A Short History of the United States Part 47

Lincoln waited a month, hoping that the secessionists would come back to the Union of their own accord. Then he decided to send supplies to Major Anderson and told the governor of South Carolina of his decision.

Immediately (April 12) the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter. On April 14 Anderson surrendered. The next day President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers.

[Sidenote: The Northern volunteers. _McMaster_, 386-387; _Source-Book_, 303-305.]

[Sidenote: Douglas, Buchanan, and Pierce]

[Sidenote: Progress of secession.]

382. Rising of the North.--There was no longer a question of letting the "erring sisters" depart in peace. The Southerners had fired on "Old Glory." There was no longer a dispute over the extension of slavery. The question was now whether the Union should perish or should live. Douglas at once came out for the Union and so did the former Presidents, Buchanan and Franklin Pierce. In the Mississippi Valley hundreds of thousands of men either sympathized with the slaveholders or cared nothing about the slavery dispute. But the moment the Confederates attacked the Union, they rose in defense of their country and their flag.

[Sidenote: West Virginia.]

383. More Seceders.--The Southerners flocked to the standards of the Confederacy, and four more states joined the ranks of secession.

These were Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. In Virginia the people were sharply divided on the question of secession.

Finally Virginia seceded, but the western Virginians, in their turn, seceded from Virginia and two years later were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia. Four "border states" had seceded; but four other "border states" were still within the Union. These were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.

[Sidenote: Kentucky and Maryland saved to the Union.]

[Sidenote: Missouri saved to the Union. _Eggleston_, 310.]

384. The Border States.--The people of Maryland and of Kentucky were evenly divided on the question of secession. They even tried to set up as neutral states. But their neutrality would have been so greatly to the advantage of the seceders that this could not be allowed. Lincoln's firm moderation and the patriotism of many wise leaders in Kentucky saved that state to the Union. But Maryland was so important to the defense of Was.h.i.+ngton that more energetic means had to be used. In Missouri, a large and active party wished to join the Confederacy. But two Union men, Frank P. Blair and Nathaniel Lyon, held the most important portions of the state for the Union. It was not until a year later, however, that Missouri was safe on the Northern side.

[Sidenote: Southern sentiment in Was.h.i.+ngton.]

[Sidenote: Southern Unionists.]

[Sidenote: First bloodshed, April 19, 1861.]

385. To the Defense of Was.h.i.+ngton.--The national capital was really a Southern town, for most of the permanent residents were Southerners, and the offices were filled with Southern men. In the army and navy, too, were very many Southerners. Most of them, as Robert E. Lee, felt that their duty to their state was greater than their duty to their flag. But many Southern officers felt differently. Among these were two men whose names should be held in grateful remembrance, Captain David G.

Farragut and Colonel George H. Thomas. The first soldiers to arrive in Was.h.i.+ngton were from Pennsylvania; but they came unarmed. Soon they were followed by the Sixth Ma.s.sachusetts. In pa.s.sing through Baltimore this regiment was attacked. Several men were killed, others were wounded.

This was on April 19, 1861,--the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. It was the first bloodshed of the war.

CHAPTER 38

BULL RUN TO MURFREESBORO', 1861-1862

[Ill.u.s.tration: RAILROADS AND RIVERS OF THE SOUTH.]

[Sidenote: The field of war.]

386. Nature of the Conflict.--The overthrow of the Confederate states proved to be very difficult. The Alleghany Mountains cut the South into two great fields of war. Deep and rapid rivers flowed from the mountains into the Atlantic or into the Mississippi. Each of these rivers was a natural line of defense. The first line was the Potomac and the Ohio. But when the Confederates were driven from this line, they soon found another equally good a little farther south. Then again the South was only partly settled. Good roads were rare, but there were many poor roads. The maps gave only the good roads. By these the Northern soldiers had to march while the Southern armies were often guided through paths unknown to the Northerners, and thus were able to march shorter distances between two battlefields or between two important points.

[Sidenote: Plan of campaign.]

[Sidenote: Disaster at Bull Run, July, 1861. _Source-Book_, 305-308.]

387. The Bull Run Campaign, July, 1861.--Northern soldiers crossed the Potomac into Virginia and found the Confederates posted at Bull Run near Mana.s.sas Junction. Other Northern soldiers pressed into the Shenandoah Valley from Harper's Ferry. They, too, found a Confederate army in front of them. The plan of the Union campaign is now clear: General McDowell was to attack the Confederates at Bull Run, while General Patterson attacked the Confederates in the Valley, and kept them so busy that they could not go to the help of their comrades at Bull Run. It fell out otherwise, for Patterson retreated and left the Confederate general, Johnston, free to go to the aid of the sorely pressed Confederates at Bull Run. McDowell attacked vigorously and broke the Confederate line; but he could not maintain his position. The Union troops at first retreated slowly. Then they became frightened and fled, in all haste, back to Was.h.i.+ngton. The first campaign ended in disaster.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL MCCLELLAN.]

[Sidenote: The Army of the Potomac, 1862.]

388. The Army of the Potomac.--While the Bull Run campaign was going on in eastern Virginia, Union soldiers had been winning victories in western Virginia. These were led by General George B. McClellan. He now came to Was.h.i.+ngton and took command of the troops operating in front of the capital. During the autumn, winter, and spring he drilled his men with great skill and care. In March, 1862, the Army of the Potomac left its camps a splendidly drilled body of soldiers.

[Sidenote: Southern preparations. _Source-Book_, 308-311.]

[Sidenote: Richmond.]

[Sidenote: Army of Northern Virginia.]

389. The Army of Northern Virginia.--Meantime the government of the Confederacy had gathered great ma.s.ses of soldiers. There were not nearly as many white men of fighting age in the South as there were in the North. But what men there were could be placed in the fighting line, because the negro slaves could produce the food needed by the armies and do the hard labor of making forts. The capital of the Confederacy was now established at Richmond, on the James River, in Virginia. The army defending this capital was called the Army of Northern Virginia. It was commanded by Joseph E. Johnston; but its ablest officers were Robert E.

Lee and Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson).

[Sidenote: McClellan's plan of campaign, 1862.]

[Sidenote: Objections to it.]

390. Plan of the Peninsular Campaign.--The country between the Potomac and the James was cut up by rivers, as the Rappahannock, the Mattapony, and Pamunkey, and part of it was a wilderness. McClellan planned to carry his troops by water to the peninsula between the James and the York and Pamunkey rivers. He would then have a clear road to Richmond, with no great rivers to dispute with the enemy. Johnston would be obliged to leave his camp at Bull Run and march southward to the defense of Richmond. The great objection to the plan was that Johnston might attack Was.h.i.+ngton instead of going to face McClellan. General Jackson also was in the Shenandoah Valley. He might march down the Valley, cross the Potomac, and seize Was.h.i.+ngton. So the government kept seventy-five thousand of McClellan's men for the defense of the Federal capital.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "MONITOR."]

[Sidenote: The _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_. _Hero Tales_, 183, 195.]

391. The _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_.--On March 8 a queer-looking craft steamed out from Norfolk, Virginia, and attacked the Union fleet at anchor near Fortress Monroe. She destroyed two wooden frigates, the _c.u.mberland_ and the _Congress_, and began the destruction of the _Minnesota_. She then steamed back to Norfolk. This formidable vessel was the old frigate _Merrimac_. Upon her decks the Confederates had built an iron house. From these iron sides the b.a.l.l.s of the Union frigates rolled harmlessly away. But that night an even stranger-looking s.h.i.+p appeared at Fortress Monroe. This was the _Monitor_, a floating fort, built of iron. She was designed by John Ericsson, a Swedish immigrant. When the _Merrimac_ came back to finish the destruction of the _Minnesota_, the _Monitor_ steamed directly to her. These two ironclads fought and fought. At last the _Merrimac_ steamed away and never renewed the fight.

[Sidenote: Battle of Fair Oaks, May, 1862.]

[Sidenote: The Seven Days.]

[Sidenote: Malvern Hill.]

392. The Peninsular Campaign, 1862.--By the end of May McClellan had gained a position within ten miles of Richmond. Meantime, Jackson fought so vigorously in the Shenandoah Valley that the Was.h.i.+ngton government refused to send more men to McClellan, although Johnston had gone with his army to the defense of Richmond. On May 31 the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia fought a hard battle at Fair Oaks. Johnston was wounded, and Lee took the chief command. He summoned Jackson from the Valley and attacked McClellan day after day, June 26 to July 2, 1862. These terrible battles of the Seven Days forced McClellan to change his base to the James, where he would be near the fleet. At Malvern Hill Lee and Jackson once more attacked him and were beaten off with fearful loss.

[Sidenote: Lee's plan of campaign.]

[Sidenote: Second battle of Bull Run, August, 1862.]

393. Second Bull Run Campaign.--The Army of the Potomac was still uncomfortably near Richmond. It occurred to Lee that if he should strike a hard blow at the army in front of Was.h.i.+ngton, Lincoln would recall McClellan. Suddenly, without any warning, Jackson appeared at Mana.s.sas Junction (p. 317). McClellan was at once ordered to transport his army by water to the Potomac, and place it under the orders of General John Pope, commanding the forces in front of Was.h.i.+ngton. McClellan did as he was ordered. But Lee moved faster than he could move. Before the Army of the Potomac was thoroughly in Pope's grasp, Lee attacked the Union forces near Bull Run. He defeated them, drove them off the field and back into the forts defending Was.h.i.+ngton (August, 1862).

[Sidenote: Lee invades Maryland.]

[Sidenote: Antietam, September, 1862. _Hero Tales_, 199-209.]

394. The Antietam Campaign, 1862.--Lee now crossed the Potomac into Maryland. But he found more resistance than he had looked for. McClellan was again given chief command. Gathering his forces firmly together, he kept between Lee and Was.h.i.+ngton, and threatened Lee's communications with Virginia. The Confederates drew back. McClellan found them strongly posted near the Antietam and attacked them. The Union soldiers fought splendidly. But military writers say that McClellan's attacks were not well planned. At all events, the Army of the Potomac lost more than twelve thousand men to less than ten thousand on the Confederate side, and Lee made good his retreat to Virginia. McClellan was now removed from command, and Ambrose E. Burnside became chief of the Army of the Potomac.