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HISTORY
OF THi:
CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
BY
THE OOMTE DE PARIS.
PUBLISHED B7 SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH THE AUTHOR.
Volume I.
PHILADELPHIA:
PORTER & COATES.
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OOFTRIOHT, 1875 BY JOSEPH A COAXES.
This Volume comprises Volumes I. and II. of the Fbench
Edition, without Abridgment.
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PREFACE TO THE FRENCH EDITION.
Much was said in France about the American civil war while
it lasted. But the documents necessary to a full understanding
of it as a whole, and to follow it in its details, were then
wanting. Since that time public attention has been diverted
by the events which have occurred in Europe. Nevertheless,
this war in the New World may be useful to study, even after
those of which our continent was the theatre in 1866 and 1870.
At a time when labor and contemplation are the duty of all,
no page of contemporaneous military history should be neg-
lected.
Having been kindly received in the armies of the young
republic, which remembers the support given by France to the
first defenders of its independence, and has not failed to place
the name of Bourbon among those who are to perpetuate its
memory on its soil, it has been the wish of the author to
present his grateful testimony to his late companions in arms.
In writing his personal recollections, he has been led to describe
a war some incidents of which have come within his own per-
sonal observation. Notwithstanding his legitimate preferences
for the cause he served, he has endeavored to preserve, through-
out his narrative, the strictest impartiality. He has examined,
with equal care, the documents that Irnve emanated from both
parties; and if his work be a reflex of the vicissitudes in the
midst of which it was prosecuted, he believes that it possesses, at
least, the merit of precision and sincerity.
ill
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Pabis, September, 1875.
Gentlemen : The necessities of an early publication of the trans*
lation of my History of the Civil War in America having prevented
me firom revising that translation before the present issue, I must
leave upon Mr. Tasistro the responsibility of his work ; but his abil-
ity is a sufficient guarantee that this work has been accomplished with
care and accuracy. It has therefore been agreed between my pub-
lishers, Messrs. L6vy, and myself to grant to the translation, since it
is to be published by yourselves, the exclusive copyright in England,
according to the forms prescribed by international treaties, and, in
America, the right of giving out your edition as the only one author-
ized by myself.
My History has been written rather for the instruction of the
European public than for Transatlantic readers, to whom every inci-
dent of the war is already familiar. I trust that my account of these
great events will, at least, not provoke a too bitter controversy ; for
if I have been obliged to judge and to censure, I have done so with-
out any personal or partial feeling against any one, with a sincere
respect for truth and a keen sense of the responsibility which I
assumed. I hope, moreover, that your readers will acknowledge that
I have tried to make Europe understand the magnitude of the strife
which divided the New World, the extent of the sacrifices borne by
the American people, and the heroism displayed by both sides on the
bloody fields of battle. I should be proud to have my share in rais-
ing the monument which is to perpetuate the memory of that heroism
and the glory of the American soldier, without distinction between
the blue and the gray coats.
Believe me, gentlemen,
Yours truly,
I<. P. d'OfiUSANS,
Comte de Paris.
Messrs. J. H. Goates & Oa
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EDITOR'S PREFACE.
When I was called by the publisher to the task of editing
this work, I was at first doubtful as to the extent and limit of
my labors. The English version of Mr. L. F. Tasistro, an
experienced translator, had already been made, and was placed in
my hands. After a very careful revision of it, particularly as
to military details and technicalities, with which my former life
had rendered me more familiar, I found myself really limited
to seeing the volume properly through the press, with scarcely a
comment. The very few editorial notes are upon points of fact
or statistics.
It would have been unbecoming in me to argue upon contro-
verted questions, national, political, or military, upon which, after
careful investigation and mature deliberation, the author has
expressed himself decidedly.
Least of all have I considered it within my province to say a
word as to his estimates of individuals and their relations to the
government.
He has himself said that his history was written for European
readers, who desire to know only his impressions and conclusions.
But the book will be largely read in this country by people more
capable of judging its facts and its philosophy.
This I may be permitted to say : He has produced a book dis-
playing careful research, cool judgment, and a manifest purpose
to be just to all. It is vigorous in style, scholarly without a
touch of pedantry; his battle-pictures are efifective from their
great simplicity ; the battle fights itself under the reader's eyes.
So varied and skilful is the handling of the narrative that the
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VI PREFACE.
interest does not flag for a moment, even when he deals with dry
statistics. In a large and philosophic view of American institu-
tions he has rivalled De Tocqueville. Although his service was
short in this country, he gained a full knowledge of the machinery
and working of our government, and was a witness of the mar-
vellous creation of a colossal army out of nothing.
He has thus been enabled to use intelligently the large mate-
rials he has collected, and to present the first portion of what
must be regarded as an admirable history of the greatest war, as
to numbers, extent of territory, and importance of issue, the
world has ever seen.
Not one word has been altered or omitted from the original ;
the only change is in form. To bring it more readily within the
scope of all who desire to read it, the first two French volumes
have been compressed into one of the American edition, and a
similar arrangement will be adopted for the following volumes.
The maps necessary to a clear understanding of the text have
been exactly reproduced ; only the general maps of large sections
of country have been omitted, as they may be supplied by any
good American atlas within the reader's reach.
The French metrical system of measurement has been retained
in the translation, because it is already greatly used in this coun-
try and taught in our schools, and because, although on a scale
the transfer is easy from miles to kilometres, etc., it is difficult to
make the transfer in decimals throughout the text.
For convenience the reader is reminded that a metre = 39.38
American inches ; a centimetre, the one hundredth of a metre, =
.3938 of an inch ; kilometre — .62 of a mile. It may further be
observed that as the map scales are simply fractions of any unit,
as 60,000 to 1, etc., distances may be laid oflP at once in our mea-
sures by assuming our unit.
Henry Copp£e.
Fountain Hill, South Bjsthlehem, Nov. 9, 1875.
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CONTENTS OF VOL I.
BCX)K I.— THE AMERICAN ARMY.
CHAPTER I.
THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
PAoa
Object of this work an essentially military history. — Necessity of a Pre-
liminaiy sketch. — The provincial militia in the Seven Years' War. —
The War of Independence. — Difference between the volunteers of 1775
and the Confederates. — Their analogy with the Federals. — Organization
of the militia. — Washington. — ^Formation of the national army in 1776.
— Conscription and enlistments. — ^The national army disappears after the
war. — First attempt to establish a regular army. — The War of 1812. — Its
character. — Organization of the standing army in 1815 1
CHAPTER II.
THE REGULAR ARMY.
Organization of West Point Academy. — Its influence. — Promotion and the
prerogative of the Senate. — Formation of new regiments. — Life of regular
officers. — Discipline. — No retiring pension. — Organization of regiments
in the various arm& — Special corps. — The administrative departments.... 16
CHAPTER III.
THE Al^Y OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO.
The regular officers in the Mexican War. — The volunteers nearly all from
the South. — ^Their character. — Kearny's expedition. — Capture of Santa
F^—Conquest of California by Fremont.— Battle of San Pascual. — Doni-
phan's expedition. — ^His perils. — War in the wilderness. — Fight at Kio
Sacramento. — Capture of Chihuahua. — Return.— Battles of Palo Alto and
Resaca de la Palma. — Capture of Monterey. — Santa Anna. — Battle of
Buena Vista 30
vii
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Viu CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
THE ARMY OF INVASION IN MEXICO.
pAoa
Landing of the Americans. — Capture of Vera Cruz.— Battle of Cerro Gordo.
— Sojourn at Puebla. — March again.st Mexico.— Campaign of manoeuvres.
— Character of the American soldiers in that war. — Battles of Contreras,
Churubusco, and Chapultepec — Battle of Molino del Rey. — Capture of
Mexico. — End of the war. — Its influence on the officers. — The future
generals of the civil war and General Scott 46
CHAPTER V.
THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS.
The Seminole War.- The officers in the far West.— Their rftle.— The In-
dian tribes. — War on the prairies. — Expedition against the Mormons. —
Stampedes. — R61e of the several arms of the service in that war. — Its in-
fluence on the organization of tlie American army and its mode of fight-
ing.—The regular army in Texas. — Tidings of secession. — ^Defection of
Twiggs and Van Dorn. — Loyalty of the soldiers 69
BOOK II.— SECESSION.
CHAPTER I.
SLAVERY.
Slavery the whole cause of the civil war. — Its influence upon the white
race. — ^The whole slavery society rests on a lie. — Slave-peuR. — The slavery
dogma. — Slavery controls the whole Union. — Organization of society and
property i*: the South. — Planters, slaves, and common whites. — Elements
of military organization 76
CHAPTER II.
THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS.
The South had Ion? been preparing for war. — Enlistm jnts. — Statistics of
the white population. — Illusions of the South. — ^The States and the cen-
tral government. — Powers of Mr. Davis. — Provisional army. — Difference
between Southern and Northern soldiers. — The infantry, the cavalry, and
the artillery. — The partisans ; — Mosby, Morgan, and Forrest 90
CHAPTER III.
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
Supremacy of -slavery. — A possible reconstruction of the Union for its
benefit.— The Montgomery Constitution. — King Cotton. — Division of
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CONTENTS. IX
PAOX
parties. — Democrats and Republicans. — State sovereignty. — Mr. Calhoun.
— Falsity of his theory. — The Federal power truly national. — Prelimi-
nary convention in 1860. — A split among Democrats. — Election of Mr.
Lincoln. — Meeting of Congress. — Secession movement. — South Carolina.
— The President's hesitancy. — Secession of six States in January, 1861.
— Attitude of the other States. — Attempts at conciliation: the Peace
Congress. — The Montgomery assembly. — Capitulation of San Antonio. —
The last measures of Mr. Buchanan. — The Crittenden Compromise re-
jected 107
CHAPTER IV.
FORT SUMTER,
Inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, March 4, 1861. — ^The Border States still loyal.
— Mr. Seward. — Condition of Fort Sumter. — Attempt at revictualling. —
Bombardment and capitulation, April 13. — Excitement In the North. —
Call for 75,000 volunteers. — New secession ordinances. — ^The part played
by Virginia. — Destruction of the Norfolk arsenal. — Disturbances in Balti-
more.— The War Democrats. — Butler and Annapolis. — A new call for
volunteers. — ^The blockade. — ^Recapture of Baltimore. — ^The habeas cor-
pus.— Capitulations of Indianola, San Lucas Springs and Fort Fillmore.
— Lyon at St Louis. — Organization of the Confederate govarnment. —
Mr. Davis in Richmond. — Military preparations on both sides.— The
contrabands. — Beauregard and McDowell. — McClellan and Lee. — Battle
of Big Bethel. — Occupation of Boone ville and Harper's Ferry 133
CHAPTER V.
THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS,
The enlistment fever. — Personal initiative. — Character of the volunteers. —
The true representatives of the nation. — StaCistics. — Formation of regi-
ments by the States. — ^Their muster by the central government. — The foot
soldier, the mounted man, and the artilleryman. — Their modes of fight-
ing, their defects, and their good qualities. 172
BOOK III.— THE FIRST CONFLICT.
CHAPTER I.
RIVERS AND RAILWAYS.
GeognpLical uniformity of North America. — Scattering of the ]K>pulation-
— Scarcity of roads in the South. — Want of supplies. — The part played
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PAoa
hy roads and riyers.— The water systems. — ^Basins of tlie Atlantic and
Gulf of Mexico. — The three divisions of the Mississippi basin. — Net-
work of railways. — Divided in two. — Impenetrable regions. — Estimate
of supplies. — Base of operations 197
CHAPTER II.
BULL RUN.
Meeting of the Federal Congress, July 4, 1861. — Position of parties and
foreign intercourse. — McClellan in East Virginia. — Rich Mountain. —
Laurel Hill. — Combat of Carricksford. — Consequences of this first success
of the Federals. — Movements of Patterson on the Potomac. — McDowell's
army. — Impatience at Washington. — Description of Manassas and vicin-
ity,— Beauregard's army. — ^The Federals begin their march, July 16. —
Their plan of campaign. — Difficulties in obtaining supplies on the march.
— Fight at Blackburn's Ford, July 18. — ^Johnston leaves Winchester, July
18. — His arrival at Manassas, July 20. — Position of the Confederates. —
McDowell leaves Centreville, July 21. — His plan. — Passage of Bull Run.
— Fight at Young's Branch. — Defeat of the Confederate left. — Desperate
fight on the Manassas plateau. — Critical position of the Confederates. —
The arrival of Kirby Smith assures the victory. — Rout of the Federals.
— Flight toward Centreville. — Return of the army to Washington. —
Alarm in the capital. — Inaction of the conquerors. — Results of the battle
of Bull Run 218
CHAPTER III.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE.
The North stimulated by the defeat. — General McClellan. — Inactivity of
both armies. — Organization of the Army of the Potomac. — The general
staff and the administration. — Discipline and courts-martial. — The
grades ; — election, appointment, and examination. — Organization of the
regiment. — Instruction in the different arms. — Mechanical arts and
physical labor. — Skill of American soldiers. — Telegraphy. — Signals and
balloons. — Winter quarters. — Post-offices, newspapers and their corre-
spondents.— ^Reorganization of the regular army. — Creation of new regi-
ments 257
CHAPTER IV.
THE MATERIEL OF WAR.
The quartermaster department and private enterprise. — Equipments. —
Fresh horses. — Transportation. — Provisions. — Rations. — Muskets and
Ammunition. — Variety of arms. — New systems. — Rifled artillery. — Par-
tott guns. — Rodman guns. — ^The projectiles and their propelling power.
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CONTENTS. ^ XI
PAGB
— The fuses. — Various, inventions. — Smooth-bore cannon. — The arma-
ment of the South. — She is supplied from Europe. — Foundries and
manufactories of arms. — American and English cannon.— Projectiles. —
Powder, Equipments, food 292
BOOK IV.— THE FIRST AUTUMN.
CHAPTER I.
LEXINGTON.
Situation of Missouri. — Cairo and St. Louis. — Grenerals Lyon and Sterling
Price. — Greography of Missouri. — Sedalia. — Bolla, Pilot Knob. — Price at
Neosho. — Battle of Carthage, July 5, 1861. — Lyon at Springfield, July
13. — General Fremont. — His administration.-^March of the Confederates
against Lyon. — Engagement at Dug Springs, August 2. — Battle of Wil-
son's Creek, August 10. — Surprise of the Confederates.— Rout of Siegel. —
Desperate struggle. — Death of Lyon. — Retreat of the Federals to Rulla.
— Proclamation of Fremont, August 30. — March of Price northward. —
Engagements at Drywood Creek, September 7 j at Bamett's Mill, Au-
gust 30. — The Confederates occupy Columbus, September 4. — Grant occu-
pies Paducah, September 6. — Inaction of Fremont. — Price before Lex-
ington, September 13. — Siege and assaults. — Capitulation of Lexington,
September 20. — Fremont marches upon Lexington, September 27. — Re-
treat of Price. — Engagements at Lebanon and Lynn Creek. — Engage-
ment at Fredericktown, October 16. — Battle of Fredericktown, October
21. — Battle of Springfield, October 25. — Fremont occupies Springfield,
October 27. — Fremont marches upon Wilson's Creek, November 2. — Fre-
mont superseded by Hunter, November 4. — Retreat of Hunter to RoUa.
— Columbus. — General Grant— General Polk. — Battle of Belmont, No-
vember 7. — General Halleck. — Engagement at Little Blue, November
10.— Combat at Black Water, December 10 311
CHAPTER II.
BALL'S BLUFF.
Neutrality of Kentucky. — The militia and the home-guards. — ^Invasion of
Kentucky. — Description of Kentucky. — East Tennessee. — West Virginia.
— Generals Wise and Cox. — Generals Floyd and Rosecrans. — Combat at
Cross Lanes, August 26, 1861.— March of Rosecrans. — Combat of Cami-
fex Ferry, September 10.— Combats of Cheat Summit and Elkwater, Sep-
tember 12, — ^First combat at Buffiilo Hill, October 3.— C/ombat of Romney,.
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XII CONTENTS.
PAoa
October 26.— Engagement at ChapmansYille, September 26.— SeweU'e
Mountain.— Floyd at Cotton Hill.— Floyd evacuates Laurel Creek, No-
▼eifiber 12. — Engagement at Beckley, November 13. — Engagement at
Guyandotte, November 9. — Second combat at BuffiUo Hill, December
13. — Anderson at Louisville.— Buckner. — Zollicoffer. — Garrard. — Com-
bat at Wild Cat Camp, October 21.— Engagement at Hillsborough, Oc-
tober 8. — Engagement at Ivy Creek, November 9. — Greneral Sherman. —
Engagement at Munfordsville, December 17.— The fortifications of Wash-
ington.— Formation of divisions. — Position of the two armies. — Evacua-
tion of Munson's Hill, September 27. — Blockade of the Potomac— En-
gagement at Bolivar, October 16.— Battle of Ball's Blufl^ October 21.—
Excitement in the North. — General Stone and Colonel Baker. — Inaction
of McClelian. — Combat at Drainesville, December 20. — Strength of the
two armies 367
CHAPTER III.
POET ROYAL.
The Federal navy. — The Dahlgren howitzer. — Reorganization of the fleet.
— Confederate privateers. — The crew of the Sainnnah. — The rights of bel-
ligerents.— The Sumter. — Captain Semmes. — Burning of prizes. — Viola-
tion of international law. — Sale of the Sumter. — The J. Davis, — The
Naskvillc—The Beauregard. — Proclamation of the blockade. — England
recognizes the Confederates as belligerents. — Effective and paper block-
ades.—^The blockading squadrons. — The land blockade. — Matamoras. —
Effects of the blockade in the South. — The part King Cotton played. —
Chincoteague, October 6, 1861.— Lynn Haven, October 9.— The Missis-
sippi passes. — Commodore HoUins. — The ram Manassas. — Naval combat
of the Head passes, October 12. — The Royal Yacht, Galveston, November
8.— The Patrick Henry, at Newport News, December 2.— The Sea Bird,
at Se wall's Point, December 29. — ^The stone fleet at Charleston, Decem-
ber 17. —Mr. Fox. — Pamlico Sound. — The Hatteraa forts. — Departure of
Stringham and Butler, August 26. — Disembarkation before Fort Clark,
August 28.— Bombardment and capitulation of Fort Hatteras, August
29. — Pensacola. — The Judah, September 14.— Combat at Santa Rosa, Oc-
tober 9. — Bombardment of Forts Pickens and McRae, November 22. —
Occupation of Ship Island, December 4.— Ocracocke, September 17.—
Combat at Chicomacomico, October 4 and 5. — Dupont's fleet. — The army
of W. T. Sherman. — Departure, October 25.— The Sea Islands.— Storm of
November 2.— The forts of Hilton Head.— Commodore TatnalTs flotilla.
— Battle of Hilton Head and capture of the forts, November 7.— Beaufort,
November 11.— Tybee Inland, November 25.— The Warsaw Islands.—
Ossabaw Sound, December 12.— Edisto Island. — Engagement on the
Coosaw River, Januarj' 1, 1862.— The Trent affair.— The Confederate com-
missioners.—Captain Wilkes.— Stoppage of the Trent, November 8.—
Effect of that stoppage in America. — Effect in England.— Military
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CONTENTS. xiii
PAGK
preparations. — Lord Lyons and Mr. Adams. — The question of right. —
Mr. Lincoln.—Release of the prisoners.— Mr. Seward's despatch.— Gen-
eral satisfaction 422
BOOK v.— THE FIEST WINTER.
CHAPTER I.
DONELSON AND PEA KIDGE.
Footers flotilla. — Mill Springs. — Colonels H. Marshall and Garfield. — Com-
bat of Middle Creek, January 10, 1862.— Garfield at Prestonburg.— Crit-
tenden at Beach Grove. — Schoepf at Somerset. — March of Thomas and
Zollicofier. — Battle of Logan Cross-roads, or Mill Springs, January 19. —
Death of Zollicofifer. — Occupation of Beach Grove by the Federals. —
Forts Henry and Donelson. — S. Johnston's army. — Reconnaissances of
Columbus and Fort Henry. — Departure of Grant and Foote, February 2,
— ^The iron-clad gun-boats. — Disembarkation of the troops, February 6.
— Bombardment and capture of Fort Henry, February 6. — Foote ascends
the Tennessee. — Johnston evacuates Bowling Green. — Pillow, Buckner,
and Floyd at Donelson, February 12. — Description of the fort. — Fruitless
assault by the Federals, February 13.— Their sufferings. — The Federal
fleet is repulsed, February 14. — Mistakes of the Confederates. — Their
sortie. — Battle of Donelson. — Fluctuations of the struggle. — First success
of Pillow. — Vain efforts of Buckner. — The Federal line, after being
driven in, re-forms. — The Confederates are checked. — The offensive
taken by Smith. — Defeat of the Confederates. — A council of war. —
Capitulation of the Confederate army. — Flight of Floyd and Pillow. —
Effect of the capture of Donelson. — Johnston's retreat. — Evacuation of
Nashville. — Disorders. — Arrival of Mitchell. — Johnston at Murfrees-
borough. — Evacuation of Columbus. — Island Number Ten. — Curtis
marches upon Springfield. — Retreat of Price, February 12. — Curtis in
Arkansas. — The Ozark Mountains. — March of Van Dorn. — Combat at
Bentonville, March 6.— Battle of Pea Ridge.— Check of the Federals on
the first day, March 7. — Their victory on the second, March 8. — Re-
treat of both armies ' 473
CHAPTER II.
SHILOH.
New Mexico.— Generals Canby and Sibley.— Fort Craig.— Flank move-
ment of Sibley, February 19, 1862.— Engagement at Fort Craig, February
20.— Combat at Valverde, February 21.— Fight of Apache Pass, March
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XJV CONTENTS.
PAflB
24.--Sibley at Santa F^— Sibley leaves New Mexico, April 12.— The
course of the Tennessee. — Savannah. — Grant at Pittsbarg Landing,
March 17. — Johnston at Murfreesborough. — Buell at Nashville. — John-
ston reaches Corinth. — Engagement at Pound Gap, March 16. — Morgan
at Gallatin, March 16. — Skirmish at McMinnville, March 26. — Island
Number Ten. — Landing of Pope, February 28. — Fight at Commerce,
March 2. — Beauregard. — HoUins's flotilla. — New Madrid. — Point Pleas-
ant.— Bombardment and evacuation of New Madrid, March 12. — Piercing
of the New Madrid canal. — The Carondelet forces the Confederate bat-
teries, April 5. — General Mackall and General McGown. — Evacuation of
Island Number Ten, April 7. — Concentration and plans of the two hos-
tile armies. — Arrival of Johnston at Corinth. — Position of Corinth. —
Position of Pittsburg Landing. — Want of foresight on the part of the
Federals. — BuelPs army. — The Confederate army on the march, April 4.
— Bivouac of April 5. — First day of the battle of Shiloh, April 6. — Sur-
prise of the Federals. — Peabody's brigade dispersed. — Hardee defeats
the brigade of Prentiss. — Sherman before the church of Shiloh. — McCler-
nand repulsed. — Sherman falls back. — Prentiss is surrounded. — Death of
Johnston. — Engagement between the forces of Hurlbut and W. H. Wal-
lace.— Movement of the whole Confederate army. — The Federal army is
repulsed. — Movements of L. Wallace and Nelson. — The park of siege
artillery. — The Confederates checked by the brigade of Ammen. — End of
the first day's fighting. — Arrival of L. Wallace and Buell's army. — Re-
newal of the battle, April 7. — Nelson's attack. — Cheatham's division. —
Buell's army receives a check. — The engagement is renewed along the
whole line. — A desperate struggle. — Defeat of the Confederates. — Sher-
man occupies Shiloh. — Betreat of the Confederates. — Losses of both par-
ties.— Their errors. — Consequences of the battle of Shiloh. — Enforced
rest of the two armies 516
CHAPTER III.
ROANOKE. '
Conflicts of power in the Confederate army. — Beauregard and Hindman.—
Triumph of the central authority. — Levies in the South. — Enrolments
by the central power. — Organization of the Confederate army. May 9,
1861. — A levy of 400,000 men, August 9. — Measures for increasing the
strength of the army. — Expiration of terms of enlistments. — Their re-
newal.— The conscription, April 16, 1862. — The able-bodied population
of the South. — Extension of the conscription law, November 1, 1862. —
Discipline. — Consolidation of regiments. — The d€p6ts. — The Army of the
Potomac. — General McClellan, — Impatience of the public. — Democrats
and Republicans. — Their imprudences and hostility. — Mr. Lincoln's hesi-
tations.—Committee of inquiry into the conduct of the war. — Plans of
campaign. — Difficulties in attacking Manassas. — Total force of the Con-
federate army under Johnston.— Plans of attack by way of Harper's
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CONTENTS. XV
PAcn
Ferry or the Occoquan. — Projects for. attacking the Confederate batteries
along the Potomac. — Lower Virginia.— Plans for landing. — Urbanna and
Fort Monroe. — Importance of Yorktown. — Preparatives of Bumside's
expedition. — It enters Pamlico Sound, January 24, 1862. — ^The order of
battle. — The island of Roanoke. — Disembarkation, February 7. — Battle
of Roanoke, February 8, — Capture of the island. — Capture of Elizabeth
City, February 9. — Landing on the Neuse, March 12. — Confederate works.
— ^Fight at, and capture o^ Newberne, March 14. — Occupation of Beau-
fort, March 26. — Fort Macon. — Engagement at South Mills, April 19. —
Bombardment of Fort Macon, April 25. — Capitulation of the same, April
26. — End of Burnside's campaign 662
CHAPTER IV.
HAMPTON ROADS.
The iron-clads. — Mr. Ericsson, inventor of the turret system. — Captain
Cowper Coles. — The Qalena^ Irontsidea, and Monitor, — Description of the
Monitor, — The Virginia. — Their artillery. — Captains Worden and Bu-
chanan.— ^The morning of March 8, 1862. — ^The Confederate naval divis-
ion getting under way.— Fight between the Virginia and the Cumberland,
— Sinking of the latter. — Heroism of the Federal sailors.— The Virffinia
attacks the CongresSj which is captured and burned. — Buchanan is wound-
ed.— ^The Minneaota and St, Lawrence aground. — End of the first day's
battle in Hampton Roads. — EflFect produced in America. — Second day,
March 9. — Arrival of the Monitor, — Undecided fight with the Virginia,
— ^Retreat of the latter. — Consequences of the battle. — McClellan's plan
of campaign. — His relations with Mr. Lincoln. — Crossing the Potomac to
Harper's Ferry, February 26. — Preparations for the maritime expedition.
— Council of war, March 8. — The army corps. — ^War orders of the Presi-
dent— Evacuation of Manassas, March 8. — Manassas is occupied by the
Federals, March 11. — Skilful retreat of Johnston. — McClellan relieved
of the supreme command, March 12. — New plan of campaign, March
13.«— Arrival of the transports. — Embarkation of the Army of the Po-
tomac— Jackson in the valley of Virginia. — His fruitless march upon
Bath, January 1. — Insubordination in his army. — Engagement at Bloom-
ing Gap, February 14.^ Jackson returns to Winchester. — He withdraws
to Mount Jackson. — Shields follows him, March 18. — He falls back upon
Winchester, March 20. — Stratagem to draw Jackson on. — Ashby is de-
ceived.— March of Jackson. — He attacks Shields, March 23. — Battle of
Kernstown. — Disposition of the troops on both sides. — ^Jackson attacks
the right wing of the Federals. — The Stonewall Brigade, — The Federals
resume the ofiensive. — Complete defeat of Jackson. — He falls back upon
Cedar Creek. — ^Results of his campaign. — ^Alarms in Washington. — ^The
defence of the capitai.-^l<*remont and the mountain department. — The
division of Blenker. — Banks's army corps. — The garrison of Washington
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XVI aONTENTS.
PAGK
and the indepetKlent armies. — Landing of McCIellan at Fort Monroe. —
McDowell's army corps. — New dismemberment of the Armj of the
Potomac 691
NOTES.
Note A 631
NoteB 635
NotbC - 636
Note D 636
Note E 637
B1BI.T0OBAPHICAL Note ,«.., 638
MAPS.
The Field of Bull Bun 219
Belmont 359
FoBT Donelson 485
Pea. Ridge 605
Shiloh 623
Hampton Roads 591
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Civil "War in America.
BOOK L— THE AMERICAN ARMY.
CHAPTEE I.
TEE VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
AT the beginning of the year 1861 one of those acts of vio-
lence which ambitious men are often able to disguise under
names the more attractive in proportion as their motives are most
culpable^ occurred to rend the republic of the United States, and
enkindled civil war.
A ooup d^Uat was attempted against the Constitution of that
republic by the powerful oligarchy which ruled in the South and
had long controlled in the councils of the nation. On the day
when the common law, which guarantees alike to the poor and.
the outcast respect for their individual rights, and to the majority
the full enjoyment of political power, is violated by any portion
of the community, if the outrage be not severely repressed, des-
potism is established in the land.
Beaten in the presidential elections of 1860, the Southern States,
sought to regain by intimidation or force the influence they had
exercised until then in the interest of slavery ; and while shout-
ing aloud the words " Independence and liberty," they trampled
the solemn contract under foot as soon as the national ballot had
declared against their policy. But success, that great apologist,
of predestinarians, failed them, and victory favored the cause of
right and loyalty. Then it was seen what treasures of energy
the free and constant practice of liberty hoards up for a people:
fortunate enough to possess it and sufficiently wijse to guard it.
1
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2 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
America had already solved one of the most difficult problems
of our age by developing free institutions in the midst of a dem-
ocratic society ; but no great internal crisis had yet arisen to try
their solidity. Many people had asserted that the first storm
would wrench this fragile plant from a soil that could not afford
it sustenance. The storm-wind of civil war arose, and, contrary
to these predictions, the vigorous tree of American institutions,
spreading its shadow over the country where it had taken such
deep root, saved it from impending destruction. In this crisis,
the American people learned to appreciate their Constitution even
more than they had done in the past ; and they proved to the
world that the statue of Liberty is not a worthless idol, deaf in
the hour of danger, but the holy symbol of a powerful divinity
which may be invoked in seasons of adversity.
Therefore, although war always presents a cruel aspect, we
may, at least, examine the one that has lately rent America with-
out experiencing that profound and unmitigated sadness which
the triumphs of violence and injustice inspire. It is interesting
to observe how that victory, so long disputed, the results of which
are patent to every observer, although the causes are difficult to
unravel from a distance, was achieved. In this study, as import-
ant to the soldier as to the statesman, we should doubtless take
into consideration the difference of institutions, customs, and
many peculiar circumstances ; but on the other hand, we should
not reject without examination precious examples and dearly
bought experiences, under the pretext that what has succeeded in
America cannot be applied io Europe.
The work we have undertaken is essentially a military history.
We shall not, therefore, attempt to describe the constitutional
struggles and the political events which brought on the war, a nar-
rative of which we present in these pages. But at a time when
the misfortunes of our own country impart a peculiar importance
to all questions of military organization, we have thought this
narrative would appear incomplete if we did not begin by placing
before the reader a somewhat detailed account of the resoun^es of
ihe two adversaries, how they made use of them, the services
Tendered to both parties by a corps of regular army officers, well
trained and brought up under the influence of excellent traditions,
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VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 3
and finally the improvisation of the large armies which sustained
that long war. This preliminary exposition will show how those
armies, finding themselves on both sides in an analogous con-
dition, were abje to organize and gradually acquire a military
character, without being exposed to the disasters which both would
have experienced if from the commencement they had had to
fight with veteran and disciplined troops.
We must, therefore, in the first place, show in a rapid sketch
what the American army was previous to 1861, Although the
Americans were not a military people, they had had occasion to
exhibit certain warlike qualities. During their short history they
already had precedents for the organization of their national
forces, and a small knot of brave and devoted men had preserved
from oblivion the traditions acquired in campaigns instructive if
not brilliant.
Without dwelling at length on the wars in which the American
soldier figured prior to 1861, it is necessary that wc should say a
few words on the subject. The reader will the better understand
the remarkable movement which called large armies into exist-
ence at the first rumor of civil war, when he has seen how volun-
teer corps were formed at other epochs in the history of the young
republic. After having followed the small regular army to the
far West and to Mexico, the part it played in the great military
organization of the Federals and the Confederates will be under-
stood.
It was against our soldiers in the Seven Years' War that the
American volunteers, then composing the militia of an English
colony, made their d&)ut in arms. This fact may be recalled to
mind not only without bitterness, since, Heaven be praised ! the
flag of the United States, since it has been afloat, has never been
found opposed to that of France on the field of battle, but also
as a remembrance constituting an additional tie between them and
us. For, during the unequal struggle which decided the owner-
ship of the new continent, those militia-men received some useful
lessons while contending with the handful of heroic men who
defended our empire beyond the seas in spite of a forgetful
country.
The soldiers of the war of independence were formed in that
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4 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
school. Montcalm, even more than "Wolfe, was the instructor of
those adversaries who very soon undertook to avenge him. It was
while endeavoring to supplant the French on the borders of the
Ohio, by long and frequently disastrous expeditions, that the
founder of the American nation gave the first indications of that in-
defatigable energy which in the end triumphed over every obstacle.
It was the example of the defenders of Fort Carillon, in holding
an English army in check from behind a miserable breastwork,
which inspired at a later period the combatants of Bunker Hill.
It was the surrender of Washington at Fort Necessity, and the
disaster of Braddock at Fort Duquesne, which taught the future
conquerors of Saratoga how, in those wild countries, to embarrass
the march of an enemy, to cut off his supplies, to neutralize his
advantages, until, at last, he was either captured or annihilated.
So that, although at first despised in the aristocratic ranks of
the regular English army, the provincial militia, as they were
then called, soon learned how to make themselves appreciated,
and to compel respect from their enemies. In that war, so differ-
ent from those waged in Europe, in those conflicts carried on in
the midst of a wild and wooded country, they already displayed
all the qualities wfiich have since characterized the American —
shrewdness, strength, valor, and personal intelligence.
These qualities were again displayed when, fifteen years later,
they took up arms once more, under the name of volunteers or
national militia, in order to shake off the oppressive yoke of the
mother-country; but they had no longer the intelligent officers
of the English army to direct them, nor the old regular forces to
support them at the critical moment. Their rdle of auxiliaries
had but poorly prepared them to sustain alone the great struggle
which patriotism imposed upon them. Beside Washington no
colonial officer had ever figured in a high rank. Consequently,
the French who came with Lafayette to place their experience at
the service of the young American army brought to the latter
most valuable assistance. But their best ally, their greatest
strength, wjis that perseverance which enabled them to turn a
defeat to advantage instead of succumbing under it. This was
demonstrated when the arrival of Rochambeau furnished them
the opportunity to undertake that splendid and decisive cam-
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VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 5
paign which transferred the war from the borders of the Hudson
into Virginia, and ended it by out blow in the trenches of York-
town.
The late events which have steeped the United States in blood
impart a peculiar interest to the study of the war of American
independence. The theatre is the same, the character of the
country has changed but little since then, and on both sides the
actors are the descendants of the soldiers of Washington. In that
first attempt of the young American nation to organize its mili-
tary power we shall find precedents for what was done in 1861,
and in the meagre armies of the last century the model of those
which, in our o^vn day, have participated in the civil war.
But we must, first of all, point out certain important differ-
ences which mark both wars, and the circumstances under which
they were undertaken ; in fact, it is in consequence of not having
taken notice of these differences that many people have found
their predictions falsified by the results of the late struggle. Be-
cause the thirteen colonies had exhausted the efforts of England,
they believed that the Confederate States would eventually wear
out the strength of the North. Fortunately, the comparison be-
tween the generous movement of 1775 and the resort to arms by
the slave-owners in 1861 is as false in a military as in a political
point of view.
On the day when the colonies shook off the authority of the
mother-country, all the strategic points of their territoiy were
occupied by the English. It was necessary, therefore, to conquer
everything : they had nothing to lose, and could not have con-
sidered themselves as beaten, even though the enemy was still in
the heart of the country. In 1861, on the contrary, the Confed-
erates, masters of all the territory which they sought to alienate
from the lawful jurisdiction of the new President, had need of
all that vast country, partly for the maintenance of the institu-
tion of slavery, and partly for the support of their numerous
armies. When that country was invaded, they felt themselves
vanquished. What was possible in the war of independence,
where the number of combatants was limited, was so no longer.
Washington and Gates, Howe and Comwallis, had, ordinarily,
not more than ten or fifteen, and verj^ rarely twenty, thousand
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6 THE CIVIL WAR IX AMERICA,
men under their command. These little armies could live upon
the country which they occupied. It was not always without
difficulty, it is true ; and the soldiers of Washinr^ton suffered
cruelly during the winter they passed at Valley Forge. The
English array, passing through a relatively rich country from
Philadelphia to New York, was obliged to carry its provisions
along with it; and Cornwallis lost all his baggage in North Caro-
lina, even while he was making a conquering march through it.
But neither of these had to depend upon that vast system of vic-
tualling which relies upon a fixed and certain base of operations,
and without which large armies cannot be supported in America.
They subsisted, marched, and sojourned for months by the side of
an enemy who was master of the country.
If we wished to draw a comparison between the two wars, it
would be the armies of the North, and not those of the South,
that we should have to compare with the volunteers who freed
America. The Confederate conscripts — impetuously brave, accus-
tomed to obedience, and blindly following their chiefs, but indi-
vidually without perseverance or tenacity — were men of different
spirit, different habits, and different temperament; their character
had been moulded by the aristocratic institutions founded upon
slavery. The Federal volunteer, on the contrary, with his pecu-
liarities and his defects, is the direct heir of those Continentals, as
they were called, who, difficult to manage, badly organized, and
almost always beaten notwithstanding their personal courage,
ended, nevertheless, by defeating the English legions. He has,
moreover, other claims to be considered their inheritor, for he can
recjall to mind the fact that it was the Northern States, then sim-
ple colonies, which sustained nearly all the brunt of the war of
independence, the rewards of which they shared with their asso-
ciates of the South. Out of the two hundred and thirty-two
tlioasand men whom that war saw mustered under the Federal
flag, Massachusetts alone, always the most i>atriotic and the most
warlike, furnished sixty-eight thousand; Connecticut, with less
population, thirty-two thousand; Pennsylvania, twenty-six
thousand ; New York, almost entirely occupied by the English,
eighteen thousand ; to sum up, the States which were faithful to
tlie Union in 1861 had given one hundred and seventy-five thou-
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VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 7
sand men to fight against England — that is to say, more than
three-fourths of the total number. Among those which, at a
later period, espoused the Confederate cause, valiant Virginia
was the only one which at that time contributed a resi)ectable
contingent, while South Carolina, so haughty since, could not
raise more than six thousand men during the whole war against
England. It will thus be seen that the States which defended
the Union in 1861 are those that had made the greatest sacrifices
to establish it, while those that raised the standard of rebellion
against it are also those that had the least right to call themselves
its founders.
We cannot be astonished, therefore, at finding among the sol-
diers who were the first to carry the star-spangle<l banner to the
battle-field the traits which have always characterized the Federal
volunteer. These traits have been displayed from the beginning
of the struggle with the mother-country. As soon as mustered,
they would meet the onset of the English veterans from behind the
rudest defences. They defended themselves with extraordinary
energy at Bunker Hill, as the improvised soldiers of General
Jackson did at a later period, in 1815, at New Orleans, and as,
upon a wider field of action, the army of the Potomac did at
Gettysburg. They were indefatigable workers: with pick and
axe in hand, at the sieges of Boston and Yorktown, like those
volunteers who, in the course of four years, covered America
with fortifications and trenches, but, at the same time, easily dis-
concerted when they felt or fancied themselves surprised by a
flank movement, as at Brandywine and Germantown ; difficult to
lead to the attack of a strong position, and forgetful of the
principle, tliat there is less danger in rushing U{x»n an enemy
than in receiving his fire without stirring. They would then
quickly become disorganized, and, more wonderful still, would
recover their organization with equal promptness. From their first
engagements with the English do\Yn to the war which arrayed
them against each other, the American volunteers, finding a valu-
able auxiliary in their country, covered with forests and interspersed
with swamps, seldom allowed a panic to degenerate into a rout,
and had the great merit of scarcely ever believing themselves
vanquished after a defeat.
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8 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
It required, nevertheless, all the organizing mind of Washing-
ton, all his devotedness, all his tact and patience, to be able,
almost without resources and in the midst of a thousand intrigues,
to maintain unity among elements so difficult to unite, and to
mould them to the hard exigencies of the military profession.
The provincial militia which had taken part in the Seven
Years^ War was formed on the model of those of the English
counties. At the beginning of the struggle with England, each
colony added to her militia some regiments of volunteers enlisted
for a short period, and thus raised a small independent, private
army. United by Congress under the authority of Washington,
they nevertheless maintained' for some time their distinct organ-
ization ; and when the first flush of enthusiasm and self-denial
was once over, one may imagine the obstacles which such a sys-
tem opposed to the zeal of the general-in-<jhief. He, who never
courted popularity by flattering his countrymen, knew how to
enforce a severe discipline. " It is necessary," he said to them,
" that a most perfect despotism should exist in an army." The
testimony of that great citizen deserves to be pondered by those
who, in the name of liberty, seek to introduce a spirit of criti-
cism and independence in the army, which always engenders
insubordination. Besides, his despotism was strictly confined to
his military character, and tempered by the regard which he
inspired among all his inferiors ; it was only, however, by means
of seasonable severities and necessary concessions that he was able
to maintain that organization in his army which enabled him
thoroughly to accomplish his task.
The militia, recruited from the lowest dregs of society, as in
England, were a perpetual source of anxiety to him. On the
field of battle they more than once occasioned disastrous panics ;
in camp they frequently fomented a spirit of revolt. The vol-
unteer regiments, formed at a moment of patriotic impulse, were
composed of far better material ; but they were only enlisted for
a few months, and during the early stages of the war the nego-
tiations set on foot to prolong their term of service were con-
stantly paralyzing military operations.
The national army was at last organized in 1776. It has
served as the type of all the levies of volunteers which have been
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VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEE'NTH CENTURY. S
made since, down to those called for by Mr. Lincoln. This army
was placed under the immediate orders of Congress, which shared
with the States the costs of pay and equipment. The contingent
of each State was fixed at a certain number of battalions, the
officers of which were appointed by the local authorities ; and if
the voluntary enlistments did not suffice, the total number required
was completed by drafting exclusively among the militia. The
latter, in reality, was only composed of enlisted volunteers. It
is true that in cases of extreme urgency, the number of men
required for the militia could be raised by general draft, as in
England. But this experiment had once been tried in Virginia,
and had caused so much trouble that it was found necessary to
abandon it. Congress, while mindful that the brigades should be
formed of battalions from the same State, reserved to itself the
organization of the army, the confirmation of inferior grades and
the appointment of the general staff. This army was at first
composed of eighty-eight battalions of seven hundred and fifty
men each ; its organization and the commissions issued were to
last as long as the war continued ; but as it was impossible to
procure enlistments for such an indefinite period of service, the
term had at first to be limited to one year. As the distress of
the country contributed to the general embarrassment, the dif-
ficulties which it had been sought to avoid very soon reappeared.
In order to encourage re-enlistments, the pay was raised, money-
bounties were offered on being mustered into service, and land-
bounties on beipg mustered out. Washington pointed out in
vain the inconveniences of a system which mingled speculation
with the noble and rugged profession of arms. But men were
wanted ; and the States, dreading the unpopularity of the draft,
instead of listening to his advice, outbid the offers made by Con-
gress. The result was that the allurements of the new bounties
induced the volunteers to seek opportunities to re-enlist by short-
ening their time of service. They eventually entered into an
engagement to serve " for three years, or during the war." The
three years expired on the first of January, 1781, and the war
seemed far from being ended. The Pennsylvania soldiers insisted
that they had only enlisted for three years, the words " or during
the war" meaning simply, according to their interpretation, that
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10 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
if the war was ended before, their time of service would be
abridged. The oflBcers, on the contrary, construed these words as
implying an engagement to remain under the flag for at least
three years, and longer if the war continued for a longer period
of time. This question of grammar almost caused the shedding
of blood ; it was deemed expedient to yield to the demands of the
volunteers, and their interpretation was finally adopted. But
the harm done to discipline was great and lasting.
Nor did unjust rivalries and petty jealousies spare the most
illustrious soldiers of the war of independence ; but these belong
to all times and to all countries, and the Americans did not wait
long to indemnify those who had been their victims by a spontane-
ous reaction in public opinion. In fact, notwithstanding the de-
fects of their organization, the American soldiers were animated
by that ardent and sincere zeal which carries great men and great
nations to the accomplishment of their designs ; and it was owing
to their possession of this quality that they finally compelled vic-
tory to perch upon their banners.
The greater the magnitude of the national effort, the more irre-
sistible became the reaction which followed. After so many sac-
rifices made for the common good, the spirit of local independence
again resumed its empire. The remembrance of the English reg-
ulars, the need of economy, and the general exhaustion, caused a
universal demand to be made for the disbanding of the national
army. Freed from the danger which had brought them together,
the old colonies hastened to get rid of all the burdens most neces-
sary to their new existence ; they wasted their energies in quarrels
which nearly lost them the regard of their most zealous partisans
in Europe, and, being still more jealous of the central power, they
left it no authority — no means of action. It was the golden age
of " States' Rights," the defence of which, at a later day, served
as a pretext for the insurrection of 1861. Under tliis fiital in-
fluence the army of the United States gradually disappeared, the
entire defence of the extensive frontiers of Canada and the In-
dian tribes was entrusted to the militia of each State, and in 1784
the national army found itself reduced to the absurd total of
eighty men and oflBcers.
When true patriots rescued America from the fatal course she
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VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. H
was pursuing, and her nationality had been definitely established
by that admirable document calle<l the Federal Constitution, it
was deemed necessary to confer some authority upon the recon-
stituted central power. Yet, between this period, which may be
calle<l its first resurrection, and the day when it was definitely or-
ganized, the regular army experienced a great many vicissitudes.
In fact, when Washington found himself invested, in 1789, with
the new title of President and commander of all the military
forces of the republic, they amounted only to six hundred men.
His authority over the militia was confined to a small number of
special cases, and their formation depended exclusively upon each
State. Knowing from experience the inconvenience of an im-
provised army, he thought of endowing his country, with military
institutions, and of preparing a few cadres* which would enable
him to transform with considerable rapidity such citizens as might
be called, by unforeseen danger, to rally around the flag, into effec-
tive soldiers. But he could not conquer the prejudices of a
people, just enfranchised, against a standing army — prejudices of
which Jefferson was the exponent in his own cabinet. Conse-
quently, from 1789 till 1815 the regular army — that which was
raised and organized directly by the Federal power without the
intervention of the States — ^remained in a provisional condition.
When war was imminent, it was immediately swelled by adding
to it, for want of established cadres, regiments entirely new, in
which all the grades were conferred at random ; and when peace-
ful tendencies were again in the ascendant, both officers and men
were hastily discharged.
In 1790 this army comprised only one regiment of infantry
and one battalion of artillery — twelve hundred and sixteen men
in all. A second regiment, formed in tlie following year, in-
creased the number to two thousand one hundred and twenty-
eight men. In 1793 it was suddenly raised to six thousand men,
* The word cacfre, which the author frequently uses to designate the frame-
.vork of a reghnent, cannot be satijifactorily rendered into English by any equiv-
alent term. The cadres are regimental skeletons or frames, which, in European
armies, form the centres of new regiments, into which are incorporated all the
raw recruita. Therefore, in all cases where the word cadre is used in the orig-
inal, the Frencli word has been retained, since it conveys the idea more dis-
tinctly than any English equivalent. — Ed.
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12 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA
to be again reduced in 1796 to two thousand eight hundred men.
Each time an act of Congress had authorized the recruiting
of men and the formation of corps, now and then specifying the
duration of their existence, and creating the necessary grades for
the occasion. But it frequently happened that, by this process,
officers were procured more readily than soldiers. Thus, in 1798,
apprehending a war with France, Congress ordered a levy of thir-
teen thousand regular troops. But two years after, it was found
that, while the corps of officers was complete, only three thousand
four hundred men liad been enlisted ; and in 1802 this ephemeral
army was reduced to the total of three thousand men. It will
be seen that it scarcely deserved the name of a regular army.
Consequently, the more America relied upon her volunteers for
defence, the more she needed a permanent school to form a corps
of educated officers, possessing traditions and a military spirit,
and capable of supplying the wants of an improvised and inex-
perienced army. Washington had felt this need, and desired to
found a Federal school, upon a sufficiently comprehensive basis,
in order that it might render this important service to the nation.
But his project, destined to be adopted at a later period, was twiise
rejected, in 1793 and in 1796. It was deemed sufficient to estab-
lish a species of disguised school at West Point {une esp^ (T^cole
d^guisSe) altogether inadequate to the wants of the country, com-
prising a d6p6t of artillery and engineers, with two professors
and about forty cadets. It was only in 1812 that the project of
Washington was taken up again, and that the West Point acad-
emy, of which he was the posthumous founder, became, in reality,
the nursery of the regular army. At that period America learned
at last, to her own cost^ how much these indecisions and alterna-
tions had militated against the development of good military
institutions.
We have desired to show by these details that the raising of
improvised armies, of which the year 1861 has given such a
gigantic example, has been at all times the custom of America,
and that the measures then adopted upon a large scale have been
resorted to since the early times of the republic whenever it has
been thretitened by unforeseen danger. It is easy to understand
the inext)erience of the whole nation when she tooK up arms
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VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 13
against the secessionists ; and in observing the weak part played
by the military element in her public life, far from being aston-
ished that she did not succeed sooner, one should, on the contrary,
admire her for having accomplished so much and created so much
without any preparation. We might quote many instances of this
contrast, so honorable to her energy, between the organized re-
sources that she possessed and the results she attained. Thus the
department of war, which in 1865 had control of more than a
million of men, was, at the beginning of the present century, amal-
gamated with that of the navy, and was composed of one sec-
retary and eight clerks.
The six thousand men voted by Congress in 1808, when war
with England seemed imminent, had never been brought together.
Therefore, when, in 1812, after twenty years' peace, that war broke
out at last, the traditions of the war of independence had been
nearly obliterated. There was no enthusiasm to supply, their
place : this could not be kindled in behalf of a war in which
the national existence was not at stake. We shall not pause to
narrate the particulars of that war, for it has left no important
traditions behind, and only developed a small number of dis-
tinguished men. It presents but few instructive examples of
the mode of fighting in the New World, and with the exception
of the brilliant affair of New Orleans, it scarcely displayed aught
save the ordinary defects of American volunteers, without bring-
ing their best qualities into relief. The campaigns in Canada, if
such a term may be applied to a series of disjointed operations
as insignificant in their results as in the means employed, are
utterly destitute of interest. The regular army was hardly in
existence. The volunteers, few in number, levied in haste, and
generally for the term of a single expedition, confined to the
frontier of their own State, could scarcely be considered as part
of the army. The militia, more insubordinate still than under
Washington, found constitutional reasons for refusing, even in
the midst of active operations, to go beyond the frontier to sup-
port their comrades in the field. The most bloody affair, perhaps
— ^that of Niagara — was a night skirmish, in which each of the
contending parties, believing itself beaten, abandoned the field of
battle before the break of day ; while the rout of Bladensburg
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14 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
threw a melancholy light upon the demoralization of those impro-
vised troops. The name of the young general Scott, lately the
illustrious senior of the American army, is alone deserving of
being mentioned in the same breath with that of Perry — ^that
sailor who, by dint of audacity, was enabled to secure the naval
supremacy of the lakes.
Those, however, who followed that war throughout all its
chequered fortunes, might already have noticed one fact — a fact
which has often been confirmed since — that on the soil of America
the defensive is easy, but the offensive difficult, to maintain.
Absorbed by their struggle with France, the British, instead
of attacking, were obliged to wait for the Americans in Canada ;
this necessity constituted their strength. In 1814, peace with
France, by restoring to them all freedom of action, seemed to
have given them a guaranty of indisputable superiority. The re-
verse .took place ; for feeling themselves the stronger, they re-
sumed the offensive, and the Americans, being attacked in their
turn, soon recovered all the advantages they had lost by invading
the territory of the enemy. In fact, after having been success-
ful at Bladensburg without effort, having burnt one portion of
Washington, and occupied the rest, the British could not sustain
themselves in that position ; and in vacating the capital of the
enemy without a fight, they were obliged to acknowledge how
fruitless was the victory which had delivered it to them. At
last, the war ended to the advantage of the Americans on the
borders of Lake Champlain and at New Orleans, where the Brit-
ish were vanquished by a handful of white men and negroes
mixed together and armed in haste, to whom Jackson had im-
parted his own indomitable energy.
These two fortunate affairs could not make America forget the
events that had preceded them, and had proved a serious lesson
to her. Therefore this war was not altogether useless to her, for
it made her feel the necessity of reorganizing her military insti-
tutions upon a new basis. From the very beginning, public
opinion, that all-powerful judge among free peoples, which pos-
sesses perhaps the caprices, but not the fatal infatuations, of des-
pots, had promptly recovered from all its prejudices. It waa
then that the project of a military school, bequeathed by Wash-
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VOLUNTEERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 15
ington, was adopted. The President asked for ten thousand men
for .the regular army; he was authorized to raise twenty-five
thousand. This actual force, however, was never fully raised,
and the new recruits, without established cadres^ proved to be
quite as inexperienced as any volunteers or militia.
But when peace was declared in 1815, instead of disbanding
them to the last man, as had been customary, ten thousand men
were retained under the flag. They formed the eflective total of
the Federal ti'oops on the peace footing, which it wias finally de-
termined to organize in a more definite manner. It is, therefore,
from that year that the existence, in America, of a regular army
may be dated, comprising corps of all arms, systematically re-
cruited, having a fixed system of promotion, and opening a
legitimate career to officers, certain, henceforth, of retaining their
respective grades.
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CHAPTER II.
THE REGULAR ARMY.
A REGULAR standing axmy, with its discipline and succes-
sive grades, placed in the midst of a society so fluctuating
and so jealous of everything which does not emanate directly
from the elective power, must have occupied a singular and dif-
ficult position. It did not succumb before the numerous attacks
of which it was the object, but that position gave it an original
character, and developed in the highest degree an esprit de corps
among its members,
"We must enter into some details concerning its organization,
which had changed but little since its creation, and which served
as a model to that of the volunteer army, whose campaigns we
shall have to narrate.
The West Point Academy has exercised a powerful influence
upon the character of the American army. Situated on the
wooded banks of the Hudson, upon a picturesque site, where
interesting historical associations cluster around an important
military post, the cradle of the family of regulars is in striking
contrast with all its surroundings. At the foot of that. peaceful
retreat, where military traditions are religiously cherished, the
great river which waters New York presents a moving panorama
of active industry. By a remarkable exception in that country
of perpetual changes, the academy, from its foundation to the
period of which we speak, has preserved its early regulations and
statutes, and the pupils still wear the gray coat with narrow black
lace on the facings which was adopted for the use of the first
engineer-cadets in 1802. The system of admission is also in
contrast with the equalizing customs of the country. It is
founded entirely upon favor, and it is only since the war that a
16
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THE REGULAR ARMY. 17
proposition has been made, hitherto without success, to open the
places to competition. This anomaly, however, is susceptible of
explanation ; for the profession of arms was but little courted,
and besides, the American people do not consider government
oflBces as public property, for a share in the distribution of which
every one has a right to bid, undergoing an examination as to
fitness. The system of filling up vacancies in the academy adopt-
ed by its founders was devised with a view of making that insti-
tution as perfect a representation as possible of the confederation
of States of which it was the common bond. Ten pupils are
appointed every year at large by the President. Moreover, each
of the electoral districts which send members to the House of
Representatives designates every four years, through the agency
of that member, one pupil, who is admitted after an examination
which is purely nominal.* As the course of studies embraces a
period of four years, each district finds itself thus represented by
one pupil, unless the latter should receive a sufficient number of
demerits to cause his dismissal. These selections have frequently
been the result of good luck rather than of good judgment. As
an illustration of these fortunate chances we may quote the case of
the young general Kilpatrick, one of the most brilliant cavalry
oflScers in the late war, who was indebted to his precocious elo-
quence for his admission to West Point. In 1856, when only
eighteen years of age, he was extremely anxious to embrace the
profession of arms. The right to nominate a pupil to West
Point was about to fall upon the Representative of his district,,
and, on the other hand, in consequence of the expiration of his
term of office, the person who occupied that position was on the
eve of entering upon a new canvass for the sufi'rages of his fel-
low-citizens. The candidate for the military academy conceived
the idea of laying the political candidate under personal obliga-
tions by undertaking the advocacy of his interests. He went
from village to village, haranguing the electors, extolling the
merits of the individual from whom he expected, in return, to-
obtain his admission to the academy, and the people were im-
* The subjects of examination are very rudimentary — reading, writing, and
arithmetic througli decimal fractions; English Grammar, American Geography,,
and History ; but the examination is strict, and many are rejected annually. — Ed^
Vol. I.— 2
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18 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
pressed by his speeches and his youth. The member was re-
elected, and Kilpatrick entered West Point.
But if the terms of admission do not guarantee the worth of
the candidate who is admitted^ in the school itself the studies are
rigorous and prolonged, and the discipline is very severe. All
those who have not obtained a certain number of marks are ex-
cluded at the annual examinations, and by this means a portion
only of the pupils succeed at the expiration of four years in ob-
taining admission into the army with the rank of second lien-
tenant. The last two years are devoted alike, by all the pupils,
to special studies, and to obtaining a knowledge of engineering
and artillery practice ; it is a necessary condition of the profession
which awaits them on leaving the academy ; indeed, the greater
part of them, before entering a regiment of the line, undergo a
probation of some years in the artillery corps,* which is very
large compared with the total effective force of the army, in con-
sequence of the fortifications which it is necessary to maintain all
along the immense frontier. The rest, constantly isolated at dis-
tant points among Indians, are obliged, in order to attain efficiency,
to acquire a knowledge of every branch of the military profes-
sion. This general instruction is, moreover, in harmony with the
national spirit, which readily believes in its capacity to do every-
thing, and in which the initiative of individual efforts, strongly
developed, rectifies the abuses of that system of specialties which
is too often fatal to independence of character. A solitary ex-
ample will show that, in bestowing this varied instruction, which
enables officers to pass from one branch of the service to another,
the West Point system does not, on that account, lower the stand-
ard of its studies. Only a few years ago all the professors had
officers of the army for assistants, who, each in turn, forsook the
active and solitary life of the Western prairies, to become, for the
term of four years, the scientific instructors of those pupils who
had replaced them on the benches of the academy, and who were
soon to become their comrades in the ranks of the army. The
pupils, instead of paying for the privileges of such excellent ed-
* There is an artillery Bchool at FortrcM Monroe, and some oflScers of in-
fantry and cavalry have attended it at their own request, but it is chiefly de-
«igned for officers of artillery. — Ed.
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THE REGULAR ARMY. 19
ucation^ receive, on the contrary, a considerable salary. Conse-
quently, the Federal government is somewhat entitled to their
loyalty, and had the right to prefer charges of ingratitude against
those who, in 1861, placed at the service of its enemies the know-
ledge they had thus acquired under the auspices of the Federal
flag.
Thanks to their long and serious studies, which kept them aloof
from their fellow-citizens, always in a hurry to act and to enjoy —
thanks to the bonds of fellowship which the associations of youth
implant in the heart of man, and especially to those attacks of
which both the academy and the army had been the subject — the
West Pointers very soon formed an almost aristocratic and ex-
clusive body, all the members of which mutually sustained each
other. At the period of which we are speaking, those who re-
mained under the flag were animated by a genuine passion for the
profession of arms ; for such a feeling alone could have induced
men of capacity and energy to lead a rugged and unrera uncrating
life, without even finding the reward of their labors in public
sympathy. Those who, tired out by the slowness of promotion,
and attracted by more brilliant prospects, quitted the service after
a few years (and they were numerous, especially among the young
men of the Nortli), did not forget their early education on that
account; it was, therefore, among these that the Federal cause
recruited its most brilliant defenders. These changes in the pur-
suits of life did not break the bonds which united all West Point-
ers together. If this coterie — for it was one — could, with all its
defects and partialities, maintain itself and cause itself to be re-
spected in the midst of a society so fluctuating, it is because it was
governed by the noblest sentiments of honor and military duty.
Preserving the most valuable traditions by the side of successive
administrations essentially changeable in their character, it was
found ready, notwithstanding many desertions, to organize the
scattered forces of the nation on the day when the Southern lead-
ers gave the signal of civil war.
That great task accomplished, the coterie disappeared, even in
the midst of the triumph to which it had so powerfully contrib-
uted. After such a struggle, it will not be asked of the general
who has commanded in twenty battles whether he is or is not a
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20 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
West Pointer. The public, which had regarded the regular officer
as a being apart from the rest of mankind, and almost dangerous,
has seen him at work, knows his patriotism, and has given him its
cxjnfidence. And the latter, forgetting the derisive nickname of
mustang (Indian name for wild horse), which he was wont to apply
to inexperienced volunteers before the advent of the common trial,
now resjiects them, and seeks his associates among them. The
great drama in which they have played their respective parts side
by side, in breaking down the old barriers and blotting out past
distinctions, has created a new fraternity among them.
The West Point Academy, since its origin, has always sup-
plied the army with the greatest portion of its officers; but the
President has never been restricted in his appointment of officers
to selections among the graduates of that institution. As com-
mander-in-chief, he is not bound by any law, either as regards
admission or promotion. When the number and the various
grades have once been defined and settled by Congress, he can
distribute them as he thinks proper. But his power is subjected
to the will of the Senate — that great political body which plays
the principal r6le in the Federal constitution, and whose province
it is to confirm every nomination, which otherwise becomes null
and void by the tacit operation of the law, at the close of the leg-
islative session in which it was presented for consideration. The
Senate has always made ample use of this prerogative. From the
general to the second lieutenant, each candidate has his claims
discussed before this assembly, which, if need be, becomes the
interpreter of public sentiment against too glaring acts of favor-
itism, but which, under the influence of party spirit, is also
sometimes led into error in the exercise of these delicate functions.
The executive power, however, took care to impose upon itself
a rule, and to fortify the hierarchical spirit by introducing the
principle of promotion by seniority. This system of promotion
was established through the promulgation of certain ordinances,
styled Ankles of Wary which comprise, at the same time, instruc-
tions for the officers, and a series of military regulations which,
although liable to be revoked by the President, have, never-
theless, come to be considered as a true code of laws for the
army.
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THE REGULAR ARMY. 21
Promotion by seniority is a wise rule of action in a republic
where the administrative power so frequently changes hands, and
where the personnel of the government is almost entirely renewed
on the occasion of each change ; for although the President Ls al-
lowed perfect freedom of choice in the formation of new regiments,
it secures true independence to the officers. Up to the rank of
captain this promotion takes place in the regiment ; to that of
colonel, in the arm. Seniority of rank has nothing to do with
the appointment of general officers.
The President had, nevertheless, numerous occasions for the
exercise of his patronage outside of all hierarchical regulations ;
indeed, the standing nucleus of the army was so weak that at
every sign of war it was necessary to increase it in haste. The
value of traditions was as yet so little appreciated in the various
branches of the service that more than once, for instance, consid-
erations of economy have caused the sudden discharge of all the
cavalry. And too often, when new cadres had to be formed, thie
Pi'esident, forgetful that young soldiers require experienced leaders,
only reserved a few places for the officers taken from the other
corps of the army ; the rest were divided among old volunteers,
officers who had resigned their respective commij^sions and were
desirous to resume the epaulette, and especially political favorites.
Those who attained superior grades assumed at once their senior-
ity of rank in that entire branch of the service, and preserved it
when the corps to the formation of which they were indebted for
tlieir rapid elevation was disbanded. This system, however, oc-
casionally gave the army some excellent soldiers, who, although
not graduates of West Point, did not the less display great mili-
tary talents. Finally, a custom, singular enough in a republic,
borrowed from the British army, that of brevet rank, or honorary
promotion, enabled the President to confer, in tlie way of rewards,
titles which were wholly independent of the rules of seniority.
These, however, only conferred superiority of rank in reg-ard to
what was strictly honorary, giving no increase of pay, and serving
in no way to assist promotion. The recipient of the brevet con-
tinued to perform the functions of the inferior grade ; and one
might thus see a simple captain in command of a company wear-
ing the insignia of a lieutenant-colonel. This system, so much at
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22 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
variance with the spirit of military subordination, was largely in
vogue, because, through its operation, the self-love and vanity of
many people could be gratified without loosening the purse-
strings of the nation. At the close of the civil war, in one regi-
ment alone, counting forty-five officers, twenty-one of them re-
ceived brevets.
By a natural reaction against the spirit of social equality
peculiar to the country, an almost impassable barrier had been
raised in the regular army between soldiers and officers. It
required some splendid achievement to enable the non-commis-
sioned officer, ennobled by the epaulettes, to take a seat among
his former chiefs, and it was only in 1861 that a commission was
appointed for the examination and regular admission of a certain
number of non-commissioned officers to the rank of officers. The
material of which the rank and file was composed did, in fact,
justify that exclusiveness ; for it fully deserved the name of mer-
cenary, subsequently so unjustly applied to the volunteers of 1861.
These troops were recruited among emigrants who had not been
able to secure better means of existence ; for that mode of life
which required entire submission to the discipline of the barracks,
even in the midst of the desert, held out but few inducements to
the Americans themselves, who never sought to adopt it unless
driven to it by sheer necessity.
The regular officer, in short, isolated at some distant post, like
a sea-captain on board his vessel, always exposed to the perfidy
of the Indian, and obliged to be constantly on his guard, main-
tained his authority by means of the strictest discipline. Cor-
poral punishments were frequent and severe. When, in 1861,
the remnants of the regular army returned to the large cities of
the Union from the far West, they brought with them those
inflexible regulations, the application of which contrasted so sin-
gularly with the customs of the country, and which must have
cooled down the enthusiasm of more tlian one citizen about to
enlist.
In the fall of 1861 the inhabitants of Washington, passing near
the batteries of artillery encamped on their public grounds, saw
with astonishment soldiers who had been guilty of some violation
of discipline, some of them tied to the carriage of a gun, some
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THE REGULAR ARMY. 23
half suspended by their thumbs, others compelled to walk with
a gag in their mouths or with their heads thrust through a
8taved-in barrel— emblems of their insolence or their drunk-
enness.*
A high rate of compensation could alone draw volunteer re-
cruits into this army. In 1860 this rate of compensation was
as high as eleven dollars, or nearly sixty francs, per month,
'without any deduction for food or raiment. The disproportion
between the salaries of different grades was less than amongst us ;
for in America it is not thought that a faithful performance of
duty in public offices can be secured by allowing the lower ranks
of employ^ to vegetate under the pressure of insufficient pay,
while a few superior officers only enjoy high salaries. A lieu-
tenant receives under various forms an annual salary of fifty-five
hundred francs; a colonel, twenty thousand francs; and a major-
general, twenty-five thousand francs. They could undoubtedly,
therefore — all of them — economize to some extent, especially
when they had to pass half their lives in the wilderness. At
all events, it was but little compared with what their former com-
rades of West Point earned in the various pursuits' of industry
and commerce.
There is, moreover, a radical difference between the system of
public salaries in the United States and our own. Unless an
officer can procure a pension thro\igh the instrumentality of hon-
orable wounds, it is all over with him on the day he is discharged
from active service. In return for his time and trouble he is
liberally paid so long as the contract in virtue of which he was
mustered into service is in existence ; but this contract between
the President and himself is always liable to be revoked by either
of the contracting parties, and if one has always the right to
tender his resignation, the other is equally entitled to dismiss him
whenever he pleases — ^there is no retiring list, and, consequently,
no limit as to agcf The hope of obtaining from the State, by
* Such punishments were in defiance of the army regulations and the Articles
of War, and must be attributed to the excitement and confusion of the period re-
ferred to. — Ed.
t The author was probably not aware of the very liberal provisions that have
been made, since the war, for the retirement and support of officers who hare
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24 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the exercise of patience, on the day when he shall no longer be
able to render any service to it, some slender means of existence,
does not retain, as it does elsewhere, officers who have grown old
or infirm in the service under the flag. If the American officer
tenders his resignation or is mustered out, without any previous
notice, with the regiment to which he belonged, he launches at
once into other pursuits until the formation of some new regi-
ment, when he is almost certain, if worthy of it, to regain his for-
mer position. He who has remained faithful to the profession of
arms has laid up something against the day of his possible dis-
charge, when he may console himself by saying that it is never
too late in life to strive after fortune. Since that time, this sys-
tem has been entirely changed by a law on retiring allowances
and military pensions. This law seems to have been a necessary
one, but it is as yet too early to appreciate its effects. Time alone
will show whether legislation, in this case, was a happy inspi-
ration.
Before concluding this chapter it remains for us to speak of
the organization of the different corps which composed the regular
army ; for although their effective strength has been subjected to
strange vicissitudes, the organization itself has experienced but
few clianges.
The cavalry was disbanded after the war of 1812; and not
until 1833 was it revived, in the First Dragoons. The Second
Dragoons was created in 1836; the Third in 1846, as also the
mounted riflemen, who, notwithstanding their appellation, served
as foot-soldiers in the war with Mexico. The Third Dragoons
having been disbanded at the close of that war, Congress ordered,
in 1855, the formation of two new regiments, bearing the name
of 1st and 2d Cavalry. These five regiments, under their dif-
ferent designations, were to represent various arms in the service :
the two last regiments, composing the light cavalry, the mounted
riflemen, were to be simply infantry on horseback. At the very
outset of the war of secession, it was evident that the long-range
weapons rendered all such distinctions useless in a contest in
become disabled or who have attained a certain specified age in the military or
naval service. — Ed.
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TEE REGULAR ARMY. 25
wliicli the dragoon should be the true type of all cavalrymen ;
and consequently all five regiments were united, August 3, 1861,
under the sole designation of cavalry ; a sixth regiment was added
to them under the same law.
The number of infantry regiments varied frequently. During
the war with Mexico it reached seventeen ; then it was again re-
duced, but never below eight.
The artillery, on the contrary, consisting of four regiments,
preserved that organization until 1861, but the number of com-
panies of which they were composed varied according to the
exi;^eneies of the service.
The places created by the formation of new regiments were
not all given to officers of the army ; a certain nuriiber of these
commissions were always held in reserve for the protdg^a of the
President and of the Secretary of War, and especially of those
Congressmen whose votes had contributed to secure this increase
of the army, but, it must be admitted, this patronage was judi-
ciously bestowed, and among the new officers were generally to
be found many former volunteers who had already seen service.
We shall mention one instance of the kind which reflects credit
on the discernment of Mr. Jeffiirson Davis, under whose admin-
istration of the War Department the 1st and 2d Cavalry were
organized. The field officers of these two regiments were taken
from the army in active service, as also one half of the whole
number of captains and lieutenants ; the remainder were chosen
from civil life. Out of these one hundrecl officers, forty-one
became, a few years later, generals in the Northern or in the
Southern armies, and six of them held commands-in-chief.
All the regiments were organized in the same manner, each
being provided with ten captains, whose command took the name
of company, even in the cavalry and the artillery, where it cor-
responded with the terms squadron and battery. The regiments
of infantry, instead of comprising three battalions, were formed,
in reality, of but a single one ; but each had a colonel, a lieu-
tenantrcolonel, and a major, the division of the regiments among
the frontier stations and along the coast rendering this large num-
ber of superior officers necessary. Their eflFective total of one
thousand to twelve hundred men was seldom attained, recruiting
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26 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
being always difficult. A Avise ordinance of President Monroe
requiring that every reduction of the army should bear equally
upon all organized regiments^ those only could be discharged
whose strength was found to be diminished by more than one-
half, in order to prcser\'e complete cadres ready to receive recruits
in case of necessity. Unfortunately, however, while the observ-
ance of this rule was being enforced, the authorities, in the exercise
of an imprudent economy, neglected to fill the vacancies of officers
in the regiments thus reduced ; so that in the end the cadres were
found to be as insignificant as the total effective force.
The proportion of artillery up to 1861, and its immunity from
any important reductions, can be explained on the ground of the
valuable services constantly required of it. It has always had the
charge of occupying, maintaining, and arming the fortified posts
which have served, and still serve, as finger-posts to the march of
civilization across the prairies of the West.
The somewhat numerous body of officers of the engineer corps
enjoyed the same immunity, but, generally speaking, it never had
but about one hundred soldiers under its command, who were
at the same time sappers and pontoniers. As to the general
staflF, such a branch of the military service has never existed in
America. The small regular army having only been brought to-
gether once during the first forty-six years of its existence, the
want of such a corps was but little felt. During the Mexican
expedition the army suffered greatly on account of this blank, but
in the corps of engineers it found young and excellent officers
who, by their zeal and intelligence, supplied the want of a general
StaflF. It was only, therefore, in 1861, when it was no longer a
question of handling twenty thoasand regular troops, but one
hundred thousand volunteers, that all the inconveniences arising
from the absence of such an important machinery were sensibly
felt.
The functions of the general staflT were divided among differ-
ent corps. Officers detached from their regiments, and volunteers
invested with temporary rank, performed the duties of aides-de-
camp to the generals under the name of personal aides. All the
topographical, geodetiml, and hydrographical works were en-
trusted to the corps of topographical engineers, to whom we are
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THE REGULAR ARMY, 27
indebted for the handsome publications of the Coa«< Su^Tcy, and
who, in 1862, were merged into the engineer corps, just as our
geographical engineers were formerly merged into the general
staff'. The other functions of the latter corps, particularly those
concerning the personnel of armies in the field, were entrusted to
special ofScers of administration.
Any details regarding the administration of military affairs,
although greatly abridged, may appear long and tedious. Still
they are necessary; for we must know the interior mechanism
of an army in order fully to understand its movements, and its
organization is a mirror wherein its spirit is reflected. That of
the regular army, like one of those diminutive models every part
of which is equally enlarged and amplified by some ingenious
process, was exactly copied at the time when the hundreds of
thousands of volunteers, whose campaigns we shall have to nar-
rate, were mustered into service. In this narrative we shall have
to use technical English terms in order to designate military func-
tions, the exact equivalents of which do not exist among us, and
the precise meaning of which it is, therefore, necessary that we
should establish.
The administration of the American war department is divided
into two technical parts. On one hand the body of troops, cav-
alry, artillery, and infantry, divided into regiments, depend, with-
out intermedium, on the department bureaus, having neither
distinctive chief nor separate management; on the other hand,
there are corps oomnosed exclusively of oflScers, each of them
under the special direction of a general officer or colonel, almost
invariably placed in that position by right of seniority, who takes
a large share in all the decisions which affect them, and who is
the only medium between them and the department. The latter
corps are, in the first place, the engineers and topographical
engineers, separated until 1862, and united since that period;
and then the various branches of the service, much more inde-
|)endent of each other, which, with us, constitute the military
adminstration. Under the name of departments they perform
their functions both in the army and in the War Department,
where their hierarchical chiefs have each a separate bureau, which
nearly corresponds to our administrative divisions {directiona).
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28 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
In those varied functions the corps above mentioned partake
of the character of our supervising department {intendance), with
this important difference, however, that most of them are com-
posed of officers in active service. Taken from the army, with
the exception of paymasters and surgeons, who have simply an
assimilated military rank, they do not leave their army grade on
entering upon the discharge of departmental duties, and may, by
means of a simple exchange, resume their places in the ranks of
combatants. They have therefore the same prospects as the lat-
ter, and may, like them, come out of their respective army corps
with a general's epaulette. The late war has shown by many
examples the advantages of such a system of promotion. Thus,
one of the generals who achieved most distinction on the field
of battle, Hancock, a simple captain-quartermaster, commanded
with success an army corps, and was promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general in the regular army for his services. Hence it
is that rivalries and jealousies are very rare between officers of
the line and those of the staff corps, and the frequency of rota-
tion among them, by initiating each in turn into the details of
every branch of the service, imparts to them an amount of infor-
mation that is found invaluable in the isolated life of the fron-
tiers, which entails upon them such manifold duties. Here, again,
the Americans have done well in not pushing the system of spe-
cial services to excess.
The adjutant-generars department, composed of officers from
the rank of captain to that of colonel, was, in 1861, commanded
by a general of brigade, who combined the functions of superin-
tendent of the personnel of the department with those of chief of
staff to the army. The assistant adjutant-generals, his subordi-
nates, are divided into two classes. Some doing duty in the
bureaus, or detached on special service, perform administrative
functions ; the others, for the most part, perform the duties of
our chiefs and sub-chiefs of staff to the several generals in com-
mand.
The inspector-generars department, although independent of
the adjutant-general's, is, in reality, but a supplementary branch
of it; and being composed solely of a few superior officers, it has
only the character of a commission to inspect the troops of the line.
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THE BEGULAR ARMY. 29
The quartermaster and subsistence departments resemble iv
most respects our supervising department {int^ndance).
The former, organized since 1812, besides the duty of provid-
ing part of the supplies for the array, performs certain functions
which, with us, appertain to the departments of engineers, trans-
portation, and disbursement of public moneys, and is the most im-
portant of all the department bureaus. During the late war it
disbursed forty-three per cent, of the total amount required for
military expenses.
The subsistence department, having charge of the victualling
of troops, the purchase of provisions at scattered markets, the
preparation, preservation, and distribution of rations among the
regiments, is composed of officers styled commissaries ; at the be-
ginning of the war a colonel was at the head of this department.
The ordnance department exercises the administrative functions
which with as belong, for the most part, to the artillery. It has
not only charge of the arsenals, of the manufacture of arms and
military equipments, of cannon and artillery material, of mus-
kets and ammunition of every kind, of side-arms, saddles, and
harness accoutrements, but also of their distribution in each corps.
We find this department in 1861 under the direction of a brigadier-
general.
The departments of the adjutant-general, quartermaster, sub-
sistence, and ordnance are represented on the staff of each army,
army con)s, active or territorial division, brigade, and ro^iincMit, by
ofiicers who, while subject to the authority of the chiefs of those
corps, continue nevertheless to- maintain direct relations with their
respective departments.
Finally, the surgeons and paymasters form two civil corps, the
members of which, as we have said before, being simply assim-
ilated in rank to military grades, cannot be transferred from one
corps to another. They follow in their own a regular order of
promotion, and each class is placed respectively under the com-
mand of a surgeon-general and a paymaster-general.*
*See note A, in the Appendix of this volume.
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CHAPTER III.
THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO.
THE organization of the American army was not developed in
tlie midst of absolute peace. The Mexican war and an
almost continuous warfare with the Indian tribes justified its ex-
istence in the eyes of a jealous public, kept it always in working
order, and permitted it to acquire a useful experience. They de-
veloped its qualities, while the nature of the country where the
American army had to fight, and the enemies it encountered, ex-
ercised a powerful influence upon its character and its mode of
waging war. The Mexican campaign constitutes the most bril-
liant epoch in its history previous to the great struggle of 1861.
That campaign was the means of forming nearly all the military
chiefs who, on one side or the other, have been noted in the com-
bats we shall have to describe. It inspired the stories of the
bivouac fifteen years later, when the captain and the lieutenant of
1847, now in command of volunteer armies or army corps, found
themselves opposed to the companions of their early experiences
in arms. The war of 1812 had not been a glorious one. That
of Mexico, on the contrar}', was a series of sucxicsses scarcely inter-
rupted by a few insignificant checks. It offered the soldier all the
interest of regular warfare, with its pitched battles, the names of
which can be mentioned and their trophies sho>vn, and at the same
time all the attractions that adventurous spirits find in fighting
in a country but half civilized. It was, in short, a decisive trial
of the military institutions of America; if the regular soldiers
had already been inured to the privations and fatigues that
awaited them in Mexico, if the mongrel race they had to en-
counter there was not superior in courage to the Indians of the
prairies, they had never l^efore been brought together as one army,
nor fought otherwise than as partisans. The Mexican war was
30
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THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO, 31
essentially their work ; they were in a majority in the army of
Greneral Scott, who made the decisive campaign ; the volunteers
were only their auxiliaries ; and even where the latter happened
to be more numerous than the former, the regular officers retained,
nevertheless, the exclusive control of all operations.
Those volunteers did not much resemble the class in the same
service who, in 1861, truly represented the nation in arms, for no
enthusiasm had stimulated their enlistment. The war which was
undertaken against Mexico was iniquitous. The men of the
South who then governed tlie Union, President Polk and his
agent Mr. Slidell — the same we have subsequently seen in Europe
pleading in behalf of the Confederate cause in the name of the
right of nationalities — alarmed at the increasing influence of the
free States, had sought to counterbalance it in the councils of the
republic by the creation of new slave States. To accomplish
this it was deemed necessary to dismember Mexico and to intro-
duce slavery into the territories that would be taken from her.
It was for the purpose of carrying out this political scheme that
war was declared, just as at other periods . filibusters were encour-
aged to carry trouble into Cuba or into Central America. The
North repudiated this odious policy ; consequently, it was only
represented by a contingent of less than twenty thousand volun-
teers, and even the majority of these only entere<l the service to
sustain the national honor, when Scott, detained at Puebla for
want of troops, found himself seriously compromised. About
forty thousand volunteers from the South, a force which was then
considered very large, were successively mustered into service:
the hope of extending the domain of slavery had fired their ardor.
Among those most in earnest might already be noticed Colonel
Jefferson Davis at the head of a regiment of Mississippi volun-
teers. Ambitious, impetuous, and eloquent, this old West Pointer
was trying to achieve at the same time populai'ity with his party,
and the military reputation which, when the crisis came, was tc
place him in possession of the War Department. He accom-
plished that double object ; and at a later period, when the great
rebellion, of which he was the soul, broke out, he received the
honors of the first Confederate successes ; but when defeat fol-
lowed, his former accomplices accused him of having accelerated
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32 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the common ruin by imperiously trammelling generals abler than
himself.
But, generally speaking, let us remark again, these Southern
volunteers did not resemble those who would have taken up arms
in support of a truly national cause. They were, for the most
part, adventurers recruited from among that idle, restless, and
adventurous population which the Southern leaders had made the
pioneers of their institutions and had alternately thrust upon the
Antilles and the far West. They were not without military quali-
fications : always with rifle in hand, by turns soldiers, colonists, or
traders, they had already fought as improvised citizens of Texas
at the time when the North and the South were contending for the
supremacy of influence in that ephemeral republic. They had
already measured strength with the Mexican soldier, an^ at San
Jacinto they had learned to outwit his vigilance and to excel his
skill in horsemanship. The Americans, therefore, did not even
wait for the declaration of war to launch out into the most haz-
ardous expeditions. Between the populated districts of Mexico
and tlie boundaries of Anglo-Saxon civilization, there was then a
vast extent of country, almost untenanted, and inhabited only by
roving Indians and a few settlers of Spanish origin. At certain
periods this desert was ploughed by large armed caravans, which
carried on a trade of more than ten millions annually, by follow-
ing two routes, equally difficult and dangerous. One, starting
from the rich mining districts of Chihuahua, pursued its course
by way of El Paso, Santa F6, and the Rocky Mountains to Fort
Leavenworth, on the borders of the Missouri ; the other, leaving
Monterey, crossed the Rio Grande and Texas, and finally reachetl
the settlements of Arkansas and Louisiana. Although nominally
under the jurisdiction of Mexico, this country, of which all ad-
venturers had glimpses in their golden dreams, was in reality
the land of God, as the Arabs express it. The first object of the
war was to wrest this territory from the feeble hands that were
unable to turn it to account. So that, while we find the army
which Scott led into Mexico proceeding with 'great regularity, and
only fighting to compel the enemy to come to terms, the troops
under Taylor, which attacked Mexico by way of the Rio Grande,
were a colonizing army. To distinguish them from the Army
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THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO. 33
of Invasion commanded by General Scott, they were called the
Army of Occupation, and they took possession a£ a country
already considered as conquered.
This country seemed to be protected by its own immensity j but
the Americans, who have been too often accused of tardiness, soon
overcame this obstacle. Their columns swept rapidly over the
territory, while a few insignificant bands rushed upon it with a
d^ree of audacity which demands our attention for a moment.
At the outset of the war Greneral Kearny starts from Fort
Leavenworth with twenty-seven hundred men, for the purpose of
conquering New Mexico, the State of Chihuahua, and California
— countries the surface of which is three or four times as large as
that of France. This column, however, consists only of three
squadrons of regular cavalry, the rest being made up of volun-
teers recruited in haste, two regiments of Missouri cavalry, one
battalion of Mormons, and some artillery. A considerable train
of provisions and ammunition accompanies them, for thoy have
to cross a desert of four hundred leagues in order to reach the
capital of New Mexico, Santa F6, which is situated between two
branches of the Cordilleras, upon an elevated plateau inarched
by drought, and where there is only to be met a narrow strip
of grass on the margin of the little river, called even at this
point the Rio Grande. At the entrance of this plateau the
Mexicans occupy a defile of less than twelve metres in width,
The Americans enter it with all their train, well knowing that
in the event of their being driven back into the desert which
stretches behind them, they must perish to a man ; but their auda-
city disconcerts the Mexicans, who disappear at their approach,,
and fifty days after quitting the borders of the Missouri, Kearny
and his little band enter the capital without striking a blow.
But this conquest was only the first stage in the undertaking;:
it has scarcely been secured when Kearny, with a simi)le escort
of one hundred dragoons and two mountain-howitzers, launches^
out into a new desert of four hundred leagues in extent to join
hands with Colonel Fremont on the shores of the Pacific, and
share with him the conquest of California. Fremont, a skilful
and intrepid explorer, had preceded him a year before, prosecute
Vol. 1.-3
Digitized by VjOOQIC
34 THE CIVIL WAR AV AMERICA.
ing his scientific researches at the head of a band of Indians, some
white hunters, and a few adventurous companions like himself,
over whom, thanks to his energy, he exercised an absolute control.
They wandered for a considerable time among those immense
solitudes, driven by chance or necessity, studying the elements of
the future prosperity of those settlers of whom they were the fore-
runners, and from time to time making their sudden appearance
among the Mexican settlements of California, where they were
justly regarded as suspicious visitors. One day they were fired
upon, and thus they learned that war had broken out on the Rio
Grande. Fremont determined to revenge himself by conquering
the province from which the inhabitants had sought to expel him.
His boldness and sagacity assured him an easy victory over the
ignorant assurance of the Mexicans. His ardor is communicated
to all his companions, and he finds powerful allies among the
American settlers, who, by crossing the Rocky Mountains, had
already, for some years past, penetrated into California. A few
•days sufficed him to put the Mexican authorities to flight, to pro-
claim the independence of California, and annex it to the United
States. In the mean time, one of those counter-revolutions so
common in Mexico broke out in the southern part of the State, at
the very moment when Kearny, who had been travelling with his
escort for the last two months without receiving any news from
the outside world, was approaching the first California settle-
ments. After exploring, in the midst of unheard-of hardships,
the routes to be followed by the caravans, to which he opened
new outlets, he was in hopes of finding some rest under the pro-
tection of the government founded by Fremont. Instead of this,
at the end of his last terrible march of twenty-five leagues across
a waterless desert, he encountered, December 6, 1846, a party of
hostile cavalry, who disputed his passage. The Mexicans were
not superior in number to the Americans ; but as they carrial no
baggage and were supplied with fresh horses, they had a great
.advantage over an adversary who had travelled eight hundred
leagues without receiving a single remount. One half of Kear-
ny's soldiers were on foot escorting the guns, fifty of them were
mounted on mules which had been unharnessed from the wagons
in proportion as the train became lightened of its load, while
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO. 3£
twelve dragoons only had retained their horses. These, with the
oflScers, constituted the light cavalry. The latter, notwithstand-
ing their small number, charged the enemy as soon as he came in
sight, leaving the rest of the troop behind," who •tried in vain to
urge their womout mules forward. At first the Mexicans made
a show of resistance, then fled ; subsequently, perceiving by the
irregularity of their motions, that their adversaries, like the Cu-
riatii, had allowed themselves to become separated, they wheeled
round abruptly, and their long lances unhorsed their too confid-
ing adversaries one after the other. Kearny himself received sev-
eral wounds. Fortunately for him, the heavy cavalry had time
to come up; and notwithstanding the somewhat unmartial ap-
pearance of the animals, its approach was sufficient to disperse the
Mexicans. If the Americans had been beaten in the battle of
San Pascual, they would inevitably have perished of hunger
and destitution. Although victorious, they were obliged to repel
for two days longer the attacks of their adversaries. Fortunately
for them, the naval division of Commodore Stockton was waiting
for them at San Diego, and a detachment of marines and soldiers,
sent by the latter, brought them on the 11th of Det^eraber the
succor they had so greatly needed. After fifteen days' rest at San
• Diego, Kearny's small troop, reinforced by more than four hundred
and fifty men, resumed tJieir marcli under the supreme command of
Stockton. On the 8th of January, 1847, at the river San Gabriel,
the Americans dispersed the hostile forces assembled against tliem,
and beat them again the next day before Los Angeles. After a
violent quarrel with Stockton, who claimed the chief command,
Kearny, continuing his march, was joined by a battalion of Mor-
mons, which had arrived from tlie North, and at last occupied
Upper California in concert with Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont.
During this expedition, which secured to its general the title
of governor of the new State, the two regiments of cavalry that
Kearny had left at Santa F6 did not remain inactive. One,
commanded by Colonel Sterling Price, whom we shall find later
in the Confederate army, was making strenuous efforts to crush
the insurrection of the Mexican settlers. The other, under the
command of Colonel Doniphan, travelled, in the heart of winter,
the rugged mountains inhabited by the Navajos Indians, the only
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36 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
piistoral people on all the continent; and, after concluding a treaty
of friendship with them, this little band had taken a southern di-
rection toward the distant city of Chihuahua, in the hope of
joining Taylor^s array, which had crossed the Rio Grande, and
had just invaded the province of Monterey.
Doniphan had only eight hundred mounted Missourians, who
were subsequently reinforced by about one hundred artillerj^men,
with four pieces of cannon. He was moreover obliged to accept
the company of a caravan of American traders, who, after reach-
ing Santa F6 by crossing the desert, were only waiting for an
opportunity to introduce American goods into Mexico under the
prote<'ti()n of the national flag, in spite of custom-house officers,
Indians, and brigands. These warlike traders, with their train
of three hundred and fifteen wagons, indemnified the troops for
whatever trouble they might liave caused them, by organizing
among their mule-drivers two companies, which rendered essential
service to the camp-guard.
The little band has scarcely set out when it finds itself assailed
by all the dangers which beset the traveller in those inhospitable
regions ; in the Jornada del MaeriOy a vast dried-up plateau" of
thirt^'^five leagues in length, it finds neither a drop of water nor
a tree ; scarcely a few thorny plants, which, blazing like straw,
cannot impart any heat to the soldiers benumbed with cold ; their
cinders, quickly cooled off, alone indicate, in the midst of that
vast solitude, the track of the detachments which it has been
found necessary to separate from the main body in order to facili-
tate the march. Owing to the want of water, the Americans find
it impossible to make a halt until they at last reach the boundary
of the desert which has been so appropriately denominated the
Dead man's halt.
But a slight skirmish soon makes them forget their hardships,
and delivers to them the defile of El Paso del NorUy an import-
ant strategic point ; it is the southern gate of New Mexico, the
only one which opens upon the rich lands of Central Mexico. The
Rio Grande, passing through this wild gorge, falls, in a succession
of cascades, from the high table-lands into the rich valley, where
it serves as the frontier of Texas. From this point the column
advances slowly, for it is necessary to feed the animals and to
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THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO. 37
reconnoitre a route almost unkno^vn. It has left the fertile bor-
ders of the Rio Grande, and the new deserts it has to cross have
dangers and sufferings in store of a totally different kind from
those it has hitherto encountered. These deserts consist of vast
plains of burning sand that rise with the least puff of wind and
give way under the footsteps of the soldier exhausted by the heat.
The last stage in those dreadful solitudes proved nearly fatal to
the Americans ; it was of twenty-five leagues and without water;
the wagons sank into the sand up to the axle-tree; the drooping
animals being no longer able to move them, they were abandoned,
and the cares for the morrow were forgotten in the all-absorbing
anxiety to reach the nearest water-sources, when a friendly rain-
storm suddenly burst forth, and by restoring strength to the
beasts of burden, saved the train and the entire force.
But this danger was scarcely over when the little army was
threatened by another. After the sterile desert comes the prairie
with its tall dry grasses. The march has been fatiguing, for the
whole day has been wasted in running after large herds of cattle,
which, guarded by Mexican vaqueroa, have finally disappeared in
the distant horizon. They have hardly reached the margin of a
lake, near which both men and beasts are endeavoring to procure
some refreshing rest, when the most formidable foe to emigrants,
the prairie fire, announces its approach. Lighted by the revenge-
ful hand of some vaquei^o^ or caused, it may be, by burning cin-
ders neglected at the morning halt, the conflagration appears sud-
denly above the heights which border the lake, sweeps down rap-
idly, and quickly envelops its waters in flames and smoke. The
camp is broken up in haste ; every living thing flies helter-skelter
before the terrible element which outstrips the swiftest foot in ve-
locity with an implacable uniformity of motion. The ammu-
nition wagons, covered with sparks which the wind has driven
before it, are dragged into the lake (fortunately not very deep),
where the drivers sprinkle water over them; the ofl&cers lead
their horses into the water and then make thepi trample the grass
with their wetted hoofs. All in vain ; the flames continue to ad-
vance. At last a desperate remedy is resorted to ; after cutting
down the tall grasses which surround them with their sabres and
taking refuge within the space thus cleared, the troopers kindle
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38 THE CIVIL WAR IX AMERICA.
another fire all around them. The circle thus formed soon gaias
in proportions ; on one side this new fire advances slowly toward
the great conflagration of the prairie, and stops its progress by
interposing an impassable barrier, destroying the food it was
about to devour. On the other side, driven by the wind, the
fire spreads rapidly in advance of the American column, which
follows it step by step over the burnt grasses until the fier}" tem-
})est which had threatened to consume them is left far behind.
Finding themselves at last freed from the embraces of the most
cruel of all deaths, men and beasts then sink upon the still smok-
ing and parched-up ground, caring for nothing but to procure a
little of that repose which is so delightful after a great danger.
Watch must be kept, however, for the vicinity of an enemy
superior in number, although not yet visible, is made manifest
by those multitudinous signs which a prairie life teaches one never
to overlook. The vaqaeros who have caused all the herds of
cattle to disapi)ear from those vast grazing-grounds, and the un-
known hand that has kindled the prairie fire so as to carry the
conflagration into the American camp, have, no doubt, obeyed the
orders of this enemy. The decisive hour has arrived, and the
little band prepares for battle. All the wagons of the army, both
light and heavy, are formed into four parallel lines at intervals
of fifty feet. The artillery is placed in the centre of each inter-
vening space ; the mounted men occupy the right and left wings,
while the light companies deploy and scout upon the road. In-
stead of marching in a single column, easy to be broken, the
train forms thus a compact mass, behind which the combatants,
concealing their number, can entrench themselves in case of at-
tack, and whence it is yet easy for them to emerge to form upon
any point of that moving square. At night all the wagons,
ranged in a circle and strongly tied together, are formed into a
corral, a kind of temporary fortification within which the draught-
animals are confined. In the event of a fight, as soon as the
troops are engaged outside df the train, the corral is formed,
and its defence is entrusted to the traders and the mule-drivers.
At last, after a long journey, without water, February 28,
1847, they reach the borders of Rio Sacramento, when, in the place
of an encampment where it had hoped to find rest, the little
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THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO. 39
American army beholds four lines of redoubts erected upon pre-
cipitous heights and occupied by four or five thousand Mexicans.
True to their customs, the Mexicans were thus compelling the
Americans to fight after a fatiguing march ; but if it be consid-*
ered clever tactics to force an adversary to assume the offensive
under such circumstances, the party thus acting should at least
have made sure of being able to withstand the ardor which the
sight of the refreshing stream infused into those whom it was in*
tended to drive from its approaches.
The inhabitants of the neighboring haeiendas had gathered in
groups on the heights which border the Sacramento, some merely
to look at those foreigners who had come from such a long dis-
tance; others to aid in crushing them as soon as victory had
declared against them. They followed with astonishment the
movements of the American column, which, enveloped by its long
lines of wagons, had abandoned its original direction in order to
describe a large circuit upon its right. When the Mexicans
understood the intentions of the Americans, the first line of
redoubts had been turned and the second vigorously charged.
They had yet time, however, to change front and advance en
masse to the defence of this second line. The Americans were
exposed to a slanting fire ; but the Mexicans having placed their
guns on the summit of the hill, in the belief that the higher the
position the stronger it must be, their plunging shots killed but
one man among the assailants. The latter, however, were checked
for a moment by a deep ravine. The first battalion of Doniphan,
protected by two howitzers that had arrived at a gallop to come into
battery fifty paces from the Mexican works, attempted to carry them
witliout dismounting, and was firing in vain upon their defend-
ers. But the second battalion, having dismounted, dislodged
the enemy, who abandoned all his entrenchments and allowed
himself to be driven from post to post until his retreat became a
perfect rout. The Missouri volunteers had fought equally well
on foot and on horseback ; but the success was chiefly due to the
officer who had so boldly brought up his two howitzers. The Mexi-
cans left behind them three hundred wounded and ten pieces of
cannon, and on the following day the victors entered Chihuahua.
But in this town Doniphan received news which rendered his
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40 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
position singularly perilous. (Jencral Wool, who had left Texae
with a considerable force for the purpose of joining him, had
failed to make his appearance. A mountain too steep for his
train, the existence of which he had not known, had obliged him
to abandon the direction of Chihuahua, and he had retraced his
steps towards the encampments of Taylor on the lower Rio
Grande. That general, weakened by the departure of his best
troops for Vera Cruz, and himself greatly exposed, had detained
him at Saltillo. Wool thus found himself at more than one
hundred and fifty leagues from Doniphan, and utterly unable to
effect a junction with him.
Isolated in a town of twenty-six thousand inhabitants, in the
heart of a hostile country, having received neither succor nor a
dollar since the commencement of the campaign, those eight hun-
dred men, whose term of enlistment had only two months more
to run, had some cause to fear that they might find themselves in
some Mexican prison when their time of service expired. To
beat a retreat would have been to acknowledge their weakness,
and to draw upon themselves an adversary whase forces increased
at the slightest indication of success. They settled down in the
city with a degree of assurance which disconcerted their enemies,
avowed or concealed. The traders unloaded their wagons and
openetl a fair. Strict police regulations, an entirely new thing
in Chihuahua, were maintained by the Americans. Men and
animals thus rested themselves for two months, and prepared for
the new hardships they would have some time to encounter.
At last, one day some bold troopers who had succeeded in reach-
ing the headquarters of General Wool brought back an order to re-
join the army of occupation at Saltillo. The column took up once
more the line of march, leaving behind it the town of Chihua-
hua, where they had lived in peace and plenty, together with its
listless population, which looked upon their departure with the
same emotions with which it had witnessed their arrival, consid-
ering them as powerful travellers whose visit, if not too long,
presented a curious spectacle, with opportunities of profit. After
another march of one hundred and fifty leagues, they encamped
near their comrades at Saltillo and Monterey; but their term
of enlistment having expired, they proceeded towards the Rio
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE AB^Y OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO. 41
Grande ; and, unmolested by any enemy, they went to embark in
the vicinity of Matamoras for New Orleans.
On their return to Missouri they were discharged, having
travelled more than two thousand leagues during their one yearns
service. Like those torrents which rush down from the Rocky
Mountains in the neighborhood of Santa F^, some running into
the Pacific Ocean and others into the Gulf of Mexico, so did the
small band which had started from Fort Leavenworth become
divided in the capital of New Mexico; and while Kearny was
making his entry into San Francisco, Doniphan, after traversing
all the north of Mexico, had reached the shores of the great
Gulf with his troops. When he rejoined Taylor at Saltillo, the
army of occupation had already fought several important battles
in the vicinity of the Rio Grande and at Monterey. But although
the troops of Taylor were more numerous than those whose
adventurous march we have just been following, the study of
their campaign does not afford the same interest in a military
point of view.
In that campaign, however, the Americans received a few les-
sons which they subsequently turned to account. Thus, for in-
stance, at the outset, a squadron of regular cavalry allowed itself
to be drawn into a corral^ or hacienda stable-yard, where the half
wild horses of the country are confined and tamed, and the whole
party was captured like a herd of cattle which a blind terror de-
livers to the lasso of the vaqaero.
Their first important operations came also very near terminating
in a disaster. The line which connected their cantonments on the
Rio Grande with their dipdis at Point Isabel, near the mouth of
that river, ran along the left bank, in sight of the enemy's posts
situated on the opposite bank. The Mexican general Arista de-
termined to pierce it by a sudden attack. The Americans, warned
in time by a fortunate chance, fell back upon their d^pdts thus
menaced. When they attempted afterward to go to extricate the
little garrison that had been left in their cantonments, they found.
Arista barring their passage at Palo Alto (May 8, 1846). Al-
though this general had so entirely lost all presence of mind that
his countrymen accused him of treason, the Americans would
have been compelled to beat a retreat before the superior number
Digitized by VjOOQIC
42 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMEBJCA.
and position of the enemy, but for the steadfastness of their old
battalions of regular troops. These did not allow themselves to
be shaken by the impetuous charge of the Mexican lancers. At
the risk of seeing their caissons blown up, the artillery, always
well served, rush into the prairie, which has been on fire since the
beginning of the engagement. Masked by the thick smoke, which
the wind blows into the Mexican ranks, it takes a position so as
to enfilade their lines, and thus obliges the enemy to beat a hasty
retreat. The Mexican rear-guard, making a stand at Resaoa de
la Pahia, tries in vain to cover the passage of the Eio Grande.
The American artillery is the first to attack it; the regular dra-
goons charge and disperse it ; and finally the infantry drives it
into the stream in the midst of the greatest disorder. The Mex-
ican army, completely disorganized, sought refuge in the interior,
where it suffered the most terrible privations before it could reach
the quiet and wealthy districts where it could reorganize. Never-
theless, a few months later (August, 1846) the important city of
Monterey, which they had left behind with a feeble garrison, was
able to repel for two whole days, while inflicting heavy losses upon
the assailants, all the attacks of those r^ular troops, accustomed
to victory in an open field, whatever might be the numerical force
of the Mexicans. The armistice which the commander, Ampudia,
obtained, for the purpose of evacuating the city, when he found
himself threatened with famine, was an homage paid to the cour-
age of his soldiers.
Both parties had been too sanguine of easy victory. Owing to
this excess of confidence, the Mexicans were beaten, and the
Americans were not in a condition to follow up their success. It
was necessary to prepare for a new campaign. The Americans
organized a naval expedition ; the Mexicans made a revolution.
Not being able to clear a way across the immense tract of
country which separates Saltillo, where Taylor was encamped with
the army of occupation, from the city of Mexico, where the treaty
of cession which the Americans wanted to wrest from their ad-
versary had to be sought, they determined to attack the enemy
at the most vulnerable point on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Some troops had been collected at New Orleans for this pur-
pose, but it M'as deemed necessary to take away from Taylor his
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THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO. 43
best soldiers to form the principal nucleus of the new expedition.
These preparations occupied a portion of the winter, and at the
beginning of 1847, nearly all the regular troops that Taylor had
under his command were proceeding toward Matamoras, where
they were to join the fleet, which had left New Orleans, and em-
bark with General Scott for Vera Cruz.
In the mean time, the Mexicans, under the pretext of a political
revolution called federalMj had called into power a soldier, the
most able to cope with the invaders. When, ten years before, at
San Jacinto, a trick of fortune delivered President Santa Anna
into the hands of the warlike American settlers in Texas, instead
of shooting him, they had set him free, thinking, as they said,
that they could not bestow a more fatal gift upon their enemies.
In fact, his restless ambition, capricious and fertile in expedients,
did not permit him in time of peace either to submit to a regular
government, or to become himself the founder of one; but in time
of war, his failings as much as his talents secured him a powerful
influence over his countrymen. He alone could organize a resist-
ance and create unlooked-for resources to sustain it. He gave
evidence of his foresight by taking advantage of the moment when
a portion of his adversaries had already abandoned their positions
beyond the Rio Grande and were sailing in the Gulf of Mexico,
to attack those that had remained with Taylor before the naval
expedition, the object of which a fortunate accident had revealed
to him, should call him back to the defence of Vera Cruz. He
had re-<3reated An army ; and the battle which he fought with
Taylor at Buena Vista (on the 23d of February, 1847) was cer-
tainly the best contested of the entire war. The American army
had lost even more in quality than in quantity through the rein-
forcements that had been sent to Scott ; with the exception of the
artillery and some cavalry, it consisted only of volunteers who
had not seen one year's service. It is therefore of interest to us
to see them at work on the only occasion when, in the whole
course of that war, they were left to themselves.
It is impossible to find in the oflicial accounts of that battle
the least evidence of any concerted movement ; the action once
commenced, each ofiBcer acts upon his own impulses. The gen-
eral-in-chief, not depending upon the execution of his orders, goes
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44 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
in person, on the evening of the first day's battle, to visit hie
d^dts, several leagues in the rear of the army. Returned to the
field of battle, he braves the enemy's fire without thinking of di-
recting the movements of his various corps, which have become
engaged at hap-hazard. The Mexicans, on this occasion, being
well handled, vigorously assume the offensive. Some of the
American regiments repel the first shock, while others, on the
contrary, instantly disperse, deaf to every appeal to hold their
ground. The entire line, thus outflanked at several points,
wavers ; isolated groups of soldiers are trying to secure the best
positions for holding in check the Mexican cavalry, which is
driving before it all whom it has thrown into confusion. The
artillery, abandoned by those whose duty it was to support it,
continues to fight heroically, thereby delaying the success of the
Mexicans. But the latter, trusting to their numbera (they were
twenty-two thousand against six thousand*), captured several
guns, notwithstanding the efforts of the regular officers, and of
Colonel Jefferson Davis, who was seriously wounded at the head
of his regiment. This handful of men would have been anni-
hilated but for the timely arrival of Captain Braxton Bragg, who,
crossing the field of battle from one side to the other with his bat-
tery, saved them from utter destruction. Jefferson Davis never
forgot this service, and ever after showed great favor to Bragg,
for which he was severely blamed when this officer had attained
the highest ranks in the Confederate army. Among the other
officers who distinguished themselves on that memorable occa-
sion, mention has been made of the names of Sherman, Thomas,
Reynolds, and French, all of whom became celebrated afterward
in the Federal ranks.
In the mean time, the artillery on one side, two regiments of
cavalry and three battalions of infantry on the other, continued
alone to make resistance, and the Mexicans, notwitlistanding their
losses, might, by a final effort, have secured the victory. Their
mounted men, bestriding horses caparisoned in all that gorgeous-
ness of colors which is so attractive to southern people, and bran-
dishing their lances with long streamers, were advancing in ser-
* The disparity was even greater. The American army did not number quite
fiye thousand men.— Ed.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN MEXICO, 45
lied columns and in the best of order, despite the roughness of the
ground. But as they neared that portion of the American line of
in&ntry which was still making resistance, their motions were seen
to slacken ; the grape-shot had begun to reach them. They came
to a full stop, and a few volleys of musketry sufficed to make them
wheel about in quick time. The American mounted volunteers
on dieir part, under the command of a rough but brave Kentuck-
ian, Humphrey Marshall, behaved handsomely. At first tliey
occupied, as sharpshooters and on foot, a crest inaccessible to
horses ; then, at the moment of the great disorder, they fell back
gradiially without allowing themselves to be broken. Reduced
finally to four hundred men, they waited, without flinching and
in line of battle, the attack of a brigade of the enemy, which they
received at sixty paces with a volley fired from their saddles.
Then, seeing the Mexicans waver and halt, they flung their car-
bines over their shoulders, and charging the enemy with their
sabres, put them to flight after a bloody conflict, in which many
of their men, and one of their colonels, were left upon the ground.
Disorganized by the very eflbrt which had seemed to render
success certain, the Mexican army gave up the struggle ; but it
was only on the following day, when they were preparing for a
new eflbrt to sustain the unequal contest, that, finding no longer
any enemy in front, the Americans, as it has often happened to
them since, learned that they had gained the victory.
Having failed on this side, Santa Anna unhesitatingly turned
towards Vera Cruz, where his presence was needed, and where we
shall again shortly find him. He left the army of occupation in
quiet possession of the country it had conquered, but too far re-
mote from the new theatre of war to exercise any influence over
llio events of which we have yet to speak.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE ARMY OF INVASION IN MEXICO.
OX the 9th day of March, 1847, thanks to tlie skill of th€
American navy, twelve tliousand men were landed on tlie
beach of Vera Cruz without striking a blow. The operations of
this little army, which, although never amounting to more than
fourteen thousand men, was nevertheless able to open for itself a
triumphant passage to the city of Mexico, deserve all our attention.
It passe<l through a country which Ls now familiar to thase who
have become interested in the labors of our own soldiers in the
same localities ; and the obstacles which it encountered, the skilful
and successful manner in which it was handled, while they earned
for it well-deserved glory, also proved to be the best of schools.
Santa Anna had preceded it to Vera Cruz, his real capital,
which had so often seen him retire like a hermit to his vast haci-
enda, or appear suddenly among the barracks to issue some pro^
nvnciamiento. The recollection of that night in 1838, when he
was surprised and wounded by a handful of our bold sailors, had
not discouraged him. But while giving direc»tions for the defence
of the place where he intended to cause the success of our arms to
be forgotten, he took care not to shut himself up within its walls
in the presence of the Americans. He dreaded with just cause
the superiority of their discipline, of their military spirit, of their
matMel, and, above all, of their perseverance. In spite of one of
those terrible northers so common and so dangerous in the harbor
of Vera Cruz, which interrupted all communication with the fleet,
and which by demolishing the hills of moving sand levelled the
first works of the engineer, the siege progressed rapidly. The
city surrendered three days after the trenches were opened, and
after one day's bombardment, which only disabled sixty-four
Americans.
46
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THE ARMY OF INVASION IN MEXICO. 47
But all the advantages accruing from this rapid success were
lost in consequence of the difficulty of transportation, which is
the great problem of war in regions destitute of resources, and
which becomes still more difficult when, the base of operations
being purely maritime, the supplies are slow in reaching their des-
tination. The horses and draught mules had perished in the gale,
and three weeks elapsed before the army could take up its line of
march. Fortunately for it, the Mexicans did not know how to
take advantage of this delay. If they had confined themselves
to the defence of cities and forts like Puebla and Perote, and to
harassing the Americans with their numerous cavalry, the latter,
not being then provided with tlie means for transporting their
siege guns, would have found a resistance in those localities which
they could not have overcome. But despite the teachings of the
Spanish war, the Mexicans forgot Saragossa, to imitate Ocafla and
Rio Seco. They had not the incentives of popular passions and
national hatred to lead them to resort to that terrible street-fight-
ing in which the Spanish race excels. The Americans had avoided
all occasions of stirring up their animosities, by not meddling
with their intestine quarrels. Scott, who had no more idea of
their regeneration than Santa Anna himself, had taken sides with
none of the parties which divided them ; he was most anxious not
to overthrow the government he had come to fight ; for he wanted
to be able to treat with it on the day after the victory. Besides,
it was not the sacrifice of some distant portions of the territory
which could rouse a population accustomed to see half these prov-
inces in arms against each other. Therefore, during that cam-
paign the cities themselves offered no resistance to the little for-
eign army. The inhabitants, crowded upon the balconies to see
the American soldiers pass, wondering at their haggard looks,
their tattered garments, and disappointed in their expectations of
a brilliant pageant, asked each other how such men could have
vanquished the national troops, but left to those troops the care
of fighting them.
Santa Anna committed an error of frequent occurrence in those
half-civilized countries, where generals with scarcely any military
experience command troops that have but the outward ap])earance
of our organized armies. Always anxious to fight pitched battles,
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48 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
they impose a discipline upon their soldiers which embarrasses
without sustaining them 5 they encumber themselves with maUriel
which they know not how to use, and thas lose all their natural
advantages. When he took up his position at Cerro Grordo — a
position skilfully chosen and strongly entrenched, for the purpose
of preventing the Americans from reaching the table-lands by the
Jalapa road — he sustained, on the 18th of April, 1847, a crushing
defeat Of his twelve thousand men, three thousand were taken
prisoners, and the remainder took to flight, leaving behind them four
thousand muskets and forty-three guns. He had again committed
the mistake which, at the beginning of the war of Mexican inde-
pendence, had proved so fatal to Hidalgo. But at Cerro Gordo
one did not see, as at Calderon Bridge, entire populations of In-
dians almost unarmed given up to useless and inevitable slaughter.
The courageous defence of the Mexicans was, on the contrary, a
useful lesson to the Americans. In fact, Scott had charged the
enemy in front and in flank at the same time. The first of these
two attacks cost the Americans dear, and was productive of no
results ; while the other, boldly led, succeeded in taking the army
of Santa Anna in rear and throwing it into irretrievable con-
fusion. These flank movements, often tried aftenvard, always
I)roved successful before an enemy who weakened his wings for
the sake of extending his lines.
The success of this flank movement had, besides, been carefully
planned. They had scarcely emerged from their open trenches
among the moving sands and fever-breeding swamps which sur-
round Vera Cruz, when the American soldiers took up once more
the shovel and pick, for three days, to cut a passage through a
rock, which allowed the artillery to take up a position within
range of the Mexican works at Cerro Gordo, and to support the
assault which carried them. It was owing to this patient labor
that the defences erected in front of the enemy's army were
avoided, and that, at the critical moment, the latter found its re-
treat cut off.
Scott^s troops showed their valor, not only by resolutely charg-
ing positions bristling with guns, but especially in pursuing the
enemy after his defeat with a degree of vigor which prevented
him from rallying again. This pursuit, difficult when the ques-
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THE ARMY OF INVASION IN MEXICO. 49
tion of supplies embarrasses every movement, would have been
impossible with new troops, who are always exhausted at die end
of a conflict by the very effort which has secured the victory.
Perote and Puebla fell into the hands of the Americans with-
out a struggle. It was very fortunate for them that they had so
crippled the Mexican army that their entrance into those towns
could not be opposed ; for their number had been greatly reduced,
and they were beginning to experience those vexations which
render a campaign in the New World so troublesome. A month
of inactivity in the fatal climate of tropical lands, followed by
long and fatiguing marches, the scorching days and cold nights
of the table-lands, had develojied many diseases in that little
army, which only numbered forty-five hundred men when it
entered Puebla. The large train, from which it could not sepa-
rate itself, had been equally diminished. Admirably adapted for
long expeditions in the vast prairies of the far West, it was
poorly organized for the purpose of following an army over the
rugged soil of Mexico. The wagons were too hea\y, the
teams, already much reduced in numbers during the sea voyage,
were falling in their traces, and the mules of the country were
restive in harness. The few remaining vehicles were encumbered
with the sick that could not be left behind. There also occurred
in this army, composed as it was of men of such various nation-
alities, too many desertions. Finally, the four thousand volun*
tears who followed Scott as fiir as Jalapa had only a few weeks
longer to serve ; for at the time of their enlistment they did not
count on so long a war. Although this corps constituted more
than one-third of his army, the American general would not take
them along with him in his march upon Mexico, as it would have-
rendered it impossible for them to leave him when their term of
enlistment should expire. That high-toned commander, a scru-
pulous observer of the requirements of law, like the people whom
he represented, made it a point to fulfil the obligations which the-
State had assumed in regard to them, and at the end of April he
sent them back to Vera Cruz, before the yellow fever scourged
the coast.
The Federal government had committed a grave error, and had
greatly deceived itself regarding the facility of reaching Mexico ;;
Vol. I.— 4
Digitized by VjOOQIC
50 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
for that strange capital is surrounded by a kind of mirage which
dazzles all those whose cupidity it excites. But when free gov-
ernments, acting under the influence of popular impressions, com-
mit such errors, to which absolute powers are not less liable, they
generally find in public opinion itself the means of rectifying
them. Congress, in fact, in its session of 1846, had failed to vote
the formation of ten new regiments of regulars which had been
proposed at the last moment ; and the Pixjsident was not author-
ized to raise them until the time when they should already have
been landed at Vera Cruz to reinforce Scott, who was condemned
to inactivity on the table-lands of Puebla. But this want of
foresight was soon followed by action. The smallest detach-
ments of the regular army were called in from every part of the
country to constitute cadres for the new regiments, which, thanks
to the rapidity of enlistments, swelled to more than ten thousand
men during the year ; and as the question now was to sustain the
national honor, the North furnished volunteers with as much
eagerness as the South.
Finally* after a tedious inactivity of three months and a half,
the American army found itself increased to the total of four-
teen thousand five hundred men. This was not enough, however,
to maintain communications with the sea while . the principal
column was marching upon Mexico. Scott resorted to a bold
expedient: all the garrisons, except those of Vera Cruz and
Perote, were gathered together in Puebla, where six hundred
able-bodied men and six hundred convalescents were shut up
with twenty-five hundred sick confided to their care.
The American general, having given up his base of operations,
took up his line of march with ten thousand seven hundred and
thirty-eight men, and every available means of transportation.
The total amount of regular troops in this force was eighteen
regiments, a number altogether unusual, some of which had been
reduced, it is true, to less than five hundred men during the
campaign ; they comprised twelve regiments of the line, one of
voltiffeurs, one of dismounted rifles, and four regiments of foot
artillery, taken from the various Federal fortresses, which per-
formed infantry duty. The regulars formed three divisions, to
^\iich was added one division of volunteers, each comprising two
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TEE AmiY OF INVASION IN MEXICO, 51
brigades and one regular field battery. The cavalry, in conse-
quence of the difficulty of maritime transportation, was reduced
to five hundred horses, a most insignificant number compared
with that of the Mexicans. The American heavy wagons hav-
ing failed for the transportation of provisions and ammunition, a
convoy of the sumpter animals of tlie country was substituted.
The circumstances which obliged the Americans to abandon
their communications with Puebla rendered it necessary for them
to keep their lines as close during their march as the difficulties
of the roads and the necessity of collecting provisions permitted.
The divisions were kept apart at intervals of three leagues, so as
to be able mutually to support each other. The park with the
large impedimenta followed first. The dragoons, well officered,
scouted the roads sufficiently, notwithstanding the smallness of
their numbers. It was in this order that the Americans crossed
the table-lands and the high chain of mountains which separate
Puebla from the interior basin of Mexico. The heavy rains of
that year had swelled the torrents and damaged all the roads.
The American soldier does not possess the art of procuring food
in a poor or exhausted country. The administrative department,
accustomed to campaigns in which the troops carried everything
with them', did not know how to make a country contribute to
the necessary wants of the army, while lightening as much as
possible the burdens of war. Provisions were scarce. Invisible
but stubborn guerillas surrounded the Americans like an elusive
mist ; and they advanced rapidly to escape from their clutches.
It was especially around the large supply-train, the preservation
of which was a matter of vital importance, that it became neces-
sary to be doubly vigilant. Consequently, when the mules, strung
along like a chaplet of beads, pricked up their ears, and shaking
the little bells attached to their parti-colored trappings, enteriKl
one of those defiles favorable to ambuscades, the alarms were fre-
quent ; the least impediment, the shouts of the Mexican an^ieros,
of doubtful fidelity, the very echo of the animals' feet striking
against the rocks, seemed to the officers charged with this heavy
responsibility the signal of some treachery.
The Americans, however, arrived without fight or accident in
the valley of Mexico, where Santa Anna, with an army which
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52 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
four months' respite had enabled him to reorganize, oflfcred them
another ehan<?e in the game he had once lost at Cerro Gordo —
double or quits. This time, profiting by experience, he fully in-
tended to take advantage of those solid buildings which the
Spaniards had scattered around Mexico. The position of Scott's
army was a difficult one. In sacrificing his communications, he
had deprived the enemy of one of his principal resources — the
attack of isolated detachments — ^but at the sight of the prepara-
tions for defence made by the latter, he must have acknowledged
that he had not brought one man too many with him, in order to
avoid a disaster the gravity of which no line of posts established
en echelon on the route could have lessened. His troops, full
of confidence in him, had not been in the least alarmed at a step
which would have disconcerted less experienced soldiers.
It was necessary at all hazards for them to conquer this for-
midable adversary in the positions he had chosen. They fortu-
nately passed through this ordeal so trying to the morale of the
soldier, and success justified the daring of their chief. They
may probably have been sustained by the example of that adven-
turous genius who was the first to subjugate Mexico; for the
Americans, who are far from wanting in imagination when
the greatness of the nation is in question, were no doubt incited
by the remembrance of Cortes and the hope of equalling his
exploits.
Nature has done everything to render the approaches to Mexico
difficult : — On one part, lakes and marshes intersected by narrow
causeways, which the redoubts erected by Santa Anna fully com-
manded. On the other, along the mountain sides which surround
this interior basin, a ground singularly uneven, traversed by im-
mense petrified streams of ancient lava, in which enormous blocks
with sharp angles are piled up in heaps. These streams of lava,
called pedregales, were impracticable for cavalry and artillery; the
infantry even could not keep their ranks ; and the small but a>ra-
pact villages of Contreras, San Antonio, and Churubusco formed
a line on that same ground difficult to carry. Nearer the capital
rose the rock of Chapultepec (the " hill of locusts "), crowned
with strong Spanish fortifications of the seventeenth century
which command all its approaches. Finally, the city itself,
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THE ARMY OF INVASION IN MEXICO. 53
owing to an unusual rainy season^ was then surrounded by ground
deeply gullied.
A series of combats which occupied three days, from the 18th
to the 20th of August, and which conjointly constituted an im-
portant battle, as much on account of the price it cost as for its
results, delivered up to the Americans the first line of defences.
The decisive blow was delayed for two weeks by an armistice,
of which the Mexicans alone derived the benefit. But the two
bloody days of the 7th and 13th of September caused the fall of
Chapultepec, and secured to the Americans, with that final vic-
tory, possession of the great city of Mexico.
These two operations deserve to be commented upon in detail,
for they reflected as much honor upon the commander who con-
ducted them as upon the army that executed them. The limits
of this historical sketch, however, do not allow us to do more
here than point out the principal features of the struggle, and the
military qualities to which the Americans were indebted for their
success against an enemy superior in numerical strength and mas-
ter of strong defensive positions.
They knew how to work, march, and fight at the same time.
With pick in hand, they opened for themselves a passage across
the pedregal to avoid some of the strongest positions of the enemy.
Sometimes in his very presence, at other times concealing their
movements, and often even dispensing with the support of their
artillery, it was always by some flanking manoeuvre that they
prepared for their successes ; and if it happened more than once
tliat in the midst of soipe movement executed under the fire of
the enemy, or in the darkness of the night, their battalions, little
used to act in concert, were thrown into confusion, the zeal and
intelligence of the officers always repaired these accidents in time.
It was by their courage, in short, and their stubbornness, that the
American troops achieved victory when it became necessary to
attack positions in front which could no longer be turned.
He had hardly set foot upon the direct road from Vera Cruz
to Mexico, which runs between the lakes Tezcuco and Chalco,
when Scott perceived that he could not open himself a paasage on
that side. Renewing on a larger scale the manoeuvre of Cerro
Gordo, he determined to attempt an attack by way of the south
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54 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
after having turned Lake Chaloo. Between this lake and the
adjacent mountains, it was found necessary to cut a road several
leagues in length, enabling the artillery to come within range of
Contreras, and securing at the same time the communications of
the army with the <Up6i8 that had been left east of Lake Chalco.
This turning movement, thus commenced at the entrance into
the basin of Mexico, was continued until the taking of the capi-
tal. It always proved successful in the face of an enemy unable
to' make any sudden movement without falling into the greatest
disorder. When arrived in front of Contreraa and San Antonio,
the Americans meet with a more vigorous resistance than they
had anticipated. Their first attack is repulsed; their artillery,
too weak to have any effect upon houses solidly roofed, is
crushed by the superior calibre of the Mexican guns. They
at once make a new flank movement. One division proceeds
under cover of the night to place itself in the very rear of
the position of Contreras, and the defendera of the place only
become aware of this bold manoeuvre when they find them-
selves attacked and surrounded on every side. This poirU d^appui
once carried, the Americans concentrate their efforts successively
upon each of the positions which formed the too extended line of
the enemy. This is entirely broken, and the Mexicans only re-
tain the massive walls of the convent of San Pablo de Churu-
busco, with the adjoining tMe de pont, which, being in the rear of
that line, could not be turned with it. This time it was found
necessary to attiick the position in front, which the regular troops
vigorously carried, not without sustaining serious losses, thus
showing that if they knew how to manoeuvre under an able com-
mander, the latter could also rely upon them at that critical mo-
ment in all battles when the personal courage of the soldier de-
cides the victory.
The successes which after the expiration of the armistice opened
the gates of Mexico to the Americans were obtained in the same
manner. Always manoeuvring by their left, after having passed
from the eastern to the southern part of the city, they extended
their lines from south to west, and when they appeared before its
walls they were exactly facing Vera Cruz. In order to capture
the castle of Chapullepec, they sought to surround tliat formid-
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THE ARMY OF INVASION IN MEXICO. 55
able position by forcing the extremity of the line of which it was
the key. But the success of this iqovement was purchased at a
great sacrifice. At the extreme left, three hundred dragoons,
under the command of Major Sumner, undergo the most diflScult
ordeal that can be conceived for cavalry, and keep that of the
enemy in check by remaining immovable under a murderous fire.
In the mean while, the regular foot-soldiers make an assault upon
the works which form the Mexican line. Although they suc-
ceed in piercing the centre, the most important entrenchments
which support its two extremities resist all their efforts. A single
regiment loses eleven of its fourteen officers before Molino del
Rey. But, as it happened at Contreras, this check is soon turned
into a victory. Seeing their line broken, and perceiving farther
off on the plain Sumner, who is with his few dragoons and a bat-
tery of artillery driving the Mexican lancers before him, the defend-
ers of Molino del Rey and of Casa de Mata, fearing to be hemmed
in, abandon their positions in great haste. The American army lost
in that battle (September 7, 1847) one-fourth of its effective force.
Nevertheless, on the following day, they must go to work to
demolish the fortifications evacuated by the enemy, and to erect
batteries in front of Chapultepec: they must place there the
siege-guns brought from Vera Cruz or captured at Contreras,
^liose fire is to batter down the thick walls of the castle. De-
spite the murderous fire of the besieged, all the preparatory works
are speedily completed, and Chapultepec is bombarded during two
days. At last, on the 13th of September, the American troops
scale the steep acclivities and surmount the various obstacles of
every sort by which the ancient residence of the viceroys of Xew
Spain is surrounded. The garrison, which numbers among its
best combatants the pupils of the military school, makes a brave
defence, but, exhausted and decimated, it can no longer resist the
concentrated effort of the Americans, who make themselves mas-
ters of the whole castle.
The war was virtually ended. A clever feint which drew the
attention of the Mexicans to one of the gates of the capital, while
the army completed its great flank movements at the west, enabled
the latter to take possession of another entrance to the city, and
thus spared its adversaries an effusion of blood thereafter useless.
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66 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
There were very few men on that Bide, and not a single gun, tc
take advantage of the obstacles that Nature has placed there.
Only a few muskets were fired to cover the retreat of Santa Anna.
Notwithstanding his defeat^i, he could go out of the capital he had
so ably defended with head eret^t, nor had he yet given up the
game. His sudden attack upon Puebla is an evidence of his
daring and of the resources of his genius, and it was only after
the conflict at Huamantla that, forsaken by his most trusty com-
panions, he was compelled to submit to the decrees of fate.
In the battles fought around the capital, the American army
took thirty-seven hundred prisoners, thirteen of whom were gen-
erals and three ex-presidents ; and among its trophies were found
seventy-five cannons. The army itself lost in those conflicts
twenty-seven hundred and three men, or the fourth part of all its
effective force; so that, notwithstanding the gonial climate of
those high table-lands, the sound constitution of the soldier, in-
ured to military life, and the precautions which saved them from
much sickness, their number was reduced to about six thousand
men when they occupied Mexico.
But this small body of troops, composed of the ^lite of the
American forces, had acquired, together with the consciousness
of its prowess, an experience in the art of war which proved ben-
eficial to all the regular army, and which was not lost in the great
struggle of 1861 . It was among the young generation who learned
their trade so well under Scott, that both Federals and Confed-
erates sought the leaders to whom they confided the control of
their respective armies. Thus, to mention some names we shall
find again presently in every page of this narrative, it was at the
siege of Vera Cruz that Lee, McClellan, and Beauregard, all
three officers of engineers, made together their d^ut in arms.
Lee, who, through his ability as a staff officer, soon afterward
gained the entire confidence of Genenil S(*ott, directed at Cerro
Gordo and Contreras the construction of the roads which secured
the victorious movements of the army. After his name, which
was destined to a much greater celebrity, those of Sumner and of
Kearny, both serving in the small corps of dragoons which had
such a hard task to perform throughout that campaign, were the
most frequently mentioned by their commanders. Sumner,
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THE ARMY OF INVASION IN MEXICO. 57
formed to lead a charge of cavalry straight to the point of attack,
courageous, stubborn, and as inflexible in matters of discipline as
he was unsparing toward himself, had been surnamed by his sol-
diers " the Bull of the Woods." Always keeping clear of politics
and faithful to his flag, we find him in 1857 dispersing the legis-
lature of Kansas in the name of the then pro-slavery government
of Washington, iisath as much ardor as he displayed in defending
the national cause in the army of the Potomac in 1862. Kearny,
chivalrously brave and passionately fond of the military profes-
sion, always discontented with his superior oflicers, except when
ordered to attack the enemy, had accompanied our army to Alge-
ria in 1840, in the M6d^ah expedition, and had subsequently re-
turned to Europe to follow that army in the campaign of Italy.
At the battle of Contreras, rushing with one hundred hoi'se in
pursuit of the fleeing Mexicans, he followed them as far as the
gates of the city, where he lost an arm. Of all the officers of his
squadron, one only, not less brave than himself, but more favored
by fortune than the rest — Lieutenant Ewell — ^returned without a
wound ; and by another strange fatality, fifteen years later almost
to a day, Kearny and himself were found each in a command of a
division in the two contending armies on the battle-field of Chan-
til ly, where the former was killed while vainly endeavoring to
remedy the mistakes of his general; whilst the latter, always
more fortunate, only lost a leg in that bloody conflict. In order
to show how useful the Mexican campaign was in training gen-
erals for the civil war, it will suffice to say that among those offi-
cers who had the honor of receiving special mention in the des-
patches of General Scott, sixteen became generals in the Federal
army, and fourteen in that of the Confederates.
The American army remained some time longer in Mexico ; it
even received a reinforcement of twelve or fifteen thousand men,
and these reserves, drilled and instructed under the assiduous care
of Scott, soon rivalled in ardor and soldierly bearing the troops
who had passed through all the trials of the campaign.
The conqueror of Mexico was as much admired as he was
envied. Some personages of distinction in the country, already
in search of a foreign monarch, ofiered him the imperial crown
of the Aztecs ; and it is even asserted that this idea was for a
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58 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
time popular in Mexico, where the name of Scott represented
at once strength and moderation. But .he was not the man to
barter away the title of citizen in a free country for the false
glitter of such an offer ; for he well knew that the satisfaction
which an honest man can find in public life depends not on the
greatness of his personal position, but on the character and ripe
political judgment of the people whose destinies he shares.
Respected by those he had vanquished, worshipped by his sol-
diers and officers, his relations with the generals of divisions soon
became embittered by jealousy. Politics interfered ; he was re-
called, and had to return to the United States alone, in advance
of the troops he had so well commanded. But with a truly free
people injustice is seldom of long duration. The Americans, far
from adopting the miserable prejudices of those who were then
in power, felt that they had cause to be proud of their general.
He had infused new life into the regular army ; he had given it
traditions, and, above all, he had inspired it with confidence in
itself. Consequently, knowing how to conquer love as well as
to enforce obedience, he was regarded from that time as the father
of the family of officers reared in his school.
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CHAPTER V.
f
THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS,
rilHE Mexican war was the only brilliant epoch in the annala
-L of the American army from its actual formation in 1815
down to the breaking out of the civil war in 1861. But the
remainder of that long period was not a time of peace and rest
for it, inasmuch as it was occupied by incessant conflicts with the
descendants of the ancient possessors of America.
When this army was charged with the protection of the fron-
tiers of the newly-settled States, the Indians living east of the
Mississippi had not yet been driven into the far West, nor politi-
cally absorbed by the white race. But the latter was already
crowding upon them, stifling them within narrow limits, and in
proportion as its settlements extended, it successively despoiled
them of their domains, and removed them, partly with their con-
sent and partly by force, to some district yet too far distant to
excite the cupidity of the whites, where a new place of exile was
assigned them under the name of Indian Reaervation, The abo-
riginal race, which often submitted to these sad migrations with
the indifference of fatalism, would also at times resist the con-
querors who imposed them with all the energy of despair. When
the struggle between the pioneer abusing his superior intelligence,
and the savage trying to find in the expedients of cunning some
help for his weakness, became embittered, the little American
army, summoned to the assistance of the settlers or the Federal
agents, found itself engaged in a murderous, toilsome, and obscure
war. Sometimes it had to take part in skirmishes which were
important only on account of the magnitude of the losses it sus-
tained in them. Thus, in 1814, a conflict took place on the yet
unfrequented borders of the Tallapoosa, in which the American
cavalry lost over two hundred men, and the Creek tribe, van-
59
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60 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
quishcd after a desjierate struggle, left more than one thousand
warriors on the battle-field.
The tribe which offered the longest resistance was that of the
Seminoles, once a powerful nation, always haughty and warlike,
gradually driven by the whites into the low lands which form
the peninsula of Florida, in the south-eastern |K)rtion of tlie
United States. There, under a tropical sun and amidst impene-
trable thickets, two enemies, both alike invisible and unrelenting
— ^the fever and the Indian — ^awaited the American soldier, who,
bending under the weight of his arms and his provisions, had
exhausted all his strength in contending against the obstacles of
Nature. The Florida war, often rekindled after deceitful attempts
at pacification, was long and cruel. The Indians, exasperated by
repeated instances of bad faith on the part of the whites, gave no
quarter. Reduced in number by the unequal contest, they sought
shelter among the inaccessible recesses of the Everglades — vast
woody swamps where the cypress, the magnolia, and the palmetto
preserve an eternal verdure — ^and at the approach of the whites
they would disappear with their light canoes in a labyrinth of
channels of which they alone knew the secret. The Americans,
taking advantage of their divisions and the exhaustion of all
their resoiirces, went at last to find them in this last refuge. It
was a trying campaign for the soldier. Water and the forest
interposed a double obstacle to his progress. The ground gave
way under his feet, and he was alternately obliged to creep slowly
across the swamps, or to get into some fragile canoe and open
himself a passage between the trees, each of which might conceal
a foe. He had nothing to guide him but the track left on the
muddy bottom by the Indian in his flight towards his secret place
of refuge. This refuge generally consisted of an elevated piece
of ground called a hummock, covered with thick vegetation, in
the midst of which the indigenous families were sheltered in a
rude village. This islet was usually surrounded by o|)en lagoons,
and the moment the whites emerged from the forest they were
exposed to a well-sustained fire from a concealed enemy, who was
determined to die rather than give up his possessions. Finally,
however, tracked from islet to islet, abandoned or betrayed by
their allies, deprived of arms and ammunition, the most deter*
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS. 61
mined among the Seminoles, after a truly heroic resistance, liad
to submit, or were made prisoners by stratagems little creditable
to their conquerors. Decimated by sickness, hunger, and, above
all, by the fatal abuse of fire-water , the sad remnants of this.
proud race embarked for Xew Orleans, and thence proceeded to
the prairies of Arkansas, where that civilization which they only
knew as an inveterate foe was soon again to find them.
This struggle had lasted thirteen years, and although the Amer-
ican army always endeavored to mitigate the evils of that cruel
policy of which it was the instrument, the remembrance of the
valiant resistance of those poor savages, of the losses they inflicted
upon that army, and, above all, of their miserable end, remained
as a gloomy recollection among militar}' traditions.
Three years later, when the smoke of the log hut, that rustic
citadel of the frontier settler, rising in the place of the camp-fires
above the forests of Florida, had scarcely proclaimed the return
of peace, a new career was opened to the Federal army on the dis-
tant shores of the Pacific.
The annexation of Texas after an ephemeral independence, that
of New Mexico and of Upper California, hastened by the cam-
paign of Scott, which rendered that ingenious transition useless,
were sanctioned by the treaty signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo. Half
the continent was embraced within the new frontiers of the Union.
Mountains and deserts, forests, rivers, and prairies, all the space
of land comprised between the last settlements of the basin of the
Mississippi and the almost uninhabited coasts of California, where
the gold-fever was not yet raging, became part of the domain of
the American people. In thus extending the boundaries of the
field open to their ambitious activity, the latter pledged themselves,
in the eyes of the world, to conquer that territory in the interest
of civilization; their little army, through its intelligence and per-
severance, was to be one of the principal instruments in that en-
terprise. Such conquests constitute the noblest mission of the
soldier. Abounding in useful lessons, thanks to the varied labors
and the individual responsibility they impose upon every man,
they form an excellent school for an army. Colonization, which,
under the powerful influence of true and rational lil)erty, pro-
gresses rapidly in America, asks no power, civil or military, to
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62 ■ THE^CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
direct it or to think for it But the squatter, who will not separ
rate the rifle from the axe, sometimes carries the love of inde-
pendence to excess, and in the struggle of the new civilization
against Nature and against the imperfect society of the Indians,
the intervention of a superior power, strong and impartial, often
becomes necessary. This was the part the American officers were
called upon to play.
They alone represented the Federal government, which was at
once the ruler and sole proprietor of those vast tracts of country ;
they entered into a contest with the still virgin nature, very differ-
ent from those conflicts in which they had been engaged with the
Indians, for it had the happy privilege of leaving no captives in
its train ; but the victory had to be purchased at the price of
patient efforts that can only be exi)ected from military devotion.
Their splendid geodetical labors were intermingled with some of
the strangest adventures. We have shown how one of the most
distinguished among them, Colonel Fremont, while simply en-
gaged in exploring the Rocky Mountains, had conquered, on his
passage, a province as large as France. Although a quarrel with
General Kearny, induced by party spirit, deprived the army of
his valuable services, his example was followed. Demarkations
of frontier lines, hydrographical surveys of coasts and rivers, ge-
ological inquiries, researches in natural history, were at once un-
dertaken by those indefatigable pioneers of science. Their re-
ports, published by the War Department, notwithstanding their
length, form the most complete and interesting collection of his-
torical records of colonization in America. The solitary life they
led induced many who had not even received an official appoint-
ment to join in these pursuits. It is true that at times some un-
toward accident interfered with their peculiar tastes ; a geologist
would be stationed in a plain where he could not find a single
stone ; a botanist in a sterile desert ; but nearly all of them found
some opportunity to help tlie march of progress in the study of
the new countries which had been acquired.
They had, however, other duties to perform besides these
peaceful labors. The Indians of the West, although not cor-
nered, like the Seminoles, and obliged to fight or to surrender,
did not give way without resistance, before the never-ebbing tide
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS, 63
of the white race. The extent of their territory, which enabled
them to refuse or to accept a combat, and always to select the mo-
ment and the place favorable for the attack, rendered it much
more diflScult to conquer them. By a wise precaution against
local outbreaks, all relations with the Indians were confided to
the President, who styled himself their great father at Washing-
ton ; and the lands which they occupied, not belonging to any
State, were under the immediate jurisdiction of his government.
The management of these relations was divided among Indian
agents in the civil employ of the government, who had charge of
all fiscal matters, the distribution of lands, and the collection of
taxes ; while the army, as the guardian of public order, made use
both of diplomacy and the force of arms to maintain it.
It had a diflScult part to perform, for it was placed between the
new civilization — ^represented by the sqiiatterj who pretends to
exercise the right of prior occupancy over all the lands where he
finds only red-skins ; by the dealer in anient spirits, who carries
hLs fatal poison to the very wigicam — and the Indian tribe, which
requires vast uncultivated spaces for its existence, and a degree of
independence incompatible with an improved state of society.
Although the Americans have Ixien accused of systematically
destroying the Indian race, their army, on the contrary, has fre-
quently assumed the defence of these unfortunate people against
the destructive contact with the white man. It has endeavored
to smooth the way for their adoption of civilized customs, with-
out, however, seeking to perpetuate the rude organization of the
system of tribes, which it rather sought to destroy, as opposed to
every kind of progress, by fairoring those who renounced their
wandering modes of life. The Indian tribe, in fact, resembles
greatly the Arab tribes, but more particularly those tribes — no-
madic as in the times of Abraham — which inhabit the deserts of
Africa and of Syria, than those we have found in the Tell of
Algeria, possessing already a limited territory, portions of which
they cultivate. The latter, although they represent a more ad-
vanced condition of society, or rather on account of that fact, are
much more antagonistic to modem civilization ; their system, in
short, is founded on a religion exclusive and political, and on ter-
ritorial regulations which admit community of property. The
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1
64 THE CIVIL WAR JZV AMERICA.
religion of the Indian, like that of the Bedouin, is, on the con-
trary, so simple and so vague, that it does not repel as an enemy
the religion we bring to him ; while the property of both — con-
sisting only in tents, arms, and horses in the New World, of herds
of cattle in the Old — is essentially individual. The tribe-system,
therefore, is only a weak political tie — ^a simple extension of the
family. In their intercourse with these primitive people, the
Americans have always taken care that their progress should not
result in consolidating the organization of the tribes, but have
rather tried to merge its elements into the great modem society
which is rapidly spreading all over the continent. Therefore,
under the influence of the examples of civilization, a great num-
ber of Indians have abandoned the nomadic ways of life, and,
casting aside the traditions of the past, have ceased their hostility
to the whites when they have become tillers of the soil. American
policy has devised various means to win their attachment, either
through interest or fear. After taxing them at first, the Federal
government changed its mode of proceeding, and bought their
lands, giving. them annuities in exchange. It thus made them
submissive pensioners, while it narrowed the limits of the tribe's
hunting-grounds, which were a barrier against colonization ; and
in order that this domain might not become, in the hands of the
tribes, a real collective property, it imposed upon them the alter-
native, as soon as the tide of civilization began to approach, either
to emigrate en vftasse, or to divide their lands among themselves,
by securing a lot to every Indian who desired to become a tiller
of the soil. In thus destroying the social organization of the
tribes, the government, however, still respected their political sys-
tem, with a view of imposing upon them a collective responsi-
bility for all the crimes which might be committed by their mem-
bers— the only effective guarantee of the police of the desert.
This process of primitive justice was abandoned as so{m as the
division and individual cultivation of the lands had rendered the
change of customs permanent, and the political system of the tril^e
gradually gave place to an ordinary municipality, while its mem-
bers became citizens of the United States.
Ko prejudice of color interposed any obstacle to this work of
absorption, which is still carried on to this day, and the State of
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS. 65
New York itself has several villages of civilized Indians whO)
although preserving the type and the traditions of their race, are
in every respect the equals of the old settlers around them. Thirty
years ago a regiment of Federal cavalry was raised entirely among
the Creeks, and Indians of pure blood have left the West Point
Academy with the rank of officers in the regular army. More
than this, in the South, where they are treated as the equals of
the whites, where the Confederate Congress admitted their dele-
gates to ite deliberations, they had become, in their turn, the
owners of slaves and fanatic partisans of the enslavement of the
black race.
The American army had, therefore,, a double task to perform.
On the one hand, it had to maintain the national authority
over the Indian tribes, to see that the treaties concluded with
them were faithfully executed,, and to impress them with the
wholesome conviction that from one end of the continent to the
other all the whites would take up arms, if necessary, to avenge
any outrage committed on a single individual belonging to their
class; and, in order to accomplish this,. the army had occasionally
to resort to force, and sometimes to negotiations, in which the-
sword gave them, in the eyes of those savages, great advantages,
over the civil agents. On the other hand, it was frequently
oblige<l to interfere against the white adventurers, either to pro-^
tect the ancient owners of the soil from their violence, or to restore-
order in the midst of a new community where the most antagonis-
tic elements were at work ; or, finally, to enforce respect for the-
superior authority of the Federal government, which was easily
disregarded amid the vehement quarrels of those distant regions.
Consequently, the army was always, if not in war, at least in:
watchful anxiety. Having to watch the Apaches and the Co-
manches, who infested the passes of the Rocky Mountains on the-
side of New Mexico, the Sioux on the Upper Missouri, the NSz:
Percis and thf Comr (VAMne — warlike tribes from the shores of
Oregon — it was scattered over an immense territory, and had,
besides, to hold itself always in readiness to repel a sudden attack
or to punish the first act of hostility committed against any new set-
tlement. This rough and adventurous life gave to the Americauj
officer the habit of command, of responsibility, and of individual
Vol. I.— 5
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66 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
enterprise — qaalities which go to form the warrior. Most of
them became passionately attached to it, for the life of the desert
has for the soldier, as well as for the traveller, an attraction
which those who have once tasted it never cease to r^ret
The story of Kearny and of Doniphan has already shown us
some of the difficulties that surround an expedition in those dis-
tant regions. Those two chieftains, however, had a settled («&fen-
taire) enemy to contend with in the Mexicans, whose territory of-
fered certain resources to the invader. But these resources were
altogether lacking when the Americans had to fight nomadic tribes.
Launching into the wilderness, the troops required to be well
supplied with provisions, so as to be able to follow them a long
distance after the first encounter, and also to be sufficiently strong
not to fear a check, almost always irreparable.
The supply-train, that ball-and-chain which every civilized
army has to drag along, carried all that it could need during the
expedition ; for among a hunting people like the Indians there
could not be found even such feeble resources as our razzias pro-
cured among the Arab shepherds. The train consisted of heavy
emigrant wagons, each carrying a load of more than eight
hundred kilogrammes weight, and drawn by mules admirably
trained. The team, controlled by a single rein, obeyed the
voice of the teamster. The country is everywhere open, and the
ground sufficiently even to admit of the passage of those heavy
vehicles. Among the isolated masses of rock in the Rocky
Mountains there are no abrupt defiles to mark the separation
of the watersheds of the two oceans, and it is only at certain
points on the Pacific slope that steep mountains and dense forests
have compelled the Americans to imitate the condudaa of mules
they had seen in Mexico, and to substitute beasts of burden for
their wagons.
The longer and the more toilsome the expedition, the more it
became necessary to enlarge the train ; and its very/nagnitude, by
obstructing the march of the soldiers, multiplied the evils attend-
ing the campaign. Difficulties of this nature came near causing the
loss of the largest body of troops that ever ventured to cross the
Rocky Mountains, although commanded by an experienced officer
— Sidney Johnston, who would undoubtedly have played a dis-
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS. 67
tingnished part in the Confederate armies, if he had not met with
a premature death at the outset of the war on the battle-field of
Shiloh. This little army, sent by President Buchanan in 1857 to
reinstate the Federal authority among the Mormons, which they
had disregarded, numbered twenty-five hundred combatants ; but
being obliged to carry eighteen months' provisions, it had more
than four thousand wagons in its train. With such a train its
march was delayed by the least obstacle. At the crossing of
every deep river, all the wagons had to be unloaded and set
afloat, so as to be drawn to the opposite shore by ropes ; then the
provisions had to be carried by hand over the bridges constructed
for the use of the infantry, like rafts, of trunks of trees tied to-
gether. After a march of two months, the Americans reached the
upper passes of the Rocky Mountains in the middle of Novem-
ber, when they were overtaken by an early winter. Hemmed in
by a snowdrift, the animals perished of cold and hunger. Each
day lessened their number by hundreds, and the shivering sol-
diers set fire to the wagons which were abandoned with their pre-
cious supplies. For fifteen days this little band, strewing with
the dibris of its train the frozen mantle of the desert, continued
its terrible march with more perseverance than prudence. But it
could only accomplish fourteen leagues, at the end of which it
had to stop from exhaustion, and was compelled to establish its
winter quarters in the gloomy region where it found itself block-
aded. The greatest part of the provisions having been lost, all
had to live upon mule flesh. Finally, this last resource having
failed, Captain Marcy — who afterwards became a general in the
Federal army — ^undertook the perilous task of going to solicit a
fresh supply of provisions and conveyances among the settlements
of New Mexico. He lost nearly all his companions on the route,
and only accomplished the mission, on the success of which the
salvation of the army depended, after unheard-of sufferings.
Thanks to him, the fresh supplies arrived in time, and Johnston
was able to reach Great Salt Lake City in the spring.
When hostilities broke out with any of the Indian tribes, it
was necessary, in the midst of these difficulties, to go in search
of a vigilant enemy, who, born in the wilderness, was not encum-
bered with supply-trains. Always on horseback, the Indians
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68 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
were indebted to their animals for that rapidity of movement
which constituted their strength in attack and their safety in
flight, and which, even when they had not yet adopted the use
of tlie rifle, com{>ensated more than once for the inferiority of
tlieir arrows as compared with the firearms of the Americans.
It was at the moment when the white race came to dispute the
possession of the new continent, that a just Providence placed in
their hands this precious and powerful auxiliary. When the
European landed in their midst, he brought them, at the same
time, implacable and endless war, and the means of waging it
He gave them the horse, without which they could not even have
lived in peace on the plains to which they were about to be
driven. The horse became the indispensable companion of their
new existence. Living solely by hunting, they made themselves
absolute masters of the art of surprises and ambuscades. Fear-
ing neither to risk their lives in the most dangerous enterprises,
nor to seek refuge in flight when their attack had failed, mther
than wait for an irreparable defeat by keeping their ground, their
bands alternately increased and disappeared in the twinkling of
an eye, like one of those light fogs which rise from the prairie
wet with dew, and which are condensed and dissolved by turns
under the influence of an early morning sun.
It has often happened to a column to march for weeks with-
out seeing an enemy, who, however, has been following it step
by step, ready to spring upon it at the least sign of weakness.
Woe, then, to him who, through an imprudent confidence, strays
too far from his comrades! he never again makes his appear-
ance. After a day's march, wliich the want of water has pro-
longed, when the camp-fires, smouldering in their ashes, are
dying out, and silence and darkness prevail everywhere, a strange
cry is sometimes heard, which is responded to by other cries in
opposite directions. While the men are waking up and making
inquiries, a confused noise comes from the corral where the artil-
lery horses and the train mules are picketed. Some Indians, creep-
ing in unnoticed, have adroitly cut their fastenings, and, taking
advantage of the confusion they have created, have dashed off on
their own horses to stampede the drove of frightened animals and
direct their course. These rush off at once like a whirlwind, tram-
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS, 69
pling down every obstacle in their way ; and, still guided by their
savage leaders, soon disappear, leaving the whites stupefied and
powerless as boatmen without oars on a stormy sea. The word
stampedty usod to designate a panic among horses, was applied
during the civil war to those commotions which too often led
undisciplined troops into a disorderly flight.
But these surprises were of rare occurrence with officers accus-
tomed to the tactics of the wilderness. They opposed vigilance
to cunning, tenacity to agility, and, finally, friendly Indians to
hostile Indians. These native allies accompanied the column in
the capacity of guides, and frequently as scouts, fighting in a half-
civilized fashion — handling their rifles skilfully, but furtively
taking off the scalp of the vanquished when they could do so
without being seen by their allies. In short, while they would
discover, with the instinct of a hunting-dog, the caohe (hiding-
place) where the hostile tribe had deposited their winter provis-
ions, the American cavalry rivalled them in dexterity, and suc-
ceeded at times, by a bold stroke, in capturing, in their turn,
droves of half-wild horses which the Indian chiefs always kept in
reserve to remount their warriors. In one of the last expeditions
that went out before the civil war, in 1858, a party which left
Fort Vancouver on the Pacific coast, after dispersing the Pelouse
tribe, captured their horses in this manner. The Indians, know-
ing the untamable nature of those animals, and full of confidence
in their own skill, relied upon being able to steal them again from
their new masters by means of a stampede, and to make use of
them in a few days to resume hostilities ; so that when, on the
following day, surveying the American camp from a distance with
a spy-glass, taken from an oflScer who had been killed the pre-
ceding year, they saw the ground covered with the carcases of
their seven hundred and seventy horses, they felt so discouraged
that they acknowledged themselves conquered. The commander
of the expedition, divining their intention, had called a council
of war, and the latter — not without much regret, for men who
have lived long in the desert cannot be cruel to animals — had or-
dered the poor beasts to be shot.
Notwithstanding all these surprises, the Indian and the white
man almost always ended by measuring strength in an open and
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70 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
decisive battle. For if the former accepted war, it was becaiis€
he felt sure of victory; and as soon as he saw his stratagems
baffled by his enemy, the same confidence impelled him to attempt
an attack by main force ; then, in almost every instance, the cool
courage of the white man, his discipline, and the superiority of his
arms made his success certain, although he seldom obtained it until
after a long and bloody struggle.
The various arms of the service had each a share in the hard-
sliips and dangers of these incessant wars ; through them they
preserved their activity and their military traditions, and acquired
a new experience.
The task of the foot-soldier was the hardest. The fine rivers
which furrow the prairie are separated by intervals of from ten to
twelve leagues, which had to be travelled in a single stage, by
forcing a passage through the tall grasses, without a tree to shelter
the soldier for an instant from the burning heat of the sun, or a
drop of water to slake his thirst. On the morrow, before being
able to resume liis march, he had to cut the necessary materials for
the construction of floating bridges along the steep banl^s of the
river ; or, if the expedition was lightly equipped, to cross a deep
river by riding double behind the mounted men. To the burning
heat of a summer, which no sea-breezes temper, were added the
prairie-fire, the sudden storms of wind and rain so terrible on the
Plains, where there is nothing to allay their violence ; then the
cold and the snow followed in quick succession, bringing new
sufferings to the troops they overtook, like those of Johnston.
Such a life formed marchers trained to long stages ; but cam-
paigning in a desert, where they carried everything with them,
and unable to separate themselves for more than two or three days
from their train, they were accustomed to a certain abundance of
food and regular supplies. Consequently, when, in 1861, war was
to be waged in a country not altogether destitute of resources, the
officers who had been brought up in that school did not dream of
turning those resources to account, so as to render themselves inde-
pendent of the supply-trains, until Sherman had abandoned this
system.
In regard to the cavalry, this Indian war was an excellent
preparation for the part it was soon called upon to play. These
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS. 7'i
American dragoons^ who for so many years had lived scattered
among the Indians, were not indeed elegant horsemen, nor even
good manoeuvrers on field parade, and did not understand war
as our soldiers do, who, whether in line or as foragers, only
depend upon the point of their sabres or the swiftness of their
horses. But the necessities of a special war had taught them to
vindicate their name, by performing the complicated duties for
which, in the seventeenth ceutiuy, the first regiments of mounted
infantry were formed. In order to reach the Indians in their last
retreats, and deal rapid chastisement to the minor tribes, they
frequently undertook short campaigns without taking any supply-
trains with them. Carrying their ammunition, biscuits, coffee,
etc., on their animals, they were followed only by a few led horses
laden with a reserve of provisions. The marches were long and
the rations small. When the enemy was at last reached, he was
almost invariably attacked with firearms, for he did not allow
himself to come within reach of sidearms, any more than the
wild bird allows himself to be taken by the sportsman with the
hand. The use of the rifle, moreover, gave the Americans great
advantage over their adversaries, who, for the most part, had
nothing but bows and arrows or very poor muskets. They
omitted no opportunity to use that weapon ; and whether for the
purpose of striking the enemy in his too precipitate flight, or to
keep him at bay, they fired without leaving the saddle, for amid
the immensity of the prairies man does not like to separate him-
self from his horse ; if, however, it became necessary to attack an
Indian camp or to defend a corral, if the enemy occupied a posi-
tion too difficult of access, the dragoons, leaving their horses in
charge of one-fourth of their number, formed and fought like
infiintry.
Therefore, despite their awkward appearance and their long
legs dangling by the sides of their little horses, despite their
large wooden stirrups which they had brought from Mexico, and
the weapons of every kind attached to their saddles, those bronze-
faced men, with their sky-blue cloaks with fur collars, had the
easy and resolute air which betokens the well-trained soldier.
From the manner in which they led their horses, it was easy to
perceive that more than one day's journey performed on foot by
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72 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the side of a limping animal had taught them to be merciful
Let us say that they would have proved themselves ungrateful
if they had failed to appreciate the good qualities of those faith-
ful companions of their toils. All those who have gone through
a campaign in the New World have often had occasion to admire
the sagacity of the American horse and his sure footing in the
middle of the darkest nights. Able, though small, to carry a
great weight; gentle and intelligent, enduring fatigue, rain, cold,
neglect, and want of food, he seemed in every way adapted for
that rough life of the prairie which man could not face without
his aid. In the evening, after a long day's march, his only meat
would be the wild plants of the prairie in the midst of which the
bivoiuic had been made. But in the morning, instead of being
saddled at sunrise, he was allowed to browse the herbage made
tender by the heavy dews of the desert during the first two hours
of the day ; and for every three days' march he was generally
granted one of rest. In short, when, after serving at this rate
for many months, carrying both his master and his baggage, he
re-entered the rude stable of the frontier post, he found means to
regain strength and to forget his privations by munchin^^ ears of
corn, the grains of which he picked out for himself.
The artillery had also a large share in the common hardships.
The mere changes of garrison between the distant posts, the
defences of which it had charge, were equivalent at times to reg-
ular campaigns. It, moreover, made part of every im]K>rtant
expedition, for the sound of cannon reverberating in the wilder-
ness produces a profound impression upon the Indian. The
prairie, though passable for wagons, does not, however, much
resemble a turnpike ; the long marches over that rough ground
the crossing of rivers, the necessity of cutting a passage with the
axe through the forests that are occasionally met with, kept both
men and teams constantly at work. Sometimes they were obliged
to keep up with the pace of the cavalry, for the light exi>editions
undertaken by the latter were frequently accompanied by from
two to four guns. It is true that the artillery interfered but sel-
dom, and only when the conflict was suflSciently equal to give it
time to reach the field of battle, and when it was necessary to
throw some shells into the midst of the mounted Indians, to make
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS. 73
up for the numerical inferiority- of the whites. But while wait-
ing for this opportunity the gunners would take up the musket
or the carbine, and, fighting either on foot or on horseback, share
all the dangers of their companions. Finally, the artillery officers
found themselves frequently invested, either by choice or the
chances of seniority, with the command of important expeditions ;
and they gave ample proof of having lost none of the traditions
of the Mexican war, where we have seen them play such a bril-
liant part.
We have already mentioned the great scientific labors of the
officers of the engineer and topographical engineer corps. In the
war-expeditions they occupied the post of honor, for they per-
formed the functions of staflF-officers and had charge of clearing
the route for the army, and of directing its march.
The administrative branches of the service had an important
task to perform in those campaigns where it was necessary to pre-
pare everything in advance that the army could require. The
reader will understand this when he recalls the fact of Johnston's
army being followed by a train of four thousand wagons. It is
not astonishing, therefore, that when it became necessary to pro-
vide for a million of volunteers, there should have been found
among the various corps, quartermasters and commissaries of sub-
sistence possessed of the required experience for directing every
part of such a vast administration.
It was in the midst of this active and instructive life that the
news of the disruption of the Union reached the American army.
The perfidious foresight of the late Secretary of War, Mr. Floyd,
had removed almost the whole of this army far from the States
wliich his accomplices in the South were preparing to rise against
the Federal authority. The soldiers had been honored with the be-
lief that they would remain faithful to their flag. Under a mul-
titude of pretexts the Federal forts and arsenals had been dis-
mantled by the very men whose first duty was to watch over the
general interests of the nation, and the garrisons which had been
withdrawn from them long before, to be scattered over Texas,
found themselves under the command of an officer, who seemed
to have received no other orders than to betray them.
But thus removed from the haunts of civilization, the regular
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74 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
offioers had remained utter strangers to the turbulent quarrels
which it engenders, and had paid but little attention to the move-
ment which divided their country into two hostile camps. Con-
sequently, no class of men suffered more keenly, when the citizens
armed themselves against each other, than that military &mily
whose members were united by so many ties. All those belong-
ing to the North, notwithstanding the great diversity of opinions
on the questions of the day, prepared to respond to the appeal of
their government Among those who adhered to the Southern
States on account of their birth or connections, there were some
who, like the veteran Scott, remained faithful to their oath, be-
lieving that the insurrection, far from releasing them from it,
obliged them to defend the threatened life of their country. The
greatest portion of them, however, controlled by the influence of
party spirit and imbued with the fatal doctrine of the absolute
sovereignty of the States, which had come to be a kind of dogma
among them, abandoned the Federal flag en moMe to go and organ-
ize the infant forces of the rebellion. Many among them did not
adopt this course, so much at variance with the common notions of
military honor, without regret. These regrets, well known to their
old comrades, contributed to mitigate the horrors of war, by re-
moving from it all bitterness and passion ; and their recollection
actuated Greneral Grant when, four years later, he extended a
friendly hand to his conquered adversary.
There were some, however, who by their conduct aggravated
^he always painful spectacle of military defection. Greneral
Twiggs, who commanded the troops in Texas, was seen conniving
at the success of the rebellion while still wearing the Federal uni-
form, and delivering into the hands of the rebels the dipdts of
provisions and ammunition of his own soldiers, in order to take
away from the latter every means of resistance. Abandoned by
a portion of their officers, destitute of resources, finding only ene-
mies among the ungrateful population they had protected during
80 many years, these brave soldiers were further obliged to resist
the flattering representations of those who promised them a bril-
liant future in the ranks of the insurgents. One of their old
chiefs, Van Dom, had the sad hardihood to reappear among them,
to support these propositions with the influence which his rare
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THE AMERICAN ARMY AMONG THE INDIANS. 75
militaiy qualities had given him. He made no converts ; and the
remnants of his regiment, obliged to enter into an agreement for
evacuating the place with the enemies who surrounded them on
every side, returned to the cities of the North, where they met the
comrades so long separated from them, who were flocking to the
defence of the national cause.
New dangers had in fact sought out, in the bosom of civiliza-
tion, these men thus once more brought together by the same sen-
timent of duty. The national cause needed all their devotion,
for the evil which had sown such seeds of treason in an army
must have been deeply rooted, and those sad examples of desertion
were but a symptom of the blindness and self-deception which
precipitated tlie South into civil war.
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BOOK II.— SECESSION.
CHAPTER !•
SLAVERY.
BEFORE exhibiting the American Republic divided into two
hostile factions, and describing the organization of the forces
that were about to fight on its soil to secure the supremacy either
of the slave institutions of the South or the free society of the
North, it is proper that we should answer the questions which
every reader must ask: How could such a war break out?
What radical causes could thus divide a great nation throughout
the whole extent of her territory, disrupt her armies, and put
arms in the hands of citizens whom so many ties, so many in-
terests, and so many common memories should keep united ?
They were brethren; they had lived together and had been
reared in the same school ; they resembled each other in all the
prominent traits of their character ; they had the same political
institutions, the same military traditions. Their leaders had
served under the same flag, and had sat in the same council-
chambers.
There did not exist any real difference of origin between the
North and the South. All those that the South alleged to exist
when, despairing of her ability to extort aid from Europe by
threatening to deprive her of cotton, she sought to arouse the
sympathies of the latter, were purely imaginary. She merely
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SLAVERY. 77
pretended to genealogical affinities to serve her own purpose,
when, pointing to her old colony of New Orleans, she called her-
self half French ; and when, turning to the English aristocracy,
she evoked the memory of the Cavaliers driven out by Cromwell,
in onler to array that aristocracy against the Yankees, whom she
represented as a gathering of Grermans and Irishmen. In point
of fact, the Anglo-Saxon race ruled equally in the South and in
the North. It rapidly absorbed the races that had preceded it, as
well as those which supplied it with a contingent of emigrants.
In taking part in its work, those races also adopted its castoms
and its character.
In the first city of the South, New Orleans, there did indeed
exist a nucleus of population which by its language and associa-
tions clung to the country that had basely sold it. But that islet,
already half submerged under the rising tide of another race, did
not constitute a nationality. As to the Irish emigrant, far frofai
resisting this tide, he rather followed it ; for although differing
widely from the Anglo-Saxon, he goes in search of a new country
only where the latter is already firmly established. He resembles
those plants, difficult of acclimation, which only thrive upon a
soil already prepared by other and more vigorous vegetation. By
another contradiction to his primitive habits, becoming in America
a denizen of cities rather than a tiller of the soil, the barriers
which slavery had raised against the settling of husbandmen did
not exist for him. Consequently, the Irish element had spread
equally over the South and over the North. With that pliability
of mind peculiar to the race, Irislimen adopted all the prejudices
of those among whom they lived ; and when the war broke out,
they were seen to enlist in the cities of the South, where they were
very numerous, with as much eagerness as their brethren living
in the North displayed in defence of the Federal flag.
No commercial interest separated the South from the aggregate
interests of the Northern States. Large rivers formed a single
basin of all the centre of the continent, and all its products con-
verged into the main artery of the Mississippi, of which the
Southern States held the lower course. Exclusively occupied with
the culture of cotton and sugar-cane, they asked from the West-
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78 THE CIVIL WAB IN AMERICA.
ern States meat and flour, which they could not produce in suffi-
cient quantities for their own consumption. The North supplied
them with the necessary capital for all their industrial enterprises.
It is true that the South sought in these very circumstinces a pre-
text for a new grief, by pretending to be the victim of specula-
tion on the part of those who brought her, together with their
wealth, the means of fertilizing her soil ; and when the day of se-
cession came, all the debts contracted by the merchants and plant-
ers of the South toward Northern creditors, amounting, it is said,
to one billion of dollars, were repudiated, after the Confederate
government had tried in vain to confiscate them to its own benefit.
But this complaint, which is that of all countries in arrears against
their more prosperous neighbors, cannot afieet any serious mind.
The complaints of Southern planters against the Northern States
in regard to the protective tariffs, which favored the manufactures
of the latter, were more plausible ; but, in point of fact, they had
no better foundation. If the commercial question had had anything
to do with the political struggle which brought on the civil war,
the Western States would have had as much cause as those of
the South to separate themselves from the manufacturing dis-
tricts of New York, Pennsylvania, and New England, whose
foundries and mills dread English competition, and they would
have joined the South in defence of the system of free trade.
The landholders of the West, in fact, also derived their wealth
from the cultivation of the soil, the products of which were
yearly exported in increasing quantities. In spite of the scarcity
of labor, the absence of land taxes, together with the cheapness
and fertility of the land, afforded an outlet for their wheat to
all the markets of the world. Commercial protection, there-
fore, which raised the price of all European commodities for the
benefit of their associates of the North-eastern States, was only
a burden to them ; and if, while complaining of this protection,
they made common cause with those States, it is because they fully
understood the sole motive of the war, and did not in any way
deceive themselves as to the only social difference which divided
America into two hostile factions — North and South.
This difference was not occasioned either by diversity of origin
or by antagonistic commercial interests. It had a much deeper
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SLAVERY, 79
foundation. It was a ditch dug between slavery and free labor^
which was becoming wider every day. It was slavery, prosperous
in one half of the republic and abolished in the other, which had
created in it two hostile communities. It liad greatly modified
the customs of the one where it was in the ascendant, while
leaving the outward forms of government intact. It was, indeed,
not the pretext nor the occasion, but the sole cause of that antag-*
onism, the inevitable consequence of which was the civil war.
Therefore, in order to demonstrate the differences of character
which the war revealed between the combatants, we must show
the constant and fatal influence which the servile institution ex*
ercised over the habits, the ideas, and the tastes of those who
lived in contact with it. Proteus-like, the question of slavery
assumes every variety of form ; it insinuates itself everywhere,
and always reappears most formidable where one least expects to
encounter it. Notwithstanding all that has been said on the sub-
ject, our people, who fortunately have not had to wrestle with it,
are not aware how much this subtle poison instils itself into the
very marrow of society. It was, in fact, in the name of the rights
of the oppressed race that they condemned slavery. It was the
sentiment of justice in behalf of this race which inspired religions
England when, in response to the appeals of Buxton and Wilber-
force, she proclaimed emancipation ; and which actuated our great
National Assembly when it abolished slavery for the first time in
our colonies, and those who again prepared for its suppression
after the extraordinary act by which the First Consul re-estab-
lished it upon French soil. It was the picture of the unmerited
sufferings of our fellow-beings which stirred up the whole of
Europe at the perusal of that romance, so simple and yet so elo-
quent, called Uncle Tom^s Cabin.
But the effects of the servile institution upon the dominant
race present a spectacle not less sad and instructive to the histo-
rian and philosopher ; for a fatal demoralization is the just pun-
ishment that slavery inflicts upon those who expect to find nothing
in it but profit and power.
In order to demonstrate more clearly to what extent this de-
moralization is the inevitable consequence of slavery, and how,
by an inexorable logic, the simple fact of the enslavement of the
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80 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
black corrupts, among the whites, the ideas and morals which are
the very foundation of society, we will pass oter the long mar-
tyrdom of bad treatment daily inflicted by brutal masters upon
their slaves. It is among those who before the war were called
good slave-owners that we must inquire into the pretended moral
perfection of slavery, in order to understand all its flagrant im-
morality. This slave-owner possesses the same principles as our-
selves, but he is obliged to obey the laws of necessity. He
knows what protection and ra«?pect are due to the family tie ; but
as the negro population in the United States, employed in the
cultivation of the cotton and sugar, does not multiply fast enough
to supply the exigencies of this kind of labor, he goes into the
markets of Virginia to procure a contingent of young laborers.
After having thus torn them from their relatives, their aflections,
and the land of their birth, he will certainly not break up the
new ties that are forming under his own eyes ; but this is owing
to the fact that, as an economical manager, he finds in their fecun-
dity a direct source of revenue. He does not desire to humiliate,
to cause suffering by unnecessary castigations, but the negro who
fails to perform his duties must be punished, and these duties
are obedience and labor. The negro must forget that he is a man
— ^to remember only that he is a slave, and to work without choice
of occupation, without remuneration, without hope of a better
future. In short, his owner will take care of him, will not im-
pose any labor above his strength, and will administer to his ma-
terial wants in a satisfactory manner, precisely as he will do for
the animals that are working by his side under one common lash.
But, in order that he may enjoy this pretended good fortune, he
has to be reduced to the moral level of his fellow-slaves, and have
the light of intelligence within him extinguished for ever ; for if
he carries that divine spark in his bosom, he will be unhappy, for
he will feel that he is a slave. And when the good master, sat-
isfied with his own virtues, points to his slayes, saying, " They
are happy ; they have no care for the morrow ) they are lodged,
fed, and clothed, and would not accept their freedom," it is the
bitterest of self-aocusations, for it is the same as if he said, " I
nave so completely stifled in them every feeling that Grod has im-
planted in the heart of man, that the word freedom, which we
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SLAVERY. 81
might hear pronounced by eveiy creature that has breath, if we
understood all the languages of Nature, has no longer any mean-
ing for them." It might so happen, in extreme cases, that even
in the midst of his surroundings, his conscience rebels against this
degradation of his fellow-beings, but then he will blame the cus-
toms which sanction this systematic degradation, and the severe
and peculiar laws, enacted in almost all the Southern States, which
render it nearly impossible for him to grant individual emanci-
pation, and which even subject him to severe penalties if he should
teach his own negroes to read and write. Shall he protest against
this hateful law which confines the intelligence of the slave within
the narrow dungeon of perpetual ignorance ? He cannot do so,
because the moral degradation of the latter is the only guarantee
for his physical submission : if he were to witness too frequently
the liberation of his fellow-beings from bondage as an act of
favor, he would wish Vor it in his turn ; and if he received the
least education, he would rise in his own estimation, the abyss
which separates him from his master would appear less difficult
to cross, and he would emerge satisfied from the brutal condition
in which it is necessary to keep him in order to make him the
docile instrument of a lucrative traffic.
But, again, the servile institution, in violating the supreme
law of humanity, which links indissolubly together those two
words, labor and progress, and in making labor itself a means
for brutalizing man, not only degraded the slave, but it also
engendered depravity in the master ; for the despotism of a whole
race, like the absolute power of a single individual, or an oligar-
chy, always ends by disturbing the reason and the moral sense of
those who have once inhaled its intoxicating fragrance. Nothing
was more calculated to develop this kind of depravity than the-
high qualities, and the virtues even, which existed in the community
founded upon such a despotism. It is precisely because that com-
munity was enlightened and religious, because it had produced
men, in every other respect, of irreproachable character, because
it had given birth to heroic soldiers who had followed a Lee and
a Jackson to the battle-field, that it was the more revolting to see-
slavery, with its odioas consequences, prosper in its midst. That
this community should have exhibited such a shocking contrast
Vol. I.— 6
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82 THE CiyiL WAR IN AMERICA.
to the world without being itself oonsclous of the fact, the moral
sense must have been {)erverted in the child, surrounded from its
birth by flattering slaves ; in the man, absolute master of the
labor of his fellow-beings ; in the woman, accustomed to relieve
the distress around her, in obedience, not to the dictates of duty,
but to a mere instinct of humanity and pity ; in everybody, in
short, through the exaggerations of declamatory appeals intended
to stifle the voice of upright consciences. What a deeply sorrow-
ful spectacle for any one who wishes to study human nature to
see every sense of righteousness and equity so far perverted in a
whole population by the force of habit, that the greatest portion
of the ministers of all denominations were not ashamed to sully
Christianity by a cowardly approval of slavery; and men who
bought and sold their fellow-beings took up arms for the express
purpose of defending this odious privilege^ in the name of liberty
and property !*
This falsehood having become the basis of society, its influence
increased and gathered strength from prosperity. The founders
of the American nation regarded slavery as a social sore, and trust-
ed to the enlightenment and patriotism of their successors to heal
it ; but as this institution was productive of considerable profit,
it was soon viewed in a different light. The Middle States (Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee) were ready to
abolish it, in imitation of their neighbors of the North, when the
suppression of the slave trade gave a new impulse to slave pro-
duction among them, by protecting it against the competition
of n^ro-traders, who formerly brought cargoes of slaves from
Guinea under the name of ebony. They soon developed this
new branch of industry ; and the planters of the South, being
always able to procure fresh and hardy laborers in their own
markets, found it economical to spare their slaves no longer, but
to subject them to excessive labor which wore them out in a few
years. This abundance of hands giving an extraordinary im-
pulse to the cultivation of the sugar-cane and the cotton-plant,
slavery, which the authors of the American Constitution had not
even dared to mention by name, was thenceforth honored, recog-
jiized, and considered as the corner-stone of the social edifice.
* See in the Appendix to this volnme, Kote B.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SLAVERY. 83
But the upholders of slavery did not stop hei*e ; after having
declared it to be profitable and necessary, they proceeded to pro-
claim its moral excellence. A new school, of which Calhoun was
the principal apostle, the teachings of which were accepted by all
the statesmen of the South, assumed the mission of holding up the
social system founded upon slavery as the highest state of perfec-
tion that modern civilization had reached. It was to this system
that America was destined to belong, and its adherents anticij)ate<l
for it the empire of the world. There was a time when these
frightful dreams cast a sinister light upon the future of the new
continent, for it seemed as if their realization was within the
scope of possibility.
In fact, the slave-power could only exist by enlarging its do-
main and absorbing everything around it. Reckless and violent
in its modes of proceeding, compelling the Union to become the
docile instrument of its policy, it had conquered immense terri-
tories in the interest of servitude, sometimes in the wilderness,
more frequently in Mexico or among the Northern settlements,
and it already extended its hand towards Cuba and the isthmus
of Nicaragua — ^positions selected with the instinct of control. If
the North had carried patience and forbearance much further, the
day when the decisive crisis arrived, this power might pos.sibly
have been able to impose its fatal yoke upon all America.
In proportion as slavery thus increased in prosperity and power,
its influence became more and more preponderant in the commu-
nity which had adopted it. Like a parasitical plant which, draw-
ing to itself all the sap of the most vigorous tree, covers it grad-
ually with a foreign verdure and poisonous fruits, so slavery was
impairing the morals of the South, and the spirit of her institu-
tions. The forms of liberty existed, the press seemed to be free,
the deliberations of legislative bodies were tumultuous, and every
man boasted of his independence. But the spirit of true lil>erty,
tolerance towards the minority, and respect for individual opin-
ion, had departed, and those deceitful appearances concealed the
despotism of an inexorable master, slavery — ^a master before
whom the most powerful of slaveholders was himself but a slave,
as abject as the meanest of his laborers. No one had a right to
question its legitimacy, and like the Eumenides, which the ancients
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84 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
fearocl to offend by naming them, so wherever the slave power
was in the ascendant, people did not even dare to mention its
name, for fear of touching upon too dangerous a subject. It was
on this condition only that such an institution could maintain it-
self in a prosperous and intelligent community. It would have
perished on the very day when the people should be at liberty to
discuss it. Therefore, notwithstanding their boasted love of free-
dom, the people of the South did not hesitate to commit any vio-
lence in order to crush out, in its incipiency, any attempt to dis-
cuss the subject. Any one who had ventured to cast the slightest
reflection upon the slavery system could not have continued to
live in the South ; it was sufficient to point the finger at any
stranger and C4ill him an abolitionist to consign him at once to
the fury of the populace. One of the best citizens of the United
States, Mr. Sumner, who had pleaded in behalf of emancq)ation
with equal courage and eloquence on the floor of the Senate, was
struck down with a loaded cane in the very midst of that assem-
bly,* by one of his Southern colleagties, and left half dead ; and
not only did this crime go unpunished, the tribunals of Washing-
ton being then occupied by slaveholders, but the assassin received
a cane of honor from the ladies of the South as a reward for his
exploit. In short, the mere fact that a simple Kansas farmer
named John Brown, who had been ruined and persecuted by the
slaveholders, sought to wreak his revenge upon them in Virginia,
and had gathered together a dozen of fugitive slaves at Harper's
Ferr}", was sufficient to arouse a terrible sensation in the South.
It was thought that a civil war had broken out, preparations
were made for a great uprising, and it was found necessary to
send regular troops from Washington to seize this man, who ex-
piated upon the gallows the crime of having frightened the proud
Virginians.
It was not enough, however, thus to protect slavery bn its own
domain ; the acknowledgment of its supremacy had to be enforced
in all the neighboring States in order to protect it from all out-
ward attacks. The North, through an imprudent exercise of the
spirit of conciliation, had allowed the Constitution to be violated
* The act was perpetrated in the Senate chamber, where Mr. Sumner was
seated at his desk, bat the Senate was not in session at the time. — ^£d.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SLAVERY. St
by shameful compromises. The barriers of tlie free States had
been lowered that the fugitive slave might be restored to the
planter. The national policy was entirely subservient to the in-
terests of the slave-power. Its demands, in short, became the
more pressing and exc^essive that it felt itself on the point of
losing the control of that policy. It could permit neither the ter-
ritorial extension of the North nor the criticisms of a free press
beyond its boundaries. Therefore, it was fully determined not to
give up its supremacy in the councils of the Union without a
struggle. Its newspapers and orators inflamed the public mind,
and prepared it for the coming conflict; prophetic romances, so-
called, shadowed forth the triumphs it would achieve; and, at the
first appeal of the secession leaders, the whole Southern commu-
nity, seized with a raging fever, severed without the least regret
all the ties which the day before had bound it to those whom it
thought to insult by styling them abolitionists.
The differences which slavery had engendered between the South
and the North were not confined to this political antagonism ;
they affected the very constitution of society. Under its influence
there had sprung up in the South classes more and more widely
separated from each other — ^a division which greatly facilitated at
first its military organization.
Work, being considered an act of servitude, could not be resorted
to without disgrace. This rule, enforced by public opinion, kept
3ut of the Southern territories that immense tide of emigrants
from Europe and the Eastern States which spreads over the vast
prairies of the West, to form a population of landholders work-
ing their own farms — a population whose industr)'^, energy, and
intelligence constitute the strength and respectability of the free-
soU Stales, The whole system of Southern agriculture had been
affected by this exclusion, and America thus presented in its two
sections a nearly exact picture of the Latin territor}*^ at the two
extreme epochs of Roman history ; at the North, the land par-
celled out, cultivated by the citizen himself, who was at once pro-
prietor, husbandman, and soldier in case of need ; at the South,
the latifuYulia, or large domains, peopled by slaves and divided
among a few masters.
The social system of the South was founded upon large do-
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86 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
mains^ the inconveuiences of which are especially felt in a region
of country yet half wild, but which were the inevitable result of
the servile institution. It alone, in fact, admitted of turning to
advantage the expensive, insufficient, and uncertain labor of the
slave.
This labor is costly, for the profits accruing from it must not
only cover the maintenance of the slave during his lifetime, but
also the interest on, and the redemption in a few years of, the
capital invested in his purchase ; and the amount of these costs
being always in excess of the yearly wages paid to the best white
laborer, the employment of free labor is, all things considered, the
most economical.
It is insufficient, because, the intelligence of the slave being sys-
tematically suppre8.sed, his work is always clumsy, and the same
care cannot be expected from him as from the laborer who is mas-
ter of himself.
It is uncertain, because the harvest season requires a great num-
ber of hands which the proprietor is unable to hire in a free mar-
ket ; and he is therefore obliged to maintain upon his plantation
throughout the year the number of slaves he may then require,
without being able, by any amount of foresight, to make an exact
calculation in advance ; having, moreover, to take all the chances
of sickness and stoppage of work, among his best laborers.
Under such circumstances the cultivation of the land could only
be undertaken on a large scale and with considerable capital. On
the large plantations, the absence of those resources afforded by
free com]:x)tition could be supplied by having special slaves taught
different trades, and the variety of labor required by such opera-
tions always admitted of the employment of a large portion of
the slaves — sometimes upon one kind of work, sometimes upon
another ; in short, the capital invested was divided among a suffi-
cient number of negroes to enable the proprietor, by means of a
sinking fund and an insurance system well managed, to meet the
accidents which are the ruin of small slaveholders.
Owing to this peculiar condition of landed property, the South-
ern States were almost exclusively occupied by three classes.
At the foot of the social ladder was the negro, bowed down
upon the soil he alone had to cultivate, forming a population of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SLAVERY. 87
about four million souls — ^that is to say, one-third of the inhabit-
ants of the South.
At the top, the masters, too numerous to constitute an aristoc-
racy, yet forming, nevertheless, a real caste. They owned the
land and the slaves who cultivated it; and each of them living
in the midst of an entirely servile population whose labor was
under their control, they disdained every other kind of occupa-
tion. Consequently, being more intelligent than educated, brave
but irascible, proud but overbearing, eloquent but intolerant,
they devoted themselves to public affairs — the exclusive direc-
tion of which belonged to them — with all the ardor of their
temperament.
The third class — that of poor whites, the most important on
account of its numbers^-occupied a position below the second,
and far above the first, without, however, forming an intermediate
link between them, for it was deeply imbued with all the preju-
dices of color. This was the plebs romana, the crowds of clients
who parade with ostentation the title of citizen, and only exercise
its privileges in blind subserviency to the great slaveholders, who
were the real masters of the country. If slavery had not existed
in their midst, they would have been tillers of the soil, and
might have become farmers and small proprietors. But the more
their poverty draws them nearer to the inferior class of slaves,
the more anxious are they to keep apart from them, and they
spurn field-labor in order to set off more ostentatiously their qual-
ity of free men. This unclassified population, wretched and rest-
less, supplied Southern policy with the fighting vanguard which
preceded the planter's invasion of the West with his slaves. At
the beginning of the war the North believed that this class would
join her in condemnation of the servile institution, whose ruinous
competition it ought to have detested. But the North was mis-
taken in thinking that reason would overcome its prejudices. It
showed, on the contrary, that it was ardently devoted to the
maintenance of slavery. Its pride was even more at stake than
that of the great slaveholders ; for, while the latter were always
sure of remaining in a position far above the freed negroes, rhe
former feared lest their emancipation should disgrace the middle
white classes by raising the blacks to their level.
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88 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
This division of classes facilitated the organization of the forces
of the South. Each of them had its part in the drama laid out,
and the transition from a state of peace to one of war was effected
with so little trouble, that the very ease with which it was accom-
plishes! i)roved to be a dangerous temptation, which contributed
to drag the South into the fatal path where it was destined to find
defeat and ruin.
The negroes naturally remained attached to the soil, and by
continuing their forced labors, they saved the agricultural inter-
ests of the South from those serious troubles which the prejiara-
tions for war inflicted upon those of the North, and thereby
sustained the cause of those who riveted their chains. While at
the North every soldier who donned the uniform left some em-
ployment useful to society, in the South the truly productive
population never ceased for a moment to contribute to the com-
mon wants.
The common white people, who, doomed to idleness on account
of their social position, had never contributed to the national
wealth in a manner proportionate to their number, willingly ex-
changed the leisure of their poverty for the occupations of mili-
tary life. They constituted the principal element of the South-
ern armies. Useless and dangerous in a well-regulated commu-
nity, they were fully prepared for this new r6le. Habituated
to the privations of a precarious existence, accustomed from in-
fancy to handling arms, which they considered a sign of nobility,
zealous in defending the privileges and the superiority of their
race, they could not fail to become formidable soldiers if placed
under able leaders.
They found these leaders among the superior class of slave-
holders, from whom they were already accustomed to receive
directions. Therefore, although grades of every description were
made elective, the new soldiers, faithful to their habits, almost
invariably selected members of this superior class to command
them ; and if any slaveholders, during the first outbursts of en-
thusiasm, set them the example by shouldering the musket, none
of them ever remained in the ranks. It followed that the fatal
system of electing officers was not productive of the same evil
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SLAVERY. 8S
efl(3cts in the South as in the North, and was continued much
longer.
We have not, as yet, spoken of the population of the cities,
because it had not felt so directly the effects of the servile institu-
tion as those living in the country, and because, moreover, it was
too small to exercise much influence. Much inferior to the slave-
holders, but superior to the common whites, this population was
recruited from among the latter class and European emigrants,
especially the Irish, who seldom get beyond the walls of Amer-
ican cities. Therefore, although noisily in favor of the slave-
system, they did not look upon it as the very basis of society,
nor did they defend the institution with as much zeal as did the
whites who lived in the country in the midst of negro laborers.
The Confederate States had but one city. New Orleans, which
could rival tlie great cities of the North, and only two others,
Richmond and Charleston, the two political centres of secession,
with a population of more than thirty thousand inhabitants.
Among these there were negro slaves, and free mulattoes, a pretty
large class exclusively devoted to city life, and the more hostile to
the whites because it was more intelligent, and the ban under
which it lay was less justified by the color of its skin. The white
population of the cities could not be estimated at more than two
hundred thousand souls.*
When, therefore, the Southern leaders, beaten at the elections,
were about to resort to arms in order to re-establish the suprem-
acy of slavery among them, public opinion, long prepared for the
occasion, was ready to applaud their action and to second their
efforts with energy ; while the various classes of society tendered
them all the necessary means for speedily organizing their armies.
* See Appendix to this volume, Note C.
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CHAPTER II.
THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS.
WE have shown how the influeuoe of slavery, which dragged
the Southern States into civil war, had also created certain
classes among them ready to furnish all the elements of an army,
the organization of which had long been in contemplation.
Consequently, while the North was sincerely trying to effect
some kind of political compromise, companies of volunteers were
seen assembling and arming in haste throughout the whole of
the slave States. Their minds were bent upon war, and they went
to work with the greatest energy. The zeal of the women stim-
ulated that of the men ; and in that population, essentially indo-
lent, whoever hesitated to don the uniform was set dowTi as a cow-
ard. The planters, being at all times in dread of servile insur-
rections, had given to the local militia an effective organization
which it did not have in the North. They had cadres sufficiently
trained and instructed to receive volunteers at once. Finally, the
West Point Academy and the military colleges founded by sev-
eral States had contributed to disseminate a knowledge of mil-
itary affairs among the better classes.
The volunteers who took up arms at the first signal of their
leaders did not wait for the announcement of the act of separa-
tion to assemble. In the border States, where, public opinion
being divided, the Federal authority was at first able to sustain
itself in the midst of the political convulsion, the future soldiers
of the Confederacy met and organized under the very eyes of its
agents.
Wherever the pro-slavery element, essentially intolerant, was
in the majority, it exercised tlie same despotism over the minor-
ity that its leaders imposed upon it. Those who regretted the
national flag, who questioned the constitutionality of the princi*
90
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS. 91
pie which had been invoked to justify the separation, or who did
not consider its application well timed, were reduced to silence ;
and even this silence soon ceased to give satisfaction. As it hap^
pens in all revolutions, professions of devotion to the new order
of things were exacted from those who were suspected of luke-
warmness. Among the Northern men settled in the South, some
embraced the cause of slavery with the ardor of neophytes, but
those who did not atone for the crime of having been born in
the free States, by this method, became the victims of popular
hatred and violence. In the South-western States, where the
manners are rough, they were subjected to downright persecution.
In each of the growing centres of civilization, where farmers
came from afar across the forests to attend to their political and
conmiercial affairs, vigilance committees were formed, composed
of men who had been conspicuous for their excesses during the
electoral struggles. Assuming unlimited power without author-
ity, they united in themselves the attributes of a committee
of public safety with the functions of a revolutionary tr^'bunal.
The bar-room was generally the place of their meetings, and
a revolting parody of the august forms of justice was mingled
with their noisy orgies. Around the counter, on which gin and
whisky circulated freely, a few frantic individuals pronounced
judgment upon tlieir fellow-citizens, whether present or absent ;
the accused saw the fatal rope being made ready even before he
had been interrogated; the person in contumacy was only in-
formed of his sentence when he fell by the bullet of the execu-
tioner, stationed behind a bush for that purpose. Personal ani-
mosities were at the bottom of the greater part of these decrees.
In order to punish the workman or the settler from the North
for his intelligence and success, his envious neighbors called him
an abolitionist. If some courageous friend did not answer for
his admiring approval of slavery, he was lost. At times, how-
ever, the fumes of alcohol, mounting to the heads of the judges,
would enkindle quarrels between them, soon ending in bloodshed,
in the midst of which both the trial and the accused were equally
forgotten.
But if the latter was spared his life, it was only that he might
devote it to the service of the Confederacy. He was to consider
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92 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
himself fortunate in being able to prove his devotion, without
which he would have deserved death. He therefore went to en-
list as a volunteer at the nearest recruiting-oflSoe ; and, by a bitter
irony of fortune, he would sometimes find himself enrolled in
some such regiment as the Louisiana Tige)*8 or the ilississippi In*
vindbks, names in singular contrast with his gloomy thoughts.
A few executions and a considerable number of forced enlist-
ments sufficed to crush out every expression of Union sentiments.
Vigilance committees were formed in all the Southern States; and
if they did not everywhere proceed to tlie extremes of violence,
they everywhere trampled under foot all public and individual
liberties, by resorting to search-warrants and other vexatious pro-
ceedings, which, by intimidating the weak and stimulating the
irresolute, contributed to fill up the cadres of the volunteer rai-
ments rapidly.
The burden of the war was to fall exclusively upon the white
population of those States which at the commencement of 1861
had set aside the Federal authority ; this population, according to
the census of 1860, amounted to 5,449,463 souls — or nearly five
millions and a half — out of which number 690,000 men able to
bear arms were to be raised. This last figure represents the total
of all the forces that the Confederacy was at any time able to
command. Owing to the social causes we have mentioned, and
the conviction of every person who played a decided part, there
were enlisted in the course of the year 1861 nearly 350,000 men;
that is to say, more than one-half of the aduit and eligible male
population. This first effi)rt of the South was, in proportion to
her resources, much greater than that of the North ; and the mil-
itary power she displayed so rapidly, added to all the advantages
of a defensive position, could not fail to give her a superiority
at the outset of the war.
But while the North, slow in making use of her resources, found
in every disaster the occasion for increasing her army, which, by
this means, was at the close of the war twice as large as it was at
the beginning, the South was not in a condition to sustain the ex-
traordinary effort she had made at the outset. Notwithstanding
the idleness of her white population, which favored the adoption
of military service, it was found necessary to resort to consaip-
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THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS, 93
tion as soon as the conflicts had thinned the ranks of the first en-
listed vohinteers. The longer the war is continued, the more we
shall find the Confederate government resorting to all sorts of
violent expedients in order to drain an already exhausted country
of the little strength it yet possessed. The despotic system which
had so rapidly brought all its resources into operation will then
have no other effect than to destroy irretrievably whatever is left ;
and if it compel all able-bodied men to don the uniform, it will
not prevent one-half of the surviving soldiers from deserting their
ranks at the end of the war, to return secretly to their homes, or
to seek liberty among the forests.
At this period of intoxication which precipitated them into
civil war, nothing could convince the men of the South of the
fragility of their new political edifice. Although used to biblical
citations, they had forgotten the history of that miraculous tree
which grew up in one night to shield the prophet Jonah, but
which the sting of an invisible worm destroyed as rapidly within
the space of a single day. Their Confederacy had grown in the
same way, and they already saw it spreading its shadow over the
whole of America, little dreaming that it also bore within its
roots a gnawing worm, slavery, and that its iastitutions, founded
upon despotism and contempt for humanity, would be withered
by the burning blast of civil war.
Everything was the subject of illusions in the South — ^illusions
concerning the weakness of her adversary, illusions in regard to
her own perseverance.
Accustomed to look upon Northern men, the Yankees, as
peaceful merchants, the caste which had arrogated to itself the
title of Southern chivalry would not believe that they could ever
become soldiers. The grossest calumnies circulated by the news-
papers about them remained uncontradicted, and after having
been so long connected in politics as Avell as in business with their
brethren of the North, the people of the South were absolutely ig-
norant of the resources of their character and their manly qualities.
It is true that they did not possess a better knowle<lge of them-
selves. The inflammatory speeches of their stump orators, called
in AmQTica. fire-eaters, although usually appreciated by the good
sense of the public, had, in tlds instance, over-excited the pas-
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94 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
sions of the multitude, and only reflected wliat tlie majority
thought and what every one said.
No one was doubtful of success ; everybody was convinced that,
despite all the obstinacy of which the Yankees were capable, the
independence of the South would eventually be secured. No
eflbrts would be spared to wear out the enemy and compel him to
recognize it. If the organized armies should be destroyed, guer-
illa bands would be formed, which, hoisting the black flag and
giving no quarter, should i^erpetuate the war through every avail-
able means, and fight as long as they could handle a knife.
Events were destined to frustrate, in the most striking manner,
these projects of war to the death ; iastead of sheltering guerillas,
as we have already stated, the virgin forests only became the
refuge of deserters. But the illusions which iaspired the people
of the South with such blind confidence were sincere ; the harsh
condemnation of history must be reserved for the leaders who
flattered them, who kept up those illusions, and who were yet too
well acquainted with the character of their countrymen, and saw
too clearly the consequences of a defeat, to share them.
The volunteers repaired to the recruiting-offices which had
been opened by the initiative action of the most zealous and am-
bitious persons in every district. The formation of regiments
which were thus spontaneously called into existence throughout
the Southern States was generally the private work of a few indi-
viduals, associated together for that purpose in their respective
villages or quarters. One would collect a squad, another a com-
pany ; parish associations, coteries, and individual influence con-
stituted the early ties among the soldiers thus recruited. The
different detachments, once assembled, were grouped by counties
or by towns to be formed into regiments ; all the higher grades
were conferred, by election, upon those who by their birth, wealth,
or recent services in the matter of enlistments were thought to be
entitled to the choice of their future subordinates. This first
organization, an entirely spontaneous creation of the national
movement, often preceded the legal call for volunteers.
Presently, the governors of States intervened for the purpose
of regulating the organization, by fixing the number of men to
be raised and the quota of each county. The legislatures of the
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THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS. 95
States that had just voted in favor of separation confirmed the
action of the governors by authorizing the necessary appropriations
for the support of the troops destined to sustain their rebellion
against the Federal authority. The regiments were then mus-
tered into the service of the several States. The officers already
elected were confirmed in their respective grades ; brigades were
formed, to which staff officers were assigned ; a large number of
generals were appointed, and the particular army of each State
found itself thus constituted.
This organization by States, in conformity with the principle
of their independence, would hav6 been kept up in the new Con-
federacy, if the principle itself had been the cause, and not the
mere pretext, of the war. But although useful at first, it proved
subsequently to be only an encumbrance to the Southern leaders,
who hastened to get rid of it. In order to succeed, they needed
a despotic central power, capable of pushing the war to extremes,
whose iron hand should be able to supply the want of popular
enthusiasm when, as was to be expected, it should become weary.
Such was the dominant idea of the delegates who established a
provisional government at Montgomery, a small town in Alabama.
In confiding the executive power to Mr. Davis, who had been the
soul of the rebellion, they united into one solid whole the scat-
tered forces of the Confederacy. While they inserted in their frail
constitution a guarantee for all their new constitutional theories,
they practically tightened the bonds of centralization ; and defer-
ring the fulfilment of their promises, which were all destined to be
blown away by the same puff of wind, to a more auspicious sea-
son, they hastened to give the absolute control of all their re-
sources to the pilot who was to guide the skiff, upon which they
had rashly embarked their fortunes, through the storm. Conse-
quently, without wasting time in the preparation of organic laws,
of which it knew the weakness, the provisional government
devoted all its attention to the consolidation of the military
forces of the South.
It was well aware of the necessity of making preparations for a
serious war, and, in view of that fact, of embodying all the inde-
pendent regiments it had under its control into one homogeneous
army. Congress had hardly assembled, the Confederacy only
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96 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
counting seven stars on its new escutcheon, when it assisted Mr
Davis in this work. It entrusted him with the supreme manage-
ment of military operations, with authority to muster into the
service of the central government the volunteers of the several
States. On the 6th of March, 1861, the number of these volun-
teers was fixed at one hundred thousand, and their term of enlist-
ment for one year, and, at the same time, orders were issued di-
recting the formation of a general staff for the provisional army,
and tlie organization of a regular army.
The provisional army was to be reorganized as soon as the
adopted Constitution should bfe put in force, and it was decided
that all the State trooi)s of which it was composed should then be
re-enlist<.Hl in the service of the Confederacy for a period fixed by
Congress. Contrary to what had hitherto been the practice in
the United Statas, where the Federal compact vested the right of
maintaining troops in time of peace exclusively in the central
authority, there were seen, among the particular contingents of
the several States, what were called regular troops, intended to be
kept in service after the end of the war and the recognition of
their indei>cndence. But in the mean time, the Confederate gov-
ernment took them into its service and pay, and provided them
with staff officers and administrative departments, either by ap-
pointing new officers or by confirming the appointments already
made by the governors of the States. In both cases these officers
held their commissions from the President, and retained them
during the entire war.
We shall not now enter into details as to the recruiting and
organization of the Confederate army. In this matter the men
of the South, true to American customs and traditions, took for
their model the levies of other periods, especially those of the
Mexican war, under the Union flag ; and their organization was
precisely the same as that of the armies of the North, of which
we shall speak more at length hereafter. The habits, the modes
of thought and of action were so similar throughout every section
of the republic that, in spite of their desire to be considered a
separate nation, the people of the South could not disclaim the
traditions they held in common with their brethren of the Xorth,
Ko preserve a distinct character. When they sought to enact la>¥a
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THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS. 97
for themselves, they took the Federal Constitution, and altered
the sense, without modifying its form. They selected for their
new flag that which most resembled the banner of 1776. Finally,,
in their eflbrts to raise volunteers, and to organize the interior
mechanism of their armies, they scrupulously preserved and
applied the system which had prevailed before secession,, and
which we shall see put into practice by the North on a very large
scale. They pursued this course so far as to organize a corps of
r^ular troops, independent of the authority of so-called sovereign
States, and they copied the old army of the United States so ex-
actly that they limited its strength to the insignificant figure of
ten tliousand men. But this army, unable to compensate for its
numerical weakness either by its traditions or the elements that
composed it, was not in any way distinguished from the other
Confederate troops, and had no special part to play in the war.
Never, perhaps, since the time of Caesar, could the sad words
of Lucan have been applied with so much truth to any civil war
as to this one :
PareB aquilas et pUa minarUia pUia,
This war, however, developed important differences of charao-
ter between men composing armies so similar in their organiza-
tions. Those of the South became good soldiers more rapidly
than those of the North. They were more accustomed to follow
leaders ; their life was rougher than that of the Eastern farmers,,
and more adventurous than that of the Western pioneers. Inured
to privations, they were satisfied with rations which the Federal
soldier looked upon as insufficient. Hence that rapidity of move-
ment which was one of the principal- causes of all their successes.
Barely paid by the government, which, unable to solve its finan-^
cial difficulties, fairly ignored their claims, they never asked for
the depreciated paper which was due to them, except when they
thought their officers better treated than themselves, and then it
was sufficient to lead them against the foe to pacify them. Nearly
all of them were practiced in the use of fireams, and one might
see them enter the recruiting-offices with the rifle on their shoul-
ders and the revolver at the belt — weapons which they never laid
aside, and without which they would not have considered them-
Vol. L— 7
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98 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
selves safe. In fine^ they carried into the war more passion than
their adversaries ; the Federals to them were invaders who had
always been painted in the blackest colors, and who, in coming to
free the negroes, intended to make them the equals of the common
whites, and consequently to humble the jealous caste to which
those whites belonged.
• On the other hand, the Confederate soldier was inferior, in point
of intelligence and information, to that of the North. Southern
society being divided into very distinct classes, the HiU of the
population only were cultivated ; the rest had no education what-
ever. While primary schools were universal in the North, pro-
found ignorance reigned among most of the inhabitants of the
slave States. This difference, which the census tables of 1860
exhibit in a striking manner, had a great bearing on the issues of
the conflict ; for the nations that are really strong are not those
which possess a few distinguished men, but those in which the
moral and intellectual standard of the greatest number is most
elevated. In the knapsacks of the Confederate soldiers there were
found more playing-cards than books or writing materials, while
the use of strong drinks was much more prevalent among them
than among those of the North. Whether this vice was more
congenial to their tastes, or whether it was deemed expedient to
tolerate it as a kind of compensation for all their privations, the
Confederate oflBcers were unable strictly to enforce the rules which
prohibited the use of spirituous liquors amoug their troops. Nor
did the Southern armies have in their ranks any of those artisans
skilled in all the mechanical trades that were to be found in the
armies of the North, whose craft enabled every Federal regiment
to supply the necessary men for the reconstruction of railroads,
the repairing of locomotives, or for running a train ; so that the
Confederates were more than once under the necessity of applying
to Northern men, forcibly enlisted, for this kind of service, or of
confiding the task to their own oflBoers, whose inexperience cost
them dear. To the common whites, in short, taught to despise
every kind of manual labor, the soldier^s trade was, what used to
be called formerly, a noble profession, and they felt degraded
when called upon to handle the shovel. They often refused to
work in those trenches which played such a conspicuous part
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THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS. 99
during the war. A few requisitions for negro help made upon
the large slaveholders supplied this want, and, by sparing the free
men a certain amount of hard work, enabled them to devote more
time to their military training. They were not, however, relieved
entirely from these labors ; the authority of their chiefs succeeded
in conquering their repugnance, and in cases of great urgency
they constructed with their own hands the works which indicate
to this day the progress of their campaigns.
The character of the soldiers and the composition of the Con-
federate armies had much to do Math the manner in which the
war was waged by the latter, and the part which the various arms
played in it.
The Confederate foot-soldier, easier to manage and more excit-
able than his adversary, would rush to the charge with savage
yells, and, in this way, he frequently carried positions which the
latter, with equal courage, could not have captured. But on the
other hand, possessing neither his patience nor his tenacity under
a murderous fire, he was much less able to defend them. So
that, in the course of the war, we shall always find the Southern
ofiioers trying to surprise some point or another of the Federal
lines with heavy masses. This infantry, which would not have
cut a very brilliant figure at a review by the precision of its move-
ments, possessed the art of marching through the densest forests
in good order, deployed in such a manner as to avoid trees, and
yet without becoming separated. This art rendered those sur-
prises easy of achievement, by enabling a body of infantry to
hide within the depths of the forest without being preceded by
any line of skirmishers, and to approach the enemy with suf-
ficient rapidity to attack him suddenly in the clearing where he
was encamped. The history of the war will show how useful
tliis kind of tactics was to the Confederate generals — ^how they
availed themselves of it to compel the enemy to extend his lines
so as to cover all his positions at once ; in this manner they fre-
quently obtained advantages upon the point of attack with infe-
rior forces ; and if their columns were repulsed, they were quickly
withdrawn and led elsewhere to attack some other position. We
shall also find, however, that they did not apply these tactics to
advantage when they found themselves among the unwooded hills
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100 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
of Pennsylvania; tliere they could not avail themselves of the
skill of their soldiers by deploying them as sharpshooters to cover
their attacks against open positions defended by artiller}% These
soldiers, more practic^ in the use of the rifle than those of the
North, were well adapted for such service ; they proved tliis dur-
ing the sic^s and those slow operations where the two armies,
after having both fallen back into their respective entrenchments,
reconnoitred each other in turn, and drew their lines closer by
degrees without daring to charge each other oi>enly. Posted
behind breastworks, or in a rifle-pit, they would watch the Federal
works with the cool vigilance of a hunter who has passed many
days motionless by the side of some deserted lake, watching for
the stag that is sure to come to quench his thirst at sunset ; and
it only required to place a hat on the point of a bayonet and raise
it slowly above the Federal parapets to see all the bushes, which
seemed to have been innocently planted in front of the enemy's
line, enveloped in smoke, and that improvised target pierced by
as many balls.
During the first campaigns, the habits and education of the
Confederate soldiers gave to their cavalry a still more marked
superiority over that of their adversaries. This superiority was
wrongly attributed to the merit of the chiefs who commanded it ;
for if Ashby, Stuart, and all those brilliant officers who organ-
ized the cavalry of the South won at first the n^jject and admi-
ration of their enemies, they found in front of them generals
equally expert in the art of handling that arm of the military
service : Sheridan, Stoneman, Kilpatrick, and many others demon-
strated this as soon as they had good troops to command. The
severe discipline which had been introduced into the Confederate
army was the means of moulding those cavalrymen to the dif-
ficult task they liad to accomplish; but their superiority was
chiefly owing to the fact that they had been recruited at the out-
set among the better classes of the population — ^among those coun-
trymen who, before the war, were in suflBciently easy circum-
stances to own a horse, and who, on enlisting, had brought it
with them. Inured to bodily exercise, and having learned horse-
manship in a country where the roads really accessible to car-
riages were scarce, they formed a class of mounted men already
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THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS. 101
well trained, which did not exist in the North. They were more-
over to have the advantage of almost invariably fighting on their
own soil, of being well acquainted, therefore, with the minutest
details of the ground on which they were to operate, and of being
assisted by the connivance of the sympathizing inhabitants, ready
to assume the character of volunteer spies in order to 8er\'e their
cause. In the war they had undertaken, they were sure to meet
at every stage with provisions and aid of all kinds, together with
valuable information and the necessary guides to enable them to
avoid the enemy or to surprise him as they saw fit. The negroes
themselves, notwithstanding their sympathies for the cause of the
Union, became the involuntary auxiliaries of the cavalrymen of
*he South, who, long accustomed to live among them, knew better
than the Federals how to make allowances for their lively imagi-
nations, and to winnow out the truth from the exaggerated or
contradictory reports which they hardly ever dared to withhold.
It will be seen from the narrative of the war how much this ele-
ment of success contributed to build up the suj^eriority of the Con-
federate cavalry ; for it lost this superiority whenever it ventured
upon the soil of the free States, and it failed miserably in all the
expeditions which it undertook in the midst of hastile populations.
In organizing their army the Confederates were unable to sup-
ply it with a field artillery equal to that of their adversaries.
They had undoubtedly many able and well-trained oflBoers ; but
as a general thing, their soldiers did not possess that intelligence
and taste for the mechanical arts which, in a short ^ime, converted
the volunteers of the North into excellent artillerymen. As will
be seen further on, their mat&riel was also of an inferior quality ;
and it required the courage and the daring of a few men like
Pendleton, Stuart's chief of artillery, to compensate in part for
this inferiority. This was not the case with the Confederate ar-
tillery in position. That portion of it which had charge of the
defences of their seaports was mostly recruited in the cities,
among men who, from their education, resembled more the ar-
tisans of the North than the common whites of the South. We
shall see them, therefore, acquiring under able instructors a great
precision of aim, and holding out in all the forts along the coast,
especially at Charleston, against the Federal armies and the iron-
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102 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
clad fleets that laid siege to them. But these men^ who so coolly
handled guns whose field of fire had long been studied, had a much
easier task to perform than fell to the lot of those who, in the
field artillery, had to place their guns in battery amid the confu-
sion of battle, and to judge, by a single glance, of the exact dis-
tances on an unknown ground, in order to regulate the elevations
and graduate the fuses.
The South had always regarded a partisan war as one of its
principal elements of defence in the struggle for which it had
long been preparing. As soon as it broke out bands were seen
forming by the side of the regularly organized army, who declared
their intention of fighting on their own account. The independ-
ence they expected to find in this mode of warfiire, the hope of
plunder, and the attractions of an adventurous life drew into
their ranks the most desperate characters. The remembrance of
the Mexican brigands had remained in the South surrounded in a
kind of romantic halo since the conquerors of Texas had fought
them and adopted their customs ; and the men who only a few
years before had attempted to wrest Kansas by violence from the
Northern settlers, in defiance of all laws, set an example, which
was promptly followed, by organizing armed bands destined to
become very popular in the South under the Spanish name of
guerillds. It will be seen, as we have already stated, how much
the Confederates deceived themselves in relying upon these irreg-
ular troops to render it impossible for their adversaries to occupy
any portion of the territory they might conquer, and in believing
that they would persevere in the work of self-devotion when the
cause should suffer on the field of battle. But if they never
succeeded in playing more than an accessory part in regular war-
fare, that part was none the less an important one; and so long as
the Confederate armies held out, despite the ground they were
losing, the guerillas, by their daring attacks upon the invader,
were of immense assistance to them.
Appreciating the services tliat such combatants were able to
render, the Confederate Congress gave them an organization and
an official character, which were to secure them the treatment of
prisoners of war on the part of the enemy. They signed the en-
listment papers like other volunteers, their leaders were brevetted,
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THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS. 103
and placed under the authority of a few generals^ who, nominally
at least, had the supreme control of their movements. In reality,
however, they preserved a perfect independence, and became, ac-
cording to their respective characters and the qualities of their
chiefs, either formidable soldiers, animated by a true military
spirit, or merely armed marauders, who knew nothing of war
except its most melancholy excesses.
Accordingly, the partisans who were organized in Virginia, the
most ardent, but also the noblest and most disinterest^ of the
Southern States, were nearly all animated by sincere zeal, earnest
devotion to their cause, and a sentiment of honor incompatible
with such excesses. Young men of wealth and of good family
enrolled themselves among them, certain of finding, in the hum-
blest positions, an opportunity for acquiring that quickness of
perception, that knowledge of the country, and that foresight into
details which form the warrior. The landowners and farmers,
more numerous in Virginia than in the other slave States, who
formed a large portion of these independent organizations, scarcely
changed their habits on entering this new career. They had been
acquainted from their infancy ^vith the vast forests where they
were going to make war. All able-bodied men left the few vil-
lages scattered among these forests to enlist, and there was not a
solitary house where some soldier of these bands was not sure of
meeting some female relative or friend, where indeed all could
not be greeted with a few words of sympathy, so calculated to add
fresh courage to the wearied soldier when they fall from the lips
of a woman. Such troops, so adapted for intercepting the de-
spatches of an enemy, for picking up his stragglers, or attacking
his convoys, for cutting railways and telegraph lines in his rear,
were to form an excellent body of scouts to the regular army
about to defend Virginia against the Federal invasion.
It m'lst be admitted that the conduct of the Virginians was
not always imitated by the other Confederate partisans, who were
induced by less worthy motives to enrol them3elves under the
banner of the guerilla chiefs. The reputation of the latter prom-
ised them, with great fatigue, equally great plunder. Conse-
quently, the volunteers who gathered in crowds around them soon
formeii into bands which at times numbered several thousand
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104 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
horse. We shall see these bands constantly at work during
those campaigns which desolated the Western States, destroying
everj'thing on their way, inflicting as much injury upon the most
peaceful inhabitants of those regions as upon the Federal soldiers
they came to fight, and getting so far from the regular armies, on
which they were supposed to depend, that they were very seldom
of any assistance in their operations. A minority, more or less
numerous, in those States, being secretly hostile to the Confeder-
ate cause, this circumstance was made the pretext for offering, as
an inducement to adventurers who abounded in the West, a regu-
lar system of pillage. All who joined these organizations were
authorized to take whatever might be aseful to the band — ^horses,
arms, equipments, etc. — ^from those inhabitants who were sus-
pected of entertaining Union sentiments, and the soldiers who
brought their booty to headquarters were promised the full value
of the articles thus stolen. The result might easily have been
foreseen. No partisan could fail of finding some cause for pre-
ferring charges of sympathy with the North against any one who
was worth the trouble of being robbed. This premium upon pillage
necessarily rendered those soldiers who had to pass final judgment
on the |X)litical opinions of those whose property they coveted
very little scrupulous, and their number increased with their im-
punity. In short, they became a subject of so much dread to their
own friends that, had the war ended in the recognition of the
Confederate government, the latter would have been obliged to
inaugurate a new civil war, to get rid of those guerillas who had
become regular gangs of bandits.
One may form an opinion of the value of such soldiers by tak-
ing into consideration the character of their chiefs, and also by
taking as a type of wliatever there was of good and of evil among
them, the three men who contributed most to their organiza-
tion, and whose names will most frequently occur in the course
of what we shall have occasion to say regarding these corps of free-
booters— Mosby, Morgan, and Forrest.
Mosby was a Virginia lawyer, endowed with the instinct of
that partisan war, so difficult in an almost uncultivated country.
His character and political passion drew around him men full of
the same zeal as himself. Consequently, he received from them
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THE CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS. 105
the most unbounded obedience and absolute devotion. A wary
politician and a loyal citizen of his own State, when he saw, after
the capitulation of the regular armies, that any further resist-
ance would only unnecessarily increase the sufferings of his
countrymen, he discharged his men with a few words full of
noble sentiments, and with a pliability of mind peculiarly Amer-
ican, he quietly went back to his office and resumed his former
life.
John Morgan, a daring horseman and a genial companion be-
fore the war, possessed all the necessary attributes for exercising
an unbounded influence over the youth of Kentucky, his native
State. Fiery before the conflict, but calm in action, of a gener-
ous disposition, but inflexible as a disciplinarian, he was better
able than any other man to curb the brutal passions and develop
the best instincts of the rough troopers who responded to his call.
Although their number allowed him occasionally during the war
to direct long and complicated operations, he preserved through-
out his career that love of personal adventure which had made
him so popular ; and thanks to the presence of mind which en-
abled him to get out of the most perplexing difficulties, he soon
became one of those heroes that abound in legendary story. We
shall relate his campaigns, but it would All a volume to enumerate
all the daring exploits by means of which he set an example to
his soldiers from the very beginning of the war, riding among the
Federal posts in order to ascertain their positions by personal ob-
servation, sometimes in the garb of a farmer, sometimes in the
uniform of a Union officer, taking advantage of the former dis-
guise to draw the enemy into the ambuscade he had prepared for
him, and of the second, to issue, with imperturbable assurance,
orders which would throw the enemy's movements into confusion.
Like a true Kentuckian, horses were his ruling passion ; and if
in the course of this narrative we shall find him attempting im-
possible enterprises, or suddenly diverting any of his expeditions
from their apparent purpose, it is likely that the hope of carr}'^-
ing off some blood horses — the only booty he ever allowed him-
self to take — ^may have exercised an irresistible influence over his
action.*
*See Appendix to this yolame, Note D.
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106 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Differing widely from the other two chiefs, who, when hostili-
ties commenced, gathered the greatest number of partisans around
them, Forrest tarnished his undisputed military qualities by the
appeals he made to the brutal passions of those he enrolled under
his standard. Though never imitating the excesses of Quantrell
— that brigand whose boast it was, throughout the war, that he
never spared a single human being he met in whole counties of
Missouri — this true captain of banditti, resembling those that
infested Germany during the Thirty Years' War, used to en-
courage his men to acts of pillage, and would close his eyes to
dee<ls of cruelty of which they were often guilty. And thus we
find Forrest, after distinguishing himself by remarkable military
achievements, signalizing himself at last by a sinister exploit —
the massacre of the negro garrison of Fort Pillow. He organ-
ized the band under his command into a corps of mounted in-
fantry, in which every man was provided with a horse — less for
the pur])ose of fighting than for executing rapid marches, at the
end of which the men would dismount, take up their muskets,
and carry the enemy's positions, thus suddenly attacked, at the
point of the bayonet. He found these tactics the more successful
that he was not ashamed — no more than the Indian — ^to beat a
hasty retreat whenever he found his adversary on his guard. His
corps increased rapidly by the addition of other partisan bands,
whose chiefs had acquired less celebrity than himself. He soon
grew tire<l of being only a guerilla chief like Mosby and Morgan :
the Confederate government testified their sense of his services,
and of his own importance to themselves, by investing his band
with the attributes of regular troops, and by conferring on him-
self the rank of general. This reorganization and these new
titles, however, produced no change either in the leader or in his
men : the latter still pursued, on a wider field, their adventurous
career, alternating between battle and rapine, and the former
slave-dealer, now commanding an army corps, too often behaved
as if, instead of wielding a sword, he still flourished the blood
stained whip of the dealer in human flesh.
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CHAPTER III.
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS,
WE have shown in a former chapter the great and real cause
of the civil war, and in another the military resources
which the South called to its aid in order to sustain it. In this
and the following chapter we propose to point out the principal
features of the political crisis which preceded the civil war, and
to relate the occurrences in the midst of which the United States
became divided into two hostile camps.
We have stated that slavery had become the basis of the entire
politico-economical edifice of the South; the servile institution
must be placed beyond the reach of danger in order that this
edifice might run no risk of falling to pieces, for, even though
the institution itself was universally respected in the South, the
mere vicinity of the free States waa a perpetual menace to it.
The prosperity of these States, the rapid increase of their popula-
tion, which absorbed nearly all the emigration from Europe, and
their still more rapid extension of territory, secured to them a
daily growing influence in the councils of the Republic. The
slave States had sought to balance this influence by extending the
servile institution into the yet uncultivated sections of the conti-
nent, by disputing the territories recently opened to civilization
with the settlers from the North, by wresting from Mexico some
of her most valuable provinces ; and they thought of further in-
creasing the number of their States by seizing Cuba and the whole
coast of the Gulf of Mexico. They had succeeded, by means of a
shrewd policy, in creating for themselves a considerable party in
the North, whose support had long given them a preponderance
in the Federal elections, and had enabled them to govern the
Union in the interest of their policy. The advocates of this pol-
icy had unscrupulously taken advantage of the deep attachment
107
Digitized by VjOOQIC
108 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
which the great majority of the American people entertained f<»r their
Constitution, and, by constantly threatening to break it up, by re-
course to the most violent measures, they had obtained from them
all the concessions necessary for the maintenance and development
of their system. But a day came when tliese concessions were no
longer sufficient. Despite all their efforts, the slave-owners saw
themselves outstripped— conquered by the progress of free Labor.
In oi'der to secure the adherence of their partisans in the North,
which alone could give them the control of public affairs, tliey
were also obliged to make certain concessions in return. They
could not impose upon the Republic, to its full extent, the policy
on the success of which they had staked their fortunes. In 1860
it was easy to foresee that their rule would not be of long dura-
tion, and that even if they succeeded in legally securing a govern-
ment of their choice, that government could not prevent free labor
from planting itself in the best portions of the continent. Two
alternatives, both equally violent, presented themselves to them
for shielding the servile institution from the danger which threat-
ened it. They must either separate entirely from the free States,
and found a new republic of slave States, freed from the control
of their former associates ; or forcibly extort from the latter the
guarantees henceforth indispensable to the institution of slavery,
and thus make sure of their supremacy over all the continent.
The aversion and jealousy entertained for the North led the ma-
jority of Southern slaveholders to adopt the idea of founding a
separate Republic, in which they could, at their option, coasoli-
date the servile institution. But clear-sighted politicians, while
commending this project, which favored their designs, foresaw
the danger for the future, and fully understood that, in order to
exist, a community founded upon slavery must not only be inde-
pendent, but mistrass of America.
In fact, the maintenance of the Union, even under the Presi-
dency of the most zealous abolitionist, would have been less dan-
gerous to the Southern community than separation, pure and sim-
ple, dividing the United States into two unequal parts ; one of
these parts, supposing it to comprise all the slave States, without
excepting those which remained faithful to the Federal flag,
would have had a population of eight million whites and four
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE PBESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 109
million blacks ; the other would have been composed of the rest
of the Union — that is to say, of the great body of the free States,
continuing to form, under the Federal compact, a single nation
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From amiable, or at least tol-
erant, associates, the latter would have become formidable rivals
an 1 implacable enemies. Finding in their numerous population,
in the productive system of free labor, and their vast financial re-
sources, an irresistible element of colonization, they would have
successfully competed with the Southern States, already fettered
by slavery, divided into hostile castes, and deprived of the re-
sources that emigration brings to the new continent. In a few
years, the free States would have completely surrounded the ter-
ritory occupied by the ser\'ile institution, and by thus closing the
avenues of future expansion against it, they would have dealt it a
mortal blow. Their vast frontiers would have been opened to
fugitives from slavery, as soon as the shameful compact by which
those neighboring States had pledged themselves to return the
fugitive slave had been torn to pieces, with the very Union in
whose name it had been procured. In spite of all artificial bar-
riers, a double contraband, favoring the escape of the slave on one
hand, would, on the other, have carrried into the South those
abolition publications so much dreaded by the latter, which a
secret but irresistible propagandism would have circulated among
enslaved populations whom the faintest glimpse of liberty was
sai&cient to excite. This inevitable consequence of separation
was predicted long ago by the sagacious mind of De Tocqueville,
who foresaw the day when slavery would bring on a terrible
crisis, in the midst of which it would disappear, and which even
seemed to him destined to prove fatal to one of the two races.
He had therefore counselled the men of the South to remain faith-
ful to the Union at all hazards, because, sustained by the numer-
ous white population of the North, he told them, they would be
able to abolish slavery slowly without subverting the order of
things, and still preserving their social superiority ; whereas, if
they made an enemy of that population, the latter would soon
find a way of freeing their slaves in spite of them and against
them.
A war of races, which the defeat of the South has rendered
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110 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
unnecessary, would have been the certain result of the sepamtion.
Consequently, the leaders of the slavery party needed the support
of the people of the North. But it was for the purpose of main-
taining and fortifying slavery, and not with a view of abolishing
it gradually, that they asked for this support. There were two
ways of obtaining it : either by reconstructing the Union to suit
tliemselves; or, by dividing the North in such a manner that it
would no longer have formed a compact nation by their side, the
slave power would have found among its ruins a few weak States
always ready to sue for protection. In either case, the servile
institution would have secured its necessary ascendency over the
whole continent. The reconstruction of the Union for their own
benefit was the first thought of Southern politicians. The capital
of the Union was surrounded by slave States, inhabited by slave-
holders, and the Federal laws sanctioned the existence of the
peculiar institution of the South within its territory ; they made
sure, therefore, of its possession, and once assembled in the Cap-
itol, they fully hoped that the necessity of forming one great
nation, that fidelity to the Federal Constitution itself, would rally
around them the majority of the Northern States. The Union
would thus be reconstituted under their auspices, and New Eng-
land, that focus of abolition, would perhaps alone be excluded
from it, and left to vegetate in obscure mediocrity. The Mont-
gomery Congress, therefore, in drawing up the new Constitution
of the Confederate slave States, took care to adopt, purely and
simply, the old compact of the United States, with two im-
portant modifications — one, to justify the past, the other, to
guarantee the future. The first recognized the right of seces-
sion as a principle ; the second proclaimed slavery as a fund-
amental institution of society. Through this deceptive resem-
blance to the Federal Constitution, it was hoped that all the States
of the old Union would the more readily group themselves around
the new Confederacy. In order to effect this, it was necessary
either to intimidate them by a bold coup d'itai, or to win them
back, one by one, by dividing them, by wearying them out, and
by showing them, in a manner calculated to impress them, the
unanimous determination of the South. "We have shown by what
violent means this apparent unanimity of the Southern people was
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. Ill
procui'ed ; there was no more respect paid to the doctrine of State
rights, the very foundation of the Confederacy, than to the pri-
vate rights of individuals ; and, at a later period, an attempt on
the part of North Carolina to get rid of the despotism of Mr.
Davis was treated as treason. If the re-establishment of the
Union was not practicable, it was at least important to secure the
supremacy of the new Confederacy by surrounding it with neigh-
bors at once weak and divided. In order to accomplish this, war
with the North was necessary, because a peaceful separation would
have left her united under the old Federal Constitution. All the
slave States, without exception, must be brought into the Con-
federacy; the Mi&sissippi must be closed against the Western
States, and this outlet, so necessary for their produce, should only
be opened in exchange for an alliance which would have reduced
them to a state of vassalage. It was important, above all, to
make the Northern merchants feel the superiority of the military
power of the Southern States, in order to secure to the latter the
r6le of arbitrators among their neighbors, ruined by war and dis-
couraged by defeat. To realize this project, the leaders of the
slave States counted chiefly ui)on the influence which the exclu-
sive cultivation of cotton gave them. They were convinced that
neither America nor Europe could dispense with an article which
they alone could supply, and they saw in it a guarantee for the
maintenance of slavery, of which it was the fruit. They did
not believe that the working classes, in England and in France,
would have the courage to undergo the severest privations, rather
than give a word of encouragement to the cause of slavery, and
they fully expected that these classes would compel the European
governments to restore cotton to their looms, by intervening in
behalf of the Confederates. Forgetting that the exports of the
agricultural products of the North exceeded those of the South,
they fancied that the whole world was dependent upon them, and,
in their presumptuous language, they already announced the ac-
cession of King Cotton^ before whom the sovereigns and the
republics of the two worlds would have to bow.
Such were the views of the ambitious men who controlled the
policy of the South. At the opposite extreme were the aboli-
tionists, who, with the foresight and the logic of champions of
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112 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
positive idcjw, felt, like them, that slavery must either rule or
perish, and who, resolved to contest its power, were not afraid of
attacking it in front. Equally enthusiastic and ardent in the
struggle, they made light of the Constitution in their harangues
whenever it seemed to tliem to favor the propagation of slavery.
Justly convinced of the rectitude and sacredness of their cause,
persuaded also that, in combating the servile institution without
intermission or compromise, they were saving their country from
shame and ruin, they entered the political arena with the courage,
the faith, and the sternness of their ancestors the Puritans. So
long as the struggle which they had foreseen was deferred, they
did not number many adherents, but a day came when the whole
nation rallied around the abolition flag, which they had carried
so loftily and firmly, and when they had the satisfaction of wit-
nessing the triumph of the principles of truth and justice, which
they had never sacrificed to the exigencies of politics.
Between these two extreme parties there were the masses of
the people, loyal above all to the Union, loyal to the Constitu-
tion, the benefits of which they enjoyed. These masses were
divided into two parties, called Democrats and Rq^ublicans^
according as they favored or opposed the slave policy. The
Republicans, who were in the majority in most of the Northern
States, did not attack slavery directly where it existed, and,
respecting the right of every State to preserve it, they confined
themselves to the task of restricting its extension. The Demo-
cratic party was composed, in the first place, of a large portion
of the Northern population, which desired to maintain the Union
by making concessions to the servile institution and by tolerating
its development; and secondly, of the immense majority of the
Southern people who believed in their ability to retain the guar-
antees of slavery without resorting to illegal means or violating
the Constitution.
The alliance between the Northern and Southern Democrats
and the extreme slave party had given, at all the general elec-
tions, an important majority to the politicians who defended the
servile institution over the Republican party, which was solely
sustained by a small fraction of abolitionists. They might still
have possessed such majority in 1860. But, as we have already
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 113
stated^ this advantage no longer satisfied them ; they now wanted
to establish their supremacy in a way not to be disputed, by a
bold stroke of policy ; and they preferred threats of war, and
even war itself, to compromises henceforth insuificient. They
only required a pretext to draw after them their fellow-citi-
zens who were yet faithful to the Union. We shall show how
they sought this pretext in the Presidential elections of 1860.
They had long used the entire power of the Federal government
for the protection and extension of slavery ; they had introduced
it into a great number of territories which had been acquired by
that government in the name of the whole community ; sometimes
protecting, in the name of the independence of the new States,.
those which, under their influence, admitted slavery ; at other
times, causing the central power to trace an imaginary line, south:
of which all the territories were to belong to the servile instita-
tion. But when they thought of separating from the North,, or
at least threatened the North with violent separation, they denied
that the Federal government had any right to interfere in the
matter. This threat was a powerful political argument,, and
separation seeming to be the last resort when slavery should be in
danger, a constitutional theory was needed to justify it.. This-
was found in the dogma of the absolute sovereignty of the States>
— ^a doctrine which had for its apostle, between the years 1830'
and 1840, Mr. Calhoun,, the foremost statesman of South Caro-
lina, who soon came to be considered as the palladium of the-
peculiar institutions of the Southern States. It is sufficient to-
sum up this doctrine in a few words, to show how specious and
dangerous it was.
The object of the Federal compact, between the colonies that
had been freed by the war of independence, was to protect them,
against the divisions which weakened them, to unite them into-
one indestructible group or cluster, and tx) make of them a single-
nation, while leaving them a local independence sufficient to pro-
tect them against the despotism of centralization. Each colony,.
in adopting this compact, made a perpetual cession of a portion of
its sovereignty in favor of the new community. The rights which
were thus ceded constituted the prerogatives of the Federal power^
We cannot enumerate them here, but in order to show their im-
VoF . L— 8
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114 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
portance, it is suflScient to mention the right of waging war and
making peace, the right of coining money, of collecting custom-
hoase duties, and of representing the commonwealth in foreign
countries. The flag was national ; civil and political rights were
enjoyed in common by the citizens of all the States ; no custom-
house could be established in the interior; the Federal govern-
ment had exclusive jurisdiction over certain questions of general
interest ; it was the sovereign arbiter both between States and be-
tween such States and private Individuals aggrieved by them.
Finally, besides its limited jurisdiction in the States, it exercised
a sovereign authority over the Federal possessions and the new
territories acquired by the Republic. The forts, the arsenals, and
the District of Columbia, which contained the seat of government,
had been ceded to it with full right of property ; the immense
uncultivated regions where colonization daily extended were be-
coming peopled under its protection ; and it alone could impart
political life to territories sufliciently civilized to claim the right
of adding another star to the azure field of the national flag. The
very manner in which the national power was constituted proved
that it represented one single nation, and not an agglomeration of
independent States. This power was composed of a Senate and a
House of Representatives, invested conjointly with political and
legislative sovereignty ; of a President, constituting the executive
po^^^er ; and finally, of a Supreme Court, whose province was to
enforce the superior authority of the national laws, and to pass
judgment as a court of final appeal upon all constitutional ques-
tions. With the exception of this tribunal, appointed by the
President, the other powers (executive and legislative) were elec-
tive. While the Senate represented in a proper measure the au-
tonomy of the States, and comprised within its organization two
members sent by each of those political bodies, whatever their
■size or importance, the House of Representatives was the direct
product of popular suflrage ; the entire surface of the Union was
divided into districts equal in population, each of which elected
►one member. The election of the President, although nominally of
.a twofold character, was also essentially national and proportioned
*o the population. Each State designated as many special electors
as it sent Representatives and Senators to Congress, and these
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 115
electors assemble in an electoral college, which in 1860 wtis com-
posed of three hundred and three members, whose only mission
was to vote for a President. With the exception of South Caro-
lina, which left the right of their selection to the legislature, these
electors were chosen by popular vote, and all were positively in-
structed to vote for such or such candidate ; the result of the vote
for President was thus known at the same time as the names of
flie electors designated by the ballot, and the election was thus
practically reduced to a single point. The Federal law gave to
the slave States an unjustifiable advantage in the formation of the
electoral districts, by taking into account the servile population,
which did not however possess any political rights, and by count-
ing five negroes as equivalent to three white men. This advan-
tage was also granted to them in the Presidential elections, and
they were more than once indebted to it for successes which the
free States only accepted out of respect for the Constitution.
Strong party organizations, which are indispensable in proportion
as the institutions are more democratic, could alone carry such an
election into effect, and give to the choice of electors the character
of a national manifestation. Accordingly, each party held free
meetings or conventions, composed of distinguished men selected
in all the States by permanent party committees. It was in these
preliminary assemblies that the merits of the various candidates
4or the Presidency were discussed ; and, the choice once made, the
whole party, owing to its innumerable ramifications and its per-
manent committees, went to work with the utmost harmony to se-
cure the election of the delegates pledged beforehand to vote in
favor of their candidate.
Such was the entire national edifice — ^an edifice founded on Fed-
eral institutions, on the common interest which they guaranteed
and the public life they had developed — which the doctrine of
State sovereignty was seeking to undermine. Those who had
adopted it pretended that each State was at all times at liberty to
resume the sovereignty it had ceded to the Commonwealth, in vir-
tue of the Federal compact ; that the States which had been cre-
ated since the Union had an equal right to do the same ; and tliat
the powerful Republic, the unity of which had benefited each of
them in turn, was thus to be dismembered at the first sign of local
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116 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
opposition that the constitutional enactments and the voice of the
majority might encounter. Such a theory, logically applied,
would lead to endless divisions and to the destruction of all na-
tionality, for no confederation could have existed under such con -
ditions; the States themselves would soon have been broken up
by the claims of the counties of which they were composed to
separate from them ; and if the Northern States had sanctioned
this theory by allowing the slaveholders quietly to withdraw from
the Union, they could not have prevented other secessions from
taking place in their midst, at the first symptom of those inevit-
able diiferenoes the solution of which had hitherto been left to the
popular vote.
"We have already shown how little the Southern leaders
thought of State sovereignty as soon as they had organized their
new Confederacy ; but at the time of which we speak this fatal
doctrine had taken a strong hold of the public mind in all the
slave States, and it dragged the most loyal citizens into the rebel-
lion, as soon as the usurping legislatures had declared in favor of
separation.
The various parties went to work early in the spring of 1860
to prepare for the Presidential elections which were to take place
in November. On the 23d of April all the delegates of the
Democratic party met in convention at Charleston. The draw-
ing up of a programme or platform — ^to use the popular term-^
was the first task of those preliminary assemblies, after which, the
choice of candidates destined to carry out that programme was
more easy and had a more definite meaning ; for the Americans
have acquired the liabit in political life of attaching more import-
ance to principles than to persons. The Democratic party in the
free States, so far as any calculations could be made, was nearly
as numerous as the Republican party ; it had adopted for its pro-
gramme, under the name of Popular Sovereignty, the right of
every new State or Territory to adopt or to exclude slavery. Its
alliance with the Democrats of the South had already triumphed
in many elections ; this alliance had only to be continued to secure
the nomination of Mr. Douglas, the recognized chief of the North-
ern Democrats. But the slaveholders of the South, as it has already
been stated, desired to push matters to extremes. They demanded
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 117
a programme implying the right of secession, and imposing upon
the Federal government the official recognition of slavery as a
national institution. This was to render their union with the ma-
jority of their former allies impossible. In consequence of these
conflicting pretensions, the convention accomplished nothing, and
from that moment the success of the Republican candidate ap-
peared certain. Those who had brought about this result were
not afraid of the consequences ; they preferred it to the surrender
of the least portion of their imperioas programme. They had
thrown off the mask. In the mean time, the party of concilia-
tion which never fails to come to the surface during a great polit-
ical crisis — ^but whose good intentions are almost always power-
less, because it seeks to remedy an evil by ignoring it — had been
long in existence under the name of the Whig party. It had
thought to be able to remove the evil by adoj)ting a })rogramme
full of protestations in favor of the Constit»;tion, in which slavery
was not even mentioned; it held a convention in Baltimore ou
the 9th of May, and selected Mr. Bell as its candidate. A few
days after, May 16th, the Republican convention which assembled
at Chicago adopted for its platform the maintenance of the Union,
a denial of the right of secession, a guarantee of the principle of
free labor as the basis of the Constitution, and the restriction of
slavery to the States or Territories where it already existed. The
care of presenting this platform to the voters of the country — the
only one honest, just, and worthy of the great Republic — was en-
trusted on the 19th to Mr. Lincoln, already known for his up-
rightness, his legal acquirements, and his political experience.
After several attempts at reconciliation between the various
fractions of the Democratic party, its division became final. The
Charleston convention was followed by two hostile conventions
pitting at the same time in Baltimore— one of which, on the 21st
of June, selected Mr. Douglas as its candidate, and the other, on
the 23d, Mr. Breckenridge. The latter, who was at that time
Vice-President of the United States, represented the ultra slave
policy of the South.
On the 6th of November, 4,680,180 American citizens elected
delegates : the Presidential electors pledged to vote for Mr. Lin-
coln received 1,866,452 votes; those representing the two frac-
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118 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
tions of the Democratic party, personified by Douglas and Breck-
enridge, received, resjxK'tively, 1,375,144 and 847,933 votes; and
the Whig party, personified by Bell, 590,631 votes. The Repub-
lican candidate had only a relative majority, but it was consider-
able ; and, thanks to the machinery of the double vote, this ma-
jority was made absolute in the electoral college. He was elected
by one hundred and eighty votes, w^hilst his three competitors,
although strengthened by the eight electors from South Carolina,
jnly received one hundred and twenty-three votes between them.
The Republican party had carried the day ; the Federal execu-
tive power, which Mas to assume its functions on the 4th of
March of the following year, had received the nation's mandate
to oppose the extension of slavery ; but it was also pledged to
make no attempts against that institution where it already existed.
The two fractions of the Democratic party and the Whigs, being
in the majority in both houses of Congress, had it always in their
power to unite in oj>|K)sing constitutionally any infringements
that might be attempted against what the South considered as her
rights.
The leaders of the slaveholding States, who had rejected ev^ery
compromise with their partisans of the North, wene fully deter-
minetl not to rest satisfied with this guarantee. They had loudly
proclaimed the right of secession ; they had announced their inten-
tion to avail themselves of that right if the entire nation did not
submit to their demands ; and they had prepared the Southern
people, by their violent attacks upon the Republican candidate,
whom they styled an abolitionist, to repudiate his authority and
to set aside the national verdict. These people were not to be
allowed time for reflection, lest love for the Union should resume
its empire over them. It was necessary to stir up the timid and
to persuade the wavering, either by fair means or by force ; it
was important, above all, to take advantage of the hour when
the North was powerless and the Federal authority undecided, in
order that secession might become an accomplished fact on the
day when honest Mr. Lincoln should be installed into power.
Consequently, the signal of separation was given several months
in advance of his inauguration.
The joy of those who had been anxious for the struggle mani-
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, 119
Tested itself throughout the South on the receipt of the news of
the election, while the Republicans, although happy in their suc-
cess, surveyed the future of the republic with feelings of uneasi-
ness. The Democrats of the North, forsaken by their allies,
could not believe these allies capable of tearing the Constitution
asunder, and the border States, equally attached to the Union
and to slaverj*^, already foresaw that if the war broke out it would
be waged on their own soil and at their expense.
Not a moment was lost in giving the secession movement a
decisive impulse. The popular mind was everywhere excited by
inflammatory speeches. Some resistance was, however, met with ;
Mr. Stephens, who was soon to become the Vice-President of the
Confederacy, was then opposed to separation; but his protests
against that measure had no efiect, inasmuch as they were accom-
panied by reservations in favor of State sovereignty, and because
the defenders of the Union in the South declared themselves
ready to follow the fortunes of their own States if they should
withdraw from it. The legislatures of the cotton States were
immediately assembled to consider the situation and issue calls
for conventions to proclaim the act of secession. Without even
waiting for this proclamation, the national authority was openly
set aside, and from the day following the election of Mr. Lin-
coln, the judge of the District Court of the United States in
Charleston, devoted to Southern interests, refused to take his seat
on the Bench. Finally, the principal leaders of the movement
met at Milledgeville to consult upon the subject of separation,
and the military measures required to ensure success.
One month after the election — the 3d of December — the Fed-
eral Congress met in its turn. The President's message set forth
the uncertainties and the weakness of the Washington govern-
ment. Elected by the coalition of Democrats, Mr. Buchanan
did not dare to break with his former allies. He affected to see
in the choice of his successor an act of aggression against them,
and sought in vain to find means of conciliation. He did not
admit the possibility of secession. He condemned it, and yet did
not consider himself justified in taking any steps for its repres-
sion. The partisans of the South were in the majority in his
cabinet, and filled the greatest portion of the Federal offices.
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120 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
They had taken advantage of this to facilitate^ in a thousand
ways, the designs of their accomplices, and were throwing impedi-
ments in the way of every measure proposed by those of their
colleagues who were devoted to the Union. One of them, Mr.
Floyd, Secretary of War, had sold in the Southern markets a
portion of the arms belonging to the nation, and had forwarded
nearly all the remainder to the arsenals situated on the soil of
the States ready for insurrection. General Scott, commander-in-
chief of the Federal army, had asked in vain before the election
that some measures might be adopted to place the army onoe
more on a respectable footing. Instead of this, it had been pur-
posely weakened and nearly annihilated. The Federal govern-
ment possessed a great number of fortifications along the coast —
most of them constructed upon the plans of the French general
Bernard — which commanded the ports and the most important
positions to be defended in case of war. These forts were national
property. The most important were Fort Monroe in Virginia,
on the borders of the Chesapeake ; Fort Macon in North Caro-
lina; Forts Moultrie and Sumter in the bay of Charleston, South
Carolina ; Fort Pulaski in Georgia, near Savannah ; Forts Key
West and Garden Key on two small islands at the extremity of
Florida ; Forts McRae and Pickens at the entrance of the bay
of Pensacola in the same State; Forts Morgan and Graines in
front of Mobile, in Alabama ; and Forts Jackson and St. Philip
on the Mississippi, below New Orleans. The garrisons of these
forts had been so much reduced that they were all liable to be
captured by a sudden attack.
The excitement- in Congress was great. With the exception of
the secession leaders, all parties were working sincerely to devise
means for maintaining the Union. Committees were appointed
for that purpose. The compromise measure which received the
most serious consideration, and which seemed at one time to be
favored by the majority of the conciliation party, was proposed
by a venerable Senator from Kentucky — Mr. Crittenden. He
wanted ta divide the Republic by a line drawn from east to west
as far as the Pacific, which would secure to the slave interest all
the Territories situated south of thirty-six and a half degrees
north. But the time for compromises had passed ; the Republicans
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 121
could not accept them, and those who desired separation were fully
determined to reject them.
The entire South was already in motion; special sessions of
legislatures had assembled and called for conventions. Other
conventions, held in the border States of both North and South,
appealed in vain for conciliatory measures. In the North, im-
mense meetings declared themselves ready to support the Union
and the government that Mr. Lincoln was about to form. Con-
gress, acting under the pressure of public opinion, authorized the
issue of ten millions of dollars in Treasury bonds, to meet the
most urgent national ex)X}nses, but the President refused to take
any steps to sustain the Federal authority, and the loyal members
of his cabinet^ — his Secretary of State, Greneral Cass, among others
— withdrew, because they would have no connection with a gov-
ernment which delivered up the country to its enemies.
South Carolina was the first to set up openly the standard of
rebellion, and on the 20th of December her convention passed an
ordinance of secession, declaring the Union severed, and demand-
ing at the same time all the Federal property situated on its sc^il.
This demand was a declaration of open war, unless the Presi(K.nt . i y
complying with it, should himself sanction the right of separalioii.
The signal was given, and preparations were made in the other
cotton States to follow the example of South Carolina. How-
ever, while the most zealous partisans were in favor of proclaiming
the secession of every State at once, moderate people, with a view
of delaying action, insisted that, before proceeding further, all the
Southern States should come to an understanding in order to act
in concert. But the co-operaiionists, as they were called, were
forcibly carried along by the revolutionary current. Moreover,
the instigators of the rebellion understood each other but too well.
Each man had his part laid out. Some, delegated by their own
States, constantly visited the neighboring States in order to secure
that unanimity to the movement which was to constitute its
strength ; others were endeavoring to win over the powerful bor-
der States, such as Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, as well as North
Carolina and Tennessee, which stood aghast, terrified at the ap-
proach of the crisis brought on by their associates ; some, again,
were even pleading their cause in the North, in the hope of re-
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122 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
cruiting partisans among those Democrats whom they had for-
saken at the last election ; while others kept their seats in Con-
gress in order to be able to paralyze its action^ forming, at the
same time, a centre whence they issued directions to their friends
in the South to complete the dismemberment of the Repablic
Jefferson Davis himself continued to take part in the delibera-
tions of the Senate, and four days after the insurrection of South
Carolina, he boldly presented the programme of his party — a
programme which must be adopted in full in order to bring
back the South into the Union — ^the basis of which was a consti-
tutional amendment sanctioning for all time the recognition of
slavery.
South Carolina did not wait for the reply of the President to
her demands as to the possession of the Federal property. Mr.
Buchanan gave the rebels indirect encouragement by his vacillat-
ing course. The Charleston arsenal was already in the possession
of the secessionist authorities of the city ; the commandant of the
forts, which guarded the entrance of the port, fully expected to see
their demands backed by a sufficient force of militia to render all
resistance impossible. Major Anderson had only eighty soldiers
to garrison three forts intended for an armament of more tlian one
hundred guns. Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney were situated
on the main land ; Sumter, the most important of the three, was
an enormous mass of masonry erected upon a small island in the
centre of the bay. It was dismantled in 1860, and Anderson
with his little band only occupied Moultrie, which he had labored
hard to put in a state of defence. Well aware that he would not
be able to defend himself with his little garrison, encumbered as
it was with women and children, the Charleston authorities as-
sured the President that they would let him alone for the time,
provided no reinforcements were sent to him. The Secretary of
War, feigning to accept these hypocritical promises from men with
whom he was secretly in accord, gave Anderson no instructions,
intending thereby to make him an easy prey for his friends. But
this officer had the courage — ^a rare thing in revolutionary times
— to take the responsibility of a step which was to ensure his
safety, and which his superiors had not dared to suggest. On the
26th of December, during the darkness of the night, he evacuated
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 123
Fort Moultrie and occupied Fort Sumter with all his people.
Rage and vexation rose to a high pitch in Charleston when, on the
morning of the 27th, the Federal flag was seen hoisted over the
walls of Sumter. The rebel authorities began by taking posses-
sion of the abandoned forts; great military preparations were
ordered ; the militia redoubled their activity, and the arms taken
from the arsenal were distributed among them ; the guns of Moul-
trie were turned against the fort which sheltered the little Federal
garrison, and new batteries were begun on the beach to support
their fire ; finally, the commissioners appointed by South Carolina
were instructed to again demand of the President the restoration
of the fort, which vms no longer in danger of a sudden attack.
Notwithstanding Mr. Buchanan's weakness, it was too much to
exact from him the surrender of Fort Sumter ; public opinion in
the North was unanimous in reminding him that it was his duty
to protect the Federal property. He refused to comply with the
demands of the commissioners, contrary to the advice of his Sec-
retary of War, who, thinking that he had done enough in that
capacity for the cause of the South, availed himself of this dis-
agreement to tender his resignation, on the 31st of December.
The year 1861 began under the gloomiest auspices. South
Carolina had shown that secession was not an idle threat. Six of
the Southern States were preparing to follow her example ; the
others, while deploring the dismemberment of the Union, declared
themselves opposed to any energetic measures against the seccders.
The North— divided into two parties, one of which looked upon
the election of Mr. Lincoln as a victory, the other as a defeat —
could not realize the magnitude of the danger, and was wasting
precious time in idle declarations of attachment to the Constitu-
tion. The President, sincere but weak, oscillating between his
public duties and party obligations, surrounded by traitors to the
Republic, found himself isolated, forsaken by those who might
have given him judicious advice, and reduced to the most de-
plorable helplessness.
He could not, however, bear the arrogance of the Carolina com-
missioners, and on the 1st of January he broke off all intercourse
with them. The leaders of the slave party had only waited for
this explosion to cause the rebellion to take another step. Those
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124 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
who were in Washington formed a cabal^ and on the 5th of Jan-
uary they advised their associates in the various Southern States
to follow the example of South Carolina, and to proclaim the act
of separation without delay. These States had taken in advance
all precautions against the slightest opposition that might be
offered on the part of the President ; they had already seized all
the Federal arsenals within their reach, and especially the forts
which might be turned against them in the coming struggle. On
the 3d of January the militia of Alabama occupied the Mount
Vernon arsenal, and, without striking a blow, walked into Forts
Morgan and Graines, which their respective garrisons surrendered
to them ; on the same day, the Greorgians took possession of Forts
Pulaski and Jackson, and on the 6th the arsenals of Fayetteville
and Chattahoochee fell into the hands of the authorities of North
Carolina and Florida.
A few militia troops of the latter State assembled at Pensa-
cola ; the commandant of the arsena] allowed himself to be cap-
tured by them on the 12th, but an energetic officer. Lieutenant
Slemmer, was in command of Forts McRae and Pickens. Not
being able to defend both with a handful of men, he followed the
example of Anderson, eluded the vigilance of the enemy who was
watcliing him, and abandoned the first to retire into the second,
which was thus wrested for ever from the hands of the Confed-
erates. On the same day Forts Jackson and St Philip on the
Mississippi were delivered up to the authorities of Louisiana,
and on the following day they took possession of the arsenal at
Baton Rouge. On the 18th, in order to close the Upper Mis-
sissippi against any possible attacks from the north, the seceders
began erecting around Vicksburg the first of those batteries
which were destined to keep the Federal armies so long in
check, but, on the other hand, and on the same day, an attempt
by the Floridians to capture Fort Jefferson at Grarden Key was
frustrated by the timely arrival of reinforcements brought by
Captain Meigs. We shall see this officer at a subsequent period
occupying at "Washington the important post of quartermaster-
general of the army.
The secession excitement had even invaded Maryland, where
the partisans of the South, although possibly in the minority.
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 12&
were very active in organizing regiments of volunteers with the
avowed intention of menacing Washington, and of separating the
Federal capital from the North. While the insurrection was thus
progressing, the conventions which had been called together
throughout the South were already assembled or preparing to
meet v in the Northern States the legislatures were all in session,
and the Federal Congress continued to be the scene of the most
exciting discussions. All these assemblies imparted a feverish
activity to political life during the month of January, and dis-
tinctly demonstrated the position of the different parties that were
contending for the possession of the Republic.
The word of command issued by the committee at Washington
was promptly obeyed. Secession was proclaimed by the several
conventions — in Mississippi on the 9th of January, in Florida on
the 10th, in Alabama on the 11th, in Georgia on the 19th, and in
Louisiana on the 26th. The secession intriguers had not achieved
such an easy success in Texas, where they encountered a strong
opposition on the part of the men who surrounded Governor
Houston, the real founder of that State. Nevertheless, even
there, their machinations succeeded in the end, thanks to a for-
midable association which inspired and directed them. The
Knights of the Gt)lden Circle constituted throughout the South a
vast secret society, whose object was to extend the confederacy of
slave States in a circle all around the Gulf of Mexico, and to
found a great power comprising, besides the cotton States, the
greatest portion of Mexico and the Antilles. This devoted and
unscrupulous organization was one of the principal instruments
used by Southern intriguers. It had spread especially all over
Texas. By means of intimidation it overcame the resistance of
the Unionists, and on the 1st of February a convention, irregularly
organized, drew that State into the rebellion.
In the mean time, South Carolina, always anxious to be in ad-
vance of the other States, had not waited for their co-operation to
consummate the rebellion by an overt act of hostility. On the
9th of January a merchant vessel, freighted by the Federal gov-
ernment with provisions for Fort Sumter, appeared in Charles-
ton harbor. The new batteries that had been erected on the beach
fired into her and obliged her to put back. Americans had fired
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•126 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
for the first time ii{)on the Federal flag; the civil war had
commenced.
Such act8 could not fail to dispel any doubt that might still
exist as to the intentions of the political leaders of the South.
The States in which the Republican party was in the asoendanty
those under Democratic rule, the border slave States, aad the
Federal government, while perfectly unanimous in condemning
these provocations, took very difierent ways of resenting the
outrage.
The first, on receiving the news of the rupture between the
President and the commissioners from South Carolina, emphat-
ically declared at their meetings, through the medium of their
leading statesmen, in favor of maintaining the Union, whatever
the cost might be. But at the same time, in order to prove to
the South how little they had thought of making war upon her,
they referred to the laws they had passed for the surrender of
fugitive slaves — laws just in themselves, but unfortunately un-
constitutional. The most zealous among them — who were also
the most clear-sighted — followed the example of Massachusetts,
who, since the 3d of January, had been busy in making military
preparations. The outrage committed at Charleston against the
national flag had caused a profound sensation throughout the
great States of the West. The fate of the Union was in their
hands ; if they had hesitated to defend it, the Union was lost.
The Southern leaders counted upon this hesitation, and in order
to lead them to adopt their views, they announced that the navi-
gation of the Mississippi — the necessary outlet for all Western
produce — should be for ever free from all obsti'uctions. But these
precautionary measures had no effect ; those States declared against
them with a degree of unanimity and energy which foreshadowed
from that moment the immense sacrifices they would make for
the Fe<leral cause.
Nor were the efforts of the seceders more successful in shaking
the loyalty of those States where the Democrats were in the ma-
jority. The mayor of New York, Mr. Wood — ^who was indebted
for his position to intrigues but little creditable to that great
city — tried in vain to seduce her from her allegiance to the
Union, by holding out the flattering prospect of making her a
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTICNS. 127
free city. The legislature of that State — ^the most powerful in
the Republic — although in favor of an attempt at impossible oon-
ciliatiouy declared^ on the 11th of January, its unalterable attach-
ment to the Union. That of Pennsylvania having followed its
example on the 24th, all danger of secession in the North finally
disappeared. Delaware, who preserved in her constitution the
principle of slavery, although slavery itself was virtually abol-
ished in her territory, repelled the Southern emissaries ; and the
legislature of New Jersey, while recommending the adoption of
Mr. Crittenden^s compromise measure, declined to separate from
her neighbors who were faithful to the Constitution.
The slave States known by the name of border States were the
theatre of bitter contests between the two hostile parties. But
their old attachment to the Constitution got also the better of
their sympathies for their neighbors engaged in rebellion. Gov-
ernor Hicks of Maryland resisted every attempt to drag that
State into secession. The legislature of Kentucky and the elec-
toral colleges of Tennessee and North Carolina refused to call a •
convention at the bidding of the seceders, and the voters of Vir-
ginia sent to the convention of that State a majority of delegates
favorable to the Union. These demonstrations, however, only
occasioned a little delay, obtained by the partisans of the Federal
authority, which did not prove of essential service to their cause.
In fact, those States simply offered their mediation, but their
oflers, although sincere for the most part, were only a disguised
support to the pretensions of the slaveholders ; their professions
of fidelity to the Constitution lost all their value in consequence
of the restrictions which surrounded them ; for, while acknow-
ledging that Mr. Lincoln's election was no valid cause for sepa-
ration, and while submitting to his authority themselves, they
denied the President's right to compel the rebel States to submit
to it likewise. They proclaimed the doctrine of State sover-
eignty, and thus pursued a course which irresistibly led them
to make common cause with the insurrection on the day when
the war should break out.
Congress was the arena where the antagonistic passions which
developed themselves on every side struggled for the mastery, and
attempts at conciliation were only brought forward to be defeated
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128 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
through the absolute pretensions of the Southern leaders. The
latter vacated their seats as the States which they represented
proclaimed the act of separation ; thus carrying out the policy
tlirough which the election of Mr. Lincoln had been effected ; and
by abandoning in Congress, as they had done in the electoral col-
leges, their former allies, the Democrats, who were still working
to effect compromises, they secured a majority for the Republi-
cans, who had bravely resolved not to make any further con-
cessions. The latter rejected Mr. Crittenden's compromise, for
the first time, on the 9th of January, declaring that the Constitu-
tion should be maintained as it was ; thus answering the argu-
ments of the instigators of the rebellion, who, even in the Fed-
eral legislature, attacked that Constitution in virtue of which they
held their seats in Congress.
The mission of the South Carolina delegates had, somewhat
late it is true, recalled President Buchanan to a sense of his pub-
lic duties. On the 8th of J-inuary he sent a message to Congress
• in which he announced his firm determination to perform them.
A few days before — ^the 5th of January — he resolved to revictual
Fort Sumter. But instead of openly sending some vessels of
war, he had despatched a simple transport-ship, which, as we
have stated, was stopped by a few cannon-shots at the entrance
of the bay of Charleston. Always tardy in his action, on the
18th he dismissed General Twiggs, who, on the 16th, had sur-
rendered the troops under his command to the insurgents of
Texas ; and on the 22d he caused the seizure of a cargo of arms
in New York, intended for the militia of the South, which had
already received vast supplies through the same channel.
Such was the situation at the beginning of February. In
response to an invitation from Virginia, a Peace Congress com-
posed of official delegates from twenty-one States assembled at
Washington on the 4th, under the direction of a former President
of the republic, Mr. Tyler. This assembly would have exercised
a large influence, if conciliation liad been practicable ; but a sim-
ple coincidence of dates demonstrated, by a striking contrast, the
uselessness of its efforts. On the very day when it began its
labors, the delegates from the rebel States were assembling at
Montgomery to seal their alliance by the formation of a new
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TEE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 129
Confederacy. While the pacificators were wasting time in use-
less speeches, the secession leaders were acting and preparing for
the struggle.
On the 8th of February the assembly at Montgomery decreed
the Constitution of the Confederate States, and on the following
day, the man who, through his talents and audacity, had been the
soul of secession, Mr. Jefferson Davis, was chosen President. In
order to conciliate those who still cherished a lingering attachment
to the Union, the Vice-Presidency was conferred upon their chief,
Mr. Stephens of Georgia, who, after fighting secession, had fol-
lowed the fortunes of his State. The first bond which was to
unite all the insurgents of the South together was thus formed.
These provisional appointments, limited to one year, were made
by the delegates without any intervention of the popular vote.
The Southern leaders had deemed it more prudent thus to dis-
pose of the principal offices without consulting those whom they
precipitated into civil war, lest a speedy repentance among some,
and a desire to leave at least the door of conciliation open among
a large class of the community, might interpose obstacles to their
designs. They at once invested their new President with the
powers which enabled him to give a vigorous and unique impulse
to the secession movement, and entrusted him, as has already
been shown, with the supreme control of military affairs and all
the necessary means for organizing an army,
Mr. Davis was installed into office on the 18th of February, and
set to work without being troubled by the empty protests of Mr.
Buchanan. The latter had yet fifteen days to remain in power.
This was precious time, of which the seceders availed themselves
to prepare for the coming conflict, not only in the States already in
rebellion, but also in the border States, where, under various pre-
texts, they organized the militia which were subsequently to be
embodied in the Confederate army. A disaster, which had long
been brewing through their contrivances, contributed to weaken
the power of the Federal government in their estimation, and to
increase their faith in its helplessness. General Twiggs, who com-
manded the regular troops stationed in Texas, was in accord with
the rebels. He suffered himself to be surrounded, in the city
of San Antonio, by the militia under the command of McCulloch,
Vol. L— 9
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130 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
and, hiding his treason under a shameful capitulation, on the
16th of February, he surrendered to the latter the troops he had
brought together for tliat express purpose. By a fatal coincidence,
his successor, Colonel Waite, who had hurried from the depths
of the wilderness to save this precious nucleus of an army, only
arrived in time to share the captivity of those he was coming to
command. The leaders of the secession movement, being still
obliged to conceal their design to a certain extent, in order not to
jeopardize their success, at first tieated these troops like those of
a foreign power with which they were not at war: the agree-
ment by which .they had been delivered up was called a treaty of
evacuation, and Waite was conveyed, with about twelve hundred
of his men, to Indianola, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico,
where, although promised permission to ship for any of the
Northern ports, he was detained under various pretexts. The
capitulation of San Antonio was not long in bringing forth its
fruit; by intimidating the Unionists of Texas it enabled their
adversaries to secure the popular vote in favor of the separation
of that State.
The 4th of March, which was to witness the inauguration of
Mr. Lincoln, was approaching, and that prospective event stimu-
lated the audacity of the seceders. While Virginia was protesting
against the presence in Washington of a few companies of regular
troops, which through the foresight of General Scott had been
ordered there, certain conspirators were planning to prevent the
installation of the new President by means of a contemplated out-
rage upon his j)crson, on his passage through Baltimore, which, as
they hoped, might end in assassination. He frustrated this murder-
ous scheme by assuming a disguise, and arrived in Washington
on the 23d of Februaiy, where Mr. Buchanan, &ithful to his
trust, notwithstanding his inexcusable weaknesses, hastened to put
himself in relation with him. The withdrawal from the Cabinet
of those who favored slavery had left an open field to men at-
tached to the Union, and one among them, Mr. Dix, Secretary of
the Treasury, had even the courage, on being informed of the seizure
of the mint in New Orleans, to reply by an order to shoot down
on the spot the first man who should touch the American flag.
Unfortunately, there was nobody left in that great city who would
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THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 131
dare to execute such instructions. The financial measures of Mr.
Dix were more successful ; it was easy tx) foresee large expendi-
tures ; the first issue of eight millions of dollars, part of the
loan of twenty-five millions voted for by Congress on the 8th of
February, were immediately subscribed for. The North was de-
sirous to prove that she would sustain the necessary measures for
defending the Constitution with all her resources. This, however,
was but an insignificant sum ; Congress, therefore, feeling that it
would soon be necessary to consolidate the national credit, and
secure to Mr. Lincoln's government the means of paying the in-
terest on the loans which it would be obliged to issue, raised the
rates of custom-house duties, which until then had almost sufficed
to meet the necessities of the national treasury.
We have already stated that the leaders of the secession move-
ment who held seats in the national Legislature had followed the
example of the members of the Cabinet, and left the Capitol the
moment that their respective States had broken the Union com-
pact. Consequently, Congress, whose powers expired on the 4th
of March with those of Mr. Buchanan, found itself, during the
last days of its^xistenoe, suddenly ruled by tlie Republicans, who
had previously been in the minority. They took advantage
of this circumstance to raise the character of Congress in the
eyes of the nation by an act which was at once patriotic and fore-
seeing.
The Democrats of the North and of the border States made a
last attempt to induce the Senate to adopt their plans of pretended
conciliation. They endorsed at first the propositions of the Peace
Congress, which, under their influence, had prepared a programme
openly sanctioning the right of secession. Beaten on this ground,
they again brought forward Mr. Crittenden's compromise. The
adoption of this measure, which misled many timid minds on
account of its specious promises to ward off civil war, would, in
reality, have secured the triumph of the slavery principle. This
fatal concession, by dividing the North, by taking from her all
faith in the justice of her cause, would have prepared an easy
victory for the seceders. After a long and grave discussion, it.
was rejected on the night of the 2d-3d of March. With this
votB terminated the existence of Congress, which the enemies of
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132 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
the Republic asserted loudly would be the last convened uiidef
the old Constitution.
On the following day Mr. Buchanan ceased to be the chief of
that nation he had been called upon to govern four years before,
when she was yet united and prosperous. The end of his adminis-
tration had been disastrous. He had tolerated everything; he bad
done nothing to crush out the rebellion in its inception, and had
left his successor without the means of fulfilling the task entrusted
to him. He delivered into his hands the government of a shat-
tered country ; and if civil war had not yet drenched America
in blood, it was simply because the rebellion was being organized
with impunity on its soil.
The accession of Mr. Lincoln to power was destined to mark a
new era in these events, and to precipitate the crisis of which his
election had been the pretext.
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CHAPTER IV.
FORT SUMTER.
THE inauguration of Mr. Lincoln at Washington on the 4.th
of March, 1861, will remain a memorable epoch in the his-
tory of the United States. The solemnity of that ceremony was
due to the imposing gravity of concurring circumstances, and not
to the mediocre pageantry with which traditionary custom sur-
rounded it. When Mr. Lincoln, accompanied by Mr. Buchanan,
his predecessor, and by his loyal competitor Mr. Douglas, his tall
form towering above all those around him, appeared upon the
portico of the Capitol to take the constitutional oath and to ad-
dress the assembled multitude, every one felt that the time for
fatal concessions had passed. The address of the new President,
written in practical language and shorn of all rhetorical flourishes,
ended with an appeal to the Union, the source of national great-
ness and dear to every patriotic heart — an appeal which, notwith-
standing its strange and mystic form, must have been understood
by all who heard it. The Republic had now a chief determined
to defend it, while respecting the constitutional rights and liberties
of all : those who regarded the principle of free labor as the es
sential basis of a free and democratic society saw at last the man
of their choice regularly invested with the insignia of the chief
magistracy ; those who, notwithstanding their affinities with slave-
holders, considered the maintenance of the Union as the first
article of political faith for every good citizen, could rally around
him without fear. The situation was clearly defined, and the re-
bellion was thenceforth without cause or excuses. Its leaders,
fully understood this ; accordingly, they no longer sought to shel-
ter themselves under the cover of false pretences.
Secession was an accomplished fact. The militia of the South
were getting ready in every direction, while the North, scarcely
133
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134 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
yet recovered from her first astonishment^ was compleiely unarmed,
did not know how far the insurrection extended, and still hoped
to be able to recall to their allegiance those of the great slave
States which had not yet proclaimed the act of separation. There
was, moreover, a party in the North blind to all the lessons taught
by the late events, which persistently tilked of concessions and
compromises, and, under the name of Peace Democrats, was try-
ing to cool the patriotism of the defenders of the Constitution.
Whether by accident or intentionally, the Confederates selected
the Uh of March to adopt a new flag, and on the day when Mr.
Lina>ln entered upon the discharge of his functions, the Stars and
Bars, as the banner of the rebellion was called, were audaciously
displayed in seven States. At the same time, more effective mea-
sures were taken to convince the Xorth that those States were fully
determined not to recognize the authority of the new President.
On the 6th of March the Montgomery Congress ordered a levy of
one hundred thousand men, as we have already stated, and on the
11th it adopted the project of a Constitution which had been sub-
mitted to it. Nothing more was wanting to put this Constitution
in force but the ratification by the people of each State.
Out of the seven rebel States, one alone (Texas) had called for
an expression of public sentiment upon the ordinance of secession
voted by her convention, before having it promulgated ; but the
separation once irrevocably accomplished, the other States were not
afraid of consulting the voters, for their vote could no longer in-
fluence the march of events. Thus it was that in the course of
the month all the States ratified the new Constitution. Having
no further occasion for using any precaution towards the North,
the political leaders of the South loudly proclaimed their \4ews
on the subject of slavery, and in an address which has become
celebrated, delivered by the Vice President of the Confederacy at
Savannah on the 21st of March, he explained this impious doc-
trine without any circumlocution, showing that slavery ought to
be the corner-stone of new communities ; that slavery, founded on
the inecjuality of races, was, in his opinion, in harmony with mod-
ern science, as also with biblical tradition ; and that in re-estab-
lisliing it in a formal manner, the founders of the Constitution at
Montgomery had achieved, if we are to believe Mr. Stephens,
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FORT SUMTER 135
a revolution fruitful of beneficial results for the future of civil-
ization.
In the mean time^ the slave States which had not broken up
their relations with Washington, oscillated between the two par-
ties, undecided as to what course to pursue. On the 4th of March
the convention of Arkansas pronounced against secession ; on the
19th that of Missouri adopted, with some reservations, a similar
resolution ; finally, on the 4th of April that of Virginia rejected
hy a strong majority the propositions of .the seceders. But these
States struggled in vain to resist the example of their associates
already engaged in the rebellion ; linked to their fortunes by that
terrible bond of complicity which, in politics as in private life,
places every malefactor at the mercy of the most daring, they
were, soon or late, drawn into the vortex by them.
Unfortunate Vii^inia, especially, who had contributed so much
in former days towards the foundation of the Republic, might,
by remaining faithful to the Constitution, have played even a more
important part than she did in the days of Washington ; but the
servile institution had demoralized her ; she had become a breeder
of slaves, and the interests of that odious traffic bound her to the
cause of the South, Consequently, seeing the Federal government
in jeopardy, the border States simply desired to keep up their
relations with it, in order to be the better able to profit by its
weakness, to intimidate it, and to make it subservient to their de-
mands. At a time when great political passions are struggling for
the mastery, such a r6le is always dangerous for those who attempt
to play it.
Mr. Lincoln had gone to work without allowing himself to be
discouraged by the difficulties of the situation. On the 5th of
March he formed his Cabinet, assigning the highest position, that
of Secretary of State, or minister of foreign relations, to Mr.
Seward, the most influential man in the Republican party. Pos-
sessing great mental acuteness, large experience of men and pub-
lic affiiirs, a perseverance equal to any trial, and rare vigor of
body and mind, in spite of his sickly appearance, Mr. Seward
concealed under the gloss of the lawyer a truly political acumen
and sincere patriotism.
Mr. Davis's government was not slow in giving the Federal
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136 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
government an opportunity to assert its policy. X<ooking upon
the States from which they had severed themselves as a foreign
country, the Confederate authorities sent an embassy to Washing-
ton to ask Mr. Lincoln to recognize them. Naturally enough, the
President would not look upon those envoys in any other light
than as citizens of the Union ; yet notwithstanding this cold re-
ception, they remained in Washington for more than a month,
being still in hope of extorting from the President one word
which might subsequently be brought up against him if he re-
sorted to force against the insurrection.
Mr. Lincoln had not then the means for adopting such a course.
His first duty was to save some few remnants of the national
property situated in the rebel States, which the latter had not y^t
succeeded in taking possession of. These were Forts Pickens and
Sumter, and the two forts located at the extremity of Florida,
both of which were protected against any sudden attack. More-
over, the regular troops included in the capitulation of San An-
tonio, which, according to that agreement, should have been re-
stored to their country, were still in Texas. . The transport ship
Star of the West was sent to take them on board and bring tliem
back to the North.
The large sloop-of-war Brooklyn had been lying at anchor for
some time in the bay of Pensacola, in front of Fort Pickens, with
troops, supplies, and ammunition ; but Mr. Buchanan, yielding to
the representations of the seceders, had not allowed that vessel
to land her cargo at the fort By order of Mr. Lincoln, this
landing was effected on the 12th of April.
The fate of the small garrison which defended the Federal flag
floating on Fort Sumter had become a subject of engrossing anxi-
ety both in the North and in the South ; the whole political ques-
tion which divided the two parties was here at stake. The author-
ities of South Carolina kept that garrison closely blockaded, de-
manding the immediate surrender of the fort it occupied, and
continuing to build powerful batteries on both sides of the bay
of Charleston in support of this demand. The border States,
Virginia in particular, true to the principles of State sovereignty,
also strenuously insisted upon the surrender of the fort by the
Federal government. At the North, the peace-at-any-prioe party
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FORT SUMTER, 137
— ^those who dreaded war more than humiliating (xinccssions —
boisterously sustained these demands. In short, the military au-
thorities having been informed by Major Anderson that he should
be obliged to capitulate on the 15th, for want of provisions, and
not thinking it possible to revictual him in time, advised him to
abandon the place of his own accord. Fortunately for the honor
of the Federal government, there was one man who believed it
possible, by the force of energy, to overcome these difficulties.
Mr. Fox, who was Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the
entire period of the war, possessed that peculiar kind of activity
and intelligence which rises superior to all obstacles, and can turn
the least resources to account when all hearts are discouraged.
Having visited Anderson at Fort Sumter, a plan had been agreed
upon between them for revictualling the garrison, and he pro-
posed to Mr. Lincoln to be himself the instrument for carrying it
out. A det^ided course of action had to be adopted. The Presi-
dent felt that the military necessities for the evacuation of Sumter
would not be appreciated either at the North or at the South, and
that it would be viewed on both sides as simply an act of weak-
ness and a voluntary concession to the demands of the rebellion.
It was better to fail than not to attempt to revictual the garrison.
Mr. Lincoln did not hesitate ; but being always disposed to deal
fairly even towards a perfidious enemy, he deemed it proper to
inform the authorities of South Carolina of his intentions (April
8). The excitement among the seceders was great, for they had
not anticipated so much determination and energy on his part.
The Confederate envoys left Washington suddenly, and the au-
thorities of Charleston went immediately to work to prevent the
revictualling of the garrison, by taking forcible possession of
Sumter. By the 9th of April, Mr. Fox had succeeded, despite
the incredulity and indifference of most of the authorities, in fit-
ting out, as if by magic, a naval force in New York. He him-
self embarked on board the Baltic with two hundred soldiers
secretly shipped. Three sloops-of-war with two tenders had pre-
ceded him, and were to join him in front of Charleston. But
a fatality attended this expedition which had been so ably or-
ganized. Contrary orders had changed the destination of the
principal sloop — the Powhatan, which carried the launches for
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138 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
landing — and sent her to Fort Pickens, the condition of which
also caused serious uneasiness. A storm dispersed the rest of the
fleet, and when, on the 12th of April, the Baltic, tossed by a very
stormy sea, which did not permit communication with the land,
appeared before Charleston, only two vessels were present at the
rendezvous.
In the mean time, the Confederates had determined to commence
hostilities. The moment for striking a decisive blow had arrived.
It was necessary to force those States which still hesitated into the
war, by making a direct attack upon the Federal flag, which ex-
ercised over them so powerful a prestiger. On the lltli of April,
Beauregard, who had been appointed general of the Carolina
troops, summoned Anderson to surrender the fort to him, offering
him every facility for evacuating it. This loyal soldier had re-
ceived no instructions from his government, and the idea of in-
augurating a civil war might have staggered him ; but he was one
of those who do not fear responsibility when the path of duty is
clearly defined. He replied that he had only four days' rations
left, but that so long as he had anything to eat he should not de-
liver up the fort confided to his custody.
On the following day, all the batteries which had been leisurely
erected along the beach opened a converging fire on the fort. The
excitement in Charleston, that hottest focus of secession, was at
its height. An old Virginian seventy-five years of age — Mr.
Ruffin — who had made himself conspicuous at all the popular
meetings by speeches, the violence of which contrasted strangely
with his venerable countenance and long white flowing hair, re-
quested the sad honor of being allowed to fire the first shot against
the national emblem. After one discharge, Anderson returned
the fire, and the battle was fairly commenced. But the garrison
of Sumter, being destitute of the proper accessories, could only
serve a small number of guns, and was already suff*ering from
want of provisions. The shells of the besiegers soon set fire to
the wooden buildings which covered the esplanade of the fort.
The cast-iron cisterns were broken in, and it became evident that
the defenders, driven into the casements by the stifling smoke,
would not be able either to silence the batteries of the enemy or
to resist his attacks much longer. The Confederates continued the
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FORT SUMTER. 139
bombardment during the whole night of the 12th-13th. The
garrison^ however, had only a few wounded ; there was no lack
of courage, and the men were sustained by the sight of the Fed-
eral vessels, which had been discovered in the horizon, even in
the midst of the conflict. But this distant apparition only made
them suffer the torments of Tantalus; for if those ships were
ready to brave the enemy^s batteries, a heavy, rolling sea did not
allow them to venture among the narrow and difficult passes at
the entrance of the bay. At last the conflagration burst forth
with renewed fury, and to avoid an explosion it was found neces-
sary to saturate a portion of the powder with water. The ammu-
nition was nearly exhausted ; six guns only replied to the enemy's
fire, and the garrison was reduced to the last extremity. The
only food left consisted of a few pieces of salt pork, the rest
having been all destroyed by the flames. Kesistance was no
longer possible.
An officer bearing a flag of truce came to demand the surrender
of the fort, and after some parley, Anderson went out with the
honors of war, to embark on board the Baltic, which, having
failed to revictual him, gave him at least an honorable refuge.
The garrison had only last one man, and this was a soldier who
was killed after the surrender of the fort by the fragment of a
gun which exploded in saluting the Federal flag. This com-
paratively harmless commencement was hardly a foreshadowing
of the bloody struggles which were to mark the course of the war.
The fall of Fort Sumter was received by the people of Charles-
ton, who had witnessed the bombardment, with transports of joy.
One would have supposed that the Federal government had been
vanquished beyond retrieval. The Southern militia were invin-
cible in the eyes of the rebels, and no one doubted, after such an
achievement, that the North would abandon the idea of troubling
the pretended independence of the South. The news of this event
rendered the secession intriguers more daring everywhere, and it
was glorified as a victory even in those slave States which had not
yet broken with the Union.
But the North, so far from allowing herself to be dLscouraged
by a check which was in reality very trifling, only viewed it in the
light of a bold challenge Xvhich it behooved her to take up im-
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140 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
mediately. On the very day that Sumter capitulated^ Mr. Lin-
coln, in reply to the delegates from Virginia, who, in their turn,
had united in a request for the surrender of that fort, defined the
duties imposed upon him by the Constitution and the will of the
j)eople who had elected him. He did not wish to interfere with
the local afiairs of the rebel States, but he would protect, by force
if necessary, the rights with which the central government was
invested in virtue of the Federal compact; he would not give
up the forts, nor renounce the custom-house duties, which he
alone had a right to collect all along the coast of the United
States, and he would close up the Federal post-offices through-
out the rebel States. When he heard pf the attack and capture
of Sumter, he did not wait for the explosion of popular indigna-
tion which that hostile act would produce in the North. He im-
mediately called an extra session of Congress to meet on the 4th
of July ; and making use of the powers vested in him, he issued
a call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend the national
cause. His proclamation, addressed to the governors of all
the States that had not yet joined the rebellion, fixed the con-
tingent that each State was to furnish. The levies of volunteers
were not made directly by the government at Washington ; their
enlistment and organization were left to the care of each State.
It was a means to try their fidelity, and to distinguish the earnest
supporters of the Constitution from its secret enemies.
The replies to this proclamation were not delayed. All the
free States protested their attachment to the Union, and imme-
diately took the necessary steps to raise a much larger force than
the contingents required of them ; finding themselves sustained
and directed by the central power, which clearly pointed out to
them where the common danger lay and what was the duty of
every man, the people of the North rushed to arms with a degree
of unanimity which never abated afterwards.
The slave States, on the contrary, utterly refused to co-operate
in the national defence, while the seceders, availing themselves of
this pretext, made a last effort to force them into the rebellion, in
the name of the sovereignty of the States, which, they said, had
been ignored by the President. They succeeded in almost every
State, thanks to the intimidation used towards the few Union
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FORT SUMTER. 141
partisans that were left. On the day following the proclamation
(April 16th) the governor of Virginia called out the State mili-
tia for the purpose of preventing the Federal troops from enter-
ing her territory, and his colleagues of the other slave States
followed his example by addressing insulting replies to Mr. Lin-
coln. The few governors who remained faithful to the Union
could not prevent the secessionists from taking the initiative of
insurrection.
The militia of Maryland, having assembled spontaneously in
spite of Mr. Hicks, took possession of Annapolis,, the capital of
the State, and of the Federal naval school^ which was located
there. The Texans seized the transport-ship Star of Uie West^
which was lying at anchor in the bay of Gralveston. Finally,
the Confederate government,, having openly declared war, an-
nounced the issue of letters of margue, and invited the rebel States
to fit out privateers to prey upon the merchant-vessels of the
North. The secession excitement reached the capital. This city,
surrounded by slave States, had always lived under the servile
institution, to which its population was ardently attached. The
secessionists flocked to it in great crowds, and loudly proclaimed
their sentiments ; they even thought of attempting a revolutioa
for the purpose of driving the Federal government away, and
some among them were actually arming with a view to that
daring feat. The position of Mr. Lincoln was a critical one, for
he had only a few companies of regular troops to make any
defence with. On being advised of this state of thitigs, the-
Northern States redoubled their activity in order to be in time
to succor the capital, the loss ^f which would have been a disas-
trous check to the national cause. Massachusetts, always the
most zealous, was the first in the field, and on the 17th she for-
warded two regiments of volunteers from Boston to Washington
Pennsylvania, although nearly one-half of her votes had been
given for Mr. Breckinridge, followed this example ; and owing to
her geographical position, her volunteers reached the shores of the
Potomac in advance of all the others. After passing through
the great city of Baltimore in the midst of an incipient insurrec-
tion, they encamped around the Capitol, on the 18th of April.
The seceders, on their side, had not lost a moment in Virginia.
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142 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
They were in possession of Richmond, where the convention wbf
in se.<sion; they availed themselves of these cireumstanoes to
consummate the rupture with the Federal government. Nothing
was left undone that might help to bring over the hesitating depu-
ties. The ordinance of secession was passed, but merely by a vote
of eighty-eight to fifty-^ve. This act was of great importance
to the Confederates, for Virginia alone brought more strength to
their cause than the seven States which had given the signal of
insurrection. It also promised to deliver into their hands the
vast establishments which the Federal government possessed in
Virginia — the Norfolk navy-yard and arsenal, the largest in the
United States, the great armory at Harper's Ferry, and Fort Mon-
roe, situated between the mouths of the James and York Rivers
in Chesapeake Bay, and commanding all those inland waters.
The Federal government had neglected until too late to adopt the
nece&sary precautions for the protection of those establishments
against any sudden attack, or at least for saving their valuable
contents. The workshops and arsenal of Harf)er's Ferry, situ-
ated at the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, on
a spot which was destined to play an important part during the
war, were only guarded by a detachment of sixty-four dis-
mounted dragoons; and the Virginia volunteers, assembled in
the valleys of the Blue Ridge, were ready to take possession of
them as soon as the ordinance for the secession of Virginia
should furnish them a pretext. They were then to cross the
Potomac and join the insurgents of Maryland, for the purpose
of attempting the capture of Washington, where their accom-
plices were expecting them. On the morning of the 18th, a por-
tion of them were on their march, in the hope of seizing the
prey which was to be of so much value to the future armies of
the Confederacy. But Lieutenant Jones, who was in command
at Harper's Ferry, had been informed of the approach of the
Confederate troops under the lead of Ashby — ^a chief well known
since ; notwithstanding their despatch, they only arrived in sight
of Harper's Ferry in time to see from a distance a large confla-
gration that was consuming the workshops, store-houses, and the
enormous piles of muskets heaped in the yards, while the Federal
soldiers who had just kindled it were crossing the Potomac on
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FORT SUMTER, 143
their way to Washington. The Confederates found nothing but
smoking ruins, and some machinery, which they sent to Rich-
mond ; their allies from Maryland had not made their appear-
ance, and they did not feel strong enough to venture alone to the
other side of the Potomac.
During the last few days the authorities of Virginia had been
making preparations for capturing the Norfolk arsenal (navy-
yard). That establishment possessed a magnificent granite basin,
construction stocks, and a d6p6t of artillery with more than two
thousand guns ; a two-decked vessel was on the stocks, two othere,
with a three-decker, three frigates, a steam sloop, and a brig, lay
dismantled in the port; the steam frigate Merrimac was there
undergoing repairs ; the steam sloop Germantoion was in the har-
bor ready to go to sea, while the sailing sloop* Oumberland was
lying to at the entrance of the port. The possession of all this
material of war would have enabled the Confederates to create a
navy, and the guns would have sufficed to arm all their forts.
The process of obstructing the passes, in order to blockade die
Federal vessels, had commenced on the 1 4th of April ; on the
18th, the day of the attempt against Harper's Ferry, the railroad
cars brought a number of Virginia militia to Norfolk, sent there
for the express purpose of taking possession of the arsenal.
Commodore McCauley, the Federal commandant, was sur-
rounded by traitors, who were numerous both among the work-
men of the arsenal and his own officers. The latter, who were
mostly Virginians, assured him of their devotion to the Union,
and, taking advantage of his weakness, persuaded him to sus-
pend ihQ execution of an order just received from Washington, in
consequence of which the 3IerrimaCf of more value to him than
all the otlier vessels then at Norfolk, was getting ready to go to
sea. On the following day they all tendered their resignations,
and joining the insurgent militia made preparations to capture
the arsenal. The fatal error of McCauley, however, ^\•as not
without a remedy ; he could have evacuated the arsenal, and, with
the armed vessels, have defended itsL approaches from the land
side until he should receive assistance, or should be able to take
away all the vessels that were afloat, by steering clear of the
obstacles, which did not completely obstruct the passes. But
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144 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
when he saw the Virginians present themselves at the gates of the
arsenal with cannon, he believed everything was lost; he prom-
ised not to change the position of a single vessel, and on the 20th
he onlered every ship to be sunk except the Cumberland, Just
as these vessels were slowly sinking into the water, Captain Paul-
ding arrived from Washington with a reinforcement of troops to
defend tlie arsenal, and also to supersede McCauley.
It was too late. Paulding could do nothing more than set fire
to the vessels, which the Confederates might otherwise have easily
raised again ;• some were completely consumed, others, like die
Merrimac, foundered before they had been destroyed by the fire.
There only remained afloat the Cumberland and the Pawnee,
which had brought Paulding over ; this officer, having no longer
the means to maintain himself at Norfolk, did what he could, on
the morning of the 21st, to destroy the arsenal buildings, and
then retired into the harbor of Hampton Roads. The Confeder-
ates found abundant resources in artillery and maUriel of every
description in Norfolk ; the fire was soon extinguished, the docks
repaired, and they succeeded in raising the Merrimac, which we
shall see at work the following year.
Fort Monroe had just been occupied by a small Federal gar-
rison. Its loss would have been even more disastrous to the
Federal cause than that of the Norfolk navy-yard and arsenal,
because the Confederates, instead of having to cover Richmond,
would have been able to blockade Washington by sea and be-
siege it by land; this circumstance alone would certainly have
prolonged the war far beyond the period to which it extended.
The vast importance of this small fortress, however, could not
be appreciated at a time when no one knew where defection would
stop. Nearly all the offices in Washington, from that of chief-
justice of the Supreme Court to that of the humblest department
clerk, were filled by friends and accomplices of the insurgents.
Some quitted their posts, as people abandon a sinking vessel, and
threw the whole service into confusion. Others only continued
in office to betray the secrets of the government to the enemy.
In the army such acts of perfidious treason did not occur, but, as
we have stated, defections were also very numerous. Each day
increased the number, and there were even some officers who,
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FORT SUMTER. 145
after hesitating a long time between their military duties and
their allegiance to the dogma of State sovereignty, decided to go
over to the enemy after the war should have assumed a serious
character.
In order to form an idea of the extent of this defection it is
only necessary to take up the Annual Register for September,
1861, a small pamphlet proportionate to the size of the army at
that period, and examine the chapter of losses by resignation and
otherwise. By the side of the death record, which contains only
eighteen names, there will be found a long list of officers who had
resigned their commissions in the regular army, beginning with
two generals, the two Johnstons, six colonels, Robert E. Lee
among the number, a great many of ihe liigher class of employ^\s
in the military departments, and occasionally more than half the
officers belonging to a regiment ; all together two hundred and
sixty-nine names out of about six hundred which the regular
army contained. This list, which one cannot read without pain-
ful wonder, comprises nearly the whole of the general staif of
the Confederate army, whose ranks were opened to the greater
part of those who had thus resigned their commissions.
The example of Virginia fired the enthusiasm of the secession-
ists everywhere, and they applied themselves to the task of draw-
ing into the conflict those slave States which were still hesitating.
On the 18th of April, the same day which witnessed the burning;
of Harper^s Ferry, they assembled at Louisville, in Kentucky, for
the purpose of openly organizing the rebellion. On the 20th the
authorities of North Carolina took possession of the Federal mint
at Charlotteville, and finally, the secession movement broke out.
in Maryland. The sight of the Pennsylvania volunteers had
caused a great irritation in Baltimore. That city, the largest ia
the slave States, i-ontaining a large number of proud and powerful
families, still wealthy, but already touched with the first symp-
toms of that decay which slavery engenders soon or late, was en-
vious of the prosperity of New York and Philadelphia, and
warmly sympathized with the South. Her location on the rail-
way line which connects Washiitgton with the great cities of the-
North imparted to her a peculiar importance. Consequently,,
the accomplices of the South, who were numerous in Baltimore,,
Vol. I.— 10
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1 46 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
determined to seize the first opportunity that might offer to drag
that city into the rebellion. The arrival of the troops which the
North was sending on for the purpose of protecting Washington
against a coup-de-main furnished them with an excellent pretext*
It was determined to oppose their passage^ as the greatest service
that could be rendered to the Confederate cause. The popuIaoCy
exasperated by the destruction of the arsenal at Harper^s Ferry,
and stirred up by the conspirators, was to take charge of the mat-
ter ; the authorities did not interfere. The looked-for opportu-
nity occurred on the following day, April 19. When the Sixth
Massachusetts regiment, with a few battalions of Pennsylvania
volunteers, arrived at the northern station, an immense crowd
bore down upon them. A line of rails, laid in the centre of the
streets, connected this with the southern station, and enabled the
cars, drawn by horses, to pass through the ciiy. The crowd
surround the soldiers of the Sixth Massachusetts, who occupy
these cars. The last cars are stopped, and the occupants, being
obliged to get out, endeavor to make their way through the
crowd.
But being hemmed in on all sides, they are soon attacked by
a shower of stones, which wound many of them, and injure a
few mortally. The soldiers have to defend themselves, and the
first discharge of musketry, which has considerable effect, opens
them a passage. But the aggressors, being armed, rally, and a
regular battle ensues between the small band of Federal troops
and the crowd, which presses them on all sides. At last, the
Massachusetts soldiers rejoin their comrades at the southern sta-
tion ; and getting on board a long train of cars that is waiting for
them, they slowly proceed towards Washington, followed at a
distance by the enraged multitude. The other troops, who remain
at the station where they have alighted, being unable to pass
through the city, are compelled to turn back. Baltimore was
iihenceforth in possession of the secessionists, who were fully de-
termined to take advantage of the situation of that city to inters
<«pt all communications between Washington and the North.
Accordingly, they hastened to bum the railroad bridges which
ihad been constructed over large estuaries north of Baltimore, and
ito cut the telegraph wires. Deprived of all sources of inforraa-
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FORT SUMTER. 147
tion from the North, the capital of the Union was soon wrappe<l
in mournful silenoe. For some days the occupant of the White
House was unable to forward any instructions to the people who
had remained faithful to the Union ; but their zeal did not abate
on that account. Patriotism extinguished all party animosities
in the hearts of most of the Democrats who had opposed the elec-
tion of Mr. Lincoln. In the presence of the national peril they
loyally tendered their assistance to the President ; and breaking
loose from their former accomplices of the South, they assumed the
name of War Democrats in opposition to that of Peace Democrats,
Their motto was the support of the Union, pure and simple.*
On the 20th of April, when tidings of the Baltimore riots
were received, the leaders of the party — Messrs. Dix, Baker, and
others, who were to become distinguished in the war — held a mass-
meeting in New York for the purpose of asserting their fidelity to
the Constitution, and of imparting thereby a truly national cha-
racter to tlie efforts of the North in its defence.
On the same day Greneral Wool, who was in command of all
the Federal troops east of the Mississippi, being without instruc-
tions from Washington, took the responsibility of forwarding
to the capital, by passing round Baltimore, all the forces already
organized he could dispose of. The way was opened by a Massa-
chusetts general — ^Mr. Butler, one of the most distinguished men
in the Democratic party ; at the head of a few troops from his
own State, he embarked on the Susquehanna River, proceeded
down Chesapeake Bay, and came to anchor in front of Annapo-
lis, which had been in possession of the rebels for three days.
This little town was connected with Washington by a railway
which made a junction with the main line south of Baltimore,
thus rendering it easy to avoid the insurgent city.
Again, on the same day — April 20 — the volunteers raised by
the State of Illinois occupied a position in the West highly im-
portant for future army operations — ^that of Cairo, a town situated
on a marshy peninsula at the confluence of the Ohio and Missis-
sippi Rivers. In the mean while, the Federal authorities deter-
mined to frustrate the intrigues of the insurgents' accomplices in
the North by seizing all the telegraph wires, which the latter had
used with impunity until then for their criminal purposes. Finally,
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148 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
OD the 26th of April, Fort Pickens was placed out of all danger
by the arrival of the Powhatariy which, as we have stated, had been
detached from the expedition fitted out by Fox for revictualling
Major Anderson, and which was at least able successfully to ac-
complish the new task assigned to her.
Thus the week following the attack and capture of Fort Sum-
ter witnessed the cessation of all hesitancy on both sides. Blood
was flowing ; the struggle was extending farther and farther, and
the march of events was progressing rapidly.
On the 22d of April the Virginia convention conferred upon
' Colonel Lee the command of all the forces of that State ; on the
24th, repudiating its former declarations, it announced the acces-
sion of Virginia to the Southern Confederacy, without waiting for
the popular vote, which had yet to be taken on the act of separa-
tion itself. On the following day the same convention ordered a
levy of volunteers, and invited the Confederate government to re-
move its head-quarters to Richmond, until they could be trans-
ferred to Washington. These violent measures met with a strong
opposition on the part of those counties occupying the western
slopes and elevated valleys of the Alleghanies. This region,
known by the name of Western Vii^inia, had been settled for the
most part by people who had come from the north-cast, like those
\\\\o inhabit the free State of Ohio, from which it was only sepa-
rated by the river of that name. These peojJe liad kept up a con-
stant intercourse with the State they had emigrated from, and to
which they were bound by their own interests and the configura-
tion of the country in which they lived. Slavery only existed in
a legal form, but not in their customs. Their delegates to the
convention, therefore, had all voted against secession. They re-
fused to acquiesce in it, and on the 22d of April they held a meet-
ing at Clarksville for the purpose of sustaining the Federal com-
pact which their colleagues wanted to compel them to break.
In the mean time, volunteers were hurrying from all parts of
the North ; the danger which threatened the capital stimulated
their zeal, and their organization — which we will explain at full
length in the following chapter — was everywhere pursued with
feverish activity. Reinforcements were promptly sent to Butler,
who landed them and took possession of Annapolis ; theu, foUow-
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FORT SUMTER. 149
ing the line of railway, which the insurgents had destroyed, he
repaired the line, and on the 25th of April took sudden possession
of the point where tliis branch of the railway connected with the
main line.
Communications with Washington were thus reopened, and on
the following day three New York regiments came to guarantee
the safety of the capital. The plans of the secessionists for its
capture were frustrated, and the Federal government was at last
enabled to devote itself with more safety to the immense task it
had on hand. The l^islature of Maryland, having met at Fred-
erick, the very centre of the insurrection, despite the loyal though
feeble effoiis of Gt)vernor Hicks, protested in vain against the
bold proceedings of Butler ; but the militia, which had been called
out, did not dare to trouble the latter.
At the other extremity of the line which separated the free
from the slave States, the Unionists of Missouri were at the same
time organizing for the purpose of resisting the governor of that
State, who was openly preparing for secession, and had called out
the militia of the counties devoted to the cause of the South to
sustain him.
In the Tennessee legislature, convened to meet on the 25th, the
Confederates, by means of threats, could count upon a devoted
majority. On the Ist of May this assembly authorized the gov-
ernor of the State to enter the Confederacy, while on the same
day that of North Carolina voted a levy of thirty thousand vol-
unteers to oppose the Federal troops. The Confederate Congress,
having assembled at Montgomery on the 29th of April, directed
this movement, which was increasing and spreading with rapidity,
promising soon to draw the representatives of all the slave States
into its fold.
It was no longer possible to indulge in any self-deceptions re-
garding the power of the rebellion. The seventy-five thousand
volunteers that had been asked of the several States were evidently
insufficient to fight it. As we have stated, the slave States had
refused to contribute their quota for the maintenance of the Union,
while the Northern States were ready to double or triple it when-
ever the President should ask them to do so. The latter deter-
mined to order a new levy on the 3d of May. He called for
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160 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
forty-two thousand volunteers. But this time, instead of appeal-
ing to each State, as he had done in the first call, for a fixed and
fully organized contingent, he simply asked them for regiments,
which were afterwards to be enrolled and formed into brigades by
the Federal authority ; the terms of enlistment were no longer to
be for three months, but for three years, or during the war if it
should terminate sooner. This clause showed that the authorities
comprehended at last what the duration of the war might be, but
it did not prevent volunteers from rushing in crowds to offer their
services. The desire to defend the Union animated all hearts,
while the want of work, caused by the prevailing stagnation in
every kind of business, facilitated enlistments. Two hundred
and eight regiments were organized without the least delay or
difficulty in the Northern States, and one hundred and fifty-three
of these, amounting to more than one hundred and eighty-eight
thousand men — that is to say, four times the number asked by
Mr. Lincoln — were mustered into service two months after. The
standing army was to be reconstructed by the call, made at the
same time, for twenty-two thousand seven hundred and fourteen
regulars. Finally, a levy of eighteen thousand sailors to fit out
a naval fleet was ordered.
The navy was about to have a hard task to perform. The ex-
tent of the Southern coasts, indented with deep bays, possessing
excellent ports, and presenting numerous inlets for shelter and
safety to those acquainted with the labyrinth of islands and es-
tuaries to be found there, afforded great facilities for trade, smug-
gling, and maritime warfare. The leaders of the rebellion were
preparing to take advantage of this. The Southern States, de-
voted to the cultivation of cotton and the sugar-cane, had hitherto
depended entirely upon Northern merchants and navigators, who
exported their produce, and brought them in. exchange, either
from America or Europe, nearly all the commodities necessary to
a civilized community. They thought the old continent could
not dispense with their produce any more than they could with
its commodities. They relied, moreover, upon the spirit of specu-
lation, being convinced that it would not fail to come to them for
cotton, of which they were the sole possessors, and supply them
with arms and munitions of war in return. In short, if they
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FORT SUMTER. 151
oould exist without articles of luxury, and if a change in the cul-
tivation of the soil would secure them provisions, the spoils of the
Union arsenals would not suffice to equip all the troops they pro-
posed to raise. A direct trade with Europe was therefore indis-
pensable to them ; this was carried on under the flags of neutral
powers, especially that of England. The flag of the new Con-
federacy could not be hoisted except on vessels fitted out for war-
purposes, otherwise it would have been at the mercy of the nu-
merous Federal cruisers ; but the few privateers that carried it —
many of which never even once touched at a Confederate port —
showed, by the injury they inflicted upon the merchant navy of
the North, what a formidable arm the insurgents would have had
in their hands if they had been able to fit out those vessels in
their own ports. It was necessary, therefore, in view of these
facts, to establish a strict blockade of their coasts. Every gov-
ernment has the right to blockade the ports under the jurisdic-
tion of its sovereignty through the medium of a proclamation.
The Constitution having conferred upon the Federal power the
exclusive privilege of establishing and collecting custom-house
duties, the moment that the insurrection prevented the govern-
ment from collecting such duties on land, the blockade was its
only alternative for maintaining this privilege, and it could resort
to such alternative without going beyond the limits of its prerog-
atives. Accordingly, on the 19th of April Mr. Lincoln issued a
proclamation declaring all the coasts of the States then in rebel-
lion in a state ol blockade, and on the 29th, when the secassion
of North Carolina was imminent and that of Virginia had been
proclaimed, he extended the blockade to those States likewise.
To establish an effective blockade along a coast which extends
from the Rio Grande on the frontier of Mexico to the mouth of
the Potomac near Washington, was an immense undertaking;
we shall see presently how the Federal fleet went to work to ac-
complish this task. Disorganized, scattered, and lacking the
necessary number of vessels, it naturally could not at fii'st estab-
lish the blockade as strictly everywhere as modern usages require
in cases of international wars ; this gave rise to frequent disputes
with European powers, whose commerce was attracted to South-
ern ports by the precious deposits of cotton which had accumu-
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152 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
lated there. But, as we shall explain at the end of this volume,
those powers transcended their rights when, instead of protesting
against the blockade, if they found it ineffectual, they made its
establishment a pretext for recognizing the belligerent rights of
the insurgents.
The manner in which the North had answered Mr. Lincoln's
call, enabled the government, not to attack the rebellion on its
own ground as yet, but at least to limit its progress. It was
necessary, first of all, to free the Capital completely from danger
and secure its communications with the loyal States. The safety
of Washington depended upon the possession of Baltimore ; and
if the enemy had remained master of that city, the war would
have been carried to the borders of the Susc^uelianna.
The Unionists, although in a minority in the city of Balti-
more, had taken fresh courage, and no longer concealed tlieir
sympathies. Butler, who had remained at Annapolis Junction,
determined, with the forces at his disposal, to reinstate the Fed-
eral authority in that city, and on the 6th of May he took pos-
session of the Relay House, another important railway junction,
which was only a few leagues distant from the first. On the 9th,
Colonel Patterson joined him with some Pennsylvania volunteers,
after passing rapidly through Baltimore, that city being too much
astonished at such a daring act to oppose his course. On the
14th, Butler made a feint to the westward, and, while (Jeneral
Scott was preparing the plan of a regular campaign for the pur-
pose of capturing the rebel city, he suddenly, after a night's
march, took possession of the heights surrounding it without a
fight. Baltimore was at his mercy ; on the same day he entered
the city with his troops, reopened the direct line of railway which
traversed it, and compelled the leaders of the secession party, who
had held control of it during four weeks, to submit. His first
step was to take away from them the means of making another
attempt in behalf of tlie Confederates. The Constitution granted
to the President, in the event of an insurrection, the most extensive
powers, subject to the approval of Congress. Mr. Lincoln availed
himself of this prerogative to susi)end the habeas corpus, that
essential guarantee of individual liberty without which no j^eople
can be really free, the privileges of which, however, cannot be
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FORT SUMTER. 153
accorded by a nation in arms to those who are in open rebellion
against her laws. The forts which command the entrance to Bal-
timore were soon turned into prisons for those secession leaders
who had conspired to invite the enemy to take possession of their
city. This severe step consolidated the Federal authority, paci-
fied the city, which had been the scene of the bloody riot of the
19th of April, intimidated those who were preparing for a renewal
of similar disturbances elsewhere, and gave the Northern States
confidence in the vigor of the new government.
All these States, through the medium of their legislatures,
encouraged the government to fight the rebellion resolutely ; and
the events which transpired both in the West and in the South,
between the call for volunteers and the capture of Baltimore, did
not permit any further hesitation as to what that government
ought to do. In fact, on the 6th of May, while the Confederate
Congress was endorsing Mr. Davis's proclamation announcing the
issue of Idiers of marqtce, the Arkansas convention, intimidated
by the threats of the rebels, was voting in favor of secession.
On the following day the legislature of Tennessee joined the
Confederacy, without waiting for the popular vote on the ordi-
nance of secession, and in spite of the determined opposition of
the eastern districts, which were as much in favor of the Union
as their neighbors of West Virginia ; they crowned this act of
violence by ordering a levy of fifty-five thousand men. In Texas,
Van Dorn continued to pursue the remnants of the regular army
with all the eagerness of a man who had deserted his colors.
His former comrades, betrayed through the defection of Twiggs,
were, some of them, in San Antonio with Colonel Waite, the
remainder with Major Sibley at Indianola, where they had been
conveyed under promise of being allowed to ship for the North ;
none of these soldiers, notwithstanding the many offers they
received, had forsaken their commanders to enter the service of
the rebels. The latter, astonished and annoyed at this persistent
loyalty to the Federal flag, sought out an opportunity to retain
them as prisoners.
The bombardment of Sumter furnished them such an oppor-
tunity in time. As soon as the Texas authorities received infor-
mation of the fact, they declared that, being at war with the gov-
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154 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
emment of Washington, they no longer recognized the capitula-
tion of San Antonio, and that all the Federal troops which hap-
pened to be on their territory must be considered as prisoners
of war.
Van Dom was charged with the execution of this order, which
was a violation of a sacred pledge. Sibley was waiting at Indian*
ola to embark on the Star of the Wedy the same transportnship
which, a short time before, had vainly attempted to revictual
Fort Sumter. Being ignorant of the fate of that vessel, which
had been seized in the port of Galveston, he had already got into
the boats that were to take him and his soldiers on board, out-
side the bay of Matagorda, when instead of the Star of the West
he saw several Confederate steamers loaded with troops under the
command of Van Dorn. He was obliged to disembark; and
being without means of defence, he had to submit to the condi-
tions imposed upon him. After being kept for some time pris-
oners, the Federals were released on parole until they could be
exchanged. Waite and the officers who were with him in Saa
Antonio experienced the same fate. There was still left a detach-
ment of the Eighth Regulars, consisting of about three hundred
men, who were slowly returning from the posts situated in the
neighborhood of El Paso del Norte ; on reaching Central Texas,
they found the insurgents in possession of all the d6p6ts upon
which they were to subsist ; and being soon surrounded by Van
Dorn, who had come to meet them with fifteen hundred men,
they were obliged to lay down their arms at San Lucas Springs,
on the 9th of May.
In making his preparations, while Secretary of War, for the
surrender of the Federal army stationed in the South-west of the
Union into the hands of his accomplices, General Floyd had not
confined his operations to Texas, where we have seen the treason
of Twiggs and Van Dorn fully successful. He had sent Colonel
Loring -to Santa F6 to take command of the regular forces, num-
bering twelve hundred men, stationed in New Mexico, with Colonel
Crittenden as second in command ; these two officers were entirely
devoted to the cause of the South, and we shall soon find them
again with Floyd at the head of Confederate armies. The news
of the breaking out of the civil war only reached that distant
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FORT SUMTER, 155
Territory at a late date ; but as soon as it was received, Loring
and Crittenden set to work to wthdraw it from the jurisdictioDi
of the Federal government, and to carry with them the troops
which had been confided to their care. But as it had occurred in
Texas, the soldiers and most of their officers nobly resisted the
solicitations of those faithless chiefi, who failed to find among the
settlers, as Twiggs had found, an armed force ready to assist them.
Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, having fathomed their schemes, en-
couraged and directed this opposition ; and when Loring sought
to lead the forces under his command into Texas, the officers sta-
tioned at Santa F^, Albuquerque, and at Forts Craig and Stanton
refused to obey him. Mutwithstanding their isolated position,
they thus succeeded in securing New Mexico to the Federal gov-
ernment. Loring and Crittenden, still trying to conceal their in-
tentions^ then took refuge In Fort Fillmore, situated at the south-
em extremity of that Territory, near El Paso del Norte, where
they had previously massed half their troops under command of
officers upon whom they could more thoroughly rely. Major
Lynde, who was in command, became, either through incapacity
or connivance, an instrument in their hands, the more useful on
account of his continued professions of allegiance to the Federal
flag. It so happened that during the month of July, Lynde,
having gone out of the fort for the purpose of dispersing a body
of Texas partisans, allowed himself to be shamefully beaten by
them near Mesilla, and soon after he was ordered by Loring to
evacuate the fort and to retire towards Albuquerque, on the
Santa F6 route. This was to lead his troops to certain de-
struction. Nothing was neglected to secure this result. The can-
teens of the soldiers who had to march across a burning plain
were filled with brandy. The Texans, being informed of their
approach, gathered from every part of the country to waylay
them on their passage. The Federals left on the evening of the
1st of August ; when, tired out by a night-march, and most of
them intoxicated through a free use of the liquor which had
been perfidiously administered to them, they reached, at day-
break, the ambuscade towards which their officers were leading
them, they found themselves suddenly surrounded by a swarm of
enemies, and just as they were preparing for a fight they were
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166 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ordered to lay down their arms. Their baggage and the funds
belonging to the army were delivered over to tlie enemy, who,
after extorting from them a promise not to serve during the war,
allowed them to resume their march in the direction of Albuquer-
que. Deprived of all that was needed for crossing those sterile
regions, abandoned by a portion of their officers, overwhelmed by
the treason which had taken away their arms, those unfortunate
men only reached their place of destination after experiencin-r
great sufferings, and leaving a considerable number of their com-
panions behind amid the gloomy solitudes into which they had
been driven.
They had at least the consolation of beholding once more the
national flag, and of meeting comrades at Albuquerque who had
remained as faithful to their oaths as themselves. Notwithstand-
ing this disaster. New Mexico was saved, and during that whole
year (1861) the Confederates did not make another attempt to
dispute its possession with the Federal government.
The remoteness of the States that are to be the theatre of war
has compelled us to anticipate for a while the chronological order
of this narrative. We hasten to return to it.
In Missouri the secessionists, sustained by Governor Jackson,
had become even bolder since the capture of Fort Sumter than
those of Maryland. The great city of St. Louis, situated near
the triple confluence of the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the
Illinois, was a tempting prize for them; they were above all
anxious to seize the Federal arsenal, situated at no great distance
from that city, and containing arms and ammunition, of which
they stood in great need. Since the end of April more than ten
thousand men had been raised and equipped under the super-
vision of the governor, and a regiment of militia, nearly twelve
hundred strong, was encamped at the very gates of St. Louis, in
a camp destined to serve as a centre for the rebel army. Fortu-
nately for the Federal government, there was in St. Louis a man
of energy and daring. Captain Lyon, who occupied the arsenal
with four or five hundred regular troops. Having observed for
more than a month past that the slaveholders were openly organ-
izing, lui had made his own preparations ; the Union men of St
Louis had enrolled themselves to the number of more than six
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FORT SUMTER, 157
thousand, mostly German emigrants, in a corps which the Fed-
eral government had recognized, and which ensured the safely of
the arsenal. On the 10th of May, Lyon led these troops secretly
towards the rebel camp, surrounded it, and captured all that were
there without striking a blow. This bold stroke frustrated all
the plans of the governor and his accomplices, and caused a great
sensation in the ciiy of St. Louis. The soldiers who were escort-
ing the prisoners to the arsenal were assailed by a large crowd ;
they fired upon it and wounded a considerable number of persons.
On the following day the exasperated secessionists returned to the
charge, and musket shots were exchanged between them and the
troops. But the efforts of the rebels proved fruitless ; order was
promptly restored in St. Louis, and that great city was wrested
for ever from the Confederates. It was three days after this that
Butler recaptured Baltimore.
The occupation of these two cities forms an important era in
that gloomy period, when it was difficult to say whether the coun-
try was at peace or at war, for it finally put a stop to the progress
of the rebellion. At the East, Baltimore was the key to Wash-
ington. In the West, St. Louis, the third city of the South in
population, was second to none in the importance of her militaiy
and commercial position. In the hands of the Federals, she
opened to them the gates of the Mississippi, which flowed di-
rectly through the enemy's territories ; in the hands of the Con-
federates, she would enable them to dispute with their adversaries
the possession of the great States of the North-west, watered by
the three rivers which meet at St. Louis. The leaders of the
secession movement had lost these two important positions for
want of promptness and vigor. Being themselves astonished at
the success of their rebellion, they had failed to take advantage
of that critical moment in all revolutions, when he who has taken
the initiative may dare and accomplish everything. They had
allowed themselves to be forestalled at St. Louis, and had neglected
to make use of the four weeks during which Baltimore was in pos-
session of their friends, to bring that proud city irretrievably to
their side, garrison it with troops, and place it in a state of defence.
A Massachusetts lawyer, an improvised general, had been more
clear-sighted and active than themselves.
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"War had therefore oommenoed, but it was a local war, and all
along the line which separated the free from the slave States, those
who were friendly neighbors the day before, having become enemies,
mutually watched each other, not yet knowing when or how they
should come to blows. The capture of Baltimore had not dis-
couraged the secessionists, who were still organizing in different
counties of Maryland, Virginia, with the exception of the west-
em counties, was in full rebellion ; she was erecting batteries all
along her coast which were being rapidly armed ; those at Sew-
all's Point, in front of Fortress Monroe, fired upon a Federal
vessel on the 19th of May, while those which were in process of
construction along the right bank of the Potomac, threatened to
blockade before long the navigation of that river, through which
all the supplies for the capital were obtained. On the 23d of
May, while the majority of the electors of Virginia were going
through the idle formality of voting for the ordinance of separa-
tion, which had been put in force without waiting for their ver-
dict, the militia of the State were assembling at Harper's Ferry
to occupy that important point permanently and complete their
organization. Placed under the command of Johnston, one of
the two generals of that name who a month before had left
the Federal service, they served as a nucleus to one of the
armies of the rebellion. It was the first organized corps which
threatened the Federal authorities at Washington and in Mary-
land.
Kentucky, on her side, was still hesitating, and her alliance
was deemed of so much importance, that neither of the two
parties dared to violate her neutrality, for fear of turning her
into a foe.
The slaveholders of Missouri, despairing of their ability to
compel that State to espouse the cause of the South, were endeav-
oring at least to exclude the Federals from it. Sterling Price,
whom we have already met in New Mexico, and of whom we
shall yet have frequently occasion to speak, wrested from the
weakness of the Federal general Harney a treaty which guaran-
teed the neutrality of that vast country ; but Mr. Lincoln, better
advised, refused to sanction that act.
North Carolina, who had been one of the last to enter the
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FORT SUMTER. 159
Union, was also the last to leave it to join the Confederates ; but,
being surrounded on all sides by the latter, she allowed herself at
last to be carried away, and on the 20th of May her convention
proclaimed the ordinance of secession.
In the mean while, the Montgomery Congress was consolidating
the new Confederacy ^hich it represented, and adopting stringent
measures to prepare for war. On the 16th of May it had ordered
the issue of paper money to the amount of twenty million dollars.
On the 21st it resorted to an ingenious experiment for the purpose
of increasing its financial resources, through the promulgation of
two decrees. The purport of the first was to absolve all Southern
merchants from the obligation of paying their Northern creditors,
but instead of cancelling these debts, it sought to appropriate them
to its own profit. As may be imagined, not one of them was
willing to conform to this requirement, which did not diminish
their burden, but left them under the weight of a double claim.
The object of the second decree was to concentrate in the hands
of the government all the power which the ownership of cotton
conferred. It reserved to itself the right to export this precious
article, either by sea or land, to the exclusion of private individu-
als. It purchased the cotton from the latter, and paid in bonds,
which it had the power to issue in unlimited quantities ; then it
sent this, cotton to Europe to get gold in exchange, with which
to procure such arms and outfits as it might require.
This lucrative trade could not be entirely prevented by the
blockade ; but as it encountered numerous obstacles, the financial
combination of the Confederate government was more cleverly
developed at a later period, to the cost of English capitalists, by
means of what was called cotton loansy an operation through which
that government obtained a large sum of money in specie on the
London Exchange — ^the use of which we shall mention hereafter
—offering as a sufficient guarantee those cargoes of cotton accu-
mulated in its ports, the exportation of which was interfered with
by Federal cruisers.
The line which was to separate the belligerents was therefore
beginning to be distinctly drawn. The insurgents could find no
more national property upon their soil to seize ; street fights had
decided the fate of the two large cities which they might at first
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160 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
have carried with them. The Federal government knew thencft^-
forth where its friends and foes were to be found — an advantage
which had been dearly bought, it is true. These sad preliminaries
were completed before the end of May, and throughout the States
where secession had been proclaimed, the Federal flag only floated
upon three isolated points on the coast — Forts Pickens, Monroe,
and the forts on the twin islands of Key West and Garden Key.
In one word, with the exception of two tongues of sandy land
and two barren rocks, the whole of that immense territory was to
be conquered anew.
Neither of the two governments, however, had formed an exact
idea of the task that lay before it, and the means to be used in
order to accomplish it. Mr. Davis and his advisers were unable
to say whether a single victory would open the doors of the White
House to them and bring the disheartened North to their feet ;
should they make a bold attempt to carry the war into the heart
of the enemy's country, or remain everywhere on the defensive ?
The choice for them between these two kinds of tactics depended
upon the determination and moral resources of their adversary ;
and the latter did not even know them himself. The duty of the
Federal government was clear: the insurrection must be sup-
pressed, but there was no precedent to enable the government to
appreciate the magnitude of the undertaking. An unconstitu-
tional power, organized under the name of Confederate govern-
ment, had seized the national property, and resisted the collection
of custom-house duties and the execution of tlie Federal laws.
Would it suflice to retake passession of the forts, arsenals, and
mints ; to reinstate the custom-house officers and drive out the so-
called government ? Or would it be necessary to reconquer, foot
by foot, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, those vast regions
of country which the largest armies would be inadequate to de-
fend at all points? Would it be a military promenade or a war
of conquest? No one was able to predict; but in the North, as
well as in the South, the impression was universal that the war
would not be of long duration, and that the first encounters
would settle the question ; nobody believed that the volunteers
summoned by Mr. Lincoln to serve for three years, or during the
war, would see their terms of enlistment expire amid the din of
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FORT SUMTER. 161
battle ; neither party had as yet formed an idea of the sacrifices
its opponent was capable of making.
Although neither government was yet in a condition to under-
take a serious war, both parties were anxious for hostilities to
commence.
The Confederate Congress on its adjournment^ May 23d^ had
decided to meet again at Richmond on the 20th of July. On the
27th of May, Mr. Davis removed, with all his government, to
the capital of Virginia, thus binding that powerful State to his
cause by indissoluble ties. By fixing his quarters as near the
Capitol as possible, he at the same time braved the Federal gov-
ernment, and thereby hastened the breaking out of hostilities on
the soil of the State which had so imprudently claimed the honor
of possessing the central government of the new Republic. So
that, while in the West the efforts of the secessionists, confined to
the sphere of partisan warfare, did #ot reach beyond the right
bank of the Missouri, while Kentucky was waiting for the de-
crees of fortune to regulate her course, while West Virginia, true
to the Union, was removing the seat of war from the borders of the
Ohio, — the position of the two hostile capitals rendered it necessary,,
for their mutual protection, to concentrate the first armies within
the narrow space which divided them. It was between the Potomac
and the James River that the first serious engagements must nat-^
urally take place.
The organization of a body of troops under Johnston at Harper's
Ferry showed that the Richmond authorities had fully understood
this. At the same time, and with all possible secrecy, they massed
their new levies at Manassas Junction, which has become so cel-
ebrated since. These two points protected Richmond from all
attack, while menacing Maryland on one side and Washington on
the other. Harper's Ferry was the key to the great valley of the
Shenandoah, which penetrates into the heart of Virginia, and
Johnston was thus master of the two lines of railway which
branch off at that place— one to follow the course of the Shenan-
doah in a southerly direction, the other, the right bank of the
Potomac westward. The occupation of Manassas Junction, which
is only forty kilometres from Washington, warranted the assump-^
tion that the first battle would be fought nearer this city thaa
Vol. I.— 11
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Richmond ; it gave the Confederates control of the only railway
which connected the two capitals, and of a branch which, pen-
etrating by way of Manassas Grap into the valley of the Shenan-
doah, secured easy communication with Harper's Ferry.
The Federal government was likewise preparing for the strug-
gle at various points in Virginia. On the 22d of May, Butler
arrived at Fort Monroe, where he soon received considerable rein-
forcements, for the importance of this position was at last appre-
ciated. He found there a number of negroes who had run away
from the neighboring plantations ; being in want of laborers for
the purpose of fortifying the approaches of that place, he em-
ployed them on the work, giving them food and a certain amount
of wages. Their owners came to claim them. This incident
thus raiswl at the outset of the war the very question which had
been the cause of it. To surrender the slaves would have clashed
with all the sentiments of e(jliity in the North, who, since the act of
secession had been consummated, no longer felt under any obliga-
tion to make those concessions to the South which she was ready
to grant before, for the sake of maintaining the Union ; to de-
clare them free would have been to overstep the limits of Mr.
Lincoln's programme, who did not feel himself justified in fight-
ing the insurgents except in defence of the Constitution, and not
for the purpose of interfering with the peculiar institutions of the
States. Butler had always been politically opposed to the Repub-
lican party ; he nevertheless refused to surrender the fugitives, and
found an ingenious method of setting aside the question of prin-
ciple by declaring that, as they belonged to the enemy and might
be employed by the latter in constructing military works, he
seized them as contraband of war. This term contraband was
afterwards applied to those negroes who came to seek the protec-
tion of the Federal flag, even after their emancipation had been
proclaimed. By the 27th of May, Butler had firmly established
himself around Fortress Monroe by occupying Newport News,
which commands the best anchorage in the neighborhood.
In the mean time, Washington was placed beyond the reach of
the cotip de main which the secessionists had I een contemplating
for the last six weeks; large earthworks had been thrown up on
the heights which surround the city on the Maryland side, but
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FORT SmiTEK 163
these were not sufficient to protect it. On the opposite side of the
Potomac there is another range of hills which entirely command
the capital of the Union, a rugged ground, covered with magnif-
icent forests, where the movements of troops may easily be con-
cealed. These hills, the largest of which is crowned by Arlington
House, then the property of General Lee, slope down gradually to
the edge of the Potomac, from the point where the river begins
to feel the influence of the tide, to the little town of Alexandria,
where it becomes navigable for large vessels. They are connected
with the opposite side of the river by a bridge of the Ohio Canal
at Georgetown and the Long Bridge, a wooden structure situated
in front of Washington. These hills were formerly a part of the
District of Columbia, a Federal territory placed under the exclu-
sive jurisdiction of Congress, but all the right bank of the Poto-
mac had been ceded back to Virginia. It was of great imi)ort-
anee to occupy these heights and fortify them. On the 24th of
May several regiments left Washington secretly, and took posses-
sion of the whole chain of hills from Georgetown to Alexandria.
Only a few mounted Confederates were seen in the latter city.
The population, which consisted entirely of secessionistSj made
but a feeble resistance ; but Colonel Ellsworth, a young officer
of great promise, was assassinated while in the act of hauling
down the rebel flag from the top of a house, and the tragic death
of this officer, the first news of the kind that had reached the
North, caused a great sensation. The Federal troops immediately
set to work to fortify the positions they occupied ; in a few days
they covered them with a line of redoubts and breastworks, which,
although constructed in haste, were nevertheless sufficient to put
them in a state of defence. In proportion as the volunteer regi-
ments arrived in Washington, those which seemed most able to
take the field were forwarded to the right bank of the Potomac.
There was at last stationed near the capital, if not an army, at
least a vast assemblage of armed men. The command of these
troops was conferred on General McDowell, w-ho had long held
an important position on the staff* of General Scott. It was a
difficult task, but McDowell possessed as much experience of
military affairs as it was possible for any American officer to
have acquired ; he was well acquainted with his profession, and
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had too much good sense to share the delusions entertained by
those around him, regarding the qualities of his soldiers.
The Richmond government displayed extraordinary activity in
its efforts to place in the field forces superior to those that McDow-
ell had at his disposal. On the 1st of June, Beauregard, who
since the capture of Sumter had become, too soon for his own
reputation, the favorite general of the South, was placed in com-
mand of the so-called department of Alexandria, comprising all
the tract of country between Richmond and Washington. He
found a little army already assembled at Manassas Junction. On
the same day shots were exchanged for the first time between the
two parties on the soil of Virginia. A detachment of n^lar
Federal cavalry proceeded as far as the village of Fairfax Court-
house, west of Alexandria, and dislodged a post of the enemy
from it, while a few Confederate guns drove off a Union vessel
which was trying to effect a landing at Aquia Creek ; this latter
point, situated on the right bank of the Lower Potomac, is the
head of a line of railway leading direct to Richmond throagh
Fredericksburg,
The two armies felt thenceforth suflBciently strong to defend
the positions they had chosen, but neither was yet in a condition
to assume the offensive. It was a little more to the westward, in
West Virginia, that the first serious engagements were to take
place. This district, as we have stated, had remained loyal to the
Union, and had refused to submit to the ordinance of separation
which had been voted by the State convention. The Richmond
authorities could not tolerate this secession in opposition to that
which they had just proclaimed. It would have been to belie
the pretended unanimity of the South, Reinforcements were sent
across the AUeghanies to their few partisans, who had already
taken up arms, and the militia troops of Virginia made a move-
ment to seize the only railway in that part of the country, the
line of the Baltimore and Ohio, which was of great service to the
Federals in maintaining communications between Pennsylvania
and the Central States. This was more than suflScient to rouse
the latter and justify their intervention. General McClellan, who
was employing his rare organizing talents in forming an army on
the borders of the Ohio, ordered the occupation of the little town
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FORT SUMTER, 165
of Wheeling, situated at the extreme north of West Virginia, and
designated as a place of rendezvous for tliose who resided in that
section of countr^^ ; soon after this he sent the few troops he had
then at his disposal to occupy the points it was most important to
defend south of that town. By a singular coincidence, General
Lee, destined to be his formidable opponent in the great battles
that were fought around Kichinond one year later, was ordered to
take the field against him in West Virginia. Lee had but few
troops, and met with no support among the inhabitants upon whom
he was desirous to impose the rule of Mr. Davis. Nevertheless,
appreciating the importance of the Baltimore and Ohio railway,
he had despatched Colonel Porterfield with fifteen hundred men
to take possession of that line at Grafton. On the approach of
the Federals, the Confederates abandoned that post and retired to
the town of Philippi, farther south. The Unionists, numbering
about five thousand men, determined to take Porterfield by sur-
prise, and in order to surround him, they formed into two col-
umns, which started on the evening of June 2d. The column
having the least distance to march arrived in front of the enemy's
positions on the morning of the 3d ; but the other, having wan-
dered from its course, instead of cutting off Porterfield's retreat,
struck his flank, and all that it could do was to accelerate his
rout. The manoeuvre attempted on this occasion by the Federals, ,
for the purjKJse of surrounding the enemy, became, as we shall
find, the favorite strategy of all the improvised generals, who were
unable to devise plans for a campaign except on paper. They
might have observed on this occasion how hazardous and difficult
of execution such manoeuvres are. They however succeeded, with
little loss to themselves, in clearing a considerable portion of West
"Virginia, and especially the Baltimore and Ohio Eailway.
This trifling success increased to an inordinate degree the con-
fidence of the other Federal commanders, and stimulated their
zeal. Butler, who had then four or five thousand men under his
command around Fortress Monroe, also determined to try his
hand at a battle. The peninsula, narrow and intersected by deep
and marshy streams, which separates the mouth of York River
from that of the James, was occupied by a few Confederate troops
ander the command of Colonel Magruder, an excellent officer who
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166 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
had formerly belonged to the regular army. It was easy for them
to defend that position^ and the Federals had no mterest in ex-
tending their lines in that direction. The only point which it
would have been of advantage to them to pa^sess was Yorktown,
a small place, celebrated for its siege and the capitulation of the
British army under Cornwallis, for it commanded the entrance
of that arm of the sea which, under the name of York River,
runs far inland in the direction of Richmond.
Butler must have known that Magruder had put the place in
a state of defence, and that he could not capture it by any means
short of a regular siege, which was not to be thought of. But no
concert of action had been established in the employment of the
new levies which the Federal government forwarded in haste, to
be stationed at the points most tlireatened ; and Butler took upon
himself the responsibility of ordering Magruder to be attacked in
his positions in front of Yorktown, concerning the strength of
which he had very vague information. After having prepared
the plan of this operation, he .remained in person at Fortress
Monroe, and entrusted its execution to General Peirce, who took
with him twenty-five hundred men and two field-pieces. This
little band was divided into two columns— one coming from
Fortress Monroe, and the other from a camp established at New-
' port News. Having started during the night of the 9th-10th of
June, they were to meet at daybreak at the village of Little Bethel,
where they expected to find the Confederates ; they did in fact reach
the place of rendezvous at the same time, but the enemy was not
there ; and as the necessary precautions for mutual reconnaissances
had not been taken, each column mistook the other for a Confed-
erate detachment ; they immediately commenced firing upon each
other, and many fell before the blunder was discovered. On
hearing that Magruder was waiting for him at Big Bethel, a
short distance from that spot, Peirce went out to attack him.
But the mistake that had just occurred had shaken the confidence
of his soldiers and the few regular ofiBcers who accompanied him ;
the latter saw at once tliat with such inexperienced troops no seri-
ous operations were practicable. Magruder, with eighteen hun-
dred men, occupied a strong position in front of Big Bethel, on
the borders of a marshy stream. The bridge over which the road
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FORT SUMTER. 167
from Fort Monroe to Yorktown crossed this stream was defended,
in tlie rear of the obstacle, by two small earthworks, upon which
were mounted a few field-pieces. As soon as the Federals showed
themselves openly in the vicinity of the swamps, the first volley
of musketry from the enemy drove them into the adjoining woods ;
it took their leaders more than two hours to induce them to return
to the charge. During this time, their three guns, ably handled
'by Lieutenant Greble, a young regular officer, keep up the fight
alone. At last Peirce attempts a serious attack, and divides his
little band into three detachments. A portion of the centre de-
tachment, led by a few regular officers, crosses the stream and
temporarily dislodges the enemy from one of his works, but it
cannot hold that position, for it is not sustained by the rest of the
line, where the greatest confusion prevails. The right and left
columns have come to a halt in front of the stream — one, because
it considered it unfordable, the other because it has mistaken one
of its own companies for a body of the enemy's troops threatening
to turn it. Peirce, at the head of his reserves, boldly crosses the
swamp on his extreme right, but in vain ; the Confederates con-
centrate all their efforts upon him and drive him back. The at-
tack was a failure ; and notwithstanding the insignificance of the
losses, the soldiers became discouraged. Fortunately for them, a
reinforcement of two small battalions arrived in time to prevent
their retreat from degenerating into a rout ; and Greble, remain-
ing to the last, with his guns, on the road which had been followed
in the morning by the assailants, prevented the enemy's artillery
from enfilading them. He was killed while protecting his com-
panions. The Federals had only thirty-six killed and thirty-four
wounded, many of whom were officers. Greble and Major Win-
throp were among the former ; among the latter, there was an-
other regular officer. Captain Kilpatrick, whose name, already
mentioned, will frequently occur during the narrative of the war.
While Peirce's soldiers were rapidly falling back upon Fortress
Monroe, Magruder felt but little disposed to pursue them, and,
having no great confidence in his own troops, determined, not-
withstanding his success, to fall back upon YorktowTi.
Similar engagements, with as little loss of life, sei^ved every-
where as a prelude to the bloody war that was to follow. But
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168 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
those &f which Missouri was then the theatre sufficed to secure
to the Federals the possession of a territory as large as five or six
French departments. On the 29th of May, Lyon was appointed
to the command of the Federal troops in place of General Har-
ney, who was relieved for having concluded the treaty of neutral-
ity with Sterling Price. The State of Missouri was thenceforth
irrevocably divided between the Unionists and their enemies. Gov-
ernor Jackson, a partisan of the latter, relied upon the legislature
and on Price, who commanded the rebel militia. The State con-
vention, on the contrary, had pronounced in favor of the Union,
and it was in consequence of its decrees that the volunteers loyal
to the Union flocked to the encampments established by Lyon.
On the 12th of June, Jackson and his legislature, which had as-
sembled at Jefferson City, on the Missouri, the official capital of
the State, issued a real declaration of war against the Federal au-
thorities and all those who recognized their power. Lyon deter-
mined to answer this provocation by driving them out of the city,
and thus clearing the whole course of the Missouri. A detach-
ment sent by him as far as Gasconade River having made his
opponents believe that he was following the railway line, they
prepared to receive him on that side, and destroyed all the bridges
in order to stop his progress. But instead of taking that route,
Lyon embarked, with two thousand men and all the necessary
mcUMel for a long cami)aign, on board two large steamers ply-
ing between St. Louis and New Orleans. He thus inaugurated
a method of waging war which was much in vogue during the
subsequent campaigns. Price and Jackson, surprised by this
unexpected movement, abandon Jefferson City, where the Fed-
erals arrive on the 15th of June, and retire to Booneville, sit-
uated sixty kilometres higher up on the Missouri. Lyon pursues
them on board his vessels, reaches the positions occupied by the
enemy on the 18th, lands his soldiers, and vigorously leads them
to the attack ; after a short engagement he throws the rebel troops
into confusion and disperses them. The losses at the battle of
Booneville were insignificant on both sides, but the Confederates,
being utterly disorganized, were obliged to retreat southward into
the interior of the State of Missouri, leaving Lyon in possession
of both sides of the river.
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FORT SUMTER. 169
In West Virginia and on the Upper Potomac both parties were
keeping up the war. The battle of Philippi had freed the north-
western districts, and a convention assembled at "Wheeling in West
Virginia for the purpose of organizing that section of country
into an independent State. In the mean time, the Confederates,
having taken courage, were again endeavoring to intercept the great
Ohio line of railway. A small body of troops had been collected
at Romney to menace Cumberland station, on that line. The Fed-
eral Colonel Wallace, who occupied this place, went to attack*
those troops at Romney, took them by surprise, after a long and
difficult night-march, and returned after having dispersed them.
A little more to the eastward, at Harper's Ferry, Johnston's
forces were increasing at a rate to cause great uneasiness to the
Federals. In the beginning of June, he occupied, with more
than twelve thousand men, the formidable position of Maryland
Heights, on the opposite bank of the Potomac, which enabled
him, while covering the entrance of the Shenandoah Valley, to
extend his lines into Maryland and menace Washington or Penn-
sylvania, In order to protect the latter State, General Patterson
had assembled all the available volunteers and militia at Cham-
bersburg. When his forces numbered about fifteen thousand men
he marched toward the Potomac, for the purpose of disturbing
Johnston at Harper's Ferrj' in his turn. The little confidence
that generals like Johnston then placed in their troops was the
cause that, during the early stages of the conflict, marches and
counter-marches played a more important part than actual en-
gagements, which were gladly avoided on both sides. Fearing
to be turned, the Confederate general evacuated Mar}4and Heights
and Harper's Ferry on the 13th of June, and retired to Charles-
town, a short distance from the place last mentioned, after de-
stroying the Ohio canal, the great railway bridge, and all that
had escaped the conflagration of the 18th of April in the arsenal.
Patterson, hastening his march, with nine thousand men, forded
the Potomac on the 16th of June near Williamsport, above Har-
per's Ferry, which he occupied shortly afterwards. This move-
ment should have enabled the Federals to take possession of the
whole line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, which, at Harper's
Ferry, crosses to the right bank of the Potomac. In order to
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170 TEE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
effect this, it would have been sufficient to drive Johnston into
Winchester and to join hands, by means of a few posts, with
Wallace's troops at Cumberland; but the hesitatioas and con-
tradictory orders of the government at Washington, which so
frequently embarrassed the operations of the Federal generals,
caused the loss of all the advantages that had been gained by the
occupation of Harper^s Ferry. Patterson had scarcely reached
this place when Scott, always anxious for the safety of the cap-
ital, ordered him to send the greatest portion of his forces to
Washington.
Obeying this untimely order with regret, Patterson was obliged
to recross the Potomac on the 18th, and to fall back upon Mary-
land, by way of Williamsport, with about ten thousand men
scarcely armed, without artillery, and without cavalry. His re-
treat left Wallace at Cumberland in a difficult position, and em-
boldened the Confederates who had assembled in the Alleghany
valleys, which open on the Upper Potomac.
Four thousand of them again occupied Romney, and destroyed
the bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway at New Creek
they thus cut off all communication between Wallace and Mo-
del Ian, who had come to Grafton on the 23d to prepare for the
serious campaign, of which West Virginia was to witness the
inauguration fifteen days later. But although threatened on all
sidesj Wallace succeeded in keeping the enemy in check and in
maintaining his position.
In the vicinity of Washington, the two armies watched each
other at a distance so effectively that during the whole mouth of
June, they only once exchanged muske<>-shots. On the 17th, an
Ohio regiment, commanded by Colonel McCook, who subsequently
became a Federal general, was making a reconnaissance in the
direction of the village of Vienna, but instead of scouting the
road, the whole regiment got into open cars and started for Vi-
enna by rail. It so happened that a Confederate regiment, com-
manded by Colonel Gregg, who also attained the rank of a gen-
eral afterwards, was passing by precisely at that time, and on
hearing the whistle of the locomotive, he formed an ambuscade.
Just as the train was turning a curve, it received a discharge of
grape-shot fired by two guns which had been placed on the track.
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FORT SUMTER. 171
Fortunately, the aim of the guns was too high; the Federals
sprang to the ground, formed under the enemy's fire, and, although
taken by surprise, finally compelled the Confederates to retire,
leaving several dead and many more wounded behind them. One
may judge from this incident how little military experience there
was on either side.
On the Lower Potomac, a nav^tl officer. Captain Ward, was en-
deavoring to end a battery at Mathias Point, a long promontory
on the Virginia side, from which the Confederates fired constantly
upon vessels going up the river, either with rifle or cannon ; but
he was driven ofiT, and finally lost his life in the attempt.
With the 4th of July we shall conclude this chapter, which is
to serve as a transition epoch between the political events which
followed the presidential elections and the veritable acts of war,
the narrative of which will commence presently.
The new Congress had been convened for the 4th, and at the
time it was assembling, the volunteers who had responded to Mr.
Lincoln's calls already numbered 300,000 men. Throughout the
Northern States regiments were beipg recruited and organized.
A military ardor had seized all minds.
Before taking a survey of these soldiers at their work, we pro-
pose to show, in the following chapter, what were the predominant
characteristics of the movement which improvised the Fe»leral
armies.
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CHAPJTER X.
THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS,
IN one of his poetic visions, the Prophet Ezekiel describes a
plain, deserted and silent, on which lie innumerable scattered
and dry bones. At the sound of his voice those shapeless remains
come spontaneously together; the skeletons resume their forms
and are covered anew with flesh ; finally, a divine word from the
lips of the inspired spectator restores them to life ; and that wil-
derness, till then shrouded in the darkness of death, becomes
peopled with an animated host The rapidity with which bat-
talions of volunteers were recruited, assembled, and organized in
the North may be likened to the sudden uprising of those mys-
terious legions taking form and life in the presence of the He-
brew prophet.
The hasty creation of large armies among the States loyal to
the Union was no less strange and unlocked for than the miracle
in Holy Writ Indeed, the little army which we have seen mak-
ing war in the Western wilds alone preserved military traditions ;
the American people were ignorant of their labors and showed
themselves indifierent to their successes. The inhabitants of the
great Eastern cities had never seen a company of regular troops,
and all they knew of the national army was a handful of inva-
lids, the solitary guardians of the Federal forts. All that related
to the army had fallen into neglect, and while the other branches
of the government at Washington occupied marble palaces, the
offices of the War Department were huddled in a miserable tene-
ment
On national holidays, however, there was no scarcity of uni-
forms. On such occasions the veterans of 1812 would parade in
their motley costumes, followed by militia regiments with enor-
mous bands of music and a superfluity of officers. But these
172
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 173
troops^ which at a later period were to impart lustre to the numbers
which they wore, were then only fit for parade-duty and utterly
inexperienced in military matters. French wit, ever facetious, had
seized the ludicrous side of these useless displays of epaulets and
drums, and the officers of the Fift}'^-fifth New York, who in the
hour of danger freely shed French blood in the cause of their
adopted country, under the command of a brave and able chief,
M. de Trobriand, had dubbed themselves at one of the regimental
banquets which always followed such demonstrations. Gardes
Lafourcheiies, or Knife and Fork Guards. Charmed by a showy
procession, the multitude mechanically rehearsed the official statis-
tics, according to which the strength of the national troops might
reach the total of three million and seventy thousand men. If
some now and then called to mind the behavior of the militia of
1776 and 1812, this idea was as quickly dismissed under the
conviction that the troops then marching past would never have
to face the dangers of the field. Those who felt a natural desire
for a military vocation were obliged, like Sherman, to seek, as
professors in the special schools founded by the Southern States,
an opportunity for placing their knowledge to account.
But when the events we have just related had opened the eyes
of the least clear-sighted, the formation of an army for the de-
fence of the Constitution was regarded as a national affair. Every-
body set to work under the impression that the part of duty was
to act, and not to wait for instructions.
The adminstrative system of America leaves a large part to
the initiative of localities and individuals, seldom trammelled
by governmental restrictions. The central power has not at
its command an army of public functionaries invested, in the
eyes of a docile population, with an almost sacred character ; it
does not possess the thousands of arms which, among us, stretch
forth at a given signal to knock simultaneously at every citizen's
door, and, if need be, to push him forcibly by the shoulder. A
levy being once sanctioned by Congress or proclaimed by the
President in virtue of extraordinary powers, the Federal author-
ities interfere no further in the enlistments, and have only to
receive the regiments formed in the several States according to
the quota assigned to each. Nor is the administratire machinery
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174 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
of the States themselves more complicated. The constant control
exercised by the citizens, from whom the magistrates everywhere
hold their authority, moderates the corrupting influence of favor-
itism— disguised under the English name of patronage — which
the continual changes of elective functionaries tend to develop.
So that, while the central power does not trammel the liberty of
the local authorities, the latter, in their turn, only interfere to
direct the citizen where his individual action is no longer suf-
ficient. The President's first call, therefore, addressed to the dif-
ferent States of the Union, after the taking of Fort Sumter, was
promptly responded to by all. Patriotism, ambition, vanity, and
the spirit of speculation, entered at once into competition and
contributed, though unequally, to stimulate the national move-
ment. The ingenious, practical, and calculating mind of the
American neglected no means to hasten the organization of the
volunteer corps so imperatively demanded by the national danger.
Recruiting-offices were opened in the very smallest villages, and
soon became the daily rendezvous for the entire population ; some
from love of adventure, others from attachment to the Con-
stitution, others still from a desire to signalize their strong anti-
slavery proclivities, registered their names as common soldiers.
Those who possessed sufficient influence undertook to raise com-
panies, sometimes a regiment, and not unfrequently a whole bri-
gade. The governor, as the chief of the executive power in each
State, would promise to this or that lawyer or merchant the rank
of colonel if he should within a stipulated period of time succeed
in raising a regiment. The latter, thus provided with the simple
authority for an operation which elsewhere would have required
the concurrence of a multitude of different functionaries, commu-
nicates with his friends and appeals to the public according to the
custom of the country. By holding out tlie promise of an epaulet
or the lucrative monopoly of a sutlership, he easily finds co-opera-
tors, each of whom undertakes to raise him a certain number of men.
Gigantic placards posted on the walls, or stretched across the streets,
enumerating the advantages of the regiment whose ranks are to
be filled, or representing on canvas amid smoke and carnage some
heroic deed proposed for their imitation, invite the public gaze.
But the martial instincts of the people are not the only passions
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS, 175
appealed to. The new recruits are paraded in the streets to daz-
zle and attract by their showy uniforms ; that of the zouaves —
although often unseemly when hanging ungracefully on the bony
frames and lank limbs of some stalwart American — having the
greatest success. A certain regiment of heavy artillery, which
proved afterwards one of the most efficient at the terrible battle
of Grettysburg, sought to increase the number of its recruits by
an announcement which, although not to be taken in a literal
sense, is nevertheless worthy of record as offering the strangest
of all inducements to future soldiers. It ran thus : " As this
regiment is to be constantly garrisoned in the forts around Wash-
ington, those anxious to enter the military service will find in it
the inestimable advantage of exemption from the hardships and
privations incidental to camp-life." On the contrary, the remem-
brance of the panic which overtook some Indiana troops at the
battle of Buena Vista having always been preserved in that State,
which has often been taunted with it, several volunteer regiments
inscribed the following words on their programmes, " Remember
Buena Vista !". thereby promising to wipe out that stigma by their
conduct on new battle-fields.
Individual initiative at times sought to act independently even
of the feeble control of the State authorities. Some regiments
were offered directly to the President by those who had raised
them. Such was the Excelsior Brigade, composed of five regi-
ments raised in New York in the course of a few weeks by Mr.
Sickles, a former diplomat. The governor of the State insisted
upon their forming a part of his contingent, but Mr. Sickles, in
order to evade his authority, assembled his brigade in a fort then
under the Federal jurisdiction, and set out shortly afterward for
Washington. The quarrel was of long duration, but Mr. Lincoln
was at last induced by general representations to incorporate all
independent troops into the particular contingents of the States in
which they had been raised. This was but justice; for if those
regiments had not been included in the quota of each of those
States, their competition would have raised the enlistment boun-
ties, lessened the number of available men, and thus hastened the
period when it would have been necessary to resort to conscrip-
tion. But by the time this question was settled, the Excelsior
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176 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
Brigade had already been reduced by the enemy's fire and the
hardships of war to one-half of its original strength.
A few days sufficed to prove that the generous indignation
aroused in the North by the tidings of the capture of Fort Sum-
ter was not a mere momentary effervescence, but the firm resolve
of the people to sustain their words by deeds.
Thanks to the different simple and expeditious methods of pro-
ceeding we have just described, soldiers were pouring in from all
parts. As may well be supposed, the most varied specimens of
civilized humanity presented themselves at the recruiting-offices ;
but, generally speaking, the volunteers who responded to Mr.
Lincoln's first call for troops were veiy inferior in quality to
those who composed the subsequent levies. As the middle or
working classes of the North had not yet recognized the duty of
quitting their respective occupations for the battle-field, these
volunteers were for the most part picked up among the unem-
ployed, both in town and country. They were without discipline,
for their too brief term of enlistment prevented them from en-
tering seriously into the spirit of their profession, and they had
no idea of the trials and hardships for which a soldier should
always be prepared. They greatly resembled, in short, those
militia troops that had caused so much anxiety to Greneral Wash-
ington during the War of Independence. Some even went so far
as to abandon their posts on the eve of an engagement, because
the precise hour at which their term of enlistment expired had
struck. The army assembled at Washington under McDowell in
June, 1861, was mainly composed of such men.
The magnitude of the danger, at last apparent, called out a
second levy, which rallied around the flag a very different class
of men. It was no longer a matter of three months' excursion or
a mere military demonstration ; those who then enlisted for three
years were fully aware of the sort of life they were entering upon,
and what perils they would have to encounter. Whether actuated
by patriotism or the love of adventure, or influenced by the hope
of gain, they one and all embraced their new profession with a
firm and resolute determination. Good soldiers they were not- —
indeed, they were scarcely soldiers — but they were honest in their
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 177
desires to become such, and this was the surest way of attaining
that end.
The enlistment fever, as it was called in America,, had spread
all over the country, and the recruiting-agents appointed every-
where to receive enlistments, stimulated by the spirit of competi-
tion, vied with each other in zealous endeavors to complete the
contingents of their respective districts. The city artisan and the
husbandman laid down their implements to put on the uniform,
nor did the aristocratic hands of the man born in affluence fear to
handle a musket in defence of the laws. Side by side with these
were assuredly other men who had enlisted from motives less
pure. The reaction of the political crisis upon commercial enter-
prise had caused the suspension of certain industries, and as we
have observed before, the Confederate government, whose chief
had already become notorious through the great bankruptcy of the
State of Mississippi, had repudiated all indebtedness to the North,
to the ruin of numerous families whose sons had no other means
left them for earning a livelihood but to enlist. Besides the pay,
which was enormous, the volunteers were promised, as in former
times, land bounties at the expiration of their term of service — a
wise measure which induced many workingmen to enter the army
by ensuring to them the certain means of existence at the end of
the war. Lastly, the recruiting-office opened a new field to that
unfortunate, restless, and ambitious population which America
renders Europe the good service to absorb as fast as she receives-
it, and which, like foam upon the waters, floats for a time in the-
large cities of the Union, and is ultimately lost in the great cur-
rent which bears it towards the far West.
In the same city, each class of volunteers would adopt particu-
lar regiments by preference.. The Irish, pugnacious by instinct^
organized several of them in the seaboard cities, it being natural
that the same inclination which prompts so many of them .to*
enter the British army should have been even more potent in
drawing them into the service of the country they had adopted
of their own free will. While serving it, however, they were in-
fluenced by strange delusions artfully encouraged by designing;
men, who took advantage of their credulous imaginations. A.
great many Irishmen, in fact, looked upon the war as nothing;
Vol. 1.—U
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178 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
more than a favorable opportunity for preparing to crush England.
The more enlightened among them were doubtless aware of the
fallacy of such dreams, and, on the other hand, the Constitution
they were about to fight for could scarcely be an object of such
devotion for them as for citizens of American birth. But the
green flag of old Erin, given to them as a distinguishing mark,
proved a powerful attraction, and the sight of it on the battle-
field had the effect of adding fresh vigor to their courage. It
is necessary to have passed through the trials of exile to com-
prehend the magic influence exercised on the heart of man by
every symbol of his distant native land, and among them the
most expressive of all, the national flag.
In like manner, citizens of German descent or of German
birth, still adhering to their mother-tongue, although identified
with America, without any intention of ever returning to their
native land, and generally ^vithout regrets, grouped together in
special regiments where they could foster the traditions and usages
which life in the New World never caused them to forget
The French, comparatively few in that land which is overrun
by the Anglo-Saxon and Grermanic races, swelled the ranks of the
La Fayette Guards, and subsequently of the Enfants Perdus, in
both of which organizations they worthily sustained the honor of
the red pantaloons, the distinguishing mark of our army. A few
of our compatriots, driven to America either by the chance of
revolutions, or by a desire to serve the cause of liberty, had rank
conferred upon them in the Federal army, which enlisted all their
sympathies; they were thus able, under the protection of a flag
ever friendly to the France of other days as to the France of the
present time, to forget the quarrels by which they were divided.
The contingent of the Latin races was completed, without being
much increased, by the addition of a small number of Spaniards,
Portuguese, and Italians.
The dregs of the large cities were gathered into a few regiments
with brilliant costumes, but somewhat lax in discipline if report
may be credited. It was observed that the average of crime in
the great city of New York decreased by one-half after the de-
parture of the Wilson Zouaves. The volunteer fire companies
-of New York, proverbial for their turbulence, quitted for a time
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 179
the service of the corporation to organize a regiment of Fire
Zouaves.
But let us hasten to reduce to their proper proportions these
details, which, striking the eyes of Europeans recently landed,
may have led them to form erroneous opinions of the American
army. In spite of all they could say, it was an essentially national
army, both in sentiment and in the materials of which it was com-
posed. The soldiers for the most part were animated by a sincere
desire to serve the national cause, and the proportion of different
elements which constituted its strength accurately represented the
whole American nation.
A thousand examples might be cited of soldiers and oflScers
who sacrificed lucrative positions to join the regular army. The
records of war-victims abound with the names of wealthy and
honored citizens, not a few of whom were advanced in years and
surrounded by a numerous family. Side by side with the old
West Pointers who had resumed the military harness were men
possessed of no practical military knowledge, but who, like Wads-
worth, Shaw, and many others, were at least determined to set an
example of the cause which finally cost them their lives. Many
American villages displayed the same disinterestedness as Phcenix-
ville, in Pennsylvania, which, almost exclusively inhabited by
blacksmiths, the least skilful of whom could, during the war, earn
in a week more than a soldier's pay for a month, alone furnished
an entire company.
Individual examples may always be set aside, yet it would be
easy to prove, in a general way, that the rapidity of enlistments
is to be attributed, not to want of work, but to earnest patriotism.
If a few branches of industry had to suspend operations, busi-
ness in general was but little affected by the shock of the war ; if
the Federal flag experienced reverses, the chief occupation of the
laboring population of America — the cultivation of cereals— con-
tinued to flourish; and although a few families were ruined, the New
World was not afflicted for a single day with the pauperism which
stalks abroad in the most civilized States of Europe. Wages, al-
ready very high, increased in proportion as the ranks of the army
were filling up, rendering workmen sairce. The constant increase
in the rate of bounties shows that, in a purely business point of
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180 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
view, the salaries paid in civil employments competed favorably
with army enlistments, while the bounties themselves, so far as
regarded the immense majority of volunteers, afforded but a
meagre compensation for the sacrifices they made. In a country
where every able-bodied man can easily earn a living, and where
the products of the soil are so abundant as to admit of an almost
indefinite advance in wages, the government could never have held
out sufScient inducements to attract the six hundred thousand
men who in a single year responded to its call, if a large majority
of them had not been actuated by sterling patriotism.
This army was as national in its composition as it was in spirit,
representing in due proportion the various elements of the Amer-
ican population. It has indeed been urged that foreigners pre-
dominated in its ranks ; this is a great mistake, but easily suscep-
tible of explanation, from the fact that the German accent and the
Irish brogue frequently struck upon the ear wherever the volun-
teers were collected.
Vast regions in Pennsylvania were settled by Germans even be-
fore the War of Independence, and its inhabitants to this day speak
a Germanic patow; but notwithstanding their nickname of Dutch-
men, applied to them by their Anglo-Saxon neighbors, they are
just as much Americans, in every sense of the term, as the latter.
Those who still continue to emigrate for the purpose of clearing
the virgin forests of the New World become Americans while
engaged in fertilizing die soil, precisely as their predecessors did
long ago. The hundreds of thousands of emigrants who arrive
yearly, and who by their labor increase the wealth of the country
and extend the boundaries of civilization, acquire thereby the
rights of citizenship, and are as much interested in the greatness
and good government of their adopted country as the descendants
of the old colonists. And yet, notwithstanding the ties which
bound the emigrant to that country, the foreign element was not
proportionately represented in the composition of the national
army. The soldiers born on American soil were more numerous
than if the army had been recruited by a draft bearing equally
on all the citizens of the Union.
A few figures will suffice to confirm this assertion. Of the
volunteers who enlisted during the first year, only one-tenth were
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 181
foreigners ; of the remainder, two-thirds were bom on American
soil, and seven-thirtieths, or rather less than one-fourth, were nat-
uralized Europeans. By examining separately the contingents of
the Eastern States, where but a small number of emigrants settle,
we find a still larger proportion of natives — ^a proportion which
in 1864, when conscription was partially resorted to, reache<l as
high as eighty per cent. This army, two-thirds of which con-
sisted of native Americans, and only one-third of foreigners, was
raised out of a population of about 19,000,000 souls. In order
to ascertain which of these two elements supplied the largest pro-
portion of men, we have only to compare the number of able-
bodied men that each of them was able to contribute. The statis-
tics of 1860 render this comparison impracticable; but the census
of 1863, taken in the loyal States preparatory to the conscription,
gave upwards of 3,100,000 as the number of men between the
ages of eighteen and forty-five years. By adding 900,000 more,
the maximum number of soldiers then in actual service or dis-
abled, it may safely be affirmed that the class which in 1861 con-
tributed exclusively to the recruitment of the army did not ex-
ceed 4,000,000. With the help of the 'emigrant rolls, it is easy
to calculate how many of these were born in America and how
many in Europe. During the decade from 1849 to 1858 the
United States received 3,000,000 new-comers, 1,200,000 of whom
were women and 1,800,000 men; 1,370,000 of the latter being
over fifteen and under thirty-five years of age. Deducting 8000
from this number, which, according to the tables of mortality, is
the decrease of that population since its arrival in America, we
find that emigration had, in the course of ten years, brought over
to that country 1,362,000 men, who, when the levies of volunteers
took place, were still living and between the ages of eighteen and
thirty-eight, and, consequently, forming part of the 4,000,000
among whom the American army was recruited. This number
already exceeds by 31,000 the third of those 4,000,000; but in
order to make our statement complete, we should add thereto the
number of Europeans who in 1861 were between thirty-eight and
forty-five years, as well as those who at the time of their landing
before 1849 were under thirty-three years of age, inasmuch as
both categories were comprised in the 4,000,000. We see, there-
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182 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
fore, thatthose of European birth constituted considerably more
than one-third of the effective male population of the Northern
States, while they only entered in just the same proportion of one-
third into the composition of the army, thus leaving to the native
Americans the largest proportion in the aggregate representation
of races.
We are not in possession of the necessary documents to con-
tinue this comparison by ascertaining the number of those emi-
grants who became naturalized^ and those who retained their con-
dition of aliens ; such a comparison would, however, be of little
value. Naturalization is so easily obtained in the United States
that after a few years' residence in the country nearly every per-
son settled in business exercises the rights of citizenship.
It was only when the conscription attached onerous duties to
the exercise of these rights that people who had enjoyed them en-
deavored to discover informalities in their naturalization papers,
in order to get rid of the obligations devolving upon Americans.
All emigrants who have left Europe without any intention of re-
turning— saTia e^rit de rdour, as the French law tersely expresses
it — should, in reality, be reckoned as Americans, the number of
those who persist in preserving their nationality unimpaired being
altogether insignificant.
Strictly speaking, those belonging to the latter category alone,
and the recruits obtained from outside the territory of the Repub-
lic, could be considered as foreigners, among the Federal soldiers.
The Federal government could only have introduced a large for-
eign element into the ranks of its army by enticing volunteers
from Europe or from countries adjacent to the United States.
Now, notwithstanding the close vigilance with which all the ac-
tions of that government were watched, its enemies never could
prove that such enlistments had been made on its account upon
any large scale ; there was seen nothing in America to be com-
pared with the foreign legion organized by England for the
Crim(-an War. The navy may indeed have picked up a handful
of sailors from the coasts of France or England, or it may have
received a few of the deserters which every Euro])ean ship drops
into the ports of the New World. Doubtless, also, some English
soldiers from the garrisons of Canada may have crossed the fron-
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 183
tier^ allared not only by the bounties and high pay, but also by
the hope that their military experience would secure them posi-
tions among such raw troops. It was easy to recognize under
the Federal uniform the old English soldier by his unexception-
able bearing, his polished arms, and the precision of his move-
ments. If not disqualified by drunkenness, he soon became drill-
sergeant or sergeant-major ; if able to read and write, the epaulet
was within his easy reach. These, however, were only isolated
instances. It is true that recruiting agents, hoping to make a
profit on the bounties, went to Canada and Ireland to decoy re-
cruits in spite of the Federal government, and that they engaged
emigrants to come over in the name of fictitious industrial asso-
ciations, expecting to entice them into the service after they had
landed, partly of their own free will, partly by force ; but the
measures taken in New York and elsewhere to protect these emi-
grants against the impositions of which they were formerly the
victims enabled them to free themselves as soon as the fraud was
discovered. This was the case with most of them ; and although
the recruiters were always on the watch to entrap the most des-
titute among those whom want had driven from Europe to the
American shores, they were less successful with these new-comers
than with those who had been for some time settled in the United
States.
We may therefore sum up all these details by afiirming that,
from the native-born American down to the latest-landed Euro-
pean, the proportion of volunteers furnished to the Federal gov-
ernment by the different classes of the community was in a direct
ratio to the interest that each took in the affairs of the Republic,
and that the longer the emigrant had lived upon its soil, the more
largely did he contribute toward its defence.
It must not be imagined, therefore, that the increase of emi-
gration, so remarkable during the war, was a means of directly
supplying the Federal armies. It was an indirect result due to
the sudden advance in the price of labor occasioned by the war.
The difference in the rate of wages between the two continents is
the sluice which regulates with precision the current of emigra-
tion; and the new-comers, instead of swelling the ranks of the
army, went for the most part to fill, either at the plough or in
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184 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the factories^ the places of the Americans who had put on the
uniform.
It is by the average age of the soldiers that national armies are
most readily distinguished from mercenary troops. An army of
mercenaries is made up of men who make a trade of warfare,
serN'ing for a Hvelihood and enlisting from motives of interest ;
the larger their number the higher the average of age. A na^
tional army, on the contrary, is recruited in equal proportions
among all the youth of the country, as well from voluntary as
from forced service. Now, the average age of the volunteers who
enlisted in America before any conscription had taken place was
between twenty-four and twenty-five years, or the same as that
of our own soldiers before it was raised above this figure by the
exoneration law and the multiplicity of substitutes. The larger
or smaller proportion of Europeans, or at least of men recently
from Europe, in the contingents of the several States, was made
manifest in the military statistics by a remark we may be allowed
to quote, as throwing a curious light upon the movements of the
populations that elbow one another for a long time in America
before they become finally mingled. Nothing, in fact, appears
more strange, at first sight, than the comparison of the average
statures in the contingents of the several States, as shown by the
tables published at the end of the war, at a time when the con-
scription necessitated a scrupulous examination of all the men
enrolled. Neither climate nor latitude can explain why that
average varied so strangely from one State to another, in the
Middle as well as in the Northern and Western States; or
why Pennsylvania and Kentucky, for instance, furnished the
highest average, while, after the State of New York, those of
the far West, such as Minnesota and Michigan, sent the smallest
men to the army. This last result is all the more striking because
in those new States, where the human race seems to develop with
greater freedom, there exists a truly athletic population of lum-
bermen, living from generation to generation in the virgin forest,
who, when formed into companies and at times into regiments,
presented a line of perfect grenadiers that struck the officers of the
British Guards with admiration. The reason is that alongside of
them, in the same contingent, there was a race whose inferiority
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 185
was but poorly compensated by the former, namely, that of the
German emigrants and their descendants down to the second gen-
eration. These strange variations are all explained by the move-
ments of emigration on the so.il of America, and the average stature
of each contingent was in inverse ratio to the number of emigrants
who had settled in the State that furnished it. The current of
emigration emptied itself at New York and certain points of the
northern coast, where the weakest and the least robust took up
their residence, while the others, passing through the Middle
States, where the population was comparatively numerous, and
shut out from the South by the insurmountable barrier of slavery,
went to seek their fortunes in those vast Western States that are
watered by the Upper Mississippi, the Missouri, and the great
lakes. This current leaving Vermont at the north and Ken-
tucky at the south, and traversing Pennsylvania too rapidly to
leave traces of its passage behind, these States possessed therefore
a population which, for the most part, had already become Amer-
ican for two or three generations back. It is from this time that
the beneficent influence of the New World upon the European
races is felt ; hence the physical superiority, seemingly inexplic-
able, of the contingents furnished by these three States.
The elements of a truly national army were therefore assem-
bling in the recruiting-offices which had been opened from one
end to the other of the States loyal to the Union ; we must now
show how this improvised army was organized. A certain number
of these offices would co-operate to form a regiment, the effective
strength of which, as in the regular army, was usually fixed at a
minimum of 850 men. As soon as this figure was reached the
regiment entered in numerical order into the contingent of its
State, and nothing remained to be done in order to establish it
but to arrange its list of officers and give it a regimental cadre.
In all the States of the Union, the governor is the commander-
in-chief of all the local armed forces, as the President is of the
Federal troops, and he has the disposal of all the grades apper-
taining to those local forces. But custom prevails everywhere
over law, and so inveterate is the habit of electing nearly all pub-
lic functionaries, that in several States the governors had to con-
fine tliemselves to the confirmation of the choice already made by
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186 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the soldiers themselves. During the Mexican campaign the vol-
unteers, being far away from their respective States, had already
fallen into the habit of replacing such of their officers as had
fallen in battle by improvised elections held around the camp-
fires. But in the formation of the new regiments of which we
are now speaking, there were certain circumstances which inter-
fered with the choice of the soldiers as well as that of the gov-
ernor. Whether it was owing to some tacit agreement, or a posi-
tive contract between the governor, the new soldiers, and the
principal recruiting-agents, the latter were generally made sure in
advance of grades proportionate to the importance of the services
rendered. Thus the application of the extreme principles of
democracy revived the system of proprietary colonels, and the
course pursued by American communities for the prompt organ-
ization of their military forces resembled in many respects the
formation of those independent companies of cavalry (compagniea
(Tordonnancea) which in the Middle Ages constituted the nucleus
of standing armies. Indeed, the man who by his activity and in-
fluence, and the expenditure of his time and money, succeeded in
raising a regiment, and had perhaps even given his name to it,
occupied quite a different position from that of an officer in the
regular army, who can only rise to superior rank in the order of
seniority. He became colonel of that regiment by right, and, with-
out positive proof of un worthiness, he could not be deprived of its
command, unless, indeed, the difficulty was compromised by mak-
ing him a general.
Besides these volunteer regiments formed for the occasion, the
greatest portion of the old militia organizations, filled up by new
enlistments, were incorporated in like manner into the contingent
of each State. As soon as organized they were all received by
the Federal agents and regularly mustered into the service of the
Republic, without, however, breaking off their connection with
the authorities of their respective States, who reserved to them-
selves certain important rights in their administration. The in-
tervention of these two different powers, at the beginning of the
war, was productive of more advantage than inconvenience. In-
stances of conflict between them were rare and insignificant ; and
this system, by making a division of labor, and encouraging a
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 187
wholesome rivalry between the States, enabled the army to acquire
a much more rapid organization than it would have done if the
Federal government had undertaken this formation alone. In
those critical moments when a nation's life depends, not upon the
perfection of the means employed for saving her, but upon their
prompt application, people accustomed to leave individual action
entirely unfettered well know how to turn all their resources to
immediate account, whereas a centralized administration, accus-
tomed to do everything itself, has but too pflen to struggle in
hopeless incapacity.
The Federal government, therefore, was required by law to
arm and equip the volunteers ; but as it stood in need of every-
thing at the very moment when all had to be created at once — as
its arsenals, which would have been insufficient for the emergency
even if well supplied, had been emptied by the instigators of
rebellion, most of the States themselves undertook to furnish
those outfits for troops which they raised. The small State of
Khode Island, whose specialty has always been the manufacture
of ordnance, sent to Washington several batteries provided with
horses, and all the necessary accoutrements for taking the field at
once.
The day when a new regiment was delivered over to the Fed-
eral authority and took the oath of allegiance to the Union, that
authority took it under pay, and assumed the responsibility of
providing for its maintenance ; each soldier received an entrance
bounty, and the promise of a land-grant on the day of his dis-
charge. This promise secured to him a fixed and certain remu-
neration at the close of his term of service ; for if his bounty,
paid in paper money, decreased in value in consequence of the
depreciation of the currency, the nominal price of the land, hav-
ing increased in like proportion, enabled him to gain on one hand
what he lost on the other. The depreciation of paper money,
however, weighed but lightly upon the volunteer, even during
his term of service, for from 1861 to 1865 his pay was gradually
raised from eleven to sixteen dollars per month, and the value of
bounties given by the Federal government was increased in like
manner. Here again the independent initiative already referred
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188 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
to is seen lending a helping hand to the central "authority ; States,
large cities, individual corporations, and even private subscrip-
tions, would occasionally swell the amount of those l)ounties by
direct contributions of more or less importance, and, either by
donations or fixed pensions, secure the means of existence to the
wife and children of the soldier, who was thus enabled to face
death without fear of leaving his family in want. Although
mustered into the service of the Federal government, the regi-
ment was still subject to the authority of the State whose name it
bore, in all matters affecting its personnel ; and if the process of
recruiting continued, which was unfortunately rarely the case, it
could only be within the limits of that State. Each governor
had under his control a sort of miniature war department called
the adjutant-general's office, which kej)t up relations with the
regiments scattered throughout the Federal armies, and de-
spatched special inspectors to watch over them and inquire into
their wants ; in short, it continued to exercise the exclusive right
of filling up vacancies among the officers, from the rank of second
lieutenant to that of colonel. The central government, in taking
these officers into its service, had, it is true, reserved to itself the
right of dismissing such as were deemed incapable, and even of
withdrawing their commissions and suspending their pay at will,
without any explanation ; but it had not the power to replace
them itself; generals commanding in the field had to apply to the
adjutant-general of each State for the promotion of any officers
belonging to the contingent of that State.
These rights once reserved to the local authorities of the States^
the volunteer regiments only obeyed the Federal authority. They
were governed by the military code of the United States,; the
government at Washington alone directed their movements, and
could send them at will from one extremity of the continent to
the other ; it could separate them from those who had originally
formed the same contingent with themselves, and distribute them
among armies, divisions, and even brigades, where they would
meet with soldiers belonging to another section of the Union.
Finally, it had the direct appointment of generals, staff officers,
and of the administrative departments in the armies thus consti-
tuted.
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 189
Besides these national troops, the States more immediately
threatened by their proximity to the seat of insurrection, also
organized forces for the defence of their respective territories ; and
in order to attain this end more effectually, they sometimes formed
mutual associations without the intervention of the central power.
Wherever danger appeared imminent, the spirit of local initiative
called into existence new and sudden resources.
When, in July, 1861, for instance, Congress voted the levy of
five hundred thousand men, of which we shall speak in proper
time, the States adjoining the frontier of slavery had anticipated
the call, and organized forces for their own protection against the
insurgents, who, as we have seen, were arming in Maryland, Vir-
ginia, and Kentucky. These troops had their own generals and
staff officers, whose rank was confined to the State that had con-
ferred it upon them. Numerous regiments were thus raised in
Pennsylvania. Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, united under the aus-
pices of a free association, organized a provisional army, and had
the good fortune to entrust its command to Captain McClellan,
whom the regard of his former companions in arms had unani-
mously designated for that arduous position.
Thanks to his exertions, this preliminary organization had the
advantage of serving as a school for those troops which were soon
to enter the Federal service, and with which, shortly afterwards,
he achieved in West Virginia the first success of the war. We
shall see it again on all critical occasions during the struggle, and
especially when the territory of the free States was invaded by
the Confederate armies. These militia troops thus assembled in
haste may occasionally from a distance have deceived those armies
and retarded their movements, by making them believe in the
presence of a powerful force, but they were more frequently a
source of embarrassment than of support to the generals of the
Union, and the insignificant part they played on all occasions was
the only one suited to troops so utterly destitute of all the quali-
ties that constitute a true soldier.
Before we follow to the field the armies whose improvised
organization we have just described, it is proper that we should
point out the peculiar characteristics which, in every branch of
the service, distinguished them from the regular troops whose bat-
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190 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ties aie closely watched by Europe; this is necessary to a proper
understanding of the first events of the war which we are about
to relate. In order to form a correct judgment of the military
commanders who directed that war, it is necessary to have a per-
fect knowledge of the good qualities and defects of the instru-
ment they had to handle.
The American foot-soldier displayed from the very first a great
deal of personal bravery. The conflicts among the woods, where
he was to fall unnoticed and to die without help, afforded the
strongest evidence of this kind of courage, for they deprived him
of that powerful incentive of all human action, the hope that his
name would not die with him ; it was nevertheless in these en-
counters, under the green shroud of the forest, that he exhibited
all his firmness.
He very soon acquired a remarkable skill in firing, and quickly
learned to hit his mark as a skirmisher. While fighting in line,
his fire had not the regularity of the drill-ground, but every sol-
dier, using his weapon as he pleased, would hide behind a tree ;
and picking out the enemy from under the foliage as soon as he
partially exposed himself, he knew how to aim with fatal pre-
cision. One fact which was brought to light by the report of the
surgeon-general on the war demonstrates this peculiar skill of the
combatants on both sides, and throws a curious light on the nature
of the struggle of which the American forests were the theatre ;
it shows that in a certain number of Federal hospitals there were
under treatment more than thirty-six thousand wounds in the
head and arms, against only twenty-nine thousand in the legs ;
and this is easily explained by the position of the soldier, who,
concealed behind the trunk of a tree, only exposed Iris head and
arms when he discharged his piece.
But these personal qualities are not sufficient to impart to a
body of troops that collective courage which inspires ever}' man
with the same spirit, and enables it to undertake with unanimity
of purpose what no individual among those composing it could
have attempted by himself. This distinctive trait of well-trained
armies, which constitutes their superiority, is the result of long
habits of discipline, and the influence of old and experienced
cadres.
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 191
Indeed, whatever may be his personal courage, the soldier wlio
IS unaccustomed to being under fire, placed between comrades
who are as great novices as himself, and opposite to a large
body of the enemy, very soon persuades himself that every mus-
ket in the enemy^s ranks is levelled at his breast, forgetting that
as many friendly weapons are by his side to sustain him. He
may brave his peril, but will lack that entire confidence in the
courage of his neighbors and the skill of his chiefs which ttmds
to draw closer the ranks of a broken force, and urges the soldier
to follow the lead of his officers in a desperate effort. The con-
trolling influence of a severe discipline could not be felt among
armies entirely new, where the epaulet did not carry with it that
moral authority which is acquired by long service, and where the
soldiers did not po&sess the assurance of men who have seen each
other under trial. Easily impressed, like all multitudes, these
men, accustomed to complete freedom of action, went into battle
in a spirit of obedience which is rather rational than passive,
and were actuated more by a sense of duty as citizens than by
the habitude of the disciplined soldier, who forgets his own voli-
tion to follow that of his chief.
Consequently, notwithstanding their bravery, it took them a
long time to learn that, upon ground where the fighting had to
be done at short distances, it was almost always less dangerous
to rush upon the enemy than to be decimated by his fire while
standing still. For want of that mechanism which, in well-regu-
lated armies, communicates the will of the directing power to
each man, as rapidly as the nerves in the human body, they were
frequently to lose the opportunity of turning a first advantage
into a decisive victory. When certain death awaited those occu-
pying the first ranks, when it was so easy to march with less
rapidity than the rest, personal courage could not be displayed to
the same extent by all ; if a single man hesitated or was allowed
to hesitate with impunity, it was enough to render that hesitation
contagious, causing the bravest soldier to lose his dash, and the
most resolute chief all his daring. So long as that absolute
despotism alluded to by Washington did not impose the same
obligations upon the timid, to be found everywhere, as upon the
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192 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
bravest, the American volunteers could not escape those inevitable
consequences of the human character.
Encounters with sword and bayonet, which seldom occur even
between well-trained troops, were consequently very rare in Amer-
ican battles. Besides, infantry charges could only take place in
open spaces or clearings, which form a kind of oasis in the forest,
too dense for troops to march in serried ranks and suddenly to
charge the enemy with the bayonet. In those close fights every-
thing was in favor of the party acting on the defensive. The as-
sailant was openly exposed to the fire of an adversarj'' hidden
along the skirt of the wood ; if he reached the spot, the density
of the forest rendered all pursuit impossible. A barricade of fallen
trees enabled the party assailed to rally and to drive the aggressor
back into the clearing, more dangerous to cross a second time than
the first ; finally, if the latter had not well reconnoitred his flanks
resting on the sides of the clearing, he was liable at any time
to be exposed to an oblique fire from artillery concealed under the
foliage; we shall see how this fear of masked batteries played
upon the imagination and colored the stories of the Federal sol-
diers in the beginning of the war.
These forest conflicts, however, possessed a great advantage for
new troops ; the view being intercepted, panics could not be prop-
agated, and the firing of the soldiers was slower, and consequently
much better, than when they found themselves in an open space,
where the terrible sights which surrounded them disturbed their
equanimity. A curious circumstance mentioned in the official ac-
counts of the battle of Gettysburg, which was fought upon ground
comparatively little wooded, shows to what extent, on both sides,
the excitement of the conflict caused the loss of self-possession
among soldiers who had been accustomed for some time to hand-
ling their arms. Among twenty-four thousand loaded muskets
picked up at random on the field of battle, one- fourth only werd
properly loaded ; twelve thousand contained each a double charge,
and the other fourth from three to ten charges; in some ther^
were six balls to a single charge of powder ; others contained six
cartridges, one on the top of the other without having been opened ;
a few more, twenty-three complete charges regularly inserted ; and
finally, in the barrel of a single musket there were found con-
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS, 193
fusedly jumbled together twenty-two balls, sixty-two buck-shot,
with a proportionate quantity of powder. These souvenirs of the
battle admirably depict the confusion ; we can easily imagine the
soldier stopping to load his gun while his companions are advan-
cing, and instead of stepping to the front and firing off his piece,
renewing the operation of loading until the weapon becomes a use-
less instrument in his hands ; but we should not severely criticise
the American soldier on this account, for it appears that an ex-
amination of the battle-fields of the Crimea gave similar results.
In consequence of the independent character of the Federal vol-
unteers, more than one general saw, in the battles we shall have to
describe, a certain victory turned into defeat, while on the other
hand, the most disastrous checks could almost always be remedied;
a sort of public opinion existing among them even in the midst
of conflicts, we shall find them stoically sufiering themselves to be
killed at their post so long as they are actuated by a spirit of
rivalry 7 then, suddenly persuading themselves that further resist-
ance is useless, at the very moment perhaps when it would have
decided the fate of a batde, they fall back to the rear in* search of
a better position. This retreat, which no effort on the part of the
officers can prevent, is however effected without hastening their
pace, in spite of a shower of balls, and with a degree of coolness
which would be admirable under other circumstances. And, what
is still more remarkable, this temporary disorder seldom degenerated
into a rout; a few minutes would often suffice to stop the fugi-
tives, restore confidence among them, re-form their ranks, and re-
store all the authority of their chie&. A moment after, these
soldiers, so suddenly discouraged, would refuse to believe them-
selves beaten, and this conviction would be almost equivalent to
a victory.
At the very outset of the campaign, the inexperience of the Fed-
eral volunteers was made evident, even more on the march than
on the battle-field. In fact, a body of troops which has had no
practice cannot, with the best intentions in the world, make a long
march without straggling on the road. We shall see at the end
of the war Sherman's soldiers traversing the half of a continent
and conquering success through the vigor of their legs, while
those of Grant carried a load of forty-five pounds on their shoul-
Voi*. I.— 13
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194 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ders. But at the time of which we speak^ they had not yet
acquired that great art of the Boldier which consists in bearing
fatigue and taking rest in a systematic manner. They ate a great
deal, did not know how to economize their food, adjusted their
knapsacks clumsily, and could only carry two days^ rations. The
first day's march, which used up a great number, althoug;h very
short, already filled the road with stragglers, who, while directing
their steps towards the place assigned for the halt, did not con-
sider themselves bound to keep up with their comrades, and whom
a fresh spring of water or a shady spot would keep back ; fortu-
nately for the Federal armies, the Confederate guerrillas, in pick-
ing up such stragglers, did more towards putting a stop to this
fatal habit than the severest orders of the day.
The mounted volunteers naturally took the regular cavalry for
their model, and imitated their mode of fighting, which, as we
have already observed, recalled that of the old dragoons of the
seventeenth century — a curious comparison between the ancient
military customs of Europe and those of modem America. If
those troopers borrowed the carbine of the regulars, it was not
because they had to fight an enemy as swift in flight as the Indian
of the prairies, but that every inexperienced soldier, when he can
choose between side-arms and firearms, always prefers the latter,
which does not compel him to come to close quarters with the enemy.
Besides, in order to handle a sabre or a lance, one should be fully
able to manage a horse, and the horsemanship of the Federal
volunteers at the beginning of the war was deplorable. They
did not fire from their saddles like the troopers of the times of
Louis XIV., but got into the habit of fighting on foot, leaving
their horses in charge of one-fourth of their number. The
wooded and rugged character of the country was suited to this
mode of warfare, but would not have admitted of those great and
rapid evolutions of a cavalry relying solely on the swiftness of
their horses, if such cavalry had existed in America.
The cavalry, however, at the outset of the war, confined itself
to the complicated task of scouting for the armies, and acting as
skirmishers. This service, although difficult for young troops,
was not altogether new to American horsemen, accustomed to an
adventurous life which suited their spirit of personal enterprise.
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THE FEDERAL VOLUNTEERS. 196
If they did not always possess the just instinct of war, nor that
abiding vigilanoe indispensable in the presence of an enemy, they
made up these deficiencies by their intelligence and daring ; a great
number of little engagements, which cannot find a place in our nar-
rative, afforded them opportunities to show that the inventive mind
of the Americans was never at fault when it became necessary to
devise a stratagem or to make combinations for some bold stroke.
At a later period the importance of the cavalry was developed
by the new part assigned to it in those raids or large independent
expeditions, of which we shall speak hereafter.
The artillery could not find amid the American forests favor-
able ground and those large open spaces where it can operate with
most effect It was, however, from the first day in large force
and constantly employed, because this arm of the service had,
from the very first, been highly popular among the volunteers,
while the infantry, before it had been well trained, did not like
to move without feeling itself supported by some guns, even for
a simple reconnaissance. As we have seen at Big Bethel, field-
pieces were placed as vedettes near the most advanced sentinels of
those new armies. This practice, common to both parties, fre-
quently led to a noisy kind of artillery duel rarely bloody. If
the position of one of those advanced batteries displeased the
enemy, or if one of the two adversaries desired to try some newly
invented projectile, the first fire was sure to bring on a lively
cannonade, which the distance and the small number of combat-
ants generally rendered harmless. But when the rattling peals
of musketry announced a serious engagement, the artillery of
the volunteers, worthy rival of that of the regulars, would always
rush across woods and swamps to seek a position where the dan-
ger was greatest, even at the risk of being abandoned by the raw
troops who were its only support.
We have dwelt upon the defects of the American volunteers
because they were the cause of their first reverses, and because, in
exposing them, we are only exalting the merit of those men who
had so much to learn, in order to become capable of accomplish-
ing the great task they had undertaken, and who succeeded by
dint of perseverance and devotion. One trait in their character
redeemed all these defects, and already displayed, under the garb
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196 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
of these inexperienced men^ those valiant champions who^ at the
end of the war, carried the enemy's strong works by assault: they
went under fire more resolutely the second time than the first.
Bad soldiers, if unconscious of the impression which the reality
of war will produce upon them, are apt to rush into the fight with
as much daring and resolution as veteran troops, and once engaged
they will sometimes continue to behave well; but experience
makes them timid, and their courage fails them afterwards, when
called upon to face a danger they have learned to appreciate. On
the contrary, participation in those dangers, the loss of their com-
rades, the sufferings and hardships of the war, were to strengthen
the courage and increase the self-possession of the volunteers whom
a patriotic duty had taken from the occupations of civil life. Iron,
when pure and of good quality, acquires shape and strength under
the repeated blows of the blacksmith's hammer, while metal adul-
terated with bad alloys splits and soon flies in pieces.
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BOOK IlL— THE FIRST CONFLICT.
CHAPTEE I.
RIVERS AND RAILWAYS.
nriHE modes of warfare vary in every country according to the
JL nature of the ground. What is possible on the wide plains
of Germany or in the rich provinces of Italy becomes impracti-
cable among the mountains of Switsserland or on the parched and
rugged joil of Spain, It follows, therefore, that in this recital,
which takes us upon another continent, before we judge men, and
compare what they have done with what might be accomplished
in any stated part of Europe, we must consider the conditions im-
posed upon them by the physical characteristics of the country in
which they had to operate.
Let us therefore begin by casting a glance over the map of that
vast country where, for the last half century, modern civilization,
taking a marvellous flight, has developed itself amid the grandeurs,
almost intact, of virgin Nature. What strikes the observer at,
first is the simplicity of the geographical configuration of the
United States. We set aside the Pacific basin, which, closely
connected with the other sections of the confederation by political
and social affinities, is separated from them by the Eocky Moun-
tains and the plains which guard the approaches of that wild and
desolate chain to the eastward. Those spacious deserts, which the
emigrant crosses without settling, envelop the new States, where
he goes to seek his fortune, with a belt that is impassable for large
armies. No great natural divisions are to be met between the
foot of the Eocky Mountains and the Atlantic borders. There is
but one solitary range of mountains to be seen — ^that of the Alle-
ghanies, of great length, but deficient in altitude, extending from
north-east to south-west, and consequently not presenting diver-
sities of climate ; intersected by numerous rivers of considerable
size^ divided throughout its whole extent by large and fertile val-
197
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198 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
leys, but without the snowy crown of the Alps and the Pyrenees,
and devoid, therefore, of all that can render a chain of mountains
a real barrier and a political boundary. The American rivers,
slow and deep, easily navigable, instead of being an obstacle, are
so many open highways for war as well as for commerce. The
gea}ral aspect of America, therefore, is grand and imposing, but
singularly monotonous and uniform, and very different from that
of Europe, where Nature and man have vied with each other in
producing striking varieties of form. It is easy to take in at one
glance the collective features of that country ; but the details of
its different parte are so much alike that the observer can with
difficulty identify any of them. Under the artificial divisions of
States and counties traced by rule and line across hundreds of leagues,
where no historical associations exist, and which make a perfect
checker-board of the map; between towns and villages whose
names, by turns classical and vulgar, are so frequently repeated
that they become a useless embarrassment to the memory, nothing
can be distinguished but a network of water-courses more en-
tangled than the blood-vessels of the human body. It is a country
possessing an even surface, with equal undulations throughout its
whole extent, and covered with forests that collect the dampness
and stock it in a multitude of valleys. Except among the AUe-
ghanies, no clearly defined division of waters occurs, no large
table-lands nor open spaces, no deep depressions, so that on near-
ing the Atlantic the level of the ground gradually lowers, until
land and sea become interlaced ; the smallest valleys are trans-
formed into estuaries and the faintest undulations into long pe-
ninsulas. It is not a part of our subject to point out the effect of
this configuration upon the political condition of America. Being
without the long and bloody history of Europe, and not divided
between different races or hostile civilizations, she has not wit-
nessed the formation of artificial frontiers upon her soil, to take
the place of those natural divisions that are at variance with
them. The same single people have spread over a uniform ter-
ritory, and have everywhere implanted the same institutions.
And by a truly providential coincidence, the day when the im-
mensity of her domain might have weakened the bonds of her
unity, railways were introduced which averted the impending
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RIVEES AND RAILWAYS. 199
danger. Thanks to them, New Orleans is to-day nearer New
York than Marseilles was to Havre forty years ago, when France
could count as many inhabitants as constitute the population of the
United States at the present time. It is wrong, therefore, to suppose
that the extent of their territory is an obstacle in the way of their
commercial development and a cause for political dissolution.
But it is otherwise in a military point of view. The distances,
the nature of the country, and the condition of its settlements, in-
terpose extraordinary difiSculties to the great movements of armies
and their manoeuvres on the battle-field. The population is dis-
tributed very diflFerently from what it is in Europe. While cen-
turies of war, of violence, and oppression have concentrated the
inhabitants of the Old World in cities and villages, peace, safety,
and freedom have induced the settlers of America to spread them-
selves over the surface of the country ; and each of them settling
down upon the patch of land which he has undertaken to clear
with his individual resources, the rural families, instead of draw-
ing near their neighbors and forming small straggling towns,
have preferred an isolated country life. Since then, immense
cities have undoubtedly sprung up in the free States — ^not as a
consequence of public danger, but, on the contrary, as the nat-
ural results of accumulated wealth and powerful commerce;
but in the matter of social organization, these cities play a
totally different part from that of our great European centres.
In America it is not the man from the country who goes to
seek his fortune in the city; it is, on the contrary, the city
people whom the hope of higher wages or of rapid profits
draws into the country. Far from absorbing the vital forces
of the nation, the city is only a vast reservoir from which they
are poured over the whole country. Nor must it be forgotten
that these great cities only exist in the Northern States. In the
slave States, which have been the exclusive theatre of the war, pru-
dence on one side, the demands for field-labor on the other, caused
the servile population to be distributed among the vast planta-
tions of their respective masters. So that in those States there are
neither large cities nor villages ; small towns are scarce, the chief
county place being designated by a solitary building, generally
situated at the intersection of two roads, and the Federal armies
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200 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
had frequently to march for many long days without meeting with
more than four houses together in the same clearing. Essentially
expansive in its tendencies, the population of the United States,
like a liquid which nothing can keep within bounds, has always
spread itself over new tracts of land before it has completely settled
those already occupied. Thus, in the slave States this slight sprink-
ling of white population represented in 1860 less than six inhab-
itants to every square kilometre, and the proportion of cultivated
lands to the entire surface of the territory was only 16.07 per
cent, in the South-eastern States and 10.17 per cent, in those of
the South-west. During the eighty years which followed the war
of Independence, this proportion was scarcely increased, while dur-
ing the same period of time, the total population of the Republic
increased tenfold. Forest and swamp are yet in exclusive posses-
sion of the eight or nine-tenths still undisturbed by man — ^the
forest, ordinarily an assemblage of lofty trees mixed with coppice ;
the swamp, a woody marsh where the combined action of sun and
water develops a powerful vegetation, the thickness of which in-
terposes serious obstacles to the movements of armies.
To the natural dtfficulties which a too scanty population has
not yet been able to overcome, there was added in the South the
enervating influence of slavery. This fatal institution paralyzes
that spirit of enterprise which, in the North, produces a striking
contrast between the triumphs of industry and the splendors of a
yet rebellious Nature only half conquered by civilization. Tum-
pil^es are few and poorly kept. The roads, laid out at random
from clearing to clearing, over a rich soil easily softened, be-
come impassable at the first rainfall. Magnificent rivers roll
their unexplored waters through the great shadows of the virgin
forest, as in the days when the canoe of the Indian was gently
wafted upon their currents. There were no maps, or at least
bad maps, which is even worse yet for the purposes of war. It
appears that the drawings made by Washington during the leisure
hours of his youth still constitute the best topographical charts
of Virginia, and the only States which possess correct drawings
of land-surveys are those most recently admitted into the Union,
which, as Territories, were for some time under the jurisdiction
of the Federal government and surveyed by Federal officers*
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 201
Those portions of America which were the earliest colonized are
those whose geography is the most imperfect.
Another capital difficulty in the way of military operations
arose from the fact that the products of the Southern States,
especially during the early stages of the war, were not adapted
for the subsistence of armies. The cotton-plant and the sugar-
cane reigned without rivals in the extreme South, and, more to
the northward, tobacco. Virginia alone cultivated wheat to a
great extent in the elevated valleys of the Alleghanies, but like
the neighboring State of Kentucky, her principal product was the
slave himself. She took him out of her infamous pens to supply
the sugar and cotton plantations, and to repair the ravages of
forced labor and an insatiable climate. This interior traffic,
which an odious application of the politico-economical principle
of the relations between supply and demand had developed since
the suppression of the African slave-trade, had by a just retalia-
tion struck a death-blow to the prosperity of those States. The
production and raising of slaves, to which everything was sacri-
ficed, had ruined agriculture by multiplying the number of useless
mouths, without increasing the number of strong arms, which
were constantly being exported into other markets. Conse-
quently, at the opening of the war, the Southern States depended
entirely for their flour and salt meats upon enormous importations
from the Western States.
The vast blockade in which the North held them shackled
during the war compelled them at last to make their own soil
yield them the necessary means for sustaining life. Cotton,
sugar, and tobacco, having lost their value, gave place to cereals,
the cultivation of which, contrary to many predictions, spread
and prospered as far as the warm plains of Georgia. It was alone
owing to this change in the cultivation of the soil that the
Confederate armies were able to subsist, but, at the same time, it
deprived the South of one of her strongest defences, by rendering
invasion easier.
Sherman understood this, and attempted, in 1865, that de-
cisive march which, all other things being equal, he could not
have undertaken two or three years before, across those States
then exclusively devoted to the cultivation of cotton. And yet
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202 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
his example affords no proof that an army can subsist in America
upon the resources of the country it occupies. It was only by
avoiding all stoppages, by always marching on, and constantly
occupying a new section of country, that Sherman was able to
get along for some time without the supplies forwarded from
the Northern States. When the large American armies, propor-
tioned not to the density of the population, but to its entire num-
ber, found themselves, with all the requirements of a refined civ-
ilization, in the midst of a country yet so little cultivated, they
encountered difficulties unknown in our European wars, and
which Washington, Rochambeau, and Cornwallis had formerly
escaped, owing to the small number of their soldiers. The popu-
lation is too limited to supply, out of its husbanded resources, the
wants of such masses of men gathered together within a narrow
space by the chances of war.
We have shown that this population does not form any agglom-
erated centres, where the products of the country are naturally
brought together, and where armies can easily obtain supplies.
The railways, which facilitate the circulation of such products and
favor their exchange, have rendered d6p6ts where capital remains
inactive — a thing always repugnant to an American — ^unnecessary,
by carrying off at once all the fruits of the soil except what is
strictly necessary for local consumption. Armies, therefore, except
under peculiar and fleeting circumstances, are obliged to draw the
largest portion of their supplies from sections of country remote
from the seat of war. To concentrate provisions in the quiet and
productive districts, to have these provisions safely forwarded to
the d6p6ts stationed en echelon in the rear of the army, and by
means of these ddp6ts to issue daily supplies to all the corps on
their march, — such is the first requirement for conducting a cam-
paign in America, and one of the most difficult problems which
a general-in-chief has to solve. The almost entire absence of turn-
pikes, the necessity of subjecting the thousands of tons of pro-
visions corLsumed daily by a large army to such long and com-
plicated transits, limits the transportation by w^agons considerably,
and renders the powerful assistance of steam indispensable both
by water and by rail.
These fruitful arteries, which have permitted the concentration,
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 203
at different pomts, of the resources of an immense territory, and
vrhose life-bearing cmrent has alone been able to feed those arti-
ficial and unproductive masses of humanity called armies, are
so important that the Southern Confederacy died of inanition the
very day it was deprived of their help. Hence the decisive in-
fluence of the combined system of these river and iron highways
upon the conduct of the war ; it traced in advance, so to speak,
the route of armies, and indicated the points the possession of
which they contended for. It if important, therefore, to a proper
understanding of the manner in which the war was conducted,
that we should offer a few remarks regarding this system, not-
withstanding the little attraction geographical descriptions possess
in general.
All travellers have vaunted the majesty of American rivers, but
have failed to present an idea of their number. These rivers pen-
etrate the continent in every direction, and are navigable at all
times for a certain distance ; but when the rainy season comes,
the shallows disappear, the smallest tributaries are rapidly
swollen, extending the limits of navigation to the very heart
of the Union, and opening thereby an easy way of access to
the steamboats that have come from the remotest parts of
the continent. It is for this reason that the American journals
always published a register of the water-marks of their great
rivers as among the most important news-items of the war. The
American steamboat, a huge flat-bottomed structure resembling a
castle many stories high, with its strong engine and powerful
wheels, can transport, in a single trip, enormous cargoes of pro-
visions, ammunition, and even soldiers. An army appuyie upon
one of these rivers can easily receive all the supplies it needs.
So long as it controls the waters its resources are unlimited.
Piers can easily be improvised from the forests which border the
banks; upon this level highway no impediments are ever met
with, no intermediate loadings or unloadings; the cargoes can
be transported directly from the large cities of Cincinnati or St.
Louis to the vicinity of the Federal camps on the banks of the
Tennessee or the Mississippi, a distance of three or four hundred
leagues from the point of departure.
Let us, in a few words, give an outline of the general configu
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204 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ration and the ensemble of those rivers in the States that were
the theatre of the war.
The whole system of water-courses in that vast region of
country may be divided into two parte, entirely distinct and sep-
arated by a long line, which, broken at a single point, extends
from the banks of the Mississippi to those of the Potomac.
Formed at first by an insignificant chain of hills, this line runs
from west to east, from the great river to a point south of Chatta-
nooga ; leaving this point, it follows the chain of the AUeghanies,
from south-west to north-east as far as the gap made by the Poto-
mac, and to the boundary of the free States. To the south and
south-cast of this great division, the waters flow directly into the
sea, emptying either into the Atlantic or into the Gulf of Mexico.
On the opposite slope, these waters rush from every point of the
horizon to meet again in the Mississippi, that immense and only
drainage of half a continent. This dividing line, uninterrupted
by any water communication, proved a very serious obstacle
throughout the entire war.
The Atlantic basin is an elongated triangle extending between
the AUeghanies and the sea, ite highest elevation being on the
estuary of the Potomac at Washington, and the base lying from
Chattanooga to the peninsula of Florida, comprising the States
that were the earliest colonized. The James, the Roanoke, the
Savannah, the Altamaha, and other streams which descend from
the mountains to lose themselves in deep bays or vast swamps,
intersect this triangle perpendicularly to the coast.
A slight undulation of surface, connecting the AUeghanies with
Florida, separates the Atlantic slope from that portion of the
basin of the Gulf of Mexico which lies east of the Mississippi ;
it is a fertile country, very well watered, but more recently setr-
tled and less populated. Consequently, ite importance in con-
nection with the war was only secondary. Although Sherman
crossed, near their sources in Grcorgia, the three large rivers which
flow through the State from north to south, the Chattahoochee,
the Alabama, and the Tombigbee, the fantastic names of the first
and the last are still as little known as when they were only
uttered by Indian warriors. The Alabama owes ite celebrity,
not to the insignificant battles fought upon ite banks, but to the
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 205
chance which caused the same name to be bestowed upon the
famous Confederate pirate whose fragments lie at the bottom of
the sea not far from Cherbourg.
There are two not far apart points in the very centre of the
continent, both situated on the borders of the Mississippi, which
in their combination constitute one of those exceptional locations
which, like the Bosphorus, seem to have been intended by a
special favor of Nature for an extraordinary destiny. We allude
to that magnificent rendezvous of the waters, descending from all
the cardinal points, and forming between St. Louis and Cairo an
immense river which afterwards runs into the sea without gather-
ing any tributary of importance from the east, and only two
from the west. St. Louis, whose French name recalls the period
of our brief sway over those vast regions, and whose present
prosperity reflects honor upon thoso sturdy colonists who had the
sagacity to select that site on the very day following our disasters
in Canada, — St. Louis is situated at the confluence of the Missouri,
the Mississippi, and the Illinois, flowing from the west, the north-
west, and the north.
At Cairo, her unfortunate rival, infected with fever, these riv-
ers connect with the Ohio, the " Beautifvi Eiver" swelled by the-
Tennessee and other tributaries which pour into it from the south.
This wonderful concourse of waters greatly facilitates commu-
nications of all kinds, oonmiercial intercourse as well as military
operations.
The r^'ons watered by these rivers were differently affected
by the war; the borders of some were devastated, their hills,
made to bristle with cannon, their waters ploughed by armed
vessels, and many lives sacrificed ; while others had to supply the-
combatants with provisions and gather together the produce of
rich and undisturbed districts for the use of the army.
The events we have narrated, which marked the line of separa*-
tion between the belligerents, divided this vast basin into three
parts.
One, situated north of the Ohio, that boundary between free-
dom and slavery so admirably described by De Tocqueville, com-
prised the rich Middle States, the granaries of America, and soon,
to be those of the whole world. It was to know nothing of the?
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206 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
war except through the accounts given by its sons^ and by the
absence of those who were doomed never again to revisit the
domestic hearth.
The second extended along the right bank of the Mississippi,
the home of the Indian and the buffalo, and the new country of
the pioneer, the eternal enemy of both — a country the immensity
of which seems to stimulate individual energy, and where the
laws are as vague as its boundaries. There, under the influ-
ence of violent passions, the legal struggle which was going on
elsewhere between slaveiy and free labor had already for some
time assumed a fierce and sanguinary character, and the outposts
of two hostile institutions^ constantly facing each other, had antici-
pated the declaration of war by many years. So, no doubt, we
shall see the still burning embers of that great conflagration lurk-
ing in their ashes for a long time to come. But, at the critical
moment, the irr^ular war&re of which those too spacious regions
were the theatre exercised no influence upon the great plan of
military operations.
Finally, the third part, bounded on the west by the Mississippi,
and on the north by the Ohio, comprising West Virginia, Ken-
tucky, Tennessee, and portions of the neighboring States, was the
territory the possession of which the Federals, taking the offen-
sive, disputed with their adversaries. This almost virgin soil
was to be trodden by the largest armies that were ever assem-
bled on either side, and witnessed such torrents of human blood
as it is the sad privilege of an advanced civilization to shed.
In those vast regions, some of the most decisive blows of the
war have brought into unexpected notice the name of some hum-
ble settler of the wilderness who had helped to clear it with his
own hands; while, by some singular coincidence, the mysterious
meaning of some curious appellation, the only l^acy left by an
unhappy race, as a fatal prophecy to the country it had been dis-
possessed of, has been unravelled. When the Indian called one
of the thousand rivulets which meander across the upper ridges
of Greorgia, Chickamauga, or "The River of Death," could he
have foreseen, by a secret instinct, the fratricidal war which was
to strike down the white men in expiation of their past crimes,
and the autumnal evening which was to witness the destruction
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 207
of thirty thousand of his future enemies upon the borders of that
insignificant stream?
The waters of this third part^ the only one that has any interest
for us, are all tributaries of the Ohio. Among all the import-
ant streams of this basin, however, two only, the Great Kanawha
and the Kentucky, descend directly from the AUeghanies towards
this river, and yet, their currents being too rapid to be long
navigable, they possess no military importance. All the others
b^in by diverging from the course of the "Beautiful River,"
and meeting again in two large streams, the Cumberland and the
Tennessee, which envelop the whole basin in two concentric
curves at the south, only empty into the Ohio just before it loses
itself in Uie Father of Waters. Thence extends a vast space with-
out any rivers, separating the course of the Ohio and its fertile
borders from the neighboring regions of the AUeghanies, and
obliging those who desire to reach that country by water to fol-
low the immense circuit of the Tennessee, the length of which
is greater and navigable fof a longer distance than the Cum-
berland.
There remains the great line, sinuous in its details, but straight
in its general direction, which the Mississippi traces from the cen-
tre of the continent to the Gulf of Mexico, and the waters of
which may mark a geographical division, but really constitute a
powerful link between the Northern States whence tliey flow, and
those of the South, in the centre of which they have opened a
gap abundantly fertile.
Let us sum up in a few words this general view of American
rivers. They may be divided into two parts — those that flow
directly into the sea, and those which unite in forming the Mis-
sissippi. The former are divided into two distinct basins, that
of the Atlantic and that of the Gulf of Mexico; the one of pecu-
liar importance, the other comparatively insignificant in con-
nection with the late war. In the vast basin of the Mississippi,
composed of the latter, three regions may be observed— one to
northward, whose territory was respected by the war; another to
westward, yet almost a desert; and a third to south-eastward,
which alone was the theatre of the great military operations.
The war we are about to describe has shown what great ad van-
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208 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
tage an army oould derive from these rivers, especially when used
in combination with railways ; nor has the part of the latter been
an unimportant one. In those sections of America which Nature
has not supplied with navigable rivers, railways have been substi-
tuted to a certain extent, but they are far from possessing the same
advantages. On the one hand, being constructed on principles
of economy, they have only a single track, and consequently can
only transport a limited amount of material ; and besides their
innumerable bridges and long viaducts being frail wooden struc-
tures, always at the mercy of a single spark, travel is liable to
constant interruptions. An army in retreat easily destroys them
in its rear, and compels the invader who wishes to pursue to re-
construct them under great disadvantages. In short, a happy
coup-de-main is sufficient to cut them in the rear of an enemy
even superior in numbers. But as these modes of conveyance
for forwarding supplies are indispensable, the more precarious
tliey are, the more carefully they require to be guarded, and con-
sequently the greater their bearing iipon the entire conduct of the
war.
It is necessary, in order to render the narrative explicit, to ex-
plain the system of railways in the Southern States, which form
three distinct groups in the three basins of the Atlantic, the
Gulf of Mexico, and the Mississippi, with scarcely any connec-
tion between them.
In the first group we find three principal lines running nearly
parallel to the coast. One, following the Alleghanies along their
whole range, belongs strategically to this group, although its prin-
cipal portion is situated upon the opposite slope of these moun-
tains ; isolated among their elevated valleys, it runs for a distance
of nearly two hundred leagues between Lynchburg, where it con-
nects with the Virginia lines, and Chattanooga, where it strikes
again the railways of the Ohio basin ; its length and direction
prevent its being an effectual link between the two groups. The
other two lines, on the contrary, are intersected by cross-roads
forming numerous junctions, the names of which have nearly all
figured in the war. Along the line which runs close to the shore,
rounding the gulfs and striking the sea from port to port, it is
sufficient to mention Richmond, Petersburg, Groldsborough, "Wil-
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 209
mington, Charleston, and Savannah, where the track leaves the
Atlantic basin to connect with that of the Mexican Gulf at Macon.
Along the intermediate line between the mountains and the sea,
we find the names of Manassas, Gordonsville, Burkesville, Greens-
borough, Columbia, Augusta, and finally Atlanta, which is its
terminus. At Atlanta, the central point between the three groups,
we also find, in another direction, the principal artery of the Gulf
basin, together with an important branch which, availing itself
of a gap in the AUeghanies, nins direct from Chattanooga to
connect the group of the Ohio basin with the other two groups.
The States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, more recently
settled and less populated than those of the East^ are naturally
ill supplied with railways. Yet tw^o lines contiguous to the
Mississippi, and running parallel with its course, connect the
great ports of Mobile and New Orleans with the Middle States ;
whilst another, having one terminus at Vicksburg on the Missis-
sippi, and built during the war, for the purpose of opening easy
communications with Texas, extends as far as Atlanta.
In the Ohio basin, the western part, already exclusively favored
by water-courses, is alone in possession of railways. One line,,
single at first, which runs southward from Cincinnati and Lou-
isville, forks successively at Bowling Green and Nashville, and
further on at Hardinsville, and q)reading out like an immense
fan south of Cumberland, extends its numerous arms from the
foot of the high cliffs which terminate the Alleghany range, at the
very point where the navigation of the Tennessee commences —
so appropriately called Lookout Mountain — ^as far as the banks,
of the Mississippi, to Columbus at the west, and to Memphis at
the south.
A transversal line connecting the latter city with Chattanooga,,
and uniting the extremities of five branches of this fan, was not
of the same importance for military operations as it had been,
before in a commercial point of view; being exposed in flank,,
it could easily be cut and rendered equally useless to both bel-
ligerents. More to eastward, the vast region of country com*
prised between the Ohio and the AUeghanies, already without
navigable rivers, is also deprived of railways ; it is the same with.
the section of country extending from the railway running
Vol. I.— U
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210 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
parallel with the Mississippi to the Chattanooga gap^ and sepa-
rating the Ohio basin from that of the Mexican Gulf,
Consequently, the railways found in that part of America
which was the theatre of the war, form three groups correspond-
ing with the three basins of the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico
and the Ohio respectively. They are only connected by a few
lines located at great distances from each other, leaving vast
intervening spaces equally inaccessible to the locomotive and
to the steamboat. These spaces, destitute of all means of com-
munication, extend through the whole length of the Southern
States, and separate them completely, dividing the waters into two
great basins and the railways into two independent systems.
It is easy to conceive the bearing they had upon the war. They
present, in fact, an insurmountable obstacle to the march of an
army anxious to preserve its communications. From the vicinity
of the Mississippi to the borders of the Potomac they form one
continuous line, only once broken, in the centre, between Chatta-
nooga and Atlanta. This was the weak point in the Southern
armor which, after the loss of the Ohio basin, could have protected
the heart of the rebel States, by compelling the Federals to attack
them at either of the two extremities, through the borders of the
Mississippi and the Chesapeake, or by landing upon an inhospit-
able coast. It was through this -flaw in the cuirass that we shall
see Sherman thrusting his formidable sword. It was owing to this
railway from Chattanooga to Atlanta that he was able not only
to reach the latter place, but to establish himself in it and make
it the point of departure for his decisive campaign in (Jeorgia.
But at the time of which we are speaking, it was in the
vicinity of the Ohio that the conflict was about to begin, and the
division we have laid down in the network of rivers and rail-
ways will share in the first military operations in three distinct
zones, each of which will have the banks of one of these rivers
:as the scene of action.
As we progress with our narrative, the very examples it fur-
nishes will demonstrate more clearly than anything we could
say in this place, the importance and the special use to be made
of the ways of communication both by water and rail. We shall
dierefore confine ourselves to a few words in justification of the
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 211
foregoing lengthy description, and to show that it was an indis-
pensable introduction to the history of the war.
We shall see the rivers performing a double part in the
strategic movements. On the one hand, they secure unlimited
resources for revictualling the armies, being accessible to an in-
definite number of steamers, which can convey the supplies and
reinforcements that are needed. On the other hand, they afford
armies powerful means for assuming the offensive, by enabling
ships of war to support their movements and protect their lines
of communication in proportion as they are extended. Rail-
ways, on the contrary, with their limited capacity for transporta-
tion, are an instrument purely defensive; they cannot support
the movements of an aggressor, who is obliged to regulate his
march according to the greater or lesser rapidity with which
they can be reconstructed.
The two essential requisites, therefore, for directing the move-
ments of an army are — first, to secure a safe channel of transporta-
tion for its supplies, and then to know how far it can venture from
the river or the railway by means of which those supplies are
received. Consequently, while in those countries that abound in
provisions, like Europe, an army extends its lines for the purpose
of procuring sustenance, and concentrates to fight, in America,
the larger the army, the greater the necessity for concentration in
order to obtain provisions ; liecause, being able to procure scarcely
anything from the country it occupies, the more its lines are
extended, the more difficult it becomes for those who are at a
distance from their only sources of supply to procure food.
In order to calculate the distance to which an army may ven-
ture from the d6p6ts established at the railway stations or river
landings which constitute the base of its operations, we must
b^in by premising that there are no roads, in the European sense
of the term, which can connect this base with the various posi-
tions occupied by the army. Cross-roads disappear rapidly under
the combined effects of the first rain and the incessant passing of
wagons; ne^7 ones have to be opened across fields and woods,
and these must be kept constantly in order, to prevent their being
rendered impassable at the end of a few days. The number of
mouths to be fed is the criterion by which to determine this dis-
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212 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
tancc; for, on the one hand, a road can only be made available
for a certain number of wagons, while on, the other, even if several
practirable roads be opened, an army cannot be accompanied by
an unlimited number of wagons without embarrassing all its
movements.
At the beginning of the war the American soldier consumed
nearly three pounds of food per day; if to this we add ammuni-
tion of every kind, personal accoutrement**, and all that is neces-
sar}' for the maintenance of troops, it will be readily admitted
that the average weight of articles to be transported for the
necessities of a large American army is about four pounds daily
to each man, without counting the food for horses and mules,
which amounts to about twenty-five pounds for each animal.
The American wagon, drawn by six mules, carries a load of 2000
pounds, sufficient, therefore, to supply 500 men, provided it can
make the trip daily, going and returning, between the army
and its d(;i)6te. If the distance to be traveled is such as to re-
quire a whole day's march, one day being lost in returning
empty, it will only be able to supply 500 men every other day,
or 250 daily. To go a distance of two days' march from its base
of operations is a very small matter for an army that is manoeu-
vring in front of the enemy, and yet, according to this computa-
tion, it will require four wagons to sup])ly 500 men with provis-
ions, or eight for 1000, and consequently 800 for 100,000 men.
If this army of 100,000 men has 16,000 cavalry and artillery
horses, a small number comparatively speaking, 200 more
wagons will be required to carry their daily forage, and, there-
fore, 800 to transport it to a distance of two days' march.
These 1600 wagons are, in their turn, drawn by 9600 mules,
which, also consuming twenty-five pounds during each of the
three days out of four they are away from the d6p6t, require
360 wagons more to carry their forage; these 360 wagons are
drawn by 2400 animals, and in order to transport the food required
by the latter, 92 additional wagons are necessary. Adding
twenty wagons more, for general purposes, we shall find that 2000
wagons, drawn by 12,000 animals, are strictly necessary to victual
an army of 100,000 men and 16,000 horses at only two days*
march from its base of operations. In the same proportion, if
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 213
this army finds itself separated from its base of operations by
three days' march, 3760 wagons, drawn by 22,000 animals, will be
found indispensable for that service. This calculation does not
take into account the difficulties in the way of transportation;
for if these wagons are necessary to convey the materials as far
as the d6p6ts of the division, the others are required to distrib-
ute them afterwards among the regiments; an army, in fact,
is obliged to keep a number of such wagons constantly with it in
order to secure a certain degree of mobility and to be able to send
a few detachments forward, accompanied by a wagon-train car-
rying several days' provisions. Thus an American army of
100,000 men with nearly 4000 wagons, from 2000 to 3000 of
which pass and repass over three or four parallel roads, the dis-
tance of two days' march, or about forty or fifty kilometres, had
established for it, during the war, the utmost distance to which
it could venture from its base of operations, while continuing to
receive its supplies from that source.
In an ofiensive campaign, therefore, an army cannot go beyond
two days' march without at the same time removing its d^p6ts.
If it follows a line of railway, it must stop and wait for the re-
pairing of the track as far as the new point where it wishes to
establish them. If its line of march lies contiguous to a river, it
18 generally accompanied by a fleet of transports, which, by reason
of their flat bottoms, can be run upon any beach and their cargoes
speedily landed. If it has to pass through a country deprived of
easy communications, it may abandon the base of operations upon
which it has rested and go in search of another ; this apparently
bold movement proved successful with all those who tried it, either
for the purpose of striking the head of some railway already occu-
pied by friendly troops, or for securing new positions on the margin
of some distant river, where the fleet could again overtake the
army and revictual it. By thus advancing its base of operations
on the same line, or by changing from one line to another, the
wagons were relieved of two trips ; and by taking them along
loaded with provisions, it doubled the number of days during
which the troops could march in an enemy's country. A certain
number of rations in the haversack of each soldier increased
the number of days, while herds of cattle, at the season of the
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214 THE CIVIL n'AR IN AMERICA.
year when they could find pasturage in the vicinity of the army,
aflTorded a supplementary resource. In proportion as he ac-
quired ex2)erience in war, the Federal soldier became more sober,
more sparing of his rations, and learnt at the same time to
carry a heavier load on his shoulders. Among the necessary ele-
ments for calculating the number of days he could remain separated
from his d^p^ts, there are some, as will be seen, which are essen-
tially variable. We shall confine ourselves, in regard to these, to
the figures furnished by the experience of the same army at two
different epochs of the war. In October, 1862, McClellan being
desirous to move his quarters from the head of one line of railway
to another, as we will show presently, with an army of 122,000
men — an operation which might oblige him to subsist for ten days
without any other supplies than those he carried with him, — ^these
supplies were transported by a train of 1830 wagons. These
wagons were drawn by 10,980 animals ; there were besides 5046
cavalry horses, and 6836 belonging to the artillery ; in order to
carry ten days^ complete rations of forage for these animals, it re-
quired a second train, with an addition of 17,832 beasts, which
had to supply the 40,664 horses or mules which in some capacity
or other thus followed the army, with half rations, the country
through which that army passed having to furnish the rest. This
enormous figure only comprised the transportation of provisions,
exclusive of ammunition and of the sick and wounded. In May,
1864, this same army was of nearly the same strength, num-
bering 125,000 men, 29,945 cavalr}' horses, and 4046 belonging
to officers, 4300 wagons, and 835 ambulances — 56,499 animals in
all — when it took the field under the command of Grant, pre-
pared to fight and march for three weeks, if necessary, before re-
joining any of its d6p6ts. The rations liad been greatly diminished,
and the soldiers were accustomed to carry heavy loads ; they had
three full rations in their knapsacks and three days' allowance of
biscuits in their haversacks ; each wagon having capacity for 1400
small rations, the train could furnish ten days' provisions and
forage, while the droves of beef-cattle that accompanied the army
provided for three more. So that, while McClellan had only pro-
visions for ten days at the utmost, two years later. Grant, with the
same army and the same resources, was able to take with him
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EIVERS AND RAIL WA YS. 215
sixteen clays' supply. These figures fully show that experience
in the war had succeeded in rendering certain operations possi-
ble which, in the beginning, were not so with the improvised
troops whose first campaigns we are about to narrate.
The amount of transportation that can be effected by means of
railways enters as a no less important element in the movements
of armies, and will prove a source of embarrassment when those
armies are large and depend upon a single line for their supplies.
Frequent examples of this will appear in our narrative ; conse-
quently, the organization of the railway service, and the skill
with which all its details were regulated, contributed essentially
to success during this diflScult war. We will only cite one in-
stance at present — that of Hooker's army, 23,000 strong, which
in 1863 was transported with all its matMdy its horses and
wagons, from the Kapidan to Stevenson in Alabama, a distance
of nearly 2000 kilometres, by rail in seven days. This shows
the great services railways were able to render by concentrat-
ing an army on any given point of the continent; but it was
much easier to accomplish a movement of this kind than to
supply a large army daily with provisions at the terminus of
one of those long single-track lines which run through the South-
em States; in fact, their rude construction required constant
repairs, and consequently occasioned frequent interruptions, so
that beyond a certain distance, varying naturally according
to circumstances, they were not sufficient to transport the re-
quired supply without the aid of another line, or, better still,
of a river.
Naturally, the amount of transportation that could be made by
water was only limited by the number of vessels at hand. But, as
we have said before, the rivers afford at once the best means for
provisioning an army, and a powerful auxiliary for all offensive
operations. We shall always find, therefore, that whenever the
Federals were supported by a river, their progress was certain
and their conquests decisive; whilst the successes they obtained
by following a simple line of railways were always precarious,
new dangers springing up in their rear in proportion as they
advanced. The revictualling of an army in sight of the enemy
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216 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
by a fleet of transports, the bombardment of fortified places,
constructed for the purpose of impeding navigation, and the
naval battles fought upon the rivers will occupy so considerable
a space in the history of this war, that the combined operations
by land and water may be regarded as imparting to it an entirely
distinctive character among all modern wars. . The appellation of
fresh-water sailor^ instead of being a term of contempt, should be
in America a mark of honorable distinction.
A few words at the conclusion of this chapter will suffice to
convey an idea of the causes which imparted a strat^c import-
ance to certain points situated along the water-courses or line of
railways. The latter being everywhere vulnerable, and not ad*
mitting of defence by means of posts throughout their whole ex-
tent, it was found necessary to fortify stations at the intersection
of several lines, chosen because they were the most convenient
places for d6p6ts, and because whoever was in possession of
them could at once intercept all the lines which crossed at such
points. The great American rivers, on the contrary, being never
liable to obstruction, the most important points to occupy along
their courses were those where it was most easy to erect batteries
which could, by their fire, interrupt the navigation ) these were gen-
erally the cliffs which rise in certain localities above the low flats
<rhich border nearly all the rivers of the new continent, for, from
their height, they protected the batteries which crowned their sum-
mits, from the fire of gun-boats.
It will be seen, in short, that the most important points were
those at which one or more lines of railway crossed a navigable
river or were arrested by its banks ; for it was at such points that
those immense supplies which were afterwards to be conveyed by-
rail to the armies in the interior were to arrive by water.
Thase two modes of communication, which we may be pardoned
for having dwelt upon at such length, were therefore so combined
and perfected as to render possible the concentration of such
armies as America had never before seen. Consequently, these
armies could not separate themselves from these points of com-
munication for any length of time — a singular circumstanoe
which was to exercise a powerful and abiding influence on the war.
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RIVERS AND RAILWAYS. 217
We have shown in advance how the oombatants learnt by de-
grees to take the greatest possible advantage of these ways of
communication. It will be seen a little later how dearly that
experience cost them.
After this necessary digression^ we resume our narrative at the
moment when the conflict is about to commence in earnest.
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►-'?•..■
■*>'•
i^"
CHAPTER II.
BULL BUN.
ON the 4th of July, 1861, the anniversary of the founda-
tion of the United States, an extra session of the new Con-
gress which had been elected a few months before was convened
by Mr. Lincoln, and assembled in the Capitol at Washington.
Never had the representatives of the nation met under such grave
circumstances. Four months had elapsed since Mr. Lincoln had
taken the constitutional oath in that same edifice, and the sad
forebodings which at that time alarmed all true patriots had
been realized. The insurgents had fired the first shot; they
had carried with them nearly all the slave States; their
sentinels, stationed in the woods adjoining the Potomac, watched
the capital; war had commenced, and it imposed upon the
Federal government the colossal task of reconquering one-third
of the national territory. But, on the other hand, the States
loyal to the Union had not been shaken either by the solicitations
of the insurgents or by their constitutional theories; they had
displayed a determination to undergo every sacrifice in defence of
the Republic, and had already raised 300,000 men for that
object ; they had found a chief who loyally represented their sen-
timents, and whose only care was to perform the duties incum-
bent upon him with firmness-
Mr. Lincoln had shown no weakness when treason surrounded
him on every side. Having measured the magnitude of the
danger, he had taken extraordinary steps to avert it; he had
issued two calls for volunteers, and had authorized expenses for
their equipment which the budget had not contemplated ; he had, in
shoit, yielded to the necessity of suspending the ordinary guaran-
tees of personal liberty in order to maintain his authority in cities
like Baltimore and St. Louis, where it had been assailed by armed
force. Owing to these measures, the insurrection had been limited
and deprived of some of the most important strategic positions.
218
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Digitized by VjOOQIC
i THE FIELD OF!
loKlomrteri^igitized by
Goog
BULL RUN. 219
The armies destined to participate in this struggle were being
rapidly organized, and 60,000 soldiers already protected the
capital. But the President made haste to have his acts legalized
by the national representatives, and to ask for additional meand
to meet the exigencies of a war the proportions of which could
not then be realized."
The insurgent States having sent neither Senators nor Repre-
sentatives to Washington, only twenty-three States were repre-
sented in the Senate, and twenty-two, with one Territory, in the
other house. The Unionists, composed principally of Republicans
and a small number of War Democrats, were therefore absolutely
in the ascendant in both of these assemblies, and assured the
President of the energetic support and co-operation of Congress.
The accord between these two parties was the best refutation
of the sinister predictions gratuitously circulated by the enemies
of the great American democracy, who announced its impending
dissolution to the Old World. It was, above all, the best
answer to the attitude assumed by most of the European govern-
ments, who, before the commencement of hostilities, had with
unseemly haste exercised their right to proclaim their neutrality.
In reference to a civil war such as we are about to describe,
this right was certainly unquestionable; the importance of that
war rendered it incumbent upon them to prescribe and point out
to their citizens the duties of neutrality. But the real wrong
committed by them towards America was in openly tolerating a
violation of that neutrality. In recognizing the belligerent
rights of the insurgents even before the latter had become bel-
ligerents, they had prejudged a question which did not lie
within their province ; they had exhibited feelings of hostility to-
wards a great nation ; they had distrusted her at a moment when
she was making patriotic eflTorts to preserve her unity; and
if they did not overstep the limits prescribed by the strict re-
quirements of international law, they had nevertheless made a
great political mistake.
The French government was to find a powerful argument in
favor of Ceesarism in the misfortunes of a liberal democracy, and
its wishes for the success of the insurgents were not a matter of
secret to any one. Public opinion in England was very much
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220 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
divided ; the great majority of the higher classes and most of
the public journals^ actuated by old antipathies and dreading the
triumph of democratic ideas, were openly hostile to the cause
of the North ; the radical party, on the contrary, and all the
working classes, manifested the liveliest sympathy for it. The
attitude of the radicals and the workingmen prevented the Eng-
lish government from recognizing the independence of the new
Confederacy, notwithstanding the solicitations of France, who, it is
said, was even ready to propose to interfere conjointly with Great
Britain in American affairs. But the latter power hastened to issue
a proclamation of neutrality on the 13th of May, a few days before
the arrival in London of the new representative of the United
States, and as if to prevent any explanations which Mr. Adams
might have wished to offer. The French government followed this
example on the 11th of June. America, therefore, who had a right
to rely upon the sympathies of abolitionist England in her
struggle with slavery, and upon those of the land of Eochambeau
and La Fayette, in her efforts to preserve the work of Wash-
ington, only found in the governments of those two countries
doubting spectators, who like the friends of Job were ready to
take advantage of her misfortunes in order to teach her a lesson.
Russia, on the contrary, being more shrewd, hastened to tender
her those assurances of deep interest to which, in the hour of
great trial, nations are as sensitive as individuals, and showed
thereby a political foresight in striking reproof of the other Eu-
ropean powers.
The partisans of the insurgents, who under the name of Peace
Democrats followed the lead of Mr. Breckenridge in the Senate^
and of Mr. Vallandigham in the other house, formed only a small
minority in Congress. Their efforts, therefore, to thwart the meas-
ures of the government in support of the war were to prove fruitless.
The Senators from the rebel States, who, instead of repairing to
Washington, had entered the service of the insurrection, were de-
prived of their seats; the extraordinary measures adopted by Mr.
Lincoln were sanctioned; the increase of the regular army and
navy and the necessary expenses for constructing railways and
militar}' telegraphs were approved; a loan of two hundred and
fifty million dollars was authorized, pending the adoption of
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BULL RUN. 221
more complete fiscal measures; and on the 13th of July, Congress
began to discuss the most important of all the laws which the
urgency of the situation required — that authorizing a large ad-
ditional levy of volunteers. In the second volume we shall re-
turn to the legislative labors of this session and of those which
followed. Setting aside for the present the discussion of the
military law, which was to occupy Congress for some time, although
the issue had never been doubtful, we shall now follow the mil-
itary operations to which, since the early part of July, McClellan
had given a fresh impulse in West Virginia.
This region is divided into two sections — on one side, an un-
dulating plateau, fertile and well watered, extending between the
Ohio and the mountains ; on the other, the region of the AUe-
ghanies, composed of long parallel ridges, enclosing deep valleys
— a wild country, without roads and easy to defend.
As we have already stated, the troops sent by the State of Ohio
had, after a few skirmishes, occupied all the northern part of the
plateau, and covered the line of railways which crosses it. But
the Confederates were preparing to dispute once more the pos-
• session of this region of country. They had massed troops along
the lower course of the Great Kanawha, a river which, running from
east to west, divides the plain into two parts, and General Garnett,
while waiting for reinforcements from Richmond, had posted him-
self along the westernmost ridge of the mountain region ; he thus
faced to the west, occupying the passes whence he could descend
upon his adversary, and resting his rear upon a country easily
defended. This ridge, which extends from south to north, separates
the large and rich valley of the upper Monongahcla from two of
the principal tributaries of its lower course — ^the Tygart
Valley River and the Cheat River — and bears successively
the names of Rich Mountain at the south and Laurel Hill
at the north: the general direction of all these waters is from
south to north. The great turnpike, which runs through the
centre of Virginia and descends afterward into the valley of the
Monongahela, passes behind the Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill
ridge, first through the two villages of Beverly, and of Leedsville
more to northward. This is the turnpike which Garnett under-
took to cover, and he occupied the only two passes where roads
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222 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
starting from these two villages cross Rich Mountain and Laurel
Hill to d&scend into the plain. These passes were defended by
abatis and earthworks furnished with artillery. Garnett had sta-
tioned Colonel Pegrara with 2000 men in the first of these passes,
and had himself taken a position in the second with the rest of
his forces, amounting to about 3000 men. This position, naturally
very strong, had the disadvantage of lying parallel with the road it
had to cover ; to pierce it at a single point, therefore, sufficed to cut
off the retreat of the trooj)s who occupied it. McClellan determined
to do this as soon as he had a sufficient force to take the offensive.
Toward the end of June he found himself at the head of five
brigades, composed, it is true, of entirely new troops, whose
organization left much to be desired. It was, however, neces-
sary to act; Cox's brigade was sent to the lower Kanawha to
watch the enemy massed on that side, with whom it only had
some trifling engagements; Hill's brigade remained to guard the
railways and the posts which connected West Virginia with
the troops stationed along the upper Potomac; finally, McClellan
divided the forces. with which he intended to attack Garnett and
Pegram into two columns. The first, composed of Morris's
brigade, occupied Philippi, on the road leading to Leedsville by
way of Laurel Hill : it was determined that this column should
make a demonstration against that position so as to draw Grarnett's
attention, while the other was to cut off his retreat by taking
possession of Rich Mountain, where he had committed the error
of not concentrating the bulk of his forces. McClellan intended
to conduct this operation in person with the brigades of Schleich
and Rosecrans ; these brigades were posted at Buckannon, a vil-
lage where the road running from Beverly through the defile of
Rich Mountain crosses that branch of the Monongahela which
lower down waters the town of Philippi. This small army, num-
bering about 10,000 men, took up its line of march on the 6th
of July, and on the 10th, after some . insignificant encounters,
McClellan, whose troops were ranged along the slojjes of Rich
Mountain, found himself before the works occupied by Pogram.
Not wishing to attack them in front with inexperienced soldiers,
he detached Rosecrans upon his right, on the morning of the 11th,
to turn their flank and take them in rear.
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BULL BUN. 223
A path, only accessible to foot-soldiers, wound up the sides
of Rich Mountain, south of the defile where the road from
Beverly to Buckannon passes. Kosecrans, leaving his artillery
behind him, was to follow this path^ — ^which the enemy would not
probably dream of defending — with 2000 men, and, once on the
summit of the ridge, was to proceed in a northerly direction to
the defile in order to descend by the road and attack Pegram's
positions in rear. As soon as the sound of musketry was heard,
the troops stationed at the foot of those positions were to attack
them in front, thus hemming in the enemy on all sides. After a
very fatiguing march the young soldiers of Bosecrans reached the
summit of the mountain without striking a blow ; but before they
had time to gain the defile, they were attacked by the enemy, to
whom an intercepted dispatch had revealed their movement,
and who had sent five or six hundred men to stop them. They
fought this detachment, but, being exhausted by fatigue, they re-
mained on the spot where the conflict had taken place, and allowed
the whole day to pass without availing themselves of the advan-
tage thus gained in order to complete the prescribed movement.
McClellan, whom B.osecrans had neglected to inform of this delay,
waited the whole day in vain for the signal agreed upon, and, on
the following morning, all that he found before him were the
deserted intrenchments. On finding himself taken in flank,
Pegram had sought the means of escape from the danger tliat
threatened him in a hasty retreat; but most of his soldiers
disbanded, and he wandered about during two days with the
remnants of his brigade, trying in vain to eflect a junction with
Gamett. Finally, McClellan, having preceded him to Beverly,
on the Leedsville road, occupied the former village on the 12th
of July, and on the following day Pegram and six hundred of
his companions were compelled to lay down their arms.
While his lieutenant was being dislodged from Rich Mountain,
Gamett allowed himself to be amused by Morris at Laurel Hill,
little dreaming of the danger that threatened him. Fortunately
for him, he was informed by Pegram of the evacuation of Rich
Mountain on the very night it took place. Without losing a
minute, he abandoned Laurel Hill in his turn before daybreak,
and proceeded in great haste towards Beverly, where he hoped to
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224 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
join Pegram and find the southern route still open to him. Bat
McClellan had preceded him there by a few hours with a force
which the Confederate general did not deem it prudent to attack.
The position of the latter was critical in the extreme. He had
become entangled in a narrow pass between the two impassable
ridges of Rich Mountain and Cheat Mountain; he found its
southern extremity, through which he might have reached the
interior of Virginia, in possession of the enemy, while the troops
who watched him at Laurel Hill had only to follow in his tracks
in order to surround him completely. He could find no means
of escape except to the northward, by descending the valley of
Cheat River through difficult roads, and striking the frontier of
Maryland in order to force his way into the upper gorges of the
Alleghanies. Retracing his steps as soon as he was apprised of
the presence of McClellan at Beverly, he had the good fortune to
pass once more through Leedsville before Morris, who had not
watched him sufficiently, had arrived there from Laurel Hill.
But his troops, exhausted by the rapid countermarch, soon fell
into disorder. Morris, who had reached Leedsville shortly after
him, harassed his retreat, and finally overtook him at Carricks-
ford, twelve kilometres below St. George, just as he was crossing
Cheat River. The Confederates succeeded in placing the river
between them and their assailants, but left in their hands all their
artillery, their baggage, and about fifty prisoners.
Garnett himself was killed while bravely endeavoring to repair
the disaster. This old regular officer was the first general who lost
his life in the war. After his death his soldiers dispersed, thus baf-
fling the efforts of the Federals, who were too much fatigued to con-
tinue long in pursuit ; and at the end of an eight days' campaign,
McClellan was able to announce to his government that the Fed-
eral authority was re-established in West Virginia, and tliat the Con-
federates had even abandoned the borders of the Great Kanawha.
This campaign had moreover delivered into his hands more
than one thousand prisoners and all the war-material of the
enemy, and had only cost him a few hundred men. His plan
had been well conceived, vigorously executed, and a complete
success had crowned this first essay in strategy. He had the good
fortune to have a rather meagre army to manage, although supe-
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BULL RUN. 225
rior in number to that of the enemy : its smallness enabled it
to subsist in a very poor country, and he had the rare merit of
leading inexperienced troops successfully through marches and
countermarches. We have seen, however, that these troops,
in consequence of their having halted too soon for rest, came
near losing him all the fruits of the campaign.
The possession of West Virginia could have no important bear-
ing upon the war, because that country, having neither water-
courses nor railways, was inaccessible to large armies ; but Mc-
Clellan's successes had a great moral effect ; they stimulated the
ardor of the North, while contributing at the same time to create
certain illusions in regard to the speedy termination of the war.
During this short campaign, Patterson, whom we have left in
Maryland in front of the Shenandoah Valley, had resumed the
offensive, in pursuance of instructions from Scott, and had thus
detained the forces which the Confederates might have detached
from Johnston's corps stationed at Winchester, to send them to
Gamett's assistance.
The best portion of his small army, as we have already stated,.
having been ordered to Washington towards the middle of June,
he was compelled to evacuate Harper's Ferry and recross the Poto-
mac. But he was speedily rejoined by several newly-formed
regiments, with the promise of additional reinforcements, wjiich
would increase his army to a total of 20,000 men. Al-
though these troops were badly organized, poorly disciplined,,
and entirely inexperienced, their numerical superiority over the^
forces opposed to them enabled Patterson to retake possession
of the important line of railway he had abandoned a short time-
before, together with the positions of Harper's Ferry and Mar-
tinsburg. On the 2d of July he forded the Potomac at Wil-
liamsport, and, eight kilometres beyond that point, on the borders-
of the stream of Falling Waters, his advance-guard met a brigade
of the enemy's infantry commanded by Gfeneral Jackson, who wa*
subsequently to acquire such great celebrity, and the cavalry of
Stuart, a friend of the latter, doomed to perish like him, while
leaving a reputation almost equal to his own.
The first feats of arms of these two illustrious officers in behair
of the cause they had just espoused were not fortunate.
Vol. I.— 15
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226 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Cut up by the Federal artillery, which was better served than
their own, they were obliged, on the arrival of Abercrombie's
brigiicle, to beat a speedy retreat, only stopping at Bunker's Hil],
betwan Martinsburg and Winchester, where they found rein-
forcements forwarded in haste by Johnston. Patterson, on his
])art, wus satisfied with this advantage, and did not advance be-
yoiul Martinsiburg. His forces, unprovided with means of trans-
portiitioii, were in no condition to continue the campaign. Some
of his artillerymen openly declared it was their intention to leave
him nt the end of their term of service, which was about to ex-
pire in a few days. At length, on the 14th, having been apprised
by Seott of McDowell's intended movement, he advanced, at the
head of about 14,000 men, on Bunker's Hill and Charlestown.
Not venturing to attack Johnston, who was intrenched at Win-
cha^ttr with forces outnumbering his own, he hoped at least to oc-
cupy the latter's attention, and so prevent him from joining Bcau-
regurd. In tliis he succeeded for a few days, until the 18th, which
wa.^ the date fixed by Scott for the attack on Manassas; and, as
the s(^<juel will show, if that attack had not been postponed, the
Southern generals would not have been able to effect their junction.
Tfii' combats we have hitherto described were evidently the
mere [>rcludes to those more serious conflicts which public opinion
at the North was impatient to see commence. It had been ex-
ae penned at first by the check experienced at Big Bethel; then
MeClellan's campaign supervened to inspire it with overweening
<50iifi(h nee; it believed that a single victory would suffice to bring
bat^k tlic repentant South into the bosom of the Union. This de-
lusion regarding the possible duration of the war was shared,
moreover, by the Confederates themselves, and the volunteers who
wen? rushing from every quarter of the South to rally around the
standard of Beauregard entertained no doubt but that one great
effort ^v^ould suffice to open to them the gates of Washington and
eecuie the recognition of their new republic; they little foresaw
the hamssing campaigns that were in store for them, or the de-
feats that brought ruin to their cause, and which very few among
them lived to witness.
The small armies of Butler, McClellan, and Patterson having
already fought the enemy, the North could not understand the
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BULL RUN. 227
inactivity of the much larger forces assembled at Washington un-
der the command of McDowell. No one suspected then that, at
no distant day, it would require 200,000 combatants to ensure the
safety of the capital ; and yet, in the estimation of some people,
35,000 men seemed already to constitute a considerable army.
Confidence, which, when pushed to excess, does not allow the dif-
ficulties of an undertaking to be duly weighed, had contributed
to the rapid formation of this army, and stimulated the ardor
with which the North called her military forces into existence.
This extreme confidence was certainly the cause of more than one
reverse and many illusions to the American nation, and if it had
not rested upon manly virtues, it would have been both ridiculous
and fatal; but, sustained as it was in America by indomitable
will and perseverance, it commands respect, for it creates great
nations.
The troops gathered in haste around Washington were com-
posed of most heterogeneous elements; they were volunteers some
of whom had already been for two months and a half under drill
with only fifteen days longer to serve ; others who were enlisted
for three years, but utterly ignorant of their trade; there were
one battalion and three batteries belonging to the regular army, a
certain number of batteries attached to volunteer regiments, with
only a few squadrons of cavalry, mostly regulars. The five
small divisions into which these troops had been apportioned were
scarcely formed, notwithstanding the efibrts of Generals Tyler
and Runyon and Colonels Hunter, Heintzelman, and Miles, who
had been placed in command of them; the administrative de-
partments were being slowly organized, the chiefs having had
no time to become acquainted with their subordinates; the
staff, which was the more necessary because no reliance could be
placed upon the personal experience of regimental officers, was
t scarcely in existence. The regular officers, who filled the most
important positions, could not attend to all the details of the ser-
vice nor correct the ignorance of an entire army. They fully
understood, therefore, how little that army was able to undertake
an offensive campaign, and no one felt this more keenly than Mc-
Dowell himself, upon whom the responsibility of such an under-
taking was about to rest. But public opinion was an inexorable
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r
228 THE CIViL WAR IN AMERICA,
master who oommanded him to march on to Richmond, and he
had to obey.
Neither the good sense nor the experience of Greneral Sc^)tt had
any power to resist the impetuous current. The government of
tlie White House, beset by impatient members of Congress, feared
lest further temporizing should chill the military ardor of the
Northj and preferred the chances of a disaster to the political
difficulties that inaction created. "When McDowell alleged the
ffreenness of his troops, as they say in English, the reply was,
'* You are green, undoubtedly, but the enemies are green also, —
you are all green."* And when he assembled his troops for the
purpose of manoeuvring them, cries rose on every side against the
(jenenil whom they accused of seeking to pave the way for a dicta-
torship. Unable to persuade his superiors that with troops in-
capable of regular marches, and without sufficient means of trans-
portation, all the advantage would be on the side of the party that
could wait for his adversary in a defensive position, he made up
his mind to execute the orders given him with as much zeal as if
he hail counted on success.
No one was better able to render that success possible than
himi^elf, in spite of so many disadvantages. Partly educated in
Fnmce and perfectly acquainted with our literature, he had
thoroughly studied the military profession, and, since the Mexican
campaign, had shown excellent administrative talents on Greneral
Scott's staflP. Possessed of indefatigable energy, his creative mind
made up, to a certain extent, for the inefficiency of the instruments
he had to handle, and the plan he had formed for attacking the
Con f I derates at Bull Run shows, despite the results of that disas-
trous campaign, the correctness of his military coup-cPoeiL
A few words are necessary in this place to describe the ground
upon which the first pitched battle of the war was fought.
The parallel ridges of the Alleghanies, which extend from
south-west to north-east, crossing the whole of Virginia and Mary-
land, are divided by two deep gaps, through which the waters
from the mountains force a passage, forming two rivers, both
of wliich empty into the large bay of the Chesapeake; north-
ward, the Potomac waters the gorges of Harper's Ferry,
* Beport on the Conduct of the War, vol. ii. p. 38.
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BULL RUN. 229
in which we shall see more than one combat take place, and
thence runs down to Washington; the James River, winding
round the high mountains called Beaver Peaks, crosses Appomat-
tox county, where Lee Mrill capitulate, and after passing Richmond,
falls into the Chesapeake, near Fortress Monroe. The Valley of
Virginia, already frequently mentioned, an open and well-culti-
vated country, between two parallel chains of the AUeghanies,
extends from the vicinity of the James to the banks of the
Potomac. The eastern barrier of this valley, known by the name
of the Blue Ridge, is intersected by deep defiles called gaps, situ-
ated at about equal distances from each other, and all traversed
by good roads.
The country extending eastward, between the Blue Ridge and
the Chesapeake, is undulating, covered with old forests or young
pine trees, the only produce that a soil, exhausted by the cul-
tivation of the tobacco-plant, is now able to bring forth ; the popu-
lation is thinly scattered ; the soil, clayey and impermeable, is
easily converted by the action of vehicles into mud, both soft and
sticky, which was to be one of the most formidable enemies to the
armies having to campaign in Virginia ; a multitude of water-
courses wind among the wooded ravines, between hillocks, the
highest of which have been for the most part cleared ; all these
water-courses finally form two rivers, the Rappahannock and the
York, which run in a parallel course towards the Potomac, and,
like the latter, fall into Chesapeake Bay. .
The nature of the ground, the absence of turnpikes, the small
quantity of arable lands, and the very direction of the waters —
everything, in short, renders an offensive campaign especially
difficult in that country. There are very few railways. Two
lines run from the shores of the Potomac to Richmond. One,
starting from Aquia Creek, halfway between Washington and
the mouth of the river, runs direct to the capital of Virginia,
after crossing the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg. The other
leaves Alexandria, opposite Washington, and running south-
westerly reaches Gordonsville, where it forks. One branch, fol-
lowing the same direction along the foot of the Blue Ridge,
connects with the great Tennessee line at Lynchburg by way
of Charlottesville ; the other branch, bending to the east and run-
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230 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
ning parallel with the tributaries of York River, strikes the first
line again near one of these tributaries, and without merging into
it, never leaves it until Richmond is reached. Two bran'^lics of
the Alexandria and Lynchburg line switch off to enter the Valley
of Virginia; one at Charlottesville, which debouches at Staunton,
near the sources of the Shenandoah, and breaks off a little beyond
that point ; the other, much more to the north, at about forty-five
kilometres from Alexandria, which ascends the valley after crossing
the Blue Ridge at Manassas Gap. Hence the name of Manassas
Junction, which is applied to the little plateau where this junction
occurs near the stream of Bull Run.
This plateau of Manassas had been selected as the concButra-
ting point of the Confederate troops that were to cover Virginia
and menace Washington. The importance of railways and their
various points of intersection was thus being made manifest even
before the armies had taken the field. At Manassas Junction,
Beauregard had two lines of railway behind him, which brought
him supplies and secured him two means of retreat in case of
necessity, while the Manassas Gap Junction enabled him to estab-
lish rapid communications with Johnston and the troops stationed
at Winchester in front of Patterson's army.
The stream called Bull Run covered the positions occupied by
Beauregard on the plateau of Manassas. This plateau slopes
gently down to the north-west, in a direction contrary to the
course of Bull Run, so that this little river becomes gradually more
deeply embanked in the ravine which borders the plateau to the
north-west. In this lower part of its course we find, first, the rail-
way bridge at Gordon Mills, and above only two fords — Mitchell's
Ford and Blackburn's Ford, both difficult of access. Higher up,
the declivities are less abrupt, the fords become more numerous,
and the main road from Alexandria to Warrenton crosses the river
over a stone bridge. Beyond this bridge, ascending the course of
Bull Run, the country is flat, intersected with woods and small
clearings ; and in the vicinity of Sudeley Springs, this stream,
fordable at every point, is no longer a serious obstacle.
The stone bridge is situated at a distance of eight kilometres
from Manassas Junction; the space between those two points
is rather open, and the waters that flow through it are not very
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BULL RUN. 231
deep. The course of Bull Run, on the contrary, lies between
thickly wooded banks, while the slopes which terminate the
Manassas plateau on that side are more and more precipitous.
This plateau is bounded on the north-west by a small stream,
Young's Branch; beyond it stretch the flat lands of Sudeley
Springs, and along this latter stream the main road follows a
line as straight as a Roman causeway. On the opposite side of
Bull Run, and almost to the north of Manassas, the groimd rises
in the shape of a circular mound, upon which stands the little
village of Centreville, surrounded by cultivated fields and trav-
ersed by the high road ; this place is seven kilometres from the
stone bridge.
Such was the ground on which the first army organized by the
Confederates had been posted; its camps occupied the Manassas
plateau, where it had open spaces for drilling, and where it
was covered by line of Bull Run. A few earthworks sur-
rounded the railway station, and a portion of its artillery was
in position at the various fords of Bull Run, forming batteries
skilfully masked by the foliage. A detachment of considerable
size was stationed at Centreville, another farther on at Fairfax
Court-house, and Beauregard's cavalry pushed their ^ pickets
to within sight of Washington. It was in these positions that
McDowell was to seek his adversary. The railway which starts
from Alexandria, and on the line of which lies Manassas Junc-
tion, offered him little resource, for it passes through wooded
ravines, far from any road, and is intersected by numerous
wooden bridges that a retreating enemy could easily destroy.
In order to follow this direction, therefore, there only remained
to him, besides cross-roads, the turnpike from Alexandria to
Warrenton, which, running from east to west, passes through
the villages of Annandale and Fairfax Court-house before it
reaches Centreville. It became necessary, therefore, to move the
greatest portion of the army with its baggage on a single route,
leaving the remainder to follow by diverging lines, so as to
reduce the amount of incumbrances — a double difficulty added
to those we have already mentioned.
On the 9th of July, McDowell was ordered to make prepara-
tions for assuming the offensive in eight days, and at the same
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232 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
time General Soott gave him formal assurance that Patterson
should keep Johnston so occupied in the Shenandoah Valley that
he would find it impossible to go to the assistance of Beauregard ;
that if he attempted to do so, the forces opposed to him would
follow so close that thcj would reach the banks of Bull Run at
the same time.
On the 16th, the day fixed for the movement, there was nothing
ready to transport the necessary provisions for the army. McDowell
was nevertheless obliged to begin his march. He had four divis-
ions with him — the ^ fifth, Runyon's, remaining behind to protect
the positions that the army was about to leave. Tyler's division,
four brigades strong, was ordered to incline to the right by the
Leesburg road, and encamp at Vienna, in order to fall back, by
a cross-movement, on Fairfax Court-house the following day;
Miles's division was to follow the turnpike as far as Annandale,
then to turn to the left into an old road called Braddock Road,
because it had been constructed, as was said, by the British general
Braildock. Hunter followed Miles, Annandale being designated
as bis first halting-place. Heintzelman, with the strongest divis-
ion, was directed to proceed by certain cross-roads which, passing
south of the line of railway, led to the bank of a stream called
Pohick Creek. The soldiers carried three days' rations in their
haversacks. The supply-trains were to leave Alexandria on the
following day, and join the army on the turnpike between Fair-
fax and Centreville.
McDowell's plan was to surprise Bonham's brigade of the
enemy stationed at Fairfax by caasing it to be attacked on the
17th at the same time by Miles in front and by Hunter in fiank.
He intended afterwards to make a demonstration by way of Cen-
treville, and lead the bulk of his forces with Heintzelman along
the course of Bull Run, below Union Mills, to pass the river at
a dash and turn Beauregard's position by the right.
The troops started at the appointed time, but the heat was ex-
treme; covered with dust, little accustomed to march and to
carry knapsack and musket, too poorly disciplined to remain in
the ranks when they felt fatigued or came upon some fresh
spring of water, the soldiers soon spread themselves upon the
roads in long columns, in which the regiments were confounded,
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BULL RUN. 233
and which were followed without order by rapidly increasing
groups of stragglers. Most of them only reached the encamp-
ments which had been designated for them in the middle of the
night; others stopped on the road, and only the heads of columns
were able to resume their march on the morning of the 17th.
The remainder, already prostrated by fatigue, slowly followed
in their tracks. Bonham^s brigade was thus allowed time to fall
back quietly by way of Centreville, and to take position at Mit-
chell's Ford, on the line of Bull Run, where Beauregard was post-
ing his troops. On the evening of the 17th three divisions of the
Federal army were in the neighborhood of Fairfax, while Heintzel-
man, with the fourth, occupied Sangster's Station on the railway.
They had marched about twenty-four kilometres in two days;
but this march, too severe for a beginning, had proved very ex-
hausting; the soldiers, improvident in their inexperience, had
wasted the rations they carried ; the supply-trains had not come
up, and most of them lay down that night under the leafy cover
of the forest without even a biscuit to eat.
The provisions, which only left Alexandria when they should
already have arrived at Fairfax, required time to reach the
army. Having ordered Tyler simply to occupy Centreville,
which was only eight kilometers distant from the point where
he had passed the night, McDowell proceeded to his left to pre-
pare for the movement he had planned by way of Union Mills.
On that side, while his troops were rallying, resting, and
still waiting for supplies, Heintzelman was reconnoitring the
course of Bull Run and trying to find a passage suitable for
the attack. But none was found ; the approaches to the river
were almost everywhere impracticable ; and, giving up his project,
McDowell determined to try the enemy in another direction.
But the impatience and unreflecting confidence of a few chiefs,
which were as much the natural result of inexperience as the
slowness and disorder of the march on the part of the soldiers,
were to compromise the success of the campaign from the outset.
Having found Centreville evacuated, Tyler thought, no doubt,
that the whole expedition would amoimt to nothing more than
a mere military promenade, and was anxious to secure for him-
self, in the eyes of the public, the cheap merit of having been
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234 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the first to occupy the positions of Manassas. Having arrived at
Centreville on the morning of the 18th, he proceeded with
Richardson's brigade, a part of Sherman's, and a battery of
artillery towards Blackburn's Ford, in the hope of being able to
cross Bull Run with these forces.
Beauregard was waiting for him there with a large portion of his
army, and everything was ready for a vigorous defence of the
line of that river against the Federal attacks. Seven brigades
were in position : Ewell at Union Mills, Jones a little higher
up, Longstreet at Blackburn's Ford, Bonham at Mitchell's Ford,
Cocke between that point and the stone bridge, and Evans near
this bridge, while Early remained in reserve in rear of Jones
and Longstreet; some few troops with artillery were posted
on the lefl bank of Bull Run in advance of Mitchell's Ford.
It was with the latter troops tliat the engagement commenced ;
but as they soon recrossed the river, Tyler merely tried to engage
Bonham's attention by the fire of a few guns, and leaving
Sherman in reserve, he proceeded with Richardson's four regi-
ments in the direction of Blackburn's Ford. Longstreet held
the skirts of a wood extending along the right bank of Bull
Run; his sharpshooters were posted at the water's edge, his
artillery was a little in the rear, and, as we have said, masked
by trees. The left bank was higher than the other, and
formed a crest terminating in a precipitous slope. The Confeder-
ates allowed their opponents to advance without molestation as far
as the ridge, and when the 12th New York appeared among the
thinly scattered trees which crowned the summit, it was received
by a murderous fire of musketry and artillery. Staggered by this
unexpected resistance, it M'as almost immediately thrown into con-
fusion by a few sharpshooters of the enemy who crossed the
water and took them in flank ; the soldiers, becoming bewildered
and thinking they were pursued, ran for more than half a league,
firing in the air or upon each other. Richardson soon came into
line with his other three regiments, but, at the same time. Early
came to the assistance of Longstreet, thus giving the Confeder-
ates a great numerical superiority, and the combat was renewed
with spirit. The Confederate batteries did great damage to the Fed-
erals, and the latter, after having manned the ridge, did not ven-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BULL EUJS. 235
lure near the edge of the river. Tyler, having no desire to continue
the engagement, which only exposed his troops unnecessarily, and
being convinced of the error he had committed, brought them back
in good order to Sherman's line, and the two brigades regained the
neighborhood of Centreville in the evening.
The losses on each side only amounted to one hundred or one
hundred and twenty men ; but this encounter, which would have
been a trifling affair in the midst of a regular campaign, was an
unfortunate beginning for new troops; the sudden unmasking
of batteries by the enemy, the unexpected firing of musketry in
the woods, had produced a powerful impression upon them ; the
demoralization of the 12th New York was unfortunately a far
more contagious example than the good behavior of the three other
regiments. The morale of the army was deeply affected by it. This
first encounter naturally stimulated the ardor of the Confederates,
and a timely reinforcement increased their confidence still further.
As early as the 17th, recognizing the importance of the movement
that was being prepared against him, Beauregard had applied to
Johnston for assistance. The latter started on the following day, and
taking advantage of the neglect of Patterson, who had remained
inactive at Martinsburg, he left Winchester quietly, and led his
8000 men by rapid marches to near Manassas Gap. As fast as they
arrived there, he placed them on the cars, which landed them almost
in the centre of the battle-field, where we shall soon see them make
their appearance before an enemy who did not even suspect their
departure. Beauregard had 21,833 men and 29 pieces of artillery:,
thus, including a few troops which had been forwarded in haste from
Richmond, and which were expected to arrive during the night, the
army of the Shenandoah augmented his numbers to 30,000 men.
McDowell, on the contrary, who had taken the field with 30,000
soldiers, had already seen their number reduced by the departure
of one regiment and a battery of artillery, whose term of service
had expired, and who shamefully left him at Centreville. On the
19th he found himself in the vicinity of this village with 28,000
men at the utmost ; and although only ten leagues from Wash-
ington, he was in a strange country without maps or reliable
guides to shape his course ; before he could form his new plan of
attack, he was obliged to spend two entire days in having the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
236 THE CIVIL WAR IX AMERICA.
ground studied by his topographical ofBoers. These two days,
which were moreover required to complete the organization of his
array, gave the enemy time to concentrate his forces. Finally,
the arrival, on the 20th, of the supply-trains so long expected
allowed the issue of three days' rations, and the Federal army got
in readiness for the movement it was about to undertake.
The right and centre of the Confederates being covered by for-
midable obstacles, McDowell determined to turn their extreme left,
where Bull Run, fordable and badly guarded, no longer afforded
them sufficient protection ; and on the evening of the 20th he
ordered an attack to be made the next morning. Miles remained
at Centreville in order to draw the attention of the enemy towards
Blackburn's Ford; Tyler was ordered to advance along the high
road as far as the stone bridge, and to force a passage as soon as
the left of its defenders had been turned. The flank attack was
entrusted to Hunter's and Heintzelman's divisions, forming a
cor{)s of 12,000 men, and the Sudeley fords, situated above the
stone bridge in the centre of a wood extending along both sides
of Bull Run, were designated as the points at which to cross.
In the mean time, Johnston's troops, numbering 8334 men,
re-<]ivided into five small brigades, had made a forced march;
the infantry, passing the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Grap, had taken
the cars a little to the east of Manassas Gap; the artillery and
cavalry had continued their march along the main road. A por-
tion of these forces, about 3000 men, had reached the Manassas
plateau on the evening of the 20th ; the remainder were to arrive
on the morning of the 21st. Johnston himself had gone in ad-
vance of his army corps to consult with Beauregard in regard to
their movements; and although he was Beauregard's senior in
rank, he lefl him at full liberty to make the necessary preparations
for the battle. The forces assembled at Manassas, before his
arrival, were designated by the name of Army of the Potomac,
and consisted of eight brigades of infantry, which were not formed
into divisions. Six of them had occupied the line of Bull Run,
since the 17th, in the positions we have indicated; the other two,
those of Holmes and Ewell, were held in reserve. It was agreed
that Johnston's troops should come to reinforce the former in these
positions, and that all the brigades of the two armies should be
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BULL RUN. 237
imited two by two into temporary divisions. Johnston^s army,
as we have stated, gave the Confederate generals a numerical force
at least equal to that of their opponents, but they might fear lest
Patterson should in turn oome to reinforce the latter.
The inaction of McDowell for the last two days seemed to
justify this apprehension. The impression was that, having been
informed of Johnston's movements, he had halted to wait in his
turn for reinforcements from the upper Potomac, which would
have restored to him the advantage in point of numbers. It
was important to forestall him, and Beauregard determined to
assume the offensive and proceed to attack him at Centreville.
While McDowell was issuing orders for putting his troops in
motion on the 21st, the Confederate army was preparing to cross
Bull Run on the same day, and by an inverse movement to attack
the extreme left of the Federals. This plan was perhaps a rash
one, for if the latter had remained stationary, confining their
operations to a defence of the positions they occupied, we may
believe that the battle would have resulted to their advantage.
McDowell, it is true, relying upon the assurances he had re-
ceived, knew nothing of the arrival on the ground of Johnston's
troops, and instead of remaining on the defensive he was hasten-
ing to operate on the enemy's left in order to take possession of
the line of railway by w^hich those troops might be brought over.
But the arrangements made by Beauregard for an offensive move-
ment gave the Federals, if they became the assailants, great
chances of success. He had in fact weakened his left in order
to concentrate his forces upon the opposite wing, and the tardy
arrival of Johnston's last brigades, which had been delayed by
the bad condition of the railroad, rendering it impossible for
him to begin that movement at an early hour, the left of the
Confederates, if McDowell's orders had been punctually executed,
would have been crushed and their entire position turned, before
the last soldiers from Winchester would have had time to spring
out of the cars that brought them over, or the troops posted on
the right could have been able to go to the assistance of the other
extremity of the line. It will be seen how the chances of war,
which have so much to do in deciding the fate of battles, favored
Beauregard and prevented the disaster which the disposition of
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238 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
his army seemed to have drawn upon it. He had posted the
first division, consisting of Holmes's and Ewell's brigades, on his
extreme right at Union Mills; the second, comprising those of
Jones and Early, a little above, at the difficult ford called
McLean's Ford; the brigades of Jackson, Bartow, and Elzey,
brought over by Johnston, were to join those of Longstreet,
Bonliam, and Cocke, to form the third, fourth, and fifth divis-
ions ; Evans's brigade remained alone at the stone bridge, which
it had occupied for some days. The brigades of Bee and Wilcox,
with Stimrt's cavalry, the greatest portion of which was only
expected to arrive during the 21st, were to be held in reser\'^e.
The fourth and fifth divisions, commanded by Johnston himself,
were to cross Bull Run between Mitchell's Ford and the stone
bridge, and masking their movements behind a dense forest,
were to attack Centreville, while the right, by a flank movement,
would come to their assistance or strike the enemy in the rear
on the Fairfax road. It will be seen that Beauregard, being
exclusively preoccupied with his plans for offensive operations,
had made no arrangements for covering his left flank, which
was, however, the most exposed.
The Federals had commenced their march before daylight;
but Tyler, although he had an excellent road to follow, did not
reach the stone bridge until half-past six, where he found Evans
in .position with 12,000 or 13,000 men. The exchange of a few
cannon-shots across the river announced the commencement of the
battle. This, however, was only a demonstration, its object being
to conceal the flank movement of the main column formed by
Hunter's and Heintzelman's forces, and intended for the principal
attack. After having marched for some time in the rear of Tyler,
these two generals struck into the narrow roads leading from Cen-
treville to Sudeley Ford, which being much longer than they had
anticipated, it was half-past nine when Hunter's division reached
the ford it was to cross. Heintzelman had been ordered to cross
the river a little below, at a point guarded by a detachment of
the enemy, as soon as Hunter, taking the latter in flank, should
have dislodged it.
Precious time had already been wasted, and McDowell must
have bitterly regretted having yielded to the advice of some
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BULL RUN. 239
of his generals, who had dissuaded him from beginning his
movement on the evening of the previous day, as he had origi-
nally intended.
In the mean while, Beauregard had no suspicion of what was
passing on his extreme left. Tyler's cannon had informed him
that the Federals were in motion, but, deceived by this demon-
stration, he was led to suppose that the attack would be directed
upon the stone bridge and the fords below, and he persisted in his
design of menacing Centreville, thinking that he should thus check
the Federals and throw their columns into disorder. He there-
fore sent only Cocke's brigade to the assistance of Evans, recom-
mending the latter to confine himself to the task of stubbornly
defending the passage of the stone bridge, upon which he believed ^
the main efforts of the Federals would be directed. McDowell had
more thoroughly fathomed the intentions of his opponent. Evans's
artillery had not felt strong enough to reply to Tyler's heavy
cannon, and his infantry, concealed in the woods, only exchanged
a few musket-shots with the brigades of Sherman and Schenck
posted in front of it both above and below the bridge. From
the feebleness of this resistance the Federal general became at
once convinced that Beauregard had weakened his left wing,
and understood that he was preparing to make an attack upon
Centreville with his right. He immediately took the necessary
steps to repel it; Keyes' brigade was detached from Tyler's
division and ordered to join Richardson, who was already posted
opposite Blackburn's Ford, and to assist Miles in covering the
fords of Bull Run below the stone bridge.
After remaining two or three hours in front of Tyler, Evau9
at last perceived that the stone bridge was not the real point of
attack, and the movement of troops he had observed on the other
side of the river, toward nine o'clock, made him suspect the dan-
ger that threatened his flank. A good road leads from Sudeley
Ford to the Warrenton turnpike ; the point at which the former
connects with the latter is 2500 metres from the ford, and 2000
from the stone bridge. By reason of a deflection in Bull Rim
to the southward, in the direction of Sudeley, it hardly rcquii'ed
more time for the Federals to reach the turnpike, in the rear of
Evans, than it took the latter to reach it and to dispute its pos-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
240 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Bession. He had therefore not a moment to lose ; he adopted his
course with decision and acted promptly. Leaving only four
companies near the stone bridge, he fell back, with about one
thousand remaining, men, as far as the intersection of the turn-
pike and the Sudeley road, making a change of front to the
left, in order to form his line a little in advance of the road,
along the slopes of a hill which is rounded at the north by the
stream called Young's Branch, and rested his left upon the Sudeley-
Springs road. By this movement he succeeded in forestalling
the Federals. Hunter's first brigade, commanded by Burnside,
being fatigued by seven hours' march, had rested near the fresh
waters of Bull Run. McDowell, impatient at the delay of this
^brigade, proceeded in advance of it, and debouched into the fields
which extend beyond Sudeley Springs, where his skirmishers ex-
changed the first shots with Evans's sharp-shooters. The latter
had found a position on the hill he occupied which compensated
for his numerical inferiority.
It is nearly ten o'clock when the heads of Bumside's column
appear on the opposite slopes, and they are immediately saluted
by a well-sustained fire. In their inexperience they return the
fire without taking time to form ; being young troops, who had
never manoeuvred, they do not know how to deploy rapidly in
face of the enemy, so that their first attack, which is merely a
brisk discharge of musketry, is not successful in dislodging Evans.
The combat lasts nearly three-quarters of an hour, during
which time the other brigade of Hunter's division, under An-
drew Porter, hastens to get into line. At last the Confederates,
who, with only 1000 men, are defending the extreme left of their
army, which a well-concerted movement might have crushed, are
also about to receive reinforcements. Beauregard, still believing
that the attack of the Federals was directed against the stone bridge,
had sent the two small brigades of Bee and Bartow, numbering
2800 men, with a field-battery, to join the defenders of that point,
while Jackson proceeded to take position upon Bull Run, be-
tween Cocke and Bonham. But, warned by the distant rattling
of musketry and subsequently by Evans himself. Bee and Bartow
change their direction, and arrive in time to assist the latter just
when his soldiers are beginning to fall back before Burnside,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BULL RUN. 241
who was supported on his left by a battalion of regular troops
from Porter's brigade, and on his right by GrifiBn^s regular bat-
tery of artillery. Bee, forming his line with admirable judgment,
soon changes the aspect of the combat and checks the Federals,
who are already attacking Evanses positions.
The battle was at its height; there were many killed and
wounded on both sides. Hunter was among the first to be
struck down ; and the loss of a considerable number of superior
officers, who were obliged to expose themselves in order to urge
their troops forward, caused trouble and hesitation in the Federal
movements. If at this moment Tyler had shown some of that
daring he had so uselessly displayed at Blackburn's Ford, he
might have seized a fine opportunity for striking a blow at the
enemy which might have proved decisive.
In fact, some spectators who had climbed the trees signalled
to him the movements of Hunter and the combat that was
going on at Young's Branch. He had four or five thousand men,
and there were only two hundred riflemen of the enemy before
him to dispute the passage of Bull Run. The military instinct
of one of his lieutenants, who was destined for a glorious career,,
had discovered a ford. Colonel Sherman had seen in the morning-
a Confederate horseman plunge into the woods which skirt the
left bank of Bull Run above the bridge, and shortly after had
perceived him galloping across a field on the other side of the^
stream. There was, consequently, a practicable ford at that point ;.
but Tyler, fearing that he could not cross with his artillery, did
not dare to venture to pass the river.
Richardson's division and a portion of Miles's occupied the-
Confederate troops posted in the vicinity of Blackburn's Ford^
while the Federal artillery, ably handled by Major Hunt, kept
up a vigorous cannonade. It was half-past ten in the morning..
The staff' of the Confederate army, however, was so poorly
organized tliat Beauregard, posted in person in the rear of his
long army line along Bull Run, was not aware of the attack
that had been made upon Evans ; for the slopes of the Manassas
plateau concealed it from sight, and did not allow him to distin-
guish whence came the sound of cannon that he heard on tliat,
side; moreover, the orders he had sent to his right wing hack
Vol. I.— 1«
Digitized by VjOOQIC
242 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
either not reached tlieir destination or been misconstrued; he
had directed that wing to cross the river and attack Centreville,
and Beauregard was still waiting for the moment when that
attack should arrest the progress of McDowell, whom he still
believed to be on the left bank of Bull Run ; the failure to carry
out these instructions proved the salvation of his army. When,
towards eleven o'clock, he learned that his right was about to
move at last, he issued a ooimter-order, for he had just learned
the danger which threatiCned him and had become convinced that
instead of taking the offensive he ought to detach from his right
all available troops, in order to keep the victorious Federals in
check. The latter, in fact, were rapidly gaining ground in spite
of the obstinate resistance they encoimtered. Porter had deployed
his brigade to the left of Burnside ; Heintzelman, who, not hav-
ing been able to find the ford indicated in his instructions, had
been obliged to cross Sudeley Ford in the rear of Burnside, had
in his turn got into line, while Tyler was pushing forward Sher-
man's brigade. The latter had crossed Bull Run at the ford he
had discovered without striking a blow; leaving his artillery
behind, he was advancing with that precision and method which
already denoted the true man of war : as the curtain of trees did
not permit him to follow the battle with his eyes, he directed his
march by its sound ; Keyes, who had been recalled by Tyler to
take Sherman's place, was in readiness to follow.
The Confederates had taken position on an open height form-
ing the first tier of the Manassas plateau, which commanded the
course of Bull Run, by an elevation of from forty to fifty metres,
and was surrounded from north-east to west by an elbow of
Young's Branch. The chord of the semicircle described by this
stream was the straight line of the Warrenton turnpike, which
intersects it in two places, and the culminating point of which
was indicated by the house of the negro Robinson. To the left,
those heights terminated above the junction of the turnpike and
the Sudeley-Springs road, and then extended to the south-east-
ward in a line parallel with this road towards Manassas. These
slopes, commanded by the house of the widow Henry, mingled a
little farther on with those of the main plateau, which rose like
A second tier, separated from the first counterforts by a slight
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BULL RUN, 243
depressioD in the ground and a thick coppice. Two small pine
woods, one situated to the right of the Robinson house, the other
on the left, extending to the other side of Young's Branch,
connected by numerous enclosures, covered the position of the
Confederates. But the new troops who were about to attack it
were sufficiently numerous to surmount these obstacles.
Porter's troops, having taken the place of Bumside's soldiers,
who had been severely tried, were advancing on the right against
Evans's brigade, and Hampton's Legion which had arrived that
very morning from Richmond. It was half-past twelve o'clock.
At the same moment Sherman's first regiment, commanded by
Corcoran, charged the left flank of the enemy's position, which
was defended on that side by the brigades of Bee and Bartow.
This vigorous attack threw their ranks instantly into confusion,
exhausted as they were by the too unequal struggle ; the whole
Federal line took advantage of this to advance at once against
the Confederates, who gave way and were driven out of the
woods and beyond the river and the road in great disorder. The
remnants of the three brigades which had bravely sustained the
combat during three hours Were nothing more than a disorderly
crowd. Hampton's Legion alone kept its ranks in the midst of the
general stampede, but it could not check the advance of the Fed-
erals, who were already within reach of the Robinson house and
rapidly becoming masters of the position, the acclivities of which
they were scaling from every side. The Confederate artillery,
which had suflered greatly, rallied near the Henry house, where
it engaged in a combat with the Federal guns posted on the other
side of the Sudeley-Springs road.
Fortune smiled upon McDowell. He had turned, surprised,
and routed the left wing of his adversary before the latter
could bring forward a sufficient force to check his progress
or recall the troops concentrated along the line of Bull Run,
which were no longer wanted in that direction. By this move-
ment he had captured the defences of the stone bridge, while
Tyler, clearing away the abatis which obstructed the road, was
about to establish direct communications between the Federal
army and Centreville. McDowell had already 18,000 men en-
gaged on the right bank of Bull Run ; in a few hours he could
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244 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
be joined by all the rest of the available troops that had remained
on the other side of the river.
It was at this moment that Beauregard, after ordering the bri-
gades from his right to the field of battle, proceeded in person
to tlie scene of action. He met on the road a multitude of
fugitives, whose stories exaggerated the magnitude of the dis-
aster. The left wing of the Confederates had lost all the positions
along which it had ranged en potence; the turnpike was in the
hands of the Federals. It was in vain that Beauregard sent
B[ampton to dispute the intersection of this turnpike and the
Sudeley road; they quickly seized it, and, extending their lines
on the right, they were already threatening the railway, the
control of which would have been of so much importance to
them, while on the left and centre they appeared ready to pur-
sue the routed Confederates as far as the Manassas plateau.
Once established on the crest of this plateau, they could easily
have swept it with their artillery; and, meeting with no further
serious obstacles on that open ground, they would have pre-
vented a junction of the brigades which Beauregard had placed
in echelon in the morning along the too extended line of Bull
Run.
At half-past ten o'clock the Confederate general had ordered
the brigades of Holmes and Early and half of Bonham's to re-
inforce Evans's, while the other troops posted along the river were
to make demonstrations in order to conceal that movement.
But some time was required before these reinforcements could
reach the scene of conflict. Fortunately for the Confederates,
Jackson, the man of prompt and energetic inspirations, had pre-
viously been sent to fill a gap in the line formed upon Boll
Run, not far from the stone bridge, with his fine and lai^
brigade of 2600 Virginians. While he was making this move-
ment, the sound of cannon on his left revealed to him the gravity
of the situation, and without waiting for orders he changed
the direction of his column. He arrived a little in advance
of Beauregard, just as the rout of the Confederates had com-
menced. Seeing that he was too late to save the positions oc-
cupied up to that time, he deployed in the rear of the Heniy
house, and waited quietly for the fugitives, who were coming
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BULL RUN. 246
in from every direction. Bee, who was struggling in vain
to stop the rout, exclaimed, it is said, on seeing him, ^'Look
at Jackson, as solid as a stone wall I" and from that daj dates
the surname of StonewcUly which Jackson was to render
immortal.
The well-sustained fire of these fresh troops at once arrested the
pursuit of the Federals, and gave the Confederate officers time to
rally their soldiers. Besides, McDowell's men were tired out
hy the very effort which had given them the advantage ; they
had been marching and fighting since daybreak ; they had seen a
large number of their comrades fall, a certain amount of disorder
had crept into their ranks, and they no longer possessed the dash
necessary to complete their success. At that decisive moment
they lost much precious time in resting and re-forming. John-
ston and Beauregard took advantage of this, and succeeded in
restoring order among the fugitives.
The reinforcements they had called from the right wing came
in slowly, regiment by regiment. Whilst Johnston returned
to the rear to hasten their march, Beauregard posted them to
the east beyond the Sudeley and Manassas road. A portion of
Cocke's and Bonham's brigades and the whole of Holmes's thus
arrived successively, and increased the Confederate forces concen-
trated at that point to a total of about 10,000 men.
During this time the Federals, who had remained on the other
side of Bull Run, were trying to keep as many of the enemy's
troops in front of them as possible. Schenck kept up a brisk
engagement with the remainder of Bonham's brigade, and
for a long time prevented Beauregard from completely strip-
ping that line in order to strengthen his left. At last, a little
before two o'clock, McDowell, having succeeded in re-forming
his line of battle, gave the signal for a general attack, which was
chiefly directed against the Henry house. The three brigades of
Heintzelman's division formed on the extreme right, and those of
Porter and Sherman, which were nearer the centre, made a flank
movement by way of the Sudeley and Manassas road in order
to fall upon Beauregard's left; the cavalry and three batteries of
artillery supported them. While they were deploying on both
Bides of the road and climbing the gentle acclivities where an
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246 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
hour before Jackson had checked the pursuit^ Keyes was directed
to operate at the other extremity of the heights, and take pos-
session of the Robinson house, which had been lying between the
two parties without either of them having been able to hold it.
The greatest portion of the Confederate artillery, about fourteen
or fifteen pieces, had been posted on the crest of a hill situated
500 metres in rear of the Henry house, which terminated the
heights on that side, and defended the approaches of the second
tier of the plateau, from which it was only separated by a wooded
hollow. This crest commanded all the surrounding points, and
was the position which the Federals proposed to seize. They
advanced as far as the Henry house several times, but only to be
promptly driven back. At the outset of the attack, the Fire
Zouaves, having scattered upon the extreme right, only escaped
the charge of Stuart's cavalry by the timely and vigorous inter-
vention of two squadrons of regulars led by Captain Colburn.
Heintzelman, arriving in his turn, posted his batteries on the
extreme right so as to enfilade those of the enemy, but he was
himself suddenly attacked by troops that had just emerged from
a wood adjoining the Sudeley road, whom he had permitted to
approach, believing them to be friends ; his soldiers, thus taken
by surprise, hesitated and fell back, leaving in the hands of the
Confederates three field-pieces, the horses of which had been killed.
Keyes, on his side, after taking possession of the Kobinson house,
had been compelled to abandon it by the heavy fire from a bat-
tery of the enemy ; and was trying in vain to advance upon the
summit of the heights which extended from that place to the Henry
house. It was now about half-past two o'clock; Beauregard
had just summoned to his assistance the greatest portion of the
troops that were yet posted along the line of Bull Run — EwelFs
and the remainder of Bonham's brigade — ^leaving only Long-
street's and Jones's to defend the river against Miles and half
of Tyler's division, which was still on the other side. Having
received, at the same time, reinforcements of some regiments that
had been several hours on the march to join him, he availed him-
self of their arrival to resume the offensive, and the Confederate
line, to which Jackson had imparted the stamina of his excellent
brigade, for a time dislodged the Federals from all the positions
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BULL RUN, 247
they had conquered since noon; but the latter soon returned
to the charge. Jackson had found in Sherman^ then a simple
chief of brigade like himself, a foeman worthy of his steel ; part
of the Federal artillery had beep capture3 — ^itwas recaptured;
that of the Confederates was next in jeopardy, and Sherman
once more reached the Henry house ; but he was unable to pro-
ceed farther, and found himself again checked in front of the
positions where, three hours before, Jackson had so opportunely
established himself. His soldiers, worn out by &tigue, oppressed
by a burning sun, distracted by the excitement of the conflict,
which was new to them, made only a feeble resistance; many of
them left their ranks, and regiments were seen firing upon each
other; at last, the discharges of musketry became less frequent^
and presently ceased entirely. It was three o'clock ; both parties
felt that the decisive moment had arrived.
On the side of the Federals, the regiments which had been suc-
cessively engaged without order or method had all suffered; their
organization was affected, their last reserves had been in action,
their ammunition was beginning to give out, and they had long
since thrown away the three days' rations which they carried in
their haversacks in the morning. They felt, moreover, that an
interrupted success is almost invariably the prelude to a defeat.
Still, nothing was yet lost; it only required a final effort to wrest
the approaches of the Manassas plateau from the troops who
had so persistently defended it. The effort could be made.
Howard's brigade of Heintzelman's division, which had scarcely
been in action, passed to the front on the right and reopened the
fighting.
During this time, the turnpike having been cleared of all the
obstacles which obstructed it as far as the stone bridge, McDowell
ordered Schenck to cross Bull Run and strike the extreme right
of the enemy in flank. This manoeuvre might have secured the
victory, and Burnside, who had not been in action since noon,
was in a condition to support him and take part once more in the
conflict.
Beauregard also fully appreciated the increasing danger of his
position. Death was striking down one after another nearly all
the chiefs whose example had until then stimulated his troops.
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248 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Bee and Bartow had been killed near the Henry house; Hampton
was wounded ; most of the colonels were disabled ; Beauregard
and Jackson had been both slightly wounded while putting them-
selves at the head of 'their soldiers to bring them back into line;
the Confederate artillery had suffered cruelly; many of their
guns had been dismounted, and the officers themselves were
obliged to take the places of those who had served the other
pieces. The general-in-chief had not a single fresh regiment
at his disposal; Ewell and Bonham had not yet had time to
arrive, while Early, whom he had summoned to the field of
battle at eleven o'clock in the morning, had not yet made his
appearance. At this moment Howard recommenced the attack.
The Confederate general was watching him anxiously when he
perceived in the prolongation of the Federal lines a great cloud
of dust rising above the tree-tops. It was evidently a body of
troops which, not having yet taken part in the conflict, was conoi-
ing to decide, by its intervention, the issue of the battle. To
which of the two armies did it belong? Its position led Beau-
regard to believe for an instant that they were the heads of
Patterson's column coming from the Valley of Virginia, and he was
already preparing to cover his retreat, which seemed inevitable,
when he thought he recognized friendly colors in the flags that
were floating in the breeze. A moment after, sudden discharges
of musketry informed him that these troops brought him victory.
They were in fact the 3000 soldiers of the army of the Shenan-
doah for which he had been impatiently looking since morning.
Bee's brigade of that army having alone arrived during the night.
Johnston, who had gone to the rear of the army to hurry forward
and organize the reinforcements, had joined those troops that had
arrived, shortly after noon, at Manassas Junction, and leading
them in person, had brought them into the woods which extend
westward of the Sudeley road, on which the Federals confidently-
rested their extreme right. Without waiting for their comrades^
1700 men of the brigade, headed by Kirby Smith, one of the
best officers in the Confederate army, fell suddenly upon this flank
at the moment when Beauregard was watching their movements
from a distance with so much uneasiness. Smith was wounded,
but his fall did hot check his soldiers, who were supported by a
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BULL RUN. 249
battery of artillery, led on by Colonel Elzey, and the Federals,
surprised and disconcerted, were thrown into confusion.
At the same time. Early, who had only received Beaure-
gard's orders at noon, approached the field of battle ; Johnston
took advantage of his arrival to complete the success he had
already achieved against the Federal right. In pursuance of his
instructions, Early made a dttour to the left^ and, deploying
beyond the line of Kirby Smith, took the enemy, already
seriously shaken, in the rear. Under the fire of his three regi-*
ments the whole right wing of the Federals fell back in the
greatest disorder upon the centre, which it carried along with it.
The nearer McDowells army had been to victory the more
irreparable was its defeat; its strength was all exhausted; it
might have followed up a success, but it no longer possessed the
physical and moral energy necessary to sustain a reverse; the
bonds of discipline had gradually relaxed in the excitement
of the battle, or rudely snapped through the death of chiefs
who had not been replaced. The Sudeley road and the slopes
adjoining the Henry house, where, a quarter of an hour before,
a whole army waa fighting so fiercely, were instantly covered
with fugitives ; the field-pieces were abandoned, and the whole
first tier of the plateau was occupied by the Confederates, whose
lines, though much thinned, advanced with the ardor that certain
victory inspires. The battle waa lost to the Federals. Schenck,
who had not yet commenced his movement, Davies and Richard-
son, who had resisted many attempts on the part of the Confed-
erates to cross Bull Run, could do nothing to change this result ;
Bumside, whose brigade was held in reserve, could not arrive in
time to prevent the disintegration (dibandade) from becoming
general.
The Confederate regiments of Cocke and Bonham, which had
remained until then upon the line of Bull Run, came up to com-
plete the rout of the Federal left. Holmes pressed the centre.
In the midst of this confusion, the battalion of regulars was
almost the only one to preserve good order, thus showing what
discipline can accomplish and of what importance it is under
such circumstances. The combined efibrts of McDowell and his
generals succeeded at last in rallying around this battalion some
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250 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
determined men and the nucleus of a few raiments which had
been less under fire or better handled during the battle. A line
was tlwis formed on the ground where the conflict had commenced,
which temporarily overawed the enemy, while the rest of the
army was flying everywhere, across roads and fields, in the direc-
tion of the fords it had crossed in the morning, between Sudeley
Springs and the stone bridge.
Fortunately for McDowell, the Confederates were scarcely in a
condition to follow up their success ; their losses had been so
heavy, their efforts so protracted, and they had seen themselves
so nestr an irreparable defeat, that victory found them almost
broken down. They halted on the field of battle which they had
so dearly won, too well satisfied with their victory to seek to pro-
voke an adversary of whose utter helplessness they had no know-
ledge. Consequently, the line formed by McDowell to cover
his disaster was only molested by a few volleys of musketry fired
at a distance ; the battle ceased as soon as the Federals had dis-
appeared behind the woods where Burnside had commenced ihe
attack in the morning. When the Confederates bethought them-
selves at last of pursuit, the remnant of the Federal army had
crossed Bull Run at the various fords that are to be found above
the stone bridge, leaving behind them all the cannon posted
upon the right bank, a large number of muskets, almost all
their wounded, and a multitude of stragglers wandering in the
woods.
The crossing of Bull Run, of which the approaches are diffi-
cult, entirely dissolved the few corps which had remained united
until then. Fragments of regiments and isolated companies soon
became broken up among the fugitives who encumbered the narrow
roads followed in the morning by Hunter and Heintzelman on
the other side of the river. Their columns, which a common
impulse drove towards Centreville, successively emerged into the
Warrenton turnpike, and, crowding on a single road, increased
the disorder still more. During this time, the Confederates
on the battle-field, following the main road, which Tyler had
cleared a few hours before, got as far as the stone bridge, and
not daring to venture on the other side, they sent a few cannon-
balls into the midst of that dense tide of fugitives. One of
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BULL RUN. 251
these pryectiles demolished a caisson on the bridge where the
road crosses a little tributary of Bull Run, which threw ad-
ditional confusion into the ranks of the vanquished. This road
forms a long straight line, ascending by gentle acclivities froir
Bull Run to Centreville. It thus presented excellent points ot
view for observing what was passing on the other side of the
river, and a crowd of curious spectators had gathered there since
morning to enjoy the novel spectacle of a real battle. There had
followed in the train of McDowell's army from Alexandria, mem-
bers of Congress, men of all parties and professions, journalists
from every country, photographers with their instruments — all
assembled to witness the defeat of the rebels. Although out of
reach of cannon-shot, and frequently prevented by the woods
from seeing the battle, this crowd actually imagined that they
were participating in it, and this thought long afforded them
a foolish satisfaction. It finally moved off slowly in the
direction of Alexandria, on receiving the first tidings of the
check experienced by the Federals. But when the fugitives
came crowding into the road they were following, and the balls
began to whistle close to the ears of those men harassed by
fatigue and fright, a wild panic seiz^ both soldiers and
spectators. The most fiery street-orators were seen leading the
way in a rapid flight, and journalists who pretended to describe
the battle from a distance outstripped the whole senseless crowd
in swiftness.
Miles had done nothing to check the disaster which the ap-
pearance of the Confederates on the left bank of Bull Run had
increased. Instead of occupying the crossings of that river,
which he had been ordered to watch, he had hastened to summon
all the troops under his command to Centreville, where he had
himself remained. McDowell, who displayed great energy and
self-possession in that terrible emergency, hastened to remedy the
error. While the regulars and the cavalry were covering the flight
of the army, and were the last to cross the little river which
was to give its name to that fatal battle, Blenker's Grerman brigade,
which had not been in action, took a position on Cub Run, to
the right and left of the road followed by the fugitives, whom it
could not hope to arrest. Its excellent behavior succeeded, toward
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252 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
twilight, in checking the parties of Confederate cavalry who were
pursuing the retreating Federals, and picking up prisoners
and trophies of every kind, which were abandoned to them
without any attempt at resistance. When night came at last to
the assistance of the vanquished, this brigade fell back upon
Centreville, where the whole of Miles's division, and the brigades
of Schenck and Richardson, which had not been in the fights on
the right bank of Bull Run, had assembled in good order. The
condition of the army, however, did not admit of its remaining
in that position ; there were only five brigades left in fighting
order ; all the troops who had participated in the combats on the
Warrenton turnpike had dispersed, and were proceeding, without
order or leaders, in isolated groups, toward the fortifications of
Arlington and Alexandria, under the shelter of which they hoped
to find some safety. It was necessary to follow and protect them.
The troops left Centreville during the night with the greatest
part of the supply-trains that had gathered there; Richardson
was the last to leave. During the whole of the 22d, fugitives
were constantly arriving upon the borders of the Potomac ; fear
doubling their strength, they had marched all night long.
The five brigades which formed a sad escort to these returning
parties arrived also in the course of the evening, and on the fol-
lowing morning ; on the 23d the remnants of the army which
seven days before had taken the field with such imprudent con-
fidence, gathered around the forts behind which they were to be
reorganized. The dissolution of this army, too newly organ-
ized to resist the shock it had encountered, was almost com-
plete. Nothing could repress the crowds of soldiers collected
upon the right bank of the Potomac; they inundated Wash-
ington, and many of them found means to go as far as New
York. They could talk of nothing else but the masked bat-
teries that had decimated them, and of the formidable obstacles
which had stopped them ; they muttered treasonable words and
cursed their leaders.
The latter flung bitter reproaches at each other, and the ex-
citement in Washington was at its height ; the spectators, who
had only witnessed the panic, forgot the brave struggle sus-
tained by the army, and ended by persuading the public that
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BULL RUN. 263
there had been no battle, but simply a rout. Finally, the gov-
ernment, more uneasy than it had been during the first days of
its installation, expected to see the Confederate artillery come
to bombard Washington.
These fears were vain. Beauregard had no idea of threat-
ening the capital of the enemy. Mr. Davis, who had ar-
rived on the field of battle just in time to be present at the
victory, had returned to Richmond in order to communicate the
news to his Congress, which had just assembled ; and in spite of
the representations of a few officers it had been decided that no
ofiensive movement should take place for the present. This
determination was severely criticised in the South. First, John-
ston, and then Beauregard, was accused of having neglected the
opportunity to carry the war into Pennsylvania, and of ending it
perhaps by a single blow, at the same time installing the Con-
federate Congress in the Capitol of Washington. But this city
was surrounded by works behind which the poorest troops could
make a good fight ; those of the Confederate general had not yet
been tried in making attacks upon such positions; besides, the
want of sufficient means of transportation rendered it almost
impossible for him to undertake an offisnsive campaign.
This inaction, fatal to their cause, should only be attributed to
the circumstances which surrounded the army ; but its chiefs may
be blamed for not having at least detached a few brigades to worry
the Federals and harass them in Mar}'land by crossing the Poto-
mac. We have also seen that this was not their only mistake,
and that had it not been for some fortunate chances the disposition
they had made of their troops along Bull Run, the length of time it
took them to discover McDowell's movement, and their obstinacy
in persisting to attack with their right, would inevitably have
caused their defeat.
The only error of McDowell consisted in having relied too
much on the perseverance of his soldiers and the promises of
General Scott. He would, in fact, have achieved a certain victory
if, as he believed, he had only had to contend with Beauregard's
army. The Federal general-in-chief must have been perfectly
well aware that Johnston, having a railroad at his service, could
at any time slip away from Patterson and reach Manassas, with-
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254 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
out Patterson's being able to pursue him to any serious purpose.
While recommending the utmost caution to the latter, he never
could have supposed that Patterson would have indefinitely de-
tained forces whose presence was imperatively demanded eke-
where. Still, Johnston did not move until the 18th, the day on
which, as Scott informed his lieutenant, the attack on Manassas
was to take place. The Federal general-in-chief committed the
twofold error of not notifying Patterson that McDowell's move-
ment had been postponed, and of not transmitting to the latter
the important despatch by which, on the 20th, Patterson informed
him of Johnston's departure.* Public opinion, imperfectly en-
lightened, condemned both Patterson and Scott : the former re-
tired to private life, whither Scott, who was no longer the brilliant
general of the Mexican war, but an infirm old man, was to follow
him a few months afterwards. . McDowell also sufiered for the
faults of others by seeing himself reduced to the simple command
of a division.
The battle of Bull Run was a misfortune, and not a disgrace,
to the Federal arms ; the reports of losses on both sides prove
that it was bravely disputed. The Confederates acknowledged
378 killed and 1489 wounded ; the Federals, 481 killed and 1011
wounded ; the latter, moreover, left in the hands of the enemy
1216 prisoners, 28 pieces of cannon, and 10 flags ; but the rout —
or, in other words, the panic — ^in the midst of which that enemy
picked up most of his trophies, was one of those accidents to
which even victorious armies are sometimes liable, and against
which old troops are not always able to guard. The importance
of the battle of Bull Run cannot be measured by the amount
of losses sustained by the two contending parties — losses almost
insignificant, even with reference to the small number of com-
batants, when compared with those sustained in the great battles
we shall yet have to describe.
Its immediate effect upon military operations was to produce a
sudden change in the attitude of the belligerents. The possession
of Virginia, with the exception of that portion which had been
recaptured by McClellan, was secured to the Confederates. Rich-
* The reader i» referred to an able pamphlet issued by General Pattereon in
rindication of his conduct in this campaign. — Ed,
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BULL RUN. 256
mond was beyond danger of any attack, and Washington was
threatened anew. We shall see the Federal government organize
a powerful array within its capital ; but its opponents, also taking
advantage of the respite which the victory gave them, will increase
their forces almost as rapidly, so as to keep those of the enemy
constantly in check ; and they remained quiet during a period of
nine months on the field of battle conquered on the 2l8t of July.
But it was chiefly through its moral effect that this first encoun-
ter was to exercise a powerful influence upon the war of which
it was only the prelude. The South saw in this victory a kind
of ratification of her claims. It was not only the Federal sol-
diers who were vanquished on that day, but with them all
who had remained more or less openly loyal to the Union in
the Southern States. They had protested against a simple insur-
rection ; but success imparted to the government of Mr. Davis,
in their estimation, an authority before which they all bowed ; if
a few secretly preserved their old attachment for the national
flag, most of them fully submitted to the new power which had
just achieved so complete a triumph. None of the enemies of
the great Republic any longer feared to express their sympa-
thies for a cause which seemed to prosper, or to give it moral and
material aid. It required at this moment an unbounded faith
in the energy of the American people to refute the arguments of
those who believed that their ruin was already consummated;
most of the European governments, who should then have exacted
from their citizens a strict observance of the duties of neutrality,
allowed from that moment naval expeditions to be fitted out in
their ports, which were to give such powerful aid to the Confed-
erate cause. In short, this victory inspired the South with unlim-
ited confidence in her own resources and the conviction that she
could never be vanquished. At the outset this conviction was a
great element of success ; it inspired her soldiers, already impressed
with a sense of their superiority over their adversaries, with that
daring which frequently determines the fate of battles. But at
the same time it also rendered her improvident, and made her
neglect many details the importance of which she felt too late;
it prevented her, at this critical hour, from availing herself of all
her resources, from calling together all able-bodied men, from
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256 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
organizing the interior defence of the States, which she tliought
could never be invaded ; and, in this manner, it prepared the way
for the disasters she met with in the West the following year.
So that some of the military writers favorable to her cause have
gone so far as to say that a defeat would have been more bene-
ficial to her than the victory to which she was indebted for this
dangerous assurance.
This disaster, which might have discouraged the North, proved,
on the contrary, a salutary lesson. Far from dividing the States
faithful to the Union, as the Confederate leaders had anticipated,
it only had the effect of stimulating their patriotism and of ren-
dering them more clearnsighted. At the news of the defeat, they
appreciated at last the diificulty of the task they had undertaken,
but they never shrank from it. They understood that in order
to obtain success in a great war, it is not sufficient to have a great
number of soldiers — it is necessary that they should be well trained ;
that armies are complicated machines which require as much
science as care in their construction, and that if popular enthu-
siasm and personal courage supply its materials, it requires dis-
cipline to combine them. From that day the North submitted
patiently and with determination of purpose to all that was re-
quired to organize her forces and to put them in a condition to
undertake long and fatiguing campaigns. Although the soldiers
composing the national armies still bear the name of volunteers,
the aim of all their efforts will henceforth be to acquire that in-
struction and that experience which cause the superiority of reg-
ular troops.
The improvised generals will give place to those who are
brought up in the military career; the officers who serioasly
try io learn their profession will be greatly encouraged by the
confidence of the public and of the army. It is not, therefore,
to this American democracy, which is essentially practical and
profits by experience, that the partisans of levies en masse and
improvised armies must look for confirmation of their theories.*
* See Appendix to this volume, Note E.
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CHAPTER III.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE.
IN the midst of the excitement that prevailed in "Washington
on the mournful day of July 22d, Congress set an example
of courage to the American people. While the remnants of the
army defeated on the previous day were beginning to crowd the
streets of the capital^ and everybody looked at Arlington Heights
with a feeling of uneasiness, expecting to see the enemy's artillery
make its appearance, and while the military chiefe were endeavor-
ing to reorganize their respective forces, the two Houses assembled
at the Capitol. Grief was portrayed on every countenance, but
it had not destroyed the determination of those who supported
the President's policy.
A few days before they had responded to his call for a levy of
400,000 volunteers and the issue of four hundred million dollars
for their support, by a resolution increasing both these nimibers
and authorizing the enlistment of 500,000 volunteers and an ex-
penditure of five hundred million dollars. This resolution was
first presented in the Senate on the 10th of July, and on the
13th in the House of Eepresentatives. But the amendments
introduced by the partisans of peace-at-any-price, who were al
lowed a perfect freedom of speech, and who desired to prevent the
President from employing these resources to put down the rebel
lion, had delayed the final vote on the resolution.
By a singular coincidence, this debate had been fixed for
the 22d of July, when the impending disaster was scarcely con-
templated. This disaster, so far from embarrassing the debate,
only served to impart to it a peculiar solemnity, and the eager-
ness with which the resolution was passed showed that the repre-
sentatives of the American people fully appreciated the duties-
devolved upon them by such grave circumstances.
The Federal Congress had often been the hot-bed of miserable-
Vol. I.— 17 267
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258 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
intrigues ; this is a reproach which attaches not only to all polit-
ical assemblies, but to every human power. By their impatience
and unseasonable interference in military matters, they sometimes
jeopardized success ; but to make up for this they gave to the
nation, at every critical period of the war, the example of perse-
verance, and manifested that true patriotism which is stimulated
more by defeat than by victory, and which after each reverse
resolutely imposes upon itself new and heavier sacrifices. If
the check of Bull Run demonstrated the inexperience of the
American soldiers, it also proved that the people to whom they
belonged possessed that manly temperament which gathers strength
from adversity, and that constancy which, after many delays and
fruitless efforts, succeeded at last in rendering available resources
ignored by their adversaries.
It is an error, we believe, to attribute the honor of this quality
exclusively to the Anglo-Saxon race ; we should rather attribute it
to the working of free institutions. A people living under such
institutions do not prepare for war aft:er the manner of conspira-
tors; hence the frequent checks that are experienced at the outset;
but they profit by experience, their courage increases in proportion
to the magnitude of the struggle, they persevere in it because
they have voluntarily assumed its responsibilities, and every citi-
zen, making it a personal matter, sustains the common cause with
a zeal which develops the national strength at the very moment
when a despotic government would already have been struck
powerless before a wearied and unsympathizing public.
Hence it is that the creation of those large armies which carried
the national flag during a period of four years dates from the
'22d of July. The imperfect organization which united the
heterogeneous elements led by McDowell to the field of Manaasas
had not been able to withstand the first shock, and his army had
melted away like a lump of ice before the fire of the battle. On
ihat day all America understood that an army cannot subsist and
move about like an individual ; that there should be, on the one
hand, an axjtive and educated staff to r^ulate its movements —
on the other hand, an experienced administrative department to
provide for its daily wants ; and that without these appliances it
becomes an inert and lifeless body in the hands of the ablest
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 259
chief. The people learned that it was not sufficient to have
placed 500^000 men at the disposal of the President^ but that
it was necessary to aid him in converting those men into sol-
diers ; they cast aside all their prejudices and gave up all their
illusions. "Drill and organize'' was the watchword on every
lip. Instead of casting a stone at the regular officers who had
had the misfortune of being vanquished, but who had bravely
performed their duty, justice was meted out to them, and they
were entrusted with the task of repairing the disaster. Almost
all the principal commands in the Federal army were bestowed
upon them, and the States contended for the privilege of con-
fiding the new regiments that were being organized to these
officers. Nay more, their advice, when they asked the country
to renounce that fatal impatience which had brought on the Bull
Eun campaign, was listened to, ai^d public opinion accepted with-
out a murmur the long inaction which was deemed necessary to
organize the national forces.
This inaction, which lasted until the year 1862, was interrupted
from time to time only by combats of little importance. The
principal occupation of the chiefe of the Federal armies during .
the six months succeeding the battle of Bull Eun was to prepare
the instruments they were to use at a later period. The order of
our narrative itself, therefore, leads us to say a few words in this
place concerning the great task they had to accomplish before they
could take the field in earnest.
The most important thing to be done was to reconstruct the
army which had been beaten at Bull Eun. Greneral McClellan
was summoned in great haste on the 22d of July by Mr. Lincoln,
and entrusted with this duty. McDowell, who had been offered
an independent command in the West, preferred to remain at the
head of a simple division among the companions of his defeat.
Greneral McClellan had made himself known by the successful
and rapid campaign which three weeks before had freed West
Virginia, but he happily possessed also organizing talents which
he had not been able to display in that small command.
His laborious character, his precise, methodical mind, and his
vast military knowledge peculiarly fitted him for the ungrate-
ful and difficult work which had fallen to his' lot. He was
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260 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the creator of the army of the Potomac — of that army placed at
the most vulnerable point, which, although paralyzed by the
necessity of covering the capital, served. as the principal pivot
of military operations ; that army which, often unfortunate, was
never discouraged, and was rewarded at the end of the struggle
by attaining the honor of striking the decisive blow.
In the Western States, the war, which was only a continuation
of the quarrel, already often a bloody one, between abolitionists
and pro-slavery men, had been carried on until then from town
to town, from farm to farm, and from man to man, according to
the old-fashioned mode of fighting — a civil war par exceUence, as
indecisive as it was bitter. But, in order to obtain important
results in those vast regions, it was necessary to undertake much
longer campaigns than in the East, where the vicinity of hostile
capitals placed the two opponents forcibly face to face. It was
therefore still more important that the armies destined to operate
in that quarter should receive the organization without which
they could not move over great distances.
These armies, which the volunteers from the Western States
swelled so rapidly, contained a large number of stalwart men,
better inured to hardships than those of the East, but they
were poorer in materials of war than the army of the Potomac,
which was within reach of the principal arsenals and the industrial
cities of the Union.
Before describing the slow organization of the Federal forces
which preceded the serious resumption of hostilities, we has-
ten to remark that the Confederates were the unwilling accom-
plices in that inaction which enabled their adversaries to make
their preparations at leisure. The opportunity of marching upon
Washington the day following their first victory having once
been suffered to slip, the commonest prudence compelled them
to remain in the defensive attitude which had been the cause of
their success. If the Federals had been confronted by an enemy
better prepared to take the offensive, neither patriotism nor the
number of their soldiers would have been of any avail. This
is a consideration which Europeans, whose States are surrounded
by powerfully armed neighbors, should never lose sight of when
they study the manner in which America, after having been
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE, 261
taken unawares, was able to improvise her large armies of vol-
unteers.
We may be permitted to recall here a personal reminiscence
showing how different were the circumstances which alone favored
the formation of these armies^ from those presented in the wars
of which our continent is too often the theatre.
The author arrived in Washington and had the honor to enter
the army of the Potomac two months after the battle of Bull
Bun. Not a musket-shot had been exchanged during that time
between the two hostile forces, which in the mean while watched
each other a short distance apart between Arlington and Fairfax
Court-house.
A balloon in the service of the army rose every evening to
reconnoitre the surrounding country; an ascension was proposed
and accepted; it was then the only means of seeing the enemy.
Scarcely had we risen above the ancient trees which surround the
former residence of General Lee, when the prospect was extended
over an undulating yet uniform country covered with woods,
spotted here and there with small clearings, and bounded on the
west by the long chain of the Blue Eidge, which recalls to mind
the first lines of the Jura. Thanks to the brilliant light which
illumines the last hours of an autumn day in America, the ob-
server can distinguish the smallest details of the country beneath
him like a plan in relief. But his eye seeks in vain for apparent
signs of war; peace and tranquillity seemed to reign everywhere.
It requires all his attention to detect some recent clearings, at the
edge of which a line of reddish earth indicates the new fortifica-
tions. Meanwhile, as the day sinks, he sees at the southward
small fleeces of bluish smoke breaking gently above the trees;
they are multiplied by groups in a vast semicircle. These are
the Confederates cooking their soup. The number of their army
can almost be counted, for each line of smoke betrays the ket-
tle of a platoon.
Further in the distance the vapor of a locomotive rushing
toward the mountains traces by its wake above the trees the line
by which the enemy is provisioned. At the same moment a
military band is heard directly under the balloon. All the clear-
ings in which we have sought in vain to discover the Federal
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262 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
camps are filled with a crowd issuing from the surrounding
woods. This crowd falls into line and forms battalions^ the
band passing before the ranks with that peculiar gait which the
English have denominated '^goose-step/' Each raiment has
two flags — one being the national colors, the other bearing the de-
vice of the State to which it belongs, together with its regimental
number. These flags are lowered; the officers salute; the colonel
takes the command; and a moment after the soldiers all disperse,
for it is neither a surprise nor the prelude of a forward march
which has thus called them together, but the ordinary "evening
parade."
It was in the midst of this absolute calm that General McClellan
organized the army of the Potomac.
Congress on the 22d of July had correctly expressed the senti-
ments which animated the entire North at the news of McDowell's
defeat. The loysA States understood at last the magnitude of the
undertaking they had before them, and determined to neglect
nothing that could compass its success. Everybody set to
work; patriotic donations flowed in; subscription funds were
opened for the benefit of the soldiers; women manifested as much
zeal to induce men to enlist as in the South; the largest iron
mills in the United States were turned into cannon foundries or
into outfitting establishments; finally, enlistments became more
and more numerous. The three months' volunteers raised on the
first call of April 15th were discharged, but a great many of them
re-enlisted. Those who had responded to the second call of May
4th, instead of the forty battalions asked for, already formed 208
battalions on the 21st of July. In order to complete the efiective
force of 250,000 men authorized by Congress, it was only neces-
sary to encourage this movement and to receive into the service
of the Union all the new battalions thus created. We have
already described the manner in which they were recruited and
organized in each State. As soon as they were received into the
Federal service by the mustering-officer, who had charge of tl e
recruiting, they were forwarded to the armies of the West or to
the army of the Potomac, which were rather vast camps of instruc-
tion than armies in the field ; and as soon as they were able to
defile without too much confusion they were formed into brigades
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 263
of one or two battalions somewhat less inexperienced than them-
selves, whose example could be of use to them.
The interior organizaton of the armies thus formed was
modelled precisely upon that of the old regular army, which we
have described elsewhere in full. The duties pertaining to the
various branches of the service were distributed in the same way,
and this old army ceased to have a separate existence except in
the annual Army Blister. It saw its administrative departments,
with their personnel, blended with those that had been created for
the army of volunteers ; it saw the majority of its officers enter
that army with new rank, and its infantry and cavalry regiments,
together with its batteries, were^ scattered among the various
armies and formed into divisions with the volunteers.
The appointment of all generals, their aides-de-camp, and all
the officers and employ^ of the administrative departments be-
longed to the President, subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
But the rank thus conferred was merely temporary, and expired
by limitation on the disbandment of the volunteer armies for
whose special wants they had been created.
The first thing required was the appointment of a certain num-
ber of generals to assume the commands indispensable to such
a large assemblage of troops ; for the regular army only con-
tained about a dozen, nearly all new, and yet two or three
among them too much disabled to take the field. But none of
those who could aspire to that rank possessed antecedents of
sufficient importance to entitle them to the choice of the President,
and the latter was reduced to the alternative either of encumber-
ing the cadres with men whose incapacity might be found out
too late, or of suffering the most important posts to remain
unfilled. He had the merit of listening to the opinions ex-
pressed by the comrades of every old officer, and his first list of
generals, composed almost entirely of West Pointers, furnished him,
together with a few chiefs who were to play a distinguished part
in the war, a considerable number of educated and industrious
men, who contributed powerfully to the organization of the volun-
teers. Selections were unquestionably made which were dictated
either by political influence or personal favor; and among the
first major-generals appointed by Mr. Lincoln we find two —
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264 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Messrs. Banks and Butler — who are the two types of the class then
styled political generals : Banks^ a former workingman of Massa-
chusetts, who through his intelligence had attained the highest
civil positions, of a loyal character and universally esteemed, but
totally ignorant of military matters — ^who, although fully aware
of this fact, was nevertheless anxious to obtain a command,
aggravating his first error in action by mistrust of himself and
untoward hesitations, and who did not always succeed in staving
off, by his great personal courage, the disastrous results of enter-
prises he had imprudently undertaken ; Butler, a shrewd lawyer,
a bold politician, without scruples, who had rendered a great ser-
vice to his country by taking upon himself the responsibility of
occupying Baltimore, but who was afterwards to injure his cause
by resorting to unnecessary severities in New Orleans, found
himself, by a singular coincidence, chief in command at Big
Bethel and at the first attack on Fort Fisher, and was thus both
the first and the last general beaten by the Confederates. But,
on the other hand, the names of Grant, Sherman, Meade, Kear-
ny, Hooker, Slocum, and Thomas, which were among the first
promotions, show that Mr. Lincoln knew from the outset how
to select men worthy of his entire confidence.
The personal aides-de-camp of the generals in command, from
the rank of lieutenant to that of colonel, did not appertain to any
contingent ; they received their rank directly from the President,
without any reference to the sanction of the Senate ; but these
grades, whether conferred on persons belonging to the regular
army or to the volunteer staff, according as the general himself
might belong to either of these corps, were merely temporary,
and expired, by limitation, with the command of the general to
whom they were attached.
In the staffs of the armies in the field the chiefs of tlie different
services were regular officers, invested with a rank commensurate
with the importance of their functions. Thus, at the general
head-quarters of the army of the Potomac or of the armies of
the West the chiefs of cavalry, of artillery, of engineers, of topo-
graphical engineers, and in the administrative departments the as-
sistant adjutant-general and the quartermaster-general, ranked as
brigadier-generals ; others — such as the chief of ordnance, the com-
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PREPARATION FOR THE STRIFE. 266
missajy of subsistenoe^ and the inspector-general — held the inferior
and temporary rank appertaining to the title of aides-de-camp.
All the administrative branches of the service were reinforced,
both in the war department and in the armies in the field, by
large promotions of officers appointed by the President, like the
generals of volunteers, to serve during the war. But, notwith-
standing their number, the personnel of all these corps, like that
of the staffs, was always found insufficient for the task imposed
upon it by the necessity of providing for the' support and man-
agement of an army of 500,000 men, which at the end of the war
was to number nearly 1,000,000 ; most of these officei-s, besides,
were utterly unaccustomed to the duties confided to them. A
thousand examples might be cited of difficulties which their
inexperience, aggravating. that of the soldiers and officers of the
line, threw in the way of the organization of the armies, their arma-
ment, their outfits, and even their subsistence in their canton-
ments. Thus, for instance, a regiment recently encamped received
its rations in flour, and for want of cooking utensils found itself, in
fact, without food, whilst biscuits were distributed to its neighbor,
which, being provided with portable ovens, might have contributed
through them to relieve tiie common wants to a considerable
extent. The variety of firearms was so great that the cartridges
first distributed scarcely ever suited the calibre of the muskets.
It required months of assiduous labor to introduce order and
method in this vast administrative machinery. There was con-
stantly occasion to regret the absence of a general staff, such as
is to be found in European armies, serving as a direct medium
between Ae chief and all the subordinate agents placed under his
command, and enabling him to enforce the execution of his wishes
at all times.
When Greneral McClellan commanded an army of 150,000
men, he had only about him, besides four topographical engineers
especially detailed to study the ground, concerning which no
map gave any precise information, eight aides-de-camp to carry
his orders, to ascertain tiie position of the several army corps, to
accompany important reoonnoissances, to convey directions to a
general on the day of battle, and to receive despatches during the
night at general head-quarters and during the day, the generals^
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266 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
civil functionaries^ bearers of flags of trace from the enemy^ and,
finally, to question the inhabitants or prisoners of importance
from whom information might be obtained.
An exception should be made in favor of the medical brandi
of the service ; for, if officers were scarce, physicians before the
war were numerous, America being the country which, in propor-
tion to her population, possesses the greatest number of them.
The spirit of personal independence and the absence of all con-
trol on the part of the state, so far from being detrimental to the
cause of medical science in the New World, has given it an ex-
traordinary impulse; and the Americans quote with just pride,
besides such names as those of Jackson and Mott, the reports of
their principal surgeons relative to the innumerable experiments
which the war enabled them to make. The progress of medical
science resulting from these reports may perhaps afford some ooni-
pensation to humanity for all the blood shed during that cruel
war. It may be said that there was no branch of the service
in the whole army, unless it be that of the chaplains, which un-
derstood and performed its duties so well as the r^mental sur-
geons— all physicians by profession.
The composition of the personnel of an army, notwithstanding
its importance, is not, however, either the first element of mili-
tary organizations or the most difficult to create : the most im-
portant is discipline, that moral force without which no army can
exist. When it is established by tradition the new-comers sub-
mit to it without difficulty. But the Federal government had
not only to introduce it among a vast multitude of men, all
equally strangers to its severe requirements, but it did not possess
any really effective means to enforce respect for it. In the first
place, if the government had the right to deprive officers of their
rank, it had not the power to replace them. It could only punish
regimental officers by dismissing them, and had no rewards to
^ffer them. The States, fearing lest the Federal government
should possess too much influence, had, in refusing the right of
appointment and promotion, deprived it of the best guarantee
of good service.
On the other hand, there being no rule in force regulating the
promotion of officers appointed by the States and enrolled
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 267
in the service of the Federal government, or in the general staff
of the army of volunteers, and the latter being considered as a
merely temporary organization, discipline could not find that sup-
port which the respect inspired by a strongly constituted hierarchy
obtained for it in permanent armies.
We have already stated how the ranks were distributed among
those who had mostly contributed to the recruiting of regiments.
But among those who thus attained the summit of the ladder at
the outset there were some who voluntarily descended it just as
quickly. More than one subaltern ojffioer of the regular army,
placed in command of a regiment with the rank of colonel, be-
came disgusted with that position and went to resume a modest
place in his old company. There were others who, having held
no previous rank in the standing army, had to undergo even
greater trials; and we might mention a few instances of officers
who, after leaving one regiment in order to assume the position
of colonel in another, found themselves reduced to the ranks by
the disbanding of the latter, and returned to take their places as
common soldiers in their former regiment.
But the most serious obstacle against the maintenance of disci-
pline was to be found in the law which, by an inexcusable anom-
aly in a democratic country, conferred upon the chiefs a discre-
tionary authority over the soldiers for the punishment of simple
military misdemeanors, and did not permit them to exercise the
same in regard to officers. The latter had to be tried by court-
martial for the slightest infringement of military rules, and they
could not be subject to two days' confinement without a formal
sentence. In consequence of this system, borrowed from the
regular army, upon which it had been grafted in days when the
executive power was mistrusted, the trial, the prosecution and
the defence — in short, all the guarantees required by law in
cases of grave offences — became a parody to secure immunity
for the officers accused of insubordination towards their su-
periors. All these difficulties, however, did not discourage those
who had undertaken the organization of the Federal armies, and
they succeeded at last in introducing order and discipline among
them.
The rules established for determining the right to a command
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268 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA
being as precise and as scnipulously observed in America as in
Europe^ served as a corrective to the accidents which converted
the superior officer of to-daj into a sabordinate of to-morrow.
These rules assigned the command among officers of the same
grade to the senior of those who held their commissions from
the President^ whether thej belonged to the r^ular army (x to
the volunteer staff^ in preference to those who had been appointed
by the governors of States, in special contingents.
With regard to the law instituting courts-martial to pronounce
upon the slightest breaches of discipline, it met with the fate of
all laws that are too bad to be applied ; a thousand ways were
found to evade it The officer who neglected his duty was placed
under arrest, as if to prepare for trial, and at the end of eight
days he was released and told that the matter should not be
pursued any further — a decision in which he naturally hastened
to acquiesce. Or in more serious cases he was to be put in arrest
for three or four weeks within his tent, and warned that if he
made any complaints against such illegal proceeding the Presi-
dent would be requested to dismiss him.
Being thus relieved from matters of which they should never
have taken cognizance, the courts-martial had yet another laborious
duty to perform. Their functions were of a double character,
according to the gravity of the charges brought before them. As
simple courts they recommended the President to suspend or
dismiss the party accused. As military tribunals, invested by the
Constitution itself with judiciary power to try special cases, they
imposed pecuniary fines and corporal penalties extending even to
death, such sentences being subject to the revision of the Presi-
dent. In these courts-martial the volunteers were tried by vol-
unteers, the regulars by regulars ; but they were all subject to the
same military code, the Articles of War, a small collection, rather
vague, which, like nearly all Anglo-Saxon laws, leave a great deal
to jurisprudence.
The establishment of examining commissions operated largely
in favor of discipline, and raised the dignity of the epaulette
in the estimation of the soldiers by purging the penownd of
the list of officers. It was impossible to confer all the ranks
upon educated officers, as there were very few such ; but all the
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 269
others could be divided into two classes. The first, who were
by far the most numerous, being conscious of their deficiencies,
desired to improve themselves, and had all the intelligence neces-
sary for learning their profession even in the midst of the diffi-
culties of the war; such must be retained. The others, as pre-
sumptuous as they were incapable, set a fatal example in the
positions they had courted only to gratify their cupidity or
vanity; the examining commissions were directed to rid the
army of them. They were instructed to subject all the officers
of the various contingents to a rigid examination before they
were finally accepted by the President. These examinations only
took place several months after those contingents had been formed
into divisions, so that the generals who had them under their re-
spective commands were able to furnish the commissioners with
suggestions in regard to the officers about to be examined, which
more or less controlled their decisions.
The examiners always favored those who were known to be
disposed to learn their profession, but those convicted of down-
right ignorance had no mercy shown to them. During the early
stages of the war, those who found themselves thus deprived of
their rank begged for favor, threw themselves at the feet of their
judges ; for, apart from the disgrace, it was a great pecuniary loss
to them. They were told in reply to go and learn, and a few
rigorous examples determined a large number of officers to avoid
the disgrace of failure at a public examination in the presence
of their comrades and their subordinates by a prompt resignation.
This summary mode of proceeding may have caused some in-
justice, but the most cruel injustice would have been to expose
the lives of soldiers by allowing the army to be filled with men
incapable of commanding.
It was thus that discipline and respect for authority began to
take root in the army, and their salutary infiuence was soon felt,
although the observer, judging only from appearances, might net
yet have been able to realize the fact. Indeed, what may be
called the hierarchical sentiment has never existed in the United
States, where the uncertain rounds of the social ladder offer to
no one a pedestal so high but that a man may descend from it
without ruin, where the citizen who has deserved well of his
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270 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
country in a high position does not think it derogatory to his
dignity to serve that country in a more modest capacity. Even
in the regular army the rank which, acquired with diflSculty, had
been the aim and the reward of a whole career has never elicited
the same respect as amongst us. The power it confers, the
obedience it ought to secure within the limits of military com-
mand, lost nothing thereby, but it did not of itself create those
social distinctions which are carefully kept up elsewhere, even
by persons occupying inferior positions with the secret hope of
being able at some future day to take the places of their supe-
riors and to receive the same marks of respect. In the volunteer
army, for stronger reasons, no prestige could attach to the mere
epaulette, for the soldier was the more able to criticise the ignor-
ance of his immediate chiefs because he almost alwjiys belonged
to the same county or village and had long known them person-
ally. The absence of that moral authority which is based upon
length of service and superior experience was still more unfor-
tunate among the non-commissioned officers, to whom it was even
more indispensable in order to enforce obedience from the soldier.
But, on the other hand, the intelligence and education which
lifted most of the privates to a level with their superiors inspired
them with a natural respect for those among their chiefs in whom
they recognized the necessary qualities for command, and induced
them to accept, without a murmur, the obligations and restraints
of military life when they were made to understand the necessity.
Leaving the entire monopoly of insubordination to a few r^-
ments, mostly composed of European adventurers, they exhibited
none of that turbulence which is frequently associated with the
name of volunteers. A few words of caution were sufficient to
remind them that, having once taken the oath, there were no longer
amateurs in the ranks of the army.
During the whole period of organization in the army of the
Potomac, Grcneral McCIellan had but once an occasion to rebuke
any attempt to resist his authority This occurred shortly after
the battle of Bull Run, the memories of which had not yet been
effiiced. The soldiers of a volunteer regiment, considering them-
selves aggrieved in a matter affecting their pay and term of
enlistment, refused to obey their officers. Their camp, situated
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 271
on one of the squares of Washington, -was immediately sur-
rounded by a detachment of regular troops, infantry and artil-
lery, and this display of force sufficed to bring them to obedience.
In granting them pardon the general-in-chief took away their
flag, with the promise to return it to them on the field of battle ;
and the zeal which these troops displayed to atone for their error
soon made them one of the best regiments in the army.
The acts of severity necessary for the maintenance of disci-
pline were generally approved by public opinion, which was deter-
mined to sustain the authority of the chiefs from whom they
expected the salvation of the country. But it was repugnant to
the American people to shed, even by judicial process, the blood
of a guilty man when that of a victim did not cry for vengeance ;
and to render possible the execution of deserters to the enemy it
was necessary to bring forward material proof of the great dan-
ger to which the army was exposed if capital punishment, that
indispensable penalty of the military code, was not inflicted upon
traitors. The first execution took place in December, 1861 ; it
was an event in the Federal army.
The best example that can be given of the docility with which
the volunteers submitted to all the regulations, the necessity or
advantages of which they understood, is to be found in the man-
ner in which the absolute prohibition of fermented liquors was
accepted by them. In a country where the use of ardent spirits
is so universal, where the bar-room or drinking-shop plays so
great a part, so severe a restriction could not have been imposed
upon the soldiers if nearly all of them had not cheerfully recog-
nized its necessity with a firmness of purpose more meritorious
than many acts of heroism. The commissaries of subsistence
alone had in store a detestable brandy distilled from grain, which
they distributed parsimoniously to the sick and to the soldiers
employed at hard labor, or to those encamped in malarious local-
ities. It is true that during the early stages of the war the low
drinking-shops of Washington and St. Louis were crowded with
soldiers whose trembling hands brandished the terrible bowie-
knife, or who staggered to the sidewalk to end their quarrels with
the revolver. But it may be asserted that no drunken man was
ever seen in camp ; and even in the cities these disorders ceased as
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272 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
soon as the military police, better .organized, prevented soldiers
from leaving their tents to visit the bar-rooms. The sutlers,
licensed smugglers, were subjected to the supervision of the pro-
vost-marshal, and no strong liquor was tolerated at their stores.
It was the Europeans who most strongly resisted this reflation —
the Grermans from pure loyalty to their fag^er-bier, the Southern-
ers to drii^k in secret an alcoholic compound which in America
is called brandy (whisky).
The personnel of staffi and administrative departments being
once organized and that of the contingents purified, and the first
principles of discipline established among the officers, as well as
among the soldiers, the great task of drilling the army had yet
hardly begun. Indeed, a great assemblage of men resembles a
statue of clay, unable to move without breaking and having no
vital breath. In order that it may acquire suppleness and agility
the recruits must go through a series of exercises and evolutions
equally irksome to the teachers and the taught — ^first singly, then
by platoons, by battalions next, and finally by brigades. This
task was the more difficult in the American army because instruc-
tion was as necessary for the officers as for the men, and because
the latter, having no example to encourage them, did not under-
stand the utility of so long an apprenticeship. Their intelligence,
however, which rendered them submissive to the voice of chiefs
really worthy to command them, soon made them undertake it
with ardor. Full of confidence in themselves, they made up their
minds, not that it was useless to learn, but that it would be very
easy for them to learn anything they wished, the trade of war
as well as any other ; having enlisted voluntarily, they were de-
termined to do everything in their power to become good soldiers
capable of victory.
They were, therefore, of as much value as their chiefs, whose
examples exercised an all-powerful influence over the collective
spirit, if we may use such an expression, which animates a body
of troops. A rapid change took place in those regiments in which
the superior officers went assiduously to work and b^an by learn-
ing themselves what they desired to teach their inferiors. There
were three of these superior officers to every r^ment, or rather
battalion, whose efiective force numbered from eight to nine bun-
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 273
dred men at the utmost— one colonel, a lientenant-oolonel, and a
major. This number would have been excessive in a standing
army, but at a time when it was necessary to organize everything
it offered great advantages; for there were many chances that
among these three officers one would be found capable of assum-
ing the management of affairs in the regiment, whatever his rank ;
his superiority over his two colleagues very soon placed the di-
rection of affairs in his hands. Most of these officers applied
themselves with zeal to the novel task they had accepted. Very
often, after a day of drill and manoeuvres, when the soldier was
resting without care, the colonel would call all his officers together
in his tent. There, by the light of an unsteady lamp, he would
lecture them upon certain manoeuvres,^ at first in the capacity of
teacher, then freely discuss with them sundry points in tactics ;
and when the latter had retired, he would still continue to study,
with his lieutenant-colonel and major, the French regulations
(infantry tactics), translated by Scott, in order to expound them
on the following day.
One of the most important duties in the organization of the
army, and the most difficult to have well performed, was the
management of regimental accounts. In the absence of an ad-
ministrative staff the keeping of these accounts devolved entirely
upon the colonel and captains of companies. For those who had!
not been engaged in mercantile affairs it was a labyrinth from,
which they could not extricate themselves without close applica-
tion ; and one should have inspected some of the American regi-
ments in person in order to form an idea of the worriments en-
tailed upon thousands of officers by the necessity of keeping four
official account-books in order — ^the descriptive-book, the moming-
retum-book, the account-book, and the order-book.
In all the details we have given concerning the formation and!
organization of volunteer regiments we have said nothing of the-
measures taken to fill the gaps occasioned by sickness and the
bullets of the enemy. The fact is that such measures had not.
been deemed necessary at the outset of a war which it was thought
would only last ninety days. It was soon found that when a regi-
ment had once set out to join the army, nobody any longer aj)-
pHed to the recruiting d6p6ts ; the good places had been taken ;,
Vol. L— 18
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274 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the men of influence who had contributed to the formation of the
regiments were in camp; and if others appealed in their turn to
the public, it was in behalf of new regiments. Under such a
system it was impossible to establish d6p6ts; the numerical
strength of the regiments was greatly diminished during their
stay in camps, and it only required a single battle or a few nights
passed in a malarious locality to reduce them to skeletons. In
the mean while, the new levies which swelled the ranks of the
armies brought no direct reinforcement to those raiments. In
order to procure a rapid supply of men it was necessary constantly
to create new regiments. These regiments brought with them all
the inexperience which had cost so dear to their predecessors,
without deriving any profit from the experience acquired by the
latter, while the number of officers and soldiers belonging to the
old regiments, whose example and teachings might have been
so useful to the new comers if they had been thrown together
under the same, colonels, was too much reduced to play an im-
portant part unaided in the field.
It may be that in trying to remedy this evil the source itself
had been exhausted from which the ranks of the Federal armies
had been filled when they were so fearfully decimated. But this
system was one of the principal causes of their weakness, and its
consequences became more and more injurious until the day when,
the conscrption law having at last given the Federal government
the means for securing enlistments, the formation of new regi-
ments was prohibited, and General Grant infused new vigor into
the army by the consolidation of two or three regiments into one.
Such was the general condition of affairs in the midst of which
the organization of the Federal armies was being effected. Each
branch of the service was naturally organized and perfected
witli more or less rapidity according to the particular difficulties
that this labor expects to encounter.
In the infantry the soldiers were vigorous, but did not under-
stand how to husband their strength for a long march. They did
not know how to buckle on their knapsacks ; they clumsily car-
ried very light weights on their shoulders ; they had no idea how
to take care of their arms. Most of them were bad marksmen
when they enlisted, and the first muskets which were put in their
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE, 275
hands were so defective that they could not at first practice at a
target. The infantry regiments, modelled upon those of the regu-
lar army, were composed of ten companies, each having a nominal
strength of ninety-six men, one captain, one first lieutenant, and
one second lieutenant. It was upon these ten companies, formed in
two ranks, that all the manoeuvres by battalion were based. The
artillery branch of the service was especially in favor with the
American volunteers. It suited their taste for the mechanical
arts, and they felt, moreover, like all new soldiers, a certain degree
of confidence on finding themselves -near those powerful weapons,
with a longer range than musketry. In short, the regular artil-
lery, having always been very numerous, supplied the volunteers
with a proportionally larger number of able instructors than any
other arm. Consequently, in the army of the Potomac, General
McClellan was able to supply each division with a regular battery
destined to serve as a model for the others, and the captain of
which exercised a superior command over the latter. We shall
speak presently of the material they had in their hands.
The volunteer artillery, furnished by the several States, was
only organized into batteries, having no officer above the rank of
captain. The superior ofiicers of that arm of the service all be-
longed to the regular army, or had received from the President a
temporary rank, with the title of aides-de-camp, on the stafi^ of
the general commanding the corps to which they were attached.
The cavalry was slower in acquiring the knowledge which alone
could render it really useful. It required the experience of sev-
eral campaigns to enable them to learn fully the special part
which the nature of the country imposed upon them, and to exer-
cise a serious influence upon the military operations. The strength
of the volunteer regiments of cavalry varied according to the
States which furnished them. Some of them, following the ex-
ample of the new regular regiments, numbered as many as twelve
hundred horses, and the three majors had each a command of four
squadrons or companies. Most of them, however, formed upon
the old model, were compased of ten companies, each about one
hundred strong, without any intermediate field-officer between the
colonel and the captains. These regiments, of one thousand horses
each, presented a front too extended for the word of command,
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276 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
thereby increasing the difficulties of drill. These difficulties were
great and numerous. The men arrived on foot ; it was the duty
of the Federal government to equip and mount them. The duties
of horsemen were new to them. The North American had lost
some of the good traditions of horsemanship pertaining to the
Anglo-Saxon race. In the eastern part of the Union the saddle-
horse has been supplanted by the light vehicle called " buggy ;"
in the West the farmer is more of a husbandman than a stock-
raiser ; and the pioneer of the border States relies only upon his
rifle to contend with mounted Indians. Nevertheless, these regi-
ments were generally very popular among the volunteers. For-
getting that the mounted man has to be the slave of his horse,
they thought that because they could perform a day's march on
horseback less labor would be required. The number of cavalry
regiments increased to such a degree that, in order to curtail the
useless expense imposed upon the treasury, it was found necessary
to leave a portion of the men dismounted. We shall show here-
after, when we shall have occasion to speak of the maUriel of war,
how fearfully horses were used up by the cavalry regiments dur-
ing the early stages of the war. Owing to ignorance of the care
necessary to preserve the animals, the soldiers found themselves
dismounted after a few days' campaign, and even obliged to go
into cantonments. This was the principal cause of the protracted
inefficiency of the Federal cavalry. Besides, the difference be-
tween the regiments commanded by an experienced colonel and
those whose chiefs were ignorant of their profession was, at first,
even greater in the cavalry than in the infantry ; and officers like
Averell, Gregg, Buford, and Farnsworth in the army of the Poto-
mac, and Sheridan, Kautz, and Kilpatrick in the West, who sub-
sequently achieved so much distinction, became at first noted for
the excellent condition of the cavalry troops placed under their
respective commands.
The division formation of these various arms was effected in a
nearly uniform manner. In the army of the Potomac four regi-
ments, or battalions, constituted a brigade, with an effective force
of from 3200 to 3500 men on taking the field. A division was
composed of three brigades of infantry, one regiment of cavalry,
and four batteries of artillery, one of which belonged to the
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 277
regular service. The surplus of cavalry and artillery remained
separate.
The special services found great resource in the aptitude of the
American to pass from one trade to another. This is a great and
valuable quality which the practice of true liberty engendera by
protecting the individual against excesses in the pursuit of special-
ties which confine the faculties of man within a narrow prison.
The part of siege artillery in the army of the Potomac was en-
trusted to a Connecticut regiment not a soldier or officer of which,
except the colonel, had ever before handled a cannon. They
learned their new duties, escorted that heavy artillery throughout
all the marches of the army, and served it with great ability dur-
ing the most distressing retreats, while more than once, when their
pieces were in safety and the din of battle was heard in the dis-
tance, they threw aside rammer and sponge to take part in the con-
flict with muskets as foofc-soldiers.
In order to organize the engineer service it was also found
necessary to appeal to the ardor of volunteers who had no military
instruction. The officers of that arm scattered among the various
corps were not sufficiently numerous to direct in person all the
works required by the military operations, nor to instruct the sol-
diers employed in them. But there were found, on the one hand,
useful auxiliaries among civil engineers, a large and educated class,
composed of practical men accustomed to struggle with the difficul-
ties of the virgin soil of America ; while, on the other hand, a rapid
course of special instruction imparted to a few regiments sufficed to
qualify them for the most important works of engineering art, while
the rougher work was entrusted indiscriminately to the various
regiments of volunteers, among whom some skilful artisans were
always sure to be found. The construction of these works was
never entirely new to them. Even the most populous States,
which still possessed vast forests, all furnished a considerable
contingent of woodmen or lumbermen and pioneers, inured from
their infancy ip the use of the axe, the pick, and the spade, and
one regiment a thousand strong might be seen felling more than
eighty acres {quarantes hectares) of tall forests in a single day.
Sometimes an unfair advantage was taken of the aptitude of the
volunteers for this kind of work. They had scarcely been mus-
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278 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
terecl into service when a great portion of the time which should
have been devoted to' drilling was employed in the formation
of artistically constructed abattis and in making large en-
trenched camps in all the positions which it was suspected the
enemy intended to attack in the vicinity of Washington, Louis-
ville, Paducah, and St. Louis. These works, at first, were only
sim[)le breastworks {ipaulemenia), formed of trunks of trees and
earth, on the skirts of clearings which had been made for the pur-
pose of freeing the approaches of the positions to be defended, and
were protected by abattis of from ten to forty feet in thickness,
where all the branches, skilfully turned outward, sharpened at the
points, and hardened by fire, were inextricably intertwined. It was
soon rendered necessary to coastruct improved redoubta for field
artillery on the strongest positioas along the line ; the very nature
of the ground rendered it necessary to multiply their number, and
in the end they became veritable citadels, intended for guns of
the heaviest calibre. There were thus erected at every available
point on the large Western rivers, especially along the Mississippi,
either level or plunging batteries, intended to intercept naviga-
tion. When these works constituted regular systems of defence,
it was deemed expedient to connect them by means of causeways
constructed with trunks of trees placed close to each other, such as
pioneers build in marshy forests, and which, under the name of
corduroy roads, marked the passage of the Federal armies through-
out the South. Logs of the same length, and placed crosswise
alongside of each other over the miry soil of the forest, constituted
the original corduroy, the pieces of which, having become disjointed
by the passage of the first troops, fatigue the foot-soldiers, bruise
the horses, and jar the wagons, but an entire army sometimes suc-
ceeded, nevertlieless, in passing thus over many leagues of morass.
In roads for permanent use the improved corduroy was composed
of large trunks placed lengthwise, supporting logs laid crosswise ;
pieces of timber of smaller diameter filled up the interstices of
these cross-logs, and the whole was covered by alternate layers of
earth and branches.
The variety and simplicity which characterize the mechanic
arts of the Americans were first manifested in the construction
of the bridges thrown over the innumerable ravines in the vicin-
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 279
ity of Washington, forming a connection between all the army
encampments. The piers of these bridges were constructed of
unhewn logs placed against a slope and laid upon each other hori-
zontally in cross directions, resembling those pyramids of three
or four faces which may be seen in wood-yards. They supported
a platform of trestle-work composed of the same materials, and
the whole presented a timber-work of the greatest solidity, not-
' withstanding its fragile appearance. Skilful from the beginning
in this kind of construction, the volunteers continued to improve
during the war — so much so that in the Greorgia campaign we
shall see Sherman's soldiers throw over the Chattahoochee a
bridge thirty metres high and two hundred and ninety long in
less than five days. In the army of the Potomac two regiments
were detailed for this kind of work, and the bridge-equipage was
placed in their hands ; they combined the duties of pontoniers
with those of sappers. They commenced operations in the former
capacity in the beginning of 1862 ; and in a single day they built
a bridge across the Potomac at Harper's Ferry in spite of the
obstacles presented by a rapid current, a water-depth of seven
metres, and the width of the river, which is more tlian three hun-
dred metres. Three years and a half after, at the passage of the
James, they gave evidence of the progress they had made in the
art of throwing with great rapidity a bridge of boats over a large
river. In six hours a bridge six hundred and fifty metres long was
made fast in the river in water twenty-eight metres deep, which
sastained without accident the passage of an army of more than
100,000 men, 6000 wagons, and 3000 head of cattle.
The large number of mechanics found among the volunteers
was on more than one occasion the means of repairing and run-
ning the locomotives which the enemy had left behind him after
disabling them, until a special corps of engineers could be formed
to pir. the military railways in working order. This corps, as
we shall see presently, rendered the greatest service by introdu-
cing a methodical system in the management of railways which
doubled their usefulness.
Among all the applications of modern science in the interest
of war, the most valuable was the military telegraph, which was
opportimely introduced to supply the insufficiency of general
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280 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
fita£&, and was the most active aide-de-camp to the American
As soon as a marching army had gone into bivouac the tele-
graphic wires established a connection between all the general
headquarters ; the tent where Morse's battery was hastily set up
became the rendezvous of all who under any pretext whatever
could obtain aa-cj^s to procure the latest news. It is stated that
some newspaper correspondents found means to possess them-
selves of important secrets by learning to distinguish the words
through the clickings, more or less repeated, of the instrument
while it was printing its lines and points upon a strip of pa{)er.
A corps of employds was organized for this service, selected with
care and sworn to secrecy, for upon their discretion dejxinded
the fate of the armies. In the army of the Potomac it was
placed under the direction of Major Eckert, who by his intelli-
gence rendered the most important services.
The field-telegraph was composed of a few wagons loaded with
wire and insulators, which were set up during the march, some-
times ui)on a pole picked up on the road, sometimes on the trees
themselves which bordered it ; and the general's tent was hardly
raised when the operator was seen to make his appearance, hold-
ing the extremity of that wire, more precious than that of Ari-
adne in the labyrmth of American forests. An apparatus still
more portable was used for following the troops on the day of
battle. This was a drum, carried on two wheels, around which
was wound a very slender copper wire enveloped in gutta-percha.
A horse attached to the drum unwound the wire, which, owing to
its wrapper, could be fastened to the branches of a tree, trailed on
the ground, or laid at the bottom of a stream. A way-station
was established wherever the drum stopped, even in the centre
of the battle-field, and placed the troops engaged in the conflict
in dire(!t communication with the general-in-chief. These field-
telegraphs, established at the rate of three kilometres per hour,
generally extended to a distance of from eight to ten, and some-
times even to thirty-t^vo, kilometres.
A single example will show the importance of the military
tdleo:raph. Without counting the lines already in existence of
which possession was taken, the employ6s of the government con-
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 281
structed five thousand two hundred kilometres during a single
year of the war, and they forwarded nearly one million eight
hundred thousand despatches; and sufferings and dangers were
not spared those men whose merit was the greater in that it was
less conspicuous.
More than one among them, shivering with fever in an unheal-
thy station, lay down with his ear against the instrument to write
with a trembling hand under dictation some important despatches
whose secret he would confide to no one. Many paid with their ^
lives for their boldness in setting up their instruments under
the ver}' fire of the enemy ; and one fact almost incredible bears
testimony to the dangers to which they were thus exposed. Dur-
ing the siege of Charleston the wire which connected the be-
sieging batteries ran so close to the rifle-pits of the Confed-
erate skirmishers that it was frequently cut by their balls. The
telegraph was, however, at times a perfidious messenger. Bodies
of partisans would suddenly take possession of an intermediate
station and throw the Federal staffs into confusion by sending
false despatches destined to upset their plans. One day the
guerilla Mosby, having performed an exploit of this kind, took
an impudent advantage of it to send to the office of the Secretary
of War, Mr. Stanton, a despatch full of insults addressed to that
high functionary. The Confederates, on their part, charged one
of their employes with having by his disloyalty contributed to
the loss of Fort Donelson by delaying instead of accelerating the
arrival of the reinforcements which were to relieve that place.
If this fact has not been positively proved, there is nothing
improbable in it, and it shows that, with all its advantages, the
use of the telegraph in war is not without its dangers.
In the American armies there was also organized an aerial tel-
egraph by means of flags raised upon a long pole, which were,
waved to right and left over the stations in sight of each other.
Sometimes perched on the top of a tree, sometimes sitting astride
over the roof of a house, the employes of the signal corps, who
performed this duty with untiring patience, transmitted the news
to the general-in-chief and his oi'ders to his subordinates. The
coolness and promptitude with which they performed this task
was often of great service to the ^rmies at critical moments.
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282 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
Two balloons were connected with the army of the Potomac ;
and during the long inaction which its organization around Wash-
ington caused^ they only contributed to the amusement of those
who were allowed the privilege of an ascension. When the army
found itself in presence of the enemy, the latter honored the bal-
loons with numerous cannon-shots, especially during the siege of
Yorktown, but they never succeeded in hitting them ; and the
greatest danger that ever threatened the aeronaut was that which
he incurred in the beginning, when, as he made his first ascensions
above the Federal camps, some stupid sentinel, ignorant whether
the aerial voyager was friend or enemy, would be sure to fire at the
indiscreet individual who thus hovered over their heads. A gas
generator, a heavy machine composed of ovens, retorts, and pipes,
which it required twenty trucks to carry, followed the army at a
distance, and the already inflated balloons, which a whole oom-
j)any controlled by means of strong ropes and strove to direct
along the winding roads of Virginia. At the least puff of wind
each of these monsters would give a sudden jerk, compelling those
who held them captive to stand on tip-toe, and to perform, in spite
of themselves, some of the strangest evolutions. Although ex-
pensive, difficult of transportation, and of doubtful service, this
instrument was not without its usefulness, especially during a
siege, when, elevated at leisure, it could communicate the most val-
uable information concerning the enemy's works. Thus, before
Yorktown, Mr. Lowe, the operator, who carried an electric ap-
paratus in the car and communicated by means of a wire with
the Federal batteries, could indicate the result of their fire and
enable them to correct their aim. At the same time he discerned
the position of all the enemy's pieces with a precision which an
inspection after the evacuation of the place fully confirmed,
. But it would be wrong to rely upon so capricious an auxiliary ;
for on the day of battle, when its assistance is needed to discover
the enemy's reserves, a puff of wind will suffice to prevent its as-
cent, and the aide-de-camp sent in haste to make in that elevated
observatory a reconnaissance, on which may depend the fate of a
day's battle, is obliged to wait in vain for a favorable state of the
atmosphere to render an ascension possible.
The electric and aerial telegraphs, the balloons, and other en-
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 283
glues of that description should certainly not be despised; but
they are fatal boons to the general whom they keep inside of his
tent at a moment when nothing can replace the coup^'ceil of the
master and the presence of the chief among his soldiers.
In speaking of the organization of the American armies^ we
cannot omit to mention a few of the distinctive features of the
volunteers who composed them.
These armies differed from ours in the large number of mar-
ried men they contained. In America there are no military laws
to interfere with marriage, and the American, who is but little
addicted to domestic habits and is the artificer of his own fortune,
does not enter into those calculations concerning family expenses
which stifle the spirit of enterprise in a nation, and eventually
impoverish its population both morally and numerically. The
war acted as a stimulus to marriage — ^among the oflBcers, in the
hope of being cared for by female hands if wounded ; among the
soldiers, because the States had assured a certain indemnity to
their wives and a liberal pension to their widows.
Excellent workmen wherever there was any engineering work
required, the volunteers were to show themselves industrious in
mitigating the rigors of camp and bivouac, as they had learned from
infancy to improvise among the forests light shelters or solid
dwellings. From the first day's halt the tents were replaced by
roofs made of the boughs of trees, generally pitched on the skirts
of a wood ; for experience soon demonstrated how unhealthy it
is to encamp imder the thick foliage, which does not allow the air
to circulate freely. When snow and ice came to surprise the army
of the Potomac encamped around Washington, the soldiers did
not wait for orders to go into winter quarters to provide against
these new enemies— orders which a general never issued, except to
deceive the enemy and when he has determined to break up the
camp suddenly. As soon as the first cold weather made itself
felt through the tents every one set his ingenuity to work to devise
means of warmth. Only a few tents, conically shaped, with a hole
at the top, like Indian huts, admitted the introduction of cast-iron
stoves. In the others they constructed a hearth of hardened clay
or of wood covered with mud ; barrels placed one on the top of
another served as chimneys ; an excavation running the length of
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284 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the tent, covered over with large stones which retained the heat
and communicated with a fire deeply set in the earth, warmed the
whole interior. The tents, at first surrounded with boughs, were
raised upon a wooden foundation, which resulted in forming real
walls ; the canvas which had done service for roof disappeared
in turn, and the whole gave way to the classic log hut, with
its walls of unhewn logs and its floor of rammed earth, that
rustic edifice which designates the site of the future citi^ of the
New World in the midst of the virgin forests. The soldiers of the
two armies left everywhere where they passed the winter entire
villages of these primitive dwellings ; but these villages, not the
fruits of civilization, but of war, being abandoned as suddenly
as they had been constructed, were destined to disappear rapidly
without being replaced by either brick or stone.
Vigor and skill among the volunteers did not exclude instruc-
tion. Active citizens in their respective counties and States, and
identified with either of the political parties, they were fully ao-
quainted with 'public afiairs and could not dispense with news-
papers. With scarcely any exception, they had all received that
primary education which, without initiating the man into all the
discoveries of science, teaches him to make use of his intelligence,
which awakens a desire for knowledge, and which, when it per-
vades a whole population, imparts to it as much power as a sim-
ple unit placed before any number of zeros. It is owing to this
general system of education that the New World may be called the
country of progress, and that its institutions are founded upon the
regular and conscientious practice of universal suffirage. The
New England States are entirely exempt from those twin scourges
inseparable from our old social systems, ignorance and pauper-
ism. The illiterate minority of the army was almost exclusively
composed of European emigrants.
On opening the knapsack of the American soldier one was
almost sure to find in it a few books, and generally a Bible,
which he read in the evening without hiding from his comrades.
An inkstand, a piece of blotting-paper, some envelopes orna-
mented with monograms, badges, and portraits completed the
assortment. He made, in fact, abundant use of the liberality of
the government, which transported all his letters postage-free.
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 285
A large carpet-bag, hung up against the tent of the adjutant of
each regiment, served as a letter-box ; and a few hours of rest suf-
ficing to fill it, it was often necessary to empty it twice a day.
The 11th Massachusetts, numbering only eight hundred and
sixty-three officers and men, has been cited as having sent off
^rom its camp near Washington an average of four thousand five
hundred letters weekly — that is to say, each soldier wrote from
five to six letters in seven days. Consequently, the arrival and
departure of the mail played a great part in camp-life. Together
with the correspondence, the mail brought enormous packages of
newspapers, which ragged boys, both on foot and on horseback,
distributed in great haste, even to the remotest corners of the
camp. Tliey were frequently seen crying their papers on the very
field of battle, and selling them to the wounded scarcely able to
rise. In every tent the latest news brought by the Herald or the
Tribune was read in the evening and eagerly discussed, while the
soldier on duty, if he thought himself unobserved, walked up
and down with his musket in one hand and his newspaper in the
other.
It may not be irrelevant in this place to say a few words as to
the means employed by journals to render them interesting to
their numerous readers in the towns and in the camps, and to
maintain constant communication between the people of the
Northern States and the armies in the field.
Greatly in demand, less on account of their abstract opinions
than for the news they promulgated, and aiming at no political
propagandism except through the manner they represented facts,
the principal object of each was to gather as much information
as possible and to be the first to place it before the public. No
efforts were spared to attain this object ; and their correspondents,
who were to be found in all the armies, formed a staff (this was
the acknowledged name), entitled to a place alongside of the regu-
larly organized corps of which we have spoken.
The great journals were represented in each army corps by an
accredited correspondent, whose duty it was to see everything, to
take part in every expedition, and to allow no incident of the war
to pass without reporting it. This staff comprised the greatest va-
riety of characters and peculiarities of life. In its ranks were
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286 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Mriters of positive merit and men who, animated by a real passion
for war, ended by exchanging the pen for the sword. The life
which circumstances compelled these correspondents to lead ex-
acted special qualities — ^tact, daring, and a great deal of assurance,
a still greater amount of patience and robust health. When a
secret wjis divulged, the first sa'^picions fell upon them. In con-
sequence of a few lamentable indiscretions, the government ex-
acted a promise from all those engaged in writing for the news-
papers not to publish what it was important to conceal from the
enemy. They were therefore obliged to distinguish, among all
interesting facts they were the first to learn, such as could lawfully
be communicated to the public. More than once they had to re-
sort to stratagem in order to evade the order of some incensed
general who had forbidden their stay among his troops. One
day Sherman drove off all the correspondents from his army.
They all left, for his orders could not be defied with impunity,
but at the end of one month they were all back. Another gen-
eral, while preserving a friendly aspect toward them, found means
to prevent them from seeing anything, and confined them to the
simple task of reporting stenographically the prearranged state-
ment which he gave them. Under such circumstances, to become
a close observer and an agreeable reporter, to be tolerated by the
generals and welcomed by the subordinates, to know how to re-
pay each item of information with a kind and flattering word,
and in case of necessity to enforce respect through the redoubt-
able influence which is derived from the support of a great jour-
nal,— certainly required, to say nothing of mental qualifications,
a character at once sprightly and tempered. A private individual
in tlie midst of a large army, having neither the shoulder-straps
of the officer nor the musket of the soldier with which to influ-
ence others, or even to justify his presence there ; obliged to share
the dinner of one man or to ask a ration of forage for his horse
from another ; always on the wat(;h not to mLss the hour of de-
parture, which the jealous mistrust of the chief of staff carefully
kept from his knowledge ; always ready to throw his wallet upon
his horse — a wallet oftcner empty than full ; sleeping wherever he
could, behind a tent, in a wagon, or under a tree, — ^the correspond-
ent, worn out yrith fatigue, was obliged every night, whilst all
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 287
around were reposing near the expiring camp-fires, to take out his
pen and compose upon his knees, by the light of a wretched lan-
tern, a letter capable of entertaining a public difficult to please
and greedy for sensations. Real dangers frequently caused these
hardy pioneers of the press to sliare the glory of the soldiers.
The New York Herald had in its service, with the fleets and
armies, as many as sixty-three correspondents at once. One of
them was killed on the field of baftle, another was present in
twenty-seven combats and was six times wounded, five others
were wounded, and two died of exhaustion, while seven or eight
fell into the hands of the enemy. The latter were rather mildly
treated in consequence of the opinion of the journal they repre-
sented, but the Confederates deemed no severity too great for
those who happened to be connected with abolition papers ; and
the picture drawn by Mr. Richardson, a correspondent of the
Tribune^ of his sufferings in Southern prisons is one of the most
affecting narratives that one can read.
Before concluding this chapter we must devote a few pages to
the regular army, which was being reorganized at the same time
that the volunteer regiments were forming. This reorganization,
which was rendered indispensable by the defection of a portion
of the officers, by the high positions to which others had been
promoted, and by the loss of soldiers who had capitulated in
Texas, was decreed by the joint resolution of May 4, 1861, and
which Congress had passed on the 29th of July. To the five
regiments of cavalry which received a uniform designation a
sixth was added ; the number of artillery regiments was increased
from four to five, and that of the infantry regiments from ten to
nineteen. These eleven new regiments were much stronger numer-
ically than the old ones : the Sixth Cavalry, raised to twelve squad-
rons, numbered 1189 officers and men; the Fifth Artillery, also
divided into twelve batteries of six field-pieces each, commanded
by twelve captains and three majors, comprised a total force of
1919 men. Finally, instead of a single battalion of ten com-
panies, the new infantry regiments were composed of three bat-
talions of eight companies each, and their effective force, as regu-
lated by law, was 2452 men.
These new regiments, having once received their full comple-
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288 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
m
menty added 25,000 men to the regular army, and thus made np
the total of 42,000 men fixed by the law of July 29th. But it
was 80 difficult to obtain recruits that in December, 1861, when
the enlistment of volunteers had reached the figure of 640,637
men, this army had not yet enrolled under its banners more than
20,334 men, not quite one-half the number prescribed by law.
The small number of enlistments in the regular army was due,
first of all, to the fact that these enlii?tments were for a definite
period, while the volunteers were to be discharged at the end of
the war, and everybody believed tliat it could not last three years ;
then to the retention of two dollars per month from the pay of
the regular soldier, while the volunteer drew his compensation in
full, and the States granted him additional bounties and secured
a pension to his family ; and, finally, to the spirit of comrade-
ship which influenced the organization of volunteer companies,
whilst the reputation for severe discipline which the regular army
had gained kept many young men aloof from it.
This army was not only comjxjlled to play an insignificant part
in the new forces of the republic, but the elements of which it
was composed were another cause of weakness. Out of its 20,000
soldiers more than half, collected with so much difficulty, were
entirely raw, and their instruction was the more difficult because
the most intelligent, the strongest, and the most disinterested men
were immediately prevented from joining their ranks. In conse-
quence of the prejudices above mentioned, the proportion of new
comers was even larger among the officers than among the sol-
diers. The drafts which the volunteers had made upon the j>er-
sonnd of the regular army had diminished their number even
more than this defection. Twenty-two superior officers had thus
left their res|)ective commands to become generals, and officers of
inferior grade had likewise been called to fill positions of trust
elsewhere — so that out of the eleven new regiments 'there were
eight whose nominal colonels exercised other commands as gen-
erals of volunteers, while the grcjitost part of their officers had
received no military education whatever. In fact, the vacan-
cies had been so numerous that the West Point Academy, already
reduced by the withdrawal of the Southern cadets, was not able
to fill them, and it was found necessary to distribute the lower
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 289
grades among young men fresh from civil life, who filled the
subaltern positions in the new regiments. Nevertheless, the
esprit de coipa, that moral influence which attaches to a word, a
number, or a sign, which has the power of transforming men,
soon imparted habits of steadiness and discipline to the new
comers, who, after the first combats, rivalled their older brethren
in courage and sustained the credit of the regular troops.
It was especially the regular infantry which, in consequence of
its reduced strength, had to play an insignificant part among the
divisions of the volunteer infantry. Yet in the army of Ken-
tucky, w^here it was only represented by a single battalion belong-
ing to the Eighteenth Regiment, that detachment distinguished
itself in the first battle fought by that army at Mill Springs.
In the army of the Potomac it was represented by eight battal-
ions, or a little over five thousand men ;. these were not enough for
a reserve destined to strike a decisive blow, but this corps, under
able command, served as a model to the others and constantly
encouraged them by its example, whereas, if it had been scattered,
its traditions would have been destroyed and its efficiency neutral-
ized. Formed into a single brigade, these eight battalions were
at first entrusted with the delicate duty of protecting the city
of Washington ; we shall find them again among the volunteers,,
suffering themselves to be cut to pieces rather than fall back on
the battle-fields of Virginia. The regular cavalry had a more-
important part to play at the beginning than the infantry, for it
was proportionally more numerous, and the inexperience of the
mounted volunteers compelled it to perform during a certain
period of time all the duties pertaining to that arm. In order
to accomplish this and to recover its morale, which had been
affected by the capitulations in Texas, the defection of four col-
onels out of five, and the changes of regimental numbers, Gren—
eral McClellan hastened to annex two-thirds of them to the army
of the Potomac, which only contained seven squadrons when he
assumed the command. From that time they found themselves
sufficiently strong to teach the volunteers their business by fighting
in front of them and making them gradually participate in the
work, the burden of which they had hitherto borne alone. We-
shall frequently meet them in the course of our narrative ; but iuj
Vol. I— 19
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290 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
proportion as the volunteers who fought by their side acquii'ed
experience, the particular importance of the regulars will dimin-
ish, and will disappear altogether when, after the reorganization
of the Federal cavalry, the regulars will be distributed among
the various corps whose long expeditions we shall have occasion
to relate.
The artillery force was increased by the creation of the fifth
regiment, and the garrisons required by the armament of fortifi-
cation, to a total of fifty-two batteries. Although the eflfective
force of these batteries was far from being complete, their number
gave them a preponderance in the new armies, because either the
regular artillery was kept united for the purpose of forming
powerful reserves, or it was divided among the various corps to
instruct the volunteers. This twofold duty ^vas assigned to them
in the army of the Potomac. Out of seventy-three batteries or
four hundred and seven pieces which that army had at the begin-
ning of 1862, there were twenty-nine regular batteries, compris-
ing one hundred and sixty-six pieces ; eighteen batteries formed a
corps of reserve, and one ojT the remaining batteries was attached
to each division of the army.
As we have stated, the eleven captains who commanded these
last batteries had in addition three volunteer batteries under their
orders ; and thanks to their instructions, the new artillery after
one or two campaigns equalled the regulars who had been given
them as models. The formation of a strong reserve of artillery
was a wise precaution in an army composed entirely of young
•soldiers. In the army of the Potomac it was organized by the
sbrave Colonel Hunt, under the supervision of General Barry, and
comprised three divisions, one of heavy artillery, another of light
batteries on foot, and a third of horse-batteries. The latter, four
in number, armed with three-inch cannon, solid and light, well
provided with horses, and perfectly handled, accompanied the
oavalry, which they frequently assisted in an effective manner
without ever impeding its movements.
These are the last lines we shall devote, by way of special
mention, to the little regular army which we have followed since
its formation ; for after having preserved its military traditions
.and supported, in the hour of danger, the tottering edifice of the
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PREPARATIONS FOR THE STRIFE. 291
Federal Constitution, it was absorbed into the improvised armies
to the creation of which we have just referred. But if it ceased to
have a separate existence, its spirit still survived and continued to
control the action of the new comers ; the influence and the im-
portance of the regular oflBcers will increase in proportion as the
volunteers acquire more military experience ; and when at the end
of the struggle the regular army shall once emerge to view, we
shall find five hundred and fifty of its officers detached among the
volunteers, one hundred and fifteen of whom were generals and
sixty commanders of regiments. Let us add, however, that this
regular army, such as we shall then see it reappear, will no longer
be the same we have known before the war, constituting a kind
of isolated corporation, and the jealous guardian of its traditions ;
it will, in fact, have opened its doors to all merit displayed on
the field of battle; and numbering in its ranks all those who
after achieving distinction have desired to continue in the mili-
tary career, it will have the rare good fortune to combine the best
qualities of the volunteers with the noble attributes of the old
regulars.
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CHAPTER IV,
THE MATERIEL OF WAR.
BEFORE we resume the narrative of military operations wo
must close our inquiry into the organization of the two con-
tending armies with a few words regarding the manner in which
they were equipped ; the creation of the mcUMel, so varied, so ex-
tensive, and so indispensable to both parties, was as difficult a
problem for their chiefs as the reunion of the personnel of which
they were composed.
The almost inexhaustible industrial resources of the North gave
her a great advantage in this respect, but it required time to bring
this math-iel together, to transport and distribute it. It required
time, above all, to introduce order and method into those opera-
tions, and to teach the armies the practi«il value of the instru-
ments placed in their hands. In the Federal army the duly of
organizing this materiel, as we have said before, was divided among
three branches of the administration — the departments of the quar-
termaster, the commissary of subsistence, and the ordnance ; the
first charged with equipment and transportation, the second with
the provision of food, and the third with arming troops.
As soon as the volunteers were called out the quartermaster's
department entered into contracts with home manufacturers and a
few foreign merchants, which enabled it to clothe the soldiers as
fast as they presented themselves, and to supply them with all the
necessaries of personal outfit. Notwithstanding some defective lots
and a few very exorbitant bargains, this mercantile operation was
successfully carried out. No one was troubled at the thought of
spending a few millions more than was strictly necessary in order
to induce jiersons engaged in private business to change their opera-
tions at once, so as to meet the new demands made upon the industry
of the country. This transformation was effected in a remarkable
manner. Thus nearly all the accoutrements for the cavalry of
292
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR, 293
the army of the Potomac were supplied by a firm largely engaged
in the manufacture of trimming-laces {passementerie) in Philadel-
phia, which in a few days threw aside their bobbins to engage in
the manufacture of leather belts and sabres. During the first
fourteen months of the war the administrative department fur-
nished the army with three million coats and nearly two million
five hundred thousand blankets. It supplied two hundred and
forty thousand tents for the first winter^s encampments. When
the armies took the field, they were naturally obliged to leave all
these tents behind them, with the exception of a certain number
for the officers. The quartermaster's department then substituted
shelter-tents, of which they distributed more than three hundred
thousand in one year. These were soon improved by the use of
india-rubber cloth ; and the advantages of this system to the health
of the soldiers in the marshy forests of America were so great
that by degrees all the coverlets of the army were replaced by the
waterproof patichoy a square piece of cloth with a hole in the
centre for the head, worn over the shoulders when it rained, and
in the evening spread out upon the damp ground, over which the
shelter-tent was pitched. Consequently, the number of these india-
rubber garments, which in 1861 was forty thousand, rose to one
million five hundred thousand in 1864 ; and it has been estimated
that, placed alongside of each other, they would have presented a
surface of one mile and a quarter square — that is to say, four times
as large as the gardens of the Tuileries.
The uniforms furnished to the volunteers of various arms were
nearly all alike, and this similarity increased in proportion as the
outfits which the first regiments had brought from their respective
States were replaced by the issues of the government departments.
Their color of deep blue distinguished them from the gray coats
of the Confederates. The felt hats and the regulation coat of
the regular army, which the generals and their staffs adopted
almost eveiywhere, were replaced by the k^i and the blouse, a
sack which had the inconvenience of being too loose to fit well
about the shoulders. A canvas haversack, a belt to which was
fastened the cartridge-box and the bayonet, completed the accou-
trement of the foot-soldier.
The equipment of the mounted men was also copied from that
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294 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
of the regular cavalry, although they had to wage war in a country
very different from the Western plains. The regulation saddle,
called the McClellan saddle, was light and comfortable, and did
not hurt the withers of the animal, but the wooden stirrups vnth
leather coverings to protect the feet against the tall grass of the
prairie were heavy and inconvenient. The cavalry soldier carried
a revolver at his belt ; the regulations required that he should also
attach his sabre to it, but by degrees he acquired the habit of sus-
pending it to the pommel — ^an excellent idea ; for if the soldier,
when dismounted, should never be separated from his pistol, the
side-arm, on the contrary, only embarrasses his movements the
moment he quits the saddle. The mounted men were moreover
provided with a short musket, or even an infantry carbine, which
greatly increased the weight of the burden of their horses, but of
which they made frequent use in those engagements where they
were obliged to fight on foot.
All the personal effects of the soldiers, coats, linen, shoes, and
boots, were furnished directly by the administrative departments.
No reduction was made from their pay to constitute a regimental
fund. The system of making clothing in the r^ments, which
has enabled certain armies to practice economy, has never existed
in America. It was looked upon as calculated to greatly increase
the number of non-combatants in the personnel of a raiment,
and it was deemed best to adopt the system of general contracts,
more in harmony with the process of modern industry, even at
the risk of furnishing the soldiers with uniforms not as well
fitting as might be desired. By this means the functions of the
administrative departments and the system of regimental accounts
were simplified, whereas it would have been often difficult to
discriminate between proper economy and illegal profits. It was
the enterprise of private individuals, under the supervision of
special officers of the administrative departments, which furnished
the soldiers with everj'thing.
Of all the operations entrusted to the quartefmaster^s depart-
ment the most important, as well as the most difficult, was that
of supplying fresh horses for the cavalry, the artilleiy, and
the transportation departments. The consumption of draught
animals by the armies was to affect seriously the agricultural
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE MATERIEL OF WAR. 295
interests of the country. The breeds of American horses aire
generally small. The fatal habit of putting them too soon under
the saddle interferes with their growth. The regulations which
forbade their being accepted into the service under five years of
age and less than fifteen hands high (five feet at the withers)
could not be complied with, for it was necessary to take all that
could be found ; and the sorrier the horses the greater the con-
sumption, and consequently the larger the amount of fresh horses
required to replace them. During the first year of the war the
number of horses procured for the cavalry and the artillery alone
was one hundred and ten thousand.
Immense corrals were established among the vacant lots in the
neighborhood of Washington and of the Western cities to re-
ceive droves of animals emaciated by long journeys which the
horse-contractors brought from Vermont and Kentucky. Taken
a few days previously from the farm upon which they were
grazing at liberty, never having been broken, these horses were
crowded in a too narrow space, carelessly picketed, badly fed,
seldom groomed, and without any shelter. Their power of
endurance under so many trials showed what robust constitutions
they possessed in spite of their appearance, and the impunity
with which the contractors, horse-dealers, inspectors, and the
officers authorized to make their own selections moved about
among them was the best proof of their docility.
Occasionally, however, some unforeseen accident would create
disorder at the d6p6t. Thus, for instance, one evening the prin-
cipal stable in Washington caught fire, and six hundred horses
maddened with terror rushed through the badly-lighted streets
of the capital, upsetting pedestrians and carriages on their way
and spreading trouble and confusion everywhere.
Notwithstanding the enormous supply of fresh horses, the gov-
ernment could hardly replace the lame and foundered animals
which filled the large infirmaries established specially for their
reception. During the first year of the war there were no less
than fifty-seven thousand cured; in the course of those twelve
months more than one regiment used up three horses to every
man; and it was only through the severest discipline that the
mounted men were taught at last to take care of their horses.
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296 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Thus it happened that one of them waa killed in the streete of
Washington by a sentinel who had in vain ordered him to slacken
his pace, in order to prevent them from madly galloping aboat
the capital.
We have already shown by a few figures the importance of the
transportation service; this importance will become more and
more appparent as we proceed with tlie narrative of the cam-
paigns in which this branch of the service exercised a decided
influence. It will suffice to say in tliis place that during the
first year, which alone occupies our present attention, the govern-
ment was obliged to furnish more than twenty thousand wagons
and ei^lity-four thousand mules, without counting the wagons
brought by the soldiers thenLselves from their respective States.
The military transportation was eflectcd exclusively by means
of wagons, pack-horses being seldom employed in the United
States. The officers who had made use of them in Mexico, while
recognizing the advantages of their employment in certain cases,
did not deem it ex|)edient to recommend their adoption in a coun-
try where wagon-roads are so ea^^ily constructed. This system
would be attended by the very great inconvenience of making
each animal carry a lighter load than if in harness; moreover, it
would have been impossible to find experienced drivers to man-
age these pack-animals. A large establishment was established
at Pcrryville, on the Susquehanna, where mules were trained to
work in teams of six, driven by word of command with the aid
of a single loose rein.
The construction of bridge-equipages, which, once collected,
were placed under the care of volunteer troops specially selected
for that service, belonged also to the quartermaster's department.
The materiel of these equipages varied frequently. One experi-
ment was made, and then abandoned as too complicated, with iron
pontons, which in the water served as boats, and on land were
placed on wheels to form trucks to bear the roadway. In the
armies of the West large bags of gutta-jxjrcha or india-rubber were
substituted for boats, but were rejected by the army of the Poto-
mac, as they were too easily torn. The materials most generally
in use were either simple wooden barges that could easily be
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR 297
repaired or tabular pontons of sheet iron, which had the advan-
tage of being much lighter.
It will l)e enough to mention the regulation ration of the
American soldier to convey an idea of the importance of the
subsistence department, whose duty it was to provide food for the
armies, which on the 1st of December, 1861, numbered six hundred
tliousand men. To the commissary of subsistence there were no
"dead-heads" (non-valeurs). All those who were prevented by
special assignment from appearing on the field of battle, and
whom the general must deduct from his fighting force, seated
themselves in the evening with the rest around the mess-table,
which the commissary had to supply. One pound of biscuit or
twenty-two ounces of bread or flour, one pound and a quarter of
fresh or salt beef or three-quarters of a pound of bacon — a favor-
ite food with soldiers — constituted the bulk of the ration ; but to
this was added for every division of one hundred men by the
regulations eight gallons of beans, ten pounds of rice or of
hominy, an American dish made from the grains of corn,* ten
pounds of coffee, fifteen of sugar, four gallons of vinegar and
two of salt, one pound and a quarter of candles, and four pounds
of soap. Consequently, notwithstanding the appetite of the
American soldier and his want of economy in cooking, it would
have been no easy matter for him to consume such a ration ; and
the forty-seven or forty-eight men composing a company would
form a mess which enabled them to get along without drawing
their full quantity of rations from the commissary. The difference
was paid to them in money, and generally formed a common fund
for the company, controlled by it without the interposition of their
superior officers. Occasionally a regiment would undertake a
similar economy in regard to the supply of flour. A consider-
able number of those encamped around Washington constructed
earthen ovens similar to those in use among Western settlers and
made their own bread, thereby realizing the double advantage of
substituting fresh bread for biscuit and realizing the profits accruing
from the economy of their flour rations. One regiment alone, the
* Hominj is made of dried corn, but green com played a great pail as food
daring the war. — Ed.
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298 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
third of Sickles' brigade, was thus enabled to save thirteen hun-
dred dollars in less than two months.
The task of supplying the Federal troo^is with arms and ammu-
nition, which devolved upon the ordnance department, was the
most difficult of all. In fact, both the government armories and
private manufactories were insufficient to meet the demand, and
it required time to establish additional ones. The wonderful
machines by which the most complicated rifles now in use through-
out Europe are constructed almost without the aid of man are of
American invention, and have given a well-deserved reputation to
the expansion rifles manufactured at the government armory m
Springfield. But this establishment had only capacity for pro-
ducing from ten to twelve thousand yearly, and the supply could
not be increased except by constructing new machines. The
private workshops were equally insufficient ; the Federal factory
at Harper's Ferry had been destroyed by fire, and the d^pt^ts were
empty. It was important, however, to supply the most pressing
of all the wants of the soldier, that of having a weapon in his
hands.
During the first year of the war the ordnance department suc-
ceeded in furnishing the various armies in the field, not counting
what was left at the d6p6t8, one million two hundred and sev-
enty-six thousand six hundred and eighty-six portable firearms
(muskets, carbines, and pistols), one thousand nine hundred and
twenty-six field- or siege-guns, twelve hundred pieces for batteries
in position, and two hundred and fourteen million cartridges for
small-arms and for cannon. But it was obliged to apply to
Europe for muskets and ammunition; this was the only war
commodity that America procured in considerable quantities from
the Old World, and it was this supply which proved to be the
most defective. Agents without either experience or credit, and
•sometimes unscrupulous, bought in every part of Europe, on
account of the Federal government, all the muskets they could
pick up, without any regard to their quality or price. The Eng-
lish and Belgian manufactories not being able to satisfy their
demands fast enough, they procured from the little German states
all their old-fashioned arms, which those states hastened to get
rid of at a price which enabled them to replace them with needle-
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR. 299
guns. In short, the refuse of all Europe passed into the hands
of the American volunteers.
A portion of the muskets being unfit for use, the few that
were serviceable had to be kept for the soldiers doing guard duty
in each company. The calibres were all mixed up ; conical balls
were issued for the large German smooth-bore muskets, while the
old American cartridge, containing one ball and four buckshot, was
given to those who had the good fortune to possess a minie rifle.
The defective armament of the infantry would have been suf-
ficient to delay the opening of the campaign for several months.
In order to remedy this it was found necessary, in the first
instance, to classify the calibres of the muskets by regiments,
then gradually to throw aside the most worthless. After a while
the American factories, both national and private, were able to
furnish a sufficient quantity of new arms to justify this process.
While willing to encourage private enterprise to a great extent,
the Federal government determined to control it ; and in order to
avoid being at its mercy, it largely extended its own establish-
ments. Thus, in 1862, the Springfield manufactory delivered
two hundred thousand rifles, while in the. year 1863, during
which there were manufactured two hundred and fifty thousand
there, the importation of arms from Europe by the Northern
States ceased altogether. The rifle which bore the name of the
Federal manufactory had the advantage of not requiring hesLxy
charges, of giving a great precision of aim at a distance of from
six to seven hundred metres, and of being easily loaded and man-
aged. It was therefore introduced throughout the army as fast
as the ordnance department was able to meet the demands that
were made for that arm from every quarter. But, at the same
time, a great number of new inventions were tried upon a scale
which enabled the authorities to test their merits. Some were
even adopted by whole regiments of cavalry ; and the practice
of breech-loading, which was common to all the systems, contrib-
uted greatly to their efficiency in the numerous engagements in
which those regiments had to fight on foot. With the exception
of this mode of loading, they differed greatly in their construo-
tion ; it would be impossible for us to describe all, for there were
no less than eleven of the first class. We shall only mention two
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300 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
belonging to the class called repeating-rifles — ^that is to say, arms
which fire a certain number of shots without being reloaded.
The Colt rifle is a long-barrelled revolver with five or six cham-
bers, and the ball is forced into seven grooves forming a spiral
which grows more and more contracted. This heavy weapon was
formidable in practiced hands, but it required considerable time
to reload it. The second was the Spencer rifle, an excellent arm,
the use of which became more and more extended in the Federal
army. The butt is pierced, in the direction of the length, by a
tube containing seven cartridges, which are deposited successively,
after each fire, in the chaml)er, rej)Iacing in turn those which,
when discharged, are thrown out by a very simple mechanism.
This magazine, entirely protected, is very easily recharged. Many
extraordinary instances have been cited of successful personal
defence due to the rapidity with which this arm can be fired, and
some Federal regiments of infantry which made a trial of it were
highly pleased with the result. Most of these rifles were of two
models — one for the use of the infantry, the other, lighter and
shorter, for the cavalry.
The matMd of the artillery, which had to be created, was as
extensive as the armament of the infantry, and its construction
was also new to American manufactories. Nevertheless, the great
workshops for smelting iron and steel were so rapidly transformed
into cannon foundries that the ordnance department was not
obliged to depend on Europe for a supply.
At the time when the war broke out none of the systems of
rifle cannon invented a few years before had ever been adopted,
or even seriously experimented upon, by the officers of the regu-
lar army. But the latter, while adhering to the brass smooth-bore
cannon, had studied these different inventions, and did not conceal
their preference for the rifled system, by which the ball, like the
minie bullet, inserted through the mouth of the cannon, is driven
into the grooves under the pressure of the gases which propel it
forward. The impression obtained from these inquiries in com-
mon was never forgotten by the officers who were placed in posi-
tions of command in the two hostile armies ; and notwithstanding
the diversity of details, the guns of those two armies always
bore a strong family resemblance. But nothing could limit the
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR. 301
fertility of inventors stimulated by the war. A few among them
were men of real ability and skill, but those who indulged in
chimerical speculations were more numerous. Some of them were
visionary and ridiculous, and there were a few to whom their in-
ventions brought disaster, as, for example, Mr. James and Major
Hunt, the former of whom was killed by the explosion of his
gun and the latter asphyxiated by his submarine battery.*
None of these inventions were subjected to the polygon proof.
There was no time for that kind of experiments which alone en-
abled the expert fully to ascertain the real value of an arm before
it is exposed to all the vicissitudes of war. The matiriel of the
army was thus suddenly encumbered with a mass of different
models, all equally new to those who had to handle them on the
field of battle. In fact, every inventor who had any patronage
could easily manage to have a few of his guns recommended to
the principal of some foundry, who was generally his partner.
A few shots fired in the neighborhood of the factory were deemed
sufficient to determine the strength of the guns ; and if chance
favored them, the piece was immediately received and added to
the diversified assortment which already existed in the Federal
artillery. This very variety, however, was at times the means
of procuring the opportunity for remarkable inventions to obtain
a striking confirmation of their merits on the field of battle.
American genius, quick to turn everything to account, under-
stood at once that, at a time when any delay might prove fatal, it
was not expedient to look for a weapon too frail and difficult to
repair. It studied, above all, simplicity in regard to the four es-
sential parts in the manufacture of artillery — ^the founding, the
system of rifling, the mode of propelling balls and shells. There
were wanting field-pieces that could be rapidly constructed at a
moderate cost, easily loaded, so as to be handled by inexperienced
hands, and projectiles that could be carried to great distances
without injury to the parts intended to be forced into the grooves.
Two guns were adopted which amply satisfied these require-
ments— the Parrott gun, made of cast iron, secured with iron-
plated bands at the breech, and one gun constructed at the iron-
works of Phoenixville, designated by its calibre, from three to
* Major E, B. Hun^ of the Engineers.— Ed.
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302 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
four and a half inches in diameter^ and made of wrought-iron
bars.
The problem regarding the construction of guns of large calibre
was solved by Captain Rodman, whose process imparted suti
strength to those guns, although made of cast iron, that it only
required the application of the Parrott system of plate bands to
enable them to discharge conical projectiles of the greatest weight
Up to that time the guns had been cast solid, and bored after-
wards ; thus the exterior of the piece, touching the sides of the
mould, was the first to solidify, and the interior, still half liquid,
not able to contract regularly, became crystallized, leaving here
and there in the mass hollows or flaws which caused the metal to
lose its uniformity. Eodman reversed the operation, and caused
the piece to cool from the interior. A hollow cylinder, contam-
ing a spiral tube through which a current of cold water was
kept passing, surrounded with cords and with sand to protect it
from the metal in fusion, was placed in the mould to designate
the bore ; the gases escaped by means of longitudinal flutings in
the cylinder and through the spaces left by the cords, which were
constantly consumed. Whilst the interior was the first portion
solidified, through contact with the cylinder so constantly kept
cool, the furnaces burning under the mould kept up the heat on
the outside. The intensity of this heat was then gradually dimin-
ished until the entire mass had lost its redness — an operation which,
for the largest guns, lasted several weeks. The metal, by (con-
tracting without interference, possessed a greater density, a finer
and more uniform grain ; and crystallizing thus, its fibre oflbred
the greatest possible resistance to pressure upon the bore. A long
experience has fully confirmed the principles upon which Captain
Rodman had based his new process, which is now applied on a
large scale in America. The depth and the number of the rifle-
grooves varied according to the calibres, but the relation between
these three elements was constant, and the same system of grooves,
deep and few in number, was applied to guns of diflerent con-
structions. In the Parrott guns the spiral of the grooves was
closer near the muzzle than at the bottom of the bore ; it was
hojied that by this means the ball would have an increased rotary
motion ; but this was the cause of numerous accidents and of great
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THE MATtRIEL OF WAR, 303
irregularity in the fire, as the projectile frequently refused to fol-
low the last turn of the groove. At the beginning of the war
the precipitate haste with which it was necessary to manufacture
guns was especially felt in its effects on the system of rifling,
which was very defective ; thus at the siege of Yorktown a hun-
dred-pounder Parrott gun, which had attracted attention by the
irregularity of its fire, was examined after some time, when it was
discovered that those in charge had forgotten to clean the rifle-
grooves, the roughness of which disturbed the course of the pro-
jectiles.
The form and the mode of impulsion both gave rise to a great
number of different systems. Mr. Parrott placed upon the base
of the ball a sort of reversed cup of soft iron, in which the ex-
pansion of the gases determined the impulsion. For large cal-
ibres he substituted for this cup a copper ring enveloping the base
of the projectile, which under the pressure of the same gases took
form as a packing (bourreld) in the grooves ; this process being
found insufficient, projections were cut on the ring to facilitate the
impulsion, a sort of medium between the system of expansion
and that of flanges (ailettes).
Mr. Schenkl gave to the base of his projectile the form of a
fluted cone and covered it with a piece of papier-mach6, which
stretched in slipping upon the cone, and was forced thus very ex-
actly into the grooves. This papier-mach6, having more tenacity
than lead, gave to the projectile its rotary movement, after which
it might fall to the ground without danger to those near the gun,
or it remained attached to the projectile without affecting its
equilibrium. Owing to the conical form of its base, the centre of
gravity of the projectile was in front of the centre of the long
axis, which secured the steady and exact flight of a well-feathered
arrow. The only fault of the papier-mach6 was that it swelled
with dampness, but an envelope of zinc remedied that completely ;
and the Schenkl projectile is the one to which the experience of
the war was most favorable. Many systems were tried to use
lead in the form of an envelope, ring, or aUette, but they all failed
from the impossibility of making the metal adhere uniformly to
the surface of the ball.
During the first stages of the war it was difficult to distinguish
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304 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Ixjtweon the relative merits of different projectiles, the defects in
the construction of most of them not allowing any satisfactory
experiment to be made. Thus, in the army of the Potomac, when
after several months of campaigning an inspection was made of
the shells which had been furnished in enormous quantities by
private establishments, it was found that the inside of a large
portion of them was defective ; tlie cavity containing the powder
not being in the middle, the centre of gravity was displace<l and
imparted an irregularity of motion to the projectile which deprived
the gun of all precision of aim.
This carelessness, which should not be severely criticised when
it is coiL«^idered what efforts it required to create such vast ma-
terials within a few months, and which was moreover soon rem-
edied, wa.s esjKK^ially felt in the construction of the fuse, the most
delicate of all the engines of war. The importance of the fuse
has increased with tliat of the shell ; it imparts to this projectile
all its effectiveness ; if the fuse is defective, the shell bec^omes
powerless. The solid ball is of but little importance on a battle-
field, and in our thin order of ranks makes no more victims than
a simple rifle bullet The case is very different with hollow pro-
jectiles, esj)ccially the formidable Shrapnell shell, which was
universally adopted by both Federals and Confederates. There is
no doubt that at a short distance nothing is more effective than
the grape-shot, but its field of operation is too limited to be often
of decided importance in a battle.
The Shrapnell shell, when it bursts at the right time, propel-
ling all the bullets it contains in the shape of a fan before it, is
the most terrible instrument of war that modern artillery j)os-
sesses, and will always secure a great advantage to those who
know best how to handle it ; for it produces all the effects of
grape-shot at the extreme range of ordinary projectiles. But all
its effectiveness dei>ends upofi the precision with which the fuse
is regulated, so as to cause it to burst in the air at the dis-
tance of a few metres in front of the line of the troops to be
reached.
In fact, the percussion fuse, which takes fire on coming in con-
tact with a hard substance and is easily constructed, cannot be
advantageously used with the Shrapnell ; for if those projectiles
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THE MATERIEL ^F WAR, 305
only burst on touching the ground, most of the shot they contain
would bury itself in the earth instead of opening upon the enemy's
lines like a sheaf. The graduated fuse, the only eflFective one in
Buch a case, must be both sufficiently delicate to burn regularly
during the desired number of seconds, and yet simple enough to
be regulated amid the excitement of the battle.
When spherical projectiles are employed, or conical shells
with flanges {ailettes), which have a certain play in the boi'e of the
piece, the flame of the powder itself, enveloping the ball,, lights
the end of the fuse graduated according to the distance. But
this cannot be for projectiles which exactly fill all the grooves
and do not permit the flame to reach the head of the fuse. It
was tried in vain to envelop them in collodion to carry the flame
to that part of the shell : this preparation was stripped off before
it could be set on fire. Recourse was then had to the English
system, called the concussion system : the shock caused by the
departure of the projectile detaches a small piece of metal, which,
slipping into a tube placed within the fuse, strikes and fires a
fulminating primer. The fuse is thus completely closed on the
outside ; but it mast be seen how difficult it is to make, in impro-
vised factories, millions of such complicated instruments, and how
defective, before some exixjrience is gained in making them, they
must be as to precision.
Besides practical inventions, there were also seen some fantasti-
cal machines, such as the cannon-revolver, which will probably
figure one of these days in our own armies, but which at that
time was only dangerous to those who served it. There were seen
some ridiculous specimens, as, for instance, a gun lighter than its^
own ball, made out of an enormous ingot, whose recoil was con-
ser^uently greater than the motion of the projectile itself. We
will mention, finally, a new engine of destruction, which received
the nickname of coffee-mill, and which may be regarded as the
first attempt at making mitrailleuses. This was a large rampart-
gun, whose open breech was surmounted by a funnel, which w^as
filled with cartridges; these cartridges were composed of solid
steel tubes containing the charge, which were successively dropped
into the open space of the breech by means of a crank ; a hammer^
moved by this crank, struck a percussion-cap placed at the bottonb
Vol. I.— 20
Digitized by VjOOQIC
306 THE CIVIL *WAR IN AMERICA.
of tlic cartridge^ and caused the discharge ; after this dischai^ the
tube fell into a box^ from which it was taken to reload. This
machine fired one hundred shots per minute, and threw ounce
balls, with great precision, to a distance of seven or eight hundred
metres; it was drawn with its caisson by a single horse. By
means of a pivot like a pump-handle the gun was aimed without
interrupting the continuous stream of balls ; and this arm, handled
by two cool-headed men, might have proved very effective in de-
fending a breach or defile. But although Mr. Lincoln recom-
mended its adoption, and had even made a trial of it with his
own han(L«, it was never used during the war ; and the coffee-milhy
which, with a few alterations, might have taken the place of our
mitrailleuses, were sold after the peace as old iron, for eight dol-
lars each.
We have only spoken of rifle cannon ; they were the only guns
in fashion, like the zouaves' uniforms for infantry. The imagina-
tion of the volunteers exa^erated their importance, and their very
novelty inspired the inexperienced soldiers of the American armies
with confidence. Fortunately, the artillery officers did not share
this excessive infatuation, and they retained for the service of the
army a certain number of brass field howitzers, smooth bore,
which rendered the utmost service during the entire war. In
fact, as the wooded country, where the fighting had to be done,
rendered it almost impossible for the artillery to become engaged
at long distances, the rifle cannon vma frequently deprived of its
advantages. On the battle-fields of America the gun easiest to
handle, the strongest, and the most readily loaded, which, at a
moment's notice, could substitute grape-shot for the shell, \vas
also the most effective. An experience differing from that of
Euroi)ean wars, where armies can ordinarily fight at a distance,
showed that smooth-bore guns satisfied all these conditions; a
large number of them were cast, and no general ever had occa-
sion to regret having secured them for his artillery.
The field mat^Hcl was thus found to be composed of smooth-
bore twelve-pounders, of three-inch wrought-iron guns, and of
bar-guns three to four and a half inches in diameter. The
greatest variety was to be found in guns of heavy calibre. Be-
sides the old mortars, forty-eight pounders, and large cast-iron
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR. 397
howitzers, called columbiads, or Dahlgren gims, there were seen
rifled cannons constructed in the manner we have aln-ady stated.
These were wrought-iron guns, four inches and a half in diam-
eter of bore, much heavier than the hooped guns of the same
diameter, and throwing forty-pound balls. There were Parrott
guns, one hundred and two hundred pounders ; and, finally, some
enormous cast-iron guns, intended for forts and for the nav}'^, cai?t
on the Rodman plan, with a diameter of fifteen, and even of
twenty, inches. By means of iron carriages running over in-
clined planes, controlled by brakes and a strong pivot fastened
to the platform, these gigantic machines could easily be managed
by five or six men. We shall indicate the eflFect they produced
in telling of the numerous sieges which characterized that war.
It will be suflBcient to state here that in calculating the relations
existing between the calibre of their heaviest guns, the weight of
the ball, and that of the charge of powder, the Americans departed
from the principles adopted in Europe, and particularly in Eng-
land. Having neither the time nor the means to give their heavy
rifled guns the strength of those of Armstrong or of Krupp, but
being able to construct them of as large a calibre as they desired,
they reduced the charges of powder to an eighth, and even a
tenth, of the weight of the ball. ■ Owing to the large dimensions
of their guns, they were able to produce results then entirely new,
although they have been surpassed since. Thus, with a gun not
able to bear more than one-fourth of the charge of an Armstrong
gun, and throwing the same ball, they obtained for this ball a
velocity only one-half less than that which the latter piece
would have given; and to batter a wall in breach, they suc-
ceeded, by means of very large projectiles impressed with a less
initial velocity, in bringing to the work of destruction a force
equal to that of a ball of smaller calibre impressed with a
greater velocity.
In this chapter it has been our purpose to show the material
resources which the two armies were going to put in operation.
We have now seen those of the Federal army. The Confe<lerate
government could not count upon the industry and commerce of
the rebel States to supply its troops with provisions, equipments,
and arms to the same extent as its adversary. But at the outset
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308 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
of the war they possessed a very great advantage. As we have
stated elsewhere, Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War under President
Buchanan, had taken care to send to the South one hundred
and fifteen thousand muskets, which, being added to the one
hundred and twenty thousand already in the arsenals of
Charleston, Fayetteville, Augusta, Mount Vernon, and Baton
Rouge, secured a complete armament for the first Confederate
armies sufficient both in quantity and quality.* If the mobiliza-
tion of the first levies was sometimes delayed, this was caused either
by impediments arising in an administration as yet deficient in ex-
perience, or by the rival claims of the States to the distribution
of the arms, and also by the want of certain details, especially
percussion-caps, the manufacture of which had not as yet been
organized. But the war once begun, the Confederate goverimient
— thanks to the activity of its administrative departments, the
zeal of private individuals, and the supplies of materials it re-
ceived from Eurojie, notwithstanding the blockade — never found
itself short either of muskets, cannons, ammunition, or military
accoutrements. The North, which always cherished the hope
that this indispensable material would not reach her adversary,
and that the want of it would prevent him from continuing the
struggle, became convinced of her error when the latter had laid
down his arms.
We have stated that in the South every man who had the
means was in possession of a gun or a revolver. On their enlist-
ment the volunteers brought their arms with them ; those who
did not join the army either gave or sold them to the govern-
ment; everything was turned to account, and even double bar-
relled shot-guns were provided with bayonets. There were no
private establishments for manufacturing arms in the South;
the industry of the North had hitherto supplied the whole Union ;
the Federal government, which possessed two establishments of
this kind, had conformed to the ooastant traditions by placing
one at Springfield, in the North, and the other at Harper's Ferry,
* The conduct of Secretary Floyd is referred to at the dose of General J. E.
Johnston's " Narrative/' with a view to exonerate him from these charges. See
pp. 426 and 427 of that work.— Ed.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE MATERIEL OF WAR, 309
in the South. The latter establishment was, therefore, the only
one to be found in the insurgent States, which gave it a great
importance in the estimation of the Confederate leaders, and
which accounts for the haste with which they sought to seize it
at the moment when Virginia seceded. We know how it was
snatched from them by fire. The destruction of that fine estab-
lishment was a great loss to the government of Washington, but a
still greater loss to the Confederates, who had expected to find there
considerable supplies, and especially all the necessary implements
•for the manufacture of muskets. A few machines only were
saved from the fire and forwarded to Richmond, where they
were soon put in use. The Confederates set to work without
delay to establish such factories as they stood in need of. Nearly
all the States erected some at their own expense, which, although
at first simply under the general control of the central govern-
ment, were eventually placed under its exclusive direction. Work-
shops for the remodelling of old guns and the manufacture of
minie rifles were soon established in Memphis, New Orleans,
Nashville, Gallatin, and finally at Richmond and in many other
south-eastern cities.
The Southern States obtained, moreover, supplies of arms and
ammunition from Europe. During the first months of the war
they were enabled to accomplish this witliout any great difficulty,
notwithstanding the blockade of their coasts which had been
ordered by Mr. Lincoln. By degrees this blockade became more
effective, but the extent of the Southern coasts, their numerous
ports, and the facilities afforded by steam to blockade-runners
of light draught, which took advantage of a dark night to slip
between the Federal cruisers, never allowed it to become abso-
lute. The enormous difference in value between the cotton accu-
mulated in the d6p6ts of the South and the small quantities
which reached the Liverpool market on the one hand, and be-
tween ordinary commodities in Europe and in the Confederate
ports on the other, is a conclusive proof of the efficacy of that
blockade; but as the high protective tariff favored the growth
of smuggling, so in the same manner the difference above men-
tioned was the most powerful incentive to the hazardous traffic
which was carried on in spite of the blockade. In reserving to
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310 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
itself the moDopoIy of cotton the Confederate government had
PocurcHl the means of regulating and entirely controlling the
contraband trade thus established with England. It a)mpelled
all the blockade-runners to supply it with arms by refusing cot-
ton to those who did not bring over a quantity of that material
proportionate to their tonnage^ cotton being the only article that
oould assure them considerable profit in their |>erilous return
trips. These arms, purchased with the money obtained through
the loan negotiated in England, and for which this very cotton
was a guarantee, were entrusted to them by the agents of the
Confcnleratc government in Europe. The exact amount of these
importations will never be known, for the transactions were con-
ducted with great secrecy ; but it was currently reported in the
South that during the first year of the war three hundred thou-
sand muskets were brought over from Europe, with one thousand
charges for each musket, and that one single ship, the BennudcLj
had a cargo of sixty-five thousand. Those muskets manufactured
either at Liege or at Birmingham were selected with much more
care than the arms destined for the Federals, for in the struggle
between the agents of the two parties to secure the best materials
the Confederates had generally the advantage.
The materiel of the artillery was obtained in the same manner.
Mr. Floyd had not forgotten the armament of the Federal forts
situated in the South, while leaving garrisons in them too weak
for their defence. Different cities furnished cannon which had
been in their possession since the Mexican war. In short, a few
months suflSced to enable the State governments to organize foun-
dries, tlie management of which was entrusted to foremen of
Northern birth, a certain number of whom had not left the work-
shops of the South at the time of secession, native mechanics not
having the requisite skill for that task. Among these foremen
some had adopted the prejudices of the slaveholders or yielded
to the temptation of enormous wages; others were kept in the
places they were doomed to occupy by fearful threats. In the
mean time, spies were sent to visit the manufactories of the North
for the purpose of making drawings of the machines used in the
construction of cannon, so as to set up similar ones in the estab-
lishments which had just been erected. A certain number of
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR. 311
machines were also brought from England ; and one of the prin-
cipal manufacturers of that country actually presented to the
Confederacy on one occasion a complete cargo of those precious
implements. Unfortunately for his proUgis, that cargo fell into
the hands of the Federals, who used it for their own profit. New
Orleans had its own foundry of brass guns. Messrs. Street &
Hungerford of Memphis manufactured Parrott guns of every
calibre. At Nashville the iron-mills of Brannan & Co., con-
structed on the plan of those of Fort Pitt in the North, manu-
factured field-pieces of cast iron. The large and costly machines
of this establishment followed the Confederate armies in their
successive retreats, accompanied by the printing-presses of the
secession journals, and were stationed first at Chattanooga, then
at Atlanta, and finally at Augusta. The most important iron-
mills in the South were the Tredegar works, near Richmond ; at
this establishment cannon and projectiles of every calibre were
manufactured. Brass guns were rare and greatly in demand;
cities and churches contributed their bells ; private houses were
stripped of every article of copper they possessed, from a boiling-
pot to a brass candlestick. Cannon from England were also
imported to a considerable extent, A few Armstrong guns which
had run the blockade were used in arming the batteries along the
coast ; and Mr. Whitworth manufactured a large number of his
beautiful hexagonal guns of cast steel for the Confederates, pre-
tending that he was executing an order for the emperor of
China, so as not to excite the suspicions of the Federal cruisers.
The greatest part of the artillery which the Confederates
received from Europe, however, issued from the workshops of
Captain Blakeley, of whom we shall speak presently. Some
time after, at the conclusion of the war, there were still to be seen
in those establishments immense piles of projectiles, of which,
during the prosperous period of blockade-running, every vessel
sailing for Southern ports carried a number as ballast. This
establishment had become one of the principal d^p6t8 and the
best arsenal of the Confederates.
The cannon used in the Southern armies were generally con-
structed on the same model as those of the Federal artillery.
The Confederates displayed the same preference for the expan-
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312 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
8ion Bvstcm as their adversaries. But their most experienced
officers alfjo adhered to the bntss twelve-pounder howitzer with
smooth lK)re ; these cannon, taken from the arsenals or cast since
the breaking out of the rel)ellion, formed an important part of
their field artillery. The remainder, with the exception of a few
Whitworth guns, was compared of pieces constructed on the
Parrott model. The materiel of heavy calibre was more varied ;
there were to be found all the old smooth-bore brass guns, the
Dahlgren howitzers, and the rifled cannon of Brooke and Blakeley.
The Brooke guns, so called after their inventor, only differed
in one single particular from the Parrott gun : the Avrought-iron
jacket which envelojied it extended to the muzzle instead of
stopping at the trunnions. These guns were rapidly and easily
constructed and very cheap. The combination of two metals,
one ductile and the other brittle, sometimes caused them to
explode, but this defect was not sufficient to caase their condem-
nation, because, in view of the extraordinary difficulties which
surrounded the Confederacy, it was important above all to create
an immense armament. The entire coast bristled with fortifica-
tions ; batteries Avere erected at the entrance of the smallest creeks
and all along the line of the large rivers ; in short, strong earth-
works, entrenched camps, and defensive lines of every description
sprang up wherever the two armies found themselves in presence
of each other; each detachment surrounded its positions with
works ; every town nce<led its fortified enclosure, and new points
requiring to be defended were daily discovered. As fast as these
works were completed it was necessary to find heavy guns with
which to arm them.
The South possessed no metallurgical department of industry
like the North to meet such a demand. Out of 841,650 tons of
iron produced by the United States in 1856, the slave States only
contributed about 80,000 tons, and nearly one-half of this por-
tion, or 36,563 tons, were produced by Kentucky, which the Con-
federates never occupied in peace for a sufficient length of time to
turn her mineral wealth to account. The portion of iron pro-
duced by the insurgent States, therefore, only amounted to 42,952
tons, or the twentieth part of the total production of the Union.
But this iron, smelted with wood, was of a superior quality,
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR. 813
which, fortunately for the Confederate artillery, compensated for
the carelessness in the manufacture of cannon and the inexperi- .
ence of those who directed the operations.
The Blakeley guns, on the contrary, which had come from
England, were not only constructed of superior materials, but
with the greatest care, and were held in high repute, even in Eng-
land, for their excellent qualities. Before landing at Charleston
they had passed through many hands. The metal was prepared
at SheflSeld, where the Swedish iron, after having been melted in
the furnace and then run into troughs (creusets), was then cast
into rings, which were forged by the immense trip-hammers of
Firth. Then taken to London, in the Blakeley shops these rings
were put together, carefully fitted, turned, bored, and finally
rifled ; they thus combined the strength of a homogeneous metal
like soft steel with the perfection of construction of cannon com-
posed of several pieces. Those of large calibre were loaded at
the muzzle, and their grooves were adapted to various kinds of
projectiles. These grooves had only a slight twist and a medium
depth ; their number, varying according to the calibre, did not ex-
ceed twelve in pieces seven inches and a half in diameter. In
some of the Brooke guns the grooves were cut in inclined planes.
The variety of the projectiles used with these guns was very great.
A single Federal regiment — the First Connecticut Artillery —
picked up, among the batteries in which it served in 1864 near
Richmond, thirty-six diflerent kinds of balls fired by the Confed-
erates. During the long siege of Charleston the defenders of that
place loaded their old smooth-bore brass pieces with projectiles of
an elongated shape. Although the precision of aim of these enor-
mous cylindrical missiles was not remarkable, yet, at short dis-
tances, their initial velocity gave them considerable force of pene-
tration, and at times they did great harm to the iron-clad vessels
of the Federals. But these cannon could not always bear the
strain required to throw off such heavj' balls, and in the long run
many of them burst.
The projectiles manufactured in the South for rifled guns re-
sembled those of the Parrott model ; the Confederate also fre-
quently used Parrott projectiles, obtained from some captured
ammunition train or park of artillery carried off after a victory.
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314 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
The Blakelcy projectile, which greatly resembled them in its
oonstruotion, produced the best results. It has at its base a plate
of copiKT, fastened by three screws, the sides of which, bent
inward, give way, and are crushed into the grooves by the expan-
sive for<»e of the gases. In spite of the small surface which the
parts thus forced present, it is sufficient to give the rotary motion
to the entire mass. This projectile can thus adapt itself to differ-
ent kinds of grooves, is easily introduced into the gun, and can
bear the jolting of transi^rtation with impunity. Its excellent
qualities were demonstrated from the beginning of the war, at the
siege of Yorktown, where an old cast-iron sixty-four pounder
rifled, and placed in barbette upon one of the bastions, was used
in firing Blakeley shells weighing one hundred and fifty pounds to
a distance of more than three thousand metres, upon the Federal
line of batteries. Those who serve as a target to the fire of the
enemy have ample opportunities to judge of the precision of his
aim. As soon as Yorktown was evacuated the besiegers went
to look at the cannon whose power they had tested, but which
had been silent for two days. It was found lying on the ground
broken to pieces ; it had ended its career by an explosion, after
demonstrating how skilful mechanics and resolute soldiers can
utilize old pieces which would otherwise have been condemned as
unfit for service. The rest of the military matiriel of the Confed-
erates, ammunition, equipments, etc., was, like their cannon, partly
produced at the South and partly imported from Europe.
The chief thing required was powder. Charcoal was not want-
ing ; the caves of the Alleghanies abounded in saltpetre ; the re-
fineries of Louisiana furnished sulphur, which they used in re-
fining sugar, and of which they had large stores. With these
materials the government was able to manufacture an article of
powder somewhat coarse, but of a sufficiently good quality. Its
principal powder-mill was at Dahlonega, in Georgia ; its manu-
factories of percussion-caps in Richmond; its cartridge-factory
first in Memphis and then at Grenada. Thanks to the activity
of these establishments, the Confederate armies were never in
want of ammunition. The government never thought of making
use of the cotton which it controlled for war purposes. It could
not procure the different materials necessary for the manufacture
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THE MATERIEL OF WAR, 315
of gun-cotton (pyroxyk), and especially of nitric acid ; nor had
it time to make experiments upon that powerful but dangerous
agent.
Nor were the means wanting for clothing the soldiers. Texas
furnished leather. Foreign cloth being scarce, its absence was
amply supplied by a coarse but strong stuff called homcjipun,
made on the plantations and exclusively worn by the blacks.
Tliis cloth, of gray verging on brown, was the color of the Con-
federate uniform, and was the origin of the name gray-baekSf
which distinguished the Southern soldiers from the blue^beUiea
who followed the Federal flag. The more elegant among the
Confederate officers knew how to set off the simplicity of their
gray frock-coats by extreme neatness, but at best they could not
disguise the livery of slavery which chance compelled them to
wear. May we not see in this a mockery of fate, or rather the
decree of unerring justice which compelled the proud planters to
wear on the field of battle and to stain with their own blood that
very garment, the symbol of servitude, which had never reddened
save under the lash of the overseer ?
After having assembled, organized, and equipped the Confed-
erate armies, the next thing was to feed them. Furthermore, it
was important to secure the means of subsistence for the entire
population of the South, which was then in the condition of a
besieged city. The feeding of the civil population became an es-
sentially military question. It was the more serious because un-
til then the South, devoted to special agricultural pursuits, had
drawn from the North the greatest portion of the flour and meat
necessary for her consumption ; but she possessed a soil adapts
to every kind of agricultural produce, and in the negro race the
necessary hands to continue its cultivation while the whites went'
to the war. The cotton-plant soon gave place to wheat and corn,
more through the natural effect of the law of economy than in
consequence of Mr. Davis's ordinances ; for the blockade having
caused a depreciation in the value of cotton, and increased the
price of provisions, self-interest suggested to the planters the ex-
pediency of substituting the cultivation of cereals and the raising
of cattle for their former productions. If this interest had been
different, no decree of the Richmond government could have ef-
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316 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
fected such an agricultural revolution in the South. This revolu-
tion Boon secured, to a certain extent, the means of subsistence to
the whole Southern population, and belied the prediittions accord-
ing to which the blockade, by starving them out, would bring
them to terms. But the very abundance of these new produc-
tions of the soil, which subsisted the Confederate armies during
four years, facilitated, on the other hand, the operations which
were to render their adversaries victorious in the end. In fact, as
we have already stated, it was owing to the provisions which
Sherman found in Georgia that he was able to pass rapidly through
that vast region and make the decisive campaign which would
have been impossible in a country destitute of all resources. A
remedy, therefore, sometimes brings with it an evil greater than
that which it is intended to remove ; and the Confederacy, which
seemed at first in danger of perishing from want, found itself, on
the contrary, delivered up to the invasion of its enemies by the
very abundance of its resources.
These details, dry but important, having been a necessary pre-
liminary to our history, we shall now resume the narrative of mil-
itary events.
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BOOK IV.— THE FIEST AUTUMN.
CHAPTER I.
LEXINGTON.
WE have already seen the strenuous efiForts made by the North
to create armies as soon as the defeat of Bull Run had en-
lightened her people regarding the difficulties of the struggle she
had undertaken. The South derived great moral and material
strength from her victory ; she gained eight months' time to or-
ganize in Virginia ; the prestige of success gave to her government
unlimited power, and to its agents the necessary credit to borrow
and to encourage the traffic in arms ; her soldiers considered them-
selves for some time invincible. But this triumph brought many
illusions in its train ; it was generally believed that the Yankees
were unable to make another effi)rt ; the Southern people became
convinced that their despised adversaries were about to give up
the game, that the recognition of the new Confederacy, both by
Europe and the Northern States, was at hand, and that it was
useless, therefore, to make any further sacrifices in view of a
struggle which could not be prolonged. The number of enlist-
ments diminished at once in a striking manner at the very mo-
ment when it was most important to place the armies in a condition
to assume the oflFensive. The activity of the administration was
relaxed likewise, and the equipment of troops was altogether ne-
glected. A few creatures of Mr. Davis, occupying important
positions, embarrassed the commissary department by their inca-
pacity. The army of Virginia was in want of horses and means
of transportation ; these indispensable resources for a campaign
were only furnished in a dilatory and incomplete manner. The
operations which it might have attempted either on the line of the
Potomac or in West Virginia, while the Federal army was yet
unable to move quickly, were thus paralyzed, and Mr. Pollard,
the historian of the Confederates, a writer equally earnest and
317
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318 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
sincere in behalf of the South, has not hesitated to say that the
victoiy of Bull Run was a great misfortune for her cause.
Along the immense line which separated the hostile parties,
from the Atlantic to the prairies of the far West, however, the
effect produced by the conflict of July 2Lst was less felt in propor-
tion to the distance from the spot which had witnessed it. The
State of Missouri especially, situated beyond the Mississippi, was
a kind of enclosed battle-field, where the struggle, embittered by
old animosities, was carried on with scarcely any knowledge of
the vicissitudes of the fighting in the neighboring States.
In this portion of the narrative, where we propose to relate the
military eventa which occurred during the period intervening be-
tween the first defeat of the army of the Potomac and its new en-
trance in the field in the spring of 1862, we shall begin by speak-
ing of the war of which tlie distant plains of Missouri were the
theatre during the latter half of the year 1861. The inveterate
animosity of the Abolitionists and the pro-slavery men was to
impart to that war an altogether peculiar character. The settlers
from the North and from the South were scattered over the whole
surface of the State. The former were in the majority in the
northern part and along the borders of the Mississippi, which sep-
arates Missouri from Illinois, and which the inhabitants of the
latter free State cross yearly, in large numbers, on their way to the
West to seek their fortunes. The latter predominated along the
fertile borders of the Missouri River, which flows from west to
east through the country to which it gives its name ; but they
were so completely commingled everywhere that not a town, vil-
lage, or hamlet could be found which was not divided into two
hostile camps. To the westward, along the boundary of the great
desert, was the new State of Kansas, where, after many bloody
strifes and cruel persecutions, the Abolitionists had finally come
off triumphant. To the southward extended the long frontier of
Arkansas, which was exclusively occupied by pro-slavery men
devotedly attached to the Confederate cause. The pioneers, ad-
venturers, and outlaws who had gone to seek their fortune by means
more or less legitimate in those two States, yet scarcely under cul-
tivation, did not fail to challenge each other, weapon in hand, in
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON, 319
Missouri ; some to promulgate their political convictions, others to
gratify their passions for strife or plunder.
Hostilities, therefore, broke out everywhere at once. At
nearly every point of the territory isolated individuals, small
groups, or numerous bands began to make war on their own
account, seeking only to satisfy personal hatred. There was no
longer safety to be found anywhere. Blood flowed in every spot,
and it became impossible to discriminate between an act of war
and assassination. ^lissouri, however, notwithstanding her isola-
tion, was not n^lected by the belligerents. They had little cause
to trouble themselves about what was taking place in the western
part of that State, but all that portion of it adjacent to the Mis-
sissippi was to play a great part in the military operations of which
the line of that river was about to be the theatre. The Federals
could undertake no expedition, either into Kentucky, by ascend-
ing the Tennessee, or against Memphis and the heart of the Con-
federacy, unless they were masters of the confluence of the Mis-
souri and the Ohio with the Mississippi — ^that is to say, of St.
Louis, of Cairo, and of that portion of the river which separates
those two points. The left bank was secured to them, for it be-
longed to Illinois ; to control the right bank, generally flat and
marshy, it was necessary, in the first place, to occupy strongly
the large city of St. Louis, the base of operation of all water ex-
peditions into the centre of the continent ; then to prevent the
enemy from taking possession of the cliffs of Cape Girardeau,
whence he could have intercepted the navigation of the river, and
from occupying the positions of Bird's Point which command the
tongue of land upon which Cairo stands. Greneral Lyon, as we
have seen, had preserved the city of St. Louis to the Union, and
Cairo had been garrisoned by Federal troops before the Confed-
erates had made any attempt to seize it. But the secessionists, on
seeing the best portion of the State slipping away from them, no
longer contented themselves with waging a partisan war. At the
call of Sterling Price all those who had made the long Mexican
campaigns with him or M'ith Doniphan, or who had many times
listened to the exaggerated descriptions given of them, hastened
to form themselves into an army, intended to recapture the State
from the Federal troops, under the name of " Missouri Guards."
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320 THE CIVIL WAR IX AMERICA.
We have seen how Lyon, on the 18 th of June, dispersed those
first assemblages which had gathered at Booneville, on the upper
Missouri, where the pro-slavery element predominated. That
success was by no means decisive. Price had an immense country
before him, into which he could fall back in perfect safety in order
to rally his followers, and whence he could emerge suddenly to
attack the point at w^hich he was least expected. The task of
Lyon wiLA not only to protect the great strategic points situated
upon the Mississippi, but also to keep, as far^is possible, the State
of Missouri under Federal sway, so as to prevent the Confeder-
ates from drawing any resources from it, either of men, cattle,
grain, materials of any kind, or even of money, which that State
could furnish. With the small number of men at his disposal,
this was a singularly diiEcult task.
The northern part of the State, lying along the left bank of
the Missouri, is less extensive, and could give him no serious
uneasiness. Although the secessionists were there in large num-
bers and the partisan war was raging with all its horrors, it was
too remote from the Confederate States to receive any elBcieut
support, and the Federals felt sure of being able to sustain them-
selves there so long as they retained possession of St Louis.
The principal artery of that region is the railway which connects
Hannibal, on the Mississippi, with St. Joseph, on the Missouri,
where it then terminated in the vicinity of the yet uncultivated
lands where the emigrant settled until the progress of civiliza-
tion compelled him to proceed one stage farther towards the inte-
rior. The southern part of the State is bounded on the south
and west by the frontiers of Arkansas and Kansas, on the east
by the Mississippi, on the north by the Missouri. Near the hist-
mentio/iod river the oonntry is fertile, well cultivated, and has
considerable population ; the remainder is traversed by the only
river of any importance, the Osage, which comes from the south-
west to eraj)ty into the ilissouri a little below Jefferson City;
there are numerous tributaries with wooded banks which give
a great extension to the Osage valley. The Missouri basin is
bounded at the south by a succession of plateaux, very undulating
and intersected with ravines, which connect towards the south-west
with the large Arkansas hills known by the name of Ozark Moun^
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 321
tains. These undulations, covered here and there with brushwood,,
intersected by ravines where the water does not abound in summer,,
but the soil of which readily responds to the cultivation of cereals,
extend in a north-easterly direction, traversing nearly the whole
State, and culminating in the heights of Pilot Knob, in the midst
of the lower plains which border the. Mississippi. Beyond this point
the waters run southwardly into the White Eiver. This vast
region only possessed three trunk lines of railway, all starting
from St. Louis. The first followed a westerly direction along
the line of the Missouri, passing through Jefferson City, and
stopped at the village of Sedalia before rea<;hing Kansas. The
second followed the great post^road south-westwardly which
passes by RoUa, Springfield, and Cassville,. and terminates at
Fort Smith, in Arkansas ; before the war it carried the Texas
mail. This line did not extend beyond Eolla, about two hun-
dred and forty kilometres from St. Louis. The third, of about
equal length, ran southwardly as far as the mines in the vicinity
of Pilot Knob. Sedalia, Rolla, and Pilot Knob were therefore
the three heads of lines beyond which the armies could only
sustain themselves by living upon the country or by employing;
immense trains to convey their provisions.
After the combat at Booneville, Lyon had freed the whole of
the Missouri valley and prevented Price from making it the base-
of his operations. The State legislature and Governor Jackson
had fled in haste from Lexington, forgetting in their hurry the
government seal, together with a considerable amount of money*
Price himself fell back towards the southern part of the State,,
but he was not the man to be daunted by a first reverse, and his
name alone sufficed to rally around him all the secessionists of
Missouri, who had been for a moment discouraged by his retreat.
Choosing his own time to make sudden attacks upon isolated
Unionist detachments, and retreating whenever he had cause to-
apprehend a check, he trained his men to the habits of partisan
warfare, and procured, at the expense of the enemy, all the arms,
ammunition, wagons, and provisions of which he was entirely
destitute. So that when he reached the town of Neosho, at the
south-western angle of the State, after a long and fatiguing retreat^,
he had a body of troops around him more numerous and better
Vol. I.— 21
Digitized by VjOOQIC
322 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
equipped than that with which he had left the banks of the Mid-
souri. In drawing near to the Arkansas frontier he knew that
he should find important reinforcements there. In fact, General
McCuUoch was organizing a body of Confederate troops in Ar-
kansas, while a brigade of soldiers from that State was forming
under General Pearce ; all these, assembled in the neighborhood
of the Ozark Mountains, were to enter Missouri to support Price.
The troops of the latter were considerably scattered; he was him-
self encamped at Pools Prairie, between Sarcoxie and Neosho;
Governor Jackson, with a brigade commanded by Greneral Par-
sons, was at Lamar, much more to the northward, while another
brigade, under General Rains, which had been left behind near
Papinsville, on the upper Osage, was on the march to join him.
Lyon, on his part, was preparing to follow the Confederates
into the remote districts whither they had retired, by marching
from Booneville in a direct line toward the south ; but although
his little army did not number more than twenty-seven hundred
men, the difficulty in obtaining provisions necessarily caused
delays, and he was obliged to have an enormous supply train fol-
lowing him. One of the detached bodies of troops, which he had
organized for the purpose of preventing incursions and the depre-
dations of partisans, was in a better position to strike the enemy,
whose forces were still scattered ; and the enterprising chief who
commanded it could not allow such an opportunity to escape him.
Colonel Sigel, a German officer, with two regiments and two bat-
teries of four field-pieces each — about fifteen hundred men in all —
had left RoUa nearly at the same time that Lyon was marching
upon Booneville. He reached Springfield on the 23d of June ;
and on learning that the Confederates had gone southward, he
pushed immediately forward in the hope of surprising some iso-
lated detachment. • He arrived at Sarcoxie with one of his regi-
ments on the 28th, but Price, having abandoned the camp of
Pools Prairie, had retired beyond Neosho. Aiter occupying this
town, Sijrel determined to go and attack the troops under Parsons
and Eains, who were at the northward. As soon as he had formed
his column he took the line of march, imprudently leaving a com-
pany of infantry at Neosho with a view of protecting the inhabit-
ants in the event of the return of the Confederates, but their preB-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 323
ence was in reality only an additional inducement to the latter to
return thither in force.
On the 4th of July Sigel encamped near Carthage, and learned
that the enemy, nimibering from four to five thousand men, most
of whom were mounted, occupied a position on the Lamar road,
about fifteen kilometres to the northward. Notwithstanding the
disproportion of numbers, he determined to attack them ; and on
the morning of the 5th he set out, followed at a distance by his
supply-train. After crossing the stream called Dry Creek he
met the combined forces of Parsons and Eains ; who had taken
their position upon the summit of an elevated piece of ground
overlooking the Carthage and Lamar road, and were waiting for
him. The first line of the Confederates consisted of about twenty-
five hundred men, the infantry in the centre, the cavalry on the
wings, and a strong reserve in the rear. The combat began at
once. The Federals were very inferior in numbers and had no
cavalry, but their soldiers were properly handled, better armed
than their opponents, and their artillery was far superior to that
of the enemy, which consisted of three old guns loaded with
pieces of scrap-iron by way of projectiles. The fire of musketry
and artillery continued for some time without either of the parties
gaining ground ; the most serious losses, however, were on the Con-
federate side. The latter decided at last to avail themselves of
the advantages which their numerous cavalry gave them. This
cavalry threatened, by a flank movement, to seize the supply-train
of the Federals, and to cut them off from the road to Carthage.
Sigel, being obliged to order a retreat, fell back upon the train and
covered it, and recrossed Dry Creek, where the enemy^s cavalry
tried in vain to disturb him. Without allowing his lines to be
broken or too closely pressed, he finally reached Carthage, where
he defended himself for a sufficient length of time to enable his
artillery to occupy the heights which were to protect his march
beyond that village. In spite of the Confederate cavalry, to
which he could offer no opposition, and which harassed him on
every side, he succeeded toward evening in reaching some woods,
which afforded him shelter, and by a night march he arrived at
Sarcoxie, fortunate in having been able thus to escape, without
great losses, from an enemy more numerous and more \ngilant
Digitized by VjOOQIC
324 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
than himself. He had odIj thirteen men killed and thirtf'-one
wounded ; but on the following day the company which he had
left at Neosho was surrounded by a superior foirce^ and^ as might
have been easily foreseen, captured to a man. In organizing this
expedition the Federals committed an error which was frequently
repeated afterwards — ^that of neglecting the cavalry. In a r^on
like Missouri, where one has to travel long distances before en-
countering a village, and where the country is generally open and
rich in forage, the principal part in a campaign belongs to
mounted men, who, like the conquerors of California and of New
Mexico, can, in case of necessity, dismount and fight on foot,
musket in hand. We shall see, therefore, that among the Con-
federate armies of the far West the cavalry almost invariably
formed one-half of their effective force.
In the mean time, Lyon had taken up his march on the 3d of
July, He was trying, like Prfoe, to increase his numbers on the
way, and he counted especially upon Kansas for reinforcements.
That State, in fact, could not fail to furnish a considerable con-
tingent to the Federal cause, inasmuch as all the pioneers who
had settled there were accustomed to exchange the pick for the
musket. The most turbulent among them gathered in irr^ular
bands around Jim Lane, their most celebrated leader, who had
represented them at Washington, and who now bore the title of
general. Elsewhere, Major Sturgis, taking the field at the head
of a better organized corps, numbering about three thousand men,
had joined Lyon on the 7th on the banks of Grand River, a
tributary of the Osage. Notwithstanding this reinforcement, the
Federals found the difficulties of the route to increase in propor-
tion as they advanced, the whole army being compelled to cross
Grand River on a single ferry-boat, no other conveyance being
within reach. Finally, on the 9th, they reached the banks of
the Osage, not far from Osceola, where they received tidings of
SigePs fight at Carthage, five days before. Had the small Fed-
eral band commanded by the latter succeeded in extricating it-
self from the dangerous position in which it was placed? Had jt
been able to reach Springfield, or had it been cut off and sur-
rounded by the numerous cavalry of the enemy? Lyon conld
not tell. Extremely uneasy concerning the fate of his lieutenanty
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 326
he changed his route and proceeded as rapidly as he could to his
ajBsistance. He followed directly the road leading to Springfield —
•a point which he could make the base of all the operations he
might have to undertake. But roads are scarce in Missouri.
With the exception of a few lines kept more or less in order, like
the post-road which passes through Springfield, they are traced
out at random across the prairie by the wheel-ruts of wagons
which carry grain to the villages where markets are held. In the
districts covered with forests these road-tracks only consist in
clearings rudely cut through thick woods, which wind in zigzag
shape from farm to farm, without ever following the same direc-
tion. It was in the midst of one of these forests that Lyon's sol-
diers took up their line of march on the morning of the 10th,
during the prevalence of a most oppressive heat. The tortuous
roads they met with proved to be an impediment rather than an
assistance. They had to open a direct passage through tliiekets,
swamps, scarped ravines, rocks, and streams, but the thought of
going to the assistance of comrades who were in danger sustained
the strength of tliat small band ; and when it came to a halt, to-
ward three o'clock, to take a little rest, it had already marched
forty-four kilometres. Toward evening it started again with re-
newed courage, and did not stop until the following morning at
break of day, eighty kilometres from the point where it had
crossed the Osage. The men were completely worn out by this
extraordinary march, but the good ne^vs of SigePs return to
Springfield soon made them forgot all their hardships. Two
short days' journey took them to that town, where the Federal
forces were assembled.
Lyon arrived in Springfield on the 13th of July, where he
stopped. His bold movements had driven the Confederates back
into the south-western angle of Missouri ; but they were there in
force, and the little Federal army could not think of pursuing
them. This army was, in fact, much weakend by the fatigues of
the campaign it had just gone through j and the term of service of
the volunteers who had enlisted for three months, after the fall of
Fort Sumter, was beginning to expire. Every day a certain num-
ber from among this class left their respective regiments to return
home^ while others impatiently counted the few <lays which yet
Digitized by VjOOQIC
326 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
remained before they could be liberated. Their pay was in arrear ;
their worn-out garments had not been replaced ; their rations were
not plentiful ; so that they were unwilling to re-enlist, and no re-
inforcements came to fill up the gaps which were daily made in
the ranks of the army. It was useless for Lyon to remonstrate ;
he could efltH't nothing. He had lately been placed under the
onlers of McClellan ; but the latter, being entirely absorbed by the
campaign he had undertaken in West Virginia, could not aid him
in any way. Lyon finally learned at Springfield that the depart-
ment of the We^^t had just been placed under the immediate com-
mand of a new chief, General Fremont
We have already mentioned Fremont in connection with
tlie conquest of California, where, through his daring, intelli-
gence, and good fortune, he played a responsible part. Since
that time he had been the candidate of the Abolitionists for
the prc^sidency of the republic. Subsequently, in 1861, Mr.
Lincoln conferrc<l upon him the highest rank, that of major-
general in the regular army, from which he had been removed
in consequence of a severe decision. Tliis appointment had
prejudiced the largest portion of the old regular officers against
him ; they were disposed to criticise the actions of a chief who
undertook to perform a task so new to him. Those who were
about to be placed under his immediate command dreaded above
all the influence of a certain set of men by whom the conqueror
of California had been surrounded in the official positions he had
occupied, as well as in the business enterprises he had been en-
gaged, and w^ho had the reputation of not being over-scrupulous
in matters of an administrative character.
Fremont had lingered a considerable time in New York after
his appointment, deaf to all the solicitations of Lyon, who kept
asking constantly for assistance. At last he took his departure
after the battle of Bull Run, and arrived in St. Louis on the 26th
of July.
Notwithstanding the reproaches of certain persons, he was very
popular in the West among all those settlers to whom he had
opened new paths across the Kocky Mountains, and who were
indebted to him for the magnificent domain of California. He
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LBXmOTON. 327
was known to be brave, bold, devoted to the abolition cause, and
therefore much was expected from him.
But the task he had to accomplish in no way resembled the ad-
venturous expeditions in which his companions and himself had
been successful by daily staking their lives without a care for the
morrow. The commander of the department of the West had to
create and organize an entire army, with its administration and
its matiriel, without having at his disposal any of the resources
which seemed indispensable for such labor. He had to embrace
a vast territory at a single glance, to watch over at once all the
points which it was deemed important to guard ; he was not to
allow himself to be surprised from any quarter, and he had to
make up for the insufficiency of his foices by the promptness of
his movements and the correctness of his calculations. These
were matters entirely new to General Fremont.
The difficulties against which he had to struggle were immense.
The greatest portion of the troops of which he could dispose in
Missouri were, like those of Lyon, three months^ volunteers, the
last of whom were to be discharged within a fortnight. The
latter, not having received their regular pay, refused every\vhere
to re-enter the service. It is true that a certain number of sol-
diers, enlisted for three years, were beginning to come forward, but
they were utterly 'witliout instruction. Arms were wanting to
equip and drill them ; all the muskets which came from the East-
em factories or which arrived at Atlantic ports from Europe
were kept in Washington by the government, whose absorbing
care was to protect the capital. It was with the greatest difficulty
that Fremont succeeded in procuring some poor Austrian mus-
kets for his troops. He was subsequently blamed for this pur-
chase, and most unjustly, although the price paid was undoubt-
edly exorbitant ; but he was justified by necessity. Illinois, being
placed under his jurisdiction, sent him a few regiments, but they
were badly organized, and the men who, after proper drilling,
might have made good soldiers, were only an additional encum-
brance, owing to the bad quality and scarcity of arms. The sys-
tem of accounts was in the greatest disorder, and the intervention
of Fremont, who was but little accustomed to administrative for-
malities, only served to increase the confusion. The Federal oof-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
328 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
fers were nearly empty; and while at headquarters everybody
signed orders for expenses without authority^ the disbursing offi-
cers refused to make any transfers of funds. Henoe the perpetual
oonilictB which embarrassed the service and delayed the supplies
of which the army stood in need. To all these difficulties were
added the demands of the central government, which interfered
with the measures adopted by Fremont. Thus, for instance, a few
days after his arrival, he was ordered by Scott to send immedi-
ately to Washington five thousand men, formed into raiments,
armed, and equipped. This would rob him of the only organized
forces at his disposal ; consequently, this order, prompted by the
disquietude which followed the battle of Bull Run, was soon re-
voked, but it nevertheless caused the suspension for several days
of all the movements of troops in the department of the West.
In the mean time, the defeat of the Federals in Virginia had
revived the confidence and daring of the soocssionists throughout
the State of Missouri. The Confederate leaders saw the num-
ber of their adherents increase in every direction. In the north-
ern section numerous bands were organizing, persecuting the
Unionists, and extending their incursions into the State of Iowa.
Along the borders of the Missouri a few partisan bands kept the
Federal garrisons of Jefferson City, Booneville, and Lexington in
constant alarm. In the south-west McCulloch and Pearoe had
crossed from Arkansas into Missouri ; they were ready to sus-
tain Price, and rendered the situation of Lyon at Springfield very
precarious, while the positions occupied by the Federals in the
south-east were also serioasly threatened. Confederate bands of
partisans, gathered and organised by Jeffi^rson Thompson, showed
themuselvcs sometimes in the vicinity of Pilot Knob, trying to cut
the railway, and sometimes in the neighborhood of Cape Girar-
deau or Bird's Point. At the same time considerable forces were
assembling in East Tennessee, and a small army under Greneral
Pillow had already passed over from Tennessee to New Madrid,
in Missouri, on the other side of the Mississippi, where it was
preparing to take the field. The positions commanding the
large navigable streams of the centre of the continent seemed to
be in danger. Cairo, the most important, was indeed strongly
defended, and its fortifications well supplied with cannan; but
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. S29
with the exception of twelve hundred men, its garrison was to be
discharged on the 7th of August, and it was stated the gunboats
<x)nstructed at Memphis by the Confederates would soon come to
attack that place. It waa important, above all, to ensure its
safety. In order to accomplish this object, Fremont himself
started from St. Louis on the 2d of August with nearly four
thousand men, intended for the occupation of Cairo and Bird's*
Point — a, reinforcement amply sufficient, and which he besides
took care to magnify in the eyes of the inhabitants of St. Louis
by embarking them on a larger number of steamers than was
necessary.
But this operation once accomplished, the most important thing
to do was to extricate Lyon from the difficult position in which
he was placed by sending him reinforcements. There were two
fine regiments at RoUa which might have been moved towards
Springfield, and replaced by newer troops taken from St. Louis to
guard the line of railways. He might also have diminished the
garrisons placed along the Missouri, have limited himself to the
occupation of Jefferson City, have employed fewer troops in pur-
suit of bands which could not be taken, and have sent to Spring-
field the forces thus rendered available. But Fremont seemed in-
capable of changing ; he maintained all the posts stationed along
the line of the Missouri, The Confederate corps of Green having
pushed as far as Athens, in Northern Missouri, where it had a
bloody encounter with the Unionists on the 5th of August, he sent
General Pope with the troops then in Illinois into that section
of the State. When he ordered the regiments stationed at RoUa
to proceed to Springfield, he failed to send them the necessary
maUriel with which to make that march ; and while he took no
effective step to support Lyon, he could not make up his mind
to recall him to the rear, but left him at Springfield without
instructions.
The position of this general, in the mean time, was becoming
more and more painful. The resources of the country were
exhausted, provisions were beginning to fail, the equipments of
the men were worn out, and many among them had no shoes.
The wagons he had sent to RoUa to bring supplies had by a fatal
mistake been despatched to St. Louis, so that, in order to obtain
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330 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
provisions, he was obliged to send for the supply-trains of Kan-
sas to come to him with an escort The movements of the enemy,
however, determined him to take the offensive in order to fore-
stall them if possible ; he was in hopes of surprising the several
Confederate bands who were preparing to operate against him,
before they could have time to unite. These corps, composed of
•Price's Missourians, McCulloch's Confederate division, and some
Arkansas brigades under Pearce and McBride, had selected Cass-
ville as their rendezvous. Price, leaving the south-western angle
of the State, where he had taken refuge, reached that town on
the 28 th of July, where on the following day all the Confederate
forces were assembled, to the number of more than twelve thou-
sand men, half of whom were mounted, with about fifteen pieces
of cannon. On the 1st and 2d of August the whole army moved
in the direction of Springfield, following the posi-road. Four
hundred mounted Missourians under Eains cleared the road.
McCulloch followed with great precaution, fearing to venture
beyond the reach of the other corps of the army.
Lyon had left Springfield exactly on the 1st of August with
all the forces at his disposal, amounting to about five thousand
men. After two days' march, which the extreme heat made very
fatiguing, he met in the valley of Dug Springs, thirty miles from
Springfield, Rains's Missourians, accompanied by a few reinforce-
ments which the latter had procured in haste. A company of
regular infantry, one hundred and fifty mounted men belonging
to the 4th Cavalry, and two pieces of a regular battery formed
the advance of the small Federal army, and alone took part in
the engagement. The conflict was short. While the infantry
were firing upon the troops that confronted them, the cavalry per-
ceived a detachment preparing to make a flank movement The
men immediately seized their carbines and opened fire upon it.
But a subaltern officer, tired of remaining inactive, ordered a
charge. A portion of the mounted men dashed forward at once ;
the rest followed, and the enemy were thrown into confusion. In
the mean time, the shells of the two Federal field-pieces routed
the Confederate cavalry, which was thinking to repeat the flank
movement it had executed during the fight at Carthage.
The Federals remained masters of the field. This skirmish
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 331
had only cost a few killed and wounded on both sides. Rains
had been thrown back upon McCulloch's division at Cave Springs.
The latter remained inactive, believing Lyon to be infinitely
stronger than he really was, and not daring to go out to meet him.
The Federal general, on his part, after proceeding as far as Cur-
ran, on the 3d of August, twelve kilometres beyond Dug Springs,
also came to a halt. His army, exhausted by the heat, was in
want of food ; the term of service of several regiments was about
to expire, and he hoped to find reinforcements at Springfield.
He had also ascertained that the enemy had formed a junction of
their detachments, and that he could no longer expect to surprise
them separately. On the 6th of August he re-entered Springfield.
Lyon's movements disconcerted McCuUoch, who, fancying that
he was confronted by a superior force, was desirous to fall back.
Price, on the contrary, insisted upon continuing the march, and
requested McCuUoch, if he was going to forsake him thus, to give
him at least his muskets, so that he might arm the volunteers
who were joining him from all parts, and whom he was obliged
to leave behind for want of equipments. Pending this contro-
versy, a despatch arrived from General Polk, their superior
officer, ordering McCuUoch to invade Missouri. The latter then
consented to accompany Price, on condition that that general
should place himself under his orders.
The eflective force of the Confederate army was five thousand
three hundred infantry, six thousand cavalry, a portion of which
was poorly equipped, with fifteen pieces of artillery — about twelve
thousand men in all. On the 4th of August this army, forming
three columns under McCuUoch, Pearce, and Price, put itself once
more en rotUCj and made a night march in the hope of yet sur-
prising Lyon near Dug Springs. But in spite of all their speed
the Confederates could not come up to him, and on the following
day, the 5th, McCuUoch was obliged to halt his wearied soldiers
on the banks of Wilson's Creek, about sixteen kilometres from
Springfield, near to the post-road. The supply-trains did not
arrive until two days after, and for twenty-four hours the soldiers
had nothing to eat ; for the last ten days they had only received
half rations ; they had neither salt nor meat, and were compelled
for bare subsistence to go into the fields and gather the ears of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
S32 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
com; they' bad no blankets^ their olothes were in rags and their
shoes worn out. It was necessary to give them some rest
Finally, on the 9th, McCulloch ordered another night march, by
means of which he expected to arrive before Springfield on the
following morning before Lyon could be apprised of his approach.
But he had to deal with a bold and vigilant adversary. While
McCulloch was induced by the rain and darkness to defer his move-
ment, the Federal general was preparing to surprise him in turn.
Lyon had already once before made every preparation to go
and seek in his own camp the adversary who pressed him so
olose, and had subsequently abandoned the idea. But his position
was becoming every day more critical. The time had passed
when he could have retired " to RoUa or fallen back upon the
Osage without being molested. The enemy was dose upon him,
and had at last become conscious of his numerical superiority.
He had a powerful cavalry, to which Lyon could only oppose a
few squadrons ; and that cavalry would have rendered the retreat
of the feeble column impossible, encumbered as it was by an
enormous supply-train. Besides falling back without fighting,
the Federals would thereby give the signal for the uprising of the
secessionists all along the road over which they had to pass.
There was only one course to adopt in this emergency; it was at
once wise and bold : this was to strike suddenly a vigorous blow
to cover the movement in rear toward Bolla. Without even
fighting the enemy, sufficient losses might be inflicted upon him
to prevent him from disturbing that movement, and th^re was
only needed a fortunate chance to paralyze him by destroying his
supply-train. After much hesitation a council of war was con-
vened, at which General Sweeny alone advised the offensive.
Lyon gave orders for the march on the evening of the 9th. He
left at Springfield only non-combatants, and took with him a
force of about five thousand, only two hundred and fifty of whom
were mounted, and twelve cannon.* The brigade of Sigel, with
*The total force of' his army consisted of the following troops: The Ist
brigade, Major Sturgis, 5 r^^lar squadrons, 4 regular companies, 2 Missoori
companies, 1 battery, 884 men ; the 2d brigade, Sigel, 3d and 4th Missouri, 3
batteries, 1420 men ; the 3d brigade, Andrews, 1st Missouri, 4 companies of r^
ular infantry, 1 battery, 1264 men ; the 4th brigade, Deitzer, -2 Kansas regi-
ments, 1st Iowa, 2300 men ; i»«al, 5868 men.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 333
a single battery, Avas ordered to proceed in a southerly direction ;
then, after crossing Wilson's Creek considerably below the en-
emy^s positions, to turn sharply to the right, and having per-
formed that movement during the night to fall by daybreak
upon the rear of the Confederate camps, the long line of which
extended into the valley, following the sinuosities of the stream.
Lyon, with the three other brigades, numbering about four thou-
sand men, intended to approach Wilson's Creek near the post-
road, and as soon as day dawned to attack the enemy in front,
and, without giving him time to form, to throw all his camps into
confusion. This double manoeuvre was extremely well executed
On the morning of the 10th, notwithstanding the still prevail-
ing darkness, Lyon on one side and Sigel on the other found
themselves in sight of the Confederate encampments. The latter
kept a very poor wateh; the orders and counter-orders of the
previous evening had worn them out, and after drawing in the
outposts they had neglected to replace them. Lyon, therefore,
who was the first to make the attack, was able to reach the ad-
vance fires around which the enemy had passed the night, without
a shot. The stream of Wilson's Creek, occupied in that part of
its flow by McCuUoch, runs nearly from south to north, and on
approaching the road it makes an angle and follows a south-
easterly direction. The valley watered by this stream is bounded
on the right by abrupt declivities, and on the left by hills sloping
gradually down and intersected by various transversal ravines.
It was upon these hills that those of the Confederates who were
not encamped in the valley had taken position. Lyon's column,
formed of Captain Plummer's regular battalion, the First Kansas,
and the First Missouri regimente, reached Wilson's Creek by de-
scending these hills. Plummer crossed the stream at once in
order to protect the left of the Federals, who, on forming a line of
battle upon the right, found themselves in front of a ravine where
the second brigade of Bains's division had just encamped. That
general, surprised by the volleys of musketry, had barely had time
to follow the precipitate retreat of his soldiers, and to inform Price
and McCuUoch of this unexpected attack. There was great flurry
in the Confederate army and among ite chiefs. While Rains was
re-forming his line on the heights to the left of WUson's Creek,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
334 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Price hastened to set the rest of his troops occupying positions in
the neighborhood, under arms, and rushed with about twenty-five
hundred men and one battery to the aid of the combatants, whom
the Federals were beginning to dislodge from their positions.
During this time Plummer's regulars crossed the stream and ad-
vanced, deploying in the fields on the right ; but two regiments
of Arkansas cavalry, who had dismounted, supported by a Lou-
isiana regiment, soon came rushing upoa them. The small body
of regular troops was obliged to fall back before so large a force,
and it would have been annihilated if two guns posted on the
heights to the left of the river had not arrived in time to check
the aggressive movement of the Confederates in the valley.
The battle is fought with ardor on both sides; Price and Mc-
Culloch rally the soldiers who have not yet been able to join their
ranks. Lyon leads successively into action all the regiments com-
posing his little band; his soldiers fight bravely, while his ar-
tillery displays a great superiority over that of the enemy, which
is badly served, and the fire of which is very irr^ular. As we
have just seen, this artillery has already saved the r^ular troops
compromised in the valley. A section of Totten's battery replies
with great effect to a few guns posted by the enemy on the heights
commanding the right bank of Wilson's Creek, for the purpose
of enfilading the Federal line. The rest of the Union artillery
supports the attack of the infantry. The point at issue is to cany
the crest of a hill from which Lyon's troops are separated by a
bend, where the brigade they had surprised was encamped, and
beyond which lay the undulating plateau which the Missourians
had occupied for some days. The ground, covered with brush-
wood and scattered trees, renders manoeuvring dijBScult. The
Confederates, recovered from their first confusion, are superior in
numbers, and they cleverly avail themselves of the advant^^es
which the nature of the ground gives to the defensive. The First
Missouri has suffered cruelly. The Federal troops are several
times driven back in disorder, but the artillery still supports them.
The Confederates try to surprise them by displaying a Federal
flag under cover of which to advance ; but Totten, who has al-
lowed, them to approach, discovers the disloyal trick in time, and
a few rounds of grape severely punish the authors of it for their
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON, 335
temerity. The Federals take advantage of this new confusion
' thrown into the ranks of their adversaries to make another effort
upon the right, and the Second Kansas carries a portion of the
crest. The Confederates, with their lines thus broken, are no
longer able to defend the rest of that position, and fall back upon
a few hillocks situated in rear. The fight slackens ; it is now
about eight o'clock in the morning.
During this time Sigel had strictly followed out the instruc-
tions of his chief. At break of day he was approaching the
southernmost side of the Confederate encampments, occupied by
the Texas troops, and came suddenly upon a large party of sol-
diers who had separated themselves from their companions to go
in search of a few ears of corn in the neighboring fields ; then,
falling suddenly upon the Texan camps, he took possession of
them, and at the same time planted his battery upon a height
whence he could sweep all the interior positions of the enemy.
This attack increased the disorder which Lyon had thrown into
the ranks of the Confederates and facilitated the success of his
movement. A portion of the supply-train of McCuUoch was
already on fire, its guard having begun to destroy it lest it should
fall into the hands of the Federals. Sigel was still advancing,
meeting with but little resistance, and had reached the point
where the cross-road he was pursuing connected with the road
which follows the course of Wilson's Creek. But his soldiers,
on finding themselves in the midst of the enemy's camps, quickly
disbanded. They were three months' volunteers, whose term of
service had expired several days before, and who had been induced
by the solicitations of their chiefs to remain another week under
their banners, but they had lost all their zeal, and only fought
en amateurs, sparing themselves in order to be able to return at
once to their homes. On the other hand, the Confederates were
gathering their forces for the purpose of resisting this new attack.
One of their batteries had already turned its fire upon Sigel's
troops and caused considerable disorder in their ranks. Then
McCullocli placed himself at the head of a Louisiana regiment
and marched against them. It appears that this regiment hoisted
the Federal colors, and that the Union troops, deceived by that
stratagem, did not fire upon them, under the impression that it
Digitized by VjOOQIC
336 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
was a detachment from Lyon^s corps coming to their assistanoe.
When the mistake was discovered, it was too late j the Confeder-
ates, coming up to the charge, routed Sigel's first line ; the Texans,
who had formed again, and a Missouri regiment of cavaliy fol-
lowed close in the wake of McCuUoch, and completely dispersed
the Federals. Sigel's artillery was abandoned by the troopa
whose duty it was to support it, and only one piece could be
saved, the other five, with their caissons, falling into the hands
of the enemy. Sigel's disaster was irreparable; his cavaliy only
bethought them to regain Springfield, and he was barely able to
retain three hundred men about him, with whom he rapidly fell
back by the road he had followed in the morning. His losses,
however, had not been heavy : he only left behind him fifteen
killed and twenty wounded, with two hundred and thirty-one
prisoners ; but the remainder of his column was dispersed, each
man following to the best of his knowledge the direction of
Springfield. It was half-past eight o'clock in the morning.
Lyon had committed the error of dividing his forc^ in front
of an enemy superior in numbers, and of making Sigel perform
so eccentric a movement that the two columns could not afford
each other mutual support.
While Sigel was thus crushed, the Confederates returned with
renewed vigor to attack the positions conquered by Lyon. It
was a terrible assault for the small Federal army, which liad no
longer any reserves. The artillery was in the greatest danger.
For nearly an hour the two hostile lines oscillated, without being
able to gain on each other ; they fired upon each other at a dis-
tance of forty paces among the brushwood. Fortunately, the
men who served the Federal artillery were not disconcerted for
an instant. They only stopped firing grape into the enem/a
ranks for the purpose of dispersing a body of cavalry which
threatened the right fiank and rear of the army. The Federal
line, however, was at last compelled to fall back, and seemed
about to break. The Second Kansas came up to its support ; but
the colonel of this regiment, while he was leading it to the charge,
fell, seriously wounded. Lyon, who had already been wounded
twice, seeing the soldiers hesitate, rushed, sword in hand, to
place himself at their head, but he was in turn struck dead. This
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 337
event did not discourage his followers, who succeeded in main-
taining their positions, and the Confederates gave a moment's*
respite to their adversaries.
While Major Sturgis, who found himself in command, was
consulting with the other officers as to what course to pursue,, a
body of troops was seen advancing with the Federal flag flying
in the centre. Deceived for the third time by the same strata-
gem, the Unionists mistook the new comers for Sigel's column
and hailed them with triumphant shouts ; the latter replied by
opening a murderous fire upon them, while their artillery poured
canister into the Federal lines. All doubt was at an end ; these
were the forces who had just fought Sigel, and those guns had
been captured from his column, for the enemy's artillery had no
grape or canister. Attacked by McCuUoch's troops with all the
vigor that a recent success 'could inspire,, the Federals did not,
however, lose ground. The enemy came once more within a few
yards of their cannon's mouths, but failed to break their lines ;
and when he returned furiously to the charge, it was only to be
again repulsed. At last, when he Avas on the point of capturing
Totten's battery on the right, three regiments from the left wing,
which was not so hard pressed, rushed upon the assailants and.
threw them into disorder.
It was near eleven o'clock ; the Confederates, who believed:
their adversaries to be numerically much stronger than they
really were, had exhausted all their ammunition; and being;
themselves worn out, they ceased fighting altogether, confining
their operations to watching the enemy from a distance and to
securing defensive positions, in case the latter should renew the
combat. But the Union army was far from being able to resume
the oflensive. Its general had been killed, its losses were con-
siderable, and the regiments had become the more disorgan-
ized because nearly all the superior officers were disabled ; and as
no tidings of Sigel had been received, all the indications were*
that he had been defeated. A retreat, therefore, was determined
uiK)n. The Confederates did not dream of offering any opposi-
tion ; and the little Federal army, falling back slowly and in good
order, arrived at Springfield in the evening, where it was informedl
of Sigel's disaster and found the sad remnants of his brigade.
Vol. I.— 22
Digitized by VjOOQIC
338 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
The battle of Wilson's Creek was the most obstmately contested
of any that had yet been fought during that war ; it had cost the
Federals two hundred and twenty-three killed, seven hundred
and twenty-one wounded, and two hundred and nineiy-two pris-
oners. Deducting Sigel's troops, which had fought very badly, out
of the four thousand men that Lyon had with him, the losses
were nine hundred and nine in killed and wounded — ^that is to
say, one-fourth of their effective force — ^leaving thirty-one pris-
oners only in the hands of the enemy. The avowed losses of
the Confederates were somewhat heavier, the reports of tlieir
oflBoers acknowledging two hundred and sixty-five killed, eight
hundred wounded, and thirty prisoners ; other accounts received
at a later period figured these losses at one thousand seven hun-
dred and twenty-eight in killed and wounded.
Two or three additional regiments would perhaps have given
the victory to the Federals; but if they did not achieve it, that
bloody conflict was not without its advantages to them, for the
Confederates, paralyzed by the destruction of a portion of their
wagons and the want of ammunition, and astonished at such a
daring attack, did not venture to pursue them. McCuUoch b^an
again to vacillate, and allowed the Federals to reach Rolla unmo-
lested, which they could not have done but for the daring action
which cost the life of their leader. While the Confederate army
was slowly following in their wake, the news of the battle, of the
Federals' retreat, and of the trophies left by Sigel in the hands
of the enemy, spread rapidly throughout the country, and re-
kindled the fireis of insurrection everywhere.
At St. Louis a new revolt appeared so imminent that Fremont
was obliged to proclaim martial law in the city {&ai de siege). In
the north-eastern part of Missouri the Confederate Harris was
roaming about with a brigade of nearly three thousand men, un-
molested by the Federal detachments who were feebly pursuing
him. In the south-east the Confederates were assembling con-
siderable forces. Hardee and Pillow, each with a small division,
had been sent by Polk to operate on the right bank of the Missis-
sippi. Taking New Madrid as the base of their operations, they
'Oould have joined hands with J. Thompson in attacking either
Cape Girardeau or Pilot Knob, or even Rolla. The small anny
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON, 339
of Sturgis had arrived in that city on the 19th, and had halted
there ; since then his ranks had been thinned daily by the de-
parture of all the men whose term of service had expired, and
could not have resisted a vigorous attack. But the various Con-
federate generals, jealous of each other, could not come to an
agreement in order to seize the opportunity which presented it-
self. All their movements only ended in a mere skirmish, which
took place on the 19th near Charleston, where a few of J. Thomp-
son's troops were surprised and put to flight by a detachment of
Federal cavalry sent from Cape Girardeau. McCulloch, on his
part, did not dare to advance beyond Springfield ; and after re-
maining in that place for some time, he even withdrew toward
the south-west, restoring to Price at last entire freedom of action,
which that active old man knew so well how to turn to good
account.
In the midst of all this agitation, the State convention of Mis-
souri, which was in session at Jeflerson City, the political capital
of the State, had adjourned, after conferring full powers upon
the provisional governor, Mr. Gamble, appointed in place of
Jackson, who had gone over to the enemy. But as this function-
ary belonged to the Democratic party, he could not agree with
Fremont ; and his proclamations, which were intended to reassure
and encourage the owners of slaves who had remained loyal, soon
involved him in difficulties with the military commander of the
department. In fact, Fremont, seeing the insurrection spreading
more and more every day, and not knowing how to suppress it,
resorted to measures of intimidation; he assumed dictatorial
power which had never been conferred upon him, and on the
30th of August he issued a proclamation which threw the whole
West into a state of excitement. He declared all slaves belong-
ing to parties in arms against the Federal government to be free,
and threatened to have all persons upon whom a weapon of any
kind should be found, within the imaginary circle which he indi-
cated as occupied by his troops, to be shot on the spot. As to the
first point, it was in direct violation of existing laws, inasmuch as
the act of Congress of August 16th declared those slaves only to be
free who were employed in military works against the national gov-
ernment. By the second part of the order he subjected the life of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
340 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
every citizen to the caprices of a military authority, and exposed
the Union men to cruel reprisals on the part of the Confederates.
Mr. Lincoln, who could be firm when it was necessary to enforce
respect for the law, of which he was the principal guardian, pub-
licly repudiated this arbitrary act, and compelled Fremont to re-
voke it. This was the origin of a quarrel, which became more
and more embittered, between the authorities at Washington and
those of St Louis. The irregularities of the administrative
branches of the service, which increased from day to day, the
contracts awarded by favor to those around him, the abuse of
power in the distribution of grades among his personal friends,
constituted just causes of complaint against Fremont. Others
were added which had no foundation: for instance, he was
blamed for having erected fortifications around St. Louis at such
a critical moment, at the very time when immense works of the
same character were being built around Washington. The prin-
cipal fault of Fremont was in scattering his troops in such a man-
ner as to impair their usefulness, and in exposing them to be
everywhere attacked by an enemy who was active, well in-
formed, superior in numbers, and whose designs the Federal gen-
eral had never been able to fathom. Since the death of Lyon,
Price had not been confronted by an adversary capable of coping
with him.
While McCulloch waa making his way back into Arkansas,
Price was proceeding in a north-westerly direction, recruiting
volunteers in every county through which he passed, and on the
7th of September he met at Drywood Creek, near the Kansas
frontier, the troops of General Lane, who had some time since
entered Missouri, where his soldiers were committing all sorts of
depredations. Lane was driven back into Kansas, and Price oc-
cupied Fort Scott, which he found abandoned. Sturgis, on his
side, had quitted Rolla Avith his brigade, and was skirmishing in
the north of Missouri, where, in concert with Pope, he gave chase
to the subtle bands of secessionists devastating that country.
There were many affairs among the outposts at the South, but
the only one of the kind which deserves notice was the encounter
at Benuight's Mills on the 30th of August, where a party of Con-
federates attempted to surprise a Federal post, and were rqpolsed,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 341
leaving eighteen prisoners behind them. The safety of the large
rivers, which were to aid the future operations of the army,
obliged Fremont to increase the number of posts stationed along
their courses. A portion of the right bank of the Mississippi —
not very extensive, it is true, but along which there were various
points easily defended and of great use for closing the navigation
of the river — had been kept hitherto out of the field of war by the
neutrality of Kentucky. On the 4th of September the Confed-
erates determined to violate that neutrality by occupying Hick-
man and Columbas. They, moreover, sent reinforcements to
Buckner, who was organizing the rebel militia of the State, and
preparing to occupy all the most important positions. Among
these positions there was one of great importance to the Federals
in the river-war they were already contemplating : it was Padu-
cah, at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio. It was, in
feet, the key of the first of those two rivers whose deep waters
were to permit the Federal flotillas to penetrate into the very heart
of the Confederacy. Buckner was trying to forestall them. His
militia were only within a few kilometres of the city, which was
already making preparations to welcome their arrival, when, on
the 6th of September, there were landed tw^o regiments, which
General Grant had sent by water from Cairo, and which fortified
that position so as to protect it from any sudden attack.
Meanw^hile, since the battle of Wilson's Creek, Fremont had
persuaded himself that the occupation of Springfield ought to be
the paramount object of all his efforts, and that the possession of
ll^Iissouri depended upon it. He had forwarded considerable re-
inforcements to the troops who had fallen back upon RoUa.
One month earlier they would have ensured the victory to Lyon ;
but when Fremont undertook an expedition against Springfield,
he did not find a single enemy there, and Price was trying to
reach the borders of the Missouri by forced marches. His atten-
tion being completely engrossed by this fatal project, he thought
neither of reinforcing the garrisons stationed along the course of
the Missouri, nor of organizing an active corps which might have
been transported by steamers to any point that was threatened, nor
of withdrawing in time the garrisons of such posts as were too weak
to defend themselves. Orders from Washington still further in-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
342 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
creased his UDcertaiiity. He had^ for instance, been again directed
to send five thousand men fully equip{XKl for the defence of the
capital, which had already a garrison of seventy thousand men ;
he protested, but was obliged to send two Illinois r^ments to
the army of Kentucky. He hatl, however, fifty-five thousand
men left, out of which he could easily have disposed of a sufficient
force to keep Price in check. The garrisons which occupied Cairo,
Paducah, and the two points adjacent to Bird's Point, in Missouri,
and Fort Holt, in Kentucky, did not number less than twenty
thousand men;*
After driving Lane back into Kansas, Price marched against
Lexington. This little city, situated four hundred and eighty
kilometres above St. Louis, commanded the whole upper course
of the Missouri and secured communication with Fort Leaven-
worth. It had already been the object of a sudden attack a short
time before. One of the rebel bands which were arming every-
where at the news of Price's approach, and travelled fitr and wide
to serve him in the capacity of scouts, had suddenly burst upon
Lexington, where there was only a small garrison, and did not
withdraw until they had committed great havoc. The Federals
then determined to send fresh troops into that town, and Colonel
Mulligan was detached from Jefferson City and ordered to occupy
it with his Irish brigade and some other troops. He arrived on
the 9th of September, having proceeded as far as Sedalia by rail,
and marched thence by way of Warrensburg to the post to which
* The Rtrength and dispoflition of Fremont's army, including the home-guardfl,
were a^i follows :
At St. Louis 6,899 men.
Under Pope 6,488 "
At Lexington 2,400 "
At JeflTerson City 9,677 "
AtRoUa 4,700 "
At Benton 3,059 "
At Cape Girardeau 650 "
At Bird's Point and Norfolk .....3,510 "
At Cairo.. 4,826 "
At Fort Holt 3,595 "
At Paducah 7.791 «
Under Lane 2,200 "
At Monroe and near Cairo... l-^P? "
Total- 55,695 "
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 343
he had been assigned. Including one regiment left at Warrens-
burg, he found himself at the head of two thousand seven hundred
men, among whom was one regiment of cavalry, with a portion
of the home-guards — ^a kind of militia very little accustomed to
war. These forces would have been sufficient to repulse mere
bands of marauders ; but being sent to the neighborhood of Price's
army, they afforded him an opportunity for a success without being
able to offer him any serious resistance. Mulligan found no re-
sources nor any means of defence at Lexington. His soldiers
Lad only forty rounds of cartridge, and he brought but six small
brass cannon and two howitzers with him, with no ammunition
whatever for the latter, while the town was unprotected by any
fortifications. He at once set himself to the task of throwing up
a few strong works upon a hill which commanded Lexington, and
on which the college was situated. But the configuration of the
ground obliged him to give these works too much development,
which prevented him from completing them, imposing at the
same time an increase of labor upon their not very numerous
defenders.
In the mean time. Price was advancing by forced marches, and
on the morning of the 11th of September he reached Warrensburg
with his cavalry ; but the Federal regiment which had been left
there, and which he had hoped to surprise, had quitted the place
a few hours before. His infantry followed it with all possible
speed, leaving baggage, provisions, and stragglers far behind, and
subsisting upon whatever they could obtain from the inhabitants
of the country. On the 12th he appeared before Lexington with
his cavalry. On the afternoon of the 13th his army was drawn
up in the vicinity of that town, and he at once invested all the
positions in which Mulligan had entrenched himself. A lively
fire was kept up on both sides. The Confederates occupied the city ;
but being worn out by their marches, and soon finding themselves
short of ammunition, they did not press the Federals very close ;
they took up their position for the night at a certain distance, but
yet in sight of their works.
The siege of Lexington had commenced. Mulligan still re-
mained in communication with the river, where he had a steamer.
He could have us^ this vessel to evacuate his positions and cross
Digitized by VjOOQIC
344 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
to the other bank^ where he would have been in safety^ but be
was without instructions, and he deemed it his duty to defeDd
Lexington, Greneral J. C. Davis being at Jefferson City with ten
thousand men, whence he could easily send him sufficient rein-
forcements by water. Price neglected nothing that could con-
tribute to the success of his enterprise and at the same time divert
the attention of his adversary. He sent a detachment westward
to Blue Mills Landing, near the Kansas frontier, with orders to
cross to the left bank of the Missouri and to intercept any rein-
forcements which might come to the assistance of the Federals
from that side. From another quarter he summoned Green, the
principal leader of the bands from Northern Missouri, to cross the
river with more than three thousand men, who were immediately
directed against Boone ville. On the 13th Green made a vigorous
attack upon the small garrison of that town ; and although he did
not succeed in capturing it, the chief object of his demonstration
was accomplished, for it deceived the Federals and made them
believe that Price's intentions were to attack Booneville and Jef-
ferson City. During this time the Confederate general was
quietly waiting in front of Lexington for the opportune moment
to strike a decisive blow. His position and his purposes were
known throughout Missouri; Fremont alone continued obsti-
nately blind. On every side old men as well as young, mount-
ing their horses and throwing their guns over their shoulders,
rushed to the rendezvous at Lexington to take part in the victory
to which Price invited them. He thus saw his array swelled to
the number of twenty-two thousand or twenty-three thousand men
in a few days. Mulligan had written to his chief stating that he
should defend himself to the last extremity ; he had the right to
expect succor ; he had incessantly asked for it, and was expecting
it from day to day. Not a man was sent to him, nor any in-
structions, although he remained in his positions until the 17th
without being molested by the enemy, and altliough his danger-
ous situation was the theme of common conversation in St, Louis
and throughout the Union. After many days of hesitancy, Fre-
mont became at last convinced that something must be done to
extricate Mulligan, but the measures adopted by him could not
prevent the disaster, which he still persisted in not foreseeing.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 346
He should have embarked the best part of the garrison of Jeffer-
son City and ordered it to occupy some favorable point on the
right bank of the Missouri about a day's march from Lexington ;
and in like manner he should have brought to that point troops
from St. Louis, which could have been replaced by detaching two
regiments from Cairo ; and finally, he should have summoned both
Pope and Sturgis to his assistance. At the head of these forces,
thus united, he could have marched against Price, always resting
upon the river. He did nothing of the kind, but simply ordered
J. C. Davis on the 14th to send two regiments by rail to Lexington,
which he again posted immediately at Jefferson City. Sturgis,
detached from Pope's division and deprived of his cavalry, was
ordered to proceed by rail from Mexico, where he then was, to
Utica, whence he was to gain the bank of the Missouri by land in
front of Lexington. He waited until the 18th to order J. C. Davis
to go to Mulligan's assistance with the greatest portion of his
troops, and directed him to follow the railway to Sedalia. This
road having been cut nearly in the middle by the Confederate
partisans, he thereby imposed a march of five or six days upon
troops whose means of transportation were altogether insufficient
In the mean time, the Confederates had gained advantages which
were to secure their success.
In fact, the number of Price's soldiers was increasing daily.
The detachment he had sent to the west had rallied all the par-
tisans who occupied the borders of the upper Missouri as far as
St. Joseph, and had thus collected together a body of nearly four
thousand men, which was directed upon Lexington. On the 17th,
while approaching the Blue Mills Landing, where he intended to
cross the river, these troops were attacked by one of Sturgis's regi-
ments detached on that side ; but after a short engagement he
drove back the Federals, inflicting serious losses upon them, and
continued his route without further molestation.
On the following day, the 18th, Lexington itself became the
scene of a conflict which was to decide the fate of the garrison.
Price saw himself at last surrounded by a numerous army, badly
organized for a regular campaign, it is true, but full of ardor and
capable of making a brave fight in an enclosed field such as it oc-
cupied. He had received all his ammunition, and his artillery
Digitized by VjOOQIC
346 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
was well supplied. On the morning of the 18th he ordered a
general attack. All the heights which overlooked the Federal
works were crowned with batteries. Owing to his numerical
strength, Price was enabled to invest the place completely. The
division of Rains took position eastward of the town, that of Par-
sons on the south and south-west, while Slack's division, supported
by the brigades of McBride and Harris, penetrated into the town
and established itself strongly in the buildings which the Federab
had abandoned several days before. The battle b^an at once all
along the line. The Confederate artillery did great damage to the
besieged, who replied but feebly ; but being posted behind the en-
trenchments which they had raised by incessant labor, they kept
up a heavy fire of musketry against Price's soldiers. Every time
that the latter attempted to carry any of the works they were re-
pulsed with loss. The Confederates, however, discovered the
weak point of the defence, and hastened to take advantage of it
The troops who had penetrated into the town extended their
lines to the edge of the river, thus occupying the intervening
space between it and the Federal entrenchments. A steamer
laden with provisions lay moored at the wharf; it was the only
means of communication with the outside world left to Mulligan.
The Confederates took possession of her. A heavy fire was im-
mediately opened upon them from a few houses situated in a com-
manding position between the fortifications and the Missouri.
Among these houses there was a hospital. The Federals have
asserted since, that their adversaries b^n to riddle it with balls;
the latter, on the other hand, have insisted that the first shots
were fired from that building. Be that as it may, the Confed-
erates made an assault upon it, and carried it after a brief en-
gagement. The Federals did not acknowledge themselves beaten.
Eighty soldiers returned to the charge, recaptured the hospital,
and drove those who had made a lodgment back toward the river.
But this success was not of long duration. McBride and Harris,
having considerable forces at their disposal, arrived in large nom-
bers, sweeping before them the handful of men who had for a
moment disputed the possession of the hospital, and established
themselves securely in that position. It was a fatal blow to the
defenders, for it cut them ofi* from the river, from all hopes of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON, 347
relief and every chance of escape, and, what was still worse, from
the only point where they could procure water. There was, in
deed, neither spring nor cistern on the hill where Mulligan had
taken up his position. Thus, in spite of the check experienced
by the Confederates wherever they had attempted to carry the en-
trenchments by main force, the night, which finally put an end to
that bloody strife, found the Federal chiefs full of the gravest
anxiety. The heat was intense ; the supply of water could only
last one day longer ; a large number of horses belonging to the
regiment of cavalry had been killed, and their carcases would
infect the air ; provisions were beginning to give out, and the
ammunition was nearly exhausted. Mulligan had set an exam-
ple of the most heroic courage. Wherever there was any danger
to be encountered he was seen on the spot, and his zeal alone
sustained his men in that emergency. His only hope was in the
arrival of reinforcements, so often asked and so impatiently
looked for.
This wish was about to be fulfilled ; but so far from ameliorat-
ing his condition, it was only to render it the more galling by
condemning him to suflFer the torments of Tantalus. Sturgis had
indeed arrived with his troops on the 19th on the opposite side
of the Missouri, as Fremont had directed him ; but being without
cavalry, he had not been able to scout, and instead of the trans-
port-boats he had counted upon, he found the shore where he
should have landed lined with the enemy's skirmishers. Having
no means of crossing, he was compelled to fall back and give up
all hope of revictualling the besieged. At the same time, a
steamer with a battalion of troops from Jefferson City stopped
on the way, and landed that reinforcement out of reach of the
besieged town. The forces of J. C. Davis, stretching along the line
of the Sedalia Railway and around Warrensburg, could no longer
arrive in time to save Mulligan. The latter still kept up the
fight during the whole of the 19th, the following night, and the
morning of the 20th. The numerical superiority of the Confed-
erates enabled them to relieve each other frequently, so as to give
no rest to their adversaries. The amateurs, who, without wearing
any uniform or belonging to any regiment, came there with their
rifles to fire upon the unfortunate men who occupied the sununit
Digitized by VjOOQIC
348 THE CIVIL WAR m AMERICA.
of the hill, were still namerous and extremely dextrous. The
fire of the artillery was scarcely ever slackened. The situation of
the Federals was becoming intolerable ; some of them were only
armed with pistols ; water began to fail ; the heat increased, and
their strength was giving way. On the 20th, the Confederates,
having resolved to make an end, piled up large packages of wet
hemp, which they pushed in front of them against the entrench-
ments, like gabions at the head of a sap, to protect themselves
against the balls of the enemy. In this manner they qoicklj
approached the works, behind which stood men too much ex-
hausted to offer any serious resistance. The home-guards took to
flight and hoisted the white flag, without waiting for orders from
Mulligan. The latter, seeing that it was useless to struggle any
longer, determined at last to send a flag of truce to the Con-
federates, who suspended operations in order to settle the terms
of capitulation ; and he laid down his arms, with two thousand
seven hundred men. It was a great triumph for Price. He did
not abuse his power, but paid full homage to the valor of his op-
ponents. The soldiers, whom he had no means of subsisting,
were released on parole; the officers remained prisoners. The
losses of the Federals amounted to twenty-five killed and seventy-
five wounded, according to report. Those of the Confederates
were never precisely known, in consequence of the number of
volunteers* who were not enrolled in any regiment. Price only
acknowledged twenty-five killed and seventy-two wounded.
Ill fortune seemed determined to pursue the Federal arms.
The news of this disaster caused a great sensation in the North;
but instead of discouraging her people, it only served to strengthen
the manly resolves adopted two months before. In Missouri, on
the contrary, it caused great consternation among the Unionists.
It called forth everywhere severe criticisms against' Fremont
The latter concluded at last that it was time for him to do some-
thing. He collected his forces from all parts, and on the 27th*
of September he started by rail from St. Louis, with an army of
twenty thousand men, composed of five divisions under the
respective commands of Generals Hunter, Pope, Sigel, McKins-
try, and Asboth, and accompanied by eighty-six pieces of artil-
lery. On the following day he arrived at Jefferson City, which
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTOK 349
he thought was threatened by Price, and the garrison of which
was still further to increase the number of his forces. If, instead
of waiting for the fall of Lexington, he had assembled this army
ten days sooner, he would have prevented the capitulation ; and
the rapidity of his movements after that misfortune shows the
error he committed in not succoring the besieged place in time.
Price was not so imprudent as to give him an opportunity to
rectify that mistake. His object had been accomplished; he
had rallied together all the bands from Northern Missouri and
achieved a brilliant success. But he did not expect to be able tb
maintain himself long on the borders of the river, and he had
just learned that Hardee, in the south-east, instead of advancing,
had fallen back upon Madrid. Not being able to obtain pro-
visions for all the soldiers gathered around him, he discharged a
portion of them, directing them to meet him in the south-western
part of the State, which was his usual rallying-point. In thus
keeping close to the Arkansas frontier he secured the co-opera-
tion of McCulloch, who was still in that State. It was necessary
to act with promptness, for the Federals threatened to press him
closely. While Fremont was gathering his forces and Sturgis
was preparing to cross the Missouri, Lane sent some mounted
troops to harass Price's rear. Consequently, on the 24th of
September, a Confederate detachment which occupied the pass
of the Osage at Osceola was surprised and put to flight by a
party of four hundred Federal mounted men from Kansas, and
the d6p6t which they were guarding was given up to plunder.
But Price deceived his adversaries by sending his cavalry to
threaten several points at once, and by means of forced marches
he succeeded in escaping them with the troops he had retained
about him. He started on the 27th, the very day on which Fre-
mont began his march, and quickly gained the borders of the
Osage, which his soldiers crossed in boats constructed by their
own hands. Thence he proceeded towards Neosho, where McCul-
loch was awaiting him with five thousand men. It was in this
town, situated on the frontier of the Indian Territory, that the
legislature, faithful to the cause of the South, had assembled and
proclaimed the secession of a State over which it no longer ex-
ercised any authority.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
350 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Price having escaped^ Fremont determined to pursue him, but
this was not an easy matter, for the Federal army, which had been
able to move by rail or steamboats, did not possess the necessary
means of transportation for a long march across the State of
Missouri. It was ill supplied with provisions, the mattriel was
entirely wanting, and Fremont, who had no knowledge of this
state of things, was constantly ordering his generals to make
movements which the latter were not in a condition to execute.
Consequently, his army continued in a state of inactivity, along
the line of railways between Sedalia and Tipton, until the middle
of October, and the disorder of administration was such that
provisions could hardly be obtained even in a locality so favor-
able for procuring them. In the mean while, the army had in-
creased to a total of sixty thousand men,* nearly forty thousand
of whom were combatants.
While the two principal armies were thus at a distance from
each other, detached corps were endeavoring to effect reciprocal
surprises, and their encounters caused numerous skirmishes, which
at times assumed the proportions of more serious engagements.
Two squadrons of Federal cavalry, which had been sent on a
reconnaissance south-west from Rolla, in the direction of Lebanon,
fell upon a party of mounted men of the enemy, thirty kilometres
from that town, and charging them sabres in hand put them to
flight after killing a certain number and taking thirty prisoners.
On the day following they surprised a whole platoon of mounted
Confederates in the village of Linn Creek. A column of infan-
try which was to re-establish communication between Rolla and
Springfield, as soon as Fremont should reach the latter pointy was
advancing behind them.
The Confederates, on their side, were trying to worry their op-
ponents by threatening the Pilot Knob line of railway. J. Thomp-
* The active portion of this army was thus divided, according to their re-
spective localitien, on the 14th of October :
Ist division, Hunter, at Tipton .... 9,750 men.
2d
((
Pope, at Georgetown
9,220
3d
u
Sigel, at Sedalia
. . 7,980
4th
it
Asboth, at Tipton
6,451
5th
It
McKinstrj, at Syracuse .
5,388
38,789
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 351
son, who had never left the south-eastern part of the State, gath^
ered all his troops for the purpose of attacking the three regi-
ments guarding the extremity of the line, under Colonel Carlin ;
on the 15th of October he captured a post of fifty men stationed
at Big River bridge, and burned the bridge, which was the largest
along the line. The garrison of Pilot Knob found itself thus
isolated from St. Louis. Colonel Carlin immediately sent a regi-
ment after him, which attacked him while he was retreating south-
eastward, and vigorously harassed his rear-guard. But the Fed-
erals soon encountered the principal corps firmly established at
Fredericktown, and, being unable to dislodge, it withdrew after a
brisk discharge of musketry. The position of Carlin was be-
coming perilous. Fremont, who had quitted the Sedalia Railway
to place himself at the head of his columns, was far from any
telegraphic station, and could not be consulted. Fortunately, his
assistant adjutant-general. Captain McKeever, had remained at
St. Louis in the exercise of all his powers. He immediately
adopted effective measures for keeping Thompson in check. Two
regiments of infantry, with a battery of artillery, under Major
Schofield, were sent to the relief of Carlin ; notwithstanding the
destruction of the bridge, these reinforcements soon joined him,
and he was enabled to place himself at their head and attack
Thompson at once. In the mean time. Grant was increasing the
garrison at Cape Girardeau, and Colonel Plummer, with a brigade
of fifteen hundred men, was sent from that point to assist Carlin
in cutting off Thompson's retreat. Two separate columns thus
marched upon Fredericktown; but a despatch from Plummer
having fallen into Thompson's hands, the latter, thus apprised of
the danger he was incurring, had stolen away by a rapid march ;
and when the Federals met in that city on the morning of the
21st, they found no enemy there. In the mean while, Thompson's
brigade, which had adopted the nickname of its chief, who was
called the Swamp Fox, far from wishing to avoid a fight, had
gone to take position at a short distance from Fredericktown,
where it awaited the Federals. That brigade was scarcely two
thousand men strong; some were armed with fowling-pieces,
others with muskets of very poor quality, but all were broken
to the rough trade they were following, inured to privations, and
Digitized by VjOOQIC
352 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
resolved to fight the superior forces opposed to them. Immedi-
ately upon his arrival, Plummer, with his brigade and the largest
portion of Carlin's, marched against them. The combat begins
at once. Plummer deploys his infantry, and Schofield soon ap-
pears upon the field with part of his artillery, which has an im-
mense advantage over the four small pieces of the Confederates.
The latter, crushed by the fire, fall back along the line. The
Federals press them vigorously, the cavalry makes a charge, and
their retreat is soon turned into a complete rout. Eighty prison-
ers remain in the hands of Plummer, who continues the pursuit
until evening. Having only a sufficient quantity of provisions
left to return to Cape Girardeau, he retraces his steps to that post,
while Carlin returns to Pilot Knob, where the brigade of the
Swamp Fox could never again come to molest him.
Fremont had at last succeeded in putting his columns in mo-
tion; and while a detachment of his troops once more took pos-
session of Lexington, setting free a certain number of Union
prisoners left there and capturing seventy of the enemy's men, the
Federal forces pursued their toilsome march towards the Osage.
On the 16th of October Fremont reached that river in the vicinity
of Warsaw, but its swollen waters rendered the ford impracticable
and made it necessary to construct hastily a trestle-bridge. This
work occupied five days, and on the 21st the whole army crossed
the Osage. The transport train had by this time been organized,
and it followed the Bolivar road on its way to Springfield. On
the 24th Fremont reached the borders of Pomme de Terre Eiver,
eighty kilometres from that city ; and he sent Major Zagonyi, an
old Hungarian officer, at the head of two squadrons called body-
guards, with one hundred and fifty skirmishers, to make a recon-
naissance. On the afternoon of the 25th Zagonyi came in sight
of Springfield, Up to this time he had only met a few isolated
partisans, and expected to find that city garrisoned by a few hun-
dred men, whom he hoped to surprise, when he learned that it was
occupied by nearly two thousand of the Confederates. Although
his force only consists of the two squadrons of body-guards,
numbering about one hundred and fifty men, the other troops
having abandoned him, this brave officer prepares to attack the
enemy's posts outside of the city, which have already noticed his
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 353
ap])roach. He orders his little troop to draw their sabres, and
then rushes into a narrow road which it is necessary to traverse
in order to reach the enemy. He is received by a well-sustained
fire ; a large number of his followers are left on the spot ; a log.
fence is demolished under the fire, and the Federals are at last
able to deploy. Some charge the infantry, who, astonished at
such an attack, take refuge in disorder in an adjoining wood.
The remainder, supported by about fifty skirmishers who have
now rejoined their chief, attack the enemy's cavalry, which was
preparing, according to the custom of the country, to fight with
the rifle. They are not allowed time to execute their intentions,
and the onset of the little Federal band disperses them in an in-
stant. Zagonyi pursues them into the town, which the Confed-
erates abandon in haste ; he halts to free a certain number of
Union soldiers whom he found there ; but fearing lest he might be
surrounded as soon as the enemy has discovered his weakness, he
retires during the night, carrying twenty-seven prisoners with
him, and leaving about fifty wOunded and a few stragglers behind.
The losses of the Confederates amounted to more than one hun-
dred men killed. The affair of Springfield was the more brilliant
for the Federal arms because it was tiie first time during the war-
that a charge aufondy with drawn sabres, had been made.
Two days after, the heads of columns of the Federal army ar-
rived at Springfield, and three divisions of that army were soon
united in the neighborhood of the town. This time Fremont had
succeeded in putting his troops in motion and in surmounting the
difficulties in the way of transportation which had hitherto caused
all his operations to miscarry. He aimed at nothing less than to-
invade Arkansas, and to descend with his army as far as New
Orleans ; so little value was then placed upon the capacity of the^
Confederacy for resistance. But a single march to the southern
frontier of the State of Missouri was a laborious enterprise for*
that army, whose provisions were nearly exhausted and whose
administrative service was yet so very defective. Its greatest
difficulty was to overtake an enemy who knew how to disperse,,
and who, certain of finding means of subsistence in the midst of a
sympathizing population, could always elude him. Moreover,.
Price and McCuUoch had not considered themselves safe at
Vol. I.— 23
Digitized by VjOOQIC
354 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Neosho. They had at first retired to Pineville, only a few mUes
from Arkansas ; but the Missourians having refused to leave their
own State, Price had brought them back to Cassville, from which
place he watched the movements of the Federals at a distance.
Deceived by exaggerated rumors, Fremont had thought himself
menaced by this force, and had sent in great haste for Pope's
division, which had been kept back by the difficulties of the
route, as well as that of Hunter. At the same time, he had or-
dered Grant to make some strong demonstrations in front of
Cairo, on the left bank of the Ohio, for the purpose of preventing
the Confederate general Polk from sending reinforcements to
Price from Columbus across the Mississippi. *
Pope having at last arrived, Fremont resolved, on the 3d of
November, to march upon Wilson's Creek, and give battle to
Price, whom he had expected to find on the very ground where
Lyon had perished three months before. This was a serious mis-
take, for the Missouri general was then quietly established at
Cassville. In the midst of these preparations he received intelli-
gence that the President had recalled him and appointed General
Hunter in his place. Being too imaginative to make a good ad-
ministrative officer, he had allowed malpractices to be committed
by those around him, which justified this severe measure. Foresee-
ing the chance of his displacement, threats had been uttered against
the government by those about his person, which the chief magis-
trate of a free and faithful people could not tolerate. On the
other hand, nearly all his lieutenants were in open hostility
against him. In short, he had on many occasions usurped politi-
cal powers. The di^vowal of his proclamation by Mr. Lincob
had been no lesson to him, and he had again overstepped his pre-
rogatives by a strange convention negotiated with Price. He had
agreed with the general against whom he was waging war to sign
a proclamation binding both contracting parties to prohibit the
formation of partisan bands, and promising to all those who
might be willing to return to their homes that they should not be
disturbed for any part they had taken in the war. Fremont thiia
fell into the opposite extreme of the error he had committed in
his proclamation of August 30th, which had called forth Mr. Lin-
coln's condemnation. This arrangement was altogether to the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON, 355
advantage of Price, who, being on the point of quitting Missouri,
thus secured to his soldiers the means of quietly returning to their
homes to wait for a better opportunity. It is needless to say that
Hunter promptly repudiated that instrument.
Fremont was popular among his soldiers. The conqueror of
California, by his good qualities, as well as his defects, pleased
those rugged and adventurous men of the West, and was a fair
representative of their ardent views in all political matters. Con-
sequently, the news of his recall created much excitement among
the encampments which surrounded Springfield. But no one
ventured to call into question the supreme authority of the Presi-
dent Among the many expressions of deep regret, not a disloyal
word was uttered either by the chief or his soldiers. Those
American armies were the ofispring of a people too law-abiding
for sentiments of that description to find vent.
On the evening of the 3d, Hunter not having yet rejoined the
army, Fremont^ at the request of several officers, made all his
arrangements for the battle which, he persisted in thinking, was to
be fought on the following day. But his successor having arrived
during the night, he left for St. Louis, carrying with him the s}''mpa-
thies of the largest portion of the troops. By an order which may
seem to have been too severe, his body-guards were disbanded ;
that ridiculous appellation proved a misfortune to them, and made
people forget their brilliant charge at Springfield. On the morn-
ing of the 4th Hunter sent out reconnoitring parties, who failed
to meet the enemy, and on the day following he went himself to
visit the battle-field of Wilson's Creek in person. Price had
never gone beyond Cassville. Although Fremont had enjoined
his soldiers to obey his successor as himself. Hunter did not fail
to perceive that there was much feeling among the troops, and less
confidence ; he did not think, moreover, that the army supplies
were sufficient to begin a new campaign against an enemy who
appeared determined not to be overtaken. Not being able any
longer to procure means of subsistence for all his soldiers at
Springfield, he fell back upon Rolla, followed at a distance by
Price, who halted at the first of the former towns.
In the mean time. Grant prepared to execute the orders of
Fremont, notwithstanding the recall of this chief, to whom it is
Digitized by VjOOQIC
S56 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
but just to attribute a portion of the responsibility for the reveree
which was the consequence of his last instructions. Fremont, as
we have stated, desired to prevent the enemy from sending rein-
forcements from Kentucky and Tennessee into Missouri by way
of Columbus. The Confederates had surrounded the latter place
with vast fortifications, in order to render themselves absolute
masters of that locality, and to close the navigation of the Mb-
eissippi against the Federals; batteries armed with a powerful
artillery were erected at every point which commanded the course
of the river, and the defenders of that place, considering it im-
pregnable, had called it the Gibraltar of the West Supplies and
ammunition of every kind had been accumulated there, and the
troops who had assembled there since the beginning of Novem-
ber had formed at last a veritable army. The opposite bank was
absolutely commanded by the batteries of Columbus. In order
to intercept any reinforcements on their way to join Price, it
required a large number of troops to operate upon both banks of
the Mississippi. On the Missouri side a force could proceed a
long distance from the river, and attack all the troops whidi
might be on the march to effect a junction with Price ; on the
Kentucky side it was sufficient to make a serious demonstration
against Columbus, to oblige the enemy to hold all his forces there.
On the 2d of November, Grant waus ordered by Fremont to send
a few troops in pursuit, of a detachment of three thousand men,
who, it was reported, were on their way to Cassville and had
reached the St. Francis River, in Missouri. Grant despatched
Colonel Oglesby with four regiments, also numbering about three
thousand men, to look for it in that direction. But on the 5th, he
received new instructions, directing him to make a demonstration
against Belmont, a landing-place situated opposite Columbus, in
order to prevent the garrison of the latter place from crossing the
river to go to Price's assistance.
Grant hastened to obey these instructions. But before describ-
ing the battle' of Belmont we must say a few words concerning
the two generals who were about to be brought in contact, and
the condition of the two armies placed under their respective com-
mands. The name of Greneral Grant, who had been in command
at Cairo and the neighboring posts since the 1st of September,
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LEXINGTON. 357
was then as unknown in America as in Europe. Laborious,
persevering, and reticent, he had displayed great personal bravery
during the Mexican war. After attaining the rank of captain
of infantry, he had left the army, and when the war broke out
was engaged in the leather trade. Without personal ambition,
but convinced that it was the imperative duty of those who had
received a military education at the expense of the State to rally
around the national flag, he entered a regiment from Illinois, his
native State, and soon became a colonel. He was to have the
good fortune of not attaining the highest positions too soon, but
he exercised from the beginning of the war commands almost
independent. He was thus able to profit by the experience of
those who were at first his superiors ; and when he attained the
highest rank, he had already acquired a profound knowledge of
the war which he was to be called upon to conduct.
Almost in front of him, at Columbus, were the headquarters of
the ranking commander of all the Confederate forces in the West.
The person who exercised these high functions would have been
more at home at the head of some feudal bands of the Middle
Ages, than as commander of an American army in the nineteenth
century. This was the Right Reverend Doctor Leonidas Polk,
Protestant Episcopal bishop of Louisiana. Educated at West
Point, Polk had left the army after serving two years, and had
entered the Church. But when the South took up arms, he re-
membered his military education ; and after having refused the
rank of brigadier-general, he could not resist the oflFer of a major-
generaPs epaulettes. Nevertheless, in donning the uniform, the
warlike prelate took care to declare that he did not renounce
either his holy calling or his episcopal functions, and he in-
formed his flock that he should return to his diocese as soon as he
had performed what he called his duties as a citizen. But he was
destined to die as a soldier, and not as a bishop. He was killed
by a cannon-ball on one of the battle-fields of Georgia in 1864,
at the very moment when fortune was declaring in favor of his
enemies.
At the time of which we are speaking. Grant had been invested
with a command altogether distinct from that of the Missouri —
one which placed the rivers that unite near Cairo under his special
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358 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
charge. He occupied Cape Girardeau, Commerce, and Bird's
Point, on the right bank of the Mississippi. His base of opera-
tions was at Cairo, in Illinois. After the neutrality of Kentucky
had been violated he had taken possession of the following points
in that State : Fort Holt, opposite Cairo, at the confluence of tbe
Ohio and the Mississippi; Paducah, at the confluence of the Ten-
nessee and the Ohio ; and Smithland, at the confluence of the
last-named river and the Cumberland. He thus commanded tbe
mouths of the three river lines which penetrated into the South.
A certain number of wooden gunboats, old merchant-vessels
armed in haste, and some large steamers, with several decks,
turned into transports, constituted a flotilla which connected these
different posts with each other. The Confederates, on their side,
had closed the three navigable routes, which their adversaries had
not yet any serious intention of disputing, by means of well-armed
works, of which Cofumbus was then the most important
On receiving the last instructions from Fremont, Grant imme-
diately sent an additional regiment to Oglesby, with orders to fall
back upon New Madrid, a little below Belmont, so as to threaten
that position, against which he was himself preparing to operate
directly. The attack was fixed for the 7th of November. On the
6th, Grant embarked upon three transport-ships, with five rai-
ments of infantry, one of cavalry, and a section of artillery^ three
thousand one hundred and fourteen men in all, forming two small
brigades, under General McClemand and Colonel Dougherty.
In the mean while, demonstrations were made upon both sides of
the river, one from Bird's Point and the other from Fort Holt,
but they were undertaken by such small parties, obliged to stop
at a distance so remote from the enemy, tliat they were without
results.
Pursuing his course on the Mississippi, Grant left his adv^-
saries in a state of uncertainty as to which side of the river he
would select for landing. In order to deceive them a little longer,
he stopped, the evening of the 6th, on the left bank ; and on the
morning of the 7th, his transport-ships were moored to the right
bank at a place called Hunter's Landing, situated above Colum-
bus, eight kilometres by water, but only five in a direct line, for
between these two points the river makes an elbow to eastward,
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'\
1^1 VM*
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEXINGTON. 359
which makes the distance greater. The woods surrounding Bel-
mont were so situated as to keep the point which Grant had
selected for landing out of sight of the batteries of Columbus.
Around this point there were a few cultivated fields ; then^ on
Hearing Belmont^ there is found a marshy forest, interspersed with
pools of water. This forest extends to the borders ol the river,
leaving only a small clearing, where rise the three houses consti-
'tuting the hamlet of Belmont. The Confederates had enlarged
the clearing and surrounded it with abaUia and breastworks.
This post was guarded by a single regiment of infantry and a
battery of six pieces ; but the Confederate scouts having given
timely signal of the landing of the Federals, which was effected
very slowly, Polk immediately sent Greneral Pillow from Colum-
bus with three regiments to reinforce the garrison of Belmont
before the battle could begin. He had, indeed, a number of
steamboats, which enabled him to transport his troops from one
side of the Mississippi to the other with great rapidity.
Once landed, the small forces of Grant deploy and march upon
Belmont. The fire of the skirmishers becomes more animated
as the troops advance through the forest; and the Confederates
having come out of their entrenchments for the purpose of meeting
the assailants, the combat soon becomes general. Most of the
Federals have never been under fire, but they bear themselves
bravely, owing to the example set to them by their chief. Grant,
McClernand, who, although a general, is making his first essay in
war, Colonels L(^an and Buford, who were afterwards to achieve
so much distinction, are all in the thickest of the fight. The
Confederates, closely pressed, are soon driven out of the woods,
but they gain courage behind their abaUia and defend themselves
resolutely. The Federals, on their side, find shelter in the forest,
which is sufiiciently near to the enemy's positions to enable them
to direct a wellnaustained fire upon him ; then, rushing to the as-
sault, they carry everything before them. Buford is the first to
enter the entrenchments and drive out the Confederates, who fly
in great disorder. They are pursued from all directions through
their camp, and their six guns fall into the hands of the assail-
ants. The latter, elated with their success, think the battle at an
end ; and while the Confederates are squatting close to the river
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360 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
banks^ whence they can regain the woods, where they can hide and
rally, the conquerors begin to pillage the camp, of which they
have taken possession, and give themselves up to the most bois-
terous demonstrations of joy. The bands play national aire,
hurrahs for the Union are shouted, and at last the officers them-
selves, as little experienced as their men, stop to make them pat-
riotic speeches. The troops have become completely disbanded,
while Grant, with a few of his most confidential associates^ who
have noticed the preparations of the enemy for resuming the offen-
sive, is vainly endeavoring to restore order and re-form the ranks.
Two powerful auxiliaries soon come to their aid ; on one hand.
Grant, with a view of putting an end to the pillage, orders the
camp to be fired, and the flames drive back towards him the men
who had turned a deaf ear to his commands ; on the other hand,
the cannoneers of Columbus, seeing that Belmont is entirely oc-
cupied by the assailants, direct upon them the fire of their heavy
guns, which had remained silent as long as friends and foes were
mingled in the fight. Those heavy projectiles, although not suffi-
cient in numbers to inflict serious losses upon the Federals, con-
vince them that their occupation of Belmont is an impossible
thing, and that it behooves them to hasten back to their boats.
But much precious time has been lost ; and while they are rally-
ing and preparing to retrace their steps towards Hunter's Landing
with the trophies they have taken, they perceive that the enemy
has returned in force and is manoeuvring to cut them off.
Pillow's soldiers, after their crushing defeat, seeing that thqr
were no longer pursued, had gathered in the woods adjoining the
river above Belmont. Polk, on his part, was fully determined
not to allow Grant to enjoy his success in peace, and sent, at two
different times, six regiments, numbering about four thousand
men, under Greneral Cheatham, to attack him. These troops were
landed above Belmont, out of sight of the Federal gunboats, which
the Columbus batteries held in check, and just as the Federals
were beginning their march they had already deployed, so as to
intercept their retreat towards Hunter's Landing. It was a severe
trial for Grant's young soldiers to see their passage barred by the
enemy ; but again the example of their leaders urged them on.
The Confederate line which sought to interrupt their return was
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LEXINGTON. 361
yet very weak and badly supported. It was at once broken, and the
Federals opened for themselves a passage, not, however, without
leaving many of their comrades on the ground. But the impetus
which had enabled them to break down this barrier increased,
whereas it should have been checked, and the retreating troops
have fallen back slowly, in order to prevent confusion and keep
the adversary in check. Four of the pieces of cannon captured
from the Confederates are soon abandoned. The articles picked
up in the camp at Belmont, and then the personal effects of the
soldiers, their knapsacks and canteens, strew the road. It is in
vain that the Federal gunners, with the two remaining guns, try
to halt for the purpose of firing upon the enemy, who presses
them closer and closer ; they can find nobody to support them.
In the mean time, Polk arrives in person on the field of battle
with two fresh regiments, which increase the forces engaged on
his side to at least six or seven thousand men. While a portion
of his soldiers are harassing the rear of the Federals, he attacks
the column which is hastening towards Hunter's Landing in
flank. Fortunately for it, this movement is executed too late ; and
the Federals are able to form in an open field, near which they
had landed in the morning. The embarkation is effected in the
greatest hurry and confusion. Several officers of superior rank
have been killed or wounded during the retreat ; most of the regi-
ments are disintegrated, and a disorderly mass crowds the decks
of the transportnships. They hoist on board, with great difficulty,
the two pieces of cannon captured from the enemy, together with
two others which had accompanied the expedition, but are obliged
to abandon the caissons belon^ng to the latter. The battalion
left there in the morning, to protect the approaches to the landing,
had abandoned its post without orders to return on board the
boat, and many detaclunents which had been sent to pick up the
wounded were captured by the enemy. Grant himself, who was
among the last to remain on shore, came very near being left be-
hind ; the last steamer had already unmoored under the fire of ^
the Confederates, who were rapidly approaching, when he ap-
peared at the water's edge. A simple plank was thrown to him
in haste, over which he passed on horseback, with a few officers
who accompanied him. Colonel Dougherty, while endeavoring to
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362 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
rally the Seventh Iowa, whose officers were nearly all disabled,
was seriously wounded and taken prisoner. As the steamers were
getting under way they were riddled with balls by the enemy,
who was only fifty metres from the bank, but, strange to say,
only one man was killed ; and soon the two vessels, firing grape
into the Confederate ranks, compelled them to seek shelter in the
woods. While slowly ascending the river the steamers picked up
many soldiers, either single or marching in squads, who had gone
astray and had reached the river bank. Finally, very late in the
evening, the flotilla came to anchor in front of Cairo. Grant im-
mediately sent an order to Oglesby to leave New Madrid and re-
turn to the point whence he had started — an order which that
officer promptly and successfully executed. The two demonstra-
tions which had been ordered for the day previous had been made,
but without discovering any enemy.
The battle of Belmont cost Grant, it is said, thirty-four killed,
two hundred and eighty-eight wounded, and two hundred and
thirty-five prisoners. The loss which he inflicted upon the enemy
was much greater : he captured about one hundred and fifty men
and two pieces of cannon ; the retreat, however, was too precipi-
tate for the result of the expedition to be r^arded as a sucoesB.
If, as the public believed. Grant had intended to take up his
position at Belmont, the affair was a complete failure. The fact
of Oglesby's column being sent to New Madrid, to the south
of Belmont, would seem to justify that assumption. Such an
intention, however, should not be attributed to him, as it would
imply that he was ignorant of the strength of Polkas army
and of the configuration of the ground, which placed Belmont
at the mercy of the guns of Columbus. It appears in reality
that Grant's project was to make a simple demonstration, without
carrying the attack to a conclusion, but he was afraid of dis-
couraging his troops by stopping *them before they had been
seriously engaged. At all events, even after the capture of the
camp, if, instead of dispersing, they had pursued Pillow's soldiers
and fallen back immediately afterwards, they would have been
satisfied with their success, and he could have led them back
without loss. The fight at Belmont was nothing more than an
isolated incident which could have no serious consequences. The
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LEXINGTON. 363
Korth was much troubled^ regarding it as a defeat^ while in the
8)uth it was glorified as a victory; but the Federal troops de-
rived from it reliance upon their own courage, and their generals
acquired a little of that experience which they needed. They
began to understand that it was not by disjointed and insignificant
efforts that they could accomplish a task of such magnitude as
that of conquering the whole course of the Mississippi.
Important changes among superior officers paved the way for
the banning of a new era in the war. On tiie 1st of Novem-
ber McClellan had succeeded Scott in the supreme conlmand of
the armies, and he had entrusted the department of the West to
Greneral Halleck, an educated and methodical officer, whose name
will henceforth be frequently mentioned in these pages.
The new chief, who arrived in St. Louis on the 16th of No-
vember, set to work at once to collect the necessary means for
undertaking a serious campaign by water ] in order to do this, it
required more troops than Grant was able to furnish, numerous
steamers for transportation, and gun-boats able to cope with the
heavy artillery of the Confederate forts. The preparations for
this campaign continued until the year 1862.
In the mean time, Halleck was occupied in reorganizing the
army of the Missouri, which Hunter had left him after a few
days' command, exchanging the department of the West for that
of Kansas. He introduced into it a severe discipline, and finally
succeeded in establishing order and method in the administrative
service. As we have already stated. Hunter's retreat to Rolla
had surrendered a great portion of Missouri to Price. The lat-
ter had taken advantage of the liberty thus granted Iiim to return
northvrard towards those rich river regions of the Missouri where
he was always sure of finding recruits, horses, provisions, and
even money, and had taken up a position on the banks of the
Osage. There he was in constant communication with all the
secessionists of that section of the State ; he increased and pro-
visioned his army and addressed earnest appeals to his partisans.
The latter, it is true, did not fiock to his standard so rapidly as
he desired, but, on the other hand, they persecuted those Union-
ists who had the misfortune of being among them more bitterly
than ever. Bands of refugees, stripped of everything, in a fright*
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364 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ful state of distress and sufferings arrived daily in St Lonis,
imploring the pity of the Federals. Halleck took energetic
measures to put an end to these annoyances. After having again
declared martial law in the city of St Louis^ he compelled that
portion of the inhabitants whom he suspected of being in secret
communication with the enemy to feed the refugees — a measure
which the odious persecutions of which the latter had been the vic-
tims alone could justify. In short, contrary to the system adopted
by Fremont, Halleck, who belonged to the Democratic party, pro-
hibited fugitive negroes from approaching his encampments ; this
interdiction gave rise to discussions of which we shall speak
hereafter.
He could not, however, allow Price to remain in quiet posses-
sion of the country he had invaded ; and towards the middle of
December he directed Pope, who occupied Sedalia, at the extrem-
ity of the railway, to advance westward — not to attack the main
body of the Confederate army on the borders of the Osage, but
to intercept parties which were bringing reinforcements from the
banks of the Missouri. Those parties were, in fact, becoming
more and more numerous, and the Federals of Kansas had
already had a slight engagement with them at Little Blue on the
10th of November, before the arrival of the Missouri general
in that region. Pope performed his mission successfully. On
the 15th of December he caused his cavalry to make a demon-
stration in the direction of Warsaw and Osceola, as if he had
intended to attack Price. The day following, the whole of his
column, amounting to about four thousand men, made a forced
march, and taking position to the south of Warrensburg, placed
mounted sentinels along the road, followed by supply-trains and
the detachments which were on the way to join Price from the
North. One of these detachments, numbering about one thou-
sand men, was signalled at some distance to the westward; a
regiment of cavalry and a battery of artillery were sent against
it, and after having pursued it for two days compelled it to
disperse. In the mean while. Pope received information that
another detachment, of from twelve to fifteen hundred men, had
crossed the Missouri and was directing its march towards War-
rensburg. He immediately made his dispositions to surround it
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LEXINGTON, 366
He posted himself with one brigade to the southward of the
point where the Confederates had purposed to encamp. Colonel
Marshall was expected to approach from the west, and Colonel
J. C. Davis with the cavalry of his brigade was to cut off their
retreat on the north-east. Davis was the first to encounler the
enemy, on the 19th of December, separated from him by the
Black Water River, near the mouth of Clear Creek. A narrow
bridge defended by Confederate skirmishers spans the Black
Water at that point. A platoon of regular cavalry, commanded
by Lieutenant Gordon, dismounted at once and carried the bridge
by assault. The remainder of the troop followed him, and after
exchanging a few shots with the Confederates, most of whom
were inexperienced recruits and poorly armed, drove them back
between the river and a swamp which out oflF their retreat.
Being now aware that a considerable force was rapidly approach-
ing for the purpose of surrounding them, and doubting his ability
to induce his men to make a vigorous effort to escape. Colonel
Kobinson, who commanded the Confederate detachment, was
obliged to surrender. Thirteen hundred prisoners and a large
supply-train fell into the hands of the Federals, who after this
success returned to Sedalia. Price, deprived of the resources he
had come in quest of on this side, fell back again upon Spring-
field, where his army, from eight to ten thousand men strong, went
into winter quarters. At the same period the marching column
of Greneral Prentiss also restored the Federal authority through-
out the whole of Northern Missouri, and at the end of the year
only one-half of the southern section of that State remained in
the hands of the Confederates.
The rigors of winter came to put an end to military operations
for some time. When these were resumed in 1862, they were
conducted with more concert of action. Those we have just nar-
rated present a series of unimportant events which seem to be en-
tirely disconnected, and which the reader may have considered
somewhat too long and quite monotonous. Their recital was,
nevertheless, indispensable in order to show how the war was
3arried on in those distant regions — a war which, from many
points of view, calls to mind those of the Middle Ages, in which
email armies ceaselessly advance or retreat, are often lost to
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366 THE CIVIL WAR, IN AMERICA.
view, to meet again on the day of conflict^ and frequently dis-
persed on the morrow for want of the means of sabsistenoe; a
war waged not only by volunteers, but by real amateurSy who
preserve all their personal independence; a war in which the
whole population, divided by hostile passions, takes an active
part, and which consequently offers a larger field than any other
for violence, pillage, and crime.
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J CHAPTER II.
BALLS BLUFF.
IN the preceding chapter we have described the military events
which took place along the course of the Mississippi and in
the region west of the great river during the latter part of the
year 1861. Winter, by interrupting hostilities, left the Federals
in possession of two-thirds of the State of Missouri and their ad-
versaries firmly established on the Mississippi at Colambus and
Belmont.
In this chapter we shall bring the history of the year 1861
to a close, with the exception of what concerns naval operations,
the description of which is reserved for a later portion of the
history. Our narrative will comprise at first the battles fought
in Kentucky and in West Virginia — ^the intermediate battle-field
between the armies of the East and those of the West — together
with the various incidents which relieved the monotony of camp-
life among the troops of both parties stationed upon the banks of
the Potomac.
We have already spoken of the policy pursued by the State of
Kentucky when the civil war broke out around her. That sec-
tion was greatly divided, but the majority of its inhabitants knew
that they would be the first to bear the burden of the struggle,
and after having vainly endeavored to conciliate both parties,
they had tried to maintain an attitude of neutrality between them
to avoid that misfortune. But among the population inclined
towards peace there was a party loyal to the Union and ready to
fight for it, and another not less devoted to the interests of slavery.
Governor Magoffin, who belonged to the latter, was making strong
efforts to drive Kentucky into the Confederacy of the insurgent
States. The l^islature was opposed to his course ; and the August
elections for Congressmen having given a large majority to the
Union party, Magoffin was obliged to dissemble his purposes and
367
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368 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
to make a show of adhesion to the programme of neatraliiy.
After refusing to respond to Mr. Lincoln's call for volunteers, he ad-
vocated the organisation of regiments recruited exclusively among
secessionists, and commanded by the most zealous men among them,
who were ready to avail themselves of the firstopportunity to join
the Confederates. The Unionists were at last aroused on seeing
an insurgent army thus being organized in their very midst, under
the name of State militia, and they spontaneously made prepara-
tions to take up arms on the day when their opponents should
throw off the mask. Kentucky, being far richer, better culti-
vated, and with a larger population than Missouri, found herself,
like the latter State, divided into two hostile and armed factions.
The Union camps at Louisville, on the borders of the Ohio, and
at Dick Robinson's, in East Kentucky, soon collected a sufficiently
large number of volunteers to alarm Grovemor Magoffin and his
accomplices. Wishing to make people believe in his impartial-
ity, he addressed a communication, about the middle of August, to
the authorities at Washington, and at Richmond, protesting against
any schemes which might jeopardize the neutrality of Kentucky.
But this neutrality was already notliing more than an idle phrase.
It was known that the legislature, which was to meet at Frank-
fort on the 2d of September, would loyally sustain the Federal
cause and take proper steps to prevent such an important State
from falling into the hands of her enemies. CJonsequently, the
latter determined to act before the meeting of the legislature ; and
on the 4th of September, at the very time when Mr. Davis was
giving assurances that he should respect the neutrality of Ken-
tucky, General Polk took possession of Columbus by surprise.
The prompt action of Grant, as we have stated, alone prevented
him from reaching Paducah in time. For a while a real comedy
was enacted between the governors of Kentucky and Tennessee,
the former protesting against the invasion of his State and the
latter declaring that he was not responsible for it, whereas they
had both prepared and favored that movement of the Confeder-
ate troops. But the signal had been given. Kentucky was
henceforth given up to all the horrors of a double invasion, and
she was the more exposed to be so treated because, having from
the first excluded both parties from her soil, she could not expect
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BALL'S BLUFF. 369
protection from either. New battle-fields, extending from the
Mississippi to the Alleghanies^ were to form a line of operation
connecting the armies of the West with those of the East. Be-
fore proceeding to give an account of the battles which marked
the first encounters between the belligerents in Kentucky, we
must enter into a few details regarding that country and the posi-
tions they were to occupy.
There is no necessity for any particular mention of Western
Kentucky — ^a very small district, watered by the Cumberland,
the Tennessee, and the Mississippi — where the military operations
were subservient to those of which the last-mentioned river was
the theatre. The r^ion of which we are to speak is divided into
three sections. To the westward Central Kentucky, a rich coun-
try, thickly settled, and intersected by several lines of railways,
which connect with the left bank of the Ohio, its northern bound-
ary ; Louisville at the west, Frankfort and Lexington in the
centre, and Covington at the north, opposite to Cincinnati, are its
principal cities. The second section consists of Eastern Ken-
tucky, poor in water-courses, without railways, and lying be-
tween the ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, a branch of the
AUeghanies, and the Ohio. The third, still more to the east, is
only a continuation of that region. It possesses the same features
and presents the same obstacles to the operations of armies. This
is West Virginia, divided into two districts, one to the south and
the other to the north of the Great Kanawha. McClellan's first
campaign has already made the reader acquainted with the last-
mentioned district. We left both Federals and Confederates
there, reduced in numbers, and since the defeat of Grarnett at
Laurel Hill engaged in trifling skirmishes.
In Kentucky, as has been above stated, both parties are pre-
paring for the conflict. The State militia, formed under the-
auspices of the governor and of the entire personnel of his admin-
tration, is destined to be soon incorporated with the Confederate
army, and occupies positions which will acquire a special import-
ance during the war. General Buckner, who is in command, haa.
taken position at the railroad junction at Bowling Green, the-
chief centre of the system in Southern Kentucky, from which he-
commands all the western districts of that State. The Unionists,,
Vol. L— 24
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370 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
on their part, under the name of home-guards, have formed, as
we have also stated, two camps, where all their forces are concen-
trated, one, near Louisville, deriving all its needed equipments
from the neighboring State of Ohio; the other, called Camp
"Dick Robinson," situated in Garrard county, south of Frank-
fort and Lexington. This central location serves as a rallying-
point for the partisans of the Federal cause, more numerous in the
east than in the west, and at the same time commands the road
from Cumberland Gap and East Tennessee.
This last district is formed of several valleys lying between
parallel ridges, like the mountainous region of West Virginia, of
which it is the continuation to the southward. Like the latter
section of country, it was settled by emigrants from the North,
who, leaving Pennsylvania, have invariably followed the long and
elevated valleys through which flow first the Potomac and then
the Tennessee. These settlers, although surrounded east and west
by populations whose prosperity depended entirely upon slave
labor, and notwithstanding the sanction and the encouragement
which the institution received from the laws, had alwajB been
opposed in practice to slavery. Consequently, they had remained
devotedly attached to the Union. Their loyalty was a source of
great embarrassment to the Confederates, for it belied the pre-
tended unanimity of the South. As soon as hostilities had com-
menced the Federals turned their attention toward these natural
allies, who had been separated from them by violence and threats.
In going to their assistance they hoped to regain possession of one
of the principal railroads of the Confederacy, and by this means
to cut the entire line of defence of their adversaries. They could
not reach Knoxville, the capital of that district, except by follow-
ing one of the principal United States roads, which, crossing Ae
AUeghanies, connects Kentucky with North Carolina. The cul-
minating point of this road lies upon an eminence easy of defence,
which bears the name of Cumberland Gap, and marks the point
of contact of the three States, Kentucky, Virginia, and Ten-
nessee.
Greneral Zollicoffer had been sent to Knoxville by the Confed-
•erate government to maintain its authority at that point. As
soon as he learned that the neutrality of Kentucky no longer ex-
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BALUS BLUFF. 371
isted even in name^ and that Polk occupied Columbus, he made
his own preparations to seize Cumberland Gap and to descend the
opposite slope. But before we follow him we shall be obliged to
preserve the chronological order of the narrative — ^to speak first
of the new campaign, of which West Virginia was the theatre.
As we have seen, Buckner, in the west, was stationed around
Bowling Green with the Kentucky militia, resting upon the State
of Tennessee, whence he could easily receive the reinforcements
assembled on the frontier, and where he was ready to come for-
ward as soon as the opportunity offered. In the centre, Zolli-
coffer only occupied East Tennessee, but was preparing to invade
Kentucky by Cumberland Gap, while at the east, in West Vir-
ginia, the remnant of the army beaten by McClellan was reor-
ganizing and preparing for a new campaign.
To oppose these forces the Federals had, first, the home-guards
enlisted in the State itself, collected principally at Louisville
and Camp Dick Robinson ; secondly, the national troops assem-
bled under General Anderson on the right bank of the Ohio, in
the States of Indiana and Ohio, and the remainder forming the
small army commanded by Rosecrans in West Virginia. McClel-
lan's campaign, described in a former chapter, has only made
us acquainted with the northern section of that country. It is
necessary, therefore, that we should add a few words to describe
the whole of it.
Comprised " between the principal range of the AUeghanies
and the course of the Ohio, it may be divided into two parts in
the direction of its length : one, mountainous, lying eastward ; the
other, in which the undulations of the ground slope away gradu-
ally to the bank of the river which forms its boundary, at the
west. Magnificent forests, springs gushing in every direction,
mines as yet but little explored, constitute the riches of that pic-
turesque region, combining with the grand features of American
scenery a variety of sites seldom to be met with even in the New
World. In a military point of view, the Ohio affords an easy
base of operations for an army raised in the free States. Two
secondary lines of communication give to such an army an easy
access to the interior : one, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at
the north; the other, the Great Kanawha River at the south.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
372 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Small steamers can ascend this river nearly to the point where it
18 formed, by the junction of Gauley River and New River, on
the boundaries of the mountain region. An army resting upon
the other portions of Virginia would, on the contrary, encounter
great obstacles among the successive ridges of the Alleghanies,
across which it would be diflBcult to carry provisions. On this
side, therefore, the Federals had a great advantage over their
adversaries.
The crest of the All^hanies forms a line somewhat sinuous
in its details, but generally following a uniform direction, which
separates the Atlantic basin from that of the Mexican gulf. The
secondary chains detached from the main ridge are nearly all
parallel to the general direction, and enclose long valleys, the
waters of which escape through gaps occurring at long intervals.
The longest range extends from Carricksford, at the north, to the
gorges of New River, at the south, and at nearly an equal distance
from these two points an elevated cone called High Knob rises
from the crest of the ridge, marking an important elevation, the
centre of a sort of cross in that system of mountains. North of
High Knob the chain bears the name of Greenbrier Mountain ; at
the south it is called Cheat Mountain, as far as the point where it
slopes down abruptly to the westward to form the mass called
SewelFs Mountain, which flanks the remainder of the chain like
a bastion. A perpendicular branch connects with the ridge of
the Alleghenies to the eastward, separating the waters of Cheat
River, an affluent of the Monongahela, from those of Green-
brier River, a tributary of New River. Lastly, at the west a
small spur called Rich Mountain detaches itself, and soon takes
the same direction as the other chains to enclose the elevated val-
ley of the Tygart.
McClellan's campaign has already familiarized the reader with
some of these names. He will remember that Gamett, driven
southward by the Federals, who had crossed Rich Mountain, was
unable to find any practicable road at Cheat Mountain by which
to escape to the east, and was obliged to follow that impassable
barrier by descending in a northerly direction as far as Carricks-
ford. The road which McClellan had thus barred against him
to the south is the most important in all that r^ion. Reascend-
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BALL'S BLUFF. 373
ing the valley by way of Huttonsville, it forks at a point called
Great Pass; the branch which turns to the east crosses Cheat
Mountain at the defile of Cheat Summit^ descends into the val-
ley of Cheat River, then rises upon the perpendicular ridge which,
under the name of Great Greenbrier, connects the High Knob
with the crest of the AUeghanies, and proceeds towards the source
of Greenbrier River, near a tavern celebrated in that wild region
by the name of Travellers' Repose. The road branches off once
more at this point to enclose on both sides an important counter-
fort called Buffalo Hill; and, crossing the Alleghany by two
adjoining passes, it descends into the high valleys containing the
sources of the principal tributaries of the James and the Poto-
mac. The other branch, continuing in a southerly direction from
Great Pass, reascends the whole valley of the Tygart, and passes
Elk Water at the foot of the High Knob, where it forks to cross
the mountain to the right and left of that elevation, through the
passes called Cloverlick and Staunton Pike; thence it descends
into the valley of Greenbrier River. South of the three passes of
Cheat Mountain, Staunton Pike, and Cloverlick, all three very
near each other, there is not another practicable road to be found
across Greenbrier Ridge before reaching SewelFs Mountain, the
slopes of which, being less precipitous, are crossed by two or three
roads which gradually descend from east to west into the valley
of the Great Kanawha. This valley, as we have already stated,
is the principal artery of all the surrounding country, and the
small town of Charleston is its centre. The other water-courses
which descend from the AUeghanies into the Ohio basin are only
so many obstacles, and afford no facilities for navigation. We
may mention the most important among them : . the Monongahela
and its tributaries at the north; then the Little Kanawha, running
from east to west; the Elk River, which passes Suttonville and
empties into the Great Kanawha at Charleston; and finally, the
Grauley River and the New River, which unite to form the Great
Kanawha after crossing a singularly broken region.
There were consequently only three points at which armies
could penetrate the barrier which intersects Western Virginia
throughout its whole extent : to the northward, the space inter-
vening between Carricksford and the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
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374 THE CIVIL WAE IN AMERICA,
road ; in the centre, the elevated defiles which are reached hy way
of Great Pass and Elk Water; and to the southward, the passes
of Sewell's Mountain. The first point was in the hands of the
Federals stationed in Pennsylvania and in Maryland, where they
occupied the two slopes of the AUeghanies. The second had been
conquered by McClellan, and the troops he had posted at the de-
files rendered them inaccessible to the CJonfederates, The pasoes
of SewelFs Mountain and the valley of the Great Kanawha alone
remained, and there the struggle was to recommence.
We have followed the movements of the Confederate general
Wise, who had gone into that country for the purpose of raising
troops to defend the cause of secession, down to about the 20th of
July. The population of that district manifested more sympathy
with his views than the rest of Western Virginia, but not suffi-
cient, however, to take up arms and enlist under his banner.
Consequently, after having occupied without hindrance the greater
portion of the course of the Great £[anawha, he found himself in
a dangerous position from the moment that Gamett was con-
quered by McClellan in the north, and was soon compelled to
fall back before the forces of the Federal general Cox. The lat-
ter, in fact, supported by a few steamers, was operating upon the
right bank of that river, and threatened to cut off the retreat of
the Confederates towards the mountains. After a cavalry affair at
Cissonville, Wise evacuated Charleston, burning the Elk Biver
bridge behind him. On the same day Cox, with the aid of a
light-draught steamer which had been abandoned by the enemy,
entered that to^vn, established his headquarters in it, and de-
spatched a few troops in pursuit of Wise. This general had has-
tened to cross the .Grauley River, and also to burn the bridge situ-
ated near the point of its confluence with New River, to withdraw
to Lewisburg, on the Greenbrier River, beyond Sewell's Moun-
tain. The Confederates thus found themselves at the end of July
driven back everywhere into the mountain region.
They resolved to make a desperate effort to get out of it .Gen-
eral Floyd, who has already been mentioned in our narrative as
Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of War, was sent from Richmond with
a few troops, to reinforce Wise and assume command in the vallev
of the Kanawha. Unfortunately for their cause, Floyd and Wise
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 375
were two characters not very well calculated to harmonize. The
former, proud of the services he had rendered to the pro-«lavery
faction by disorganizing the Federal army during his administra-
tion of the War Department, made Wise feel the weight of his au-
thority, while the latter resisted him, believing that he was better,
acquainted with the country, with its inhabitants and the mode
of making war there. The remnants of Pegram's and Garnett^s
'forces, as we have stated above, had been reinforced and placed
under command of Greneral Lee, who was destined at a later pe-
riod to play so conspicuous a part in the war. As he had no in-
tention of disputing the northern part of Western Virginia with
his adversaries, he fell back towards the south, leaving only a few
detachments around Ronmey, and took a position in front of the
central passes of the great ridge occupied by the Federals. HLs
small army, collected in the valley of the Greenbrier, was in
August about sixteen thousand strong.
The Federals had, in front of Floyd and Wise, the independent
brigade of Cox, from two to three thousand strong. The latter,
following the retreat of Wise at a distance, had occupied the
whole valley of the Kanawha as far as the summits of Sewell's
Mountain. More to the north, the forces commanded by McClel-
lan until the end of July were now under the orders of Rose-
crans, an oflBcer whom we shall see invested with important com-
mands in the course of the war. Although he may have been to
blame for his dilatory movements at Rich Mountain, he was a
distinguished soldier, who knew what he could exact from his
troops, and was beloved by them. If he was not gifted with
great quickness of perception, he possessed the art of combining
his operations judiciously, and his adversaries rendered justice
both to hife talents and to his humanity towards the vanquished.
The greater part of his forces had been brought back to Clarks-
burg, upon the Baltimore Railroad ; and thanks to the reinforce-
ments he had received in the month of August, he had now about
ten thousand men at his disposal, forming three brigades, under
the orders of General Benham and Colonels McCook and Scam-
mon. A few troops were watching the Confederate partisans
near the sources of the Potomac, while Reynolds's brigade occupied
Cheat Summit and Elk Water, in front of Lee's advanced posts.
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376 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Both belligerent parties passed the first half of the month of
August in perfect quiet. At last Floyd resolved to take the of-
fensive and to re-enter the valley of the Kanawha ; Cox was now
too weak to be able to dispute its possession with him. Taking
the Sewell Mountain road^ he easily drove back the line of the
Federal outposts, and compelled Cox to fall back to the south-
west, upon New River. Leaving Wise in front of the latter to
watch him, he proceeded in a north-westerly direction towards
Gauley River, in order to cross that stream at Carnifex Ferry,
near its confluence with Meadow River, and thus cut oflF Cox en-
tirely from any reinforcements which Rosecrans might have sent
him. In the region between (Jauley and Elk River there was but
a single Federal regiment, whose colonel, named Tyler, had for-
merly travelled that same district as a dealer in furs ; his present
mission was to pursue the numerous bands of Confederate guer-
illas. On Floyd's arrival at Carnifex Ferry, Tyler, not consider-
ing himself sufficiently strong to dispute his passage, had fallen
back towards *he south, in the direction of Gauley Bridge, near
the point of confluence of the Gauley and New Rivers. But on
hearing of an accident which had befallen Floyd, he immediately
retraced his steps. At Carnifex Ferry the Confederates had only
found one barge and a ferry-boat with which to cross the river,
which was nowhere fordable; and, in the midst of this long and
tedious operation, the boat, after capsizing, had been dashed to
pieces against the rocks. Floyd found himself on the right bank
of the river with his infantry and two guns, separated from his
cavalry by a deep and rapid current. Having been made ac-
quainted with this fact, Tyler sought to take advantage of his
perilous situation to attack him, but he was not quick enough. In
twenty-four hours a new boat was constructed ; and on the 25th
of August Floyd had all his troops united on the right bank of
the Gauley. He immediately took up his line of march with a
view of forestalling Tyler, who had halted at Cross Lanes, situ-
ated a short distance from that place. The Federals had failed to
adopt even the simplest precautions customary under such cir-
cumstances ; they had sent out no scouts, and had settled down
in their bivouac as if they had no enemy to fear. This culpable
neglect was to cost them dear. On the morning of the 26th
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 377
Floyd fell upon them suddenly, kUling a few and capturing about
fiily, before they had time to recover themselves. The remainder
were dispersed in the woods, where many of them lost their way,
and finally fell into the hands of the enemy. After this success
Floyd took up a strong position at Camifex Ferry, on the right
bank of the Grauley, waiting for Wise to join him, in order to
penetrate still farther into the r^ion occupied by the Federals*
He surrounded with entrenchments a steep hill which a turn in
the river enveloped on two sides ; this hill was separated from its*
neighboring heights to the north-east and north-west by a deep
and wooded ravine; the Confederate artillery, well protected,
commanded all the approaches, especially the Summerville road,
which passed through the centre of the position.
These skirmishes were only the prelude to more serious con*
flicts. Sosecrans and Lee were both preparing for a new cam-
paign, and it was expected that they would soon come in collision.
The former was quicker than his adversary. About the 3d of Sep-
tember he left Clarksburg with his three brigades and proceeded
towards Weston ; having reached that place, instead of turning
eastward, aloug the Beverly road, to march against Lee, as the
latter had expected, he took a southerly direction, and soon arrived
at Suttonville. Then, crossing Elk River, he entered the scarped
passes of Grauley Mountain, which separate that stream from
Gauley River. The roads were difficult and the gorges narrow.
Finding no ground for a camp on the road, a portion of the troops
had to cross the most dangerous passes during the night among
forests which greatly increased the obscurity. Summerville was
reached at last ; and, as soon as his soldiers had obtained some rest,
Rosecrans set out to descend the course of the Grauley River in
search of Floyd, whose exact position he had not been able to as-
certain, so great was the difficulty of obtaining information in a
r^ion so little inhabited.
On the evening of September 9th, he encamped at the foot
of Grauley Mountain, sixteen kilometres from Summerville and
twenty-eight from Carnifex Ferry, after having driven back the
scouts whom Floyd had sent to watch the Suttonville Road. The
latter, in fact, ignorant of the approach of the enemy^s army, was
preparing to make a forward movement. On the 10th the whole
Digitized by VjOOQIC
378 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Federal army, startiDg before daylight, reached Summerville
during the morning, and, without halting, continued to follow
the course of the Ghauley. Rosecrans's soldiers were mostly re-
cruits without any experience of warfare. Nevertheless, they
bore the fatigues of that long march well, and at three o'clock
they reached the point where the road which leads to Camifex
Ferry leaves the main road from (Jauley Bridge. Informed at
last of the enemy's position, Rosecrans decided to take advantage
of the last hours of daylight to make a reconnaissance, notwith-
standing the fatigue of his men and the thickness of the forest,
which did not allow him either to see the dispositions of the Con-
federates or to direct a concerted movement.
The redoubts with which Floyd had surrounded the heights
of Carnifex Ferry were mounted with a dozen guns and connected
by means of strong breastworks constructed of logs. He had
with him eighteen hundred men ; and as soon as his pickets had
announced the approach of the Federals he sent for Wise, who,
as we have seen, had remained in the vicinity of New River.
The brigade of Benham, composed of the Tenth, Twelfth, and
Thirteenth Ohio regiments, commanded by Colonels Lytle,
Smith, and Lowe, was at the head of the Federal column.
Lytle is the first to descend into the wooded ravine which ex-
tends to the foot of the enemy's positions. He is hardly in sight
of these when he is received by a well-sustained fire. After a few
shots he emerges from the wood, and climbs the opposite acclivi-
ties, to reach the entrenchments on the heights. But he fails to
reach them. He is himself severely wounded, and his soldiera
fall back to the skirt of the wood, behind which they shelter
themselves, to continue the fight. Two field-pieces soon come to
their assistance.
In the mean time, the remainder of Benham's brigade was de-
ploying as well as the nature of the ground permitted. Smith,
who, deceived by the report of musketry, had at first moved to-
ward the right, now bore to the left, and engaged the extreme
right of the Confederate line near the river. He might have car-
ried that position, which was more accessible than the others, if
he had been supported ; but his small band, which had been sent
on a simple reconnaissance, was not suiSciently strong to attack it
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 379
alone. In tlie mean time, the generals being prevented by the
intervention of the forest from seeing all the movements, the
troops engaged renewed the fight of their own accord, and the
reconnaissance assumed the proportions of a regular battle. The
Twelfth Ohio became separated in the wood, and the largest por-
tion of that regiment proceeded to take a position on the right of
the Tenth. Lowe led it to the assault, a little to the leflb of the
road, but was himself killed at the first fire, and his command was
driven back in disorder.
Although it was getting dark, Rosecrans determined to make
one last effort Part of McCook's brigade deployed to the right
of the road to attack the enemy on that side. Four guns were
sent to the centre, and two of McCook's regiments were ordered
to join Smith, who, gathering around him his own regiment and
part of the Twelfth, formed a new column of attack. But at the
moment when McCook appeared in front of the Confederate en-
trenchments a counter order came which put a stop to his move-
ments, and the darkness overtook Smith's colunm before it could
deploy on the other side of the ravine which it had entered.
Convinced of the impossibility of proceeding farther. Smith
brought back his column, not without some confusion. During
that movement his soldiers, little accustomed to fighting at night,
shot at each other, thereby adding about thirty wounded to the
day's losses. .
The Federals had fought bravely and many officers had fallen,
but they had been badly handled; their movements had been
disconnected, and scarcely two thousand soldiers, with six pieces
of artillery, had taken part in the conflict, in which they had
lost about one hundred and fifty men. They prepared to re-
new the attack on the following day with all their forces. But
Floyd did not give them a chance : he had been wounded him-
self. Wise had formally refused to respond to his summons, and
his little army, although it had only lost from fifleen to twenty
men, was too much shaken to sustain another shock. He evacu-
ated his camp during the night, leaving behind him the Federal
wounded he had captured a few days before from Tyler, and
crossed the Gauley to fall back on Sewell's Mountain, justly ac-
cusing Wise of having abandoned him at the decisive moment
Digitized by VjOOQIC
380 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
in a position which a timely reinforcement would have enabled
him to defend.
During this time a portion of Wise's troops had engaged in an
encounter of no importance, on the left bank of New River, with
some of Cox's detachments. The condition of the roads and the
fatigue of his soldiers did not allow Bosecrans to follow the en-
emy. He had, moreover, accomplished the paramount object of
his operations in driving the Confederates back into the moun-
tain, and he was master of Grauley River and the Great Elanawha,
where he was in easy communication with Cox.
In the mean time, Lee had commenced a movement with a
view of getting out of the deep and narrow valleys where he was
shut up in consequence of the occupation of the Cheat and Green-
brier Mountain defiles by his adversaries. The news of Rose-
crans's march southward emboldened him, and he thought that
he might be able by skilful manoeuvring to wrest from General
Reynolds's brigade, which had remained alone in front of him, the
formidable positions it occupied. That general, with only two
thousand men, was with the greatest portion of his troops at Elk
Water, where he commanded the entrance to the Tygart valley
and the junction of the two roads which cross Greenbrier Moun-
tain. He had only been able to place a few pickets in the defiles
of this mountain. A strong detachment occupied the junction of
the Elk Water and Cheat Summit roads at Great Pass, while
Colonel Kimball was strongly entrenched at the latter point with
six hundred men. He held communication with Elk Water by
the Great Pass road, a circuitous route twenty-eight kilometres in
length, and by a path which, following the crest of the mountain
in a direct line, reduced the distance to twelve kilometres.
On the 11th of September Lee left Huntersville with about
nine thousand men. He had an enormous numerical superiority
over the Federals, but his troops were raw, his officers without
experience, the ground on which he had to operate extremely
difficult, and he had committed the error of adopting a plan of
attack which was too complicated to be carried out in all its
details under such circumstances. He sent Greneral H. R. Jack-
son (who must not be confounded with the celebrated Stonewall
Jackson) with two thousand men to invest Cheat Summit by way
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF, 381
of TravelleiB^ Repose, and to turn that position so as to cut it off
from Great Pass. A second detachment was directed upon the
latter point, with orders to cross the defile of Staunton Pike, in
order to proceed afterwards bj the route between Cheat Sum-
mit and Elk Water. Lee himself proposed to attack this posi-
tion both in front and by his right, with five or six thousand
men, joining hands with the detachment which had been directed
upon Great Pass, and cutting off the retreat of the Federals
on that side. . Jackson^s demonstration in the direction of Cheat
Summit was to be the signal of this attack, which was designed
to be the most important. The Confederates, being obliged to
follow narrow mountain paths, took neither cavalry nor artillery
with them.
On the morning of September 12th, their movement extended
all along the line. Lee drove before him without difficulty the
weak posts which guarded the defiles of Greenbrier, and de-
scended towards Elk Water, where Reynolds was preparing to
defend himself as well as he could ; the detachment which had
been sent in the direction of Great Pass reached, without meeting
the enemy, the Elk Water road, and thus cut off all communication
between Reynolds's troops and those of Kimball. Jackson, after
a very fatiguing march, had succeeded, on his part, in investing
the positions of the latter, and in placing himself between them
and Great Pass, while a detachment attacked their outposts in
front along the eastern slope of Cheat Mountain. It seemed
as if the Confederates had only to make one more effort to anni-
hilate their opponents, isolated as tiiey were and surtounded on
every side. But Lee did not exhibit on that occasion those
great military talents which he was to display subsequently on a
wider field, and that effort was not made. He was deceived by
the determined attitude of the Federals as to their numerical
strength, and did not dare to attack them in the strong positions
they occupied. After a few skirmishes, in which his young sol-
diers showed but little firmness, Jackson confined himself to
watching Kimball's encampments ; after which, on the following
day, the 13th, he withdrew, almost without striking a blow. The
detachment which had been sent against Great Pass did the
same ; and Lee, who was still waiting for Jackson to begin the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
382 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
action, that he might assault the positions of Elk Water, did not
venture to risk that attack, although the chances were greatly in
his favor. Indeed, Kimball's small detachment could have been
of no assistance to Reynolds, who was already surrounded by
forces three times as numerous as his own. A last attempt,
which was but faintly made, on the 15th, against Cheat Summit,
was frustrated by the stubborn resistance of the Federals, who
had reopened communication over the mountain between Sum-
mit and Elk Water ; and Lee brought back his fatigued and dis-
couraged troops into the valley of the Greenbrier,
Unable to extricate himself by way of Cheat Mountain from
the blind alley m which he found himself, he determined to look
elsewhere for a more suitable battle-field, and to follow up along
the Great Kanawha that army of Bosecrans the left flank of
which Reynolds had so well protected. A few days after his
return to Huntersville he took up his line of march towards the
South with the greatest portion of his forces, and strongly rein-
forced Floyd and Wise, whom he found occupying the crests of
Sewell's Mountain. He left Jackson with his brigade of two
thousand five hundred men behind him, to guard the passes of
the AUeghanies which led into Eastern Virginia. Jackson, being
too weak to occupy the whole of Greenbrier valley, left the defile
of Travellers' Repose, to take position on the heights of BuflWo
Hill, a natural terrace, easily fortified, from which he could com-
mand the most important road crossing the AUeghanies.
Reynolds, having received reinforcements, and knowing tliat
the only enemy left in front of him was Jackson's small force, re-
solved to assume the offensive, and started with about six thou-
sand men and thirteen field-pieces for the purpose of attackmg
him at Buffalo Hill. On the morning of October 3d he arrived
in sight of that hill, where the Confederates had constructed sev-
eral tiers of redoubts, behind which they waited for their adver-
sary, full of confidence in the strength of their position. After
Reynolds's infantry had compelled the enemy to retire into his
entrenchments the Federal artillery, which was posted in an open
plain extending to the foot of Buffalo Hill, opened fire upon the
Confederate camp. The superiority both in the number and in
the calibre of these field-pieces made up for the disadvantages
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 383
of the ground ; and after a few hours the fire of the Confederates
ceased almost entirely. At the request of his colonels, Reynolds
then gave the signal for an infantry attack upon Jackson's posi-
tions. Three Federal regiments gained the heights which are a
continuation of Buffalo Hill on the left, and afterwards advanced
for the purpose of charging the enemy^s entrenchments in flank ;
but being received by a vigorous discharge of musketry, the r^-
ment heading the column immediately turned round, fell back in
great disorder upon the other two regiments, and stopped their
progress. After this first check, Reynolds, being- convinced that
he could not dislodge Jackson by main force, ordered a retreat
and returned to Cheat Mountain ; his loss amounte(l to only eight
killed and ten wounded.
After this affair more than one month elapsed without any en-
counter taking place between the two parties, except in the ex-
treme north of Virginia, near the sources of the Potomac. We
have stated that on this side the Federals, being masters of Penn-
sylvania and of Maryland, occupied the two slopes of the AUe-
ghanies ; General Kelley's brigade covered the line of the Balti-
more Railway, which follows the windings of the Potomac across
the eastern ridges of that chain as far as the neighborhood of BEan-
cock, the northernmost point reached by the river.
So extensive a line was always exposed to incursions from the
enemy, who found an easy shelter among the long valleys per-
pendicular to the Potomac. In the month of October the small
town of Ronmey, situated in one of these valleys, had become the
rendezvous of a Confederate force sufficiently numerous to serious-
ly threaten the line of railway which Kelley had been instructed
to guard. That general determined to disperse it. Leaving New
Creek valley with two regiments of infantry, three pieces of ar-
tillery, and a few squadrons of cavalry, he proceeded eastward to-
wards Ronmey, while an infantry regiment, starting from Cum-
berland, in Maryland, was to arrive at the same time with him-
self before that town, passing through Frankfort and Springfield.
This combined movement was effected on the 26th of October.
The detachment from Cumberland i-eached the river, which south
of the Potomac is called the Branch, a few kilometres below Rom-
ney; the bridge which crosses that water-course had been de-
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384 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
stroyed, and the passage was guarded by three hundred Confed-
erates and one piece of artillery. After a fruitless attempt to
force a passage the Federals withdrew. But m the mean while,
Kelley's column had been more fortunate. It had met the enemy
on the summit of Middle Ridge^ and had easily driven him bade
into the valley of the Southern Potomaa The little town of
Romney stands on the right side of that river. When the Fed-
erals appeared on the other side, a vigorous cannonade commenced,
during which they sustained a few losses ; but their cavalry crossed
the Potomac, easily fordable at that season of the year, and charged
the Confederates, while the infantry, carrying the bridge of the
main road, followed closely. The defenders of Romney, staggered
by the first shock, fled in the greatest disorder towards Winches-
ter, abandoning a considerable number of prisoners, all their mor
Uriel, and two pieces of artillery.
We left Lee eflecting a junction with Floyd and Wise along
the crests of SewelPs Mountain. The army thus formed, of which
he took command, numbered more than twenty thousand men.
In the mean time, Rosecrans, after crossing the Gauley, had ad-
vanced eastward as far as the foot of the Confederates' position.
He shut them up once more within the mountainous region, al-
though he had only the three brigades brought from Clarksburg
and that of Cox, all together about twelve thousand men. Lee,
notwithstanding his numerical superiority, did not deem it proper
to disturb him, and confined himself to sending a few troops upon
the left bank of the Great Elanawha. These troops were sur-
prised, on the 25th of September, in an entrenched camp near
Chapmansville, by a regiment of Federal infantry, which routed
them completely, after killing and wounding about forty men.
Dissensions prevailed in the Confederate camp. Lee had found
Floyd posted on a lower ridge situated north of Sewell's Moun-
tain, called Meadow Bluff, while Wise, unwilling to join him there,
remained inactive along the principal ridge. In approving the
course of the latter, he gave dissatisfaction to the late Secretary
of War, who reluctantly joined the rest of the Confederate army
on Sewell's Mountain. Lee strengthened his position with great
care, so that Rosecrans did not feel sufficiently strong to attack
it, but he. had no idea of assuming the offensive himself; and the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 385.
Federal general, after remaining a few weeks m front of him, was.
enabled to fall back, and quietly take a position between the
Grauley and New Rivers. Shortly after this Lee was recalled
and sent into South Carolina. Wise, who could not agree with.
Floyd, was deprived of his command, and a portion of the*
army under General Loring went into the valley of Virginia to
swell the forces of Stonewall Jackson.
In the mean while, notwithstanding the diminution of his
troops, Floyd was not willing to give up the game. He crossed
New River, marched down the left bank, and on the 30th of
October took up a position on the heights of Cotton Hill. These
hills overlook the confluence of the Gauley and New River, and
command the road from Charleston to Lewisburg, by which Rose-
crans was obtaining supplies for his army. In place of Gauley
Bridge, which had been destroyed, the Federals had established a
ferry-boat, the trips of which were soon interrupted by Floyd's
artillery, which had been dragged with great difficulty to the
summit of Cotton Hill. The Confederate skirmishers, at the same
time, rendered the use of the road extremely dangerous. Rose-
crans was obliged to bring the greatest portion of his artillery,
with large escorts, to protect the communication? indispensable to
the existence of his men. At last, about the 7th of November,
the Confederates decided to leave Cotton Hill, and took a posi-
tion a little higher up, on Laurel Creek. Rosecrans determined,
in turn, to hunt them up on the other side of New River. On the
6th of November, he sent the brigade of Benham to take a posi-
tion a little below the confluence of that stream and the Ejinawha
on the left bank, and near the mouth of Loop Creek ; on the 11th,
he took up his march for the purpose of striking Floyd's camp
in the rear ; while a brigade lately placed under General Schenck's
command was preparing to crass the Kanawha opposite Fayette-
ville, in oixler to cut ofi* his retreat on that side. The brigade of
Benham was divided into two columns: one, a thousand strong,
turning to the right, marched upon Cassidy's Mill, south of the
enemy's camp, while Benham with five hundred men and six guns
proceeded to the same point by way of Cotton Hill. Benham met.
the enemy in the afternoon of the 12th at Laurel Creek. Floydi
had struck his camp, and only defended the passage of the streauL
Vol. I.— 26
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386 TEE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
long enough to cover his retreat. Schenck not having been able
to cross New River, which was swollen by the rain, that retreat
was effected without difficulty ; and Benham's two columns, worn
out by a long march, only arrived at Fayetteville to find that the
Oonfederates were already far away from that town. Neverthe-
less, on the morning of the 13th the Federal general went in
pursuit of them along the Beckley (or Raleigh Court-house)
road, and came up with them a short distance from that place at
the Maiboy ferm. Floyd's small army was retreating in great
disorder and with much difficulty through roads entirely broken
up by the rain. The Confederate cavalry, commanded by Col-
onel Croghan, anxious to protect the retreat, dismounted to defend
a height upon which the road followed by the Federals ascended.
But at the first fire Croghan was killed, and his startled soldiers
dispersed into the woods. Benham had to content himself with
picking up a few prisoners, and very soon halted his exhauisted
infantry. He had scarcely rejoined Rosecrans when a heavy fall
of snow came to render military operations impossible in that
wild country. The Confederates were definitively banished into
the mountainous region.
Two unimportant engagements, one in the vicinity of the Ohio
and the other near Cheat Mountain, alone disturbed the quiet
which winter imposed upon the belligerents in Western Virginia.
The first took place on the 9th of November at Guyandotte, a
large village situated at the mouth of the river of that name in
Ohio. That portion of Western Virginia lying south of the
Great Kanawha had always been abandoned to small hostile
bands, who carried on a real guerilla warfare. One of these
bands, commanded by the Confederate Jenkins, surprised a camp
of instruction at Guyandotte, occupied by about one hundred and
fifty Federals. The latter had kept guard with the carelessness
of inexperienced soldiers ; the secessionists, who were numerous
at Guyandotte, gave Jenkins all the information he required, and
in an instant the Federals were surrounded and nearly all cap-
tured or killed. On the day following, some troops from the
€tate of Ohio arrived on a steamer for the purpose of avenging
them ; but finding no longer any trace of the enemy, they com-
mitted an act of barbarity of which the American war fortunately
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF, 387
presents but few examples: Guyandotte was given up to the
flames.
The other battle was fought on the 13th of December by Gen-
eral Milroy, who had succeeded Reynolds in command of the
troops posted on Cheat Mountain. He resolved to renew the
attack of his predecessor upon the entrenched camp of Buffalo
Hill, which was occupied by Colonel E. Johnson with two thou-
sand Confederates. Milroy had only three thousand men under
his command. At daybreak on the 13th he arrived with two
columns in front of Johnson's works. The first column was to
attack them in front, and the second to prepare for this assault by
carrying one of the enemy's batteries by a flank movement. The
obstacles presented by the configuration of the ground retarded
this manoeuvre ; and the attack of the first column, which had not
waited for the preconcerted movement on the battery, was re-
pulsed. It, however, succeeded in checking an offensive return
movement on the part of the Confederates, who had come out of
their entrenchments to take advantage of the check sustained by
the Federals.
The second column, which had at last arrived in position, im-
mediately renewed the fight, but without any better success. The
front ranks, gave way ; the rest continued firing, without daring
to advance ; and soon Milroy, giving up his project, retraced his
steps towards Cheat Mountain. This battle was a bloody one,
each party having had about two hundred men disabled. An
expedition which proceeded as far as Huntersville, where it de-
stroyed some Confederate d6p6ts, compensated the Federals to a
small extent for their double failure at Buffalo Hill.
The campaign was at an end ; and Rosecrans, leaving only a
few detachments behind to guard the advanced positions, brought
back his main forces into the more populous region, where he
found it less difficult to subsist them. This disconnected cam-
paign— marked by accidental encounters and incomplete manceu-
vres, in which generals who, at a later period, were to display re-
markable activity, remained for weeks in presence of each other
without exchanging a shot — presents a striking example of the
difficulties which paralyzed the ablest chiefs at the beginning of
that war, which was so new to all. We shall find similar charac-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
388 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
teristics in the operations of which Kentucky was the scene at the
same period.
On the 7th of September the legislature of that State was ap-
prised of the Confederate invasion by a message from the gov-
ernor. That functionary, true to the cause of the South, instead
of protesting against such violence, solicited authority to break up
all assemblages of Union troops. But the tw^o chambers answered
him on the 12th by requesting the Federal government to protect
Kentucky against the invaders, and by conferring the command
of the home-guards upon Greneral Anderson. That officer imme-
diately took up his quarters at Louisville, to organize the militia
assembled at Camp Joe Holt, in the neighborhood of that city, and
which Grenerdi Rousseau had already b^un to drill. The con-
flict had commenced in Kentucky. One of the chiefs of the
secession party,* Mr. Morehead, was arrested in Louisville and
sent to Fort Lafayette ; the rest took refuge with the Confederate
armies. Among them might be seen Mr. Breckinridge, Vice-
President of the republic under Mr. Buchanan, a skilful and bold
politician, but who, under the Confederate uniform, made but a
poor general ; Humphrey Marshall, the brilliant cavalry colonel
of the Mexican war ; finally, John Morgan, who was soon to
make himself known as the bravest and most daring of guerilla
chiefs.
While Anderson was assuming command of the troops en-
trusted to him, Buckner was preparing to inaugurate the cam-
paign by a bold stroke. This was nothing less than to traverse
the whole State of Kentucky by rail, so as to reach Louisville
with a sufficient number of troops to take possession of that city
and to hoist the Confederate flag on the banks of the Ohio. Such
an attempt could only have been made amid the confusion created
by late events and the uncertainty which still prevailed in all
minds. It failed of success. Buckner's troops were put on sev-
eral trains and proceeded northward, taking care to cut the tele-
graph as they advanced, and to stop every supply-train which
they met. The railway employes, being without news, and find-
ing the regular service interrupted, sent a locomotive on a recon-
naissance, but it also fell into the hands of the Confederates.
Fortunately, the fireman was able to escape, and, finding a hand-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 389
car, returned to Louisville to announce the approach of the
enemy. At the same time, a Bowling Green Unionist, seeing
the trains arrive loaded with rebel troops, took up one of the
rails from the track, thereby causing an accident which involved
the loss of much precious time. Greneral "W. T. Sherman, whom
we have already noticed in the Bull Run campaign, was sent by
Anderson, with all the forces it was possible to collect, to meet the
advance of the Confederates. Learning that his movements were
known and that the enemy was on the watch for him, Buckner,
who had already reached the suburbs of Elizabethtown, not far
from the Ohio, haltM and fell back upon Bowling Green, the gar-
rison and fortifications of which he strengthened. Sherman, on
his part, selected the neighborhood of Elizabethtown as a place
of rendezvous for all the scattered elements which were soon to
form the army of the Cumberland.
During this time, as we have stated, Zollicoffer was preparing
to defend Eastern Tennessee by assuming the offensive, and in-
vading Kentucky. On the 14th of September he occupied Cum-
berland Gap. At its foot lay the deep and extensive valley of
the Cumberland River, which flows from east to west, and waters
the whole of the south-eastern section of the State. Beyond it a
chain of strong hills separates this valley from the numerous
water-courses which run northward through a country which
becomes gradually more and more level, and meet to form the
Kentucky River, one of the tributaries of the Ohio. Zollicoffer,
descending from Cumberland Gap on the 19th of September, dis-
persed a gathering of Union recruits at Barboursville, a large vil-
lage situated at a point where the high road from Lexington crosses
the Cumberland. He took up his quarters there, and occupied
the whole upper valley of that river. In spite of his proclama-
tions, his soldiers committed acts of depredation, which rendered
them very unpopular in those districts which they pretended to
free from Federal rule.
The Unionists therefore determined to dispute the possession
of the country with them. Gathering around Colonel Garrard, a
highly-esteemed chief, in Eastern Kentucky, they hastened to arm
and organize. They had selected as their rallying-point a strong
position in the centre of the disturbed district, which separates the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
\
390 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
valley of the Cumberland from the vast and rich plain known bj
the name of the " blue-grass ^' region. The camp of Garrard, to
which he had given the name of Wild Cat, was situated a little to
tiie north of London, the first village to be met on the Lexington
road after crossing the Cumberland at Barboursville. On leaving
London the road forks ; one branch, following the vallev, runs
westward towards Crab Orchard, Camp Dickson, and Frankfort;
the other branch, which leads to Richmond and Lexington, rises
u]K>n the hills which skirt the valley, crosses Rockcastle Creek,
and penetrates into another jumble of rocks {massif) called Big
Hill. In the pass between London and Rodccastle Creek Wild
Cat Camp was situate<l, surrounded by forests, flanked by scarped
rock/«, and only approachable by narrow and tortuous roads, easy
to defend, but surrounded by positions which must be occupied,
and which recjuireil a numerous garrison. A ridge which com-
manded the camp to the east, at the south-east a mound (jnamdon)
called Round Hill, and two cliffs jutting out on the south like two
bastions to the right and left of the London road, constituted the
main features of these positions, which were separated from each
other by deep ravines.
After one month of inactivity, Zollicoffer made an attempt to
surprise the Federal camp, where no one ever expected to see him
again. Garrard's force, consisting of the skeletons of three r^i-
menfc«, only numbered six hundred effective men, three hundred
of them being in the hospital. Starting on the 12th or 13th of
October with seven regiments and one battery, about three thou-
sand men in all, Zollicoffer only arrived in front of the Federal
positions on the 21st. Through hLs want of activity he lost the
opportunity of taking Garrard unawares. The latter, having re-
solved to defend himself, even without reinforcements, was wait-
ing with his small band for the arrival of a few raiments sta-
tioned in the " blue-gnkss " region, whom he had apprised of the
approach of the enemy. If Zollicoffer had attacked him on the
20th, he would prol>ably have obtained an easy victory ; but Gen-
eral Schopf, hastening during the night to respond to Garrard's
call, arrived with two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry.
The positions, which had previously only been guarded by ad-
vanced sentinels, were now strongly occupied; and when, on the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALLS BLUFF. 391
morning of the 21st, two Tennessee regiments advanced, full of
confidence, to attack Bound Hill, they met with a resistance they
had not expected. Bravely advancing under fire, they made the
defenders waver for an instant, but they were immediately ral-
lied and soon recovered their advantage, driving the enemy back
into the valley. A few hours after this first encounter the Fed-
erals received new reinforcements. They placed their artillery in
position, and thus felt perfectly prepared. Towards two v'>'clock
ZoUicoffer renewed the attack on their right, and the fighting soon
became general. The assailants were repulsed on every side, and
their defeat cost them the more dear in proportion to the greater
audacity they had displayed. On that very evening they re-
traced their steps towards the south.
But, shortly after, the Federals lost, through their own fault, all
the advantages they had first obtained. In the first fortnight of
November it was reported that a strong detachment had left
Bowling Green and was proceeding eastward ; Grcneral Schopf, being
under the impression that he was about to be turned, abandoned
the positions he had lately so well defended, before an imaginary
foe. While ZoUicoffer was quietly resting in the valley of the
Cumberland, and no Confederate troops were approaching Wild
Cat Camp, the Federals were hastening away from that place by
the Lexington road ; and their retreat was so disorderly that if
there h^(l been an enemy in sight it might have been called a
rout. In consequence of this panic a portion of the "blue-
grass " region was abandoned to the guerillas of both camps.
In the mean while, from the early part of October the Federal
authorities were preparing, east of Lexington, an expedition
which was to penetrate into Western Virginia from Kentucky.
The Confederates, although not sufficiently numerous to occupy
the whole country, watched their adversaries closely, making up
in activity for their want of numerical strength. But these haz-
ardous tactics did not always prove successful ; thus, on the 8th
of October, three hundred of them were surprised at Hillsborough,
Fleming county, by a small Federal detachment, which put them
to flight, killing eleven, wounding twenty-nine, and capturing
twenty -two men. The expedition, commanded by General Nel-
Bon, was to go up the Licking River, pass through Prestonburg
Digitized by VjOOQIC
392 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
and Piketon (or Pikeville), to cross the Cumberland Mountains,
and finally descend upon Lebanon in the valley of Clinch River,
whence it could cut off the communications between Virginia and
Tennessee. On the 24th of October its advance column, after a
brief skirmish, took possession of the village of West Liberty,
and on the 6th of November a column of about three thousand
Federals occupied Presfconburg, on the Big Sandy. This tributary
of the Ohio is navigable above Piketon, and thus afforded Nel-
son great facilities for revictualling his army. The Confederates
had collected in haste about one thousand men, under Colonel
Williams, for the purpose of covering Piketon, and especially the
defile of Pound Grap in the Cumberland Mountains, a pass of the
highest importance to them, for it was the entrance into a district
of West Virginia whence they drew large supplies of salt and
lead. Nelson was trying to surround Williams, so as to capture
him, with all his troops, at Piketon. This very difficult man-
oeuvre was then very popular with the American generals ; and a
newspaper correspondent who accompanied Nelson, affirming in
advance the success of the movement, had the audacity to tele-
graph to the North that Williams had laid down his arnas and
surrendered with all his men. The public, still full of illusions,
believed the report of this imaginary victory for two days. Nel-
son's expedition was to have more modest results. On the 7th
of November he had sent one half of his forces nortl^ward, by
way of John's Creek valley, lying parallel to that of Big Sandy,
with instructions to fall back upon the latter, so as to take Pike-
ton in rear. He set out himself on the 9th by the direct road
which follows the Big Sandy; he had a march of forty kilometres
to perform. But Williams was on his guard ; carrying all his
matSriel and his d6p6t8 towards Pound Grap, and sending a few
skirmishers to detain the Federals upon John's Creek, he went,
with seven hundred men, to meet Nelson, and waited for him at
the Ivy Creek pass. The road, constructed like a cornice along
the side of a steep mountain, made an abrupt turn at this point
Just as the head of the Federal column passed this turning, it re-
ceived a murderous fire in front, while some troops posted on the
other side of the river directed a heavy discharge of musketry
upon its flank. Nelson's soldiers drew back in confusion before
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALLS BLUFF. 393
this unexpected attack ; then, rallying, they carried the position
where the Confederates were lying in ambush, at the cost of five
killed and twenty-five wounded, but they were unable to reach
Piketon until the morning of the 10th ; Williams, passing through
that village after the fight at Ivy Creek, had evacuated it towards
night, just in time to escape the Federal column, which was com-
ing up by way of John's Creek to cut ofi^ his retreat. He left
scarcely anything behind him, and went to take position at Pound
Grap. His little band would not have been able to defend that
position for any length of time ; but Nelson never came to attack
it, and allowed himself to be overtaken by winter in Eastern Ken-
tucky, without having done anything to continue the campaign.
The Unionists of Eastern Tennessee, who were waiting for him
and had been preparing to assist him, were unable to attempt any
serious operations, and confined themselves to the task of destroy-
ing several railway bridges between Knoxville and Lynchburg.
They thus exposed themselves to be severely dealt with by the
Confederate government ; but they rendered at least an indirect
service to their cause by keeping a certain number of rebel troops
far away from the fields of battle.
The military events which occupied the end of the year 1861
in Central Kentucky are neither more important nor more decis-
ive than those we have just related. Anderson had been replaced
in his command by General Sherman. The comprehensive mind
of this true soldier enabled him to understand at a glance how
greatly above the resources at his disposal was the task imposed
upon him, and he refused to undertake a partisan warfare {petUe
ffuerre) which could be productive of no results. He expressed
his convictions with his usual precision, and without any regard
for those illusions in which he did not participate. General L.
Thomas having been sent by the Secretary of War to inspect his
troops, he told that officer in positive terms that it would require
sixty thousand men to subdue Kentucky, and two hundred thou-
sand to conquer the Confederate armies between the Mississippi
and the Alleghanies. Nobody would believe him, while many
persons pronounced him crazy ; and shortly after, he was deprived
of a command of which he was deemed unworthy. Before long
he was to be gloriously avenged for this temporary injustice.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
394 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Tlie troops which he had been constantly drilling and exercis-
ing had but a trifling encounter with the enemy. Several Fed-
eral detachments advanced by a forced march as far as the borders
of Green River, below Bowling Green, and on the 29th of October
they surprised the Confederate posts established there. One of
these small bodies of troops entered Morgantown, almost Mrithout
striking a blow, and destroyed the enemy's d6p6ts ; another, cross-
ing the river at Woodbury, put the garrison to flight after a brisk
engagement fought among the houses of that village.
In the mean time, McClellan had succeeded Scott in the
supreme command. One of his first acts was to send General
Buell on the 4th of November to replace Sherman in Keotucky.
Buell, who had previously commanded one of the new divisions
of the army of the Potomac, was a strict and methodical officer,
admirably fitted for training young soldiers, but too slow to
handle them successfully in an active campaign. The resources
which had been refused to Sherman were placed at his disposal.
The number of regiments which the Western States of Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois furnished the Federal government increased
every day. Most of these troops were forwarded to Buell, who
soon found himself at the head of a considerable army. He
resolved at last to take the offensive.
The Confederates, on their side, had not been inactive. Gen-
eral Sidney Johnston, already known by his campaign against the
Mormons, had embraced tlieir cause. He was invested with the
supreme command over all tlie country extending from the Mis-
sissippi to the AUeghanies ; he received numerous reinforcements
from the West under Hardee, from Virginia under Floyd, and
he set to work to occupy the whole southern section of Ken-
tucky. General Hardee proceeded with all the disposable troops
to occupy Bowling Green, which had become a vast entrendied
camp. In that position he covered Zollicoffer to the eastward,
who had taken position in the valley of the Cumberland, and to
the westward Polk, who had just repulsed Grant's attack upon
Belmont. Under the protection of tliis army the secessionists of
Kentucky organized a new legislature, which was this time sub-
servient to the wishes of Grovemor Magoffin, and voted for the
annexation of their State to the Southern Confederacy.
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BALVS BLUFF. 395
Buell had massed at Elizabethtown an army of forty thousand
men under the immediate command of General McCook, an
officer of great energy and brother to the one we have seen serv-
ing under Rosecrans. At the same time, he sent General Mitchell
to make a threatening demonstration against Zollicofier on the
borders of the Cumberland. McCook, following the railway,
proceeded as far as Munfordsville, on Green River, after a trifling
engagement with the outposts of the Confederate general Hind-
man, on the 4th of December, at Whippoorwill Bridge. The
passage of the river delayed him for some time, but on the 16th
the Union general, having at last constructed a bridge of boats,
sent a German regiment to make a reconnaissance on the lefb
bank. This force was attacked on the 17th by a party of mount-
ed Texans, who rushed upon them with great impetuosity. The
Federals kept their ground. They came to close fighting ; and
the Texans seemed on the point of gaining the victory, when their
commander. Colonel Terry, was killed. Seeing that their adver-
saries were receiving reinforcements, the Texans withdrew, de-
stroying the railway behind them. This battle, which closed the
campaign, cost each belligerent about thirty men. Buell did not
deem it advisable to go beyond Green River, and waited along
its borders fbr a more favorable season. He was hesitating as to
an attack on Bowling Green ; we shall find that Grant, a few weeks
later, by piercing the Confederate line along the Tennessee, spared
him that trouble.
Before closing this chapter it behooves us to cast a glance
along the banks of the Potomac, where the two principal hostile
armies have been in presence of each other since the battle of
Bull Run.
In a preceding chapter we have shown what efforts the North
had made to repair that disaster by raising an army which was
already formidable in point of numbers. We have pointed out
the modes of proceeding resorted to in all the loyal States to raise
regiments. A portion of these troops was destined to s\vell the
armies of Missouri, Kentucky, and Western Virginia, but the
necessity of covering the Federal capital concentrated aroimd
Washington the greatest portion of the men and matiriel that the
patriotic impulse of the Northern States had placed at Mr. Lin-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
396 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
coin's disposal. Greneral McClellan had undertaken to organize
and shape the elements thus hastily collected^ and to form them
into an army capable of sustaining unbroken all the trials of an
offensive campaign. No man in America was better able to ac-
complish this difficult task than he. His first care was to ensure
the safety of Washington, and then to prepare the army of the
Potomac for the part allotted to it by the drilling of recmitB,
forming regiments into divisions, the development of all the
special services, and the creation of a sufficient maUinei From
the day on which he assumed the command, immense labors were
undertaken in order to convert the informal redoubts which had
been erected on the right bank of the Potomac, into regular works.
These labors had a double object. It was important, in the first
place, to guard effectually against any sudden attack on the part
of the Confederates, who might be able either to surprise one of
these redoubts, or to slip between them under cover of the woods
and spread confusion in the capital itself. It was necessary, above
all, to inspire with confidence the remnants of McDowell's army
and the new troops, whose imagination had been excited by fanci-
ful descriptions of the battle of Bull Run. The sight of the for-
tifications which rose around Washington restored the equanim-
ity which they so much needed in order to serv'^e their apprentice-
ship before taking the field.
Seated on the left bank of the Potomac, at a point where the
river is transformed into a broad estuary, the capital of the Union
possesses the best surroundings for a vast entrenched camp. Its
long avenues, traced in a straight line across immense spaces,
which have been cleared to no purpose, are lined by a few houses;
but the sandy wastes which the Capitol in its majestic isolation
commands offered excellent grounds for encampments, d6p6ts, and
military manceuvres. Ekewhere nature has done everything to
beautify the valley of the Potomac. The river is skirted by two
chains of hills, one to the north of Washington, at a short dis-
tance from the city ; the other on the right bank, sloping gradu-
ally as it nears the little city of Alexandria. This range is com-
posed of a succession of unconnected hillocks, covered with mag-
nificent forests, and mtersected by ravines, in which never-failing
waters preserve a perpetual freshness. The clay soil is a little
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 397
hard under the pick^ but may be formed into embankments which
are almost indestructible, and the abundance of wood furnishes
all the necessary materials for the rapid construction of powerful
entrenchments. The only drawback is that the positions sus-
ceptible of being fortified are too numerous, and the space com-
manded by each is too restricted — circumstances which favor a
great multiplication of defensive works.
During the months of August and September Greneral McClel-
lan was exclusively occupied with the construction of works, in-
dispensable as a protection for his young troops, in case the enemy
should come to give them battle in sight of Washington. It was
necessary, on one hand, to protect the three bridges which connect
the two banks of the Potomac in the vicinity of Washington — the
suspension bridge above Greorgetown, the canal bridge, situated a
little lower down, and the Long Bridge, on piles, thrown across
the estuary of the Potomac just in front of the capital. On the
other hand, it was expedient to cover, more to the south, the
little city of Alexandria, which derived great importance in con-
sequence of its wharves built in deep water, and as the terminus of
the Orange and Manassas Railway. It was a line thirty kilome-
tres in length which he had to defend. Earthworks, some open
and some closed at the gorge, were constructed along the promi-
nent points of that line, and arranged to admit the field-pieces
belonging to the troops encamped in the neighborhood. Vast
abaUis extended their field of fire and increased their defensive
strength ; breastworks for infantry were thrown up in the posi-
tions of secondary importance. All these works were executed by
the soldiers,who showed themselves excellent trenchers, and directed
by oflficers who, in the absence of special instructions, displayed
considerable knowledge of civil engineering. A similar line of
fortifications extended along the other side of the Potomac. The
capital, thus protected on all sides, could defy any sudden attacks,
and no longer feared to see its communications with Baltimore
cut by hostile parties. At the end of one month these works
were sufficiently advanced to ensure the safety of the seat of gov-
ernment. Three months after the battle of Bull Run they were
nearly finished.
During this time Greneral McClellan taxed his activity and his
Digitized by VjOOQIC
398 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
methodical mind in organizing the army, whose strength increased
daily. He began by restoring order in the streets of Washington,
where were a disonlerly crowd of recruits who had not rejoined
their regiments, soldiers who had left theirs, and wagons of every
description, which indifferently performed the service of supply-
trains. Almost alone at the beginning to superintend everything,
he sought everywhere for special oflBcers capable of assisting him ;
his zeal was imparted to all his subordinates, and a fruitful dili-
gence succeeded the fruitless agitation which had prevailed before
his coming.
The instruction of recruits is nearly the same in every country.
In America it was the more difficult because the ignorance of the
officers equalled that of the soldiers. The new regiments on
their arrival were encamped in the immediate vicinity of the city,
and they were only formed into brigades after a certain period of
preparation. The gcneral-in-chief took care to assign them, as
much as pos4?ible, to corps where the new comers found comrades
already better instructed than themselves. The brigades, consist-
ing of four regiments or battalions averaging eight hundred men
each, were about three thousand two hundred strong. They were
unit(Hl, by threes, to form divisions of ten thousand men, to each
of which was added a regiment of cavalry, three batteries of vol-
unteer artillery, and one from the regular army. All the branches
of the administrative service were reorganized, and so constituted
as to meet the wants of the large army which was thus being
formed of all throe parts. The matPriel which reached Washing-
ton from the ports and manufacturing cities of the Union was
so classified as to simplify matters more and more. Constant
inspections by the general himself and his aides-de-camp ensured
a strict jwrformance of his orders and hastened the completion
of the work he had imposed upon each individual.
Three months were thus spent. The active operations which
took place during that period were so trifling that a few words will
suffice to dcscril)e them, but the country which was their theatre
plays so important a part in the course of this hktory, that it is
proper to give once for all a description of it. The confluence
of the Shenandoah and the Potomac at Harper's Ferry doubles the
volume of the latter river, whose deep and rapid waters form, in a
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 399
strategic point of view, a considerable obstacle. Its course is ob-
structed by various falls, but a canal along the right bank afibrds
facilities to navigation which the river itself does not offer. In
approaching Washington the Potomac widens and feels the effects
of the tide ; it is transformed into a long and deep estuary, to
which it gives its name. The navigation of this branch of
the sea, called the Lower Potomac, begins at Alexandria. While
the river pursues a south-eastwardly course, the estuary runs
due south from Washington to a point called Aquia Creek.
Turning abruptly to the north-east to cover the lower promontory^
called Mathias Point, if afterwards resumes the original south-
eastwardly direction, and finally empties into the inland sea called
Chesapeake Bay. The Potomac crosses the chain of the Blue
Ridge at Harper^s Ferry, which on the Virginia side is called
Loudoun Heights, and which extends into Pennsylvania under the
name of Maryland Heights and South Mountain. A little more
to the eastward there is a chain of hills running parallel to the
Blue Ridge, but much less elevated, knawn by the names of Bull
Run and Catoctin Mountains. All the country through which
the Potomac flows beyond the gorges formed by this latter chain
resembles the neighborhood of Washington ; small hills, lying
close to each other, of equal height, separated by deep and often
marshy ravines, unimportant water-courses, immense woods inter-
sected by clearings where com and tobacco are cultivated, valleys
of moderate breadth affording rich pasture-grounds, very few
villages, and a large number of isolated farms, — impart to this
country an agreeable but monotonous aspect. Below Washing-
ton, the tributaries of the Lower Potomac, each forming a small
estuary at its mouth, separate both sides of the river from this arm
of the sea. The Federal capital, situated at a distance of eighty
kilometres in a direct line from Harper^s Ferry and sixty-five
from Aquia Creek, thus stands at the summit of an obtuse angle,
of which the river and the estuary form the containing sides.
The districts situated below Aquia Creek are so intersected ^vith
creeks and swamps that a large army could not operate there,
while beyond Mathias Point the Lower Potomac increases so
much in width that its navigation cannot be intercepted.
At Manassas the Confederates occupied a central position,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
400 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
which placed them about fifteen kilometres nearer to Harper^s
Ferry on one side, and to Aquia Creek on the other, than the
Federal troops quartered at Washington. This was an advantage
both in an offensive and defensive point of view. They thought
of nothing, however, but fortifying themselves. The Richmond
government, which, to arouse the enthusiasm of its adherents, an-
nounced the early invasion of the free States, was well aware that
the army of Beauregard, notwithstanding the reinforcements it
had received, was not in a condition to attempt such an enter-
prise. It concealed this inability under the pretext of strong
political reasons. Not being able to aapist the secessionists of
Maryland, it accused them of lukewarmness. While the pickets
alone were pushed forward in sight of Washington, the main
body of the Confederate army remained at Manassas, where it
could easily obtain supplies, and at Centreville, the solitary hil-
lock of which had been encircled by earthworks of considerable
strength.
On the right it was covered by the Oocoquan River, of which
Bull Run is one of the tributaries, and further on small posts
placed en echdon along the Lower Potomac were to prevent all
attempts at landing. At Aquia Creek a brigade was in direct
communication with Richmond by way of Fredericksburg. Be-
tween the nK)uth of the Ocooquan and Alexandria, on a hill which
overlooks the course of the Potomac, and from which the dome
of the Capitol may be seen, stands Mount Vernon, a dwelling at
once modest and famous, where Washington lived and died. By
a strange coincidence, the residence of the great citizen whose
name both parties were invoking, and whose memory each was
anxious to appropriate, was situated precisely between the two
lines of outposts, as if he had hesitated between them, or was still
endeavoring to reconcile them. To the left, the Confederate
scouts showed themselves on the bank of the Potomac, from the
vicinity of the suspension bridge to the defiles of the Katocktin
Mountains. On the eastern slope of these hills, at a distance of
ten or twelve kilometres from the Potomac, they occupied the lit-
tle city of Leesburg, situated at the extremity of the main road,
for which the suspension bridge was constructed. Finally, the
troops which Johnston had left in the valley of Virginia, rein-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALLS BLUFF, 401
forced by new levies, were now under the command of Jackson,
who had just given proofs of his military abilities at Bull Run.
They occupied Winchester, and pushed their outposts as far as the
border of the Potomac, near Martinsburg, and the half-burnt vil-
lage of Harper's Ferry. Great activity prevailed both at Rich-
mond and at Manassas.
In the capital of the new Confederacy, Mr. Davis and his asso-
ciates were busy in organizing all the parts of the central admin-
istration for the conduct of the war, in establishing vast manufac-
tories, in collecting the necessary maHrid for the armies, in assem-
bling and drilling recruits, and in forwarding to Manassas all
they had available in men, arms, horses, and provisions. Not-
withstanding these efforts, they could not increase their army aa
rapidly as Mr. Lincoln could ; but they succeeded for a long time
in concealing this growing inferiority from their adversaries — ^an
unnecessary trouble, however, for the latter had no intention of
attacking them.
The fatal impatience of the North, which had caused the disas-
ter of the 21st of July, had been succeeded by a settled deter-
mination to submit to every sacrifice necessary to ensure success.
Men were not only sent by himdreds of thousands, and money by
hundreds of millions, but the young general who was then in the-
full enjoyment of public confidence was no longer begrudged
the expenditure of time — that auxiliarj^, the value of which the
Americans understand so well. During three months the great
nation which looked to him for safety thought of nothing .but to-
aid him in his efforts, and to place in his hands the most powerful
means of action, without embarrassing, by a single criticism or a.
solitary word of impatience, the work of organization to which he
had entirely devoted himself. Never, perhaps, was a citizen of a.
free State entrusted with such a complete carte-blanche. No co-
operation was refused him. President Lincoln delighted in those-
days in going to talk strategy with him. His superior officer,.
Greneral Scott, who regarded him as his pupil, thwarted him in
nothing. His inferiors unanimously submitted to his authority
without a murmur, while McDowell considered it an honor to*
serve under his orders.
The strength of the army was quintupled without extending;
Vol. I.— 2«
Digitized by VjOOQIC
402 THE qiVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the circle of the positions it occupied around Washington more
than a few kilometres. In proportion as the brigades and divis-
ions were formed, they were posted closely upon the right bank
of the river, and all the hills around were soon covered with en-
campments, picturesquely laid out under the lofty trees of the
forest, or among the clearings. Patterson having been deprived
of his command in consequence of his inaction in July, the
defence of the Upper Potomac was entrusted by McClellan
to General Banks, and the troops remaining in that district
formed a division under his orders. Well aware that if the Con-
federates debouched from the valley of Virginia into Maryland
and Pennsylvania, they could not advance so long as he was oq
their flank, McClellan gave up the idea of defending the Poto-
mac above the point of its confluence with the Shenandoah. He
had, therefore, brought back Banks's division into the valley of
the Monocacy, a tributary of the right bank of the Potomac,
which runs along the eastern slope of ihe Catoctin. The main
body of that division occupied the central point of Frederick, and
by means of extended posts, watched a part of the Potomac in the
neighborhood of Harper's Ferry and the crest of the Blue Ridge.
It was thus able to defend the mountain passes against any en-
emy who should venture to make a descent upon Baltimore and
Washington, or threaten its rear if it advanced towards Pennsyl-
vania. Shortly afterwards, Stone's division, lately organized,
made a connection with Banks at Washington, by taking a posi-
liion at Poolesville, on the road leading from the capital to the
mouth of the Monocacy. On the left, to watch the Lower Poto-
mac, a division, also new, was sent under Greneral Hooker to take
position among the almost impenetrable forests which border that
arm of the sea on the Maryland side. This division was en-
camped on some high hills, from which it could see the bivouac
fires of the enemy, from which it was separated by an insormoont-
able obstacle.
The two armies, thus situated, could only be disturbed in their
inaction by accidents or by insignificant encounters. Banks's
advanced posts, taking advantage of low water in the month of
August, frequently crossed the Potomac to reconnoitro the Vir-
ginia side below Harper's Ferry. They exchanged a few shots
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 403
'with the enemy on the 5tb and 12th of August, in the vicinity
of the Catoctin River and the village of Lovettsville, and each
time brought back a few prisoners. One month later, September
11th, one of the new brigades of the army of the Potomac, com-
manded by General Smith, who was encamped on the right side
of the river near the suspension bridge, was sent to make a re-
connaissance in the direction of Ijewinsville, a village situated be-
tween the two hostile lines of outposts. The object of this move-
ment was to teach the inexperienced soldiers of General Smith to
march and scout in presence of the enemy, to make topographical
drawings of a district of which there was no correct map in ex-
istence, and to prevent the enemy from obtaining supplies in it.
Having been informed of this movement, the Confederate gen-
eral Stuart, who was then in command of the outposts on that
side, started with a regiment of infantry, a detachment of cav-
alry, and a battery of artillery, for the purpose of surprising the
Federals, whose force consisted of two thousand men and six
guns. He deemed it more prudent, however, to attack them from
a distance, and the fire of his artillery threw at first some con-
fusion into their ranks. But the Federal guns soon obtained the
advantage, and without coming to closer quarters both parties
retired, each on his own side, with trifling losses.
Sometimes it was the Confederates who assumed the oflensive ;
as, for instance, on the 15th of September a detachment of their
cavalry, numbering about four hundred and fifty horses, boldly
crossed the Potomac and came in turn to attack the Federal posts
• near Damestown, between Poolesville and Rockville ; but it was
repulsed, and left about a dozen wounded behind.
Two months had elapsed since the battle of Bull Run. The
Confederate chiefs, in view of the increase of the Federal forces
at Washington, could no longer entertain the idea of an ofiensive
campaign. The ardor with which they had fired the South, by
pushing their outposts in sight of the capital, had swelled the
number of their soldiers ; the result which they had sought was
accomplished. These outposts, having ventured very far from the
main army, were then drawn back. On the 27th of September
they evacuated a small work situated on an isolated height called
Munson's Hill, which soldiers in the Union army were in the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
404 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
habit of pointing out from a distance to visitors and jonmalists,
who came from the North to say that they had seen the enemy.
The Federak entered the work on the following day, and after-
wards successively took possession of the villages of Lewinsville,
Vienna, and even Fairfax Ck)urt-house, on the 9th, 16th, and 17th
of October. In the absence of more important military events,
this movement, which had not cost a drop of blood, was made the
subject of comment in the North, both by the press and the pub-
lic, for several weeks. McClellan contented^himself, nevertheless,
with extending his positions, and laying out a plan for a new line
of works two or three kilometres in advance of the old one. He
thus left a space between the two armies which was to render their
encounters still rarer than before.
The inaction which fortified his position above and aroand
Washington was soon, however, the means of causing him a
great deal of trouble on the Lower Potomac. The line of railway
not being sufficient to transport all the supplies intended for
Washington, part of that service was performed by water. From
the time that a large army had begun to collect in that city the
Lower Potomac was ploughed by a considerable number of sailing-
vessels coming from Baltimore, Havre-de-Graoe, Philadelphia,
New York, and Boston, carrying, at reduced prices, the maJlJtnd
of war and the necessary provisions for the military and civil
population of the capital. The CJonfederates, being masters of all
the right bank, resolved to balk their operations. The wooded
hills which rise along the borders of the Lower Potomac afforded
excellent positions for intercepting the navigation of that arm of .
die sea. They erected earthworks, in some of which they placed
navy guns, whilst others were prepared to receive field-pieces.
Towards the middle of September they began by firing a few
shells upon the vessels that were coming up the Potomac, and a
fortnight after, their batteries were so well posted between the
mouth of the Oocoquan and Mathias Point, that merchant- vessels
dared no longer to brave them, and navigation was almost entirely
suspended. It was not long before the capital began to suffer for
want of provisions ; the trains engaged in the transportation ser-
vice of the government encumbered the railroad, and the price of
all commodities was immediately raised. The material damage
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 405
was not great, but this partial blockade of the capital was regarded
in the North as a new humiliation, and for the first time Greneral
McClellan was taken to task. These reproaches were unjust. It
was impossible to prevent the Confederates from erecting bat-
teries along a coast eighty kilometres in length, of which they
were absolute masters. The war flotilla, stationed on the waters
of the Potomac, could act as a police force, intercept all communi-
cations between the two banks, protect merchant-vessels against
sudden attacks, throw shells into one and another of the enemy's
M'orks, but it could not entirely silence batteries the armament
of which it was always easy for the Confederates to renew. In
order to break up the blockade it would have been necessary to
effect the military occupation of the right bank of the Lower Po-
tomac ; but such an operation could not be undertaken with an
arm of the sea in the rear and the whole of the enemy's army
encamped at Mantissas in front. To break the blockade of the
Potomac, therefore, depended upon the retreat of that army, and
could only be an incident in the new campaign which was being
prepared.
Everything seemed to indicate to the Federals that the moment
for undertaking this campaign had at last arrived. We have
stated that by the end of September the Confederates were con-
centrated around Centreville and Manassas. Their outposts,
wherever they had been maintained, appeared ready to fall back,
and the lukewarmness they exhibited on the occasion of a trifling
engagement at Harper's Ferry encouraged McClellan to draw his
lines closer upon his adversaries. A detachment of Greary's bri-
gade, which guarded the Potomac in front of Harper's Ferr}*^, had
crossed the river on the 8th of October a little above that village,
and taken possession of a few mills from which the enemy had
procured considerable supplies. The Confederate general Evans,
who was at Leesburg with his brigade, having sent a few troop&
to worry that detachment, Geary crossed the Potomac and posted
himself, with six hundred men and a few pieces of artillery, at Har-
per's Ferry, to cover the retreat of the soldiers who were carrying
back the flour taken from the mill. On the 16th he was prepar-
ing to recross the river, when the Confederates attacked him. At
a distance of four kilometres from Harper's Ferry his outposts
Digitized by VjOOQIC
406 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
were stationed along a ridge called Bolivar Heights, which oom-
miinds tlie approaches to that village, and extends from the Potomac
to the Shenandoah. The Confederates took possession of it with-
out any difBculty, and began to cannonade the Federals posted on
a plateau extending from the foot of the hill to a point above
Harper's Ferry, while one of their batteries, placed on Loudonn
Heights, on the other side of the Shenandoah, took them in flank.
Geary's soldiers made a brave resistance. At last the detach-
ment which had left the mill in the morning, and recrossed the
Potomac, came to their assistance, and, following the line of the
Shenandoah, turned the extreme right of the Confederates. Geary,
who until then liad contented himself with repulsing the charges
of Ashby's cavalry, took the offensive in turn, and ascending the
hill under the fire of the enemy, drove him back in disorder to
tlie other side. The Confederates were not able to rally, and
they left in the hands of the Federals a few prisoners, a large
amount of arms and ammunition, and a gun of hea\7 cahbre.
Geary, satisfied with a success which had only cost hun about a
dozen men, returned to the left bank of the river in the evening.
It was now the middle of October; the oppressive heat of sum-
mer had been succeeded by those lovely autumnal days in which
a peculiar haze like a thin smoke marks the early hours — days
calm and balmy, followed by nights marvellously bright and clear.
At that season, known by the name of Indian summer, the dryness
renders the worst roads passable, and reduces the streams to their
smallest volume. Three months of labor had brought forth their
fruits ; a line of fortifications, all capable of sustaining a siege
and connected by great military roads, surrounded Washington,
affording an efiicient protection to the capital. The forts on the
right side of the river were nearly all armed, and their garrisons
had been designated. Greneral McClellan had at last seven strong
divisions on the right bank of the Potomac and four on the left.
The former, commanded respectively by Generals McCall, Smith,
Fitz John Porter, McDowell, Blenker, Franklin, and Heintzel-
mann, were encamped, in the order in which we have enumerated
them, along the line of defence from the suspension bridge to
Alexandria. The others, under Generals Banks, Stone, Keyes,
and Hooker, were stationed en eclielon in the valley of the Monoc-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 407
aoy at Poolesville, near (Jeorgetown, and along the Lower Poto-
mac The regular infantry, several regiments not formed into
brigades and several brigades not formed into divisions, occupied
Washington, On the 15th of October, these troops, including
the garrisons of Baltimore and Annapolis, presented a total force
of one hundred and fifty-two thousand fifty-four men, of whom,
after deducting nine thousand sick, one thousand unfit for service,
and eight thousand absentees, there remained one hundred and
thirty-three thousand two hundred and one, ready for active ser-
vice, together with two hundred and twenty-eight field-pieces.
General McClellan deemed it expedient to leave thirty-five thou-
sand men and forty cannon in Washington, ten thousand men and
twelve cannon in Baltimore and Annapolis, five thousand men and
twelve cannon on the Upper Potomac, and eight thousand men
with twenty-four cannon on the Lower Potomac. He found
himself, therefore, at the head of a perfectly available force of
seventy-five thousand men and one hundred and forty guns.
These troops were thoroughly equipped, well armed, and provided
with sufficient means of transportation. There was doubtless
something in their bearing which struck the practiced eye unfavor-
ably ; doubtless also they did not present that compactness and
precision of movement which long practice in manoeuvring can
alone impart to an army, but it seemed as if henceforth they only
required some practical experience in warfare to improve greatly.
The people of the North were waiting with great anxiety, and a
degree of impatience difficult to control, for the first movement
of that army to which such vast interests had been entrusted.
Unfortunately, General McClellan, besides the very natural
anxiety he felt on account of the inexperience of his troops, sin-
gularly overrated the strength and discipline of those of John-
ston, who had superseded Beauregard in the command of the
Confederate army — the army of Northern Virginia. He had
given to that army a total force of one hundred and fifty thou-
sand men, whereas, in reality, on the 31st of October it only
numbered sixty-six thousand two hundred and forty-three men in
all, of whom only forty-four thousand one hundred and thirty-
one were present in the field. One-third of this army was com-
posed of non-combatants, sick men disabled by change of climate,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
408 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
and especially absentees ^vithout leave. The number it these
last mentioned was sufficient to show that the Federal geDeral
was equally mistaken in regard to the discipline of his adver-
saries, who, while full of ardor on the battle-field, submitted with
great reluctance to the regular life and monotonous duties of the
camp. Nevertheless, the movement in retreat indicated by the
enemy decided him to feel the ground upon which he was prob-
ably about to undertake a fall campaign.
On the 19th of October he placed the three divisions forming
his right wing on the other side of the Potomac under arms, and
made them reconnoitre the whole line in front of thenu Only
some cavalry pickets were found, and it was ascertained that the
enemy was nowhere in force in front of Centreville. McCall,
who was at the extreme right, advanced along the road parallel
to the river ; and placing two of his brigades en echdoUj in order
to cover his communications, he passed through the village of
Drainesville with the third, proceeding as far as within fifteen
miles of Leesburg, while his staff officers were engaged in making
a sketeh of the country, McClellan justly thought that he had
gone too far, and fearing lest he should expose his flank to an
attack on the part of the Confederates posted at Centreville, or-
dered him to fall back as far as Drainesville. But struck with
the absence of the enemy in that direction, and deceived by a
false report from Banks, he concluded that the Confederates had
no intention of defending Leesburg. He wished to assure him-
self of the fact, without, however, bringing on a battle for the pos-
session of that eccentric point, or placing McCalFs coluum in a
dangerous position between the enemy and a deep river, Witli
this object in view, on the evening of the 19th he ordered Stone,
who was guarding the Potomac in front of Leesburg, to watch
the movements of the Confederates on the opposite bank, and, if
necessary, to accelerate their retreat by a slight demonstration.
In the same despatch he informed him that McCall had gone be-
yond Drainesville without seeing the enemy, and that strong
reconnaissances would be made all along the line.
Stone's skirmishers occupied a long island on the Potomac
(Ailed Harrison's Island, situated as far up as Leesburg. This
island lies under the south bank of the river, which rises and
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 409
forms the clifis of BalFs Bluff, the precipitous acclivities of which
are nearly twenty metres high. At the upper extremity of the
isknd there is a crossing called Conrad's Ferry, and a few kilo-
metres below the lower extremity, fronting the mouth of <joo8e
Creek, the crossing called Edward's Ferry. Conformably to the
instructions he had received, Stone made some feints to induce the
enemy to show his strength. Six regimente, under General Gor-
man, were sent to Ed^^ard's Ferry, and the greatest portion of a
brigade, temporarily commanded by Colonel Baker, was collected
at Conrad's Ferry. In the afternoon of the 20th Grorman made a
show of embarking, and in the evening he sent a few mounted
men across the river, while a party of skirmishers, crossing the
stream in front of Harrison's Island, climbed up the acclivities of
Ball's Bluff. The latter proceeded as far as the outskirts of Lees-
burg without finding any trace of the enemy ; but, deceived by the
reflection of moonlight upon an orchard, they mistook the sur-
rounding objects for an encampment, and reported back that the
imaginary enemy was very carelessly guarded.
This report, trifling in itself, was the origin of a succession of
blunders, which were eventually the cause of a serious disaster to
the Federals. Stone, convinced that the enemy was not in force
at Leesburg, thought he might make a demonstration in that direc-
tion corresponding with those which McClellan had mentioned in
his despatch, and thus take possession of that town without in-
volving himself in a serious engagement. He ordered Colonel
Devens, who occupied Harrison's Island with the Fifteenth Mas-
sachusetts, to cross the river above Ball's Bluff, to proceed as far
as Leesburg and surprise the enemy's camp, while the Twentieth
of the same State, under Colonel Lee, should take its place on the
island, and he authorized Baker either to support Devens with
the rest of his brigade or to recall |;iim, abandoning Ball's Bluff,
according to circumstances. At the same time, a few companies
of the Gorman brigade crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry to
make a similar reconnaissance on the banks of Gt>ose Creek.
Stone thereby transcended the instructions of McClellan. His
imprudence was aggravated by the evident insufficiency of his
means for crossing the river. The waters, which had risen very
high during the last week, rendered that operation extremely dif-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
410 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ficult. In order to cross the two arms of the Potomac at Har<
rison's Island the Federals had only one flat-boat, capable of car*
rying about forty men, two barges, each of whidi would hold
about -thirty, and a small iron launch. Nor were they better pro-
vided at Edward's Ferry, whither Stone had repaired in person,
leaving the entire control of the movements at Conrad's Ferry to
Baker.
Devens, having crossed the Potomac with a portion of his regi-
ment during the night, advanced, early in the morning of Octo-
ber 21st, upon Leesburg, at the head of four or five hundred
men, and reached the point which had been reconnoitred on the
previous day without meeting a single adversary. He had, how-
ever, before him a powerful and vigilant enemy, who was watch-
ing his every step, and who was preparing to punish him for his
rashness. Evans, who had already given evidence of his mili-
tary skill at the battle of Bull Kun, had been on his guard since
the occupation of Drainesville by McCall. Having transferred
all his maUriel into the woods, he had concealed himself, with his
three thousand men, in the village of Leesburg ; and when at last
Devens approached, he sallied out to meet him. But being ignor-
ant of the strength of the Federals, he attacked them very cau-
tiously, and after a brief engagement allowed them to fall back
upon Ball's Bluff without harassing them. The reconnaissance
was finished even before the skirmish had revealed, the presence
of the enemy, and all the Federal detachments should immedi-
ately after have been brought back from the other side of the
river. But at that moment General Stone, who had just wit-
nessed the passage of a portion of Grorman's brigade at Edward's
Ferry, full of confidence in the success of his manoeuvre, sent die
Twentieth Massachusetts to Ball's Bluff, together with the de-
tachment of the Fifteenth which had remained at Harrison's
Island. At the same time he gave the fatal order to Devens to
wait on the right side of the river for these reinforcements. It
was eight o'clock in the morning. Evans, not supposing that the
Federals could have committed the imprudence of throwing a few
hundred men on the Virginia shore without the means of rein-
forcing them or of promptly withdrawing them, was advancing
cautiously. In the mean time. Colonel Baker had arrived with
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 411
his regiment at Conrad's Ferrv^ and had assumed the command
conferred upon him by the instructions of Stone. A senator from
Oregon and a personal friend of Mr. Lincoln, an orator of talent
and respected by all for his nobility of character, Baker was an
officer as brave as he was inexperienced. Learning that Devens
had exchanged a few shots with the enemy, his only thought was
to renew the fight and to mass as many men as possible on the
right bank of the river, without troubling himself about the
means of retreat in case of a reverse.
On the top of the cliff of Ball's Bluff there is a clearing a little
less than a kilometre in length, following the course of the river,
and from four to five hundred metres in width. It is surrounded
on three sides by thick woods ; the fourth, overlooking the Poto-
mac, is formed by the crest of the steep acclivity which slopes
down to the shore. Nothing intervenes between the foot of this
acclivity, which is thickly covered with copse-wood, and the
rapid waters of the stream below, but a kind of banqaette twenty
metres wide. It was impossible to select a worse place for land-
ing. The troops, having reached the clearing after a perilous
ascent, found themselves without protection and surrounded by
woods which concealed the approach of the enemy. The precipi-
tous character of the acclivity did not admit of falling back in
good order as far as the river, while the impossibility of effecting
a rapid embarkation would doom those detained on its banks to
certain disaster.
To establish himself without danger in that position. Baker
should at least have possessed a sufficient number of boats and
been able to convey with rapidity all his forces from one side of
the river to the other. But as we have stated, he had only three
boats at his disposal for this important service. Stone, in allow-
ing him entire freedom of action, had not troubled himself about
the matter, and had even aggravated that fault by his inconsider-
ate zeal. The crossing of three guns, which he sent to Ball's
Bluff, with their horses, also occasioned much loss of time, and
diminished by several hundreds the number of combatants whom
he might have massed in season on the right side of the river.
In the mean while, Evans, who had been advancing with great
caution, at last reached the line occupied by Devens's five com-
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412 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
panies in advance of the clearing at Ball's Bluff about two o'clock.
His brigade, numbering about three thousand two hundred men,
consisted of the Eighth Virginia and the Thirteenth, Seven-
teenth, and Eighteenth Mississippi. This last regiment was di-
rected upon the extreme right in order to attack the Federals in
flank. The first two raiments charged Devens and drove his
little band back upon the rest of the Federals, who were posted in
the clearing. At the sound of cannon Baker crossed the river
without leaving any oflBcer to superintend the embarkation of his
soldiers, which was, therefore, effected amid the greatest confu-
sion. At Ball's Bluff he found about one thousand nine hundred
men crowded in a narrow space, without any means of deploying,
and forming an irregular line, having behind it almost every-
where the abrupt edge of the cliff. The combat was vigorously
engaged along the centre and right of his troops when he ar-
rived, about three o'clock in the afternoon. The Confederates
were superior in numbers, full of ardor, well handled, and pro-
tected by the woods, which concealed their movements and kept
their reserves out of sight. The Federals, however, made at first
a good resistance, and their artillery, which was well served, in-
flicted some losses upon the assailants. But these inexperienced
soldiers, who had never been under fire with their oflScers, began
to feel disconcerted on beholding the ravages caused in their
ranks by the fire of the Confederates. Most of the cannoneers
had been wounded, and the guns were silent for want of men to
serve them. A few officers made an effort to manoeuvre them.
Baker himself, who sought the post of danger, and who, not
knowing how to command, could at least risk his person fear-
lessly, joined them in the attempt ; but it soon became necessary
to drag the guns by hand back to the edge of the acclivity. After
an hour's fight, disorder began to show itself among the Federals.
The many wounded were joined by a still larger number of fugi-
tives, who accompanied them to the river, and tried to get on
board the boats which were to convey them back to the island.
The officers, who had been obliged to expose themselves rashly in
order to set an example to their soldiers, fell in great numbers.
Baker was killed almost at the cannon's mouth (d bo\it portantj
just as he was endeavoring to hold a portion of his line which
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BALL'S BLUFF. 413
waa on the point of breaking. On the Confederate right the
Eighteenth Mississippi had commenced the action, and threat-
ened the left flank of the Federals. The latter had found some
shelter in a narrow edge of wood, which, skirting the forest to the
southward, prolonged it for a distance of about one hundred
metres ; the open space between them also separated the combatants.
Baker was killed at four o'clock ; the Federals were evidently
beaten. Colonel Cogswell, upon whom the command devolved,
tried to extricate them by falling back with his left upon Ed-
ward's Ferry along the river, where he would have found reinforce-
ments. But just as he was stripping his right for the purpose of
effecting this movement the soldiers who occupied the piece of
wood on the left imprudently came out; a well-sustained fire
threw them into confusion, and the Confederates took advantage
of their disorderly condition to seize the position they vacated.
All retreat was now cut off on that side. Only a handful of
men continued to offer any resistance at the top of the acclivity,
which their comrades were descending in great haste.* A final
charge of the Eighth Virginia drove them, in turn, into that
abyss, where further struggle was impossible. One of the cannon,
which was flung from the summit of the cliff, rolled down to the
water's edge and was broken in pieces. The battle was ended.
The Confederates had nothing to do but to complete their vic-
tory by firing upon opponents who were no longer able to retaliate.
The crowd of fugitives clung to the brushwood which covered the
acclivities of Ball's Bluff, and, finding no shelter, sought their last
chance of safety in the only boat which remained moored to the
shore. The other two, which were filled with wounded men, were
already far off, and being overloaded, as is always the case under
such circumstances, soon sank with all those who were congratu-
lating themselves upon having been able to get on board. A
large number of officers and soldiers threw themselves into the
river to cross by swimming. Most of these were drowned, and a
few were killed by the balls of the enemy, who pursued them
without mercy. Some, however, succeeded in reaching Harrison's
Island and even the other side of the Potomac ; among the latter
was Colonel Devens. At last darkness came to put an end to
that «oene of horror; it enabled some of the fugitives to hide
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414 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
near the shore or to slip into the woods out of reach of the vic-
tors. The disaster was complete; out of one thousand nine
hundred Federals who had landed at BalPs Bluff, scarcely eight
hundred recrossed the Potomac ; they left behind them two hun-
dred and twenty-three dead, two hundred and fifty wounded, more
than five hundred prisoners, and their three guns. Their com-
mander and most of the officers were either killed or in the hands
of the enemy.
The Confederates, proud of their success, but astonished at its
importance, encamped on the heights they had so bravely won;
their loss amounted to about three hundred men, one hundred
and fifty-three of whom were killed ; among the latter was the
colonel of the Eighteenth Mississippi. In the mean while, great
confusion prevailed among the Federals, who expected to be
attacked at Harrison's Island and at Edward's Ferry. Part of
the Gorman brigade occupied the right bank of the Potomac at the
last-mentioned point ; on being apprised of Baker's defeat. Stone
made preparations for bringing his troops back to the left hank.
But in the middle of the night the movement was countermanded
by McClellan, and the whole brigade crossed into Virginia. To-
wards four o'clock in the afternoon of the 22d, this brigade, num-
bering ajbout four thousand men, was attacked by a portion of
Evans's forces. The latter had proceeded as iar as Goose Creek,
in the hope of meeting with some isolated detachments which
he could still crush ; but having discovered that he had to deal
with an adversary superior in numbers, he lost no time in retir-
ing. On the 23d McClellan went to visit Stone's troops, which
had been so cruelly tried, and gave them the encouragement of
which they stood in need. But being convinced that he could
not undertake any serious operation in that part of his line, he
brought baok into Maryland all the troops which still occupied
the right bank of the Potomac.
The simple narrative of the Ball's Bluff disaster has demon-
strated its causes — the point selected for the landing of troops,
the imprudence which venture<^l two thousand men beyond a river
without any possible means of retreat, the tardiness which enabled
the enemy to reconnoitre its movements and to strike a vigorous
blow. The discussion of these causes gave rise to bitter and end-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFf. 416
less reciiminationa ; indeed, everybody concerned was deserving
of blame. In his instructions McClellan had allowed too great
a latitude to Stone, By directing him to keep a watch over Lees-
burg, which could not have been done without crossing the Poto-
mac ; he should perhaps have more thoroughly impressed on his
mind the isolation in which any troops sent to operate on the
right borders of the river would find themselves. The errors
committed by Stone were more serious ; putting too much faith
in the reports of* his scouts, he persuaded himself that a demon-
stration would be sufficient to cause the evacuation of Leesburg,
and he combined all the movements of his troops as if he were
sure of being able to occupy that town. After having given
Baker the option of either withdrawing his detachments from
BalPs Bluff or of following them with the rest of his brigade,
he formally approved his action in adopting the latter course.
On being informed that there were nearly four thousand Con-
federates between Leesburg and the two thousand men of Baker,
he gave himself no uneasiness on account of the latter, but
merely pointed out to them the means of pursuing the enemy,
instead of guarding against his attack, as he should have done.
The despatch of Stone in which he approved of the crossing of
the river only became known some time after Baker's death,
and by a chance which was truly providential. That unfortunate
officer had placed the despatch inside of his cap; one of his
officers, who picked up Baker's body, found the despatch ; it was
stained with blood, Baker having been shot in the head. He
made a copy of the despatch, which he sent to Baker's family,
before transmitting the original to the War Department, where it
was buried in oblivion. The publication of the copy of the des-
patch 60 fortunately recovered for Baker's memory put a stop to
most of the severe criticisms which had been the more readily made
against him because he was not able to reply to them ; it could not,
however, entirely exonerate him. Indeed, he executed, without
having received formal instructions, an operation contrary to all the
principles of war, the dangers attending which, had he been more
experienced, he ought to have been better able to appreciate than
any one else ; anxious to distinguish himself in behalf of a cause he
had espoused with the zeal of a martyr, he atoned by a glorious
Digitized by VjOOQIC
416 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
death for the error he had committed, but he could not repair
it. There are few men capable of such devotion ; and one who
blames them for a technical error must at the same time pay due
homage to their valor. Baker's subordinates were also them-
selves to blame for not having made a more thorough reconnais-
sance, and for having allowed the enemy to come upon them
without even suspecting his approach; they thus lost the last
chance of recrossing the river in good order.
We have dwelt upon the causes which brought on the defeat of
the Federals because the effect of that disaster was deeply felt
among them. The soldiers of the army of the Potomac under-
stood that their comrades had been the victims of misunderstand-
ings among their commanders ; the latter no longer possessed that
entire confidence in their management of the army which is every-
where the first element of success ; and General McClellan, for
his part, caught the first glimpse of many difficulties which he had
not suspected before. It was the first time that he had put his
hand to the tiller, and the cumbrous vessel had not obeyed the
helm as the pilot had expected.
Congress itself was affected by the rout of BaJPs Bluff. A
committee formed for the purpose of watching the military op-
erations, and of which we shall have to speak hereafter, made it
the subject of a long investigation, which resulted in the sacrifice
of Greneral Stone to appease the dissatisfied public. This officer,
who had shown great determination of purpose during the early
stages of the rebellion, when he found himself alone in Wash-
ington with his company of regulars, was accused of being in
communication with the enemy. His tolerance, perhaps exag-
gerated, for the rebel inhabitants of Maryland, was charged
against him before the committee, and on a certain day he was
arrested by order of the Secretary of War, and secretly confined
in Fort Lafayette. He was kept there like a forgotten man for
six months; the committee pretended to be ignorant of his
arrest, which was not justified by any conclusive evidence; no
written order of the Secretary of War concerning him has been
discovered; and General McClellan, being absorbed by other
cares, or thinking probably that this subordinate, against whom
he had himself signed the order of arrest, deserved such severe
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 417
punishment, did not deem it proper to interest himself in his
behalf.
The check of Ball's BluflFcut short all the projects for the cam-
paign which the organization of the army, the season, and the
condition of the ground seemed to impose on General McClellan.
That incident satisfied his mind as to the false estimate he had
formed of the strength of his adversary ; notwithstanding the re-
ports of all the reconnoitring parties he had sent out on the 20th,
w^ho had not seen the enemy in force anywhere, he did not dare to
put his army in motion, and thus lost the best opportunity he ever
had of beginning a successful and decisive campaign.
Other duties were soon added to those appertaining to the com-
mand of the army of the Potomac, which, by absorbing his whole
activity, diverted his attention for a time from those plans of cam-
paign for the execution of which the public was waiting so impa-
tiently. On the 31st of October General Scott, urged by numer-
ous solicitations, and himself convinced that he had arrived at an
age which required rest, tendered his resignation ; and on the fol-
lowing day General McClellan, without, however, receiving a new
grade, was invested by the President with the chief command of
all the armies of the republic. From that moment he applied!
himself to the task of combining the movements of those armies,,
and determined not to put that of the Potomac in motion until
the organization of all the forces entrusted to his care should be
sufficiently advanced to enable him to undertake offensive opera-
tions on all points at once.
Halleck was sent to St. Louis to prepare for the campaign om
the banks of the Missouri, and Sherman was set aside to give-
place to General Buell, in whom his friend McClellan placed en-
tire confidence. The fine weather, which that year continued for*
an extraordinary length of time, in vain seemed to invite the Fed-
erals to emerge from their long inaction on the borders of the Po-
tomac. The end of the year on that side was only marked by in-
significant encounters. The Confederates having once more taken
])osse8sion of Fairfax Court-house after the affair of Ball's
Bluff, a patrol of cavalry crossed swords with them, on the-
17th of November, in the neighborhood of that village; both*
sides came out of the encounter with only a few wounded, and
Vol. I.— 27
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418 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
on the 26th another party had a similar engagement at Drains-
ville.
A month later this village was the scene of a more serious
fight, in which the advantage was on the side of the Federals.
During a considerable period of time the village had been aban-
doned by both Federals and Confederates. At last, towards the
middle of December, the latter having again established their
outposts in that locality, Greneral McCall, who, as we have stated,
was encamped on the Leesburg road, in the vicinity of the sus-
pension bridge, was ordered to disperse them, and to seize the sup-
plies of forage they had collected.
On the morning of the 20th McCall set in motion the brigade
of Ord, with a battery of artillery. Notwithstanding the season
of the year, the weather was beautiful, and the roads, hardened by
a long dry spell, were in a better condition than in the middle of
summer. By a singular coincidence, General Stuart left his camp
in the neighborhood of Centreville on the evening of the preced-
ing day, and also took the road to Drainesville with a brigade
composed of about two thousand five hundred men, six pieces
of artillery, and two hundred wagons, intended for the convey-
ance of the forage which he expected to procure between the
lines of outposts. These two bodies, about to encounter at
Drainesville, each being under the impression that they should
only meet with small detachments during their expedition, pro-
ceeded at a rapid rate, with very little order and without scouting
to any great distance. The Federals were the first to reach the
village with one regiment, and drove off the few skirmishers
found there. They had scarcely taken up their quarters when,
towards two o'clock, the Confederates made their appearance.
The Centreville road falls off at a right angle into the main road
from Washington to Leesburg about one hundred feet to the east-
ward of Drainesville. Two other roads, to the right and left of
the first, converge towards that same point of intersection, and all
three, before reaching it, pass through two woods separated by a
clearing where a few houses stand. The junction of all these
roads is in the northernmost wood. The other concealed the
movements of the Confederates from view. The latter, deploy-
ing their line under the trees, rested upon the three roads, while
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 419
their artillery followed the middle one. Having reached the edge
of the plain, they found themselves facing one of the Federal
regiments, which had been placed in advance of the junction of
the roads in order to guard their approaches. The others were
drawn up en echelon a little further off around Drainesville.
The first attack of Stuart's troops throws some disorder into the
ranks of the Federals, and they take advantage of it to occupy
tlie houses in the clearing. But the presence of General Ord
soon retrieves the fortunes of the day. He forms three of his
regiments into line, availing himself of all the irregularities of
the ground to cover them, and disposing them in such a manner
as to prevent the enemy from cutting off his retreat by turning
his left Then he places his cannon on the Centreville road,
where the enemy's artillery is posted ; and pointing the first piece
himself, he fires a shell into the midst of the Confederate bat-
tery. The firing is thus kept up at a distance for three-quarters
of an hour. Stuart, in spite of two or three fruitless attempts,
fails to carry the positions of the Federals. Two of his regiments,
meeting in the woods, fire upon each other; and this accident
throws his whole line into confusion. His artillery is soon silenced ;
one of the caissons explodes, killing nearly all the horses ; he extri-
cates his guns with difficulty, closely followed by the Federals, who
have assumed the offensive, and capture several prisoners. This
check cost him forty-three killed, one hundred and forty-three
wounded, and forty-three prisoners. The Federals had only six
killed and sixty wounded. Although the success thus obtained
was insignificant in itself, in a battle where the two adversaries
were of equal strength, it raised the courage of the soldiers and
restored to their commanders a little of that confidence which
they had lost since the affair of Ball's Bluff. This was, however,
only an incident of little importance, which afforded no criterion
for estimating the difficulties which awaited the army of the Poto-
mac when the whole of it should be put in motion.
The inaction which followed the battle of Ball's Bluff had not
only had the effect of tiring out the patience of the public, and of
depriving Greneral McClellan of a portion of that moral influence
which his success at Cheat Mountain had given him over all his
subordinates ; it had also enabled the Confederates to render the
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420 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA:
blockade of the Lower Potomac more stringent They multi-
plied their batteries, and finally rendered the navigation of that
arm of the sea almost impossible for merchant-vessels. The Fed-
eral fleet made several unsuccessful attempts to dislodge them.
Every time tliat the Federals, landing in force, destroyed a bat-
tery which had been abandoned on their approach, another would
immediately spring up in its vicinify, and take up the scarcely
interrupted fire upon Northern vessels. Thus an expedition to
Mathias Point on the 11th of November, and a vigorous cannon-
ade between the Federal flotilla and the batteries of Shipping
Point on the 9th of December, produced no serious results. The
Potomac remained closed, and the humiliation of seeing the capi-
tal thus blockaded towards the sea was deeply felt in the North.
Cold and foggy weather, however, succeeded at last to the
mildness of the Indian summer. Then winter spread her snowy
mantle over all that section of the continent which was the thea-
tre of the war, and towards the last days of the year 1861, that
season, so severe in that part of America, rendered any great
movement of troops absolutely impossible. The drilling of the
soldiers was likewise interrupted. Although they were told from
day to day that they were about to take the field, they prepared
of their own accord to go into winter quarters. In the place of
tents, which afforded them no protection either against the snow
or the blast, there rose up throughout all the encampments huts
rudely constructed with unhewn logs from the neighboring forest,
but warm and solid.
The Confederates imitated them ; and being thenceforth pro-
tected against all attacks, they settled down as well as they could
into their winter cantonments around Centreville. The two months
which had thus elapsed had been of more profit to them than to
their adversaries; notwithstanding the numerous maladies en-
gendered among them by a climate whose rigors they had never
before experienced, they had seen, thanks to the activity of the
central government and of their military leaders, the army then
commanded by Johnston increased by one-third, and raised from
sixty-six thousand two hundred and forty-three men, forty-
four thousand one hundred and thirty-one of whom were under
arms, to a total of ninety-eight thousand and eighty-eight, of whom
Digitized by VjOOQIC
BALL'S BLUFF. 421
sixty-two thousand one hundred and twelve were present for ac-
tion. The instruction of these soldiers had made great progress,
and a severe discipline had been introduced among them, through
their energetic commanders. But the first months of 1862 were
not of equal advantage to them. Inaction, depression, and sick-
ness thinned off their ranks and impaired the morale of those
soldiers of ardent temperament; moreover, the term of a large
number of enlistments expired before the return of pleasant
weather ; and notwithstanding the rigorous measures which, as we
shall see, were adopted in order to fill up the ranks of the Con-
federate armies, we shall find that of Johnston reduced, on the
1st of March, to forty-seven thousand six hundred and seventeen
combatants, out of a total force of eighty-four thousand two hun-
dred and twenty-five men.
Both sides are now going to prepare for the new campaign. To
bring the year 1861 to a close, it only remains for us to speak of
the naval operations, or the combined operations of the fleet and
the army, of which the extensive coast of the Confederate States
was the theatre.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
CHAPTER III.
PORT ROYAL.
THE navy of the United States, improvised at the time of the
war of independence, had not experienced during the long
period of peace which followed that war the same vicissitudes as
the r^ular army. Its maintenance had been necessary to enforce
respect for the star-spangled banner on every sea ; and the im-
mense development of American commerce had given it an im-
portance which screened it from the economical or political mea-
sures which had affected the land forces.
The crews were obtained by voluntary enlistments, and were
liberally paid. The officers were all pupils of the Naval Acad-
emy at Annapolis ; being admitted, as at West Point, upon the
presentation of members of Congress, or by appointment of the
President, they received at that institution a thorough scientific
and practical education ;'*' they thus formed an educated, distio-
guished, almost aristocratic body, quite exclusive, and ardently
devoted to the flag whose honor they worthily sastained. The
extreme neatness and strict discipline which prevailed on board
American vessels had long been observed in all the ports of Eu-
rope ; there had also been occasion to admire frequently in these
ships the new models the appearance of which had produced a
real revolution in the art of naval construction. The Americana
had early abandoned high-decked ships and substituted frigates,
which, in dimensions and sailing qualities, were superior to any
found in Europe. When steam was adopted as the chief motor
in the navy, they persevered in that direction until their lai^
* The Naval Academy was estabHehed by the Hon. George Bancroft, Secre-
tary of the Navy, in 1S45. It had long been a desideratum, but before that
time midshipmen were only instructed on board ship on regular cruises. The
reader might be misled by the author's language into thinking that the adiool
was as old as the navy. — £d.
42S
Digitized by VjOOQIC
POET ROYAL. 423
screw frigates, like the Merrimack, presented one of the liQost
perfect models of a war-vessel of the time.
After having secured superiority in speed for their ships, noth-
ing was n^lected that could contribute to the perfection of their
armament. They early appropriated the invention of General
Paixhans. The substitution of the shell for the solid ball im-
parted to the naval artillery a destructive power unknown until
then, which soon required the construction of iron-clad vessels.
They applied themselves to manufacturing guns of heavier calibre
and longer range than those in use on European ships. They
succeeded ; and the howitzer to which Captain Dahlgren gave his
name was in 1861 the most powerful arm afloat Thanks to the
invention of Sodman, the Americans had been able to cast iron
guns which, notwithstanding a calibre of twenty-eight or thirty-
one centimetres, had a remarkable power of resistance. They
could throw without eflbrt, and by means of very light charges
of powder in proportion to their calibre, a heavy weight of iron
in the form of hollow projectiles of enormous size, whereas no
cast-iron gun could have overcome the inertia of a solid ball of
die same weight without the risk of bursting. The Dahlgren
shell possessed an ordinary initial velocity and a trajectory but
slightly curved ; it nevertheless fired to a great distance and pene-
trated the thickest planking of vessels.
When Mr. Lincoln came into power, he found the Federal
navy scattered over all parts of the globe. The occupation or
destruction by the Confederates of all the arsenals situated in the
Southern States, with their d6p6ts, their dock-yards, and their
maiiriely and finally the burning of the vessels collected at Nor-
folk, deprived it of its principal resources. But the defection
of two hundred and fifty-nine officers, natives of the rebel States,
was even a more fatal blow, which, for some time at least, rendered
it absolutely powerless. Everything, therefore, had to be created
and improvised, in order that the navy might be able to rentier
effective service in the great struggle which was about to take
place. Promotion was not sufficient to fill up the disorganized
cadres ; they were thrown open to merchant-captains, who received
temporary appointments. Generally speaking, these were excel-
lent sea-officers; but having none of the traditions of the military
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424 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
marine, they were unable to maintain that strict discipline on
board their vessels without which commanders soon lose a part
of their authority. As to the crews, they continued to be recruited,
like the land troops, by voluntary enlistments. High pay and
constantly increasing bounties succeeded in attracting them in
nearly sufficient numbers ; more than one vessel, however, ready
to sail, remained for weeks in port in consequence of not having
been able to obtain a full complement of men.
In the same manner that improvised officers had been obtained
from the merchant service, vessels were also procured and fitted out
for war purposes, pending the completion of the ships which had
been placed upon the stocks. All the large establishments of the
North had received orders and had gone actively to work, but
none of the new vessels could be equipped before the early part of
1862. Fortunately, among her namerous steam- vessels America
possessed vessels perfectly adapted to the service which the na\7
was at first required to perform — ^the maintenance of the block-
ade. Indeed, to give chase to smugglers required vessels of rapid
speed, and capable of holding their place in all weathers upon a
difficult coast, but two or three guns of long range were sufficient
for their armament. The conversion of steam-packets into war
vessels was therefore easy. Some were hired, others were bought ;
a few even were given to the government as patriotic offerings:
among the latter the finest and fastest of all was The Vander-
bilty presented to the government by the wealthy merchant whose
name it bore. Besides this fleet of fast vessels, there was collected
by the same process a fleet of transports consisting of vessels of
less speed, river steamboats whose hulls had been more or less
strengthened to enable them to live in a heavy sea, and finally
sailing vessels intended for the subsistence department At the
end of the year the Secretary of the Navy had bought and
equipped one hundred and thirty-seven vessels of all kinds, car-
rying five hundred and eighteen guns and representing seventy-one
thousand two hundred and ninety-seven tons. Fifty-two new
vessels, with an armament of two hundred and fifty-six guns and
registering forty-one thousand four hundred and forty-eight tons,
were either in process of construction or already completed.
The war was about to impose a triple task upon the Federal
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 425
navy — ^the protection of merchant-vessels against privateers, the
maintenance of the blockade, and a share in the operations of the
land forces on the enemy^s coast. We proceed to show how it
performed these three divisions of its task in the course of the
year 1861.
As we have stated elsewhere, Mr. Davis had encouraged the
equipment of privateers, immediately after the capture of Fort
Sumter, on April 17th, and had offered letters of marque to those
who were willing to cruise under the Confederate flag. The Con-
gress at Montgomery, on its part, had promised to the crews of
privateers a premium of twenty-five dollars for every prisoner,
and for every Federal vessel which should be destroyed in a naval
combat a sura equal to as many times one hundred francs as the
vessel had men on board. At the same time, the Southern gov-
ernment set to work to fit out vessels destined to cruise under its
war-flag against the commerce of the Northern States.
The Confederates had no merchant fleet in their ports that
could supply them with the large vessels required for cruising on
the high seas. They did not lack materials for their construction,
but they needed experienced mechanics. They confined them-
selves, therefore, to arming vessels of which surprise or treason
had given them possession. These consisted at first of six cut-
ters belonging to the Federal revenue service, which happened to
be in Southern ports at the time when the rebellion broke out.
To these were added about a dozen small steamers purchased
by the government. In short, during the six weeks following
the proclamation of Mr. Davis, private individuals responded to
that call by equipping as privateers about twenty vessels of the
same pattern, nearly all of which had previously been employed
in the coasting trade or as pilot-boats along the Southern coasts.
The merchant-vessels of the North, overtaken in Southern ports
by the ordinances of secession, or sailing peaceably in the neigh-
boring seas without any suspicion of danger, offered a rich prize
to the privateers, which captured a large number of them. The
time came, however, when the boldest among them learned to
their cost that they could not pursue with impunity the adven-
turous career which exceptional circumstances had favored during
a few weeks. At the end of May a small schooner of fifty-four
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426 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
tons, called The Saoannahy formerly a pilot-boat, armed with an
eighteen jx)under, went out of the port of Charleston under the
Confederate flag ; on the 3d of June, after securing a few prizes^
the privateer, deceived by appearances, approached the brig-of-war
Perry, and discovering her mistake too late was obliged to strike
her colors after having vainly attempted to effect her esca{^. Her
crew of twenty men were landed at New York to be tried for the
crime of piracy.
This trial, which was to last for a considerable time, gave rise
to questions of the gravest importance regarding public law.
The Federal government, never having recognized the insurgents
of the South as belligerents, could not, strictly speaking, consider
them in any other light than that of malefactors. Every Con-
federate soldier who killed a Federal was in its estimation simply
a murderer; every privateer which captured a merchant-vessel
carrying the Federal flag was nothing but a robber and a pirate.
But it was indispensable that there should be complete assimila-
tion between the acts committed on the sea and on the land. As
the government of the United States had declined in 1856 to
participate in the declarations of the congress of Paris, it could
not have questioned the right of its adversaries to cruise against
its commerce, if it had recognized them in the capacity of bel-
ligerents ; and having denied that character, it could not prosecute
the sailors of the Savannah as pirates except by instituting simi-
lar criminal proceedings against every prisoner taken on land. It
was sufficient to enunciate such a proposition to show its absord-
ity ; the magnitude of the rebellion, the fear of inevitable repri-
sals, humanity, policy — ^in fine, good sense — ^forbade the Federal
government from pursuing such a course ; nor was the idea even
contemplated. From the moment that Confederate soldiers cap-
tured on land were considered as prisoners of war, the same im-
munity from all personal prosecution had to be extended to the
crews of Southern privateers. The government at Washington,
bound by Mr. Lincoln's proclamations and pressed by public
opinion, did not at first understand this. But the battle of Bull
Run soon gave Mr. Davis the means of enabling his opponents
to form a more correct estimate of the situation, by delivering a
large number of Federal officers into his hands. He had Colond
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PORT ROYAL. 427
Corcoran and some of his companions in captivity put in irons,
and declared that their lives should answer for those of the sail*
ors of the Savannah, The proceedings against the latter were
immediately suspended ; no sentence was pronounced, and the pri*
vateers-men were finally included in the cartels for the exchange
of prisoners.
A few days after the battle of Bull Run another vessel, called
the Petrely was getting ready for sea; two whole months had
elapsed since the Savannah had left Charleston, so great was the
inability of the Confederates to create a navy. The career of
the new privateer, which got under way on the 28th of July, was
to be of even shorter duration than that of her predecessor. She
had scarcely left the port when she was discovered by the Federal
frigate the St. Lawrenoey which was stationed on the coast; the
crew of the latter vessel concealed themselves between-decks ; the
yard-arms and rigging were reduced, so that the Petrel thought
she had to deal with a large three-masted merchant-vessel, and
gave her chase. The frigate, running with calculated slowness,
enticed her imprudent pursuer away from the coast ; and when the
latter was within good range, the Federals suddenly opened three
port-holes. Three projectiles, one of which was a shell of twenty
centimetres, struck the privateer, and that frail vessel sank in*
stantly. All her crew, with the exception of four men, were
taken on board the St. Latorence.
In the mean while, a far more formidable adversary, and one
destined to inflict cruel lasses on American commerce, had just
put to dea from another quarter. The ifarqiies de la Habana
was a screw steamer of about six hundred tons, an excellent
sailer and staunch sea-boat. She was plying between Havana
and New Orleans, and happened to be at the latter port when
secession was proclaimed ; the Confederate government purchased
her, put a few guns of heavy calibre on board, gave her, with
the name of Sumter, a crew composed of adventurers from every
part of the world, and placed her under the command of Raphael
Semmes. This person, formerly an officer of the Federal navy,
a bold and energetic sailor, was well chosen for the task imposed
upon him, and during the four years of his privateer life he
acquired, if not gloiy and honor, one of those European celebri-
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428 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ties which form the highest reward of certain ambitious man.
On the 30th of June the Sumter left the Mississippi by way of
the Paase-dnLoutrey eluding the Federal blockader, the Brootiyn^
a sailing sloop-of-war, who gave her chase without effect Once
on the high sea, the privateer had certain advantages over her
adversaries of which she cleverly availed herself. Owing to her
great speed, every sailing-vessel was at her mercy, and she could
easily avoid nearly all the Federal men-of-war that were sent in
pursuit of her. The immensity of the sea was her safest refuge;
just heard of in one port, all she had to do was to resume
her cruise, to hide in the midst of the ocean, and reappear sud-
denly at the point where she was least expected. All the vessels
sailing under the Federal flag from the 'Bermudas to the mouth
of the Amazon might fear to become her prey. Every time thafc
a light smoke was descried in the horizon eveiybody tried to guess
by the slightest indications the character of the vessel that was
rapidly approaching, for the loss of a few minutes might deprive
the heavy three-master laden with a rich cargo of her last chaDoe
to escape from the terrible privateer.
Conformably to international regulations, the first vessels cap-
tured by Semmes were sent to New Orleans in charge of some of
his men. But these prizes having again fallen into the hands of
the Federals, he soon threw aside all consideration of the rules
prescribed by the law of nations ; and instead of being everywhere
treated as a pirate on that account, he was sustained and encouraged
through the connivance of the authorities in almost all European
colonies, and in some of the American States. International law,
such as it has been established for more than two centuries bj
treaties and usages, in sanctioning the capture on the high seas, bj
a belligerent, of the merchant>-ve8sels sailing under the flag of his
adversary, has subjected this right of capture to restrictions which
are a strong guarantee against the abuse of a power so excessive.
The commander of the vessel effecting the capture cannot him-
self determine the validity of the prize ; he is obliged to send her
to one of the ports of his country, before a prize court, which, if
proper, adjudges the vessel to him and declares the validity of her
capture. The adjudications of this special tribunal are precisely
wliat distinguish lawful captures from acts of piracy. But when
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PORT ROYAL. 429
Semmes saw that the blockade interfered with the )b8ervanoe of
these protective formalities^ he took upon himself to institute a
prize court on board his own vessel ; and as he had no other ob-
ject than to injure and intimidate the commerce of the North, he
adopted the barbarous system of destroying every vessel which
fell into his hands, after having himself decided upon the validity
of the prize. As soon as captured the vessel was set on fire, the
crew was landed, without resources, at the nearest port, Semmes
only retaining as a souvenir the chronometers of his victims ; he
made a collection of them; they were his trophies. He was even
accused, although he always denied the cliarge, of having refused,
at times, to examine the bills of lading of American vessels with
neutral cargoes on board, in order to prevent their escape. Not-
withstanding the just indignation caused by such acts among
those who regarded international law as one of the most precious
acquisitions of a civilized age, in spite of the protests of the Fed-
eral authorities, the Sumter^ far from being treated as a pirate,
met with such a reception in most of the neutral ports she visited
as no belligerent man-of-war could have expected. Contrary to
all usages, he was allowed to take sl\ such prizes as were too pre-
cious to be burnt, although not legally adjudicated, into neutral
ports on the coasts of New Grenada. In the English and French
colonies he was permitted, still contrary to international regula-
tions, to provide himself with supplies of coal far beyond what
was absolutely necessary to enable him to reach a Confederate
port, and he thus found all the resources he needed to continue
his depredations. The authorities of Cuba were more scrupu-
lous, it is true, and restored all the prizes, illegally brought into
Spanish waters, to their legitimate owners.
Many Federal vessels were sent in pursuit of the Sumter, but
they rarely met with her, and she always succeeded in getting
away from them. Sometimes sailing under one flag, sometimes
under another, which, for a vessel of war, was a violation of the
rights of those powers whose ensign she borrowed, Semmes em-
ployed all the autumn of 1861 in scouring the Atlantic, carrying
everywhere terror and distress to American commeroe. After
taking seventeen prizes he arrived at last, in the early part of
1862, at Gibraltar, where he intended to establish the base of his
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430 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
operations in European seas, but where his exploits, contrary
to his expectations, were suddenly interrupted, as we shall show
in our narrative of the maritime events of that new year.
The other war-vessels equipped by the Confederates, not pos-
sessing the same nautical qualities as the Sumter, did not meet with
the same success. All those who ventured upon any daring en-
terprise were soon punished by the Federal navy, which, in the
fall of 1861, had finally succeeded in collecting a sufficient num-
ber of fast vessels to scour the seas and protect the commerce of
the nation.
The brig Jefferson Davisy fitted out as a privateer in the Gulf
of Mexico by private individuals, had put to sea in the banning
of August. After having made several prizes, which she burnt,
after the fashion of the Sumter^ she was obliged, in order to escape
from the Federal cruisers, to seek refuge at St. Augustine, in
Florida, where she ran aground at the entrance of the port, and
was lost.
The Nashville, a side-wheel steamer and packet belonging to
the New York and Charleston line, had been converted into a war-
vessel by the Confederate government in the latter port On the
26th of October she went to sea under the command of Captain
Pegram, formerly an officer of the Federal navy, who, even be-
fore cruising in the Atlantic, repaired to the English station at
the Bermudas, where he procured fresh provisions and obtained,
still in violation of international law, a sufficient supply of coal
to take him into European waters. He arrived there, after
having burnt a merchant-vessel on his way, but did not leave
English ports again, where the Nashville had undergone repairs,
until the following year, to return to the American coast, where,
as we shall presently see, his ship was destroyed, not long after, by
a Federal cruiser.
Finally, on the 12th of November a schooner of a hundred tons,
called the Beauregard, which had been fitted out for privateering
purposes and had taken a few prizes in the Bahama waters, was
captured by the Anderson, a sailing-vessel, which had been fitted
out by the Washington government and was employed in cruising
on the coast of Florida.
The efforts of the Federal navy had therefore partially 3U0-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 431
oeeded in freeing American commerce from the dangers which
had beset it during the first months of the war. But this danger
was soon to reappear, thanks to the assistance which the Confed-
erates found in England. Having become convinced of the im-
possibility of creating a naval force at home able to cruise in
every sea without risk of becoming the prey of Federal cruisers,
the Confederate authorities had sent several agents to Europe
about the middle of the year 1861, with instructions to fit out
vessels of war, which, by fraudulently hoisting the Southern flag,
should resume the work of destruction which they were unable to
continue themselves. The cotton which the secessionists possessed
enabled them to obtain the required amount of money to purchase
these vessels. Those agents had found in England a favorable
reception. Captain Bullock, foremost among them, an able ofli-
cer, full of resources, assisted by the firm of Eraser & Trenholm,
who represented the financial interests of the Sichmond govern-
ment, knew well how to avail himself of these dispositions, and
by the end of the year several privateers were preparing to put to
sea. We shall speak hereafter of the war they waged against
American commerce. '
The maintenance of the blockade was another and a no less
difficult part of the task so suddenly imposed upon the Federal
navy. As we have stated above, the blockade, which was pro-
claimed on the 19th of April, after the bombardment of Fort
Sumter, against all the maritime States which had just entered into
confederacy at Montgomery, was shortly after extended to the
coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. This proclamation of
the President gave rise to questions of international law of the
grav^t character.
In the first place, had a government the right of blockading, as
a mere measure of policy, a portion of its own coasts, and of seiz-
ing all neutral vessels which should attempt to violate it? or did
not an act of so grave a character imply a formal recognition of
the quality of belligerents in the insurgents, against whom the
Federal government was obliged to employ such measures? The
latter interpretation was the most rational, yet the Federal gov-
ernment could sustain the former by alleging that, in the Presi-
dent's proclamation itself, the blockade was represented as a
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432 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
means for collecting custom-house duties, which the insurgent
States sought to get rid of. Indeed, the question was never thor-
oughly discussed. The English government, with a malevolent
haste which the American people regarded as a cruel wrong, took
advantage of the first news of the blockade proclamation to recog-
nize tiie belligerent rights of the insurgents, and to publish in its
turn a declaration of neutrality. In performing an act of so
much importance it did not even wait for the full text of the
proclamation, which the despatches had abbreviated, so that the
Washington government was justified in stating that the blockade
was only a pretext by which England sought to disguise a pre-
conceived purpose, prompted by the first success of the rebellion
in the harbor of Charleston. The Federals, on their part, with-
out ever recognizing in plain words all the belligerent rights of
their opponents, had never disputed them, in fact, except in the
case of the crew of the Savannah^ above mentioned.
The second question raised by Mr. Lincoln's proclamation was
yet more serious ; it concerned the efficiency of the blockade it-
self. Paper blockades, against which neutrals so justly and so
energetically protested during the wars in the beginning of the
present century, are no longer countenanced by international
usage. The right in virtue of which a belligerent can confiscate
all neutral vessels who shall attempt to enter a blockaded port
becomes, in the hands of a great naval power, an instrument of
tyranny and oppression unless it be limited by the strictest rule.
This rule does not admit of fictitious blockades, and requires that
the cruisers of a belligerent, to enable them to exercise the right
of capture, shall be sufficiently numerous to keep a constant and
eflFective watch over the port, or over the whole extent qf the
coast under blackade. If the blockade is not maintained in con-
formity with these conditions — if it can be proved that it is easy
to elude it — then neutrals are justified in not respecting it.
When Mr. Lincoln proclaimed the blockade of the coasts of the
Confederate States, the Federal navy was not in a condition to ex-
ercise a surveillance over their whole extent. Those coasts, in fac^
from the mouth of the Potomac to that of the Rio Grande, extended
to a distance of more than four thousand five hundred kilometrRS.
Deeply indented with bays, arms of the sea, and estuaries, they
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 433
afforded innamerable places of refuge to vessels arriving from
the open sea, and an excellent shelter to those who desired to fit
out their vessels without being observed. The Atlantic coasts,
low and difficult to watch, were swept by terrible tempests ; those
of the Gulf of Mexico bristled with reefs and rocks. England
possessed two naval stations admirably situated for revictualling
and outfitting vessels' intended for the contraband trade with
Southern ports ; these were the Bermudas, in the Atlantic, and
the Bahama Islands, opposite Florida, at the entrance of the Gulf
of Mexico.
No maritime power had ever yet attempted to effectively block-
ade a coast of such extent. Consequently, it would have been
more prudent on the part of Mr. Lincoln to have limited his dec-
larations to the measure of his resources, and to have only block-
aded at first a few of the principal ports, such as Charleston, Sa-
vannah, and New Orleans, before which it was easy to station a.
line of cruisers. He could not justify a fictitious blockade of the
Southern States by invoking the rights of the Federal sovereignty
over those States ; for an analogous case had occurred in 1822,
and on that occasion the Washington government had refused to-
recognize the right of Spain to declare a paper blockade of her
own American colonies, then engaged in the war of indep^idence.
But these tlieoretical difficulties were avoided in practice. The-
American government, which contented itself at first with the
effective blockade of a few ports, prevented any misunderstanding,.
by only making prizes off those ports, and every time that its ac-
tion was extended to some new point, it granted the same delays-
to neutrals, in regard to such point, as it had accorded at the-
time of the proclamation of the blockade.
At last, after months of incessant efforts, the Federal navy suo-
oeeded, as we have seen, in reconstructing both its personnel and!
maUriel. As the season advanced, and the inclement weather ren-
dered it more difficult and troublesome to maintain the blockade,,
the number of vessels employed in that service was increased..
Consequently, at the end of a year, at the period when the At-
lantic coast is incessantly lashed by a raging sea and the north-
em gales sweep the Gulf of Mexico, the blockade was effectually
established from the vicinity of Washington to the mouth of th^
Vol. I.— 28
Digitized by VjOOQIC
434 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Rio Grande. Two squadrons, which were each to be subdivided
at the commencement of 1862, had been formed in the month of
July, 1861. One, called the Atlantic blockading 8quadiH)D, con-
sisted of twenty-two vessels, carrying two hundred and ninety-six
guns and three thousand three hundred men, and was commanded
by Commodore Stringham. The other, under Commodore Mer-
vine, known as the blockading squadron of the Gulf of Mexico,
was composed of twenty-one ships, with an armament of two
hundred and eighty-two guns and a force of three thousand five
hundred men.
We cannot enter into a detailed account of the incidents which
marked the last six months of the year as regards the Federal
fiailoEs. Their task was the more onerous on account of its ex-
treme monotony. To the watches and fiitigues of every kind
which the duties of the blockade service involved there were
added difficulties of another character. It was necessary to in-
struct the newly-recruited crews, to train officers who had been
taken from the merchant navy, and to ascertain, under the worst
possible circumstances, the good and bad qualities of merchant-
vessels too quickly converted into men-of-war. In these jano-
tures the Federal navy displayed a perseverance, a devotion, and
a knowledge of its profession, which reflect as much honor upon
it as its more brilliant feats of arms. A few days after the dis-
aster of Bull Run these fleets, then scarcely organized, b^n to
make the victorious Confederates feel the dangers to which their
maritime inferiority exposed them. Numerous prizes soon taught
the commerce of neutrals that the blockade, thenceforth effective,
must be respected. The rapid rise in the prices of all imported
commodities in the insurgent States presented the exact measure
of the efficiency of that blockade, and furnished an irrefutable
proof against those who disputed its legality. The almost Abso-
lute commercial isolation of so vast a country as the Confederate
States is an extraordinary fact which it is interesting to study in
its various phases.
It took a considerable time to establish this isolation on land
•along the line which separated the two belligerents from east to
-west. In spite of the war, relations were not abruptly susp^ided ;
the importation of manufactured goods and of pork, together
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 435
with the exportation of cotton, continued for some time, even in
the vicinity of battle-fields, notwithstanding all the prohibitions
of the combatants. In the West the Confederacy was surrounded
by immense deserts, which presented an impassable barrier against
commerce from the borders of the Arkansas to the mouth of the
Eio Grande, where the frontier of Texas and Mexico comes down
to the sea. It was only at this point that the neighborhood of a
neutral State could offer an always open breach in the block-
ade. At the entrance of the river, on the Mexican side, is
the small port of Matamoras, where foreign vessels could land
their merchandise under the very eyes of American cruisers.
These goods, for their better safety, were then taken up the Rio •
Grande, or crossing the river directly were accumulated in the
little American town of Brownsville. But inasmuch as, before
the war, all the carrying trade in Texas was effected by coasting-
vessels, that State had remained entirely without roads, and the
journey from Brownsville to the Mississippi, being too difficult
for any extensive trade, reduced the breach to the proportions of
a mere fissure. The maritime blockade from Matamoras to the
Potomac completed that immense circumvallation. Its first ob-
ject, leaving out of consideration the obstacle it placed to the
egress of Confederate privateers, was to prevent the exportation
of cotton in the interest of the Richmond government, and on the
other hand the introduction of arms and war materiel, which were
brought over in exchange. Cotton was the element of wealth
which the Confederates sought to turn to advantage, and which
their adversaries determined either to render useless in their hands
OT to appropriate to themselves. Every blockade-runner leaving
Southern ports had her hold filled with that precious commodity,
while on land, whenever the hostile armies found an opportunity,
they contended for the possession of the d6p6ts where it was
stored. The Federal government confiscated the cotton to sell it
and cause the price to be lowered in the European markets ; the
Confederates destroyed it rather than see it fall into the hands of
their adversaries; they wanted to compel neutrals to apply to
them alone for supplies of that article, and, if need be, to inter-
fere in their behalf. In proportion as the blockade is prolonged
the cultivation of the soil will undergo a change, and cotton will
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436 THE CIVIL WAB IN AMERICA.
give place to cereals^ which will secure sufficient means of sub-
sistence to the blockaded populations * but^ on the other handball
manufactured goods will become more and more scarce, and at-
tain prices as fabulous as those paid in Europe for colonial com-
modities during the continental blockade.
This commercial isolation of the insurgent States did not pro-
duce all the results which had been anticipated in the North: the
people of the South were not starved, nor did the want of arras
and ammunition put an end to the struggle ; but the blockade
caused incalculable injury to the Confederates by depriving them
of all the resources which they might have derived from Europe,
' and by preventing them from waging war on the sea, which
would have ruined the commerce of the North. If this block-
ade had not been rigidly maintained, the Federals would probably
never have been able to subdue their adversaries.
The Confederates, notwithstanding the feeble means at their dis-
posal, naturally made every effort to break through the restraints
of the blockade. We shall briefly indicate here, following the
chronological order, these various attempts, the measures adopted
by the Federals to baffle them, and the principal incidents which
marked the operations of the blockade until the end of the year
1861.
On the 5th of October a boat belonging to the Federal vessel
Louisiana penetrated into one of the large lagoons on the Vir-
ginia coast by the pass called Chincoteague Inlet^ and destroyed
a schooner which the Confederates were fitting out for a cruise.
This affair cost them a few wounded.
On the 9th one of the large Federal transport-ships anchored
in Hampton Boads, having been driven upon the enemy's beadi
in Lynn Haven Bay, fell under the fire of one of the Confederate
batteries at Sewell's Point; she was about to be captured, whoi
die little steamer Daylight went to her assistance, and after a brisk
cannonade succeeded in silencing the guns of her adversaries.
On the 12th of October the Confederates tried, for the first
time, to force the blockade. The Federal division which guarded
the entrances of the Mississippi was attacked and nearly dis-
persed by an unlooked-for adversary, fitted out by the authorities
of New Orli^ans for the purpose of reopening their port, which
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PORT ROYAL, 437
Lad been closed for six months. It is necessary to cast a glance
over the map to form an idea of the extraordinary configura-
tion of the mouths of the Mississippi. The great river, which
empties its muddy waters into the Gulf of Mexico, not only
forms a delta like the Nile, the work of a long series of centuries,
but also two natural embankments, which confine its waters and
extend with them to the sea. At a certain distance from the
coast, the river, thus prolonged, becomes divided; it takes the
shape of a half-closed fan, each branch lying between two similar
dykes. Its depth diminishes gradually with the rapidity of its
current, and it drives slowly before it, like a moving barrier, an
accumulated mass of mud which interposes a serious obstacle to
navigation ; its waters no longer advance, but from the pressure
of the mass which follows them they finally mingle with that sea
which seems to shrink from their contact. Two important forti-
fications. Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, command the course
of the river near the point where it leaves the coast, to discharge
into the open sea, the basis of the new delta which has been per-
ceptibly forming around. The point where the waters divide
is called La TUe-des-Passes, and among these channels there
are only three practicable for vessels of great draught— on one
side the south-west pass, and in an entirely opposite direction
La Fasae-a-Loutrea and the north-east pass. The Confederates
occupied the forts, but it was impossible to construct any forti-
fication lower down the Mississippi, as the water penetrated
everywhere the spongy soil of the levees which border tlie river.
The Federals, therefore, had found no diflSculty in entering these
passes ; and at the TUe pass they had established a naval station
consisting of the sloop-of-war Richmond, the two war-steamers
Preble and VmcenneSy and the Waierwitch, order-boat. Every
outlet was thus efiectually closed by a fleet which had no fear
of stormy weather. In order to disperse that fleet the Confed-
erates determined to cover with sheathing {blinder), on the plan
of those floating-batteries tried in 1855 in the attack on Kinburn,
a vessel which should defy the Federal artillery. Captain Hol-
lins, a former officer of the regular navy, was entrusted with the
task of thus transforming a high-pressure steamer with double
engines which lay in the port of New Orleans. The deck was
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438 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
(lut away and replaced by an iron-plated roof, into which were
introduced a few port-holes. The bow was remodelled above the
water-line, and so shaped as to leave room for a gun firing point
blank, while below the water-line she was armed with a powerful
iron spike. This vessel, called the ifanassas, was to serve as a
model to the famous MerriniaOj of which we shall soon have to
speak. A flotilla of seven small armed steamers was collected to
support her operations.
Hollins had been for some days watehing the movements of
the Federals, who were beginning to lose faith in the existence of
that Manassas which had been so long talked about Finally,
on the 12th of October, taking advantage of a very dark night,
he moved off. The Manassas led the way with all her port-holes
carefully closed ; having no masts and presenting only a low back,
she glided upon the water like a marine monster. The fleet, fol-
lowing at a considerable distance, had some fire-ships in tow, with
orders to launch them as soon as a rocket from the Manassas
should announce the commencement of the battle. Hollins^^
ram arrived unperceived at the THe-des-Passes in the midst of
the Federal vessels. Passing close to the Freble too rapidly to
damage her with the spike, she directed her course towards the
Richmond^ then in the act of taking in coal from a brig grap-
pled alongside of her ; a moment after, she struck the side of that
sloop, causing a leak of no great account below the water-line,
shattering everything oh board, and breaking the fastenings of the
brig, which was carried off by the current This was the time
for the Manassas to try and sink her adversary by another stroke;
but the first shock had deranged her engine, and, before it could
be put in order, she had drifted to leeward, while the Richmond,
breaking off from her moorings and quickly tacking {virant a
bord), wa.s ready for battle. This vessel opened fire, but her pro-
jectiles and those of the Preble could make no impression upon
the sheathing of the Confederate ram. In the mean time, the
fleet which accompanied the fire-ships, having noticed the signal
agreed upon, advanced towards the scene of action, and moving
fires soon lighted up the tall trees which skirted the river, threat-
ening the Federal squadron with a new danger. That danger,
however, was more apparent than real, for the Confederate steam-
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PORT ROYAL. 439
ers, kept at a distance by the heavy guns of the Richmond^ could
not direct the movements of the fire-ships ; the Manassas had
gone up the river and disappeared. But it was difficult for a
long sloop like the Richmond to come about in so narrow a strait
as the south-west pa&s^ and her commander. Pope, doubting his
ability to make her head the current again, gave the signal for
the three other vessels to retire beyond the bar. The fire-ships
'soon ran aground, with the coaling-brig, which had been separated
from the Richmond; and the flotilla of Holllns followed the
enemy at a distance. Everything seemed to be in his favor ; the
Preble ran aground on nearing the bar, and was almost thrown
on her beam-ends, while the Richmond was stranded a little lower
down ; and if Hollins had been bolder, he could probably have
destroyed both vessels. Fortunately, the Richmond^ her broad-
side facing the enemy's ships, was able to keep them at a distance
with her guns. The commander of the Preble had abandoned his
ship with unseemly haste, but by a lucky chance the match he
applied to the powder magazine was extinguished some minutes
before causing an explosion, and the Confederates, giving up the
game at the decisive moment, withdrew without doing aught to
secure the victory. The Richmond was speedily got off; the crew
of the Preble again got on board, and succeeded in raising her.
The damages sustained by the Federal squadron were promptly
repaired, and it resumed its place at the Tite-des^Pa^es, while
Hollins was pompously announcing a victory, the worthlessness
of which was soon felt by the inhabitants of New Orleans, for
the blockade continued in force as strictly as before.
A few weeks after, upon another point in the Gulf of Mexico,
at Gralveston, in Texas, the Federals by a bold stroke destroyed
one of the vessels which the Confederates were preparing to break
the blockade. During the night of November 7th two armed
launches were sent by the frigate Santee, stationed outside of Gal-
veston, to attack the steamer General Rusk, which was being fitted
out for war purposes. The boats entered the port ; but being dis-
covered, they abandoned their original intention, seized the schooner
Royal Yacht, which was also armed as a privateer, and were able
to set her on fire before leaving. This expedition, which gave the
Federal navy a few prisoners, cost them seven men. .
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440 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
At the same period, the 9th of November, a slight engage-
ment took place in the estuary of the Rappahannock. A Federal
transport^hip having run aground at Corrotowan Creek, the Con-
federates were going to seize her, when a detachment from the
cruiser Cambridge set her on fire, after exchanging a few shots
with the enemy. On the following day the same Federal cruiger
bombarded the town of Urbanna, which served as a d6p6t for the
contraband trade with Maryland.
In the mean time, the Confederates had armed the Patrick
Henry on the James River, a steamer which formerly plied in
Chesapeake Bay, and of which they had taken possession. On
the 2d of December they wished to try her strength against the
small vessels which came up the James from the anchoring-
grounds at Newport News to make reconnaissances. But those
vessels having fallen back at her approach on the large ships at
anchor in the harbor, the Patrick Henry only exchanged a few
cannon-shots with them, and then disappeared without making
any further demonstration. A few weeks after, the Confederates
were more fortunate. Captain Lynch, formerly an officer in the
Federal navy, who had acquired some distinction before the war
by his hydrographical exploration of the Dead Sea, had been
placed in command of a small steamer, the Sea^Bird, carrying
two guns, which was then at Norfolk. He was to take her by
way of the Albemarle Canal into the inland waters of South
Carolina, in order to watch the Federals stationed at Hatteras.
The condition of the canal having delayed his passage, he went
to take position near the Sewall's Point batteries, erected at the
entrance of James River, fronting those of Fortress Monroe, but
out of reach of the latter. Being always on the watch and in
search of opportunities to surprise the enemy, he perceived, on
the 29th of December, a Federal steamer towing a schooner
which was carrying drinking-water to the garrison of Fortress
Monroe, the sandy soil of the Virginia peninsula furnishing but
a small supply of that article. Starting witli a full head of steam
in pursuit, he compelled the Federal steamer to cast the schooner
loose, took possession of her, and brought her back under shel-
ter of the Confederate batteries, in spite of the efiTorts of the whole
Federal fleet, which chased him in vain, and was finally oom-
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PORT ROYAL. 441
pelled to give up the pursuit among the shallow waters in the
vicinity of SewalFs Point.
We shall close this somewhat monotonous sketijh of the opera-
tions of the blockade in 1861 with a few words on the subject of
an enterprise which must be classed in the same category, although
of a very peculiar character. We allude to the attempt on the
part of the Federals to place obstructions in the harbor of Charles-
ton— ^a fruitless attempt, which had no other result than to pro-
voke the most severe criticisms from the English press. As we
shall show hereafter, the Federal fleet had taken possession of
Port Royal, an important position on the coast of South Carolina,
between Savannah and Charleston. But notwithstanding the
facilities which that station offered, the fleet found it very diffi-
cult to maintain the blockade of Charleston in an effective man-
ner. That port had become the principal focus of the contraband
trade with Europe, because it was the best situated for distributing
the commodities brought over by the blockade-runners through all
the Confederate States, and because the configuration of its entrance
afforded to such vessels great chances of eluding the blockade. It
forms, in fact, a vast basin, the entrance of which was commanded by
the batteries of Moultrie and Cumming's Point on either side, and
by the guns of Fort Sumter, occupying a small island in the bay.
Outside of this strait the sea is not open, and not far off lies a
large sand-bank, always covered, extending in a line parallel to
the coast southward to a distance of nine kilometres. It joins
the coast to the north, near which there are three outlets, or nar-
row passes, only practicable for vessels of small size. The prin-
cipal channel bends to the south after passing the narrow en-
trance, and runs between the coast and the bank. At the ex-
treme point of this bank the shock of the ebb and flow has
formed a bar across the channel, which presents only an elevation
of five metres and a half at high water. The intervening space
between the bank and the narrow entrance being entirely com-
manded by the Confederate guns, the Federal cruisers were
obliged to keep outside the bank, and to watch the entrance of
all the posses from a distance over an extent of coast of more than
ten kilometres. It will be seen how difflbult it was to prevent a
Bwift vessel from forcing that line in the middle of a dark night.
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442 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Consequently, the naval authorities came to the oonclusion that
it would be easier to obstruct the principal channel, and thus get
rid of a task which was not only irksome, but uncertain. It was
determined to sink a certain number of old ships, loaded with
stones, on the bar, which would render the passage absolutely im-
possible. This was to apply to an enemy^s port what the Rus-
sians had done for their own defence at Sebastopol ; and if the ex-
periment should prove successful, it was proposed to repeat it in
front of Savannah and the other Confederate ports. Towards the
middle of December twenty-five whaling-ships of from three to
five hundred tons each were assembled at Port Royal. They
were loaded with large blocks of stone, and their sides pierced
with openings which only required to be unstopped to sink them.
Sixteen of these set sail. They were escorted by a few steamers,
whose purpose was to eifect the submersion of these old hulks and
to receive their crews. On the 17th of December the fleet ap-
peared before Charleston. A great disaster had just struck that
city: more than half of it had been destroyed by fire; and the
inhabitants were still wandering among the smoking ruins, when
Fort Sumter signalled the approach of the vessels, the destination
of which was unknown, and which seemed to be preparing a very
determined attack. A different kind of spectacle was in store for
them ; and during two days they were doomed to witness, from
too great a distance to interrupt the process, an operation which
threatened to close the entrance of their port to all blockade-
runners. The sixteen ships were sunk at certain distances from
each other, in two lines, arranged like a chess-board, so as to
leave openings for the tide-currents, without, however, allowing a
direct passage for vessels which might attempt to steer among
those artificial reefs. As soon as the hulks were all submerged
their masts were sawed off to the water's edge, and their cre^vs
returned to Port Royal, persuaded that they should no longer be
put to the trouble of blockading the port which had witnessed the
birth of secession. The American journals, by means of bombastic
announcements that '^ Charleston had ceased to be a port of entry,
and that the bride of the West was henceforth Mridowed of her
husband the Atlantic,^ succeeded in making the public believe
that a terrible and irreparable chastisement had been inflicted
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PORT ROYAL. 443
upon that rebel city. England was greatly moved by the occur-
rence, and her government caused representations on the subject
to l)e made at Washington. This was showing a little more
haste than was proper ; for if the Federal government had tres-
passed against the law of nations, it had only done so through
intent. The obstruction, which was only designed to be tem-
porary, was even of much shorter duration than had been anti-
cipated ; the hulks were broken to pieces by the force of the sea ;
the stones sank deep into the sand ; and at the end of a few weeks
the entrance to Charleston was reopened by nature.
The third part of the task imposed upon the Federal navy —
the forcible occupation of certain points on the enemy^s coast —
was the most important, and offers a more interesting subject.
This occupation had both a political and military object in view.
On one hand, it greatly facilitated the revictualling of the block-
ading squadrons ; it diminished the number of hostile ports to be
watched ; it substituted a land siege for the maritime blockade ;
and it secured a base of operations for the army on the day when
it should attempt to penetrate into the interior of the Confeder-
acy by this method. On the other hand, the "Washington gov-
ernment, in gaining a foothold by this means upon the soil of
those States which it could not reach by land, was in hopes of re-
awakening some sympathy for the national flag, and desirous to
establish a rallying-point for the Unionists of the South.
The extent of the coast of the insurgent States, the multitude
of points at which large vessels could make land, and the deep
channels where they found a safe anchorage were obstacles in the
way of blockade, but they were favorable for landing. Not being
able to maintain a defensive attitude everywhere, the Confederates
were always liable to be surprised at some point.
The Federal navy began to prepare for its combined expedi-
tions by land and sea in the month of August. The chief merit
of their conception and organization was due to Mr. Gustavus
Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who had already distin-
guished himself at a critical moment by attempting to revictual
Fort Sumter. For four years his ardent mind, practical and full
of resources, effectively controlled the department, and at the ex-
piration of those memorable four years he retired without aspir-
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444 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ing to any other reward than the satisfaction of having served
his country well. In the early part of August there arrived at
Fortress Monroe the captain of a merchant-vessel who had been
wrecked near Cape Hatteras, on the coast of North Carolina.
Mr. Campbell, having been kq)t three months a prisoner in those
parts, brought with him some exact information relative to the
contraband trade carried on there and the preparations for de-
fence on the part of the Confederates.
Between the ocean and the deeply indented coast of North Car-
olina stretches a narrow tongue of sand, which describes a convex
arc and envelops a vast sheet of water. This inland sea, called
Pamlico Sound, which resembles, on a larger scale, the lagoons of
Venice, is almost everywhere navigable for vessels of considerable
size. It is interspersed with numerous islands, the largest of
which, Boanoke Island, divides it into two unequal parts ; the
southern portion, designated as Pamlico Sound proper, presents
the larger surface ; the sheet lying northward is known by the
name of Albemarle Sound. This tongue of sand is intersected
at intervals by difficult inlets resembling those of Lido and Mal-
amocco ; at the highest point of the arc which it describes li«
Cape Hatteras, and a little farther to the south the inlet of the
same name. This inlet was very much frequented by the block-
ade-runners, who found in the sounds the means of holding safe
communications with all parts of North Carolina. It was de-
fended by a large fipld-work of octagonal shape, situated on the
north side of the entrance, near the inland basin, and conse-
quently at some distance from the spot where it debouches into
the open sea. This work, called Fort Hatteras, was built of
sand; it had a considerable relief, magazines, and bomb-proof
shelters ; and its armament, which was still incomplete at the end
of August, consisted of ten navy guns, thirty-two pounders. The
approach by land was rendered extremely difficult by a swamp.
In order to cover the entrance of the inlet on the side of the open
sea the Confederates had erected on the shore, at a distanoe of
seven hundred metres to the north-east of Fort Hatteras, a square
redoubt, called Fort Clark, mounting five guns. A little farther
on two field-pieces were posted in an epaulement designed to pre-
vent a landing. These works were occupied by about one thou-
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PORT ROYAL. 445
sand men, two or three hundred of whom were under Major An-
drews, the commander of the forts ; the rest, under Colonel Mar-
tin, consisted of the Seventh North Carolina regiment. The en-
tire control of the maritime defences of the State was entrusted
to Commodore Barron. These three commanders did not agree ;
the soldiers were inexperienced, the artillery of too small a cal-
ibre, and poorly supplied ; for the want of fuses to fire the shells
it was necessary to fill them with sand. But the works were
strong, and the heavy swell of the Atlantic made it dangerous to
attempt a landing. The Washington government decided to send
a combined expedition to destroy these works and to obstruct the
Hatteras Inlet by sinking a few old hulks in it. To accomplish
this object the frigate Minneaotay the sloops-of-war Wabash and
Paumee, and the advice-boat Harriet Lane repaired to Newport
News, under command of Commodore Stringham. These vessels
were to be joined by the frigate Susquehanna and the sailing sloop-
of-war Cumberland. At tlie same time. General Butler, who had
been superseded by Greneral Wool, but who still retained command
of the forces encamped at Newport News, embarked with nine
hundred men on two large steamers and an advice-boat. The
combined squadron got under way on the 26th of August, and on
the following day anchored in deep water in sight of Hatteras
Inlet.
Operations commenced on the morning of the 28th ; while the
fleet was bombarding Fort Clark preparations were hastened for
landing. The heavy naval artillery soon established its superi-
ority over the five guns of inferior calibre which constituted the
armament of the redoubt. The Federal frigates, steaming slowly
in front of that work, poured shells into it, and soon silenced its
fire. Fort Hatteras tried in vain to reach them ; the distance was
too great for its thirty-two pounders. The bombardment had
commenced at ten o'clock; towards half-past twelve the two
works had ceased firing ; their flags had been lowered ; and the
defenders of Fort Clark, escaping in small squads, went, without
orders, to seek refuge behind the parapets of Hatteras. In the
mean time, a portion of the troops which the fleet had brought
over efiected a landing, notwithstanding the serious difficulties
they had to encounter. To accomplish this disembarkation they
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446 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
had only two wooden lighters and three or four iron launches
On the first trip the sea shattered the former and capsized the
latter ; the men came near being drowned ; the ammunition and
provisions were soaked with water ; and as the swell was rapidly
increasing, it soon became* necessary to suspend the operation.
Three hundred men, with two small howitzers and only a few
rounds of ammunition, thus found themselves alone on a hostile
shore, separated from the fleet by an impassable barrier of break-
ers, with the enemy in front, who, being four times stronger than
themselves and firmly entrenched inside of his works, could have
driven them into the sea. Fortunately, their commander, Colonel
Max Weber, was not at all disconcerted ; and marching boldly
forward, he took possession of Fort Clark, which the Confederates
had just evacuated. He was not, however, able to hold it; hav-
ing tried to take possession of the other work, he was repulsed
and dislodged from the first, which remained unoccupied between
the two contending parties. Two Federal vessels, which attempted
to run into the inlets, were also compelled to retire before the fire
of Fort Hatteras, after having run aground several times. Finally,
a steamer which was bringing reinforcements to the Confederates
made her appearance in the inland sound. The weather was
growing worse, the north wind rising, the sea was becoming
violently agitated, and all the Federal vessels were obliged to
haul off from the coast towards nightfall — a night full of anxiety
to every one, and especially to the troops disembarked on that
gloomy shore.
Fortunately for the latter, the Confederates themselves were in
a great state of confusion. Commodore Barron had arrived with
insignificant reinforcements ; a vessel which was to have brought
a regiment from Newbern had not made her appearance. The
power of the projectiles used by the Federals, and the capture of
Fort Clark, although evacuated afterwards, had greatly disturbed
the defenders of Hatteras. The gunners were inexperienced, and
there were only three pieces of artillery in the fort which could
be brought to bear upon the entrance of the pass. The Confed-
erates had no intention of troubling Weber during the night
When day reappeared, the sea was calm ; and the Federal fleet,
bringing their broadsides to bear upon the fort, began to bombard
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PORT ROYAL. 447
it. The guns of the fort were speedily silenoed and the garrison
obliged to take refuge in the cjasemates. Weber's troops took ad-
vantage of this to reoccupy Fort Clark, and to turn the fire of
two or three field-pieces upon the Confederate steamer which was
at last bringing the reinforcements from Newbern, but had not
yet been able to land them. Seeing that vessel put back, while
the Federal fleet was preparing to cross the inlet, the besieged
became discouraged. They had only, however, about thirty men
wounded, the casemates were in excellent condition, and the
weather, which had again assumed a threatening aspect, might at
any moment interrupt the attack and deliver into their hands
Weber's three hundred Federals. Notwithstanding all these
chances in their favor. Commodore Barron, at eleven o'clock,
hoisted the white flag. Cut off by Fort Clark from all commu-
nication with the land, he had no means of escape left. More
than seven hundred prisoners, twenty-five pieces of artillery, with
or without carriages, and two strong works, were surrendered to
the Federals by the capitulation, signed a few days after. Butler
and Stringham, appreciating the importance of their conquest, de-
termined not to abandon it. The small garrisons which they left
there were soon reinforced, and Hatteras became the base of naval
and military operations along the whole coast of North Carolina.
The capture of these forts, which had not cost the Federals a sin-
gle man, was one of those unquestionable successes of which until
then Fortune had been very sparing towards the North. It was
the first step in a direction where many others still more decisive
were to follow. The superiorly of the guns on board the Fed-
eral vessels over the barbette barteries which the Confederates op-
posed to them was clearly shown. This first experience was
destined to receive many confirmations afterwards.
The chronological onler of our narrative compels us to take the
reader back to the Gulf of Mexico, along whose coast the Federals
endeavored during the autumn, by means of certain operations, to
strengthen the naval blockade. We have stated elsewhere that
Fort Pickens, which guards the entrance of Pensacola Bay, had
remained in their possession at the time when the rebellion broke
out. The position of this post rendered it easy for them to block-
ade one of the best ports in the Gulf of Mexico. But they had
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448 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
left a lai^ arsenal in the hands of their adversaries^ where pri-
vateers were fitted out which oocasionallj succeeded in eluding
the vigilance of the sentinels of Fort Pickens, They attempted
in vain, on the 2d of September^ to set it on fire, and only suc-
ceeded in destroying one of the stocks for ship-building. They
soon returned to the charge. During the night of the 13th or
14th of September four beats belonging to the frigate Colorado
proceeded as far as the dock of the arsenal^ at which the Con-
federate schooner Judah was moored. They seized her by quick
assault^ set her on fire, and retired afler having lost four men
killed and nine wounded.
This successful attempt alarmed the Confederates, and they
immediately set to work to harass the garrison of Fort Pickens.
On the coast of Florida, eastward of Pensacola, there lies a narrow
and sandy island, eighty kilometres in length, formed of downs
shaped like those of Hatteras, and only separated from the main-
land by a sinuous channel of from one to two kilometres in width.
This island, called Santa Rosa, stretches in front of the entrance
of Pensacola Bay ; and at the extremity of this natural break-
water stands Fort Pickens. Outside the fort the Federals occu-
pied that portion of the island which lies nearest to it. During
the summer a New York regiment, Wilson's Zouaves, had been
landed there. Their unruly disposition had caused them to be
designated for that mission^ which had the advantage of isolating
them completely. This regiment, reduced to three hundred and
sixty men, of whom more than fifty were on the sick-list, was en-
camped about two kilometres from the fort, at a point where the
island, closely shut in between tb^ sea and Pensacola Bay, is only
one kilometre wide. If the superior officers may be judged by
the boastful extravagance of their reports, that r^ment must
have been very badly commanded. At all events, their encamp*
ment was very carelessly guarded. The Confederates knew this,
and they determined to take advantage of it to attempt a eoup-
de-main, which they would never have thought of if they had had
to deal with well-disciplined troops.
During the night of October 8th and 9th, General Anderson
brought from Pensacola, in steamers and large boats, twelve or
thirteen hundred men, whom he landed five kilometres east of the
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PORT ROYAL. 449
Federal camp fronting the centre of the bay. The sand-hills of
Santa Rosa island stretch out in that locality, and afforded him
a more favorable ground for deploying his troops. As soon
as they were landed he formed them into three columns, whichi
advanced in silence, capturing the Federal sentinels, who were^
posted too near their camp. An instant afterwards the camp
itself was seized, pillaged, and set on fire. It was two o'clock
in the morning ; the darkness was intense, and the flames ris-
ing among the tents and spreading here and there only served
to increase the disorder caused by that surprise. The scattered
zouaves rallied in detached groups between their camp and the fort ;
their adversaries, equally disorganized by the pillage, hunted for
them at random, without following up their success. The rejports
of firearms were heard in every direction ; and the soldier who
fell, shot down at close quarters, could not tell whether he had
been struck by friend or foe. On hearing the noise of battle,
Colonel Brown, who was in command at Fort Pickens, sent Major
Vogdes with two companies of regular infantry to Wilson's,
assistance. The major missed his way and fell into the hands-
of the Confederates, but the regulars sustained themselves in that,
difficult ordeal of a night battle, resolutely advanced in serried
ranks upon the flank of their assailants, who had already driven,
the zouaves to the sea, and changed the aspect of the fight. The«
Confederates, becoming frightened in their turn, soon took to flight
to regain their boats, into which they crowded in haste, leaving;
behind them about twenty killed, thirty prisoners, and a consider-
able number of wounded ; they finally reached the main land at
the moment when a small Federal steamer from Fort Pickens,
was about to cut ofl* their retreat. The Wilson Zouaves had not.
fought well enough to lose many men, and out of thirty-seven.
Federals, who were wounded in that engagement, twenty-four be-
longed to the regular army.
The attack of the Confederates had been repulsed, but it con-
vinced Colonel Brown that in the event of a serious attack he-
could only rely upon the small garrison of the fort for defence..
In order to prevent similar attempts in future, he resolved to take-
the offensive ; and as his soldiers were too few in number to maker
a sortie, it was necessary that the fort itself should take part iui
Vol. I.--29
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450 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the combat. Secession, as we have stated, had divided the line
of defences at Pensacola into two parts, giving Fort McSae, on
the west side of the inlet, to the Confederates, and leaving Fort
Pickens, on the east side, in possession of the Federals. These two
forts — ^guardians of the harbor— constructed with a view to tiieir
mutual support, belonged therefore to the two hostile parties, and
levelled their guns against each other. They thus prevented any
vessel, whatever might be her flag, from entering the bay, but by
a tacit agreement they long continued to exercise a mutual forbear-
ance towards each other. Colonel Brown wished to get out of this
embarrassing position, which gave all the advantage to his oppo-
nents, allowing them to make free use of the vast resources which
the arsenal of Pensacola afforded them. The frigate Niagara and
the sloop-of-war JBieAmond, charged with the blockade on the
Florida coast, took part in the bombardment, which was opened
by Fort Pickens on the morning of November 22d. Fort McEae
replied, and was supported by the fire of several field-batteries
erected in the vicinity of the arsenal. The cannonading was thus
kept up for two days without producing any result There were
twelve or fifteen men disabled on both sides. The vessels were
only struck three or four times, and the Richmond alone seriously,
while Fort Pickens had only one gun dismounted. On the Con-
federate side a few field-pieces were rendered useless ; the village
of Warrenton and a few huts were burnt ; the arsenal only sus-
tained trifling injuries, and the three steamers which happened
to be there escaped without serious damage. This duel between
two permanent works, which left both of them uninjured, is a
unique occurrence in the contemporaneous annals of sieges. Al-
though they were only two kilometres apart, neither of them was
able to effect a breach in the works of its opponent ; the fire of the
ships was not more effective ; the large spherical shells so effective
against barbette batteries were powerless against masonry. The
only piece of artillery which did any damage to the Confederates
was a thirty-pounder Parrott gun mounted on Fort Pickens.
More to the west, in the Gulf of Mexico, and about the same
time, the Federals seized an island almost deserted, flat^ sandy,
wind-swept, and parched by a tropical sun, but affording excel-
lent anchorage for their squadrons, and an important point for
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 461
revictualHng. This was Ship Island, situated on the coast north
of the mouths of the Mississippi, and in continuation of that
long chain parallel to the coast to which Santa Bosa belongs.
The Confederates, who occupied it and had even made certain
establishments on it, abandoned it on the 18th of September,
on the approach of a few Federal vessels. It remained at
first without an occupant; subsequently, the blockading fleet
went there in search of temporary shelter; a detachment of
marines was landed and lodged, with supplies, in a fort yet unfin-
ished. Finally, towards the latter part of November a brigade
of seventeen or eighteen hundred men from Fort Monroe, under
General Phelps, took permanent possession of the island, and the
troops were landed in that dismal locality between the 4th and
6th of December. Apart from the military object of that expe-
dition, the Federal government had a political end in view. The
occupation of Ship Island gave the government a foothold on
the State of Mississippi ; it was the first step in taking posses-
sion. Consequently, in again hoisting the Federal flag upon the
soil of that rebel State, General Phelps did not fail to issue a
proclamation to the people of the South-west, in which he declared
himself in favor of the immediate abolition of slavery. This,
naturally enough, had only the eflect of exasperating the Confed-
erates and of renewing the old quarrel between the Republicans
and the Democrats at the North.
It now remains for us to relate the events of which the Atlan-
tic coast was the theatre, after the occupation of Hatteras by the
Federals. The latter, properly appreciating the importance of
the forts they had captured on the 30th of August, had sent the
Twentieth Indiana regiment to reinforce the small garrison that
Butler had left there. Nor did they stop there, for they had only
taken possession of an entrance into the inland sea, into which they
had the utmost interest in penetrating, and it was important, above
all, not to leave the other in the hands of the enemy, who yet occu-
pied two of them. These two entrances, opening in the tongue of
sand wiiich envelops Pamlico Sound, are the Ocracoke Inlet, south
of Hatteras ; and more to the northward, the three contiguous estu-
aries called Oregon Inlet, New Inlet, and Loggerhead Inlet, situ-
ated near the island of Roanoke. ' At Ocracoke the Confederates
Digitized by VjOOQIC
462 THE CIVIL WAE IN AMERICA.
had erected a laige earthwork^ which they were busy in armiiig.
On the 17th of September the guard-boat Fanny was sent to de-
stroy it ; finding that it had been abandoned, all she had to do was
to dismantle it and throw its heavy guns into the sea. Kothiog
remained to be done but to close the northern inlets, but this was
a more difficult task, for the Confederates had placed a strong
garrison oa the island of Roanoke, and were in possession of
several steamers which could speedUy convey that garrison to any
of the neighboring points, and in case of need even threaten the
small garrison of Hatteras. An expedition was organized under
Colonel Brown to take permanent possession of the inlets. The
Twentieth Indiana embarked on the 30th of September, and was
landed in a few hours on the tongue of sand fifty kilometres
north of Hatteras, not tor from a village called Chicomacomioo;
he entrenched himself at that point, until the arrival of reinforce-
ments should permit him to advance to the inlets and take pos-
session of them. The Fanny returned the following day, bring-
ing him guns, provisions, ammunition, and a portion of his
baggage. But she had hardly commenced landing her cargo
when she was surprised by three small Confederate vessels; and
after exchanging a few cannon-shots with them her crew aban-
doned her, thus leaving a valuable prize in the hands of the
enemy and depriving the expedition of the resources which it
needed. Colonel Brown nevertheless took up his quarters with
his eight hundred men in the neighborhood of Chicomacomioo,
in the expectation of soon receiving the supplies of which he
had been deprived. But the Confederates did not allow him to
remain long in peace. Commodore Lynch, whom we have already
mentioned, had by activity and intelligence organized a consideiv
able naval foroe on the inland waters, and he was not satisfied
with the capture of the Fanny. As soon as the occupation of
Chicomacomioo was known at Roanoke, three r^ments, number-
ing over two thousimd men, were speedily embarked on board the
flotilla and directed against the new Federal post. On the morn-
ing of the 4th of October they found themselves in front of the
camp occupied by the Twentieth Indiana, and Lynch's guns soon
threw disorder into the ranks of the Federals, who, surprised by
this unexpected attack, had hastily rushed to their arms. The
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 463
Confederates availed themselves of the opportunity to land about
fifteen hundred men north of Chicomacomico, while another regi-
ment tried to effect a landing farther south, so as to cut off tiie
retreat of the enemy. This last operation was thwarted by the
shallowness of the water; but the Federals, believing themselves
to be already surrounded, abandoned their camp, vnth everything
it contained, and fled towards the beach of Cape Hatteras. They
arrived, exhausted by fatigue, in the greatest confusion, leaving
behind them fifty prisoners, with a large quantity of arms ; they
were accompanied by most of the inhabitants of Chicomacomico,
compromised as Union men, and in a complete state of destitu-
tion. The Confederates, being obliged to drag the howitzers they
had landed through the heavy sand, were unable to complete their
success by a rapid march, and night overtook them before they
had reached Cape Hatteras. On the following morning Brown's
soldiers, who had gathered along the beach near the cape, saw the
Federal frigate Susquehanna approaching, which brought them
the provisions they so much needed, and the protection of her
powerful guns ; at the same time, they received by land a rein-
forcement of a few hundred men. Finally, another Federal ship,
which was cruising on the coast, soon after came to present her
broadside in their front. In the mean time, the Confederates had
at last completed their landing, and were marching against them
by two converging roads ; but when they got near the beach, the
fire of the enemy's ships revealed to them the fact that they
had allowed the opportuunity for crushing their adversaries to
escape ; they re-embarked with their trophies, while the Federals
hastened back to Fort Hatteras. The success obtained in the
month of August by Stringham and Butler had demonstrated to
the Federal government all the advantages to be derived from
such expeditions; it accordingly determined to try a new one
upon a much larger scale, the results of which would in its esti-
mation be proportionate to the means devoted to it.
During the summer a special commission was appointed to de-
vise means for occupying certain points on the coast of the insur-
gent States ; it was composed of army and navy officers, and mem-
bers of the corps of hydrographic engineers called the Coast Sur-
vey, all under the presidency of Commodore Dupont. For many
Digitized by VjOOQIC
464 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
years pa^t thin scientific and active corps had surveyed all the
coasts of the United States, and had published maps which are
models of clearness and precision. Mr. Boutelle, who, before the
war, had charge of the coasts of South Carolina, brought valuable
assistance and co-oiwration to the labors of the commission, which
were stimulatwl by the indefatigable zeal of Mr. Fox, the Assist-
ant Si»cretary of the Navy.
It was d(>termin(Hl to organize an expedition of sufficient mag-
nitude to occHipy one of the most important points on the enemy's
coast, to establish itself there by means of a self-sustaining policy
in such a manner as to defy all the eiTorts of the Confederates
and gradually to extend the sphere of its operations upon land.
All the shi|)s of war which were not indisj)ensable elsewhere
were colkvted together, and no pains were s()ared to put them in
a condition to i)erform the task which was assigned to them. Guns
of the lu^aviest calibre were put on board, most of them smooth-
bore howitzers of nine and eleven-inch calibre, and they were
provi(le<l with well-trained gunners and picked crews. The fleet,
under Dujwnt's wmmand, was to coasist of the steam frigates
Wabash and Suaquchanna^ three sailing-frigates, five sloops-of-
war, six large gun-boats, and several onler-boats ; to these was
added a convoy of twenty-five ships loaded with coal, ready to
form a vast d6|)6t capable of supplying the fleet so soon as it should
conquer a ix)int of landing. While the navy was making these
preparations, General T. W. Sherman was organizing at Anni^
olis, Maryland, an army corps of fifteen thousand men, consisting
of three strong brigades ; and the quartermaster's department was
making all the necessary preparations for transporting them. As
we have stated elsewhere, it is this branch of the service which
has the entire control, exclusive of the navy, of the matter of
freight, and supervision of all vessels hired or purchased for that
kind of service. Thirty-two steamships were in readiness for
the embarkation of Slierman's cor()S, with all his maiSriel and a
sufficient supply of provisions for a long expedition. A few of
them, like the Vanderbilt, were magnificent packets admirably
adapted for that purj)ose ; others again were old shii)s almost unfit
for scrvicx; ; but the government had to take everything that could
be found. The personnel of this fleet, belonging chiefly to the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 466
merchant marine, was not all that could be desired ; but in an en-
terprise so speedily organized, and of such unprecedented magni-
tude, perfection was not looked for. On the 25th of October the
whole fleet and the vessels with Sherman^s army on board were
assembled ofl* Fortress Monroe ; the order of sailing and of dis-
embarkation had been arranged in minute details. The transport-
ships were formed into three columns, each conveying a complete
brigade ; they were provided with long-boats, and had in tow a
sufficient number of surf-boats to land four thousand five hun-
dred men each trip.
The point of attack was not definitely settled imtil the last mo-
ment, and its choice remained a profound secret ; it was only known
to Dupont, Sherman^ and the members of the cabinet, when the
fleet got under way. This uncertainty regarding the destination
of so vast an armament caused trouble and alarm along the whole
coast of the Southern States. There was not a single Confederate
port from Charleston to Texas where that fleet, whose power had
long been the subject of comment in all the Northern papers, was
not expected to appear soon. Having first thought of the Sa-
vannah River, Dupont had decided to direct his attack upon the
entrances to Hilton Head. These inlets, situated in South Car-
olina at almost equal distances from Charleston and Savannah,
form the principal entrance into a labyrinth of canals, with which
the numerous islands along the coast comprised between those two
points are intersected. Rivers run from every direction to mingle
their waters with those of the sea. These islands, flat, sandy, and
half submerged, produced the famous cotton known by the name
of sea-island cotton, which sold in the European markets ten
times higher than the coarser products of the inland plantations.
Koar the mouth of the rivers, which roll their waters sluggishly
through an alluvial soil covered with forests and heavy thickets
of myrtle and magnolias, there were swamps which the hand of
man had converted into fruitful rice-fields. The white proprietors
were all in the habit of flying from this deadly climate at the ap-
proach of summer, and even among the negroes themselves those
alone could stand it who had been accustomed to it from their
birth; but the incomparable mildness of winter again brought
back to the beautiful plantations which abound in the neighbor-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
456 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
hood of the little town of Beaufort the richest proprietors of Oar-
olina, who delighted in spending a few months among the orange
groves and amid all the splendors of an almost tropical v^tation«
In a military point of view, the bay of Port Royal, the entrance
of which is narrowed by Hilton Head, is one of the finest ports
in America, and the group of islands of St Helena, sufficientlj
large to furnish supplies of every kind, yet easy to defend and
surrounded by navigable arms of the sea, made an excellent d6p6t
for the navy. These advantages had not been unobserved by the
navigator Jean Bibaut, of Dieppe, who, in 1562, had brooght
there a party of Norman Protestants, and had built a fort on one
of the islands ; the French names of Beaufort and Port Royal
perpetuate the remembrance of those hardy pioneers, whom the
sad religious wars of the sixteenth century had driven &r from a
country too little concerned to nourish her children at home.
Fine weather had favored the departure of the fleet, but it was
not to escape the storm which, in consequence of its periodical
return in the beginning of November, sailors call the death-blast
The bad weather overtook Dupont south-east of Cape Hatteras
on the night of the 1st and 2d of November. When day dawned,
cloudy and dim, on that immense sea, the waves of which the
hurricane covered with foam, the squadron was entirely scattered
and in a perilous situation. The ships of war braved the storm
with impunity ; but this was not the case with the military trans-
ports, overburdened with troops, some of which were better suited
to navigate rivers than the high sea. Many of them sustained
considerable damage and incurred great danger ; four were obliged
to seek shelter in Chesapeake Bay ; several only saved themselves
by throwing their cargoes overboard ; two were wrecked on the
enemy's coast and their crews made prisoners ; and two other?
sank in open sea : the men they had on board were nearly all
saved, thanks to the courage of the sailors belonging to the other
vessels, who went to their assistance in spite of the storm. When
the sea became calm, the captains of the scattered vessels, opening
the sealed orders which had been forwarded to them, found Hilton
Head designated as the place of rendezvous, and on the 4th of No-
vember a large number of them were already in sight of that point
Dupont arrived in the course of the morning with twen^-five
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 457
vessels, aftcjr having put the Susquehanna about, opposite Charles-
ton ,• and * on that evening, when the sun went down behind the
lower coast of Carolina, it shone upon the greater portion of the
fleet riding peaceably on the bosom of a sea as smooth as a mirror.
Most of the ships which had been dispersed were heard from, and
that terrible storm so warmly welcomed in the South as an inter-
position of Providence had not, after all, caused any irreparable
injury to the expedition.
The entrance of Port Royal was difficult of access. A bar,*
with eighteen feet of water at high tide, forms, several kilometres
in front, a vast semicircle, the two extremities of which touch the
coast. A tortuous channel leads through numerous sand-banks
to the pass which opens between the island of St. Philip to the
north and that of Hilton Head to the south. The latter takes its
name from the cape formed by its northern extremity. Beyond
it lies an immense sheet of water, tranquil and deep, which runs
far inland and serves as the principal artery to the network of
canals which render that region a perfect archipelago.
The whole line of defences along the entire coast of South Car-
olina had been entrusted to General Ripley. He had constructed
two large earthworks to command the pass of Port Royal. The
larger. Fort Walker, stood on the island of Hilton Head. It
presented two faces to the sea, with two flanks, and was closed at
the gorge by a bastioned curtain with a lunette. The other, of
smaller dimensions, called Fort Beauregard, had a similar front,
but was closed by a simple parapet, and was flanked by a line of
breastworks, with platforms and embrasures for a few guns.
These works, situated at a distance of four thousand metres from
each other, had been constructed some time previously, but never
finished, and both were imperfectly armed. Fort Walker only
received its bomb-proofs towards the latter part of October, and
they were, moreover, insufficient for its garrison, while the arma-
ment of the batteries was only completed in the presence of the
enemy^s fleet. It consisted of twenty guns for Fort Walker and
nineteen for Fort Beauregard, but only eight of the former and '
seven of the latter had the range of the fleet ; finally, out of these
fifteen guns there were only eight with a calibre of more than
eighteen centimetres, two of which were rifled.
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458 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
The troops occupying that part of the coast were commanded by
(Jeneral Drayton, a rich proprietor of the neighborhood. The sad
fatalities attending the civil war obliged him to fight against his
brother, an officer of the navy, who had remained loyal to his
flag, and who commanded one of the Federal sloops-of-war. His
forces were scattered, but he succeeded, before the attack, in col-
lecting two thousand four hundred and seventy-seven men, one
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven of whom were placed in
the fort and on the island to the south, and six hundred and forty
in the positions north of the pass.
A flotilla consisting of eight small steamers had been organ-
ized by Commodore Tatnall, a former officer of the Federal navy,
who had distinguished himself in 1859 by the zeal he displayed
in going to the assistance of the Anglo-French expedition in
China after the check it sustained on the Pei-Ho. The Confed-
erates placed great reliance on that flotilla and its commander.
Their expectations were to be cruelly disappointed.
. Immediately after his arrival Dupont set to work. A gun-
boat had reconnoitred the bar while exchanging a few cannon-
shots with Tatnall, and under the guidance of Captain Davis and
Mr. Boutelle she had placed buoys in the channel where the
large vessels had to pass. On that same evening all the smaller
vessels and a portion of the transport-ships followed in her track.
On the following day, the 5th, while some vessels were drawing
the fire of the enemy's batteries to compel them to show their
strength, the rest of the fleet entered in turn, and took a position
whence they could speedily commence the battle, leaving only
the three sailing-frigates outside. The strength of the enemy's
works was such that Sherman's troops could not be landed until
those works had been reduced ; the fleet alone was called upon to
play an active part. It was ready on the 6th, but the stormy
weather rendered it necessary to postpone the attack till the fol-
lowing day.
The morning of the 7th was calm and radiant, and admirably
calculated to favor the movements of the fleet. At an early hour
Dupont gave the signal waited for, selecting Fort Walker for the
special point of attack. His instructions to the war-vessels, which
were formed in two columns, directed them to fight under steam,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
FORT ROYAL. 459
and to keep always moving, so as not to become a fixed target for
the enemy. The first division, led by the Wabash, which carried
the commodore's flag, comprised the Smqaehanna and the five
sloops-of-war. It was to pass first in front of Fort Beauregard,
then to veer in column inside of the pass, in order to defile in
front of Hilton Head, heading seaward, then to resume its orig-
inal course, thus describing an ellipse, and firing alternately upon
the forts, until they should be reduced to silence. The second
division, consisting of six gun-boats, was ordered to proceed be-
yond the pass, and to take such position as to enfilade the enemy's
batteries. This plan of battle was carried out in every particular.
At half-past nine o'clock the Wabash saluted the two forts with
her broadsides from a distance, and half an hour after, the col-
umn, guided by that frigate, returned, passing within seven hun-
dred and fifty metres of Fort Walker. The speed of the vessels
was slackened in order to give more precision to their fire, and
running against the tide enabled them to steer easily. The large
shells of the Federal guns fell with terrible rapidity and precision
within the narrow enclosure of the fort. The enfilading fire of
the gun-boats, which, after a few shots, had dispersed Tatnall's
fleet, soon made matters worse for the defenders of the fort, ex-
posed as they were, without protection, to the converging fire of
the whole fleet. Amid the heat of battle they had to contend
with all those difficulties which insufficiency of preparation is sure
to entail. All the guns differed in calibre, the projectile did not
fit the bores, and many of the carriages were already broken.
Notwithstanding the courage of the Confederates, their fire slack-
ened considerably after the first circuit of the fleet. General
Kipley had not considered that his duty called him in person to
the forts he had constructed, and Greneral Drayton abandoned the
post of danger at half-past ten under pretext of going in search
of reinforcements. The Federal vessels had been struck repeat-
edly ; many of their men had been killed and wounded. A ball
had passed through the mainmast of the WahaSh, but they had
not suffered seriously ; and when, continuing their manoeuvre, they
passed again in front of Fort Beauregard, they crippled it with
their fire. At the second turn the Federal column, passing again
before Fort Walker, approached within less than six hundred
Digitized by VjOOQIC
460 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
metres of its breastworks ; fearing no longer the fire of that fort,
it then slackened its speed and poured at leisure a shower of shot
among the Confederate gunners. The latter, when they saw
through the smoke that the assailants were retiring after the first
broadside, thought they had got rid of them. This new assault,
therefore, disconcerted them. In Fort Walker five out of eight
guns had been dismounted; the powder magazine was nearly
empty, the dead and the wounded encumbered the enceinte of the
fort. On the strength of some vague orders from their com-
manders the Confederates began to abandon it; and breaking
off into separate groups for the purpose of hastily crossing the
vast open space ploughed by the prcgectiles of the enemy, thqr
reached the neighboring woods one by one. Three brave soldiers
alone remained at the post of honor, and for half an hour con-
tinued to serve the only gun which was still able to reply to the
fire of the fleet. Fort Beauregard was evacuated in the same
manner ; but before leaving it its commander conoeived the truca-
lent idea of placing a machine in it destined to blow up the first
man who should cross its threshold. At two o'clock the battle
ceased ; and the Federal sailors, having quickly landed, took pos-
session of the two works of the enemy. That battle cost them
eight killed and twenty-three wounded. The Confederates, on
their side, lost eleven killed, forty-eight wounded, and seven
prisoners.
The troops who were on Hilton Head and St. Philip Islands
made haste to embark, after having gathered up the fiigitives from
the two forts, and gained the main land. Tatnall had to confine
himself to covering that precipitate retreat, and afterwards to
setting fire to his flotilla, which during the whole engagement
had not even been able to attract the attention of the Federals for
an instant. The latter were masters of the whole archipelago of
St. Helena, and Sherman, on landing, had only to take possession
of a territory which the enemy was no longer able to contest
This success, so complete and decisive, was due to the superi-
ority of the Federal artillery. It proved in a striking manner
that uncovered batteries could not resist the converging fire of
vessels, armed with those powerful howitzers with which the Fed-
eral navy had been supplied even before the war.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL. 461
The effect of the battle of Port Royal was as largely felt in the
North, where it revived the hopes of her people, as in the South,
to whose people it revealed the presence of a new and pressing
danger. The Federals had conquered a strong base of operations
on the enemy's coast ; they had carried the war into South Car-
olina, the State which had given the first signal of civil war, and
had been the more ardent in the struggle because she had thought
herself less liable to suffer from it. Sherman might, perhaps, at
the first moment of his adversary's disorder, have been able to
push his success farther, and to lead his army upon Charleston or
Savannah. But he was afraid of risking such a venture, and
contented himself with the occupancy of his new conquest, in
order to make it the centre of operations rather political than
military.
The archipelago of St. Helena opened the heart of the slave
States to the abolition campaign, and offered a place of refuge to
the negroes who were flying from the control of their rebel masters.
The latter had all left Beaufort and its vicinity ; and when the
Federals occupied that small town on the 11th of November, they
found only the black population, who had refused to abandon it.
Notwithstanding their ignorance and stupidity, often feigned,
which was the consequence of their servile condition, the negroes
perfectly understood that the opponents of their masters could not
be their enemies ; they had frequently heard abolitionists spoken
of with hatred, which set them to thinking ; and when, in the
course of the war, Federal vessels approached the plantations de-
serted by their owners, the abandoned slaves were more than once
seen crowding on board in search of that legendary personage who
was to deliver them from all their ills, and whom, in a jargon
curiously expressive, they styled Massa BobolUicm.
But General Sherman, who was not an abolitionist, and upon
whom President Lincoln had moreover enjoined the greatest cau-
tion in regard to the slave question, could only protect them,
without undertaking a direct propagandism against the servile in-
stitution. As we propose to return to this subject in a later vol-
ume, we shall merely remark in this place that he acquitted him-
self of this delicate mission very wisely, and that he performed
the duties imposed by humanity towards the people whom he had
Digitized by VjOOQIC
462 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
delivered from oppression, without touching upon the consti-
tutional questions which were not within his province. He prom-
ised an indemnity to the owners of slaves who should give evi-
dence of their loyalty to the Union. At the same time, he thought
proper to issue a conciliatory appeal to the citizens of South Car-
olina, which the latter naturally received with contempt and de-
rision, and to which they replied by causing the immense d6p6t5
of cotton which had fallen into the hands of the Federals to be
secretly set on fire by their emissaries. Faithful to the orders of
their government, they hoped thereby to compel Europe to inter-
fere to the extent of raising the blockade of the Southern ports.
During several .weeks the fires which were reflected in the ^%•ate^5
of the archipelago, and which at times lighted up the whole
sky with a lurid blaze, bore evidence to the ardor which an-
imated the combatants in that great political conflict "King
Cotton " was on fire, but it was a a*?eless sacrifice ; the reign of
Slavery was not to spring again into life from its ashes.
The occupation of most of the islands in the vicinity of the St
Ilelena group was the natural consequence of the victory of Hil-
ton Head. It was effected gradually before the end of the year.
Among all the points of the coast which the Federals had thus
seized without striking a blow, thanks to the prestige of their
success, the most important was Tybee Island, at the entrance of
the Savannah River. Situated on the right bank of the mouth
of that river, and being the spot where the lighthouse stands,
Tybee Island enabled the Federals, as soon as they became mas-
ters of it, to ol)8truct the passage of the blockade-runners on their
way to the great mart of Savannah. At a distance of about six
hundred feet from its borders, on an islet in the middle of the
river, stood Fort Pulaski, so called after the illustrious exile, to
whom America had the honor of giving an asylum. This great
work of masonry, constructed on General Bernard's plan, on the
same model as Forts Warren at Boston and Sumter at Charles-
ton, commanded the entire course of the river. Tybee Island
afforded some positions from which it3 high walls could be easily
bombarded. On the 25th of November the sailors of the steamer
Flag landed on this island, and the government had the satisfac-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
PORT ROYAL, 463
tion of being able to announce to the public that the Federal
banner floated once more on the soil of Georgia.
A few days after, the navy extended its conquests still farther
south. The group of islands to which Tybee belongs is separated
from another group, called Warsaw Islands, by a deep entrance
which bears that name. A navigable channel connects this pass
with the estuary of the Savannah River above Fort Pulaski.
The Federal gun-boats ran into it, putting to flight on their ap-
proach the Georgia militia occupying the works erected on War-
saw Islands, and thus opening a passage for future operations,
which would enable them to reach Savannah by turning Fort
Pulaski.
Finally, on the 12th of December, Captain Rodgers, who com-
manded the naval squadron operating along this part of the coast,
entered Ossabaw Bay, but, doubting his ability to establish him-
self there, merely exchanged a few cannon-shots with a fort situ-
ated at the extremity, and retired after making a thorough recon-
naissance of the bay.
In the mean time, similar enterprises were progressing on the
other side of Hilton Head. The group of St. Helena Islands is
bounded on the north by a deep bay bearing the same name, and
on the south by that of Port Royal. This bay, which was des-
tined to be of great use to the navy, was occupied at the end of
November. The vessels which were sent to make a reconnais-
sance of it found the works erected upon its borders without de-
fenders, and they penetrated as far as the river Coosaw, which
empties its waters into it, without any difficulty. A few weeks
after, the Federal ships made their appearance in the estuary
called North Edisto River, situated, between St. Helena Sound
and Charleston. On Edisto Island, which separates that estuary
from the bay of St. Helena, there were several fortifications and
a camp of considerable size, all of which were evacuated after an
insignificant cannonade.
Thus, at the end of the year, Dupont's fl^t, supported by de-
tachments from Sherman's army, was in possession of the five
large bays of North Edisto, St. Helena, Port Royal, Tybee, War-
saw, and the whole chain of islands which forms the coast of Car-
olina and Georgia between those bays. After the battle of Hilton
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464 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Head it came in contact with the enemy but once ; this was on
the 1st of January, 1862. The Confederates had massed severai
thousand men on the left bank of the Coosaw River, in a num-
ber of fortified works recently erected for the purpose of com-
manding the course of that stream. It was determined to dis-
lodge them. Four gun-boats, accompanied by two feriy-boats
and four barges, gained the entrance of the Coosaw through in-
land canals, while the brigade of Stevens, numbering four thou-
sand five hundred men, joined them by land from Beaufort by
crossing the island of St. Helena. The troops were conveyed to
the other bank of the Coosaw, and attacked the Confederate
works in rear, while the vessels cannonaded them from the river.
After a short fight, in which they lost nine men, the Federals oc-
cupied all the positions of the enemy, who fled rapidly into the
interior.
In this chapter we have seen the task which events had im-
posed on the Federal navy, and how well that task was accom-
plished. We have shown how it had been necessary at the com-
mencement to create and organize everything, the personnd as
well as the matiriely ships, and guns. The navy, once in a condi-
tion to enforce respect, came to the protection of merchant-vessels
by going in pursuit of Confederate privateers. It established,
in the face of unheard-of difficulties, an eflbctive blockade along
the whole of the enemy's coast ; and finally, it occupied a num-
ber of important points on that coast by means of combined
expeditions, the largest and most successful of which was that of
Port Royal.
We have now to relate an event which came near changing
the whole aspect of the war, and caused a commotion both in
Europe and America which nobody can yet have foi^tten.
Although this incident was essentially of a political character, it
must take its place in the chapter devoted to maritime operations.
We allude to the arrest of the Confederate commissioners on board
a British vessel.
The Richmond government had scarcely been constituted when
it aspired to official recognition on the part of Europe, the rights
of a belligerent, which had been so readily granted to it, not being
deemed sufficient. This recognition would not have been of any
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PORT ROYAL. 465
great value of itself. It could neither have prevented the block-
ade nor have secured one cannon or one musket more to the Con-
federates ; but the United States justly regarded it as an act of
moral hostility which they were determined to oppose most ener-
getically. It was because it hoped to see the latter thus drawn
into an European war that the Confederate government insisted
with so much pertinacity on being recognized^ and it had deputed
two prominent politicians, Messrs. Mason and Slidell, to go and
plead its cause in London and Paris in the capacity of envoys
extraordinary. These two agents left Charleston by the steamer
Theodora^ and reached Havana after eluding the vigilance of the
Federal cruisers. On the 7th of November they embarked, with
their secretaries, Messrs. Eustis and McFarland, for St. Thomas
and England, on the English mail-packet Trent, At that time
the Federal sloop-of-war San Jacinto was cruising in the Florida.
waters and among the Antilles in search of the Sumier, She was
commanded by Captain Wilkes, a navigator known by his dis-
coveries in southern lands, a man of scientific acquirements, but
of an eccentric and independent character. He had devoted the
long leisure hours of his voyages among the icebergs of the polar
sea to a profound study of maritime law, an inextricable laby-
rinth, more difficult of exploration than the inhospitable regions
to which he had given his name. Chance took him to Havana,
where he found the Confederate commissioners feasted by that
pro-elavery communit)' and preparing for their departure, con-
cerning which they made no secret whatever.
Feeling annoyed at the facility with which they had eluded the
blockade, Wilkes thought he would make amends for the negli
gence of the Federal cruisers by a bold stroke ; it may be that
he also courted an opportunity for bestowing that popularity upon
his name which his scientific labors had failed to secure. What-
ever may have been his motives, he consulted the works considered
as authorities in such matters, and persuaded himself that he was
justified by international law in capturing the enemy's commis-
sioners on the high seas under a neutral flag. Having arrived at,
that conclusion, he proceeded to post himself in the Bahama chan-
nel, and waited <}uietly for the English steamer, which was to pass
there qfter leaving Havana. The Trent hove in sight on tho 8th,
Vol. L— 30
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466 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
of November at the very hour that Wilkes had expected her.
Everything was ready for battle on board the San Jacinto; the
men were at their posts and the guns loaded. A blank cartridge
was fired; but as the English packet did not obey that sum-
mons, Wilkes sent after her a shell, which burst in front
of her bow and compelled her to heave to. A moment after,
a boat with Lieutenant Fairfax and a detachment of marines
boarded the Trent, whose deck was crowded with passengers
awaiting the issue of this unexpected scene. The Federal officer,
closely followed by a few armed men, came forward and informed
the commander of the steamer, Mr. Moir, that he intended to
exercise the right of visitation. The commander having refused
to produce the list of passengers, he declared that he had come to
eei^e the persons of the commissioners, whose presence on board
<x}uld not be denied. He was determined not to withdraw until
he had executed the orders of his commander, and in support
of that declaration he called up two boats which were at hand
with reinforcements. Mr. Moir and the English mail agent,
Mr. Williams, an old retired naval captain, replied to him
with much warmth, which capped the climax of the pas-
sengers' excitement. In the midst of this scene the commis-
sioners themselves came forward, protesting in their turn against
the act of violence with which they were threatened. The
reinforcements called for by Fairfax had come aboard and been
drawn up amidships with fixed bayonets, while Messrs. Slason
and Slidell retired to their respective cabins, declaring that
they would not come out unless compelled by force, Fairfax
went to bring them out, and with the aid of a few armed men
took them by the shoulders, as if intending to carry them along.
While engaged in the performance of this degrading act of vio-
lence he was struck, it is said, by Miss Slidell, who had bravely
posted herself across the door to defend her fathen The com-
missioners were taken into the boats, where their secretaries fol-
lowed them without resistance. The families of Messrs. Slidell
and Eustis, who accompanied them, refused the repugnant hospi-
tality of the f^n Jacinto, and preferred to continue tlieir voyage
to England, where they could be more useful to their cause.
Three hours after the first cannon-shot had been fired Captain
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PORT ROYAL, 467
Wilkes set the Trent free and proceeded with his prisoners to Fort
Monroe, while the English packet steamed in the direction of
St. Thomas, where her passengers and Captain Williams took the
British mail, to bear to Europe without delay the particulars of
the drama of which they had been helpless spectators. The
news of the arrest of the commissioners was known in the United
States on the 16th of November, and in England on the 30th ; the
different impressions produced by it may be easily imagined.
In America it was hailed with a shout of joy ; people saw
nothing in it at first but the result obtained — the capture of some
of the most inveterate foes of the Union. When the act of dar-
ing violence, committed in contempt of the British flag, was under-
stood in all its details, the satisfaction of having humbled that
rival flag overrode every other consideration. Wilkes, after tak-
ing his prisoners to Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, was congrat-
ulated by the Secretary of the Navy, everywhere met with flattering
demonstrations of respect, and elected by acclamation a member
of the Historical Society of New York. He became the object
of universal curiosity, and his bold stroke was celebrated as if it
had been a great victory. In the midst of this concert of praises
not a single protesting voice was raised, and yet the unanimity
was only apparent. In countries called democratic — that is to
say, where popular opinion, that of the masses, is freely expressed
and exercises in one way or other an irresistible influence — the
excitement of the moment at first carries everything before it,
and causes all discordant voices to be silent. But if such a coun-
try should possess at the same time truly liberal institutions, men
of enlightened and reflecting minds, after having maturely formed
their opinions, obtain an ascendency in the end. Such minds,
deeply imbued with the sound political traditions of their coun-
try, were not rare in America, and only awaited an opportunity
to make the people listen to the counsels of true patriotism.
Aside from this, W^ilkes himself was not dazzled by appearances ;
he was preparing to justify hLs course at a moment when no one
had yet dared to cast any blame upon him. He made a report
to the government, in which he endeavored to demonstrat<* (lie
legality of the arrest of the Confederate commissioners, cjting
precedents and referring to the opinions of his favorite authors.
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468 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
In his eflbrt to sustain this view he unquestionably displayed the
skill of a jurist
The news of the insult offered to the national flag naturally
caused much indignation in England. The whole nation felt
outraged by the violation of the right of asylum, of which it is
so justly jealous ] it shared the feelings experienced by the passen-
gers of the Trent when they saw the deck of the vessel occupied
by Federal soldiers. There was no discussion as to texts or pre-
cedents ; all the vexations to which the British navy had subjected
neutrals in the beginning of the present century, when it was
playing the part of a belligerent, were forgotten. The enemies of
the American republic, specially numerous among the rich classes,
encouraged those sentiments to gratify their own hatred. They
had a leader in the prime minister, Lord Palmerston, who, not-
withstanding his sagacity, allowed himself more than once dur-
ing his life to be blinded by prejudice. After a summary and
partial investigation, the law advisers of the Crown had pronounced
the seizure of the Confederate commissioners illegal. The Brit-
ish government acted at once as if it had already been at T^-ar
with the United States. The moderate counsels of a few emi-
nent men were not listened to ; moreover, the government care-
fully concealed from the public the existence of a despatch from
Washington, written immediately after the arrival of "Wilkes, in
which might have been seen the sure pledge of a friendly settle-
ment. Indeed, the cabinet of the White House declared that
the commander of the San Jacinto had acted without instmo-
tions, and that it was ready to discuss the question r^arding the
legality of the seizure.* The British government only sought
to make a parade of its power. It prohibited the exportation of
powder, military preparations were made with feverish activity,
and a large body of troops was embarked in haste for Canada.
The Guards, who have the noble privilege of taking part in all im-
portant wars, were the first to start. These troops went on board
the vessels playing an air well known in America — ^^ I am of to
Charleston*^ — for they thought they were going to assist the Con-
federates. The latter were already looking out for them as their
* Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams, November 30, 1861.
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PORT ROYAL. 469
saviours, and beheld in that terrible crisis the certain fulfilment
of their hopes.
There were two men who, by a single imprudent word, might,
at that critical moment, have caused irreparable mischief: these
were Lord Lyons, British minister at Washington, and Mr.
Adams, the American minister in London. They both evinced
a tact and a moderation for which their fellow-citizens ought to be
extremely grateful. They had the Atlantic for their auxiliary,
which, by rendering communication between the two countries
impossible for fifteen days, gave both parties ample time for sober
reflection. At a later period Mr. Adams told the author, who
happened to be then in Washington, that if the Transatlantic
cable had been in existence at that time war would have been
inevitable.
The point of law so irrelevantly raised by Captain Wilkes may
be summed up in a few words. From the day when England
became the first naval power in the world she asserted the right
of belligerent vessels to search the ships of neutrals and to seize
enemies' property. It was by resisting this pretension that the
continental States and America laid the foundation of modern
maritime law. England was at last obliged to renounce that claim
by the treaty of Paris in 1856 — a treaty to which the United States
refused to become a party, but only on account of the mainte-
nance of the blockade system. The great principle that the flag
covers the merchandise was solemnly acknowledged, and the only
exception made was against vessels which should attempt to force
a regular blockade, and against those engaged in carrying contra-
band of war to a belligerent. This principle had found nowhere
more zealous supporters than in the statesmen of America. After
invoking the doubtful precedent of a minister arrested in a for-
eign land during the war, at the beginning of the present century.
Captain Wilkes endeavored to justify the arrest of the Confed-
erate commissioners by assimilating them and the despatches of
which they were the bearers to contraband of war. He acknow-
ledged that to keep strictly within the bounds of the law he
should have also seized the vessel which carried the commission-
ers, and brought her, with her pretended contraband, before a Fed-
eral prize-court for adjudication. His excuse for not having done
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470 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
.«o was tliat he had acted out of consideration for the passengers.
Unfortunately for him, he did not seize the despatches, which had
bcH-n saved by Mrs. Slidell. But, in any case, his theory does not
M'em tenable; the assimilation of the commissioners to contra-
iMind of war was false, and the circumstances under which the
seizure was made rendered it illegal. In fact, no merchandise
whatever lxK*omes contraband of war except by virtue of its des-
tination ; thus it is that, since the invention of steam, coal has
iHH'n chissified in that category; guns, ammunition, articles of
e([uipmont, coke, are not liable to seizure unless the captor can
prove that they were intended for a hostile port or fleet. The
destination of the vassel which carries such goods can alone give
them that character ; and if they are transported in good faith
from one neutral |)ort to another neutral port, they are covered by
the flag. Without this restriction, every belligerent could inter-
cept the coninierc*e of the whole world ; as, for instance, it would
suflice for China and Russia to be at war, to justify the latter in
searching and seizing every ship engaged in carrying arms, and
even coal, between France and England. The Confederate com-
missioners, therefore, could not be assimilated to contraband of
war, because, their hostile character being inherent in them, there
was no Oi'casion for making the essential distinction in regard to
destination, as in the case of merchandise ; and on the other hand,
the seizure of all the contraband of war on board the Trenty and
the arraignment of that vessel before a prize-court, would have
been illegal, because her destination was in reality from one neu-
tral i)ort to another neutral port.
Some |)ersons, thinking that it would be of importance to the
whole world to have these principles asserted by America on 90
important an occasion, asked the Federal government to take the
initiative ; they proposed that it should take advantage of the fact
that Captain Wilkes had acted without instructions, to disavow
the act before England should make any demand regarding the
matter. But Mr. Lincoln, who preserved a prudent silence on
that subje(»t, did not at first deem it expedient to brave public
opinion. To those who represented to him the danger which
would be incurred in allowing the public to become exasperated,
and the impossibility for America to support at once a civil war
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PORT ROYAL. 471
and a foreign war, he replied with one of those anecdotes hie ex-
celled in telling, " My father," he said, " had a neighbor from
whom he was only separated by a fence. On each side of that
fence there were two savage dogs, who kept running backward
and forward along the barrier all day, barking and snapping
at each other. One day they came to a large opening recently
made in the fence. Perhaps you think they took advantage of
this to devour each other? Not at all; scarcely had they seen the
gap, when they both ran back, each on his own side, with their
tails between their legs. These two dogs are fair representatives
of America and England."
The demands of England came at last. They exacted a formal
apology and the immediate release of the prisoners. It was ex-
pedient to decide at once. The counsels of wise policy and true
patriotism prevailed at Washington. The government frankly
adopted the course it intended to pursue, and instructed the Secre-
tary of State, Mr. Seward, to inform Lord Lyons that the Con-
federate commissioners should be released. The clever secretary
found means to present that declaration in a manner which satis-
fied both the self-love of his fellow-citizens and the demands of
England. In that despatch he explained at length all the causes
which justified Captain Wilkes, according to the traditional pol-
icy of England, and only acknowledged that the fact of not hav-
ing brought the Trent before one of the prize-courts constituted
an illegal act which rendered it impracticable to justify the seiz-
ure; that the Federal oflScer had erred from motives of humanity.
Mr. Seward covered his retreat by congratulating himself on find-
ing one of the fundamental principles of American policy thus
vindicated by England. To view matters in such a light was
certainly an unexpected success.
The American public, who, the evening before, seemed un-
willing to listen to any proposition looking to the release of
the prisoners, received the decision of the cabinet with a feeling
of relief fully shared by England. Both sides had had time for
reflection. Each had calculated the disasters which the threatened
war would inflict upon the two nations, and this reflection had the
most salutary effect upon their subsequent relations. Peace be-
tween them was consolidated by the very dangers they had in-
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472 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
carrcd ; and when the Confederate oommiflBioners landed in Eng-
land in Jaonarv, they were received with an indifference which
showed them how fniitless their mission was to be. They were
even reproached for the premature delight their associates had ex-
hibited when war seemed inevitable.
A portion of the troops who had embarked in England for
Canada had not yet arrived when the commissioners left Fort
Warren. Air. Seward took advantage of this delay to wind np
the no<^)tiation with one of those strokes of wit which that hamor-
0U8 8tat(>sman never failed to launch at his opponents. He has*
teni>d to inform the British consul at Portland, Elaine, that the
Enjriish troops would be allowed to land at that port, and pass
freely through the territory of the United States, to avoid the New
Brunswick route — impeded by snow and ice at that season — on
their way to Canada.
Wo have reached the end of the first year of the long war the
narrative of which we have undertaken. It terminated contrary
to the expectations of both parties, without securing to either of
them a decided superiority. It had dissipated many illusions.
Nothing but new sacrifices and additional sufferings were in pros-
pect for the year 1862. The struggle, the importance and the diffi-
culti(>A of which no one had foreseen at the commencement, was
daily increasing in proportioas. But both parties were preparing
for the issue with equal determination of purpose. Everything
was put in operation to raise and equip larger armies than those
which had been fighting before. The people of the North and of
the South, with this purpose in view, submitted to the severest
mea^^uns, and those most contrary to their habits of life. We
shall find them at work in the following chapters.
The British Government refuHed these offeni, which, by the hye, were some-
what IK rfuiioiiH, M it would have iKHjn imiKwwible for tliem to prevc^nt the deser-
tion of their Koldiera, who wouhi have been seduced from their allegiance by the
lartrc bounties and liigh pay allowed to the American Tolmiteers. — Authob's
NOTK.
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BOOK v.— THE FIRST WINTER
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST WINTER.—DONELSON AND PEA BIDGE.
THE new Southern Confederacy, notwithstanding the false im-
pressions its first victory had created, found itself at the be-
ginning of the year 1862 strongly organized for the defence of a
territory which comprised nearly all the slave States. The South
persuaded herself, as she had persuaded Europe, that all the
efforts of her adversaries could not prevail against her resistance.
In fact, the North had only been able to wrest from her an in-
significant portion of territory compared with the entire extent of
her domain. Of the whole slave territory, the North only occu-
pied Maryland, Western Virginia, some parts of Kentucky, the
greater portion of Missouri, and certain positions along the coast.
But time had enabled her to display her resources, and the war
was about to assume new proportions. The volunteers, flocking
from all parts, were being organized on the borders of the Poto-
mac, the Ohio, and the Mississippi into large armies.
We shall deal first with those which were about to operate
west of the Alleghanies. As we have seen, these were divided
into three distinct corps. One, under General Curtis, in Mis-
souri, had drawn close to the Arkansas frontier, towards the end
of the year. The second, under Greneral Grant, guarded the Mis-
sissippi and the mouth of the Tennessee at Cairo and Paducah.
The third, under Greneral Buell, operated in Kentucky, with its
centre near Elizabethtown. The first two were under the chief
command of General Halleck, a wise officer, with fine organizing
abilities, but who was accused of too frequently thwarting the de-
signs of his subordinates, and of leaving them afterwards to carry
out in presence of the enemy the plans of campaign he had elab-
orated in his office.
These armies were to find a new auxiliary, whose power was
beginning to be appreciated, in the fleet which was being fitted
out on the Ohio and the Upper Mississippi. Two remarkable
473
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474 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
men, both of whom were to succumb under the effect of the
wounds received while leading that fleet against the enemy, Com-
modore Foote and Colonel EUet, had superintended its forma-
tion with all the ardor of their patriotism and all the resources
of their inventive minds. We shall relate elsewhere how they
gathered this fleet upon the hitherto peaceful waters of the Mis-
sissippi ; the services it rendered to the Federal armies will ap-
pear in every line of this narrative. That fleet was divided into
three categories: 1st. The gun-boats, some of them being old
ships more or less adapted for military service, and most of them,
thinly plated ; the others were of new construction; they all car-
ried powerful guns ; were manned by sailors, and commanded
by the brave Footfe. 2d. The rams, the creation of Colonel Ellet,
formed a separate division, organized by the War Department,
and manned by land-troops. 3d. The transport-ships, whidi
were large Mississippi passenger-boats bought or hired by the
quartermaster for the conveyance of troops.
The facilities afforded by this fleet for the movement of armies
naturally indicated the West, and in the West the courses of the
Mississippi and the Tennessee, as destined to be the theatre of the
first military operations of 1862. This calculation had formed
the basis of the general plan drawn up by General McClellan for
the beginning of the year. It was, however, in Eastern Ken-
tucky that the struggle was renewed at first ; and the successes
which the Federals achieved there would have caused them to
modify their plan if the force of events had not obliged them to
adhere to it.
We have stated that the Confederate line of defences in Ken-
tucky rested upon Columbus at the west, upon Bowling Green in
the centre, and at the east upon the group of mountains from
which the Cumberland springs to enter the plain. The first two
points had become important military posts j another was estab-
lished to cover the third. The position of Mill Springs, south of
Somerset, liad been selected for that purpose, because it was near
the river at the place where it begins to be navigable. The un-
successful attempts of the Federals at Pikeville, and in the direc-
tion of Cumberland Grap, had taught their adversaries that they
had nothing to fear on that side, and that any expedition directed
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DONELSON AND PEA BILGE. 475
upon East Tennessee would have to bear more to the westward, to
follow the open country and avoid the defiles of the Cumberland
Mountains. It would be obliged, after crossing the river, to take
either the Jacksborough road through Williamsburg, or that of
Jamestown (Tennessee) by way of Monticello. The entrenched
camp at Mill Spring, near this last town, covered them both.
The first battle was to be fought more to the east, among the
gorges of the chain which separates Kentucky from Virginia.
Since the month of November, one of the small Confederate corps
which occupied that chain had returned to Piketon, of which
place, as we have seen, Nelson had for a while taken possession.
This corps was commanded by Colonel Humphrey Marshall,
whose name, celebrated in Kentucky since the Mexican war, had
drawn a large number of ardent and adventurous young men to
his standard. But unwieldy from excessive obesity, Humphrey
Mai-shall in 1862 was no longer the brilliant colonel of cavalry
whom we saw fighting at Buena Vista by the side of his friend
Jefierson Davis. His troops, numbering two thousand five hun-
dred men, were stationed at Prestonburg, and stretched as far as
Paintsville, in the valley of the West Big Sandy River.
Notwithstanding the season, so' rigorous in the mountains, a
Federal brigade, under Colonel Garfield, was sent to dislodge
him. Garfield occupied George Creek, on the West Big Sandy,
where he could obtain his supplies by water. He started, on the
7th of January, with two thousand infantry, four hundred horses,
and a few field-pieces, and carrying three days' provisions. On
being informed of his approach, Humphrey Marshall abandoned
Paintsville and fell back upon Prestonburg, leaving a few hundred
men to cover his retreat upon Tenny's Creek, which could be easily
defended. The Federal cavalry, and a few companies of infantry
that accompanied it, encountered this rear-guard of the enemy on
the 7th of January, and attacked it without waiting for the re-
mainder of the troops ; the Confederates were put to flight after
losing a few of their men. Being obliged to replenish his supply-
train before going farther, Garfield took the Prestonburg road
on the 9tli of January with about one thousand five hundred men.
On the following morning he encountered all the forces of Mar-
shall posted along the right bank of a little tributary of the Big
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476 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Sandy called Middle Creek, which the recent rains had swollen.
The Confederates occupied a semicircular hill, the two extremities
of which rested upon the stream. They had posted their four
field-pieces on the left, and concealed their centre, in order to
draw the Federals towards that point and take them between two
fires. Grarfield did not fall into that snare. Sending out a swarm
of skirmishers, he compelled the enemy to discover himself, and
as soon as he had reconnoitred his positions he sent a few hun-
dred men to turn his left by crossing the stream near its mouth.
After a brisk engagement the Federal detachment took possession
of a height which commanded the positions of the Confederates.
Garfield then gave the signal of attack to his right. The Confed-
erates, being caught in their turn between two fires, began to fall
back. A timely reinforcement made success certain for the Fed-
erals, and night alone prevented them from dislodging Marshall
from all the heights he had endeavored to defend. The Confed-
erate general took advantage of the darkness to retire in great
haste, abandoning his d6p6ts of provisions, his wounded, and the
little town of Prestonburg. The battle of Middle Creek cost him
about sixty killed and one hundred wounded ; the Federals had
only twenty-seven men disabled. Their success was complete but
barren, because, not being able to subsist at Prestonburg, they
were soon compelled to return to Paintsville. No decisive opera-
tions were possible in that region.
It was some time after the check he had experienced at Wild
Cat camp, that ZolHcofier, leaving Barboursville, had proceeded
to occupy the important position of Mill Spring. Mr. Davis,
although displeased with him, had not dared to dismiss him from
the service on account of the popularity he enjoyed in Kentucky,
but he had been placed under the command of Greneral Critten-
den. The latter presented a sad example of the domestic con-
vulsions which followed the outbreak of the civil war. His
father, an old gentleman justly respected throughout America,
was a member of the House of Representatives at Washington,
and his brother held the rank of general in the Federal army.
The command which had been conferred upon Crittenden at the
end of December gave him about ten thousand men ; he had con-
veyed part of hiK forces to the right bank of the Cumberland and
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DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 477
fortified the position of Beach Grove, in front of Mill Springs,
but the nature of the ground had obliged him to extend his works
in such a manner that the troops at his disposal were not sufficient
to defend them. Beach Grove could nevertheless be made the
base of operations of a Confederate army which might penetrate
into the heart of Kentucky by avoiding the formidable positions
of Wild Cat camp. Buell, therefore, had ordered (Jeneral Schopf
to occupy the small town of Somerset, whence he could watch the
Confederates and oppose their march. In the beginning of Jan-
uary he determined to prevent that march, and sent General
Thomas from Louisville with one of the four divisions of the
army of Kentucky to join Schopf and dislodge the Confederates
from their positions on the Cumberland River. Thomas left
his cantonments at Lebanon, where he formed the left wing of
the army assembled on the road from Louisville to Bowling
Green, and the heads of his column arrived on the 17th of Jan-
uary at Logan Cross-roads, an intersection only sixteen kilome-
tres distant from Beach Grove. The road which leads from
Somerset to Monticello becomes separated at this point from
those running in a westerly direction towards Columbia and
Jamestown (Kentucky). Thomas thus threatened to occupy the
borders of the Cumberland below Mill Springs. It was by this
river that Crittenden received part of his supplies, for the Cum-
berland Gap road was too long and too difficult to bring him the
necessary provisions for his nine or ten thousand men from East
Tennessee. Fearing lest he should be cut off on that side, or be
attacked in a position too extended for the number of his sol-
diers, Crittenden resolved to forestall the movements of his
adversary. He started for Logan Cross-roads with the two
brigades of Zollicoffer and Carroll and a battery of artil-
lery, forming all together an effective force of from five to six
thousand. He was in hopes of surprising Thomas before the
latter had been able to effect a junction with Schopf, and collect all
his forces, which had been delayed by the bad condition of the
roads. But the Federal general had been joined on the 18th by
a portion of his troops, and had been apprised of the movements
of the enemy in the course of the following night. He was,
therefore, on his guard and prepared at all points to receive his
Digitized by VjOOQIC
478 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA. *
attack. He occupicil Logan Cross-roads with four r^ments,
the Ninth Ohio, Second Minnesota, Tenth Indiana, Fourth Ken-
tucky, and a battery of artillery ; the brigade of Carter was only
a short distance off, ready to support him, thus swelling the total
amount of his forces to five or six thousand men, ajix)ut equal in
numlx.T to those of the enemy.
The latter began the fight at an early hour on the morning of
the 19th of January. The Federal line, formed in haste, fell back
under the first fire of the C(mfederates ; its left rested upon a hill
whose summit was opened and exposed, and towards which Zollicof-
fer, who led his brigade valiantly, directed all his efforts. It was
on the point of being carried ; but the brigade of Carter having
come to the assistance of the Federal centre, Thomas detached
Colonel Fry with the Fourth Kentucky from that portion of the
line, and sent him to the left to support the Tenth Indiana, which
the enemy was driving before him. His timely arrival changed
the a^^jK^ct of the fight; the belligerents came to close quarters,
and in the midst of the melie Fry met General Zollicoffer, whom
he shot dead on the spot with his pistol. On seeing their com-
mander fall the Confederates beaime disconcerted ; and the Xinth
Ohio, which formed the Federal right, seizing the favorable
moment, drove them back in disorder upon their second brigade,
Critt(*ndcn, who had displayed great courage, tried in vain to,
bring hack once more the chances of victory ; his line, which had
been for an instant re-formed, was again broken by the brigade of
Carter. The volunteers from East Tennessee, who composed this
brigade, displayed extraordinary ardor. The Federals pressed
their adversaries on every side ; they had the impetus which a first
succ'css impart**, and nothing could resist their onward course.
Two cannon, ninety prisoners, arms and equipments of every
kind, remained in their hands ; the Confederates, leaving one hun-
dred dead and sixty wounded on the battle-field, fled in disorder
towards their entrenchments. The battle of Logan Cross-roads,
improj)erly called Mill Springs, only lasted a few hours, and cost
the Federals thirty-eight killed and one hundred and ninety-four
wounded in all. Their victory was complete. On the same
evening, Thomas, after receiving an important reinforcement from
Schopf, appeared before the works of Beach Grove ; but darkness
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA EIDOE. 479
ha^ ing supervened, and his soldiers having eaten nothing since
the day previous, he contented himself with firing a few cannon-
shots into the positions of the enemy. The Confederates, being
entirely disorganized, were unable to defend them ; they crossed
to the other side of the Cumberland during the night, destroying
the boats which carried them over, and afterwards dispersing
among the mountains in order to procure food and to escape
from all pursuit. On the morning of the 20th the Federals
occupied their works and the camps adjoining them ; they took
possession of ten field-pieces and more than one thousand five
hundred wagons. The Confederate army was annihilated.
During this short campaign Thomas displayed some of those
military qualities which at a later period made him conspicuous
among the foremost leaders. But he had to rest contented with
this success ; the condition of the roads and the inclemency of the
weather rendered all pursuit impossible. Crittenden had retired
by way of Monticello in the direction of Nashville, and part of
his troops had gone towards Cumberland Gap. But to under-
take to rescue East Tennessee from Confederate rule, to wrest
from them the salt-works and the coal-fields which they possessed
iB the Cumberland Mountains, would have required an army
sufficiently strong and ^ell provisioned to advance alone through
a difficult country without fear of being cut off or surrounded.
Agents of the War Department, who had been sent on special
missions into Kentucky, testified to the impracticability of such
an enterprise, and the efforts of the Federals had to be directed
elsewhere.
We have stated that Columbus, on the Mississippi, and Bow-
ling Green, in the centre of Kentucky, were the two points upon
which the Confederate line of defence rested. Polk's army, oc-
cupying Columbus, closed the great river against the Federals.
That of Sidney Johnston, at Bowling Green, controlled the whole
network of railways. Between these two points two large water-
courses, the Tennessee and the Cumberland, ran parallel from
south to north, the former to the left, the latter to the right, and
finally emptied into the Ohio, one at Paducah, the other at Smith-
land, a little higher up. It was a road with two tracks, open in
the most vulnerable part of the Confederate line. In order to
Digitized by VjOOQIC
480 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
command its entrance tbej had erected two forts, called Heniy
and Donelson. The first, of comparatively small dimensions, was
situated on the right bank of the Tennessee. The other, about
twenty kilometres south-south-eastward of that point, rested upon
the left bank of the Cumberland, near the village of Dover, an
important station of the great railway line which leads from
Bowling Green to Columbus and Memphis ; it was much larger
and better constructed than Fort Henry. They were so placed as
to command the two rivers and the narrow strip of land which
separates them. They were connected by a good road and a tel-
egraph line, which enabled their garrisons to give each other
mutual support.
These positions presented a powerful line of defence, but they
were too much extended for the forces which had to guard them.
It is difficult, among so many contradictory statements, to form a
correct estimate of the number of those forces. According to
Confederate historians, the total number could not have exceeded
thirty thousand men, all included ; the War Department at Rich-
mond rated them at more than sixty thousand men. Mr. Steven-
son, an impartial writer, whom we have already quoted, and who
was employed in the administrative branches of that army, states
that in the month of January they received one hundred and
twenty thousand rations. Taking all deficiencies into considera-
tion, and making ample allowance, even, for the greatest want of
order in the distribution of those rations, such a figure would de-
note at least the presence of seventy thousand able-bodied men.
The numerous reports of Confederate generals gave very imper-
fect indications as to the total number of their troops. Such dif-
ferences, however, should be attributed to the fact that the irregu-
lar corps, such as the militia and guerillas, were sometimes in-
cluded as part of the total effective force of the army. Deducting
these corps, the army commanded by Sidney Johnston must have
numbered more than fifty thousand and less than sixty thousand
men. This was a small force with which to exercise a sarvGUanot
at once over the AUeghanies and the Mississippi. Alarmed by
the defeat of Crittenden at Mill Springs, Johnston had detached
several regiments from Bowling Green and sent them into East-
ern Tennessee, thus raising the number of troops posted ea echdon
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA RJDGR 481
on his right to nearly ten thousand men. In order to hold in
check the army of Buell, who had pushed his outposts as far as
Green River, he had massed about thirty thousand men in the
large fortifications of Bowling Green ; Forts Henry and Donelson
were occupied by four or five thousand men, and nearly the same
number were stationed among the small posts and in the city of
Nashville. His left, commanded by Polk, and subsequently by
Beauregard, who guarded Columbus and the Mississippi, num-
bered scarcely ten thousand men. The Richmond government
had turned a deaf ear to the representations of Johnston, who kept
asking for reinforcements. He had not even been allowed to
carry into Kentucky the twelve months' volunteers raised by the
State of Tennessee. Seeing the number of his opponents increase
daily, the Confederate general understood at last that the time
was approaching when his line would be pierced, and that, in order
to avoid that danger, it was necessary for him to assume the of-
fensive. His plan of campaign, arranged with Beauregard, was
to be carried out in the early part of February, but the Federals,
did not give him time. Grant's command had been extended,
and his forces increased by large additions of recruits. General.
Halleck, who thought he had found in him a modest subordinate*
without ambition, favored him in every way, while Commodore-
Foote waa ready to afford him the powerful co-operation of his.
flotilla.
Towards the latter end of January a column of a few thousands
men had proceeded as far as within sight of Columbus, and, fol-
lowing the line of the Tennessee in returning, had reconnoitred
all the intervening space between that river and the Mississippi*.
About the same time Foote and General C. F. Smith appeared in
front of Fort Henry on board a gun-boat, and examined its ap-
proaches. Seated upon low and marshy ground, its sides pro-
tected by two streams, that work presented the appearance of aa
irregular bastioned pentagon. It had an armament of seventeen
guns placed en barbette, twelve of which pointed towards the
river; so that, although it had neither masonry nor shelters, it
was able to make a long resistance on the land side. But the-
choice of its position proved that the Confederate engineers had,
not understood the true principles of river defence in America^
Vol. 1.-^1
Digitized by VjOOQIC
482 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
In placing it close to the water's edge they exposed it to be d(^-
molished, like the forts of Hilton Head, by the large Dahlgren
shells, while its guns could only strike the sides of vessels pro-
tected by iron armor. Experience soon taught the Confederates
to appreciate the superiority of works constructed on elevated
positions, such as are to be met with at long intervals along the
line of American rivers. Indeed, whenever such works were at-
tacked by Federal vessels, the latter suffered cruelly from the
plunging fire, which easily pierced their decks, while they ooald
not raise their guns to a sufficient elevation to reach the interior
of the enemy's defences at good range. Finally, on the opposite
side of Fort Henry there stood an unfinished work, the fire of
which, when completed, would have crossed its own. Three thou-
sand Confederates occupied the fort, under Greneral Tilghman«
Towards the middle of January, Grant and Foote proposed to
Halleck to undertake the reduction of Forts Heniy and Donelson
by land and water at once. But after having approved their
plan, this general postponed its execution from day to day. It
required the most urgent solicitations to obtain his permission to
commence the campaign. At last, on the 2d of February, Grant
embarked with the two divisions of McClernand and C. F. Smith
on several of those large steamers resembling floating houses
which furrow the rivers of America. The first division and one
brigade of the second were to land on the right bank of the Ten-
nessee, for the purpose of investing Fort Henry and cutting off
the retreat of its garrison. The other two brigades were ordered
-to land on the left bank, to occupy the unfinished works to be
found there, and to assist with their artillery in the general
attack. Foote's fleet was to co-operate energetically. The iron-
clad vessels, which were to be put on trial, recalled to mind from
their construction the floating-batteries used in bombarding Kin-
burn. They were very broad, with flat bottoms, and their sheath-
ing, sloping inwards at an angle of nearly forty-four degree,
was covered with plates of iron of six to seven centimetres in
thickness; the deck, razeed fore and aft, presented, above the
water-line, surfaces sloping in the same way and sheathed, carnr-
ing two or three guns. They were, in one word, redoubts in the
shape of rectangular pyramids placed on low hulls, the whole
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LONELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 483
being moved by high-pressure steam-engines. The mortar-boats
were mere barges intended to be towed, the deck of which, sur-
rounded by an iron wall, was occupied by a single mortar of
large size, measuring eleven, and sometimes thirteen, inches of
interior diameter. The ships collected to form the flotilla com-
prised eight mortar-boats, a certain number of transports, carry-
ing a few guns, and several iron-clad vessels ; but among the lat-
ter there were only four ready for use at the end of January.
They formed, including three steamers not iron clad, the naval
division which left Cairo on the 2d of February, under the com-
mand of Commodore Foote, at the same time as the vessels with
Grant's troops.
On the following day the Federal commodore passed from the
Ohio into the Tennessee, and leisurely ascended the latter river,
fishing up the torpedoes which the enemy had scattered over his
course. On the 5th of February the whole of Grant's troops
were landed six or seven kilometres below the fort ; the positions
of the enemy had been carefully reconnoitred, and the fleet was
ready. The attack was fixed for the day following, at noon.
Grant had intended to appear before the fort with the land forces
at the same time as the fleet ; but not anticipating the difficulties
of the road, he had fixed the hour of departure for eleven o'clock
in the morning, and thus missed the opportunity of taking part in
the battle., General Tilghman, on his side, was aware of the dan-
ger which threatened him. The troops under his command were
inexperienced and restless, and inspired him with no confidence.
He would not shut them up in the fort, which the inundation had
nearly isolated from land ; exposed to useless losses, they would
only have embarrassed the defence. He placed them on a height
adjoining the fort, and then shut himself inside of the entrench-
ments with sixty cannoneers determined like himself to do their
duty. Grant's soldiers had been delayed on their march for sev-
eral hours by the unpropitious weather and the condition of the
roads. Foote, who had vainly asked their commander to give
them an earlier start, did not wait for them to open his fire. He
thought that in all probability this cannonading would occupy
and detain Tilghman's troops until Grant could cut ofi^ their re-
treat. But the four iron-clads having approached within six hun-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
484 THE CmL WAR IX AMERICA.
dred metres of the fort, thej soon obtainei a manifest superiority
over its fire. Its Ix'st guas exploded, while others were dis-
mountc<l. At the first ne^vs of Grant's march, the Confederate
infantry left the plaoe of the conflict, of which they had remained
BiKH'taton*, and fletl in disorder towards Dover without firing a
single shot. The brave Tilghman still tried to maintain a strug-
gle so unequal ; but the shells from the fleet crushed him as they
had (Tushed the defenders of Hatteras and Port Royal. He was
at last obliged to surrender to an enemy who admired his valor.
The battle only lasted one hour and a quarter.
This was a brilliant success for Foote's improvised gunboats,
and an earnest of the im{)ortant part they would play in the
future. Their armor had protected them against most of the
enemy's shot. One among them, however, the Essex, had its
boiler pierced by a ball, and the explosion killed and wounded
twenty-nine men upon that vessel alone.
Grant only arrived in time to take possession of the works
which had Ixjcn captured by the fleet. The garrison had escaped,
it is true, but it was to be found a little later among the van-
quishe<l of Fort Donelson ; and apart from that, a few prisoners
the less could not detract from the great result which had just
been obtained — tlie opening of the Tennessee to the Federal fleet.
The latter took advantage of it without delay. On that same
evening it destroyed the large bridge of the Bowling Green and
Memphis Railway ; and asoendmg the river as far as the depth of
water allowed, it proceeded to display the Federal flag in the
nudst of the Alabama plantations without encountering the least
opj>osition on its route.
This first success, however, was only a banning, and would
lose all its importance if Fort Donelson remained in the hands
of the enemy. The Confederates might at any moment return
thence to the banks of the Tennessee for the purpose of occupy-
ing and fortifying some new position, which would again clocje
that river against the Federals. The importance of Fort Donel-
son was equally appreciated by both Federals and Confederates.
At the very time when Sidney Johnston was arranging the plan
for an offensive movement with Beauregard, he was making pre-
parations for evacuating Bowling Green. Indeed, it was well to
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Digitized by VjOOQIC
FORT DONELSON
Scale of tffiico
6~" 1 2
Sc ale : iHV m=lMile
3 Kilomettvs
~2 MUes
>^>«.-.-^?'-'
* "^"ij^''^"""
.-•;'/'
• JffiiHlfiiirfrn: r- ' ii w" ^
tA''- ■■ ■
Digitized byCjOOQlC
LONELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 485
have foreseen the check of that hazardous movement, as the posi-
tion of Bowling Green could not long be defended against BuelPs
army after it had lost the point (Tapjmi which the position of
Mill Springs afforded it on the extreme right. The Federals,
being masters of the Upper Cumberland, could take Bowling
Green completely in the rear. It was, thwefore, along the Cum-
berland that Johnston had to look for a new line of defence whose
centre should be at Nashville ; but in that case the possession of
Fort Donelson became the much more important, since that fort
alone was able to stop Federal vessels on the Cumberland and
protect the capital of Tennessee. Consequently, when Grant had
broken at Fort Henry one link in the chain upon which all the
system of his adversary's defences rested, the latter hastened to
repair the want of foresight which had caused this weak portion
of his line to be neglected. While his maWid, followed by the
bulk of his army, was gradually proceeding from Bowling Green
towards Nashville, he concentrated all his available forces at Fort
Donelson. General Pillow, the same who as division commander
in Mexico had caused so much trouble to General Scott, had
joined with his division on the 9th of February the garrison of
Fort Henry, which had taken refuge in Fort Donelson since the
rout of the 5th. Buckner with his division from Bowling Green
had arrived on the 11th. He was followed on the 12th and the
13th by Greneral Floyd, at the head of a strong brigade of Vir-
ginians from Russellville and Cumberland City, whither those
troops had retired and reorganized after their defeat in West Vir-
ginia a few months previously. The Confederates did wrong to
reward the criminal services Mr. Floyd had rendered them whilst
Secretary of War in Washington by entrusting him with import-
ant military commands; they paid dear for this error. Floyd
took command of the little army, numbering from fifteen to six-
teen thousand men, whose mission was to keep Grant in check.
After having determined to place it at some distance above Dover,
60 as to harass the Federals if they should besiege Fort Donel-
son, he decided at the last moment to keep the whole of it inside
of the exterior works which had been roughly constructed on the
surrounding positions. The Federals on their side collected all
their forces in order to strike a decisive blow. All the available
Digitized by VjOOQIC
486 ' THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
troops to be found at Cairo, Paducah, and St Louis were hur-
ried on transports for the purpose of joining Grant, while sev-
eral regiments from the far West — from Iowa, and from Nebraska
— descended the Missouri to form a junction with them. Buell's
army also sent reinforcements, which, after amusing the Confed-
erates at Russellville, aot far from Bowling Green, embarked on
Green River, a tributary of the Ohio, and came down this latter
river as far as Smithland, at the confluence of the Cumberland,
where they joined the large convoy of transports. Some of the
troops who had appeared before Fort Henry also re-embarked
to reach Fort Donelson by water. There remained fifteen thou-
sand men at Fort Henry, who were re-formed into two divis-
ions under McClernand and C. F. Smith, and with these Grant
started for the purpose of investing by land the positions occu-
pied by Pillow. Although the distance was only about twenty
kilometres, it was a bold movement, for Grant's army was scarcely
organized ; it had no means of transporting its provisions and
ammunition, and many regiments were without the nece^aiy
equipments for a winter campaign. In this condition the Fed-
erals were about to attack an enemy equal to them in number,
posted inside of works carefully constructed, and controlling
the river which secured his communications. But Grant knew
what he could expect from the hardy men of the West who
composed his army. The success at Fort Henry had inspired
them with great confidence in the fleet, and with a desire not to
allow themselves any longer to be surpassed by it. On the other
hand, it was important not to allow the enemy time to recover
himself and to concentrate all his forces around Fort Donelson,
It was necessary to strike quickly in order to tlireaten Johnston's
communications on the side of Nashville, and not to permit him
to cover that only line of retreat by the erection of new works. In
short, the utter inaction of the garrison of Fort Donelson, which
liad not even sent a single horseman to watch his movements,
caused the Federal commander-in-chief to anticipate the mili-
tary blunders his adversaries were about to commit; it maybe,
also, that, being aware that the latter were commanded by Pillow,
he relied upon the incapacity of that individual, proverbial among
his companions in arms of the Mexican war. On the 12th of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE, 487
February the steamers^ which had remained in front of Fort
Henry, rapidly desoended the Tennessee, with instructions to turn
back whatever reinforcements they might meet on their way
and direct them to rendezvous at Smithland. On the same day
Grant started with his two divisions ; and easily driving before
him Forrest's cavalry, which had at last come to watch him, he
presented himself in front of Fort Donelson during the afternoon
at the moment when Floyd's first troops were landing.
The works occupied by the enemy consisted of the fort proper,
a redoubt situated a little higher up, and a strong line of breast-
works and abattis, which had been hastily constructed since the
fall of Fort Henry, and were still unfinished at certain points.
Differing widely from Fort Henry, Donelson was much better
defended on the river than on the land side. A few redoubts
had been erected close to the water's edge, but they were com-
manded by a steep acclivity in the shape of a semicircular hill,
on the summit of which rose powerful batteries, which, owing to
a curve in the river, commanded its course to a great distance,
and could direct a plunging fire upon any vessels that should ven-
ture too near them. But on the land side the same works, rest-
ing upon certain undulations of ground which did not permit
them to cross their fires, were commanded by other heights, more
remote from the river. Consequently, the real point of defence of
this portion of the line lay, not in the fort, notwithstanding its
numerous and powerful guns, but in the exterior works. These
works described a large semicircle of more than four kilometres in
radius, resting their two extremities upon the river. Covered at
tlie north by an impassable creek, they were, for the most part, laid
out across woods which were only cleared by the dbaJttia, They
were redans and demi-lunes constructed of earth and wood, partly
isolated, and partly connected by breastworks or simple troua de
loup. They formed an excellent line of defence for a small
army ; but this line is sometimes liable to the objection of being
traced half-way up the hillsides, thus exposing the reserves
placed in the rear along their flanks. The little town of Dover
was comprised within this enceinte.
On the 12th, before the close of a short winter day, Grant's
soldiers had invested these entrenchments, which bristled on
Digitized by VjOOQIC
488 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA. .
every side with the bayonets of the enemy. This investment on
the part of the Federal chief was a new act of daring ; for as he
was obliged to envelop the enemy's positions, his fifteen thoosand
men presented a very slender line, while his adversary, who knew
the country, with forces equal to his own, and who could par-
tially strip most of his works of their soldiers, was free to con-
centrate his troops upon a single point, to pierce that line by a
vigorous effort. But Grant knew how to conceal his weakness
skilfully from an enemy whose courage was already shaken. On
the day following, after replying for some time to the artillery
of the enemy with his cannon, he ordered the entrenchments within
which it was posted to be attacked, with a view of ascertaining
its strength, if he could not succeed in carrying them. No breach
could be effected in the Confederate works. But on the extreme
right — that is to say, on the side of Dover and above — the vigor-
ous attack of the Federals secured to them at least positions
closely adjoining those of the enemy, whence they could con-
stantly threaten him.
In the mean time, the condition of Grant's army gave its diief
considerable anxiety. The ammunition and provisions were be-
coming scarce, for no distribution had been made to replace what
the soldiers had brought in their haversacks, and the means of
transportation scarcely yet existed in that army. The enemy,
master of the other side of the river, could neither be blockaded
nor deprived of the reinforcements he was certainly expecting.
The attack which had just been made proved that the idea of
carrying i hose works by main force was not to be entertained,
and that the enemy might at any moment ascertain the numeri-
cal weakness of the adversary in whose presence he had remained
inactive behind his parapets. The fleet, which was expected to
bring reinforcements and provisions, was not in sight, and all
these diificulties were still further increased by the inclemency of
a rigorous climate. A heavy fall of snow, accompanied by ex-
treme cold, proved a terrible ordeal for those soldiers, most of
whom were poorly clad, with only a few days' experience in the
field. Among those who had provided themselves with blankets,
a large number, bending under the weight of an unwonted bur-
den, and deceived by the mildness of the first day, had left them
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DOKELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 489
behind at Fort Henry or thrown them away on the i-oad. It was
a night of suffering in the two camps, but especially on the battle-
ground, where many of the wounded, lying between the two hos-
tile camps, had not been removed before night. On the following
morning nothing but frozen corpses were found.
But on that morning (February 14th) the sound of cannon
upon the river made the soldier forget the sufferings of that ter-
rible night, for it brought the certain news of the presence of the
fleet, which had arrived the evening previous. In fact, while
Foote with one of his gun-boats was drawing the fire of the Con-
federate batteries to show their strength, as he had been directed
to do, the transports were landing, out of reach of the enemy's
guns, the first reinforcements and the provisions so impatiently
looked for. The provisions were soon distributed by the army
wagons, which hastened to the river-side to obtain them. The
reinforcements, consisting of eleven regiments, or about five thou-
sand men, were hastily formed into a third division, the command
of which was conferred upon General L. Wallace, who had ar-
rived at the same time from Fort Henr}*^ with his brigade. This
division, placed between McClernand, who held the right, and
Smith, commanding the left, enabled the Federals to present a
stronger line of investment to the enemy. While these move-
ments, always difficult in the presence of an enemy, were taking
place in Grant's army, and rations and cartridges were being dis-
tributed, Foote diverted the attention of the Confederates by an
attack upon the batteries which commanded the course of the
Cumberland. He could not hope to renew the brilliant success
of Fort Henry, for his gun-boats, which had been considerably
damaged in that first affair, had not had time to undergo any re-
pairs, and it was with four small vessels in bad condition that he
now exposed himself to the concentric fire of batteries armed with
powerful guns, the range of which had been carefully studied be-
forehand by their gunners. But it was important to engage the
enemjr's attention during the day of the 14th at all hazards.
Foote drew up his fleet within three hundred metres of the Con-
federate works, and for the space of one hour and a quarter he
sustained an unequal contest against them. There was even a
moment when his daring seemed about to be crowned with suo-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
490 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
cess. Several of the batteries near the water had been abandoned,
while only a few out of the twenty guns which commanded the
river were still served ; and if Foote had been able to avail him-
self of this momentary silence to reascend the river, he could
have reached a place whence, by enfilading the positions of the
enemy, he would have rendered them untenable. But at this
critical moment his two best gun-boats were disabled by two suc-
cessful shots, which shattered the rudder of one and one of the
wheels of the other, and both were soon carried far away from
the scene of action by the force of the current The other two,
not being able to sustain the contest alone, were drawn off by
Foote. The Federal navy was taught to appreciate the difficul-
ties it would encounter on the large rivers wherever the enemy
should be skilful enough to take advantage with his fire of the
nature of the ground.
The fruitless attacks of the 13th and 14th by land and sea had
shown that if the enemy knew how to defend the positions he oc-
cupied, it would be necessary to resort to regular operations. As
soon as Grant saw the gun-boats disabled by the fire of the Con-
federate batteries, he determined to lay siege to the place, think-
ing that the very slowness of the operation would render success
more certain by giving time for the arrival of the numerops rein-
forcements which had been promised him.
In the mean time, not^vithstanding the double check experi-
enced by the Federals, there was nothing but trouble and confu-
sion in the Confederate camp, especially in the councils of their
leaders. They had suffered less from cold than their adversaries,
inasmuch as the troops who were not doing guard-duty in the
works were quartered in well-sheltered barracks. But the Fed-
eral artillery kept up, day and night, a regular fire of shells,
which, without doing them much damage, worried them ex-
tremely. The fugitive garrison of Fort Henry, far from gather-
ing courage on finding itself near the fresh troops assembled at
Fort Donelson, had, on the contrary, shaken the confidence of the
latter by exaggerating the number of the Federal forces. In
short, the soldiers, with that instinct which governs them every-
where, had soon felt that they were not properly handled, and
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LONELSON AND PEA RIDGR 491
had discovered the incapacity of those in command, in spite of
pretentious appearances.
These generals had committed a great error in shutting up an
army of fifteen thousand men inside of works where they could
be surrounded, but they committed a still more grievous blunder
when they resolved, on the 14th, to open a passage for themselves
through Grant's lines by main force. Such a hopeless attempt
should have been made before the arrival of the fleet and the
Pederal reinforcements. The investment was not then complete ;
the other bank of the river was still free ; steamers could have
been brought from Nashville to transport the army to the other
side of the Cumberland ; and Grant's attitude was a sufficient
guarantee that he would not renew the assault. Floyd did not
even take the trouble of informing his commander, Johnston, of
his position, nor of asking for instructions. It was decided that
Pillow should come out of his entrenchments and attack the ex-
treme right of the Federals in front of Dover, while Buckner
should make strong demonstrations upon the rest of the enemy's
line. As soon as Pillow had opened a passage, Buckner was to
follow him, after evacuating the fort and bringing along with
him as much maHriel as possible, and then he was to form the
rear-guard to cover the march of the army towards Nashville.
On the 14th, at the moment when this plan was to be carried
out, after the fight on the river, an unaccountable caprice prompted
Pillow to defer that movement till the following day. This was a
wilful sacrifice of the few good chances which yet remained to the
Confederates, for each hour added strength to the positions which
Grant occupied around them. Yet these positions, taken at first
somewhat at random, were not all well selected, and the Federals,
not yet possessing the experience which they subsequently ac-
quired, had n^lected to protect themselves by means of abattia and
wooden breastworks; in short, being exhausted by fatigue and
cold, they neglected all necessary precautions. Consequently,
McClernand's division had barely time to get under arms, when,
at early dawn on the 15th, Pillow's eight thousand men rushed in
close column upon his right. This portion of his line, formed by
the brigade of McArthur, had not been able to extend to the
river. While it was vigorously resisting the first attack. Colonel
Digitized by VjOOQIC
492 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Baldwin, who commanded the first of Pillow's brigades, had one
of those inspirations which sometimes decide the fate of a battle.
He caused part of his troops to file ofi^ on his left along the river:
thanks to a deep ravine, the enemy reached McArthur's flank un-
perceived, and threw confusion into the ranks of Oglesbj's brig-
ade, which formed the centre of McClemand's division, and which
the Confederates were already vigorously pressing in front Being
in turn attacked in flank, it fell back like its neighbor. It re-
formed for an instant near the third brigade, commanded by W.
H. Wallace. But notwithstanding the efforts of their officers
and their own persistency, the Federal soldiers did not succeed in
rallying until many men and much ground had been lost. At
this hour Grant had not yet made his appearance on the field of
battle. Being desirous to have an understanding with Foote re-
garding the operations of the siege he intended to undertake, he
had gone to the gun-boat to visit the brave commodore, who had
been seriously wounded in the battle of the day previous. But
L. Wallace, who was encamped on the left of MoClernand, and
whom the noise of the battle had already roused, hastened to send
his right brigade, commanded by Cruft, to the aid of the latter.
This brigade arrived on the field of battle at the moment when
the Confederates were bringing new forces into line. Adhering
to the plan agreed upon the evening before, Buckner had only left
in the entrenchments he occupied, in front of Smith, such troops
as were strictly required for their occupancy, and had followed
Pillow with the rest of his division. As soon as Pillow had de-
ployed his forces he took position on his right; and when McAr-
thur's and Oglesby^s soldiers b^an to lose ground, he threw a
portion of his men upon the brigades of W. Wallace, which
formed the left of McClernand, and of Cruft, who had come to
his assistance. The Confederates had thus far succeeded in throw-
ing their entire army upon the flank of that commanded by Grant,
and in concentrating the efforts of more than twelve ^ousand
men upon the positions defended by scarcely seven or eight
thousand. Pillow, who had followed the inspiration of Baldwin,
outnumbered the right of the Federals more and more ; he brought
his regiments into action one after another, and attacked his en-
emies in flank as fast as they re-formed to face the fire which was
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA RIDQE. 493
beginning to envelop them. He was already roaster of all the
positions which had been occupied at first by McClernand in the
morning. He had opened a breach which was to be the salvation
of his army, and he felt so sure of victory that he hastened to
communicate the news to Johnston by tel^raph. He had nothing
more to do than to push his troops forward to gather the fruits
of his first success.
A portion of McClemand's division was in disorder; a few
regiments had kept their ranks, but they could not resist the onset
of superior forces, and they had, moreover, exhausted all their
ammunition. The brigade of Cruft, pressed on all sides, was
falling back slowly. L. Wallace found himself in turn over-
powered on his right, and the fugitives who were already crowd-
ing in his rear threatened to throw his ranks into confusion.
What had been left of his division was rapidly formed en-potence ;
a portion faced to the right and rallied the remnants of McCler-
nand's division ; the other part was drawn in front of the enemy's
entrenchments, where Buckner was massing all his troops for the
purpose of attacking in turn and widening the passage which had
been opened by Pillow. At this junction the Confederate leaders
committed an error which was irreparable. Carried away by
their first success, they desired to complete the victory ; and forget-
ting that their object should have been to escape from a siege,
they only thought of driving back the right and centre of the
Federals upon their left wing. Full of mistaken confidence,
they already foresaw the moment when, driving the whole of
Grant's army upon Smith's division, they should re-enter their
entrenchments to force their adversaries back upon the river north
of Donelson. These fatal illusions, after having caused them to
lose much precious time in trying to forde their way through the
gap they had opened, were quickly dispelled. Indeed, Pillow had
exhausted his strength in the fortunate attack he had just made ;
and when, following up his success, he encountered the line of L.
Wallace, he broke down before the resistance of a single regi-
ment, the First Nebraska, composed of the hardy hunters of that
territory, hardly yet reclaimed. A few moments after, Buckner
came out of the entrenchments with his reserves ; but his soldiers,
fatigued and discouraged by the efforts of the preceding days, did
Digitized by VjOOQIC
494 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
not go into the conflict with alacrity^ while their officers, knowing
that they were destined for the rough work appertaining to the rear-
guard of the army, were desirous, they said, of sparing their meo.
Consequently, the attack was faintly made. After the first unsuc-
cessful assault, the Confederates fled in disorder, and sought shelter
behind the breastworks, whence no exhortations on the part of
their chiefs could drag them. This was the decisive moment
Buckner was repulsed, and Pillow, being no longer sustained,
found it impossible to advance farther with men exhausted by
six hours' fighting. He had brought his last reserves into action,
and was obliged to stop. The Federals were thus allowed time
to form again ; connecting their various positions in an uneven line,
they were soon enabled to present a new line of battle alongside
of the road, the possession of which had been the object of all the
enemy's efforts. The passage was yet open for the Confederates,
but it became more and more difficult for them to avail them-
selves of it to push their whole army through in the presence of
an adversary who had had a breathing-spell.
In the mean time, Grant had repaired to the field of battle.
He had seen his line driven in, but he thought, nevertheless, thai
if he could for an instant check the impetus which the Confed-
erates had acquired by their first success he might yet snatch the
victory from them. As to the besieged, who fought with the
energy of despair, a half triumph was to them an overwhelming
defeat, and their first effort had exhausted their energies; so
that when, at two o'clock, after a conflict of eight hours, he saw
Pillow's soldiers pause on the ground they had conquered, and
those of Buckner fall back at the first fire of L. Wallace's divis-
ion, he judged that the moment had arrived to assume the offen-
sive, and to derive a great success from the battle which liad nearly
upset all his plans. In proportion as the prolonging of the con-
flict had shaken their confidence and dispelled their first illosions,
trouble and uncertainty had anew taken possession of the Con-
federate leaders. While Buckner was vainly endeavoring to lead
his men once more into the fight, the evacuation of the fort, just
commenced, was suspended ; and Pillow, seeing the Federals form-
ing again to recover the ground lost in the morning, fell back to
take position upon an elevated hill situated a few hundred metres
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA RIDQE. 496
in advance of his entrenchments. It was at this moment that
Grant ordered the fresh troops of Smith on the left and L. Wal-
lace's division in the centre to make a general attack upon the
enemy's works, before the latter could have time to look about
him. While McClernand's regiments were forming again, those
of Wallace bravely marched up to the assault of the height occu-
pied by Pillow, and carried it after a bloody engagement. But
tliey were not equally successful in capturing the entrenchments
behind which they had just driven the enemy.
On the left. Smith, after making several feints in the direc-
tion of the works, where Buckner had left part of his division,
placed himself at the head of Truman's brigade, which he elec-
trified by his words and by his example. The Confederates
were unable to resist that shock, and Smith, with the aid of his
artillery, which took position in the entrenchments from whicli
they had just been dislodged, easily repelled all their efforts to
retake them.
Night at last put an end to that sanguinary conflict, which cost
each army more than two thousand men. It found the Fed-
erals masters of all the positions they had lost in the morning
on the right, and firmly established on the left among the enemy's
entrenchments. From these they commanded the greatest por-
tion of the ground where the Confederate soldiers were encamped
pell-mell, as well as the works of Fort Donelson. The dawn of
day, which they impatiently awaited under arms, now cheerfully
bearing cold and hunger, would enable them to complete their
victory and gather its fruits.
But, on the contrary, trouble and discouragement prevailed in
the Confederate camp. After fighting a whole day to force a
passage through the enemy's lines they found themselves again
shut up within the same enclosure they had vainly attempted to
leave ; and furthermore, they beheld the enemy posted in the very
centre of their line of defence. From the general-in-chief down
to the last soldier all felt that the game was lost beyond hope of
recovery, and no one seriously thought of prolonging the strug-
gle. Amid the darkness, which alone afforded protection to tlie
vanquished army, scenes were then witnessed which presented a
shameful contrast to the valor and energy of which the Confed-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
496 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
erates have given proof on so many other occasions. The command-
er-in-chief, Floyd, having summoned a council of war, declared
that the army had nothing to do but surrender, for the two small
steamers at their disposal could not convey it to the other side of
the river daring the night, and at daybreak, not a battle, but a
massacre, might be expected. In the mean time, as he was aware
that the Yankees particularly desired to seize his person, he
announced his intention of effecting his escape; and to that effect
he resigned the command of which he made such miserable use.
Pillow, who succeeded him by right of seniority, insisted that
Grant could yet be resisted ; but when he found himself invested
with authority, he changed his mind, and after declaring that he
shared the personal views of his superior, he followed the exam-
ple of his defection. He hastened, in his turn, to transfer the
command to Buckner, who, alone actuated by a sense of military
honor, accepted the painful task of capitulating at the head of
those soldiers whom their unworthy commander so basely for-
sook. Through a whimsical scruple, prompted perhaps by the
favorite theory of the Confederates regarding the independence
of States, Floyd requested and obtained permission from his late
subordinate to take with him in his flight the regiment of Vir-
ginians he had brought with him from his native State. During
this painful comedy the rumor of an impending capituktion
spread like lightning among those soldiers who were already
crushed by the weight of their defeat All the bonds of disci-
pline were broken at once ; and following the example of his lead-
ers, each man thought only of himself. The disorder reached its
culminating point when that bewildered crowd witnessed through
the darkness of the night the preparations for flight on the part
of a few privileged individuals. Men rushed to the wharves,
where the two small steamers were receiving those persons who,
profiting by their defection, were to be spared the sad fate of
being made prisoners of war. Floyd, Pillow, and a large num-
ber of staff-officers had already crossed over to the other side of
the river with about three thousand men, when the two steamers,
instead of returning to take another load of fugitives, who were
waiting for tliem as their last chance of safety, steamed rapidly
up the Cumberland. Day was beginning to break ; and the pale
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 497
glimmer of that winter morning announced to Buckner that the
time had arrived for proposing a capitulation to Grant. From
that moment he could no longer authorize the flight of a single
man. While the Federals were preparing for the attack they saw
the enemy displaying the white flag on every side. A few hours
after, Buckner accepted, with bad grace and without dignity,
Grant's propositions. He constituted himself a prisoner of war,
Ynth the remnants of the army which had been beaten the day
before. The Confederate colonel Forrest, whose mission during
the battle had been to clear the road, had taken advantage of
the night to draw off with his cavalry, across swamps impracti-
cable for the army, by following a narrow path running along the
steep banks of the river. He made his escape, leaving his rear-
guard in the hands of McClernand.
The capture of Donelson was a great and glorious success for
the Federals. The material results were considerable. The
capitulation delivered into the hands of Grant fourteen thousand
six hundred and twenty-three prisoners, sixty-five cannons, sev-
enteen thousand muskets — that is to say, an entire army, with,
all its maUrid. His entire losses amounted to two thousand and
forty-one men, of whom four hundred and twenty-five were*
killed ; the Confederates had about the same number of men dis^
abled.
The moral effect was immense. The remembrance of Bui!
Bun was blotted out by a victory much more hotly contested^
and the results of which were otherwise of importance. In short,,
after the scenes which had just been witnessed in Floyd's tent
and on the banks of the Cumberland, the Confederates could no.
longer taunt their enemies with the panic of the 21st of July: the-
game was henceforth even between them.
This defeat was a terrible blow for the South, It caused great;
surprise to the Richmond government as well as to the public,,
who ha4 too long been lulled by dangerous illusions. From the
impression produced by this reverse we may already remark the
difference of character in the two peoples who were struggling
on the soil of America. The South bore the disaster without
being discouraged, but no indication could be perceived of that,
patriotic impulse whidb had armed so many volunteers in the*
Vol. L— 32
Digitized by VjOOQIC
498 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
North to repair the disaster of Bull Run, The belligerent ardor
of the South had reached its height at the outset of tiie war, and
after having then filled the ranks of the Confederate armies, it
was already on the decline. The confidence felt during the early
stages of the rebellion had disappeared; people fought because
they had entered upon a path from which they could see no possi-
ble issue but victory. Whatever sacrifices might be deemed ne-
cessary to secure the success of an enterprise so imprudently b^nn
they were ready to make without a murmur, but also without en-
thusiasm. The conduct of all the Confederate authorities was for
a time severely commented upon. But like all absolute power,
dreading discussion even when likely to be favorable to its mea-
sures, Mr. Davis's government, on the one hand, relieved both
Floyd and Pillow from their duties, and on the other, it im-
posed silence upon those who presumed to criticise the manage-
ment of military affairs.
The capitulation of Fort Donelson greatly embarrassed all the
operations of the Confederate armies. During the battle of the
15th, Floyd had announced a certain victory by tel^raph to
Sidney Johnston, who was assembling his army in front of Nash-
ville to defend the line of the Cumberlanfl. In the evening the
general-in-chief learned the full extent of the disaster. The con-
fusion caused by this news was such that a brigade of one thou-
sand five hundred men, which had been sent as a reinforeemeut
.to Donelson, was not countermanded. Having quietly entered
the entrenchments near Dover, these troops found themselves, to
their great surprise, surrounded by Federals and obliged to lay
down their arms. In the mean time, the Confederate generals
felt that it was necessary to look out, without loss of time, for a
new line and other defensive positions in those parts of the Con-
federacy which yet remained intact. Bowling Green had already
been abandoned. Johnston, while sending part of his army to
Donelson, following close upon his mcU^nel, had fallen back upon
the Cumberland, thus delivering the whole of Kentucky into the
hands of the Federals. As soon as he heard of the defeat of
Floyd, he understood that it would be impossible for him to
maintain himself upon that river, which he had once thought of
making his line of defence. The evacuation of Nashville and
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DONELSON AND PEA EIDQE. 499
Columbus was instantly determined upon. These were the first
fruits of Grant's victory.
It was above all essential to abandon Nashville, for the mag-
nificent suspension bridge across the Cumberland was the only
line of retreat for Johnston's army, and Foote's gun-boats might
at any time come to destroy it. There was no longer any fortifi-
cation along the course of the river that could stop them. The
city itself, situated on the south bank, was everywhere com-
manded, and incapable of defence. This city, containing seven-
teen thousand souls, had played a part far above its real import-
ance in the last revolution. Inhabited by a rich aristocracy of
slaveholders, it had distinguished itself by its zeal in favor of the
secession movement, and had even once aspired to the honor of
becoming the capital of the Confederate States. The entire State
government of Tennessee had remained there in spite of Grant's
invasion, and both houses of the legislature daily passed resolu-
tions of the most violent character, and indulged in bitter invec-
tives against the Yankees. Carried away by a deceiving confi-
dence, they always said they would die rather than withdraw or
surrender. But when, at the sight of Johnston's regiments, which
passed through the city on the morning of the 16th without stop-
ping, the rumor went round that Nashville was about to be aban-
doned to the invaders, the excitement was greater, says the his-
torian Pollard, than if an earthquake had levelled every building.
Very soon the departure of all the State authorities with the
archives and public funds, and in such haste as their former
speeches had not foreshadowed, confirmed this news. An un-
heard-of panic then seized the inhabitants of Nashville. One
would have said that they were flying before a deluge which
threatened to swallow up everything. Nothing was thought of
but to save what each possessed of any value. Horses and car-
riages of every description, hired at fabulous prices, set out
en masse on the roads leading south, laden with everything sus-
ceptible of transportation. But it was even worse when, on
the 18th, Floyd, arriving with his brigade from Fort Donelson,
was ordered to close up on Johnston. The burning of the great
suspension bridge and the construction docks along the Cumb'^r-
land was the signal of disorder which defies description. It hav-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
600 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ing been found impossible to remove the goods from the military
d6p6ts of provisions, they were thrown open and plundered by
the populace. The last Confederate soldiers had disappeared
amid the imprecations of those who had not been able to follow
them. Anarchy reigned supreme. At last the mayor and a few
citizens succeeded in restoring some degree of order while waiting
for the arrival of the Federals.
The latter appeared on the 23d. They were a portion of BuelPs
forces, consisting of a regiment of cavalry, the Fourth Ohio, of
Mitchell's division. This division had been sent by the com-
mander of the army of Kentucky to watch Johnston's move-
ments as soon as he had heard of Grant's march upon Fort Don-
elson. Having started on tlie 13th in full haste, it reached Bow-
ling Green on the 14th just in time to see the last Confederate
troops evacuate that place, set fire to their storehouses, and quickly
disappear, destroying all the railroad bridges behind them. It
required no less than nine days for Mitchell's soldiers, who had
been delayed for want of provisions, to reach Nashville. They
got there, however, in advance of the Federal gun-boats and the
conquerors of Donelson.
On the 20th the indefatigable Foote had taken possession of
Clarksville, an important position situated on the river, below
Nashville, and was preparing to take four thousand of Grant's
soldiers on board for the purpose of occupying the capital of Ten-
nessee without delay. But this operation was forbidden by orders
from General Halleck. Grant's army, worn out by that trying
campaign, and still more by the climate than by battle, counted
many on the sick-list, and needed rest Consequently, it was only
on the 27th that one of his divisions was able to reach Nashville
by land. And this movement came near costing Grant his com-
mand. He was accused of having overstepped the imaginary line
which, in the departments at Washington, divided all the South-
ern States among the various Federal proconsuls. They set up
against him the brilliant conduct of Smith at the assault of Don-
elson ; a feeling of old regimental fellowship was seeking to at-
tribute to the latter all the merit of the victory ; and Grant found
himself for a while detained at the d6p6t of Fort Henry by orders
from headquarters, while most of his soldiers continued to pen-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 501
etrate into the enemy ^s country. But this disgrace was lot of
long duration.
On leaving Nashville, Johnston had followed the Chattanooga
Kailroad. He was thus moving away from the two rivers, of
which the Federals were already masters, and could easily make
connection with the troops which had evacuated Eastern Ken-
tucky under Crittenden. His army was still numerous, but ii
had lost all confidence, and Johnston did not think he would be
able to make it face the enemy. In choosing this line of retreat
he obliged the Federals either to allow him time enough to reor-
ganize his army or to come to attack him, after a fatiguing march,
in positions which were very strong and with only a portion of
their troops. The retreat of the Confederates had been troublesome,
for the weather was frightful and the roads extremely broken up.
But the very obstacles they encountered rendered pursuit impos-
sible for their adversaries. Johnston stopped at Murfreesborough,
about fifty-two kilometres from Nashville, where he was joined
by Crittenden, and found himself at the head of an army able to
make head against the Federals.* The latter took good care not
to go in search of him.
In the mean while, the Confederates, in pursuance of Johnston's
instructions, had abandoned Columbus a few days after the evac-
uation of Nashville, thus giving up the whole State of Kentucky.
The fate of the garrison of Fort Donelson was a warning to
Polk's army not to allow itself to be shut up in Columbus. Beau-
regard, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the de-
fences of the Mississippi, had selected, in order to bar the river
against the Federals, a point situated about seventy kilometres
lower down. The great river, in its thousand bends, describes at
this point two angles, turning first to the west, then to the north,
to sweep again to the west, and finally to the south, so that be-
tween the two it runs in a direction opposite to its general course.
In the centre of the upper elbow stands one of those numerous
islands, formed by the alluvial accretions of the river, which nav-
* Pollard only gives Johnston seventeen thousand men, but Stevenson, who
was present, ciphers up nearly sixty thousand men ; it is probable that the truth
lies between the two figures, and that he could muster nearly forty thousand
effective men.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
502 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
igators have merely laid down in the chart by number; it is
called No. 10. At the second angle^ which^ although situated
below, lies more to the north than the first, stands the village
of New Madrid, on the right bank of the Mississippi.
The evacuation of Columbus began on the 25th of February,
and was completed by the 3d of March. The next day a party
of Federal cavalry from Paducah penetrated into its abandoned
entrenchments with its spiked guns and still burning magazines.
A few hours afterwards, Foote's fleet, which Halleck had recalled
from Donelson, landed at the foot of the deserted works a re-
cently formed division, the command of which had been given to
W. T. Sherman. The latter thus reappeared on the military
stage, which he was not to leave again, and on which the part he
was to play increased in importance from day to day.
Polk, with a portion of his troops, fell back as far as Corinth,
the centre of the approaching operations against Grant's army.
The remainder, about four or five thousand men, occupied Island
No. 10 and the batteries which completed the system of de-
fence on the left bank of the river. Commodore Hollins had
brought a few iron-clad vessels from New Orleans to support
them, but the armor of most of them was quite inadequate. The
Confederate government made every eflbrt to convince the public
that Island No. 10 would definitively check the progress of the
Federals on the Mississippi; but notwithstanding these assur-
ances, the military leaders were fully aware that this position was
too advanced and too isolated to be able to hold out long. Their
only object in occupying it was to cover the left extremity of
their line during the time required for massing the forces des-
tined to fight Grant's army in the centre of that line. It was
on tliat side, in fact, that the two parties were preparing for a
conflict the proportions of which were to exceed all that this war
had up to that time displayed.
Before describing this conflict we must cast a glance along the
west bank of the Mississippi, where the adversaries, who had re-
mained in sight of each other, were about to meet again in battle.
Upon that remote theatre, as we have already stated, military
events could not possess a decided importance, and the move-
ments of the armies which met there were subordinate to the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 503
issues of battles fought on the other side of the river. Never-
theless, as with all secondary operations, neither of the two
parties could neglect them without being exposed to serious
dangers.
We left the two enemies widely separated from each other in
Missouri at the close of the year 1861. The greatest part of that
State was in the hands of the Federals, But in order to subsist
their troops with greater facility during the winter, they had
brought them back into the neighborhood of rivers and railways.
These railroads were but the forerunners of the lines destined at
some future day to connect New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and
Lower California with the borders of the Mississippi. They stretch
towards the deserts of the far West like the arms of a giant striv-
ing to grasp the immense spaces that still rebel against civiliza-
tion. The village of Bolla, thus named by some transatlantic
admirer of Alfred de Musset, was the terminus, as we have said
before, of that branch among those groups of railways which run
to the south-west. The road which Lyon had followed before
the battle of Wilson's Creek, of great importance in those primi-
tive regions, although in a wretched condition, was in prolonga-
tion of the railway. It passed through Springfield, descended
into Arkansas, and after crossing the long chain of the Ozark
Mountains near Bentonville, reached Fort Smith, on the great
Arkansas River. Beyond this last station the habitations and
cultivated lands which the facilities of communication had de-
veloped along the road became more and more rare ; at last, on
leaving Fort Belknap, in Texas, the mail-carrier had no other
guide than a small compass to direct him in finding out the stages
marked by the whitened bones of the Anglo-Saxon emigrant or
the Mexican adventurer. The two adversaries, one resting upon
St. Louis, the other on the State of Arkansas, had to meet on this
road whenever the aim of their campaigns was the possession of
Missouri.
Hostilities commenced west of the Mississippi about the same
time as on the banks of the Tennessee. Hunter, after supersed-
ing Fremont, had left the army of the Missouri and taken com-
mand of the troops assembled in the State of Kansas. His mis-
sion was simply to hunt the guerillas, to protect the Unionists,
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604 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
and to secure them some measure of safety. He succeeded to a
considerable extent^ and restored some degree of order in that
State, which, since its birth, had never been aught but a battle-
field.
In that part of Missouri situated north of the river of that
name the Confederates still counted a large number of partisans;
but they had given up the idea of disputing its possession with
the Federals, who, under Pope, occupied all the principal points
in the country, and especially the lines of railroad. They con-
fined thAnselves to the task of recruiting volunteers, who after-
wards crossed the river to join Price's army, while, on the con-
trary, all the efforts of the Federals were intended to disperse or
to intercept those recruits. In this war of detail we have only a
single serious engagement to record, that of Silver Creek, where,
on the 8th of January, a party of Federal cavalry routed a small
body of Confederate partisans, who had jast met there and were
in the act of organizing.
In the mean while, Curtis, who had retired with the army of
the Missouri as far as Rolla, was preparing to go in search of
Price in the southern part of the State. The Confederate general,
whose troops were daily increasing in number, occupied a threat-
ening position at Springfield, from which it was important to dis-
lodge him. Curtis had collected twelve thousand men, forming
four small corps, improperly called divisions, for they possessed
only the numerical strength of weak brigades. On the 11th of
February he started for Springfield, following the post-road.
Frightful weather rendered that march extremely painful, and
seemed to promise Price an easy success. His ten thousand
men were well entrenched, and encamped in good quarters. Bat
the Confederate general felt isolated ; and since the forces assem-
bled in Arkansas had refused to join him the preceding year,
he had become less daring. Without waiting for his adversary,
he fell back towards the south with his Missouri militia, and only
used his cavalry on the 12th of February in covering his retreat
The Federals crossed the Arkansas frontier in his tracks, still fol-
lowing, like him, the post-road. On the 17th of February they
had a slight engagement with the rear-guard of the enemy near
Sugar Creek ; and soon after, they reached the Ozark Mountains.
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I I
: OSAOC
■ Mi •
I
I ;
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DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE. 505
The nature of the country imparted an altogether peculiar
character to that war. The post-road afforded Curtis great
facilities for moving his supply-trains and his artillery, and for
receiving reinforcements, ammunition, and all the materials of
war which were to be forwarded to him from the arsenals of the
North, but it did not give him the means of drawing provisions
from his distant d6p6ts, as a line of railway or a navigable
river would have done; thousands of wagons would not have
suflBced to perform that service between Rolla and Ben ton ville-
in those regions of the far West, therefore, armies were always
obliged to subsist upon the country through which they passed ;
and that country being scarcely under cultivation, on the one hand,
those armies had to be limited as to number, and on the other hand
it was necessary to scatter them over a vast extent of territory, in
order to collect the meagre resources of the country in sufficient
quantities. Hence in the early part of March we find Curtis's
troops divided into small detachments encamped at great distances
from each other along the Ozark Mountains. After advancing as
far as Fayetteville, the Federal general, fearing that he had ven-
tured too far into the enemy's country, fell back upon the valley of
Sugar Creek, whence he could if necessary easily regain the State
of Missouri. This water-course, in the vicinity of which the
last engagement had taken place, afforded him positions easy to
defend, the natural strength of which he further increased by
means of entrenchments, in which he expected to rally his scat-
tered troops in the event of the enemy's coming to attack him
from the south. Part of the infantry took possession of the
mills bordering on Sugar Creek, and set to work to make flour,
while the cavalry and draft animals went in search of forage,
wandering about from one pasture-ground to another. A few
parties proceeded as far as the valley of the Arkansas. The Fed-
eral general took up his quarters along the post-road, a little to
the south of Sugar Creek, at a place called Cross Hollows. Carr's
division was encamped near him. Sigel, with the nucleua cf .
two small divisions, neither of which was larger than a French
regiment, was at Bentonville, about fifteen kilometres from Sugar
Creek. But the positions selected by Curtis, for the purpose of
checking any enemy coming from the south, were in rear of that
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506 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
stream, which runs from east to west before pursuing a northerly
direction. A ravine watered by this stream separates two of the
hills forming the chain of Ozark Mountains, which both alike
slope down in gentle declivities towards the north and very ab-
ruptly to the south. The one commanding the ravine at the north
is known by the name of Pea Ridge. It is separated from another
stoep acclivity, which rises still more to the north, by another
wooded ravine, called Cross-Timber Hollows, running from east to
west, the waters of which, having reached the plain, finally mingle
with those of Sugar Creek. These breaks in the ground were gen-
erally covered with small copsewood, intersected here and there by
cultivated clearings and tall trees shooting up from the wateiy bot-
toms. Communicating by cross-roads with Bentonville, which it
leaves on its right, the post-road descends into the ravine of Sugar
Creek at the eastern extremity of the crest of Pea Ridge. Before
reaching that point, midway of the gentle declivities which slope
down towards the north and which the road easily ascends, it
encounters a small solitary building called Elkhom Tavern.
Here branches off a road which leads to Bentonville through the
hamlet of Leetown, situated in the centre of the ridge. Such is
the ground upon which the first battle that drenched Arkansas
with blood was about to be fought.
The Southern generals, having received reinforcements, pre-
pared to resume the offensive. Price, who had retired south-west
into the Indian territory among the Boston Mountains, had again
been joined by Generals McCuUoch and Mcintosh, at the head
of two divisions of Confederate troops, and by a considerable
body of Indians under the leadership of a Northern man, named
Albert Pike, who, by reason of his tall stature, his dauntless
spirit, and his mother-wit, had become a man of great influence
in the Far West. The redskins, who formed his following, had
adopted the externals of our civilization, from which they had
also contracted a taste for the use of firearms. They had not
forgotten the traditions of their race, and they eagerly seized
the unlooked-for opportunity offered them to assist the whites,
their old enemies, in destroying each other. Van Dom, that cap-
tain of cavalry whom we saw in Texas at the outset of the rebel-
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DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE, 507
lion in vain exciting his own soldiers to desert their colors and
making them prisoners afterwards — ^Van Dorn, who had become
one of the important personages of the new Confederacy^ had
assumed the chief command of that army. He had more than
sixteen thousand men under him, which gave him a great numer^
ical superiority over his opponent. Consequently, he went forth
to meet the small Federal army in the hope of destroying it
altogether, and of not allowing a single one of those abolition
soldiers to re-enter Missouri who had ventured so far from all
possible succor.
On the 6th of March Curtis had been warned of his approach
by parties of his own cavalry scattered far into the country, and
he ordered all his troops to concentrate upon Sugar Creek. That
position was well selected, for the steep acclivity of the ridge,
covered as it was by the strong current of the stream, presented a
formidable front to an enemy coming from the south. But the
latter was aware of this, and resolved to strike elsewhere. He
had brought with him provisions to last for several days, and was,
therefore, free in his movements in a country where the popula-
tion was generally friendly to him, and where he could move his
supply-trains in every direction without escort. Curtis, on the
contrary, was, by the very circumstances of his position, tied to
the post-road, which he had follow:ed from RoUa. He had un*
doubtedly given up the idea of keeping it always open, being
well aware that the advantage of that route as a line of retreat
depended entirely upon the strength of his army; he could not,
however, abandon it for any length of time without the risk of
becoming short of ammunition and provisions, and without seeing
his army gradually weakened for want of the necessary means to
keep up his personnel, and materiel. Consequently, he had been
obliged to establish small posts en echelon along the most import-
ant points of his line.
It was by this line that Van Dorn desired to attack and take
the Federal positions in rear, thus reversing the order of the two
armies and placing them in the position of two combatants in the
listd who had changed places. He calculated that his numerical
superiority would enable him to remain longer in that difficult
position than his adversary. Consequently, after leaving Boston
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508 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Mountains on the 4th ; and having occupied on the 6th the village
of Cross Hollows, which the Federals had just evacuated in great
haste, he suddenly changed his route, and marched to the north-
west, upon Bentonville, on the same day. One of his columns
met there the rear-guard of the small corps of Sigel, which, hav-
ing been called back by Curtis, was retiring towards Pea Ridge.
A brisk engagement immediately took place. The Confederates
eagerly attacked the Federal general, who had only six hundred
men with him. Surrounded nearly on every side, the latter, with
the aid of a few field-pieces, nevertheless repulsed all the assaults
of the enemy, and succeeded in joining the rest of his troops.
Then, drawing up his battalions en echdoUy he fell back in good
order, crossed Sugar Creek, and, reaching Pea Ridge in the even-
ing, took position west of the rest of the army.
Instead of following him, Van Dorn continued his flank move-
ment, crossed Sugar Creek below the Federal camps, and biv-
ouacked before night on the right bank of that stream, at the ex-
tremity of the long slopes which terminate on that side the platean
of Pea Ridge. The Federals were thus taken in rear, and Van
Dorn had already obtained an important advantage before the
battle had commenced.
But Curtis had got wind of this manoeuvre. During the night
he changed all his plans, and prepared to receive the attack of the
enemy on the side of the positions to which Sigel had retired the
day before. The early part of the day, however, passed without
any sign of battle ; the Confederates were completing their man-
ceuvre, as they wished to be in possession of the postrroad before
making the attack. They reached it at last, near the place where
it crosses the ravine of Cross-Timber Hollows, and the firing of
musketry from the posts which alone covered the rear of the Fed-
eral positions on that side soon made Curtis aware that the enemy
was carrying out his plan of attack. He immediately made his
small army face to the rear in line of battle. Sigel, who had be-
gun this movement in the morning, and had already sent a few
regiments, with Colonel Osterhaus, to occupy a position on the
side of Leetown, in order to forestall the enemy by a counter-
attack, thus found himself forming the left of the Federal line.
Asboth's division, which had been placed under his command,
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DONELSON AND PEA RIDGE, 609
formed the extremity of his line, and rested upon the crest of the
Pea Ridge plateau, above Sugar Creek. Osterhaus's troops
stretched out a little beyond the Bentonville road, towards the
Elkhorn Tavern, and faced north-west. The right of the Fed-
eral army was composed of Carr's division, which, at the first in-
dication of the enemy^s presence on the post-road, hastened to
contest with him the important position of Elkhorn. A little
beyond, and at a certain distance from his front, wound the ravine
of Cross-Timber Hollows, which, by an abrupt turning, covered
his right flank. The attack of the enemy forced Carr to face
northward, and thus gave to the Federal army the form of a broken
line. In the centre the action had not yet commenced.
Indeed, the attack of the Confederates waa divided into two dis-
tinct engagements. The divisions of Mcintosh and McCulloch
had been left by Van Dorn near the place where they had biv-
ouacked during the night, with orders to march upon Leetown
as soon as his left wing had become engaged. They formed the
Confederate right, and those were the troops that Osterhaus en-
countered before Leetown.
In the mean time, Price and his seven or eight thousand Mis-
sourians, under the personal lead of Van Dorn, had made the
great flank movement which brought them, by way of the post-
road, in sight of Elkhorn Tavern, at the moment when Carr was
preparing to dispute that position with them. They constituted
the left wing. But their flank manoeuvre had completely sepa-
rated them from McCulloch and Mcintosh. The Confederate
army was thus divided into two parts, with inadequate connec-
tions between them, and utterly unable to afford each other mutual
support, while the two Federal wings could hold easy communi-
cations by means of interior lines.
In proportion, however, as the battle progressed, the chances
seemed to turn in favor of the Confederates. Encouraged by the
success of their first manoeuvre, they attacked their adversaries
with great impetuosity. The thickness^ of the woods favoring
their approach, they made great havoc in the Federal ranks : they
put buckshot into their guns on top of the balls.
On the left, the small division of Asboth, which had been or-
dered by Sigel to guard the extreme flank of the line, was not in
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610 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
action ; but that of Osterhaus, which had gone forward io meet
Mcintosh and McCuIloch, found it difficult to resist them. An
unfortunate cavalry charge against an enemy concealed in the
woods had cost him the loss of several guns at the outset of the
battle.
On the right, Carr was being more and more closely pressed
and Price was gaining ground. His adversaries left many
wounded and a few cannon in his hands. On both sides of the
post-road, beyond the Elkhom Tavern, of which the Confederates
had taken possession, the fight was carried on furiously. The
latter had the advantage on the two flanks. The Federals saw
the enemy upon their line of retreat—^ bad state of things for
young soldiers to fight under. This was the opportunity of which
Mcintosh and McCulloch availed themselves to make an import-
ant move. They outflanked Osterhaus's right, which had been
shaken by the unequal struggle, and pushed forward to the assist-
ance of Price, who was already almost victorious ; but here they
were met by a new adversary. Curtis had brought his last divis-
ion, commanded by Colonel JeSerson Davis,* upon the field of
battle, and placed it in the centre of his line, between Leetown
and Elkhom, within the space separating the right of Sigd's di-
visions from Carr's left. Davis received the attack of Mcintosh
and McCulloch on his left with a portion of his troops, while
the remainder, placed en potenoe upon the right, took them in
flank. This violent shock staggered a few of the Federal regi-
ments, but the others resisted. An almost hand-to-hand fight now
took place in a thick and low coppice-wood. While the action
was at its height the two Confederate leaders fell mortally
wounded, both, as it were, at the same instant. Their soldiers,
over whom they had an immense control, became discouraged at
this sight, and were finally repulsed.
It was time for the Federals to obtain this partial success, for
along the post-road their right was still retiring before the vigor-
ous attacks of Price. Carr, aided only by a few regiments de-
tached from Davis's division, was no longer able to maintain such
an unequal fight, when Sigel sent Asboth to his assistance, with a
portion of his troops which had been freed by the check of the
* Jefferson C. Davis, now colonel of the Twentjr-thiid Begrnlar Infiuitiy.— £i>>
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DONELSON AND PEA RIDQK 511
Confederate right. This timely reinforoement put a stop to Price's
progress. Van Dom tried in vain to make a last effort to reunite
his two wings ; but the lieutenants to whom he had entrusted his
right were no longer there to execute his orders, and their sol-
diers, discouraged and depressed, no longer possessed the re-
quired energy to seize the victory which was slipping away from
them.
Night, moreover, soon came to put an end to the struggle — a
night full of uneasiness and anxiety to both armies. The Fed-
erals saw an enemy superior in numbers firmly established along
their only line of retreat. After having fought him a whole day,
they had not been able to prevent his taking part of the field of
battle from them, and a certain number of cannon. How were
they to hope that the morrow would secure to their diminished
forces a victory which was so far from their reach, and that they
would then recover what they had not been able to preserve the
day before ? Yet this victory must be achieved at any price j for
if the Federals were not conquerors, they would be prisoners. Ac-
cordingly, they availed themselves of the darkness of the night to
prepare their forces for the decisive battle of the next day. Being
at ease so far as his left and left centre were concerned, where
Davis's and Sigel's divisions had hardly any enemy left in front
of them, Curtis brought those troops back to the right, upon the
ground where Carr had struggled all day and lost one-third of his
effective force. It was there that he concentrated all his available
forces, for it was there that he was chiefly menaced ; it was the
post-road which it was essential above all to wrest from the enemy.
"While Price, who occupied it, should be attacked on the right
by Asboth, in front by Carr, and on the left by Davis, Oster-
haus, deploying still farther to the left, would prevent Van
Dom from renewing the attack on the side of Leetown. If, as it
was supposed, the latter should find no enemy before him, he was
to wheel to the right, take the Confederates along the post-road in
flank, and drive them into the deep gorges of Cross-Timber Hol-
lows. The success of this manoeuvre was uncertain, but the
attempt must be made, for the fate of the army depended upon it.
The Federals would have felt less anxiety if they had judged
the situation of their adversaries, not by the results obtained, but
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512 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
by the sacrifioes thej had cost them. The Confederate soldiers,
accustomed to a rough and adventurous life, had exhibited great
courage and dash, but they did not possess those military qualities
which discipline imparts. The battle had thrown a certain amount
of disorder into their ranks; McCulloch and Mcintosh were
killed, and Price seriously wounded ; they had been in the habit
of following those leaders, and did not care to obey commandeis
whose voices were new to them. Finally, the corps of Indians,
from whom such prodigies of valor were expected, had been
rather an encumbrance than a support to the Confederates. Those
savages possessed the bravery which a contempt for death inspires,
but not the courage engendered by the sense of duty. Excellent
marksmen, but of a temperament too easily excited, they com-
pletely lost their presence of mind amid the tumult of a pitched
battle and the roar of cannon. The fatigue and the reduction of
rations, which, according to the practice of young troops, had
been wasted during the first day's march, were additional causes
calculated to damp the ardor of the Confederates. Nevertheless,
they prepared themselves foir the conflict. Feeling, like their
adversaries, that the position of Elkhorn Tavern, which they had
conquered the day before, was the key of the battle-ground, they
had also gathered all their forces ; the remnants of Mcintosh's
and McCuUoch's corps had been rallied and massed there by Van
Dom. At the same time, Sigel, on the side of the Federals, made
an analogous movement. The struggle was, therefore, concen-
trated within a {^arrow arena.
The day broke and the Confederates remained inactive, thus
allowing their enemy time to prepare himself. The latter took
at last the offensive, and opened fire against Elkhorn and the
positions situated on both sides of the post-road. Van Dom
defended himself with great obstinacy, and repulsed the Federals
several times. But Sigel soon deployed on the left of Davis's
division, and thus took the Confederates in flank, while Asboth
threatened them on the right. It was their turn to be surrounded.
After continuing to defend themselves for some time, they re-
crossed the ravine of Cross-Timber Hollow and abandoned that
long-contested battle-field, upon which they left more than one
thousand men in killed and wounded.
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DONELSON AND PEA RIDQE. 613
The losses of the Federal army were nearly equal, amounting
to two hundred and three killed, nine hundred and seventy-two
wounded, and one hundred and seventy-six prisoners. These
numbers included no less than sixty-nine officers disabled ; but
it had achieved a victory. The enemy, who, a few hours before,
appeared ready to capture that entire army, was in full retreat and
fast disappearing among those vast spaces whence he had suddenly
emerged for the purpose of attacking it. It was not destined to
meet him again for a long time to come. Indeed, so far from
intending to go in pursuit of that enemy, it was also about to &11
back. The battle of Pea Ridge had greatly weakened the small
army of Curtis ; and having no expectation of receiving the neces-
sary reinforcements to maintain himself so far within an enemy's
country, that general withdrew into the southern counties of Mis-
souri ; he established himself there without having to fight any
more battles but a trifling engagement at Salem, on the Arkansas
frontier, where, on the 18th of March, his cavalry obtained some
advantage over a party of Confederates. This new campaign,,
although more bloody, terminated like those which had preceded,
it, and^ could exercise no decisive influence over the ensembk of
military operations collectively. It may be said that there is just
as much difference between the modes of waging war in countries'
already civilized, and those campaigns of which the far West,
was the theatre, as there is between a duel with swords and with,
pistols. In the first the two adversaries follow each other, watch
each other, close upon one another by crossing sword with sword,,
and the conqueror is the one who knows how to profit by the
errors of his antagonist. On the contrary, when they have pis-
tols in their hands, the combatants, being placed at a certain dis-
tance from each other, fire successively balls which either hit or
miss, while the skill of the individual who serves as target has
nothing to do in the matter ; thus in that war across the prairies
it frequently happened that two hostile armies would lose sight
of each other, each marching on its own side, and only meeting
again suddenly on the day of battle, to part as quickly after a
passage-at-arms, and each resuming its march without taking
thought of the other.
Van Dorn, however, had profited by this kind of warfare to*
Vol. I.— 33
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514 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
find the weak side of his adversary. His flank movement was
well conceived. But having fallen into the error which lost the
battle of Wilson's Creek to the Federals, he divided his anny
too much ; and in order to completely surround the enemy, he so
extended his left, that on the first check experienced by his right
he was unable to support it effectually. This error, together with
the want of discipline of his soldiers, was the principal caai^e of
his failure.
The most important result of his defeat was to relieve the Fed-
erals of all anxiety regarding the possession of Missouri. They
were thus able to concentrate in Tennessee all their available
forces, the labors of which we are about to narrate.
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CHAPTER II.
8EIL0H.
BEFORE resuming the narrative of the campaign undertaken
by Grant, and of which the victory of Donelson liad formed
such a brilliant beginning, we must transport ourselves for a brief
period to one of the most remote sections of the Union, which,
after having long escaped the horrors of civil war, became at the
commencement of 1862 the theatre of bloody conflicts.
In an early chapter of this work we gave a description of
New Mexico, which occupies the elevated table-lands comprised
between two spurs of the great chain of the Rocky Mountains.
Protected as much by vast deserts as by the dangerous passes of
those mountains, this territory presents formidable obstacles to the
smallest bodies of troops that might venture there. TTe have re-
lated the sufferings of the small army of Sterling Price, which
conquered that territory in 1846. The Rio Grande del Norte, fed
by the snows from the mountains where it takes its rise, waters the
only fertile valley to be found in those regions, where it seldom
rains. After passing not far from the city of Santa F^, it leaves
New Mexico at the gorges of El Paso, and from this point to its
mouth, at Matamoras, it separates Mexico from Texas. The Fed-
eral government had established a line of fortified posts along this
river for the purpose of defending its lower course against the
Mexicans, and the upper portion against the incursions of Indians.
The detachments of the regular army which occupied New
Mexico at the breaking out of the rebellion were scattered among
these forts, and had their d6p6ts and victualling stations at Santa
Fd. The most important of these posts were Fort Fillmore, near
El Paso, then Fort Craig and the town of Albuquerque, higher up,
and to the east, in the mountains. Forts Union and Staunton. Since
the capitulation of Major Lynde's troops, near Fort Fillmore, in
615
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616 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
July, 1861, the Confederates had been masters of the course of
the Rio Grande, in the southern portion of New Mexico, jGrom
El Paso to above Fort Thorn, also situated on that river. But
they had refrained from disturbing the Federals in their possession
of the rest of that territory, and had contented themselves with
drawing them into two unimportant engagements in the vicinity
of Fort Craig. Being sustained by their governor, the popula-
tion of New Mexico, among whom were many emigrants from the
North, had remained loyal to the Union, and some volunteers,
raised in the neighboring territory of Colorado, had come to re-
inforce the small garrisons which protected that vast r^ion. At
the end of 1861 the government had sent to Santa F^ General
Canby, an officer of great energy, who set immediately to work to
multiply the means of defence. He had, in fact, to sustain with
inadequate force the attack which the Confederates had long
meditated against New Mexico. The Confederates were com-
manded by Greneral Sibley, lately an officer in the regular army,
who must not be confounded with his namesake, made prisoner
by Van Dorn the year previous, who had remained loyal to the
Union.
The Confederate general assembled on the frontier at Fort
Bliss all lovers of war and plunder who, under the name of
settlers, occupied Texas. When, in the early part of Febraaiy,
he had thus collected a small army of two thousand three hundred
men — ^a considerable force for those r^ons — ^he took up his line of
march, passed Fort Thorn, and proceeded in the direction of Fort
Craig, where Canby, apprised of his movements, had repaired
with all the troops at his disposal, about four thousand men, to
await his coming. This position, well fortified, and defended by
a few guns of heavy calibre, was the key of the valley of the Rio
Grande and of the Santa F6 road. But Canb)r'8 troops, although
numerically superior, were fiir inferior in quality, to the Texans,
who had long been inured to the hardships of war by thdr inces-
sant struggles with the Indians and the Mexicans. The two bat-
teries which constituted his whole artillery were in excellent con-
dition; a raiment of volunteers, commanded by Kit Oarson,that
bold trapper who had already played an important part in the
conquest of New Mexico, was composed of good material; hot
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SHILOH, 517
Lis three battalions of regulars were filled with recruits, and the
rest of his troops consisted only of inexperienced soldiers hastily
levied.
Ascending the right or western bank, upon which Fort Craig
stands, Sibley made his appearance in front of the Federal posi-
tions on the 16th of February. He saw at once that he could not
reduce that work, in which Canby was quietly awaiting him, with
his field-pieces. In order to compel this adversarj'^, whom he
could neither attack nor leave behind him with impunity, to come
out, Sibley tried, by a bold manoeuvre, to menace his communica-
tions with Albuquerque and Santa F§. On the right bank of the
Rio Grande, facing Fort Craig, there is a succession of sand-banks
extending from the margin of the river into the interior. These
were thought to be inaccessible to wagons, and this obstacle com-
pelled all the trains coming from the south to pass under the guns
of Fort Craig. Sibley, better informed by his scouts, was not
afraid of venturing into the wilderness. On the morning of the
19th of February, while the Federals were under the impression
that he was about to retreat, he was crossing the Rio Grande,
which is almost everywhere fordable, about ten kilometres below
the fort. He then proceeded with all his army, his artillerj'^, and
His baggage across the heavy sands which the Federals had erro-
neously considered as a sufficient protection. Canby, astonished
at such high daring, determined at once to occupy, with three bat-
talions of regulars, some hUls situated in front of the fort, whence
he could watch the movements of his adversaries. The march of
the Texans, however, had been toilsome in the extreme. In order
to drag their wagons through the sand, where they sank up to the
bubs, it had been found necessary to double, and even triple, the
teams. The mules, exhausted by fatigue, had no water to slacken
their thirst ; this was also wanting to the men, and a night of
great suffering was the consequence. Next morning the Federal
regulars, supported by two regiments of volunteers, tried to bar
the passage of the Texans. But the latter, rather stimulated by
their privations to open for themselves a passage to the river above
Fort Craig, were not intimidated by this demonstration. Cannon-
shots were exchanged at a long distance; and before losing a single
man the greater part of the Union troops fell back in disorder^
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518 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
and sought shelter among the recesses of the hills adjaoent to the
river. Among the volunteers Kit Carson's regiment was the
only one not affected by the panic; the regulars themselves
showed no firmness during this first trial. Such conduct was a
bad omen for the future; and Greneral Canby found himself
obliged to take his soldiers back into the fort to reorganize, their
ranks and restore them to some degree of equanimity.
On the evening of that conflict, however, the Texans had not
yet reached the borders of the river, because, not being able to
approach it under the guns of the fort, they were obliged to pro-
ceed about twelve kilometres higher up to find, in the vicinity of
the hamlet of Valverde, a point where the inaccessible acclivities
which surrounded it might give place to an easier ascent. Con-
sequently, that second night was even more trying than the pre-
ceding one. The mules, crazy with thirst after two days of in-
cessant work, broke all their fastenings to rush towards the river,
whose vapors were wafted by the evening breeze as far as the
desert. The Federal scouts picked up more than one hundred of
them; and when, on the morning of the 21st, the Texans resumed
their march, they wxre obliged to bum a number of their wagons
thus deprived of teams. The loss of these means of transportation
would have been fatal to them if Canby had been able to face
them with troops inured to war. In spite of the previous da/s
experience, he resolved to dispute the possession of Valverde, and
not to allow them to establish themselves upon his line of commu-
nication without a fight. Sibley thus far succeeded in drawing him
off from the protection of his fortifications.
While the vanguard of the Confederates was at last approach-
ing the river at Valverde, and hastening towards its waters to
slacken their tliirst, the Federals, who had ascended the river by
the right bank, appeared upon the opposite shore and opened fire
upon the head of their column. Canby had pushed forRurd the
three battalions of regulars, his two batteries, two squadrons of
cavalry, and Carson's regiment. He followed tliem closely with
that of Colonel Pino, thus bringing all his available troops into
line — about one thousand five hundred men — after having secured
the safety of the fort. The Federal artillery, well served, obliged
the Confederates to retire from the borders of the river, which the
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8HIL0H. 519
small Union army immediately forded in order to take position
on the left bank, in front of them. Canby drew up his soldiers
on the open spaces of ground constituting the Valverde farm, with
the river at his back, and facing some woods and brush, behind
which Sibley had halted his men. Being folly aware that in
order to impart strength to his line he could only rely upon his
artillery, Canby had posted Captain McSae's battery on the left,
and Lieutenant HalVs two guns on the right, assigning no other
task to the infantry than that of supporting them.
Up to two o'clock the fighting was confined to a cannonade, in
whioh the artillery of the Federals, being better served than that
of their adversaries, had a manifest advantage. Conscious of this
superiority, and seeing the enemy take shelter in the woods in-
stead of coming forward to dispute the possession of the river,
Canby felt already certain of victory, and was about to order a
forward movement for the purpose of driving the Texans back
into the desert which they had just crossed, when the latter sud-
denly took the offensive. Their rear-guard had been brought into
line, and Colonel Green, of the Fifth Texas, which was in front,
had received the command of the whole army from Sibley, who
was sick. He immediately made arrangements to throw his in-
trepid soldiers upon the Federal artillery, the galling fire of which
was beginning to affect them. On the left his cavalry was pre-
paring to charge Hall's guns, while a portion of his infantry ad-
vanced in the centre as far as the skirt of the wood, to occupy the
attention of the Federals. In the mean while, he massed two
regiments on the right, his own, upon which he particularly re-
lied, being one of them, and directed them against McRae's battery.
The attack of the cavalry was easily repulsed, but not so that
of the infantry. The Texans, numbering about one thousand,
rushed, with their customary cries, into the space of a few hun-
dred metres which separated them from the Federal guns. They
flung the carbine over tlieir shoulders to grasp the two weapons
which in their eyes represent the two different civilizations of the
United States and Mexico, between which they are placed — ^the
revolver and the bowie-knife. As soon as McRae perceives them
he directs his guns, loaded with grape-shot, upon their compact
mass. The first discharge has full effect, without, however, stag-
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620 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
gering them for an instant. The Federal gunners have time to
reload tlieir pieces and to make another bloody breach in the Con-
federate column, which is as promptly closed up. The space of
ground already overrun by the Texans is strewed with the dead
and the dying, but the projectiles only check the career of those
they have struck. The grape-shot of a few guns cannot reach
them all, and those whom death spares, confident of success, still
pursue their onward course without stopping to fire a single mus-
ket. At their approach the Federal infantry desert the gons
which they were to defend. Regulars and volunteers, equally
deaf to the exhortations of their officers, 'take to flight before an
enemy less numerous than themselves. It is in vain that the
Federal gunners set them an example of indomitable courage.
When the irresistible tide of Texans reaches them at last, thejr
rally round their pieces ; and encouraged by the voice of McRae,
who, pLstol in hand, has mounted astride on one of the guns, thejr
suffer themselves to be hacked to pieces rather than abandon
them. In an instant they are all killed or wounded. The Texans
turn the guns they have captured upon the Federal centre, and
rush in pursuit of the troops who have not had the courage to con-
tend for those trophies. It is enough for them to show themselves
armed with the revolver to put these new adversaries also to flight
The whole Federal line, in the midst of the utmost confusion,
rushes headlong towards the Rio Grande, which it recroases in
breathless haste. It never stops until it reaches the breastworks
of Fort Craig, leaving in the hands of the conqueror the balance
of its artillery, with a large quantity of other arms. The rout of
the Unionists was too sudden and rapid to leave many prisonen
in the hands of the enemy. They had sixty killed and one hun-
dred and forty wounded. The losses of the Texans were nearly
equal, a few of their bravest officers having paid with their lives
for the victory which was due to their example.
Timidly shut up in the fort, the Federals were no longer in a
condition to molest their adversaries. Sibley felt that there was
no necessity for him to take any further notice of them ; and as-
cending the Rio Grande, he boldly advanced with his little army,
whose strength had been greatly increased by success, into the in-
terior of New Mexico. He no longer met with any serious resist-
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8HIL0H. 521
anoe. He left his wounded and sick at Socorro, reached Albuquer-
que, where he found abundant provisions, and proceeded thence
to Santa F^, bearing to the right by the Apache Pass defile, near
which stands Fort Union, situated at a distance of about twenty-
five kilometres from the capital. Anticipating no resistance, he
allowed a detachment of about one thousand men to proceed in
advance under Colonel Scurry. Oii the 24th of March the latter
found the Apache Pass occupied by a few hundred regulars and
about one thousand volunteers, who had come from Colorado by
forced marches. After dispersing the Federal scouts, the Texans
arrived in front of the enemy's position, which was defended by a
battery of artillery. They renewed, without hesitation, the bold
attack which had proved so successful at Valverde. The Federal
artillery, still well served, inflicted upon them some terrible losses.
As to the infantry, it made a somewhat better resistance than that
of Canby, and held them suflSciently long in check to secure the
safety of the guns. The Texans themselves came near being sur-
rounded by a few companies, which, passing behind them, had
fiillen upon their train. But the rest of the line being weakened,
that detachment was obligecl to beat a speedy retreat. The Fed-
erals, whose losses amounted to twenty-three killed, fifty wounded,
and about sixty prisoners, fell back in the direction of Colorado.
This new success cost Sibley thirty-six killed and sixty wounded,
tc^ther with the lives of some of his best officers. It delivered
a great part of New Mexico into the hands of the Confederates ;
but they were not able to hold that region which had been con-
quered in such a brilliant manner for any length of time. The
people of Santa F6 did not conceal their hostility. They found
but few resources in that -city, whose entire intercourse was con-
fined to Colorado and Missouri, and their communications with
Texas became very difficult. Finally, Canby, taking advantage
of the respite granted him, was preparing to harass their rear.
In less than a fortnight after his entrance into Santa F6, Sibley
found himself under the necessity of evacuating tliat city to con-
centrate his forces at Albuquerque, where his d6p6ts were already
menaced. He had scarcely reached that post when he realized the
impossibility of remaining in New Mexico, and on the 12th of
April he retraced his steps towards Texas. He soon found him-
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522 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
self in the presence of Canby, who was waiting for him with a
superior force on the left bank of the Rio Grande. But he
dreaded to bring on a fight the issue of which might prove fatal
to his troops, already reduced and fatigued ; and in order to avoid
it, he concentrated his troops upon the right bank; then, abandon-
ing all his wagons, and loading his provisions upon the mules
which had been used in drawiftg them, he struck out for the open
desert, dragging his artillery behind him with extraordinary efforts
This time it was deemed necessary to make a circuit across those
terrible solitudes, which consumed, not three, but more than ten,
days. Finally, after a painful march, the Confederates reached a
point on the river bank where they could not be disturbed. While
they were resting in the vicinity of Fort Bliss, Canby, who had
not even thought of pursuing them, was quietly taking permanent
possession of New Mexico.
We must now return to the consideration of more important
events, which were taking place in the State of Tennessee at the
same period, and which were destined to exercise so great an in-
fluence over the entire course of the war. On the 11th of March
the President had relieved General McClellan of the supreme
control of military afiairs, and had reserved to himself that task,
so onerous for a man without experience. But he had not yet
aggravated this error of judgment by those lamentable attempts
at strategy which a few months later caused so many disasters to
the Federal arms. He had, on the contrary, extenuat<Kl his fault
by investing Halleck with the command of all the armies situated
west of the AUeghanies.
The co-operation of the armies of Buell and Grant, which had
hitherto been subservient to direct orders from Washington, was
thus better assured. Gi'ant resumed once more the command, of
which he had been temporarily deprived, and received consider-
able reinforcements, which enabled him to continue an offensive
campaign. To the three divisions whose movements we have
followed in front of Donelson there were added three others,
under Grenerals Hurlbut, Prentiss, and Sherman. That of the
latter was brought back from Columbus, where it had been sent
after the evacuation of that post by the Confederates. All three
were composed of new men, who had never marched nor fought,
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t
SHILOH. 523
=^. and were as yet ignorant of the very first principles of discipline.
— The fleet of transports assembled at Fort Henry, and convoyed
^ by two w^ooden gun-boats, the others being in the Mississippi,
was again employed in enabling the army of invasion to make a
great step forward. The course of the Tennessee has been de-
scribed elsewhere. After running for a long distance from north-
east to south-west, along the foot of the Alleghanies, it pursues a
course almost due west for nearly one hundred and eighty kilo-
metres. Towards the middle of this part of its course it is inter-
-^■•
■ ■^M sected, near Florence, by shallows, called Muscle Shoals, which
^^Ti^r do not allow large vessels to proceed higher up, and which at
^'is^' times even completely interrupt its navigation. Finally, at East-
f^Al P^^* ^^ again resumes its original course to run directly north as
far as Paducah. The distance in a straight line between those
^V%- two points is about two hundred and sixty kilometres. Fort
i^yp' Henry is situated on the lower part of the river, about two hun-
L^#^ dred kilometres below Eastport. This path, opened by the bat-
^'^}ft^ ^^^ ^^ February into the heart of the rebel States, was the one
rx^jl to be followed by Grant. It had been reconnoitred during the
5^^ early part of March by C. F. Smith, who, after making a feint
\K ^ against Eastport, had landed his division upon the left bank of
%M the river at an almost desert place called Pittsburg Landing. .A
. iifC^ few log huts alone marked the spot, where a rough road termi-
^|#i^ nated at the river bank, and where, before the war, steamers
^^^^ stopped to land provisions and load with cotton. The small city
%^' of Savannah, situated on the right bank, eleven or twelve kilo-
\\ ': metres lower down, was selected as a d6p6t for the army, the en-
'^ * tire supplies of which were naturally obtained by water. It was
between this city and Eastport that, on the ITth of March, Grant
joined his troops, scattered along both sides of the river. Leav-
ing hLs headquarters at Savannah, he assembled five divisions in
the neighborhood of Pittaburg Landing, and stationed the sixtli.
under Lewis Wallace, at Crump's Landing, a few kilometres
lower down, on the same side of the river. These two points had
been selected by the Federal general as a base of operations for
the new campaign, which was to bring him face to face with the
Confederates upon the frontier of Mississippi ; but he was not yet
in a condition to undertake it. As we shall find him again in the
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524 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
same positions three weeks later^ we shall take advanti^ of his
inaction to indicate the movements which were being made at the
same time at the two extremities of the line of which he occupied
the centre.
Buell had met with no resistance during his march from the
Tborders of Green River to those of the Cumberland. Johnston
had not stopped even once for the purpose of holding him in
check, and had left no trophies in his hands. After the evacua-
tion of Nashville, the Confederate general had to choose between
two lines of retreat : he could either follow the Tennessee and
Alabama Railroad, in order to keep himself in communication
with the Mississippi valley, or the Nashville and Chattanoc^
Railroad, so as to rest upon the mountains. He preferred tliis lat-
ter route, either because he was afraid of seeing the former inter-
cepted at Eastport, as it actually was, or because he wished to
draw Buell far away from the large rivers, and to separate him
as much as possible from Grant^s army. He halted, as we have
said, at Murfreesborough, a station situated about jSfty-two kilo-
metres south-east of Nashville, which will play a conspicuous part
throughout the history of the war. Buell, after taking up his
quarters at Nashville, and placing himself in communicaticm with
Grant's army, contented himself with observing him without
seriously molesting him. It was at this time that Grant's troops,
transported by way of the Tennessee, landed in the neighborhood
of Savannah ; they thus found themselves about three hundred
kilometres south-west of Nashville, and the two hostile armies
were entirely separated. But Johnston, far from taking advan-
tage of this to attempt to recover a part of the ground he had lost
in the east, took yet another step backward, and led his army,
exhausted by so many fruitless marches, as far as Bridgeport and
Chattanooga, on the Upper Tennessee. This retreat was no doubt
rendered necessary by the difficulty of subsisting his soldiers at
Murfreesborough, so near to an enemy who had the advantage of
numbers, but it was also necessary for the execution of the plan
of campaign which he had formed. As Buell did not come to look
for him in the east, he had resolved to proceed rapidly to the west
to dispute the valley of the Mississippi with Grant; to aecom-
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SHILOH. 525
plish this object, it was necessary to post himself at Chattanooga,
which was the nucleus of the various railways he was to use.
There were hardly any musket-shots fired by the scouts of either
army during the month of March.
On the extreme left of Buell, Grarfield had remained in the
mountains of Kentucky which adjoin West Virginia; and in
order to be able to pursue the Confederate bands that overran
them more effectually, he had taken up his quarters at Piketon,
in the heart of those mountains. On the 16th of March, by a
bold and difficult advance, with one thousand men, he surprised
a small Confederate brigade upon the elevated defile of Pound
Grap, and dispersed them after a slight engagement.
On the same day, at a distance of more than six hundred and
fifty kilometres from this point, the Confedel'ate partisan Morgan
pushed a bold raid as far as Gallatin, on the right bank of the
Cumberland, where he gathered some booty. But he was imme-
diately after obliged to fall back as far as Shelbyville, while a
detachment of Federal cavalry, which in turn entered McMinn-
ville, south-east of Murfreesborough, on the 26th of March put
to flight the troops who had come to dispute the possession of
that place.
The victory of Donelson was bearing its fruits, and the Fed-
erals were masters of the largest portion of the State of Tennes-
see. Having full confidence in the power of their fleet when
supported by an army, they prepared to renew the tactics which
had already proved so successful against the new defences of the
Confederates on the Mississippi. Foote, as we have stated, had
found the position of Columbus evacuated in the early part of
March. He had immediately descended the Mississippi as far as
Island No. 10, the cannon of which informed him that the enemy
was at work. While Sherman was embarking for Columbus, the
troops which had been fighting for some time in Eastern Mis-
souri, after being consolidated into one division of three strong
brigades, under command of Greneral Pope, landed on the 28th
of February at Commerce, on the right bank of the Mississippi.
On the 2d of March they dispersed the small force of J. Thomp-
son, capturing six guns, and on the following day they appeared
before New Madrid ; they found that village surrounded by con-
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626 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
sidcrabic works, oocupied bj a uumerous garrison, and supplied
with a poiverful artiller\\
On the Confederate side, the defence of the Mississippi had
been entrusted to Beauregard, but he only reached Columbus to
learn of the capture of Donelson, and his fin>t act in the exercise
of Iiis new authority was to order the evacuation of the fort which
had been too ha*<tily called the Gibraltar of the West. He found,
however, scattered over the vast expanse of territory confided to
hira, the elements of quite a respectable army, to which he was
bringing the prestige of the victory at Bull Run. His name
could not fail to infuse martial ardor into the Army of the
Mississippi, of which these troops were destined to form the
nucleus. He hastened to reorganize Polk's regiments, which
had just left Columbus, and addressed an urgent appeal to
his friend General Braxton Bragg. This stern and resolute
officer, who was commanding at Mobile, and had already im-
I)arted a certain military education to the troops he had assem-
bled there, immediately started for the North with all the forces
at his disposal.
Beauregard was fully aware that the fall of Donelson and of
Nashville rendered all the defences of the Mississippi above
Memphis powerless. It was, therefore, near that city that he
prepared a system of works capable of definitely checking the
Federals. But to retard their progress, and gain time to finish
those works, he had fortified New Madrid and Island No. 10.
After making what resistance he could, he intended to fall back
upon his true line of defence, with the determination to attack the
enemy in an o|)en country rather than allow himself to be shut up
like Floyd in entrenchments. The six gun-boats of Commodore
Hollins, which had arrived from New Orleans to support the
army of Beauregard, and to dispute the mastery of the Missis-
sippi with Foote, had taken position between New Madrid and
Island No. 10.
It is known that the first of these two points lies both below
and north-west of the second. The Federals, therefore, in order
to take possession of it, could land at a short distance without
passing under the fire of the second; and once masters of it, it
would be easy for them to riddle any vessel with balls that should
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SHILOH. 527
attempt to go up the river for the purpose of revictualling Island
No. 10. Consequently, the Confederates had concentrated all
their available forces for the defence of New Madrid. They had
erected two large earthworks, which, besides the field artillery,
were armed with sixteen guns of large calibre. Hollius's gun-
boats, anchored in an elbow of the river, had complete command
of the low and marshy grounds which surrounded them. Pope
saw at once that he would not be able to reduce these forts with
the cannon at his disposal, and found himself under the necessity
of undertaking a regular siege. While waiting for the heavy
guns which he had ordered from Cairo, and which were to be
landed above Island No. 10, he sent a portion of his troops, with
his field-batteries, to occupy Point Pleasant, about fifteen kilo-
metres lower down, on the right bank of the river. From that
place they were to intercept any reinforcements coming up the
Mississippi, which could pass through a narrow isthmus to reach
Island No. 10 directly. This operation was successfully conducted,
despite the fire of the enemy's gun-boats. In the mean time, the
Confederates continued to reinforce New Madrid ; and the troops
assembled there, under General McCown, numbered nine thou-
sand men, when at last three twenty-four-pounders and one mor-
tar, dragged across a marshy country with great difficulty, arrived
in the trenches of the besiegers. These guns were placed in posi-
tion on the 12th of March, not without losses from the fire of the
Confederates, at eight hundred metres from their works. They
immediately opened a brisk cannonade against the latter. Hol-
lins's gun-boats came down from Island No. 10 to participate in
a fight which seemed to continue the whole day with equal chances
on both sides. Pope had one of his guns dismounted and about
fifty men disabled ; but the Confederates were discouraged by the
unexpected appearance of that siege artillery, and took advantage
of a frightful storm which prevailed during the night to conceal
their precipitate embarkation. They left in the hands of the
Federals, who were astonished at their easy success, well-stored
magazines, and on the parapets sixteen guns ineffectually spiked.
These guns were immediately ranged along the borders of the
river, forming at Point Pleasant a powerful battery, which effect-
ually blockaded the course of the Mississippi. From that mo-
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628 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ment the garrison of Island No. 10 found it impossible to obtaio
supplies, except by carting on land the provisions landed on the
left side of the river below the last of the Federal batteries.
But in order to thoroughly invest that island, Pope should
have been able to cross to the other bank of the river, opposite
New Madrid, which was in the enemy's hands. It is true that a
small body of cavalry was operating below Columbus, which, on
the 12th of March, had captured from the Confederates an insig-
nificant post at Paris, in Tennessee ; but it was too weak to un-
dertake such a task, and Pope had not even a barge to convey his
soldiers to the other side of that immense sheet of water which
was spread out before him. In fact, Foote's fleet, after taking
possession of the little town of Hicklnan, which was the terminus
of a line of railway, and which had served as his d6p6t, was held
in check by the batteries of Island No. 10. It was now the be-
ginning of April ; and for the last fortnight this fleet, armed with
mortars and Parrott guns, as well as the land-batteries erected by
Pope, had been vainly exchanging shots with the heavy gans
placed by Beauregard on all the points which commanded the
sinuous current-valley (thalweg) of the Mississippi. This r^ular
bombardment ceased at last to produce any impression. It, how-
ever, diverted the attention of the Confederates from the gigantic
work which their patient and laborious adversaries had just un-
dertaken behind the wooded screen bordering the margin of the
river. Unable to force a passage in front of the Confederate bat-
teries, they had determined to avoid the elbow of the Missi^ippi
by cutting a canal across the peninsula formed by it, through
which the fleet should debouch into the river in the vicinity of
New Madrid. This peninsula is more than fifteen miles in width
at the most accessible point. It was for the most part covered
with old trees, the feet of which were bathed to the depth of more
than one metre by stagnant water, proceeiling from the infiltra-
tions of the river. A volunteer regiment, called a regiment of
engineers, dug a channel across this isthmus fiftieen metres in
width, and accessible to all flat-bottomed vessels. Although one-
half of its course ran across the forest, where the trunks had to be
sawed below the surface of the water, the passage was opened in
nineteen days. This work, boldly conceived and cleverly exe-
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8HIL0H. 529
cuted, presented a striking proof of the industrious character of
the American army, and, surviving the circumstances which caused
it to be undertaken, will long remain, no doubt, a monument to
remind the peaceful traveller on the Mississippi of the troublous
epoch we are narrating.
The fleet, however, was not satisfied to occupy the enemy with
a fruitless bombardment. On the 1st of April the crews, assisted
by a few volunteers from Pope's army, had landed on the left
bank of the river, and taking one of the principal Confederate
batteries by surprise had spiked six of its guns. Finally, when
the channel was nearly completed, one of the gun-boats, which
until then had not dared to attempt a passage under the fire of
Island No. 10, made that dangerous experiment. The Carondelet
reached New Madrid during the night of the 4th-5th of April
without being struck by a single ball. On the morning of the
6th another vessel, the Pittsburg, cast anchor near her, after per-
forming that perilous feat with the same good fortune. The Con-
federates, who were not prepared for the display of so much dar-
ing, were still more astonished when, a few days later, they saw
a whole fleet of transports loaded with troops and several floating-
batteries debouch from a creek near New Madrid which served
as the head of the canal. Notwithstanding the reports of their
spies, they had been unwilling to believe in the accomplishment of
such an enterprise. The astonishment of the soldiers was the greater
because th^ir position had been represented to them as impregnable.
Beauregard no sooner reached the West than he became sen-
sible that, notwithstanding its natural strength. Island No. 10
never could serve as a point of support to the army he was form-
ing. It was to little purpose that this island enabled him to-
keep at bay the soldiers of Pope and the gun-boats of Foote ;
the presence of Grant almost close upon his rear, at Pittsburg-
Landing, did not allow him to remain with his army in a position
which was thus turned on the land side. He had gathered to-
gether his best troops under the orders of Pope, and had appointed,,
as their place of rendezvous, Corinth, an important railroad junc-
tion, situated near Pittsburg Landing ; this corps was to serve as-
a nucleus for the new army, with which he calculated to reconquer
all the ground lost since the 1st of January. But on leaving thent
Vol. I.— 34
Digitized by VjOOQIC
630 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
he had taken care to say a few words of enoouragement to the six
or w»voii tliousand men he left at Island No. 10. Moreover, Gen-
eral M(<\)\vn, to whom he had entra^^ted the command, had taken
adv:mta;re of the time employed by the Federals in the construc-
tion of the canal to cover the left bank of the Mississippi with
battcrit»s. He thiiH pn^served open communications between the
island and the main land, while, on the other hand, his troops,
which were sufficiently numerous to oppose the crossing of such
a river, could, with the supjwrt of a powerful artillery, hold those
of Po|)e in check. But the remembrance of Donelson exercised
a fatal influence ujwn men who had already been obliged to evao
uatc the po(^ition of Columbus without a fight, after having been
taught to believe it impregnable; and a change of commander at
the la.st hour increa^^xl their trouble. General McCown, having
bet»n rt^lieved on the 5th of April by the Secretary of War, was
succcedetl by General Mackall.
At the sight of Foote's vessels assembled before New Madrid,
Mackall posted all his available troops so as to repulse a landing.
But the fire of the two gun-boats of the enemy sufficed to keep
them at a distance ; all his batteries were silenced ; and on the
evening of the 7th the first Federal soldiers who set foot on land,
on the left bank of the river, found no one to oppose them.
Abandoning the feeble garrison of artillery soldiers which had
been left at Island No. 10, MackalFs corps had retired with so
much speed that its flight soon became a perfect rout An unin-
terrupted cliain of lakes and swamps, formed at several kilometres
from the left bank by a rLse in the bed of the Mississippi, stretched
out in a line parallel with its flow ; this impenetrable barrier cut
off all retreat towards the interior, and compelled the Confed-
erates to follow a strip of land along the river side at times very
narrow. More than two thousand of them (some rei)orts say
seven thousand) were stopped in their flight and made prisoners
in small parties ; the remainder scattered in every direction ; some
wandered about in the swamps, and many perished there ; others
returned to their homes. Scarcely two hundred reached Memphis
to tell the story of their disaster.
In the mean while. Island No. 10 was occupied without resist-
ance. The Federals found considerable matiriel, with a strong
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 531
artillery yet uninjured ; seventy guns of large calibre, some of
which were rifled, constituted the armament of the seven forts
which the bombardment had not damaged. HolHns, being in
turn blockaded by the occupancy of New Madrid, endeavored to
destroy the fleet he had uselessly brought so far, to prevent
its falling into the hands of the enemy. But he had no time to
complete that operation. His principal floating-battery, carrying
sixteen guns, instead of sinking, got adrift, and was found stranded
upon one of the sand-banks of the Mississippi ; the Federals took
possession of the four steamers which were still afloat, and the
other three were easily raised.
A complete success had crowned their ingenious efforts and
their persevjerance ; the Mississippi was open for more than eighty
miles in a straight line, and for nearly twice that distance, follow-
ing its sinuosities, across the low and marshy grounds, where no
fortified works could be erected, as far as the first bluffs, like
those of Columbus, which are found a little above the city of
Memphis. These bluffs were covered with several works of con-
siderable importance — Forts Wright, Bandolph, Harris, and Pil-
low— which had been erected under the superintendence of Beau-
regard at the very time when Island No. 10 was being evacuated.
These forts protected not only the approaches of Memphis, but
were intended to cover the left wing of the army assembled at
Corinth ; and their fate was inseparably connected with that of this
position, as Columbus had been before with that of Bowling Green.
The intersection of the two principal Southern railways had
designated Corinth as the point of concentration of all the forces
tliat the Confederates could dispose of for resisting Grant. Beau-
regard, as we have stated, had been the first to take up his quaiv
ters there with Polk's corps. Braxton Bragg had rejoined him
towards the latter part of March with the troops he had brought
over from Pensacola. Finally, after the battle of Pea Ridge,
Van Dorn had taken advantage of Curtis's retreat to abandon
Eastern Arkansas. Having turned his back upon his late adver-
sary, he was marching eastward, with all the forces he could mus-
ter, to reinforce Beauregard with more than 20,000 well-traine<l
soldiers for the great struggle which w-as impending.
In the mean while, a similar concentration of Federal troops
Digitized by VjOOQIC
532 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
was taking place on the Tennessee. While the steamers were
rapidly conveying Grant's soldiers to Pittsburg Landing, Buell's
troops were undertaking a long march by land to join them.
This general, being satisfied that Johnston, who had fallen back
beyond Murfreesborough, would not be able to make any demon-
stration against Nashville, had left that city with the whole of his
army, and was slowly advancing towards Savannah. Once united,
it was the intention of the Federal generals to march with all
their forces against the enemy's army, to attack it on the right, so
as to cut oflF its communications with the east, and to drive it
back upon the Mississippi to the great city of Memphis. Being
invested in that place, before which Foote would soon appear
with his gun-boats, it would have to experience the same fate as
the garrison of Donelson. If, on the contrary, it should abandon
Mem[)his, one-third of the course of the great river, and a new
network of railways, would fall into the hands of the Unionists.
At the eud of March, Chattanooga was no longer menaced,
even from a distance, and Johnston was no longer obliged to
cover that important centre. Nor was he, on the other hand,
sufficiently strong to take advantage of Buell's march, either to
fall upon his rear or to recapture Nashville. He could only,
therefore, try to reach the borders of the Tennessee before him.
In order to accomplish this movement, he had to make a great
d6tour, but the distance was very considerably shortened by a
railroad. Consequently, when Beauregard asked him for some
reinforcements, he replied by putting all his troops in march to
join him. A portion of them were forwarded by raihvay, the
rest on foot. But when they arrived at Corinth, they no longer
presented the appearance of that fine army which liad evacuated
Kentucky six weeks before. Sickness, long marches, and above
all desertion, had reduced them to about seventeen thousand men.
Such a long retreat, during which they had not even once seen the
enemy, incessant marches through the mud, and bivouacking in
torrents of rain, had exhausted both the moral and physical strength
of those young soldiers. A large number of them, natives of Ken-
tucky and Tennessee, on seeing their homes deserted, left the
janks to return to them. Those, however, who reached Corinth
soon recovered their spirits by contact with their comrades. The
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 533
combined army, of which Johnston had assumed command, num-
bered on the 2d of April a little over forty thousand men ; it was
encamped upon the different lines of railway which meet at
Corinth, and which could thus easily bring the necessary pro-
visions to the quarters of each corps. The position of Corinth
was the key of all that region. An important line of railway
leaves the Mississippi at Memphis, pursuing an easterly direction.
It crosses the Tennessee above Muscle Shoals, and consequently
cannot be interfered with by large vessels, and it eontinues in a
north-easterly direction as far as Chattanooga, It was the great
artery which connected the east of the Confederacy with the west.
'It was intersected at Corinth by a long line, called the Mobile and
Ohio Railway, which extended directly from the north to the
Gulf of Mexico, placing the Confederate army in communication
with the States adjoining that sea. Pittsburg Landing is only
about twenty-six miles from Corinth, and the concentration of the
Federals on the right bank of the Tennessee clearly demonstrated
to Beauregard that this junction was the point they intended to
strike to disorganize the network of his railroads. It was, there-
fore, on that spot that this network had to be defended.
The position occupied by the Federals at Pittsburg Landing
was also extremely well chosen. Grant was blamed for not hav-
ing posted his troops on the right bank of the Tennessee, shel-
tered from the attacks of the Confederates ^ this criticism was
unjust, because, in order to prevent them from obstructing the
course of the river by the batteries, and to be able to take the
offensive against adversaries whom it was his mission to conquer,
he could not do otherwise than take position on the same tank
with themselves, and this he could do without imprudence, inas-
much as his forces were equal to their own. In this position he
had not the river at his back, but on one of his flanks, which
was protected by the gun-boats ; and in the event of his being
beaten, he could fall back as far as he desired along the left bank.
The ground about Pittsburg Landing was easy to defend; it
consisted of undulations intersected by numerous streams, and
almost entirely covered with woods, partly brushwood and partly
tall forest trees. It is bounded by two watercourses. Lick Creek,
to the south, which debouches obliquely into the Tennessee, Owl
Digitized by VjOOQIC '
634 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Creek, to the north, which, after taking its rise near the former,
se|)arat<« from it and unites with a third, Snake Creek, running
from the north-west, and forms impassable swamps to the bank
of the Teunes-^H;, into which it empties very near to Pittsburg
Landing. This country is traversal by several roads, which meet
at the latter jxnnt ; tlmt of Hamburg, to the south, runs along the
left l«ink of Lick Creek ; tliat of Crump's Landing, to the north,
cr<)>j^vs the swam])s below the confluence of Owl Creek and Snake
Cr<»ek, In tke centre a third road leads towards the north-west
to the town of Purdy, and two others in a south-westerly direction
to Corinth.
The two stroams of Owl Creek and Lick Creek, separated at
their moutlis by a spatx3 of little more than four kilometres,
formed an excellent protection for the flanks of the Federal
army. But the latter, at the time when the Confederates were
preparing to attack it, had not yet learned to avail itself of the
natural advantages of the pasition it had occupied for three weeks.
The divisions were scarcely landed when they were posted at
hazard, and from tliat time their positions had never been altered.
They were not disposed so as to enable them to support each
other mutually, and there were intervals between them through
which the enemy might penetrate. Sherman formed the right
with three of his brigades ; he occupied one of the Corinth roads,
that of Purdy, and a prominent point adjoining the first of these
roads, where stands the plain wooden chapel known by tlie name
of Shiloh. This little church — or, to use the expression more gen-
erally applied by the sect to which it belonged, this meeting-house —
rc»sembling those primitive religious edifices erected in the New
World by the Puritan colonists, was to give its name to the blood-
iest battle that had yet been fought on the American continent
At a considerable distance on the left, and a little in the rear of
Shiloh, were encamped the two brigades comprising the division
of Prentiss. Still farther back, and entirely isolated on the
borders of Lick Creek, was the fourth brigade of Sherman, com-
manded by General Stuart. The division of McClernand was
placed one kilometre in the rear of Sherman and Prentiss, or
rather fronting the large interval which separated them. This
broken and irregular line formed a kind of arc, the centre of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 535
which was at Pittsburg Landings which rested at tlie left on Lick
Creek near its mouthy and at the right on Owl Creek, and which
had a radius of from four to six kilometres. Upon a second line
of heights, in advance of the last elevations which command
Pittsburg Landing, w^ere posted the divisions of Hurlbut on the
left and of W. H. Wallace on the right. But the fault of these
arrangements was a small matter compared with the neglect of
all the precautions with which the Federal army should have
surrounded itself. Not a shovelful of earth had been thrown up
in those three weeks to fortify either the Federal camps or the
approaches to the d6p6t of Pittsburg Landing. The tall trees
of the forest, in the midst of which the army was established, had
not even been cut down to construct obatia and guard against an
unforeseen attack. The very position of the camps exposed them
to all kind of surprises. In short, the surrounding country had
not been reconnoitred. The cavalry, still greatly inexperienced,
instead of moving about and constantly searching the thick forest
which separated the Federals from their adversaries, was assem-
bled near the river, and for three weeks had only made a single
reconnaissance, of no consequence whatever. Each general would
send out his pickets at random without connecting them with
those of his neighbors; and the divisions of Sherman and Prentiss,
which had charge of the matter, being the newest in the army,
this service was very poorly performed. The men had the bad
habit of firing their muskets in the air on being relieved, so that
it was impossible to be warned in time of the approach of the
enemy.
Generals and soldiers were alike novices. Grant was not accus-
tomed to handling a large army. He was ignorant of the import-
ance of entrenchments, of which he was afterwards to make such
great use. Sherman, who displayed so much foresight in his sub-
sequent campaigns, did not appear to possess as yet that vigilance
which became one of his prominent military qualities. Notwith-
standing the reports of deserters and fugitive negroes, no one had
been able to form an idea of the movements by which seventy
thousand of the enemy were being massed at Corinth. Even
Halleck, in his central office at St. Louis, was indulging in the
same illusions as his subordinates, and, thinking himself able to
Digitized by VjOOQIC
636 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
plan at leisure the oflTcasive campaign of which the arrival of
Buell was to be the signal, had not even thought proper to urge
the union of the armies of the Ohio and the Tennessee.
Before being placed under his command, Buell had already
proi)oscHl to him to march upon Savannah. He only received
onlcrs to undertake this movement on the 12th of March. But
on the 17th his progress was checked at Columbia bv Duck
River, which the raias had greatly swollen, and which was then
more than thirteen metres in depth. It was found necessary to
recoa*<tru<?t the great railway bridge, without which the army
could not have been victualled, and to wait until the 31st of
March for the completion of that work to enable him to resume
his march. His array then advanced rapidly towards Savannah,
where it arrived on the 5th of April. In the mean while, Hal-
leck so little 8us|xx?tcd the movements of the enemy that he sent
an ortlcr to Buell to make a diversion to the north to occupy
Wayn(»sborough — an order which, by a providential chance, did
not reach him in time; while Grant, who was as badly informed
as his supcTior, wrote on the 4th of April to Nelson, who com-
manded the advance guanl of Buell's army, not to hurr}', because
the vessels which were to convey him to Pittsburg Landing would
not be ready before the 8th. Fortunately, Nelson continued his
march without heeding this advice.
The Confederates were preparing a terrible awakening for their
imprudent adversaries. The army of the Mississippi, reconstructed
and reorganized, had been divided into four corps of unequal pro-
portions. The first two, under Polk and Bragg, each consisting
of two divisions, numbered, one, nine thousand, the other, thir-
teen thousand five hundred men. The third, under Hardee, com-
poscnl of part of Johnston's old array, and the reser\'e corps, com-
mandcnl by Breckenridge, presented each an effective force of from
six to sciven thousand men, and were divided into three brigades
each. The cavalry formed a division of four thousand four
hundred horses. Johnston was commander-in-chief, Beauregard
second in command. Many persons thought they saw in the one
the arm, in the other the head, of that army. There is nothing
to justify this opinion. Johnston, before deserting his flag, had
acquired a well-deserved reputation in his difficult expedition
Digitized by VjOOQIC
8HIL0H, 537
agaiust the Mormons. He had had an experience which Beaure-
gard did not possess. So that while the latter, by means of a
glibness of speech, dazzled the vulgar with the glitter of a renown
which his military career was far from sastaining, professional
men — that is to say, nearly all the generals of the army of the
Mississippi — paid much greater deference to the moral authority
of Sidney Johnston.
The latter had at first determined to wait before attacking
Grant for the arrival of Van Dorn, who was expected to join him'
on the 5th or 6th of April. The troops which that general was
bringing over with him, increased in number by those he had
picked up on his march through Arkansas, would have swelled
their combined forces to nearly seventy thousand men. But
having been apprised of Buell's march towards Savannah,
Johnston anticipated the date which had been fixed for his- of-
fensive movement, in order to prevent the junction of the two
Federal corps. Therefore, while the two hostile armies, each
about forty thousand strong, were going to meet near Pittsburg
Landing, two other armies, that of Van Dorn and that of Buell,
were hastening on, one from Arkansas and the other from Nash-
ville, each hoping to arrive first in order to throw a decisive weight
into the scale.
On the 3d of April news reached the headquarters at Corinth
that Buell had left Columbia. It was important to anticipate his
arrival at all risks, and all the marching orders were issued on the
same day. The Confederate army was to be put in motion on the
following day, Friday, preceded by the cavalry, and in the fol-
lowing order : the third, second, and first corps, and lastly the
reserV'C. It carried five days' rations, with as much ammunition
as possible. The scarcity of roads, together with their narrow-
ness, could not but stretch out the columns, which were obliged
to march by the flank, and only four abreast. But when they
had once reached the space between Lick Creek and Owl Creek,
where they knew the enemy to be posted, the battalions were or-
dered to take position in the forest, on the same line and at proper
distance from each other, massed in double column on the centre,
BO as to be able to deploy promptly in line of battle. According
to this arrangement, each corps thus deployed was to form a line
Digitized by VjOOQIC
9
538 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
which, with the aid of cavalry, should occupy all the space com-
prised between the two streams. An interval of a thousand
metres was to be preserved between the lines; and in order that
they niiglit present a front nearly equal, the second corps supplied
the third with a few brigades.
Johnston was in hopes of making his army perform the great-
est part of the distance of from twenty-six to twenty-eight kil-
ometres, which separated him from the Federal outposts, during
the 4th, so as to be thus able to fight the battle on Saturday, the
5th. But night overtook the soldiers, little accustomed to march-
ing, before they had reached the points determined u}K)n. The
next morning the roads were soon crowded ; some corps remained
eight hours under arms before they could be started, and all that
could be done was to go into bivouac almost in sight of the
enemy's outposts on the evening of the 5th.
A cavalry reconnaissance had been made the day before along
the whole Federal line, and towards the close of that very day
some patrols of Hardee's corps exchanged shots with Sherman's
outposts ; but they had immediately fallen back, and the Federal
generals attached no importance to such trifling skirmishes. In
the mean time, an army of forty thousand men, lying in ambush
within reach of the guns of its camps, was waiting, under the
cover of darkness and the thick foliage of the virgin forest, for
the break of day, which was to be the signal for the attack. A
warm spring night gave assurance that a burning sun would shine
over the bloody morrow ; but there were no camp-fires to enliven
the long hours of that night for the soldiers of the army of the
Mississippi. They were surrounded by a line of outposts care-
fully stationed ; the sentinels had been doubled, and they were in-
structed to allow no one to cross their line — an indispensable pre-
caution, in view of the fact that a single deserter might put the
enemy on his guard, especially in an army which, having been
levied for a civil war, counted more than one resident of the North
in its ranks who had been enlisted by compulsion. It would
have required a keen eye to discover at the bottom of a ravine the
only fire which had been kindled in that camp, where every one
was preparing in silence, and without light, for the conflict of the
next day. Its flickering flame projected on the surrounding trees
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOE. 539
the shadows of a few officers wrapped up in cavalry cloaks.
These were the leaders of the Confederate army, assembled to dis-
cuss the chances of the battle which was to restore to them the
whole valley of the Mississippi ; — Johnston, who seemed already
to bear upon his gloomy brow the presentiment of his approaching
death ; Beauregard, full of ardor and of confidence, which he was
endeavoring to impart to the others ; Hardee, the practiced officer,
whose European military education invested him with a peculiar
authority ; Braxton Bragg, as stiflF, and even haughty, towards his
equals as he was stern to his inferiors ; Bishop Polk, who only re-
membered the early years of his youth passed at the West Point
Academy ; finally, Breckenridge, the politician, very lately Vice-
President of the United States, an improvised general, who was
learning his profession in this great and rough school. Their de-
liberations were long. At last the soldiers, who were watching
them at a distance, saw them separate and each direct his steps
towards his own head-quarters. " Gentlemen," said Beauregard,
" to-morrow we shall sleep in the enemy's camps." The plan de-
termined upon between the leaders was explained by each of them
to all his subordinates, for it was easy to foresee that in a battle
fought in the extensive forest it would be impossible to direct the
movements of troops from a central point. This plan was simple ;
its object was to attack the enemy constantly by the right, so as to
dislodge him from Pittsburg Landing and drive him into the
angle comprised between the Tennessee and the marshes of Snake
Creek.
On Sunday, the 6th, Hardee started before break of day. The
first Confederate line, to avoid the deep ravines which run into
Lick Creek and Owl Creek on the right and left of the Corinth
roads, followed the plateau upon which these roads run, and which
separates the valleys of those two streams, and over which those
roads pass. It was precisely at this central point that the Federal
line was left open between the left of Sherman, wliich did not ex-
tend beyond the church of Shiloh, and the right of Prentiss,
whose front on that day was formed by a single brigade. Colonel
Peabody, who commanded it, had sent five companies to recon-
noitre the ground beyond Shiloh, where some vague indications
had caused him to suspect a hidden danger. When day was be-
Digitized by VjOOQIC"*
640 THE CIVIL WAR lA AMERICA.
ginning to break, this reconnoitring party was saluted, not hj
isolated discharges of musketry from a few skirmishers, but by a
well-fiustained fire of two ranks'; these were the Confederate bat-
talions, which, deployed under shelter of the woods, were now ad-
vancing in a compact line, despite the obstacles of the forest, and
were fully determined to drive everything they met before them.
An instant after the battle commences in the very camp of Pea-
body's brigade ; for the Federals, accustomed to hear every morn-
ing the pickets fire their muskets in the air, have paid no attention
to the discliargos of musketr}', which should have been a warning
to them. They cannot even offer any resistance ; their ranks are
broken l)efore they are formed, and the camps are strewn with the
killed and wounded, whom the balls of the enemy have struck down
before they had time to seize their arms. The victorious Confed-
erates chase the remnants of Pealxxly's brigade, and drive them
vigorously before them. The Federals rally at last upon the
second brigade, posted at some distance in the rear, and hastening
to their as*<istance.
The surprise of the Federals was complete and unquestionable,
and their commanders sought in vain to excuse themselves. Their
apologists vainly tried to make it appear that the Federals were
aware of the movements of the enemy, and had prepared them-
selves to receive him. If they could have believed that an army
of forty thousand men was near enough to attack them, they
would not have contented themselves with sending a few insig-
nificant reconnoitring parties some hundreds of metres only from
their camps ; they would not have allowed their soldiers to lie
down in those camps as quietly as if they had been near St. Louis.
Grant himself would have hurried to the centre of his army, in-
stead of remaining at his headquarters in Savannah. He would
have hastened tlie march of BuelPs heads of column, which had
just reached that town. He would have ordered Lewis Wallace
to Pittsburg Landing, instead of leaving him with seven thousand
men at Crump's Landing, separated by a distance of nearly twelve
kilometres from the rest of the army. In short, if he had fore-
seen the danger which threatened him, the forces he could have
arrayed against the forty thousand Confederates massed between
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOm 541
Owl Creek and Lick Creek would not have thus been reduced to
the figure of thirty-three thousand men.
While the right wing of Hardee was achieving this first suc-
cess, liis left centre encountered the extremity of Sherman's line.
The latter liad left Stuart's brigade at the extreme left, near
Lick Creek, which he had posted there when he was guarding
Pittsburg Landing alone. He had three left: the one on the
right was guarding the bridge over Owl Creek, the other two
were posted on each side of Shiloh church and across the Corinth
road. The brigade posted on the right of that road, and, conse-
quently, in the centre of the division, occupied a commanding
position over a ravine which covered its front. The other had
nothing before it but the plateau upon which the Confederates
were debouching. It was upon this brigade that their first effort
was directed. Warned by the firing of his outposts, Sherman had
time to place his division under arms, and to send a message to
McClernand, who was encamped in his rear, requesting him to
fill up, without delay, the gap which separated him from Prentiss.
His soldiers, encouraged by his example, resisted the first shock.
It is true that a few regiments on his extreme left, near a battery
which covered his flank, were scattered, but a reinforcement sent
by McClernand arrived in time to take their place.
In the mean time, the attack of the Confederates redoubles in
vigor. Bragg, who forms their second line with five brigades,
has brought them successively into action, where he sees that
Hardee needs support. Three of these brigades, composing the
division of Ruggles, have crossed the ravine which covers Sher-
man^s front, and press upon the whole of his line. On the left.
Withers, with the remainder of the second corps, resumes the
fight against the remnants of the two brigades of Prentiss, and
thus enables Hardee to re-form his troops. The latter takes ad-
vantage of this to penetrate into the interval which has remained
open between the two divisions of the first FeSeral line, and
separate them irreparably. This movement is decisive. The
Confederates reach the positions occupied by McClernand in the
rear of this interval. While some charge this new adversary in
front, others rush, on the left, upon Sherman, striking him on the
flank and taking him almost in the rear. The latter sees his
Digitized by VjOOQIC
542 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
brigade on the left, which is the most exposed, give way under
such pressure. It disperses at last, leaving many guns in the
hands of the enemy. But the others, sustained by the heroic con-
duct of their leader, hold their ground ; and for another hour,
Sherman, surrounded almost on every side, gallantly defends the
position of Shiloh, the importance of which he thoroughly appre-
ciates. But towards ten o'clock he is obliged to abandon it, in
consequence of the repeated assaults of Hardee. He tries in vain
to make a stand behind the first screen of trees, where his deci-
mated soldiers again lose several guns. At last he suweeds in
occupying a good position on the left of McClernand, who is be-
ginning to be sorely pressed in his turn.
Sherman's division was considerably reduced. He had event-
ually lost important positions and left part of his artillery in the
hands of the assailants ; but through his sagacity and courage he had
gained time — precious time — ^which might save the Federals from
an irreparable disaster. His truly warlike instinct made him dis-
cover at a glance the points most easy to defend, and his indom-
itable courage rallied once more the dismayed soldiers, who would
no longer listen to the voice of any other leader. Those who
knew this officer best, generally so chary of his words and sharp
in discussion, looked upon him as a new man. Danger had re-
vealed the qualities of the great general, quick in his decisions,
clear in his orders, imparting to all, by a word, a gesture, or a
look, the ardor which fired his own breast. In the midst of this
hand-to-hand conflict, the most terrible he said himself to the
author that he has \vitnessed during his whole career, he soon be-
came the soul of resistance. Wherever he passed along, his tall
form overshadowing all disordered groups, the ranks were re-
formed and the fighting was renewed. McClernand himself, who,
a few days before, had quarrelled with him regarding the com-
mand of the army during Grant's absence, felt the power of his
influence at this trying moment, and deferentially followed all the
counsels of his colleague.
In the mean time, the battle was extending and becoming fiercer.
On the part of the Confederates, nearly the whole of their army
was engaged. A portion of Polk's corps which had deployed to
the left supported Ruggles and Hardee in their attack against
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH, 543
Sherman and McClernand. Breckenridge's reserves, extending
on the right along Lick Creek, finally met the brigade of Stuart,
the 4th of Sherman's division, which had not yet participated in
the fight, and which for a brief period made a strenuous resist-
ance. On the part of the Federals, the two divisions of W. H.
Wallace and Hurlbut, which formed a kind of second line, be-
came engaged in their turn. The first of these two generals had
sent the brigade of Mc Arthur to Stuart's assistance, but it had
not reached this general, and, while looking for him, it had met
the enemy's brigade of Withers, near the positions where Prentiss
was endeavoring to rally the remnant of his troops; It was
joined by Hurlbut's division, before which the Confederates halted
a while. Unfortunately for him, Prentiss persisted in defending
a clearing situated in front of Stuart's and Hurlbut's line, and
he found himself at last surrounded by the constantly advancing
tide of the triumphant enemy. Assailed on all sides, without
hope of assistance, he was made prisoner with three regiments,
like himself the victims of their determination and tenacity.
Encouraged by this new success, the Confederates make one
great effort on their right to secure the victory ; for it is on this
side that they desire to strike the decisive blow, and their left
has, according to their plan, gained too much ground. Sidney
Johnston at the point of greatest danger directs in person the
concentration of all his forces upon this wing, and carries his men
along by his example. At this moment he falls mortally wounded
by the bursting of a schrapnell ; but the martial ardor which he
has communicated to his soldiers survives him. Hurlbut, who
occupies alone the left centre of the Federals since Prentiss's
division has been captured or dispersed, receives their violent
shock, and is unable to resist it. The brigade of Stuart is like-
wise driven back on the extreme left. W. H. Wallace had hjist-
ened in time with his three brigades to fill up the space which
separated those two generals. He brings with him soldiers
proved in the Donelson campaign, who sustain the assault of the
enemy without flinching. But isolated in their turn, they are
compelled to take a new position, under a cross-fire which deci-
mates them and causes the loss of their general. The shock given
to the line is communicated from left to right. It is now three
Digitized by VjOOQIC
644 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
o'clock. McClernand's left, somewhat exposed by the disorderly
retreat of Ilurlbut, is again violently attacked, and the assault of
the ConfederatCH, spreading more and more, once more strikes
Sherman's division, already so terribly reduced by seven hours
of inci'ssant fighting. The right wing of the Federals is again
driven in ; but Sherman and McCIemand, who are still united,
yield their ground but slowly, and they stop upon two small hills
separated by a small ravine, which cover the road from Crump's
Landing as well as the bridge across the Snake Creek marshes.
It is of the highest im]x>rtance to keep this passage open ; for
it is through this that liCwis Wallace's division, so impatiently
looked for by the Federal commanders, must make its appearance.
While the Confederates are thus once more directing their
efforts ujwn the Federal right, which, after the first shock, finally
kee{)s them in chec^k, they allow the left one moment's respite.
The latter, although considerably disorganized, succeeds never-
theless in re-forming along the last chain of hills, which still
alone prote<*ts the wharves at Pittsburg Landing. At this critical
moment Uiey receive valuable assistance from two gunboats,
whose large shells, fired against the flank and the rear of the
Confederate columns, create astonishment and confusion in their
ranks.
The strength of both parties is becoming exhausted, and gen-
eral disorder is beginning to appear. The Confederates have lost
their leader and several other generals. The more impetuous
their first attacks, the more dearly has their success been bought
The weakness of some of the trooi)8 has been in striking contrast
with the courage of the rest. The number of stragglers and
plunderers increases the more rapidly that the camps captured
from the Federals offer them a rich prize. The Confederates,
improvident, like all young soldiers, have consumed their five
days' rations in forty-eight hours ; they have moreover left their
knapsacks behind them before going into battle, and they cannot
resist the sight of the provisions abandoned by their adversaries.
Finally, the divisions brought into action, regiment by regiment,
along a front of considerable extent, are so disconnected that no
bond exists between their different parts, and each fraction fights
on Its own account without any common direction.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 645
But on the other hand, the situation of the Federals is alarm-
ing in the extreme. They have lost all their positions and four
kilometres of ground. The enemy is master of their camps, even*
of those occupied by the second line. Five or six thousand men
have been killed or wounded and three thousand taken prisonei's.
Two divisions are completely disorganized, the other three greatly
reduce<l, and about thirty pieces of artillery have fallen into the
hands of the enemy. Only one line remains to be defended, and
in its immediate vicinity, along the banks of the river, a frantic
crowd of fugitives is pressing, whose appearance alone would be
enough to disconcert much better trained soldiers than those of
Grant. Their number is rapidly increasing as the sound of the
enemy's cannon approaches the wharves, until it reaches the figure
of seven or eight thousand men. The hours pass by witliout any
sign of Lewis Wallace's division on the battle-field, which should
make its appearance by way of the Crump's Landing road. This
road, which Sherman is defending with great pertinacity, is the
only one remaining open in case of a retreat, which has become
almost inevitable, for behind all the other Federal positions are
the impassable swamps of Snake Creek, and the army cannot go
back another step without falling into them. Wallace, apprised
of the situation by his commander, has been under arms since-
morning. The instructions of Grant, however, who feared an
attack on that side, have detained him until half-past eleven at
Crump's Landing. At last he is ordered to cross Snake Creek to>
take position on the right of the Federal line, and his soldiers march
forward with alacrity, stimulated by the sound of cannon, which
increases as they advance. But Grant's despatch did not indicate
the road he was to follow, nor did it inform him that, the Federal
right having been repulsed, he had to look for it near the mouth,
of Snake Creek. He therefore followed the road leading to the-
church of Shiloh, which would have taken him into the midst of
the enemy's battalions. It was only when he came near the stream
that he found out his mistake and the danger into which he was
running. He was placed on the right road by two of Grant's
aides-de-camp, Captain Bawlins, the faithful companion of the
latter throughout the war, and McPhereon, the young and bril*
liant officer, who, after attaining the highest rank, perished in thee
Vol. I.— 35
Digitized by VjOOQIC
646 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
very hour of triumph, and whose untimely end is still deplored
by the American army. Much precious time was wasted by these
countermarches. The first division of Buell, commanded by
Nelson, should also be already on the field of battle, for it had
reached Savannah the. evening before. Grant, on leaving his
headquarters in the morning, had ordered it to make all possible
haste to join him. But Buell, not believing that any serious
engagement was taking place, detained it until one o'clock to wait
for the vessels which were to transport it. Since the commence-
ment of the battle Nelson has been listening anxiously to the
sound of cannon, which is becoming more and more distinct ; he
was soon convinced that the enemy was gaining ground, and he
finally obtained permission to march forward by the right bank
of the river, until he found himself in front of Pittsburg Land-
ing. He started at once, leaving behind him his artillen', which
cannot follow him along the miry roads through which he pushes
his columns. But despite his ardor, it will take him yet many
hours before he can reach the scene of conflict.
In tlie mean time. Grant, who liad hastened by ten o'clock into
the hottest of the action, is not discouraged. He has pa««ed along
his lines during the whole day, trying to preserve some connec-
tion between the movements of his divisions in the midst of that
wooded country, and has been able to appreciate how dearly the
enemy has paid for his success. He knows that Nelson is approach-
ing, that Buell's army will soon follow him, that the gun-boats com-
mand the shores of the river ; and relying upon his abilitj- to hold
out till night, he already issues orders for the offensive movement
of the following day. His line, naturally contracted in propor-
tion to the extent of ground lost, is easier to defend. On the
right the two small brigades which Sherman has kept about him
-cover the Crump's Landing road ; on his left extend the divisions
of McClernand and Hurlbut, yet compact, though much weak-
ened. The divisions of Prentiss and W. H. Wallace have been
disorganized, but their remnants are again forming around die
others. While along the borders of the river a portion of the
fugitives present the sad spectacle of a rabble crazy with fright,
the rest are sjwntaneoasly forming again into regiments and provis-
ional brigades under the very fire of the enemy. Scattered among
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 547
the woods, constantly separated from their leaders, the soldiers
who desire to continue the fight — and these constitute the immense
majority — meet again within the narrow space in which the army
has been contracted, and hasten to fill the intervals of the line
already engaged. This line, however, is too short to cover all
the space comprised between the Crump's Landing road and the
banks of the Tennessee. Two fortunate circumstances enable
Grant to prolong this line on the left, along the last hills which
terminate above the river, and to raise a formidable obstacle upon
that point, the loss of which would involve that of his whole
army. On one hand, a deep ravine filled with thick brushwood
covers the whole front of those hills on the side where the right
of the Confederates, which, according to their plan, always ad-
vances first, is to approach; and on the other hand, an unex-
pected piece of good fortune has caused the park of siege artillery
recently landed to be placed in that position, when nobody sup-
posed that a battle would have to be fought so near the d6[>6ts
of the army. The heavy guns of which it was composed were
entrusted to a simple guard incapable of serving them ; but an
officer of Grant's staff. Colonel Webster, conceives the happy idea
of hastily collecting together all the cannoneers he can find who
have lost their guns, and puts them in charge of this new park of
artillery, which he places in battery together with a few field-pieces
that have escaped the disaster. The fate of the day depends upon
the preservation of these heights, whence the enemy could have
commanded Pittsburg Landing. Webster has not acted one
moment too soon, for the Confederates are about to make a des-
perate effort against the positions he defends.
But the death of Johnston has already produced its effect among
them. Their three lines are confused into one, and in this amal-
gamation of all the corps their several chiefs command, each on
his own responsibility, the troops they meet, without any concert
of action. They have divided the field of battle among them-
selves, Polk taking the left, Hardee the centre, and Bragg the
right; but this improvised arrangement cannot remedy the dis-
order which has been introduced into their ranks. Bragg, who
has found at the right wing three generals each acting according
to his own inspirations, can only unite two brigades from his own
Digitized by VjOOQIC
648 THE CIVIL WAR IX AMERICA.
corps, oommandcHl respectively bv Chalmers and Jackson, with
which to attack the f^reat Federal battery. At the sound of the
well-known voice of their chief these troops bravely march up to
tlie aNSiiult. They are retx?ived by a terrible fire from the whole
Fetleral battery, which is supported by the gun-boats stationed at
the mouth of Lick Creek. Nevertheless, at the sight of the
enemy V battalions advancing in good order, the soldiers that have
been groui>e<l together in haste to give an air of support to Web-
ster's buttery become frightenetl and scatter. It is about to be
carriinl, when a new body of troops, deploying in the rear of the
guns with as mu(»h regularity as if they were on parade-ground,
receives the Confederates with a fire that drives them back in dis-
order into the ravine. This was the brigade of Ammen, belong-
ing to Nelson's division, that rushed forward so opportunely.
Having 8ucceedi*d, by dint of perseverance, in making his way
through swamps almost impassable, Nelson had arrived with his
infantry in front of Pittsburg Landing, and had found steamers,
which immediately conveyed his soldiers from one side of the
river to the other. Not disturlxjd by seeing the frightened mass
that was crowding around the wharves, he had hastened to where
tlio noise of battle called them. It was near sunset, there being
just enough daylight left to enable the Confederates to try a last
attack. It might have proved more successful than the previous
one if it had l)een made along the whole line at once. Many of
the generals, Bragg among the rest, were preparing for it, when
an order from Beauregard, who had assumed command, caused a
suspension of the battle. This was the dibiU of the new general-
in-chief. Deceived by reports that made him believe BuelPs army
to be still far away, more impressed by the disorganization of his
own army, which he had under his eyes, than of that of the
enemy, which he should have been able to discover, he postponed
the continuation of the battle to the next day, which, as he
thought, was to witness the complete destruction of Grant's army.
That next day had some terrible surprises and bitter deceptions
in store for him.
In going into bivouac for the night, no order was observed on
the part of the Confederates. Each brigade or r^ment selected
its position at its own will ; some corps retired to a great distance
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 549
from the Federal lines ; -others, on the contrary, remained within
musket-shot of the enemy ; but on finding themselves isolated,
they also removed farther off, so that during the night the Con-
federates abandoned many of the positions they had conquered
with so much trouble the day before. In the rear of their lines
were the Federal camps, filled with a greedy multitude of strag-
glers and plunderers, who loaded themselves with spoils under
cover of the darkness. More than ten thousand wounded were
lying on the field of battle. They probably found some mitiga-
tion to their sufferings in the copious rain which was sent to re-
fresh them, and which, extinguishing the fires in the brushwood,
the inevitable consequence of a battle, preserved them at least
from a frightful death. This storm, however, contributed still
more to the prostration of the soldiers, deprived as they were of
their knapsacks, their provisions, and their overcoats. During
the entire night the two Federal gun-boats fired shells in the di-
rection of the Confederate camps every ten minutes. These enor-
mous projectiles, bursting among the trees and breaking the
branches with a dismal noise, did scarcely any harm ; but they
caused considerable uneasiness to the troops, who were so greatly
in need of rest. Those explosions, regular as the tolling of a
funeral-bell, alone interrupted the silence, which, with nightfall,
had succeeded the tumult of the day.
Grant's army was beaten, but not destroyed ; and its stubborn
resistance during the long struggle it had sustained with only
thirty-three thousand men assured the large reinforcements that
had just been added to it an easy victory for the next day over
an exhausted foe. L. Wallace had arrived about sunset with
seven thousand men, all fresh troops. Buell, on his side, before
repairing in person to Pittsburg Landing, where he was present
with Grant in all the latter part of the battle, had sent or-
ders from Savannah to all his divisions to quicken their steps.
Transports were in readiness, on board of which those reinforce-
ments embarked the same evening, and the greater portion of them
disembarked at Pittsburg Landing during the night, with the
artillery of Nelson, whose last brigade was landing at the same
time on the left bank of the Tennessee.
Before sunrise the divisions of Nelson and Crittenden, de-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
660 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ployed one in rear of the other, and led by Buell in person, had
pa.ss«l as a front line on the left. They oecupied, without strik-
ing a blow, jKirt of the jxxsitions which had been lost the evening
liefore, and sul)se<iuently abandoned by the Confederates. The
thinl division of this array, under General McCook, at last arrived
at Pittsburg Landing. As soon as it was sufficiently light to
attack the enemy Crittenden was to take position on Nelson^s
right. McCook, who followe<l thera with his first brigade, Rous-
seau's, the only one yet landed, was ordered to make a similar
movement imnuHliately after. lie would thus connect Buell's
line with L. Wallace's division, which was to extend the extreme
Fe<l('ral right as far as the lK)nlers of Snake Creek. Three regu-
lar batteries of artillery were ready to support ^ this movement.
From half-pa^t five in the morning the army of the Ohio was
advancing slowly through the woods, which were partially lighted
by the first faint glimmer of a rainy morning. The traces of the
previous day's struggle were visible everywhere — the dead and
the woundwl of both parties lying in confused heaps, carcasses of
horses, dismounted cannon and broken weapons, accoutrements
scattered over the ground, trunks of trees blackened by fire or
torn by cannon balls. The condition of the soil, softened by the
rain, and the fear of breaking their line, delayed the progress of
the Federak.
The Confederates, on their side, were in no hurry to renew the
fight. The commanders, taking no thought for that rest they had
so well deserved, had spent the night in looking up the scattered
fragments of their respective commands, and in endeavors to re-
store order in their Unas. They had not been entirely successful;
but the return of day enabled them to form again to some extent,
and to prepare for a new attack, which to them was an impera-
tive necessity. Being in want of ever}* thing, they oould not afford
to remain inactive a single day. They believed, moreover, that
they were certain of their prey, and counted upon gathering,
by an easy success, all the fruits of the bloody struggle of the
day before. Were they not, in fact, lying in the camps of the
enemy, as their new commander had promised them before the
battle?
Bragg had gone to the left to get his corps together, the greater
Digitized by VjOOQIC
8HIL0H. 551
part of which was on that side. Polk and Hardee commandcid
the centre upon the two roads from Corinth, Breckenridge the
right on the Hamburg road. But BuelFs movement did not allow
them time to take the offensive. At six o'clock in the morning
Nelson met them on the plateaux which separate the valley of
Lick Creek from that of Owl Creek. This unlooked-for attack,
together with the regularity in the fire of the new assailants, left
no doubt in Beauregard's mind as to their character. He under-
stood at once that he had liefore him another army than that he
had beaten the day before. How greatly must he then have re-
gretted both his delay of two days in leaving Corinth, and his
hesitancy to strike on the evening of the 6th a last blow which
might have proved decisive !
In tlie mean while, the Confederates, warned by their skirmish-
ers, quickly form in line, and sustain with the assurance of an
army yet victorious the first shock of Nelson's attack. The lat-
ter, being alone in line, finds himself suddenly checked, and waits
before renewing the charge for Crittenden and McCook, who are
close at hand, to deploy on his right. While this movement is
being made, the Confederates have recovered from their first sur-
prise and reconstructed their lines. In accordance with their cus-
tomary tactics, they are preparing to resume the offensive by a
sudden attack upon one of the most vulnerable points in the posi-
tions occupied by Nelson. At seven o'clock the tw^o adversaries
renew the fight by advancing against each other. Buell, deploy-
ing his three divisions, orders a movement of his w^hole line, while
Beauregard, who has concentrated all his available forces upon
his right, puts his columns in motion at the same time. The lat-
ter attack Nelson with extraordinary vigor for fatigued troops,
and the combat soon becomes general. It was long and bloody.
Beauregard meets with a resistance he had not anticipated, for he
was still in hopes that he had only a single division of Buell's
army before him. Consequently, he had gradually stripped the
whole of his line to sustain the attack on his right. At eight
o'clock in the morning the division of Cheatham, ordered back
from the neighborhood of Shiloh, brings him important assistance.
These gallant soldiers forget their fatigues of the previous day,
and show themselves as strong and as resolute as tne new adver-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
652 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
saries who have arrived during the night. The Federal left is
driven in more than once by their repeated attacks ; but Buell
always succeeds, with the aid of his excellent regular batteries, in
retrieving the fortunes of the battle, and each time he recaptures,
together with the lost ground, some guns which had been mo-
mentarily abandoned.
Nevertheless, at nine o^clock, it would seem that victory, bent
upon rewarding the unflinching valor of the Confederates, is about
to declare once more in their favor, and that the defeat of Buell
is to add new glory to that which they won the day before. The
left flank of Nelson, the nearest to the river, not being protected
by artillery, has at last been turned. The brigade of Ammen is
attacked, and resists with difficulty. The battery of TerriU, just
landed, comes up at full gallop, and takes position alongside of
it, but is soon charged by the enemy, and barely escapes by a
speedy retreat. During this time the efforts of Crittenden and
Rousseau to break the enemy's centre have been frustrated by a
wood from which they have been unable to dislodge it.
In pursuance of the plan agreed upon between the two Federal
commanders, Buell was to commence the attack on the left with
his fresh troops. Grant's divisions, so greatly tried on the pre-
vious day, were waiting for the din of battle to announce to them
the first success of their comrades to put themselves in motion.
But as we have seen, the army of the Ohio had not achieved the
easy victory it had counted upon. However, while the Confed-
erates appeared already certain of success on the right, they were
unable to gain ground in the centre, and confined themselves to
the energetic defence of that which they occupied. At last, cut
up on that side by the concentric fire of three regular batteries,
they lose several guns, together with the position which these
pieces defended. The division of Cheatham is obliged to make
a second countermarch to restore the battle at this point. His
departure paralyzes the decisive effort of the Confederates against
Nelson's left ; but his presence does not assure to the centre any
permanent success. In fact, they cannot continue for any length
of time a struggle in which they are doomed to remain stationaiy.
Little by little their attenuated lines fall back and give way,
sometimes at one point, sometimes at another. The last brigades
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 653
of McCook's division, which have just landed, arrive during the
battle, and take position between the right of Rousseau, who com-
mands the first brigade, and the left of L. Wallace; but they
cannot entirely fill up the space which remains open between the
latter division and the army of the Ohio. This gap is filled by
detachments composed of troops who have been in action the day
before, and who are stationed a little in the rear of the first line,
under the command of Hurlbut, McClernand, and Sherman.
The moment has arrived for the Federals to make a vigorous
effort. At a signal given by Buell, his three divisions under Nelson,
Crittenden, and McCook, put themselves in motion at the same
time. The soldiers of the army of the Ohio, constantly drilled
for the year past by a rigid disciplinarian, and trained by their
long marches across two entire States, are distinguished by their
discipline and their fine bearing. The steadiness with which they
march against the enemy wins the admiration of generals who,
like Sherman, have had to fight a whole day at the head of raw
and inexperienced troops. The Federal left makes one great
stride forward. Grant, who, while leaving great freedom of ac-
tion to Buell, has reserved to himself the chief direction of the
order of battle, seizes this moment to substitute a vigorous attack
for the slack firing of musketry which the skirmishers have been
keeping up since morning on his right. Hurlbut, McClernand,
and Sherman reanimate their worn-out troops by promising them
a victory which shall compensate them for the defeat of the pre-
vious day, and lead them against Beauregard's left centre. Wal-
lace, near Owl Creek, finds at last an opportunity to measure
strength with that enemy whom an unlucky chance has not al-
lowed him to meet sooner. At this moment the entire line of
both armies becomes engaged. It is ten o'clock. Fortune on
this second day has not yet pronounced in favor of either party ;
but everybody feels that her favors are already changing places.
The Confederates no longer fight with the hope of driving their
enemies into the river : the presence of a new army has made
itself too clearly manifest for them to cherish that illusion any
longer. Their leaders henceforth think only of covering their
retreat and avoiding a rout. The attack of the Federal right
menaces directly that line of retreat; for Sherman, who has not
Digitized by VjOOQIC
554 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
forge tten the little church of Shiloh, around which he has so
gallantly defended himself the day before, directs all his fore©
against that position, which commands the principal road to
Corinth: he must be stopped at all hazards. Beauregard de-
clines to take the oflFensive on his right^ already much weakened,
and speedily brings back to the centre all the troops he can
gather. True to their tactics of attacking the enemy suddenly,
even when they do not intend to pursue their success, the Con-
federates strike at once both the centre and the left of Grant's
line, which has been broken by the irregularities of the ground.
Whole regiments, and even brigades, have lost their places. Sher-
man receives tlie first shock, and is staggered by it ; McClernand
experiences a similar fate, almost at the same time. SlcCook
comes up in time to re-establish the battle on that side ; but this
movement leaves an empty space between his division and that
of Crittenden, into which the enemy rushes instantly. The con-
fusion thrown into this part of the Federal line is soon remedied
by a few batteries of regular artillery, which, as usual, are alwav^
in the thickest of the fight The Confederates, despite their
courage and their obstinacy, cannot follow up this momentary
success. Sherman attacks the Shiloh church with great vigor,
and this sanctuary, scarcely known before except to a few poor
Methodists, becomes for the second time a scene of carnage. Fi-
nally, the whole Federal line, which has again been formed by the
constant eflbrts of its commanders, advances against the enemy.
Beauregard has not waited for this movement to order a retreat.
The Confederate columns, exhausted and decimated by two days'
fighting, disappear in the density of the forest ; they turn their
backs in sadness upon that battle-field which they have vainly
drenched with their blood, and covered with their dead and
wounded, for the glory they have so dearly bought is henceforth
a barren glory.
The order for retreat was given at two o'clock. At four o'clock
the sound of the last musket-shots was dying away in the forest,
and the Federals halted on the reconquered ground. The battle
of the 7th was won ; they had repaired the defeat of the preced-
ing day. But these two days' fighting had cost them very dear;
their collective losses amounted to more than thirteen thousand
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH.
555
men, nearly eleven thousand of whom were from Grant's army
of forty thousand men. The Confederates had suffered no less ;
they acknowledged one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight
killed, eight thousand and twelve wounded, and nine hundred
and fifty-nine prisoners. Among the killed there were two gen-
erals and the rebel governor of Kentucky, and among the wounded
five generals, two of whom were generals of division — ^proof of
the courage with which the leaders had exposed themselves.
Modern history mentions, we believe, few instances of a general-
in-chief being killed, like Johnston, at the head of his troops in
the height of a great battle and in the midst of his success. The
total lossas of the Confederate army amounted to ten thousand
six hundred and ninety-nine men — that is to say, more than one-
fourth of its entire force* — but on the evening of the battle its
strength was much more reduced by the scattering of individuals
and the disorganization of cadres than by the number of men
disabled. According to the reports of the Confederate generals
themselves, they had no more than twenty thousand men answer-
ing the rolls, all of them exhausted by fatigue and hunger, dis-
couraged by so many failures, and around whom was hovering a
crowd of soldiers, scattered among the woods and along the roads,
always ready to be carried away like a whirlwind by the least
symptom of a panic, and threatening to communicate its contagion
to those around them.
The retreat towards Corinth was painful and full of suffering.
Along the road, huts, houses, churches, everything, had been
* The following is the official account of the total force of the Confederate
army before and after the battle of Shiloh :
Before the battle. After the battle.
First corps, Polk, . . .
. 9,136
6,779
Second corps, Bragg, . .
. 13,589
9,961
Third corps, Hardee,
. 6,789
4,669
Reserve, Breckinridge, .
. 6,439
4,206
Cavalry, Gardner, . .
. 4,382
4,084
40,335
29,636
Killed,
1,728
Wounded,
8,012
Prisoners,
959
10,699
Digitized by VjOOQIC
656 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
turned into hospitals. The wounded whom the army left behind
it, huddled together in miserable hovels, presented a spectacle of
every variety of human suffering to their retreating comrades.
The army equipage, the ambulances, and the artillery, confused
with the debris of so many different regiments, proceeded with
difficulty along roads broken up by the storm of the preceding
day. The care of covering this delicate operation was entrusted
to Brcokenridge, whose reserve corps had been the least engaged.
But the Federals made no serious attempt to embarrass the
retreat. Buell, thinking that his soldiers, after having been for
two consecutive days on the march, were too tired for him to take
advantage of the two hours of daylight which yet remained
when the battle was brought to a close, halted them on the field
of biittle. On the following day, the 8th, Sherman made a
simple demonstration, during which one of his regiments was
furioiLsly charged and driven in by the enemy's cavalry, a novel
feature in this war. His troops were also too much exhausted to
engage in a serious pursuit. It seems that this task might have
been entrusted to the army of the Ohio, which had suffered much
less, and which by harassing the Confederates would have greatly
aggravated their disaster. This was not done. Such inaction, it
appears, must be attributed to the want of harmony between the
two generals-in-chief, each of whom was invested with an inde-
pendent command.
The battle of Shiloh was to mark an epoch in the history of
the war we are relating. It is the firet of those desperate though
undecisive conflicts which during three years drenched the Amer-
ican continent in blood. Its duration, as well as the enormous
losses experienced on both sides, bear sufficient evidence to the
stubbornness of the combatants. Like nearly all those battles, its
scene of action was a forest interspersed with but few clearings —
a circumstance which should never be lost sight of in the study of
this war. On such ground the generals-in-chief cannot be ex-
pected to combine great concerted movements, and to handle their
armies as on a drill-ground. Grant, having come from Savannah
at the first booming of cannon, e\yeiit the day in running from one
end of his line to the other, trying to re-form and rally his sol-
diers, without sparing himself; he could do no more. On their
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH, 557
own side, Johnston and Beauregard, after having conceived a
simple plan and explained it to their subordinates, found them-
selves almost constantly obliged to direct the operations over the
limited space of ground they could embrace at a glance; they
both displayed great personal bravery.
The errors committed on both sides are easily discernible. Not-
withstanding Halleck's instructions. Grant and his generals had
neglected to fortify their positions. They aggravated this fault
by the carelessness with which they guarded their lines ; conse-
quently, the attack was a perfect surprise to them. Moreover, in
placing L. Wallace's division so far away as Crump's Landing,
Grant neglected to secure easy communications with it, which
would have enabled him to bring it upon the field of battle to-
wards the middle of the first day. Buell had marched from
Nashville to Columbia with a degree of tardiness that could
hardly have been accounted for by those even who knew how
much time he required to put a division in motion on the drill-
field, if there had not been a cause and an excuse for such tardi-
ness in Halleck's and Grant's despatches. Once beyond Duck
River, he accelerated his pace, and one might unhesitatingly praise
his promptitude in forwarding part of his army from Savannah to
Pittsburg by water if he had not at the same time compelled
Nelson to wait four hours, which prevented the latter from reach-
ing the field of battle before evening ; by this delay his colleague
came near being crushed. Let us add also that if the honor of
the victory of the 7th falls mostly upon him, one has good reason
to be astonished that he did not follow up that success with more
vigor when he clearly saw the design of the enemy to retreat.
The Confederates were unfortunate in the choice of the day for
their attack. If they had fought the battle twenty-four hours
sooner, they would only have had Grant to cope with ; if they had
waited a few days longer, the arrival of Van Dorn in their camp
would have largely neutralized that of Buell at Pittsburg Land-
ing. They had only themselves to blame for that misfortune ;
they had hesitated at first, had delayed from day to day, then de-
termined too suddenly to act. It is difficult to conceive why, on
the field of battle, they wanted to push their right wing forward.
In doing this they brought it closer to the Tennessee, and exposed
Digitized by VjOOQIC
668 THE CIVIL WAR IX AMERICA.
It to the fire of the Fc<lcral gunboats, and they were obliged to
cn)ss, near their mouths, all the little streams which fell perpen-
dicularly into the river, instead of turning their sources. By at-
tacking with the left wing, on the contrarj', they would have
driven the Ftnlorals back to the river bank, always preserving
over thorn the advantage of dominant positions. We are also of
opinion that they committed a grave mistake in deploying the
diflerent wrjw in sucot^ssive lines along the whole front of the
army, instead of entrusting a part of that front to each corps,
ils(»lf formed on several lines. In fact, from the outset of the
l)attlc, the second line came to the assistance of the first, to sup-
port it where it was falling back, and to occupy the intervals
oi>cned by the fire of the enemy. Before noon the third line be-
came in its turn engaged in the same manner, here forming a re-
serve, there going to the relief of some exhausted and disorgan-
ized corps ; so that during the heiglit of the engagement the three
linos found themselves completely entangled with one another.
Divisions, brigades, and even regiments being broken up and min-
gled, the generals could no longer get their commands together,
and that system, the real sinew of armies, which is called the
hierarchical organization, being destroyed, all command of the
whole l)eoame impossible. In short, among the Confederate oflS-
cers there were many who accused Beauregard of having been in
too great a hurry to give up the chances on the evening of the
first day of gathering all the fruits of his success, and of ha\4ng
thus lost the only opjwrtunity of driving the invading army far oflF.
After the battle of Shiloh both sides claimed the victory, but
l)oth parties also indulged in serious reflections ui)on that bloody
fight. Notwithstanding the pompous despatches of Beauregard,*
the Confederates felt that such a victory exacteil new sacrifices on
* Beanreirani announced to Mr. Davis a complete victory, only adding, in
conclusion, that he had fallen back upon Corinth when he Baw Grant reinforced
by Buell. He also wrote a letter to Grant, after the battle, in which he appears
to exciih^ liimself for having been beaten, and to reproach his opponent for hav-
ing rcrcived reinforcements during the battle. This letter begins thus: *' April
Cth; Sir, at the close of yesterday's battle, my troops being exhausted by the
extraonlinary length of time they were engaged with yours on that and the pre-
ceding day, and as it was evident that you had received, and were still receiv-
ing, reinforcements, I deemed it my duty to withdraw my troops from tlie scene
of action."
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SHILOH. 559
their part. The army of the Mississippi, after the cruel retreat
from Shiloh to Corinth, could not indulge in any self-deception
concerning the struggle it Jiad just undergone ; but it could boast
of having fought gallantly, and washed out, in its own blood, the
humiliating remembrance of Fort Donelson.
The Federals had received a great and wholesome lesson : it
could not be lost upon men of such sterling worth as Grant and
Sherman. Henceforth both officers and men felt the necessity
of constant vigilance, for they were all learning their trade at
once in this great and severe school. The nation, enlightened by
that universal publicity which has become so deeply grafted upon
its customs, was perfectly aware that the success of the second
day had been preceded by a bloody defeat ; and far from being
carried away by the cries of victor}', it set itself earnestly to work
to sustain the struggle, the terrible magnitude of which it was at
last beginning to appreciate. Up to the present time, in fact, the
general impression had been that one or two battles would suffice
to decide the fate of the continent; and Grant himself had been
led astray by this popular delusion. When the Confederate army
was seen to recover so speedily from the disaster of Donelson, and
to strike such a terrible blow at the conquerors, who were already
flattering themselves that they had nothing but easy successes be-
fore them, people at last began to understand that, in asking for
200,000 men to conquer the West, Sherman had been right,
against all the world. To use another expression of this remark-
able man — as profound a thinker as he was just and intrepid in
action — " It was necessary that a combat fierce and bitter, to test
the manhood of the two armies, should come off, and for such
a struggle the battle-field of Pittsburg was as good as any other.''
It was, in fact, from the date of this battle that the two armies
learned to know and to respect each other. Taught by the expe-
rience thus gained, their generals felt that so long as such armies
continued in the field the struggle between the North and the
South would not come to an end. Hitherto their object on both
sides had been to capture or defend certain positions, rivers, and
territories. Beauregard, in the East, had thought of nothing but
the defence of Manassas. In the West everything had been sacri-
ficed by the Confederates in order to preserve the countless forti-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
B60 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
fications upon which thoy thought depended the possession of the
central States — Mill Springs, Bowling Green, Donelsou, Fort
Henr}% Columbus, and Island No. 10; the main object of all
the efforts of the Federals had been to wrest these positions,
rivers, and territories from their opponents. Johnston and Beau-
regard, whatever may have been their individual share in this new
idea, put into practice at Shiloh an entirely new plan, and their
efforts were solely directed to the destruction of the enemy's army.
If this well-conceived plan had not been frustrated by the arrival
of Buell, the ri'isults of their victory would have demonstrated the
correctn(»ss of their calculations. Grant, having only his^ own
forces to dei)end upon on the 7th, would have been crushed;
Van Dom, arriving a few days later, would have enabled the
Confederate army to make Buell pay dear for his hazardous
march from Nashville to Savannah. The armies of invasion
once disjiersod, ten new fortifications as strong as Donelson or
Columbus might have been erected along the line of the rivers,
which would have closed their navigation against the Federal
gun-boats ; the positions conquered by the North after so many
efforts would have fallen of themselves, and the war would have
been carried back to the borders of the Ohio and the Missouri.
During these hours of anxiety, when he saw his array driven
back to the river which was to engulf it. Grant no doubt made
all these reflections ; and from that time he never ceased to repeat
that the main object of war should be the destruction of the
enemy's armies rather than the conquest of such or such portions
of territory. He saw nothing in such territory except the re-
sources in men, provisions, and materiel which the armies could
derive from it ; he only disputed it with his adversaries so long
as it was necessary to deprive them of those resources, deeming it
more important to cut railways, to destroy d6p6ts, and to prevent
all possible concentration of provisions than to occupy a vast ex-
tent of country.
The battle of Shiloh might therefore have proved fatal to the
Federals. Notwithstanding its undecided issue, and although
tlie Confederates retired with the honors of war, it was destined
to be pnxluctive of fatal consequences to them, for it again com-
pelled them to assume a strictly defensive attitude, while it enabled
Digitized by VjOOQIC
SHILOH. 561
their adversaries to mass at leisure all the forces required to break
the new line of which Corinth was the principal centre.
The shock, however, had been so severe that both parties felt
an imperative need of rest and reorganization. We shall take
advantage of it to return with the reader to the east of the Alle-
ghanies ; for since the battle of Pea Ridge no military event de-
serving of mention has occurred in the far "West* The conflicts
at Independence, in Missouri, where the Confederate Quantrell
was routed on the 22d of March, and those of Neosho, near the
Arkansas frontier, where the Federal cavalry dispersed a few
Confederate guerillas, were of no importance^ even for those un-
inhabited regions. Price, who remained alone to watch Curtis
from a long distance, while Van Dom was marching upon Mem-
phis, was assembling, east of the Ozark Mountains, all the Mis-
sourians whom the prestige of his name always collected around
him, and was preparing to lead them, as soon as he had gathered
a suflScient number, to the great rendezvous at Corinth. Whea
at last, towards the beginning of April, he took up his line of
march, following the course of White River, to approach the Mis-^
sissippi, the cavalry of Curtis followed him at a distance, recon-
noitring the country, and occasionally engaging his rear-guard
in some slight skirmishes.
Vol. L— 3«
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CHAPTER III.
BOANOKE.
TnE terrible battle of Shiloh, as we have just stated^ was full
of useful lot^sous for both North and South. In order to
continue the desperate struggle of which it, so to speak, marked
but the beginning, and to keep up the full complement of armies
which lost one-fourth of their eflPective force in a single day, it re-
quired the mustering of a large number of men into the service
at any cost. The Richmond government already felt this, but
thus far it had only succeeded in deceiving itself. We have seen
under what delusion Sidney Johnston and Beaur^ard had la-
bored, by comparing the actual forces placed under their com-
mand with the fictitious total of troops furnished them by the
Secretary of War. The Confederate government made a new
and jwwerful effort to fill up the cadres of its armies during the
month of April, 1862. This affords us a favorable opportunity
for casting a rapid glance at all the measures of this kind that
were adopted from the day when it unfurled the standard of civil
war, up to the period when the machinery it had called into exist-
ence to secure all the able-bodied men of the country was in full
operation — ^that is to say, down to the fall of 1862. The history
of a war, and especially a war like this, in which armies were im-
provised in all their parts, would not be complete without some
details regarding the administrative processes which supplied those
mrmics, and sometimes exercised a decisive influence upon the
issue of the struggle. We have related elsewhere how the first
volunteers were obtained in the insurgent States for the purj^ose
of resisting the Federal authority. When Mr. Davis sought to
give them a general organization, and to centralize the resources
of the slave States, he met with but little success. The number
of troops raised by local initiative was considerable; but each
5^2
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE. 563
State, adhering strictly to the principle of State sovereignty,
wished. to keep those troops for the exclusive defence of its own
soil. A struggle for power and influence began between the
States which, being threatened with invasion, did not want to
sacrifice themselves for tlieir neighbors and for the Confederate
government, which, while directing general operations, took no
notice of those particular interests. *Mr. Davis and the central
power, pleading the stern necessities of war, finally got the better
of those earnest and plain-spoken men who had placed a literal
construction upon the programme of secession. But this was not
done without trouble, and the most despotic ma\sures had to be
resorted to to conquer all resistance. Thus, about the time of
which we have just been speaking, Beauregard received informa-
tion that one of the best divisions in the army of the Mississippi —
that of Hindman, composed of soldiers from Arkansas — was strik-
ing camp and preparing to leave for home. It had been sum-
moned by the governor of its own State to repel the invasion of
Curtis. Beauregard hastened to the spot. This occurred shortly
before the battle of Shiloh, and the Confederate army would have
been lost by this kind of desertion ; but Hindman had received
positive instructions from his own State, whose authority he con-
sidered paramount to all others, and in spite of every argument
he was preparing to obey them, when Bcaur(^rd, assuming a
defiant attitude, treated this desertion as a mutiny, and threatened
to kill with his own hand the fii^t officer or soldier who should
leave the camp. Sustained by the rest of the army, which saw
its own ruin in this departure, he succeeded iij intimidating Hind-
man's soldiers, and in shaking the resolution of their leaders.
They remained ; and from that time the orders of particular States
no longer prevailed against those of the Richmond cabinet. But
it required more than a year to secure the supremacy of the latter ;
and this occurrence, which took place in 1862, will convey some
idea of the difficulties which the delegates of that government had
to encounter at the 'lutset of the war. In the month of April,
1861, although six weeks had already elapsed since the call for
one hundred thousand men, of which mention has been made,
although the popular enthusiasm had caused a large number of
volunteers to assemble at every point of the slave territory, Mr.
Digitized by CjOOQIC
664 THE CIVIL WAR jy AMERICA,
DavLs had only bwn able to get thirty-five thousand men among
them to enlist in the service of the central government. This
was a vexy small nunil)er ; but the people of the South, who, in
an unguanlcd moment, had overthrown the mild authority of the
Ftnlend government, manifcste<l but little zeal in behalf of the
dfsjH)tism which succootled it. They still indulged in some illu-
Bions; but it was too late to draw back. Having irrevocably
pluiigdl into the fatal jKitlis of rebellion, they were obliged to
acci'pt all the constHjuences, and to pass through extreme condi-
tions which they had been far from anticipating.
Every time tliat a new event occurred to enlighten the North
as to the gravity of the situation and to call for greater sacrifices,
the rel)ound was immediately felt in the South, who responde<l on
her part by some new effort.
We have seen that, on hearing of the capture of Fort Sumter,
the North had rt»s|)onde<l with enthusiasm to the call of the
President for three hundred thousand volunteers. This national
movement proved to the majority of the Southern people that
the armed peace, the maintenance of which their leaders still
promised them, was a chimera. The reconciliation which the
North proposed to them wounded their angry spirits as a humil-
iation. They freely accepted the war. Volunteer regiments were
immediately offered en masse to President Davis. A new law of
the Congress authorized him, on the 9th of May, to organize
regiments himself, by accepting such companies as might be
raised in the different States ; and on the 16th of May the defini-
tive organization of the Confederate army was decreed.
But, after all, this organization was nothing but a confirmation
of the rules which had governed the formation of the provisional
army, and did not differ in any material point from that of the
Federal volunteers. The only difference was that it instituted a
higher grade, that of genercd, which was conferred upon a few
officers appointed to the principal commands, and which they
were to retain in the regular army after the disbanding of the
volunteers. At a later period there was added yet another inter-
mediate grade, that of lietUenant-generaly so that there were four
grades of general officers — ^brigadier-generals, major-generals,
lieutenant-generals, and generals. This variety of ranks and
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE. 566
distinctions pleased the Southern people, who fancied that they
were thereby giving themselves an aristocratic polish.
As we have stated, the third levy of volunteers in the North
was ordered on the day following the battle of Bull Run, and it
was the excitement caused by that defeat which chiefly stimulated
them to enlist. This new effort on the part of an adversary who
rose up at the moment he was believed to be crushed excited a
similar ardor in the South ; it was the occasion of a third call for
troops by the government of the Confederacy, and the cause of
the alacrity with which this call was responded to. On the 22d
of July Mr. Lincoln was authorized to raise five hundred thou-
sand volunteers to serve for three years at the utmost. On the
8th of August Mr. Davis received similar authority from his own
Congress to raise four hundred thousand volunteers, enlisted for
the same period of three years at most, one year at least. The
Confederate government had then about two hundred and ton
thousand soldiers under arms ; it had, therefore, of the four hun-
dred thousand called for, one hundred and ninety thousand men
yet to enlist. In the course of that year it succeeiled in raising
one hundred and forty thousand men, fifty thousand of whom
came from those States which, while acknowledging more or less
the Federal authority, contained nevertheless a large number of
inhabitants who sympathized with the cause of the South. Most
of them voluntarily came forward to serve her ; a large number,
however, were carried off by cavalry raids {razzias) in the dis-
puted districts of Kentucky and Missouri, and forcibly incorpor-
ated into the Confederate army. By this means the total of
three hundred and fifty thousand volunteers, above mentioned,
was reached by the end of 1861.
It was with these forces that the Confederate government re-
sisted, during the year 1861, the ill-directed efforts of its adver-
saries ; but when the war had attained its true porportions, at the
beginning of 1 862, these forces were no longer sufficient. We have
shown how, after the battle of Bull Run, the Federals, who were
faintly prosecuting a campaign which they had not the means of
rendering decisive, employed the autumn in organizing numerous
armies which were subsequently to form into line under McClel-
]an, Buell, and Grant. The Confederate government, appreciat-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
tnj5 the danger which tlireatened it, was making analogous efforts.
But it soon discovered their inefficiency, and was obliged to resort
to other means. During the great operations of 1862 the Federal
armies continued to be reiTuited in the same manner as before ;
it was far othenvL*^ with the armies of the Confederacy. The
former were constantly supplied with volunteers whom the boun-
ti(*s, liigh pay, and other nobler motives induced to rally around
the flag, while the draft which was resorted to at a somewhat
later pericxl was productive of utterly insignificant results. This
hkhIc of recruiting was, on the contrary', since 1862 the principal
resource of the Confederate armies, which before long were entirely
composed of conscripts. The three hundred and fifty thousand
men who had gradually filled their ranks within the space of one
year, and had arrived in time to keep the constantly increasing
fori'cs of the Federals in check along an extensive frontier, had
suflfered greatly for the important service rendered to their cause.
In the absence of blo(xly battles, sickness had already cruelly
trie<l thc^se improvised armies ; then they were discouraged by the
disasters they had sustained in the West at the outset of the cam-
paign of 18G2. Desertion, under the influence of physical and
moral prostration, assumed frightful proportions — so much so,
indeed, that in February they were already materially reduced.
The first moments of enthusiasm had passed away. On one
hand, the volunteers whom that enthusiasm had prompted to join
the ranks were impatiently waiting for the day when the expira-
tion of their year's term of service should restore them their
freedom ; on the other hand, those who the preceding year had
resisted the pressure of public opinion cared still less to put oa
the uniform now, when they had a better understanding of the
privations and dangers of a soldier's life. Conseciuently, at the
time when ever)' preparation was being made in the North for
striking a truly effective blow, the Confederate armies were on
the eve of dissolution.
It was a trying hour. It would probably have marked the
downfall of the Confederacy if the central government had not
boldly thrown aside the mask of pretended respect for the auton-
omy of the States, which it had worn until then. It turned a
deaf ear to the tardy remonstrances of those who, having essayed
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE. 567
the dangerous game of revolution against a national and popular
government, were now complaining of the consequences. The
danger was imminent, and the government met it by resorting to
extreme measures. The strong hand of Mr. Davis set all the
engines in motion which had been prepared in anticipation of this
crisis. The enlistments were suspended, and the country was be-
ginning to feel exhausted. It was important to find some means
to retain, at any expense, the soldiers who were in the service, and
to fill the gaps which the enemy and disease made daily in their
ranks. Such was the double purpose the Confederate government
had in view. In order to comprise all the laws concerning en-
listments, into the same chapter, we propose to speak of them in
detail after having disposed of the year 1862, and shall confine
ourselves at present to a summary view.
The government began by addressing the volunteers whose
term of service was about to expire, and in order to induce them
to re-enlist for another year offered them two months' leave of
absence. Some time after, when its authority was felt to rest on a
firmer foundation, it did not keep its mild promise. The leave
of absence which had been proffered threatened to bring about a
desertion en masse at a singularly critical moment. The volun-
teers were allowed to re-enlist for the duration of the war, or for
not less than two years, on condition that they should not leave
their ranks ; and as a kind of compensation, they were allowed the
privilege of changing their oflBcers and of electing new ones. This
permission was, in fact, an order, for the rule of political euphem-
isms was now established. So, when some regiments hesitated to
avail themselves of this permission, they were treated as seditious,
and the most refractory soldiers, on the point of being shot, only
saved their lives by the prompt signature of their comrades to the
compact of a new enlistment. Finally, in order not to lose the ser-
vices of any one of those volunteers who were beginning to regret
their first enthusiasm, the term of service of those who, when once
set legally free, would be placed by their age beyond the reach of
conscription, was lengthened for periods of three months repeated.
It was ordered that they should not, under any circumstances,
leave the service until the effective force of the regiment to which
they belonged was complete. All these violent measures, how-
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568 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ever, were insufficient ; they prevented the immediate dissolution
of the armies, but they could not repair the losses to any great
extent
It was necessary to reach all that able-bodied portion of the
population that had remained at home when the organization of
volunteers took place. Consequently, from the 15th of April,
1862, the conscription was established in all its rigor. The law
regulating its operations, which we propose to analyze hereafter,
continued in force until the last days of the Confederacy, and
soon entirely replaced voluntary enlistments. Able-bodied men
over eighteen years of age and under thirty-five were placed as a
class at the disposal of the executive power, which was finally
able to dispense with all formalities, such as drawing lots or di-
viding into classes, which in other countries tend to lighten the
burden of this blood-tax. It applied the simple process^ and
expedients practiced in France during the first empire. All who
desired to avoid the conscription were allowed one month's time
to enlist voluntarily. Men over thirty-five years of age, who
were thereby exempted from serving in the Confederate army,
were enrolled into the militia up to the age of fifty-five. It is
true that such troops were not obliged to fight except upon the
soil of the State to which they belonged ; but as the war had been
carried more or less into the territory of all the rebel States, the mi-
litia had no more chance of escaping the hardships of active ser-
vice than the conscripts. Indeed, their duties were the same as
those performed by the other contingents.
After having once determined upon such a measure, it was im-
portant to carry it out as thoroughly as possible, in order to turn
all the resources of the Confederacy to account. The more those
resources became exhausted, the greater the necessity for a rigor-
ous application of the conscription law. All able-bodied men
who, without special exemption, remained away from the army
were evidently deserters or recusants. In seizing them, there-
fore, wherever found, and sending them to join the army without
any other formality, there could be no trespassing the limits of
the law. A fanatical portion of the population, eagerly adopting
the calling of informers, assisted the agents of the central power
in hunting conscripts; and these agents carried their despotism to
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE. 569
the remotest comers of the Confederacy. Everything conspired,
moreover, to strengthen and confirm this despotism; the very
forms of liberty were rejected, and Congress, holding only secret
sessions, became the blind instrument of the executive power.
After this rapid glance at the mode by which the secession
leaders had raised their army, no one need be astonished at the
severe discipline introduced into their ranks from the outset.
They had been accustomed to enforce it upon their slaves. It
would be more correct to say, however, that the soldiers were at
times turbulent, but that the want of discipline was corrected
by means almost always violent. Most of their officers had been
taught to entertain but little regard for the lives of others ; and
from the first gathering of volunteers, bloody punishments, sum-
mary or judicial, were inflicted, without exciting any of that
oppasition which would have been encountered in the North.
Numerous executions were the means of quelling the attempts at
revolt which the conflicts between the State authorities and the
central power, or the irregularity of pay, frequently gave rise to
at the commencement ; and the least suspicion of desertion, even
to the interior, was mercilessly punished with death.
We have stated that the want of d6p6ts had been a constant
source of weakness to the Federal army, that regiments had been
reduced to skeletons for want of recruits, and that the bounties
had failed to keep up their effective force; the consolidation,
which was only introduced at the close of the war, had no other
effect than to unite the old regiments, whereas it should liave
merged the new regiments into the old ones. When conscription
was resorted to, the niimber of men furnished by that process was
so insignificant that it would not have sufficed to form d^pdts
capable of supplying the regiments in the field. In fact, this
local conscription, which was only brought into operation for the
purpose of completing the figure required for those contingents
which had not been filled up by voluntary enlistments, differed
entirely from that which prevailed in the Confederate States in
1862. In the South, all able-bodied men being enlisted, there
was no longer any fixed limit for the contingent due from each
State ; ijonsequently, the States had no longer any interest to en-
courage voluntary enlistments as in the North, where, the quota
Digitized by VjOOQIC
670 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
of each State having once been furnished, no further demands
could l>e made ui)on it. The result, as ^e have said, was that
the re<Tuiting of the army was soon exclusively carried on by
conscription. The central government was constantly obliged to
intervene in onler to enforce its application ; and leaving the con-
tn)l of the militia to the special authorities of the States, it finally
sul)stituted its own acti(m for theirs in the organization of other
tr(H)ps. It thus fotind itself freed from all the embarrassments
which the rights of the States and the enlistment contract entered
into with the volunteer imposal upon the authorities of Washing-
ton. It could disjHyse, as freely as any European government,
of the soldiers whom the law had authorized it to raise. It made
a^e of this power without any reservation whatever. Camps of
instruction were formed during the early part of the war for the
purpose of assembling and organizing the volunteers ; these camps
were further exteinled, and became permanent d6|)6ts for drilling
recruits and for maintaining the effe(*tive strength of the regiments
in the field. As the wnscript^s of the South had no choice of regi-
ment when once taken by the recruiting officers, they were promis-
cuously forwanled to one of these ddj)6ts. There they remained,
simply divi<letl by States, until the day when they were put on
the nmwh to join one of the armies in the field, and to be in-
corporated into those regiments of their own State which most
needed n»inforcements. This proceeding was certainly much at
variance with Southern theories regarding the sovereignty of
Stattv, but it rendered the armies of the Confederacy more homo-
geneous, and thus assured them, for a time, a decided superiority
over their adversaries.
Both parties, it is seen, were eagerly preparing for the struggle.
If the conflict did not commence as soon in the East as on the
great rivers of the West, it was the absence of those ever-open
highways, together with the importance of the game about to be
played, and not the want of military resources, which kept the
combatants apart.
AVe lellt the army of the Potomac in its quarters around Wash-
ington at the close of 1861, organizing for the great campaign
which was to open — at least it was so hoped — the gates of Rich-
mond to the Federal troop in the spring. Nothing had been
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE. 671
spared in the preparation of this campaign. The nation had been
prodigal of men and money ; the government had placed all its
resources at the disposal of the new commander-in-chief, and he
was applying himself with indefatigable zeal to turn them to
account. A few mistakes, some trivial errors and imprudences
committed by the civil and military authorities, were unfor-
tunately destined to compromise the results of so many efforts,
even before the season permitted the army to take the field.
We have seen what a fatal influence political considerations had
exercised over military operations in Virginia since the beginning
of the war, owing to the situation of Washington. The army of
the Potomac, having its headquarters in the Federal capital, was
therefore in the President's hands and under the eyes of Con-
gress, and was doomed to see the civil authority, controlled by a
wild ardor or miserable intrigues, constantly interfering with its
management. Moreover, being entrusted with the defence of this
capital, it could not move one step away from it without causing
inquietude to those even who were loudest in denouncing its in-
action. Consequently, during the four years of its collective ex-
istence, it had to struggle against unjust impatience and puerile
alarms, which frequently lost it the fruits of long labors and
painful sacrifices.
After the severe lesson of Bull Run, however, the good sense
of the public silenced the clamors of criticism. General McClel-
lan knew how to make excellent use of this respite ; but he de-
ceived himself as to its duration. Shortly after the disaster of
Ball's Bluff, his elevation to the supreme command of the army
entailed upon him the most overwhelming cares ; the reorganiza-
tion of all the armies of the republic, and the plans for combined
action he had conceived, no longer allowed him to think of put-
ting the troops, the command of which he had especially reserved
for himself, immediately in the field. The people, who placed at
first entire confidence in the young general, and properly mistrust-
ed their own judgment, had easily become reconciled to a long
inaction during those months when the season might yet have
admitted of military operations. But their patience began to give
out when the opportunity had passed, just as the coming of win-
ter doomed the army of the Potomac to several months of inao-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
672 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
tivity. The soldiers, fas<*inated by the attractions of a life which
was new to theiu; tlic lower officers, stimulated by the hope of
some distinction — ^all were anxious to take their revenge without
delay, and it required all the authority their general had estab-
lished among them to make them bear this long inaction without
a murmur. The leaders, on the coatrary, deeply impressed with
a sense of their respoasibility, with sufficient experience to see all
that was wanting in their men, and forgetting at times that their
adversaries were in a similar condition, were nearly all desirous
of pa^ti>oning the o})euiug of the campaign until spring.
This delay certainly iuvolve<l some serious military and polit-
ical disappointments ; but its most fatal consequences must be at-
tributeil to the spirit of party, which sought to employ it for its
own purposes. President Lincoln and General McClellan, al-
though differing widely in character and disposition, might easily
have come to an understanding, for they were actuated by a pat-
riotism equally disinterested. But the latter belonged to the Dem-
ocratic i^arty, which had opposed the election of the former. In
America, where everybody entertains an opinion, and must ad-
here to it not to lose influence, the party which attains to power
is very exclusive in the distribution of places and favors. Con-
sequently, the nomination of General McClellan, and several other
officers of the same party, to im[X)rtant commands, was regarded
as a significant fact. It was construed as a pledge of patriotic
harmony among all those who remained loyal to the national
cause. But this kind of reconciliation could not extinguish party
jealousies and personal animosities. The most intolerant among
those who had carried Mr. Lincoln into power could not forgive
the young Democratic general for the high position he had
achieve<l, and both in Congressional committees and in the bu-
reaux of the War Department the interests of the army were
more than once sacrificed to their unjust prejudices against him.
On the other hand, the late opponents of Mr. Lincoln, although
they had rallied around him in defence of the Union when men-
aced, were nevertheless convinced that his election was the cause
of all the public misfortunes. Attached to Greneral McClellan by
old personal and political ties, they delighted in beholding in him
the future chief of their party and the representative of all their
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE, 573
ideas. They replied to the attacks of their adversaries with
threats. Their language, always imprudent, and even reprehen-
sible, although spoken in low tones, was at last heard by a people
noted for their scrupulous observance of the formalities of law,
and always mistrustful of military chieftains. Too much ab-
sorbed by other cares, General McClellan was unable to silence
his dangerous friends, and thus more than once his own. acts were
distorted in a manner which his conscience loudly repudiated. On
one occasion, as he was paying a just tribute of respect to the
qualities of his adversaries, in language full of dignity and pro-
priety, there happened to be by his side some old political allies
of the South, who ventured to express a hope that they might
soon, find auxiliaries in them against the "accursed abolitionists."
They wished to convey the impression that the first victory of the
army of the Potomac would enable its chief to play the part of a
mediator, to impose a peace of their own choosing upon both the
government of Washington and that of Richmond, pretending
that they saw a deep political combination in the inaction to which
McClellan was condemned by the difficulties of his task. His
loyalty, his patriotism, and the character of the American people
fortunately rendered all such dreams perfectly chimerical; but
they affijrded a plausible pretext to his enemies, and the honest
soul of President Lincoln was. more than once troubled by it.
These seeds of mistrust brought forth fruits fatal to the Federal
cause. In representing General McClellan to Mr. Lincoln as an
ambitious politician, he was persuaded to interfere personally in
military affairs. The practical good sense and innate uprightness
which had won the latter the appellation of " Honest Abraham "
failed him on this occasion. He brought his legal habitudes to
questions the solution of which admitted of no compromise.
While leaving the responsibility of command to McClellan, he
thought he could withdraw from him a portion of that confidence
he had manifested in him until then. He thought himself skilful
in allaying the prejudices of some, and the ambition of others, by
creating military commands for politicians, and giving them di-
visions, as wo bestow diplomatic or administrative posts. In
short, being surrounded by cabinet strategists, he ended in be-
lieving himself capable of directing military operations. We
Digitized by VjOOQIC
574 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
shall presently see what frightful disasters he thus brought upoa
the Federal armies. But he prepared their reverses even before
they had taken the field, for he never would either frankly reject
or accept the plans which the commander-in-chief submitted for
his approbation.
The day had gone by when Mr. Lincoln, unexpected, alone,
and on foot, would make an evening visit to the little house
which served as the headquarters of the army of the Potomac,
take an interest in all the details of the work undertaken by
General McClellan, and have them explained to him, aiding and
encouraging the general with all his power ; when at other times,
while waiting for McClellan, he would take a seat in a corner by
the fire, among some officers, to listen to the 'stories of old sol-
diers of the Mexican war, or to repeat to the youngest among
them, with his habitual good nature, one of his favorite anecdote.
General McClellan, overburdened with work, had been seized
with typhoid fever, which was then raging in Washington, and
seemed about to succumb on his bed of suffering. At the time
we have now reached, the army, shut up in its quarters by the
mud, no longer possessed even the distraction of manoeuvres and
drills. Their chiefs naturally came to spend their hours of forced
leisure in the capital, and it was difficult for them to escape from
the thousands of intrigues so easily carried on in a small city in
which a great government resides. A committee appointed by
both houses of Congress in the month of December, for the pur-
pose of inquiring into the conduct of the war, had become the
instrument of all the prejudices excited against McClellan and a
certain number of his subordinates. So long as this committee
confined itself, in the exercise of that vigilance which appertains
to the supreme councils of the nation, to matters connected with the
general conduct of the war, its influence was salutary. In requir-
ing generals and civil functionaries to appear at its bar ; in exam-
ining their past conduct, compelling their evidence, and thus collect-
ing valuable documents both for the present and for future his-
tor}', — it enlightened the country and placed a wholesome restraint
upon men discharging public functions. But we have only to
look into one of the seven volumes in which its labors are recorded
to see that the committee did not confine itself to this task. Being
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE, 575
compiiBed of men utterly unacquainted with military matters and
the rules of discipline, this secret tribunal proceeded to interrogate
subordinate officers regarding the campaign plans of their chiefs^
encouraged their criticisms, addressed to them the strangest ques-
tions to gratify a childish curiosity, and meddled with everything
without being responsible for anything. For several months this
committee did nothing else but try Greneral McCIellan and the
officers who had the misfortune to displease the extreme radicals.
The President himself, being obliged to act with this committee,
too frequently followed its baneful suggestions, to the injury of
the Federal armies.
The patience of the people reached at last those bounds which
General McCIellan had not foreseen. The pressure of public
opinion upon Mr. Lincoln became too strong for him to resist it :
he would have liked, he said, " to have borrowed the army for a
few days, on condition," as he quaintly added, " of knowing what
to do with it." This is precisely where the difficulty lay. What,
in fact, was the army of the Potomac to do in response to the cry
which was urging it on to Richmond ? On what ground was it
to seek revenge for Bull Run from Johnston's soldiers ?
Winter had found the latter still occupying the battle-field of
the 21st of July. Bad weather had converted the few leagues of
country which separated them from the Federal cantonments into
an impassable barrier, and their number was much reduced. It
was difficult to subsist at Manassas during that season the great
army that had been waiting for McClellan's attack until the end
of the year, and which then had numbered nearly one hundred
thousand men. A portion of those troops, perfectly useless in
Virginia, might have been of great service in the West, where
the fitting out of Foote's fleet indicated the approach of military
operations. Consequently, during the first two months of the year
a detachment of about fourteen thousand men was sent from John-
ston's army to that of Beauregard, who, as we have said, was
earnestly calling for some of his old soldiers of Bull Run. We
have seen at the battle of Shiloh that he had good cause to rely
upon them. Manassas Junction was the central point of the long
Confederate line, extending from the foot of the Blue Ridge, at
Leesburg, as &r as the confluence of the Occoquan and the Poto-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
676 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
mac. A grrat portion of it was covered by the course of Bull
Run. Johnston had the tact to magnify the number of his forces
in the North as well as in the South ; but it was well known to
th6 general staff of the Federals that in the banning of 1862 he
had only fifty-three or fifty-five thousand men of all arms on that
line; that on the right the lower course of the Potomac was
guarded by about ten thousand men ; and that Jackson, on the
left, o('<'uj>iod the valley of the Shenandoah with twelve or fifteen
thousand, many of whom were militia and guerillas; this, at the
utmost, figured up seventy-five thousand men. • A winter the
extreme rigor of which was new to most of the Confederate sol-
diers had developed diseases which greatly diminished the num-
ber of combatants in the army of Northern Virginia. The fol-
lowing fijjriircs have been obtained from Confederate official
sources, where the truth is more likely to have been underrated
than overdrawn. They convey an idea of the powerful influence
exercistnl by the season and by ennui in reducing the strength of
the Southern armies, without the aid of battles. On the 31st of
October, 1861, the army of Northern Virginia, out of sixty-six
thousand two hundred and forty-three men, counted forty-four
thoasand one hundred and thirty-one present, and twenty-two
tliousand one hundred and twelve absent. On the 31st of De-
cember, out of ninety-eight thousand and eighty-eight men there
were sixty-two thousand one hundred and twelve present and
thirty-five thousand nine hundred and seventy-six absent. Finally,
when reduced, on the 28th of February, 1862, by the detachment
sent to Beauregard, to an effective total of eighty-four thousand
two hundred and twentj'-five, it no longer counted more than
forty-seven thousand six hundred and seventeen present, against
thirty-six thousand six hundred and eight absent. The data are
wanting to enable us to fix the exact proportion of the sick and
deserters in this number of absentees, which, as it increased at a
frightful rate, had at last brought the representative figure down
to three-sevenths of the nominal total of the army ; but it is easy
to show that the information obtained by the Federal staff, through
the reports of deserters and fugitive negroes, which were shortly
after confirmed at the time of the evacuation of Manassas, was
not far from the truth. Indeed, if we bear in mind that out of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE. 577
Jackson's twelve or fifteen thousand men there were only five or
six thousand troops in the pay of the central government and borne
upon the rolls of the army, the total force of that army in men,
either present in the ranks or scattered among the division hos-
pitals, is reduced to about seventy thousand men^ out of whom it
is no exaggeration to reckon twelve thousand sick^and conse-
quently forty-eight thousand able-bodied men^ which is the offi-
cial figure given above. But under the same date, the secret ser-
vice of the army of the Potomac, credulous as the police force
almost invariably is, represented the Confederate army as one
hundred and fifteen thousand strong, with three hundred cannon.
The exaggerations emanating from this source contributed to a
great extent, perhaps^ in rendering Greneral McCWlan excessively
cautious.
The Confederates had constructed a considerable number of
fortifications along the line of Bull Bun and the Manassas pla-
teau, but they had not armed them with heavy cannon, which
proved that the leaders contemplated their abandonment. But
on the right bank of the Lower Potomac, from the mouth of the
Occoquan to Acquia Creek, they had erected batteries, which were
mounted with the most powerful guns at their disposal. The
navigation of the Potomac,, therefore, as we have stated, had been
interrupted by these batteries, and the injurious effects of this in*
temiption were beginning to be sensibly felt in Washington.
This blockade soon became the principal complaint against Gren-
eral McClellan, and its removal formed a conspicuous feature in
all the programmes of operations devised at that period.
The chiefs of the army of the Potomac had several plans of
campaign to select from. Between Johnston's army, encamped
at Manassas, and Richmond, which was their objective point, there-
lay a tract of wooded and broken country greatly adapted to de-
fensive warfare, intersected by several rivers and numerous water-
courses, all running perpendicularly to the direction of march
which the Federals would have had to follow. Was the unfortu-
nate experiment of the previous year to l)e repeated, and without
taking into consideration the moral effect of the memories it had
left behind ? should they go and attack the Confederates in front
in their newly-fortified positions of Manassas? This would havet
Vol. I.— 37
Digitized by VjOOQIC
678 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
been taking the bull by the horns. But to storm such entrenched
positions vrith an army that had never yet been under fire would
have been to expase it to probable defeat In short, eveu if this
army should be successful, it could not gather the fruits of vic-
tory, because, having no rivers whereby to obtain its supplies, it
wouhl not have been able to pursue the enemy as he disappeared
in the fon»st after having destroyed the railways behind him.
Should an attempt be made to turn the Confederate positions
on either flank; — ^in onler to flank them on the west, it would have
been neiH?ssar)' to take the main portion of the army to Harper's
Ferr}' and proceed by following the line of the Shenandoah.
This larj::e and fertile valley afforded great facilities for subsisting
and marc'hinjj, but its direction would have taken the Federals
too far from Richmond, exposc<l their own line of communication,
and unnecessarily uncovered Washington. Notwithstanding these
drawbacks, this plan was commenced, as we shall presently see.
To the east the courses of the Potomac and the Occoquan did
i not admit of manoeuvring for the purpose of turning the Con-
1 fcilerate right. But the batteries which blockaded the approaches
J of the capital had to be got rid of at any cost. The navy had
declared that it could not undertake that task alone. The chief
of the Fe<leral corps of engineers, after reconnoitring the enemy's
positions, had asked for three divisions to carry them. Yet even
this force was too small ; for it was evident that to destroy them
eflToctually it was essential to occupy them permanently, and to be
prepared, therefore, to withstand the shock of all the enemy's
forces. Accordingly, it was proposed to employ the entire army
massed around Washington in this operation. While a portion
of it, crossing the Lower Potomac, should engage the batteries,
the rest were to attack the Confederates in front, and join hands
with the troops that should have landed. This was risking a
great deal for the sake of a trifling result ; for the batteries that
blockaded the Potomac were merely an accessory destined to fall
whenever the Confe<lerates should lose Manassas. It was to divide
the Federal troops and place the enemy between the two fractions.
In short, it was to attempt a landing, under the most unfavorable
circumstances, in the presence of the enemy at a point where the
latter could easily concentrate all his forces.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ROANOKE. 579
So that, whether the attack was made upon the centre, the left,
or the right of the Confederates, it was still an extremely hazard-
ous enterprise. But could they not find, in seeking to reach
Eiehmond, the capture of which was the sole aim of the cam-
paign, a more vulnerable point than Manassas ? Since the Fed-
erals had control of the sea, could not this advantage be turned
to account to transfer the theatre of war elsewhere, and strike the
enemy far from a battle-field of his own choosing and haunted by
sad memories? Such, from the end of 1861, were the reflections
of Greneral McClellan. His attention had been directed to the
facilities afforded by the numerous steamers which ploughed the
large American rivers for the transportation of troops for a short
time, and by the peculiar conformation of the Virginia coast for
the debarkation of an army. We have already mentioned that
south of the Potomac three deep bays, known by the names of
Rappahannock, York, and James River, empty into the Chesa-
peake, a vast inland sea, which runs parallel with the Atlantic to
a distance of nearly two hundred and fifty miles. These estuaries
are separated by long peninsulas very favorable for landing : the
armji which makes one of those peninsulas the base of operations
can rest its two flanks upon arms of the sea which ensure for it the
protection of the navy. General McClellan conceived the idea of
embarking all the available portion of the army of the Potomac
at Annapolis, at the extremity of the Chesapeake, to convey it to
the borders of one of these estuaries, and thence to march upon
Richmond, availing himself as much as possible of the water-
courses. This plan was in conformity with the military rule
which counsels that the enemy should be sought where he does
not expect to be attacked. It lessened to a considerable extent
the distance to be marched in order to reach Richmond; the
rivers, instead of being formidable obstacles, became powerful
auxiliaries; while the difference of climate would enable the com-
mander-in-chief to begin the campaign fifteen days sooner than
in the neighborhood of Washington. Owing to the maritime
resources at the disposal of the army, the enemy could be fore-
stalled along the coast, and several days' march be accomplished
before meeting with any serious resistance ; in short, by menacing
Richmond directly, without exposing their own communications,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
580 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
whose base rested on the sea, the Federals would compel their
adversaries to evacuate Manassas without a fight^ that they might
hasten to the assistance of their capital.
Fort Monroe, situated at a point which divides the James from
the York River, seemed to be the most natural landing-place for
the Federals, who were already masters of it^ Nevertheless, (Gen-
eral McClellan had various reasons for preferring the village of
Urbanna, on the right side of the Eappahannock ; it was nearer
both to Annapolis and to Richmond ; the landing could be effected
with more speed, and the campaign by land occupy less time.
The Confederates had made preparations for resistance along the
peninsula at the extremity of which stands Fort Monroe; but
there were no fortifications between Richmond and Urbanna. The
landing at the latter place, however, also presented some difficul-
ties. The approaches were not so easy as those of Fortress Mon-
roe ; once landed, the army must turn its back upon the Rappa-
hannock and proceed in the direction of York River or its tribu-
taries ; during this march a river very difficult of access, called
the Dragon Swamp, must be crossed; it was also necessary to
find a new revictualling point on York River, and this estuary
was closed to navigation by the famous stronghold of Yorktown,
which could not be taken except by investing it on the side of
Fort Monroe. Consequently, whatever was done, the possession
of Yorktown, which commanded both York River and the penin-
sula— called by pre-eminence the Peninsula of Virginia — ^was
essential in Any campaign undertaken by resting on the Chesa-
peake. From that moment the most rational course ^vas to begin
by laying siege to that place.
Such were the various combinations which offered themselves
to the choice of General McClellan in the month of February.
It will be seen in the following chapter how his plans were frus-
trated by the vacillations of the executive power.
But while he was waiting for the opportune moment to take
the field, he had prepared an expedition which was brilliantly
carried out by one of his lieutenants, and caused a fortunate di-
version in the public mind by showing for the third time what
results the Federals might obtain by combining their land and
naval forces.
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ROANOkA 581
The successes obtained at Hatteras and Hilton Head had se-
cured to them the possession of two important points on the
enemy's coast, and had greatly facilitated for the blockading
squadron the accomplishment of their task. The intention was
to turn these first successes to greater account, and to make Hat-
teras the base of operations for a new expedition more powerful
than the preceding ones. The object was not merely to occupy
one of the passes leading into the inland sea of Xorth Carolina
which we have already compared with the lagoons of Venice,
but to establish the Federal authority in all those waters and in
the small towns situated along their borders. A twofold ad-
vantage was anticipated from this expedition; on one hand, it
«vould be the means of destroying root and branch the contra-
band trade, which, owing to the numerous channels and sinuosities
of the coast, was kept up in spite of the blockading fleet and the
occupation of the Hatteras passes ; on the other hand, it would
keep the partisans of the Union in countenance, who were be-
lieved to be very numerous in North Carolina, and detach at
least a portion of that State from the rebel Confederacy.
Annapolis was again the point of rendezvoiia for this expedition,
which was fitted out with the utmost care during the early part
of January, 1862. It was composed of three strong brigades of
infantry, forming a division of sixteen thousand men, under com-
mand of General Burnside, and a fleet of twenty-nine gunboats
or merchant steamers fitted out for war purposes, commanded by
Commodore Goldsborough. More than fifty transport-ships had
been assembled for the embarkation of the Itind forces and their
maUind. The fleet, after dascending the Chesapeake, sailed from
Hampton Roads on the 12th of January. It was a great risk to
send such a fleet to sail along those inhospitable coasts in the
depth of winter, for it was suflering from the effects of a too
hasty preparation ; many of the vessels were in a bad condition ;
some of the transport-ships were mere river boats, most of them
overloaded and all of light draught, an indispensable quality for
getting through the inlets of Hatteras, but dangerous on the open
sea. Consequently, when this numerous squadron was struck by
one of those terrible south-easterly storms so common on the
American coasts at that season, it was thought that the fleet was
Digitized by VjOOQIC
582 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
about to meet the fate of the great Armada. It got through, how-
ever, with considerable damage, and only lost two small vessels,
which were driven ashore on the coast. All the rest of the fleet
rallied in a few days in sight of the Hatteras lighthouse, the
point designated as their rendezvous. But there were fresh dan-
gers in store : the storm prevented the large transport-ships from
venturing among the difficult passes of Hatteras, and for more
than a week they were exposed, with their precious human cargo,
to all the violence of the wind and sea. Thanks to the untiring
zeal of the navy, the disaster which had seemed imminent was
avoided, and on the 24th of January the whole fleet, favored by
an extraordinary tide, raisexl by the end of the gale entered
the calmer waters of Pamlico Sound. The first object of the
expedition was to take possession of Roanoke Island, situated at
sixty kilometres to the north, which, as we have already men-
tioned, commands the entrance of Albemarle Sound. It required
some time, however, for the fleet to repair its damages, and it was
not until the 5th of February that it was enabled to put itself
in motion. The sixty-five vessels of all kinds of which it was
composed formed a column of more than two miles in length,
which, as it followed the devious course of the only practicable
channel, described some curious gyrations upon the glassy surface
of the waters. Nothing could be seen from the low and humid
beach of North Carolina but the large forests of pine which pro-
duce turpentine, whose trunks, enveloped by the mirage, seemed
to be looming up from the sea.
An altogether novel experiment on this continent was about to
be tried — the use of modern improvements for landing the whole
of a small army in the presence of the enemy ; for on this occa-
sion it was not intended that the naval forces should bear all the
brunt of the battle, as they had done at Hatteras and Hilton
Hcixd. Nothing had been neglected to secure the prompt execu-
tion of this delicate operation.
The troops are embarked with their maUridy partly upon
steamers of light draught, partly upon lighters towed by them.
The transports preserve the order of march of the troops they
carry. They follow each other by brigades ; each brigade di-
vided into three columns, which pursue a parallel course, or follow
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ROANOKE. 583
each other according to the nature of the ground, is led by the
vessel that has hoisted the flag of its general at the mizzenmast,
whence that officer directs the movements of the train. The gun-
boats take the lead ; the smaller vessels of war, carrying one or
two guns, guard the flanks ; and when night compels the fleet to
cast anchor, they perform the duties of outposts. Burnside and
Groldsborough, stationed on board a light steamer of great speed,
pass along the whole line. Particular instructions have been
issued regarding the manner of manning and loading the launches
and the position that each is to occupy when the signal for land-
ing shall be given.
But if the Federals were well prepared, they could not flatter
themselves with the idea of taking the enemy by . surprise. In
fact, since the arrival of the fleet in the vicinity of the Hatteras
lighthouse, the Confederates had had more than three weeks to
prepare for the defence of the island of Roanoke, which was the
evident aim of the expedition. The Croatan channel, west of the
island, which is the only practicable one, had been obstructed by
the submersion of old hulls fastened together with piles. Strong
batteries, constructed of earth and sand, occupied the extremities
of this stockade on both sides. Advantage had been taken of a
winding formed by a re-entering in the island shore to erect other
batteries in the rear for cannonading any vessel that should at-
tempt to pass through the channel. Abreast of the stockade, the
island, long and narrow, was shut in between two swampy bays,
which rendered its defence easy; for the Union troops, after
landing on the southern part of the island, which the Confeder-
ates had no intention of disputing, were obliged to pass between
these two bays in order to reach the forts which commanded the
Croatan channel. A fortification, surrounded by abatis, had been
erected on the only road that ran across this isthmus, and tlie three
guns with which it was mounted commanded all its approaches
at short range. These positions w^ere guarded by five or six
thousand men, part of whom were quartered on the island. Wise's
Virginia Legion was encamped on a sand-bank which separates
the inland sea from the Atlantic. A small fleet of seven gun-
boats, that had been morchant steamers, the armament of which
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584 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
had been hastily improvised, was assembled behind the stockade,
under the command of Commodore Lynch.
On the 4th of February the whole expedition entered the nar-
row passes of the Croatan channel ; and Goldsborough, leaving
behind him the transport-ships, ready to effect a landing on some
quiet spot, advanced against the enemy's batteries at the head of
his gun-boats. An engagement at once commenced with Lynches
fleet and a fortified work called Fort Bartow, situated on Roan-
oke Island, at the point where the extremity of the stockade
rested. The other redoubts had been constructed to cover the
middle of the channel ; but their embrasures being too narrow,
Goldsborough was able to avoid an enfilading fire by hugging
the Roanoke coast. The cannonading was brisk, but the losses
were but few on either side. The fleet, however, had a decided
advantage, and accomplished the double object it had proposed to
itself. The strongest of the Confederate ships, the Oarlew, was
sunk by one of those large hundred-pound shells which were so
destructive to wooden vessels. Another was disabled ; and Lynch,
fearing to lose the rest, disappeared during the night, leaving the
defenders of Roanoke to their own resources. The latter had
been entirely absorbed by the bombardment of the fleet. Fort
Bartow, enveloped in the burning of ite barracks, had kept up
the fight with difficulty; while some ten thousand men, favored
by this diversion, landed during the night in a solitary creek of
Roanoke Island. The operation had been conducted with great
method and s})eed, demonstrating the special fitness of the Amer-
icans for this kind of enterprises.
The next morning, February 8th, the troops started for the
redoubt situated in the centre of the narrowest part of the island.
Burnside's three brigades, although without their full comple-
ment, were all represented in the body of troops just landed.
Having reached, by the only practicable road in the place, the
edge of a clearing which widens to the right and left, and is
bounded on both sides by deep swamps, the Federals perceive at
the other extremity the enemy's battery, which immediately opens
fire upon them. Some howitzers, served by sailors, reply to it,
while Foster's brigade deploys along the skirt of the wood near
the road. The other two brigades form also, Reno to the left
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ROANOKE. 585
and Parke to the right, but the character of the ground does not
allow them to place more than their heads of column in line.
The firing of musketry commences. The Federals, huddled to-
gether within a narrow and exposed space, suiBFer greatly. They
return the fire, but in doing so they shelter themselves behind the
trees or among some breaks in the ground, instead of charging
the enemy. The latter, believing his fianks well protected by
the swamps, concentrates all his fire upon the clearing, into which
nobody dares to venture.
In the mean while, Reno and Parke, unable to charge the en-
emy in front, try a double flank movement across these swamps,
where they hope to find a passage. On the right, Parke is
stopped by an impenetrable thicket, but his soldiers, once in mo-
tion, precipitate themselves into the clearing and continue to ad-
vance against the enemy. The Ninth New York, being the most
exposed, as it forms the left of the brigade, rushes to the charge
in obedience to the call of its officers, and approaches the enemy's
guns. At the same instant, Reno's column, having overcome the
obstacle the enemy had relied upon as a protection, bursts sud-
denly upon the right flank of the Confederates. A few volleyB
then suffice to put the defenders of the work to flight. This
combat cost the Federals thirty-five killed and two hundred
wounded. Among the former there were many superior officers,
who had exposed themselves personally to encourage their soldiers,
as yet unused to the ordeal of fire — ^among them a Frenchman,
Colonel V. de Monteil. He was present in the fight as a volun-
teer, his regiment not having been engaged ; hanging his coat
upon a tree, he had seized a rifle, which he used as a common
soldier. When the Ninth New York charged the enemy's works,
he joined that regiment, and was killed at its head, worthily sus-
taining the honor of his country.
The Confederate forces held in reser^'^e in the rear of the
redoubt numbered about two thousand or two thousand five hun-
dred men, including a portion of Wise's legion. Seeing that this
work had been turned, they fled and ran across the woods towards
the shore, in hopes of being able to get on board some vessel ;
but only a small number of fugitives succeeded in doing so.
Although scarcely one-third of these soldiers had been under fire,
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686 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the whole force surrendered without the slightest attempt at re-
sLstancc. The island of Roanoke, the key of the inland sea, with
all it8 works, together with about twenty cannon and more than
two tliousand prisoners, fell into the hands of Burnside. The
fruits of this victory were promptly and easily gathered. Two
days after, Elizalx'th City, the most important town in tliat part
of the country, with the abandoned hulls of Lyndi's fleet, fell
into the jwwer of the Federal navy after a brief engagement In
a few days the latter aw|uired absolute control of the whole coast
of AllM'marle Sound and the mouth of the principal rivers which
empty into it
Burnside then directed his attention to the city of Newberne,
6eate<l on the bonlers of the Nease, toward the south of the in-
land st^a. Following the course of this navigable river is a rail-
way which runs from Raleigh and Groldsborough to Newberne,
touching the Atlantic at Beaufort, near one of the passes which
fall into the ocean from the inland sea. This double line of com-
munication gave considerable importance to Newberne, and it
was then thought tliat it might be made the base of operations in
a cam])aign directed against the network of railways in North
Carolina. This campaign was in fact undertaken, and Newberne
played an important part in it ; but the first attempt was only
made the following year, to be again renewed three years later,
during the closing hours of the war.
The Fe<leral fleet left Ilatteras on the 12th of March, and on
the day following, the transport-ships landed Burnside's three
brigades in one of the creeks of the estuary of the Neuse, situated
near the Newberne and Beaufort road, about twenty-eight kilo-
metres from each of those towns. A battery of naval howitzers,
served and drawn by sailors, still accompanied the little army.
The spongy ground on that alluvial coast greatly impeded the
progress of the Federals, who, as soon as landed, proceeded to-
wards Newberne, following the right bank of the Neuse. The
artillery was dragged along with the utmost difficulty, the supe-
rior officers, almost all on foot, with the mud up to their knees,
setting an example to their soldiers.
Night obliged them to bivouac before they had met the enemy.
They had travelled about sixteen miles and crossed many lines
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ROANOKE. 587
of entrenchments, abandoned on their approach. The Confed-
erates, numbering about five or six thousand, were waiting for
them nearer Newberne, inside of better constructed works, mount-
ing a large number of heavy guns, which, placed across the rail-
way, rested on the right bank of the river ; these works extended
to a distance of more than four kilometres, but could only be ap-
proached at certain points, in consequence of impassable swamps.
The principal defences of this line were along the edge of the
river — ^a hexagonal, covered work mounting thirteen guns, and
a large redoubt of an irregular form, partly constructed in the
railroad embankment, with a strong redan between the two, — the
whole being connected by breastworks built of wood and earth,
protected by strong abaUia, To the right of the railroad, the line,
running back across a country full of ravines, was continued by
a succession of thirteen small redans, placed along the ridges
which intersected it perpendicularly. To the left of the covered
work it was prolonged by a kind of stockade, intended to block
the passage of the Neuse to the Federal fleet. This obstacle con-
sisted of schooners sunk in the river, with the masts projecting
obliquely, according to the current of the water, the tops of which
were either pointed with iron or surmounted by a shell ready to
explode as soon as brought into contact with any hard substance.
The Confederate artillery at this point consisted of forty-six guns
of large calibre and a great number of field-pieces.
The Federals appeared before these works on the morning of
the 14th of March, when, deploying along the edge of the woods
which had concealed them imtil then from the enemy, the fight-
ing at once commenced along the whole line. The firing thus
continued for more than two hours without results. The assail-
ants, being obliged to uncover themselves, and expdfeed to the fire
of a numerous artillery, sustained more loss than their adver-
saries. The naval howitzers kept up the unequal fight with diffi-
culty, and those who served them had to be constantly replaced,
while the Confederates fought from behind their parapets with
scarcely any risk. But the recollection of the victory of Eoanoke
imparted to the Federals that assurance which is a great element
of success ; they knew that a battery could be taken by storm ;
they had already seen the Carolinians abandon works which
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588 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
seemed formidable^ and experience was beginning to teach them
that it is less dangerous to rush upon the enemy than to remain
immovable under his fire ; consequently, they did not wait for a
signal from their chiefs to charge the Confederate works. One
regiment gets over the parapet first; it is not well supported, and
is soon repulsed ; but immediately after, the Fourth Rhode Island
penetrates into the railroad redoubt, followed by the whole of
Parke's brigade. On the right, Foster's brigade, taking advan-
tage of the enemy's confusion, carries the central redan, and soon
after, being supported by the rest of the army, takes posse^on
of the small works which covered the right of the Confederates.
The latter fled in disorder towards Newberne, leaving two hun-
dred prisoners and sixty-four guns (eighteen of which were field-
pieces) in the works they had so poorly defended. This brilliant
and decisive success cost the Federals ninety-one killed and four
hundred and sixty-six wounded. Their losses would probably
have been less if they had determined sooner to make a vigorous
attack.
Burnside arrived in time to stop the fire which the Confederates
had lighted in Newberne on retreating towards Goldsborough.
At Newberne he joined the fleet, which had so skilfully and suc-
cessfully overcome the obstacles placed on its route, and took pos-
session of large d6p6ts which the Confederate army found it diffi-
cult to replace.
Commanding the mouths of the Neuse, he was able to menace
the most important railway lines of North Carolina, cutting off,
at the same time, all communication with the port of Beaufort;
this place, which was of great use to the contraband trade the
Southern States were carrying on with England, was occupied on
the .25th of * March. Moorehead City, situated opposite, and
Washington, on Tar River, had already been similarly occupied
a few days before.
But the Beaufort inlets were commanded by an old Federal
fort contemporary with Fort Warren, Fort Monroe, and all the
casemated works constructed on the American coast on the plans
of General Bernard ; this was Fort Macon, situated at the ex-
tremity of a long sand-bank similar to that of Hatteras. It was
occupied by rebel troops, and could only be reduced by a r^ular
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ROANOKE. 589
siege. More than fifteen days were consumed in preparing for
this operation, which did not commence until the 11th of April.
Besides, owing to the nature of the ground, a few regiments were
sufiBcient to invest it. The rest of the troops were occupied, for the
most part, in serving as garrisons, small but numerous. Reno's
brigade, being available, was sent by Bumside to land at Eliza-
beth City, on the north, whence it was to make a demonstration
against Norforlk which should prevent the enemy from attempt-
ing a diversion to save Fort Macon. On the 19th of April Eeno
met a small body of Confederate troops, accompanied by a few
guns, at South Mills. He attacked it, and after a brisk engage-
ment, during which he lost fifteen killed and ninety-eight
wounded, compelled it to retreat. He himself re-embarked on
the following day.
Washed on three sides by the sea. Fort Macon was only ap-
proachable by the narrow strip of land the extremity of which it
occupied. It was a polygonal work of masonry, surrounded by
a ditch and a glacis^ having one casemated battery and one en
barbette. When the government of North Carolina took posses-
sion of it at the breaking out of the rebellion, it was only occu-
pied by a single non-commissioned ofiBcer of the regular army.
The Confederates had entrusted its defence to five companies,
numbering about four hundred and fifty men.
On the 26th of April, in spite of the fire of the fort, which did
them but little harm, the besiegers had erected their batteries at a
distance of a few hundred metres from the walls ; eight ten-inch
mortars and three Parrott guns (hundred-pounders) opened fire ;
and in ten hours seventeen of the enemy's guns were dismounted,
including all those that were serviceable. Out of eleven hun-
dred projectiles, five hundred and sixty had reached the fort; the
embrasures were destroyed and the magazines riddled. The gar-
rison capitulated the next day; it had eight men killed and
twenty wounded.
The capture of Fort Macon gave the Federals the best access
to the inland sea, and completed the land blockade of all that
part of the coast. Fort Pulaski, in Georgia, had been reduced
a fortnight before; and as the operations which caused its fall
were on a much larger scale, we propose to relate them in detail
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690 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
hereafter, in order to show the first eflEbrts of the Americans in
The object of Bornside^s expedition was accomplished. The
results achieved, in a military point of view, were considerable;
those of a political character did not answer the expectations of
the Federal government. Not that North Carolina was as ar-
dently devoted to the Confederate cause as her southern sister,
for in reality she did not care much for either party, but that,
while a large number of her inhabitants would have liked to wait
for the issue of the struggle to declare their preferences, those even
who at heart had remained loyal to the flag of the Union were too
much afraid of a turn of fortune to avow their sentiments openly.
To go in search of new successes it would have been necessary to
penetrate into the interior of the land. A large army, and not a
single division, would be necessary for such a task. But on the
other hand, the fifteen tliousand or sixteen thousand men composing
Burnside's division were not required to guard this new conquest
In leaving thase troops as garrisons of the inland sea the Wash-
ington government committed a serious mistake, for, scattered
along those sterile coasts, they were useless to their cause at a
time when they might have rendered valuable services in the cam-
paign of which the peninsula of Virginia was about to become
the theatre. One might even criticise the plan of the expedition,
which had deprived the army of the Potomac of a strong divis-
ion on the eve of a decisive struggle ; the diversion, however, was
justified by the success that attended it; but this success should
at least have been taken advantage of to bring Burnside back
promptly to other battle-fields. Having once obtained the most
considerable results, his protracted absence was a fatal and inex-
cusable error.
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CHAPTER IV.
HAMPTON ROADS,
BURNSIDE'S expedition was but an episode quite secondary
as compared with the great struggle that was about to take
place between the army of the Potomac and that of Northern
Virginia in the edrly part of April. This struggle opens the
second y^v of the war, counting from the 14th of April, 1862,
the first anniversary of th6 bombardment of Fort Sumter. Be-
fore closing the narrative of the first year with this volume, we
must show what had been the preparations for this campaign, and
go back to the beginning of 1862 to speak of the difiFerent events
that occurred during this period of comparative rest to both
armies, which had such an important bearing on their destinies.
Among these events there is one which it behooves us to men-
tion in this place, as being intimately connected with the history
of the army of the Potomac, although, from its peculiar import-
ance, it is proper to separate it in our recital from the simple mil-
itary incidents that filled up the first months of that year. It
was indeed productive of much more lasting effects, and caused
in Europe as well as in America a far greater sensation than a
bloody battle. We allude to the naval combat of which the har-
bor of Hampton Eoads was the theatre on the 8th and 9th of
March, 1862, and which marks the greatest and most sudden of
all the revolutions that have been effected in the science of mari-
time warfare.
It is not necessary for us to enumerate all the studies that had
been made within the last few years by naval constructors of
different nations to protect war-vessels by means of iron armor
from the terrible effects of hollow projectiles fired horizontally.
As we have before stated, these studies had not as yet i)roduced,
up to 1861, any experiment which could be considered decisive.
591
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692 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Tlie floatin<x-l>atteri(»s which had l>ecn used in the attack upon
Kilburn wen* (xmdemned as incapable of exact steering. Thanks
to M. Dupuy dc I^ome, France had the honor of possessing the
first rc:il war-vc>s<»l with iron-plated sides; but the Gloire^ in
18G1, had not arcomplishe<l anything beyond simple efforts at
navi;i::ition. In England tlic Warrior was not launched until the
close of that same year. Among the inventions of all kinds
clicitiHl by the new problem proposed to naval architecture, there
was one which, although still confined to the sphere of models,
nevertheless already attracted the attention of the most competent
men. The honor of this invention is shared between Captain
Cowper Coles, a man of fertile resources and daring enterprise,
who was doomed to perish in so unfortunate a manner with the
vessel he had looked upon as his master-piece, and the Swede Erics-
son, who had long been a naturalized citizen of the United States,
where he had already become celebrated for his construction of
the Princdon, the first warship provided with a screw-propeller,
and by imjmrtant improvements in steam machinery. This inven-
tion, now familiar to everylKxly, is that of vessels with revolving
turrets, which Ericwion had submitte<l to the French government
as early as 1854, during the siege of S<»l)a»topol. He was aware
that, in onler to solve so novel a problem, it would be necessa^
to discard all traditions regarding naval architecture, to aban-
don the system of high-dei^ked ships, as the engineers of the
sixteenth century had given up the castellated forts of the Mid-
dle Ages for the low profiles of mo<lcrn fortifications ; then the
nea^ssity of encasing the sides of vessels with heavy iron armor
introduced a complete change in the conditions of the equilibrium
which establish their water-line. This armor, in order to afford
efficient protection, had to be of such thickness that it greatly over-
weighted vessels of moderate size ; and in order to reduce the pro-
portional relations between the weight of the armor and that of the
volume of water displaced by the hull to a figure compatible with
the essential conditions of navigation, it was necessary to build
vessels of enormous tonnage. The Warrior was then the type
of such vessels, to which European navies have persistently ad-
hered, notwitlistanding the fact that the increasing tliickness which
it has been found indispensable to impart to their sheathing no
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HAMPTON ROADS. 593
longer admits of protecting every part effectively. Ericsson, on
the contrary, sought to solve the problem by reducing, so far as
it could be done, the surfaces exposed to the fire of the enemy,
and presenting them under an angle which gave them the great-
est possible capacity of resistance. He discarded the system of
vertical sides, concentrated the guns upon the axis of the ship,
and placed them inside of one or more turrets. He was thus
enabled to increase both the calibre of the guns and the thickness
of the sheathing which sheltered them, without overloading the
hull. While the curved feces of the turrets presented but one
mathematical line where a cannon ball could, strike them normal
to the surface, the deck, lowered nearly to a level with the water,
could not be reached by projectiles except under an extremely
sharp angle. The turret, supported at once upon rollers placed
under the base and by a central axis put in motion by a cog-wheel,
turned easily with the two guns it contained. They could thus
point in every direction, and a prismatic glass permitted this to
be done without opening the port-holes. Thus the ship projected
by Ericsson could easily be constructed, and at a moderate expense ;.
in case of a reverse, but few lives were exposed, as it only presented
a small number of surfaces to the enemy ; with the whole hori-
zon as the range of shot for each of the guns she carried; ia
short, this vessel combined the double advantage of being encased
in a thicker armor and of carrying more powerful guns than the-
largest high-decked vessels. It is true that her flat bottom and
slight elevation would not permit her to make long voyages on
the high sea; and Captain Coles had intended to remedy this
difiiculty by proposing a ship with a keel, whose inclined sides-
should be surmounted by the turrets. But we believe that.
Ericsson was right in designing iron-clad vessels exclusively^
for the coast service. He saw, what experience will demonstrate-
more and more conclusively, that a mixed vessel, built to cany
an armor and at the same time to undertake long voyages, will
always be less powerful in a fight than the coasting-vessels she
will find at the entrance of the enemy's ports, and less buoyant
on the waters than the wooden or plated vessels that will elude*
her to scour the seas.
When the civil war broke out, it was as easy for both parties
Vol. L— 38
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694 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
to foresee the great part reserved for iron-clad vessels as it was
difficult to make a definite choice among the opposite systems,
none of whi<4i had as yet received the sanction of experience. It
wa-^ important, in the first place, that their construction should be
rapid and ca^^y. There were no American establishments at that
time able to build vessels that could compare with those of France
and Euj^land. Workmen and materials were wanting in the
dock-yanU of the South, time was lacking in those of the North,
ocx*upietl with more pressing labors. Consequently, the first rudely-
constructed iron-clads which figured in the war before the end of
18G1 met with but little success. We have seen how Hollins
cf)uld attempt nothing serious with the Manassas at New Orleans,
and that Footers gun-boats were not protected by their armor
agaia'^t the plunging fire of Fort Donelson.
In the nu»n while, more formidable adversaries were prepar-
ing on lx)th sides to enter the lists. As early as the month of
July, 18G1, the Federal Secretary of War had appointed a com-
mittee to examine all the plans that had been submitted to him
for building iron-clads. A few months after, this committee reo-
ommended the construction of three vessels, expressing, at the
same time, very serious doubts as to the advantage to be derived
from them. The first two, with bulwarks, named respectively
the Galena and Ironsides, played but an insignificant part during
the war ; the third was Mr. Ericsson's. The Swedish engineer
engagcnl to construct, in less than four months, and at a cost of
two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, a vessel of nine
hundred tons, forty metres in length, eleven in width, whose deck,
covered with iron plates of fourteen centimetres in thickness,
should jut out beyond the hull to protect it, drawing three metres
twenty centimetres of water, and carrying a single turret, three
metres in height and six metres fifty centimetres interior diameter,
formed of plates laid upon each other, the entire thickness being
eighteen centimetres. This vessel was to carry two Dahlgreu
guns of thirty centimetres calibre. Entrusting the execution of
his work to three different private establishments, Ericsson set
to work to superintend the details with ardent solicitude, foresee-
ing the services his invention might render to his adopted country.
The prospect of a war with England arising out of the IVent
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HAMPTON ROADS, 595
aflfair contributed to hasten the completion of the Mcmitm\ It was
by tliis name that Ericsson's vessel became famous. At the time
it seemed especially intended for the protection of the port of New
York against British squadrons. On the 30th of January, after
three months' work, she was launched in the presence of a curious
and incredulous crowd, that flocked to see if the strange machine
would not sink in the water under the weight of her armor. It
required four weeks more to complete her interior arrangements.
The Confederate government did not lag behind its adver-
saries. Even if it had been able to command the services of
an Ericsson, it did not possess, as we have stated, the necessary
workshops for building a Monitor , and it saw at once that it must
limit itself to making the most of the vessels in its possession. A
distinguished officer, late of the Federal navy. Captain Brooke,
had proposed to the government the construction of a vessel with
inclined sides. He borrowed one-half of Cowper Coles's plan,
while the Federals made use of the other half. At the end of
June, 1861, he was directed to modify the hull of the 3Ierrimac
in accordance with this plan. The reader will recollect that this
fine frigate, which was partially burned, had been sunk in the
port of Norfolk at the moment the Confederates took possession
of it. After many efforts she was finally raised, and her ma-
chinery put in order. The lower part of the hull was uninjured,
and was razeed one metre below the water-line; she measured
sixty metres in length and nineteen in width. A kind of large
casemate was constructed upon her new deck, which was of great
strength, in the form of a roof with a flat top, presenting at both
stern and bow two inclined faces, each sheltering two heavy guns.
Eight port-holes were opened in the sides of the casemate, which
formed an angle of only thirty-five degrees with the decks. Rail-
road iron, passed through the plate-rolls at the Tredegar iron-
works, near Richmond, were formed into long plates sixteen
centimetres broad, some forty and some sixty-eight millimetres
in thickness. Her bow was armed with a steel beak, the govern-
ment being unable to procure the construction of such a machine
in iron. The sides were strengthened by large beams to protect
them against any concussion. Vast compartments had been intro-
duced at both ends, where it was sufficient to let in the water to
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596 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
submerge the vessel up to the line of the casemates. Finally, the
armament of the side batteries was composed of eight DaUgren
howitzers of twenty-four centimetres calibre ; and four rifled guns
of nineteen centimetres calibre were placed at both stern and
prow. These pieces, constructed by Captain Brooke, as we have
said elsewhere, on the Parrott plan, carried a ball of nearly fifty
kilogrammes in weight.
We shall be excused for having entered into these details re-
garding the construction of two vessels destined to make the first
trial of two systems so entirely new, and in so singular a combat.
By an e;xtraordinary coincidence, they were both ready on the
same day ; their armament was completed on the 5th of March,
one at Norfolk, the other in New York.
Both were manned by cre>vs who were going to take them
under fire without having had time to learn how to manoeuvre
them ; but the courage and intelligence of their commanders were
to make up for their want of experience. The Monitor was com-
manded by Lieutenant Worden ; the MerrimaCy which had just
been named the Virginia^ by Captain Buchanan, a former oflSoer
of the Federal navy.
On quitting the mouth of the James River with Burnside,
Commodore Groldsborough had left there, under Captain Marston,
the largest ships of his squadron, whose draught of water pre-
vented them from steering through the Hatteras passes. This
division, which was very strong, from the number of its guns, but
not on account of their calibre, and which was moreover unable
to perform any evolution, consisted of two old sailing frigates,
the Congresa and St, La.wi*ence, the sailing sloop of war Cumber-
landy and the two steam frigates Roanoke and Minnesota, sisters
of the Merrimac, But the Roanoke, which carried Captain
Marston's pennant, was deprived, by the breaking of her hori-
zontal shaft, of the use of her machinery. The last three vessels
alone were well armed with Dahlgren howitzers of twenty-four
centimetres calibre.
For some time past the Federals had been apprised of the
work undertaken on the Merrimac, but they believed themselves
able to cope with that vessel, and her forthcoming had so fre-
quently been announced in vain that they had ended in not be-
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HAMPTON ROADS. 597
lieving in it. Accordingly, the 8th of March found them in
perfect security. The Congress and the Cuniherland, riding at
anchor near the tall pines of Newport News, had not even a soli-
tary tug to enable them to move about, while the commander of
the latter vessel had gone to attend a courtr-martial on board the
Hoanoke. The other three frigates were anchored several miles
from there, in sight of the sandy shore of Fortress Monroe, in
the rear of muddy banks which are only ploughed by narrow
and difficult channels.
In the mean while, during the calm of a beautiful spring morn-
ing, the Confederates were making active preparations for battle.
Five steamers, formerly employed as packets on the Chesapeake,
had been armed, the Patrick Henry with six guns, the Jamestovm
with two, and each of the other three with one. This flotilla
had descended the James River, and passing off Newport News
during the night stood in for the Virginia^ which, on the morn-
ing of the 8th, was coming out of the port of Norfolk, near
Nansemond River, under the command of Captain Buchanan.
At one o'clock in the afternoon the lookout on the Congress
discovered the Confederate steamers descending with the tide to-
wards Newport News ; in their midst the armored hull of the
Virginia was perceived. The enemy so long expected was easily
recognized, and orders were immediately given to clear the decks
for action. But the Cumberland and the Congress were out of
reach of all assistance and unable to manoeuvre by themselves.
Buchanan took advantage of the opportunity offered, without
losing a moment, and steered direct for the Congress, which was
nearest to him.
The latter vessel has commenced firing upon the strange craft,
which is only within three hundred metres of her, without pro-
ducing the slightest perceptible effect. At this moment the Fir-
ginia opens her two forward portholes, fires two shells, which
burst between-decks of the Congress ; then, turning away from the
frigate, she heads straight for the Cumberland, whose large missiles
are beginning to fall upon her roof. Her first object is to silence
the more powerful artillery of this second adversary. The crew
of the Cumberland see the danger, but cannot avoid it, for it is
too late to put the vessel under sail. All her fire is concentrated
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598 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
upon the Virginia^ and the small steamers which follow Buchan-
an's flag have not even the honor of attracting a Federal shot
Everybody feels that the few minutes during which the iron-
clad vessel will be exposed at short range to the balls of the
Cumberland's guns of twenty-four centimetres must decide one
of the most important questions of the war ; if these guns do not
succeed in penetrating the armor of the Virginia at such a dis-
tance, she will secure the mastery of the James River and the
Chasapeake, and wooden vessels will be definitively condemned.
By some unaccountable neglect, the Cumberland, it is true, was
only supplied with shells, being without a single solid ball in her
magazines; but the weight of the former was already such that
the trial could be considered as sufficient. It was indeed decisive ;
the large round projectiles of the Cumberland rebounded from the
inclined sides of the Virginia " like india rubber balls," as the
official reports said. Thousands of spectators witnessed this
strange and unequal duel between the graceful but powei'less
champion of sailing-vessels, and the mastless monster whose iron
scales alone were visible above the surface of the water — a com-
bat resembling a conflict between a swan and an alligator. On
the part of the Confederates, the garrison of Norfolk, the inhab-
itants of the city and the suburbs, as soon as they saw the Mrginia
in motion, rushed in crowds to the beach, whence they could see
the Federal fleet in the distance, and anxiously waited for the
issue of the struggle. On the other side, the news of the appear-
ance of the Virginia was quickly spread. While the Boanole,
the SL Lawrence, and the Minnesota were proceeding towards
Newport News, and the tugs were hastening to proffer their val-
uable assistance to the sailing-vessels already engaged in the
action, an extraordinary excitement prevailed on land ; everybody
wanted to see the famous Virginia, At last the troops encamped
in the vicinity of Newport News came to range themselves along
the shore with some field artillery, in the hope of being able to
salute the Confederate vessel with a few shots. The latter, in the
mean while, continued to advance slowly and regularly towards
the Cumberland, for tlie condition of her machinery, which >va3
somewhat out of repair, did not allow her to proceed at a faster
rate than three knots. But this very slowness rendered her attack
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 599
still more terrible ; from time to time her port-holes would open
and a few shells be discharged against the sides of the Cumber-
land. Daring the manoeuvre one of her guns was broken, and
many of those serving them, by a shot in the embrasure, were
wounded. This accident did not stop her progress. Having at last
arrived within a few metres of the Camberlandy Buchanan ordered
all the port-holes to be closed, and steered right for the enemy's
vessel. A moment after, the beak of the Virginia penetrated
slowly but surely into the hull of the Federal sloop ; then, imme-
diately reversing her engines, she withdrew, leaving an enormous
gash in the side of her adversary, into which the water rushed
with great violence. On her part, the Virginia had sustained
some serious injuries ; the point of her steel beak was broken, and
the engines, which had not been stopped in time before the en-
counter took place, received such a concussion as to render their
management extremely difficult. But these accidents did not at
first attract any notice. As soon as he had drawn oflP, Buchanan,
placing his vessel at a distance of a few metres from the Cumber^
land, and presenting her broadside toward the latter, poured a vol-
ley from his four large howitzers into her. This was more than
enough to destroy that unfortunate vessel, which the water was
already filling, while the enemy's shot carried death and destruc-
tion into every part of her hull that still floated above the waves.
Braving this twofold danger, her valiant crew worked at the
pumps, in order to keep the vessel, which was pitching heavily
and ready to sink, at least a little while longer afloat. Without
allowing themselves to be discouraged by the uselessness of their
fire, which could not pierce the armor of the Virginia, the gun-
ners suffered themselves to be killed one after another by the side
of their guns ; the dead were immediately replaced. In the mean
time, the water was gaining; it had filled the powder magazine,
drowning several cannoneers who would not abandon their posts ;
the space between decks was submerged, and all the wounded who
happened to be there met with a frightful death. Shortly after,
the battery placed on deck was submerged ; a single gun still rose
above the water ; it was fired by the last surviving gunner, and
the ball, skimming the surface of the sea, had scarcely struck the
sides of the Virginia^ when the Ou^nberland, with one hundred
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600 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
and twenty of her heroic defenders, went down in eighteen metres
of water. The rest reached the shore by swimming. The top of
the mainmast alone remained above water ; and the flag of the
United States, which had been nailed to it during the height of the
battle, floated for several years a mournful and glorious emblem,
marking the spot of the submerged hull which had served as the
grave of so many brave men.
On perceiving the disaster of the Cumberland^ the Congress
took advantage of the respite granted her to weigh anchor and
run upon the muddy banks adjoining the beach of Newport
News. She was thus sure to avoid being sunk ; but the same
act also doomed her to remain motionless, and the Virginia oould
henceforth cannonade her at leisure. This is what Buchanan did
as soon as he saw the Carnberland disappear. It was half-past
two ; while the small Confederate steamers were exchanging shots
with the Congress from a considerable distance, the Virginia, ap-
proaching within two hundred metres of that vessel, took a posi-
tion so as to enfilade the whole of her battery without being her-
self exposed to the fire of more than three or four guns. Her first
discharge produced a terrible eflect on board the Congress, most
of the gunners being entirely disabled by it. Although the Fed-
erals had already suflScient proof of the inefficiency of their guns
against the iron plates of the Virginia, they continued the fight
with that self-devotion and determination of purpose which esprit
de corps imparts to select troops. The field-artilleiy massed on
the shore tried in vain to take part in the combat ; but the fire
of the infantry was more effective. The Virginia having ap-
proached the shore, a few well-directed bullets i>enetrated through
the open port-holes, and among the persons struck by them was
the brave Buchanan, who was severely wounded in the thigh.
For an hour and a half the Congress kept up the fight, the
issue of which could no longer be doubtful ; she had lost all hope
of assistance on seeing the Minriesota stranded in the distance
upon a sand-bank, as she was coming from Fortress Monroe to
take part in the conflict. Nevertheless, amid the dead and wound-
ed who encumbered the decks, her gunners continued to fire upon
such of the enemy^s steamers as happened to be mthin reach of
their guns. Resistance, however, could be prolonged no further;
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HAMPTON ROADS. 601
the oommander had been killed, about one hundred men were
disabled, and, according to eye-witnesses, "the deck was slippery
with the blood that had been shed." The Congress struck her
colors, and several boats came alongside to take possession of her.
But while these boats were taking a portion of the frigate^s crew
as prisoners of war on board the Confederate steamers, the troops
stationed along the shore poured a volley of musketry into the
Virginiay which wounded some of the men who had ventured out
of the casemate. Suspecting treachery, Buchanan immediately'
began to cannonade the Congress again ; and the Federal sailors
who were still on board took advantage of this attack to jump
into the sea and save themselves by swimming. The vessel, being
thus abandoned, was fired by the Confederates, who proceeded at
once in search of another adversary. The Minnesota seemed to
offer them a new and easy success. On her way to Newport
News she had run into a channel which was only navigable for
her at high water, but through which she hoped, by the combined
aid of sail and steam, to be yet able to open herself a passage.
She did not succeed ; and the receding tide left her completely
stranded three miles below the Congress. Near her lay the St,
Latmrence, which, having tried to follow her under sail, had also
run aground. The Roanoke also had run upon a bank, but had
floated off again and had retired towards Fort Monroe. The
Virginiay having been delayed in consequence of her injuries,
arrived at last within reach of cannon-shot of the two motionless
vessels waiting for her in the mud. Their destruction seemed
inevitable ; but fortunately the state of the tide at that moment
did not allow the Virginia to approach them nearer than sixteen
hundred metres. Buchanan opened fire at that distance, while
at the same time the Patrick Henry and the Jamestoum, favored
by their light draught of water, took position nearer to the Min--
nesota, and commenced cannonading her with their rifled pieces.
Many people on board this vessel were killed and wounded ; but
the game between them was equal, and the Dahlgren howitzers of ♦
the Federals soon compelled the two rebel steamers to seek their
safety in retreat. The Virginia could render them no assistance ;
either through the fault of her gunners, or some defect in her
guns, or rather because she could not elevate hei pieces suffi-
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602 THE CIVIL WAR jy AMERICA.
ciently In^^li, her fire was extremely uncertain. Only one missile
reaclunl tlu» Minncifotd; another struck the St, Lawrence: it was
the hv-t A\ot fired on that memorable day. It was seven o'clock
in the ovenin^; the C<m federate wjuatlron retired for the night to
the vicinity of Norfolk, to prej)are for a renewal of the work of
destruction as soon as daylight should appear.
It secniwl as if no human precaution could snatch the prey from
the grasp of the Vir(/inia, and spare from the fate of the Cum-
berland and the Conr/ress the three frigates which night alone had
savwl from her attick. The high tide would, in fact, enable her
to approach them mnch nearer the following morning than she
had done the day previous. The Feileral fleet once annihilated,
Buchanan could pnxxHxI to bombard Fort Monroe, drive all the
enemy's tran.sjK)rts from Old Point Comfort, thus obliging the
troops to evacuate the peninsula, and, after freeing the James
Kivcr, himself blockade the whole of the Chesapeake. The
Virginia was not enough of a sea vessel and carried too little
coal to venture upcm the high sea, and, as it was then thought, to
carry dismay even hito the port of New York; but she could
take advantage of a calm to go and recapture Pamlico Sound
from GolilslK)rough's fleet ; or, better still, she could ascend the
Potomac as far as in front of Washington and throw bomb-shells
into the capital of the Union. The parts would then have been
reversed ; it would no longer have been the part of the Federals
to attack Richmond by resting on the sea, but the turn of the
Coulc<lcratcs, who, once masters of the inland waters, would have
had the powerful co-operation of naval forces in resuming the
offensive. All the previsions of the Federals, founded upon the
suiKTiority of their miignificent fleet of wooden vessels, would
have disapi)eared with the Cumberland and the Congress. The
war would have changed front, and the Confederate flag, open-
ing a new era in maritime warfare, would easily have raised the
blockade which prevented the slave States from freely procuring
sujiplies in Euroi)e. This was enough to excite the lively imagi-
nations of Southern people. The Federals, on the contrary, were
filled with consternation and dismay. The Congress was burn-
ing slowly, casting a lurid glare upon the tranquil waters of New-
port News, while her guns, which were still loaded, went ofl* in
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 603
proportion as the flames reached them ; their fire, which no gun-
ner had directed, resounded like a funeral knell amid the silence
of the night. At midnight she blew up with a terrific crash, and
everything was again enveloped in darkness. But this mournful
sight did not for an instant divert the Federals from their work
of restoring the glacis of Fort Monroe to a proper condition ; for
old General Wool, who commanded that place, was of the opinion,
and not without reason, that the Federal fleet would henceforth
be unable to protect it.
While the telegraph was spreading throughout the Union a
degree of anxiety which it would be impossible to conceive with-
out having witnessed it, day had dawned upon the waters that
had been the scene of the previous day's battle, and at six o'clock
the Virginia left her anchorage at Craney Island. Her sides had
been greasecl in order to facilitate the ricochet of the enemy's pro-
jectiles, and she was accompanied by five transports loaded with
troops destined to take possession of the Minnesota as soon as the
guns of that vessel should have been silenced. The realization of
this hope could not long be delayed ; indeed, all the efforts of her
crew and the tugs that surrounded her had not been able to set
the stranded frigate afloat, while the recoil of her heavy guns, by
throwing her on one side, had driven her deeper and deeper into
the mud, where she was completely imbedded. Fearing lest she
should also run aground, and wishing at the same time to cut off
her retreat, the Virginia, instead of attacking her directly, ran
into the deep waters which surround the Rip Raps in the harbor
of Old Point Comfort ; thence the Confederate ram entered the
channel in which the Minnesota was stranded, to come upon her
by following the same direction she had herself taken the day
before.
But as the Confederate gunners were about to open their port-
holes at the prow to reply to the fire of the pivot gun placed at
the stern of the Federal frigate, a strange diminutive machine was
seen to move off from her side and insolently place herself between
the Virginia and the victim she already felt sure of having. " It
was like a cheese-box," observed the Confederate sailors after-
wards, " placed on a raft." This machine, however, moved about
like a real vessel ; she had hoisted the Federal flag ; and if the
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604 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
sailors who brought her into the fight were not crazy, they must
certainly have been courageous advei'saries. The inteiloper who
had thus come to meddle with the conflict must be got rid of widi-
out delay. Two empty shells^ each weighing fifty kilogrammes^
were sent after the intruder from a distance of a few hundred
metres. What was the general astonishment when these shells
were seen to rebound and fall harmless into the sea. '^The
cheese-box is an iron tower," they exclaimed on board the Vtr-
ffinicu
It was, in fact, the Monitor^ which, having been completed on
the same day as the latter vessel, had, by a second chance, not
less strange, just reached the battle-field of Hampton Roads at
the moment when her presence alone could change the aspect of
the fight.
It was not for the purpose of holding the Virghda in check
that she had been brought into the waters of the Chesapeake. As
we shall show hereafter, the Washington government had pre-
pared a plan of attack against the batteries which blockaded the
Potomac, and the Secretary of the Navy had promised the co-
operation of the Monitor in carrying out this project The latter
vessel was scarcely finished when she left the port of New York
in tow of a steamer, and after encountering a gale of wind, during
which she behaved well, she had entered the waters of the Chesa-
peake on the 8th of March. She had strict orders to touch only
at Fort Monroe, and to ascend the Potomac at once, where she
was anxiously looked for. But as she was approaching the en-
trance of the James, the booming of cannon at Newport News
apprised her commander. Lieutenant Worden, that a naval battle
was being fought in those waters. Suspecting the danger, he in-
creased the speed of the vessel, whose capacities he had not even
yet tested, when he was boarded by a pilot, who informed him of
the disaster that had just occurred. For all answer Worden
quietly requested him to take his vessel straight against the T^-
ginia. The unfortunate pilot, seized with terror, preferred leav-
ing him rather than execute an order which seemed so pfeposter-
ous. In the mean time, night had come. As soon as he had cast
anchor, Worden, taking upon himself the responsibility of violat-
ing the letter of his instructions, made up his mind to take a hand
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 605
in the battle of the next day, and went to hide himself behind the
large hall of the Minnesotay in order to fall suddenly upon the
Virginia as soon as the latter should reappear. The system of
revolving turrets had never been tried, and all was as new to the
gunners as to the engineers of the Monitor, For his two guns of
twenty-nine centimetres calibre Worden had shells weighing sev-
enty-two kilogrammes, cast-iron balls weighing eighty-four, and
wrought-iron balls weighing ninety-two. He decided to use pro-
jectiles of the second class, as the shells would certainly break
against the iron plates of the Virginia^ while his wrought-iron
balls seemed too heavy for his cast-iron guns, which might burst
and damage every part of his vessel. At a later period these same
guns, loaded with wrought-iron balls and a charge of powder
weighing fifteen kilogrammes, were fired without accident, but in
this first trial the decision of the Federal captain was the wisest.
The Confederate officers understood that a foeman worthy of
their steel had come to play with them, double or quits, in the
game which the star-spangled banner had lost the day before.
Letting alone the large Federal frigate, which, unable to defend
herself, was to be the prize of the contest, their present thought
was only to figTit the Monitor, Being both impatient to achieve
a victory, and each confiding in the powerful armor of his vessel,
the two iron-clads rapidly approach each other and exchange shots
from their tremendous guns at a few metres distance. The confi-
dence felt on both sides was fully justified. The crew of the
Minnesota beheld with admiring wonder the enormous balls which
their own vessel could not have withstood glancing off or break-
ing against the armor of the two combatants. The fight, which
began at eight o'clock, was long continued without either of them
having been able to effect a breach in the armor of his antagonist.
At last. Captain Jones, who succeeded Buchanan in the command
of the Virginia^ after the latter had been wounded, determines to
apply the same tactics against the Monitor which have pre ved so
fatal to the Cumberland. She steers with direct aim toward her
in order to strike her with the beak, but the point of this weapon
was broken the day previous ; and a clever shifting of the helm
causing the MmiiUrr to sheer off at the critical moment, the prow
of the Virffinia only touched the edge of her deck, and turned
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606 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
her around without indicating any damage. Onoe apprised of this
new danger, the Finleral vessel, which is swifter and more skil-
fully handled than her heavier adversary, continues to manoeuvre
so as to avoid coming in contact with her, and keeps turning
round, firing through the embrasures, in hope of disabling her.
The two v(»ssels are only ten metres* apart. The balls, failing to
penetrate their armor, fly in every direction ; some of them strike
the Mhmesota; another bursts the boiler of a steam-tug fastened
to her sidis; the little Confederate steamers have deemed
it pnidcnt to withdraw from tliis dangerous locality. At last,
after four hours' fighting, a shot from the Monitor strikes the T7r-
ffhiia near the water-line, and oj)ens a dangerous leak in her. Al-
most at the same moment one of the enemy's balls strikes against
the small observatory within shelter of which AVorden is directing
his vessel. This was a square box comjx)scd of iron ingots thirty-
two centimetres in thickness, with small crevices between them,
through which the captain could observe all that was going on
outside, for the whole interior of the ship, with the exception of
the turret, lighted from aliove, was enveloped in utter darkness.
The shock detached some splinters, which severely womided the
brave Wordcn in the eyes. He was struck at the moment of his
triumph. The Virginia, being in danger from the leak, para-
lyzed by the condition of her engines, which were working worse
and worse, dcsj>airing, in short, of getting the upper hand of her
invulnerable antagcmist, gave up the game and slowly retired in
the direction of Norfolk.
The Monitor remained on the battle-field near the ships she
had just saved ; but the service she had rendered them was but a
small matter compared with the other results of her victory. All
the fears that had sprung up in consequence of the previous day's
battle were dissipated. The Virginia was not able to come out
of tlie James River. The Chesapeake, the Potomac, the high sea,
in short, were under the control of the Federals; and if the latter
had be<'n tiuglit to feel that their wooden fleet could not with-
stand a single iron-clad vessel of the enemy, they had also found
an engine of destruction suiKjrior in every respect to that which
tlie Confederates had just put on trial against them.
The battle of Hampton Roads will continue to be one of the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 607
most memorable events in modern warfare ; never were so many
new inventions exposed at once to the practical ordeal of battle.
Wooden vessels of every class, together with iron-clads, some
with batteries, others with turrets, were all put upon trial at the
same time. It was the first time that, besides such vessels, screw-
propellers — ^which, however, had been in existence for twenty
years — had been seen to figure in a naval combat. The propel-
lers were found to be as powerless in this kind of warfare as the
old sailing-vessels. Tlie iron-clads, on the contrary, showed
themselves to be invulnerable to shells; the deep indentations
made upon the armor of the ilonttor and the Virginia, however,
proved that they might be penetrated by heavy caimon-balls fired
from land-batteries, where the weight of the gun is not subser-
vient to the exigencies of the floating surface. Finally, the de-
struction of the Cumberland demonstrated the power of the sharp
beak, forgotten since the days of the Romans, this last and for-
midable resource of resolute sailors, the use of which the two
greatest naval commanders of our own times, Farragut and
Tegethofl*, as well as Buchanan, have again taught us.
The Virginia had suffered from the engagement, but her in-
juries were of such a character as to admit of being promptly
repaired. If she should succeed in acquiring a rate of speed
equal to that of the Monitor^ which was an easy matter, with an
engine as powerful as hers, might she not reappear in Hampton
Roads, and, taking no notice of the adversary whose attack had
probably occupied her too exclusively, renew her work of destruc-
tion upon the wooden vessels ? In that case, the Monitor, having
no beak, would be reduced to the use of her guns, the effect of
which the Virginia had already borne without much damage.
The Federal naval authorities fully appreciated all the drawbacks
to the success of March the 9th ; and in order to avert the danger
of another attack from the enemy^s iron-clad, they hastened to sta-
tion several large vessels at the mouth of the James, which were tc;
board the Virginia and sink her as soon as she should appear.
But the latter vessel did not avail herself of the chances she still
possessed on the 10th of March. Were her injuries more serious
than had at first been supposed ? Was much precious time lost
in reconstructing her beak, or in increasing the calibre of her ar-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
608 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
tillery ? Was her inaction to be attributed to the timidity of the
Richmond government, unwilling to jeopardize a vessel whose
presence alone closed to the Federals the maritime approaches to
their capital ? It is difficult to say. It may be that the Ftr-
ginia lost all her efficiency with the loss of the brave commander
who had so skilfully handled her on the first day, and who wx>uld
doubtless not have accepted the combat of the day following as a
final defeat.
Before proceeding any further, we must go back to the period
when we left Greneral McClellan planning the operations upon
which the tmttle of Hampton Roads was to have such an import-
ant bearing. We have indicated the combinations among which
he could make a choice, and the difficulties that each of them
presented. His plan was determined upon by the end of Jan-
uary. He only took into his confidence the President, a few
cabinet ministers, and his principal generals ; and while the con-
struction of his bridge equipages was being completed, he devoted
all his time to devising the necessary means of transportation in
order to carry out with precision and promptitude the bold move-
ment he had conceived. Unfortunately for his army, a violent
sickness, as we have already stated, came to interrupt these labors,
and for a time to paralyze his faculties at the moment when they
would have been of the utmost value. The fever had seized him
before he had time to transfer the command to one of his lieu-
tenants. Seniority would have designated McDowell. The staff
did not deem it proper to recommend the vanquished soldier of
the 21st of July for so important an interim, and they continued
to exercise the command in the name of the sick chief. The
President, on his part, did not dare to strike at the power of a
general whose convalescence was announced to him from day to
day ; but at last, on the 10th of January, having become im-
patient at not being able to confer with him, he sent for two
generals of the army of the Potomac and bluntly requested them
to furnish him with a plan of campaign which could be carried
out with the least possible delay. The next day, the 11th, these
generals proceeded to institute inquiries into the condition of the
army, through the administrative bureaux, and requested the
Secretary of the Treasury to confide to them all the plans of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 609
General McClellan, which were immediately revealed, and ex-
amined before a council in which there sat, besides themselves, the
President, the Secretaries of State and Treasury, the Postmaster-
General and an Assistant Secretary of War.
On the 13th, after a few more conferences, this same council,
increased in numbers, met at the house of General McClellan, who
was scarcely convalescent. He refused to discuss his plans in the
presence of an assemblage the composition of which seemed to
him somewhat whimsical, and the President sustained his objec-
tion by breaking up the meeting.
Fifteen days elapsed, during which the severity of the weather
rendered it impossible to put the troops in motion, and which
General McClellan employed in re-examining the plan he had to
submit to the President ; but suddenly the latter decided to exer-
cise the supreme command, which the Constitution conferred upon
him, in person. Without even consulting the man whom he had
appointed commander-in-chief of his armies, he published, on the
27th of January, under the title of " First general orders of the
President," a document which will ever be regarded as one of the
strangest monuments of that epoch. This order directs all the
land and naval forces of the Republic to attack the enemy on the
same day, and to this effect he designates the 22d of February,,
the anniversary of Washington's birth-day. Generals, heads of
departments, and their employes, are each to be held responsible
for the non-execution of this order, although none of them have
been consulted, and although the date of this simultaneoas move-
ment has been fixed without any regard to the differences of cli-
mate, the positions of the enemy, and the peculiar circumstances
under which each army may happen to be placed. Soon after
this General McClellan submits to the President, in detail, his.
plan for landing the troops at Urbanna. But on the 31st of
January the latter refuses to endorse it. Penetrated by the ne-
cessity to begin the campaign at once, unwilling to belie the order-
by which he had directed a general movement on the 22d of Feb-
TUdivyj and dreading the delays which a naval operation would
occasion, Mr. Lincoln substituted another plan for that which had
been proposed to him. Leaving to General McClellan the respon-
sibility of carrying out this new plan, he directed him to attack
Vol. I.— 39
Digitized by VjOOQIC
610 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
the enemy by menacing Manassas on the west — ^that is to say, on
the side of the Shenandoah valley.
On the 3d of February, after a verbal discussion, the President
proiK)unded to him a series of questions in writing upon the
relative merits of tlie two plans, and the general replied on the
same day, in the shape of a memorial addressed to the Secretary
of War, wherein the advantages of his project were clearly and
irrefutably set forth. Mr. Lincoln, without being convinced, felt
nevertheless that it would be dangerous to compel the general to
exwHite an operation he had pronounced impracticable, and sus-
pended the order he had given him to attack Manassas. But he
insisted that the army of the Potomac should, before moving
away, completely ensure the communications of Washington with
the Western and Northern States ; to accomplish this the army
had to reopen the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which had been
interrupted at Harper^s Ferry since the beginning of the war, and
to destroy the batteries which blockaded the Lower Potomac.
Tliis preliminary task was not easy to accomplish ; neverthe-
less, as soon as the weather permitted. General McClellan set him-
self to work. On the 24th of February Banks's division, en-
canij)ed on the left borders of the Upper Potomac, and that of
Setlgwick, the same which, under Stone, had experienced the re-
verse of Ball's Bluff, made a demonstration against Harper's
Ferry. A few companies crossed the river in boats ; they found
no enemy among the desolate niins of that charming little town,
and they occupied the surrounding heights. A bridge equipage,
forwarded from Annapolis by rail during the night of the 25th- '
26th, was unloaded at ten o'clock in the morning. Four hours '
later the last boat was fastened to the Virginia shore, and the gen-
eral-in-ehief was the first to cross from one side to the other, with
the heads of column of several divisions concentrated in haste on
the left bimk. At this place the river was three hundred metres
wide, seven metres deep, with a rapid current, a rocky bottom, and
sra rpcnl banks. Nevertheless, this delicate operation, so entirely
new to an American army, was accomplished with great celerity
and success. Encouraged by such a beginning. General McClel-
lan thought for a moment of turning the simple demonstration
he had just made into a decisive operation, of which the valley of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 611
Virginia would have been the theatre. He had already issued
orders, directing the greatest portion of his army to proceed to-
wards Harper's Ferry, when one of those incidents which make
80 hazardous a game of war compelled him, in spite of himself,
to adopt once more the project which had so long had his prefer-
ence. The bridge of boats thrown, on the 26th, over a river so
wide and so subject to sudden risings as the Potomac could not
suflfice for the communications of a large army. Accordingly, in
order to establish a more solid crossing, a large number of barges,
which were to debouch into the river through a lock situated in
front of Harper's Ferry, were assembled in the Ohio Canal. But
when everything was ready, and an attempt made to bring down
these barges into the waters of the Potomac, above the rapids
which obstruct its course, it was found that they were too broad
for the lock, the latter being especially intended to allow the en-
trance into the canal of the small boats which ply on the Shenan-
doah. It would have required several days to widen the passage ;
the army would have lost all the advantages that a rapid move-
ment might have secured, and would have found itself in a per-
ilous position. General McClellan gave up the plan he had just
formed, but did not return to Washington until iie had secured
the restoration of the railway, which Mr. Lincoln considered so
important.
The latter at last decided to furnish the commander of the
army of the Potomac the means for undertaking his maritime
expedition. On the 27th of February the iSrst orders for char-
tering numerous vessels to transport the army were received at the
War Department. The government, notwithstanding its impa-
tience to act, had thus wasted six weeks, during which all the
necessary preparations might easily have been completed. In the
mean while, before taking the field. General McClellan was obliged,
in compliance with the orders of the President, to raise the Poto-
mac blockade. Any attempt at disembarkation or movement of
his army on that side might have brought on a general engage-
ment under the most pnfavorable circumstances. The naval force,
being otherwise engaged, had not the means to attempt such a dif-
ficult enterprise. It could only promise him for the 10th or 12th
of March, an auxiliary which might prove useful, but upon which
Digitized by VjOOQIC
612 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
it would have been imprudent to rely absolutely. This was the
Monitor, We have seen how from her entrance into the Chesa-
peake she found a better opportunity for making a successful trial
of her qualities as a man-of-war. The battle of the 8th of March
deranged all the plans that had been formed for the future cam-
paign of the army of the Potomac ; and by a new coincidence, as
strange as the meeting of the two iron-clads at the mouth of the
James, it was precisely on the 8th of March that these plans had
been definitely determined upon.
In fact, after having ordered the preparations which McClellan
had so long solicited, Mr. Lincoln relapsed into hesitancy, and
insisted that the general-in-chief should submit his project to the
examination of a council of war. Twelve generals* assembled on
the 8th of March, not to receive the instructions of their chief,
but to constitute a tribunal for passing judgment on his plans ;
these were approved by a majority of feight to four.
Bound by a decision he had himself courted, the President
accepted it with a bad grace;* and being still under some fatal
influence, he published two orders which indirectly interfered
with its execution. The first of these orders divided the army
of the Potomac into five army corps ; and r^ardless of McClel-
lan's opinion as to the qualifications of his subordinates, it gave
the command of these army corps to five of the oldest generals
of division. Among these oflScers there were three who had just
condemned the plan of their chief in a council of war. This
was to substitute oligarchy for that despotism which Washington
considered indispensable in an army. McClellan might have
prevented this fatal decision by forming the army corps himself,
but he had preferred to wait for the trial of the first campaign,
in order to bestow the distinction upon those most worthy of it
The second order directed him to leave such a number of troops
in Washington as the majority of his corps commanders should
deem necessary to secure the safety of the capital ; not to transport
more than fifty thousand men, and to wait for a new order from
♦ This council was composed of McDowell, Snmner, Heintzelman, Kejea,
F. J. Porter, Franklin, McCall, Blenker, divleion commanders ; Naglee, repre-
Benting Hooker, chief of the tenth division; A. Porter, provost-marshal-gen-
eral ; and Barnard, commander of engineers. The three first named and the
last TOted against General McClellan's plan.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS, 613
the President to embark the remainder ; to begin the movement
not later than the 18th of March, and finally to make an effort,
with the co-operation of the navy, to put an end to that blockade
of the Potomac which was the source of so much alarm to the
inhabitants of the capital.
This was to divide the army into three parts : one to embark
at Annapolis, the second to attack the batteries on the Lower
Potomac, the third to keep guard over Washington ; it was, in
short, to fix a specified date for an operation which did not dej)end
alone upon Greneral McClellan, as he could not embark on the
18th of March unless the War and Navy Departments should
furnish him in time with transports, the chartering and equip-
ment of which had been taken from his control.
The news of the destruction of the Congress and the Cumber-
land, which was received on the morning of the 9th, caused all
these preparations to be suspended, for it was no longer Rich-
mond but Washington that was menaced. On the same evening,
however, a despatch from Mr. Fox, who had gone to meet the
Monitor, announced the success of that vessel and the retreat of
the Virginia. The immediate result of this second day's fight
was to render the navigation of the Chesapeake once more safe.
If the James River remained closed by the presence of the Vir-
ginia at Norfolk, Urbanna and Fortress Monroe were both acces-
sible, and could yet afford a solid base for the great operation
which the army of the Potomac was about to undertake. But
the plans of McClellan, already so frequently frustrated, as
if by a kind of fatality connected with the dates of the 8th
and 9th of March, were again serioasly compromised by an
event which was almost as unexpected as the battle between
the iron-clads ; we allude to the evacuation of Manassas by the
Confederates. Was this evacuation, which had long since been
contemplated and in active preparation for more than a week, has-
tened by some criminal indiscretions? There are many indica-
tions which would seem to justify such a conclusion, although not
affording positive proof of the fact. Whatever the case may be,
on the very day following that when the maritime expedition was
determined upon by a council of war, the Confederates, by a
rapid retreat, escaped the most serious dangers tliey would have
Digitized by VjOOQIC
614 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
en(X)untere<l from this expedition. Now they had time to reach
Richmond even before the Federal army could embark upon the
tnuisiK)rfc<, whose arrival was delayed from day to day. The
lonjj:-<lebated question^ however, relative to the raising of the Po-
tomac blockade was solved by the abandonment of the enemy's
batt<Ti(»8. Instead of going to Annapolis in search of the vessels
wliirh were to convey his soldiers to the coa^sts of the Chesapeake,
M(<ncllan would see them arrive in front of his encampments at
Alexandria. The famous reiloubts at Manassas were invaded by
a crowd of curious persons who could without danger underrate
their importance and criticise the general whose prudence did not
allow him to sacrifice the ilite of his young army for the sake of
carrying them. But the moral effect which the retreat of the
Confe<lcratcs would have produced a few days later was wanting.
If so much time had not been wasted in indecision, the evacuation
of Mana>;sa9 would have coincided with the disembarkation of the
first Federal soldiers at Urbanna or Newport News, and every-
bo<ly would have attributed it to the bold movement of McClellan.
The army of the Potomac left its quarters to take possession
of the enemy's works. On the 10th of March it occupied Cen-
treville; on the 11th Manassas Junction. Large quantities of
6ton\s, burnt or scattered in the mud, storehouses still in flames,
the smoking debris of numerous trains, traces of destruction
everywhere, imjiarted a lugubrious and sinister aspect to the cele-
brated plateau. Although the Federal army was to encounter no
adversary, this movement was useful to the soldiers as a marching
exercise. It was, moreover, necessary in order to occupy the po-
sitions which were to cover Washington during the future cam-
paign. It was at Manassas that the garrison of the capital ought
to be placed, for it could thence command the whole surrounding
country ; but this was the extreme scope of tlie aggressive move-
ment so suddenly undertaken. The enemy had disapj)eared ; and
although the smoke of burning bridges behind him still rose
above the forest which greets the eye at Manassas Junction, all
serious pursuit was impossible. The troops had no means of ob-
taining supplies ; the roads were broken up, and the water courses,
swollen by the rains, were no longer practicable.
General Joseph Johnston, who, since the battle of Bull Run,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS, 615
Lad commanded all the Confederate forces at Manassas in the
valley of Virginia and on the Lower Potomac, had conducted the
delicate operation which transferred the greater portion of liis
army to the new battle-field selected by his adversary with equal
ability and success. His own soldiers only learned on the 7th of
March, on receiving marching orders, that the evacuation of Manas-
sas had been secretly going on for several weeks. Not a single
cannon nor gun-carriage nor projectile had been left in the vast
d6p6ts the Confederates had established at the intersection of the
two railways. With regard to the batteries which blockaded the
Potomac, the diflBculties were much greater, owing to the distance
of the Acquia Creek station ; stores, ammunition, and even a few
pieces of artillery had to be left behind. In order to keep these
objects from falling into the hands of the enemy, the Confederates
buried them in the ditches, to which they gave the appearance of
newly-dug graves by means of crosses and other devices; but
they carried the joke a little too far. The inscriptions which
adorned the false graves, invoking, with much affectation, respect
for the dead, excited tlie suspicion of the Yankees, who were not
long in discovering the trick.
Leaving Jackson in the valley of Virginia, free to act in ac-
cordance with his judgment, Johnston fell back upon the Rap-
pahannock with little less than fifty thousand able-bodied men.
Resting his right on Fredericksburg, and taking his left to the
rear of the Rapidan, he waited in these positions, destined to be-
come so celebrated at a later day, for McClellan to define his
movement either by land or water.
The choice of the Federals had long since been made; and a
reconnaissance undertaken by General Stoneman with a brigade
of cavalry and a regiment of infantry only served to demonstrate
the impossibility of pursuit. Stoneman followed the enemy
across a country absolutely destitute of resources, from Manassas
to Cedar Creek, exchanging a few musket-shots with the Confed-
erate rear-guard. Menaced by the rapidly swelling streams be-
hind him, he hastened to retrace his steps ; and although perfectly
unmolested, he had much trouble in bringing back his soldiers,
whose provisions were exhausted, to the vicinity of the Federal
d6p6ts.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
616 THE CIVIL WAR IN AJIERICA.
In the mean while, politics continued to interfere in military
afiairs. On the 12th of March a Washington journal published
an onl(»r of Mr. Lincoln depriving General McClellan of the
supreme command of the armies, and limiting his authority to
the army of the Potomac. The other armies were to form inde-
pendent commands, under the immediate control of the President,
who claimed tlie right of directing their collective operations in
future. It was through this journal that Greneral McClellan was
informtnl of his removal from the oommand-in-chief. Mr. Lin-
coln hiid not the courage to notify him of the fact, and only
8igne<l the onler after he had seen him leave Washington to take
the field. The general bore this insult with patriotic resignation.
The evacuation of Manassas had changed the relative position
of the two armies. On the 13th, McClellan submitted the plan
for dis<»ml)arking on the shore of Fortrt^ss Monroe to a council
composed of four of his corps commanders, who, on this occa-
sion, ad(>[)ted it unanimously, provided that there should be noth-
ing to f(»ar from the Virginia, that tlie transi)ortation should be
eflfeeteil nipidly, tliat the naval force should co-operate in the afc-
ta(»k upon the batteries of York River, and that the garrison of
Washington should be sufficiently strong to secure the entire
safety of that city. The President confirmed this decision ; and
the War Department, until then paralyzed by so much indecision,
applied at last all its energy to coUet^t the immense maiirid re-
quisite for the transportation of the army.
Positive orders were forwarded to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and
esi>ecMa]ly to New York ; and the Potomac was soon seen swarm-
ing with steamers of every description, from the Transatlantic
pacrkets down to flat-lx)ttomed boats intended exclusively for river
service. The latter could carry as many as one thousand four
hundr(»d men in a single trip, navigation on the tranquil waters
of the Chesapeake occupying only from twelve to fifteen hours.
They had large barges and tenders in tow for conveying horses
and artillery. It was expected that fifty thousand men, with
their mntMel, could be transported in a single trip; but the flo-
tilla a'*s(»mble(l bel(\w Washington could scarcely accommodate
one-half of that number, which was a new cause of delay in the
opening of the campaign. Nevertheless, on the 16th of March,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 617
the whole army was massed in the neighborhood of Alexandria,
where the embarkation was to take place. Near this city eigh-
teen wooden piers jut out into the waters of the Potomac, many
of which have wharf accommodations for three large steamers.
The transports come alongside, and the quartermaster on duty
immediately telegraphs to headquarters the number of men,
horses, and mathnel that can be embarked at each wharf. In
accordance with this information. General McClellan also trans-
mits orders by telegraph to such and such corps, directing them
to repair to the piers whose number he specifies, and in a few
hours a whole division is thus embarked without confusion or
accident. The steamers are immediately unmoored, actually
swarming with human ants, and with scarcely a revolution of
their immense wheels suffer themselves to drift down the current
like a swimmer who is afraid of fatiguing himself. In their
midst may be seen several diminutive steam-tugs, broad and
short, constantly in motion, going by twos and threes to give a
shoulder lift as it were to some large craft that has run aground,
or descending the river with a long string of barges and schoon-
ers in tow. At last, on the 18th and 19th, the first division of
the army of the Potomac disembarks at Fortress Monroe, the
operation having been retarded in consequence of the small num-
ber of landing-places to be found about this locality. The second
division left Alexandria on the 22d. A little later two divisions
could be conveyed at once.
While the' army of the Potomac was thus temporarily turning its
back upon the enemy, in order to go and attack him on a differ-
ent ground, the latter, in falling back upon the Rappahannock,
entirely destroyed all the lines of railway which separate this
river from Washington, thereby debarring himself from every
chance of making an aggressive retrograde movement. But the
valley of Virginia was occupied by an intrepid soldier, T. J.
Jackson, who, since the battle of Bull Run, was only known by
the name of Stonewall Jackson. The military genius of this man
made ample amends for the eccentricity of his character; his
humanity tempered the zeal of his religious enthusiasm, which at
times partook of the fanaticism of the old Puritans, while his
strict sense of justice and equitable dealings made the most reck-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
618 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
less tamely submit to his unbending severity. lie had accord-
ingly ac^quired a prodigious influence over his soldiers, and from
the first day he led them into battle, the old professor of chem-
istry in the military college of Virginia displayed that quickness
of percej>tion, that decision, that energy in the execution of his
plans, which constitute the true man of war.
Since the battles of which West Virginia had been the theatre
at the close of 1861, the Confederates, weakened and discouraged,
had made no attempt to recover the ground they had lost in that
part of the country. All their forces were concentrated in the
Alleghanies ; and Lee, having been summoned to Richmond, had
been succeeded, in December, in the Shenandoah valley, by Jack-
son, who was appointed to the command of the so-called army
of the Monongahela. Soon after, General Garnett came to join
this army with Jackson's old brigade, from which the latter had
separated with great reluctance, thus increasing the number of
his forces to about ten thousand men. The Confederate general
determined to assume the offensive at once. He left Winchester
on the 1st of January with Grarnett's troops and two brigades
commanded by General Loring. The weather was beautiful and
mild, and Jackson's soldiers crossed the gorges of the Alleghanies
with a firm step, in the hope of surprising the Federal garrison
of Bath, a small town situated near the Potomac, on the line of
the Ohio Railway. But the next day they were overtaken by a
snow-storm; winter, after having long held back, had at last
arrived in all its rigor, and surprised them in the midst of a diffi-
cult march. They suffered terribly, and only reached Bath to
see the Federals, who had received timely warning of their ap-
proach, stationed on the other side of the river. Jackson, in-
flexible of purpose, would not yield to the cold. After destroying
the railroad-track, he led his soldiers to Romney, which General
Kelly evacuated without waiting for him ; and leaving a portion
of Loring's troops in this town, he returned to Winchester with
the remainder of his army. The soldiers he brought back were
exhaustal, discouraged, and discontented. The effects of the
severe cold had reduced his effective force one-half. The volun-
teers whose term of service was about to expire no longer obeyed
their commanders; those who re-enlisted claimed the right to
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 619
elect new oflBcers ; and as the merits of the candidates were freely
discussed, drunkenness and want of discipline prevailed every-
where. Finally, the oflBcers who served under Jackson, en-
couraged by Loring's example, no longer hesitated to criticise his
acts openly. So loud were their complaints that Mr. Davis, imi-
tating the government of Washington, ordered Loring to evacuate
Romney without even apprising Jackson of his intention. The
latter had need of all his patriotism to continue in the service of
those who so poorly appreciated the diflRculties of the task they
had laid upon him when they entrusted him with the defence of
that important section of country.
General McCIellan, being desirous to protect the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad from any further attack, had, during the short cam-
paign of Jackson, united all the small bodies of troops scattored
along that line, between Hancock and Cheat River, in a single com-
mand. These troops, to which were added a few reinforcements,
were formed into a division under the orders of General Lander,
his personal friend and an extremely brave oflBcer, who had been
wounded in a skirmish at Edwards's Ferry a few days after the
battle of Ball's BluflT. Lander did not remain inactive. The
portion of the railroad most exposed to the. enemy was that which
follows the right bank of the Potomac between Hancock and
Cumberland. It never had been entirely reopened, the section
between Hancock and Harper's Ferry being still in the hands of
the Confederates. Lander undertook to reconstruct the Cacapon
bridge near Bath, and to open the railroad between Cumberland
and Hancock, in order to establish a line of communication be-
tween the latter point and the borders of the Ohio. With a view
of protecting the laborers, he determined to dislodge the Confed-
erate brigade of Carson from the Blooming Gap passes, above the
Cacapon valley, whence they could come down at any time and
interrupt their work. He arrived on the 14th of February, at
daybreak, with five hundred horsemen, at a little village situated
at the foot of the passes, where he hoped to surprise a detachment
of the enemy. The latter, being warned in time, had retired to-
wards the mountaui. Lander followed them ; but when he sought
to attack the position (K?cupied by the Confederates, his troopers
refused to follow him. Then the brave Lander, charging upon
Digitized by VjOOQIC
620 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
the enemy, followed only by his staff, made a rebel colonei
prisoner with his own hand. Fortunately for him, he had only
a small detachment of Carson's brigade to deal with, the brigade
itself having fallen back towards Winchester ; and the approach
of two regiments of Federal infantry was sufficient to put the
Confederates to flight, who, without the arrival of this reinforce-
ment, having fully recovered from their first surprise, would have
made Lander pay dear for his audacity. They left in his hands
seventy-five prisoners, seventeen of whom were officers. In the
mean time, a small body of troops had hoisted the Federal flag
at Moorefield, above Romney, among the gorges of the Upper
Potomac, and this last town, having been evacuated by J^oring,
was at once occupied by Lander. Jackson, who attached the
greatest importance to its possession, was contemplating its re-
capture, when his attention was diverted by other duties. In-
deed, the arrival of two Federal divisions at Harper's Ferry on
the 26th looked like the prelude to a great campaign in the valley
of Virginia. McClellan was at Charlestown in person. Jackson
brought back his troops to Winchester in great haste. He lingered
there for the purpose of watching the movements of the Federals ;
but at the same time he was preparing to go up the Shenandoah
as soon as Johnston should give him the signal ; for the evacua-
tion of Manassas, which was then in course of execution, once
accomplished, would necessarily involve that of Winchester.
In the mean while. Lander had died ; he was succeeded by Gen-
eral Shields, a gallant officer,* who had already distinguished
himself in the Mexican campaign, and his division, united to that
of Banks, formed the fifth army corps, under command of the
latter general. When Johnston evacuated Manassas, Jackson,
leaving Winchester, proceeded to Strasburg, thence to Woodstock,
and only stopped at Mount Jackson, the terminus of the Manassas
Grap Railway, situated on the north branch of the Shenandoah.
This movement towards the south was followed by all the small
bands operating among the AUeghanies ; and the railroad between
Cumberland and Hancock being entirely open. Shields proceeded
* James Shields was a brigadier-general of volunteen during the Mexican
war. He was brevetted a major-general, and was twice severely wounded. He
was mustered out of service at the close of the war. — Ed.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
HAMPTON ROADS. 621
to Winchester with his division, to join the first diNosion of Banks,
of which General Williams had assumed the command. Spurred
on by his ardor, and encouraged by his chief, who did not much
relish the defensive r6le allotted to him in McClellan's programme,
Shields, on the 18th of March, pushed forward in the track of
Jackson as far as beyond Strasburg, pressing close upon his rear-
guard. But he could neither continue this eccentric movement
nor remain in the isolated position in which he found himself.
Indeed, the army of the Potomac, when it embarked, had left all
the care of covering the line of the Potomac, against any demon-
stration on the part of the enemy, to Banks's corps. The two fine
divisions of which it was composed were amply sufiicient for this
purpose, provided they were exclusively devoted to such service.
The division of Williams was to leave Winchester on the 21st for
Centreville and Manassas, to replace the troops about to embark
at Alexandria. Shields, left ^lone in the valley of Virginia, was
obliged to shut himself up in the lower part of this valley, and
on the 20th of March, early in the morning, he left Strasburg,
with all his forces, to return the same day to Winchester, which
Banks had directed him to hold. Shields knew the ardent tem-
perament of his adversary ; and since he could not come up with
him in order to attack him, he determined to lay a trap for him,
so as to induce him to follow in pursuit, by giving to his retreat
the appearance of a precipitate flight. His pickets were suddenly
withdrawn ; and when, after a long march, his worn-out troops
reached Winchester, he hurried them through the town and made
them encamp a few kilometres to the north, on the Martinsburg
road. On the morning of the 22d Williams's division left Win-
chester, where there only remained a few companies, and took up
its line of march through Berryville, towards the Snicker Gap
pass, in the chain of the Blue Eidge. The inhabitants of Win-
chester, nearly all secessionists, hastened to send word to Ashby's
cavalry, which had followed in the wake of the Federals, to let
them know that their town was evacuated. This information was
immediately forwarded to Jackson by means of signal-fires kindled
on the mountain-tops. When Shields saw thick columns of smoke
rising above the woods, he understood that his manoeuvre had suc-
ceeded, and prepared to receive the enemy on the ground he had
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622 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
Belected. Ashby, expecting to find an easy prey in Winchester,
did not wait for Jackson, but vigorously attacked the Federal out-
posts a few kilometres south of the town. In order to hold them
in check, without, however, revealing his strength, Shields sent
the brigafle of Kimball to take position near the village of Kerns-
town, but only brought two regiments into action, with which
Ashby kept skirmishing until night, believing that he had all the
available forces of the Federals before him. In placing these
two regiments in position, Shields had an arm shattere<l by a
splinter from a shell, but he continued to give his orders without
even allowing his wound to be dressed, and on the following day,
despite his sufferings, he directed all the movements of his division
from his bed.
Jackson had reluctantly abandoned a portion of the Virginia
valley and slowly fallen back before an enemy greatly superior in
number. As soon as he was apprised of the retreat of the Fed-
erals towards Winchester he could not resist the desire to retrace
his steps. In the course of a single day, March 2d, he travelled,
with his small army, the distance of forty kilometres, which sep-
arates Mount Jackson from the borders of Cedar Creek, where he
encamped for the night. He had with him the three brigades of
Garnett, Burks, and Fulkerstone ; Ashby's brigade of cavalry, to-
gether with a light battery, was already near Winchester ; his ar-
tillery consisted of twenty-seven field-pieces ; but the infantr}'^ was
so much reduced that his forces did not amount to more than four
thousand two hundred, or four thousand three hundred at the ut-
most. On the morning of the 23d he resumed his march, having
yet nearly forty kilometres to travel before he could reach Win-
chester.
On the same morning the three brigades of Shields's division
took position five kilometres in advance of this town. The turn-
pike road leading southward divides into three branches on the
summit of a hill situated this side of Kernstown vilhige, and
sloping down gradually to the edge of a ravine running from
west to east. The left branch leads to Front Royal, the right to a
ford of Cedar Creek at the foot of North Mountain ; the principal
road in the centre runs to Strasburg. The country, highly culti-
vated and intersected with wall fences and small woods, is one of
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HAMPTON ROADS, 623
the richest in the valley of Virginia. In the absence of Shields,
who was kept in Winchester by his wound, Colonel Kimball had
assumed command of the three brigades. His own was drawn
up in front across the turnpike road, his right wing extending
opposite a wooded hill among the recesses of which the ravine
buried itself; still more to the right there were several large
stubble-fields. The brigade of Sullivan was drawn up on the
left, a little in rear, and Tyler's "was massed on the Winchester
road. A reconnaissance made in the morning had demonstrated
to the Federals that they had only some cavalry and a few pieces
of artillery before them ; and Banks, convinced that Jackson, when
better informed, would not dare to attack his seven or eight thou-
sand men, had just left for Washington when Ashby's artillery
opened the fight along the Strasburg road. The latter, having
been informed of the near approach of Jackson, and wishing to
test the strength of his adversaries, began the attack upon the left
wing of the Federals, and soon compelled them to bring a portion
of Sullivan's brigade into line. But the renvainder of their forces
being concealed by a rise in the ground, Ashby still believed that
there were only four or five regiments before him, and forwarded
this false information to Jackson when the latter reached the
village of Kernstown, about two o'clock in the afternoon. The
Confederate foot-soldiers were worn out by their long and rapid
march, but their commander was in the habit of not considering
their fatigue. Believing he has a chance of crushing a detach-
ment of fifteen hundred or two thousand of the enemy's troops,
he allows his soldiers but a few moments' rest, and immediately
after leads them into action. Fulkerstone, on the left, Ganiett, in
the centre, and Burks, on the right, are all deployed in a single
line of battle, which Jackson leads against the position occupied
by Kimball's brigade, leaving to Ashby the care of holding the
left wing of the Federals in check. His batteries occupy the
wooded hill we have mentioned, and open a murderoas fire, to
which the Federal artillery, being more exposed, replies with dif-
ficulty, Fulkerstone stretches out into the fields which open on
his left, and threatens to flank the extremity of the Union line.
It is four o'clock. Kimball, in order to parry this danger, sum-
mons Tyler's brigade, some of whose regiments take position
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624 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
on his right. The battle rages along the whole line. Garftett,
with the celebrated brigade he has the honor of oommanding,
emerges from the wood along the edge of which the Confed-
erate artillery is posted. Kimball causes his brigade to make anf
analogous movement, and these two forces, both uncovered, obsti-
nately fire at each other at a distance of two hundred ^metres.
On the right of the Federals, Tyler has not only checked the
movement of Fulkerstonc's brigade, but outflanks it in his turn ;
on the left, Sullivan easily keeps Ashby in check, although com-
pelled to send two regiments to support the centre, which is
closely pressed.
At this place the two lines are separated by a large stone wall.
Each party is endeavoring to take possession of this sheltering
parapet ; but Gamett, with his Virginians, is the first to reach it.
The Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania, led by the brave Colonel Mur-
ray, tries to take it from him, and rushes to the charge despite a
terrific fire; it arrives within twenty metres of the prize; but
Murray is shot dead; his soldiers reel, fall back, and scatter,
leaving the ground covered with the dead and wounded.
Jackson has at last discovered his error ; but still retaining full
confidence in his soldiers, he hopes to be yet able to wrest the
victory from an enemy vastly superior in number. But while
he brings his last reserves into action, Sullivan's troops and the
remainder of Tyler's brigade come into line. Kimball makes
one more effort to carry the position occupied by Gamett. His
artillery covers the Confederate line with shells, and the second
charge succeeds better than the first. The Stonewall brigade,
being out of cartridges, abandons the wall it has so well defended.
The Federals take possession of it, rush past it, and penetrating
the enemy's line threaten to entirely cut off Fulkerstone, who is
becoming more and more compromised. It is in vain that Jack-
son leads his soldiers back to the charge, accustomed as they
are to follow him through every danger ; he cannot recover the
ground lost. A piece of artillery has remained in the enemy's
hands, and Fulkerstone, who is falling back in his turn, is also
obliged to abandon one ; finally, at the extremity of the line, the
Federals under Sullivan have assumed the offensive, and are driv-
ing Ashby before them, whose guns, falling back farther and far-
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HAMPTON ROADS. 625
ther, announce to Jackson that the turnpike will soon be cut off
from him. It is near six o'clock ; night comes on, and the Con-
federates have lost the battle. Jackson lingers among the last
combatants, but cannot prevent his soldiers from giving way in
every direction before the efforts of the Federals, They fall back
while still preserving their ranks, and often facing about to fire,
then soon disappear in the darkness, leaving the battle-field cov-
ered with their wounded.
The bloody battle of Kernstown, which did honor to the two
small armies, cost both parties dear. The Federals had one hun-
dred and three men killed and four hundred and forty-one
wounded ; the Confederates lost four hundred and seventy-five
men in all.
Jackson bivouacked not far from the field of battle. His cour-
age had raised him still higher in the estimation of his troops ;
but he was inconsolable on account of his reverse and the error
that had caused it. He was not, however, in a condition to resume
the fight, and on the following day he reached once more the bor-
ders of Cedar Creek. On the same day Banks returned to Win-
chester with a portion of Williams's division, but had no idea of
pursuing Jackson. The vigor displayed by the Confederates led
him to believe that he had about ten thousand men in front of
him. He could not believe that his adversary would have ven-
tured so far without some reinforcement within his reach ; and
after following him for a few kilometres, he brought back his
troops to Winchester, beyond which his instructions did not per-
mit him to go.
Notwithstanding this reverse, Jackson's movement was not
without results. It compelled Banks to concentrate once more
his two divisions in the valley of the Shenandoah, and to leave
the care of defending Manassas to other troops. The Confederate
general was thus preluding the operations in which a few montha
after, and on the same ground, he was to distinguish himself. It
was, in fact, by a series of bold moves in the valley of Virginia
that Jackson first, and others after him, menaced the Federals
and filled the government of Washington with alarms that in-
variably betrayed it into the adoption of unfortunate measures.
These alarms, as we have observed before, were exhibited at
Vol. I.— 40
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626 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,
tlic Imre idea of the army of the Potomac contemplating a depart-
ure for a theatre of action remote from the capital. Greneral
McClel Ian, although determined to guarantee the safety of Wash-
ington as fully as {Kissihle, could never come to an understanding
with the strategists of the cabinet, whose advice controlled Mr.
Lincoln, as to the manner of defending the capital. From the
moment that the army of the Potomac concentrated all its avail-
able forces u|X)n any given jwint for the purpose of undertaking
some great offensive movement, its detachments and accessory
corjw had to confine themselves to the strictest defensive every-
wliere else. When, therefore, this array embarked for Fortress
Monn)c, all that the home trooi>s had to do was to prevent any
aggrcs.'-ive movement of the enemy against Washington or the
Maryland frontier. West Virginia, being impracticable for kige
armies, could take care of herself. In order to close the Virginia
valley, to prote(»t the crossings of the Potomac at Harper's Ferry
and WilliamsjKirt, and to cover the Ohio Railway, it was sufficient
to (Kvupy strongly the central position of Winchester. In short,
in order to afford entire security to the capital, it was necessary,
without counting d^pftts and non-combatants, to establish two
strong garrisons, one in the powerful works on the right bank of
the Potomac, and the other in the Manassas lines of defences, re-
constructed and turned round, so as to cover the approaches to
Wiisliington. But no personal or party considerations should
have been allowed to interfere with what ought to be the sole and
paramount object of war, the destniction of the enemy. There
should have been no desire for compromise between men or
their different plans of campaign. The satisfaction of occupying
the whole country south of Washington should have been fore-
gone for a while longer, and the Confederate guerillas allowed to
remain in possession of it.
The President, who, six months before, had suddenly taken
away the command of the great department of the Missouri from
General Fremont, had just created a new one in West Virginia
expressly for him, called "the Mountain Department." This de-
partment had been so curiously marked out that Fremont was
unable to find an enemy within its prescribed limits, and yet the
President could not withstand the representations of those who
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HAMPTON ROADS. 627
were urging him to dismember the army of the Potomac for the
purpose of adding unnecessary strength to this new army. Blenk-
er's strong division, composed exclusively of German soldiers or
men of German origin, was, for no other reason, taken away from
General McClellan on the eve of his departure for Fort Monroe,
and transferred to Fremont. Geiieral Banks, with his twenty-five
thousand men of the fifth corps, was kept in the valley of Virginia by
the fears which Jackson and his eight thousand soldiers created in
Washington, and the authorities only waited for the departure of
McClellan to convert this corps into another independent army.
And yet neither Fremont^s troops, with no enemy in front of
them, nor Blenker's ten thousand men, sent in search of the for-
mer, nor Banks's twenty-five thousand, to whom Jackson could
only oppose eight thousand soldiers shaken and demoralized by
unsuccessful fighting, were considered by the President as forming
part of the defenders of Washington. He regarded them as sepa-
rate armies, destined to w^age war on their own account, and de-
sired to provide for the protection of the capital from forces out-
side their organization.
General McClellan had not foreseen these new military com-
binations. He thought that, at a time when the entire nation was
giving so many proofs of patriotism, those who governed it would
be able to resist the influence of idle fears and intriguing ambition.
The troops he left behind him on the day of his embarkation,
within reach of and ready to defend Washington, amounted to
seventy-three thousand four hundred and fifty-six men and one
hundred and nine pieces of field-artillery, including Banks's corps
and Blenker's division. It is true that out of this number were
to be deducted the non-combatants, who always detract from the
real strength of a large army. There were nearly three thou-
sand five hundred recruits from New York and Pennsylvania who
had not yet left their respective States ; and about five thousand
men were engaged in keeping guard over the railways. The
twenty-two thousand men comprising the garrison of Washington
had nearly all recently enlisted, and were quite inexperienced.
In short, out of the twenty-nine thousand or thirty thousand men
constituting the active forces of Banks and Blenker, from fifteen
thousand to eighteen thousand had to be left in the valley of Vir-
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628 THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.
ginia. Nevertheless, after making all these deductions, it was
easy to mass a corps of from twenty thousand to twenty-five thou-
sand well-trained soldiers at Manassas, and to place in second line,
in the fortifications of Washington, twenty-five thousand or thirty
thousand soldiers, raw, no doubt, but quite able to make a good
figure behind a parapet. These were more than were needed to
protect the capital until the day when, like an electric cloud which
attracts another of an opposite character, the army of the Potomac
should have drawn the Confederate army to itself, when all dan-
ger to the Federal capital would have ceased. This moment once
arrived, Blenker's division could have been removed without in-
convenience from Washington, and sent as a reinforcement to
Fremont's army.
General McClellan was obliged to submit to the new require-
ments of the government. On leaving Alexandria the 1st of April
for Fortress Monroe, he left eighteen thousand five hundred men
as a corps of observ^ation between Manassas and Warrenton, and
one thousand five hundred on the Lower Potomac ; the garrison
of Washington was soon to be raised to eighteen thousand men,
with twenty-two pieces of field-artillery. He had not dared to
strip the valley of the Shenandoah, where thirty-five thousand
men, comprising the reserves, were massed ; but these troops, al-
ready organized and partly traine^l, could, at the slightest intima-
tion of danger, be summoned to Washington if the inexperienced
soldiers forming its garrison were not deemed sufficient by the mil-
itary authorities.
The government decided otherwise. The President again com-
mitted the wrong of allowing McClellan to depart with assuranoei!
which he immediately falsified. While the army of the Potomac
was embarking, full of confidence and hope, and happy at being
delivered from a long-protracted inaction, many people in Wash-
ington still felt, or pretended to feel, seriously alarmed on seeing
the capital of the Union thus stripped. It was an easy matter
to revive the old objections of the President against the plan
which was at last being executed by his orders. There happened
to be two generals in whom he reposed the utmost confidence, who
declared that, in case of an attack, the garrison of Washington
would not be sufficient ; and although they had added that the
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HAMPTOX ROADS. 629
capital was not menaced, Mr. Lincoln determined to ward ofi* this
imaginary danger by an act of authority.
Ontlie 3d of April the great operation of transporting the
army of the Potomac was considerably advanced, and promised
entire success. With the exception of a few belated regiments,
no troops remained in the neighborhood of Alexandria but Mc-
Dowell's corps ; but this corps was the finest in the army ; it pre-
sented an eflFective force of thirty-eight thousand four hundred
and fifty-four soldiers of all arms, well drilled, thoroughly
equipped, admirably commanded, divided into three divisions of
infantry, four regiments of cavalry, and twelve batteries of ar-
tillery. Embarked entire and at once upon transports which had
at last been collected in sufficient number, while the remainder of
the army was advancing through the peninsula, between the James
and the York Rivers, it was to land on the north bank of that
arm of the sea, so as to cause the fall of all the defences erected
for the purpose of closing ita entrance. The fulfilment of the
task assigned to this corps was, in the judgment of General Mo-
Clellan, indispensable to secure the success of a rapid campaign.
Yet just as he was about to embark, McDowell received an order
from the President directing him to remain, with all his forces,
in the neighborhood of Washington ; while a laconic despatch in-
formed McClellan that these troops, for whose arrival he had been
waiting so impatiently, were taken from his command. Since the
operations had commenced he had thus been deprived of nearly
one-third of that army he had formed with so much care, and for
the perfect organization of which he had even sacrificed a portion
of his popularity.
The government of Washington, by its want of skill, from the
outset compromised the success of the decisive campaign for
which the patriotic people of the North had begrudged it neither
men nor money.
In the next volume the reader will see how dearly tliis error cost.
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Digitized by VjOOQIC
APPENDIX TO VOL I.
NOTES.
NOTE A, Page 29.
We append here, for the benefit of those who may feel inter&ted in
the subject, a more detailed description of the fiinctions of the various
departments and their respective positions in the stafi^ of the Ameri-
can armies.
The province of the adjutant-general comprised ; — ^the recruiting of
regiments, their organization, their interior movements, their rela-
tions with the special authorities of States, the enrolling of militia
and volunteers in the Federal service, the condition of the men and
officers, the promotions, casualties, and resignations, and, finally, the
creation and distribution of commands. All correspondence with
bodies of troops in the field was conducted by him ; he transmitted
the orders of the President and the Secretary of Wjir to the generals
in command, and the latter addressed all their reports to him.
The assistant adjutant-generals, besides special duties which might
be entrusted to them — ^such as the organization of new regiments —
were attached to the staffi of the army or army corps of every division
and brigade. They prepared, received, and classified all the reports,
regulated the commands, transmitted all the records relating to the
personnel of the army corps, and kept up with them the general cor-
respondence ; they thus descended from organization to organization,
until the regiment itself was reached, the adjutant of which, having
control of all administrative operations, was in direct communication
wuth the assistant adjutant-general of brigade.
The functions of the quartermaster's department, which at a later
period "were distributed among nine offices into which the department
was subdivided, comprised the following services : the purchase and
distribution among the army corps of all the effects of the men, equip-
631
Digitized by VjOOQIC
632 APPENDIX.
ments, tents, tools, camp furniture, cooking utensils, transportation by
land and water — that is to say, the hiring or purchase of vessels con-
veying troops, war material, or provisions on the high seas, lakes, or
rivers, and even the equipment of military flotillas on inland waters
independently of the navy; the direction of the several maritime
services, of all telegraph lines and railways which the armies had
taken possession of; contracts with other railways for every kind of
transi)ortation ; the construction and distribution of all wagons, field-
forges, ambulances, and harnejss ; the purchase of all animals required
for that service, and the repairing of roads ; the purchase and distri-
bution of fuel, forage, straw, and stationery; the construction and
supervision of barracks, hospitals, stables, bridges, magazines, and
wharfe for landing ; the renting of army quarters ; in short, all the
expenditures of the armies not under the special care of some other
department. All these operations were efFected by means of contracts
with private individuals, through the medium of the department at
Washington, or the various quartermasters who exercised a control-
ling authority in that branch of the service, either at the headquartera
of an army or at a central d6p6t, for that department had no work-
shoi>s under its direction. The superintendence of these operations
was entrusted to special officers, who acted, some as inspectors to
verify accounts, and others in the capacity of paymasters. The latter,
having to settle all the authorized expenses in the different branches
of that department, had to give bonds as a guarantee for the proper
disbursement of the large sums of money which they received
directly from the government at Washington.
The ordnance and subsistence departments, whose functions we
have already sufficiently described, were organized in the same man-
ner as the preceding, the inspection and disbursements being made in
the corps itself by officers especially detailed for that service. The
principal officer who represented each of these three branches of the
service at the War Department attained that position by regular pro-
motion, and could not be deprived of it at the pleasure of the Secre-
tary like a simple employe, A portion of the officers of this corps
negotiated the contracts and saw to their proper execution, inspected
and received the supplies, and took charge of the Federal arsenals.
The others were attached to the armies in the field and to their
d^pAts, forming, from the regiment up, an official bond of communi-
cation through which all matters connected with their 'departments
passed before reaching their chief at Washington, under the simple
supervision of the commander of each body of troops.
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APPENDIX. 633
These three branches of the administrative department were alone
empowered to conclude heavy contracts.
The surgeons, taken from the doctors already possessed of diplomas,
were attached to the regiments, but did not constitute a component
part of their staffs ^ at all the general headquarters there were brigade
and division surgeons above them ; and, finally, the surgeon-general
of the army. Those placed in attendance in hospitals were under
their direction, and received their supplies partly from the quarter-
master and partly from the commissary of subsistence.
The paymasters were employes of the War Department, and not of
the Treasury, inasmuch as each administrative department kept sepa-
rate accounts, and was itself the disburser of the ftinds required to pay
the expenses it had authorized ; they had only to settle the pay, the
bounties, and a few trifling expenses ; consequently none of them re-
mained with the army; mere birds of passage, they made their
appearance at certain stated periods, settled the pay-accounts accord-
ing to the company-rolls, and disappeared immediately after.
We will sum up this sketch by showing, first, what the composition
of the headquarters of a general-in-chief, such as that of Scott in
Mexico, is, and then the organization and interior administration of
the regiment. We will thus be spared the necessity of recurring to
these details when we shall have to speak of the volunteer armies
which were formed on the same model.
All the members of the headquarters were designated as aides-de-
camp, and were distinguished by the addition to their titles of the
three letters A. D. C, although their functions differed.
Near the general there was, first of all, the chief of staff, the inter-
mediate agent between the former and his principal officers, but hav-
ing no particular command himself. Under his immediate direction
there were the personal aides to the general, who, apart from the
special missions entrusted to them, had no other duties to perform
than the name indicated, to accompany him, carry his orders, observe
what he could not see for himself, and receive all the communications
addressed directly to him.
All that depends upon the chief of staff with us was left to the
care of the assistant adjutant-general, and, in a small portion, to the
inspector-general of the army. »
The administrative personnel was represented by the quartermaster-
general, the chief officer of ordnance, the chief commissary, and the
surgeon-general. These heads of the administrative branches of the
service had under their respective commands some officers (or physi-
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634 APPENDIX.
cians) and Don-oommi^ioned officers, but no troops. The teamsters,
laborers, and hospital nurses were civilians hired for that purpose, or
soldiers temporarily detached from their regiments.
At headquarters the special arms of the service had each a chief
surrounded by his own particular staff, such as the chief of artillery,
the chief of engineers, and the chief of topographical engineers.
Sometimes, with armies in the field, the cavalry were also under a
special commander, called the chief of cavalry.
The police of the army was under the supervision of a provost-
marshal, while the management of courts-martial and the examina-
tion of all legal questions were sometimes delegated to a lawyer styled
judge-advocate, who was invested with provisional military rank.
Let us now proceed from the first to the last degree, from the gen-
eral headquarters to the regimental, or rather the battalion staff; we
shall find that their administrative frinctions were very limited, which
increased so much the importance and the duties of the special corps
of the service detailed to assist in all that concerns the interior regi-
men— a service from which such officers are excluded in the organiza-
tion of the French regiment. In the American regiment there are no
regimental accounts, no fund, no council of administration. There
are only two etnploy^s of the administrative department, the ordnance-
sergeant, whose duty was not only to attend to the repairing of arms,
but also to ascertain their number and condition, to address all re-
quests for arms and ammunition to the officials of the department,
who were his immediate superiors, and to deliver them to the regi-
ment. The other was the quartermaster of the regiment, who, acting
under the immediate authority of the brigade-quartermaster, delivered
to the regiment the personal effects, all made up, which he had re-
quested and received from the central d^pot. The regiment, unless it
formed no part of a brigade, had no commissary of subsistence, the
commanders of companies keeping direct accounts with the commis-
sary of brigade. If, at any time, the opportunity presented itself for
practicing certain economies in the expenses of the regiment, especially
as regarded the companies' rations, the officers had absolute control of
the matter.
All the records, writings, reports of condition and administrative
control, were in the custody of the adjutant of the regiment, whose
functions resembled those of our major ; he had charge of all the
regimental accounts. On one hand, he had to verify the reports fur-
nishcd by the commanders of companies, and to examine their several
books ; on the other hand, he had to check and register the operations
Digitized by VjOOQIC
APPENDIX. 636
of the quartermaster, the ordnance sergeant, and the supplies fur-
nished by the brigade commissary of subsistence for the mess of
companies and the hospital.
In an administratiye point of view, the regiment had no separate
existence ; there was no community of interest except in the compa-
nies among the men who were fed from the same camp-kettle.
NOTE B, Page 82.
If any one wishes to form an idea of the irremediable demoraliza-
tion that slavery entails, there is no necessity to read romances or
pleadings, but only the simple diary kept in Georgia, on the planta-
tion of her husband, by an author who bears a name illustrious in the
dramatic annals of England, Miss Kemble. It is the naked truth,
such as would strike an observer free from local prejudices ; the as-
tonishments and the hopes, even, expressed by the author, are evidences
of her good faith. She was struck at first by the contrast between the
magnificence of nature and the human wretchedness to be seen there.
It was only by degrees, however, that she found out all tlie evils of
which slavery was the source. Being seized with charitable enthusi-
asm at each sight of the picture, she wished to apply some remedy to
it, but each time she stumbled against some new obstacle. It appeared
to her that, the power of the master being so great, he might have used
it in correcting thjB abuses of slavery; but on the one hand, the
prejudices, the interests, the institutions, which fettered the hands of
the masters, and on the other the despondency which has a pros-
trating effect upon the strongest minds when doomed to a hopeless
life of servitude, neutralized all her best intentions. She acknow-
ledged at last that slavery is almost as wretched under a good master
as under a bad one. She became convinced, by constantly-recurring
examples, of the intelligence of the negro and his aptitude for intel-
lectual improvement, which place him on the same level with our-
selves. The moral degradation attributed to him, which was made the
miserable pretext for his servitude, was only the natural consequence,
as may be seen in every page of the journal, of the condition to which
he had been reduced.
A single word placed at the beginning of the book allows us to
guess what was the cause which induced the frightful denouement of
the pictures, which the author brings abruptly to a close when leaving
the plantation for ever. An unholy day arrived when all the slaves were
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636 APPENDIX.
sold at auction. All the families who had become attached to that
estate through their very sufferings, which the authoress has made ua
acquainted with, were scattered under the hammer of the auctioneer.
This simple book bears most conclusive evidence that all that has
been said in Europe about the horrors of slavery, and of its influence
upon the morals of the whites, was far below the truth ; and if we
have not dwelt more at length upon this subject, it is because it
seemed useless to us to plead in favor of a cause already triumphant
NOTE C, Page 89.
Below is a table, in round numbers, according to the census of 1860,
of the population of the principal cities in the slave States. In esti-
mating the forces of the Confederacy, it will be necessary to omit
from this list four of the five first-mentioned cities, which were never
beyond the Federal authority. They are marked with asterisks :
* Baltimore 212,000 inhabitants.
Nei/Orleans 169,000
* St. Louis 152,000
♦Louisville 70,000 "
♦Washington 61,000 "
Charleston 51,000 "
Richmond 38,000 **
Mobile 29,000
Memphis 23,000 "
Savannah 22,000 "
Wilmington 21,000
Peterebui^ 18,000 "
Nashville 17,000
NOTE D, Page 105.
These details, with many others relative to the Confederate army,
are taken from a book entitled "Thirteen Months in the Bebel
Army," by W. G. Stevenson, published in 1863. It describes most
vividly the situation of the South at the commencement of the war.
The author relates, with a degree of simplicity which saves him from
all suspicion of exaggeration, his forced enlistment in the Confederate
army, the positions he filled, willingly or unwillingly, in the infimtryy
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APPENDIX, 637
the administrative departments, the cavalry, the hospitals, and finally
the adventures through which he escaped from those who compelled
him to fight against relatives and friends. Notwithstanding the awk-
ward position in which he found himself, and his legitimate aversion
for the government whose tyranny he had to undergo, he does not
cherish ill feelings against any one, and pays a tribute . of respect to
the personal qualities of the generals whom he had known. Fat
from despising the South, he makes known to his fellow-countrymen
the resources, the courage, and the energy of their adversaries, in order
that they may redouble their efforts to put an end to the war.
NOTE E, Page 256.
It would fill an entire library to collect together all that has been
written in America on the battle of Bull Run ; its slightest incidents
have been discussed, commented upon, and presented under the most
different phases. It has called forth the most fantastic descriptions
on the part of a crowd of eye-witnesses whose judgment and vision
had been singularly affected by the excitement of the combat so novel
to them. It would be impossible to unravel the truth from among so
many contradictory assertions if we had not as guides the official
reports of both parties, remarkable for their completeness and the
manner in which they agree with each other. This labor has been
facilitAted for us by the works of two American writers, Mr. Swin-
ton, who has written two accounts of the battle of Bull Run with his
wonted sagacity, and Mr. Lossing, the prolific draughtsman and scru-
pulous narrator.
Finally, the author himself accompanied McDowell a few months
after the battle, when the latter visited for the first time since the
action the scene of his defeat ; and he thus received on the spot, from
the mouth of the principal actors, who recognized, with emotions easy
to understand, here the route on which they had at first been vic-
torious, there the point where some of their bravest companions had
fallen, and farther on a trifling break in the ground, insignificant in
appearance, which marked the spot where the rout of their troops had
commenced.
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638 APPENDIX,
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL IfOTE
RELATIVE TO THE PRINCIPAL WORKS CONSULTED BY
THE AUTHOR.
Without pretending to give a complete list of the sources from
which the author has derived his information in writing the first
volume of this history, it is proper to mention the principal publica-
tions by which he has been guided in the composition of his work.
We will quote, in the first place, " The Rebellion Record," a vast
collection of reports, narratives, correspondence, newspaper extracts,
prepared at intervals during the war ; it requires a certain degree of
familiai-ity with the subject to find out precisely what you are in
search of, but it abounds in valuable information. The official docu-
ments of both parties are almost invariably distinguished for their
general correctness, although frequently too pompous in their style ;
it would not be safe, however, to rely upon the statements they con-
tain of certain conditions of affairs, except when they bear a con-
fidential character. Unfortunately, these documents are far from
being complete. The Navy Department of the Union has published
the reports of all its officers in extenso; the War Department has
only given abstracts of the reports of the Secretary and the com-
mander-in-chief, and only the full reports of the quartermaster-general,
which, in a statistical point of \4ew, afford some curious information,
A large number of the reports of both parties are to be found in the
" Rebellion Record ;" there were published besides, in Richmond, in
1864, two volumes of the reports of General Lee and his subordinates,
and a few official Confederate documents were reprinted in New York
in 1865. Among the numerous documents contained in the Richmond
archives, subsequently taken to Washingtx)n after the war, there are
several of which the author possesses copies, for which he is indebted
to the kindness of General Grant. All the depositions received by
the " Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War" have been collect-
ed into nine volumes which, among interminable repetitions, present
some interesting views and much information not to be found else-
where.
As to the principal works which the author has consulted besides
these different collections, he will simply mention their titles, begin-
ning with four publications from which he has borrowed more than from
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APPENDIX. 639
any other ; the first commends itself to our special consideration on
account of the conscientious impartiality with which it was written ;
the others, by the judicious care with which their respective authors
made use of the published and unpublished documents they had on
hand. These are, "The Pictorial History of the Civil War," by
Mr. Lossing; "The American Civil War," three volumes; "Life of
General Grant," by his former aide-de-camp, Gfeueral Badeau, of
which only the first volume has appeared ; the two books of Mr*
Swinton, entitled, respectively, "Campaigns of the Army of the
Potomac," one volume, and "The Twelve Decisive Battles of the
War," one volume.
To continue the list of works written from a Union point of view,
we will mention, without attempting to classify them, " History of the
Rebellion," by Tenney, one volume ; " Life of General Grant," by
Copp^, one volume ; " Life of General Sherman," by Bowman and
Irwin, one volume ; " Thirteen Months in the Rebel Army," by Ste-
venson, one volume ; " The Volunteer Quartermaster," one volume ;
" History of the United States Cavalry," by Brackett, one volume ; a
large number of technical papers in the " American Cyclopaedia," a work
in four volumes ; " Political History of the Rebellion," by McPher-
son, one volume ; " Life of Abraham Lincoln," by Raymond, one vol-
ume ; " The American Conflict," by Horace Greeley, two volumes.
Among the Confederate publications to which we are indebted we
must mention, above all, the works of E. A. Pollard : " The First,
Second, and Third Year of the War," three volumes, " The Lost
Cause," one volume, and " Lee and his Lieutenants," one volume ;
the works of J. Esten Cooke : " Life of General Lee," one volume,
" Life of Stonewall Jackson," one volume, and " Wearing of the
Gray," one volume ; and, finally, " The Southern Generals," W. P.
Snow, one volume.
The number of works published by Europeans possessing real inte-
rest is very limited ; it will be enough to mention the remarkable
work of M. Vigo Roussillion on " The Military Power of the United
States," and the writings of three officers with whom the author had
the good fortune to serve in the campaign against Richmond in 1862:
" History of the War of Secession," by the Swiss Federal colonel F.
Lecomte, two volumes ; " History of the American War,*' by Lieu-
tenant-colonel Fletcher of the British Guards, three volumes; and
" Four Years in the Army of the Potomac," by General R^gis de
Trobriand, two volumes, Paris, 1867. This last work, French in lan-
guage, in spirit, and in the place of its publication, possesses at the
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640 APPENDIX.
" Four Years in the Army of the Potomac," by General R^s de
Trobriand, two volumes, Paris, 1867. This last work, French in Ian-
gunge, in spirit, and in the place of its publication, possesses at the
same time, in an hifltorioal point of view, all the value of a narrative
written by one of the cye-witneiv<cs and actors in the great American
drama.
We shall conclude this note with a final reference, which will convey
to the reader an idea of the roultituiie of documents of varied import-
ance and value that have been published on the subject of which we
are treating ; this is a large quarto volume entitled *' Bartlett's Litera-
ture of the liobellion,'' which appeared in 1866, and is simply a cata-
logue of all the works relating to the civil war ; it contains more than
six thousand numbers, and during the last six years the quantity of
these works has probably doubled.
In the succeeding pages of our history we shall indicate whatever
sources worthy of mention we may have occasion to consult in any
subsequent portion of the narrative.
END OP VOLOfE I.
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