The Greater Republic Part 36

Price moved southward and Lexington was retaken by the Unionists, who also occupied Springfield. The Legislature sitting at Neocho pa.s.sed an ordinance of secession, but most of the State remained in the hands of the Federals until they finally gained entire possession.

General Fremont's course was unwise and made him unpopular. He issued what was in reality an emanc.i.p.ation proclamation, which President Lincoln was compelled to modify. He was fond of show and ceremony, and so extravagant that he was superseded in November by General Hunter, who was soon sent to Kansas, and was in turn succeeded by General Halleck. The fighting in the State was fierce but of an indecisive character.

The expected neutrality of Kentucky was speedily ended by the entrance of a body of Confederates under the command of General Leonidas Polk, a graduate of West Point and a bishop of the Episcopal Church. General U.S. Grant was dispatched with a force from Cairo, as soon as it became known that Polk had entered Kentucky. Grant destroyed a Confederate camp at Belmont, but was attacked by Polk and compelled to retreat to his gunboats.

OPERATIONS ON THE COAST.

A formidable coast expedition, with land and naval forces on board, under command of General B.F. Butler and Commodore Stringham, in August, 1861, captured Hatteras Inlet and the fort defending it. Establis.h.i.+ng themselves at that point, they made other attacks along the adjoining coast of North Carolina. A still larger expedition left Fort Monroe in November under Commodore Dupont and General T.W. Sherman and captured Port Royal. The fleet was so powerful, numbering nearly one hundred vessels and transports, that the garrisons were easily driven out of the forts, after which the land forces took possession of them. The islands between Charleston and Savannah were seized, and in September a Union fleet took possession of s.h.i.+p Island, not far from the mouth of the Mississippi, with a view of aiding an expedition against New Orleans.

THE TRENT AFFAIR.

It was all important for the Confederacy to secure recognition from England and France. The Confederate government thought they could be induced to act, if the proper arguments were laid before the respective governments. Accordingly, James M. Mason, of Virginia, and John Slidell, of Louisiana, both of whom had been United States senators, were appointed commissioners, the former to England and the latter to France.

They succeeded in running the blockade to Havana, where they took pa.s.sage on the British steamer _Trent_ for England. Captain Charles Wilkes, of the steamer _San Jacinto_, knew of their intended sailing and was on the lookout for them. Before they were fairly on their way, Captain Wilkes stopped the _Trent_, and, despite the protests of the captain and the rebel commissioners, he forcibly took them off and carried them to the United States.

In acting thus Captain Wilkes did the very thing that caused the war with England in 1812. It was our opposition to the search of American vessels by British cruisers that caused that war, while England was as persistent in her claim to the right to make such search. The positions were now reversed, and England expressed indignation, and demanded the return of the commissioners and a disavowal of the act of Captain Wilkes. The position of our government was untenable, and Secretary Seward gracefully confessed it, and surrendered the prisoners, neither of whom was able afterward to be of the slightest benefit to the Confederacy.

SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS.

The close of 1861 was to the advantage of the Confederates. The two real battles of the war--Bull Run and Wilson's Creek--had been won by them.

In the lesser engagements, with the exception of West Virginia, they had also been successful. This was due to the fact that the people of the North and West had been so long at peace that they needed time in which to learn war. In the South the men were more accustomed to the handling of firearms and horseback riding. Moreover, they were on the defensive, and fighting, as may be said, on inner lines.

It must not be forgotten, however, that the Union forces had saved Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri from joining the Confederacy, despite the strenuous efforts of their disunion governors and an aggressive minority in each State. Was.h.i.+ngton, which more than once had been in danger of capture, was made safe, and the loyal section of Virginia in the West was cut off and formed into a separate State. In wealth and resources the North vastly preponderated. An immense army had been raised, money was abundant, commerce thriving, the sentiment overwhelmingly in favor of the prosecution of the war, and the manufactories hummed with work made necessary by the building of hundreds of s.h.i.+ps for the navy and the furnis.h.i.+ng of supplies and equipments to the armies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ATTACK ON FORT DONELSON.

This memorable battle of February, 1862, was the first serious blow to the Confederate cause. It was also Grant's first victory of importance, and marks the beginning of his rise to fame. Fifteen thousand prisoners were taken. Grant generously allowed the Confederates to retain their personal baggage, and the officers to keep their side arms. General Buckner expressed his thanks for this chivalrous act, and later in life became Grant's personal friend.]

CHAPTER XVI.

ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.

WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1862.

Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson--Change in the Confederate Line of Defense--Capture of Island No. 10--Battle of Pittsburg Landing or s.h.i.+loh--Capture of Corinth--Narrow Escape of Louisville--Battle of Perryville--Battle of Murfreesboro' or Stone River--Battle of Pea Ridge--Naval Battle Between the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_--Fate of the Two Vessels--Capture of New Orleans--The Advance Against Richmond--McClellan's Peninsula Campaign--_The First Confederate Invasion of the North_--_Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg_--_Disastrous Union Repulse at Fredericksburg_--_Summary of the Wars Operations_--_The Confederate Privateers_--_The Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation_--_Greenbacks and Bond Issues_.

CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON.

The fighting of the second year of the war opened early. General Albert Sidney Johnston, one of the ablest leaders of the Confederacy, was in chief command in the West. The Confederate line ran through southern Kentucky, from Columbus to Mill Spring, through Bowling Green. Two powerful forts had been built in Tennessee, near the northern boundary line. One was Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and the other Fort Donelson, twelve miles away, on the c.u.mberland.

Opposed to this strong position were two Union armies, the larger, numbering 100,000, under General Don Carlos Buell, in central Kentucky, and the lesser, numbering 15,000, commanded by General U.S. Grant, at Cairo. Under Buell was General George H. Thomas, one of the finest leaders in the Union army. In January, with a division of Buell's army, he attacked the Confederates, routed and drove them into Tennessee. In the battle, General Zollicoffer, the Confederate commander, was killed.

Embarking at Cairo, General Grant steamed up the Tennessee River, intending to capture Fort Henry. Before he could do so, Commodore Andrew H. Foote, with his fleet of gunboats, compelled it to surrender, though most of the garrison escaped across the neck of land to Fort Donelson.

CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.

Upon learning that Fort Henry had fallen, Grant steamed up the c.u.mberland to attack Fort Donelson, which was reinforced until the garrison numbered some 20,000 men. It was a powerful fortification, with many rifle-pits and intrenchments on the land side, and powerful batteries commanding the river. The political General Floyd was in chief command, the right wing being under General Simon B. Buckner and the left in charge of General Gideon J. Pillow.

On the afternoon of February 14th, Commodore Foote opened the attack with two wooden vessels and four ironclad gunboats. The garrison made no reply until the boats had worked their way to within a fourth of a mile of the fort, the elevation of which enabled it to send a plunging fire, which proved so destructive that two of the boats were disabled and drifted down current, the other following. Some fifty men were killed, and among the wounded was Commodore Foote. He withdrew to Cairo, intending to wait until a sufficient force could be brought up from that point.

[Ill.u.s.tration: UNITED STATES 12-INCH BREECH-LOADING MORTAR, OR HOWITZER.]

But General Grant, like the bull-dog to which he was often compared, having inserted his teeth in his adversary, did not mean to let go.

Placing his troops in front of the works, it did not take him long to invest the whole Confederate left, with the exception of a swampy strip near the river. The weather, which had been unusually mild for the season, now became extremely cold, and some of the Union men were frozen to death in the trenches. The garrison also suffered greatly, but the siege was pressed with untiring vigor. Seeing the inextricable coils closing round them, the defenders made an attempt to cut their way out, but Grant with true military genius saw the crisis and ordered an advance along the whole line, the gunboats giving all the help they could.

The situation of the garrison was so dangerous that a council of war was held that night. Floyd and Pillow were frightened nearly out of their wits. They rated themselves so high as prizes for the Federals that they determined to make their escape before the surrender, which was inevitable, was forced. Buckner was another sort of man. Disgusted with the cowardice of his a.s.sociates, he quietly announced that he would stay by his men to the last. Floyd stole out of the fort with his brigade and crossed the river in boats, while Pillow followed in a scow, a large number of the cavalry galloping by the lower road to Nashville.

Grant was ready for the a.s.sault at daylight the next morning, when he received a note from General Buckner proposing an armistice until noon in order to arrange terms of capitulation. Grant's reply became famous: "No terms except immediate and unconditional surrender can be accepted; I propose to move immediately upon your works." Buckner was disappointed, but he had no choice except to submit. He was greatly relieved to find that his conqueror was a chivalrous man, who granted better terms than he expected. The privates were allowed to retain their personal baggage and the officers their side-arms. The number of prisoners was 15,000, and the blow was the first really severe one that the South had received. As may be supposed, the news caused great rejoicing in the North and was the beginning of Grant's fame as a military leader--a fame which steadily grew and expanded with the progress of the war.

Jefferson Davis saw the mistake he had made in intrusting important interests to political generals. He deprived Floyd of his command, and that officer dropped back to the level from which he never ought to have been raised. Pillow had done some good work in the Mexican War, but he was erratic and unreliable, and he, too, was summarily snuffed out.

Buckner, a West Point graduate, upon being exchanged soon afterward, was a.s.signed to an important command and proved himself an excellent soldier.

CHANGE IN THE CONFEDERATE LINE OF DEFENSE.

The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson compelled a change in the Confederate line of defense. General Albert Sidney Johnston withdrew from Bowling Green to Nashville, but fell back again upon learning of the fall of Fort Donelson, and a.s.sumed position near Murfreesboro', Tennessee. All the northern part of that State, including the c.u.mberland River, was given up by the Confederates, and, when the new line was established, the centre was held by Beauregard at Jackson, the left by Polk at New Madrid, and the right by Johnston at Murfreesboro'. Thus the Confederates were driven out of Kentucky and the northern part of Tennessee. It was a serious check for the Confederacy.

CAPTURE OF ISLAND NO. 10.

General Grant gave the enemy no rest. In order to retain possession of Island No. 10, it was necessary for them to hold the outpost of New Madrid. In the latter part of February, General Pope led an expedition against that place, while Commodore Foote made a demonstration in front with his gunboats. Through cold and storm the Unionists bravely pushed their way, and the garrison of New Madrid were compelled to take refuge on Island No. 10, and in the works on the Kentucky side of the river.

Operations were then begun against Island No. 10. By digging a ca.n.a.l twelve miles long, which permitted the gunboats to pa.s.s around the defenses, and by energetic operations in all directions, the Confederate position was rendered untenable, and the post, with a large amount of war material, was surrendered to Commodore Foote.

Meanwhile, General Grant, after the occupation of Nashville, went down the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing, while General Buell, with the other portion of the Union army, started for the same point by land.

Aware of this division of the Federal forces, General Albert Sidney Johnston hastily concentrated his own divisions with the intention of crus.h.i.+ng the two Union armies before they could unite. When Johnston arrived in the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing on the 3d of April he had 40,000 men, divided into three corps and a reserve.

BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING.

Pittsburg Landing, or s.h.i.+loh, as it is called in the South, consists of a high bluff, a half-mile in extent, where General W.T. Sherman had been ordered to take position and prepare for the arrival of 100,000 men.

Grant was not prepared for the unexpected attack. Buell was some distance away with 40,000 troops, and the Union commander had a somewhat less force on his side of the Tennessee River. Only a few defenses had been thrown up, and the men were scattered over the ground, when at daylight on Sunday morning, April 6th, the Confederates furiously a.s.sailed the outlying divisions of the Union army and drove them back upon the main body. They steadily gained ground, and it looked as if nothing could save the Union army from overwhelming disaster.

When the attack was made Grant was on the opposite side of the river in consultation with Buell. Hurrying to the scene of the furious conflict, it looked as if his army was on the edge of inevitable destruction, but he handled his demoralized forces with such masterly skill that the panic was checked, and on the river bank, over which they had been well-nigh driven, an effective stand was made and the Confederates were checked, the gunboats giving invaluable a.s.sistance in saving the army from defeat. The night closed with all the advantage on the side of the Confederates.

The darkness, however, was of immeasurable value to the Federals.

Buell's army was brought across the river and other reinforcements arrived, so that in the morning Grant found himself in command of fully 50,000 well-equipped troops. The greatest advantage gained by the Federals, however, came during the previous day's fighting, when everything was going the way of their enemies. General Albert Sidney Johnston, while directing operations, was struck by a shot which shattered his knee and mortally wounded him. He spoke only a few words as he was lifted from his horse, and the command devolved upon Beauregard, much his inferior in ability. He was unable to restrain the troops from plundering the captured Union camps; and when on the second day Grant launched his regiments against them, they were driven pell-mell from the field, and did not stop their retreat until they reached Corinth, Mississippi.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A RAILROAD BATTERY.]

Little fear of the Union troops being caught a second time at such a disadvantage. They were established on the upper part of the Tennessee, prepared to strike blows in any direction.