at once escorted to the
City Hall, and thence addressed the
crowd who flocked thither — many if
not most of them from the mob just
before menacing The Tribune office
— as follows :
" My Friends : I have come down here
from the quiet of the country to see what
was the difficulty — to learn what all this
trouble was concerning the Draft. Let me
assure you that I am your friend. [Uproari
ous cheering.] You have been my friends
—[cries of ' Yes,' ' Yes,' ' That 's so :' 'We
are, and will be again'] — and now I assure
you, my fellow citizens, that I am here to
show you a test of my friendship. [Cheers.]
I wish to inform you that I have sent my
Adjutant-General to Washington to confer
with the authorities there, and to have this
Draft suspended and stopped. [Vociferous
cheers.] I now ask you, as good citizens,
to wait for his return; and I assure you
that I will do all that I can to see that there
is no inequality, and no wrong done any
one. I wish you to take good care of all
property as good citizens, and see that eve
ry person is safe. The safe-keeping of pro
perty and persons rests with you ; and I
charge you to disturb neither. It is your
duty to maintain the good order of the
city ; and I know you will do it. I wish
you now to separate as good citizens, and
you can assemble again whenever you wish
to do so. I ask you to leave all to me now,
and I will see to your rights. Wait until
my Adjutant returns from Washington, and
you shall be satisfied. Listen to me, and see
that no harm is done to either persons or
property, but retire peaceably."

The most objectionable feature of
this brief address was not its initial
salutation, but its underlying assump
tion that order and obedience to law
were suspended on the stoppage of
the Draft. True, he did not in terms
say, *" It would be right to riot, and
burn buildings, and hunt negroes,
and slaughter officers, if the Draft
were to go on; but, I will have it
stopped and given up: so go home
and keep the peace ;" but, to the
minds of the rioters, his speech
amounted exactly to that. Hence,
there was great danger that tran
quillity thus attained would be bro
ken whenever the attempt to enforce
the Draft should be renewed. And
it was already well understood — in
deed, it had been proposed to promi
nent Republicans the day before—
that, if they would promise that the
Draft should be arrested, the riots
should thereupon be stopped.
The riots continued during the
fourth day (Thursday) ; but were then
mainly restricted to isolated rob
beries and assaults on unprotected
negroes, many of whom were most
inhumanly abused, and two or three
murdered. The only continuously
embodied force of rioters held the
eastern upper part of the city, where
many large tenement houses are
densely crowded with the poorest
of our foreign-born population, and
where Col. 0'Brien; who had been
in command of a volunteer military
force, had been followed to his home
on Tuesday, and there beaten to
death by the rioters, under circum
stances of shocking barbarity. Here,
especially in and near 21st-st., east
ward of Third Avenue, a determined
stand was made,, during the evening
of Thursday, by the rioters,, against

THE RIOT STOPPED — GOV. SEYMOUR ON THE DRAFT. 507

a small body of soldiers under Capt.
Putnam, 12th regulars, whom Gen.
Harvey Brown, commanding in the
city under Gen. Wool, had sent to
quell the riot, and who did it, by or
dering his men to fire at those who
were hurling missiles at them from
the house-tops, while a body of artil
lerymen entered the houses and made
prisoners of their male inmates. Capt.
Putnam returned 13 killed, 18 wound
ed, and 24 prisoners ; while of his men
but two or three suffered injury. The
whole amount of property destroyed
by the rioters, for which the City was
held responsible to the owners, was
..valued at about $2,000,000.
During this night and the following
day, several regiments of our disci
plined Militia arrived, on their return
from Pennsylvania, soon followed by
other regiments of veterans from the
Army of the Potomac ; and it would
not thereafter have been safe to at
tempt rioting. The City authorities
now appropriated large (borrowed)
sums to pay bounties for volunteers ;
so that the City's quotas were sub
stantially filled without recourse to
drafting : the Government much pre
ferring volunteers, of course, but ut
terly unwilling, because unable, to
forego a resort to drafting when men
were not otherwise forthcoming. In
other words, it could not admit that
its right to endure depended on the
Volunteering insufficient numbers of
citizens to defend. its existence.
There were simultaneous and sub
sidiary riots in Boston, in Jersey City,
and at Troy and Jamaica, N.Y. ; with
preliminary perturbations in many
other places; but all these were
plainly sympathetic with and subor
dinate to the New York effort, and

quickly subsided when that was over
borne. So there was, at different pe
riods of the War, forcible resistance
offered to conscription in two or
three counties of Wisconsin, perhaps
a few more of Pennsylvania, and
possibly two or three other localities.
But in no single instance was there
a riot incited by drafting, wherein
Americans by birth bore any consid
erable part, nor in which the great
body of the actors were not born
Europeans, and generally of recent
importation. Considering how wide
spread, earnest, intense, was the feel
ing of repugnance to the War, espe
cially after it had assumed an anti-
Slaveryaspect, this fact tends strongly
to establish the natural strength in a
republic of the sentiment of defer
ence to law and to rightful author
ity, even when that' authority is held
to be abused or perverted.
Gov; Seymour next appealed38 to
the President, urging a suspension of
the Draft, because of the alleged ex
cessive quota required of the urban
districts of his State — saying
" It is just to add that the Administration
owes this to itself; as these inequalities fall
most heavily on those districts which have
been opposed to its political views."
He further insisted that the en
forcement of the Draft be postponed
till after its constitutionality shall
have been adjudged by the courts —
saying :
" It is believed by at least one-half of the
people of the loyal States that the Conscrip
tion Act, which they are called upon to obey
because it is on the statute-book, is in itself
a violation of the supreme constitutional law.
There is a fear and suspicion that, while they
are threatened with the severest penalties
ofthe law, they are to be deprived of its pro
tection. * * * I do not dwell upon what I
believe would be the consequence of a vio
lent, harsh policy before the constitutional-

' Aug. 3.

508

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ity of the Act is tested. You can scan the
immediate future as well as I. The temper
ofthe people to-day you can readily learn."
At this time, Democratic organiza
tions and meetings were denouncing
'the Draft as unconstitutional, and
calling on the Governor to invoke
the military power of the State to
maintain its sovereignty and rightful
jurisdiction, and protect its citizens
from a ruthless conscription.
President Lincoln, in response " to
the Governor's appeal, after propos
ing to suspend the Draft in the City
districts, in so far as it was claimed
to be excessive, until after a fair and
rigid scrutiny, said :
" I do not object to abide the decision of
the United States Supreme Court, or of the
Judges thereof, on the constitutionality of
the Draft law. In fact, I should be willing
to facilitate the obtaining of it. But I can
not consent to lose the time while it is being
obtained. We are contending with an ene
my who, as I understand, drives every able-
bodied man he can reach into his ranks,
very much as a butcher drives bullocks into
a slaughter-pen. No time is wasted, no ar
gument is used. This produces an army
which will soon turn upon our now victori
ous soldiers already in the field, if they shall
not be sustained by recruits as they should be.
It produces an army with a rapidity not to
be matched on our side, if we first waste
time to reexperiment with the volunteer
system, already deemed by Congress, and
palpably, in fact, so far exhausted as to be
inadequate ; and then more time to obtain
a Court decision as to whether a law is con
stitutional which requires a part of those
not now in the service to go to the aid of
those who are already in it ; and still more
time to determine with absolute certainty
that we get those who are to go in the pre
cisely legal proportion to those who are not
to go.- My purpose is to be in my action
just and constitutional, and yet practical, in
performing the important duty with which

I am charged, of maintaining the unity and
the free principles of our common coun
try." 
The Autumnal Elections inevitably
hinged on and embodied the popular
judgment on the issues thus made
up; and the brighter prospects of
the National cause'were reflected in
the general success of the Republican
candidates. Yermont — the first to vote there
after" — did, indeed, show a reduction
of her always heavy Republican ma
jority — the Democratic party having
made no effort41 in 1862, and now
doing its best ; whereas, her election
in the former year had been unaf
fected by the wave of depression and
discouragement that swept soon af
terward over the loyal States. Cali
fornia voted next :" going 'Union '
throughout by a very large majority"
— nearly equal to that of 1861 ; but
Maine — voting somewhat later" —
felt the full impulse of the swelling
tide, and showed it in her vote."
But the October Elections were
far more significant and decisive. In
Pennsylvania, Gov. Andrew G. Cur-
tin — who had aided the war to the
extent of his ability — was presented
by the Republicans for reelection;
while the Democrats opposed to him
Judge Geo. W. Woodward,46 who, it
was certified, had declared in 1861 —
" If the Union is to be divided, I
want the line of separation run north
of Pennsylvania" — and who, not far
from the day of election, united with

™ Aug. 1.
41 1862. Republican.
Gov. Holbrook, 30,032.
1863, Republican.
J. G. Smith, 29,613.

"Sept. 1.
Democratic.
Smalley, 3,724.
Democratic.
Redfield, 11,962.

'Sept. 14.
s 1862. Repub. War Dem. Peace Dem.
Gov. Coburn, Jameson, Bradbury,
45,534 7,178 32,331

"Sept. 3.
43 1863. Union. Democratic.
Gov. F. F. Low, 64,447. Downey, 44,715.

1863 — Gov. Cony,
68,299

Bradbury, 50,583

K See his ' Peace' speech, Vol. L, pp. 363-5.

CURTIN REELECTED — VALLANDIGHAM DEFEATED.

509

his Democratic brethren on the bench
ofthe SupremeCourt in adjudging the
Enrollment Act unconstitutional. It
was hardly possible to make an issue
more distinctly than was here made
between the supporters and the con
temners of the War for the Union ;
yet Gen. McClellan — still a Major-
General in full pay, though not in
active service — wrote a letter for
publication in the canvass, wherein
he declared that —
" Having, some days ago, had a full con
versation with Judge Woodward, I find that
our views agree; and I regard his election
as Governor of Pennsylvania called for by
the interests ofthe nation."
The canvass in this State was ex
ceedingly animated and earnest ; the
vote polled at the election4' exceeded,
by many thousands, any ever cast be
fore; and the result was decisive.
Though the vote of the preceding
year had shown no decided prepon
derance of either party,48 but gave
the Legislature and a U. S. Senator
to the Democrats, that of 1863 re
elected Gov. Curtin by more than
15,000 ** majority, and established the
ascendency of the Republicans in
every branch of the State Govern
ment. For — as if to render the pop
ular verdict more emphatic — Chief
Justice Lowrie, who pronounced
the decision of the Supreme Court,
adjudging the Enrollment Act un
constitutional, was a candidate for
reelection, opposed by Daniel Ag-
new, Republican, by whom — though
comparatively unknown to the peo
ple — he was conclusively beaten.60
And the Court, as thus reconstituted

by the election of Judge Agnew, re
viewed and reversed " the decision
pronounced by Chief Justice Lowrie.
Said Judge Agnew, in his opinion :
"The constitutional authority to use the
national forces creates a corresponding duty
to provide a number adequate to the neces
sity. The duty is vital and essential, fall
ing back on the fundamental right of self-
preservation, and the powers expressed to
declare war, raise armies, maintain navies,
and provide for the common defense. Pow
er and duty now go hand in hand with the
extremity, until every available man in the
nation is called into service, if the emergen
cy requires it; and of this there can be no
judge bnt Congress."
Justices David Davis (Circuit) and
S. H. Treat (District) in Illinois/3 and
Justice Nathan K Hall (District) in
Northern New York, also pronounced
judgments in cases brought before
them, affirming the constitutionality
of the Enrollment Act and of draft
ing under it. No Federal Judge ever
made a contrary decision.
Ohio — by reason of the unrevoked
and continuing banishment of Mr.
Yallandigham — was the arena of a
contest equally earnest and somewhat
more heated. The public meetings,
especially those of the Democrats,
were enormously attended through
out the canvass, and were brimmed
with enthusiasm. Yet, when the
vote was polled," the Democratic
majority of 5,000 " on Secretary of
State, in 1862, was found to have
given, place to a ' Union ' majority
on Governor of over One Hundred
Thousand," and, even without the
Soldiers' vote, of more than Sixty
Thousand." And, though the ma
jority on the residue of the ticket was

47 Oct 8.
48 1862. Aud. Gen., Rep. Dem.
Cochrane, 215,616. Slenker, 219,140.
" 1863. Curtin, 269,496 ; Woodward, 254,171.
"Agnew, 267,257 ; Lowrie, 254,855.

"Jan. 16, 1864. M June 16, 1864. H Oct. 8.
"Kennon, Rep., 178,755; Armstrong, Dem.,
184,332. "Brough, 288,661; Vallandigham, 187,562.
"Brough, 247,194; Vallandigham, 185,274.

510

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

somewhat less, it still ranged from
96,445 up to 97,479 ; while the new
Legislature stood 29 to 5 in the Sen
ate and 73 to 24 in the House. Yet
the soldiers in the field — who had
given 41,467 votes for Brough to
2,288 for Yallandigham — regretted
that the election had not taken
place before instead of soon after the
sanguinary battle of Chickamauga;
which, they safely calculated, .had
reduced Gov. Brough's majority by
several thousand votes.
Of the Western States, Indiana
and Illinois chose only county or local
officers this year ; but the results as
to these sufficed to show that a great
revolution had taken place, and that
their Democratic Legislatures, elect
ed in 1862, and the U. S. Senators
chosen " by them, were already dis
owned by their constituents. Iowa
elected a Legislature almost entirely
Republican, and a Governor and
Judge of like faith by over 30,000
majority ; 6S Wisconsin likewise — not
voting till later 6B — rolled up a very
heavy majority00 on every ticket,
though she had been very evenly di
vided in " 1862, and had only been
saved by the votes of her soldiers in
the field from going 01 Democratic at
a Judicial election in April of this
year. Minnesota of course went Re

publican now, by a majority largely
above " that of last year. In Michi
gan — which only elected by general
vote a Regent of her University in
1863, and this early in the year —
there was an inconsiderable increase
in the Republican majority and vote.'3
In the Atlantic States, but espe
cially in New York — the arena of
the most formidable and Bloodiest of
the Draft Riots — the popular reac
tion evinced by the State Election
of 1863 was most incontestable : Gov.
Seymour's majority of over 10,000
in '62 being reversed by one of near
ly 30,000 °4 for the Republican State
ticket, with a corresponding Legisla
ture; while Massachusetts — upon a
far lighter vote than in '62 — gave a
much larger majority.06 And Mary
land filled the measure of National
triumph by electing Unionists to
Congress in four of her five districts,
and, for the first time, a distinctively
Emancipation Controller and Legisla
ture by some 20,000 majority. New
Jersey chose only a Legislature this
year, and hence evinced no essential
change; while in Delaware, which
had to choose specially a Representa
tive in Congress, the Democrats with
drew their candidate on the eve of
Election, insisting that the voters
were to be overawed, if not worse,

67 Charles R. Buckalew in Pennsylvania ;
Thomas A. Hendricks in Indiana.
68 The rival candidates for Governor were Col-
Wm. M. Stone (Republican) and Gen. S. Tuttle
(Democrat), both at that time in the volunteer
service. Their onicial vote is not at hand ; but
it was very nearly that cast at the same election
for Judge of the Supreme Court, which was as
follows : Home. Soldiers'. Total.
Dillon (Repub.)  68,306 17,435 85,741
Mason (Dem.)  50,829 2,269 53,068

80 Total vote for Governor: James T. Lewis
(Repub.), 79,959; Palmer (Dem.), 55,248.
81 Home vote: Repub., 51,948 Dem., 56,840
Soldiers' " " 9,440 " 1,747

Repub. majority,
"Nov. 3.

17,477 15,046 32,673

Total— Dixon, 61,388 Cothren,58,587
"In 1862 (Cong.), Repub., 15,754 Dem. 11,442
In 1863 (Gov.), " 19,515 " 12,722
83 In 1862— Gov., Repub., 67,716 Dem. 62,102
• In 1863— Regent, " 68,992 " 61,913
04 Total vote for Sec. State : Depew (Repub.),
314,347 ; St. John (Dem.), 284,942.
86 In 1862, Gov. Andrew, 80,835 Devens,52,587
In 1863, " » 70,483 Paine, 29,207

BLACK SOLDIERS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 5H

by Federal provost marshals and sol
diers, under the guise of repressing
disloyal utterances and seditious
manifestations. The results in Ken
tucky, Missouri, and other Slave
States than Maryland, had very little
enduring or general significance ;
but it was evident, from the verdict
of the States nowise exposed to Mili

tary 'coercion,' that public opinion
had by this time grown to the full
stature of the Proclamation of Free
dom, and had settled into a determi
nation that Slavery must die and the
Union survive, through the overthrow
by force of all forcible resistance to
the integrity and rightful authority
of the one Republic.

XXII.

NEGRO SOLDIERY.

The first fatal collision1 between
British soldiers and American pat
riots was popularly distinguished as
'the Boston Massacre ; ' and Crispus
Attucks, a mulatto fugitive from
Massachusetts Slavery, was a leader
of the patriot mob, and one of the
four killed outright by the British
fire. At the fight of Bunker Hill,2
Peter Salem, one of the enfranchised
negroes who manned the slight breast
works so gallantly defended, shot
dead Maj. Pitcairn, of the British
marines, who, in' the final struggle,
had scaled the redoubt, shouting,
" The day is our own !" and • was
commanding the ' Rebels ' to surren
der. Negroes and mulattoes largely
swelled the motley host of raw but
gallant patriots suddenly collected3
around Boston by the tidings of Lex
ington, Concord, and Bunker Hill,
and were freely accepted in regiments
mainly White ; though Maj. Samuel

Lawrence, of Groton, Mass., is re
ported as having, at an early day,
commanded a company of negroes in
the ' Continental' line. But Slavery
was then cherished in nearly all the
organized colonies; and its incon
sistency with the embodiment of
its victims in the armies of Freedom
was felt to be so galling that the
Committee of Safety judiciously re
solved : 4
" That it is the opinion of this Commit
tee, as the contest now between Great
Britain and the Colonies respects the liber
ties and privileges of the latter, which the
Colonies are determined to maintain, that
the admission of any persons, as soldiers,
into the army now raising, but only such
as are freemen, will be inconsistent with
the principles that are to be supported, and
reflect dishonor on this Colony ; and that
no slaves be admitted into this army upon
any consideration whatever."
This rescript did not forbid the en
listment or retention of negroes or
mulattoes, but only of those still held
in bondage. Many were thereupon

^ 'March 5, 1770. "June 17, 1775.
a " Nor should history forget to record that,
as in the army at Cambridge, so also in this
gallant band, the free negroes of the colony had
their representatives. For the right of free ne
groes to bear arms in the public defense was,
at that day, as little disputed .in New England

as their other rights. They took their place,
not in a separate corps, but in the ranks with
the White man ; and their names may be read
on the pension-rolls of the country, side by side
with those of other soldiers of the Revolution."
— Bancroft's History ofthe United States, vol. vii.,
p. 421. * May 20, 1775.

512

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

emancipated in order that they might
lawfully serve in the patriot forces ;
and the tendency to recruiting ne
groes was so strong that Gen. Gates
was constrained to issue " the follow
ing stringent instructions to the pa
triot recruiting-officers :
" You are not to enlist any deserter from
the Ministerial army ; nor any stroller, ne
gro, or vagabond, or person suspected of
being an enemy to the liberty of America ;
nor any under eighteen years of age.
" As the cause is the best that can en
gage men of courage and principle to take
up arms, so it is expected that none but
such will be accepted by the recruiting-offi
cer. The pay, provisions, etc., being so
ample, it -is not doubted but that the offi
cers sent upon this service will, without
delay, complete their respective corps, and
march the men forthwith to camp.
" You are not to enlist, any person who
is not an American born, unless such per
son has a wife and family, and is a settled
resident in this country. The persons you
enlist must be provided with good and com
plete arms."
In the Continental Congress, Mr.
Edward Rutledge, of S. C, moved '
that all negroes be dismissed from
the patriot armies, and was supported
therein by several Southern dele
gates; but the opposition was so
formidable and so determined that
the motion did not prevail.7 Ne
groes, instead of being expelled from
the service, continued to be received,
often as substitutes for ex-masters or
their sons ; and, in Yirginia espe
cially, it gradually became a custom
among the superior race to respond

to an imperative summons to the
field by giving an athletic slave his
freedom on condition of his taking
the place in the ranks assigned to his
master. It is stated that, after the
close of the war, quite a number who
had thus earned their freedom were
constrained to sue for it ; and that
the Courts of the ' Old Dominion ' —
which had not yet discovered that a
slave has no will, and so can make
no legal and binding contract — uni
formly sustained the action, and gave
judgment that compelled the master
to act as if he had been honest. The
Legislature felt constrained, in 1783,
to provide by law 8 that every slave
who had enlisted upon the strength
of such a promise should be set free
accordingly ; to which end, the At
torney-General was required to com
mence an action in favor of every
such patriot soldier thereafter unjust
ly restrained of his liberty, who
should be entitled, upon due proof
of his averment, not only to his free
dom, but to damages for past injury
in withholding and denying it.
South Carolina" authorized the
enlistment of slaves — though not os
tensibly as soldiers — by a vote 10 of
her Provincial Congress, as follows :
"Resolved, That the Colonels ofthe several
regiments of militia throughout the colony
have leave to enroll such a number of able
male slaves, to be employed as pioneers and
laborers, as public exigencies require; and

» July 10, 1775. 8 Sept. 26, 1775.
7 So says Bancroft.
"Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia, vol.
xi., p. 308.
9 John Adams, in his 'Diary,' gives, under
date of Sept. 28, 1775, an account of a confer
ence with Messrs. Bullock and Houston; where
in he says :
" These gentlemen give a melancholy account
of the States of Georgia and South Carolina.
They say that, if 1,000 regular troops should
land in Georgia, and their commander be pro

vided with arms and clothes enough, and pro
claim freedom to all the negroes who would join
his camp, 20,000 negroes would join it from the
two Provinces in a fortnight. The negroes
have a wonderful art of communicating intelli
gence among themselves; it will run several
hundreds of miles in a week or fortnight. They
say their only security is this: that all the
' King's friends' and tools of government biive
large plantations, and property in- negroes ; so
that the slaves of the Tories would be lost, as
well as those of the Whigs."
10 Nov. 20, 1775.

ROYALISTS APPEALING TO SLAVES FOR HELP.

513

that a daily pay of seven shillings and six
pence be allowed for the service of such
slave while actually employed."
A grand patriot Committee of
Conference, civil and military, head
ed by Dr. Franklin, was convened "
at Washington's headquarters before
Boston ; and, five days thereafter,
voted, on the report of a council of
officers, that negroes, " especially
such as are slaves," should no longer
be enlisted ; and an order was is
sued " accordingly ; but Washing
ton, upon full consideration, wrote ia
to the President of Congress that
"the free negroes" are reported to
to be " very much dissatisfied at be
ing discarded ;" and adds :
"As it is apprehended that they may
seek employ in the Ministerial Army, I have
presumed to depart from the resolution re
specting them, and have given license for
their being enlisted. If this is disapproved
by Congress, I will put a stop to it."
Congress hereupon decided 14
" That the free negroes, who have served
faithfully in the army at Cambridge, may
be reenlisted therein ; but no others."
Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor
of Yirginia, had ere this issued " a
Proclamation of martial law, where
in he called " all persons capable of
bearing arms, to report to His Majes
ty's standard," on pain of confisca
tion, forfeiture, &c, as traitors ; and
proceeded :
"And I do hereby further declare all in
dented servants, negroes or others (apper
taining to rebels), free, that are able and
willing to bear arms; they joining His
Majesty's troops, as soon as may be, for the
more speedy reducing this colony to a pro
per sense of their duty to His Majesty's
orown and dignity."
An answer to this Proclamation
was made through a Williamsburg
journal, wherein the existence of
Slavery in 'these colonies was attri
buted to British . royal policy, and

"Oct.18. MNov.l2. "Dec.31. "Jan.16,1776.
vol. n. — 33

the negroes assured that they were
far more likely to acquire personal
liberty by adhering to the cause of
American and of general freedom ;
and were forcibly reminded that —
"To none, then, is freedom promised,
but to such as are able to do Lord Dun-
more service. The aged, the infirm, the
women and children, are still to remain the
property of their masters — of masters who
will be provoked to severity, should part of
their slaves desert them. Lord Dunmore's
declaration, therefore, is a cruel declaration
to the negroes. He does not pretend to
make it out of any tenderness to them, but
solely upon his own account ; and, should
it meet with success, it leaves by far the
greater number at the mercy of an enraged
and injured people."
Some of the negroes listened to the
voice of the Royal charmer ; who at
one time had large expectations of
raising Black troops for King George;
but he finally explained 10 to his Gov
ernment that a malignant fever,
whereof he had already reported the
existence, " has carried off an incredible number of
our people, especially the Blacks. Had
it not been for this horrid disorder, I am
satisfied I should have had 2,000 Blacks ;
with whom I should have had no doubt of
penetrating into the heart of this colony."
Still, negroes were enlisted on both
sides ; in the North, more on the side
of Independence ; while in the South
a larger number fled from plantation
Slavery to strike for King George
against their ' Rebel ' masters.
An official return " of the negroes
serving in the army under Washing
ton's command, soon after the battle
of Monmouth, makes their number
755 ; and this was prior to any sys
tematic efforts to enlist them, and
while their presence in the army was
rather tolerated than invited.
Rhode Island, in 1778, authorized
a general enlistment of slaves for the
patriot army — every one to be free
"Nov., 1775. 10 June26, 1776. J' Aug. 24, 1118s."

51_

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

from the moment of enlisting, and to
receive pay, bounty, &c, precisely
like other soldiers. A Black regi
ment was raised under this policy.
•which fought bravely at the battle
of Rhode Island,18 and elsewhere ; as
many of those composing it had done
prior to its organization. Massachu
setts, New York," and other States,
followed the example of Rhode
Island, in offering liberty to slaves
who would enlist in the patriot ar
mies; and the policy of a general
freeing and arming of able and will
ing slaves was urged by Hon. Henry
Laurens, of S. C, by his son CoL
John Laurens, by CoL Alexander
Hamilton, Gem Lincoln, James Mad
ison, Gen. Greene, and other ardent
patriots. It is highly probable that,
had the Revolutionary War lasted a
few years longer, it would have then
abolished Slavery throughout the
Union. SirHeniyC,linton,theK_Dg's
commander in the North, issued " a
Proclamation, premising that "the
enemy have adopted a practice
of enrolling negroes among their
troops f and thereupon offering to
pay for " all negroes taken in arms,"'
and guaranteeing, to every one who
should u desert the Rebel standard,
full security to follow within these
lines any occupation which he shall
think proper." Lord Cornwallis,
during his Southern campaign, pro
claimed freedom to all slaves who
would join him; and his subordi
nates — Tarleton especially — took
away all who could be induced to
accompany them. Jefferson, in a
letter to Dr. Gordon," estimates that
this policy cost Yirginia no less
than 30,000 slaves in one year ; most

of them dying soon of small-pox and
camp-fever. Thirty were carried off
by Tarleton from Jeffereous own
homestead ; and Jefferson character
istically says f " Had this been to
give them freedom, he would have
done right." 
The War of 1812 with Great Brit-
ain was much shorter than that of
¦ the Revolution, and was not, like
that, a straggle for life or death. Yet,
short as it was, negro soldiers — who,
at the outset, would doubtless have
been rejected — were in demand be
fore its close. New York author
ized11 the raising of two regiments
of '•freemen of color" — to receive
the same pay and allowances as
Whites — and provided that "any
able-bodied slave" might enlist there
in " with the written assent of his mas
ter or mistress," who was to receive
his pay aforesaid, while the negro
received his freedom: being manu
mitted at the time of his honorable
discharge. Geu. Jackson's employment of
Blacks in his famous defense of New
Orleans — his public and vigorous rep
robation1* of the " mistaken policy"
which had hitherto excluded them
from the service, and his emphatic
attestation of their bravery and good
conduct while serving under his eye
— are too well known to require cita
tion or comment.

When, upon hearing of the bom
bardment of Fort Sumter, and stfll
more, after the riotous massacre of
Massachnsettsvolunteersinthe streets
of Baltimore, the city of New York
blazed out in a fervid though not very
profound enthusiasm, and military or-

"Ang. 29, 1773.
"Jnne30, 1779.

"Act of March 20 173L
'Dated Paris, Jnly 16. II

I "Leuer to Gordon-aforesaid. = Oct. O, 1814.
** Proclamation dated Mobile, Sept 21, 1814

MR. WICKLIFFE ENLIGHTENED BT GEN. HUNTER. 515

ganization and arming became the
order of the day, a number of Blacks
quietly hired a public hall and com
menced drilling therein, in view of
the possibility of a call to active ser
vice, they were promptly notified by
the Chief of Police that they must
desist from these military exercises,
or he could not protect them from
popular indignation and assault.
They had no choice but to do as
they were bidden.
Gen. Hunter, while in command
at Hilton Head, was the first to di
rect the organization of colored men
as soldiers, soon after issuing his or
der of general Emancipation through
out his department, already record
ed." This movement elicited" from
Mr. Wickliffe, of Ky., in the House,
the following resolution of inquiry :
" Resolved, That the Secretary of War be
directed to inform this House if Gen. Hun
ter, of the Department of South Carolina,
has organized a regiment of South Carolina
volunteers for the defense of the Union,
composed of Black men (fugitive slaves),
and appointed the Colonel and other offi
cers to command them. 2. Was he author
ized by the Department to organize and
muster into the Army of the United States,
as soldiers, the fugitive or captured slaves ?
8. Has he been furnished with clothing, uni
forms, etc, for such force ? 4. Has he been
famished, by order of the War Department,
with arms to be plaoed in the hands of these
slaves ? 5. To report any orders given said
Hunter, and correspondence between Mm
and the Department."
Secretary Stanton replied" that
Gen. Hunter had not been author
ized to organize and muster into the
service of the United States either
fugitive or captured slaves, nor had
he been furnished with clothing or
urns for such slaves; and further,
that the Government's orders to and
correspondence with Gen. Hunter on
this subject could not be published

a See page 246. " June 6, 1S62. " June 14. " July 2.

at this time without prejudice to the
public welfare. But, some dayslater,"
he made a further report, covering a
letter" from Gen.#Hunter, in reply
to one addressed80 to him bv the Ad-
jutant-General, asking for informa
tion on the subject; wherein Gen.
H. makes answer to Mr. Wickliffe's
several inquiries as follows :
" To the first question, therefore, I reply
that no regiment of 'fugitive slaves' has
been, or is being, organized in this depart
ment. There is, however, a fine regiment
of persons whose late masters are ' fugitive
Rebels' — men who every where fly before
the appearanoe of the national flag, leaving
their servants behind them to shift as best
thoy can for themselves. So far, indeed, are
the loyal persons composing this regiment
from seeking to avoid the presence of their
late owners, that they are now, one and all,
working with remarkable industry to place
themselves in a position to go in full and
eft'eotive pursuit of their fugaoious and trai
torous proprietors.
" To the second question, I have the honor
to answer that the instructions given to
Brig.-Gen. T. W. Sherman, by the Hon. Si
mon Cameron, late Seoretary of War, and
turned over to me by succession for my
guidance, do distinctly authorize me to em
ploy all loyal persons offering their services
in defense of the Union and for the suppres
sion of this Rebellion, in any manner I might
see fit, or that the circumstances might oall
for. There is no restriction as to the char
acter or color of the persons to be employed,
or the nature of the employment, whether
oivil or military, in which their services
should be used. I conclude, therefore, that
I have been authorized to enlist 'fugitive
slaves ' as soldiers, could any such be found
in this Department. No such characters^
however, have yet appeared within view of
our most advanced pickets; the loyal slaves
every where remaining on their plantations
to welcome us, aid us, and supply us with
food, labor, and information. It is the mas
ters who have, in every instanoe, been the
1 fugitives ;' running away from loyal slaves
as well as loyal soldiers; and whom we
have only partially been able to see— chiefly
their heads over ramparts, or, rifle in hand,
dodging behind trees— in the extreme dis
tance. In the absence of any ' fugitive-mas
ter law ' the deserted slaves would be wholly
without remedy, had not the crime of trea
son «iven them the right to pursue, capture,
and bring back, those persons of whose pro-
' Dated June 23. " June 13.

516

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

tection they have been thus suddenly be
reft. " To the third interrogatory, it is my pain
ful duty to reply that I never have received
any specific authority for issues of clothing,
uniforms, arms, equipments, and so forth, to
the troops in question— my general instruc
tions from Mr. Cameron to employ them in
any manner I might find necessary, and the
military exigencies of the Department and
the country, being my only, but, in my judg
ment, sufficient justification. Neither hav#
I had any specific authority for supplying
these persons with shovels, spades, and pick
axes, when employing them as laborers, nor
with boats and oars when using them as light
ermen : but these are not points included in
Mr. Wickliflfe's resolution. To me, it seemed
that liberty to employ men in any particu
lar capacity implied with it liberty also to
supply them with the necessary tools ; and,
acting upon this faith, I have clothed, equip
ped and armed, the only loyal regiment yet
raised in South Carolina.
" I must say, in vindication of my own
conduct, that, had it not been for the many
other diversified and imperative claims on
my time, a much more satisfactory result
might have been hoped for; and that, in
place of only one, as at present, at least five
or six well-drilled, brave, and thoroughly
acclimated regiments, should by this time
have been added to the loyal forces of the
Union. " The experiment of arming the Blacks,
so far as I have made it, has been a com
plete and even marvelous success. They
are sober, docile, attentive, and enthusias
tic ; displaying great natural capacities for
acquiring the duties of the soldier. They
are eager beyond all things to take the field
and be led into action ; and it is the unani
mous opinion of the officers who have had
charge of them, that, in the peculiarities of
this climate and country, they will prove in
valuable auxiliaries — fully equal to the
similar regiments so long and successfully
used by the British authorities in the West
India islands.
" In conclusion, I Would say it is my hope
— there appearing no possibility of other re
enforcements, owing to the exigencies of the
campaign in the Peninsula — to have organ
ized, by the end of next Fall, and to be able
to present to the Government, from 48,000
to 50,000 of these hardy and devoted sol
diers. "Trusting that this letter may form part
of your answer to Mr. Wickliffe's resolu
tions, I have the honor to be, most respect
fully, your very obedient servant,
"D. Hustek, Maj.-Gen. Com'ding."
"July 3.

These responses, though not par
ticularly satisfactory to Mr. "Wickliffe,
appear to have been conclusive;
though his colleague, Mr. Dunlap,
proposed " that it be by the House
"Resolved, That the sentiments con
tained in the paper read to this body yes
terday, approving the arming of slaves,
emanating from Maj.-Gen. David Hunter,
clothed in discourteous language, are an
indignity to the American Congress, an in
sult to the American people and our brave
soldiers in _ arms ; for which sentiments, so
uttered, he justly merits our condemnation
and censure."
The House did not so resolve;
preferring to adjourn.
Gen. Hunter's original recruiting
and organizing Blacks in South Caro
lina having been without express au
thority, there was no wan-ant for
paying them; but this defect was
cured, before Congress was ready to
act decisively on the subject, by a
special order from the Secretary of
War," directed to Gen. Rufus Sax-
ton, Military Governor, of the Sea
Islands, which says :
" 3. In view of the small force under your
command, and the inability of the Govern
ment, at the present time, to increase it, in
order to guard the plantations and settle
ments occupied by the United States from
invasion, and protect the inhabitants thereof
from captivity and murder by the enemy,
you are also authorized to arm, uniform,
equip and receive into the service of the
United States, such number of Volunfeers
of African descent as you may deem expe
dient, not exceeding 5,000; and may detail
officers to instruct them in military drill,
discipline and duty, and to command them :
the persons so received into service, and
their officers, to be entitled to and receive
the same pay and rations as are allowed by
law to Volunteers in the service.
" 4. Tou will occupy, if possible, all the
islands and plantations heretofore occupied
by the Government, and secure and harvest
the crops, and cultivate and improve the
plantations. " 5. The population of African descent,
that cultivate the land and perform the
labor of the Rebels, constitute a large share
"Aug.. 26.

GEN. J. W. PHELPS ON NEGRO SOLDIERSHIP.

517

of their military strength, and enable the
White masters to fill the Rebel armies, and
wage a cruel and murderous war against
the people of the Northern States. By re
ducing the laboring strength of the Rebels,
their military power will be reduced. Tou
are, therefore, authorized, by every means
in your power, to withdraw from tho enemy
their laboring force and population, and to
spare no • effort, consistent with civilized
warfare, to weaken, harass, and annoy
them, and to establish the authority of the
Government of the United States within
your Department."
Meantime, Brig.-Gen. J.W. Phelps,
commanding under Gen. Butler at
Carrollton, La., finding his camp
continually beset by fugitives from
Slavery on the adjacent plantations,
but especially from that of Mr. B.
„ , La Blanche, a wealthy and eminent
sugar-planter just above New Orleans
— (who, it appears, being vexed by
military interference with the police
of his plantation, had driven off all
his negroes, telling them to. go to
their friends, the Yankees) — had in
volved himself in a difference with
his superior, by harboring and pro
tecting those and other fugitives,
contrary to the policy of the Gov
ernment, which Gen. Butler was en
deavoring, so far as possible, to con
form to. Gen. Phelps, in his report 88
to Gen. Butler's Adjutant, justifying
his conduct in the premises — after
setting forth the impossibility of
putting down the Rebellion and at
the same time upholding its parent,
Slavery, and the absolute necessity
of adopting a decided anti-Slavery
policy — says :
"The enfranchisement of the people of
Europe has been, and is still, going on,
through the instrumentality of military
service ; and by this means our slaves, might
be raised in the scale of civilization and
prepared for freedom. Fifty regiments
might be raised among them at once, which
could be employed in this climate to pre
serve order, and thus prevent the necessity

of retrenching our liberties, as we should
do by, a large army exclusively of Whites.
For it is evident that a considerable army
of Whites would give stringency to our
Government; while an army partly of
Blacks would naturally operate in favor of
freedom and against those influences which
at present most endanger our liberties. At
the end of five years, they could be sent to
Africa, and their places filled with new en
listments." Receiving no specific response to
this overture, Gen. Phelps made M a
requisition of arms, clothing, &c,
for " three regiments of Africans,
which I propose to raise for the de
fense of this point ;" adding :
" The location is swampy and unhealthy ;
and our men are dying at the rate of two or
three a day.
" The Southern loyalists are willing, as I
understand, to furnish their share of the tax
for the support of the war ; but they should
also furnish their quota of men ; whioh
they have not thus far done. An oppor
tunity now offers of supplying the defi
ciency ; and it is. not safe to neglect oppor
tunities in war. I think that, with the
proper facilities, I could raise the three
regiments proposed in a short time. With
out holding out any inducements, or offer
ing any reward, I have now upward of 300
Africans organized into five companies, who
are all willing and ready to show their de
votion to our cause in any way that it may
be put to the test. They are willing to
submit to anything rather than to Slavery.
• " Society, in the South, seems to be on
the point of dissolution ; and the best way
of preventing the African from becoming
instrumental in a general state of anarchy,
is to enlist him in the cause of the Repub- (
lie. If we reject his services,' any petty
military chieftain, by offering him freedom,
can have them for the purpose of robbery
and plunder. It is for the interests of the
South, as well as of the North, that the
African should be permitted to offer his
block for the "temple of freedom. Senti
ments unworthy of the man of the present
day— worthy only of another Cain— could
alone prevent Such an offer from being ac
cepted. "I would recommend that the cadet
graduates of the present year should be
sent to South Carolina and this point, to or
ganize and discipline our African levies;
and that the more promising non-commis
sioned officers and privates of the army be

'"June 16, 1862.

"July 30.

518

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

appointed as company officers to command
them. Prompt and energetic effortain this
direction would probably accomplish more
toward a speedy termination of the war, and
an early restoration of peace and unity, than
any other course which could be adopted."
Gen. Butler, in response, instructed
Gen. Phelps to employ his ' contra
bands ' in cutting down trees and
forming abatis for the defense of his
lines, instead of organizing them as
soldiers. This Gen. P. peremptorily
declined 3B to do ; saying, " I am not
willing to become the mere slave-
driver you propose, having no quali
fications that way, " and thereupon
throwing up his commission. Gen.
Butler declined to accept his resigna
tion ; but it was, on reference to
Washington, accepted by the Go
vernment ; whereupon, he quit the
service and returned to his Vermont
home, leaving 600 able-bodied negro
men in his camp, and a very decided
tendency on the adjacent plantations
to increase the number.
The current of events soon carried
Gen. Butler along with it ; so that —
though he was almost isolated from
the Government, with which he
communicated but fitfully — at least
a fortnight being usually required to
send a dispatch from New Orleans to
"Washington and receive an answer
— he felt constrained by the necessi
ties and perils of his position, just
the day before Stanton's direction to
Saxton aforesaid, to appeal to the
free, colored men of New Orleans to
take up arms in the National service ;
which appeal was responded to with
alacrity and enthusiasm, and a first
regiment, 1,000 strong, filled within
14 days — all its line officers colored
as well as the rank and file. His
next regiment, filled soon afterward,
' "July 31.

had its two highest officers White ;
all the rest colored. His third was
officered by the best men that could
be had, regardless of color. His two
batteries were officered by "Whites
only ; for the simple reason that there
were no others who had any knowl
edge of artillery.
On the reception at Richmond of
tidings of Gen. Hunter's and Gen.
Phelps's proceedings with reference
to the enlistment of negro soldiers for
the Union armies, Jefferson Davis
issued " an order directing that said
Generals be no longer regarded as
public enemies of the Confederacy,
but as outlaws ; and that, in the event
of the capture of either of them, or
of any other commissioned officer-
employed in organizing, drilling, or
instructing slaves, he should not be
treated as a prisoner of war, but held
in close confinement for execution as
a felon, at such time and place as he
(J. D.) should order. It is not re
corded that any one was ever actual
ly hung under this order.

So long as the ranks of the Union
armies were satisfactorily filled by
volunteering alone, and Whites stood
ready to answer promptly every re
quisition for more men, negroes or
mulattoes were not accepted as sol
diers ; though they were, as they had
ever been, freely enlisted and exten
sively employed in the navy, with
the same pay and allowances as
Whites. At no time during the war
was a colored person, if known as
such, accepted — as many had been
throughout our own Revolutionary
War — for service in a regiment or
other organization preponderantly
36 Aug. 21.

CONGRESS" SUBJECTS NEGROES TO CONSCRIPTION. 519

White." But no sooner had McClel
lan's campaign against Richmond
culminated in disaster and a requisi
tion upon the. loyal States for Six
Hundred Thousand more recruits to
our armies, rendering conscription in
some localities unavoidable, than the
barriers of caste began to give way."
Thus, Mr. Wilson, of Mass., having
reported3' to the Senate a bill to
amend the act of 1795, prescribing
the manner of calling forth the Mili
tia to suppress insurrection, &c, Mr.
Grimes, of Iowa, moved " that hence
forth there shall be no exemption
from Military duty because of color.
On the suggestion of Mr. Preston
King, of N. T., this proposition was
so amended as to authorize the Pre
sident to accept " persons of African
descent, for the purpose of construct
ing intrenchments, or performing
camp service, or any war service for
which they may be found competent."
This, and the whole project, were ve
hemently opposed by Messrs. Sauls
bury, of Del., G. Davis, of Ky., Car
lile, of Ya., and others of the Oppo
sition. Mr. G. Davis endeavored to
strike out the words last above quoted ;
but failed : Teas, 11 ; Nays, 27. Af
ter much debate, the Senate decided,
by close votes, to free, as a reward
for services in the Union armies, the
slaves of Rebels only, and not to free
the wives and children even of these.
In this shape, the bill passed 41 the Se
nate : Teas 28 (including Mr. Rice,
of Minn.) ; Nays 9 (all the Opposi
tion present and voting but Mr. Rice

" At an early stage of the war, a son of old
John Brown influentially aided the enlistment
of a regiment of volunteers in Northern New
Tork ; and, uniting zeal and ability with some
military experience, was appointed a Lieutenant
therein; but his brother officers evinced such
dissatisfaction that he was obliged to resign.

aforesaid). And the bill going thence
to the House, Mr. Stevens, of Pa.,
at once demanded and obtained the
Previous Question thereon ; and an
attempt to lay it on the table having
failed (Teas 30; Nays 77), it was
passed," and signed next day by the
President. By another act of like
date and similar history, Congress
prescribed that "the enrollment of
the Militia shall in all cases include
all able-bodied male citizens between
the ages of 18 and 45."
In the next Congress, the enroll
ment of the National forces being
under consideration in the House,
Mr. Stevens, of Pa.,43 moved to amend
it by striking out the 27th section,
and inserting instead the following :
" And be it further enacted, That all able-
bodied male persons of African descent, be
tween the ages of 20 and 45, whether citi
zens or not, shall be enrolled and made a
part of the National forces ; and, when en
rolled and drafted into the service, his
master shall be entitled to receive $300,
and the drafted man shall be free."
Mr. S. H. Boyd, of Mo., suggested
that only loyal masters be entitled
to the $300 bounty; which Mr.
Stevens readily accepted; but, on
motion of Mr. Webster, of Md., it
was afterward decided — 67 to 44 —
that any bounty accruing to a drafted
man who is a slave shall be paid to
his master. Mr. B. G. Harris, of
Md., denied n that you have a right
to enlist or enroll a slave." Mr. Fer
nando Wood, of N. T., denounced
the measure as " clearly, palpably in
violation of the Constitution." Mr.

38 "I have never," said Mr. Broomall, of Pi,
in the House (Feb. llth, 1863), " found the most
snaky constituent of mine, who, when he was
drafted, refused to let the blackest negro in the
district go as a substitute for him."
"July 8, 1862. "July 9. "July 15.
« July 16. "Feb. 10, 1864.

520

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Stevens's proposition prevailed : so
that Blacks, whether free or enslaved,
were directed to be enrolled and
drafted into the National service pre
cisely like Whites. The bill was ul
timately sent to a Conference Com
mittee of three members of either
House ; by whom the 27th section
was so amended as to read as fol
lows: " That all able-bodied male colored per
sons, between the ages of 20 and 45 years,
whether citizens or not, resident in the
United States, shall be enrolled according
to the provisions of this act, and of the act
to which this is an amendment, and form
part of the National forces ; and, when a
slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and
mustered into the service of the United
States, his master shall have a certificate
thereof; and thereupon such slave shall be
free ; and the bounty of a hundred dollars,
now payable by law for each drafted man,
shall be paid to the person to whom such
drafted person was owing service or labor
at the time of his muster into the service
of the United States. The Secretary of
War shall appoint a commission in each of
the slave States represented in Congress,
charged to award to each loyal person to
whom a colored volunteer may owe service,
a just compensation, not exceeding $300, for
each such colored volunteer, payable out
of the fund derived from commutations;
and every such colored volunteer, on being
mustered into the service, shall be free."
The report of the Conference Com
mittee was agreed to by the two
Houses respectively, and the bill,
thus amended, became the law of the
land. 
By a section of the^Aet of 1862,
aforesaid, the said " persons of Afri
can descent" were to be paid $10
per month, $3 of it in clothing ; while
the pay of the White soldiers was
$13 per month, beside clothing.
Gov. Andrew, of Mass., on his solici
tation, was authorized " by Secretary
Stanton to raise of three years' men
" volunteer companies of artillery for
duty in the forts of Massachusetts

and elsewhere, and such companies
of infantry for the volunteer military
service as he may find convenient,
and may include persons of African .
descent, organized into separate
corps." Under this order, Gov. A.
proceeded to raise two full regiments
of Blacks, known as the 54th and
55th Massachusetts; which in due
time were mustered without objec
tion into the service of the Union,
and there won honorable distinction.
When, at length, the paymaster
made his usually welcome appear
ance at their camp, and offered them
$10 per month, they refused to ac
cept that or anything less than the
regular pay of soldiers of the United
States ; and a tender of the State to
make good the difference between
what they were offered and what
they demanded, they declined ; going
wholly without pay for more than a
year in order to establish their right
to be regarded, not especially as
negroes, but as men. Those who,
being meantime hopelessly disabled
by wounds or by disease, received
honorable discharges from the ser
vice, did accept what was offered
them by the Federal paymaster, and
the residue of their full pay from
Maj. Sturgis, agent of the State.
At last, after repeated and most ur
gent representations to the War De
partment by Gov. Andrew, and
upon the opinion of Attorney-Gen
eral Bates that they were legally
as well as equitably entitled to it,
they received from the United States
the full pay they had persistently
claimed. And Rev. Samuel Harri
son, the Black chaplain of the 54th,
being refused by the U. S. paymas
ter the regular pay of a chaplain be-

" Jan. 26, 1863.

USE OP NEGROES IN AID OF THE REBELLION. 521

cause of his color, or because of that
of his regiment, appealed to Gov.
Andrew; on whose representation
and advocacy, backed likewise by
Judge .Bates's opinion as Attorney-
General, he was ultimately paid in
full. And, finally, it was by Con
gress enacted :"
" That all persons of color who were free
on the 19th day of April, 1861, and who
have been enlisted and mustered into the
military service of the United States, shall,
from the time of their enlistment, be en
titled to receive the pay, bounty, and
clothing, allowed to such persons by the
laws existing at the time of their enlist
ment." 
When the 54th Massachusetts were
ready, in May, 1863, to proceed to the
seat of war in South Carolina, ap
plication was made in their behalf to
the Chief of Police of New Tork for
advice as to the propriety of taking
that city in their route, and march
ing down Broadway. He responded
that they could not be protected
from insult and probable assault if
they did so. They thereupon pro
ceeded wholly by water to their des
tination. Within seven or eight
months thereafter, two New York
regiments of Blacks, raised by vol
untary efforts mainly of the Loyal
League, though discountenanced by
Gov. Seymour, marched proudly
down Broadway and embarked for
the seat of War, amid the cheers of
enthusiastic thousands, and without
eliciting one discordant hiss.

The use of negroes, both free and
slave, for belligerent purposes, on
the side of the Rebellion, dates from
a period anterior to the outbreak of
actual hostilities. So early as Jan.
1st, 1861, a dispatch from Mr. R. R.
Riordan, at Charleston, to Hon. J?er-

cy Walker, at Mobile, exultingly
proclaimed that —
"Large gangs of negroes from planta
tions are at work on the redoubts, which
are substantially made of sand-bags and
coated with sheet-iron."
A Washington dispatch to The
Evening Post (New Tork), about
this time, set forth that —
"A gentleman from Charleston says that
everything there betokens active prepara
tions for fight. The thousand negroes busy
in building batteries, so far from inclining
to insurrection, were grinning from ear to
ear at the prospect of shooting the Yan
kees." The Charleston Mercury of Jan.
3d, said:
" We learn that 150 able-bodied free
colored men, of Charleston, yesterday of
fered their services gratuitously to the
Governor, to hasten forward the important
work of throwing up redoubts wherever
needed along our coast."
The Legislature of Tennessee, that
negotiated that State out of the
Union, by secret treaty with the
Confederate Executive, passed16 an
act authorizing the Governor (Isham
G. Harris) —
" to receive into the military service of
the State all male free persons of color,
between the ages of 15 and 50."
These Black soldiers were to re
ceive $8 per month, with clothing
and rations. The sheriff of each
county was required, under the pen
alties of misdemeanor, to collect and
report the names of all such per
sons ; and it was further enacted —
"That, in the event a sufficient num
ber of free persons of color to meet the
wants of the State shall not tender their
services, the Governor is empowered,
through the sheriffs of the different coun
ties, to press such persons until the requi
site number is obtained."
The Memphis Avalanche joyously
proclaimed " that —
" A procession of several hundred stout
negro men, members of the ' domestic in-

* June 15, 1864.

•June 28, 1861.

' Sept. 3, 1861.

522

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

stitution,' marched through our streets
yesterday in military order, under com
mand of Confederate officers. They were
all armed and equipped with shovels, axes,
blankets, &c. A merrier set were never
seen. They were brimful of patriotism,
shouting for Jeff. Davis and singing war-
songs." And again, four days later :
" Upward of 1,000 negroes, armed with
spades and pickaxes, have passed through
the city within the past few days. Their
destination is unknown ; but it is supposed
that they are on their way to the ' other
side of Jordan.' "
The drafting of Blacks, and espe
cially of slaves, by thousands, to
work on Rebel fortifications, was, in
general, rather ostentatiously para
ded throughout the earlier stages of
the War. The Confederate Congress
was finally constrained to regulate
by law the impressment of property
for military service ; and its general
" Act to regulate Impressments " "
provides —
" Sec. 9. Where slaves are impressed by
the Confederate Government, to labor on
fortifications, or other public works, the
impressment shall be made by said Govern
ment according to the rules and regula
tions provided in the laws of the State
wherein they are impressed ; and, in the
absence of such law, in accordance with
such rules and regulations, not inconsistent
with the provisions of this act, as the
Secretary of War shall from time to time
prescribe : Provided, That no impressment
of slaves shall be made when they can be
hired or procured by the consent of the
owner or agent.
"Sec. 10. That, previous to the 1st day
of December next, no slave laboring on a
farm or plantation, exclusively devoted to
the production of grain and provisions,
shall be taken for the public use, without
the consent of the owner, except in case
of urgent necessity."
The Lynchburg Republican (Ta.)
had, so early as April, chronicled the
volunteered enrollment of 70 of the
free negroes of that place, to fight in
defense of their State ; closing with —

" Three cheers for the patriotic free ne
groes of Lynchburg 1"
The next recorded organization of
negroes, especially as Rebel soldiers,
was at Mobile, toward Autumn ; and,
two or three months later, the follow
ing telegram was flashed over the
length and breadth of the- rejoicing
Confederacy :
" New Oeleans, Nov. 23, 1861.
" Over 28,000 troops were reviewed to
day by Gov. Moore, Maj. Gen. Lovell, and
Brig.-Gen. Ruggles. The line was over
seven miles long. One regiment comprised
1,400 free colored men."
The (Rebel) Legislature of Vir
ginia was engaged, so early as Feb.
4, 1862, on a bill to enroll all the
free negroes in the State, for service
in the Rebel forces; which was favor
ed by all who discussed it ; when it
passed to its engrossment, and pro
bably became a law.
All these, and many kindred move
ments in the same direction, preced
ed Mr. Lincoln's first or premonitory
Proclamation of Freedom," and long
preceded any organization of negro
troops to fight for the Union. The
credit of having first conquered their
prejudices against the employment
of Blacks, even as soldiers, is fairly
due to the Rebels. Had the negroes
with equal facility overcome their
repugnance to fighting for their own
enslavement, the Black contingent
in the Rebel armies might soon have
been very little inferior to the White,
either in numbers or in efficiency.
Tet Mr. Lincoln's initial Procla
mation aforesaid had hardly been
diffused throughout the Confederacy,
when measures of deadly retaliation
and vengeance were loudly pressed
on every hand. That a Government
struggling against a Rebellion found
ed on Slavery, should threaten to

8 Approved, March 26, 1863.

"Sept. 22,1862.

THE CONFEDERATES ON BLACK UNION SOLDIERS. 523

fight the consequence through the
cause, was esteemed an immeasur
able stretch of presumption. The
following dispatch aptly embodies
the prevailing sentiment: —
' " Charleston, S. C, Oct. 13, 1862.
" Hon. Wm. P. Medes, Richmond, Va. :
" Has the bill for the execution of Aboli
tion prisoners, after January next, been
passed? Do it; and England will bestirred
into action. It is high time to proclaim"
the black flag after that period. Let the
execution be with the garrote.
(Signed) " G. T. Beatjkegaed."
Prior to the issue 60 of President
Lincoln's later, unconditional edict of
emancipation, Jefferson Davis had,
in proclaiming" the outlawry of
Gen. Butler and his officers," decreed
that all slaves captured in arms be
turned over to the Executives of their
several States, to be dealt with ac
cording to law, and that a similar
disposition be made of their White
officers. So, in his .third Annual
Message," he dealt, of course, very
harshly withPresident Lincoln's final
Proclamation of Freedom, then re
cently promulgated, which he stig
matized as a violation of a solemn
assurance embodied in the author's
Inaugural Address, and in the resolve
of the Chicago Convention therein
quoted." Mr. Davis hailed the
proclamation as an admission that
the Union could never be restored,
and as a guaranty that such restora
tion was impossible. Says the Con
federate chief:
" It has established a state of things which
can lead to but one of three possible con
sequences — the extermination of the slaves,
the exile of the whole White population of
the Confederacy, or absolute and total sepa
ration of these States from the United
States. This proclamation is also an au
thentic statement by the Government of
the United States of its inability to subju
gate the South by force of arms, and, as
such, must be accepted by neutral nations,

which can no longer find any justification in
withholding our just claims to formal recog
nition. It is also, in effect, an intimation
to the people of the North that they must
prepare to submit to a separation, now be
come inevitable; for that people are too
acute not to understand that a restitution
of the Union has been rendered forever im
possible by the adoption of a measure which,
from its very nature, neither admits of re
traction nor can coexist with union."
But the passage which more es
pecially concerns Negro Soldiership
is the following :
" We may well leave it to the instincts
of that common humanity which a benefi
cent Creator has implanted in the breasts
of our fellow-men of all countries to pass
judgment on a measure by which several
millions of human beings of an inferior raoe
— peaceful and contented laborers in their
sphere — are doomed to extermination, while
at the same time they are encouraged to a
general assassination of their masters by the
insidious recommendation to abstain from
violence unless in necessary self-defense.
Our own detestation of those who have
attempted the most execrable measures re
corded in the history of guilty man is tem
pered by profound contempt for the impo
tent rage which it discloses. So far as
regards the action of this Government on
such criminals as may attempt its execu
tion, I confine myself to informing you that
I shall — unless in your wisdom you deem
some other course more expedient — deliver
to the several State authorities all commis
sioned officers of the United States that
may hereafter be captured by our forces in
any of the States etnbraced in the procla
mation, that they may be dealt with in ac
cordance with the laws of those States
providing for the punishment of criminals
engaged in exciting servile insurrection.
The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to treat
as unwilling instruments in the commission
of these crimes, and shall direct their dis
charge and return to their homes on the
proper and usual parole."
The Confederate Congress took up
the subject soon afterward, and, after
protracted consideration, ultimately
disposed of it by passing the following :
"Resolved, by the Congress of the Con
federate States of America, In response to
the message of the President, transmitted
to Congress at the commencement of the
present session, That, in the opinion of

"Jan. 1,1863. " Dec. 23, 1862. « See p. 106. " Jan. 12, 1863. "See ToL I, p. 422.

524

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Congress, the commissioned officers of the
enemy ought not to be delivered to the au
thorities of the respective States, as sug
gested in the said message, but all captives
taken by the Confederate forces ought to be
dealt with and disposed of by the Confede
rate Government.
"Seo. 2. That, in the judgment of Con
gress, the proclamations of the President of
the United States, dated respectively Sep
tember 22d, 1862, and January 1st, 1863,
and the other measures of the Government
of the United States and of its authorities,
commanders, and forces, designed or tending
to emancipate slaves in the Confederate
States, or to abduct such slaves, or to incite
them to insurrection, or to employ negroes
in war against the Confederate States, or
to overthrow the institution of African
Slavery, and briDg on a servile war in these
States, would, if successful, produce atro
cious consequences, and they are inconsist
ent with the spirit of those usages which,
in modern warfare, prevail among civilized
nations; they may, therefore, be properly
and lawfully repressed by retaliation.
"Sbo. 3. That in every case wherein,
during the present war, any violation of the
laws or usages of war among civilized na
tions shall be, or has been, done and perpe
trated by those acting under the authority
of the Government of the United States, on
the persons or property of citizens of the
Confederate States, or of those under the
protection or in the land or naval service
of the Confederate States, or of any State
of the Confederacy, the President of the
Confederate States is hereby authorized to
cause full and ample retaliation to be made
for every suoh violation, in such manner and
to such extent as he may think proper.
" Seo. 4. That every White person, being
a commissioned . officer, or acting as such,
who, during the present war, shall com
mand negroes or mulattoes in arms against
the Confederate States, or who shall arm,
train, organize, or prepare negroes or mulat
toes for military service against the Con
federate States, or who shall voluntarily aid
negroes or mulattoes in any military enter
prise, attack, or conflict, in such service,
shall be deemed as inciting servile insurrec
tion, and shall, if captured, be put to death,
or be otherwise punished at the discretion
of the court.
" Seo. 5. Every person, being a commis
sioned officer, or acting as such in the ser
vice of the enemy, who shall, during the
present war, excite, attempt to excite, or
cause to be excited, a servile insurrection,
or who shall incite, or cause to be incited,
a slave to rebel, shall, if captured, be put

to death, or be otherwise punished at the
discretion of the court.
" Seo. 6. Every person charged with an
offense punishable under the preceding reso
lutions shall, during the present war, be
tried before the military court attached to
the army or corps by the troops of which
he shall have been captured, or by such
other military court as the President may
direct, and in such manner and under such
regulations as the President shall prescribe;
and, after conviction, the President may
commute the punishment in such manner
and on such terms as he may deem proper.
" Seo. 7. All negroes and mulattoes who
shall be engaged in war, or be taken in arms
against the Confederate States, or shall
give aid or comfort to the enemies of the
Confederate States, shall, when captured
in the Confederate States, be delivered to
the authorities of the State or States in
which they shall be captured, to be dealt
with according to the present or future
laws of such State or States."
The connection between the prem
ises here alleged and the action based
thereon is by no means obvious. For
more than two years, negroes had
been extensively employed in bellige
rent operations by the Confederacy.
They had been embodied and drilled
as Rebel soldiers, and had paraded
with " White troops at a time when
this would not have been tolerated in
the armies of the Union. Tet, in
the face of these notorious facts, it
is here provided that " every White
person, being a commissioned officer,
or acting as such, who, during the
present war, shall command negroes
or mulattoes [whether ever slaves or
not] in arms against the Confederate
States, shall, if captured, be put to
death, or otherwise punished at the
discretion of the court."
Some of the leading and most
thorough Rebel journals, on reflec
tion, admitted that this was unjusti
fiable — that the Confederacy could
not prescribe the color of citizens of
the Free States, never in bondage at

' At New Orleans, see p. 522.

MR. LINCOLN ON PROTECTING NEGRO SOLDIERS. 525

the South, whom our Government
might justifiably employ as soldiers.
But the resolve nevertheless stood for
years, if not to the last, unrepealed
and unmodified, and was the primary,
fundamental impediment whereby
the exchange of prisoners between
the belligerents was first interrupted ;
so that tens of thousands languished
for weary months in prison-camps,
where many thousands, died of expo
sure and starvation, who might else
have been living to this day.
Secretary Stanton, having learned
that three of our Black soldiers cap
tured with the gunboat Isaac Smith,
in Stono river, had been placed in
close confinement, ordered three of
our prisoners (South Carolinians) to
be treated likewise, and the fact to be
communicated to the Confederate
leaders. The Richmond Examiner,
commenting on this relation, said :
"It is not merely the pretension of a
regular Government affecting to deal with
'Rebels,' but it is a deadly stab which they
are aiming at our institutions themselves
— because they know that, if we were in
sane enough to yield this point, to treat
Black men as the equals of White, and in
surgent slaves as equivalent to our brave
soldiers, the very foundation of Slavery
would be fatally wounded."
After one of the conflicts before
Charleston, an immediate exchange
of prisoners was agreed on ; but,
when ours came to be received, only
the Whites made their appearance.
A remonstrance against this breach"
of faith was met by a plea of want

of power to surrender Blacks taken
in arms, because of the resolve just
quoted and orders based thereon ;
and this was probably the immediate
impulse to the issue of the following
General Order :
" Executive Mansion, )
"Washington, July 30, 1863. (
" It is the duty of every Government to
give protection to its citizens, of whatever
class, color, or condition, and especially to
those who are duly organized as soldiers in
the public service. The law of nations, and
the usages and customs of war, as carried
on by civilized powers, permit no distinction
as to color in the treatment of prisoners of
war as public enemies. To sell or enslave
any captured person, on account of his col
or, and for no offense against the laws of
war, is a relapse into barbarism, and a crime
against the civilization ofthe age.
" The Government of the United States
will give the same protection to all its sol
diers ; and if the enemy shall sell or enslave
any one because of his color, the offense
shall be punished by retaliation upon the
enemy's prisoners in our possession.
" It is therefore ordered that, for every
soldier of the United States killed in viola
tion of the laws of war, a Rebel soldier shall
be executed ; and for every one enslaved by
the enemy or sold into Slavery, a Rebel sol
dier shall be placed at hard labor on public
works, and continued at such labor until
the other shall be released and receive the
treatment due to a prisoner of war.
"Abraham Lincoln.
" By order of the Secretary of War,
" E. D. Townsend, Assist. Adj't.-Gen."
It must not be presumed that, be
cause either belligerent had decided
to make all possible use of Blacks in
the prosecution of the War, the op
position to this policy in Congress or
in the Democratic journals and pop
ular harangues was foregone. Far
otherwise."

M In discussing the first bill that came before
the Senate involving directly the policy of arm
ing negroes to fight for the Union, Mr. Preston
King — who very rarely spoke, and never with
bitterness — said:
" I have done talking in such a manner aa to
avoid giving offense to our enemies in this mat
ter. I think it was the captain of the watch
here at the Capitol who came and consulted me
about getting permission to omit, during the ses
sions of the Senate, to hoist the flag on the top

of the Capitol ; and, when he was asked what he
wanted to omit that for, he said he feared it
might be supposed that he desired to save labor
and trouble, but he really suggested it because
it hurt these people about here to look at it — to
see the flag on the top of the Capitol. I had not
done much ; but' I wrote a letter very promptly
to the Secretary of the Interior, stating the fact,
and saying that I did not care whom he appoint
ed, but I wanted that man removed. He was
removed; and, within ten days, was with the
enemy at Manassas."

526

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

The Army Appropriation bill be
ing before the Senate, Mr. Garrett
Davis, of Ky., moved " to add :
" Provided, That no part of the sums ap
propriated by this act shall be disbursed for
the pay, subsistence, or any other supplies,
of any negro, free or slave, in the armed
military service of the United States."
Which was rejected : Teas 8 ;
Nays 28 :
Teas — Messrs. Carlile, G. Davis, Ken
nedy, Latham, Nesmith, Powell, Turpie,
and Wall (all Democrats).
At the next session — the Deficien
cy bill being before the House — Mr.
Harding, of Ky., moved "8 to insert —
" Provided, That no part of the moneys
aforesaid shall be applied to the raising,
arming, equipping, or paying of negro sol
diers." Wliich was likewise beaten : Teas
41 ; Nays 105 — the Teas (all Demo
crats) "being
Messrs. Ancona, Bliss, James S. Brown,
Coffroth, Cox, Dawson, Dennison, Eden,
Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, Grider, Hall,
Harding, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris,
Charles M. Harris, Philip Johnson, William
Johnson, King, Knapp, Law, Long, Marcy,
McKinney, William H. Miller, James R.
Morris, Morrison, Noble, John O'Neill, Pen
dleton, Samuel J. Randall, Rogers, Ross,
Scott, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Chilton A.
White, Joseph W. White, Teaman.
No other War measure was so
strenuously, unitedly, persistently,
vehemently resisted by the Opposi
tion, whether Democratic or Border-
State Unionists, as was the proposal
to arm Blacks to uphold the Na
tional cause,
Ohio: "I believe the object of gentlemen, in
forcing this bill here, is to bring about — or,
rather, to make final and forever — a disso
lution of the Union. * * * Every man along
the border [Ohio] will tell you that the Union
is for ever rendered hopeless if you pursue
this policy of taking the slaves from the mas
ters and arming them in this civil strife."
The regular, authorized, avowed
employment of Blacks in the Union

Said Mr. S. S. Cox, of

armies — not as menials, but as sol
diers — may be said to have begun
with the year 1863 — that is, with the
issue of the President's absolute Pro
clamation of Freedom. Mr. Stan
ton's first order to raise in the' loyal
States three years' men, with express
permission "to include persons of
African descent," was that issued to
Gov. Andrew, Jan. 20th of this year ;
which was promptly and heartily re
sponded to. In March, Gen. Lorenzo
Thomas, Adjutant-General of our
Army, was dispatched from Wash
ington to the Mississippi Valley,
there to initiate and supervise the
recruiting and officering of Black re
giments — a duty which he discharged
with eminent zeal and efficiency ;
visiting and laboring at Memphis,
Helena, and other points, where
Blacks were congregated, addressing
them in exposition of the Emancipar
tion policy, and urging them to re
spond to it by rallying to the flag of
their country. To our officers and
soldiers, in a speech at Lake Provi
dence, La.,6° he forcibly said :
" Ton know full well — for you have been
over this country — that the Rebels have
sent into the field all their available fighting
men — every man capable of bearing arms ;
and you know they have kept at home all
their slaves for the raising of subsistence for
their armies in the field. In this way, they
can bring to bear against us all the strength
of their so-called Confederate States ; while
we at the North can only send a portion of
our fighting force, being compelled to leave
behind another portion to cultivate our
fields and supply the wants of an immense
army. The Administration has determined
to take from the Rebels this source of supply
— to take their negroes and compel them to
send back a portion of their Whites to cul
tivate their deserted plantations — and very
poor persons they would be to fill the place
of the dark-hued laborer. They must do
this, or their armies will starve. * * *
" All of you will some day be on picket-
duty; and I charge you all, if any of this

67 Jan. 28, 1863.

M Dec. 21, 1863.

8 April 8.

PROGRESS IN RAISING BLACK SOLDIERS.

527

unfortunate race come within your lines,
that you do not turn them away, but re
ceive them kindly and cordially. They are
to be encouraged' to come to ns ; they are
to be received with open arms ; they are to
be fed andolothed ; they are to be armed."
There was still much prejudice
against Negro Soldiers among our
rank and file, as well as among their
superiors ; those from New England
possibly and partially excepted : but
the Adjutant-General was armed
with a potent specific for its cure.
The twenty regiments of Blacks
which he was intent on raising he
had authority to officer on the spot
from the White veterans at hand;
and this fact — at least, until the com-
, missions should be awarded— operated
as a powierful antidote to anti-negro
prejudice. There were few, if any,
instances of a White sergeant or cor
poral whose dignity or whose nose
revolted at the proximity of Blacks as
private soldiers, if he might secure
a lieutenancy by deeming them not
unsavory, or not quite intolerably so ;
while there is no case on record
where a soldier deemed fit for a cap
taincy in a colored regiment rejected
it and clung to the ranks, in deference
to his invincible antipathy to " nig
gers." And, though Gen. Banks, in
his order °" directing the recruitment
of a ' Corps d'Afrique ' in his depart
ment, saw fit to say that
" The prejudices or opinions of men are
in no wise involved;" and "it is not estab
lished npon any dogma of equality, or other
theory, but as a practical and sensible mat
ter of business. The Government makes
use of mules, horses, uneducated and edu
cated White men, in the defense of its insti
tutions. Why should not the negro con
tribute whatever is in his power for the
cause in which he is as deeply interested
as other men ? We may properly demand
from him whatever servioe he can ren
der," <_0., (fee-
yet there were few who did not see,

and not many who refused to admit,
that a systematic arming of the
Blacks in defense of the Union im
posed obligations and involved con
sequences incompatible not merely
with the perpetuation of Slavery, but
with that of Caste as well. Hence,
the proclaimed repugnance in Con
gress, in the Press, and among the
People, to arming the Blacks, was
quite as acrid, pertinacious, and de
nunciatory, as that which had been ex
cited by the policy of Emancipation.
Tet, in spite of ugly epithets, the
work went on. Presently, a distinct
Bureau was established," in the Ad
jutant-General's office at Washing
ton, " for the record of all matters
relating to the organization of colored
troops;" and a Board, whereof Gen.
Silas Casey was President, organized
for the strict examination of all can
didates for commissions in Black
regiments ; by whose labors and in
vestigations a higher state of average
character and efficiency was secured
in the officering of these than had
been attained in the (too often hasty
and hap-hazard) organization of our
White regiments. In August, the
Adjutant-General again visited the
Great Yalley on this business ; and
he now issued from Yicksburg "' an
order which was practically a con
scription of all able-bodied male
Blacks who should seek protection
within the Union lines, and should
not be otherwise employed, into the
National service. Next appeared"
an order from the War Department,
establishing recruiting stations for
Black soldiers in Maryland, Missouri,
and Tennessee, and directing the en
listment as volunteers of " all able-
bodied free negroes ;" also the " slaves

w May 1.

"May 22.

'Aug. 18.

"Oct. 3.

528

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

of disloyal persons [absolutely], and
slaves of loyal persons with the con
sent of their owners," who were to
be paid $300 for each slave so en
listed, upon making proof of owner
ship and filing a deed, of manumis
sion. Thus the good work went on ;
until, in December, '63, the Bureau
aforesaid reported that over 50,000
had been enlisted and were then in
actual service ; and this number had
been trebled before the close of the
following year. And, though some
of our Generals regarded them with
disfavor, while others were loud in
their praise, it is no longer fairly
disputable that they played a very
important and useful part in the
overthrow of the Eebellion. Though
they were hardly allowed to partici
pate in any of the great battles
whereby the issue was determined,
they bore an honorable part in many
minor actions and sieges, especially
those of 1864-5. In docility, in un
questioning obedience to superiors,

in local knowledge, in capacity to
endure fatigue, in ability to brave
exposure and resist climatic or mi:
asmatic perils, they were equal if
not superior to the average of our
White troops ; in intelligence and
tenacity, they were inferior ; and no
wise General would have counted a
corps of them equal, man for man,
in a great, protracted battle, to a like
number of our Whites. Yet there
were Black regiments above the aver
age of Whites in merit; and their
fighting at Fort Wagner, Port Hud
son, Helena, Mobile, and some other
points, was noticed by their com
manders with well deserved com
mendation. To exalt them to the-
disparagement of our White soldiers
would be as unwise as unjust ; but
those Whites who fought most brave
ly by their side will be the last to de
tract from the gratitude wherewith
the Republic fitly honors all her sons
who freely offered their lives for the
salvation of their country.

XXIII,

THE WAE ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST IN 1864.

The XXXYIIIth Congress hav
ing assembled,1 and the House been
organized by the friends of the Ad
ministration and the War — Schuyler
Colfax, of Indiana, Speaker,2 and
Edward McPherson, of Pennsylva
nia, Clerk — President Lincoln trans
mitted next day his Annual Message,
to which he appended a Proclama
tion of Amnesty, which he therewith
issued, offering a free pardon, on con
dition of taking an oath to support

the Federal Constitution and Union,
and also
"abide by and faithfully support all acts of
Congress passed during the existing Rebel
lion having reference to slaves, so long and
so far as not modified by decision of the
Supreme Court."
Exceptions to this proffer of am
nesty were made in case of all who
had thrown up seats in Congress,
Federal judgeships, or commissions
in the army or navy of the United
States, in order to embark in the

1 Dec. 1, 1863.

'Vote: Colfax, 101; 'all others, 81.

GEN. TRUMAN SEYMOUR IN FLORIDA.

529

Rebellion; all civil or diplomatic
officers or agents of the Eebel Gov
ernment ; all officers in the Confede
rate army, abeve the rank of Colonel ;
and of all who had been engaged in
treating our colored soldiers or their
officers " otherwise than lawfully as
prisoners of war." This proffer was
accepted by very few, and seemed to
be regarded with even more con
tempt than indignation by the Eebel
oracles. Where all who are promi
nently, responsibly engaged in a re
bellion are excepted from a proffer
of amnesty, those not thus exempted
are apt to resent the discrimination
as implying an inadequate apprecia
tion of their consequence.

Operations against Charleston hav
ing been but languidly prosecuted
since the complete conquest of Mor
ris island, the failure of Dahlgren's
boat attack on Sumter, and his refu
sal to attempt to pass its ruins with
his iron-clads and fight his way up
to the city, Gen. Gillmore decided
to employ a part of his force in a
fresh expedition to Florida. The
President, apprised of this design,
commissioned John Hay, one of his
private secretaries, as major, and
sent ' him down to Hilton Head to
accompany the proposed expedition,
under expectations, founded on the
assurances of refugees, that Florida
was ripe for amnesty and restoration
to the Union.
Gillmore's force, under the imme
diate command of Gen. Truman Sey
mour, embarked * on 20 steamers and
8 Bchooners, and was off the northern
mouth of the St. John's next fore
noon ; occupying Jacksonville unre
sisted at 5 p. m. The few Eebel sol

diers fired and ran as our troops
debarked, to find the place in ruins,
and very few residents remaining.
A railroad train from Tallahassee
had arrived and departed that day ;
but the rails were to have been taken
up that week for use elsewhere.
At 3 p. m. next day," our troops
moved westward parallel with the
railroad — Col. Guy Y. Henry, with
the cavalry, leading : the intent being
to surprise the Eebel Gen. Finnegan
at Camp Finnegan, 8 miles west.
The advance was skillfully and brave
ly made ; but only 150 men were at
the camp — Finnegan, with the resi
due, having hurriedly fallen back.
Henry evaded a Eebel cavalry force
covering the front, and dashed into
the camp unannounced; capturing-
4 guns, with a large amount of camp
equipage and commissary stores, and.
a few prisoners — but not till the tele
graph had had time to give the alarm
to Baldwin, beyond. Henry pushed
on at 4 A. m., and was in Baldwin at
7 ; capturing another gun, three cars,
and $500,000 worth of provisions.
and munitions. He had a skirmish.
at the south fork of St. Mary's, 5
miles farther on, and drove the ene
my, but lost 17 men. At 6 p. m.,. he
was in Sanderson, 40 miles from
Jacksonville ; where he captured and
destroyed much property; pushing
on, at 2 a. m., very nearly to Lake
City, almost half way from the coast
to Tallahassee ; but here, at 11 a. m,,
he found Finnegan in position, very
stubborn, and too strong to be moved :
so he fell back 5 miles, bivouacked'
in a drenching rain, and telegraphed
to Seymour, now at Sanderson with
part of his infantry, for orders and
food. It was reported that Finne*

3 Jan. 13, 1864.
vol. ii. — 34

'Feb. 6.

6 Feb. 8.

530

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

gan, though he had 3,000 men, fell
back from Lake City that night.
Whether he did so or not, the belief
that, he did probably misled Seymour
into his great blunder thereafter.
Gillmore had followed his lieuten
ant down to Jacksonville and out so
far as Baldwin ;e returning directly
to Jacksonville, and thence ' to Hil
ton Head ; without a shadow of sus
picion that Seymour contemplated,
or (without orders) would attempt, a
farther advance. In fact, he had
telegraphed to Gillmore from San
derson on the 12th that
" I last night ordered Col. Henry to fall
back to this point. I am destroying all
public property here, and shall go back to
the south fork of St. Mary's as soon as
Henry returns. I hope he will be in this
morning." Gillmore at once responded :
" I want your command at and beyond
Baldwin concentrated at Baldwin without
delay." Seymour replied, insisting that
" To leave the south fork of the St. Mary's
will make it impossible for us to advance
again ;"
but intimated no purpose to make
such advance without orders. Gill
more thereupon returned to Hilton
Head; and was very soon thunder
struck by receiving8 a letter from
Seymour, saying that he had been
compelled to remain where his men
could be fed ; but adding
" Not enough supplies could be accumu
lated to permit me to execute my intention
of moving to the Suwanee river. But I
now propose to go without supplies;"
and asking that an iron-clad demon
stration be made up the Savannah,
to prevent the dispatch of Eebel
forces from Georgia to Finnegan !
Gillmore at once wrote him a
strong remonstrance against the mad

ness of his project — which was, in
effect, to pit his (at most) 6,000 dis
posable men against whatever force
the Eebels, with all Georgia and Ala
bama to draw from, and railroads at
command, might see fit to concen
trate upon him. Gen. Turner was
sent post-haste with this letter ; but
it was too late. When he reached
Jacksonville, he met there tidings
that Seymour was already fighting
at Olustee.
Seymour had left Barber's (the
south fork aforesaid) that morning,'
with a few short of 5,000 men ; ad
vancing westward along the high
way which runs generally parallel
with the railroad, frequently crossing
it, till about 2 p. m., when the head
of his column ran square into the
dead-fall which Finnegan had set for
him. Our. men were faint with hun
ger aud a hard march of 16 miles
over miry or sandy ground, until,
two or three miles east of Olustee
station, our van reached a point
where the railroad is carried straight
through a long cypress swamp, while;
the wagon-road makes a square turn
to the right, crossing the railroad, in
order to avoid and flank the swamp..
Here Finnegan had disposed his men,.
under cover of the swamp and adja
cent pine forest, with his flanks thor
oughly protected by the former and
by a lakelet known as Ocean Pond ;
while our men, rushing heedlessly,
headlong on, were at close quarters
before they suspected that they were
to be seriously resisted.
Our strength lay in artillery,
whereof we had 16 pieces to 4 — Fin
negan having lost most of his in. his
hasty retreat from Camp Finnegan —
but our guns were rushed up to the

"Feb. 9.

' Feb. 15.

" Feb. 18— dated Feb 17.

• Feb. 20

SEYMOUR DEFEATED AT OLUSTEE.

531

very edge of the woods which con
cealed and sheltered the foe, so that
their sharp-shooters picked off the
artillerists and shot down the horses
as though enjoying a sportsman's bat
tue ; while our infantry, half formed,
and not well armed, were pushed into
the slaughter-pen with equal stupid
ity. Had our line been formed half
a mile back from the enemy's, and
there simply held while our gunners
shelled the woods, we might not have
achieved a brilliant success, but we
could not have been beaten ; but
Hamilton's battery went into action,
under a heavy fire of musketry, barely
150 yards from the Eebel front, and
in 20 minutes had lost 40 out of 50
horses and 45 out of 82 men — when
what was left of it recoiled ; leaving
2 of its 4 guns where its life-blood
had been blunderingly squandered.
And this was a fair specimen of the
generalship displayed on our side
throughout. Col. Henry's cavalry (40th Mass.),
with Maj. Stevens's battalion, and
the 7th Conn, (infantry), Col. J. E.
Hawley, were in the advance, and
drew the first fire of the mainly con
cealed enemy. Hawley, finding his
regiment falling under a concentric
fire, ordered up the 7th New Hamp
shire, Col. Abbott, to its support;
Hamilton's, Elder's, and Langdon's
¦batteries also coming into action.
The 7th N. H. was a tried and trusty
regiment ; but it had been lately de
prived of its beloved Spencer repeat
ing rifles, and armed instead with
Springfield muskets which it pro
nounced in bad order and unfit for
service ; so it was not in good condi
tion for maintaining a position in
which it was rapidly losing at least

ten men for every one of the enemy
it had even a chance to hit. It was
soon demoralized ; when Hawley or
dered up, the Sth U. S. colored, Col.
Chas. W. Fribley — a regiment never
before under fire. It held its posi
tion in front for an hour and a half,
losing 350 killed or wounded (its
Colonel mortally); when Col. Bar
ton led his brigade, consisting of the*
48th (his own), 49th, and 115th New
York, hitherto on the right, into the
hottest forefront of the battle. Col. ,
Sammons, of the 115th, was among
the first of his regiment disabled; '7
of its captains or lieutenants were
killed or wounded ; one of its com
panies lost 32 out of 59 men. The
47th had its Col. (Moore) wounded,
and 6 captains or lieutenants killed
or disabled.
Our left column, Col. Montgomery,
came last into the fight, just in time
to stop a Eebel charge. The 54th
Mass. went in first, followed by the
1st N. C. (both Blaek). They were
of course overpowered ; but the lat
ter left its Col., Lt.-Col., Major, and
Adjutant, dead on the field. If was
admitted that these two regiments
had saved our little army from be
ing routed. For Seymour — who
had. fought with reckless gallantry
throughout, rushing from . point to
point, wherever Eebel bullets flew
thickest — profited by their charge to
reestablish what remained of his bat
teries farther to the rear ; and now,
giving four parting volleys of grape
and canister, he ordered a retreat ;
which was covered by the 7th Con
necticut, and executed deliberately,
and without effective pursuit.10 We
brought off 1,000 of our wounded,
and probably left 250 more, beside

1 Pollard says, "Just then [4 P.M.], our [Rebel] ammunition heoamn exhausted."

532

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

quite as many, dead or dying, to the
mercy of the Eebels and the vul
tures." The enemy admitted a loss
of but 80 killed and 650 wounded.
Seymour retreated nearly or quite to
Jacksonville, burning provisions, &c,
worth at least $1,000,000. And that
virtually ended all hope of the re
covery of Florida to the Union before
the entire collapse of the Eebellion.
Few disasters were, encountered
during the War so utterly inexcusa
ble. It was Braddock's defeat re
peated, after the lapse of a century.
Our soldiers fought as well as ever
men ought to fight ; they were abun
dantly able to have routed the ene
my ; they were simply sacrificed by
a leader brave to rashness, and pos
sessing every soldierly quality but the
ability to plan and direct the move
ments of an independent force. Left
' to himself, he was fit only to afford
fresh verification of the old axiom,
that, against stupidity, even the gods
are impotent. And now, President
Lincolu — who had never dreamed of
such a folly — was assailed and held
up to execration as having fooled
away 2,000 men in a sordid attempt
to manufacture for himself three ad
ditional votes in the approaching
Presidential election.

During this Winter, extensive salt
works in West Bay, near St. An
drew's sound, belonging to the Con
federate Government, and making
400 bushels per day, were destroyed
by order of Eear- Admiral Bailey,
with certain private salt-works in
that vicinity; also, salt-works on
Lake Oeola : the whole being valued
at $3,000,000.

Next Summer," Gen. Birney, un
der orders from Gen. Foster, moved
out from Jacksonville to Callahan
station, on the Fernandina railroad,
burning bridges, two cars, &c. ; and
a number of petty raids were made
from Jacksonville to Whitesville, and
to the south fork of the St. Mary's ;
while, ultimately, Baldwin and Camp
Milton were occupied for a season by
detachments of our forces ; and seve
ral skirmishes took place, but with
no decided advantage to either party.
A meeting at Jacksonville, May 20th,
had assumed the style and title of a
State Convention of the Unionists of
Florida, and deputed six delegates
to represent her in the Union Na
tional Convention at Baltimore —
which some of them did, to their
own undoubted satisfaction. But,
to all practical intents, the battle
of Olustee was the first and last
event of consequence that happened
in Florida during the year 1864, and
thence to the close of the war.

In South Carolina, while the long-
range firing at Charleston from Mor
ris island and the surrounding forts
was lazily and irregularly kept up
through most of the year, eliciting
fitful responses from Eebel forts and
batteries, there was no movement of
importance ; save that, in July, four
brigades (Birney's, Saxton's, Hatch's,
and Schimmelfennig's) were quietly
assembled from the sea islands held
by us and from Florida, pushed" over
to Seabrook island, and thence, at
tended by two gunboats on the North
Edisto, to John's island, and so to a
place called Deckerville," two miles
west of Legareville. The weather

" Pollard says we left 350 dead on the field,
and that they took 600 prisoners— (including

wounded, of course;) with 5 guns and 2,000
small arms. " July 20. ™ July 2. " July 4.

HOKE BESIEGES WESSELLS IN PLYMOUTH.

533

was intensely hot; the dusty roads
lined by thick brush, which excluded
air, yet afforded little or uo shade ;
bo that marches of barely 5 or 6 miles
per day were accomplished with great
fatigue and periL Our men had no
cannon. A Eebel battery, well sup
ported, was found in position three
miles north-west of Legareville ;
which the 26th U. S. Colored was
finally sent" forward to take, and
made five spirited charges upon, los
ing 97 killed and wounded. But they
Were 600 without cannon, agamst an
equal force strongly posted, with 1
guns ; so they were worsted, and
their CoL (Silliman) falling from sun-
' stroke, they were called off; and the
expedition returned,16 after parading
about the islands for another week.
What it meant, if it meant any thing,
or why force enough was not sent up
to take the Eebel battery, if that was
deemed desirable, remains among the
mysteries of strategy. The foolish,
wasteful fight was called by our men
• The Battle of Bloody Bridge.'

In North Carolina — our forces here
having been slender since Foster's
12,000 veterans were made over to
the South Carolina department in
1863 — the initiative was taken this
year by Gen. Pickett, commanding
the Eebel department, who suddenly
struck" our outpost at Bachelor's
creek, 8 miles above Newbern, held
by the 132d New York, carrying it
by assault, and making 100 prisoners.
Following up his success, he threat
ened Newbern; and a force under
Capt. Wood actually carried, by
boarding from boats, the fine gun
boat Underwriter, lying close to the
wharf, and under the fire of three

batteries scarcely 100 yards distant.
Those batteries opening upon her,
while she had no steam up, the cap
tors could do no better than fire and
destroy her. Pickett now drew off^
without trying his strength against
the defenses of Newbern; claiming
to have killed and wounded 100 of
our men, captured 280, with two
guns, 300 small arms, &c, aud de
stroyed a gunboat of 800 horse-power,
mounting 4 heavy guns — all at a cost
of 35 killed and wounded.
The next blow was struck at
Plymouth, near the mouth of the
Eoanoke, which was held for the
Union by Gen. Wessells, with the
85th New Tork, 101st and 103d
Penn., 16th Conn., and 6 companies
from other regiments — in all 2,400
men. It was a fairly fortified posi
tion ; while the gunboats Southfield,
Miami, and Bombshell, were anchor
ed in the river opposite. Gen. E. F.
Hoke, with three infantry brigades,
a regiment of cavalry, and 7 batte
ries — in all, at least 7,000 men — ad
vanced against it so stealthily that
he was within two miles 18 before
Wessells was apprised of his danger.
The mailed ram Albemarle, coming
down the Eoanoke, took part in the
attack. Fort Warren, our up-river outpost,
was first assailed ; and our gunboat
Bombshell, going to its assistance,
was disabled by the fire of the Eebel
artillery. While the fight here was
still in progress, Hoke opened ou
Fort Wessells, a mile farther down,
which was repeatedly charged iu im
mense force ; but every assault was
repulsed with great slaughter. At
length, however, this fort was so com
pletely and closely surrounded by

'July

1 July 14.

17 Feb. L

I! April 17.

534

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the enemy's infantry, with their guns
but 200 yards distant, that it was
forced to surrender.
Hoke vigorously pressed the siege.
Soon, the Albemarle, Capt. Cooke,
ran down by Fort Warren and en
gaged our two remaining gunboats,
of 8 guns each, striking the South-
field, Lt. French', so heavily as to
sink her ; then, turning on the Mi
ami, killed Lt.-Com'r Flusser, and dis
abled many of her crew ; when she
fled down the river. The Albemarle
then shelled the town with her rifled
32s, doing considerable execution.
Next morning,1" Hoke pushed for
ward all his batteries, and opened on
the town and our remaining forts at
1,100 yards : Eansom, with one brig
ade, assaulting on the right, and
Hoke, with two, going in on the left.
By a desperate effort, in the face of a
murderous fire, the two outer forts,
mounting 8 guns, were carried at a
heavy cost, and their garrisons made
prisoners. A rush was then made on
the town ; which was likewise carried ;
and at length Fort Williams — which
was still mowing down the assailants
with grape and case-shot — was so en
veloped and enfiladed that nothing re
mained for Wessells but to surrender.
The fruits of the victory were 1,600
effective prisoners, 25 guns, at least
2,000 small arms, and some valuable
stores. The Eebels admitted a loss
here of only 300. Our combatants
estimated it at fully 1,000, and say
we had but 100 killed and wounded.
As a consequence of this disaster,
Washington, at the head of Pamlico
sound, was soon evacuated by Gen.
Palmer ;M some of our departing sol
diers disgracing themselves and their
fl_g by arson and pillage ere they left.

Capt. Cooke, of the Albemarle,
being naturally somewhat inflated by
his easy triumph over two unmailed
gunboats, our remaining gunboats in
those waters, under Capt. Melanc-
thon Smith, were disposed to tempt
him to a fresh encounter, on more
equal terms. They had not long to
wait for it. The Mattabesett, Sassa-
cus, and Wyalusing, were lying 20
miles off the mouth of the Eoanoke,
when our picket-boats, which had
been sent up the river to decoy the
ram from under the protecting bat
teries of Plymouth, reported her
coming ;" and soon she was descried
bearing down, accompanied by the
river steamboat Cotton Plant, and
what was lately our gunboat Bomb
shell. The former — being too frail for
such an encounter — put back, with
her 200 sharp-shooters and boarders,
to Plymouth ; and the contest began.
The Albemarle was heavily iron-clad
and armed with very large Whit-
worth guns ; and our vessels of course
played around her, seeking to inject
their iron into her weakest quarter :
the Sassacus taking occasion to pour
one broadside at close range into the
Bombshell, which compelled her to
strike her flag and fall out of the
range of fire. After a spirited can
nonade at short range, the Sassacus
struck the Albemarle at full speed,
crowding her hull under water, but
not sinking her. And now these
life-and-death wrestlers exchanged
100-pound shots at five or six paces ;
the gunners of the Sassacus watching
for the opening of a port by the Al
bemarle, and trying — sometimes with
success — to fire a shell or shot into it
before it could be closed again ; as,
from the ram's mailed sides or deck,

M April 20.

'April 23.

' May 5,3 p.m.

DESTRUCTION OF THE RAM ALBEMARLE.

535

the largest bolts, fired at this distance,
rebounded like dry peas. At length,
the ram put a shot through one of
of her adversary's boilers, killing 3
and wounding 6 of her men, and fill
ing her with scalding steam, from out
which the shrieks of the scalded were
piercingly heard. And now the chief
engineer of the Sassacus was com
pelled to call Mb men to follow him
into the fire-room, and there to drag
the fires from beneath the uninjured
boiler, which was on the brink of
explosion ; while the engine had be
come entirely unmanageable.
Out of the thick, white cloud which
enveloped the two combatants, fre
quently irradiated by the flashes of
guns, the Albemarle soon emerged,
limping off toward her sheltering
fort ; still keeping up her fire ; the
Sassacus moving slowly in pursuit,
working on a vacuum alone. We
had the Bombshell, with her 4 rifled
guns, as a trophy; while the siege
of Newbern — which the Albemarle
had set forth to form the naval part
of, while that post had already been
summoned by Hoke, on the assump
tion that '* the river and sound were
blockaded below" — was indefinitely
postponed. The Albemarle made good her re
treat, and never cared to renew the
encounter. Months afterward, she
was still 8 miles up the Eoanoke,
lying at a dock, behind a barricade
of logs, when Lt. Wm. B. Cushing
slipped** up the river in a steam-
launch and, under a fierce fire from
the monster, lowered a torpedo-boat,
rowed it to and under the overhang
of the Albemarle and fired it, at the

" Oct 21.

same instant that one of the enemy's
shots crashed through the torpedo-
boat, utterly destroying it. The
launch likewise was instantly dis
abled ; but Cushing, spurning every
call to surrender, ordered his men to
save themselves as they best could ;
himself dropping into the water and
swimming down stream half a mile,
when he crawled out at daybreak,
and hid in an adjacent swamp;
through which he slowly, cautiously
worked his way until he found a
skiff in a week, and, at 11 p. m., was
on board one of om- vessels in the
offing. The Albemarle sunk like a
stone, and was never more trouble
some to friend or foe.
Plymouth — Hoke being busy on
the James — was now easily retaken M
by om* fleet under Com'r Macomb,
who captured a few prisoners, some
guns and warlike stores.
Of Burnside's extensive conquests
in North Carolina, but little more
than Newbern and Eoanoke island
remained to us, after the loss of
Plymouth and the abandonment of
Washmgton; and Hoke was intent
on reducing our possessions still fur
ther, when the pressure of our ad
vance iu Virginia summoned the
greater part of his force to the de
fense of Bichmond.
Two or three unimportant raiding
expeditions were sent out from New
bern during the Summer; and one
from Eoanoke island, led by Gen.
Wild and composed of colored troops,
penetrated far into Camden county ;
bringing off 2,500 slaves, many horses
and cattle, and destroying much
grain ; at a total cost of 13 men.
"Oct. 31.

536

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

XXIV.
THE WAE BETOND THE MISSISSIPPI IN 1864.

BANKS— STEELE— ROSECRANS.

Gest. Banks was in New Orleans,
intent on further operations against
Texas by way of Galveston and the
sea-coast, when he received1 a dis
patch from Halleck, prescribing (or,
as Halleck says, " suggesting ") a to
tally different plan of campaign. Its
line of operations was the Eed river ;
its object, the capture of Shreveport,
with the rout and dispersion of Kirby
Smith's army, culminating in the re
covery of Texas and a boundless sup
ply of cotton for our mills and for ex
port. To this end, Admiral Porter,
with a strong fleet of iron-clads and
transports, was to embark at Vicks
burg, 10,000 of Sherman's old army
under Gen. A. J. Smith, and move
with them up Eed river, capturing
by the way Fort de Eussy, remov
ing all impediments, and meeting at
Alexandria Gen. Banks, who, with his
15,000 to 17,000 disposable men, was
to march overland from the Atchafa
laya to the designated point of junc
tion; while Gen. Steele, with the bulk
(15,000) of his Arkansas force, was
to move on Shreveport directly from
Little Eock. In other words : we
were to threaten Shreveport with
40,000 men, so disposed that the en
emy, with a compact, mobile force of
25,000, might fight them all in turn
with superior numbers, and so cut

them up in detail. It was a very
old blunder, so often repeated in our
struggle that none could plead igno
rance of its oft-tested and certain
effect ; but braying in a mortar
would be effective only with those
who do not need it. Had Steele's
men been brought down the Arkan
sas in boats, and added to Banks's
and Smith's forces, the issue must
almost certainly have been differ
ent. But Gen. Steele's demonstra
tion, though designed to be simulta
neous and cooperative with Banks's,
was entirely independent;" while
Gen. Smith's quota was only loaned
to Banks for a brief period, and was
subject to recall in entire disregard
of his authority. Had such a move
ment missed failing, it would have
been a disparagement of good gen
eralship evermore.
Banks's own force was to have
moved from Franklin on the 7th of
March, so as to be at Alexandria on
the 17th : but the General was busy
at New Orleans, and intrusted the
immediate command of his force to
Gen. Franklin ; who was not ready
to start till the 13th, and had not
fully reached Alexandria till the
25th; though his cavalry advance,
under Gen. A. L. Lee, had arrived
on the 19th.

1 Jan. 23, 1864.
' Gen. Banks, before the Committee on the
Conduct of the War, testified that —
" The truth was, that while four forces — Gen.
Steele's, Gen. Sherman's (under Gen. Smith),
Admiral Porter's, and my own — were operating
together, neither one of them had a right to give

any order to the other. Gen. Smith never made
any report to me, but considered his as substan
tially an independent force. * * * It took us 20
days to communicate with Gen. Steele ; and then
we could ouly state our own position, ask what
he was doing, and give advice ; but we could
not tell whether he followed the advice or not,
nor what he was doing."

FORT DE RUSSY TAKEN BY SMITH.

537

Ere this, Admiral Porter, with 15
iron-clads and four lighter steam
boats, had reached8 the mouth of
Eed river, where he was joined' by
Gen. A. J. Smith and his 10,000 men
in transports, and proceeded next day,
pioneered by the Eastport, up the Eed
to Simmsport, which was evacuated
by the Eebels, who fell back on Fort
de Eussy. Nine of our gunboats en
tered the Atchafalaya, followed by
the land force; while the residue,
followed by the transports, continued
up the Eed, where the Eastport, in
advance, was for hours engaged in
removing the Eebel obstructions of
piles and chainB in the channel, which
'months had been given to construct
ing and strengthening. These being
disposed of, the Eastport and Neosho
passed them, and pushed forward to
Fort de Eussy, where Smith had by
this time arrived; and he, after a
few shots from the Eastport, assault
ed and carried the works, capturing
10 guns and 283 prisoners. Smith,
who had started from Simmsport at
daylight, marched 40 miles, built a
bridge that detained him two hours,
taken a large and strong fort by as
sault, after considerable skirmishing
and cannon-firing, had his day's
work done and the fort fully in pos
session before sunset. The main
Eebel force, about 5,000 strong, un
der Gen. Walker, retreated up the
river. Porter at once sent his swift
est vessels up to Alexandria, which
was abandoned without a struggle.'

The Eastport had come up the night
before. But here commenced the real dif>
Acuities of the undertaking. There
was hardly water enough in the river
to float our heavy iron-clads up to
this point ; and here was a considera
ble fall or rapid, up which about half.
of them were forced with great effort.
Porter wisely left five or six of the
heaviest below, though Banks deemed
naval cooperation essential to the
success of the undertaking. One hos
pital-ship waB sunk and lost in get
ting up. As there was but 6 feet
water in the channel at the fall,
while our vessels drew from 7£ to 10
feet, it is not surprising that 7 or 8
days" were Bpent in getting over those
vessels that went higher. During the
halt here, Gen. Warner, with four
brigades of Smith's corps, surprised7
a Kebel post at Henderson's hill, 21
miles westward, capturing 4 guns,
250 men, and 200 horses.
But embarrassments multiplied.
Gen. McPherson, now in command
at Vicksburg, called for the return
of the marine brigade, 3,000 strong,
of Smith's corps, to its special duty
of guarding the Mississippi from
raids ; and it had to be sent. Then
it was found necessary to make Alex
andria a depot of supplies, which
could not be carried farther; and
Gen. C. Grover's division of 3,000
more were left to garrison it. And,
as no cooperation could be expected
from Steele,' Banks's 40,000 men

" March 16.
' March 21.

"March1!. 4 March 11.
" March 26 to April 3.
' Banks says, in his official report:
"The partial disintegration of the several
commands assigned to this expedition was a
cause of embarrassment, though not entirely
of failure. The command of Maj.-Gen. Steele,
which I was informed by Maj.-Gen. Sherman
would be about 16,000, was in fact but 7,000,

and operating upon a line several hundred miles
distant, with purposes and results entirely un
known to mo. Fob. 5, I was informed by Gen.
Steele that, if any advance was to be made, it
must be by the Washita and Red rivers; and
that he might be ablo to move his command, by
the way of Pine Bluff, to Monroe, for this pur
pose. This would have united our forces on
Red river, and insured tho suocess of the cam
paign. Feb. 28, he informed me that he could

538

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

BED BIVEE EEGION.

were already reduced, though scarce
ly a shot had been fired, to about
20,000. Part of these had already
been pushed on, 80 miles farther, to

Natchitoches9 — the enemy skirmish
ing sharply at intervals with our van,
but making no stubborn resistance.
Gen. A. L. Lee, scouting in advance to
Pleasant Hill, 36 miles farther, found
the enemy in force ; while some of
Price's men, here taken prisoners,
reported a concentration in that
neighborhood of troops from Texas
(under Green) and from Arkansas;
raising the aggregate Eebel force
barring the road to Shreveport to
about 25,000 men, with 76 guns.
Shreveport was 100 miles from
Natchitoches — the direct road (which
was taken) passing through a sandy,
barren, mainly pine-covered, nearly
uninhabited country. The river,
which had been confidently expected
to rise, was unequivocally, steadily
falling ; and our gunboats could not
pass Grand Ecore.10
Banks should have stopped here ;
but Smith's corps must soon leave, in
obedience to peremptory orders from
Gen. Grant, who had work cut out
for it elsewhere ; and Banks's army,
its General inclusive, was hungry
for Shreveport. A partisan encoun-

not move by way of Monroe ; and March 4, the
day before my command was ordered to move,
I was informed by Gen. Sherman that he had
written to Gen. Steele ' to push straight for
Shreveport.' March 5, I was informed by Gen.
Halleck that he had no information of Gen.
Steele's plans, further than that he would be di
rected to facilitate my operations toward Shreve
port. March 10, Gen. Steele informed me that
the objections to the route I wished him to take
(by the way of Red river) were stronger than
ever, and that he 'would move with all his
available force (about 1, 000 men) to Washington,
and thence to Shreveport.' I received informa
tion, March 26, dated March 15, from Maj.-Gen.
Halleck, that he had 'directed Gen. Steele to
make a real move, as suggested by you (Banks),
instead of a demonstration, as he (Steele) thought
advisable.' In April, Gen. Halleck informed me
that he had telegraphed Gen. Steele ' to cooper
ate with you (Banks) on Red river, with all
Tiis available forces.' April 16, I was informed,
under date of the 10th, by Gen. Sherman, that
Gen. Steele's entire force would cooperate with
tne and the navy. In May, I received informa

tion from Gen. Steele, dated April 28, that he
could not leave Camden unless supplies were
sent to him, as those of the country were ex
hausted; that we 'could not help each other
operating on lines so wide apart;' that he could
not say definitely that he could join me ' at any
point on Red river at any given time ;' and, from
the distance that separated us, that I could ren
der no assistance to him — an opinion in which I
entirely concurred. I never received authority
to give orders to Gen. Steele. My instructions
limited me to communicating with him upon the
subject of the expedition. I have no doubt
that Gen. Steele did all in his power to insure
success; but, as communication with him was
necessarily by special messenger, and occupied
from 15 to 20 days at each communication, it
was impossible for either of us fully to compre
hend the relative positions ofthe two armies, or
to assist or to support each other."
• April 2-3.
10 Natchitoches is on the old (deserted) chan
nel of Red river ; Grand Ecore is on its new chan
nel, four miles farther north.

UNION ROUT AT SABINE CROSS-ROADS.

539

ter," north of Eed river, between
Col. 0. P. Gooding's brigade of 1,500
cavalry and a Eebel force under
Harrison, wherein Gooding came out
ahead, stimulated the pervading ea
gerness to advance.
'Forward' was the word, and
Natchitoches was left behind on the
6th: Gen, A. L. Lee, with the cav
alry, in the van; next,- Gen. Ean-
som, with two thin divisions of the
13th corps; then Gen. Emory, with
the 1st division of the 19th corps and
a Black brigade : the whole advance
immediately commanded by Gen. W.
B. Franklin ; Gen. A. J. Smith, with
part of the 16th corps, followed next
morning ; but, as the iron-clads had
been unavoidably left behind, a divi
sion of the 17th corps, 2,500 strong,
under Gen. T. Kilby Smith, was
guarding the transports creeping up
the river, under orders to halt and
communicate with the arn^r at Loggy
bayou, half way to Shreveport. Gen.
Banks left Grand Ecore on the morn
ing of the 7th, reaching the van at
Pleasant Hill before night. A rain
that day, which had greatly retarded
the rear of our extended column, had
not reached its front.
Gen. Banks found that Lee had that
afternoon had a sharp fight with a
body of Eebels ; worsting and driving
them 9 miles to St. Patrick's bayou,
where our van halted for the night.
Our loss in this affair was 62 men.
Gen. Lee pushed on at daybreak
next morning ; driving the enemy
three miles farther to Sabine Ceoss-
Eoads, three miles below Mansfield,
where he encountered the Eebel ' Ar
my of the trans-Mississippi,' under
Kirby Smith, Dick Taylor, Mouton,
and Green, numbering not less than

20,000 men. Here Banks, reaching
our front at 1^ p. m., found our men
in line _pf battle, the skirmishers hotly
engaged ; the main body of the foe
hidden in *pine woods behind the
crest of a hill, across which ran the
only road to Shreveport.
Banks had passed Franklin some
miles back, and had ordered him to
send forward a brigade vf infantry
and close up to the front ; and he now
sent back to hurry him up. Gen.
Eansom, with a single brigade of
infantry, had already come up when
Banks arrived. Lee was ordered to
hold his ground, but not attempt to
advance. Messenger after messenger
was sent back to hurry Franklin;
the skirmishing growing gradually
hotter; until, at 4£ p. m., the Eebels
having, in overwhelming force, out
flanked our handful on both wings,
made a grand charge, which was
gallantly resisted ; but the odds were
three or four to one, and our front
recoiled from the field wherein their
line was formed to the woods this
side, losing heavily.
It was now 5 p. m. Gen. Franklin
had come up, with Gen. Cameron's
(3d) division of the 13th corps, and a
new and somewhat stronger line was
formed; which the exulting foe at
once flanked and charged, crushing
it back in spite of its desperate re
sistance. And now the narrow,
winding forest-road was found so
choked with the supply-train of Lee's
division that any orderly retreat be
came impossible, and 10 of Eansom's
guns were lost, with perhaps 1,000
prisoners, including Col. Emerson,
67th Indiana. Gens. Franklin and
Eansom, and Col. Eobinson, 3d cav
alry brigade, were wounded, and Col.

11 April i.

540

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

J. W. Vance, 96th Ohio, and Lt.-Col.
Webb, 77th Illinois, killed. Eepeat-
ed attempts to reform our disheart
ened men, so as to present a fresh
barrier to the enemy's victorious ad
vance, proved of no avail. The
Press (Philadelphia) had a corre
spondent watching the fight, who thus
reports its melancholy finale :
"The reader will understand that our
forces were in an open space — a pine- wood
clearing — that our line of advance was one
single, narrow road ; and that, having made
the attack ourselves, we found the enemy
superior, and were compelled to make a de
fensive light. There were other troubles.
The country was so formed that artillery
was almost useless. We could not place a
battery without exposing it in a manner
that suggested madness; and yet we had
the guns, and were compelled to fight them.
A further disadvantage was to be found in
the long trains that followed the different
divisions. The cavalry had the advance ;
immediately behind, came the baggage-
wagons, moving in a slow, cumbersome
manner, and retarding the movements of
the infantry. This made it impossible for
us to have our divisions in supporting dis
tance ; and, when the time came for that
support, it could not be rendered. Gen,
Banks perceived this at once ; but it was
too late to remedy it, and he was compelled
to fight the battle in the best manner pos
sible. Ransom's division had been engaged
and routed. Cameron's division was in the
thickest of the fight. Gen. Franklin had
arrived on the field, and a division of his
magnificent corps, under Gen. Emory, was
pushing along rapidly. Gen. Banks person
ally directed the fight. Every thing that
man could do he did. Occupying a position
so exposed that nearly every horse ridden
by his staff was wounded, and many killed,
lie constantly disregarded the entreaties of
those around, who begged that he would
retire to some less exposed position. Gen.
Stone, his chief of staff, with his sad, earnest
face, that seemed to wear an unusual ex
pression, was constantly at the front, and
by his reckless bravery did much to encour
age the men. And so the fight raged. The
enemy were pushing a temporary advan
tage. Our army was merely forming into
position to make a sure battle.
" Then came one of those unaccountable
events that no genius or courage can con
trol. I find it impossible to describe a
scene so sudden and bewildering, although
I was present, partly an actor, partly a

spectator, and saw plainly every thing that
took place. The battle was progressing
vigorously. The musketry firing was loud
and continuous ; and, having recovered
from the danger experienced by Ransom's
division, we felt seoure of the position. I
was slowly riding along the edge of a
wood, conversing with a friend, who had
just ridden up, about the events and pros
pects of the day. We had drawn into A
the side of the wood to allow an ammuni
tion wagon to pass ; and, although many
were observed going to the rear, some, on
foot and some on horseback, we regarded it
as an occurrence familiar to every battle,
and it occasioned nothing but a passing re
mark. '' I noticed that most of those thus wildly
riding to the rear were negroes, hangers-on,
and serving-men ; for, now that we have
gone so deeply into this slaveholding coun
try, every non-commissioned offioer has a
servant, and every servant a mule. These
people were the first to show any panio ;
but their scamper along tbe road only gave
amusement to the soldiers, who pelted them
with stones and whipped their flying ani
mals with sticks to increase their speed.
Suddenly, there was a rush, a shout, the
crashing of trees, the breaking down of rails,
the rush and scamper of men. It was as
sudden as though a thunder-bolt had fallen
among us and set the pines on fire. What
caused it, or when it commenced, no one
knew. I turned to my companion to in
quire the reason of this extraordinary pro
ceeding; but, before he had a chance to
reply, we found ourselves swallowed up, as
it were, in a hissing,- seething, bubbling
whirlpool of agitated men. We could not
avoid the current; we could not stem it;
and, if we hoped to live in that mad com
pany, we must ride with the rest of them.
Our line of battle had given way. Gen.
Banks took off his hat and implored his men
to remain ; his staff-officers did the same :
but it was of no avail. Then the General
drew his saber and endeavored to rally his
men ; but they would not listen. Behind
him, the Bebels were shouting and advanc
ing. Their musket-balls filled the air with
that strange, file-rasping sound that war has
made familiar to our fighting men. The
teams were abandoned by the drivers, the
traces cut, and the animals ridden off by
the frightened men. Bareheaded riders
rode with agony in their faces ; and, for at
least ten minutes, it seemed as if we were
going, to destruction together. It was my
fortune to see the first battle of Bull Run,
and to be among those who made that cele
brated midnight retreat toward Washing
ton. Tbe retreat of the 4th division was
as much a rout as that of the first Federal

EMORY STOPS THE REBELS AT PLEASANT GROYE. 541

army, with the exception that fewer men
were engaged, and our men fought here
with a valor that was not shown on that
serious, sad, mock-heroic day in July." "
Gen. Emory, advancing behind
Franklin, had been early advised
that matters were dubious at the
front, and directed to take a position
wherein to stop the mischief. Ad
vancing four miles farther, he halted
his division at Pleasant Gkove,
three miles behind Sabine Cross
roads, and disposed it for the emer
gency. It held the western edge of
a wood, with an open field in front,
sloping toward Mansfield ; and here
Gen. Dwight formed his (1st) bri
gade across the road, with the 3d,
Col. Lewis Benedict,13 on his left;

the 2d, Gen. McMillen, in reserve ;
the 161st N. Tork, Lt.-Col. Kinsey,
being thrown out in advance as skir
mishers ; Lee's and Franklin's flying
columns being allowed to pass
through and form (if they would)
behind the living rampart thus erect
ed. Hardly was Emory's formation
completed when the flushed Eebels
came headlong on, driving in our
skirmishers pell-mell, and charging
up the slope as though there were
only the routed fugitives from the
Cross-roads before them. Their left
overlapping our right, Gen. McMil
len was thrown forward on that
wing, and our fire reserved until

u A grumbling private of the 83 d Ohio thus
Bums up his view of this affair:
"The battle was shockingly managed. It
was, no doubt, a surprise on the General com
manding. He endeavored to charge the enemy
with a baggage-train, but it did n't work. * * *
Sens. Banks and Franklin did n't believe there
was any force in our front but a few skirmish
ers, and, by their incredulity, lost the day."
A letter to The Missouri Republican has the
following :
" About 3 p. m., when within two miles of
Mansfield, the advance, consisting of cavalry,
artillery, and the 4th division, 13th army corps,
while marching through a dense pine forest,
there being a thick undergrowth of pines on
either side of the road, were attacked by the Re
bels in great force, on both flanks and in front.
The engagement soon became general : the Re
bels suddenly opening with artillery and mus
ketry, charging our surprised and panic-stricken
columns with terrific yells, evincing a daring
and determination worthy of a better cause.
Gen. Banks and Gen. Franklin hurried to the
front, and were in the thickest of the fight.
The artillery was speedily put in position at the
extreme front, and, for a while, did excellent
service. Finding the front rather too dangerous
for Major-Generals, Banks and Franklin return
ed to the rear of the wagon-train, just in time to
save themselves from capture, as the Rebels
pressed upon both sides of our army with
crushing effect. A ball passed through Gen.
Banks's hat. Every thing was soon in the
Wildest confusion ; the wagon- train, being in the
rear and in the narrow road, attempted to turn
round to fall back, and completely blocked up
the way, cutting off the advance both from a
way of retreat and from reenforcements. The
Rebels had formed in the shape of an isosceles

triangle, leaving the base open, and at the apex
planting their artillery. Our advance marched
directly into the triangle, having the two wings
of the Rebel forces on either side of them.
These wings were speedily connected, compel
ling our forces to retreat or surrender. The bat
teries above mentioned, consisting of 20 pieces
in aU, were now captured, together with nearly
all their officers and men. The Chicago Mercan
tile battery was captured entire, and I am in
formed that all her officers and men fell into the
hands of the enemy. The 4th division, 13th
corps, 2,800 men, under Gen. Ransom, and Gen.
Lee's cavalry, about 3,000 strong, and the bat
teries above mentioned, were the forces in ad
vance of the wagon-train. These forces fought
desperately for a while, but gave way to the
superior numbers of the Rebels, and retreated
in great precipitation. The scene of this retreat
beggars all description. Gen. Franklin said of
it, that ' Bull Run was not _ circumstance in
comparison.' Gen. Ransom was wounded in
the knee, but rode off the field before he was
compelled, by loss of blood, to dismount. Capt.
Dickey, of Gen. Ransom's staff, was shot through
the head and killed instantly. His body
was left on the field. The position of the wag
on-train in the narrow road was the great blun
der of the affair. The rear was completely
blocked up, rendering the retreat very difficult,
and, in fact, almost impossible. Cavalry horses
were dashing at full speed through the roads,
endangering infantry and other pedestrians more
than Rebel musketry : the retreat having be
come so precipitate that all attempts to make a
stand, for a while, seemed impossible.
" The immense baggage and supply train of
Gen. Lee's cavalry, consisting of 269 wagons,
nearly all fell into the hands of the enemy, to
gether with the mules attached thereto."
13 Of Albany, N. Y.

542

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

they were close upon our line ; when
a deadly volley swept them down
like grass; Gen. Mouton being
among the killed. But, though
somewhat astonished, they were not
dismayed ; their superiority in num
bers more than counterbalancing our
advantage of position. For an hour
and a half, the fighting continued at
close quarters, till darkness arrested
it — all the enemy's impetuous charges
having been repelled by the steady
valor of our men ; their losses being
at least double ours. Emory's divi
sion had saved our army, and prob
ably our fleet also."
Smith's veterans were still behind.
To remain on the ground watered
with the blood of both armies was to
fight again at daylight with half our
force against every fighting Eebel
between Shreveport and the Missis
sippi. To retreat would enable the
worsted foe to claim a second victory.
Banks preferred the substance to the
shadow, and fell back unmolested
during the night 15 miles, to Pleas
ant Hill : Gen. Emory covering the

retreat, after burying his dead and
caring for his wounded, and only
reaching our new position at 8^
A.M." Thus far, we had fought against
fearful odds — odda that need not,
therefore, should not, have been en
countered. At Pleasant Hill, the
case was somewhat altered. Gen.
Smith had arrived and halted here
at night, as had Col. Dickey's Black
brigade; swelling Banks's forces to
fully 15,000 men. But for yesterday's
disasters, it might have been nearly
20,000. Our line of battle was form
ed with Franklin's three brigades in
front, supported by Smith's, where
of the 2d, composed of the 14th, 27th,
and 32d Iowa, and the 24th Missouri,
under Col. Wm. T. Shaw, 14th Iowa,
were formed directly across the main
road to Shreveport, whereon the Ee
bels must advance, along the thinly
wooded brow of a slight acclivity,
half a mile west of the gentle emi
nence aud petty village of Pleasant
Hill ; though the bulk of our army
was formed, and most of the

14 The Chicago Tribune's correspondent says :
" About a half a mile from the field, the 3d
division, 13th corps, under Gen. Cameron, eame
up and formed in line of battle ; and here two
guns ofthe Mercantile battery were put in posi
tion and opened with good effect upon the ene
my. For a short time, it seemed as if a success
ful rally would be made at this point ; but the
effort was in vain. The entire strength of the
3d division on the field was only 1,600 men, and,
after a short and courageous resistance, the line
gave way. A check, however, had been given
to the panic, and many of the troops formed into
squads and continued the retreat in better order.
Efficient aid was also rendered by Col. Robinson,
commanding a cavalry brigade detailed to guard
the trains, who, hearing the rapidly approaching
firing, hastened with a large portion of his com
mand to the front, and, wheeling into line in
perfect order, delivered a most destructive vol
ley into the Rebels, who were swarming in the
road, and then fell back in good order. For full
a mile from the place where Cameron's division
had met us, the retreat was continued ; the Re
bels following closely upon our heels, and keep*
iug up a continuous fire, when, all at once, as

we emerged into a more open piece of woods, we
came upon Emory's division, of the 19th corps,
forming in magnificent order in line of battle
across the road.
" Opening their ranks to permit the retreating
forces to pass through, each regiment of this
fine division, closing up on the double-quick,
quietly awaited the approach of the Rebels;
and, within less than five minutes, on they came;
screaming and firing as they advanced, but still
in good order and with closed ranks. All at
once, from that firm line of gallant soldiers that
now stood so bravely between us and our pur
suing foes, there came forth a course of rever
berating thunders that rolled from flank to flank
in one continuous peal, sending a storm of lead
en hail into the Rebel ranks that swept them
back in dismay, and left the ground covered
with their killed and wounded. In vain the Re
bels strove to rally against this terrific fire. At
every effort, they were repulsed ; and, after a
short contest, they fell back, evidently most ter
ribly punished. It was now quite dark, and
each party bivouacked on the field."
" April 9.

THE REBELS BEATEN AT PLEASANT HILL.

.543

fighting took place, on the right
of the road : our left being refused,
with strong reserves posted upon
and around Pleasant Hill, to be
used as circumstances should dic
tate. The Eebels had followed our re-.
treating column from Pleasant Grove,
but not sharply ; and they, from about
11 A. m., cautiously skirmished and
felt of our lines, to find a weak point,
while their forces were coming up
and getting into position, till about 4
p. m., before making a serious attack.
Meantime, Banks had dispatched his
trains and heavy artillery, guarded
by most of our cavalry, with the
* Black troops and the remains of Ean-
som's pulverized division, on the road
to Grand Ecore ; thus weakening our
force at the front, in the belief that
they would not attack till the mor
row. Our remaining brigade of cav
alry, Col. O. P. Gooding, had been
Bent out to reconnoiter a mile or two
on the road to Shreveport, and had
been roughly handled. But now, a
Eebel battery opened, and their in
fantry advanced ; when, their inten
tion of turning our right becoming
manifest, Emory's 3d brigade, Col.
Benedict, moved to the support of
his 1st on that flank, and Shaw's
brigade of Smith's corps aforesaid
moved forward and took its position
in our front ; so that, when the ene
my charged in earnest, the brunt
of the fight fell on this gallant bri

gade. It could hardly have found
one more able or willing to meet
it." At 4 p. m., the Eebel skirmish-fire
had seemed suddenly to increase and
become general ; but it soon died
away almost wholly, as if the courage
to attack had failed. But a few mi
nutes elapsed, however, till our skir
mishers were driven in by two charg
ing columns, advancing obliquely
against our left center, and striking
heavily Emory's 3d brigade, Col.
Lewis Benedict, which, after fighting
desperately, gave way, and was slow
ly pushed back on our reserves : but
not till Col. Benedict had been
wounded. Emory's 1st and 2d bri
gades were soon enveloped on three
sides in overwhelming force and
crowded back ; the enemy now pass
ing our right and center in eager
pursuit, and pressing on nearly to
Gen. Smith's position in reserve ;
when, after an exchange of several
volleys, he was charged in turn by
Smith's Western veterans, led by
Gen. Mower, and by Emory's divi
sion, now formed on their right, and
fairly routed ; part of the foe being
driven two miles : the 49th Illinois,
Maj. Morgan, rushing upon one of
their batteries, taking two of its guns,
and 100 prisoners. The 58th Illinois,
brigaded with the 89th Indiana and
119th Illinois, striking the enemy in
flank, retook one of our lost batteries,
and captured 400 prisoners, with 6

"A newspaper correspondent on the field
Writes: " Col. W. T. Shaw, commanding the 2d bri
gade, 3d division, 16th corps, deserves great
credit for the able manner in which he suppresses
Rebel cavalry charges. CoL Sweitzer of the  1-
Texas cavalry, undertook to break CoL Shaw's
lines by a charge. Orders were given to 'Re
serve your fire, boys, until he gets within
thirty yards, and then give it to himP As
the cavalry dashed on at a gallop, each infan

tryman had selected his victim, and, waiting
till the three or four hundred were within
about forty yards, the 14th Iowa emptied
nearly every saddle as quickly as though the
order had been given to dismount.
"Out of this Rebel cavalry regiment, not
more than ten men escaped; and the whole
movement was done with that terrible death-
alacrity which the science of war teaches, and
the awful reality of which the eye alone can de
scribe to the soul."

544

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

caissons and their horses." Gen. M.
M. Parsons, of Mo., w„s among the
Eebel killed. The fall of the brave
Col. Benedict — wounded a second
time, and now mortally, as he charg
ed at the head of his brigade, with a
shout of triumph on his lips — was
part of the cost of this undeniable
victory. That the battle of Pleasant Hill
was bravely fought against odds in
numbers and dearly won by our
soldiers, is not fairly disputable;
though the fact that Gen. Banks de
cided to follow, before morning, that
considerable portion of his army
which, before it commenced, he had
started, guarding his trains, on the
road to Grand Ecore, has thrown
some haze over the result. But Pol
lard — who always claims a Eebel
victory where it is possible to do so
— makes no victory out of this ; while
Dick Taylor — who addresses the Ee
bel army as " Major-General com

manding," though Kirby Smith was
commander of the department, and
probably not so far off as Shreveport
— after claiming 21 guns, 2,500 pris
oners, 250 wagons, and many stands
of colors, as trophies of the preced
ing day's triumph, is only able to
say this of the battle of Pleasant
Hill :
" The gallant divisions from Missouri and
Arkansas, unfortunately absent on the 8th
instant, marched 45 miles in two days, to
share the glories of Pleasant Hill. This was
emphatically the soldiers' victory. In spite
of the strength of the enemy's position, held
by fresh troops of the 16th corps, your valor
and devotion triumphed over all. Darkness
closed one of the hottest fights of the
war. The morning of the 10th instant
dawned upon a flying foe, with our cav
alry in pursuit, capturing prisoners at every
step." No prisoners [we took at least
500] ; no guns [we took several] ; no
colors; no trophies of any kind —
nothing but the fact that Banks re
treated after the battle, is cited to
give color to a Eebel claim of tri-

17 The New York Herald's correspondent says :
" At twenty minutes past 5, the enemy ap
peared on the plain at the edge of the woods,
and the battle commenced : our batteries open
ing upon him with case-shell as he marched at
double-quick across the field to the attack.
" Our left, Col. Benedict's brigade, came into
action first ; and our right and center were en
gaged soon after. The battle now raged fiercely :
the air was full of lead and iron, and the roar
of musketry and artillery incessant. The car
nage on both sides was fearful: the men fighting
almost hand to hand, and with great despera
tion. " Nothing could exceed the determined brave
ry of our troops; but it was evident Emory's
division was fighting the whole Rebel army.
Pressed at all points by overwhelming numbers,
our line fell back up the hill \o the 16th corps,
whieh was concealed just behind the crest.
Taylor's battery for a time fell into the hands
of the enemy.
" General Smith made all preparations to re
ceive the advancing foe ; and, as the human tide
came rolling up the hill, he looked quietly on
until the enemy were almost up to the muzzles
of his guns ; when a sheet of flame flashed along
his lines, and, with the crash of ten thousand
thunders, musket-balls, mingled with grape and
canister, swept the plain like a besom of de

struction. Hundreds fell dead and dying before
that awful fire.
" Scarcely had the seething lead left the guns
when the word ' Charge 1 ' was given, and 1,000
brave men precipitated themselves upon the
shattered ranks of the enemy. Emory's- divi
sion, which had only yielded to superior num
bers, and remained unbroken, now rushed for
ward and joined the 16th corps, driving the Re
bels rapidly down the hill to the woods, where
they broke and fled in the greatest confusion
and dismay.
" CoL Benedict, while gallantly leading his
brigade in the charge, fell dead, pierced by five
balls. "The battle was fought, and the victory won.
Our troops followed the Rebels until night put
an end to the pursuit.
" In the last charge, we recaptured Taylor's
battery, which had been lost in the earlier part
of the action, and retook two guns of Nim's
battery, which had been lost in the battle ofthe
preceding day. The 10-pounder Parrott gun,
which the Rebels captured last fall at Carrion
Crow, was also retaken.
¦ " Five hundred prisoners, all the dead and
wounded, three battle-standards, and a large
number of small arms, fell into our hands.
" Our victorious ai-my slept upon the battle
field, which was one of the bloodiest of the
war."

BANE1S RETREATS TO GRAND ECORE'.

545

umph here. 'The defeat is thus vir
tually confessed.
But why did Banks retreat, when
his soldiers were eager to advance,
and efface the stinging recollection
of the blundering disaster of the
8th ? He says in his official report :
"At the close ofthe engagement, the vic
torious party found itself, without rations
and water. To clear the field for the fight,
the train had been sent to. the rear upon the
single. line of communication through the
woods, and could not be brought to the
front during the night. There was water
neither for man nor beast; except such as the
now exhausted wells had. afforded during
the day for miles around. Previous to the
movement of the army from Natehitoehes,
orders had. been given to the transport fleet,
with a portion of the 16th corps, under the
command of Gen. Kilby Smith, to move up
ithe river, if it was found practicable, to
some point near Springfield landing, -with a
view of effecting a junction with the army
at that point on the river. The surplus am
munition and supplies were on board these
transports. It was impossible to ascertain
whether the fleet had been able to reach the
point designated. The rapidly falling rivei^
and the increased difficulties of1 navigation,
made it appear almost certain that it would
not be able to attain the point proposed".
A squadron of cavalry, sent down to the
river, accompanied by Mr. Young,- of the
engineer corps, . who was thoroughly ac
quainted with the country, reported, on the
day of the battle, that no tidings of the fleet
could be obtained on the river; and we
were compelled to assume that the increas
ing difficulties of navigation had prevented
it, even if disaster had not occurred from
the obstructions which the enemy had- placed
in the river.
"These considerations, the absolute de
privation of water for man or beast, the ex
haustion of rations, and the failure to effect
a connection with . the fleet on the river,
made it- necessary for the army, although
victorious in the terrible struggle through
which it had just passed, to ; retreat to a
point where it would be certain of commu
nicating with the fleet, and where it would
have an opportunity of reorganization. The
shattered condition of the 13th army corps
and the cavalry made this indispensable.
The wounded were gathered from the bat
tle-field, placed in comfortable hospitals,
and left under the care of competent sur
geons and assistants. The dead remaining
on the field were, as far as possible, buried
during the night. The next day, medical
vol. n. — 35

supplies and provisions, with competent at
tendants, were sent in for the sustenance
of the wounded ; and at daybreak the army
reluctantly fell back to its position at Grand
Ecore, for the purpose of communicating.
with the fleet and obtaining supplies ; to
the great disappointment ofthe troops, who,
flushed with success, were eager for another
fight." It certainly would seem that the
impulse of the soldiers was, in this
case, more trustworthy than the dis
cretion of the General. For, the
want of water was at least as great
on the part of the enemy as on ours,
and can not have amounted to an
absolute drouth in a region generally.
wooded and not absolutely flat, nor
streamless, with Sabine river within-
a day's march on one flank, and Eed
river as near on the other. It is
surely to be regretted that our army, if.
unable to advance, had not moved by
the right flank to Eed river, or simply,
held its ground for two or three days,
while its wounded were sent away to
Grand Ecore, instead of being aban
doned to the enemy.
Banks admits a loss of 18 guns
only on the 8th, with 125 wagons,
and claims a gain of three guns on
the 9th ; at the close of which day,
he reports that
" The troops held in reserve moved for
ward at the critical moment, and main
tained our position, from which the enemy
was driven precipitately and with terrible
destruction of life. He fled to the woods
upon the right, and was pursued with great
energy by the whole of our forces, until it
was impossible in the darkness tor distin
guish friend from foe. The losses were
great on both sides ; but that of the Eebels,
as we could judge from the appearance of
the battle-field, more than double our own."
Banks admits a total loss of 3,969
men in the collisions; of the 7th, 8th,
and '9th of April— 289- killed, 1,541
wounded, and 2,150 missing, mostly
prisoners — and says that We fought
and won at Pleasant Hill with 15,000

546

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

against 22,000. The simple fact that
Taylor, and Pollard after him, with
Kirby Smith's report of the cam
paign, are silent with regard to the
Eebel losses, is eloquent on this
point. Assuming Banks's entire loss
during this campaign at 5,000 men,
it is morally certain that he inflicted
at least equal loss on the Eebels.
Even in guns — counting those cap
tured with Fort de Eussy — they had
nothing to boast of.
Still, the prestige of victory was
with them, the mortification of high-
raised, blasted hopes, with us. We
had undertaken to crush the Eebel
power west of the Mississippi, and
had fitted out costly expeditions —
naval as well as military — for that
end ; and had ingloriously failed.
Not only were the Eebels encour
aged by this, but the timid and the
wavering Louisianians and Texans
were attached to the Eebel cause;
while the cowering, silent, long-ex
pectant, heart-sick Unionists of the
South-west were plunged into a new
abyss of bitter anguish and despair.

Gen. Banks fell back, unassailed,
to Grand Ecore; the enemy now
giving more immediate attention to
Porter's fleet, which had worked its
way slowly and laboriously up the
river to Springfield landing ; where
the Eebels had sunk a large steam
boat across the channel to arrest its
progress. Just as Porter Was com
mencing operations for its removal,'
a courier from Gen. Banks brought
tidings of the reverse at Sabine
Cross-roads, and the recoil of our
army ; with directions to turn back ;
which were sadly obeyed. The river
was remarkably low, and still fall-
IS April 12.

ing; the difficulty of navigating it
with our lighter gunboats and trans
ports almost insuperable; and now
the enemy commenced annoying us
at every bend and from every covert ;
the banks being often so high that
their sharp-shooters could with per
fect impunity fire over them at the
men hard at work on the decks of
our vessels, getting them over the
numerous shoals and bars. The first
attack was made at a point called
Coushatta ; after that, Harrison, with
1,900 cavalry, and 4 guns, persistently
annoyed us: our vessels making at
best but 30 miles per day ; and com
pelled to tie up at night, which ena
bled him easily to keep up with them.
At length,18 a more determined attack
was made from the right or south
bank, by 2,000 infantry (Texans)
with 2 guns, led by Gen. Tom Green,
whose head was blown off by a shell
and one of his guns disabled, before
his men could be quieted. Never
was attack more reckless than that
made by his infuriated, rum-crazed
followers, who fancied that they could
carry gunboats in that narrow, crook
ed channel, by infantry charges ; and
would not be undeceived until the
Lexington, Lt. G. M. Bache, got them
under a raking fire of canister, which
soon strewed the bank for a mile with
their bodies. Porter reports their
loss here at 500. Ealby Smith's land
force of course cooperated with the
gunboats in the contest. The lesson
was so impressive that 5,000 Eebels,
who were hastening to intercept the
fleet at a point below, concluded, on
hearing of it, to defer the enterprise.
Meantime, our fleet pursued its ar
duous voyage till, at Compte," seve
ral being hopelessly aground, Porter
19 April 13.

PORTER'S FLEET WORKING DOWN RED RITER.

54.

hastened down to Gen. Banks, at
Grand Ecore, six miles below ; when
troops were sent up to their relief;
and they were brought down with
out further annoyance.
At Grand Ecore, Porter found
most of his larger vessels aground —
Beveral of them drawing a foot more
water than there was on the bar at
that point. While he was getting
them over, the Eastport, which had
gone eight miles farther down, was
sunk ; and several days' hard work
were required to stop her leaks,
pump her out, and get her afloat
again. By this time, Banks had
concluded to continue his retreat to
Alexandria and below — the return
of Smith's force to the other side of
the Mississippi being imperatively
required — and six days were con
sumed a° after the Eastport was afloat
in arduous efforts to get her to Alex
andria, she running fast aground
eight times by the way. At last —
Banks's army being now 60 miles
ahead, the Eastport having been
divested of her guns to induce her
to float, and only three of the lighter
gunboats left to convoy her — she
went hard aground again, whe|i
Bcarcely thirty miles below Grand
Ecore, and could not be got afloat ;
whereon Porter reluctantly gave the
order for her destruction — Lt. Com'g
Phelps being the last to leave her,
after applying a match to the train
whereby she was blown up, set on
fire, and completely demolished. At
this moment, 1,200 Eebels, on the
right bank, made a rush to board the
Cricket, which stood out from the
bank and opened on them with
grape and canister, while the Fort
Hindman and another gunboat ob

tained a cross-fire on them, and in
five minutes there was not a Eebel
in sight ; . nor did they again make
their appearance till our boats had
reached Cane river, 20 miles below ;
when, on rounding a point, they
were saluted from the right bank by
18 Eebel guns.
The Cricket, acting Master H. H.
Gorringe, was ahead, and received
every shot from the Eebel battery ;
most of them going through her.
Her after gun was struck by a shell
and disabled ; every gunner being
killed or wounded. At that moment,
another shell exploded by her for
ward gun, sweeping off every gunner,
and, entering the fire-room, left but
one man there unwounded. Her
decks had by this time been de
serted. But Adm. Porter, who was
on board, took command, improvis
ing gunners from the negroes on
board, put an assistant in place of
the chief engineer, who had been
killed, stepped to the pilot-house,
where one of the pilots had been
wounded, and ordered her run by
the battery ; and it was done, under
a terrible fire.
Admiral Porter now attempted to
head her up stream ; but this proved
impracticable : so he let her drift
around the point, so that he could,
with his two still serviceable guns,
shell the Eebel- battery in the rear.
In the disturbance thus occasioned,
the light-draft Juliet and pump-boat
Champion, lashed together, were
enabled to escape from under the
bank where they had helplessly
drifted — out of the Eebel fire— the
Juliet having been disabled and had
her steam-pipe cut by the Eebel balls.
The Hindman, from above, now

' April 21-6.

548

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

joining the Cricket below in enfilad
ing the enemy's battery, the Cham
pion was enabled to tow the Juliet
to a place of comparative safety.
Still, the Hindman dared not at
tempt to pass: so Porter, in the
Cricket, ran down three or four
miles to a point where he had di
rected two iron-clads from below to
meet him ; getting aground by the
way, and losing three hours in get
ting afloat again. He reached the
appointed rendezvous after dark ;
finding there the iron-clad Osage
fighting • a Eebel field-battery on
shore, at which the Lexington had
been firing also ; having been hulled
fifteen times, but had only one man
killed. Darkness now fell; and it
was impossible to return to the
Hindman ; which, however, ran the
battery above, having her wheel-
ropes cut away by their shot, and
hence whirling around as she drifted
by, being badly cut up in the pro
cess. The Juliet likewise got by,
badly, damaged, with 15 of her crew
killed or wounded ; while the Cricket
had been hulled 38 times and had 25
disabled — half her crew. The Hind
man had 3 killed and 4 wounded.
The Champion was disabled, set on
fire, and destroyed.
No further annoyance was experi
enced in reaching Alexandria. Ad
miral Porter estimates that he had
killed and wounded at least 500 of
the Eebels on his way down; while his
own loss was less than 100. The loss
of Gen. Green was severely felt by the
enemy. Porter attributes his reverses
to the low state ofthe river ; saying :
" I can not blame myself for coming np
at the only season when the river rises.
All the [other] rivers are full and rising ;
but Eed river is falling at the rate of two
31 April 22.

inches per day — a most unusual occur
rence — this river being always full till the
middle of June."
It was reported that the Eebels had
induced this anomaly, by damming
the outlets of several of the quite
capacious lakes which discharge into
this river, 
Gen. Banks remained at Grand
Ecore till the fleet was well on its
way below; meantime, the Eebel
General Bee, with some 8,000 men
and 16 guns, had taken a strong po
sition at the crossing of Cane river,
40 miles below, and, with the river
on one hand and an impenetrable
swamp on the other, expected to stop
here our army ; which, when it should,
be deeply involved in front, the rest
of the Eebel army was to strike in
flank and rear. Banks, apprised of
this arrangement, moved suddenly at
daybreak31 from Grand Ecore, march
ing his army nearly the whole 40 miles,
before halting for the night, so as to
strikeBeeunexpectedlynextmorning. Arrived at the river," Emory, with
his 1st division, menaced the enemy.
directly in front ; while Gen. H. W.
Birge, with his own brigade and
Col. Francis Fessenden's of the 19th
(Franklin's) corps, moving three miles
up stream, flanked the Eebel position,
striking heavily on its right ; the
charge being led with great gallantry
by Col. Fessenden, who was here.
severely wounded. The movement
was a complete success : the worsted
Eebels abandoning their position and
retreating in disorder, on the Fort
Jessup road, leading south-westward
into Texas. Of course, the attack on
Kilby Smith, covering our rear, fail
ed also ; the Eebel charge being re
pulsed, and not renewed. Mower's
(16th) corps was in line on Kilby
" April 23.

BAILEY GETS OUR FLEET OYER THE FALLS

549

Smith's right, but had no chance to
fight. Our loss here at the front was
200 : Kilby Smith's, at the rear, was
only 50. The enemy's must have
been greater."
Here — as the return of Gen. Smith's
force to its proper department had
long since been demanded, and was
now, imperatively insisted on — a far
ther retreat was deemed inevitable ;
and the river was now so low that
the fleet could not be got over the
falls. For a time, its destruction
seemed imminent; but Lt.-Col. Jo
seph Bailey, engineer of the 19th
corps, had foreseen this difficulty,
and, on the battle-field of Pleasant
Hill, while our troops awaited the
Eebel onset, had suggested to Gen.
Franklin a means of overcoming it.
Franklin approved the project; so
did Banks, when it was imparted to
him ; but Admiral Porter evinced
no faith or interest in it till some
time afterward. But Banks's official
sanction was sufficient ; so Bailey set
to work," and soon had a main dam
of timber and stone constructed across
the channel ofthe river — here 758 feet
wide, 4 to 6 deep, and running at the
rate of 10 miles per hour — a little be
low the fall, whereby the depth of wa
ter in the main channel on the rapid
was increased over five feet. Eight or
nine days' work of many willing
hands had nearly completed this dam,
and had rendered the falls passable
by our largest boats above them,
when the impetuous current swept 26
away a part Of it ; whereupon, the
Admiral — (who had several of his
gunboats at the head, preparing to
make the passage, and might have
had them taken down) — on rising

next day, rode up and ordered the
Lexington to be sent down before
the water — by this time considerably
lower — should have fallen too far;
and this was obeyed with entire suc
cess. The gunboat took the chute
without a balk, and then rushed like
an arrow through the narrow aper
ture in the lower dam ; pitched down '
the roaring torrent ; hung for a mo
ment on the rocks below ; and was
then swept on into deep water, when
she rounded gracefully to the bank,
amid the thunderous cheer of thirty
thousand loyal voices. She had re
ceived no damage whatever.
Porter, apprehensive that he had
seen the last of dam-building, order
ed the Neosho to follow directly ;
her hatches being battened down,
and every precaution taken to in
sure her safe descent. But her pi
lot lost heart as he neared the leap,
and stopped her engine ; so that for
a moment her hull was submerged
by the current. She rose directly,
however, and was swept along to
safety with only one hole knocked
through her bottom, which was stop
ped the next hour ; the Hindman and
Osage following her without acci
dent or damage. In fact, two sunk
en coal-boats, forming part of the
dam, whose loss had been deplored,
had only been forced around nearly
parallel to the current, so as to form
a buffer or cushion, whereby our ves
sels were prevented from running on
ugly rocks which might have proved
their destruction.
The deeper gunboats were still
above. But Bailey now renewed his
efforts, with our whole army as his
free-handed assistants ; and, in three

ported a heavy loss on their part of killed and
wounded." ** April 30. » May 9.

"Kilby Smith testifies :
" We took many prisoners, all of whom re-

550

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

days more, had constructed several
wing-dams, directly at the head of
the falls, raising the water on the
rapids over a foot additional; and,
in three days more," the gunboats
Mound City, Carondelet, Pittsburg,
Ozark, Louisville, Chilicothe, and
two tugs, had successively passed the
falls and the dams, with the loss of
one man swept overboard and two or
three rudders unshipped, were coaled
and moving down the river, convoy
ing the transports — the back-water
from the swollen Mississippi (150
miles distant) enabling them to pass
all the bars below without delay or
difficulty. Ere this, the gunboats Signal and
Covington, with the transport War
ner, steaming down the river in fan
cied security, were fired on, soon
after daybreak," at Dunn's bayou,
30 miles below Alexandria, by a
large Eebel force, and thoroughly
riddled; the Covington being aban
doned and burned ; while the Signal
and Warner were compelled to sur
render. There were some 211 sol
diers on board of these vessels, in
cluding Col. Sharp, 156th N. York,
and Col. Eaynor, 129th Illinois, of
whom but 22 were captured ; 2 hav
ing been killed, and 6 wounded.
The residue took the shore, and es
caped as best they could. Just before
this, the City Belle, transport, con
veying the 120th Ohio, 425 strong, up
to Alexandria, was likewise captured;
only 200 of the soldiers escaping.
Gen. McClernand, with the larger
portion of our forces who had for
months held the island posts on the
•coast of Western Texas, having
evacuated those postB by order of

Gen. Grant, arrived at Alexandria"
soon after the return of our army
to that point. Gen. Fitz Henry
Warren, who had been left in com
mand at Matagorda bay, with the
remainder of those forces, evacuated,
soon afterward, all our posts on the
coast of Texas save those on the Eio
Grande, and came around to reen
force Gen. Banks ; but was stopped
by formidable Eebel batteries at
Marksville, on the Eed river, when
he fell back to Fort de Eussy and
strengthened that post.
Banks, upon reaching Alexandria
from above, had found" there Gen.
Hunter, with reiterated orders from
Grant to bring his Shreveport cam
paign to a close without delay.
Banks sent Hunter back so with dis
patches, stating that the fleet was
above the falls, and that it could not
be left there to the enemy, nor yet
brought over without serious, pro
tracted effort on the part of. the
army. Yet, before the dams were
completed and the gunboats relieved
from their peril, Banks was favored
with a fresh dispatch81 from Hal
leck, saying :
" Lieut. -Gen. Grant directs that orders
heretofore given be so modified that no
troops be withdrawn from operations
against Shreveport and on Ked river, and
that operations there be continued, under
the officer in command, until further
orders." Two weeks earlier, this, with per
mission to retain Smith's corps,
would have been most welcome.
But, before it came to hand, the
Eebels had control of the river be
low as well as above Alexandria, and
a renewal of the campaign was
judged impracticable.
Gen. Banks evacuated Alexandria

ae May 11-13. " May 5. » April 29.

1 April 25. " April 30. al Dated April 30.

BANKS RETREATS TO THE ATCHAFALAYA.

551

simultaneously with the departure
of the fleet ; striking for Simmsport,
on the Atchafalaya. That morning,
a fire broke out in a building on the
levee which had been occupied by
soldiers or refugees ; and, in spite of
the most determined efforts by our
men, a high wind and the proximity
of inflammable substances insured
the destruction of a considerable por
tion of the buildings. Gen. Banks
had apprehended such a disaster, and
had directed Gen. Grover, post com
mandant, to take precautions against
it ; but they proved unavailing. It
is of course probable that some evil-
, disposed person or persons purposely
started the fire.
On the march to Simmsport, a
Eebel cavalry force was encountered
just at daybreak M at Mansnra, near
Marksville, by our advance, and
pushed steadily back across the open
prairie to the woods beyond ; where
a stand was made for three hours —
the fighting being mainly by skir
mishers and artillery — until our
main body had come up, and Gen.
Emory on our right and Gen. A. J.
Smith on our left had flanked the
foe's position, when, after a sharp but
brief struggle, he was driven, with
considerable loss — we recapturing a
part of the prisoners taken with our
vessels on the river ten or twelve
days before. No farther resist
ance being encountered, our advance
reached Simmsport that evening.
The Atchafalaya is here 600 yards
wide, quite deep, and no ordinary
bridge material at hand. Under
Col. Bailey's direction, a bridge was
constructed of steamboats in two
days and a half; the wagon-train
passing over it during the afternoon
" May 16.

of May 19th. As it did so, our rear
at Yellow bayou was assailed by a
Eebel force under Prince Polignac,
whom A. J. Smith beat off, inflicting
a heavy loss in killed, wounded, and
prisoners. Our loss was 150 killed
and wounded. The passage of the
Atchafalaya was completed next
day; and — Gen. Canby, having ap
peared as commander of the trans-
Mississippi department — Gen. Banks
turned over the army to him and
hastened to New Orleans. Gen. A
J. Smith returned hence to his own
department with his somewhat de
pleted command. On his way up
the Mississippi, he landed33 at Sunny-
side, in the south-eastern corner of
Arkansas, and attacked, near Colum
bia, a Eebel force estimated at 3,000,
said to be under command of Mar
maduke, strongly posted across a
bayou emptying into Lake Chicot,
who were worsted and driven, re
treating westward. Our loss here
was 20 killed, 70 wounded ; that of
the enemy about the same.
Gen. Banks's movement on Simms
port having loosened the Eebel hold
on the river at Marksville, Admiral
Porter encountered no farther resist
ance ; but moved down the Eed
nearly parallel with the army, and
resumed his patrol of the Mississippi

Much odium was excited by the
circumstance that sundry cotton sp©-
culators visited Alexandria during
its occupation by our forces, armed
with permits from the President or
the Treasury department; so that
the campaign wore the aspect of a
gigantic cotton raid, prosecuted at
the expense of the country for the
benefit of individuals. Gen. Banks
" June 5.

552

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

was nowise implicated in these sor
did operations ; not so Admiral Por
ter.3* He, unlike Banks, had been an
original advocate of the advance on
Shreveport. He had signalized his
movement up Eed river by a procla
mation or order claiming for the fleet
— that is, in good part, for himself —
all the cotton within a league of that
river as lawful prize' of war. And,
while our army was hard at work to
get his gunboats over the falls on his
return, Government wagons were
engaged in bringing in cotton from
the adjacent plantations, to load
transports that might far better have
been used to bring away the loyal
people of Alexandria, who were left
defenseless to the vengeance of the
returning Eebels.

Gen. Steele moved36 southward
from Little Eock with 7,000 men,
almost simultaneously with Banks's
advance to Alexandria ; Gen. Thay
er, with the Army of the Frontier,
possibly 5,000 strong, having left
Fort Smith two days later, expect
ing to join him at Arkadelphia ;
while Col. Clayton, with a small
force, advanced from Pine Bluff on
Steel's left. Heavy rains, bad roads,
swollen streams, and the absence of
bridges, impeded Thayer's advance,
he having had to large a train; so
that Steele, after waiting two days
at Arkadelphia, pressed on " without
him. Since it crossed the Saline,
tne Eebel cavalry, under Marmaduke
and Shelby, had skirmished sharply
with our advance ; and attempts to
stop it at river-crossings and other
difficult passes were often made, but
generally baffled by flanking. Ster

ling Price, with a considerable force
of Eebel infantry, barred Steele's
way 37 at Prairie d'Anne ; and an ar
tillery fight was kept up for some
hours, till darkness closed it ; when
the enemy attempted to capture our
guns by a rush, but was repulsed,
with loss ; and thereupon retreated to
Washington, on the upper course of
Eed river.38
By this, time, there were rumors in
the air that Banks had been defeated
in Upper Louisiana and compelled
to retreat; rumors which prisoners
and Steele's spies soon corroborated.
Instead of following Price, therefore,
Steele turned sharply to the left, and
marched into Camden ;3B the enemy,
when too late, endeavoring to get
there before him.
While waiting here, the tidings of
Banks's reverses were amply con
firmed ; whereupon, the activity and
daring of the enemy were of course
redoubled. First, a train sent out
16 miles west for forage was attacked
and captured ; " with a loss on our
part of 250 men and 4 guns ; next,
a supply train of 240 wagons, which
had arrived " from Pine Bluff, and,
after being unloaded, had been dis
patched " on its return, guarded by
Lt.-Col. Drake, 36th Iowa, with the
2d brigade of Gen. Salomon's divi
sion, was assaileS next day, when 12
miles out, by Shelby's cavalry, which
it easily beat off, camping for the
night 6 miles farther on its way ; mak
ing, by great exertion, 22 miles next
day; having to corduroy the road
much of the distance.
Next morning,48 while, with diffi
culty making its way through a
swamp four miles long, its advance

"Pollard aiya Porter was already known
(among Rebels) as preeminently " the thief of
the Mississippi."

"March 23-4.
ss April 12.
"April 20.

18 Aprill. "April 10.
'"April 15. "April 18.
"April 22. "April 25.

MARKS'S MILL AND JENKINS'S FERRY.

553

was attacked, as it debouched at
Maeks's Mill, by Gen. Fagan's Ee
bel division, said to be* 6,000 strong,
while most of our men were still
. .making their way through the sWamp
with the Wagons. A desperate but
most unequal fight ensued, in which
the 43d Indiana and 36th Iowa did
all that men could do when con
fronted by several times their num
ber ; Drake making superhuman ef
forts, and being everywhere at the
point of greatest danger, until mor
tally wounded. By this tiine, the
enemy had been enabled to interpose
a strong force between our advance,
thus engaged, and the 77th Ohio,
guarding our rear; when — nearly
one-fourth of our men being killed
and wounded — the residue surren
dered. The 77th, when assailed in
its turn, of course did the same. Some
of our wagons were destroyed ; but
most of them were captured. The
Eebel loss in this engagement was
estimated by our men (probably much
too high) at 1,000. Our own killed
and wounded were fully 250. Our
soldiers here captured were started
southward at 5 p. m., and compelled
to march 52 miles without food or
rest within the next 24 hours. They
reached their destination — the prison-
camp at Tyler, Texas^ — on the 15th
of May. The negro servants of our
officers were shot down in cold bl#od
after the surrender.
Steele, still at Camden, was soon
apprised of this disaster, and regarded
it as a notice to quit. By daylight
of the 27th, Mb army was across the
Washita and in full retreat, amid
constant rains, over horrible roads,
with the Eebel cavalry busy on
tevely side. At Jenkins's Fekkt

(crossing of the Saline)" he was as
sailed in great force by the Eebels,
now led by Kirby Smith in person.
Our men had been working in mud
and rain throughout the night, get
ting their pontoons laid and their
trains across, having had little or
nothing to eat since they left Cam
den, when, at daybreak, the enemy
rushed upon them.
The river bottom is here densely
wooded, which gave a great advan
tage to the defensive. It was sod
den and trodden into deep mire, over
which guns could not be moved un
less on corduroy roads, and into
which the combatants sank at every
step. Gen. S. A. Eice, with his
Iowa brigade, 2,000 strong, had to
bear the brunt of the enemy's attack ;
the disparity in numbers being enor
mous. Part of our army was already
across the river, and could with diffi
culty be brought back*
The 33d Iowa, Col. Mackay, cover
ing the rear,* was first impetuously
attacked and pressed in, though the
50th Indiana had advanced to its
support. These fell back behind the
9th Wisconsin and 29th Iowa, which
were in turn fiercely assailed ; and it
became necessary to order up all our
troops south of the river to their sup
port. Brig.-Gen. Eice was in im
mediate command. Three several
attacks, with different divisions in
front, were made on our steadfast
heroes, who repelled each with great
slaughter. Our right flank being
threatened, the 43d Illinois and part
of the 40th Iowa were ordered to
cross a swollen, muddy tributary,
known as Cox's creek, into which
they plunged with a shout, dashed
across, and drove off the enemy.

" April 30.

554

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

The last grand attack was made on
our left and left center, and succeeded
in turning our extreme left, held by
the 33d Iowa, whose ammunition
had, for a second time, become ex
hausted. Four companies of the 40th
Iowa, under Col. Garrett, rushed to
its support, and, forming under a
withering fire, restored the line;
which now advanced along its entire
front a full half-mile, driving the
enemy steadily for an hour, passing
over their dead and wounded.
When, at noon, their repulse was com
plete, our army drew off, by order,
and filed across the bridge.
' This was a combat of infantry
alone. We had one section of a bat
tery on the field, but could not use
it. A section of a Eebel battery ap
peared and fired one round, when
the 29th Iowa and 2d Kansas (col
ored) charged across the field and
brought away the guns.
When all was over, and our men
had crossed the river* Kirby Smith
sent a flag of truce ; but, finding only
a burial-party, instead of an army,
he made haste to capture these and
claim a victory.
Our loss in this brilliant struggle
was 700 killed and wounded ; that
of the enemy was said to be 2,300,
including three Generals.
Fagan was reported between our
army and Little Eock, compelling
rapid movements on Steele's part to
save our depots at that city; while
the roads were unfathomable. Our
soldiers had coffee and whatever else
they could pick up ; which was not
much. Our animals had been star
ving for days, and were unable to
draw our wagons; which, except one
for each brigade, Steele ordered to

be destroyed. And so, bridging
streams, corduroying swamps, and
dragging guns and caissons over
them, our army plodded its weary,
famished way toward the capital
it had left so proudly; being met'
at length by a supply train, which
passed down the road, throwing out
" hard-tack " in profusion — our men
scrambling for it in the mud, and
devouring it with keen voracity.
Steele entered Little Eock May 2d.

Late in June, Shelby crossed the
Arkansas eastward of Little Eock,
pushing northward to the White,
near its mouth ; and was met ** near
St. Charles by four regiments under
Gen. Carr, who worsted him, taking
200 prisoners. Our loss here in
killed and wounded was 200; that
of the Eebels was estimated by our
officers at 500. Marmaduke soon
approaching with reenforcements for
Shelby, Carr fell back on Clarendon,
20 miles below Duvall's bluff, where
he also was reenforced ; when the
enemy retreated southward.
There were, of course, a good
many partisan encounters and raids
during the Summer ; in- one of which
a Union scouting party, under Capt.
Jug, dashed " into Benton and killed
Brig.-Gen. Geo. M Holt ; in another,
Col. W. S. Brooks 56th U S. colored,
mdving out from Helena with 400
men, was attacked47 on Big creek by
Gen. Dobbins, with a superior Eebel
force, and would have been worsted,
had not Maj. Carmichael, who was
on a steamboat going down the
Mississippi, with 150 of the 15th
Illinois cavalry, heard the persistent
cannon-firing and resolved to investi
gate the matter. Brooks had held

45 June 27.

w July 25,

47 July 26.

ARKANSAS REORGANIZED BY UNIONISTS.

555

his ground stubbornly for hours,
but gained no advantage ; and Dob
bins was just forming his men for a
decisive charge, when Carmichael
charged through them and joined
Brooks ; when our men assumed the
offensive. Unhappily, Col. Brooks
was killed, with Capt. Lembke, of
his battery, Adj. Pratt, and Surgeon
Stoddard : so our forces fell back to
Helena, followed part way by Dob
bins, but not again attacked. Our
loss in this affair was 50 ; that of the
enemy was reported at 150.
Next day, at the other side of the
State, Gen. Gano, with 1,500 Eebels,
surprised an outpost of Fort Smith,
held by Capt. Mefford, with 200 of
the 5th Kansas, whom he captured,
with 82 of his men, after we had lost
10 killed, 15 wounded, to 12 killed,
20 wounded of the enemy. Gano,
of course, got away before he could
be reached from Fort Smith.
Next month, Shelby, with- 6ome
2,000 men, struck48 the line of rail
road between Duvall's bluff and Little
Eock, capturing most of the 54th
Illinois, who were guarding three
stations. Col. Mitchell was reported
among the killed.

Steele's advance to and capture of
Little Eock the preceding Autumn,
with the failure of the Eebels even
to attempt its recovery, had been
accepted by the Unionists of Arkan
sas as conclusive of the inability of
the foe to regain their lost ascen
dency in their State. Accordingly,
a Union meeting of citizens was
' held at Little Eock,48 followed by
others; and, ultimately, a Union
State Constitutional Convention had
been assembled : " wherein 42 out of

the, 54 counties were represented.
This Convention had framed a new
Constitution, whereby Slavery was
forever prohibited. Dr. Isaac Mur
phy — the only member of the Con
vention of 1861 who had held out to
the last against Secession — had been
designated Provisional Governor,
and duly inaugurated,61 with C. C.
Bliss, Lieut.-Governor, and E. J. T.
White, Secretary of State. This
Constitution was submitted to a vote
of thepeople and ratified " by 12,177
votes for, to 226 against it. 'State
officers, three members of Congress,
a Legislature, and local officers, were
at the same time elected. The Leg
islature met, and elected63 U. S.
Senators. The Unionists had fondly
supposed every thing ' restored ' that
should be, so far as their State was
concerned ; until Steele's reverses in
and retreat from the south, with the
triumphant advance on his heels of
the Eebel armies, surrendered two-
thirds of her area to the enemy;
whose cavalry,- avoiding our few
strongholds, careered at will over
the open country, foraging on the
already needy non-combatants, and
dealing vengeance on the ' traitors '
and 'renegades' who had declared
for the Union. In the Autumn, the
Eebel Legislature met " at Washing
ton, listened to a message from their
Governor, Hannigan, and chose A.
P. Garland over Albert Pike to re- •
present them in the Confederate
Senate. This practical surrender of the
State to the Eebels, throughout the
year following Steele's retreat from
Camden, need not and should not
have been. But Steele, who was
continued in command, never struck

"Aug. 23. 49 Nov. 12, 1863. *" Jan. 8, 1864. " Jan. 22. a March 14. "April 25. M Sept 22.

556

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

one hearty blow at the Eebellion
where he could, with a decent regard
for appearances, avoid it. Identified
in principle and sympathy with the
enemy on every point but that of
Disunion, his powerful influence was
thrown against the Emancipation
policy of the Government; and,
while he was hail-fellow with the
Secession aristocracy of the State,
he was a . sorrow and a scourge to
the hearty, unconditional upholders
of the Union. Hence, Unionism did
not flourish under his rule; hence,
the Eebel cavalry and guerrillas
roamed almost at will over the State,
never fearing aught from his vigilance
or his zeal for the National cause;
and hence the forces under his com
mand, though amply sufficient to
have held all ofthe State north of the
Washita, and repelled all gainsayers,
were little better than wasted.

Gen. Eosecrans, having been ap
pointed to the command of the De
partment of Missouri, found, on his
arrival at St. Louis," the State agi
tated by a feud that threatened
trouble. In addition to his force of
perhaps 12,000 men — mainly State
Militia, who were liable to service
only in Missouri — there were, in the
north-western couhties, some 2,800
'"provisionally enrolled militia" (by
the Eadieals called " Paw-Paws "),68
who were ' Conservative ' in their
sympathies, either having been hith
erto in the Eebel service, or belong
ing to Eebel families, or having oth
erwise evinced sympathy with the
Eebels. These had been enrolled for
neighborhood or special service— and
were accused, by their Eadical neigh
bors, of fighting Abolitionists more

heartily than Eebels, and standing
ready to join Price's army should it
appear in the State the ensuing Sum
mer, as was expected. Eosecrans
looked into the matter, and sided
generally with the Eadieals ; finding
the great slaveholding counties on the
river still infected with the Eebel
spirit, and thousands eagerly await
ing the day when their party should
again have the upper hand, and be
able to avenge some of the indigni
ties and wrongs they had suffered at
the hands of the Unionists. Contin
uing his inquiries, and gradually in
sinuating his *pies into the secret
councils or lodges of the disloyal, he
became satisfied that they were every
where organized, to the number of
many thousands, as 'The Order of
American Knights,' or ' Sons of Lib
erty,' whereof the Grand Command
ers were Sterling Price in the South
and C. L. Yallandigham in the North ;
and that an invasion of Missouri by
Price, whom 23,000 members of this
order Were sworn to join on his ap
pearance, was part of a general pro
gramme, which contemplated an inva
sion also of the North, and a formida
ble uprising of Eebel sympathizers
in the North-West. He first learned
through his spies in the Eebel lodges
that Yallandigham was soon to return
openly from Canada to Ohio, and be
sent thence to the Democratic Na-
9
tional Convention at Chicago. He
further discovered that arms were
extensively coming into the State,
and going into the hands of those
suspebted of Eebel sympathies ; and ¦
he transmitted to Washington urgent
representations that perils environed
him, which required an augmenta
tion of his force. Gen. Hunt was

"JatL 28, 1864. "From the paw-paw, a wild fruit whereon ' bushwhackers ' were said to subsist

PRICE'S LAST MISSOURI RAID.

557

thereupon sent to Missouri by Gen.
Grant, and traversed the State on a
tour of observation; returning strong
in the belief that Eosecrans's appre
hensions were excessive, and that no
more force was needed in this depart
ment. Still, Eosecrans, without encour
agement from Washington, prosecu
ted his investigations ; and, upon evi
dence that, at a recent meeting of
one of the lodges aforesaid, a resolve
had been offered, and laid over, to
commence operations in St. Louis
by assassinating the provost-marshal
and attempting to seize the depart
ment headquarters, he arrested the
S,tate commander, deputy command
er, grand secretary, lecturer, and
some 30 or 40 leading members of
the secret organization, and lodged
them in prison.
The State commander aforesaid
being the Belgian Consul at St.
Louis, Eosecrans soon received, by
telegraph from the War Department,
an order to liberate bim, with which
he declined to comply ; representing
that it would not have been given
had the Government been in posses
sion of the facts known to him, and
which he had dispatched by a trusty
hand to Washington. And, that evi
dence having been received and read
by the President, the order of release
was countermanded.
The urgent exactions of the pub-
He service in other quarters having
stripped Missouri of nearly or quite
all troops but her own militia, Eose
crans sought and obtained authority
to raise ten regiments of twelve
months' men for the exigency; when
a Eebel outbreak occurred " in Platte
county, in the north-west, quickly

followed by guerrilla outrages and
raids in the western river counties.
These were but forerunners of the
longmeditated Eebelinvasion, where
of Gen. Washburne, commanding at
Memphis, gave58 the first distinct
warning; apprising Eosecrans that
Shelby, then at Batesville, north
western Arkansas, was about to be
joined by Price ; when the advance
would begin. Gen. A. J. Smith was
then passing up the river to reenforce
Sherman in northern Georgia, when
he was halted68 at Cairo by order
from Halleck, and sent to St. Louia
to strengthen Eosecrans.
Price entered south-eastern Mis
souri by way of Poplar bluffs and
Bloomfield ; advancing unresisted to
Pilot Knob, where he was first with
stood80 by a brigade, commanded by
Gen. Hugh S. Ewing. Here were
Fort Davidson and some other rude
works; and Ewing made an obsti
nate stand, inflicting a loss of not
less than 1,000 men on the raiders,
while his own was but about 200.
Still, as Price had not less than
10,000 men agamst 1,200, and as a
day's desultory fighting had given the
enemy possession of some of the steep
hills overlooking the fort, Ewing —
who had signally repulsed two as
saults — wisely decided not to await
inevitable capture, but, spiking his
heavy guns and blowing up his maga
zine, escaped during the night ; tak
ing the road westward to Eolla
through Caledonia and Webster — <
his more natural line of retreat on
Mineral Point and Potosi being al
ready in the enemy's possession. At
Webster, he turned abruptly north,
and struck the South-western Eail-
road at Harrison; having made 66

7 July 1.

"Sept. 3.

'Sept. 6.

' Sept 21.

558

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

miles in 39 hours, though badly en
cumbered by fugitives. Here his
weary men were sharply assailed
by a column under Shelby, which
had been pursuing them ; but, though
short of ammunition, Ewing held his
ground firmly some 30 hours, until
relieved by Col. Beveridge, 17th Illi
nois cavalry, sent from Eolla by Gen.
McNeil to his assistance. Shelby
then drew off, and Ewing proceeded
at his leisure to Eolla.
Eosecrans remained at St. Louis
— the point of greatest consequence,
if not of greatest danger — working
night and day to collect a force able
to cope in a fair field with Price's
veterans and the ' Sons of Liberty,'
who were pledged to join him — a
pledge which they but partially re
deemed. For a week or so, the Ee
bels seemed to have the upper hand ;
and this created a violent eruption of
treasonable guerrilla raids and burn

ings in the pro-Slavery strongholds
of central Missouri.81 * As the Eebel
army was mainly mounted, it not
only moved with greater celerity
than the most of its antagonists
could, but was able to mask its in
tentions, and threaten at once our
depots at St. Louis, Eolla, and Jef
ferson City. But time was on our
side ; as Gen. Mower was on his way
from Little Eock, with 5,000 veter
ans ; five regiments of hundred-day
men (who had already served out
their term) were coming from Illi
nois to garrison St. Louis ; and the
militia of eastern Missouri was com
ing out, to the number of perhaps
5,000 more. Unless Price could strike
at once some decisive, damaging blow,
which would cripple Eosecrans, para
lyze his efforts to raise militia, and
call every latent Secessionist into the
saddle, he must inevitably decamp
and flee for his life.

61 Rosecrans, in his onicial report, more ex
plicitly says :
" While Ewing's fight was going on, Shelby
advanced to Potosi, and thence to Big river
bridge, threatening Gen. Smith's advance; which
withdrew from that point to within safer sup
porting distance of his main position at De Soto.
Previous to and pending these events, the guer
rilla warfare in north Missouri had been waging
with redoubled fury. Rebel agents, amnesty-
oath-takers, recruits, 'sympathizers,' O. A. K.s,
and traitors of every hue and stripe, had warm
ed into life at the approach of the great inva
sion. Women's fingers were busy making
clothes for Rebel soldiers out of goods plundered
by the guerrillas ; women's tongues were busy
telling Union neighbors ' their time was now com
ing.' Gen. Fisk, with all his force, had been
scouring the bush for weeks in the river coun
ties, in pursuit of hostile bands, composed large
ly of recruits from among that class of inhabi
tants who claim protection, yet decline to per
form the full duties of citizens, on the ground
that they ' never tuck no sides.' A few facts
will convey some idea of this warfare, carried on
by Confederate agents here, while the agents
abroad of their bloody and hypocritical despot
ism — Mason, Slidell, and Mann, in Europe — have
the effrontery to tell the nations of Christendom
that our government 'carries on the war with
increasing ferocity, regardless of the laws of
civilized warfare.' These gangs of Rebels,

whose families had been living in peace among
their loyal neighbors, committed the most cold
blooded and diabolical murders, such as riding
up to a farm-house, asking for water, and,
while receiving it, shooting down the giver —
an aged, inoffensive farmer — because he was a
radical 'Union man.' In the single sub-distriet
of Mexico, the commanding offiper furnished a
list of near one hundred Union men who, in the
course of six weeks, had been killed, maimed,
or 'run off,' because they were 'radical Union
men,' or Abolitionists. About the 1st of Sep
tember, Anderson's gang attacked a railroad
train on the North Missouri road, took from it
22 unarmed soldiers, many on sick leave, and,
after robbing, placed them in a row and shot
them in cold blood ; some of the bodies they
scalped, and put others across the track and run
the engine over them. On the 27th, this gang,
with numbers swollen to 300 or 400 men, at
tacked Major Johnson, with about 120 of the
39th Missouri volunteer infantry, raw recruits,
and, after stampeding their horses, shot every
man, most of them in cold blood. Anderson, a
few days later, was recognized by Gen. Price,
at Booneville, as a Confederate captain, and,
with a verbal admonition to behave himself, or
dered by Colonel Maclane, chief of Price's staff,
to proceed to north Missouri and destroy the
railroads ; which orders were found on the mis
creant when killed by Lt.-Col. Cox, about the
27th of October."

PRICE THREATENS JEFFERSON CITY.

559

The enemy, advancing by Potosi
across the .Meramec to Eichwoods,
seemed to threaten St. Louis, only
40 miles distant ; but this was a feint
only, or was seen, on closer observa
tion, to be too hazardous : so, burn
ing the railroad bridge over the Me
ramec, at Moselle, he turned north
westward : ™ Gen. A. J. Smith, with
4,500 infantry and 1,500 cavaby,
following him vigilantly but cau
tiously. Burning Herman " — an in
tensely 'Eadical' German settle
ment on the Missouri — and the rail
road bridge over the Gasconade;
fording the Gasconade near Freder
icksburg and the Osage at Castle
Eock,64 burning the railroad bridge
here, he appeared before Jefferson
City ; which Gens. McNeil and San
born, with all the men they could
mount, had just reached by forced
marches from Eolla : and these, add
ed to the force under Gens. Fisk and
Brown, already there, made a garri
son of 4,100 cavalry and 2,600 infan
try — generally twelve-months' men
of little experience in the field, but
capable of good service behind in
trenchments. Fisk decided — the
other Generals concurring — to oppose
a moderate resistance to the foe at
the crossing of the Moreau, 4 or 5
miles east of the city, and then fall
back within the rude defenses which
he, with the volunteered help of citi
zens, had been for some days prepar
ing. ^
Price crossed the Moreau after
a sharp but brief skirmish, and ad
vanced ,s on the capital ; developing
a line of battle 3 or 4 miles long,
which enveloped the city on all sides
save that of the river; but, on a full
survey of the defenses, and a partial

glimpse of the men behind them,
with the lesson of Pilot Knob fresh
in his mind, he concluded not to at
tack, but, after giving time for his
train to move around the city and
get a start on the road westward, he
drew off and followed it.
Gen. Pleasanton now arrived,™
and assumed command ; dispatching
Gen. Sanborn with the cavalry to fol
low and harass the enemy, so as to
delay him, if possible, until Gen. A.
J. Smith could overtake him. San
born attacked the Eebel rear-guard
at Yersailles, and drove it into line
of battle; thus ascertaining that the
enemy were heading for Booneville ;
but, being nearly surrounded by them,
he fell back to California ; where CoL
Cutherwood, with A. J. Smith's cav
alry and some much-needed supplies,
joined him on the 14th.
Gen. Mower, by coming from Ar
kansas, following nearly in the track
of the Eebel irruption, had struck the
Mississippi at Cape Girardeau ; hav
ing marched 300 miles, over bad
roads, in 18 days. His men were
weary, his provisions exhausted, his
teams worn down ; part of his caval
ry dismounted, with the horses of
many more lacking shoes : so Eose
crans dispatched steamboats from St.
Louis to bring them to that city;
whence the infantry were sent up the
Missouri by water, while the cavalry,
under Col. Winslow, marched " by
land to reenforce A. J. Smith ; reach
ing 68 Jefferson City — by reason of
the low stage of water in the river
— one day in advance of the infan
try. Meantime, Price had, of course,
seriously widened the gap between
him and our cavalry, of whom Pleas-

aOct l.

" Oct 5.

M Oct 6.

5 Oct. 1.

' Oct 8.

"Oct. 10. "Oct. 16.

560

THE AMERICAN CONFLICJT.

anton had now assumed the immedi
ate command. A Eebel detachment
under Shelby had crossed the Mis
souri at Arrow Eock and advanced
on Glasgow ; which they took, after a
fight of some hours ; capturing part of
Col. Harding's 43d Missouri, with
small detachments of the 9th Mis
souri militia, and 17th Illinois cav
alry. This bold stroke ought to have in
sured the destruction of at least half
the Eebel army, which an over
whelming Union force was now
moving to inclose and crush. But
A. J. Smith was stopped, with our
supplies, at the Lamine, where the
enemy had burned the railroad
bridge; and where Mower joined
him : when, taking five days' rations,
Smith advanced" to Dunksburg;
Pleasanton, with our cavalry, includ
ing Mower's, under Winslow, being
well advanced, on a line stretching
northward from Warrensburg.
The enemy was north-west of this,
and seemed disposed to stay there :
his advance70 reaching Lexington,
driving Gen. Blunt with a force from
Kansas, who, after a sharp skirmish,
retreated on Independence. Eose
crans, learning this by telegraph, di
rected" Pleasanton, who had been
demonstrating toward Waverly, to
move in force on Lexington, order
ing Smith to follow ; and both, of
course, obeyed.
These orders seem to have been
mistakes— very natural, perhaps, but,
not the less unfortunate. It is not.
easy to overtake an army mainly
mounted, which lives off the country,
has few guns, and burns every bridge
behind it; but our only chance of
crushing so nimble an adversary, lay

in pressing steadily westward, so as
to get between the enemy and his
necessary line of retreat, and strike
him as he attempted to pass ; and
it matters not whether he had been
drawn so far northward in quest of
food or in order to double on his
pursuers. When Pleasanton's ad
vance, under McNeil and Sanborn,
reached " Lexington, the enemy had
left, moving rapidly westward, and
at the Little Blue striking Blunt's
Kansas division, of which Gen. Curtis.
had now assumed command, in such
force as compelled him, after a few
hours' conflict, being flanked, to fall
back to the Big Blue, where he took
up a strong position. Eosecrans, pre
suming that Curtis could hold his
ground, ordered Pleasanton to send
McNeil, with a brigade only, on the
track of the enemy, and, with his re
maining cavalry, move southward, to
Lone Jack; whither Smith, with his
infantry, was now hastening from
his false move to Lexington,
These orders seem to have been
contingent, and, at any rate, were
not obeyed. Pleasanton^ with all his
cavalry, pressed on the traek of the
flying enemy; reaching the Little
Blue'3 at 10 A. m., only to find the
bridge destroyed and the enemy's
rear-guard rather stubborn beyond it;
he driving them steadily till nightfall ;
when Independence was taken , by
a brilliant cavalry charger^-Cuther-
wood's regiment capturing two guns
— Pleasanton following sharply, after
dispatching McNeil, with his brig
ade, to Little Santa Fe, to intercept
the enemy, and telegraphing Eose
crans, "Let Smith come to this
place." Hereupon, Eosecrans — "re
luctantly," as he very naturally says

1 Oct. 18-19.

'" Oct. 18-19.

"Oct. 20.

"Oct. 20, 7 p.m.

" Oct. 22.

PRICE CHASED OUT OF MISSOURI.

561

— gave the order solicited; which
reached Smith that night at Chapel
Hill, just as he was putting his col
umn in motion southward, and sent
it westward instead.
Next morning, Pleasanton pressed
on to the crossing of the Big Blue ;
where he found the enemy's main
body — which, the day before, had
fought Curtis, but had not moved
him — prepared for resistance. The
fight opened at 7 A. m., and was
maintained with spirit on both sides
till 1 p. m., when the Eebels de
camped — were " routed and fled
southward," says Eosecrans ; though
they would of course «use different
* terms in describing the matter. They
went, however, beyond doubt ; eagerly
pursued by Pleasanton and Curtis be
yond Little Santa Fe.
Smith, with 9,000 infantry- and five
batteries, reached Independence at 5
p. m. ; when his weary men were
forthwith put in motion for Hick
man's mills, where it was hoped he
would strike the flank of the flying
foe. But it was too late. His false
moves (through no fault of his own) to
Lexington and to Independence, had
•opened a door of escape to Price,
which he was too good a general
not to profit by ; and he was too
fleet and too far ahead to be hence
forth overtaken by infantry.
Curtis, with his Kansas men, took "
the lead in the pursuit ; but soon
gave place to Pleasanton's horsemen ;
who, after a march of 60 miles, struck
them about midnight at the Marais-
des-Cygnes, opening upon their bi
vouac at 4 a. m.,'6 with artillery ; set
ting them at once in motion, and
chasing them to the Little Osage,
where they turned to fight, display

ing 8 guns in their line of battle.
Pleasanton at once ordered a charge
by Benteen's and Phillips's brigades,
which was superbly made, and re
sulted in the capture of their 8 guns
and 1,000 prisoners, including Maj.-
Gen. Marmaduke, Brig.-Gen. Cabell,
and five Colonels, beside small arms,
wagons, colors, &c.
Sanborn's brigade — which was con
siderably behind — now came up and
took the lead ; and, when the enemy
again made a stand, a few miles far
ther south, routed them, and drove
them till night stopped the pursuit.
The burning wrecks of wagons and
other materiel marked their course
for miles farther; but most of our
nearly broken-down cavalry, with all
our infantry, was here judiciously
halted: Pleasanton turning to Fort
Scott for needful food and rest ; and
Smith moving to Harrisonville with
the same purpose.
Blunt, with his Kansas men and
Benteen's brigade, followed by San
born, kept the trail of the flying foe ;
striking'6 them at Newtonia, near the
south-west corner of the State, and,
being outnumbered, was evidently
getting worsted, when Sanborn — who
had marched 102 miles in 36 hours —
came up, and changed the fortunes
of the day. The Eebels resumed
their flight — having little left to lose
but their bodies and their worn-out
horses — and escaped into western
Arkansas. Gen. Curtis followed, but did not
again overtake them till he reached
Fayetteville, Ark., where Col. Larue
Harrison, 1st Arkansas cavalry, had
been invested" by Col. Brooks, with
some 2,000 Eebels ; who was held at
bay until Fagan's division of Price's

" Oct 24.
vol. n.

-36

" Oct 25.

'• Oct. 28.

" Oct. 28.

562

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

army appeared'8 and united in the
siege ; but Curtis came up next day,
and drove off the crowd, with heavy
loss to them and none at all to our
side. So ended the last Eebel inva
sion of Missouri. Gen. Smith's com
mand had, ere this, taken boats to re
port to Gen. Thomas at Nashville.
Eosecrans says Price's force in this
campaign was variously estimated at

15,000 to 25,000 men— that he ob
tained 6,000 recruits in Missouri —
that he lost 10 guns (nearly all he
had) and 1,958 prisoners, with most
of his wagons, and large numbers of
horses, small arms, <fec. It is not
probable that the force he took out
of Missouri, with its armament, was
half so effective as that he brought
into it.'8

XXV.
GEN. GEANT'S ADYANCE ON EICHMOND.

Hon. E. B. Washbuene, of Illinois
— the townsman aud zealous friend
of Gen. Grant — having proposed1
the revival of the grade of Lieu-
tenant-General of our armies, hith
erto accorded to George Washington
alone (Gen. Scott being such only
by brevet), the House, not without
considerable hesitation, assented ; 2
after negativing, by the emphatic
vote of 117 to 19, a motion, by Gen.
Garfield, to lay the proposition on the
table, and adopting, by 111 to 41, an
amendment moved by Mr. Eoss, of
HI., respectfully recommending Ulys
ses S. Grant for the post. The Sen
ate concurred : " Yeas 31 ; Nays 6 :
having first amended the joint re
solve so as to strike out so much of

it as limited the existence of this
office to the duration of the War
and prescribed that the Lieutenant-
General should, under the President,
be commander of the armies of the
United States. The House having
rejected these amendments, the dif
ference was settled by a Conference
Committee, in substantial accord with
the Senate's views ; the House agree
ing to the report : Yeas 77 ; Nays 43.
The President promptly approved the
measure, and nominated4 Gen. Grant
for the place ; and he was next day
confirmed by the Senate. In th'is
action, Congress expressed, and the
President promptly conformed to, the
popular judgment, that the efficiency
of our various and complicated Mili-

" Nov. 14.
70 Gen. Grant, in his all-embracing report,

" The impunity with which Price was enabled
to roam over the State of Missouri for a long
time, and the incalculable mischief done by him,
shows to how little purpose a superior ^orce may
be used. There is no reason why Gen. Rose
crans should not have concentrated his forces
and beaten and driven Price before the latter
reached Pilot Knob."
As the concentration here suggested, in the

face of a formidable army of veterans, mainly
mounted, and moving with great celerity, would,
if practicable, have enabled the Missouri Rebels
to call out the oath-bound members of their
lodges and therewith take possession of a large
portion of the State, the justice of this criticism
is not incontestable. A like judgment was passed
on Fremont in 18G1 ; though not by so high a
military authority.
1 Dec. 14, 1863. » Feb. 1, 1864.
"Feb. 2i. * March 1.

GEN. GRANT'S QUALIFICATIONS AND IDEAS.

563

tary operations would be greatly pro
moted by placing them under the
direction of a single mind, which
should not be that of Henry Wager
Halleck. Gen. Grant's qualifications for this
most momentous trust were not uni
versally conceded. Though over 40
years of age," he had been a quiet
civilian most of his adult life. There
were many military men who es
teemed Gen. Meade, Gen. Buell, Gen.
McClellan, qr some other of our com
manders, his superior as a strate
gist ; arid several of his battles — es
pecially those of Belmont and Shiloh
— had not escaped the unfavorable
judgment of military critics. There
was one point, however, wherein his
fitness for chief command was deci
ded if not preeminent : and that was
an utter disbelief in the efficacy of any
rosewater treatment of the Eebellion.
He regarded the South as practically
bound and helpless in the hands of a
haughty, strong-willed oligarchy, who
had not spent thirty years in prepa
ration for this supreme effort in order
to be bribed, or beguiled, or pala
vered, or bullied, into its abandon
ment after the gage had been thrown
down and accepted. No love-taps, in
his view, would ever persuade the
Eebel chiefs to return to loyalty, so
long as their military power should
remain essentially unbroken ; and he
had no conception of any mode of
breaking that power save by strong
armies in bloody battles. His com
prehensive, final report tersely says :
" From an early period in the Eebellion,
I had been impressed with the idea that
active and continuous operations of all the
troops that could be brought into the field,
I regardless of season and weather, were ne
cessary to a speedy termination of the War.
The resources of the enemy, and his numeri

cal strength, were far inferior to ours : but,
as an offset to this, we had a vast territory,
with, a population hostile to the Govern
ment, to garrison, and long lines of river
and railroad communications to protect, to
enable us to supply the operating armies.
" The armies in the East and West acted
independently and without concert, like a
balky team : no two ever pulling together :
enabling the enemy to use to great advan
tage his interior lines of communication for
transporting troops from east to west, reen
forcing the army most vigorously pressed,
and to furlough large numbers, during sea
sons of inactivity on our part, to go to their
homes and do the work of producing, for
the support of their armies. It was a ques
tion whether our numerical strength' and
resources were not more than balanced by
these disadvantages and the enemy's supe
rior position.
" From the first, I was firm in the con
viction that no peace could be had that
would be stable and conducive to the hap
piness of the people, both North and South,
until the military power of the Eebellion
was entirely broken.
" I, therefore, determined, first, to use the
greatest number of troops practicable against
the armed force of the enemy ; preventing
him from using the same force at differ
ent seasons against first one and then an
other of our armies, and the possibility of
repose for refitting and producing neces
sary supplies for carrying on resistance.
Second, to hammer continuously against the
armed force of the enemy and his resources,
until, by mere attrition, if in no other way,
there should be nothing left to him but an
equal submission with the loyal section of
our common country to the Constitution
and laws of the land.
" These views have been kept constantly
in mind ; and orders given and campaigns
made' to carry them out. Whether they
might have been better in conception and ex
ecution is for the people, who mourn the loss
of friends fallen, and who have to pay the
pecuniary cost, to say. All I can say is, that
what I have done has been done conscien
tiously, to the best of my^ability, and in
what I conceived to be for the best inter
ests of the whole country."
Such were the views wherewith
Gen. Grant, summoned from the
West by telegraph, repaired to
Washington" to receive his commis
sion and instructions as Lieutenant-
General commanding all the forces
of the Union. He was formally in-

1 Born April 27, 1822.

' March 8, 1864.

564

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

troduced, next day, to the President
and Cabinet ; when he was addressed
by the former as follows :
" General Gkant : The Nation's appre
ciation of what you have already done, and
Jts reliance upon you for what still remains
to be done in the existing great struggle, are
now presented with this commission, consti
tuting you Lien tenant-General ofthe armies
of the United States. With this high hon
or, devolves upon you, also, a correspond
ing responsibility.
"As the country herein trusts you, so,
under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely
need to add, that, with what I here speak
for the Nation, goes my own hearty per
sonal 'concurrence. ' '
Gen. Grant replied, in perhaps the
longest speech he ever made, as fol
lows: " Mb. Pkesident : I accept the commis
sion with gratitude for the high honor con
ferred. With the aid of the noble armies
that have fought on so many battle-fields
for our common country, it will be my
earnest endeavor not to disappoint your
expectations. I feel the full weight of the
responsibilities now devolving on me ; and
I know that, if they are properly met, it will
be due to those armies ; and, above all, to
the favor of that Providence which leads
both nations and men."
ThePresident's order,investing him
with the chief command of all the ar
mies of the United States, appeared
the day following ; on which day, he
paid a flying visit to the Army of the
Potomac, and started next morning
on his return to arrange matters in
the West, preparatory to movements
inaugurating the general campaign.
Gen. Halleck was announced as re
lieved from command at his own
request, and assigned to duty in
Washington as ' Chief of Staff to the
Army.' Gen. Grant, in a brief and
modest order, assumed command, an
nouncing that his headquarters would
be in the field, and, until further or
ders, with the Army of the Potomac.
Gen. W. T. Sherman was assigned
to the command of the military di

vision of the Mississippi, comprising
the Departments of the Ohio, the
Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the
Arkansas ; Gen. J. B. McPherson,
commanding, under him, the Depart
ment and Army of the Tennessee.
The residue of March and nearly
the whole of April were devoted to
careful preparation for the campaign.
The Army of the Potomac, still com
manded immediately by Gen. Meade,
was completely reorganized ; its five
corps being reduced to three, com
manded respectively by Gens. Han
cock (2d), Warren (5th), and Sedg
wick (6th). Maj .-Gens. Sykes,
French, and Newton, with Brig.-
Gens. Kenly, Spinola, and Sol.
Meredith, were " relieved," and sent
to Washington for orders. Gen.
Burnside, who had been reorganizing
and receiving large accessions to his
(9th) corps in Maryland, crossed' the
Potomac and joined Meade's army;
though the formal incorporation
therewith was postponed till after
the passage of the Eapidan. This
junction again raised the positive
or fighting strength of that Army
to considerably more than 100,000
men. 
Earlier in the Spring, Gen. Custer,
with 1,500 cavalry, had crossed ' the
Eapidan, flanking the Eebel Army
on the west, and moved from Cul
pepper C. H. by Madison C. H. to
within four miles of Charlottesville,
where he found his road blocked by
a far" superior Eebel force, and was
turned back ; being again waylaid
near Stannardsville • by a force of
cavalry only, which he pushed aside
with little loss, and returned8 to his
old camp, followed by some hundreds
ofrefugees from slavery to Eebels, but

'April 23.

6 Feb. 27.

» March 2.

KILPATRICK AND DAHLGREN'S RAID.

565

having otherwise inflicted little loss
and incurred still less.
This raid, though directed against
the enemy's dep6ts, railroads, &c,
was designed to distract "attention
from another, far more formidable, led
by Gen. Kilpatrick ; who, starting 10
from Stevensburg, crossed the Eapi
dan at Ely's ford, and moved rapidly
down the opposite flank of Lee's
army, by Spottsylvania C. H, to the
Yirginia Central Eailroad at Beaver-
dam station, where he had his first
collision and drove the enemy ;
thence across the South Anna to
Kilby Station, on the Fredericks
burg road ; cutting both roads as^
" he passed, and pushing on to within
3| miles of Eichmond ;" passing its
first and second lines of defenses,
and fighting several hours before the
third, which he was of course unable
to carry, and compelled to fall back.
Kilpatrick camped for the night
six miles from Eichmond and two
from the Chickahominy ; where a two-
gun battery opened upon him, at 10^
p. m., just as his weary men were
dropping asleep. The charge which
quickly followed was as quickly re
pulsed ; but it was so manifest that
the position was not adapted to quiet
slumbers, that Kilpatrick moved on
forthwith to the Pamunkey, which
he could not find boats ito pass ; so he
was obliged to move across the White
House railroad and thence down the
Peninsula ; soon striking the track of
a cavalry force sent up to his aid
from Fortress Monroe by Gen. But
ler, and encountering, when near New
Kent C. H., a brigade of Black in
fantry, which had been likewise sent
by Butler on the same errand. Pur
suit by the enemy was of course at

an end. Kilpatrick had lost 150 men
on this raid, had taken 500 prisoners,
a good many horses, and inflicted on
the Eebels serious losses in burned
bridges, stations, and stores.
But Col. Ulric Dahlgren, who led
a subordinate command of about 400
cavalry, had been far less fortunate.
Crossing also at Ely's ferry, Dahlgren,
after leaving Spottsylvania C. H.,
had gone farther to the right, through
Louisa and Goochland counties, in
tending to cross the James and enter
Eichmond from the south when Kil
patrick assailed it from the north ;
but he found the river (at Dover
mills) far too deep to be forded, and
hanged his negro guide in the belief
that he had purposely misled him
away from Eichmond rather than to
ward that city. Dahlgren now pushed
down the north bank of the James to
the fortifications of Eichmond, which
he charged at dark,18 passing the out
er works ; but was repulsed with loss
— of course, by far superior numbers —
at the inner lines. He then, with the
remnant of his forces, made a circuit
around the city by Hungary to Han-
overtown ferry; and, finding that
Kilpatrick had been driven off east
ward, struck thence for King and
Queen C. H. ; but was stopped, just
after crossing the Mattapony at Dab-
ney's ferry, by a body of local militia,
at whose first fire he fell dead, pierced
by five balls. His command was here
scattered, each seeking to reach our
lines as he best might ; and some of
them made their way to Kilpatrick ;
but at least 100 of them were picked*
up as prisoners.
• Col. Dahlgren's body was treated
with ignominy ; it being asserted that
papers were found on it evidencing

10 Feb. 28.

11 March 1.

» March 2.

566

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

a plot to liberate our prisoners on
Belle Isle, near Eichmond, and, by
their aid, burn that city, taking the
lives of Davis and his Cabinet ! That
these papers were Eebel forgeries,
and the meditated arson and murder a
Eebel invention, intended to ' fire the
Southern heart,' and justify murder
by a pretense of retaliation, seems no
longer doubtful ; while that the Con
federate authorities authorized the
placing of several barrels of gunpow
der under Libby prison, so as to blow
some thousands of Union captives
into fragments in case of a successful
attack, is entirely beyond dispute.
It is not impossible that Eichmond
might have been taken at this time,
had Kilpatrick kept his men togeth
er, and taken the hazards of a sudden,
sanguinary, persistent assault ; but it
could not have been held two days ;
so that its capture would have been
of small importance. Had he been-
directed simply to destroy the rail
roads as thoroughly as he could,
while Butler, moving by steam, had
rushed on Eichmond with 20,000
men, well provided with artillery, the
chances of durable success would have
been far better. Butler had, in fact,
attempted " to surprise Eichmond by
a forced march, some weeks earlier ;
but the design had miscarried, through
-the escape by bribery of a culprit
from prison, who gave the alarm to
the enemy, and enabled them to ob
struct the roads beyond Bottom's
bridge. Butler's infantry, on this
expedition, marched -80 miles within
• 56 hours ; his cavalry 150 miles in
50 hours. 
All being at length in readiness,
Gen. Meade's army, masking its inten
tion by a feint on Lee's left, crossed 14

the Eapidan on his right, at Germa
nia and Ely's fords : Warren leading
at Germania, followed by Sedgwick,
and pushing straight into ' The Wil
derness ;' Hancock crossing at Ely's
ford, and moving on Chancellors
ville, followed by the trains (of the
whole army. Burnside followed next
day. The Wilderness is a considerable
tract of broken table-land, stretching
southward from the Eapidan nearly
to Spottsylvania Court House, seamed
with ravines and densely covered
with dwarfish timber and bushes,
diversified by very few clearings, but
crossed by three or four good roads,
the best of them centering on Fred
ericksburg, and by a multiplicity of
narrow cart-tracks, used in peace only
by wood-cutters. (It is a mineral
region, and its timber has been repeat
edly swept off as fuel for miners.) In
this tangled labyrinth, numbers, artil
lery and cavalry, are of small account ;
local knowledge, advantage of posi
tion, and command of roads, every
thing. Lee's army, alert and vigilant, was
just west of it ; the roads diverged,
fan-like, on that side : it was Grant's
obvious interest to get through this
chapparal as quickly and with as ht
tle fighting as possible : it was Lee's
business notto let him. Hence, the mo
ment our movement was developed,
the Eebel army, which had been look
ing north across the Eapidan, was
faced to the right and moved rapidly
down parallel with our advance, form
ing line of battle some six miles east
of its strong defenses on Mine run,
which proffered a safe refuge in case
of disaster. Lee, like Meade, had
reorganized his army in three corps ;

M Feb. 6-9.

14 May -

GEN. GRANT ACROSS THE RAPIDAN.

567

PARKER'S ST0RE,eJA V"

BATTLE OP THE WILDERNESS.

whereof Ewell's (late the right), on
its change of front, held the left,
next the Eapidan ; A. P. Hill coming
into line on the right ; while Long-
street (recently returned from his
East Tennessee campaign) was posted
near Charlottesville, two marches off,
but was rapidly brought up, and came
into action the second day. The
ground was as unfavorable for us as
could be; yet Grant, being unexpect
edly assailed — for he had confidently
expected to get through unmolested
— had no choice but to fight : neither
Burnside nor our trains being yet
fairly over the river ; so that any at
tempt to evade Lee's unlooked-for
blow would have compromised, not
merely -the campaign, but the army.
Hardly a shot had been fired on
the first day of our movement ; the
Eebel pickets retreating precipitately
before our imposing advance, to speed
the great news to their leaders. Gen.
Warren, with his corps, forming our

infantry advance, rested for the night
at the ' Old Wilderness tavern,' five
miles from the ford, where Grant and
Meade crossed and made their head
quarters next morning ; Gen. Sedg
wick's corps was between them and the
ford ; Gen. Hancock, with his corps,
halted at or near Chancellorsville, in
the rear of Warren. Our cavalry, un
der Sheridan and his lieutenants, Wil
son and Gregg, covered the front and
flanks of the infantry.
Warren had orders to move, sup
ported by Sedgwick, early next morn
ing,16 to Parker's store, five miles S.
W. of his camping-ground; following
the road leading to Orange Court
House : Hancock was to press south
ward, at considerable distance on his
left, making for Shady Grove church ;
while Sheridan's cavalry swept still
farther south-west, making a recon
noissance in force. But these move
ments were met in their inception by
an unlooked-for advance of the Eebel

16 Thursday, May 5.

568

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

infantry under Hill against Warren,
and under Ewell against Sedgwick :
the former driving in the 5th N. Y.
cavalry with loss, and striking Wars
ren heavily and full in front, long
before he had reached Parker's store,
and before Hancock had orders to
arrest his southward march and,
facing, westward, swing in on War
ren's left. In short, the battle com
menced before our army was in posi
tion, and while our Generals still
supposed that there was no considera
ble Eebel force at hand — as Lee evi
dently intended to have it. And
Hill, having, by an early advance,
secured a strong and sheltered posi
tion on a ridge crossing the road,
repelled with loss the brigades of
Bartlett and Ayres, of Griffin's divi
sion, that were first sent up against
him ; not pressing far his advan
tage until about 3 p. m. ; when, per
ceiving the approach of Hancock, he
attempted the favorite Eebel ma
neuver of interposing a strong force
between our usually loosely joined
commands, but was checked by Han
cock's arresting his direct advance
and pushing rapidly to the right, to
close on Warren. This was effected,
not a moment too soon ; the enemy's
charging column being already on
Warren's left flank ; but Hancock,
with his division Generals, Birney,
Barlow, and Gibbon, struck heavily on
their right, and two hours' stubborn
and bloody conflict, with musketry
alone, resulted in great loss to both
sides, and little advantage to either :
Hancock's corps, which had, ere this,
been strengthened by Getty's divi
sion of Sedgwick's, saving itself from
rout by the most obstinate fighting.
Sedgwick had been attacked a lit

tle after 1p.m.; but Ewell was not
at first in so great force as Hill was ;
and the advantage here was on our
side : the enemy being obliged, at 3 J
p. m., to give ground, after a most
determined effort : Maj.-Gen. J. M.
Jones and Brig.-Gen. Stafford hav
ing been killed. Ehodes's division, led
by Gordon, next charged vigorously,
and pushed back our advance with
loss, taking some prisoners. In a
return charge from our side, Gen.
Pegram fell severely wounded. Here
upon a general advance on our side
was ordered, but arrested by the
coming of night. The Rebels claimed
1,000 prisoners to our 300 as the net
product of the day's work ; other
wise, the losses were nearly equal.
Grant had decided to open next
morning 16 by an advance along our
whole front ; Burnside's corps having
arrived during the night by a forced
march, and been distributed to the
points where it seemed to be most
needed. Sedgwick was ordered to
move at 5 A. m. ; but the enemy were
upon him a quarter before ; attempt
ing to turn our right flank, which was
held by Gen. Wright's division, with
Gen. Seymour's provisional division
still nearer the Eapidan. This at
tack, twice repeated during the fore
noon, but not resolutely (being a feint
to mask the real attack on Hancock),
was repulsed, and our line advanced
a few hundred yards to a more favor
able position.
At 8 a. m., our whole front was
assailed, and again two hours later,
as if the enemy were feeling for a
weak point. Then, efforts were made,
as before, to push in between our
several corps and their divisions ; and
at length to strike with crushing force

18 Friday, May 6.

GEN. WADSWORTH KILLED — SEYMOUR CAPTURED. 569

on one wing and then the other ;
and this proved the more successful
maneuver. It was evident that the
Eebels, in their perfect knowledge of
the country, and in the. facility of
moving their forces from left to right
and back again in the rear of their
defenses and fighting line, thus thor
oughly screened from observation on
our part, possessed advantages fully
counterbalancing their deficiency in
numbers. On our left, Gen. Hancock had
moved out, at 5 a. m., aud had pushed
forward, fighting, crowding back Hill
and taking many prisoners, nearly two
miles, across the Brock road, on his
way to Parker's store. Here he was
stopped- by the arrival of Longstreet ;
who, after a brief lull, charged in
turn, throwing our front into confu
sion, and requiring the presence of
part of Burnside's men to restore and
steady it ; when Longstreet in turn
was pressed back, falling severely
wounded — it' was said by a fire from
his own men. Again a desperate at
tack by the enemy bore back the front
of the 2d corps to its intrenched line
and abatis along the Brock road ;
near which, but farther to the right,
Gen . James S. Wadsworth, gallantly
struggling to stem the adverse tide,
was shot through the head and mor
tally wounded ; as Gen. Alex. Hays
had been the day before.
But, another lull now occurring,
our front was straightened and
strengthened ; Gen. Burnside's corps
having been thrown in between Han
cock and Warren, so as to give our
line the full strength of our infantry.
Hardly had this been done when the
now united corps of Hill and Long-
street fell furiously upon our left and
left center, pushing them back, and,

striking heavily on Stevenson's divi
sion of Burnside's corps, drove it back
and rushed through the gap. Han
cock promptly sent Col. Carroll, with
the 3d brigade of his 2d division, to
strike the advancing foe in flank,
which was admirably done : the ene
my being driven back with heavy
loss, and our troops regaining their
former position.
Thus ended the battle on our left ;
but, the enemy, massing swiftly and
heavily on our right,after our Generals
supposed the day'sfightingover,struck
again, under Gordon, just before dark,
at that flank ; surprising and routing
Truman Seymour's and then Shaler's
brigade, taking nearly 4,000 prison
ers, including Seymour himself. For
a moment, it seemed that our army,
or at least its right wing, was expos
ed to rout; but Gen. Sedgwick ex
erted himself to restore his lines, and
succeeded: the enemy making off
with most of their prisoners t in tri
umph. In fact, this charge had been
made at so late an hour that no far
ther success than was achieved could
wisely have been aimed at. Our ar
my rested, after the second day's
bloody struggle, substantially on the
ground held by it at the beginning.
Early next morning, some guns
(which had just been posted on our
right) opened ; but there was no re
ply ; then our skirmishers advanced,
but were met by skirmishers only;
and it was soon evident that Lee had
intrenched his whole front, and was
willing to receive an attack behind
his works, but not inclined to advance
again and make one. And, as fight
ing in this labyrinth was nowise
Grant's choice, but Lee's wholly, and
as the latter did not invite a persist
ence in it, Grant resolved to resume

570

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

his march ; and accordingly put his
columns in motion southward, aiming
to clear the Wilderness and concen
trate his army on the high, open
ground around Spottsylvania C. H.
The only serious conflict this day was
an indecisive one near Todd's store,
between four brigades of our cavalry
and a like force of J. E. B. Stuart's,
with a loss about 250 on either side.
As Stuart attacked, and failed to
achieve any advantage, Sheridan
claimed the result as a triumph.
Our losses in this terrible struggle
in the Wilderness were nearly 20,000
men, of whom some 6,000 were taken
prisoners. Our loss in officers was
heavy. The country's salvation
claimed no nobler sacrifice than that
of Gen. James S. Wadsworth, of New
York. Born to affluence and social
distinction, already past the age of
military service, he had volunteered
in 1861, under the impulse of a sense
of duty alone. As an aid of Gen.
McDowell, he was conspicuously use
ful at Bull Bun ; accustomed to every
luxury, he had courted, ever since,
the hardships and perils of the field ;
made the Eepublican candidate for
Governor in 1862 by an overwhelming
majority, he could not have failed to
be elected, could those have voted
who, like himself, were absent from
the State at the call of their country ;
and, though he peremptorily declined,
his fellow citizens, had he lived,
would have insisted on electing him
Governor in 1864. Thousands of
the unnamed and unknown have
evinced as fervid and pure a patriot
ism, but no one surrendered more for
his country's sake, or gave his life
more joyfully for her deliverance,
than did James S. Wadsworth.

Among our wounded in this con
test were Gens. Hancock (slightly),
Getty, Gregg, Owen, Bartlett, Webb,
and Carroll.
Of the Eebel killed, the most con
spicuous were Maj.-Gen. Sam. Jones
and Brig.-Gen. Albert G. Jenkins.
Among their wounded were Gens.
Longstreet (disabled for months), Staf
ford (mortally), Pickett, Pegram, and
Hunter. Doubtless, their aggregate
losses were much less than ours, es
pecially in prisoners ; but they were
nevertheless severe, as they were es
timated by themselves at 8,000.

Warren, starting at 9 p. m. of the
7th, preceded by cavalry, emerged"
from the Wilderness at Alsop'B farm,
where the Brock road crosses the
little river Po ; but he had been de
tained by the obstruction of his roads
by the enemy, and by the cavalry
fight in his front, so that Longstreet's
corps had arrived before him, and
taken post across the little river Ny,
with his guns planted on the ridge
beyond, to sweep our columns as they
advanced. After a mutual cannon
ade, Eobinson's overmatched division
was advanced to the assault, but re
pulsed ; Eobinson being severely
wounded. Later in the day, when
part of the 6th corps had come up,
the assault was renewed, Griffin's
division taking part ; when the ene
my were driven back, with a loss of
1,500. Ours was judged to be less.
Miles's brigade of Hancock's corps
was attacked this day at Corbyn's
bridge, but beat off its assailants.
Wilson, with our advance cavalry,
penetrated to Spottsylvania Court
House ; but, being unsupported, was
compelled to retire.

11 Sunday, May 8.

FIGHTING AT SPO TTSTLTANIA C. H.

571

Next day,18 our army cleared the
Wilderness and was concentrated
around Spottsylvania Court House,
now held by Hill and Ewell : War
ren in the center, Hancock on the
right, Sedgwick on the left. While
placing his guns, and bantering some
of his men, who winced at the sing
ing of Eebel bullets, Gen. Sedgwick
was struck in the face by a sharp
shooter's missile, and fell instantly
dead. He was a native and citizen
of Connecticut, a bachelor of 40, a
thorough soldier, greatly beloved for
his social qualities by all who knew
him. Gen. Wm. H. Morris, of New
York, was severely wounded this day.
Gen. H. G. Wright next day suc
ceeded to the command of the 6th
corps, and Gen. Burnside came into
position on our left ; when our batte
ries opened on the enemy's position,
and charges on his rifle-pits were
made by Barlow's and by Gibbon's
divisions, in front of the 2d and Sth
corps, bringing on a general engage
ment. We finally attempted to turn
the enemy's left flank, but failed;
Barlow's division, which had ad
vanced across the Po, being ordered
to return, was fiercely attacked on
its retreat, and at one time in danger
of destruction, but finally extricated
with some loss, including a gun.
Several charges on our part were re
pulsed with loss — Brig.-Gens. J. C.
Eice and T. G. Stevenson being
among our killed. Late in the after
noon, a most gallant charge was
made from our left by Wright's 1st
division, Col. Upton, and 3d, Gen.
D. A. Eussell, who rushed over the
first line of Eebel defenses and took
900 prisoners, beside several guns,
which, for want of proper support,

they were obliged at dark to aban
don. The day closed with no decisive
success ; our aggregate loss having
been severe; the enemy's — because
of their position — probably much
less. Gen. Grant dispatched next morn
ing to the War Department the fol
lowing pithy but rather roseate bul
letin: " Headquaetebs in the Field, )
"May 11, 1864— 8 a. m. \
" We have now ended the sixth day of
very heavy fighting. The result, to this
time, is much in our favor.
" Our losses have been heavy, as well as
those of the enemy. I think the loss of the
enemy must be greater.
" We have taken over 5,000 prisoners by
battle, whilst he has taken from us but few, -
except stragglers.
" I PEOPOSE TO FIGHT IT OUT ON THIS
LINE, IF IT TAKES ALL SUMMEB.
" U. S. Geant, Lieut. -Gen. Command
ing the Armies of the United States."
This day was spent in reconnoiter.
ing, sMrmishing, and getting ready
for the morrow. The afternoon was
rainy. Hancock, at nightfall, was or
dered to leave at midnight his posi
tion fronting Hill, and move silently
to the left, taking post between
Wright and Burnside, so as to be
ready for work early in the morning.
When morning came, the rain had
given place to a fog of exceeding
density, under cover of which, Han
cock sternly advanced, in two lines ;
Barlow's and Birney's divisions form
ing the first; Gibbon's and Mott's
the second. Before them was a sa
lient angle of earthworks, held by
Edward Johnson's division of Ew
ell's corps. Swiftly, noiselessly sweep
ing over the rugged, difficult, thick
ly wooded intervening space — some
1,200 yards — Barlow's and Birney's
divisions dashed, with a thundering
cheer, over the front and flank of the

18 May 9.

572

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

SPOTTSYLVANIA COUHT UOTTSE.

enemy's works, surprising and over
whelming the Eebels in their trench
es, and capturing Johnson, with most
of his division ; also Brig.-Gen. Geo.
H. Stewart10 and part of two bri
gades; also 30 guns. The number
of prisoners secured and sent to the
rear was over 3,000.
Hancock wrote in pencil to Grant :
" I have captured from 30 to 40 guns.
I have finished up Johnson, and am
going into Early." He had in fact,
though he did not know it, all but
captured Lee himself, and had nearly
cut the Eebel army in two. But the
surprise was now over, and the rally
of the Eebels was.prompt and vigor

ous. Their case was desperate — for de
feat now was annihilation — and they
fought with in vin cible ardor and reso
lution. Grant had fully prepared for
the emergency ; Wright's (6 th) corps
hurried up. to the aid of Hancock,
and Warren and Burnside charged
promptly and bravely on our right ;
but the enemy's position here was so
strong that he held it and at the same
time dispatched aid to his endangered
right. Charge followed charge in
quick succession, and the mutual car
nage was fearful. Seeing that no im
pression was made by our attacks
along the enemy's unshaken front,
they were intermitted, while Cutler's

10 Stewart was an old army friend of Han
cock, who, when the former was brought before
him as a prisoner, held out his hand, cordially
inquiring, "How are you, Stewart?" The latter
haughtily replied, " I am Gen. Stewart, of the

Confederate Army, and, under the circumstances,
I decline to take your hand." " And under any
other circumstances, General, I should not have
offered it," was the prompt and fit response of
the victor.

MORE FIGHTING AT SPOTT STLT ANI A C. H.

573

and Griffin's divisions were detached
from Warren and sent to the aid of
Hancock, who still held fast to the
captured work, but could not go be
yond it ; while Lee made five succes
sive and desperate assaults on him,
with intent to hurl him back; the
men fighting hand-to-hand, with their
respective flags often planted on op
posite sides of the same breastwork.
These assaults were all repelled with
frightful carnage ; but Hancock was
unable to advance, as he had expect
ed to do, and ultimately got off but
20 ofthe captured guns. Eain set in
again at noon ; but the fighting con
tinued till near midnight, when it was
terminated by Lee's desisting and
leaving Hancock in possession of
his hard-won prize; but that was
the extent of our advantage, which
had cost us several thousand men,
and the enemy almost as many. Lee
fortified and held a line immediately
in front of Hancock ; so that the ene
my's general position proved as in
vulnerable as ever.
Here ensued several days of ma
neuvering, marching and counter
marching, in quest of a weak point
in the enemy's defenses; but none
was found : an assault being delivered
on the 18th, by Gibbon's and Bar
low's divisions, supported by Birney's
and Tyler's, nearly in front of the
work they had so gallantly carried on
the 12th ; but they were stopped by
formidable abatis, and repulsed, los
ing heavily.
Next afternoon, observing or sus
pecting that our army was gradually
moving to the left, with intent to flank
and pass him, Lee threw forward Ew
ell against our weakened right, held
by Tyler's division of foot artillerists

recently drawn from the defenses of
Washington, by whom he was gal
lantly repulsed and driven- off, though
not without serious loss on our side.
The reckless fighting of the artille
rists — mainly veterans in service, but
new to the field — excited general ad
miration, but cost blood. The 2d
and 5th corps hurrying to their aid,
Ewell's men were run off and scat
tered in the woods, on our left, where
several hundreds of them were hunted
up and taken prisoners. Somewhat
delayed by this sally, our army, mov
ing by the left, resumed, next night,"
its march to Eichmond.
Gen. Meade reports his losses up
to this time at 39,791 ; to which some
thing must be added for the losses
of Burnside's corps before it was
formally incorporated with the Army
of the Potomac. If we assume that
half these fell in the Wilderness, our
losses around Spottsylvania C. H.
were scarcely less than 20,000 men.
The Eebels, holding a ridge, gener
ally fighting on the defensive and be
hind breastworks, had suffered con
siderably less, but still quite heavily.
Among their officers killed were
Gens. Daniels, Perrin, and J. M.
Jones. In the Wilderness, our army had
cut loose from its original base north
of the Eapidan. It had since estab
lished a new one at Fredericksburg,
to which its wounded were sent, and
where they were met by officers,
nurses, and other employes of the
Sanitary and Christian Associations,
with the amplest and most thought
ful provision for the mitigation
of their sufferings. As it moved
down toward Eichmond, new bases
were established at Port Eoyal and

30 May 20-21.

574

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

then at White House ; so. that, while
there was doubtless much suffering
from privation as well as from
wounds, it was always within a short
distance of posts to which abundant
supplies were forwarded from Wash
ington and from the great commer
cial cities, under the efficient direc
tion of Gen. Eufus Ingalls, its chief
Quartermaster.

On emerging from the Wilderness,
Gen. Sheridan, with the better part
of our cavalry, led by Merritt, Wil
son, and Gregg, was dispatched " on
a raid toward Eichmond. Crossing
next day the North Anna, Sheridan
carried the Beaverdam station on
the Yirginia Central, destroying the
track, three trains of cars, a million
and a half of rations, and liberating
400 Union prisoners captured in the
Wilderness and now on their way to
Eichmond. Stuart's cavalry here
overtook and assailed his flank and
rear, but to little purpose. Crossing
the South Anna at Ground Squirrel
bridge, Sheridan captured Ashland
Station at daylight ;m breaking up
the railroad, destroying a train and a
large quantity of stores. He then re
sumed his march to Eichmond.
Stuart had meantime passed him and
massed his cavalry at Yellow Tavern,
a few miles north of Eichmond, where
he proposed to stop the raid. A spir
ited fight ensued, wherein Stuart was
mortally wounded (as was Brig.-Gen.
J. B. Gordon) and his force driven
off the turnpike toward Ashland,
leaving the road to Eichmond open.
Sheridan pressed down it; Custer
carrying the outer line of defenses
and taking 100 prisoners. But Eich
mond was no longer to be taken on a

gallop, and our assault was repulsed ;
Sheridan crossing the Chickahominy
at Meadow bridge, beating off at
tacks both front and rear, burning the
railroad bridge, and moving to Hax-
alTs ;" where he rested three days,
and then, moving by White House
and Hanover C. H., rejoined the
Army of the Potomac.

Gen. Butler, commanding at For
tress Monroe, had been reenforced in
pursuance of a programme suggested
by him and concurred in by Gen.
Grant : Gen. W. F. Smith's (18th)
corps and Gen. Gillmore's (10th)
corps (from South Carolina) having
been sent him, raising our effective
strength in his department to some
40,000 men, of whom perhaps 30,000
were disposable. Having sent" a
small force on steamboats up the York
to White House, to move out and
menace Eichmond so as to draw the
enemy's attention to that quarter, the
day after Gillmore's arrival his real
movement commenced,25 in coopera
tion with General Grant's, and with
others. Embarking his infantry and
artillery, 25,000 strong, Gen. Butler
proceeded up James river, while Gen.
Kautz, with 3,000 cavalry, moved
out from Suffolk, crossing the Black-
water and cutting the Weldon road at
Stony creek ; Col. E.West, with 1,500
more troopers, simultaneously advan
cing from Williamsburg up the north
bank of the James. The armed trans
ports moved up the James by night,
the unarmed following next day," pio
neered by the iron-clads and other
naval forces under Admiral Lee.
Wilson's wharf, Fort Powhattan, and
City Point, were seized without re
sistance ; 10,000 men being at once

al May 9. M May 11.

May 14 M May 1.

May 4.

' May 5.

BUTLER MENACES PETERSBURG AND RICHMOND. 575

pushed forward to possess and secure
the peninsula between the James and
the Appomattox, known as Bermuda
Hundreds. Next day, Gen. Smith
moved out toward the railroad from
Eichmond to Petersburg, but failed
to strike it. On the 7th, Gen. Smith,
with his own and part of Gillmore's
corps, struck the railroad near Port
Walthall junction, and commenced
destroying it ; having to fight D. H.
Hill, but with advantage to our side ;
while Col. West's cavalrv, bavins:
forded the Chickahominy, arrived
opposite City Point. After breaking
up the railroad for some distance,
Gen. Butler, misled by advices from
Washington that Gen. Lee was beat
en and in full retreat on Eichmond
— which would have brought him
down suddenly in overwhelming force
on this army— drew back within his
intrenchments, which he was engaged
in strengthening for the apprehended
emergency. The fact that his two
corps commanders did not cordially
cooperate, while Gillmore did not
execute his orders so promptly and
vigorously as he deemed fit, somewhat
increased the inevitable perplexities
of the commander's critical position.
Had Butler been directed to move
at once on Petersburg, he could
hardly have failed to capture that
city — there being no considerable
Eebel force then in lower Yirginia —
and might have been enabled to hold
it ; separating, for a time, the Eebel
capital and Lee's army from the
South proper. But, the first astoun
ding news of his movement up the
James summoned Beauregard by
telegraph from Charleston, with all
the forces that could be scraped from
that region — now relieved of all ap

prehension by Gillmore's withdraw
al. When, therefore, the first reso
lute effort was made " to cut the rail
road, some portion either ofthe North
or South Carolina forces had already
arrived ; and, when it was renewed,58
the enemy had been materially
strengthened. Still, the advantage
of numbers was clearly on our side ;
and the enemy was forced to uncover
the railroad, which was destroyed for
some distance; our troops pressing
southward to Swift creek, three miles
from Petersburg. But now, deceived
by fresh, joyful, but hardly truthful,
Washington advices, Butler turned
his face northward, to participate in
the expected speedy capture of Eich
mond; pushing his lines gradually up
to Proctor's creek, whence the enemy
withdrew a° to an intrenched line be
hind it, which Gen. Gillmore flanked,
and which was to have been assault
ed ; but our troops had been so dis
persed that the requisite force was
not at hand; so the attack was de
ferred till next morning."
But Beauregard — whom Butler
supposed still at or below Peters
burg, unable to get up — was on
hand, with a formidable force, and
intent on making himself disagree
able. A dense fog shrouded every
thing, when, before daylight, our
sleeping soldiers on the front were
startled by a grand crash of artillery
and musketry. Our forces had been
so disposed that there was over a
mile of open country between our
right and the James, merely picketed
by 150 cavalry; and Beauregard,
having made careful observations be
fore dark, attempted at once to as
sault in front, to turn this flank, and
to strike heavily our left with a divi-

May 1.

1 May 9.

1 May 13.

' May 16.

576

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

sion under Gen. Whiting, which he
had left on the Petersburg side of the
gap in the railroad.
The attempt to turn our right was
at first a decided success. Heck-
man's brigade, here posted, was sur
prised and overwhelmed. The ene
my gained the rear of this flank, and
was carrying all before him, when he
met the 112th New York — one of
three Gillmore regiments which But
ler had fortunately sent to Smith as
a support to his long, thin line. Join
ed on the instant bv the 9th Maine,
ej ?
this regiment held the road-junction
which the enemy were pressing on to
seize, and stubbornly refused to move.
The Eebel commander, disconcerted
by this unexpected resistance, and
reluctant to advance in the fog to
unknown and incalculable perils, de
sisted and withdrew.
The front of Smith's line, held by
the divisions of Brooks and Weitzel,
was impetuously assailed ; but Smith,
having found a quantity of telegraph
wire lying idle, had resolved to make
a precautionary use of it, by direct
ing his men to stretch it tightly along
their front, winding it occasionally
around a tree or stump, at a height
of two or three feet from the ground.
The assaulting enemy, rushing blindly
upon this in their charge, pitched
headlong over it, and were shot or
bayoneted ere they could regain their
feet. Th eir attack in front was thus re
pulsed — the assailants recoiling with
loss. Beauregard thereupon renewed his
effort to turn our right; sending a
large force, and directing it to make
a farther detour; which was done,
and Smith thereby compelled to fall
back.

Whiting, who was to have struck
Gillmore on our left, failed, for some
reason, to do so; hence, Gillmore
stood in idle expectancy, until Smith
drew back, when he did likewise.
We had lost in this collision about
4,000 men ; the Eebels at least 3,000.
Beauregard cautiously followed up,
and erected a line of works across the
peninsula in front of ours ; so that Gen.
Butler wrote to Gen. Grant that he
was " bottled up :" a remark that the
Lieutenant-General, rather inconsid
erately, adopts in his report of the
campaign. So long as our navy
and transports held undisputed pos
session of the rivers, enabling Butler
to launch his troops in any direction
but directly northward, the remark
had but little pertinence or force;
as the unobstructed and ready with
drawal,31 soon afterward, of Smith's
corps to reenforce the Army of the
Potomac, sufficiently proves. When
that detachment was required, But
ler was on the point of striking that
determined blow at Petersburg which
should have been his first, and, but
for misinformation as to Lee's dis
comfiture, probably would have been
successful. There was further fighting along
Gen. Butler's front, on the 18th, 19th,
20th, and 21st, with considerable loss
on each side; but without decisive
results. Gen. Terry's line was forced
back on the 20th, but reestablished
next day. And Gen. Kautz, who had
been sent on a cavalry raid to cut the
railroads leading southward and west
ward from Petersburg, acting with
caution, achieved but a moderate
success ; cutting the Danville road at
Coalfield, Powhattan, and Chula, but
failing to destroy the iron bridge at

1 May 30-31.

GRANT ADVANCES TO THE NORTH ANNA.

577

Matoax, which was strongly guard
ed. He did a little harm also to the
Lynchburg and Weldon road ; mak
ing his way circuitously but safely
thence" to City Point. Meantime,
our fleet had had a difficult and dan
gerous task in fishing the James for
torpedoes ; by one of which, the small
gunboat Com. Jones had been utterly
destroyed,33 and 50 of its crew killed
or wounded. The gunboats Shosho-
nee and Brewster were likewise de
stroyed by explosions, but not of tor
pedoes. Gen. Grant's flanking advance from
Spottsylvania to the North Anna
"was admirably planned and executed
without loss — a single blow aimed by
Hill at the front of Wright's (6th)
corps, just before it started3* to cover
the movement, being easily repelled.
But, as our movement was easily de
tected from the higher ground held
by Lee, and as his position covered
the direct and best road leading
straight to Eichmond, compelling
Grant to make a considerable detour
eastward and move by inferior roads,
it was inevitable on our part that,
on approaching36 the North Anna,
near the crossing of the Fredericks-
• burg railroad, our army should find
its old antagonist planted across that
stream, in an admirable position, cov
ering the Central road (on which
Breckinridge, having beaten Sigel in
the Yalley, was now hurrying down
to reenforce Lee), and prepared to
dispute resolutely its farther advance.
Warren, on our right, crossed that
afternoon at Jericho ford, the enemy
being in slender force in his imme
diate presence ; but they were very
soon strengthened, and an attack in

front, on Griffin's division, made at 5
p. m. by Wilcox's and Heth's divisions
(six brigades) of Hill's corps, but
promptly and effectually repulsed
with loss to the enemy ; who there
upon sent Brown, with three brigades,
to turn our right. This maneuver
was well executed ; the blow falling
on Cutler's division while getting
into position, crushing in his left, and
throwing the whole into confusion.
Pressing swiftly to their right, the
charging column struck the right of
Griffin's division, which was saved by
refusing that flank, while Bartlett's
brigade was hurried forward to its
support. In making this advance,,
the 83d Pennsylvania, Lt.-Col. Mc
Coy, swept closely past the flank of*
Brown's column, when McCoy iu-
stantly wheeled his forward com
panies into line, and gave a volley,
which, delivered at close quarters ou
the flank and rear of the Eebel eal-
umn, threw it into utter disorder and
rout : one of McCoy's men seizing
Brown by the collar and dragging
him into our lines, while nearly 1,000
of his men were gathered up as prir
soners. Our loss here was. but 350,
and the enemy's attack was com
pletely foiled. Warren established
and intrenched his lines without far
ther resistance.
Gen. Hancock struck the North
Anna at the Chesterfield bridge, a
mile above the Fredericksburg rail
road, where he was confronted by
McLaws's division of Longstreet's
corps, mainly across the river, but
holding an ugly fortification or bridge
head on this side ; which, at 6 p. m.,
after a vigorous fire from three sec
tions of artillery, was stormed and
carried by Pierce's and Egan's brig-

1 May IT. vol. n. — 37

'May 6.

u May 21.

^ay 23.

578

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

y "^
sexroN's swamp

POSITIONS ON THE NOETH ANNA.

ades of Birney's division, who swept
over the plain on the double-quick,
disregarding the heavy fire of its de
fenders, swarmed over the parapet,
and drove out the garrison, capturing
30, with a total loss of 150. Eepeat-
ed efforts by the enemy to burn the
bridge during the ensuing night were
baffled ; and in the morning it was
discovered that they had retreated ;
when Hancock quietly crossed and
established himself on the south side ;
as Wright, following Warren, had
done at Jericho ford the night before;
The passage of the river thus
seemed to be triumphantly and
cheaply effected ; but the appearance
was delusive. The river was barely
fordable at different points, with
high, rocky banks ; and Lee had
chosen a strong position, with both
flanks drawn back; his right cov
ered by marshes; his left resting
on Little river; his front on the
North Anna narrow and strong ; our
army being situated much as his was

at Gettysburg, when Meade was able
to throw divisions and corps from
right to left to breast a coming shock,
or strike a return blow, in half the
time that Lee required to countervail
the movement. So, when Burnside,
approaching the river half way be
tween our right and left wings, at
tempted to cross, his advance division
(Crittenden's) was promptly repelled
with heavy loss ; and when Warren
attempted to connect with Burnside
by pushing Crawford's division down
the south bank of the river, he in
turn was assailed in overwhelming
force, and was with difficulty extri
cated. Grant paused and pondered,
and studied and planned ; but Lee's
position was absolutely invulnerable,
or only to be wrested from good sol
diers with an enormous disparity of
force, and by a frightful sacrifice of
life. After deliberate and careful
reconnoissances, continued through
out two days, an assault was for
borne, and our army, cautiously with-

FLANK MOVEMENT TO COLD HARBOR.

579

drawing at nightfall " from the ene
my's front, recrossed the river unas-
sailed, and, after pushing well east to
avoid anotlier charge on the flank of
its long columns while extended in
movement, again turned southward
and took the road to Eichmond : the
6th corps in advance, followed in
succession by the 5th, 9th, and 2d :
Hancock not starting till next morn
ing ; when Sheridan, with our caval
ry in the advance, was, after a march
of 22 miles, approaching the Pamun-
keyatHanovertown. Wright's corps
crossed directly, and took post to
cover the fords ; Warren's and Burn
side's were over the next morning ;"
Hancock crossed almost four miles
higher ; so that our whole army was
south of the Pamunkey without loss,
and in unobstructed communication
with its new base at White House.
Lee had, as usual, a much shorter
road, and was already in position on
our new front; his army facing
north-eastward, covering both rail
roads as well as the road to Eichmond,
and rendering it hazardous, if not im
possible, to cross the Chickahominy
on his right so ns to interpose be
tween him and the Confederate capi
tal. Grant had shown at the North
Anna his aversion to sacrificing the
lives of his men when there was a
practicable alternative; but now it
seemed that the great object of the
campaign positively required a dis
regard of the advantages of position
possessed by the enemy. A spirited
fight " at Hawes's shop, on our front,
wherein Sheridan, with the brigades
of Davies, Gregg, and Custer, met
and worsted the Eebel troopers un
der Fitehugh Lee and Hampton —
our loss being 400, and the enemy's

800 — doubtless stimulated the gene
ral eagerness for battle. A recon
noissance in force along om* front
was accordingly made; developing
the enemy's position across Tolopo-
tomy creek, with its right on the
Mechanicsville pike, near Bethesda
church, where Col. Hardin's brigade
of Eeserves, Crawford's division, was
struck " on its flank by Ehodes's di
vision of Ewell's corps, and hurried
back to the Shady Grove road ; where
Crawford, bringing up the remainder
of the Eeserves and Kitching's brig
ade (of Warren's corps), repulsed
Ehodes, and established our left on
the Mechanicsville pike. Meantime,
Hancock, on our right, had been
stopped, after heavy skirmishing, at
the Tolopotomy, finding the enemy
in his front too strong and too weU
covered by defenses and a swamp;
while Burnside had come into posi
tion on his left, and Wright on his
right. Eeconnoissances showed the
enemy's position so unassailable in
front that no course seemed open
but an attempt to flank its right,
crossing the Chickahominy opposite
or just below Cold Harbor ; a focus
of roads which Sheridan had seized,**
after a brief skirmish, and on which
the 6th corps, moving in the rear
from our right to our left, was imme
diately directed ; reaching it next
day — just before Gen. W. F. Smith,
with 10,000 men detached from But
ler's armv, and brought around by
steamboats to White House, came up
and took post on its right ; and the
two were met here by orders from
Meade to advance and repel the
enemy in their front, with a view to
forcing a passage of the Chicka-
hominv.

' May 26.

" Mav 2S.

"May 2S, P.M.

•May 29.

1 May 31.

580

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

BATTLES OF COLD IIAP.BOK.

The attack was made at 4p.m.:
the enemy of course posted in a wood,
which concealed their strength, facing
a level, open field, across which our
men advanced with great spirit under
a heavy fire, carrying a good part of
the enemy's advanced line of rifle-
trenches and taking 600 prisoners.
Their second line, however, was far
Btronger and more firmly held ; and
night fell with the Eebels still fully in
its possession : our advance holding
and bivouacking on the ground it
ha*d gained, at a cost of 2,000 killed
and wounded. For Longstreet's
corps, which had confronted our right
the day before, had been moved
rapidly to our left, parallel with
Wright's movement, and was here
facing us before the Chickahominy,
as it had just been on the Tolopoto-
my, with a little less advantage of
position but the same spirit and reso

lution ; so that (as Lincoln once re
marked to McClellan) the chief ob
stacle had been shifted, not sur
mounted, by our movement to the
left. Nevertheless, Hancock was now
called down from our right to the
left of Wright ; Warren was directed
to extend his left so as to connect
with Smith ; while Burnside was to
withdraw entirely from the front and
mass on the right and rear of War
ren. These flank movements, in the pre
sence of a vigilant and resolute ene
my, may not often prove so disastrous
as Eosecrans found them at the
Chickamauga, but they are always
critical. Burnside, attempting to
obey this order in broad daylight,"
his movement was of course detected
by the foe in his front, who sharply
followed up his skirmishers covering
the operation, taking some of them

41 June 2, p. m.

GRAND ASSAULT AT COLD HARBOR.

581

prisoners, and, striking Warren's left,
cut off and captured 400 more ; ar
resting Warren's extension to the left,
by compelling him to look to the
safety of his corps. But new dispo
sitions were made, and Grant and
Meade, now at Cold Harbor, resolved
that the Eebel lines should be forced
on the morrow."
The two armies held much of the
ground covered by McClellan's right,
under Fitz-John Porter, prior to Lee's
bold advance, nearly two years be
fore : Gaines's mill being directly in
the rear of the Confederate center ;
while Sheridan's cavalry patrolled the
roads in -our rear leading to our base
* at White House, covered our left and
observed the Chickahominy. east
ward of Eichmond. Wilson, with
his cavalry division, watched our
right flank. Burnside was still on
Warren's right and rear; Smith,
Wright, and Hancock stretched far
ther and farther to the left. In our
front, Lee not only had a very good
position naturally, but he knew how
to make the most of its advantages —
the single point in which (but it is a
vital one) his admirers can justify
their claim for him ©f a rare military
genius. No other American has ever
so thoroughly appreciated and so
readily seized the enormous advan
tage which the increased range, pre
cision, and efficiency given to mus
ketry by rifling, have insured to the
defensive, when wielded by a com
mander who knows how speedily a
trench may be dug and a slight breast
work thrown up which will stop'nine-
tenths of the bullets that would oth
erwise draw blood. The lessons of
Bunker Hill and New Orleans, im
pressive as they were, must have been
*» June 3.

trebly so had our countrymen been
armed with the Enfield rifle or Spring
field musket of to-day.
At sunrise, or a little before, the
assault was made" along our whole _
front — bravely, firmly, swiftly made ;
and as swiftly repulsed with terrible
slaughter. On our left, Barlow's di
vision of Hancock's corps gained a
transitory advantage ; dislodging the
enemy from their position in a sunk
en road, taking three guns and seve
ral hundred prisoners. But his sec
ond line failed to advance promptly
to the support of the first, against
which the enemy rallied in over
whelming force, retaking their de
fenses, hurling Barlow back, but not
to the lines from which he started.
He fell back a few yards only, and
covered his front so quickly that the
enemy could not dislodge him.
Gibbon,charging on Barlow's right,
was checked by a swamp, which sepa
rated his command : part of which
gained the Eebel works nevertheless ;
Col. McMahon planting his colors on
their intrenchments a moment before
he fell mortally wounded. No part
of the Eebel works was held ; but
part of Gibbon's men also covered
themselves so close to the enemy's
lines that, while the Eebels dared
not come out to capture them, they
could not get away, save by crawling
off under cover of fog or thick dark

ness.

Wright's and Smith's assaults were
less determined — at all events, less
sanguinary — than Hancock's; and
Warren, having a long line to hold,
was content to hold it. Burnside
swung two of his divisions around to
flank the enemy's left, which he hotly
engaged, and must have worsted had
" June 3.

582

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the battle along om* front been pro
tracted. But that could not be.
Twenty minutes after the first shot
was fired, fully 10,000 of our men
were stretched writhing on the sod,
or still and calm in death ; while the
enemy's loss was probably httle more
than 1,000. And when, some hours
later, orders were sent by Gen. Meade
to each corps commander to renew
the assault at once, without regard to
any other, the men simply and unani
mously refused to obey it. They
knew that success was hopeless, and
the attempt to gain it murderous:
hence they refused to be sacrificed to
no purpose.
Our total loss at and around Cold
Harbor was 13,153 ; of whom 1,705
were killed, 9,042 wounded, and 2,406
missing. Among the killed were act
ing Brigadiers P. A. Porter," Lewis
O. Morris, and F. F. Wead ; all of
New York. Cols. Edward Pye, 95th
N. Y, O. H. Morris, 66th N. Y., J. C.
Drake, 112th N. Y., John McConihe,
169th N. Y, Edwin Schall, 51st Pa.,
and F. A. Haskell, 36th Wise. Brig.-
Gen. E. O. Tyler was among the se
verely wounded. Brig.-Gen. Doles
was the only Eebel officer of note re
ported as killed. Col. Lawrence M.
Keitt, formerly a conspicuous M. C.
from South Carolina, had fallen the
day before.
Our army had suffered terribly in
this battle ; but it had lost blood
only. The fighting closed with our

** Col. Peter A. Porter, of Niagara Falls, son of
Gen. Peter B. Porter, -who served with honor in the
War of 1812, and was Secretary of War under
J. Q. Adams. Col. Porter, in the prime of life,
and in the enjoyment of every thing calculated
to make life desirable, volunteered from a sense
of duty ; saying his country had done so much
for him that he could not hesitate to do all inhis
power for her in her hour of peril. When nomi-

front advanced on several points and
forced back on none ; but Lee, over
estimating the effects of our repulse
on the morale of our men, and seeing
that our hastily constructed intrench-
nients directly before his lines were
but slight, hazarded a night attack"
on our front, but was repulsed at
every point, and soon desisted. Next
day, a partial assault was made on
our left ; but this also was easily re
pulsed. Meantime, our army was
gradually moving to its left, by the
successive withdrawals of Burnside
and of Warren ; when another night
attack was made" on our right, again
held by Burnside, but without suc
cess. And now an armistice of two
hours was arranged, during which the
wounded lying between the armies
were removed and the dead buried.
Next day,*' our left was extended
to the Chickahominy, finding the
enemy in force opposite Sumner's
and Bottom's bridges; while Sheri
dan was dispatched with two divi
sions of cavalry around Lee's left, to
tear up the Yirginia Central rail
road in his rear, which he did: cross
ing the Pamunkey at Aylett's, break
ing the Fredericksburg road at Ches
terfield station, and thence pushing
over the North Anna by Chilesburg
and Mount Pleasant, over the upper
branches of the North Anna,*' strik
ing the Central railroad at Trevilian's,
routing a body of Eebel horse, under
Wade Hampton, that interfered with
his operations, and breaking up the

nated in 1863 as Union candidate for Secretary
of State, he responded that his neighbors had
intrusted him with the lives of tlieir sons, and
he could not leave them while the War lasted.
He was but one among thousands animated by
like motives; but none ever volunteered from
purer impulses, or served with more unselfish
devotion, than Peter A. Porter.
« June 4. " June 6. " June 1. " June 10.

GRANT CROSSES THE JAMES.

583

road nearly down*0 to Louisa C. H. ;
but, soon finding the Eebels too nu
merous and pressing, he retraced his
steps to Trevilian's, where he had a
sharp, indecisive, sanguinary fight,
and then drew off ; making his way
to Spottsylvania C. H., and therfce
by Guiney's station to White House,
and so rejoined Gen. Grant. His
raid was less effective than had been
calculated, because Gen. Hunter, who
was expected to meet him at Gor
donsville, had taken a different di
rection, leaving more foes on Sheri
dan's hands than he was able satis
factorily to manage. His total loss,
mainly in the last fight at Trevilian's,
was 735, whereof some 300 were pris
oners. He brought out 370 prison
ers. The Eebel loss in killed and
wounded was at least equal to ours,
and included Gen. Eosser and Col.
Custer, wounded, and Col. McAllis
ter, killed. 
Gen. Grant now decided to pass
the Chickahominy far to Lee's right,
and thence move across the James to
attack Eichmond from the south. It
was a bold resolve, especially as the
authorities at Washington had a set
tled and reasonable repugnance to a
movement which seemed . to place
the Federal City at the mercy of Lee.
Taking up the rails from the Chick
ahominy to White House, and ship
ping them around for use south of
the James, Smith's corps was like
wise embarked "° and returned to But
ler ; while the Army of the Potomac
was put in motion " for the passage
of the James: Wilson's cavalry, in
advance, crossing the Chickahominy
at Long bridge, followed by War
ren's corps; which was passed at
Long bridge by Hancock's, which

struck the James at Wilcox's wharf,
between Charles City OH. and West-
over. Wright and Burnside, cross
ing the Chickahominy at Jones's
bridge, moved thence to Charles City
C. H. ; our trains, for safety, taking
roads still farther to the east. The
enemy made some attempts at annoy
ing our right flank during the march,
but to no purpose. Pontoons and
ferry-boats being at hand, the pas
sage was promptly and safely made ;M
and very soon our guns were thun
dering at the southern approaches to
the Eebel capital.

This is not a miHtary history, and
its author makes no shadow of pre
tension to other military knowledge,
than that which is necessarily gained
by all students of history ; while no
one who carefully reads this volume
will accuse him of partiality or special
admiration for Gen. Grant. Yet the
criticisms which have been leveled at
that commander's advance to Eich
mond seem so unjust as to demand
exposure. " Why not embark his army at
once for City Point ?" has been tri
umphantly asked, " and establish it
there at a cost of a few hundred men,
instead of fifty or sixty thousand ?"
The question not only ignores the
Eebel losses in the course of this
movement — losses which were at least
as large in proportion to their resour
ces as ours — but ignores also the ob
vious fact that Lee's army around
Eichmond, hard pressed by a superi
or force, was no peril to Washington
and the loyal States ; whereas, to leave
it on the Eapidan and take ship for
the James was either to make the
enemy a present of our capital, with

49 June 12.

60 June 12-13.

" June 12.

" June 14-15.

584

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

its immense stores of every warlike
material, or compel that division and
dispersion of our forces whereof Mc
Clellan had so persistently, and with
some justice, complained. Lee at
Eichmond, with the country north
ward to the Potomac thoroughly ex
hausted and devastated, could not
reach Washington at all without
abandoning Eichmond to its fate ;
and corps after corps of our army
could be transferred to the Potomac
in less than half the time required for
a march ofthe Eebel forces to Center
ville. Of course, Grant set out expect
ing to defeat Lee decisively between
the Eapidan and the Chickahominy,
and was disappointed; but.it is diffi
cult to see how he could have evaded
obstacles at least as serious as those
he encountered. As he pertinently
observed, the Eebel army was his true
objective; and this must be encoun
tered, whichever route he might take.
Had he attempted, as Lee evidently
anticipated, to advance by Gordons
ville or Louisa C. H, flanking Lee's
left instead of his right, he would
have been starved into a retreat before
he came in sight of the James.

Petersburg, at the head of sloop
navigation on the Appomattox, 22
miles south of Eichmond, is the focus
of all the railroads but the Danville
which connected the Confederate cap
ital with the South and South-west.
Petersburg taken and firmly held by
our forces, the stay of the Eebel Gov
ernment and Army at Eichmond must
be of short duration. But merely to
take it, without the ability to hold
it against the force which Lee, near
at hand, could easily send against it,
would be worse than useless.

The moment it was decided that
Meade's army must cross the James
below Eichmond and threaten that
city from the south, Grant hastened
to Butler's headquarters to impel
against Petersburg whatever force
might there be disposable, so soon as
it should be certain that that attempt
could be seasonably supported by the
legions of Meade.
Butler, after the dispatch of the best
part of his force, under W. F. Smith,
to Meade, had been inclined to keep
quiet within his intrenchments ; but
that was not permitted. His north
ern outpost at Wilson's wharf, north
ofthe James, held by Gen. Wild with
two Black regiments, had already
been summoned and charged63 by
Fitz-Hugh Lee's cavalry, who, after-
r fight of some hours, were beaten
off with loss: and now Gen. Gill
more, with 3,500 men, was thrown
across " the Appomattox, to approach
Petersburg by the turnpike on the
north, while Gen. Kautz, with 1,500
cavalry, should charge into it from
the south or south-west. Two .gun
boats and a battery were simultane
ously to bombard Fort Clinton, de
fending the approach up the river.
The combination failed, though it
should have succeeded. Gillmore
advanced" unresisted to within two
miles of the city, where he drove in
the enemy's skirmishers and halted —
or rather, recoiled — deeming his force
altogether too weak for the task be
fore him, and understanding that he
was free to exercise his discretion
in the premises. Kautz, on the other
hand, made his way not only up to
but into the city — the Confederates'
attention having been concentrated
on Gillmore — but, now that they

'May 24.

64 June 8.

; June 10.

"W. F. SMITH FAILS AT PETERSBURG.

0^0

were released from apprehension ou
this side, they turned upon Kautz ;
driving him out with ease.
Grant, having hurried from the j
Army of the Potomac, when it had
begun to cros the James, to Bermu
da Hundreds, directed Butler to push
W. F. Smith's corps, just arrived
from the Chickahominy by steam
boat via White House, against Pe
tersburg as quickly as possible ; it be
ing known that A_ P. Hill, with the
van of Lee's army, was already on the
south front of Eichmond. Smith
moved out accordingly, crossing the
Appomattox by a pontoon-bridge at
Point of Bocks, and following Gill
more's route southward to Peters
burg ; confronting, before noon,** the
north-east defenses, _ ^ miles from the
river. Hincks's black brigade was
sent up direetly, taking a line of ride-
pits and two guns. But there — -
though moments were inestimable —
Smith paused" — not assaulting till
near sandown, when part of his force
was sent forward, forming a very
strong skirmish line, and cleared the
enemy's rifle-trenches in their front,
capturing 300 prisoners and 16 guns.
with a loss on our part of about 600. M
And now — though the night was
clear and the moon nearly full —
Smith rested till morning, after the
old but not good fashion of 1561-2.

Fatalitiesmnltiplied. Hancock.with
two divisions, forming the van of the
Army of the Potomac, came up just
after nightfall, and waiving his senior
ity, tendered his force to Smith, who
putpartof it into the captured works,
relieving his own troops, but made no
further use of it. And Hancock, it
seems, in the hurry of the moment,
when there were a thousand things
to be attended to at once, had not, up
to 5 p. it. of that day, even been ap
prised that Petersburg was to be
assaulted, and had lost some hours of
the morning waiting for rations,
which would not have s:opped him
if he had known " how urgent was
the nece^ty for haste : and some
further time by marching by an inac
curate map. which carried him too
far to the left.
Smith's hesitation to follow up his
success proved the turning-point of
the campaign. Before morning, there
was a very different sort of enemy in
his front from that he had beaten yes
terday — the van of Lee's iron-sided
veterans, who did not comprehend
' how formidable intrenchments and
batteries could be lost when assailed
only by strong skirmish-lines. By
their arrival, the fall of Petersburg, a
few hours since so imminent, was in
definitely postponed.
During the 16th, Warren and

"June 15.
17 Grant, in his final, comprehensive report,
Bays: '-&ni;_. for some reason that I have never
been able to satisfactorily understand, did not get
ready to assault the enemy's main lines until
near sundown.**
As mote th»- a year had intervened when
the report was written, it is not probahle that
Goi- Grant* s satisfaction on this point wfll ever
be perfected.
"GA Stood H. Mix, 3d X. T. cavalry, was
killed in front of Petersburg, fighting at the

head of his regiment He ha- serred with
credit since early in 15-51.
s So says Swiste- 0 Aiot cf the Potomac"),
who quotes Hancock's repeat as _is a_i_ontv ;
and adds:
"There is on Sie in the archives of the Army
a paper bearing this indorsement byGen-Meade:
'•Had Sen- Baaseobe or my^lf imam i'l.'tPikrf-
Imrg ims to fc _S_Kai P^rsitirg «c**_i iof-
\ Swinton seems to have been eagerly supplied,
'" bv those officers who are not admirers of Gen.
j Grant, with aO. the weapons of assault in their
1 armory.

586

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Burnside came up, with the greater
part of the Army of the Potomac ;
but so did Lee, with most, of the Ar
my of Virginia. Smithheldourright,
touching the Appomattox ; Hancock,
Burnside and "Warren reaching far
ther and farther to the left, which
was covered by Kautz's cavalry.
Meade, after posting his army,
hastened to City Point for a con
sultation with Grant; and, return
ing at 2 p. m., gave orders for a gen
eral assault, which was delivered
at 6 p. m. Hancock's, Burn_ide's,'and
part of Warren's corps, went forward
in the face of a terrible fire from a
sheltered and formidable foe, and a
night of combat and carnage resulted
in a general advance of our lines,
though at a heavy cost. Birney, of
Hancock's corps, had stormed and
carried the ridge in Mb front ; while
Burnside, repelled during the night
by the deadly fire he encountered,
carried at daylight the outwork defy
ing him, capturing 4 guns and 400
prisoners. Potter's division, which
had made this desperate charge, was
now relieved by Ledlie'6, which
pushed our advance still farther, or
to within a mile and a half of the
city, which was hence reached by our
shells. On other points, however, we
had either been repulsed, or had
made no progress ; while the prepon
derance of losses, and even of prison
ers, was heavily against us. And, as
the advanced position gained in Burn
side's front was projected, as it were,
into the enemy's still unshaken lines,
a tremendous assault upon it was
made the next night, and our men
driven out with heavy loss.
The desperate struggle for Peters
burg having drawn the Bebel forces

mainly to that city, Gen. Butler, by
order, struck out,'0 under Terry, from
his front at Bermuda Hundreds to
ward Port Walthall junction, with
intent to take, and if possible hold,
the railroad. Terry, finding the rail
road slightly held, seized, and was
proceeding to destroy it, when the
approach of Pickett's division of
Longstreet's corps, marching from
Richmond on Petersburg, compelled
him to draw back. Grant had fore
seen and provided against this con
tingency, by relieving (with part of
the 6th) Smith's (18th) corps, and
sending it to the aid of Butler ; but,
by some mistake, Smith's men were
halted too soon ; so that Terry was
overpowered and hurled back ; and,
when he again advanced, reenforced,
the enemy had so strengthened their
former works that they were deemed
impregnable. Grant, believing that a good part
of the Bebel army had not yet ar
rived, ordered another general as
sault for the 18th ; but, when our
skirmishers that morning advanced,
the. enemy had abandoned their
works in our immediate front, with
drawing to a new, stronger, and
more symmetrical line nearer Peters
burg. Hours were now spent in
making new dispositions to assault
this with effect ; and, at 3 p. m., an
attack was made, first by Martindale,
commanding the division left here of
Smith's corps ; then by Birney, in
temporary command of the 2d ; and
later by the 5th and 9th ; but with
very heavy loss, and no success, save
that Martindale carried the enemy's
skirmish-line in his front, and made
a few prisoners. The losses of the
enemy, sheltered behind their works,

" June 16.

\t_ADE FAILS TO HOID THB WELDON ROAD.

dj>i

bore, of course, no comparison to
ours. It had now been established, at- a
cost of fully 10,000 men." that Pe
tersburg could not be carried bv di-
rect assault, no matter in what force :
and our troops were directed to in
trench strongly iu its front, while
the _d and 6th corps were moved K
to the left, with intent to find and
turn the enemy's right ; cutting or
holding the Weldon railroad.
The _d moved around to the Jeru
salem plank road, where it was met
by the enemy in force, and driven
back a short distance ; the 6th not
being at hand. X ext morning, the
advance was resumed by both corps,
but too tardily and disconnectedly —
the country being, for the most part,
thickly wooded and difficult. A. P.
Hill was watching the movement,
and, at the proper moment, threw a
division of his corps iu between our
two, striking rapidly in flank succes
sively Barlow's, Mott's. and Gibbon's
divisions, rolling them up and forcing
them back, with a loss of 4 guns and
many prisoners. At the same time,
another of Hill's divisions struck the
flank of the 6th corps likewise, in
flicting on it also considerable loss.
But Meade now arrived on the field
— the Bebel advance having been
cheeked — and, getting both corps
well in hand, he ordered, at nightfall,
an advance, which was made, and
most of the fost ground recovered—
HDl not being in force to resist him
in the open field.
Our advance southward was re
sumed next maming,"5 and the Wel

don railroad reached ; but hardly had
operations upon it began, when Hill
again struck the flank of our three
regiments in advance, and routed
them, taking many prisoners, and
driving the fugitives back on the
main body : when he again desisted,
carrying off his captives* Our losses
in this baffled effort were scarcely
less than 4,000 men, mainly prison
ers : with no resulting advantage,
save a moderate extension of our left
toward the Weldon railroad.
The mishap of this first attempt to
clutch the Weldon railroad involved
or drew after it another. Gen. Wil
son, with his own and Kautz's di
visions of cavalry, together S.tXO
strong, had on that day been im
pelled still farther to our left, on a
raid against the enemy's railroads.
Moving southward for some distance,
he turned abruptly to his right, and
struck the Weldon road at Keams's
station, where he burned the depot
aud tore up a long stretch of track.
Passing thence rapidly westward, he
struck the Lynchburg road at a point
15 miles from Petersburg, and fol
lowed it westward to _> ottoway sta
tion, destroying the track for __
miles ; here encountering and defeat
ing a Bebel cavalry force under W.
F. Lee. Hence, he dispatched Kautz
to Burkesville. the junction of this
with the Danville road, where both
roads were torn up, as was the Dan
ville so far S. W. as Meherrin sta
tion ; where Kautz was rejoined** by
Wilson, and the work prosecuted so
far as Boanoke bridge (over the
Staunton^ ; where they were con-

™ Between June 10 and 20, Meade's lasses include lie losses of Sheridan's cavalry, who
rae — killed. 1.1SS: wounded, 5.S53; missing, j H-er? fighting north of the Jsme_
1,614: total, 9,66a. And tiis does not proteKy j H June -1. a J-se 23. H June 24.

588

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

fronted by a stronger force than
they could dislodge, and commenced
their return to our camps.
But, by this time, the enemy were
all around them, and intent on their
destruction. Striking the Weldon
road at Stony creek," they were
again confronted by more Bebels
than they could drive ; and, after a
hard fight, were obliged to give up
the attempt, and make for Beams's
station, which Wilson undoubtedly
supposed to be now held by Hancock
or Warren. He was badly mistaken,
however ; for here was a far stronger
Rebel force (including Mahone's and
Finnegan's infantry brigades, beside
Hampton's cavalry) than that which
had baffled him at Stony creek ; and
his attempt to force a passage re
sulted in his signal defeat, involving
the loss of his guns, his train, with
many prisoners and their horses.
About 1,000 negroes, who had fallen
into the wake of our cavalry — many
of them mounted on horses borrowed
for the occasion — here fell into the
hands of the Rebels, and were re
turned to a servitude which their
effort to escape was not calculated
to lighten. Wilson and Kautz fled
separately across the Nottoway, and,
by a long circuit southward, made
their way back to our lines before
Petersburg — men and horses coming
in pretty nearly used up. Grant, in
his report, says, indeed, with his ha
bitual optimism, that
" the damage to the enemy in this expedi
tion more than compensated for the losses
we sustained. It severed all connection by
railroad with Richmond for several weeks ;"
but such was not the general opin
ion ; and Grant sent no more cavalry
to the Rebel rear for months. Lee
claims to have taken from Wilson
" June 28.

and Kautz on this raid 1,000 prison
ers (beside the wounded), 13 guns,
and 30 wagons.
On our right, Gen. Butler had been
directed to throw a pontoon-bridge
over the James to Deep Bottom,
north of his Btronghold at Bermuda
Hundreds; which he did skillfully
and without loss ; Brig.-Gen. Foster,
with a brigade of the 10th corps, tak
ing post at Deep Bottom, only 10
miles from Richmond, and very near
its southward defenses at Howlett'B.
Gen. Sheridan, who, with his cav
alry, had rested some days at White
House, after their return from their
harassing raid toward Gordonsville,
now moved across the Peninsula to
the James, being resolutely attacked"
by the way ; but he beat off his as
sailants, with a loss of some 500 on
either side, and made his way safely
to our right, bringing in his guns and
train. The residue of the 18th corps was
now returned to Butler; and thus,
in spite of reverses, our lines were
extended on both flanks, so as to
threaten Richmond above the James,
while we attempted to flank and carry
Petersburg on the south. Why it
was not then, or thereafter, found
advisable to mass suddenly against
the center of the enemy's long, thin
line, and burst through it, wherever,
between Richmond and Petersburg,
it should seem weakest, Gen. Grant
in his report does not inform us.
Possibly, the sore experience of Cold
Harbor had made him chary of in
fantry assaults on lines fortified and
held by marksmen of such nerve as
now composed the bulk of Lee's de
cimated but still formidable army.
There were several collisions along
"June 25..

HANCOCK NORTH OP THE JAMES.

589

our lines in front of Petersburg, gen
erally, provoked by the now elated
enemy, who assailed" Gen. Stan
nard's division ofthe 10th corps ; first
opening with artillery and then char
ging with infantry; only to be re
pulsed with a loss of 150 prisoners.
A demonstration was made next day
against Burnside's front ; but it was
not resolute, and was easily repulsed.
Thence ensued some days of com
parative quiet — our men having
marched and fought almost inces
santly for eight weeks, having lost
meantime fully 70,000 of their num
ber by desperate fighting — mainly
against great advantages of position
or shelter, which screened the enemy
from losses at all proportionate to
ours — and they were by no means in
such heart for daily conflict as when
they last crossed the Rapidan. True,
their numbers had been nearly or
quite kept up by reenforcements from
various quarters ; but many of these
were such men as high bounties at
tract to military service, and who
were not ' bounty-jumpers ' only be
cause they had, as yet, found no
chance to jump. " In fact, the Army
of the Potomac in 1864, though still
including many thousands of excel
lent and now veteran soldiers, was in
good part formed of material very
different from and inferior to that
which McClellan led to the Penin
sula in 1862. And this army, when
concentrated south of the James,
was by no means equal in morale
and efficiency to that same army at
the opening of the campaign.
Grant, however, remained at its
head — undismayed, unshaken, inflex-

0' June 24.
"" It was officially stated that, of 600,000 men
drafted in 1864, the requisitions being filled by
the payment of $500 to $1,000 each as bounty,

ible. Having given his soldiers some
much needed rest — the Summer be
ing intensely hot and dry, and the
earth parched and baked so that any
movement raised a cloud of dust
which nearly suffocated men and
horses, and revealed its existence, its
strength, and its destination, to the
ever-watchful foe — another effort on
our right was resolved on. A rail
road along the rear of our position
was, during the Summer, completed,
facilitating not only the distribution
of munitions and provisions from our
chief landing and depot at City Point,
where the Lieutenant-General had his
headquarters, but serving to accele
rate also the movement of troops.
Foster's fortified post at Deep Bot
tom, threatening an attack on Rich
mond, while easily strengthened from
Bermuda Hundreds, disquieted Lee ;
and one or two attempts had been
made upon it, but easily repulsed.
Grant resolved to reciprocate the en
emy's attentions ; so, having quietly
transferred the 2d corps from his ex
treme left to his extreme right, across
the James, at Deep Bottom," he di
rected Hancock to turn the enemy's
advance position, while Foster should
amuse him by a feint in front ; and
this order was so admirably obeyed
that the Rebel outpost was success
fully flanked and carried by Miles's
brigade" of Barlow's division, captur
ing 4 guns. The enemy fell back be
hind Bailey's creek; still holding
firmly his strong defensive work at
Chapin's bluff, opposite Fort Darling.
Sheridan, with his cavalry, attempt
ed to flank this work, and gained
some high ground from which he

only 168,000 ever made their appearance at the
front. " Jul7 26-1.
70 Consisting of the 183d Pa., 28th Mass., and
26th Mich., under CoL J. C. Lynch.

590

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

hoped to get into its rear ; but night
came on before he was ready ; and, so.
imminent seemed the danger on this
flank, that Lee drew71 five of his eight
remaining divisions across the James
to avert it, affording the opportunity
which Grant was awaiting.
Burnside's corps held a position di
rectly in front of Petersburg, inclu
ding a point where our lines, owing
to the nature of the ground, had been
pushed up to within 150 yards of the
enemy's, where a fort projected be
yond their average front. Under this
fort, a mine had been run from a con
venient ravine or hollow within our
lines, which was entirely screened
from the enemy's observation; and
this mine would seem to have been
completed not only without counter
mining by the Rebels, but without
being even suspected by them ;
though a report of its existence (pro
bably founded on the story of some
deserter or prisoner) was printed in
one of the Richmond journals.
All being ready, the morning of
July 30th was fixed for springing the
mine ; which was to be instantly fol
lowed, of course, by the opening of
our guns all along the front, and by
an assault at the chasm opened in the
enemy's defenses by the explosion.
It was calculated that, if a crest
barely 400 yards behind the doomed
fort could be gained and held, Peters
burg must fall, with heavy loss to its
defenders. The mine was to be fired at 3£
a. m. ; when the match was duly ap
plied, but no explosion followed.
After a considerable pause, Lt. Jacob
Douty and Sergt. Henry Rees, of the
48th Pa., ventured into the gallery,
detecting and removing the cause of

failure. And now, at 4f A. m. — the
fuse having been relighted — the ex
plosion took place ; hoisting the fort
into the air, annihilating its garrison
of 300 men, and leaving in its stead
a gigantic hollow or crater of loose
earth, 150 feet long by some 60 wide
and 25 to 30 deep. Instantly, our
guns opened all along the front ; and
the astounded enemy may well have
supposed them the thunders of doom.
But it was indispensable to success
that a column of assault should rush
forward instantly and resolutely, so
as to clear the chasm and gain the
crest before the foe should recover
from his surprise ; and, on this vital
point, failure had already been se
cured. The 9th corps, as then con
stituted, was not that from which
any commanding general would have
selected a storming party ; yet, be
cause it was Burnside's mine, his
corps was, without discussion, allow
ed to furnish the column of assault.
His inspecting officer had reported
that, of its four divisions, that com
posed of Blacks was fittest for this
perilous service ; but Grant, discred
iting this, had directed that one of
the three White divisions should be
chosen. Thereupon, the leaders of
these divisions were allowed to cast
lots to see which of them should go
in — or rather, which two of them
should stay out — and the lot fell on
the 1st, Brig.-Gen. Ledlie — and no
man in the army believed this other
than the worst choice of the three.
It need hardly be added that no pre
paration had been made during the
night preceding the explosion, by
quietly removing (or opening paths
through) the abatis, &c, which pro
tected our front from sudden dashes

71 July 27-29.

BURNSIDE'S MINE EXPLOSION — BARLOW'S ASSAULT. 591

ofthe enemy, for the instant advance
in force of our column of assault.
The explosion had occurred ; the
Rebel fort had been hoisted 200 feet,
and had fallen in fragments; our
guns had opened all along the front,
eliciting a far feebler and ineffective
response ; but several minutes pass
ed — precious, fatal minutes ! — before
Ledlie's division, clearing with diffi
culty the obstacles in its path — went
forward into the chasm, and there
stopped, though the enemy at that
point were still paralyzed and the
deciding crest completely at our
mercy. Then parts of Burnside's
two remaining White divisions (Pot
ter's and Wilcox's) followed; but,
once in the crater, Ledlie's men bar
red the way to a farther advance,
and all huddled together, losing their
formation and becoming mixed up ;
Gen. Potter finally extricating him
self, and charging toward the crest ;
but with so slender a following that
he was soon obliged to fall back.
Two hours were thus shamefully
squandered, while the Rebels, recov
ering their self-possession, were plant
ing batteries on either side, and
mustering their infantry in an adja
cent ravine; and now — when more
men in the crater could only render
the confusion more hopeless and mag
nify the disaster — Burnside threw in
his Black division ; which, passing
beyond and rather to the right of the
crater, charged toward the crest, but
were met by a fire of artillery and
musketry which speedily hurled them
back into the crater, where all order
was lost, all idea of aught beyond
personal safety abandoned, while the
enemy's shells and balls poured into
it like hail, rendering it an arena

of unresisted slaughter. The Black
charge, feeble as it was, had given
us a few prisoners; but now our
men could no more retreat than ad
vance ; the enemy's guns sweeping
the ground between the chasm and
our front. A first Rebel assault on
our unfortunates was repulsed in
sheer desperation ; and thousands, of
course, took the risk of darting out
of the death-trap and racing at top
speed to our fines ; but our loss in
killed, wounded, and prisoners was
4,400 ; while that of the enemy, in
cluding 300 blbwn up in the fort,
was barely 1,000.
Undismayed by the disastrous re
sult of "this [needlessly] miserable
affair," as he fitly characterizes it,
Grant paused scarcely a fortnight
before he resumed the offensive ; re
turning to successive operations on
both flanks. Once more, Hancock
was impelled" against the front of
the Rebel left, facing Deep Bottom ;
his depleted corps being strengthened
by the 10th, now led by Birney, and
by Gregg's division of cavalry. Again
pushing out to the right, Hancock
attempted to flank the Rebel defenses
across Bailey's creek : Barlow, with
two divisions, being sent around to
assault in flank and rear; while
Mott's division menaced their eastern
front, and Birney's corps assailed
them next the river. Birney gained
some advantage, taking 4 guns ; but
Barlow's assault was delivered by a
single brigade, and came to nothing.
In fact, Hancock had been delayed
in landing his men, so that Lee, fore
warned, had begun to reenforce this
flank ; as he did more fully next day :
so that, when our troops again ad-

1 Aug. 12.

592

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

vanced to the assault" — Terry's divi
sion having meantime been moved to
the left of Barlow — though Terry at
first carried the Rebel intrenchment,
taking over 200 prisoners — he was
soon driven out of it, and the enemy
was'seen to be in such force that a
further assault was deemed impracti
cable. Meantime, Gen. Gregg's cavalry,
supported by Miles's infantry bri
gade, advanced on the Charles City
road, driving the enemy before him
with considerable loss on their part
— Gen. Chambliss being among their
killed. Still, the movement, on the
whole, had no decided success ; and
an attempt to draw out the enemy,
to leave his lines and attack ours, by
the ruse of seeming to send off most
of our men on steamboats, proved
wholly abortive. A night attack by
the Rebels on the 18th was repulsed.
Hancock was soon'4 withdrawn in
earnest : our total losses in the move
ment having been about 5,000 ; that
of the enemy probably less, but still
heavy : Gen. Gherardie being killed.
Lee was probably aware that this
demonstration on Bichmond covered
an advance on the other end of his
attenuated line ; but he was obliged
to strengthen his lieutenant north of
the James or risk the fall of Rich
mond. No sooner had he done this,
however, than Warren struck out"
from our left at the long coveted
Weldon railroad, barely three miles
distant from our flank; reaching it
unresisted before noon. Leaving here
Griffin's division, he advanced, with
Crawford's and Ayres's, a mile to
ward Petersburg, where he found the
enemy awaiting him. After a pause,
he moved on ; and was soon struck

on his left flank — the enemy advan
cing by a road wholly unknown to
our officers — and 200 of the Mary
land brigade captured. The brigade
falling back under the wing of the
15th N. T. Heavy Artillery (now
serving as infantry), that regiment
stood its ground, and, by rapid and
deadly volleys, repelled the enemy.
Our movement was here arrested —
our loss during the day having been
1,000 — but Warren held his ground,
fortified it ; and the Weldon road
was lost to the enemy.
Yet, though Warren's position was
good, it was unconnected with our
lines, still on the Jerusalem plank-
road ; Brig.-Gen. Bragg, who had
been ordered to fill the gap, having
neglected promptly to do so. War
ren, perceiving the fault, reiterated
his order ; but, before it could now
be executed, Hill pushed a considera
ble foree into the vacant space, and,
striking Crawford's division impetu
ously in flank and rear, rolled it
up; taking 2,500 prisoners, includ
ing Brig.-Gen. Hays. But now, the
brigades of Wilcox and White, of
Burnside's corps, came up, and the
enemy made off in a hurry with his
spoils ; enabling Warren to recover
the lost ground and reestablish his
lines. Warren was well aware that his
position astride the Weldon road was
not adapted to tranquillity, and gov
erned himself accordingly. Hardly
three days had elapsed, when he was
suddenly saluted" by 30 Rebel guns;
and, after an hour's lively practice,
an assaulting column advanced on
his front, while another attempted to
reach and turn his left flank. But
Warren was prepared for this ma-

' Aug. IG.

' Aug. 20.

' Aug. 18.

1 Aug. 21.

HANCOCK'S FIGHT AT REAM_'S STATION.

593

noeuver, and easily baffled it, flank
ing the flanking column and routing
it, with a net loss of 302 on our part,
and at least 1,200 to the enemy, of
whose dead he buried 211, while he
took 500 prisoners. He had lost in
this entire movement 4,455 men —
most of them prisoners — while the
enemy had lost scarcely half that
number ; but he had lost and we had
gained the Weldon road.
Hancock, returned from the north
of the James, had moved rapidly to
the Weldon road in the rear of War-
Striking" it at Reams's sta-

ren.

tion, he had been busily tearing it
up for two or three days ; when his
' cavalry gave warning that the enemy
in force were at hand. Their first
blow fell on Miles's division, on our
right, and was promptly repulsed;
but Hill ordered Heth, under a heavy
fire of artillery, to try again, and at
all events carry the position ; which
he ultimately did at the fourth charge,
capturing three batteries.
Hancock ordered Gibbon's division
to retake it ; but they failed to do so.
Miles, rallying a part of his scattered
division, and fighting it admirably,
recovered part of his lost ground and
one of his captured batteries. Gib
bon's division, assailed by a force of
dismounted cavalry, was easily driv
en from its breastworks ; but the
enemy, attempting to follow up his
success, was checked and repelled by
a heavy flank fire from our dis
mounted cavalry, posted on the left.
Though but four miles from War
ren's position, no reenforcements, ow
ing to various blunders, reached Han
cock till after he had been forced to
retreat, abandoning Reams's station,
after a total loss of 2,400 (out of

8,000) men, and 5 guns. Hill's loss
was also heavy, but considerably
smaller. Warren's hold on the road had be
come too strong to be shaken, and
there ensued a pause of over a month ;
during which the Rebels planned and
executed a smart raid on our cattle-
yard at Coggin's Point. on the James;
running off 2,500 beeves at no cost
but that of fatigue.
The calm was broken at last by
Grant, who ordered an advance by
Warren on the left, to cover one more
determined by Butler on the right.
Gen. Warren pushed westward '"
with two divisions of his own corps'
and two of the 9th, under Parke,
with Gregg's cavalry in advance ;
reaching the Squirrel Level road, and
carrying two or three small works
at different points. There was fight
ing along our new front through
out this and the following day ; we
holding the newly gained ground
and intrenching on it ; our losses in
the movement having been 2,500;
those of the enemy probably less, in
cluding Gen. Dunnovan, killed. The
ground thus taken was promptly
joined by proper works to Warren's
former position across the railroad.
Gen. Butler, in his turn, crossing
the James, advanced with the 10th
corps, now commanded by Birney,
and the 18th, now under Ord, and
struck " the enemy's outpost below
Chapin's farm, known as Fort Harri
son, which he assaulted and took,
with 15 guns, and a considerable
portion of the enemy's intrench
ments. He attempted to follow up
his blow with the capture of Fort
Gilmer, which was next in order; but
was repulsed by Maj.-Gen. Field,

77 Aug. 21.
vol. n. — 38

"Oct. 1.

"Sept. 29.

594

THE ^AMERICAN CONFLICT.

DEFENSE8 OF EICHMOND AND PETEEBUUIiG,

HANCOCK ADVANCES TO HATCHER'!. RUN.

595

with a loss of 800. On our side, G on.
Ord wa* wounded, aud Brig.-Gen.
Burnham killed.
Fort Harrison was so important to
Richmond, that Field resolved to re
take it, but deferred tho assault till
next morning, when he hurled three
brigades against it on one side, while
Gen. Hoke charged on tho other.
These assaults tailed to be made
simultaneously, and of course were
both repulsed with slaughter ; as thoy
probably would have been at any
rate. But, a frw days thereafter, the
Bebels surprised at dawn our right,
held by Kautz's cavalry, whieh had
been pushed up the Charles City wad,
to within 4 or 5 miles of Richmond, I
and drove it ; capturing 9 guns and I
perhaps 500 prisoners. A desperate
fight ensued, in whieh the Rebel Gen.*]
Gregg, of Texas, was killed. Both !
sides claimed a clear advantage, but
neither obtained much, save in the
capture of Fort Harrison; while the
losses of each had been quite heavy.
Butler pushed forward a strong
reconnoissance on the ISth, and as
saulted some new works that the
enemy had constructed on a part of
their front; but they were firmly
held, and tho attack was not long
persisted in.
After a considerable pause, spiced
only by cannonading and picket-
firing along the intrenched front of
both armies, and some sanguinary
encounters around Fort Sedgwick
(nicknamed by our soldiers - Fort
Heir) covering the Jerusalem plank-
road. Gen. Grant again sounded a
general advance. While tion. But lor
demonstrated in force on our extreme
right — the ISth corps moving on the !
Bichmond defenses by both the

Charles City aud Williamsburg roads
— on our left, the Army of tho Po
tomac, leaving only men enough to
hold its works before Petersburg, and
taking throe days' rations, marched **
suddenly by the left against tho ene
my's works covering Hatcher's run
and tho Boydton plank-road. In
other words, Meade's army was here
pushed forward to find and turn the
right flank of the enemy.
Starting before dawn, the 9th corps,
under Parke, on the right, with the
oth, under Warren, on its left, struck,
at 9 a. M., the right of the Bebel in
trenchments, which rested on the cast
bank of Hatcher's run ; assaulting,
but failing to carry them. Warren
thereupon undertook, as had been sir-
ranged, to come in ou its flank by a
turning movement ; while Hancock,
who had simultaneously advanced
still farther to our left, and had found
but a small force to dispute his pas-
sago of Hatcher's run where he struck
it, moved north-westward by .Dab
ney *s null, gained the Boydton plank-
road, and pushed up to strike the
Lynchburg railroad in the enemy's
roa r. G rogg, with his cavalry division,
was thrown out on Hancock's left.
Hancock had reached, with little
opposition, the Boydton plank-road,
and was pushing farther, when, at 1
r. m., he was halted by an order from
Meade. Warren, upon the failure of
Parke to carry the intrenchment in
his front, had pushed Crawford's di
vision, strengthened by Ayres's brig
ade, aei\>ss the run. with orders to
mow down the north bank of that
stream, so as to turn the Bebel de
fenses. Hancock, hitherto several
miles distant, it was intended to con
nect with bv this movement.

"Oct.:.

596

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Crawford, with great difficulty, ad
vanced as ordered, through woods
and swamps all but impenetrable,
and in which many of his men were
lost, while regiments were hopelessly
separated from their division, until
he was directly on the fiank of the
Bebel intrenchments ; when he, too,
was halted by Warren to give time
for consultation with Meade — the
country having proved entirely dif
ferent from what was expected. Han
cock was now but a mile from Craw
ford's left ; but the dense woods left
them in entire ignorance of each
other's position. And now, of course,
as Hancock was extending his right
(Gibbon's division, now under Egan)
to find Crawford's left, and receiving
a mistaken report that the connec
tion had been made, though a space
of 1,200 yards still intervened, Lee
threw forward Hill to strike Han
cock's right and roll it up after the
established fashion.
Hill's leading division, under Heth,
crossed the run, making for Hancock,
and, following a forest* path, swept
across in front of Crawford's skirmish
ers and across the interval between
Crawford and Hancock, without'
clearly knowing whefe it was. Ar
riving opposite Hancock's position,
Hill, seeing but1 unseen, silently de
ployed in the woods, and, at 4 p. m.,
charged; striking Mott's division,
whose first notice of an enemy's ap
proach was a volley of musketry.
The brigade (Pierce's) thus charged
gave way ; a battery was lost ; and,
for a moment, there was a prospect
of another Beams's station disaster.
Hancock of course instantly sent word
to Egan to change front and hurry to
the rescue; but Egan had already
done that at the first sound of Hill's

guns ; and, as the enemy, emerging
into the cleared space along the
Boydton road, pushed across that road
in pursuit of Mott's fugitives, firing
and yelling, Egan struck them in
flank with two brigades, sweeping
down the road, retaking the lost guns,
and making over 1,000 prisoners.
The disconcerted Bebels retreated as
rapidly as they had advanced ; but,
over 200 of them, fleeing in utter
confusion toward the run, fell into
Crawford's lines, and were captured.
Could Crawford have instantly com
prehended the situation and ad
vanced, their loss must have been far
greater. Warren was with Meade in the
rear of Crawford's line, when Hill's
blow was struck, and at once ordered
up Ayres to the support of Hancock ;
but night fell before Ayres could.
get up.
Simultaneously with the charge on
Hancock's front, Wade Hampton,
with five brigades of cavalry, charged
his left and rear, guarded by Gregg's
cavalry ; and Hancock was required
to send all his available force to
Gregg's support. Hampton persisted
till after dark, but gained no ground,
and was ultimately beaten off. Han
cock's total loss by the day'B opera
tions was 1,500 ; that of the enemy
was greater.
Hancock was now authorized by
Meade either to withdraw or to hold
on and attack next morning, if he
could do so safely with the aid of
Ayres and Crawford. Being short
of ammunition, with no certainty
that any more would reach him, or
that Ayres and Crawford could bring
up their divisions in season for the
attack that would naturally be made
on him at daybreak, Hancock pru-

END OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1864 — LOSSES.

597

dently decided to draw off,81 and, at
10 p. m., commenced the movement ;
which ended with our whole army
back in its intrenchments before
Petersburg, and thence westward to
Warren's works, covering not only
the Weldon railroad, but the Yaughan
and Squirrel Level highways. Thus,
while our several advances on the
left had been achieved at heavy cost,
the following movement, wherein we
had the advantage in the fighting
and in losses, gave us no foot of
ground whatever.
Butler's advance on our farthest

right, being in the nature of a feint,
had effected nothing but a distraction
of the enemy's attention, and this at
considerable cost.
Here ended, practically, for the
year 1864, Grant's determined, per
sistent, sanguinary campaign against
Lee's army and Bichmond : and the
following tabular statement of the
losses endured by the Army of the Po
tomac, having been furnished by one
of Gen. Grant's staff to the author
of " Grant and his Campaigns," can
not be plausibly suspected of exag
gerating them :

Tabular Statement of Casualties in the Army of the Potomac, from May 5, 1864, to November 1, 1864.

„ Enlisted
Officers. M(Jn .

Officers. ™

"WOUNDED.

Officers.

Enlisted Men.

Aggre gate.

"Wilderness 
Spottsylvania 
North' Anna 
Cold Harljor 
Petersburg 
Ditto 
Ditto 
Tivnches 
"Weldon Railroad 
Reams's Station 
Peeble's Farm 
Trenches 
Boydton Plank-road.

May 5 to 12 
May 12 to 21.......
May 21 to 81 
June 1 to 10 
June 10 to 20 
June 20 to July 80..
July 30 
August 1 to IS. 
August 18 to 21 
August 25 
Sept. 30 to Oct. 1..
Aug. 18 to Oct. 30..
October 27 to 28....

114 12
144 So
2947 102124121316

8,019 2,032 138
1,5611,118 576372 12S
191 93
129 284140

1,017 259 67
421361120124 58
100 62
50 91 66

18,261 7.6971,0638,621 6,492
2,874
1,555 626
1,055 484 738
1,214 981

177 31 3
51
46
108 91 1
104 95
56 4

6,667 248
324
2,355
1,5682.109
' i;819 45
8,0721,674 1,700 800 619

29,41010,881 1,60T
13,158 9,665 5,316
4,008 S6S
4,543 2,482
2,685 2,4171,902

Totals..

9,776 2,796 51,161

775

23,083

8S,3S7

Note. — The first line of the above table includes several days' desperate fighting at Spottsylvania, in which
our losses were fully 10,000. Our actual losses in the Wilderness were rather under than over 20,000, and at Spott
sylvania just about as many. These corrections, however, make no difference in the aggregates given above.

Whether the foregoing returns of
losses do or do not include those of
Burnside's (9th) corps before it was
formally incorporated with the Army
of the Potomac, is not stated; but,
as they do not include the losses in
the Army of the James, it is safe to
conclude that the killed, wounded,
and missing of 1864, in our armies
operating directly for the reduction
of Bichmond, reached the appalling
aggregate of 100,000 men. If we as
sume that, of nearly 54,000 wounded

and 24,000 missing (most of the lat
ter prisoners, of whom few of the
able-bodied were exchanged during
that year), 30,000 recovered of their
wounds, or were recaptured, or es
caped from the enemy, it leaves our
net losses in that campaign not less
than 7*0,000. The enemy's net loss,
including 15,373 prisoners, after de
ducting the wounded who recovered
and returned to their colors, we may
safely estimate at 40,000, though they
would doubtless make it less. Dur-

81 Heth says that, if he had remained, he
would have been attacked next morning by

15,000 infantry and Hampton's cavalry. His
lack of ammunition compelled withdrawal

598

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ing the many desperate combats of
this bloody year, the Army of the
Potomac lost only 25 and gained but
32 guns. Its losses of guns were
mainly incurred at Eeams's station ;
its gains were chiefly made at Spott
sylvania. Grant's conduct of this campaign
was not satisfactory to the Confeder
ate critics, who gave a decided pref
erence to the strategy of McClellan.
They hold that the former aimed
only to overpower and crush by
brute force — by the employment of
overwhelming numbers — and by a
lavish expenditure of blood. Doubt
less, a great military genius, such as
appears once in two or three centu
ries, might have achieved them at a
smaller cost,; as a timid, hesitating,

purposeless commander would have
failed to achieve them at all. The
merit which may be fairly claimed
for Grant is that of resolutely under
taking a very difficult and formida
ble task, and executing it to the best
of his ability — at all events, doing it.
That, when south of the James, he
was just where the Eebels wished
him not to be, they showed by despe
rate and hazardous efforts to draw
him thence ; and the proof was du
plicated in the final collapse of the
Eebellion. Other campaigns were
more brilliant ; but none contributed
more positively and eminently to
break the power of the Confederates
than that which began on the Eapi
dan and ended in front of Petersburg
and across the Weldon road.

XXYI.
WEST VIEGINIA AND NOETH
IN 1864.

OF THE EAPIDAN

The ' Anaconda' is a clumsy, slug
gish beast; effecting his ends by an
enormous, even lavish expenditure of
force; but Grant's anaconda differed
from that of Scott and McClellan
in being thoroughly alive. The si
multaneous National advance in 1864
from all points, against the armies
and remaining strongholds of the Ee
bellion, was not merely ordered ; it
was actually attempted — with many
reverses at the outset, and no deci
dedly encouraging results for some
months, but with ultimately over
whelming success.
Before Gen. Grant had been placed
in chief command, there had. been
several collisions in western and

northern Virginia. The first occurred l
at Jonesville, in the extreme west of
old Virginia, near Cumberland gap,
held by Maj. Beers with 300 Illinois-
ans and 3 guns, who were surround
ed, surprised, and captured by Sam.
Jones, after a smart contest, in which
our loss was 60. The excuse for hold
ing an outpost thus exposed was the
necessity of collecting forage for our
larger force at Cumberland gap.
A nearly simultaneous raid by Fitz-
Hugh Lee's cavalry, on the line of
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad west
of Cumberland, came to nothing ;
but a later expedition, sent under
Eosser over into West Virginia from
the Valley by Early, surprised2 a train

1 Jan. 3, 1864.

1 Jan. 30.

BRECKINRIDGE DEFEATS SIGEL AT NEWMARE1ET. 599 •

moving from New creek to Peters
burg, Hardy county; and, after a
brief struggle, captured 270 prison
ers, 93 six-mule wagons, heavily la
den, and brought away 1,200 cattle
and 500 sheep, in addition. Of many
raids from ' Dixie' into West Virginia,
hardly another was so cheaply suc
cessful as this.
Eosser next surprised3 the Balti
more and Ohio railroad station at Pat
terson creek bridge, 8 miles west of
Cumberland, capturing a company
which held it ; but was struck, on his
return, at Springfield, near Eomney,
by Gen. Averill, with a far superior
Union force, and chased out of the
new State; losing his Patterson creek
prisoners and a considerable portion
of his own men and horses.
Col. GaUup, commanding on the
border of eastern Kentucky, sur
prised4 Col. Ferguson, a Eebel guer
rilla, at the Eock House, Wayne co.,
West Virginia, killing 15 and taking
50 prisoners, including Ferguson.
Gen. Scammon,. commanding at
Charlestown, had been surprised and
captured, with the steamboat Levi,
on the Kanawha, by Lt. Verdigan,
one of Ferguson's subordinates, a few
days before. Verdigan, With but 10
men, captured a General, 4 other of
ficers, and 25 privates, beside the
steamboat and her crew; throwing
overboard the captured arms so fast
as he could seize them, so as to pre
clude the danger of a rescue. Scam
mon and his two aids'were sent prison
ers to Eichmond ; the residue paroled.

Gen. Grant's comprehensive plan
of campaign embraced a cooperative
movement up the Shenandoah under
Gen. Sigel, and up the Kanawha by

Gen. Crook, aiming at the Bebel re
sources in the vicinity of Staunton
and Lynchburg. Sigel, with some
10,000 men, moved5 up the Valley
accordingly, and was met, near New-
maeket, by a Eebel army of at least
equal force under Breckinridge ; to
strengthen whom, the region west of
him had very properly been stripped
and left nearly defenseless. After
some manceuvering and skirmishing,
Breckinridge, at 3 p. m.,° ordered a
determined charge, by which Sigel's
badly handled army was routed, and
driven back to Cedar creek, near
Strasburg, with a loss of 700 men, 6
guns, 1,000 small arms, his hospitals,
and part of his train. Breckinridge
seems not to have followed up his
victory, because his forces were need
ed to repel the advance of Crook
from the west.
Crook had moved from Charles
town simultaneously with Sigel's ad
vance from Winchester; and — as if
to preclude the last chance of ulti
mate success — had divided his com
mand; sending Averill, with 2,000
cavalry, to destroy the lead-mines
near Wytheville, while he advanced
farther to the left. But when Ave
rill reached' Wytheville, he found
there John Morgan, with a formida
ble cavalry force dispatched by Gen.
W. E. Jones from Saitville; and a
stubborn fight came off, wherein Ave
rill was clearly worsted. He tries iu
bis ' General Order ' to make the re
sult a drawn fight against "over
whelming numbers ;" but, as he does
not claim to have destroyed the lead-
works, nor taken the town, nor
achieved anything in particular, save
that " the purposes ofthe enemy were
foiled by the engagement," there is

1 Feb. 2.

4 Feb. 12.

'May 1.

' May 15.

7 May 10.

600

TIIE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

no room for doubt that he was virtu
ally beaten.
Gen. Crook, with 11- regiments,
numbering some 6,000 men, had
made directly for the Virginia and
Tennessee railroad at Dublin station ;
4 miles from which he was met by a
far inferior Eebel force under Mc-
Causland, which fought bravely, but
was beaten off, with a loss on our
part of 126 killed and 585 wounded.
The railroad here, and for a short
distance eastward, was destroyed.
And now the appearance of a con
siderable Eebel reenforcement, dis
patched from Wytheville by Morgan
before he fought Averill, impelled
Crook to retreat to Meadow bridge ;
so that, when Averill reached Dub
lin, Crook was gone, which left him
no choice but to follow. Thus the con
centric movement upon Lee's flank
and rear resulted, as usual with such
combinations, in general failure, if
not positive disaster. A force that,
if concentrated, could have beaten all
the Eebels in Virginia west of the
Blue ridge, had been so dispersed and
frittered away as to achieve less than
nothing. Grant at once relieved Sigel, send

ing Gen. Hunter to succeed him.
The old, fatally vicious system of
a concentric advance from opposite
points on a common focus was
still adhered to. Hunter, somewhat
strengthened, at once resumed the
offensive ; the pressure on Lee by
Grant's persistent hammering hav
ing constrained Breckinridge's with
drawal, with the better part of his
force, to the defenses of Eichmond ;
W. E. Jones, with' most ofthe Eebel
forces in the western part of old Vir
ginia, including McCansland's, hav
ing been hurried forward to confront
the new danger. The two armies
met8 at Piedmont, near Staunton —
Hunter's being somewhat more nu
merous9 — and a spirited and well-
fought action resulted in the defeat
of Jones, who was shot through the
head, and fell dead on the field.
Among the fruits of this victory
were 1,500 prisoners, 3 guns, and
3,000 small arms. It was, in fact, a
rout ; leaving the Eebel army inca
pable of further resistance.
Hunter advanced to Staunton,
where Crook and Averill — no con
siderable force having been left by
Jones to oppose them — joined 10 him ;

8 June 5.
' Col. C. G. Halpine, chief of staff to Hunter,
s^ys of this conflict :
" The forces actually engaged were about
equal: Gen. Hunter having some 9,000 men ac
tually in action, while the enemy had about the
same — strongly posted, however, on a range of
hills, horse-shoe shaped and heavily timbered,
and further protected by rifle-pits and rail-fence
barricades, hastily thrown up the night before.
The Rebel morning report of the day previous,
found on the dead body of Gen. Jones that after
noon, showed that he had then under him 6,800
regular Confederate soldiers ; while we knew that
he was joined on the morning of the engagement
by Yaughan's brigade from East Tennessee, and
also by about 1,500 militia — old men and young
boys, not worth the powder required to kill
them — hurried forward from Staunton • and
Lynchburg on news of our advance.
" The fight, though not large in numbers, was
singularly obstinate and fluctuating: the enemy

beating back repeated charges of our infantry and
cavalry, under Gens. Sullivan and Stahl — for
neither the divisions of Crook nor Averill had
then joined us ; and it was quite late in the af
ternoon, after a long and sweltering day of bat
tle, when the movement of the gallant Col. Tho-
burne's division across the narrow valley, and
its charge up hill upon the enemy's right flank,
decided the contest in our favor. Gen. Wm. E.
Jones, their commander, was killed, as also four
Colonels; and we had about 1,800 prisoners,
including the worthless reserve militia, seventy
regular officers, and 2,'80O stand of arms, as the
spoils attesting our success. But for the com
ing on of night, and the broken, heavily-tim
bered nature of the country, the famous feat of
'bagging' that army — so popular with Congres
sional orators and enthusiastic editors — might
have been easily accomplished; for a worse.
whipped or more utterly demoralized crowd of
beaten men never fled from any field."
10 June 8.

HUNTER MISCARRIES AT LYNCHBURG.

601

and moved thence directly to Lex
ington; disappointing Grant, who
had expected him at Gordonsville,
and had sent his cavalry under Sheri
dan to meet him there. His failure
to do so subjected Sheridan to Hke
failure in his approach to Gordons
ville, as we have seen.
Hunter's force was now increased
to about 20,000 men ; and he hast
ened, via Lexington, to Lynchburg
— the chief city of western (old) Vir
ginia — intent on its speedy reduc
tion. But Lynchburg, the focus of a
rich, populous region, and of exten
sive manufactures, lies on the James
river and canal, in unbroken railroad
communication with Eichmond and
Petersburg on the one side, and with
the farther south on the other. Lee

who might as well have lost Eich
mond— dispatched a very considera
ble force to its relief; part of which
arrived the day before Hunter at
tacked " the city from the south, and
still,more during the following night,
wherein several trains arrived from
the east filled with men.
Hunter found his ammunition run
ning low, a strong city before him,
and the whole Confederacy virtually
rallying to overwhelm him. He had
ho choice but to retreat, sharply pur
sued ; following the railroad west
ward to Salem — where the pursuit
ended — and thence striking, via New
castle,12 for Meadow bluff,13 in West
Virginia; his provisions long since
exhausted, and very little to be
gleaned in midsummer from that
poor, thinly-peopled, war-exhausted
region. No rations were obtained till
the 27th ; and the sufferings of men
and loss of horses were deplorable.
The direction of his retreat may

have been misjudged; but Hunter,
lacking many things, never lacked
courage ; and he believed that an at
tempt to regain the Shenandoah di
rectly from Lynchburg would have
seriously imperiled his army. But
his withdrawal into West Virginia
rendered him no longer formidable
to the enemy, and involved a circuit
ous, harassing movement by the Ka
nawha, the Ohio, Parkersburg, and
Grafton, before he could again be of
any service.
The Eebels, aware of this, promptly
resolved to make the most of their
opportunity. Early, who had headed
the corps sent from Eichmond to the
relief of Lynchburg, collecting all the
forces he could muster, moved rap
idly northward, and very soon ap
peared " on the Potomac : Sigel, com
manding at Martinsburg, retreating
precipitately by Harper's Ferry, with
a heavy loss of stores, and taking post
on Maryland Heights, where the ene
my did not see fit to assail him, but
once more destroyed the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad for a considera
ble distance, levied a contribution
of $20,000 on Hagerstown, burned
some buildings at Williamsport, and,
raiding up into the border of Penn
sylvania, scoured the country far and
wide for. horses, cattle, provisions, and
money. The movement was so well
masked by cavalry that the strength
of the invading force — probably never
so much as 20,000 — was enormously
exaggerated, spreading general panic,
and causing the Government to call
urgently on Pennsylvania, NewTork,
and Massachusetts, for militia to meet
the emergency.
Gen. Couch was commanding in
Pennsylvania ; Gen. Lew. Wallace

11 June 18.

u June 22.

13 June 25.

14 July 2-3.

602

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

in Maryland: the demonstrations
against the former Were only intend
ed to distract attention from a blow
aimed at the latter. Wallace, soon
satisfied of this, drew out his scanty
forces — -for the East had, ere this, been
swept nearly bare of troops to fill the
chasms made by constant fighting in
the armies operating against Eich
mond — and resolved to confront the
invaders on the Monooact, which af
forded a tolerable defensive position.
Vet, when his forces were concen
trated at Frederick,16 they numbered
barely 3,000; and these mainly
Home Guards and 100-day volun
teers, who had never been in action.
Col. Clendenin, with his cavalry —
some 400 in all — was sent out to
Middletown to find the enemy ; but
was soon driven back16 by Gen.
Bradley T. Johnson, with 1,000 Eebel
horsemen. Clendenin retreated on
Frederick, and was there supported
by Lt.-Col. Griffin's infantry, raising
his force to 1,000 ; and a brief artil
lery duel ensued, which1 resulted in
Johnson's falling back.
Wallace now reached Frederick —
his forces having hitherto been im
mediately directed by Gen. Tyler —
but could gain no reliable account
of the enemy's strength or purposes
— the wildest and most conflicting
reports being in circulation. He
soon learned by telegram from Sigel,
on Maryland Heights, that the ene
my lately beleaguering him had left,
marching northward, as if making
for Pennsylvania ; while he had as
surances from Washington that a
corps of veterans were hurrying to his
assistance. General Eicketts, with a
brigade of good soldiers, belonging
to the 19th corps, actually came up.

Finding the enemy in his front rapidly
growing formidable, and threatening
to turn his left, Wallace now with
drew by night " from Frederick across
the Monocacy, and took up the posi
tion on its left bank, already held
by Gen. Eicketts, which he resolved
to hold so long as he could — since,if
the Bebels were in strong force, and
intent on a dash at Washington, it
was important at least to check them,
by compelling them to concentrate
and fight ; thus gaining time for the
arrival of help from Grant.
Early in the morning,18 Wallace's
dispositions for battle were completed.
His right, under Gen, Tyler, cover
ed the Baltimore pike ; his left, un
der Gen. Eicketts, held the high
road to Washington. Each had three
guns. The bridges were held ; skir
mishers being thrown out beyond
them. Col. Clendenin's cavalry
watched the lower fords. Only part
of Bicketts's division was on hand ;
but the residue was expected by .rail
road at 1 p. m. At 8 A. m., the enemy
advanced in force from Frederick,
throwing out skirmishers and plant
ing behind them his guns, which soon
opened the battle. Having not less
than 16 Napoleons to our 6 smaller
pieces, the superiority of his fire was
very decided. The skirmishing grew
gradually warmer and more general,
and soon there was serious fighting
at the stone bridge on the Baltimore
pike. A considerable body of Eebel
infantry, moving by their right just
out of range of our guns, flanked our
left, forcing a passage of the Monoc
acy at a ford nearly two miles below
the wooden bridge on the Washing
ton road. And now, at 10£ a. m.,
the enemy advanced in battle array

16 July 6.

'July 1.

' July 8.

"July 9.

WALLACE DEFEATED AT THE MONOCACY.

603

upon Eicketts, who had changed
front to the left, to meet their ad
vance on his flank, his right resting
on the river ; and, though he had
been obliged to form in a single line
without reserves, so great was the
disparity of numbers that his front
was considerably overlapped by theirs.
Wallace, perceiving the inequality,
sent two of Tyler's guns to Eicketts ;
and soon — burning the wooden bridge
and the block-house across it, so as to
preclude an easy advance of the ene
my thereby — sent to Eicketts every
man who could be spared.
The enemy's first line charged, and
was quickly repelled ; his second line
next advanced, and was likewise re
pulsed; but after a fiercer, more pro
tracted struggle. Aud now Wallace
might have retreated with honor,
having achieved the main purpose of
his stand ; but 1 o'clock was at hand,
when Bicketts's three absent regi
ments of veterans were promised; and,
with their help, he felt able to hold
his ground against the enemy's far
superior numbers. But 1 p. m. ar
rived and no regiments; nor could
anything be heard of them — both
telegrapher and railroad agent hav
ing decamped. He waited an hour
longer ; but there were no reenforce
ments; while the enemy, in two strong
lines, again issued from the woods on
our left and advanced deliberately to
the charge; and he reluctantly or
dered Eicketts to prepare for a
retreat by the Baltimore pike, which
commenced at 4 p. m.
The stone bridge on that road was
held by Col. Brown ; and it was of
vital importance that it should still
be held firmly. Gen. Tyler had al
ready sent his reserve to Brown ; he
now galloped thither himself, and

took command ; Wallace soon ar
riving to reiterate the order that it
must be held at whatever cost until
Eicketts should have crossed to the
Baltimore pike and commenced his
retreat thereon. Tyler held on, fight
ing, till 5 p. m. ; by which time his
remaining force was nearly enveloped
by the overwhelming numbers of the
enemy ; so that he, with his staff, was
compelled to dash into the woods on
the right, and thus barely escaped
capture. Brown had just retreated
down the pike ; losing some of his
men, but holding the most of them
steadily in tlieir ranks. The enemy
made no effective pursuit; Bradley
T. Johnson's cavalry being absent,
marching on Baltimore by the Liber
ty road. Bicketts's three missing
regiments had been halted at Monro
via, 8 miles distant ; whence they had
ample time to reach the field in time
to save the day. They joined Wallace
at Newmarket, and thence covered
the retreat : which terminated twelve
miles from the Monoeacy.
Our loss in this action was 98
killed, 579 wounded, 1,282 missing :
total, 1,959. Many of the missing
probably only straggled in the re
treat, as the enemy took but 700
prisoners. They admitted only a
total loss of 600 ; but 400 of their se
verely wounded were found in hospi
tal at Frederick, when we reoccupied
that city two or three days after
ward. Johnson's cavalry next day ap
proached Baltimore, when that city
was filled with reports that Wallace's
little army had been annihilated at
the Monoeacy. The Baltimore Seces
sionists, less numerous than in April
or July, 1861, were no whit less bit
ter ; and they reasonably hoped, for

604

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

DEFENSES OF WASHINGTON.

Explanations
1
16.
Fort Lincoln.
31 FortO'Eourke.
46.
Fort Craig.
9,
17.
" Mahan.
82. "
Weed.
47.
"
McPherson.
3
u Simmons.
IS.
l' Chaplin.
33. "
Farnsworth.
48.
u
Tillinghast.
4-
" Bayard.
19.
" Meigs.
84. "
Lyon.
49.
u
Whipple.
5
20.
u Dupont.
85. "
Ellsworth.
50.
Cass.
6
21.
" Davis.
86. "
Williams.
61.
M
Woodbury.
7
22.
" Baker.
87. "
Worth.
52.
11
Morton.
R
23.
" Wagner.
88. "
Ward.
58.
"
Strong.C. F. Smith.
9
24
" Eicketts.
89. "
Reynolds.
54
"
in
25.
" Stanton.
40. "
Bernard.
55.
"
Bennett.
n
" Totten.
26.
" Snyder.
41. "
Scott.
56.
"
Corcoran.
19,
27.
" Carroll.
42. "
Berry,
57.
Haggerty.
is
" Bunker Hill.
28.
" Greble.
48. "
Eichardson.
53.
u
Ethan Allen.
14
29.
" Foote.
44. "
Albany,
69.
tL
Marcy,
15.
" Thayer.
SO.
" Willard,
45. "
Bunyon.
60.
"
Kamsey.
EARLY MENACES WASHINGTON— IS REPULSED

some hours, to welcome a ' liberating'
army. But Early, after a brief halt
on the battle-field, was now march
ing on Washington ; and Baltimore,
though weakly held, was not to be
taken on a gallop. Brig.-Gens. Lock-
wood and Morris were there ; and
they soon rallied thousands of loyal
citizens, by whom every approach
was guarded, and earthworks thrown
up in the suburbs which could not be
carried without difficulty and delay.
Johnson declined the attempt ; but a
detachment of his horsemen, under
Harry Gilmor, made a dash at the
Philadelphia railroad near Magnolia
Station, next morning ; burning the
long trestle over the inlet known as
Gunpowder, stopping there the morn
ing train northward, and robbing pas
sengers and mails.
Early's cavalry advance reached
Bockville on the evening of the 10th ;
his infantry was next day within 6
or 7 miles of Washington; which
they actually menaced on the 12th.
Gen. Augur, commanding the de
fenses, pushed out, toward evening,
a strong reconnoissance to develop
their strength ; and a smart skirmish
ensued, wherein we had 280 killed
and wounded, and the enemy at least
as many. If Early had rushed upon
Washington by forced marches from
the Monoeacy, and at once assaulted
with desperate energy, he might have
taken the city, and might have lost
half his army : he must have lost all
his army if he had carried the city
and attempted to hold it.
Whatever his purpose, it was now
too late to do any thing but what
he did — retreat across the Poto
mac, with his cavalry, batteries and
trains freshly horsed, 2,500 spare
» July 19.

605 I
horses, and 5,000 cattle. For the
19th corps (Emory's), ordered from
New Orleans by sea, had reached
Fortress Monroe a few days previous,
and had been sent by Grant to Wash
ington^ as had the 6th (Wright's)
from before Petersburg, with direc
tions that Gen. Wright should as
sume command. Had Early waited,
his force, now reduced to 15,000,
would have been confronted and
crushed by one of at least 40,000.
Wright's pursuit was not made in
such force as he should have had, and
was timid and feeble. Crossing the
Potomac at Edwards's ferry, he moved
through Leesburg and Snicker's gap
to the Shenandoah ; which he had
partially crossed when Early turned1'
upon him suddenly and fiercely, driv
ing back his advance with a loss of
fully 500. Wright recrossed after the
enemy had moved off, but soon re
turned to Leesburg, and, turning over
the command to Crook, repaired to
Washington. Averill, moving from Martinsburg
on Winchester, was fought" near
that city, for three hours, by a Eebel
force, which he finally worsted ; tak
ing 200 prisoners and 4 guns ; with
a loss of 150 or 200 killed and wound
ed on either side. The approach of
Early from Snicker's gap now com
pelled him to draw off.
Grant, deceived by advices that
Early was returning to Lynchburg
and Eichmond, ordered the 6th and
19th corps by water to Petersburg,
intending to strike, a blow with his
thus augmented forces before Early
could arrive. Hunter was still on
his weary way from his miscarriage
at Lynchburg — dry rivers, broken
railroads, &c, impeding his progress.
» July 20.

606

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Crook, left in command of the deple
ted force on the Potomac, now moved
up to Harper's Ferry, and thence
pushed out once more to Winchester,
supposing that there was nothing
there that could stop his progress.
He was grievously mistaken. Early
had not gone south, but was close at
hand ; and soon our advance was an
noyed31 by smart skirmishing, which
pushed back our cavalry on our in
fantry, and next day routed them,
driving Crook's entire command
pell-mell to Martinsburg with a loss
of 1,200, including Gen. Mulligan2'
killed. Early's loss was trifling.
There was an artillery duel next
day at Martinsburg ; but Crook, hav
ing gained time to save his trains,
crossed over into Maryland, leaving
Early undisturbed master of the south
side of the Potomac from Shepherds
town to Williamsport.
He made an unwise use of his
advantage. Maryland and southern
Pennsylvania being in utter panic —
many running off their stock to places
of safety, while thousands openly ex
ulted at the brightened prospects of
the Eebellion — he sent B. T. John
son, McCausland, and others, with
perhaps 3,000 cavalry, on a sweep
ing raid northward. McCausland
took a considerable circuit, threaten
ing some points in order to distract
attention from others; dispersing a
small body of recruits at Carlisle
barracks, and finally striking Cham
bersburg,23 then totally defenseless and
in good part deserted, and demand
ing $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in
currency, under penalty of conflagra
tion. The money not being instantly
produced, the place was fired, and
about two-thirds of it destroyed.

The excuse alleged for this act
of Vandalism was the burning of ex-
Gov. Letcher's house at Lexington
by Hunter, six weeks before. That
was held to be justified — and, at all
events, was solely incited — by find
ing iu a Lexington printing-office
the type and proof of a handbill is
sued and signed by Letcher, calling
on the people of that region to 'bush
whack' Hunter's men — that is, fire
at them from every covert, while not
embodied as a military force and
seeming to be peaceful farmers or
artisans. If this burning violated
the laws of war, it had already been
twice avenged by burning Gov. Brad
ford's country residence near Balti
more, and ex-P. M. General Blair's,
near Washington. It was not in ac
cordance with Lee's orders nor his
practice in either of his invasions;
for, though he burned Thaddeus Ste
vens's iron- works near Gettysburg (as
we burned manufactories of warlike
material, clothing, &c, throughout
the South), he sternly forbad wanton
devastation ; and he was obeyed.
Averill, with 2,600 cavalry, per
plexed by the enemy's bewildering
demonstrations, had fallen back from
Hagerstown to Greencastle, and was
but 9 miles from Chambersburg while
Johnson and McCausland, with but
part of the Eebel cavalry north of
the Potomac, sacked and burned that
town. He arrived that day, but they
had left; moving westward to Mc-
Connellstown, whither he followed ;
arriving in time to save it from a
similar fate. He promptly charged ;
but there was not much of a fight ;
the enemy hurrying southward to
Hancock, and thence across the Po
tomac.

1 July 23.

1 The CoL Mulligan who defended Lexington, Mo., in 1861.

1 July 30.

SHERIDAN APPOINTED TO COMMAND.

607

The panic throughout southern
Pennsylvania had ere this become
intensified. Gen. Couch, command
ing there, was assured that a great
Bebel army of invasion was march
ing on Pittsburg ; and that city re
newed the defensive efforts of the
year before. The guerrilla John S.
Moseby, with 50 men, dashed across
the Potomac at Cheat ferry, surpri
sing and capturing at Adamstown
nearly his own number of horsemen,
and robbed a few stores ; and, though
he ran back instantly, his trifling raid
was magnified into a vague and
gloomy significance.
Neither the 6th nor the 19th corps
had proceeded farther than George
town, D. C, when Crook's defeat and
its consequences impelled them in
quite another direction than that of
Petersburg. Moving24 by Eockville
and Frederick, they had reached
Harper's Ferry, and there met Crook,
with part of Hunter's long expected
infantry, on the day Chambersburg
was burned ; and now, with an im
mense train, the whole force was
started on a wild-goose-chase after
Early, who was supposed to be laying
waste southern Pennsylvania.
Gen. Kelley, commanding at Cum
berland, had undertaken to stop John
son's raiders as they passed him on
their retreat, and had a smart skir
mish with them at Falck's mill, in
which he claimed the advantage ; but
Col. Stough, with 500 men, sent to
Oldtown to intercept them, had there
been routed, after a short skirmish;
himself and 90 men being captured.
The enemy retreated up the south

". July 26. » Aug. 4. *> Aug. 2.
"Aug. 4. MAug. 1.
" There was, in 1865, a spiey newspaper con
troversy between these Generals touching their
respective strength in their Yalley campaign.

branch of the Potomac, pursued by
Averill, who struck20 them near
Moorefield, routing them, with a loss
of but 50 on our side ; Averill cap
turing their guns, wagons, and 500
prisoners. Gen. Grant had already sent28
Sheridan to Washington, with intent
to have him placed in charge of our
distracted operations on the Potomac
and Shenandoah ; and he now came
up27 himself, to obtain, if possible, a
better understanding of what was
going on. In his conference with
Hunter, that officer expressed a will
ingness to be relieved, if that were
deemed desirable ; and Grant at once
telegraphed to Washington to have
Sheridan sent up to Harper's Ferry ;
himself awaiting there that officer's
arrival. An order soon appeared28
appointing Maj.-Gen. Philip H. Sher
idan commander of the new ' Middle
Department,' composed of the late
Departments of West Virginia, Wash
ington, and Susquehanna ; and two
divisions of cavalry (Torbert's and
Wilson's) were soon sent him by
Grant; raising his force to nearly
30,000 men ; while Early's, confront
ing him, can hardly have exceeded
20,000. 29
It was no fault of Sheridan's that his
accession to command was not immedi
ately followed by a vigorous offensive.
Doubtless, his motley forces needed
to be better compacted and fitted to
gether ; but, under skillful and capa
ble leadership, they would attain this
most rapidly in the field. Yet there
had been so much failure and disap
pointment in this quarter, while the

Early made his force scarcely half so numerous
as Sheridan's. Sheridan rejoined that the prison
ers taken by him from Early exceeded the num
ber to which that General limited his entire
command.

608

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

consequences of a defeat, opening the
North to a fresh invasion, and perhaps
compelling — what Lee most desired
and Grant most dreaded — a with
drawal of our army from the James —
were so grave, that Grant hesitated
to authorize a determined advance
until he had made him a second
visit,30 and become convinced that he
had a lieutenant on the Potomac who
thoroughly comprehended his posi
tion, his work, his strength, and that
of his antagonist, and needed but
liberty of action and a trust which his
achievements would abundantly just
ify. " I saw," says Grant, in his report,
" that but two words of instruction
were necessary — ' Go in !' " So he
gave them, and Sheridan went in.
Early held the west bank of
Opeqtjan creek, covering Winchester,
Sheridan was in his front and to his
right, holding Berry ville. In a skill
ful and spirited reconnoissance, Gen.
Wilson had struck81 the flank of
Kershaw's division, capturing with
out loss Col. Hennegan and 171 of
the 8th S. C. The principal value
of such a stroke inheres in its effect
on the spirits of an army ; and Sheri
dan, believing his in the mood for
battle, drew out, at 2 a. m.,32 his entire
force, resolved to carry the enemy's
position by assault.
That position was naturally strong,
and had been thoroughly fortified.
To assail it, our army had to advance
through a narrow ravine, shut in by
steep, thickly wooded hills, form in
an irregular, undulating valley in
the enemy's front, advance through
a wood, and attack desperately his
center, while flanking and crushing
in his left. His right, too strongly
posted to be turned, was to be men

aced and kept strong and idle, if
possible ; he striving in turn to thrust
that wing through our left and seize
the mouth of the ravine, so as at
once to sever our army and deprive
its right of any line of retreat.
It was 10 a. m. when the 6th corps
emerged from the ravine, and took
ground on our left ; Bicketts's divi
sion pushing forward, through thick
woods and over steep hills, where
musketry only could be used, right
against the eneiny's front ; for here
ground must be gained and held to
enable the 8th corps to debouch be
hind our front from the pass, turn
the enemy's left, and charge him in
flank and rear. When our impetu
ous advance had cleared the woods
and heights, a broad, open valley
was before them, with the Eebel
army sheltered by the woods and
rocks beyond ; whence a terrific shell
ing already told upon our ranks.
Yet so vehement and resolute was
the charge of Grover's division of the
19th corps that Early's first line was
carried — Gen. Bhodes being killed
and three Eebel colonels sent to our
rear as prisoners.
Early, seeing that no moment was
to be lost, promptly hurled two fresh
divisions upon Grover and Eicketts,
pushing them back in disorder and
with fearful loss ; a heavy fire open
ing on their flank as they surged to
ward the pass — many regiments ut
terly broken, their officers fallen, and
the battle seemingly lost beyond
hope. The 156th N.York had barely
40 men grouped around its colors ;
Capt. Eigby, 24th Iowa, was seen re
treating firmly, deliberately, follow
ed by a sergeant and 12 men who,
reaching the assigned rallying-point,

30 Sept. 16.

1 Sept. 13.

1 Sept. 19.

SHERIDAN'S BATTLE OF THE OPEQUAN.

609

 INFANrRY
-CAVALRY

GEN. SHERIDAN 8 MOVEMENTS IN THE SHENANDOAH
VALLEY.

halted, faced to the front, and gave
three hearty cheers. Five minutes
later, that platoon had been swelled
by other such to a battalion ; while
Capt. Bradbury, 1st Maine battery,
had, by Grover's order, posted two
guns in a gap and opened on the ex
ultant Eebels ; who, charging to seize
them, received a volley in the rear
from the 131st N. York, which Gen.
Emory had rallied and posted in a
projection of wood, with orders not
to fire till the enemy should have
passed them. As they staggered
under this unexpected salute, a vol
ley from the newly formed line in
vol. n. — 39

their front sent them pell-mell back
across the fields to their original
cover. And now our shattered front,
closing in from right and left, was
reformed and advanced over most of
the ground it had lost ; the 1st divis
ion of the 19th corps — still glorying
in its achievements at Port Hudson
and Pleasant Hill — instead of follow
ing the 8th corps in the flank move
ment, as had been intended, was
brought back and used to piece out
and brace up the center ; where des
perate fighting, with little advantage
to either side, and heavy loss at least
to ours, was maintained till 3 p. m.
And now a shout from the far
right, shut out from view by woods
and hills, announced that the turning
movement was effected — that our
cavalry under Torbe_t, and Crook
with his 8th corps (the ' Army of
West Virginia' that was), have struck
the enemy's left in flank, and are
charging it under a terrible fire. In
stantly, a redoubled fire breaks out
along our central front, in spite of the
general scarcity of cartridges ; and,
these being soon exhausted, Col.
Thomas, 8th Vermont, ordered his
men to charge at double quick with
the bayonet. In vain general officers
shouted ' Halt !' 'Lie down !' < Wait
for supports !' &c. ; for, while some
were still confused and vacillating, a
staff officer from the right galloped
in front, and pointed with his saber
to the woods which sheltered the
enemy. At once, all dissent was
silenced, all hesitation at an end;
the whole center, as one man, swept
forward, cheering, and plunged into
the woods, meeting there Crook's
corps, charging from the flank. All
the Eebels who could still travel
were by this time going or gone.

610

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

A height in the rear of Early's po
sition, crowned by a fort, still held
out; but Crook's column quickly
stormed and carried both. And now
our cavalry — which had been fight
ing and routing the enemy's — came
up on our right, and charged superb
ly on the rear of the flying^foe, ta
king 700 prisoners and 2 guns at the
first onset ; following till dark close
on the heels of the fugitives, and
gathering up prisoners, &c, as they
hurried through Winchester in utter
rout and disintegration.
Our loss in this battle was fully
3,000, including Gen. David A. Bus-
sell, killed, with Gens. Mcintosh,
Chapman, and Upton wounded. The
heroic 19th corps — on which fell the
brunt of the fight — alone lost 1,940
killed and wounded. Among the
Eebels killed were Gens. Ehodes and
A. C. Godwin. Pollard admits a
loss of 3,000 on their side ; but, as we
took 3,000 prisoners, with 5 guns, it
was probably much greater.
Early fell back to Fisher's Hill,
8 miles south of Winchester, between
the North and Massanutten moun
tains — regarded as the very strongest
position in the Valley. Sheridan
followed sharply, allowing but two
days to intervene between his first
and his second victory. Advancing
the 6th corps against the front and
the 19th on the left of the Eebel
stronghold, he again sent the 8th by
a long circuit around on the right,
striking heavily in flank and rear,
while a vigorous attack in front broke
the enemy's center. The victory here
was even more decisive, as well as far
more cheaply purchased, than that
won at the Opequan. Though our
attack could not be made till 4 p. m.,
» Sept. 25.

there was still time enough to take
1,100 prisoners, 16 guns, &c, &c.
The pursuit hence was so sharp that
Early had to abandon the Valley and
take to the mountains, where cavalry
could with difficulty operate. Sheri
dan followed with infantry and artil
lery to Port Eepublic,33 where he
captured and destroyed 75 wagons ; '
sending his cavalry, under Torbert,
to Staunton, where they destroyed
large quantities of army supplies, and
thence to Waynesborough, where the
Virginia Central railroad was broken
up, the bridge burned, and a large
Confederate tannery destroyed.
Gen. Grant, in his letter of instruc
tions to Gen. Hunter,34 had directed
that —
" In pushing up the Shenandoah valley,
where it is expected you will have to go first
or last, it is desirable that nothing should be
left to invite the enemy to return. Take all
provisions, forage, and stock, wanted for the
use of your command ; such as can not he
consumed, destroy. It is not desirable that
the buildings should be destroyed — they
should rather be protected — but the people
should be informed that, so long as an army
can subsist among them, recurrences of these
raids must be expected ; and we are deter
mined to stop them at all hazards."
This order, Sheridan, in returning
down the Valley, executed to the let
ter. Whatever of grain and forage
had escaped appropriation or destruc
tion by one or another of the ar
mies which had so frequently chased
each other up and down this narrow
but fertile and productive vale, was
now given to the torch. Some of it
was the property of men who not
only adhered to the Union, but were
fighting to uphold it; more belonged
to Quakers, Tunkers, &c, who ab
horred bloodshed, and had taken no
part in the strife, unless under ab
solute constraint.

The excuse, of

M Aug. 5.

SHERIDAN DEVASTATES THE VALLEY.

611

course, was the certainty that what
ever was left would be used to feed
the Eebel armies and to facilitate
raids and incursions on our posts be
low. The recent foolish as well as
culpable burning of Chambersburg —
to say nothing of the unauthorized
but openly justified arson and butch
ery at Lawrence — furnished ample
precedents; but it is not obvious that
the National cause was advanced or
the National prestige exalted by this
resort to one of the very harshest and
most questionable expedients not ab
solutely forbidden by the laws of
civilized warfare.
Sheridan reports this devastation,
in a dispatch to Grant, as follows :
"Woodstock, Va., Oct. 7, 1864—9 p. m.
"Lt.-Gen. U. S. Grant :
"I have the honor to report my com
mand at this point to-night. I commenced
moving back from Port Eepublic, Mount
Crawford, Bridgewater, and Harrisonburg,
yesterday morning.
"The grain and forage in advance of
these points had previously been destroyed.
"In moving back to this point, the whole
country from the Blue ridge to the North
mountain has been made untenable for a
Bebel army. I have destroyed over 2,000
barns filled with wheat and hay and farm
ing implements, over 70 mills filled with
flour and wheat; have driven in front of
the army over 4,000 head of stock, and
have killed and issued to the troops not less
than 3,000 sheep. This destruction em
braces the Luray valley and Little Fort val
ley as well as the main valley.
" A large number of horses have been ob
tained, a proper estimate of which I can not
now make.
" Lt. John B. Meigs, my engineer officer,
was murdered beyond Harrisonburg near
Dayton. For this atrocious act, all the houses
within an area of five miles were burned.
" Since I came into the Valley from Har
per's Ferry, every train, every small party,
and every straggler, has been bushwhacked
by the people ; many of whom have protec
tion papers from commanders who have
been hitherto in that valley. €
" The people here are getting sick of the
war. Heretofore, they have had no reason
to complain, because they have been living
in great abundance.

"I have not been followed by the enemy
to this point, with the exception of a small
force of Bebel cavalry that showed them
selves some distance behind my rear-guard
to-day." TJis Richmond Whig thereupon
gravely proposed to retaliate by
sending incendiaries to fire the cities
ofthe loyal States, saying:
"There is one effectual way, and only
one we know of, to arrest and prevent this
and every other sort of atrocity — and that
is, to burn one of the chief cities of the ene
my, say Boston, Philadelphia, or Cincinnati,
and let its fate hang over the others as a
warning of what may be done, and what
will be done to them if the present system
of war on the part of the enemy is contin
ued. If we are asked how such a thing
can be done, we answer, nothing would be
easier. A million of dollars would lay the
proudest city of the enemy in ashes. The
men to execute the work are already there.
There would be no difficulty in finding there,
here, or in Canada, suitable persons to take
charge of the enterprise and arrange its de
tails. Twenty men, with plans all precon
certed and means provided, selecting some
dry, windy night, might fire Boston- in a
hundred places and wrap it in flames from
center to suburb. They might retaliate on
Bichmond, Charleston, &c. Let them do so
if they dare ! It is a game at which we can
beat them. New York is worth twenty
Bichmonds. They have a dozen towns to
our one ; and in their towns is centered
nearly all their wealth. It would not be
immoral and barbarous. It is not immoral
nor barbarous to defend yourself by any
means or with any weapon the enemy may
employ for your destruction. They choose
to substitute the torch for the sword. "We
may so use their own weapon as to make
them repent, literally in sackcloth and ashes,
that they ever adopted it. If the Executive
is not ready for this, we commend the mat
ter to the secret deliberation of the Con
gress about to meet."
The atrocity here recommended
waB actually attempted in New York,
a few weeks afterward — several of
the great hotels being simultaneously
fired by emissaries who had taken
lodgings therein for that purpose.
Each was quickly extinguished, when
little damage had been done.
Sheridan's rear, as he moved down

612

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

to Strasburg, being infested35 by Eebel
horse under Eosser, he ordered Tor-
bert, commanding his cavalry, to turn
upon and chastise the presumption.
The Eebels broke and fled at the
first charge, and were chased back
26 miles ; losing 11 guns, 47 wagons,
and 330 prisoners. Sheridan's retreat
was no further molested ; but, having
halted near Fisher's hill, Early at
tempted38 to steal upon him unaware,
but found him ready, and, after a
short struggle, the Eebel chief drew
off, badly worsted.
Sheridan now left37 on a flying visit
to Washington, supposing his adver
sary had had fighting enough for the
season. He miscalculated. Early,
aware of our commander's absence,
stung by his repeated defeats, and
considerably reenforced, resolved on
retrieving his ragged fortunes by a
daring enterprise — nothing less than
the surprise and rout of a veteran
army. Having strengthened himself
to the utmost, and thoroughly organ
ized his forces in his. forest-screened
camp near Fisher's hill, he silently
moved out at nightfall, SB resolved to
flank our position across Cedar oeeek,
6 miles distant, and fall on our sleep
ing camps at daybreak next morning.
Our forces were encamped on three
crests or ridges : the Army of West
Virginia (Crook's) in front ; the 19th
corps (Emory's) half a mile behind it ;
the 6th corps (Wright's) to the right
and rear of the 19th. Etching's pro
visional division lay behind Crook's
left ; the cavalry, under Torbert, on
the right of the 6th. It is a fact,
though no excuse, that they had no
more apprehension of an attack from
Early than from Canada.
Early had arranged his army in

two columns, in order to strike ours
at once on both flanks. He had of
course to leave the turnpike and
move over rugged paths along the
mountain-side, climbing up and down
steep hills, holding on by bushes,
where horses could hardly keep their
feet, and twice fording the North fork
of the Shenandoah — the second time
in the very face of our pickets. For
miles, his right column skirted the
left of Crook's position, where an
alarm would have exposed him to
utter destruction. So imperative was
the requirement of silence that his
men had been made to leave their
canteens in camp, lest they should
clatter against their muskets. The
divisions of Gordon, Eamseur, and
Pegram thus stole by our left ; those
of Kershaw and Wharton simultane
ously flanking our right.
At 2 a. m., the pickets of the 5th
N. Y. heavy artillery (Kitching's di
vision) heard a rustling of under
brush and a sound as of stealthy,
multitudinous trampling; and two
posts were relieved and sent into
camp with the report. Gen. Crook
thereupon ordered that a good look
out be kept, but sent out no reconnoi-
tering party ; even the gaps in his
front line caused by detailing regi
ments for picket duty were not filled ;
and, when the crash came, the mus
kets of many of our men were not
loaded. There was some suspicion
and uneasiness in Crook's command,
but no serious preparation.
An hour before dawn, the Eebels
had all reached, without obstruction
or mishap, the positions severally as
signed them, and stood shivering in
the chill mist, awaiting the order to
attack. No sound of alarm, no hum

35 Oct. 9.

30 Oct. 12.

37 Oct. 15

38 Oct. 18.

EARLY SURPRISES C-ROOK AT CEDAR CREEK.

613

of preparation, disquieted them. At
length, as the gray light of dawn
disclosed the eastern hill-tops, a tre
mendous volley of musketry, on either
flank and away to the "rear, startled
the sleepers into bewildered con
sciousness; and the next moment,
with their well known battle-yell,
the charging lines came on.
" Tell the brigade commanders to
move their men into the trenches,"
said Gen. Grover, calmly ; and the
order was given ; but it was already
too late. The Eebels, disdaining to
notice the picket-fire, were themselves
in the trenches on both flanks' before
our astonished soldiers could occupy
* *¦ them in effective force. On our side,
all was amazement and confusion;
on theirs, thorough wakefulness and
perfect comprehension. In fifteen
minutes, the Army of West Virginia
was a flying mob ; one battalion of
its picket-line had lost 100 killed and
wounded, and seven hundred prison
ers. The enemy, knowing every foot
of the ground as familiarly as their
own door-yards, never stopped to re-
connoiter or consider, but rushed on
with incredible celerity.
Emory tried, of course, to stop
them, but with no chance of success.
Assailed in overwhelming force in
front, on both flanks, and well to the
rear, he pushed forward McMillen's
brigade to breast the Eebel torrent,
and give time for the 6th corps to
come- up. One-third of it was killed
and wounded in the effort ; but to no
purpose, though two other brigades
were sent up to its support. But
Early's three divisions on our left,
led by Gordon, continued their flank
ing advance, turning us out of every
position whereon a stand had been
made; while Kershaw led the col

umn pressing fiercely on our right
and front. The resistance of the
19th corps was brief and bloody;
and, when it had melted away, the
6th, assailed in turn, gave ground —
slowly, in good order, but as if con
sciously unable to resist the deter
mined charge ofthe flushed and eager
foe. And when at length it had
gained a position where it seemed
able and willing to stand, Wright
saw that it had been crowded clear
off the turnpike, while our forces had
no other line of concentration or re
treat ; so that to hold here was to
enable Gordon to interpose between
it and the rest of our army : hence he
ordered a general retreat ; which was
made in good order : our columns in
clining toward the turnpike so as to
recover their communications. The
enemy, intent on plundering our cap
tured camps, and doubtless hungry,
thirsty, and exhausted with sixteen
hours' arduous marching and fight
ing, had halted, or were advancing
slowly and cautiously, their muskets
silent, with but occasional shots at
long range from their artillery. We
had lost, beside our killed and wound
ed, the battle, our camps, defenses,
equipage, 24 guns, and 1,200 pris
oners. Sheridan had slept unapprehen-
sively at Winchester, on his return
from Washington, while the enemy
were executing his bold movement ;
but the morning breeze wafted omi
nous sounds to his ears ; and he was
soon riding rapidly southward, and
not long in meeting the kind of drift
that may be seen in the rear of every
fighting army, more especially if that
army is being worsted. Putting
spurs to his horse, he reached the
front at 10 a. m. ; just as Wright had

614

THE AMERICAN. CONFLICT.

halted and the enemy had ceased to
press him.
The current notion that our army
instantly faced to the front, charged,
and routed the exultant foe, does
justice neither to Sheridan nor to
facts. The defeated are not thus
easily converted into conquerors.
Sheridan met his crest-fallen, shat
tered battaBons without a word of
reproach, but joyously, inspiringly,
swinging his cap and shouting to the
stragglers as he rode rapidly past
them — " Face the other way, boys !
We are going back to our camps!
We are going to lick them out of
their boots !" Most of them obeyed,
as the weaker will submits to the
stronger. Then, having ordered each
command to face to the front, form
line, and advance, he rode for two
hours along that line, gathering in
formation, and studying the ground,
while he rapidly and cheeringly
talked to his soldiers. " Boys, if I
had been here, this would not have
happened!" he assured them, and
they believed it. And so their spirits
gradually rose, and they became con
vinced that their defeat was an awk
ward accident — unpleasant, of course,
but such as might happen to any
army so self-confident as to be easily
caught napping. Finally, they be
gan to doubt that they had actually
been beaten at all.
Emory's 19th corps was strongly
posted in a dense wood on the left,
and had thrown up a rude breast
work of rocks and rails along its front.
Here he was attacked at 1 p. m., but
not in great force nor desperately ;
and, after a spirited fusillade, he sent
word that the enemy had been re
pulsed. Sheridan accepted and re
ported the tidings as very natural and

indicative of more such to come. And
now, at 3 p. m., all being ready, the
order was given, "The entire line
will advance. The 19th corps will
move in connection with the 6th.
The right of the 19th will swing to
ward the left, so as to drive the ene
my upon the pike." Steadily, not
eagerly, our infantry rose to their
feet, and went forward through the
woods to the open ground beyond.
The scream of shells, the rattle of
musketry, the charging shout, rolled
at once from right to left ; and soon
the Eebels' front line was carried
and their left decidedly turned. Gor
don's division, which led the charge on
our left that morning, had now been
flanked and driven, if not broken.
There was a pause in the advance,
but not in the fight. The Eebel guns
(they had a good part of ours) opened
on our new position, and were re
plied to mainly by musketry. Again
Sheridan moved along our front, cor
recting its formation, -giving particu
lar orders to subordinates, and words
of cheer and confidence to all. Emo
ry's 1st division was formed nearly
at right angles with the Eebels' front,
so as to face the turnpike and crowd
them, when it charged, toward the
way they should go. And now came
the second charge, more determined,
more confident, more comprehensive
than the first ; our cavalry advancing
on both wings and, as the Eebel front
gave way, charging fiercely upon»their
disordered ranks, and running them
through Strasburg. Our weary, fam
ished infantry — whose rations and
cooks had long since paid tribute to
the enemy, or found shelter in Win
chester — sank down in their recovered
quarters to shiver through the night
as they could.

CAVALRY RAIDS TO GRENADA, MISS

615

Our loss in this double battle was
nearly 3,000, including Gen. D. D.
Bidwell, of N. Y., and Col. Jo. Tho-
burn, killed, with Gens. Wright
(slightly), Grover, Eicketts, and act
ing Brigadiers J. H. Kitching and E.
G. McKinzie, wounded. Many of our
men taken prisoners in the morning
were rescued toward evening. The
Bebel loss was heavier, including
Gen. Eamseur (mortally wounded,
and died a prisoner next day), 1,500
prisoners, 23 guns (not counting the
24 lost by us in the morning and re
covered at night), at least 1,500 small

arms, besides most of their caissons,
wagons, &c. In fact, Early's army
was virtually destroyed ; so that, with
the exception of two or three cavalry
skirmishes, there was no more fight
ing " in the Valley, because there was
very little left for Sheridan to fight.
And this victory, 'snatched from the
jaws of defeat, affords one of the very
few instances in which an army,
thoroughly beaten in the morning, is
even more thoroughly victorious in
the evening, though it has meantime
been reenforced by but a single
man.

XXVII.
BETWEEN VIEGINIA AND THE MISSISSIPPI.
FEOM VIOKSBUEG TO ABINGDON.

During the Autumn, Winter, and
Spring of 1863-4, and the ensuing
Summer, a great number of desulto
ry, indecisive expeditions were im
pelled by one side or the other, which,
though they exerted no considerable
influence over the issue of the strug
gle, will be rapidly summed up, pre
liminary to the narration of Gen.
Sherman's memorable Atlanta cam
paign.

Several detachments of cavalry or
mounted infantry, about 1,600 strong,
sent out by Gen. Hurlbut, command
ing in Wej3t Tennessee, under Lt.-Col.
J. J. Phillips, 9th Illinois (infantry),
Lt.-Col. W. E. M. Wallace, 4th HI.
cavalry, and Maj. D. E. Coon, 2d
Iowa cavalry, raided through north

ern Mississippi to Grenada; where
they captured and destroyed1 over
50 locomotives and about 500 cars of
all kinds. At 9£ p. m., Col. Winslow
arrived from Gen. Sherman's army
near Vicksburg, with orders not to
destroy but save the rolling stock;
and, he being the ranking officer,
some effort was made to obey those
orders ; but fire had already done its
work pretty effectually. Each party
returned the way it came. They en
countered little resistance, and their
losses were inconsiderable.
Gen. McPherson, with Tuttle's
and Logan's divisions of infantry and
Winslow's cavalry, 8,000 in all, was
pushed out from Vicksburg2 nearly
to Canton, skirmishing with and push-

3' Early came down the Yalley in November,
crossing Cedar creek; but he was not in force to
fight a battle, and, being pressed, retreated ; his
cavalry (under Lomax) being defeated and chased

by Gen. Powell up the Luray valley, with a loss
of 2 guns and 150 prisoners. On our side, Col.
Hull, 2d, and Capt. Prendergast, 1st N. Y. cav
alry, were killed. 1 Aug. 16, 1863. ' Oct. 14,

616

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ing back Wirt Adams's cavalry and
Cosby's, Logan's, and Whitman's bri
gades of infantry, until, finally, Mc
Pherson found himself confronted by
a superior force, comprising Loring's
division and other forces hurried
down from Grenada and up from
points so distant as Mobile ; when
he retreated without a battle, via
Clinton, to Vicksburg.3
Under cover of demonstrations at
Colliersville and other points by
Chalmers, Lee, and Eichardson,
against our lines covering the Mem
phis and Charleston railroad, For
rest, with 4,000 mounted men, slipped
through4 them near Salisbury, and
advanced to Jackson, West Tennes
see ; which had ceased to be held in
force on our side since the depart
ment headquarters had been trans
ferred to Memphis. Drawing re
cruits from the sympathizers and
supphes from the plantations and
farms of all that region, he was soon
emboldened to impel raiding parties
in every direction ; while Brig.-Gen.
A. L. Smith — directed against him
from Columbus, Ky., by Hurlbut,
with 6,000 men, of whom 2,000 were
mounted — was brought to a full stop
by .the execrable badness ofthe roads,
and finally retraced his steps to Co
lumbus. Hence, a cooperating force
dispatched from Corinth on the south,
consisting of Gen. Mower's brigade
of infantry and Col. Mizener's caval
ry, found nothing to cooperate with ;
while the 7th Illinois cavalry, Col.
Prince, which had moved out from
Memphis to Bolivar, was compelled
to fall back6 to Somerville; near
which, it was surrounded next day by
Eichardson's mounted force — 1,000

against 500 — and routed with con
siderable loss.
Forrest had by this time taken the
alarm, as well he might — the forces
at Hurlbut's command being three
times his own — and had started south
ward to make his escape. Much of
the country in this quarter being flat
and swampy, and the rivers being
bank-full, while Forrest was notori
ously short of pontoons, he was
obliged, after passing the Hatchiej
to bear westward nearly to Memphis
to find roads which even horsemen
could traverse. Hurlbut was aware
of this, and had ordered the burning
of every bridge over Wolf river. His
orders were obeyed everywhere but
at the bridge near Lafayette; and* it _
was for that bridge that Forrest, ac
cordingly, struck ; crossing over his
army and his plunder, including a
large drove of cattle, and pushing
rapidly southward. This movement
was covered by* a fresh feint by Eich
ardson on Colliersville ; so that Gen.
Grierson, who was watching for For
rest at Lagrange, was misled ; and,
when the pursuit was actually com
menced, the scent was too cold.
Grierson followed to Holly Springs,
and then desisted; Forrest getting
safely away with more men and bet
ter horses than he led into Tennessee.

Gen. Sherman, with four divisions
of Hurlbut's and McPherson's corps,
and a brigade of cavalry under Wins
low, moved6 eastward from Vicks
burg through Jackson, crossing Pearl
river on pontoons, and' advancing
through Brandon, Morton, Hillsbo
ro', and Decatur, across the Octib-
beha and Tallahaha, to Meridian7 —
a railroad junction on the eastern

3 Oct. 21.

4 Early in December.

' Dec. 24.

'Feb. 3, 1864. 'Feb. 14-16.

SOVY SMITH'S FAILURE IN MISSISSIPPI.

617

border of the State — destroying a
vast amount of railroad property,
bridges, trestles, track, locomotives,
cars, &c, &c. Lt.-Gen. Polk, with
French's and Loring's divisions and
Lee's cavalry, feU back before our
army ; skirmishing occasionaUy, but
making no serious resistance ; re
treating at last behind the Tombig-
bee. Yet the expedition, though scarcely
resisted, and doing vast damage to
the Eebels, was essentially a failure,
because too weak in cavalry. This
deficiency was to have been supplied
by a strong division sent by Hurlbut,
under Gen. Wm. Sovy Smith ; but
that officer, who was to have been
here on the 10th, did not leave Mem
phis till the llth, and failed to reach
even West Point, nearly 100 miles
north of Meridian ; whence he turned
back,8 and made all speed to Mem
phis. Sherman was therefore obliged
to retrace his steps ; leaving Meridian
on the 20th, and sending Winslow's
cavalry so far north as Louisville to
feel for Smith, but without success :
so our army slowly returned unmo
lested to Canton.8 Its total loss dur
ing the expedition was but 171 ;
while it brought away 400 prisoners,
1,000 White refugees, with 5,000 ne
groes, and returned in better condi
tion for service than when it started.
Gen. W. S. Smith, with about 7,000
men, including a brigade of infantry,
had advanced by New Albany and
Okolona nearly to West Point ; when
he found himself confronted by For
rest, Lee, and Chalmers, with more
Eebels than he felt able to master ;
and, turning a very short corner, he
made his way back to Memphis in
the best time on record — his van

reaching that city at 11 p. m. on the
25th. Attacked at Okolona," he had
lost 5 guns in making good his escape;
but it was claimed on his return that
he had devoured or otherwise de
stroyed a large amount of Eebel
property, mainly corn, and had lost
but 200 men. Still, it is not re
corded that he was ever again put
in command of an important expedi
tion. Simultaneously with his advance
from Vicksburg, Sherman sent some
gunboats and a detachment up the
Yazoo against Yazoo City; which did
not succeed in again capturing that
city, but claimed to have done con
siderable damage, with a loss of but
50 men.
Yazoo City was taken and occu
pied soon afterward by a Union force
consisting of the llth Blinois, Col.
Schofield, 8th Louisiana (Black), Col.
Coates, and 200 of the 1st Mississippi
cavalry (Black). Col. Osband, who
had dropped down the river from
above, was here attacked "by a far
superior Eebel force under Boss and
Eichardson, and a desperate street-
fight ensued, in which our loss was
130 ; that of the enemy reported by
them at 50, and by our side at 300.
They carried a good part of the town,
but could not take the fort, and were
finally repelled by reenforcements
from below. The place was evacu
ated, by order from Vicksburg, soon
afterward. Gen. Jo. Johnston, commanding
in northern Georgia, having dis
patched two divisions of Hardee's
corps, under Stewart and Anderson,
to the aid of Polk in Mississippi,
Gen. Grant, still commanding at
Chattanooga, sent forward I2 the 14th

8 Feb. 21.

' Feb. 26.

1 Feb. 22.

11 March 5.

"Feb. 22.

618

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

corps, under Gen. Palmer, to coun
teract this diversion. The divisions
of Jeff. C. Davis, Johnson, and
Baird, moved on the direct road to
Dalton; Stanley's division, under
Gen. Crafts, moving from Cleveland
on our left, and forming a junction
with Palmer just below Einggold.
The advance was resisted, but not
seriously, at Tunnel Hill and at
Eocky-Face ridge ; whence Palmer
pressed forward, against continually
increasing resistance, to within two
miles of Dalton ; where, hearing that
the two Eebel divisions which were
sent south had been brought back,
and that all Johnston's (late Bragg's)
army was on his hands, he fell back
to Tunnel Hill, and ultimately to
Einggold;13 having lost 350 killed
and wounded. The Eebel killed and
wounded were but 200.

Various inconsiderable collisions
and raids on frontier posts occurred
in southern Tennessee during the
Winter and Spring ; in one of which,
a steamboat on the Tennessee was
captured and burnt by the enemy ;
but nothing of moment occurred
until Forrest, at the head of 5,000
cavalry, advanced14 rapidly from
northern Mississippi through West
Tennessee, after a brief halt at Jack
son, to Union City, a fortified rail
road junction near the Kentucky
line, held by the llth Tenn. cavalry,
Col. Hawkins, who tamely surrender
ed,15 after repelling an assault with
out loss. The spoils were 450 pri
soners, 200 horses, and 500 small
arms. Gen. Brayman, with a reliev
ing force from Cairo, was but 6 miles
distant when Hawkins gave up.

Forrest now occupied Hickman
without resistance, and next day ap
peared before Paducah at the head
of a division of his force which had
moved thither directly from Jackson.
He found here the 40th Illinois, Col.
Hicks, 655 strong ; who promptly
withdrew into Fort Anderson, where
he could be aided by the gunboats
Piosta and Paw-Paw, Capt. Shirk,
and whence he answered -Forrest's
summons with quiet firmness. Two
assaults were made and repelled:
the enemy at length occupying the
town and firing from behind the
houses at the garrison-, but to no pur
pose. At 11 p. m., after burning a
steamboat on the marine ways and
some houses, Forrest drew off; our
loss in the siege having been 14
killed and 46 wounded. Forrest re
ports his loss here and at Union City,
" as far as known," at 25 ; 19 but
names Col. A. P. Thompson and Lt.-
Col. Lanhum, killed, and Col. Cross
lin and Lt.-Col. Morton, "slightly
wounded." His loss was doubtless
far heavier than he admitted.
Buford, with a part of Pillow's
men, next summoned" Columbus,
held by Col. Lawrence, 34th- New
Jersey; who refused to surrender,
and could not be taken. Moving
thence to Paducah, Buford summon
ed that post; but, a surrender being
declined, he retired without assaulting.
Forrest, with the larger portion of
his command, had meantime fallen
back into Tennessee, where he sud
denly appeared18 before Fort Pil
low, some 40 miles above Memphis,
held by Maj. L. F. Booth, with a
garrison of 557 men, 262 of whom
were Blacks (6th U. S. heavy ar-

18 March 10. M March 16. 10 He afterward makes it 10 killed, 40 wounded.
16 March 24. " April 13. 18 April 12.

FORREST'S MASSACRE AT FORT PILLOW.

619

tillery) ; the other battalion was
White, under Maj. Bradford, 13th
Tennessee cavalry. Maj. Booth had
Bix guns.
The attack was made before sun
rise, and the fighting was sharp until
9 a. m., when Maj. Booth was killed.
Hitherto, our men had defended an
outer line of intrenchments; but
Major Bradford now drew the garri
son back into the fort, situated on
the high, steep, but partially timber
ed bluff of the Mississippi, with a
ravine on either hand, also partiaUy
wooded. The gunboat New Era,
Capt. Marshall, cooperated in the
defense ; but to little purpose, be
cause of the height ofthe bank, and
because the Eebels, if shelled up one
ravine, shifted their operations to the
other. The fighting went on till consider
ably after noon, without material ad
vantage to the enemy ; when the fire
on both sides slackened to allow the
guns to cool, while the New Era,
nearly out of cartridges, moved back
into the channel to clean her guns.
Forrest improved the opportunity to
send a summons, and soon after a
second, demanding a surrender with
in _0 minutes ; which Bradford de
clined. While these negotiations were in
progress, the Eebels were stealing
down both ravines and gaining shel
tered positions whence they could
rush upon the fort whenever the sig
nal should be given.
Bradford's answer having been re
ceived, their rush was instantaneous,
and in a moment the fort was in their
hands ; while the garrison, throwing
down their arms, fled down the steep

bank, trying to hide behind trees or
logs, or skulk in bushes, or find com
parative safety in the river ; while
the Eebels followed, butchering Black
and White, soldiers and non-combat
ants, men, women, and children, with
no more discrimination than human
ity. Disabled men were made to
stand up and be shot ; others were
burned with the tents wherein they
had been nailed to the floor. * This
carnival of murder continued till
dark, and was even renewed the next
morning. Major Bradford was not
murdered till they had taken him as a
prisoner several miles on their retreat
to Mississippi.
It was in vain that Forrest and his
superior, Lt.-Gen. S. D. Lee, under
took to palliate this infernal atrocity,
in defiance of their own record. Apart
from the general threats (hitherto
cited) of the Eebel authorities 1S that
they would refuse to treat Black sol
diers or their White officers as prison
ers of war, Forrest, not three weeks
before, had seen fit to summon Pa
ducah in these terms :
" H'dqu'bs Forrest's Cavalet Corps, )
Padtjoah, March 25, 1864. )
" To Col. Hicks, commamding Federal forces
at Paducah :
" Having a force amply sufficient to carry
your works and reduce the place, in order
to avoid the unnecessary effusion of blood,
I demand the surrender of the fort and
troops, with all the public stores. If you
surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners
of war ; but, if I have to storm your works,
you may expect no quarter.
" N. B. Foeeest, Maj.-Gen. Com'ding."
Both Booth and Bradford having
been killed, the precise terms in
which he summoned Fort Pillow do
not appear ;!° but Buford's demand
for the surrender of Columbus, the
next day after the massacre, was

"Seepages 106, 523-4.
m Forrest's official report speaks of his sum

monses -To. 1 and No. 2, as "hereto appended;"
but the report, as printed, does not give them.

620

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

couched in this unequivocal lan
guage :
" To the Commander of fhe United States
forces, Columbus, Ky. :
" Fully capable of taking Columbus and
its garrison by force, I desire to avoid shed
ding blood. I therefore demand the uncon
ditional surrender of the forces under your
command. Should you surrender, the ne
groes now in arms will be returned to their
masters. Should I be compelled to take the
place by force, no quarter will be shown
negro troops whatever ; White troops will be
treated as prisoners of war.
" I am, Sir, yours,
"A. Butoed, Brig.-Gen."
It is in vain, in the face of these
documents, that Forrest — giving his
loss at 20 killed and 60- wounded,
and claiming to have buried 228 of
our men on the evening ofthe assault,
beside " quite a mftnber" next day —
pretends that all these were killed in
fair fight, or " by a destructive fire
into the rear of the retreating and
panic-stricken garrison ;" and that his
superior, Lee, thus pettifogs the case
of the subordinate assassin :
" The garrison was summoned in the
usual manner, and its commanding officer
assumed the responsibility of refusing to
surrender, after having been informed by
Gen. Forrest of his ability to take the fort,
and of his fears as to what the result would
be iu case the demand was not complied
with. The assault was made under a heavy
fire, and with considerable loss to the at
tacking party. Your colors were ¦ never
lowered, and your garrison never surren
dered, but retreated under cover of a gun
boat, with arms in their hands and con
stantly using them. This was true particu
larly of your colored troops, who had been
firmly convinced by your teachings of the
certainty of slaughter in case of capture.
Even under -these circumstances, many of
your men — White and Black — were taken
prisoners. I respectfully refer you to his
tory for numerous cases of indiscriminate
slaughter after successful assault, even un
der less aggravated circumstances. It is
generally conceded, by all military prece
dent, that where the issue had been fairly
presented and the ability displayed, fearful
results are expected to follow a refusal to

surrender. The case under consideration is
almost an extreme one. You had a servile
race armed against their masters, and in a
country which had been desolated by almost
unprecedented outrages.
" I assert that our officers, with all the
circumstances against them, endeavored to
prevent the effusion of blood ; and, as an
evidence of this, I refer you to the fact that
both White and Colored prisoners were
taken, and are now in our hands."
All this can not weigh against the
solemn oaths of scores of unimpeached
witnesses, several of whom were them
selves shot and left for dead long after
the fighting had utterly ceased, when
they were known to have surrendered,
and several of whom testify that they
saw prisoners thus butchered next
day. And the evidence21 of Whites
and Blacks proves that the murder
ers a hundred times declared that
they shot the Blacks because they
were " niggers," and the Whites for
" fighting with niggers." If human
testimony ever did or can estabhsh
any thing, then this is proved a case
of deliberate, wholesale massacre of
prisoners of war after they had sur
rendered — many of them long after
— and for the naked reason that some
of them were Black, and others were
fighting in Black company.
Forrest retreated rapidly from the
scene of this achievement into Mis
sissippi, and was not effectively pur
sued; there being no adequate cav
alry force at hand for the purpose.

Gen. S. D. Sturgis, with 12,000
men, was sent after23 Forrest; ad
vancing from Memphis to Bolivar ;
but of course did not come near him :
in fact, there was no chance of over
taking him after he had passed Wolf
river and the forces guarding our
lines in that quarter.

21 Special Report of the Committee on the
Conduct of the War (House No. 65), 38th Con

gress, 1st session. The testimony is there given
in full M April 30.

STURGIS ROUTED AT GUNTOWN.

621

Some weeks later, a similar and in
goodpart the same force,but including
most of A. J. Smith's corps, now re
turned from the luckless Eed river
campaign, was sent from Memphis af
ter Forrest, with instructions to push
on till he was found and beaten, so as
to prevent the transfer of a large part
of his force to Jo. Johnston, then re
sisting Sherman in northern Georgia.
Maj.-Gen. S. D. Sturgis — in spite of
overwhelming proofs of his aggrava
ted unfitness — was again intrusted
with the command. His force con
sisted of 9,000 infantry and artillery,
with 3,000 cavalry led by Gen. Grier
son. Sturgis had advanced E. S. E.
nearly 100 miles, through West Ten
nessee and northern Mississippi, meet
ing little opposition till near Gim-
to-wn, on the Mobile railroad ; where
Grierson's troopers found23 Forrest's
cavalry, and pushed it vigorously
back on his infantry, which was
Btrongly posted on a semi-circular
ridge or crest, with a naked slope in
front, and a small creek at its foot,
which could with difficulty be forded
by infantry at. a few points only.
Word was sent back to the infantry,
now 5 or 6 miles behind ; and, in an
intensely hot day, they were pushed
forward at double-quick to the scene
of action, arriving thoroughly blown
and incapable of exertion. As if this
were not folly enough, the train of
more than 200 wagons came rushing
up with them, filling the road and
impeding the movement of the troops ;
being hurried over the bridge and
parked within sight and range of the
enemy's lines. And now, without rest
or proper formation, without an at
tempt to flank the enemy's strong
position, or exhibit any common sense

whatever, our exhausted infantry was
sent in to the support of the already
engaged cavalry ; and both, of course,
were speedily, thoroughly routed, and
in most disorderly flight, over a bad,
narrow road, with their train utterly
lost at once, and no supplies, no place
of refuge, no reenforcements, within
three days' march. The 1st cavalry
brigade, Col. Geo. E. Waring, had
been carved up to give an escort to
the commanding General, and for
various details, until not enough was
left to present an imposing front ; but
the 2d brigade, Col. E. F. Winslow,
was disposed as a rear-guard, and did
what it could to cover the retreat of
the hungry mob of fugitives on foot.
After crossing a stream at Eipley,24
a stand was made and a sharp fight
ensued, whereby the pursuit was
checked, but with a considerable loss
in prisoners on our side. Thencefor
ward, the pursuit was less eager ; but
it was continued nearly to Memphis:
no attempt being made by Sturgis to
reorganize his infantry or do any
thing effective to mitigate the se
verity of the disaster. Our loss,
mainly in captives, was variously
stated at 3,000 to 4,000; but it is
probable that the force that Sturgis
brought back to Memphis, counting
guns, wagons, and supplies (all lost),
was not half so efficient as that with
which he set out. Among our killed
were Col. T. W. Humphrey, 95th,
and Col. Geo. W. McKeag, 120th
Blinois ; the former for months act
ing Brigadier, and both excellent
officers. Another expedition, also number
ing 12,000, was promptly organized to
wipe out the recollection of this most
needless disgrace ; Gen. A. J. Smith

" June 10.

M June 11.

622

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

being placed in command. It was
fully equipped at Salisbury, 50 miles
east of Memphis, advancing26 thence,
skirmishing incessantly with Forrest's
cavalry, to Tupelo, where the Eebel
chief had concentrated his command,
estimated by our officers at 14,000r
and where he had decided to fight.
Thrice his infantry assaulted26 our
lines, and were each time repulsed
with heavy loss ; being finally driven
from the field, leaving on it as many
of his men killed or desperately
wounded as the whole number of
our killed, wounded, and missing.
Gen. Smith made no farther ad
vance ; but there was a sharp, inde
cisive cavalry skirmish next day at
Old Town creek; after which our
army was withdrawn to the vicinity
of Memphis ; whence Smith once
more advanced,2' with 10,000 men,
by Holly Springs to the Talla
hatchie ;28 but found no enemy to
fight, save a very small body of cav
alry. Forrest's main body had been
drawn off for service elsewhere.
Smith remained in this region seve
ral days, and then returned to Mem
phis ; whence he was soon called to
the aid of Eosecrans in Missouri, as
has already been stated.
But while Smith was vainly hunt
ing for Forrest in Mississippi, that
chieftain reported himself in person
at Memphis. Taking 3,000 of his
best-mounted men, Forrest flanked29
our army by night, and made a
forced march to Memphis, which he
charged into at dawn ; 30 making di
rectly for the Gayoso house and other
hotels, where his spies had assured
him that Gens. Hurlbut, Washburne,
and Buckland, were quartered. He
failed to clutch either of them, but

captured several staff and other offi
cers, with soldiers enough to make a
total of 300. Yet he failed to carry
Irving prison, where the Eebel cap
tives were in durance, made no at
tempt on the fort, and was driven
out or ran out of the city after a stay
of two hours, in which he had done
considerable damage and appropria
ted some plunder. He lost some 200
men here and at Lane's, outside ;
where a smart skirmish occurred on
his retreat, and Cols. Starr and Ken
drick on our side were wounded. On
the whole, the raid can hardly be
deemed a success, and can not have
realized the enemy's expectations, un
less they were very moderate. As
Hurlbut had at least 6,000 men in
or about the city, it was not practica
ble to do more ; and Forrest left not a
moment too soon. He made his way
back to Mississippi unharmed.

In East Tennessee, Gen. Long-
street's withdrawal into Virginia, af
ter his failure at Knoxville, was at
first closely pursued by our cavalry
under Shackleford, on whom he
turned3' at Bean's station, near Mor
ristown, and a spirited fight ensued,
with no decided result ; but Shackle
ford does not appear to have hurried
Longstreet thereafter.
Wheeler, with 1,200 mounted men,
struck 32 a supply train from Chatta
nooga to Knoxville, guarded by Col.
Siebert, near Charlestown, on the
Hiwassee, and had easily captured
it — Siebert having but 100 men —
when Col. Long, 4th Ohio caval
ry, came to his aid with 150 more
cavalry and Col. Laibold's 2d Missou
ri infantry; wherewith he quickly
retook tlje train, and hurled the

» July 1. » July 14. » Aug. 4. 3S Aug. 17. " Aug. 18. Sl> Aug. 21. 31 Dec. 14, 1863. 33 Dec. 28-

-MORGAN'S LAST RAID INTO KENTUCKY.

623

raiders back on the road to Georgia,
with a loss of 41 killed or wounded
and 123 prisoners. We lost but 16.
Gen, S. D. Sturgis, commanding
our advance east of Knoxville, had a
fight33 at Mossy creek, near Newmar
ket, with a Eebel force reported by
him at~ 6,000, led by Martin Arm
strong and John Morgan; wherein
the Eebels were worsted. Our loss
was 18 killed, 82 wounded. Sturgis
reports the enemy's at 250 to 400;
saying that he buried 22 of their
dead and took 44 prisoners.
Our advance eastward from Knox
ville, having occupied34 Dandridge,
was attacked there next day, and
more determinedly at 3 p. m. the day
after; holding the town till after
dark, when our men fell back to
Strawberry Plains.
Gen. Vance, with 500 mounted
men and 2 guns, crossed Smoky
mountain from North Carolina into
East Tennessee, making for Seviers-
ville ; near wliich place he, with 175
picked men, charged and captured a
train of 17 Union wagons, making 26
prisoners. Attempting to return,
however, he was surrounded36 on
Cosby creek by the 4th Hlinois cav
alry, Maj. Davidson, who routed and
captured him, with 100 of his men.
Sturgis had several further colli
sions36 with the Eebel cavalry under
Martin and Morgan, wherein he
claimed the advantage, with a superi
or loss inflicted on the enemy ; but, as
he began them near Dandridge and
Newmarket, and left off at Maryville
— some 30 miles farther back — it is not
safe to credit his estimates of the re
spective losses. He claims to have
taken 150 prisoners in a cavalry fight
near Seviersville ; another account

says he lost 200 when the Eebels cap
tured Strawberry Plains. It was
supposed on our side that this Eebel
advance presaged a fresh attempt on
Knoxville by Longstreet; but that
able General was doubtless masking
the movement of the bulk of his
forces into Virginia, whither he re
tired next month. Of course, that
ended the pressure on our lines east
of Knoxville. 
Morgan remained in East Tennes
see — hiding, as well as he could, the
paucity of his numbers — till the 1st
of June ; when he started on another
raid, via Pound gap, into Kentucky ;
evading Gen. Burbridge, who was in
that quarter with a superior force,
meditating an advance into south
western Virginia, in concert with the
advance of Crook and Averill up the
Kanawha. Morgan had but 2,500
followers, and these not so well
mounted as they would have been
two years earlier. Still, sending for
ward small parties to purvey as many
good horses as possible, he moved, so
swiftly as he might, by Paintville,
Hazel Green, Owingsville, Flemings-
burg, and Maysville, into and through
the richest part of the State ; cap
turing Mount Sterling, Paris, Cyn-
thiana, and Wiliiamstown, burning
trains, tearing up railroads, &c, al
most without resistance. The most
amazing feature of this raid was the
capture of Gen. Hobson, with 1,600
well-armed Unionists, by Col. Gilt-
ner, one of Morgan's lieutenants, who
had 300 only, by crowding him into
a bend of the Licking, and then
threatening him from the opposite
bank so that he was glad to surren
der. It is added that the Eebels
were nearly out of ammunition. It is

33 Dec. 29.

'Jan. 15, 1864.

36 Jan. 15.

1 Jan. 16-28.

624

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

to be hoped that they paroled their
prisoners not to serve again during
the War, unless on their side.
Gen. Burbridge, who had promptly
started on Morgan's track, had, by a
forced march of 90 miles, 'struck37
him heavily at Mount Sterling ; Mor
gan decamping at the close to con
tinue his career. Part of his force
entered Lexington at 2 next morn
ing, burned the railroad depot, and
left, heading for Frankfort and
Georgetown . Part of Cynthiana was
burned by another detachment. But,
near that place, Burbridge fell38 on
the Eebel raiders while at breakfast ;
killing and wounding 300 of them,
capturing 400, beside 1,000 horses,
and liberating some of Hobson's men.
Hobson and staff were recaptured
soon afterward. Our loss in this con
flict was but 150. Morgan fled to
south-western Virginia with the wreck
of his command, which was no longer
a force. He had only gathered a
small band, with which he occupied
Greenville, East Tennessee, when he
was surprised39 and killed by Gen.
Gillem ; who, being apprised of his
arrival, had made a forced march of
16 miles from Bull's gap to catch him.
Burbridge was detained for weeks
in Kentucky, reorganizing and re
mounting his overmarched force;
when he resumed the movement
which had been arrested by Mor
gan's raid, fie struck directly for
the salt-works at Saltville, near Ab
ingdon ; where he found himself con
fronted40 in strong force by Breckin
ridge, by whom he was beaten off, with
a loss of 350 men, including Col. Ma
son, llth Michigan, killed. He drew
off during the night after the con
flict, alleging a lack of ammunition ;

but, as he left his wounded to the
enemy, it would seem that the real
difficulty was a superfluity rather
than a scarcity at least of balls.
Gen. Gillem, still posted near Bull's
gap, finding a Eebel force, composed
of the brigades of Vaughan and
Palmer, in his rear at Morristown,
suddenly attacked41 and routed them,
with a loss on their side of 400
men and 4 guns. Two weeks later,
Breckinridge in like manner sur
prised Gillem by a night attack;41
routing him utterly, with the loss of
his battery, train, and most of his
small arms, which his men threw
away to expedite their flight. The
darkness was intense, and Burbridge
admits a loss of 220 men only. He
took refuge in Knoxville, leaving
Breckinridge transiently master of
the situation. 
Johnson's island, Lake Erie, near
Sandusky, Ohio, having been made a
prison-camp, where several thousands
of captive Eebels were usually con
fined, plots were laid by certain of
the Eebel agents and refugees in
Canada to liberate them. To this
end, the unarmed steamboat Philo
Parsons, on her way 4S from Detroit
to Sandusky, stopping at Maiden,
Canada, there took on board 20 pas
sengers, who, at 6 p. m., proclaiming
themselves Confederate soldiers, seiz
ed the boat, and with her captured
the Island Queen ; soon scuttling the
latter ; then standing in for Sandus
ky, where they expected, in concert
with secret allies in that city, to cap
ture the U. S. gunboat Michigan ; but
their signals were not answered, and
they soon put off; running the boat
on the Canada shore near Sandwich,
and escaping.

31 June 9. 3S June 12.

1 Sept. 3.

' Oct. 2. " Oct. 28. « Nov. 13. « Sept. 19.

SHERMAN PITTED AGAINST JOHNSTON.

625

XXVIII.
SHEEMAN'S ATLANTA CAMPAIGN.

Gen. William T. Sherman, at
the instance of Lt.-Gen. Grant, suc
ceeded him in command of the mili
tary division of the Mississippi, em
bracing the four great departments of
the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Ten
nessee, and the Arkansas. Eeceiv-
ing the order at Memphis,1 he re
paired at once to Nashville, where
he met the Lt.-General, and accom
panied him so far as Cincinnati —
Grant being then on his way to
Washington to direct thenceforth our
operations generally, but more espe
cially those in Virginia. The plans of
the superior were freely imparted to
and discussed with his most trusted
subordinate, ere they parted to enter
respectively on their memorable cam
paigns against Eichmond and Atlan
ta. Those campaigns were to be com
menced simultaneously on the Eapi
dan and the Tennessee; and either
movement to be pressed so vigorously,
persistently, that neither of the Eebel
main armies could spare troops to re
enforce the other. When Sherman
received2 his final instructions from
Grant, it was settled that the cam
paign should open with May; and
Gen. Sherman set forth3 accordingly
from the Winter encampments of

his forces around Chattanooga with
an army barely short of 100,000
men" of all arms, with 254 guns. It
was far superior in every thing but
cavalry to that which it confronted ;
and which, though estimated by Sher
man at 55,000 to 60,000, probably
numbered hardly more than 50,000.6
Johnston's army was organized in
three corps, led by Hardee, Hood,
and Polk. Sherman was from time to
time reenforced, so as nearly to keep
his original number good ; but, as he
advanced into Georgia, the necessity
of maintaining his communications
seriously reduced his force at the front.
The country between Chattanooga
and Atlanta is different from, but even
more difficult than, that which sepa
rates Washington from Eichmond.
Bugged mountains, deep, narrow ra
vines, thick, primitive woods, with
occasional villages and more frequent
clearings, or irregular patches of cul
tivation, all traversed by mainly nar
row, ill-made roads, succeed each
other for some 40 miles ; then inter
venes a ljke distance of comparatively
open, facile country, traversed by two
considerable rivers; then another rug
ged, difficult region of mountains and
passes. reaches nearly to the Chatta-

1 March 14, 1864. s April 30. 3 May 6.
* Army ofthe Cumberland — Gen. Thomas :
Infantry. Cavalry. Artillery. Total.
64,568 8,828 2,877 60,778
Army of ihe Tennessee — Gen. McPherson :
In&ntry. Cavalry. Artillery. Total.
22,487 • 624 1,404 24,465,
Army of the Ohio — Gen. Schofield :
Infantry. Cavalry. Artillery. Total.
11,188 1,697 679. 18,559
Grand total 
yol. n.— 40.

98,797 1

6 Johnston reported his infantry at 40,900.
Sherman estimated his cavalry (under Wheeler)
at 10,000. Estimating his artillery at 3,100, his
total force would be 54,000. It was occasion
ally swelled rather than strengthened hy drafts
of such Georgians not already in the service aa
passed for militia. The force which Sherman,
after passing the Oostenaula, could show at the
front, was probably about 10,000 to Johnston's
45,000.

626

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

hoochee; across which, 8 miles dis
tant, lies tbe new but important city of
Atlanta — a focus of several railroads,
having some 20,000 inhabitants, and
then the seat of extensive manufac
tories of Confederate supplies. It had
been well fortified, early in 1863.
Johnston's position at Dalton was
covered by an impassable mountain
known as Eocky-Face ridge, cloven
by the passage of Mill creek called
Buzzard's Boost gap. The railroad
traverses this pass, but our army
could not ; it being naturally very
strong and now thoroughly fortified.
Hence, while Thomas menaced6 and
feebly assailed it in front, McPher
son flanked the enemy's left, moving
down by Ship's gap, Villanow, and
Snake creek gap, to seize either
Eesaca or some other point well
in its rear, while Schofield should
press on Johnston's right. In execu
ting these orders, Thomas was com
pelled to bear more heavily on the
Eebel front than was intended: New
ton's division of Howard's (4th) corps,
and Geary's of Hooker's (20th) corps,
assaulting in earnest and even car
rying portions of the ridge ; whence
they were soon repelled with loss.
Meantime, McPherson had reached
the front of Eesaca, scarcely resist
ed ; but he could not carry it, and
dared not remain between it and
Johnston's main body; so he fell
back to a strong position in Snake
creek gap, which he could hold for
some hours against all gainsayers.
Sherman now, leaving Howard's
corps and some cavalry to threaten
Dalton in front, moved" the rest of
his forces rapidly in the track of
Schofield, and through Snake creek
gap; which compelled Johnston to

evacuate his stronghold and fall back
rapidly to Eesaca ; advancing in force
against which, Kilpatrick, fighting
the enemy's cavalry, was disabled by
a shot. Sherman had calculated ou
seriously damaging Johnston when
he thus retreated, but was unable to "
reach him — Johnston having the only
direct, good road, while our flanking
advance was made with great diffi
culty. Howard entered Dalton on
the heels of the enemy, and pressed
him sharply down to Eesaca.
Sherman forthwith set on foot a
new flanking movement by his right
to turn Johnston out of Eesaca; wliich
Johnston countered by an attack on
Hooker and Schofield, still in his
front and on his left ; but he was ra
ther worsted in the bloody fight6 thus
brought on : Hooker driving the Eeb
els from several hills, taking 4 guns
and many prisoners. The Eebels re
treated across the Oostenaula during
the night, and our army entered Ee
saca in triumph next morning.
McPherson crossed on our right
at Lay's ferry next day ; Gen. Thom
as moving directly through Eesaca,
on the heels of Hardee, who covered
the Eebel retreat ; while Schofield
advanced on our left, over a rough
region, by such apologies for roads as
he could find or make. Jeff. C. Da
vis's division of Thomas's army kept
down the north-west bank of the Oos
tenaula to Eome, where he took 8 or
10 great guns, and destroyed mills
and founderies of great importance to
the enemy ; leaving here a garrison.
Johnston made a momentary stand
against our central advance in a
strong position covering Adairsville ;
but, on the approach of our main
body, he again retreated, with only

' May 7.

May 10-11.

1 May 15.

ROUTE OF SHERMAN'S ADYANCE TO ATLANTA.

627

N N

Cv.LOV_J<_Y

eiLERMAJf'S ATLAKTA CAMPAIGN*

628

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

sharp skirmishing between our van
and his rear-guard; until, having
passed through Kingston, he was
again found2 holding a strong and
fortified position about Cassville, ap
parently intent on a decisive battle.
Upon being pressed, however, he re
treated, under cover of night, across
the Etowah; burning the railroad
and other bridges, and taking a still
stronger position covering the Alla
toona pass, where the country again
becomes mountainous, rugged, and
difficult, and where he doubtless had
determined to fight in earnest.
Sherman, after halting two days to
rest and reconnoiter, decided to flank
him out of this by moving well to the
right, concentrating his army on Dal
las ; to which point Jeff. C. Davis, at
Borne, had already been directed,
and on which Thomas now advanced;
McPherson moving still farther to
the right, by Van Wert, and swing
ing in on Thomas's right ; while Scho
field, moving on the east, should aim
to come in on Thomas's left. John
ston promptly divined this movement,
and prepared to baffle it.
Thomas, advancing from Burnt
Hickory to Dallas, was confronted10
at Pumpkinvine creek by Eebel cav
alry, whom he rapidly pushed across,
saving the burning bridge ; but, as
Hooker's corps, in the van, pushed
on, his foremost division (Geary's)
found the enemy in line of battle;
and a severe conflict ensued, without
decisive result. Hooker finally con
centrated his command four miles
north of Dallas, and struck hard, by
Sherman's order, at Stewart's posi
tion covering New Hope church;
whence, though he- gained some
ground, he was unable to drive the

well sheltered foe. Next morning,1
the Eebel intrenched lines stretched
unbrokenly from Dallas to Marietta,
over a most difficult region, wherein
days were necessarily spent by Sher
man, amid continual skirmishing and
fighting, in making careful approach
es. He had just ordered Schofield
to advance our left and flank the en
emy's right, when Johnston struck
heavily at our right at Dallas, held
by McPherson. But this attack
gave our men the advantage of
breastworks, and was repulsed with
loss ; as one made by Howard's corps
on Cleburne, farther toward the cen
ter, was repulsed by the enemy. Our
army was now moved11 to the left
along the Bebel front, enveloping the
Allatoona pass, and compelhng the*
enemy to evacuate it ; as he soon af
ter did his intrenchments covering
New Hope church, and Ackworth
also. Allatoona pass was promptly
garrisoned by Sherman, and made a
secondary base of supplies : the rail
road bridge across the Etowah being-
repaired, and our trains down the
road run to this point.
Gen. Frank Blair here came up,"
with two divisions of the 17th corps,
and Col. Long's brigade of cavalry;
raising Sherman's effective force
nearly to that with which he left
Chattanooga ; and he moved forward
next day to Big Shanty.
Kenesaw mountain, with its almost
equally formidable neighbors, Pine
and Lost mountains, now loomed be
fore him, with Bebel lines two miles
long covering the points not impreg
nable by nature — lines which the en
emy were actively strengthening
each hour. Here Sherman halted
perforce, and studied and planned

• May 19.

1 May 25.

11 June 1.

u June 8.

OUR REPULSE AT KENESAW MOUNTAIN.

629

and manceuvered; finally attempting
to force, by sharp fighting, a way be
tween Kenesaw and Pine mountains.
In the desultory conflict that ensued,
Lt.-Gen. Polk, Protestant Episcopal
Bishop of Louisiana, was instantly
killed 1S by a cannon-ball. He was en
gaged, with Johnston and Hardee, in
making observations, when they were
observed on our side, and two shots
fired at them — it was said by Thom
as's order — the first . of- which scat
tered the party to places of safety;
but Polk soon tired of his, and, com
ing out to watch the firing, was
struck in the side by a three-inch
shot, which tore him to pieces. He
neither spoke nor breathed thereaf-
_ ter. '
Pushing forward wherever the
rugged nature of the ground would
permit, with frequent assaults and
constant battering and picket-firing,
Sherman compelled the enemy to
abandon Pine mountain," and then
Lost mountain,16 with the long line
of strong breastworks connecting the
latter with Kenesaw. Meantime,
rain fell almost incessantly ; the nar
row mountain roads were rocky gul
lies; and the Eebel batteries on
Kenesaw belched iron constantly at
our lines — the balls generally passing
harmlessly over the heads of our men,
whom the enemy's guns could not be
depressed sufficiently to reach.
It being evident that we were
steadily though slowly gaining
ground, especially on our right, a
sally and attack were made 18 by the
enemy, led by Hood, with intent to
interpose between Thomas's right
and Schofield's left, near|what was
known as ' the Kulp house.' The
blow fell on Williams's division of

Hooker's corps, and Hascall's of
Schofield's army, but utterly failed —
the enemy being repulsed from our
lines with heavy loss, including some
prisoners. Sherman now determined to as
sault in turn, and did 17 so, after care
ful preparation, at two points, south
of Kenesaw, and in front of Gens.
Thomas and McPherson respectively;'
but the enemy's position was found,
at fearful cost, absolutely impregna
ble — each attack being signally re
pulsed, with an aggregate loss of
3,000, including Gens. Harker and
Dan. McCook, killed, and Col. Eice,
with other valuable officers, badly
wounded. The Eebels, thoroughly
sheltered by their works, reported
their loss at 442.
Gen. Sherman, in his report, de
fends this assault as follows :
" Upon studying the ground, I had no al
ternative but to assault or turn the enemy's
position. Either course had its difficulties
and dangers. And I perceived that the ene
my and our own officers had settled down
into a conviction that I would not assault
fortified lines. All looked to me to out
flank. An army, to be efficient, must not
settle down to one single mode of offense,
but must be prepared to execute any plan
that promises success. I wished, therefore,
for the moral effect, to make a successful
assault on the enemy behind his breast
works. * * * Failure as it was, and for
which I assume the entire responsibility, I
yet claim that it produced good fruits; as it
demonstrated to Gen. Johnston that I would
assault, and that boldly ; and we also gained
and held ground so close to the enemy's
parapets. that he could not show a head
above them."
If these be sound reasons, they at
least as fully justify Grant's order to
assault at Cold Harbor : Kenesaw
being a palpable Gibraltar, which
Cold Harbor is not.
Sherman did not choose to rest on
this bloody repulse ; but, waiting only

13 June 14.

14 June 15.

15 June 17.

18 June 22.

' June 27.

630

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

to bury the dead and care for the
wounded, he again threw 18 forward
his right : McPherson, in front of
Kenesaw, being relieved by Garrard's
cavalry, and ordered to move rapidly
by the right down to the Chattahoo
chee, threatening to cross with the
railroad at or near Turner's ferry.
The success of this manceuver was in
stantaneous. Though its execution
began at nightfall, Kenesaw was
forthwith evacuated by Johnston;
our skirmishers stood on the summit
at dawn ; and — our whole army press
ing forward — General Sherman rode
into Marietta on the heels of the
Eebel rear-guard at 8£ a. m.
Sherman was thus eager in the
pursuit, expecting to catch Johnston
crossing the Chattahoochee and de
stroy half his army; but the wary
Confederate had ere this strongly in
trenched a position on this side, cov
ering the passage of the river, and
stood here awaiting — in fact, inviting
— an assault. Sherman paused, and
cautiously approached ; sending for
ward at length " a strong skirmish-
line, which carried the enemy's outer
line of rifle-pits, taking some prison
ers. Next morning, he was mainly
over the river ; and our army ad
vanced in triumph to its bank at
several points, with Atlanta just at
hand. But the Chattahoochee is here a
large stream ; rapid as well as deep,
and barely ford able at one or two
points. The railroad and other
bridges, of course, were covered by
the enemy's strong work on our side,
which they still held. But Gen.
Schofield was now moved rapidly
from our extreme right to our left,
and there pushed across, above Pow

er's ferry, surprising the guard, cap
turing a gun, and soon fortifying
himself strongly on high ground,
commanding good roads, tending
east, while he had laid a pontoon
and a trestle bridge across the river.
Howard soon had a similar bridge
and position two miles below ; and
there was a general movement of our
forces from right to left, which con
strained Johnston to abandon his fort
or bridge-head, burn his bridges and
bring his last man across the Chatta
hoochee.20 His new line, covering
Atlanta, had the river on its left
front and Peach-tree creek on its
right. Sherman now gave his men a little
much needed rest ; and, before active
operations recommenced, Johnston
had been superseded in chief com
mand by Gen. J. B. Hood, of Texas.
Johnston's campaign, it appeared,
had not answered the expectations of
his superiors at Eichmond. He had
not demolished Sherman, with an
army of httle more than half the nu
merical strength of ours, and in no
thing superior thereto. He had not
even been able to prevent Sherman's
persistent, determined, and generally
skillful advance. But he had made
the most of the rare advantages to
the defensive afforded by the chaotic
region across which he had been stea
dily driven, and had missed no good
opportunity to strike a damaging
bl ow. Pollard says he had lost about
10,000 in killed and wounded, and
4,700 from " all other causes "—that
is, about one-fourth of his entire ar
my—which, considering that he had
fought no great battle, and could not
afford to fight one, argues tolerably
sharp work for a two months' purely

'"July 2.

"July 4.

"July 10.

HOOB'S FIRST ATTACK REPULSED.

631

defensive campaign. Nevertheless,
he was set aside, and a believer in
more aggressive, less cautious strate
gy appointed in his stead. Johnston
turned over to Hood an effective
force of 41,000 infantry and artillery,
and 10,000 cavalry21— in all, 51,000
— which is nearly as many as he had
at Dalton. Nothing short of brilliant
and successful generalship in his suc
cessor could justify his displacement.
Gen. Eousseau, with 2,000 caval
ry, now joined as our army ; having
come through, by a long circuit, in
twelve days from Decatur, Ala., de
feating the Eebel Gen. Clanton by
the way ; passing through Talladega
and destroying the railroad thence 25
miles to Opelika, doing some harm
to the branch or cross road, with a
loss of but 30 men.
Gen. Sherman resumed" active
operations by pushing Thomas over
the Chattahoochee close on Scho
field's right : the latter advancing, and
with McPherson, now on our ex
treme left, reaching forward to strike
the Augusta railroad east of Decatur :
ihe whole army thus making a right-
wheel movement, closing in upon At
lanta from the north-east. Obeying
these orders, McPherson had broken
up the railroad for some miles, while
Schofield, on his right, had reached
Decatur, and Thomas had crossed"
Peach-tree creek at several points —
all skfrmishing heavily; when, as
Thomas was moving two of Howard's
divisions to the left to close on Scho
field, he was vehemently assailed " in
force by Hood, who struck suddenly
and heavily Newton's division of
Howard's corps, Hooker's corps, and
Johnson's division of Palmer's; by

" So says Pollard — doubtless quoting from
Johnston's official report.

whom he was repulsed, after a gal
lant struggle ; wherein our total loss
— mainly in Howard's corps — was
1,500 ; while the enemy left on the
field 500 dead, 1,000 severely wound
ed, and many prisoners. Sherman
estimates their total loss at not less
than 5,000. Among their killed were
Brig.-Gen. Geo. M. Stevens, of Md.,
W. S. Feathertson, of Miss., L. Armis
tead, of Ga., and John J. Pettus, of
Miss. The next day was spent by Sher
man in reconnoitering and feeling of
the enemy's intrenched position along
the heights south of Peach-tree creek ;
which the light of the ensuing mom "
showed to be without defenders. It
was at once concluded that Atlanta
was to be quietly evacuated ; and our
men swept eagerly forward to within
two miles of that city, where they
were arrested by a far stronger line
of works, carefully constructed in
1863, consisting of redoubts, connect
ed by curtains, with rifle-trenches,
abatis, &c. In the skirmishing ofthe
21st, Brig.-Gen. Lucien Greathouse,
late Col. 48th Illinois, was killed.
McPherson, advancing directly from
Decatur, with Logan's (15th) corps
in the center, Frank Blair's (17th) on
its left, and Dodge's (16th) on its
right, was now close to these inner
defenses ; Blair had carried, the night
before, by hard fighting, a high hill
which gave him a full view of the
heart of the city, on which he was
preparing to place his batteries.
Dodge, who, as the semicircle de
scribed by om- army was narrowed
by our advance, had been thrown in
vthe rear of Logan, was moving across
by a cart-track to come in on Blair's
a July 22. ™ July 16. " July 19.
» July 20, 4 pm. " July 23,

632

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

left ; when, about noon, the sound of
guns, on that flank and on our rear
toward Decatur, apprised Sherman
that mischief was afloat. Hood had
determined, while holding the bulk
of our army with a small part of his.
by reason of the strength oi" his de
fenses, to fall by a long flank night-
march, with his main body, led by
Hardee, on our left and rear, rolling
up and pulverizing each division be
fore it could be supported by another.
And Hardee had already struck his
first most unexpected blow at Giles
A_ Smith's division of Blair's corps;
while Gen. McPherson, riding in
fancied security through a wood in
the rear of that division, had been
shot dead, just as he had given an or
der to hurry up Wangelin's brigade
of Logan's corps to fill a gap between
Blair's and Dodge's corps, into which
the charging Eebels were pouring
like a torrent. Here Murray's batte
ry (6 guns) was surprised and taken
— the men generally escaping to the
woods ; and two more guns were lost
by Smith, as one wing of his division
was forced back by the impetuous
rush ofthe enemy.
Simultaneously with Hardee's flank
attack, Stewart's corps was to have
Btruck Blair in front; but Stewart
was not up to time. Hardee swept
along the slope of the hill on which
Blair was preparing to plant his bat
teries, making prisoners of his work
ing party. The Eebel charge bore
heavily ou Giles A. Smith's division
of Blair's corps, which was compelled
gradually to give ground and form a
new line connecting with Leggett s
division, which held the crest of the
bill; and here for hours the battle
raged fiercely : our men having the
advantage in position, and inflicting

heavy loss on the enemy. At 4 p. n.,
the Bebels virtuaHy desisted here,
having been unable to drive Blair;
whUe Dodge, striking their right,
had handled it severely, capturing
many prisoners.
Meantime, Wheeler's cavalry (ours
on this wing, under Garrard, being
absent at Covington, breaking up a
railroad) had raided, unopposed, to
Decatur, where were McPherson's
wagons, and attempted to capture
them : but CoL Sprague, in command
there, covered them skillfully and
held firmly ; sending them off, so fast
as he could, to the rear of our center,
and losing but three, whereof the
teamsters had fled with the mules.
After a brief lull, the enemy
charged again up the Decatur road ;
catching a regiment thrown forward
upon it unsupported, and taking two
more guns ; pnshing through the in
terval between Wood's and Harrow's
divisions of the loth corps, posted on
either side of the railroad, and hurl
ing back Lightburn's brigade in some
disorder. But Sherman was close at
hand, and, perceiving the importance
of checking this advance, he ordered
several of Schofield's batteries to stop
it by an incessant fire of sheB ; Logan
(now commanding McPherson's ar
my) was directed to make the 15th
corps regain at any cost its lost
ground; while Wood, supported by
Schofield, was to go forward with his
division and recover the captured
batteries. These orders were prompt
ly and thoroughly executed ; all our
guns being retaken but two, which
had been hurried off the field ; and
the day closed with our army tri
umphant and the enemy recoiling to
his defenses.
In this stubborn contest, our total

STONEMAN'S DISASTROUS RAID TO MACON.

633

loss was 3,722, of whom perhaps 1,000
were prisoners. Gen. Logan counted
on the battle-field 2,200 Eebel dead,
and estimates that there were 1,000
more not within our lines or who
otherwise escaped observation. We
took 1,000 prisoners, beside the many
wounded who fell into our hands;
and Gen. Sherman estimates that
Hood's total loss this day can not
have been fewer than 8,000. Among
his killed was Maj.-Gen. W. H. T.
Walker, of Georgia. Gen. Garrard,
with nis cavalry, returned from Co
vington next day ; having broken
up the railroad, destroyed a train of
cars, with much other property, and
bringing in 200 prisoners, with a to
tal loss of two men.
Hood was not inclined to force the
fighting directly thereafter ; and Sher
man, while quietly preparing for a
new movement by the right, dis
patched his now augmented cavalry
on a raid against the railroads in
Hood's rear. Stoneman, with his
own and Garrard's divisions, 5,000
strong, was to move by the left
around Atlanta to McDonough ;
while A. D. McCook, with his own
and Bousseau's (now Harrison's)
freshly arrived divisions, numbering
4,000, was to move by the right to
Fayetteville, thence coming up the
road and joining Stoneman at a des
ignated point near Lovejoy's. Such
cooperative movements rarely suc
ceed, and almost never in the hands
of second and third-rate leaders.
McCook moved down the west
bank of the Chattahoochee to Eiver-
town, crossed on a pontoon, and tore
up the West Point railroad near Pal
metto station ; thence pushing on to
Fayetteville, where he captured and
burnt 500 wagons belonging to Hood's

army; taking 250 prisoners, killing
800 mules, and bringing away oth
ers ; thence striking, at Lovejoy's, at
the time appointed, the Macon rail
road, and tearing it up ; but meeting
no Stoneman, and getting no news of
him. He thence pushed south-west
to Newnan, on the West Point road ;
where he was confronted by infantry
coming from. Mississippi to aid in the
defense of Atlanta, while the Bebel
cavalry were hard on his heels : so
he was forced to fight against odds,
compelled to drop his prisoners, and
make his way out as he could, with
a loss of 500 men, including Col.
Harrison, captured. He reached Ma
rietta without further loss.
Stoneman's luck — that is, his man
agement — was far worse. He failed
to meet McCook as directed, and di
vided the force he had ; sending Gen.
Garrard to Flat Eock to. cover his
own movement to McDonough. Gar
rard, after lingering some days, and
skirmishing heavily with Wheeler's
cavalry, hearing nothing from Stone
man, made his way back, with little
loss, to our left.
Stoneman started with a magnifi-.
cent project, to which he had, at the
last moment, obtained Sherman's as
sent. He purposed to sweep down
the road to Macon, capture that city,
pushing thence by the right to An
derson ville, where many thousands of
of our captured soldiers were suffer
ing inconceivable privations, liberate
and, so far as possible, arm them, and
then move with them to our lines in
such direction as should seem advisa
ble. The conception was a bold yet
not necessarily a bad one ; but it
needed a Sheridan instead of a Stone
man to execute it. Sherman's assent
to it was based on his orders that the

634

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

two bodies of horse should be concen
trated at Lovejoy's, and Wheeler de
feated or chased off by their superior
force ; but, this failing, Wheeler was
too strong for either division, and the
Bcheme became chimerical.
Stoneman, with his segment of the
raiding force, struck out eastward to
Covington ; thence moving down the
east side of the Ocmulgee, breaking
up roads and burning bridges, with
out even attempting to keep his tryst
with McCook at Lovejoy's. When
at length he appeared before Macon,
he had not more than 3,000 men ;
and, being confronted with spirit by
a hastily collected Eebel force under
Iverson, he was unable even to cross
the river; but, abandoning all idea
of reaching Andersonville, turned on
his trail, pursued by Iverson. Now
he consented to a still further disper
sion of his force — the three brigades
composing it attempting to escape
separately. That led by Col. Adams
reached Sherman nearly unharmed ;
that under Col. Capron was surprised
by the way, charged and dispersed :
those who escaped generally strag
gling into camp before Atlanta on
foot and disarmed ; while that with
which Stoneman attempted to main
tain some show of resistance was soon
surrounded by Iverson, and Stone
man induced, by an imposing pre
tense of superior force; to surrender
at discretion — he having 1,000 men
left, and Iverson at hand only some
500. Stoneman, it was reported,
cried when he discovered how he
had been duped ; but his sorrow sub
served no good purpose. He had, by
incapacity, imbecility, and disobedi
ence of orders, squandered a full
third of Sherman's cavalry.

Gen. Howard succeeded," by the
President's order, to the command of
the Army of the Tennessee ; where
upon, Gen. Hooker, considering him
self disparaged, was relieved, at his
own request, from the command of
his corps, which was given to Gen.
Slocum. Gen. Palmer was soon re
lieved from the command of the 14th
corps by Gen. Jeff. C. Davis. Gen..
D. S. Stanley succeeded Gen. How
ard as the head of the 4th corps.
The Army of the Tennessee was
now shifted28 from our extreme left
to our extreme right ; moving behind
the rest of the army from the Decatur
road on the east to Proctor's creek on
the south-west ; initiating a general
movement to flank Hood out of At
lanta by cutting the railroads in his
rear. The movement was of course
detected by Hood ; yet it had been
substantially completed, and our men
were hastily covering their new front
with a rude breastwork of logs and
rails, when Hood struck out " as hea
vily from his left as he had done the
week before from his right. Evi
dently expecting to catch Howard in
disorder, or at least unprepared, he
poured out his masses from the west
side of Atlanta, and charged im
petuously on our new right, held by
Logan's (15th) corps, which had been
formed on the crest of a wooded
ridge, with open fields sloping from
its front, its right refused, and some
thing like a rail breastwork in its
front; Howard standing behind it,
ready to hurry Blair's and Dodge's
corps to its support; and Sherman
himself on hand, eager and alert for
the encounter. After a brief cannon
ade, Hood's infantry, under Hardee
and Lee, was thrown forward against

" July 27

88 July 26-7.

' July 28.

SHERMAN FLANKS ATLANTA BY THE RIGHT.

635

Howard's right fiank, which had been
fully prepared for their reception,
and which, as they approached,
swept them down by. a murderous
fire. Again and again were they re
formed and pushed up by their offi
cers, only to be again decimated and
broken ; a few of them pressing up to
our rail-pile parapet, only to be there
shot down or hauled over as* prisoners.
When they could no more be driven
to this foolish slaughter, their officers,
at 3 p. m., gave it up and recoiled ;
leaving on the ground 642 dead,
who were counted by our regular bu
rial-parties ; and these were not all.
Sherman, whose total loss was but
600, estimates Hood's at 5,000. Hood
admits but 1,500.30
Hood's appetite for attacks in force
seems to have been satisfied by this

time ; since he made no more, though
our long-range guns now reached in
to and shelled Atlanta from several
points, kindling fires that involved
heavy losses. Meantime, Sherman
was steadily extending his right;
bringing down Schofield's31 army,
and then Palmer's corps; until his
intrenched line had been pushed
nearly to East Point, commanding
the railroads whereby Atlanta must
be fed. Hood barely watched these
operations, and extended his out
works accordingly. Yet a vigorous
defensive was so little suited to his
impatient, heady disposition that, hav
ing squandered half his infantry in
rash assaults and charges, he now dis
patched Wheeler with his cavalry to
our rear, to burn bridges, capture
supplies, and break up the railroad
whereon Sherman must depend for
subsistence. Sherman had already82

resolved on a bold stroke for Atlanta ;
but, when he heard that Wheeler,
having passed our . left, was in his
rear, had captured 900 beeves, broken
the railroad near Calhoun, and was
bent on havoc generally, he joyfully
ordered Kilpatrick, now command
ing our 5,000 remaining cavalry, to
move 33 from Sandtown, in the rear of
our right, down to Fair burn, ..break
up the West Point railroad thorough
ly ; then push across to the Macon
road and destroy that ; fighting any
cavalry that might get in his way,
but avoiding a serious conflict with
infantry. Kilpatrick obeyed ; striking the
Macon road at Jonesboro', routing a
small cavalry force under Boss, and
doing some work on the railroad;
when a brigade of Eebel infantry
and a small force of cavalry appeared
from below, and compelled him to
resume his travels. Drawing off to
the east, he made a circuit, and
again struck the railroad near Love
joy's; but the enemy were already
here ; so, charging through their cav
alry, taking 70 .prisoners and a 4-gun
battery, which he destroyed, he made
for camp by a- north-east circuit;
reaching Decatur on the 22d.
Sherman did not hesitate. He
made the proper discount on Kilpat
rick's estimate of the damage he had
done to the railroads ; but he was con
fident that, though not sufficient to
interrupt transportation for ten days,
as Kilpatrick judged, it was worth
something. He ordered the siege to
be abandoned ; the sick and wound
ed, surplus wagons, &c, to be sent
back to his intrenched position on the
Chattahoochee, which the 20th corps,

kets, with 160 prisoners, beside 73 wounded.
M Aug. 1. " Aug. 16. 3a Aug. 18.

*° Logan estimates the Rebel lossat from 6,000
to 7,000. He says he took 1,500 to 2,000 inus-

636

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

now Gen. Slocum's, was left to cover,
while the rest of the army should
move by the right southward; the
4th corps, on our extreme left,
marching3* to the rear of our right,
while Howard, drawing back, should
move 36 to Sandtown, and then to the
West Point railroad above Fairburn ;
Thomas coming into position just
above him near Eed Oak; while
Schofield closed in on Thomas's left,
barely clear of the Eebel defenses
near East Point. These movements
being quietly executed without re
sistance or loss, our whole army, save
the 20th corps, was behind Atlanta,
busily and thoroughly destroying the
West Point railroad, before Hood
knew what Sherman was doing ; and
the next day it was thrown forward3'
to the Macon road ; Schofield moving
cautiously, because of his proxim
ity to Atlanta, and the danger of an
other of Hood's irruptions, to Eough-
and-Beady; Thomas to a point des
ignated as Couch's ; while How
ard, encountering more resistance,
halted at dark : having crossed Flint
river, barely half a mile from Jones-
borough. Hood had, because of Kilpatrick's
recent raid, and to guard his commu
nications, divided his army ; sending
half, under Hardee, to Jonesborough ;
while he remained with the residue
in Atlanta : hence his failure to fall
on Schofield during our swinging
flank movement ; hence the formida
ble resistance encountered by How
ard on our right, where none was
expected. The light of day37 revealed to
Howard— who had been fighting the
day before, but constantly gaining
ground — the immediate presence of

a formidable foe. Deploying the
15th corps in the center, with the
16th and 17th on either flank, he
covered his front with the habitual
breastwork, and stood in quiet ex
pectation. Hardee drew out his
whole force, embracing Lee's corps
beside his own, and attacked with
great vigor, calculating that Howard
might be. overwhelmed before he
could be reenforced; but Howard's
position was good; his front well
covered, and his soldiers as cool as
though bullet-proof; and, after two
hours of carnage, the enemy recoiled,
leaving 400 dead on the ground, and
300 desperately wounded in Jones
boro' when he retreated. Sherman
places Hardee's entire loss in this
conflict at 2,500; while ours was
hardly 500.
Sherman was with Thomas at
Couch's, intent on road-breaking,
when the sound of guns on the right
drew his attention to that quarter,
and induced him to impel Thomas
and Schofield in that direction, leav
ing Garrard's cavalry to watch our
rear toward Atlanta, while Kilpatrick
should hasten down the west bank
of the Flint and strike the railroad
below Jonesborough. Davis's corps,
being on Thomas's right, soon closed
on to Howard, relieving Blair's (15th)
corps, which was at once drawn out
and thrown to Howard's right, so as
to connect with Kilpatrick's troopers.
All being at length ready, Davis's
corps, at 4 p. m., charged the enemy's
lines, covering Jonesboro', carrying
them at once, capturing Gen. Govan
with most of his brigade and two
4-gun batteries. Orders were re
peatedly sent to hurry up Stanley and
Schofield ; but the ground was diffi-

" Aug. 25-6.

35 Aug. 26-7.

s° Aug. 29.

' Aug. 31.

HOOD ABANDONS ATLANTA TO SHERMAN.

637

cult and the roads bad, so that they
were not up in season to charge that
night ; and next morning SB Hardee
was gone, with all that could and
would follow him.
Before that morning dawned, omi
nous sounds, first heavy, then lighter,
from the north, indicated to Sherman
that something momentous was oc
curring in Atlanta, 20 miles distant.
They might have proceeded from an
attack on that stronghold by Slocum
— which was most unlikely — :but the
more probable supposition pointed
to the truth, that Hood, completely
outgeneraled and at his wit's end, was
blowing up his magazines, burning
his stores, and escaping with the lit
tle he could, deprived of railroads,
carry off in his flight. But this, if
so, could wait ; so Sherman ordered
a vigorous pursuit in force of Har
dee's beaten column.
Hardee was found well intrenched,
near Lovejoy's, withhis flanks covered
by Walnut creek and Flint river —
a strong position, which was thor
oughly reconnoitered, but Sherman
was in no hurry to attack it. Soon,
flying rumors, then more trust-wor
thy accounts, imported that Hood
had blown up whatever he could in
Atlanta and decamped: Stewart's
corps retreating on McDonough,
while the militia were marched off
eastward to Covington. The news
was fully confirmed on the 4th by a
courier from Slocum, who had en
tered the city unopposed on the
morning after Hood's withdrawal.
Sherman thereupon returned39 to
Atlanta, and, encamping his army
on all sides, allowed it that season of
rest which, under his able leadership,
it had so nobly earned.
* Sept. l.

Atlanta had been cheaply won;
for, not only was the position one of
great importance, but the loss of
munitions, guns, locomotives, cars,
manufacturing machinery, &c, was
very great, and such as the Confed
eracy could no longer afford. Vet,
when Sherman had succeeded, with
out loss, in placing at least 70,000
veterans between it and the better
part of Hood's army, it seems singu
lar that his prisoners were so few.
Had he known how Hood's army
was divided, he ought, it would seem,
to have destroyed or captured at least
half of it. 
General Sherman, having estab
lished his headquarters in Atlanta,
ordered the removal of its remaining
inhabitants — they going South or
coming North, as each should prefer.
In order to effect this removal with
the least possible hardship, a truce
for ten days was proposed by Sher
man and acceded to by Hood ; who
took occasion to " protest, in the
name of. God and humanity," against
this " unprecedented measure," which,
he asserts, "transcends, in studied
and ingenious cruelty, all acts ever
brought to my attention in the dark
history of war."
Let us consider :
Every one who could shoulder a
musket or drive a team had been
conscripted into and marched off
with the Eebel army. All the facto
ries, founderies, machine-shops, &c,
in which Atlanta had hitherto abound
ed, and which had done the Confede
racy good service, had been destroyed
by Hood on leaving, or so dismantled
as to be unserviceable. No food gf
consequence had been left by Hood in
Atlanta ; while our single railroad
*» Sept. 5-7.

638

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

(which Hood had just broken, and
was purposing more thoroughly to
destroy) was fully taxed with trans
porting the supplies needed by our
army; and not a pound of food
would be sent in by the Confederates
from the adjacent country, whoever
might perish. To feed the remain
ing inhabitants of Atlanta in that
city could not cost our Government
less than $1,000,000 per quarter,
supposing it were at all practicable ;
while it must greatly cripple Sher
man and fetter his future operations,
even supposing it could be done at
all. To let them stay and starve
would have excited still louder and
more frenzied denunciations. The
order for the removal of the people
was therefore at once wise, provi
dent, and humane ; yet Mayor J. M.
Calhoun and his council appealed to
Sherman in deprecation of " the woe,
the horror, the suffering" involved
in the execution of his order, as if it
had been impelled by mere caprice
or wanton cruelty, instead of being
the stern dictate of an obvious, im
perative necessity. And this was
but one of many instances Wherein
the Bebels chilled the admiration
which the desperate gallantry of their
fighting was calculated to excite, by
screechy objurgations, and theatrical
appeals for sympathy with their dis
tresses, which they, who had so haugh
tily and so needlessly rushed into
war, should have had the dignity and
self-respect to abstain from.
The removal was quietly and hu
manely effected: all who chose to
go South (446 families, 2,035 per
sons) being transported in wagons
at the national cost, with their furni
ture and clothes, averaging 1,651

pounds per family, to Bough-and-
Eeady, or to our outpost in that di
rection ; while those who preferred
to come North were brought at Gov
ernment cost by railroad to Chatta
nooga. When all was done, Major
Clan, of Hood's staff, tendered to
Col. Warner, of Sherman's staff, his
written acknowledgment *° of " the
uniform courtesy you have shown on
all occasions to me and my people,
and the promptness with which you
have corrected all irregularities
arising in our intercourse." This
was the simple truth. The removal
was not only right in itself, but was
effected with considerate tenderness.

While Sherman was still north of
the Chattahoochee, a Eebel raiding
force of cavalry, under Pillow, had
dashed into Lafayette, nearly up to
Chattanooga, held by Col. Watkins
with 400 men, and had very nearly
taken it; when Col. Croxton, 4th
Kentucky, came up and beat them
off; taking 70 prisoners. The killed
and wounded on either side were
about 100.
Wheeler, after breaking the rail
road at Calhoun, as already narrated,
appeared before Dalton, which he
summoned ; but Col. Leibold held it
firmly till Gen. Steedman arrived
from Chattanooga and drove the
Eebels off. Wheeler now pushed up
into East Tennessee, halting at Ath
ens; whence, on being menaced, he
dashed eastward across the Little
Tennessee, and thence across the
Holston at Strawberry plains ; and
so, circling around Knoxville, he
crossed the Clinch near Clinton, and
the Cumberland mountains, by Se
quatchie, McMinnville, Murfreesbo-

*° Sept. 21.

CORSE REPELS FRENCH FROM ALLATOONA.

639

rough, and Lebanon, whence he was
chased southward across the Tennes
see near Florence into Alabama. He
destroyed much property during this
extensive raid; but his operations
had little influence on the results of
the campaign.

Hardee, moving to his right, form
ed a junction with Hood near Jones
boro', and their army was soon con
siderably reenforced : Jefferson Davis
hastening from Eichmond to Geor
gia, visiting the army at Palmetto,
and making at Macon 41 a speech re
markable for the frankness of its ad
missions that the loss of Atlanta was
a great blow, and that the prospects
of the Confederates were gloomy ; yet
which was said to have aroused many
to a more desperate activity in the
cause. Hood was still retained in
command; and very soon, flanking
Sherman's right, he crossed the Chat
tahoochee, pushed up to Dallas, and
thence impelled his cavalry rapidly
by the right to Big Shanty, where
they tore up the railroad and broke
the telegraph; while French's divi
sion of infantry appeared" before Al
latoona, where one million rations
were stored, under protection of Col.
Tourtelotte, 4th Minnesota, with
three thin regiments. Happily, Gen.
Corse, holding Eome, had Been or
dered hither with his brigade, and
had arrived with two regiments a
few hours before.
Sherman had ere this been aroused
by news that the Eebels had crossed
the Chattahoochee ; and he had sent43
Gen. Thomas to Nashville to look
out for Eebel demonstrations across
the Tennessee. Leaving Slocum's
20th corps to hold Atlanta, he had

impelled the bulk of his army north
ward ; and, when French attacked
Allatoona, he was near Kenesaw, 18
miles distant ; whence, at 10 a. m., he
could see the smoke of the conflict
and faintly hear the sound of the
guns. He was even able to signal
Corse that he was not to be aban
doned. Corse had 1,944 men ; French
many times that number. The place
was completely invested at daylight,
and a sharp cannonade of two hours
was followed by a summons, which
being declined, French assaulted in
full force, rushing his men up to the
very parapets, where they were
mowed down by hundreds ; yet still
assault after assault was delivered;
while the 23d corps, under Gen.
J. D. Cox, were making all haste to
come to the rescue, and flags convey
ing from peak to peak the messages
interchanged by Sherman and Corse.
Sherman, on learning that Corse was
there, exclaimed, " He will hold out !
I know the man !" And he did hold
out ; though 707 (more than a third)
of his men had fallen, when the
enemy desisted. Corse himself had
been struck in the face at noon by a
bullet, but refused to leave his post ;
Tourtelotte and Col. E. Bowell, 7th
Illinois, were also among the wound
ed. French drew off, as Cox ap
proached, leaving 231 dead, 411 pri
soners, and 800 of his muskets be
hind, to attest the severity of the
struggle. Hood, instructed to draw Sherman
out of Georgia, moved rapidly north
west, threatening again to strike the
railroad, and compelling Sherman to
make a forced march of 38 miles to
save Kingston.44 Here he learned

1 Sept. 23.

" Oct. 5.

' Sept. 28.

' Oct 8-10.

640

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

that Hood, after making a feint on
Eome, had moved 11 miles down the
Coosa and was passing that river on
a pontoon-bridge : Sherman followed
to Eome,46 and dispatched thence
Gen. Cox's division and Garrard's
cavalry across the Oostenaula to har
ass the right flank of the enemy, as he
moved northward. Garrard chased
a brigade of Eebel cavalry toward
the Chattooga, capturing 2 guns.
Hood, moving rapidly, had by this
time appeared before Eesaca, sum
moning it; but Sherman had reen
forced it with two regiments, and
Col. Weaver had held it firmly, re
pulsing the enemy ; who had moved
up the railroad through Tilton and
Dalton, destroying it so far as the
Tunnel. Sherman, on reaching Ee
saca,46 was evidently puzzled to di
vine what his adversary meant in
thus employing the second army of
the Confederacy on a raiding expe
dition, but resolved to strike him in
flank and force him to fight a battle.
Accordingly, Howard was impelled
westward to Snake creek gap, where
he was to skirmish and hold the ene
my, while Stanley, with the 4th and
14th corps, moved from Tilton on
Yillanow, with intent to gain Hood's
rear. But Hood had other plans; so
Howard encountered no solid resist
ance at the gap, but had pressed
through it by noon, before Stanley
had time to gain its rear. Our army
was then directed on Lafayette, ex
pecting thus to get into the enemy's
rear ; but Hood had evidently been
cured of his voracious appetite for
fighting, and, having very scanty
trains, was far too light-footed to be
caught. He nimbly evaded Sher

man, slipping around his front, and,
moving by his left, was soon out of
reach; Sherman halting47 in the vi
cinity of Gaylesville, Alabama, and
feeling in various directions for his
vanished foe.
After the lapse of a week, he was
satisfied that his adversary, as if in
tent on drawing him out of Georgia
at all events, had crossed Sand moun
tain, and was making for the Ten
nessee. Sherman refused to follow
an enemy who would not fight, whom
he tjould not overtake, and who
might be able to lead him a profitless
wild-goose-chase for months. He de
tached Stanley, with his (4th) corps,
and Schofield, with the 23d, with
orders to march to Chattanooga, and
thence report to Thomas at Nash
ville ; most of the cavalry, under
Wilson, being given similar orders.
A single division, under Kilpatrick,
was reserved for operations in Geor
gia. To Thomas was confided the de
fense of Tennessee, with unlimited
discretion as to the use of his re
sources. A. J. Smith, then on his way
from hunting Price out of Missouri,
was ordered to report to him. Sher
man had of course a full understand
ing with him, as well as with Grant,
as to his plans. Hood's army, he ad
vised them, now consisted of about
35,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry;
and he did not turn his back again
on Tennessee until assured that
Thomas was strong enough to hold
it. And now, learning that Hood,
after a feint on Decatur, had passed
on to Tuscumbia and laid a pontoon-
bridge across the river to Florence,
Sherman turned his face southward,
and, gathering up all his garrisons

*6 Oct. n.

" Oct. 14.

" Oct. 19.

CONFEDERATE NAYAL OFFICERS AND CORSAIRS.

641

holding the railroad, sending some
back to Chattanooga to aid in the
defense of Tennessee, and drawing
others forward to Atlanta, he thor
oughly dismantled the railroads,
burned the founderies, mills, &c, at
Borne, and, cutting loose from all his

communications, and drawing around
him all his remaining forces, made
diligent preparations for the Great
March wherewith his name is so in
separably finked, and which so large
ly contributed to hasten the downfall
of the Eebellion.

XXIX.
THE WAE ON THE OCEAN— MOBILE BAT.

The formation of the Southern
Confederacy was quickly followed by
the resignation of a large proportion
— though not nearly all — of the
Southern officers of the United States
Navy — resignations which should not
have been, but were, accepted. Ma
ny of these officers had, for fifteen to
forty years, been drawing liberal pay
'and allowances from the Federal
treasury for very light work — often,
for no work at all : and now, when
the Government which had edu
cated, nurtured, honored, and sub-
• sisted them, was for the first time in
urgent need of their best efforts, they
renounced its service, its flag, and
their fealty, in order to tender their
swords to its deadly foe. Under such
circumstances, no resignation should
have been accepted, but their names
should have been stricken with igno
miny from the rolls they disgraced.
These recreants made haste to re
pair to the Confederate capital, where
they were received with flattering
distinction, and accorded rank in the
embryo Confederate navy at least as
high as that which they had respect
ively attained in the service of the
United States. The " Eegister ofthe
vol. n. — 41

Commissioned and Warrant Officers
in the Navy of the Confederate
States," issued at Eichmond, Jan.
1, 1864, contained several hundred
names — over two hundred of them be
ing noted as having formerly been offi
cers of the U. S. Navy. Some of these
lacked even the poor excuse — " I go
with my State," — as at the head of
the list stands their only Admiral,
Franklin Buchanan, of Maryland;
who entered the service of the United
States Jan. 28th, 1815, and that of
the Confederacy Sept. 5th, 1861. Of
the Captains (twelve) who follow,
three were bom in Maryland, though
one of them (Geo. N. Hollins). claims
to be a citizen of Florida ; as did an
other (Eaphael Semmes) of Alabama.
Of the thirty-six Provisional Cap
tains and Commanders, twelve were
born in non-seceding States, though
most of them claimed to have since
become residents' of the ' sunny
South.' Yery great ingenuity and nautical
(or pyrotechnic) skill was evinced
during the war, by the Eebel navy
thus constituted, in the construction
of rams and iron-clads, and their use
for harbor and coast defense, but

642

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

more especially in devising, con
structing, charging, and planting tor
pedoes, wherewith they did more
execution and caused more embarrass
ment to blockaders and besieging
squadrons than had been effected in
any former war. Their devices for
obstructing the mouths or channels
of rivers and harbors were often
unsurpassed in efficiency. On the
ocean, however, they were hampered
by the fact that the Southrons are
neither a ship-building nor a- sea-far
ing people; that, while they had long
afforded the material for a large and
lucrative commerce, they had neither
built, nor owned, nor manned, many
vessels. They would, therefore, have
been able to make no figure at all
out of sight of their own coast, but
for the facilities afforded them by
British sympathy and British love of
gain, evading the spirit if not the
strict letter of international maritime
law. Great ship-building firms in
Liverpool and Glasgow, wherein
members of Parliament were largely
interested, were almost constantly
engaged in the construction of strong,
swift steamships, calculated for cor
sairs and for nothing else ; each
being, when completed, in spite of in
formation from our consuls and pro
tests from our Minister, allowed to
slip out of port under one pretext or
another, and make for some prear
ranged rendezvous, where a merchant
vessel laden with Armstrong, Whit-
worth, Blakely, and other heavy ri
fled guns of the most approved pat
terns, with small arms, ammunition,
provisions, &c, was awaiting her;
and, her cargo being quickly trans
ferred to the embryo corsair, a crew
was made up, in part of men clan
destinely enlisted for the service, in

part of such as liberal pay, more lib
eral promises, and the cajolery of
officers, could induce to transfer their
services to the new flag ; and thus the
unarmed, harmless British steamship
of yesterday was transformed into
the Confederate cruiser of to-day:
every stick of her British, from keel
up to mast-head ; her rigging, arma
ment, and stores, British ; her crew
mostly British, though a few of her
higher officers were not ; and, thus
planned expressly to outrun any
heavily armed vessel and overpower
any other, she hoisted the Confede
rate flag and commenced capturing,
plundering, burning, and sinking our
merchant vessels wherever she could
fall upon them unprotected by our
navy : every British port, on what
ever sea, affording her not only shel
ter and hospitality, but the fullest
and freshest information with regard
to her predestined prey and the quar
ter wherein it could be clutched with
least peril. Shielded from the treat
ment of an ordinary pirate, by the
Queen's proclamation of neutrality,
and from effective pursuit by the mar
itime law which forbids the stronger
belligerent to leave a neutral harbor
within twenty-four hours after the
weaker shall have taken his depar
ture, though the latter may have
dodged in just out of range of the
former, after a keen chase of many
hours — one of these corsairs was able
to do enormous damage to our com
merce with almost perfect impunity ;
for, by the time her devastations in
one sea had been reported to our
nearest naval commander, she would
be a thousand miles away (but in
what direction none could guess),
lighting up another coast or strait
with the glare of her conflagrations.

THE ALABAMA AND THE FLO RIDA.

643

If it be gravely held that Great Bri
tain was nowise responsible for the
ravages of these marauders, then it
must be confessed that the letter of
existing international law does no
justice to its spirit and purpose, but
stands in need of prompt and thor
ough revision.

The career of the Sumter, Capt.
Baphael Semmes, came to an early
and inglorious end, as has already
been narrated.1 But another and su
perior cruiser was promptly con
structed at Birkenhead to replace
her ; which our Embassador, Hon.
Charles F. Adams, tried earnestly,
but in vain,, to have seized and de
tained at the outset by the Brit
ish Government. Escaping from
Liverpool under the name of Oreto,
she was twice seized at Nassau, but
to no purpose : that island being the
focus of blockade-running, and, of
course, violently sympathetic with the
Eebellion — as was, in fact, nearly
every officer in the British naval or
military service. Eeleased from du
ress, she put to sea, and soon appeared
as a British ship of war off the har
bor of Mobile, then blockaded by
Com'r Geo. H. Preble, who hesitated
to fire on her lest she should be what
Bhe seemed; and in a few minutes
she had passed him, and run up to
Mobile, showing herself the Bebel
corsair she actually was. Preble was
promptly dismissed from the service
— an act of justice which needed but
a few repetitions to have prevented
such mistakes in future. Eunning
out" again under cover of darkness,
the Oreto, now commanded by John
N. Maffitt," became the Florida, there-
1 YoL I., pp. 602-3. a Dec. 27, 1862.
3 Of Texas: son of a once noted Methodist

after vieing with her consort, the
Alabama — a new British vessel hence
forth commanded by Semmes — and
with other such from time to time
fitted out, in their predatory career.
Each of these habitually approached
her intended prey under her proper
(British) colors, but hoisted the Con
federate so soon as the prize was se
curely within her grasp. Occasion
ally, a vessel of little value was re
leased on condition of taking to port
the crews of several of the most
recently burned ; a few were bonded,
mainly because they carried British
cargoes or were insured in British
offices ; but the great majority were
simply robbed of their money, food,
&c, and burnt. Among those bond
ed by the Alabama was the steam
ship Ariel,4 on her way from New
Tork to Aspinwall, with the Califor
nia passengers and freight ; but the
$250,000 which was to have been her
ransom, being expressly " payable six
months after the recognition [by the
United States] of the independence
of the Southern Confederacy," has-
not yet fallen due. Such was the
just alarm caused by this capture,
while several National vessels were
anxiously looking for the Alabama,
that the Ariel dared not bring the
specie from California that met her
at Aspinwall, but left it there, until
a gunboat was sent for it by the
Government ; and the specie con
tinued to be so transmitted for some
months thereafter.
The merchant ships captured and
destroyed by these freebooters were
hundreds in number, and the value
of vessels and cargoes amounted to
many scores of millions of dollars.

clergyman of like name, who was Irish by birth,
and a noted pulpit orator. 'Nov. 18, 1862.

644

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

But the damage thus inflicted was
not limited to this destruction — far
from it. The paralysis of commerce
— the transfer (at a sacrifice) of hun
dreds of valuable ships to British
owners (real or simulated) in order
that they might be allowed to keep
the seas with impunity — with the
waste of money and service involved
in sending many costly and formida
ble steamships to every ocean and
almost every port in quest of some
corsair, which was plundering and
burning, perhaps on one side of a
petty island, while the Yanderbilt or
Tuscarora was vainly seeking it on
the other — which was sure to be
anywhere but where it was awaited
or sought — and which would drop
into the neutral harbor whither its
pursuer had repaired for coal, or
food, or information, and fie there by
his side, bearding him with impunity;
taking its own time to depart in
peace and safety, because no pursuit
was allowed for the next 24 hours —
such are the bare outlines of a system
of maritime injury and annoyance
which for years sickened the hearts
of stanch upholders of the Union.
That the officers of the Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, and their confreres,
were greeted in every British port
with shouts and acclamations, recep
tions and dinners, as though they
had been avowed Britons engaged in
honorable warfare with their coun
try's deadly foe, was observed by
loyal Americans with a stinging con
sciousness of the hollowness and
fraud of British neutrality which will
not soon be effaced. And, when
every remonstrance made by our
Government or its representative
against the favor shown to these pri

vateers, not only in their construc
tion, but throughout their subsequent
career, was treated as though we had
asked Great Britain to aid us against
the Confederates, when we had only
required that she cease to aid unwar
rantably our domestic foes, the popu
lar sense of dishonesty and wrong
was with difficulty restrained from
expressing itself in deeds rather than
words. . 
Early in May, 1863, the Florida,.
while dodging our gunboats among
the innumerable straits and passages
surrounding the several West Indies,
captured the brig Clarence, which,
was fitted out as a privateer and pro
vided with a crew, under Lt. C. W.
Bead, late a midshipman in our na
vy. This new buccaneer immediate
ly steered northward, and, sweeping
up our southern coast, captured some
valuable prizes ; among them, when
near Cape Henry, the bark Tacony,"
to which Bead transferred his men,
and stood on up the coast ; passing
along off the mouths of the Chesa
peake, Delaware, New Tork, and
Massachusetts bays, seizing and de
stroying merchant and fishing ves
sels utterly unsuspicious of danger ;
until, at length, learning that swift
cruisers were on his track, he burned
the Tacony (in which he would have
been easily recognized), and in the
prize schooner Archer, to which he
had transferred his armament and
crew, stood boldly in for the harbor
of Portland; casting anchor at sun
set" at its entrance, and sending at
midnight two armed boats with muf
fled oars up nearly to the city, to
seize the steam revenue cutter Cush
ing and bring her out for his future
use. This was done ; but, no sooner

1 June 12, 1863.

0 June 24

CAPTURE OF THE FLORIDA IN BAHIA HARBOR.

645

had the Cushing left, under her new
masters, than she was missed, and
two merchant steamers were armed
and manned (by volunteers) and start
ed after her. She was soon over
hauled, and, having no guns to cope
with her armament, the pursuers
were about to board, when her cap
tors took to their boats, firing half-a-
dozen shots at her and blowing her
up. The Portland boys kept on till
tfiey captured first the- boats, then
the Archer, towed them up to their
eity in triumph, and lodged Bead and
his freebooters snugly in prison.
The merchant steamer Chesapeake,
plying between New Tork and Port
land, was seized' by 16 of her pas
sengers, who, suddenly producing
arms, proclaimed themselves Con
federates, and demanded her surren
der ; seizing the captain and putting
him in irons, wounding the mate,
and killing and throwing overboard
one of the engineers. After a time,
they set the crew and passengers
ashore in a boat, and, putting the
steamer on an easterly course, ran
her into Sambro harbor, Nova Scotia,
where she was seized8 by the Union
gunboat Ella and Anna, taken, with
a portion of her crew, to Halifax, and
handed over to the civil authorities.
The prisoners were here rescued by a
mob ; but the steamboat was soon,''
by a judicial decision, restored to her
owners. During 1864, in addition to those
already at work, three new British-
Confederate corsairs, named the Tal
lahassee, Olustee, and Chickamauga,
were set afloat; adding immensely
to the ravages of their elder brethren.
Up to the beginning of this year, it
was computed that our direct losses

by Eebel captures were 193 ves-
; valued, with their cargoes, at
1,455,000. AU but 17 of these
vessels were burned. But now the
Tallahassee, in August, swept along
the Atlantic coast of the loyal States,
destroying in ten days 33 vessels;
while the Chickamauga, in a short
cruise, burned vessels valued in all at
$500,000. -The Florida likewise dart
ed along our coast, doing great dam
age there and thereafter ; finally
running into the Brazilian port of
Bahia;9 having just captured and
burnt the bark Mondamon off that
port. Here she met the U. S. steamer
Wachusett, Capt. Collins, and came
to anchor, as a precaution, in the
midst of the Brazilian fleet and di
rectly under the guns of the principal
fort ; and here, after ascertaining that
he could not provoke her to fight
him outside the harbor, Capt. Collins
bore down upon her, at 3 A. m.,"
while part of her crew were ashore ;
running at her under a full head of
steam with intent to" crush in her
side and sink her ; but, not striking
her fairly, he only damaged, but did
not cripple her. A few small-arm
shots were fired on either side, but at
random, and without effect. Capt.
Collins now demanded her surrender,
with which the lieutenant in com
mand — (Capt. Morris, with half his
crew, being ashore) — taken complete
ly by surprise and at disadvantage-
had no choice but to comply. In an
instant, the Florida was boarded
from the Wachusett, a hawser made
fast to her, and the captor, crowding
all steam, put out to sea ; making no
reply to a challenge from the Brazi
lian fleet, and unharmed by three
shots fired at her from the fort ; all

7 Dec. 6, 1863.

'Dec 16.

' Oct. 5, 1864.

10 Oct. 7.

646

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

which passed over her. The Brazi
lian naval commander tried to chase ;
but was not fast enough, and soon
desisted. The Wachusett and her
prize soon appeared in Hampton
roads ; where the latter was sunk by
a collision a few days afterward.
There can be no reasonable doubt
that, if the Florida was a fair, honest
vessel, her capture was a foul one.
Our consul at Bahia, Mr. T. F. Wil
son, had seasonably protested against
the hospitality accorded to her in that
port, but without effect. As he was
known to be implicated in the cap
ture, his official recognition as consul
was revoked. On a representation
of the case by the Brazilian Minister,
Gov. Seward, in behalf of President
Lincoln, disavowed the acts of Col
lins and Wilson, dismissed the latter
from office, suspended the former
from command, and ordered him to
answer for his act before a court-
martial. He further announced that
the persons captured on board the
Florida shouldobe set at liberty. But
he took care to place this reparation
wholly on the ground of the unlaw
fulness of any unauthorized exercise
of force by this country within a Bra
zilian harbor — no matter if against
a conceded pirate — saying :
"The Government disallows your as
sumption that the insurgents of this country
are a lawful naval belligerent ; on the con
trary, it maintains that the ascription of
¦that character by the Government of Brazil
to insurgent citizens of the United States,
who have hitherto been, and who still are,
destitute of naval forces, ports, and courts, is
an act of intervention, in derogation of the
law of nations, and unfriendly and wrong
ful, as it is manifestly injurious, to the
United States.
"So, also, this Government disallows
your assumption that the Florida belonged
to the aforementioned insurgents, and main
tains, on the contrary, that that vessel, like

the Alabama, was a pirate, belonging to no
nation or lawful belligerent, and, therefore,
that the harboring and supplying of these
piratical ships and their crews in Brazilian
ports were wrongs and injuries for which
Brazil justly owes reparation to the United
States, as ample as the reparation whioh
she now receives from them. They hope
and confidently expect this reciprocity in
good time, to restore the harmony and
friendship which are so essential to the
welfare and safety of the two countries."
The Georgia was a Glasgow-built
iron steamboat, which had left Green
ock, as the Japan, in April, 1868;
receiving her armament when off the
coast of France, and at once getting
to work as a beast of prey. Having
destroyed a number of large and valu
able merchant ships, she put in at
Cherbourg, and afterward at Bour-
deaux; whence she slipped over to
England, and was sold (as was said)
to a Liverpool merchant for £15,000.
She now set out for Lisbon, having
been chartered, it was given out, by
the Portuguese Government ; but,
when 20 miles from her port of des
tination, she was stopped " by theU. S.
steam-frigate Niagara, Capt. Craven,
who made her his prize; returning
with her directly to England, and
landing her captain and crew at Do
ver. Her seizure provoked some
newspaper discussion, but its right
fulness was not officially questioned.
The Alabama had already come to
grief. After a long and prosperous
cruise in the South Atlantic and In
dian oceans, she had returned to
European waters, taking refuge in
the French port of Cherbourg ; when
theU. S. gunboat Kearsabge,1*" which
was lying in the Dutch harbor of
Flushing, being notified by telegraph,
came around at once to look after
her. Semmes, however, seems to
have been quite ready for the en-

11 Aug. 15.

la So named after a mountain in New Hampshire.

THE ALABAMA SUNK
counter; as he dispatched1' to Capt.
Winslow a request that he would not
leave, as he (Semmes) purposed to
fight him. Winslow was glad to find
their views so accordant, and was
careful to heed Semmes's reasonable,
courteous request.
The two vessels were very fairly
matched: their dimensions and ar
maments being respectively as fol
lows :
_ , Alabama, Kkatcsakgb.
Length over nil  220flsot. "saMJftiet.
Length on wator-llne ... 210 " 19SJ "
Beam  S2 « S3 "
Depth  it " 16 "
Horse-power, two engines of 800 eaoh. 400 h.powor.
Tonnago  1,150 1,080
Armament (ftht Alabama— One 7-lnoli Blakely riflo,
one Sinoh smooth-bore 68-pounder, eix 82-pounders.
Armament of the Kearsarge— Two 11-inoh smooth
bore guns, ono 80-pounder rifle, four 82-pounders.
Note.— Tho Kooraorge used but 5 guns ; the Alabama T.
Tho Kcarsnrgo had 162 ofHcors and mou; the Alabama
about 160.
Having made all imaginable pre
parations in a friendly port, where
he was surrounded by British as well
as French sympathizers, Semmes —
having first providently deposited on
shore hia chest of coin, his 62 cap
tured chronometers, the relics of so
many burned merchantmen — at his
own chosen time, " steamed out ofthe
harbor, foBowed by his British friend
Lancaster in his steam-yacht Deer-
hound, and made for the Kearsarge,
which was quietly expecting but not
hurrying him, seven miles outside.
When still more than a mile distant,
the Alabama gave tongue; firing
three broadsides before the Kearsarge
opened in reply. Winslow endeav
ored, to close and board ; but his
cautious adversary sheered off and
steamed ahead, firing rapidly and
wildly ; while the Kearsarge, moving
parallel with her, fired slowly and
with deliberate aim. The badness
of the Alabama's practice was nota
ble from the fact that her British gun-
13 June 16, 1864.

BT THE KEARSARG-E.

6_7

ners had been trained on board Her
Majesty's ship Excellent in Ports
mouth harbor. Several had recently
come on board, as if on purpose to
take part in the expected fight.
Firing and steaming on, the com
batants described seven circles ; the
Kearsarge steadily closing, and having
diminished, by fully half, the distance
at which the Alabama opened fire ;
when, after a mutual cannonade of
an hour, the Kearsarge, at 12 J p. m.,
was just in position to fire grape,
and her adversary, having received
several 11-inch shells, one of which
disabled a gun and killed or wound
ed IS men, as another, entering her
coal-bunkers, and exploding, had
completely blocked up the engine-
room, compelling her to resort to
sails, while large holes were torn in
her sides, at length attempted to
make for the protection of the neutral
shore ; but she was too far gone to
reach it, being badly crippled and
rapidly filling with water. Semmes
and his crew appeal- to have had an
understanding that she should beat
the Kearsarge or sink with all on
board ; but, when she began to sink
in good earnest, he hauled down his
flag, and sent a boat to the Kearsarge
to accelerate their rescue from the
wreck as prisoners.
Semmes, in his letter to envoy J.
M. Mason, adds : —
" Although we were now but 400 yards
from eaoh other, the enemy fired upon me
five times after my colors had been struck.
It is charitable to suppose that a ship of war
of a Christian nation oould not have done
this intentionally."
Capt. Winslow does not "sup
pose," but states, as foBows : —
" I saw now that she was at our mercy;
and a few more guns, well directed, brought
down her flag. I was unable to ascertain

M Sunday, June 19, 10J A. It.

6_8

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

whether it had been hauled down or shot
away ; bnt, a white flag having been dis
played over the stern, our fire was reserved.
Two minutes had not more than elapsed be
fore she again opened on us with the two guns
on the port side. This drew our fire again ;
and the Kearsarge was immediately steamed
ahead and laid across her bows for raking.
The white flag was still flying, and our fire
was again reserved. Shortly after this, her
boats were seen to be lowering, and an offi
cer in one of them came alongside, and in
formed us that the ship had surrendered and
was fast sinking. In twenty minutes from
this time, the Alabama went down : her
mainmast, which had been shot, breaking
near the head as she sunk, and her bow
rising high out of the water as her stern
rapidly settled."
Lancaster — a virtual ally and swift
witness for Semmes — who was close
at hand, watching every motion with
intense interest, in his log of the
fight, dispatched to The Times that
evening, when he arrived in his yacht
at Cowes, with Semmes and such of
his crew as he had snatched from the
water and their captors — clearly re
futes Semmes's charge. He says : —
" At 12, a slight intermission was observed
in the Alabama's firing ; the Alabama ma
king head-sail, and shaping her course for
the land, distant about nine miles.
"At 12:30, observed the Alabama to be
disabled and in a sinking state. We imme
diately made toward her, and, in passing
the Kearsarge, were requested to assist in
sawing the Alabama's crew.
"At 12:50, when within a distance of
200 yards, the .Alabama sunk. We then
lowered our two boats, and, with the assist
ance ofthe Alabama's whale-boat and dingy,
succeeded in saving about 40 men, including
Capt. Semmes and 13 officers. At 1 p. m.,
we steered for Southampton."

The Alabama had 9 killed and 21
wounded, including Semmes himself,
slightly. Two of the wounded were
drowned before they could be res
cued. The Kearsarge had three men badly
wounded, one of them mortally;1"
but neither would go below to be
treated till the victory was won.
The triumph of the Kearsarge is
doubtless in part due to the superior
effectiveness of her two 11-inch guns,
but in good part also to the cool de
liberation and excellent aim of her
gunners. As to her being iron-clad,
this is Semmes's story :
"At the end of the engagement, it was
discovered, by those of our officers who
went alongside the enemy's ship, with the
wounded, that her midship section on both
sides was thoroughly iron-coated; this hav
ing been done with chain constructed for
the purpose, placed perpendicularly from
the rail to the water's edge, the whole cov
ered over by a thin outer planking, which
gave no indication of the armor beneath.
"This planking had been ripped off in
every direction by our shot and shell, the
chain broken and indented in many places,
and forced partly into the ship's side. She
was most effectually guarded, however, in
this section, from penetration."
Now let us hear Capt. Winslow on
this point :
"The Alabama had been five days in
preparation. She had taken in 350 tons of
coal, which brought her down in the water.
The Kearsarge had only 120 tons in; but,
as an offset to this, her sheet-chains were
stowed outside, stopped up and down, as an
additional preventive and protection to her
more empty bunkers."

15 This hero, William Gowin, of Michigan,
must not fade from his country's memory. Sur
geon J. M. Browne reports that, being struck
quite early in the action, by a fragment of shell,
which badly shattered his leg near the knee-
joint, Gowin refused assistance, concealed the
extent of his injury, and dragged himself from
the after pivot-gun to the fore-hatch, unwilling
to take any one from his station. During the
progress of the action, he comforted his suffering
comrades by assuring them that " Victory is
ours I" Whenever the guns' crews cheered at

the successful effect of their shot, Gowin waved
his hand over his head and joined in the shout.
When brought at length to the Surgeon, he ap
peared with a smile on his face, though suffer
ing acutely from his injury. He said, "It is all
right, and I am satisfied ; for we are whipping
the Alabama;" adding, "I willingly will lose
my leg or life, if it is necessary." In the hos
pital, he was calmly resigned to his fate, repeat
ing again and again his willingness to die, since
his ship had won a glorious victory. His coun
try owes a monument to William Gowin.

THB OUTER DEFENSES OP MOBILE BAT.

649

The JLondon Daily Netcs says :
"The Kearsarge is spoken of as being
iron-clad ; she was no more iron-clad than
the Alabama might have been, had they
taken the precaution. She simply had a
double row of chains hanging over her
sides to protect her machinery. Two shots
from the Alabama struck these chains, and
fell harmlessly into the water."
Of the crew of the Alabama, 65
were picked up by the Kearsarge as
prisoners ; while Capt. Semmes and
his officers and men who were picked
up and carried off by Lancaster, with
a few picked up by a French vessel
in attendance, were also claimed as
rightful prisoners of war ; but they
denied the jnstice of the claim, and
were not surrendered.

The steady increase of our naval
force, and our successful combined
operations in Pamlico and Albemarle
sounds ; before Charleston, Savannah,
and among the Sea Islands ; up the
mouths of the Mississippi ; along the
coasts of Florida ; and at the mouth
of the Bio Grande, had gradually
closed up the harbors of the Confed
eracy, until, by the Spring of 1S64,
their blockade-runners were substan
tially restricted to a choice of two
ports — Wilmington, N. C, and Mo
bile — where the character of the ap
proaches and the formidable forts
that still forbade access by our block-
aders to the entrance of their respec
tive harbors, still enabled skillfully-
piloted steamers, carefully built in
British yards expressly for this ser
vice, to steal in and out on moonless,
clouded, or foggy nights; not with
out risk and occasional loss, but with
reasonable impunity. To close these
eyes of the Rebellion was now the
care of the Navy Department ; and
it was resolved to commence with

Mobile — the double entrance to whose
spacious bay was defended by Forts
Morgan and Powell on either hand,
and by Fort Gaines on Dauphine is
land, which separates Grant's pass
from the main channel. Beside the
heavy guns and large garrisons of
these forts, there was a considerable
fleet, commanded by Franklin Bu
chanan, sole Bebel Admiral, and for
merly a captain in our Navy, whose
iron-clad Tennessee, 209 feet long,
4S feet beam, with timber sides S feet
thick, doubly plated with 2-inch iron,
fitted with tower, beak and overhang,
and mounting two 7-inch and four
6-inch rifled guns, throwing projec
tiles respectively ofllO and 95 pounds,
propelled by two engines and four
boilers, was probably as effective a
craft for harbor defense as fleet ever
yet encountered. Her three consorts
were ordinary gunboats of no parti
cular force ; but when to these forts
and vessels are added the vague ter
rors and real dangers of torpedoes,
<au*efully constructed and planted in
a channel where it is scarcely possible
for attacking vessels to avoid them,
it must be felt that the fleet, however
strong, which defies and assails them,
can only hope to succeed by the
rarest exhibitions alike of skill and
courage. Ten years had not elapsed
since the immense naval power of
Great Britain, wielded by a Napier,
recoiled before the defenses of Cron-
stadt; while no attempt was made
on the fortifications of Odessa.
The fleet which Bear-Admiral
Farragut led " to force its way into the
bay of Mobile was composed of 4
iron-clads and 14 wooden ships-of-
war or gunboats, as follows :

s Aug. 5, 1864.

650

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

DEFENSES Or UOBILE.

FARRAGUT ASSAILS FORTS MORGAN AND GAINES. 651

Hartford (flag-ship), Oapt. P. Drayton ;
Brooklyn, Capt. James Alden ;
Metacomet, Lt.-€om'r J. E. Jouett;
Octorara, Lt.-Com'r 0. H. Green;
Eichmond, Capt. T. A. Jenkins;
Lackawanna, Capt. J. B. Marchand ;
Monongahela, Com'r J. H. Strong ;
Ossipee, Com'r W. E. Leroy ;
Oneida, Com'r J. R. M. Mullany;
Port Eoyal, Lt.-Oom'r B. Gherardi ;
Seminole, Com'r E. Donaldson ;
Kennebec, Lt.-Oom'r ~W. P. McOann ;
Itasca, Lt.-Com'r George Brown ;
Galena, Lt.-Com'r 0. H. Wells;
* Tecnmseh, Oom'r T. A. M. Craven;
* Manhattan, Com'r J. W. A. Nicholson;
* Winnebago, Com'r T. H. Stevens ;
* Chickasaw, Lt.-Oom'r T. H. Perkins.
* Iron-clads.
Gen. Canby had sent from New
Orleans Gen. Gordon Granger, with
a cooperating land force, perhaps
.5,000 strong, which had debarked on
Pauphine island, but which could be
of no service for the present ; and did
not attempt to be. Pollard says that
our fleet carried 200 guns with 2,800
men. Thursday, August 4, had been
fixed on for the perilous undertak
ing ; but, though the troops were on
hand, the Tecumseh bad not arrived ;
and — in contempt for the nautical
superstition touching Friday — the
attack was postponed to next morn
ing ; when, at 5f o'clock, the wood
en ships steamed up, lashed together
in eouples ; the Brooklyn and Octo
rara leading, followed by the Hart
ford and Metacomet ; the iron-clads
having already passed the bar, and
now advancing in line on the right,
or between the fleet and Fort Mor
gan. The Tecumseh, leading, at 6:47,
opened fire on Fort Morgan, still a
mile distant, which responded at
7:06 ; and forthwith, every gun that
could be brought to bear on either
side awoke the echoes of the startled
bay. The Brooklyn, when directly un

der the guns of the fort — which, dis
regarding the iron-clads, were trained
especially on the Hartford and her,
while their progress was retarded by
the slowness of the monitors — had
just opened on the fort with grape,
driving its gunners from its more ex
posed batteries, when the Tecumseh,
then .300 yards ahead of her, struck
a torpedo which, exploding directly
under her turret, tore a chasm in her
bottom, through which the water
poured in a flood, sinking her almost
instantly, and carrying down Com'r
Craven and nearly all his officers and
crew. Out of 130, but 17 were saved ;
part in one of Jier own boats and part
by a boat sent, by Farragut's order,
from the Metacomet, under a terrible
fire. Farragut had reluctantly consent
ed to let the Brooklyn lead the wood
en fleet, because of her four chase-
guns specially adapted to the work
in hand, and because she had a pe
culiarly ingenious contrivance for
picking up torpedoes, " Exposure is
one of the penalties of rank in the
navy," is his characteristic observa
tion ; in accordance with which, he
had stationed himself in the Hart
ford's main-top, as the point whence
every thing tiiat transpired could
best be observed ; and the strong pre
sumption that the Bebel fire would
be concentrated on the flag-ship ren
dered him specially anxious that she
should be accorded the post of pre^
eminent peril and honor. Overruled
at the outset, Farragut, when tfie
Brooklyn very naturally recoiled at
the spectacle of the Tecumseh's de
struction, directed Drayton to go
ahead, followed by the rest, in the
full belief that several must pay the
penalty of heroisni just exacted of

652

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the Tecumseh. But no more torpe
does were encountered; while the
fire of the fort, now checked by the
grape of our ships, became compara
tively harmless, from the moment
that he had fairly passed its front.
The Bebel fleet had opened fire
directly after the fort ; and the Ten
nessee, at 7:50, rushed at the Hart
ford, which simply returned her fire
and kept on. The three Bebel gun
boats, still ahead, poured their shots
into the Hartford ; the Selma getting
a raking fire on her, which she could
not return. Farragut, therefore, at
8:02, ordered the Metacomet to cast
off and close with the Selma ; whieh
she captured, after an hour's fight :
the Selma's captain, P. N. Murphy,
with 9 others, being wounded ; her
Lieut. Comstock, with 5 more, being
killed. She had 4 great pivot guns
and 94 men. The Morgan and
Gaines now took refuge under the
guns of the fort ; where the Gaines,
badly crippled, was run ashore and
burned. The Morgan escaped, and
ran up to Mobile under cover of the
ensuing night.
Farragut now supposed the fight
over, and had -ordered most of his
vessels to anchor ; but he was unde
ceived when the Tennessee, at 8:45,
stood bravely down the bay, and,
trusting to her invulnerability to
shot, made for our flag-ship, resolved
to run her down. At once, our iron
clads and stronger wooden ships were
signaled to close in upon and destroy
her ; our fire, save of the very largest
guns, seeming scarcely to annoy her.
1 The Monongahela gave her the
first blow; rushing at her at full
speed, striking her square in the side,
and, swinging around, pouring into
her, when but a few feet distant, a

broadside of solid 11-inch shot, which
seemed to have much the same effect
on her that a musket- wad or pop-gun
pellet might be expected to produce
on a buffalo's skull. Not satisfied
with this, Capt. Jenkins drew off and
came at her again, with the net result
of losing his own beak and cut-water.
The Lackawanna next struck the
Bebel monster at full speed ; crushing
in her own stem to the plank-ends,
but only giving the ram a heavy list,
without doing her any perceptible
harm. The Hartford came on next ; but
her blow was evaded by an adroit
motion of the Tennessee's helm, so
that the Hartford merely hit her on
the quarter and rasped along her
side : pouring in a broadside of
10-inch shot, at a distance of ten
feet. Our monitors had now crawled up,
firing when they could do so; and
the Chickasaw ran under her stern ;
while the Manhattan, also coming
up behind her, gave her a solid
15-inch bolt, which struck her on her
port quarter, carrying away her steer
ing-gear, and breaking square through
her iron plates and their wooden
backing, but doing no harm inside.
Farragut had ordered Drayton to
strike her a second blow ; and he
was proceeding to do so, when the
Lackawanna, already badly crippled,
in attempting to ram the enemy a
second time, came in collision with
the fiag-ship, doing her considerable
injury. Both drew off, took distance
for another pass at her, and were
coming on at full speed, when the
Bebel alligator, sore beset from every
side — her smoke-stack shot away, her
steering-chains gone, several of her
port-shutters so jammed by our shot

GRANGER CAPTURES FORT MORGAN.

653

. that iiiey could not be opened, and one
of them battered to fragments, with the
Chickasaw boring away at her stern,
and four other great vessels coming
at her full speed — saw that the fight
was fairly out of her, with no chance
of escape, and, hauling down her
fiag, ran up a white one, just in time
to have the Ossipee back its engine
ere it struck her ; changing its heavy
crash into a harmless glancing blow.
On her surrender, Admiral Buchanan
was found severely wounded, with 6
'of his crew ; 3 being killed. Of pri
soners, we took 190 with the Ten
nessee, and 90 with the Selma.
Our total loss in this desperate
struggle was 165 killed (including
the 113 who went down in the Te
cumseh) and 170 wounded : the Hart
ford having 25 killed, 28 wounded,
and the Brooklyn 11 killed and 43
wounded. The Oneida had 8 killed
and 30 wounded, including her com
mander, Mullany, who lost an arm:
most of them being scalded by the
explosion, at 7:50, of her starboard
boiler by a 7-inch shell, while direct
ly under the fire of Fort Morgan.,
Nearly all her firemen and coal-
heavers on duty were killed or dis
abled in a moment ; but, though an
other shell at that instant exploded
in her cabin, cutting her wheel-ropes,
her guns were loaded and fired, even
while the steam was escaping, as if
they had been practicing at a target.
The Tennessee passed and raked her
directly afterward, disabling two of
her guns. A shell, in exploding,
having started a fire on the top of
her magazine, it was quietly extin
guished ; the serving out of powder
going on as before.
The Bebel fleet was no more ; but
" Aug. 9.

the Bebel forts were intact. Farra
gut sent the wounded of both fleets
to Pens'acola in the Metacomet, and
prepared to resume operations. Dur
ing the ensuing night, Fort Powell
was evacuated and blown up, so far
as it could be ; but the guns were
left to fall into our hands. Fort
Gaines was next day shelled by the
iron-clad Chickasaw, with such effect
that Col. Anderson, commanding
there, next morning sued for condi
tions. He might probably have held
out a little longer ; but, being on an
island, with the fleet on one side and
Granger's army on the other, there
was not a possibility of relief or pro
tracted resistance. At 9f a. m., the
Stars and Stripes were raised over
the fort, and Anderson and his 600
¦men were prisoners of war.
Gen. Page, commanding in Fort
Morgan, had much stronger defenses,
and was on the main land, where he
had a chance of relief; at the worst,
he might get away, while Anderson
could not. He telegraphed the latter
peremptorily, " Hold on to your
fort 1" and his representations doubt
less did much to excite the clamor
raised against that officer throughout
Dixie as a coward or a traitor. But
when his turn came — Granger's troops
having been promptly transferred to
the rear of Morgan, invested " it, and,
after due preparation, opened fire18
in conjunction with the fleet — Page
held out one day, and then surren
dered at discretion. He doubtless
was right in so doing ; since — unless
relieved by an adequate land force —
his fall was but a question of time.
Yet his prompt submission tallied
badly with his censure of Anderson.
Before surrendering, he had damaged
" le Aug. 22.

654

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

his guns and other material to the
extent of his power.
Thus fell the last of the defenses of
Mobile bay ; sealing that port against
blockade-runners thenceforth, and
endangering the Eebel hold on the
city. With those defenses, we had

taken 104 guns and 1,464 men — not
without cost certainly; but there
were few minor successes of the year
which were won more cheaply, or
which contributed more directly and
palpably to the downfall of the Ee
bellion.

XXX.
POLITICAL MUTATIONS AND EESULTS.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CANVASS OF 1864.

As, since McClellan's recoil from
the defenses of Bichmond, the judg
ment of the loyal States was divided
concerning the probabilities of Na
tional success or defeat, so the for
tunes of the contending parties re
flected closely the changing aspects
of the military situation. The Fall
elections of 1862 had resulted in a
general Opposition triumph ; because
the reflecting and unimpassioned had
been led, by our recent reverses and
our general disappointment, to doubt
the ability of the Government to put
down the Eebellion. Those of 1863,
on the other hand, had strongly fa
vored the Administration ; because
the National successes at Gettysburg,
Yicksburg, Port Hudson, Helena,
&c, the reopening of the Mississippi,
and the recovery of East Tennessee,
with a good part of Arkansas, had
induced a very general belief, which
our reverse at the Chickamauga did
not shake, that the Union would
surely triumph, and at no distant

day. The victory of Mission ridge,
followed by the appointment of Gen.
Grant to the chief command of all the
National forces, strengthened this
belief into conviction ; so that, though
there were still those who did not
desire the overthrow of the Eebellion,
as there had been, even in the dark
est hours, many whose faith in the
National cause never faltered nor
'was shaded by a doubt — the strongly
prevalent opinion of the loyal States,
throughout the Spring of 1864, im
ported that Gen. Grant would make
short work of what was left of the
Confederacy. Hence, the Spring
Elections were scarcely contested by
the Opposition : New Hampshire
opening them with an overwhelming
Bepublican triumph;1 Connecticut
following with one equally decided,"
though her Democratic candidate for
Governor was far less obnoxious to
War Democrats than his predecessor
had been ; and, though Ehode Island
showed a falling off in the Eepubli-

' Total vote: .......
Governor. . .Oil more, 87,000

Democratic.
Harrington, 81,840

2 Total vote: RepubUcan.
Qovernor, .Buckingham,

Democratic.
9,8200. S. Seymour, 34,162

KENTUCKY AND PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

655

can majority,' it was simply because,
in the absence of any election for
Congress, and in view ofthe certainty
that the Bepublican ascendency
would be maintained, no serious ef
fort was made to call out a full vote,
and personal considerations exerted
tlieir natural influence in so small a
State when no special or urgent rea
son is presented for a rigid respect
to party lines.
The Presidential Election in im
mediate prospect soon fixed that
share of public attention whieh could
be diverted from the progress of hos
tilities wherein every one's hopes and
fears were largely involved, and
wherein almost every one was, either
himself or in the persons of those dear
to him, engaged. Among Republi
cans and those Democrats whom the
War had constrained to act with
them, there was a very considerable
dissent from the policy of renomina
ting Mi*. Lincoln ; but, as the canvass
proceeded, the popular sentiment was
found so unequivocally in his favor
that no serious or concerted resist
ance to suehrenoruination was made :
its advocates choosing delegates to
the National Convention, with barely
a show of resistance, from nearly
every loyal State — Missouri, because
of the intense Radicalism of her fire-
tried Unionists, being the solitary
exception. Kentucky, however, had a creed
of her own. Professedly Union, as
she had been proved by every test
and at each succeeding election, she
still remained pro-Slavery ; unlike the
other * Border-States,' whieh had al
ready been brought distinctly to com

prehend that they must choose be
tween Emancipation and Disunion.
So when, pursuant to the act of Con
gress" providing for the enrollment,
as subject to military duty, of all able-
bodied male slaves between the ages
of 20 and 45, Federal officers com
menced such enrollment, a fresh, in
tense excitement pervaded her slave-
holding districts, whieh impelled her
Governor, Thomas E. Bramlette —
(elected "as a Unionist by an over
whelming majority8 over Charles A.
Wickliffe, the Democratic candidate,
but not without great and apparently
well-grounded complaint of Military
interference at the polls, to the pre
judice of the Opposition) — to ad
dress' to the people of his State a
proclamation, counseling them not
to let tlieir " indignation," provoked
by this enrollment, impel them to
" acts of violence, nor to unlawful
resistance." He continued : —
"In the Union, under the Constitution,
and in accordance with law, assort and urge
your rights. It is onr duty to obey the law
until it. is declared, by judicial division, to
be unconstitutional. Tho citizen, whose pro
perty may be taken under it for publio use,
will be entitled, under the imperative man
date of the Constitution, to a just compen
sation for his private property so taken for
publio use. Although the present Congress
may not do us justice, yet it is sale to rely
upon the justice of the American people;
and an appeal to them will not be unheeded
or unanswered. Peace restored, and the
unity of our Government preserved, will
drive to ignominious disgrace those who, in
the agony of our conflict, perverted their
sacred trusts to the base uses of partisan
ends and fanatical purposes."
One immediate result of this en
rollment and the consequent " indig
nation" was a call by the Hi ion
State Committee of a State Con
vention, to meet at Louisville, May

*T<v«»1to«*;

.J. T. Smtth, S.SW
A O. Barstow, 1.SS

G. H. Rwwn*, T.SM

? Mb. 24, ISM. s Aug. 3. 1S6S.
* Bramlette, <>*.:W ; WiokUffo (Dem.), 1T.3S8.
'March 15, 1$S_

656

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

25th, and there choose delegates to
the Democratic National Convention
which was to assemble at Chicago
for the nomination of a Presidential
ticket — a call which insured the vote
of this State in November to the can
didates of the Opposition.
Gov. Bramlette, accompanied by
ex-Senator Dixon and Col. A. G.
Hodges, soon visited "Washington, ex
pressly to protest against, and (if
possible) to obviate, this enrollment
of negroes, or at least to render its
execution less offensive and annoying
to their masters — finding the Presi
dent disposed to do whatever he could
to reconcile the Kentuckians to the
bitter prescription. Mr. Lincoln was
induced to put the substance of his
observations at their interview into
the following letter :
" Executive Mansion, )
" Washington, April 4, 1864. )
"A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort, Ky. :
" My Deae Sie : You ask me to put in
writing the substance of what I verbally
said the other day, in your presence, to
Gov. Bramlette and Senator Dixon. It was
about as follows :
" I am naturally anti-Slavery. If Slavery
is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not
remember when I did not so think and feel ;
and yet I have never understood that the
Presidency conferred upon me an unre
stricted right to act officially upon this
judgment and feeling. It was in the oath
I took that I would to the best of my ability
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitu
tion of the United States. I could not take
the office without taking the oath. Nor
was it my view that I might take an oath
to get power, and break the oath in using
the power. I understood, too, that, in or
dinary and civil administration, this oath
even forbade me to practically indulge my
primary, abstract judgment on the moral
question of Slavery. I had publicly declared
this many times, and in many ways.. And
I aver that, to this day, I have done no offi
cial act in mere deference to my abstract
judgment and feeling on Slavery.. I did
understand, however, that my oath to pre
serve the Constitution to the best of my
ability imposed upon me the duty of pre
serving, by every indispensable means, that

Government — that nation, of which that
Constitution was the organic law. "Was it
possible to lose the nation and yet preserve
the Constitution ? By general law, hfe and
limb must be protected ; yet often a limb
must be amputated to save a life ; but a life
is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt
that measures, otherwise unconstitutional,
might become lawful, by becoming indis
pensable to the preservation of the Constitu
tion, through the preservation, of the nation.
Eight or wrong, I assumed this ground, and
now avow it. I could not feel that, to the
best of my ability, I had even tried to pre
serve the Constitution, if, to save Slavery,
or any minor matter, I should permit the
wreck of Government, country, and Constitu
tion, altogether. "When, early in the war,
Gen. Fremont attempted military emanci
pation, I forbade it, because I did not then
think it an indispensable necessity. "When,
a little later, Gen. Cameron, then Secretary
of "War, suggested the arming ofthe Blacks,
I objected, because I did not yet think it an
indispensable necessity. When, still later,
Gen. Hunter attempted military emancipa
tion, I again forbade it, because I did not yet
think the indispensable necessity had come.
When, in March, and May, and July, 1862,
I made earnest and successive appeals to
the Border States to favor compensated
emancipation, I believed the indispensable
necessity for military emancipation and
arming the Blacks would come, unless
averted by that measure. They declined the
proposition ; and I was, in my best judg
ment, driven to the alternative of either sur
rendering the Union, and, with it, the Con
stitution,, or of laying a strong hand upon
the colored element. I chose the latter.
In choosing it, I hoped for greater gain than
loss ;• but of this I was not entirely confident.
More than a year of trial now shows no
loss by it in our foreign relations, none in
our home popular sentiment, none in our
White military force — no loss by it anyhow,
or anywhere. On the contrary, it shows a
gain of quite 130,000 soldiers, seamen, and
laborers. These are palpable facts, about
which, as facts, there can be no caviling.
"We have the men; and we could not have
had them without the measure.
" And now let any Union man, who com
plains of this measure, test himself by writ
ing down in one line, that he is for subduing
the Eebellion by force of arms ; and in the
next, that he is for. taking 130,000 men from
the Union side, and placing them where
they would be but for the measure he con
demns. If he can not face his case so stated,
it is only because he can not face the truth.
" I add a word which was not in the ver
bal conversation. In telling this tale, I at
tempt no compliment tp my own sagacity.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ANTI-SLAVERT GROWTH. 657

I claim not to have controlled events, but
confess plainly that events have controlled
me. Now, at the end of three years' strug
gle, the nation's condition is not what either
party or any man devised or expected.
God alone can claim it. Whither it is tend
ing seems plain. If God now wills the re
moval of a great wrong, and wills also that
we of the North, as well as you ofthe South,
Bhall pay fairly for our complicity in that
wrong, impartial history will find therein
new causes to attest and revere the justice
and goodness of God.
" Yours, truly, ¦ A. Lincoln."
Persuasive and cogent as this let
ter will now seem, it did not placate
the indignation of the Kentuckians,
nor change the destination of their
delegates from the Chicago to the
Baltimore Convention.
The careful reader will note in this
letter a decided advance upon Mr.
Lincoln's earlier allusions to Slavery
in its necessary relations to our strug
gle. By nature, slow, cautious, ten
tative, and far from sanguine, he had
profoundly distrusted the policy of
Emancipation; apprehending that its
adoption would alienate from the
Union cause more strength than it
would bring to its support. This
distrust yielded tardily to evidence,
which (in fact) was slowly furnished ;
but when at length it appeared that,
while very few original, hearty
Unionists were repelled by it, the
Blacks became day by day a more
active and more efficient element of
our National strength, his doubts
were fully dispelled, and his faith
was the firmer and clearer «for his
past skepticism. Hence, at the great
gathering which inaugurated 8 the
National Cemetery carved from the
battle-field of Gettysburg for the
ashes of our brethren who there died
that their country might live, though
the elaborately polished oration of

Edward Everett was patiently listen
ed to, while Cabinet Ministers and
Governors were regarded with lively
curiosity, the central figure on the
platform was the tall, plain, unpre-
suming, ungainly ' rail-splitter ' from
the prairies ; and the only words ut
tered that the world cares to remem
ber were those of the President, who
— being required to say something —
thus responded :
" Fourscore and seven years ago, our fa
thers Drought forth upon this continent a
new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedi
cated to the proposition that all men are
created equal. Now we are engaged in a great
civil war, testing whether th at nation, or any
nation so conceived and so dedicated, can
long endure. "We are met on a great battle
field of that war. We have come to dedicate
a portion of that field as a final resting-place
for those who here gave their lives that that
nation might live. It is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this. But, in a
larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not
consecrate, we can not hallow this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who strug
gled here, have consecrated it far above our
power to add or detract. The world will
little note, nor long remember, what we say
here ; but it can never forget what they did
here. It is for us, the living, rather to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work which
they who fought here have thus far so no
bly advanced. It is rather for us to be here
dedicated to the great task remaining before
us, that from these honored dead we take
increased devotion to that cause for which
they gave the last full measure of devotion ;
that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain ; that this na
tion, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom; and that government ofthe peo
ple, by the people, and for the people, shall
not perish from the earth."
The first National Convention- of
1864 met at Cleveland, May 31st,
pursuant to a call " To the Badical
Men of the Nation." About 350
persons were present ;r very few or
none of them in the, capacity of dele
gates. Ex-Gov. "William F. John
ston, of Pa., was made temporary
and Gen. John Cochrane, of N. T.,

vol. n. — _2.

8 Nov. 19, 1863.

658

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

permanent presiding officer. Gen.
John C. Fremont was here nominated
for President, and Gen. John Coch
rane for Yice-President. The plat
form adopted is as follows :
"1st. That the Federal Union shall be
preserved. " 2d. That the Constitution and laws of
the United States must be observed and
obeyed. "3d. That the Eebellion must be sup
pressed by force of arms, and without com
promise. " 4th. That the rights of free speech, free
press, and the habeas corpus, be held invio
late, save in districts where martial law has
been proclaimed.
" 5th. That the Eebellion has destroyed
Slavery, and the Federal Constitution should
be amended to prohibit its reestablish ment,
and to secure to all men absolute equality
before the law.
"6th. That integrity and economy are
demanded at all times in the administration
of the Government; and that in time of
war the want of them is criminal.
"7th. That the right of asylum, except
for crime and subject to law, is a recognized
principle of American liberty; that any
violation of it can not be overlooked, and
must not go unrebuked.
"8th. That the national policy known as
the ' Monroe doctrine' has become a re
cognized principle ; and that the establish
ment of an anti-republican Government on
this continent by any foreign power can not
be tolerated.
" 9th. That the gratitude and support of
the nation are due to the faithful soldiers
and the earnest leaders of the Union army
and navy for their heroic achievements and
deathless valor in defense of our imperiled
country and of civil liberty.
" 10th. That the one-term policy for the
Presidency, adop'ted by the people; is
strengthened by the force of the existing
crisis, and should be maintained by consti-
. tutional amendment.
" llth. That the Constitution should be
so amended that the President and Vice-
President shall be elected by a direct vote
of the people.
" 12th. That the question of the recon
struction of the rebellious States belongs to
the people, through their representatives in
Congress, and not to the Executive.
" 13th. That the confiscation of the lands
ofthe rebels, and their distribution among
the soldiers and actual settlers, is a measure
of justice." Gen. Fremont, in his letter of ac

ceptance, repudiated the sweeping
policy of confiscation above indi
cated. Gen. Cochrane demurred to
such confiscation, but remitted the
question to the wisdom of Congress,
when it should be called to act on
the subject of Beconstruction.
Ultimately, both candidates with
drew' from the contest; convinced
that the great mass of the popular
vote must be divided between the
' Union' and the ' Democratic' tickets.

The ' Union ' National Convention
assembled at Baltimore, Tuesday,'
June 7. Bev. Bobert J. Breckin
ridge, D. D., of Kentucky, was made
temporary and Hon. William Den-
nison, ex-Governor of Ohio, perma
nent President. All but the incon-
testably, persistently Bebel States
were found to be represented. Hon.
Preston King, of N. T., from the
Committee on Credentials, reported
in favor of admitting all the dele
gates claiming seats, but those from
South Carolina and the ' Conserva
tive' Unionists from Missouri: the
delegations from the Territories, from
the District of Columbia, and from
the States of Yirginia, Tennessee,
Louisiana, Florida, and Arkansas,
not to be entitled to vote. Upon
consideration, this report was over
ruled so far as to authorize — by a
vote of 310 to 151 — the delegates
from Tennessee to vote ; those from
Louisiana and Arkansas were like
wise authorized to vote, by 307 to
167. . The delegates from Nebraska,
Colorado, and Nevada, were then
allowed also to vote ; but not those
from Yirginia, Florida, and the re
maining territories.
Mr. Henry J. Baymond, ofN. T.,
reported the platform, which was

BALTIMORE NATIONAL PLATFORM OF 1864.

659

unanimously adopted. It is as fol
lows : —
'' " Resolved, That it is the highest duty of
every American citizen to maintain against all
their enemies the integrity of the Union and
the paramount authority of the Constitution
and the laws of the United States ; and that,
laying aside all differences and political opin
ions, we pledge ourselves as Union men,
animated by a common sentiment, and aim
ing at a common object, to do everything
in our power to aid the Government in
quelling by force of arms the Eebellionnow
raging against its authority, and in bringing
to the punishment, due to their crimes, the
Kebels and traitors arrayed against it.
"Resolved, That we approve the determina
tion ofthe Government of the United States
not to compromise with Eebels, nor to offer
them any terms of peace except such as may
be based upon an unconditional surrender of
their hostility and a return to their just al
legiance to the Constitution and the laws of
the United States ; and that we call upon
the Government to maintain this position,
and to prosecute the war with the utmost
possible vigor to the complete suppression
of the Eebellion, in full reliance npon the
self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor,
and the undying devotion of the American
people to their country and its free institu
tions. " Resolved, That, as Slavery was the cause
and now constitutes the strength of this Ee
bellion, and as it must be always and every-
* where hostile to the principles of repubhcan
government, justice and the national safety
demand its utter and complete extirpation
from the soil of the Eepuhlic ; and that we
uphold and maintain the acts and proclama
tions by which the Government, in its own
defense, has aimed a death-blow at this gi
gantic evil. "We are in favor, furthermore,
of such an amendment to the Constitution,
to be made by the people in conformity with
its provisions, as shall terminate, and forever
prohibit the existence of Slavery within the
limits or the jurisdiction ofthe United States.
"Resolved, That the thanks of the Ameri
can people are due to the soldiers and sailors
of the Army and the Navy who have periled
their lives in defense of their country, and
in vindication ofthe honor ofthe flag; that
the nation owes to them some permanent
recognition of their patriotism and their
valor, and ample and permanent provision
for those of their survivors who have re
ceived disabling and honorable wounds in
the service of the country; and that the
memories of those who have fallen in its de
fense shall be held in grateful and everlast
ing remembrance.
"Resolved, That we approve and applaud

the practical wisdom, the unselfish patriot
ism and unswerving fidelity to the Con stitu
tion and the principles of American Liber
ty, with which Abraham Lincoln has dis
charged, under circumstances of unparal
leled difficulty, the great duties and respon
sibilities of the Presidential office ; that we
approve and indorse, as demanded by the
emergency and essential to the preservation
of the nation, and as within the Constitu
tion, the measures and acts which he has
adopted to defend the nation against its open
aud secret foes ; that we approve especially
the Proclamation of Emancipation, and the
employment as Union soldiers of men here
tofore held in slavery ; and that we have full
confidence in his determination to carry out
these and all other constitutional measures
essential to the salvation of the country into
full and complete effect.
" Resolved, That we deem, it essential to
the general welfare that harmony should
prevail in the National councils ; and we re
gard as worthy of public confidence and offi
cial trust, those only who cordially indorse the
principles proclaimed in these resolutions,
and which should characterize the adminis
tration of the Government.
"Resolved, That the Government owes to
all men employed in its armies, without re
gard to distinction of color, the full protec
tion of the laws of war ; and that any vio
lation of these laws or of the usages of civil
ized nations in the time of war by the Eebels
now in arms should be made the subject of
full and prompt redress.
"Resolved, That the foreign immigration
which in the past has added so much to the
wealth and development of resources and
increase of power to this nation, the asylum
of the oppressed of all nations, should be
fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just
policy. "Resolved, That we are in favor of a
speedy construction of the railroad to the
Pacific coast.
"Resolved, That the National faith, pledged
for the redemption ofthe public debt, must
be kept inviolate ; and that for this purpose
we recommend economy and rigid responsi
bility in the public expenditures, and a
vigorous and just system of taxation ; that
it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain
the credit and promote the use of the Na
tional Currency.
" Resolved, That we approve the position
taken by the Government, that the people
of the United States can never regard with
indifference the attempt of any European
power to overthrow by force or to supplant
by fraud the institutions of any republican
government on the Western Continent, and
that they will view with extreme jealousy,
as menacing to the peace and independence

660

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

of this our country, the efforts of any such
power to obtain new footholds for monarch
ical governments, sustained by a foreign
military force in near proximity to the
United States."
On proceeding to vote for a Presi
dential candidate, Abraham Lincoln
was named by the delegates from each
State and Territory permitted to vote,
save Missouri, which named Gen.
Grant. Mr. Lincoln was then unani
mously nominated.
The Convention proceeded to vote
for Yice-President, with the follow
ing result :

Andrew Johnson  200
Daniel S. Dickinson.. 103

Hannibal Hamlin  150
Scattering  59

Several delegations thereupon
changed to Johnson ; who was nomi
nated without further balloting by
_9-i votes to 26 for others.
These nominations were formally
tendered and heartily accepted. Mr.
Johnson's letter of acceptance, in its
allusion to Slavery, tersely expressed
what had ere this become the gene
rally accepted faith of War Demo
crats — as follows :
" It is in vain to attempt to reconstruct
the Union with the distracting element of
Slavery in it. Experience has demonstra
ted its incompatibility with free and repub
lican governments, and it would be unwise
and unjust longer to continue it as one of
the institutions of the country. While it
remained subordinate to the Constitution
and laws of the United States, I yielded to
it my support ; but when it became rebel
lious, and attempted to rise above the Gov
ernment, and control its action, I threw my
humble influence against it."

The resolves of the Union, like
those of the Badical Convention,
were, as we have seen, pitched in a
very high key. The delegates had
been chosen, had assembled, and de
liberated, in the prevalent conviction
that Grant's advance from the Eapi
dan and Sherman's from the Tennes
see had each been a series of un
broken and not costly successes —

that the Eebellion was already reel
ing under their heavy blows — that
Eichmond and Atlanta were on the
point of falling — and that their fall
involved that of the Confederacy.
No doubt, no apprehension, disturbed
the serenity of the Baltimore plat
form-builders. Their language was
that of a monarch who had subdued*
an insurrection, aud was intent on
dispensing rewards to his lieutenants
and pronouncing the doom of the
defeated insurgents. In this spirit,
the Convention met, acted, and dis
solved ; assured that the year 186_ t
would witness alike the reelection of
President Lincoln and the downfall
of the Eebellion.
Events soon transpired wliich ma
terially changed the aspect of affairs.
Gen. Grant's determined attack at
Cold Harbor was found to have been '
not merely unsuccessful — that had
been frankly and promptly admitted
— but an exceedingly expensive and
damaging failure — damaging not
merely in the magnitude of our
loss, but in its effect on the morale
and efficiency of our chief army. It
had extinguished the last hope of
crushing Lee north of the James,
and of interposing that army between
him and the Confederate capital.
The failure to seize Petersburg when^
it would easily have fallen, and the
repeated and costly failures to carry
its defenses by assault, or even to
flank them on the south — the luck-
less conclusion of Wilson's and
Kautz's raid to Staunton river —
Sheridan's failure to unite with Hunt
er in Lee's rear — Sturgis's disastrous
defeat by Forrest near Guntown —
Hunter's failure to carry Lynchburg,
and eccentric line of retreat — Sher
man's bloody repulse at Kenesaw, and

GOV. CHASE AND THE NATIONAL FINANCES.

661

the compelled slowness of his advance
on Atlanta — Early's unresisted swoop
down the Yalley into Maryland, his
defeat of Wallace at the Monoeacy,
and his unpunished demonstration
against the defenses of Washington
itself — the raids of his troopers up to
.the suburbs of Baltimore, on the
Philadelphia Bailroad, and even up
into Pennsylvania; burning Cham
bersburg and alarming even Pitts
burg — and finally the bloody, wretch
ed fiasco of the Mine explosion be
fore Petersburg — these, and other
reverses, relieved by a few and un
impressive triumphs — rendered the
midsummer of 1804 one of the gloom
iest seasons of our great struggle for
the upholders of the National cause.
An impudent and treasonable
stock-jobbing forgery, purporting to
be a Proclamation by the President "
— confessing the failure of Grant's
advance on Bichmond and the co
operating efforts, and ordering a fresh
levy of men to recruit our decimated
armies — though speedily detected
and exposed, had meantime been
flashed over the country ; and had,
while producing its intended effect
on the prices of the National and
other securities, caused a momentary
sinking of the popular heart, which
its exposure did not wholly counter
vail. Another and profounder shock
to public confidence followed ; in
' the resignation >0 of Hon. Salmon
P. Chase as Secretary of the Trea
sury. Gov. Chase had filled in the
public service, through years of doubt,
depression, and disaster, the second
place in importance, and the first
in the magnitude of its require
ments, and had discharged its duties

with preeminent ability, energy, and
courage. When he accepted it, on
the accession of Mr. Lincoln, the Fi
nances were already in chaos ; the
current revenue being inadequate,
even in the absence of all expendi
ture or preparation for war ; his pre
decessor " having attempted to borrow
$10,000,000 in October, 1860, and
obtained only $7,022,000— the bid
ders to whom the balance was award
ed choosing to forfeit their initial
deposit rather than take and pay for
their bonds. Thenceforth, he had.
tided over till his resignation, by sell
ing treasury notes payable a year
from date at 6 to 12 per cent, dis
count ; and when, after he had van
ished from the scene, Gen. Dix, who
succeeded him in Mr. Buchanan's
Cabinet, attempted '" to borrow a
small sum on twenty-year bonds at 6
per cent., he was obliged to sell those
bonds at an average discount of 9^
per cent. Hence, of Mr. Chase's first
loan of $8,000,000, for which bids
were opened13 ten days before Beaure
gard first fired on Fort Sumter, the
offerings ranged from 5 to 10 per cent.
discount ; and only $3,099,000 were
tendered at or under 6 per cent, dis
count — he, in the face of a vehement
clamor, declining all bids at higher
rates of discount than 6 per cent.,
and placing, soon afterward, the
balance of the $8,000,000 in two-
year treasury notes at par or a frac
tion over.
Such were the financial auspices
under which the Eepublic com
menced the most gigantic and costly
struggle that the world had ever
known — a struggle in which it was
ultimately required to keep on foot
an army of one million men, with a

'May IS. I0 June 30. " Howell Cobb, of Georgia. uInFob.,1861. "April 2.

662

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

vast and costly steam navy — a war
in which well-appointed armies had
to be transported by water or by rail
roads for hundreds of miles — a war
for which nearly every weapon, every
carriage, every means of offense or
defense, had to be created or bought
on the spur of the exigency — a war
wherein our inexperience and lack
of adaptation to the business were
serious elements of cost— a war where
in countless millions had to be raised on
the heel of every great disaster— often,
when our seat of Government was in
imminent peril of capture, and when
foreigners, with scarcely an excep
tion, proclaimed our cause already
hopelessly lost, and deafened the gen
eral ear with their vehement protests
against the criminal madness of pour
ing out rivers more of blood and
heaping up mountains of debt to no
possible 'end but to gratify a sullen,
stupid, brutal obstinacy — a bankrupt
but inexorable pride. When we add
that a very considerable proportion
of the wealth and intelligence of the
loyal States was profoundly hostile
to the prosecution of the War on our
part, as fatal to all hopes of any de
sirable or even possible restoration of
the Union, and, very naturally, not
only refrained from subscribing to
the loans continually pressed on the
market, but dissuaded others from
subscribing, and that we number
few moneyed capitalists among our
people — most, even of those in thrifty
and comfortable circumstances, being
oftener in debt than otherwise, while
very few are accustomed to control
considerable sums in money — it must
be felt that the raising, in one way
or another, of the gigantic loans and
other means whereby the War was
at length brought to a triumphant

conclusion, was the standing miracle
ofthe contest. Had the wildest devo
tee of ' Manifest Destiny ' been asked
beforehand to estimate the extent to
which our Government could borrow
money or incur debt to prosecute a
Civil War which imperiled its ex
istence, he could hardly have gone
beyond One Thousand Millions of
Dollars — which was barely a third of
the debt actually created ; and, when
we consider also the State and local
debts likewise incurred in raising and
fitting out their several contingents,
the actual debt incurred was probably
over Four Billions — the total expendi
ture in prosecuting the War on our
side being considerably above that
stupendous sum.
The marvel of this achievement is
not dwarfed by the fact that the
Eebels encountered even greater
financial straits and struggled through
kindred difficulties. They were fight
ing almost always on their own soil
— they used railroads, &c, as though
they were public property — nearly
all their men of wealth and position
either were or professed to be wholly
devoted to their cause, and ready to
contribute whatever they had to its
maintenance. They paid nothing as
bounties to recruits, obtaining them
by a relentless conscription ; their
marches were hundreds of miles to
our thousands. On the ocean, they
spent little or nothing ; while our out
lay for vessels, in building, equip
ping, and maintaining our fleets and
naval armaments, amounted to hun
dreds of millions of dollars. True,
they were obliged to resort to irre
deemable paper earlier, while its
depreciation proceeded faster and
much farther than ours; but, hav
ing ceased to pay their soldiers, and

NATIONAL DEBT— CURRENCY DEPRECIATION.

663

feeding thorn mainly by requisitions,
they were ablo to prosecute the con
test after their credit was gone and
their currency worthies. ; whereas,
had the time ever arrived when
'greenbacks' would no longer buyba-
oon, at some not absolutely intolera
ble price, that circumstance must
have ended tho War. Tho South
was not so rich nor so populous that
an invading army might there sup
port itself, however amply provided
with amis and munitions.
Tho rapid growth of our National
Debt is summarily exhibited iu the
following table : —

IStfO— June- 80— total.
ISiU 
1S6. " - "
18(58 
1S6-4 " "
ISM— March 81stu...

. $64.7i'>i>,703 90,$i57,S2S
51-k_ll.STl
],0<.»7.5T4.ROO
l,740,08i>,0$!>
.. 2,42:1,487,001

1SiU> — .Tan. 1 (Jess cash on
hand)  2,7*9,491,745
To make treasury notes, or any
form of 0 o\ eminent promise, a legal
tender, is an exercise of sovereign
power which only a great public exi
gency will just i ly, and which a states
man will hesitate long before resort
ing to ; but there are eases wherein
no practical alternative exists; and
ours was such a ease.
Tho banks ofthe loyal States were
forced to suspend specie payments in
December, IStil — followed, of course,
by tlie Treasury, whose heavy de
mands had been the primary cause
of suspension. The act of Congress
that authorised w an issue of treasury
notes, which should be a legal tender
as money throughout the United
States, was a natural consequence.

The amount first provided for was
$150,000,000; but the aggregate is
sued was increased, under subsequent
acts, till it exceeded $.83,000,000, be
side a very large amount in notes
which bore interest and were payable
at a speeilied early day.
Tho general suspension of specio
payment was instantly followed by a
depreciation of the Currency — in
other words, the bank notes which
formed the usual, recognized circula
ting medium wherein payments were
made, sank in value below the coin
thoy represented — the disparity being
indicated by the jnrcmium at whieh
gold could be purchased with irre
deemable paper. Throughout Janu
ary, 1S0_, this ranged from 1 to 5
per cent. ; in February, its range of
fluctuation was within those extremes,
or from _ i- to _£ per cent. In March,
April, and May — though the ' Legal
Tender' act had meantime been
passed and the issue of treasury notes
(or -greenbacks') commenced — the
range was from 1 J to 8£ per cent. ;
but in June it mounted to 9 J ; and
in July (after McClellan's failure be
fore Bichmond) to _0J- per cent. Iu
August, it foil off — varying from 1_£
to 15J ; but in September it mount
ed to __£, and in October to 36 J per
cent. In November and December,
it ranged between _ _>$¦ and SSf : but,
in January, 1S63 — under the dis
heartening influence of Burnside's
misfortunes at and near Fredericks
burg — it Ment up to 60 per cent.
Here are its highest and lowest
rulings during the two following
years of anxiety and doubt1— of alter
nate hope and despair:

M Virtual closo of ths War. But tbe paying
Off and mustering out of our vast annie^, tho
eetttanont of «utat*ndi:\£ bills, Ac, requited —

as the next item indicates— oaariy Four Hun
dred Millions more,* raising our total Debt to
about $3,800,000,000. ¦ JW_ 25, 1S63.

664

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Highest.
January  160 ..
February  172$..
Msttch  171 ..
April  159i..
May  156 ..
June  149...
July  145$..
August  128$..
September  142$. .
October  156...
November  154. . .
December  153 ..

1863.

Lowest. .188$.. .152*..
.189$...146 ..
.143$ .140$.. .183$..
.122$..
.121$.. .142$.. .143$...146$..

1864.
Highest. Lowest.
...159$  151$
...160$.  157$
.. 170 .
...189 .
..195 .
...252 .
...290 .
...261 .
...254$.. ..222i-
...260 .
...243}..

.159$ .164
.167$
..167 .229
..231 .185
..189 .209$.211
By the pecuniary gauge thus af
forded, it appears that the very darkest
hours of our contest — those in which
our loyal people most profoundly de
spaired of a successful issue — were
those of July and August, 1864; fol
lowing Grant's repulse from Cold
Harbor, the mine explosion before
Betersburg, and during Early's un
punished incursion into Maryland,
and his cavalry's raids up to Cham
bersburg and McOonnellsburg.

Two abortive efforts to open a door
to accommodation between the belli
gerents were made during this gloomy
period. One of these originated
with certain Confederates then in
Canada, one of whom wrote 1B to the
author of this work, averring that
Messrs. Clement C. Clay, of Alabama,
James P. Holcombe, of Yirginia, and
Geo. _T. Sanders (the writer) would
proceed to "Washington in the interest
of Peace, if full protection were ac
corded them. Being otherwise confi
dentially assured that the two former
had full powers from Bichmond, Mr.
Greeley forwarded the application to
President Lincoln, urging that it be
responded to, and suggesting certain
terms of reunion and peace which he
judged might be advantageously prof
fered to the Bebels, whether they
should be accepted or rejected. The
facts that an important election was
then pending in North Carolina,
wherein "William "W. Holden was an

avowed anti-Davis and virtual re
union candidate for Governor, and
that his triumph would be a stagger
ing blow to the Confederacy, were
urged as affording special reasons for
treating the Niagara overture in such
manner as to strengthen the Peace
Party in that and in other revolted
States. The "Plan of Adjustment"
which he suggested that the Presi
dent might advantageously offer, in
case he should decide to make any
offer, was as follows :
" 1. The Union is restored and declared
perpetual. "2. Slavery is utterly and forever abolish
ed throughout the same.
" 3. A complete amnesty for all political
offenses, with a restoration of all the in
habitants of eaoh State to all the privileges
of citizens of the United States.
"4. The Union to pay four hundred mil
lion dollars ($400,000,000) in five per cent
United States stock to the late Slave States,
loyal and secession alike, to be apportioned
pro rata, according to their slave population
respectively, by the census of 1860, in com
pensation for the losses of their loyal citi
zens by the abolition of Slavery. Each
State to be entitled to its quota upon the
ratification by its Legislature of this adjust
ment. The bonds to be at the absolute dis
posal of the Legislature aforesaid.
" 5. The said Slave States to be entitled
henceforth to representation in the House on
the basis of their total, instead of their Fede
ral population : the whole being now free.
" 6. A National Convention to be assem
bled so soon as may be, to ratify this adjust
ment, and make such changes in the Con
stitution as may be deemed advisable."
He added :
" I do not say that a just peace is now at
tainable, though I believe it to be so. But I
do say that a frank offer by you to the in
surgents of terms which the impartial must
say ought to be accepted, will, at the worst,
prove an immense and sorely needed advan
tage to the National cause. It may save us
from a Northern insurrection.
" P. S. — Even though it should be deem
ed unadvisable to make an offer of terms to
the Rebels, I insist that, in any possible case,
it is desirable that any offer they may.be
disposed to make should be received, and
either accepted or rejected. I beg you to

" July 5, 1864.

PEACE OVERTURES AT NIAGARA AND RICHMOND.

665

invite those now at Niagara to exhibit their
credentials and submit their ultimatum. "H. G."
^ The President hereupon saw fit —
alike to the surprise and the regret of
his correspondent — to depute him to
proceed to Niagara, and there com
municate with the persons in question.
He most reluctantly consented to go,
but under a misapprehension which
insured the failure of the effort in any
event. Though he had repeatedly
and explicitly written to the President
that he knew nothing as to what the
Confederates in Canada might or
would propose as a basis of adjust
ment, and did not greatly care (since
the more unreasonable their proposi
tion, the better for the National cause),
and had neither purpose nor desire to
be made a confidant, much less an
agent in the premises, it was expected
on the President's part that he was
virtually and substantially to nego
tiate and settle the basis of a pacifi
cation with them ; so that their visit
to Washington was in effect to be the
result, and not the possible occasion,
of adjustment and peace. This ex
pectation was indicated in a final
note from the President, transmitted
by his Private Secretary, Maj. Hay,
with the message that sent him to
Niagara; but its purport was mis
apprehended in view of his explicit, re
peated refusals to do more in the pre
mises than be the means of bringing
the Confederate agents to Washing
ton, provided they should prove to be
responsibly accredited. The whole
matter thus terminated in failure
and disappointment, with some ex
asperation on the Bebel side, and
very decided condemnation on the
part of the Opposition, because of a
final missive from the President,
couched in these terms :

"Executive Mansion, )
" "Washington, July 18, 1864. (
" To whom it may concern :
"Any proposition which embraces the
restoration of peace, the integrity of the
whole Union, and the abandonment of Sla
very, and which comes by and with an au
thority that can control the armies now at
war against the United States, will be re
ceived and considered by the Executive
Government of the United States, and will
be met by liberal terms on substantial and
collateral points ; and the bearer or hearers
thereof shall have safe conduct both ways.
" (Signed) Abeaham Lincoln."
Messrs. Clay and Holcombe made
the most of this in a public mani
festo, intended to ' fire the Southern
heart,' and to disaffect those in the
loyal States who were anxious for
honorable peace at the earliest mo
ment. And there was a very wide
spread impression that the overture
of the Confederates had not been
met inlhe manner best calculated to
strengthen the National cause and
invigorate the arm of its supporters.
In other words, it was felt that —
since the overture originated with
them — they should have been allow
ed to make their own proposition,
and not required in effect to make
one dictated to them from our side,
however inherently reasonable.
But, happily, another negotiation
— even more irregular and wholly
clandestine— had simultaneously been
in progress at Bichmond, with a
similar result. Bev. Col. James F.
Jaques, 73d Blinds, with Mr. J. B.
Gilmore, of New York, had, with
President .Lincoln's knowledge, but
without his formal permission, paid
a visit to the Confederate capital
on a Peace errand ; being allowed to
pass through the lines of both armies
for the purpose. Arrived in Bich
mond, they addressed a joint letter
to Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of
State, requesting an interview with

666

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

President Davis, which was accord
ed ; and a long, familiar, earnest col
loquy ensued, wherein the Confede
rate chief presented his ultimatum in
these terms :
" I desire peace as much as you do ; I
deplore bloodshed as much as you do ; but
I feel that not one drop of the blood shed
in this War is on my hands — I can look
up to my God and say this. I tried all in
my power to avert this War. I saw it com
ing, and for twelve years I worked night
and day to prevent it ; but I could not.
The North was mad and blind; it would
not let us govern ourselves; and so the
War came : and now it must go on till the
last man of this generation falls in his tracks,
and his children seize his musket and fight
our battle, unless you acknowledge our right
to self-government. We are not fighting for
Slavery, We are fighting for Indepen
dence ; and that or extermination we will
have." Again, at parting, Mr. Davis bade
them —
"Say to Mr. Lincoln, from me, that I
shall at any time be pleased to receive pro
posals for peace on the basis of our inde
pendence. It will be useless to approach
me with any other."
Thus it was not only incontestably
settled but proclaimed, through the
volunteered agency of two citizens,
that the War must go on until the
Confederacy should be recognized as
an independent power, or till it should
be utterly, finally overthrown. The
knowledge of this fact was worth

more than a victory to the National
cause. For, though the Confederate
chiefs had ever held but one language
on this point — had at no time given any
one reason to believe that they might
be reconciled to the Union — it was
habitually assumed by the Opposi
tion in the loyal States that they
were fighting not against the Union,
but against Abolition ; and that they
might easily be placated and won to
loyalty, were but the Democratic
party restored to power."

The Democratic National Conven
tion had been originally called1" to
assemble at Chicago on the 4th of
July ; but its meeting was, in June,
postponed to the 29th of August;
on which day, it there assembled,
and was fully organized, with Gov.
Horatio Seymour, of New York, as
President. The States not absolutely
in the power of the Bebellion were
fully and strongly represented ; but,
in addition to the delegates, there
was a vast concourse of the mas
ter-spirits of the party, especially
from the Western States, where hos
tility to the War was more pronounced
and unqualified than at the East;
while the ' Order of American
Knights,' 'Sons of Liberty,' or by

17 John B. Jones, formerly editor of the
Southern Monitor, Philadelphia, who returned to
his native South at the outbreak of the Rebel-
Eon, and obtained a clerkship in the Confederate
War Department, in his 'Rebel War-Clerk's
Diary,' thus records an incident of Mr. C. L.
Vallandigham' s brief sojourn in the Confederacy
under the sentence of Gen. Burnside's court-
martial': —
"June 22d, 1863. — To-day, I saw the memoran
dum of Mr. Ould, of the conversation held with
Mr. Vallandigham, for file in the archives. He
says, if we can only hold out this year, ihai the
Peace party of fhe North would sweep the Lincoln
dynasty out of political existence. He seems to
have thought that our cause was sinking, and
feared we would submit ; which would, of course,
be ruinous to his party. But he advises strongly

against any invasion of Pennsylvania ; for that
would unite all parties at the North, and so
strengthen Lincoln's hands that he would be able
to crush all opposition, and trample upon the
constitutional rights of the people.
" Mr. Vallandigham said nothing to indicate
that either he or the party had any other idea
than that the Union would be reconstructed un
der Democratic rule. The President indorsed,
with his own pen, on this document, that, in re
gard to invasion of the North, experience proved
the contrary of what Mr. Vallandigham asserted.
But Mr. Yallandigham is for restoring the Union,
amicably, of course ; and, if it can not be so done,
then possibly he is in favor of recognizing our
independence. He says any reconstruction
which is not voluntary on our part would soon
be followed by another separation, and a worse
war than the present one." u Jan. 12.

THE SPIRIT OE THE CHICAGO CONVENTION.

667

Whatever name the secret, oath-bound
leagues of thorough-going sympathi
zers with Slavery and the Eebellion
chose to be known to each other,
were, by evident preconcert, on hand
in extraordinary strength and in im
measurable virulence. Gov. H. Sey
mour — who seems to have nursed
secret hopes of achieving a nomina
tion for the Presidency — made an
extreme anti-War address on assum
ing the chair; but his polished 'sen
tences seemed tame and moderate by
comparison with the fiery utterances
volunteered from hotel balconies, on
street-corners, and wherever space
could be found for the gathering of
an impromptu audience; while the
wildest, most intemperate utterances
of virtual treason — those which would
have caused Lee's army, had it been
present, to forget its hunger and rags
in an ecstasy of approval — were sure
to evoke the loudest and longest
plaudits. For example, the ex-Bev. C.
Chauncey Burr, of New Jersey, thus
set forth his sympathy with the in
surgents : —
" We had no right to burn their wheat-
fields, steal their pianos, spoons, or jewelry.
Mr. Lincoln had stolen a good many thou
sand negroes ; but for every negro he had
thus stolen he had stolen 10,000 spoons. It
had been said that, if the South would lay
down their arms, they would be received
back into the Union. The South could not
honorably lay down her arms, for she was
fighting for her honor. Two millions of
men had been sent down to the slaughter-
pens of the South, and the army of Lincoln
could not again be filled, neither by enlist
ments nor conscription. If he ever uttered
a prayer, it was that no one of the States of
the Union should be conquered and subju
gated." Bev. Henry Clay Dean, of Iowa,
said: " Eor over three years, Lmcoln had been
calling for men, and they had been given.
But, with all the vast armies placed at his
command, he had failed I failed //^failed ! 1 1

FAILED ! ! I ! Such a failure had never
been known. Such destruction of human
life had never been seen since the destruc
tion of Sennacherib by the breath of the
Almighty. And still the monster usurper
wanted more men for his slaughter-pens. *
* * Ever since the usurper, traitor, and
tyrant, had occupied the Presidential chair,
the Bepublican party had shouted 'War to
the knife, and the knife to the hilt !' Blood
had flowed in torrents ; and yet the thirst of
the old monster was. not quenched. His
cry was for more blood."
Such was the spirit of the ha
rangues which were poured forth on
every side throughout the sittings of
that Convention. Their substance
was tersely though coarsely summed
up in the remark of Judge Miller, of
Ohio, that
"There is no real difference between a
War Democrat and an Abolitionist. They
are links of one sausage, made out of the
same dog."
None can say how many of the
vast gathering who yelled assent to
such utterances knew that they were
surrounded by and mixed up with
Eebel officers fresh from Canada, who
had been sent here expressly to co
operate with certain domestic traitors,
high in ofiice in the secret organiza
tions aforesaid, in the sudden muster
ing of a force, mainly of ' American
Knights' (locally known as ' Blini'),
which should first liberate the 8,000
Bebel captives then held in Camp
Douglas, near that city ; thence rush
ing with rapidly augmented numbers
to the achievement of a similar suc
cess at the prison-camp near India
napolis—thus raising the siege of
Bichmond and Atlanta by ' a fire in
the rear' — but that such a conspiracy
had for weeks existed; that many
then in Chicago were heartily en
gaged in it ; and that, but for the ex
traordinary astuteness, vigilance, and
energy, of CoL B. J. Sweet, then in
command over Camp Douglas — there

668

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

would have been at least a desperate
attempt to execute the bloody pro
gramme — are facts which rest on
testimony too positive, and drawn
from too many independent sources,
to be distrusted. But Sweet had
mastered their secret, through the
treachery of one or more who were
trusted by the leaders, and had ac
cumulated such an array of force that,
when the time came for striking the
blow, its failure was so plainly in
evitable that a postponement was or
dered." A strong Committee of one from
each State, whereof Hon. James
Guthrie, of Kentucky, was chairman,
but C. L. Yallandigham, recently re
turned from Canada, a master-spirit,
having been chosen to construct a
party platform for the canvass, that
Committee in due time reported the
following : — ¦
" Resolved, That in the future, as in the
past, we will adhere with unswerving
fidelity to the Union under the Constitution,
as the only solid fouadation of our strength,
security, and happiness as a people, and as
a framework of government equally condu
cive to the welfare and prosperity of all the
States, both Northern and Southern.
" Resolved, That this Convention does ex
plicitly declare, as the sense of the Ameri
can people, that, after four years of failure
to restore the Union by the experiment of
war, during which, under the pretense of a
military necessity of a war power higher
than the Constitution, the Constitution itself
has been disregarded in every part, and pub
lic liberty and private right alike trodden
down, and the material prosperity of the
country essentially impaired, justice, hu
manity, liberty, and the public welfare de
mand that immediate efforts be made for a
cessation of hostilities, with a view to an
ultimate Convention of all the States, or
other peaceable means, to the end that, at

the earliest practicable moment, peace may
be restored on the basis of the Federal
Union ofthe States.
" Resolved, That the direct interference of
the military authority of the United States
in the recent elections held in Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware, was a
shameful violation of the Constitution ; and
the repetition of such acts in the approach
ing election will be held as revolutionary,
and resisted with all the means and power
under our control.
" Resolved, That the aim and object of the
Democratic party is to preserve the Federal
Union and the rights of the States unim
paired; and they hereby declare that they
consider the Administrative usurpation of
extraordinary and dangerous powers not
granted by the Constitution, the subversion
of the civil by military law in States not in
insurrection, the arbitrary military arrest,
imprisonment, trial, and sentence, of Ameri
can citizens in States where civil law exists
in full force, the suppression of freedom of
speech and of the press, the denial of the
right of asylum, the open and avowed dis
regard of State rights, the employment of
unusual test-oaths, and the interference
with and denial of the right of the people
to bear arms, as calculated to prevent a
restoration of the Union and the perpetua
tion of a government deriving its just powers
from the consent of the governed.
" Resolved, That the shameful disregard
of the Administration to its duty, in respect
to our fellow-citizens who now and long
have been prisoners of war in a suffering
condition, deserve the severest reprobation,
on tho score alike of public interest and
common humanity.
"Resolved, That the sympathy of the
Democratic party is heartily and earnestly
extended to the soldiery of our army, who
are and have been in the field under the flag
of our country ; and, in the event of our at
taining power, they will receive all the care
and protection, regard and kindness, that
the brave soldiers of the Republic have so
nobly earned."
There were men in that Convention
whose judgment did not approve this
platform ; but these were intent on
the nomination of McClellan for Pres
ident, and feared to injure his chances

19 Weeks later, with larger means and a bet
ter organization, the conspirators had prepared
for an outbreak on the day of the Presidential
Election ; but Sweet, fully apprised of their de
signs, pounced upon them on the night of Nov.
6, making prisoners of Col. G. St. Leger Gren-

fell, who had been John Morgan's Adjutant, Col.
Vincent [brother of Gen. M. M.] Marmaduke,
Capt. Cantrill, of Morgan's old command, and
several Illinois traitors, thus completely crush
ing out the conspiracy, just as it was on the
point of inaugurating civil war in the North.

MoCLELLAN'S NOMINATION AND PLATFORM.

669

by attempting to stem the torrent.
In fact, the extreme " Peace " men,
who were hostile to McClellan, had
from the first been intent on making
a platform whereon a Major-General
of the Union army could not credita
bly stand ; and they would seem to
have succeeded.
The Convention proceeding to de
signate by ballot a candidate for
President, Gen. McClellan received
162 votes to 64 for others; but seve
ral delegations now changed to Mc
Clellan ; so that the vote, as finally
declared, stood 202£ for McClellan
to 23£ for Thomas H. Seymour, of
Connecticut. Gov. H. Seymour had
voted in his delegation for Justice
Nelson, of the Supreme Court ; but
his vote was swamped by a decided
majority in that delegation for Mc
Clellan, which gave him the full vote
of the State. McClellan's nomina
tion was now made unanimous.
The first vote for Yice-President
showed 65£ for James Guthrie, 5_|
for Geo. H. Pendleton, of Ohio, 32£
for Gov. Powell, of Ky., 26 for Geo.
W. Cass, of Pa., and _7£ scattering.
As Mr. Pendleton had in Congress
been an unswerving opponent of the
War, and, as the "Peace" men
evinced anxiety for his nomination,
Mr. Guthrie's name was withdrawn,
and Mr. Pendleton unanimously
nominated. The Convention soon
dissolved, after providing that it
might be reconvened if necessary.

When the platform was read next
morning by the cooler millions
throughout the land, whose blood had
not been fevered by the harangues
of the ' Sons of Liberty,' it was very
widely felt by Democrats that the

Convention had made an enormous
and probably fatal mistake; whil_
those supporters of Mr. Lincoln, who,
a few weeks earlier, had scarcely
hoped for success, and, even the day
before, had regarded the issue as ex
ceedingly doubtful, laid down their
morning papers in joyful confidence
that their triumph was secure. So
stupendous, so amazing a political
blunder, had not been committed for
the last twenty years.
Directly on the back of this, the
tidings were flashed over the country,
" Sherman has taken Atlanta ! "
" Farragut has carried the defenses
of Mobile ! " emphasized by a Procla
mation a° from President Lincoln for
thanksgiving in all the churches on
the following Sabbath, with " the
National thanks " to Sherman, Far
ragut, Canby, and their associates,.
and salutes of 100 guns from every
Navy Yard and naval arsenal " for
Mobile, followed by like salutes"
from each military headquarters and
military arsenal for Atlanta. It was
in vain that Gen. McClellan attempt
ed to stem the swelling tide, so sud
denly evoked, by a letter of accept
ance which was in effect a repudia
tion of the platform whereon he had
just been placed. He said :
" The Union was originally formed by
the exercise of a spirit of conciliation and
compromise. To restore and preserve it,
the same spirit must prevail in our councils
and in the hearts of the people. The rees-
tablishment of the Union, in all its integ
rity, is and must continue to be the indis
pensable condition in any settlement. So
soon as it is clear, or even probable, that
our present adversaries are ready for peace
upon the basis of the Union, we should ex
haust all the resources of statesmanship
practiced by civilized nations and taught by
the traditions of the American people, con
sistent with the honor and interests of the
country, to secure such peace, reestablish

' Sept 3.

" Sept. 5.

1 Sept. 1.

670

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the Union, and guarantee for the future the
constitutional rights of every State. Tbe
Union is the one condition of peace. We
ask no more.
" Let me add what I doubt not was, al
though unexpressed, the sentiment of the
Convention, as it is ofthe people they repre
sent : that, when any one State is willing
to return to the Union, it should be received
at once, with a full guarantee of all its
constitutional rights. If a frank, earnest,
and persistent effort to obtain these objects
should fail, the responsibility for ulterior
consequences will fall upon those who re
main in arms against the Union ; but the
Union must be preserved at all hazards. I
could not look in the face my gallant com
rades of the army and navy who have sur
vived so many bloody battles, and tell them
that their labors and the sacrifice of so many
of our slain and wounded brethren had been
in vain — that we had abandoned that Union
for which we have so often periled our lives.
A vast majority of our people, whether in
the army and navy, or at home, would, as /
would, hail with unbounded joy the perma
nent restoration of peace on the basis of
the Union under the Constitution, without
the effusion of another drop of blood;
but no peace can be permanent without
Union." The great majority very properly
recognized the Convention, not one of
its candidates, as the authorized ex
pounder of the party's principles and
purposes, and the platform, not the
letter of acceptance, as the authentic
party creed. Gov. Seward, called
out " by a procession of the Lincoln
and Johnson Association of Wash
ington, pungently said :
" Fellow Citizens : The Democracy at
Chicago, after waiting six weeks to see
whether this war for the Union is to succeed
or fail, finally concluded that it would fail ;
and therefore went in for a nomination and
platform to make it the sure thing by a ces
sation of hostilities and an abandonment of
the contest. At Baltimore, on the contrary,
we determined that there should be no such
thing as failure ; and therefore we went in
to save the Union by battle to the last.
Sherman and Farragut have knocked the bot
tom out of the Chicago nominations; and
the elections in Vermont and Maine prove
the Baltimore nominations stanch and
sound. The issue is thus squarely made up

— McClellan and Disunion, or Lincoln and,
Union. Have you any doubt of the result
on -that issue? [Cries of 'No!' 'No!']
Nor do /have any doubt. Many thanks,
my friends, for this visit."
Gen. Fremont now withdrew " his
name from the Presidential canvass,
saying :
" The Presidential contest has, in effect
been entered upon in such a way that the
union of the Republican party had become
a paramount necessity. The policy of the
Democratic party signifies either separation
or reestablishment with Slavery. The Chi
cago platform is simply separation. Gen.
McClellan's letter of acceptance is re-
establishment with Slavery. The Republi
can candidate is, on the contrary, pledged
to the reestablishment ofthe Union without
Slavery ; and, however hesitating his policy
may be, the pressure of his party will, we
may hope, force him to it. Between these
issues, I think that no man of the liberal
party can remain in doubt ; and I believe I
am consistent with my antecedents and my
principles in withdrawing — not to aid in the
triumph of Mr. Lincoln, but to do my part
toward preventing the election of the
Democratic candidate. In respect to Mr.
Lincoln, I continue to hold exactly the senti
ments contained in my letter of acceptance.
I consider that his administration has been
politically, militarily, and financially, a
failure, and that its necessary continuance
is a cause of regret for the country."
A few of the ultra " Peace" men
talked of repudiating McClellan be
cause of his letter of acceptance ; and
some, probably, refused on account
of it to vote for him ; but they finally
ran no ticket : so that their disaffec
tion had scarcely a perceptible effect
on the canvass. Not so the successive
victories of Sheridan in the Yalley ;
which did not serve to elect Lincoln
and Johnson — that had been already
secured— but doubtless contributed
to swell their popular and electoral
majority. 
The Autumn Elections opened, as
usual, with Yermont ;26 which gave a
slight Bepublican gain on the vote

'Sept. 14.

Sept. 17.

25 Sept. 6.

THE OCTOBER ELECTIONS— DEATH OF JUDGE TANEY. 671

of 1863 for Governor,"" and on the
whole ticket. Maine followed;" and
here the Opposition claimed an en
couraging gain : the vote being far
less than that drawn out by the vehe
ment contest of 1863, and the ma
jority reduced in proportion." Both
parties then held their breath for the
returns from the October elections :
Pennsylvania and Indiana having
for an age been held to indicate, by
the results of those elections, the
issue of the pending Presidential
canvass. Indiana now showed a
change of 30,000 since 1862 ; " elect
ing Governor Morton and carrying
the Bepublican tickets throughout
by over 20,000 majority, with 8 Be
publican to 3 Democratic Bepresent-
atives in Congress — -a gain of 4 seats
to the victors. The vote was heavy
beyond precedent — swelled, the losers
said, unfairly. Bennsylvania elected
no State officer this year by a gene
ral vote ; but her representatives in
Congress — before 12 to 12 — were now
15 to 9, with a Legislature strongly
Bepublican in both branches, and an
average popular majority of 10,000 to
15,000. Ohio, on the same day,30
went ' Union' by a popular majority
of 54,754 S1 on Secretary of State ;
while, instead of the 14 Democrats to
5 Bepublicans chosen in '62 to repre
sent her in Congress, she now elected
17 Bepublicans to two Democrats.
These results left little doubt that Mr.
Lincoln would be reelected to the
Presidency.

But no election of that month waa
of more lasting consequence than
that held in Maryland ; 3a which State
was now to adopt or reject the new
Constitution which banished Slavery
from her soil and withdrew the Bight
of Suffrage from those of her citizens
who had abetted the Eebellion. The
Constitution was earned — and bare
ly carried — by the vote of her soldiers
in the field : the total vote, as de
clared, being 30,174 for, to 29,699
against ratifying ; whereof the sol
diers gave 2,633 for, to 163 against
it. Had not the Convention enabled
them to vote in their respective
camps, the Constitution would have
been rejected by all but 2,000 major
ity — the vote in all the lower coun
ties — that is, in all but Baltimore,
Cecil, and the western counties —
showing heavy adverse majorities.
The death of Boger B. Taney,
Chief Justice ofthe United States,
on the day which witnessed this re
sult, was a remarkable coincidence.
Judge Taney had long been a main
bulwark of Slavery, not only in
Maryland, but throughout the Union.
The Dred Scott decision is insepa
rably linked with his name. His
natural ability, eminent legal attain
ments, purity of private character,
fullness of years,ss and the long
period he had officiated as Chief
Justice," caused him to be regarded
by many as a pillar of the State ; and
his death at this moment seemed to
mark the transition from the era of

Sep.
M 1863— Smith, 29,613
1864— Smith, 31,260
"Sept. 12. XPnAon.
M 1863— Cony, 68,299
i 1864— Cony, 62,389
"1862— Peele, 118,517
1864— Morton, 152,084

Dem.
Redfield,
Redfield,

11,96212,283

Dem.
Bradbury, 50,583
Howard, 46,476
Athon, 128,160
McDonald, 131,201

30 Oct. 11.
Union. Dem.
31 Smith, 237,210. Armstrong, 182,439.
33 Oct. 11-12.
33 Born March 17, 1777.
34 Appointed by Gen. Jackson, March, 1836, to
succeed John Marshall, deceased.

672

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Slavery to that of Universal Free
dom. Though he held his office and
discharged its functions to the last,
it was notorious that he did not
and (with his views) could not sym
pathize with the Bepublic iu her
struggle against red-handed Treason.
Originally an ultra-Federalist, Slav
ery had transformed him into a
practical disciple of Calhoun.
The choice of Presidential Elec
tors was made simultaneously 3I> in
every State ; and the result was such
as all intelligent observers had for
weeks anticipated. Gen. McClellan
secured the Electoral votes of New
Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky —
21 in all : the residue — 212 3° — were
cast for Lincoln and Johnson. The
only States wherein the voters were
divided with a near approach to
equality were New York, Pennsylva
nia, Connecticut, Delaware, and per
haps New Hampshire, New Jersey,
and Oregon.
No election was held in the ten
States which were or had been most
completely under the sway of the
Eebellion ; and, though Lincoln 'and
Johnson electors were chosen in Ten
nessee, their vote was not accepted
and counted by Congress. The ag
gregate poll in each loyal State was
as follows : Lincoln. MoClellan.
Maine,  72,278 47,736
New Hampshire  36,595 88,084
Massachusetts  126,742 48,745
Rhode Island  14, 343 8, 71 8
Connecticut  44,693 42,288
Vermont  42,422 13,825
New York  868,726 861,986
New Jersey  60,723 68,014
Pennsylvania  296,389 276,308
Delaware  8,115 8,707
Maryland  40,153 82,789
Kentucky  27,786 64,801
Ohio  265,154 205,568

Lincoln.
Indiana  150,422
Illinois  189,487
Missouri  72,991
Michigan  85.852
Iowa  87,881
Wisconsin  79,664
Minnesota  25,060
California  62,184
Oregon  9,888
Kansas  14,228
West Virginia  23,228
Nevada  9,826

MoCtrtLAN. 180,283 158,349 81,02667,87049,260 68,S7517,875
48,841 8,457
8,871
10,457 6,594

Total  2,218,665 1,802,287
Linooln's popular majority, 411,428.
Fourteen of the States had autho
rized their soldiers in the field to
vote; those of New York sending
home their ballots (sealed) to be cast
by their next friends. Of course, no
one can say hmo her soldiers voted.
The vote of the Minnesota soldiers
did not reach her State canvassers in
season to be counted, and were pro
bably destroyed unopened. So with
most of the Yermont soldiers' vote.
Of the States whose soldiers voted so
that their ballots can be distinguished,
the Army vote was returned as fol
lows : Lincoln. MoClellan.
Maine  4,174 741
New Hampshire  2,066 690
Vermont  248 49
Pennsylvania  26,712 12,849
Maryland  2,800 821
Kentuoky  1,194 2,828
Ohio  41,146 9,757
Michigan  9,402 2,959
Iowa  15,178 1,864
Wisconsin  11,872 2,458
Kansas  2,867 648
California  2,600 287
Total  119,764 84,291
Linooln's majority, 85,461 — over 3 to 1.

Great changes in the composition
of the House of Eepresentatives
necessarily attended this result : the
new House ultimately comparing
with the old as follows :

31 Tuesday, Nov. 8.
"Nevada chose three electors, as she had

a right to do ; but one of them failed to appear,
and his colleagues did not fill his place.

LINCOLN'S LAST MESS AGE — SLAVERY ABOLISHED.

673

XXXVIIIth Congress. XXXIXth Congress
States. Hep.- Union. Dem. Eep.-Union, Dem.
California  3 — 8 
Connecticut  3 1 4 
Delaware  1 — — 1
Illinois  5 9 11 3
Indiana  4 7 8 3
Iowa  6 — 6 —
Kansas  1 — 1 —
Kentucky  4 5 4 5
Maine  4 1 5 —
Maryland  4 1 3 2
Massachusetts. .10 — 10 —
Michigan  5 1 6 • —
Minnesota . .... 2 — 2 —
Missouri  5 4 8 1
New Hampshire 2 1 3 —
New Jersey  1 4 2 3
New Tork  17 14 .20 11
Ohio  5 14 17 2
Oregon  1 — 1 —
Pennsylvania. .. 12 12 15 9
Ehode Island. . . 2 — 2 —
Vermont  3 — 3 —
"West Virginia. .8 — 3 —
Wisconsin. ..... 3 3 5 1
Nevada (new) . . — — 1 —
Total  106 77 143 41
Note.— Some members ultimately became alienated
from the party by whicb they were respectively elected ;
some were unseated as improperly returned; and sev
eral were elected from StateB formerly in revolt who
were not admitted to Beats; the above table conforms
to the original returns.

The XXXYIIIth Congress reas
sembled" soon after the Presidential
Election ; and Mr. Lincoln addressed
to it his last Annual Message. With
reference to the recent election, he
said: " Judging by the recent canvass and its
result, the purpose of the people, within the
loyal States, to maintain the integrity of the
Union, was never more firm, nor more near
ly unanimous, than now. The extraordinary
calmness and good order with which the
millions of voters met and mingled at the
polls give strong assurance of this. Not
only all those who supported the Union
ticket, so called, but a great majority of the
opposing party also, may be fairly claimed
to entertain, and to be actuated by, the
same purpose. It is an unanswerable argu
ment to this effect, that no candidate for
any office whatever, high or low, has ven
tured to seek votes on the avowal that he
was for giving up the Union. There have
been much.impugning of motives, and much

heated controversy as to the proper means
and best mode of advancing the Union
cause ; but, on the distinct issue of Union
or no Union, the politicians have shown
their instinctive knowledge that there is no
diversity among the people. In affording
the people the fair opportunity of showing,
to one another and to the world, this firm
ness and unanimity of purpose, the election
has been of vast value to the National cause."
He discouraged further attempts
at negotiation with " the insurgent
leader," as precluded by the fixed
resolve on. our side not to concede
Disunion and on his to accept nothing
less ; and added :
" In presenting the abandonment of armed
resistance to the National authority, on the
part of the insurgents, as the only indis
pensable condition to ending the war on the
part of the Government, I retract nothing
heretofore said as to Slavery. I repeat the
declaration made a year ago, that, ' while I
remain in my present position, I shall not
attempt to retract or modify the Emancipa
tion Proclamation, nor shall I return to
Slavery any person who is free by the terms
of that Proclamation, or by any of the acts
of Congress.' If the people should, by what
ever mode or means, make it an Executive
duty to reenslave such persons, anotlier, and
not I, must be their instrument to perform it.
" In stating a single condition of peace, I
mean simply to say that the war will cease
on the part of the Government whenever it
shall have ceased on the part of those who
began'it." 
The event of this session was the
passage, by the required two-thirds
vote, of the Constitutional Amend
ment abolishing and forever prohib
iting Slavery throughout the United
States. This measure had been first
submitted s8 to the Senate by Mr.
Henderson of Mo., and adopted s° in
that branch by the strong vote of 38
to 6 ; as follows :
Yeas — [Democrats in Italics.]
Maine — Fessenden, Morrill.
New HAMPsniKE — Clark, Hale.
Massachusetts — Sumner, Wilson.
Ehode Island — Anthony, Sprague.
Connecticut — Dixon, Foster.
Veemont — Oollamer, Foot.
New Yoek — Harris, Morgan.
New Jersey— Ten Eyck.

37 Dec. 6, 1864.
vol. n.— _3.

1 Jan. 11, 1864.

39 April 8.

674

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Pennsylvania — Cowan.
Maryland — Reverdy Johnson.
West Virginia — Van Winkle, "Willey.
Ohio — Sherman, Wade.
Indiana — Henry S. Lane.
Illinois — Trumbull.
Missouri — Brown, Henderson.
Michigan — Chandler, Howard.
Iowa — Grimes, Harlan.
Wisconsin — Doolittle, Howe.
Minnesota — Eamsey, Wilkinson.
Kansas — J. H. Lane, Pomeroy.
Oregon — Harding, Nesmith.
California — Conness. — Total, 38.
Nays — [All Democrats.]
Delaware — Eiddle, Saulsbury.
Kentucky — Davis, Powell.
Indiana — Hendricks.
California — McDougall. — Total, 6.
Not Voting. — Buckalew, Pa. ; Wright,
N. J. ; Hicks, Md. ; Bowden and Carlile,
Va. ; Eichardson, 111. — all Democrats.
But it failed " in the House : Teas
95 ; Nays 66 — substantially, though
not absolutely, a party division. Mr.
Ashley, of Ohio — changing his vote
to enable him to do so— now moved
a reconsideration ; and the subject
went over to await the issues of the
War and of the pending election of
President. Mr. Lincoln, in his Message already
quoted, now urged the House to con
cur with the Senate in adopting the
Amendment — saying :
" Without questioning the wisdom or
patriotism of those who stood in opposition,
1 venture to recommend the reconsidera
tion and passage of the measure at the pres
ent session. Of course, the abstract ques
tion is not changed ; but an intervening
election shows, almost certainly, that the
next Congress will pass the measure if this
does not. Hence, there is only a question
of time as to when the proposed Amend
ment will go to the States for their action.
And, as it is to so go at all events, may we
not agree that the sooner the better ? It is
not claimed that the election has imposed a
duty on members to change their views or
their votes, any further than, as an addi
tional element to be considered, their judg
ment may be affected by it. It Is the voice
of the people now, for the first time, heard
upon the question. In a great National cri
sis, like ours, unanimity of action among

those seeking a common end is very desira
ble—almost indispensable. And yet, no ap
proach to such unanimity is attainable, un
less some deference shall be paid to the will
of the majority, simply because it is the
will ofthe majority. In this case, the com
mon end is the maintenance of the Union ;
and, among the means to secure that end,
such will, through the election, is most
clearly declared in favor of such Constitu
tional Amendment."
Mr. Ashley accordingly called up"
in the House his motion to reconsider
the vote above given ; and the ques
tion was at length brought" to issue
— a motion to lay it on the table
having been defeated by 111 to 57 —
when the reconsideration was or
dered : Teas 112 ; Nays 57. The
vote was then taken on concurring
with the Senate in passing the
Amendment, in the shape reported
by Mr. Trumbull from the Judi
ciary Committee of the Senate — as
follows :
"Be it resolved, &c, That the following
article he proposed to the Legislatures of
the several States as an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, which,
when ratified by three-fourths of said Legis
latures, shall be valid, to all intents and
purposes, as a part of the said Constitution',
namely : "Article XIII.
"Section 1. Neither Slavery nor involun
tary servitude, except as a punishment for
crime, whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall exist within the Uni
ted States, or any place subject to their ju
risdiction. " Seo. 2. Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legisla
tion." The House now concurred with the
Senate, by the following vote :
Teas — [Democrats in Italics.]
Maine— Blaine, Perham, Pike, Eice.
New Hampshire— Patterson, Eollins.
Massachusetts — Alley, Ames, Baldwin,
Boutwell, Dawes, Eliot, Gooch, Hooper,
Eice, W. D. Washburn.
Ehode Island— Dixon, Jenckes.
Connecticut — Brandagee, Deming, Ena-
lish, 3. H. Hubbard. '

" June 15.

"Jan. 6, 1865.

" Jan. 31.

THE LINCOLN-STEPHENS NEGOTIATION.

675

Vermont; — Baxter, Morrill, Woodbridge.
New Yoke — A. W. ' Clark, Freeman
Clark, Davis, Frank, Oanson, Griswold, Her
rick, Hotchkiss, Hulburd, Kellogg, Little-
john, Marvin, Miller, Morris, Nelson, Odell,
•Pomeroy, Radford, Steele,Ya,n Valkenburg.
New Jersey — Starr.
Pennsylvania — Baily, Broomall, Cof-
froth, Hale, Kelley, McAllister, Moorhead,
A. Myers," L. Myers, 0. O'Neill, Schofield,
Stevens, Thayer, Tracy, Williams.
Delaware — Smithers.
Maryland — Oresswell, Henry Winter
Davis, F. Thomas, Webster.
West Virginia — Blair, Brown, Whaley.
Kentucky — Anderson, Eandall, Smith,
Teaman. Ohio — Ashley, Eckley, Garfield, Hutch
ins, Schenck, Spaulding.
Indiana — Colfax, Dumont, Julian, Orth.
Illinois — Arnold, Farnsworth, Ingersoll,
Norton, E. B. Washburne.
Missouri — Blow, Boyd, Xing, Knox,
Loan, McOlurg, J. S. Rollins.
Michigan — A. C. Baldwin, Beaman,
Driggs, F. W. Kellogg, Longyear, Upson.
Iowa — Allison, Grinnell, A. W. Hubbard,
Kasson, Price, Wilson.
Wisoonsin — Cobb, Molndoe, Sloan,
Wheeler. Minnesota — Donnelly, Windom.
Kansas— Wilder.
Oregon — McBride.
Nevada — Worthington.
California — Cole, Higby, Shannon. —
Total, 119. Nats — [All Democrats.]
Maine — Sweat.
New York — Brooks, Chanler, Kalh-
fleisch, Kernan, Pruyn, Townsend, Ward,
Winfield, Ben. Wood, Fernando Wood.
New Jersey — Perry, W. G. Steele.
Pennsylvania — Ancona, Dawson, Den-
nison, P. Johnson, W. H. Miller, S. J.
Eandall, Stiles, Strouse.
Maryland — B. G. Harris.
Kentuoky — Clay, Grider, Harding, Mal
lory, Wadsworth.
Ohio — Bliss, Cox, Finck, Wm. Johnson,
Long, J. E. Morris, Noble, J. O'Neill, Pen
dleton, C. A. White, J. W. White.
Indiana — Cravens, Edgerton, Harring
ton, Holman, Law.
Illinois — J. 0. Allen, W. J. Allen, Eden,
0. M. Harris, Knapp, Morrison, Bobinson,
Eoss, Stuart.
Wisconsin — J. S. Brown, Eldridge.
Missouri — Hall, Scott. — Total, 56.
Not Voting — Lazear, Pa. ; Marcy, N. H. ;
McDowell and Voorhees, Ind. ; Le Blond
and McKinney, Ohio ; Middleton and Eo
gers, N. J. — all Democrats.

[By the subsequent ratification of
more than two-thirds of the States,
this Amendment has become a part
of the Federal Constitution.]

Several informal attempts at open
ing negotiations for the termination
of hostilities were made, in the course
of this Winter — Hon. Francis P.
Blair, of Maryland, visiting Bich
mond twice on the subject, with the
consent, though not by the request,
of President Lincoln. At length,
upon their direct application, Messrs.
Alex. H. Stephens, John A. Camp
bell, and Bobert M. T. Hunter, were
permitted to pass Gen. Grant's lines
before Petersburg, and proceed to
Fortress Monroe ; where they were
met by Gov. Seward, followed by
President Lincoln ; " and a free, full
conference was had : but it resulted
in nothing. The Confederate Com
missioners were not authorized to con
cede the reunion of the States ; Presi
dent Lincoln would treat on no other
basis ; so the parties separated as they
met: and a great meeting was held"
at Bichmond on the return of those
Commissioners, which was addressed
by Gov. William Smith, of Yirginia,
and by Jefferson Davis, who said :
" In my correspondence with Mr. Lin
coln, that functionary has always spoken
of the United States and the Confederacy as
'our afflicted country;' but, in my replies,
I have never failed to refer to them as
separate and distinct governments; and,
sooner than we should ever be united again,
I would be willing to yield up every thing
I have on earth, and, if it were possible,
would sacrifice my life a thousand times be
fore I would succumb."
He concluded by exhorting those at
home, who were able to bear arms —
" to unite with those already in the army
in repelling the foe ; believing that thereby
we would compel the Yankees, in less than

43 Feb. 3, 1865.

41 Feb. 6.

676

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

twelve months, to petition us for peace upon
our own terms."
The meeting unanimously
"Resohed, That we, the citizens here
assembled, do spurn, with the indignation
due to so gross an insult, the terms on
which the President of the United States
has offered peace to the people of the Con
federate States.
" Resolved, That the circumstances under
which that proffer has been made add to
the outrage, and stamp it as a designed and
premeditated indignity to our people."
A " War Meeting" was held there
three days afterward ; whereat B. M.
T. Hunter presided, and addresses
were made by Secretary J. P. Ben
jamin and others. This meeting
likewise "Resolved, 1. That the events which have
occurred during the progress of the war
have but confirmed our original determina
tion to strike for our independence; and
that, with the blessing of God, we will
never lay down our arms until it shall have
been won. [Wild and long-continued cheer
ing followed the reading of this resolution.]
"Resolved, 2. That, as we believe our
resources to be sufficient for the purpose,
we do not doubt that we shall conduct the
war successfully to that issue; and we
hereby invoke the people, in the name of
the holiest of all causes, to spare neither
their blood nor their treasure in its mainte
nance and support."

Mr. Lincoln's Address, on his
second inauguration" as President,
may fitly close this final chapter of our
political history. In its profoundly
religious spirit, its tenderness, its
undesigned solemnity, in view of
the triumphs already achieved and
the still more conclusive triumphs
rationally anticipated and now just
at hand, the reader will discern the
then unperceived but awful shadow
of impending death :
"Fellow-Countrymen — At this second
appearing to take the oath ofthe Presidential
office, there is less occasion for an extended
address than there was at the first. Then, a

statement somewhat in detail of a course to
be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now,
at the expiration of four years, during which
public declarations have been constantly
called forth on every point and phase of the
great contest which still absorbs the atten-'
tion and engrosses the energy of the nation,
little that is new could be presented.
" The progress of our arms, upon which all
else chiefly depends, is as well known to the
public as to myself; and it is, I trust, rea
sonably satisfactory and encouraging to all.
With high hope for the future, no predic
tion in regard to it is ventured.
" On the occasion corresponding to this,
four years ago, all thoughts were anx
iously directed to an impending civil war.
All dreaded it. All sought to avert it.
While the Inaugural Address was being
delivered from this place, devoted altogether
to the saving of the Union without war, in
surgent agents were in the city, seeking to
destroy it without war — seeking to dissolve
the Union and divide the effects by nego
tiation. Both parties deprecated war ; but
one of them would make war rather than
let the nation survive ; and the other would
accept war rather than let it perish — and
the war came. One-eighth of the whole
population were colored slaves, not dis
tributed generally over the Union, but
localized in the Southern part of it.
These slaves constituted a peculiar and
beneficial interest. All knew that this in
terest was somehow the cause of the war.
To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this
interest was the object for which the insur
gents would rend the Union even by war ;
while the Government claimed no right to
do more than to restrict the territorial en
largement of it. Neither party expected for
the war the magnitude nor the duration
which it has already attained. Neither an
ticipated that the cause of the conflict might
cease with, or even before, the conflict itself
should cease. Each looked for an easier
triumph and a result less fundamental and
astounding. Both read the same Bible and
pray to the same God, and each invokes His
aid against the other. It may seem strange
that any men should dare to ask a just
God's assistance in wringing their bread
from the sweat of other men's faces.
But let us judge not, that we be not
judged. The prayer of both could not be
answered; that of neither has been an
swered fully. The Almighty has His own
purposes. ' Woe unto the world because of
offenses ; for it must needs be that offenses
come, but woe to that man by whom the
offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that
American Slavery is one of those offenses
which, in tbe providence of God, must needs

"March*, 1865.

HOOD'S INVASION OF TENNESSEE.

677

come, but which, having continued through
His appointed time, He now wills to re
move, and that He gives to both North and
South this terrible war as the woe due to
those by whom the offense came, shall we
discern therein any departure from those
Divine attributes which the believers in a
loving God always ascribe to him ? Fondly
do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this
mighty scourge, of war may speedily pass
away. Yet if God wills that it continue
until all the wealth piled by the bondman's
two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil
shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood

drawn with the lash shall be paid by an
other drawn with the sword, as was said
three thousand years ago, so still it must be
said, ' The judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.'
" With malice toward none, with charity
for all, with firmness in the right as
God gives us to see the right, let us
strive to finish the work we are in, to bind
up the Nation's wounds, to care for him
who shall have borne the battle and for'his
widow and his orphan, to do all which may
achieve and cherish a just and a lasting
peace among ourselves and with all nations."

XXXI.
HOOD'S TENNESSEE CAMPAIGN.

Gen. Thomas had been detached
by Gen. Sherman from his main
army in Georgia, and sent back to
assume chief command in Tennessee,
in doubt as to what were Hood's real
intentions. It was obvious enough
that his eccentric movement to the
north and north-west was intended
to compel a corresponding movement
on our part, and thus deprive us of all
the fruits of Sherman's Atlanta cam
paign ; but suppose we refused to be
thus tolled out of Georgia, and across
the Tennessee, what then? Sher
man could not determine; so he
gave Thomas the widest discretion.
If Hood should push boldly into the
heart of Tennessee, he was to be re
sisted, beaten, and driven out ; if
he should turn upon Sherman, he
was to be followed circumspectly but
closely. Grant, in his camp before Bich
mond, could hardly realize that Hood
was moving on Nashville, "which
seemed to me," says he in his report,
" to be leading to his certain doom.
At all events, had I the power to
command both armies, I should not

have changed the orders under which
he seemed to be acting."
Thomas had probably quite as
many men under his command as
Hood led across the Tennessee —
counting all between Knoxville and
Memphis, he may have had more.
But they were mainly fragments of
brigades and regiments, dispersed
over a wide region, holding posts
which could not well be evacuated,
guarding large depots of supplies,
and watching railroad bridges and
trestles which Bebel guerrillas and
' bushwhackers' were lurking to burn,
while their loss might involve that of
war-wastedTennessee itself. Nearly
everything consumed by our armies
in their quarters was now brought
by rail from the banks of the Ohio.
Forrest, with a large body of light
cavalry, preluded Hood's advance.
Crossing the Tennessee near Water
loo, he suddenly presented ' himself
at Athens, Alabama, held by Col.
Campbell, 110th U. S. colored, with
600 men. Investing the town, he
opened with a 12-pounder battery on

1 Sept. 23, 1864.

678

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the fort ; sendiug in two different
summonses, which were declined;
then soliciting and obtaining a per
sonal interview with Campbell; at
which the latter "allowed'' himself
to be convinced " that it was useless
to hold out, and ingloriously gave
up, just 30 minutes prior to the arri
val of the 18th Michigan and 102d
Ohio to reenforce him ; compelling
them also to succumb, after a sharp
contest. Forrest now raided north
to Pulaski, destroying the railroad
and capturing a fortified post by the
way ; skirmishing heavily all day ' at
Pulaski; but Gen. Bousseau was
here, and had hastily collected such
a force that an assault would have
been madness; so Forrest drew off
eastward and struck the Chattanooga
railroad4 near Tullahoma and De-
cherd, doing it some damage ; but
Bousseau had moved rapidly around
by rail through Nashville, and again
confronted him at Tullahoma ; while
Gen. Steedman, leading 5,000 men,
crossed the Tennessee from northern
Georgia, and advanced upon him
from the south-west ; Morgan's divi
sion of the 14th corps moving
simultaneously from Atlanta to co
operate in enveloping and crushing
him. All in vain. Forrest turned on his
track, and pushed south-east to Fay
etteville; there dividing his forces
and sending Buford, with 4,000 men,
to summon Huntsville,6 and then
Athens, Ala.; while he, with 3,000,
swept north-west to Columbia ; threat
ening that place, but not assaulting
it ; for by this time Bousseau, with
4,000 mounted men, was coming after
him from Nashville ; while Gen. C. C.
Washburne, with 3,000 cavalry and

1,500 infantry, was steaming up the
Tennessee to join in the hunt ; and
Lt.-Com'r Forrest, with several gun
boats, was patroling that river in
Alabama, on the lookout for his re
appearance hurrying southward.
Buford tried to carry " Athens,
Ala. ; which was firmly held by Lt.-
Col. Slade, 73d Indiana, who repulsed
him handsomely ; when he drew off
westward and escaped 7 over the Ten
nessee at Brown's ferry.
Forrest had now enemies enough
encircling him to have eaten all his
horses ; but, destroying five miles of
the railroad, and paroling his prison
ers, he sped south-west through
Mount Pleasant and Lawrenceburg,
and got safely across the Tennessee
at Bainbridge; having inflicted' much
injury, kept busy many times his
number of men, worn out a good
many of our shoes, taken at least
1,000 prisoners, and escaped with
very little loss.
Hood, who had meantime been
operating, and continued for a fort
night longer to operate, on Sherman's
line of communications nearly up to
Chattanooga, and had thence moved
westward, as we .have seen, into
northern Alabama, next demonstra
ted8 in considerable force agamst
Decatur — being the point at which
the railroads cross the Tennessee
which tend eastward to Chattanooga,
Westward to Memphis, and north
ward to Nashville. He found here
Gen. Gordon Granger, with a con
siderable force, which he pressed for
several days ; establishing a line of
rifle-pits within 500 yards of the
defenses; intrenching strongly, and
threatening an assault ; but using no
guns, and being roughly handled in

« Gen. Thomas's official report. 3 Sept. 27. 4 Sept. 29. » Oct. 5. " Oct. 2-3. ' Oct. 3. 8 Oct. 26.

FORREST ASSAILS JOHNSON VILLE, TENN.

679

a sortie," wherein a part of the garri
son gained the rear of the rifle-pits
on his left ; clearing them and taking
120 prisoners. On that day, one of
the batteries on his right was carried
and spiked by Col. Morgan's 14th
U. S. colored, with some loss ; and
he drew off westward next evening.
The pressure on Decatur was a
feint to cover his crossing farther
west; which was soon effected near
Florence, in spite of resistance by
Gen. Croxton's brigade of cavalry,
there picketing the river. Mean
time, Forrest, moving eastward from
rCorinth, Miss., through Paris, Tenn.,
with 17 regiments of cavalry and 9
guns, had struck the Tennessee at
Johnsonville, an important depot
connected by railroad with Nashville,
and a chief reliance of that city for
supplies; defended by Col. C. B.
Thompson, 12th U. S. colored, with
1,000 men, aided by Lt. E. M. King
with three gunboats; and several
.days' 10 sharp fighting ensued ; the
enemy ultimately drawing off, upon
the approach by rail of Gen. Scho
field with his 23d corps from Nash
ville; but not till — our mariners
having been worsted in a fight with
Forrest's cavalry — our commanders
had fired their gunboats and trans
ports, lest they should fall into the
enemy's hands; and the flames had
extended to the stores on the levee
and the commissary's and quarter
master's depots, involving a loss of
$1,500,000 worth of provisions, &c,
just when they could worst be spared.
Gen. Thomas reports this destruction
needless and unjustifiable.
It being no longer doubtful that
Hood — who had been reenforced by
part of Dick Taylor's army from

below — was about to follow his van
guard across the Tennessee — Gen.
Thomas directed a concentration of
the 4th and 23d corps on Pulaski,
with intent to impede rather than
seriously dispute the Bebel advance
on Nashville. Hood's infantry, ac
cording to our best advices, now
exceeded 40,000; his cavalry were
12,000, well equipped, in high spirits,
under their boldest and most skillful
leader; so that, including artillery,
the entire Bebel force, well concen
trated, was not far from 55,000 men.
Many of these were Tennesseans
and Kentuckians, long exiled, who
had come home to stay, alive or dead.
To oppose these, Thomas had in
hand the 4th corps, Gen. Stanley,
12,000; the 23d, Gen. Schofield,
10,000; and 8,000 cavalry, under
Hatcher, Croxton, and Capron — in all
30,000 men. He may have had as
many more, scattered over the wide
region under his command ; but, to
concentrate these, he must abandon
such posts as Chattanooga, Stevenson,
Huntsville, Decatur, Athens, &c, and
in effect relinquish more to the ene
my than they could hope to win by
a victory. He knew that time was
on his side — -that, if he fell back to
Nashville, showing a firm front that
would compel Hood to keep his
army together, our strength would
be constantly augmenting, while the
enemy must be steadily weakened.
There was a more brilliant alterna
tive, but he chose to be safe.
While Sherman remained near
Kingston, Ga., menacing his flank
and rear, Hood, seemed to linger on
the Tennessee; possibly deeming the
odds against him too great ; perhaps
not yet fully provided and equipped

'Oct. 28.

"Oct. 28-Nov. 5.

680

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

for his great venture. At length, a
dispatch from Sherman" apprised
Thomas that the former had cut
loose from his base and started south
ward from Atlanta on his Great
March ; and no sooner had the tid
ings reached Hood, still at Florence,
Ala., where he had a pontoon bridge,
with part of his force on either side
of the river, than the crossing of his
remaining corps commenced ; 12 while
his van, already over, moved through
Waynesboro' and Lawrenceburg on
Nashville.13 Hood's army was organized iii three
corps, under Maj.-Gen. B. F. Cheat
ham, Lt.-Gens. A. P. Stewart and S.
D. Lee, beside his strong cavalry corps
under Forrest. Each corps was com
posed of three divisions : Maj. -Gens.
Cleburne, Loringj Bate, E. Johnson,
and Buford, being the best known of
their commanders. Thomas hadjjut
five divisions of infantry at the front ;
but he had collected several more be
fore the struggle was brought to a
final issue.
Gen. Schofield, at Pulaski, now
fell back, by order, on Columbia;
whero his corps was concentrated,14
as was most of Stanley's ; while Gen.
Granger withdrew the garrisons from
Athens (Ala.), Decatur, and Hunts
ville, retiring on Stevenson. The
force left at Johnson ville now evacuat
ed that post, withdrawing to Clarks
ville. When the enemy appeared
before Columbia, declining to assault,
but evincing a purpose to cross Duck
river above or below, Gen. Schofield
withdrew16 across that stream; and
on learning that the Bebels had cross
ed six miles above, directed Gen.

Stanley to follow his trains to Spring
Hill; where he arrived just in time to
save them from Forrest's cavalry,
which was close upon them, but
which he drove off; being assailed,
soon afterward, by a much stronger
force, including infantry, with which
he fought till dark; barely holding
the road whereby Schofield must
make good his retreat.
Schofield, with Buger's division,
had been kept awake all day by the
enemy's efforts to cross Duck river at
Columbia ; repulsing, with heavy loss
to them, their repeated attempts to
do so. When nighfy fell, he resumed
his movement; brushing aside the
Bebel cavalry who infested the road,
and finding at Spring Hill the enemy
bivouacking within half a mile of his
line of retreat. He did not choose
to have any difficulty with them just
then ; but pushed on with his entire
command ; and, after fighting all day
and marching 25 miles during the
following night, he got into position
at Feanklikt early on the 30th. His
cavalry moving on the Lewisburg
pike, several miles eastward, had en
countered no enemy. Time being
absolutely required to save our trains,
which choked the road for many
miles, Schofield halted on the south
ern verge of the village, threw up a
slight breastwork, and proposed to
stop, while his train should be got
over the Harpeth and fairly on its
way to Nashville.
Franklin is situated in a bend of
the Harpeth, which here rudely de
scribes the north and east sides of a
square, which was completed by' our
lines of defense. These were held

u Dated Cartersvffle, Ga., Nov. 12.
K¥ov. 17.
"Thomas says : " Had the enemy delayed his

advance a week or ten days longer, I would
have been readyto meet him at some point south
of Duck river." "Nov. 24 as Nov. 27-8.

HOOD ATTACKS SCHOFIELD AT FRANKLIN

681

BATTLE OF FBANKLIW.

by two divisions of his own and all
three of the 4th (Stanley's) corps — the
whole reported at 17,000, and certain
ly not much exceeding that number.
As the ground rises from the stream,
the position was of little worth, save
as its flanks were protected by the
river.18 Hood'3 army, arriving later, was
not ready for the onset till 4p.m.;
when, at the word of command, the
charging lines swept on.
Hood had delayed the attack till
all his forces could be brought up; in
tending to crush in our front at the
first onset by the sheer weight of his
assault. Stewart's corps was on his
right, n ext the Harpeth ; Cheatham's

on his left, reaching westward to the
angle of our defenses ; Lee in reserve
behind them ; though Johnson's di
vision of Lee's corps was thrown to
the left during the engagement ; the
cavalry was on both flanks ; Forrest,
with most of it, on the right. "Break
those lines," shouted Hood'to his men,
" and there is nothing more to with
stand you this side ofthe Ohio river !"
Many Tennesseeans were now for the
first time in weary months within
sight of their homes ; one General
(Carter) fell mortally wounded with
in a few rods of his own house. Gen.
Schofield watched the progress of the
battle from Fort Granger, across the
Harpeth. Though Schofield's command num
bered nearly if not quite 20,000 men,
a good part of it was already across
the riyer, guarding the trains and
our left flank, while two divisions
held the lines guarding our right;
so that all the force directly con
fronting the Bebel advance hardly
numbered 10,000. Of these, two
brigades of the 2d (Wagner's) divi
sion of the 4th (Stanley's) corps were
thrown out in our front, holding some
slight works a few hundred yards
in advance of our general line ; the
key of which was Carter's hill, a gen
tle eminence, across which ran the
Columbia pike through Franklin to
Nashville. Behind that hill stood the
1st (Opdycke's) brigade of Wood's
2d division in reserve.
The Bebel charge was so im-

18 Gen. Hood, in a personal reminiscence of this
conflict, fairly said:
" The works of the enemy were so hastily
constructed that, while he had a slight abatis iu
front of a part of his line, there was none on his
extreme right."
Yet, slight as they were, these defenses were
of incalculable value. A veteran who fought

behind them said, " Such a line at the Chicka
mauga would have given us » victory." 'Tis
sad that, after all we have spent on West Point,
we should have had to learn this simple lesson
at a cost of 200,000 lives and Two Billions of
money. The Turks had mastered it when they
last defended Silistria against the Russians,
years ago.

682

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

petuous, as well as so heavy, that it
was scarcely checked by the ad
vanced works held too long by the two
brigades aforesaid, but swept over
them like a torrent, hurling back our
men in tumultuous rout, taking
many prisoners, and driving the re
sidue right through the center of our
main line, which not merely opened
to receive them, but kept widening
after they had rushed past. In an
instant, the wings next that pike of
the 2d and 3d divisions of the 23d
(Cox's) corps recoiled before the
enemy's charge ; the hill was lost, 8
of our guns taken, and the Bebel flag
planted in triumph on our breast
works, as the exulting victors, having
passed over them, hastily formed on
the inside, intending to follow up their
triumph. Caissons as well as men
streamed wildly to the. bridges, sup
posing the day utterly lost and no
thing left to do but save from the
wreck as much as possible.
" First brigade ! forward to the
works !" rang out the steady voice of
Opdycke, as the rabble rout swept
by; he riding rapidly forward as the
bayonets of his men came down to a
charge, flashing back the rays of the
setting sun. Swiftly, steadily, grand
ly, that brigade rushed upon the foe ;
a brief but bloody struggle ensued ;
and at its close no Bebel remained
upon or inside of the works but the
dead and wounded, with 300 prison
ers. Our guns were recovered; 10
Bebel battle-flags taken; our line
was restored, and Opdycke's head
quarters established here on the pike ;

and here they remained till the last
shot was fired that night.
Our defenses had been regained as
much by surprise as by valor — the
enemy not expecting a countercharge
— they must now be held by valor
alone. Exasperated rather than dis
concerted, Hood threw heavy masses
against the lost breastworks, hoping
to retake them before they could be
adequately manned ; while Opdycke,
first exhausting all the shots in his
revolver, employed it as a club to
drive up stragglers to the help of his'
heroic brigade ; and, when he had
broken the pistol, he dismounted and
borrowed a musket, which he found
even more efficient in the work of per
suasion ; driving skulkers out of the
reserve fort in which they had sought
and found comparative safety." Of
course, his efforts and those of his men
werenobly supported by others — there
being ample scope and work for all.
The battle raged fiercely till 10 p.
m. ; the enemy shifting gradually to
our right and attacking* on the flank;
where they were more especially con
fronted and repelled by Stanley's
1st division, Gen. Nathan Kimball.
But our lines were never again
broken : assault after assault being
repulsed with great loss to the assail
ants and smaller to the defenders ;
until the enemy desisted ; and then,
a little after midnight — our trains
being by this time well on their way
— our men quietly drew out of their
defenses, and followed; until, about
noon, our weary, sleepless heroes were
safe within the defenses of Nashville.

" An official recommendation to promotion,
indorsed by Gen. Thomas, thus testifies :
" At the battle of Franklin, Opdycke [formerly
Col. 125th Ohio] displayed the very highest
qualities as a commander. It is not saying too
much to declare that, but for the skillful dis
positions made by Gen. Opdycke (all of which

was done entirely on his own judgment), the
promptness and readiness with which he brought
his command into action at .the critical and de
cisive moment, and the signal personal gallantry
he displayed in a counter assault on the enemy,
when he had broken our lines, disaster instead
of victory would have fallen onus at Franklin."

HOOD BELEAGUERS THOMAS IN NASHVILLE.

6S3

Forrest had followed sharply since
daylight, but to no purpose.
Our loss in this sanguinary en
counter was officially reported at 189
killed, 1,033 wounded (including
Maj.-Gen. D. S. Stanley, severely), and
1,104 missing (many of these doubt
less wounded also, and nearly all
captured) : total, 2,326. Not a gun
was left behind in our retreat.
Gen. Thomas reports the Bebel loss
in this struggle at 1,750 killed, 3,800
wounded, and 702 prisoners: total,
6,252. Hood, in a conversational account
of the battle, says :
" Tho struggle lasted till near midnight ;
when the enemy abandoned his works and
crossed the river, leaving his dead and his
wounded in our possession. Never did
troops fight more gallantly. During the
day, I was restrained from using my artil
lery, on account of the women and children
remaining in the town. At night, it was
massed, ready to continue the action in the
morning ; but the enemy retired. We cap
tured about a thousand prisoners, and sev
eral stands of colors. Our total loss, in
killed, wounded, and prisoners, was 4,500.
Among the killed were Msg.-Gen. P. E.
Cleburne, Brig.-Gens. Gist, John Adams,
Strahl, and Granbury. Maj.-Gen. Brown,
with Brig.-Gens. Carter, Manigault, Quarles,
Cockrell, and Scott, wore wounded, and
Brig.-Gen. Gordon captured. The number
of dead left by the enemy on the field indi
cated that his loss was equal to or near onr
own. The nest morning at daylight — the
wounded being oared for and the dead
buried — we moved forward toward Nash
ville : Forrest with his cavalry pursuing the
enemy vigorously."
The loss of Pat. Cleburne— < the
Stonewall Jackson of the West' —
would of itself have been a Bebel
disaster. He was an Irishman by
birth, who had served as a private in
the British army ; and who left be
hind him no superior as a rough and
ready fighter. By the carnage of
this day, Hood's army was depleted

of a full sixth, not of its numbers,
but of its effective force — a loss
which it had no means of replacing.

Hitherto, Thomas had resisted very
considerable odds ; but, when Hood
sat down " before Nashville, the case
was bravely altered. The Bebel
army had by this time been reduced,
by the casualties and hardships of an
offensive and unseasonable campaign,
to 40,000 at most; A. J. Smith's
command, transported from Missouri
on steamboats, had just arrived,1* and
been posted on our right ; while Gen.
Steedman, with 5,000 of Sherman's
men and a Black brigade, had come
up by rail from Chattanooga. Add
the garrison of Nashville, and a divi
sion organized from the employes
of the quartermaster's, commissary's,
and railroad departments, now work
ing diligently on the defenses, aud it
was clear that Thomas's infantry out
numbered that which affected to be
siege him, in a city which had already
been extensively fortified. Still, he
was so deficient in cavalry that he
paused to mount a few thousand men
before challenging the enemy to a
decisive conflict. This perplexed Gen.
Grant ; who, chafing at the idea of
such a display of Bebel audacity in
the heart of Tennessee, had left his
camp on the James and reached
Washington on his way westward,
when he was met by telegraphic re
ports which convinced him that his
Tennessee lieutenant, like Sheridan,
needed no supervision.
Thomas, reluctant to relax his hold
on the railroad to Chattanooga, had
left Gen. Bousseau, with 8,000 men,
in Fortress Bosecrans, at Murfrees
boro' : the railroad being further de-

"Dec.8.

1 Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

684

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

fended by a block-house at Overall's
creek, five miles north, wliich was at
tacked " by Bate's division of Cheat
ham's corps, but firmly held till Gen.
Milroy, with three or four regiments,
came out from Murfreesboro', and re
pelled the assailants. During the
next three days, a division of Lee's
corps and 2,500 of Forrest's cavalry
reenforced Bate, and Fortress Bose-
crans was threatened, but not really
assaulted ; Buford's cavalry finally
shelling and charging21 into Mur
freesboro', but being promptly driven
out by a regiment of infantry. The
Bebel cavalry moved hence north to
Lebanon, and threatened to cross the
Cumberland, but found.it patroled by
gunboats and drew off. Gen. Milroy,
being this day sent out from Mur
freesboro' with 7 regiments of infan
try, attacked the Bebels on the Wil-
keson pike, driving them and taking
207 prisoners, with 2 guns; losing
30 killed and 175 wounded.
Hood had established" his lines
south of Nashville, with his salient on
Montgomery hill, opposite our center,
and but 600 yards distant. Wilson,
with cavalry, was across the river at
Gallatin, watching for raiders from
Forrest's command. And now en
sued a week of severe cold, wherein
both armies were nearly torpid : the
Bebels, worse clad and more ex
posed, probably suffering more sensi
bly. When at length the temperature
softened," Thomas issued orders for a
general advance on our right next
day ; to cover which, Gen. Steedman,
on our left, sharply and successfully
attacked the enemy's right that even
ing : pushing it back toward Hood's
center, and causing a movement from
that center to its support.

Morning broke "auspiciously. The
weather was still mild, and a dense
fog, lasting till near noon, concealed
our movements. Gen. A. J. Smith,
with his thinned corps, with Wil
son's cavalry on his right, now moved
out on the Hardin pike, to flank the
left of the enemy's infantry ; while
Johnson's cavalry division, advanc
ing on the Charlotte pike, struck at
Chalmers's cavalry on that wing and
a Bebel battery, posted at Bell's land
ing on the Cumberland, whieh he
attacked late that afternopn, in con
junction with our gunboats under
Lt.-Com'r Fitch. They did not carry
it ; but it was evacuated during the
ensuing night.
Hatch's division of Wilson's cav
alry first struck the enemy ; driving
him from his position, and taking
prisoners and wagons. Swinging
slightly to the left, Hatch, dismount
ing his men, assaulted and carried a
redoubt, taking four guns, and turn
ing them on their late possessors. A
second stronger redoubt was soon
reached ; and this, too, was carried :
the spoils being four more guns and
300 prisoners. McArthur's division
of Smith's infantry, closing on the
left of the cavalry, cooperated in
these assaults, so far as the impetuous
charges of the cavalry allowed them
a chance to do so.
The 4th corps, Gen. T. J. Wood
commanding (because of Stanley's
wound), had moved parallel .with
Smith, closing on his left, and had
also, about 1 p. m., assaulted Mont
gomery hill : the assault being im
mediately delivered by Col. Sidney
P. Post, 59th Illinois, with the 3d
brigade of the 2d (Wagner's) divi
sion, who gallantly carried the work,

w Dec. 4

" Dec. 8.

" Dec. 4.

" Dec. 14.

" Dec. 15.

HOOD WORSTED BT THOMAS AT NASHVILLE.

685

BATTLE OF NASnVILLE.

taking some prisoners. And now,
giving a hand to Smith's left, Wood's
corps resumed its advance ; carrying
by assault Hood's entire line of de-
- fenses, taking several guns and 500
prisoners, and forcing the enemy
back to a new position at the foot of
Harpeth hills.
Schofield, meantime, had been sent
up on Smith's right, so as to enable
our cavalry to operate freely on the
enemy's flank and rear ; and, moving
rapidly, had come into action just

before night. Steedman had gained
a little more ground on our extreme
left. And now our line was read
justed : Wilson's cavalry on our ex
treme right; Schofield next; then
Smith in the center, with Wood on
his left; TSteedman still farther in
that direction, but less advanced.
The day's work had given us 16
guns, 1,200 prisoners, many small
arms, and 40 wagons ; while our
losses had been light. Never had
men fought with more alacrity or

686

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

greater steadiness than those who now
lay down on their arms, prepared to
finish their work on the morrow.
The second day opened with an
advance by Wood, pushing back the
enemy's skirmishers eastward across
the Franklin pike, and then, inclin
ing to the right, moving due south
from Nashville till he confronted
Hood's new line of defenses on
Overton's hill, five miles from the
city. Hereupon, Gen. Steedman,
pushing rapidly down the Nolens-
ville pike, closed in on Wood's left
flank ; while Smith came in on
Wood's right ; Schofield, facing east
ward, threatened the enemy's left
flank ; and Wilson, still farther to
the right, and more advanced, gained
the Bebel rear — reaching across the
Granny White pike, and threatening
to cut them off from any line of
retreat on Franklin. And now,
while this movement against his
rear was prosecuted, our entire front
advanced till within 600 yards of
the enemy; and, at 3 p.m., Post's
brigade, supported by Streight's,
was directed by Wood to assault
Overton's hill in front; while Col.
Morgan's Black brigade was im
pelled by Steedman against it far
ther to our left.
The assault was duly made; but
the enemy had seen all the prepara
tions for it, had concentrated accord
ingly, and now received it with such
a storm of grape, canister, and mus
ketry, as our men charged over
abatis up the hill, that they were
driven back, terribly cut up — Col.
Post being among the wounded. But
the survivors were promptly reformed
by Wood, and his front restored;
while Smith's and Schofield's men,
instantly charging on our right,

swept over the enemy's works in
their front ; Wilson's troopers, dis
mounted, charging still farther to the
rigrit, and barring all retreat by the
Granny White pike. And now, .
hearing the shouts of victory on our
right, Wood's and Steedman's corps
renewed the assault on Overton's
hill, and, though they encountered a
heavy fire, swept all before them.
The routed Bebels fled through the
Brentwood pass, leaving most of their
guns, and many of their comrades as
prisoners. Wilson instantly mounted Knipe's
and Hatch's divisions of cavalry,
and pushed them down the Granny
White pike, hoping to reaci} Franklin
ahead of the fugitive host, and bar
their farther flight ; but, after pro
ceeding a mile, he found a barricade
across the road, and the enemy's
cavalry under Chalmers behind it.
Col. Spalding, 12th Tennessee cav
alry, charged and carried the posi
tion, scattering the enemy, and taking
some prisoners, including Gen. E.
W. Bucker ; but it was now too late
to reach Franklin that night, and
our men lay down on their arms,
while the enemy pursued their dis
orderly flight.
In this two days' battle, Thomas
had taken 4,462 prisoners, including
287 officers (one of them a Major-
General), 53 guns, and many small
arms. Hood's invasion had been sud
denly finished, and his .army utterly
demoralized. Our cavalry followed closely next
day ; Knipe's division riding over a
rear-guard that had been posted
at Hollow Tree gap, 4 miles north
of Franklin; taking 413 prisoners.
Pressing on after the fugitives, Wil
son found them again facing him in

HOOD CHASED OUT OF TENNESSEE.

687

Franklin, attempting to defend.the
crossing of Harpeth river ; but^lohn-
son's division, which had been sent
down the Hillsboro' pike, now came
up from the south and Btruck the
enemy's rear, forcing him to decamp;
leaving 1,800 of his wounded and
200 of ours in hospital here to fall
into Wilson's hands.
Four miles south of Franklin, an
other stand was made by the enemy's
rear-guard ; but Wilson ordered his
body-guard (4th regular cavalry) to
charge through their center, while
Knipe and Hatch' pressed their flanks ;
and again they were routed and scat
tered, losing more guns. Night now
closed in, and enabled most of the
fugitives to escape.
The pursuit was kept up for seve
ral days ; but rain fell almost inces
santly ; the country was flooded ;
the brooks were raging rivers ; the
fleeing enemy of course burned
the bridges after crossing them;
Thomas's pontoon train was away
with Sherman; and the roads were
hardly passable in the rear of the flee
ing foe. Thus the Harpeth, Buther-
ford's creek, 'and Duck river, were
crossed ; the weather at length chang
ing from dreary, pelting rain to bit
ter cold ; Forrest — who had been ab
sent on a raid when our army pushed
out from the defenses of Nashville —
rejoining Hood at Columbia, and
forming a rear-guard of 4,000 infan
try under Walthall, and all his caval
ry that was still effective. With this,
after leaving Pulaski," he turned
sharply on our leading brigade of
cavalry (Harrison's) and captured a
gun, which was carried off, though
the ground on which it was lost was
almost instantly recovered. The pur

suit was continued to Lexington,2"
Ala.; when, learning that Hood had
got across the Tennessee at Bain
bridge, Thomas ordered a halt ; Gen.
Steedman having already been sent
from Franklin across to Murfrees
boro', and thence by rail to Steven
son, where was Gen. Granger, with
the former garrisons of Huntsville,
Athens (Ala.), and Decatur, with
directions to reoccupy our former
posts in north Alabama, then cross
the Tennessee and threaten the ene
my's railroad communications. He
reached Decatur on the 27th ; only
to learn that Hood was already so
far advanced that operations south
of the Tennessee would be usieless.
Bear- Admiral S. B. Lee had been
requested by Thomas to send all the
gunboats he could spare up the Ten
nessee to head off Hood ; and had
done so; but, though he reached
Chickasaw, Miss., on the 24th, de
stroying there a Bebel battery, and
capturing 2 guns at Florence, he did
not intercept Hood.
While Hood invested Nashville, he
sent 800 cavalry, with 2 guns, under
Brig.-Gen. Lyon, by our right across
the Cumberland to break up the
Louisville railroad in Thomas's rear.
Lyon was . manifestly too weak to
effect any thing of importance. He
took Hopkinsville, Ky., and was soon
afterward attacked,near Greensburg,
by Lagrange's brigade, and worsted ;
losing one of his guns and some pris
oners ; hurrying thence, sharply pur
sued, by Elizabethtown and Glasgow '
to Burkesville, where he recrossed
the Cumberland, and raced south
ward by McMinnville and Winches
ter, Tenn., to Larkinsville, Alabama ;
thence moving east and attacking"

25 Dec. 25.

28 Dec. 28.

Jan. 10, 1865.

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

a petty post at Scottsboro', where he
was repulsed and his command scat
tered: getting over the Tennessee
with a remnant of 200 men, but los
ing his last gun. Being still pur
sued, he fled to a place known as
Bed hill; where his bivouac was
surprised28 by Col. W. J. Balmer,
15th Pa. cavalry, and 100 of his men
taken. Lyon escaped, after surren
dering, by seizing a pistol, shooting
a sentinel, and vanishing in the dark
ness. This was the final blow given
to Hood's army.
Thomas expected now to put his
forces into well-earned Winter-quar
ters; but he soon received advices
from Washington that this did not
meet the views of Gen. Grant, who
proposed to crush what was left of
the Bebellion first and then rest. Ac
cordingly, Gens. Smith's, Schofield's,
and Wilson's corps were taken up by
boats at Clifton, on the Tennessee,
and conveyed to Eastport, Miss.; and
Gen. Wood's was directed to Hunts
ville, north Alabama, preparatory to
a further Winter campaign.

Meantime, matters of decided in
terest had occurred in East Tennes
see and south-western Yirginia. Gen.
Stoneman had been dispatched by
Thomas from Louisville to Knoxville
to take command there, while Bur
bridge, with all his disposable force,
was sent thither from eastern Ken
tucky through Cumberland gap.
Breckinridge, doubtless apprised of
this movement, withdrew from this
neighborhood quite as rapidly as he
had advanced ; while Gen. Ammen,
just arrived with 1,500 men from
Chattanooga, was pushed out to
Strawberry plains on his track.

Stoneman, as directed by Thomas,
star-fed 2" from Knoxville in pursuit of
the now over -matched and retreating
foe : taking three mounted brigades,
led by Burbridge and Gillem ; at
whose head, he swept 30 rapidly east
ward, skirmishing, to Bristol ; while
Gillem, on his right, struck Duke at
Kingsport, capturing 300 prisoners,
with several well-laden trains, and
dispersing Duke's command. Bush--
ing Burbridge on to Abingdon, Ya.,
where he was rejoined31 by Gillem,
Stoneman captured that place also ;
destroying there a large quantity of
stores. Yaughan, with the Bebel frontier
force of cavalry, had been flanked by
this rapid advance, but had moved
parallel with our column to Marion ;
where Gillem now struck aa him and
chased him 30 miles into Wytheville ;
capturing 200 men, 8 guns, and a
large train. Yaughan was again at
tacked and driven at the lead mines;
15 miles farther east, which were cap
tured, and all the works destroyed.
At Max Meadows, near this point,
Gillem destroyed the railroad and
other valuable property.
Breckinridge had by this time
concentrated what was left of his
various subordinate commands, and
had been following our advance on
Wytheville. Stoneman now turned
upon and met him near Marion, ex
pecting to give battle next morning ;
but Breckinridge, deeming his force
quite too slender, retreated across the
mountains into North Carolina dur
ing the night ; losing a few wagons
and caissons by our pursuit, which
was not long persisted in.
This retreat — doubtless, inevitably
—abandoned to its fate Saltville,

28 Jan. 14.

'•» Dec. 6.

30 Dec. 12.

81 Dec. 15.

'• Dec. 16.

SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA.

fiS9

with its extensive and costly salt
works, hitherto successfully guarded
and defended; and it now fell to
Stoneman without a struggle : 8
guns, 2 locomotives, many horses and
mules, and a large quantity of am
munition, being here captured. The
.Bait-works were utterly destroyed.
And now — there being no hostile
force left in this quarter to over
come, the country pretty thoroughly
devastated, and East Tennessee ut
terly cleared of the enemy — Stone
man and Gillem returned quietly to
Knoxville; while Burbridge led his
force back through Cumberland gap
?into Kentucky.
Gen. Thomas, in summing up the
results of his campaign, states, that
from Sept. 7, 1864, to Jan. 20, 1865,

he had captured 1 Major-General, 7
Brigadiers, 16 Colonels, 14 Lt.-Colo-
nels, 22 Majors, 212 Captains, 601
Lieutenants, 89 Surgeons and Chap
lains, and 10,895 non-commissioned
officers and privates : total, 11,857 ;
beside 1,332 who had been exchanged.
He had also received and administer
ed the oath of submission and amnesty
to 2,207 deserters from the Bebel ser
vice. He had captured 72 serviceable
guns and 3,079 infantry small arms.
Our total loss during this campaign
amounted, in killed, wounded, and
missing, to about 10,000 ; which was
less than half that of the enemy. In
fact, the Bebel army had almost .
ceased to exist when Gen. Hood —
then at Tupelo, Miss. — was "relieved
at his own. request," Jan. 23. 1865.

XXXII.
SHEEMAN'S GBEAT MABCH.
GEORGIA— THE CAROLINAS.

Gen. Sherman, after sending back
to Chattanooga his sick and wounded,
surplus guns, baggage, and the gam-
sons of his more northern posts in
Georgia, had still under his imme
diate command the 14th, 15th, 17th,
and 20th corps, numbering 60,000
infantry and artillery and 5,500
cavalry. Concentrating these around
Borne and Kingston, Georgia, he
thoroughly destroyed ' such portions
of the railroads and such other pro
perty as he judged might be used to
his prejudice by the enemy, reserving
for the last sacrifice the telegraph
which still connected him with
Grant, Washington, and the North ;

but, at length, cutting that/ after-
sending his parting messages, his
army stood clear of all posts and;
communications — a strictly movable
column — and commenced its memo
rable march.
Fortius, it had been organized iu
two grand divisions or wings: the
right led by Gen. O. O. Howard,
comprising 'the 15th corps, Gen. P.
J. Osterhaus, and the 17th, Gen.
Frank P. Blair; the left, led by Gen.
H. W. Slocum, comprising the 14th
corps, Gen. Jeff. C. Davis, and the
20th, Gen. A. S. Williams. Gen.
Judson Kilpatrick led the cavalry;
which careered in front and on either

'Nov. 2-11, 1864.
vol. ii. — 44

'Nov. 11.

690

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

 -15 A.C.]R-W|NQ
 14- ., )
 20 ," (LEFTjj,
.»._.»CflV, /^ ^j/-
MACOONOUGHiN
I JACKSON"/
J \ !/ /
5YTH +

^Atlanta ?EGATUR

enEP.MAN-6 MABCH TO TOE SEA.

flank of the infantry, so as to screen,
so far as possible, the direction of our
advance and the points to which it
was directed. Each wing had its
separate and efficient pontoon train.
Gen. Sherman marched and camped
first with one wing, then with the
other. Moving rapidly to Atlanta,2 How
ard advanced thence by McDonough,
Monticello, and Clinton, to Gordon ; 4
while Slocum advanced by Coving
ton, Madison, and Eaton ton, concen

trating on Milledgeville,6 which was
entered without opposition ; Sherman
thus far accompanying the 14th corps,
which was the last to leave Atlanta,"
and had not had a chance to fire a
shot. In fact, the principal resistance
encountered by our infantry was that
of the bad roads of Georgia at that
rainy season. Osterhaus had seen
(for a moment) a few Bebel cavalry
at the crossing of Cotton river ; but,
though they set fire to the bridge,
they were driven off so promptly that
only the planks were damaged.
Thus far, our infantry had mainly
been busied with destroying railroads
and foraging on the plenty of central
Georgia ; each subordinate command
er being instructed to live on the
country so far as possible ; saving to
the utmost the twenty days' bread,
forty days' beef, coffee, sugar, &c,
and three days' forage, contained in
our wagons. Helping the trains
across the Ocmulgee and its tribu
taries, and up the long, steep hills
beyond, had been the principal labor
of the march ; which was intended to
average 15 miles per day.
Kilpatrick held the laboring oar.
Moving south' from Atlanta with
Howard, he had been confronted at
East Point by Bebel cavalry; with
whom he skirmished, driving them
to Flint river, which he crossed at
Jonesboro' at 7 a. m. next day ; fol
lowing the enemy to Lovejoy's, where
they had taken post in the old Bebel
works, having two guns. Dismount
ing Murray's brigade, Kilpatrick at
tacked and carried the works, captur
ing 50 prisoners ; Atkins's brigade
soon after charging the fleeing foe,
and taking their guns. Kilpatrick
pushed thence by McDonough and

3 Nov. 14.

•Nov. 23.

'Nov. 23.

• Nov. 16.

'Nov. 15.

kilpatrick: ADVANCES TO "WAYNESBORO'.

691

Monticello to Clinton; whence he
made a dash at Macon, driving in
the enemy's cavalry ; but was unable
to carry the defenses, which were
held by infantry and artillery. He
burned a train of cars, and broke up
the railroad ; covering all the roads
which diverged eastward from Ma
con, by the aid of Woloott's brigade
of infantry, which was sharply
assailed from Macon, but worsted
and beat off its assailants ; while
the right wing marched by to Gor
don. Howard now advanced' to the
Oconee at Ball's ferry, where a small
, , force in his van crossed on a raft, but
was driven back with loss. When
Ms two corps had been brought up,
and a detachment thrown across the
Bwift current in boats, the enemy had
decamped. Meantime, the Georgia
Central railroad had been demolished,
and the right wing pushed on, keep
ing to the right of that road, and
encountering no serious resistance.
Sherman was here with Blair ; How
ard With Osterhaus.
Slocum had moved out of Mil
ledgeville simultaneously with How
ard's advance from Gordon, and had
concentrated at Saiulorsville ,* driving
out a small party of Wheeler's cav
alry. Thence, the left wing followed
the Central railroad, breaking it up
to the Ogeechee, which it crossed 10
at Louisville ; whence it kept north
of that road, striking out for the
Savannah river. The roads and
bridges in our advance, bad at best,
were of course made worse by the
enemy; while the great swamps
wherein this region abounds ren
dered the movement of our trains
and guns a matter of difficulty, and

taxed the best efforts of our engineers
and axmen.
At Millen, on the Central railroad,
halfway from Sandersville to Savan
nah, was a great prison-camp, where
some thousands of our captured sol
diers had long endured unspeakable
privations. Sherman was intent on
reaching and liberating them. To
this end, he had sent Kilpatrick,
with most of our eavalry, far to our
left, so as to give the impression that
he was making for Augusta rather
than toward the coast, lest the pris
oners should be removed from Millen.
Kilpatrick had advanced from Mil
ledgeville by Sparta and Gibson
to Waynesboro',11 skirmishing with
Wheeler, who constantly menaced,
but did not seriously attack him ;
and now Kilpatrick learned that the
enemy had taken the alarm and re
moved the prisoners from Millen : so
he judged it wiser to fall back on
the left wing than to persist in a haz
ardous, unsupported advance, wliich
had no longer a motive. In effecting
this retreat, Kilpatrick and his staff,
with the Sth Indiana and 9th Michi
gan, were, through a misapprehen
sion of orders, cut off from the main
body and very nearly surrounded by
Wheeler ; but they fought their way
out and rejoined their comrades with
little loss. Wheeler pressing on, Kil
patrick dismounted, selected a good
position, threw up a breastwork, and
received the enemy's charge ; wliich,
though desperately made, was re
pulsed at all points with little loss.
He then moved on a few miles and
camped, uupursued: being soon re-
enforeed by Col. M. C. Hunter's brig
ade of Baird's division, which Jeff.
C. Davis, hearing of his peril, had

8 Nov. 24-5.

•Nov. 26.

» Nov. 28-3.

" Nov. S5-28.

692

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

sent from the left wing to his aid.
The need of assistance, however, was
now over. Kilpatrick now joined
the left wing, and covered its flank
when it again advanced.
Sherman, still with Blair, crossed "
the Ogeechee near Barton, advancing
to Millen;" Howard, with Wood's
and Corse's divisions of the 15th
corps, still moving south of the Ogee
chee on the old dirt road to Savan
nah; while Hazen's and John E.
Smith's divisions, keeping farther to
the right, reached Statesboro'.14 Ha
zen had a skirmish here with a regi
ment of cavalry, which was easily
driven ; but the roadless swamps
were vanquished with more difficulty.
Wood threw " over the Ogeechee, by
a foot-bridge, Williamson's brigade,
which moved down the left bank;
while Corse crossed his division on
pontoons at Jenks's bridge, some dis
tance below ; Bice's brigade, in ad
vance, having a smart skirmish with
a Bebel battalion which disputed
the passage ; losing 5 men and taking
17 prisoners. The right wing now
moved down both banks of the riv
er; Osterhaus crossing Cannouchee
creek; while Blair encountered18 a
Bebel force holding an intrenched
line, with guns in position and rifle-
pits in front, in a dense swamp,
where his men had to wade knee-
deep to form line of battle. The
enemy were not in great force, how
ever, and were easily driven : two
brigades pushing on to the Savannah
and Gulf railroad and breaking it ;
while J. E. Smith's division closed
up on Corse's, and Corse pressed on
toward Savannah. He was opposed
by 600 infantry and 2 guns ; but his
advance brigade quickly ran them

off, taking a gun and some prisoners.
He followed the fugitives acrosB the
Little Ogeechee to within 8 miles of
the city, where he halted, and re
sumed breaking up the Gulf rail
road; King's bridge having been
burned by the enemy. No force re
mained in our front here save the
garrison of Fort McAllister. And
now Blair's pontoons were laid across
the Ogeechee, near Fort Argyle, and
the two wings thus substantially uni
ted before Savannah.
Slocum had set forward from Louis
ville " — the 20th corps in advance —
and had moved down between the
Savannah and the Ogeechee ; finding
the roads mainly of quicksand, coated
by a thin crust of firmer sand, which
was soon cut through by our trains,
rendering their movement barely
possible, and requiring miles of ' cor
duroy.' At intervals, the Bebels had
fallen trees across the roads, but not
exactly where they were wanted.
The 14th corps had advanced farther
to the left, with Kilpatrick still
farther east ; Sherman's object being
still to threaten Augusta and be
wilder the enemy as to his purpose.
Thus Kilpatrick, supported by Baird,
was thrown out again to Waynes
boro' ; fighting 1S Wheeler and driv
ing him 8 miles across Briar creek ;
while Baird destroyed the Augusta
railroad ; when the 14th was concen
trated on Jacksonboro', and all moved
rapidly down Briar creek toward the
Savannah ; Baird and Kilpatrick in
the rear, which was now pressed by
Wheeler, with sharp skirmishing, but
with little loss on either side. Gen.
Morgan, in Davis's van, was halted,
near Ebenezer church, a strong field-
work in his front,12 which seemed to

"Nov. 30. "Dec. 2. "Dec 4. "Dec. 6-1. "Dec. 9. " Dec. 1. a Dqc. 4. '"Dec. 9.

HAZEN STORMS FORT MCALLISTER.

693

be firmly held ; but night fell while
he was preparing to attack it, and it
was found empty next morning.
Morgan's and Carlin's divisions en
camped next day 10 miles from
Savannah ; and here the 20th corps
passed them and pushed toward the
city. Thus, on the 10th of Decem
ber, Savannah was completely be
leaguered, and the mystery wliich had
hung over Sherman's march and its
destination dispelled.
Hazen was in front of Fort McAl
lister on our left, and had been ex
changing shots with it — hoping thus
to attract the attention of our fleet
blockading the coast, when Gens.
Sherman and Howard rode M to Dr.
Cheves's rice-mill to reconnoiter that
fort. Kilpatrick had just been sent
across the Ogeechee with a like pur
pose, and to open communication, if
possible, with our fleet off the coast.
About noon, as the two Generals
scanned the fort through their glasses,
it was observed to open fire inland
from several guns; while Hazen's
skirmishers could be discerned ap
proaching it, and the smoke as of a
steamer was visible off the mouth of
the Ogeechee. A signal from Hazen
now imported that he had invested
the fort. Sherman signaled back
that it was important to cany it
that day. The steamer signaled that
she was sent by Gen. Foster and
Admiral Dahlgren to communicate
with our army, but was in doubt
whether to approach the fort as hos
tile or friendly. At that moment,
Hazen's bugles sounded the charge ;
when his division rushed over tor
pedoes and abatis, through a shower
of grape, up to and over the parapet,
and, after a brief but desperate strug

gle, McAllister was ours. Her gar
rison of 200 surrendered; having 40
or 50 killed and wounded to our 90.
Among the spoils were 22 guns and
much ammunition.
Sherman watched till he saw our
colors hoisted over the fort, and
heard the cheers of the victors as
they fired their pieces into the air ;
when, taking a boat, he went with
Howard down to the fort and con
gratulated Hazen; rowing thence
down the Ogeechee till he met the
National tug Dandelion, Lt.-Com'r
Williamson ; who informed him that
Capt. Duncan, whom Howard had
sent down the Ogeechee in a canoe,
to run by the fort and communicate
with Foster and Dahlgren, had safely
reached them several days before,
and that they might be expected
here directly.
Foster arrived in the Nemaha dur
ing that night; and Sherman met
Dahlgren on board the Harvest
Moon next day ; sending by him to
Hilton Head for heavy guns where
with to bombard the city — those
which he had brought through Geor
gia in his Winter march being in
adequate. When several 30-pounder
Parrotts had reached him, Sherman
formally summoned21 Hardee, who
held the city, and who refused ; sug
gesting that he was not yet complete
ly invested. Slocum was now or
dered to get the siege-guns into
position, while Sherman started22 to
pay a flying visit to Hilton Head, to
arrange with Foster for stopping the
exit from Savannah toward Charles
ton. Being detained by high and
adverse winds, however, he was met,22
in one of the inland passages among
the Sea Islands, by an army tug

"Dec. 13.

"Dec. 17.

""Dec. 20.

"Dec. 21.

694

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

with the news that Hardee, with a
force reported at 15,000 men, had
evacuated the city during the dark
and windy night of the 20th ; cross
ing the Savannah on a pontoon-
bridge, and marching up the cause
way road toward Charleston. The
movement had been unsuspected by
our pickets ; and, when next morn
ing broke, Savannah was ours, and
Hardee beyond the reach of pursuit.
He had destroyed, under cover of a
heavy fire, which he kept up through
the day and evening of the 20th, the
Navy Yard, two iron-clads, many
smaller vessels, and a large quantity
of ammunition, ordnance stores, and
supplies of all kinds. His guns he
could not even wait to spike, lest his
flight should be detected. As our
bombardment had barely commenced,
the city was surrendered almost
intact; while, of its cotton, a large
share had been made over to the
Confederacy, and so was an incon
testable prize. 
We had lost, in that march of 255
miles, which was substantially the
conquest of Georgia, six weeks' time
and 567 men ; whereof 63 were kill
ed, 245 wounded, and 159 missing.
To offset these, we had taken 1,328
prisoners and 167 guns. Our ammu
nition expended was inconsiderable ;
while our 65,000 men and 10,000
horses had lived generously off a
State wherein our captives in thou
sands had died of virtual starvation
and kindred agonies because (as was
alleged) their captors were unable to
subsist them. Aside from sheep,
swine, fowls, sweet potatoes, and
rice, whereof they had found an
abundance, 13,000 beeves, 160,000
bushels of corn, and over 5,000 tons

of fodder, had been gathered from
the country and issued to our men
and animals ; while 5,000 horses and
4,000 mules had been 'pressed' into
the National service. Of cotton,
20,000 bales had been burned ; while
25,000 more were captured in Savan
nah. Of negroes, 10,000 had abjured
the delights of bondage to follow the
National flag ; beside thousands more
— most of them women and children
— who had had been most shamefully
driven back by certain of our offi
cers24 at the crossings of rivers; and
pitilessly reconsigned to Slavery, and
thus to their masters' vengeful wrath.
Sherman made some little atonement
for this cruelty by assigning lands
on the Sea Islands, deserted by Beb
els, to the Blacks who had followed
him to the coast.
The merit of Sherman's achieve
ment is dwarfed to vulgar apprecia
tion by circumstances which should
rather exalt it. It is true that Hood's
movement on Nashville had with
drawn the main obstacle from his
path ; yet it was still possible to have
confronted him on the Oconee, and
then on the Ogeechee, with 30,000
men, one-third of them mounted; and
thus have compelled him to repeated
concentrations, assaults, and flank
marches, which might have exhaust
ed his food if not his munitions, and
left him helpless while encircled by
foes and vast stretches of inhospita
ble swamps and forests. The coun
try, which yielded bounteous subsist
ence to an army covering a breadth
of 40 miles and advancing from 10 to
20 miles per day, would have proved
utterly inadequate in the face of a foe
able to detain him a week at each
considerable river and drive in or cut

4 Gen. Jeff. C. Davis appears to have been prominent in this inhumanity.

DANA'S, DAVIDSON'S AND GRIERSON'S RAIDS.

695

off his foraging parties; forcing back
his cavalry on his infantry. Georgia
was swiftly and cheaply traversed,
simply by reason of the admirable
dispositions which left the enemy in
doubt as to his objective, and para
lyzed, at Macon, Augusta, Savannah,
&c, forces which should'have been
concentrated to oppose his advance.
Sherman announced his crowning
triumph to President Lincoln as fol
lows: "I beg to present you, as a Christmas
gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy
guns and plenty of ammunition, and also
about 25,000 bales of cotton."
The President responded as fol
lows: " Executive Mansion, \
"Washington, D. 0., Dec. 26, 1864. j
" Mt Deak Gen. Sherman :
" Many, many thanks for your Christmas
gift — the capture of Savannah.
" When you were about to leave Atlanta
for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not
fearful ; but, feeling that you were the bet
ter judge, and remembering that 'nothing
risked, nothing gained,' I did not interfere.
Now, the undertaking being a success, the
honor is all yours ; for I believe none of us
went further than to acquiesce. And, tak
ing the work of Gen. Thomas into the ac
count, as it should be taken, it is indeed a
great success.
" Not only does it afford tbe obvious and
immediate military advantages, but, in show
ing to the world that your army could be
divided, putting the stronger part to an im
portant new service, and yet leaving enough
to vanquish the old opposing forces of the
whole — Hood's army — it brings those who
sat in darkness to see great light.
"Please make my grateful acknowledg
ments to your whole army, officers and men.
" Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln."

Two separate expeditions were sent
out from the Mississippi to distract
the enemy's attention from Sherman,
and prevent a concentration against
him. One of them, under Gen. Dana,
was dispatched from Yicksburg ; en
countering,25 on the Big Black, a

Bebel force which it defeated, after
an obstinate fight; destroying several'
miles of the railroad, including the
bridge, with locomotives, cars, cot
ton, and valuable stores. The other,
under Gen. Davidson, moved simul
taneously from Baton Bouge to Tan
gipahoa, where it broke up the same
railroad, destroying bridges, &c. ;
pushing on to Franklinton and West
Pascagoula ; meeting little resistance,
taking some prisoners, and causing
alarm for the safety of Mobile.
A third and more important
mounted expedition was dispatched2"
by Gen. Dana from Memphis, 3,500
strong, led by Gen. Grierson, south
eastward through north Alabama to
Tupelo on the Mobile railroad, which
was thoroughly broken up southward
to Okolona; Col. Karge, by the way,
surprising " a Bebel camp at Yerona,
dispersing the force holding it,. cap
turing 32 cars, 8 warehouses filled
with ordnance and supplies, which
were being loaded for Hood's army
on 200 wagons taken by Forrest from
Sturgis at Guntown. All were de
stroyed. At Okolona, Grierson intercepted2*
dispatches from Dick Taylor, at Mo
bile, promising reenforcements, which
deserters said would arrive at 11
a. m. next day. He decided, there
fore, to attack at daylight, and did
so : the Bebels being intrenched at a
httle station known as Egypt, with
4 guns on platform cars, and some
1,200 to 2,000 men. While the fight
was in progress, two trains came up
the road with reenforcements for the
enemy ; but Grierson interposed be
tween these and his stationary foes,
repelling the former, and routing the
latter ; capturing and destroying' a

* Nov. 25.

"Dec. 21.

"Dec. 25.

""Dec. 27.

696

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

train, taking 500 prisoners, and dis
persing the force at Egypt. Among
their killed was Gen. Gholson.
Making feints in different direc
tions, Grierson now moved south-
westward ; striking the Mississippi
Central at Winona, and tearing it up
for miles on either hand ; while the
4th Iowa pushed south to Banks ton,
destroying there Confederate cloth
and shoe factories. Grierson moved
from Winona to Benton; where Col.
Osband engaged and defeated Col.
Wood's Bebel cavalry. The expedi
tion made its way thence to Yicks
burg with 500 prisoners, 800 beeves,
and 1,000 negroes ; having destroyed
immense amounts of Bebel property,
most of it of great military value, in
cluding 95 cars, 300 wagons, 30 full
warehouses, &c, with a total loss of
27 killed, 93 wounded, 7 missing.
Among its prisoners were 100 who
had been recruited from among our
men famishing in Bebel prison-camps,
who had taken this course to save
their lives.

Gen. Foster, commanding on the
Sea Islands, being directed by Gen.
Halleck to make a demonstration in
land in behalf of Gen. Sherman, who
was expected near Bocotaligo at the
end of November, was enabled to
spare from his various garrisons but
5,000 men for this service. At the
head of this force, he ascended Broad
river on steamboats, landing29 at
Boyd's Neck ; immediately pushing
out Gen. J. P. Hatch to seize the
Charleston and Savannah railroad
near Grahamsville. Hatch, missing
the way, failed to reach the railroad
that day, and was confronted, next
morning, by a strong Bebel force

intrenched on Honey hill, covering
Grahamsville and the railroad. As
saulting this, he was stoutly fought
and worsted, recoiling at nightfall ;
having suffered a loss of 746 in killed,
wounded, and missing.
Foster now threw two brigades,
under Gen. E. E. Potter, across the
Coosawhatchie to Devaux Neck, be
tween the two branches of Broad
river, whence Potter advanced and
seized so a position within cannon-shot
ofthe railroad, whieh he fortified and
held, while the rest of Foster's mov
able column was brought up to his
support. Here, Foster received31 his
first news of Sherman's appearance
before Savannah, and proceeded at
once to the Ogeechee to meet him.
By Sherman's direction, he held on
to his position; and, after Hardee had
fled past to Charleston, he occupied
without resistance the Bebel works at
Pocotaligo, and at the railroad cross
ings of the Coosawhatchie and Tulli-
finny. Gen. Foster was preparing
to operate, under Sherman's orders,
against Charleston, when he was
relieved — because of his suffering
from an unhealed wound — by Gen.
Gillmore.

Gen. Sherman remained over a
month at Savannah, resting and re
fitting his army preparatory to fur
ther and more arduous efforts. He
had intended to resume his advance on
the 15th of January, 1865 ; at which
time, accordingly, the 17th corps,
Gen. F. P. Blair, was taken by water
around by Hilton Head to Poco
taligo, whence it menaced Charles
ton ; as the left wing, Gen. Slocum,
with Kilpatrick's cavalry, moved
up the Savannah to Sister's ferry,

"Nov. 30.

"Dec. 6.

01 Dec. 12.

SHERMAN ENTERS SOUTH CAROLIXA.

697

threatening an advance on Augusta
— Gen. Sherman thus pursuing his
favorite strategy of dividing the ene
my's forces and distracting his atten
tion from his real objective, so as to
prevent a concentration to resist bim
in the difficult, inhospitable region
through which his course lay.
. Incessant rains, which flooded most
of the adjacent country, giving the
Savannah at Sister's ferry a surface
width of nearly three miles, submerg
ing the causeway road, and breaking
up Gen. Slocum's pontoon-bridge,
compelled a delay of a fortnight ; dur
ing which, Savannah was made over "
to Gen. Foster: Gen. Graver's division
of the 19th corps having been sent
by Gen. Grant to form its garrison.
Some feints were made from Poco-
taligo of an advance on Charleston ;
Foster's position between the Coo
sawhatchie and TuIIifinny abandoned
as no longer of use ; and at length —
the flood having somewhat abated —
Sherman's whole army moved" nearly
northward ; Slocum, with Kilpatrick,
crossing the Savannah at Sister's ferry
or Purysburg, and moving on Barn-
weU and Beaufort's bridge, threaten
ing Augusta ; while the right wing,
keeping for some distance west of the
Cbmbahee and Salkehatchie, should
cross at Bivers's and at Beaufort's
bridges and push rapidly for the
Edisto; thus flanking Charleston and
compelling its precipitate evacuation
by the enemy, after they should have
been kept paralyzed so long as might
be in apprehension of a siege.
Southern South Carolina is so in-
veterately and generally a swamp,
and was now so sodden and cavered
with water, that the belief was com
mon among her people that for an

army, with its trains, to traverse her
whole extent, from south-west to
north-east, in mid-winter, was a phy
sical impossibility. Yet, to provide
against the chance of Sherman's prov
ing able to overcome the resistance
of the elements, Gov. Magrath had,
by proclamation, summoned34 to the
field as militia every White male in
the State between the ages of 16 and
60, not already in the service ; pro
claiming that those who did not vol
untarily come out should be forced
out, and that all former exemptions
would be disregarded.
Ample time had been afforded for
felling her abundant trees across her
narrow roads — that being about the
last conspicuous service which her
slaves were constrained to render to
their masters. Wheeler's troopers
hovered around our advance, watch
ing for chances ; while a brigade of
infantry lay behind the Salkehatchie
at Bivers's bridge, prepared to dis
pute its passage. This, however, was
brushed36 aside by a turning move
ment from below — to make which,
Mower's and G. A. Smith's divisions
of Blair's corps waded through a
swamp three miles wide, covered
with water, one to four feet deep —
the weather having become bitterly
cold — the two Generals wading at
the head of their men. Once over,
the Bebels were quickly driven off in
disorder, retreating behind the Edisto
at Branchville : our loss here being
18 killed and 70 wounded. Our in
fantry pressed rapidly after them;
the enemy burning the bridges
over the Edisto while our men
broke up the South Carolina railroad
for many miles; and Kilpatrick,
skirmishing heavily with Wheeler,

' Jan. 18, 1865.

" Feb. L

1 Dec. 29, 1864.

' Feb. 3, 1865.

698

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

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CROSSING OF THE EDISTO AND CONGAREE.

699

moved by Barnwell and Blackville to
Aiken, threatening Augusta. Thus,
by the llth, our whole army was on
the line of the railroad aforesaid,
tearing it up, and holding apart the
enemy's forces covering Augusta on
one hand and Charleston on the other.
Our right was now directed on
Orangeburg ; the 17th corps crossing
the South Edisto at Binnaker's
bridge, while the 15th crossed at
HolmanJs bridge, farther up; the
two approaching at Poplar Spring :
the 17th moving swiftly on Orange
burg bridge over the South Edisto,
and carrying it by a dash ; the enemy
trying to burn it with but partial suc
cess. A battery was in position be
hind it, covered by a parapet of cot
ton and earth, with wings extending
so far as could be seen. Blair con
fronted it with G. A. Smith's divi
sion, and sent his other two to a
point two miles below, where pon
toons were quickly laid and Force's
division crossed ; Mower's holding
the bridge as a support. When
Force emerged from the swamp on
the right flank of the Bebels at
Orangeburg, they gave way; when
Smith pushed over ; occupied their
works, repaired the bridge ; and by
4 p. m. the whole corps was in and
around Orangeburg, tearing up the
railroad leading to Columbia ; press
ing thence, so soon as possible, on that
metropolis, regardless of Branchville
or Charleston on their right ; as Sher
man knew that, being thus flanked,
they must be abandoned rather than
run the obvious risk of losing the
troops by whom they were held.
The 15th corps was again resisted38
at the crossing of the Congaree;
where the bridge was swept by the

guns of a substantial fort on the
north side, with a smaller work or
bridge-head on the south : the ap
proach being over level, open ground,
covered with mud from the recent
inundation. Gen. Chas. B. Woods,
whose division had the advance,
turned the bridge-head by sending
up Stone's brigade through a cypress
swamp on the left ; when the enemy
decamped, after having fired but not
destroyed the bridge, which was
promptly repaired ; so that our guns
were brought over, and at night the
head of the column bivouacked near
the fine bridge over the Congaree
leading into Columbia, which was
fired and consumed as our van ap
proached it next morning.
The left wing, under Slocum, had
found the crossing of the swollen
Savannah so difficult, that it was not
entirely clear of that river till the
7th ; but it had encountered thence
forth very little resistance ; Wheeler's
cavalry being the only force that
infested its march, and this being
kept quite busy by Kilpatrick alone.
Augusta was full of Bebel stores ;
and, in painful apprehension of a
visit from Sherman, was defended by
such Georgians as could be mustered
for militia ; but Sherman had no no
tion of molesting or being molested
by them. The shattered remnant of
Hood's army — once more consigned
to Jo. Johnston — was making its way,
under Cheatham, from north Missis
sippi across Sherman's track through
Georgia to his front in the Carolinas,
but was not yet near enough to give
us trouble : so Slocum, unvexed by
any obstacle but the necessity of cor
duroying the interminable swamps
he must traverse, crossed the South

* Feb. 15.

700

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Edisto on the 13th, concentrating
his command at and below Lexing
ton, and reaching the Saluda a few
miles above Columbia only an hour
or two after Howard appeared on
that river (which here unites with
the Broad to form the Congaree) on
the 16th.
Gen. Howard, by Sherman's or
der, promptly threw forward his left
across the Saluda, skirmishing with
cavalry; then, during the ensuing
night, threw a flying bridge over the
Broad, three miles above Columbia ;
crossing Stone's brigade, and thus
securing a foothold on the Columbia
side, north of the city, and enabling
him to lay his pontoons on the morn
ing of the 17th. Columbia was now
plainly ours; there being no adequate
force present to dispute its possession ;
so the Mayor came out, at 11 a. m.,
and formally surrendered it to Col.
Stone, of Logan's corps, on the north,
about the same time that some of the
17th corps, crossing the Congaree in
a skiff, entered it, unresisted, from
the west. Sherman and Howard now
rode in ; Col. Stone having already
taken possession and posted sentinels :
the inhabitants moving fearlessly
through the streets. During the day,
the 15th corps marched through the
city and out on the Camden road.
The 17th corps did not enter it at
all ; while the left wing and the
cavalry, crossing both rivers above,
were at no time within two miles of
it. Yet night saw' that city in flames,
and a great part of it reduced to
ashes: hence, mutual accusations
and reproaches by Gens. Sherman
and Wade Hampton. Here is Gen.
Sherman's statement in his report :
" In anticipation of the occupation of the
city, I had made written orders to Gen.

Howard touching the conduct of the troops.
These were : to destroy absolutely all ar
senals and public property not needed for
our own use, as well as all railroads, dep6ts,
and machinery useful in war to an enemy ;
but to spare all dwellings, colleges, schools,
asylums, and harmless private property. I
was the first to cross the pontoon -bridge,
and, in company with Gen. Howard, rode
into the city. The day was clear ; but a
perfect tempest of wind was raging. The
brigade of Col. Stone was already in the
city, and. was properly posted. Citizens
and soldiers were on the streets, and gen
eral good order prevailed. Gen. Wade
Hampton, who commanded the Confede
rate rear-guard of cavalry, had, in antici
pation of our capture of Columbia, ordered
that all cotton, public and private, should
be moved into the streets and fired, to
prevent our making use of it. Bales were
piled everywhere; the rope and bagging
cut, and tufts of cotton were blown about
in the wind, lodged in the trees and against
houses, so as to resemble a snow-storm.
Some of these piles of cotton were burning,
especially one in the very heart of the city,
near the court-house ; bnt the fire was par
tially subdued by the labor of our soldiers.
During the day, the 15th corps passed
through Columbia and out on the Camden
road. The 17th did not enter the town at
all ; and, as I have before stated, the left
wing and cavalry did not come within two
miles of the town.
" Before one single public building had
been fired by order, the smoldering fires,
set by Hampton's order, were rekindled by
the wind, and communicated to the build
ings around. About dark, they began to
spread, and got beyond the control of the
brigade on duty within the city. The
whole of Woods's division was brought in ;
but it was found impossible to check the
flames ; which, by midnight, had become un
manageable, and raged until about 4 a. m.;
when, the wind subsiding, they were got
under control. I was up nearly all night,
and saw Gens. Howard, Logan, Woods,
and others, laboring to save houses and
protect families thus suddenly deprived
of shelter, and of bedding and wearing ap
parel. I disclaim on the part of my army
any agency in this fire ; but, on the contrary,
claim that we saved what of Columbia re
mains unconsumed. And, without hesita
tion, I charge Gen. Wade Hampton with
having burned his own city of Columbia;
not with malicious intent, or as the mani
festation of a silly 'Roman stoicism,' but
from folly and want of sense, in filling it
with lint, cotton, and tinder. Our officers
and men on duty worked well to extinguish
the flames ; but others, not on duty, includ-

PILLAGE AND BURNING OF COLUMBIA.

701

ing the officers who had long been im
prisoned there, rescued by us, may have as
sisted in spreading the fire after it had once
begun, and may have indulged in uncon
cealed joy to see the ruin of the Capital of
South Carolina."
It will be seen that Gen. Sherman
does not charge Hampton with in
tending to burn the city, which he
was confessedly unable to hold ; nor
does he deny that some of our men,
not on duty, may have aided to ex
tend tb,e conflagration. Nor does
Beauregard, who was Hampton's
superior in command at Columbia,
and who ordered its evacuation,
indorse the charges against his suc
cessful antagonist. Nor does Pollard
— who never misses an opportunity
to defame the detested ' Yankees ' —
directly accuse Sherman of having
ordered or desired the conflagration-,
though he evidently wishes to con
vey the impression that he did.
Here is his account of the capture :
" A white flag, displayed from the steeple
of the City Hall, announced the surrender
of the town. With bands playing, drum-
corps beating, flags flying, and their men in
step, the Yankee army marched down
Main-street to the Capitol square.
" No sooner had the enemy entered Co
lumbia than a wild and savage scene of pil
lage commenced. Stragglers, 'bummers,'
pontoon men, and the riffraff of the army,
were to be met in every street and almost
every house. If they wanted a pair of
boots, they took them from one's feet.
"Watches were in constant demand — in
several instances, being snatched from the
persons of ladies. Ear and finger rings
were taken by force ; and, in isolated cases,
the dresses of ladies were torn from their
bodies by villains who expected to find jew
els or plate concealed. Search for silver
and provisions was made in every conceiv
able place. Ramrods were used as probes
to indicate where boxes were buried ; and
gardens, out-houses, cellars, garrets, chim
neys, and nooks never thought of by any
body but a thief in search of plunder, were
turned, so to speak, inside out. Rev. Mr.
Shand, the Episcopalian clergyman, while
conveying a trunk containing the com
munion service of silver from the church to

the South Carolina College, was accosted
by a Yankee and a negro, who compelled
him, under threat of death, to give it up.
" The conflagration which destroyed the
city commenced about dusk. The fire
started near the rear of the jail. A high
wind prevailed; and, in a short time, the
flames were in full and unconquerable pro
gress, spreading rapidly in three directions
— up and down Main-street, and eastwardly. j
From 10 p. m. till 3 a. m., the scene was ap- 1
palling. The sky was one broad sheet of
flame ; above which, amid the lurid smoke,
drifted in eddying circles a myriad of sparks :
these falling, scattered the conflagration on
every side. The monotone of the roaring,
leaping, hissing tongues of flame, as they
careered on their wild course, alone filled
hearts with dismay. The air was like that
of a furnace. Many of the streets were im
passable. Frightened men, women, and
children, ran in all directions ; some only
to flee again from the fresh attacks of the
destroying element. Property thrown out
of houses was either burned or stolen.
Many of the Federal soldiers, maddened by
liquor, dashed through the city with lighted
torches to inflame the dwellings yet un
touched. Morning revealed, to some ex
tent, the broad sweep of destruction. Four
thousand or more citizens were houseless
and homeless. From the State House to
Cotton Town, and an average of two or
three squares on each side of Main-street,
nothing but blackened ruins remained.
Every vestige of that once busy street was
gone. After having completed, as far as
possible, the destruction of Columbia, Sher
man continued his march northward."
As the fall of Columbia involved
that of Charleston, including Fort
Sumter and all its other defenses —
Hardee properly declining to be here
isolated and consigned to capture at
our convenience — and, as the scene
of destruction which marked that
evacuation has not even been charged
to the Unionists, we will copy Pol
lard's graphic description of this also,
as a companion-piece to that of Co
lumbia. He says :
" The movement of Sherman had already
been decisive of the fate of Charleston.
Gen. Hardee, finding himself flanked at
Charleston, and appreciating the instant
necessity of effecting a junction with Beau
regard and Cheatham and concentrating all
available forces in Sherman's path, resolved

702

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

to evacuate this city, so famous in the War,
and so long coveted by the Yankees. But
he was resolved to leave as little as possible
for the enemy's rapacity.
" At an early hour of the morning, before
the retirement of Gen. Hardee's troops,
every building, warehouse, or shed, stored
with cotton, was fired by a guard detailed
for the purpose. The engines were brought
out ; but, with the small force at the dispo
sal of the fire department, very little else
could be done than to keep the surround
ing buildings from igniting. On the west
ern side of the city, the flames raged with
great fury.
" The horrors of the conflagration were
heightened .by a terrible catastrophe. It ap
pears, some boys had discovered a quantity
of powder at the depot of the North-west
ern railroad, and amused themselves by
flinging handfuls of it upon the masses of
burning cotton in the streets. It was not
long before the powder running from their
hands formed a train upon the ground, lead
ing from the fire to the main supplies of
powder in the dep6t. The result is easily
conjectured. A spark ignited the powder
in the train ; there was a leaping, running
fire along the ground, and then an explo
sion which shook the city to its very foun
dations from one end to the other. The
building was, in a second, a whirling mass
of ruins, in a tremendous volume of flame
and smoke. About 200 lives were lost by
the explosion, and not less than 150 bodies
were found charred in that fiery furnace.
" From the dep6t, the fire spread rapidly,
and, communicating with the adjoining
buildings, threatened destruction to that
part of the town. Four squares, embracing
the area bounded by Chapel, Alexander,
and Washington streets, were consumed
before the conflagration was subdued.
" The destruction of public property had
been as complete as Gen. Hardee could
make it. He burned the cotton warehouses,
arsenals, quartermaster's ' stores, railroad
bridges, two iron-clads, and some vessels in
the ship-yard. Among the captured prop
erty were 200 pieces of artillery ; spiked
and temporarily disabled, as they could not
be brought off.
"The Yankees occupied Charleston on
the 18th of February. A scarred city,
blackened by fire, with evidences of destruc
tion and ruin" wrought by the enemy at al
most every step, had at last come into their
possession ; but not until a heroic defense,
running through nearly four years, and at
last only by the stratagem of a march many
miles away from it. The appearance of the
city was eloquent of the sacrifices and hero
ism of its people. A Yankee correspondent,
who had joined in the triumphal entry into

Charleston, thus described the scene before
his eyes : ' Not a building for blocks here
that is exempt from the marks of shot and
shell. All have suffered more or less. Here
is a fine brown-stone bank building vacant
and deserted, with great, gaping holes in
the sides and roof, through which the sun
shines and the rain pours; windows and
sashes blown out by exploding shell within ;
plastering knocked down ; counters torn
up ; floors crushed in, and fragments of Mo
saic pavement, broken and crushed, lying
around on the floor, mingled with bits of
statuary, stained glass, and broken parts
of chandeliers. Ruin within and without;
and its neighbor in no better plight. The
churches, St. Michael's and St. Philip's,
have not escaped the storms of our projeo-
tiles. Their roofs are perforated, their walls
wounded, their pillars demolished, and with
in the pews filled with plastering. From
Bay street, studded with batteries, to Cal
houn street, our shells have carried destruc
tion and desolation, and often death, with
them.' "
Lt.-Col. A. G. Bennett, command
ing on Morris island, receiving infor
mation which justified a belief that
Charleston had been evacuated, at
once dispatched a boat toward Fort
Moultrie ; which boat, when 40 yard8
east of Fort Sumter, was met by one
from Sullivan's island, containing a
band of musicians left behind by
Hardee. These confirmed the ru
mored evacuation ; whereupon, Maj.
J. A. Hennessy was sent to raise the
flag over recovered Fort Sumter ;
which was effected at 9 a. m. Fort
Bipley and Castle Pinckney submit
ted promptly and gracefully to a like
embellishment — their guns having
been left in a serviceable condition.
At 10 a. m., Bennett reached the
city, which the enemy had not yet
wholly evacuated ; a mounted force
being still engaged in setting fires.
He at once demanded of Mayor Mac
beth a surrender, which was promptly
accorded. A small force was brought
up so soon as possible, and the work
of extinguishing the raging fires vig
orously prosecuted — the Blacks of

FORAGING BY SHERMAN'S ARMY.

thecitybemgimpressed therefor. The
U. S. Arsenal was thus saved from
destruction, as were large quantities
of Confederate rice, which were dis
tributed among the poor of the city.
Georgetown was at the same time
evacuated — Hardee, with 12,000 men,
gathered from all lower South Caro
lina, making all haste to cross the
Santee and Pedee before Sherman
could turn upon and crush him ;
which, as Sherman did not attempt
to intercept him, having other ob
jects in view, was safely accom
plished. Gen. Gillmore, then in command
on the coast, reports the guns cap
tured in Charleston and its defenses
at 450 ; a good part of them 8 and
10-inch Columbiads and 7-inch rifled
guns— many of foreign make. Much
good ammunition, 8 locomotives, with
many passenger and platform cars,
also escaped the Bebel conflagration,
and came into possession ofthe victors.
Before proceeding with the narra
tive of Sherman's Great March, it is
but just to speak of the devastation
of South Carolina by his army.
Sherman's general order, prescrib
ing the conduct of his troops in their
march, was precise and considerate,
though its execution would naturally
seem harsh to those it despoiled. He

" IV. The army will forage liberally on
the country during the march. To this end,
each brigade commander will organize a
good and sufficient foraging party, under
the command of one or more discreet offi
cers, who will gather, near the route trav
eled, corn or forage of any kind, meat of
any kind, vegetables, corn-meal, or whatever
is needed, by the command : aiming at all
times to keep in the wagon-trains at least
ten days' provisions for the command and
three days' forage. Soldiers must not enter
the dwellings of the inhabitants or commit
any trespass ; during the halt or at camp,

they may be permitted to gather turnips,
potatoes, and other vegetables, and drive in
stock in front of their camps. To regular
foraging parties must be intrusted the gather
ing of provisions and forage at any distance
from the road traveled.
"V. To army corps commanders is in
trusted the power to destroy mills, houses,
cotton-gins, etc. •, and for them this general
principle is laid down: In districts and
neighborhoods where the army is unmo
lested, no destruction of such property
should be permitted ; but, should guerrillas
or bushwhackers molest our march, or
should the inhabitants burn bridges, ob
struct roads, or otherwise manifest local
hostility, then army corps commanders
should order and enforce a devastation
more or less relentless, according to the
measure of such hostility.
" VI. As for horses, mules, wagons, &c,
belonging to the inhabitants, the cavalry anjl
artillery may appropriate freely and without
limit; discriminating, however, between the
rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor or
industrious, usually neutral or friendly. Fo
raging parties may also take mules or horses
to replace the jaded animals of their trains,
or to serve as pack mules for the regiments or
brigades. In all foraging, of whatever kind,
the parties engaged will refrain from abu
sive or threatening language, and may, when
the officer in command, thinks proper,' give
written certificates of the facts, but no re
ceipts ; and they will endeavor to leave
with each family a reasonable portion for
their maintenance."
Of course, "the inhabitants" did
" burn bridges, obstruct roads," and
" otherwise manifest local hostility."
Most of them were quite willing;
but they would have been compelled
sotoactiftmwilling. And such mani
festations of" local hostility," accord
ing to the terms of the order above
given, constrained the corps com
manders to "enforce a devastation
more or less relentless, according to
the measure of such hostillity." But
the mere necessity of subsisting such
an army off the country, while pass
ing rapidly through it, necessarily
involved its devastation. It was like
a cloud of locusts, devouring every
thing edible, and many things that
were not. And Gen. Sherman, in

704

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

his report of his passage through
Georgia, says of bis men :

"A little loose in foraging, they 'did
some things they ought not to have done ;'
yet, on the whole, they have supplied the
wants of the army with as little violence as
could be expected, and as little loss as I
calculated." Naturally, the "little violence"
and "little loss" looked larger, and
were regarded with less complai
sance, from the other side ; but there
was not much complaint of wanton
destruction or outrage.
In South Carolina, new conditions
were presented. The region traversed
was, in the main, more sparsely settled
than central Georgia — the mass of its
people poorer, and its supplies more
scanty. And South Carolina was re
garded by our soldiers with more
marked disfavor, as having been the
cradle of Secession and Civil War.
So, doubtless, the taste for plunder
had "grown keener by gratification,
while the instinct that discerns the
location of hidden food and valuables
had by use become amazingly sharp
and subtle. Though a good many
watches and pieces of plate which
were claimed to have been "found
hidden in a swamp, a mile from any
house," were in fact drawn from less
occult sources, it would have been
difficult to hide a watch or goblet
where it would not have been dis
covered and appropriated. And the
business of foraging had been gradu
ally assumed as a specialty by the
least scrupulous of the soldiers, who,
having mounted themselves some
how on beasts of burden, scoured the
whole region in advance of our
marching columns — often many miles
in advance — gathering provisions for

the army, and any thing inviting and
portable for themselves — dismount
ing and fighting in line of battle when
charged or impeded by cavalry or
militia in moderate numbers ; " but
fonder, on the whole, of rifling a
house than of fighting its owner;
and constantly intent on the main-
chance. No other State or section
has in modern times been 60 tho
roughly devastated in a single cam
paign signalized by little fighting, as
was South Carolina by that march
through its utmost length, and over
an average breadth of forty miles, by
Sherman's army.

Gen. Kilpatrick, with a total force
of 5,068 men, including a 6-gun bat
tery of horse artillery, and a small
brigade of dismounted men, had de
monstrated northward, on our ex
treme left, so far as Aiken ; imbuing
the enemy wifh the fullest belief that
Augusta was Sherman's objective,
and causing Wheeler's cavalry to
confront him in this direction ; leav
ing the passes of the Edisto un
guarded. In effecting this, one of
his brigades, led by Col. Spencer,
had engaged," near Williston's star
tion, Gen. Allen's division of Ala
bama cavalry (six thin regiments),
and routed it with no serious loss to
either side. Having destroyed the
railroad hereabout to his heart's con
tent, and deceived Wheeler as to
his purpose, Kilpatrick merely sent s*
Atkins's brigade into Aiken, where
Wheeler was in force, and of course
drove Atkins back ; charging, at 11
a. m., Kilpatrick's entire command,
and being repulsed with a loss of 31
killed, 160 wounded, and 60 prison-

" " Some of these foraging parties had en
counters with the enemy which would, in ordi

nary times, rank as respectable battles." —
Sherman's Report "Feb. 8. "Feb 11.

WADE HAMPTON SURPRISES KILPATRICK.

705

ers. He thereupon fell back into
Aiken ; and Kilpatrick, after threat
ening him there till the night of the
12th, suddenly drew off, moved rap
idly across the South and then the
North Edisto," and, moving on the
left of the llth corps, struck the Lex
ington and Augusta road 9 miles
north-west of Lexington, when barely
1,500 of Wheeler's men had got be
tween him and Columbia, while
Cheatham's force (the remnant of
Hood's army) was moving parallel
with our advance still farther to the
left. But, on crossing the Saluda,"
Wheeler was found to be ahead ; and
our cavalry marched all day" paral
lel with Cheatham's corps, moving
at times within three miles — a diffi
cult stream forbidding an attempt to
strike the enemy in flank, as he was
strung along the road. Crossing the
Greenville and Columbia road, Kil
patrick tore it up down to Alston,
where he crossed" the Broad, and
pushed north nearly to Chesterville ;
when he found that Wheeler had
moved around his front, united with
Wade Hampton, and was before him
on the road to Charlotte and Baleigh,
N. C, which Sherman's advance
northward from Columbia to Winns-
boro' " had led the enemy to believe
was his intended course.
They were at fault, as usual.
Though his left wing was thrown
north nearly to Chesterville, the
movement in this direction was a
feint, and the whole army soon turned
sharply to the right, crossing the
Catawba," and, after halting the
right wing three days to enable Slo
cum (who had been delayed by a
flood in the Catawba) to come up,
struck the Great Pedee at Cheraw"

(where Blair captured 25 guns), and
thence up to the State line at Sneeds-
boro' ; moving on parallel roads with
in easy supporting distance, till they
were concentrated at Fayetteville,"
N. C. ; leaving Charlotte and the
bulk of the Bebel army far to our
left. Heavy rains and almost im
passable streams had delayed our dif
ferent columns ; and Hardee was ex
pected to make a stand at Fayette
ville and resist our passage of the
Cape Fear river; but he merely
burned the bridge and put off as
Blair came up. Kilpatrick, still on
our extreme left had advanced by
Bockingham ; " striking next day the
rear of Hardee's column retreating
from Cheraw on Fayetteville; when,
learning from prisoners that Hamp
ton's cavalry was behind, he resolved
to intercept it. Posting a mounted
brigade near Solemn Grove on one
road, he made, with Spencer's bri
gade, a rapid night-march across to
another ; during which, he rode
through a division of Hampton's
cavalry: losing by capture his escort
of 16 men, but escaping with his
staff. Hampton skillfully deceived Gen.
Atkins, whom Kilpatrick had left be
hind, passed him by an unsuspected
road, and fell in full force upon Kil
patrick and Spencer about 2 a. m. ;
taking them completely by surprise,
routing th'em and capturing all their
guns. Spencer and most of Kil
patrick's staff were made prisoners ;
Kilpatrick barely escaping on foot.
Driven back into a swamp, with
most of his men, he succeeded in
rallying them, while the enemy, sup
posing him utterly routed, were in
tent on plundering his camp ; and,

"Feb.15. "Feb.1T. «Feb.l8. "Feb.19 "Feb.21 "Feb.23. MMarch3. "Maich 11. £March?.
vol. n. — 45

706

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

charging on foot, he retook his head
quarters and guns, just as the enemy
were harnessing the horses to draw
them off, and opened upon their re
ceding backs when scarcely twenty
paces distant, quickening the pace of
all who still retained the power of lo
comotion. Hampton soon rallied his
command, and tried hard to regain all
that he had so suddenly won and
lost ; but Kilpatrick kept him at
bay till Gen. Mitchell, hearing the
guns, at 8 A. m. came hastily across
with a brigade of infantry of the
20th corps; when the enemy disap
peared ; having inflicted a loss of 19
killed, 61 wounded, and 103 prison
ers. Kilpatrick reached Fayetteville, N.
C, on the llth, and the whole army
was concentrated there next day ;
when the army tug Davidson and
the gunboat Eolus steamed up from
Wilmington with news of the capture
of that city and of all that had oc
curred during the six weeks that the
army had been corduroying its way
through the interminable swamps
and pontooning across the swollen
streams of South Carolina. At Co
lumbia, the disastrous fire and the
bitter hostility of the people had pre
vented the only corps that entered
that city from learning much of the
outer world ; but here Sherman was
in full communication with the Gov
ernment and the cooperating Gen
erals, and able to dispatch full in
structions to Gen. Schofield; who,
having been brought around from
Tennessee to Newbern, was prepar
ing to reenforce him at Goldsboro'.
Sherman halted three days at Fay
etteville ; completely destroying the
H. S. Arsenal and the costly machi

nery which had been brought hither
from the U. S. armory at Harper's
Ferry on its first capture in April,
1861. His army greatly needed rest ;
and besides, there was reason now to
apprehend other resistance than that
afforded by the swamps, the streams,
and the elements. Hardee from Sa
vannah and Charleston ; Beauregard
from Columbia ; Cheatham from the
Tennessee; with a considerable force
drawn from North Carolina and her
seaward defenses under Bragg and
Hoke, made up, with Wheeler's and
Hampton's cavalry, a body of not less
than 40,000 men, mainly veterans,
now united under the able and wary
Jo. Johnston. It would no longer an
swer to move as hitherto; our columns
must be kept well closed up, the corps
within easy supporting distance, on
peril of surprise and disaster.
True to his favorite policy, Sher
man again pushed " four divisions of
his left wing, covered by Kilpatrick,
directly northward to Averysboeo',
as if intent on Baleigh ; while Slo
cum's train, his two remaining divi
sions, and the right wing, moved by
various roads nearly east, toward
Goldsboro,' his true destination. The
incessant rains had reduced the roads
to a state wherein horses would
mire almost anywhere, and 'cordu
roy ' was essential wherever guns or
wagons were to be moved.
Sherman was on the left with Slo
cum, who was that day required to
send up a brigade of infantry to the
aid of Kilpatrick, who was skirmish
ing heavily in the advance.
Next morning, when near Averys-
borough, on approaching the road,
which runs eastward to Bentonville,
the enemy, under Hardee, wa3 found

«• March 15.

JOHNSTON ATTACKS SLOCUM AT BENTONTILLE.

707

posted on a narrow, swampy neck of
land between the Cape Fear and
South rivers ; his total strength being
estimated at 20,000. Ward's divi
sion of the 20th corps, in our left
advance, was deployed, sending for
ward a skirmish line, developing a
brigade of infantry behind a light
field-work, with a battery enfilading
the approach. Williams sent Case's
brigade by a circuit to our left ; turn
ing the enemy's work, and, by a
quick charge, driving back the in
fantry brigade holding it, under
the fire of Winnegar's battery, to a
stronger and better line behind it;
whereupon, Ward's division charged
directly on the retreating foe, cap
turing 3 guns and 217 prisoners, of
whom 68 were wounded ; while 108
of the enemy's dead were buried by
Williams on the field.
Jackson's division was now sent
up on the right of Ward, and two
divisions of the 14th corps on the
left : while Kilpatrick, massing his
cavalry farther to the right, was
directed to feel for the road to Golds-
borough. He had gained that road
with one brigade, when he was
vehemently assailed by McLaws's
Bebel division, and pushed back,
fighting gallantly ; until, at length,
our whole line advanced, driving
the enemy within his intrenchments
and pressing him there till night fell,
dark and stormy; under cover of
which he retreated, taking the road
not to Baleigh but to Smithfield.
Slocum's loss was 77 killed and
477 wounded (no prisoners) — which
may or may not include that of Kil
patrick. The enemy's was probably
about the same. Ward's division
made a show of pursuing the enemy;

while the rest of our army, bearing
to the right, pushed directly for
Goldsborough. Sherman, supposing the fight all
out of the Bebels for the present, had
ridden across to the right wing, and
was intent on reaching Goldsborough
and meeting Schofield, when the
sound of guns on the left again chal
lenged his attention. Slocum, ap
proaching Bentonville, had been
assailed by Jo. Johnston with the
entire Bebel army. Couriers from
Schofield and from Terry now ar
rived ; the former reporting himself
at Kinston, short of provisions, but
able to reach Goldsboro' on the 21st,
which he was directed to -do ; Terry
being likewise directed to advance.
Meantime, the several divisions of
the right wing were ordered to move
on rapidly to the relief of the out
numbered left.
Slocum had at first encountered °°
Dibbrell's cavalry; which he was
driving, when he ran headlong upon
the whole Confederate army : the
two leading brigades of Carlin's di
vision being hurled back on the main
body, with a loss of 3 guns and their
caissons. Slocum thereupon, very
properly, stood on the defensive;
showing a front of four divisions,
and throwing up slight barricades;
while Kilpatrick came into action on
the left. Here our left received six
assaults from Johnston's army; hold
ing our ground firmly, and inflicting
heavy loss on the foe with our ar
tillery—they having brought up
little or none. Johnston had hur
ried hither by night from Smithfield,
moving very light, expecting to crush
Slocum before he could be supported;
but he was mistaken. Night fell

»° March 18.

708

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

without giving him any ground ; and,
before morning, Slocum got up his
wagon-train, with its guard of two
divisions, while Hazen's division of
the 15th (Logan's) corps came up on
his right, rendering his position se
cure. The enemy not risking fur
ther attacks, Slocum awaited the
coming up of Howard and the entire
right wing ; by which time, Johnston
had intrenched thoroughly in a strong
position, forming a sort of triangle,
with its apex at the front, but facing
Slocum on one side and Howard on
the other. Here he was very cau
tiously approached and felt of by
Sherman, who was aware that Scho
field was improving this delay to get
possession of Goldsborough in the
enemy's rear, while Gen. Terry ad
vanced to the Neuse at Cox's bridge,
some 10 miles higher up. And now,"
during a heavy rain, under cover of
a noisy demonstration along the
Bebel front, Mower's division of
BJ air's corps worked around by our
right to the enemy's rear ; hoping to
secure the bridge over Mill creek,
which was his only line of retreat.
But Johnston was not to be thus
caught ; nor did he choose to stop
here and fight 60,000 men with (at
most) 40,000 ; so he decamped during
the night, retreating on Smithfield
and Ealeigh so suddenly as to leave
his pickets behind, as well as his
severely wounded.
Our total loss here was 191 killed,
1,108 wounded, and 344 missing :
in all, 1,643. We buried here 267
Bebel dead, and took 1,625 prison
ers — many of them wounded.
No further resistance being made,
our army moved on to Goldsboro',
where it rested and was reclad, while

Gen. Sherman, after a hasty visit to
Gens. Terry and Schofield, took "
the first train of cars that ran to
Morehead City, and thence a swift
steamer to City Point;63 where he
met in council the President, Gens.
Grant, Meade, &c. ; returning as
hurriedly to his army at Goldsboro',
which he reached on the 30th.

We may now narrate the events of
the Winter in North Carolina, which
signally contributed to the final over
throw ofthe Bebellion.
Wilmington, N. C, had — because
of its location, so convenient for the
supply of ordnance, munitions, &c,
to the main Bebel armies, and the
extraordinary difficulty of precluding
the ingress and egress of blockade-
runners, at this port — been, from the
outset, one of the most important
sea-ports of the Confederacy, before,
by the gradual closing of the others,
it became the only one of consequence
that, remained accessible. To close
it, therefore, became at length synon
ymous with barring all direct and
nearly all commercial intercourse
between the Confederacy and, the
non-belligerent world.
Early in the Autumn of 1864, Gen.
Grant proposed to Gen. Butler the
dispatch of Brig.-Gens. Weitzel and
Graham to reconnoiter Fort Fishee,
the main defense of the seaward
approaches to Wilmington, to deter
mine its strength, preparatory to a
combined attack. The reconnois
sance was made accordingly, and its
result duly reported.64
The meditated attack was intend
ed to have been a virtual surprise,
when the pressure of our armies at
all points should have probably re-

" March 21.

"March 25.

53 March 27.

' About Sept. 20.

BUTLER AND PORTER OFF WILMINGTON.

709

duced the garrisons of Fort Fisher
and its adjuncts to a minimum ; but
even the small number required was
not available for this purpose till
October ; when it was judgefi that
the collection and evolutions of a
great fleet in Hampton Boads must
have attracted the enemy's attention
and prompted a reenforcement of the
threatened defenses. (The original
plan of the expedition contemplated
the collection and outfit of this fleet
at or near Port Boyal, under the
guise of a demonstration against Fort
Sumter and Charleston ; but this was
overruled by considerations of obvi
ous convenience.) Meantime, the fer
tile genius of General Butler had
been stimulated by the accounts of a
tremendous gunpowder explosion at
Erith, England, whereby destructive
effects had been produced at a con
siderable distance ; and he had con
ceived the project of running a ves
sel filled with gunpowder under the
sea-wall of Fort Fisher, and there
exploding it; trusting that, at least,
the garrison would be so paralyzed
by the resulting earthquake as to fa
cilitate a prompt seizure of the fort
by its expectant besiegers. Delays
in preparation occurred, as usual;
Gen. Butler was ordered" by tele
graph to New Tork, to keep the
peace there during the Presidential
election; and, when he returned,"
the powder experiment had been re
solved on and preparation for it par
tially made. But Gen. Grant now
left the front for a flying visit to his
family in New Jersey, devolving on
Gen. Butler the chief command;
and, when he returned, of the 250
tons of powder required, 100 tons
were still wanting, and did not arrive

at Fortress Monroe till December :
thus the expedition did not get fairly
off till the 14th. Admiral Porter,
commanding the naval part of it,
was off Beaufort, N. C, on the 16th ;
though Gen. Butler, in advance of
the transport fleet, had reached our
blockaders off Wilmington the night
before. The transports and troops
were at Masonborough inlet, 18 miles
north, or nearly east of Wilmington.
Gen. Grant, it is clear, had not de
signed that Butler should accompany
the expedition, but intended that
Weitzel should be its commander;
yet it is equally plain that, up to a
very late hour, Gen. Butler undoubt-
ingly understood that he was not
merely to fit it out, but personally
command it. So he did.
Porter, with his war vessels, ar
rived on the 18th, and at once sent
up the powder-boat Louisiana, intend
ing to explode her forthwith ; but, on
Butler's remonstrance that the land
forces must be ready to follow up the
explosion with an assault, he counter
manded the order. It appears that
the Bebels were not aware of the pre
sence or imminence of the expedi
tion till the 20th — a few vessels more
or less in the offing, where several
blockaders were generally visible,
not wearing any special significance. t
But now, as the wind was high and
the sea rough, with a prospect of still
worse weather, the transports put
back 70 miles to Beaufort, N. C, for
water, &c. ; when a storm ensued
which prevented their return till the
26th. Admiral Porter — who was not on
terms of cordiality with Gen. Butler
— set to work by himself. He had
sent in the powder-boat Louisiana,

86 Nov. 1 1864.

M Nov. 16.

710

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

I>KFEN8_i 07 WILMINUTUM.

BUTLER AND WEITZEL DECLINE TO ASSAULT,

711

Oom'r Bhind, at 10i p. m. of the 23d ;
exploding her at If next morning,
but to very little purpose — the mira
culous power which gave efficacy
to the assault with rams'-horns on
Jericho not having been vouchsafed.
Bhiiul and his crew did their work :
following in (unperceived) a block-
ader whose signals of amity were re
spected and answered by the fort.
When all was ready, they escaped in
a tender which had accompanied
them on their perilous errand, and
which, having attained a considerable
distance, was scarcely harmed by the
explosion. The fort and its defend
ers seem to have been nowise dis
turbed by it — Col. Lamb supposing
it to be merely the bursting of one of
the great guns of our fleet.
P/irteV had 83 war vessels, several
of them iron-clad, beside a reserve
of 17 small ones. At Hi a. m., he
followed up the abortive explosion
by an order to advance and bom
bard the fort : the Ironsides leading,
closely followed by the Monadnock,
Canonicns, Mahopao, Minnesota, and
nearly aU his larger ships ; and so
terrible was their concentrated fire
that the fort was completely silenced
by it in T5 minutes; having been
set on fire in several places and two
of its magazines exploded. The
bombardment was continued till sun
set, when Gen. Butler arrived in his
flagship; his transports being still
absent. Com. Porter now drew off
for the night.
At 7 a. m. next day, the transports
and troops having arrived, the bom
bardment was renewed, and was con
tinued for seven hours : the Bebels re
sponding for a while with two guns
only. Some of our vessels drew off

before the rest, because out of ammu-
nition. The iron-clads were ordered
to continue tlieir fire throughout the
night. Our land forces had meantime
commenced debarking, under the im
mediate command of Gen. Weitzel,
who headed the first or reconnoiter-
ing party of 500 men ; going himself
to within 800 yards of the fort,
pushing up a skirmish-line to within
150 yards, and capturing a little out
work called Flag-pond Hill battery,
with 65 men.
Weitzel's observations convinced
him that the work was exceedingly
strong, and that its defensive power
had not been essentially injured by
Porter's fire. He soon returned, as
directed, to Butler, and reported that
it would be murder to assault such a
fort with our 6,000 men. Butler,
disappointed, now ran close up in his
vessel, reconnoitered for himself, and
reluctantly acquiesced in Weitzel's
decision. Our men, of whom about
half had been landed, were there
upon roembaiked;" and Gen. Butler
returned with the land force to the
James, leaving the fleet still off Wil
mington. Om- loss in this bombardment was
about fifty killed and wounded —
nearly or quite all by the bursting of
six of our heavy Parrott guns — the
enemy inflicting no injury, because he
could not work his guns under our
fire. His loss was 3 killed and 55
wounded. Butler reports that we
took 300 prisoners.
Grant was profoundly dissatisfied.
In the first place, he had not in
tended that Gen. Butler should go,
and had at length plainly intimated
this ; though, as Fort Fisher was in

»' Dec. 26-7.

712

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Butler's military department, he did
not absolutely forbid it. Still, as
Weitzel was his choice, and the de
cision not to assault was primarily
Weitzel's, he could not object to this.
But he did complain, and with rea
son, that his express order, addressed
to Butler for Weitzel, had been vio
lated in the return of the expedition.
That order is as follows :
" City. Point, Va., Dec. 6, 1864.
"General : The first object ofthe expe
dition under Gen. Weitzel is to close to the
enemy the port of Wilmington. If success
ful in this, the second will be to capture
Wilmington itself. There are reasonable
grounds to hope for success, if advantage
can be taken of the absence of the greater
part of the enemy's forces now looking after
Sherman in Georgia. The directions you
have given for the numbers and equipment
of the expedition are all right, except in the
unimportant matters of where they embark
and the amount of intrenching tools to be
taken. The object of the expedition will
be gained by effecting a landing on the main
land between Cape Fear river and the At
lantic, north of the north entrance to the
river. Should such landing be effected
whilst the enemy still holds Fort Fisher
and the batteries guarding the entrance to
the river, then the troops should intrench
themselves, and, by cooperating with the
navy, effect the reduction and capture of
those places. These in our hands, the navy
could enter the harbor, and the port of Wil
mington would be sealed. Should Fort
Fisher and the point of land on which it is
built fall into the hands of our troops, im
mediately on landing, then it will be worth
the attempt to capture Wilmington by a
forced march and surprise. If time is con
sumed in gaining the first object of the ex
pedition, the second will become a matter
of after consideration.
"The details for execution are intrusted
to you and the officer immediately in com
mand of the troops.
"Should the troops under Gen. Weitzel
fail to effect a landing at or near Fort Fish
er, they will be returned to the armies op
erating against Eichmond without delay.
" U. S. Geant, Lieutenant-General.
" Major-General B. F. Butleb."
Gen. Weitzel had concurred in
the propriety of returning, but in en
tire ignorance of this order. Had it
been directed to him, and he placed

in command of the expedition, he
would have obeyed it.

Advised by the Navy Department
that the fleet was still off Fort Fish
er, and ready for a fresh attempt,
Grant promptly determined that it
should be made. Designating Gen.
Alfred H. Terry to command the
new expedition, he added a brigade
of about 1,500 men and a siege-train
(which was not landed), and ordered
Gen. Sheridan to send a division to
Fortress Monroe, to follow in case of
need. Terry's force, therefore, though
nominally but a quarter stronger, was
really much more so ; since all who
were under his orders added vigor
and confidence to his efforts. Gen.
Terry was first apprised of his desti
nation by Gen. Grant, as "together
they passed down the James.
The new expedition, composed in
good part of the old one, minus its
two Generals, left Fortress Monroe
Jan. 6, 1865 ; put into Beaufort, N.
C, on the 8th; was detained there
by bad weather till the 12th; was
off Wilmington that night; and com
menced its landing, under cover of a
heavy bombardment from Porter's
fleet, early next morning ; and, by 3
p. m., nearly 8,000 men, with three
days' rations in their haversacks, 40
rounds of ammunition in their boxes,
arms, intrenching tools, munitions,-
&c, complete, had been landed, in
spite of a heavy surf; having thrown
out pickets which had exchanged
shots with those of the enemy. The
work assigned them was already well
begun. Gen. Terry's first concern was to
throw a strong defensive line across
the sandy peninsula whereon Fort
Fisher stands, so as to isolate it from

GEN. TERRT ASSAULTS FORT FISHER.

713

all support, and enable him to hold
his ground against any relieving force
that was likely to be sent down from
Wilmington. This was effected, after
some hours necessarily given to ex
aminations ; the first line being, at 9
p. m., drawn across some three miles
above the fort ; but a better was
finally found a mile nearer; where
a position was taken68 at 2 a.m., and
where a good breastwork, stretching
from river to sea, partially covered
by abatis, had been constructed by 8
A. m. And now the landing of the
lighter guns was commenced, and by
sunset completed ; the guns being
placed in battery before morning,
mainly toward the river, where, in
case of an attack on us, the enemy
would be least exposed to the fire of
our gunboats.
Curtis's brigade was now thrown
forward toward the fort, and a care
ful reconnoissance made, under cover
ofthe fire of the fleet, to within 600
yards of the wall; as a result of
which, it was decided to deliver a
determined assault next day.69
The iron-clads continued their fire
through this, as they had through
the preceding night ; but, at 9 a. m.,
the wooden vessels moved up to re
new the bombardment; reaching
position about 11, and opening fire,
with the usual effect of driving the
Eebels from their batteries into their
bomb-proofs, and. thus silencing their
guns. Meantime, 2,000 sailors and
marines, armed with cutlasses, re
volvers, and a few carbines, had been
detailed from the fleet, and landed to
share in the meditated assault, and
had worked their way up, by digging
ditches or rifle-pits, under cover of
the Are of the fleet, to within 200
' "wjan-l-

yards of the fort, where they lay
awaiting the order to assault ; which
came at 3:25 p. m., or so soon as the
landsmen were ready. And now the
fleet changed the direction of its fire,
so as to cover the approach of our
assaulting columns, which vied with
each other in their eagerness to be
first in the fort ; the sailors rushing up
by the flank along the beach, while
the soldiers charged on the land-side
toward the left.
Up to this moment, our loss had
been trifling ; but, when our columns
reached the fort, it was no longer
possible for the fleet to persist in its
fire without doing more harm to them
than to the enemy ; and at once the
parapets swarmed with Bebel mus
keteers, who — scarcely touched by
the aimless, random firing of our 400
marines, who had been left in the
rifle-pits to cover, by deadly volleys,
the charging sailors — swept down the
stormers in winrows, while grape and
canister plowed through and through
the head of the column. Thus the
sailors' assault was signally repulsed
with great carnage, after a large
number of them had gained the ditch,
and some even climbed the parapet.
But the sailors, though not suc
cessful, had done a good work. They
had largely engrossed the attention
and efforts of the besieged; thus
enabling Curtis's brigade, leading
Terry's column of assault, followed by
Pennypacker's, and they by Bell's —
having already gained, with moder
ate loss, partial shelter but 475 yards
from the fort — to spring forward,
under a heavy enfilading fire, over
marshy and difficult ground, to and
through the palisades, and so to effect
a lodgment on the parapet; when
w Jan. 15.

714

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Pennypacker, advancing to Curtis's
support, overlapped his right, drove
the enemy from the heavy palisading
that extended from the west end of
the land-face to the river, taking
some prisoners ; and now the two
brigades, uniting, drove the enemy,
by desperate fighting, from about
one-quarter of the land-face. Gen.
Ames, commanding the assaulting
division, now brought up Bell's brig
ade, and placed it between the fort
and the river, where the hollows
whence sand had been dug for the
parapet, the ruins of barracks and
store-houses, and the large magazine,
formed, with the huge traverses of
the land-face, a series of rude breast
works, behind which successively the
enemy rallied, and over which the
combatants fired into each others'
faces. Nine of these traverses were
successively carried by our men ;
while Terry strengthened the assail
ants by sending down Abbott's brig
ade from the north, where their place
was taken by the discomfited sailors
and marines, with the 27th U. S. col
ored, Brig.-Gen. A. M. Blackman;
who entered the fort and reported
to Ames at 6 p. m.
Still, the defense was obstinately
maintained; the fleet now shifting
its fire from that portion of the fort
not yet gained by our troops to the
beach, to prevent the possibility of
succor from the Bebel garrison of
Battery Buchanan ; until, at 9 p. m.,
two more traverses having been car
ried, the Bebels were fairly driven
by Abbott's men out of their last
foothold in the fort, fleeing down the
Point to Battery Buchanan ; but it
was idle to hope to make a successful
stand here against their eager pur

suers ; and Maj.-Gen. Whiting (mor
tally wounded), Col. Lamb, and their
followers, had no choice but to sur
render. Terry took 2,083 prisoners;
while his material trophies were 169
guns, most of them heavy, over 2,000
small arms, and considerable ammu
nition, provisions, &c. Before morn
ing, Fort Caswell, across the river,
with the extensive works at Smith-
ville and Beeve's point, were aban
doned and blown up by the enemy :
so that the triumph was complete.
Our loss in this desperate assault
was 110 killed, 536 wounded; but
among these were Col. Bell, mortally,
and Gen. N. M. Curtis and Col. G.
A. Pennypacker, severely wounded,
while leading their brigades in the
assault. Gen. Hoke, with a considerable
Bebel force, had watched the landing
of our troops at a respectful distance
inland ; but did not venture to annoy
them, though expected, and finally
ordered, by his superior, Bragg, to do
so. The prompt extension of our
lines across the peninsula precluded
the possibility of success after the
first night ; so that, when Bragg re
iterated his order more peremptorily,
he was requested by Hoke to recon-
noiter for himself, and did so ; when
his order was withdrawn. They now
resolved to reenforce the fort; but
the rapidity of Terry's and Porter's
operations left them no opportunity
to do so. It only remained to the two
Bebel commanders to look quietly
oil and see Fort Fisher taken. They
were not long compelled to endure
their necessarily painful anxiety.
Next morning60 after the capture,
while the fort swarmed with our cu
rious, exulting soldiers and sailors,

"Jan. 16.

GEN. SCHOFIELD CAPTURES WILMINGTON.

715

its chief magazine exploded ; killing
about 200 of our men, and wounding
perhaps 100 more. It was sunk
deeply in the earth in the center of
the parade, and well protected from
casualty, but not from carelessness,
to which its destruction is generally
attributed.

Gen. Schofield, whom we left ,l at
Clifton, on the Tennessee, under
orders to embark his 23d corps
('Army of Tennessee') for East-
port, Miss., while preparing to obey,
received M an order from Gen. Grant
to report forthwith at Annapolis,
Md. ; whither he proceeded next
day : moving by steamboats to Cin
cinnati, thence by rail to Alexandria,
Va. ; where he was for some time
detained by the freezing of the Poto
mac: being thence dispatched by
steamboats to the coast of North
Carolina, landing "* near Fort Fisher.
He found here Gen. Terry, with 8,000
men, holding his original line across
the Peninsula, two miles above the
fort, but too weak to advance : the
Bebels, under Hoke, holding Fort
Anderson, across Cape Fear river,
with a line across the peninsula con
fronting ours ; and Admiral Forter,
with his great fleet, unable to force
a passage up to Wilmington, in part
because of the shallowness of the
river. But Schofield's arrival raised
our land force to not less than 20,000 ;
and he at once pushed" forward
Terry, supported by Cox's division ;
driving in the enemy's pickets, and
intrenching close to his line, so as to
compel him to hold it in force. He
now attempted, by the aid of navy
boats and pontoons, to throw a heavy
force to Hoke's rear by his left, or

JJan. 8.

"Jan. 14.

"Feb. 9.

'Feb. 11.

along the beach ; but, being baffled
by a storm, with high winds and sea,
he determined to flank the enemy's
right. To this end, Cox's and
Ames's divisions were thrown across
the Cape Fear to Smithville, where
they were joined by Moore's brigade
of Couch's division, just debarked,
and directed to envelop Fort Ander
son. The enemy, detecting this
movement, hastily abandoned °6 that
fort and his lines facing ours, leaving
to us 10 heavy guns and much am
munition, and fell back behind Town
creek, where he had intrenched; and
where he was assailed ** next day by
Gen. Terry : Gen. Cox, crossing the
creek in a flat-boat, striking him in
flank and rear, and routing him;
capturing 375 men and 2 guns. Cox
now rebuilt the bridge which Hoke
had burned, drew over his guns, and
started next morning for Wilming
ton ; crossing, on Bebel pontoons, the
Brunswick to Eagle island; thence
threatening to cross the Cape Fear
above the city.
Gen. Terry, still on the peninsula,
had hitherto been unable to advance
over Hoke's defenses; but Cox's
flanking menace was decisive. Hoke
retreated ; burning the steamers (in
cluding the privateers Chickamauga
and Tallahassee), cotton, naval and
military stores, &c, in Wilmington;
and our army marched in unopposed
next morning." Schofield's total loss
in taking it had been about 200 : the
enemy's was not less than 1,000, be
side 65 guns and much ammunition.
Schofield, lacking wagons and
animals, was unable to pursue di
rectly ; but he had already dispatch
ed 5,000 men to Morehead city to
impel or strengthen an advance from
«5Feb. 19. "Feb. 20." " Feb. 22.

716

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Newbern on Goldsborough. Couch's
and Cox's divisions were now ordered
across the country to Kinston; but
the lack of wagons delayed their
movement till March 6; when they
started under Couch, while Schofield
went by sea to Morehead city, and
thence by rail to Newbern ; whence
he reached, on the Sth, Cox's position
at Wise's forks, near South-west
creek, on his way to Goldsboro'. Cox
had sent up two regiments under
Col. Upham, 15th Conn., to seize and
hold the crossing of the creek ; but
Hoke, who had ere this been re
enforced by part of Cheatham's corps
from the Tennessee, had that morn
ing flanked and surprised Upham
there; striking him suddenly in the
rear, and capturing 700 of his men.
Elated by this stroke, Hoke ad
vanced on Schofield ; attempting to
bore in betwixt Carter's and Palmer's
divisions, after the Yirginia fashion ;
but was checked by the arrival of
Buger's division, and desisted with
out serious fighting or loss.

Schofield, seeing the enemy strong
and eager, directed Cox to intrench
and stand on the defensive till Couch
could arrive. Hoke skirmished
sharply next day, and struck heavily
at Cox's left and center the day
after f* the blow falling mainly on
Buger's division, by which it was re
pulsed with heavy loss to the assail
ants. Schofield reports our loss here
at only 300 ; while he estimates the
enemy's at 1,500. Hoke retreated
across the Neuse and burned the
bridge. Couch came up and reen
forced Schofield next morning.
Lack of pontoons delayed Schofield
at the Neuse till the 14th, when —
having rebuilt the bridge — he crossed
and entered Kinston unopposed —
Hoke having hastened to Smithfield
to aid Johnston in making head
against Sherman. Schofield again
advanced on the 20th, and entered
Goldsboro', scarcely resisted, next day;
barely ahead of the arrival of Sher
man and his whole army, as has
already been narrated.

XXXIII.
THE BEPOSSESSION OF ALABAMA.
WILSON— CANBY.

Gen. Grant's comprehensive plan
of campaign for the Winter and
Spring of 1864-5 embraced a com
bined demonstration from north and
south upon Alabama ; which State,
save at its northern extremity, had
thus far suffered less from the ravages
of war than any part of the Confede
racy but Texas. The movement at
the south was impelled and directed

by Gen. Canby, commanding at New
Orleans ; that at the north was led
by Gen. James H. Wilson, under the
direction of Gen. Thomas, whose
cavalry Wilson had been detached
by Grant from the Army of the Po
tomac and sent West expressly to
command, with results that did credit
to the Lieut.-General's sagacity and
judgment.

°" March 10.

WILSON'S 'RAID THROUGH CENTRAL ALABAMA.

717

Gen. Wilson's cavalry command,
after the expulsion of Hood from Ten
nessee, was collected at Eastport, Miss.
(the head of steamboat navigation on
the lower Tennessee) ; whither Gen.
Thomas at length proceeded,1 to give
him his final instructions. It had been
intended to employ but half his force
in a raid on the chief towns of central
Alabama, designed as a mere diver
sion in favor of Canby ; but Wilson
persuaded his chief to let him take all
the cavalry he could readily muster
— Cheatham's movement eastward,
with the remains of Hood's force,
having rendered disposable nearly
our entire force on the Tennessee.
Wilson was thus enabled to set out
with nearly 15,000 men, whereof
13,000 were mounted, with six bat
teries. Prevented from starting at
the time designated3 by incessant
rains and tremendous floods, the ex
pedition was not fairly over the Ten
nessee till March 18 ; when it set
forth with light trains, carefully filled
— each trooper taking 5 days' rations
in his haversack, 24 lbs. of grain,
and a pair of extra shoes for his
horse, with 100 rounds of ammuni
tion ; while 5 days' rations of hard
bread, 10 of sugar, coffee, and salt,
were packed on mules; 45 days' of
coffee, 20 of sugar, 15 of salt, and 80
rounds of ammunition in the wagons
— 56 of which were laden with a light
pontoon train of 30 boats. The train
(of 250 wagons) was escorted by the
1,500 dismounted men. Most of the
cavalry were provided with the high
ly valued Spencer carbine. The time
allotted for the expedition was 60
days: men and animals to subsist,
so far as possible, on the country
they traversed. The rear of the col

umn did not actually leave the Ten
nessee till the 22d.
. The general course pursued was
south-east, through Bussellville, Jas
per, and Elyton ; but the command
was divided, and from time to time
expanded and contracted ; passing
hurriedly over war-wasted north Ala
bama, and then spreading out so as
to sweep over a broad stretch of the
plenteous region watered by the trib
utaries of the Black Warrior and
other main affluents of the Tombig-
bee river: thus menacing at once
Columbus, Miss., Tuskaloosa, and Sel
ma, Alabama.
Forrest, commanding the chief
Bebel force left in this quarter, was
at West Point, near Columbus, Miss.;
so that Wilson, moving rapidly on
several roads, passed his right and
reached Elyton 3 without a collision ;
destroying by the way many exten
sive iron-works, collieries, &c, and
pushing the few Bebel cavalry found
at Elyton rapidly across the Cahawba
at Montevallo; where the enemy was
first encountered4 in force: Boddy's
and Crossland's commands coming
up the Selma road, but being routed
and driven southward by a charge of
Upton's division. The Bebels, at
tempted to make a stand at a creek,
after being driven 4 or 5 miles ; but
they were too weak, and were again
routed by a headlong charge ; losing
50 prisoners. Upton bivouacked 14
miles south of Montevallo, and early
next morning rode into Bandolph;
capturing here a courier, from whose
dispatches he learned that Forrest
was now in our front ; that W. H.
Jackson, with one of Forrest's divis
ions, was moving E. S. E. from Tus
kaloosa; and that his rear had been

Feb. 23, 1865.

* March 4.

3 March 30.

' March 31.

718

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

struck at Trion by Gen. Cuxton, who
had been detached by Wilson at Ely-
ton, and who had interposed between
Jackson's force and his train, and
was to be attacked by Jackson this
morning. Chalmers was at Marion,
south of Tuskaloosa ; and all were
moving, under Forrest's direction, to
concentrate upon and defend Selma.
A note from Cuxton — who had been
detailed to strike Tuskaloosa — now
apprised Wilson that he should post
pone this enterprise, and fight Jack
son, with intent to prevent his junc
tion with Forrest. Wilson hereupon
directed McCook to move rapidly to
Centerville, cross the Cahawba, and
push on, via Scottsborough, to strike
Jackson. McCook found Jackson
well posted near Scottsborough, and,
hearing nothing of Cuxton, did not
venture to attack, but recoiled, after
a sharp skirmish; burning the Scotts-
boro' factory and Centerville bridge,
and rejoining Wilson near Selma.
Wilson was moving eagerly and
in force on Selma, driving small par
ties of Bebel cavalry, when he was
brought to a halt by Forrest, strongly
posted on Boyle's creek, near Plan-
tersville, with a creek on his right
and a high, wooded ridge on his left,
with 4 guns planted to sweep the Ban-
dolph and 2 on the Maplesville road,
whereon our troopers were advan
cing. He had in line about 5,000
men, mainly cavalry (Boddy's divi
sion, with Armstrong's and Cross-
land's brigades), with his front cov
ered by rail barricades and abatis.
Wilson had here Long's and Upton's
divisions — perhaps 6,000 in all, but
all veterans, of excellent quality, and
admirably led.
Long arrived first, on our right;

when, dismounting and forming his
men on the left of the road, he
charged, breaking the Bebel line.
Lt.-Col. Frank White, with 4 com
panies of the 17th Indiana (mount
ed), being ordered forward, rode over
the Bebel guns, cutting his way out
with a loss of 17 men ; among them
Capt. Frank Taylor, killed.
Gen. Alexander, leading Upton's
division, hearing the noise of the
fight, came rapidly up on the Maples
ville road ; dismounting and deploy
ing his brigade, and going right in
on the left, with such energy that
the enemy were soon in headlong
flight, leaving 2 guns and 200 pris
oners to Alexander, and 1 gun to
Long. Winslow's brigade now took
the advance, and pursued sharply to
Blantersville, 19 miles from Selma;
but the fugitives could not be over
taken. Forrest had been driven 24
miles that day.
Long's division now " took the lead,
followed by Upton's ; and all, by
4 p. m., were in sight of Selma. For
rest had here a motley force of per
haps 7,000 men; but many of them
green conscripts — boys and old men
— and not to be relied on. He was in
disposed to attempt the defense of ex
tensive works with such a force ; but
Dick Taylor, his superior, had been
here, and ordered him to hold the
town at all hazards — disappearing
on a southward-going train directly
afterward. Forrest, with a doubting
heart, prepared to do his best. His
works were good and strong ; ex
tending, in a semicircle of three miles,
from the Alabama above the city to
that river below it.
Wilson had here 9,000 men. After
carefully reconnoitering, he directed

6 April 2.

CAPTURE OF SELMA AND MONTGOMERY.

719

Long to assault the defenses by a*
diagonal movement across the road
whereon he was posted ; while Upton,
with 300 picked men, was to pene
trate a dense, miry swamp on Long's
left, break through the line covered
by it, and turn the Bebel right — his
whole division participating in the
turning movement. But, before our
preparations had been completed,
word reached Long that Chalmers's
Bebel cavalry from Marion were at
work on his rear, where his horses
and train were under guard ; where
upon, sending a regiment to reen
force the six companies guarding his
rear, he gave his men the order to
follow him in a charge ; and in 15
minutes, without a halt or a waver,
they had swept over the Bebel in
trenchments, and driven their de
fenders pell-mell toward the city.
Long himself had fallen, shot through
the head ; Cols. Miller, McCormick,
and Briggs, leading their respective
regiments, had each been severely
wounded ; but Selma was won.
The Bebels rallied on a new line,
but partially constructed, in the edge
of the city ; where they repulsed a
gallant charge of the 4th regular
cavalry ; and, as it was now dark,
they evidently hoped to hold. But
the impetuosity of our men could not
be restrained. Upton's entire divi
sion advanced, supporting a charge
of the 4th cavalry, 4th Ohio, and

Board of Trade battery, from a com
manding position, replied to the
Eebel guns, dismounting two of
them ; and the city was soon taken,
with 32 guns, 2,700 prisoners, and
vast stores of all kinds. Forrest,
Boddy, Armstrong, and perhaps

3,000 of their followers, had escaped
under cover of the darkness. Our
total loss here was less than 500.
The Bebel arsenal, great guns, ware
houses, factories, founderies, &c, were
thoroughly destroyed, and the town
sacked without mercy by our soldiers.
The Bebels had just burned 25,000
bales of cotton ; Wilson found 10,000
more, and burned them.
Several days elapsed, before the
bridge, 870 feet long, over the swollen
Alabama, after being thrice swept
away by the flood, was rebuilt, and
our army crossed * — all but Cuxton's
brigade, which was away south, and
had had a fight with Wirt Adams
several days before. Horses had been
obtained in and around Selma to
mount our last man ; many of the
negroes following our columns had
been enlisted — the rest were forbid
den to follow farther— the trains, in
cluding the pontoon, were reduced
to their lowest dimensions ; so that
Wilson, rebuilding the bridges, now
moved rapidly, in spite of the sod
den earth; reaching, at 7 a. m. of
the 12th, Montgomery, the capital
of Alabama, which Wirt Adams had
just evacuated, after burning 125,000
bales of cotton. The city promptly
surrendered. Several steamboats,
with great quantities of army sup
plies, were here destroyed.
Wilson moved' eastward from
Montgomery toward Columbus and

17th Indiana; while the Chicago j West Point, Georgia: Lagrange's
brigade soon striking a Bebel force
under Buford and Clanton, routing
it, and taking 150 prisoners. Beach
ing 6 the Chattahoochee, near Colum
bus, Ga., the lower bridge was found
in flames. Accident preventing the
arrival of Col. Winslow's brigade till

1 April 10.

' April 14

'April 16, 2 P. ii-

720

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

dark, Gen. Wilson ordered an attack ;
when 300 of the 3d Iowa cavalry
moved forward, supported by the 4th
Iowa and 10th Missouri, under a
heavy fire of grape, canister, and.
musketry, pushed through strong
abatis, and pressed back the Bebel
line. Gen. Upton now sent up two
companies of the 10th Missouri to
seize one of the bridges leading into
Columbus; which, under cover of
darkness, was effected. And now
Gen. Upton charged again, sweeping
away all resistance ; and soon the city
was ours, with 1,200 prisoners, 52
field guns, and large quantities of
small arms and stores, at a cost to us
of barely 24 killed and wounded.
Among the Bebels killed was C. A.
L. Lamar, of Howell Cobb's staff,
former owner and captain of the
slaver Wanderer. We destroyed
here the Bebel ram Jackson, mount
ing six 7-inch guns, burned 15 loco
motives, 250 cars, 115,000 bales of
cotton, &c, &c.
Lagrange's advance reached West
Point at 10 a. m. this day, and found
the crossing of the Chattahoochee
defended by Fort Tyler, a strong,
bastioned earthwork, 35 yards square,
situated on a commanding hill, and
mounting 4 guns. At li p. m., this
fort was bravely assaulted on three
sides ; but its ditch, 12 feet wide by
10 deep, stopped our men under a
withering fire of musketry and grape.
Lagrange, refusing to fall back,
posted sharpshooters to tranquilize
the Bebel gunners while he gathered
materials for bridges, over which his
men sprang at the sound of the bugle;
rushing over the parapet, and cap
turing the entire garrison — 265 men.
Gen. Tyler, its commander, with 18
• April 2.

of his men, had been killed, and 27
more severely wounded.
Simultaneously with this charge,
the 4th Indiana cavalry dashed head
long through the town, secured
both bridges over the Chattahoochee,
drove out the slender Bebel force
found there, and burned 5 engines
with their trains. Early next morn
ing, Gen. Minty, commanding (since
Long's fall) the division, was on his
way to Macon, as was Wilson on the
Columbus road ; both columns ar
riving on the 21st, after Wilson and
Minty had both received assurances
from Gen. Howell Cobb, command
ing in Macon, that the war was
virtually ended.
Cuxton did not arrive till the 30th.
Outnumbered by Jackson in their en
counter near Trion,' he had moved
off swiftly to Johnson's ferry on the
Black Warrior, 44 miles above Tus
kaloosa, where he crossed and came
down the west bank ; surprising and
capturing10 Tuskaloosa, with 3 guns
and 150 prisoners; destroying the
military school, public works, stores,
&c. Hearing nothing from Wilson
or McCook, he burned the bridge
over the Black Warrior, and sped
south-west nearly to Eutaw ; where
be heard that Wirt Adams, with
2,000 cavalry, was close upon him.
Too weak to fight such a force, Cux
ton turned and countermarched near
ly to Tuskaloosa ; thence by Jasper,
Mount Benson and Trionsville, to
Talladega ; near which, he scattered
a small Bebel force under a Gen.
Hill ; pushing thence by Carrollton,
Ga., Newnan, and Forsyth, to Ma
con; having, with his small force,
moved 650 miles in 30 days, in en
tire ignorance of the position or for-
10 April 5. "

CANBY ADYANOES AGAINST MOBILE.

721

tunes of Wilson and his lieutenants,
yet going whithei' and doing as he
.pleased ; scarcely resisted at any
town he chose to take. The 'fire-
eaters' had disappeared; the survi
vors were heartily sick of War.

Gen. Canby, commanding in New
Orleans,was kept inactive throughout
the Summer and Autumn of 1864, by
the exacted return of the 16th corps
from his department, to serve on
either bank of the Mississippi above.
His remaining corps — tbe 13th, Gen.
Gordon Granger — participated, as we
have seen, in the reduction of the
forts at the mouth of Mobile bay.
During the year, Gen. Dick Taylor
crossed the Mississippi and assumed
command of the Confederate forces
in Alabama. At length, after the
overthrow of Hood, in Tennessee, the
16th was returned to Gen.Canby; who
now proceeded, in concert with Wil
son's demonstration from the north on
central Alabama, to attempt the re
duction of Mobile and its remaining
defenses," now held, under Dick Tay
lor, by Gen. Maury, with a force es
timated at 15,000 men.
The forces employed by Gen. Can-
by consisted of the 13th and 16th
corps aforesaid, with a division of
cavalry and one of colored infantry
—in all, from 25,000 to 30,000 men;
and he was assured of the hearty co
operation of Porter's powerful fleet,
now commanded by Rear-Admiral
Thatcher, so far as the available depth
of water in the shallow bay of Mo
bile would allow. Active operations
awaited only the arrival of the 16th
corps by water on Danphine island;"
which was the signal for a concentra
tion on Mobile of Canby's entire dis

posable force. The cavalry, under
Grierson, crossed Lake Pontchartrain
from New Orleans, advancing to Mo
bile Point, whence the movement on
Mobile commenced: the 13th corps
marching thence around Bon Se-
cours bay to strike Mobile from the
east, where its defenses were deemed
least elaborate; while Gen. F. Steele,
with a division of Blacks, was im
pelled from Pensacola on Blakely,
and a brigade of Smith's corps was
transferred by water to Cedar Point,
on the west side of the bay; landing
under a heavy fire of shells from our
iron-clads, and threatening an attack
on the city from that side.
Steele's advance was resisted by
cavalry only, and not seriously, till,
on reaching Mitchell's creek, a stand
was made13 by some 800 of the 6th
and 8th Alabama cavalry, under
Clanton, who were promptly charged
and routed — 275 prisoners, including
Clanton, being taken, and the resi
due of the force dispersed. Steele
encountered no further resistance till
he was in front of Blakely, which
was strongly held by the Bebels ;
where he halted and sent to Canby
for supplies, which were promptly
transmitted." Gen. Granger's march around Bon
Secours bay and up to Mobile was
impeded by pouring rains and heavy
roads ; so that Smith's corps, which
was embarked on transports and thus
moved up and across the bay to their
appointed rendezvous near Fish
river, arrived first;" but Granger's
corps came up in the course of the
two following days ; and the joint ad
vance on Mobile was resumed on the
25th. It was resisted only by skir
mishers ; but the road- were thickly

" See page 650. M March 12, 1866.
vol. ii. — 46

» March 25.

"March 29.

u March 21.

722

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

planted with torpedoes, which, unless
cautiously sought out and exploded,
were very destructive. Quite a num
ber of men and horses were killed by
them.
' Spanish F\)rt,' the strongest ofthe
eastern defenses of Mobile, was thus
approached and finally invested:1'
the Bebel movable column retiring
on Blakely. The 16th corps, on the
right, threatened Blakely, while the
13th, on our left, more immediately
invested Spanish Fort. Steele now
joined hands with Smith, thus form
ing our extreme right.
Our fleet had moved up the bay
parallel with our army, making for
Howard's landing just below Spanish.
Fort, with intent to aid in the reduc
tion of that stronghold by bombard
ment, and by isolating it from Mobile.
Notwithstanding the general shallow
ness of the bay, they were enabled to
approach the shore so nearly as to
deliver a very effective fire, which
was seldom returned, and which ul
timately cut off the fort from all
communication with the city ; but,
in effecting this, the Metacomet first,
afterward the Osage, were blown up
by torpedoes, and destroyed. Their
crews generally escaped, owing to the
shallowness of the water. The gun
boats Stockdale, Milwaukee, Cincin
nati, Albatross, Winnebago, and
Genesee, with some smaller vessels,
remained. After firing leisurely
through the day, they usually dropped
down the bay to Great Point Clear to
anchor for the night.
The siege of Spanish Fort was
opened in due form on the 28th ; our
lines having been established during
the preceding night, at distances of
300 to 400 yards. Up to this time,

our total loss had not exceeded 400
men. The siege was pressed with
great ardor, and with considerable
loss from Bebel shells. On the morn
ing of the 30th, Veatch's division of
Gen. Granger's corps, while relieving
guard, blundered into the Bebel lines,
and were regarded as the head of
an assaulting column ; provoking a
sally, whereby our skirmishers and
working parties were hurled back,
with some loss ; but the enemy, ad
vancing too far, were repelled in
turn ; whereupon, the artillery on
both sides suddenly reopened and
kept firing till daylight to little pur
pose. Still, the siege was steadily
pressed forward ; and, the investment
being completed,17 the result was no
longer doubtful : our troops having
already built an earthwork and
mounted siege-guns within 200 yards
of the Fort
Our losses were mainly from shells:
many of them thrown by batteries
whose location was concealed, and
which could not, in consequence, be si
lenced. One of these shells killed or
wounded 15 men ; another 12. Our
fleet, unable otherwise to get within
effective distance of the fort, crossed
the bar and engaged the Bebel fleet,
which included several iron-clads;
compelling it to move up toward
the city.
All being at length ready, a tre
mendous concentric fire at close
range was opened 18 at nightfall on
the doomed fort, from siege-guns and
field-pieces in battery, and from gun
boats on the side of the bay ; while
our skirmishers and sharp-shooters,
creeping up from ridge to ridge, and
firing from the heads of our trenches,
picked off the Bebel artillerists or

" March 27.

" April 3.

" April 8.

BLAKELY ASSAULTED BY STEELE.

723

drove them from their guns; which
replied at first briskly, then more and
more feebly; until, by midnight,
they were utterly silenced, and, an
hour later, the fort was ours ; Gen.
Bartram's brigade entering unop
posed at 2 a. m." Most of the garri
son escaped under cover of darkness ;
but 652 prisoners and 30 heavy guns,
with a large quantity of munitions,
fell to the victors; who forthwith
turned the guns, seconded by those of
the Octorara, on the smaller forts
Tracy and Huger near the mouth of
the Tensaw; which were speedily
abandoned by the Bebels, after spik
ing their 8 heavy guns. And now our
fleet, enlightened as to the location
of torpedoes by some of the captives,
succeeded in picking, up 35 of them
unharmed, and was thereby enabled
to run up almost within shelling dis
tance of Mobile.
Blakely had already been for four
days invested by land ; but its com
munication by water with Mobile
remained open until the fall of the
forts below. Our gunboats now
moved up to invest it on this side ;
while Gen. Steele, in immediate com
mand before it, formed his columns
for a prompt, determined assault;
which he appointed for 5 p. m., and
which was actually delivered at 5f .
The position was a very strong
one, heavily fortified with abatis,
palisades, chevaux de frise, and a
deep, wide ditch at the base of the
fort. Its front extended nearly
three miles — its right was near
Bayou Minetta, its left on Blakely
river ; and it was garrisoned by 3,000
men, under Gens. Thomas and Cock-
rill. Its abundant cannon swept
every practicable approach.

The struggle opened on our left ;
where Gen. Garrard, under a fire of
the 17th Ohio battery, sent forward
one-third of his strong division to
within 50 yards of the main works,
defying a hail-storm of shell and
shrapnel, to discover and indicate the
safest ground over which to move up
in force, preparatory to the decisive
charge. Finding that there was no
choice of ground — all being alike
impracticable — a brief conference
was held by the general officers, and
closed with the word ' Forward !'
The whole division at once sprang
forward with a shout ; to which the
Bebels responded with all their guns.
For nearly an hour, our men strug
gled with obstructions that seemed
insurmountable, under a fire of shell
and canister that threatened their
annihilation ; sometimes recoiling for
a moment, when the voice of their
commanders would cheer and en
courage them to rally; and thus at
length the abatis and other obstruc
tions were struggled through, and
the Unionists leaped into the ditch
and scrambled up the face of the de
fenses ; while Binnekin's and Gil
bert's brigades, turning the fort by
our right, gained its entrance and
arrested there the flight of Gen. Tho
mas and 1,000 of his men, who were
made prisoners.
The conflict along the center,
where the assault was delivered by
Dennis's brigade of Veatch's division
and Spiceley's and Moore's brigades
of Andrews's, was far less sanguina
ry; yet Andrews's men, when but
40 yards from the fort, were plowed
with grape from 8 guns ; while our
skirmishers, on reaching the brink
of the ditch, were scattered by the

8 April 9.

724

THE "AMERICAN CONFLICT.

explosion under their feet of a dozen
torpedoes ; yet, under a furious fire
of grape and canister, the assault
was steadily persisted in till the vic
tory was complete.
On our right, the Blacks, led by
Gen. Hawkins, were pitted against
Mississippians, who specially detest
ed them, but who found them foemen
worthy of their steel. ' Bemember
Fort Pillow 1 ' passed from rank to rank
as, with set teeth and tightly grasped
weapons, they went (wer the Bebel
breastworks, hurling back all before
them. By 7 p. m., Blakely was fully
ours, with 3,000 prisoners, 32 guns,
4,000 small arms, 16 flags, and large
quantities of ammunition. It had
cost us fully 1,000 killed and wound
ed; while 500 Bebels lay stretched
beside them.
Mobile was lost and won. It could
no longer be held ; so its evacuation
commenced on the 10th, and was
completed on the llth. Gen. Maury
fled up the Alabama, with 9,000
men, leaving 4,000 prisoners in our
hands ; while 1,000 more were found
in the city, when, at 2 p. m. of the
12th, the flag of the Union — already

floating over every fort and battery
that looked on the bay — was exult
ingly raised over the last important
Confederate seaport. Its reduction
had cost us 2,500 men ; beside two
iron-clads, two ' tin-clads' (or slightly
shielded gunboats), and one transport
— all sunk by torpedoes. The. guns
captured in the city and its defenses
numbered 150. The powerful rams
Huntsville and Tuscaloosa were sunk
by Maury before the evacuation.

The Bebel ram W. H. Webb, from
Bed river, freighted with cotton,
rosin, &c, came down the Mississippi
past New Orleans " so wholly unex
pected that she received but two
shots in passing — our fleet being still
mainly absent in Mobile bay. Being
pursued by gunboats from above, she
was making all speed toward the
Gulf, till she encountered the cor
vette Bichmond, coming up the
river ; when her commander, seeing
no chance of escape, terminated her
brief but not particularly brilliant ca
reer, by running her ashore and blow
ing her up. Her crew escaped to the
swamps, but were mainly captured.

XXXIV.

FALL OF BICHMOND— END OF THE WAB.
GEANT— -LEE— SHERIDAN

Gen. GeaRt's comprehensive strat
egy, while it exacted offensive activi
ty in almost every ether quarter, was
best subserved by quiet in Virginia
throughout the eventful Winter of
1864-5. Instead of wishing to drive

the Bebel Government and Army
from the banks of the James, he con
stantly apprehended and dreaded a
movement by Lee which, abandoning
Virginia at least for the time, should
precipitate the main Bebel army,

'April 24.

THE REBEL ATTEMPT TO ARM SLAVES.

725

reenforced to the utmost, suddenly,
unexpectedly, upon Sherman, as he
struggled through the gloomy forests
and treacherous quicksands of east
ern Georgia, or the flooded swamps
of South Carolina. Had Lee's effect
ive force (by his muster-rolls, 64,000
men — but suppose the number avail
able for such a campaign but 50,000),
swelled 'by such reenforcements as
Hardee, Beauregard, Wheeler, and
Hoke, might have afforded him, been
hurled upon Sherman, as he confi
dently approached Savannah, Colum
bia, or Fayetteville, it is indeed pos
sible that the blow — so closely re
sembling that dealt to Cornwallis at
Yorktown by Washington and Boch-
ambeau — might haVe been effectively
countered (as theirs was not) by the
hurried movement southward by wa
ter of corps after corps of the Army
of the Potomac ; yet the necessity of
Btopping Sherman's career was so in
dubitably manifest and vital that it
seems strange that every thing was
not staked on a throw where success
would have kindled new hope in so
many sinking hearts, while defeat
could only have been what inaction
was — ruin. But any suggestion of
the abandonment of the Confederate
capital was met with such a deafen
ing clamor by the Bichmond journals
— by which it was pronounced synony
mous with surrender at discretion —
that Davis and Lee must have been
strong men indeed to have chosen to
defy it. It does not appear, how
ever, that they ever seriously inclined
to an expedient which, even if des
perate, was neither so hopeless nor
so mortifying as that to which they
were actually driven in their grudg
ing, eleventh-hour attempt to recruit
their wasted ranks by freeing and

arming such slaves (only) as were
deemed fit for military service. Had
they met Lincoln's first Proclamation
of Freedom to such slaves (only) as
were not then within his jurisdiction,
by an unqualified liberation of every
slave in the South and a proffer of a
homestead to each of them who would
shoulder his musket and help achieve
the independence of the Confederacy,
it is by no means unlikely that their
daring would have been crowned with
success ; since the passions of their
adherents had, by this time, been so
thoroughly aroused that they would
have welcomed any resort that prom
ised them a triumph over the detested
'Yankees'; while the Blacks must
have realized that Emancipation, im
mediate and absolute, at the hands of
those who had power not only to de
cree but to enforce, was preferable to
the limited, contingent, as yet unsub
stantial, freedom promised by the
Federal Executive. Unmeasured vi
tuperation of President Lincoln's edict
as unwarranted, outrageous, and de
signed to whet the assassin's knife
for the throats of the mothers and
sisters of the heroes who had hurled
back his armies from the banks of
the James and the Tennessee, would
have sweetened its bitterness to the
Southern Whites, without being es
pecially obnoxious to the emancipa
ted Blacks. But, after having so
fiercely reprobated emancipation as
essentially a wrong to both races, ut
terly unjustified by any conceivable
exigency of war, and denounced the
enlistment on our side of Black
soldiers as at once a crime, a futility,
and a confession of defeat, and after
having mercilessly ridiculed the sug
gestion that negro slaves could ever
be transformed into effective soldiers,

726

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

the Bebel attempt to replenish with
Blacks the thinned ranks of their
armies — hitherto largely swelled by
appeals to the intense prejudice of the
lowest Whites against ' Nigger Equal
ity' — was a most palpable and dama
ging confession that the knell of the
Confederacy had sounded.

A single expedition, under War
ren, was sent out1 from Meade's left
to destroy the Weldon railroad far
ther southward, and thus prevent its
use by the enemy in transporting
supplies from North Carolina nearly
up to our lines; whence they were
wagoned around our left to Lee's
camps. This expedition, consisting
of Warren's (5th) corps, Mott's divis
ion of the 2d, and Gregg'.s mounted
division,, moved down the railroad so
far as the Meherrin ; across which to
Hicksford the few Eebels encoun
tered were driven, while the road was
effectually destroyed down to that
point — some 20 miles. Hicksford
had been fortified, and was strongly
held by the enemy ; while our troops,
having started with but four days'
rations, were constrained to hasten
their return. No considerable loss
was suffered, nor (otherwise than in
destroying the railroad) inflicted.
The withdrawal of most of our
naval force from the James, to parti
cipate in the operations against Wil
mington, tempted the authorities in
Bichmond again to try their luck
upon the water. Their three iron
clads^— the Virginia, Fredericksburg,
and Bichmond — with five wooden
steamers, and three torpedo-boats,
dropped ' silently down from the city
under cover of darkness, passing Fort
Brady at midnight, responding to its

fire, and dismounting a 100-pounder
in its battery; then passing out of
its range, and breaking the chain in
front of the obstructions placed in
the channel by Gen. Butler at the
lower end of Dutch gap, so that the
Fredericksburg passed through ; while
the Bichmond, Virginia, and Drew-
ry, attempting to follow, grounded :
the last-named, being immovable,
was abandoned by her crew at day
light, and soon blown up by a shell
from one of our batteries ; while the
Virginia received a 300-pound bolt
from a, monitor which killed 5 of her
crew. Firing was continued on both
sides throughout the day; and at
night the Bebel fleet — all but the
Drewry — drew back to Bichmond.
The next effort on our side was
made — probably with intent mainly
to develop the strength with which
the Bebel lines confronting ours were
still held — on the old beaten and
bloody track ; the 5th and 2d corps,
with Gregg's cavalry,1 pushing out8
from our left to Beams's station, and
thence to Dinwiddie C. H. : the 5th
corps being directed to turn the
Bebel right, while the 2d assailed it
in front. The two corps having
taken position on the Bebel flank —
Smythe's division and McAllister's
brigade of Mott's having gallantly
repulsed the enemy's attempt to turn
the right of the former — Gregg's
cavalry were drawn back from Din
widdie C. H. to Warren's left, which,
under Crawford, was now4 thrown
forward to Dabney's mill, whence he
drove a Bebel force under Gen. Pe
gram, who was killed. By this time,
the enemy had sent a strong force
around our left, to strike it in flank
and rear, after the Stonewall Jack-

1 Dec. 1, 1864.

1 Jan. 23, 1865.

'Feb. 5.

' Feb. 6.

SHERIDAN ROUTS EARLY AT WAYNESBORO'.

727

son fashion. Gregg's cavalry was
first assailed by this force, and push
ed back to Hatcher's run ; Ayres's
division, which was hurrying up to
the support of Crawford, was next
stricken in flank while marching, and
•pushed back ; when the blow fell on
Crawford, who was likewise driven,
with heavy loss. Following up their
success quite too eagerly, the Con
federates now attacked Humphreys's
(2d) corps, which had had time to in
trench, and which promptly sent them
to the right about. The loss in this
affair on our side was nearly 2,000 ;
that of the Bebels was about 1,000.
The ground taken by the 2d corps
was held, and our left thus perma
nently extended to Hatcher's run.
The Bebels in Northern Virginia
evinced the greater activity during
the Winter. Aside from sundry in
considerable but annoying dashes
through our lines at several points,
by the alert, ubiquitous guerrilla,
Moseby, Gen. Bosser, with a mount
ed force, slipped across the main
range of the Alleghanies into West
Virginia; surprising Beverly, Ban-
dolph county ; which was held by a
garrison of 700, who were caught "
sound asleep, with pickets only 300
yards from their camp ; 400 of them
made prisoners, the residue dispersed,
and much spoil secured in the shape
of horses, commissary's and quarter
master's stores. All that could be
carried off in their haste was taken ;
the residue destroyed.
Lt. McNiel, with a squad of Bebel
cavalry, dashed into Cumberland,
Md., about 3 A. m. ;° seizing Maj.-
Gens. Kelley aud Crook in their beds,
mounting them on horses, and hurry

ing them off to Eichmond. The loss
was small; but the impunity with
which it was inflicted argued extreme
looseness and inefficiency in the pick
eting and guarding of our lines. Of
course, such an enterprise was not
attempted without preconcert with
traitors on our side.
Gen. Sheridan, still in command
in the Valley, was instructed by Gen.
Grant to open the campaign of 1865
in Virginia by a magnificent and
daring cavalry raid aimed at Lynch
burg and the Bebel communications
generally, but with liberty to Sheri
dan to move southward until he re
enforced Sherman — still deficient in
cavalry — if that should seem . advi
sable. Sheridan left7 Winchester
with 10,000 men— all mounted — and
moved so rapidly as to save the
bridge at Mount Crawford across the
middle fork of the Shenandoah ; pass
ing through Staunton,8 and hurling
himself on Early, who had made
a stand in his intrenchments at
Waynesboro', at the head of some
2,500 men ; who were almost in
stantly routed, with a loss of 1,600
prisoners, 11 guns, 17 flags, and 200
loaded wagons. In fact, there was
little left of Early's force but Early
himself. The prisoners were sent to
Winchester, guarded by 1,500 men ;
while Sheridan, destroying the rail
roads, proceeded to Charlottesville ;'
which succumbed without a blow:
and here he spent two days destroy
ing Eebel dep6ts, manufactories,
bridges, &c. By this time, Lynch
burg had taken the alarm, and was
too strong for his depleted force : so,
dividing it, he struck for, the James :
one of his two columns destroying
the canal from Scottsville to New-

5 Jan. 11.

8 Feb. 21.

' Feb. 21.

8 March 2.

' March 3.

728

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

market, while the other tore up the
Lynchburg railroad so far west as
Amherst C. H.; thence crossing the
country to Newmarket and uniting
with the former.
Attempts to surprise and seize
bridges over the James at Duguids-
ville, Hardwicksville, &c, so as to
cross and come in on Grant's left,
were all baffled by the vigilance of
the enemy; while heavy rains had
so swollen that river that Sherman's
pontoons would not reach across it :
so he was compelled to choose be
tween returning to Winchester and
passing behind Lee's army to White
House and thence to Grant's right.
He wisely chose the latter ; . follow
ing and destroying the canal to Co
lumbia," where he rested a day, send
ing scouts with advices to Grant ;
thence moving easterly, destroying
bridges and railroads, across the An
nas to the Pamunkey, and down the
right bank of that stream to White
House ; " where four days were given
to most needed rest and recupera
tion; when he moved down to the
James, crossed it at Jones's landing,
and reported to Grant in front of
Petersburg on the 27th— just in time.
Gen. Lee—foreseeing clearly the
speedy downfall of the Confederate
cause unless averted by a prompt
concentration of its remaining forces
and a telling blow delivered thereby
on some one of our encircling armies,
which were now palpably crushing
out the life ofthe Eebellion— resolved
to anticipate Grant's initiative by an
attack on his lines before Petersburg
and Eichmond. This attack was
made on Fort Steedman, nearly east
of Petersburg, where its success
would have cut our army in two,

and probably compelled a hasty con
centration to recover our lines and
works; thereby opening a door for
the unassailed withdrawal of the
Eebel army southward by the most
direct route, to unite with that of
Johnston and thus overpower Sher
man. It was delivered by Gordon
with two divisions : all that was dis
posable of the Bebel Army of Vir
ginia being collected just behind the
assaulting column and held in hand
as a support.
Gordon charged at daybreak ;13 his
men rushing instantly across the nar
row space that here separated the
confronting lines, and pouring into
Fort Steedman, which was held by
the 14th N. Y. artillery, who were
completely surprised and overwhelm
ed; part of them fleeing for their
lives, while the residue were made
prisoners. The guns were deserted
without a struggle, and immediately
turned by their captors on the adja
cent works, whereof three batteries
were abandoned by the Union troops
and seized by the enemy.
Here their triumph ended. Their
assault on Fort Haskell, next to Fort
Steedman on the left, was but feebly
made and easily repulsed ; they failed
to press forward and seize the crest
of the ridge behind the forts, thus
cutting our army in two ; the 20,000
men whom Lee had massed in their
rear to support the assault either
were not promptly ordered forward
or failed to respond: so that their
initial success had only isolated them,
a comparative handful in the midst
of an army of foes. In short, it was
the Mine explosion repeated with the
parts reversed. For, when our sol
diers had recovered from their aston-

10 March 10.

" March 19.

13 March 25.

A. Union lines.
B. Rebel lines.
C. Union routes of march.
D. ' Rebel routes of inarch.

LEU'S KETREAT FROM PETERSBITRG.
MrplanaMon-9.
29. Positions held previous to movement, March _S.
81. Positions held March 31.
1. Positions at battlo of Five Forks, April 1.
2, Extension of lines to the Appomattox, April 2.

5. Positions At Jetersvillp. April 5,
G. Positions at battle of Sailor's creek, April 6.
7. Positions bekl evening of April* T.
9. Positions lit' Id at timu of I.cu'a surrender, April 9.

10U

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ishment, and the 9th corps was ral
lied to drive the foe out — Hartranft's
division making the counter-assault
— the Eebels were too few to hold
their perilous position; while the
ground over which they had reached
it was so swept by our guns from
either side, that 2,000 preferred to
surrender rather than follow their
fleeing comrades through that terri
ble fire. Aside from this, the loss of
either army was some 2,500.
Nor was this the extent of the
enemy's mishap. Gen. Meade, con
vinced that their lines generally must
have been depleted to strengthen this
assault, ordered an advance along the
front of the 6th and 2d corps, hold
ing our works before Petersburg to
the left of Fort Steedman ; and this
was made with such spirit that the
thinned line ofthe enemy recoiled be
fore it, and their strongly intrenched
picket-line was wrested from them
and permanently held by their an
tagonists. Thus, instead of shaking
himself free from Grant's gripe, Lee
had only tightened it by this bold
stroke ; rendering his withdrawal to
North Carolina even more difficult
and hazardous than before.
Grant had already" prepared, if
not issued, his order for a general, de
termined advance by his left on the
29th. To the obvious reasons which
had formerly impelled a movement
to flank the enemy's right was now
added the necessity of intercepting
and precluding Lee's withdrawal to
North Carolina. Hence, the strategy
of a nearly simultaneous attack on
both flanks of the Eebel position was
now abandoned: three divisions of
the Army of the James, now com
manded by Ord, being withdrawn "

from the banks of the James, where
it had so long menaced Eichmond,
and brought over to the left of our
lines facing Petersburg; when the
5th ("Warren's) and 2d (Humphreys's)
corps moved quietly out " south-
westward till they had crossed Hatch
er's run ; when, facing northward,
they advanced, feeling for the ene
my's right. Sheridan was on our ex
treme left, at the head of nearly
10,000 cavaby, acting under orders
directly from Gen. Grant. The 9th
(Parke's) and one of Ord's divisions
were left to hold our extended lines
under the command of Gen. Parke :
all dismounted troopers being order
ed to report to Gen. Benham, who
guarded our immense accumulation
of supplies at City Point.
Humphreys crossed Hatcher's run
at the Yaughan road ; while Warren,
moving farther to the left, crossed
four miles below, where the stream,
since its junction with Gravelly run,
has become Eowanty creek ; thence
moving up by the Quaker road to
strike the Boydton plank-road. Sheri
dan moved nearly south to Dinwid
die C. H.; where, at 5 p. m., he halted
for the night.
Warren's corps alone encountered
any serious resistance this day. Ap
proaching the Confederate lines,
Griffin's division, leading, was sharp
ly assailed; but held its ground and
repulsed the enemy, taking 100 pris
oners. Our loss here was 370 killed
and wounded. Warren rested- for
the night in front of the Eebel in
trenchments covering the White Oak
road. Humphreys — moving in an
extended line, over a densely wooded
and difficult country, repelling skir
mishers only — had not struck the

13 Dated March 24.

" March 27.

16 March 29.

LEE ATTACKS WARREN AND SHERIDAN.

731

enemy's intrenched line when night
arrested his advance.
Eain fell heavily all that night and
next day: our infantry doing little
beyond perfecting their formation
and their connections ; while Sheri
dan, pressing back the enemy, with
out much fighting, behind his in
trenchments, pushed forward part of
his cavalry on their right flank to
Five Forks, where they found the
enemy too strong to be ridden over
or driven off; and returned, through
the rain and mud, to Dinwiddie
C. II. Grant, who was on the field,
directing the general movement,
ordered "Warren to support the caval
ry; placing him under Sheridan's
command. Next morning," the rain had ceas
ed ; but the earth was so soaked and'
flooded that Grant proposed in the
main to stand still. But Lee had
other views. Alive to his peril, he
had left his works immediately cover
ing Eichmond to be held by some
8,000 men, under Longstreet, while
he hurried all the rest of his infantry,
through rain and mire, to the sup
port of his endangered right; his
cavalry, which had been posted at
Stony creek, far on his right, and
which Sheridan's advance had iso
lated, making a long detour around
Dinwiddie C. II. to regain its lost
communications. Warren had pushed forward skir
mishers on his left to seize the White
Oak road beyond the Eebel right,
and had ordered Ayres to advance
Winthrop's brigade through the
woods to support the effort; when,
at 10| a. m., Lee dealt him an un
expected and staggering blow : strik
ing Ayres heavily in flank and rear ;

hurling his division back in disorder
on Crawford's, which likewise broke ;
so that there was, for a moment, a
prospect of another Chancellorsville.
But behind these two stood Griffin's
division, well posted in more open
ground, whence it refused to be
driven ; stopping the Eebel advance,
while the routed divisions rallied
behind it, enabling Warren to as
sume the offensive; Humphreys sup
porting his counter-charge by send
ing in Miles's division on Warren's
right to strike the enemy's left flank.
Before these well-timed charges, the
enemy recoiled ; taking refuge be
hind his intrenchments along the
White Oak road ; having lost heavily
by his assault, mainly in prisoners.
Still, his position was so strong that
repeated and vigorous attempts by
Miles, Mott, and Hays, under Hum
phreys's orders, to penetrate it at
different points, were repelled — the
abatis which covered its front being
even more formidable than the Ee
bels behind it.
Sheridan, meantime, had renewed
his once foiled effort to turn the
Eebel right by a resolute advance
from Dinwiddie C. H. to Five Forks;
and, while Lee's infantry was in con
flict with Warren, he had advanced
to and carried the coveted position.
But now — the attack on Warren hav
ing failed — Lee impelled Pickett's
and Bushrod Johnson's divisions of in
fantry westward along the White Oak
road to Five Forks, where they fell
upon Devin's division and Davies's
brigade of cavalry there posted, drove
them out in disorder, and followed
them nearly to Dinwiddie C. H. ; at
length interposing between Devin
and Sheridan's main line, and com-

» March 31.

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

pelling Devin to make a long detour
by the Boydton plank-road to rejoin
his chief. The Eebels, mistaking
this for a farther retreat, attempted
pursuit ; thereby presenting their
flank and rear to Sheridan, who
charged with the brigades of Gregg
and Gibbs ; compelling the enemy to
let go of Devin, and permit him to
rejoin his chief without farther
trouble. And, though they now as
sailed the latter in superior force,
fully resolved to drive him, they were
unable to make any headway. Sheri
dan dismounted his troopers, posted
them behind a slight breastwork,
and received his assailants with so
deadly.a fire that they recoiled ; and
darkness fell before they were ready
to try again. When morning came,
they had been withdrawn by Lee;
who doubtless saw that Pickett was
exposed to be struck in flank by War
ren, while assailed in front by Sheri
dan, and thus disastrously routed.
Meantime, there was very natural
alarm and anxiety at headquarters,
where it was only known that Sheri
dan had been driven baek from Five
Forks to Dinwiddie, and there at
tacked by the enemy in force, with
every prospect of routing him. War
ren received order after order to
hasten to Sheridan's rescue, and had
sent Ayres's division through the
mire and darkness ; but Ayres, mov
ing on the Boydton plank-road, had
been stopped at Gravelly run, where
the bridge was gone ; and it was 2
a. m. before he had rebuilt and got
across it; hurrying on to Dinwiddie;
where he arrived at daybreak; " just
as the last of the Eebels — a picket
of cavalry— were hurrying off to join
their departed comrades.

Sheridan, who had ascertained by
midnight that the enemy were leav
ing, had been perfectly at ease while
all beside his command had passed a
night of apprehension on his account ;
so at daybreak he advanced, support
ed by Ayres, on the track of his late
assailants ; being, at 7 A. m., joined
midway by Warren with his two
other divisions.
Advancing steadily and boldly,
Sheridan had, with his cavalry alone,
by 2 p. m., pressed back the Eebels
into their works at Five Forks, leav
ing Warren's corps entirely disposa
ble : and now, while directing Gen.
Merritt, with hiB division of cavalry,
to threaten to turn the Eebel right,
at the same time that they were
sharply pressed in front, Sheridan
ordered Warren — hitherto passive in
his rear — to advance the 5th corps
on our right to the White Oak road,
so as to be fully on the enemy's left
flank, and then, by a left- wheel
movement, fall upon that flank in
full force, striking the enemy well
toward the rear, and rolling his force
up on itself, in utter rout and confu
sion. Meanwhile, McKenzie, with
the inconsiderable cavalry of the
Army of the James, just arrived, was
to cover Warren's right flank against
attack from the direction of Peters
burg. This order was promptly and
thoroughly obeyed ; McKenzie vigor
ously attacking and driving the only
Eebel force discoverable in that quar
ter. This done, he promptly counter
marched, and was back in the vicini
ty of Five Forks, ready to partici
pate in the combined attack, before
Warren was prepared to charge.
Sheridan was profoundly dissatis
fied with the slowness of Warren's

"Aprill.

SHERIDAN ROUTS PICKETT AT FIVE FORKS.

733

movements, and suspected Mm of not
wishing to make a decisive charge
that day. It was now _ p. m. — dark
ness, in that wooded region, would
quickly follow sunset — when all of
fensive operations, over ground to
which our men were strangers, must
utterly cease. As yet, many more
of our men than of the enemy liad
fallen this day; and the morrow
would doubtless show the Eebels
either strongly reenforced or missing.
Sheridan — a raging lion on the bat
tle-field—sought to hurry Warren's
movements, using some language
more energetic than courteous ; and
at length — the whole corps having
reached the position assigned it and
faced westward — the charge was
made ; McKenzie's horsemen having
been thrown out on Warren's right, so
as completely to outflank the Eebels
and bar their retreat northward.
Ayres's division advanced nearest
to the White Oak road and the Eebel
defenses, with Crawford's on its right,
or farther north; Griffin's being in
reserve behind it. But Crawford's
left, advancing across open ground
under fire of the enemy— whose left
had been refused and formed at right
angles with its main line to meet this
attack — swerved to the right to gain
the shelter of the woods, opening a
gap between it and Ayres's right, on
"which the Eebels now directed their
fire, causing it to waver and crum
ble; a portion ©f it going to the
right-about in haste and disorder.
Sheridan was watching this turn
ing movement and charge in no
amiable temper, and now saw its suc
cess imperiled by what he considered

18 Swinton says that "After the close of the action,
Sheridan relieved Gen. Warren from duty." Sheri
dan's official report does not sustain this averment.

Warren's indifference or inefficiency;
for he believed this chasm in our
charging lines could never have been
opened if our troops had been han
dled with energy and resolution. He
therefore deprived18 Warren of his
command, giving it to Griffin, whose
division he ordered thrown forward
to fill the gap in our line, which was
now impelled forward with irresistible
momentum ; while Mer ritt, with the
cavalry, charged the enemy's front.
The Confederates, facing their foes
in each direction, stood bravely to
their arms; but they were two divi
sions — Pickett's and Bushrod John
son's — against at least double their
number, and their case was manifestly
hopeless. In afewminutes, Ayres'sdi-
vision burst over their flank intrench
ments, taking 1,000 prisoners ; while
Griffin struck their refused flank in
the rear, capturing 1,500 more ; and
Crawford — resisted only by skirmish
ers — pressed forward rapidly to the
Ford road, running northward from
their center, precluding their retreat
toward Lee ; and then, turning south
ward on that road, came rapidly
down upon their rear, taking _ guns
— our cavalry all the time sharply
assailing their front and right, and
at length charging over their in
trenchments, as Ayres and Griffin,
having turned their left out of its
works, bore down upon its renewed
front, hurling all that remained of
the enemy in disorderly flight west
ward ; charged and pursued for miles
by our cavalry until long after dark,
and - until our prisoners exceeded
5,000 ; while our total loss this day
was but about 1,000. At this cost,

Warren, however, in his defense, asserts posi
tively that Sheridan's order did not reach him
till after the fighting was over.

r3_

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Lee's right wing had been substan
tially demolished. Among our killed
was Brig.-Gen. Fred'k Winthrop (Col.
9th N. York), cousin to Maj. Theo.
Winthrop, killed at Big Bethel.
Sheridan now directed Griffin to
move eastward with two divisions
of his infantry to Gravelly church,
some miles toward Petersburg, thus
reopening his communications with
the rest of our army, while Griffin's
own division (now Bartlett's) support
ed McKenzie's cavalry, wliich had
pushed northward up the Ford road
to Hatcher's run.
And now, as darkness fell, by
Grant's order, our guns in position
before Petersburg opened from right
to left, making the night lurid with
a bombardment that proclaimed the
signal victory just achieved on our
left, and predicted more decisive tri
umphs at hand. Wright, Parke, and
Ord, still holding our intrenchments
facing Petersburg and thence east
ward to the Appomattox, were or
dered to assault, and did assault, at
daybreak next morning.19 Parke, in
front of Petersburg, carried, with
his (9th) corps, the outer line of
Eebel works confronting him, cap
turing some guns ; but found an in
ner line behind them which he could
not force, and desisted ; Wright,
on his left, with the 6th corps, sup
ported by two divisions of Ord's,
charging at dawn, drove every thing
before him up to the Boydton road ;
on which, wheeling to the left, to
ward Hatcher's run, he swept down
the rear of the Eebel intrenchments,
capturing many guns and several
thousand prisoners : meantime, Ord's
other division had forced the ene
my's lines at the run ; and now

Wright and Ord swung to the right,
pressing on Petersburg from the
west; while Humphreys, farther to
our left, with Hays's and Mott's
divisions of the 2d corps, having
stormed a redoubt in his front, came
up with two divisions, closing in on
their left. Thereupon, the Eebel lines
defending Petersburg on the south
were assaulted by Gibbon's division
of Ord's corps, which carried by
storm two strong and important
works — Forts Gregg and Alexander
— shortening our besieging lines, and
weakening the defenses of that city.
Fort Gregg was held by Harris's
Mississippi brigade, now reduced to
250 ; of whom but 30 remained when
it fell. Gibbon's loss in this assault
was about 500.
Miles's division of the 2d corps
had been sent to reenforce Sheridan,
reaching him at daybreak, and had
been directed to follow the White
Oak road eastward toward Peters
burg, and attack the enemy at the
intersection of the Claiborne road,
where they were reported in force ;
Sheridan following immediately, with
Griffin's and Crawford's divisions of
the 5th. Miles assailed and carried
the designated position ; forcing the
enemy northward across Hatcher's
run, and pursuing them to Suther
land's d£pot ; where he was about to
attack when Gen. Humphreys came
up and reclaimed Miles's division:
when Sheridan desisted, returned to
Five Forks, and took the Ford road
out to Hatcher's run, where he crossed
the 5th" corps and moved rapidly to
ward Sutherland's depot, to strike in
flank and rear the enemy who had con
fronted Miles. But Miles, ere this,
under Humphreys's order, had dis-

19 Sunday, April 2,

RICHMOND EVACUATED BT THE REBELS.

735

lodged and defeated his antagonists,
' taking 2 guns and 600 prisoners.
Longstreet, who had hitherto held
the defenses of Eichmond north of
the James, had joined Lee at Peters
burg at 10 a. m. this day, with
Beuning's brigade ; and A. P. Hill,
on Lee's left, now ordered a charge
by Heth to regain some of the works
carried by Parke in his assault. The
attack was so vigorous and persistent
that our men holding City Point
were ordered up to Parke's support.
Heth was repulsed. Hill was shot
dead while reconnoitering this day.
He was among the ablest of Lee's
lieutenants. Petersburg was still held by the
Eebel army; but Lee saw that it
could not be held much longer. His
heavy losses — by this time exceeding
10,000 men — and the utter demoli
tion of his right, rendered it morally
certain that to hold on was to insure
the capture or destruction of his
army; and well he knew that his
veterans were the last hope of the
Eebellion. For Grant was now at
liberty to throw forward his left to
the Appomattox ; while it was mor
ally certain that his cavalry would
soon clutch the railroad junction at
Burkesville, which had now become
the jugular vein of the gasping Con
federacy. At 10£ A. m., therefore, he
telegraphed to. Davis in Eichmond
a dispatch, containing very nearly
these words :
" My lines ^are broken in three places.
Eichmond must be evacuated this evening."
That message found Mr. Davis,
at 11 a. m., in church, where it was
handed to him, amid an awful hush ;
and he immediately went quietly, so
berly out — never to return as Presi
dent of the Confederacy. No word

was spoken ; but the whole assem
blage felt that the missive he had so
hastily perused bore words of doom.
Though the handwriting was not
blazoned on the wall, it needed no
Daniel to declare its import.
But no one can duly depict that
last afternoon and night of Confede
rate rule in Eichmond but an eye
witness: so let Pollard narrate for
us the .visible collapse and fall of the
Slave Power in its chosen metropolis.
After stating how, upon Mr. Davis's
withrawal from church, " the rumor
was caught up in the streets that
Eichmond was to be evacuated, and
was soon carried to the ends of the
eity," he proceeds :
" Men, women, and children, rushed from
the churches, passing from lip to lip news
of the impending fall of Bichmond. And yet,
it was difficult to believe it. To look up to
the calm, beautiful sky of that Spring day,
unassailed by one single noise of battle, to
watch the streets, unvexed by artillery or
troops, stretching away into the quiet, hazy
atmosphere, and believe that the capital of
the Confederacy, so peaceful, so apparently
secure, was in a few hours to be the prey of
the enemy, and to be wrapped in the infer
nal horrors of a conflagration I
" It was late in the afternoon when the
signs of evacuation became apparent to the
incredulous. Wagons on the streets were
being hastily loaded at the departments
with boxes, trunks, &c, and driven to the
Danville dep&t. Those who had determined
to evacuate with the fugitive Government
looked on with amazement ; then, convinced
of the fact, rushed to follow the Govern
ment's example. Vehicles suddenly rose to
a premium value that was astounding ; and
ten, fifteen, and even a hundred dollars, in
gold or Federal currency, was offered for a
conveyance. Suddenly, as if by magic, the
streets became filled with men, walking as
though for a wager, and behind them excited
negroes with trunks, bundles, and luggage of
every description. All over the city, it was
the same — wagons, trunks, bandboxes, and
their owners, a mass of hurrying fugitives,
filling the streets. The banks were all open,
and depositors were as busy as bees remov
ing their specie deposits ; and the directors
were equally active in getting off their bul
lion. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of

736

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

paper money was destroyed, both State and
Confederate. Night came ; and with it came
confusion worse confounded. There was
no sleep for human eyes in Eichmond that
night. "The City Council had met in the even
ing, and resolved to destroy all the liquor
in the city, to avoid the disorder consequent
on the temptation to drink at such a time.
About the ho%r of midnight, the work com
menced, under the direction of committees
of citizens in all the wards. Hundreds of
barrels of liquor were rolled into the street,
and the heads knocked in. The gutters ran
with a liquor freshet, and the fumes filled
and impregnated the air. Fine cases of bot
tled liquors were tossed into the street from
third-story windows, and wrecked into a
thousand pieces. As the work progressed,
some straggling soldiers, retreating through
the city, managed to get hold of a quantity
of the liquor. From that moment, law and
order ceased to exist. Many of the stores
were pillaged ; and the side-walks were en
cumbered with broken glass, where the
thieves had smashed the windows in their
reckless haste to lay hands on the plunder
within. The air was filled with wild cries
of distress, or the yells of roving pillagers.
"But a more terrible element was to ap
pear upon the scene. An order had been
issued from Gen. Ewell's headquarters to
fire the four principal tobacco warehouses
of the city — namely, the public warehouse,
situated at the head of the basin, near the
Petersburg railroad dep&t ; Shockoe ware
house, situated near the center of the city,
side by side with the Gallego flour-mills;
Mayo's warehouse, and DibreU's warehouse,
on Cary-st., a square below Libby prison.
"Late in the night, Mayor Mayo had dis
patched, by a committee of citizens, a re
monstrance against this reckless military
order, which plainly put in jeopardy the
whole business portion of Bichmond. It
was not heeded. Nothing was left for the
citizens but to submit to the destruction of
their property. The warehouses were fired.
The rams in the James river were blown
up. The Bichmond, Virginia, and another
one, were all blown to the four winds of
heaven. The Patrick Henry, a receiving-
ship, was scuttled. Such shipping, very lit
tle in amount, as was lying at the Bichmond
wharves, was also fired, save the flag-of-
truce steamer Allison.
"The bridges leading out of the city —
namely, the Danville railroad bridge, the
Petersburg railroad bridge, Mayo's bridge,
leading to Manchester and the opposite side
of the Janies, were also fired, and were soon
wrapped in flames.
"Morning broke upon a scene such as
those who witnessed it can never forget.

The roar of an immense conflagration
sounded in their ears; tongues of flame
leaped from street to street; and in this
baleful glare were to be seen, as of demons,
the figures of busy plunderers, moving,
pushing, rioting, through the black smoke
and into the open street, bearing away
every conceivable sort of plunder.
" The scene at the commissary de*p6t, at
the head of the dock, beggared description.
Hundreds of government wagons were load
ed with bacon, flour, and whisky, and
driven off in hot haste to join the retreat
ing army. Thronging about the dep&t were
hundreds of men, women, and children,
black and white, provided with capacious
bags, baskets, tubs, buckets, tin pans, and
aprons; cursing, pushing, and crowding;
awaiting the throwing open of the doors,
and the order for each to help himself.
"About sunrise, the doors were opened
to the populace; and a rush that almost
seemed to carry the building off its founda
tion was made, and hundreds of thousands
of pounds of bacon, flour, &c, were soon
swept away by a clamorous crowd."
Our lines opposite Eichmond —
that is, north of the James — had been
held, since Ord's withdrawal south
ward, hy Gen. Godfrey Weitzel, with
Kautz's division of the 24th, and
Ashborne's and Thomas's divisions
of the 25th. corps, under instructions
from Grant to make the utmost show
of strength and purpose to assault,
so as to keep the enemy here in force,
while the bulk of our army should be
flanking and fighting him out of Pe
tersburg. These instructions had
been faithfully, efficiently obeyed ;
though Longstreet, confronting Weit
zel, had at length suspected the true
character of Grant's strategy, and
had himself, with a part of his force,
moved southward to the help of Lee
at Petersburg. Weitzel, however,
persisted in speaking daggers, but
using none; and, throughout the
memorable Sunday evening of the
Eebel Hegira, though his guns were
silent, his bands were vocal far into
the night, treating our friends behind
the opposite intrenchments with va*

FORT SUMTER "REPOSSESSED BY THE UNION, FEB. 18, 1885.

WEITZEL RIDES INTO RICHMOND.

737

riations and iterations of ' Hail Co
lumbia,' ' Yankee Doodle,' and ' The
Star-Spangled Banner,' in utter dis
regard of Shakspeare's dictum aver
ring a natural antagonism between
Treason and Melody. No one on our
side seems to have suspected that the
Eebel soldiery were even then steal
thily withdrawing from their works
in our front, preparatory to hastening
after their comrades who had already
filed hurriedly and dolefully out of
the opposite portals of Eichmond.
At length, our musicians having
played the soldiers to sleep, had
themselves sunk also to rest, when,
about 2 a. m.," Weitzel, still alert,
was startled by the sound of explo
sions. They were fewer, nearer, and
heavier, than the dull, continuous
booming of cannon in the south,
which had been audible throughout
the previous morning ; and they evi
dently claimed instant attention. Lt.
J. L. Depeyster, of his staff, having
ascended the signal tower, 70 feet
high, at headquarters, reported, on
his return, that he had seen a great
light in the direction of Eichmond,
but could not determine whether that
city was or was not on fire. Efforts
were now made to capture a Eebel
picket ; and, about 3 a. m., one was
clutched ; who, in response to inqui
ries, said he belonged to the 37th Yir
ginia artillery, but could tell neither
where his regiment nor its comman
der then was. Gen. G. F. Shepley,
Weitzel's chief of staff, at once infer
red that the Eebels were evacuating
Eichmond — a conjecture which was
verified at 3£, by the report of a de
serter ; and at 4, a negro drove into
our lines in a buggy, who confirmed
the statement. Yet the Eebel works

in front were so intricate, and the
ground was known to be so studded
with torpedoes, that it was not till
after broad daylight that our soldiers
went forward — Draper's Black bri
gade in advance — over a road strewn
with all manner of abandoned mu
nitions and amid a perpetual roar of
bursting shells. But the position of
each of the abundant torpedoes
planted by the Eebels was indicated,
for their own safety, by a little red
flag, which, in the hurry of their de
parture, they had failed to remove :
so there were few, if any, casualties.
The Eebel defenses appeared to
have been, while manned, almost im
pregnable. Two separate lines of
abatis, three Lines of rifle-pits and.
earth- works — the first and second
connected by regular lines of redans
— with a fort or very strong earth
work on every elevation — such were
a part of the impediments which had
so long kept our soldiers out of Eich
mond. If one of these lines had been
carried, it was completely command
ed by that next behind it ; so that
our loss while holding it must have
been ten to one ; while to advance
and storm the next barrier must, for
the moment, have involved still
greater prodigality of life. Yet these
works our troops had lain down the
previous night expecting to assail at
daybreak in the morning.
At 6 A. m., Gen. Weitzel and staff,
having already cleared the exterior
defenses, riding rapidly past our still
advancing column, entered the im
mediate suburbs of the burning city,
amid a constant roar of exploding
shells and falling walls, and were re
ceived with shouts of welcome and
exultation from thousands of (mainly)

vol. n. — _7

' Monday, April 3.

738

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

negro throats. The last of the Eebel
soldiers had departed, or were just go
ing. Majs. A. H. Stevens, 4th Mass.,
and E. Graves, of Weitzel's staff, had
already hoisted two cavalry guidons
over the imposing Capitol of Yir
ginia, wherein the Confederate Con
gress had, since July, 1861, held its
sittings; but these, being scarcely
visible from beneath, were now sup
planted by a real American flag, for
merly belonging to the 12th Maine,
which hadfloatedoverthe St. Charles,
at New Orleans, when that hotel was
Gen. Butler's headquarters. Gen.
Shepley had long since expressed a
hope that it might yet wave over Eich
mond ; whereupon, Lt. Depeyster
had asked and obtained permission to
raise it there, should opportunity be
afforded ; and now, having brought
it hither on purpose, it was run up
on a flag-staff rising from the Capitol,
and saluted with enthusiastic huzzas
from the excited thousands below.
Jefferson Davis had left at 10 p. m.
of Sunday. Nearly all the Eebel
officials, including their members of
Congress, had also taken their leave ;
as had William Smith, EebeJ Gov
ernor of Yirginia, and most of his
satellites. There was no shadow of
resistance offered to our occupation ;
and there is no room for doubt that
a large majority of all who remained
in Eichmond heartily welcomed our
army as deliverers. Probably some
cheered and shouted who would have
done it with more heart and a better
grace if our soldiers had been brought
in as prisoners of war.
The city was of course placed un
der military rule : Gen. G. F. Shep
ley being appointed Governor ; Lt.-
Col. Manning, Provost-Marshal. The
fire was extinguished so soon as pos

sible ; but not till it had burned out
the very heart of Eichmond, includ
ing its great warehouses, the post-
office, the treasury, the principal
banks, newspaper offices, &c. The
losses of private property by the con
flagration must have amounted to
many millions of dollars, since a full
third of the city was destroyed. Libby
prison, Castle Thunder, and the Tred
egar Iron-works, were unharmed.
Though most of the Confederate
stores had been burned, the spoils
were considerable. They included
1,000 prisoners, beside 5,000 sick and
wounded left in the hospitals, over
500 guns, at least 5,000 small arms, 30
locomotives, 300 cars, &c, &c. Lack
of time or of fuel doubtless prevented
the loading of these cars with muni
tions and provisions, and taking them
along with the fugitive host.
Before noon of that day, the news
of Eichmond's fall had been flashed
across the loyal States, and it was
soon confirmed by telegrams from
President Lincoln, then at City Point,
and from the Secretary of War at
Washington. At once, all public offi
ces were closed, all business suspend
ed by that great majority who pro
foundly rejoiced in the National tri
umph, so long, so anxiously awaited
— which had seemed so" often just at
hand, and the next moment farther
off than ever — so intensely longed for
by the Millions who had for years
been constrained to endure the taunts
of Northern sympathizers with the
Eebels, and 'the heart-sickness of
hope deferred.' These instantly and
undoubtingly comprehended that the
fall of Eichmond was a death-blow
to the Eebellion, and rejoiced over it
accordingly. In New York, an im-

rETERSUURG EVACUATED — G RANT'S STRATEGY.

r39

promptu gathering of many thou
sands inunodiatolv filled Wall-street,
and listened, with cheers and thanks
giving, to dispatches, addresses, ore..;
while tho bells of Trinity and St.
Paul's chimed melodiously with the
general joy aud praise. So in Wash
ington and other great cities, tho
popular feeling of relief and grati
tude found many mode* of expres
sion, wherein the readers of next
day's journals will detect no un
manly exultation over the fallen, and
scarcely a word bespeaking wrath or
bitterness, or demanding vengeful in
flictions on those whose unhallowed
ambition had so long divided, so
widely devastated, and so nearly de
stroyed, the Republic,
That joyful Monday was the An
nual Election in Connecticut — a State
so closely contested barely five months
before — but now every county went
Republican by an aggregate majority
of over 10,000" — the victorious host,
fortlie first time in many wars, choos
ing a Representative in Congress from
each of the four districts, and making
a pretty clean sweep locally and gen
erally. A leading Democratic jour
nal accounted for its party's over
whelming defeat by the feet that the
votes were cast while guns were thun
dering, bands playing, and excited
crowds shouting themselves hoarse,
over the fall of Richmond.

Petersburg was of course evacua
ted simultaneously with Richmond:
and so noiselessly that our pickets,
scarcely a stone's throw from the
abandoned lines, knew not that the
enemy were moving till morning
showed that they were gone— no ex
plosions and no conflagration having
« (>«!«««>— Buckingham fRepulv\ *

here marked the flight of the Rebels ;
who were miles away when our
troops, at daybreak, proudly marched
unopposed into the city for which
they had so long struggled, and
which, although surrendered by its
civil authorities, gave but a sullen
welcome to its new masters. The
hearty responses to the enthusiastic
cheers of the victors issued from
Black throats alone.
Hours ere this, the Rebel govern
ment, with its belongings, had passed
down the railroad several miles north
of Petersburg to Dahville, where it
halted, and whither Lee hoped to
follow it with the remnant of his
army ; thence forming a junction
with Johnston, and thus collecting a
force which, if too weak to protract
the contest, would at least be strong
enough to command favorable terms.
Rut now the purpose and value of
Grant's tenacious, persistent exten
sions of his loft became palpable to
the most obstinate ofthe multitudin
ous decriers of his military capacity.
To have beaten Lee by a fair front
attack would have thrown him back
possibly to Lynchburg or Danville:
beating him by turning and crush
ing his right might prove his utter
destruction. For, now that his shat
tered array could no longer cling to
its formidable intrenchments around
Richmond and Petersburg, and must
retreat hurriedly westward or south
ward, the position of the Sth (Grif
fin's) corps at Sutherland's. 10 miles
west of Petersburg, with Sheridan's
cavalry at Ford's. 10 miles farther
west, barring his way up the south
bank of the Appomattox, with nearly
all the residue of Grant's forces but
Weitzel's command south or south-
i,3U, oT& ^eyiaonr (t»«~4 31,339.

7-0

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

west of Petersburg, so narrowed and
distorted his possible lines of retreat
as to render the capture or dispersion
of his entire army at least possible.
And, with Grant and Sheridan as
his antagonists, it was morally cer
tain that all would be made of their
advantages that could be.

The Army of Yirginia — now re
duced by desertions and its recent
heavy losses, mainly in prisoners, to
35,000 men — was concentrated, from
Richmond on the north to Peters
burg on the south, at Chesterfield
C. H.; thence moving rapidly west
ward to Amelia C. H., where Lee
had ordered supplies to meet him by
cars from Danville; but where he
found none — an order from Eich
mond having summoned " the train
to that city to aid in bearing away
the fugitives ; and it was taken with
out unloading: so that the over
matched, worsted, retreating, and
fainting Eebel soldiery, while endeav
oring to evade the fierce pursuit of
Sheridan's troopers, must snatch their
subsistence from the impoverished,
exhausted country. And, while Lee
halted here, throughout the 4th and
5th, trying to gather from any and
every quarter the means of feeding
his famished men, Sheridan, moving
rapidly westward by roads consider
ably south of Amelia C. H, had
struck the Danville railroad at Je-
tersville, while his advance had swept
down that road nearly to Burkesville,
scattering by the way such portions
of the Eebel cavalry as had fled west
ward from their discomfiture at Five
Forks. At Deep creek, a considera
ble force of infantry was encoun
tered," and ultimately driven by the

5th corps. Concentrating at Jeters-
ville, Sheridan had here planted him
self across the railroad, intrenched
his infantry, and, supported by his
cavalry, prepared to stop Lee's entire
force, until Grant and Meade, pur
suing, should be able to overtake and
crush him. Meade, with the 2d and
6th corps, came up late on the 5th,
while Lee was still at Amelia C. H.
Thus the provisions which the Con
federates at Lynchburg and Danville
had collected and prepared to send
to Lee were intercepted, and all hope
of succor to his sore beset army cut off.
Lee left Amelia C. H. at nightfall
of the 5th ; moving around the left of
Meade and Sheridan's position at
Jetersville, striking for Farmville, in
order to recross there the Appomattox,
and, if possible, thus escape his pur
suers. But this was not to be. Already,
Gen. Davies, making a strong recon
noissance to our left and front, had
struck, at Paine's cross-roads, Lee's
train, moving in advance of his in
fantry, and destroyed 180 wagons;
capturing 5 guns and many pris
oners. Lee's soldiers, not far behind,
attempted to envelop and crush our
cavalry, now swelled by Gregg's and
Smith's brigades, sent to support
Davies ; and a spirited fight ensued ;
but Davies was extricated; falling
back on Jetersville ; where nearly our
whole army was next morning" con
centrated, and the pursuit vigorously
resumed : Sheridan returning the 5th
corps to Meade, and henceforth com
manding the cavalry only.
Crook, now holding Sheridan's left
(facing eastward), advanced to Dea-
tonsville, where Lee's whole army
was seen moving rapidly westward.

'April:

'April 3.

"April 6.

FIGHT AT SAILOR'S CREEK— EWELL SURRENDERS. 741

He immediately charged, as directed
by Sheridan ; well knowing the infe
riority of his force, but determined
to detain the enemy, at whatever cost,
until supports on our side could
arrive. The result justified the daring.
Crook was repulsed; but meantime
Custer, with his division of horse,
struck again, farther on; gaining the
road at Sailor's Creek — a petty trib
utary of the Appomattox — where,
Crook and Devin coining promptly
to his support, he pierced the Eebel
line of march, destroying 400 wagons
and taking 16 guns, with many pris
oners. Ewell's corps, following the train,
was thus cut off from Lee. Its ad
vance was now gallantly charged by
CoL Stagg's brigade ; and thus time
was gained for the arrival of the lead
ing division (Seymour's) of the 6th
(Wright's) corps, pursuing the Con
federate rear; when Ewell recoiled,
fighting stoutly, till Wheaton's di
vision also came up, and, a part of
our infantry, advancing, were mo
mentarily repelled by a deadly fire.
But the odds were too great : Ewell's
veterans — inclosed between our cav
alry and the 6th corps, and sternly
charged by the latter, without a
chance of escape — threw down their
arms and surrendered. Ewell him
self and four other Generals were
among the prisoners, of whom over
6,000 were taken this day.
Ere this, Ord, reaching out from
Jetersville farther west, had struck
the head of Lee's marching column
near Farmville, as it was preparing
to cross the river. Ord's advance
consisted of two regiments of infantry
and a squadron of cavalry under

Brig.-Gen. Theodore Eead, who at
once attacked, defying immense odds,
in the hope of arresting the flight of
the Eebels, and burning the bridges
before them. But this they could
not permit, and, rallying in over
whelming strength, they hurled their
assailants aside with heavy loss, clear
ing their way to the bridges ; Eead
being among our killed. His attack,
however, had arrested the enemy's
march, compelling him to lose pre
cious time.
Lee, during the ensuing evening,
crossed the Appomattox on bridges
at Farmville, and, marching all night,
he seemed to have left his pursuers
well in the rear. But, while his men
were fainting and falling by the way,
his animals were dying of hunger.
(' Soldiers,' says a cynic, ' may live
on enthusiasm ; but horses must have
oats.') His remaining handful of
cavalry was useless ; his few residu
ary guns were yet too heavy for the
gaunt beasts who drew them. Though
his van was miles away, his rear was
barely across the river before dawn ; "
and the bridges were only fired, not
consumed, when the van of our 2d
corps (Humphreys's) — which had now
taken the lead — rushed up and saved
that on the wagon-road. The rail
road bridge was destroyed. Barlow's
division was soon over the river, ex
pecting a fight, as the enemy threat
ened it ; but there was only a rear
guard left, and they soon retired;
blowing up a bridge-head, and aban
doning IS guns.
During the night of the 6th, many
ofthe chief officers ofthe fleeing army
met around a bivouac-fire to discuss
their desperate situation. Upon a
full survey, they unanimously con-

' April 7.

742

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

eluded that a capitulation was inevi
table. Even if they were. yet strong
enough to beat off and cut through
the host of pursuers so sharp upon
their trail, they could only do so by
the sacrifice of their remaining guns
and munitions, and in a state of utter
inefficiency from famine. Already,
weakness and fatigue had compelled
half of their followers to throw away
the arms which they were no longer
able to carry. Lee was not present ;
but the judgment of the council was
conveyed to him through Gen. Pen
dleton. Gen. Lee was spared by Gen. Grant
the pain of first proposing a surren
der. While directing from Farm
ville the pursuit, the latter dispatched
to the front next morning the follow
ing letter : "April 7, 1865.
" General — The result of the last week
must convince you of the hopelessness of
further resistance on the part of the Army
of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I
feel that it is so; and regard it as my duty
to shift from myself the responsibility of
any further effusion of blood by asking of
you the surrender of that portion of the
Confederate States army known as the Army
of Northern Virginia. " TJ. S. Geant, Lt.-General.
" Gen. E. E. Lee."
The letter reached Lee toward
night; ere which, Humphreys, fol
lowing on his track, had been halted,
4 or 5 miles north of Farmville, by
all that was left of Lee's forces, in
trenched in a strong position, cover
ing both the old and plank roads to
Lynchburg, with batteries command
ing an open, gentle southward "slope of
half a mile, over which an assaulting
column could only advance at a heavy
cost. Humphreys attempted to turn
the enemy's flank, but found this im
practicable with his single corps;
when, sending up Barlow in front, and
extending his right, he ordered Miles

to attack on this wing; which he
did, and was repulsed with a loss of
over 600 killed and wounded. Brig.-
Gen. Smyth and Maj. Mills were
among our killed ; Maj.-Gen. Mott,
Brig.-Gens. Madill and McDougall,
and Col. Starbird, 19th Maine, were
severely wounded. When Barlow
had got into position, it was too late
to assault again that night; and,
when darkness had shrouded his
movements, Lee silently resumed his
retreat, first sending this response to
Grant, which reached him at Farm
ville next morning : "April 7, 1865.
"General — I have received your note
of this date. Though not entertaining the
opinion you express on the hopelessness of
further resistance on the part of the Army
of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your
desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and
therefore, before considering your proposi
tion, ask the terms you will offer on condi
tion of its surrender. " R. E. Lee, General.
"Lt.-General TJ. S. Grant."
To this, Grant immediately re
plied : "Afkil 8, 1865.
" General — Your note of last evening, in
reply to mine of same date, asking the con
dition on which I will accept the surrender
of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just
received. In reply, I- would say that, peace
being my great desire, there is but one con
dition I would insist upon, namely: that
the men and officers surrendered shall be dis
qualified for taking up arms again against the
Government of the United States until prop
erly exchanged. I will meet you, or will
designate officers to meet any officers you
may name for the same purpose, at any point
agreeable to you, for the purpose of arrang
ing definitely the terms upon which the sur
render of the Army of Northern Virginia
will be received. "U. S. Grant, Lt.-General.
" General R. E. Lee."
Sheridan, with all his cavalry, had
started again on the morning of the
7th; Merritt, with two divisions, mov
ing by the left to Prince Edward C.
H, to head off Lee from retreating on

SHERIDAN HEADS LEE AT APPOMATTOX.

743

Danville. This was a miscalculation ;
and exposed Crook, who, with the re
maining division, with difficulty ford
ed the Appomattox near Farmville, to
repulse from a body of Eebel infan
try defending a train which they
charged; our Gen. Gregg being here
captured. So our brilliant successes
of the 6th were followed by none
whatever on the 7th.
Pursuit was resumed by all hands
on the morning of the 8th ; the 2d
and 6th corps, under Meade, moving
north of the Appomattox, or directly
on the trail of the enemy; while
Sheridan, undeceived as to Lee's
making for Danville, led his cavalry
to head him off from Lynchburg, his
only remaining refuge. Ord's and
Griffin's corps followed the cavalry ;
but of course did not keep pace with
them. Sheridan^— Crook having already,
by order, recrossed the Appomattox
— concentrated his troopers on Pros
pect station, and pushed on Merritt's
and Crook's divisions briskly to Ap
pomattox station, on the Lynchburg
railroad, 5 miles south of Appomat
tox C. H., where he had been ap
prised by scouts that four trains had
just arrived from Lynchburg, laden
with supplies for Lee's hungry fol
lowers. By a march of 28 miles, the
d6p6t and trains were reached ; and,
by the skillful dispositions of Gen.
Custer, holding our advance, sur
rounded and captured. Without a
moment's hesitation, Custer, support
ed by Devin, pushed on toward Ap
pomattox C. H., finding himself con
fronting the van of Lee's army, which
he fought till after dark, driving it
back on the main body, capturing
25 gunB, a hospital train, a large

park of wagons, and many prisoners.
Sheridan brought up the rest of his
cavalry so fast as possible ; planting
it directly across the path of the
enemy, and preparing to hold on,
while securing the captured trains,
and sending word to Griffin, Ord,
and Grant, that the surrender or de
struction of Lee's entire force was
now inevitable. In consequence of
these advices, Griffin and Ord, with
the 5th, the 24th, and one division
of the 25th corps, reached, by a
forced march, Appomattox station
about daylight next morning.""
But one hope remained to Lee.
Euefully aware that Sheridan had
intercepted his flight, he presumed
his way blocked by cavalry alone,
and at once ordered a charge of in
fantry. He had sent, at evening be
fore, the following response to Grant's
later overture : " April 8, 1865.
" General — I received at a late hour your
note of to-day. In mine of yesterday, I did
not intend to propose the surrender of the
Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the
terms of your proposition. To be frank, I
do not think the emergency has arisen to call
for the surrender of this army ; but, as the
restoration of peace should be the sole ob
ject of all, I desired to know whether your
proposals would lead to that end. I can
not, therefore, meet you with a view to sur
render the Army of Northern Virginia ; but,
as far as your proposal may affect the
Confederate States forces under my com
mand, and tend to the restoration of peace,
I should be pleased to meet you at 10 a. m.
to-morrow, on the old stage^road to Rich
mond, between the picket-lines of the two
armies. R- E. Lee, General.
"Lt.-General U. S. Grant."
Grant was with the column pursu
ing directly under Meade, and re
ceived the above about midnight,
Before starting next morning to join
Sheridan and Griffin, he dispatched
the following reply : 

'" Sunday, April 9.

744

THE AMERICAS CONFLICT.

"Aran. 9, 1865. i
" General — Tour note of yesterday is re
ceived. I have no authority to treat on tbe I
subject of peace. Tbe meeting proposed for 1
10 a. st to-day could lead to no good. I will
state, however. General, that I am equally f
anxious for peace with yourself, and the J
whole North entertains the same feeling, j
The terms upon which peace can be had |
are well understood. By the South laying '
down their arms, they will hasten that most !
desirable event, save thousands of human [
lives and hundreds of millions of property >
not yet destroyed. Seriously hoping that I
all oar difficulties may be settled without
the loss of another life, I subscribe myseMj
&c_, IT. S. Geast, Li. -General.
"General B. E. Lee."
Sheridan was with his cavalry near
the Court House, when the Army of \
Virginia made its last charge. By i
his order, his troopers, who were in :
line of battle, dismounted, gave I
ground gradually. whUe showing a t
steady front, so as to allow our weary |
iniantry time to form and take poei- <
tion. This effected, the horsemen |
moved swiftly to the right and
mounted, revealing lines of solid in
fantry in battle array, before whose !
wall of gleaming bayonets the aston- I
ished enemy recoiled in blank des-
pair, as Sheridan and his troopers,
passing briskly around the Eebel
left, prepared to charge the confused,
reeling masses. A white flag was
now waved by the enemy before Gen.
Coster, who held our cavalry advance,
with the information that they had
concluded to surrender. Biding over
to Appomattox C. H. Sheridan was
met by Gen. Gordon, who requested
a suspension of hostilities, with the
assurance that negotiations were then
pending between Gens. Grant and
Lee for a capitulation.
Gen. Grant, before reaching Sheri
dan's headquarters, had received the
following additional note :
"Aped. 9, 1865.
'- Gkseeai. — I received toot note of this

morning on the picket-line, whither I had
come to meet too, and ascertain definitely
what terms were embraced in your proposal
of yesterday with reference to the surrender
of fills army. I now ask an interview in
accordance with the offer contained in your
letter of yesterday for that purpose.
"B. E. Lee, General.
"Lt--Gener_l U. S. Grast."'
The two commanders met imme
diately at the dwelling of Mr. W.
McLean, near the Court House. The
interview was brief: the business in
hand frankly discussed, as became
soldiers. Three commissioners on
either side were appointed ; but the
day's work was done by the chiefs,
and its result summed up in these
concluding letters:
"Appomattox Corrr Hotse. Va- }
'April y. 1865. J
" Gexeeax — In accordance with tbe sub
stance of my letter to you of the * th inst.i_t,
I propose to receive the surrender of the
Army of Northern Virginia on the following
terms, to wit : Boils of all the officers and
men to be made in duplicate ; one copy to
be given to an officer to be designated by
me, the other to be retained br such officer
or officers as you may designate. The offi
cers to give their individual paroles not to
take up arms against the Government of the
United States until properly exchanged;
and each company or regiment-! command
er sign a like parole for the men of their
commands The arms, artillery, and pub
lic property to be parked and stacked, and
turned overto the officers appointed by me
to receive them. This will not embrace tbe
side-arms of the officers, nor their private
horses or baggage. This done, each officer
and man will be allowed to return to his
home, not to be disturbed by United States
authority so long as they observe their
paroles and the laws in force where they
may reside. IT. 5. Geast, Lfc-GeneraL
~ General B. E. Lee."
- Hkadq'es Ae3TV op ^voethees- V* , )
"April 9, 1865. j
" Gexkeax. — I received your letter of this
date, containing the terms of the surrender
of the Army of _i orthem Virginia as pro-
1 posed by yon. As they are substantially
i the same as those expresed in your letter
of the &th instant, they are accepted. I
• will proceed to designate the proper officers
| to carry the stipulations into effect.
B. E. Lee, General.
~L_-General L. S. Geast.''

DISPERSION OF THE ARMY OF VIRGINIA.

7-5

The parting of Lee with his de
voted followers was a sad one. Of
the proud army which, dating its
victories from Bull Eun, had driven
McClellan from before Richmond,
and withstood his best effort at An
tietam, aud shattered Burnside's
host at Fredericksburg, and worst
ed Hooker at Chancellorsville, and
fought Meade so stoutly, though un
successfully, before Gettysburg, and
baffled Grant's bounteous resources
and desperate efforts in the Wilder
ness, at Spottsylvania, on the North
Anna, at Cold Harbor, and before
Petersburg and Richmond, a mere
wreck remained. It is said that
27,000 were included in Lee's capitu
lation ; but, of these, not more than
10,000 had been able to carry their
arms thus far on their hopeless and
almost foodless flight. Barely 19
miles from Lynchburg when surren
dered, the physical possibility of
forcing their way thither, even at the
cost of half their number, no longer
remained. And, if they were all
safely there, what then ? The re
sources of the Confederacy were
utterly exhausted. Of the 150,000
men whose names were borne on its
muster-rolls a few weeks ago, at least
one-third were already disabled or pri
soners, and the residue could neither
be clad nor fed — not to dream of their
being fitly armed or paid ; while the
resources of the loyal States were
scarcely touched, their ranks nearly
or quite as full as ever, and their sup
plies of ordnance, small arms, muni
tions, «fec, more ample than in any
previous April. Of the million or so
borne on our muster-rolls, probably

not less than half were then in active
service, with half so many more able
to take the field at short notice. The
Rebellion had failed and gone down ;
but the Rebel Army of Virginia and
its commander had not failed. Fight
ing sternly against the Inevitable —
against the irrepressible tendencies,
the generous aspirations of the age —
they had been proved unable to suc
ceed where success would have been
a calamity to their children, to their
country, and the human race. And,
when the transient agony of defeat
had been endured and had passed,
they all experienced a sense of relief,
as they crowded around their depart
ing chief, who, with streaming eyes,
grasped and pressed their outstretch
ed hands, at length finding words to
say, " Men, we have fought through
the War together. I have done the
best that I could for you." There
were few dry eyes among those who
witnessed the scene ; and our soldiers
hastened to divide their rations with
tlieir late enemies, now fellow-coun
trymen, to stay their hunger until
provisions from our trains could be
drawn for them. Then, while most
of our army returned to Burkesville,
and thence, a few days later, to
Petersburg and Richmond, the work
of paroling went on, under the guar
dianship of Griffin's and Gibbon's
infantry, with McKenzie's cavalry;
and, so fast as paroled, the Confede
rates took their way severally to tlieir
respective homes : many of them
supplied with transportation, as well
as food, by the Government they had
fought so long and so bravely to sub
vert and destroy.

746

THB AMERICAN CONFLICT.

XXXV.
DEATH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN— PEACE.
JOHNSTON— DAVIS— TAYLOR— KIRBY SMITH.

Pbesident Lincoln had gone *
down to the front in anticipation of
Grant's final movement against Lee's
right south of Petersburg, and was
thenceforward in constant communi
cation with the Lieuten ant-General
commanding in the field, while Lee
made his assault on our lines, Sheri
dan crossed the James, moving from
our farthest right to our extreme left,
and Grant impelled the advance of
that left with such memorable results.
He was mainly at City Point, receiv
ing reports from Grant and tele
graphing their substance to the War
Department for dissemination over
the country till the day after Rich
mond fell ; when ' he accompanied
Admiral Porter in a gunboat up to
Rockett's, a mile below the city, and
thence was rowed up to the wharf,
and walked thence, attended by Ad
miral Porter and by a few sailors
armed with carbines, to Gen. Weit
zel's headquarters, in the house so.
recently and suddenly abandoned by
Jefferson Davis. Recognized and
stared at by all, his hearty greetings,
aside from those of our soldiers, were
all but confined to the Blacks, who
crowded in thousands to welcome
and bless their emancipator ; so that
it became necessary to summon a
military force to clear a way for him
through the streets. After holding
a hasty levee, the President took a
rapid drive through the principal
streets, and, at 6J p. m., left on his
return to City Point ; whence he re
peated his visit to Richmond two

days later — this time attended by Mrs.
Lmcoln, by Yice-President Johnson,
several TJ. S. Senators, &c. He was
now waited on by several leading
Confederates, who, seeing that their
cause was hopelessly lost, were natu
rally anxious to make the best terms
possible ; and to whom, in a spirit of
kindness and magnanimity that had
never been shaken, he lent a favora
ble ear. In deference to a suggestion
by some of their number, he wrote
the following :
"Headquarters Armies of the United )
States, City Point, April 6, 1865. j
"Major-Gen. Weitzel, Richmond, 'Va.:
" It has been intimated to me that the gen
tlemen who have acted as the Legislature
of Virginia, in support of the Rebellion,
may now desire to assemble at Riafomond
and take measures to withdraw the Vir
ginia troops and other support from resist
ance to the General Government. If they
attempt it, give them permission and pro
tection, until, if at all, they attempt some
action hostile to the United States ; in which •
case, you will notify them, giving them rea
sonable time to leave, and at the end of
which time arrest any who remain. Allow
Judge Campbell to see this, but do not make
it public. Yours, etc., A. Lincoln."
The President returned, on the
day of Lee's surrender, to Washing
ton ; whence he dispatched * to Gen.
Weitzel' a recall of the permission
above given — the object contem
plated by it having been otherwise
fully attained. He had, the day be
fore, issued two Proclamations : one
of them closing, till further orders,
in accordance with law, certain ports
in the Rebel States whereof the
blockade had been raised by their
capture respectively ; the other, de-

1 March 24

3 April 4.

'April 12.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LAST PAYS.

7_7

mandinghonceforth for our National
vessels in foreign ports, on penalty
of retaliation, those privileges and
immunities whioh had hitherto been
denied them on the plea of according
equal belligerent rights to the Re
public and its internal foes. He
made, next, evening,' to a vast crowd
assembled before the Executive Man
sion expressly to hear it, an address
on Reconstruction, whereof it is only
pertinent here to say that — while
carefully remitting to Congress all
questions connected with the repre
sentation of the revolted States in
either House, and avowing his desire
that a qualified Right of Suffrage be
accorded to the Blacks of those
States — he evinced an utter absence
of resentment or bitterness toward
the late Rebels, and an anxious wish
that the Confederate States should
be restored to all the functions of
self-government and equal power in
the Union at the earliest day con
sistent with the National integrity,
tranquillity, and safety.
On the following day, an order
issued from the War Department,
previously approved by Gen. Grant,
which appeared throughout the land
in the journals of next morning,' put
ting a stop to all drafting and recruit
ing for our armies, with the purchase
of arms, munitions, provisions. «$rc;
and it was announced that the number
of our general and staff officers would
he reduced, and all military restric
tions on trade and commerce re
moved forthwith.
That day was the fourth anniver
sary of the surrender of Fort Sumter
to the Rebels by Maj. Anderson : and
a large number of loyal eitiaens, who
rejoiced the more heartily in the
~~* April 12.

downfall of the Rebellion because it
involved the overthrow of Slavery,
had gone down to Port Royal and
Charleston to raise, with fitting ob
servances, over the ruins of the his
toric fortress, the identical flag which
had waved over it during its first
bombardment, and which had been
thoughtfully preserved for this pur
pose. The whole country was aglow
with loyal rejoicings and congratu
lations ; and the President, after at
tending a meeting of his Cabinet to
receive a personal report from Gen.
Grant, just arrived from Appomattox,
listening to the story of Leo's sur
render from his son, Capt. Robert Lin
coln, who, being on Grant's staff, had
been an eye-witness of the scene,
and giving audience to several public
men — among them John P. Hale,
just appointed Minister to Madrid,
and Speaker Colfax, who was taking
leave for an overland journey to Cali
fornia and Oregon — concluded to
seek relaxation from his many and
weighty cares by spending the eve
ning at Ford's Theater, where Gen.
Grant and he had been publicly an
nounced as probable visitors that
night, while the former had been
compelled by inexorable duties to
disappoint the expectation thus ex
cited. At S p. m., the President and
his wife, with two others, rode to the
theater, and were ushered into the
private box previously secured by
him ; where, at 10. r. m., while all
were intent on the play, an actor of
Baltimore birth— John Wilkes Booth
bv name, son of the more eminent
English-born tragedian, Junius Bru-
tusBooth— availing himself of that
freedom ofthe house usually accorded
at theaters to actors, entered at the

•Aprill*.

748

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

front door, stood for a few moments,
after presenting a card to the Presi
dent's messenger, in the passage-way
behind the dress-circle, surveying the
spectacle before him; then entered
the vestibule of the President's pri
vate box, shut the door behind him,
fastened it from the inside by placing
a short plank (previously provided)
against it, with its foot against the
opposite wall, and then, holding a
pistol and a dagger in either hand,
stepped through the inner door into
the box just behind the President,
who was leaning forward with his
eyes fixed on the stage, and fired his
pistol,while holding it close to theback
of the President's head, piercing his
skull behind the left ear, and lodging
the ball, after traversing the brain, just
behind the right eye. Mr. Lincoln's
head fell slightly forward, his eyes
closed, but he uttered no word or
cry ; and, though life was not extinct
for nine hours thereafter, he gave,
thenceforth to his death in a neigh
boring house, at 7:22 next morn
ing, no sign of intelligence; and it
is probable that he never on earth
knew that he had been shot, or was
conscious even of suffering, much less
of malice and murder. Hating and
wishing ill to none, he had never
comprehended the hell of demoniac
passion which seethed and surged
around him, and which the utter
collapse of the Rebellion had only
intensified ; hence, he had ever treated
lightly the anonymous threats which
men placed as he was receive as mat
ters of course, and had disregarded
•all entreaties that he should take
precautions against assassination.
The report of Booth's pistol star
tled the house, but especially the
President's companions in the box;

of whom, Maj. H. R. Rathbone — the
only man there beside the President
— turning his eyes, saw, through the
sulphurous smoke, a stranger stand
ing behind him, whom he instantly
clutched; but Booth, tearing away
from his grasp,'and dropping his pis
tol, made a pass at him with the dag
ger, inflicting a serious wound on his
left arm. Rushing now to the front
of the box, theatrically flourishing his
weapon, and exclaiming ' Sic semper
tyrannis /' Booth put his hand on the
railing in front of the box, and leaped
over, alighting on a corner of the
stage ; but, catching with one of
his spurred heels in the American
flag draped across the front of the
box, he fell ; spraining his ankle so
as to cripple his flight and afford a
clue to the detectives who were soon
on his trail. Recovering immedi
ately from his fall, he faced the au
dience, brandished his dagger, ex
claimed " The South is avenged /"
and ran across the stage to and out
of the back door, which he shut,
and, mounting his horse — which a
half-witted, stage-struck youth was
there holding for him — rode off and
across the Anacosta bridge out of
Washington; seeking refuge in the
adjacent region of southern Mary
land ; whose Whites, being intensely
pro- Slavery, were mainly Rebel sym
pathizers, and were therefore counted
on to conceal him and aid his escape.
That President Lmcoln was the
victim of a conspiracy of partisans of
the Rebellion is established by unde
niable proof; not so the charge that
the chiefs and master-spirits of the
Confederacy were implicated in the
crime. Booth himself was, so far as
has been shown, the projector and
animating soul of the monstrous

PAYNE'S MURDEROUS ASSAULT ON GOV. SEWARD. 749

plot; which at first contemplated
primarily the capture and forcible
abduction ofthe President — a scheme
which of course involved, a proba
bility, but not a certainty, of feloni
ous bloodshed. Booth was simply
one of the many badly educated,
loose-living young men infesting the
purlieus of our great cities, who, re
garding Slavery as the chief bulwark
of their own claim to birthright in a
superior caste, and the Federal Con
stitution as established expressly and
mainly to sustain and buttress Slave
ry, could never comprehend that any
political action adverse to whatever
exactions and pretensions of the
Slave Power could possibly be other
than unjustly aggressive and trea
sonable. Few of this class were radi
cally Disnnionists ; they sympathized
with the Rebellion, not because it
aimed at a division of the Republic,
but because it was impelled by devo
tion to Slavery; and was thus hal
lowed, in their view, as a laudable
effort, however irregular, to achieve
and firmly secure the chief end of
both the Constitution and the Union.
There is no particle of evidence that
Booth, or any of his fellow conspira
tors, had been in any wise offended
by, or that they cherished any feeling
of aversion to, the President, save as
the 'head center' of resistance to the
Slaveholders' Rebellion.
Almost at the identical moment of
Booth's entry into the theater, a stran
ger, afterward identified as Lewis
Payne Powell, son of a Florida cler
gyman, but generally known to his
intimates as Payne, presented him
self at the door of Secretary Seward's
house on President Square, where he
claimed to be charged with an errand
from his physician, Dr. Verdi, to the

Secretary ; then confined to his bed
by very serious injuries received when
recently thrown from his carriage —
his horses having taken friarht and
run away. The colored porter de
clined to let him go unasked up to
the Secretary's sick room; but the
stranger rushed by bim and up stairs
to the third stoTy : making his way
readily to the door of the sufferer's
chamber, where he was confronted by
Gov. S.'s son Frederick, who barred
his way ; when he drew and present
ed a pistol, which snapped ; where
upon he struck Frederick twice over
the head with it, fracturing his skull
and felling him to the floor in utter
insensibility. The noise of this en
counter brought from the sick room
Miss Fannie Seward, the Secretary's
only daughter, by whom the villain
instantly rushed, and, throwing him
self on the bed, inflicted, with a
bowie-knife, three heavy stabs aimed
at the throat of his intended victim ;
who, instinctively divining the assas
sin's purpose, had raised himself on
his left elbow, and offered all the re
sistance compatible with his slender
frame and crippled condition — he
having had his right arm broken
and bis lower jaw fractured when
thrown from his carriage. The
wounds thus inflicted on his face
and neck were terrible, but, because
of his resistance, not fatal ; and, be
fore a fourth blow could take effect,
the assassin was grasped by an inva
lid soldier named Robinson, who was
in attendance as a nurse ; whom he
savagely assaulted and wounded with
his bloody weapon, but did not suc
ceed in mastering. Gov. Seward,
meanwhile, exerting his remaining
strength, succeeded in rolling off the
farther side of the bed ; while Miss

750.

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Seward shrieked ' murder ' from the
window and the porter ran into the
street crying for help. The assassin,
aware that another moment's delay
must seal his doom, now broke from
the soldier's grasp, and rushed to es
cape; meeting at the head of the
first flight of stairs Maj. Augustus
Seward, another son of the Secretary,
whom he struck with his dagger ; be
ing next confronted, just below, by
Mr. Hansell, one of the Secretary's
attendants, whom he stabbed in the
back; thus clearing his way to the
street, where he mounted a horse he
had left there, and 'rode rapidly off
unheeded. The quiet accession to the Presi
dency of Yice-President Johnson —
the. funeral honors to the good, be
loved President, so suddenly snatched
away at the moment when long years
of trial and disaster had at length
been crowned by a fullness of triumph
and gladness rarely paralleled — the
slow and long dubious recovery of
the stricken Secretary and his self-
devoted son — the flight, pursuit, and
capture of Booth, so severely wound
ed by his captors that he died a few
hours afterward— the arraignment,
trial, and conviction before a military
court of Payne and several of their
fellow-conspirators or accomplices- —
may here be hurriedly passed over,
as non-essential to this history. Not
so the burst of unmeasured, indignant
wrath, the passionate grief, the fierce
cry for vengeance, which the crime
of the assassins very generally in
cited. Mr. Lincoln was widely
known as radically, immovably averse
to aught that savored of severity in
dealing with the defeated insurgents.
No 'railing accusations,' no incite

ments to severity or bitterness on the
part of the loyal, had ever found ut
terance through his lips. Inflexibly
resolved that the Rebellion should
be put down, he was equally deter
mined that its upholders, having sub
mitted to the Nation's authority,
should experience to the utmost the
Nation's magnanimity. Such was
the palpable drift of his speech, de
livered two nights prior to his death,
as of all his prior inculcations. And
now, the butchery of this gentle, for
bearing spirit, by the hand, hardly
less blundering than bloody, of a pro-
Rebel assassin, incited a fierce, ago
nized, frantic yell for retaliation, that,
for the moment, could only be braved
at the cost of great personal obloquy
and sacrifice ; and the appearance of
an official proclamation," signed by
the new President, and counter
signed by William Hunter, as acting
Secretary of State, charging that the
appalling crime of Booth and his as
sociates had been
" incited, concerted, and procured by and
between Jefferson Davis, late of Richmond,
Va., and Jacob Thompson, Clement C.
Clay, Beverly Tucker, George N. Sanders,
W. C. Cleary, and other Rebels and traitors
against the Government of the United
States, harbored in Canada,"
and offering a reward of $100,000
for the arrest of Davis, and of $25,000
to $10,000 each for the other persons
thus denounced, was widely hailed
as justifying the suspicions already
current, and rendering the Confede
rates as a body morally guilty of the
murder of Mr. Lincoln, and justly
liable therefor to condign punishment.

Gen. Lee had only assumed to sur
render the army under his immediate
command; though he manifestly
realized that this capitulation was

' May 2.

STONEMAN'S RAID TO SALISBURY, N. C.

conclusive, and showed* it when he
said, in parting, to his soldiers, " We
have gone through the War together."
He did not overrate its decisive im
portance.  .
Before returning to Sherman—
whom we left at Goldsboro', facing
Johnston, who* was at Smithfield,
north of him, covering Raleigh — we
must glance at an effective blow dealt
at the scanty resources remaining to
the Confederacy by Thomas's cavalry,
dispatched, under Stoneman, from
East Tennessee.
Gen. Stoneman, after his return to
Knoxville from his successful Winter
expedition into south-western Vir
ginia, was directed 7 to make a fresh
advance with his cavalry, south-west
ward into South Carolina, in aid of
Sherman's movement through that
State. Before he had started, how
ever, Sherman had made such pro
gress as not to need his assistance ;
so Grant directed him to advance
almost eastward, destroying the Vir
ginia and Tennessee railroad, so
nearly to Lynchburg as might be.
Moving ' eastward to Boone, N. C,
he there turned northward down the
valley of New river to Wytheville,
Va. ; whence he swept down the
railroad, disabling it -almost to Lynch
burg ; then turning nearly south, and
striking the North Carolina railroad
between Danville and Greensboro' ;
destroying some depots of supplies,
and taking 400 prisoners. Evading
Greensboro', he moved thence south-
westward on Salisbury — a Rebel
prison-camp — which was defended9
at Grant's creek, 10 miles out, by
3,000 Rebels under Gen. W. M. Gar
diner, with 14 guns directed by Col.
(formerly Lt.-General) Pemberton.

751
This force was charged by our
cavalry, and instantly routed : all its
guns being taken, with 1,364 priso
ners. The remainder were chased
several miles until utterly dispersed.
Vast magazines of ammunition and
depots of provisions, clothing, medi
cines, &c, were found in Salisbury
and destroyed, with 10,000 small
arms, 4 cotton factories, 7,000 bales
of cotton, the railroads, &c, &c.
After spending two days in this work,
Stoneman returned thence by Sla-
tersville, N. C, to Jonesboro',10 East
Tennessee; in defiance of Sherman's
urgent orders to remain in North
Carolina, and afford him that aid
which his weakness in cavalry re
quired. 
Sherman remained quiescent §t
Goldsboro', reclothing and refitting
his army, until electrified" by the
news of Grant's successes at Five
Forks, with the resulting captures of
Petersburg and Richmond. He now
impelled a determined advance"
against Johnston, who, with 40,000
men, still lay at Smithfield ; which
was entered, at 10 a. m. next day, by
our 14th corps, supported by the
20th : Johnston, burning the bridge
over the Neuse, retreating on Raleigh
without a struggle ; and, having the
use of the railroad, which he destroy
ed behind him, was thus able to keep
out of the way. But the news of
Lee's surrender, here received, caused
Sherman to drop his trains, and push
on through Raleigh13 in a heavy
rain ; his right wing following John
ston's line of retreat by Hillsboro'
toward Greensboro', while his left
took a more southerly route by Pitts-
boro' and Ashboro', in anticipation
of Johnston's following the railroad

'Feb. 1. "March 20. 'April 12. "April 18. "April 6. "April 10. "April 13.

752

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

south-westward from Greensborough
to Salisbury; and all were pressing
keenly forward, intent on a battle or
a capitulation by the enemy, when
he received from his outposts the fol
lowing overture :
" Headq'us in the Field, April 14, 1865.
" Major-General W. T. Sherman, Command
ing United States Forces :
" General— The results of the recent
campaigns in Virginia have changed the re
lative military condition of the belligerents.
I am therefore induced to address you, in
this form, the inquiry whether, in order to
stop the further effusion of blood and de
vastation of property^ you are willing to
make a temporary suspension of active op
erations, and to communicate to Lt.-Gen.
Grant, commanding the armies ofthe United
States, the request that he will take like
action in regard to other armies, the object
being to permit the civil authorities to enter
into the needful arrangements to terminate
the existing war.
• "I have the honor to be, very respect
fully, your obedient servant,
"J. E. Johnston, General."
The prompt response was as fol
lows: " Headq'rs Mil. Div. of the Miss.,
In the Field, Raleigh, N. C,
April 14, 1865.
" Gen. J. E. Johnston, Commanding Con
federate Army:
" General — I have this moment received
your communication of this date. I am
fully empowered to arrange with you any
terms for the suspension of further hostili
ties as between the armies commanded by
you and those commanded by myself, and
will be willing to confer with you to that
end. I will limit the advance of my main
column to-morrow to Morrisville, and the
cavalry to the University, and expect that
you will also maintain the present position
of your forces until each has notice of a
failure to agree.
" That a basis of action may be had, I
undertake to abide by the same terms and
conditions as were made by Gens. Grant
and Lee at Appomattox Court House, on
the 9th instant, relative to our two armies;
and, furthermore, to obtain from Gen. Grant
an order to suspend the movements of any
troops from the direction of Virginia. Gen.
Stoneman is under my command, and my
order will suspend any devastation or de
struction contemplated by him. I will add
that I really desire to save the people of

North Carolina the damages they would
sustain by the march of this army through
central or western parts of the State.
"I am, with respect, your obedient
servant, W. T. Sherman, Maj.-Gen."
Our forces were now halted ; but no
response from Johnston was received
next day; though Maj. McCoy, of
Sherman's staff, remained with Kil
patrick in the advance to receive one.
Gen. Sherman had already written
to the War Department, on the re
ceipt of Johnston's overture :
" I send copies of a correspondence begun
with Gen. Johnston, which I think will be
followed by terms of capitulation. I will
accept the same terms as Gen. Grant gave
Gen. Lee, and be careful not to complicate
any points of civil policy."
Late on the 16th, Gen. Sherman
received, through Kilpatrick, a mes
sage from Wade Hampton, stating
that Johnston desired a meeting at
10 A. m. next day at Durham's sta
tion ; which was promptly accorded ;
Sherman only changing the time to
12 M.
The meeting took place according
ly ; and was adjourned over to next
day — Johnston requiring and urging
conditions of general pacification
which Shennan felt that he had no
power to guarantee. Finally, how
ever, at the second meeting, his scru
ples were overcome ; and he was per
suaded to sign the following
Memorandum or Basis of Agreement.
" 1st. The contending armies now in the
field to maintain the status quo until no
tice is given by the commanding General of
any one to his opponent, and reasonable
time, say forty-eight hours, allowed.
" 2d. The Confederate armies now in ex
istence to be disbanded and conducted to
their several State capitals, there to deposit
their arms and public property in the State
arsenal ; and each officer and man to exe
cute and file an agreement to cease from
acts of war, and to abide the action of both
State and Federal authorities. The number
of arms and munitions of war to be reported
to the chief of ordnance at Washington citv,

SHERMAN'S AGREEMENT WITH JOHNSTON.

753

subject to the future action of the Congress
of the United States, and in the mean time
to be used solely to maintain peace and or
der within the borders of the States respec
tively. , " 3d. The recognition, by the Executive
of the United States, of the several State
Governments, on their officers and Legisla
tures taking the oath prescribed by the Con
stitution of the United States ; and, when
conflicting State Governments have resulted
from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be
submitted to the Supreme Court of the Uni
ted States.
" 4th. The reestablishment of all Federal
courts in the several States, with powers as
defined by the Constitution and the laws of
Congress. " 5th. The' people and inhabitants of. all
States to be guaranteed, so far as the Execu
tive can, their political rights and franchises,
as well as their rights of person and prop
erty, as defined by the Constitution of the
United States and of the States respectively.
"6th. The executive authority or Gov
ernment of the United States not to disturb
any of the people, by reason of the late war,
so long as they live in peace and quiet, and
abstain from acts of armed hostility, and
obey the laws in existence at the place of
their residence.
"7th. In general terms, it is announced
that the war is to cease ; a general amnesty,
so far as the Executive of the United States
can command, on condition of the disband-
ment of the Confederate armies, the distri
bution of arms and the resumption of peace
ful pursuits by officers and men hitherto
composing said, armies. Not being fully
empowered. by our respective principals to
fulfill these terms, we individually and offi
cially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain
authority, and will endeavor to carry out
the above programme.
"W. T. Sherman, Maj. -General,
" Commanding Army of the TJ. S. in North Carolina.
"J. E. Johnston, General,
" Commanding Confederate States Army in North
Carolina."
Gen. Sherman had already re
ceived" with horror the tidings of
President Lincoln's assassination ;
but he had not adequately realized
the effect of that atrocious deed on
the temper and spirit of the loyal
millions and their rulers. This state
ment is made in explanation simply.
He had seen Gen. Weitzel's permis
sion to the Rebel Legislature of Vir-
M April If.
VOL. II. — 48.

ginia to reassemble at Richmond ; he
was not aware that President Lin
coln's authorization of it had been
recalled and the permission annulled.
And he — neither cherishing nor af
fecting decided anti-Slavery convic
tions — unquestionably believed and
felt that his arrangement with John
ston was one that ought to be, and
probably would be, accepted at Wash
ington ; whither he immediately dis
patched it by Maj. Hitchcock, of his
staff. He had very gravely miscalcula
ted. There were many in the North
who had deemed Grant quite too
generous in fixing the terms of Lee's
capitulation ; but their hesitating ut
terances had been drowned in the
general burst of gladness and thanks
giving over the virtual collapse of the
Rebellion. That other Rebel chiefs
— now that their ablest commander
and most formidable army had sur
rendered — should exact and secure
better terms than were accorded to
Lee, was not imagined, even prior
to Lincoln's assassination : after that
hideous crime, the bare suggestion of
such concession seemed intolerable.
Hence, when his agreement reached "
Washington, it was — in strict accord
ance with the views and feelings of
the great body of those who had
heartily sustained the Government
through the War — rejected by the
new President and his Cabinet, with
the hearty concurrence of Gen. Grant,
for reasons unofficially, but by au
thority, set forth as follows :
" 1st. It was an exercise of authority not
vested in Gen. Sherman, and, on its face,
shows that both he and Johnston knew that
Gen. Sherman had no authority to enter into
any such arrangements.
" 2d. It was a practical acknowledgment.
of the Rebel Government. "April 21.

754

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

"3d. It undertook to reestablish Rebel
State governments that had been over
thrown at the sacrifice of many thousand
loyal lives and immense treasure, and placed
arms and munitions of war in the hands of
Rebels at their respective capitals, which
might be used, so soon as the armies of the
United States were disbanded, and used to
conquer and subdue loyal States.
"4th. By the restoration of Rebel au
thority in their respective States, they
would be enabled to reestablish Slavery.
"5th. It might furnish a ground of re
sponsibility on the part of the Federal Gov
ernment to pay the Rebel debt, and cer
tainly subjects loyal citizens of Rebel States
to debts contracted by Rebels in the name
of the State.
" 6th. It puts in dispute the existence of
loyal State governments, and the new State
of West Virginia, which had been recog
nized by every department of the United
States Government.
" Tth. It practically abolished confisca
tion laws, and relieved Rebels of every de
gree, who had slaughtered our people, from
all pains and penalties for their crimes.
"8th. It gave terms that had been delib
erately, repeatedly, and solemnly, rejected
by President Lincoln, and better terms than
the Rebels had ever asked in their most
prosperous condition.
" 9th. It formed no basis of true and last
ing peace, but relieved Rebels from the pres
ence of our victorious armies, and left them
in a condition to renew their efforts to over
throw the United States Government and
subdue the loyal States whenever their
strength was recruited and any opportu
nity should offer."
Gen. Grant was sent post-haste to
Raleigh to announce the rejection of
the Sherman-Johnston programme,
and to direct an immediate and gene
ral resumption of hostilities. On
reaching Morehead City,18 he dis
patched the decision of the Govern
ment to Sherman at Raleigh, who
instantly transmitted its purport to
Johnston, adding a notification that
the truce would close 48 hours after
the receipt hereof at the Rebel lines,
with a demand that Johnston's army
be forthwith surrendered on the iden
tical terms accorded by Grant to Lee.
He at once directed his subordinate

commanders to be ready to resume
the offensive at noon on the 26th.
Grant reached Raleigh on the 25th ;
when another invitation to a confer
ence was received from Johnston by
Sherman, who referred it to his su
perior. Grant declined to relieve
Sherman from command, as he was
authorized to do, and urged him to
meet Johnston as requested ; so the
26th was appointed for their third
and final interview ; at which John?
ston's army was surrendered on the
terms already accorded to Lee's. The
agreement was signed by Sherman
and Johnston, but indorsed,
"Approved: U. S. Grant, Lieut.- General:"
and thus passed out of existence the
second army of the Confederacy.

The surrender to Gen. Canby of
Gen. Taylor's Rebel forces in Ala
bama was effected at Citronelle, May
4, as the result of negotiations com
menced April 19. More words were
used ; but the terms were essentially
the same as had been accorded to
Lee and Johnston, with this addi
tion: "Transportation and subsistence to be
furnished at public cost for the officers and
men, after surrender, to the nearest practi
cable point to their homes."
Com. Farrand, at the same time
and on the same terms, surrendered
to Rear-Admiral Thatcher the twelve
Rebel gunboats blockaded in the
Tombigbee river, with 20 officers
and 110 others.

Mr. Jefferson Davis, with his staff
and civilian associates, having jour
neyed by rail from Richmond to Dan
ville," he there halted, and set up his
Government ; issuing " thence a stir
ring proclamation, designed to in-

» April 23.

'April 3.

"Aprils.

SOUTHWARD FLIGHT OF JEFFERSON DAVIS.

spirit the Confederates to a deter
mined prosecution of the contest;
saying :
" We have now entered upon a new phase
of the struggle. Relieved from the neces
sity of guarding particular points, our army
will be free to move from point to point to
strike the enemyin detail far from his base.
Let us but will it, and we are free.
"Animatedly that confidence in your
spirit and fortitude which never yet failed
me, I announce to you, fellow-countrymen,
that it is my purpose to maintain your cause
with my whole heart and soul ; that I will
never consent to abandon to the enemy one
foot of the soil of any one of the States of
the Confederacy. That Virginia— noble
State — whose anoient renown has been
eclipsed by her still more glorious recent
history — whose bosom has been bared to
receive the main shock of this war — whose
sons and daughters have exhibited heroism
so sublime as to render her illustrious in all
time to come — that Virginia, with the help
of the people and by the blessing of Provi
dence, shall be held and defended, and no
peace ever be made with the infamous in
vaders of her territory.
" If, by the stress of numbers, we should
ever be compelled to a temporary with
drawal from her limits, or those of any
other Border State, again and again will we
return, until the baffled and exhausted
enemy shall abandon in despair his endless
and impossible task of making slaves of a
people resolved to be free.
" Let us, then, not despond, my country
men ; but, relying on God, meet the foe
with fresh defiance and with unconquered
and unconquerable hearts."Jefferson Davis."
He waited there several days, in
anxious expectation of the approach
of Lee, or at least of tidings that he
was still confronting and baffling the
Union forces ; until astounded " by
advices of his surrender at Appo
mattox. The Confederacy thereupon
took to wheels again — there being no
acceptable alternative — and retreated
by rail to Greensboro', N. C, where
another considerable halt was made
— the days and nights spent mainly
in the cars by President, Cabinet,
and followers; since very few of the

755

citizens saw fit to throw open their
houses — when the imminence of
Johnston's surrender compelled an
other flitting 30 — this time in wagons
and on'horseback : the railroad hav
ing been disabled by Stoneman — via
Salisbury to Charlotte, N. C, where
its foundering ark again rested for a
few days ; and where, unlike their
fare at Greensboro', the falling Pre
sident and his Cabinet were received
with consideration and hospitality —
until, alarmed by the reported ap
proach of Stoneman's cavalry, it re
sumed its Sittings southward, via
Yorkville and Abbeville, S. C; being
now compelled to take entirely to
horse, and escorted by 2,000 cavalry,
who, as well as the Presidential cor
tege, gradually dwindled by the way :
thus reaching" Washington, Ga.,
where the rapidly dissolving view of
a Government was dispensed with —
most of the Cabinet itself having by
this time abandoned the sinking craft,
leaving Davis attended by Reagan
(late Postmaster-General, now acting
Secretary of the Treasury) and hie
military staff; and the remaining
fugitives, with a small but select es
cort of mounted men, took their way
southward : perhaps intent on joining
Dick Taylor or Kirby Smith, should
either or both be still belligerent, or,
at the worst, hoping to make their
way to some petty port on the coast,
and thence out of the country. Mr.
Davis had even" separated, for greater
safety, from his family; but, o.n an
alarm of peril to which they were
said to be exposed from a conspiracy
to rob them of the gold they were
supposed to be carrying off, had re
joined them over night; when his
sylvan encampment near Irwinsyille,

"April 10.

'April 15.

'May 4.

736

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Ga., was struck " by Lt.-Col. Pritch-
ard, 4th Michigan cavalry, who, upon
advices that what remained of the
Rebellion was making its way fur
tively southward through Georgia,
had been dispatched " by Gen. Wil
son from Macon in quest of him ; as
had also the 1st Wisconsin cavaby,
Lt.-Col. Harden. These two com
mands, moving by different roads
down the Ocmulgee, Pritchard at
length struck the trail he was seeking,
and followed it to the encampment
aforesaid; which he surprised at early
dawn ; easily taking captive " Mr.
Davis, his wife, her sister, and his
children; but being, directly there
after, involved in a fight with the 1st
Wisconsin, which was closing in on
the quarry from another quarter, and
— each taking the other for enemies
— the two commands opened a re
ciprocal fire, whereby two men were
killed and several wounded before
the mutual mistake was discovered.
The dead were borne sadly to Abbe
ville, and there buried ; the wounded,
with the prisoners, were conveyed to

Macon," whence Davis was taken,
via Savannah and the ocean, to Fort
ress Monroe ; where he was long
closely and rigorously imprisoned,
while his family were returned by
water to Savannah and there set at
liberty. Secretary Reagan — the only
person of consequence captured with
Davis — was taken to Boston, and
confined, with Vice-President Ste
phens (captured about this time also
in Georgia), in Fort Warren ; but
each was liberated on parole a few
monthB thereafter.

The following general order seem
ed for a time to menace a protracted,
though not doubtful, struggle in
Texas :
"Headq'rs Trans-Mississippi Dep't., )
Shreveport, La., April 21, '65. f
" Soldiers of the trans- Mississippi Army :
" The crisis of our revolution is at hand.
Great disasters have overtaken us. The
Army of Northern Virginia and our Com
mander-in-Chief are prisoners of war. With
you rest the hopes of our nation, and upon
your action depends the fate of our people.
I appeal to you in the name of the cause you
have so heroically maintained — in the name

OTMay 11. ssMay 1.
M With regard to Davis's alleged attempt to
elude his captors in female guise, the following
statement by Lt. C. E. L. Stuart, of his staff,
probably embodies the literal truth ;
" When the musketry-firing was hoard in the
morning, at 'dim, gray dawn,' it was supposed
to be between the apprehended [Rebel] marauders
and Mrs. Davis's few camp-defenders. Under
this impression, Mr. Davis hurriedly put on his
boots, and prepared to go out for the purpose
of interposing, saying: ^
" ' They will at least as yet respect me.'
"As he got to the tent door thus hastily
equipped, and with this good intention of pre
venting an effusion of blood by an appeal in the
name of a fading but not wholly faded authority,
he saw a few cavalry ride up the road and de
ploy in front.
" 'Ha, Federals I' was his exclamation.
" ' Then you are captured I' cried Mrs. Davis,
with emotion.
" In a moment, she caught an idea. — a woman's
idea — and, as quickly as women in an emergency
execute their designs, it was done. He slept in

a wrapper — a loose one. It was yet around
him. This she fastened, ere he was aware of
it, and then, bidding him adieu, urged him to go
lo the spring, a short distance off, where his
horses and arms were. Strange as it may seem,
there was not even a pistol in the tent. Davis
felt that his only course was to reach his horse
and arms, and complied. As he was leaving
the door, followed by a sorvant with a water-
bucket, Miss Howell fhmg a shawl over his head.
There was no time to remove it without exposure
and embarrassment; and, as he had not far to
go, he ran the chance exactly as it was devised
for him. In these two articles, consisted the
woman's attire of which so much nonsense has
been spoken and written; and, under these cir
cumstances and in this way was Jefferson Davis
going forth to perfect his escape. No bonnet,
no gown, no petticoats, no crinoline — nothing
of all these. And what there was, happened
to be excusable under ordinary circumstances,
and perfectly natural as things were.
"But it was too late for any effort to reach
his horses ; and the Confederate President was
at last a prisoner in the hands of the United
States." M May 13

THE RAVAGES OF THE SHENANDOAH.

757

of your firesides and families, so dear to you
— in the name of your bleeding country,
whose future is in your hands. Show that
you are worthy of your position in history.
Prove to the world that your hearts have
not failed in the hour of disaster, and that,
to the last moment, you will sustain the
holy cause which has been so gloriously
battled for by your brethren east of the
Mississippi. " You possess the means of long resisting
invasion; you have hopes of succor from
abroad. Protract the struggle, and you
will surely receive the aid of nations who
already deeply sympathize with you.
" Stand by your colors — maintain your
discipline ! The great resources of this de
partment, its vast extent ; the numbers, the
discipline, and the efficiency of the army,
will secure to our country terms that a
proud people can with honor accept, and
may, under the providence of God, be the
means of checking the triumph of our ene
my and securing the final success of our
cause. E. Kirby Smith, General."
At a public meeting held at
Shreveport on the receipt of news
of President Lincoln's assassination,

there were military men found base
or mad enough to exult over that
atrocity. Their countrymen of all
parties will gladly forget their names.
The last actual collision " of forces
in our struggle occurred " on the Rio
Grande. Col. Barrett had set forth ae
from Brazos Santiago to surprise a
Rebel camp at Palmetto Ranche,
some 15 miles above, and had suc
ceeded in taking and burning the
camp ; but, lingering to secure
horses, he was overtaken on his re
turn by Gen. J. E. Slaughter, with 3
guns and a considerable force, and
hunted back to Brazos with a loss of
80, mainly captured. Slaughter's loss
was trifling. 
Gen. Sheridan had been sent to
New Orleans, and was there fitting
out a formidable expedition for the re-

** Though the war on land ceased, and the
Confederate flag utterly disappeared from this
continent with the collapse and dispersion of
Kirby Smith's command; it was yet displayed at
sea by two of the British-built, British-armed,
and (mainly) British manned cruisers engaged
in the spoliation of our commerce ; whereof the
powerful iron-clad Stonewall, after having been
for some time watched by the Niagara and the
Sacramento in the Spanish port of Forrol. finally
ran across to Havana, where she arrived after
the fall of the Confederacy, and was taken in
charge by the Spanish authorities, who promptly
handed her over, May 28, 1865, to Rear-Admi-
ral Godon, who, with a formidable fleet, had
been sent, May 16, to cruise among the West
Indies in quest of her. Admiral Godon brought
her into Hampton Roads June 12, and turned
her over to the Navy Department.
There still remained afloat the swift steamer
Shenandoah, Capt. Waddell, built at Glasgow in
1863, and which, as 'the Sea King,' put to sea
from London, Oct. 8, 1864, in spite of the pro
tests of our functionaries; having cleared for
Bombay : but which was met at a barren islet off
Madeira, Oct. 11, by the British steamer Laurel,
from Liverpool, with officers and men, nearly all
British, who, with guns and munitions, were
promptly transferred to the henceforth Rebel
corsair Shenandoah, which at once engaged in

the capture, plunder, and destruction of our mer
chantmen ; in due time, turning up at Melbourne,
Australia, where she received a hearty and mu
nificent welcome. Having left that port, Feb. 8,
1865, she was next heard of in the North Pa
cific, the Sea of Ochotsk, and northward nearly
to Behring's straits, where she raided at will
among our defenseless whalers, of which she
burned 25 and bonded 4 — many of them after
she had received the news of Lee's and John
ston's surrender and Davis's capture. Finally,
having been assured by a British sea-captain
that the Confederacy was no more, she desisted,
four months after the collapse, from her work
of destruction, and made her way directly to
her native country ; anchoring Nov. 6, 1865,
in the Mersey; whence Waddell addressed a let
ter to the British Minister, surrendering her
in due form to the British Government; by
which she was in turn tendered to ours, and
most unwisely accepted. As she had never at
tempted to enter a Confederate port, nor (so far
as is known) any other than British, and as she
had never been manned by any other than a
(substantially) British crew, and as she still
stood, up to a very late day, on the official
registry of British shipping as the British steam
ship Sea King, she ought to have been left on
the hands of her legitimate owners.
" May 13. " May 11.

758

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

covery of Texas, when the good sense
of the Rebel rank and file in that
• State saved her from a hopeless and
damaging experience of the hor
rors of war. While the chiefs were
still making preparations for a des
perate resistance, their hitherto sub
missive followers bluntly refused to
be thus foolishly sacrificed, and, dis
solving their organizations, they
helped themselves to whatever they
could seize ofthe effects of the death-
stricken Confederacy, and dispersed
to their several homes ; leaving their
officers no choice but to make the
best attainable terms. Before Sheri
dan had started, therefore, certain of
Smith's staff officers, headed by Lt.-
Gen. S. B. Buckner, made their way
down to Baton "Rouge, and there
concluded" with Gen. Osterhaus,
acting for Gen. Canby, a capitulation
substantially identical with that ac
corded by Canby to Dick Taylor;
the stipulation for "transportation
and subsistence " inclusive. This re
quirement involved the Government
in very moderate expense. The great
body of the ' soldiers of the trans-
Mississippi Army' had already ap
propriated all the 'subsistence and
.transportation' they could lay their
hands on, and gone their several
ways — profoundly convinced that
rebellion, with overt war against the
authority and integrity of the Union,
was not a paying business, and de
termined to devote their time and
talents henceforth to something more
profitable. Ere this surrender, the removal "
by Presidential proclamation of re
strictions on commercial intercourse
with the revolted States, the release"
on parole of all prisoners of war be

low the rank of Colonel who would
take the oath of allegiance, and the
mustering for review at Washing
ton " of the two main armies of the
Republic, gave earnest of the virtual
termination of hostilities ; which was
soon afterward formally announced
in the following General Order :
" War Department, Adj.-Gen's. Office, )
Washington, D. C, June 2, 1865. \
"Soldiersof the Armies ofthe United States:
" By your patriotic devotion to your
country in the hour of danger and alarm,
your magnificent fighting, bravery, and en
durance, you have maintained the supre
macy of the Union and the Constitution,
overthrown all armed opposition to the en
forcement of the laws and of the proclama
tions forever abolishing Slavery — the cause
and pretext of the Rebellion — and opened
the way to tbe rightful authorities to restore
order and inaugurate peace on a permanent
and enduring basis on every foot of Ameri
can soil. Your marches, sieges, and battles,
in distance, duration, resolution, and bril
liancy of results, dim the luster of the
world's past military achievements, and will
be the patriot's precedent in defense of lib
erty and right in all time to come. In obe
dience to your country's call, you left your
homes and families, and volunteered in her
defense. Victory has crowned your valor,
and secured the purpose of your patriotic
hearts ; and, with the gratitude of your
countrymen and the highest honors a great
and free nation can accord, you will soon be
permitted to return to your homes and fami
lies, conscious of having discharged the
highest duty of American citizens. To
achieve these glorious triumphs and secure
to yourselves, your fellow-countrymen, and
posterity, the blessings of free institutions,
tens of thousands of your gallant comrades
have fallen and sealed the priceless legacy
with their blood. The graves of these a
grateful nation bedews with tears, honors
their memories, and will ever cherish and
support their stricken families.
"U. S. Grant, Lt.-General."
The wholesale discharge of Rebel
prisoners of war — to whom was ac
corded transportation to their respec
tive homes — was directed by an order
from the Adjutant-General's office,
dated May 6th. The number actu-

' May 26.

' April 29.

31 May 1.

1 May 22-3.

CONCLUSION — APPENDED NOTES.

759

ally released, after the close of hos
tilities, was 63,442 ; while the num
ber surrendered an'd paroled in the
Beveral Rebel armies was 174,223.
Among these were many regiments
iuustering from 11 up to 65 men ; 10
regiments consolidated that mustered
but 238 ; 8 regiments of Texans re
duced from 10,000 to 456 in all ; one
regiment having 40 left, out of its
original 1,200. It is doubtful that
all the effective Rebels in arms on
the morning of Lee's surrender were
equal to 100 full veteran regiments
of 1,000 men each ; while the Union
muster-rolls had shown, on the 1st
of March, an aggregate force of
965,591 men ; whereof 602,593 were
"present for duty," beside 132,538
"on detached service" — that fatal

subtraction from the efficiency of ar
mies. Of the residue, no less than
179,047 were either in hospitals or
absent on sick leave; 31,695 were
either on furlough or prisoners of
war, and 19,683 absent "without
leave." By August 7, no less than
640,806 had been mustered out of
service : and this aggregate was in
creased by Oct. 15 to 785,205. Thus
rapidly, as well as peacefully and
joyously, were the mightiest hosts
ever called to the field by a republic
restored to the tranquil paths of in
dustry and thrift, melting back by
regiments into quiet citizenship, with
nothing to distinguish them from
others but the proud consciousness of
having served and saved their coun
try.

APPENDED NOTES.

The whole number of men from time to time
called into the National service during the War
was 2,688,523 ; enlisted as follows:
For three months  191,985
For six months  i?'2IS
For nine months  87,553
Foroneyear  8?f'??2
For two years  „S5'lis
For three years  ' i'n?n
For four years  1,040
As many of these were mustered in twice,
and some thrice, while hundreds of thousands
deserted who were never under fire, it is proba
ble that not more than 1,500,000 effectively par
ticipated in suppressing the Rebellion. The to
tal population whence these were drawn, includ
ing the available portion of the Southern Blacks,
can not be computed higher than 25,000,000:
so, more than one-tenth ofthe entire male popu
lation ofthe United States who were not Rebels
must have actively participated in the suppres
sion of the Rebellion.
Of the 1,500,000 who fought on our side,
56,000 fell dead on the field, and 35,000 more are
recorded as dying in hospital of wounds; while
184,000 perished there by disease. It is proba
ble that enough more died after their discharge,

of diseases or infirmities contracted in the ser
vice, to swell our aggregate loss by the War
from 280,420 to 300,000. Of our Whites en-#
listed, one-tenth died in the service; of the
180,000 Blacks, 29,298 died, or nearly one in
six. Of these, eight in every nine died in hos
pital; proving the Blacks either less hardy than
Whites, or their exposure far greater. Proba
bly, their employment to garrison posts in the
South- West, specially subject to miasmatic influ
ences, may have enlarged their bills of mortality;
but the comparative idleness of garrison life often
proves more fatal than the exposures and hard
ships of active campaigning.
If we may presume the losses of the Rebels
equal to those of the Unionists (and the per
centage of mortality among their wounded was
probably greater, because of their inferior hos
pital service and sanitary arrangements), the ao-
tual aggregate loss of life because of the War is
swelled to 600,000. Add 400,000 crippled or
permanently disabled by disease, and the total
subtraction from the productive force of our
country because of the Rebellion reaches the
stupendous aggregate of 1,000,000 men.

760

APPENDED NOTES.

n.

Though the War for the Union doubtless ex
posed the upholders of the National Cause to
extraordinary hardships and sufferings, because
of the densely wooded and sparsely peopled re
gions over which they generally marched and
fought, traversed only by roads of an intensity
of badness utterly inconceivable by readers of
European experience only, and often submerged
by the overflow of the neighboring streams and
swamps, it would be black iugratitude to leave
unnoticed the mitigations of those hardships
through the systematic, gigantic efforts of patri
otic generosity. Of the Soldiers and Sailors who
fought for the Union, all but an inconsiderable
fraction were volunteers ; and few of these were
mustered into service without having received a
bounty, varying from $100 up to $1, 200 each, but
usually between $300 and $800, from his stay-
at-home neighbors. Many of these, as well as
some others, were further assured that their
families should be shielded from absolute want
in their absence by a municipal or volunteered
weekly stipend; and these pledges were almost
uniformly redeemed. It must be within the
truth to estimate the aggregate thus disbursed
at $200,000,000 paid directly as bounties and
$100,000,000 more devoted to subsisting the
families of soldiers, living or dead, in grateful
though partial requital of their heroic patriotism.
But soldiers in the field, still more in the hos
pital, sorely need comforts and delicacies which
no Government does or can provide ; and these
,were supplied to our armies, but especially to
their sick and wounded, in a profusion and with
a regularity wholly unprecedented.
The Sanitary Commission and the ChristianCom-
mission were chief among the agencies whereby
the willing heart of the Nation went forth to suc
cor and save her sons writhing in agony on the
battle-field or tossing on beds of pain in field or
camp hospitals. A single Eair, held in New Tork
City in aid of the Sanitary Commission, realized
— mainly through the gifts of her merchants and
other citizens — no less than $1,351,275, whereof
$1,181,506 was clear income. Philadelphia, Bos
ton, Baltimore, Chicago, Pittsburg, Albany, and
most other cities, held similar fairs with corre
sponding results : the aggregate of contributions
received and disbursed through this channel
amounting to about $5,000,000 in cash and
$9,000,000 in supplies. Those of the Christian
Commission amounted to $4,500,000. And these
are but samples of a work which, beginning
with a subscription in April and May, 1861, of
$119,500 in New Tork to form a "Union De

fense Fund" for the equipment and subsistence
of Volunteers, was maintained with unflagging
spirit to the close of the struggle — Com. Van-
derbilt's magnificent present of the noble steam
ship Vanderbilt, valued at $1,000,000, being the
largest individual offering; but many a poor
widow or girl doing as much, in proportion to
her scanty resources. The Union Refreshment
Saloons, wherein Philadelphia was honorably
conspicuous, for the supply of free meals, baths,
_c., to each passing regiment and soldier, and
the State Relief agencies, whereby the " boys in
blue " were sheltered, lodged, and fed, in every
great city, on their way to or 'from the seat of
War, were among the most judicious of the many
arrangements to mitigate the inevitable hard
ships of the soldier's lot. Very rarely had the
thunders of battle been stilled ere the agents and
ambulances of the Sanitary and Christian Com
missions were at hand, with bounteous provi
sion of ice, stimulants, delicacies, &c, for the
wounded ; while every hospital and camp was
irradiated by their active presence and activity.
That thousands of precious lives were thus
saved, and the anguish of tens of thousands
soothed and mitigated, is well known ; but the
sources of these rivers of beneficence were in
the far distant rural neighborhoods, where a few
women and girls gathered weekly to spend some
hours in preparing lint, clothing, preserves, cor
dials, _e., &c, for the use and comfort of our
soldiers in the field. It would be quite within
the truth to estimate the aggregate value of
free-will offerings in aid of the National cause
at Five Hundred Millions of Dollars — equal to
$100 for each family inhabiting the loyal States
of the Union.
Nor would our survey of the great struggle
be complete without a recognition of the fact
that the spirit evinced by the women of the
South, while even more intense and vehement,
prompted them to efforts and sacrifices equally
practical and beneficent. Their means were
limited, and they unaccustomed to persistent
labor; but they gave to their brothers and
sons, in field and hospital, every solace for
their hardships and sufferings which, affection
could devise and unwearying devotion pro
vide. True, they did not (as had often been
threatened) seize the arms that dropped from
the hands of their vanquished kinsmen and
renew the strife ; but they did whatever they
could to mitigate the hardships of the sol
dier's lot and insure the triumph of the Rebel
lion.

APPENDED NOTES.

761

III.

The treatment and exchange of prisoners dur
ing our great struggle deserves a fuller elucida
tion than is given in the preceding pages, or
than I am enabled as yet to proffer. Each bel
ligerent vehemently charged the other with vio
lating the cartel which, at au early stage of the
war, provided for regular and prompt exchanges
at Richmond iu the East and at Vicksburg in the
West, and at these points only. The Confeder
ates never admitted that Negroes came within
the purview of this arrangement ; and this of
itself must have incited a serious collision. Hav
ing enrolled and called out Blacks as well as
Whites for its defense, our Government could
not recognize the right of the Confederates to
treat our Black soldiers as fugitives from slavery
— which some of them were, while others were
not. Judicial proceedings under State law in
Virginia in 1866 established beyond question the
fact that at least one Black Union soldier, born
free in Ohio and regularly enlisted into the Na
tional service, having been taken prisoner by the
Rebels, was sold into slavery in Virginia, and
held as a slave till months after the collapse of
the Rebellion ; when, having resisted and killed
his 'master,' he was arraigned, tried, and exe
cuted therefor. And, while it is unquestionable
that the Confederate authorities were more than
willing, were even anxious, to effect a general
exchange of prisoners during the last year of the
contest, I lack proof that they ever offered to
produce and hand over the Blacks whom they
had captured and treated as culprits and fugi
tives rather than as soldiers.
When, in 1863, Gen. Lee had crossed the Po
tomac and was advancing into Pennsylvania, an
order was issued on our side that such Union
soldiers as he might capture should not give pa
roles, thereby relieving the enemy of the burden
of guarding and depriving us of the chance of
recapturing them. It was added that paroles
so given would not be deemed valid on our side.
The fortunes of war having, soon after, given us
many thousands of prisoners, the Rebel authori
ties regarded the above order as justifying them
m repudiating the paroles given by their soldiers
captured at Vicksburg and Port Hudson ; and it
was charged that thousands of those soldiers,
Btill unexchanged, were found fighting again in
the Confederate ranks at Chickamauga. Hence
paroles fell into discredit and disuse not long
after exchanges had been discontinued.
That our War Department regarded this with
complacency ifl intrinsically probable. Every

Confederate soldier was conscripted to fight to
the end ; and, being released from captivity, was
at once returned to the ranks ; while our men,
being exchanged, were often found to have
served out their term of enlistment, or, at all
events, .to be so near its end that it was not ad
visable to return them to their respective regi
ments. Thus, an exchange of twenty thousand
men on either side would add far more to both
the positive and the relative strength of the Con
federate than of the Union armies. Hence, the
Rebel authorities became at last by far the more
anxious to effect a general exchange ; and it is
alleged that they at one time offered to parole
and release generally our men in their hands, re
quiring only a pledge that they should be put
to no military use until regularly exchanged. It
is not stated, however, that the Blacks were in
cluded in this offer, especially those whom they
had sold into slavery.
Prisoners of war are apt to complain of harsh
treatment, and not without reason ; and such
complaint was made by Rebel prisoners against
our officers who held them in custody, especially
at ' Camp Douglas ' (Chicago), and on Rock Isl
and, in the Mississippi — the former having been
the focus of repeated conspiracies to overpower
their guards, break out, and, in conjunction with
secret allies outside, cut their way back to the
Confederacy, liberating other prisoners by the
way. In Missouri, Gen. John McNeil was
charged with cruelty in shooting ten prisoners
(bushwhackers), in, retaliation for the secret tak
ing off of one Unionist, who suddenly disap
peared. On the other hand, the treatment of Union
prisoners by the Confederates, in the matter of
food and shelter, was quite generally and un
reasonably harsE. The Rebel soldiers, save in
their fitful butchery of Blacks, deserve no part
of this reproach. White captives were usually
treated by them considerately, and even chival
rously. But the Rebels' prison-camps were
mainly and inexcusably devoid of the comforts
to which even captives are justly entitled. It
was scarcely their fault that their prisoners
were coarsely and scantily fed during the last
year or more wherein their armies were on
half rations, and when no one willingly gave
grain or meat for their currency ; but they at no
time lacked either eligible sites or timber; and
there is no excuse for their failure to provide am
ple and commodious shelter, with abundance of
pure water and* fuel ; so that the horrors of An-

762

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

dersonville and many a subordinate but kindred
Golgotha are utterly without excuse. Here,
mainly unsheltered from drenching rain, or tor
rid sun, or chilling night-dews, tbousands-of our
:Captive brothers were huddled in an open stock
ade surrounded by woods, dying constantly and
rapidly of diseases engendered by privation, ex
posure, filth, and vermin, when they might have
lived to return to their friends if treated with
common humanity. The returns kept in our

War Department show that 220,000 Rebels in all
were captured by our armies during the War, of
whom 26,436 died of wounds or of disease dur
ing their captivity ; while of our men but 126,940
are there recorded as captured, of whom 22,516
died while prisoners. These latter numbers are
of course far too low. Probably the aggregate
of Union soldiers captured was little less than
200,000, of whom those who died in captivity
can hardly have fallen short of 40,000.

IV.

The subject of Reconstruction (or Restoration)
being, so far as possible, purposely avoided in
this work, it is deemed proper to embody herein
only that one among the many terse avowals of
sentiment by Mr. Johnson, directly after his ac
cession to the Presidency, which relates mainly
to the Rebellion and the War. Being waited on
and addressed, when such visits were in vogue,
by a delegation of citizens of New Hampshire
Bojourning or casually in Washington, the new
President said:
"I have now, as always, an abiding faith in the
ultimate triumph of justice and right ; and I shall
seek the inspiration and guidance of this faith,
in the assured belief 'that the present struggle
will result in the permanent establishment of
our Government, and in making us a free, united,
and happy people. This Government is now
passing through a fiery and, let us hope, its last
ordeal — one that will test its powers of endur
ance, and determine whether it can do what its
enemies have denied — suppress and punish trea
son. This is the trial through which we are
now passing; and, if we are true to ourselves
and the principles upon which the Constitution
was framed, who can doubt that the Government
will settle down upon a more enduring basis
than its friends have dared to hope for it?
"In entering upon the discharge of the grave
duties before me, it has been suggested, and
even urged, by friends whose good opinions I
value, and whose judgment I respect, that I
shall foreshadow the policy that would guide
me, in some formal public manifesto. But who
could have foretold the events of the past four
years? Who was wise enough to indicate, be
forehand, a line of policy adapted to all the
changing emergencies of that period? It is not
in the wisdom and foresight of man to prescribe
a course of action in advance for such disturbed
and perilous conditions as now distract public
affairs. I believe I may say that my past life is
known to the country, especially that part con
nected with the Rebellion. The country must
accept, then, my past course as an index of what
my future will be. I think the people under
stand and appreciate my position.

"I know it is easy, gentlemen, for any one who
is so disposed, to acquire a reputation for clem
ency and mercy. But the public good impera
tively requires a just discrimination in the exer
cise of these qualities. What is clemency? What
is mercy? It may be considered merciful to re
lieve an individual from pain and suffering; but
to relieve one from the penalty of crime may be
productive of national disaster. The American
people must be taught to know and understand
that treason is a crime. Arson and murder are
crimes, the punishment of which is the loss of
liberty and life. If, then, it is right in the sight
of God to take away human Ufe for such crimes,
what punishment, let me ask you, should "be
inflicted upon him who is guilty of the atro
cious crime of assassinating the Chief Magis
trate of a great people? I am sure there is
no one present who has not the answer ready
upon his lips I Him whom we loved has been
removed from our midst by the hand of a ruth
less assassin, and- his blessed spirit has gone to
that bourne whence no traveler returns. If
his murderer should suffer the severest penalty
known to the law, what punishment should be
inflicted upon the assassins who have raised their
daggers against the life of a nation — against the
life and happiness of thirty millions of people?
Treason is a crime, and must be punished as a
crime. It must not be regarded as a mere dif
ference of political opinion. It must not be ex
cused as an unsuccessful rebellion, to be over
looked and forgiven. It is a crime before which
all other crimes sink into insignificance ; and, in
saying this, it must not be considered that I am
influenced by angry or revengeful feelings.
" Of course, acareful discrimination must be ob
served ; for thousands have been involved in this
rebellion, who are only technically guilty of the
crime of treason. They have been deluded and
deceived, andhave been made the victims of more
intelligent, artful, and designing men — the insti
gators of this monstrous rebellion. The number
of this latter class is comparatively small. The
former may stand acquitted of the crime of trea
son — the latter never; the full penalty of their
crimes should be visited upon them. To the
others I would accord amnesty, leniency, and
mercy."

APPENDED NOTES.

763

The fact that Maj.-Gen. Fitz John Porter was
arraigned and tried before a Court-Martial on a
charge of culpable disobedience to the orders of
Gen. Pope during the desperate and ultimately
disastrous struggle around Gainesville (' second
Bull Run'), though quite notorious, is not stated
in the foregoing text. Though his impressions
are unfavorable to Gen. Porter's conduct in that
emergency, . the author has not been able to
give his case such a searching examination as
would justify him in pronouncing a final judg
ment thereon. That Gen. P. was so intense a
partisan of M'Clellan, and so offended at tho vir
tual transfer of his army to Pope, that he cher
ished feelings and used language during that
campaign incompatible with thorough loyalty to
his commander, is scarcely denied ; but good sol
diers, who were with him throughout, testified
on his trial that his acts were unexceptionable.
The court, however, decided otherwise. The
following dispatch from Gen. Pope, written the
second morning after his defeat at Gainesville,
refers unquestionably to Porter as 'one com
mander of a corps,' and is here given only as
proving Gen. Pope's convictions as to the causes
of his disaster: " Centerville, Sept. 1 — 8:50 a. m.
" Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief:
"All was quiet yesterday, and so far this
morning. My men all resting. They need it
much. Forage for our horses is being brought
up. Our cavalry is completely broken down, so
that there are not five horses to a company that
can raise a trot. The consequence is, that I am
forced to keep considerable infantry along the
roads in my rear to make them secure; and even
then it is difficult to keep the enemy's cavalry
off the roads. I shall attack again to-morrow if
I can ; the next day certainly.
" I think it my duty to call your attention to
the unsoldierly and dangerous conduct of many
brigade and some division commanders of the
forces sent here from the Peninsula. Every
word and act and intention is discouraging,
and. calculated to break down the spirits of the
men, and to produce disaster. One commander
of a corps, who was ordered to march from

Manassas Junction to join me near Groveton,
although he was only five miles distant, failed
to get up at all ; and, worse still, fell back to
Manassas without » fight, and in plain hearing,
at less than three miles' distance, of a furious
battle, which raged all day. It was only in con
sequence of peremptory orders that he.joined me
next day. One of his brigades, the brigadier-
general of which professed to be looking for his
division, absolutely remained all day at Center
ville, in plain view of the battle, aud made no at
tempt to join. What renders the whole matter
worse, these are both officers of the regular
army, who do not hold back from ignorance or
fear. Their constant talk, indulged in publicly and
in promiscuous company, is, that 'the Army of
the Potomac will not fight,' that they are de
moralized by withdrawal from the Peninsula,
&c. When such example i3 set by officers of
high rank, the influence is very bad among those
in subordinate stations.
"Tou have hardly an idea of the demoraliza
tion among officers of high rank in the Potomac
Army, arising in all instances from personal feel
ing in relation to changes of commander-in-chief
and others. These men are mere tools or para
sites ; but their example is producing, and must
necessarily produce, very disastrous results. Tou
should know these thin js, as you alone can stop
it. Its source is beyond my reach, though its
effects are very perceptible and very dangerous.
I am endeavoring to. do all I can, and will most
assuredly put them where they shall fight or
run away. My advice to you (I give it with
freedom, as I know you will not misunderstand
it) is, that in view of any satisfactory results,
you draw back this army to the intrenchments
in front of Washmgton, and set to work in that
secure place to reorganize and rearrange it. Tou
may avoid great disaster by doing so. I do not
consider the matter except in >' purely military .
light ; and it is bad enough and great enough
to make some action very necessary. Where
there is no heart in their leaders, and every
disposition to hang back, much cannot be ex
pected from the men.
"Please hurry forward cavalry horses to me
under strong escort. I need them badly ; worse
than I can tell you.
" (Signed) John- Pope, Maj.-General.
"A true copy:
"T. C H. Smith, Lt.-Colonel and A D. C"

VI.

As many facts set forth in this work bear with
just severity on the general loyalty of the Demo
cratic party to the Government throughout its
long, doubtful struggle with the Rebellion, it is
proper to state here explicitly that very many
Democrats promptly separated from their party
and acted with the Republicans as Unionists

from first to last; while others, who adhered to
their party organization, nevertheless gave a
hearty, efficient support to the Government in
raising soldiers, subscribing to loans, and other
wise. There was, moreover, a very considera
ble and influential body, especially in the great
cities, who had steadily opposed the Republican

764

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

party from its formation and were accounted con
servatives, though they disclaimed partisanship,
who, from the hour of the first tidings of the
bombardment of Fort Sumter by the Confeder
ates, consecrated all they had to the maintenance
of the Union. This class is fitly represented by
the eminent New Tork merchant, A. T. Stew
art, who acted throughout in the spirit evinced
in the following business letter, which, unex
pectedly to the writer, first reached the public
through tho [Rebel] Memphis Appeal:
"New Toek, April 29, 1861.
" Dear Sie — Tour letter requesting to know
whether or not I had offered a million of dollars
to the Government for the purposes of the war,
and at the same time informing me that neither
yourself nor your friends would pay their debts
to the firm as they mature, has been received.
"Tho intention not to pay seems to be nearly
universal in the South, aggravated in your case
by the assurance that it does not arise from ina
bility ; but, whatever may be your determination,
or that of others at the South, it shall not change
my course. All that I have of position and wealth
I owe to the free institutions ofthe United States;
under which, in common with all others, North
and South, protection to life, liberty, and prop
erty, has been enjoyed in the Mlest manner.

The Government to which these blessings are due
calls on her citizens to protect the capital of the
Union from threatened assault; and, although
the offer to which you refer has not in terms
been made by me, I yet dedicate all that I have,
as I will, if need be, my life, to the service of the
country — for to that country I am bound by the
strongest ties of affection and duty.
"I had hoped that Tennessee would be loyal
to the Constitution. But, however extensive
may be secession or repudiation, as long as there
are any to uphold the sovereignty of the United
States, I shall be with them supporting the flag.
" Tours, &c, Alexander T. ^Stewart.
"To Mr. J. P. Strange, Memphis, Tenn."
The Appeal saw fit to accompany this letter by
the comment that, " after the Confederates should
have thrashed the hireling hordes of New Tork
into a proper appreciation of Southern rights,
Stewart and his Black Republican comrades may
feel inclined to come down South on a collecting
tour. If so, they will be quite warmly received."
The consummation of the War anticipated by
The Appeal not having, thus far, been attained,
it is presumed that the "collecting tour" has not
yet been undertaken ; hence, Memphis has thus
far been constrained to restrict her amiable de
monstrations to negroes.

VII.

While the outbreak and early stages of the
Rebellion were signalized by conspicuous exhi
bitions not only of the blackest treachery but of
amazing imbecility on the part of certain officers
then serving in our Army or Navy, these were
relieved by instances of heroic devotion to the
Union and its flag which were the more admira
ble because passive, and thus unnoted and un
known. Among these may be reckoned the
preservation to the Union of Fort MeHenry, at
Baltimore, by Capt. [since, Maj.-Gen.] John C.

Robinson, 5th infantry, who, with a handful of
men, held that important position during the
four weeks which separated the bloody triumph
of the Rebel mob in the slaughter of the Massa
chusetts men (April 19, 1861) from the bloodless
recovery of Baltimore by Gen. Butler, May 13.
Had the fort, with its arms and munitions, been
given up by its defenders, its repossession, with
that of Baltimore, could only have been secured
by a lavish outlay of effort and of blood on the
part of the Union.

VIII.

It is the author's well known conviction that
Disunion was not purposed by the great body of
those who originally favored Secession. They
went into the movement, not to divide the coun
try, but to obtain new guaranties and advantages
for Slavery throughout the whole of it. The fol
lowing dispatch to the New Tork Herald of Dec.
20, 1860, tends to strengthen this conviction:
" Baltimore, Dee. 19, 1860.
" Judge Hand, Commissioner from Mississippi
to Maryland, addressed an audience of about
5,000 citizens to-night in the Maryland Institute.
He advocated the right of separate secession,

which was received with considerable applause.
He strongly recommended that the Souther-
States secede before Lincoln's inauguration, and
asserted that all the cotton States were deter
mined to do so. He wanted the entire South to
join them, and then to form a compact until they
could be guaranteed all Southern rights, and that
their institutions would be respected. The South
would never be iu a position to demand her
rights under Lincoln's administration. They
could afterward, in solid phalanx or separately,
present an ultimatum to the North, and reunite,
if practicable, with the present Constitution prop
erly amended, on amicable terms." — All which
was favorably received.

ANALYTICAL INDEX.

A.
Abingdon, Va., captured by Stoneman, 688.
Aokworth, Ga., occupied by Sherman, 628.
Adams, Hon. Charles F., remonstrates against
the building of Southern war cruisers in England, 643.
Adams, J. Q., on the Slave-Trade, 233-235.
Adams, Gen. John, wounded at Stone River,
276; killed at Franklin, Tenn., 683.
Adjutant-General's Office, order from, dis
charging prisoners, 758.
Alabama, expeditions into, 53, 12; rout of Gen.
Bragg, 213 ; Eosecrans in command of, 222 ; the repos-
seSBion of; 716 ; Wilson's raid through, 716.
Alabama, steamer, details of her fight with the
Kearsarge, 646 to 64S.
Albemarle, ram, destruction of the, 635.
Alice Dean, steamboat, burned by Morgan, 405.
Allatoona Pass, occupied by Sherman, 628;
defended by Gen. Corse, 689.
Allen, Col. H. W., covers Rebel retreat from
Shiloh, 70.
Anderson, Brig.-Gen. G. T., wounded at Glen
dale, 163; present at Malvern Hill, 165; guards the
pass at South Mountain, 196 ; killed at Antietam, 210.
Anderson, C, surrenders Fort Gaines, 653.
Anderson, Gen., killed at Williamsburg, 126.
Andrew, Gov., raises Black regiments, 520.
Anthony, Lt.-Col. D. R., 7th Kansas, on slave-
hunting, 520.
Antietam, battle and map of, 205-9 ; killed and
wounded at, 210.
Arkansas, 26 ; Rebels concentrated in, 21 ;
Sigel retreats from Bentonville, 27, 82, 34 ; Curtis at
tacked at the Cache, 84; retires to Helena; Fayette
ville, 87; in 1868,446; reorganized by Unionists, 555;
see Pa- Eidge, Pbaieie Gkove.
Arkansas, Rebel ram, passes through Union
fleet a Vicksburg, 102; failure of attack upon, 102;
final destruction of, 104.
Arkansas, Post of, taken by McClernand, 293.
Armistead, Maj. Gen., wounded at Antietam,
210 ; mortally wounded at Gettysburg, 889.
Army Appropriation Bill in Senate, 526.
Army Deficiency Bill before the Senate, 526.
Army of the Cumberland, reorganized by Rose-
orans, 270.
Army of the Ohio, composition of, under Buell;
reorganized by Eosecrans, 270.
Army of the Potomac, inactivity of during the
Winter of 1861-2, 107 ; organized into four corps by the
President, 108; transported to Portress Monroe, 110 ;
advance to Manassas, 112 ; Peninsular campaign, 120 to
127; strength of, in Winter of 1861-2, 128-9 ; strength
of, in April, 1862, 131 ; in McClellan's campaign before
Richmond, 141 to 172; strength of, in June, 1862, 151-
159; at Harrison's Landing, 168; losses sustained by,
during the Seven Days' battles, 168-9 ; strength of, in
July, 1862, 169 ; withdrawn from Harrison's Landing

to Acquia Creek, 171 ; under command of Gens. Burn
side and Hooker, 842 to 875 ; reorganized under Mearle,
564; end of Grant's campaign ot 1864 and losses ofthe,
Arnold, Gen., occupies Pensacola, 459.
Arson, during N. Tork and Brooklyn riots, 505.
Asboth, Gen. Alex., 28-9 ; at Pea Ridge, 30.
Ashby, Gen. Turner, killed, 137.
Atchafalaya River, Col. Bailey constructs a
bridge over the, 551 ; Banks's army retreats across the,
551.
Atlanta, Campaign of Sherman, 625 ; route of
his advance to, 627 ; defenses of, 681 ; flanked by the
right, 686 ; abandoned by Hood, 637 ; Sherman's army
marches from, en route to Savannah, 690.
Atlanta, Rebel ram, captured, 473.
Augur, Gen., severely wounded, 111 ; at Port
Hudson, 382.
Averill, Gen., movements of, in West Vir
ginia, 408-4.
Ayres, Gen., captures 1,000 Rebels at Five
Forks, 738. B.
Bachelor's Creek, N. C, Union garrison at,
captured, 588.
Bailey, Rear-Admiral, destroys extensive
salt-works in Florida, 532.
Bailey, Lt. Col. (afterward Gen.), in attack on
defenses of New Orleans, 91-2 ; demands surrender of
New Orleans, 96; PorterB fleet on the Eed Eiver res
cued by, 649 ; constructs a bridge over the Atchafalaya
for Banks's army, 551.
Bailey, Col. J. D., killed, 144.
Baird, Gen., at Chickamauga, 415; cooperates at
Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga Valley, and Mission
Eidge, 438 to 442.
Baltimore, National platform of 1864, 659 ;
massacre of Massachusetts volunteers, in the streets
of, 514.
Bancroft's History, as to Negro Soldiers, 511.
Banks, Gen. N. P., assigned to Department of
the Gulf, 105; to command on the upper Potomac,
109 ; operations of, in Shenandoah valley, 114, 115, 182
to 186 ; fights at Winchester, and retreats to the Poto
mac, 184; 135-6; extract from his report, 185; his
losses in the Yalley, 185; assigned to the army in -Vir
ginia, 172; his operations in the valley of the Shenan
doah, 175 ; battle of Cedar Mountain, 177 ; supports
Gen. Sigel at Great Eun, 179; he reports movements
of the enemy, ISO ; Washington City In command of,
194; commands Department of the Gulf, 827 ^Invests
and captures Port Hudson, 881 to 337; in western
Texas, 841 ; his operations in Texas and on Eed River,
586 to 546; is routed at Sabine Cross-roads by Kirby
Smith — his losses, 589-40; fights again at Pleasant
Grove, 541; again at Pleasant Hill, 643; retreats to
Grand Ecore, 545; extract from his report, 545; Grant
orders him to close his Shreveport campaign, 550 ; he
abandons Alexandria and retreats to the Atchafalaya
river, 551 ; transfers his army to Gen. Canby, and pro
ceeds to New Orleans, 551.

766

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Barclay, Col., 2'3d Ga., killed at Antietam, 210.
Barksdale, Gen. Wm., at Fredericksburg, 345 ;
at Chancellorsville, 863 ; killed at Gettysburg, 889.
Barlow, Gen. Francis C, distinguishes himself
at Antietam, 208; wounded at Gettysburg, 888; at the
Wilderness, 567 to 571 ; his assault near Eichmond, 591.
Barnard, Gen. J. G., his remarks on McClel
lan's failure, 107 ; extract from his report, on McClel
lan's delay at Yorktown, 122; on McClelkurs failure to
improve the opportunity at Fair Oaks, 147.
Barnes, CoL, 12th S. C, killed at Antietam, 210.
Barrett, Col., attacked by Gen. Slaughter, at
Brazos, 757.
Bartlett, Gen., at Gaines's Mill, 436.
Barton, Col., 3d N. H., at Fort Wagner, 477.
Batesville, Ark., Marmaduke defeated at, 447.
Baton Rouge, La., occupied by Admiral Farra
gut, 101 ; Breckinridge defeated at, 102.
Battles —
Antietam, Md., 205.
Arkansas Post, 292.
Atlanta, Ga., 687.
Averysboro1, N. C, 706.
Baton Eoilge, La., 103.
Bentonville, N. C, 707.

Lookout M'tain, Tenn., 489.
McDowell, Va., 182.
Malvern Hill, Va., 165.
Mechanicsville, Va., 158.
Milliken's Bend, Ark., 819.
Mill Spring, Ky.. 42.

Bristow Station, Va, 1S1. Mission Eidge, Tenn., 441.
Bull Run (2d), Va., 183-7. Mobile Bay, Ala., 651.
Cedar Creek, Va., 612. Murfreesboro' (or Stone
Cedar Mountain, Va, 177. Eiver), Tenn., 273.
Champion Hills, Miss., 307. Nashville, Tenn., 278.
Chantilly, Va., 188. Newbern, N. C, 78.
Chancellorsville, Va, 856. Newmarket, Va., 599.
ChickamaugaTenn, 415. North Anna^ Va., 577.
Cold Harbor, Va., 579. Olnstee, Florida, 581.
Corinth, Miss., 225. Opequan Creek, Va., 608.
Crampton's Gap, Md., 199. Peach-tree Cr'k, Tenn., 631.
Cross-Keys, Va., 188. Pea Eidge, Ark., 27.
Dallas, Ga,, 298. Perryville, Ky., 219.
Fair Oaks (or Seven Pines), Petersburg, Va., 584.
Va., 141. Piedmont, Va, 600.
Farmville, Va., 741. Pittsburg Landing (or Shi-
Fisher's Hill, Va., 610. loh), Tenn., 58.
live Forks, Va., 781. Pleasant Hill, La., 542.
Fort Donelson, Tenn., 46. Port Hudson, La,, 329.
Franklin, Tenn., 681. Prairie Grove, Ark., 39.
Fredericksbure, Va., 343. Proctor's Creek, Ga., 684.
Gaines's Mill, Va., 154. Pumpkinvine Cr'k, Ga., 628.
Galveston Harb., Tex., 822. Rappahannock, Va, 897.
Gettysburg, Pa. 878. Raymond, Miss., 305.
Glendale 7or White Oak Reams's Station, Va., 593.
Swamp Br.), Va., 16L Eichmond, Ky., 214.
Guntown, Miss., 621. Eoanoke Island, N. G, 76.
Hanover C. H., Va., 141. Sabine X-Roads, La., 589.
Harper's Ferry, Va., 199. Bailors' Creek, Va., 741.
Hatcher's Run, Va, 595. Savage's Station, Va., 160.
Helena, Ark., 820. Selma, Ala., 718.
Iuka, Miss., 223. South Mountain,Md, 195.
Jackson, Miss., 306. ¦ Spottsylvania C. H.,Va.,572.
Second do., 817. Vicksburg (assault), 811.
James Island, S. C, 461. Weldon Railroad, Va, 567.
Jonesboro', Ga, 635. Wilderness, Va., 567.
Kenesaw Mountain,Ga, 629. "Williamsburg, Ya., 122.
Kernstown, Va, 114. Yazoo Bluffs, Miss, 289.
[See "Minor Conflicts," p. 715.]
Bayard, Gen. Geo. D., reports advance of the
enemy, 175; killed at Fredericksburg, 347.
Baylor, Col., wounded at Bull Run, 189.
Beatty, Lt.-Col. Sam., succeeds Van Cleve on
his fall at Stone Eiver. 279.
Beauregard, Gen. P. G. T., 545 ; at Pittsburg
Landing, 60 ; succeeds Johnston, 64 ; dispatches from,
66-70 ; extracts from his report of battle at Pittsburg
Landing, 67. 69, 70; retreats to Corinth, 69-71; in
trenches at, 71 ; retreats to Tupelo, 72 ; allusion to, 89 ;
relinquishes command in Virginia, 112 ; in chief com
mand at Charleston, 471 ; urges execution of prisoners,
523.
Belgian Consul at St. Louis, arrested bv Rose
crans as a conspirator, 557.
Benedict, Col. Lewis, of N.T., mortally wounded
at Pleasant Hill, 544.
Benteen, Gen, charges near Little Osage, 561.
Bentonville, N. C, Jo. Johnston attacks at, 101 .

Bidwell, Gen., killed at Cedar Creek, 615.
Big Black, Gen. Grant crosses the, 309.
Birkenhead (Eng.), Southern war cruisers built
by English merchants at, 643.
Birney, Gen, charges the enemy near Chan
tilly, 188; at Fredericksburg, 847 ; at Chancellorsville,
857; his report, 889; services in Florida, 582; at the
Wilderness, 568.
Black, Col, 5th Ga., killed at Stone River, 282.
Black Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 511 ;
in the War of 1812, 514 ; in the Rebellion, 515.
Black, Col. Samuel W., 62d Pa, killed at
Gaines's Mill, 157.
Blair, Gen. F. P., at Vicksburg, 310; with
Sherman in his Great March, 689 to 695 ; he menaces
Charleston, 696; crosses the Edisto, 699.
Blakely, Ala., attacked by Steele, 723.
Blenker, Gen. Louis, sent to West Virginia,
130.
Blockade Runner, escape of a, 412 ; a British
runner forced to hoist the white flag, 478.
Blockade-running ended at Charleston, 482.
Blunt, Gen. Jas. G, 36; joins Schofield, 36;
roots Eebels at Maysville, Mo, 87; at Prairie Grove,
88 to 41 ; at Honey Springs, 449.
Boomer, Col., severely wounded at Iuka, 224;
killed at Vicksburg, 818.
Booth, J. Wilkes, assassinates President Lin
coln, 749.
Bowen, Maj.-Gen, defends Port Gibson, 304;
killed at Vicksburg, 815.
Bowling Green, Ky., Rosecrans at, 270.
Bradford, Major, his defense of Fort Pillow
against Forrest, 619 ; murder of by Eebel soldiers, 619.
Bragg, Gen. Braxton, joins Johnston at Corinth,
60; at Pittsburg Landing, 60; invades Kentucky, 218 ;
his movements, 218; issues a proclamation to the
people, 215-26-27 ; subsists his army without payment,
and seizes horses and cattle without ceremony, 217 ;
retreats before Buell's advance, 217-8 ; gives battle at
Perryville, 219 ; his losses, 221 ; he escapes from Ken
tucky with his plunder — chagrin of his partisans, 222',
preparing to fight Rosecrans at Stone River, 278 ; he
retreats after four days' hard fighting, 280; losses in
killed and wounded, 280, 281, 282; his army facing
Eosecrans at Shelbyville, 404; he abandons Chatta
nooga on the advance of Rosecrans, 411 : advances,
while Rosecrans concentrates, 413 ; opening of the
battle of Chickamauga, 415; map of the position of-
both armies at Chattanooga and its vicinity, 416 ; the
fight of Sept. 19th, 417 ; report and losses on the Chick
amauga, 425; Grant drives him from Lookout Moun
tain, Chattanooga, and Mission Ridge, 438 to 445 ; his
official report, 443 ; losses on both sides, 446.
Branch, Gen. L. O'B, in command at Newbern,
77 ; defeated at Hanover C. H, 141-2 ; at second Bull
Run, 189 ; killed at Antietam, 209.
Brannan, Gen. J. M, at Chickamauga, 415;
attacks Walker at Pocotaligo, 463.
Brashear City, La., surprised and captured by
Dick Taylor, 387.
Breckinridge, Gen. John 0, 60, 61 ; defeated
at Baton Rouge, La, 102, 103-4; his charge at Stone
River, 279; at Chickamauga, 419; defeats Sigel at
Newmarket, 599 ; routs Gillem at Morristown, 624.
Breese, Capt, services of his iron-clads, 303.
Bristow Station, Va, fights at, 181, 396.
British Aid to Rebellion, 642.
British-Confederate Corsairs, Tallahassee,
Olttbtee, and Ohickamatjga set afloat, 645-6 ; estimate
of captures by, 645.
British Government connives at the building
and fitting out of Southern war cruisers, 643; Southern
corsairs permitted to fly English colors, 643.
British M. Ps. build ships to aid Rebellion, 642.
British Neutrality, strange manifestations of,
648-4 ; American losses and feelings caused by, 644.
British Officers for the RebeUion, 643.
British Proclamation of Neutrality. 642.

ANALTTIOAL INDEX.

767

Brookenbrough, Col., at second Bull Run, 189.
Brooklyn, N. T., arson and its cause in, 505,
Brough, John, elected Governor of Ohio, 610.
Brown, Col, killed at second Bull Run, 689.
Brown, Col. J. M., killed at Fair Oaks, 144.
Brown, Gen. E. B, fights at Arrow Rock, 453.
Brown, Gen, killed at Springfield, 441.
Brown, Maj.-Gen., wounded at Franklin, 683.
Bruinsburg, Miss., Grant's base of supplies, 304.
Buchanan, Admiral Franklin, commands ram
Manassas, 110; Beveroly woundod at Mobile, 653.
Buchanan, Gen. J. T, at Gaines's Mill, 166.
Buchanan, Gen, commands a brigade at Mal
vern Hill,'165; at Goinosvlllo, 1S7.
Buckner, Gkn. Simon B., 48 ; repulsed at Fort
Donelson, 49 ; surrenders, 60 ; at Chickamauga, 415 ;
abandons East Tennessee, 429 ; surrenders, 758.
Buell, Gen. D. C, commands Department of
the Ohio, 51 ; movos on Bowling Green, 61 ; ocoupies.
Nashville, 64; joins Grant, 66-7; extract from his re
port, 60-7; in battle of Pittsburg Landing, 68-9; as
sumes command of the Army of tho Ohio, reorganizes
his forees at Huntsville, 212; movos on Chattanooga,
818; ndvancos against Bragg, 217; part of his army
assailed at Perryville, 220-1: his official report, 221;
relieved by Gen. Eosecrans, 222.
Buford, Gen, relieves Gen. Hatch, 115 ; guards
tho fords of the Upper Rapidan, 176; reports the en
emy crossing Raccoon Ford, 175 ; services of his cavalry
at Great Run, 179; commands at Manassas Gap, 898;
skirmish, 394. '
Bullen, Major, relieves Donaldsonville, 338.
Bull Run Second, battle of, 185-6; map of
the field, 1S47 ; Jackson's report of, 188-9.
Burbridge, Gen., at Fort Hindman, 293; at
Vicksburg, 815.
Burke, Col, 63d New Tork, relieves General
Meagher at Antietam, 208.
Burks, Col, Texas, killed at Stone River, 282.
Burnside, Gen. .Ambrose E, his. expedition
sails from Fortress Monroe, 78 ; operations of, on the
North Carolina const, 78-S1 ; captures Roanoke Island,
76-6; Newborn, 77; Fort Macon, 78; at South Mills,
79-SO; returned to Fortress Monroe, 80; allusion to,
187; commands n division at Antietam, 208-209; his
Eoanoke proclamation as to Slavery, 244; commands
the Army of tho Potomac, 842 ; fights Leo at Freder
icksburg, 843 to 849 ; his " mud march"— roliovod from
his command, 851 ; assigned to tho department of tho
Ohio, 427; his advance on Knoxville, 428; capturos
Cumberland Gap, 480; his order in regard to persons
doolarlng sympathy for tho onomy, 489 ; hlB conquests
In North tiirollna, 685; arrest of Mr. Vallandigham,
military sen tonce, and publio Bensatlon, 489 ; 490; ho
crosses tho Potomac, 664; marches on Chancollors-
vitlo, 666 ; nt the battles of the Wilderness, 668 to 571 ;
ohorges nt Spottsylvania, 682; at Cold Harbor, 660 to
532 ; his Mlno explosion, 691.
Burns, Gen., repels Magruder's attack, 160.
Bushrod, Gen., at Chickamauga, 422.
Butler, Gin. Benjamin F., 13; expedition of,
against Now Orleans, 81 to 100 ; raises volunteers in
Now England, 81 ; expedition of, nt Ship Island, S2-S ;
narrow escape of, from shipwreck, 88 ; arrives at the
mouth of tho Mississippi, 85 ; ooenpios Now Orleans,
97; odmlnistration of, in New Orleans, 98; 101; 106;
his order No. 28, 100; superseded by Gon. Banks, 105;
returns to Now York, 106; outlawed by Jeff. Davis,
106-6; his address to people of Now Orleans, 100; ho
retains slavos ns contraband of war, 288; in command
at Fortress Monroe, 674; menaces Petersburg and
Richmond, 575 : commands tho first Fort Fisher ex-,
poditton, 708; doolinos to assault Fort Usher, 711;
returns to tho James, 711.
Butterfield, Gen. D. C, at Gaines's Mill, 146 ;
at Malvern II111, 165; at Gettysburg, 8S0 to 889.
a
Oabbll, Gen, repulse of, at Fayetteville, 448 ;
routed by Gen. Brown at Booneville, 468 ; captured by
Pleasan tun's force in Missouri, 661.

Caldwell, Brig.-Gen, at Antietam, 208.
Camden, Arkansas, Steele marches to, 552.
Cameron, Gen. Simon, retires from War De
partment, 81; 108; in relation to Slaves, 289 ; 243.
Campbell's Station, East Tenn., fight at, 431.
Canby, Gen. E. R. S, organizes militia in New
Mexloo, 21; at Fort Craig, 22-3; Valverde,22; holds
Now Mexico, 25 ; in command of tho trans-Mississippi
department— Banks turns over his army to him, 561;
aids in rooovoring Alabama, 716; advances against
Mobile, 721 ; Dick Taylor surrenders to, 764
Cantwell, Col, Ohio, killed at Bull Run, 189.
Carlin, Col, at Perryville, Ky, 220.
Carney's Bridge, La, encounter at, 328.
Carr, Gen, at Pea Ridge, 28 to 31; attaoks
Shelby in Arkansas, and captures 200 prisoners, 564.
Carroll, Gen, severely wounded, 171.
Carter, Gen, wounded at Franklin, 683.
Carter, Brig.-Gen. H. (Union), his raids into
East Tennessee, 283.
Carter, Gen. S. P., retreats across the Ohio, 427.
Casey, Gen. Silas, his division surprised at
Fair Oaks, 148 to 147; his enmp captured, 148; com
mands a division at Malvern Hill, 105.
Catlett's Station, Pope's headquarters sur
prised at, 178 ; Stuart surprises Warren at, 395.
Cedar Creek, Early surprises Crook at, 613;
Sheridan triumphs at, 614-15; officers killed at, 615.
Cedar Mountain, battle and map of, 176; Jack
son defeats Bonks at, 177.
Centerville, Lee chases Meade up to, 395.
Chalmers, Gen. James R, at Stoue River, 282.
Chambersburg, Pa, scene of the Rebel General
Stuart's depredations, 211 ; burned by Rebels, 611.
Champion Hills, Miss, battle of, 307.
Chancellorsville, battle andmap of, 356 to 365.
Chantilly, Va, battle near, and losses, 188-9.
Chapin, Col, wounded at Port Hudson, 333.
Chapman, Gen. H., his brigade at Gaines's Mill,
156; nt Molvorn Hill, 165.
Charleston, languid operations against, 529;
raid of Rebel iron-clads from, 466-6; tho "Swamp
Angel" opons on, 479; fall of, 701-2-8.
Charleston Harbor, cause and effect of sink
ing boats in, 458 ; British clamor, 468.
Charlestown, Va, captured by Imboden, 396.
Chase, Gov. S. P., on the National finances, 661 ;
resigns his office as Secretary of the Treasury, 661.
Chatfield, Col, killed at Fort Wagner, 477.
Chattahoochee river, Johnston retreats across,
630.
Chattanooga, Bragg marches to, 213; Rose
crans's preparations for the campaign, 404 ; map of the
positions held by Rosoorans's and Bragg's armies at
416; Shorman reinforces Grant at, 487; strength of
Sherman's army at, 626.
Cheatham, Gen. B. F, commands a division at
Perryvillo, 219 ; at Stono River, 274-5.
Chicago Democratic National Convention of
1S64, spirit ofthe, 666 to 669.
Chickamauga, battle of, 415-25; losses at, 425.
Churchill, Gen. T. J, surrenders Fort Hind
man, 298 ; his losses, 294.
Cincinnati, gunboat, sunk, 56.
Cincinnati, cutter, sunk, 314.
Clarke, Gen. Charles (Rebel), killed at Baton
Eougo, 108.
Clarke, Col., Midi, killed at Port Hudson, 333.
Clark, Col., reports Rebel movements, ISO.
Clarksville, Tenn, captured by guerrillas, 213.
Cleburne, Major-Gen. Pat. (Rebel), wounded,
221 • commands division at Stono River, 274; turns on»
Hooker at Einggold, 445; killed at Franklin, 6S8.
Clendenin, Major!, captures raiders, 404,
Clinton, Miss., captured by McPherson, 306.

768

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Cockrell, Gen, wounded at Franklin, 683.
Coffey, Gen., in Missouri, 36 ; at Lone Jack, 36.
Coggin's Point, occupied by McClellan, 168.
Cold Harbor, Grant's flank movement to, 579 ;
battle and map of, 5S0 ; grand assault on, 581 ; officers
killed at, 582.
Collins, Capt, of the Wachusett, captures the
Florida in a Brazilian harbor, 645 ; court-martialed, 646.
Colonization, President Lincoln's scheme, 251.
Colored Orphan Asylum, fired by rioters, 505.
Colquitt, Brig.-Gen, at Antietam, 206.
Columbia, Tenn, sacked by Morgan, 404.
Columbia, Ark, Marmaduke defeated at, 551.
Columbia, S. C, Sherman captures — pillage and
burning of, 700 ; 702.
Columbus, Miss, Gen. Buford summons, 620.
Columbus, Ky, evacuated by Rebels, 54.
Confederate Naval Officers — Corsairs, 641.
Confederates' Opinion of Black Union soldiers,
523 ; impressment of slaves for military service by, 522 ;
resolutions of in relation to Abolition prisoners, 528-4.
Congaree River, passage of, by Sherman, 699.
Congress, appropriation in aid of the coloniza
tion of slaves, 267 ; meeting of the XXXVIIth, 257 ;
officers prohibited from returning fugitive slaves, 257 ;
an act against Slavery passed by, 261-2; classification
of Representatives in, 254 ; Rebel slaves freed by act of,
263 ; Hayti and Liberia recognized by, 265; in relation
to rendition of fugitive slaves, 267 : Lincoln proposes
National aid to emancipation, 259 ; law of evidence in
favor of coloredmen passed by, 269 ; subjects negroes to
conscription, 519 ; army appropriation and deficiency
bills before, 526; Grant's appointment as Lieutenant-
General to command the armies approved by, 562;
reassembles after Presidential election, 673 ; resolves
that Slavery shall not exist in the United States, 674.
Congress, frigate, destruction of, 117.
Connecticut State Elections, 486 ; 139.
Connolly, Gov. Henry, of New Mexico, 21.
Connor, Brig.-Gen. P. E, 1st Cal. Vols, his
Indian campaign, 455.
Conscription, first draft in New Tork, 501; riots
in New York and Brooklyn on account of drafting, 503
to 505; Congress declares negroes subject to, 519; Mr.
Stevens's amendment, 519 ; 620.
Conscription Acts, passage of rival bills in Con
gress, 487 ; Judge Woodward's opinion of, 488.
Convention, the Ohio Democratic, 493 ; of
Unionists at Baltimore, 582, 658.
Cooke, Gen,, charges without orders, 151 ;
wounded at Centerville, 896.
Cooper, Gen, defeated at Honey Springs, 449.
Corinth, Miss., besieged, 71; evacuated by
Rebels under Breckinridge, 72; map of the siege of,
226 ; composition of Rosecrans's army at, 225 ; its chief
works constructed by Beauregard, 225 ; a correspond
ent's description of the siege of, 227-8; Rosecrans's
official report, 229-80; Van Dorn repulsed at, 230 ; cap
tures and losses, 281.
Couch, Gen. D. N, at Fair Oaks, 144 to 146 ;
commands a division at Malvern Hill, 165; at Freder
icksburg, 844 ; at Chancellorsville, 861.
Cowles, Col. D. S., 128th N. T, killed at Port
Hudson, 388.
Cox, Gen. J. D, ordered to reenforce Pope's
army, 179 ; at South Mountain, 196; in North Carolina,
715-16.
Crampton's Gap, fight at and map of, 199-200.
Craney Island, Va, evacuated by Rebels, 127.
Crawford, Gen., at Cedar Mountain, 177 ;
at Antietam, 206; his advance at Gettysburg, 887;
charges at Five Forks, 783.
Creighton, Col., 1th Ohio, wounded, 111.
Crisis, opinion of Gov. H. Seymour on, 499.
Crittenden, Col. Geo. B., treachery of, 19 ; re
lieves Zollicoffer, 42.
Crocker, Brig.-Gen., at Champion Hills, 308.

Crook, Gen, surprised at Cedar Creek, 613.
Cross, Col., 5th N. H, killed at Gettysburg, 388.
Cross-Keys, Va, Fremont fights at, 138-9.
Croxton, Gen, at Chickamauga, 41 1.
Crutchfield, Col, threaten sM'yl'd Heights, 201.
Culpepper, Va., Banks's operations near, 115,
177; Jackson attacks Crawford's batteries at, 177.
Cumberland Mountains, recrossed by Bragg
and Kirby Smith, 270.
Cumberland Gap, works blown up at, 214.
Cumberland, frigate, destruction of, 116.
Cunningham, Col, killed at Stone River, 282.
Currency depreciation and National debt, 663.
Curtin, Andrew G., reelected Governor of Penn
sylvania, 609.
Curtis, Gen. Samuel R., pursues Price to Fay
etteville, 27 ; at Pea Ridge, 27 to 81 : his report of losses
at, 81 ; advances into Arkansas, 84; at the Cache, 84;
retires to Helena, 85; allusion to, 86 ; fights Price, 561.
Custer, Gen, raids across the Rapidan, 564-5;
victorious at Sailor's Creek, 741 ; at Appomattox Sta
tion, 748. D.
Dahlgren, Admiral John A., succeeds Dupont
in command of the South Atlantic Squadron, 478; his
luckless attack on Sumter, 481.
Dahlgren, Col. TJlric, killed in a raid on Rich
mond, 665.
Dallas, Ga, captured by Sherman, 628.
Dalton, Ga, captured by Sherman, 626.
Dana, Gen. N. J. T., at West Point, Va., .126-
7; at Fair Oaks, 146; wounded at Antietam, 209; at
Morganzia, La., 846 ; services in Western Texas, 341 ;
his raid in North Alabama, 695.
Davidson, Gen., menaces Little Rock, 451 ; his
raid toward Mobile, 695.
Davis, Gen. Jeff. C. (Union), captures Rebel
ramp and 1,000' prisoners at Milford, Mo, 26; at Pea
Ridge, 28 to 81; commands a division at Stone River,
274; captures 141 of Wheeler's raiders, 284; with Sher
man in his great march from Atlanta to Savannah,
6S9 to 695.
Davis, Jefferson, Proclamation of, declaring
Gen. Butler a felon, 105-6; on the field at Fair Oaks,
148 ; leads Rebel charge at Fair Oaks, 145 ; on the im
portance of holding the Mississippi, 286; his speech on
the fall of Atlanta, 639; his ultimatum for peace, 666;
declares he would sacrifice his life a thousand times be
fore he would succumb, 675 ; leaves Richmond, 788 ;
sets up his Government at Danville, 754; issues a pro
clamation, receives news of Lee's surrender, 755; is
captured near Irwinsville by Lt.-Col. Pritchard, 756.
Davis, Col, 104th Pa, killed, 144.
Davis, Col, 12th Ulinois, captures trains, 201.
Davis, Com. (Union), at Memphis, 56-1 ; 58.
Decatur, Ala, Hood's attack on, 631 ; 633.
Democratic Press, on the Draft, 501-2. i
Dennis, Gen. E. S, at Port Gibson, 305; de
fense of and Iosb at Milliken's Bend, 318, 819.
Dfvens, Gen. Charles, wounded, 145 ; 148.
Dister, Lt.-Col., killed near Vicksburg, 290.
Dix, Major-Gen. John A, his proclamation on
occupying parts of Virginia, 241.
Dobbins, Gen, at Big creek, 554-5. '
Dodge, Gen, his raid in North Alabama, 285.
Donaldsonville, La., 102; fights at, 338.
Doubleday, Gen. A., succeeds General Hatch
(wounded) at South Mountain, 198 ; opens his batteries
at Antietam, 205 ; at Gettysburg, 880 to 887.
Douglas, Col, killed at Antietam, 210.
Dow, Gen. Neal, wounded at Port Hudson, 333.
Draft, the Democratic press on, 501 ; riots in
New York, because of, 608 ; Gov. Seymour on, 507.
Drewry's Bluff, attack on batteries at, 140-1.
Dudley, Gen., defeated at Donaldsonville, 338.

ANALTTICAL INDEX.

769

Dotfield, BBKk-Gta., taken prisoner, 212.
Duncan, Gen. J. R, in command at Forts Jack
son and St. Philip, La, S7 ; 90.
Dupont, Rear-Admiral Samuel F, prepara
tions for attacking Fort Sumter, 466; his iron-clads
assail Fort Smntcr, 467 ; their advance arrested, 469 •
Union monitors repulsed— 4he Keokuk sunk. 471 ; re
possesses several coast defenses, 45S; his gunboats ad
vance near C~arlestnn, 460 ; foilure of his attack on Fort
McAllister, 468-4; his partiality to deck-fighting, 172.
Duryea, Gen., at South Mountain, 198.
Duvall's Bluff, 555. E.
Early, Gen. Jubal A., charges at Cedar Moun
tain—is forced to fall hack, 177; commands Jackson's
division at Antietam, S06; at Gettysburg, SSO to SS7;
menaces Washington — is repulsed, 605;~hc surprises
Crook at Cedar Creek, 613; Sheridan routs him at
Cedar Creek, £14-5; again routed at Waynesboro', 727.
East Point, Ga., Sherman's operations at, 636.
Ector, Brig.-Gen- at Chickamauga, 411.
Eddy, Col, killed at Iuka, 224.
Edisto Island, occupied by Sherman, 460.
Edisto River, Sherman's army crosses the, 698.
Egan, Col., his gallantry, 18S.
Elder's Battery, at Olustee, 531.
Eldridge, Col- 127th Hi, at Vicksburg, 310.
Emancipation, views of distinguished statesmen
and generals on Slavery, 382 to 256; proclamations of
President Lincoln, 258-5; proclamation of Gen. Fre
mont in Missouri, 289; Congress debating, 256.
Emmett, Gen, killed at HartsvUle, Mo, 441.
Emory, Gen. Wm. F., abandons supplies on the
Chickah otniny, 159; stops the Rebels at Pleasant
Grove, 541; twits them at Pleasant Hill, 648; encoun
ters a cavalry force at Mansura, 651.
Estep's Battery, at Stone River, 277.
European Mediation offered and declined, 484.
Everett, Edward, his speech at Boston, 256 ;
at Gettysburg celebration, 457.
Ewell, Gen., checks Fremont's advance at
Cross-Keys. 18S;, moves down tbe left bank of the
Chickahominy, 160: defeated by Hooker at Bristow
station, 181; burns bridge, destroys railroad, and falls
back on Manassas, 181; severely wounded, 1S2; his
division present at second Bull Run, 1S9 ; commands a
division at Harpers Ferry, 200; is engaged at Antie
tam, 206; takes Winchester, 871; at Gettysburg, SSO to
SS7; at Manassas Gap, 898; at the Wilderness, 567 to
571; surrenders, 741.
Ewing, Gen. Hugh S, at Vicksburg, 311 ;. his
defense of Fort Davidson, and retreat, 551-5.
F.
FaGAH, Gen., attacks at Marks's Mill, 653.
Fair Oaks, Va., battle of, 142 to 147.
Farnsworth, Gen., killed at Gettysbuig, 388.
Farragxtt, Admiral D. G., bombards Vicksburg,
578; at Ship Island, S3; at months of the Mississippi,
84-85: 86; his attack on and passage of defenses below
New Orleans, S8 to 94 ; his forces occupy the city, 95-6;
his reply to Mayor Monroe, 96; at Baton Rouge, 101 ;
his fleet runs by Vicksburg batteries, 101 ; 102 ; bom
bards Donaldsonville, 102 ; returns to New Orleans,
102 ; at tbe capture of Port Hudson, S82 ; assails Forts
Horgan and Gaines, Mobile bay, 651.
Fakrand, Comr^ surrenders to Rear-Admiral
Fletcher on the Tombigbee river, 754.
Fayetteville, N. C, taken by Sherman, 633.
Fayetteville, Ark., Cabell defeated at, 448.
Featherston, Brig.-Gen. W. S., wounded at
Glendale, 168.
Federal Government, its right to subdue re
sistance to its authority, 282.
Ferrero, Brig.-Gen. Edward, in attack on Ro-
anok* Island, 76; defends Fort Sanders, 482.
vol. n. — _9

Field, Brig.-Gen., at second Bull Run, 189.
Fish, Col., 16th La., killed at Stone River, 282.
Florida, contributions to the Confederate army
in, 459 ; Gen. Truman Seymour's expedition to, 629.
Florida, The, and the Alabama, Southern cor
sairs, built and fitted out in England and flying British
colors, 648 ; depredations and capture of, 644^5,
Floyd, Gen. John B., 11 ; 18 ; 19 ; 47 ; would not
surrender, 60.
Foote, Com. A H., at Fort Henry, 45 ; 46-7 ; at
Fort Donelson, 4S-S ; up the Cumberland, 58 ; at Co
lumbus, Ky., 64; at Island No. 10, 55; bombards Fort
Pillow, 56.
Ford, Col. T. H., on Maryland Heights, 200 ;
abandons them, 200.
Forrest, Gen. N. B., escapes from Fort Donelson,
60; raids on Rosecrans's communications, 270; routed
at Parker's Cross-roads, 282; at Chickamauga, 417; his
massacre at Fort Pillow, 619 ; routs Sturgis. at Gun-
town, 621 ; assails Johnsonvillc, Tenn., 679.
Fort De Russy, captured by A. J. Smith, 537.
Fort Donelson, Tenn., map of, 46; invested
by Grant, 47 ; Eebels attempt to cut their way out,
48-9 ; sufferings of the *roops, 49 ; Floyd and Forrest
escape, 50 ; the surrender, 60; losses sustained at, 51.
Fort Fisher, N. C, Gen. Terry assaults and
captures, 718.
Fort Henry, Tenn., defenses of, 45 ; attacked
by Gen. Grant, 45 ; map of, 46 ; captured, 46-7.
Fort Hindman, Ark., taken by McClernand, 293.
Fort Macon, N. C, capture of, 79.
Fort McAllister, attack on, 463 ; stormed, 693.
Fort Pillow, bombarded and captured — For
rest's massacre at, 619.
Fort Powell, blown up by the Rebels, 653.
Fort Pulaski, siege and capture of, 455 to 458.
Fort Sanders attacked by Longstreet, 432.
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, maps of, 86 ; 88 ;
bombardment and surrender of, &S to 97.
Fort Smith, Ark., Gen. Thayer leaves, 552.
Forts Morgan and Gaines, Mobile bay, Farra
gut assails, 651 ; Pago and Anderson surrender, 658,
Fort Steedman, Va., Rebel attack ou, 728.
Fort Sumter, iron-clads on service at, 466 ; Du-
pont's iron-clads assail, 467; advance on arrested, 469;
the monitors repulsed— the iron-clad Keokuk sunk
near, 471; Dahlgren's luckless attack on, 4S1; Swin-
ton's acconnt of the bombardment of, 467-S-O ; evacua
tion of, 702-3.
Fort Wagner, Gen. Strong's assault on, a fail
ure, 477 ; Gen, Gillmore begins a regular siege of,
47S; captured by Gillmore, 4S1.
Fort Warren, N. C, assailed by Rebels, 533-4.
Foster, Gen. J, G., accompanies Burnside's ex-
? edition, 73 ; part taken by, in the attack on Newbern,
8; in command of Department of N. C. 80; organizes
expedition for the capture of Goldsboro\s0; SI ; returns
to Newbern, 81 ; repels IX H. Hill at Washington, N.
C, 488: makes a demonstration in behalf of Sherman,
696 ; relieved in consequence of his wound, 696.
Foster, Col., defeats Sam. Jones at Blue Springs,
Tenn., 470.
Franklin, Gen. Wm. B., at West Point, Va., 126 ;
his corps in reserve at Gaines's Mill, 156; repulses the
enemy's attack at Gelding's ferin, 160; commands a
corps at Malvern Hill, 165; ordered to reenforce Pope,
379; commands n corps of McClellan's left wing at
Crampton's Gap, 199; at Antietam, 207; his failure at
Sabine Pass, 889; at Fredericksburg, 844; wounded at
Sabine Cross-roads, 639.
Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, on Negro soldiers, 513.
Franklin, Tenn., Hood attacks Schofield at, 681 ;
map of battle, 681 ; losses in the battle of, 6SS.
Fredericksburg, Burnside before, 343; battle
of, 345 to S4S; map of, 348; our losses at, 847; Gen-
Leo and Burnside near, 349.

770

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Fremont, Gen. J. C, 26 ; appointed to command
of Mountain Department, 113; ordered to intercept
Jackson, 136; his march across the mountains, 136-7;
fails to head off Jackson, 137; fight with Ewell at
Ooss-Keys, 138 ; recalled from pursuit of Jackson. 140 ;
refuses a command under Gen. Pope, 172; his proc
lamation modified by order of the President, 239;
nominated for President at Cleveland, 658 ; withdraws
from Presidential canvass, 670.
French Emperor proffers his services as me
diator between the North and South, 484.
French, Gen. (Rebel), commands a division at
Antietam, 207; at FrederickBbnrg, 845; is repelled
from Allatoona by Gen. Corse, 689.
Front Royal, Va., fight at, 133-4.

G.
Gaines's Mill, Va., battle of, 154 to 158; map
ofthe field, 156 ; Porter's defeat, 157 ; losses sustained,
157-8; McClellan's dispatches, 158.
Gainesville, battle of, 181; retreat from, 183-1.
Gallatin, Tenn., Union defeat at, 213.
Galveston, Magruder's foray, and our losses at,
822; 323; 825; naval encounters at, 823 to 827.
Gano, Gen., surprises a Union outpost, 555.
Gardner, Gen., his defense and Surrender of
Port Hudson, 318; 831 to 887.
Garfield, Gen. James A., drives Marshall from
Kentucky, 42; at battle of Mill Spring, 42; 48; 44; at
Chickamauga, 422.
Garland, Brig.-Gen., his brigade cut up at
South Mountain, and himself killed, 596.
Garnett, Brig.-Gen., killed at Gettysburg, 389.
Garrard, Gen., cooperates at Mobile, 723.
Geary, Gen. John W., his charge at Cedar
Mountain, 177 ; triumphs at Wauhatchie, 435.
Georgia, British-Confederate cruiser, captured
by the Niagara, 646.
Germantown, Va., skirmish at, 188.
Gettysburg, 367 ; battle and map of, 318 ; Gens.
Hancock and Sickles arrive at, 879 ; preparing for the
decisive charge at, 388 ; second battle and map of, 884 ;
the Eebel grand charge at, 885.
Getty's Division at the battles of the Wilder
ness, 568 to 571.
Gholson, Gen., of Miss., killed at Egypt, 696.
Glsbon, Brig.-Gen., at South, Mountain, 198;
wounded at Vicksburg, 347 ; at Chancellorsville, 362 ;
at Gettysburg, 880 to 887; at the Wilderness, 567 to
571 ; at Cold Harbor, 581.
Giddings, Hon. J. R., on the Slave-Trade, 237.
Gilbert, Gen., in battle of Perryville, 220.
Gillem:, Gen., captures 300 prisoners from Duke
at Kingsport, Tenn., 688; captures 200 men and 8 guns
from Vaughan at Wytheville, Va., 688.
Gillmore, Gen. Quincy A., routs Pegram near
Somerset, 427 ; his plan for bombarding Fort Pulaski
adopted, 456; 457; fall of Fort Pulaski due to, 458;
succeeds Gen. Hunter in command of the Department
of the South, 478 ; condition of his army and plan of
operations, 478-4; establishes the marsh battery, which
opens on Charleston,478-9 ; captures Fort Wagner, 481 ;
stops blockade-running at Charleston, 482; occupies
Jacksonville unresisted, 528 ; 630.
Gist, Gen., at Chickamauga, 41 7 ; killed at Frank
lin, Tenn., 688.
Gladding, Brig.-Gen., killed at Shiloh, 10.
Glendale, Va., battle ofj 161 to 163 ; extracts
from various reports of, 162-3; Sam. "Wilkeson's ac
count of retreat from, 164.
Golding's Farm, fight at, 160.
Goldsboro', N. 0., Schofield enters, 116 ; Sher
man arrives, 708.
Goldsborough, Com. L. M., with Burnside's
expedition, 78; relieved from command, 76; 121.
Gooding, Col. O. P., encounters a Rebel force
near Eed river, 589.

Gooding, Gen., taken prisoner, 220.
Gordon, Gen. J. B., mortally wounded near
Eichmond, 574 A
Gordon, Gen. G. H., extract from his report of
attack on Banks's rear-guard at Winchester, 185; com
mands a brigade at Antietam, 206.
Gordonsville, Va., 173; Jackson at, 176.
Gorman, Gen. W. A., at South Mountain, 198.
Govan, Gen., at Chickamauga, 417 ; captured,
with most of his brigade, at Jonesboro', Ga., 686.
Gove, Col., Mass., killed at Gaines's Mill, 151.
Graham, Major, his train recaptured at Phila
delphia, Tenn., 431.
Granbury, Brig.-Gen., killed at Franklin, 683.
Grand Ecore, La., Rebels beaten near, 545.
Grand Gulf, Miss., burned by Gen. Williams,
101 ; attack on, 802.
Granger, Gen. Gordon, at Chickamauga, 421 ;
captures Fort Morgan, 658; in attack on Mobile, 721.
Grant, Gen. U. S., captures Fort Henry, 45-6 ;
invests and captures Fort Donelson, 47 to- 61 ; moves
his army to Pittsburg Landing, 5S-9 ; arrives on the
battle-field, 63 ; his remarks on the line of retreat, 65 ;
66 ; 68 ; his report of losses at Pittsburg Landing, 70 ;
in command of the district of West Tennessee— informs
Eosecrans of the movements of a large Eebel force, 222 ;
orders Eosecrans to attack Iuka, and sends him reen
forcements, 223; hereenforces Corinth bo as to resist
the besieging army under Van Dorn, 280 ; his attempts
to flank the Mississippi, 295; he crosses the Big Black,
809; changes his point of attack .oh Vicksburg, 800 ;
directs a naval attack on the batteries of Grand
Gulf, 802; crosses his army near Port Gibson, 303;
his attack, 304 ; his captures and loss, 804; changes his
base of supplies, 804; wins the battle of Champion
Hills, 307 ; his captures and losses, 808-9 ; fall of Haines's
Bluff" and Tazoo City, 810 ; his grand assault on Vicks
burg a failure — he begins a regular siege — negotiations
for surrender, captures and losses, &c, 310 to 816 ;
selected for chief command in Tennessee, 432 ; is re
enforced by Sherman at Chattanooga, 437; drives
Bragg from Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga Valley,
and Mission Eidge, 438 to 445 ; his official report, 442.;
losses on both sides, 446 ; is appointed Lieut-General —
his advance on Eichmond, 562 ; his qualifications and
ideas, 563-4; he crosses the Eapidan, 567; fights Lee
at the Wilderness, 567 to 570 ; advances to the North
Anna river, 577 ; his flank movement to Cold Harbor,
579 ; his grand assault at Cold Harbor, 581 ; he crosses
the James river, 583 ; end of his campaign of 1864 and
losses, 597 ; remarks on the results of the campaign,
598 ; letter to Butler regarding the capture of Wilming
ton, 712; before Petersburg, 729; 780; compels Lee to
surrender, 743-4 ; visits Sherman at Ealeigh, 758 ; issues
general order congratulating the troops on the end of
the Eebellion, 768.
Great Run, Va., Sigel fights Rebels at, 179.
Greathouse, Brig.-Gen. Lucien, killed near
Atlanta, 631.
Greeley, Horace, writes to the President on
Slavery in the War, 251 ; at Niagara Falls, 664-5.
Green River, Ky., railroad communication re
opened to, 270.
Green, Col., wounded at Fort Wagner, 477.
Green, Gen., wounded at Wauhatchie, 435.
Green, Gen. Tom, killed on Red river, 548.
Gregg, Gen., taken prisoner at Farmville, 143.
Gregg, Gen. (Union), attacked, and 500 men
captured from him near Jefferson, Va., 895.
Gregg, Brig.-Gen. (Rebel), wounded at Antie
tam, 210 ; at Gettysburg, 889.
Grenada, Miss., cavalry raids to, 615.
Grierson, Col. B. H. (since Gen.), raids from
Lagrange to Baton Eouge, 801 ; raids toward Mobile, 695,
Griffin, Gen., at Gaines's Mill, 156 ; at Malvern
Hill, 165; captures 1,500 Eebels at Five Forks, 733.
Griffith, Sergeant, 22d Iowa, captures 13
prisoners, 812.
Grimes, Senator James W., of Iowa, his bill for
the education of colored children, 266.

ANALYTICAL INDEX.

771

Grover, Gen. C, reocoupies Baton Rouge, 327.
Groveton, Va., battle of, 183.
Gunboats, captured and destroyed *y the ene
my on Eed river, 550.
Guntown, Miss., Sturgis routed at, 621.

Habeas Corpus, Vallandigham's case, 489;
President Lincoln on, 491.
Hagerstown, Md., Longstreet advances to, 196.
Haines's Bluff, Miss., Sherman's feint on, 303 ;
capture of, 310.
Hall, Col. A. S., 105th Ohio, defeats Morgan
on Vaught's Hill, 284.
Halleck, .Gen. H. W., allusion to, 26; 35 ; 58;
his army occupies Corinth, Miss., 71-2; summoned to
Washington to act as General-in-Chief, 72 ; department
of, extended, 118; his suggestions to Gen. McClellan,
169-70-71; his communications with Gen. McClellan,
ordering him to withdraw his army from the Peninsula,
190-1-2; his order relating to fugitive slaves, 241;
orders Burnside to concentrate his army on the Ten
nessee, 430; his apprehensions as to Eosecrans's army
at Chattanooga, 432 ; Grant relieves him as Comman
der-in-Chief and appoints him chief of staff, 564
Hamilton, Gen. S., cooperates in the attack on
Price at Iuka, 228 ; his report as to Corinth, 225 ; with
Sherman on his great march, 689.
Hamilton's Battery, at Olustee, 531.
Hampton Roads, gunboat fight in, 116 to 120.
Hampton, Gen. Wade, wounded at Gettysburg,
389; surprises Kilpatrick near Fayetteville, 705.
Hancock, Gen. Winfield S., in battle of Wil
liamsburg, 125 ; succeeds Gen. Richardson at Antietam,
208; at Fredericksburg, 845; at Gettysburg, 880 to 387 ;
wounded, 887 ; commands 2d corps of the Army of the
Potomac, 564; he marches on Chancellorsville, 566;
at the Wilderness, 567 to 571 ; captures Gen'. Johnson
and staff, with 8,000 men and 30 guns, at Spottsylvania,
571-2; at Cold Harbor, 580 to 582; north of the James,
539; his fight at Eeams's Station, 593; advances to
Hatcher's Eun, 595.
Hanover Court House, Va., fight at, 141-2.
Hanson, Gen. Roger W., Ky. (Rebel), killed at
Stone Eiver, 282.
Hardee, Gen., commands a corps under Bragg,
213; commands a corps at Stone Eiver, 274; his flank
attack at Decatnr, near Atlanta, 632; his attack at
Jonesboro', a failure, 686; evacuates Savannah, 694;
evacuates Charleston, 701.
Hardin, Col., wounded at 2d Bull Run, 189.
Harding, Col. A C, defends Fort Donelson, 283.
Harper's Ferry, battle and map of, 199 ; 200 ;
in the hands of the enemy, 203.
Harrington, Col., killed at Stone River, 281.
Harris, Gov. Isham G., 52.
Harris, Col., at Perryville, 220.
Harrison's Bar, scene of operations, 167 ;
map of McClellan's position, 168; interview between
President Lincoln and Gen. McClellan at, 169.
Harrison, Col. M. L., defeats Cabell at Fayette-
•jille. Ark., 448.
Harrodsburg, Ky., Bragg abandons supplies
at, 221.
Hartsuff, Brig.-Gen., at South Mountain, 198 ;
is wounded at Antietam, 206.
Hartsville, Tenn., fight at, 211; disgraceful
surrender of CoL Moore at, 271-2.
Hartsville, Mo., fight at, 447.
Hatch Gen., he fails to carry out his instruc
tions and is relieved from command 175; commands
King's division at South Mountain, 197; is wounded,
198; at Nashville, 684.
Hatcher's Run, Hancock advances to, 595.
Hatton, Gen. Robt. (Rebel), killed ,158. _
Hawes, Richard, appointed Rebel " Provisional
Governor of Kentucky," 217.

Hawkins, Col. R. C, at Roanoke Island, 76 ; 79.
Hayes, Gen. Alex, killed at the Wilderness, 569.
Hayti recognized as a Republic, 265.
Hazen, Gen., with Sherman on his great march,
689 ; storms Fort McAllister, 693.
Heintzelman, Gen., commands a corps in Army
of the Potomac. 108 ; at Yorktown, 120 ; in battle of
Williamsburg, 122 to 125; at Fair Oaks, 142; 145-6;
his report of the battle of Glendale, 163 ; commands a
corps at Malvern Hill, 165; he reenforces Pope's army,
179; ordered to cooperate with McDowell, 181 ; pres
ent at Gainesville, 185 ; gallant conduct of his brigade
at second Bull Eun, 189.
Helena, Ark., attack by Holmes on, 319; Rebels
defeated at, 321.
Henderson, Ky., seized by guerrillas, 212.
Henderson's Hill, La., Gen. Warner surprises
and captures guns and prisoners at, 537.
Henry, Patrick, on the Slave-Trade, 233.
Herron, Gen. F. J., routs Rebels near Fayette
ville, Ark., 87, 38; at Prairie GroveL88 to 41 ; extracts
from letters from, 88 ; 41 ; at Vicksburg, 814 ; his Tazoo
expedition, 818.
Heth, Gen. (Rebel), defeated at Lewisburg, Va.,
140 ; at Gettysburg, 880 to 887 ; wounded, 889 ; repulsed
at Petersburg, 735.
Higginson, Col. T. W., takes Jacksonville, 449.
Hill, Gen. A. P., his attack near Mechanicsville,
repulsed, 153 ; cooperates with Jackson, 181 ; moves to
Harper's Ferry, 200; at Fredericksburg, 844; at Chan
cellorsville, 859 ; at Centerville, 895 ; killed at Peters
burg, 785.
Hill, Gen. D. H. (Rebel), at Richmond, 142;
143; his attack, near Mechanicsville, repulsed, 163;
at Malvern Hill, 165; commands the right division at
second Bull Eun, 188; at South Mountain, 196; his
report of the battle, 197; at Gettysburg, 880 to 887;
Foster repels him at Washington, N. C, 488 ; at Chick
amauga, 415; at the Wilderness, 567 to 571.
Hill, Major, 2d Indiana, defeats raiders, 211.
Hindman, Gen. T. C, 36 ; 37 ; in command at
Prairie Grove, 88 to 41 ; retreats from Prairie Grove,
40 ; at Chickamauga, 422.
Hinkley, Col. (Rebel), killed at Hartsville, 447.
Hitchcock, Gen., his report of strength of force
reserved for defense of Washington, 130.
Hobson, Gen., his surrender in Kentucky, 623.
Hoke, Gen., besieges Plymouth, N. C, 533-4.
Hollins, Com. (Rebel), 55 ; in command of fleet
at New Orleans, 84; superseded by Com. Whittle, 87.
Holly Springs, captured by Van Dorn, 286.
Holmes, Lt.-Gen., his failure at Helena, 321.
^olt, Brig.-Gen. (Rebel), killed at Benton, Ark.,
by scouts under Capt. Inez, 554
Honey Springs, Cooper defeated at, 449.
Hood, Gen. John B., attempts to turn the right
of our army at Thoroughfare Gap, 183 ; commands a
division at Antietam, 200; at Gettysburg, 880 to 889;
wounded at Chickamauga, 422; leads the attack at
Kenesaw Mountain, 629; succeeds Johnson in com
mand of the Eebel army at Atlanta, 630 ; his first at
tack on Sherman, at Decatur, repulsed— losses, 631 ; he
abandons Atlanta, 687; his movements, 639-40; his
Tennessee campaign, 677; he invests Athens (Ala
bama), 677; operates on Sherman's line of communica
tions up to Chattanooga, 678; intrenches before
Nashville, 678 ; composition and organization of his
army, 679-80; he attacks Schofield at Franklin, 681;
his account of the battle, 683; his position at Nash
ville, 684; worsted by Thomas, at Nashville, 685; he
is chased out of Tennessee, 687; is relieved of com
mand at his own request, 689.
Hooker, Gen. Joseph, in the battle of Williams
burg, 122 to 126; extract from his report of battle of
Williamsburg, 125; advances on Eichmond, 149; or
dered to Fair Oaks, 149 ; commands a division at the
battle of Malvern Hill, 165; drives tho Eebels from
Malvern to White Oak Swamp bridge, 170; defeats
Ewell's force at Bristow station, 181 ; cooperates with
the army at Gainesville and South Mountain, 135 ; 197 ;

772

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

his gallant conduct at 2d Bull Eun, 189 ; at Antietam,
205 ; 206 ; receives a severe wound in the foot, and his
command assigned to Gen. Sumner, 207; at Freder
icksburg, 345; succeeds Burnside in command of the
army, 352; Lee concentrates his forces on his front,
855; stunned at the battle of Chancellorsville, 861 ; his
loss, 864; recrosses the Eappahannock, 864; is suc
ceeded in command by Gen. Meade, 375; visits Wash
ington without leave, and is placed in arrest by Gen.
Halleck, 875; is transferred from the army of the Po
tomac, with llth and 12th corps, to Middle Tennessee,
under Grant, 488; he carries Lookout Mountain, 439 ;
advances on Chattanooga, 441 ; Cleburne turns on him
at Einggold, 445; defeats Longstreet at Wauhatchie,
485-6 ; in the Atlanta campaign, 626.
Hovey, Gen. A. P., captures a Rebel camp, 288 ;
wounded at Fort Hindman, 293 ; good service at
Champion Hills, 808; at Vicksburg, 812.
Howard, Gen. 0. O., wounded at Fair Oaks, 148;
at Antietam, 207; at Fredericksburg, 845; his corps
routed by JackBon at Chancellorsville, 857 ; at Gettys
burg, 380 to 887 ; in the Atlanta campaign, 626 ; with
Sherman in his great march from Atlanta to Savannah,
6S9 to 695 ; advances on Columbia, S. C, 700.
Howe, Gen. A. P., at Chancellorsville, 363 ; his
narrative of the pursuit of Lee, 890 ; his testimony in
relation to Gen. Meade, 402.
Huger, Gen. (Rebel), at Seven Pines, 143 ; his
position in front of Eichmond, 160 ; is present at the
battle of Malvern Hill, 165.
Humphreys, Gen., at Vicksburg, 345 ; at Get
tysburg, 382 to 887; at Farmville, 742.
Hunter, Gen., his order on Slavery annulled by
tbe President, 246-7 ; he defeats W. E. Jones at Pied
mont, 600 ; miscarries at Lynchburg, 601 ; is succeeded
in command by Gen. Sheridan, 607.
Hurlbut, Gen., 59, 64; at Corinth, 230.

Imboden, Gen., captures Charlestown, Va., 396.
Immell's Battery, at Iuka, 224.
Independence, Mo., garrison at, captured, 36.
Indiana, Morgan's raid into, 405.
Indian Campaigns, Sibley's and Connor's, 455.
Indianola, iron-clad, destroyed, 299.
Indians, slaveholding among the, 32; at Fort
Smith, 83; in battle of Pea Eidge, S3-4.
Indian Territory, 32-3.
Ingraham, Capt. D. N., his iron-clad raid from
Charleston, 465.
Innes, Col., 1st Michigan Engineers, his defense
of Lavergne, 281.
Irish Brigade, services of, 162 ; great loss of,
at Fredericksburg, 345.
Iron-Clads in service at Fort Sumter, 466; at
Morris Island, 475.
Island No. 10, assailed, 54; captured, 55-6.
Iuka, Miss., battle and map of, 223.
Izetta, Steamboat, aids iu capturing raiders, 404.

Jackson, Gen. Stonewall (Rebel), promotion
of, 107-8; operations of, in West Virginia, 108; in
Shenandoah valley, 114; 115; 182 to 140; defeated at
Kernstown. 115; at McDowell, 133 ; captures garrison
nt FrontBoyal, 188-4; moves toward Winchester, 184;
strength of his army, 184; forces Banks from Winches-
tor, 185; his losses and captures in the Valley, 185;
140; his reasons for failing to crush Banks, 186; ex
tract from his report, 136 ; retreats up the Valley, 186-7 ;
repulses Fremont with Ewell's corps, 138; at Port Ee-
public, 139; his army summoned to Eichmond, 140;
arrests McDowell's march, 151 ; his report of losses at
Gaines's Mill, 157 ; operations near Glendale, 161 ; Mal
vern Hill, 165; his loss, 166; reenforced at Gordons
ville, he follows Gen. Ewell, 176; attacks Crawford's
batteries at Culpepper and defoats Banks at Cedar
Mountain, 177; prisoners and guns captured by, 177;

his hazardous movement from the Rappahannock, ISO;
evacuates Manassas, 181 ; is present at 2d Bull Eun, 187 ;
his report, 188-9 ; he recrosses the Potomac and cap
tures Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry, 199-200 ; 201 ;
commands the left wing at Antietam, 206; ordered to
attack the right wing in flank and rear, but declines,
209; at Fredericksburg, 844; he routs Howard's corps
at Chancellorsville, 857; his death, 359.
Jackson, Gen. Jas. S., killed at Perryville, 219.
Jackson, Gen. C. F., killed at Fred'ksburg, 347.
Jackson, Col., 76th Pa., at Fort Wagner, 477.
Jacksonville, Fla., retaken by Unionists, 459 ;
Union Convention at, 459, 532.
Jackson City, Miss., captured by McPherson,
806 ; Sherman drives Johnston's army out of, 317.
Jaensen, Major, killed before Vicksburg, 290.
James River, scene of operations and map of,
168 ; crossed by Grant, 588 ; Sheridan baffled at bridges
over, 728.
Jefferson, Va., Unionists routed near, 395.
Jefferson City, Mo., Price threatens, 559.
Jenkins, Gen., wounded at Gettysburg, 389.
Jenkins's Ferry, Ark., fight at, 553.
Johnson, Andrew, nominated for Vice-Presi
dent, 660; his letter of acceptance, 660; succeeds to the
Presidency, 750 ; offers reward of $100,000 for arrest of
Davis, 750.
Johnson, Hon. Geo. W., killed at Shiloh, 10.
Johnson, Major-Gen. Edward, captured by
Hancock at SpottBylvanio, 572.
Johnson, Gen. R. W., at Chickamauga, 415;
cooperates against Bragg at Lookout Mountain, Chat
tanooga Yalley, and Mission Eidge, 488 to 442.
Johnson, Zachariah, on the Slave-Trade, 233.
Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, plot to seize, 624.
Johnsonville, Tenn., assaulted by Forrest, 679.
Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., succeeds Beauregard
in command of Army of Virginia, 112 ; evacuates Ma
nassas, 112; attacks Casey at Fair Oaks, 142; wounded
at Fair Oaks, 145; his report of losses at Fair Oaks,
148; Sherman drives him out of Jackson City, 817;
opposed to Sherman in Georgia, 625; organization of
army, 625; abandons Dalton and Eesaca~to Sherman,
626; retreats from Adairsville, 626; Kingston, 628 ;
Kenesaw Mountain, 630 ; is superseded" by Hood,
630-1; takes command of Hood's army, 699; attacks
Slocum at Bentonville, 707; surrenders to Sherman,
754.
Johnston, Gen. Albert Sidney, abandons Bowl
ing Green, 51 ; his retreat to Corinth, 52 ; reasons for
leaving Kentucky, 59 ; 60 ; in command at Pittsburg
Landing, 60 ; killed, 64.
Jones, Gen. D. R., at Thoroughfare Gap, 183;
wounded at Antietam, 206.
Jones, Gen.ThomasN., evacuates Pensacola, 459.
Jones, Major-Gen. Sam., at Wytheville and Lew
isburg, 403.
Jones, Maj.-Gen. J. M., wounded at Malvern
Hill, 166; moves to Harper'B Ferry, 200; wounded at
Gettysburg, 889 ; killed at the WilderneBS, 568.
Jones, Col., 24th Ohio, killed at Stone River, 281 .
Jonesboro', operationsof Sherman's army at, 635.
Journalists (New York) on the Liberty of the
Press, 495. K.
Kane, Lt.-Col. T. L., Penn. Bucktails, wounded
and captured, 187.
Kearny, Gen. Philip, at Williamsburg, 124;
at Malvern Hill, 165 ; advances on Gainesville, 181-8 ;
killed near Chantilly, 188.
Kearsarge, The, sinks the Alabama, '646.
Keenan, Maj., killed at Chancellorsville, 358.
Kemper, Brig.-Gen., wounded at Gettysburg, 389.
Kenesaw Mountain, Sherman repulsed at, 629.
Kenly, Col. J. R., surprised at Front RoyaL 133.
Kennett, Col. Luther M., chases raiders, 271.

ANALYTICAL INDEX.

773

Kentucky, 41 ; Buell moves on Bowling Green,
51; invasion of by Kirby Smith, 218 ; raiders captured
from, 404; Morgan's last raid into, 628; President Lin
coln in relation tp, 655.
KERNSTOWN, Va., Jackson defeated at, 114.
Kershaw, Brig.-Gen., at Malvern Hill, 165 ;
takes Maryland Heights, 201.
Keyes, Gen. E. D., commands corps in Army of
the Potomac, 108; surprised at Fair Oaks, 142; on the
James river, 159 ; at Malvern Hill, 165 ; retreats on
Washington, 894.
Kilpatrick, Gen. Judson, attacks Lee's rear
guard under Pettigrew, 892-3 ; captures gunboats near
Fredericksburg, 394 ; worsted by Stuart and Fitz Hugh
Lee, 896; his raid on Eichmond, 565-6 ; is wounded at
Eesaca, 626 ; with Sherman in his great march, 689 to
695; advances to Waynesboro', 691; threatens an ad
vance on Augusta, 697 ; skirmishes with Wheeler, 697 ;
surprised by Wade Hampton near Fayetteville, N. C,
705.
Kimball, Brig.-Gen., at Antietam, 208.
Kimball, Gen. Nathan, at Franklin, Tenn., 682.
King, Gen. Rufus, his information, 151; on Vir
ginia Central railroad, 173 ; sends a brigade to Cedar
Mountain, 175 ; retreats on Manassas Junction, 183 ;
fights Jackson near Gainesville, 183.
Kingsport, Tenn., Gillem takes 300 prisoners
at, 688.
Kingston, Tenn., abandoned by Buckner, 429.
Kirk, Brig.-Gen., drives Wheeler out of La
vergne, 291 ; wounded at Stone Eiver, 279.
Kirkland, Gen., wounded, 396.
Ejiights of the Golden Circle, The, 19'; 556.
Knoxville, occupied by Kirby Smith, 213;
Burnside delivers, 429 ; Longstreet besieges, 432.
Koltes, Col., killed at second Bull Run, 189.

Lafourche, La., occupied by Gen. Weitzel, 104.
Lamar, Col. J. G., defends Secession ville, 461.
Lamine, Mo., A. J. Smith stopped at, 560.
Lander, Gen. F. W., at Blooming gap, 108;
death of, 114.
Landrum's Brigade at Vicksburg, 312.
Langdon's Battery at Olustee, 531.
Lauman, Gen., at Vicksburg, 314; Jackson, 311.
Lavergne, Tenn., capture of, '280; Gen. Kirk
drives Wheeler out of 271 ; Innes's defense of, 281.
Lawler's Brigade at Vicksburg, 312.
Lawton, Gen., at second Bull Run, 188; moves
to Harper's Ferry, 200 ; at Antietam, 206 ; wounded, 210.
Lebanon, Ky., capture of, 212; burned -by Mor
gan and his raiders, 405.
Le Due, Gen. Victor, on slowness of the Army
of the Potomac, 171.
Lee, Gen. A. L., on Red river, 536 to 546.
Lee, Lt., killed at Galveston, 324.
Lee, Gen. Robert E., at Fair Oaks, 143 ; in com
mand of the Eebel army, 152; increases the army of
Virginia, 158 ; on battle of Glendale, 168 ; menaces
McClellan's right wing, 172; his letter intercepted,
178; on the Eappahannock, 180; victorious at Gaines
ville, or second Bull Eun, 188; his official report, 187;
his captures from Pope, 189: his lost-es, 189; his ad
vance into Maryland, 193 ; address to Maryland, 193-4 ;
his general order, 194-5; Harper's Ferry his object,
195- divides his army, 196; at the battle of South
Mountain, 198; on Antietam creek, near Sharpsburg,
204; his report of the battle, 210; recrosses the Poto
mac, 210; moves to Bunker Hill and Winchester
211; fights Burnside at Fredericksburg, 848 to 349;
fights Hooker, 855; Sedgwick on his rear at Chancel
lorsville, 863; his order, 865; his army on free soil,
867- he enters Pennsylvania, 873; fights Meade at
Gettysburg, 880 to 888 ; retreats to the Potomac— his
loss 891; chases Meade up to Centerville, 495; re
crosses the Eappahannock, 896; prepares to fight

Grant, 566 ; fights Grant in the Wilderness, 567 to 571 ;
at Spottsylvania, 572-8 ; Cold Harbor, 580 ; defense of
the massacre at Fort Pillow, 629 ; attacks Warren and
Sheridan, 731 ; notifies Davis to evacuate Eichmond,
735; crosses the Appomattox, 741 ; solicits an inter
view with Grant, 744; surrenders his army, 744; takes
leave of his army, 745.
Lee, Gen. Fitz Hugh, encounters Gregg, 393.
Legareville, S. C, transport captured near, 465.
Lewisburg, Va., fights at, 140 ; 403.
Liberia and Hayti recognized, 265.
Liddell, Col., killed at Antietam, 210.
Liddle, Gen., at Chickamauga, 417.
Lightfoot, Col., killed at Fair Oaks, 148.
Lincoln, Abraham, 26 ; 82 ; orders- a general
advance, 108 ; orders reorganization of the army, 108 ;
to McClellan, concerning routes of advance to Eich
mond, 109; defers to McClellan's plan, 110; order re
lieving McClellan from general command, 112; his
want of confidence in McClellan, 118; order as to pro
tection of Washington, 129 ; as to withdrawal of Blen-
ker, 129; orders a corps to remain near Washington,
130 ; to McClellan, as to the strengthening of his army,
131 ; sends Franklin to McClellan, 182 visits McDow
ell, 186 ; reenforcos McClellan, 149 ; letter to McClellan,
152 ; 158 ; visits the army, 169 ; his letter to McClellan,
192 ; as to the Slave-Trade, 240 ; as to slave contrabands,
243 ; reply to H. Greeley's letter, 249 ; reply to Eman
cipationists, 251 ; his proclamations of Freedom, 253 ;
proposes aid to emancipation, 259 ; on slave coloniza
tion, 257 ; as to recognition of Hayti and Liberia, 265 ;
on the Habeas Corpus, 490 to 492 ; to the Ohio Democ
racy, 498; replies to Gov. Seymour on the Draft, 508;
on protecting negro soldiers, 525 ; amnesty proclama
tion of, 528; he appoints Grant Commander-in-Chief,
562-3-4; allusion to Kentucky, 655; letter to Hodges,
656; last message, 678; on Peace negotiations, 675 ; his
second Inaugural, 676-7; thanks to Sherman, 695; at
City Point and enters Eichmond, 746; instructs Weit
zel as to Virginia (Eebel) Legislature, 746; issues two
proclamations, 747 ; assassinated by Wilkes Booth, 748.
Little Osage, Mo., fight at, 561.
Little Rock, Ark., Steele captures, 451 ; moves
southward from, 552; Steele retreats to, 555.
Loan, Gen. Ben., 35 ; 36.
Lockwood, Gen., at Gettysburg, 380 to 381.
Logan, Gen. John A, at Port Gibson, 305 ; at
Champion Hills, 808; at Vicksburg, 815 ; 316; in the
Atlanta campaign, 681.-
Lomax, Col., killed at Fair Oaks, 148.
Longstreet, Gen. James, at Fair Oaks, 142-3 ;
repulsed at Mechanicsville, 153 ; at Gaines's Mill, 155;
at Malvern Hill, 165; his movements, 180; advances
to support Jackson, 183; at second Bull Eun, 187; re-
enforces Hill at South Mountain, 197; at Fredericks
burg, 844; baffled by Peck at Suffolk, 867; at Gettys
burg, 880-887 ; at Chickamauga, 422; against Burnside
in East Tennessee, 481-2 ; abandonB the siege of Fort
Sanders, 482; at the Wilderness, 569-571.
Lookout Mountain, carried by Hooker, 439.
Loring, Maj.-Gen. W. W., at the Yazoo, 296.
Loring, Col., disloyalty of, 19.
Louisville Courier, The, citations from, 43.
Lovejoy, Hon. Owen, on fugitive slaves, 257.
Lovejoy, Ga., Sherman's army at, 634.
Lovell, Gen. Mansfield, in command at New
Orleans, 85-95. . .
Lynchburg, Va., Hunter miscarries at, 601.
Lynde, Maj., 19; treachery of, 20.
Lyons, Lord, on Democratic leaders, 484-5-6.
Lytle, Col., killed at Perryville, 220.

M.
Macon, Ga., Stoneman's disastrous raid to, 633.
Maffitt, J. N., commander ofthe Florida, 643.
Magilton, Col., at South Mountain, 198.
MiGRATH, Gov., S. C, orders conscription, 691.

774

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Magruder, Gen. J. B., at Yorktown, 120; on
siege of Yorktown, 121 ; abandons Yorktown, 122 : re
port on the Seven Days' struggle, 159 ; at Malvern Hill,
165; at Galveston, 823.
Mahone, Gen., at Malvern Hill, 165.
Major, Lt.-Col., 1st N. C, killed at Olustee, 531.
Makall, Gen., surrenders Island No. 10, 55.
Mallon, Col. James E., 42d N. Y, killed, 396.
Mallory, Col., demands fugitive slaves from
Gen. Butler, and is refused, 238.
Malvern Hill, battle of, 164 to 161 ; map of the
field, 165; losses sustained, 166; testimony in regard
to, 166-7; is retaken by Hooker, 170.
Manassas Gap, Gen. Meade's fight at, 393.
Manassas Junction, operations near, 179; Rebel
attack on, 180; Lee encamps at, 212.
Manigault, Gen., wounded at Franklin, 683.
Manning, Col., wounded at Antietam, 207.
Mansfield, Gen. J. K. F., killed at Antietam, 206.
Manson,' Brig.-Gen. Mahlon D., defeated by
Col. Preston, 214; wounded and taken prisoner, 215;
his report and losses, 215.
Mansura, La., attack on Banks repulsed at, 531.
Marietta, Ga., taken by Sherman, 628.
Maritime Law, in relation to belligerents, 642.
Marks'S Mill, Ark., Fagan triumphs at, 553.
Marmaduke, Gen. M. M., defeated at Spring
field, Mo. — repulsed at Hartsville — driven out of Bates-
ville, 447; retreats into Arkansas, 448; defeated at
Little Eock, 451; beaten again near Columbia, Ark.,
551 ; captured by Pleasanton, 561.
Martindale, Gen. John H, at Gaines's Mill.
156; at Malvern Hill, 165.
Martinsburg, Va., occupied by Jackson, 199.
Marye's Heights, heroic assaults on, 345.
Maryland, Lee's advance into, and proclama
tion, 193-4.
Maryland Heights, held by Ford, 196 ; pris
oners and guns captured at, 202.
Mason, J. M., allusion to, 81.
Massachusetts Volunteers killed in Balti
more, 514.
Mathews, Col. Stanley, routs Wheeler, 272.
Maury, Gen., defends Mobile, 721; his retreat
and losses, 724.
Max Meadows, Gillem destroys railroad at, 688.
McArthur, Gen., at Corinth, 226.
McCall, Gen., at Gaines's Mill, 155 ; at Malvern
Hill, 562 ; taken prisoner, 563.
McCallum, Gen. D. C, as military superintend
ent of railroads, 433-4.
McCandless, Gen. W., at Gettysburg, 382-87.
McClellan, Gen. Geo. B., allusion to, 35 ; 81 ;
82; inaction of, 107; fails to open the Potomac, 107;
ordered to advance to Manassas, 108 ; urged to open the
Potomac, 108 ; to the President, on reorganizing Army
of the Potomac, 108; his plan of advance, 109; to the
Secretary of War, on merits of advance by Manassas,
109-10; on merits of Peninsula route, 110; change of
plan of advance — consequent delay, 110; 112; his esti
mate of Eebel force at Manassas, 112; command of
restricted to Army of the Potomac, 112, 118 ; ordered
to move by some route, 113 ; route changed by the corps
commanders, 118 ; orders Banks to Manassas, 113 ;
another change of plan, 115; 128; at Fortress Monroe,
120; his estimate of Eebel force on the Peninsula, 120 ;
delay at Yorktown, 121 ; 122; extracts from report and
dispatches of, on battle of Williamsburg, 124; 125-6;
his advance reaches the Chickahominy, 127 ; his gen
eral plan of operations, 128; forces required by, 128-9;
plan of, agreed to by the President, 129 ; his estimate
of Eebel force in Northern Virginia, 129 : his estimate
of Eebel force at Yorktown, 130 ; remonstrates against
depletion of his forces, 180; 181; calls for reenforce
ments, 180, 181-2 ; fails to attack Gloucester Point, 182 ;
operations of, on the Chickahominy, and retreat to Mal
vern Hill, 141-170 ; his report of Fair Oaks, 146; 147-8;
opportunity lost by, after battle of Fair Oaks, 147; dis
patches from, after battle near Fair Oaks, 1 49 ; dispatch

from, about McDowell's corps, 150, 151 • his dispatches
to the President, 151 ; inactivity of, 151 ; to the War
Department, about Jackson's movements, 152; his
over-estimate ofthe Eebel strength, 154-5; dispatches
to the Secretary of War, after his defeat at Gaines's
Mil], 158: retreats to the James river, 159,160-1; at
Malvern Hill, 166-7 ; his report of losses during the
Seven Days' fighting, 168; asks for reenforcements,
169; ordered to Acquia Creek, 170; his army at Fort
ress Monroe, 171 ; the causes of his failure, 172 ; his
retreat to Harrison's Landing, 172 ; ordered to with
draw from the Peninsula, 190 ; he remonstrates, 190:
correspondence with Halleck as to reenforcing Pope,
190-2; letter of the President to, 192; his conduct cen
sured, 192; concentrates to resist Lee, 193: crosses the
Potomac, 193; discovers Lee's plans, 195; his move
ments hesitating, 196 ; battle of South Mountain, 198-9 ;
marches westward, 109 ; condition of his army, 202-8;
fights Lee at Antietam, 205 ; statement of his own, and
estimate of the, enemy's strength, 209; his losses, 209;
his captures from the enemy at South Mountain,
Crampton's Gap, and Antietam, 210.; reenforced with
14,000 men, 210; sends Gen. Williams to retake Mary
land Heights, 211 ; fails to prevent or punish Stuart's
raids into Pennsylvania, 211 ;" crosses the Potomac, and
advances to Warrenton, Va., when he is relieved by
Gen. Burnside, 212; his views on Slavery, 287-8;
248-9 ; nomination for President, and platform, 669-70 ;
defeated by Lincoln, 678.
McClernand, Gen. John A., at Fort Henry,
45-6 ; at Fort Donelson, 48-9 ; in battle of Pittsburg
Landing, 59 to 71 ; captures Fort Hindman, 293 ; his
losses, 294; at Port Gibson, 304; at Champion Hills,
807; at Vicksburg, 311; at Alexandria, Eed river, 550.
McCook, Gen. A. D., at Perryville, 218; atNash-
ville and Stone Eiver, 273-5; at Chickamauga, 421.
McCown, Gen., at Stone River, 275.
McCulloch, Gen. Ben., allusions to, 18 ; 27; 33 ;
at battle of Pea Eidge, 28 to 81 ; killed at, 81.
McCulloch, Gen., attacks Milliken's Bend, 319.
McDonald, Gen., killed at Hartsville, 441.
McDowell, Gen. Irvin, to command a corps in
Army of the Potomac, 108; retained for, defense of
Washington, 180-1; position of, during McClellan's
advance, 186; ordered to the Valley, to intercept Jack
son, 136 ; his testimony relative to pursuit of Jackson,
187; in the Army of Virginia, 172 ; he marches on
Gainesville, 181 ; retreats on Manassas Junction, 188 ;
fights at Gainesville, 185; general order respecting
Slavery, 237.
McDowell, Va., battle at, 132-3.
McElroy, Col., killed at Fort Sanders, 432.
McIntosh, Gen., killed at Pea Ridge, 28 ; 30.
McKean, Gen., at Corinth, 225.
McKee, Col., killed at Stone River, 281.
McLaws, Gen., at Malvern Hill, 165 ; at Harper's
Ferry, 200 ; attacks Maryland Heights, 200 ; at Antie
tam, 207.; at Chancellorsville, 868 ; at Gettysburg, 380
to 887 ; at Chickamauga, 422.
McLean, Major, wounded at Manassas Gap, 393.
McLean, Col., killed at Gaines's Mill, 151.
McNairy, Col., killed at Fort Donelson, 283.
McNeil, Col. John, routs guerillas at Kirks-
ville, Mo., 35-6; cooperates against Price, 560.
McPherson, Gen. James B., at Corinth, 230;
at Lamar, 286; triumphs at Eaymond, 805; captures
Clinton and Jackson, 806 ; at Champion Hills, 307 ; at
Vicksburg, 312; in command of Vicksburg, 587 ; com
mands Army of Tennessee under Sherman, 564 ; killed
before Atlanta, 688.
McRae, Capt., heroic death at Valverde, 23.
McRae, Col., at Antietam, 206.
Meade, Gen. George G., at Gaines's Mill, 156 ;
at Malvern Hill, 162; at South Mountain, 198; at
Antietam, 205-6; at Fredericksburg, 847; at Chancel
lorsville, 861 ; succeeds Gen. Hooker in command, 375 ;
fights Lee at Gettysburg, 880-888 ; his caution, 389 ;
holds a council of war, 392 ; crosses the Potomac and
fights in ManaSBas Gap, 393 ; Lee chases him un to Cen
terville, 396; his advance to Mine Eun, 899 to 402;
advances into "the Wilderness," 566; at Cold Harbor,
588 ; fails to hold the Weldon road, 8S7 ; pursues Lee

ANALYTICAL INDEX.

775

Meagher, Brig.-Gen. T. F., at Gaines's Mill,
162 ; at Antietam, 208 ; at Fredericksburg, 846.
Mechanicsville, Va., battle of, 153; Unionists
withdraw from, 155.
Meigs, M. C, Quartermaster-General, 433.
Memphis, Tenn., gunboat fight near, 56; 51;
surrender of to Federals, 57 ; Gen. Grant at, 894.
Merrill, Col., triumphs at Hartsville, 447.
Merrimac, Rebel iron-clad, in Hampton roads
fight, 115-120; destruction of, 127-8.
Merritt's Brigade, 389 ; at Five Forks, 733.
Miles, Gen., captures 600 Rebels near Peters
burg, 735.
Miles, Col. D. S., surrenders Harper's Ferry,
and is killed, 201.
Milledgeville, Ga., taken by Sherman, 690.
Miller, Col., 81st Pa., killed at Fair Oaks, 148.
Milliken's Bend, 294; attack on, 319.
Millikin, Col., killed at Stone River, 281.
Mill Spring, Ky., battle of, _3 ; 44.
Milroy, Gen. R. H., at McDowell, Va., 132-3 ;
at Cross-Keys, 188 ; at Great Eun— at Gainesville, 188 ;
abandons Winchester, 371.
Mine Run, Va., Gen. Meade's advance to, 399.
Minor Conflicts —
Aiken, S. C, 704.
Allatoona, Tenn., 639.
Apache Pass, N. M., 24.
Appomattox, Va., 743.
Aransas Pass, Tex., 341.
Arrow Eock, Ark., 458.
Athens, Ala., 678.
Bachelor's Cr'k, N. C, 533.
Bailey's Creek, Van 591.
Batesville, Ark., 447.
Baxter's Springs, I. T., 452.
Bayou Fourche, Ark., 452.
Bayou Metea, Ark., 451.
Bean's Station, Tenn., 622.
Bear Eiver, Idaho, 455.
Belleville, Ohio, 406.
Benton, Miss., 696.
Bentonville, Ark., 27.
Bermuda Hundreds, 567.
Beverly Ford, Va., 869.
Beverly, W. Va., 727.
Big Black, Miss., 809.
Big Blue, Mo., 561.
Big Creek, Ark., 554.
Blakely, Ala., 723.
Bloody Bridge, S. C, 633.
Blooming Gap, Va., 108.
Boonsboro", Md., 203.
Boydton Eoad, Va., 734
Boyle's Creek, Ala., 718.
Brandy Station, Va., 869.
Brashear City, La,, 887.
Bridgeport, Ala., 72.
Bristow Station, Va., 395.
Buckland's Mills, Va., 396.
Bushy Creek, I. T., 88.
Cabin Creek, I. T., 449.
Cache Eiver, Ark., 84
Campbell's Station, 481.
Cane Eiver, La., 548.
Cannouchee Cr'k, Ga., 692.
Cape Girardeau, Mo., 448.
Carney's Bridge, La., 828.
Carter's Creek Pike, 285.
Chariton Eiver, Mo., 85.
Charles City Eoad,Va,, 592.
Charlestown, Tenn., 622.
Charlestown, Va., 396.
Chattanooga, Tenn., 638.
Cherbourg, France,. 646.
Chesterfield Br., Va., 577.
Clinch's Station, Tenn., 283.
Coffeeville, Miss., 286.
Columbia, Ark., 551.
Columbus, Ga., 719.
Congaree Elver, S. C, 699.
Coosawhatchie, S. C, 463.

Cosby Creek, Tenn., 628.
Cumberland Gap,Tenn.,430.
Cynthiana, Ky., 624.
Dabney's Mill, Va., 726.
Dam No. 1, York B.,Va.,112.
Dandridge, Tenn., 628.
Deatonsville, Va, 740.
Decatur, Ala., 678.
Deep Bottom, Va., 589.
Donaldsonville, La., 888.
Dover, Tenn., 283.
Droop Mountain, Va., 404.
Dublin Station, W. Va., 600.
Egypt, Miss., 695.
Elizabethtown, Ky., 283.
Emmitsburg Eoad, Md.,389.
Falling Waters, Md., 892.
Falmouth, Va., 852.
Farmington, Tenn., 483.
Fayetteville, Ark., 448.
do. (Curtis's), 561.
Fayetteville, Ga, 683.
Fort Blunt, I. T.,449.
Fort De Eussy, La., 587.
Fort Gibson, I. T., 454
Fort Gilmer, Va,, 598.
Fort Gregg, Va., 784.
Fort Harrison, Va., 598.
Forts Jackson and St Phil
ip, La, 89.
Fort Macon, N. C, 79.
Fort Pemberton, Miss., 297.
Fort Eosecrans, Tenn., 683.
Fbrt Smith, Ark., 555.
Fort Steedman, Va,, 728.
Fort Sumter (assault), 481.
do. (bombardment), 466.
Fort Wagner (assault), 476.
Franklin, Tenn., 285.
Front Eoyal, Va., 184.
Gallatin, Tenn., 213.
Glasgow, Mo., 560.
Grand Gulf, Miss., 802.
Greensburg, Ky., 687.
Grenada, Miss., 615.
Gum Swamp, N. C, 483.
Harpeth Eiver, Tenn., 787.
Harrison, Mo., 557.
Harrisonburg, Va., 137.
Hartsville, Mo., 447.
Hartsville, Tenn., 271.
Hatchie Eiver, Miss., 280.
Haymarket, Va,, 182.
Henderson's Hill, La., 587.
Holly Springs, Miss., 286.
Honey Hill, S.C., 696.
Honey Springs, I. T., 449.

Independence, Mo., 36; 560. Pleasant Grove. La., 541.
Jackson, Miss., 317. Plymouth, N. C, 533.
James Island, S. C, 475. Pocahontas, Ark., 451.
James Eiver, Va., 727. Pocotaligo, S. C, 468.
Jefferson, Va., 895. Pomeroy, Ohio, 406.
Jenkins's Ferry, Ark., 553. Poolesville, Md., 352.
Jericho Ford. Va.,-577. Port Conway, Va, 894

Johnsonville,"Tenn., 679.
Jonesboro', Ga., 686.
JoneBville, Va., 598.
Kelly's Ford, Va., 898.
Ker'nstown, Va., 114.
Kingsport, Tenn., 688.
Kinston, N. C, 80.
Kirksville, Mo., 35.
Knoxville, Tenn., 482.
Lavergne, Tenn., 281.
Lawrence, Kansas, 450.
Lebanon, Ky., 405.
Lewisburg, va., 140.
Little Osage, Mo., 561.
London, Ky., 218.
Lovejoy's, Ga., 685; 690.
Lynchburg, Va., 601.
Macon, Ga., 684; 691.
Manassas Gap, Va., (

Port Gibson, Miss., 297.
Port Eepublic, Va,, 139.
Pound Gap, Ky., 42.
Prairie d'Anne. Ark., 552.
Prestonburg, Ky., 42.
Pulaski, Tenn., 678.
Quaker Eoad, Va., 730.
Eappahannock Station, 894
Eeams's do. (Wilson), 588.
Eed Hill, Ala., 688.
Eesaca, Ga., 626.
Bivers's Bridge, S. C, 697.
Eock House, W. Va., 599.
Eocky Face Gap, Ga., 626.
Eogersville, Tenn., 430.
Eomney, W. Va., 852.
Sabine Pass, La., 326.
Salem, Ind., 405.
Salisbury. N. C, 751.

do. Junction, Va., 180. Saltville, Vs., 624.

Mansura, La., 551.
Marion, Va., 688.
Marks's Mill, Ark., 653.
Martinsburg, Va., 606.
Maysville, Mo., 87.
McConnellstown, Pa., 606.
McDowell, Va., 188.
McMinnville, Tenn., 285.
Memphis, Tenn., 56 ; 622.
Middletown, Va., 870.
Milford, Mo., 26.
Milton, Tenn., 284.
Mine Explosion, Va., 599.
Mine Eun, Va., 401.

Scottsboro', Ala., 687.
Seviersville, Tenn., 628.
Shelbyville, Tenn., 409. |
Shenandoah, Va,, 605.
Shepherdstown, Md.,89S.
Solemn Grove, N. C, 705.
Somerset, Ky., 427.
Bomerville, Tenn., 616.
South Mills, N.C., 80.
Spring Hill, Tenn., 284.
Springfield, Mo., 447.
Springfield, W. Va, 599.
St. Charles, Ark., 554.
Stony Creek, Vn., 588.

Mitchell's Creek, Ala., 721. Strasburg, Va., 612.

Montevallo, Ala., 717.
Moorefield, W. Va., 607.
Morganzia, La., 340.
Morristown, Tenn., 624.
Mossy Creek, Tenn., 628.
Mount Sterling, Ky., 624.
Munfordsville, Ky., 215.
Murfreesboro', Tenn., 212.
Newbeni, N. C, 4S2.
New Bridge, Va., 141.
New Creek, W. Va., 598.
New Hope Church, Ga.,62>
New Madrid, Mo., 54.
Newnan, Ga., 633.
Newtonia, Mo., 37 ; 561

Suffolk, Va., i
Sntherl'ds Depot, Va,, 734
Talladega, Ala., 681.
Tebb's Bend, Ky., 404.
Thoroughfare Gap, Va, 183.
Town Creek, N. C., 715.
Trevilian's, Va., 582.
Tunnel Hill, Ga., 618.
Tupelo, Miss., 622.
Turner's Gap, Md., 196.
Tuscumbia, Ala., 285.
Union City. Tenn., 618. |
TJpperviUe, Va., 878.
Valverde, N. M., 22.
Washington City, 605.

North of Farmville,Va, 742. Washington, N. C, 482.

Okolona, Miss., 617.
Old Eiver, La., 82a
Oldtown, Md., 607.
Opelousas, La, 340.
Orangeburg, S. C, 699.
Orchard Eidge, Tenn., 438,
Paducah, Ky., 618.

Wauhatchie, Tenn., 484.
Waynesboro', Ga., 727.
Weldon Eoad, Va., 592.
West Point, Ga., 720.
White Oak Eidge, Ga., 445.
White Oak Eoad, Va.. 781.
Williston Station, S. C, 704

Paine's X-Koads, Va., 740. Wilson's Wharf Va, 5S4.
Palmetto Eanche, Tex., 757. Winchester, Va., 135; do.,
Parker's X-roads,Tenn.,288. do., 605.
Petersburg Lines, Va, 784. Wise's Forks, N. C, 716.
Philadelphia, Tenn., 481. Wood Lake, Minn.. 454.

Wytheville, Va, 403;
Yazoo City, Miss., 318; 617.
Yellow Tavern, Va., 574.
Zollicoffer, Tenn., 283.

Pilot Knob, Mo., 557.
Pine Bluff, Ark., 453.
Pineville, Mo., 450.
Plaquemine, La., 888.
Mississippi, railroads broken in; 11-2; Rose
crans in, 75; cavalry raids to Grenada, 615; desultory
expeditions between Virginia and the, 615; Sovy
Smith's failure in, 617.
Missouri, reoccupied by Rebels, 26; guerrilla
operations in, 26; 85-6; Pope routs and drives Eebels
into Arkansas, 26-7; organization of militia, 85; Union
ists advance into Arkansas, 85-6 ; Shelby's raid into,
453- Marmaduke's raid into, 446 to 448; Quontrell's
raid' into Western, 450;' Cabell's raid in, 458; Eose
crans commands in, 556; Price's last raid into, 557 to
562 ; Price chased out of, 561.
Mitchel, Gen. 0. M., at Bowling Green, Ky., 51 ;
advance to Eussellville and Bridgeport, Ala, 72; his
energy, 72; death of, at Port Eoyal, 72.

776

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Mitchell, Gen. R, B., at Perryville, 220.
Mitchellsville, Morgan's raid on, 271.
Mix, Col. S. H, killed at Petersburg, Va., 585.
Mobile Bay, the fight in, 641; the outer defenses
of, 649 ; map of the defenses of, 650.
Mobile, Ala, preparations for attack on, 121 ;
722 ; Maury abandons, 724.
Monitor, arrival of the, at Fortress Monroe, 118 ;
fight of, with the Merrimac, 118; 119.
Monocacy, Lew Wallace defeated at the, 603.
Monroe, John T., Mayor of New Orleans, re
fuses to surrender the city, 95-6; his letters to Admi
ral Farragut, 95-6 ; allusion to, 97 ; 98-9 ; imprisoned
by Gen. Butler, 100.
Montgomery, Col., at Vicksburg, 315.
Montgomery, Ala., captured by Gen. Wilson, 719.
Moore, Col. A. B., surprised and captured, 271.
Moore, Col., 8th Tenn., killed at Stone River, 281.
Moore, Col. O. H., worsted, by Morgan, 405.
Morgan, Gen. John H., 212; 211; his raid,
282; is defeated at Vaught's Hill, 284; raid into Indi
ana and Ohio, 405 ; his capture and escape, 407 ; is
killed in East Tennessee, 408.
Morgan, Gen. Geo. W., abandons Cumberland
Gap, 214 ; at siege of Vicksburg, 289 ; at capture of Fort
Hindman, 293.
Morgan, Major, charges at Pleasant Hill, 543.
Morganzia, La., surprised by the Rebels, 340.
Morrell, Gen., engaged at Gaines's Mill, 155.
Morris Island, Gen. Strong established at, 475 ;
failure to blow up the "New Ironsides" at, 482.
Morris, Gen. L. O., killed at Cold Harbor, 582.
Morris, Gen. W. H., at the Wilderness, 571.
Morton's Engineers, at Stone River, 275.
Moseby, Col. John S., his movements, 721.
Mosquito Inlet, naval expedition to, 459.
Mound City, gunboat, boiler exploded, 57.
Mower, Gen., at Corinth, 226; at Vicksburg,
811 ; at Pleasant Hill, 543 ; in Missouri, 559.
Mulligan, Col., 15th Ga., killed at Antietam,210.
Mulligan, Gen. (Union), killed, 606.
Mumford, Wm. B., hanged at N. Orleans, 100-1.
Munfordsville, Ky., fight at, 215.
Munroe, Col., charges at Fayetteville, Ark., 448.
Murfreesboro', Tenn., capture of, 212.
Murphy, Col. R. C, 8th Wis., abandons Iuka,
222 ; surrenders Holly Springs, 287 ; is cashiered, 287.
N.
Naglee, Gen. H. M., at Seven Pines, 142-4;
wounded, 148.
Nashville, Tenn., occupied by Unionists, 53 ;
railroad reopened to, 270 ; 6tores accumulated at, 272 ;
battle of, 685 ; losses and captures, 686.
Nassau Island, focus of blockade runners, 643.
Natchez, Miss., surrenders, 104.
¦National Debt — Currency depreciation, 663-4.
National Finances, Gov. Chase on the, 661.
National Union Party, Platform of, 1864, 659.
Negley, Gen. J. S., at Stone River, 214.
Negro Soldiers, in the Revolutionary war, 511 ;
Congress subjects negroes to conscription, 519; use of,
in aid of the Eebellion, 521 ; 522; the Confederates on
arming, 523; President Lincoln on protecting, 525;
progress in raising, 527 ; Bancroft's history on, 611-12;
Dr. Franklin on, 513 ; King George employs, 518 ; Jack
son's use of, at New Orleans, 514 ; Gen. Hunter, ^Ir.
Wickliffe of Ky., and Secretary Stanton on, 515-16 ;
Gen. Phelps on, 517; Gen. Butler in response, on, 518;
Gov. Andrew of Mass. raises three regiments of, 520 ;
they demand fall pay, 520; Congress sanctions the
claim of the, 521; impressment of by the Confederate
Government, 522; progress in raising, 526-7.
Neill, Gen., at Chancellorsville, 363.

Nelson, Gen., wounded at Richmond, 214.
Newbern, N. C, taken by Burnside, 76.
New Hampshire, State Election of, '63, 486.
New Hope Church, occupied by Sherman, 638.
New Madrid, Mo., invested, 54; and taken, 54-5.
New Mexico, loyalty of regulars in, 19 ; suffer
ings of, 20 ; action of her Legislature with regard to
Slavery, 20-21; home guard organized, 21 ; Canby or
ganizes militia, 21 ; Eebels defeated near Fort Craig,
21 ; Canby occupies frontier posts, 22 ; Eebels advance
to Fort Craig, 22 ; Santa Fe, 24; fight at Apache Pass,
24; Eebels abandon the Territory, 25.
New Orleans, Gen. Butler's expedition against,
81 to 106 ; importance of, to the Confederacy, 85 ; map
of approaches to, 86 ; defenses of 84, 86-87 ; attack on
and passage of forts below, 88-94; destruction of prop
erty at, 94; occupation of, by Admiral Farragut, 95-6;
occupation of, by Gen. Butler, 97-101, 106; elects
Union members of Congress, 105.
New Orleans Picayune, citation from, relative to
defenses of New Orleans, 84.
Newport News, reached by Porter's corps, 111.
Newton, Gen., at Gaines's Mill 156 ; is relieved,
564.
New York City, fired by emissaries, 611.
New York Riots of 1863, account of, 503-1.
New York State Election of 1862, 484.
Niagara, U. S. frigate, takes the Georgia, 646.
Niagara, Peace overtures at, 665.
Norfolk, Va., capture of, 121-8.
North Anna river, Grant advances to the, 511.
North Carolina, Burnside's operations in, 13-81.
0.
O'Brien, Col., killed in New York by rioters, 506.
O'Connor, Col., 2d Wise, killed at second Bull
Eun, 189.
Ohio, Gen. Buell commands the Army ofthe, 212.
Ohio, Morgan's raid into, 405 ; Ohio Democracy
lis. President Lincoln, 498.
Oliver, Col., at the siege of Corinth, 225.
Olustee, Fla., Gen. T. Seymour defeated at, 531.
Opdycke, Gen., his heroism at Franklin, 682.
Opequan, Va., Sheridan's victory at, 606.
Ord, Ge>t. Edward O. C, at Iuka, 223 ; at Vicks
burg, 315 ; at Petersburg, 734
" Order of American Knights," their organiza
tion and designs, 556.
Oreto, or Florida, a Rebel corsair, 643.
O'Rorke, Col., killed at Gettysburg, 388.
Osterhaus, Gen. P. J., at the capture of Fort
Hindman, 293; at Vicksburg, 812 ; with Sherman on
his great march from Atlanta to Savannah, 689 to 695.
Oz Hill, Va., Jackson strikes Reno at, 188.

Paine, Col. Halbert E., 4th Wise, refuses to
expel colored refugees from his camp, 245.
Palmer,- Gen. John M., at Stone River, 217;
at Chickamauga, 415-17.
Palmerston, Lord, his opinion of Gen. Butler's
order No. 28, 100.
Parke, Gen. John G., 13; in attack on New
bern, 78 ; invests Fort Macon, 79 ; at Vicksburg, 814 ;
carries Eebel works at Petersburg, 784.
Parker, Joel, chosen Gov. of New Jersey, 254.
Parsons, Gen. M., killed at Pleasant Hill, 544.
Patton, Col. G. S., at Wytheville and Lewis
burg, Va., 403 ; 404.
Paul, Brig -Gen., wounded at Gettysburg, 383.
Payne, Col., 2d La., wounded at Port Hudson,
883,
Pea Ridge, battle of, 27 to 32; losses at, 31.

ANALYTICAL INDEX.

777

Peace Negotiations in Hampton roads, 675.
Peace Overtures at Niagara and Richmond,
664-6.
Peck, Gen. John J., repels Longstreet at Suf
folk, Va., 867.
Pegram, Gen., routed by Gillmore near Somer
set, Ky., 427; wounded at the Wilderness, 568 ; killed
at Dabney's Mill, Va., 726.
Pelouze, Major, severely wounded, 177.
Pemberton, Gen. John C, defeated at Cham
pion Hills, 807 ; his defense and surrender of Vioks-
burg, 810-16.
Pender, Brig.-Gen., at second Bull Run, 189;
wounded mortally at Gettysburg, 880 ; 387 ; 3S9.
Pennsylvania Reserves, at Gaines's Mill, 157 ;
in White Oak Swamp, 161-2 ; at second Bull Eun, 189.
Pennsylvania, invaded by Lee, 393.
Pensacola, retaken by Union forces, 459.
Perczel, Coe., 10th Iowa, repulses Rebels at
Iuka, 224.
Perryville, Ky., battle and map of, 219.
Petersburg, Va., Lee's retreat from, 739.
Pettigrew, Brig.-Gen., wounded at Gettysburg,
889 ; killed at Falling Waters, 898.
Phelps, Gen. J. W., occupies Ship Island, 81 ;
issues proclamation in regard to Slavery, 82 ; on negro
soldiership,. 517.
Philadelphia, East Tenn., fight at, 431.
Phillips, Col., killed at Donaldsonville, La., 338.
Phillips, Col. W. A., routs raiders under Stand
watie and Quantrell, at Fort Gibson, 454.
Phillips, Gen., charges at the Little Osage, 561.
Pickett, Gen., at Gettysburg, 380 to 381 ; as
saults at Bachelor's creek, N. G, 683.
Pierce, Franklin, Ex-Prest., on the War, 496-9.
Pike, Gen. Albert, commands Indians at Pea
Eidge, 27-33.
Pillo% Gen. Gideon J., at Fort Donelson, 47-51.
Pineville, Mo., fight by CoLCatherwood at, 450.
Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., battle of, 58 to 71 ;
positions of Union forces, 59 ; no intrenchments, 59-60 ;
the Eebel attack; Prentiss's division routed, 61-2;
McClernand worsted, 63 ; Eebels repulsed by Webster's
artillery, 65-6; Buell arrives, 67; second day's battle,
67, 68-9; extracts from Buell's report, 66; dispatches
from Beauregard, 66; 70; extracts from his report, 60;
67; 69; 70; losses sustained, 70; remarks of "An Im
pressed New Yorker," 60, 69, 71.
Pleasant Grove, La., Gen. Emory stops the
Eebels at, 541.
Pleasant Hill, La., Banks's battle at, 543-4:
Pleasanton, Gen. A., at South Mountain, 196 ;
fights and wins, 208; fights with Stuart, 869; at Get
tysburg, 889; at Chancellorsville, 358; successful on
the Eapidan, 894 ; his operations in Missouri, 559.
Plymouth, N. C, Wessells besieged by Hoke in,
5S3-4.
Pocotaligo, S. C, fight at, 463.
Poe, Capt., Engineers, defends Knoxville against
Longstreet, 482.
Polignao, Prince, beaten by A. J. Smith, 551.
Political Mutations and Results in 1864, 654.
Political or Civil History op 1863, 484.
Polk, Leontdas, Bishop and Maj.-Gen., aban
dons Columbus, Ky., 64; allusion to, 60; at Stone
Eiver, 276 ; at Chickamauga, 415 ; at Kenesaw Moun
tain, 629 ; killed, 629.
Pollard, Edward A, on battle of Pea Ridge,
80 • 81 ; on Indians at, 34 ; on battle of Prairie Grove,
41 ; on capture of Fort Donelson, 61 ; on mob at Nash
ville, 58 ; on destruction of property at New Orleans
by Eebels, 94; on evacuation of Manassas, 112 ; on
Jackson's force in the Valley, 114; on Eebel strength
at Yorktown, 120; on burning of Colnmbio, S. C, 701 ;
on burning of Charleston, 702; on the evacuation of
Eichmond, 785.

Pope, Gen. John, in Missouri, 26 ; flanks Island
No. 10, 54-5; captures New Madrid and Island No. 10,
55; 56; joins Halleck in Mississippi, 71; pursues
Beauregard, 72 ; important letter intercepted by, 171 ;
commands the Army of Virginia, 172 ; address to tho
Army, 173 ; makes a diversion in favor of McClellan,
178 ; at Culpepper, 177 ; calls for reenforcements, 178 ;
his headquarters surprised, 178; moves toward Cen
terville, 182; his plans to overwhelm Jackson, 188 ;
tries to turn Jackson's flank, 188; his report of the
battle of second Bull Eun, 185-6 ; appeals for rations,
& a, 186; defeated at Gainesville by Lee and Jackson,
187; his retreat, 188; his disasters, 189-90; on tho
causes of his defeat, 192 ; is succeeded by Gen. McClel
lan, 189.
Port Conway, Va., Kilpatrick crosses at, 394.
Port Gibson, Miss., Grant crosses near. 303;
battle of, 805.
Port Hudson, La., passed by Farragut, 329;
Banks iuveats, 831 ; assaults, S8&-5 ; surrendered, 886,
Port Republic, Va., fights near, 137 ; 139.
Porter, Col. P. A., killed at Cold Harbor, 582.
Porter, Col. (Rebel), killed at Hartsville, 447.
Porter, Gen. Fitz John, defeats Rebels at
Hanover C. H., 141-2; commands at Gaines's Mill,
155-7; at Malvern Hill, 165; at Gainesville, 182-8-5-6;
at Antietam, 208.
Porter, Admiral D. D., in attack on defenses
of New Orleans, 83; 89; 97; at Vicksburg, 101 ; on the
Mississippi, 102; 104; passes the batteries of Vicks
burg, 801; attacks Grand Gulf, 802; sends gunboats up
the Yazoo, 810; occupies Pensacola, 459; captures
Fort de Eussy, 537; his fleet working down Red river,
547-8 ; his estimate of losses — both sides — on the Eed
river, 548 ; resumes the guard of the Mississippi, 551 ;
his cotton transactions in Alexandria censured, 551-2 ;
at Wilmington, N. C, 709.
Posey, Gen. (Rebel), killed at Centerville, 396.
Post, Col., wounded at Nashville, 686.
Post of Arkansas, taken by McClernand, 293.
Post's Brigade, at Nashville, Tenn., 686..
Potomac, scene of operations and importance of
the, 171; the enemy's designs on the, 180; recrossed
by Jackson, 199 ; Lee's retreat to the, 391.
Potter, Hon. Elisha R., of R. I., on the War
as affecting Slavery, 256.
Prairie d'Anne, Steele's battle at, 552.
Prairie Grove, Ark., battle at, 38-41.
Preble, Com'r Geo. H., deceived and disgusted,
643.
Prentiss, Gen. Benj. M., 59 ; surprised at Pitts
burg Landing, 61; captured, 62; allusions to, 64; 70;
71 ; defends Helena, 820-21.
Presidential Canvass of 1864 — its results,
654.
Presidential Election, account of the, 671-2.
Preston, Col., defeats Union levies under Gen.
Manson, at Eichmond, Ky., 214; nt Chickamauga, 422.
Price, Gen. Sterling, 26 ; abandons Missouri,
27 ; at Pea Eidge, 23 ; wounded, 81 ; allusion to, 85 ; 67 ;
attacked by Eosecrans, 223-225 ; unites with Van Dorn,
225; his charge at Corinth, 227-9 ; nt Prairie d'Anne,
522; his last TVfissouri raid, 657; threatens Jefferson
City, 559; chased out of Missouri, 561.
Prince, Gen., taken prisoner, 179.
Prisoners, exchanged, 272 ; retaliation, 525.
Pritchard, Lt.-Col., captures Jeff. Davis, 756.
Proclamation, of Lee to Maryland, 193-4; of
Gen. Fremont, modified by order of the President, 289 ;
of Gon. Sherman to the people of South Carolina, 240;
of Gen. Burnside and Com. Goldsborough to those of
Eoanoke Island, 244; of President Lincoln emancipa
ting slaves, 253-6 ; of Gen. Dix, to the people of Vir
ginia east of Chesapeake bay, 241.
Proctor's Creek, Ga., fight near, 634.
Pryor, Brig.-Gen. Roger A., on the battle of
Glendale, 563.
Pulaski, siege and capture of fort, 451.
Pumpkinvine Creek, Ga., fight at, 628.

778

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ft.
Quarles, Gen., wounded at Franklin, Tenn., 683.
Queen of the West, runs the Vicksburg bat
teries, 298.
Quinby's Division, at Champion Hills, 308 ; at
Vicksburg, 812. E.
Raccoon Ford, Va, Rebels crossing at, 115.
Raids, of J. E. B. Stuart, around McClellan's
army, 150 ; into Pennsylvania, 211 ; of Carter and
Wheeler, 2S3 ; of Streight and Dodge in Georgia, 285 ;
of Stoneman, in Virginia, 865; of Forrest and John
Morgan, 270; of Grierson, 801-2; of Green, 888; of
Stuart across the Eappahannock, 852 ; of Morgan into
Indiana and Ohio, 405 ; of Wheeler into East Tennessee,
488; of Shelby into Missouri, 453; of Rebel iron-clads
from Charleston, 465; on the Sam Gaty, 447; of Mar
maduke in Missouri, 446-8 ; of Coffee at Pineville, 460 ;
of Quantrell to Lawrence, 450 ; of Cabell in the Indian
Territory and Missouri, 453 ; Price's last into Missouri,
557 ; of Kilpatrick and Dahlgren near Richmond, 665 ;
of Wilson and Kautz to Burksville, 5S7 ; cavalry raid
to Grenada, Miss., 615 ; Morgan's last into Kentucky,
628; of Stoneman to Macon, 683 ; Davidson's and Grier-
son's, 695-6; Dana's raid in North Alabama, 695; of
Wilson through Central Alabama, 717 ; of Sheridan to
Charlottesville and the James, 727 ;
Rains, Gen. James E., killed at Stone River, 282.
Ram Albemarle, destruction of the, 535.
Ramseur, Col., 49th N. C, wounded at Malvern
HilL 166.
Ramseur, Gen., killed at Cedar Creek, 615.
Randolph, Edmund, on the Slave-Trade, 233.
Ransom'sBrigade, atthe siege of Vicksburg, 31 1.
Ransom, Gen., wounded at Sabine Cross-roads,
539.
Ransom, Col., 35th N. C, wounded at Malvern
Hill, 166.
Rapidan, Rebels crossing the, 111; guarded by
Gen. Buford, 175; Union troops cross the, 894; opera
tions on the, 398 to 402; Grant crosses the, 567.
Rappahannock, The, Rebel batteries across, 179;
crossed by Jackson, 180 ; Lee's operations on the, 844 ;
Bussell's assault at the station, 897 ; Gens. Meade and
Buford cross the, 894 ; railroad destroyed by the Eebels
rebuilt, 89a
Raymond, Miss., McPherson's battle at, 305.
Reagan, John H., captured at Irwinsville, 756.
Reams's Station, Hancock's fight at, 593.
Red River, rescue of gunboats on the, 549 ; 550 ;
capture and destruction of transports on th e, 550 ; suc
cessful Eebel attack below Alexandria on the, 550.
Reid, S. C, on the battle of Chickamauga, 424.
Renoher, Gov. Abraham, of New Mexico, 21.
Reno, Gen. Jesse L., with Burnside, 73 ; in at
tack on Newbern, 78 ; expedition of to Elizabeth City,
79-SO; reenforces Gen. Pope, 178; cooperates wit-
Gen. Sigel, 179; is present at Gainesville, 183; covers
the retreat at second Bull Eun, 187 ; killed at South
Mountain, 198.
Resaca, Ga., abandoned by Johnston, 626.
Revere, Col., Mass., killed at Gettysburg, 388.
Reynolds, Gen. John F., at Gaines's MU1, 156;
taken prisoner, 157 ; at Gainesville, 1SS ; at second
Bull Eun, 189 ; at Fredericksburg, 347 ; killed at Get
tysburg, 877.
Rhode Island, State Election of, 1863, 486.
Rhodes, Gen., at South Mountain, 196; is
wounded at Antietam, 210 ; at Gettysburg, 880 to 887 ;
at the Wilderness, 568-71.
Rice, Brig.-Gen. J. C, attacked by Kirby Smith
at Jenkins's ferry, 558-4; killed at the Wilderness, 571.
Richards, Col., 20th 111., killed at Raymond,
Miss., 805.
RicharPson, Gen. Israel B., at Malvern Hill,
165; at South Mountain, 19S; at Antietam, 207; killed,

Richmond, Ky., Kirby Smith routs Manson and
then Nelson at, 215.
Richmond, Va., siege of, raised, 16S ; operations
near, 173 ; demonstration made on, 394 ; Grant advances
on, 562; raid on, 565-6; Butler menaces, 575; Peace
overtures at, 665; fall of, 724 ; naval operations against,
726; evacuated and burned, 78S; occupied by Union
forces, 7SS.
Richmond Whig, The, citation from, 30.
Ricketts, Gen., advances to Culpepper, 175 ; is
driven back by Longstreet near Hopewell Gap, 188; at
South Mountain, 197 ; at Antietam, 205.
Riker, Col. J. L., killed at Fair Oaks, 148.
Ring, Maj., charges at Stone River, 214.
Riots of 1863 in New York, 503-7.
Ripley, Brig.-Gen., at South Mountain, 196 ;
at Antietam, 206 ; is wounded, 210.
Rippey, Col., 61st Pa,, killed at Fair Oaks, 148.
Roanoke Island, Burnside's attack on, 74-6.
Roberts, Col. B. S. [afterward Gen,], refuses
to become a traitor, 19.
Roberts, Col., 42d Bl., captures raiders, 211;
killed at Stone Eiver, 274
Robertson, Gen., at Gaines's Mill, 156.
Rodgers, Com. John, attacks Drewry's Bluff,
140-1 ; deals with a British blockade-runner, 472-8.
Rodman, Gen. L P., killed at Antietam, 209.
Rogers, Com'r Geo. W., killed at the assault on
Fort Wagner, 47a
Rogersville, Ky., Manson fights Kirby Smith
near, 214,
Rosecrans, Gen. Wm. S., succeeds Buell in com
mand of the Army ofthe Ohio, 222 ; he attacks Price's
army at Iuka, and forces him to retreat, 223-5; defeats
Van Dorn at Corinth, 225-9 ; his winter campaign, 270 ;
moves against Bragg to Stone Eiver, 278 ; after four
days' hard fighting, Bragg retreats, 280 ; the numbers
engaged and lossos, 280-2 ; commences his Chattanooga
campaign, 404 ; advances to Shelbyville, 409 ; captures
from Bragg, 410 ; concentrates his forces, 413 ; opening
of the battle of the Chickamauga, 415 ; the fight of
Sept 19th, 417 ; his dispositions for the 20th, 419 ; 425 ;
his order making over command to Gen. Thomas, 427 ;
. 432; beyond the Mississippi in '64, 686; appointed to
the command of the department of Missouri, 560 ; ar
rests conspirators, 556 ; raises ten regiments and puts
down an outbreak, 557; his official report, 55S; his es
timate of Price's force in Missouri, 662.
Ross, Brig.-Gen. L. F., fails to reach the Yasoo,
•via the Yazoo Pass and Tallahatchie, 297.
Rousseau, Gen. Lovell H., at Perryville, 218;
at Stone Elver, 274 ; in the Atlanta campaign, 681.
Rowan, Com., succeeds Goldsborough in com
mand of Burnside's fleet, and destroys Eebel gun
boats, 76.
Rowan, Capt. (Navy), at Fort Wagner, 480.
Royalists of '75 appealing to slaves for help,
Royall, Capt., 5th U. S. cavalry, attacked by
Stuart, 150.
Ruffin, Col., 1st N. C, killed at Centerville, 396.
Russell, Gen. D. A., assaults and carries Rap
pahannock station, 397; charges at the Wilderness,
571 ; is killed at the Opequan, 610.
s.
Sabine Cross-Roads, La., Union rout at, 539.
Sabine Pass, La., Gen. Franklin's failure at, 339.
Salomon, Gen., 36 ; at Prairie Grove, 39.
Sanborn, Brig-Gen., at Iuka, 224; chases Price
in WeBtern Missouri, 561.
Saunders, Gen. W. S., of Ky., is kiUed at Knox-
' ville, 432. J '
Saunders, Col. H. S., in East Tennessee, 428.
Savage's Station, Va., fight at, 160.
Savannah, Ga., abandoned by Hardee to Sher
man, 695.

ANALYTICAL INDEX.

779

Scales, Brig.-Gen., wounded at Gettysburg, 389.
Scammon, Col., Ohio, defeated near Bull Run, 181.
Scammon, Gen., captured in West Virginia, 599 .
Schenck, Maj.-Gen. Robert C joins Milroy at
McDowell, Va., 183; at Cro6s-Keys, 183; at Gaines
ville, 188; wounded at second Bull Eun, 189.
SchoiTeld, Gen. John M., organizes Missouri
militia, 85; 86; 37; succeeds Gen. Curtis, 447; in the
Atlanta campaign, 626; fights Hood at Franklin, Tenn.,
681-S; at Nashville,-6S5; captures Wilmington, 715.
Schurz, Gen. Carl, at Gainesville, 183 ; at Chan
cellorsville, 857 ; at Wauhatchie, 486.
Scott, Gen. Winfield, consulted by Pope, 172 ;
Mr. Potter on Ms strategy, 256.
Scott, Col. J. S., routs Union cavalry, 213.
Secessionville, S. G, Gen. Wright repulsed in
an attack on, 461.
Sedgwick, Gen. John, at Malvern Hill, 165 ;
at Antietam, 207 ; thrice badly wounded, 807 ; carries
Marye's Heights, and assails Lee's rear at Chancellors
ville, 863; at Gettysburg, 8S0-7; crosses the Eapidan,
566 ; killed in the Wilderness, 567-71.
Selma, Ala., captured by Gen. Wilson, 119.
Semmes, Gen., killed at Gettysburg, 389.
Semmes, Capt. Raphael, of the Alabama, 643.
Seven Days' Battles before Richmond, 153-69.
Seven Pines (or Fair Oaks), battle of, 141 to
149 ; losses sustained at, 148.
Seward, Hon. William H., on the Slave-Trade,
237 ; murderously assaulted by Payne, 750.
Seymour, Gen. Truman, at Gaines's Mill, 156 ;
succeeds Gen. McCall, 163 ; commands at South Moun
tain, 198; operates in Florida, 529; defeated at Olus-
tee, 581 ; captured at the Wilderness, 569.
Seymour, Horatio, elected Gov. of New York,
254; on the crisis, 499-600; addresses New York riot
ers, 506; urges the President to suspend drafting, 507.
Shackleford, Gen., routed at Jonesboro', Tenn.,
by W. E. Jones, 480.
Shaeffer, Col., killed at Stone River, 274.
Sharpsburg, near Antietam, fighting around,208.
Shaw, Col. Robert G., 54th Mass., killed at Fort
Wagner, 477.
Shelby, Gen., raids into Missouri, 453 ; is worst
ed by Carr near St. Charles, 554; captures most of the
54th Illinois, 555; pursues Ewing, 558.
Shelbyville (or Tullahoma), position of Bragg's
army, 404; Eosecrans advances to, 410.
Shenandoah, Valley of the, scene of operations,
176 ; Sigel's movements in the, 179 ; enemy moving
up the Valley of the, 180 ; Sheridan devastates, 611.
Shepherd, Col., badly cut up at Stone River, 216.
Shepherdstown, Va., a fight at,' 393.
Shepley, Gen. G. F., Governor of Richmond, 138.
Sheridan, Gen. Philip H, at Perryville, 218;
pushes the enemy to Nolensville, 271 ; at Stone Eiver,
274; skirmishes with Forrest and Van Dorn, 284; at
Chickamauga, 421 ; at Mission Eidge, 438-442 ; at the
Wilderness and Spottsylvania, 574; raids to Eichmond,
574; succeeds Gen. Hunter, 707; defeats Early at the
Opequan, 609; devastates the Valley, 611; defeats
Early at Cedar Creek, 613-14 ; routs Early at Waynes
boro' 727 ; attacked by Lee at Five Forks, 731 ; relieves
Warren from command, 733; routs Pickett at Five
Forks, 733; heads off Lee's army, 743 ; at New Orleans,
758.
Sherman, Gen. T. W., issues a proclamation to
the people of South Carolina, 240; has taken posses
sion of Edisto Island, 460.
Sherman, Gen. Wm. T., 54; 58; at Pittsburg
Landine 61-69 ; assails the Yazoo Bluffs, near Vicks
burg 291; at the capture of Fort Hindman, 298; feints
on laines's Bluff, 808; at tte assault on Vicksburg,
310- drives Johnston out of Jackson, Miss., 817; rSen-
forc'es Grant at Chattanooga. 437 ; his advance checked,
441 ; cooperates in driving Brags from Lookout Moun
tain Chattanooga Valley, and Mission Eidge, 448; as
signed to the command of the Mississippi, Ohio, _c,

574; begins his Atlanta campaign, 625; drives Jo.
Johnson from Dalton and Eesaca, 626 to 627; from
Dallas and Marietta, 62S; is repnlsed at Kenesaw
Mountain, 629; he repulses Hood's first attack near
Decatur, 681 ; makes a flank movement on Atlanta,
685 ; compels Hood to abandon Atlanta, 637 ; orders
the removal of the inhabitants from, 637^8 ; concen
trates for his great march, 689 ; his march from Atlanta
to Savannah, 6S9 to 692; captures Fort McAllister,
693; Savannah, 695; remains a month at Savannah,
696; enters South Caroling, 697; his route from Savan
nah to Goldsboro', 698; crosses the Edisto and Conga
ree, 699 ; fall of Columbia, Charleston, and Fort Sum
ter, 701 ; his order as to foraging, 703-4 ; advances to
Fayetteville, N. C, 705 ; fights Hardee at Averysboro',
706; Jo. Johnston at Bentonville, 707 ; reaches Golds
boro', 708; advances against Johnston at Smithfield,
751 ; arrangement with Johnston at Smithfield, 752 ;
requires and constrains a surrender, 753.
Sherrill, Col. Eliakim, 112th N. Y, wounded
at Harper's Ferry, 200.
Shields, Gen. James, wounded, 114; on battle
of Kernstown,115; joins McDowell at Fredericksburg,
136 ; ordered back to the Valley, 136 ; fails to intercept
Jackson, 187.
Ship Island, occupied by Gen. Phelps, 82.
Shreveport, La., held by 25,000 men imder
Price, 538.
Sibley, Gen., his Indian campaign, 455.
Sibley, Gen. H. F., organizes brigade for con
quest of New Mexico, 21 ; at Fort Bliss, 22 ; Valverde,
22-3 ; Santa Fe, 24 ; abandons New Mexico, 25.
Sickles, Gen. Daniel E., at Fredericksburg,
347 ; at Chancellorsville, 361 ; worsted by Longstreet^
881 ; nt Gettysburg, 380-87.
Sieges OF, Atlanta, 631 ; Beaufort, N. C, 13 ; 81,-
Charleston, 465-7 ; 529; Corinth, 226 to 231 ; Fort Dar
ling, 141; Fort Donelson, 47-50; Fort Fisher, 711 ; 718;
Fort Gaines, 651 ; Fort Henry, 45 ; Fort Hindman, 292 ;
Fort McAllister, Ga., 693; Fort Macon, N. C, 79 ; Fort
Morgan, 651 ; Fort Pillow, 56, 619; Pulaski, 457; Fort
Sanders, 432 ; Fort Sumter, 467-9 ; Fort Wagner, 477-
81; Island Number Ten, 55; Knoxville, 431-2; Mobile,
649-50; Newbern, 77; Plymouth, N. C, 633; Port
Hudson, 818; 331-37; Savannah, 695; Vicksburg, 2S6-
818; Yorktown, 120-2.
Sigel, Gen. Franz, retreats from Bentonville,
Ark., 27-8 ; at Pea Eidge, 28-31 ; succeeds Gen. Fre
mont, 172 ; on the Eappahannock, 179 ; in the fight at
Gainesville, 183 ; is defeated at Newmarket by Breck
inridge, 599 ; is superseded by Hunter, 600.
Silliman, Col., killed at Bloody Bridge, 533.
Sill, Gen. J. W., killed at Stone River, 274.
Simmons, Col., 5th Pa., mortally wounded, 162.
Simmsport, La., Banks's army marches to, 551.
Simpson, Col., N. J., killed at Gaines's Mill, 157.
Sinclair, Col. Wm. T., wounded at Fredericks
burg, 847.
Skiddaway, S. C, abandoned by the Rebels, 460.
Slaughter, Gen. J. E., routs Col. Barrett at
Brazos, on the Eio Grande, 757.
Slavery in War, 232 ; Patrick Henry, J. Q.
Adams, Edmund Eandolph, and others on, 233-6;
Joshua E. Giddings and Gov. Seward on, 237; Mr.
Lincoln on, 287; the West Point conception of, 237;
Gens. McDowell and McClellan on, 237-8 ; Gen. Butler
declares slaves contraband of war, 288; Gen. Cameron,
Gen. Fremont, and President Lincoln on. 238-40; Gen.
T. W. Sherman's assurance, 240 ; Gen. Wool's contra
band order, 240 ; Gens. Dix and Halleck on, 241 ; Cam
eron and Lincoln on. 243 ; Seward on, 248-4 ; Gen.
Burnside's Eoanoke Island proclamation, 244; Gens.
McCook, Buell, and Doubleday on slave-hnnting, 244-6 ;
Gen. Thomas Williams expels all fugitives, 246 ; CoL
Paine of Wisconsin thereon, 246 ; Lt-Col. D. E. An
thony thereon, 246 ; Gen. Hunter's order on, annulled
by the President, 246-T ; Gen. McClellan on, 248-9;
Mr. Greeley's letter to the President, and the response,
249; Mr. Lincoln to tbe Emancipationists, 251; his
Proclamation of Freedom, 253-5; Emancipation in
Congress, 256; army slave-catching prohibited, 257-8;
Slavery excluded from the Territories, 261 ; Mr. Trum
bull on, 263 ; Slave-Trade suppression, 267 ; Mr. Sum-

780

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

ner on, 269 ; the law of evidence, 269 ; Mr. Lincoln's last
message— Slavery abolished, 673.
Slaves, Rebel attempt to arm, 725.
Slidell, John, allusion to, 81.
Slocum, Gen. Henry W., at Antietam, 201 ; at
Chancellorsville, 856 ; at Gettysburg, 880-7 ; with
Sherman in his great march from Atlanta to Savan
nah, 689-695 ; threatens an advance on Augusta, 697 ;
crosses the Edisto, 689 ; fights Hardee at Averysboro',
706 ; attacked by Jo. Johnsftm at Bentonville, 707.
Smith, Gen. Gustavus W., 81 ; at Fair Oaks,
148-5; disabled by paralysis, 145.
Smith, Gen. Preston, killed at Chickamauga,417.
Smith, Gen. E. Kirby, invades Kentucky, 213;
at Lawrenceburgh, 221 ; at Perryville, 221 ; attacks
Steele at Jenkins's ferry, 558 ; his last General Order,
757 ; surrenders, 758.
Smith, Col., 7 3d Ohio, at Wauhatchie, 436.
Smith, Gen. C. F., 45; at Fort Donelson, 49;
at Clarksville, 53 ; death of, 58 ; alluBion to, 60.
Smith, Gen. T. R., at Fort Hindman, 293.
Smith, Gen. Wm. Sovy, makes a failure, 611.
Smith, Gen. T. Kilby, at Vicksburg, 311.
Smith, Gen. Giles A., at Vicksburg, 311; in
the Atlanta campaign, 682 ; crosses the Edisto, 619.
Smith, Gen. W. F., at Yorktown, 121 ; in Penin
sula campaign, 122 ; at Antietam, 207 ; at Fredericks
burg, 846; at Cold Harbor, 580-2 ; at Petersburg, 585.
Smith, Gen. Morgan L., 69 ; wounded at Yazoo
Bluffs, 289.
Smith, W. Prescott, expedites movement of
troops, 488.
Smith, Col., 27th Ga., killed at Antietam, 210.
Smith, Gen. A J., at Yazoo Bluffs, 290 ; at Fort
Hindman, 293; at Vicksburg, 815; takes Fort de Eus
sy, 537 ; fights at Mansura, 551 ; defeats Polignac at
Yellow Bayou, 551 ; routs Marmaduke near Columbia,
Ark., 551; ordered to St Louis, 557; aids to drive
Price out of Missouri, 559 to 562 ; at Nashville under
Thomas, 562; helps defeat Hood, 684; rejoins Canby,
and helps reduce Mobile, 721.
Snicker's Gap, occupied by Lee's army, 212.
Soldiers' Vote, 224; for President, 672.
Somerset, Ky., Gillmore routs Pegram, 421.
Soule, Hon. Pierre, 98; banished, 100.
South Mountain, Md., battle of, 195-7.
Spalding, Col., 12th Tenn. Cavalry, at Nash
ville, 686.
Spanish Fort, Mobile, besieged and taken, 122.
Spinola, Brig.-Gen. F. B., wounded at Manassas
Gap, 893 ; relieved from command, 564.
Spooner, Col., 83d Ind., at Vicksburg, 310.
Spottsylvania C. H., Va., fighting at, 512-5.
Springfield, Ark., attacked by Marmaduke, 446.
Stafford, Brig.-Gen., killed at the Wilderness,
568.
Stahl, Gen. Julius, in fight at Cross-Keys, 138.
Stanley, Maj.-Gen. D. A., at Iuka, 223-4; at
tacks Morgan, 271 ; charges into Franklin, 272; wound-
edat Franklin, Tenn, 683.
Stannard, Brig.-Gen., of Vermont, wounded at
Gettysburg, 888.
Stanton, Edwin M., appointed Secretary of War,
81; 82; 108; 136; to McClellan, after battle of Fair
> Oaks, 149-150; to McClellan, about Jackson's move
ments, 151-2.
Stark, Gen., killed at Antietam, 206.
Starkweather, Gen., at Perryville, 219.
State Authority over Militia, 488.
State Elections, 480 ; account of, 508-10; the
October, of 1864, 671-3.
St. Charles, Ark., Carr fights Shelby at, 554.
Steedman, Capt., naval expedition, 459.
Steedman, Gen. J. B., at Chickamauga, 422 ; at
Nashville, 6S6.

Steele, Gen. F, at Yazoo Bluffs, 289 ; at Fort
Hindman, 298; at Vicksburg, 811; captures Little
Eock, 451-2; in Arkansas in 1864, 538; advances to
Camden. 552; attacked at Jenkins's ferry, 558-4;
storms Blakely, 723.
Stein, Col., Ohio, killed at Stone River, 281.
Stein, Gen., 27 ; killed at Prairie Grove, 40.
Steinwehr's Division, at Wauhatchie, 436.
Stevens, Gen. Isaac I., killed at Chantilly,
Va., 18S-9.
Stevenson, Gen., at Port Gibson, 305.
Stevenson, Gen. T. G., killed at the Wilder
ness, 571.
Stewart, Gen., captured by Hancock, 572.
Stewart, Lt.-Col., at Van Buren, Ark., 447.
St. Louis, Rosecrans at, 556-8; Price threat
ens, 559.
Stone, Col-., at Columbia, S. G, 100.
Stoneman, Gen. Geo. D., on the Peninsula,
122-7; 159; his orders, 858; his raid, 865; his disas
trous raid to Macon, 688-4 ; takes Kingsport, Tenn.,
and Abingdon, Va., 688 ; carries Salisbury, N. O, 689 ;
destroys railroad, 751.
Stone River, or Murfreesboro', battle of, 273-9.
Stone's Battery, at Perryville, 219.
Strahl, Gen., killed at Franklin, Tenn., 683.
Strange, Col. J. B., on battle of Glendale, 163
Streight, Col. A. D., 51st Ind., raids into Geor
gia, 285; captured in the fight at Nashville, 6S5.
Strong, Gen., established on Morris Island, 415
assaults Fort Wagner and is killed, 477.
Stuart, Gen. David, at Pittsburg Landing, 53
at Yazoo Bluffs, 289 ; at Fort Hindman, 293.
Stuart, Gen. J. E. B., raids around McClellan's
army, 150; his report, 189; at South Mountain, 196
fights Pleasanton, 869 ; at Gettysburg, 889 ; at Center
ville, 895 ; at Chickamauga, 422 ; mortally wounded at
Yellow Tavern, Va., 674.
Sturgis, Lt.-Col., at Port Gibson, Miss., 305.
Sturgis, Maj.-Gen. S. D., reenforces Pope, 179;
at Alexandria, 179 ; is routed nt Guntown, 621-2.
Sullivan, Gen. J. C, at Iuka, 224 ; routs For
rest, 282.
Sumner, Hon. Chas., on holding slaves in na
tional vessels, and on excluding witnesses because of
color, 269.
Sumner, Gen. Edwin V., 108 ; at Williamsburg,
Va,, 122-5 ; at Fair Oaks, 1 44-7 ; on the battle of Glen
dale, 168 ; at Malvern Hill, 165 : reenforces Pope,
187-190 ; at Antietam, 207 ; at Fredericksburg, 344.
Sumter, bombardment of Fort, 467-9; Dahl-
greh's attack on, 481 ; restored to the Union , 747.
Swamp Angel, opens on Charleston, 479.
Swinton, William, on Dupont's attack on Fort
Sumter, 467-9.
Sykes, Gen., at Gaines's Mill, 155; at South
Mountain, 198; at Chancellorsville, 856; at Gettys
burg, 381-7 ; is relieved from command, 564.

Taliaferro, Gen., at Cedar Mountain, 177;
wounded, 182.
Taney, Roger B. (Chief- Justice), death of, 611.
Tattnall, Com., destroys the Merrunac, 128.
Taylor, Gen. Dick, at Cross-Keys, 138; at
Port Republic, 139; captures Brashear City, La., 837 ;
defeats Washburne, near Opelousas, 840-1 ; in Alabama,
721 ; surrenders to Gen. Canby, 754.
Taylor, Gen. Geo. W., at Gaines's Mill, 156 ; is
defeated by Jackson at Bull Bun, 181.
Taylor, Col., Pa. Bucktails, killed at Gettys
burg, 888.
Tecumseh, The, destroyed by a torpedo, 651.
Tennessee, the war in, 212; Bragg's army in,
221 ; Gen. Grant in command of WeBt, 222 ; Middle
and East, 404 ; Buckner abandons East, 429 ; Long-
street's operations against Burnside in East, 481-2;
Hood invades, 677 ; is driven out by Thomas, 677-87.

ANALYTICAL INDEX.

781

Tennessee, ram, fights and surrenders, 652-3.
Terrill, Gen., routed andkilled at Perryville, 219.
Terry, Gen. Alfred H., menaces James Island,
475 ; assaults Fort Wagner, 481 ; assaults and takes
Fort Fi6her, 718 ; helps capture Wilmington, 715.
Tew, Col., 2d N. C, killed at Antietam, 210.
Texas, surrender of regulars in, 11; 18; ordi
nance of Secession, 17; Gens. Banks and Dana in
Western, 341 ; collapse of Eebellion in, 757.
Thayer, Gen. John M., at Fort Hindman, 293.
Thoburn, Col. Jo., killed at Cedar Creek, 615.
Thomas, Col., Ga., killed at Fort Sanders, 432.
Thomas, Gen. Geo. H., at Mill Spring, 42-3 ; at
Cedar Mountain, 177; at Stone Eiver, 278-5; at Chick
amauga, 421; retires unassailed, 423; ordered to hold
Chattanooga, 434; at Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga
Valley, and Mission Eidge, 481 146 ; his official report,
442; in the Atlanta campaign, 626; Jn Tennessee, 640;
assumes chief command in Tennessee, 677; defeats
Hood at Nashville, 685-6; results of his campaign, 689.
Thomas, Gen. (Rebel), at second Bull Run, 189.
Thompson, Col., killed at Hartsville, 441.
Thompson, Col. N. C, killed at Centerville, 396.
Thoroughfare Gap, operations in, 182.
Tidball, Gen., at Gaines's Mill, 156.
Tilden, Maj., 38th N. Y., killed at Chantilly, 188.
Tile, Gen., wounded at Centerville, 396.
Tilghman, Gen. Lloyd, at Fort Henry, 45 ;
surrenders, 47 ; killed at Champion Hills, 809.
Todd, Geo., operates as a guerrilla, 447.
Toombs, Gen. Robert, wounded at Antietam,
208-10.
Topping, Lt.-Col., list Indiana, killed, 315.
Tower, Gen., in the battle of Gainesville, 181.
Tribune Office, op New York, assailed by
draft rioters, 504.
Trimble, Brig.-Gen. J. R., at Malvern Hill, 166;
takes Manassas Junction, 180 ; at second Bull Eun, 189 ;
wounded at Gettysburg, 389.
Trumbull, Hon. Lyman, on freeing the slaves
of Eebels, 263.
Tucker, Capt., raids from Charleston, 465.
Tunstall's Station, scene of operations, 159.
Turner's Gap, Franklin drives Cobb from, 196.
Tuscumbia, Ala., captured by Mitchel, 285.
Tuttle, Gen., at Vicksburg, 311.
Twiggs, Gen., treason of, 11 ; dismissal of, from
Confederate service, 85.
Tyler, Gen. (Rebel), killed at Fort Tyler, 120.
Tyndale'S Brigade, at Wauhatchie, 436.

u.
Underwood, Col., 33d Mass., wounded at Wau
hatchie, 435.
Union National Convention in 1864, 658.
Unionists reorganize Arkansas, 555.

Vallandigham, Hon. C. L., arrested by Bum-
side 489: public sensation and resolves, 490 to 001;
defeated for Governor of Ohio, 609-510; his conversa
tion with Ould, 666.
Valverde, New Mexico, battle of, 22-3. _
Vance, Col. J. W., 96th Ohio, killed at Sabine
Cross-roads, 540.
Van Cleve, Gen., killed at Stone River, 211.
Van Dorn, Gen. Earl, in Texas, 18 ; commands
trans-Mississippi Department, 27 ;. baffled by Sigel 2 ,
at Pea Eidge, 28-42; attacks Cormth and is defeated,
225-9 ; his losses, 281 ; captures Holly Springs, 287.

Vicksburg, Miss., bombarded, 51; first siege of
raised, 57-8; again bombard_ad, 101; attempt to cut
canal across peninsula opposite, 101-2 ; siege of, again
abandoned, 102 ; operations against, 2S6 ; Sherman
again threatens, 289 ; Sherman fails to take, 291 ; Com.
Porter passes the batterieB, 801 ; grand assault on, 311 ;
failure of the assault on, 313 ; besieged by Grant, and
surrendered, 310-16.
Vincent, Col., killed at Gettysburg, 388.
Virginia, Pope's operations in, 172; Banks and
McDowell assigned to Pope, 172; fight at -Wytheville
and Lewisburg, 403.

w.
Wachusett, Capt. Collins, captures the Florida
in Bahia harbor, 645-6.
Wadsworth, Gen. James S., Military Governor
of Washington, 108; on strength of Eebel army at
Manassas in Jan., 1862, 112 ; strength of his force for
defense of Washington, 130; at Gettysburg, 377; in
council at Williamsport, 892 ; killed in the -Wilder
ness, 569.
Wainwright, Col., wounded at South Moun
tain, 198.
Wainwright, Capt., killed at Galveston, 324.
Waite, Col. C. A., captured at San Antonio, 18.
Walker, Gen. W. H. T, at Antietam, 207 ; de
feated at Jackson, 806; at Chickamauga, 415; fights
Brannan at Pocotaligo, 468 ; retreats up Eed river be
fore Gen. A. J. Smith, 637; killed at Decatur, Ga.,688.
Walker, Capt. (Navy), up the Yazoo river, 318.
Wallace, Gen. Lew., 49 ; at Pittsburg Landing,
59-71 ; defeated at the Monoeacy, 603.
Wallace, Gen. W. H. L., 59 ; 63 ; killed at
Pittsburg Landing, 64.
Walthall, Gen., at Chickamauga, 417.
War and its Causes, Franklin Pierce on, 491.
Ward, Gen. Hobart, at Chancellorsville, 360;
at Manassas Gap fight, 893.
Waring, Col. Geo. E., defeats Marmaduke at
Batesville, 447 ; at Guntown, Miss., 621.
Warner, Gen., fights at Henderson's Hill, La.,
537.
Warren, Gen. Fitz Henry, reenforces Banks
on Eed river, 550.
Warren, Gen. George S., at Gaines's Mill, 156;
Malvern Hill, 165; Antietam, 208; Chancellorsville,
856 ; Centerville, 395 ; commands the 5th corps, 564 ;
at " the Wilderness," 567 to 571 ; charges at Spottsyl
vania,^ ; at Cold Harbor, 580 to 582 ; destroys Wel
don Eailroad, 726; defeats Pegram ot Dabney's mill,
726; fights on Rownnty creek, 730; in fight at Five
Forks, 781-2 ; relieved by Sheridan, 788.
Warrenton Junction, operations at, 181 ; 395.
Warrenton Springs, Va., operations at, 182.
Washburne, Gen. C. C, 34; at Helena, 35; at
Vicksburg, 814; defeated near Opelousas, 840; on
Eebel conspiracy, 557. ,»,-,, ?
Washington City, force left for defense ot,
180-1- McDowell's corps retained for defense of, 181;
Gen. Banks in command at, 194; Early menaces and
is repulsed from, 605.
Washington, Capt., killed at Vicksburg, 310.
Washington, N. C, Foster repels Hill at, 483.
Wauhatchie, Gen. Geary victorious at, 435.
Waynesboro', Va., Sheridan routs Early at, 721.
Waynesboro', Ga., Kilpatrick at, 691 ; 692.
Wead, Gen. F. F., killed at Cold Harbor, 582.
Webb, Brig.-Gen., wounded at Gettysburg, 388.
Webb, Col., killed at Sabine Cross-roads, 540.
Webster, Col. J. D., at Pittsburg Landing, 65.
Webster, Col. D. Fletcher, of Mass., killed at
Gainesville, 189.
Weed, Gen. S. H., killed at Gettysburg, 388.
Weehawken, iron-clad, Capt. John Rogers, cap
tures the Atlanta, 472-8.

782

THE AMERICAN CONFLICT.

Weitzel, Gen. Godfrey, with Gen. Butler's ex
pedition, 83, 91, 97; sent to Lafourche, 104-5; declines
to assault Wilmington, 711 ; enters Eichmond, 787.
Wessells, Gen., wounded at Fair Oaks, 148.
West Point, Va., fight at, 126-7.
West Virginia, operations in, 108 ; 140 ; 598.
Wharton, Gen., raids in Middle Tenn., 433.
Wheeler, Gen., wounded at Lavergne, 271;
his attack a failure, 272; 280; 283; raids in East Ten
nessee, 433 ; at Chickamauga, 415.
Whitaker, Gen., at Chickamauga, 422.
White Oak Swamp, battle of, 160-1; bridge
retaken, 170.
White, Gen. Julius, at Martinsburg and Har
per's Ferry, 199.
White, Capt., at Vicksburg, 312.
Whiting, Gen., at Malvern Hill, 165.
Wickliffe, Hon. C A., enlightened by Gen.
Hunter, 515.
Wilcoz, Gen. C. M. (Rebel), at Glendale, 163 ;
at Hopewell Gap, 183.
Wild, Gen., in North Carolina, 535.
Wilder, Col. J. T., surrenders to Bragg at
Munfordsville, 216.
Wilderness, battle of the, 567 to 570.
Willard, Col., killed at Gettysburg, 388.
Williams, Gen. Thomas, in first attack on
Vicksburg, 57-8 ; at Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 97 ;
again at Vicksburg, 101 ; in command at Baton Eouge,
102 ; death of, 103 ; issues orders to drive from camps
and garrisons colored fugitives, 246.
Williams, Gen. A. S., with Sherman in his
great march, 689 to 695.
Williams, Col., 111., killed at Stone River, 281.
Williams, Capt., at siege of Corinth, 227.
Williamsburg, Va., battle of, 122-6.
Willioh, Gen., captured at Stone River, 274.
Wilmington, N. C, defenses of, 710; Butler and
Weitzel decline to assault, 711; Schofield captures,
715.
Wilson, Hon. Henry, of Mass., on the return
of fugitive slaves, 251 ; bill to provide for educating col
ored children, 266.
Wilson, Gen. James H, raids through central
Alabama, 717; capture of Selma and Montgomery,
719-720.
Winchester, Va., Jackson defeated at, 135 ;
Gen. Ewell takes, 871.
Winslow, Capt. John, of the Kearsarge, en
gages the Alabama, and sinks her, 646-47.

Winthrop, Gen. Fred., killed at Five Forks, 134.
Wise, Gen. Henry A., at Roanoke Island, 74.
Wise, Capt. O. J., killed at do., 16.
Wolfe, Lt.-Col., killed at Richmond, Ky., 215.
Wolford, Gen. Frank T, opposes Morgan, 404;
pursues Pegram to Somerset, 427 ; repels Scott's cav
alry, 428 ; is routed at Philadelphia, Tenn., 431.
Wood, Gen. T. J., wounded at Stone River, 276;
at Chickamauga, 415 ; at Mission Eidge, 442 ; at Nash
ville, 684-6.
Wood, Maj., brings off four guns from Mary
land Heights, 200.
Wood, Brig.-Gen. (Rebel), wounded, 221.
Wood, Col. Jas., 136th N. Y.„at Wauhatchie, 436.
Woodward, Judge Geo. W., on the conscrip
tion act, 488; beaten as candidate for Governor of
Pennsylvania, 509.
Wool, Gen. John E., "at Fortress Monroe, 121;
occupies Norfolk and Portsmouth, 127 ; detached from
McClellan's command, 132; his order in relation to
colored contrabands, 240.
Worden, Lt. John L., fights the Merrimac, in
the Monitor, and is wounded, 118.
Wright, Gen. H. G., assaults Secessionville, 461 ;
at the Wilderness, 568-71; at Cold Harbor, 580-2; at
Petersburg, 734.
Wright, Gen. (Rebel), at Malvern Hill, 165;
wounded at Antietam, 210.
Wyman, Col. J. B., killed near Vicksburg, 290.
Wytheville, Va., fight at, 403 ; Gillem takes 200
men and 8 guns at, 688.

Yazoo City, fighting at, 309-310; 318.
Yazoo Bluffs, Sherman demonstrates on, 289.
Yeadon, Richard, offers $10,000 reward for
Gen. Butler, 106.
Yellow Bayou, La., fight of A. J. Smith, with
Polignac, 551.
York River Railroad, burned by Rebels, 159.
Yorktown, Va., siege of, 120-22; evacuation of
by Magruder, 122; embarkation of troops at, 171.

z.
Zollicoffer, Gen., killed at Mill Spring, 42-3.

The End.

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