Miscellaneous Information about the American civil war that i dont now in what catagori i should put it in, but all information is relate to the war.
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Library of Congress Subject Headings,
21st edition, 1998
LC Subject Headings:
•Sherrill, Miles O.
•Soldiers -- North Carolina -- Catawba County -- Biography.
•Prisoners of war -- North Carolina -- Catawba County -- Biography.
•Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 12th. Company A.
•United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons.
•United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
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A SOLDIER'S STORY:
PRISON LIFE AND OTHER INCIDENTS IN
THE WAR OF 1861-'65.
BY
MILES O. SHERRILL,
Of Catawba County, - North Carolina.
[From Newton Enterprise.]
I have been requested to write some incidents, experiences and observations of prison life during the war of 1861-'65. After thirty-eight or thirty-nine years it is somewhat difficult to recall anything like all that transpired in those dark days. Some people say it is time to stop talking about that war. Now, that would be a hard thing for those who lived in those days to do: stop talking about the war. The men, women and children at home had almost as hard a time as those at the front - not quite so dangerous, yet it required courage and true patriotism to stand in their places. Furthermore, it seems necessary, in order to keep history straight, that those who lived and participated in that part of our history should occasionally be heard from, otherwise those who write so much, who live north of the Mason and Dixon's line, would make our rising generation believe what is false. So I say to all such: "Nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn how the present came to be what it is." Much has been written and said by our Northern friends as to the suffering of the Union soldiers in Southern prisons - Andersonville, Salisbury and other places - during that war. They draw an awful picture of their poor soldiers suffering and dying in Southern prisons. In some respects this was true. To be in prison of itself was bad enough, but to be there without proper food or medicine was very bad indeed. The South did not have the means, neither the medicine, but the prisoners in our care were put on the same footing as our own poor soldiers. The question is: Who was to blame for this state of things? The Confederate authorities made proposition after proposition for exchange of prisoners, but the Government at Washington positively declined. It is said that
General Grant said: "It was hard, and a great sacrifice, to leave the Union soldiers in Southern prisons, but it must be made; that the Confederates could not afford to leave their men in prison for want of men to take their place, but the United States could; to exchange the prisoners the Confederates would return to the army and go to fighting again." So here is the key to the responsibility for all the suffering and deaths on both sides in the prisons. The Confederate Government offered to let them send medicine South for their sick prisoners, but they declined to do that. It must be remembered the Confederate Government was shut in from the outside world, and could not secure necessary medicine, etc. Now, as to Andersonville, it was under the command of Wirtz, and since men have had time to cool off it has long since been decided that the hanging of that poor man was simply murder. He did the best he could for the poor prisoners there. General Dick Taylor in his book, "Destruction and Reconstruction," gives the following account of meeting with Wirtz, as his troops were passing Andersonville, during the march of Sherman through Georgia, in 1864: "In this journey through Georgia, at Andersonville, we passed in sight of a large stockade inclosing prisoners of war. The train stopped for a few moments, and there entered the carriage to speak to me a man who said his name was Wirtz, and that he was in charge of the prisoners near by. He complained of the inadequacy of his guard and the want of supplies, as the adjacent country was sterile and thinly populated. He also said that the prisoners were suffering from cold, were destitute of blankets, and that he had not wagons to supply fuel. He showed me duplicates of requisitions and appeals for relief that he had made to different authorities, and these I endorsed in the strongest terms possible, hoping to accomplish some good. I know nothing of this (man) Wirtz, whom I then met for the first and only time, but he appeared to be in earnest in his desire to mitigate the condition of his prisoners. There can be but little doubt that his execution was a 'sop' to the
passions of the 'many-headed.'" So, then, poor Wirtz was made a scape-goat to cover the sins of those who could have had those poor prisoners released at any time but would not. The sacrifice was made to quiet the poor prisoners and their friends. Many things will be settled at the great Assize, when the Judge of all shall sit in judgment. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Let us have the official record on prison life, and see the truth of history:
        The North is said to be more healthy than the South, and yet of the 270,000 Northern soldiers in Southern prisons, only 22,000 died, while of the 220,000 Confederates in Northern prisons (50,000 less than we had of theirs) 26,000 died. The deaths in Northern prisons exceeded the deaths in Southern prisons four thousand men. While about eight per cent of the Union prisoners died, about twelve per cent of the Southern prisoners in Northern prisons died. "Tell it not in Gath, and publish it not in the streets of Askelon." Facts and figures are wonderful things. Now, I have made this long statement before coming to the "incidents of prison life," as seen by myself et al. I have done so for the purpose of trying to keep the record correct, that justice might be done to all, and history speak the truth.         I was shot in the first charge that was made at Spottsylvania Court-House, Virginia, early on the morning of the 9th day of May, 1864. The charge was made by our brigade, composed of the Fifth, Twelfth, Twentieth and Twenty-third N. C. Regiments, led by General R. D. Johnston. The charge was a success so far as the enemy in our front were concerned, but our lines were overlapped by Burnside's troops. Our regiment (the Twelfth) and our company (A), being on the extreme
for two or three days without any further attention to the wound, and the result was the flies "blowed" the amputated limb, and when I reached Alexandria City, some days later, the nurse who dressed the wound found that I was being eat up by the vermin. Just here I will state that on the last day spent at the field hospital there was a great rush in gathering us up in ambulances. Under great excitement, I said to the doctor who was supervising the movement: "Doctor, what is the matter?" He replied that "Burnside was falling back to get a better position." I had been in the army long enough to know that was an evasive answer. The fact was that our troops were driving Burnside back, and the Federals were not willing to lose any of their prisoners though maimed for life. The roads from this place were cut to pieces by the artillery and wagon trains of the Union army going to the front. Those of us who were badly wounded cried for mercy. No mercy came until we reached the boat-landing, where we (those living) were transferred from ambulance to the boat. I do not know how many died en route from the battlefield to the boat-landing. I do know that Charles P. Powell, Adjutant of the Twenty-third North Carolina Regiment, who had lost his leg just as I had, died on this trip, and they stopped on the roadside and covered him up. This young man Powell was from Richmond County, N. C. He was a private soldier at Malvern Hill, July, 1862. When in line of battle, in front of the artillery, a shell fell in the ranks. The men could not leave the line of battle. There lay the shell, sputtering, ready to explode. Young Powell sprang up, grappled the shell and "soused" it into a pool of water near by. What a risk was that! Yet that heroic act may have saved the lives of several men. Later that day he was wounded, and again at the battle of Gettysburg in July, 1863, and died as above stated. On page 189 of Volume II, North Carolina Regimental Histories, it is stated that C. P. Powell, Adjutant, was killed on the 9th of May, 1864, whereas the truth is he was shot on the 9th and his leg was
would take my turn at the bat. As soon as it was light enough to see I would sit upon my humble couch (I was myself a picture of humility) and commence a war of revenge. As they would take to the wall I would go for them, and before I left that prison many, many "bugs" were slaughtered, as the blood-stained wall bore testimony. Yes, that wall was well striped with Confederate blood. The loss of blood in that way, if not with as much pain, was attended with much more genuine disgust. How much I would have liked to "express myself," but my lips were hermetically sealed. I learned how to sympathize with Pharaoh and his people, though there is no statement that any of this kind were sent on him when Moses and the Israelites were asking permission to leave. In November, 1864, I (with others) was shipped off to Elmyra, N. Y. "Thus when I shun Scylla, your father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother."
Leaving the old Capitol Prison, I got away at least from the multitude of B. B.'s, but I ran into the B. L.'s - army body lice, or what the soldiers call "grey backs." Later on I may speak of my experience with this pest while in the small-pox camp.
We reached Elmyra, N. Y., on Sunday morning. Being in the mountains, the ground was covered with snow. Arriving at the barracks, we were lined up (I was on my crutches, and had to stand there on one foot for what seemed to me a very long time) just inside the gate, negro soldiers on guard. The commanding officer, Major Beal, greeted us with the most bitter oaths that I ever heard. He swore that he was going to send us out and have us shot; said he had no room for us, and that we (meaning the Confederate soldiers) had no mercy on their colored soldiers or prisoners. He was half drunk, and I was not sure but that we might be dealt with then and there. Then we were searched and robbed of knives, cash, etc., and sent into various wards. While we were standing in the snow, hearing the abuse of Major Beal, some poor ragged Confederate prisoners were marched by with what was
before reaching th soldiers. The truth is that there was a great deal of speculation and swindling carried on in the prisons; and I am ashamed to say it, yet it is true that sometimes some of our own men were engaged in the conspiracy to cheat and defraud their fellow-prisoners. It was in this way: those in charge of the prison would take Confederates and make ward-masters, etc., of them (like in prisons now a few are made "trusties"); and a little authority, even of that kind, would ruin some men. Some prisoners, like Jeshrun, grew fat, but others starved for want of suitable food and enough of it. Well, to go back a little, while standing there, receiving the profane blessing from Major Beal, I saw drawing near as he dared to venture an old fellow-prisoner that I had met in Washington, who had preceded me to this place. I do not remember his name. I had at Washington nicknamed him "Softy." He recognized me, and as Beal closed his eloquent abuse, and we were ordered to march into the barracks, "Softy" ventured in a low tone to speak to me. His greeting was: "Sherrill, you have come to hell at last. Did you see those four-horse wagons going out? They were full of dead men, who died last night. They are dying by hundreds here with small-pox and other diseases." He was discovered by one of the guards (standing too near us). He hollowed at him: "Get away from there." He got away immediately, if not sooner. When I reflected on the situation - the cursing major, the colored guards, the robbing us of our little stock of valuables, the barrel shirts, the wagons with the dead, the appearance of some of the living, the earth covered with snow - I thought, "Well, 'Softy' has given a true bill." When I was located, I found I had kinsfolk there: J. U. Long (now chairman of the board of county commissioners), Nicholas Sherrill and W. P. Sherrill. There may have been others, but I do not recall them now. My haversack had been supplied with rations on leaving Washington. When I was located in the ward, "Nick" Sherrill came to see me. Of course we were glad to see each other, for it had been many moons
fellow went and brought in the ward-master, and when he appeared it was Jack Redman, from Cleveland County, Company E, my regiment. Redman said, "Why, hello, Sherrill, was it you that was raising such a racket?" I told him it was. He wanted to know what was the matter. I explained that with my amputated limb it would never do to put me on a bunk with another fellow, and he finally consented to arrange for me to have one to myself. I said: "Redman, you must grant me another favor." He wished to know what it was. I replied: "I want you to let me keep my blanket that came over from the surgical ward." "Why so, Sherrill?" I said: "Jack, you see those blankets that you fellows have been using on these men - there are five 'army lice' to every hair on the blanket." Redman took a hearty laugh. He knew there was more truth in it than poetry, so he granted my request. Redman had had small-pox and was an "immune," hence was made a ward-master. He was especially kind and considerate towards me. When I got well and was carried away, I never knew what became of him. Some of our men who felt that the thing was gone, and that we could not succeed, never came back South. I am inclined to think that Redman did that thing. After the doctor had declared me well, and directed that I should be removed back to the hospital ward from whence I came, this was indeed glorious news; for of all the diseases that flesh is heir to, small-pox is the filthiest. The small-pox such as we had there was "sure enough" small-pox. Such as we have in North Carolina these days, in comparison with that, is only make-believe. I don't think it an exaggeration to say that seven out of ten who had it died. I was carried over into what was called a bath-house, where I was placed in a large bath-tub of water, almost too hot to bear. The Yankee soldier who had charge went out to look after something else or to loiter around, and I waited and waited for his return (the water was beginning to get cold) so I could get out and get clothing to put on. The atmosphere of the room was colder, if anything, than the
patriotic women of Richmond tried to be cheerful, but I could see plainly enough that they were depressed. While they were just as kind in their attention to the returning soldiers as in former days, yet it was evident that the cheerful hope of former days was gone. When I reached home I soon learned that many who were living on the 9th of May, 1864, when we made that charge, had been numbered with the dead. Among others was my nephew, James Ferdinand Robinson, a young man a few months younger than myself, a great favorite in the company, full of humor and wit. He was a sharp-shooter, and was found dead on the 12th of May, 1864, by Frank Turbyfield, of the Twenty-third Regiment. After the fighting on the morning of the 9th, he wrote a letter in pencil to his father, Marion Robinson, in which he stated: "My Uncle Miles was killed in the charge made early this morning." Two days later he was killed. I got home to read his letter relative to my death; but he, poor fellow, was gone. I have not seen the letter since 1865; so I only quote from memory what I remember.
Such is war. Many people have an erroneous idea about that war. They blame President Davis and President Lincoln for the whole thing; when in fact they were only placed at the head. Both made blunders; so would any one else in their positions. Davis was not an original secessionist, but went with his State. He was a United States Senator at the time, from Mississippi. He had served with distinction in the war with Mexico. Who has not read of "Colonel Jeff. Davis and his brave Mississippi riflemen"? Mr. Davis did not desire to be President; he desired to go in the army. He had been Secretary of War of the United States; had, as stated above, served in the United States army; so it was natural for him to prefer the army to being President. As to his taking the responsibility of making peace sooner, I have seen it stated that had he attempted to do so in 1864, on any terms save independence, the army and the people of the South would not have submitted to it. I think myself this is true. He, as
right, were exposed to an enfilading fire clear across an open field; so we were exposed to a fire from front and from the right. The enemy had torn down a rail fence and made temporary breast-works in our front, from which our men drove them, but could not hold the position because Burnside's whole army corps was on hand, and could easily have cut off our little brigade; so General Johnston gave the command to fall back. As our troops fell back, Sergeant Silas Smyre (now county commissioner of Catawba) and Corporal E. G. Bost endeavored to carry me from the battlefield. They were so exhausted from marching and fighting that they could not hold me up so as to prevent the crushed leg from dragging on the ground. To prevent their being captured, I begged them to leave me to my fate. (May I never forget this act of kindness by these brave men, who risked so much for me.) I was in the broiling hot sun, without water, my canteen having been shot in the fight, and the water all run out.
I was concealed from the enemy by some shrubbery. Late in the afternoon I realized that I could not live without water. The loss of blood, together with the burning rays of the sun, made me feel that life was about to ebb out; so I called to the enemy and surrendered. Here I commenced the life of a prisoner, which lasted ten months. Besides the suffering from wounds, the humility, the loss of liberty, the absence of all friends and loved ones, no face but that of enemies, was just about as much as I could bear up under in my condition. In that hour home and friends would have been "a haven of rest" sure enough.
The day following, May 10, 1864, when I was laid on the slaughter table, my eyes
caught the sight of arms and legs piled on the ground - an indication of what I might expect. Dr. Cox, of Ohio, examined my leg. The only conversation that passed between us was this: I said, "Doctor, can you save my leg?" He replied, "I fear not, Johnny." Chloroform was applied, and when restored to consciousness I was minus one limb. I lay there in what was designated "a field hospital"
amputated, and about the 11th or 12th of May he was jolted to death between Spottsylvania Court-House and Bell Plains. I venture the assertion that he was not buried two and a half feet deep; and the place is unknown to his people, who think he was buried on the battlefield. We were shipped to Alexandria City, where I spent three months in the "Marshall House," where the proprietor, Jackson, shot and killed Colonel Ellsworth, who tore down his Confederate flag in April, 1861, and Jackson was killed by Frank Brownwell, of Colonel Ellsworth's regiment. This hotel was used as a prison hospital for those who were permanently disabled. For awhile the patriotic women of Alexandria were permitted to visit us, and often when they would bid us good-bye a "green-back" bill or something else was left in our hand. However, before we were removed from there the good women were prohibited from coming to see us.
While a prisoner here our troops, under General Early came down near Washington City, and there was great excitement in Washington and Alexandria, for it did seem that the Confederates were going into Washington. We prisoners were expecting to be released and get home, but our expectations were soon blasted by the Confederates having to retreat back to the south side of the Potomac, and did not come via Alexandria. My next move was to the Lincoln Hospital in Washington City. Here I spent about two months. After I could walk with crutches I was transferred to the old Capitol Prison. I was honored with a seat in the old Capitol, but had to look through iron bars. While here I was guilty of "cruelty to bugs," if not to animals, in the common acceptation of that term. (Just here by way of parenthesis.) I know how to appreciate the traveling man's experience given by "Red Buck," in Charlotte Observer, of September 11, 1903. Night after night I suffered from the onslaughts of those "bugs" - no telling how much I endured. "Weeping endureth for the night, but joy cometh in the morning." They had all the "innings" at night, but in the morning I
designated as barrel shirts, with the word "thief" written in large letters pasted on the back of each barrel, and a squad of little drummer boys following beating the drums. The mode of wearing the barrel shirts was to take an ordinary flour barrel, cut a hole through the bottom large enough for the head to go through, with arm-holes on the right and left, through which the arms were to be placed. This was put on the poor fellow, resting on his shoulders, his head and arms coming through as indicated above; thus they were made to march around for so many hours and so many days. Now, what do you suppose they had stolen? Why, something to eat. Yes, they had stolen cabbage leaves and other things from slop barrels, which was a violation of the rules of the prison. One large, robust prisoner from Virginia was brought into the surgical ward where I was, having been seriously wounded by one of the guards. On inquiry, I learned that the poor fellow was caught fishing out scraps from a slop barrel and was shot for it. A small, very thin piece of light-bread with a tin pint cup full of what purported to be soup twice a day was the rations for the prisoners. I heard the men say: "My soup has only three eyes on it" - meaning there was no grease in it - only hot water. Now, this fare was not enough to sustain life in healthy, able-bodied men. The result was that where they could not make something - make rings, etc. - and thus secure something from the sutlers, many, yea hundreds of the poor fellows would be attacked with dysentery - so common and often so fatal in camp, and especially in prison life. The food they had seemed to be only enough to feed the disease; the result was that scores and hundreds died. Speaking of the light-bread, the Confederates would sometimes hold it up and declare "that it was so thin that they could read the New York Herald through it"; then they would grab it and squeeze it up in one hand till it looked about like a small biscuit. Men died there for the want of food. I do not know, it may be that the Government issued enough rations, but it had to pass through too many hands
since we had met. We were not in the same command in the army. "Nick" asked me if I had anything to eat. I replied, "Yes." He said: "I want to trade you a cup, spoon, etc., for some bread; I am about perished." Poor fellow, he looked the picture of despair. I said: "Nick, I do not want your cup and spoons, but you are welcome to what I have." He devoured in short order all that I had, and wanted more. Poor fellow, he soon died, as did W. P. Sherrill; died away from home and loved ones, buried by their enemies. I had to spend several days in the barracks before I was transferred to the surgical or hospital ward. I was there long enough to know why Cousin Nicholas was so anxious for my bread. After I was placed in the surgical ward of the hospital I fared fairly well - a great improvement over the fare out in the wards of the regular prison. After a few weeks I was taken with small-pox, and of course was transferred over S. Creek to the small-pox camp. I was carried over on a cot, or "stretcher," with blanket thrown over my face. When I reached the place, and the blanket was removed, I found myself in a large "wall tent," with several cots, or "bunks," about two and a half feet wide, with two Confederates on each "bunk," in reverse order, i. e., A's head at one end and B's at the other - so your bed-fellow's feet were in very close proximity to your face. They were all sandwiched in this way, because the bed was too narrow to admit of the two to lay shoulder to shoulder. On waking up on a morning one of these poor fellows would be dead and the other alive; this, of course, occurred day after day, and night after night. Well might those poor fellows, who had spent at least a part of the night with a corpse for a bed-fellow, have exclaimed with St. Paul, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" When I took in the situation, I told the man who was going to place me on a bunk by the side of a poor fellow bad off with that awful disease (and who finally died) "that he could not put me on there." He replied "that he would show me whether he could or not." I stuck to it that I would not be put there. The
water. I was in great distress, and it seemed that I could make no one hear me; so I had to wait the return of the villain, who finally came when the water in the bath-tub seemed to me to be nearly to the freezing point. He came, bringing a full Yankee suit, and when I gave him a piece of my mind he apologized and begged me not to speak of it - said he had actually forgotten me. When I reached the hospital ward I was a blue man in feelings and in appearance. I was dressed in a Yankee suit, even to a cap. I felt humiliated, and my skin was blue from cold. But for the kindness of my comrades there, giving me of their allowance of spirits that night, I don't know but what I would have gone hence. Along toward the close of February, 1865, I with others, was marched to the train and shipped to Richmond. I think that was the happiest day that I ever experienced in my life. To get out of that death-hole was enough to make one happy; and to add to it the prospect of getting home to friends and loved ones, from whom I had been so long separated, not having heard from them in ten months, was indeed a treat. Many and great changes had taken place since I had left Dixie. I never did doubt that we would eventually succeed. I presume I was cheered up and was kept optimistic from the many rumors all the time in circulation that France and England would soon recognize our independence; which, of course, never took place. The air was filled with that and other rumors, not only in the Confederate army, but even in prison. Such rumors of great victories for the Confederate arms were all the time circulating among the poor fellows. As I came on from New York it looked to me as if the whole world was being uniformed in blue and moving toward General Grant's army. As we came up the James River, both sides were lined with soldiers dressed in blue. When we came to the Confederate lines, seeing such few ragged men confronting all that blue host, my courage came near failing me. In fact, I could not see how this little thin line of Confederates could hold at bay such a multitude of well-fed, well-equipped men. The
well as General Lee, had a hard time; they were both weighed down with trouble, cares and responsibilities. He had no more to do with the assassination of President Lincoln than you or I. He was cast into prison, manacled and placed in a dungeon. (General Miles would be glad now if he never had put shackles on him.) A soldier was placed where an eye always rested on Mr. Davis. This was a great annoyance to him.
General Dick Taylor, who succeeded in getting permission from President Johnson to visit President Davis at Fortress Monroe, makes the following statement: "It was with some emotion that I reached the casement in which Mr. Davis was confined. There were two rooms, in the outer of which, near the entrance, stood a sentinel, and in the inner was Jefferson Davis. We met in silence, with grasp of hands. Afterwards he said: 'This is kind, but no more than I expected of you.' Pallid, worn, gray, bent, feeble, suffering from inflammation of the eyes, he was a painful sight to a friend. He uttered no plaint, and made no allusion to the irons. He said 'the light kept all night in his room hurt his eyes, and the noise made every two hours by relieving the sentry prevented much sleep; but that matters had changed for the better since the arrival of General Burton, who was all kindness, and strained his orders to the utmost in his behalf,' etc." Mr. Davis was no doubt a great and good man, for General Taylor, on speaking of some kindness shown to him during the war, said: "No wonder that all who enjoy the friendship of Jefferson Davis love him as Jonathan did David." Had Mr. Davis been a traitor and rebel any more than other leaders of the South, and had he been guilty as charged, of course he would have been tried and executed. It was not done simply because it would have been an open violation of law, and the people of our country had had time to cool off. So Mr. Davis was released. We all believe that had Mr. Lincoln lived we never would have had to go through the farce and humility of reconstruction. Excuse me, Mr. Editor, for this divergence. I have done so "lest we forget; lest we
forget." There are many humorous, ludicrous, laughable things that occurred in prison life, connected with the negro soldiers (sparring between the colored guard and the Confederate prisoners) that will not do to publish; so I forbear to give any of them.
It is indeed wonderful how the prisoners would work to make a little money. One of the most common occupations was to make finger rings; they did some real nice work. Some of the men would secure a few cents, and on that little capital build up quite a business. Some had teachers and attended school. The teachers were, of course, fellow-prisoners with the pupils. As before stated, I was in the surgical ward while in New York, and had no personal experience in the traffic and trading above alluded to, for it was not allowed in the hospital wards. Mr. John Gray Bynum, of Mountain Creek township, was a ward-master while a prisoner at Elmyra (and made a good one, too). He could give some rich incidents of prison life; and so could our mutual friend Phillip A Hoyle, who was a prisoner at Point Lookout, Md. It may not be generally known that Mr. A. A. Shuford, of Hickory, one of our successful business men, made his start as a trader while a prisoner of war. It is my understanding that such is the case. It was while in prison that Mr. Shuford manifested a talent and a liking for trade and traffic, and on a small scale made a success while in prison. Having thus imbibed the business spirit while in prison, on his liberation and return home he left the farm and old homestead and went to Hickory and engaged in business with his brother "Dolph" and W. H. Ellis. How well he has succeeded is a matter of history, and who can tell what influence his experience in prison may have had on his subsequent life? A. A. Shuford and P. A. Hoyle belonged to the gallant Twenty- third North Carolina Regiment and suffered together at Point Lookout, where the water was impregnated with copperas, thus causing the death of thousands of as brave men as ever carried a gun. I am reminded that General Lee says in his memoirs
that he used every effort and means at his command to effect an exchange of prisoners, but General Grant refused.
As before stated, General Grant refused to exchange as a war measure, and it had the desired effect.
That there were some men in uniforms who might be classed as brutes is not to be denied; we are thankful the number was comparatively small. In the campaign into Maryland in 1862, our regiment was in the division commanded by the gallant Gen. D. H. Hill, who held the mountain passes against overwhelming numbers. My younger brother, James Albert Sherrill, who had been with us only six months, fell dangerously wounded just at the time the command was given to fall back. Of course he fell into the hands of the enemy; there, lying weltering in his blood, the enemy came on him, and instead of ministering to his wants, a brute in human form in uniform took his bayonet and stabbed the poor boy to death. I did not see this, but Alfred Sigmon, of Catawba County, who was also wounded, was an eyewitness to the tragedy. I give this incident as it came near to me; many others just as cruel might be given. It would not do to hold General McClelland or his true soldiers responsible for the conduct of a drunken, cowardly brute. The Union army was afflicted by having foreign soldiers who could not speak the English language. We have met the Union soldiers when many of them were so drunk they could hardly tell what they were doing.
There never was any trouble between true soldiers, whether they wore the blue or the gray. It was the warlike civilians who did not fight and the soldiers who were mere hangers-on and camp followers that made the trouble. But for the influence of General Grant and other army officers we would have fared much worse in the South after the close of the war than we did; they, as conquerors, became our protectors. The true soldiers could be seen exchanging coffee for tobacco, going in bathing at the same time, in the same river; and when the enemy fell into his hands as a prisoner he would
Page 20
Since writing the foregoing sketch I have received the following "Memorial Day Ode," from the pen of my friend, Rev. G. R. Rood, preacher in charge of Millbrook Circuit. It is so appropriate I let it be the closing chapter:
MEMORIAL DAY ODE.
The past is dead, long live the past;
And may its memory ever last
In hearts through which the Southern blood
Leaps on its way an untamed flood.
For we who bear the Southern name
Look on the past and find no shame
Attached to the cause which, though lost,
Was worth the life-blood which it cost.
And though the mournful willows wave
Over the low mounds which we lave
With bitter tears, we feel,
We know the future will reveal
That each martyred hero doth wear
A crown of heavenly laurel fair.
Each spot which heard the dying moans,
And which in death received the bones
Of those who freely gave their all,
In answer to the Southland's call -
No matter where they may be found,
Such spots are sacred, holy ground.
The heroes who sleep 'neath the sods
Rest in sweet peace, their souls are God's,
Until the Judgment trump be blown,
And wrong forever is o'erthrown;
Then they will rise up one and all
To answer to the Last Roll Call.
G. R. ROOD.
MILLBROOK, N. C.,
May 7, 1904.

Tents at Camp Letterman General Hospital, photographed by the Tyson Brothers in September 1863. Each tent is decorated with fresh boughs of cedar to ward off insects and cleanse the air. The town of Gettysburg is in the distance at the far right.
At the close of the battle, approximately 22,000 wounded soldiers of both armies required medical treatment. Some of the more fortunate with minor wounds were able to be treated and quickly removed from the area though more serious wounded could not be moved. Temporary "field hospitals" were established wherever there was a source of water and shelter, and every building was fair game: churches, farm buildings, private homes, and barns. For some, the only shelter available was provided by trees or a piece of canvas strung between poles. Wounded were everywhere, including a number of southern wounded left behind when the Confederates retreated. Lee's Medical Department attempted to transport many of their wounded back to Virginia though their suffering was terrible. Miles of wagons overloaded with wounded men bumped and jolted over muddy roads toward the Potomac, each bump causing more misery than can be imagined. Wounded southerners left behind may have been more fortunate. They fell into Union hands and were treated with equal care by Union surgeons already overworked by the vast amount of Union wounded. The hardships of the injured were only matched by the exhaustion of overworked doctors, attendants, and ambulance drivers. Regimental surgeons began the grisly task of sorting and treating the wounded while the battle raged. Surgical operations took place in the parlors of homes, in barns, or in the front yard of a farmer's house after which the wounded were set aside to be nursed by a handful of attendants. A steady flow of injured were treated by tireless surgeons who only took minimal rest and food during the days of the battle and the weeks that followed. Medical supplies began to run low as the battle ground to its bloody end and the situation was close to becoming a crisis.
Dr. Jonathan Letterman(Vast Sea of Misery)Treatment of the wounded left at Gettysburg was left up to the mercy of the Army of the Potomac. Dr. Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director for the Army of the Potomac, was not totally unaware of the difficulties in proper treatment of so many wounded and the difficulties his staff of doctors and regimental surgeons faced. Letterman had learned from his experiences in many difficult campaigns that proper medical care required swift action and the immediate disposal of staff, supplies and equipment within the battle area. Letterman also depended on the services of charitable organizations such as the US Christian Commission and the US Sanitary Commission to provide medical supplies and personnel to assist with temporary field hospitals and transport of the injured and maimed. As early as the first evening of the battle, Letterman had medical supplies, tents, and provisions on the way to Adams County. Dr. Letterman allowed regimental surgeons to do their work at the numerous temporary field hospitals, but knew that the hundreds of hospitals made support difficult on an already overburdened supply train. He issued orders on July 5, 1863, to establish a general hospital in the Gettysburg area and provide transportation and supplies to the site for treatment of the wounded. In his honor, the temporary hospital was named after him.
The site chosen for the vast hospital camp was on the George Wolf Farm, roughly one and one-half miles east of Gettysburg on the York Pike. The farm was adjacent to the main road and the railroad where a depot was established. Arriving trains would deliver a continual flow of supplies for the Gettysburg camp and transport convalescents to permanent hospitals in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Wolf's farm had good drainage, water and a ready source of firewood.
The hospital was ready by mid-July and staffed with a small army of surgeons, nurses, cooks, quartermaster and supply clerks while a detachment of infantry was detailed as camp guards to look after stores and hospitalized Confederate prisoners. A steady stream of ambulances brought injured Yanks and Rebs to the camp where each man was assigned to a bed in one of the large tents or wards. Miss Sophronia Bucklin was one of the first nurses assigned to Camp Letterman and arrived in mid-July, ten days after the camp was opened. "The hospital lay in the rear of a deep wood, in a large open field a mile and a half from Gettysburg, and overlooking it, the single file of rail which connected the battletown with the outer world... The hospital tents were set in rows, five hundred of them, seeming like great fluttering pairs of white wings, brooding peacefully over those up between these rows in order that they might dry quickly after summer rains. The ground, now sodded, soon to be hardened by many feet, was the only floor in the wards."
Hospital wards at Camp Letterman, September 1863.(National Archives)Though Camp Letterman was primitive by modern standards, the hospital was vast and impressive. One tent had upwards of 40 folding cots with mattresses and linen sheets, a real luxury for soldiers who'd laid on the hard ground or in hay lofts since being wounded. Nurses were assigned to a set of wards to bathe and feed the patients. A large cook house, built in the woods at the central heart of the camp, supplied soups, stews, and warm bread for meals. Warehouse tents were erected near the railroad to accommodate tons of supplies that arrived by railroad. A temporary morgue and cemetery were also established near the camp and deaths were quickly dealt with by a Christian burial attended to by an army chaplain. Agents and representatives of the US Sanitary Commission and US Christian Commission arrived and set up their respective headquarters at the camp. Both agencies provided services to the patients with nursing care as well as religious inspiration. Surgeons assigned to the camp worked around the clock treating the more seriously wounded while the ambulatory cases were set aside for transferral to permanent hospitals. Camp Letterman was filled to capacity by late July and eventually hosted over 1,600 patients. Hundreds more were treated by the medical staff in some of the temporary hospitals in Gettysburg churches and homes before they were emptied.
Open air surgery at Camp Letterman.(National Archives)Surgeons worked long hours in treating the wounded. Amputations were performed in front of a surgical tent pitched near the end of the rows of hospital tents. The surgeons were so skilled that the removal of an arm or a leg was accomplished in a matter of minutes and the unlucky soldier returned to his bed within the hour. Tools were washed with cold water and not properly sterilized, a common practice for that time. This lack of knowledge of bacteria and germs made for frightful cases of gangrene and tetanus, and infection was a major problem in the camp. Already weakened from the effects of wounds and surgery, those patients who suffered infections were also subjected to the added effects of diarrhea and dysentery.
Despite the threat of infection and effects of poor diet, most of the camp's patients weathered the surgeon's knife and survived their ordeal. While army medical staff labored in the camp, members of the Sanitary Commission worked near the railway depot, assisting in the transportation of wounded bound for permanent hospitals. Transportation was limited due to the single railroad line that entered Gettysburg and it was often a long wait until the next train arrived. One volunteer for the US Sanitary Commission recorded the task of caring for the wounded:
"The surgeon in charge of our camp, with his faithful dresser and attendants, looked after all their wounds, which were often in a most shocking state, particularly among the rebels. Every evening and morning they were dressed. Often the men would say, 'That feels good, I haven't had my wound so well dressed since I was hurt.' Something cool to drink is the first thing asked for after the long dusty drive, and pailfuls of tamarinds and water, 'a beautiful drink,' the men used to say, disappeared rapidly among them.
"After the men's wounds were attended to, we went round giving them clean clothes, had basins and soap and towels, and followed these with socks, slippers, shirts, drawers, and those coveted dressing gowns. Such pride as they felt in them! Comparing colors and smiling all over as they lay in clean and comfortable rows ready for supper, 'on dress parade,' they used to say. And then the milk, particularly if it were boiled and had a little whiskey and sugar, and the bread, with butter on it, and jelly on the butter- how good it all was, and how lucky we felt ourselves in having the immense satisfaction of distributing these things. Two Massachusetts boys, I especially remember, for the satisfaction with which they ate their pudding. I carried a second plateful up to the cars, after they had been put in, and fed one of them till he was sure he had had enough. Young fellows they were, lying side by side, one with a right and one with a left arm gone."
Wounded Confederates convalesce at Camp Letterman.(National Archives)Camp Letterman also experienced its share of visitors including families in search of loved ones. Adams Countians and curious civilians from Hanover stopped by the hospital to gawk at wounded Confederates reclining in the open air by their hospital tents. Treated with equal care by the Union surgeons and nurses, the southerners were later transported to northern prison camps. Many recovered from the effects of their wounds, after which they were paroled and exchanged to return to Confederate service.
Less than 100 patients remained at Camp Letterman by November 10 and it was officially closed a few weeks later. Tents were removed, remaining supplies taken to Washington, and the sole cook house dismantled. George Wolf returned his farm to its original purpose with only the camp graveyard remaining as a reminder of what had been established there. There had been remarkably few problems with the hospital and Dr. Letterman's goals had been met in treating and removing the wounded from Gettysburg and the surrounding farms. Camp Letterman was a role model for future military field hospitals and as The Adams Sentinel reported, "The arrangements of the Camp Hospital were so perfect and such constant and prompt attention given to the wants of the wounded, that the sufferings incident to those terrible results of war have been much ameliorated and the brave soldiers, who were the sufferers, will never forget Gettysburg."
US War Department marker at the site of Camp Letterman General Hospital on the York Road near Gettysburg.(Gettysburg NMP)
Inevitable commercial growth in Adams County and around Gettysburg has obliterated a majority of the site of Camp Letterman. All traces of the camp where so many men were treated for their wounds at Gettysburg are gone except for a small portion of the wood lot adjacent to a memorial tablet, erected by the United States War Department prior to 1914, located on Rt. 30. Union dead in the camp graveyard were removed to the Soldiers National Cemetery in 1864 and southern remains were exhumed between 1872 and
This page contains biographies of some of the major personalities, both North and South, involved in the American Civil War. These biographies are accompanied by an image of the individual where possible. However, they make no attempt to provide information concerning the

Born:Â April 11, 1794Â
Died:Â January 15, 1865
Edward Everett was a U.S. representative and senator from Massachusetts, diplomat, secretary of state, university professor and president, and vice-presidential nominee of the Constitutional Union party in the 1860 election.
Everett was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, to Lucy Hill Everett, daughter of a wealthy family, and Oliver Everett, a judge and cleric, who died when the boy was eight. In 1811, young Everett graduated from Harvard College with highest honors. After completing his divinity degree in 1814, he began ministering at the Brattle Street Unitarian Church, Boston's most distinguished clerical position at the time. The next year, however, Everett accepted an endowed chair of Greek Literature at Harvard. The college paid him full salary to study at Göttingen University in Germany, where he received his Ph.D. in 1817. He studied and traveled throughout Europe for two more years, then returned to Harvard in 1819. Everett also became editor of the North American Review, the nation's leading literary journal, where he helped inspire the American Romantic movement. He married Charlotte Gray Brooks in 1822; they had six children.
Already a renowned public speaker, Everett won a Congressional seat in 1824, as a member of John Quincy Adams's National Republicans. During his five terms in Congress (1825-1835), Everett promoted industrialization, trade protectionism, a national bank, and opposed the forced removal of the Cherokees and other tribes from the South to the West. Because of the economic ties between the Massachusetts textile industry and Southern cotton plantations, he did not criticize slavery.
Everett helped found the Whig party in his home state, and was elected to the first of four, one-year terms as governor of Massachusetts in 1835. As governor, he supported funding for internal improvements and public education, including the establishment of America's first teachers' college in 1839. That same year, he was defeated for reelection by one vote.
In 1841, President William Henry Harrison, a Whig, named Everett as minister to Great Britain, where he served until 1845. In that post, he helped ease Anglo-American tensions over a border dispute and other issues, resulting in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. Everett served as president of Harvard from 1846 to 1849, during which the Lawrence Scientific School was established, and black men were allowed to take the college's entrance exam (none was admitted).
In 1850, Everett returned to the state department under Secretary Daniel Webster, authoring the Hülsemann Letter which stated American sympathy for the Hungarian revolution. Upon Webster's death, President Millard Fillmore tapped Everett to head the state department during the administration's remaining four months. In his short tenure as secretary of state, Everett was involved in negotiations which led to a commercial treaty with Japan (1854), and he issued a strongly-worded renunciation of a British-French proposal to guarantee Spain's permanent control of Cuba.
In early 1853, Everett was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Massachusetts legislature. He denounced the Kansas-Nebraska bill which opened the territories to slavery, but an absence caused by illness prevented him from voting against the bill. Constituents, angered over his failure to vote against the pro-slavery measure, forced his resignation after only 15 months in office. As the slavery issue increasingly polarized opinion during the 1850s, Everett tried to stake out a moderate position, particularly through public speeches delivered across the country. His orations emphasized the patriotic and nationalistic themes of union, most notably in his speech "The Character of Washington."
In 1860, Everett was nominated for vice president by the Constitutional Union party. He and presidential nominee John Bell of Tennessee, representing the conservative remnant of the former Whig party, vaguely called for adherence to union and the constitution over the divisive issue of slavery. They did well in the border states but lost to the Republican ticket headed by Abraham Lincoln.
Once the Civil War began, Everett became a leading public spokesman for the Union military cause. On November 19, 1863, he was the keynote speaker at the dedication of the Gettysburg national cemetery, where he delivered a two-hour oration. Everett's words, however, were eclipsed at the time and ever since by the brief closing remarks of President Lincoln's famous "Gettysburg Address." A humbled Everett remarked to the president afterward, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself, that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes." In 1864, Everett strongly supported Lincoln's reelection, but did not live to see the president's second inauguration.
Sources consulted: American National Biography; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Source consulted: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Born:Â April 12, 1791Â
Died:Â October 18, 1876Â
Francis Blair was an influential journalist and behind-the-scenes politico who was a leading force in Abraham Lincoln’s presidential nomination in 1860. Blair had earlier been a Democrat and a member of President Andrew Jackson’s unofficial group of advisors known as the "kitchen cabinet." He established the Washington Globe (1830-1849), which he edited, as an organ of the Democratic party. In 1834 he was one of the developers of the Congressional Globe, which continues today as the Congressional Record. Blair became involved in the free-soil movement in the 1840s and helped found the Republican party in the mid-1850s. During the Civil War he gained President Lincoln’s approval to conduct peace negotiations with Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The talks were unsuccessful. After the war the elder Francis Blair found himself in opposition to the Reconstruction policies of the Radical Republicans, so he rejoined the Democratic party.
One of Blair’s sons, Montgomery, served as Lincoln’s postmaster general. Montgomery Blair was a conservative and former Democrat from Missouri. In 1864 he was forced to resign as part of an informal deal that saw Radical Republican John C. Frémont, Blair’s bitter enemy from Missouri, withdraw from the presidential race. The younger son, Frank (Francis Jr.), served in the Union army in the Missouri theater (for a time), where he was at odds with General Frémont. Frank Blair rose to the rank of major general. In 1868 he was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for vice president.
Sources consulted:Harper’s Encyclopedia of United States History; FunkandWagnalls.com; “Francis Blair,� Richard Latner, “Crisis at Fort Sumter� Website, Mark M. Boatner, The Civil War Dictionary; David Herbert Donald, Lincoln.

Born:Â August 27, 1809Â Died:Â July 4, 1891
Hannibal Hamlin was a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator from Maine and U.S. vice president (1861-1865) under President Abraham Lincoln. Hamlin worked at a variety of jobs before being admitted to the bar in 1833. As a Democrat he served in Maine's lower house (1836-1841), occasionally as its speaker (1837, 1839, 1840), in the U.S. House of Representatives (1843-1847), and in the U.S. Senate (1848-1856). In 1856 he switched to the Republican party and was elected as Maine's first Republican governor. After less than two months in office he was elected to the U.S. Senate (1857-1861).In 1860 he was selected by the Republicans to be the vice-presidential running-mate of Abraham Lincoln. Because of his darker complexion, rumors circulated that he was part black. In 1864, hoping to gain the support of War Democrats, the Republican party replaced Hamlin with Democrat Andrew Johnson, who ran with Lincoln under the National Union label. After the Civil War Hamlin again served in the U.S. Senate (1869-1881) where he supported the Reconstruction policies of the Radical Republicans. He ended his political career as U.S. minister to Spain (1881-1882).
Source consulted: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, ed. William A. DeGregorio.

Born:Â September 18, 1812Â Died:Â August 16, 1880
Herschel Johnson was a Georgia governor, judge, and U.S. senator, who was the vice-presidential nominee of the Northern wing of the Democratic party in 1860. In 1834 he graduated from the University of Georgia and was admitted to the bar. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1843 and for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1847. He completed the U.S. Senate term of Walter Colquitt (1848-1849). Thereafter he was a superior court state judge (1849-1853) and governor of Georgia (1853-1857). After the Democratic party divided in 1860, primarily Northern delegates selected him as Stephen Douglas's vice-presidential running-mate. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln as president and the secession of Georgia, Johnson remained loyal to his state. During the Civil War he served in the second Confederate congress (1862-1865). In 1866 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but Radical Republicans in Congress refused to seat him. Subsequently, he practiced law and served as a circuit court judge (1873-1880) in Georgia.
Source consulted: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Born:Â April 23, 1791Â Died:Â June 1, 1868
James Buchanan was a Democratic politician and diplomat whose single term as U.S. president (1857-1861) saw seven states from the Deep South secede from the union. He is often considered to have been among the worst presidents in American history.
James Buchanan was born near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, to Elizabeth Speer Buchanan and James Buchanan, a storekeeper. He attended school at a local academy then nearby Dickinson College, graduating in 1809. He studied law in Lancaster and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1812. He proved to be a successful lawyer and an astute investor, quickly accumulating substantial wealth.
Buchanan entered politics at an early age, serving in the Pennsylvania legislature (1814-1816) as a Federalist and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1821-1831). He eventually became a Democrat and a supporter of Andrew Jackson, who as president appointed him to be the U.S. minister to Russia (1832-1833). After he returned to America at the end of Jackson’s second term, the Pennsylvania legislature elected Buchanan to the U.S. Senate. His closest friends were Southerners and he took a pro-Southern position on most sectional issues, including slavery. He believed that the institution of slavery was legally and constitutionally protected, and he endorsed the exclusion of abolitionist materials from the U.S. mails, the gag rule that tabled antislavery petitions to Congress, and the annexation of Texas as a slave state.
In 1844 Buchanan was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, but a deadlocked convention turned to dark horse candidate James K. Polk. After Polk became president, he appointed Buchanan as his secretary of state, but, dismayed with the Pennsylvanian’s indecisiveness, the president largely administered foreign policy himself. In 1848 and 1852 Buchanan again unsuccessfully sought his party’s presidential nomination. Although he hoped to serve as secretary of state once more under President Franklin Pierce, he was assigned to be minister to Great Britain.
Buchanan gained notoriety in his new position when he and the American ministers to Spain and France met in Ostend, Belgium, in 1854 to draft a policy recommendation for President Pierce. They suggested that the United States try to buy Cuba and, if Spain was unwilling, to seize the island by force. When the Ostend Manifesto, as it was dubbed, was leaked to the press, it created an uproar, with supporters and detractors dividing primarily along sectional lines.
In early 1856 Buchanan resigned and returned to America in order to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. This time, he was successful. He went on to win the presidency with a plurality of the vote against two other candidates. Some southerners had threatened to secede if the Republican nominee, John C. Frémont, won the election. During his presidential term, therefore, Buchanan attempted to appease southern concerns in order to preserve the union. His policies, however, only contributed to more sectional animosity.
In the interim between election and inauguration, Buchanan tried to exert undue influence on one of the Supreme Court justices who was deciding the Dred Scot case. The decision, announced two days after his inauguration, affirmed in sweeping terms the southern view that neither the federal nor territorial government could ban slavery in the territories. Although the president thought the decision would settle the matter, it further exacerbated sectional tensions, including within the Democratic party, and strengthened the Republican party.
Buchanan’s handling of the slavery issue in the Kansas territory also widened the divide between northern and southern Democrats. To the dismay of Stephen Douglas, leader of the northern wing of the party, Buchanan endorsed the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution. Submitted to Congress by a rump legislature, it would have allowed Kansas to enter the union as a slave state, against the wishes of the anti-slavery majority in the territory. The Buchanan administration did everything it could to ensure passage, including a resort to bribery. While the Senate approved the Lecompton Constitution, it was narrowly rejected by the House after a bitter fight. The damage done to the Democratic party and national unity was almost irreparable.
President Buchanan pursued an expansionist foreign policy, stoking Republican fears of a political conspiracy to expand slavery. His administration failed in attempts to purchase Alaska and Cuba and to impose a protectorate on northern Mexico, but did secure trade treaties with China and Japan. The Buchanan presidency was plagued by a series of scandals, making his administration one of the most corrupt in American history. An economic depression also undermined the president’s popularity.
Douglas had broken publicly with Buchanan over the Lecompton Constitution, so the president worked behind the scenes to derail the senator’s reelection in 1858. Douglas prevailed, but discord with the Democratic party increased. The final break came at the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina. Buchanan aides joined forces with southern radicals to stop Douglas’s nomination for president. After the convention failed to endorse a federal slave code for the territories, the southern delegates walked out and reconvened in Richmond to nominated Vice President John Breckinridge for president. The northern Democrats met in Baltimore and nominated Douglas. The split in the Democratic party allowed the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, to win the presidency.
When seven states of the Deep South left the union after Lincoln’s election, Buchanan condemned northern antislavery agitators. The lame-duck president denied both a constitutional right to secede and the constitutional authority of the president to intervene and stop the process. Instead, he called for a constitutional convention to draft amendments protecting slavery in the South and in the territories. Yet, Buchanan remained a unionist and would not recognize the Confederate seizure of federal property. After the Star of the West, an unarmed
Henry Raymond was the first and long-time editor of the New York Times and a Republican politician.
Henry Raymond was born in Lima, New York, to Lavinia Brockway Raymond and Jarvis Raymond, who were farmers. A precocious child, young Raymond was reading at age three and reciting speeches at age five. He studied at a local Methodist prep school, then at the University of Vermont, where he was a standout speaker and a contributing writer for the New Yorker, edited by Horace Greeley. Raymond graduated summa cum laude in 1840. That same year he entered politics by campaigning for William Henry Harrison, the Whig presidential candidate.
Raymond moved to New York City hoping to gain full-time employment with the New Yorker. After a brief apprenticeship, he was made an editorial assistant, but had to augment his low salary by writing items for out-of-state newspapers and ad copy for patent medicines. In 1841 Greeley launched the New York Tribune, a penny paper that served as the organ of the Whig party, and Raymond followed the editor as his chief assistant. Although both men were Whigs, Raymond disagreed with his boss’s affinity for reform schemes, especially socialism. In 1843 he left the Tribune for a better-paying position as associate editor for the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer, published by James Watson Webb. In 1848 Raymond joined forces with representatives from five other New York newspapers to form a cooperation news-gathering service, the Associated Press.
In 1844 and 1848 Raymond campaigned for the Whig presidential candidates Henry Clay and Zachary Taylor, respectively. He also ran for public office himself, gaining election to the New York state legislature in 1849. Reelected in 1850, his Whig colleagues in the majority selected him to serve as speaker. In that same year he also began a six-year stint as the first managing editor of Harper’s Monthly. At this time he began to speak and write against the immorality of slavery and its expansion into the western territories. When Webb censored one of Raymond’s Courier and Enquirer editorials, he quit. In 1851 Raymond and George Jones founded the New York Times, with Raymond serving as its first editor. It quickly enjoyed high circulation and became one of the nation’s leading newspapers.
In 1852 Raymond was a major force behind the Whig nomination of Winfield Scott for president. The editor gained renown for an anti-slavery speech he delivered at the convention, even though the delegates crafted a platform that waffled on the issue. In 1854 New York Whigs nominated Raymond for lieutenant governor. During the campaign he spoke against the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise ban on slavery in the Louisiana Purchase territory. He and the Whig candidate for governor, Myron Clark, were elected by a slim margin.
The days of the Whig party were numbered, though, and like many northern Whigs, Raymond gravitated to the new Republican party. In fact, he was one of the founders of the Republican party in New York and helped draft its original charter. He transformed the Times into a solidly Republican newspaper, although it was officially independent of the party apparatus. In 1857 the Times moved into a new five-story building on the corner of Nassau Street and Park Row. In 1859 he personally covered the Franco-Austrian War for the paper, sending back realistic battle reports.
Raymond traveled to the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago as a delegate for fellow-New Yorker, Senator William Henry Seward, but loyally endorsed the party’s eventual nominee, Abraham Lincoln. During the campaign Raymond published a series of open letters to former Representative William Yancey, a southern fire-eater who was traveling through the North arguing for the constitutionality of secession. The Times editor countered with the theory that the constitution created a perpetual union that could not be dissolved, and that secession would provoke war.
During the Civil War the Times was a staunchly pro-Union paper, and it shifted from its prewar anti-slavery-expansion stance to endorse abolition as a war aim. Raymond attended some of the battles himself, including First Bull Run (Manassas) at which he prematurely telegrammed of Union victory. For protection during the Draft Riots in New York City, he installed Gatling guns on the roof of the Times building. Under his direction, the Times expanded its circulation and influence and was barely able to keep up with the demand for its papers.
Raymond was elected to the state legislature in 1861 and was again chosen as speaker. In early 1863 he hoped to take Preston King’s vacated seat in the U.S. Senate, but Edwin Morgan was selected, instead. Raymond was in accord with Lincoln’s policies and authored a campaign biography of the president in 1864 and drafted the National Union platform. That same year the Times editor was elected to Congress by a margin of less than 500 votes. He strongly supported Lincoln and, initially, his successor, Andrew Johnson, against the Radical Republicans. After voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1866, though, he voted for the 14th Amendment that granted citizenship and federal civil rights protection to black Americans. Critics accused him of inconsistency.
In 1866 Raymond organized a National Union convention, which Radicals condemned for its control by Democrats. His involvement cost the Times readership and, therefore, revenue. Within a few months he concluded that the Radicals were correct about the National Union party, and the Times endorsed the Radical Republican candidate for New York governor and began criticizing President Johnson. In Congress, however, Raymond voted against both the impeachment resolution and the Radicals’ military Reconstruction bills. After Raymond’s term ended, Johnson nominated him to be minister to Austria, but the Senate tabled the nomination indefinitely. He remained as the editor of the Times until his death in 1869.
Fort Sumter, Buchanan took no further provocative action and handed the precarious situation over to the incoming president, Abraham Lincoln.
Buchanan retired to his "Wheatland" estate outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Reviled by critics, the former president published his memoirs in 1866 in which he defended his public actions as constitutional and proper.
Source consulted:American National Biography

Born:Â September 1, 1795Â Died:Â June 1, 1872
James Gordon Bennett was the founder and the editor of the New York Herald, a leading New York daily of national influence and importance. He was one of a core group of publishers and editors who transformed and modernized journalism in the mid-nineteenth century.
James Gordon Bennett was born in New Mill (Keith), Scotland, to a Roman Catholic farming couple (names unknown). He attended public school, as required by law, then at fifteen he entered Blair College, a Catholic seminary in Aberdeen, to train for the priesthood, as his family desired. He had been having doubts about Catholicism and organized religion in general, so he left the seminary after four years. He later renounced his faith and was stridently critical of the Catholic Church in his editorials. Although evidence is limited, he apparently spent the next five years traveling to historical sights in Scotland, reading, and occasionally writing for a periodical.
In 1819 Bennett emigrated to Nova Scotia where he taught bookkeeping, then moved to Portland, Maine, and on to Boston by January 1820, where he was enthralled by the historical sights of the Revolutionary War. He worked for three years in Boston as a proofreader and a bookseller for a printing house, then was hired by the Charleston Courier in South Carolina. He translated news from Spanish newspapers for the Courier, and was able to observe the slavery system for which he gained sympathy. After ten months he moved, in late 1823, to New York City where he worked as a freelance newspaper writer and editorial assistant.
In late 1826 he was hired by Mordecai Noah as the Albany and Washington correspondent for the New York Enquirer. Bennett has been credited with introducing the French style of writing with panache and verve into American journalism which had been predominated by a more stolid, argumentative English style. In 1829 the Enquirer merged with James Watson Webb’s New York Courier and Bennett became the associate editor covering political and banking issues. The Courier and Enquirer was the nation’s highest circulation newspaper and placed its power behind the Andrew Jackson administration, with Bennett writing editorials defending the president’s attack on the National Bank. When the paper abruptly switched allegiance, he quit.
Bennett failed in attempts to start his own paper, the New York Globe, and to buy Francis Blair’s Washington Globe. In 1833 he started a new daily, the Philadelphia Pennsylvanian, as a pro-Jackson Democratic paper, but he lost financial support when he criticized Martin Van Buren. He returned to freelancing in New York City, where he noted the phenomenal success of Benjamin Day’s New York Sun, the first penny paper, sold daily by newsboys on the street rather than relying solely on annual subscriptions.
In May 1835 Bennett began publishing the New York Herald, which combined public interest stories, sensational reports of crimes and disasters, and coverage of national and international news. In April 1836 the Herald shocked readers with front-page coverage of the murder of a prostitute, Helen Jewett. During this episode, Bennett is credited with conducting the first newspaper interview. That same year the Herald initiated a cash-in-advance policy for advertisers, which would soon become standard newspaper practice. By the end of the decade the Herald and the Sun were the two highest-circulation dailies in America, a distinction the Herald carried until Bennett’s retirement.
In December 1836 Bennett added a weekly edition of the paper, the Weekly Herald, which was a precursor of 19th century weeklies like Leslie’s and Harper’s and 20th century newsmagazines like Time and Newsweek. He was quick to use new technology or methods for news transmission—railroads, news-boats, carrier pigeons, pony express, telegraph. He added interest to his paper with illustrations produced from woodcuts. The newspaper’s sensationalism and Bennett’s eagerness to attack other editors in print, led to the "Great Moral War" of 1840 in which rivals organized a boycott of the Herald by vendors, advertisers, and subscribers. The boycott was partially successful since the Herald lost circulation which was not regained until 1844.
The Herald was officially independent of party ties, a fact reflected in its presidential endorsements of Whigs Harrison and Taylor, Democrats Polk and Pierce, and Republican Frémont. In his editorials, Bennett advocated America’s expansion into all of North America and the Caribbean as its "Manifest Destiny." In New York state and municipal politics, he usually supported challengers against incumbents. He defended slavery and Southern states’ rights, but balked at slavery’s expansion.
Although he had backed Frémont in 1856, Bennett threw his support to the Buchanan administration as sectional tensions rose. In 1860 the Herald at first endorsed John Breckinridge, then in August shifted to John Bell. Even though he opposed Lincoln’s election and presidential policies, Bennett backed the Union cause in the Civil War. He promoted General George McClellan, but the Herald endorsed no candidate in the 1864 presidential race. After Lincoln’s assassination, Bennett took a lead role in transforming the late president into a martyr. The editor favored most of Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction proposals against those of the Radical Republican congressmen.
In 1866 Bennett handed the reins of the Herald, still the highest-circulation and most profitable newspaper in America, over to his profligate, 25-year-old son, James Gordon Bennett Jr., under whose control the paper declined steadily. On his deathbed Bennett Sr. returned to the Catholic faith and received last rites in 1872.
Sources consulted: American National Biography; Dictionary of Literary Biography; James L. Crouthamel, Bennett’s “New York Herald� and the Rise of the Popular Press.

Born:Â February 18, 1796Â Died:Â September 10, 1869
John Bell is best remembered as the 1860 presidential nominee of the Constitutional Union party, one of four candidates vying to become the nation's chief executive in that critical election.John Bell was born in Mill Creek, Tennessee, to Margaret Edminston Bell and Samuel Bell, a blacksmith and a farmer. In 1814 he graduated from Cumberland College (Nashville) and two years later began to practice law. In 1817 he was elected to the state senate, then after serving one term he became a prominent attorney in Nashville. In 1827 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he would serve seven consecutive terms. Although he personally opposed President Andrew Jackson's veto of the charter renewal for the Bank of the United States, Bell felt politically compelled to support the president's popular gesture. The congressman did, however, oppose efforts to remove bank deposits from the national bank. Bell was several times a losing candidate for speaker of the house, developing a rivalry with fellow Tennessean James K. Polk.
In the late-1830s Bell began affiliating with the nascent Whig party. In 1841 he was appointed by the first Whig president, William Henry Harrison, to be secretary of war, but served only a few months. Upon Harrison's sudden death, the new president, John Tyler, sided with the states' rights Democrats, provoking Bell and other cabinet members to resign in September 1841. For the next six years Bell invested in railroads and manufacturing, while working in Tennessee politics against Polk. Although his rival was elected president in 1844, Bell helped the Whig party deny the Democratic nominee victory in his home state.
In 1847 Bell was again elected to the state legislature, whose Whig majority promptly promoted him to the first of two terms in the U.S. Senate. He reluctantly supported the Compromise of 1850, which sought to quell the controversy over the expansion of slavery that the war with Mexico had reanimated. Although initially vacillating on the issue, Bell cast the only Southern vote in the Senate against the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Democrats took over the Tennessee legislature and denied Bell a third term, ending his Senate career in March 1859.
A remnant of the defunct Whig party reorganized as the Constitutional Union party and held a national convention in Baltimore in May 1860. Delegates nominated Bell for president and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for vice president. Their strategy was to win enough electoral votes to send the election into the House of Representatives, which, with four parties competing for the presidency, was a distinct possibility. In the final tally, though, Bell carried only three states-Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia-while Lincoln swept the north to win an electoral college majority.
During "secession winter," Bell at first remained silent, then issued a letter tepidly disavowing the legitimacy and value of secession. In late January Bell denounced secession before a large Nashville audience, then traveled to Washington to meet with President Lincoln. Tennessee voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum on secession, but the state finally left the Union after the firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops. At that point, Bell endorsed secession unenthusiastically and removed himself from public life. The war did substantial damage to his mines and mills, and he died in 1869.
Source consulted: American National Biography

Born:Â January 21, 1821Â
Died:Â May 17, 1875
John Breckinridge was a U.S Senator from Kentucky, the vice president under James Buchanan, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic party (Southern Democrats) in the critical 1860 election, and a Confederate general and (briefly) the Confederate secretary of war.
John Breckinridge was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Mary Smith Breckinridge and John Cabell Breckinridge Sr. The family had a tradition of holding public office. Young Breckinridge's father was a state representative and his grandfather had been a U.S. senator. The senior John Breckinridge died in 1823 leaving his son to be raised by the boy's mother and grandmother. In 1839 the young man graduated from Centre College (Kentucky), then studied law at the College of New Jersey before completing his degree at Transylvania University (Kentucky) in 1841. He opened a law practice in Burlington, Iowa, but two years later returned to Kentucky, where he prospered in the profession.
During the Mexican War Breckinridge served as a major with the Kentucky volunteers. At the war's conclusion, he was elected to the state's lower house (1849-1851) as a states' rights Democrat, then won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (1851-1855). He played a key role in adding the repeal of the Missouri Compromise ban on slavery to Stephen Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act and in securing House approval for the final bill. Breckinridge himself sponsored no major legislation but was a popular political figure. In 1856 delegates to the Democratic National Convention selected him as James Buchanan's vice-presidential running-mate. Inaugurated when only 36 years old, he was the youngest vice president in American history. Buchanan did not include him in policy-making, so the vice president eagerly awaited returning to the U.S. Senate upon John Crittenden's retirement in 1861.
When the Democratic party split into sectional factions in 1860, Breckinridge was nominated for president by the Southern wing, who called themselves the National Democrats. Concerned that a divided party would allow the Republicans to triumph, he offered to decline the nomination if Douglas would reject his nomination by the Northern wing. Douglas declined, and both men remained in the race. Although Breckinridge was a slaveowner who supported the constitutional protection of slavery and the right of secession, he was not one of the radicals. He captured all the states in the Deep South, but Lincoln won the presidency with an electoral-college majority.
During the interval period, Breckinridge worked for a compromise and supported the attempt by Kentucky's government to remain neutral. When Kentucky formally sided with the Union in September 1861 and state officials tried to arrest him, he joined the Confederate army as a brigadier general. He accumulated a notable military record, fighting at Bowling Green, Shiloh, Baton Rouge, Stones River, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. He rose to the rank of major general, then served as the Confederacy's last secretary of war during what would be the closing months of the war. He opposed efforts to prolong the war with guerrilla fighting after Lee's surrender.
Following the war he fled to Cuba, then to England and finally to Canada. President Andrew Johnson pardoned him on Christmas Day 1868, allowing him to return to Kentucky a few months later. Although he forswore politics, Breckinridge urged sectional reconciliation and criticized the Ku Klux Klan. He was employed as a railroad executive until his death in 1874.
Source consulted: American National Biography

Born:Â September 30, 1817Â Died:Â December 9, 1881
John Forney was born in Lancaster, the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country; of German extraction. At the age of thirteen, he left school to begin working, first in a store, then as an apprentice to the printer of the Lancaster Journal. In 1837, he purchased an interest in the financially troubled Lancaster Intelligencer, for which he became editor. In two years, he was able to make the newspaper profitable enough to allow him to merge it with the Journal. Forney used the newspaper to promote the political career of James Buchanan, a fellow Democrat from Lancaster. In 1845, Forney was named by President Polk as surveyor of the port of Philadelphia. Moving to that city, he became co-owner and editor of another newspaper, the Pennsylvanian.
Forney was elected as clerk of the U. S. House of Representatives in 1851, serving in that position until 1855. In 1852 he became editorial writer for a Democratic party newspaper, the Washington Daily Union. In 1854, he became a partner and helped the newspaper secure printing contracts with the House of Representatives, thereby providing it with a handsome, steady income. He left the clerkship of the House to work on Buchanan’s presidential election campaign. After his election in 1856, Buchanan was unable to secure a political position for Forney, so the journalist returned to Philadelphia in 1857 to start an independent Democratic newspaper called the Press. He soon began to support Stephen Douglas in his fight against the Buchanan administration over the Kansas question. Forney was reelected clerk of the House in 1859, and, as a Republican, served as secretary of the Senate from 1861 to 1868.
In 1861, Forney established the Washington Sunday Morning Chronicle, adding a daily edition (the Daily Morning Chronicle) in 1862. The newspaper’s expansion was allegedly at the urging of President Lincoln, who wanted the journal to counter criticism of the administration by the New York Tribune. In the Press and the Chronicle, Forney supported Lincoln and, in the beginning of his term, Andrew Johnson. The editor soon joined the Radical Republicans, though, to become one of the Johnson’s most strident critics. Uncharacteristically, the President refused the temptation to counterattack, explaining "I do not waste my ammunition on dead ducks." But Johnson’s disparaging dismissal of Forney itself became ammunition in the arsenal of Thomas Nast and other political cartoonists who used "dead duck" to symbolize Johnson’s lack of political clout.
In 1870, Forney sold the Chronicle and again returned to Philadelphia, where in 1871 he became collector of the port. In 1878, he established and edited Progress, a weekly magazine. Switching back to the Democratic party, he authored the campaign biography of Democratic Presidential nominee Winfield Scott in 1880. He also published Anecdotes of Public Men (2 vols., 1873-1881), The New Nobility (1881), and other works. He died in Philadelphia.
Sources consulted: Dictionary of American Biography; Mark Summers, The Press Gang.

Born:Â December 14, 1801Â Died:Â April 19, 1881
Joseph Lane was a senator from Oregon and the 1860 vice-presidential nominee of the National (or Southern) Democratic party. He was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, to Elizabeth Street Lane and John Lane. In 1810 the Lane family moved to Henderson, Kentucky, where young Joseph was educated in the common schools and worked in a general store. In 1821 he moved to Indiana to farm, and was elected the next year to the lower house of the state legislature. He was reelected to several terms before winning a seat in the upper house in 1844. He served a brigade commander in the Mexican War, and was brevetted a major general in 1847. President James Polk appointed him as territorial governor of Oregon (1849-1850). He then won the first of four elections as the territory's congressional delegate (1851-1859), and was elected in 1859 as a Democrat to be one the new state's first U.S. senators.
When the Democratic party split over the issue of slavery expansion in 1860, the National (or Southern) Democrats nominated Lane as the vice-presidential running mate of presidential nominee John C. Breckinridge. After their defeat, Lane retired from public life. He died in Oregon in 1881.

Born:Â April 21, 1809Â Died:Â July 18, 1887
Robert M. T. Hunter was a U.S. senator from Virginia who was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1860. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1828 and was admitted to the bar two years later. He served in the Virginia assembly (1834-1837), the U.S. House of Representatives (1837-1843, 1845-1847), and the U.S. Senate (1847-1861). During the Civil War Hunter served as the Confederate secretary of state (1861-1862) and in the Confederate Senate (1862-1865), where he was occasionally president pro tempore. In February 1865 he was one of the Confederacy’s commissioners to the unsuccessful Hampton Roads peace negotiations. After the war he served as Virginia’s state treasurer (1874-1880).
Source consulted:Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Born:Â April 23, 1813Â
Died:Â June 3, 1861
Stephen Douglas was a U.S. Senator, a leading advocate of "popular sovereignty," the drafter of the controversial and consequential Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and the presidential nominee of the Northern wing of the Democratic party in 1860.
Stephen Douglas was born in Brandon, Vermont, to Sarah Fisk Douglass and Stephen Arnold Douglass (the younger Douglas dropped the final "s" from his family name in 1846). His father died when he was an infant, and his mother moved the family in with her father and bachelor brother. In his youth, Douglas worked as an apprentice cabinetmaker. He was politically inspired by the presidential campaign of General Andrew Jackson in 1828 and became a life-long Democrat. In 1830 his family moved to Canandaigua in upstate New York, where he studied at the town's academy.
Three years later Douglas began to study law under a local lawyer, but impatiently stopped after six months and moved to the "west," where training and qualification for the bar were less stringent. His journey took him through Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis before he put down stakes in Jacksonville, Illinois, in November 1833. The next year he was admitted to the Illinois bar, although the administering judge urged him to continue his legal studies.
Douglas was one of the pioneers at adapting the new Jacksonian party system-with its committees, conventions and partisanship-to Illinois. He became a leader in the state Democratic party, and was elected state's attorney before he turned 22. In 1836 he was elected to the state house of representatives, but the next year he moved to Springfield and was appointed to the land office of the new state capital. In 1840 he became secretary of state, but was appointed the following year to the state supreme court, the youngest justice ever to serve in that body. In 1838 he had narrowly lost a race for Congress, and in 1842 was unsuccessful in a bid for the U.S. Senate (he was not of legal age to qualify). He finally won a seat in the U.S. House the next year after the Illinois legislature implemented a redistricting plan. He served two terms in the House, then won election in 1846 to the first of three consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate.
In the Senate, Douglas became a leader of the northern Democrats and played a pivotal role in the major issues of one of the most crucial periods (1846-1861) in the nation's history. Nicknamed "the Little Giant," the diminutive Senator (5' 4") was a scrappy fighter and a tireless worker, whose powerful orations on the Senate floor drew capacity crowds to the galleries. He was both an advocate of states' rights and an avid Unionist.
Douglas was also a promoter of America's territorial expansion to fulfill its "manifest destiny," as the catch phrase of the time put it, to become a continental republic from sea to shining sea. To that end, he supported the annexation of Texas and of the entire Oregon Territory and backed the expansionist war against Mexico. To encourage settlement of the new American west, he proposed homestead legislation and pushed Congress to subsidize a transcontinental railroad to run from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Coast. As chair of first the House then the Senate Committee on Territories, he sponsored bills to establish seven territories: Oregon, Minnesota, Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Kansas, and Nebraska.
It was the Mexican War that reintroduced the issue of slavery into the national political discussion; specifically, whether slavery would be allowed to expand into the western territories. Douglas took a middle ground between the northern antislavery view that the federal government could ban slavery in the territories and the southern proslavery position that the Constitution protected the institution there. He advocated, instead, what he believed was a more democratic, fair, and workable solution: let the voters of the territories decide the issue themselves-"popular sovereignty." The Illinois senator was instrumental in the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which allowed the Utah and New Mexico territories to be organized on the basis of popular sovereignty, while permitting California to enter as a free state, which its residents overwhelmingly desired. He personally believed that slavery was ill-suited for transplantation to the west and that the settlers would reject it.
In order to accelerate the settlement of the west, Douglas drafted and introduced a bill to establish two territorial governments in part of the Louisiana Purchase land. By allowing the citizens of the territories to vote on the slavery issue, Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise ban on slavery in that area. Passage of the bill ignited a political firestorm that caused the collapse of the Whig party, the birth of the Republican party, and the widening of a fissure between the northern and southern wings of the Democratic party. Henceforth in the 1850s sectional politics because more volatile and violent. Pro- and antislavery forces in Kansas created competing territorial governments and engaged in bloody guerrilla warfare.
In 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that slavery was, as many southerners had insisted, constitutionally protected from interference by federal or territorial government. That decision undercut Douglas's remedy of popular sovereignty, but he responded with his "Freeport Doctrine" (named after one of the sites of the Lincoln-Douglas debates). He argued that territorial citizens could circumvent the letter of the decision by refusing to pass legislation ("slave codes") that supported and protected the institution; consequently, he reasoned, slaveowners would not venture to a territory where their investment in slaves was insecure.
Douglas's tactical response to the Dred Scott decision angered southern Democrats. During the winter of 1857-1858, he further alienated himself from southern Democrats and their northern allies, such as President James Buchanan, when he vehemently opposed the Lecompton constitution, drafted by the proslavery factional legislature in Kansas.
Later in 1858 Douglas held a series of seven debates with his Republican senatorial challenger, Abraham Lincoln. The sole topic discussed was the issue of slavery, and because Douglas was a major figure in national politics, the debates received national press coverage. The debates matched two powerful thinkers and hard-hitting speakers and are justifiably famous in American history. Although Douglas was reelected to the Senate by the Democratic state legislature, Lincoln became a national name for the first time and a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860.
Douglas had been a losing candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1852 and 1856, but was in a position to take the prize in 1860. The Democratic nominating convention met in April 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina. The southern delegates arrived determined to have the party endorse in its platform a federal slave code for the territories. The northern delegates, led by Douglas, were equally adamant that their party would not endorse such a territorial slave code. The fierce disagreement led many southern delegates to walk out of the convention and reconvene in Richmond, where they nominated Vice President John C. Breckinridge for the presidency. Northern Democrats reconvened in Baltimore and nominated Douglas for the presidency. Meanwhile, the Republicans nominated Lincoln and a group of former Whigs organized the Constitutional Union party and nominated John Bell for president.
It was customary that presidential candidates did not campaign actively for the office. Douglas broke with tradition, however, to undertake a speaking tour where his opposition was strongest, New England and the South. He urged southerners not to leave the union if Lincoln was elected. When the Republican's election provoked the secession of seven states from the deep south, Douglas searched for a compromise that would save the union. Once the Civil War began, he pledged his support to President Lincoln and the fight to save the union. Weakened by years of overwork and excessive drinking, Douglas died in June 1861 while on a trip to secure Illinois' support for the union cause. His final words were a message for his sons: "Tell them to obey the laws and support the Constitution of the United States."
Source consulted: American National Biography
by Andy Waskie
The decades preceding the outbreak of the American Civil War witnessed an unprecedented influx of immigrants who sought security and opportunity in America. The overwhelming majority of these foreign born settled in the North and were especially attracted to urban areas or communities where their compatriots were already established. From 1820 to 1860 approximately four million people immigrated to the fledgling United States. The majority of these came from:
The German States (c. 500,000) particularly after the social and political upheaval of the 1848 revolution;
Ireland (c. 1,000,000) most as a result of economic hardships brought on by the infamous "Potato Famine";
England (c. 300,000) many of whom came from the depressed areas of Scotland and Wales.
Although newly arrived, these hearty souls adapted quickly. Most took out American citizenship, sent their children to school and in the case of the Germans, made attempts to learn English. Politically, most were loyal to the Union, with many supporting the Republican party. The Irish were an exception to this, however, as they became ardent Democrats, forming the backbone of the machine politics of the great cities of the East. Upon the outbreak of hostilities of 1861, these ethnic groups responded to Lincoln's call for troops in stirring fashion. Often, men from the same background and origin banded together to form regiments from the states where they had settled. Others joined local units and served with their native born neighbors. The overwhelming majority of these foreign born immigrants served loyally and well in the Union armies. It was an absolute falsehood, however, that the majority of all Federal troops were foreign born, as was an oft repeated assertion of the Southern and British press of the time. Based on enlistment rolls and other official reports and stated in round figures, out of approximately 2,000,000 Union soldiers enlisted during the war over two-thirds (2/3) were native born Americans. Thus, only under one-third (1/3) of all troops were non-natives distributed approximately as follows:
German c. 200,000
Irish c. 150,000
British c. 150,000
Canadians c. 50,000
others c. 75,000 (mostly European)
Comparing the percentage of native and immigrant troops to the total population of the North (c. 21,000,000) reveals that the per capita percentage total enlistments from both groups is approximately equal. Thus, we can assert that the foreign troops did their fair share of service in their adopted land for the cause of Union. Overall comparison of the ethnic makeup of the regiments in Federal service shows that:
- in 75% of these units the majority was of native American birth;
- in 7% the majority were German;
- in 6% the majority were Irish;
- in a further 6% the proportion of native to non-native born was equal
- in the the remaining 6% we find a mixture of troops of diverse origin, including Colored troops.
The contribution of the foreign born immigrant troops to the cause of the Union was decisive in securing victory over the Confederacy. The loyalty and patriotism of these new Americans, with a few exceptions, never flagged. Their efforts helped insure a united country and a secure future for the nation.
Since most foreign born troops were scattered throughout the volunteer state regiments, it is difficult to single out any "American" regiments for the outstanding individual contributions of its foreign born elements. One need only scan the muster rolls of the average Union regiment to recognize the significant roll of the foreign born whose names appear there.
As a typical case of an immigrant who served most admirably in a non ethnic regiment, I can state the record of Michael Dougherty, buried in St. Mark's Cemetery in Bristol, Pennsylvania who enlisted in a company of cavalry composed of mostly Irish immigrants from the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia, which was mustered into the 13th Pennsylvania cavalry regiment. The majority of this regiment were native born. For valor in action in Virginia in 1864, Dougherty received the Medal of Honor.
It is easier, however, to chronicle the service and record of regiments wholly or mostly composed of a particular foreign origin, in order to illustrate the role of these troops in the Civil War. The listing which follows attempts to name some of the more famous of the foreign units.
German speaking elements
Immigration from the German speaking areas of Europe, including the as yet un-united German states, Austria, Switzerland, Alsace-Lorraine, etc. was particularly heavy prior to the Civil War, mainly because of economic and political troubles which culminated in the revolution of 1848. These new settlers had not had enough opportunity to become assimilated and retained their language and customs despite their intense loyalty and feelings for their new homeland.
The Germans, or "Dutch" as they were derisively called (Deutsche is the German word for "German," hence the confusion with the name for Hollanders) were resented by their native born neighbors, as are all new immigrant at the 1st Battle of Bull Run.
McClellan granted Blenker permission to form a division of German regiments from the Army of the Potomac.
Blenker's German Division
1st Brigade: (Stahel) 8th, 39th, 45th N.Y., 27th Penn. 2nd Brigade: (Steinwehr) 29th, 54th, 68th N.Y., 73rd Penn. 3rd Brigade: (Bohlen) 41st, 58th N.Y., 74th, 75th Penn., 4th N.Y. Cavalry with Schirmer's, Wiedrich's, Sturmfels' Artillery batteries.
The division was assigned to Fremont's corps in the Mountain department and the Shenandoah Valley. Command passed to Carl Schurtz. The division under Schurz was incorporated into Franz Sigel's corps of Pope's Army of Virginia. In September of 1862, shortly before Antietam, the army corps was reorganized and the German division now mixed with American regiments became the IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac, initially under Sigel, then entrusted to Oliver O. Howard just before the battle of Chancellorsville. Transferred to the Western army, the corps merged with the XII Corps to form the XX Corps in April 1864. The XX Corps served under Sherman in the West until the end of the war. By the time of the consolidation the German character of any unit larger than a regiment had been lost through field losses, muster out, conscripts and an admixture of Americans.
One unique regiment forming an original part of the Blenker division is noteworthy. The "Garibaldi Guards" (the 39th New York Volunteer Infantry) was composed mainly of Italians and Germans, but with a unique admixture of men included real Zouaves from Algiers, foreign legionnaires, Cossacks, Indian Sepoys, Turks, Slavs, Swiss, Spaniards and Austrians. Its commander, Colonel D'Utassy, was a Hungarian who had been a circus trick rider. He proved to be a rogue, however, later spending time in prison. The unit was uniformed in the distinctive green and plumes of the Italian Bersaglieri -- light Infantry.
The Irish
Arriving in America mainly to escape social and economic deprivations in their homeland, the Irish flocked to our shores in the two decades preceding the Civil War. Settling for the most part in the urban centers of the North, they formed a most powerful minority. The Irish were to be found mostly in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and the urban areas of other Northern states. Although they spoke English, they were often the object of scorn and hatred from the native born population due to religious, cultural and class differences. In addition, the native born Americans feared they would form a cheap labor source and take away jobs.
The Irish were mostly loyal to the Democratic party, but many enthusiastically answered Lincoln's call for troops to defend the Union only, since abolitionist sentiment was low among them. Mention of the Irish in the Civil War brings immediate thought to the most celebrated Irish organization in the Union army, the Irish Brigade. Organized by Thomas Francis Meagher of New York, it was composed of the "Fighting 69th" New York Infantry Regiment (originally a militia unit), the 63rd, and 88th New York, the 28th Massachusetts and later the 116th Pennsylvania. The Irish Brigade distinguished itself through all the great battles in the East, priding itself on the fact that it never lost a flag or a gun to the enemy. Later in the war as the ranks filled with conscripts, however, the Brigade did suffer some humiliation.
There were several other wholly or mainly Irish regiments which served in the Union armies from New England (the 9th Massachusetts, for example) to Wisconsin (the 11th Wisconsin), but most Irish were dispersed throughout the units of the American born. They were also well represented in the small Regular Army.
Other nationalities
Other groups which made significant communal efforts within the Federal armies also deserve to be mentioned. Though their numbers are small in relation to the Germans and Irish, they loyally answered the call to defend their adopted land.
French
The 55th New York Volunteer Infantry (the Lafayette Guard) organized by Count Philippe R‚gis de Trobriand and composed of many French residents of New York, distinguished itself on the field of battle early in the war. Later it was consolidated with the 46th New York.
Italians
The 39th New York (the Garibaldi Guard) contained many Italians, but this unit was mostly German speaking and boasted a large and diverse contigent of ex-patriots from around the world.
Poles
The 58th New York (Pulaski Guard) contained many German speaking Poles from the Prussian and Austrian ruled sections of partioned Poland. Its commander, Colonel Krzyzanowski, was a brigade commander of the XI Corps at Gettysburg.
Scandinavians
Large numbers of hearty Norwegians and Swedes had recently settled in the mid-West, particularly Wisconsin and Minnesota, prior to the Civil War. These Scandinavians answered the call to service and formed some ethnic units which served in the Western campaigns. Perhaps the most famous of these was the 15th Wisconsin, whose commander, Colonel Heg, died at Chickamauga.
Scottish
The famous 79th New York "Highlanders" was composed principally of men of Scottish birth. They sported kilts, bonnets, and were accompanied by the bagpipes, but at the battle of 1st Bull Run wore tartan "trews" (trousers) of the Cameron clan, to honor its Colonel. Though they did once mutiny, they later gave good service in action.
The number of ethnic regiments in the Union army is small compared to the vast number of units raised. But most immigrants scattered throughout the Northern states ended up joining their neighbors in local organizations, thus effectively bringing their contribution to an individual level indistinguishable from the American born majority.
Also lost from view are the contributions of the English and Canadian immigrants who served nobly and for the most part anonymously alongside their American born brothers-in-arms. Many varied peoples from all areas of the earth seemed to have participated in the cause of Union. There were even American Indian regiments raised in the West. Attempts were made to attract Mexicans to the ranks, and several thousand immigrant Jews served with distinction, one being awarded with the Medal of Honor for valor. There were also reports that Orientals saw some limited action.
America is a land of great diversity, and nothing is more diverse than the myriad of origins of its people. We are an immigrant nation whose ancestors sought opportunity in a new homeland. As if to demonstrate their belief in an eventual united people and hope for the future, they wholeheartedly supported the Union cause in the Civil War. This support was paid in both blood and sweat, for these recent arrivals fought and died in every battle and engagement of the war, and they who stayed at home provided the labor to clothe, feed and supply the armies. By their deeds did these newly arrived prove their devotion to the cause of Union. Without their considerable contributions, it is very doubtful whether the Union could have been preserved.
Major sources
Commager, Henry Steele, ed. The Blue and the Gray , Fairfax Press. New York. 1950.
Lord, Francis A. They Fought for the Union . Telegraph Press. Harrisburg. 1960.
Long Description:From the Wikipedia website on Jesse James: (visit link)
Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. After his death, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West.
Contents1 Early life2 Civil War3 After the Civil War5 Downfall of the Gang6 Assassination
Early lifeJesse Woodson James was born in Clay County, Missouri, near the site of present day Kearney. His father, Robert James, was a commercial hemp farmer and Baptist minister from Kentucky who helped found William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Robert James traveled to California during the Gold Rush and died there when Jesse was three years old. After his father's death, his mother Zerelda remarried, first to Benjamin Simms, and then to a doctor named Reuben Samuel. After their marriage in 1855, Samuel moved into the James home. Jesse had two full siblings: his older brother, Alexander Franklin "Frank" James, and a younger sister, Susan Lavenia James. In addition, Reuben and Zerelda eventually had four children: Sarah Louisa Samuel (sometimes Sarah Ellen), John Thomas Samuel, Fannie Quantrell Samuel, and Archie Peyton Samuel.
The James-Samuel family took the Confederate side at the outset of the war. Frank James joined a local company recruited for the secessionist Missouri State Guard, and fought at the battle of Wilson's Creek, though he fell ill and returned home soon afterward. In 1863, he was identified as a member of a guerrilla squad that operated in Clay County. In May of that year, a Union militia company raided the James-Samuel farm, looking for Frank's group. They tortured Reuben Samuel by briefly hanging him from a tree, and according to legend beat the young Jesse. Frank escaped. He is believed to have joined the guerrilla organization led by William C. Quantrill, and to have taken part in the notorious massacre of some 200 men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas. Contrary to legend, there is no evidence that Jesse ever rode with Quantrill's Raiders, as they would later be known.
Frank followed Quantrill to Texas over the winter of 1863–4, and returned in the spring in a squad commanded by Fletch Taylor. When they arrived in Clay County, the sixteen-year-old Jesse joined them. In the summer of 1864, Taylor was severely wounded, losing his right arm to a shotgun blast, and Frank and Jesse joined the bushwhacker group led by Bloody Bill Anderson. Though Jesse suffered a serious wound to the chest that summer, the Clay County provost marshal reported that both Frank and Jesse took part in the Centralia Massacre in September, in which some twenty-two unarmed Union troops were shot dead. The guerrillas ambushed and defeated a pursuing regiment of federal troops, shooting dead all who tried to surrender. As a result of the James brother's activities, their family was exiled from the state of Missouri by the Union military authorities. Anderson was killed in an ambush in October. Frank followed Quantrill into Kentucky, and Jesse went to Texas under the command of one of Anderson's lieutenants, Archie Clement. They returned to Missouri in the spring. Contrary to legend, Jesse James was not shot while trying to surrender; rather, as biographer Ted P. Yeatman shows, he and Clement were still trying to decide on what course to follow after the Confederate surrender when they ran into a Union cavalry patrol, and Jesse suffered a life-threatening chest wound.
After the Civil WarThe end of the Civil War left Missouri in shambles. The conflict split the population into three bitterly opposed factions: antislavery radical Unionists, who became the Republicans; the proslavery conservative Unionists, who became the Democrats; and the secessionists. The radicals had pushed through a new state constitution that freed Missouri's slaves but excluded the former Confederates from voting, serving on juries, becoming corporate officers, or even preaching from church pulpits. The atmosphere was volatile, with widespread violence between individuals, armed gangs of radicals, and those bushwhackers who remained under arms.
Jesse, bed-ridden with his chest wound, was tended to by his first cousin, Zerelda "Zee" Mimms, named after his own mother, who remained in exile in Nebraska until August 1865. Jesse and Zee began a prolonged courtship, leading to their marriage nine years later. Meanwhile, Jesse's commander, Archie Clement, kept his bushwhacker gang together, and began to harass radical authorities. These men were the likely culprits in the first armed bank robbery in the United States in peacetime, by holding up the Clay County Savings Association in the town of Liberty, Missouri, on February 13, 1866. As biographer T. J. Stiles shows, this bank was owned by radical former militia officers, who had recently conducted the first Republican Party rally in Clay County's history. One innocent bystander, a student of William Jewell College, was shot dead on the street during the gang's escape. It remains unclear whether Jesse and Frank James took part; it has been argued that Jesse remained bedridden with his wound, and no concrete evidence has surfaced to connect either brother to the crime. Archie Clement, however, continued his career of crime and harassment of the radical government, to the extent of occupying the town of Lexington, Missouri, on election day in 1866. The state militia shot Clement dead shortly afterward, an event that Jesse wrote about with bitterness a decade later.
The survivors of Clement's gang continued to conduct bank robberies over the next two years, though their numbers dwindled through arrests, gunfights, and lynchings. On May 23, 1867, for example, they robbed a bank in Richmond, Missouri in which the town's mayor and two others were killed . It remains uncertain whether either of the James brothers took part. In 1868, Frank and Jesse James allegedly joined Cole Younger in robbing a bank at Russellville, Kentucky. Jesse did not become famous, however, until December 1869, when he and Frank (most likely) robbed the Daviess County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri. The robbery netted little, but James (it appears) shot and killed the cashier, mistakenly believing the man to be Samuel P. Cox, the militia officer who killed "Bloody Bill" Anderson during the Civil War. James's self-proclaimed attempt at revenge, and the daring escape he and Frank made through the middle of a posse shortly afterward, put his name in the newspapers for the first time.
The robbery marked James's emergence as the most famous of the former guerrillas turned outlaw, and it started an alliance with John Newman Edwards, a Kansas City Times editor who was campaigning to return the old Confederates to power in Missouri. Edwards published Jesse's letters and made him into a symbol of Confederate defiance of Reconstruction through his elaborate editorials and favorable reporting. He also reported false information to throw law enforcement off the bandits' trail. Jesse James's own role in creating his rising public profile is debated by historians and biographers, though politics certainly surrounded his outlaw career and enhanced his notoriety.
Meanwhile, the James brothers, along with Cole Younger and his brothers, Bob and Jim, Clell Miller and other former Confederates—now constituting the James-Younger Gang—continued a remarkable string of robberies from Iowa to Texas, and from Kansas to West Virginia. They robbed banks, stagecoaches, and a fair in Kansas City, often in front of large crowds, even hamming it up for the bystanders. In 1873, they turned to train robbery, derailing the Rock Island train in Adair, Iowa. Their later train robberies had a lighter touch—in fact only twice in all of Jesse James's train hold-ups did he rob passengers, because he typically limited himself to the express safe in the baggage car. Such techniques fostered the Robin Hood image that Edwards was creating in his newspapers.
Downfall of the GangJesse and his cousin Zee married on April 24, 1874, and had two children who survived to adulthood: Jesse James, Jr. (b. 1875), and Mary Susan James (b. 1879). Twins Gould James (b. 1878), and Montgomery James (b. 1878), died in infancy. His surviving son Jesse Jr. was raised by his mother to become a lawyer, and spent his career as a respected member of the bar in Kansas City, Missouri.
On September 7, 1876, the James-Younger gang attempted their most daring raid to date, on the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota. Cole and Bob Younger later stated that they selected the bank because of its connection to two Union generals and Radical Republican politicians: Adelbert Ames, the governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction, and Benjamin Butler, Ames's father-in-law and the stern Union commander in occupied New Orleans. Ames, as it turns out, was a stockholder in the bank, but Butler had no direct connection to it.
The gang divided into two groups. Three men entered the bank, and two guarded the door outside, and three remained near a bridge across an adjacent square. The robbery was thwarted when acting cashier Joseph Lee Heywood refused to open the safe, falsely claiming that it was secured by a time lock even as they held a bowie knife to his throat and cracked his skull with a pistol butt. Meanwhile, the citizens of Northfield grew suspicious of the men guarding the door and raised the alarm. The five bandits outside fired in the air to clear the streets, which merely drove the townspeople to take cover and fire back from protected positions. Two bandits were shot dead and the rest were wounded in the barrage. Inside, the flummoxed outlaws turned to flee. As they left, one shot the unarmed Heywood in the head. The identity of the shooter has been the subject of extensive speculation and debate, but remains uncertain.
The gang barely escaped Northfield, leaving their two dead companions behind along with two innocent victims (Heywood and a Swedish immigrant named Nicholas Gustafson). A massive manhunt ensued. The James brothers eventually split from the others and escaped to Missouri. The Youngers and one other bandit, Charlie Pitts, were soon discovered. A brisk gunfight left Pitts dead and the Youngers all prisoners. Except for Frank and Jesse James, the James-Younger Gang was destroyed.
Jesse and Frank went to the Nashville, Tennessee area, where they went by the names of Thomas Howard and B. J. Woodson, respectively. Frank seemed to settle down, but Jesse remained restless. He recruited a new gang in 1879 and returned to crime, holding up a train at Glendale, Missouri, on October 8, 1879. The robbery began a spree of crimes, including the hold-up of the federal paymaster of a canal project in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and two more train robberies. But the new gang did not consist of old, battle-hardened guerrillas; they soon turned against each other or were captured, while James grew paranoid, killing one gang member and frightening away another. The authorities grew suspicious, and by 1881 the brothers were forced to return to Missouri. In December, Jesse rented a house in Saint Joseph, Missouri, not far from where he had been born and raised. Frank, however, decided to move to safer territory, heading east to Virginia.
AssassinationWith his gang depleted by arrests, deaths, and defections, Jesse thought he had only two men left whom he could trust: brothers Bob and Charley Ford. Charley had been out on raids with Jesse before, but Bob was an eager new recruit. To better protect himself, Jesse asked the Ford brothers to move in with him and his family. Little did he know that Bob Ford had been conducting secret negotiations with Thomas T. Crittenden, the Missouri governor, to bring in Jesse James. Crittenden had made the capture of the James brothers his top priority; in his inaugural address he declared that no political motives could be allowed to keep them from justice. Barred by law from offering a sufficiently large reward, he had turned to the railroad and express corporations to put up a $10,000 bounty for each of them.
On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast, the Fords and James prepared for departure for another robbery, going in and out of the house to prepare the horses. It was an unusually hot day; James removed his coat, then declared that he should remove his firearms as well, lest he look suspicious. James noticed a dusty picture on the wall and stood on a chair to clean it. Bob Ford took advantage of the opportunity, and shot James in the back of the head.[17]
The assassination proved a national sensation. The Fords made no attempt to hide their role. Indeed, Robert Ford wired the governor to claim his reward. As crowds pressed into the little house in St. Joseph to see the dead bandit, the Ford brothers surrendered to the authorities, but they were dismayed to find they were charged with first degree murder. The Ford brothers were tried and convicted. They were sentenced to death by hanging, but within two hours were granted a full pardon by the Governor of Missouri.
The governor's quick pardon suggested that he may have been aware that the brothers intended to kill, rather than capture, Jesse James. (The Ford brothers, like many who knew James, never believed it was practical to try to capture such a dangerous man.) The implication that the chief executive of Missouri conspired to kill a private citizen startled the public and helped create a new legend in James.
The Fords received a portion of the reward (some of it also went to law enforcement officials active in the plan) and fled Missouri. Zerelda, Jesse’s mother, appeared at the coroner’s inquest, deeply anguished, and loudly denounced Dick Liddil, a former gang member who was cooperating with state authorities. Charley Ford committed suicide in May 1884. Bob Ford was later killed by a shotgun blast to the throat in his tent saloon in Creede, Colorado, on June 8, 1892. His killer, Edward Capehart O'Kelley, was sentenced to life in prison. Because of a medical condition, O'Kelley's sentence was commuted, and he was released on October 3, 1902.
Jesse James’s epitaph, selected by his mother, reads: In Loving Memory of my Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here.
Edward Capehart O'Kelley (1858 - January 13, 1904) will forever be remembered as "the man who shot the man who shot Jesse James." Edward's last name has been misspelled by historians and contemporary newspapers over the years, ie; "Kelly" and "O'Kelly." The mystery was solved in 1995 when one of the descendants wrote an offical biography. 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jesse James. ...
Robert Ford, the man who murdered outlaw Jesse James in 1882, had a tent saloon in the silver mining camp of Creede, Colorado. On June 8, 1892, while preparing to open his saloon, Edward O'Kelley walked into the tent with a shotgun. Ford had his back turned away from the front entrance. O'Kelley called out, "Hello Bob," and as Ford turned around to see who was addressing him, O'Kelley fired the shotgun, hitting Ford in the neck area, killing him instantly. He never gave a reason why he had shot Ford. It was rumored that infamous confidence man, Soapy Smith had a hand in convincing O'Kelley that he would be a hero for performing the dirty deed, but this is unsubstantiated. O'Kelley was convicted of murder and spent eight years in prison before his release in 1900. Robert Arthur Douglas Ford (January 8, 1915 – April 12, 1998) was a Canadian poet, translator and diplomat. ... Jesse James. ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... Creede is a town located in Mineral County, Colorado. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Soapy Smith (1860-1898) was a US con artist and gangster who had a hand in the underworld affairs of Denver, Colorado, Creede, Colorado, and Skagway, Alaska. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ...
After his release from prison, he moved to Oklahoma City. Shortly after his arrival in town, Kelly was recognized by Otto Ewing of the Southern Club, a local gambling house. It is said that Ewing had been connected with Ford's saloon in Creede, and was there when O'Kelley killed Bob Ford. Ewing informed people that O'Kelley had killed Ford, telling them that O'Kelley was a dangerous man and one to be avoided. In December, 1903, policeman Joe Burnett arrested Ed as a "suspicious character" and thus Ed was greatly offended. Ed was staying at the Lewis Hotel, and when he had returned there, following the arrest, he openly made threats that he was gunning for a man. He frequented the dive saloons on west 4th and 2nd Streets. These were known as the rendezvous of dangerous criminals in the early years of Oklahoma City. On Wednesday, January 13, 1904, Edward O'Kelley was arrested by a policeman named Bunker. O'Kelley was later released and went to his hotel, where he made comments to others that the police had better not attempt to arrest him again. Downtown Oklahoma City The State Capitol of Oklahoma From The South Motto: Nickname: Capital of the New Century Founded 1889 Incorporated County Oklahoma County Cleveland County Canadian County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Mick Cornett Area - Total - Water 1,608. ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
On the evening of January 13, 1904, officer Joe Burnett was walking along his beat on the south side of First Street in front of the McCord & Collins building.
Burnett encountered O'Kelley and said, "Hello O'Kelley". Immediately O'Kelley struck at the lawman, and produced a revolver. O'Kelley told Burnett, "You come with me. I'll arrest you, you s__ of a b____". As O'Kelley struck at the officer, Burnett grabbed the gun with his left hand. The two men began to wrestle in a life and death struggle as O'Kelley shot the gun, trying to kill Burnett. While discharging the gun and wrestling with Burnett, O'Kelley called him all kinds of names, and said he was going to muder him. Burnett called out for help repeatedly, as the fierce fight continued.
O'Kelly was not able to hit Burnett with any of the rounds from his gun, but received powder burns on one ear. Once empty of cartridges, O'Kelley used his teeth, as weapons, to bite off both ears of the policeman. A companion of O'Kelley's came to his aid, firing one shot, from his gun, at the policeman, and then ran away. O'Kelley called out to him to come back, saying, "we will murder this fellow". R. E. Chapin, witnessed the fight from the rear of the building at 325 1/2 West Main Street.
Chapin telephoned police headquarters. Chapin heard officer Burnett call out to several men who were passing; "I am a police officer help me". Chapin stated one of the passing men replied, "we don't know whether you are a policeman or not," and then ran away. Finally, a railroad baggage man came running from the depot, and grabbed O'Kelley's hand, thus releasing Burnett's gun hand.
The officer immediately fired two shots, and killed Ed O'Kelley. It was then realized just how close Burnett came to death. There were two bullet holes in the back of his overcoat and the left hip pocket was torn by a bullet. Burnett's gloves were burned and his clothing was on fire when his friends reached his side after the conflict. An ambulance was called and O'Kelley's body taken to the morgue at Street and Harpers furniture store. His body had a bullet wound in his left leg just above the knee.
The shot which killed him entered his head just back of the left temple and came out behind the right ear. O'Kelly's body remained at the morgue for approximately two weeks. This was for identification purposes and for any relatives to have the opportunity to claim the remains. A number of persons identified the dead man as the assassin of Robert Ford, who had killed Jesse James, including Otto Ewing.
The warden of the Colorado State Penitentiary sent a description and photograph of O'Kelley, that left no room for doubt as to his identification. On January 28, 1904, the body of Ed O'Kelley, age 46, was interned at Fairlawn Cemetery in north Oklahoma City. The casket was provided by the county at a cost to the taxpayers of $12.50. Joe Burnett continued with the Oklahoma City Police Department, serving as a Captain and later as assistant Chief of Police.
January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Robert Arthur Douglas Ford (January 8, 1915 – April 12, 1998) was a Canadian poet, translator and diplomat. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Downtown Oklahoma City The State Capitol of Oklahoma From The South Motto: Nickname:
Capital of the New Century Founded 1889 Incorporated County Oklahoma County Cleveland County Canadian County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Mick Cornett Area - Total - Water 1,608. ... Official patch of the Oklahoma City Police Department. ...

N39 44.354' W104 59.142' Alt 5284' Civil War Monument / Memorial The Colorado Civil War Memorial is located at the west entrance of the Colorado State Capitol. This bronze figure of a Union Soldier facing South with gun in hand was built to honor Colorado's Civil War heroes and to promote civic pride. It is the work of Captain John D. Howland, a prominent member of the 1st Colorado Cavalry and accomplished artist. Howland studied art in Europe and Mexico and also under the tutelage of Armand Dumeresq, who was secretary to the Indian Peace Commission. Howland was also a correspondent for Harper's Weekly. While the monument was designed by Captain Howland, J. Otto Schweizer of Philadelphia actually molded the figure. The statue was unveiled on July 24, 1909 using donations from both the taxpayers as well as the Colorado Pioneer's Association.
The stone base of this monument is adorned with four tablets that list the battles and the names of the soldiers who died. Also chiseled into the base of this grand memorial is the proud statement that Colorado had the highest average of volunteers in the Civil War of any state or territory in the Union. Another plaque on the statue refers to the discovery of gold at Pikes Peak in 1858 by Green Russell and others. The plaque on the north face of the monument simply reads, " For the Unknown Dead." Originally two black walnut trees from the home of Abraham Lincoln flanked this memorial. While the trees no longer stand, there is a plaque within the capitol commemorating the generosity of President Lincoln for his donation to the beautification of our capitol.
There is a newer plaque on the stones surrounding the memorial that reads: "The controversy surrounding this Civil War Monument has become a symbol of Coloradans' struggle to understand and take responsibility for our past. On November 29, 1864. Colorado's First and Third Calvary, commanded by Colonel John Chivington, attacked Chief Black Kettle's peaceful camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians on the banks of Sand Creek, about 180 miles southeast of here. In the surprise attack, soldiers killed more than 150 of the villages 500 inhabitants. Most of the victims were elderly men, women and children.
Though some civilians and military personnel immediately denounced the attack as a massacre, others claimed the village was a legitimate target. This Civil War monument, paid for from funds by the Pioneers' Association and State, was erected on July 24, 1909, to honor all Colorado Soldiers who had fought in battles in the Civil War and elsewhere. By Designating Sand Creek a battle, the monument's designers mischaracterized the actual events. Protests led by some Sand Creek descendants and others throughout the twentieth century have led to the widespread recognition of the tragedy as the Sand Creek Massacre.
This plaque was authorized by Senate Joint Resolution 99-017"
The Colorado State Archives has information about the Colorado Civil War volunteers. Information about the Sand Creek Massacre is also widely available.
On either side of the civil war memorial on the west lawn of the capitol are two Napoleon howitzer cannons from the Civil War Era. Built in 1862 and 1863 by the Revere Copper Company, these cannons weigh 1,250 pounds each and were designed to fire canisters filled with twenty-seven pieces of golf ball sized lead shot. There is quite a bit of speculation surrounding the history of these cannons, but perhaps the most plausable explanation is that these cannons were first used in 1862 to defend the Union against the Confederate advance at La Glorieta Pass in New Mexico. One of the cannons bears the number 121 which means that it was most likely used by the Ninth Massachusetts Battery at the Battle of Gettysburg before its service in Colorado. In 1878 President Ulysses S. Grant donated the guns to a militia group named the Chaffee Light Artillery, which was later incorporated into the First Brigade of the Colorado National Guard. When this unit was equipped with more modern weaponry in 1907, the First Brigade sent the cannons to the scrap heap seemingly unaware of their historical significance. Immediately, Colonel Ferguson, the curator of the war relics department, and David Moffat raised the $800 needed to return the cannons to Colorado from a foundry in New York. The cannons now stand guard at the west lawn of the capitol having been recently restored with money from gaming revenue. During the restoration process it was learned that the axles and ironwork were original.
According to another story, the cannons were part of Confederate General Sibley's forces. On his retreat from New Mexico he supposedly buried six cannons so that Union forces could not use them. The cannons remained buried for thirty years until a war veteran found them. The federal government supposedly donated two of these cannons to Colorado and four to New Mexico. This account is apparently inaccurate, however, since General Sibley's advance on the American West occurred in 1861, and the cannons were made in 1862 and 1863. Of the six cannons found in the New Mexican desert, two have been placed in the custody of the State Historical Society.
Still another report places the cannons at the 1898 Battle of Manila, however evidence shows that General Irving Hale was specifically told not to return with any war relics. Furthermore, the cannons were made more than thirty year previous to this military engagement.
The guns were fired for the last time on August 1, 1935 in celebration of Colorado Day. When the acting curator's clothes caught on fire from the twenty one gun salute, the decision was made to cap the cannons.
N39 44.827 W104 57.225 1904 Statue ROBERT BURNS MEMORIAL," Grant Stevenson, bronze, 1909 http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bldr/johnduff.html Jessie Scott McGilvray, sister of John D. McGilvray, married Thomas Carroll Hayes, a stone contractor. John and Thomas formed a stone contracting company called "Hayes and McGilvray." They built Denver City Hall, the upper story on the Denver Court House, the old Denver Post office, the Windsor Hotel, the Barth block, the Kittredge building, St. Leo's Church, East High School, North High School, and other big office structures. In the eighties John Duff McGilvray was elected alderman from the 11th ward, which position he held for several terms. He served on the Board of Supervisors, and thru his efforts facilitated the purchase of the City park from the state. Mr. McGilvray, as a member of the Caledonian society, was largely responsible for the placing of the Robert Burns statue in the City park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. William Grant Stevenson 1849 - 1919 Sculptor. Partnered his brother David Watson Stevenson (1842 - 1904) in the firm of D.W. & G. Stevenson. Based in Edinburgh, his works include a statue for the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, a monument to the poet Robert Burns (1759-96) in Kilmarnock and a bronze relief on the grave of decorator Thomas Bonnar (1810-73) in Dean Cemetery, David Watson Stevenson (D.W. Stevenson) 1842 - 1904 Sculptor. Born at Ratho, to the west of Edinburgh, he was the elder brother of another sculptor William Grant Stevenson (1849 - 1919) with whom he was to form a partnership. Stevenson trained at the Trustee's School (Edinburgh) and was an apprentice in the studio of the sculptor William Brodie (1815-81). He won a national prize for a statuette of Venus de Milo, and thereafter he went on to complete his studies in Rome (Italy). ----- http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=121514M179F9W.3098&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!14468~!0&ri=6&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Stevenson,+William+Grant,+1849-1919,+sculptor.&index=&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=6 Robert Burns, (sculpture). Add to my list Artist: Stevenson, William Grant, 1849-1919, sculptor. Edbrooke, Frank, architect. Unknown (Edinburgh, Scotland), founder. Title: Robert Burns, (sculpture). Other Titles: Robert Burns Monument, (sculpture). Dates: 1903-1904. Dedicated July 4, 1904. Medium: Figure: bronze; Base: marble and polished granite. Dimensions: Overall: approx. 27 x 8 x 6 ft.; Figure: approx. H. 10 ft. Inscription: (Front of base, raised:) BURNS (Front of base, incised:) A POET PEASANT BORN/WHO MORE OF FAME'S IMMORTAL DOWER/UNTO HIS COUNTRY BRINGS/THAN ALL HER KINGS (North step, bottom of base:) Erected and unveiled by the Caledonian Club #1 of Denver Description: Portrait of poet Robert Burns. He is seen standing, wearing a long tail coat, vest, and knickers with knee-high socks. His proper right hand holds proper right lapel of coat. His proper left hand holds a book against his proper left thigh. The monument is decorated with a Scottish shield, lion rampant, thistle, festoon and wreath. Subject: Portrait male -- Burns, Robert -- Full length Ethnic -- Scottish Occupation -- Writer -- Poet Object Type: Outdoor Sculpture -- Colorado -- Denver Sculpture Owner: Administered by City and County of Denver, Department of Parks & Recreation, 2300 15th Street, Suite 200, Denver, Colorado 80202 Located City Park, Rose Garden, Denver, Colorado Provenance: Formerly administered by City and County of Denver, Commission on Cultural Affairs, Ste. 1600, 1st Western Plaza, 303 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80204 Remarks: Erected by Caledonian Club no. 1 of Denver, Colorado at a cost of $8,000 to $10,000. IAS files contain related newspaper articles from Denver Post, June 1, 1959, pg. 52; June 7, 1993, pg. E24; and articles from Rocky Mountain News, Jan. 2, 1963, pg. 49 and April 21, 1965, pg. 83. Condition: Surveyed 1993 July. Well maintained. References: Save Outdoor Sculpture, Colorado, Denver survey, 1993. City and County of Denver, 1987. City and County of Denver, Mayor's Office of Art, Culture and Film, 1996. Public Monument Conservation Project, 1986, 1991. Denver Post, June 1, 1959, pg. 52. National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, CO7002, 1989. Monumental News, April, 1903, pg. 246. Illustration: Image on file. Denver Post, June 1, 1959, pg. 52. Note: The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide. Repository: Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 Control Number: IAS CO000015 ============
The Burns Memorial in Denver's City Park is a portrait of poet Robert Burns. He is seen standing, wearing a long tail coat, vest, and knickers with knee-high socks. His proper right hand holds proper right lapel of coat. His proper left hand holds a book against his proper left thigh. The monument is decorated with a Scottish shield, lion rampant, thistle, festoon and wreath. The sculptor is William Grant (1849-1919) Stevenson of Edbrooke, Scotland. The base is marble and polished granite and the memorial stands approx. 27 x 8 x 6 ft.; the figure of Burns is approx. 10 ft. tall. The base reads:
BURNS
A POET PEASANT BORN
WHO MORE OF FAME'S IMMORTAL DOWER
UNTO HIS COUNTRY BRINGS
THAN ALL HER KINGS
(Excerpted from Smithsonian Art Inventory Catalog.)
So how did a giant memorial to Burns end up in Denver? Erected by Caledonian Club No. 1 of Denver, Colorado at a cost of $8,000 to $10,000. (See newspaper articles from Denver Post, June 1, 1959, pg. 52; June 7, 1993, pg. E24; and articles from Rocky Mountain News, Jan. 2, 1963, pg. 49 and April 21, 1965, pg. 83.) In the eighties John Duff McGilvray (of stone contracting company called "Hayes and McGilvray" who built Denver City Hall, the upper story on the Denver Court House, the old Denver Post office, the Windsor Hotel, the Barth block, the Kittredge building, St. Leo's Church, East High School, North High School, and other big office structures) was elected alderman from the 11th ward, which position he held for several terms. He served on the Board of Supervisors, and thru his efforts facilitated the purchase of the City park from the state. Mr. McGilvray, as a member of the Caledonian society, was largely responsible for the placing of the Robert Burns statue in the City park.
The monument is surrounded by Civil War Union Artillery donated and first flower garden established by the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)in 1894 through 1897.
====================== Civil War Artillery 1894 1897: Civil War – Union Artillery donated and first flower garden established by the Grand Army of the Republic
During the Civil War singing was one of the soldiers' favorite ways to pass time. Scores of songs were composed during the war and sung throughout the armies and at home.
Many were inspirational marching tunes meant to keep soldiers' morale high, while others were sad sentimental songs that were sung when thinking of home or loved ones.
Sometimes, if soldiers liked a tune they heard the enemy singing, they would write their own lyrics to the song and sing it themselves. For this reason, many Civil War songs have at least two versions.
For the Dear Old Flag I Die by George Cooper (Union)
"For the dear old Flag I die," Said the wounded drummer boy;"Mother, press your lips to mine;O, they bring me peace and joy!'Tis the last time on the earth I shall ever see your face,Mother take me to your heart,Let me die in your embrace.(Chorus)For the dear old Flag I die,Mother, dry your weeping eye;For the honor of our landAnd the dear old Flag I die.""Do not mourn, my mother dear,Every pang will soon be o'er;For I hear the angel bandCalling from their starry shore;Now I see their banners waveIn the light of perfect day,Though 'tis hard to part with you,Yet I would not wish to stay."(Chorus)Farewell mother, Death's cold handWeighs upon my spirit breathFan my pallid cheek and brow.Closer! closer! to your heart,Let me feel that you are by,While my sight is growing dim,For the dear old Flag I die.(Chorus)
Goober Peasby A. Pindar (Confederacy)
Sittin' by the roadside on a summer's day,Chattin' with my messmates, passing time away,Lying in the shadow, underneath the trees,Goodness, how delicious, eating goober peas!(Chorus)Peas! Peas! Peas! Peas! Eating goober peas!Goodness, how delicious, Eating goober peas!When a horseman passes, the soldiers have a ruleTo cry out at their loudest "Mister, here's your mule!"But still another pleasure enchantinger than theseIs wearing out your grinders, eating goober peas!(Chorus)Just before the battle, the Gen'ral hears a row,He says "The Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now"!He turns around in wonder, and what do you think he sees?The Georgia Militia -- eating goober peas!(Chorus)I think my song had lasted almost long enough,The subject's interesting, but rhymes are mighty rough!I wish this war was over, when free from rags and fleas,We'd kiss our wives and sweethearts and gobble goober peas!(Chorus)
Marching Alongby William B. Bradbury (Union)
The army is gath'ring from near and from far;The trumpet is sounding the call for the war;McClellan's our leader, he's gallant and strong;We'll gird on our armor and be marching along.(Chorus)Marching along, we are marching along,Gird on the armor and be marching along;McClellan's our leader, he's gallant and strong; For God and for country we are marching along.The foe is before us in battle array,But let us not waver or turn from the way;The Lord is our strength and the Union's our song;With courage and faith we are marching along.(Chorus)Our wives and our children we leave in your care,We feel you will help them with sorrow to bear;'Tis hard thus to part, but we hope 'twon't be long,We'll keep up our heart as we're marching along.(Chorus)We sigh for our country, we mourn for our dead,For them now our last drop of blood we will shed;Our cause is the right one-our foe's in the wrong;Then gladly we'll sing as we're marching along.(Chorus)The flag of our country is floating on high, We'll stand by that flag till we conquer or die;McClellan's our leader, he's gallant and strong,We'll gird our armor and be marching along.(Chorus)
My Maryland (Union Version)by Anonymous
The Rebel feet are on our shore,    Maryland, my Maryland!I smell 'em half a mile or more,    Maryland, my Maryland!Their shockless hordes are at my door,Their drunken generals on my floor,What now can sweeten Baltimore?    Maryland, my Maryland!Hark to our noses' dire appeal,    Maryland, my Maryland!Oh unwashed Rebs to you we kneel!    Maryland, my Maryland!If you can't purchase soap, oh stealThat precious article-I feelLike scratching from the head to heel    Maryland, my Maryland!You're covered thick with mud and dust,        Maryland, my Maryland!As though you'd been upon a bust,    Maryland, my Maryland!Remember, it is scarcely just,To have a filthy fellow thrustBefore us, till he's been scrubbed fust,    Maryland, my Maryland!I see no blush upon thy cheek,    Maryland, my Maryland!It's not been washed for many a week,    Maryland, my Maryland!To get thee clean-'tis truth I speak-Would dirty every stream and creek,From Potomac to Chesapeake,    Maryland, my Maryland!
Riding a Raid by Anonymous (Confederacy)
'Tis old Stonewall, the Rebel, that leans on his sword,And while we are mounting, prays low to the Lord: "Now each cavalier that loves Honor and Right, Let him follow the feather of Stuart tonight."(Chorus)Come tighten your girth and slacken your rein;Come buckle your blanket and holster again;Try the click of your trigger and balance your blade,For he must ride sure that goes Riding a Raid! Now gallop, now gallop, to swim or to ford!Old Stonewall, still watching, prays low to the Lord:"Good-bye dear old Rebel! The river's not wide,And Maryland's lights in her window to guide."(Chorus)There's a man in a white house with blood on his mouth!If there's Knaves in the North, there are braves in the South.We are three thousand horses, and not one afraid;We are three thousand sabres and not a dull blade.(Chorus)Then gallop, then gallop, by ravines and rocks!Who would bar us the way take his toll in hard knocks;For with these points of steel, on the line of Penn,We have made some fine strokes-and we'll make 'em again.
The Rebel Soldier (Southern Appalachian folk song) by Anonymous (Confederacy)
O Polly, O Polly, It's for your sake alone,I've left my old father,My country and my home.I've left my old mother To weep and to mourn,I am a Rebel soldierAnd far from my home.It's grape shot and musket,And the cannons lumber loud,There's many a mangled body,The blanket for their shroud;There's many a mangled bodyLeft on the fields alone,I am a Rebel soldier And far from my home.I'll eat when I'm hungry,I'll drink when I am dry,If the Yankees don't kill me,I'll live until I die;If the Yankees don't kill meAnd cause me to mourn,I am a Rebel soldierAnd far from my home.Here's a good old cup of brandyAnd a glass of nice wine,You can drink to your true love,And I will drink to mine;And you can drink to your true love,And I'll lament and mourn,I am a Rebel soldierAnd far from my home.I'll build me a castle on the mountain,On some green mountain high,Where I can see PollyAs she is passing by;Where I can see Polly And help her to mournI am a Rebel soldierAnd far from my home.
No opportunity to report would be afforded to the African American population of Cincinnati. On September 2, military authorities decided to impress the African American men of Cincinnati to build fortifications. A special police was organized to assemble the African American men. The police searched houses, dragged men into the streets and marched them to a hog pen on Plum Street. In most cases, they provided no information on the reason for impression. While the African American community was outraged at the treatment of their fathers and sons, only one Cincinnati newspaper protested. An editorial article in the Gazette condemned the impression.
On September 4, General Wallace assigned Judge William Dickson the command of the African American men. One of Dickson's first actions was to release the men to return home to prepare for camp life. This action eased the fear of family members, some of whom did not know what had happened to their loved ones. The men were ordered to return to duty on September 5. They were designated "The Black Brigade."
In Ohio, African Americans responded to Lincoln's call for volunteers. John Mercer Langston, an Oberlin College graduate and the first African American lawyer in the state of Ohio volunteered his services as a recruiter to Ohio's African American population to Governor David Tod. The governor adamantly refused his offer with the following statement, "Do you not know, Mr. Langston, that this is a white man's government; that white men are able to defend and protect it, and that to enlist a negro soldier would be to drive every white man out of the service? When we want you colored men we will notify you." Langston respectfully replied, "Governor, when you need us, send for us."
Since the early days of the United States, there had been a tradition of military service as a duty of citizens. Systematically denied the rights of citizenship, many African American men believed that through military service that they could earn respect as men and eventually their citizenship. The relationship between military service and political equality became a recurring theme in the debates about the use of African American troops. Frederick Douglass, black abolitionist and orator declared:
Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters "US," let him get an eagle on his button and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.
One Country, One Flag, One Destiny: African American Service in the Civil War
African Americans and the Defense of Cincinnati
In the decades preceding the Civil War, the city of Cincinnati had a very contentious relationship with its African American community. Numerous outbursts of mob violence had resulted in the loss of life and the destruction of property belonging to African Americans. Located on the southern border of the state of Ohio, Cincinnati attempted to sustain a commercial relationships with both slaveholding businessmen from the South and abolitionists from the North. While anti-slavery speeches were presented in its lecture halls, the streets of Cincinnati frequently witnessed violence against its free black residents.
When the Civil War started, Cincinnati's African American residents attempted to organize a company of "Home Guards" to aid in the defense of the city. A business selected as a recruiting station was ordered to remove the American flag from above its door. Another businessman was told by the police, "We want you d?d niggers to keep out of this; this is a white man's war." Rumors of impending mob violence spread across the city. Although they suspended their efforts to form a company of "Home Guards," the desire to protect and defend their homes and families still burned within the African American men of the Queen City. However, the message was clear. When Cincinnati's leaders called for all citizens to defend her, they meant all white citizens.
In 1862, Cincinnati was living in fear. Due to its close proximity to the South, the city recognized the threat of attack from Confederate forces. The raids into Ohio led by Confederate Captain John H. Morgan, from July 13 until his eventual capture on July 26, intensified the city's fear. The August 30th defeat of Union forces in Richmond, Kentucky, a city one hundred miles to the south, caused the city to act. Calls for the building of defensive fortifications around the city could no longer be ignored.
On September 1, General Lewis Wallace assumed command of Cincinnati. The city was placed under martial law. General Wallace ordered that it would be "citizens for labor and soldiers for battle." On September 2, Mayor George Hatch released a proclamation:
In accordance with a resolution passed by the City Council of Cincinnati on the 1st instant, I hereby request that all business, of every kind or character, be suspended at ten o'clock of this day, that all persons, employers and employees, assemble in their respective wards, at the usual places of voting, and there organize themselves in such manner as may be thought best for the defense of the city. Every man, of every age, be he citizen or alien, who lives under the protection of our laws, is expected to take part in the organization.
No opportunity to report would be afforded to the African American population of Cincinnati. On September 2, military authorities decided to impress the African American men of Cincinnati to build fortifications. A special police was organized to assemble the African American men. The police searched houses, dragged men into the streets and marched them to a hog pen on Plum Street. In most cases, they provided no information on the reason for impression. While the African American community was outraged at the treatment of their fathers and sons, only one Cincinnati newspaper protested. An editorial article in the Gazette condemned the impression.
On September 4, General Wallace assigned Judge William Dickson the command of the African American men. One of Dickson's first actions was to release the men to return home to prepare for camp life. This action eased the fear of family members, some of whom did not know what had happened to their loved ones. The men were ordered to return to duty on September 5. They were designated "The Black Brigade."
One Country, One Flag, One Destiny: African American Service in the Civil War
The Black Brigade
The Black Brigade
On September 5, the African American male population of Cincinnati reported for duty as part of the Black Brigade. More men than had been impressed reported for duty. Given the opportunity to voluntarily report, men who had previously hidden from the special police marched through the streets with their fellow residents. When they reported for duty, an informal presentation was conducted. James Lupton, Acting Camp Commandant, presented the brigade with a national flag and gave a brief speech:
I have the kind permission of your commandant, Colonel Dickson, to hand you, without formal speech or presentation, this national flag--my sole object to encourage and cheer you on to duty. On its broad folds is inscribed, “The Black Brigade of Cincinnati.� I am confident that, in your hands, it will not be dishonored.
The duty of the hour is work--hard, severe labor on the fortifications of the city. In the emergency upon us, the highest and the lowest alike owe this duty. Let it be cheerfully undertaken. He is no man who now, in defense of home and fireside, shirks duty.
A flag is the emblem of sovereignty--a symbol and guarantee of protection. Every nation and people are proud of the flag of their country. England, for a thousand years, boasts her Red flag and Cross of St. George; France glories in her Tri-color and Imperial Eagle; ours the “Star-spangled Banner,� far more beautiful than they--this dear old flag !--the sun in heaven never looked down on so proud a banner of beauty and glory. Men of the Black Brigade, rally around it. Assert your manhood, be loyal to duty, be obedient, hopeful, patient. Slavery will soon die; the slaveholders’ rebellion, accursed of God and man, will shortly and miserably perish. There will then be, through all the coming ages, in very truth, a land of the free--one country, one flag, one destiny.
I charge you, Men of the Black Brigade of Cincinnati, remember that for you, and for me, and for your children, and your children’s children, there is but one Flag, as there is but one Bible, and one God, the Father of us all.
The Black Brigade labored to build fortifications around Cincinnati until September 20. They took pride in their work to protect their homes and families. The degradation of their initial impression, while not forgotten, was at least lessened by knowing that they were the first men of their race to be employed for military purposes in the North.
One Country, One Flag, One Destiny: African American Service in the Civil War
The Massachusetts Regiments
Early in 1863, after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, permission to raise an African American brigade was granted to the State of Massachusetts. Since the beginning of the war, Massachusetts Governor John Andrew had been one of the staunchest supporters of the use of African American troops. Unfortunately, the size of Massachusetts' African American population was unable to support the raising of a brigade on its own. It would be necessary to recruit beyond the boundaries of the state.
Because Ohio was still unsanctioned to raise African American soldiers for its regiments, John Langston began the recruitment of Ohio African American men for the Massachusetts brigade. Ohio's African American male population responded to the call in great numbers. More than five hundred Ohioans filled the ranks of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments.
Among the recruits of the 55th Massachusetts was Joshua Dunbar, father of famous poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Thirty years after the end of the Civil War, Paul Laurence wrote the poem "The Colored Soldiers", which tells the story of the struggles of the soldiers on and off the battlefield.
Then distress fell on the nation
And the flag was drooping low;
Should the dust pollute your banner?
No! the nation shouted, No!
So when War, in savage triumph,
Spread abroad his funeral pall?
Then you called the colored soldiers,
And they answered your call.
In May 1863, Langston, waiting for a train to Massachusetts, was summoned to the state capital for a meeting with Governor Tod. Langston had been on his way to deliver the regimental colors to the 55th Massachusetts. The colors had been purchased through donations from Ohio African American communities. Finally, Tod had reversed his position on the recruitment of African American troops and now wanted to engage Langston's services as a recruiter for the state.
Initially, Langston refused the Governor's offer. Already employed in that capacity by the state of Massachusetts, Langston believed he could not work for the state of Ohio. Also, Langston was concerned that the men would not be paid the same wages as white troops. After reassurances from Governor Tod that the African American recruits would receive the same pay as white troops, Langston reconsidered Tod?s offer. Following telegraphic communication with the War Department and the State of Massachusetts, Langston accepted the position. Ohio's regiments would have its first African American soldiers.
One Country, One Flag, One Destiny: African American Service in the Civil War
Ohio´s Regiments
In June 1863, Ohio first African American recruits began reporting for duty at Camp Delaware, in Delaware, Ohio, a city twenty miles north of Columbus. The unit was designated the 127th Ohio Volunteer regiment. Shortly after their arrival in camp, and despite the reassurances of Governor Tod, the recruits were informed that they would be paid ten dollars a month, three less than their white counterparts. While many felt deceived by the government, the men voted to stay when given the option to leave camp. They were going to serve their country. After the formation of the Bureau of Colored Troops in Washington, D.C., the unit was re-designated the 5th United States Colored Troops.
In November, after nearly five months of drilling, the 5th U.S.C.T. was ordered to report to Virginia. Before the unit left for Virginia, a formal presentation of the colors was held. Former Governor William Dennison, Governor Tod, and Langston participated in the ceremony. Governor Tod gave a rousing send-off speech to the unit:
My boys, sons of the State, go forth now as you are called to fight for our country and its government! Let your conduct be that of brave, intelligent devoted American citizens! If such shall be your course, if spared and I can reach you no otherwise, on your return I will come upon my hands and knees to meet and greet you! And my words of commendation and praise shall be prompted by my pride and satisfaction in view of your behavior! But, should your conduct be that of cowards, showing your forgetfulness of the fearful responsibility which now rests upon your shoulders and the supreme dignity of the mission to which your government calls and this State sends you, as you return, I will crawl if need be, away from you, that I may never look again in your faces! I have, however full confidence in you; and my prayer to Almighty God is that He will protect you while he gives you victory in every battle in which you may be called to take part.
Langston accepted the colors on behalf on the regiment.
After leaving Camp Delaware, the unit reported for duty with the Army of the James at Portsmouth Virginia. On December 18, the unit participated in its first engagement with Confederate forces near Sandy Swamp, North Carolina. In a letter to his hometown newspaper, the Athens Messenger, Sergeant-Major Milton Holland described the unit's experiences after leaving Ohio. Participating in numerous expeditions in Virginia and North Carolina, the unit also took part in the Siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, the assault and capture of Fort Fisher, N.C., the capture of Wilmington, N.C., and numerous other engagements. The unit served bravely until it was mustered out September 20, 1865.
One Country, One Flag, One Destiny: African American Service in the Civil War
Post-war United States
Even though African Americans did not have the full rights of citizenship before the Civil War, they chose to fight and die for the American flag.Through military service, many expected that African Americans would gain citizenship. Although African Americans acquired citizenship rights in 1868 through the XIV Amendment to the United States Constitution, and African American men acquired voting rights in 1870 with the passage of the XV Amendment, the United States Congress did not enforce them, which allowed many states to continue their systematic unequal treatment of their African American citizens. Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses, many states were able to deny voting rights to African Americans. Those discriminatory practices continued until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
On the battlefields of the Civil War, Ohio African American soldiers bravely served and died beside their comrades. Sergeant Major Milton Holland, 1st Sergeant James H. Bronson, 1st Sergeant Robert Pinn, and 1st Sergeant Powhatan Beaty of the 5th U.S.C.T. were awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery. Through their service, African American men firmly established their right to defend their country. In every war after the Civil War, African Americans have fought for the stars and stripes. In so doing, African Americans have made the motto, "One Country, One Flag, and One Destiny" a reality.
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About the Author
Melissa Wiford is a member of the Archives Library Museum Access (ALMA) team, which was responsible for the Ohio Battle Flag digitization and cataloging project. She received her bachelor's degrees in history, women's studies, and sociology from The Ohio State University.
Price two Cents.
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The War in Maryland - Another Account of the Great Battle of Antietam - Letters from the Battle Field ~~~~~~~~~~
{Front page Headlines} On the field near Sharpsburg, MD
Wednesday Evening, Sept., 17, 1862
This day will be memorable for one of the bloodiest fought battles on the American Continent. the combined forces of the enemy, under Jackson, Lee, Longstreet, and the whole rebel set, have made a stand near Sharpsburg, and all day long, from 5 o'clock in the morning until now, (8 o'clock P.M.) have been contesting with the Union Army under McClellan led by Burnside, Hooker, Summer, Keyes and all other heroes of the war. Nothing, I am sure, since the battle of Pittsburgh Landing can compare with this days fight, either in its colossal proportions or in the bloody character of struggle. Or advance over took the rebel forces, apparently in full retreat toward the Shepherdstown ford of the Potomac, yesterday morning, and a temporary halt was ordered near Kedysville, a little village three miles north from Sharpsburg. The enemy had taken possession of the Antietam Hills, on the right of the creek by that name, with Sharpsburg in their rear. They were attacked yesterday by our batteries across this creek, for the purpose of occupying them until our whole force should come up, but no general engagement ensued. The rebels were evidently preparing for a last desperate stand, before the final attempt to cross the Potomac. Their failure to check our advance here they knew would be fatal to their whole army, for they could not escape safely into Virginia with our artillery and infantry assailing their rear.
Thus the two armies, wearied by a harassing march over mountain ranges, and of four days running fight from beyond Fredrick, came together on this memorable field.
The enemy having chosen a strong position on the hills just beyond Kedysville, began a sharp cannonade at 5 o'clock in the morning. He found our boys wide awake, who replied firmly and steadily to attack.
Gen. Fitz-John Porter had thoroughly examined the field on the previous day, and a council of the Generals had made a disposition of the various army corps for the grand contest. It will be sufficient for the present purpose to state that Gen. Burnside took command of the extreme left, while the other Generals occupied the enemies front and right. Burnside, with Gen. Rodman, Wilcox, Cox and Strurgis Brigades, extended his lines as far as to the south east of Sharpsburg, with the stone bridge across the Antietam creek in his front. Between their positions and that of the enemy, who lay toward the village at the north west, is a succession of hills running nearly north and south, the highest and most abrupt of which is that rising from the bed of the creek. Gen. Hooker's and Summer's corps have been conspicuous throughout the bloody day, the early part of the fight being over their part of the field, while a fierce and protracted struggle was going on at the Stone Bridge, were Gen. Burnside commanded in person. In the latter place we lost, in the forenoon, several brave officers and men. Gen. Hooker is reported wounded, Lieut. Col. Thomas Ball of the Fifty first, Pennsylvania Volunteers, was mortally wounded, while leading his men to the attack at this place and died soon after. Lieut. Braver, of the same regiment, Capt. Malooln Wilson and Sergeant Harry H. Stewart, of the Second Maryland Regiment, Co A, were also killed. Col. Kingsbury of the Eleventh Connecticut was mortally wounded, and Adjutant Andrew Fowler, of the Fifty First New York is dead. Sergeant Davis, acting Lieutenant in the Twenty First Massachusetts, has a leg badly shattered, Capt. Martin. Co E, Second Maryland lost a leg and Color Sergeants Osborn and Hoover, of the Second Maryland are both severely wounded, also Capt. Neill, Thirty Fifth Massachusetts. I saw all these lying at a barn near the Stone Bridge, while the battle was progressing, having visited the spot for the purpose of obtaining a list (which is only partial) of the killed and wounded.
I also saw lying dead on the field the following privates, James Kirby, Co C. Second Maryland, Peter Daily, Co I, Wm.Kelly, Co. H., Sergt. Jas. Clark, Co H., John Q. Adams, Co. C., Daniel Fisk, Co. F., Sixth N.H., Corp. Chas M. Noyes, Co K. Ninth N.H, S.H. Case Co. B. Seventeenth Mich., Sergt. Howard Rand, Co. K. Sixth N.H., Michael Boland, Co. G. Second Md, - Connerty, Co. G. Fifty First, N.Y. Corp. Keefe, Co I, Fifty First N.Y, Thomas N. Stockwell, Co I, Fifty First N.Y, Robert C. Dale, Co G. Fifty First N.Y, Geo. Summerlock Co. A. Fifty First, Penn., and Thos. Davis Co I. Fifty First Penn. I saw some half dozen others on the east side of the bridge, whose names I could not learn, lying on the field. It was not safe to cross the bridge, but I was told several others lay on that side. It is impossible in the present state of affairs to obtain any thing like an estimate of the numbers killed and wounded, but our losses have been very heavy.
The Irish Brigade, Gen. Meagher, in Summer's corps, occupied a very prominent position, and the brave General, I am told had a horse shot under him. Some report him killed, but I cannot now learn that it is true. He rode in front of his brigade and waving his flashing blade in the air, beckoned on his men to the attack. Wherever they may made a charge the rebel lines were seen to waver and fall back.
The rebels kept as much as possible under cover of the ravines, and seldom advanced to the attack, but there has never been a battle, probably were there was so little of woods for the rebels to conceal themselves in. The fighting has been mostly in the open field, with the exemption of the sharp contest at the Stone bridge, where woods (not dense), line both sides of the stream and a considerable block of trees occupying nearly the center of the right, where Hooker was engaged.
The rebels have been driven back at least two miles since the fight began, so that Sharpsburg has been, during the afternoon, about the center of the rebel lines.
Three times the rebel caissons have been blown up by our shells. Five different conflagration have occurred on the field of barns and houses which were set on fire by exploding shells, or purposely fired by the enemy. While I write the whole heavens are lighted up by burring barns and wheat stacks. It is an immense conflagration.
I made the following memoranda of events while overlooking the field.
Capt. Cook's Parrot Battery, Eighth Massachusetts, occupies the east hill opposite Sharpsburg, and the bridge and does excellent practice on the enemy's position. Lieut. Benjamin in charge of Carisle's Battery, also doing splendid executions. Twice the enemy's battery of six guns had been silenced or compelled to withdraw from the opposite hill.
The musketry firing down at the stone bridge, where Wilcox, and Strugis are engaged, is sharp and continuous. At 11 o'clock squads of rebels are seen "getting up" the hill. Our batteries are playing on them which hurries their time. Shells burst and solid shot plow up the ground all around them. Cheers from the ravine. The Seventeenth Michigan (new regiment and all brave boys) are charging down to the help of Wilcox. Our infantry are seen charging up the hill and our batteries are ordered to cease firing to avoid hitting them. They are turned on the rebel batteries which now open on the hill to the right of Sharpsburg. Our infantry advance and are shelled by the rebel batteries, and compelled to lie down and finally retire under cover of the next ravine. Our 20 pounder Parrots upset the rebel guns. Splendid shots by Benjamin. The Forty fifth New York come to the rescue, and are pressing by us toward the bridge - Gen. Burnside had just sent orders for Gen. Wilcox and Cox to cross the bridge with their brigades and occupy the hills south of the town. Our troops again advance, and as soon as they show themselves a new rebel battery of four guns, on the hill at the left opens upon us. At 12 o'clock a rebel caisson is blown up, the third, one since this morning.
Sharpsburg is now the center of the action in our front, while Hooker, is actively at work on the right. The firing in that part of the field is terrible and unceasing. The rebel lines are seen drawn up along the ravines at the northwest and occasionally at tempting to advance. In each instance they are meet and driven back.
At 11 o'clock the fighting at the Stone Bridge has ceased, and Wilcox, and Cox have all passed over. We now have a large force on the hills confronting the rebel lines. They keep up a constant cannonade upon the Union troops. At 1 1/2 P.M. a squad of seventeen rebels are brought to Gen. Burnside as prisoners, who orders them sent to the rear. The spokesman of their party says: " I don't think there is a man of us who doesn't want to get out of the fight." Gen. Cox is ordered to move up and occupy the hills south of Sharpsburg. At 2 1/2 P.M. our troops push up the hill (the rebels always continue to have us on the down hill side of the fight, and a large force appears at their extreme left, advancing toward them over the hill. A perfect storm of shot and shell now greet the advance of our boys from a half dozen different batteries at once. On the right of our advance our troops push up toward the rebel lines and are met half way, at the ravine where a fierce musketry fight continues for half and hour. The balls strike up the dust in the plowed fields in all directions.
On the left of town, the Union forces have now gained the crest of the hill, the rebels giving back under their steady fire and cheers and shouts ring along the line. The rebel flag waves sulkily in the heavy air, in close proximity to the cheerful Red, White and Blue, borne into the thickest of the fight by our brave boys. The Union troops hold their position at the Sharpsburg road for half an hour, while a deadly contest if going on. Our artillery, which has crossed the bridge, now takes up a position at the left, to check the advance of the rebels, who are trying to flank us, and open a brisk fire. On come the rebels host in overpowering numbers to flank the force on the hill and Wilcox's Brigade, which has stood their ground for over an hour, now retire part way down the hill. A tremendous upset was now made from the south, the enemy apparently having received reinforcements, and our left is pressed back. The sun has set, but the contest only thickens with the close of the day. The enemies shell begin to burst over our hospital near the bridge, and the horses at Benjamin's Battery are shot at the guns. He is ordered by Gen. Burnside to withdraw them. Stragglers come in from the field, some wounded, some tenderly escorting comrades who are wounded, it generally takes two or three to perform this service for one man and all hands wear a gloomy countenance and limp. Gen. Burnside orders them back to their regiments with a sharp reprimand. Among these delinquents is a Lieutenant of the Sixtieth Connecticut Regiment, whom the General reprimands and orders his name to be taken. He goes limping, and says a ball hit him in the leg. "But you walked all the way from the field - why did you come here to exhibit your cowardice! You had better remained at home, said the General Sharply. At the same time instant a youth, not over fifteen, who had his arm torn by a shell or ball came up holding the bleeding member in his other hand, "Look at that boy, Lieutenant, he has some excuse for leaving the field." but you have none. Shells now began to hum and burst all over the ground where we stood and your correspondent began to think there might be danger in remaining longer in that place, so he quietly mounted his horse and slowly moved to the rear.
The rebels received a check soon after dark, and the contest ended for the night. Our dead lie mingled with the rebel corpses on every part of this wide field - over a space of three or four miles. Many a poor fellow will lie on the cold, damp earth tonight and pray for death to relieve him of his sufferings.
I shall endeavor to send fuller particulars of the fight then I am now enabled to do so, as soon as they can be procured.
Both armies encamped on the field. Tomorrow the dead must be buried and possibly a renewal of the contest be had.
We shall have reinforcements of Covon's Division this evening, from Harpers Ferry.
E.S.
Price Four Cents.
UNION VICTORY PEACE!
Surrender of General Lee and his Whole Army.
Official.
War Department, WashingtonApril 9, 1865 - 9 O'clock P.M. }To Maj-Gen Dix: This department has received the official report of the SURRENDER, THIS DAY OF GEN. LEE AND HIS WHOLE ARMY TO LIEUT. GEN. GRANT. On the terms proposed by Gen. Grant.
Details will be given as speedily as possible.
Edwin M. Statton
Secretary of War.
~~~~Headquarters Armies of the United States 4:30 P.M. April 9
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
Gen. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia this afternoon upon the terms proposed by myself. The accompanying additional correspondence will show the conditions fully.
(signed)
U.S. Grant, Lieut.-Gen'l
~~~~Sunday, April 9, 1865 General - I received your note of this morning, on the picket lines, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposition of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army.
I know request an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose.
Very Respectfully, your obedient servant,
R.E. Lee, General
To Lieut-Gen. Grant, Commanding United States Armies.
~~~~Sunday, April 9, 1865 Gen. R.E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Armies.
Your note of this date is but this moment 11:50 A.M. received.
In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburgh road to the Farmville and Lynchburg road, I am at this writing about four miles West of Walters church, and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you.
Notice sent to me, on the road, where you wish the interview to take place, will meet me.
Very respectfully, your ob'dt servant,
U.S. Grant
Lieutenant General.
~~~~~
Appomattox Court-House, April 9, 1865
General R.E. Lee, Commanding C.S.A,
In accordance with the substance of my letters to you of the 8th Inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit:
Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate.
The officers to give their individual paroles not to take arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands.
The arms, artillery and public property to be packed and stacked and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them.
This will not embrace the side arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage.
This done, Each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they reside.
Very Respectfully,
U.S. Grant, Lieutunant-General
~~~~
Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia
April 9, 1865}
Lieut-Gen. U.S. Grant, Commanding U.S.A
General: I have received your letter of this date, Containing the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you: As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th last, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.
Very Respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
R.E. Lee, General
~~~~
The Primary Correspondence
The following is the previous correspondence between Lieut-Gen. Grant and Gen. Lee, referred to in the foregoing telegram to the Secretary of War;
Clifton House, VA., April 9, 1865
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
The following correspondence has taken place between Gen. Lee and myself. There had been no relaxation in the pursuit during its tendency.
U.S. Grant, Lieutenant-General
~~~~
April 7, 1865
Gen. R. E. Lee, Commanding C.S.A.
General: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance of the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of further effusion of blood, by asking you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States Army, known as the Army of Northern Virginia.
Very Respectfully,
Your obedient Servant,
U.S. Grant
Lieutenant-General
Commanding Armies of the United States.
~~~~
April 7, 1865
General: I have received your note of this date.
Though not entirely of the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer, on condition of its surrender.
R. E. Lee General
To Lieut-Gen. U. S. Grant, Commanding Armies of the United States
~~~~
April 8, 1865
To Gen. R. E. Lee, Commanding C.S.A
General: Your note of last evening in reply to mine of same date, asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received.
In reply, I would say that peace being my first desire, there is but one condition that I insist upon viz.,:
That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged.
I will meet you or designate officers to meet say officers you may name, for the same purpose at any point agreeable to you for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received.
Very Respectfully, your obedient servant,
U.S. Grant, Lieut-General
Commanding armies of the United States
~~~
April 8, 1865
General: I received at late hour, your note of to-day, in answer to mine of yesterday.
I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender.
But as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desire to know whether your proposals would tend to that end.
I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia, but as far as your proposition may affect the Confederate States forces under my command and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at 10 A.M. to-morrow, on the old stage road to Richmond, between the picket lines of the two armies.
Very Respectfully, your obedient servant,
R.E. Lee
General, C.S.A
To Lieut-Gen. Grant, Commanding Armies of the United States
~~~~
April 9, 1865
General R.E. Lee, commanding C.S.A.
General: Your note of yesterday is received. As I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace, the meeting proposed for 10 A.M. to-day could lead to no good. I will state, however General, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole North entertain the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms, they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed.
Sincerely hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself,
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
U.S. Grant
Lieutenant-General United States Army.
Price Three Cents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Battles
Splendid Triumph of the Army of the Potomac
Chambersburgh in our Possession
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Details From our Special Correspondent
Headquarters Army of Potomac,
Saturday Night, July 4
Who can write the history of a battle whose eyes are immovable fastened upon a central figure of transcendently absorbing interest, the dead body of an oldest born, crushed by a shell in a position where a battery should never have been sent, and abandoned to death in a building where surgeons dared not to stay?
The battle of Gettysburg! I am told that it commenced on the 1st of July, a mile of the town, between two weak brigades of infantry and some doomed artillery and the whole force of the rebel army. Among other cost of this error was the death of Reynolds. Its value was priceless, however, though priceless was the young and the old blood with which it was bought. The error put us on the defensive, and gave us the choice of position. From the moment that our artillery and infantry rolled back through the main street of Gettysburg and rolled out of the town to the circle of eminencies south of it. We were not to attack but to be attacked. The risks, the difficulties and the disadvantages of the coming battle were the enemies. Our were the heights for artillery, ours the short, inside lines for maneuvering and reinforcing, ours the cover of stonewalls, fences and crest of hills. Upon which we were driven in accept battle was wonderfully favorable to us. Popular description of it would be to say that it was in form an elated and somewhat sharpened horseshoe, with the toe to Gettysburg and the heel to the south.
Lee's plan of battle was simple. He messed his troops upon the east side of this shoe of position, and thundered on it obstinately to break it. The shelling of our batteries from the nearest overlooking hill and the unflinching courage and complete discipline of the army of the Potomac repelled the attack. It was renewed at the point of the shoe, renewed desperately at the southwest heel, renewed on the western side with an effort consecrated to success by Ewell's earnest oaths and on which the fate of the invasion of Pennsylvania was fully put at stake. Only a perfect infantry and artillery educated in the midst of charges of hostile brigades could possibly have sustained this assault. Hancock's Corps did sustain it, and has covered itself with immortal honors by its constancy and courage. The total wreck of Cusuing's battery, the list of the killed and wounded, the losses of officers, men and horses Cowen sustained, and the marvelous outspread upon the board of death of dead soldiers and dead animals, of dead soldiers in blue, and dead soldiers in gray, more marvelous to me than any thing I have ever seen in war, are ghastly and shocking testimony to the terrible fight of the Second Corps that none will gain say. That Corps will ever have the distinction of breaking the pride and power of the rebel invasion.
For such details as I have the heart for. The battle commenced at daylight, on the side of the horseshoe position, exactly opposite to that which Ewell had sworn to crush through. Musketry preceded the rising of the sun. A thick wood veiled this fight but out of its leafy darkness arose the smoke and the surging and swelling of the fire, form intermittent to continuous and crushing, told of the wise tactics of the rebels of attacking in force and changing their troops. Seemingly the attack of the day was to be made through that wood. The demonstration was protracted, it was absently preparative, but there was no artillery fire accompanying the musketry and shrewd officers in our western front mentioned, with the gravity due to our fact that the rebels had fueled trees at intervals upon the edge of the wood they occupied in face of our position. These were breastworks for the protection of artillery men.
Suddenly, and about 10 in the forenoon, the firing on the east side, and everywhere about our lines, ceased. A silence as of deep sleep fell upon the field of battle. Our army cooked, ate and slumbered. The rebel army moved 120 guns to the west, and messed there Longstreet's corps and Hill's Corps, to hurl upon the realty weakest point of our entire position.
Eleven o'clock, Twelve o'clock, One o'clock. In the shadow cast by the tiny farm house 16 by 20, which Gen. Meade had made his Headquarters, lay wearied Staff officers and tired reporters. There was not wanting to the peacefulness of the scene the singing of a bird, which had a nest in a peach tree within the tiny yard of the whitewashed cottage. In the midst of its warbling, a shell screamed over the house, instantly followed by another and another, and in a moment the air was full of the most complete artillery prelude to an infantry battle that was ever exhibited. Every size and form of shell known to British, and to Americans gunnery shrieked, whirled, moaned, whistled and wrathfully fluttered above our ground. As many as six in a second, constantly two in a second, burning and screaming over and around the headquarters, made a very hell of fire that amazed the oldest officers. They burst in the yard, burst next to the fence on both sides, furnished as usual with the hitched horses of aids and orderlies. The fastened animals reared and plunged with terror. Then one fell, then another, sixteen laid dead and mangled before the fire ceased. Still fastened by their halters, which gave the expression of being wickedly tied up to die painfully. These brute victims of a cruel war touched all hearts. Through the midst of the storm of screaming and exploding shells, and ambulance, driven by its frenzied conductor at full speed, presented to all of us the marvelous spectacle of a horse going rapidly on three legs. A hinder one had been shot off at the hock. A shell tore up the little step of Headquarters Cottage. Another ripped through the low garret. The remaining pillar went almost immediately to the howl of a fixed shot that Whittworth must have made. During this fire the houses at twenty and thirty feet distant, were receiving their death, and soldiers in federal blue were torn to pieces in the road and died with the peculiar yell that blend the extorted cry of pain with horror and despair. Not an orderly, not and ambulance, not a straggler was to be seen upon the plain swept by the tempest of orchestral death thirty minutes after it commenced. Were not one hundred and twenty pieces of artillery, trying to out from the field every battery were had in position to resist their purposed infantry attack, and to sweep away the slight defenses behind which our Infantry were waiting. Forty minutes, fifty minutes counted on watches that ran! Oh so languidly. Shells through the two lower rooms. A shell into the chimney that daringly did not explode. Shells in the yard. The air thicker and fuller and more deafening with the howling and whirring of these infernal missiles. The chief of staff struck, Seth Williams, loved and respected through the army, separated from instant death by two inches of space vertically. An Aide bored with a fragment of iron through the bone of the arm. Another, cut with an exploded piece. And the time measured on the sluggish watches was one hour and forty minutes.
Then there was a lull and we knew that the rebel infantry was charging. And splendidly they did this work, the highest and severest test of the staff that soldiers are made of. Hall's division, in line of battle, came first on the double quick. Their muskets at the "right shoulder shift". Longstreet came as the support, at the usual distance, with war cries and a savage insolence as yet unuttered by defeat. they rushed in perfect order across the open field up to the muzzles of guns, which tore lanes through hem as they came. But they met men who were their equals in spirit, and their superiors in tenacity. There never was better fighting since Thermopyalse then was done yesterday by our defenses. They had cleaned cannoniers and horses from one of the guns, and were whirling it around to use upon us. The bayonet drove them back. But so hard pressed was this brave infantry that at one time from the exhaustion of their ammunition, every battery upon the principal crest of attack was allent, except Crowen's. His service of grape and canister was awful. It enabled our line, outnumbered two to one, forced to beat back Longstreet, and then to charge upon him and take a great number of his men and himself prisoners. Strange sight, so terrible was our musketry and artillery fire, that when Armstead's brigade was checked in it charge and stood reeling, all of its men dropped their muskets and crawled on their hands and knees underneath the stream of shot till close to our troops, where they made signs of surrendering. They passed through our ranks scarcely noticed and slowly went down the slope to the road in the rear.
Before they got there the grand charge of Ewell, solemnity sword to and carefully prepared, had failed.
The rebels had retreated to their lines, and opened anew the storm of shell and shot from their 120 guns. Those who remained at the headquarters will never the crouching, and dodging, and running, of the Butternut colored captives when they got under this, their friends fire. It was appalling to as good soldiers even as they were.
What remains to say of the fight? It staggled surly on the middle of the horse shoe on the west grew big and angry on the heel at the southwest, lasted there till 8 o'clock in the evening, when the fighting Sixth corps went joyously by as a reinforcement through the wood, bright with coffee pots on the fire.
INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE
Capt. Cushing, Company A, Fourth Regular artillery, was killed, and his battery suffered severely. The gallantry of this officer is beyond praise. Severely wounded early in the afternoon, he refused to leave his post beside his guns, but continued to pour grape and canister into the advancing columns of the rebels unit they had reached the very muzzles of his pieces and sure of their capture, were attempting to turn them upon our forces when they were driven off by our infantry. At this moment Capt. Cushing received his death wound, and fell lifeless to the earth. Heaps of corpses and wounded in front of his battery this morning, told a terrible tale of the effectiveness of its fire.
None of the company were taken prisoners by the rebels. After the battle but one gun of this battery remained uninjured, the rest having been dismounted or destroyed by the terrible fire of the enemy which for the time was concentrated upon the batteries on this part of the field. In front of this position fell dead the rebel Gen. Dick Garnett, who was courageously leading is men in this charge upon our batteries on Crow Hill. The rebel Gen. Armstead was also wounded here while advancing at the head of his brigade.
About fifty yards in front of our batteries was a stone wall, in a southwesterly direction, behind which laid several of our regiments, picking off the enemy as they advanced up the slope of the hill. Notwithstanding the terrible fire poured into their ranks from our guns so impetuous was the charge of the rebels that they drove our men from their positions, and were advancing upon our batteries, several of which they captured, but the capture was only temporary. Gen. Gibbon's division, composed of Gen. Webb's, Harrell's and Hall's brigades at the point of the bayonet drove them back over the stone wall into the plain below.
Gen. Gibbon's division captured fourteen stand of colors and a large number of prisoners. Twenty eight stands of colors in all were captured by the Second Corps.
Gen. Armstead, when taken prisoner, asked immediately for Gen. Meade, who was his classmate at West Point.
Col. Ward, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, was killed.
Corp. Hayden, of the First Minnesota, was captured, escaped, seized a musket and seized a rare opportunity and actually made ten rebels surrender. While marching them to Gen. Gibbon's quarters, a rebel behind a tree of the way drew a bead on him with his rifle. Hayden saw him in time to bring his piece to a level and cry out "Surrender." The fellow actually threw down his gun and joined the cavalcade, and Hayden came in with eleven captives.
Wounded prisoners taken in Gettysburg this morning report that Gen. Bradley L. Johnson, of Maryland, was killed in Thursdays attack on our right. He was struck by a shell while charging our lines at the head of his division. Gen. Hood is also reported to have had his leg shot off, and from the effects of which he was since died.
Rebel officers with whom I have conversed frankly admit that the result of the last two days has been most disastrous to their cause, which depended, they say upon the success of Lee's attempt to transfer the seat of war from Virginia to the Northern Border States. A wounded rebel Colonel told me that in the first and second days fight, the rebel losses were between ten and eleven thousand. Yesterday they were greater still. In one part of the field in a space not more then twenty feet in circumference, in front of Gen. Gibbon's division, I counted seven dead rebels, three of whom were piled on top of each other. And close by in a spot not more than fifteen feet square lay fifteen "graybacks" stretched in death. These were the adventurous sprits who in the face of the horrible stream of canister shell and musketry, scaled the fence wall in their attempt upon our batteries. Very large numbers of wounded were also strewn around, not to mention more who had crawled away or been taken away. The field is front of the stonewall was literally covered with dead and wounded, a large proportion of whom were rebels. Where our musketry and artillery took effect they lay in swaths, as if mown down by a scythe. This field presented a horrible sight, such as has never yet been witnessed during the war. Not less than one thousand dead and wounded laid in a space less then four acres in extent and that too, after numbers had crawled away to places of shelter.
{Please stay with me, some of the print on this part is very hard to read!}
Partial List of Killed and Wounded
Lieut. Dayton L. Curd, Commanding Co. E, 166th New York, was killed instantly by a shell. His body presented a ghastly sight. He was struck in the middle of the breast by a missle which exploded and tore him lilerally in two. Half of his face was also torn away by a fragment of shell.
Charles Lecisur, Co E, 108th N.Y Killed, J. Wickham, Co E. 108th N.Y Wounded, Sergeant A. B Hadley, Wounded, Sergt. M. C Bryant, Co E. 100th NY Wounded, J.D. Ansink Co. E. 108th New York, Wounded, ,
Cowan's New York Battery -
Killed
Privates James Gray, Otis C. Billings, Jacob Y. McLlory, Edmond Peto.
Wounded
Lieut. Wm. P. Wright - right breast,
Sergt. A.C. Kimburk, Head
Corp. Alex Mckensie, foot
Private Henry {?} thigh, mortal
Private Gates, both legs, severe
Private Henry W. Clark, leg
Private Thadmuis Sherman, hand, slight
Lieut. Cyrus Wicken, Co E. 108th New York, killed
J. Brounell Co. E 198th New York Wounded
Corp W. Misgate, Co e. 108th Ny wounded
Wm. Leach, Co E 108th Ny, wounded
D. Lappens, Co E, 108th NY wounded
Col. Atloph Can Hartung, 74th Pen, Killed
Capt. Heily, 74th Pen, missing
Maj. Mitzet, 74th Pen, wounded
Capt. Myer 74th Pen, wounded
Lieut. Roth, 74th Pen missing
Lieut. Knoble, 74th Pen, missing
Lieut. Newmeyer, 74th Pen missing
Col. Francise, 7th New Jersey, badly wounded thigh
Lieut. Col. Price, 7th New Jersey wounded leg
Capt Henley 6th New Jersey, seriously
Lieut. Leach, 1st Michigan, killed
Eight New Jersey
Capt. Edwis C. Nichols Co G, severly thigh
Capt. Andrew H. davis, Co H. thigh
Lieut. Henry Hariford, Co G shoulder
Lieut. Srewne Co. B leg shattered
Lieut. Andrew Mandeville, Co D {?}
Col. {?} Ramsay slight
Capt. Pettits battery killed
Lieut. Walker 5th NY Killed
Capt. Caldwell, Gen Caldwel's Staff, wounded in leg
Col. O. Kane 69th Pen, Killed
Lieut. Col Steel, 7th Michigan killed
All the field officers of the 1st Minnesota were wounded, Lieut. Col. Adams mortally.
{Note, there is more listed, but very hard to read their names}
S. Wilkeson
HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY DIVISION,ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, August 20th, 1863.Â
To Colonel R. H. CHILTON, Chief of Staff, Army of Northern Virginia:
This report contains 25 pages.
This is page 1/24
Colonel - I have the honor to make the following report of the operations of the cavalry division, Army of Northern Virginia, from the time of crossing the Rappahannock on the 16th day of June, 1863, to the 24th day of July, 1863, when, having recrossed the Blue Ridge after the Pennsylvania campaign, our pickets were reestablished on the south bank of the Rappahannock.After holding in check a cavalry force at least double our own for months, with a command stretched on the outposts from the Blue Ridge to the Chesapeake, engaging in numerous hand-to-hand encounters, illustrating the superiority of Southern cavalry, it was with joy that the order of the Commanding-General to "advance" was received by the cavalry. I was instructed by the Commanding-General to leave a sufficient force on the Rappahannock to wath the enemy in front and move the main body parallel to the Blue Ridge and on Longstreet's right flank, who was to move near the base of the mountains through Fauquier and Loundoun counties.The position of the enemy, as far as known, was as follows: His cavalry massed in Fauquier, principally from Warrenton Springs to Catlett station, with the Twelfth corps, and other infantry supports; the main body of Hooker's army being in Stafford and lower Fauquier, hastening to interpose itself between our main body and Washington, with a corps or two confronting A. P. Hill's corps at Fredericksburg, having made a lodgement on the south side of the river there near the mouth of Deep run. I accordingly left the Fifteenth Virginia cavalry, Major Collins, W. H. F. Lee's brigade, on the lower Rappahannock, co-operating with A. P. Hill, and directed Brigadier-General Hampton to remain with the brigade on the Rappahannock in observation of the enemy during the movement of our forces, and directed also Fitz. Lee's brigade (Colonel T. T. Munford temporarily in command) to cross on the morning of the 15th at Rockford, and take the advance of Longstreet's column, via Barbee's cross-roads, and put Robertson's and W. H. F. Lee's brigades en route to cross the Rappahannock lower down (at Hinson's mill), while Jones' brigade followed with orders to picket the Aestham river the first day. The movement was not interrupted, the enemy having disappeared from our front during the night, and our march continued to within a few miles of Salem, to bivouac for the night. Scouting parties were sent to Warrenton, where it was ascertained the enemy had withdrawn his forces to Centreville the day previous. General Fitz. Lee's brigade, having camped near Piedmont, moved on the morning of the 17th (Wednesday) by my direction towards Aldie via Middleburg, with the view, if possible, to hold the gap in Bull Run mountain, as a screen to Longstreet's movements. Â
W. H. F. Lee's brigade was kept near The Plains reconnoitring to Thoroughfare gap, while Robertson's brigade was halted near Rectortown to move to the support of either.
I accompanied Fitz. Lee's brigade as far as Middleburg, where I remained to close up the command and keep in more ready communication with the rear. The brigade moving to Aldie, being much worn and the horses having had very little food, was halted by its commander near Dover to close up, and pickets sent forward to the Aldie gap; these pickets were soon attacked by the enemy's cavalry advancing from the direction of Fairfax, and were driven back on the main body, which took a position just west of Aldie, on a hill commanding the Snickkersville road, but which was liable to be turned by the road to Middleburg. Simultaneously with this attack I was informed that a large force of the enemy's cavalry was advancing on Middleburg from the direction of Hopewell. Having only a few pickets and my staff here, I sent orders to Munford to look out for the road to Middleburg, as by the time my dispatch reached him the enemy would be in the place, and retiring myself towards Rector's cross-roads, I sent orders for Robertson to march without delay for Middleburg and Chambliss to take the Salem road to the same place.
At Aldie ensued one of the most sanguinary cavalry battles of the war, and at the same time most creditable to our arms and glorious to the veteran brigade of Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee. They fought most successfully, punishing the enemy with great severity, and maintaining their position till the dispatch received from me made it necessary to move farther back on account of the threatening attitude of the force at Middleburg. This brigade captured one hundred and thirty-four (134) prisoners, among whom were a colonel and captain, several stands of colors, together with horses, arms and equipments. A large number of the enemy's dead, including a colonel, was left on the field.
Brigadier-General Robertson arrived at Middleburg just at dark. I ordered him to attack the enemy at once, and with his two regiments he drove him handsomely out of the place and pursued him miles on the Hopewell road, the force appearing to scatter. He captured a standard and seventy (70) prisoners.Chambliss's brigade, approaching from that direction, caught that night and early next morning one hundred and sixty (160) and several guidons - the colonel and a small detachment only escaping. It was the First Rhode Island cavalry. Horses, arms and equipments were captured in proportion. Among the captured were included a number of officers.
Our own loss in Robertson's brigade was slight, except Major McNeal, Sixty-third North Carolina cavalry, whose wound deprived us of the service of a most valuable officer, and Lieutenant-Colonel Cantwell, Fifty-ninth North Carolina troops, captured. Major Heros Von Brocke, of my staff, being sent by me with the attacking column, behaved with his usual fine judgment and distinguished gallantry.Our loss in Fitz. Lee's brigade was heavier, as the fighting was more desperate and continued. His report, which I hope to forward with this, will state the casualties.
We occupied Middleburg that night, and on the 18th took position around the place with Robertson's and W. H. F. Lee's brigades, and directed Fitz. Lee's brigade to take position at Union, on my left, while Jones' brigade was expected to arrive that day.
The enemy soon made ushc encroachments on our left that I deemed it requisite to leave Middleburg out of my line of battle, keeping pickets, however, close to the enemy. Slight skirmishing continued. A general engagement of cavalry was not sought by me, because I preferred waiting for the arrival of the cavalry still in rear (Jones' and Hampton's brigades), and I confined my attention to procuring, through scouts and reconnoitring parties, information of the enemy's movements. In one of these, Major Mosby, with his usual daring, penetrated the enemy's lines and caught a staff officer of General Hooker, bearer of dispatches to General Pleasanton, commanding United States cavalry near Aldie. These dispatches disclosed the fact that Hooker was looking to Aldie with solicitude, and that General Pleasanton, with infantry and cavalry, occupied the place, and that a reconnoissance in force of cavalry was meditated towards Warrenton and Culpeper. I immediately dispatched to General Hampton, who was coming by way of Warrenton from the direction of Beverly's ford, this intelligence, and directed him to meet this advance at Warrenton. The captured dispatches also gave the entire number of divisions, from which we could estimate the approximate strength of the enemy's army. I therefore concluded in no event to attack with cavalry alone the enemy at Aldie. As long as he kept within supporting distance of his infantry, at that point my operations became necessarily defensive, but masking thereby the movement of our main body of checking the enemy's reconnoissance and by continually threatening attack. Hampton met the enemy's advance towards Culpeper at Warrenton, and drove him back without difficulty, a heavy storm and night intervening to aid the enemy's retreat. On the 19th the enemy showed signs of an advance, and our pickets beyond Middleburg were driven back upon the main body, composed of Robertson's and W. H. F. Lee's brigades, posted far enough west of the place not to bring it under fire. The enemy with a large force of cavalry advanced, attacking with dismounted men deployed as infantry. This attack was met in the most determined manner by these two brigades, which rough roads had already decimated for want of adequate shoeing facilities - Chambliss commanding Lee's brigade upon the left, and Robertson's on the right. Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee's brigade, in the meantime, was occupied with the enemy on the Snickersville turnpike opposite us. The enemy finally gained possession of a woodland in front of our line of battle, and while our brave men met and repelled every attempt to advance from it yet our charges invariably brought us under a severe carbine fire from these woods, as well as a fire from the artillery beyond.
Apprechating this difficulty, I withdrew my command to a more commanding position, a half mile to the rear, where we possessed every advantage and could more readily debouched for attack. In withdrawing, while riding at my side, the brave and heroic Major Von Brocke received a very severe and it was thought fatal wound in the neck, from one of the enemy's sharpshooters, who from a stone fence a few hundred yards off poured a tempest of bullets over us. I will not pause here to record the praise due this distinguished Prussian.
The enemy did not attack our new position on the 19th.Jones' brigade came up on the evening of the 19th, and was ordered to the left near Union - General Fitz. Lee's brigade being farther to the left, looking out for Snicker's gap and the Snickersville pike. Hampton's brigade arrived on the 20th - too late to attack the enemy still in possession of Middleburg
A continuous rain was also an obstacle to military operations. Skirmishing, however, continued, principally on our left beyond Goose creek, where Colonel Rosser, with his regiment (Fifth Virginia cavalry), attacked and drove the enemy's force across the stream in handsome style. He was supported by Brigadier-General Jones with a portion of his brigade.
I was extremely anxious now to attack the enemy as early as possible, having, since Hampton's arrival, received sufficient reinforcement to attack the enemy's cavalry; but the next morning (21st) being the Sabbath, I recognized my obligation to do no duty other than what was absolutely necessary, and determined, so far as was in my power, to devote it to rest; not so with the enemy, whose guns about 8 A. M. showed that he would not observe it. Had I attacked the enemy, I would have encountered, besides his cavalry, a heavy force of infantry and artillery, and the result would have been disastrous, no doubt.
Hampton's and Robertson's brigades were moved to the front to a position previously chosen, of great strength against a force of ordinary size, or against cavalry alone; but although the enemy's advance was held in check gallantry and decidedly for a long time, it soon became evident that the enemy, utterly foiled for days in his attempt to force our lines, had, as usual, brouth a heavy infantry force - part of the Fifth corps, under General Vincent - to his support, and its advance was already engaged in conjunction with the cavalry. I, therefore, directed General Hampton to withdraw to the next height whenever his position was hard pressed, and sent orders at once to Colonel Chambliss and General Jones - the former having informed me that the enemy was advancing in heavy force in his front - to afford all the resistance possible, and General Jones to join his left, and retiring apace with the main body, to effect a junction with it at Upperville, where I proposed to make a more determined stand than was compatible with our forces divided. The commands were from four to six miles apart.
In retiring from the first position before Middleburg, one of the pieces of Captain Hart's battery of horse artillery had the axle broken by one of the enemy's shot, and the piece had to be abandoned, which is the first piece of my horse artillery which has ever fallen into the enemy's hands. Its full value was paid in the slaughter it made in the enemy's ranks, and it was well sold.
The next position was on the west bank of Goose creek, whence, after receiving the enemy's attack and after repulsing him with slaughter, I again withdrew in echelon of regiments, in plain view and under fire of the enemy's guns. Nothing could exceed the coolness and self-possession of officers and men in these movements - performing evolutions with a precision under fire that must have wrung the tribute of admiration from the enemy even, who daren not trust his cavalry unsupported to the sabres of such men. In the meantime, Jones' and W. H. F. Lee's brigades were hotly engaged with another column of the enemy (moving parallel to this), and were gradually retiring towards Upperville; before reaching which point, however, the enemy had pressed closely up so as to render an attempt to effect a junction at Upperville
hazardous to those brigades, and also made it necessary for Hampton's and Robertson's brigades to move at once to the west side of Upperville, on account of the number of roads concentrating at that point so as to favor the enemy's flank movements.
I was anxious, on account of the women and children, to avoid a conflict in the village; but the enemy, true to his reckless and inhuman instincts, sought to take advantage of this disinclination on our part by attacking furiously our rear guard. In an instant the same men who had with so much coolness retired before the enemy, wheeled about and with admirable spirit drove back the enemy - killing, wounding and capturing a large number. In this General Hampton's brigade participated largely and in a brilliant manner. His report, not yet sent in, will no doubt give full particulars.
After this repulse, which was not followed up, as the enemy's infantry was known to be in close supporting distance, I withdrew the command leisurely to the mountain gap west of Upperville.
The enemy attacked Brigadier-General Robertson, bringing up the rear in this movement, and was handsomely repulsed; the brave and efficient Colonel Evans, of the Sixty-third North Carolina troops, was, however, severely and it was feared fatally wounded, his body falling into the hands of the enemy. Jones' and W. H. F. Lee's brigades joined the main body near the gap, and positions were taken to dispute any further advance. The day was far spent. The enemy did not attack the gap, but appeared to go into camp at Upperville. In the conflicts on the left, the enemy was roughly handled. Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis, Ninth Virginia cavalry, was very severely and it was believed fatally wounded, and left in the hands of the enemy. The reports of brigade commanders will show further details of these encounters.
Fitz. Lee's brigade, being before Snicker's gap, did not participate in these operations.
By night part of Longstreet's corps occupied the mountain pass, and the cavalry was ordered farther back for rest and refreshment, of which it was sorely in need, leaving ample pickets in front and on either flank. When the midst had sufficiently cleared away next morning, it was evident the enemy was retiring, and the cavalry was ordered up immediately to the front to follow. The enemy was pursued to within a short distance of Aldie, and a number captured. Colonel Rosser, Fifth Virginia cavalry, having been sent across from Snickersville early to reconnoitre, contributed very materially to the vigor of this pursuit. Major Eels, of his regiment, a gallant and meritorious officers, was killed in a charge upon the enemy near Goose Creek brigade. Our lines were much further advanced than before, and Monday (the 22d) was consumed in their re-establishment.
Our loss in these operations was 65 killed, 279 wounded and 166 missing.
I resumed my own position at Rector's cross-roads, and being in constant communication with the Commanding-General, had scouts busily engaged watching and reporting the enemy's movements, and reporting the same to the Commanding-General. In this difficult search the fearless and indefatigable Major Mosby was particularly active and efficient. His information was always accurate and reliable.
The enemy retained one army corps (Fifth) at Aldie, and kept his cavalry near enough to make attacks upon the latter productive of no solid benefits, and I began to look for some other point at which to direct an effective blow.
I submitted to the Commanding-General the plan of leaving a brigade or so in my present front, and passing through Hopewell or some other gap in Bull Run mountain, attain the enemy's rear, passing between his main body and Washington, cross into Maryland, joining our army north of the Potomac.
The Commanding-General wrote me authorizing this move if I deemed it practicable, and also what instructions should be given the officer left in command of the two brigades left in front of the enemy. He also notified me that on column should move via Gettysburg and the other via Carlisle towards the Susquehanna; and directed me, after crossing, to proceed with all dispatch to join the right (Early) of the army in Pennsylvania.
Accordingly, three (3) days' rations were prepared, and on the night of the 24th the following brigades: Hampton's, Fitz. Lee's, W. H. F. Lee's, rendezvoused secretly near Salem depot. We had no wagons or vehicles, except six pieces of artillery and eaissons and ambulances.
Robertson's and Jones' brigades, under command of the former, were left in observation of the enemy on the usual front, with full instructions as to following up the enemy in case of withdrawal and joining our main army.
Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee's brigade had to march from north of Snicker's gap to the place of rendezvous. This brigade was now for the first time for a month under the command of its noble Brigadier, who, writhing under a painful attack of inflammatory rheumatism, nevertheless kept with his command until now.
At one o'clock at night the brigades, with noiseless march, moved out. This precaution was necessary on account of the enemy's having possession of Bull Run mountain, which in the daytime commanded a view of every movement of consequence in that region. Hancock's corps occupied Thoroughfare gap.
Moving to the right we passed through Glasscock's gap, without serious difficulty, and marched for Haymarket. I had previously sent Major Mosby, with some picked men, through to gain the vicinity of Dranesville, find where a crossing was practicable, and bring intelligence to me near Gum Spring to-day (25th).
As we neared Haymarket we found that Hancock's corps was en route through Haymarket for Gum Spring, his infantry well distributed through his trains. I chose a good position and opened with artillery with effect on his passing column, scattering men, wagons and horses, in wild confusion - disabled one of the enemy's caissons, which he abandoned, and compelled him to advance in order of battle to compel us to desist.
As Hancock had the right of way on my road, I sent Fitz. Lee's brigade to Gainesville to reconnoitre and devote the remainder of the day to grazing our horses, the only forage procurable in the country. The best of our information represented the enemy still at Centreville, Union Mills and Wolf Run Shoals.
I sent a dispatch to General Hancock's movement, and moved back to deceive the enemy to Buckland. It rained heavily that night. To carry out my original design of passing west of Centreville would have involved so much detention on account of the presence of the enemy, that I determined to cross Bull run lower down and strike through Fairfax for the Potomac next day. The sequel shows this to have been the only practicable course. We marched through Brentsville to the vicinity of Wolf Run Shoals, and had to halt again in order to graze our horses, which hard marching without grain was fast breaking down. We met no enemy to-day (26th).
On the following morning (27th), having ascertained that on the night previous the enemy had disappeared entirely from Wolf Run Shoals, a strongly fortified position on the Occoquan, I marched to that point and thence directly for Fairfax station, sending General Fitz. Lee to the right to cross by Burke station, and effect a junction at Fairfax Courthouse, or farther on, according to circumstances. Fairfax station had been evacuated the previous day, but near this point General Hampton's advance regiment had a spirited encounter with and chase after a detachment of Federal cavalry, denominated "Scott's Nine Hundred," killing, wounding and capturing the greater portion, among them several officers; also horses, arms and equipments. The First North Carolina cavalry lost its Major in the first onset - Major Whittaker - an officer of distinction and great value to us.
Reaching Fairfax Courthouse, a communication was received from Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee at Annandale. At these two points there were evidences of very recent occupation; but the information was conclusive that the enemy had left this front entirely, the mobilized army having the day previous moved over towards Leesburg, while the local had retired to the fortications near Washington. I had not heard yet from Major Mosby, but the indications favored my successful passage in rear of the enemy's army. After a halt of a few hours to rest and refresh the command, which regaled itself on the stores left by the enemy in the place, the march was resumed for Dranesville, which point was reached late in the afternoon. The camp fires of Sedgwick's (Sixth) corps, just west of the town, were still burning, it having left that morning, and several of his stragglers were caught. General Hampton's brigade was still in advance, and was ordered to move directly for Rowser's ford of the Potomac - Chambliss's brigade being held at Dranesville till Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee could close up. As General Hampton approached the river, he fortunately met a citizen who had just forded the river, who informed us there were no pickets on the other side and that the river was fordable, though two feet higher than usual. Hampton's brigade crossed earlyin the night, but reported to me that it would be utterly impossible to cross the artillery at that ford. In this the residents were also very positive - that vehicles could not cross. A ford lower down was examined and found quite as impracticable from quicksand, rocks and rugged banks. I, however, determined not to give it up without trial; and before twelve o'clock that night, in spite of the difficulties to all appearances insuperable, indomitable energy and resolute determination triumphed, every piece was brought safely over and the entire command in bivouac on Maryland soil.
In this success the horse artillery displayed the same untiring zeal in their laborious toil through mud and water, which has distinguished its members in battle. The canal, which was now the
supplying medium of Hooker's army, soon received our attention.
A lock-gate was broken, and steps taken to intercept boats - at least a dozen were intercepted; and the next morning several, loaded with troops, negroes and stores, were captured by Colonel Wickham, Fourth Virginia cavalry, commanding rear guard. I ascertained that Hooker was on the day previous at Poolesville, and his army in motion for Frederick. I realized the importance of joining our army in Pennsylvania, and resumed the march northward early on the 28th. General Hampton was sent by Darnestown to Rockville, and the other brigades took the direct route to the same place. General Hampton encountered small parties of the enemy, which, with a number of wagons and teams, he captured, and reached Rockville in advance of the main body. The advance guard of W. H. F. Lee's brigade had a running fight with the Second New York cavalry, but the speed of their horses deprived us of the usual results in captures. At Rockville, General Hampton encountered what he believed to be a large force of the enemy, and moving up W. H. F. Lee's brigade quickly to his assistance, I found that the enemy had already disappeared, having retreated towards the Great Falls.
Rockville was speedily taken possession of. This place is situated on the direct wagon road from Washington City ot Hooker's army, and consequently on his route of communication with Washington after crossing the Potomac. The telegraph line along it was torn down for miles. Soon after taking possession, a long train of wagons approached from the direction of Washington, apparently but slightly guarded. As soon as our presence was known to those in charge, they attempted to turn the wagons and, at full speed, to escape; but the leading brigade, W. H. F. Lee's, was sent in pursuit. The furthest wagon was within only three or four miles of Washington City, the train being about eight miles long. Not one escaped, though many were upset and broken so as to require their being burnt. More than one hundred and twenty-five best United States model wagons and splendid teams, with gay caparisons, were secured and driven off. The mules and harness of the broken wagons were also secured. The capture and securing of this train had for the time scattered the leading brigade. I calculated that before the next brigade could march this distance, and reach the defences of Washington, it would be after dark: the troops there would have had time to march to position to meet attack on this road. To attack at night with cavalry, particularly unless certain of surprise, would have been extremely hazardous; to wait till morning would have lost much time from my march to join General Lee, without the probability of compensating results. I, therefore, determined, after getting the wagons under way, to proceed directly north so as to cut the Baltimore and Ohio railroad (now becoming the enemy's main was artery) that night. I found myself encumbered by about four hundred prisoners, many of whom were officers. I paroled nearly all at Brookeville that night, and the remainder next day at Cookesville. Among the number were Major Duane and Captain Michler, Engineers, United States army. At Cookesville our advance encountered and put to flight a small party of the enemy, and among the prisoners taken thee were some who said they belonged to the "Seven hundred loyal Eastern sharemen."
Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee reached the railroad soon after daylight, the march having continued all night. The bridge was burnt at Sykesville, and the track torn up at Hood's mill, where the main body crossed it. Measures were taken to intercept trains, but trains ran to the vicinity of the obstruction, took the alarm and ran back. The various telegraph lines were likewise cut, and communications of the enemy with Washington City thus cut off at every point, and Baltimore threatened. We remained in possession of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad nearly all day.
The enemy was ascertained to be moving through Frederick City northward, and it was important for me to reach our column with as little lelay as possible, to acquaint the Commanding-General with the nature of the enemy's movements, as well as to place with his column my cavalry force. The head of the column, following a ridge road, reached Westminister about 5 P. M. At this place our advance was obstinately disputed for a short time by a squadron of the First Delaware cavalry, but what were not killed were either captured or saved themselves by precipitate flight. In this brief engagement two officers of the Fourth Virginia cavalry, Lieutenants Pierre Gibson and Murray, were killed - gallant and meritorious, they were noble sacrifices to the cause. *[The ladies of the place begged to be allowed to superintend their interment, and in accordance with their wishes the bodies of these young heroes were left in their charge.] The fugitives were pursued a long distance on the Baltimore road, and I afterwards heard created a great panic in that city, impressing the authorities with the belief
that we were just at their heels. Here, for the first time since leaving Rector's cross-roads, we obtained a full supply of forage, but the delay and difficulty of procuring it kept many of the men up all night. Several flags and one piece of artillery, without a carriage, were captured here; the latter was spiked and left behind. We camped for the night a few miles beyond the town (Fitz. Lee's brigade in advance), halting the head of the column at Union Mills, midway between Westminister and Littlestown, on the Gettysburg road. It was ascertained here that night by scouts that the enemy's cavalry had reached Littlestown during the night and camped. Early next morning (June 30th) we resumed the march, direct by a cross route for Hanover, Pennsylvania - W. H. F. Lee's brigade in advance, Hampton in rear of the wagon train, and Fitz. Lee's brigade moving on the left flank between Littlestown and our road. About 10 A. M. the head of the column reached Hanover, and found a large column of cavalry passing through, going towards the gap of the mountains which I intended using.
The enemy soon discovered our approach, and made a demonstration towards attacking us, which was promptly met by a gallant charge by Chambliss' leading regiment, which not only repulsed the enemy, but drove him pell-mell through the town with half his numbers, capturing his ambulances and a large number of prisoners - all which were brought safely through to our train, but were closely followed by the enemy's fresh troops. If my command had been well closed now, this cavalry column, which we had struck near its rear, would have been at our mercy; but owing to the great elongation of the column, by reason of the two hundred wagons and hilly roads, Hampton was a long way behind, and lee was not yet heard from on the left. In retiring with the prisoners and ambulances, Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Payne, Fourth Virginia cavalry, temporarily in command of the Second North Carolina cavalry, was taken prisoner in a gallant attempt to cut off a body of the enemy by a flank movement on the town. The delay in getting up reinforcements enabled the enemy to regain possession of the town, by no means desirable to hold, as it was in a valley completely commanded by the heights in our possession, which were soon crowned by our artillery. Our position was impregnable to cavalry, even with so small a force. We cut the enemy's column in twain. General Fitz. Lee, in the meantime, fell upon the rear portion, driving it handsomely and capturing one of Kilpatrick's staff, and many other prisoners.
Our wagon train was now a subject of serious embarrassment, but I thought by making a detour to the right by Jefferson, I could save it. I, therefore, determined to try it, particularly as I was satisfied from every accessible source of information, as well as from the lapse of time, that the Army of Northern Virginia must be near the Susquehanna.
My numerous skirmishers had greatly diminished, almost exhausted, my supply of ammunition. I had this immense train in an enemy's country, very near a hostile army, and besides about four hundred prisoners, which had accumulated since the paroling at Cookesville. I, therefore, had the train closed up in park, and Hampton, arriving in the meantime, engaged the enemy farther to the right, and finally with his sharpshooters dislodged the enemy from the town - the enemy moving towards our left, apparently to reunite his broken column, but pressing us with dismounted men on our left flank. General Fitz. Lee's brigade was put at the head of the column, and he was instructed to push on with the train, through Jefferson, for York, Pennsylvania, and communicate as soon as practicable with our forces.
Hampton's brigade brought up the rear. We were not molested in our march, which, on account of the very exposed situation of our flank, and the enemy's knowledge of it, was continued during the night. The night's march, over a very dark road, was one of peculiar hardship, owing to the loss of rest to both men and horses. After a series of exciting combats and night marches, it was a severe tax to their endurance. Whole regiments slept in the saddle, their faithful animals keeping the road unguided. In some instances they fell from their horses overcome with physical fatigue and sleepiness.
Reaching Dover, Pennsylvania, on the morning of the 1st of July, I was unabled to find our forces. The most I could learn was that General Early had marched his division in the direction of Shippensburg, which the best information I could get seemed to indicate as the point of concentration of our troops. After as little rest as was compatible with the exhausted condition of the command, we pushed on for Carlisle, where we hoped to find a portion of the army. I arrived before that village by way of Dillstown in the afternoon. Our rations were entirely out. I desired to levy a contribution on the inhabitants for rations; but was informed before reaching it that it was held by a considerable force of militia, infantry and artillery, who were concealed in the buildings, with the view to entrap me upon my entrance into the town. They were frustrated in their intention, and although very peaceable in external aspect, I soon found the information I had received was correct. I disliked to subject the town to the consequences of attack; at the same time it was essential to us to procure rations. I, therefore, directed General Lee to send in a flag of truce, demanding unconditional surrender or bombardment. This was refused. I placed artillery in position commanding the town, took possession of the main avenues to the place, and repeated the demand. It was again refused, and I was forced to the alternative of shelling the place.
Although the houses were used by their sharpshooters while firing on our men, not a building was fired except the United States cavalry barracks, which were burnt by my order; the place having resisted my advance instead of peaceable surrender, as in the case of General Ewell.
General Fitz. Lee's brigade was charged with the duty of investing the place - the remaining brigades following at considerable intervals from Dover. Major-General W. F. Smith was in command of the force in Carlisle. The only obstacle to the enforcement of my threat was the scarcity of artillery ammunition. The whereabouts of our army was still a mystery; but during the night I received a dispatch from General Lee in answere to one sent by Major Venable from Dover, on Early's trail, that the army as at Gettysburg, and had been engaged on this day (1st July) with the enemy's advance. I instantly dispatched to Hampton to move ten miles that night on the road to Gettysburg, and gave orders to the other brigades with a view to reaching Gettysburg early next day, and started myself that night.
My advance reached Gettysburg July 2d, just in time to thwart a move of the enemy's cavalry upon our rear, by way of Hunterstown; after a fierce engagement, in which Hampton's brigade performed gallant service, a series of charges compelling the enemy to leave the field, and abandon his purpose. I took my position that day on the York and Heidelburg roads, on the left wing of the Army of Northern Virginia.
On the morning of the 3d of July, pursuant to instructions from the Commanding-General (the ground along our line of battle being totally impracticable for cavalry operations), I moved forward to a position to the left of General Ewell's left, and in advance of it, where a commanding ridge completely controlled a wide plain of cultivated fields stretching towards Hanover on the left, and reaching to the base of the mountain spurs among which the enemy held position. My command was increased by the addition of Jenkins's brigade, who here, in the presence of the enemy, allowed themselves to be supplied with but ten rounds of ammunition, although armed with the most approved Enfield musket. I moved this command and W. H. F. Lee's secretly through the woods to a position, and hoped to effect a surprise upon the enemy's rear; but Hampton's and Fitz. Lee's brigades, which had been ordered to follow me, unfortunately debouched into the open ground, disclosing the movement and causing a corresponding movement of a large force of the enemy's cavalry. Having been informed that Generals Hampton and Lee were up, I sent for them to come forward, so that I could show them, at a glance from the elevated ground I held, the situation, and arrange for further operations. My message was so long in finding General Hampton that he never reached me, and General Lee remained, as it was not deemed advisable at the time the message was delivered for both to leave their commands.
Before General Hampton had reached where I was, the enemy had deployed a heavy line of sharpshooters, and were advancing towards our position, which was very strong. Our artillery had, however, left the crest, which it was essential for it to occupy, on account of being too short range to compete with the longer range guns of the enemy, but I sent orders for its return. Jenkins' brigade was chiefly employed dismounted, and fought with decided effect until the ten rounds were expended, and then retreated under circumstances of difficulty and exposure, which entailed the loss of valuable men.
The left, where Hampton's and Lee's brigades were, by this time became heavily engaged as dismounted skirmishers.
My plan was to employ the enemy in front with sharpshooters and move a command of cavalry upon their left flank from the position lately held by me; but the falling back of Jenkins's men (that officer was wounded the day previous before reporting to me, and his brigade was now commanded by Colonel Ferguson, Sixteenth Virginia cavalry) caused a like movement of those on the left, and the enemy, sending forward a squadron or two, were about to cut off and capture a portion of our dismounted sharpshooters. To prevent this, I ordered forward the nearest cavalry regiment (one of W. H. F. Lee's), quickly to charge this force of cavalry. It was gallantly done, and about the same time a portion of General Fitz. Lee's command charged on the left - the First Virginia cavalry being most conspicuous. In these charges the impetuosity of those gallant fellows, after two weeks of hard marching and hard fighting on short rations, was not only extraordinary, but irresistible. The enemy's masses vanished before them like grain before the scythe, and that regiment elicited the admiration of every beholder, and eclipsed the many laurels already won by its gallant veterans. Their impetuosity carried them too far, and the charge being very much prolonged, their horses, already jaded by hard marching, failed under it. Their movement was too rapid to be stopped by couriers; and the enemy, perceiving it were turning upon them with fresh horses. The First North Carolina cavalry and Jeff. Davis legion were sent to their support; and gradually this hand-to-had fighting involved the greater portion of the command, till the enemy was driven from the field, which was now raked by their artillery, posted about three-quarters of a mile off-our officers and men behaving with the greatest heroism throughout.
Our own artillery commanding the same grounds, no more hand-to-hand fighting occurred, but the wounded were removed and the prisoners (a large number) taken to the rear. The enemy's loss was unmistakably heavy; numbers not known. Many of his killed and wounded fell into our hands.
That brave and distinguished officer, Brigadier-General Hampton, was seriously wounded twice in this engagement. Among the killed was Major Conner, a gallant and efficient officer of the Jeff. Davis legion. Several officers and many valuable men were killed and wounded, whose names it is not now in my power to furnish, but which, it is hoped, will be ultimately furnished in the reports of regimental and brigade commanders.
Notwithstanding the favorable results attained, I would have preferred a different method of attack, as already indicated; but I soon saw that entanglement, by the force of circumstances narrated, was unavoidable, and determined to make the best fight possible. General Fitz. Lee was always in the right place, and contributed his usual conspicuous share to the success of the day. Both he and the gallant First Virginia begged me (after the hot encounter) to allow them to take the enemy's battery, but I doubted the practicability of the ground for such a purpose.
During the day's operations, I held such a position as not only to render Ewell's left entirely secure, where the firing of my command, mistaken for that of the enemy, caused some apprehension, but commanded a view of the routes leading of the enemy's rear. Had the enemy's main body been dislodged, as was confidently hoped and expected, I was in precisely the right position to discover it and improve the opportunity. I watched keenly and anxiously the indications in his rear for that purpose - while, in the attack which I intended (which was forestalled by our troops being exposed to view) his cavalry would have separated from the main body, and gave promise of solid results and advantages.
After dark I directed a withdrawal to the York road, as our position was so far advanced as to make it hazardous at night, on account of the proximity of the enemy's infantry.
During the night of the 3d of July, the Commanding-General withdrew the main body to the ridges west of Gettysburg, and sent word to me to that effect, but his messenger missed me. I repaired to his headquarters during the latter part of the night, and received instructions as to the new line, and sent in compliance therewith a brigade (Fitz. Lee's) to Cashtown to protect our trains congregated there. My cavalry and artillery were somewhat jeopardized before I got back to my command, by the enemy's having occupied our late ground before my command could be notified of the change; none, however, were either lost captured.
During the 4th, which was quite rainy, written instructions were received from the Commanding-General as to the order of march back to the Potomac, to be undertaken at nightfall. In this order two brigades of cavalry (Baker's and Hampton's) were ordered to move, as heretofore stated, by way of Cashtown, guarding that flank, bringing up the rear on the road via Greenwood to Williamsport, which was the route designated for the main portion of the wagon trains and ambulances, under the special charge of Brigadier-General Imboden, who had a mixed command of artillery, infantry and cavalry (his own).
Previous to these instructions I had, at the instance of the Commanding-General, instructed Brigadier-General Robertson, whose two brigades (his own and Jones') were now on the right near Fairfield, Pennsylvania, that it was essentially necessary for him to hold the Jack Mountain passes. These included two prominent roads - the one north and the other south of Jack mountain, which is a sort of peak in the Blue Ridge chain.
In the order of march (retrograde) one corps (Hill's) preceded everything through the mountain; the baggage and prisoners of war, escorted by another corps (Longstreet's), occupied the centre, and the Third (Ewell's) brought up the rear. The cavalry was disposed of as follows: two brigades on the Cashtown road under General Fitz. Lee, and the remainder (Jenkins's and Chambliss'), under my immediate command, was directed to proceed by way of Emmettsburg, Maryland, so as to guard the other flank. I dispatched Captain Blackford, Corps Engineers, to General Robertson to inform him of my movement and direct his co-operation, as Emmettsburg was in his immediate front and was probably occupied by the enemy's cavalry. It was dark before I had passed the extreme right of our line; and having to pass through very dense woods, taking by-roads, it soon became so dark that it was impossible to proceed. We were in danger of losing the command as well as the road. It was raining also. We halted for several hours, when, having received a good guide, and it becoming more light, the march was resumed and just at dawn we entered Emmettsburg. We there learned that a large body of the enemy's cavalry (the citizens said 15,000, which I knew, of course, was exaggerated) had passed through that point the afternoon previous, going towards Monterey, one of the passes designated in my instructions to Brigadier-General Robertson. I halted for a short time to procure some rations; and examining my map,I saw that this force could either attempt to force one of those gaps, or foiled in that (as I supposed they would be), it would either turn to the right and bear off towards Fairfield, where it would meet with like repulse from Hill's or Longstreet's corps, or, turning to the left before reaching Monterey, would strike across by Oeiler's gap towards Hagerstown, and thus seriously threaten that portion of our trains which, under Imboden, would be passing down the Greencastle pike the next day, and interpose itself between the main body and its baggage. I did not consider that this force could seriously annoy any other portion of the command, under this order of march prescribed - particularly as it was believed that those gaps would be held by General Robertson till he could be reinforced by the main body. I, therefore, determined to adhere to my instructions, and proceed by way of Cavetown, by which I might intercept the enemy should he pass through OEiler's gap
In and around Emmettsburg we captured sixty or seventy prisoners of war, and some valuable hospital stores en route from Frederick to the army.
The march was resumed on the road to Frederick till we reached a small village called Cooperstown, where our route turned short to the right. Here I halted the column to feed, as the horses were much fatigued and famished. The column, after an hour's halt, continued through Harbaugh's valley by Zion church, to pass the Catoctin mountain. The road separated before debouching from the mountain - one fork leading to the left by Smithtown, and the other to the right, bearing more towards Leitersburg. I divided my command in order to make the passage more certain - Colonel Ferguson, commanding Jenkins' brigade, taking the left route, and Chambliss' brigade, which I accompanied, the other. Before reaching the west entrance to this pass, I found it held by the enemy, and had to dismount a large portion of the command and fight from crag to crag of the mountains to dislodge the enemy, already posted. Our passage was finally forced, and as my column emerged from the mountains it received the fire from the enemy's battery, posted to the left on the road to Boonsboro'. I ascertained, too, about this time, by the firing, that the party on the other route had met with resistance; and sent at once to apprize Colonel Ferguson of our passage, and directed him, if not already through, to withdraw and come by the same route I had followed. Our artillery was soon in position, and a few fires drove the enemy from his position.
I was told by a citizen that the party I had just attacked was the cavalry of Kilpatrick, who had claimed to have captured several thousand prisoners and four hundred or five hundred wagons from our forces near Monterey; but I was further informed that not ore than forty wagons accompanied them, and other facts I heard led me to believe the success was far overrated.
About this time, Captain Emack, Maryland cavalry, with his arm in a sling, came to us and reported that he had been in the fight of the night before, and partially confirmed the statement of the citizen, and informed me, to my surprise, that a large portion of Ewell's corps trains had preceded the army through the mountains.
It was nearly night, and I felt it of the first importance to open communication with the main army, particularly as I was led to believe that a portion of this force might still be hovering on its flanks. I sent a trusty and intelligent soldier, Private Robert W. Goode, First Virginia cavalry, to reach the Commanding-General by a route across the country, and relate to him what I knew, as well as what he might discover en route, and moved towards Leitersburg as soon as Colonel Ferguson came up, who, although his advance had forced the passage of the gap, upon the receipt of my dispatch turned back and came by the same route I had taken, thus making an unnecessary circuit of several miles, and not reaching me till after dark.
Having heard from the Commanding-General at Leitersburg about daylight next morning (six o'clock), and being satisfied that all of Kilpatrick's force had gone towards Boonsboro', I immediately, notwithstanding the march of a greater portion of both the preceding nights, set out towards Boonsboro'. Jones' brigade had now arrived by the route from Fairfield. Soon after night, Brigadier-General Jones, whose capture had been reported by Captain Emack, came from the direction of Williamsport, whither he had gone with the portion of the train which excaped.
The enemy's movement had separated him from his command, and he had made a very narrow escape. He informed me of Imboden's arrival at Williamsport.
Having reached Cavetown, I directed General Jones to proceed on the Boonsboro' road a few miles, and thence proceed to Funkstown, which point I desired him to hold, covering the eastern front of Hagerstown.
Chambliss' brigade proceeded direct from Leitersburg to Hagerstown, and Robertson's took the same route, both together a very small command.
Diverging from Jones' line of march at Cavetown, I proceeded with Jenkins' brigade by way of Chensville towards Hagerstown. Upon arriving at the former place, it was ascertained that the enemy was nearing Hagerstown with a large force of cavalry from the direction of Boonsboro', and Colonel Chambliss needed reinforcements. Jenkins' brigade was pushed forward, and arriving before Hagerstown, found the enemy in possession, and made an attack in flank by this road - Jones coming up further to the left, and opening with a few shots of artillery. A small body of infantry, under Brigadier-General Iverson, also held the north edge of the town, aided by the cavalry of Robertson and Chambliss. Our operations were here much embarrassed by our great difficulty in preventing this latter force in mistaking us for the enemy - several shots striking near our column. I felt sure that the enemy's designs were directed against Williamsport, where, I was informed by General Jones, our wagons were congregated in a narrow space at the foot of the hill near the river, which was too much swollen to admit their passage to the south bank. I, therefore, urged on all sides the most vigorous attack to save our trains at Williamsport. Our force was very perceptibly much smaller than the enemy's, but by a bold front and determined attack, with a reliance on that Help which has never failed me, I hoped to raise the siege of Williamsport, if, as I believed, that was the real object of the enemy's designs. Hagerstown is six miles from Williamsport - the country between being almost entirely cleared, but intersected by innumerable fences and ditches. The two places are connected by a lane and perfectly straight "macadamized" road.
The enemy's dismounted skirmishers fought from street to street, and some time elapsed before the town was entirely clear - the enemy taking the road first towards Sharpsburg, but afterwards turned to the Williamsport road. Just as the town was cleared, I heard the sound of artillery at Williamsport.
The cavalry, except the two brigades with General Fitz. Lee, were now pretty well concentrated at Hagerstown, and one column, under Colonel Chambliss, was pushed directly down the road after the enemy, while Robertson's two regiments and Jenkins' brigade kept to the left of the road, moving in a parallel direction to Chambliss. A portion of the Stuart horse artillery also accompanied the movement.
The first charge was gallantly executed by the leading brigade (Chambliss'), now numbering only a few hundred men - the Ninth and Thirteenth Virginia cavalry participating with marked gallantry. The column on the flank was now hurried up to attack the enemy in flank; but the obstacles, such as post and rail fences, delayed its progress so long, that the enemy had time to rally along a crest of rocks and fences, from which he opened with artillery, raking the road. Jenkins' brigade was ordered to dismount and deploy over the difficult ground. This was done with marked effect and boldness - Lieutenant-Colonel Witcher, as usual, distinguished himself by his courage and conduct. The enemy, thus dislodged, was closely pressed by the mounted cavalry, but made one effort at a counter charge, which was gallantly met and repulsed by Colonel James B. Bordon, commanding a fragment of the Fifth North Carolina cavalry - that officer exhibiting, under my eye, individual prowess deserving special commendation. The repulse was soon after converted into a rout by Colonel Lomax's regiment, Eleventh Virginia cavalry, Jones' brigade, which now took the road, and under the gallant leadership of its Colonel, with drawn sabres, charged down the turnpike under a fearful fire of artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel Funsten behaved with conspicuous gallantry in this charge, and Captain Winthrop, a volunteer aid of Lieutenant-General Longstreet, also bore himself most gallantly.
The enemy was now very near Williamsport, and this determined and vigorous attack in rear soon compelled him to raise the siege of that place and leave in hasty discomfiture by the Downsville road. His withdrawal was favored by night, which set in just as we reached the ridge overlooking Williamsport.
An important auxiliary to this attack was rendered by Brigadier-General Lee, who reached the vicinity of Williamsport by the Greencastle road very opportunely, and participated in the attack with his accustomed spirit.
Great credit is due the command for the fearless and determined manner in which they rushed upon the enemy, and compelled him to loose his hold upon the main portion of the transportation of the army.
Without this attack, it is certain that our trains would have fallen into the hands of the enemy. For, while some resistance was made by General Imboden, still the size and nature of his command, the peculiar conformation of the ground - overlooked by hills and approached by six plain roads - go to show conclusively that not even a display of Spartan heroism on the part of his command could have saved those wagons from the torch of the enemy. I communicated with him, after opening the road, by a Lieutenant whom I met but a short distance from the town. Officers present with General Imboden during the attack assure me I am right in the foregoing opinion.
I was apprized, when about midway, that Lieutenant-General Longstreet had arrived at Hagerstown.
As a part of the operations of this period, I will here report that about sixty of the wagons belonging to Lee's brigade, while in the special charge of General Imboden en route to Williamsport, near Mercersburg, were captured by the enemy. A court of inquiry has been convened to inquire into the circumstances of this capture. I, therefore, forbear animadversion on the subject.
My command bivouacked near Hagerstown, and I took position that night on the road leading from Hagerstown to Boonsboro'. The next day, July 7th, I proceeded to Downsville, establishing there a portion of Wofford's brigade, sent me for the purpose by General Longstreet, and posted Jenkins' cavalry brigade on that portion of our front in advance of the infantry. Robertson's brigade, being small and the enemy being least threatening from that direction, was assigned to the north front of Hagerstown, connecting with General Jones on the right on the Cavetown road. The Maryland cavalry was ordered on the National road and towards Greencastle on a scout. On the 8th the cavalry was thrown forward towards Boonsboro', advancing on the different roads in order, by a bold demonstration to threaten an advance upon the enemy, and thus cover the retrograde of the main body. The move was successful, the advance under General Jones encountering the enemy on the Boonsboro' road at Beaver Creek bridge, from which point to the verge of Boonsboro' an animated fight ensued, principally on foot, the ground being entirely too soft from recent rains to operate successfully with cavalry. This contest was participated in in a very handsome manner by the other brigades (Fitz. Lee's, Hampton's, now commanded by Baker, and W. H. F. Lee's, commanded by Chambliss) and the Stuart horse artillery. Prisoners taken assured us the main cavalry force of the enemy was in our front, which, notwithstanding their known superiority in numbers and range of fire arms, was driven steadily before us; our brave men, nothing daunted or dispirited by the reverses of the army, maintaining a predominance of pluck over the enemy calculated to excite the pride and admiration of beholders. Just as we neared the village, Jenkins' brigade, under Ferguson, moved up on the Williamsport road, driving the enemy on that flank in such a manner as to cause him to begin his withdrawal from the village to the mountain pass. His batteries had been driven away from the hill by the Napoleons of McGregor's battery - which, for close fighting, evinced this day their great superiority over rifle guns of greater number. About this time I was informed that the enemy was heavily reinforced, and that our ammunition, by this protracted engagement, was nearly exhausted; and despairing of getting possession of the town, which was completely commanded by artillery in the mountain gap, and believing that in compelling the enemy to act upon the defensive all that day retreating before us, the desired object had been fully attained, I began to retire towards Funkstown, except Jenkins' brigade, which was ordered to its former position on the Williamsport road. The enemy, observing this from his mountain perch, tried to profit by it with a vigorous movement on our heels, but was foiled.
As the last regiment was crossing the bridge over Beaver creek, a squadron of the enemy, more bold than its comrades, galloped forward as if to charge. Steadily a portion of the First North Carolina cavalry awaited their arrival within striking distance; but before reaching their vicinity, the enemy veered off across the fields, when a Blakely gun of Chews' battery, advantageously posted on a point, marked their movement, and although the squadron moved at a gallop, never did sportsman bring down his bird with more unerring shot than did the Blakely tell upon that squadron. In vain did it turn to the right and left - each shot seemed drawn to the flying target with fatal accuracy, until the enemy, driven by the shots of the Blakely and followed by the shouts of derision of our cavalry, escaped at full speed over the plain.
The command move leisurely to the vicinity of Funkstown and bivouacked for the night.
The fight of the 8th administered a quietus to the enemy on the 9th, and my command kept the position, in front of Funkstown, assigned to it the night before.
The left of our main line of battle now rested just in rear of Funkstown - on the Antietam - and some infantry and artillery was thrown forward as a support to the cavalry beyond. The enemy advanced on the 10th on the Boonsboro' road, and our cavalry was engaged dismounted nearly all day. General Jones was farther to the left on the Cavetown road, and the infantry was placed in position, covering Funkstown, with dismounted cavalry on each flank. The enemy's advance was handsomely repulsed, in which Lieutenant-Colonel Witcher's cavalry, on foot behind a stone fence immediately on the left of the turnpike, performed a very gallant part, standing their ground with unflinching tenacity.
On the left a portion of Fitz. Lee's brigade under Captain Wooldridge, Fourth Virginia cavalry, who handled his skirmishers with great skill and effect, compelled the enemy's infantry to seek cover in a body of woods, at some distance from our lines.
In this day's operations the infantry before mentioned participated very creditably indeed in the centre, and I regret exceedingly that I have not the means of knowing the regiments and commanders, so as to mention them with part particularly to which by their gallantry they are entitled; but their conduct has no doubt been duly chronicled by their commanders and laid before the Commanding-General, part of which was under his own eye.
Owing to the great ease with which the position at Funkstown could be flanked on the right, and by a secret movement at night the troops there cut off, it was deemed prudent to withdraw at night to the west side of the Antietam, which was accordingly done.
July 11th was not characterized by any general engagement, except that General Fitz. Lee, now on the right towards Downsville, was compelled to retire upon the main body; and the main body having assumed a shorter line, with its left resting on the National road, just west of Hagerstown, Chambliss' brigade was sent to that flank and General Fitz. Lee's also. The enemy made no movement on Jones' front, embracing the Funkstown and Cavetown roads.
On the 12th firing began early, and the enemy having advanced on several roads on Hagerstown, our cavalry forces retired without serious resistance, and massed on the left of the main body, reaching with heavy outposts the Conococheague on the National road. The infantry having already had time to entrench themselves, it was no longer desirable to defer the enemy's attack.
The 13the was spent in reconnoitring on the left - Rodes' division occupying the extreme left of our infantry, very near Hagerstown, a little north of the National road. Cavalry pickets were extended beyond the railroad leading to Chambersburg, and everything put in readiness to resist the enemy's attack.
The situation of our communications south of the Potomac caused the Commanding-General to desire more cavalry on that side, and accordingly Brigadier-General Jones' brigade (one of whose regiments, Twelfth Virginia cavalry, had been left in Jefferson) was detached and sent to cover our communication with Winchester.
The cavalry on the left consisted now of Fitz. Lee's, W. H. F. Lee's, Baker's, and Robertson's, brigades - the latter being a mere handful.
On the 13th skirmishing continued at intervals; but it appeared that the enemy, instead of attacking, was entrenching himself in our front, and the Commanding-General determined to cross the Potomac. The night of the 13th was chosen for this move, and the arduous and difficult task of bringing up the rear was, as usual, assigned to the cavalry. Just before night, which was unusually rainy, the cavalry was disposed from right to left to occupy, dismounted, the trenches of the infantry at dark - Fitz. Lee's brigade holding the line of Longstreet's corps, Baker's of Hill's corps, and the remainder of Ewell's corps.
A pontoon bridge had been constructed at Falling Waters, some miles below Williamsport, where Longstreet's and Hill's corps were to cross, and Ewell's corps was to ford the river at Williamsport in rear of which last, after daylight, the cavalry was also to cross, except that Fitz. Lee's brigade, should he find the pontoon bridge clear in time, was to cross at the bridge; otherwise, to cross at the ford at Williamsport. The operation was successfully performed by the cavalry. General Fitz. Lee, finding the bridge would not be clear in time in for his command, moved after daylight to the ford, sending two squadrons to cross in rear of the infantry at the bridge. These squadrons, mistaking Longstreet's rear for the rear of the army on that route, crossed over in rear of it. General Hill's troops, being notified that the squadrons would follow in his rear, were deceived by some of the enemy's cavalry, who approached very near in consequence of their belief that they were our cavalry. Although this unfortunate mistake deprived us of the lamented General Pettigrew, whom they mortally wounded, they paid the penalty of their temerity by losing most of their number in killed or wounded, if the accounts of those who witnessed it are to be credited.
The cavalry crossed at the fords without serious molestation, bringing up the rear on that route by 8 A. M. on the 14th. To Baker's (late Hampton's) brigade was assigned the duty of picketing the Potomac from Falling Waters to Hedgesville. The other brigades were moved back towards Leetown - Robertson's being sent to the fords of the Shenandoah, where he already had a picket, which, under Captain Johnston, of the North Carolina cavalry, had handsomely repulsed the enemy in their advance on Ashby's gap, inflicting severe loss, with great disparity in numbers.
Harper's Ferry was again in possession of the enemy, and Colonel Harman, Twelfth Virginia cavalry, had in an engagement with the enemy gained a decided success, but was himself captured by his horse falling.
Upon my arrival at the Bower that afternoon (15th), I learned that a large force of the enemy's cavalry was between Sheepherdstown and Leetown, and determined at once to attack him, in order to defeat any designs he might have in the direction of Martinsburg. I made disposition accordingly, concentrating cavalry in his front, and early on the 16th moved Fitz. Lee's brigade down the turnpike towards Shepherdstown, supported by Chambliss, who, though quite ill, with that commendable spirit which has always distinguished him, remained at the head of his brigade. Jenkins' brigade was ordered to advance on the road from Martinsburg towards Shepherdstown, so as by this combination to expose one of the enemy's flanks - while Jones, now near Charlestown, was notified of the attack, in order that he might co-operate; no positive orders were sent him, as his precise locality was not known.
These dispositions having been arranged, I was about to attack when I received a very urgent message from the Commanding-General to repair at once to his headquarters. I, therefore, committed to Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee the consummation of my plans, and reported at once to the Commanding-General, whom I found a Bunker Hill.
Returning in the afternoon, I proceeded to the scene of conflict on the turnpike, and found that General Fitz. Lee had, with his own and Chambliss' brigades, driven the enemy steadily to within a mile of Shepherdstown - Jenkins' brigade not having yet appeared on the left. It, however, soon afterward arrived in Fitz. Lee's rear and moved up to his support.
The ground was not practicable for cavalry, and the main body was dismounted and advanced in line of battle. The enemy retired to a strong position behind stone fences and barricades near Colonel Boteler's residence, and it being nearly dark, obstinately maintained his ground at this last point until dark, to cover his withdrawal.
Preparations were made to renew the attack vigorously next morning, but daybreak revealed that the enemy had retired towards Harper's Ferry. The enemy's loss in killed and wounded was heavy. We had several killed and wounded; and among the latter, Colonel James H. Drake, First Virginia cavalry, was mortally wounded, dying that night (16th), depriving his regiment of a brave and zealous leader and his country of one of her most patriotic defenders.
The Commanding-General was very desirous of my moving at once into Loundoun a large portion of my command; but the recent rains had so swollen the Shenandoah that it was impossible to ford it, and cavalry scouting parties had to swim their horses over.
In the interval of time from the 16th to the 22d of July, the enemy made a demonstration on Hedgesville, forcing back Baker's brigade. Desultory skirmishing was kept up on that front for several days with the enemy, while our infantry was engaged in tearing up the Baltimore and Ohio railroad near Martinsburg. Parts of Jones' brigade were also engaged with the enemy, in spirited conflicts, not herein referred to, resulting very creditably to our arms, near Fairfield, Pennsylvania, and on the Cavetown road from Hagerstown - the Sixth and Seventh Virginia cavalry being particularly distinguished. Accounts of these will be found in the reports of Brigadier-General Jones and Colonel Baker.
It soon became apparent that the enemy was moving upon our right flank, availing himself of the swollen condition of the Shenandoah to interpose his army, by a march along the east side of the Blue Ridge, between our present position and Richmond.
Longstreet's corps having already moved to counteract this effort, enough cavalry was sent, under Brigadier-General Robertson, for his advance guard through Front Royal and Chester gap, while Baker's brigade was ordered to bring up the rear of Ewell's corps - which was in rear -- and Jones' brigade was ordered to picket the lower Shenandoah as long as necessary for the safety of that flank, and then follow the movement of the army. Fitz. Lee's, W. H. F. Lee's, and Jenkins' brigades, by a forced march from the vicinity of Leetown through Millwood, endeavored to reach Manassas gap, so as to hold it on the flank of the army; but it was already in possession of the enemy, and the Shenandoah, still high, in order to be crossed without interfering with the march of the main army, had to be forded below Front Royal. The cavalry already mentioned, early on the 23d, by a by-path reached Chester gap, passing on the army's left, and, with great difficulty and a forced march, that night bivouacked below Gaines' cross-roads, holding the Rockford road and Warrenton turnpike, on which near Amissville the enemy had accumulated a large force of cavalry. On the 24th while moving forward to find the locality of the enemy, firing was heard towards Newling's cross-roads, which was afterwards ascertained to be a portion of the enemy's artillery firing on Hill's column marching on the Richmond road. Before the cavalry could reach the scene of action, the enemy had been driven off by the infantry, and on the 25th the march was continued and the line of the Rappahannock resumed.
In taking a retrospect of this campaign, it is necessary, in order to appreciate the value of the services of the cavalry, to correctly estimate the amount of labor to be performed, the difficulties to be encountered, and the very extended sphere of operations, mainly in the enemy's country.
In the exercise of the discretion vested in me by the Commanding-General, it was deemed practicable to move in the enemy's rear, intercepting his communications with his base - Washington - and inflicting damage upon his rear, to rejoin the army in Pennsylvania in time to participate in its actual conflicts. The result abundantly confirms my judgment as to the practicability as well as utility of the move. The main army, I was advised by the Commanding-General, would move in two columns for the Susquehanna. Early commanded the advance of that one of these columns to the eastward, and I was directed to communicate with him as early as practicable after crossing the Potomac and place my command on his right flank. It was expected I would find him in York. The newspapers of the enemy, my only source of information, chronicled his arrival there and at Wrightsville on the Susquehanna with great particularity. I, therefore, moved to join him in that vicinity. The enemy's army was moving in a direction parallel to me. I was apprized of its arrival at Taneytown when I was near Hanover, Pennsylvania, but believing from the lapse of time that already in York or at Harrisburg, where it could choose its battle-ground with the enemy, I hastened to place my command with it. It is believed that had the corps of Hill and Longstreet moved on, instead of halting near Chambersburg, that York could have been the place of concentration instead of Gettysburg.
This move of my command between the enemy's seat of government and the army charged with its defence, involved serious loss to the enemy in men and material, over one thousand prisoners having been captured, and spread terror and consternation to the very gates of the capital. The streets were barricaded for defence, as was also done in Baltimore on the day following. This move drew the enemy's overwhelming force of cavalry from its aggressive attitude towards our flank near Williamsport and Hagerstown to the defence of its own communications, now at my mercy. The entire Sixth army corps, in addition, was sent to intercept me at Westminister, arriving there the morning I left, which, in the result, prevented its participation in the first two days' fight at Gettysburg.
Our trains in transmit were thus not only secured, but it was done in a way that at the same time seriously injured the enemy. General Meade also detached four thousand troops, under General French, to escort public property to Washington from Frederick - a step which certainly would have been unnecessary but for my presence in his rear - thus weakening his army to that extent. In fact, although in his own country, he had to make large detachments to protect his rear and baggage. General Meade also complains that his movements were delayed by the detention of his cavalry in his rear; he might truthfully have added, by the movement in his rear of a large force of Confederate cavalry, capturing his trains and cutting all his communications with Washington.
It is not to be supposed such delay in his operations could have been so effectually caused by any other disposition of the cavalry. Moreover, considering York as the point of junction, as I had every reason to believe it would be, the route I took was quite as direct and more expeditious than the alternate one proposed; and there is reason to believe on that route that my command would have been divided up in the different gaps of South mountain, covering our flank, while the enemy, by concentration upon any one, could have greatly endangered our baggage and ordnance trains, without exposing his own.
It was thought by many that my command could have rendered more service had it been in advance of the army the first day at Gettysburg, and the Commanding-General complains of a want of cavalry on the occasion; but it must be remembered that the cavalry (Jenkins' brigade) specially selected for advance guard to the army by the Commanding-General, on account of its geographical location at the time, was available for this purpose, and had two batteries of horse artillery serving with it. If, therefore, the peculiar functions of cavalry with the army were not satisfactorily performed in the absence of my command, it should rather be attributed to the fact that Jenkins' brigade was not as efficient as it ought to have been, and as its numbers (3,800) on leaving Virginia warranted us in expecting. Even at that time by its reduction incident to the campaign, it numbered far more than the cavalry which successfully covered Jackson's flank movement at Chancellorsville, turned back Stoneman from the James, and drove 3,500 cavalry under Averill across the Rappahannock.
Properly handled, such a command should have done everything requisite, and left nothing to detract, by the remotest implication, from the brilliant exploits of their comrades, achieved under circumstances of great hardship and danger.
Arriving at York, I found that General Early had gone, and it is to be regretted that this officer failed to take any measure, by leaving an intelligent scout to watch for my coming, or a patrol to meet me to acquaint me with his destination. He had reason to expect me, and had been directed to look out for me. He heard my guns at Hanover, and correctly conjectured whose they were; but left me no clue to his destination on leaving York, which would have saved me a long and tedious march to Carlisle and thence back to Gettysburg. I was informed by citizens that he was going to Shippensburg. I still believed that most of our army was before Harrisburg, and justly regarded a march to Carlisle as the most likely to place me in communication with the main body. Besides, as a place for rationing my command, now entirely out, I believed it desirable.
The cavalry suffered much in this march, day and night, from loss of sleep and the horses from fatigue, and while in Fairfax for want of forage, not even grass being attainable.
In Fauquier the rough character of the roads and lack of facility for shoeing added to the casualties of every day's battle, and constant wear and tear of man and horse reduced the command very much in numbers. In this way some regiments were reduced to less than one hundred men; yet when my command arrived at Gettysburg, from the accessions which it received from the weak horses left to follow the command, it took its place in line of battle with a stoutness of heart and firmness of tread impressing one with the confidence of victory which was astounding, considering the hardness of the march lately endured.
With an aggregate loss of about 2,200 killed, wounded and missing, including the battle of Fleetwood, June 9th, we inflicted a loss on the enemy's cavalry confessedly near 5,000.
Some of the reports of subordinate commanders are herewith forwarded - others will follow - and it is hoped they will do justice to that individual prowess for which Confederate soldiery is most noted, and which the limits of personal observation, and this report, deprive me of the power of doing.
Appended will be found a statement of casualties and a map; also a list of non-commissioned officers and privates whose conduct, as bearers of dispatches and otherwise, entitle them to favorable mention.
The bravery, heroism, fortitude and devotion of my command is commenced to the special attention of the Commanding-General, and is worthy of the gratitude of their countrymen.
I desire to mention, among the Brigadier-Generals, one whose enlarged comprehension of the functions of cavalry, whose diligent attention to the preservation of its efficiency, and intelligent appreciation and faithful performance of the duties confided to him, point to as one of the first cavalry leaders on the continent and richly entitle him to promotion. I allude to Brigadier-General Fitz. Lee.
I cannot here particularize the conduct of the many officers who deserve special mention, of less rank than Brigadier-General, without extending my remarks more than would be proper. To my staff collectively, however, I feel at liberty to express thus officially my grateful appreciation of the zeal, fidelity and ability with which they discharged their several duties and labored to promote the success of the command.
Major Heros Von Brocke, Assistant Adjutant and Inspector-General - that gallant officer from Prussia, who so early espoused our cause - was disabled in Fauquier, so as to deprive me of his valuable services on the expedition; but it is hoped the command will not long be deprived of his inspiring presence on the field.
Major Henry B. McClellan, my Adjutant-General, was constantly at my side, and with his intelligence, ready pen and quick comprehension, greatly facilitated the discharge of my duties.
The untiring energy, force of character and devotion to duty of Major A. R. Venable, my Inspector-General, and Lieutenant G. M. Ryals, C. S. A., Provost-Marshal, deserve my special gratitude and praise.
The same qualities, united to a thorough knowledge of much of the country, are ascribable to Captain B. S. White, C. S. A., who, though still suffering from a severe wound received at Fleetwood, accompanied the command, and his services proclaim him an officer of merit and distinction.
Chief Surgeon Eliason, Captain Blackford, Engineers; Captain Cooke Ordnance Officer; Lieutenant Dabney, Aid-de-Camp; Assistant Engineer F. G. Robertson, and Cadet Hullihen, C. S. A., and Lieutenant H. Hagan, Virginia provisional army, all performed their duties with commendable zeal and credit.
Major Fitzhugh, Chief, and Captain J. M. Hanger, Assistant Quartermaster, and Major W. J. Johnson, Chief Commissary, discharged their arduous duties in their usually highly creditable manner.
First Lieutenant R. B. Kennon, P. A. C. S., temporarily attached, on two different occasions was entrusted with duties attended with great peril, which he performed in a highly successful and satisfactory manner - once in testing experimentally, at night, an unknown ford on the Potomac, and again in bearing a dispatch to the Commanding-General from Emmettsburg.
Grateful to the Giver of all Good for the attainment of such results with such small comparative losses, I have the honor to be, Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. E. B. STUART, Major-General.
Privates Benjamin F. Weller, Company "E," and Robert W. Goode, Company "G," First Virginia cavalry, as couriers at these headquarters, rendered distinguished service, exhibiting rare intelligence, great daring and heroism.
My field telegraph operator, J. Thompson Quarles, was present throughout, and when no opportunity offered for practicing in his profession, was active and enterprising in the discharge of other duties assigned him.
Acting Surgeon S. A. Nelson, Fourth Virginia cavalry, was ever faithful and indefatigable in his operations, and was ever ready and willing for duty.
J. E. B. STUART, Major-General, Commanding.
The Orange & Alexandria was Chartered by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia on March 27, 1848 and was authorized to run from Gordonsville through Orange Court House and Culpeper Court House to Alexandria. Construction on the mainline began in 1850. On May 6, 1851 the engine 'Pioneer' ran from the north end of Union Street to the Wilkes Street tunnel in the city and on May 7, 1851 the inaugural run extended from the western edge of downtown Alexandria to the waterfront, a total of under 2 miles. The railroad reached Tudor Hall (present day Manassas) in 1851, Culpeper Court House by 1853, and joined the Virginia Central Railroad at Gordonsville in 1854. Construction along much of its alignment followed the old Piedmont stage route. In 1854 the O & A was granted permission by the general assembly to build southward from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. The O&A railroad reached Lynchburg in 1860 where it accessed the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Between Gordonsville and Charlottesville the O & A paid the Virginia Central for use of its tracks.
The O&A's connections with the Manassas Gap, Virginia Central, and Virginia and Tennessee Railroads allowed piedmont farmers to ship their products, produce and goods much more cheaply than before and could transport goods by rail North, South, East and West. As a result of being the northern terminus of the railroad, Alexandria became a thriving seaport and manufacturing center. In addition to faster and cheaper delivery of freight, by 1860 passengers could go from Washington to Lynchburg in eight hours instead of the three-day travel before the railroad’s completion.
During the Civil War, the O&A was arguably the most fought over railroad in Virginia. The railroad provided the most direct all rail route from Washington to Richmond and the Orange and Alexandria would serve as a main highway for the troops to march on and be supplied. In moving down the O&A to the Virginia Central at Gordonsville, the Union Army would be taking the quickest land route to Richmond as well as cutting Southern communications with the Shenandoah Valley. The North almost relentlessly pursued this course of action for the first three years of the War.
The South vigorously defended the railroad against this invading force with the result that several major campaigns (First and Second Manassas, Bristoe) and dozens of battles and smaller engagements took place on or near the tracks of the O & A. The rail junction at Gordonsville would play a particularly prominent role in Robert E. Lee’s operations throughout the war. So important was this junction that it can probably be stated that nearly every soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia passed through it at one time or another.
Following the war, the railroad found itself in increasing financial difficulties. Repairs of the line were required and the company found itself caught in the middle of the struggle between the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania Railroad in their quest for extension into the south.
By 1873 the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had gained controlling interest in the company. In time, it would become part of the Richmond & Danville, then the Southern Railway, and finally today's Norfolk Southern where it plays an important role in carrying freight through the eastern corridor.
This page seeks to provide those with an interest in the Orange and Alexandria Railroad with some of the information I have compiled in my ongoing research. I am hoping to publish a book in the near future. Please feel free to write me if you have any information to contribute concerning the road.
Found at http://www.nvcc.edu/home/csiegel/
Vol. XIV-No. 4230, New York,
Saturday, April 15, 1865
Price four Cents.
{Front page, Headlines}
Awful Event, President Lincoln Shot by Assassin. The Deed Done in Fords Theater Last Night, The President Still Alive at Last Accounts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
{Official}
War Department
Washington, April 15 - 1:30 A.M.
Maj. - Gen. Dix:
This evening at about 9:30 P.M. at Fords Theater, the President, while sitting in his private box with Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Harris and Major Rathburn, was shot by an assassin, who suddenly entered the box and approached behind the President.
The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or knife, and made his escape in the rear of the theater.
The piatoi ball entered the back of the Presidents head and penetrated nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. The President has been insensible ever since it was inflicted, and is now dying.
About the same hour an assassin, whether the same or not, entered Mr. Sewards apartments, and under the pretense of having a prescription, was shown to the Secretaries sick chamber. The assassin immediately rushed to the bed and inflicted two or three stabs on the throat and two on the face. It is hoped the wounds many not be mortal. My apprehension is that they will prove fatal.
The nurse alarmed Mr. Fredrick Seward, who was in an adjoin room and hastened to the door of his fathers room, when he met the assassin, who inflicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The recovery of Fredrick Seward is doubtful.
It it not probable that the President will live throughout the night.
Gen. Grant and wife were advertised to be at the theater this evening, but he started to Burlington at 6 o'clock this evening.
At a Cabinet meeting at which Gen. Grant was present, the subject of the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace was discussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful and spoke very kindly of Gen. Lee and others of the Confederacy and of the establishment of government in Virginia.
All the members of the Cabinet except Mr. Seward, are now in attendance upon the President.
I have seem Mr. Seward, but he and Fredrick were both unconscious.
Edwin M.Stanton
Secretary of War
~~~~~~~~
Detail of the Occurrence
Washington, Friday, April 14 -12:30 A.M.
The President was shot in a theater tonight, and is perhaps, mortally wounded.
Secretary Seward was also assassinated.
Second Dispatch
Washington, Friday, April 14.
President Lincoln and wife with other friends, this evening visited Ford's Theater for the purpose of witnessing the performance of the "American Cousin".
It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but he took the late train of cars for New - Jersey.
The theater was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggesting nothing serious, until a man rushed to the front of the President's box, waving a long dagger in his right hand and exclaiming "sic semper tyrannis" and in the second tier, to the opposite side making his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience front, the rear of the theater and mounting a horse, fled.
The screams of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact to the audience that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet, rushing toward the stage, many exclaiming, "Hang him! Hang him!"
The excitement was of the wildest possible description, and of course there was an abrupt termination of the theatrical performance.
There was a rush toward the President's box. when cries were heard, "Stand back, and give him air." "Has any one stimulants." On a hasty examination, it was found that the President had been shot through the head, above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of the brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite to the theater, and the Surgeon - General of the army, and other surgeons sent for to attend to his condition.
On an examination of the private box blood was discovered on the back of the cushioned rocking chair on which the President had been sitting, also on the partition and on the floor. A common signal bar reled pocket pistol was found on the carpet.
A military guard was placed in front of the private residence to which the President had been conveyed. As immense crowd was in front of it, all deeply anxious to learn the condition of the President. It has been previous announced that the wound was mortal, but all hoped otherwise. The shock to the community was terrible.
The President was in a state of syncope, totally insensible and breathing slowly. The blood oozed from the wound at the back of his head. The surgeons exhausted every effort of medical skill, but all hope was gone. The parting of his family with the dying President is too sad for description.
At midnight, the Cabinet with Messers, Summer, Colfax and Farnsworth, Judge Curtis, Gov. Oglesby, Gen. Mriggs, Col. Hay and a few personal friends, with Surgeon General Barnes and his immediate assistants, were around his bedside.
The President and Mrs. Lincoln did not start for the theater until fifteen minutes after eight o'clock. Speaker Colfax was at the White House at the time, and the President stated to him that he was going although, Mrs. Lincoln had not been well, because the papers had announced that Gen. Grant and they were to be present and as Gen. Grant had gone North, he did not wish the audience to be disappointed.
He went with apparent reluctance and urged Mr. Colfax to go with him, but that gentle man had made other engagements and with Mr. Ashman, of Massachusetts, bid him good bye.
When the excitement at the theater was its wildest height, reports were circulated that Secretary Seward has also been assassinated.
On reaching this gentleness residence a crowd and a military guard were found at the door, and on entering it was ascertained that the reports were based on truth.
Everybody there was so excited that scarcely an intelligible word could be gathered, but the facts are substantially as follows:
About 10 o'clock a man rang the bell, and the call having been answered by a colored servant, he said he had come from Dr. Verdi, Secretary Sewards family physician, with a prescription, at the same time holding in his hand a small piece of folded paper, and saying in answer to a refusal that he must see the Secretary he was entrusted with particular directions concerning the medicine.
He still insisted on going up, although repeatedly informed that no one could enter the chamber. The man pushed the servant aside, and walked heavily toward the Secretary's room, and was then met by Mr. Fredrick Seward, of whom he demanded to see the Secretary, making the same representation which he did to the servant. What further passed in the way of colloquy is not known, but the man struck him on the head with a "billy" severely injuring the skull and felling him almost senseless. The assassin then rushed into the chamber and attacked Major Seward, Paymaster of the United States army and Mr. Hansell, the messenger of the State Department and two male nurses, disabling them all, he then rushed upon the Secretary, who was lying in bed in the same room and inflicted three stabs in the neck, but severing, it is thought and hoped, no arteries, though he bleed profusely.
The assassin then rushed down the stairs, mounted his horse at the door, and rode off before an alarm could be sounded and in the same manner as the assassin of the President.
It is believed that the injuries of the Secretary are not fatal, nor those of either of the others, although both the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary are very seriously injured.
Secretaries Stanton and Welles, and other prominent officers of the government called at Secretary Seward's house to inquire onto his condition, and there heard of the assassination of the President.
They then proceeded to the house where he was lying, exhibiting of course intense anxiety and solicitude. An immense crowed was gathered in front of the President's house, and a strong guard was also stationed there, many persons evidently supposing he would be brought to his home.
The entire city to - night presents a scene of wild excitement, accompanied by violent expressions of indignation, and the profoundest sorrow - many shed tears. The military patrols in every direction, in order, if possible to arrest the assassins. The whole metropolitan police are likewise vigilant for the same purpose.
The attacks both at the theater and at Secretary Seward's house, took place at about the same hour - 10- o'clock - thus showing a pre concerted plan to assassinate those gentlemen. SOme evidence of the guilt of the party who attacked the President are in the possession of the police.
Vice - President Johnson is in the city, and his headquarters are guarded by troops.
This date during the Civil War It will came up articles that show the hole war from day 1 to the last day.Her do i even need a person that can help me to fill up the date i not have put up. Contact me on may mail.
From April 1861 to April 1865, a brutal civil war was fought between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. The American Civil War is one of the most researched conflicts in modern history, yet many people still desire more knowledge about it.
NASHVILLE, February 10, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. GEORGE H. THOMAS,
Chattanooga:
Prepare to start for Knoxville on Saturday. I will order Logan to send to Chattanooga all the troops he can and still guard his line of road. The number will probably be about 5,000 men. One division of your command will have to move out to hold the road to the Hiwassee.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-generalÂ
CHATTANOOGA, February 10, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT, Nashville :
The engineer reports that he will have the railroad finished to Loudon on Friday next. As they are very much in need of supplies at Knoxville, I think it will be best to allow time for an accumulation there, before the troops from here move up. I will try to provide for the defense of the place by placing a division of General Logan's corps at Chickamauga Station, and Davis' division in front of Cleveland, to cover the railroad, taking with me Stanley's, Johnson's, and Baird's divisions. Will you order the division of Logan to move to this place as soon as possible?
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.Â
NASHVILLE, TENN., February 10, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. JOHN A. LOGAN,  Huntsville, Ala.:
Move to Chattanooga all the forces you can at once. The entire line of railroad must be guarded, but reduce the force to a minimum. Send no artillery. Let it remain where it is.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.Â
GENERAL ORDERS No. 1.
Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief:
I expect to get off from Chattanooga by Monday next a force to drive Longstreet out of East Tennessee. It has been impossible heretofore to subsist the troops necessary for this work.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 11, 1864--11 a.m.
 Maj. Gen. GEORGE H. THOMAS, Chattanooga:
Are not steamers carrying rations to Loudon? Cannot rations enough be got ahead by Monday to warrant your starting? It is important to move without much preparation so as to get off before the enemy can anticipate our movement and re-enforce Longstreet
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 11, 1864--8 p.m.
 Major-General GRANT, Nashville:
Your dispatch of 11 a.m. is received. Both railroad and steamboat are carrying subsistence and forage. The troops will be ready <ar58_366> to move Saturday. There will be but a very small garrison left here. Major-General Foster will arrive in Nashville at 4 a.m. to-morrow.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,  Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.
-----
Â
NASHVILLE, February 11, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD,  Knoxville, Tenn.:
I deem it of the utmost importance to drive Longstreet out immediately, so as to furlough the balance of our veterans, and to prepare for a spring campaign of our own choosing, instead of permitting the enemy to dictate it for us. Thomas is ordered to start 10,000 men, besides the remainder of Granger's corps, at once. He will take no artillery, but will take his artillery horses, and 3 mules to 100 men. He will probably start next Monday.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.Â
KNOXVILLE, February 11, 1864--10 a.m.
 Major-General GRANT:
Major-General Foster informed me that a raid upon Longstreet's rear had been projected through North Carolina, but its execution was suspended until my arrival. To make that raid now would use up all the effective cavalry horses and leave me destitute of cavalry, and I think it would be better to organize the cavalry I now have in Kentucky, and send it through Pound Gap upon Longstreet's rear. If at the same time one could be made up in the Kanawha Valley, and my force here be ready to move at the same time, we might hope for a complete success.
Please inform me what you think should be and can be done.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 11, 1864--12.30 p.m.
 Major-General THOMAS,  Chattanooga:
The two cavalry divisions in front are in tolerably good condition. They will be able to get forage north of the Little Tennessee for about two weeks. I think there must be some forage between the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee. The cavalry is not in condition to make any extensive movement without being entirely used up. I do not think it advisable to attempt one for the present. Sturgis has gone to Kentucky with one division to remount it.   - SCHOFIELD.
HEADQUARTERS FIFTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Huntsville, Ala., February 11, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U. S. GRANT,
Nashville, Tenn.:
Fourteen of my largest regiments of infantry from different commands along the line of railroad started this morning at 7 o'clock for the place designated. I have sent General Matthies in command, he being the only general officer now in the corps present except division commanders. If they are to remain at any given point I will leave him in command, but if to go to the front I will send some one else and relieve him. You will please notify me if it becomes necessary to send some other officer.
 JOHN A. LOGAN, Major-generalÂ
CHATTANOOGA, February 12, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT, Nashville:
Will Logan's troops reach here by Monday? I shall have to take nearly everybody away to make up 10,000 men, and therefore do not think it prudent to move before Logan's troops are near here.
 G. H. THOMAS, Major-general.Â
 <ar58_373>
NASHVILLE, February 12, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS:
Conversation with Major-General Foster has undecided me as to the propriety of the contemplated move against Longstreet. Schofield telegraphs the same views. I will take the matter into consideration during the day, after further talk with Foster, and give you the conclusion arrived at. If decided that you do not go I will instruct Schofield to let Granger send off his veterans at once.
Should you not be required to go into East Tennessee, could you not make a formidable reconnaissance toward Dalton, and, if successful in driving the enemy out, occupy that place and complete the railroad up to it this winter?
 GRANT, Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 12, 1864---1.30 p.m.
 Major-General THOMAS,  Chattanooga:
It is not practicable to move this army with artillery and wagon transportation before spring, and then the railroad will have to be relied on chiefly. The infantry might be supplied by a train of pack-mules from this place if forage for the mules can be brought here by rail until the railroad can be opened to any new position we may obtain.
With 10,000 additional infantry I believe I would be strong enough without artillery to drive Longstreet out of East Tennessee. I can have the pack train here by the 1st of March. If you can give me 10,000 infantry, and supply me here with provisions and forage, I am willing to undertake the rest.
My opinion is, however, that it would be wiser to wait until spring, but am willing to leave by the 1st of March, if time is deemed of sufficient importance.
I have telegraphed substantially the above to Major-General Grant.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,  Major-General, Commanding.
-----
CHATTANOOGA, February 12, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
I think an advance on Dalton would be successful, if you will let me have the division of Logan during the movement.
                                                         GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 12, 1864---3.20 p.m.
 Major-General THOMAS:
Logan's troops started yesterday morning. If I decide not to make the move at present into East Tennessee, I will send them back, unless you require them to aid in advance on Dalton. (See my telegram of this morning.(*))
 GRANT, Major-General.
 <ar58_374>
KNOXVILLE, February 12, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT:
If it is decided to advance from this point before the road will admit of wagon transportation, I can organize a train of pack-mules sufficient to supply the army from this place. It will take until the 1st of March, and perhaps longer, to accomplish it. Ten thousand additional infantry will be sufficient without artillery, unless Longstreet should receive re-enforcements. He has received none yet, unless it be some cavalry from Georgia. He has the railroad in running order to Strawberry Plains. His main force is still in the vicinity of Morristown. His cavalry are foraging south.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,  Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 12, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD,  Knoxville:
No movement will be made against Longstreet at present. Give your men and animals all the rest you can preparatory for early operations in the spring. Furlough all the veterans you deem it prudent to let go.
 U. S. GRANT,  Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 12, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD,  Knoxville, Tenn.:
You need not attempt the raid with the cavalry you now have. If that in Kentucky can recruit up it may do hereafter to send it on such an expedition. I have asked so often for a co-operative movement from the troops in West Virginia that I hardly expect to see anything to help us from there. General Halleck says they have not got men enough. Crook, however, has gone there and may undertake to strike the road about New River.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 12, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS, Chattanooga:
Will it be practicable for you to supply this command with forage by rail from Chattanooga? It will hardly be possible for us to subsist our animals more than two weeks longer.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General.
-----
HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Nashville, Tenn., February 12, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief, Washington:
GENERAL: I have got General Thomas ready to move with a force of about 14,000 infantry into East Tennessee to aid the forces there in expelling Longstreet from the State. He would have started on Monday next if I had not revoked the order. My reasons for doing this are these: General Foster, who is now here (or only left this <ar58_375> morning), says that our possession of the portion of East Tennessee is perfectly secure against all danger. The condition of the people within the rebel lines cannot be improved now after losing all they had. Longstreet, where he is, makes more secure other parts of our possessions. Our men, from scanty clothing and short rations, are not in good condition for an advance. There are but very few animals in East Tennessee in condition to move artillery or other stores. If we move against Longstreet with an overwhelming force he will simply fall back toward Virginia until he can be re-enforced or take up an impregnable position. The country being exhausted, all our supplies will have to be carried from Knoxville the whole distance advanced. We would be obliged to advance rapidly and return soon whether the object of the expedition was accomplished or not. Longstreet could return with impunity on the heels of our returning column, at least as far down the valley as he can supply himself from the road in his rear. Schofield telegraphs to the same effect. All these seem to be good reasons for abandoning the movement and I have therefore suspended it. Now that our men are ready for an advance, however, I have directed it to be made on Dalton, and hope to get possession of that place and hold it as a step toward a spring campaign. Our troops in East Tennessee are now clothed; rations are also accumulating. When Foster left most of the troops had ten days' supplies, with 500 barrels of flour and forty days' meat in store and the quantity increasing daily.
I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
Â
NASHVILLE, February 13, 1864--10 a.m.
 Maj. Gen. GEORGE H. THOMAS,  Chattanooga:
Logan, with fifteen regiments, is now on his way to Chattanooga. This will enable you to move forward with all your effective force. Start at the earliest practicable moment. It will be well to keep up the idea among the officers and men that they are going into East Tennessee until you actually start.
By this means the enemy may be deceived.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.Â
HATTANOOGA, TENN., February 13, 1864--8 p.m.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
Your dispatch of 10 a.m. this day is received. I will start as soon as possible after the arrival of General Logan's troops. Have received a rebel paper of the 9th to-day, which says that Sherman occupied Jackson, Miss., on the evening of the 5th; enemy falling back across Pearl River. Cavalry under Lee and Ferguson on west side. Loring is moving from his position (not named) to concentrate his forces with theirs in front of Sherman. Cars running through to Loudon. Telegraph will be finished to-morrow night.
 GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, TENN., February 13, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U. S. GRANT:
Your dispatch of the 11th is received. I will make all possible haste. Can probably be ready by the time re-enforcements arrive.
Can you send me a light pontoon train? If the rivers rise it will be indispensable.
I will try to take some artillery; if the weather continues dry there will be no difficulty. If the rainy season sets in we may have to work slowly along the railroad.
I will have to use pack-mules from this place, at least for a time. Forage, as well as provisions, will have to be sent here by railroad. I will need fresh horses for nearly all the artillery.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, TENN., February 13, 1864.
(Received 5 p.m.)
 Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,  General-in-Chief:
Dispatches just received from General Schofield and conversation with General Foster, who is now here, have determined me against moving immediately against Longstreet. I will write more fully. No danger whatever to be apprehended in East Tennessee.
 U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 13, 1864-10 a.m.
 Major-General THOMAS,  Chattanooga:
General Grant decides that the advance shall be made, and that you are to send me 10,000 infantry besides Stanley's division. Please inform me when they can probably reach this place. If you can send me good artillery horses I will try to take some artillery. I will have to rely upon pack-mules to carry provisions and forage from this place, and upon the railroad to bring forage as well as provisions here. I would be glad if you would send me the Fourteenth Corps in preference to other troops.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
 <ar58_385>
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, Tenn., February 13, 1864.
 Major-General SCHOFIELD,  Knoxville:
Since seeing General Foster, General Grant has decided to defer an advance on Longstreet for the present. I think, however, that it would be advisable to be prepared to repair Strawberry Plains bridge in the shortest possible time, so that if General Grant decides on making an advance that you can have the cars to depend on. If I can get rid of Johnston at Dalton I can spare you 10,000 infantry, and perhaps more in case of necessity. I learn to-night that the engineer, Mr. Wentz, thinks he can build a temporary bridge at Loudon in two weeks. If so, I think you will have no further difficulty. I would advise that you detain the steamer Lookout at Loudon as a ferry-boat until the bridge is finished. She will do you more service there than in running between that place and this.
Your quartermaster and commissary should confer with Colonels Easton and Porter, and make arrangements for the shipping of supplies of forage and subsistence.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
Â
NASHVILLE, February 13, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. JOHN A. LOGAN,  In the Field:
Halt your troops wherever you may be when this reaches you, and await further orders. It is possible you will not be required at Chattanooga.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.Â
KNOXVILLE, February 14, 1864--2 p.m.
 Major-General THOMAS:
I have reliable information that Longstreet has advanced to Strawberry Plains and has brought a pontoon bridge to the river near that place. I apprehend he intends to make a demonstration upon my front and send his cavalry around my left to cut the railroad between this place and Loudon. Possibly he may make a real attack on this place. I think the re-enforcements from your army should come forward as rapidly as practicable.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
 <ar58_390>
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 14, 1864--2 p.m.
 Major-General SCHOFIELD,  Knoxville:
Your dispatch of 13th, 10 a.m., received. Also letter from General Grant, same date. He defers the advance on Longstreet for the present, as I stated in my dispatch of last evening, 12 p.m.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 14, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. G. H. THOMAS,  Chattanooga:
Do you think it advisable for Logan to leave his trains at Stevenson and send his baggage up by boats? If so, advise him.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.Â
CHATTANOOGA, February 15, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT,  Nashville:
Your communication of the 13th, by General Elliott, was received yesterday. Seven regiments of Logan’s force have arrived. General Matthies reports that the remainder will reach here to-morrow.
My plan was to place Matthies in reserve, near Cleveland, and march with Stanley's division, supported by two brigades of Matthies's, on the road from Cleveland to Dalton, and, with the Fourteenth Army Corps, take the direct road from here to Dalton, covering my advance and right flank with cavalry.
I have thought of the route you suggest, but find upon inquiry that the roads across the mountains are so difficult that they can hardly be considered practicable at this season of the year· I have been considerably embarrassed by having Generals Stanley and Davis summoned before the McCook court of inquiry, just at this time; but if it continues to rain through the day, as it did all night, I think nothing will be gained by starting just yet.
In the mean time, Stanley and Davis can get back by Wednesday. Should the weather clear up, however, I will not wait· I intend to relieve as much of the cavalry at Calhoun as I can with infantry, and send it (the cavalry) toward Dalton, via Spring Place, in cooperation with Stanley's force.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, Commanding.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 15, 1864--6.30 p.m.
 Major-General THOMAS:
In consequence of Longstreet's movement in this direction, I have ordered one division of Granger's corps to this place. I think Stanley should move up as far as Athens and Sweet Water so as to protect the railroad. Longstreet has not advanced farther than Strawberry Plains. No further news from him to-day.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-Gener
NASHVILLE, February 16, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Knoxville:
I telegraphed you some days ago that conversation with General Foster had decided me not to make any push against Longstreet for the present; also, that you might now get off the veterans you think you can spare. At the same time every preparation should be made for as early a move in the spring as practicable. Clothing should be got for the men, and all the rations accumulated possible.
All new regiments you may receive during the winter, as well as any old ones back in Kentucky available for duty at the front, should be rendezvoused where they can be easily provisioned, and at the same time be on the road either to join the army in the field or form a column to march into Western Virginia [through] Pound (or Stone) Gap. There is probably such a force in Southwest Virginia as would prevent a cavalry force penetrating by that route unaided by infantry and artillery.
But it looks now to me as if a column should be pushed through by that or one of those routes in conjunction with an advance up Holston Valley. I have but little hope of Sturgis being able to reach Longstreet's rear unaided. If he is preparing for it, as I understand from Foster he is, let him try. I supposed, going without infantry or only a mounted force, he would go by Jonesville and Estillville. This enterprise would be hazardous, but would pay well if successful. The destruction of important bridges between Bristol and Saltville and of salt-works there would compensate for great risks.
Let me know what you think and wish in this matter, so as I will know how to dispose of such new troops as I may intend to add to your command.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-general
 <ar58_403>
CHATTANOOGA, February 16, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT,  Nashville:
I have just received a telegram from General Schofield, dated February 14, stating that he had reliable information that Longstreet had advanced to Strawberry Plains, and had brought up pontoon-boats. Schofield thought that he might intend to make a cavalry raid to cut his communication with Loudon, or that he might advance to attack Knoxville, and asks me to send him re-enforcements as early as practicable. What shall I do? If re-enforcements are sent to Knoxville they will be detained there for the winter, and cannot make an advance on Longstreet until the Loudon and Strawberry Plains bridges are rebuilt. It will also become necessary to give up any demonstration against Dalton. But if Schofield can hold Knoxville the demonstration on Dalton can be made, and I hope with success. Captain Gay, just from Knoxville, and gone to Nashville, does not mention such reports.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U.S. Volunteers.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 16, 1864---11 p.m.
 Major-General SCHOFIELD,  Knoxville:
Your dispatch of 2 p.m., 14th instant, just received. Have you any further information? If so, let me know. If it is not necessary to send troops to your assistance, I am directed by Major-General Grant to make a demonstration on Dalton. Answer immediately.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
Â
KNOXVILLE, February 16, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS,  Chattanooga:
Your dispatch of the 13th was not received until to-day. Major-General Grant directs me to furlough as many of the veterans as I can spare. I can hardly spare any unless you can send me some troops. If you can give me Stanley's division at Loudon and hold the road from that place to Chattanooga, I will be able to furlough more of my veterans.
Longstreet has occupied Strawberry Plains in force. I think of trying to dislodge him and hold that place, so as to repair the bridge and be ready to use the road. Otherwise I fear Longstreet will destroy it entirely. It will take my whole force to do it. Can you spare the men I suggest?
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
Your dispatch of the 12th, deferring movement, was received yesterday. I will get my command in condition as rapidly as possible. Can you tell me about what time the movement will probably be made? My preparations will depend somewhat upon the length of time. It will hardly be safe for me to send off any veterans, unless General Thomas can replace them by other troops. Longstreet's cavalry is so much superior to mine that I have to keep the railroad strongly guarded by infantry. I have telegraphed General Thomas on the subject.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 17, 1864--12.30 p.m.
 Maj. Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Knoxville:
Can you not by proper disposition of your cavalry and Granger's corps prevent any raid on your communications west of Knoxville? It is highly desirable Thomas should make a move for which he is now prepared, and which will be prevented by re-enforcing you. It is also desirable that the force at Knoxville should be kept at the lowest standard, so as to accumulate supplies for a large force when needed. It is hoped that Sherman's and Thomas' movements will throw the enemy into a position which will leave your army and Thomas' to act more as a unit.
 U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 17, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS:
Longstreet cannot afford to place his force between Knoxville and the Tennessee. If he does, it will then be time to move against him. The work of a raid on the road can soon be repaired, if it cannot be prevented. Make your contemplated move as soon as possible.
 GRANT, Major-General.
-----
CHATTANOOGA, TENN.,
February 17, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
Your dispatch of this morning received. I have had more obstacles to overcome than I had anticipated. I find it absolutely necessary to take artillery, for which I must have horses. I cannot say positively what day I shall start, but certainly by Monday. The destination is not known, as all think it is Schofield I am to re-enforce. The rebels have the same information from scouts. The heavy rain of Sunday has raised the Chickamauga so it is not fordable. I also desire to have Generals Stanley and Davis back.           GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General.
 <ar58_415>
KNOXVILLE, February 17, 1864--8 p.m.
 Major-General THOMAS:
Your dispatch of 11 p.m., 16th, is just received. Longstreet remains with his infantry, so far as I can learn, at Strawberry Plains, New Market, and Dandridge. Has made several demonstrations as if to cross at Strawberry Plains, but has not crossed.
He has sent three brigades of cavalry from near Sevierville along the foot of Chilhowee Mountains, with the apparent intention of crossing the Little Tennessee; his cavalry officers say, to make a raid upon the railroad in rear of Loudon, and then move into Georgia.
The river has risen so much that I think McCook's cavalry will be able to prevent his crossing the Little Tennessee. If you can leave Stanley's division on the road, I can do without other re-enforcement until you can make your demonstration on Dalton. I will have to retain the veterans. It is rumored in Longstreet's camp that his main force is to move into Georgia by the route taken by the three cavalry brigades. I think the cavalry movement is all [a feint], but will watch him closely.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 17, 1864--5 p.m.
 Major-General SCHOFIELD,  Knoxville:
General Grant thinks Longstreet cannot afford to place his force between Knoxville and the Tennessee River. If he does it will then be time for my advance against him. Keep me advised.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Commanding.Â
CHATTANOOGA, February 18, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT:
I regret to be obliged to report that I do not think I shall be able to take the field, the cold and damp weather having brought on an attack of neuralgia, from which I suffer intensely.
I am getting troops prepared as rapidly as possible, and will send them out under General Palmer if you think it best.
                                                     GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 18, 1864--2.30 p.m.
 Major-General THOMAS:
By all means send the expedition. I think it should move as soon as possible, for the effect it will have in favor of Sherman and also on affairs in East Tennessee. I regret that you cannot go.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 18, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
I can get along with what force I have, including Granger's corps, until General Thomas makes his move. I did not know one was contemplated when I suggested that he should send more troops.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-general.
 <ar58_422>
KNOXVILLE, February 18, 1864--1 p.m.
(Received 19th.)
 Major-General GRANT,
Nashville:
The belief is very general among citizens living within Longstreet's lines that he is making some movement toward Georgia, but I have not yet been able to get the facts in a reliable shape. The most reliable reports indicate that one division of infantry and a considerable force of cavalry have gone in that direction. The infantry is going up the French Broad. The cavalry the mountains into was to go down this side of the mountains and attempt to destroy the railroad below Loudon before crossing Georgia. They have failed so far to get across the Little Tennessee and have probably taken the other route.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 18, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS,
Chattanooga:
Longstreet moved his main infantry force from New Market toward Strawberry Plains yesterday morning. I have nothing more definite.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
CHATTANOOGA, February 18, 1864.
 General GORDON GRANGER:
Dispatch of this morning received. Wood's and Sheridan's divisions being temporarily detached from my command, I cannot give any orders regarding the furloughs of veteran regiments, but I believe General Grant has instructed General Schofield to let veteran regiments go home.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
 Major-General, Commanding.
CHATTANOOGA, February 19, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT,
Nashville, Tenn.:
Asst. Surg. Jacob Keller, Sixth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, arrived here yesterday from Dalton. He was captured at Lebanon, Ala., when General Logan sent out an expedition toward Rome. He reports Cleburne's division at Tunnel Hill; Stewart's division between Tunnel Hill and Dalton; Walker 2 miles out from Dalton, toward Spring Place; Cheatham at Dalton, and Stevenson's and Bate's divisions to the west of Dalton 2 miles. He saw all of the camps, and estimates their force between 30,000 and 40,000. He moreover states that no troops have been sent away, except one brigade of infantry, which went to Rome about the first of this month.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.
KNOXVILLE, February 20, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U. S. GRANT:
I sent a cavalry division toward Strawberry Plains to-day. It met a force of infantry from 3,000 to 5,000 strong on the east bank of Flat Creek, nearly all Longstreet's force. Infantry appears to be near Strawberry Plains, on either side of the river, and most of his cavalry south of the French Broad. I am at a loss to interpret his movements, unless he means to attack this place. This he will hardly do unless he has received re-enforcements. I can not learn of his having received any. I am prepared for him here, and will try to be for whatever he may attempt.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.Â
NASHVILLE, February 20, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Knoxville, Tenn.:
General Thomas was expected to move toward Dalton one week ago on Monday last at farthest. Rains prevented him. He will certainly move to-morrow.
Bear this in mind in the influence it will have on the enemy. Watch him closely, and if you can take any advantage of his movements do it. I do not think Longstreet should be allowed to quietly withdraw from Knoxville, nor to come up and invest the place without opposition. Cause him all the annoyance you can, either by demonstration or actual attack.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 20, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS:
Can you spare a pontoon bridge from Chattanooga to throw across the river at Decatur? If not, what objection to sending your arsenal bridge train from here to Decatur? If required at Chattanooga afterwards they can be towed up by our steamers or transported by rail as conveniently as from here. Answer.
 U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 20, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT:
I have no bridge here that I can spare at this time. The one you allude to can be spared for a short time. Please order it to be sent here as soon as it can be dispensed with.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
 Major-General, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
Â
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, Tenn., February 20, 1864.
 Col. ELI LONG,
Commanding, Calhoun:
A reconnaissance in force is to be made from this point in the direction of Dalton on Monday morning next. Cannot you send a cavalry force out upon the Spring Place road to observe the enemy's movements <ar58_435> during that time, remaining out Monday and Tuesday and returning Wednesday, unless it should be found that the enemy is falling back?
Brigadier-General Cruft, with his division, will be on your right upon the main road from Cleveland to Dalton.
 WM. D. WHIPPLE,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 20, 1864.
 Brig. Gen. CHARLES L. MATTHIES,
Comdg. Temporary Div., Fifteenth Army Corps, Cleveland:
During the movements which are about to take place from this point, commencing on Monday morning, the major-general commanding the department directs that you hold your force in readiness to move to any point at which it may be needed. The reconnaissance to be made will probably occupy three or four days.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
 WM. D. WHIPPLE,
Brigadier-General and Assistant Adjutant-General.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, Tenn., February 20, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. JOHN M. PALMER,
Commanding Reconnoitering Force, Chattanooga:
The major-general commanding the department directs that you make a reconnaissance in the direction of Dalton for the purpose of ascertaining, as far as practicable, the strength and position of the enemy at that place, Tunnel Hill, and along the line of the railroad from Dalton as far as Resaca, and should the enemy retire, to gain as much ground to your front as possible.
You will use for this purpose the troops now under your command, the First Division, Fourth Corps, commanded by Brig. Gen. Charles Cruft, and the cavalry under command of Col. W. P. Boone, both of which officers have been ordered to report to you. You will direct Colonel Boone to move out on the La Fayette road as far as Rock Spring, for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not that place is occupied by rebel cavalry, and, if so, and considered practicable, to attack and disperse them. Having accomplished his mission at that point, you will give Colonel Boone such orders as circumstances may require. Col. W. J. Palmer, commanding Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, will accompany and act with Colonel Boone as far as Rock Spring, from which point he will continue and make a reconnaissance through La Fayette, Broomtown Valley, and the head of McLemore's Cove.
You will start on this reconnaissance not later than Monday morning, the 22d instant. Col. T. J. Harrison, commanding Thirty-ninth Regiment Indiana Mounted Infantry, will be ordered to report to you for the purpose of keeping up the communication between General Cruft and your main force.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
 WM. D. WHIPPLE,
 Brigadier-General and Assistant Adjutant-General. Â
KNOXVILLE, February 21, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
I had not received your letter of the 16th when I answered your dispatch of the 18th, and hence did not understand its full import. Will write you fully to-day. The enemy retreated from Flat Creek yesterday after our reconnaissance. I have not heard whether they recrossed the Holston.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,  Major-General.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 21, 1864.
 Major-General SCHOFIELD,
Knoxville:
Please telegraph me what movements, if any, are being made by the enemy in your front; also, the present position, if you have reliable information respecting them.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding.
 <ar58_441>
KNOXVILLE, February 21, 1864--12.30 p.m.
 Maj. Gen. G. H. THOMAS:
Longstreet has crossed a considerable force of infantry at Strawberry Plains. I made a reconnaissance in that direction yesterday. Found from 3,000 to 5,000 infantry on the east bank of Flat Creek.
The enemy's cavalry seems to be all south of the French Broad, but I cannot hear of more than one brigade of infantry in that region. I have learned nothing more of the rumored movement toward Georgia. If any infantry has gone it is Johnson's division, about 3,000 strong, and it has gone up the French Broad.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 21, 1864--11 a.m.
 Maj. Gen. G. H. THOMAS,
Chattanooga:
Do your troops move to-morrow? It is important that at least a demonstration be made at once.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
 <ar58_443>
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 21, 1864--4 p.m.
 Major-General GRANT,  Nashville:
Your dispatch of this morning received. The troops will move to-morrow morning by daylight. Have sent you a copy of my instructions to General Palmer by courier this noon.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
CHATTANOOGA, February 21, 1864.
 Brigadier-General CRUFT,
Commanding First Division, Fourth Army Corps:
Leave Enyart at Ooltewah; take part of Matthies' command; go light; three days. Red Clay is your point for to-morrow night. Report by courier to me at Ringgold.
 JOHN M. PALMER,  Major-General, Commanding. Â
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 22, 1864-11.30 p.m.
 Major-General GRANT,
Nashville:
The following has been received from General Palmer at Ringgold, 10.30 p.m.:
We have reliable information that Cheatham's and Cleburne's divisions have gone to Demopolis. Cleburne left yesterday. General Cruft is at Red Clay to-night, and has pushed a reconnaissance toward Varnell's Station. Long has gone toward Dalton on the Spring Place road, with orders to push his reconnaissance as far as possible.
 GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 22, 1864--10.45 p.m.
 Major-General PALMER,
Ringgold:
Your report of the movement of the enemy is confirmed by report of a deserter. Push the reconnaissance with caution and endeavor to ascertain the truth of your information and mine. Colonel Long will reconnoiter as near Dalton as possible by the Spring Place road.
By command of Major-General Thomas:
 J.P. WILLARD, Captain and Aide-de-Camp.
 <ar58_445>
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, February 22, 1864.
 Major-General PALMER,
Ringgold:
Report as soon as you hear from Boone what information he has. If Cleburne is really moving toward Demopolis you had better give your entire attention to Dalton.
If you deem it necessary you can order Davis up to your support.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Chattanooga, Tenn., February 22, 1864.
 Major-General HOOKER,
Lookout Valley:
A scout has just come in and reports Cleburne's division at La Fayette with the intention of moving into McLemore's Cove this morning. He may intend to make a demonstration in this direction, or he may intend to attack the railroad between this and Bridgeport. Warn your troops to be on the lookout, and have the country observed in their front as far as possible.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Commanding.
-----
LOOKOUT VALLEY, February 22, 1864.
 Brigadier-General GEARY,
Bridgeport:
General Thomas informs me that a scout says that Cleburne's division has moved to La Fayette and intends attacking the railroad opposite Bridgeport, or between that and Chattanooga. In case you should hear of their approach be in readiness to send over the river as many of your men as can be spared from Bridgeport.
 HOOKER, Major-General.Â
KNOXVILLE, February 23, 1864--5.30 p.m.
(Received Nashville, 6 p.m.)
 Major-General GRANT:
I have not yet learned whether Longstreet has made any move of his main force. I am building a bridge as rapidly as possible and will take advantage of any move he may make as soon as possible.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General.Â
NASHVILLE, February 24, 1864--11 a.m.
 Maj. Gen. J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Knoxville, Tenn.:
Should you discover by your movement on Strawberry Plains that the enemy has retreated eastward and is abandoning East Tennessee, push him as far as practicable with your whole force, destroying effectually the railroads.
Relieve Granger's troops to return to Chattanooga as soon as you ascertain the enemy is gone and cannot be overtaken by infantry. Sherman's safety in Mississippi depends upon our efforts here. Thomas is moving with apparent success on Dalton.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
STRAWBERRY PLAINS, February 24, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
Your dispatch of 11 a.m. is just received. If Longstreet is leaving Tennessee with his whole force it will be impossible to overtake him. I will try to learn positively in time to let Granger's corps join General Thomas before Longstreet can reach Johnston. I will press forward as fast as possible.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General.
-----
STRAWBERRY PLAINS, February 24, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT:
Longstreet destroyed the ferry-boat and completed the destruction of railroad bridge and retreated from this place yesterday. From the best information I can get he is moving rapidly toward Virginia <ar58_457> or Georgia. As soon as I can cross the river I will push forward as far and as rapidly as possible. His main force has gone toward Goldsborough. The indications are that his whole force is going up the French Broad.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General.Â
CHATTANOOGA, February 24, 1864--4 a.m.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
Reports from the front just received. Our skirmishers engaged the enemy for some 4 miles, and drove them through Tunnel Hill on double-quick. A mile beyond town they formed, and brought up a battery of artillery. Colonel Long went within 3½ miles of Dalton, and drove a regiment of infantry out of winter quarters. Our main force encamped within 3 miles of Tunnel Hill last night, and will be on the road to Dalton to-morrow night.
 GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-general.
 Â
NASHVILLE, February 24, 1864--10.30 a.m.
 Maj. Gen. G. H. THOMAS:
Your dispatch received. Push the enemy as far as possible. If unable to carry Dalton, keep, at any rate, a heavy force threatening <ar58_459> it, so as to hold all the enemy there. Sherman's safety may be dependent upon your efforts. Should you drive the enemy out of Dalton, follow him as far as possible. If you have sufficiently recovered your health, I would like to have you go out to the front in person, if only to see the situation of affairs and return.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-general.
-----
CHATTANOOGA, February 24, 1864--9 p.m.
 Maj. Gen. U. S. GRANT:
Dispatch from Tunnel Hill, 4 p.m., says we have just gained possession of Tunnel Hill pass; small loss. Dispatch from Colonel McCook, of Elliott's cavalry, reports having captured, near Murphy, N. C., 5 commissioned officers, 65 men, and burned five wagons. Fifteen of Thomas' North Carolina Indians came in and surrendered themselves to Colonel McCook on the 22d. Your dispatch of 10.30 a.m. was not received until 5.30 p.m. I have ordered the enemy to be pushed as you directed, and shall start for the front in the morning.
 GEO. H. THOMAS, General.
-----
HEADQUARTERS FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Tunnel Hill, February 24, 1864.
(Received 6.30 p.m.)
 Brigadier-General CRUFT:
Grose is probably engaged on the railroad, as the sound of artillery can be distinctly heard in that direction. Ascertain and support him if necessary. Just heard sound of musketry.
 J. M. PALMER, Major-General, Commanding.
-----
HEADQUARTERS FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
February 24, 1864--12 m.
 Brigadier-General CRUFT,
Commanding, &c. :
GENERAL: Have you found a direct road to Dalton? Have you had a report from your reconnaissance? No news yet.
Respectfully,
 J. M. PALMER, Major-General, Commanding.
-----
STRAWBERRY PLAINS,
February 25, 1864--10 a.m.
 Major-General GRANT:
Longstreet's whole army has gone as far back as Morristown and Greeneville; at least a rebel captain who came in yesterday says Longstreet is ordered to Virginia. Some deserters also say the wagons were loaded and ordered to Bristol, five days rations having been issued to the men. It is quite uncertain whether Longstreet is going to Georgia or Virginia, and not quite certain whether he is leaving Tennessee at all. I will probably know the facts as soon as I can possibly advance from this place.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General.
-----
KNOXVILLE, February 25, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. U.S. GRANT:
I have not yet gained accurate information of the movements of Longstreet's army beyond Greeneville. The present appearance is that the most of it has gone toward Virginia. It will be impossible for me to move with any prospect of success before the 29th in force. Meanwhile I will know what disposition Longstreet has made of his army, and thus be able to judge what force I must take with me. I propose to take supplies enough to carry me to the Watauga, and if possible to the salt-works; without this my arrangements will not be complete, so I think it better to wait a few days to make these preparations than to move with only the three or four days' rations which the men can carry.
Please inform me whether this meets your views and wishes.
 J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-GeneralÂ
CHATTANOOGA, February 25, 1864.
 Major-General HOOKER:
I shall go to the front this morning to see how matters are progressing: may be gone for three or four days.
Keep scouts to your front on the watch toward Rome.
 GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General.
-----
HDQRS. FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Tunnel Hill, February 25, 1864--5.05 a.m.
 Brigadier-General CRUFT,
Commanding, &c. :
GENERAL: You will push forward with your column toward Dalton. Attack any force you may meet. I am on my way to join you. General Baird's division is marching to your support. Lieutenant Shaw is fully in possession of the plans.
By command of Major-General Palmer:
 D. W. NORTON, Major and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
-----
FEBRUARY 25, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT,
Nashville, Tenn.:
Reports just received from Vicksburg of the 19th instant, believed to be reliable, state that General Sherman entered and holds Selma after a severe fight. No particulars given.
 H. T. REID, Brigadier-General.Â
HDQRS. FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Near Buzzard Roost Gap, February 25, 1864.
The reconnaissance upon which the troops started having been completed and the enemy being found in force, the troops will be retired to-night to concentrate at or near Catoosa Platform. General Cruft, commanding First Division, Fourth Army Corps, will have charge of the protection of the left flank.
By command of Major-General Palmer:
 D. W. NORTON,  Major and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.Â
HEADQUARTERS FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Lee's House, February 26, 1864.
 Brigadier-General CRUFT,
Commanding First Division, Fourth Army Corps:
GENERAL: The major-general commanding desires you to have your troops put in a good defensive position at once. You will also direct the cavalry to make a sharp reconnaissance toward Dalton to feel the enemy.
By command of Major-General Palmer:
 D. W. NORTON, Major and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
 <ar58_475>  FEBRUARY 26, 1864---5.15 p.m.
 Brigadier-General CRUFT:
GENERAL: Dispatch received this moment. General Thomas has ordered all the troops to retire to-night to the neighborhood of Stone Church, and if not interrupted by the enemy to return to their camps to-morrow. Davis commences to retire at dark and Baird will probably leave here at 9 o'clock, at which time Grose and Champion ought to move. Leave some of your pickets as you retire, at proper points. The forage will be furnished Colonel Long; General Thomas ordered it back to Ringgold. Norton has shown you my note of this p.m.
Respectfully,
 J. M. PALMER, Major-General.
Â
NASHVILLE, TENN., February 27, 1864--2.30 p.m.
(Received 7 p.m.)
 Major-General HALLECK,
General-in-Chief:
The following dispatch just received from General Thomas:
TUNNEL HILL, February 26, 1864.
General GRANT:
I arrived here last night. Davis and Johnson occupy the pass at Buzzard Roost. They have a force equal to theirs in their front, who outnumber them in artillery. It is not possible to carry the place by assault. Palmer made the attempt to turn it yesterday with Baird's and Cruft's divisions, but was met by an equal force, exclusive of their cavalry, and in an equally strong position as at Buzzard Roost. After expending nearly all his ammunition he retired during the night to Catoosa Platform. Our transportation is poor and limited. We are not able to carry more than 60 rounds per man. Artillery horses so poor that Palmer could bring but sixteen pieces. The country is stripped entirely of subsistence and forage. The enemy's cavalry is much superior to ours. Prisoners taken yesterday report that a portion of Cleburne's division has returned. I will await the developments of this day, and advise you further.
GEO. H. THOMAS.
To which the following reply was sent:
NASHVILLE, February 27, 1864--11.30 a.m.
General GEORGE H. THOMAS,
Tunnel Hill:
It is of the utmost importance that the enemy should be held in full belief that an advance into the heart of the South is intended until the fate of General Sherman is fully known. The difficulties of supplies can be overcome by keeping your trains running between Chattanooga and your position. Take the depot trains at Chattanooga, yours, and General Howard's wagons. These can be replaced temporarily by returning. Veterans are returning daily. This will enable you to draw re-enforcements constantly to your front. Can you not also take a division from Howard's corps? General Schofield is instructed to send General Granger to you the moment it is safe to be without him.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-general.Â
NASHVILLE, TENN., February 27, 1864--5.30 p.m.
(Received 11.20 p.m.)
 Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,
General-in- Chief:
Your dispatch of 1.30 p.m. to-day received. General Thomas' movement, intended to keep force from leaving Johnston, has had the effect to bring back one division which had already started south. I feel that with a man like Sherman to command he is in no great danger. He will find an outlet. If in no other way, he will fall back on Pascagoula, and ship from there under protection of Farragut's fleet.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
CHATTANOOGA, February 27, 1864--10 p.m.
 Major-General GRANT,
Nashville :
Your two dispatches of this date received. I have just returned from the front. My troops, after ceaseless labor under the greatest embarrassment for want of transportation, reached within 3 miles of Dalton, where they were received by the enemy, strongly posted, and in force fully equal to my own in infantry. His artillery and cavalry was not only in better condition as regards horses, but was at least two to our one in pieces and men. We found the country entirely stripped of everything like forage, and our mules being in such poor condition that double the number of teams we now have could not supply the troops, I thought it best to come back to Ringgold, and, if workmen can be found by Colonel McCallum, to go to work deliberately to repair the railroad and advance as it progresses. The present condition of the roads is not good, and one day's rain would render the part across Chickamauga bottom impassable for loaded wagons; so it would be absolutely necessary to repair the railroad to supply the troops at Ringgold. The fact of working on the road would hold Johnston at Dalton unless he intended to leave under any circumstances. Howard's teams, and the depot teams at this place and Bridgeport, are in no better condition than those belonging to the divisions, all being composed of such mules as we have been able to keep up after a fashion during the winter. Johnston has no idea of leaving Dalton until compelled, and having a force greater than what I now have under my immediate command I cannot drive him from that place.
If Longstreet has retired, why can I not get Granger's two divisions and my First Cavalry Division back. The little cavalry I had on the expedition is completely worn down from constant work and for want of forage.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,  Major-General, U.S. Volunteers.Â
CHATTANOOGA, February 28, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT,
Nashville :
General Butterfield, by my direction, has recently examined the line between here and Nashville, and reports that he thinks 6,000 men will be sufficient to guard that line, two regiments of which force should be cavalry. From what I know of the road between Nashville and Decatur, 2,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry will be sufficient to protect that line. One thousand infantry will be sufficient to protect the line from Athens to Stevenson. Probably both lines of communication can be guarded by 6,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, a great portion of which should be made up from the local militia of Tennessee, or troops organized especially for the preservation of order in the State.
I believe, if I can commence the campaign with the Fourteenth and Fourth Corps in front, with Howard's corps in reserve, that I can move along the line of the railroad and overcome all opposition as far, at least, as Atlanta. I should want a strong division of cavalry in advance. As soon as Captain Merrill returns from his reconnaissance along the railroad lines, I can give you a definite estimate of the number of troops required to guard the bridges along the road.
 GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General, U. S. Volunteers
-----
CHATTANOOGA, February 28, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT,
Nashville :
I have caused a thorough examination of the railroad between this and Tunnel Hill to be made. The officer reports that with 400 of Colonel McCallum's construction corps the road can be put in complete <ar58_490> running order in six weeks from the time they commence. General Baird is now at Ringgold, and the whole of the road in his rear is protected, so this party can commence work immediately. The road from Cleveland to Dalton can be finished in a week, provided we can get the necessary rafts.
 THOMAS, Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 28, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS,
Chattanooga:
General Schofield was notified, as soon as it was reported that Longstreet was leaving East Tennessee, to return Granger's corps the moment it was known to be safe to do so. With the limited command now left to Schofield, you will, with Granger returned, have to hold to Loudon. Send Logan's troops back at the earliest moment you can dispense with them. Notify me when they start.
 U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 28, 1864.
 Major-General THOMAS:
Between this time and the commencement of an active spring campaign it will be necessary to get new guards for the road from Columbia to Stevenson via Decatur, so as to relieve Sherman's force for the field. Guarding that line protects the other to a great extent, and will of course enable you to remove many of your present railroad guards.
Make an estimate as soon as you can of the force that can be got in the way here suggested, and what new force in addition will be required to enable you to keep your present organization in the field.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
CHATTANOOGA, February 28, 1864--8.45 p.m.
 Maj. Gen. GORDON GRANGER,
Loudon:
As soon as the services of your command can be dispensed with by General Schofield, concentrate it in the vicinity of Cleveland, placing a sufficient number of troops on the Hiwassee to prevent the enemy from crossing that stream to raid on the railroad between Calhoun and Loudon. I wish the whole of McCook's division of cavalry to be concentrated as near Cleveland as possible, that he may be foraged easily, and that I may have his full services in observing our front in the direction of Dalton. I wish these dispositions to be made as soon as you are notified that your services in East Tennessee can be dispensed with. When so informed, make your headquarters at Cleveland, posting your infantry and artillery between that place and Dalton, so as to effectually guard the depot of supplies at Cleveland. Inform me as soon as you are relieved.
 GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.Â
NASHVILLE, February 29, 1864-- 6 p.m.
(Received 2.30 a.m., March. 3)
 Maj. Gen. H. W HALLECK,  General-in-Chief:
My last advices from General Schofield are dated 26th. Longstreet seems to be going into Virginia. Possibly some infantry and cavalry have gone south into Georgia. General Schofield could not follow farther than Strawberry Plains, except with cavalry, because every step took him from his supplies, while Longstreet was falling back on his base. The cavalry was directed to follow up and observe movement. I did not like, either, to move a force east while our army near Dalton was engaged with the enemy. General Thomas remained near Dalton as long as he could supply himself. He is back now to Ringgold, where he hopes to be able to haul supplies until the railroad can be completed to him. As soon as Schofield is heard from I will telegraph.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
-----
NASHVILLE, February 29, 1864.
 Major-General SCHOFIELD:
Whilst General Thomas is engaged in front of Dalton do not think it advisable for your forces to go up the valley. There is a possibility of it becoming necessary to re-enforce General Thomas with Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger's corps. For the present push your cavalry as close on to Longstreet as possible and learn all you can of his movements. Be prepared to move yourself if circumstances should require it. There is no movement of troops in West Virginia nor on Potomac.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-general.Â
NASHVILLE, February 29, 1864.
 Maj. Gen. G. H. THOMAS,
Chattanooga:
What is to prevent the troops commencing immediately the work of reconstruction on the railroad from Chattanooga toward Dalton? The Tenth Illinois veterans are now here on their way to the front. There has always been difficulty between this regiment and General Morgan since his promotion out of it. The good of the public service will be subserved by attaching this regiment to some other division than the one to which it now belongs.
General Morgan I always regarded as a superior officer whilst he was with me, but after an officer's promotion from a regiment it has been my policy to separate his command from that regiment. Upon promotions being made after the fall of Fort Donelson I adopted this rule and believe it is a good one. In the present case I know it will relieve feelings that have existed for more than a year.
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General.
 <ar58_497>
CHATTANOOGA, February 29, 1864.
 Major-General GRANT:
I have given orders for General Matthies to rejoin his command. He will start to-morrow. Has General Schofield been directed to relieve Granger and McCook and send them to me? I wish to place Granger's troops in front of Cleveland, protecting the road from there to Loudon; one or two regiments of McCook's cavalry at Calhoun, to prevent any flank movement of the enemy from Dalton in that direction. The balance of his troops to cover and observe our front. I have been making arrangements to-day to commence the reconstruction of the railroad between this and Dalton.
 GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers, Commanding.
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 25, 1862.
Major-General GRANT, Cairo, Ill.:
General J.A. McClernand will repair to Springfield, Ill., and assist the Governor in organizing volunteers.
H.W.HALLECK,
SIR: As it is possible, perhaps probable, that the debarkation
of the Mississippi expedition will be contested by the enemy,
it is considered important that it should be formed in part of
experienced troops. If the expedition should be limited at
first to 20,000 men, one-half or at least one-fourth of that
number should be of such troops, and I think they might be
taken from the Army of the Tennessee (with which I have been
identified) without material detriment to the public service,
particularly if their place should be filled by new troops,
and since the late defeat and dispersion of the enemy in West
Tennessee.
PAGE275 CHAP.XXIX.] CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.-UNION.
Taking a few regiments from that army, even if they were only
skeleton ones, and incorporating them with the expedition
would be to impart a martial spirit and tone which would be of
great value to it; hence I recommend that the Eighth,
Eleventh, Fourteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twentieth,
Twenty-eighth, and Thirtieth Illinois, and Forty-third
Illinois and Thirteenth Iowa, the Seventh and Eighth Missouri,
and Seventy-eighth Ohio be assigned to the expedition. Most,
if not all, of these regiments are sadly reduced and probably
would not average 400 effective men each, giving an aggregate
of only 5,200 men.
Some of the regiments named are still more desirable on
account of the officers commanding them. Among the number of
these officers are Colonel T. E. G. Ransom, of the Eleventh
Illinois; Colonel Crocker, of the Thirteenth Iowaa; Colonel
Leggett, of the Seventy-eighth Ohio, and Colonel C. C. Marsh,
of the Twentieth Illinois, who would make excellent brigade
commanders. I would also name Brigadier General L. F. Ross
and Brigadier General Morgan L. Smith, both now in West
Tennessee, for division commanders; and ask that First
Lieutenant James H. Wilson, of the Topographical Corps, be
assigned to duty as a member of my staff. I think this would
be agreeable to him.
The forces designed for the Mississippi expedition might be
concentrated either at Cairo or Memphis, there being
comparatively little difference in their eligibility as places
of rendezvous and for depots of military supplies.
Your obedient servant,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General.
WASHINGTON, CITY, October 15, 1862.
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
In compliance with your request I have the honor to submit a
plan for the organization of the army designed to form the
Mississippi expedition:
Twenty-four thousand infantry, 1,000 sharpshooters, 400
Sappers and Miners, 3,000 cavalry, 1,500 light artillery, 100
heavy artillery.
Number and caliber of guns required to arm ten batteries of
light
PAGE278 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. [CHAP.XXIX.
artillery; Fourteen 10-pounder Parrott guns; twenty-eight
Napoleon guns; six 24-pounder howitzers (brass); eight
6-pounder smooth-bore guns (brass); four 12-pounder howitzers
(brass).
Number and caliber of guns for siege train: Eight 30-pounder
Parrott guns; four 10-inch mortars.
Please assign Lieutenant James H. Wilson, Engineers, U. S.
Army, who is now here, for duty as a member of my staff.
Your obedient servant,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General.
CONFIDENTIAL.] WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, October 21, 1862.
Ordered, That Major-General McClernand be, and he is, directed to proceed to the States of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, to organize the troops remaining in those States and to be raised by volunteering or draft, and forward them with all dispatch to Memphis, Cairo, or such other points as may hereafter be designated by the general-in-chief, to the end that, when a sufficient force not required by the operations of General Grant's command shall be raised, an expedition may be organized under General McClernand's command against Vicksburg and to clear the Mississippi River and open navigation to New Orleans.
The forces so organized will remain subject to the designation of the general-in-chief, and be employed according to such exigencies as the service in his judgment may require.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
Major-General McCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Your telegram was received, and gratifies me. Everything is
favorable here for your expedition. I want to know your
address so as to communicate by mail facts that will gratify
and encourage you. I hope you will exert yourself diligently
so as to be on foot without delay.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
October 29, 1862.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Your telegram is received. You will receive a dispatch, which
will be mailed to-morrow, apprising you of movements here.
Every effort should be made to raise all the forces you can.
You will see to getting as many cavalry regiments as possible.
In respect to arms, do not suffer yourself to be misled by
captious and trifling complaints as to their quality. We shall improve them as fast as possible. Additional funds for pay and bounty will be remitted to-morrow. Get the troops forward as fast as possible. Let every hour advance your work.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
CONFIDENTIAL.] WAR DEPARTMENT.
Washington City, October 29, 1862.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
SIR: The importance of the expedition on the Mississippi is
every day becoming more manifest, and there will be the utmost
endeavor on the part of the Government to give it aid and
strength. In conversing with you I indicated the importance of
a coastwise expedition against Texas to aid you and create a
diversion of the enemy's force. Major-General Banks is now
organizing an expedition for that purpose, which will be in a
condition to co-operate with any movement that may be made,
after you have succeeded in clearing the Mississippi River.
I wish you to report as frequently as possible the progress
that you are making in organizing and sending forward troops,
specifying the number from each State.
Diligent attention should be given to providing yourself with
cavalry. I have authorized, and will give fresh authority if
needed, for raising any number of cavalry regiments.
Artillery has already been forwarded to Cairo, and you may
raise any number of artillery companies that you deem
necessary. These should be organized as independent companies,
to be attached to regiments separately or in battalions as
circumstances require. Artillery are not designed to have
regimental organization.
You will apprise me of your wants, which shall be promptly
supplied as far as may be in the power of the Department.
For your success time and diligence are, as you know,
important elements. Every confidence is reposed in your zeal
and skill, and I long to see you in the field striking
vigorous blows against the rebellion in its most vital point.
Yours, truly,
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,
Jackson, Tenn., October 29, 1862.
Major General WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, Memphis, Tenn.:
I am directed by General Grant to acknowledge the receipt of
your report of the 21st and letter of the 22d, and to say to
you his information is that Bowen is moving north of the
Hatchie, with the evident intention of getting on to the
Mississippi River to cut off navigation. An expedition will be
sent to cut him off from here.
A flag of truce from Corinth went into Holly Springs last
week. They allowed our officers to stay in town from Sunday at
3 o'clock p. m. till 10 a. m. Monday. They were taken to the
hotel and allowed every liberty. Van Dorn threw no restraint
around them, and seemed perfectly indifferent how much they
learned. Our officers estimated the force there at not over
25,000.
The enemy are beginning to move now. Price is at Ripley.
Information is in that troops are going south, possibly going
to Mobile. The general heartily approves your course in
expelling secession families as a punishment and preventive
example for guerrillas firing into boats. He would also
recommend that if it becomes necessary to distribute food to
the poor and destitute families, or to unemployed contrabands,
to make an assessment on the better provided secession
citizens to pay the expenses.
Rosecrans has been ordered to Cincinnati to receive further
orders. This is greatly to the relief of the general, who was
very much disappointed in him. This matter the general will
explain to you when he sees you. He much regrets that Hurlbut
is ordered away, and has telegraphed to have the order
countermanded.
Adjutant-General Fuller, of Illinois, telegraphed to-day that
in addition to eight regiments heretofore sent, one regiment,
the One hundred and third, is under orders to move Wednesday;
the One hundred and eleventh and Ninety-fifth within four days
afterward. He further telegraphs that ten more regiments can
be forwarded in next ten days if paid and armed. The general
will try and send troops to you; possibly not more than one
brigade armed, and one regiment without arms to take charge of
siege guns.
The general has abandoned all idea of the expedition. He finds Curtis indisposed to co-operate with him. From the newspaper and
Page308 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. [Chap.XXIX.
other reports it is probable that McClernand will go to Helena and lead whatever expeditions may move from there and report to Curtis. As soon as the promised re-enforcements arrive the
general will make arrangements for a forward move, and will
then send a staff officer to inform you fully of plans and how
he desires your co-operation.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
WM. S. HILLYER,
Colonel and Aide-de-Camp.
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
Everything will be pushed to the uttermost. You say, "Raise
all the force you can." Do you mean to give a latitude outside
of the call; also to raise cavalry regiments outside of the
some; and, if so, in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa?
JOHN A. MCCLERNAND.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Your telegram received. I mean to give to the Governors of
Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa latitude to raise for operations
on the Mississippi all the force they can of artillery,
infantry, and cavalry outside of the calls heretofore made;
but advanced pay and bounty are allowed only for those raised
within the calls and pursuant to previous orders. The local
interest and feeling in favor of the Mississippi operations
and your personal influence are relied on for the increased
force, as the bounty-funds will be exhausted by the previous
calls.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
Governor Morton's private secretary inquires when and where to
send troops. Governor Morton is on his way to Washington.
JOHN A. MCCLERNAND,
Major-General.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
October 31, 1862.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Orders have been sent Governor Morton to forward his regiments
to Columbus, on the Mississippi, as fast as possible.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
October 31, 1862.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Orders have been sent Governor Morton to forward his regiments
to Columbus, on the Mississippi, as fast as possible.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
HEADQUARTERS LEFT WING,
November 9, 1862 - 12 m.
[General GRANT:]
GENERAL: I have sent out parties to find Quinby. He camped at
Davis' Mill last night. He had a map such as I have; was
instructed to join McPherson at Lamar and to pick up a guide
on the way. I cannot think he is out of the way, but if it
shall prove so, he will speedily be brought back and set
right. McPherson probably thought him nearer than Davis' Mill
last night. I have little doubt the story brought by our man
who escaped is entirely the correct one; it agrees with what
McPherson said last night, as coming from the prisoners he had
captured.
If the enemy have concluded to stay at Coldwater would it not
be well to let them remain there until we can bag them. A big
haul now will be of the greatest importance at this juncture
of affairs. An officer who came in this morning from Jackson
says France and England have formally recognized the
Confederacy. If such be the case battles, to have any
importance, must be of the most decisive character, and we
ought to run no risk, but make sure of great things. Have you
heard from Sherman?
A letter from Wisconsin to-day advises me that the Wisconsin
regiments in the State, as also those of Pope's command, are
ordered to McClernand. Is that so? If I am unable to ride I
will come over this p. m.
Yours, respectfully,
C. S. HAMILTON,
Brigadier-General.
HEADQUARTERS,
Springfield, Ill., November 10, 1862.
Honorable E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
I received your order on the 21st ultimo at Washington to
proceed to Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa and take measures for
the preparation of the Mississippi expedition.
Leaving Washington on the morning of the 22nd I arrived at
Indianapolis on the 23d, and on the same day had an interview
with Governor Morton, who responded cordially to the project
of the proposed expedition.
Leaving Indianapolis on the 24th I arrived at this place on
the morning of the 25th, and immediately sought an interview
with Governor Yates, who also responded with similar
assurances.
As soon as the necessary dispatches could be prepared I
immediately sent Major Scates, assistant adjutant-general, to
Iowa, to see and confer with Governor Kirkwood, who also
entered zealously into the project.
When I reached here the impendency of the late election in
this State, and the interest felt in it by State officials, in
some degree impeded my efforts to forward the troops remaining
in the State.
I should also state in explanation of the tardiness attending
enlistments that the scarcity of necessary labor caused by the
very great number of troops sent from this State has hardly
left any of the adult male population behind at liberty to
leave their homes. Yet within the short space of sixteen days
I have completed the organization, mustered, and forwarded
from the different camps in Illinois six regiments of infantry
and one six-gun battery to Columbus, Ky., and six regiments of
infantry and one six-gun battery to Memphis, Tenn.
From Indiana I have forwarded five regiments of infantry, and
from Iowa three, also to Columbus, Ky. In addition to these
there is another regiment of infantry in Illinois now under
marching orders, and three others in the same State will be
mustered by the middle of the current week; and ten more in
Iowa, as I am informed, are only lacking overcoats, which I
hope soon to furnish. Besides these, probably by the 15th
instant twelve or more regiments from Illinois and Iowa may
Page333 Chap.XXIX.] CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. - UNION.
be moved, making twenty regiments of infantry and two
batteries gone and twelve nearly ready to go. Four other
regiments of infantry, six of cavalry, and four companies of
artillery are being enlisted in Illinois, and two other
regiments of infantry in Iowa.
Although enlistments in Illinois are less tardy now than
before the election, yet the probable delay that will attend
the completion of the cavalry and artillery organizations has
induced me to recommend to Governor Yates the consolidation of
all such deficient organizations after the 20th instant, in
order that such as may be completed by this process may be
hastened to the field.
Passing from these details to a subject of a more prominent
character, I wish to add that the avidity with which the
Mississippi expedition is embraced by the people of the
Northwest expose all who are charged with carrying it into
effect to the consequences of popular fury if they should fail
to do so. As for myself I hardly need reiterate the deep and
absorbing interest I feel in the enterprise and my entire
willingness to do all in my power to promote it. Yet if, from obstacles such as opposed you in the beginning or for other causes, the expedition has become an uncertainty or must be long delayed I trust you will cut my supposed connection with it and order me to other duty in the field at once. In the latter case my familiarity with the old troops of General Grant's command and the country in which he is operating would decide me, if I might be allowed a discretion, to prefer duty with him.
The blockade of the Mississippi River has left to the people
of the Northwest but one outlet for their immense surplus of
grains and live stock, and that by the lakes and railroads
alone, to the East. These channels are closed for the greater
portion of the most favorable season for moving these articles
to market, leaving the producers and traders at the discretion
of exclusive monopolists.
By combinations or otherwise corporations controlling these
outlets have raised freights to such high rates as either to
stop shipments or sacrifice traders. This evil operates most
oppressively upon the energies and enterprise of the people of
the Northwest on the one hand and most advantageously to
capitalists in the East owning those roads and the
manufacturing establishments furnishing the various fabrics
required for the use of the Army and Navy on the other. The
latter in a pecuniary aspect are deeply interested in
continuing it.
What is seen? A comparatively insignificant obstruction has
served to continue the blockade of the Mississippi River now
for five months, covering a space during which the products of
its valley are usually borne upon its waters to market, and
the period of the investment of Vicksburg by a strong flotilla
of gunboats.
In view of these facts, and the great addition which has been
made to our armies under the late calls for volunteers, and
the present inertness of the Mississippi Flotilla, the people
so deeply interested are illy disposed to receive any excuse
for further delay in removing that obstacle. Indeed, any
further delay must produce consequences which will seriously
complicate our national troubles by adding another
geographical question to the one which is now undergoing the
arbitrament of arms.
Already are there those who are beginning to look beyond the
pale of Federal authority for new guarantees for the freedom
of the Mississippi River. The late election, in some
instances, affords unmistakable indications of this fact. Not
a few of the candidates preferred to office are represented to
be opposed to the war and the policy that would continue it.
Nor is this altogether surprising, since the earlier
inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley, at one time despairing
of the Government's
Page334 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. [Chap. XXIX.
willingness or ability to assert their right to a place for
the deposit of their produce near the mouth of the Mississippi
River, began to look with growing favor to the transferring of
their allegiance to the Spanish Crown, then holding the outlet
of that river.
I am conscious that if something is not soon done to reopen
that great highway that a new party will spring into
existence, which will favor the recognition of the
independence of the so-called Confederate States, with the
view to eventual arrangements, either by treaty or union, for
the purpose of effecting that object.
The resentments of the people will be inflamed by demagogical
appeals designed to array the people of the West against the
people of the East upon the pretended ground that the latter
are in favor of continuing the war and the blockade of the
Mississippi, as a means of fostering the interest of their
trade, their manufactures, and their capital invested in both.
This sentiment is reprehensibly wrong; nay, criminal. Our
first and highest duty under Heaven is to preserve the Union
and the Government. This we must do; yet wise statesmen will
not overlook the difficulties and dangers which surround them,
but will avoid them by timely precautions.
In short, delay may bring another separation, and another
separation will entail endless collisions, which, after
wasting all the States, must sink them in anarchy and
wretchedness, like that which drapes Mexico in misery and
mourning.
Hence, in conclusion, let me appeal to you, and through you to
the President, to do something, and that something quickly, to
avert the rising storm, and insure a safe passage to our good
and beloved Ship of State through the strait that now
threatens her in the distance.
If I have spoken too freely, pardon my boldness. If I have
said too much, charge it to an honest zeal for the welfare of
my country, and forgive it.
Your obedient servant,
JOHN A. MCCLERNAND,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.
HEADQUARTERS,
Springfield, Ill., November 10, 1862.
Major General H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief:
I received the order of the Secretary of War on the 21st
ultimo at Washington to proceed to Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa
and take measures for the preparation of the Mississippi
expedition.
Leaving Washington on the morning of the 22nd I arrived at
Indianapolis on the 23d, and on the same day had an interview
with Governor Morton, who responded cordially to the project
of the proposed expedition.
Leaving Indianapolis on the 24th I arrived at this place on
the morning of the 25th, and immediately sought an interview
with Governor Yates, who also responded with similar
assurances.
As soon as the necessary dispatches could be prepared I
immediately sent Major Scates, assistant adjutant-general, to
Iowa, to see and confer with Governor Kirkwood, who also
entered zealously into the project.
When I reached here the impendency of the late election in
this State, and the interest felt in it by State officials, in
some degree impeded my efforts to forward the troops remaining
within the State.
I should also state in further explanation of the tardiness
attending enlistments that the scarcity of necessary labor
caused by the very great number of troops sent from this State
has hardly left any of the
Page335 Chap.XXIX.] CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. - UNION.
adult male population behind at liberty to leave their homes.
Yet within the short space of sixteen days I have completed
the organization, mustered, and forwarded from the different
camps in Illinois six regiments of infantry and one six-gun
battery to Columbus, Ky., and six regiments of infantry and
one six-gun battery to Memphis, Tenn.
From Indiana I have forwarded five regiments of infantry and
from Iowa three, also to Columbus, Ky. In addition to these
organizations already forwarded there is another regiment of
infantry in Illinois now under marching orders, and three
others in the same State will be mustered by the middle of the
current week; and ten more in Iowa, as I am informed, are only
lacking overcoats, which I hope soon to furnish. Besides
these, probably by the 15th instant twelve or more regiments
from Illinois and Iowa may be moved, making twenty regiments
of infantry and two batteries gone and twelve nearly ready to
go. Four other regiments of infantry, six of cavalry, and four
companies of artillery are being enlisted in Illinois, and two
other regiments of infantry in Iowa.
Although enlistments in Illinois are less tardy than before
the election, yet the probable delay that will attend the
completion of the cavalry and artillery organizations has
induced me to recommend to Governor Yates the consolidation of
all such deficient organizations after the 20th instant, in
order that such as may be completed by this process may be
hastened to the field.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN A. MCCLERNAND,
Major-General, U. S. Volunteers.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, November 10, 1862.
Major-General WRIGHT, Cincinnati, Ohio:
All spare troops are to be sent to Memphis.
H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., November 13, 1862 - 10.30 a. m.
Honorable E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
Five regiments Indiana infantry left yesterday for Memphis,
and the Sixty-third Regiment Indiana Infantry will leave
to-day. I infer that General Grant claims the right to change their destination, and to control all the troops sent to Columbus and Memphis.
JOHN A. MCCLERNAND,
Major-General.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,
La Grange, Tenn., November 14, 1862.
Major General WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, Memphis, Tenn.:
After writing to you by Colonel Grierson I received a dispatch
from General Halleck stating that in addition to troops
already ordered to this department some from Ohio and Kentucky
were also ordered, all to be collected at Memphis, from which
place a combined military and naval expedition would move on Vicksburg. This, taken in connection with the mysterious rumors of McClernand's command, left me in doubt as to what I should do. I therefore telegraphed Halleck to know if that
movement was to be made independent of mine here - if I was to
lie still where I am or to penetrate as far south as possible
with the means at hand; he replied that all troops sent into
the department would be under my control - fight the enemy my
own way.*
From information brought in by spies sent from Corinth by
General Rosecrans before he left there, the enemy are
expecting re-enforcements from Bragg's army and also from
Virginia. Have also been re-enforced by Holmes and Hindman.
This latter I do not credit.
---------------
* See Part I, p. 469.
---------------
Page348 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS.
[Chap.XXIX.
I think it advisable to move on the enemy as soon as you can
leave Memphis with two full divisions of twelve regiments of
infantry each and the proper proportion of other arms. If
troops should come sufficiently rapidly to enable you to bring
three divisions it would be more advisable. The country
through which you would pass would no doubt afford supplies of
forage. I will have provisions here to furnish you on arrival;
also ordnance stores. Not less than 300 rounds per man should
be brought from Memphis, however.
Our reconnaissances have driven the enemy to beyond the
Tallahatchie. Yesterday our cavalry went 6 or 7 miles beyond
Holly Springs, where they met five regiments of rebel cavalry
and infantry and a battery. Colonel Lee, of the Seventh Kansas
Cavalry, one of the best cavalry officers I ever saw, drove
them back, capturing, killing, and wounding a large number. He
has now taken since we have been here some 250 prisoners,
killed perhaps 50, and wounded a large number, with a loss on
his side of only 3 men wounded.
I am ready to move from here any day and only await your
movements. You can inform me by messenger what day you will
start, with what force and by what route, and I will make my
calculations accordingly.
The route you should take will depend upon the force you can
bring with you, the number of days' supplies you can
transport, and whether the enemy is materially re-enforced.
If you can move with three divisions and so as to reach Oxford
with three days' supplies, I would say go there; but I am not
advised whether the new regiments joining you are supplied
with transportation. I presume they are not. I will have here
from 500 to 600 wagons for a supply and ordnance train, and
the road in running order to beyond Holly Springs, probably to
the Tallahatchie.
If you cannot move to Oxford, and I don't expect it, the next
best place would be to move to Tallahatchie, or water some
place 6 miles west or southwest from Holly Springs. I would
then move to Holly Springs, so as to reach there at the same
time. All future plans could be arranged after our arrival at
these position.
I have asked to have three locomotives purchased and sent to
Memphis, with the view of having the Grenada and Memphis road
used.
I have ordered Lauman and will send Hurlbut to report to you
in a few days.
Let me hear from you by special messenger as soon as possible.
Any suggestions you may have to make will be gladly received
and duly considered.
I am exceedingly anxious to do something before the roads get
bad and before the enemy can intrench and re-enforce.
U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
P. S. - I inclose you summary of the information brought by
General Rosecrans' spies.*
WAR DEPARTMENT,
November 15, 1862 - 1.40 p. m.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Your several telegrams have been received, and, so far as
answer is required, will be answered by the general-in-chief,
to whom they have
---------------
* Not found.
---------------
Page349 Chap.XXIX.] CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. - UNION.
been referred. General Frank Blair will be attached to your
expedition, and ordered to Helena, that being designated as
one point of concentration. The troops sent to Helena are not
to be withdrawn from your command, but are only sent there
temporarily for organization, as at Memphis.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, November 15, 1862.
Major General JOHN A. MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
It is not important whether regiments go to Memphis or Helena.
Detachments will be made from both places for the same object.
General Curtis will send what he has to Helena. The Illinois
regiments at Alton, if not guarding prisoners, will be sent
down the Mississippi.
H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.
WASHINGTON, November 15, 1862.
Assistant Secretary FOX,
Navy Department:
DEAR SIR: By what day will Rear-Admiral Porter be ready to
operate down the river on Vicksburg, and with how many
gunboats?
Yours, truly,
H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
November 16, 1862 - 1.10 p. m.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
All the Indiana troops taken at Richmond have been exchanged.
This will increase the force for your expedition about eight
thousand.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
Washington, November 17, 1862.
Honorable F. P. BLAIR:
Your brother says you are solicitous to be ordered to join
General McClernand. I suppose you are ordered to Saint Helena; this means that you are to form part of McClernand's expedition as it moves down the river; and General McClernand is so informed. I will see General Halleck as to whether the
additional force you mention can go with you.
A. LINCOLN.
HEADQUARTERS,
Springfield, Ill., December 1, 1862.
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
When I entered upon the work of forwarding troops from
Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, preparatory to the Mississippi
River expedition, in pursuance of your orders of the 21st
ultimo, there were in Indiana twenty regiments of infantry,
one regiment of cavalry, and five companies of artillery; in
Illinois there were twenty regiments of infantry, three
regiments of cavalry, and five companies of artillery, and in
Iowa nineteen regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry,
and one company of artillery. In the mean time I have
forwarded from Indiana twelve regiments of infantry; from
Illinois sixteen regiments of in-
PAGE372 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. [CHAP. XXIX.
fantry and two companies of artillery, and from Iowa twelve
regiments of infantry. Leaving yet to be forwarded from
Indiana eight regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry,
and five companies of artillery; from Illinois four regiments
of infantry, three regiments of cavalry, and three companies
of artillery, and from Iowa seven regiments of infantry, one
regiment of cavalry, and one company of artillery.
A member of my staff, just returned from the capital of
Indiana, informs me that all proper arrangements are made for
the earliest dispatch of the troops remaining in that State
into the field. Another member of my staff, just returned from
Iowa, reports the same in regard to the troops remaining in
that State, and most all remaining in Illinois have gone or
are going forward.
I think a mustering, pay, and ordnance officer for each of
these States would amply suffice to close up the unfinished
business in each of them. The rest of the officers detailed
for those duties might be remanded to their commands.
Under these circumstances I trust it will meet with your views
to order me forward to Memphis, or such other rendezvous as
you may think preferable, in order that I may enter upon the
more advanced work of organizing, drilling, and disciplining
my command, preparatory to an early and successful movement,
having for its object the important end of liberating the
navigation of the Mississippi River.
Having worked early, assiduously, and zealously in this great
enterprise, having it at heart, and the Governors and people
of the Northwest having pronounced favorable upon it and, so
far as I can hear, upon me as the executor of it, I trust that
the honorable Secretary of War will continue to encourage me
by his sympathy and support.
I would further add, by way of explanation, that the
Eighty-seventh Illinois Regiment is retained at Shawneetown to
guard that frontier. The One hundred and thirty-first Illinois
had marching orders several days ago. The One hundred and
eighteenth and One hundred and twenty-eighth Illinois will be
started by the middle of this week, as will also two of the
Illinois batteries. There is little prospect of filling up the
cavalry regiments at present, except by consolidation, which I
have recommended. From Indiana the Sixteenth, Fiftieth,
Sixty-ninth, One hundred and first, and Sixty-seventh
Regiments Infantry have gone forward, and the following will
go one a day, beginning to-day, in the following order:
Sixtieth, Sixty-eighth, Sixty-sixth, and Eighty-ninth, so that
on Thursday next there will be left in this State only one
regiment of infantry, one company of artillery, and three
regiments of cavalry, raising; in Indiana eight regiments of
infantry, one of cavalry, and five companies of artillery, and
in Iowa seven regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one
of artillery.
I await your orders in the premises.
Your obedient servant.
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General and Superintendent Mustering Service.
HEADQUARTERS,
Springfield, Ill., December 2, 1862.
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
In pursuance of the authority with which you were pleased to
vest me, and agreeably to your expressed wish, I have
diligently striven to provide for the adequate increase of the
cavalry arm of the proposed Mississippi expedition; but in
consequence of the large draft made upon the male population
of military age for the prosecution of the war, and of
impediments interposed by the great demand for labor to carry
on industrial pursuits, have not succeeded to the desired
extent.
In view of this fact I would respectfully suggest a different
mode of accomplishing the same object. I would provide horses
or mules with equipments complete to mount at least one-fifth
of the whole infantry force of the expedition; or, if horses
or mules cannot be purchased in time, I would seize such as
might be found in the possession of disloyal citizens in the
hostile districts through which the column might pass.
Inferior animals of the description mentioned would answer, if
the best could not be had, as they would only be used
occasionally to meet an emergency requiring the rapid
conveyance of infantry from one place to another. Of course
the men would dismount in action.
I any event, however, saddle-blankets, bridles, rope for
halters, nosebags, and supers would be required.
If it should be objected that such service would tend to
demoralize the infantry (not so upon the plan I propose) I
would not charge them with the care of the animals except when
using them. At all other times they should be cared for by
slaves seeking refuge in my camp, or who had been impressed
for that purpose.
Thus mounted, the infantry would be prepared to perform the
double duty of men on foot and on horseback. By rapid
movements they could retard the advance of the foe, cut his
communications, destroy his trains, and harass him at every
step. In like manner they could rapidly pursue a retreating
foe and continually annoy and distress him. To add to their
efficiency I would also provide them with a suitable number of
mountain howitzers to meet any demand for artillery service;
and for the same purpose I would supply each battalion of
cavalry with two pieces of the same character.
If an example was required to illustrate the soundness of
these views I might refer to the success of the enemy in
capturing our forces at Murfreesborough, in Tennessee; in
overrunning Kentucky, and in signalizing these frequent raids
by the spoils torn from peaceful citizens.
Another question of great importance relates to the means to
be employed to transport army supplies. While it might not be
advisable to curtail the complement of wagons and teams
allowed to each regimental and other organization of the
forces, yet it is deemed highly important that suitable
provision should be made for converting the team animals into
pack animals whenever occasion might require it. Indeed such
provision is deemed indispensable to certainty and celerity of
movement
PAGE376 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. [CHAP. XXIX.
in the country in which it is supposed the column will operate
during the rainy season. Without it the frequent construction
of roads and bridges over low and marshy grounds much
necessarily cause much delay and disappointment.
The pack animals, properly equipped, can carry a burden of
200, even 300, pounds 20 miles a day. The equipments should
consist of packsaddles, with straps or ropes for fastening the
pack, and nose-bags-at least sixty to each regiment.
Your obedient servant,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General and Superintendent Mustering Service.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, D. C., December 7, 1862.
Major-General McCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Your letter of the 2nd instant reached be yesterday. Your
proposed change of organization and equipment requires careful
consideration and consultation with the General-in-Chief and
Quartermaster-General before it can be approved, and also
information from other heads of bureaus. I will have the
questions determined as speedily as possible; but you will
take no action on the subject until you receive instructions.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
HEADQUARTERS,
Springfield, Ill., December 12, 1862.
His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
Since my return here on the 25th October last, of orders to
assist the Governors of Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa in
mustering and forwarding troops, I have forwarded to the
rendezvous of the Mississippi expedition forty-nine regiments
of infantry and two batteries, containing upward of 40,000
men. There are still a few infantry regiments and batteries
nearly ready to march and a few others recruiting.
The work remaining to be done in those States may be
satisfactorily performed by the mustering officers of the U.
S. Army in those States, or by a member of my staff, and is
not of importance enough in my judgment to detain me from the
more advanced organization of the expedition and its movement
upon Vicksburg. May I not ask therefore to be sent forward
immediately?
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General.
HEADQUARTERS,
Springfield, Ill., December 12, 1862.
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
In the recent victory achieved by our arms at Praire Grove,
Ark., is as deceive as reported, why may not a considerable
portion of our forces in that quarter, including also a potion
of those south of Pilot Knob and Rolla in Missouri, be
assigned to the Mississippi expedition or to some other field
of service? I only ask the question suggestively.
I am anxiously awaiting your order sending me forward for duty
in connection with the Mississippi expedition.*
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General.
WASHINGTON, December 12, 1862.
Major General SAMUEL R. CURTIS, Saint Louis:
GENERAL: Your communication of the 4th, in regard to the
Grenada expedition, is received and the explanations
satisfactory.
In the numerous telegram and dispatches sent from office daily
some errors will necessarily occur. The language of my
telegram of November 3 is perhaps a little ambiguous, but was
not intended to authorize the sending of troops from Helena to
Grenada. The first object of sending troops to Saint Helena
was stated to be the capture of Little Rock, which has been
continuously urged on me for the last six months. If that
could not be done then they would be used to-operate with
Grant's intended movement on Grenada. This was the idea
intended to be conveyed. It was by no mean intended that they
should be sent to Grenada. The President had directed that all
available troops on the Mississippi be sent to another place.
I consequently ordered General Grant not to move on Grenada,
but was informed by him that Steele had already moved from
Helena on Grenada, and if he (Grant) did not co-operate
Steele's forces might be cut off. This very much
---------------
* See p. 413.
26 R R - VOL XVII, PT II
---------------
Page402 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS.
[CHAP.XXIX.
surprised me, as your suggestion to send them had not yet been
acted on. I was thus placed in a position where I could not
carry out the President's wishes either by moving the Helena
forces on Little Rock or down the Mississippi River. As I had
neither ordered nor consented to the sending of these troops
into the interior of Mississippi I was exceedingly annoyed at
its being done at the very time when they were wanted
elsewhere. On referring to my telegram of November 3 I find
that its words are not fully expressive of my meaning.
The movements on the Western rivers are frequently determined
on by the joint action of War and Navy Departments, and it
sometimes happens that I can give no answer to the proposed
plans of our generals in the West.
In regard to the proposed expedition down the Mississippi and its commander I can give you no reply. I have been informed that the President has selected a special commander, and that instructions have been or will be given to him by the War Department. If so they have not been communicated to me, and
until I receive them I shall consider the officer of the
highest rank as the commander, whoever he may be. Probably the
whole matter will be decided on in a few days, but how I do
not know.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, December 15, 1862.
Major-General McCLERNAND, Springfield:
I had supposed that you had received your orders from the
General-in-Chief. I will see him and have the matter attended to without delay.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., December 16, 1862.
Major General H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief:
Having substantially accomplished the purpose of the order
sending me to the States of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, by
forwarding upward of 40,000 troops, as more particularly
explained in my letter of the 1st instant to the Secretary of
War and refereed by him to you, I beg to be sent forward, in
accordance with the order of the Secretary of War of the 21st
of October giving me command of the Mississippi expedition.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., December 17, 1862 - 9 a. m.
(Received 10.16 a. m.)
His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
President of the United States:
I believe I am superseded. Please advise me.,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., December 17, 1862 - 9 a. m.
(Received 10.16 a. m.)
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
I believe I have been superseded. Please inquire and let me
know whether it is and shall be so.
JOHN A. McCLERNAND,
Major-General.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, D. C., December 17, 1862.
Major-General McCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
Your telegram this movement received. It surprises me, but I
will ascertain and let you know immediately.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., December 17, 1862.
Major-General McCLERNAND, Springfield , Ill.:
There has been, as I informed by General Halleck, no order
superseding you. It was designed, as you know, to organize the
troops for your expedition after they should reach Memphis or
the place designated as their rendezvous. The troops having
been sent forward they are now to be organized. The operations
being in General Grant's department, it is designed to organize all the troops of that department in three army corps, the First Army Corps to be commanded by you, and assigned to the operations on the Mississippi under the general supervision of the general commanding the department. General Halleck is to issue
the order immediately.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,
Oxford, Miss., December 18, 1862.
Major General JOHN A. McCLERNAND:
GENERAL: I have been directed this moment by telegram from the General-in-Chief of Army to divide the forces of this department into four army corps, one of which is to be commanded by yourself, and that to form a part of the expedition on Vicksburg.*
I have draughted the order and will forward it to you as soon
as printed. The division now commanded by Brigadier General
George W. Morgan and Brigadier General A. J. Smith will
compose all of it that will accompany you on the expedition,
and the divisions of Brigadier General F. Steele and
Brigadier General M. L. Smith will accompany you, and will
be commanded directly by Major General W. T. Sherman, who
will command the army corps of which they are a part. Written
and verbal instructions have been given General Sherman, which
will be turned over to you on your arrival at Memphis.
I hope you will find all the preliminary preparations completed on your arrival and the expedition ready to move.
I will co-operate with the river expedition from here,
commanding this portion of the army in person.
Major-General Hurlbut will have command of the Third Army
Corps, most of which is here with me. He will therefore be
directed to report immediately to these headquarters for
orders.
The instructions now with General Sherman provide for the
garrison of Memphis, and forms part of the Second Army Corps.
The District of Columbus is attached to your command, but for
the present will report direct to these headquarters and will
receive orders direct also.
It is desirable that there should be no delay in starting. If
unforeseen obstacles should be in your way, however, inform me
of it by messengers to Columbus and by telegraph from there.
Also send me a field return of your entire command - that is,
of the river expedition - before starting.
U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
OXFORD, MISS., December 18, 1862.
Brigadier General THOMAS A. DAVIES, columbus, Ky.:
Please send the following dispatch to General Sherman, at
Memphis:
WASHINGTON, December 18, 1862 - 10.30 a. m.
Major General U. S. GRANT:
The troops in your department, including those from Curtis'
command which join down-river expedition, will be divided into four army corps. It is the wish of the President that General McClernand's corps shall constitute a part of the river expedition, and that he shall have the immediate command, under your direction.
H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.
Inform General Sherman that his army corps will be composed of Steele's forces and General Morgan L. Smith's division, and General McClernand's of the divisions of Generals A. J. Smith and Morgan, and that General McClernand and he will descend the river.
U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
---------------
* See McClernand to Sherman, January 4, 1863, p. 534, and Part
I, p. 476.
HDQRS. RIGHT WING, THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Memphis, December 18, 1862.
Colonel JOHN A. RAWLINS,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Oxford, Miss.:
SIR: Captain H. S. Fitch arrived last night with your
dispatches of December 15 and 16. All right. I am now in full
receipt of letters from Colonel Parsons, General Allen's agent
for chartering boats, who assures me plenty of boats will be
here to-day. I am promised the names of some sixty boats. I
have some fifteen here now loading, and have at helena about
ten, and am momentarily looking for the whole fleet. As soon
as they arrive I will be aboard and off for Helena.
Admiral Porter is just in from above, having been detained
four days by low water, but his letters are all we could ask.
I am also informed that there is a rise in the water above, so
that the fleet of boats ought not to be longer delayed. Every
possible preparation has been made, so that no moment should
be lost. If the fleet comes to-day all shall be on board
to-morrow, and I hope to be at Helena the 20th and at
Milliken's Bend, where we shall first begin to act, by the
23rd or 24th. Nothing is wanting but the boats, and I feel
every assurance they will be here to-day. I was all ready, so
that even the loss of the one day must not be charged to me.
Generals Gorman and Steele both write me most satisfactorily
from Helena, and indeed we must admit they have fulfilled
their parts handsomely. I give Steele full command of the
division at Helena, which, by the addition of Blair's brigade,
part of which (three regiments) have passed and two more
reported near at hand, will reach near 13,000 men, so that I
hope to have 33,000 men. Such a force operating at vicksburg
in concert with the gunboats will make something yield and
prepare your way. You will have heard that our ironclad
gunboat Cairo was sunk in the Yazoo by the explosion of one of
the infernal machines.
The weather is fine, and I repeat that I only await the fleet
of gunboats to be off.
Yours, truly,
W. T. SHERMAN,
Major-General.
GENERAL ORDERS,} WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJT. General 'S OFFICE,
Numbers 210. } Washington, December 18, 1862.
By the direction of the President the troops in the Department
of the Tennessee and those of the Department of the Missouri
operating on the Mississippi River will be divided into four
army corps, to be numbered the Thirteenth, Fifteenth,
Sixteenth, and Seventeenth.
Major General J. A. McClernand is assigned to the command of
the Thirteenth Army Corps;
Page433 CHAP.XXIX.] CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.- UNION.
Major General W. T. Sherman to the command of the Fifteenth
Army Corps;
Major General S. A. Hurlbut to the command of the Sixteenth
Army Corps; and
Major General J. B. McPherson to the command of the
Seventeenth Army Corps.
By order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,
Oxford, Miss., December 19, 1862.
Major General J. B. McPherson,
Commanding Right Wing, &c.:
There will be no farther advance of our forces until further
directions.
The enemy under Forrest have crossed the Tennessee below
Clifton and are now near to Jackson. Communication it cut off,
so that I cannot hear from there.
Page436 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS.
[CHAP.XXIX.
Sullivan reports the strength of the enemy at from 5,000 to
10,000 and still crossing. Dodge, however, had a scout among
them before they commenced crossing, who estimates their force
at about 5,000.
Ingersoll's cavalry watched their movements for the last 25
miles, and yesterday had an engagement with them at Lexington,
resulting in a defeat for us, Colonel Ingersoll and two pieces
of artillery falling into the hands of the enemy. Last night
Sullivan brought them to a halt about 6 miles from Jackson.
I have re-enforced Sullivan to the full extent of the capacity
of the road to carry troops, partly from Columbus, partly from
Corinth, one brigade from here, and by concentrating of the
forces of the District of Jackson. Lowe is also moving from
Heiman. I think the enemy must be annihilated, but it may
trouble and possibly lead to the necessity of sending further
forces from here.
A dispatch from General Halleck, received late last night,
directs me to divide my forces into army corps, one of which
is to be commanded by Major-General McClernand, he to have the
chief command of the Vicksburg expedition, but under my
direction. I was in hopes the expedition would be off by this
time, and it may be that they are about starting.
We must be ready for any move. I think, however, it will not
be a retrograde one.
U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
HDQRS. RIGHT WING, THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
Camp, Yocknapatalfa, December 20, 1862.
Major-General GRANT,
Commanding Thirteenth Army Corps:
GENERAL: General Logan's division will move to the position
occupied by General McArthur's, near the Yockna Station, at 6
o'clock to-morrow morning.
I send you extract of a letter from Colonel Leggett,* giving
some information brought in by a scout from his command whom
we sent out. If this information is correct, and it seems to
be confirmed, at least partially, from other sources, I am
decently of the opinion that the rebels are concentrating
their forces at Jackson and Vicksburg, with a view of throwing
them all in Vicksburg, if necessary, and that our policy is to
have as many or more men at that point than they can bring to
bear.
In view of the fact that the railroad from Grenada to Memphis
is so seriously damaged that it will take some weeks to open
it, and that with our present long line of communication
interrupted and labile to be so again when reopened we cannot
well go beyond Grenada and for a junction with the forces
moving down the river, I think it best to fall back to the
north side of the Tallahatchie, hold that line, and then send
as many as two divisions to Memphis, to be added to the forces
collecting for the Vicksburg expedition; open the railroad
from Memphis to Grand Junction, and establish an easy and
rapid communication, which I think could be protect with our
strong cavalry force and a body of infantry and artillery on
the Tallahatchie, Holly Springs, Hernando, &c.
I have merely suggested these remarks in consequence of the note at the bottom of your letter; and I will also add that in consequence of orders from Washington placing General McClernand in charge of the expedition under you I would, if in your place, proceed to Memphis and take command of it myself. It is the great feature of the campaign, and its execution rightfully belongs to you.
In case you go I would like to accompany you with two
divisions, Lauman's and Logan's; but am ready for any position
to which you may assign me.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAS. B. McPHERSON,
Major-General.
GENERAL ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE,
Numbers 14.} Holly Springs, Miss., December 22,
1862.
By direction of the General-in-Chief of the Army the troops in
this department, including those of the Department of the
Missouri operating on the Mississippi River, are hereby
divided into four army corps, as follows:
1st. The troops composing the Ninth Division, Brigadier
General G. W. Morgan commanding; the Tenth Division,
Brigadier General A. J. Smith commanding, and all other
troops operating on the Mississippi River below Memphis not
included in the Fifteenth Army Corps, will constitute the
Thirteenth Army Corps, under the command of Major General
John A. McClernand.
2d. The Fifth Division, Brigadier General Morgan L. Smith
commanding; the division from Helena, Ark., commanded by
Brigadier General F. Steele, and the forces in the District
of memphis will constitute the Fifteenth Army Corps and be
commanded by Major General W. T. Sherman.
3d. The Sixth Division, Brigadier General J. McArthur
commanding; the Seventh Division, Brigadier General I. F.
Quinby commanding; the Eighth Division, Brigadier General L.
F. Ross commanding; Second Brigade Cavalry, Colonel Lee
commanding, and the troops in the District of Columbus
commanded by Brigadier-General Davies, and those in the
District of Jackson commanded by Brigadier-General Sullivan,
will constitute the Sixteenth Army Corps, and be commanded by
Major-General Hurlbut.
4th. The First Division, Brigadier General J. W. Denver
commanding; the Third Division, Brigadier General John A.
Logan commanding; the Fourth Division, Brigadier General J.
G. Lauman commanding; First Brigade of Cavalry, Colonel B.
H. Grierson commanding, and the forces in the District of
Corinth commanded by Brigadier General G. M. Dodge, will
constitute the Seventeenth Army Corps, and be commanded by
Major General J. B. McPherson.
District commanders will send consolidated returns of their
forces to these headquarters, as well as to army corps
headquarters, and will for the present receive orders from
department headquarters.
By order of Major General U. S. Grant:
JNO. A. RAWLINS,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., December 23, 1862.
(Received 7.30 p. m.)
HonorableE. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:
I received on yesterday the following dispatch from General
Halleck, dated December 21,:
The following telegram is forwarded for your information:
"Major-General GRANT, Oxford, Miss.:
"The troops in your department, including those form General
Curtis' command which join the down-river expedition, will be
divided into four army corps. It is the wish of the President
that General McCLernand's corps shall constitute a part of the
river expedition, and that he shall have the immediate
command, under your directions.
"J. C. KELTON,
"Assistant Adjutant-General."
PAGE462 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. [CHAP. XXIX.
Yet I am not relieved from duty here so that I may go forward
and receive orders from General Grant. Please order me
forward.
JOHN A. MCCLERNAND,
Major-General.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, D. C., December 23, 1862-8.45 p. m.
Major-General MCCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.:
It has not been my understanding that you should remain at
Springfield a single hour beyond your own pleasure and
judgment of the necessity of collecting and forwarding the
troops. You are relieved of duty at Springfield, and will
report to General Grant for the purpose specified in the order
of the General-in-Chief.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
HDQRS. THIRTEENTH A. S., DEPT. OF THE TENN.
Holly Springs, Miss., December 25, 1862.
COMMANDING OFFICER MEMPHIS, TENN.:
Inclosed find communication for General J. A. McClernand,*
which you will deliver to him if he be at Memphis. If he has
gone down the river you will please forward it to him. The
original letter was sent to the commanding officer at Cairo,
with instructions to deliver it to General McClernand if he
had not already passed that point going south, and if he had
to send it to him at Memphis. Communication was cut off north
and it did not probably reach him.
By order of Major General U. S. Grant:
JNO. S. RAWLINS,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,
Holly Springs, Miss., December 25, 1862.
Major General STEPHEN A. HURLBUT, Memphis, Tenn.:
Just as Forrest's raid upon our railroad was commenced I
received a dispatch from the General-in-Chief of the Army to
divide my command into four army corps, giving one to General
McClernand and placing him in chief command, under my
direction, of the expedition on Vicksburg.
I immediately wrote the order giving you command of the Third
Army Corps, and directed General McClernand to order you here
to take command of it. Before this got off all communication
wa cut off with the north, and has not yet been resumed.
General McClernand consequently has not yet received my
directions and orders.
Communication now being cut off and the probabilities being
that Vicksburg is already in our hands a change of plans will
probably be
---------------
*Probably Grant to Commanding Officer Expedition down the
Mississippi, December 23, p. 463.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,
Holly Springs, Miss., December 23, 1862.
COMMANDING OFFICER EXPEDITION DOWN MISSISSIPPI:*
Raids made upon the railroad to my rear by Forrest northward
from Jackson, and by Van Dorn northward from the Tallahatchie,
have cut me off from supplies, so that farther advance by this
route is perfectly impracticable. The country does not afford
supplies for troops, and but a limited supply of forage.
I have fallen back to the Tallahatchie, and will be only able
to hold the enemy at Yalabusha by making a demonstration in
that direction or toward Columbus and Meridian.
News received here from the south says that Vicksburg is now
in our hands. Butler with Farragut's fleet are said to have
ascended the river and to have been successful in their
attack. This does not come, however, in sufficiently reliable
a shape to have any order or change of plan upon it.
These raids have cut off communication, so that I have had
nothing from the north for over a week. Telegraph will
probably be working through by to-morrow and railroad within
five days.
U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.
---------------
PAGE481 CHAP. XXIX.] CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.-UNION.
adopted and also a change of organization of army corps. I
would direct therefore that you retain command of the District
of Memphis until receipt of orders arranging army corps in
accordance with the instructions referred to.
I will be glad to hear from you and to learn when the river
expedition sailed and any other news you may have to
communicate.
U. S. GRANT,
Major-General.