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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28571-8.txt b/28571-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ce00ed --- /dev/null +++ b/28571-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7706 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field, by +Charles Carleton Coffin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field + +Author: Charles Carleton Coffin + +Release Date: April 21, 2009 [EBook #28571] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS AND NIGHTS ON BATTLEFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + + MY DAYS AND NIGHTS + ON THE + BATTLE-FIELD. + + BY + + CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN, + + AUTHOR OF "STORY OF LIBERTY," "BOYS OF '76," "OUR NEW WAY + ROUND THE WORLD," "FOLLOWING THE FLAG," + "WINNING HIS WAY," ETC. + + BOSTON + + DANA ESTES AND COMPANY + + PUBLISHERS + + + + + _Copyright_, 1887, + + BY ESTES AND LAURIAT + + + + + [Illustration: "The brigade goes down the road upon the run."] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTORY. PAGE + + TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 1 + Chap. I. HOW THE REBELLION CAME ABOUT 3 + II. THE GATHERING OF A GREAT ARMY 22 + III. THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN 37 + IV. THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY 65 + V. THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON 89 + Thursday 98 + Friday 104 + Saturday 111 + VI. THE SURRENDER 132 + VII. THE ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING 153 + VIII. THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING + From Daybreak till Ten o'clock 171 + From Ten o'clock till Four 197 + Sunday Evening 205 + Monday 210 + IX. EVACUATION OF COLUMBUS 229 + X. OPERATIONS AT NEW MADRID 237 + XI. OPERATIONS AT ISLAND NUMBER TEN 247 + XII. FROM FORT PILLOW TO MEMPHIS 281 + XIII. THE NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS 291 + + + + +LIST OF DIAGRAMS. + + + PAGE + + Bull Run Battle-Ground 60 + The Fight at Blackburn's Ford 62 + The Country around Fort Henry and Fort Donelson 69 + Fort Henry 81 + Fort Donelson 95 + The Attack on McClernand 114 + The Second Engagement 123 + The Charge of Lauman's Brigade 128 + Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity 155 + Disposition of Troops at the Beginning of the Battle 173 + The Fight at the Ravine 208 + A Rebel Torpedo 230 + Island No. 10 239 + A Mortar 248 + The Naval Fight at Memphis 295 + + + + +MILITARY TERMS. + + +_Abatis._--Trees cut down, their branches made sharp, and used to block +a road, or placed in front of fortifications. + +_Advance._--Any portion of an army which is in front of the rest. + +_Aides-de-camp._--Officers selected by general officers to assist them +in their military duties. + +_Ambulances._--Carriages for the sick and wounded. + +_Battery._--A battery consists of one or more pieces of artillery. A +full battery of field artillery consists of six cannon. + +_Battalion._--A battalion consists of two or more companies, but less +than a regiment. + +_Bombardment._--Throwing shot or shells into a fort or earthwork. + +_Canister._--A tin cylinder filled with cast-iron shot. When the gun is +fired, the cylinder bursts and scatters the shot over a wide surface of +ground. + +_Caisson._--An artillery carriage, containing ammunition for immediate +use. + +_Casemate._--A covered chamber in fortifications, protected by earth +from shot and shells. + +_Columbiad._--A cannon, invented by Colonel Bomford, of very large +calibre, used for throwing shot or shells. A ten-inch columbiad weighs +15,400 pounds, and is ten and a half feet long. + +_Column._--A position in which troops may be placed. A column en route +is the order in which they march from one part of the country to +another. A column of attack is the order in which they go into battle. + +_Countersign._--A particular word given out by the highest officer in +command, intrusted to guards, pickets, and sentinels, and to those who +may have occasion to pass them. + +_Embrasure._--An opening cut in embankments for the muzzles of the +cannon. + +_Enfilade._--To sweep the whole length of the inside of a fortification +or a line of troops. + +_Field-Works._--An embankment of earth excavated from a ditch +surrounding a town or a fort. + +_Flank._--The right or left side of a body of men, or place. When it is +said that the enemy by a flank march outflanked our right wing, it is +understood that he put himself on our right hand. When two armies stand +face to face the right flank of one is opposite the left flank of the +other. + +_File._--Two soldiers,--a front rank and a rear rank man. + +_Fuse._--A slow-burning composition in shells, set on fire by the flash +of the cannon. The length of the fuse is proportioned to the intended +range of the shells. + +_Grape._--A large number of small balls tied up in a bag. + +_Howitzer._--A cannon of large calibre and short range, commonly used +for throwing shells, grape, and canister. + +_Limber._--The fore part of a field gun-carriage, to which the horses +are attached. It has two wheels, and carries ammunition the same as the +caisson. + +_Pontoon._--A bridge of boats for crossing streams, which may be carried +in wagons. + +_Parabola._--The curve described by a shell in the air. + +_Range._--The distance to which shot, shells, or bullets may be fired. + +_Reveille._--The first drum-beat in the morning. + +_Rifle-Pits._--Excavations in the earth or other shelter for riflemen. + +_Spherical Case._--A thin shell of cast-iron filled with bullets, with a +fuse, and a charge of powder sufficient to burst it. It contains about +ninety bullets. + +_Wings._--The right and left divisions of a body of troops, +distinguished from the centre. + + + + +MY DAYS AND NIGHTS +ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + +TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES. + + +In my boyhood, my young friends, I loved to sit beside my grandfather +and listen to his stories of Bunker Hill and Saratoga,--how he and his +comrades stood upon those fields and fought for their country. I could +almost see the fight and hear the cannon's roar, the rattle of the +musketry, and the shouts of victory. They won their independence, and +established the best government the world ever saw. But there are men in +this country who hate that government, who have plotted against it, and +who have brought about the present Great Rebellion to destroy it. I have +witnessed some of the battles which have been fought during this war, +although I have not been a soldier, as my grandfather was, and I shall +try, in this volume, to picture those scenes, and give correct +descriptions of the ground, the marching of the troops, the positions +they occupied, and other things, that you may understand how your +father, or your brothers, or your friends, fought for the dear old flag. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HOW THE REBELLION CAME ABOUT. + + +Many of you, my young readers, have seen the springs which form the +trickling rivulets upon the hillsides. How small they are. You can +almost drink them dry. But in the valley the silver threads become a +brook, which widens to a river rolling to the far-off ocean. So is it +with the ever-flowing stream of time. The things which were of small +account a hundred years ago are powerful forces to-day. Great events do +not usually result from one cause, but from many causes. To ascertain +how the rebellion came about, let us read history. + +Nearly three hundred years ago, when Elizabeth was Queen of England, Sir +Walter Raleigh sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to explore the newly +discovered Continent of America. Sir Walter was a sailor, a soldier, and +one of the gentleman attendants of the Queen. He was so courteous and +gallant that he once threw his gold-laced scarlet cloak upon the ground +for a mat, that the Queen might not step her royal foot in the mud. At +that time America was an unexplored wilderness. The old navigators had +sailed along the coasts, but the smooth waters of the great lakes and +rivers had never been ruffled by the oars of European boatmen. + +Sir Walter found a beautiful land, shaded by grand old forests; also +fertile fields, waving with corn and a broad-leaved plant with purple +flowers, which the Indians smoked in pipes of flint and vermilion stone +brought from the cliffs of the great Missouri River. + +The sailors learned to smoke, and when Sir Walter returned to England +they puffed their pipes in the streets. The people were amazed, and +wondered if the sailors were on fire. So tobacco began to be used in +England. That was in 1584. We shall see that a little tobacco-smoke +whiffed nearly three hundred years ago has had an influence in bringing +about the rebellion. + +Twenty years rolled by. London merchants dreamed of wealth in store for +them in Virginia. A company was formed to colonize the country. Many of +the merchants had spendthrift sons, who were also idle and given to bad +habits. These young fellows thought it degrading to work. In those +Western woods across the ocean, along the great rivers and upon the blue +mountains, they saw in imagination a wild, roving, reckless life. They +could hunt the wild beasts. They could live without the restraints of +society. They had heard wonderful stories of exhaustless mines of gold +and silver. There they could get rich, and that was the land for them. + +A vessel with five hundred colonists was fitted out. There were only +sixteen men of the five hundred accustomed to work; the others called +themselves gentlemen and cavaliers. They settled at Jamestown. They +found no rich gold-mines, and wealth was not to be had on the fertile +plains without labor. Not knowing how to cultivate the soil, and hating +work, they had a hard time. They suffered for want of food. Many died +from starvation. Yet more of the same indolent class joined the +colony,--young men who had had rows with tutors at school, and who +had broken the heads of London watchmen in their midnight revels. A +historian of those times says that "they were fitter to breed a riot +than found a colony." + +The merchants, finding that a different class of men was needed to save +the colony from ruin, sent over poor laboring men, who were apprenticed +to their sons. Thus the idle cavaliers were kept from starvation. +Instead of working themselves, they directed the poor, hard-working men, +and pocketed the profits. + +Smoking began to be fashionable in England. Lawyers in big wigs, +ministers in black gowns, merchants seated in their counting-houses, +ladies in silks and satins, all took to this habit of the North American +Indians. Tobacco was in demand. Every ship from America was freighted +with it. The purple-flowered plant grew luxuriantly in the fields +of Virginia, and so through the labor of the poor men the indolent +cavaliers became rich. + +As there were no women in the colony, some of the cavaliers sent over to +England and bought themselves wives, paying a hundred pounds of tobacco +for a wife. Others married Indian wives. + +The jails of London were crowded with thieves and vagabonds. They +had committed crime and lost their freedom. To get rid of them, the +magistrates sent several ship-loads to Virginia, where they were sold to +the planters as servants and laborers. Thus it came to pass that there +were distinct classes in the colony,--men having rights and men without +rights,--men owning labor and men owing labor,--men with power and men +without power,--all of which had something to do in bringing about the +rebellion. + +In August, 1620, a Dutch captain sailed up James River with twenty +negroes on board his ship, which he had stolen from Africa. The planters +purchased them, not as apprentices, but as slaves. The captain, having +made a profitable voyage, sailed for Africa to steal more. Thus +the African slave-trade in America began, which became the main +fountain-head and grand cause of the rebellion. + +The Virginia planters wanted large plantations. Some of them had +influence with King James, and obtained grants of immense estates, +containing thousands of acres. All the while the common people of +England were learning to smoke, snuff, and chew tobacco, and across the +English Channel the Dutch burghers, housewives, and farmers were +learning to puff their pipes. A pound of tobacco was worth three +shillings. The planters grew richer, purchased more land and more +slaves, while the apprenticed men, who had no money and no means of +obtaining any, of course could not become land-owners. Thus the three +classes of men--planters, poor white men, and slaves--became perpetually +distinct. + +By the charter which the company of London merchants had received from +the King, owners of land only were allowed to have a voice in the +management of public affairs. They only could hold office. A poor man +could not have anything to do with enacting or administering the laws. +In 1705, a historian, then writing, says:-- + + "There are men with great estates, who take care to supply + the poor with goods, and who are sure to keep them always in + debt, and consequently dependent. Out of this number are + chosen the Council, Assembly, Justices of the Peace, and + other officers, who conspire together to wield power."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Quarry.] + +Thus a few rich men managed all the affairs of the colony. They were +able to perpetuate their power, to hand these privileges to their sons, +through successive generations. + +At the present time there are many men and women in Virginia who +consider themselves as belonging to the first families, because they are +descendants of those who settled the country. The great estates have +passed from the family name,--squandered by the dissolute and indolent +sons. They are poor, but very proud, and call themselves noble-born. +They look with contempt upon a man who works for a living. I saw a great +estate, which was once owned by one of these proud families, near the +Antietam battle-field, but spendthrift sons have squandered it, and +there is but little left. The land is worn out, but the owner of the +remaining acres,--poor, but priding himself upon his high birth, looking +with haughty contempt upon men who work,--in the summer of 1860, day +after day, was seen sitting upon his horse, with an umbrella over his +head to keep off the sun, _overseeing his two negro women, who were +hoeing corn_! + +All of these springs which started in Virginia tinged, entered into, and +gave color to society throughout the South. There were great estates, +privileged classes, a few rich and many poor men. There were planters, +poor white men, and slaves. + +In those old times pirates sailed the seas, plundering and destroying +ships. They swarmed around the West India Islands, and sold their spoils +to the people of Charleston, South Carolina. There, for several years, +the freebooters refitted their ships, and had a hearty welcome. But the +King's ships of war broke up the business, and commerce again had +peaceful possession of the ocean. + +These things gave direction to the stream, influencing the development +and growth of the colonies, which became States in the Union, and which +seceded in 1861. + + * * * * * + +While the Dutch captain was bargaining off his negroes to the planters +in 1620 at Jamestown, another vessel was sailing from Plymouth harbor, +in England, for a voyage across the Atlantic. Years before, in the +little town of Scrooby, a man with a long white beard, by the name of +Clifton, had preached what he called a pure religious doctrine. Those +who went to hear him, and who believed what he preached, soon came to be +called Puritans. Most of them were poor, hard-working English farmers +and villagers. There was much discussion, controversy, bigotry, and +bitterness in religion at that time, and these poor men were driven from +county to county, till finally they were obliged to flee to Holland to +escape persecution and save their lives. King James himself was one of +their most bitter persecutors. He declared that he would "harry every +one of them out of England." After remaining in Holland several years, +they obtained permission of the King to sail for North America. + +On a December morning the vessel, after five months' tossing upon the +ocean, lay at anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod. Those on board had no +charter of government. They were not men who had had midnight revels in +London, but men who had prayers in their families night and morning, and +who met for religious worship on the Sabbath. They respected law, loved +order, and knew that it would be necessary to have a form of government +in the colony. They assembled in the cabin of the ship, and, after +prayer, signed their names to an agreement to obey all the rules, +regulations, and laws which might be enacted by the majority. Then they +elected a governor, each man having a voice in the election. It was what +might be called the first town-meeting in America. Thus democratic +liberty and Christian worship, independent of forms established by kings +and bishops, had a beginning in this country. + +The climate was cold, the seasons short, the soil sterile, and so the +settlers of Cape Cod were obliged to work hard to obtain a living. In +consequence, they and their descendants became active, industrious, and +energetic. Thus they laid the foundations for thrift and enterprise. +They did not look upon labor as degrading, but as ennobling. They passed +laws, that men able to work should not be idle. They were not rich +enough to own great estates, but each man had his own little farm. There +was, therefore, no landed aristocracy, such as was growing into power in +Virginia. They were not able to own labor to any great extent. There +were a few apprenticed men, and some negro slaves, but the social and +political influences were all different from those in the Southern +colonies. The time came when apprenticed men were released from service, +and the slaves set free. + +These hard-working men did not wish to have their children grow up +in ignorance. In order, therefore, that every child might become an +intelligent citizen and member of society, they established common +schools and founded colleges. In 1640, just twenty years after the +landing at Plymouth, they had a printing-press at Cambridge. + +The cavaliers of Virginia, instead of establishing schools, sent their +sons to England to be educated, leaving the children of the poor men to +grow up in ignorance. They did not want them to obtain an education. In +1670, fifty years after the Dutch captain had bartered off his negroes +for tobacco,--fifty years from the election of the first governor by the +people in the cabin of the Mayflower,--the King appointed Commissioners +of Education, who addressed letters to the governors of the colonies +upon the subject. The Governor of Connecticut replied, that one fourth +of the entire income of the colony was laid out in maintaining public +schools. Governor Berkeley, of Virginia, who owned a great plantation +and many slaves, and who wanted to keep the government in the hands of +the few privileged families, answered,-- + + "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing in this + colony, and I hope we shall not have them these hundred + years." + +All the Northern colonies established common schools, and liberally +supported them, that every child might obtain an education. The Southern +colonies, even when they became States, gave but little attention to +education, and consequently the children became more ignorant than their +fathers. Thus it has come to pass, that in the Northern States nearly +all can read and write, while in the Southern States there are hundreds +of thousands who do not know the alphabet. + +In 1850 the State of Maine had 518,000 inhabitants; of these 2,134 could +not read nor write, while the State of North Carolina, with a white +population of 553,000, _had eighty thousand native whites, over twenty +years of age, who had never attended school_! + +The six New England States, with a population of 2,705,000, had in 1850 +but eight thousand unable to read and write, while Virginia, North +Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama--five States, with a +population of 2,670,000 whites--_had two hundred and sixty-two thousand, +over twenty years of age, unable to read a word_! In the Northern States +educational facilities are rapidly increasing, while in the South they +are fast diminishing. In 1857 there were 96,000 school-children in +Vermont, and all but six thousand attended school. South Carolina the +same year had 114,000 school-children; of these _ninety-five thousand_ +had no school privileges. Virginia had 414,000 school-children; _three +hundred and seventy-two thousand_ of them had no means of learning the +alphabet! + +In Missouri, in some of the counties, the school lands given by Congress +have been sold, and the money distributed among the people, instead +of being invested for the benefit of schools. With each generation +ignorance has increased in the Southern States. It has been the design +of the slaveholders to keep the poor white men in ignorance. There, +neighbors are miles apart. There are vast tracts of land where the +solitude is unbroken by the sounds of labor. Schools and newspapers +cannot flourish. Information is given by word of mouth. Men are +influenced to political action by the arguments and stories of +stump-speakers, and not by reading newspapers. They vote as they are +told, or as they are influenced by the stories they hear. So, when the +leading conspirators were ready to bring about the rebellion, being in +possession of the State governments, holding official positions, by +misrepresentation, cunning, and wickedness, they were able to delude the +ignorant poor men, and induce them to vote to secede from the Union. + +Two thousand years ago the natives of India manufactured cloth from the +fibres of the cotton-plant, which grew wild in the woods. The old +historian, Herodotus, says that the trees bore fleeces as white as snow. +A planter of South Carolina obtained some of the seeds, and began to +cultivate the plant. In 1748 ten bags of cotton were shipped to +Liverpool, but cotton-spinning had not then begun in England. In 1784 +the custom-house officers at Liverpool seized eight bags which a planter +had sent over, on the ground that it was not possible to raise so much +in America. The manufacture of cotton goods was just then commencing in +England, and cotton was in demand. The plant grew luxuriantly in the +sunny fields of the South, but it was a day's work for a negro to +separate the seed from a pound, and the planters despaired of making it +a profitable crop. + +A few years before the Liverpool custom-house officers seized the eight +bags, a boy named Eli Whitney was attending school in Westboro', +Massachusetts, who was destined to help the planters out of the +difficulty. He made water-wheels, which plashed in the roadside brooks, +and windmills, which whirled upon his father's barn. He made violins, +which were the wonder and admiration of all musicians. He set up a shop, +and made nails by machinery, and thus earned money through the +Revolutionary War. When not more than twelve years old, he stayed at +home from meeting one Sunday alone, and took his father's watch to +pieces, and put it together again so nicely that it went as well as +ever. It was not the proper business for Sunday, however. + +When a young man, he went South to teach school. He happened to hear +General Greene, the brave and noble man who had been a match for Lord +Cornwallis, wish that there was a machine for cleaning cotton. He +thought the matter over, went to work, and in a short time had a machine +which, with some improvements, now does the work of a thousand negroes. +He built it in secret, but the planters, getting wind of it, broke open +his room, stole his invention, built machines of their own, and cheated +him out of his property. + +About this time there was a poor cotton-spinner in England who thought +he could invent a machine for spinning. He sat up late nights, and +thought how to have the wheels, cranks, and belts arranged. At times +he was almost discouraged, but his patient, cheerful, loving wife +encouraged him, and he succeeded at last in making a machine which would +do the work of a thousand spinners. He named it Jenny, for his wife, who +had been so patient and cheerful, though she and the children, some of +the time while he was studying upon the invention, had little to eat. + +The gin and the jenny made cotton cloth much cheaper than it had been. +Many manufactories were built in England and in the New England States. +More acres of cotton were planted in the South, and more negroes stolen +from Africa. In the North, along the mill-streams, there was the click +and clatter of machinery. A great many ships were needed to transport +the cotton from the agricultural South to the manufactories of the +commercial, industrious, trading North. The cotton crop of the South in +1784 was worth only a few hundred dollars, but the crop of 1860 was +worth hundreds of millions, so great had been the increase. + +This great demand for cotton affected trade and commerce the world over. +The planters had princely incomes from the labor of their slaves. Some +of them received $50,000 to $100,000 a year. They said that cotton was +king, and ruled the world. They thought that the whole human race was +dependent upon them, and that by withholding their cotton a single year +they could compel the whole world to acknowledge their power. They were +few in number,--about three hundred thousand in thirty millions of +people. They used every means possible to extend and perpetuate their +power. They saw that the Northern States were beehives of industry, and +that the boys swarming from the Northern school-houses were becoming +mechanics, farmers, teachers, engaging in all employments, and that +knowledge as a power was getting the better of wealth. + +The men of the North were settling the new States of the West, and +political power in Congress was slipping from the hands of the South. To +retain that power they must bring additional Slave States into the +Union. They therefore demanded the right to take their slaves into new +Territories. The Northern school-boys who had grown to be men, who had +gone into the far West to build them homes, could not consent to see +their children deprived of that which had made them men. They saw that +if slavery came in, schools must go out. They saw that where slavery +existed there were three distinct classes in society,--the few rich, +unscrupulous, hard-hearted slaveholders, the many poor, ignorant, +debased white men, and the slaves. They saw that free labor and slave +labor could not exist together. They therefore rightfully resisted the +extension of slavery into the Territories. But the slaveholders carried +the day. The North was outvoted and obliged to yield. + +The descendants of the first families of Virginia raised slaves for a +living. It was degrading to labor, but a very honorable way of getting a +living to raise pigs, mules, and negroes,--to sell them to the more +southern States,--to sell their own sons and daughters! Their fathers +purchased wives: why should they not sell their own children? + +It was very profitable to raise negroes for the market, and the +ministers of the South, in their pulpits on the Sabbath, said it was a +Christian occupation. They expounded the Bible, and showed the +benevolent designs of God in establishing slavery. It was right. It had +the sanction of the Almighty. It was a Divine missionary institution. + +Their political success, their great power, their wealth,--which they +received through the unpaid labor of their slaves, and from selling +their own sons and daughters,--developed their bad traits of character. +They became proud, insolent, domineering, and ambitious. They demanded +the right not only to extend slavery over all the Territories of the +United States, but also the right to take their slaves into the Free +States. They demanded that no one should speak or write against slavery. +They secured the passage of a law by Congress enabling them to catch +their runaway slaves. They demanded that the Constitution should be +changed to favor the growth and extension of slavery. For many years +they plotted against the government,--threatening to destroy it if they +could not have what they demanded. They looked with utter contempt upon +the hard-working men of the North. They determined to rule or ruin. +Every Northern man living at the South was looked upon with suspicion. +Some were tarred and feathered, others hung, and many were killed in +cold blood! No Northern man could open his lips on that subject in the +South. Men of the North could not travel there. The noble astronomer, +Mitchell, the brave general who has laid down his life for his country, +was surrounded by an ignorant, excited mob in Alabama, who were ready to +hang him because he told them he was in favor of the Union. But Southern +orators and political speakers were invited North, and listened to with +respect by the thinking, reasoning people,--the pupils of the common +schools. + +Climate, trade, commerce, common schools, and industry have made the +North different from the South; but there was nothing in these to bring +on the war. + +When the slaveholders saw that they had lost their power in Congress to +pass laws for the extension of slavery, they determined to secede from +the Union. When the North elected a President who declared himself +opposed to the extension of slavery, they began the war. They stole +forts, arsenals, money, steamboats,--everything they could lay their +hands on belonging to government and individuals,--seceded from the +Union, formed a confederacy, raised an army, and fired the first gun. + +They planned a great empire, which should extend south to the Isthmus of +Darien and west to the Pacific Ocean, and made slavery its cornerstone. +They talked of conquering the North. They declared that the time would +come when they would muster their slaves on Bunker Hill, when the +laboring men of the North, "with hat in hand, should stand meekly before +them, their masters."[2] + +[Footnote 2: Richmond Enquirer.] + +They besieged Fort Sumter, fired upon the ships sent to its relief, +bombarded the fort and captured it. To save their country, their +government, all that was dear to them, to protect their insulted, +time-honored flag, the men of the North took up arms. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE GATHERING OF A GREAT ARMY. + + +The Rebels began the war by firing upon Fort Sumter. You remember how +stupefying the news of its surrender. You could not at first believe +that they would fire upon the Stars and Stripes,--the flag respected and +honored everywhere on earth. When there was no longer a doubt that they +had begun hostilities, you could not have felt worse if you had heard +of the death of a very dear friend. But as you thought it over and +reflected upon the wickedness of the act, so deliberate and terrible, +you felt that you would like to see the traitors hung; not that it would +be a pleasure to see men die a felon's death, but because you loved your +country and its flag, with its heaven-born hues, its azure field of +stars! Not that the flag is anything in itself to be protected, honored, +and revered, but because it is the emblem of constitutional liberty and +freedom, the ensign of the best, freest, noblest government ever +established. It had cost suffering and blood. Kings, aristocrats, +despots, and tyrants, in the Old World and in the New hated it, but +millions of men in other lands, suffering, abused, robbed of their +rights, beheld it as their banner of hope. When you thought how it had +been struck down by traitors, when you heard that the President had +called for seventy five thousand troops, you hurrahed with all your +might, and wished that you were old enough and big enough to go and +fight the Rebels. + +The drums beat in the street. You saw the soldiers hasten to take +their places in the gathering ranks. You marched beside them and kept +step with the music. The sunlight gleamed from their bayonets. Their +standards waved in the breeze, while the drum, the fife, the bugle, and +the trumpet thrilled you as never before. You marched proudly and +defiantly. You felt that you could annihilate the stoutest Rebel. You +followed the soldiers to the railroad depot and hurrahed till the train +which bore them away was out of sight. + +Let us follow them to Washington, and see the gathering of a great army. +The Rebels have threatened to capture that city and make it their seat +of government, and it must be saved. + +We have been a quiet, peaceable nation, and have had no great standing +armies of a half-million men. We know but little about war. The Northern +States are unprepared for war. President Buchanan's Secretary of War, +Floyd, has proved himself a thief. He has stolen several hundred +thousands of muskets, thousands of pieces of artillery, sending them +from the Northern arsenals to the South. The slaveholders have been for +many years plotting the rebellion. They are armed, and we are not. Their +arsenals are well filled, while ours are empty, because President +Buchanan was a weak old man, and kept thieves and traitors in places of +trust and power. + +At the call of the President every village sends its soldiers, every +town its company. When you listened to the soul-thrilling music of the +band, and watched the long, winding train as it vanished with the troops +in the distance, you had one little glimpse of the machinery of war, as +when riding past a great manufactory you see a single pulley, or a row +of spindles through a window. You do not see the thousands of wheels, +belts, shafts,--the hundred thousand spindles, the arms of iron, fingers +of brass, and springs of steel, and the mighty wheel which gives motion +to all,--and so you have not seen the great, complicated, far-reaching, +and powerful machinery of war. + +But there is activity everywhere. Drums are beating, men assembling, +soldiers marching, and hastening on in regiments. They go into camp and +sleep on the ground, wrapped in their blankets. It is a new life. They +have no napkins, no table-cloths at breakfast, dinner, or supper, no +china plates or silver forks. Each soldier has his tin plate and cup, +and makes a hearty meal of beef and bread. It is hard-baked bread. They +call it _hard-tack_, because it might be tacked upon the roof of a house +instead of shingles. They also have Cincinnati _chicken_. At home they +called it pork; fowls are scarce and pork is plenty in camp, so they +make believe it is chicken! + +There is drilling by squads, companies, battalions, and by regiments. +Some stand guard around the camp by day, and others go out on picket at +night, to watch for the enemy. It is military life. Everything is done +by orders. When you become a soldier, you cannot go and come as you +please. Privates, lieutenants, captains, colonels, generals, all are +subject to the orders of their superior officers. All must obey the +general in command. You march, drill, eat, sleep, go to bed, and get up +by order. At sunrise you hear the reveille, and at nine o'clock in the +evening the tattoo. Then the candle, which has been burning in your tent +with a bayonet for a candlestick, must be put out. In the dead of night, +while sleeping soundly and dreaming of home, you hear the drum-beat. It +is the long roll. There is a rattle of musketry. The pickets are at it. +Every man springs to his feet. + +"Turn out! turn out!" shouts the colonel. + +"Fall in! fall in!" cries the captain. + +There is confusion throughout the camp,--a trampling of feet and loud, +hurried talking. In your haste you get your boots on wrong, and buckle +your cartridge-box on bottom up. You rush out in the darkness, not +minding your steps, and are caught by the tent-ropes. You tumble +headlong, upsetting to-morrow's breakfast of beans. You take your place +in the ranks, nervous, excited, and trembling at you know not what. The +regiment rushes toward the firing, which suddenly ceases. An officer +rides up in the darkness and says it is a false alarm! You march back to +camp, cool and collected now, grumbling at the stupidity of the picket, +who saw a bush, thought it was a Rebel, fired his gun, and alarmed the +whole camp. + +In the autumn of 1861 the army of the Potomac, encamped around +Washington, numbered about two hundred thousand men. Before it marches +to the battle-field, let us see how it is organized, how it looks, how +it is fed; let us get an insight into its machinery. + +Go up in the balloon which you see hanging in the air across the Potomac +from Georgetown, and look down upon this great army. All the country +round is dotted with white tents,--some in the open fields, and some +half hid by the forest-trees. Looking away to the northwest you see the +right wing. Arlington is the centre, and at Alexandria is the left wing. +You see men in ranks, in files, in long lines, in masses, moving to and +fro, marching and countermarching, learning how to fight a battle. There +are thousands of wagons and horses; there are from two to three hundred +pieces of artillery. How long the line, if all were on the march! Men +marching in files are about three feet apart. A wagon with four horses +occupies fifty feet. If this army was moving on a narrow country road, +four cavalrymen riding abreast, and men in files of four, with all the +artillery, ammunition-wagons, supply-trains, ambulances, and equipment, +it would reach from Boston to Hartford, or from New York city to Albany, +a hundred and fifty miles! + +To move such a multitude, to bring order out of confusion, there must be +a system, a plan, and an organization. Regiments are therefore formed +into brigades, with usually about four regiments to a brigade. Three or +four brigades compose a division, and three or four divisions make an +army corps. A corps when full numbers from twenty-five to thirty +thousand men. + +When an army moves, the general commanding it issues his orders to the +generals commanding the corps; they issue their orders to the division +commanders, the division commanders to the brigadiers, they to the +colonels, and the colonels to captains, and the captains to the +companies. As the great wheel in the factory turns all the machinery, so +one mind moves the whole army. The general-in-chief must designate the +road which each corps shall take, the time when they are to march, where +they are to march to, and sometimes the hour when they must arrive at an +appointed place. The corps commanders must direct which of their +divisions shall march first, what roads they shall take, and where they +shall encamp at night. The division commanders direct what brigades +shall march first. No corps, division, or brigade commander can take any +other road than that assigned him, without producing confusion and +delay. + +The army must have its food regularly. Think how much food it takes to +supply the city of Boston, or Cincinnati every day. Yet here are as many +men as there are people in those cities. There are a great many more +horses in the army than in the stables of both of those cities. All must +be fed. There must be a constant supply of beef, pork, bread, beans, +vinegar, sugar, and coffee, oats, corn, and hay. + +The army must also have its supplies of clothing, its boots, shoes, and +coats. It must have its ammunition, its millions of cartridges of +different kinds; for there are a great many kinds of guns in the +regiments,--Springfield and Enfield muskets, French, Belgian, Prussian, +and Austrian guns, requiring a great many different kinds of ammunition. +There are a great many different kinds of cannon. There must be no lack +of ammunition, no mistake in its distribution. So there is the +Quartermaster's Department, the Commissary, and the Ordnance Department. +The Quartermaster moves and clothes the army, the Commissary feeds it, +and the Ordnance officer supplies it with ammunition. The +general-in-chief has a Quartermaster-General, a chief Commissary and a +chief Ordnance officer, who issue their orders to the chief officers in +their departments attached to each corps. They issue their orders to +their subordinates in the divisions, and the division officers to those +in the brigades. + +Then there is a Surgeon-General, who directs all the hospital +operations, who must see that the sick and wounded are all taken care +of. There are camp surgeons, division, brigade, and regimental surgeons. +There are hospital nurses, ambulance drivers, all subject to the orders +of the surgeon. No other officer can direct them. Each department is +complete in itself. + +It has cost a great deal of thought, labor, and money to construct this +great machinery. In creating it there has been much thinking, energy, +determination, and labor; and there must be constant forethought in +anticipating future wants, necessities, and contingencies, when to move, +where, and how. The army does not exist of its own accord, but by +constant, unremitting effort. + +The people of the country determined that the Constitution, the Union, +and the government bequeathed by their fathers should be preserved. They +authorized the President to raise a great army. Congress voted money and +men. The President, acting as the agent of the people, and as +Commander-in-Chief, appointed men to bring all the materials together +and organize the army. Look at what was wanted to build this mighty +machine and to keep it going. + +First, the hundreds of thousands of men; the thousands of horses; the +thousands of barrels of beef, pork, and flour; thousands of hogsheads of +sugar, vinegar, rice, salt, bags of coffee, and immense stores of other +things. Thousands of tons of hay, bags of oats and corn. What numbers of +men and women have been at work to get each soldier ready for the field. +He has boots, clothes, and equipments. The tanner, currier, shoemaker, +the manufacturer, with his swift-flying shuttles, the operator tending +his looms and spinning-jennies, the tailor with his sewing-machines, the +gunsmith, the harness-maker, the blacksmith,--all trades and occupations +have been employed. There are saddles, bridles, knapsacks, canteens, +dippers, plates, knives, stoves, kettles, tents, blankets, medicines, +drums, swords, pistols, guns, cannon, powder, percussion-caps, bullets, +shot, shells, wagons,--everything. + +Walk leisurely through the camps, and observe the little things and the +great things, see the men on the march. Then go into the Army and Navy +Departments in Washington, in those brick buildings west of the +President's house. In those rooms are surveys, maps, plans, papers, +charts of the ocean, of the sea-coast, currents, sand-bars, shoals, the +rising and falling of tides. In the Topographical Bureau you see maps of +all sections of the country. There is the Ordnance Bureau, with all +sorts of guns, rifles, muskets, carbines, pistols, swords, shells, +rifled shot, fuses which the inventors have brought in. There are a +great many bureaus, with immense piles of papers and volumes, containing +experiments upon the strength of iron, the trials of cannon, guns, +mortars, and powder. There have been experiments to determine how much +powder shall be used, whether it shall be as fine as mustard-seed or as +coarse as lumps of sugar, and the results are all noted here. All the +appliances of science, industry, and art are brought into use to make it +the best army the world ever saw. + +It is the business of the government to bring the materials together, +and the business of the generals to organize it into brigades, +divisions, and corps,--to determine the number of cavalry and batteries +of artillery, to place weak materials in their proper places, and the +strongest where they will be most needed. + +The general commanding must have a plan of operations. Napoleon said +that war is like a game of chess, and that a commander must make his +game. He must think it out beforehand, and in such a manner that the +enemy will be compelled to play it in his way and be defeated. The +general-in-chief must see the end from the beginning, just as Napoleon, +sticking his map of Europe full of pins, decided that he could defeat +the Austrians at Austerlitz, the Prussians at Jena. That is genius. The +general-in-chief makes his plan on the supposition that all his orders +will be obeyed promptly, that no one will shirk responsibility, that not +one of all the vast multitude will fail to do his duty. + +The night before the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon sent an order to an +officer to take possession of a little hillock, on which stood a +farm-house overlooking the plain. The officer thought it would do just +as well if he let it go till morning, but in the morning the English had +possession of the spot, and in consequence of that officer's neglect +Napoleon probably lost the great battle, his army, and his empire. Great +events often hang on little things, and in military operations it is of +the utmost importance that they should be attended to. + +From the beginning to the end, unless every man does his duty, from the +general in command to the private in the ranks, there is danger of +failure. + +Thus the army is organized, and thus through organization it becomes a +disciplined body. Instead of being a confused mass of men, horses, +mules, cannon, caissons, wagons, and ambulances, it is a body which can +be divided, subdivided, separated by miles of country, hurried here and +there, hurled upon the enemy, and brought together again by the stroke +of a pen, by a word, or the click of the telegraph. + +When a battle is to be fought, the general-in-chief must not only have +his plan how to get the great mass of men to the field, but he must have +a plan of movement on the field. Each corps must have its position +assigned. There must be a line of battle. It is not a continuous line of +men, but there are wide spaces, perhaps miles wide, between the corps, +divisions, and brigades. Hills, ravines, streams, swamps, houses, +villages, bushes, a fence, rocks, wheat-fields, sunlight and shade, all +must be taken into account. Batteries must be placed on hills, or in +commanding positions to sweep all the country round. Infantry must be +gathered in masses in the centre or on either wing, or deployed and +separated according to circumstances. They must be sheltered. They must +be thrown here or there, as they may be needed to hold or to crush the +enemy. They are to stand still and be ploughed through by shot and +shell, or rush into the thickest of the fight, just as they may be +ordered. They are not to question the order;-- + + "Theirs not to make reply, + Theirs not to reason why, + Theirs but to do and die." + +There are sleepless nights in the tent of the general-in-chief. When all +others except the pickets are asleep, he is examining maps and plans, +calculating distances, estimating the strength of his army, and asking +himself whether it will do to attack the enemy, or whether he shall +stand on the defensive? can this brigade be relied upon for a desperate +charge? will that division hold the enemy in check? At such times, the +good name, the valor, the bravery of the troops and of the officers who +command them is reviewed. He weighs character. He knows who are reliable +and who inefficient. He studies, examines papers, consults reports, +makes calculations, sits abstractedly, walks nervously, and lies down to +dream it all over again and again. + +The welfare of the country, thousands of lives, and perhaps the destiny +of the nation, is in his hands. How shall he arrange his corps? ought +the troops to be massed in the centre, or shall he concentrate them on +the wings? shall he feel of the enemy with a division or two, or rush +upon him like an avalanche? Can the enemy outflank him, or get upon his +rear? What if the Rebels should pounce upon his ammunition and +supply-trains? What is the position of the enemy? How large is his +force? How many batteries has he? How much cavalry? What do the scouts +report? Are the scouts to be believed? One says the enemy is retreating, +another that he is advancing. What are the probabilities? A thousand +questions arise which must be answered. The prospect of success must be +carefully calculated. Human life must be thrown remorselessly into the +scale. All the sorrows and the tears of wives, mothers, fathers, +brothers, and sisters far away, who will mourn for the dead, must be +forgotten. He must shut up all tender thoughts, and become an iron man. +Ah! it is not so fine a thing to be a general, perhaps, as you have +imagined! + +It is an incomplete, imperfect, and unsatisfactory look which you have +taken of the machinery of a great army. But you can see that a very +small thing may upset the best-laid plan of any commander. The cowardice +of a regiment, the failure of an officer to do his duty, to be at a +place at an appointed moment, the miscarriage of orders, a hundred +things which you can think of, may turn a victory into a defeat. You can +see that a great battle must be a grand and terrible affair; but though +you may use all your powers of imagination in endeavoring to picture the +positions of the troops,--how they look, how they act, how they stand +amid the terrible storm, braying death, how they rush into the thickest +fire, how they fall like the sere leaves of autumn,--you will fail in +your conceptions of the conflict. You must see it, and be in it, to know +what it is. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. + + +The first great battle of the war was fought near Bull Run, in Virginia. +There had been skirmishing along the Potomac, in Western Virginia, and +Missouri; but upon the banks of this winding stream was fought a battle +which will be forever memorable. The Rebels call it the battle of +Manassas. It has been called also the battle of Stone Bridge and the +battle of Warrenton Road. + +Bull Run is a lazy, sluggish stream, a branch of the Occoquan River, +which empties into the Potomac. It rises among the Bull Run Mountains, +and flows southeast through Fairfax County. Just beyond the stream, as +you go west from Washington, are the plains of Manassas,--level lands, +which years ago waved with corn and tobacco, but the fields long since +were worn out by the thriftless farming of the slaveholders, and now +they are overgrown with thickets of pine and oak. + +Two railroads meet upon the plains, one running northwest through the +mountain gaps into the valley of the Shenandoah, and the other running +from Alexandria to Richmond, Culpepper, and the Southwest. The junction, +therefore, became an important place for Rebel military operations. +There, in June, 1861, General Beauregard mustered his army, which was to +defeat the Union army and capture Washington. The Richmond newspapers +said that this army would not only capture Washington, but would also +dictate terms of peace on the banks of the Hudson. Hot-headed men, who +seemed to have lost their reason through the influence of slavery and +secession, thought that the Southern troops were invincible. They were +confident that one Southerner could whip five Yankees. Ladies cheered +them, called them chivalrous sons of the South, and urged them on to the +field. + +But General Beauregard, instead of advancing upon Washington, awaited an +attack from the Union army, making Bull Run his line of defence, +throwing up breastworks, cutting down trees, and sheltering his men +beneath the thick growth of the evergreen pines. + +The army of the Union, called the Army of the Potomac, assembled at +Arlington Heights and Alexandria. General McDowell was placed in +command. Half of his soldiers were men who had enlisted for three +months, who had suddenly left their homes at the call of the President. +Their term of service had nearly expired. The three years' men had been +but a few days in camp. Military duties were new. They knew nothing of +discipline, but they confidently expected to defeat the enemy and move +on to Richmond. Few people thought of the possibility of defeat. + +Let us walk up the valley of Bull Run and notice its fords, its wooded +banks, the scattered farm-houses, and fields of waving grain. Ten miles +from the Occoquan we come to the railroad bridge. A mile farther up is +McLean's Ford; another mile carries us to Blackburn's, and another mile +brings us to Mitchell's. Above these are Island Ford, Lewis Ford, and +Ball's Ford. Three miles above Mitchell's there is a stone bridge, where +the turnpike leading from Centreville to Warrenton crosses the stream. +Two miles farther up is a place called Sudley Springs,--a cluster of +houses, a little stone church, a blacksmith's shop. The stream there has +dwindled to a brook, and gurgles over a rocky bed. + +Going back to the stone bridge, and standing upon its parapet, you may +look east to Centreville, about four miles distant, beautifully situated +on a high ridge of land, but a very old, dilapidated place when you get +to it. Going west from the bridge, you see upon your right hand a swell +of land, and another at your left hand, south of the turnpike. A brook +trickles by the roadside. Leaving the turnpike, and ascending the ridge +on the north side, you see that towards Sudley Springs there are other +swells of land, with wheat-fields, fences, scattered trees, and groves +of pines and oaks. Looking across to the hill south of the turnpike, a +half-mile distant, you see the house of Mr. Lewis, and west of it Mrs. +Henry's, on the highest knoll. Mrs. Henry is an old lady, so far +advanced in life that she is helpless. Going up the turnpike a mile from +the bridge, you come to the toll-gate, kept by Mr. Mathey. A cross-road +comes down from Sudley Springs, and leads south towards Manassas +Junction, six miles distant. Leave the turnpike once more, and go +northwest a half-mile, and you come to the farm of Mr. Dogan. There are +farm-sheds and haystacks near his house. + +This ground, from Dogan's to the ridge east of the toll-gate, across the +turnpike and the trickling brook to Mr. Lewis's and Mrs. Henry's, is the +battle-field. You see it,--the ridges of land, the houses, haystacks, +fences, knolls, ravines, wheat-fields, turnpike, and groves of oak and +pine,--a territory about two miles square. + +On Saturday, June 20th, General Johnston, with nearly all the Rebel army +of the Shenandoah, arrived at Manassas. Being General Beauregard's +superior officer, he took command of all the troops. He had about thirty +thousand men. + +On Thursday, General Richardson's brigade of General McDowell's army had +a skirmish with General Longstreet's brigade at Blackburn's Ford, which +the Rebels call the battle of Bull Run, while that which was fought on +the 21st they call the battle of Manassas. General Beauregard expected +that the attack would be renewed along the fords, and posted his men +accordingly. + +Going down to the railroad bridge, we see General Ewell's brigade of the +Rebel army on the western bank guarding the crossing. General Jones's +brigade is at McLean's Ford. At Blackburn's Ford is General +Longstreet's, and at Mitchell's Ford is General Bonham's. Near by +Bonham's is General Earley's, General Bartow's, and General Holmes's. +General Jackson's is in rear of General Bonham's. At Island Ford is +General Bee and Colonel Hampton's legion, also Stuart's cavalry. At +Ball's Ford is General Cocke's brigade. Above, at the Stone Bridge, is +the extreme left of the Rebel army, General Evans's brigade. General +Elzey's brigade of the Shenandoah army is on its way in the cars, and is +expected to reach the battle-field before the contest closes. General +Johnston has between fifty and sixty pieces of artillery and about one +thousand cavalry. + +General McDowell had also about thirty thousand men and forty-nine +pieces of artillery. His army was in four divisions,--General Tyler's, +General Hunter's, General Heintzelman's, and General Miles's. One +brigade of General Tyler's and General Miles's division was left at +Centreville to make a feint of attacking the enemy at Blackburn's and +Mitchell's Fords, and to protect the rear of the army from an attack by +Generals Ewell and Jones. The other divisions of the army--five +brigades, numbering eighteen thousand men, with thirty-six +cannon--marched soon after midnight, to be ready to make the attack by +sunrise on Sunday morning. + +General Tyler, with General Keyes's brigade, General Sherman's, and +General Schenck's, marched down the turnpike towards the Stone Bridge, +where General Evans was on the watch. General Tyler had twelve pieces of +artillery,--two batteries, commanded by Ayer and Carlisle. + +It is sunrise as they approach the bridge,--a calm, peaceful Sabbath +morning. The troops leave the turnpike, march into a cornfield, and +ascend a hill overlooking the bridge. As you stand there amid the +tasselled stalks, you see the stream rippling beneath the stone arches, +and upon the other bank breastworks of earth and fallen trees. Half hid +beneath the oaks and pines are the Rebel regiments, their gun-barrels +and bayonets flashing in the morning light. Beyond the breastworks upon +the knolls are the farm-houses of Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Henry. + +Captain Ayer, who has seen fighting in Mexico, brings his guns upon the +hill, wheels them into position, and sights them towards the +breastworks. There is a flash, a puff of smoke, a screaming in the air, +and then across the stream a handful of cloud bursts into view above the +Rebel lines. The shell has exploded. There is a sudden movement of the +Rebel troops. It is the first gun of the morning. And now, two miles +down the Run, by Mitchell's Ford, rolling, echoing, and reverberating +through the forests, are other thunderings. General Richardson has been +waiting impatiently to hear the signal gun. He is to make a feint of +attacking. His cannonade is to begin furiously. He has six guns, and all +of them are in position, throwing solid shot and shells into the wood +where Longstreet's men are lying. + +All of Ayer's guns are in play, hurling rifled shot and shells, which +scream like an unseen demon as they fly over the cornfield, over the +meadow lands, to the woods and fields beyond the stream. + +General Hunter and General Heintzelman, with their divisions, have left +the turnpike two miles from Centreville, at Cub Run bridge, a rickety, +wooden structure, which creaks and trembles as the heavy cannon rumble +over. They march into the northwest, along a narrow road,--a round-about +way to Sudley Springs. It is a long march. They started at two o'clock, +and have had no breakfast. They waited three hours at Cub Run, while +General Tyler's division was crossing, and they are therefore three +hours behind the appointed time. General McDowell calculated and +intended to have them at Sudley Springs by six o'clock, but now it is +nine. They stop a half-hour at the river-crossing to fill their canteens +from the gurgling stream. + +Looking south from the little stone church, you see clouds of dust +floating over the forest-trees. The Rebels have discovered the movement, +and are marching in hot haste to resist the impending attack. General +Evans has left a portion of his command at Stone Bridge, and is +hastening with the remainder to the second ridge of land north of the +turnpike. He plants his artillery on the hill, and secretes his infantry +in a thicket of pines. General Bee is on the march, so is General Bartow +and General Jackson, all upon the double-quick. Rebel officers ride +furiously, and shout their orders. The artillerymen lash their horses to +a run. The infantry are also upon the run, sweating and panting in the +hot sunshine. The noise and confusion increase. The booming deepens +along the valley, for still farther down, by Blackburn's Ford, Hunt's +battery is pouring its fire upon Longstreet's, Jones's, and Ewell's men. + +The Union troops at Sudley Springs move across the stream. General +Burnside's brigade is in advance. The Second Rhode Island infantry is +thrown out, deployed as skirmishers. The men are five paces apart. They +move slowly, cautiously, and nervously through the fields and thickets. + +Suddenly, from bushes, trees, and fences there is a rattle of musketry. +General Evans's skirmishers are firing. There are jets of flame and +smoke, and a strange humming in the air. There is another rattle, a +roll, a volley. The cannon join. The first great battle has begun. +General Hunter hastens to the spot, and is wounded almost at the first +volley, and compelled to leave the field. The contest suddenly grows +fierce. The Rhode Island boys push on to closer quarters, and the Rebels +under General Evans give way from a thicket to a fence, from a fence to +a knoll. + +General Bee arrives with his brigade to help General Evans. You see him +swing up into line west of Evans, towards the haystacks by Dogan's +house. He is in such a position that he can pour a fire upon the flank +of the Rhode Island boys, who are pushing Evans. It is a galling fire, +and the brave fellows are cut down by the raking shots from the +haystacks. They are almost overwhelmed. But help is at hand. The +Seventy-first New York, the Second New Hampshire, and the First Rhode +Island, all belonging to Burnside's brigade, move toward the haystacks. +They bring their guns to a level, and the rattle and roll begin. There +are jets of flame, long lines of light, white clouds, unfolding and +expanding, rolling over and over, and rising above the tree-tops. Wilder +the uproar. Men fall, tossing their arms; some leap into the air, some +plunge headlong, falling like logs of wood or lumps of lead. Some reel, +stagger, and tumble; others lie down gently as to a night's repose, +unheeding the din, commotion, and uproar. They are bleeding, torn, and +mangled. Legs, arms, bodies, are crushed. They see nothing. They cannot +tell what has happened. The air is full of fearful noises. An unseen +storm sweeps by. The trees are splintered, crushed, and broken as if +smitten by thunderbolts. Twigs and leaves fall to the ground. There is +smoke, dust, wild talking, shouting, hissings, howlings, explosions. It +is a new, strange, unanticipated experience to the soldiers of both +armies, far different from what they thought it would be. + +Far away, church-bells are tolling the hour of Sabbath worship, and +children are singing sweet songs in many a Sunday school. Strange and +terrible the contrast! You cannot bear to look upon the dreadful scene. +How horrible those wounds! The ground is crimson with blood. You are +ready to turn away, and shut the scene forever from your sight. But the +battle must go on, and the war must go on till the wicked men who began +it are crushed, till the honor of the dear old flag is vindicated, till +the Union is restored, till the country is saved, till the slaveholder +is deprived of his power, and till freedom comes to the slave. It is +terrible to see, but you remember that the greatest blessing the world +ever received was purchased by blood,--the blood of the Son of God. It +is terrible to see, but there are worse things than war. It is worse to +have the rights of men trampled in the dust; worse to have your country +destroyed, to have justice, truth, and honor violated. You had better be +killed, torn to pieces by cannon-shot, than lose your manhood, or yield +that which makes you a man. It is better to die than give up that rich +inheritance bequeathed us by our fathers, and purchased by their blood. + +The battle goes on. General Porter's brigade comes to the aid of +Burnside, moving towards Dogan's house. Jackson's Rebel brigade is there +to meet him. Arnold's battery is in play,--guns pouring a constant +stream of shot and shells upon the Rebel line. The Washington Artillery, +from New Orleans, is replying from the hill south of Dogan's. Other +Rebel batteries are cutting Burnside's brigade to pieces. The men are +all but ready to fall back before the terrible storm. Burnside sends to +Porter for help,--he asks for the brave old soldiers, the regulars, who +have been true to the flag of their country, while many of their former +officers have been false. They have been long in the service, and have +had many fierce contests with the Indians on the Western plains. They +are as true as steel. Captain Sykes commands them. He leads the way. You +see them, with steady ranks, in the edge of the woods east of Dogan's +house. They have been facing southwest, and now they turn to the +southeast. They pass through the grove of pines, and enter the open +field. They are cut through and through with solid shot, shells burst +around them, men drop from the ranks, but the battalion does not falter. +It sweeps on close up to the cloud of flame and smoke rolling from the +hill north of the turnpike. Their muskets come to a level. There is a +click, click, click, along the line. A broad sheet of flame, a white, +sulphurous cloud, a deep roll like the angry growl of thunder. There is +sudden staggering in the Rebel ranks. Men whirl round, and drop upon the +ground. The line wavers, and breaks. They run down the hill, across the +hollows, to another knoll. There they rally, and hold their ground a +while. Hampton's legion and Cocke's brigade come to their support. +Fugitives are brought back by the officers, who ride furiously over the +field. There is a lull, and then the strife goes on, a rattling fire of +musketry, and a continual booming of the cannonade. + +General Heintzelman's division was in rear of General Hunter's on the +march. When the battle begun the troops were several miles from Sudley +Church. They were parched with thirst, and when they reached the stream +they, too, stopped and filled their canteens. Burnside's and Porter's +brigades were engaged two hours before Heintzelman's division reached +the field. Eight regiments had driven the Rebels from their first +position. + +General Heintzelman marched upon the Rebels west of Dogan's house. The +Rebel batteries were on a knoll, a short distance from the toll-gate. +Griffin and Ricketts opened upon them with their rifled guns. Then came +a great puff of smoke. It was a Rebel caisson blown up by one of +Griffin's shells. It was a continuous, steady artillery fire. The +gunners of the Rebel batteries were swept away by the unerring aim of +Griffin's gunners. They changed position again and again, to avoid the +shot. Mingled with the constant crashing of the cannonade was an +irregular firing of muskets, like the pattering of rain-drops upon a +roof. At times there was a quicker rattle, and heavy rolls, like the +fall of a great building. + +General Wilcox swung his brigade round upon Jackson's flank. The Rebel +general must retreat or be cut off, and he fell back to the toll-gate, +to the turnpike, across it, in confusion, to the ridge by Mrs. Henry's. +Evans's, Bee's, Bartow's, and Cocke's brigades, which have been trying +to hold their ground against Burnside and Porter's brigades, by this +movement are also forced back to Mr. Lewis's house. The Rebels do not +all go back. There are hundreds who rushed up in hot haste in the +morning lying bleeding, torn, mangled, upon the wooded slopes. Some are +prisoners. + +I talked with a soldier of one of the Virginia regiments. We were near +the Stone Bridge. He was a tall, athletic young man, dressed in a gray +uniform trimmed with yellow braid. + +"How many soldiers have you on the field?" I asked. + +"Ninety thousand." + +"Hardly that number, I guess." + +"Yes, sir. We have got Beauregard's and Johnston's armies. Johnston came +yesterday and a whole lot more from Richmond. If you whip us to-day, you +will whip nigh to a hundred thousand." + +"Who is in command?" + +"Jeff Davis." + +"I thought Beauregard was in command." + +"Well, he was; but Jeff Davis is on the field now. I know it; for I saw +him just before I was captured. He was on a white horse." + +While talking, a shell screamed over our heads and fell in the woods. +The Rebel batteries had opened again upon our position. Another came, +and we were compelled to leave the spot. + +The prisoner may have been honest in his statements. It requires much +judgment to correctly estimate large armies. He was correct in saying +that Jeff Davis was there. He was on the ground, watching the progress +of the battle, but taking no part. He arrived in season to see the close +of the contest. + +After Burnside and Porter had driven Evans, Bee, and Bartow across the +turnpike, General Sherman and General Keyes crossed Bull Run above the +Stone Bridge and moved straight down the stream. Schenck's brigade and +Ayer's and Carlisle's batteries were left to guard the rear. + +Perhaps you had a brother or a father in the Second New Hampshire, or in +the Seventy-first New York, or in some other regiment; or perhaps when +the war is over you may wish to visit the spot and behold the ground +where the first great battle was fought. You will wish to see just where +they stood. Looking, then, along the line at one o'clock, you see +nearest the stream General Keyes's brigade, composed of the First, +Second, and Third Connecticut regiments and the Fourth Maine. Next is +Sherman's brigade, composed of the Sixty-ninth and Seventy-ninth New +York Militia, the Thirteenth New York Volunteers, and the Second +Wisconsin. Between these and the toll-gate you see first, as you go +west, Burnside's brigade, composed of the First and Second Rhode Island, +the Seventy-first New York Militia, and the Second New Hampshire, and +the Second Rhode Island battery; extending to the toll-house is Porter's +brigade. He has Sykes's battalion of regulars, and the Eighth and +Fourteenth regiments of New York Militia and Arnold's battery. Crossing +the road which comes down from Sudley Springs, you see General +Franklin's brigade, containing the Fifth Massachusetts Militia, the +First Minnesota Volunteers, and the Fourth Pennsylvania Militia. Next +you come to the men from Maine and Vermont, the Second, Fourth, and +Fifth Maine, and the Second Vermont, General Howard's brigade. Beyond, +upon the extreme right, is General Wilcox with the First Michigan and +the Eleventh New York. Griffin's and Rickett's batteries are near at +hand. There are twenty-four regiments and twenty-four pieces of +artillery. There are two companies of cavalry. If we step over to the +house of Mr. Lewis, we shall find General Johnston and General +Beauregard in anxious consultation. General Johnston has sent officers +in hot haste for reinforcements. Brigades are arriving out of +breath,--General Cocke's, Holmes's, Longstreet's, Earley's. Broken +regiments, fragments of companies, and stragglers are collected and +brought into line. General Bonham's brigade is sent for. All but General +Ewell's and General Jones's; they are left to prevent General Miles from +crossing at Blackburn's Ford and attacking the Rebel army in the rear. +General Johnston feels that it is a critical moment. He has been driven +nearly two miles. His flank has been turned. His loss has been very +great, and his troops are beginning to be disheartened. They have +changed their opinions of the Yankees. + +General Johnston has Barley's brigade, composed of the Seventh and +Twenty-fourth Virginia, and the Seventh Louisiana; Jackson's brigade, +composed of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-seventh, and Thirty-third +Virginia, and the Thirteenth Mississippi; Bee's and Bartow's brigades +united, composed of two companies of the Eleventh Mississippi, Second +Mississippi, First Alabama, Seventh and Eighth Georgia; Cocke's brigade, +the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-eighth Virginia, seven companies +of the Eighth, and three of the Forty-ninth Virginia; Evans's brigade, +composed of Hampton's legion, Fourth South Carolina, and Wheat's +Louisiana battalion; Holmes's brigade, composed of two regiments of +Virginia infantry, the First Arkansas, and the Second Tennessee. Two +regiments of Bonham's brigade, and Elzey's brigade were brought in +before the conflict was over. Putting the detached companies into +regiments, Johnston's whole force engaged in this last struggle is +thirty-five regiments of infantry, and about forty pieces of artillery, +all gathered upon the ridge by Mr. Lewis's and Mrs. Henry's. + +There is marching to and fro of regiments. There is not much order. +Regiments are scattered. The lines are not even. This is the first +battle, and officers and men are inexperienced. There are a great many +stragglers on both sides; more, probably, from the Rebel ranks than from +McDowell's army, for thus far the battle has gone against them. You can +see them scattered over the fields, beyond Mr. Lewis's. + +The fight goes on. The artillery crashes louder than before. There is a +continuous rattle of musketry. It is like the roaring of a hail-storm. +Sherman and Keyes move down to the foot of the hill, near Mr. Lewis's. +Burnside and Porter march across the turnpike. Franklin and Howard and +Wilcox, who have been pushing south, turn towards the southeast. There +are desperate hand-to-hand encounters. Cannon are taken and retaken. +Gunners on both sides are shot while loading their pieces. Hundreds +fall, and other hundreds leave the ranks. The woods toward Sudley +Springs are filled with wounded men and fugitives, weak, thirsty, +hungry, exhausted, worn down by the long morning march, want of sleep, +lack of food, and the excitement of the hour. + +Across the plains, towards Manassas, are other crowds,--disappointed, +faint-hearted, defeated soldiers, fleeing for safety. + +"We are defeated!" + +"Our regiments are cut to pieces!" + +"General Bartow is wounded and General Bee is killed!" + +Thus they cry, as they hasten towards Manassas.[3] Officers and men in +the Rebel ranks feel that the battle is all but lost. Union officers and +men feel that it is almost won. + +[Footnote 3: Rebel reports in Rebellion Record.] + +The Rebel right wing, far out upon the turnpike, has been folded back +upon the centre; the centre has been driven in upon the left wing, and +the left wing has been pushed back beyond Mr. Lewis's house. Griffin's +and Rickett's batteries, which had been firing from the ridge west of +the toll-gate, were ordered forward to the knoll from which the Rebel +batteries had been driven. + +"It is too far in advance," said General Griffin. + +"The Fire Zouaves will support you," said General Barry. + +"It is better to have them go in advance till we come into position; +then they can fall back," Griffin replied. + +"No; you are to move first, those are the orders. The Zouaves are +already to follow on the double-quick." + +"I will go; but, mark my words, they will not support me." + +The battery galloped over the fields, descended the hill, crossed the +ravine, advancing to the brow of the hill near Mrs. Henry's, followed by +Rickett's battery, the Fire Zouaves, and the Fourteenth New York. In +front of them, about forty or fifty rods distant, were the Rebel +batteries, supported by infantry. Griffin and Ricketts came into +position, and opened a fire so terrible and destructive that the Rebel +batteries and infantry were driven beyond the crest of the hill. + +The field was almost won. Read what General Johnston says: "The long +contest against fivefold odds, and heavy losses, especially of field +officers, had greatly discouraged the troops of General Bee and Colonel +Evans. The aspect of affairs was critical." + +The correspondent of the Charleston Mercury writes: "When I entered on +the field at two o'clock, the fortunes of the day were dark. The +remnants of the regiments, so badly injured or wounded and worn, as they +staggered out gave gloomy pictures of the scene. We could not be routed, +perhaps, but it is doubtful whether we were destined to a victory." + +The correspondent of the Richmond Despatch writes: "Fighting for hours +under a hot sun, without a drop of water near, the conduct of our men +could not be excelled; but human endurance has its bounds, _and all +seemed about to be lost_." + +The battle surges around the house of Mrs. Henry. She is lying there +amidst its thunders. Rebel sharpshooters take possession of it, and pick +off Rickett's gunners. He turns his guns upon the house. Crash! crash! +crash! It is riddled with grape and canister. Sides, roof, doors, and +windows are pierced, broken, and splintered. The bed-clothes are cut +into rags, and the aged woman instantly killed. The Rebel regiments melt +away. The stream of fugitives toward Manassas grows more dense. Johnston +has had more men and more guns engaged than McDowell; but he has been +steadily driven. But Rebel reinforcements arrive from an unexpected +quarter,--General Smith's brigade, from the Shenandoah. It comes into +action in front of Wilcox. There are from two to three thousand men. +General Smith is wounded almost at the first fire, and Colonel Elzey +takes command. General Bonham sends two regiments, the Second and Eighth +South Carolina. They keep south of Mrs. Henry's, and march on till they +are in position to fire almost upon the backs of Griffin's and Rickett's +gunners. They march through a piece of woods, reach the top of the hill, +and come into line. Captain Imboden, of the Rebel battery, who is +replying to Griffin, sees them. Who are they? He thinks they are Yankees +flanking him. He wheels his guns, and is ready to cut them down with +grape and canister. Captain Griffin sees them, and wheels his guns. +Another instant, and he will sweep them away. He believes them to be +Rebels. His gunners load with grape and canister. + +"Do not fire upon them; they are your supports!" shouts Major Barry, +riding up. + +"No, sir; they are Rebels." + +"They are your supports, just ordered up." + +"As sure as the world, they are Rebels." + +"You are mistaken, Captain; they are your supports." + +The cannoneers stand ready to pull the lanyards, which will send a +tornado through those ranks. + +"Don't fire!" shouts the Captain. + +The guns are wheeled again towards Mrs. Henry's, and the supposed +supports are saved from destruction at the hand of Captain Griffin. + +Captain Imboden, before ordering his men to fire upon the supposed +Yankees, gallops nearer to them, to see who they are. He sees them raise +their guns. There is a flash, a rattle and roll. Griffin's and Rickett's +men and their horses go down in an instant! They rush on with a yell. +There is sharp, hot, decisive work. Close musket-shots and +sabre-strokes. Men are trampled beneath the struggling horses. + +There are shouts and hurrahs. The few soldiers remaining to support +Griffin and Rickett fire at the advancing Rebel brigade, but the contest +is unequal; they are not able to hold in check the three thousand fresh +troops. They fall back. The guns are in the hands of the Rebels. The day +is lost. At the very moment of victory the line is broken. In an instant +all is changed. A moment ago we were pressing on, but now we are falling +back. Quick almost as the lightning's flash is the turning of the tide. +All through a mistake! So great events sometimes hang on little things. + +The unexpected volley, the sudden onset, the vigorous charge, the +falling back, produces confusion in the Union ranks. Officers and men, +generals and soldiers alike, are confounded. By a common impulse they +begin to fall back across the turnpike. Unaccountably to themselves, and +to the Rebel fugitives streaming towards Manassas, they lose strength +and heart. The falling back becomes a retreat, a sudden panic and a +rout. Regiments break and mix with others. Soldiers drop their guns and +cartridge-boxes, and rush towards the rear. + +I had watched the tide of battle through the day. Everything was +favorable. The heat was intense, and I was thirsty. A soldier came past +with a back-load of canteens freshly filled. + +[Illustration: BULL RUN BATTLE-GROUND, July 21, 1861. + + 1 Stone Bridge. + 2 Sudley Springs. + 3 Toll-gate kept by Mr. Mathey. + 4 Mr. Dogan's house. + 5 Mrs. Henry's. + 6 Mr. Lewis's. + 7 Wilcox's, Howard's, and Franklin's + brigades. + 8 Porter's and Burnside's brigades. + 9 Sherman's and Keyes's brigades. + 10 Griffin's and Rickett's batteries. + 11 Rebel reinforcements which fired upon + Griffin. + 12 Position of Rebel army when the + Union line gave way. + 13 Ridge where the battle began.] + +"Where did you find the water?" + +"Over there in the woods, in the rear of Schenck's brigade." + +I passed the brigade. Ayers's and Carlisle's batteries were there. I +found the spring beyond a little hillock. While drinking, there was +sudden confusion in Schenck's brigade. There was loud talking, cannon +and musketry firing, and a sudden trampling of horses. A squadron of +Rebel cavalry swept past within a few rods of the spring, charging upon +Schenck's brigade. The panic tide had come rolling to the rear. Ayers +lashed his horses to a gallop, to reach Cub Run bridge. He succeeded in +crossing it. He came into position to open upon the Rebels and to check +their pursuit. The road was blocked with wagons. Frightened teamsters +cut their horses loose and rode away. Soldiers, officers, and civilians +fled towards Centreville, frightened at they knew not what. Blenker's +brigade was thrown forward from Centreville to the bridge, and the rout +was stopped. The Rebels were too much exhausted, too much amazed at the +sudden and unaccountable breaking and fleeing of McDowell's army, to +improve the advantage. They followed to Cub Run bridge, but a few cannon +and musket shots sent them back to the Stone Bridge. + +But at Blackburn's Ford General Jones crossed the stream to attack the +retreating troops. General Davies, with four regiments and Hunt's +battery, occupied the crest of a hill looking down towards the ford. The +Rebels marched through the woods upon the bank of the stream, wound +along the hillside, filed through a farm-yard and halted in a hollow +within a quarter of a mile of General Davies's guns. + +[Illustration: FIGHT AT BLACKBURN'S FORD, July 21, 1863. + + 1 Blackburn's Ford. + 2 Mitchell's Ford. + 3 Rebel troops. + 4 Davies's brigade and batteries. + 5 Richardson's brigade.] + +"Lie down," said the General, and the four regiments dropped upon the +ground. The six cannon and the gunners alone were in sight. + +"Wait till they come over the crest of the hill; wait till I give the +word," said the General to Captain Hunt. + +The men stand motionless by their pieces. The long column of Rebels +moves on. There is an officer on his horse giving directions. The long +dark line throws its lengthening shadows upward in the declining +sunlight, toward the silent cannon. + +"Now let them have it!" The guns are silent no longer. Six flashes of +light, and six sulphurous clouds are belched towards the moving mass. +Grape and canister sweep them down. The officer tumbles from his horse, +and the horse staggers to the earth. There are sudden gaps in the ranks. +They stop advancing. Officers run here and there. Another merciless +storm,--another,--another. Eighteen flashes a minute from those six +pieces! Like grass before the mower the Rebel line is cut down. The men +flee to the woods, utterly routed. + +The attempt to cut off the retreat signally failed. It was the last +attempt of the Rebels to follow up their mysterious victory. The +rear-guard remained in Centreville till morning recovering five cannon +which had been abandoned at Cub Run, which the Rebels had not secured, +and then retired to Arlington. + +So the battle was won and lost. So the hopes of the Union soldiers +changed to sudden, unaccountable fear, and so the fear of the Rebels +became unbounded exultation. + +The sun had gone down behind the Blue Mountains, and the battle-clouds +hung thick and heavy along the winding stream where the conflict had +raged. It was a sad night to us who had gone out with such high hopes, +who had seen the victory so nearly won and so suddenly lost. Many of our +wounded were lying where they had fallen. It was a terrible night to +them. Their enemies, some of them, were hard-hearted and cruel. They +fired into the hospitals upon helpless men. They refused them water to +quench their burning thirst. They taunted them in their hour of triumph, +and heaped upon them bitterest curses. They were wild with the delirium +of success, and treated their prisoners with savage barbarity. Any one +who showed kindness to the prisoners or wounded was looked upon with +suspicion. Says an English officer in the Rebel service:--[4] + +[Footnote 4: Estvan.] + + "I made it my duty to seek out and attend upon the wounded, + and the more so when I found that the work of alleviating + their sufferings was performed with evident reluctance and + want of zeal by many of those whose duty it was to do it. I + looked upon the poor fellows only as suffering + fellow-mortals, brothers in need of help, and made no + distinction between friend and foe; nay, I must own that I + was prompted to give the preference to the latter, for the + reason that some of our men met with attention from their + relations and friends, who had flocked to the field in + numbers to see them. But in doing so I had to encounter + opposition, and was even pointed at by some with muttered + curses as a traitor to the cause of the Confederacy for + bestowing any attention on the d---- Yankees." + +Notwithstanding the inhuman treatment they received at the hands of +their captors, there were men on that field who never quailed,--men with +patriotism so fervent, deep, and unquenchable, that they lay down +cheerfully to their death-sleep. This officer in the Rebel service went +out upon the field where the fight had been thickest. It was night. +Around him were the dying and the dead. There was a young Union officer, +with both feet crushed by a cannon-shot. There were tears upon his +cheeks. + +"Courage, comrade!" said the officer, bending over him; "the day will +come when you will remember this battle as one of the things of the +past." + +"Do not give me false hopes, sir. It is all up with me. I do not grieve +that I must die, for with these stumps I shall not live long." + +He pointed to his mangled feet, and added: "_I weep for my poor, +distracted country. Had I a second life to live, I would willingly +sacrifice it for the cause of the Union!_" + +His eyes closed. A smile lighted his countenance, as if, while on the +border of another world, he saw once more those who were dearest on +earth or in heaven. He raised himself convulsively, and cried, "Mother! +Father!" + +He was dead. + +He sleeps upon the spot where he fell. His name is unknown, but his +devotion to his country shall shine forevermore like a star in heaven! + +When the Union line gave way, some of the soldiers were so stupefied by +the sudden change that they were unable to move, and were taken +prisoners. Among them was a Zouave, in red trousers. He was a tall, +noble fellow. Although a prisoner, he walked erect, unabashed by his +captivity. A Virginian taunted him, and called him by hard names. + +"Sir," said the Zouave, "I have heard that yours was a nation of +gentlemen, but your insult comes from a coward and a knave. I am your +prisoner, but you have no right to fling your curses at me because I am +unfortunate. Of the two, I consider myself the gentleman."[5] + +[Footnote 5: Charleston Mercury.] + +The Virginian hung his head in silence, while other Rebel soldiers +assured the brave fellow that he should not again be insulted. So +bravery, true courage, and manliness will win respect even from enemies. + +No accurate reports have been made of the number of men killed and +wounded in this battle; but each side lost probably from fifteen hundred +to two thousand men. + +It was a battle which will always have a memorable place in the history +of this Rebellion, because having won a victory, the slaveholders +believed that they could conquer the North. They became more proud and +insolent. They manifested their terrible hate by their inhuman treatment +of the prisoners captured. They gave the dead indecent burial. The Rebel +soldiers dug up the bones of the dead Union men, and carved them into +ornaments, which they sent home to their wives and sweethearts. One girl +wrote to her lover to "be sure and bring her Old Lincoln's _skelp_" +(scalp), so that the women as well as the men became fierce in their +hatred. I have seen the letter, which was found upon a prisoner. + +The North, although defeated, was not discouraged. There was no thought +of giving up the contest, but, as you remember, there was a great +uprising of the people, who determined that the war should go on till +the Rebellion was crushed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY. + + +Tennessee joined the Southern Confederacy, but Kentucky resisted all the +coaxing, threatening, and planning of the leaders of the Rebellion. Some +Kentuckians talked of remaining neutral, of taking no part in the great +contest; but that was not possible. The Rebels invaded the State, by +sailing up the Mississippi and taking possession of Columbus,--a town +twenty miles below the mouth of the Ohio. They also advanced from +Nashville to Bowling Green. Then the State decided for the Union,--to +stand by the old flag till the Rebellion should be crushed. + +The Rebels erected two forts on the northern line of Tennessee. Looking +at your map, you see that the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers are near +together where they enter the State of Kentucky. They are not more than +twelve miles apart. The fort on the Tennessee River was named Fort +Henry, the one on the Cumberland, Fort Donelson. A good road was cut +through the woods between them, so that troops and supplies could be +readily removed from one to the other. Fort Henry was on the eastern +bank of the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on the western bank of the +Cumberland. They were very important places to the Rebels, for at high +water in the winter the rivers are navigable for the largest +steamboats,--the Cumberland to Nashville and the Tennessee to Florence, +in Northern Alabama,--and it would be very easy to transport an army +from the Ohio River to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. The +forts were built to prevent any such movement of the Union troops. + +[Illustration: THE FORTS.] + +The bluffs of the Mississippi River at Columbus are two hundred feet +high. There the Rebels erected strong batteries, planting heavy guns, +with which they could sweep the Mississippi far up stream, and pour +plunging shots with unobstructed aim upon any descending gunboat. They +called it a Gibraltar, because of its strength. They said it could not +be taken, and that the Mississippi was closed to navigation till the +independence of the Southern Confederacy was acknowledged. + +Early in the war it was seen that a fleet of gunboats would be needed on +the Western rivers, and Captain Andrew H. Foote of the navy was placed +in charge of their construction. They were built at Cincinnati and St. +Louis, and taken to Cairo, where they received their armament, crews, +and outfit. + +You have heard of Cairo. I do not mean the ancient city on the banks of +the Nile, but the modern town on the tongue of land at the mouth of the +Ohio. Charles Dickens has given a description of the place in one of his +delightful books,--Martin Chuzzlewit. It was a forest, with a few +log-huts, when Mark Tapley resided there, and all the people were +smitten with fever and ague. It is a town now, with several thousand +inhabitants. In the spring the town is sometimes overflowed, and the +people navigate the streets with boats and rafts. Pigs look out of the +chamber windows, and dogs, cats, and chickens live on the roofs of +houses at such times. + +Let us take a look at the place as it appeared the first day of +February, 1862. Stand with me on the levee, and look up the broad +Ohio,--the "la belle rivière," as the French called it. There are from +fifty to a hundred steamboats lying along the bank, with volumes of +black smoke rolling up from their tall chimneys, and puffs of steam +vanishing in the air. Among them are the gunboats,--a cross between a +floating fort, a dredging-machine, and a mud-scow. The sailors, who have +been tossed upon the ocean in stately ships, call them mud-_turkles_. +There are thousands of soldiers on the steamboats and on the shore, +waiting for the sailing of the expedition which is to make an opening in +the line of Rebel defences. There are thousands of people busy as bees, +loading and unloading the steamboats, rolling barrels and boxes. + +When Mark Tapley and Martin Chuzzlewit were here it was muddy, and it is +muddy now. There is fine, thin, sticky, slimy, splashy, thick, heavy, +dirty mud. Thousands of men and thousands of mules and horses are +treading it to mortar. It is mixed with slops from the houses and straw +from the stables. You are reminded of the Slough of Despond described by +Bunyan in the Pilgrim's Progress,--a place for all the filth, sin, and +slime of this world. Christian was mired there, and Pliable nearly lost +his life. If Bunyan had seen Cairo, he might have made the picture still +more graphic. There are old houses, shanties, sheds, stables, pig-sties, +wood-piles, carts, wagons, barrels, boxes, and all the old things you +can imagine. Pigs live in the streets, and there are irrepressible +conflicts between them and the hundreds of dogs. Water-carts, drays, +army-wagons, and artillery go hub deep in the mud. Horses tug and +strive, rear, kick, and flounder. Teamsters lose their footing. Soldiers +wade leg deep in the street. There are sidewalks, but they are slippery, +dangerous, and deceptive. + +It is Sunday. A sweet day of rest in peaceful times, but in war there is +not much observance of the Sabbath. It is midwinter, but a south-wind +sweeps up the Mississippi, so mild and balmy that the blue-birds and +robins are out. The steamboats are crowded with troops, who are waiting +for orders to sail, they know not where. Groups stand upon the topmost +deck. Some lie at full length in the warm sunshine. The bands are +playing, the drums beating. Tug-boats are dancing, wheezing, and puffing +in the stream, flitting from gunboat to gunboat. + +The shops are open, and the soldiers are purchasing +knickknacks,--tobacco, pipes, paper, and pens, to send letters to loved +ones far away. At a gingerbread stall, a half-dozen are taking a lunch. +The oyster-saloons are crowded. Boys are crying their newspapers. There +are laughable and solemn scenes. Yonder is the hospital. A file of +soldiers stand waiting in the street. A coffin is brought out. The fife +begins its mournful air, the drum its muffled beat. The procession moves +away, bearing the dead soldier to his silent home. + +A few months ago he was a citizen, cultivating his farm upon the +prairies, ploughing, sowing, reaping. But now the great reaper, Death, +has gathered him in. He had no thought of being a soldier; but he was a +patriot, and when his country called him he sprang to her aid. He +yielded to disease, but not to the enemy. He was far from home and +friends, with none but strangers to minister to his wants, to comfort +him, to tell him of a better world than this. He gave his life to his +country. + +Although there is the busy note of preparation for the sailing of the +fleet, there are some who remember that it is Sunday, and who find time +to worship. The church-bells toll the hour. You tuck your pants into +your boots, and pick your way along the slippery, slimy streets. There +are a few ladies who brave the mud, wearing boots suited to the walking. +Boots which have not been blacked for a fortnight are just as shiny as +those cleaned but an hour ago. At the door of the church you do as +everybody else does,--take a chip and scrape off the mud. + +Half of the congregation are from the army and navy. Commodore Foote is +there, a devout worshipper. Before coming to church he visited each +gunboat of his fleet, called the crews together, read to them his +general orders, that no unnecessary work should be done on the Sabbath, +and enjoining upon the commanders the duty of having worship, and of +maintaining a high moral character before the men. + +Let us on Monday accept the kind invitation of Commodore Foote, and go +on board the Benton, his flag-ship, and make an inspection of the +strange-looking craft. It is unlike anything you ever saw at Boston or +New York. It is like a great box on a raft. The sides are inclined, made +of stout oak timbers and plated with iron. You enter through a porthole, +where you may lay your hand upon the iron lips of a great gun, which +throws a ball nine inches in diameter. There are fourteen guns, with +stout oaken carriages. The men are moving about, exercising the +guns,--going through the motions of loading and firing. How clean the +floor! It is as white as soap and sand can make it. You must not spit +tobacco-juice here, if you do, the courteous officer will say you are +violating the rules. In the centre of the boat, down beneath the +gun-deck in the hull, are the engines and the boilers, partly protected +from any shot which may happen to come in at a porthole, or which may +tear through the sides,--through the iron and the oak. Near the centre +is the wheel. The top of the box, or the _casemate_, as it is called, is +of oak timbers, and forms the upper deck. The pilot-house is on this +upper deck, forward of the centre. In shape it is like a tunnel turned +down. It is plated with thick iron. There, in the hour of battle, the +pilot will be, peeping out through narrow holes, his hands grasping the +wheel and steering the vessel. + +Its guns, which the sailors call its battery, are very powerful. There +are two nine-inch guns, and also two sixty-four-pounders, rifled, at the +bow. There are two forty-two-pounders at the stern, and those upon the +side are thirty-twos and twenty-fours. There are rooms for the officers, +but the men sleep in hammocks. They take their meals sitting on the +gun-carriages, or cross-legged, like Turks, on the floor. + +Captain Foote is the Commodore of the fleet. He points out to you the +_Sacred Place_ of the ship,--a secluded corner, where any one of the +crew who loves to read his Bible and hold secret devotion may do so, and +not be disturbed. He has given a library of good books to the crew, and +he has persuaded them that it will be better for them to give up their +allowance of grog than to drink it. He walks among the men, and has a +kind word for all, and they look upon him as their father. They have +confidence in him. How lustily they cheer him! Will they not fight +bravely under such a commander? + + * * * * * + +On Monday afternoon, February 2d, the gunboats Cincinnati, Essex, St. +Louis, Carondelet, Lexington, Tyler, and Conestoga sailed from Cairo, +accompanied by several river steamboats with ten regiments of troops. +They went up the Ohio to Paducah, and entered the Tennessee River at +dark. The next morning, about daylight, they anchored a few miles below +Fort Henry. Commodore Foote made the Cincinnati his flag-ship. + +A party of scouts went on shore and called at a farm-house. "You never +will take Fort Henry," said the woman living there. + +"O yes, we shall; we have a fleet of iron-clad gunboats," said one of +the scouts. + +"Your gunboats will be blown sky-high before they get up to the fort." + +"Ah! how so?" + +The woman saw that she was letting out a secret, and became silent. The +scouts mistrusted that she knew something which might be desirable for +them to know, and informed her that, unless she told all she knew, she +must go with them a prisoner. She was frightened, and informed them that +the river was full of torpedoes, which would blow up the gunboats. + +The scouts reported to Commodore Foote. The river was searched with +grappling-irons, and six infernal machines were fished up; but they were +imperfectly constructed, and not one of them would explode. + +Looking up the river from the deck of one of Commodore Foote's gunboats +you see Panther Island, which is a mile from the fort. It is a long, +narrow sand-bank, covered with a thicket of willows. There is the fort +on the eastern bank. You see an irregular pile of earth, about fifteen +feet above the river, with sand-bag embrasures, which at first sight you +think are blocks of stone, but they are grain-sacks filled with sand. +You count the guns, seventeen in all. One ten-inch columbiad, one +sixty-pounder, twelve thirty-two-pounders, one twenty-four-pounder, and +two twelve-pounders. They are nearly all pivoted, so that they may be +pointed down the river against the boats or inland upon the troops. The +river is nearly a half-mile wide, and on the opposite bank is another +fort, not yet completed. All around Fort Henry you see rifle-pits and +breastworks, enclosing twenty or thirty acres. Above and below the fort +are creeks. The tall trees are cut down to obstruct the way, or to form +an _abatis_, as it is called. It will not be an easy matter to take the +fort from the land side. Inside these intrenchments is the Rebel +camp,--log-huts and tents, with accommodations for several thousand men. + +Commodore Foote has planned how to take the fort. He is confident that +he can shell the Rebels out just as you can pound rats from a barrel or +a box, and if General Grant will get in rear and watch his opportunity, +they will all be caught. + +General Grant lands two brigades of troops on the west side of the +river, and three brigades on the east side, about four miles below the +fort. Those on the west side are to look after any Rebels which may be +in or around the unfinished fort, while those upon the east side, under +General McClernand, work their way through the woods to gain the rear of +the fort. This is the order to General McClernand:-- + + "It will be the special duty of this command to prevent all + reinforcements of Fort Henry or escape from it. Also to be + held in readiness to charge and take Fort Henry by storm, + promptly on receipt of orders." + +General Grant and Commodore Foote agreed that the gunboats should +commence the attack at twelve o'clock. + +"I shall take the fort in about an hour," said the Commodore. "I shall +commence firing when I reach the head of Panther Island, and it will +take me about an hour to reach the fort, for I shall steam up slowly. I +am afraid, General, that the roads are so bad the troops will not get +round in season to capture the enemy. I shall take the fort before you +get into position." + +General Grant thought otherwise; but the roads were very muddy, and when +the engagement commenced the troops were far from where they ought to +have been. + +Commodore Foote had prepared his instructions to the officers and crews +of the gunboats several days before. They were brief and plain. + +"The four iron-clad boats--the Essex, Carondelet, St. Louis, and +Cincinnati--will keep in line. The Conestoga, Lexington, and Tyler +will follow the iron-clads, and throw shells over those in advance." + +To the commanders he said:-- + +"_Do just as I do!_" + +Addressing the crews, he said:-- + +"Fire slowly, and with deliberate aim. There are three reasons why you +should not fire rapidly. With rapid firing there is always a waste of +ammunition. Your range is imperfect, and your shots go wide of the mark, +and that encourages the enemy; and it is desirable not to heat the guns. +If you fire slowly and deliberately, you will keep cool yourselves, and +make every shot tell." + +With such instructions, with all things ready,--decks cleared for +action, guns run out, shot and shell brought up from the magazines and +piled on deck,--confident of success, and determined to take the fort or +go to the bottom, he waited the appointed hour. + +The gunboats steam up slowly against the current, that the troops may +have time to get into position in rear of the Rebel intrenchments. They +take the channel on the west side of the island. The Essex is on the +right of the battle line, nearest the island. Her Commander is William +D. Porter, who comes from good stock. It was his father who commanded +the Essex in the war with Great Britain in 1813, and who fought most +gallantly a superior force,--two British ships, the Phebe and +Cherub,--in the harbor of Valparaiso. + +Next the Essex is the Carondelet, then the Cincinnati,--the flag-ship, +with the brave Commodore on board,--and nearest the western shore the +St. Louis. These are all iron-plated at the bows. Astern is the +Lexington, the Conestoga, and the Tyler. + +[Illustration: FORT HENRY. + + 1 Essex. + 2 Carondelet. + 3 Cincinnati. + 4 St. Louis. + 5 Lexington. + 6 Conestoga. + 7 Tyler. + 8 & 9 Rebel intrenchment.] + +The boats reach the head of the island, and the fort is in full view. It +is thirty-four minutes past twelve o'clock. There is a flash, and a +great creamy cloud of smoke at the bow of the Cincinnati. An eight-inch +shell screams through the air. The gunners watch its course. Their +practised eyes follow its almost viewless flight. Your watch ticks +fifteen seconds before you hear from it. You see a puff of smoke, a +cloud of sand thrown up in the fort, and then hear the explosion. The +commanders of the other boats remember the instructions,--"Do just as I +do!"--and from each vessel a shell is thrown. All fall within the fort, +or in the encampment beyond, which is in sight. You can see the tents, +the log-huts, the tall flagstaff. The fort accepts the challenge, and +instantly the twelve guns which are in position to sweep the river open +upon the advancing boats. The shot and shell plough furrows in the +stream, and throw columns of water high in air. + +Another round from the fleet. Another from the fort. The air is calm, +and the thunder of the cannonade rolls along the valley, reverberating +from hill to hill. Louder and deeper and heavier is the booming, till it +becomes almost an unbroken peal. + +There is a commotion in the Rebel encampment. Men run to and fro. They +curl down behind the stumps and the fallen trees, to avoid the shot. +Their huts are blown to pieces by the shells. You see the logs tossed +like straws into the air. Their tents are torn into paper-rags. The +hissing shells sink deep into the earth, and then there are sudden +upheavals of sand, with smoke and flames, as if volcanoes were bursting +forth. The parapet is cut through. Sand-bags are knocked about. The air +is full of strange, hideous, mysterious, terrifying noises. + +There are seven or eight thousand Rebel soldiers in the rifle-pits +and behind the breastworks of the encampment in line of battle. They +are terror-stricken. Officers and men alike lose all self-control. +They run to escape the fearful storm. They leave arms, ammunition, +tents, blankets, trunks, clothes, books, letters, papers, +pictures,--everything. They pour out of the intrenchments into the road +leading to Dover, a motley rabble. A small steamboat lies in the creek +above the fort. Some rush on board and steam up river with the utmost +speed. Others, in their haste and fear, plunge into the creek and sink +to rise no more. All fly except a brave little band in the fort. + +The gunboats move straight on, slowly and steadily. Their fire is +regular and deliberate. Every shot goes into the fort. The gunners are +blinded and smothered by clouds of sand. The gun-carriages are crushed, +splintered, and overturned. Men are cut to pieces. Something unseen +tears them like a thunderbolt. The fort is full of explosions. The heavy +rifled gun bursts, crushing and killing those who serve it. The +flagstaff is splintered and torn, as by intensest lightning. + +Yet the fort replies. The gunners have the range of the boats, and +nearly every shot strikes the iron plating. They are like the strokes of +sledge-hammers, indenting the sheets, starting the fastenings, breaking +the tough bolts. The Cincinnati receives thirty-one shots, the Essex +fifteen, the St. Louis seven, and the Carondelet six. + +Though struck so often, they move on. The distance lessens. Another gun +is knocked from its carriage in the fort,--another,--another. There are +signs that the contest is about over, that the Rebels are ready to +surrender. But a shot strikes the Essex between the iron plates. It +tears through the oaken timbers and into one of the steam-boilers. There +is a great puff of steam. It pours from the portholes, and the boat is +enveloped in a cloud. She drops out of the line of battle. Her engines +stop and she floats with the stream. Twenty-eight of her crew are +scalded, among them her brave commander. + +The Rebels take courage. They spring to their guns, and fire rapidly and +wildly, hoping and expecting to disable the rest of the fleet. But the +Commodore does not falter; he keeps straight on as if nothing had +happened. An eighty-pound shell from the Cincinnati dismounts a gun, +killing or wounding every gunner. The boats are so near that every shot +is sure to do its work. The fire of the boats increases while the fire +of the fort diminishes. Coolness, determination, energy, perseverance, +and power win the day. The Rebel flag comes down, and the white flag +goes up. They surrender. Cheers ring through the fleet. A boat puts out +from the St. Louis. An officer jumps ashore, climbs the torn embankment, +stands upon the parapet and waves the Stars and Stripes. "Hurrah! +hurrah! hurrah!" You hear it echoing from shore to shore. + +General Lloyd Tilghman commanded in the fort. He went on board the +flag-ship. + +"What terms do you grant me?" he asked. + +"Your surrender must be unconditional, sir. I can grant you no other +terms." + +"Well, sir, if I must surrender, it gives me pleasure to surrender to so +brave an officer as you." + +"You do perfectly right to surrender, sir; but I should not have done it +on any condition." + +"Why so? I do not understand you." + +"Because I was fully determined to capture the fort or go to the +bottom." + +"I thought I had you, Commodore, but you were too much for me." + +"How could you fight against the old flag, General?" + +"Well, it did come hard at first; but if the North had only let us +alone, there would have been no trouble. They would not abide by the +Constitution." + +"You are mistaken, General, and the whole South is mistaken. The North +have always been willing that the South should have all her rights, +under the Constitution. The South began the war, and she will be +responsible for the blood which has been shed to-day." + +Thus, in an hour and twelve minutes, the fort which the Rebels +confidently expected would prevent the gunboats from ascending the river +was forced to surrender, and there was unobstructed water communication +to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. Their line of defence was +broken. + +There was but little loss of life in this engagement,--twenty to thirty +killed and wounded on each side. If the Rebel army had not fled almost +at the first fire, there would have been terrible slaughter. When +Commodore Foote was informed that there were several thousand troops in +the fortifications, said he, "I am sorry for it, because if they stand +their ground there will be great destruction of life from the heavy +shells; for I shall take the fort or sink with the ships." + +If the troops under General Grant had been in position to have +intercepted the Rebel force, the whole panic-stricken crowd would have +been captured, but being delayed by the mud, the fleet-footed Rebels +were far on their way towards Fort Donelson when General Grant reached +the rear of the intrenchments. In their haste and terror the Rebels +abandoned nine pieces of field artillery on the road, and a large supply +of ammunition. + +The battle was fought on Thursday. On Friday Commodore Foote returned to +Cairo, to send his despatches to Washington, also to repair his gunboats +and to see that the poor scalded men on the Essex were well taken care +of. + +I was writing, at Cairo, the account of the battle. It was past midnight +when the Commodore came to my room. He sat down, and told me what I have +written of his plan of the battle, and his talk with General Tilghman. +He could not sit still. He was weary and exhausted with his labors. "I +am afraid, Commodore, that you have overworked. You must have rest and +sleep," I remarked. + +"Yes, I have been obliged to work pretty hard, and need rest, but I +never slept better in my life than night before last, and I never prayed +more fervently than on yesterday morning before going into the battle; +but I couldn't sleep last night for thinking of those poor fellows on +board the Essex," was the reply. + +On Sunday morning he was at church as usual. The minister was late. The +people thought there would be no meeting, and were about to leave the +house. Commodore Foote went to one of the Elders of the church, and +urged him to conduct the worship. The Elder declined. But the Commodore +never let slip an opportunity for doing good. He was always ready to +serve his country and his God. He went into the pulpit, read a chapter, +offered a prayer, and preached a short sermon from the words,--"Let not +your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God; believe also in me." It was +an exhortation for all men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the +Saviour of the world. Some who heard him, as they went home from church, +said that they also believed in Commodore Foote! + +To him belongs the credit not only of taking Fort Henry, but of planning +the expedition. When the true history of this Rebellion is written, you +will see how important a thing it was, how great its results, and you +will admire more and more the sterling patriotism and unswerving +Christian principles of a man who struck this first great blow, and did +so much towards crushing the Rebellion. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. + + +General Grant's plan for taking Fort Donelson was, to move the first and +second divisions of his army across the country, and attack the fort in +the rear, while another division, accompanied by the gunboats, should go +up the Cumberland and attack the fort from that direction. Commodore +Foote informed the General that it was necessary to repair the gunboats +which had been injured before commencing operations; but General Grant +determined to make no delay on that account. Without fully perfecting +his arrangements, or calculating the time needed for the steamboats to +go from Fort Henry down to the Ohio and up the Cumberland, he ordered +the two divisions to march. General Lewis Wallace was left at Fort Henry +with a brigade, while six regiments of his division, the third, were +embarked on the steamboats, which sailed down the Tennessee in fine +style, turning back other boats, and all proceeded up the Cumberland. + +There are steep hills, sandy plains, deep ravines, trickling brooks, and +grand old forest-trees between Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The road +winds along the hillsides, over the plains, and descends into the +ravines. There are but few farm-houses, for the soil is unproductive and +the forests remain almost as they have been for hundreds of years. The +few farmers who reside there live mainly on hog and hominy. They +cultivate a few acres of corn, but keep a great many pigs, which live in +the woods and fatten upon acorns and hickory-nuts. + +The regiments which marched to Fort Donelson bivouacked the first night +beside a stream of water about four miles from Fort Henry. They had no +tents. They had been in barracks at Cairo through December and January, +but now they must lie upon the ground, wrapped in their blankets. The +nights were cold, and the ground was frozen. They cut down the tall +trees and kindled great fires, which roared and crackled in the frosty +air. They scraped the dead leaves into heaps and made them beds. They +saw the pigs in the woods. Crack! crack! went their rifles, and they had +roast sparerib and pork-steaks,--delicious eating to hungry men. The +forest was all aglow with the hundreds of fires. The men told stories, +toasted their toes, looked into the glowing coals, thought perhaps of +home, of the dear ones there, then wrapped their blankets about them and +went to sleep. Out towards Fort Donelson the pickets stood at their +posts and looked into the darkness, watching for the enemy through the +long winter night. But no Rebels appeared. They had been badly +frightened at Fort Henry. They had recovered from their terror, however, +and had determined to make a brave stand at Fort Donelson. They had been +reinforced by a large body of troops from General Albert Sidney +Johnston's army at Bowling Green, in Kentucky, and from General Lee's +army in Virginia. + +General Grant's two divisions, which marched across the country, +numbered about fifteen thousand. There were four brigades in the first +division,--Colonel Oglesby's, Colonel W. H. L. Wallace's, Colonel +McArthur's, and Colonel Morrison's. Colonel Oglesby had the Eighth, +Eighteenth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Illinois +regiments. Colonel Wallace's was composed of the Eleventh, Twentieth, +Forty-fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois regiments. In Colonel McArthur's +were the Second, Ninth, Twelfth, and Forty-first Illinois, and in +Colonel Morrison's the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth Illinois regiments. + +Schwartz's, Taylor's, Dresser's, and McAllister's batteries accompanied +this division. + +There were three brigades in the second division. The first, under the +command of Colonel Cook, was composed of the Seventh Illinois, Twelfth +Iowa, Thirteenth Missouri, and Fifty-second Indiana. + +Colonel Lauman commanded the second brigade, composed of the Second, +Seventh, Fourteenth, and Twenty-eighth Iowa regiments, the Fifty-second +Indiana, and Colonel Birges's regiment of sharpshooters. + +The third brigade, commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, was composed of +the Eighth Missouri and Eleventh Indiana. + +Major Cavender's regiment of Missouri artillery was attached to this +division, composed of three full batteries,--Captain Richardson's, +Captain Stone's, and Captain Walker's. + +The Fourth Illinois cavalry and three or four companies of cavalry were +distributed among the brigades. + +Colonel Birges's sharpshooters were picked men, who had killed many +bears, deer, and wolves in the Western woods. They could take unerring +aim, and bring down a squirrel from the top of the highest trees. They +wore gray uniforms of felt, with close-fitting skull-caps, and +buffalo-skin knapsacks, and a powder-horn. They were swift runners. Each +man carried a whistle. They had signal-calls for advancing, or +retreating, or moving to the right or the left. They glided through the +forests like fleet-footed deer, or crept as stealthily as an Indian +along the ravines and through the thickets. They were tough, hearty, +daring, courageous men. They thought it no great hardship to march all +day, and lie down beside a log at night without supper. They wanted no +better fun than to creep through the underbrush and pick off the Rebels, +whirling in an instant upon their backs after firing a shot, to reload +their rifles. Although attached to Lauman's brigade, they were expected +in battle to go where they could do the most service. + +As you go up the Cumberland River, and approach the town of Dover, you +see a high hill on the west bank. It is crowned with an embankment of +earth, which runs all round the top with many angles. At the foot of the +hill are two other embankments, fifteen or twenty feet above the water. +There are seventeen heavy guns in these works. Two of them throw long +bolts of iron, weighing one hundred and twenty-eight pounds, but most of +the guns are thirty-two-pounders. + +If you go into the batteries and into the fort, and run your eye along +the guns, you will see that all of them can be aimed at a gunboat in the +river. They all point straight down stream, and a concentrated fire can +be poured upon a single boat. The river makes a bend as it approaches +the batteries, so that the boats will be exposed on their bows and +sides. + +A mile above the fort you see the little village of Dover. Beyond the +village a creek comes in. It is high water, and the creek is too deep to +be forded. + +On the south side of the hill, beyond the fort, between the fort and the +village, are log-huts, where the Rebel troops have been encamped through +the winter. A stream of clear running water comes down from the hills +west of the village, where you may fill your canteen. + +Going up the hill into the fort, and out to its northwest angle, you see +that the fortifications which the Rebels have thrown up consist of three +distinct parts,--the fort and the water-batteries, a line of breastworks +west of the village, called field-works, and a line of rifle-pits +outside of the field-works. You begin at the northwest angle of the +fort, face to the southwest, and walk along the field-work which is on +the top of a sharp ridge. The embankment is about four feet high. There +are a great many angles, with embrasures for cannon. You look west from +these embrasures, and see that the ground is much broken. There are +hills and hollows, thick brush and tall trees. In some places the trees +have been cut down to form an _abatis_, an obstruction, the limbs lopped +off and interlocked. + +[Illustration: FORT DONELSON. + + 1 The Fort. + 2 Field-works. + 3 8 Rifle-pits. + 4 Town of Dover. + 5 Log-huts. + 6 Water-batteries. + 7 General McClernand's division. + 8 General Lewis Wallace's division. + 9 General Smith's division. + 10 General Grant's Head-quarters. + 11 Gunboats. + 12 Light Creek.] + +As you walk on, you come to the Fort Henry and Dover road. Crossing +that, instead of walking southwest, you make a gradual turn towards the +southeast, and come to another road, which leads from Dover southwest +towards Clarksville and Nashville. Crossing that, you come to the creek +which empties into the Cumberland just above the town. The distance from +the creek back to the fort, along the line of breastworks, is nearly two +miles. Going back once more to the northwest angle of the fort, you see +that the slope of the hill is very steep outside the works. You go down +the slope, planting your feet into the earth to keep from tumbling +headlong. When you reach the bottom of the ravine you do not find a +level piece of ground, but ascend another ridge. It is not as high as +the ridge along which you have travelled to take a view of the works. +The slope of this outer ridge runs down to a meadow. The Rebels have cut +down the tall trees, and made a line of rifle-pits. The logs are piled +one above another, as the backwoodsman builds a log-fence. There is a +space five or six inches wide between the upper log and the one below +it. They have dug a trench behind, and the dirt is thrown outside. + +The Rebel riflemen can lie in the trench, and fire through the space +between the logs upon the Union troops if they attempt to advance upon +the works. You look down this outer slope. It is twenty rods to the +bottom, and it is covered with fallen trees. You think it almost +impossible to climb over such a hedge and such obstructions. You see a +cleared field at the base of the hill, and a farm-house beyond the +field, on the Fort Henry road, which is General Grant's head-quarters. +The whole country is broken into hills, knolls, and ridges. It reminds +you of the waves you have seen on the ocean or on the lakes in a storm. + +General Floyd, who was Secretary of War under Buchanan, and who stole +all the public property he could lay his hands on while in office, +commanded the Rebel forces. He arrived on the 13th. General Pillow and +Brigadier-General Johnson were placed in command of the troops on the +Rebel left wing west of the town. General Buckner commanded those in the +vicinity of the fort. General Floyd had the Third, Tenth, Eighteenth, +Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth, Thirty-second, Forty-first, Forty-second, +Forty-Eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty-first, and Fifty-third +regiments of Tennessee troops, the Second and Eighth Kentucky, the +First, Third, Fourth, Fourteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-sixth +Mississippi regiments, the Seventh Texas, Fifteenth and Twenty-seventh +Alabama, the Thirty-sixth, Fiftieth, Fifty-first, and Fifty-sixth +Virginia, also two battalions of Tennessee infantry, and a brigade of +cavalry. He had Murray's, Porter's, Graves's, Maney's, Jackson's, Guy's, +Ross's, and Green's batteries, in all about twenty-three thousand men, +with forty-eight pieces of field artillery, and seventeen heavy guns in +the fort and water-batteries. + +General Grant knew but little of the ground, or the fortifications, or +of the Rebel forces, but he pushed boldly on. + +On the morning of the 12th the troops left their bivouac, where they had +enjoyed their roast spareribs and steaks, and marched towards the fort. +The cavalry swept the country, riding through the side roads and +foot-paths, reconnoitring the ground, and searching for Rebel pickets. + +Soon after noon they came in sight of the Rebel encampments. The ground +was thoroughly examined. No Rebels were found outside the works, but +upon the hills within the intrenchments dark masses of men could be +seen, some busily at work with axes and shovels. Regiments were taking +positions for the expected attack; but it was already evening, and the +advancing army rested for the night. + + +THURSDAY. + +The night had been cold, but on the morning of the 13th there were +breezes from the southwest, so mild and warm that the spring birds came. +The soldiers thought that the winter was over. The sky was cloudless. +All the signs promised a pleasant day. The troops were early +awake,--replenishing the fading fires, and cooking breakfasts. With the +dawn the sharpshooters and pickets began their work. There was a +rattling musket-fire in the ravines. + +Before the sun rose the Rebel batteries began throwing shells across the +ravines and hills, aiming at the camp-fires of Colonel Oglesby's +brigade. Instantly the camp was astir. The men fell into line with a +hurrah, the cannoneers sprang to their guns, all waiting for the orders. + +The clear, running brook which empties into the Cumberland between Dover +and Fort Donelson winds through a wide valley. It divides the Rebel +field-works into two parts,--those west of the town and those west of +the fort. The road from Fort Henry to Dover crosses the valley in a +southeast direction. As you go towards the town, you see at your left +hand, on the hill, through the branches of the trees, the Rebel +breastworks, and you are almost within musket-shot. + +General McClernand moved his division down the Dover road, while General +Smith remained opposite the northwest angle of the fort. Oglesby's +brigade had the advance, followed by nearly all of the division. The +batteries moved along the road, but the troops marched through the woods +west of the road. The artillery came into position on the hills about a +half-mile from the breastworks, and opened fire,--Taylor, Schwartz, and +Dresser west of the town, and Cavender, with his heavy guns, west of the +fort. + +The Rebel batteries began a furious fire. Their shells were excellently +aimed. One struck almost at the feet of Major Cavender as he was +sighting a gun, but it did not disturb him. He took deliberate aim, and +sent shell after shell whizzing into the fort. Another shot fell just in +rear of his battery. A third burst overhead. Another struck one of +Captain Richardson's men in the breast, whirling him into the air, +killing him instantly. + +Major Cavender moved his pieces, and then returned the fire with greater +zeal. Through the forenoon the forests echoed the terrific cannonade, +mingled with the sharp crack of the riflemen, close under the +breastworks. + +At noon the infantry fight began. West of the town, in addition to the +line of rifle-pits and breastworks, the Rebels had thrown up a small +redoubt, behind which their batteries were securely posted. General +McClernand decided to attack it. He ordered Colonel Wallace to direct +the assault. The Forty-eighth, Seventeenth, and Forty-ninth Illinois +regiments were detached from the main force, and placed under the +command of Colonel Hayne, of the Forty-eighth, for a storming party. +McAllister's battery was wheeled into position to cover the attack. + +They form in line at the base of the hill. The shells from the Rebel +batteries crash among the trees. The Rebel riflemen keep up a rattling +fire from the thickets. The troops are fresh from the prairies. This is +their first battle, but at the word of command they advance across the +intervening hollows and ascend the height, facing the sheets of flame +which burst from the Rebel works. They fire as they advance. It is not a +rush and a hurrah, but a steady movement. Men begin to drop from the +line, but there is no wavering. They who never before heard the sounds +of battle stand like veterans. The Rebel line in front of them extends +farther than their own. The Forty-fifth Illinois goes to the support of +Wallace. The Rebels throw forward reinforcements. There is a continuous +roll of musketry, and quick discharges of cannon. The attacking force +advances nearer and still nearer, close up to the works. Their gallantry +does not fail them; their courage does not falter; but they find an +impassable obstruction,--fallen trees, piles of brush, and rows of sharp +stakes. Taylor's battery gallops up the road, and opens a rapid fire, +but the Rebel sharpshooters pick off his gunners. It is madness to +remain, and the force retires beyond the reach of the Rebel musketry; +but they are not disheartened. They have hardly begun to fight. + +Colonel Birges's sharpshooters are sent for. They move down through the +bushes, and creep up in front of the Rebel lines. There are jets of +flame and wreaths of blue smoke from their rifles. The Rebel pickets are +driven back. The sharpshooters work their way still nearer to the +trenches. The bushes blaze. There are mysterious puffs of smoke from the +hollows, from stumps, and from the roots of trees. The Rebel gunners are +compelled to let their guns remain silent, and the infantry dare not +show their heads above the breastworks. They lie close. A Rebel soldier +raises his slouched hat on his ramrod. Birges's men see it, just over +the parapet. Whiz! The hat disappears. The Rebels chuckle that they have +outwitted the Yankee. + +"Why don't you come out of your old fort?" shouts a sharpshooter, lying +close behind a tree. + +"Why don't you come in?" is the answer from the breastworks. + +"O, you are cowards!" says the voice at the stump. + +"When are you going to take the fort?" is the response from the +breastwork. + +The cannonade lasted till night. Nothing had been gained, but much had +been lost, by the Union army. There were scores of men lying in the +thickets, where they had fallen. There were hundreds in the hospitals. +The gunboats and the expected reinforcements had not arrived. The Rebels +outnumbered General Grant's force by several thousand, but fortunately +they did not know it. General Grant's provisions were almost gone. There +was no meat, nothing but hard bread. The south-wind of the morning had +changed to the east. It was mild then, but piercing now. The sky, so +golden at the dawn, was dark and lowering, with clouds rolling up from +the east. The rain began to fall. The roads were miry, the dead leaves +slippery. The men had thrown aside their overcoats and blankets. They +had no shelter, no protection. They were weary and exhausted with the +contest. They were cold, wet, and hungry. The rain increased. The wind +blew more furiously. It wailed through the forest. The rain changed to +hail. The men lay down upon frozen beds, and were covered with icy +sheets. It grew colder. The hail became snow. The wind increased to a +gale, and whirled the snow into drifts. The soldiers curled down behind +the stumps and fallen trees. They built great fires. They walked, ran, +thumped their feet upon the frozen ground, beat their fingers till the +blood seemed starting from beneath the nails. The thermometer sank +almost to zero. It was a night of horror, not only outside, but inside +the Rebel lines. The Southern soldiers were kept in the intrenchments, +in the rifle-pits, and ditches, to be in readiness to repel an assault. +They could not keep up great, roaring fires, for fear of inviting a +night attack. Through the long hours the soldiers of both armies kept +their positions, exposed to the fury of the winter storm, not only the +severest storm of the season, but the wildest and coldest that had been +known for many years in that section of the country. + + +FRIDAY. + +Friday morning dawned, and with the first rays of light the rifles +cracked in the frosty air. The sharpshooters, though they had passed a +sleepless night, were in their places behind rocks and stumps and trees. +Neither army was ready to recommence the struggle. General Grant was out +of provisions. The transports, with supplies and reinforcements, had not +arrived. Only one gunboat, the Carondelet, had come. + +It was a critical hour. What if the Rebels, with their superior force, +should march out from their intrenchments and make an attack? How long +could the half-frozen, exhausted, hungry men maintain their ground? +Where were the gunboats? Where the transports? Where the reinforcements? +There were no dark columns of smoke rising above the forest-trees, +indicating the approach of the belated fleet. + +General Grant grew anxious. Orders were despatched to General Wallace at +Fort Henry to hasten over with his troops. There was no thought of +giving up the enterprise. + +"We came here to take the fort, and we intend to do it," said Colonel +Oglesby. + +A courier came dashing through the woods. He had been on the watch three +miles down the river, looking for the gunboats. He had descried a dense +cloud of black smoke in the distance, and started with the welcome +intelligence. They were coming. The Carondelet, which had been lying +quietly in the stream below the fort, steamed up against the current, +and tossed a shell towards the Rebels. The deep boom of the columbiad +echoed over the hills of Tennessee. The troops answered with a cheer +from the depths of the forest. They could see the trailing black banners +of smoke from the steamer. They became light-hearted. The wounded lying +in the hospitals, stiff, sore, mangled, their wounds undressed, chilled, +frozen, covered with ice and snow, forgot their sufferings. So the fire +of patriotism burned within their hearts, which could not be quenched by +sufferings worse than death itself. + +The provisions, troops, and artillery were landed at a farm, three miles +below the fort. A road was cut through the woods, and communication +opened with the army. + +A division was organized under General Lewis Wallace. Colonel Cruft +commanded the first brigade, composed of the Thirty-first and +Forty-fourth Indiana, the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky +regiments. + +The second brigade was composed of the Forty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and +Fifty-eighth Illinois regiments. It had no brigade commander, and was +united to the third brigade, commanded by Colonel Thayer. The third +brigade was composed of the First Nebraska, the Sixteenth, Fifty-eighth, +and Sixty-eighth Ohio regiments. Several other regiments arrived while +the fight was going on, but they were held in reserve, and had but +little if any part in the action. + +Wallace's division was placed between General Smith's and General +McClernand's, near General Grant's head-quarters, on the road leading +from Fort Henry to Dover. It took all day to get the troops into +position and distribute food and ammunition, and there was no fighting +except by the skirmishers and sharpshooters. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon the gunboats steamed slowly up stream +to attack the water-batteries. Commodore Foote repeated the instructions +to the commanders and crews that he made before the attack at Fort +Henry,--to fire slow, take deliberate aim, and keep cool. + +The Pittsburg, St. Louis, Louisville, and Carondelet, iron-plated boats, +had the advance, followed by the three wooden boats,--the Tyler, +Lexington, and Conestoga. A bend in the river exposed the sides of the +gunboats to a raking fire from the batteries, while Commodore Foote +could only use the bow guns in reply. The fort on the hill was so high +above the boats that the muzzles of the guns could not be elevated far +enough to hit it. Commodore Foote directed the boats to engage the +water-batteries, and pay no attention to the guns of the fort till the +batteries were silenced; then he would steam past them and pour +broadsides into the fort. + +As soon as the gunboats rounded the point of land a mile and a half +below the fort, the Rebels opened fire, and the boats replied. There was +excellent gunnery. The shots from the fort and batteries fell upon the +bows of the boats, or raked their sides; while the shells from the boats +fell plump into the batteries, cutting the embankments, or sinking deep +in the side of the hill and bursting with tremendous explosions, +throwing the earth upon the gunners in the trenches. Steadily onward +moved the boats, pouring all their shells into the lower works. It was a +continuous storm,--an unbroken roll of thunder. There were constant +explosions in the Rebel trenches. The air was filled with pieces of iron +from the exploding shells and lumps of frozen earth thrown up by the +solid shot. The Rebels fled in confusion from the four-gun battery, +running up the hill to the intrenchments above. + +The fight had lasted an hour, and the boats were within five hundred +feet of the batteries; fifteen minutes more and the Commodore would be +abreast of them, and would rake them from bottom to top with his +tremendous broadsides. But he had reached the bend of the river; the +eight-gun battery could cut him through crosswise, while the guns on the +top of the hill could pour plunging shots upon his decks. The Rebels saw +their advantage, and worked their guns with all their might. The boats +were so near that every Rebel shot reached its mark. A solid shot cut +the rudder-chains of the Carondelet and she became unmanageable. The +thirty-two-pound balls went through the oak sides of the boats as you +can throw peas through wet paper. Another shot splintered the helm of +the Pittsburg, and that boat also became unmanageable. A third shot +crashed through the pilot-house of the St. Louis, killing the pilot +instantly. The Commodore stood by his side, and was sprinkled with the +blood of the brave, unfortunate man. The shot broke the wheel and +knocked down a timber which wounded the Commodore in the foot. He sprang +to the deck, limped to another steering apparatus, and endeavored with +his own hands to keep the vessel head to the stream; but that apparatus +also had been shot away. Sixty-one shots had struck the St. Louis; some +had passed through from stem to stern. The Louisville had received +thirty-five shots. Twenty-six had crashed into and through the +Carondelet. One of her guns had burst, killing and wounding six of the +crew. The Pittsburg had been struck twenty-one times. All but the +Louisville, of the iron-plated boats, were unmanageable. At the very +last moment--when the difficulties had been almost overcome--the +Commodore was obliged to hoist the signal for retiring. Ten minutes +more,--five hundred feet more,--and the Rebel trenches would have been +swept from right to left, their entire length. When the boats began to +drift down the stream they were running from the trenches, deserting +their guns, to escape the fearful storm of grape and canister which they +knew would soon sweep over them. Fifty-four were killed and wounded in +this attack. + +At night Commodore Foote sat in the cabin of the St. Louis and wrote a +letter to a friend. His wound was painful, but he thought not of his own +sufferings. He frequently asked how the wounded men were getting along, +and directed the surgeons to do everything possible for their comfort. +This is what he wrote to his friend:-- + + "While I hope ever to rely on Him who controls all things, + and to say from my heart, 'Not unto us, but unto thee, O + Lord, belongs the glory,' yet I feel bad at the result of our + attack on Fort Donelson. To see brave officers and men, who + say they will go where I lead them, fall by my side, it makes + me sad to lead them to almost certain death." + +So passed Friday. The gunboats were disabled. No impression had been +made on the fort. General Grant determined to place his army in position +on the hills surrounding the fort, throw up intrenchments, and wait till +the gunboats could be repaired. Then there would be a combined attack, +by water and by land, which he hoped would reduce the place. + +On Friday evening there was a council of war at General Floyd's +head-quarters in the town. General Buckner, General Johnson, General +Pillow, Colonel Baldwin, Colonel Wharton, and other commanders of +brigades were present. General Floyd said that he was satisfied that +General Grant would not renew the attack till the gunboats were +repaired, and till he had received reinforcements. He thought that the +whole available force of Union troops would be hurried up by steamboat +from St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cairo; and that when they arrived a +division would be marched up the river towards Clarksville, above Dover, +and that they in the fort would be starved out and forced to surrender +without a battle. It was very good and correct reasoning on the part of +General Floyd, who did not care to be taken prisoner after he had stolen +so much public property. It was just what General Grant intended to do. +He knew that by such a course the fort would be obliged to surrender, +and he would save the lives of his men. + +General Floyd proposed to attack General Grant at daylight on Saturday +morning, by throwing one half of the Rebel army, under Pillow and +Johnson, upon McClernand's division. By making the attack then in +overwhelming force, he felt pretty sure he could drive McClernand back +upon General Wallace. General Buckner, with the other half of the army, +was to push out from the northwest angle of the fort at the same time, +attack General Wallace, and force him back upon General McClernand, +which would throw the Union troops into confusion. By adopting this plan +he hoped to win a victory, or if not that, he could open a way of escape +to the whole army. The plan was agreed to by the other officers, and +preparations were made for the attack. The soldiers received extra +rations and a large quantity of ammunition. The caissons of the +artillery were filled up, and the regiments placed in position to move +early in the morning. + + +SATURDAY. + +General B. R. Johnson led the Rebel column, and Colonel Baldwin's +brigade the advance. It was composed of the First and Fourteenth +Mississippi and the Twenty-sixth Tennessee regiments. The next brigade +was Colonel Wharton's. It was composed of the Fiftieth and Fifty-first +Virginia. McCousland's brigade was composed of the Thirty-sixth and +Fifty-sixth Virginia; Davidson's brigade was composed of the Seventh +Texas, Eighth Kentucky, and Third Mississippi; Colonel Drake's brigade +was composed of the Fourth and Twentieth Mississippi, Garven's battalion +of riflemen, Fifteenth Arkansas, and a Tennessee regiment. Hieman's +brigade was composed of the Tenth, Thirtieth, and Forty-eighth +Tennessee, and the Twenty-seventh Alabama. There were about thirty +pieces of artillery, and twelve thousand men in this column. + +McArthur's brigade of McClernand's division was on the extreme right, +and a short distance in rear of Oglesby. The Rebels moved down the Union +Ferry road, which leads southwest towards Clarksville, which brought +them nearly south of Oglesby and McArthur. Oglesby's regiments stood, +the Eighth Illinois on the right, then the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and +Thirty-first, counting towards the left. Schwartz's battery was on the +right and Dresser's on the left. Wallace's brigade was formed with the +Thirty-first Illinois on the right, close to Oglesby's left flank +regiment, then the Twentieth, Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Forty-ninth, +and Seventeenth Illinois. McAllister's battery was between the Eleventh +and Twentieth, and Taylor's between the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth. +Colonel Dickey's cavalry was in rear, his horses picketed in the woods +and eating corn. North of the Fort Henry road was Colonel Cruft's +brigade of General Lewis Wallace's division, the Twenty-fifth Kentucky +having the right, then the Thirty-first Indiana, the Seventeenth +Kentucky, the Forty-fourth Indiana, with Wood's battery. + +These are all the regiments which took part in the terrible fight of +Saturday forenoon. They were unprepared for the assault. The soldiers +had not risen from their snowy beds. The reveille was just sounding when +the sharp crack of the rifles was heard in the thickets on the extreme +right. Then the artillery opened. Schwartz's, Dresser's, McAllister's, +and Taylor's men sprang from their blankets to their guns. It was hardly +light enough to see the enemy. They could only distinguish the flashes +of the guns and the wreaths of smoke through the branches of the trees; +but they aimed at the flashes, and sent their shells upon the advancing +columns. + +The Rebel batteries replied, and the wild uproar of the terrible day +began. + +Instead of moving west, directly upon the front of Oglesby, McArthur, +and Wallace, the Rebel column under Pillow marched down the Union Ferry +road south a half-mile, then turned abruptly towards the northwest. You +see by the accompanying diagram how the troops stood at the beginning of +the battle. There is McArthur's brigade with Schwartz's battery, +Oglesby's brigade with Dresser's battery, Wallace's brigade with +McAllister's and Taylor's batteries,--all facing the town. Across the +brook, upon the north side of the ravine, is Cruft's brigade. You see +Pillow's brigades wheeling upon McArthur and Oglesby, and across the +Fort Henry road, coming down from the breastworks, are General Buckner's +brigades. + +[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON McCLERNAND. + + 1 McArthur's brigade. + 2 Oglesby's brigade. + 3 W. H. L. Wallace's brigade. + 4 Cruft's brigade. + 5 Pillow's divisions. + 6 Buckner's divisions.] + +Schwartz, Dresser, and McAllister wheel their guns towards Pillow's +column. The Rebels open with a volley of musketry. The fire is aimed at +the Eighth and Twenty-ninth Illinois regiments, which, you remember, are +on the right of Oglesby's brigade. The men are cold. They have sprung +from their icy beds to take their places in the ranks. They have a scant +supply of ammunition, and are unprepared for the assault, but they are +not the men to run at the first fire. The Rebel musketry begins to thin +their ranks, but they do not flinch. They send their volleys into the +face of the enemy. + +Another Rebel brigade arrives, and fires upon the Thirtieth and +Thirty-first Illinois,--the two regiments on the left of Oglesby's +brigade. Colonel John A. Logan commands the Thirty-first. He told the +Southern conspirators in Congress, when they were about to secede from +the Union, that the men of the Northwest would hew their way to the Gulf +of Mexico with their swords, if they attempted to close the Mississippi. +He is not disposed to yield his ground. He encourages his men, and they +remain immovable before the Rebel brigades. Instead of falling back, he +swings his regiment towards the Rebels, and stands confronting them. + +But while this is going on, the Rebel cavalry have moved round to the +rear of McArthur. They dash down a ravine, through the bushes, over the +fallen trees, and charge up the hill upon the Ninth and Eighteenth +regiments of McArthur's brigade. They are sent back in confusion, but +the onset has been so fierce and the charge so far in the rear, that +McArthur is compelled to fall back and form a new line. The Rebels have +begun to open the door which General Grant had closed against them. The +brigades in front of Oglesby are pouring murderous volleys upon the +Eighth and Twenty-ninth. The falling back of McArthur to meet the attack +on his rear has enabled the enemy to come up behind these regiments, and +they are also compelled to fall back. + +The Rebels in front are elated. They move nearer, working their way +along a ravine, sheltered by a ridge of land. They load their muskets, +rush up to the crest of the hill, deliver their fire, and step back to +reload; but as often as they appear, McAllister and Dresser and Taylor +give them grape and canister. + +The Eleventh and Twentieth Illinois, on the right of Wallace's brigade, +join in the conflict, supporting the brave Logan. Colonel Wallace swings +the Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, and half of the Forty-ninth round towards +Pillow's brigades, leaving the other half of the Forty-ninth and the +Seventeenth to hold the line towards the Fort Henry road. If you study +the diagram carefully, you will see that this manoeuvre was a change +of front. At the beginning the line of battle faced northeast, but now +it faces south. + +There is a ridge between Wallace's brigade and the Rebels. As often as +the Rebels advance to the ridge, Taylor and McAllister with the infantry +drive them back. It is an obstinate and bloody contest. The snow becomes +crimson. There are pools of clotted blood where the brave men lie down +upon the ground. There are bayonet-charges, fierce hand-to-hand +contests. The Rebels rush upon McAllister's guns, but are turned back. +The lines surge to and fro like the waves of the sea. The dying and the +dead are trampled beneath the feet of the contending hosts. + +Wallace hears a sharp fire in his rear. The Rebels have pushed out once +more towards the west and are coming in again upon the right flank of +the new battle line. McClernand sees that he is contending against +overwhelming numbers, and he sends a messenger in haste to General Lewis +Wallace, who sends Cruft's brigade to his assistance. The brigade goes +down the road upon the run. The soldiers shout and hurrah. They pass in +rear of Taylor's battery, and push on to the right to help Oglesby and +McArthur. + +The Rebels have driven those brigades. The men are hastening to the rear +with doleful stories. Some of them rush through Cruft's brigade. Cruft +meets the advancing Rebels face to face. The din of battle has lulled +for a moment, but now it rolls again louder than before. The Rebels dash +on, but it is like the dashing of the waves against a rock. Cruft's men +are unmoved, though the Rebels advance till they are within twenty feet +of the line. There are deafening volleys. The smoke from the opposing +lines becomes a single cloud. The Rebels are held in check on the right +by their firmness and endurance. + +But just at this moment General Buckner's brigades come out of their +intrenchments. They pass in front of their rifle-pits at the base of the +hill, and march rapidly down to the Dover road. Colonel Wallace sees +them. In a few minutes they will pour their volleys into the backs of +his men. You remember that the Seventeenth and part of the Forty-ninth +Illinois regiments were left standing near the road. You hear from their +muskets now. They stand their ground and meet the onset manfully. Two +guns of Taylor's battery, which have been thundering towards the south, +wheel round to the northeast and sweep the Rebels with grape and +canister. + +Three fourths of the Rebel army is pressing upon McClernand's one +division. His troops are disappearing. Hundreds are killed and wounded. +Men who carry the wounded to rear do not return. The Rebels see their +advantage, and charge upon Schwartz's and McAllister's batteries, but +are repulsed. Reinforced by new regiments, they rush on again. They +shoot the gunners and the horses and seize the cannon. The struggle is +fierce, but unequal. Oglesby's men are overpowered, the line gives way. +The Rebels push on with a yell, and seize several of Schwartz's and +McAllister's guns. The gunners fight determinedly for a moment, but they +are few against many, and are shot or taken prisoners. A Mississippi +regiment attempts to capture Taylor's guns, but he sweeps it back with +grape and canister. + +Up to this moment Wallace has not yielded an inch. Two of Oglesby's +regiments next to his brigade still hold their ground, but all who +stood beyond are in full retreat. The Rebels have picked off a score +of brave officers in Oglesby's command,--Colonels Logan, Lawler, and +Ransom are wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel White of the Thirty-first, +Lieutenant-Colonel Smith of the Forty-eighth, Lieutenant-Colonel Irvin +of the Twentieth, and Major Post of the Eighth are killed. The men of +Oglesby's brigade, although they have lost so many of their leaders, are +not panic-stricken. They are overpowered for the moment. Some of the +regiments are out of ammunition. They know that reinforcements are at +hand, and they fall back in order. + +To understand Wallace's position at this stage of the battle, imagine +that you stand with your face towards the south fighting a powerful +antagonist, that a second equally powerful is coming up on your right +hand, and that a third is giving heavy blows upon your left shoulder, +almost in your back. Pillow, with one half of his brigades, is in front, +Johnson, with the other half of Pillow's command, is coming up on the +right, and Buckner, with all of his brigades, is moving down upon the +left. + +Wallace sees that he must retreat. The Eleventh and +Thirty-first--Ransom's and Logan's regiments--are still fighting on +Wallace's right. There is great slaughter in their ranks, but they do +not flee. They change front and march a few rods to the rear, come into +line and fire a volley at the advancing Rebels. Forest's cavalry dashes +upon them and cuts off a few prisoners, but the line is only bruised, +not broken. Thus loading and firing, contesting all the ground, the +troops descend the hill, cross the clear running brook, and march up the +hill upon the other side. + +But there are some frightened men, who fling away their guns and rush +wildly to the rear. An officer dashes down the road, crying: "We are cut +to pieces! The day is lost!" + +"Shut up your head, you scoundrel!" shouts General Wallace. + +It has had an effect upon his troops. They are nervous, and look round, +expecting to see the enemy in overwhelming numbers. General Wallace sees +that there has been disaster. He does not wait for orders to march. + +"Third brigade, by the right flank, double-quick, Forward, March!" +Colonel Thayer commanding the brigade repeats the order. The men break +into a run towards the front along the road. General Wallace gallops in +advance, and meets Colonel Wallace conducting his brigade to the rear. + +"We are out of ammunition. The enemy are following. If you will put your +troops into line till we can fill our cartridge-boxes, we will stop +them." He says it so coolly and deliberately that it astonishes General +Wallace. It reassures him. He feels that it is a critical moment, but +with men retiring so deliberately, there is no reason to be discouraged. + +He leads Thayer's brigade up to the crest of the hill, just where the +road begins to descend into the ravine, through which gurgles the clear +running brook. + +"Bring up Company A, Chicago Light Artillery!" he shouts to an aid. A +few moments, and Captain Wood, who commands the battery, leads it along +the road. The horses are upon the gallop. The teamsters lash them with +their whips. They leap over logs, stones, stumps, and through the +bushes. They halt at the crest of the hill. + +"Put your guns here, two pieces in the road, and two on each side, and +load with grape and canister." + +The men spring to their pieces. They throw off their coats, and work in +their shirt-sleeves. They ram home the cartridges and stand beside their +pieces, waiting for the enemy. + +The battery faces southeast. On the right of the battery, next to it, is +the First Nebraska, and beyond it the Fifty-eighth Illinois. On the left +of the battery is Captain Davison's company of the Thirty-second +Illinois, and beyond it the Fifty-eighth Ohio. A few rods in rear is the +Seventy-sixth Ohio and the Forty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Illinois. + +McArthur, Oglesby, Wallace, and Cruft have all fallen back, and their +regiments are reforming in the woods west of Thayer's position, and +filling their cartridge-boxes. + +The Rebels halt a little while upon the ground from which they have +driven McClernand, rifling the pockets of the dead and robbing the +wounded. General Pillow feels very well. He writes a despatch, which is +telegraphed to Nashville,-- + +"On the honor of a soldier, the day is ours!" + +Buckner unites his brigades to Pillow's, and they prepare for a second +advance. It gives General Wallace time to perfect his line. Willard's +battery, which was left at Fort Henry, has just arrived. It gallops into +position in the woods west of Thayer's brigade. Dresser and Taylor also +come into position. They are ready. + +The Rebels descend the hill on the east side of the brook, and move up +the road. They are flushed with success, and are confident of defeating +General Grant. General Floyd has changed his mind; instead of escaping, +as he can do by the road leading to Nashville, he thinks he will put the +army of General Grant to rout. + +[Illustration: + + 1 Thayer's brigade with Wood's battery. + 2 McClernand's brigades. + 3 Cruft's brigade. + 4 Rebels.] + +The advancing columns step across the brook, and begin to ascend the +hill. The artillery opens its fire. The Rebel batteries reply. The +infantry rolls its volleys. The hill and the hollow are enveloped in +clouds of smoke. Wood's, Dresser's, Willard's, and Taylor's batteries +open,--twenty-four guns send their grape and canister, shrapnel and +shells, into the gray ranks which are vainly endeavoring to reach the +top of the hill. The Rebels concentrate their fire upon Wood's battery +and the First Nebraska, but those hardy pioneers from beyond the +Missouri, some of them Rocky Mountain hunters, cannot be driven. The +Rebels fire too high. The air is filled with the screaming of their +bullets, and a wild storm sweeps over the heads of the men from +Nebraska, who lose but ten men killed and wounded in this terrible +contest. The Nebraska men are old hunters, and do not fire at random, +but take deliberate aim. + +The Rebels march half-way up the hill, and then fall back to the brook. +They have lost courage. Their officers rally the wavering lines. Again +they advance, but are forced back by the musketry and the grape and +canister. + +They break in confusion, and vain are all the attempts of the officers +to rally them. General Floyd's plan, which worked so successfully in the +morning, has failed at noon. General Pillow's telegram was sent too soon +by a half-hour. The Rebels retire to the hill, and help themselves to +the overcoats, blankets, beef, bread, and other things in McClernand's +camp. + +General Grant determined to assault the enemy's works. He thought that +the rifle-pits at the northwest angle of the fort could be carried; that +then he could plant his batteries so near that, under their fire, he +could get into the fort. General Smith's division had not been engaged +in the battles of the morning. His troops had heard the roar of the +conflict and the cheers of their comrades when the Rebels were beaten +back. + +They were ready for action. They were nerved up to attempt great deeds +for their country. The Rebels had been repulsed, and now they could +defeat them. + +General Grant directed General Wallace to move forward from his +position, across the brook, drive the Rebels back, and then assault +their works. A large body of Rebels still held the ground, from which +McClernand had been driven. + +General Wallace placed Colonel Morgan L. Smith's brigade in front. There +was contention between the Eighth Missouri and Eleventh Indiana, for +each wanted the honor of leading the assault. The Eleventh yielded to +the Eighth, with the understanding that in the next assault it should +have the advance. Thus with generous rivalry and unbounded enthusiasm +they prepared to advance. + +The Eleventh followed the Eighth. Colonel Cruft's brigade, with two Ohio +regiments under Colonel Ross, completed the column. Colonel Cruft formed +in line of battle to the right of Colonel Smith. They crossed the brook. +It was a dark and bloody ravine. The Rebel dead and wounded were lying +there, thick almost as the withered forest-leaves. The snow was crimson. +The brook was no longer a clear running stream, but red with blood. + +General Wallace was aware of the desperate character of the enterprise. +He told his men what they were to do,--to drive the enemy, and storm the +breastworks. + +"Hurrah! that's just what we want to do. Forward! Forward! We are +ready!" were their answers. They could see the Rebel lines on the hill. +The Rebels knew that they were to be attacked, and were ready to receive +them. + +Colonel Smith moved up the road. His point of attack was clear, but +Cruft's was through brush and over stony ground. A line of skirmishers +sprang out from the Eighth Missouri. They ran up the hill, and came face +to face with the Rebel skirmishers. + +They fought from tree to tree, firing, picking off an opponent, then +falling upon the ground to reload. + +The regiments followed. They were half-way up the hill, when a line of +fire began to run round the crest. + +"Down! down!" shouted Colonel Smith. The regiments fell flat, and the +storm swept harmlessly over their heads. The Rebels cheered. They +thought they had annihilated Colonel Smith's command. Up they rose, and +rushed upon the enemy, pouring in their volleys, falling when the fight +was hottest, rising as soon as the Rebels had fired. Thus they closed +upon the enemy, and pushed him back over all the ground he had won in +the morning, driving him into his works. + +General Wallace was preparing to assault the works, when an officer +dashed down the line with cheering news of success upon the left. + +Returning now to General Smith's division, we see him preparing to storm +the works near the northwest angle of the fort. Colonel Cook's brigade +is directed to make a feint of attacking the fort. Major Cavender brings +his heavy guns into position, and opens a furious cannonade, under cover +of which Colonel Lauman is to advance upon the rifle-pits on the outer +ridge. If he can get possession of those, Cavender can plant his guns +there and rake the inner trenches. + +Colonel Hanson's brigade,--the Second Kentucky, Twentieth Mississippi, +and Thirtieth Tennessee, are in the rifle-pits. There are six pieces of +artillery and another brigade behind the inner intrenchments, all ready +to pour their fire upon the advancing columns. Colonel Hanson's men lie +secure behind the trunks of the great forest oaks, their rifles thrust +through between the logs. It is fifteen or twenty rods to the bottom of +the slope, and there you find the fallen trees, with their branches +interlocked, and sharp stakes driven into the ground. Beyond is the +meadow where Lauman forms his brigade. The Rebels have a clear sweep of +all the ground. + +General Smith leads Lauman's men to the meadow, while Colonel Cook moves +up on the left and commences the attack. The soldiers hear, far down on +the right, Wallace's brigades driving the enemy from the hill. + +[Illustration: THE CHARGE OF LAUMAN'S BRIGADE. + + 1 Lauman's brigade. + 2 Cook's brigade. + 3 Cavender's batteries, with infantry. + 4 Rebel rifle-pits. + 5 Rebel inner works.] + +It is almost sunset. The rays of light fall aslant the meadow, upon the +backs of Lauman's men, and into the faces of the Rebels. The advancing +brigade is in solid column of regiments, the Second Iowa in front, then +the Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Seventh and Fourteenth Iowa,--four firm, +unwavering lines, which throw their shadows forward as they advance. +Birges's sharpshooters, with their unerring rifles, are flung out on +each flank. + +The brigade halts upon the meadow. General Smith rides along the line, +and informs them that they are to take the rifle-pits with the bayonet +alone. He sits firmly on his horse, and his long gray hair, falling +almost to his shoulders, waves in the evening breeze. He is an iron man, +and he leads iron men. The Rebel cannon cut them through with solid +shot, shells burst above and around them, with loud explosions and +terrifying shrieks from the flying fragments, men drop from the ranks, +or are whirled into the air torn and mangled. There are sudden gaps, but +not a man flinches. They look not towards the rear, but towards the +front. There are the fallen trees, the hill, the line of two thousand +muskets poised between the logs, the cannon thundering from the height +beyond. There is no whispering in those solid ranks, no loud talking, +nothing but the "Steady! steady!" of the officers. Their hearts beat +great throbs. Their nerves are steel, their muscles iron. They grasp +their muskets with the grip of tigers. Before them rides their General, +his cap upon his sword, his long hair streaming like a banner in the +wind. The color-bearer, waving the stars and stripes, marches by his +side. + +They move across the meadow. All around them is the deafening roar of +the conflict. Cavender is behind them, Cook is upon their left, the +enemy is in front, and Wallace away upon their right. They reach the +fallen trees at the foot of the hill. The pile of logs above them bursts +into flame. A deadly storm, more terrible than the fiercest winter +blast, sweeps down the slope into their faces. There are lightning +flashes and thunderbolts from the hill above. Men drop from their +places, to lie forever still among the tangled branches. But their +surviving comrades do not falter. On,--on,--creeping, crawling, climbing +over the obstructions, unterrified, undaunted, with all the energy of +life centred in one effort; like a tornado they sweep up the +slope,--into the line of fire, into the hissing storm, up to the logs, +into the cloud, leaping like tigers, thrusting the bayonet home upon the +foe. The Rebels reel, stagger, tumble, run! + +"HURRA----H!" + +It is a wild, prolonged, triumphant shout, like the blast of a trumpet. +They plant their banners on the works, and fire their volleys into the +retreating foe. Stone's battery gallops over the meadow, over the logs, +up the hill, the horses leaping and plunging as if they, too, knew that +victory was hanging in the scale. The gunners spring from their seats, +wheel their pieces and throw their shells, an enfilading fire, into the +upper works. + +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" rings through the forest, down the line to +Wallace's men. + +"We have carried the works!" "We are inside!" shouts an officer bearing +the welcome news. + +The men toss their caps in the air. They shake hands, they shout, and +break into singing. They forget all their hardships and sufferings, the +hungry days, the horrible nights, the wounded and the dead. The success +is worth all the sacrifice. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SURRENDER. + + +All through the night the brave men held the ground they had so nobly +won. They rested on snowy beds. They had no supper. They could kindle no +fires to warm the wintry air. The cannon above them hurled down shells, +and sent volleys of grape, which screamed above and around them like the +voices of demons in the darkness. The branches of the trees were torn +from their trunks by the solid shot, and the trunks were splintered from +top to bottom, but they did not falter or retire from that slope where +the snow was crimsoned with the life-blood of hundreds of their +comrades. Nearly four hundred had fallen in that attack. The hill had +cost a great deal of blood, but it was worth all it cost, and they would +not give it up. So they braved the leaden rain and iron hail through the +weary hours of that winter night. They only waited for daybreak to storm +the inner works and take the fort. Their ardor and enthusiasm was +unbounded. + +As the morning approached they heard a bugle-call. They looked across +the narrow ravine, and saw, in the dim light of the dawn, a man waving a +white flag upon the intrenchments. It was a sign for a parley. He jumped +down from the embankment, and descended the hill. + +"Halt! Who comes there?" shouted the picket. + +"Flag of truce with a letter for General Grant." + +An officer took the letter, and hastened down the slope, across the +meadow, up to the house on the Dover road, where General Grant had his +head-quarters. + +During the night there had been a council of war at General Floyd's +head-quarters. Nearly all the Rebel officers commanding brigades and +regiments were there. They were down-hearted. They had fought bravely, +won a victory, as they thought, but had lost it. A Rebel officer who was +there told me what they said. General Floyd and General Pillow blamed +General Buckner for not advancing earlier in the morning, and for making +what they thought a feeble attack. They could have escaped after they +drove McClernand across the brook, but now they were hemmed in. The +prospect was gloomy. The troops were exhausted by the long conflict, by +constant watching, and by the cold. What bitter nights those were to the +men who came from Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi, where the roses bloom +and the blue-birds sing through all the winter months. + +What should be done? Should they make another attack, and cut their way +out, or should they surrender? + +"I cannot hold my position a half-hour. The Yankees can turn my flank or +advance directly upon the breastworks," said General Buckner. + +"If you had advanced at the time agreed upon, and made a more vigorous +attack, we should have routed the enemy," said General Floyd. + +"I advanced as soon as I could, and my troops fought as bravely as +others," was the response from General Buckner,--a middle-aged, +medium-sized man. His hair is iron gray. He has thin whiskers and a +moustache, and wears a gray kersey overcoat, with a great cape, and gold +lace on the sleeves, and a black hat with a nodding black plume. + +"Well, here we are, and it is useless to renew the attack with any hope +of success. The men are exhausted," said General Floyd,--a stout, heavy +man, with thick lips, a large nose, evil eyes, and coarse features. + +"We can cut our way out," said Major Brown, commanding the Twentieth +Mississippi,--a tall, black-haired, impetuous, fiery man. + +"Some of us might escape in that way, but the attempt would be attended +with great slaughter," responded General Floyd. + +"My troops are so worn out and cut to pieces and demoralized, that I +can't make another fight," said Buckner. + +"My troops will fight till they die," answered Major Brown, setting his +teeth together. + +"It will cost the command three quarters of its present number to cut +its way through, and it is wrong to sacrifice three quarters of a +command to save the other quarter," Buckner continued. + +"No officer has a right to cause such a sacrifice," said Major Gilmer, +of General Pillow's staff. + +"But we can hold out another day, and by that time we can get steamboats +here to take us across the river," said General Pillow. + +"No, I can't hold my position a half-hour, and the Yankees will renew +the attack at daybreak," Buckner replied. + +"Then we have got to surrender, for aught I see," said an officer. + +"I won't surrender the command, neither will I be taken prisoner," said +Floyd. He doubtless remembered how he had stolen public property, while +in office under Buchanan, and would rather die than to fall into the +hands of those whom he knew would be likely to bring him to an account +for his villany. + +"I don't intend to be taken prisoner," said Pillow. + +"What will you do, gentlemen?" Buckner asked. + +"I mean to escape, and take my Virginia brigade with me, if I can. I +shall turn over the command to General Pillow. I have a right to escape +if I can, but I haven't any right to order the entire army to make a +hopeless fight," said Floyd. + +"If you surrender it to me, I shall turn it over to General Buckner," +said General Pillow, who was also disposed to shirk responsibility and +desert the men whom he had induced to vote to secede from the Union and +take up arms against their country. + +"If the command comes into my hands, I shall deem it my duty to +surrender it. I shall not call upon the troops to make a useless +sacrifice of life, and I will not desert the men who have fought so +nobly," Buckner replied, with a bitterness which made Floyd and Pillow +wince. + +It was past midnight. The council broke up. The brigade and regimental +officers were astonished at the result. Some of them broke out into +horrid cursing and swearing at Floyd and Pillow. + +"It is mean!" "It is cowardly!" "Floyd always was a rascal." + +"We are betrayed!" "There is treachery!" said they. + +"It is a mean trick for an officer to desert his men. If my troops are +to be surrendered, I shall stick by them," said Major Brown. + +"I denounce Pillow as a coward, and if I ever meet him, I'll shoot him +as quick as I would a dog," said Major McLain, red with rage. + +Floyd gave out that he was going to join Colonel Forrest, who commanded +the cavalry, and thus cut his way out; but there were two or three small +steamboats at the Dover landing. He and General Pillow jumped on board +one of them, and then secretly marched a portion of the Virginia brigade +on board. Other soldiers saw what was going on, that they were being +deserted. They became frantic with terror and rage. They rushed on +board, crowding every part of the boat. + +"Cut loose!" shouted Floyd to the captain. The boats swung into the +stream and moved up the river, leaving thousands of infuriated soldiers +on the landing. So the man who had stolen the public property, and who +did all he could to bring on the war, who induced thousands of poor, +ignorant men to take up arms, deserted his post, stole away in the +darkness, and left them to their fate. + +General Buckner immediately wrote a letter to General Grant, asking for +an armistice till twelve o'clock, and the appointment of commissioners +to agree upon terms by which the fort and the prisoners should be +surrendered. + +"No terms, other than unconditional and immediate surrender can be +accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works," was General +Grant's reply. + +General Buckner replied, that he thought it very _unchivalrous_, but +accepted the terms. He meant that he did not think it very honorable in +General Grant to require an unconditional surrender. He professed to +have a high sense of all that was noble, generous, honorable, and +high-minded. But a few days before he had so forgotten those qualities +of character, that he took some cattle from Rev. Mr. Wiggin of +Rochester, Kentucky, one of his old acquaintances, and paid him with a +check of three hundred dollars on the Southern Bank at Russelville. When +Rev. Mr. Wiggin called at the bank and presented the check, the cashier +told him that General Buckner never had had any money on deposit there, +and the bank did not owe him a dollar! He cheated and swindled the +minister, and committed the crime of forgery, which would have sent him +to the state-prison in time of peace. + +The morning dawned,--Sunday morning, calm, clear, and beautiful. The +horrible nights were over and the freezing days gone by. The air was +mild, and there was a gentle breeze from the south, which brought the +blue-birds. They did not mind the soldiers or the cannon, but chirped +and sang in the woods as merrily as ever. + +I saw the white flag flying on the breastworks. The soldiers and sailors +saw it, and cheered. General Grant had moved his head-quarters to the +steamboat Uncle Sam, and, as I happened to be on board that boat, I saw +a great deal that took place. + +The gunboats, and all the steamboats, fifty or more, began to move up +the river. Dense clouds of smoke rolled up from the tall chimneys. The +great wheels plashed the sparkling stream. Flags were flying on all the +staffs. The army began its march into the fort. The bands played. How +grand the crash of the drums and the trumpets! The soldiers marched +proudly. The columns were winding along the hills,--the artillery, the +infantry, the cavalry, with all their banners waving, and the bright +sunshine gleaming and glistening on their bayonets! They entered the +fort, and planted their standards on the embankments. The gunboats and +the field artillery fired a grand salute. From the steamboats, from the +hillside, from the fort, and the forest there were answering shouts. The +wounded in the hospitals forgot, for the moment, that they were torn and +mangled, raised themselves on their beds of straw, and mingled their +feeble cheers in the universal rejoicing! + +Thirteen thousand men, sixty-seven pieces of artillery, and fifteen +thousand small arms were surrendered. A motley, care-worn, haggard, +anxious crowd stood at the landing. I sprang ashore, and walked through +the ranks. Some were standing, some lying down, taking no notice of what +was going on around them. They were prisoners of war. When they joined +the army, they probably did not dream that they would be taken +prisoners. They were to be victorious, and capture the Yankees. They +were poor, ignorant men. Not half of them knew how to read or write. +They had been deluded by their leaders,--the slaveholders. They had +fought bravely, but they had been defeated, and their generals had +deserted them. No wonder they were down-hearted. + +Their clothes were of all colors. Some wore gray, some blue, some +butternut-colored clothes,--a dirty brown. They were very ragged. Some +had old quilts for blankets, others faded pieces of carpeting, others +strips of new carpeting, which they had taken from the stores. Some had +caps, others old slouched felt hats, and others nothing but straw hats +upon their heads. + +"We fought well, but you outnumbered us," said one. + +"We should have beaten you as it was, if it hadn't been for your +gunboats," said another. + +"How happened it that General Floyd and General Pillow escaped, and left +you?" I asked. + +"They are traitors. I would shoot the scoundrels, if I could get a +chance," said a fellow in a snuff-colored coat, clenching his fist. + +"I am glad the fighting is over. I don't want to see another such day as +yesterday," said a Tennesseean, who was lying on the ground. + +"What will General Grant do with us? Will he put us in prison?" asked +one. + +"That will depend upon how you behave. If you had not taken up arms +against your country, you would not have been in trouble now." + +"We couldn't help it, sir. I was forced into the army, and I am glad I +am a prisoner. I sha'n't have to fight any more," said a blue-eyed young +man, not more than eighteen years old. + +There were some who were very sullen and sour, and there were others who +did not care what became of them. + +I went up the hill into the town. Nearly every house was filled with the +dying and the dead. The shells from the gunboats had crashed through +some of the buildings. The soldiers had cut down the orchards and the +shade-trees, and burned the fences. All was desolation. There were sad +groups around the camp-fires, with despair upon their countenances. O +how many of them thought of their friends far away, and wished they +could see them again! + +The ground was strewed with their guns, cartridge-boxes, belts, and +knapsacks. There were bags of corn, barrels of sugar, hogsheads of +molasses, tierces of bacon, broken open and trodden into the mud. + +I went into the fort, and saw where the great shells from the gunboats +had cut through the embankments. There were piles of cartridges beside +the cannon. The dead were lying there, torn, mangled, rent. Near the +intrenchments, where the fight had been fiercest, there were pools of +blood. The Rebel soldiers were breaking the frozen earth, digging +burial-trenches, and bringing in their fallen comrades and laying them +side by side, to their last, long, silent sleep. I looked down the slope +where Lauman's men swept over the fallen trees in their terrible charge; +then I walked down to the meadow, and looked up the height, and wondered +how men could climb over the trees, the stumps, the rocks, and ascend it +through such a storm. The dead were lying where they fell, heroes every +one of them! It was sad to think that so many noble men had fallen, but +it was a pleasure to know that they had not faltered. They had done +their duty. If you ever visit that battle-field, and stand upon that +slope, you will feel your heart swell with gratitude and joy, to think +how cheerfully they gave their lives to save their country, that you and +all who come after you may enjoy peace and prosperity forever. + +How bravely they fought! There, upon the cold ground, lay a soldier of +the Ninth Illinois. Early in the action of Saturday he was shot through +the arm. He went to the hospital and had it bandaged, and returned to +his place in the regiment. A second shot passed through his thigh, +tearing the flesh to shreds. + +"We will carry you to the hospital," said two of his comrades. + +"No, you stay and fight. I can get along alone." He took off his +bayonet, used his gun for a crutch, and reached the hospital. The +surgeon dressed the wound. He heard the roar of battle. His soul was on +fire to be there. He hobbled once more to the field, and went into the +thickest of the fight, lying down, because he could not stand. He fought +as a skirmisher. When the Rebels advanced, he could not retire with the +troops, but continued to fight. After the battle he was found dead upon +the field, six bullets having passed through his body. + +One bright-eyed little fellow, of the Second Iowa, had his foot crushed +by a cannon-shot. Two of his comrades carried him to the rear. An +officer saw that, unless the blood was stopped, he never would reach the +hospital. He told the men to tie a handkerchief around his leg, and put +snow on the wound. + +"O, never mind the foot, Captain," said the brave fellow. "We drove the +Rebels out, and have got their trench; that's the most I care for!" The +soldiers did as they were directed, and his life was saved. + +There in the trenches was a Rebel soldier with a rifle-shot through his +head. He was an excellent marksman, and had killed or wounded several +Union officers. One of Colonel Birges's sharpshooters, an old hunter, +who had killed many bears and wolves, crept up towards the breastworks +to try his hand upon the Rebel. They fired at each other again and +again, but both were shrewd and careful. The Rebel raised his hat above +the breastwork,--whi----z! The sharpshooter out in the bushes had put a +bullet through it. "Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the Rebel, sending his own +bullet into the little puff of smoke down in the ravine. The Rocky +Mountain hunter was as still as a mouse. He knew that the Rebel had +outwitted him, and expected the return shot. It was aimed a little too +high, and he was safe. + +"You cheated me that time, but I will be even with you yet," said the +sharpshooter, whirling upon his back, and loading his rifle and whirling +back again. He rested his rifle upon the ground, aimed it, and lay with +his eye along the barrel, his finger on the trigger. Five minutes +passed. "I reckon that that last shot fixed him," said the Rebel. "He +hasn't moved this five minutes." + +He raised his head, peeped over the embankment, and fell back lifeless. +The unerring rifle-bullet had passed through his head. + +If you could go over the battle-ground with one of those sharpshooters, +he would show you a little clump of bushes, and some stumps, where three +or four of them lay on Saturday, in front of one of the Rebel batteries, +and picked off the gunners. Two or three times the artillerymen tried to +drive them out with shells; but they lay close upon the ground, and the +shells did not touch them. The artillerymen were obliged to cease +firing, and retreat out of reach of the deadly bullets. + +Some of the Rebel officers took their surrender very much to heart. They +were proud, insolent, and defiant. Their surrender was unconditional, +and they thought it very hard to give up their swords and pistols. One +of them fired a pistol at Major Mudd, of the Second Illinois, wounding +him in the back. I was very well acquainted with the Major. He lived in +St. Louis, and had been from the beginning an ardent friend of the +Union. He had hunted the guerillas in Missouri, and had fought bravely +at Wilson's Creek. It is quite likely he was shot by an old enemy. +General Grant at once issued orders that all the Rebel officers should +be disarmed. General Buckner, in insolent tones, said to General Grant +that it was barbarous, inhuman, brutal, unchivalrous, and at variance +with the rules of civilized warfare! General Grant replied:-- + +"You have dared to come here to complain of my acts, without the +right to make an objection. You do not appear to remember that your +surrender was unconditional. Yet, if we compare the acts of the +different armies in this war, how will yours bear inspection? You have +cowardly shot my officers in cold blood. As I rode over the field, I +saw the dead of my army brutally insulted by your men, their clothing +stripped off of them, and their bodies exposed, without the slightest +regard for common decency. Humanity has seldom marked your course +whenever our men have been unfortunate enough to fall into your hands. +At Belmont your authorities disregarded all the usages of civilized +warfare. My officers were crowded into cotton-pens with my brave +soldiers, and then thrust into prison, while your officers were +permitted to enjoy their parole, and live at the hotel in Cairo. Your +men are given the same fare as my own, and your wounded receive our +best attention. These are incontrovertible facts. I have simply taken +the precaution to disarm your officers and men, because necessity +compelled me to protect my own from assassination." + +General Buckner had no reply to make. He hung his head in shame at the +rebuke. + +Major Mudd, though severely wounded, recovered, but lost his life in +another battle. One day, while riding with him in Missouri, he told me a +very good story. He said he was once riding in the cars, and that a very +inquisitive man sat by his side. A few rods from every road-crossing the +railroad company had put up boards with the letters W. R. upon them. + +"What be them for?" asked the man. + +"Those are directions to the engineer to blow the whistle and ring the +bell, that people who may be on the carriage-road may look out and not +get run over by the train," the Major answered. + +"O yes, I see." + +The man sat in silence awhile, with his lips working as if he was trying +to spell. + +"Well, Major," he said at last, "it may be as you say. I know that +w-r-i-n-g spells ring, but for the life of me I don't see how you can +get an R into whistle!" + +The fall of Fort Donelson was a severe blow to the Rebels. It had a +great effect. It was the first great victory of the Union troops. It +opened all the northwest corner of the Confederacy. It compelled General +Johnston to retreat from Bowling Green, and also compelled the +evacuation of Columbus and all Central Tennessee. Nashville, the capital +of that State, fell into the hands of the Union troops. + +On Sunday morning the Rebels at Nashville were in good spirits. General +Pillow had telegraphed on Saturday noon, as you remember, "On the honor +of a soldier, the day is ours." The citizens shouted over it. + +One sober citizen said: "I never liked Pillow, but I forgive him now. He +is the man for the occasion." + +Another, who had been Governor of the State,--a wicked, profane +man,--said: "It is first-rate news. Pillow is giving the Yankees hell, +and rubbing it in!"[6] It is a vile sentence, and I would not quote it, +were it not that you might have a true picture from Rebel sources. + +[Footnote 6: Mobile Tribune.] + +The newspapers put out bulletins:-- + + "ENEMY RETREATING! GLORIOUS RESULT!! OUR BOYS FOLLOWING AND + PEPPERING THEIR REAR!! A COMPLETE VICTORY!" + +The bell-ringers rang jubilant peals, and the citizens shook hands over +the good news as they went to church. Services had hardly commenced, +when a horseman dashed through the streets, covered with mud, and almost +breathless from hard riding, shouting, "Fort Donelson has surrendered, +and the Yankees are coming!" + +The people poured out from the churches and their houses into the +street. Such hurrying to and fro was never seen. Men, women, and +children ran here and there, not knowing what to do, imagining that the +Yankees would murder them. They began to pack their goods. Carts, +wagons, carriages, drays, wheelbarrows,--all were loaded. Strong men +were pale with fear, women wrung their hands, and children cried. + +Before noon Generals Floyd and Pillow arrived on steamboats. The people +crowded round the renegade officers, and called for a speech. General +Floyd went out upon the balcony of the hotel, and said:-- + +"Fellow-Citizens: This is not the time for speaking, but for action. It +is a time when every man should enlist for the war. Not a day is to be +lost. We had only ten thousand effective men, who fought four days and +nights against forty thousand of the enemy. But nature could hold out no +longer. The men required rest, and having lost one third of my gallant +force I was compelled to retire. We have left a thousand of the enemy +dead on the field. General Johnston has not slept a wink for three +nights; he is all worn out, but he is acting wisely. He is going to +entice the Yankees into the mountain gaps, away from the rivers and the +gunboats, and then drive them back, and carry the war into the enemy's +country."[7] + +[Footnote 7: Lynchburg Republican.] + +General Johnston's army, retreating from Bowling Green, began to pass +through the city. The soldiers did not stop, but passed on towards the +South. The people had thought that General Johnston would defend the +place, the capital of the State; but when they saw that the troops were +retreating, they recklessly abandoned their homes. It was a wild night +in Nashville. The Rebels had two gunboats nearly completed, which were +set on fire. The Rebel storehouses were thrown open to the poor people, +who rushed pell-mell to help themselves to pork, flour, molasses, and +sugar. A great deal was destroyed. After Johnston's army had crossed the +river, the beautiful and costly wire suspension bridge which spanned it +was cut down. It cost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and +belonged to the daughters of the Rebel General Zollicoffer, who was +killed at the battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky. The Rebel officers +undertook to carry off the immense supplies of food which had been +accumulated; but in the panic, barrels of meat and flour, sacks of +coffee, hogsheads of sugar were rolled into the streets and trampled +into the mire. Millions of dollars' worth were lost to the Confederacy. +The farmers in the country feared that they would lose their slaves, and +from all the section round they hurried the poor creatures towards the +South, hoping to find a place where they would be secure. + +Throughout the South there was gloom and despondency. But all over the +North there was great rejoicing. Everybody praised the brave soldiers +who had fought so nobly. There were public meetings, speeches, +processions, illuminations and bonfires, and devout thanksgivings to +God. + +The deeds of the brave men of the West were praised in poetry and song. +Some stanzas were published in the Atlantic Monthly in Boston, which are +so beautiful that I think you will thank me for quoting them. + + "O gales that dash the Atlantic's swell + Along our rocky shores, + Whose thunders diapason well + New England's glad hurrahs, + + "Bear to the prairies of the West + The echoes of our joy, + The prayer that springs in every breast,-- + 'God bless thee, Illinois!' + + "O awful hours, when grape and shell + Tore through the unflinching line! + 'Stand firm! remove the men who fell! + Close up, and wait the sign.' + + "It came at last, 'Now, lads, the steel!' + The rushing hosts deploy; + 'Charge, boys!'--the broken traitors reel,-- + Huzza for Illinois! + + "In vain thy rampart, Donelson, + The living torrent bars, + It leaps the wall, the fort is won, + Up go the Stripes and Stars. + + "Thy proudest mother's eyelids fill, + As dares her gallant boy, + And Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill + Yearn to thee, Illinois." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. + + +On the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, one of the greatest battles of the +war was fought near Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee, on the west bank of +the Tennessee River, about twelve miles from the northeast corner of the +State of Mississippi. The Rebels call it the battle of Shiloh, because +it was fought near Shiloh Church. I did not see the terrible contest, +but I reached the place soon after the fight, in season to see the guns, +cannon, wagons, knapsacks, cartridge-boxes, which were scattered over +the ground, and the newly-made graves where the dead had just been +buried. I was in camp upon the field several weeks, and saw the woods, +the plains, hills, ravines. Officers and men who were in the fight +pointed out the places where they stood, showed me where the Rebels +advanced, where their batteries were, how they advanced and retreated, +how the tide of victory ebbed and flowed. Having been so early on the +ground, and having listened to the stories of a great many persons, I +shall try to give you a correct account. It will be a difficult task, +however, for the stories are conflicting. No two persons see a battle +alike; each has his own stand-point. He sees what takes place around +him. No other one will tell a story like his. Men have different +temperaments. One is excited, and another is cool and collected. Men +live fast in battle. Every nerve is excited, every sense intensified, +and it is only by taking the accounts of different observers that an +accurate view can be obtained. + +After the capture of Fort Donelson, you remember that General Johnston +retreated through Nashville towards the South. A few days later the +Rebels evacuated Columbus on the Mississippi. They were obliged to +concentrate their forces. They saw that Memphis would be the next point +of attack, and they must defend it. All of their energies were aroused. +The defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, you remember, caused a great +uprising of the North, and so the fall of Donelson stirred the people of +the South. + +If you look at the map of Tennessee, you will notice, about twenty miles +from Pittsburg Landing, the town of Corinth. It is at the junction of +the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile and Ohio Railroads, which made +it an important place to the Rebels. + +"Corinth must be defended," said the Memphis newspapers. + +[Illustration: PITTSBURG LANDING AND VICINITY.] + +Governor Harris of Tennessee issued a proclamation calling upon the +people to enlist. + + "As Governor of your State, and Commander-in-Chief of its + army, I call upon every able-bodied man of the State, without + regard to age, to enlist in its service. I command him who + can obtain a weapon to march with our armies. I ask him who + can repair or forge an arm to make it ready at once for the + soldier." + +General Beauregard was sent in great haste to the West by Jeff Davis, +who hoped that the fame and glory which he had won by attacking Fort +Sumter and at Bull Run would rouse the people of the Southwest and save +the failing fortunes of the Confederacy. + +To Corinth came the flower of the Southern army. All other points were +weakened to save Corinth. From Pensacola came General Bragg and ten +thousand Alabamians, who had watched for many months the little frowning +fortress on Santa Rosa Island. The troops which had been at Mobile to +resist the landing of General Butler from Ship Island were hastened +north upon the trains of the Mobile and Ohio road. General Beauregard +called upon the Governors of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and +Louisiana for additional troops. + +General Polk, who had been a bishop before the war, sent down two +divisions from Columbus on the Mississippi. General Johnston with his +retreating army hastened on, and thus all the Rebel troops in the +Southwestern States were mustered at Corinth. + +The call to take up arms was responded to everywhere; old men and boys +came trooping into the place. They came from Texas, Arkansas, and +Missouri. Beauregard labored with unremitting energy to create an army +which would be powerful enough to drive back the Union troops, recover +Tennessee, and invade Kentucky. + +General Grant, after the capture of Donelson, moved his army, on +steamboats, down the Cumberland and up the Tennessee, to Pittsburg +Landing. He made his head-quarters at Savannah, a small town ten miles +below Pittsburg Landing, on the east side of the river. + +General Buell, who had followed General Johnston through Nashville with +the army of the Ohio, was slowly making his way across the country to +join General Grant. The Rebel generals had the railroads, by which they +could rapidly concentrate their troops, and they determined to attack +General Grant at Pittsburg, with their superior force, before General +Buell could join him. Beauregard had his pickets within four miles of +General Grant's force, and he could move his entire army within striking +distance before General Grant would know of his danger. He calculated +that he could annihilate General Grant, drive him into the river, or +force him to surrender, capture all of his cannon, wagons, ammunition, +provisions, steamboats,--everything,--by a sudden stroke. If he +succeeded, he could then move against General Buell, destroy his army, +and not only recover all that had been lost, but he would also redeem +Kentucky and invade Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. + +All but one division of General Grant's army was at Pittsburg. Two miles +above the Landing the river begins to make its great eastern bend. Lick +Creek comes in from the west, at the bend. Three miles below Pittsburg +is Snake Creek, which also comes in from the west. Five miles further +down is Crump's Landing. General Lewis Wallace's division was near +Crump's, but the other divisions were between the two creeks. The banks +of the river are seventy-five feet high, and the country is a succession +of wooded hills, with numerous ravines. There are a few clearings and +farm-houses, but it is nearly all forest,--tall oak-trees, with here and +there thickets of underbrush. The farmers cultivate a little corn, +cotton, and tobacco. The country has been settled many years, but is +almost as wild as when the Indians possessed the land. + +Pittsburg is the nearest point to Corinth on the river. The road from +the Landing winds up the bank, passes along the edge of a deep ravine, +and leads southwest. As you go up the road, you come to a log-cabin +about a mile from the river. There is a peach-orchard near by. There the +roads fork. The left-hand road takes you to Hamburg, the middle one is +the Ridge road to Corinth, and the third is the road to Shiloh Church, +called also the Lower Corinth road. There are other openings in the +woods,--old cotton-fields. Three miles out from the river you come to +Shiloh Church. A clear brook, which is fed by springs, gurgles over a +sandy bed, close by the church. You fill your canteen, and find it +excellent water. On Sunday noons, the people who come to church sit down +beneath the grand old trees, eat their dinners, and drink from the +brook. + +It is not such a church as you see in your own village. It has no tall +steeple or tapering spire, no deep-toned bell, no organ, no +singing-seats or gallery, no pews or carpeted aisles. It is built of +logs. It was chinked with clay years ago, but the rains have washed it +out. You can thrust your hand between the cracks. It is thirty or forty +feet square. It has places for windows, but there are no sashes, and of +course no glass. As you stand within, you can see up to the roof, +supported by hewn rafters, and covered with split shingles, which shake +and rattle when the wind blows. It is the best-ventilated church you +ever saw. It has no pews, but only rough seats for the congregation. A +great many of the churches of this section of the country are no better +than this. Slavery does not build neat churches and school-houses, as a +general thing. Around this church the battle raged fearfully. + +Not far from the church, a road leads northeast towards Crump's Landing, +and another northwest towards the town of Purdy. By the church, along +the road leading down to the Landing, at the peach-orchard, and in the +ravines you find the battle-ground. + +General Johnston was senior commander of the Rebel army. He had +Beauregard, Bragg, Polk, Hardee, Cheatham,--all Major-Generals, who had +been educated at West Point, at the expense of the United States. They +were considered to be the ablest generals in the Rebel service. General +Breckenridge was there. He was Vice-President under Buchanan, and was +but a few weeks out of his seat in the Senate of the United States. He +was, you remember, the slaveholders' candidate for President in 1860. +Quite likely he felt very sour against the Northern people, because he +was not elected President. + +The Rebel army numbered between forty and fifty thousand men. General +Johnston worked with all his might to organize into brigades the troops +which were flocking in from all quarters. It was of the utmost +importance that the attack should be made before General Buell joined +General Grant. The united and concentrated forces of Beauregard, Bragg, +and Johnston outnumbered Grant's army by fifteen thousand. General Van +Dorn, with thirty thousand men, was expected from Arkansas. They were to +come by steamboat to Memphis, and were to be transported to Corinth by +the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; but Van Dorn was behind time, and, +unless the attack was made at once, it would be too late, for the +combined armies of Grant and Buell would outnumber the Rebels. At +midnight, on the 1st of April, Johnston learned that General Buell's +advance divisions were within two or three days' march of Savannah. He +immediately issued his orders to his corps commanders, directing the +routes which each was to take in advancing towards Pittsburg. + +The troops began their march on Thursday morning. They were in excellent +spirits. They cheered, swung their hats, and marched with great +enthusiasm. The Rebel officers, who knew the situation, the ground where +General Grant was encamped, believed that his army would be annihilated. +They assured the troops it would be a great and glorious victory. + +The distance was only eighteen miles, and General Johnston intended to +strike the blow at daylight on Saturday morning, but it rained hard +Friday night, and the roads in the morning were so muddy that the +artillery could not move. It was late Saturday afternoon before his army +was in position. It was too near night to make the attack. He examined +the ground, distributed ammunition, posted the artillery, gave the men +extra rations, and waited for Sunday morning. + +The Union army rested in security. No intrenchments were thrown up on +the hills and along the ridges. No precautions were taken against +surprise. The officers and soldiers did not dream of being attacked. +They were unprepared. The divisions were not in order for battle. They +were preparing to advance upon Corinth, and were to march when General +Halleck, who was at St. Louis, commanding the department, should take +the field. + +On the evening of Friday the pickets on the Corinth road, two miles out +from Shiloh Church, were fired upon. A body of Rebels rushed through the +woods, and captured several officers and men. The Seventieth, +Seventy-second, and Forty-eighth Ohio, of General Sherman's division, +were sent out upon a reconnoissance. They came upon a couple of Rebel +regiments, and, after a sharp action, drove them back to a Rebel +battery, losing three or four prisoners and taking sixteen. General +Lewis Wallace ordered out his division, and moved up from Crump's +Landing a mile or two, and the troops stood under arms in the rain, that +poured in torrents through the night, to be ready for an attack from +that direction; but nothing came of it. There was more skirmishing on +Saturday,--a continual firing along the picket lines. All supposed that +the Rebels were making a reconnoissance. No one thought that one of the +greatest battles of the war was close at hand. General Grant went down +the river to Savannah on Saturday night. The troops dried their clothes +in the sun, cooked their suppers, told their evening stories, and put +out their lights at tattoo, as usual. + +To get at the position of General Grant's army, let us start from +Pittsburg Landing. It is a very busy place at the Landing. Forty or +fifty steamboats are there, and hundreds of men are rolling out barrels +of sugar, bacon, pork, beef, boxes of bread, bundles of hay, and +thousands of sacks of corn. There are several hundred wagons waiting to +transport the supplies to the troops. A long train winds up the hill +towards the west. + +Ascending the hill, you come to the forks of the roads. The right-hand +road leads to Crump's Landing. You see General Smith's old division, +which took the rifle-pits at Donelson, on the right-hand side of the +road in the woods. It is commanded now by W. H. L. Wallace, who has been +made a Brigadier-General for his heroism at Donelson. There have been +many changes of commanders since that battle. Colonels who commanded +regiments there are now brigade commanders. + +Keeping along the Shiloh road a few rods, you come to the road which +leads to Hamburg. Instead of turning up that, you keep on a little +farther to the Ridge road, leading to Corinth. General Prentiss's +division is on that road, two miles out, towards the southwest. Instead +of taking that road, you still keep on the right-hand one, travelling +nearly west all the while, and you come to McClernand's division, which +is encamped in a long line on both sides of the road. Here you see +Dresser's, Taylor's, Schwartz's, and McAllister's batteries, and all +those regiments which fought so determinedly at Donelson. They face +northwest. Their line is a little east of the church. + +Passing over to the church, you see that a number of roads centre +there,--one coming in from the northwest, which will take you to Purdy; +one from the northeast, which will carry you to Crump's Landing; the +road up which you have travelled from Pittsburg Landing; one from the +southeast, which will take you to Hamburg; and one from the southwest, +which is the lower road to Corinth. + +You see, close by the church, on both sides of this lower road to +Corinth, General Sherman's division, not facing northwest, but nearly +south. McClernand's left and Sherman's left are close together. They +form the two sides of a triangle, the angle being at the left wings. +They are in a very bad position to be attacked. + +Take the Hamburg road now, and go southeast two miles and you come to +the crossing of the Ridge road to Corinth, where you will find General +Prentiss's division, before mentioned. Keeping on, you come to Lick +Creek. It has high, steep banks. It is fordable at this point, and +Colonel Stuart's brigade of Sherman's division is there, guarding the +crossing. The brook which gurgles past the church empties into the +creek. You see that Prentiss's entire division, and the left wing of +McClernand's, is between Stuart's brigade and the rest of Sherman's +division. There are detached regiments encamped in the woods near the +Landing, which have just arrived, and have not been brigaded. There are +also two regiments of cavalry in rear of these lines. There are several +pieces of siege artillery on the top of the hill near the Landing, but +there are no artillerists or gunners to serve them. + +You see that the army does not expect to be attacked. The cavalry ought +to be out six or eight miles on picket; but they are here, the horses +quietly eating their oats. The infantry pickets ought to be out three or +four miles, but they are not a mile and a half advanced from the camp. +The army is in a bad position to resist a sudden attack from a superior +force. McClernand ought not to be at right angles with Sherman, Stuart +ought not to be separated from his division by Prentiss, and General +Lewis Wallace is too far away to render prompt assistance. Besides, +General Grant is absent, and there is no commander-in-chief on the +field. You wonder that no preparations have been make to resist an +attack, no breastworks thrown up, no proper disposition of the forces, +no extended reconnoissances by the cavalry, and that, after the +skirmishing on Friday and Saturday, all hands should lie down so quietly +in their tents on Saturday night. They did not dream that fifty thousand +Rebels were ready to strike them at daybreak. + +General Johnston's plan of attack was submitted to his corps commanders +and approved by them. It was to hurl the entire army upon Prentiss and +Sherman. He had four lines of troops, extending from Lick Creek on the +right to the southern branch of Snake Creek on the left, a distance of +about two miles and a half. + +The front line was composed of Major-General Hardee's entire corps, with +General Gladden's brigade of Bragg's corps added on the right. The +artillery was placed in front, followed closely by the infantry. +Squadrons of cavalry were thrown out on both wings to sweep the woods +and drive in the Union pickets. + +About five hundred yards in rear of Hardee was the second line, Bragg's +corps in the same order as Hardee's. Eight hundred yards in rear of +Bragg was General Polk, his left wing supported by cavalry, his +batteries in position to advance at a moment's notice. The reserve, +under General Breckenridge, followed close upon Polk. Breckenridge's and +Polk's corps were both reckoned as reserves. They had instructions to +act as they thought best. There were from ten to twelve thousand men in +each line. + +The Rebel troops had received five days' rations on Friday,--meat and +bread in their haversacks. They were not permitted to kindle a fire +except in holes in the ground. No loud talking was allowed; no drums +beat the tattoo, no bugle-note rang through the forest. They rolled +themselves in their blankets, knowing at daybreak they were to strike +the terrible blow. They were confident of success. They were assured by +their officers it would be an easy victory, and that on Sunday night +they should sleep in the Yankee camp, eat Yankee bread, drink real +coffee, and have new suits of clothes. + +In the evening General Johnston called his corps commanders around his +bivouac fire for a last talk before the battle. Although Johnston was +commander-in-chief, Beauregard planned the battle. Johnston was +Beauregard's senior, but the battle-ground was in Beauregard's +department. He gave directions to the officers. + +Mr. William G. Stevenson, of Kentucky, who was in Arkansas when the war +broke out, was impressed into the Rebel service. He acted as special +_aide-de-camp_ to General Breckenridge in that battle. He escaped from +the Rebel service a few months later, and has published an interesting +narrative of what he saw.[8] He stood outside the circle of generals +waiting by his horse in the darkness to carry any despatch for his +commander. He gives this description of the scene:-- + +[Footnote 8: "Thirteen Months in the Rebel Service."] + + "In an open space, with a dim fire in the midst, and a drum + on which to write, you could see grouped around their 'Little + Napoleon,' as Beauregard was sometimes fondly called, ten or + twelve generals, the flickering light playing over their + eager faces, while they listened to his plans, and made + suggestions as to the conduct of the fight. + + "Beauregard soon warmed with his subject, and, throwing off + his cloak, to give free play to his arms, he walked about the + group, gesticulating rapidly, and jerking out his sentences + with a strong French accent. All listened attentively, and + the dim light, just revealing their countenances, showed + their different emotions of confidence or distrust of his + plans. + + "General Sidney Johnston stood apart from the rest, with his + tall, straight form standing out like a spectre against the + dim sky, and the illusion was fully sustained by the + light-gray military cloak which he folded around him. His + face was pale, but wore a determined expression, and at times + he drew nearer the centre of the ring, and said a few words, + which were listened to with great attention. It may be he had + some foreboding of the fate he was to meet on the morrow, for + he did not seem to take much part in the discussion. + + "General Breckenridge lay stretched out on a blanket near the + fire, and occasionally sat upright and added a few words of + counsel. General Bragg spoke frequently, and with + earnestness. General Polk sat on a camp-stool at the outside + of the circle, and held his head between his hands, buried in + thought. Others reclined or sat in various positions. + + "For two hours the council lasted, and as it broke up, and + the generals were ready to return to their respective + commands, I heard General Beauregard say, raising his hand + and pointing in the direction of the Federal camp, whose + drums we could plainly hear, 'Gentlemen, we sleep in the + enemy's camp to-morrow night.'" + +The Confederate General, the same writer says, had minute information of +General Grant's position and numbers. This knowledge was obtained +through spies and informers, some of whom lived in the vicinity, had +been in and out of Grant's camp again and again, and knew every foot of +ground. + +Under these circumstances, with a superior force, with accurate +knowledge of the position of every brigade in General Grant's army, with +troops in the best spirits, enthusiastic, ardent, expecting a victory, +stealing upon a foe unsuspicious, unprepared, with brigades and +divisions widely separated, with General Grant, the commander-in-chief, +ten miles away, and General Buell's nearest troops twenty miles distant, +the Rebel generals waited impatiently for the coming of the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BATTLE. + + +FROM DAYBREAK TILL TEN O'CLOCK. + +It was a lovely morning. A few fleecy clouds floated in the sky. The +trees were putting out their tender leaves. The air was fragrant with +the first blossoms of spring. The birds were singing their sweetest +songs. + +At three o'clock the Rebel troops were under arms, their breakfasts +eaten, their blankets folded, their knapsacks laid aside. They were to +move unencumbered, that they might fight with more vigor. The morning +brightened, and the long lines moved through the forest. + +The Union army was asleep. The reveille had not been beaten. The +soldiers were still dreaming of home, or awaiting the morning drum-beat. +The mules and horses were tied to the wagons, whinnying for their oats +and corn. A few teamsters were astir. Cooks were rekindling the +smouldering camp-fires. The pickets, a mile out, had kept watch through +the night. There had been but little firing. There was nothing to +indicate the near approach of fifty thousand men. Beauregard had ordered +that there should be no picket-firing through the night. + +General Prentiss had strengthened his picket-guard on the Corinth Ridge +road Saturday night. Some of his officers reported that Rebel cavalry +were plenty in the woods. He therefore doubled his grand guard, and +extended the line. He also ordered Colonel Moore, of the Twenty-first +Missouri, to go to the front with five companies of his regiment. +Colonel Moore marched at three o'clock. General Prentiss did not expect +a battle, but the appearance of the Rebels along the lines led him to +take these precautions. + +About the time Colonel Moore reached the pickets the Rebel skirmishers +came in sight. The firing began. The pickets resolutely maintained their +ground, but the Rebels pushed on. Colonel Moore, hearing the firing, +hastened forward. It was hardly light enough to distinguish men from +trees, but the steady advance of the Rebels convinced him that they were +making a serious demonstration. He sent a messenger to General Prentiss +for the balance of his regiment, which was sent forward. At the same +time General Prentiss issued orders for the remainder of his division to +form. + +[Illustration: PITTSBURG LANDING. + + 1 Hurlburt's division. + 2 W. H. L. Wallace's division. + 3 McClernand's division. + 4 Sherman's division. + 5 Prentiss's division. + 6 Stuart's brigade. + 7 Lewis Wallace's division. + 8 Gunboats. + 9 Transports. + 10 Ravine. + A Hardee's line. + B Bragg's line. + C Polk's line. + D Breckenridge's reserves.] + +His entire force was seven regiments, divided into two brigades. The +first brigade was commanded by Colonel Peabody, and contained the +Twenty-fifth Missouri, Sixteenth Wisconsin, and Twelfth Michigan. The +second brigade was composed of the Eighteenth and Twenty-third Missouri, +Eighteenth Wisconsin, and Sixty-first Illinois. The Twenty-third +Missouri was at Pittsburg Landing, having just disembarked from a +transport, and was not with the brigade till nearly ten o'clock. When +the firing began, its commander, having been ordered to report to +General Prentiss, moved promptly to join the division. + +General Prentiss also sent an officer to Generals Hurlburt and Wallace, +commanding the divisions in his rear, near the Landing, informing them +that the Rebels were attacking his pickets in force. The firing +increased. The Twenty-first Missouri gave a volley or two, but were +obliged to fall back. + +There had been a great deal of practising at target in the regiments, +and every morning the pickets, on their return from the front, +discharged their guns, and so accustomed had the soldiers become to the +constant firing, that these volleys, so early in the morning, did not +alarm the camp. + +The orders which General Prentiss had issued were tardily acted upon. +Many of the officers had not risen when the Twenty-first Missouri came +back upon the double-quick, with Colonel Moore and several others +wounded. They came in with wild cries. The Rebels were close upon their +heels. + +General Johnston had, as you have already seen, four lines of troops. +The third corps was in front, commanded by Major-General Hardee, the +second corps next, commanded by General Bragg; the first corps next, +commanded by Major-General Polk, followed by the reserves under General +Breckenridge. + +General Hardee had three brigades, Hindman's, Cleburn's, and Wood's. +General Bragg had two divisions, containing six brigades. The first +division was commanded by General Ruggles, and contained Gibson's, +Anderson's, and Pond's brigades. The second division was commanded by +General Withers, and contained Gladden's, Chalmers's, and Jackson's +brigades. + +General Polk had two divisions, containing four brigades. The first +division was commanded by General Clark, and contained Russell's and +Stewart's brigades. The second division was commanded by Major-General +Cheatham, and contained Johnson's and Stephens's brigades. + +Breckenridge had Tabue's, Bowen's and Statham's brigades. General +Gladden's brigade of Withers's division was placed on the right of +Hardee's line. It was composed of the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, +Twenty-sixth Alabama, and First Louisiana, with Robertson's battery. +Hindman's brigade joined upon Gladden's. Gladden followed Colonel +Moore's force, and fell upon Prentiss's camp. + +Instantly there was a great commotion in the camp,--shouting, hallooing, +running to and fro, saddling horses, seizing guns and cartridge-boxes, +and forming in ranks. Gladden advanced rapidly, sending his bullets into +the encampment. Men who had not yet risen were shot while lying in their +tents. + +But General Prentiss was all along his lines, issuing his orders, +inspiring the men who, just awakened from sleep, were hardly in +condition to act coolly. He ordered his whole force forward, with the +exception of the Sixteenth Iowa, which had no ammunition, having arrived +from Cairo on Saturday evening. + +There was a wide gap between Prentiss's right and Sherman's left, and +Hardee, finding no one to oppose him, pushed his own brigades into the +gap, flanking Prentiss on one side and Sherman on the other, as you will +see by a glance at the diagram on page 173. + +Behind Gladden were Withers's remaining brigades, Chalmers's, and +Jackson's. Chalmers was on the right, farther east than Gladden. He had +the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth Mississippi, and Fifty-second +Tennessee, and Gage's battery. + +Jackson had the Second Texas, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth +Alabama, and Girardey's battery. Chalmers moved rapidly upon Prentiss's +left flank. Gage's and Robertson's batteries both opened with shell. +Jackson came up on Prentiss's right, and in a short time his six +regiments were engaged with twelve of Bragg's and two batteries. + +They curled around Prentiss on both flanks, began to gain his rear to +cut him off from the Landing, and separate him from Stuart's brigade of +Sherman's division, which was a mile distant on the Hamburg road. The +regiments on the left began to break, then those in the centre. The +Rebels saw their advantage. Before them, dotting the hillside, were the +much-coveted tents. They rushed on with a savage war-cry. + +General Prentiss, aided by the cool and determined Colonel Peabody, +rallied the faltering troops in front, but there was no power to stop +the flood upon the flanks. + +"Don't give way! Stand firm! Drive them back with the bayonet!" shouted +Colonel Peabody, and some Missourians as brave as he remained in their +places, loading and firing deliberately. + +"On! on! forward boys!" cried General Gladden, leading his men; but a +cannon-shot came screaming through the woods, knocked him from his +horse, inflicting a mortal wound. The command devolved on Colonel Adams +of the First Louisiana. + +But the unchecked tide was flowing past Prentiss's gallant band. +Prentiss looked up to the right and saw it there, the long lines of men +steadily moving through the forest. He galloped to the left and saw it +there. The bayonets of the enemy were glistening between him and the +brightening light in the east. His men were losing strength. They were +falling before the galling fire, now given at short range. They were +beginning to flee. He must fall back, and leave his camp, or be +surrounded. His troops ran in wild disorder. Men, horses, +baggage-wagons, ambulances, bounded over logs and stumps and through +thickets in indescribable confusion. Colonel Peabody was shot from his +horse, mortally wounded, and his troops, which had begun to show pluck +and endurance, joined the fugitives. + +Prentiss advised Hurlburt of the disaster. Hurlburt was prepared. He +moved his division forward upon the double-quick. Prentiss's +disorganized regiments drifted through it, but his ranks were unshaken. + +The Rebels entered the tents of the captured camp, threw off their old +clothes, and helped themselves to new garments, broke open trunks, +rifled the knapsacks, and devoured the warm breakfast. They were +jubilant; they shouted, danced, sung, and thought the victory won. Two +or three hundred prisoners were taken, disarmed, and their pockets +searched. They were obliged to give up all their money, and exchange +clothes with their captors, and then were marched to the rear. + +While this was taking place in Prentiss's division, Sherman's pickets +were being driven back by the rapid advance of the Rebel lines. It was a +little past sunrise when they came in, breathless, with startling +accounts that the entire Rebel army was at their heels. The officers +were not out of bed. The soldiers were just stirring, rubbing their +eyes, putting on their boots, washing at the brook, or tending their +camp-kettles. Their guns were in their tents; they had a small supply of +ammunition. It was a complete surprise. + +Officers jumped from their beds, tore open the tent-flies, and stood in +undress to see what it was all about. The Rebel pickets rushed up within +close musket range and fired. + +"Fall in! Form a line! here, quick!" were the orders from the officers. + +There was running in every direction. Soldiers for their guns, officers +for their sabres, artillerists to their pieces, teamsters to their +horses. There was hot haste, and a great hurly-burly. + +General Hardee made a mistake at the outset. Instead of rushing up with +a bayonet-charge upon Sherman's camp, and routing his unformed brigades +in an instant, as he might have done, he unlimbered his batteries and +opened fire. + +The first infantry attack was upon Hildebrand's brigade, composed of the +Fifty-third, Fifty-ninth, and Seventy-sixth Ohio, and the Fifty-third +Illinois, which was on the left of the division. Next to it stood +Buckland's brigade, composed of the Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and +Seventy-second Ohio. On the extreme right, west of the church, was +McDowell's brigade, composed of the Sixth Iowa, Fortieth Illinois, and +Forty-sixth Ohio. Taylor's battery was parked around the church, and +Waterhouse's battery was on a ridge a little east of the church, behind +Hildebrand's brigade. + +Notwithstanding this sudden onset, the ranks did not break. Some men +ran, but the regiments formed with commendable firmness. The Rebel +skirmishers came down to the bushes which border the brook south of the +church, and began a scattering fire, which was returned by Sherman's +pickets, which were still in line a few rods in front of the regiments. +There was an open space between the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-third +regiments of Hildebrand's brigade, and Waterhouse, under Sherman's +direction, let fly his shells through the gap into the bushes. Taylor +wheeled his guns into position on both sides of the church. + +Hindman, Cleburn, and Wood advanced into the gap between Sherman and +Prentiss, and swung towards the northwest upon Sherman's left flank. +Ruggles, with his three brigades, and Hodgson's battery of Louisiana +artillery, and Ketchum's battery, moved upon Sherman's front. He had +Gibson's brigade on the right, composed of the Fourth, Thirteenth, and +Nineteenth Louisiana, and the First Arkansas. Anderson's brigade was +next in line, containing the Seventeenth and Twentieth Louisiana, and +Ninth Texas, a Louisiana and a Florida battalion. Pond's brigade was on +the left, and contained the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Louisiana, +Thirty-eighth Tennessee, and two Louisiana battalions. + +When the alarm was given, General Sherman was instantly on his horse. He +sent a request to McClernand to support Hildebrand. He also sent word to +Prentiss that the enemy were in front, but Prentiss had already made the +discovery, and was contending with all his might against the avalanche +rolling upon him from the ridge south of his position. He sent word to +Hurlburt that a force was needed in the gap between the church and +Prentiss. He was everywhere present, dashing along his lines, paying no +attention to the constant fire aimed at him and his staff by the Rebel +skirmishers, within short musket range. They saw him, knew that he was +an officer of high rank, saw that he was bringing order out of +confusion, and tried to pick him off. While galloping down to +Hildebrand, his orderly, Halliday, was killed. + +The fire from the bushes was galling, and Hildebrand ordered the +Seventy-seventh and Fifty-seventh Ohio to drive out the Rebels. They +advanced, and were about to make a charge, when they saw that they were +confronted by Hardee's line, moving down the slope. The sun was just +sending its morning rays through the forest, shining on the long line of +bayonets. Instead of advancing, Hildebrand fell back and took position +by Waterhouse, on the ridge. When Hildebrand advanced, two of +Waterhouse's guns were sent across the brook, but they were speedily +withdrawn, not too soon, however, for they were needed to crush Hindman +and Cleburn who were crossing below Hildebrand. + +Upon the south side of the brook there was a field and a crazy old +farm-house. Ruggles came into the field, halted, and began to form for a +rapid descent to the brook. His troops were in full view from the +church. + +"Pay your respects to those fellows over there," said Major Taylor to +the officer commanding his own battery. Taylor was chief of artillery in +Sherman's division, and was not in immediate command of his own battery. +When he first saw them come into the field he thought they were not +Rebels, but some of Prentiss's men, who had been out on the front. He +hesitated to open fire till it was ascertained who they were. He rode +down to Waterhouse, and told him to fire into the field. He galloped up +to McDowell's brigade, where Barrett's battery was stationed, and told +the officer commanding to do the same. In a moment the field was smoking +hot, shells bursting in the air, crashing through Ruggles's ranks, and +boring holes in the walls of the dilapidated old cabin. The Rebels could +not face in the open field so severe a fire. Instead of advancing +directly against the church, they moved into the woods east of the +field, and became reinforcements to the brigades already well advanced +into the gap between Sherman and Prentiss. + +They came up on Hildebrand's left flank. The thick growth of hazel and +alders along the brook concealed their movements. They advanced till +they were not more than three hundred feet from the Fifty-third and +Fifty-seventh Ohio before they began their fire. They yelled like +demons, screeching and howling to frighten the handful of men supporting +Waterhouse. Taylor saw that they intended an attack upon Waterhouse. He +rode to the spot. "Give them grape and canister!" he shouted. It was +done. The iron hail swept through the bushes. The yelling suddenly +ceased. There were groans and moans instead. The advance in that +direction was instantly checked. + +But all the while the centre brigades of Hardee were pushing into the +gap, and, without serious opposition, were gaining Sherman's left flank. +Waterhouse began to limber up his guns for a retreat. Taylor feared a +sudden panic. + +"Contest every inch of ground. Keep cool. Give them grape. Let them have +all they want," said Taylor. + +Waterhouse unlimbered his guns again, wheeled them a little more to the +east, almost northeast, and opened a fire which raked the long lines and +again held them in check. Taylor sent to Schwartz, Dresser, and +McAllister, connected with McClernand's division, to come into position +and stop the flank movement. + +This took time. The Rebels, seeing their advantages, and hoping to cut +off Sherman, pushed on, and in five minutes were almost in rear of +Waterhouse and Hildebrand. They gained the ridge which enfiladed +Hildebrand. Cleburn and Wood swung up against Waterhouse. He wheeled +still farther north, working his guns with great rapidity. They rushed +upon him with the Indian war-whoop. His horses were shot. He tried to +drag off his guns. He succeeded in saving three, but was obliged to +leave the other three in their hands. + +General McClernand had promptly responded to Sherman's request to +support Hildebrand. Three regiments of Raitt's and Marsh's brigades were +brought round into position in rear of Hildebrand. You remember that +McClernand's division was facing northwest, and this movement, +therefore, was a change of front to the southeast. The Eleventh Illinois +formed upon the right of Waterhouse. The other two, the Forty-third and +Thirtieth Illinois, were on the left, in rear. The fight was in +Hildebrand's camp. There was a fierce contest. Two thirds of +Hildebrand's men had been killed and wounded, or were missing. Most of +the missing had fled towards the river. The regiments that remained were +mixed up. The sudden onset had thrown them into confusion. There was but +little order. Each man fought for himself. It was a brave little band, +which tried to save the camp, but they were outnumbered and outflanked. +The Eleventh Illinois lost six or eight of its officers by the first +volley, yet they stood manfully against the superior force. + +Meanwhile, Buckland and McDowell were in a hot fight against Anderson +and Pond, who had moved to the western border of the field, and were +forming against McDowell's right. Barrett and Taylor were thundering +against them, but there were more cannon replying from the Rebel side. +They were so far round on McDowell's flank, that the shells which flew +over the heads of McDowell's men came past the church into Hildebrand's +ranks. Sherman tried to hold his position by the church. He considered +it to be of the utmost importance. He did not want to lose his camp. He +exhibited great bravery. His horse was shot, and he mounted another. +That also was killed, and he took a third, and, before night, lost his +fourth. He encouraged his men, not only by his words, but by his +reckless daring. Buckland's and McDowell's men recovered from the shock +they first received. They became bull-dogs. Their blood was up. As often +as the Rebels attempted to crowd McDowell back, they defeated the +attempt. The two brigades with Taylor's and Barrett's batteries held +their ground till after ten o'clock, and they would not have yielded +then had it not been for disaster down the line. + +Hildebrand rallied his men. About one hundred joined the Eleventh +Illinois, of McClernand's division, and fought like tigers. + +In the advance of Bragg's line, Gibson's brigade became separated from +Anderson and Pond, Gibson moving to the right towards Prentiss, and they +to the left towards Sherman. Several regiments of Polk's line +immediately moved into the gap. It was a reinforcement of the centre, +but it was also a movement which tended to disorganize the Rebel lines. +Gibson became separated from his division commands, and the regiments +from Polk's corps became disconnected from their brigades, but General +Bragg directed them to join General Hindman. + +They moved on towards McClernand, who was changing front and getting +into position a half-mile in rear of Sherman. They were so far advanced +towards Pittsburg Landing, that Sherman saw he was in danger of being +cut off. He reluctantly gave the order to abandon his camp and take a +new position. He ordered the batteries to fall back to the Purdy and +Hamburg road. He saw Buckland and McDowell, and told them where to +rally. Captain Behr had been posted on the Purdy road with his battery, +and had had but little part in the fight. He was falling back, closely +followed by Pond. + +"Come into position out there on the right," said Sherman, pointing to +the place where he wanted him to unlimber. There came a volley from the +woods. A shot struck the Captain from his horse. The drivers and gunners +became frightened, and rode off with the caissons, leaving five unspiked +guns to fall into the hands of the Rebels! Sherman and Taylor, and other +officers, by their coolness, bravery, and daring, saved Buckland and +McDowell's brigades from a panic; and thus, after four hours of hard +fighting, Sherman was obliged to leave his camp and fall back behind +McClernand, who now was having a fierce fight with the brigades which +had pushed in between Prentiss and Sherman. + +The Rebels rejoiced over their success. Their loud hurrahs rose above +the din of battle. They rushed into the tents and helped themselves to +whatever they could lay their hands on, as had already been done in +Prentiss's camps. Officers and men in the Rebel ranks alike forgot all +discipline. They threw off their old gray rags, and appeared in blue +uniforms. They broke open the trunks of the officers, and rifled the +knapsacks of the soldiers. They seized the half-cooked breakfast, and +ate like half-starved wolves. They found bottles of whiskey in some of +the officers' quarters, and drank, danced, sung, hurrahed, and were +half-crazy with the excitement of their victory. + +Having taken this look at matters in the vicinity of the church, let us +go towards the river, and see the other divisions. + +It was about half past six o'clock in the morning when General Hurlburt +received notice from General Sherman that the Rebels were driving in his +pickets. A few minutes later he had word from Prentiss asking for +assistance. + +He sent Veatch's brigade, which you remember consisted of the +Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-eighth +Illinois, to Sherman. The troops sprang into ranks as soon as the order +was issued, and were on the march in ten minutes. + +Prentiss sent a second messenger, asking for immediate aid. Hurlburt in +person led his other two brigades, Williams's and Lauman's. He had +Mann's Ohio battery, commanded by Lieutenant Brotzman, Ross's battery, +from Michigan, and Meyer's Thirteenth Ohio battery. He marched out on +the Ridge road, and met Prentiss's troops, disorganized and broken, with +doleful stories of the loss of everything. Prentiss and other officers +were attempting to rally them. + +Hurlburt formed in line of battle on the border of an old cotton-field +on the Hamburg road. There were some sheds, and a log-hut with a great +chimney built of mud and sticks, along the road. In front of the hut was +a peach-orchard. Mann's battery was placed near the northeast corner of +the field. Williams's brigade was placed on one side of the field, and +Lauman's on the other, which made the line nearly a right angle. Ross's +battery was posted on the right, and Meyer's on the left. This +disposition of his force enabled Hurlburt to concentrate his fire upon +the field and into the peach-orchard. + +You see the position,--the long line of men in blue, in the edge of the +woods, sheltered in part by the giant oaks. You see the log-huts, the +mud chimney, the peach-trees in front, all aflame with pink blossoms. +The field is as smooth as a house floor. Here and there are handfuls of +cotton, the leavings of last year's crop. It is perhaps forty or fifty +rods across the field to the forest upon the other side. Hurlburt and +his officers are riding along the lines, cheering the men and giving +directions. The fugitives from Prentiss are hastening towards the +Landing. But a line of guards has been thrown out, and the men are +rallying behind Hurlburt. The men standing in line along that field know +that they are to fight a terrible battle. At first there is a little +wavering, but they gain confidence, load their guns, and wait for the +enemy. + +Withers's division, which had pushed back Prentiss, moved upon +Hurlburt's right. Gage's and Girardey's batteries opened fire. The first +shot struck near Meyer's battery. The men never before had heard the +shriek of a Rebel shell. It was so sudden, unexpected, and terrifying, +that officers and men fled, leaving their cannon, caissons, horses, and +everything. Hurlburt saw no more of them during the day. Indignant at +the manifestation of cowardice, he rode down to Mann's battery, and +called for volunteers to work the abandoned guns; ten men responded to +the call. A few other volunteers were picked up, and although they knew +but little of artillery practice, took their places beside the guns and +opened fire. The horses with the caissons were dashing madly through the +forest, increasing the confusion, but they were caught and brought in. +You see that in battle men sometimes lose their presence of mind, and +act foolishly. It is quite likely, however, that the troops fought all +the more bravely for this display of cowardice. Many who were a little +nervous, who had a strange feeling at the heart, did not like the +exhibition, and resolved that they would not run. + +At this time the fortunes of the Union army were dark. Prentiss had been +routed. His command was a mere rabble. Hildebrand's brigade of Sherman's +division was broken to pieces; there was not more than half a regiment +left. The other two brigades of Sherman's division by the church were +giving way. Half of Waterhouse's battery, and all but one of Behr's guns +were taken. Sherman and Prentiss had been driven from their camps. Four +of the six guns composing Meyer's battery could not be used for want of +men. The three regiments which McClernand had sent to Sherman were badly +cut to pieces. The entire front had been driven in. Johnston had gained +a mile of ground. He had accomplished a great deal with little loss. + +General Grant heard the firing at Savannah, ten miles down the river. It +was so constant and heavy that he understood at once it was an attack. +He sent a messenger post haste to General Buell, whose advance was ten +miles east of Savannah, and then hastened to Pittsburg on a steamboat. +He arrived on the ground about nine o'clock. Up to that hour there was +no commander-in-chief, but each division commander gave such orders as +he thought best. There was but little unity of action. Each commander +was impressed with a sense of danger, and each was doing his best to +hold the enemy in check. + +The wide gap between Prentiss and Sherman, and the quick routing of +Prentiss's regiments, enabled Hardee to push his middle brigades to the +centre of the Union army without much opposition. Both of Hardee's +flanks had been held back by the stout fight of Sherman on one side, the +weaker resistance of Prentiss on the other. This gradually made the +Rebel force into the form of a wedge, and at the moment when Hurlburt +was waiting for their advance, the point of the wedge had penetrated +beyond Hurlburt's right, but there it came against General W. H. L. +Wallace's division. + +When Hurlburt notified Wallace that Prentiss was attacked, that noble +commander ordered his division under arms. You remember his position, +near Snake Creek, and nearer the Pittsburg Landing than any other +division. He at once moved in the direction of the firing, which brought +him west of Hurlburt's position. + +You remember that General McClernand had sent three regiments to General +Sherman, and that they were obliged to change front. Having done that, +he moved his other two brigades, the first under the command of Colonel +Hare, including the Eighth and Eighteenth Illinois infantry and the +Eleventh and Thirteenth Iowa, with Dresser's battery, and the third +brigade with Schwartz's and McAllister's batteries. It was a complete +change of front. These movements of Wallace and McClernand were directly +against the two sides and the point of the wedge which Hardee was +driving. Wallace marched southwest, and McClernand swung round facing +southeast. They came up just in season to save Sherman from being cut +off and also to save Veatch's brigade of Hurlburt's division from being +overwhelmed. + +McClernand's head-quarters were in an old cotton-field. The camps of his +regiments extended across the field and into the forest on both sides. +He established his line on the south side of the field in the edge of +the forest, determined to save his camp if possible. His men had seen +hard fighting at Fort Donelson, and so had General Wallace's men. They +were hardened to the scenes of battle, whereas Sherman's, Prentiss's, +and Hurlburt's men were having their first experience. Schwartz, +McAllister, and Dresser had confronted the Rebels at Donelson, and so +had Major Cavender with his eighteen pieces, commanded by Captains +Stone, Richardson, and Walker. + +This is a long and intricate story, and I fear you will not be able to +understand it. The regiments at this hour were very much mixed up, and +as the battle continued they became more so. Later in the day there was +so much confusion that no correct account can ever be given of the +positions of the regiments. Thousands of you, I doubt not, had friends +in that battle, and you would like to know just where they stood. Let us +therefore walk the entire length of the line while the Rebels are +preparing for the second onset. Commencing on the extreme right, we find +Sherman reforming with his left flank a little in rear of McClernand's +right. There is McDowell's brigade on the right, the Sixth Iowa, Fourth +Illinois, and Forty-sixth Ohio. Buckland's brigade next, the +Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and Seventy-second Ohio. A few men of +Hildebrand's brigade, not five hundred in all, of the Fifty-third, +Fifty-seventh, and Seventy-sixth Ohio. Next the regiments of +McClernand's division, the Eleventh Iowa, Eleventh, Twentieth, +Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, Twenty-ninth, Forty-ninth, +Forty-third, Eighth, and Eighteenth Illinois. Next Wallace's division, +Seventh, Ninth, Twelfth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-second Illinois, the +Twelfth, Thirteenth Iowa, and the Twenty-fifth, Fifty-second, and +Fifty-sixth Indiana. I think that all of those regiments were there, +although it is possible that one or two of them had not arrived. These +are not all in the front line, but you see them in two lines. Some of +them lying down behind the ridges waiting the time when they can spring +up and confront the enemy. + +Next in line you see Veatch's brigade of Hurlburt's division, the +Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-sixth +Illinois; then Williams's brigade, the Third Iowa, the Twenty-eighth, +Thirty-second, and Forty-first Illinois, by the log-huts of the +cotton-field on the Hamburg road. Here are Cavender's guns, eighteen of +them. Next is Lauman's brigade,--not the one he commanded at Donelson in +the victorious charge, but one composed of the Thirty-first and +Forty-fourth Indiana, and the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky. + +Behind Wallace and Hurlburt Prentiss is reforming his disorganized +regiments, the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fifth Missouri, +Sixteenth and Eighteenth Wisconsin, and the Twelfth Michigan. + +You remember that Stuart's brigade of Sherman's division was keeping +watch on the Hamburg road at the Lick Creek crossing, towards the river +from Prentiss. When Prentiss was attacked, he sent word to Stuart, who +ordered his brigade under arms at once. He waited for orders. He saw +after a while the Rebel bayonets gleaming through the woods between +himself and Prentiss. He placed the Seventy-first Ohio on the right, the +Fifty-fifth Illinois in the centre, and the Fifty-fourth on the left. +These three regiments compose his brigade, and complete the list of +those engaged in the fight on Sunday. + +When the fight began in the morning, Stuart sent two companies across +the creek to act as skirmishers, but before they could scale the high +bluffs upon the south side, Statham's and Bowen's brigades, of +Breckenridge's reserves, had possession of the ground, and they +returned. Statham's batteries opened upon Stuart's camp. Breckenridge +had moved round from his position in rear, and now formed the extreme +right of Johnston. There were eight regiments and a battery in front of +Stuart. The battery forced the Seventy-first Ohio from its position. It +retired to the top of the ridge behind its camp-ground, which Stuart +could have held against a superior force, had he not been outflanked. +The Seventy-first, without orders, abandoned the position, retreated +towards the Landing, and Stuart saw no more of them during the day. + +He took a new position, with his two regiments, on the crest of the +hill. East of him was a ravine. Breckenridge sent a body of cavalry and +infantry across the creek to creep up this ravine, get in rear of +Stuart's left flank, and with the masses hurrying past his right cut him +off. Stuart determined to make a gallant resistance. He sent four +companies of the Fifty-fourth Ohio, who took their position at the head +of the ravine or gully which makes up from the creek towards the north. +They crept into the thick bushes, hid behind the trees, and commenced a +galling fire, forcing the cavalry back and stopping the advance of the +infantry. The remainder of his force kept Statham back on the front. His +line of fire was across an open field, and as often as Statham attempted +to cross it, he was sent back by the well-directed volleys. Stuart +received assurances from General McArthur, commanding one of Wallace's +brigades, that he should be supported, but the supports could not be +spared from the centre. Stuart maintained his position more than two +hours, till his cartridge-boxes were emptied. When his ammunition +failed, Statham and Bowen made another rush upon his left, and he saw +that he must retreat or be taken prisoner. He fell back to Hurlburt's +line, and formed the remnant of his brigade on the left, thus completing +the line of battle which was established at ten o'clock. + + +FROM TEN O'CLOCK TILL FOUR. + +Generals Bragg and Polk directed the attack on McClernand and Wallace. +Pond's brigade was northwest of the church, Anderson's by the church, +Cleburn's and Wood's east of it. Hindman's and the regiments of Polk's +corps which had broken off from their brigades were in front of +Wallace's right. These regiments belonged to Cheatham's division. The +whole of his division was in front of Wallace. + +Russell, Stewart, and Gibson were in front of Wallace's left. Gladden, +Chalmers, and Jackson were on Hurlburt's right, while Breckenridge, +having driven back Stuart, came up on his left. + +The Rebels, confident of final victory, came up with great bravery, and +commenced attacking McClernand, but they were confronted by men equally +brave. Pond and Anderson charged upon the regiments on McClernand's +right, but the charge was broken by the quick volleys of the Eleventh, +Twentieth, and Forty-eighth Illinois. Cleburn and Wood rushed upon the +Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, and Forty-ninth, which were in the centre of +the division, but were repulsed. Then they swung against the Eleventh +and Eighteenth, in front of McClernand's head-quarters, but could not +break the line. For a half-hour more, they stood and fired at long +musket range. Dresser, McAllister, and Schwartz gave their batteries +full play, but were answered by the batteries planted around the church, +on the ground from which Sherman had been driven. Bragg advanced his men +to short musket range, fifteen to twenty rods distant. Trees were broken +off by the cannon-shot, splintered by the shells; branches were wrenched +from the trunks, the hazel-twigs were cut by the storm of leaden hail. +Many trees were struck fifty, sixty, and a hundred times. Officers and +men fell on both sides very fast. Polk's brigades came up, and the +united forces rushed upon the batteries. There was a desperate struggle. +The horses were shot,--Schwartz lost sixteen, Dresser eighteen, and +McAllister thirty. The guns were seized,--Schwartz lost three, +McAllister two, and Dresser three. The infantry could not hold their +ground. They fell back, took a new position, and made another effort to +save their camp. + +The woods rang with the hurrahs of the Rebels. The ground was thick with +their dead and wounded, but they were winning. They had the largest +army, and success stimulated them to make another attack. Bragg reformed +his columns. + +McClernand's second line of defence was near his camp. His men fought +bravely to save it. Polk's brigades moved to the front, and charged upon +the line, but they were checked. McClernand charged upon them, and in +turn was repulsed. So the contest went on hour after hour. + +Buckland and McDowell, of Sherman's command, were too much exhausted and +disorganized by their long contest in the morning to take much part in +this fight. They stood as reserves. Barrett and Taylor had used all +their ammunition, and could not aid. + +McClernand's right was unprotected. Bragg saw it, and moved round +Anderson's, Pond's, and a portion of Stewart's brigades. There was a +short struggle, and then the troops gave way. The men ran in confusion +across the field swept by the Rebel artillery. The pursuers, with +exultant cheers, followed, no longer in order, but each Rebel soldier +running for the plunder in the tents. The contest was prolonged a little +on the left, but the camp was in the hands of the Rebels, and McClernand +and Sherman again fell back towards Wallace's camp. + +Wallace was already engaged. The tide which had surged against Sherman +and McClernand now came with increased force against his division. +Beauregard aimed for the Landing, to seize the transports, using his +force as a wedge to split the Union army off from the river. He might +have deflected his force to Grant's right, and avoided what, as you will +presently see, prevented him from accomplishing his object; but having +been thus far successful in his plan, he continued the direct advance. + +General Wallace was a very brave man. He was cool, had great presence of +mind, and possessed the rare qualification of making his soldiers feel +his presence. He could bring order out of confusion, and by a word, a +look, or an act inspire his men. He posted Cavender's three batteries in +commanding positions on a ridge, and kept his infantry well under cover +behind the ridge. Cavender's men had fought under the brave General Lyon +at Wilson's Creek in Missouri, and had been in half a dozen battles. The +screaming of the shells was music to them. + +From eleven till four o'clock the battle raged in front of Wallace. The +men who had fought their first battle so determinedly at Donelson were +not to be driven now. + +Four times Hardee, Bragg, and Cheatham rushed upon Wallace's line, but +were in each instance repulsed. Twice Wallace followed them as they +retired after their ineffectual attempts to crush him, but he had not +sufficient power to break their triple ranks. He could hold his ground, +but he could not push the superior force. His coolness, endurance, +bravery, stubbornness, his quick perception of all that was taking +place, his power over his men, to make each man a hero, did much towards +saving the army on that disastrous day. + +General Bragg says: "Hindman's command was gallantly led to the attack, +but recoiled under a murderous fire. The noble and gallant leader +(Hindman) fell severely wounded. The command returned to its work, but +was unequal to the heavy task. I brought up Gibson's brigade, and threw +them forward to attack the same point. A very heavy fire soon opened, +and after a short conflict this command fell back in considerable +disorder. Rallying the different regiments by my staff officers and +escort, they were twice more moved to the attack only to be driven +back."[9] + +[Footnote 9: Bragg's Report.] + +In the morning, when the Rebels commenced the attack, you remember that +Breckenridge, with the Rebel reserves, was in the rear; that he moved +east, and came down towards the river in front of Stuart's brigade. +General Johnston and staff were upon the hills which border the creek, +examining the ground in front of Stuart and Hurlburt. Ross, Mann, and +Walker were throwing shells across the creek. + +General Breckenridge rode up to General Johnston and conversed with him. + +"I will lead your men into the fight to-day, for I intend to show these +Tennesseeans and Kentuckians that I am no coward," said Johnston to +Breckenridge.[10] + +[Footnote 10: Stevenson.] + +The people of the Southwest thought he was a coward, because he had +abandoned Nashville without a fight. + +Breckenridge brought up Statham's and Bowen's brigades against Hurlburt. +He formed his line in the edge of the woods on the opposite side of the +field. After an artillery fire of an hour, he moved into the centre of +the field, rushed through the peach-orchard, and came close to +Hurlburt's line by the log-cabin. But the field was fenced with fire. +There was constant flashing from the muskets, with broad sheets of flame +from the artillery. The Rebels were repulsed with shattered ranks. + +Breckenridge sent his special aid to General Johnston for +instructions.[11] As the aid rode up, a shell exploded above the General +and his staff. A fragment cut through General Johnston's right thigh, +severing an artery. He was taken from his horse, and died on the field +at half past two o'clock. + +[Footnote 11: Stevenson.] + +General Beauregard assumed command, and gave orders to keep General +Johnston's death a secret, that the troops might not be discouraged. + +Three times Breckenridge attempted to force Hurlburt back by attacking +him in front, but as often as he advanced he was driven back. It was sad +to see the wounded drag themselves back to the woods, to escape the +storm, more terrible than the blast of the simoom, sweeping over the +field. Hurlburt's regiments fired away all their ammunition, and +Prentiss who had rallied his men, advanced to the front while the +cartridge-boxes were refilled. + +While this was doing, General Bragg gave up the command of his line in +front of Wallace to another officer and rode down towards the river in +front of Hurlburt and Prentiss. He says:-- + +"There I found a strong force, consisting of three parts without a +common head; being General Breckenridge with his reserve division +pressing the enemy; Brigadier-General Withers with his division +utterly exhausted, and taking a temporary rest; and Major-General +Cheatham's division of Major-General Polk's command to their left and +rear. The troops were soon put in motion again, responding with great +alacrity to the command, 'Forward!'"[12] + +[Footnote 12: Bragg's Report.] + +Just at this moment General Wallace, on the right, was mortally wounded. + +It was like taking away half the strength of his division. The men lost +heart in a moment. The power which had inspired them was gone. The brave +man was carried to the rear, followed by his division. The giving way of +this division, and the falling back of Prentiss before the masses +flanking the extreme left, was most disastrous. Prentiss was surrounded +and taken prisoner with the remnant of his division, and Hurlburt's camp +fell into the hands of the Rebels. + +Of this movement General Bragg says: "The enemy were driven headlong +from every position, and thrown in confused masses upon the river-bank, +behind his heavy artillery and under cover of his gunboats at the +Landing. He had left nearly all his light artillery in our hands, and +some three thousand or more prisoners, who were cut off from their +retreat by the closing in of our troops on the left under Major-General +Polk, with a portion of his reserve corps, and Brigadier-General +Ruggles, with Anderson's and Pond's brigades of his division."[13] + +[Footnote 13: Bragg's Report.] + +The woods rang with the exultant shouts of the Rebels, as Prentiss and +his men were marched towards Corinth. They had possession of the camps +of all the divisions except Wallace's. Beauregard had redeemed his +promise. They could sleep in the enemy's camps. + + +SUNDAY EVENING. + +Look at the situation of General Grant's army. It is crowded back almost +to the Landing. It is not more than a mile from the river to the extreme +right, where Sherman and McClernand are trying to rally their +disorganized divisions. All is confusion. Half of the artillery is lost. +Many of the guns remaining are disabled. Some that are good are deserted +by the artillerymen. There is a stream of fugitives to the Landing, who +are thinking only how to escape. There are thousands on the river-bank, +crowding upon the transports. They have woeful stories. Instead of being +in their places, and standing their ground like men, they have deserted +their brave comrades, and left them to be overwhelmed by the superior +force of the enemy. + +As you look at the position of the army and the condition of the troops +at this hour, just before sunset, there is not much to hope for. But +there are some men who have not lost heart. "We shall hold them yet," +says General Grant. + +An officer with gold-lace bands upon his coat-sleeve, and a gold band on +his cap, walks up-hill from the Landing. It is an officer of the gunboat +Tyler, commanded by Captain Gwin, who thinks he can be of some service. +Shot and shells from the Rebel batteries have been falling in the river, +and he would like to toss some into the woods. + +"Tell Captain Gwin to use his own discretion and judgment," is the +reply. + +The officer hastens back to the Tyler. The Lexington is by her side. The +men spring to the guns, and the shells go tearing up the ravine, +exploding in the Rebel ranks, now massed for the last grand assault. All +day long the men of the gunboats have heard the roar of the conflict +coming nearer and nearer, and have had no opportunity to take a part, +but now their time has come. The vessels sit gracefully upon the placid +river. They cover themselves with white clouds, and the deep-mouthed +cannon bellow their loudest thunders, which roll miles away along the +winding stream. It is sweet music to those disheartened men forming to +resist the last advance of the Rebels, now almost within reach of the +coveted prize. + +Colonel Webster, General Grant's chief of staff, an engineer and +artillerist, with a quick eye, has selected a line of defence. There is +a deep ravine just above Pittsburg Landing, which extends northwest half +a mile. There are five heavy siege-guns, three thirty-two-pounders, and +two eight-inch howitzers on the top of the bluff by the Landing. They +have been standing there a week, but there are no artillerists to man +them. Volunteers are called for. Dr. Cornyn, Surgeon of the First +Missouri Artillery, offers his services. Artillerists who have lost +their guns are collected. Round shot and shell are carried up from the +boats. Fugitives who have lost their regiments are put to work. +Pork-barrels are rolled up and placed in a line. Men go to work with +spades, and throw up a rude embankment. The heavy guns are wheeled into +position to sweep the ravine and all the ground beyond. Everything is +done quickly. There is no time for delay. Men work as never before. +Unless they can check the enemy, all is lost. Energy, activity, +determination, endurance, and bravery must be concentrated into this +last effort. + +[Illustration: THE FIGHT AT THE RAVINE. + + 1 Union batteries. + 2 Rebel batteries. + 3 Ravine. + 4 Gunboats. + 5 Transports.] + +Commencing nearest the river, on the ridge of the ravine, you see two of +McAllister's twenty-four-pounders, next four of Captain Stone's ten +pounders, then Captain Walker with one twenty-pounder, then Captain +Silversparre with four twenty-pounder Parrott guns, which throw rifled +projectiles, then two twenty-pound howitzers, which throw grape and +canister. Then you come to the road which leads up to Shiloh church. +There you see six brass field-pieces; then Captain Richardson's battery +of four twenty-pounder Parrott guns; then a six-pounder and two +twelve-pound howitzers of Captain Powell's battery; then the siege-guns, +under Surgeon Cornyn and Captain Madison; then two ten-pounders, under +Lieutenant Edwards, and two more under Lieutenant Timony. There are more +guns beyond,--Taylor's, Willard's, and what is left of Schwartz's +battery, and Mann's, Dresser's, and Ross's,--about sixty guns in all. +The broken regiments are standing or lying down. The line, instead of +being four miles long, as it was in the morning, is not more than a mile +in length now. The regiments are all mixed up. There are men from a +dozen in one, but they can fight notwithstanding that. + +The Rebel commanders concentrate all their forces near the river, to +charge through the ravine, scale the other side, rush down the road and +capture the steamboats. They plant their batteries along the bank, +bringing up all their guns, to cut their way by shot and shell. If they +can but gain a foothold on the other side, the day is theirs. The Union +army will be annihilated, Tennessee redeemed. Buell will be captured or +pushed back to the Ohio River. The failing fortunes of the Confederacy +will revive. Recognition by foreign nations will be secured. How +momentous the hour! + +Beauregard's troops were badly cut to pieces, and very much +disorganized. The Second Texas, which had advanced through the +peach-orchard, was all gone, and was not reorganized during the fight. +Colonel Moore, commanding a brigade, says: "So unexpected was the shock, +that the whole line gave way from right to left in utter confusion. The +regiments became so scattered and mixed that all efforts to reform them +became fruitless."[14] + +[Footnote 14: Colonel Moore's Report.] + +Chalmers's brigade was on the extreme right. What was left of Jackson's +came next. Breckenridge, with his shattered brigades, was behind +Chalmers. Trabue, commanding a brigade of Kentuckians, was comparatively +fresh. Withers's, Cheatham's, and Ruggles's divisions were at the head +of the ravine. Gibson, who had been almost annihilated, was there. +Stewart, Anderson, Stephens, and Pond were on the ground from which +Wallace had been driven. As the brigades filed past Beauregard, he said +to them, "Forward, boys, and drive them into the Tennessee."[15] + +[Footnote 15: Ruggles's Report.] + +The Rebel cannon open. A sulphurous cloud borders the bank. The wild +uproar begins again. Opposite, another cloud rolls upward. There are +weird shriekings across the chasm, fierce howlings from things unseen. +Great oaks are torn asunder, broken, shattered, splintered. Cannon are +overturned by invisible bolts. There are explosions in the earth and in +the air. Men, horses, wagons, are lifted up, thrown down, torn to +pieces, dashed against the trees. Commands are cut short; for while the +words are on the lips the tongue ceases to articulate, the muscles +relax, and the heart stops its beating,--all the springs of life broken +in an instant. + +Wilder, deeper, louder the uproar. Great shells from the gunboats fly up +the ravine. The gunners aim at the cloud along the southern bank. They +rake the Rebel lines, while the artillery massed in front cuts them +through and through. + +Bragg orders an advance. The brigades enter the ravine, sheltered in +front by the tall trees above and the tangled undergrowth beneath. They +push towards the northern slope. + +"Grape and canister now!" + +"Give them double charges!" + +"Lower your guns!" + +"Quick! Fire!" + +The words run along the line. Moments are ages now. Seconds are years. +How fast men live when everything is at stake! Ah! but how fast they die +down in that ravine! Up, down, across, through, over it, drive the +withering blasts, cutting, tearing, sweeping through the column, which +shakes, wavers, totters, crumbles, disappears. + +General Chalmers says: "We received orders from General Bragg to drive +the enemy into the river. My brigade, together with General Jackson's +brigade, filed to the right, formed facing the river, and endeavored to +press forward to the water's edge; but in attempting to mount the last +ridge, we were met by a fire from a whole line of batteries, protected +by infantry and assisted by shells from the gunboats. Our men struggled +vainly to ascend the hill, which was very steep, making charge after +charge without success; but continued the fight till night closed +hostilities."[16] + +[Footnote 16: Chalmers's Report.] + +Says Colonel Fagan, of the First Arkansas, of Gibson's brigade:-- + +"Three different times did we go into that 'Valley of Death,' and as +often were forced back by overwhelming numbers, intrenched in a strong +position. That all was done that could possibly be done, the heaps of +killed and wounded left there give ample evidence."[17] + +[Footnote 17: Colonel Fagan's Report.] + +Colonel Allen, of the Fourth Louisiana, says:-- + +"A murderous fire was poured into us from the masked batteries of grape +and canister, and also from the rifle-pits. The regiment retired, formed +again, and again charged. There fell many of my bravest and best men, in +the thick brushwood, without ever seeing the enemy."[18] + +[Footnote 18: Colonel Allen's Report.] + +It is sunset. The day has gone. It has been a wild, fierce, disastrous +conflict. Beauregard has pushed steadily on towards the Landing. He is +within musket-shot of the steamers, of the prize he so much covets. He +has possession of all but one of the division camps. He can keep his +promise made to his soldiers; they can sleep in the camps of the Union +army. This is his first serious check. He has lost many men. His +commander-in-chief is killed, but he is confident he can finish in the +morning the work which has gone on so auspiciously, for Buell has not +arrived. + +He has done a good day's work. His men have fought well, but they are +exhausted. Tomorrow morning he will finish General Grant. Thus he +reasons.[19] + +[Footnote 19: Beauregard's Report.] + +General Grant was right in his calculations. The Rebels have been +checked at last. At sunset they who stand upon the hill by the Landing +discover on the opposite bank men running up the road, panting for +breath. Above them waves the Stars and Stripes. There is a buzz, a +commotion, among the thousands by the river-side. + +"It is Buell's advance!" + +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" + +The shouts ring through the forest. The wounded lift their weary heads, +behold the advancing line, and weep tears of joy. The steamers cast off +their fastenings. The great wheels plash the gurgling water. They move +to the other side. The panting soldiers of the army of the Ohio rush on +board. The steamer settles to the guards with her precious cargo of +human life; recrosses the river in safety. The line of blue winds up the +bank. It is Nelson's division. McCook's and Crittenden's divisions are +at Savannah. Lewis Wallace's division from Crump's Landing is filing in +upon the right, in front of Sherman and McClernand. There will be four +fresh divisions on Monday morning. The army is safe. Buell will not be +pushed back to the Ohio. Recognition will not come from France and +England in consequence of the great Rebel victory at Shiloh. + +Through the night the shells from the gunboats crashed along the Rebel +lines. So destructive was the fire, that Beauregard was obliged to fall +back from the position he had won by such a sacrifice of life. There was +activity at the Landing. The steamers went to Savannah, took on board +McCook's and Crittenden's divisions of Buell's army, and transported +them to Pittsburg. Few words were spoken as they marched up the hill in +the darkness, with the thousands of wounded on either hand, but there +were many silent thanksgivings that they had come. The wearied soldiers +lay down in battle line to broken sleep, with their loaded guns beside +them. The sentinels stood, like statues, in silence on the borders of +that valley of death, watching and waiting for the morning. + +The battle-cloud hung like a pall above the forest. The gloom and +darkness deepened. The stars, which had looked calmly down from the +depths of heaven, withdrew from the scene. A horrible scene! for the +exploding shells had set the forest on fire. The flames consumed the +withered leaves and twigs of the thickets, and crept up to the helpless +wounded, to friend and foe alike. There was no hand but God's to save +them. He heard their cries and groans. The rain came, extinguishing the +flames. It drenched the men in arms, waiting for daybreak to come to +renew the strife, but there were hundreds of wounded, parched with +fever, restless with pain, who thanked God for the rain. + + +MONDAY. + +Beauregard laid his plans to begin the attack at daybreak. Grant and +Buell resolved to do the same,--not to stand upon the defensive, but to +astonish Beauregard by advancing. Nelson's division was placed on the +left, nearest the river, Crittenden's next, McCook's beyond, and Lewis +Wallace on the extreme right,--all fresh troops,--with Grant's other +divisions, which had made such a stubborn resistance, in reserve. + +In General Nelson's division, you see nearest the river Colonel Ammen's +brigade, consisting of the Thirty-sixth Indiana, Sixth and Twenty-fourth +Ohio; next, Colonel Bruer's brigade, First, Second, and Twentieth +Kentucky; next, Colonel Hazen's brigade, Ninth Indiana, Sixth Kentucky, +and Forty-first Ohio. Colonel Ammen's brigade arrived in season to take +part in the contest at the ravine on Sunday evening. + +General Crittenden's division had two brigades: General Boyle's and +Colonel W. L. Smith's. General Boyle had the Nineteenth and Fifty-ninth +Ohio, and Ninth and Thirteenth Kentucky. Colonel Smith's was composed of +the Thirteenth Ohio, and Eleventh and Twenty-sixth Kentucky, with +Mendenhall's battery, belonging to the United States Regular Army, and +Bartlett's Ohio battery. + +General McCook's division had three brigades. The first was commanded by +General Rousseau, consisting of the First Ohio, Sixth Indiana, Third +Kentucky, and battalions of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Nineteenth +Regular Infantry. The second brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General +Gibson, and consisted of the Thirty-second and Thirty-ninth Indiana, and +Forty-ninth Ohio. The third brigade was commanded by Colonel Kirk, and +consisted of the Thirty-fourth Illinois, Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth +Indiana, and Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania. + +General Lewis Wallace's division, which had been reorganized after the +battle of Fort Donelson, now consisted of three brigades. The first was +commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, and consisted of the Eighth +Missouri, Eleventh and Twenty-fourth Indiana, and Thurber's Missouri +battery. The second brigade was commanded by Colonel Thayer, and +contained the same regiments that checked the Rebels at the brook west +of Fort Donelson,--the First Nebraska, Twenty-third and Sixty-eighth +Ohio, with Thompson's Indiana battery. The third brigade was commanded +by Colonel Whittlesey, and was composed of the Twentieth, Fifty-sixth, +Seventy-sixth, and Seventy-eighth Ohio. + +Two brigades of General Wood's division arrived during the day, but not +in season to take part in the battle. + +Beauregard's brigades were scattered during the night. They had retired +in confusion before the terrible fire at the ravine from the gunboats. +Officers were hunting for their troops, and soldiers were searching for +their regiments, through the night. The work of reorganizing was going +on when the pickets at daylight were driven in by the advance of the +Union line. + +Beauregard, Bragg, Hardee, and Polk all slept near the church. There was +no regularity of divisions, brigades, or regiments. Ruggles was west of +the church with two of his brigades. Trabue's brigade of Breckenridge's +reserves was there. Breckenridge, with his other brigades, or what was +left of them, was east of the church, also the shattered fragments of +Withers's division. Gladden's brigade had crumbled to pieces, and +Colonel Deas, commanding it, was obliged to pick up stragglers of all +regiments. Russell and Stewart were near Prentiss's camp. Cheatham was +in the vicinity, but his regiments were dwindled to companies, and +scattered over all the ground. + +Beauregard had established a strong rear-guard, and had issued orders to +shoot all stragglers. The order was rigidly enforced, and the runaways +were brought back and placed in line. Although exhausted, disorganized, +and checked, the Rebels had not lost heart. They were confident of +victory, and at once rallied when they found the Union army was +advancing. + +Look once more at the position of the divisions. Nelson is on the ground +over which Stuart and Hurlburt retreated. Crittenden is where Prentiss +was captured, McCook where McClernand made his desperate stand, and +Lewis Wallace where Sherman's line gave way. + +The gunboats, by their constant fire during the night, had compelled the +Rebels to fall back in front of Nelson. It was a little after five +o'clock when Nelson threw forward his skirmishers, and advanced his +line. He came upon the Rebels half-way out to Lick Creek, near the +peach-orchard. The fight commenced furiously. Beauregard was marching +brigades from his left, and placing them in position for a concentrated +attack to gain the Landing. General Crittenden had not advanced, and +Nelson was assailed by a superior force. He held his ground an hour, but +he had no battery. He had been compelled to leave it at Savannah. He +sent an aid to General Buell requesting artillery. Mendenhall was sent. +He arrived just in time to save the brigade from an overwhelming onset. +The Rebels were advancing when he unlimbered his guns, but his quick +discharges of grape at short range threw them into confusion. + +It astonished General Beauregard. He had not expected it. He was to +attack and annihilate Grant, not be attacked and driven.[20] He ordered +up fresh troops from his reserves, and the contest raged with increased +fury. + +[Footnote 20: Beauregard's Report.] + +Nelson, seeing the effect of Mendenhall's fire, threw Hazen's brigade +forward. It came upon the battery which had been cutting them to pieces. +With a cheer they sprang upon the guns, seized them, commenced turning +them upon the fleeing enemy. The Rebel line rallied and came back, +followed by fresh troops. There was a short, severe struggle, and Hazen +was forced to leave the pieces and fall back. Then the thunders rolled +again. The woods were sheets of flame.[21] The Rebels brought up more of +their reserves, and forced Nelson to yield his position. He fell back a +short distance, and again came into position. He was a stubborn man,--a +Kentuckian, a sailor, who had been round the world. His discipline was +severe. His men had been well drilled, and were as stubborn as their +leader. + +[Footnote 21: Nelson's Report.] + +"Send me another battery, quick!" was his request, made to General +Buell. + +Tirrell's battery, which had just landed from a steamer, went up the +hill, through the woods, over stumps and trees, the horses leaping as if +they had caught the enthusiasm of the commander of the battery. Captain +Tirrell had a quick eye. + +"Into position there. Lively, men! Caissons to the rear!" were his words +of command. The gunners sprang from the carriages to the ground. The +caissons wheeled, bringing the heads of the horses towards the Landing, +trotted off eight or ten rods and took position sheltered by a ridge of +land. Captain Tirrell rode from gun to gun. + +"Fire with shell, two-second fuses," he said to the lieutenants +commanding his two ten-pounder Parrott guns. + +"Grape and canister," he said to the officers commanding the four brass +twelve-pounders. Its fire was terrific. Wherever his guns were turned +there was silence along the Rebel lines. Their musketry ceased. Their +columns staggered back. All the while Mendenhall was pounding them. The +Nineteenth Ohio, from Crittenden's division, came down upon the run, +joined the brigade, and the contest went on again. The Rebels, instead +of advancing, began to lose the ground they had already won. + +Crittenden and McCook advanced a little later. They came upon the enemy, +which had quiet possession of McClernand's and Sherman's camps. +Beauregard's head-quarters were there. The Rebels, finding themselves +assailed, made a desperate effort to drive back the advancing columns. +Rousseau advanced across the open field, over the ground so hotly +contested by McClernand the day before. This movement made a gap between +McCook and Crittenden. Beauregard saw it, threw Cheatham and Withers +into the open space. They swung round square against Rousseau's left, +pouring in a volley which staggered the advancing regiments. The +Thirty-second Indiana regiment, Colonel Willich commanding, was on the +extreme right of McCook's division. They had been in battle before, and +were ordered across to meet the enemy. You see them fly through the +woods in rear of Rousseau's brigade. They are upon the run. They halt, +dress their ranks as if upon parade, and charge upon the Rebels. Colonel +Stambough's Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania follows. Then all of Kirk's +brigade. It is a change of position and a change of front, admirably +executed, just at the right time, for Rousseau is out of ammunition, and +is obliged to fall back. McCook's third brigade, General Gibson, comes +up. Rousseau is ready again, and at eleven o'clock you see every +available man of that division contending for the ground around the +church. Meanwhile Wallace is moving over the ground on the extreme +right, where Sherman fought so bravely. Sherman, Hurlburt, and the +shattered regiments of W. H. L. Wallace's division, now commanded by +McArthur, follow in reserve. Driven back by Nelson, the Rebel forces +concentrate once more around the church for a final struggle. Wallace +watches his opportunities. He gains a ridge. His men drop upon the +ground, deliver volley after volley, rise, rush nearer to the enemy, +drop once more, while the grape and canister sweep over them. Thus they +come to close quarters, and then regiment after regiment rises, and +delivers its fire. It is like the broadsides of a man-of-war. + +The time had come for a general advance. Nelson, Crittenden, McCook, +Wallace, almost simultaneously charged upon the enemy. It was too +powerful to be resisted. The Rebels gave way, retreated from the camps +which they had occupied a single night, fled past the church, across the +brook, up through the old cotton-field on the south side, to the shelter +of the forest on the top of the ridge beyond. The battle was lost to +them. Exultant cheers rang through the forest for the victory won. + +If I were to go through all the details, as I might, and write how +Crittenden's brigades pressed on, and captured Rebel batteries; how the +Rebels tried to overwhelm him; how the tide of battle surged from hill +to hill; how the Rebels tried to cut McCook to pieces; how Wallace's +division flanked the enemy at Owl Creek; how Rousseau's brigade fought +in front of McClernand's camp; how the Fifth Kentucky charged upon a +battery, and captured two guns which were cutting them up with grape and +canister, and four more which were disabled and could not be dragged off +by the enemy; how Colonel Willich, commanding the Thirty-second Indiana, +finding some of his men were getting excited, stopped firing, and +drilled them, ordering, presenting, and supporting arms, with the balls +whistling through his ranks; how the men became cool and steady, and +went in upon a charge at last with a wild hurrah, and a plunge of the +bayonet that forced the Rebels to give up McClernand's camp; how Colonel +Ammen coolly husked ears of corn for his horse, while watching the +fight, with the shells falling all around him; how Colonel Kirk seized a +flag and bore it in advance of his brigade; how Color-Sergeant William +Ferguson of the Thirteenth Missouri was shot down, how Sergeant Beem of +Company C seized the flag before it touched the ground, and advanced it +still farther; how Beauregard was riding madly along the lines by the +church, trying to rally his men, when Thurber's battery opened, and +broke them up again; how, at noon, he saw it was no use; how he drew off +his men, burned his own camp, and went back to Corinth, defeated, his +troops disheartened, leaving his killed and hundreds of his wounded on +the field; how the Union army recovered all the cannon lost on +Sunday;--if I were to write it all out, I should have no room to tell +you what Commodore Foote was doing all this time on the Mississippi. + +It was a terrible fight. The loss on each side was nearly equal,--about +thirteen thousand killed, wounded, and missing, or twenty-six thousand +in all. + +I had a friend killed in the fight on Sunday,--Captain Carson, +commanding General Grant's scouts. He was tall and slim, and had +sparkling black eyes. He had travelled all over Missouri, Kentucky, and +Tennessee, had often been in the Rebel camps. He was brave, almost +fearless, and very adroit. He said to a friend, when the battle began in +the morning, that he should not live through the day. But he was very +active, riding recklessly through showers of bullets. It was just at +sunset when he rode up to General Grant with a despatch from General +Buell. He dismounted, and sat down upon a log to rest, but the next +moment his head was carried away by a cannon-ball. He performed his +duties faithfully, and gave his life willingly to his country. + +You have seen how the army was surprised, how desperately it fought, how +the battle was almost lost, how the gunboats beat back the exultant +Rebels, how the victory was won. Beauregard was completely defeated; but +he telegraphed to Jefferson Davis that he had won a great victory. This +is what he telegraphed-- + + "CORINTH, April 8th, 1862. + + "TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR, RICHMOND:-- + + "We have gained a great and glorious victory. Eight to ten thousand + prisoners and thirty-six pieces of cannon. Buell reinforced Grant, + and we retired to our intrenchments at Corinth, which we can hold. + Loss heavy on both sides. + + "BEAUREGARD." + +You see that, having forsworn himself to his country, he did not +hesitate to send a false despatch, to mislead the Southern people and +cover up his mortifying defeat. + +The Rebel newspapers believed Beauregard's report. One began its account +thus:-- + + "Glory! glory! glory! victory! victory! I write from Yankee + papers. Of all the victories that have ever been on record, + ours is the most complete. Bull Run was nothing in comparison + to our victory at Shiloh. General Buell is killed, General + Grant wounded and taken prisoner. Soon we will prove too much + for them, and they will be compelled to let us alone. Our + brave boys have driven them to the river, and compelled them + to flee to their gunboats. The day is ours."[22] + +[Footnote 22: Captain Geer.] + +The people of the South believed all this; but when the truth was known +their hopes went down lower than ever, for they saw it was a disastrous +defeat. + +On the Sabbath after the battle, the chaplains of the regiments had +religious exercises. How different the scene! Instead of the cannonade, +there were prayers to God. Instead of the musketry, there were songs of +praise. There were tears shed for those who had fallen, but there were +devout thanksgivings that they had given their lives so freely for their +country and for the victory they had achieved by their sacrifice. + +One of the chaplains, in conducting the service, read a hymn, +commencing: + + "Look down, O Lord, O Lord forgive; + Let a repenting rebel live." + +But he was suddenly interrupted by a patriotic soldier, who cried, "No +sir, not unless they lay down their arms, every one of them." + +He thought the chaplain had reference to the Rebels who had been +defeated. + +After the battle, a great many men and women visited the ground, +searching for the bodies of friends who had fallen. Lieutenant Pfieff, +an officer of an Illinois regiment, was killed, and his wife came to +obtain his body. No one knew where he was buried. The poor woman +wandered through the forest, examining all the graves. Suddenly a dog, +poor and emaciated, bounded towards her, his eyes sparkling with +pleasure, and barking his joy to see his mistress. When her husband went +to the army, the dog followed him, and was with him through the battle, +watched over his dead body through the terrible contest, and after he +was buried, remained day and night a mourner! He led his mistress to the +spot. The body was disinterred. The two sorrowful ones, the devoted wife +and the faithful brute, watched beside the precious dust till it was +laid in its final resting-place beneath the prairie-flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +EVACUATION OF COLUMBUS. + + +The Rebels, at the beginning of the war fortified Columbus, in Kentucky, +which is twenty miles below Cairo on the Mississippi River. There the +bluffs are very high, and are washed at their base by the mighty stream. +Cannon placed on the summit have long range. A great deal of labor was +expended to make it an impregnable place. There were batteries close +down to the water under the hill, with heavy guns. A gallery was cut +along the side of the bluff, a winding, zigzag passage, which, with many +crooks and turns, led to the top of the hill. They had numerous guns in +position on the top, to send shot and shell down upon Commodore Foote, +should he attempt to descend the river. They built a long line of +earthworks to protect the rear, intrenchments and stockades,--which are +strong posts set in the ground, making a close fence, with holes here +and there through which the riflemen and sharpshooters could fire. + +They cut down the trees and made _abatis_. There were several lines of +defence. They stretched a great iron chain across the river, supporting +it by barges which were anchored in the stream. They gave out word that +the river was effectually closed against commerce till the independence +of the Confederacy was recognized. + +[Illustration: A REBEL TORPEDO.] + +When the war commenced, there was a man named Maury, a lieutenant in the +United States service, and who was connected with the National +Observatory in Washington. He was thought to be a scientific, practical +man. He had been educated by the government, had received great pay, and +was in a high position; but he forgot all that, and joined the Rebels. +He imitated General Floyd, and stole public property, carrying off from +the National Observatory valuable scientific papers which did not belong +to him. He was employed by the Rebel government to construct torpedoes +and infernal machines for blowing up Commodore Foote's gunboats. He had +several thousand made,--some for the land, which were planted around +Columbus in rear of the town, and which were connected with a galvanic +battery by a telegraph wire, to be exploded at the right moment, by +which he hoped to destroy thousands of the Union troops. He sunk several +hundred in the river opposite Columbus. They were oblong cylinders of +wrought iron, four or five feet in length; inside were two or three +hundred pounds of powder. Two small anchors held the cylinder in its +proper place. It was air tight, and therefore floated in the water. At +the upper end there was a projecting iron rod, which was connected with +a percussion gun-lock. If anything struck the rod with much force, it +would trip the lock, and explode the powder. At least, Mr. Maury thought +so. The above engraving will show the construction of the torpedoes, and +how they were placed in the water. The letter A represents the iron rod +reaching up almost to the surface of the water. At B it is connected +with the lock, which is inside the cylinder, and not represented. C +represents the powder. The arrows show the direction of the current. + +One day he tried an experiment. He sunk a torpedo, and let loose a +flat-boat, which came down with the current and struck the iron rod. The +powder exploded and sent the flat high into the air. Thousands of Rebel +soldiers stood on the bluffs and saw it. They hurrahed and swung their +hats. Mr. Maury was so well pleased that the river was planted with +them, above, in front, and below the town. He thought that Commodore +Foote and all his gunboats would be blown out of the water if they +attempted to descend the stream. + +But the workmanship was rude. The parts were not put together with much +skill. Mr. Maury showed that his science was not practical. He forgot +that the river was constantly rising and falling, that sometimes the +water would be so high the gunboats could glide over the iron rods with +several feet between, he forgot that the powder would gather moisture +and the locks become rusty. + +It was discovered, after a while, that the torpedoes leaked, that the +powder became damp, and changed to an inky mass, and that the hundreds +of thousands of dollars which Mr. Maury had spent was all wasted. Then +they who had supposed him to be a scientific man said he was a humbug. + +The taking of Fort Donelson compelled the Rebels to evacuate +Columbus,--the Gibraltar of the Mississippi, as they called it,--and all +the work which had been done was of no benefit. Nashville was evacuated +on the 27th of February. On the 4th of March Commodore Foote, having +seen signs that the Rebels were leaving Columbus, went down the river, +with six gunboats, accompanied by several transports, with troops, under +General Sherman, to see about it. The Cincinnati, having been repaired, +was the flag-ship. Commodore Foote requested me to accompany him, if I +desired to. + +"Perhaps we shall have hot work," he said, as I stepped on board in the +evening of the 3d. + +"We shall move at four o'clock," said Captain Stemble, commanding the +ship, "and shall be at Columbus at daybreak." + +It was a new and strange experience, that first night on a gunboat, with +some probability that at daybreak I might be under a hot fire from a +hundred Rebel guns. By the dim light of the lamp I could see the great +gun within six feet of me, and shining cutlasses and gleaming muskets. +Looking out of the ward-room, I could see the men in their hammocks +asleep, like orioles in their hanging nests. The sentinels paced the +deck above, and all was silent but the sound of the great wheel of the +steamer turning lazily in the stream, and the gurgling of the water +around the bow. + +"We are approaching Columbus," said an officer. It was still some time +to sunrise, but the men were all astir. Their hammocks were packed away. +They were clearing the decks for action, running out the guns, bringing +up shot and shell, tugging and pulling at the ropes. Going on deck, I +could see in the dim light the outline of the bluff at Columbus. Far up +stream were dark clouds of smoke from the other steamers. + +Commodore Foote was on the upper deck, walking with crutches, still lame +from the wound received at Donelson. + +"I always feel an exhilaration of spirits before going into a fight. I +don't like to see men killed; but when I have a duty to perform for my +country, like this, all of my energies are engaged," said the Commodore. + +Right opposite, on the Missouri shore, was the Belmont battle-ground, +where General Grant fought his first battle, and where the gunboats +saved the army. + +There was a house riddled with cannon-shot; there was a hole in the roof +as big as a bushel-basket, where the shell went in, and in the gable an +opening large enough for the passage of a cart and oxen, where it came +out. It exploded, and tore the end of the building to pieces. + +One by one the boats came down. The morning brightened. We could see men +on the bluff, and a flag flying. Were the Rebels there? We could not +make out the flag. We dropped a little nearer. More men came in sight. + +"Four companies of cavalry were sent out from Paducah on a +reconnoissance day before yesterday. Perhaps the Rebels have all gone, +and they are in possession of the place," said General Sherman. + +"I will make a reconnoissance with a party of soldiers," he added. He +jumped on board his tug, and went off to get his soldiers. + +"Captain Phelps, you will please to take my tug and drop down also," +said Commodore Foote. "If you are willing to run the risk, you are at +liberty to accompany Captain Phelps," were his words to me. What is a +thing worth that costs nothing? + +We drop down the stream slowly and cautiously. + +"We are in easy range. If the Rebels are there, they could trouble us," +says Captain Phelps. + +We drop nearer. The flag is still waving. The man holding it swings his +hat. + +They are not Rebels, but Union cavalry! Away we dash. The other tug, +with General Sherman, is close behind. + +"A little more steam! Lay her in quick!" says Captain Phelps. + +He is not to be beaten. We jump ashore, scramble up the bank ahead of +all the soldiers, reach the upper works, and fling out the Stars and +Stripes to the bright morning sunshine on the abandoned works of the +Rebel Gibraltar! + +The crews of the boats crowd the upper decks, and send up their joyous +shouts. The soldiers farther up stream give their wild hurrahs. Around +us are smoking ruins,--burned barracks and storehouses, barrels of flour +and bacon simmering in the fire. There are piles of shot and shell. The +great chain has broken by its own weight. At the landing are hundreds of +Mr. Maury's torpedoes,--old iron now. We wander over the town, along the +fortifications, view the strong defences, and wonder that the Rebels +gave it up,--defended as it was by one hundred and twenty guns,--without +a struggle, but the fall of Fort Donelson compelled them to evacuate the +place. They carried off about half of the guns, and tumbled many of +those they left behind down the embankment into the river. The force +which had fled numbered about sixteen thousand. Five thousand went down +the river on steamboats, and the others were sent to Corinth on the +cars. + +This abandonment of Columbus freed Kentucky of Rebel troops. It had been +invaded about six months, and Jeff Davis hoped to secure it as one of +the Confederate States, but he was disappointed in his expectations. The +majority of the people in that noble State could not be induced to go +out of the Union. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OPERATIONS AT NEW MADRID. + + +There are many islands in the Mississippi, so many that the river pilots +have numbered them from Cairo to New Orleans. The first is just below +Cairo. No. 10 is about sixty miles below, where the river makes a sharp +curve, sweeping round a tongue of land towards the west and northwest, +then turning again at New Madrid, making a great bend towards the +southeast, as you will see by the map. The island is less than a mile +long, and not more than a fourth of a mile wide. It is ten or fifteen +feet above high-water mark. The line between Kentucky and Tennessee +strikes the river here. The current runs swiftly past the island, and +steamboats descending the stream are carried within a stone's throw of +the Tennessee shore. The bank on that side of the stream is also about +fifteen or twenty feet above high water. + +The Rebels, before commencing their works at Columbus, saw that Island +No. 10 was a very strong position, and commenced fortifications there. +When they evacuated Columbus, they retired to that place, and remounted +the guns which they had brought away on the island and on the Tennessee +shore. They thought it was a place which could not be taken. They held +New Madrid, eight miles below, on the Missouri side, which was defended +by two forts. They held the island and the Tennessee shore. East of +their position, on the Tennessee shore, was Reelfoot Lake, a large body +of water surrounded by hundreds of acres of impassable swamp, which +extended across to the lower bend, preventing an approach by the Union +troops from the interior of the State upon their flank. The garrison at +the island, and in the batteries along the shore, had to depend upon +steamboats for their supplies. + +The distance across the lower promontory from the island to Tiptonville, +along the border of Reelfoot Lake, is about five miles, but the distance +from the island by the river to Tiptonville is over twenty miles. + +On the 22d of February, General Pope, with several thousand men, left +the little town of Commerce, which is above Cairo, on the Mississippi, +for New Madrid, which is forty miles distant. It was a slow, toilsome +march. The mud was very deep, and he could move scarcely five miles a +day, but he reached New Madrid on the 3d of March, the day on which we +raised the flag on the heights at Columbus. + +[Illustration: ISLAND NO. 10. + + 1 Commodore Foote's fleet. + 2 Island No. 10 and Rebel floating-battery. + 3 Shore batteries. + 4 Rebel boats. + 5 2 Forts at New Madrid.] + +The Rebels had completed their forts. The one above the town mounted +fourteen heavy guns, and the one below it seven. Both were strong works, +with bastions and angles, and ditches that could be swept by an +enfilading fire. There was a line of intrenchments between the two +forts, enclosing the town. + +There were five regiments of infantry and several batteries of +artillery, commanded by General McCown, at New Madrid. General Mackall +was sent up by Beauregard to direct the defence there and at Island No. +10. When he arrived, he issued an address to the soldiers. He said:-- + +"Soldiers: We are strangers, commander and commanded, each to the other. +Let me tell you who I am. I am a General made by Beauregard,--a General +selected by Beauregard and Bragg for this command, when they knew it was +in peril. + +"They have known me for twenty years; together we stood on the fields of +Mexico. Give them your confidence now; give it to me when I have earned +it. + +"Soldiers: The Mississippi Valley is intrusted to your courage, to your +discipline, to your patience; exhibit the coolness and vigilance you +have heretofore, and hold it."[23] + +[Footnote 23: Rebellion Record.] + +They thought they could hold the place. A Rebel officer wrote, on the +11th of March, to his friends thus: "General Mackall has put the rear in +effective defence. The forts are impregnable. All are hopeful and ready. +We will make this an American Thermopylæ, if necessary."[24] + +[Footnote 24: Memphis Appeal.] + +By this he intended to say that they would all die before they would +surrender the place, and would make New Madrid as famous in history as +that narrow mountain-pass in Greece, where the immortal three hundred +under Leonidas fought the Persian host. + +The Rebels had several gunboats on the river, each carrying three or +four guns. The river was very high, and its banks overflowed. The +country is level for miles around, and it was an easy matter for the +gunboats to throw shells over the town into the woods upon General +Pope's army. The Rebels had over sixty pieces of heavy artillery, while +General Pope had only his light field artillery; but he sent to Cairo +for siege-guns, meanwhile driving in the enemy's pickets and investing +the place. + +He detached Colonel Plummer, of the Eleventh Missouri, with three +regiments and a battery of rifled Parrott guns, to take possession of +Point Pleasant, ten miles farther down. The order was admirably +executed. Colonel Plummer planted his guns, threw up intrenchments, and +astonished the Rebels by sending his shells into a steamboat which was +passing up with supplies. + +Commodore Hollins, commanding the Rebel gunboats, made all haste down to +find out what was going on. He rained shot and shell all day long upon +Colonel Plummer's batteries, but could not drive him from the position +he had selected. He had made holes in the ground for his artillery, and +the Rebel shot did him no injury. Hollins began at long range, then +steamed up nearer to the batteries, but Plummer's artillerymen, by their +excellent aim, compelled him to withdraw. The next day Hollins tried it +again, but with no better success. The river was effectually blockaded. +No Rebel transport could get up, and those which were at Island No. 10 +and New Madrid could not get down, without being subjected to a heavy +fire. + +General Mackall determined to hold New Madrid, and reinforced the +place from Island No. 10, till he had about nine thousand troops. On +the 11th of March four siege-guns were sent to General Pope. He +received them at sunset. Colonel Morgan's brigade was furnished with +spades and intrenching tools. General Stanley's division was ordered +under arms, to support Morgan. The force advanced towards the town at +dark, drove in the Rebel pickets, secured a favorable position within +eight hundred yards of the fort. The men worked all night, and in +the morning had two breastworks thrown up, each eighteen feet thick, +and five feet high, with a smaller breastwork, called a curtain, +connecting the two. This curtain was nine hundred feet long, nine feet +thick, and three feet high. On each side of the breastworks, thrown +out like wings was a line of rifle-pits. Wooden platforms were placed +behind the breastworks, and the guns all mounted by daylight. Colonel +Bissell, of the engineers, managed it all. In thirty-four hours from +the time he received the guns at Cairo, he had shipped them across +the Mississippi River, loaded them on railroad cars, taken them to +Sykestown, twenty miles, mounted them on carriages, then dragged them +twenty miles farther, through almost impassable mud, and had them in +position within eight hundred yards of the river! The work was done +so quietly that the Rebel pickets did not mistrust what was going on. +At daybreak they opened fire upon what they supposed was a Union +rifle-pit, and were answered by a shell from a rifled thirty-two +pounder. + +It was a foggy morning. The air was still, and the deep thunder rolled +far away along the wooded stream. It woke up the slumbering garrison. +Commodore Hollins heard it, and immediately there was commotion among +the Rebel gunboats. They came to New Madrid. Hollins placed them in +position above the town to open fire. The fog lifted, and all the guns +of the fleet and the forts began to play upon the breastworks. General +Pope brought up his heavy field guns, and replied. He paid but little +attention to the fort, but sent his shot and shell at the gunboats. +Captain Mower, of the First United States artillery, commanded the +batteries, and his fire was so accurate that the gunboats were obliged +to take new positions. Shortly after the cannonade began, a shot from +the fort struck one of Captain Mower's thirty-two pounders in the muzzle +and disabled it; but he kept up his fire through the day, dismounting +three guns in the lower fort and disabling two of the gunboats. Nearly +all of the shells from the Rebel batteries fell harmlessly into the soft +earth. There were very few of General Pope's men injured. They soon +became accustomed to the business, and paid but little attention to the +screaming of the shot and the explosions of the shells. They had many +hearty laughs, as the shells which burst in the ground frequently +spattered them with mud. + +There was one soldier in one of the Ohio regiments who was usually +profane and wicked; but he was deeply impressed with the fact that so +few were injured by such a terrific fire, and at night said to his +comrades, seriously: "Boys, there is no use denying it; God has watched +over us to-day." + +His comrades also noticed that he did not swear that night. + +Just at night, General Paine's division made a demonstration towards the +lower fort, driving in the enemy's pickets. General Paine advanced +almost to the ditch in front of the fort. Preparations were made to hold +the ground, but during the night there came up a terrific thunder-storm +and hurricane, which stopped all operations. + +The Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio, and the Tenth and Sixteenth +Illinois, were the grand guard for the night. They had been under fire +all day. They had endured the strain upon their nerves, but through the +long night-hours they stood in the drenching rain, beneath the sheets of +lurid flame, looking with sleepless eyes towards the front, prepared to +repel a sortie or challenge spies. + +At daybreak there was no enemy in sight. The fort was deserted. A +citizen of the town came out with a flag of truce. The General who had +called upon his men in high-sounding words, the officer who was going to +make New Madrid a Thermopylæ, and himself a Leonidas in history,--the +nine thousand infantry had gone! Two or three soldiers were found +asleep. They rubbed their eyes and stared wildly when they were told +that they were prisoners, that their comrades and commander had fled. + +During the thunder-storm, the Rebel gunboats and steamers had taken the +troops on board, and ferried them to the Tennessee shore near Island No. +10. They spiked their heavy guns, but Colonel Bissell's engineers were +quickly at work, and in a few hours had the guns ready for use again. + +The Rebels left an immense amount of corn, in bags, and a great quantity +of ammunition. They tumbled their wagons into the river. + +General Pope set his men to work, and before night the guns which had +been pointed inland were wheeled the other way. He sent a messenger to +Commodore Foote, with this despatch:-- + + "All right! River closed! No escape for the enemy by water." + +All this was accomplished with the loss of seven killed and forty-three +wounded. By these operations against New Madrid, and by the battle at +Pea Ridge, in the southwestern part of the State, which was fought about +the same time, the Rebels were driven from Missouri! + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +OPERATIONS AT ISLAND NUMBER TEN. + + +Commodore Foote, having repaired the gunboats disabled at Fort Donelson, +sailed from Cairo the day that New Madrid fell into the hands of General +Pope. He had seven gunboats and ten mortars, besides several tugs and +transports. Colonel Buford, with fifteen hundred troops, accompanied the +expedition. + +The mortars were untried. They were the largest ever brought into use at +that time, weighing nineteen thousand pounds, and throwing a shell +thirteen inches in diameter. The accompanying diagram will perhaps give +you an idea of their appearance. You see the mortar mounted on its +carriage, or bed as it is called. The figures 1, 1 represent one cheek +of the bed, a thick wrought-iron plate. The figures 2, 2 represent the +heads of the bolts which connect the cheek in view to the one on the +other side. The bed stands on thick timbers, represented by 3, and the +timbers rest on heavy sleepers, 4. Figure 5 represents a thick strap of +iron which clasps the trunion or axis of the mortar, and holds it in its +place. This strap is held by two other straps, 6, 6, all iron, and very +strong. The figure 7 represents what is called a bolster. You see it is +in the shape of a wedge. It is used to raise or depress the muzzle of +the mortar. The figure 8 represents what is called a quoin, and keeps +the bolster in its place. The figure 9 represents one of the many bolts +by which the whole is kept in place on the boat. + +[Illustration: A MORTAR.] + +The boat is built like a raft, of thick timbers, laid crosswise and +bolted firmly together. It is about thirty feet long and twelve wide, +and has iron plates around its sides to screen the men from Rebel +sharpshooters. The mortar is more than four feet in diameter. It is +thicker than it is long. To fire a mortar accurately requires a good +knowledge of mathematics, of the relations of curves to straight lines, +for the shell is fired into the air at an angle of thirty or forty +degrees. The gunner must calculate the distance from the mortar to the +enemy in a straight line, and then elevate or lower the muzzle to drop +his shell not too near, neither too far away. He must calculate the time +it will take for the shell to describe the curve through the air. Then +he must make his fuses of the right length to have the shell explode at +the proper time, either high in the air, that its fragments may rain +down on the encampment of the enemy, or close down to the ground among +the men working the guns. It requires skill and a great deal of practice +to do all this. + +The mortar flotilla was commanded by Captain Henry E. Maynadier, +assisted by Captain E. B. Pike of the engineers. There were four Masters +of Ordnance, who commanded each four mortars. Each mortar-boat had a +crew of fifteen men; three of them were Mississippi flatboatmen, who +understood all about the river, the currents and the sand-bars. + +Commodore Foote's flotilla consisted of the Benton, 16 guns, which was +his flag-ship, covered all over with iron plates, and commanded by +Captain Phelps; the Mound City, 13 guns, commanded by Captain Kelty; the +Carondelet, 13 guns, Lieutenant Walke; the Cincinnati, 13 guns, Captain +Stemble; the St. Louis, 13 guns, Captain Dove; the Louisville, 13 guns, +Lieutenant Paulding; the Pittsburg, 13 guns, Lieutenant Thompson; the +Conestoga, 9 guns, Lieutenant Blodgett; in all, 103 guns and 10 mortars. +The Conestoga was used to guard the ammunition-boats, and took no part +in the active operations. Commodore Foote had several small steam-tugs, +which were used as tenders, to carry orders from boat to boat. + +The Southern people thought that Island No. 10 could not be taken. On +the 6th of March a newspaper at Memphis said:-- + + "For the enemy to get possession of Memphis and the + Mississippi Valley would require an army of greater strength + than Secretary Stanton can concentrate upon the banks of the + Mississippi River. The gunboats in which they have so much + confidence have proved their weakness. They cannot stand our + guns of heavy calibre. The approach of the enemy by land to + New Madrid induces us to believe that the flotilla is one + grand humbug, and that it is not ready, and does not intend + to descend the river. Foote, the commander of the Federal + fleet, served his time under Commodore Hollins, and should he + attempt to descend the river, Hollins will teach him that + some things can be done as well as others."[25] + +[Footnote 25: Memphis Argus.] + +On Saturday, the 15th of March, the fleet approached the island. The +clouds were thick and lowering. The rain pattered on the decks of the +gunboats, the fog settled upon the river. As the boats swept round a +point of land, the old river pilot, who was on the watch, who knew every +crook, turn, sand-bar, and all the objects along the bank, sung out, +"Boat ahead!" + +The sailors scrambled to the portholes; Captain Phelps sprang from the +cabin to the deck. + +There she was, a steamer, just visible through the fog a mile ahead. It +was the Grampus, owned by Captain Chester of the steamer Alps, who had +two of the mortar-boats in tow. He belonged to Pittsburg, and used to +carry coal to Memphis. When the war broke out the Rebels seized his +steamboats and his coal-barges, and refused to pay him for the coal they +had already purchased. The act roused all his ire. He was a tall, +athletic man, and had followed the river thirty years. Although +surrounded by enemies, he gave them plain words. + +"You are a set of thieves and rascals! You are cowards, every one of +you!" he shouted. + +He took off his coat, rolled up his shirt-sleeves, bared his great +brawny arms, dashed his hat upon the ground. + +"Now come on! I'll fight every one of you, you infernal rascals! I'll +whip you all! I challenge you to fight me! You call yourselves +chivalrous people. You say you believe in fair play. If I whip, you +shall give up my boats, but if I am beaten, you are welcome to them." + +They laughed in his face, and said: "Blow away, old fellow. We have got +your boats. Help yourself if you can." + +A hot-headed secessionist cried out, "Hang the Yankee!" + +The crowd hustled him about, but he had a few old friends, who took his +part, and he succeeded in making his escape. + +Captain Phelps looked a moment at the Grampus. He saw her wheels move. +She was starting off. + +"Out with the starboard gun! Give her a shot!" + +Lieutenant Bishop runs his eye along the sights of the great eleven-inch +gun, which has been loaded and run out of the porthole in a twinkling. + +There is a flash. A great cloud puffs out into the fog, and the shot +screams through the air and is lost to sight. We cannot see where it +fell. Another--another. Boom!--boom!--boom!--from the Cincinnati and +Carondelet. But the Grampus is light-heeled. The distance widens. You +can hardly see her, and at last she vanishes like a ghost from sight. + +We were not more than four or five miles from the head of the island. +One by one the boats rounded to along the Kentucky shore. The sailors +sprang upon the land, carrying out the strong warps, and fastening us to +the trunks of the buttonwood-trees. + +There was a clearing and a miserable log-hut near by. The family had +fled, frightened by the cannonade. We found them cowering in the +woods,--a man, his wife and daughter. The land all around them was +exceedingly rich, but they were very poor. All they had to eat was hog +and hominy. They had been told that the Union troops would rob them of +all they had, which was not likely, because they had nothing worth +stealing! They were trembling with fear, but when they found the +soldiers and sailors well-behaved and peaceable, they forgot their +terror. + +The fog lifts at last, and we can see the white tents of the Rebels on +the Tennessee shore. There are the batteries, with the cannon grim and +black pointing up stream. Round the point of land is the island. A +half-dozen steamboats lie in the stream below it. At times they steam up +to the bend and then go back again,--wandering back and forth like rats +in a cage. They cannot get past General Pope's guns at New Madrid. On +the north side of the island is a great floating-battery of eight guns, +which has been towed up from New Orleans. General Mackall has sunk a +steamboat in a narrow part of the channel on the north side of the +island, so that if Commodore Foote attempts to run the blockade he will +be compelled to pass along the south channel, exposed to the fire of all +the guns in the four batteries upon the Tennessee shore, as well as +those upon the island. + +Two of the mortar-boats were brought into position two miles from the +Rebel batteries. We waited in a fever of expectation while Captain +Maynadier was making ready, for thirteen-inch mortars had never been +used in war. The largest used by the French and English in the +bombardment of Sebastopol were much smaller. + +There came a roar like thunder. It was not a sharp, piercing report, but +a deep, heavy boom, which rolled along the mighty river, echoing and +re-echoing from shore to shore,--a prolonged reverberation, heard fifty +miles away. A keg of powder was burned in the single explosion. The +shell rose in a beautiful curve, exploded five hundred feet high, and +fell in fragments around the distant encampment. + +There was a flash beneath the dark forest-trees near the encampment, a +puff of white smoke, an answering roar, and a shot fell into the water a +half-mile down stream from the mortars. The Rebels had accepted the +challenge. + +Sunday came. The boats having the mortars in tow dropped them along the +Missouri shore. The gunboats swung into the stream. The Benton fired her +rifled guns over the point of land at the Rebel steamboats below the +island. There was a sudden commotion. They quickly disappeared down the +river towards New Madrid, out of range. During the morning there was a +deep booming from the direction of Point Pleasant. The Rebel gunboats +were trying to drive Colonel Plummer from his position. + +Ten o'clock came, the hour for divine service. The church flag was flung +out on the flagstaff of the Benton, and all the commanders called their +crews together for worship. I was on board the Pittsburg with Captain +Thompson. The crew assembled on the upper deck. There were men from +Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, from the Eastern +as well as the Western States. Some of them were scholars and teachers +in Sabbath-schools at home. They were dressed in dark-blue, and each +sailor appeared in his Sunday suit. A small table was brought up from +the cabin, and the flag of our country spread upon it. A Bible was +brought. We stood around the captain with uncovered heads, while he read +the twenty-seventh Psalm. Beautiful and appropriate was that service:-- + + "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? + The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be + afraid?" + +After the Psalm, the prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven." + +How impressive! The uncovered group standing around the open Bible, and +the low voices of a hundred men in prayer. On our right hand, looking +down the mighty river, were the mortars, in play, jarring the earth with +their heavy thunders. The shells were sweeping in graceful curves +through the air. Upon our left hand, the Benton and Carondelet were +covering themselves with white clouds, which slowly floated away over +the woodlands, fragrant with the early buds and blossoms of spring. The +Rebel batteries below us were flaming and smoking. Solid shot screamed +past us, shells exploded above us. Away beyond the island, beyond the +dark-green of the forest, rose the cloud of another bombardment, where +Commodore Hollins was vainly endeavoring to drive Colonel Plummer from +his position. So the prayer was mingled with the deep, wild thunders of +the cannonade. + +A light fog, like a thin veil, lay along the river. After service, we +saw that strange and peculiar optical illusion called _mirage_, so often +seen in deserts, where the thirsty traveller beholds lakes, and shady +places, cities, towns, and ships. I was looking up stream, and saw, +sweeping round the wooded point of land, something afloat. A boat or +floating battery it seemed to be. There were chimneys, a flagstaff, a +porthole. It was seemingly two hundred feet long, coming broadside +towards us. + +"Captain Thompson, see there!" + +He looked at it, and jumped upon the pilot-house, scanned it over and +over. The other officers raised their glasses. + +"It looks like a floating battery!" said one. + +"There is a porthole, certainly!" said another. + +It came nearer. Its proportions increased. + +"Pilot, put on steam! Head her up stream!" said Captain Thompson. + +"Lieutenant, beat to quarters! Light up the magazine! We will see what +she is made of." + +There was activity on deck. The guns were run out, shot and shell were +brought up. The boat moved up stream. Broadside upon us came the unknown +craft. + +Suddenly the illusion vanished. The monster three hundred feet long, +changed to an old coal-barge. The chimneys became two timbers, the +flagstaff a small stick of firewood. The fog, the currents of air, had +produced the transformation. We had a hearty laugh over our preparations +for an encounter with the enemy in our rear. It was an enemy more +quickly disposed of than the one in front. + +The Rebels in the upper battery waved a white flag. The firing ceased. +Commodore Foote sent Lieutenant Bishop down with a tug and a white flag +flying, to see what it meant. He approached the battery. + +"Are we to understand that you wish to communicate with us?" he asked. + +"No, sir," said an officer wearing a gold-laced coat. + +"Then why do you display a white flag?" + +"It is a mistake, sir. It is a signal-flag. I regret that it has +deceived you." + +"Good morning, sir." + +"Good morning, sir." + +The tug steams back to the Benton, the white flag is taken down, and the +uproar begins again. Lieutenant Bishop made good use of his eyes. There +were seven thirty-two-pounders and one heavy rifled gun in the upper +battery. + +Commodore Foote was not ready to begin the bombardment in earnest till +Monday noon, March 17th. + +The Benton, Cincinnati, and St. Louis dropped down stream, side by side, +and came into position about a mile from the upper batteries. Anchors +were dropped from the stern of each gunboat, that they might fight head +on, using their heavy rifled guns. Their position was on the east side +of the river. The Mound City and Carondelet took position near the west +bank, just below the mortars. The boats were thus placed to bring a +cross fire upon the upper Rebel battery. + +"Pay no attention to the island, but direct your fire into the upper +battery!" is the order. + +A signal is raised upon the flag-ship. We do not understand the +signification of the flag, but while we look at it the ten mortars open +fire, one after another, in rapid succession. The gunboats follow. There +are ten shells, thirteen inches in diameter, rising high in air. There +are handfuls of smoke flecking the sky, and a prolonged, indescribable +crashing, rolling, and rumbling. You have seen battle-pieces by the +great painters; but the highest artistic skill cannot portray the scene. +It is a vernal day, as beautiful as ever dawned. The gunboats are +enveloped in flame and smoke. The unfolding clouds are slowly wafted +away by the gentle breeze. Huge columns rise majestically from the +mortars. A line of white--a thread-like tissue--spans the sky. It is the +momentary and vanishing mark of the shell in the invisible air. There +are little splashes in the stream, where the fragments of iron fall. +There are pillars of water tossed upward in front of the earthwork, +which break into spray, painted with rainbow hues by the bright +sunshine. A round shot skips along the surface and pierces the +embankment. Another just clears the parapet, and cuts down a tree +beyond. The air is filled with sticks, timbers, branches of trees, and +earth, as if a dozen thunderbolts had fallen upon the spot from a +cloudless sky. There are explosions deep under ground, where the great +shells have buried themselves in their downward flight. There are +volumes of smoke which rise like the mists of a summer morning. + +There are some brave fellows behind that breastwork. Amid this storm +they come out from their shelter and load a gun. There it comes! A +flash, a cloud, a hissing, a crash! The shot strikes the upper deck of +the Benton, tears up the iron plates, breaks the thick timbers into +kindlings, falls upon the lower deck, bounds up again to the beams +above, and drops into Commodore Foote's writing-desk! + +All around, from the gunboats, the mortars, from all the batteries, are +flashes, clouds of smoke, and thunderings, which bring to mind the +gorgeous imagery of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, +descriptive of the scenes of the Last Judgment. + +The firing ceased at sunset. The Benton was struck four times, and the +Cincinnati once. No one was injured by these shots, but one of the guns +of the St. Louis burst, killing two men instantly, and wounding +thirteen. + +When the bombardment was at its height, Commodore Foote received a +letter from Cairo, containing the sad information that a beloved son had +died suddenly. It was a sore bereavement, but it was no time for him to +give way to grief, no time to think of his great affliction. + +After the firing had ceased, I sat with him in the cabin of the Benton. +There were tears upon his cheeks. He was thinking of his loss. + +Were he living now, I should have no right to give the conversation I +had with him, but he has gone to his reward, leaving us his bright +example. These were his words, as I remember:-- + +"It is a terrible blow, but the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; +blessed be His name. It is hard for me to bear, but no harder than it +will be for the fathers of the noble men who were killed on the St. +Louis. Poor fellows! I feel bad for the wounded." + +He called the orderly who stood outside the cabin. + +"Orderly, tell the surgeon that I want to see him." + +The surgeon came in. + +"Surgeon, I wish you to do everything you can for those poor fellows on +the St. Louis. Don't omit anything that will contribute to their +comfort." + +"It shall be done, sir," said the surgeon, as he left the cabin. + +"Poor fellows! I must see them myself. It is a great deal worse to have +a gun explode than to have the men wounded by the enemy's shot, for they +lose confidence. I have protested again and again to the Department +against using these old thirty-two-pounders, which have been weakened by +being rifled; but I had to take them or none. I had to pick them up +wherever I could find them. I have tried my best to get the fleet in +good trim, and it is too bad to have the men slaughtered in this way. I +shall try to do my duty. The country needs the services of every man. We +shall have a long war. I would like to rest, and have a little breathing +spell, but I shall not ask for it. I shall try to do my duty to my +country and to God. He is leading this nation in a way we know not of. +My faith is unshaken in Him. He will bring us out of all trouble at +last." + +Thus, in the hour of battle, while attending to his duties, while +bearing up under the intelligence that a beloved son had died, he talked +calmly, cheerfully, and hopefully of the future, and manifested the care +and tenderness of a father for the wounded. + +Although the gunboats ceased firing at sunset, the mortars were in play +all night. It was beautiful to see the great flash, illuminating all the +landscape, the white cloud rolling upward and outward, unfolding, +expanding, spreading over the wide river, and the bright spark rising +high in the air, turning with the revolving shell, reaching its altitude +and sailing straight along the arch of the parabola, then descending +with increasing rapidity, ending in a bright flash, and an explosion +which echoes and re-echoes far away. The next day I went with Captain +Maynadier across the point to reconnoitre the batteries on the island +and watch the explosions of the shells. We passed a deserted farm-house, +and saw a squad of Colonel Buford's soldiers running down pigs and +chickens. Crossing a creek upon a corduroy bridge, we came to a second +squad. One was playing a violin, and several were dancing; they were as +happy as larks. We stood upon the bank of the river opposite the island. +Before us was the floating battery, which was formerly the New Orleans +dry-dock. It mounted eight guns. There were four batteries on the +Tennessee shore and several on the island. We could see the artillerists +at their guns. They saw us, and sent a shell whizzing over our heads, +which struck in a cornfield, and ploughed a deep furrow for the farmer +owning it. We went where they could not see us, and mounted a fence to +watch the effect of the mortar-firing. It was interesting to sit there +and hear the great shells sail through the air five hundred feet above +us. It was like the sound of far-off, invisible machinery, turning with +a constant motion, not the sharp, shrill whistle of a rifled-bolt, but a +whirr and roll, like that which you may sometimes hear above the clouds +in a thunder-storm. One shell fell like a millstone into the river. The +water did not extinguish the fuse, and a great column was thrown up +fifty feet high. Another buried itself deep in the ground before it +burst, and excavated a great hole. I learned, after the place +surrendered, that one fell through a tent where several officers were +sitting, playing cards, and that the next moment the tent, furniture, +officers, and fifty cartloads of earth were sailing through the air! +None of them were wounded, but they were bruised, wrenched, and their +nice clothes covered with dirt. + +At night there was a storm, with vivid lightning and heavy thunder. The +mortars kept up their fire. It was a sublime spectacle,--earth against +heaven, but the artillery of the skies was the best. + +You would have given a great deal, I dare say, to have seen all this; +but there is another side to the story. Can you eat dirt? Can you eat +grease in all its forms,--baked, boiled, fried, simmered? Can you bear +variegated butter, variable in taste and smell? Can you get along with +ham, hash, and beans for breakfast, beans, hash, and ham for dinner, and +hash, ham, and beans for supper, week after week, with fat in all its +forms, with cakes solid enough for grape-shot to fire at the Rebels, +with blackest coffee and the nearest available cow fifty miles +off?--with sour molasses, greasy griddle-cakes, with Mississippi water +thick with the filth of the great valley of the West, with slime from +the Cincinnati slaughter-houses, sweepings from the streets, slops from +the steamboats, with all the miasma and mould of the forests? The +fairest countenance soon changes to a milk and molasses color, and +energy lags, and strength becomes weakness under such living. + +In boyhood, at the sound of a bugle, a drum, or the roar of a cannon, +how leaped the blood through my veins! But it becomes an old story. I +was quartered within a stone's-throw of the mortars, which fired all +night long, and was not disturbed by the explosions. One becomes +indifferent to everything. You get tired of watching the cannonade, and +become so accustomed to the fire of the enemy, that after a while you do +not heed a shot that ploughs up the dirt or strikes the water near at +hand. + +General Pope sent word, that, if he had transports and a gunboat, he +could cross to the Tennessee shore and take the batteries in the rear. +The river was very high and the country overflowed. Near New Madrid +there is a bayou, which is the outlet of a small lake. It was determined +to cut a canal through the forest to the lake. Colonel Bissell with his +regiment of engineers went to work. Four steamboats were fitted up, two +barges, with cannon on board, were taken in tow, and the expedition +started. They sailed over a cornfield, where the tall stalks were waving +and swinging in the water, steamed over fences, and came to the woods. +There were great trees, which must be cut away. The engineers rigged +their saws for work under water. The path was fifty feet wide and the +trees were cut off four feet below the surface. In eight days they cut +their way to New Madrid, a distance of twelve miles. In one place they +cut off seventy-five trees, all of which were more than two feet in +diameter. + +While this was doing, Commodore Foote kept the Rebels awake by a regular +and continuous bombardment, mainly upon the upper battery. He determined +to capture it. + +On the night of the 1st of April, an armed expedition is fitted out from +the squadron and the land forces. There are five boats, manned by picked +crews from the gunboats, carrying forty men of the Forty-second +Illinois, under command of Colonel Roberts. The party numbers one +hundred. It is a wild night. The wind blows a gale from the south, +swaying the great trees of the forest and tossing up waves upon the +swift-running river, which boils, bubbles, dashes, and foams in the +storm. There are vivid lightning flashes, growls and rolls of deep, +heavy thunder. The boats cast off from the fleet. The oars have been +muffled. No words are spoken. The soldiers sit, each with his gun half +raised to his shoulder and his hand upon the lock. The spray dashes over +them, sheets of flame flash in their faces. All the landscape for a +moment is as light as day, and then all is pitch darkness. + +Onward faster and faster they sweep, driven by the strong arms of the +rowers and the current. It is a stealthy, noiseless, rapid, tempestuous, +dangerous, daring enterprise. They are tossed by the waves, but they +glide with the rapidity of a race-horse. Two sentinels stand upon the +parapet. A few rods in rear is a regiment of Rebels. A broad +lightning-flash reveals the descending boats. The sentinels fire their +guns, but they are mimic flashes. + +"Lay in quick!" shouts Colonel Roberts. + +The oars bend in the row-locks. A stroke, and they are beside the +parapet, climbing up the slippery bank. The sentinels run. There is a +rattling fire from pistols and muskets; but the shots fall harmlessly in +the forest. A moment,--and all the guns are spiked. There is a commotion +in the woods. The sleeping Rebels are astir. They do not rally to drive +back the invaders, but are fleeing in the darkness. + +Colonel Roberts walks from gun to gun, to see if the work has been +effectually accomplished. + +"All right! All aboard! Push off!" He is the last to leave. The boats +head up-stream. The rowers bend to their oars. In a minute they are +beyond musket range. Their work is accomplished, and there will be no +more firing from that six-gun battery. Now the gunboats can move nearer +and begin their work upon the remaining batteries. + +In the morning General Mackall was much chagrined when he found out what +had been done by the Yankees. It is said he used some hard words. He +flew into a rage, and grew red in the face, which did not help the +matter in the least. + +At midnight, on the night of the 3d of April, the Carondelet, commanded +by Captain Walke, ran past the batteries and the island. It was a dark, +stormy night. But the sentinels saw her coming down in the darkness, and +every cannon was brought to bear upon the vessel. Shells burst around +her; solid shot, grape, and canister swept over her; but she was not +struck, although exposed to the terrific fire over thirty minutes. We +who remained with the fleet waited in breathless suspense to hear her +three signal-guns, which were to be fired if she passed safely. They +came,--boom! boom! boom! She was safe. We cheered, hurrahed, and lay +down to sleep, to dream it all over again. + +The Carondelet reached New Madrid. The soldiers of General Pope's army +rushed to the bank, and gave way to the wildest enthusiasm. + +"Three cheers for the Carondelet!" shouted one. Their caps went into the +air, they swung their arms, and danced in ecstasy. + +"Three more for Commodore Foote!" + +"Now three more for Captain Walke!" + +"Three more for the Navy!" + +"Three more for the Cabin-Boy!" + +So they went on cheering and shouting for everything till they were +hoarse. + +The next day the Carondelet went down the river as far as Point +Pleasant, had an engagement with several batteries on the Tennessee +shore, silenced them, landed and spiked the guns. The next night the +Pittsburg, Captain Thompson ran the blockade safely. The four steamboats +which had worked their way through the canal were all ready. The Tenth, +Sixteenth, Twenty-first, and Fifty-first Illinois regiments were taken +on board. The Rebels had a heavy battery on the other side of the river, +at a place called Watson's Landing. The Carondelet and Pittsburg went +ahead, opened fire, and silenced it. The steamers advanced. The Rebels +saw the preparations and fled towards Tiptonville. By midnight General +Pope had all his troops on the Tennessee shore. General Paine, +commanding those in advance, pushed on towards Tiptonville and took +possession of all the deserted camps. The Rebels had fled in confusion, +casting away their guns, knapsacks, clothing, everything, to escape. +When the troops in the batteries heard what was going on in their rear, +they also fled towards Tiptonville. General Pope came up with them the +next morning and captured all who had not escaped. General Mackall and +two other generals, nearly seven thousand prisoners, one hundred and +twenty-three pieces of artillery, seven thousand small arms, and an +immense amount of ammunition and supplies fell into the hands of General +Pope. The troops on the island, finding that they were deserted, +surrendered to Commodore Foote. It was almost a bloodless victory, but +one of great importance, opening the Mississippi River down to Fort +Pillow, forty miles above Memphis. + +When the State of Tennessee was carried out of the Union by the +treachery of Governor Harris, and other men in high official position, +there were some men in the western part of the State, as well as the +eastern, who remained loyal. Those who were suspected of loving the +Union suffered terrible persecutions. Among them was a citizen of Purdy. +His name was Hurst. He told me the story of his wrongs. + +Soon after the State seceded, he was visited by a number of men who +called themselves a vigilance committee. They were fierce-looking +fellows, armed with pistols and knives. + +"We want you to come with us," said the leader of the gang. + +"What do you want of me?" + +"We will let you know when you get there." + +Mr. Hurst knew that they wanted to take him before their own +self-elected court, and went without hesitation. + +He was questioned, but would not commit himself by any positive answer, +and, as they could not prove he was in favor of the Union, they allowed +him to go home. + +But the ruffians were not satisfied, and in a few days had him up again. +They tried hard to prove that he was opposed to the Confederacy, but he +had kept about his own business, had refrained from talking, and they +could not convict him. They allowed him to go for several months. One +day, in September, 1861, while at work in his field, the ruffians came +again. Their leader had a red face, bloated with whiskey, chewed +tobacco, had two pistols in his belt, and a long knife in a sheath. He +wore a slouched hat, and was a villanous-looking fellow. + +"Come, you scoundrel. We will fix you this time," said the captain of +the band. + +"What do you want of me?" + +"You are an Abolitionist,--a Yankee spy. That's what you are. We'll make +you stretch hemp this time," they said, seizing him and marching him +into town, with their pistols cocked. Six or eight of them were ready to +shoot him if he should attempt to escape. They called all who did not go +for secession Abolitionists. + +"I am not an Abolitionist," said Hurst. + +"None of your sass. We know what you are, and if you don't hold your +jaw, we will stop it for you." + +They marched him through the village, and the whole population turned +out to see him. He was taken to the jail, and thrust into a cage, so +small that he could not lie down,--a vile, filthy place. The jailer was +a brutal, hard-hearted man,--a rabid secessionist. He chuckled with +delight when he turned the key on Hurst. He was kept in the cage two +days, and then taken to Nashville, where he was tried before a military +court. + +He was charged with being opposed to the Confederacy, and in favor of +the Union; also that he was a spy. + +Among his accusers were some secessionists who owed him a grudge. They +invented lies, swore that Hurst was in communication with the Yankees, +and gave them information of all the movements of the Rebels. This was +months before General Grant attacked Donelson, and Hurst was two hundred +miles from the nearest post of the Union army; but such was the hatred +of the secessionists, and they were so bloodthirsty, that they were +ready to hang all who did not hurrah for Jeff Davis and the Confederacy. +He was far from home. He was not permitted to have any witnesses, and +his own word was of no value in their estimation. He was condemned to be +hung as a spy. + +They took him out to a tree, put the rope round his neck, when some of +his old acquaintances, who were not quite so hardened as his accusers, +said that the evidence was not sufficient to hang him. They took him +back to the court. He came under heavy bonds to report himself often and +prove his whereabouts. + +He was released, and went home, but his old enemies followed him, and +dogged him day and night. + +He discovered that he was to be again arrested. He told his boy to +harness his horse quick, and take him to a side street, near an +apothecary's shop. He looked out of the window, and saw a file of +soldiers approaching to arrest him. He slipped out of the back door, +gained the street, and walked boldly through the town. + +"There he goes!" said a fellow smoking a cigar on the steps of the +hotel. A crowd rushed out of the bar-room to see him. They knew that he +was to be arrested; they expected he would be hung. + +As he walked into the apothecary's shop, he saw his boy coming down the +alley with his horse. He did not dare to go down the alley to meet him, +for the crowd would see his attempt to escape. They saw him enter the +door, and rushed across the street to see the fun when the soldiers +should arrive. + +"Come in here," he said to the apothecary, as he stepped into a room in +the rear, from which a door opened into the alley. + +The apothecary followed him, wondering what he wanted. + +Hurst drew a pistol from his pocket, and held it to the head of the +apothecary, and said, "If you make any noise, I will blow your brains +out!" He opened the door, and beckoned to his boy, who rode up. "I have +four friends who are aiding me to escape," said he. "They will be the +death of you if you give the alarm; but if you remain quiet, they will +not harm you." He sprang upon his horse, galloped down the alley, and +was gone. + +The apothecary dared not give the alarm, and was very busy about his +business when the soldiers came to arrest Hurst. + +When they found he was gone, they started in pursuit, but were not able +to overtake him. He made his way to the woods, and finally reached the +Union army. + +When General Lewis Wallace's division entered the town of Purdy, Hurst +accompanied it. He asked General Wallace for a guard, to make an +important arrest. His request was granted. He went to the jail, found +the jailer, and demanded his keys. The jailer gave them up. Hurst +unlocked the cage, and there he found a half-starved slave, who had been +put in for no crime, but to keep him from running away to the Union +army. + +He released the slave and told him to go where he pleased. The colored +man could hardly stand, he was so cramped and exhausted by his long +confinement and want of food. + +"Step in there!" said Hurst to the jailer. The jailer shrunk back. + +"Step in there, you scoundrel!" said Hurst, more determinedly. + +"You don't mean to put me in there, Hurst!" said the jailer, almost +whining. + +"Step in, I say, or I'll let daylight through you!" He seized a gun from +one of the soldiers and pricked the jailer a little with the bayonet, to +let him know that he was in earnest. The other soldiers fenced him round +with a glittering line of sharp steel points. They chuckled, and thought +it capital fun. + +The jailer stepped in, whining and begging, and saying that he never +meant to harm Hurst. Having got him inside, Hurst locked the door, put +the key in his pocket, dismissed the soldiers, and went away. He was +gone two days, and when he returned, _had lost the key_! + +The cage was built of oak logs, and bolted so firmly with iron that it +took half a day, with axes, to get the jailer out. He never troubled +Hurst again, who joined the Union army as a scout, and did excellent +service, for he was well acquainted with the country. + +While operations were going on at Island No. 10, I went up the river one +day, and visited the hospitals at Mound City and Paducah. In one of the +wards a surgeon was dressing the arm of a brave young Irishman, who was +very jolly. His arm had been torn by a piece of shell, but he did not +mind it much. The surgeon was performing an operation which was painful. + +"Does it hurt, Patrick?" he asked. + +"Ah! Doctor, ye nadent ask such a question as that; but if ye'll just +give me a good drink of whiskey, ye may squeeze it all day long." + +He made up such a comical face that the sick and wounded all around him +laughed. It did them good, and Patrick knew it, and so, in the kindness +of his heart, he kept on making up faces, and never uttered a word of +complaint. + +"He is a first-rate patient," said the surgeon as we passed along. "He +keeps up good spirits all the time, and that helps all the rest." + +In another part of the hospital was one of Birges's sharpshooters, who +did such excellent service, you remember, at Fort Donelson. He was a +brave and noble boy. There were several kind ladies taking care of the +sick. Their presence was like sunshine. Wherever they walked the eyes of +the sufferers followed them. One of these ladies thus speaks of little +Frankie Bragg:-- + + "Many will remember him; the boy of fifteen, who fought + valiantly at Donelson,--one of the bravest of Birges's + sharpshooters, and whose answer to my questioning in regard + to joining the army was so well worthy of record. + + "'_I joined, because I was so young and strong, and because + life would be worth nothing to me unless I offered it for my + country!_'"[26] + +[Footnote 26: Hospital Incidents, New York Post, October 22, 1863.] + +How noble! There are many strong men who have done nothing for their +country, and there are some who enjoy all the blessings of a good +government, who are willing to see it destroyed rather than lift a +finger to save it. Their names shall go out in oblivion, but little +Frankie Bragg shall live forever! His body lies in the hospital ground +at Paducah, but the pure patriotism which animated him, and the words he +uttered, will never die! + +The good lady who took care of him writes:-- + + "I saw him die. I can never forget the pleading gaze of his + violet eyes, the brow from which ringlets of light-brown hair + were swept by strange fingers bathed in the death-dew, the + desire for some one to care for him, some one to love him in + his last hours. I came to his side, and he clasped my hand in + his own, fast growing cold and stiff. + + "'O, I am going to die, and there is no one to love me,' he + said. 'I did not think I was going to die till now; but it + can't last long. If my sisters were only here; but I have no + friends near me now, and it is so hard!' + + "'Frankie,' I said, 'I know it is hard to be away from your + relatives, but you are not friendless; I am your friend. Mrs. + S---- and the kind Doctor are your friends, and we will all + take care of you. More than this, God is your friend, and he + is nearer to you now than either of us can get. Trust him, my + boy. He will help you.' + + "A faint smile passed over the pale sufferer's features. + + "'O, do you think he will?' he asked. + + "Then, as he held my hands closer, he turned his face more + fully toward me, and said: 'My mother taught me to pray when + I was a very little boy, and I never forgot it. I have always + said my prayers every day, and tried not to be bad. Do you + think God heard me always?' + + "'Yes, most assuredly. Did he not promise, in his good Book, + from which your mother taught you, that he would always hear + the prayers of his children? Ask, and ye shall receive. Don't + you remember this? One of the worst things we can do is to + doubt God's truth. He has promised, and he will fulfil. Don't + you feel so, Frankie?' + + "He hesitated a moment, and then answered, slowly: 'Yes, I do + believe it. I am not afraid to die, but I want somebody to + love me.' + + "The old cry for love, the strong yearning for the sympathy + of kindred hearts. It would not be put down. + + "'Frankie, I love you. Poor boy! you shall not be left alone. + Is not this some comfort to you?' + + "'Do you love me? Will you stay with me, and not leave me?' + + "'I will not leave you. Be comforted, I will stay as long as + you wish.' + + "I kissed the pale forehead as if it had been that of my own + child. A glad light flashed over his face. + + "'O, kiss me again; that was given like my sister. Mrs. + S----, won't you kiss me, too? I don't think it will be so + hard to die, if you will both love me.' + + "It did not last long. With his face nestled against mine, + and his large blue eyes fixed in perfect composure upon me to + the last moment, he breathed out his life." + +So he died for his country. He sleeps on the banks of the beautiful +Ohio. Men labor hard for riches, honor, and fame, but few, when life is +over, will leave a nobler record than this young Christian patriot. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +FROM FORT PILLOW TO MEMPHIS. + + +On the 6th of May, 1861, the Legislature of Tennessee, in secret +session, voted that the State should secede from the Union. The next +day, Governor Harris appointed three Commissioners to meet Mr. Hilliard, +of Alabama, who had been sent by Jefferson Davis to make a league with +the State. These Commissioners agreed that all the troops of the State +should be under the control of the President of the Confederacy. All of +the public property and naval stores and munitions of war were also +turned over to the Confederacy. The people had nothing to do about it. +The conspirators did not dare to trust the matter to them, for a great +many persons in East Tennessee were ardently attached to the Union. In +Western Tennessee, along the Mississippi, nearly all of the people, on +the other hand, were in favor of secession. + +At Memphis they were very wild and fierce. Union men were mobbed, tarred +and feathered, ridden on rails, had their heads shaved, were robbed, +knocked down, and warned to leave the place or be hung. One man was +headed up in a hogshead, and rolled into the river, because he stood up +for the Union! Memphis was a hotbed of secessionists; it was almost as +bad as Charleston. + +A Memphis newspaper, of the 6th of May, said:-- + + "Tennessee is disenthralled at last. Freedom has again + crowned her with a fresh and fadeless wreath. She will do her + entire duty. Great sacrifices are demanded of her, and they + will be cheerfully made. Her blood and treasure are offered + without stint at the shrine of Southern freedom. She counts + not the cost at which independence may be bought. The gallant + volunteer State of the South, her brave sons, now rushing to + the standard of the Southern Confederacy, will sustain, by + their unflinching valor and deathless devotion, her ancient + renown achieved on so many battle-fields. + + "In fact, our entire people--men, women, and children--have + engaged in this fight, and are animated by the single heroic + and indomitable resolve to perish rather than submit to the + despicable invader now threatening us with subjugation. They + will ratify the ordinance of secession amid the smoke and + carnage of battle; they will write out their indorsement of + it with the blood of their foe; they will enforce it at the + point of the bayonet and sword. + + "Welcome, thrice welcome, glorious Tennessee, to the thriving + family of Southern Confederate States!"[27] + +[Footnote 27: Memphis Avalanche.] + +On the same day the citizens of Memphis tore down the Stars and Stripes +from its staff upon the Court-House, formed a procession, and with a +band of music bore the flag, like a corpse, to a pit, and buried it in +mock solemnity. They went into the public square, where stands the +statue of General Jackson, and chiselled from its pedestal his memorable +words: "The Federal Union,--it must be preserved." They went to the +river-bank, and seized all the steamboats they could lay their hands +upon belonging to Northern men. + +They resolved to build a fleet of gunboats, which would ascend the river +to St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg, and compel the people of those +cities to pay tribute, for the privilege of navigating the river to the +Gulf. + +The entire population engaged in the enterprise. The ladies held fairs +and gave their jewelry. The citizens organized themselves into a gunboat +association. When the boats were launched, the ladies, with appropriate +ceremonies, dedicated them to the Confederacy. They urged their +husbands, brothers, sons, and friends to enlist in the service, and the +young man who hesitated received presents of hoop-skirts, petticoats, +and other articles of female wearing apparel. + +Eight gunboats were built. Commodore Hollins, as you have seen, +commanded them. He attempted to drive back General Pope at New Madrid, +but failed. He went to New Orleans, and Captain Montgomery was placed in +command. + +When Commodore Foote and General Pope took Island No. 10, those that +escaped of the Rebels fell back to Fort Pillow, about forty miles above +Memphis. It was a strong position, and Commodore Foote made but little +effort to take it, but waited for the advance of General Halleck's army +upon Corinth. While thus waiting, one foggy morning, several of the +Rebel gunboats made a sudden attack upon the Cincinnati, and nearly +disabled her before they were beaten back. Meanwhile, Commodore Foote, +finding that his wound, received at Donelson, was growing worse, was +recalled by the Secretary of the Navy, and Commodore Charles Henry +Davis, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was placed in command. + +Besides the gunboats on the Mississippi, was Colonel Ellet's fleet of +rams,--nine in all. They were old steamboats, with oaken bulwarks three +feet thick, to protect the boilers and engines. Their bows had been +strengthened with stout timbers and iron bolts, and they had iron prows +projecting under water. They carried no cannon, but were manned by +sharpshooters. There were loop-holes through the timbers for the +riflemen. The pilot-house was protected by iron plates. They joined the +fleet at Fort Pillow. + +The river is very narrow in front of the fort,--not more than a third of +its usual width. It makes a sharp bend. The channel is deep, and the +current rushes by like a mill-race. The Tennessee shore was lined with +batteries on the bluff, which made it a place much stronger than +Columbus or Island No. 10. But when General Beauregard was forced to +evacuate Corinth, the Rebels were also compelled to leave Fort Pillow. +For two or three days before the evacuation, they kept up a heavy fire +upon the fleet. + +On the 3d of June,--a hot, sultry day,--just before night, a huge bank +of clouds rolled up from the south. There had been hardly a breath of +air through the day, but now the wind blew a hurricane. The air was +filled with dust, whirled up from the sand-bars. When the storm was at +its height, I was surprised to see two of the rams run down past the +point of land which screened them from the batteries, vanishing from +sight in the distant cloud. They went to ascertain what the Rebels were +doing. There was a sudden waking up of heavy guns. The batteries were in +a blaze. The cloud was thick and heavy, and the rams returned, but the +Rebel cannon still thundered, throwing random shots into the river, two +or three at a time, firing as if the Confederacy had tons of ammunition +to spare. + +The dust-cloud, with its fine, misty rain, rolled away. The sun shone +once more, and bridged the river with a gorgeous arch of green and gold, +which appeared a moment, and then faded away, as the sun went down +behind the western woods. While we stood admiring the scene, a Rebel +steamer came round the point to see what we were about. It was a black +craft, bearing the flag of the Confederacy at her bow. She turned +leisurely, stopped her wheels, and looked at us audaciously. The +gunboats opened fire. The Rebel steamer took her own time, unmindful of +the shot and shell falling and bursting all around her, then slowly +disappeared beyond the headland. It was a challenge for a fight. It was +not accepted, for Commodore Davis was not disposed to be cut up by the +shore-batteries. + +The next day there were lively times at the fort. A cannonade was kept +up on Commodore Davis's fleet, which was vigorously answered. We little +thought that this was to blind us to what was going on. At sunset the +Rebels set fire to their barracks. There were great pillars of flame and +smoke in and around the fort. The southern sky was all aglow. +Occasionally there were flashes and explosions, sudden puffs of smoke, +spreading out like flakes of cotton or fleeces of white and crimson +wool. It was a gorgeous sight. + +In the morning we found that the Rebels had gone, spiking their cannon +and burning their supplies. That which had cost them months of hard +labor was abandoned, and the river was open to Memphis. + +On the 5th of June, Commodore Davis's fleet left Fort Pillow for +Memphis. I was sitting at dinner with the Commodore and Captain Phelps, +on board the Benton, when an orderly thrust his head into the cabin, and +said, "Sir, there is a fine large steamer ahead of us." + +We are on deck in an instant. The boatswain is piping all hands to +quarters. There is great commotion. + +"Out with that gun! Quick!" shouted Lieutenant Bishop. The brave tars +seize the ropes, the trucks creak, and the great eleven-inch gun, +already loaded, is out in a twinkling. Men are bringing up shot and +shell. The deck is clearing of all superfluous furniture. + +There she is, a mile distant, a beautiful steamer, head up-stream. She +sees us, and turns her bow. Her broadside comes round, and we read +"Sovereign" upon her wheelhouse. We are on the upper deck, and the +muzzle of the eleven-inch gun is immediately beneath us. A great flash +comes in our faces. We are in a cloud, stifled, stunned, gasping for +breath, our ears ringing; but the cloud is blown away, and we see the +shot throw up the water a mile beyond the Sovereign. Glorious! We will +have her. Another, not so good. Another, still worse. + +The Louisville, Carondelet, and Cairo open fire. But the Sovereign is a +fast sailer, and is increasing the distance. + +"The Spitfire will catch her!" says the pilot. A wave of the hand, and +the Spitfire is alongside, running up like a dog to its master. +Lieutenant Bishop, Pilot Bixby, and a gun crew jump on board the tug, +which carries a boat howitzer. Away they go, the tug puffing and +wheezing, as if it had the asthma. + +"Through the _chute_!" shouts Captain Phelps. _Chute_ is a French word, +meaning a narrow passage, not the main channel of the river. The +Sovereign is in the main channel, but the Spitfire has the shortest +distance. The tug cuts the water like a knife. She comes out just astern +of the steamer. + +Bang! goes the howitzer. The shot falls short. Bang! again in a +twinkling. Better. Bang! It goes over the Sovereign. + +"Hurrah! Bishop will get her!" The crews of the gunboats dance with +delight, and swing their caps. Bang! Right through her cabin. The +Sovereign turns towards the shore, and runs plump against the bank. The +crew, all but the cook, take to the woods, and the steamer is ours. + +It would astonish you to see how fast a well-drilled boat's-crew can +load and fire a howitzer. Commodore Foote informed me that, when he was +in the China Sea, he was attacked by the natives, and his boat's-crew +fired four times a minute! + +The chase for the Sovereign was very exciting,--more so than any +horse-race I ever saw. + +The crew on board the Sovereign had been stopping at all the farm-houses +along the river, setting fire to the cotton on the plantations. They did +it in the name of the Confederate government, that it might not fall +into the hands of the Yankees. In a great many places they had rolled it +into the river, and the stream was covered with white flakes. The bushes +were lined with it. + +As soon as the people along the banks saw the Federal steamboats, they +went to work to save their property. Some of them professed to be Union +men. I conversed with an old man, who was lame, and could hardly hobble +round. He spoke bitterly against Jeff Davis for burning his cotton and +stealing all his property. + +While descending the river, we saw a canoe, containing two men, push out +from a thick canebrake. They came up to the Benton. We thought they were +Rebels, at first, but soon saw they were two pilots belonging to the +fleet, who had started the day before for Vicksburg, to pilot Commodore +Farragut's fleet to Memphis. They had been concealed during the day, not +daring to move. The evacuation of Fort Pillow rendered it unnecessary +for them to continue the voyage. They said that eight Rebel gunboats +were a short distance below us. + +We moved on slowly, and came to anchor about nine o'clock, near a place +called by all the rivermen Paddy's Hen and Chickens, about two miles +above Memphis. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS. + + +On the evening of the 5th of June, while we were lying above Memphis, +Commodore Montgomery, commanding the fleet of Rebel gunboats built by +the citizens and ladies of Memphis, was making a speech in the Gayoso +Hall of that city. There was great excitement. It was known at noon that +Fort Pillow was evacuated. The stores were immediately closed. Some +people commenced packing up their goods to leave,--expecting that the +city would be burned if the Yankees obtained possession. Commodore +Montgomery said:-- + +"I have no intention of retreating any farther. I have come here, that +you may see Lincoln's gunboats sent to the bottom by the fleet which you +built and manned." + +The rabble cheered him, and believed his words. On the morning of the +6th, one of the newspapers assured the people that the Federal fleet +would not reach the city. It said:-- + + "All obstructions to their progress are not yet removed, and + probably will not be. The prospect is very good for a grand + naval engagement which shall eclipse anything ever seen + before. There are many who would like the engagement to + occur, who do not much relish the prospect of its occurring + very near the city. They think deeper water and scope and + verge enough for such an encounter may be found farther up + the river. All, however, are rejoiced to learn that Memphis + will not fall till conclusions are first tried on water, and + at the cannon's mouth."[28] + +[Footnote 28: Memphis Avalanche, June 6, 1862] + +I was awake early enough to see the brightening of the morning. Never +was there a lovelier daybreak. The woods were full of song-birds. The +air was balmy. A few light clouds, fringed with gold, lay along the +eastern horizon. + +The fleet of five gunboats was anchored in a line across the river. The +Benton was nearest the Tennessee shore, next was the Carondelet, then +the Louisville, St. Louis, and, lastly, the Cairo. Near by the Cairo, +tied up to the Arkansas shore, were the Queen City and the Monarch,--two +of Colonel Ellet's rams. The tugs Jessie Benton and Spitfire hovered +near the Benton, Commodore Davis's flag-ship. It was their place to be +within call, to carry orders to the other boats of the fleet. + +Before sunrise the anchors were up, and the boats kept their position in +the stream by the slow working of the engines. + +Commodore Davis waved his hand, and the Jessie Benton was alongside the +flag-ship in a moment. + +"Drop down towards the city, and see if you can discover the Rebel +fleet," was the order. + +I jumped on board the tug. Below us was the city. The first rays of the +sun were gilding the church-spires. A crowd of people stood upon the +broad levee between the city and the river. They were coming from all +the streets, on foot, on horseback, in carriages,--men, women, and +children--ten thousand, to see Lincoln's gunboats sent to the bottom. +Above the court-house, and from flagstaffs, waved the flag of the +Confederacy. A half-dozen river steamers lay at the landing, but the +Rebel fleet was not in sight. At our right hand was the wide marsh on +the tongue of land where Wolfe River empties into the Mississippi. Upon +our left were the cotton-trees and button-woods, and the village of +Hopedale at the terminus of the Little Rock and Memphis Railroad. We +dropped slowly down the stream, the tug floating in the swift current, +running deep and strong as it sweeps past the city. + +The crowd increased. The levee was black with the multitude. The windows +were filled. The flat roofs of the warehouses were covered with the +excited throng, which surged to and fro as we upon the tug came down +into the bend, almost within talking distance. + +Suddenly a boat came out from the Arkansas shore, where it had been +lying concealed from view behind the forest,--another, another, eight of +them. They formed in two lines, in front of the city. + +Nearest the city, in the front line, was the General Beauregard; next, +the Little Rebel; then the General Price and the Sumter. In the second +line, behind the Beauregard, was the General Lovell; behind the Little +Rebel was the Jeff Thompson; behind the General Price was the General +Bragg; and behind the Sumter was the Van Dorn. + +These boats were armed as follows:-- + + General Beauregard, 4 guns + Little Rebel (flag-ship), 2 + General Price, 4 + Sumter, 3 + General Lovell, 4 + General Thompson, 4 + General Bragg, 3 + General Van Dorn, 4 + -- + Total, 28 + +The guns were nearly all rifled, and were of long range. They were +pivoted, and could be whirled in all directions. The boilers of the +boats were casemated and protected by iron plates, but the guns were +exposed. + +[Illustration: NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS, June 6, 1862. + + 1 Federal Gunboats. + 2,2 General Beauregard. + 3,3 Little Rebel. + 4,4 General Price. + 5,5 Sumter. + 6,6 General Lovell. + 7,7 General Thompson. + 8,8 General Bragg. + 9,9 General Van Dorn. + Q Queen City. + M Monarch.] + +The accompanying diagram will show you the position of both fleets at +the beginning and at the close of the engagement. + +Slowly and steadily they came into line. The Little Rebel moved through +the fleet, and Commodore Montgomery issued his orders to each captain in +person. + +The Benton and St. Louis dropped down towards the city, to protect the +tug. A signal brought us back, and the boats moved up-stream again, to +the original position. + +There was another signal from the flag-ship, and then on board all the +boats there was a shrill whistle. It was the boatswain piping all hands +to quarters. The drummer beat his roll, and the marines seized their +muskets. The sailors threw open the ports, ran out the guns, brought up +shot and shells, stowed away furniture, took down rammers and sponges, +seized their handspikes, stripped off their coats, rolled up their +sleeves, loaded the cannon, and stood by their pieces. Cutlasses and +boarding-pikes were distributed. Last words were said. They waited for +orders. + +"Let the men have their breakfasts," was the order from the flag-ship. + +Commodore Davis believed in fighting on full stomachs. Hot coffee, +bread, and beef were carried round to the men. + +The Rebel fleet watched us awhile. The crowd upon the shore increased. +Perhaps they thought the Yankees did not dare to fight. At length the +Rebel fleet began to move up-stream. + +"Round to; head down-stream; keep in line with the flag-ship," was the +order which we on board the Jessie Benton carried to each boat of the +line. We returned, and took our position between the Benton and +Carondelet. + +I stood on the top of the tug, beside the pilot-house. Stand with me +there, and behold the scene. The sun is an hour high, and its bright +rays lie in a broad line of silver light upon the eddying stream. You +look down the river to the city, and behold the housetops, the windows, +the levee, crowded with men, women, and children. The flag of the +Confederacy floats defiantly. The Rebel fleet is moving slowly towards +us. A dense cloud of smoke rolls up from the chimneys of the steamers, +and floats over the city. + +There is a flash, a puff from the Little Rebel, a sound of something +unseen in the air, and a column of water is thrown up a mile behind us. +A second shot, from the Beauregard, falls beside the Benton. A third, +from the Price, aimed at the Carondelet, misses by a foot or two, and +dashes up the water between the Jessie Benton and the flag-ship. It is a +sixty-four-pounder. If it had struck us, our boat would have been +splintered to kindlings in an instant. + +Commodore Montgomery sees that the boats of the Federal fleet have their +iron-plated bows up-stream. He comes up rapidly, to crush them at the +stern, where there are no iron plates. A signal goes up from the Benton, +and the broadsides begin to turn towards the enemy. The crowd upon the +levee think that the Federal boats are retreating, and hurrah for +Commodore Montgomery. + +There has been profound silence on board the Union gunboats. The men are +waiting for the word. It comes. + +"Open fire, and take close quarters." + +The Cairo begins. A ten-inch shot screams through the air, and skips +along the water towards the Little Rebel. Another, from the St. Louis. A +third, from the Louisville. Another, from the Carondelet, and lastly, +from the Benton. The gunners crouch beside their guns, to track the +shot. Some are too high, some too low. There is an answering roar from +all the Rebel boats. The air is full of indescribable noises. The water +boils and bubbles around us. It is tossed up in columns and jets. There +are sudden flashes overhead, explosions, and sulphurous clouds, and +whirring of ragged pieces of iron. The uproar increases. The cannonade +reverberates from the high bluff behind the city to the dark-green +forest upon the Arkansas shore, and echoes from bend to bend. + +The space between the fleets is gradually lessening. The Yankees are not +retreating, but advancing. A shot strikes the Little Rebel. One tears +through the General Price. Another through the General Bragg. Commodore +Montgomery is above the city, and begins to fall back. He is not ready +to come to close quarters. Fifteen minutes pass by, but it seems not +more than two. How fast one lives at such a time! All of your senses are +quickened. You see everything, hear everything. The blood rushes through +your veins. Your pulse is quickened. You long to get at the enemy,--to +sweep over the intervening space, lay your boat alongside, pour in a +broadside, and knock them to pieces in a twinkling! You care nothing for +the screaming of the shot, the bursting of the shells. You have got over +all that. You have but one thought,--_to tear down that hateful +flaunting flag, to smite the enemies of your country into the dust_! + +While this cannonade was going on, I noticed the two rams casting loose +from the shore. I heard the tinkle of the engineer's bell for more fire +and a full head of steam. The sharpshooters took their places. The Queen +came out from the shelter of the great cottonwoods, crossed the river, +and passed down between the Benton and Carondelet. Colonel Ellet stood +beside the pilot, and waved his hand to us on board the Jessie Benton. +The Monarch was a little later, and, instead of following in the wake of +the Queen, passed between the Cairo and the St. Louis. + +See the Queen! Her great wheels whirl up clouds of spray, and leave a +foaming path. She carries a silver train sparkling in the morning light. +She ploughs a furrow, which rolls the width of the river. Our boat +dances like a feather on the waves. She gains the intervening space +between the fleets. Never moved a Queen so determinedly, never one more +fleet,--almost leaping from the water. The Stars and Stripes stream to +the breeze beneath the black banner unfolding, expanding, and trailing +far away from her smoke-stacks. There is a surging, hissing, and +smothered screaming of the pent-up steam in her boilers, as if they had +put on all energy for the moment. They had;--flesh, blood, bones, iron, +brass, steel,--animate and inanimate,--were nerved up for the trial of +the hour! + +Officers and men behold her in astonishment and admiration. For a moment +there is silence. The men stand transfixed by their guns, forgetting +their duties. Then the Rebel gunners, as if moved by a common impulse, +bring their guns to bear upon her. She is exposed on the right, on the +left, and in front. It is a terrible cross-fire. Solid shot scream past. +Shells explode around her. She is pierced through and through. Her +timbers crack. She quivers beneath the shock, but does not falter. +On--on--faster--straight towards the General Beauregard. + +The commander of that vessel adroitly avoids the stroke. The Queen +misses her aim. She sweeps by like a race-horse, receiving the fire of +the Beauregard on one side and the Little Rebel on the other. She comes +round in a graceful curve, almost lying down upon her side, as if to +cool her heated smoke-stacks in the stream. The stern guns of the +Beauregard send their shot through the bulwarks of the Queen. A splinter +strikes the brave commander, Colonel Ellet. He is knocked down, bruised, +and stunned for a moment, but springs to his feet, steadies himself +against the pilot-house, and gives his directions as coolly as if +nothing had happened. + +The Queen passes round the Little Rebel, and approaches the General +Price. + +"Take her aft the wheelhouse," says Colonel Ellet to the pilot. The +commander of the Price turns towards the approaching antagonist. Her +wheels turn. She surges ahead to escape the terrible blow. Too late. +There is a splintering, crackling, crashing of timbers. The broadside of +the boat is crushed in. It is no more than a box of cards or thin +tissue-paper before the terrible blow. + +There are jets of flame and smoke from the loop-holes of the Queen. The +sharpshooters are at it. You hear the rattling fire, and see the crew of +the Price running wildly over the deck, tossing their arms. The +unceasing thunder of the cannonade drowns their cries. A moment, and a +white flag goes up. The Price surrenders. + +But the Queen has another antagonist, the Beauregard. The Queen is +motionless, but the Beauregard sweeps down with all her powers. There is +another crash. The bulwarks of the Queen tremble before the stroke. +There is a great opening in her hull. But no white flag is displayed. +There are no cries for quarter, no thoughts of surrendering. The +sharpshooters pick off the gunners of the Beauregard, compelling them to +take shelter beneath their casemates. + +We who see it hold our breaths. We are unmindful of the explosions +around us. How will it end? Will the Queen sink with all her brave men +on board? + +But her consort is at hand, the Monarch, commanded by Captain Ellet, +brother of Colonel Ellet. He was five or ten minutes behind the Queen +in starting, but he has appeared at the right moment. He, too, has +been unmindful of the shot and shell falling around him. He aims +straight as an arrow for the Beauregard. The Beauregard is stiff, +stanch, and strong, but her timbers, planks, knees, and braces are +no more than laths before the powerful stroke of the Monarch. The +sharpshooters pour in their fire. The engineer of the Monarch puts his +force-pumps in play and drenches the decks of the Beauregard with +scalding water. An officer of the Beauregard raises a white cloth upon +a rammer. It is a signal for surrender. The sharpshooters stop firing. +There are the four boats, three of them floating helplessly in the +stream, the water pouring into the hulls, through the splintered +planking. + +Captain Ellet saw that the Queen was disabled, and took her in tow to +the Arkansas shore. Prompted by humanity, instead of falling upon the +other vessels of the fleet he took the General Price to the shore. + +The Little Rebel was pierced through her hull by a half-dozen shots. +Commodore Montgomery saw that the day was lost. He ran alongside the +Beauregard, and, notwithstanding the vessel had surrendered, took the +crew on board, to escape. But a shot from the Cairo passed through the +boilers. The steam rushed out like the hissing of serpents. The boat was +near the shore, and the crew jumped into the water, climbed the bank, +and fled to the woods. The Cairo gave them a broadside of shells as they +ran. + +The Beauregard was fast settling. The Jessie Benton ran alongside. All +had fled save the wounded. There was a pool of blood upon the deck. The +sides of the casemate were stained with crimson drops, yet warm from the +heart of a man who had been killed by a shell. + +"Help, quick!" was the cry of Captain Maynadier. + +We rushed on board in season to save a wounded officer. The vessel +settled slowly to the bottom. + +"I thank you," said the officer, "for saving me from drowning. You are +my enemies, but you have been kinder to me than those whom I called my +friends. One of my brother officers when he fled, had the meanness to +pick my pocket and steal my watch!" + +Thus those who begun by stealing public property, forts, and arsenals, +did not hesitate to violate their honor,--fleeing after surrendering, +forsaking their wounded comrade, robbing him of his valuables, and +leaving him to drown! + +There is no cessation of the cannonade. The fight goes on. The Benton is +engaged with the General Lovell. They are but a few rods apart, and both +within a stone's-throw of the multitude upon the shore. + +Captain Phelps stands by one of the Benton's rifled guns. He waits to +give a raking shot, runs his eye along the sights, and gives the word to +fire. The steel-pointed shot enters the starboard side of the hull, by +the water-line. Timbers, braces, planks, the whole side of the boat +seemingly, are torn out. + +The water pours in. The vessel settles to the guards, to the ports, to +the top of the casemate, reels, and with a lurch disappears. It is the +work of three minutes. + +The current sets swiftly along the shore. The plummet gives seventy-five +feet of water. The vessel goes down like a lump of lead. Her +terror-stricken crew are thrown into the current. It is an appalling +sight. A man with his left arm torn, broken, bleeding, and dangling by +his side, runs wildly over the deck. There is unspeakable horror in his +face. He beckons now to those on shore, and now to his friends on board +the boats. He looks imploringly to heaven, and calls for help. +Unavailing the cry. He disappears in the eddying whirlpool. A hundred +human beings are struggling for life, buffeting the current, raising +their arms, catching at sticks, straws, planks, and timbers. "Help! +help! help!" they cry. It is a wild wail of agony, mingled with the +cannonade. + +There is no help for them on shore. There, within a dozen rods, are +their friends, their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, +children, they who urged them to join the service, who compelled them to +enlist. All are powerless to aid them! + +They who stand upon the shore behold those whom they love defeated, +crushed, drowning, calling for help! It is an hour when heart-strings +are wrung. Tears, cries, prayers, efforts, all are unavailing. + +Commodore Davis beholds them. His heart is touched. "Save them, lads," +he says. + +The crews of the Benton and Carondelet rush to their boats. So eager are +they to save the struggling men that one of the boats is swamped in the +launching. Away they go, picking up one here, another there,--ten or +twelve in all. A few reach the shore and are helped up the bank by +lookers-on; but fifty or sixty sink to rise no more. How noble the act! +How glorious! Bright amid all the distress, all the horror, all the +infamous conduct of men who have forsworn themselves, will shine +forever, like a star of heaven, this act of humanity! + +The General Price, General Beauregard, Little Rebel, and General +Lovell--one half of the Rebel fleet--were disposed of. The other vessels +attempted to flee. The Union fleet had swept steadily on in an unbroken +line. Amid all the appalling scenes of the hour there was no lull in the +cannonade. While saving those who had lost all power of resistance, +there was no cessation of effort to crush those who still resisted. + +A short distance below the Little Rebel, the Jeff Thompson, riddled by +shot, and in flames, was run ashore. A little farther down-stream the +General Bragg was abandoned, also in flames from the explosion of a +nine-inch shell, thrown by the St. Louis. The crews leaped on shore, and +fled to the woods. The Sumter went ashore, near the Little Rebel. The +Van Dorn alone escaped. She was a swift steamer, and was soon beyond +reach of the guns of the fleet. + +The fight is over. The thunder of the morning dies away, and the birds +renew their singing. The abandoned boats are picked up. The Jeff +Thompson cannot be saved. The flames leap around the chimneys. The +boilers are heated to redness. A pillar of fire springs upward, in long +lances of light. The interior of the boat--boilers, beams of iron, +burning planks, flaming timbers, cannon-shot, shells--is lifted five +hundred feet in air, in an expanding, unfolding cloud, filled with loud +explosions. The scattered fragments rain upon forest, field, and river, +as if meteors of vast proportions had fallen from heaven to earth, +taking fire in their descent. There is a shock which shakes all Memphis, +and announces to the disappointed, terror-stricken, weeping, humiliated +multitude that the drama which they have played so madly for a +twelvemonth is over, that retribution for crime has come at last! + +Thus in an hour's time the Rebel fleet was annihilated. Commodore +Montgomery was to have sent the Union boats to the bottom; but his +expectations were not realized, his promises not fulfilled. It is not +known how many men were lost on the Rebel side, but probably from eighty +to a hundred. Colonel Ellet was the only one injured on board the Union +fleet. The gunboats were uninjured. The Queen of the West was the only +boat disabled. In striking contrast was the damage to Montgomery's +fleet:-- + + Sunk, General Price, 4 guns. + " General Beauregard, 4 " + " General Lovell, 4 " + Burned, Jeff Thompson, 4 " + Captured, General Bragg, 3 " + " Sumter, 3 " + " Little Rebel, 2 " + -- + 24 + +The bow guns of Commodore Davis's fleet only were used in the attack, +making sixteen guns in all brought to bear upon the Rebel fleet. The +Cairo and St. Louis fired broadsides upon the crews as they fled to the +woods. + + * * * * * + +The retreating of the Rebel fleet carried the Union gunboats several +miles below the city before the contest was over. At ten o'clock +Commodore Davis steamed back to the city. There stood the multitude, +confounded by what had taken place. A boat came off from the shore, +pulled by two oarsmen, and bringing a citizen, Dr. Dickerson, who waved +a white handkerchief. He was a messenger from the Mayor, tendering the +surrender of the city. There were some men in the crowd who shook their +fists at us, and cried, "O you blue-bellied Yankees! You devils! You +scoundrels!" We could bear it very well, after the events of the +morning. A few hurrahed for Jeff Davis, but the multitude made no +demonstration. + +A regiment landed, and marched up Monroe Street to the court-house. I +had the pleasure of accompanying the soldiers. The band played Yankee +Doodle and Hail Columbia. How proudly the soldiers marched! They halted +in front of the court-house. An officer went to the top of the building, +tore down the Rebel flag, and flung out the Stars and Stripes. + +Wild and hearty were the cheers of the troops. The buried flag had risen +from its grave, to wave forevermore,--the emblem of power, justice, +liberty, and law! + +Thus the Upper Mississippi was opened again to trade and the peaceful +pursuits of commerce. How wonderfully it was repossessed. The fleet lost +not a man at Island No. 10, not a man at New Madrid, not a man at Fort +Pillow, not a man at Memphis, by the fire of the Rebels! How often had +we been told that the strongholds of the Rebels were impregnable! How +often that the Union gunboats would be blown up by torpedoes, or sent to +the bottom by the batteries or by the Rebel fleet! How often that the +river would never be opened till the Confederacy was recognized as an +independent power! General Butler was in possession of New Orleans, +Memphis was held by Commodore Davis, and the mighty river was all but +open through its entire length to trade and navigation. In one year this +was accomplished. So moves a nation in a career unparalleled in history, +rescuing from the grasp of pirates and plunderers the garnered wealth of +centuries. + +In 1861, when Tennessee seceded, the steamer Platte Valley, owned in St. +Louis, belonging to the St. Louis and Memphis Steamboat Company, was the +last boat permitted to leave for the North. All others were stolen by +the secessionists, who repudiated the debts they owed Northern men. The +Platte Valley, commanded by Captain Wilcox, was in Commodore Davis's +fleet of transports. Captain Wilcox recognized some of his old +acquaintances in the crowd, and informed them that in a day or two he +would resume his regular trips between St. Louis and Memphis! They were +ready to send up cargoes of sugar and cotton. So trade accompanies the +flag of our country wherever it goes. + +This narrative which I have given you is very tame. Look at the scene +once more,--the early morning, the cloudless sky, the majestic river, +the hostile fleets, the black pall of smoke overhanging the city, the +forest, the stream, the moving of the boats, the terrific cannonade, the +assembled thousands, the glorious advance of the Queen and the Monarch, +the crashing and splintering of timbers, the rifle-shots, the sinking of +vessels, the cries of drowning men, the gallantry of the crews of the +Benton and Carondelet, the weeping and wailing of the multitude, the +burnings, the explosions, the earthquake shock, which shakes the city to +its foundations! These are the events of a single hour. Remember the +circumstances,--that the fight is before the city, before expectant +thousands, who have been invited to the entertainment,--the sinking of +the Union fleet,--that they are to see the prowess of their husbands, +brothers, and friends, that their strength is utter weakness,--that, +after thirteen months of robbery, outrage, and villany, the despised, +insulted flag of the Union rises from its burial, and waves once more +above them in stainless purity and glory! Take all under consideration, +if you would feel the moral sublimity of the hour! + +In these pages, my young friends, I have endeavored to make a +contribution of facts to the history of this great struggle of our +beloved country for national life. It has been my privilege to see other +engagements at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, and if this +book is acceptable to you, I hope to be able to tell the stories of +those terrible battles. + + THE END + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + +1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; +otherwise every effort has been made to be faithful to the author's +words and intent. + +2. In the edition from which this e-text has been transcribed, the +printers omitted the words "At a" from the 9th paragraph of Chapter IV. +The research staff at the University of Northern Colorado, Greely, +Colorado, were kind enough to locate their edition, and find the correct +words to commence the sentence. + +3. Page numbering in the List of Diagrams for "A Rebel Torpedo" has +been changed to reflect the illustration's final placement in this +e-text. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field, by +Charles Carleton Coffin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS AND NIGHTS ON BATTLEFIELD *** + +***** This file should be named 28571-8.txt or 28571-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/7/28571/ + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field + +Author: Charles Carleton Coffin + +Release Date: April 21, 2009 [EBook #28571] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS AND NIGHTS ON BATTLEFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>MY DAYS AND NIGHTS</h1> + +<h3>ON THE</h3> + +<h2>BATTLE-FIELD.</h2> + +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,</h3> + +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<p class="center">AUTHOR OF “STORY OF LIBERTY,” “BOYS OF ’76,” “OUR NEW WAY<br/> +ROUND THE WORLD,” “FOLLOWING THE FLAG,”<br /> “WINNING HIS WAY,” ETC.</p> + +<hr class="small" /> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h3>BOSTON</h3> + +<h4>DANA ESTES AND COMPANY</h4> + +<p class="center">PUBLISHERS</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p class="center"><a name="Copyright_1887" id="Copyright_1887"></a><i>Copyright, 1887,</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Estes and Lauriat</span></p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;"> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="353" height="500" alt="“The brigade goes down the road upon the run.”" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“The brigade goes down the road upon the run.”</span> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr> +<td align="right"><span class="smcap">Introductory </span></td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="right"><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">To the Youth of the United States.</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#INTRODUCTORY">1</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">Chap. I.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">How the Rebellion came about</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">3</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">II.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Gathering of a Great Army</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">22</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">III.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Battle of Bull Run</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">37</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IV.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Capture of Fort Henry</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">68</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">V.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Capture of Fort Donelson</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">89</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="add1em">Thursday</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#thursday">98</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="add1em">Friday</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#friday">104</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="add1em">Saturday</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#saturday">111</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VI.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Surrender</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">132</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VII.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Army at Pittsburg Landing</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">153</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VIII.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Battle of Pittsburg Landing</span></td> +<td align="right"> </td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="add1em">From Daybreak till Ten o’clock</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">171</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="add1em">From Ten o’clock till Four</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#tenoclock">197</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="add1em">Sunday Evening</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#evening">205</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"><span class="add1em">Monday</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_216">216</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IX.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Evacuation of Columbus</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">229</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">X.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Operations at New Madrid</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">237</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XI.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Operations at Island Number Ten</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">247</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XII.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">From Fort Pillow to Memphis</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">281</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XIII.</td> +<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Naval Fight at Memphis</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">291</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="LIST_OF_DIAGRAMS" id="LIST_OF_DIAGRAMS"></a>LIST OF DIAGRAMS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" summary="DIAGRAMS"> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="right">Page</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Bull Run Battle-Ground</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Fight at Blackburn’s Ford</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#blackburn">62</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Country around Fort Henry and Fort Donelson</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#forts">69</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Fort Henry</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#forthenry">81</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Fort Donelson</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#fortdonelson">95</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Attack on McClernand</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#mcclernand">114</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Second Engagement</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#second">123</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Charge of Lauman’s Brigade</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#laumanbrigade">128</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Disposition of Troops at the Beginning of the Battle</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Fight at the Ravine</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#ravine">208</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">A Rebel Torpedo</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#torpedo">230</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Island No. 10</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#islandten">239</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">A Mortar</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#mortar">248</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">The Naval Fight at Memphis</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#memphis">295</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="MILITARY_TERMS" id="MILITARY_TERMS"></a>MILITARY TERMS.</h2> + +<p><i>Abatis.</i>—Trees cut down, their branches made sharp, and used to block +a road, or placed in front of fortifications.</p> + +<p><i>Advance.</i>—Any portion of an army which is in front of the rest.</p> + +<p><i>Aides-de-camp.</i>—Officers selected by general officers to assist them +in their military duties.</p> + +<p><i>Ambulances.</i>—Carriages for the sick and wounded.</p> + +<p><i>Battery.</i>—A battery consists of one or more pieces of artillery. A +full battery of field artillery consists of six cannon.</p> + +<p><i>Battalion.</i>—A battalion consists of two or more companies, but less +than a regiment.</p> + +<p><i>Bombardment.</i>—Throwing shot or shells into a fort or earthwork.</p> + +<p><i>Canister.</i>—A tin cylinder filled with cast-iron shot. When the gun is +fired, the cylinder bursts and scatters the shot over a wide surface of +ground.</p> + +<p><i>Caisson.</i>—An artillery carriage, containing ammunition for immediate +use.</p> + +<p><i>Casemate.</i>—A covered chamber in fortifications, protected by earth +from shot and shells.</p> + +<p><i>Columbiad.</i>—A cannon, invented by Colonel Bomford, of very large +calibre, used for throwing shot or shells. A ten-inch columbiad weighs +15,400 pounds, and is ten and a half feet long.</p> + +<p><i>Column.</i>—A position in which troops may be placed. A column en route +is the order in which they march from one part of the country to +another. A column of attack is the order in which they go into battle.</p> + +<p><i>Countersign.</i>—A particular word given out by the highest officer in +command, intrusted to guards, pickets, and sentinels, and to those who +may have occasion to pass them.</p> + +<p><i>Embrasure.</i>—An opening cut in embankments for the muzzles of the +cannon.</p> + +<p><i>Enfilade.</i>—To sweep the whole length of the inside of a fortification +or a line of troops.</p> + +<p><i>Field-Works.</i>—An embankment of earth excavated from a ditch +surrounding a town or a fort.</p> + +<p><i>Flank.</i>—The right or left side of a body of men, or place. When it is +said that the enemy by a flank march outflanked our right wing, it is +understood that he put himself on our right hand. When two armies stand +face to face the right flank of one is opposite the left flank of the +other.</p> + +<p><i>File.</i>—Two soldiers,—a front rank and a rear rank man.</p> + +<p><i>Fuse.</i>—A slow-burning composition in shells, set on fire by the flash +of the cannon. The length of the fuse is proportioned to the intended +range of the shells.</p> + +<p><i>Grape.</i>—A large number of small balls tied up in a bag.</p> + +<p><i>Howitzer.</i>—A cannon of large calibre and short range, commonly used +for throwing shells, grape, and canister.</p> + +<p><i>Limber.</i>—The fore part of a field gun-carriage, to which the horses +are attached. It has two wheels, and carries ammunition the same as the +caisson.</p> + +<p><i>Pontoon.</i>—A bridge of boats for crossing streams, which may be carried +in wagons.</p> + +<p><i>Parabola.</i>—The curve described by a shell in the air.</p> + +<p><i>Range.</i>—The distance to which shot, shells, or bullets may be fired.</p> + +<p><i>Reveille.</i>—The first drum-beat in the morning.</p> + +<p><i>Rifle-Pits.</i>—Excavations in the earth or other shelter for riflemen.</p> + +<p><i>Spherical Case.</i>—A thin shell of cast-iron filled with bullets, with a +fuse, and a charge of powder sufficient to burst it. It contains about +ninety bullets.</p> + +<p><i>Wings.</i>—The right and left divisions of a body of troops, +distinguished from the centre.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2><a name="MY_DAYS_AND_NIGHTS" id="MY_DAYS_AND_NIGHTS"></a>MY DAYS AND NIGHTS</h2> +<h3>ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.</h3> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="INTRODUCTORY" id="INTRODUCTORY"></a>INTRODUCTORY.</h3> + +<h4>TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES.</h4> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> +my boyhood, my young friends, I loved to sit beside my grandfather +and listen to his stories of Bunker Hill and Saratoga,—how he and his +comrades stood upon those fields and fought for their country. I could +almost see the fight and hear the cannon’s roar, the rattle of the +musketry, and the shouts of victory. They won their independence, and +established the best government the world ever saw. But there are men in +this country who hate that government, who have plotted against it, and +who have brought about the present Great Rebellion to destroy it. I have +witnessed some of the battles which have been fought during this war, +although I have not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> been a soldier, as my grandfather was, and I shall +try, in this volume, to picture those scenes, and give correct +descriptions of the ground, the marching of the troops, the positions +they occupied, and other things, that you may understand how your +father, or your brothers, or your friends, fought for the dear old flag.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>HOW THE REBELLION CAME ABOUT.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">M</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">any</span> +of you, my young readers, have seen the springs which form the +trickling rivulets upon the hillsides. How small they are. You can +almost drink them dry. But in the valley the silver threads become a +brook, which widens to a river rolling to the far-off ocean. So is it +with the ever-flowing stream of time. The things which were of small +account a hundred years ago are powerful forces to-day. Great events do +not usually result from one cause, but from many causes. To ascertain +how the rebellion came about, let us read history.</p> + +<p>Nearly three hundred years ago, when Elizabeth was Queen of England, Sir +Walter Raleigh sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to explore the newly +discovered Continent of America. Sir Walter was a sailor, a soldier, and +one of the gentleman attendants of the Queen. He was so courteous and +gallant that he once threw his gold-laced scarlet cloak upon the ground +for a mat, that the Queen might not step her royal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> foot in the mud. At +that time America was an unexplored wilderness. The old navigators had +sailed along the coasts, but the smooth waters of the great lakes and +rivers had never been ruffled by the oars of European boatmen.</p> + +<p>Sir Walter found a beautiful land, shaded by grand old forests; also +fertile fields, waving with corn and a broad-leaved plant with purple +flowers, which the Indians smoked in pipes of flint and vermilion stone +brought from the cliffs of the great Missouri River.</p> + +<p>The sailors learned to smoke, and when Sir Walter returned to England +they puffed their pipes in the streets. The people were amazed, and +wondered if the sailors were on fire. So tobacco began to be used in +England. That was in 1584. We shall see that a little tobacco-smoke +whiffed nearly three hundred years ago has had an influence in bringing +about the rebellion.</p> + +<p>Twenty years rolled by. London merchants dreamed of wealth in store for +them in Virginia. A company was formed to colonize the country. Many of +the merchants had spendthrift sons, who were also idle and given to bad +habits. These young fellows thought it degrading to work. In those +Western woods across the ocean, along the great rivers and upon the blue +mountains, they saw in imagination a wild, roving, reckless life. They +could hunt the wild beasts. They could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> live without the restraints of +society. They had heard wonderful stories of exhaustless mines of gold +and silver. There they could get rich, and that was the land for them.</p> + +<p>A vessel with five hundred colonists was fitted out. There were only +sixteen men of the five hundred accustomed to work; the others called +themselves gentlemen and cavaliers. They settled at Jamestown. They +found no rich gold-mines, and wealth was not to be had on the fertile +plains without labor. Not knowing how to cultivate the soil, and hating +work, they had a hard time. They suffered for want of food. Many died +from starvation. Yet more of the same indolent class joined the +colony,—young men who had had rows with tutors at school, and who had +broken the heads of London watchmen in their midnight revels. A +historian of those times says that “they were fitter to breed a riot +than found a colony.”</p> + +<p>The merchants, finding that a different class of men was needed to save +the colony from ruin, sent over poor laboring men, who were apprenticed +to their sons. Thus the idle cavaliers were kept from starvation. +Instead of working themselves, they directed the poor, hard-working men, +and pocketed the profits.</p> + +<p>Smoking began to be fashionable in England. Lawyers in big wigs, +ministers in black gowns,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> merchants seated in their counting-houses, +ladies in silks and satins, all took to this habit of the North American +Indians. Tobacco was in demand. Every ship from America was freighted +with it. The purple-flowered plant grew luxuriantly in the fields of +Virginia, and so through the labor of the poor men the indolent +cavaliers became rich.</p> + +<p>As there were no women in the colony, some of the cavaliers sent over to +England and bought themselves wives, paying a hundred pounds of tobacco +for a wife. Others married Indian wives.</p> + +<p>The jails of London were crowded with thieves and vagabonds. They had +committed crime and lost their freedom. To get rid of them, the +magistrates sent several ship-loads to Virginia, where they were sold to +the planters as servants and laborers. Thus it came to pass that there +were distinct classes in the colony,—men having rights and men without +rights,—men owning labor and men owing labor,—men with power and men +without power,—all of which had something to do in bringing about the +rebellion.</p> + +<p>In August, 1620, a Dutch captain sailed up James River with twenty +negroes on board his ship, which he had stolen from Africa. The planters +purchased them, not as apprentices, but as slaves. The captain, having +made a profitable voyage, sailed for Africa to steal more. Thus the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>African slave-trade in America began, which became the main +fountain-head and grand cause of the rebellion.</p> + +<p>The Virginia planters wanted large plantations. Some of them had +influence with King James, and obtained grants of immense estates, +containing thousands of acres. All the while the common people of +England were learning to smoke, snuff, and chew tobacco, and across the +English Channel the Dutch burghers, housewives, and farmers were +learning to puff their pipes. A pound of tobacco was worth three +shillings. The planters grew richer, purchased more land and more +slaves, while the apprenticed men, who had no money and no means of +obtaining any, of course could not become land-owners. Thus the three +classes of men—planters, poor white men, and slaves—became perpetually +distinct.</p> + +<p>By the charter which the company of London merchants had received from +the King, owners of land only were allowed to have a voice in the +management of public affairs. They only could hold office. A poor man +could not have anything to do with enacting or administering the laws. +In 1705, a historian, then writing, says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“There are men with great estates, who take care to supply the poor with +goods, and who are sure to keep them always in debt, and consequently +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>dependent. Out of this number are chosen the Council, Assembly, Justices +of the Peace, and other officers, who conspire together to wield +power.“<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></div> + +<p>Thus a few rich men managed all the affairs of the colony. They were +able to perpetuate their power, to hand these privileges to their sons, +through successive generations.</p> + +<p>At the present time there are many men and women in Virginia who +consider themselves as belonging to the first families, because they are +descendants of those who settled the country. The great estates have +passed from the family name,—squandered by the dissolute and indolent +sons. They are poor, but very proud, and call themselves noble-born. +They look with contempt upon a man who works for a living. I saw a great +estate, which was once owned by one of these proud families, near the +Antietam battle-field, but spendthrift sons have squandered it, and +there is but little left. The land is worn out, but the owner of the +remaining acres,—poor, but priding himself upon his high birth, looking +with haughty contempt upon men who work,—in the summer of 1860, day +after day, was seen sitting upon his horse, with an umbrella over his +head to keep off the sun, <i>overseeing his two negro women, who were +hoeing corn</i>!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>All of these springs which started in Virginia tinged, entered into, and +gave color to society throughout the South. There were great estates, +privileged classes, a few rich and many poor men. There were planters, +poor white men, and slaves.</p> + +<p>In those old times pirates sailed the seas, plundering and destroying +ships. They swarmed around the West India Islands, and sold their spoils +to the people of Charleston, South Carolina. There, for several years, +the freebooters refitted their ships, and had a hearty welcome. But the +King’s ships of war broke up the business, and commerce again had +peaceful possession of the ocean.</p> + +<p>These things gave direction to the stream, influencing the development +and growth of the colonies, which became States in the Union, and which +seceded in 1861.</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>While the Dutch captain was bargaining off his negroes to the planters +in 1620 at Jamestown, another vessel was sailing from Plymouth harbor, +in England, for a voyage across the Atlantic. Years before, in the +little town of Scrooby, a man with a long white beard, by the name of +Clifton, had preached what he called a pure religious doctrine. Those +who went to hear him, and who believed what he preached, soon came to be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>called Puritans. Most of them were poor, hard-working English farmers +and villagers. There was much discussion, controversy, bigotry, and +bitterness in religion at that time, and these poor men were driven from +county to county, till finally they were obliged to flee to Holland to +escape persecution and save their lives. King James himself was one of +their most bitter persecutors. He declared that he would “harry every +one of them out of England.” After remaining in Holland several years, +they obtained permission of the King to sail for North America.</p> + +<p>On a December morning the vessel, after five months’ tossing upon the +ocean, lay at anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod. Those on board had no +charter of government. They were not men who had had midnight revels in +London, but men who had prayers in their families night and morning, and +who met for religious worship on the Sabbath. They respected law, loved +order, and knew that it would be necessary to have a form of government +in the colony. They assembled in the cabin of the ship, and, after +prayer, signed their names to an agreement to obey all the rules, +regulations, and laws which might be enacted by the majority. Then they +elected a governor, each man having a voice in the election. It was what +might be called the first town-meeting in America. Thus democratic +liberty and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>Christian worship, independent of forms established by kings +and bishops, had a beginning in this country.</p> + +<p>The climate was cold, the seasons short, the soil sterile, and so the +settlers of Cape Cod were obliged to work hard to obtain a living. In +consequence, they and their descendants became active, industrious, and +energetic. Thus they laid the foundations for thrift and enterprise. +They did not look upon labor as degrading, but as ennobling. They passed +laws, that men able to work should not be idle. They were not rich +enough to own great estates, but each man had his own little farm. There +was, therefore, no landed aristocracy, such as was growing into power in +Virginia. They were not able to own labor to any great extent. There +were a few apprenticed men, and some negro slaves, but the social and +political influences were all different from those in the Southern +colonies. The time came when apprenticed men were released from service, +and the slaves set free.</p> + +<p>These hard-working men did not wish to have their children grow up in +ignorance. In order, therefore, that every child might become an +intelligent citizen and member of society, they established common +schools and founded colleges. In 1640, just twenty years after the +landing at Plymouth, they had a printing-press at Cambridge.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>The cavaliers of Virginia, instead of establishing schools, sent their +sons to England to be educated, leaving the children of the poor men to +grow up in ignorance. They did not want them to obtain an education. In +1670, fifty years after the Dutch captain had bartered off his negroes +for tobacco,—fifty years from the election of the first governor by the +people in the cabin of the Mayflower,—the King appointed Commissioners +of Education, who addressed letters to the governors of the colonies +upon the subject. The Governor of Connecticut replied, that one fourth +of the entire income of the colony was laid out in maintaining public +schools. Governor Berkeley, of Virginia, who owned a great plantation +and many slaves, and who wanted to keep the government in the hands of +the few privileged families, answered,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“I thank God there are no free schools nor printing in this colony, and +I hope we shall not have them these hundred years.”</div> + +<p>All the Northern colonies established common schools, and liberally +supported them, that every child might obtain an education. The Southern +colonies, even when they became States, gave but little attention to +education, and consequently the children became more ignorant than their +fathers. Thus it has come to pass, that in the Northern States nearly +all can read and write, while in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>Southern States there are hundreds +of thousands who do not know the alphabet.</p> + +<p>In 1850 the State of Maine had 518,000 inhabitants; of these 2,134 could +not read nor write, while the State of North Carolina, with a white +population of 553,000, <i>had eighty thousand native whites, over twenty +years of age, who had never attended school</i>!</p> + +<p>The six New England States, with a population of 2,705,000, had in 1850 +but eight thousand unable to read and write, while Virginia, North +Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama—five States, with a +population of 2,670,000 whites—<i>had two hundred and sixty-two thousand, +over twenty years of age, unable to read a word</i>! In the Northern States +educational facilities are rapidly increasing, while in the South they +are fast diminishing. In 1857 there were 96,000 school-children in +Vermont, and all but six thousand attended school. South Carolina the +same year had 114,000 school-children; of these <i>ninety-five thousand</i> +had no school privileges. Virginia had 414,000 school-children; <i>three +hundred and seventy-two thousand</i> of them had no means of learning the +alphabet!</p> + +<p>In Missouri, in some of the counties, the school lands given by Congress +have been sold, and the money distributed among the people, instead of +being invested for the benefit of schools. With <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>each generation +ignorance has increased in the Southern States. It has been the design +of the slaveholders to keep the poor white men in ignorance. There, +neighbors are miles apart. There are vast tracts of land where the +solitude is unbroken by the sounds of labor. Schools and newspapers +cannot flourish. Information is given by word of mouth. Men are +influenced to political action by the arguments and stories of +stump-speakers, and not by reading newspapers. They vote as they are +told, or as they are influenced by the stories they hear. So, when the +leading conspirators were ready to bring about the rebellion, being in +possession of the State governments, holding official positions, by +misrepresentation, cunning, and wickedness, they were able to delude the +ignorant poor men, and induce them to vote to secede from the Union.</p> + +<p>Two thousand years ago the natives of India manufactured cloth from the +fibres of the cotton-plant, which grew wild in the woods. The old +historian, Herodotus, says that the trees bore fleeces as white as snow. +A planter of South Carolina obtained some of the seeds, and began to +cultivate the plant. In 1748 ten bags of cotton were shipped to +Liverpool, but cotton-spinning had not then begun in England. In 1784 +the custom-house officers at Liverpool seized eight bags which a planter +had sent over, on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>ground that it was not possible to raise so much +in America. The manufacture of cotton goods was just then commencing in +England, and cotton was in demand. The plant grew luxuriantly in the +sunny fields of the South, but it was a day’s work for a negro to +separate the seed from a pound, and the planters despaired of making it +a profitable crop.</p> + +<p>A few years before the Liverpool custom-house officers seized the eight +bags, a boy named Eli Whitney was attending school in Westboro’, +Massachusetts, who was destined to help the planters out of the +difficulty. He made water-wheels, which plashed in the roadside brooks, +and windmills, which whirled upon his father’s barn. He made violins, +which were the wonder and admiration of all musicians. He set up a shop, +and made nails by machinery, and thus earned money through the +Revolutionary War. When not more than twelve years old, he stayed at +home from meeting one Sunday alone, and took his father’s watch to +pieces, and put it together again so nicely that it went as well as +ever. It was not the proper business for Sunday, however.</p> + +<p>When a young man, he went South to teach school. He happened to hear +General Greene, the brave and noble man who had been a match for Lord +Cornwallis, wish that there was a machine <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>for cleaning cotton. He +thought the matter over, went to work, and in a short time had a machine +which, with some improvements, now does the work of a thousand negroes. +He built it in secret, but the planters, getting wind of it, broke open +his room, stole his invention, built machines of their own, and cheated +him out of his property.</p> + +<p>About this time there was a poor cotton-spinner in England who thought +he could invent a machine for spinning. He sat up late nights, and +thought how to have the wheels, cranks, and belts arranged. At times he +was almost discouraged, but his patient, cheerful, loving wife +encouraged him, and he succeeded at last in making a machine which would +do the work of a thousand spinners. He named it Jenny, for his wife, who +had been so patient and cheerful, though she and the children, some of +the time while he was studying upon the invention, had little to eat.</p> + +<p>The gin and the jenny made cotton cloth much cheaper than it had been. +Many manufactories were built in England and in the New England States. +More acres of cotton were planted in the South, and more negroes stolen +from Africa. In the North, along the mill-streams, there was the click +and clatter of machinery. A great many ships were needed to transport +the cotton from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>the agricultural South to the manufactories of the +commercial, industrious, trading North. The cotton crop of the South in +1784 was worth only a few hundred dollars, but the crop of 1860 was +worth hundreds of millions, so great had been the increase.</p> + +<p>This great demand for cotton affected trade and commerce the world over. +The planters had princely incomes from the labor of their slaves. Some +of them received $50,000 to $100,000 a year. They said that cotton was +king, and ruled the world. They thought that the whole human race was +dependent upon them, and that by withholding their cotton a single year +they could compel the whole world to acknowledge their power. They were +few in number,—about three hundred thousand in thirty millions of +people. They used every means possible to extend and perpetuate their +power. They saw that the Northern States were beehives of industry, and +that the boys swarming from the Northern school-houses were becoming +mechanics, farmers, teachers, engaging in all employments, and that +knowledge as a power was getting the better of wealth.</p> + +<p>The men of the North were settling the new States of the West, and +political power in Congress was slipping from the hands of the South. To +retain that power they must bring additional Slave States into the +Union. They therefore demanded <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>the right to take their slaves into new +Territories. The Northern school-boys who had grown to be men, who had +gone into the far West to build them homes, could not consent to see +their children deprived of that which had made them men. They saw that +if slavery came in, schools must go out. They saw that where slavery +existed there were three distinct classes in society,—the few rich, +unscrupulous, hard-hearted slaveholders, the many poor, ignorant, +debased white men, and the slaves. They saw that free labor and slave +labor could not exist together. They therefore rightfully resisted the +extension of slavery into the Territories. But the slaveholders carried +the day. The North was outvoted and obliged to yield.</p> + +<p>The descendants of the first families of Virginia raised slaves for a +living. It was degrading to labor, but a very honorable way of getting a +living to raise pigs, mules, and negroes,—to sell them to the more +southern States,—to sell their own sons and daughters! Their fathers +purchased wives: why should they not sell their own children?</p> + +<p>It was very profitable to raise negroes for the market, and the +ministers of the South, in their pulpits on the Sabbath, said it was a +Christian occupation. They expounded the Bible, and showed the +benevolent designs of God in establishing <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>slavery. It was right. It had +the sanction of the Almighty. It was a Divine missionary institution.</p> + +<p>Their political success, their great power, their wealth,—which they +received through the unpaid labor of their slaves, and from selling +their own sons and daughters,—developed their bad traits of character. +They became proud, insolent, domineering, and ambitious. They demanded +the right not only to extend slavery over all the Territories of the +United States, but also the right to take their slaves into the Free +States. They demanded that no one should speak or write against slavery. +They secured the passage of a law by Congress enabling them to catch +their runaway slaves. They demanded that the Constitution should be +changed to favor the growth and extension of slavery. For many years +they plotted against the government,—threatening to destroy it if they +could not have what they demanded. They looked with utter contempt upon +the hard-working men of the North. They determined to rule or ruin. +Every Northern man living at the South was looked upon with suspicion. +Some were tarred and feathered, others hung, and many were killed in +cold blood! No Northern man could open his lips on that subject in the +South. Men of the North could not travel there. The noble astronomer, +Mitchell, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>the brave general who has laid down his life for his country, +was surrounded by an ignorant, excited mob in Alabama, who were ready to +hang him because he told them he was in favor of the Union. But Southern +orators and political speakers were invited North, and listened to with +respect by the thinking, reasoning people,—the pupils of the common +schools.</p> + +<p>Climate, trade, commerce, common schools, and industry have made the +North different from the South; but there was nothing in these to bring +on the war.</p> + +<p>When the slaveholders saw that they had lost their power in Congress to +pass laws for the extension of slavery, they determined to secede from +the Union. When the North elected a President who declared himself +opposed to the extension of slavery, they began the war. They stole +forts, arsenals, money, steamboats,—everything they could lay their +hands on belonging to government and individuals,—seceded from the +Union, formed a confederacy, raised an army, and fired the first gun.</p> + +<p>They planned a great empire, which should extend south to the Isthmus of +Darien and west to the Pacific Ocean, and made slavery its cornerstone. +They talked of conquering the North. They declared that the time would +come when they would muster their slaves on Bunker Hill, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>when the +laboring men of the North, “with hat in hand, should stand meekly before +them, their masters.”<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>They besieged Fort Sumter, fired upon the ships sent to its relief, +bombarded the fort and captured it. To save their country, their +government, all that was dear to them, to protect their insulted, +time-honored flag, the men of the North took up arms.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE GATHERING OF A GREAT ARMY.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> +Rebels began the war by firing upon Fort Sumter. You remember how +stupefying the news of its surrender. You could not at first believe +that they would fire upon the Stars and Stripes,—the flag respected and +honored everywhere on earth. When there was no longer a doubt that they +had begun hostilities, you could not have felt worse if you had heard of +the death of a very dear friend. But as you thought it over and +reflected upon the wickedness of the act, so deliberate and terrible, +you felt that you would like to see the traitors hung; not that it would +be a pleasure to see men die a felon’s death, but because you loved your +country and its flag, with its heaven-born hues, its azure field of +stars! Not that the flag is anything in itself to be protected, honored, +and revered, but because it is the emblem of constitutional liberty and +freedom, the ensign of the best, freest, noblest government ever +established. It had cost suffering and blood. Kings, aristocrats, +despots, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>and tyrants, in the Old World and in the New hated it, but +millions of men in other lands, suffering, abused, robbed of their +rights, beheld it as their banner of hope. When you thought how it had +been struck down by traitors, when you heard that the President had +called for seventy five thousand troops, you hurrahed with all your +might, and wished that you were old enough and big enough to go and +fight the Rebels.</p> + +<p>The drums beat in the street. You saw the soldiers hasten to take their +places in the gathering ranks. You marched beside them and kept step +with the music. The sunlight gleamed from their bayonets. Their +standards waved in the breeze, while the drum, the fife, the bugle, and +the trumpet thrilled you as never before. You marched proudly and +defiantly. You felt that you could annihilate the stoutest Rebel. You +followed the soldiers to the railroad depot and hurrahed till the train +which bore them away was out of sight.</p> + +<p>Let us follow them to Washington, and see the gathering of a great army. +The Rebels have threatened to capture that city and make it their seat +of government, and it must be saved.</p> + +<p>We have been a quiet, peaceable nation, and have had no great standing +armies of a half-million men. We know but little about war. The Northern +States are unprepared for war. President <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>Buchanan’s Secretary of War, +Floyd, has proved himself a thief. He has stolen several hundred +thousands of muskets, thousands of pieces of artillery, sending them +from the Northern arsenals to the South. The slaveholders have been for +many years plotting the rebellion. They are armed, and we are not. Their +arsenals are well filled, while ours are empty, because President +Buchanan was a weak old man, and kept thieves and traitors in places of +trust and power.</p> + +<p>At the call of the President every village sends its soldiers, every +town its company. When you listened to the soul-thrilling music of the +band, and watched the long, winding train as it vanished with the troops +in the distance, you had one little glimpse of the machinery of war, as +when riding past a great manufactory you see a single pulley, or a row +of spindles through a window. You do not see the thousands of wheels, +belts, shafts,—the hundred thousand spindles, the arms of iron, fingers +of brass, and springs of steel, and the mighty wheel which gives motion +to all,—and so you have not seen the great, complicated, far-reaching, +and powerful machinery of war.</p> + +<p>But there is activity everywhere. Drums are beating, men assembling, +soldiers marching, and hastening on in regiments. They go into camp and +sleep on the ground, wrapped in their blankets. It is a new life. They +have no napkins, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>no table-cloths at breakfast, dinner, or supper, no +china plates or silver forks. Each soldier has his tin plate and cup, +and makes a hearty meal of beef and bread. It is hard-baked bread. They +call it <i>hard-tack</i>, because it might be tacked upon the roof of a house +instead of shingles. They also have Cincinnati <i>chicken</i>. At home they +called it pork; fowls are scarce and pork is plenty in camp, so they +make believe it is chicken!</p> + +<p>There is drilling by squads, companies, battalions, and by regiments. +Some stand guard around the camp by day, and others go out on picket at +night, to watch for the enemy. It is military life. Everything is done +by orders. When you become a soldier, you cannot go and come as you +please. Privates, lieutenants, captains, colonels, generals, all are +subject to the orders of their superior officers. All must obey the +general in command. You march, drill, eat, sleep, go to bed, and get up +by order. At sunrise you hear the reveille, and at nine o’clock in the +evening the tattoo. Then the candle, which has been burning in your tent +with a bayonet for a candlestick, must be put out. In the dead of night, +while sleeping soundly and dreaming of home, you hear the drum-beat. It +is the long roll. There is a rattle of musketry. The pickets are at it. +Every man springs to his feet.</p> + +<p>“Turn out! turn out!” shouts the colonel.</p> + +<p>“Fall in! fall in!” cries the captain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>There is confusion throughout the camp,—a trampling of feet and loud, +hurried talking. In your haste you get your boots on wrong, and buckle +your cartridge-box on bottom up. You rush out in the darkness, not +minding your steps, and are caught by the tent-ropes. You tumble +headlong, upsetting to-morrow’s breakfast of beans. You take your place +in the ranks, nervous, excited, and trembling at you know not what. The +regiment rushes toward the firing, which suddenly ceases. An officer +rides up in the darkness and says it is a false alarm! You march back to +camp, cool and collected now, grumbling at the stupidity of the picket, +who saw a bush, thought it was a Rebel, fired his gun, and alarmed the +whole camp.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of 1861 the army of the Potomac, encamped around +Washington, numbered about two hundred thousand men. Before it marches +to the battle-field, let us see how it is organized, how it looks, how +it is fed; let us get an insight into its machinery.</p> + +<p>Go up in the balloon which you see hanging in the air across the Potomac +from Georgetown, and look down upon this great army. All the country +round is dotted with white tents,—some in the open fields, and some +half hid by the forest-trees. Looking away to the northwest you see the +right wing. Arlington is the centre, and at Alexandria is the left wing. +You see men in ranks, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>in files, in long lines, in masses, moving to and +fro, marching and countermarching, learning how to fight a battle. There +are thousands of wagons and horses; there are from two to three hundred +pieces of artillery. How long the line, if all were on the march! Men +marching in files are about three feet apart. A wagon with four horses +occupies fifty feet. If this army was moving on a narrow country road, +four cavalrymen riding abreast, and men in files of four, with all the +artillery, ammunition-wagons, supply-trains, ambulances, and equipment, +it would reach from Boston to Hartford, or from New York city to Albany, +a hundred and fifty miles!</p> + +<p>To move such a multitude, to bring order out of confusion, there must be +a system, a plan, and an organization. Regiments are therefore formed +into brigades, with usually about four regiments to a brigade. Three or +four brigades compose a division, and three or four divisions make an +army corps. A corps when full numbers from twenty-five to thirty +thousand men.</p> + +<p>When an army moves, the general commanding it issues his orders to the +generals commanding the corps; they issue their orders to the division +commanders, the division commanders to the brigadiers, they to the +colonels, and the colonels to captains, and the captains to the +companies. As the great wheel in the factory turns <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>all the machinery, so +one mind moves the whole army. The general-in-chief must designate the +road which each corps shall take, the time when they are to march, where +they are to march to, and sometimes the hour when they must arrive at an +appointed place. The corps commanders must direct which of their +divisions shall march first, what roads they shall take, and where they +shall encamp at night. The division commanders direct what brigades +shall march first. No corps, division, or brigade commander can take any +other road than that assigned him, without producing confusion and +delay.</p> + +<p>The army must have its food regularly. Think how much food it takes to +supply the city of Boston, or Cincinnati every day. Yet here are as many +men as there are people in those cities. There are a great many more +horses in the army than in the stables of both of those cities. All must +be fed. There must be a constant supply of beef, pork, bread, beans, +vinegar, sugar, and coffee, oats, corn, and hay.</p> + +<p>The army must also have its supplies of clothing, its boots, shoes, and +coats. It must have its ammunition, its millions of cartridges of +different kinds; for there are a great many kinds of guns in the +regiments,—Springfield and Enfield muskets, French, Belgian, Prussian, +and Austrian guns, requiring a great many different kinds of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>ammunition. +There are a great many different kinds of cannon. There must be no lack +of ammunition, no mistake in its distribution. So there is the +Quartermaster’s Department, the Commissary, and the Ordnance Department. +The Quartermaster moves and clothes the army, the Commissary feeds it, +and the Ordnance officer supplies it with ammunition. The +general-in-chief has a Quartermaster-General, a chief Commissary and a +chief Ordnance officer, who issue their orders to the chief officers in +their departments attached to each corps. They issue their orders to +their subordinates in the divisions, and the division officers to those +in the brigades.</p> + +<p>Then there is a Surgeon-General, who directs all the hospital +operations, who must see that the sick and wounded are all taken care +of. There are camp surgeons, division, brigade, and regimental surgeons. +There are hospital nurses, ambulance drivers, all subject to the orders +of the surgeon. No other officer can direct them. Each department is +complete in itself.</p> + +<p>It has cost a great deal of thought, labor, and money to construct this +great machinery. In creating it there has been much thinking, energy, +determination, and labor; and there must be constant forethought in +anticipating future wants, necessities, and contingencies, when to move, +where, and how. The army does not exist of its own accord, but by +constant, unremitting effort.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>The people of the country determined that the Constitution, the Union, +and the government bequeathed by their fathers should be preserved. They +authorized the President to raise a great army. Congress voted money and +men. The President, acting as the agent of the people, and as +Commander-in-Chief, appointed men to bring all the materials together +and organize the army. Look at what was wanted to build this mighty +machine and to keep it going.</p> + +<p>First, the hundreds of thousands of men; the thousands of horses; the +thousands of barrels of beef, pork, and flour; thousands of hogsheads of +sugar, vinegar, rice, salt, bags of coffee, and immense stores of other +things. Thousands of tons of hay, bags of oats and corn. What numbers of +men and women have been at work to get each soldier ready for the field. +He has boots, clothes, and equipments. The tanner, currier, shoemaker, +the manufacturer, with his swift-flying shuttles, the operator tending +his looms and spinning-jennies, the tailor with his sewing-machines, the +gunsmith, the harness-maker, the blacksmith,—all trades and occupations +have been employed. There are saddles, bridles, knapsacks, canteens, +dippers, plates, knives, stoves, kettles, tents, blankets, medicines, +drums, swords, pistols, guns, cannon, powder, percussion-caps, bullets, +shot, shells, wagons,—everything.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>Walk leisurely through the camps, and observe the little things and the +great things, see the men on the march. Then go into the Army and Navy +Departments in Washington, in those brick buildings west of the +President’s house. In those rooms are surveys, maps, plans, papers, +charts of the ocean, of the sea-coast, currents, sand-bars, shoals, the +rising and falling of tides. In the Topographical Bureau you see maps of +all sections of the country. There is the Ordnance Bureau, with all +sorts of guns, rifles, muskets, carbines, pistols, swords, shells, +rifled shot, fuses which the inventors have brought in. There are a +great many bureaus, with immense piles of papers and volumes, containing +experiments upon the strength of iron, the trials of cannon, guns, +mortars, and powder. There have been experiments to determine how much +powder shall be used, whether it shall be as fine as mustard-seed or as +coarse as lumps of sugar, and the results are all noted here. All the +appliances of science, industry, and art are brought into use to make it +the best army the world ever saw.</p> + +<p>It is the business of the government to bring the materials together, +and the business of the generals to organize it into brigades, +divisions, and corps,—to determine the number of cavalry and batteries +of artillery, to place weak materials in their proper places, and the +strongest where they will be most needed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>The general commanding must have a plan of operations. Napoleon said +that war is like a game of chess, and that a commander must make his +game. He must think it out beforehand, and in such a manner that the +enemy will be compelled to play it in his way and be defeated. The +general-in-chief must see the end from the beginning, just as Napoleon, +sticking his map of Europe full of pins, decided that he could defeat +the Austrians at Austerlitz, the Prussians at Jena. That is genius. The +general-in-chief makes his plan on the supposition that all his orders +will be obeyed promptly, that no one will shirk responsibility, that not +one of all the vast multitude will fail to do his duty.</p> + +<p>The night before the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon sent an order to an +officer to take possession of a little hillock, on which stood a +farm-house overlooking the plain. The officer thought it would do just +as well if he let it go till morning, but in the morning the English had +possession of the spot, and in consequence of that officer’s neglect +Napoleon probably lost the great battle, his army, and his empire. Great +events often hang on little things, and in military operations it is of +the utmost importance that they should be attended to.</p> + +<p>From the beginning to the end, unless every man does his duty, from the +general in command <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>to the private in the ranks, there is danger of +failure.</p> + +<p>Thus the army is organized, and thus through organization it becomes a +disciplined body. Instead of being a confused mass of men, horses, +mules, cannon, caissons, wagons, and ambulances, it is a body which can +be divided, subdivided, separated by miles of country, hurried here and +there, hurled upon the enemy, and brought together again by the stroke +of a pen, by a word, or the click of the telegraph.</p> + +<p>When a battle is to be fought, the general-in-chief must not only have +his plan how to get the great mass of men to the field, but he must have +a plan of movement on the field. Each corps must have its position +assigned. There must be a line of battle. It is not a continuous line of +men, but there are wide spaces, perhaps miles wide, between the corps, +divisions, and brigades. Hills, ravines, streams, swamps, houses, +villages, bushes, a fence, rocks, wheat-fields, sunlight and shade, all +must be taken into account. Batteries must be placed on hills, or in +commanding positions to sweep all the country round. Infantry must be +gathered in masses in the centre or on either wing, or deployed and +separated according to circumstances. They must be sheltered. They must +be thrown here or there, as they may be needed to hold or to crush the +enemy. They are to stand <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>still and be ploughed through by shot and +shell, or rush into the thickest of the fight, just as they may be +ordered. They are not to question the order;—</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> +“Theirs not to make reply,<br /> +Theirs not to reason why,<br /> +Theirs but to do and die.”</div> + +<p>There are sleepless nights in the tent of the general-in-chief. When all +others except the pickets are asleep, he is examining maps and plans, +calculating distances, estimating the strength of his army, and asking +himself whether it will do to attack the enemy, or whether he shall +stand on the defensive? can this brigade be relied upon for a desperate +charge? will that division hold the enemy in check? At such times, the +good name, the valor, the bravery of the troops and of the officers who +command them is reviewed. He weighs character. He knows who are reliable +and who inefficient. He studies, examines papers, consults reports, +makes calculations, sits abstractedly, walks nervously, and lies down to +dream it all over again and again.</p> + +<p>The welfare of the country, thousands of lives, and perhaps the destiny +of the nation, is in his hands. How shall he arrange his corps? ought +the troops to be massed in the centre, or shall he concentrate them on +the wings? shall he feel of the enemy with a division or two, or rush +upon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>him like an avalanche? Can the enemy outflank him, or get upon his +rear? What if the Rebels should pounce upon his ammunition and +supply-trains? What is the position of the enemy? How large is his +force? How many batteries has he? How much cavalry? What do the scouts +report? Are the scouts to be believed? One says the enemy is retreating, +another that he is advancing. What are the probabilities? A thousand +questions arise which must be answered. The prospect of success must be +carefully calculated. Human life must be thrown remorselessly into the +scale. All the sorrows and the tears of wives, mothers, fathers, +brothers, and sisters far away, who will mourn for the dead, must be +forgotten. He must shut up all tender thoughts, and become an iron man. +Ah! it is not so fine a thing to be a general, perhaps, as you have +imagined!</p> + +<p>It is an incomplete, imperfect, and unsatisfactory look which you have +taken of the machinery of a great army. But you can see that a very +small thing may upset the best-laid plan of any commander. The cowardice +of a regiment, the failure of an officer to do his duty, to be at a +place at an appointed moment, the miscarriage of orders, a hundred +things which you can think of, may turn a victory into a defeat. You can +see that a great battle must be a grand and terrible affair; but though +you may use all your powers of imagination <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>in endeavoring to picture the +positions of the troops,—how they look, how they act, how they stand +amid the terrible storm, braying death, how they rush into the thickest +fire, how they fall like the sere leaves of autumn,—you will fail in +your conceptions of the conflict. You must see it, and be in it, to know +what it is.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> +first great battle of the war was fought near Bull Run, in Virginia. +There had been skirmishing along the Potomac, in Western Virginia, and +Missouri; but upon the banks of this winding stream was fought a battle +which will be forever memorable. The Rebels call it the battle of +Manassas. It has been called also the battle of Stone Bridge and the +battle of Warrenton Road.</p> + +<p>Bull Run is a lazy, sluggish stream, a branch of the Occoquan River, +which empties into the Potomac. It rises among the Bull Run Mountains, +and flows southeast through Fairfax County. Just beyond the stream, as +you go west from Washington, are the plains of Manassas,—level lands, +which years ago waved with corn and tobacco, but the fields long since +were worn out by the thriftless farming of the slaveholders, and now +they are overgrown with thickets of pine and oak.</p> + +<p>Two railroads meet upon the plains, one running <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>northwest through the +mountain gaps into the valley of the Shenandoah, and the other running +from Alexandria to Richmond, Culpepper, and the Southwest. The junction, +therefore, became an important place for Rebel military operations. +There, in June, 1861, General Beauregard mustered his army, which was to +defeat the Union army and capture Washington. The Richmond newspapers +said that this army would not only capture Washington, but would also +dictate terms of peace on the banks of the Hudson. Hot-headed men, who +seemed to have lost their reason through the influence of slavery and +secession, thought that the Southern troops were invincible. They were +confident that one Southerner could whip five Yankees. Ladies cheered +them, called them chivalrous sons of the South, and urged them on to the +field.</p> + +<p>But General Beauregard, instead of advancing upon Washington, awaited an +attack from the Union army, making Bull Run his line of defence, +throwing up breastworks, cutting down trees, and sheltering his men +beneath the thick growth of the evergreen pines.</p> + +<p>The army of the Union, called the Army of the Potomac, assembled at +Arlington Heights and Alexandria. General McDowell was placed in +command. Half of his soldiers were men who had enlisted for three +months, who had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>suddenly left their homes at the call of the President. +Their term of service had nearly expired. The three years’ men had been +but a few days in camp. Military duties were new. They knew nothing of +discipline, but they confidently expected to defeat the enemy and move +on to Richmond. Few people thought of the possibility of defeat.</p> + +<p>Let us walk up the valley of Bull Run and notice its fords, its wooded +banks, the scattered farm-houses, and fields of waving grain. Ten miles +from the Occoquan we come to the railroad bridge. A mile farther up is +McLean’s Ford; another mile carries us to Blackburn’s, and another mile +brings us to Mitchell’s. Above these are Island Ford, Lewis Ford, and +Ball’s Ford. Three miles above Mitchell’s there is a stone bridge, where +the turnpike leading from Centreville to Warrenton crosses the stream. +Two miles farther up is a place called Sudley Springs,—a cluster of +houses, a little stone church, a blacksmith’s shop. The stream there has +dwindled to a brook, and gurgles over a rocky bed.</p> + +<p>Going back to the stone bridge, and standing upon its parapet, you may +look east to Centreville, about four miles distant, beautifully situated +on a high ridge of land, but a very old, dilapidated place when you get +to it. Going west from the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>bridge, you see upon your right hand a swell +of land, and another at your left hand, south of the turnpike. A brook +trickles by the roadside. Leaving the turnpike, and ascending the ridge +on the north side, you see that towards Sudley Springs there are other +swells of land, with wheat-fields, fences, scattered trees, and groves +of pines and oaks. Looking across to the hill south of the turnpike, a +half-mile distant, you see the house of Mr. Lewis, and west of it Mrs. +Henry’s, on the highest knoll. Mrs. Henry is an old lady, so far +advanced in life that she is helpless. Going up the turnpike a mile from +the bridge, you come to the toll-gate, kept by Mr. Mathey. A cross-road +comes down from Sudley Springs, and leads south towards Manassas +Junction, six miles distant. Leave the turnpike once more, and go +northwest a half-mile, and you come to the farm of Mr. Dogan. There are +farm-sheds and haystacks near his house.</p> + +<p>This ground, from Dogan’s to the ridge east of the toll-gate, across the +turnpike and the trickling brook to Mr. Lewis’s and Mrs. Henry’s, is the +battle-field. You see it,—the ridges of land, the houses, haystacks, +fences, knolls, ravines, wheat-fields, turnpike, and groves of oak and +pine,—a territory about two miles square.</p> + +<p>On Saturday, June 20th, General Johnston, with nearly all the Rebel army +of the Shenandoah, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>arrived at Manassas. Being General Beauregard’s +superior officer, he took command of all the troops. He had about thirty +thousand men.</p> + +<p>On Thursday, General Richardson’s brigade of General McDowell’s army had +a skirmish with General Longstreet’s brigade at Blackburn’s Ford, which +the Rebels call the battle of Bull Run, while that which was fought on +the 21st they call the battle of Manassas. General Beauregard expected +that the attack would be renewed along the fords, and posted his men +accordingly.</p> + +<p>Going down to the railroad bridge, we see General Ewell’s brigade of the +Rebel army on the western bank guarding the crossing. General Jones’s +brigade is at McLean’s Ford. At Blackburn’s Ford is General +Longstreet’s, and at Mitchell’s Ford is General Bonham’s. Near by +Bonham’s is General Earley’s, General Bartow’s, and General Holmes’s. +General Jackson’s is in rear of General Bonham’s. At Island Ford is +General Bee and Colonel Hampton’s legion, also Stuart’s cavalry. At +Ball’s Ford is General Cocke’s brigade. Above, at the Stone Bridge, is +the extreme left of the Rebel army, General Evans’s brigade. General +Elzey’s brigade of the Shenandoah army is on its way in the cars, and is +expected to reach the battle-field before the contest closes. General +Johnston has between fifty and sixty pieces of artillery and about one +thousand cavalry.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 42]</span>General McDowell had also about thirty thousand men and forty-nine +pieces of artillery. His army was in four divisions,—General Tyler’s, +General Hunter’s, General Heintzelman’s, and General Miles’s. One +brigade of General Tyler’s and General Miles’s division was left at +Centreville to make a feint of attacking the enemy at Blackburn’s and +Mitchell’s Fords, and to protect the rear of the army from an attack by +Generals Ewell and Jones. The other divisions of the army—five +brigades, numbering eighteen thousand men, with thirty-six +cannon—marched soon after midnight, to be ready to make the attack by +sunrise on Sunday morning.</p> + +<p>General Tyler, with General Keyes’s brigade, General Sherman’s, and +General Schenck’s, marched down the turnpike towards the Stone Bridge, +where General Evans was on the watch. General Tyler had twelve pieces of +artillery,—two batteries, commanded by Ayer and Carlisle.</p> + +<p>It is sunrise as they approach the bridge,—a calm, peaceful Sabbath +morning. The troops leave the turnpike, march into a cornfield, and +ascend a hill overlooking the bridge. As you stand there amid the +tasselled stalks, you see the stream rippling beneath the stone arches, +and upon the other bank breastworks of earth and fallen trees. Half hid +beneath the oaks and pines are the Rebel regiments, their gun-barrels +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 43]</span>and bayonets flashing in the morning light. Beyond the breastworks upon +the knolls are the farm-houses of Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Henry.</p> + +<p>Captain Ayer, who has seen fighting in Mexico, brings his guns upon the +hill, wheels them into position, and sights them towards the +breastworks. There is a flash, a puff of smoke, a screaming in the air, +and then across the stream a handful of cloud bursts into view above the +Rebel lines. The shell has exploded. There is a sudden movement of the +Rebel troops. It is the first gun of the morning. And now, two miles +down the Run, by Mitchell’s Ford, rolling, echoing, and reverberating +through the forests, are other thunderings. General Richardson has been +waiting impatiently to hear the signal gun. He is to make a feint of +attacking. His cannonade is to begin furiously. He has six guns, and all +of them are in position, throwing solid shot and shells into the wood +where Longstreet’s men are lying.</p> + +<p>All of Ayer’s guns are in play, hurling rifled shot and shells, which +scream like an unseen demon as they fly over the cornfield, over the +meadow lands, to the woods and fields beyond the stream.</p> + +<p>General Hunter and General Heintzelman, with their divisions, have left +the turnpike two miles from Centreville, at Cub Run bridge, a rickety, +wooden structure, which creaks and trembles as <span class="pagenum">[Pg 44]</span>the heavy cannon rumble +over. They march into the northwest, along a narrow road,—a round-about +way to Sudley Springs. It is a long march. They started at two o’clock, +and have had no breakfast. They waited three hours at Cub Run, while +General Tyler’s division was crossing, and they are therefore three +hours behind the appointed time. General McDowell calculated and +intended to have them at Sudley Springs by six o’clock, but now it is +nine. They stop a half-hour at the river-crossing to fill their canteens +from the gurgling stream.</p> + +<p>Looking south from the little stone church, you see clouds of dust +floating over the forest-trees. The Rebels have discovered the movement, +and are marching in hot haste to resist the impending attack. General +Evans has left a portion of his command at Stone Bridge, and is +hastening with the remainder to the second ridge of land north of the +turnpike. He plants his artillery on the hill, and secretes his infantry +in a thicket of pines. General Bee is on the march, so is General Bartow +and General Jackson, all upon the double-quick. Rebel officers ride +furiously, and shout their orders. The artillerymen lash their horses to +a run. The infantry are also upon the run, sweating and panting in the +hot sunshine. The noise and confusion increase. The booming deepens +along the valley, for still farther down, by <span class="pagenum">[Pg 45]</span>Blackburn’s Ford, Hunt’s +battery is pouring its fire upon Longstreet’s, Jones’s, and Ewell’s men.</p> + +<p>The Union troops at Sudley Springs move across the stream. General +Burnside’s brigade is in advance. The Second Rhode Island infantry is +thrown out, deployed as skirmishers. The men are five paces apart. They +move slowly, cautiously, and nervously through the fields and thickets.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, from bushes, trees, and fences there is a rattle of musketry. +General Evans’s skirmishers are firing. There are jets of flame and +smoke, and a strange humming in the air. There is another rattle, a +roll, a volley. The cannon join. The first great battle has begun. +General Hunter hastens to the spot, and is wounded almost at the first +volley, and compelled to leave the field. The contest suddenly grows +fierce. The Rhode Island boys push on to closer quarters, and the Rebels +under General Evans give way from a thicket to a fence, from a fence to +a knoll.</p> + +<p>General Bee arrives with his brigade to help General Evans. You see him +swing up into line west of Evans, towards the haystacks by Dogan’s +house. He is in such a position that he can pour a fire upon the flank +of the Rhode Island boys, who are pushing Evans. It is a galling fire, +and the brave fellows are cut down by the raking shots from the +haystacks. They are almost overwhelmed. But help is at hand. The +Seventy-first <span class="pagenum">[Pg 46]</span>New York, the Second New Hampshire, and the First Rhode +Island, all belonging to Burnside’s brigade, move toward the haystacks. +They bring their guns to a level, and the rattle and roll begin. There +are jets of flame, long lines of light, white clouds, unfolding and +expanding, rolling over and over, and rising above the tree-tops. Wilder +the uproar. Men fall, tossing their arms; some leap into the air, some +plunge headlong, falling like logs of wood or lumps of lead. Some reel, +stagger, and tumble; others lie down gently as to a night’s repose, +unheeding the din, commotion, and uproar. They are bleeding, torn, and +mangled. Legs, arms, bodies, are crushed. They see nothing. They cannot +tell what has happened. The air is full of fearful noises. An unseen +storm sweeps by. The trees are splintered, crushed, and broken as if +smitten by thunderbolts. Twigs and leaves fall to the ground. There is +smoke, dust, wild talking, shouting, hissings, howlings, explosions. It +is a new, strange, unanticipated experience to the soldiers of both +armies, far different from what they thought it would be.</p> + +<p>Far away, church-bells are tolling the hour of Sabbath worship, and +children are singing sweet songs in many a Sunday school. Strange and +terrible the contrast! You cannot bear to look upon the dreadful scene. +How horrible those wounds! The ground is crimson with blood. <span class="pagenum">[Pg 47]</span>You are +ready to turn away, and shut the scene forever from your sight. But the +battle must go on, and the war must go on till the wicked men who began +it are crushed, till the honor of the dear old flag is vindicated, till +the Union is restored, till the country is saved, till the slaveholder +is deprived of his power, and till freedom comes to the slave. It is +terrible to see, but you remember that the greatest blessing the world +ever received was purchased by blood,—the blood of the Son of God. It +is terrible to see, but there are worse things than war. It is worse to +have the rights of men trampled in the dust; worse to have your country +destroyed, to have justice, truth, and honor violated. You had better be +killed, torn to pieces by cannon-shot, than lose your manhood, or yield +that which makes you a man. It is better to die than give up that rich +inheritance bequeathed us by our fathers, and purchased by their blood.</p> + +<p>The battle goes on. General Porter’s brigade comes to the aid of +Burnside, moving towards Dogan’s house. Jackson’s Rebel brigade is there +to meet him. Arnold’s battery is in play,—guns pouring a constant +stream of shot and shells upon the Rebel line. The Washington Artillery, +from New Orleans, is replying from the hill south of Dogan’s. Other +Rebel batteries are cutting Burnside’s brigade to pieces. The men are +all but <span class="pagenum">[Pg 48]</span>ready to fall back before the terrible storm. Burnside sends to +Porter for help,—he asks for the brave old soldiers, the regulars, who +have been true to the flag of their country, while many of their former +officers have been false. They have been long in the service, and have +had many fierce contests with the Indians on the Western plains. They +are as true as steel. Captain Sykes commands them. He leads the way. You +see them, with steady ranks, in the edge of the woods east of Dogan’s +house. They have been facing southwest, and now they turn to the +southeast. They pass through the grove of pines, and enter the open +field. They are cut through and through with solid shot, shells burst +around them, men drop from the ranks, but the battalion does not falter. +It sweeps on close up to the cloud of flame and smoke rolling from the +hill north of the turnpike. Their muskets come to a level. There is a +click, click, click, along the line. A broad sheet of flame, a white, +sulphurous cloud, a deep roll like the angry growl of thunder. There is +sudden staggering in the Rebel ranks. Men whirl round, and drop upon the +ground. The line wavers, and breaks. They run down the hill, across the +hollows, to another knoll. There they rally, and hold their ground a +while. Hampton’s legion and Cocke’s brigade come to their support. +Fugitives are brought back by the officers, who ride furiously <span class="pagenum">[Pg 49]</span>over the +field. There is a lull, and then the strife goes on, a rattling fire of +musketry, and a continual booming of the cannonade.</p> + +<p>General Heintzelman’s division was in rear of General Hunter’s on the +march. When the battle begun the troops were several miles from Sudley +Church. They were parched with thirst, and when they reached the stream +they, too, stopped and filled their canteens. Burnside’s and Porter’s +brigades were engaged two hours before Heintzelman’s division reached +the field. Eight regiments had driven the Rebels from their first +position.</p> + +<p>General Heintzelman marched upon the Rebels west of Dogan’s house. The +Rebel batteries were on a knoll, a short distance from the toll-gate. +Griffin and Ricketts opened upon them with their rifled guns. Then came +a great puff of smoke. It was a Rebel caisson blown up by one of +Griffin’s shells. It was a continuous, steady artillery fire. The +gunners of the Rebel batteries were swept away by the unerring aim of +Griffin’s gunners. They changed position again and again, to avoid the +shot. Mingled with the constant crashing of the cannonade was an +irregular firing of muskets, like the pattering of rain-drops upon a +roof. At times there was a quicker rattle, and heavy rolls, like the +fall of a great building.</p> + +<p>General Wilcox swung his brigade round upon Jackson’s flank. The Rebel +general must retreat <span class="pagenum">[Pg 50]</span>or be cut off, and he fell back to the toll-gate, +to the turnpike, across it, in confusion, to the ridge by Mrs. Henry’s. +Evans’s, Bee’s, Bartow’s, and Cocke’s brigades, which have been trying +to hold their ground against Burnside and Porter’s brigades, by this +movement are also forced back to Mr. Lewis’s house. The Rebels do not +all go back. There are hundreds who rushed up in hot haste in the +morning lying bleeding, torn, mangled, upon the wooded slopes. Some are +prisoners.</p> + +<p>I talked with a soldier of one of the Virginia regiments. We were near +the Stone Bridge. He was a tall, athletic young man, dressed in a gray +uniform trimmed with yellow braid.</p> + +<p>“How many soldiers have you on the field?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“Ninety thousand.”</p> + +<p>“Hardly that number, I guess.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir. We have got Beauregard’s and Johnston’s armies. Johnston came +yesterday and a whole lot more from Richmond. If you whip us to-day, you +will whip nigh to a hundred thousand.”</p> + +<p>“Who is in command?”</p> + +<p>“Jeff Davis.”</p> + +<p>“I thought Beauregard was in command.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he was; but Jeff Davis is on the field now. I know it; for I saw +him just before I was captured. He was on a white horse.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 51]</span>While talking, a shell screamed over our heads and fell in the woods. +The Rebel batteries had opened again upon our position. Another came, +and we were compelled to leave the spot.</p> + +<p>The prisoner may have been honest in his statements. It requires much +judgment to correctly estimate large armies. He was correct in saying +that Jeff Davis was there. He was on the ground, watching the progress +of the battle, but taking no part. He arrived in season to see the close +of the contest.</p> + +<p>After Burnside and Porter had driven Evans, Bee, and Bartow across the +turnpike, General Sherman and General Keyes crossed Bull Run above the +Stone Bridge and moved straight down the stream. Schenck’s brigade and +Ayer’s and Carlisle’s batteries were left to guard the rear.</p> + +<p>Perhaps you had a brother or a father in the Second New Hampshire, or in +the Seventy-first New York, or in some other regiment; or perhaps when +the war is over you may wish to visit the spot and behold the ground +where the first great battle was fought. You will wish to see just where +they stood. Looking, then, along the line at one o’clock, you see +nearest the stream General Keyes’s brigade, composed of the First, +Second, and Third Connecticut regiments and the Fourth Maine. Next is +Sherman’s brigade, composed of the Sixty-ninth and Seventy-ninth New +York Militia, <span class="pagenum">[Pg 52]</span>the Thirteenth New York Volunteers, and the Second +Wisconsin. Between these and the toll-gate you see first, as you go +west, Burnside’s brigade, composed of the First and Second Rhode Island, +the Seventy-first New York Militia, and the Second New Hampshire, and +the Second Rhode Island battery; extending to the toll-house is Porter’s +brigade. He has Sykes’s battalion of regulars, and the Eighth and +Fourteenth regiments of New York Militia and Arnold’s battery. Crossing +the road which comes down from Sudley Springs, you see General +Franklin’s brigade, containing the Fifth Massachusetts Militia, the +First Minnesota Volunteers, and the Fourth Pennsylvania Militia. Next +you come to the men from Maine and Vermont, the Second, Fourth, and +Fifth Maine, and the Second Vermont, General Howard’s brigade. Beyond, +upon the extreme right, is General Wilcox with the First Michigan and +the Eleventh New York. Griffin’s and Rickett’s batteries are near at +hand. There are twenty-four regiments and twenty-four pieces of +artillery. There are two companies of cavalry. If we step over to the +house of Mr. Lewis, we shall find General Johnston and General +Beauregard in anxious consultation. General Johnston has sent officers +in hot haste for reinforcements. Brigades are arriving out of +breath,—General Cocke’s, Holmes’s, Longstreet’s, Earley’s. Broken +regiments, fragments <span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span>of companies, and stragglers are collected and +brought into line. General Bonham’s brigade is sent for. All but General +Ewell’s and General Jones’s; they are left to prevent General Miles from +crossing at Blackburn’s Ford and attacking the Rebel army in the rear. +General Johnston feels that it is a critical moment. He has been driven +nearly two miles. His flank has been turned. His loss has been very +great, and his troops are beginning to be disheartened. They have +changed their opinions of the Yankees.</p> + +<p>General Johnston has Barley’s brigade, composed of the Seventh and +Twenty-fourth Virginia, and the Seventh Louisiana; Jackson’s brigade, +composed of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-seventh, and Thirty-third +Virginia, and the Thirteenth Mississippi; Bee’s and Bartow’s brigades +united, composed of two companies of the Eleventh Mississippi, Second +Mississippi, First Alabama, Seventh and Eighth Georgia; Cocke’s brigade, +the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-eighth Virginia, seven companies +of the Eighth, and three of the Forty-ninth Virginia; Evans’s brigade, +composed of Hampton’s legion, Fourth South Carolina, and Wheat’s +Louisiana battalion; Holmes’s brigade, composed of two regiments of +Virginia infantry, the First Arkansas, and the Second Tennessee. Two +regiments of Bonham’s brigade, and Elzey’s brigade were brought in +before the conflict was <span class="pagenum">[Pg 54]</span>over. Putting the detached companies into +regiments, Johnston’s whole force engaged in this last struggle is +thirty-five regiments of infantry, and about forty pieces of artillery, +all gathered upon the ridge by Mr. Lewis’s and Mrs. Henry’s.</p> + +<p>There is marching to and fro of regiments. There is not much order. +Regiments are scattered. The lines are not even. This is the first +battle, and officers and men are inexperienced. There are a great many +stragglers on both sides; more, probably, from the Rebel ranks than from +McDowell’s army, for thus far the battle has gone against them. You can +see them scattered over the fields, beyond Mr. Lewis’s.</p> + +<p>The fight goes on. The artillery crashes louder than before. There is a +continuous rattle of musketry. It is like the roaring of a hail-storm. +Sherman and Keyes move down to the foot of the hill, near Mr. Lewis’s. +Burnside and Porter march across the turnpike. Franklin and Howard and +Wilcox, who have been pushing south, turn towards the southeast. There +are desperate hand-to-hand encounters. Cannon are taken and retaken. +Gunners on both sides are shot while loading their pieces. Hundreds +fall, and other hundreds leave the ranks. The woods toward Sudley +Springs are filled with wounded men and fugitives, weak, thirsty, +hungry, exhausted, worn down by the long morning march, want of sleep, +lack of food, and the excitement of the hour.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 55]</span>Across the plains, towards Manassas, are other crowds,—disappointed, +faint-hearted, defeated soldiers, fleeing for safety.</p> + +<p>“We are defeated!”</p> + +<p>“Our regiments are cut to pieces!”</p> + +<p>“General Bartow is wounded and General Bee is killed!”</p> + +<p>Thus they cry, as they hasten towards Manassas.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Officers and men in +the Rebel ranks feel that the battle is all but lost. Union officers and +men feel that it is almost won.</p> + +<p>The Rebel right wing, far out upon the turnpike, has been folded back +upon the centre; the centre has been driven in upon the left wing, and +the left wing has been pushed back beyond Mr. Lewis’s house. Griffin’s +and Rickett’s batteries, which had been firing from the ridge west of +the toll-gate, were ordered forward to the knoll from which the Rebel +batteries had been driven.</p> + +<p>“It is too far in advance,” said General Griffin.</p> + +<p>“The Fire Zouaves will support you,” said General Barry.</p> + +<p>“It is better to have them go in advance till we come into position; +then they can fall back,” Griffin replied.</p> + +<p>“No; you are to move first, those are the orders. The Zouaves are +already to follow on the double-quick.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 56]</span>“I will go; but, mark my words, they will not support me.”</p> + +<p>The battery galloped over the fields, descended the hill, crossed the +ravine, advancing to the brow of the hill near Mrs. Henry’s, followed by +Rickett’s battery, the Fire Zouaves, and the Fourteenth New York. In +front of them, about forty or fifty rods distant, were the Rebel +batteries, supported by infantry. Griffin and Ricketts came into +position, and opened a fire so terrible and destructive that the Rebel +batteries and infantry were driven beyond the crest of the hill.</p> + +<p>The field was almost won. Read what General Johnston says: “The long +contest against fivefold odds, and heavy losses, especially of field +officers, had greatly discouraged the troops of General Bee and Colonel +Evans. The aspect of affairs was critical.”</p> + +<p>The correspondent of the Charleston Mercury writes: “When I entered on +the field at two o’clock, the fortunes of the day were dark. The +remnants of the regiments, so badly injured or wounded and worn, as they +staggered out gave gloomy pictures of the scene. We could not be routed, +perhaps, but it is doubtful whether we were destined to a victory.”</p> + +<p>The correspondent of the Richmond Despatch writes: “Fighting for hours +under a hot sun, without a drop of water near, the conduct of our <span class="pagenum">[Pg 57]</span>men +could not be excelled; but human endurance has its bounds, <i>and all +seemed about to be lost</i>.”</p> + +<p>The battle surges around the house of Mrs. Henry. She is lying there +amidst its thunders. Rebel sharpshooters take possession of it, and pick +off Rickett’s gunners. He turns his guns upon the house. Crash! crash! +crash! It is riddled with grape and canister. Sides, roof, doors, and +windows are pierced, broken, and splintered. The bed-clothes are cut +into rags, and the aged woman instantly killed. The Rebel regiments melt +away. The stream of fugitives toward Manassas grows more dense. Johnston +has had more men and more guns engaged than McDowell; but he has been +steadily driven. But Rebel reinforcements arrive from an unexpected +quarter,—General Smith’s brigade, from the Shenandoah. It comes into +action in front of Wilcox. There are from two to three thousand men. +General Smith is wounded almost at the first fire, and Colonel Elzey +takes command. General Bonham sends two regiments, the Second and Eighth +South Carolina. They keep south of Mrs. Henry’s, and march on till they +are in position to fire almost upon the backs of Griffin’s and Rickett’s +gunners. They march through a piece of woods, reach the top of the hill, +and come into line. Captain Imboden, of the Rebel battery, who is +replying to Griffin, sees them. Who are they? He thinks <span class="pagenum">[Pg 58]</span>they are Yankees +flanking him. He wheels his guns, and is ready to cut them down with +grape and canister. Captain Griffin sees them, and wheels his guns. +Another instant, and he will sweep them away. He believes them to be +Rebels. His gunners load with grape and canister.</p> + +<p>“Do not fire upon them; they are your supports!” shouts Major Barry, +riding up.</p> + +<p>“No, sir; they are Rebels.”</p> + +<p>“They are your supports, just ordered up.”</p> + +<p>“As sure as the world, they are Rebels.”</p> + +<p>“You are mistaken, Captain; they are your supports.”</p> + +<p>The cannoneers stand ready to pull the lanyards, which will send a +tornado through those ranks.</p> + +<p>“Don’t fire!” shouts the Captain.</p> + +<p>The guns are wheeled again towards Mrs. Henry’s, and the supposed +supports are saved from destruction at the hand of Captain Griffin.</p> + +<p>Captain Imboden, before ordering his men to fire upon the supposed +Yankees, gallops nearer to them, to see who they are. He sees them raise +their guns. There is a flash, a rattle and roll. Griffin’s and Rickett’s +men and their horses go down in an instant! They rush on with a yell. +There is sharp, hot, decisive work. Close musket-shots and +sabre-strokes. Men are trampled beneath the struggling horses.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 59]</span>There are shouts and hurrahs. The few soldiers remaining to support +Griffin and Rickett fire at the advancing Rebel brigade, but the contest +is unequal; they are not able to hold in check the three thousand fresh +troops. They fall back. The guns are in the hands of the Rebels. The day +is lost. At the very moment of victory the line is broken. In an instant +all is changed. A moment ago we were pressing on, but now we are falling +back. Quick almost as the lightning’s flash is the turning of the tide. +All through a mistake! So great events sometimes hang on little things.</p> + +<p>The unexpected volley, the sudden onset, the vigorous charge, the +falling back, produces confusion in the Union ranks. Officers and men, +generals and soldiers alike, are confounded. By a common impulse they +begin to fall back across the turnpike. Unaccountably to themselves, and +to the Rebel fugitives streaming towards Manassas, they lose strength +and heart. The falling back becomes a retreat, a sudden panic and a +rout. Regiments break and mix with others. Soldiers drop their guns and +cartridge-boxes, and rush towards the rear.</p> + +<p>I had watched the tide of battle through the day. Everything was +favorable. The heat was intense, and I was thirsty. A soldier came past +with a back-load of canteens freshly filled.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 304px;"> +<img src="images/i068.jpg" width="304" class="jpg2 ispace" height="400" alt="Bull Run Battle-Ground, July 21, 1861." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Bull Run Battle-Ground</span>, July 21, 1861.</span></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary="BullRun"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Stone Bridge.</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td align="left">Porter’s and Burnside’s brigades.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Sudley Springs.</td> +<td align="right">9</td> +<td align="left">Sherman’s and Keyes’s brigades.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">Toll-gate kept by Mr. Mathey.</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +<td align="left">Griffin’s and Rickett’s batteries.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Mr. Dogan’s house.</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td align="left">Rebel reinforcements which fired</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Mrs. Henry’s.</td> +<td> </td> +<td align="left">upon Griffin.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td align="left">Mr. Lewis’s.</td> +<td align="right">14</td> +<td align="left">Position of Rebel army when the</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">7</td> +<td align="left">Wilcox’s, Howard’s, and Franklin’s</td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left">Union line gave way.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td align="left">brigades.</td> +<td align="right">13</td> +<td align="left">Ridge where the battle began.</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>“Where did you find the water?”</p> + +<p>“Over there in the woods, in the rear of Schenck’s brigade.”</p> + +<p>I passed the brigade. Ayers’s and Carlisle’s batteries were there. I +found the spring beyond a little hillock. While drinking, there was +sudden confusion in Schenck’s brigade. There was loud talking, cannon +and musketry firing, and a sudden trampling of horses. A squadron of +Rebel cavalry swept past within a few rods of the spring, charging upon +Schenck’s brigade. The panic tide had come rolling to the rear. Ayers +lashed his horses to a gallop, to reach Cub Run bridge. He succeeded in +crossing it. He came into position to open upon the Rebels and to check +their pursuit. The road was blocked with wagons. Frightened teamsters +cut their horses loose and rode away. Soldiers, officers, and civilians +fled towards Centreville, frightened at they knew not what. Blenker’s +brigade was thrown forward from Centreville to the bridge, and the rout +was stopped. The Rebels were too much exhausted, too much amazed at the +sudden and unaccountable breaking and fleeing of McDowell’s army, to +improve the advantage. They followed to Cub Run bridge, but a few cannon +and musket shots sent them back to the Stone Bridge.</p> + +<p>But at Blackburn’s Ford General Jones crossed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>the stream to attack the +retreating troops. General Davies, with four regiments and Hunt’s +battery, occupied the crest of a hill looking down towards the ford. The +Rebels marched through the woods upon the bank of the stream, wound +along the hillside, filed through a farm-yard and halted in a hollow +within a quarter of a mile of General Davies’s guns.</p> + +<p><a name="blackburn" id="blackburn"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/i070.jpg" class="jpg2 ispace" width="400" height="400" alt="Fight at Blackburn’s Ford, July 21, 1863." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fight at Blackburn’s Ford</span>, July 21, 1863.</span></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="5" summary="BLACKBURN"> + +<tr><td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Blackburn’s Ford.</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Davies’s brigade and batteries.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Mitchell’s Ford.</td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Richardson’s brigade.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">Rebel troops.</td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"> </td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>“Lie down,” said the General, and the four regiments dropped upon the +ground. The six cannon and the gunners alone were in sight.</p> + +<p>“Wait till they come over the crest of the hill; wait till I give the +word,” said the General to Captain Hunt.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>The men stand motionless by their pieces. The long column of Rebels +moves on. There is an officer on his horse giving directions. The long +dark line throws its lengthening shadows upward in the declining +sunlight, toward the silent cannon.</p> + +<p>“Now let them have it!” The guns are silent no longer. Six flashes of +light, and six sulphurous clouds are belched towards the moving mass. +Grape and canister sweep them down. The officer tumbles from his horse, +and the horse staggers to the earth. There are sudden gaps in the ranks. +They stop advancing. Officers run here and there. Another merciless +storm,—another,—another. Eighteen flashes a minute from those six +pieces! Like grass before the mower the Rebel line is cut down. The men +flee to the woods, utterly routed.</p> + +<p>The attempt to cut off the retreat signally failed. It was the last +attempt of the Rebels to follow up their mysterious victory. The +rear-guard remained in Centreville till morning recovering five cannon +which had been abandoned at Cub Run, which the Rebels had not secured, +and then retired to Arlington.</p> + +<p>So the battle was won and lost. So the hopes of the Union soldiers +changed to sudden, unaccountable fear, and so the fear of the Rebels +became unbounded exultation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>The sun had gone down behind the Blue Mountains, and the battle-clouds +hung thick and heavy along the winding stream where the conflict had +raged. It was a sad night to us who had gone out with such high hopes, +who had seen the victory so nearly won and so suddenly lost. Many of our +wounded were lying where they had fallen. It was a terrible night to +them. Their enemies, some of them, were hard-hearted and cruel. They +fired into the hospitals upon helpless men. They refused them water to +quench their burning thirst. They taunted them in their hour of triumph, +and heaped upon them bitterest curses. They were wild with the delirium +of success, and treated their prisoners with savage barbarity. Any one +who showed kindness to the prisoners or wounded was looked upon with +suspicion. Says an English officer in the Rebel service:—<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“I made it my duty to seek out and attend upon the wounded, and +the more so when I found that the work of alleviating their sufferings +was performed with evident reluctance and want of zeal by many of +those whose duty it was to do it. I looked upon the poor fellows only +as suffering fellow-mortals, brothers in need of help, and made no +distinction between friend and foe; nay, I must own that I was +prompted to give the preference to the latter, for the reason that +some <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>of our men met with attention from their relations and +friends, who had flocked to the field in numbers to see them. But in +doing so I had to encounter opposition, and was even pointed at by +some with muttered curses as a traitor to the cause of the Confederacy +for bestowing any attention on the d—— Yankees.”</p></div> + +<p>Notwithstanding the inhuman treatment they received at the hands of +their captors, there were men on that field who never quailed,—men with +patriotism so fervent, deep, and unquenchable, that they lay down +cheerfully to their death-sleep. This officer in the Rebel service went +out upon the field where the fight had been thickest. It was night. +Around him were the dying and the dead. There was a young Union officer, +with both feet crushed by a cannon-shot. There were tears upon his +cheeks.</p> + +<p>“Courage, comrade!” said the officer, bending over him; “the day will +come when you will remember this battle as one of the things of the +past.”</p> + +<p>“Do not give me false hopes, sir. It is all up with me. I do not grieve +that I must die, for with these stumps I shall not live long.”</p> + +<p>He pointed to his mangled feet, and added: “<i>I weep for my poor, +distracted country. Had I a second life to live, I would willingly +sacrifice it for the cause of the Union!</i>”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>His eyes closed. A smile lighted his countenance, as if, while on the +border of another world, he saw once more those who were dearest on +earth or in heaven. He raised himself convulsively, and cried, “Mother! +Father!”</p> + +<p>He was dead.</p> + +<p>He sleeps upon the spot where he fell. His name is unknown, but his +devotion to his country shall shine forevermore like a star in heaven!</p> + +<p>When the Union line gave way, some of the soldiers were so stupefied by +the sudden change that they were unable to move, and were taken +prisoners. Among them was a Zouave, in red trousers. He was a tall, +noble fellow. Although a prisoner, he walked erect, unabashed by his +captivity. A Virginian taunted him, and called him by hard names.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said the Zouave, “I have heard that yours was a nation of +gentlemen, but your insult comes from a coward and a knave. I am your +prisoner, but you have no right to fling your curses at me because I am +unfortunate. Of the two, I consider myself the gentleman.”<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>The Virginian hung his head in silence, while other Rebel soldiers +assured the brave fellow that he should not again be insulted. So +bravery, true courage, and manliness will win respect even from enemies.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>No accurate reports have been made of the number of men killed and +wounded in this battle; but each side lost probably from fifteen hundred +to two thousand men.</p> + +<p>It was a battle which will always have a memorable place in the history +of this Rebellion, because having won a victory, the slaveholders +believed that they could conquer the North. They became more proud and +insolent. They manifested their terrible hate by their inhuman treatment +of the prisoners captured. They gave the dead indecent burial. The Rebel +soldiers dug up the bones of the dead Union men, and carved them into +ornaments, which they sent home to their wives and sweethearts. One girl +wrote to her lover to “be sure and bring her Old Lincoln’s <i>skelp</i>” +(scalp), so that the women as well as the men became fierce in their +hatred. I have seen the letter, which was found upon a prisoner.</p> + +<p>The North, although defeated, was not discouraged. There was no thought +of giving up the contest, but, as you remember, there was a great +uprising of the people, who determined that the war should go on till +the Rebellion was crushed.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">ennessee</span> +joined the Southern Confederacy, but Kentucky resisted all the +coaxing, threatening, and planning of the leaders of the Rebellion. Some +Kentuckians talked of remaining neutral, of taking no part in the great +contest; but that was not possible. The Rebels invaded the State, by +sailing up the Mississippi and taking possession of Columbus,—a town +twenty miles below the mouth of the Ohio. They also advanced from +Nashville to Bowling Green. Then the State decided for the Union,—to +stand by the old flag till the Rebellion should be crushed.</p> + +<p>The Rebels erected two forts on the northern line of Tennessee. Looking +at your map, you see that the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers are near +together where they enter the State of Kentucky. They are not more than +twelve miles apart. The fort on the Tennessee River was named Fort +Henry, the one on the Cumberland, Fort Donelson. A good road was cut +through the woods between them, so that troops and supplies could be +readily <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>removed from one to the other. Fort Henry was on the eastern +bank of the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on the western bank of the +Cumberland. They were very important places to the Rebels, for at high +water in the winter the rivers are navigable for the largest +steamboats,—the Cumberland to Nashville and the Tennessee to Florence, +in Northern Alabama,—and it would be very easy to transport an army +from the Ohio River to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. The +forts were built to prevent any such movement of the Union troops.</p> + +<p><a name="forts" id="forts"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 396px;"> +<img src="images/i077.jpg" class="jpg2 ispace" width="396" height="400" alt="The Forts." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Forts.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>The bluffs of the Mississippi River at Columbus are two hundred feet +high. There the Rebels <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>erected strong batteries, planting heavy guns, +with which they could sweep the Mississippi far up stream, and pour +plunging shots with unobstructed aim upon any descending gunboat. They +called it a Gibraltar, because of its strength. They said it could not +be taken, and that the Mississippi was closed to navigation till the +independence of the Southern Confederacy was acknowledged.</p> + +<p>Early in the war it was seen that a fleet of gunboats would be needed on +the Western rivers, and Captain Andrew H. Foote of the navy was placed +in charge of their construction. They were built at Cincinnati and St. +Louis, and taken to Cairo, where they received their armament, crews, +and outfit.</p> + +<p>You have heard of Cairo. I do not mean the ancient city on the banks of +the Nile, but the modern town on the tongue of land at the mouth of the +Ohio. Charles Dickens has given a description of the place in one of his +delightful books,—Martin Chuzzlewit. It was a forest, with a few +log-huts, when Mark Tapley resided there, and all the people were +smitten with fever and ague. It is a town now, with several thousand +inhabitants. In the spring the town is sometimes overflowed, and the +people navigate the streets with boats and rafts. Pigs look out of the +chamber windows, and dogs, cats, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>chickens live on the roofs of +houses at such times.</p> + +<p>Let us take a look at the place as it appeared the first day of +February, 1862. Stand with me on the levee, and look up the broad +Ohio,—the “la belle rivière,” as the French called it. There are from +fifty to a hundred steamboats lying along the bank, with volumes of +black smoke rolling up from their tall chimneys, and puffs of steam +vanishing in the air. Among them are the gunboats,—a cross between a +floating fort, a dredging-machine, and a mud-scow. The sailors, who have +been tossed upon the ocean in stately ships, call them mud-<i>turkles</i>. +There are thousands of soldiers on the steamboats and on the shore, +waiting for the sailing of the expedition which is to make an opening in +the line of Rebel defences. There are thousands of people busy as bees, +loading and unloading the steamboats, rolling barrels and boxes.</p> + +<p>When Mark Tapley and Martin Chuzzlewit were here it was muddy, and it is +muddy now. There is fine, thin, sticky, slimy, splashy, thick, heavy, +dirty mud. Thousands of men and thousands of mules and horses are +treading it to mortar. It is mixed with slops from the houses and straw +from the stables. You are reminded of the Slough of Despond described by +Bunyan in the Pilgrim’s Progress,—a place for all the filth, sin, and +slime <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>of this world. Christian was mired there, and Pliable nearly lost +his life. If Bunyan had seen Cairo, he might have made the picture still +more graphic. There are old houses, shanties, sheds, stables, pig-sties, +wood-piles, carts, wagons, barrels, boxes, and all the old things you +can imagine. Pigs live in the streets, and there are irrepressible +conflicts between them and the hundreds of dogs. Water-carts, drays, +army-wagons, and artillery go hub deep in the mud. Horses tug and +strive, rear, kick, and flounder. Teamsters lose their footing. Soldiers +wade leg deep in the street. There are sidewalks, but they are slippery, +dangerous, and deceptive.</p> + +<p>It is Sunday. A sweet day of rest in peaceful times, but in war there is +not much observance of the Sabbath. It is midwinter, but a south-wind +sweeps up the Mississippi, so mild and balmy that the blue-birds and +robins are out. The steamboats are crowded with troops, who are waiting +for orders to sail, they know not where. Groups stand upon the topmost +deck. Some lie at full length in the warm sunshine. The bands are +playing, the drums beating. Tug-boats are dancing, wheezing, and puffing +in the stream, flitting from gunboat to gunboat.</p> + +<p>The shops are open, and the soldiers are purchasing +knickknacks,—tobacco, pipes, paper, and pens, to send letters to loved +ones far away. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>At a gingerbread stall, a half-dozen are taking a lunch. The +oyster-saloons are crowded. Boys are crying their newspapers. There are +laughable and solemn scenes. Yonder is the hospital. A file of soldiers +stand waiting in the street. A coffin is brought out. The fife begins +its mournful air, the drum its muffled beat. The procession moves away, +bearing the dead soldier to his silent home.</p> + +<p>A few months ago he was a citizen, cultivating his farm upon the +prairies, ploughing, sowing, reaping. But now the great reaper, Death, +has gathered him in. He had no thought of being a soldier; but he was a +patriot, and when his country called him he sprang to her aid. He +yielded to disease, but not to the enemy. He was far from home and +friends, with none but strangers to minister to his wants, to comfort +him, to tell him of a better world than this. He gave his life to his +country.</p> + +<p>Although there is the busy note of preparation for the sailing of the +fleet, there are some who remember that it is Sunday, and who find time +to worship. The church-bells toll the hour. You tuck your pants into +your boots, and pick your way along the slippery, slimy streets. There +are a few ladies who brave the mud, wearing boots suited to the walking. +Boots which have not been blacked for a fortnight are just as shiny as +those cleaned but an hour ago. At the door of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>church you do as +everybody else does,—take a chip and scrape off the mud.</p> + +<p>Half of the congregation are from the army and navy. Commodore Foote is +there, a devout worshipper. Before coming to church he visited each +gunboat of his fleet, called the crews together, read to them his +general orders, that no unnecessary work should be done on the Sabbath, +and enjoining upon the commanders the duty of having worship, and of +maintaining a high moral character before the men.</p> + +<p>Let us on Monday accept the kind invitation of Commodore Foote, and go +on board the Benton, his flag-ship, and make an inspection of the +strange-looking craft. It is unlike anything you ever saw at Boston or +New York. It is like a great box on a raft. The sides are inclined, made +of stout oak timbers and plated with iron. You enter through a porthole, +where you may lay your hand upon the iron lips of a great gun, which +throws a ball nine inches in diameter. There are fourteen guns, with +stout oaken carriages. The men are moving about, exercising the +guns,—going through the motions of loading and firing. How clean the +floor! It is as white as soap and sand can make it. You must not spit +tobacco-juice here, if you do, the courteous officer will say you are +violating the rules. In the centre of the boat, down beneath the +gun-deck in the hull, are the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>engines and the boilers, partly protected +from any shot which may happen to come in at a porthole, or which may +tear through the sides,—through the iron and the oak. Near the centre +is the wheel. The top of the box, or the <i>casemate</i>, as it is called, is +of oak timbers, and forms the upper deck. The pilot-house is on this +upper deck, forward of the centre. In shape it is like a tunnel turned +down. It is plated with thick iron. There, in the hour of battle, the +pilot will be, peeping out through narrow holes, his hands grasping the +wheel and steering the vessel.</p> + +<p>Its guns, which the sailors call its battery, are very powerful. There +are two nine-inch guns, and also two sixty-four-pounders, rifled, at the +bow. There are two forty-two-pounders at the stern, and those upon the +side are thirty-twos and twenty-fours. There are rooms for the officers, +but the men sleep in hammocks. They take their meals sitting on the +gun-carriages, or cross-legged, like Turks, on the floor.</p> + +<p>Captain Foote is the Commodore of the fleet. He points out to you the +<i>Sacred Place</i> of the ship,—a secluded corner, where any one of the +crew who loves to read his Bible and hold secret devotion may do so, and +not be disturbed. He has given a library of good books to the crew, and +he has persuaded them that it will be better for them to give up their +allowance of grog than to drink <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>it. He walks among the men, and has a +kind word for all, and they look upon him as their father. They have +confidence in him. How lustily they cheer him! Will they not fight +bravely under such a commander?</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>On Monday afternoon, February 2d, the gunboats Cincinnati, Essex, St. +Louis, Carondelet, Lexington, Tyler, and Conestoga sailed from Cairo, +accompanied by several river steamboats with ten regiments of troops. +They went up the Ohio to Paducah, and entered the Tennessee River at +dark. The next morning, about daylight, they anchored a few miles below +Fort Henry. Commodore Foote made the Cincinnati his flag-ship.</p> + +<p>A party of scouts went on shore and called at a farm-house. “You never +will take Fort Henry,” said the woman living there.</p> + +<p>“O yes, we shall; we have a fleet of iron-clad gunboats,” said one of +the scouts.</p> + +<p>“Your gunboats will be blown sky-high before they get up to the fort.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! how so?”</p> + +<p>The woman saw that she was letting out a secret, and became silent. The +scouts mistrusted that she knew something which might be desirable for +them to know, and informed her that, unless she told all she knew, she +must go with them a prisoner. She was frightened, and informed them <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>that +the river was full of torpedoes, which would blow up the gunboats.</p> + +<p>The scouts reported to Commodore Foote. The river was searched with +grappling-irons, and six infernal machines were fished up; but they were +imperfectly constructed, and not one of them would explode.</p> + +<p>Looking up the river from the deck of one of Commodore Foote’s gunboats +you see Panther Island, which is a mile from the fort. It is a long, +narrow sand-bank, covered with a thicket of willows. There is the fort +on the eastern bank. You see an irregular pile of earth, about fifteen +feet above the river, with sand-bag embrasures, which at first sight you +think are blocks of stone, but they are grain-sacks filled with sand. +You count the guns, seventeen in all. One ten-inch columbiad, one +sixty-pounder, twelve thirty-two-pounders, one twenty-four-pounder, and +two twelve-pounders. They are nearly all pivoted, so that they may be +pointed down the river against the boats or inland upon the troops. The +river is nearly a half-mile wide, and on the opposite bank is another +fort, not yet completed. All around Fort Henry you see rifle-pits and +breastworks, enclosing twenty or thirty acres. Above and below the fort +are creeks. The tall trees are cut down to obstruct the way, or to form +an <i>abatis</i>, as it is called. It will not be an easy <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>matter to take the +fort from the land side. Inside these intrenchments is the Rebel +camp,—log-huts and tents, with accommodations for several thousand men.</p> + +<p>Commodore Foote has planned how to take the fort. He is confident that +he can shell the Rebels out just as you can pound rats from a barrel or +a box, and if General Grant will get in rear and watch his opportunity, +they will all be caught.</p> + +<p>General Grant lands two brigades of troops on the west side of the +river, and three brigades on the east side, about four miles below the +fort. Those on the west side are to look after any Rebels which may be +in or around the unfinished fort, while those upon the east side, under +General McClernand, work their way through the woods to gain the rear of +the fort. This is the order to General McClernand:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“It will be the special duty of this command to prevent all +reinforcements of Fort Henry or escape from it. Also to be held in +readiness to charge and take Fort Henry by storm, promptly on receipt of +orders.”</p></div> + +<p>General Grant and Commodore Foote agreed that the gunboats should +commence the attack at twelve o’clock.</p> + +<p>“I shall take the fort in about an hour,” said the Commodore. “I shall +commence firing when I reach the head of Panther Island, and it will +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>take me about an hour to reach the fort, for I shall steam up slowly. I +am afraid, General, that the roads are so bad the troops will not get +round in season to capture the enemy. I shall take the fort before you +get into position.”</p> + +<p>General Grant thought otherwise; but the roads were very muddy, and when +the engagement commenced the troops were far from where they ought to +have been.</p> + +<p>Commodore Foote had prepared his instructions to the officers and crews +of the gunboats several days before. They were brief and plain.</p> + +<p>“The four iron-clad boats—the Essex, Carondelet, St. Louis, and +Cincinnati—will keep in line. The Conestoga, Lexington, and Tyler will +follow the iron-clads, and throw shells over those in advance.”</p> + +<p>To the commanders he said:—</p> + +<p>“<i>Do just as I do!</i>”</p> + +<p>Addressing the crews, he said:—</p> + +<p>“Fire slowly, and with deliberate aim. There are three reasons why you +should not fire rapidly. With rapid firing there is always a waste of +ammunition. Your range is imperfect, and your shots go wide of the mark, +and that encourages the enemy; and it is desirable not to heat the guns. +If you fire slowly and deliberately, you will keep cool yourselves, and +make every shot tell.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>With such instructions, with all things ready,—decks cleared for +action, guns run out, shot and shell brought up from the magazines and +piled on deck,—confident of success, and determined to take the fort or +go to the bottom, he waited the appointed hour.</p> + +<p>The gunboats steam up slowly against the current, that the troops may +have time to get into position in rear of the Rebel intrenchments. They +take the channel on the west side of the island. The Essex is on the +right of the battle line, nearest the island. Her Commander is William +D. Porter, who comes from good stock. It was his father who commanded +the Essex in the war with Great Britain in 1813, and who fought most +gallantly a superior force,—two British ships, the Phebe and +Cherub,—in the harbor of Valparaiso.</p> + +<p>Next the Essex is the Carondelet, then the Cincinnati,—the flag-ship, +with the brave Commodore on board,—and nearest the western shore the +St. Louis. These are all iron-plated at the bows. Astern is the +Lexington, the Conestoga, and the Tyler.</p> + +<p>The boats reach the head of the island, and the fort is in full view. It +is thirty-four minutes past twelve o’clock. There is a flash, and a +great creamy cloud of smoke at the bow of the Cincinnati. An eight-inch +shell screams through the air. The gunners watch its course. Their practised eyes follow its +almost viewless flight. Your <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81-2]</a></span>watch ticks fifteen seconds before you hear +from it. You see a puff of smoke, a cloud of sand thrown up in the fort, +and then hear the explosion. The commanders of the other boats remember +the instructions,—“Do just as I do!”—and from each vessel a shell is +thrown. All fall within the fort, or in the encampment beyond, which is +in sight. You can see the tents, the log-huts, the tall flagstaff. The +fort accepts the challenge, and instantly the twelve guns which are in +position to sweep the river open upon the advancing boats. The shot and +shell plough furrows in the stream, and throw columns of water high in +air.</p> + +<p><a name="forthenry" id="forthenry"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 298px;"> +<img src="images/i089.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="298" height="400" alt="Fort Henry." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fort Henry.</span></span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="4" summary="BullRun"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Essex.</td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Lexington.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Carondelet.</td> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td align="left">Conestoga.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">Cincinnati.</td> +<td align="right">7</td> +<td align="left"> Tyler.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">St. Louis.</td> +<td align="right">8 & 9</td> +<td align="left">Rebel intrenchment.</td></tr></table></div></div> + +<p>Another round from the fleet. Another from the fort. The air is calm, +and the thunder of the cannonade rolls along the valley, reverberating +from hill to hill. Louder and deeper and heavier is the booming, till it +becomes almost an unbroken peal.</p> + +<p>There is a commotion in the Rebel encampment. Men run to and fro. They +curl down behind the stumps and the fallen trees, to avoid the shot. +Their huts are blown to pieces by the shells. You see the logs tossed +like straws into the air. Their tents are torn into paper-rags. The +hissing shells sink deep into the earth, and then there are sudden +upheavals of sand, with smoke and flames, as if volcanoes were bursting +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>forth. The parapet is cut through. Sand-bags are knocked about. The air +is full of strange, hideous, mysterious, terrifying noises.</p> + +<p>There are seven or eight thousand Rebel soldiers in the rifle-pits and +behind the breastworks of the encampment in line of battle. They are +terror-stricken. Officers and men alike lose all self-control. They run +to escape the fearful storm. They leave arms, ammunition, tents, +blankets, trunks, clothes, books, letters, papers, +pictures,—everything. They pour out of the intrenchments into the road +leading to Dover, a motley rabble. A small steamboat lies in the creek +above the fort. Some rush on board and steam up river with the utmost +speed. Others, in their haste and fear, plunge into the creek and sink +to rise no more. All fly except a brave little band in the fort.</p> + +<p>The gunboats move straight on, slowly and steadily. Their fire is +regular and deliberate. Every shot goes into the fort. The gunners are +blinded and smothered by clouds of sand. The gun-carriages are crushed, +splintered, and overturned. Men are cut to pieces. Something unseen +tears them like a thunderbolt. The fort is full of explosions. The heavy +rifled gun bursts, crushing and killing those who serve it. The +flagstaff is splintered and torn, as by intensest lightning.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>Yet the fort replies. The gunners have the range of the boats, and +nearly every shot strikes the iron plating. They are like the strokes of +sledge-hammers, indenting the sheets, starting the fastenings, breaking +the tough bolts. The Cincinnati receives thirty-one shots, the Essex +fifteen, the St. Louis seven, and the Carondelet six.</p> + +<p>Though struck so often, they move on. The distance lessens. Another gun +is knocked from its carriage in the fort,—another,—another. There are +signs that the contest is about over, that the Rebels are ready to +surrender. But a shot strikes the Essex between the iron plates. It +tears through the oaken timbers and into one of the steam-boilers. There +is a great puff of steam. It pours from the portholes, and the boat is +enveloped in a cloud. She drops out of the line of battle. Her engines +stop and she floats with the stream. Twenty-eight of her crew are +scalded, among them her brave commander.</p> + +<p>The Rebels take courage. They spring to their guns, and fire rapidly and +wildly, hoping and expecting to disable the rest of the fleet. But the +Commodore does not falter; he keeps straight on as if nothing had +happened. An eighty-pound shell from the Cincinnati dismounts a gun, +killing or wounding every gunner. The boats are so near that every shot +is sure to do its work. The fire of the boats increases <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>while the fire +of the fort diminishes. Coolness, determination, energy, perseverance, +and power win the day. The Rebel flag comes down, and the white flag +goes up. They surrender. Cheers ring through the fleet. A boat puts out +from the St. Louis. An officer jumps ashore, climbs the torn embankment, +stands upon the parapet and waves the Stars and Stripes. “Hurrah! +hurrah! hurrah!” You hear it echoing from shore to shore.</p> + +<p>General Lloyd Tilghman commanded in the fort. He went on board the +flag-ship.</p> + +<p>“What terms do you grant me?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Your surrender must be unconditional, sir. I can grant you no other +terms.”</p> + +<p>“Well, sir, if I must surrender, it gives me pleasure to surrender to so +brave an officer as you.”</p> + +<p>“You do perfectly right to surrender, sir; but I should not have done it +on any condition.”</p> + +<p>“Why so? I do not understand you.”</p> + +<p>“Because I was fully determined to capture the fort or go to the +bottom.”</p> + +<p>“I thought I had you, Commodore, but you were too much for me.”</p> + +<p>“How could you fight against the old flag, General?”</p> + +<p>“Well, it did come hard at first; but if the North had only let us +alone, there would have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>been no trouble. They would not abide by the +Constitution.”</p> + +<p>“You are mistaken, General, and the whole South is mistaken. The North +have always been willing that the South should have all her rights, +under the Constitution. The South began the war, and she will be +responsible for the blood which has been shed to-day.”</p> + +<p>Thus, in an hour and twelve minutes, the fort which the Rebels +confidently expected would prevent the gunboats from ascending the river +was forced to surrender, and there was unobstructed water communication +to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. Their line of defence was +broken.</p> + +<p>There was but little loss of life in this engagement,—twenty to thirty +killed and wounded on each side. If the Rebel army had not fled almost +at the first fire, there would have been terrible slaughter. When +Commodore Foote was informed that there were several thousand troops in +the fortifications, said he, “I am sorry for it, because if they stand +their ground there will be great destruction of life from the heavy +shells; for I shall take the fort or sink with the ships.”</p> + +<p>If the troops under General Grant had been in position to have +intercepted the Rebel force, the whole panic-stricken crowd would have +been captured, but being delayed by the mud, the fleet-footed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>Rebels +were far on their way towards Fort Donelson when General Grant reached +the rear of the intrenchments. In their haste and terror the Rebels +abandoned nine pieces of field artillery on the road, and a large supply +of ammunition.</p> + +<p>The battle was fought on Thursday. On Friday Commodore Foote returned to +Cairo, to send his despatches to Washington, also to repair his gunboats +and to see that the poor scalded men on the Essex were well taken care +of.</p> + +<p>I was writing, at Cairo, the account of the battle. It was past midnight +when the Commodore came to my room. He sat down, and told me what I have +written of his plan of the battle, and his talk with General Tilghman. +He could not sit still. He was weary and exhausted with his labors. “I +am afraid, Commodore, that you have overworked. You must have rest and +sleep,” I remarked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I have been obliged to work pretty hard, and need rest, but I +never slept better in my life than night before last, and I never prayed +more fervently than on yesterday morning before going into the battle; +but I couldn’t sleep last night for thinking of those poor fellows on +board the Essex,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>On Sunday morning he was at church as usual. The minister was late. The +people thought there would be no meeting, and were about to leave <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>the +house. Commodore Foote went to one of the Elders of the church, and +urged him to conduct the worship. The Elder declined. But the Commodore +never let slip an opportunity for doing good. He was always ready to +serve his country and his God. He went into the pulpit, read a chapter, +offered a prayer, and preached a short sermon from the words,—“Let not +your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God; believe also in me.” It was +an exhortation for all men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the +Saviour of the world. Some who heard him, as they went home from church, +said that they also believed in Commodore Foote!</p> + +<p>To him belongs the credit not only of taking Fort Henry, but of planning +the expedition. When the true history of this Rebellion is written, you +will see how important a thing it was, how great its results, and you +will admire more and more the sterling patriotism and unswerving +Christian principles of a man who struck this first great blow, and did +so much towards crushing the Rebellion.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">G</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">eneral</span> +Grant’s plan for taking Fort Donelson was, to move the first and +second divisions of his army across the country, and attack the fort in +the rear, while another division, accompanied by the gunboats, should go +up the Cumberland and attack the fort from that direction. Commodore +Foote informed the General that it was necessary to repair the gunboats +which had been injured before commencing operations; but General Grant +determined to make no delay on that account. Without fully perfecting +his arrangements, or calculating the time needed for the steamboats to +go from Fort Henry down to the Ohio and up the Cumberland, he ordered +the two divisions to march. General Lewis Wallace was left at Fort Henry +with a brigade, while six regiments of his division, the third, were +embarked on the steamboats, which sailed down the Tennessee in fine +style, turning back other boats, and all proceeded up the Cumberland.</p> + +<p>There are steep hills, sandy plains, deep ravines, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>trickling brooks, and +grand old forest-trees between Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The road +winds along the hillsides, over the plains, and descends into the +ravines. There are but few farm-houses, for the soil is unproductive and +the forests remain almost as they have been for hundreds of years. The +few farmers who reside there live mainly on hog and hominy. They +cultivate a few acres of corn, but keep a great many pigs, which live in +the woods and fatten upon acorns and hickory-nuts.</p> + +<p>The regiments which marched to Fort Donelson bivouacked the first night +beside a stream of water about four miles from Fort Henry. They had no +tents. They had been in barracks at Cairo through December and January, +but now they must lie upon the ground, wrapped in their blankets. The +nights were cold, and the ground was frozen. They cut down the tall +trees and kindled great fires, which roared and crackled in the frosty +air. They scraped the dead leaves into heaps and made them beds. They +saw the pigs in the woods. Crack! crack! went their rifles, and they had +roast sparerib and pork-steaks,—delicious eating to hungry men. The +forest was all aglow with the hundreds of fires. The men told stories, +toasted their toes, looked into the glowing coals, thought perhaps of +home, of the dear ones there, then wrapped their blankets about them and +went <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>to sleep. Out towards Fort Donelson the pickets stood at their +posts and looked into the darkness, watching for the enemy through the +long winter night. But no Rebels appeared. They had been badly +frightened at Fort Henry. They had recovered from their terror, however, +and had determined to make a brave stand at Fort Donelson. They had been +reinforced by a large body of troops from General Albert Sidney +Johnston’s army at Bowling Green, in Kentucky, and from General Lee’s +army in Virginia.</p> + +<p>General Grant’s two divisions, which marched across the country, +numbered about fifteen thousand. There were four brigades in the first +division,—Colonel Oglesby’s, Colonel W. H. L. Wallace’s, Colonel +McArthur’s, and Colonel Morrison’s. Colonel Oglesby had the Eighth, +Eighteenth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Illinois +regiments. Colonel Wallace’s was composed of the Eleventh, Twentieth, +Forty-fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois regiments. In Colonel McArthur’s +were the Second, Ninth, Twelfth, and Forty-first Illinois, and in +Colonel Morrison’s the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth Illinois regiments.</p> + +<p>Schwartz’s, Taylor’s, Dresser’s, and McAllister’s batteries accompanied +this division.</p> + +<p>There were three brigades in the second division. The first, under the +command of Colonel <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>Cook, was composed of the Seventh Illinois, Twelfth +Iowa, Thirteenth Missouri, and Fifty-second Indiana.</p> + +<p>Colonel Lauman commanded the second brigade, composed of the Second, +Seventh, Fourteenth, and Twenty-eighth Iowa regiments, the Fifty-second +Indiana, and Colonel Birges’s regiment of sharpshooters.</p> + +<p>The third brigade, commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, was composed of +the Eighth Missouri and Eleventh Indiana.</p> + +<p>Major Cavender’s regiment of Missouri artillery was attached to this +division, composed of three full batteries,—Captain Richardson’s, +Captain Stone’s, and Captain Walker’s.</p> + +<p>The Fourth Illinois cavalry and three or four companies of cavalry were +distributed among the brigades.</p> + +<p>Colonel Birges’s sharpshooters were picked men, who had killed many +bears, deer, and wolves in the Western woods. They could take unerring +aim, and bring down a squirrel from the top of the highest trees. They +wore gray uniforms of felt, with close-fitting skull-caps, and +buffalo-skin knapsacks, and a powder-horn. They were swift runners. Each +man carried a whistle. They had signal-calls for advancing, or +retreating, or moving to the right or the left. They glided through the +forests like fleet-footed deer, or crept as stealthily <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>as an Indian +along the ravines and through the thickets. They were tough, hearty, +daring, courageous men. They thought it no great hardship to march all +day, and lie down beside a log at night without supper. They wanted no +better fun than to creep through the underbrush and pick off the Rebels, +whirling in an instant upon their backs after firing a shot, to reload +their rifles. Although attached to Lauman’s brigade, they were expected +in battle to go where they could do the most service.</p> + +<p>As you go up the Cumberland River, and approach the town of Dover, you +see a high hill on the west bank. It is crowned with an embankment of +earth, which runs all round the top with many angles. At the foot of the +hill are two other embankments, fifteen or twenty feet above the water. +There are seventeen heavy guns in these works. Two of them throw long +bolts of iron, weighing one hundred and twenty-eight pounds, but most of +the guns are thirty-two-pounders.</p> + +<p>If you go into the batteries and into the fort, and run your eye along +the guns, you will see that all of them can be aimed at a gunboat in the +river. They all point straight down stream, and a concentrated fire can +be poured upon a single boat. The river makes a bend as it approaches +the batteries, so that the boats will be exposed on their bows and +sides.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>A mile above the fort you see the little village of Dover. Beyond the +village a creek comes in. It is high water, and the creek is too deep to +be forded.</p> + +<p>On the south side of the hill, beyond the fort, between the fort and the +village, are log-huts, where the Rebel troops have been encamped through +the winter. A stream of clear running water comes down from the hills +west of the village, where you may fill your canteen.</p> + +<p>Going up the hill into the fort, and out to its northwest angle, you see +that the fortifications which the Rebels have thrown up consist of three +distinct parts,—the fort and the water-batteries, a line of breastworks +west of the village, called field-works, and a line of rifle-pits +outside of the field-works. You begin at the northwest angle of the +fort, face to the southwest, and walk along the field-work which is on +the top of a sharp ridge. The embankment is about four feet high. There +are a great many angles, with embrasures for cannon. You look west from +these embrasures, and see that the ground is much broken. There are +hills and hollows, thick brush and tall trees. In some places the trees +have been cut down to form an <i>abatis</i>, an obstruction, the limbs lopped +off and interlocked.</p> + +<p>As you walk on, you come to the Fort Henry and Dover road. Crossing +that, instead of walking <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95-6]</a></span>southwest, you make a gradual turn towards the southeast, and come to +another road, which leads from Dover southwest towards Clarksville and +Nashville. Crossing that, you come to the creek which empties into the +Cumberland just above the town. The distance from the creek back to the +fort, along the line of breastworks, is nearly two miles. Going back +once more to the northwest angle of the fort, you see that the slope of +the hill is very steep outside the works. You go down the slope, +planting your feet into the earth to keep from tumbling headlong. When +you reach the bottom of the ravine you do not find a level piece of +ground, but ascend another ridge. It is not as high as the ridge along +which you have travelled to take a view of the works. The slope of this +outer ridge runs down to a meadow. The Rebels have cut down the tall +trees, and made a line of rifle-pits. The logs are piled one above +another, as the backwoodsman builds a log-fence. There is a space five +or six inches wide between the upper log and the one below it. They have +dug a trench behind, and the dirt is thrown outside.</p> + +<p><a name="fortdonelson" id="fortdonelson"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 346px;"> +<img src="images/i103.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="346" height="400" alt="Fort Donelson." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fort Donelson.</span></span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" summary="DONELSON"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">The Fort.</td> +<td align="right">7</td> +<td align="left">General McClernand’s division.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Field-works.</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td align="left">General Lewis Wallace’s division.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">8 Rifle-pits.</td> +<td align="right">9</td> +<td align="left">General Smith’s division.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Town of Dover.</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +<td align="left">General Grant’s Head-quarters.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Log-huts.</td> +<td align="right">11</td> +<td align="left">Gunboats.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td align="left">Water-batteries.</td> +<td align="right">12</td> +<td align="left">Light Creek.</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>The Rebel riflemen can lie in the trench, and fire through the space +between the logs upon the Union troops if they attempt to advance upon +the works. You look down this outer slope. It is twenty rods to the +bottom, and it is covered with fallen trees. You think it almost +impossible to climb over such a hedge and such obstructions. You see a +cleared field at the base of the hill, and a farm-house beyond the +field, on the Fort Henry road, which is General Grant’s head-quarters. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>The whole country is broken into hills, knolls, and ridges. It reminds +you of the waves you have seen on the ocean or on the lakes in a storm.</p> + +<p>General Floyd, who was Secretary of War under Buchanan, and who stole +all the public property he could lay his hands on while in office, +commanded the Rebel forces. He arrived on the 13th. General Pillow and +Brigadier-General Johnson were placed in command of the troops on the +Rebel left wing west of the town. General Buckner commanded those in the +vicinity of the fort. General Floyd had the Third, Tenth, Eighteenth, +Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth, Thirty-second, Forty-first, Forty-second, +Forty-Eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty-first, and Fifty-third +regiments of Tennessee troops, the Second and Eighth Kentucky, the +First, Third, Fourth, Fourteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-sixth +Mississippi regiments, the Seventh Texas, Fifteenth and Twenty-seventh +Alabama, the Thirty-sixth, Fiftieth, Fifty-first, and Fifty-sixth +Virginia, also two battalions of Tennessee infantry, and a brigade of +cavalry. He had Murray’s, Porter’s, Graves’s, Maney’s, Jackson’s, Guy’s, +Ross’s, and Green’s batteries, in all about twenty-three thousand men, +with forty-eight pieces of field artillery, and seventeen heavy guns in +the fort and water-batteries.</p> + +<p>General Grant knew but little of the ground, or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>the fortifications, or +of the Rebel forces, but he pushed boldly on.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 12th the troops left their bivouac, where they had +enjoyed their roast spareribs and steaks, and marched towards the fort. +The cavalry swept the country, riding through the side roads and +foot-paths, reconnoitring the ground, and searching for Rebel pickets.</p> + +<p>Soon after noon they came in sight of the Rebel encampments. The ground +was thoroughly examined. No Rebels were found outside the works, but +upon the hills within the intrenchments dark masses of men could be +seen, some busily at work with axes and shovels. Regiments were taking +positions for the expected attack; but it was already evening, and the +advancing army rested for the night.</p> + +<p><a name="thursday" id="thursday"></a></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Thursday.</span></h4> + +<p>The night had been cold, but on the morning of the 13th there were +breezes from the southwest, so mild and warm that the spring birds came. +The soldiers thought that the winter was over. The sky was cloudless. +All the signs promised a pleasant day. The troops were early +awake,—replenishing the fading fires, and cooking breakfasts. With the +dawn the sharpshooters and pickets began their work. There was a +rattling musket-fire in the ravines.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>Before the sun rose the Rebel batteries began throwing shells across the +ravines and hills, aiming at the camp-fires of Colonel Oglesby’s +brigade. Instantly the camp was astir. The men fell into line with a +hurrah, the cannoneers sprang to their guns, all waiting for the orders.</p> + +<p>The clear, running brook which empties into the Cumberland between Dover +and Fort Donelson winds through a wide valley. It divides the Rebel +field-works into two parts,—those west of the town and those west of +the fort. The road from Fort Henry to Dover crosses the valley in a +southeast direction. As you go towards the town, you see at your left +hand, on the hill, through the branches of the trees, the Rebel +breastworks, and you are almost within musket-shot.</p> + +<p>General McClernand moved his division down the Dover road, while General +Smith remained opposite the northwest angle of the fort. Oglesby’s +brigade had the advance, followed by nearly all of the division. The +batteries moved along the road, but the troops marched through the woods +west of the road. The artillery came into position on the hills about a +half-mile from the breastworks, and opened fire,—Taylor, Schwartz, and +Dresser west of the town, and Cavender, with his heavy guns, west of the +fort.</p> + +<p>The Rebel batteries began a furious fire. Their shells were excellently +aimed. One struck almost <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>at the feet of Major Cavender as he was +sighting a gun, but it did not disturb him. He took deliberate aim, and +sent shell after shell whizzing into the fort. Another shot fell just in +rear of his battery. A third burst overhead. Another struck one of +Captain Richardson’s men in the breast, whirling him into the air, +killing him instantly.</p> + +<p>Major Cavender moved his pieces, and then returned the fire with greater +zeal. Through the forenoon the forests echoed the terrific cannonade, +mingled with the sharp crack of the riflemen, close under the +breastworks.</p> + +<p>At noon the infantry fight began. West of the town, in addition to the +line of rifle-pits and breastworks, the Rebels had thrown up a small +redoubt, behind which their batteries were securely posted. General +McClernand decided to attack it. He ordered Colonel Wallace to direct +the assault. The Forty-eighth, Seventeenth, and Forty-ninth Illinois +regiments were detached from the main force, and placed under the +command of Colonel Hayne, of the Forty-eighth, for a storming party. +McAllister’s battery was wheeled into position to cover the attack.</p> + +<p>They form in line at the base of the hill. The shells from the Rebel +batteries crash among the trees. The Rebel riflemen keep up a rattling +fire from the thickets. The troops are fresh from the prairies. This is +their first battle, but at the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>word of command they advance across the +intervening hollows and ascend the height, facing the sheets of flame +which burst from the Rebel works. They fire as they advance. It is not a +rush and a hurrah, but a steady movement. Men begin to drop from the +line, but there is no wavering. They who never before heard the sounds +of battle stand like veterans. The Rebel line in front of them extends +farther than their own. The Forty-fifth Illinois goes to the support of +Wallace. The Rebels throw forward reinforcements. There is a continuous +roll of musketry, and quick discharges of cannon. The attacking force +advances nearer and still nearer, close up to the works. Their gallantry +does not fail them; their courage does not falter; but they find an +impassable obstruction,—fallen trees, piles of brush, and rows of sharp +stakes. Taylor’s battery gallops up the road, and opens a rapid fire, +but the Rebel sharpshooters pick off his gunners. It is madness to +remain, and the force retires beyond the reach of the Rebel musketry; +but they are not disheartened. They have hardly begun to fight.</p> + +<p>Colonel Birges’s sharpshooters are sent for. They move down through the +bushes, and creep up in front of the Rebel lines. There are jets of +flame and wreaths of blue smoke from their rifles. The Rebel pickets are +driven back. The sharpshooters work their way still nearer to the +trenches. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>The bushes blaze. There are mysterious puffs of smoke from the +hollows, from stumps, and from the roots of trees. The Rebel gunners are +compelled to let their guns remain silent, and the infantry dare not +show their heads above the breastworks. They lie close. A Rebel soldier +raises his slouched hat on his ramrod. Birges’s men see it, just over +the parapet. Whiz! The hat disappears. The Rebels chuckle that they have +outwitted the Yankee.</p> + +<p>“Why don’t you come out of your old fort?” shouts a sharpshooter, lying +close behind a tree.</p> + +<p>“Why don’t you come in?” is the answer from the breastworks.</p> + +<p>“O, you are cowards!” says the voice at the stump.</p> + +<p>“When are you going to take the fort?” is the response from the +breastwork.</p> + +<p>The cannonade lasted till night. Nothing had been gained, but much had +been lost, by the Union army. There were scores of men lying in the +thickets, where they had fallen. There were hundreds in the hospitals. +The gunboats and the expected reinforcements had not arrived. The Rebels +outnumbered General Grant’s force by several thousand, but fortunately +they did not know it. General Grant’s provisions were almost gone. There +was no meat, nothing but hard bread. The south-wind of the morning had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>changed to the east. It was mild then, but piercing now. The sky, so +golden at the dawn, was dark and lowering, with clouds rolling up from +the east. The rain began to fall. The roads were miry, the dead leaves +slippery. The men had thrown aside their overcoats and blankets. They +had no shelter, no protection. They were weary and exhausted with the +contest. They were cold, wet, and hungry. The rain increased. The wind +blew more furiously. It wailed through the forest. The rain changed to +hail. The men lay down upon frozen beds, and were covered with icy +sheets. It grew colder. The hail became snow. The wind increased to a +gale, and whirled the snow into drifts. The soldiers curled down behind +the stumps and fallen trees. They built great fires. They walked, ran, +thumped their feet upon the frozen ground, beat their fingers till the +blood seemed starting from beneath the nails. The thermometer sank +almost to zero. It was a night of horror, not only outside, but inside +the Rebel lines. The Southern soldiers were kept in the intrenchments, +in the rifle-pits, and ditches, to be in readiness to repel an assault. +They could not keep up great, roaring fires, for fear of inviting a +night attack. Through the long hours the soldiers of both armies kept +their positions, exposed to the fury of the winter storm, not only the +severest <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>storm of the season, but the wildest and coldest that had been +known for many years in that section of the country.</p> + +<p><a name="friday" id="friday"></a></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Friday.</span></h4> + +<p>Friday morning dawned, and with the first rays of light the rifles +cracked in the frosty air. The sharpshooters, though they had passed a +sleepless night, were in their places behind rocks and stumps and trees. +Neither army was ready to recommence the struggle. General Grant was out +of provisions. The transports, with supplies and reinforcements, had not +arrived. Only one gunboat, the Carondelet, had come.</p> + +<p>It was a critical hour. What if the Rebels, with their superior force, +should march out from their intrenchments and make an attack? How long +could the half-frozen, exhausted, hungry men maintain their ground? +Where were the gunboats? Where the transports? Where the reinforcements? +There were no dark columns of smoke rising above the forest-trees, +indicating the approach of the belated fleet.</p> + +<p>General Grant grew anxious. Orders were despatched to General Wallace at +Fort Henry to hasten over with his troops. There was no thought of +giving up the enterprise.</p> + +<p>“We came here to take the fort, and we intend to do it,” said Colonel +Oglesby.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>A courier came dashing through the woods. He had been on the watch three +miles down the river, looking for the gunboats. He had descried a dense +cloud of black smoke in the distance, and started with the welcome +intelligence. They were coming. The Carondelet, which had been lying +quietly in the stream below the fort, steamed up against the current, +and tossed a shell towards the Rebels. The deep boom of the columbiad +echoed over the hills of Tennessee. The troops answered with a cheer +from the depths of the forest. They could see the trailing black banners +of smoke from the steamer. They became light-hearted. The wounded lying +in the hospitals, stiff, sore, mangled, their wounds undressed, chilled, +frozen, covered with ice and snow, forgot their sufferings. So the fire +of patriotism burned within their hearts, which could not be quenched by +sufferings worse than death itself.</p> + +<p>The provisions, troops, and artillery were landed at a farm, three miles +below the fort. A road was cut through the woods, and communication +opened with the army.</p> + +<p>A division was organized under General Lewis Wallace. Colonel Cruft +commanded the first brigade, composed of the Thirty-first and +Forty-fourth Indiana, the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky +regiments.</p> + +<p>The second brigade was composed of the Forty-sixth, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Fifty-seventh, and +Fifty-eighth Illinois regiments. It had no brigade commander, and was +united to the third brigade, commanded by Colonel Thayer. The third +brigade was composed of the First Nebraska, the Sixteenth, Fifty-eighth, +and Sixty-eighth Ohio regiments. Several other regiments arrived while +the fight was going on, but they were held in reserve, and had but +little if any part in the action.</p> + +<p>Wallace’s division was placed between General Smith’s and General +McClernand’s, near General Grant’s head-quarters, on the road leading +from Fort Henry to Dover. It took all day to get the troops into +position and distribute food and ammunition, and there was no fighting +except by the skirmishers and sharpshooters.</p> + +<p>At three o’clock in the afternoon the gunboats steamed slowly up stream +to attack the water-batteries. Commodore Foote repeated the instructions +to the commanders and crews that he made before the attack at Fort +Henry,—to fire slow, take deliberate aim, and keep cool.</p> + +<p>The Pittsburg, St. Louis, Louisville, and Carondelet, iron-plated boats, +had the advance, followed by the three wooden boats,—the Tyler, +Lexington, and Conestoga. A bend in the river exposed the sides of the +gunboats to a raking fire from the batteries, while Commodore Foote +could only use the bow guns in reply. The fort on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>hill was so high +above the boats that the muzzles of the guns could not be elevated far +enough to hit it. Commodore Foote directed the boats to engage the +water-batteries, and pay no attention to the guns of the fort till the +batteries were silenced; then he would steam past them and pour +broadsides into the fort.</p> + +<p>As soon as the gunboats rounded the point of land a mile and a half +below the fort, the Rebels opened fire, and the boats replied. There was +excellent gunnery. The shots from the fort and batteries fell upon the +bows of the boats, or raked their sides; while the shells from the boats +fell plump into the batteries, cutting the embankments, or sinking deep +in the side of the hill and bursting with tremendous explosions, +throwing the earth upon the gunners in the trenches. Steadily onward +moved the boats, pouring all their shells into the lower works. It was a +continuous storm,—an unbroken roll of thunder. There were constant +explosions in the Rebel trenches. The air was filled with pieces of iron +from the exploding shells and lumps of frozen earth thrown up by the +solid shot. The Rebels fled in confusion from the four-gun battery, +running up the hill to the intrenchments above.</p> + +<p>The fight had lasted an hour, and the boats were within five hundred +feet of the batteries; fifteen minutes more and the Commodore would <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>be +abreast of them, and would rake them from bottom to top with his +tremendous broadsides. But he had reached the bend of the river; the +eight-gun battery could cut him through crosswise, while the guns on the +top of the hill could pour plunging shots upon his decks. The Rebels saw +their advantage, and worked their guns with all their might. The boats +were so near that every Rebel shot reached its mark. A solid shot cut +the rudder-chains of the Carondelet and she became unmanageable. The +thirty-two-pound balls went through the oak sides of the boats as you +can throw peas through wet paper. Another shot splintered the helm of +the Pittsburg, and that boat also became unmanageable. A third shot +crashed through the pilot-house of the St. Louis, killing the pilot +instantly. The Commodore stood by his side, and was sprinkled with the +blood of the brave, unfortunate man. The shot broke the wheel and +knocked down a timber which wounded the Commodore in the foot. He sprang +to the deck, limped to another steering apparatus, and endeavored with +his own hands to keep the vessel head to the stream; but that apparatus +also had been shot away. Sixty-one shots had struck the St. Louis; some +had passed through from stem to stern. The Louisville had received +thirty-five shots. Twenty-six had crashed into and through the +Carondelet. One <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>of her guns had burst, killing and wounding six of the +crew. The Pittsburg had been struck twenty-one times. All but the +Louisville, of the iron-plated boats, were unmanageable. At the very +last moment—when the difficulties had been almost overcome—the +Commodore was obliged to hoist the signal for retiring. Ten minutes +more,—five hundred feet more,—and the Rebel trenches would have been +swept from right to left, their entire length. When the boats began to +drift down the stream they were running from the trenches, deserting +their guns, to escape the fearful storm of grape and canister which they +knew would soon sweep over them. Fifty-four were killed and wounded in +this attack.</p> + +<p>At night Commodore Foote sat in the cabin of the St. Louis and wrote a +letter to a friend. His wound was painful, but he thought not of his own +sufferings. He frequently asked how the wounded men were getting along, +and directed the surgeons to do everything possible for their comfort. +This is what he wrote to his friend:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“While I hope ever to rely on Him who controls all things, and to say +from my heart, ‘Not unto us, but unto thee, O Lord, belongs the glory,’ +yet I feel bad at the result of our attack on Fort Donelson. To see +brave officers and men, who say they will go where I lead them, fall by +my side, it makes me sad to lead them to almost certain death.”</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>So passed Friday. The gunboats were disabled. No impression had been +made on the fort. General Grant determined to place his army in position +on the hills surrounding the fort, throw up intrenchments, and wait till +the gunboats could be repaired. Then there would be a combined attack, +by water and by land, which he hoped would reduce the place.</p> + +<p>On Friday evening there was a council of war at General Floyd’s +head-quarters in the town. General Buckner, General Johnson, General +Pillow, Colonel Baldwin, Colonel Wharton, and other commanders of +brigades were present. General Floyd said that he was satisfied that +General Grant would not renew the attack till the gunboats were +repaired, and till he had received reinforcements. He thought that the +whole available force of Union troops would be hurried up by steamboat +from St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cairo; and that when they arrived a +division would be marched up the river towards Clarksville, above Dover, +and that they in the fort would be starved out and forced to surrender +without a battle. It was very good and correct reasoning on the part of +General Floyd, who did not care to be taken prisoner after he had stolen +so much public property. It was just what General Grant intended to do. +He knew that by such a course the fort would be obliged to surrender, +and he would save the lives of his men.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>General Floyd proposed to attack General Grant at daylight on Saturday +morning, by throwing one half of the Rebel army, under Pillow and +Johnson, upon McClernand’s division. By making the attack then in +overwhelming force, he felt pretty sure he could drive McClernand back +upon General Wallace. General Buckner, with the other half of the army, +was to push out from the northwest angle of the fort at the same time, +attack General Wallace, and force him back upon General McClernand, +which would throw the Union troops into confusion. By adopting this plan +he hoped to win a victory, or if not that, he could open a way of escape +to the whole army. The plan was agreed to by the other officers, and +preparations were made for the attack. The soldiers received extra +rations and a large quantity of ammunition. The caissons of the +artillery were filled up, and the regiments placed in position to move +early in the morning.</p> + +<p><a name="saturday" id="saturday"></a></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Saturday.</span></h4> + +<p>General B. R. Johnson led the Rebel column, and Colonel Baldwin’s +brigade the advance. It was composed of the First and Fourteenth +Mississippi and the Twenty-sixth Tennessee regiments. The next brigade +was Colonel Wharton’s. It was composed of the Fiftieth and Fifty-first +Virginia. McCousland’s brigade was composed of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>the Thirty-sixth and +Fifty-sixth Virginia; Davidson’s brigade was composed of the Seventh +Texas, Eighth Kentucky, and Third Mississippi; Colonel Drake’s brigade +was composed of the Fourth and Twentieth Mississippi, Garven’s battalion +of riflemen, Fifteenth Arkansas, and a Tennessee regiment. Hieman’s +brigade was composed of the Tenth, Thirtieth, and Forty-eighth +Tennessee, and the Twenty-seventh Alabama. There were about thirty +pieces of artillery, and twelve thousand men in this column.</p> + +<p>McArthur’s brigade of McClernand’s division was on the extreme right, +and a short distance in rear of Oglesby. The Rebels moved down the Union +Ferry road, which leads southwest towards Clarksville, which brought +them nearly south of Oglesby and McArthur. Oglesby’s regiments stood, +the Eighth Illinois on the right, then the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and +Thirty-first, counting towards the left. Schwartz’s battery was on the +right and Dresser’s on the left. Wallace’s brigade was formed with the +Thirty-first Illinois on the right, close to Oglesby’s left flank +regiment, then the Twentieth, Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Forty-ninth, +and Seventeenth Illinois. McAllister’s battery was between the Eleventh +and Twentieth, and Taylor’s between the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth. +Colonel Dickey’s cavalry was in rear, his horses picketed in the woods +and eating corn. North of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>the Fort Henry road was Colonel Cruft’s +brigade of General Lewis Wallace’s division, the Twenty-fifth Kentucky +having the right, then the Thirty-first Indiana, the Seventeenth +Kentucky, the Forty-fourth Indiana, with Wood’s battery.</p> + +<p>These are all the regiments which took part in the terrible fight of +Saturday forenoon. They were unprepared for the assault. The soldiers +had not risen from their snowy beds. The reveille was just sounding when +the sharp crack of the rifles was heard in the thickets on the extreme +right. Then the artillery opened. Schwartz’s, Dresser’s, McAllister’s, +and Taylor’s men sprang from their blankets to their guns. It was hardly +light enough to see the enemy. They could only distinguish the flashes +of the guns and the wreaths of smoke through the branches of the trees; +but they aimed at the flashes, and sent their shells upon the advancing +columns.</p> + +<p>The Rebel batteries replied, and the wild uproar of the terrible day +began.</p> + +<p>Instead of moving west, directly upon the front of Oglesby, McArthur, +and Wallace, the Rebel column under Pillow marched down the Union Ferry +road south a half-mile, then turned abruptly towards the northwest. You +see by the accompanying diagram how the troops stood at the beginning of +the battle. There is McArthur’s brigade with Schwartz’s battery, +Oglesby’s brigade <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>with Dresser’s battery, Wallace’s brigade with +McAllister’s and Taylor’s batteries,—all facing the town. Across the +brook, upon the north side of the ravine, is Cruft’s brigade. You see +Pillow’s brigades wheeling upon McArthur and Oglesby, and across the +Fort Henry road, coming down from the breastworks, are General Buckner’s +brigades.</p> + +<p><a name="mcclernand" id="mcclernand"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 406px;"> +<img src="images/i122.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="406" height="400" alt="The Attack on McClernand." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Attack on McClernand.</span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" summary="MCCLERNAND"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">McArthur’s brigade.</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Cruft’s brigade.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Oglesby’s brigade.</td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Pillow’s divisions.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">W. H. L. Wallace’s brigade.</td> +<td align="right">6</td> +<td align="left">Buckner’s divisions.</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>Schwartz, Dresser, and McAllister wheel their guns towards Pillow’s +column. The Rebels open with a volley of musketry. The fire is aimed at +the Eighth and Twenty-ninth Illinois regiments, which, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>you remember, are +on the right of Oglesby’s brigade. The men are cold. They have sprung +from their icy beds to take their places in the ranks. They have a scant +supply of ammunition, and are unprepared for the assault, but they are +not the men to run at the first fire. The Rebel musketry begins to thin +their ranks, but they do not flinch. They send their volleys into the +face of the enemy.</p> + +<p>Another Rebel brigade arrives, and fires upon the Thirtieth and +Thirty-first Illinois,—the two regiments on the left of Oglesby’s +brigade. Colonel John A. Logan commands the Thirty-first. He told the +Southern conspirators in Congress, when they were about to secede from +the Union, that the men of the Northwest would hew their way to the Gulf +of Mexico with their swords, if they attempted to close the Mississippi. +He is not disposed to yield his ground. He encourages his men, and they +remain immovable before the Rebel brigades. Instead of falling back, he +swings his regiment towards the Rebels, and stands confronting them.</p> + +<p>But while this is going on, the Rebel cavalry have moved round to the +rear of McArthur. They dash down a ravine, through the bushes, over the +fallen trees, and charge up the hill upon the Ninth and Eighteenth +regiments of McArthur’s brigade. They are sent back in confusion, but +the onset has <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>been so fierce and the charge so far in the rear, that +McArthur is compelled to fall back and form a new line. The Rebels have +begun to open the door which General Grant had closed against them. The +brigades in front of Oglesby are pouring murderous volleys upon the +Eighth and Twenty-ninth. The falling back of McArthur to meet the attack +on his rear has enabled the enemy to come up behind these regiments, and +they are also compelled to fall back.</p> + +<p>The Rebels in front are elated. They move nearer, working their way +along a ravine, sheltered by a ridge of land. They load their muskets, +rush up to the crest of the hill, deliver their fire, and step back to +reload; but as often as they appear, McAllister and Dresser and Taylor +give them grape and canister.</p> + +<p>The Eleventh and Twentieth Illinois, on the right of Wallace’s brigade, +join in the conflict, supporting the brave Logan. Colonel Wallace swings +the Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, and half of the Forty-ninth round towards +Pillow’s brigades, leaving the other half of the Forty-ninth and the +Seventeenth to hold the line towards the Fort Henry road. If you study +the diagram carefully, you will see that this manœuvre was a change +of front. At the beginning the line of battle faced northeast, but now +it faces south.</p> + +<p>There is a ridge between Wallace’s brigade and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>the Rebels. As often as +the Rebels advance to the ridge, Taylor and McAllister with the infantry +drive them back. It is an obstinate and bloody contest. The snow becomes +crimson. There are pools of clotted blood where the brave men lie down +upon the ground. There are bayonet-charges, fierce hand-to-hand +contests. The Rebels rush upon McAllister’s guns, but are turned back. +The lines surge to and fro like the waves of the sea. The dying and the +dead are trampled beneath the feet of the contending hosts.</p> + +<p>Wallace hears a sharp fire in his rear. The Rebels have pushed out once +more towards the west and are coming in again upon the right flank of +the new battle line. McClernand sees that he is contending against +overwhelming numbers, and he sends a messenger in haste to General Lewis +Wallace, who sends Cruft’s brigade to his assistance. The brigade goes +down the road upon the run. The soldiers shout and hurrah. They pass in +rear of Taylor’s battery, and push on to the right to help Oglesby and +McArthur.</p> + +<p>The Rebels have driven those brigades. The men are hastening to the rear +with doleful stories. Some of them rush through Cruft’s brigade. Cruft +meets the advancing Rebels face to face. The din of battle has lulled +for a moment, but now it rolls again louder than before. The Rebels dash +on, but it is like the dashing of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>waves against a rock. Cruft’s men +are unmoved, though the Rebels advance till they are within twenty feet +of the line. There are deafening volleys. The smoke from the opposing +lines becomes a single cloud. The Rebels are held in check on the right +by their firmness and endurance.</p> + +<p>But just at this moment General Buckner’s brigades come out of their +intrenchments. They pass in front of their rifle-pits at the base of the +hill, and march rapidly down to the Dover road. Colonel Wallace sees +them. In a few minutes they will pour their volleys into the backs of +his men. You remember that the Seventeenth and part of the Forty-ninth +Illinois regiments were left standing near the road. You hear from their +muskets now. They stand their ground and meet the onset manfully. Two +guns of Taylor’s battery, which have been thundering towards the south, +wheel round to the northeast and sweep the Rebels with grape and +canister.</p> + +<p>Three fourths of the Rebel army is pressing upon McClernand’s one +division. His troops are disappearing. Hundreds are killed and wounded. +Men who carry the wounded to rear do not return. The Rebels see their +advantage, and charge upon Schwartz’s and McAllister’s batteries, but +are repulsed. Reinforced by new regiments, they rush on again. They +shoot the gunners and the horses <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>and seize the cannon. The struggle is +fierce, but unequal. Oglesby’s men are overpowered, the line gives way. +The Rebels push on with a yell, and seize several of Schwartz’s and +McAllister’s guns. The gunners fight determinedly for a moment, but they +are few against many, and are shot or taken prisoners. A Mississippi +regiment attempts to capture Taylor’s guns, but he sweeps it back with +grape and canister.</p> + +<p>Up to this moment Wallace has not yielded an inch. Two of Oglesby’s +regiments next to his brigade still hold their ground, but all who stood +beyond are in full retreat. The Rebels have picked off a score of brave +officers in Oglesby’s command,—Colonels Logan, Lawler, and Ransom are +wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel White of the Thirty-first, +Lieutenant-Colonel Smith of the Forty-eighth, Lieutenant-Colonel Irvin +of the Twentieth, and Major Post of the Eighth are killed. The men of +Oglesby’s brigade, although they have lost so many of their leaders, are +not panic-stricken. They are overpowered for the moment. Some of the +regiments are out of ammunition. They know that reinforcements are at +hand, and they fall back in order.</p> + +<p>To understand Wallace’s position at this stage of the battle, imagine +that you stand with your face towards the south fighting a powerful +antagonist, that a second equally powerful is coming up <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>on your right +hand, and that a third is giving heavy blows upon your left shoulder, +almost in your back. Pillow, with one half of his brigades, is in front, +Johnson, with the other half of Pillow’s command, is coming up on the +right, and Buckner, with all of his brigades, is moving down upon the +left.</p> + +<p>Wallace sees that he must retreat. The Eleventh and +Thirty-first—Ransom’s and Logan’s regiments—are still fighting on +Wallace’s right. There is great slaughter in their ranks, but they do +not flee. They change front and march a few rods to the rear, come into +line and fire a volley at the advancing Rebels. Forest’s cavalry dashes +upon them and cuts off a few prisoners, but the line is only bruised, +not broken. Thus loading and firing, contesting all the ground, the +troops descend the hill, cross the clear running brook, and march up the +hill upon the other side.</p> + +<p>But there are some frightened men, who fling away their guns and rush +wildly to the rear. An officer dashes down the road, crying: “We are cut +to pieces! The day is lost!”</p> + +<p>“Shut up your head, you scoundrel!” shouts General Wallace.</p> + +<p>It has had an effect upon his troops. They are nervous, and look round, +expecting to see the enemy in overwhelming numbers. General Wallace sees +that there has been disaster. He does not wait for orders to march.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>“Third brigade, by the right flank, double-quick, Forward, March!” +Colonel Thayer commanding the brigade repeats the order. The men break +into a run towards the front along the road. General Wallace gallops in +advance, and meets Colonel Wallace conducting his brigade to the rear.</p> + +<p>“We are out of ammunition. The enemy are following. If you will put your +troops into line till we can fill our cartridge-boxes, we will stop +them.” He says it so coolly and deliberately that it astonishes General +Wallace. It reassures him. He feels that it is a critical moment, but +with men retiring so deliberately, there is no reason to be discouraged.</p> + +<p>He leads Thayer’s brigade up to the crest of the hill, just where the +road begins to descend into the ravine, through which gurgles the clear +running brook.</p> + +<p>“Bring up Company A, Chicago Light Artillery!” he shouts to an aid. A +few moments, and Captain Wood, who commands the battery, leads it along +the road. The horses are upon the gallop. The teamsters lash them with +their whips. They leap over logs, stones, stumps, and through the +bushes. They halt at the crest of the hill.</p> + +<p>“Put your guns here, two pieces in the road, and two on each side, and +load with grape and canister.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>The men spring to their pieces. They throw off their coats, and work in +their shirt-sleeves. They ram home the cartridges and stand beside their +pieces, waiting for the enemy.</p> + +<p>The battery faces southeast. On the right of the battery, next to it, is +the First Nebraska, and beyond it the Fifty-eighth Illinois. On the left +of the battery is Captain Davison’s company of the Thirty-second +Illinois, and beyond it the Fifty-eighth Ohio. A few rods in rear is the +Seventy-sixth Ohio and the Forty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Illinois.</p> + +<p>McArthur, Oglesby, Wallace, and Cruft have all fallen back, and their +regiments are reforming in the woods west of Thayer’s position, and +filling their cartridge-boxes.</p> + +<p>The Rebels halt a little while upon the ground from which they have +driven McClernand, rifling the pockets of the dead and robbing the +wounded. General Pillow feels very well. He writes a despatch, which is +telegraphed to Nashville,—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“On the honor of a soldier, the day is ours!”</div> + +<p>Buckner unites his brigades to Pillow’s, and they prepare for a second +advance. It gives General Wallace time to perfect his line. Willard’s +battery, which was left at Fort Henry, has just arrived. It gallops into +position in the woods west of Thayer’s brigade. Dresser and Taylor also +come into position. They are ready.</p> + +<p>The Rebels descend the hill on the east side <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>of the brook, and move up +the road. They are flushed with success, and are confident of defeating +General Grant. General Floyd has changed his mind; instead of escaping, +as he can do by the road leading to Nashville, he thinks he will put the +army of General Grant to rout.</p> + +<p><a name="second" id="second"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 451px;"> +<img src="images/i131.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="451" height="400" alt="The Second Engagement" title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Second Engagement.</span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" summary="SECOND"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Thayer’s brigade with Wood’s battery.</td> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">Cruft’s brigade.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">McClernand’s brigades.</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Rebels.</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>The advancing columns step across the brook, and begin to ascend the +hill. The artillery opens its fire. The Rebel batteries reply. The +infantry rolls its volleys. The hill and the hollow are enveloped in +clouds of smoke. Wood’s, Dresser’s, Willard’s, and Taylor’s batteries +open,—twenty-four guns send their grape and canister, shrapnel and +shells, into the gray ranks which are vainly endeavoring to reach the +top of the hill. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>The Rebels concentrate their fire upon Wood’s battery +and the First Nebraska, but those hardy pioneers from beyond the +Missouri, some of them Rocky Mountain hunters, cannot be driven. The +Rebels fire too high. The air is filled with the screaming of their +bullets, and a wild storm sweeps over the heads of the men from +Nebraska, who lose but ten men killed and wounded in this terrible +contest. The Nebraska men are old hunters, and do not fire at random, +but take deliberate aim.</p> + +<p>The Rebels march half-way up the hill, and then fall back to the brook. +They have lost courage. Their officers rally the wavering lines. Again +they advance, but are forced back by the musketry and the grape and +canister.</p> + +<p>They break in confusion, and vain are all the attempts of the officers +to rally them. General Floyd’s plan, which worked so successfully in the +morning, has failed at noon. General Pillow’s telegram was sent too soon +by a half-hour. The Rebels retire to the hill, and help themselves to +the overcoats, blankets, beef, bread, and other things in McClernand’s +camp.</p> + +<p>General Grant determined to assault the enemy’s works. He thought that +the rifle-pits at the northwest angle of the fort could be carried; that +then he could plant his batteries so near that, under their fire, he +could get into the fort. General <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>Smith’s division had not been engaged +in the battles of the morning. His troops had heard the roar of the +conflict and the cheers of their comrades when the Rebels were beaten +back.</p> + +<p>They were ready for action. They were nerved up to attempt great deeds +for their country. The Rebels had been repulsed, and now they could +defeat them.</p> + +<p>General Grant directed General Wallace to move forward from his +position, across the brook, drive the Rebels back, and then assault +their works. A large body of Rebels still held the ground, from which +McClernand had been driven.</p> + +<p>General Wallace placed Colonel Morgan L. Smith’s brigade in front. There +was contention between the Eighth Missouri and Eleventh Indiana, for +each wanted the honor of leading the assault. The Eleventh yielded to +the Eighth, with the understanding that in the next assault it should +have the advance. Thus with generous rivalry and unbounded enthusiasm +they prepared to advance.</p> + +<p>The Eleventh followed the Eighth. Colonel Cruft’s brigade, with two Ohio +regiments under Colonel Ross, completed the column. Colonel Cruft formed +in line of battle to the right of Colonel Smith. They crossed the brook. +It was a dark and bloody ravine. The Rebel dead and wounded were lying +there, thick almost as the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>withered forest-leaves. The snow was crimson. +The brook was no longer a clear running stream, but red with blood.</p> + +<p>General Wallace was aware of the desperate character of the enterprise. +He told his men what they were to do,—to drive the enemy, and storm the +breastworks.</p> + +<p>“Hurrah! that’s just what we want to do. Forward! Forward! We are +ready!” were their answers. They could see the Rebel lines on the hill. +The Rebels knew that they were to be attacked, and were ready to receive +them.</p> + +<p>Colonel Smith moved up the road. His point of attack was clear, but +Cruft’s was through brush and over stony ground. A line of skirmishers +sprang out from the Eighth Missouri. They ran up the hill, and came face +to face with the Rebel skirmishers.</p> + +<p>They fought from tree to tree, firing, picking off an opponent, then +falling upon the ground to reload.</p> + +<p>The regiments followed. They were half-way up the hill, when a line of +fire began to run round the crest.</p> + +<p>“Down! down!” shouted Colonel Smith. The regiments fell flat, and the +storm swept harmlessly over their heads. The Rebels cheered. They +thought they had annihilated Colonel Smith’s command. Up they rose, and +rushed upon the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>enemy, pouring in their volleys, falling when the fight +was hottest, rising as soon as the Rebels had fired. Thus they closed +upon the enemy, and pushed him back over all the ground he had won in +the morning, driving him into his works.</p> + +<p>General Wallace was preparing to assault the works, when an officer +dashed down the line with cheering news of success upon the left.</p> + +<p>Returning now to General Smith’s division, we see him preparing to storm +the works near the northwest angle of the fort. Colonel Cook’s brigade +is directed to make a feint of attacking the fort. Major Cavender brings +his heavy guns into position, and opens a furious cannonade, under cover +of which Colonel Lauman is to advance upon the rifle-pits on the outer +ridge. If he can get possession of those, Cavender can plant his guns +there and rake the inner trenches.</p> + +<p>Colonel Hanson’s brigade,—the Second Kentucky, Twentieth Mississippi, +and Thirtieth Tennessee, are in the rifle-pits. There are six pieces of +artillery and another brigade behind the inner intrenchments, all ready +to pour their fire upon the advancing columns. Colonel Hanson’s men lie +secure behind the trunks of the great forest oaks, their rifles thrust +through between the logs. It is fifteen or twenty rods to the bottom of +the slope, and there you find the fallen trees, with their branches +interlocked, and sharp stakes driven <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>into the ground. Beyond is the +meadow where Lauman forms his brigade. The Rebels have a clear sweep of +all the ground.</p> + +<p>General Smith leads Lauman’s men to the meadow, while Colonel Cook moves +up on the left and commences the attack. The soldiers hear, far down on +the right, Wallace’s brigades driving the enemy from the hill.</p> + +<p><a name="laumanbrigade" id="laumanbrigade"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;"> +<img src="images/i136.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="349" height="400" alt="The Charge of Lauman’s Brigade." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Charge of Lauman’s Brigade.</span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" summary="Lauman"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Lauman’s brigade.</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Rebel rifle-pits.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Cook’s brigade.</td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Rebel inner works.</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">Cavender’s batteries, with infantry.</td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"> </td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>It is almost sunset. The rays of light fall aslant the meadow, upon the +backs of Lauman’s men, and into the faces of the Rebels. The advancing +brigade is in solid column of regiments, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>the Second Iowa in front, then +the Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Seventh and Fourteenth Iowa,—four firm, +unwavering lines, which throw their shadows forward as they advance. +Birges’s sharpshooters, with their unerring rifles, are flung out on +each flank.</p> + +<p>The brigade halts upon the meadow. General Smith rides along the line, +and informs them that they are to take the rifle-pits with the bayonet +alone. He sits firmly on his horse, and his long gray hair, falling +almost to his shoulders, waves in the evening breeze. He is an iron man, +and he leads iron men. The Rebel cannon cut them through with solid +shot, shells burst above and around them, with loud explosions and +terrifying shrieks from the flying fragments, men drop from the ranks, +or are whirled into the air torn and mangled. There are sudden gaps, but +not a man flinches. They look not towards the rear, but towards the +front. There are the fallen trees, the hill, the line of two thousand +muskets poised between the logs, the cannon thundering from the height +beyond. There is no whispering in those solid ranks, no loud talking, +nothing but the “Steady! steady!” of the officers. Their hearts beat +great throbs. Their nerves are steel, their muscles iron. They grasp +their muskets with the grip of tigers. Before them rides their General, +his cap upon his sword, his long hair <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>streaming like a banner in the +wind. The color-bearer, waving the stars and stripes, marches by his +side.</p> + +<p>They move across the meadow. All around them is the deafening roar of +the conflict. Cavender is behind them, Cook is upon their left, the +enemy is in front, and Wallace away upon their right. They reach the +fallen trees at the foot of the hill. The pile of logs above them bursts +into flame. A deadly storm, more terrible than the fiercest winter +blast, sweeps down the slope into their faces. There are lightning +flashes and thunderbolts from the hill above. Men drop from their +places, to lie forever still among the tangled branches. But their +surviving comrades do not falter. On,—on,—creeping, crawling, climbing +over the obstructions, unterrified, undaunted, with all the energy of +life centred in one effort; like a tornado they sweep up the +slope,—into the line of fire, into the hissing storm, up to the logs, +into the cloud, leaping like tigers, thrusting the bayonet home upon the +foe. The Rebels reel, stagger, tumble, run!</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Hurra——h!</span>”</p> + +<p>It is a wild, prolonged, triumphant shout, like the blast of a trumpet. +They plant their banners on the works, and fire their volleys into the +retreating foe. Stone’s battery gallops over the meadow, over the logs, +up the hill, the horses <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>leaping and plunging as if they, too, knew that +victory was hanging in the scale. The gunners spring from their seats, +wheel their pieces and throw their shells, an enfilading fire, into the +upper works.</p> + +<p>“Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!” rings through the forest, down the line to +Wallace’s men.</p> + +<p>“We have carried the works!” “We are inside!” shouts an officer bearing +the welcome news.</p> + +<p>The men toss their caps in the air. They shake hands, they shout, and +break into singing. They forget all their hardships and sufferings, the +hungry days, the horrible nights, the wounded and the dead. The success +is worth all the sacrifice.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>THE SURRENDER.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">ll</span> +through the night the brave men held the ground they had so nobly +won. They rested on snowy beds. They had no supper. They could kindle no +fires to warm the wintry air. The cannon above them hurled down shells, +and sent volleys of grape, which screamed above and around them like the +voices of demons in the darkness. The branches of the trees were torn +from their trunks by the solid shot, and the trunks were splintered from +top to bottom, but they did not falter or retire from that slope where +the snow was crimsoned with the life-blood of hundreds of their +comrades. Nearly four hundred had fallen in that attack. The hill had +cost a great deal of blood, but it was worth all it cost, and they would +not give it up. So they braved the leaden rain and iron hail through the +weary hours of that winter night. They only waited for daybreak to storm +the inner works and take the fort. Their ardor and enthusiasm was +unbounded.</p> + +<p>As the morning approached they heard a bugle-call. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>They looked across +the narrow ravine, and saw, in the dim light of the dawn, a man waving a +white flag upon the intrenchments. It was a sign for a parley. He jumped +down from the embankment, and descended the hill.</p> + +<p>“Halt! Who comes there?” shouted the picket.</p> + +<p>“Flag of truce with a letter for General Grant.”</p> + +<p>An officer took the letter, and hastened down the slope, across the +meadow, up to the house on the Dover road, where General Grant had his +head-quarters.</p> + +<p>During the night there had been a council of war at General Floyd’s +head-quarters. Nearly all the Rebel officers commanding brigades and +regiments were there. They were down-hearted. They had fought bravely, +won a victory, as they thought, but had lost it. A Rebel officer who was +there told me what they said. General Floyd and General Pillow blamed +General Buckner for not advancing earlier in the morning, and for making +what they thought a feeble attack. They could have escaped after they +drove McClernand across the brook, but now they were hemmed in. The +prospect was gloomy. The troops were exhausted by the long conflict, by +constant watching, and by the cold. What bitter nights those were to the +men who came from Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>where the roses bloom +and the blue-birds sing through all the winter months.</p> + +<p>What should be done? Should they make another attack, and cut their way +out, or should they surrender?</p> + +<p>“I cannot hold my position a half-hour. The Yankees can turn my flank or +advance directly upon the breastworks,” said General Buckner.</p> + +<p>“If you had advanced at the time agreed upon, and made a more vigorous +attack, we should have routed the enemy,” said General Floyd.</p> + +<p>“I advanced as soon as I could, and my troops fought as bravely as +others,” was the response from General Buckner,—a middle-aged, +medium-sized man. His hair is iron gray. He has thin whiskers and a +moustache, and wears a gray kersey overcoat, with a great cape, and gold +lace on the sleeves, and a black hat with a nodding black plume.</p> + +<p>“Well, here we are, and it is useless to renew the attack with any hope +of success. The men are exhausted,” said General Floyd,—a stout, heavy +man, with thick lips, a large nose, evil eyes, and coarse features.</p> + +<p>“We can cut our way out,” said Major Brown, commanding the Twentieth +Mississippi,—a tall, black-haired, impetuous, fiery man.</p> + +<p>“Some of us might escape in that way, but the attempt would be attended +with great slaughter,” responded General Floyd.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>“My troops are so worn out and cut to pieces and demoralized, that I +can’t make another fight,” said Buckner.</p> + +<p>“My troops will fight till they die,” answered Major Brown, setting his +teeth together.</p> + +<p>“It will cost the command three quarters of its present number to cut +its way through, and it is wrong to sacrifice three quarters of a +command to save the other quarter,” Buckner continued.</p> + +<p>“No officer has a right to cause such a sacrifice,” said Major Gilmer, +of General Pillow’s staff.</p> + +<p>“But we can hold out another day, and by that time we can get steamboats +here to take us across the river,” said General Pillow.</p> + +<p>“No, I can’t hold my position a half-hour, and the Yankees will renew +the attack at daybreak,” Buckner replied.</p> + +<p>“Then we have got to surrender, for aught I see,” said an officer.</p> + +<p>“I won’t surrender the command, neither will I be taken prisoner,” said +Floyd. He doubtless remembered how he had stolen public property, while +in office under Buchanan, and would rather die than to fall into the +hands of those whom he knew would be likely to bring him to an account +for his villany.</p> + +<p>“I don’t intend to be taken prisoner,” said Pillow.</p> + +<p>“What will you do, gentlemen?” Buckner asked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>“I mean to escape, and take my Virginia brigade with me, if I can. I +shall turn over the command to General Pillow. I have a right to escape +if I can, but I haven’t any right to order the entire army to make a +hopeless fight,” said Floyd.</p> + +<p>“If you surrender it to me, I shall turn it over to General Buckner,” +said General Pillow, who was also disposed to shirk responsibility and +desert the men whom he had induced to vote to secede from the Union and +take up arms against their country.</p> + +<p>“If the command comes into my hands, I shall deem it my duty to +surrender it. I shall not call upon the troops to make a useless +sacrifice of life, and I will not desert the men who have fought so +nobly,” Buckner replied, with a bitterness which made Floyd and Pillow +wince.</p> + +<p>It was past midnight. The council broke up. The brigade and regimental +officers were astonished at the result. Some of them broke out into +horrid cursing and swearing at Floyd and Pillow.</p> + +<p>“It is mean!” “It is cowardly!” “Floyd always was a rascal.”</p> + +<p>“We are betrayed!” “There is treachery!” said they.</p> + +<p>“It is a mean trick for an officer to desert his men. If my troops are +to be surrendered, I shall stick by them,” said Major Brown.</p> + +<p>“I denounce Pillow as a coward, and if I ever <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>meet him, I’ll shoot him +as quick as I would a dog,” said Major McLain, red with rage.</p> + +<p>Floyd gave out that he was going to join Colonel Forrest, who commanded +the cavalry, and thus cut his way out; but there were two or three small +steamboats at the Dover landing. He and General Pillow jumped on board +one of them, and then secretly marched a portion of the Virginia brigade +on board. Other soldiers saw what was going on, that they were being +deserted. They became frantic with terror and rage. They rushed on +board, crowding every part of the boat.</p> + +<p>“Cut loose!” shouted Floyd to the captain. The boats swung into the +stream and moved up the river, leaving thousands of infuriated soldiers +on the landing. So the man who had stolen the public property, and who +did all he could to bring on the war, who induced thousands of poor, +ignorant men to take up arms, deserted his post, stole away in the +darkness, and left them to their fate.</p> + +<p>General Buckner immediately wrote a letter to General Grant, asking for +an armistice till twelve o’clock, and the appointment of commissioners +to agree upon terms by which the fort and the prisoners should be +surrendered.</p> + +<p>“No terms, other than unconditional and immediate surrender can be +accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works,” was General +Grant’s reply.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>General Buckner replied, that he thought it very <i>unchivalrous</i>, but +accepted the terms. He meant that he did not think it very honorable in +General Grant to require an unconditional surrender. He professed to +have a high sense of all that was noble, generous, honorable, and +high-minded. But a few days before he had so forgotten those qualities +of character, that he took some cattle from Rev. Mr. Wiggin of +Rochester, Kentucky, one of his old acquaintances, and paid him with a +check of three hundred dollars on the Southern Bank at Russelville. When +Rev. Mr. Wiggin called at the bank and presented the check, the cashier +told him that General Buckner never had had any money on deposit there, +and the bank did not owe him a dollar! He cheated and swindled the +minister, and committed the crime of forgery, which would have sent him +to the state-prison in time of peace.</p> + +<p>The morning dawned,—Sunday morning, calm, clear, and beautiful. The +horrible nights were over and the freezing days gone by. The air was +mild, and there was a gentle breeze from the south, which brought the +blue-birds. They did not mind the soldiers or the cannon, but chirped +and sang in the woods as merrily as ever.</p> + +<p>I saw the white flag flying on the breastworks. The soldiers and sailors +saw it, and cheered. General <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>Grant had moved his head-quarters to the +steamboat Uncle Sam, and, as I happened to be on board that boat, I saw +a great deal that took place.</p> + +<p>The gunboats, and all the steamboats, fifty or more, began to move up +the river. Dense clouds of smoke rolled up from the tall chimneys. The +great wheels plashed the sparkling stream. Flags were flying on all the +staffs. The army began its march into the fort. The bands played. How +grand the crash of the drums and the trumpets! The soldiers marched +proudly. The columns were winding along the hills,—the artillery, the +infantry, the cavalry, with all their banners waving, and the bright +sunshine gleaming and glistening on their bayonets! They entered the +fort, and planted their standards on the embankments. The gunboats and +the field artillery fired a grand salute. From the steamboats, from the +hillside, from the fort, and the forest there were answering shouts. The +wounded in the hospitals forgot, for the moment, that they were torn and +mangled, raised themselves on their beds of straw, and mingled their +feeble cheers in the universal rejoicing!</p> + +<p>Thirteen thousand men, sixty-seven pieces of artillery, and fifteen +thousand small arms were surrendered. A motley, care-worn, haggard, +anxious crowd stood at the landing. I sprang ashore, and walked through +the ranks. Some <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>were standing, some lying down, taking no notice of what +was going on around them. They were prisoners of war. When they joined +the army, they probably did not dream that they would be taken +prisoners. They were to be victorious, and capture the Yankees. They +were poor, ignorant men. Not half of them knew how to read or write. +They had been deluded by their leaders,—the slaveholders. They had +fought bravely, but they had been defeated, and their generals had +deserted them. No wonder they were down-hearted.</p> + +<p>Their clothes were of all colors. Some wore gray, some blue, some +butternut-colored clothes,—a dirty brown. They were very ragged. Some +had old quilts for blankets, others faded pieces of carpeting, others +strips of new carpeting, which they had taken from the stores. Some had +caps, others old slouched felt hats, and others nothing but straw hats +upon their heads.</p> + +<p>“We fought well, but you outnumbered us,” said one.</p> + +<p>“We should have beaten you as it was, if it hadn’t been for your +gunboats,” said another.</p> + +<p>“How happened it that General Floyd and General Pillow escaped, and left +you?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“They are traitors. I would shoot the scoundrels, if I could get a +chance,” said a fellow in a snuff-colored coat, clenching his fist.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>“I am glad the fighting is over. I don’t want to see another such day as +yesterday,” said a Tennesseean, who was lying on the ground.</p> + +<p>“What will General Grant do with us? Will he put us in prison?” asked +one.</p> + +<p>“That will depend upon how you behave. If you had not taken up arms +against your country, you would not have been in trouble now.”</p> + +<p>“We couldn’t help it, sir. I was forced into the army, and I am glad I +am a prisoner. I sha’n’t have to fight any more,” said a blue-eyed young +man, not more than eighteen years old.</p> + +<p>There were some who were very sullen and sour, and there were others who +did not care what became of them.</p> + +<p>I went up the hill into the town. Nearly every house was filled with the +dying and the dead. The shells from the gunboats had crashed through +some of the buildings. The soldiers had cut down the orchards and the +shade-trees, and burned the fences. All was desolation. There were sad +groups around the camp-fires, with despair upon their countenances. O +how many of them thought of their friends far away, and wished they +could see them again!</p> + +<p>The ground was strewed with their guns, cartridge-boxes, belts, and +knapsacks. There were bags of corn, barrels of sugar, hogsheads of +molasses, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>tierces of bacon, broken open and trodden into the mud.</p> + +<p>I went into the fort, and saw where the great shells from the gunboats +had cut through the embankments. There were piles of cartridges beside +the cannon. The dead were lying there, torn, mangled, rent. Near the +intrenchments, where the fight had been fiercest, there were pools of +blood. The Rebel soldiers were breaking the frozen earth, digging +burial-trenches, and bringing in their fallen comrades and laying them +side by side, to their last, long, silent sleep. I looked down the slope +where Lauman’s men swept over the fallen trees in their terrible charge; +then I walked down to the meadow, and looked up the height, and wondered +how men could climb over the trees, the stumps, the rocks, and ascend it +through such a storm. The dead were lying where they fell, heroes every +one of them! It was sad to think that so many noble men had fallen, but +it was a pleasure to know that they had not faltered. They had done +their duty. If you ever visit that battle-field, and stand upon that +slope, you will feel your heart swell with gratitude and joy, to think +how cheerfully they gave their lives to save their country, that you and +all who come after you may enjoy peace and prosperity forever.</p> + +<p>How bravely they fought! There, upon the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>cold ground, lay a soldier of +the Ninth Illinois. Early in the action of Saturday he was shot through +the arm. He went to the hospital and had it bandaged, and returned to +his place in the regiment. A second shot passed through his thigh, +tearing the flesh to shreds.</p> + +<p>“We will carry you to the hospital,” said two of his comrades.</p> + +<p>“No, you stay and fight. I can get along alone.” He took off his +bayonet, used his gun for a crutch, and reached the hospital. The +surgeon dressed the wound. He heard the roar of battle. His soul was on +fire to be there. He hobbled once more to the field, and went into the +thickest of the fight, lying down, because he could not stand. He fought +as a skirmisher. When the Rebels advanced, he could not retire with the +troops, but continued to fight. After the battle he was found dead upon +the field, six bullets having passed through his body.</p> + +<p>One bright-eyed little fellow, of the Second Iowa, had his foot crushed +by a cannon-shot. Two of his comrades carried him to the rear. An +officer saw that, unless the blood was stopped, he never would reach the +hospital. He told the men to tie a handkerchief around his leg, and put +snow on the wound.</p> + +<p>“O, never mind the foot, Captain,” said the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>brave fellow. “We drove the +Rebels out, and have got their trench; that’s the most I care for!” The +soldiers did as they were directed, and his life was saved.</p> + +<p>There in the trenches was a Rebel soldier with a rifle-shot through his +head. He was an excellent marksman, and had killed or wounded several +Union officers. One of Colonel Birges’s sharpshooters, an old hunter, +who had killed many bears and wolves, crept up towards the breastworks +to try his hand upon the Rebel. They fired at each other again and +again, but both were shrewd and careful. The Rebel raised his hat above +the breastwork,—whi——z! The sharpshooter out in the bushes had put a +bullet through it. “Ha! ha! ha!” laughed the Rebel, sending his own +bullet into the little puff of smoke down in the ravine. The Rocky +Mountain hunter was as still as a mouse. He knew that the Rebel had +outwitted him, and expected the return shot. It was aimed a little too +high, and he was safe.</p> + +<p>“You cheated me that time, but I will be even with you yet,” said the +sharpshooter, whirling upon his back, and loading his rifle and whirling +back again. He rested his rifle upon the ground, aimed it, and lay with +his eye along the barrel, his finger on the trigger. Five minutes +passed. “I reckon that that last shot fixed him,” said the Rebel. “He +hasn’t moved this five minutes.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>He raised his head, peeped over the embankment, and fell back lifeless. +The unerring rifle-bullet had passed through his head.</p> + +<p>If you could go over the battle-ground with one of those sharpshooters, +he would show you a little clump of bushes, and some stumps, where three +or four of them lay on Saturday, in front of one of the Rebel batteries, +and picked off the gunners. Two or three times the artillerymen tried to +drive them out with shells; but they lay close upon the ground, and the +shells did not touch them. The artillerymen were obliged to cease +firing, and retreat out of reach of the deadly bullets.</p> + +<p>Some of the Rebel officers took their surrender very much to heart. They +were proud, insolent, and defiant. Their surrender was unconditional, +and they thought it very hard to give up their swords and pistols. One +of them fired a pistol at Major Mudd, of the Second Illinois, wounding +him in the back. I was very well acquainted with the Major. He lived in +St. Louis, and had been from the beginning an ardent friend of the +Union. He had hunted the guerillas in Missouri, and had fought bravely +at Wilson’s Creek. It is quite likely he was shot by an old enemy. +General Grant at once issued orders that all the Rebel officers should +be disarmed. General Buckner, in insolent tones, said to General Grant +that it was barbarous, inhuman, brutal, unchivalrous, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>and at variance +with the rules of civilized warfare! General Grant replied:—</p> + +<p>“You have dared to come here to complain of my acts, without the right +to make an objection. You do not appear to remember that your surrender +was unconditional. Yet, if we compare the acts of the different armies +in this war, how will yours bear inspection? You have cowardly shot my +officers in cold blood. As I rode over the field, I saw the dead of my +army brutally insulted by your men, their clothing stripped off of them, +and their bodies exposed, without the slightest regard for common +decency. Humanity has seldom marked your course whenever our men have +been unfortunate enough to fall into your hands. At Belmont your +authorities disregarded all the usages of civilized warfare. My officers +were crowded into cotton-pens with my brave soldiers, and then thrust +into prison, while your officers were permitted to enjoy their parole, +and live at the hotel in Cairo. Your men are given the same fare as my +own, and your wounded receive our best attention. These are +incontrovertible facts. I have simply taken the precaution to disarm +your officers and men, because necessity compelled me to protect my own +from assassination.”</p> + +<p>General Buckner had no reply to make. He hung his head in shame at the +rebuke.</p> + +<p>Major Mudd, though severely wounded, recovered, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>but lost his life in +another battle. One day, while riding with him in Missouri, he told me a +very good story. He said he was once riding in the cars, and that a very +inquisitive man sat by his side. A few rods from every road-crossing the +railroad company had put up boards with the letters W. R. upon them.</p> + +<p>“What be them for?” asked the man.</p> + +<p>“Those are directions to the engineer to blow the whistle and ring the +bell, that people who may be on the carriage-road may look out and not +get run over by the train,” the Major answered.</p> + +<p>“O yes, I see.”</p> + +<p>The man sat in silence awhile, with his lips working as if he was trying +to spell.</p> + +<p>“Well, Major,” he said at last, “it may be as you say. I know that +w-r-i-n-g spells ring, but for the life of me I don’t see how you can +get an R into whistle!”</p> + +<p>The fall of Fort Donelson was a severe blow to the Rebels. It had a +great effect. It was the first great victory of the Union troops. It +opened all the northwest corner of the Confederacy. It compelled General +Johnston to retreat from Bowling Green, and also compelled the +evacuation of Columbus and all Central Tennessee. Nashville, the capital +of that State, fell into the hands of the Union troops.</p> + +<p>On Sunday morning the Rebels at Nashville <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>were in good spirits. General +Pillow had telegraphed on Saturday noon, as you remember, “On the honor +of a soldier, the day is ours.” The citizens shouted over it.</p> + +<p>One sober citizen said: “I never liked Pillow, but I forgive him now. He +is the man for the occasion.”</p> + +<p>Another, who had been Governor of the State,—a wicked, profane +man,—said: “It is first-rate news. Pillow is giving the Yankees hell, +and rubbing it in!”<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> It is a vile sentence, and I would not quote it, +were it not that you might have a true picture from Rebel sources.</p> + +<p>The newspapers put out bulletins:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“<span class="smcap">Enemy Retreating! Glorious Result!! Our Boys following and peppering +their Rear!! A complete Victory!</span>”</div> + +<p>The bell-ringers rang jubilant peals, and the citizens shook hands over +the good news as they went to church. Services had hardly commenced, +when a horseman dashed through the streets, covered with mud, and almost +breathless from hard riding, shouting, “Fort Donelson has surrendered, +and the Yankees are coming!”</p> + +<p>The people poured out from the churches and their houses into the +street. Such hurrying to and fro was never seen. Men, women, and +children ran here and there, not knowing what to do, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>imagining that the +Yankees would murder them. They began to pack their goods. Carts, +wagons, carriages, drays, wheelbarrows,—all were loaded. Strong men +were pale with fear, women wrung their hands, and children cried.</p> + +<p>Before noon Generals Floyd and Pillow arrived on steamboats. The people +crowded round the renegade officers, and called for a speech. General +Floyd went out upon the balcony of the hotel, and said:—</p> + +<p>“Fellow-Citizens: This is not the time for speaking, but for action. It +is a time when every man should enlist for the war. Not a day is to be +lost. We had only ten thousand effective men, who fought four days and +nights against forty thousand of the enemy. But nature could hold out no +longer. The men required rest, and having lost one third of my gallant +force I was compelled to retire. We have left a thousand of the enemy +dead on the field. General Johnston has not slept a wink for three +nights; he is all worn out, but he is acting wisely. He is going to +entice the Yankees into the mountain gaps, away from the rivers and the +gunboats, and then drive them back, and carry the war into the enemy’s +country.”<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>General Johnston’s army, retreating from Bowling Green, began to pass +through the city. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>soldiers did not stop, but passed on towards the +South. The people had thought that General Johnston would defend the +place, the capital of the State; but when they saw that the troops were +retreating, they recklessly abandoned their homes. It was a wild night +in Nashville. The Rebels had two gunboats nearly completed, which were +set on fire. The Rebel storehouses were thrown open to the poor people, +who rushed pell-mell to help themselves to pork, flour, molasses, and +sugar. A great deal was destroyed. After Johnston’s army had crossed the +river, the beautiful and costly wire suspension bridge which spanned it +was cut down. It cost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and +belonged to the daughters of the Rebel General Zollicoffer, who was +killed at the battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky. The Rebel officers +undertook to carry off the immense supplies of food which had been +accumulated; but in the panic, barrels of meat and flour, sacks of +coffee, hogsheads of sugar were rolled into the streets and trampled +into the mire. Millions of dollars’ worth were lost to the Confederacy. +The farmers in the country feared that they would lose their slaves, and +from all the section round they hurried the poor creatures towards the +South, hoping to find a place where they would be secure.</p> + +<p>Throughout the South there was gloom and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>despondency. But all over the +North there was great rejoicing. Everybody praised the brave soldiers +who had fought so nobly. There were public meetings, speeches, +processions, illuminations and bonfires, and devout thanksgivings to +God.</p> + +<p>The deeds of the brave men of the West were praised in poetry and song. +Some stanzas were published in the Atlantic Monthly in Boston, which are +so beautiful that I think you will thank me for quoting them.</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“O gales that dash the Atlantic’s swell</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Along our rocky shores,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Whose thunders diapason well</span><br /> +<span class="i2">New England’s glad hurrahs,</span></div> + +<div class="stanza"><span class="i0">“Bear to the prairies of the West</span><br /> +<span class="i2">The echoes of our joy,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The prayer that springs in every breast,—</span><br /> +<span class="i2">‘God bless thee, Illinois!’</span></div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“O awful hours, when grape and shell</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Tore through the unflinching line!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">‘Stand firm! remove the men who fell!</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Close up, and wait the sign.’</span></div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“It came at last, ‘Now, lads, the steel!’</span><br /> +<span class="i2">The rushing hosts deploy;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">‘Charge, boys!’—the broken traitors reel,—</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Huzza for Illinois!</span></div> + +<div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span><span class="i0">“In vain thy rampart, Donelson,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">The living torrent bars,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">It leaps the wall, the fort is won,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Up go the Stripes and Stars.</span></div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Thy proudest mother’s eyelids fill,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">As dares her gallant boy,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Yearn to thee, Illinois.”</span></div></div></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">O</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> +the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, one of the greatest battles of the +war was fought near Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee, on the west bank of +the Tennessee River, about twelve miles from the northeast corner of the +State of Mississippi. The Rebels call it the battle of Shiloh, because +it was fought near Shiloh Church. I did not see the terrible contest, +but I reached the place soon after the fight, in season to see the guns, +cannon, wagons, knapsacks, cartridge-boxes, which were scattered over +the ground, and the newly-made graves where the dead had just been +buried. I was in camp upon the field several weeks, and saw the woods, +the plains, hills, ravines. Officers and men who were in the fight +pointed out the places where they stood, showed me where the Rebels +advanced, where their batteries were, how they advanced and retreated, +how the tide of victory ebbed and flowed. Having been so early on the +ground, and having listened to the stories of a great many persons, I +shall try to give you <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>a correct account. It will be a difficult task, +however, for the stories are conflicting. No two persons see a battle +alike; each has his own stand-point. He sees what takes place around +him. No other one will tell a story like his. Men have different +temperaments. One is excited, and another is cool and collected. Men +live fast in battle. Every nerve is excited, every sense intensified, +and it is only by taking the accounts of different observers that an +accurate view can be obtained.</p> + +<p>After the capture of Fort Donelson, you remember that General Johnston +retreated through Nashville towards the South. A few days later the +Rebels evacuated Columbus on the Mississippi. They were obliged to +concentrate their forces. They saw that Memphis would be the next point +of attack, and they must defend it. All of their energies were aroused. +The defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, you remember, caused a great +uprising of the North, and so the fall of Donelson stirred the people of +the South.</p> + +<p>If you look at the map of Tennessee, you will notice, about twenty miles +from Pittsburg Landing, the town of Corinth. It is at the junction of +the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile and Ohio Railroads, which made +it an important place to the Rebels.</p> + +<p>“Corinth must be defended,” said the Memphis newspapers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 441px;"> +<img src="images/i163.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="441" height="400" alt="Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity.</span> +</div> + +<p>Governor Harris of Tennessee issued a proclamation calling upon the +people to enlist.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“As Governor of your State, and Commander-in-Chief of its army, I call +upon every able-bodied man of the State, without regard to age, to +enlist in its service. I command him who can obtain a weapon to march +with our armies. I ask him who can repair or forge an arm to make it +ready at once for the soldier.”</p></div> + +<p>General Beauregard was sent in great haste to the West by Jeff Davis, +who hoped that the fame and glory which he had won by attacking Fort +Sumter and at Bull Run would rouse the people <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>of the Southwest and save +the failing fortunes of the Confederacy.</p> + +<p>To Corinth came the flower of the Southern army. All other points were +weakened to save Corinth. From Pensacola came General Bragg and ten +thousand Alabamians, who had watched for many months the little frowning +fortress on Santa Rosa Island. The troops which had been at Mobile to +resist the landing of General Butler from Ship Island were hastened +north upon the trains of the Mobile and Ohio road. General Beauregard +called upon the Governors of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and +Louisiana for additional troops.</p> + +<p>General Polk, who had been a bishop before the war, sent down two +divisions from Columbus on the Mississippi. General Johnston with his +retreating army hastened on, and thus all the Rebel troops in the +Southwestern States were mustered at Corinth.</p> + +<p>The call to take up arms was responded to everywhere; old men and boys +came trooping into the place. They came from Texas, Arkansas, and +Missouri. Beauregard labored with unremitting energy to create an army +which would be powerful enough to drive back the Union troops, recover +Tennessee, and invade Kentucky.</p> + +<p>General Grant, after the capture of Donelson, moved his army, on +steamboats, down the Cumberland <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>and up the Tennessee, to Pittsburg +Landing. He made his head-quarters at Savannah, a small town ten miles +below Pittsburg Landing, on the east side of the river.</p> + +<p>General Buell, who had followed General Johnston through Nashville with +the army of the Ohio, was slowly making his way across the country to +join General Grant. The Rebel generals had the railroads, by which they +could rapidly concentrate their troops, and they determined to attack +General Grant at Pittsburg, with their superior force, before General +Buell could join him. Beauregard had his pickets within four miles of +General Grant’s force, and he could move his entire army within striking +distance before General Grant would know of his danger. He calculated +that he could annihilate General Grant, drive him into the river, or +force him to surrender, capture all of his cannon, wagons, ammunition, +provisions, steamboats,—everything,—by a sudden stroke. If he +succeeded, he could then move against General Buell, destroy his army, +and not only recover all that had been lost, but he would also redeem +Kentucky and invade Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.</p> + +<p>All but one division of General Grant’s army was at Pittsburg. Two miles +above the Landing the river begins to make its great eastern bend. Lick +Creek comes in from the west, at the bend. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>Three miles below Pittsburg +is Snake Creek, which also comes in from the west. Five miles further +down is Crump’s Landing. General Lewis Wallace’s division was near +Crump’s, but the other divisions were between the two creeks. The banks +of the river are seventy-five feet high, and the country is a succession +of wooded hills, with numerous ravines. There are a few clearings and +farm-houses, but it is nearly all forest,—tall oak-trees, with here and +there thickets of underbrush. The farmers cultivate a little corn, +cotton, and tobacco. The country has been settled many years, but is +almost as wild as when the Indians possessed the land.</p> + +<p>Pittsburg is the nearest point to Corinth on the river. The road from +the Landing winds up the bank, passes along the edge of a deep ravine, +and leads southwest. As you go up the road, you come to a log-cabin +about a mile from the river. There is a peach-orchard near by. There the +roads fork. The left-hand road takes you to Hamburg, the middle one is +the Ridge road to Corinth, and the third is the road to Shiloh Church, +called also the Lower Corinth road. There are other openings in the +woods,—old cotton-fields. Three miles out from the river you come to +Shiloh Church. A clear brook, which is fed by springs, gurgles over a +sandy bed, close by the church. You fill your canteen, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>and find it +excellent water. On Sunday noons, the people who come to church sit down +beneath the grand old trees, eat their dinners, and drink from the +brook.</p> + +<p>It is not such a church as you see in your own village. It has no tall +steeple or tapering spire, no deep-toned bell, no organ, no +singing-seats or gallery, no pews or carpeted aisles. It is built of +logs. It was chinked with clay years ago, but the rains have washed it +out. You can thrust your hand between the cracks. It is thirty or forty +feet square. It has places for windows, but there are no sashes, and of +course no glass. As you stand within, you can see up to the roof, +supported by hewn rafters, and covered with split shingles, which shake +and rattle when the wind blows. It is the best-ventilated church you +ever saw. It has no pews, but only rough seats for the congregation. A +great many of the churches of this section of the country are no better +than this. Slavery does not build neat churches and school-houses, as a +general thing. Around this church the battle raged fearfully.</p> + +<p>Not far from the church, a road leads northeast towards Crump’s Landing, +and another northwest towards the town of Purdy. By the church, along +the road leading down to the Landing, at the peach-orchard, and in the +ravines you find the battle-ground.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>General Johnston was senior commander of the Rebel army. He had +Beauregard, Bragg, Polk, Hardee, Cheatham,—all Major-Generals, who had +been educated at West Point, at the expense of the United States. They +were considered to be the ablest generals in the Rebel service. General +Breckenridge was there. He was Vice-President under Buchanan, and was +but a few weeks out of his seat in the Senate of the United States. He +was, you remember, the slaveholders’ candidate for President in 1860. +Quite likely he felt very sour against the Northern people, because he +was not elected President.</p> + +<p>The Rebel army numbered between forty and fifty thousand men. General +Johnston worked with all his might to organize into brigades the troops +which were flocking in from all quarters. It was of the utmost +importance that the attack should be made before General Buell joined +General Grant. The united and concentrated forces of Beauregard, Bragg, +and Johnston outnumbered Grant’s army by fifteen thousand. General Van +Dorn, with thirty thousand men, was expected from Arkansas. They were to +come by steamboat to Memphis, and were to be transported to Corinth by +the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; but Van Dorn was behind time, and, +unless the attack was made at once, it would be too late, for the +combined armies of Grant and Buell would outnumber <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>the Rebels. At +midnight, on the 1st of April, Johnston learned that General Buell’s +advance divisions were within two or three days’ march of Savannah. He +immediately issued his orders to his corps commanders, directing the +routes which each was to take in advancing towards Pittsburg.</p> + +<p>The troops began their march on Thursday morning. They were in excellent +spirits. They cheered, swung their hats, and marched with great +enthusiasm. The Rebel officers, who knew the situation, the ground where +General Grant was encamped, believed that his army would be annihilated. +They assured the troops it would be a great and glorious victory.</p> + +<p>The distance was only eighteen miles, and General Johnston intended to +strike the blow at daylight on Saturday morning, but it rained hard +Friday night, and the roads in the morning were so muddy that the +artillery could not move. It was late Saturday afternoon before his army +was in position. It was too near night to make the attack. He examined +the ground, distributed ammunition, posted the artillery, gave the men +extra rations, and waited for Sunday morning.</p> + +<p>The Union army rested in security. No intrenchments were thrown up on +the hills and along the ridges. No precautions were taken against +surprise. The officers and soldiers did not dream of being attacked. +They were unprepared. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>The divisions were not in order for battle. They +were preparing to advance upon Corinth, and were to march when General +Halleck, who was at St. Louis, commanding the department, should take +the field.</p> + +<p>On the evening of Friday the pickets on the Corinth road, two miles out +from Shiloh Church, were fired upon. A body of Rebels rushed through the +woods, and captured several officers and men. The Seventieth, +Seventy-second, and Forty-eighth Ohio, of General Sherman’s division, +were sent out upon a reconnoissance. They came upon a couple of Rebel +regiments, and, after a sharp action, drove them back to a Rebel +battery, losing three or four prisoners and taking sixteen. General +Lewis Wallace ordered out his division, and moved up from Crump’s +Landing a mile or two, and the troops stood under arms in the rain, that +poured in torrents through the night, to be ready for an attack from +that direction; but nothing came of it. There was more skirmishing on +Saturday,—a continual firing along the picket lines. All supposed that +the Rebels were making a reconnoissance. No one thought that one of the +greatest battles of the war was close at hand. General Grant went down +the river to Savannah on Saturday night. The troops dried their clothes +in the sun, cooked their suppers, told their evening stories, and put +out their lights at tattoo, as usual.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>To get at the position of General Grant’s army, let us start from +Pittsburg Landing. It is a very busy place at the Landing. Forty or +fifty steamboats are there, and hundreds of men are rolling out barrels +of sugar, bacon, pork, beef, boxes of bread, bundles of hay, and +thousands of sacks of corn. There are several hundred wagons waiting to +transport the supplies to the troops. A long train winds up the hill +towards the west.</p> + +<p>Ascending the hill, you come to the forks of the roads. The right-hand +road leads to Crump’s Landing. You see General Smith’s old division, +which took the rifle-pits at Donelson, on the right-hand side of the +road in the woods. It is commanded now by W. H. L. Wallace, who has been +made a Brigadier-General for his heroism at Donelson. There have been +many changes of commanders since that battle. Colonels who commanded +regiments there are now brigade commanders.</p> + +<p>Keeping along the Shiloh road a few rods, you come to the road which +leads to Hamburg. Instead of turning up that, you keep on a little +farther to the Ridge road, leading to Corinth. General Prentiss’s +division is on that road, two miles out, towards the southwest. Instead +of taking that road, you still keep on the right-hand one, travelling +nearly west all the while, and you come to McClernand’s division, which +is encamped <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>in a long line on both sides of the road. Here you see +Dresser’s, Taylor’s, Schwartz’s, and McAllister’s batteries, and all +those regiments which fought so determinedly at Donelson. They face +northwest. Their line is a little east of the church.</p> + +<p>Passing over to the church, you see that a number of roads centre +there,—one coming in from the northwest, which will take you to Purdy; +one from the northeast, which will carry you to Crump’s Landing; the +road up which you have travelled from Pittsburg Landing; one from the +southeast, which will take you to Hamburg; and one from the southwest, +which is the lower road to Corinth.</p> + +<p>You see, close by the church, on both sides of this lower road to +Corinth, General Sherman’s division, not facing northwest, but nearly +south. McClernand’s left and Sherman’s left are close together. They +form the two sides of a triangle, the angle being at the left wings. +They are in a very bad position to be attacked.</p> + +<p>Take the Hamburg road now, and go southeast two miles and you come to +the crossing of the Ridge road to Corinth, where you will find General +Prentiss’s division, before mentioned. Keeping on, you come to Lick +Creek. It has high, steep banks. It is fordable at this point, and +Colonel Stuart’s brigade of Sherman’s division is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>there, guarding the +crossing. The brook which gurgles past the church empties into the +creek. You see that Prentiss’s entire division, and the left wing of +McClernand’s, is between Stuart’s brigade and the rest of Sherman’s +division. There are detached regiments encamped in the woods near the +Landing, which have just arrived, and have not been brigaded. There are +also two regiments of cavalry in rear of these lines. There are several +pieces of siege artillery on the top of the hill near the Landing, but +there are no artillerists or gunners to serve them.</p> + +<p>You see that the army does not expect to be attacked. The cavalry ought +to be out six or eight miles on picket; but they are here, the horses +quietly eating their oats. The infantry pickets ought to be out three or +four miles, but they are not a mile and a half advanced from the camp. +The army is in a bad position to resist a sudden attack from a superior +force. McClernand ought not to be at right angles with Sherman, Stuart +ought not to be separated from his division by Prentiss, and General +Lewis Wallace is too far away to render prompt assistance. Besides, +General Grant is absent, and there is no commander-in-chief on the +field. You wonder that no preparations have been make to resist an +attack, no breastworks thrown up, no proper disposition of the forces, +no extended reconnoissances by the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>cavalry, and that, after the +skirmishing on Friday and Saturday, all hands should lie down so quietly +in their tents on Saturday night. They did not dream that fifty thousand +Rebels were ready to strike them at daybreak.</p> + +<p>General Johnston’s plan of attack was submitted to his corps commanders +and approved by them. It was to hurl the entire army upon Prentiss and +Sherman. He had four lines of troops, extending from Lick Creek on the +right to the southern branch of Snake Creek on the left, a distance of +about two miles and a half.</p> + +<p>The front line was composed of Major-General Hardee’s entire corps, with +General Gladden’s brigade of Bragg’s corps added on the right. The +artillery was placed in front, followed closely by the infantry. +Squadrons of cavalry were thrown out on both wings to sweep the woods +and drive in the Union pickets.</p> + +<p>About five hundred yards in rear of Hardee was the second line, Bragg’s +corps in the same order as Hardee’s. Eight hundred yards in rear of +Bragg was General Polk, his left wing supported by cavalry, his +batteries in position to advance at a moment’s notice. The reserve, +under General Breckenridge, followed close upon Polk. Breckenridge’s and +Polk’s corps were both reckoned as reserves. They had instructions to +act as they thought best. There were from ten to twelve thousand men in +each line.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>The Rebel troops had received five days’ rations on Friday,—meat and +bread in their haversacks. They were not permitted to kindle a fire +except in holes in the ground. No loud talking was allowed; no drums +beat the tattoo, no bugle-note rang through the forest. They rolled +themselves in their blankets, knowing at daybreak they were to strike +the terrible blow. They were confident of success. They were assured by +their officers it would be an easy victory, and that on Sunday night +they should sleep in the Yankee camp, eat Yankee bread, drink real +coffee, and have new suits of clothes.</p> + +<p>In the evening General Johnston called his corps commanders around his +bivouac fire for a last talk before the battle. Although Johnston was +commander-in-chief, Beauregard planned the battle. Johnston was +Beauregard’s senior, but the battle-ground was in Beauregard’s +department. He gave directions to the officers.</p> + +<p>Mr. William G. Stevenson, of Kentucky, who was in Arkansas when the war +broke out, was impressed into the Rebel service. He acted as special +<i>aide-de-camp</i> to General Breckenridge in that battle. He escaped from +the Rebel service a few months later, and has published an interesting +narrative of what he saw.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> He stood outside the circle of generals +waiting by his horse <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>in the darkness to carry any despatch for his +commander. He gives this description of the scene:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“In an open space, with a dim fire in the midst, and a drum on which to +write, you could see grouped around their ‘Little Napoleon,’ as +Beauregard was sometimes fondly called, ten or twelve generals, the +flickering light playing over their eager faces, while they listened to +his plans, and made suggestions as to the conduct of the fight.</p> + +<p>“Beauregard soon warmed with his subject, and, throwing off his cloak, +to give free play to his arms, he walked about the group, gesticulating +rapidly, and jerking out his sentences with a strong French accent. All +listened attentively, and the dim light, just revealing their +countenances, showed their different emotions of confidence or distrust +of his plans.</p> + +<p>“General Sidney Johnston stood apart from the rest, with his tall, +straight form standing out like a spectre against the dim sky, and the +illusion was fully sustained by the light-gray military cloak which he +folded around him. His face was pale, but wore a determined expression, +and at times he drew nearer the centre of the ring, and said a few +words, which were listened to with great attention. It may be he had +some foreboding of the fate he was to meet on the morrow, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>for he did not +seem to take much part in the discussion.</p> + +<p>“General Breckenridge lay stretched out on a blanket near the fire, and +occasionally sat upright and added a few words of counsel. General Bragg +spoke frequently, and with earnestness. General Polk sat on a camp-stool +at the outside of the circle, and held his head between his hands, +buried in thought. Others reclined or sat in various positions.</p> + +<p>“For two hours the council lasted, and as it broke up, and the generals +were ready to return to their respective commands, I heard General +Beauregard say, raising his hand and pointing in the direction of the +Federal camp, whose drums we could plainly hear, ‘Gentlemen, we sleep in +the enemy’s camp to-morrow night.’”</p></div> + +<p>The Confederate General, the same writer says, had minute information of +General Grant’s position and numbers. This knowledge was obtained +through spies and informers, some of whom lived in the vicinity, had +been in and out of Grant’s camp again and again, and knew every foot of +ground.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, with a superior force, with accurate +knowledge of the position of every brigade in General Grant’s army, with +troops in the best spirits, enthusiastic, ardent, expecting a victory, +stealing upon a foe unsuspicious, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>unprepared, with brigades and +divisions widely separated, with General Grant, the commander-in-chief, +ten miles away, and General Buell’s nearest troops twenty miles distant, +the Rebel generals waited impatiently for the coming of the morning.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE BATTLE.</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">From Daybreak till Ten o’clock.</span></h4> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">t</span> +was a lovely morning. A few fleecy clouds floated in the sky. The +trees were putting out their tender leaves. The air was fragrant with +the first blossoms of spring. The birds were singing their sweetest +songs.</p> + +<p>At three o’clock the Rebel troops were under arms, their breakfasts +eaten, their blankets folded, their knapsacks laid aside. They were to +move unencumbered, that they might fight with more vigor. The morning +brightened, and the long lines moved through the forest.</p> + +<p>The Union army was asleep. The reveille had not been beaten. The +soldiers were still dreaming of home, or awaiting the morning drum-beat. +The mules and horses were tied to the wagons, whinnying for their oats +and corn. A few teamsters were astir. Cooks were rekindling the +smouldering camp-fires. The pickets, a mile out, had kept watch through +the night. There had been but little firing. There was nothing to +indicate the near approach of fifty thousand men. Beauregard <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>had ordered +that there should be no picket-firing through the night.</p> + +<p>General Prentiss had strengthened his picket-guard on the Corinth Ridge +road Saturday night. Some of his officers reported that Rebel cavalry +were plenty in the woods. He therefore doubled his grand guard, and +extended the line. He also ordered Colonel Moore, of the Twenty-first +Missouri, to go to the front with five companies of his regiment. +Colonel Moore marched at three o’clock. General Prentiss did not expect +a battle, but the appearance of the Rebels along the lines led him to +take these precautions.</p> + +<p>About the time Colonel Moore reached the pickets the Rebel skirmishers +came in sight. The firing began. The pickets resolutely maintained their +ground, but the Rebels pushed on. Colonel Moore, hearing the firing, +hastened forward. It was hardly light enough to distinguish men from +trees, but the steady advance of the Rebels convinced him that they were +making a serious demonstration. He sent a messenger to General Prentiss +for the balance of his regiment, which was sent forward. At the same +time General Prentiss issued orders for the remainder of his division to +form.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 369px;"> +<img src="images/i181.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="369" height="500" alt="Pittsburg Landing." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Pittsburg Landing.</span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary="DISPOSITION"> + +<tr><td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Hurlburt’s division.</td> +<td align="right">8</td> +<td align="left">Gunboats.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">W. H. L. Wallace’s division.</td> +<td align="right">9</td> +<td align="left">Transports.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">McClernand’s division.</td> +<td align="right">10</td> +<td align="left">Ravine.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Sherman’s division.</td> +<td align="right">A</td> +<td align="left">Hardee’s line.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Prentiss’s division.</td> +<td align="right">B</td> +<td align="left">Bragg’s line.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">6</td> +<td align="left">Stuart’s brigade.</td> +<td align="right">C</td> +<td align="left">Polk’s line.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">7</td> +<td align="left">Lewis Wallace’s division.</td> +<td align="right">D</td> +<td align="left">Breckenridge’s reserves.</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>His entire force was seven regiments, divided into two brigades. The +first brigade was commanded by Colonel Peabody, and contained the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>Twenty-fifth +Missouri, Sixteenth Wisconsin, and Twelfth Michigan. The +second brigade was composed of the Eighteenth and Twenty-third Missouri, +Eighteenth Wisconsin, and Sixty-first Illinois. The Twenty-third +Missouri was at Pittsburg Landing, having just disembarked from a +transport, and was not with the brigade till nearly ten o’clock. When +the firing began, its commander, having been ordered to report to +General Prentiss, moved promptly to join the division.</p> + +<p>General Prentiss also sent an officer to Generals Hurlburt and Wallace, +commanding the divisions in his rear, near the Landing, informing them +that the Rebels were attacking his pickets in force. The firing +increased. The Twenty-first Missouri gave a volley or two, but were +obliged to fall back.</p> + +<p>There had been a great deal of practising at target in the regiments, +and every morning the pickets, on their return from the front, +discharged their guns, and so accustomed had the soldiers become to the +constant firing, that these volleys, so early in the morning, did not +alarm the camp.</p> + +<p>The orders which General Prentiss had issued were tardily acted upon. +Many of the officers had not risen when the Twenty-first Missouri came +back upon the double-quick, with Colonel Moore and several others +wounded. They came in with wild cries. The Rebels were close upon their +heels.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>General Johnston had, as you have already seen, four lines of troops. +The third corps was in front, commanded by Major-General Hardee, the +second corps next, commanded by General Bragg; the first corps next, +commanded by Major-General Polk, followed by the reserves under General +Breckenridge.</p> + +<p>General Hardee had three brigades, Hindman’s, Cleburn’s, and Wood’s. +General Bragg had two divisions, containing six brigades. The first +division was commanded by General Ruggles, and contained Gibson’s, +Anderson’s, and Pond’s brigades. The second division was commanded by +General Withers, and contained Gladden’s, Chalmers’s, and Jackson’s +brigades.</p> + +<p>General Polk had two divisions, containing four brigades. The first +division was commanded by General Clark, and contained Russell’s and +Stewart’s brigades. The second division was commanded by Major-General +Cheatham, and contained Johnson’s and Stephens’s brigades.</p> + +<p>Breckenridge had Tabue’s, Bowen’s and Statham’s brigades. General +Gladden’s brigade of Withers’s division was placed on the right of +Hardee’s line. It was composed of the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, +Twenty-sixth Alabama, and First Louisiana, with Robertson’s battery. +Hindman’s brigade joined upon Gladden’s. Gladden followed Colonel +Moore’s force, and fell upon Prentiss’s camp.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>Instantly there was a great commotion in the camp,—shouting, hallooing, +running to and fro, saddling horses, seizing guns and cartridge-boxes, +and forming in ranks. Gladden advanced rapidly, sending his bullets into +the encampment. Men who had not yet risen were shot while lying in their +tents.</p> + +<p>But General Prentiss was all along his lines, issuing his orders, +inspiring the men who, just awakened from sleep, were hardly in +condition to act coolly. He ordered his whole force forward, with the +exception of the Sixteenth Iowa, which had no ammunition, having arrived +from Cairo on Saturday evening.</p> + +<p>There was a wide gap between Prentiss’s right and Sherman’s left, and +Hardee, finding no one to oppose him, pushed his own brigades into the +gap, flanking Prentiss on one side and Sherman on the other, as you will +see by a glance at the diagram on page 173.</p> + +<p>Behind Gladden were Withers’s remaining brigades, Chalmers’s, and +Jackson’s. Chalmers was on the right, farther east than Gladden. He had +the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth Mississippi, and Fifty-second +Tennessee, and Gage’s battery.</p> + +<p>Jackson had the Second Texas, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth +Alabama, and Girardey’s battery. Chalmers moved rapidly upon Prentiss’s +left flank. Gage’s and Robertson’s batteries <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>both opened with shell. +Jackson came up on Prentiss’s right, and in a short time his six +regiments were engaged with twelve of Bragg’s and two batteries.</p> + +<p>They curled around Prentiss on both flanks, began to gain his rear to +cut him off from the Landing, and separate him from Stuart’s brigade of +Sherman’s division, which was a mile distant on the Hamburg road. The +regiments on the left began to break, then those in the centre. The +Rebels saw their advantage. Before them, dotting the hillside, were the +much-coveted tents. They rushed on with a savage war-cry.</p> + +<p>General Prentiss, aided by the cool and determined Colonel Peabody, +rallied the faltering troops in front, but there was no power to stop +the flood upon the flanks.</p> + +<p>“Don’t give way! Stand firm! Drive them back with the bayonet!” shouted +Colonel Peabody, and some Missourians as brave as he remained in their +places, loading and firing deliberately.</p> + +<p>“On! on! forward boys!” cried General Gladden, leading his men; but a +cannon-shot came screaming through the woods, knocked him from his +horse, inflicting a mortal wound. The command devolved on Colonel Adams +of the First Louisiana.</p> + +<p>But the unchecked tide was flowing past Prentiss’s <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>gallant band. +Prentiss looked up to the right and saw it there, the long lines of men +steadily moving through the forest. He galloped to the left and saw it +there. The bayonets of the enemy were glistening between him and the +brightening light in the east. His men were losing strength. They were +falling before the galling fire, now given at short range. They were +beginning to flee. He must fall back, and leave his camp, or be +surrounded. His troops ran in wild disorder. Men, horses, +baggage-wagons, ambulances, bounded over logs and stumps and through +thickets in indescribable confusion. Colonel Peabody was shot from his +horse, mortally wounded, and his troops, which had begun to show pluck +and endurance, joined the fugitives.</p> + +<p>Prentiss advised Hurlburt of the disaster. Hurlburt was prepared. He +moved his division forward upon the double-quick. Prentiss’s +disorganized regiments drifted through it, but his ranks were unshaken.</p> + +<p>The Rebels entered the tents of the captured camp, threw off their old +clothes, and helped themselves to new garments, broke open trunks, +rifled the knapsacks, and devoured the warm breakfast. They were +jubilant; they shouted, danced, sung, and thought the victory won. Two +or three hundred prisoners were taken, disarmed, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>their pockets +searched. They were obliged to give up all their money, and exchange +clothes with their captors, and then were marched to the rear.</p> + +<p>While this was taking place in Prentiss’s division, Sherman’s pickets +were being driven back by the rapid advance of the Rebel lines. It was a +little past sunrise when they came in, breathless, with startling +accounts that the entire Rebel army was at their heels. The officers +were not out of bed. The soldiers were just stirring, rubbing their +eyes, putting on their boots, washing at the brook, or tending their +camp-kettles. Their guns were in their tents; they had a small supply of +ammunition. It was a complete surprise.</p> + +<p>Officers jumped from their beds, tore open the tent-flies, and stood in +undress to see what it was all about. The Rebel pickets rushed up within +close musket range and fired.</p> + +<p>“Fall in! Form a line! here, quick!” were the orders from the officers.</p> + +<p>There was running in every direction. Soldiers for their guns, officers +for their sabres, artillerists to their pieces, teamsters to their +horses. There was hot haste, and a great hurly-burly.</p> + +<p>General Hardee made a mistake at the outset. Instead of rushing up with +a bayonet-charge upon Sherman’s camp, and routing his unformed brigades +in an instant, as he might have done, he unlimbered his batteries and +opened fire.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>The first infantry attack was upon Hildebrand’s brigade, composed of the +Fifty-third, Fifty-ninth, and Seventy-sixth Ohio, and the Fifty-third +Illinois, which was on the left of the division. Next to it stood +Buckland’s brigade, composed of the Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and +Seventy-second Ohio. On the extreme right, west of the church, was +McDowell’s brigade, composed of the Sixth Iowa, Fortieth Illinois, and +Forty-sixth Ohio. Taylor’s battery was parked around the church, and +Waterhouse’s battery was on a ridge a little east of the church, behind +Hildebrand’s brigade.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this sudden onset, the ranks did not break. Some men +ran, but the regiments formed with commendable firmness. The Rebel +skirmishers came down to the bushes which border the brook south of the +church, and began a scattering fire, which was returned by Sherman’s +pickets, which were still in line a few rods in front of the regiments. +There was an open space between the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-third +regiments of Hildebrand’s brigade, and Waterhouse, under Sherman’s +direction, let fly his shells through the gap into the bushes. Taylor +wheeled his guns into position on both sides of the church.</p> + +<p>Hindman, Cleburn, and Wood advanced into the gap between Sherman and +Prentiss, and swung towards the northwest upon Sherman’s left flank. +Ruggles, with his three brigades, and Hodgson’s <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>battery of Louisiana +artillery, and Ketchum’s battery, moved upon Sherman’s front. He had +Gibson’s brigade on the right, composed of the Fourth, Thirteenth, and +Nineteenth Louisiana, and the First Arkansas. Anderson’s brigade was +next in line, containing the Seventeenth and Twentieth Louisiana, and +Ninth Texas, a Louisiana and a Florida battalion. Pond’s brigade was on +the left, and contained the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Louisiana, +Thirty-eighth Tennessee, and two Louisiana battalions.</p> + +<p>When the alarm was given, General Sherman was instantly on his horse. He +sent a request to McClernand to support Hildebrand. He also sent word to +Prentiss that the enemy were in front, but Prentiss had already made the +discovery, and was contending with all his might against the avalanche +rolling upon him from the ridge south of his position. He sent word to +Hurlburt that a force was needed in the gap between the church and +Prentiss. He was everywhere present, dashing along his lines, paying no +attention to the constant fire aimed at him and his staff by the Rebel +skirmishers, within short musket range. They saw him, knew that he was +an officer of high rank, saw that he was bringing order out of +confusion, and tried to pick him off. While galloping down to +Hildebrand, his orderly, Halliday, was killed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>The fire from the bushes was galling, and Hildebrand ordered the +Seventy-seventh and Fifty-seventh Ohio to drive out the Rebels. They +advanced, and were about to make a charge, when they saw that they were +confronted by Hardee’s line, moving down the slope. The sun was just +sending its morning rays through the forest, shining on the long line of +bayonets. Instead of advancing, Hildebrand fell back and took position +by Waterhouse, on the ridge. When Hildebrand advanced, two of +Waterhouse’s guns were sent across the brook, but they were speedily +withdrawn, not too soon, however, for they were needed to crush Hindman +and Cleburn who were crossing below Hildebrand.</p> + +<p>Upon the south side of the brook there was a field and a crazy old +farm-house. Ruggles came into the field, halted, and began to form for a +rapid descent to the brook. His troops were in full view from the +church.</p> + +<p>“Pay your respects to those fellows over there,” said Major Taylor to +the officer commanding his own battery. Taylor was chief of artillery in +Sherman’s division, and was not in immediate command of his own battery. +When he first saw them come into the field he thought they were not +Rebels, but some of Prentiss’s men, who had been out on the front. He +hesitated to open fire till it was ascertained who they were. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>He rode +down to Waterhouse, and told him to fire into the field. He galloped up +to McDowell’s brigade, where Barrett’s battery was stationed, and told +the officer commanding to do the same. In a moment the field was smoking +hot, shells bursting in the air, crashing through Ruggles’s ranks, and +boring holes in the walls of the dilapidated old cabin. The Rebels could +not face in the open field so severe a fire. Instead of advancing +directly against the church, they moved into the woods east of the +field, and became reinforcements to the brigades already well advanced +into the gap between Sherman and Prentiss.</p> + +<p>They came up on Hildebrand’s left flank. The thick growth of hazel and +alders along the brook concealed their movements. They advanced till +they were not more than three hundred feet from the Fifty-third and +Fifty-seventh Ohio before they began their fire. They yelled like +demons, screeching and howling to frighten the handful of men supporting +Waterhouse. Taylor saw that they intended an attack upon Waterhouse. He +rode to the spot. “Give them grape and canister!” he shouted. It was +done. The iron hail swept through the bushes. The yelling suddenly +ceased. There were groans and moans instead. The advance in that +direction was instantly checked.</p> + +<p>But all the while the centre brigades of Hardee were pushing into the +gap, and, without serious <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>opposition, were gaining Sherman’s left flank. +Waterhouse began to limber up his guns for a retreat. Taylor feared a +sudden panic.</p> + +<p>“Contest every inch of ground. Keep cool. Give them grape. Let them have +all they want,” said Taylor.</p> + +<p>Waterhouse unlimbered his guns again, wheeled them a little more to the +east, almost northeast, and opened a fire which raked the long lines and +again held them in check. Taylor sent to Schwartz, Dresser, and +McAllister, connected with McClernand’s division, to come into position +and stop the flank movement.</p> + +<p>This took time. The Rebels, seeing their advantages, and hoping to cut +off Sherman, pushed on, and in five minutes were almost in rear of +Waterhouse and Hildebrand. They gained the ridge which enfiladed +Hildebrand. Cleburn and Wood swung up against Waterhouse. He wheeled +still farther north, working his guns with great rapidity. They rushed +upon him with the Indian war-whoop. His horses were shot. He tried to +drag off his guns. He succeeded in saving three, but was obliged to +leave the other three in their hands.</p> + +<p>General McClernand had promptly responded to Sherman’s request to +support Hildebrand. Three regiments of Raitt’s and Marsh’s brigades were +brought round into position in rear of Hildebrand. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>You remember that +McClernand’s division was facing northwest, and this movement, +therefore, was a change of front to the southeast. The Eleventh Illinois +formed upon the right of Waterhouse. The other two, the Forty-third and +Thirtieth Illinois, were on the left, in rear. The fight was in +Hildebrand’s camp. There was a fierce contest. Two thirds of +Hildebrand’s men had been killed and wounded, or were missing. Most of +the missing had fled towards the river. The regiments that remained were +mixed up. The sudden onset had thrown them into confusion. There was but +little order. Each man fought for himself. It was a brave little band, +which tried to save the camp, but they were outnumbered and outflanked. +The Eleventh Illinois lost six or eight of its officers by the first +volley, yet they stood manfully against the superior force.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Buckland and McDowell were in a hot fight against Anderson +and Pond, who had moved to the western border of the field, and were +forming against McDowell’s right. Barrett and Taylor were thundering +against them, but there were more cannon replying from the Rebel side. +They were so far round on McDowell’s flank, that the shells which flew +over the heads of McDowell’s men came past the church into Hildebrand’s +ranks. Sherman tried to hold his position by the church. He considered +it to be of the utmost importance. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>He did not want to lose his camp. He +exhibited great bravery. His horse was shot, and he mounted another. +That also was killed, and he took a third, and, before night, lost his +fourth. He encouraged his men, not only by his words, but by his +reckless daring. Buckland’s and McDowell’s men recovered from the shock +they first received. They became bull-dogs. Their blood was up. As often +as the Rebels attempted to crowd McDowell back, they defeated the +attempt. The two brigades with Taylor’s and Barrett’s batteries held +their ground till after ten o’clock, and they would not have yielded +then had it not been for disaster down the line.</p> + +<p>Hildebrand rallied his men. About one hundred joined the Eleventh +Illinois, of McClernand’s division, and fought like tigers.</p> + +<p>In the advance of Bragg’s line, Gibson’s brigade became separated from +Anderson and Pond, Gibson moving to the right towards Prentiss, and they +to the left towards Sherman. Several regiments of Polk’s line +immediately moved into the gap. It was a reinforcement of the centre, +but it was also a movement which tended to disorganize the Rebel lines. +Gibson became separated from his division commands, and the regiments +from Polk’s corps became disconnected from their brigades, but General +Bragg directed them to join General Hindman.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>They moved on towards McClernand, who was changing front and getting +into position a half-mile in rear of Sherman. They were so far advanced +towards Pittsburg Landing, that Sherman saw he was in danger of being +cut off. He reluctantly gave the order to abandon his camp and take a +new position. He ordered the batteries to fall back to the Purdy and +Hamburg road. He saw Buckland and McDowell, and told them where to +rally. Captain Behr had been posted on the Purdy road with his battery, +and had had but little part in the fight. He was falling back, closely +followed by Pond.</p> + +<p>“Come into position out there on the right,” said Sherman, pointing to +the place where he wanted him to unlimber. There came a volley from the +woods. A shot struck the Captain from his horse. The drivers and gunners +became frightened, and rode off with the caissons, leaving five unspiked +guns to fall into the hands of the Rebels! Sherman and Taylor, and other +officers, by their coolness, bravery, and daring, saved Buckland and +McDowell’s brigades from a panic; and thus, after four hours of hard +fighting, Sherman was obliged to leave his camp and fall back behind +McClernand, who now was having a fierce fight with the brigades which +had pushed in between Prentiss and Sherman.</p> + +<p>The Rebels rejoiced over their success. Their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>loud hurrahs rose above +the din of battle. They rushed into the tents and helped themselves to +whatever they could lay their hands on, as had already been done in +Prentiss’s camps. Officers and men in the Rebel ranks alike forgot all +discipline. They threw off their old gray rags, and appeared in blue +uniforms. They broke open the trunks of the officers, and rifled the +knapsacks of the soldiers. They seized the half-cooked breakfast, and +ate like half-starved wolves. They found bottles of whiskey in some of +the officers’ quarters, and drank, danced, sung, hurrahed, and were +half-crazy with the excitement of their victory.</p> + +<p>Having taken this look at matters in the vicinity of the church, let us +go towards the river, and see the other divisions.</p> + +<p>It was about half past six o’clock in the morning when General Hurlburt +received notice from General Sherman that the Rebels were driving in his +pickets. A few minutes later he had word from Prentiss asking for +assistance.</p> + +<p>He sent Veatch’s brigade, which you remember consisted of the +Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-eighth +Illinois, to Sherman. The troops sprang into ranks as soon as the order +was issued, and were on the march in ten minutes.</p> + +<p>Prentiss sent a second messenger, asking for immediate aid. Hurlburt in +person led his other <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>two brigades, Williams’s and Lauman’s. He had +Mann’s Ohio battery, commanded by Lieutenant Brotzman, Ross’s battery, +from Michigan, and Meyer’s Thirteenth Ohio battery. He marched out on +the Ridge road, and met Prentiss’s troops, disorganized and broken, with +doleful stories of the loss of everything. Prentiss and other officers +were attempting to rally them.</p> + +<p>Hurlburt formed in line of battle on the border of an old cotton-field +on the Hamburg road. There were some sheds, and a log-hut with a great +chimney built of mud and sticks, along the road. In front of the hut was +a peach-orchard. Mann’s battery was placed near the northeast corner of +the field. Williams’s brigade was placed on one side of the field, and +Lauman’s on the other, which made the line nearly a right angle. Ross’s +battery was posted on the right, and Meyer’s on the left. This +disposition of his force enabled Hurlburt to concentrate his fire upon +the field and into the peach-orchard.</p> + +<p>You see the position,—the long line of men in blue, in the edge of the +woods, sheltered in part by the giant oaks. You see the log-huts, the +mud chimney, the peach-trees in front, all aflame with pink blossoms. +The field is as smooth as a house floor. Here and there are handfuls of +cotton, the leavings of last year’s crop. It is perhaps forty or fifty +rods across the field to the forest <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>upon the other side. Hurlburt and +his officers are riding along the lines, cheering the men and giving +directions. The fugitives from Prentiss are hastening towards the +Landing. But a line of guards has been thrown out, and the men are +rallying behind Hurlburt. The men standing in line along that field know +that they are to fight a terrible battle. At first there is a little +wavering, but they gain confidence, load their guns, and wait for the +enemy.</p> + +<p>Withers’s division, which had pushed back Prentiss, moved upon +Hurlburt’s right. Gage’s and Girardey’s batteries opened fire. The first +shot struck near Meyer’s battery. The men never before had heard the +shriek of a Rebel shell. It was so sudden, unexpected, and terrifying, +that officers and men fled, leaving their cannon, caissons, horses, and +everything. Hurlburt saw no more of them during the day. Indignant at +the manifestation of cowardice, he rode down to Mann’s battery, and +called for volunteers to work the abandoned guns; ten men responded to +the call. A few other volunteers were picked up, and although they knew +but little of artillery practice, took their places beside the guns and +opened fire. The horses with the caissons were dashing madly through the +forest, increasing the confusion, but they were caught and brought in. +You see that in battle men sometimes lose their presence <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>of mind, and +act foolishly. It is quite likely, however, that the troops fought all +the more bravely for this display of cowardice. Many who were a little +nervous, who had a strange feeling at the heart, did not like the +exhibition, and resolved that they would not run.</p> + +<p>At this time the fortunes of the Union army were dark. Prentiss had been +routed. His command was a mere rabble. Hildebrand’s brigade of Sherman’s +division was broken to pieces; there was not more than half a regiment +left. The other two brigades of Sherman’s division by the church were +giving way. Half of Waterhouse’s battery, and all but one of Behr’s guns +were taken. Sherman and Prentiss had been driven from their camps. Four +of the six guns composing Meyer’s battery could not be used for want of +men. The three regiments which McClernand had sent to Sherman were badly +cut to pieces. The entire front had been driven in. Johnston had gained +a mile of ground. He had accomplished a great deal with little loss.</p> + +<p>General Grant heard the firing at Savannah, ten miles down the river. It +was so constant and heavy that he understood at once it was an attack. +He sent a messenger post haste to General Buell, whose advance was ten +miles east of Savannah, and then hastened to Pittsburg on a steamboat. +He arrived on the ground about nine o’clock. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Up to that hour there was +no commander-in-chief, but each division commander gave such orders as +he thought best. There was but little unity of action. Each commander +was impressed with a sense of danger, and each was doing his best to +hold the enemy in check.</p> + +<p>The wide gap between Prentiss and Sherman, and the quick routing of +Prentiss’s regiments, enabled Hardee to push his middle brigades to the +centre of the Union army without much opposition. Both of Hardee’s +flanks had been held back by the stout fight of Sherman on one side, the +weaker resistance of Prentiss on the other. This gradually made the +Rebel force into the form of a wedge, and at the moment when Hurlburt +was waiting for their advance, the point of the wedge had penetrated +beyond Hurlburt’s right, but there it came against General W. H. L. +Wallace’s division.</p> + +<p>When Hurlburt notified Wallace that Prentiss was attacked, that noble +commander ordered his division under arms. You remember his position, +near Snake Creek, and nearer the Pittsburg Landing than any other +division. He at once moved in the direction of the firing, which brought +him west of Hurlburt’s position.</p> + +<p>You remember that General McClernand had sent three regiments to General +Sherman, and that they were obliged to change front. Having <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>done that, +he moved his other two brigades, the first under the command of Colonel +Hare, including the Eighth and Eighteenth Illinois infantry and the +Eleventh and Thirteenth Iowa, with Dresser’s battery, and the third +brigade with Schwartz’s and McAllister’s batteries. It was a complete +change of front. These movements of Wallace and McClernand were directly +against the two sides and the point of the wedge which Hardee was +driving. Wallace marched southwest, and McClernand swung round facing +southeast. They came up just in season to save Sherman from being cut +off and also to save Veatch’s brigade of Hurlburt’s division from being +overwhelmed.</p> + +<p>McClernand’s head-quarters were in an old cotton-field. The camps of his +regiments extended across the field and into the forest on both sides. +He established his line on the south side of the field in the edge of +the forest, determined to save his camp if possible. His men had seen +hard fighting at Fort Donelson, and so had General Wallace’s men. They +were hardened to the scenes of battle, whereas Sherman’s, Prentiss’s, +and Hurlburt’s men were having their first experience. Schwartz, +McAllister, and Dresser had confronted the Rebels at Donelson, and so +had Major Cavender with his eighteen pieces, commanded by Captains +Stone, Richardson, and Walker.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>This is a long and intricate story, and I fear you will not be able to +understand it. The regiments at this hour were very much mixed up, and +as the battle continued they became more so. Later in the day there was +so much confusion that no correct account can ever be given of the +positions of the regiments. Thousands of you, I doubt not, had friends +in that battle, and you would like to know just where they stood. Let us +therefore walk the entire length of the line while the Rebels are +preparing for the second onset. Commencing on the extreme right, we find +Sherman reforming with his left flank a little in rear of McClernand’s +right. There is McDowell’s brigade on the right, the Sixth Iowa, Fourth +Illinois, and Forty-sixth Ohio. Buckland’s brigade next, the +Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and Seventy-second Ohio. A few men of +Hildebrand’s brigade, not five hundred in all, of the Fifty-third, +Fifty-seventh, and Seventy-sixth Ohio. Next the regiments of +McClernand’s division, the Eleventh Iowa, Eleventh, Twentieth, +Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, Twenty-ninth, Forty-ninth, +Forty-third, Eighth, and Eighteenth Illinois. Next Wallace’s division, +Seventh, Ninth, Twelfth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-second Illinois, the +Twelfth, Thirteenth Iowa, and the Twenty-fifth, Fifty-second, and +Fifty-sixth Indiana. I think that all of those regiments were there, +although it is possible that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>one or two of them had not arrived. These +are not all in the front line, but you see them in two lines. Some of +them lying down behind the ridges waiting the time when they can spring +up and confront the enemy.</p> + +<p>Next in line you see Veatch’s brigade of Hurlburt’s division, the +Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-sixth +Illinois; then Williams’s brigade, the Third Iowa, the Twenty-eighth, +Thirty-second, and Forty-first Illinois, by the log-huts of the +cotton-field on the Hamburg road. Here are Cavender’s guns, eighteen of +them. Next is Lauman’s brigade,—not the one he commanded at Donelson in +the victorious charge, but one composed of the Thirty-first and +Forty-fourth Indiana, and the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky.</p> + +<p>Behind Wallace and Hurlburt Prentiss is reforming his disorganized +regiments, the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fifth Missouri, +Sixteenth and Eighteenth Wisconsin, and the Twelfth Michigan.</p> + +<p>You remember that Stuart’s brigade of Sherman’s division was keeping +watch on the Hamburg road at the Lick Creek crossing, towards the river +from Prentiss. When Prentiss was attacked, he sent word to Stuart, who +ordered his brigade under arms at once. He waited for orders. He saw +after a while the Rebel <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196</a></span>bayonets gleaming through the woods between +himself and Prentiss. He placed the Seventy-first Ohio on the right, the +Fifty-fifth Illinois in the centre, and the Fifty-fourth on the left. +These three regiments compose his brigade, and complete the list of +those engaged in the fight on Sunday.</p> + +<p>When the fight began in the morning, Stuart sent two companies across +the creek to act as skirmishers, but before they could scale the high +bluffs upon the south side, Statham’s and Bowen’s brigades, of +Breckenridge’s reserves, had possession of the ground, and they +returned. Statham’s batteries opened upon Stuart’s camp. Breckenridge +had moved round from his position in rear, and now formed the extreme +right of Johnston. There were eight regiments and a battery in front of +Stuart. The battery forced the Seventy-first Ohio from its position. It +retired to the top of the ridge behind its camp-ground, which Stuart +could have held against a superior force, had he not been outflanked. +The Seventy-first, without orders, abandoned the position, retreated +towards the Landing, and Stuart saw no more of them during the day.</p> + +<p>He took a new position, with his two regiments, on the crest of the +hill. East of him was a ravine. Breckenridge sent a body of cavalry and +infantry across the creek to creep up this ravine, get in rear <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>of +Stuart’s left flank, and with the masses hurrying past his right cut him +off. Stuart determined to make a gallant resistance. He sent four +companies of the Fifty-fourth Ohio, who took their position at the head +of the ravine or gully which makes up from the creek towards the north. +They crept into the thick bushes, hid behind the trees, and commenced a +galling fire, forcing the cavalry back and stopping the advance of the +infantry. The remainder of his force kept Statham back on the front. His +line of fire was across an open field, and as often as Statham attempted +to cross it, he was sent back by the well-directed volleys. Stuart +received assurances from General McArthur, commanding one of Wallace’s +brigades, that he should be supported, but the supports could not be +spared from the centre. Stuart maintained his position more than two +hours, till his cartridge-boxes were emptied. When his ammunition +failed, Statham and Bowen made another rush upon his left, and he saw +that he must retreat or be taken prisoner. He fell back to Hurlburt’s +line, and formed the remnant of his brigade on the left, thus completing +the line of battle which was established at ten o’clock.</p> + +<p><a name="tenoclock" id="tenoclock"></a></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">From Ten o’clock till Four.</span></h4> + +<p>Generals Bragg and Polk directed the attack on McClernand and Wallace. +Pond’s brigade was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>northwest of the church, Anderson’s by the church, +Cleburn’s and Wood’s east of it. Hindman’s and the regiments of Polk’s +corps which had broken off from their brigades were in front of +Wallace’s right. These regiments belonged to Cheatham’s division. The +whole of his division was in front of Wallace.</p> + +<p>Russell, Stewart, and Gibson were in front of Wallace’s left. Gladden, +Chalmers, and Jackson were on Hurlburt’s right, while Breckenridge, +having driven back Stuart, came up on his left.</p> + +<p>The Rebels, confident of final victory, came up with great bravery, and +commenced attacking McClernand, but they were confronted by men equally +brave. Pond and Anderson charged upon the regiments on McClernand’s +right, but the charge was broken by the quick volleys of the Eleventh, +Twentieth, and Forty-eighth Illinois. Cleburn and Wood rushed upon the +Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, and Forty-ninth, which were in the centre of +the division, but were repulsed. Then they swung against the Eleventh +and Eighteenth, in front of McClernand’s head-quarters, but could not +break the line. For a half-hour more, they stood and fired at long +musket range. Dresser, McAllister, and Schwartz gave their batteries +full play, but were answered by the batteries planted around the church, +on the ground from which Sherman had been driven. Bragg advanced his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>men +to short musket range, fifteen to twenty rods distant. Trees were broken +off by the cannon-shot, splintered by the shells; branches were wrenched +from the trunks, the hazel-twigs were cut by the storm of leaden hail. +Many trees were struck fifty, sixty, and a hundred times. Officers and +men fell on both sides very fast. Polk’s brigades came up, and the +united forces rushed upon the batteries. There was a desperate struggle. +The horses were shot,—Schwartz lost sixteen, Dresser eighteen, and +McAllister thirty. The guns were seized,—Schwartz lost three, +McAllister two, and Dresser three. The infantry could not hold their +ground. They fell back, took a new position, and made another effort to +save their camp.</p> + +<p>The woods rang with the hurrahs of the Rebels. The ground was thick with +their dead and wounded, but they were winning. They had the largest +army, and success stimulated them to make another attack. Bragg reformed +his columns.</p> + +<p>McClernand’s second line of defence was near his camp. His men fought +bravely to save it. Polk’s brigades moved to the front, and charged upon +the line, but they were checked. McClernand charged upon them, and in +turn was repulsed. So the contest went on hour after hour.</p> + +<p>Buckland and McDowell, of Sherman’s command, were too much exhausted and +disorganized <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>by their long contest in the morning to take much part in +this fight. They stood as reserves. Barrett and Taylor had used all +their ammunition, and could not aid.</p> + +<p>McClernand’s right was unprotected. Bragg saw it, and moved round +Anderson’s, Pond’s, and a portion of Stewart’s brigades. There was a +short struggle, and then the troops gave way. The men ran in confusion +across the field swept by the Rebel artillery. The pursuers, with +exultant cheers, followed, no longer in order, but each Rebel soldier +running for the plunder in the tents. The contest was prolonged a little +on the left, but the camp was in the hands of the Rebels, and McClernand +and Sherman again fell back towards Wallace’s camp.</p> + +<p>Wallace was already engaged. The tide which had surged against Sherman +and McClernand now came with increased force against his division. +Beauregard aimed for the Landing, to seize the transports, using his +force as a wedge to split the Union army off from the river. He might +have deflected his force to Grant’s right, and avoided what, as you will +presently see, prevented him from accomplishing his object; but having +been thus far successful in his plan, he continued the direct advance.</p> + +<p>General Wallace was a very brave man. He was cool, had great presence of +mind, and possessed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>the rare qualification of making his soldiers feel +his presence. He could bring order out of confusion, and by a word, a +look, or an act inspire his men. He posted Cavender’s three batteries in +commanding positions on a ridge, and kept his infantry well under cover +behind the ridge. Cavender’s men had fought under the brave General Lyon +at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri, and had been in half a dozen battles. The +screaming of the shells was music to them.</p> + +<p>From eleven till four o’clock the battle raged in front of Wallace. The +men who had fought their first battle so determinedly at Donelson were +not to be driven now.</p> + +<p>Four times Hardee, Bragg, and Cheatham rushed upon Wallace’s line, but +were in each instance repulsed. Twice Wallace followed them as they +retired after their ineffectual attempts to crush him, but he had not +sufficient power to break their triple ranks. He could hold his ground, +but he could not push the superior force. His coolness, endurance, +bravery, stubbornness, his quick perception of all that was taking +place, his power over his men, to make each man a hero, did much towards +saving the army on that disastrous day.</p> + +<p>General Bragg says: “Hindman’s command was gallantly led to the attack, +but recoiled under a murderous fire. The noble and gallant leader +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>(Hindman) fell severely wounded. The command returned to its work, but +was unequal to the heavy task. I brought up Gibson’s brigade, and threw +them forward to attack the same point. A very heavy fire soon opened, +and after a short conflict this command fell back in considerable +disorder. Rallying the different regiments by my staff officers and +escort, they were twice more moved to the attack only to be driven +back.”<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>In the morning, when the Rebels commenced the attack, you remember that +Breckenridge, with the Rebel reserves, was in the rear; that he moved +east, and came down towards the river in front of Stuart’s brigade. +General Johnston and staff were upon the hills which border the creek, +examining the ground in front of Stuart and Hurlburt. Ross, Mann, and +Walker were throwing shells across the creek.</p> + +<p>General Breckenridge rode up to General Johnston and conversed with him.</p> + +<p>“I will lead your men into the fight to-day, for I intend to show these +Tennesseeans and Kentuckians that I am no coward,” said Johnston to +Breckenridge.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>The people of the Southwest thought he was a coward, because he had +abandoned Nashville without a fight.</p> + +<p>Breckenridge brought up Statham’s and Bowen’s <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>brigades against Hurlburt. +He formed his line in the edge of the woods on the opposite side of the +field. After an artillery fire of an hour, he moved into the centre of +the field, rushed through the peach-orchard, and came close to +Hurlburt’s line by the log-cabin. But the field was fenced with fire. +There was constant flashing from the muskets, with broad sheets of flame +from the artillery. The Rebels were repulsed with shattered ranks.</p> + +<p>Breckenridge sent his special aid to General Johnston for +instructions.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> As the aid rode up, a shell exploded above the General +and his staff. A fragment cut through General Johnston’s right thigh, +severing an artery. He was taken from his horse, and died on the field +at half past two o’clock.</p> + +<p>General Beauregard assumed command, and gave orders to keep General +Johnston’s death a secret, that the troops might not be discouraged.</p> + +<p>Three times Breckenridge attempted to force Hurlburt back by attacking +him in front, but as often as he advanced he was driven back. It was sad +to see the wounded drag themselves back to the woods, to escape the +storm, more terrible than the blast of the simoom, sweeping over the +field. Hurlburt’s regiments fired away all their ammunition, and +Prentiss who had rallied <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>his men, advanced to the front while the +cartridge-boxes were refilled.</p> + +<p>While this was doing, General Bragg gave up the command of his line in +front of Wallace to another officer and rode down towards the river in +front of Hurlburt and Prentiss. He says:—</p> + +<p>“There I found a strong force, consisting of three parts without a +common head; being General Breckenridge with his reserve division +pressing the enemy; Brigadier-General Withers with his division utterly +exhausted, and taking a temporary rest; and Major-General Cheatham’s +division of Major-General Polk’s command to their left and rear. The +troops were soon put in motion again, responding with great alacrity to +the command, ‘Forward!’”<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>Just at this moment General Wallace, on the right, was mortally wounded.</p> + +<p>It was like taking away half the strength of his division. The men lost +heart in a moment. The power which had inspired them was gone. The brave +man was carried to the rear, followed by his division. The giving way of +this division, and the falling back of Prentiss before the masses +flanking the extreme left, was most disastrous. Prentiss was surrounded +and taken prisoner with the remnant of his division, and Hurlburt’s camp +fell into the hands of the Rebels.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>Of this movement General Bragg says: “The enemy were driven headlong +from every position, and thrown in confused masses upon the river-bank, +behind his heavy artillery and under cover of his gunboats at the +Landing. He had left nearly all his light artillery in our hands, and +some three thousand or more prisoners, who were cut off from their +retreat by the closing in of our troops on the left under Major-General +Polk, with a portion of his reserve corps, and Brigadier-General +Ruggles, with Anderson’s and Pond’s brigades of his division.”<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>The woods rang with the exultant shouts of the Rebels, as Prentiss and +his men were marched towards Corinth. They had possession of the camps +of all the divisions except Wallace’s. Beauregard had redeemed his +promise. They could sleep in the enemy’s camps.</p> + +<p><a name="evening" id="evening"></a></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Sunday Evening.</span></h4> + +<p>Look at the situation of General Grant’s army. It is crowded back almost +to the Landing. It is not more than a mile from the river to the extreme +right, where Sherman and McClernand are trying to rally their +disorganized divisions. All is confusion. Half of the artillery is lost. +Many of the guns remaining are disabled. Some that are good are deserted +by the artillerymen. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>There is a stream of fugitives to the Landing, who +are thinking only how to escape. There are thousands on the river-bank, +crowding upon the transports. They have woeful stories. Instead of being +in their places, and standing their ground like men, they have deserted +their brave comrades, and left them to be overwhelmed by the superior +force of the enemy.</p> + +<p>As you look at the position of the army and the condition of the troops +at this hour, just before sunset, there is not much to hope for. But +there are some men who have not lost heart. “We shall hold them yet,” +says General Grant.</p> + +<p>An officer with gold-lace bands upon his coat-sleeve, and a gold band on +his cap, walks up-hill from the Landing. It is an officer of the gunboat +Tyler, commanded by Captain Gwin, who thinks he can be of some service. +Shot and shells from the Rebel batteries have been falling in the river, +and he would like to toss some into the woods.</p> + +<p>“Tell Captain Gwin to use his own discretion and judgment,” is the +reply.</p> + +<p>The officer hastens back to the Tyler. The Lexington is by her side. The +men spring to the guns, and the shells go tearing up the ravine, +exploding in the Rebel ranks, now massed for the last grand assault. All +day long the men of the gunboats have heard the roar of the conflict +coming nearer and nearer, and have had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>no opportunity to take a part, +but now their time has come. The vessels sit gracefully upon the placid +river. They cover themselves with white clouds, and the deep-mouthed +cannon bellow their loudest thunders, which roll miles away along the +winding stream. It is sweet music to those disheartened men forming to +resist the last advance of the Rebels, now almost within reach of the +coveted prize.</p> + +<p>Colonel Webster, General Grant’s chief of staff, an engineer and +artillerist, with a quick eye, has selected a line of defence. There is +a deep ravine just above Pittsburg Landing, which extends northwest half +a mile. There are five heavy siege-guns, three thirty-two-pounders, and +two eight-inch howitzers on the top of the bluff by the Landing. They +have been standing there a week, but there are no artillerists to man +them. Volunteers are called for. Dr. Cornyn, Surgeon of the First +Missouri Artillery, offers his services. Artillerists who have lost +their guns are collected. Round shot and shell are carried up from the +boats. Fugitives who have lost their regiments are put to work. +Pork-barrels are rolled up and placed in a line. Men go to work with +spades, and throw up a rude embankment. The heavy guns are wheeled into +position to sweep the ravine and all the ground beyond. Everything is +done quickly. There is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>no time for delay. Men work as never before. +Unless they can check the enemy, all is lost. Energy, activity, +determination, endurance, and bravery must be concentrated into this +last effort.</p> + +<p><a name="ravine" id="ravine"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 484px;"> +<img src="images/i216.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="484" height="400" alt="The Fight at the Ravine." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Fight at the Ravine.</span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="5" summary="RAVINE"> + +<tr><td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Union batteries.</td> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Gunboats.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Rebel batteries.</td> +<td> </td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">Transports.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">Ravine.</td> +<td> </td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"> </td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>Commencing nearest the river, on the ridge of the ravine, you see two of +McAllister’s twenty-four-pounders, next four of Captain Stone’s ten +pounders, then Captain Walker with one twenty-pounder, then Captain +Silversparre with four <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>twenty-pounder Parrott guns, which throw rifled +projectiles, then two twenty-pound howitzers, which throw grape and +canister. Then you come to the road which leads up to Shiloh church. +There you see six brass field-pieces; then Captain Richardson’s battery +of four twenty-pounder Parrott guns; then a six-pounder and two +twelve-pound howitzers of Captain Powell’s battery; then the siege-guns, +under Surgeon Cornyn and Captain Madison; then two ten-pounders, under +Lieutenant Edwards, and two more under Lieutenant Timony. There are more +guns beyond,—Taylor’s, Willard’s, and what is left of Schwartz’s +battery, and Mann’s, Dresser’s, and Ross’s,—about sixty guns in all. +The broken regiments are standing or lying down. The line, instead of +being four miles long, as it was in the morning, is not more than a mile +in length now. The regiments are all mixed up. There are men from a +dozen in one, but they can fight notwithstanding that.</p> + +<p>The Rebel commanders concentrate all their forces near the river, to +charge through the ravine, scale the other side, rush down the road and +capture the steamboats. They plant their batteries along the bank, +bringing up all their guns, to cut their way by shot and shell. If they +can but gain a foothold on the other side, the day is theirs. The Union +army will be annihilated, Tennessee <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>redeemed. Buell will be captured or +pushed back to the Ohio River. The failing fortunes of the Confederacy +will revive. Recognition by foreign nations will be secured. How +momentous the hour!</p> + +<p>Beauregard’s troops were badly cut to pieces, and very much +disorganized. The Second Texas, which had advanced through the +peach-orchard, was all gone, and was not reorganized during the fight. +Colonel Moore, commanding a brigade, says: “So unexpected was the shock, +that the whole line gave way from right to left in utter confusion. The +regiments became so scattered and mixed that all efforts to reform them +became fruitless.”<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>Chalmers’s brigade was on the extreme right. What was left of Jackson’s +came next. Breckenridge, with his shattered brigades, was behind +Chalmers. Trabue, commanding a brigade of Kentuckians, was comparatively +fresh. Withers’s, Cheatham’s, and Ruggles’s divisions were at the head +of the ravine. Gibson, who had been almost annihilated, was there. +Stewart, Anderson, Stephens, and Pond were on the ground from which +Wallace had been driven. As the brigades filed past Beauregard, he said +to them, “Forward, boys, and drive them into the Tennessee.”<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>The Rebel cannon open. A sulphurous cloud <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>borders the bank. The wild +uproar begins again. Opposite, another cloud rolls upward. There are +weird shriekings across the chasm, fierce howlings from things unseen. +Great oaks are torn asunder, broken, shattered, splintered. Cannon are +overturned by invisible bolts. There are explosions in the earth and in +the air. Men, horses, wagons, are lifted up, thrown down, torn to +pieces, dashed against the trees. Commands are cut short; for while the +words are on the lips the tongue ceases to articulate, the muscles +relax, and the heart stops its beating,—all the springs of life broken +in an instant.</p> + +<p>Wilder, deeper, louder the uproar. Great shells from the gunboats fly up +the ravine. The gunners aim at the cloud along the southern bank. They +rake the Rebel lines, while the artillery massed in front cuts them +through and through.</p> + +<p>Bragg orders an advance. The brigades enter the ravine, sheltered in +front by the tall trees above and the tangled undergrowth beneath. They +push towards the northern slope.</p> + +<p>“Grape and canister now!”</p> + +<p>“Give them double charges!”</p> + +<p>“Lower your guns!”</p> + +<p>“Quick! Fire!”</p> + +<p>The words run along the line. Moments are ages now. Seconds are years. +How fast men <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>live when everything is at stake! Ah! but how fast they die +down in that ravine! Up, down, across, through, over it, drive the +withering blasts, cutting, tearing, sweeping through the column, which +shakes, wavers, totters, crumbles, disappears.</p> + +<p>General Chalmers says: “We received orders from General Bragg to drive +the enemy into the river. My brigade, together with General Jackson’s +brigade, filed to the right, formed facing the river, and endeavored to +press forward to the water’s edge; but in attempting to mount the last +ridge, we were met by a fire from a whole line of batteries, protected +by infantry and assisted by shells from the gunboats. Our men struggled +vainly to ascend the hill, which was very steep, making charge after +charge without success; but continued the fight till night closed +hostilities.”<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>Says Colonel Fagan, of the First Arkansas, of Gibson’s brigade:—</p> + +<p>“Three different times did we go into that ‘Valley of Death,’ and as +often were forced back by overwhelming numbers, intrenched in a strong +position. That all was done that could possibly be done, the heaps of +killed and wounded left there give ample evidence.”<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>Colonel Allen, of the Fourth Louisiana, says:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>“A murderous fire was poured into us from the masked batteries of grape +and canister, and also from the rifle-pits. The regiment retired, formed +again, and again charged. There fell many of my bravest and best men, in +the thick brushwood, without ever seeing the enemy.”<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p>It is sunset. The day has gone. It has been a wild, fierce, disastrous +conflict. Beauregard has pushed steadily on towards the Landing. He is +within musket-shot of the steamers, of the prize he so much covets. He +has possession of all but one of the division camps. He can keep his +promise made to his soldiers; they can sleep in the camps of the Union +army. This is his first serious check. He has lost many men. His +commander-in-chief is killed, but he is confident he can finish in the +morning the work which has gone on so auspiciously, for Buell has not +arrived.</p> + +<p>He has done a good day’s work. His men have fought well, but they are +exhausted. Tomorrow morning he will finish General Grant. Thus he +reasons.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>General Grant was right in his calculations. The Rebels have been +checked at last. At sunset they who stand upon the hill by the Landing +discover on the opposite bank men running up the road, panting for +breath. Above them waves the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>Stars and Stripes. There is a buzz, a +commotion, among the thousands by the river-side.</p> + +<p>“It is Buell’s advance!”</p> + +<p>“Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!”</p> + +<p>The shouts ring through the forest. The wounded lift their weary heads, +behold the advancing line, and weep tears of joy. The steamers cast off +their fastenings. The great wheels plash the gurgling water. They move +to the other side. The panting soldiers of the army of the Ohio rush on +board. The steamer settles to the guards with her precious cargo of +human life; recrosses the river in safety. The line of blue winds up the +bank. It is Nelson’s division. McCook’s and Crittenden’s divisions are +at Savannah. Lewis Wallace’s division from Crump’s Landing is filing in +upon the right, in front of Sherman and McClernand. There will be four +fresh divisions on Monday morning. The army is safe. Buell will not be +pushed back to the Ohio. Recognition will not come from France and +England in consequence of the great Rebel victory at Shiloh.</p> + +<p>Through the night the shells from the gunboats crashed along the Rebel +lines. So destructive was the fire, that Beauregard was obliged to fall +back from the position he had won by such a sacrifice of life. There was +activity at the Landing. The steamers went to Savannah, took on <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>board +McCook’s and Crittenden’s divisions of Buell’s army, and transported +them to Pittsburg. Few words were spoken as they marched up the hill in +the darkness, with the thousands of wounded on either hand, but there +were many silent thanksgivings that they had come. The wearied soldiers +lay down in battle line to broken sleep, with their loaded guns beside +them. The sentinels stood, like statues, in silence on the borders of +that valley of death, watching and waiting for the morning.</p> + +<p>The battle-cloud hung like a pall above the forest. The gloom and +darkness deepened. The stars, which had looked calmly down from the +depths of heaven, withdrew from the scene. A horrible scene! for the +exploding shells had set the forest on fire. The flames consumed the +withered leaves and twigs of the thickets, and crept up to the helpless +wounded, to friend and foe alike. There was no hand but God’s to save +them. He heard their cries and groans. The rain came, extinguishing the +flames. It drenched the men in arms, waiting for daybreak to come to +renew the strife, but there were hundreds of wounded, parched with +fever, restless with pain, who thanked God for the rain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Monday.</span></h4> + +<p>Beauregard laid his plans to begin the attack at daybreak. Grant and +Buell resolved to do the same,—not to stand upon the defensive, but to +astonish Beauregard by advancing. Nelson’s division was placed on the +left, nearest the river, Crittenden’s next, McCook’s beyond, and Lewis +Wallace on the extreme right,—all fresh troops,—with Grant’s other +divisions, which had made such a stubborn resistance, in reserve.</p> + +<p>In General Nelson’s division, you see nearest the river Colonel Ammen’s +brigade, consisting of the Thirty-sixth Indiana, Sixth and Twenty-fourth +Ohio; next, Colonel Bruer’s brigade, First, Second, and Twentieth +Kentucky; next, Colonel Hazen’s brigade, Ninth Indiana, Sixth Kentucky, +and Forty-first Ohio. Colonel Ammen’s brigade arrived in season to take +part in the contest at the ravine on Sunday evening.</p> + +<p>General Crittenden’s division had two brigades: General Boyle’s and +Colonel W. L. Smith’s. General Boyle had the Nineteenth and Fifty-ninth +Ohio, and Ninth and Thirteenth Kentucky. Colonel Smith’s was composed of +the Thirteenth Ohio, and Eleventh and Twenty-sixth Kentucky, with +Mendenhall’s battery, belonging to the United States Regular Army, and +Bartlett’s Ohio battery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>General McCook’s division had three brigades. The first was commanded by +General Rousseau, consisting of the First Ohio, Sixth Indiana, Third +Kentucky, and battalions of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Nineteenth +Regular Infantry. The second brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General +Gibson, and consisted of the Thirty-second and Thirty-ninth Indiana, and +Forty-ninth Ohio. The third brigade was commanded by Colonel Kirk, and +consisted of the Thirty-fourth Illinois, Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth +Indiana, and Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>General Lewis Wallace’s division, which had been reorganized after the +battle of Fort Donelson, now consisted of three brigades. The first was +commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, and consisted of the Eighth +Missouri, Eleventh and Twenty-fourth Indiana, and Thurber’s Missouri +battery. The second brigade was commanded by Colonel Thayer, and +contained the same regiments that checked the Rebels at the brook west +of Fort Donelson,—the First Nebraska, Twenty-third and Sixty-eighth +Ohio, with Thompson’s Indiana battery. The third brigade was commanded +by Colonel Whittlesey, and was composed of the Twentieth, Fifty-sixth, +Seventy-sixth, and Seventy-eighth Ohio.</p> + +<p>Two brigades of General Wood’s division arrived <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>during the day, but not +in season to take part in the battle.</p> + +<p>Beauregard’s brigades were scattered during the night. They had retired +in confusion before the terrible fire at the ravine from the gunboats. +Officers were hunting for their troops, and soldiers were searching for +their regiments, through the night. The work of reorganizing was going +on when the pickets at daylight were driven in by the advance of the +Union line.</p> + +<p>Beauregard, Bragg, Hardee, and Polk all slept near the church. There was +no regularity of divisions, brigades, or regiments. Ruggles was west of +the church with two of his brigades. Trabue’s brigade of Breckenridge’s +reserves was there. Breckenridge, with his other brigades, or what was +left of them, was east of the church, also the shattered fragments of +Withers’s division. Gladden’s brigade had crumbled to pieces, and +Colonel Deas, commanding it, was obliged to pick up stragglers of all +regiments. Russell and Stewart were near Prentiss’s camp. Cheatham was +in the vicinity, but his regiments were dwindled to companies, and +scattered over all the ground.</p> + +<p>Beauregard had established a strong rear-guard, and had issued orders to +shoot all stragglers. The order was rigidly enforced, and the runaways +were brought back and placed in line. Although <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>exhausted, disorganized, +and checked, the Rebels had not lost heart. They were confident of +victory, and at once rallied when they found the Union army was +advancing.</p> + +<p>Look once more at the position of the divisions. Nelson is on the ground +over which Stuart and Hurlburt retreated. Crittenden is where Prentiss +was captured, McCook where McClernand made his desperate stand, and +Lewis Wallace where Sherman’s line gave way.</p> + +<p>The gunboats, by their constant fire during the night, had compelled the +Rebels to fall back in front of Nelson. It was a little after five +o’clock when Nelson threw forward his skirmishers, and advanced his +line. He came upon the Rebels half-way out to Lick Creek, near the +peach-orchard. The fight commenced furiously. Beauregard was marching +brigades from his left, and placing them in position for a concentrated +attack to gain the Landing. General Crittenden had not advanced, and +Nelson was assailed by a superior force. He held his ground an hour, but +he had no battery. He had been compelled to leave it at Savannah. He +sent an aid to General Buell requesting artillery. Mendenhall was sent. +He arrived just in time to save the brigade from an overwhelming onset. +The Rebels were advancing when he unlimbered his guns, but his quick +discharges of grape at short range threw them into confusion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>It astonished General Beauregard. He had not expected it. He was to +attack and annihilate Grant, not be attacked and driven.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> He ordered +up fresh troops from his reserves, and the contest raged with increased +fury.</p> + +<p>Nelson, seeing the effect of Mendenhall’s fire, threw Hazen’s brigade +forward. It came upon the battery which had been cutting them to pieces. +With a cheer they sprang upon the guns, seized them, commenced turning +them upon the fleeing enemy. The Rebel line rallied and came back, +followed by fresh troops. There was a short, severe struggle, and Hazen +was forced to leave the pieces and fall back. Then the thunders rolled +again. The woods were sheets of flame.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> The Rebels brought up more of +their reserves, and forced Nelson to yield his position. He fell back a +short distance, and again came into position. He was a stubborn man,—a +Kentuckian, a sailor, who had been round the world. His discipline was +severe. His men had been well drilled, and were as stubborn as their +leader.</p> + +<p>“Send me another battery, quick!” was his request, made to General +Buell.</p> + +<p>Tirrell’s battery, which had just landed from a steamer, went up the +hill, through the woods, over stumps and trees, the horses leaping as if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>they had caught the enthusiasm of the commander of the battery. Captain +Tirrell had a quick eye.</p> + +<p>“Into position there. Lively, men! Caissons to the rear!” were his words +of command. The gunners sprang from the carriages to the ground. The +caissons wheeled, bringing the heads of the horses towards the Landing, +trotted off eight or ten rods and took position sheltered by a ridge of +land. Captain Tirrell rode from gun to gun.</p> + +<p>“Fire with shell, two-second fuses,” he said to the lieutenants +commanding his two ten-pounder Parrott guns.</p> + +<p>“Grape and canister,” he said to the officers commanding the four brass +twelve-pounders. Its fire was terrific. Wherever his guns were turned +there was silence along the Rebel lines. Their musketry ceased. Their +columns staggered back. All the while Mendenhall was pounding them. The +Nineteenth Ohio, from Crittenden’s division, came down upon the run, +joined the brigade, and the contest went on again. The Rebels, instead +of advancing, began to lose the ground they had already won.</p> + +<p>Crittenden and McCook advanced a little later. They came upon the enemy, +which had quiet possession of McClernand’s and Sherman’s camps. +Beauregard’s head-quarters were there. The Rebels, finding themselves +assailed, made a desperate <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>effort to drive back the advancing columns. +Rousseau advanced across the open field, over the ground so hotly +contested by McClernand the day before. This movement made a gap between +McCook and Crittenden. Beauregard saw it, threw Cheatham and Withers +into the open space. They swung round square against Rousseau’s left, +pouring in a volley which staggered the advancing regiments. The +Thirty-second Indiana regiment, Colonel Willich commanding, was on the +extreme right of McCook’s division. They had been in battle before, and +were ordered across to meet the enemy. You see them fly through the +woods in rear of Rousseau’s brigade. They are upon the run. They halt, +dress their ranks as if upon parade, and charge upon the Rebels. Colonel +Stambough’s Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania follows. Then all of Kirk’s +brigade. It is a change of position and a change of front, admirably +executed, just at the right time, for Rousseau is out of ammunition, and +is obliged to fall back. McCook’s third brigade, General Gibson, comes +up. Rousseau is ready again, and at eleven o’clock you see every +available man of that division contending for the ground around the +church. Meanwhile Wallace is moving over the ground on the extreme +right, where Sherman fought so bravely. Sherman, Hurlburt, and the +shattered regiments of W. H. L. Wallace’s division, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>now commanded by +McArthur, follow in reserve. Driven back by Nelson, the Rebel forces +concentrate once more around the church for a final struggle. Wallace +watches his opportunities. He gains a ridge. His men drop upon the +ground, deliver volley after volley, rise, rush nearer to the enemy, +drop once more, while the grape and canister sweep over them. Thus they +come to close quarters, and then regiment after regiment rises, and +delivers its fire. It is like the broadsides of a man-of-war.</p> + +<p>The time had come for a general advance. Nelson, Crittenden, McCook, +Wallace, almost simultaneously charged upon the enemy. It was too +powerful to be resisted. The Rebels gave way, retreated from the camps +which they had occupied a single night, fled past the church, across the +brook, up through the old cotton-field on the south side, to the shelter +of the forest on the top of the ridge beyond. The battle was lost to +them. Exultant cheers rang through the forest for the victory won.</p> + +<p>If I were to go through all the details, as I might, and write how +Crittenden’s brigades pressed on, and captured Rebel batteries; how the +Rebels tried to overwhelm him; how the tide of battle surged from hill +to hill; how the Rebels tried to cut McCook to pieces; how Wallace’s +division flanked the enemy at Owl Creek; how <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>Rousseau’s brigade fought +in front of McClernand’s camp; how the Fifth Kentucky charged upon a +battery, and captured two guns which were cutting them up with grape and +canister, and four more which were disabled and could not be dragged off +by the enemy; how Colonel Willich, commanding the Thirty-second Indiana, +finding some of his men were getting excited, stopped firing, and +drilled them, ordering, presenting, and supporting arms, with the balls +whistling through his ranks; how the men became cool and steady, and +went in upon a charge at last with a wild hurrah, and a plunge of the +bayonet that forced the Rebels to give up McClernand’s camp; how Colonel +Ammen coolly husked ears of corn for his horse, while watching the +fight, with the shells falling all around him; how Colonel Kirk seized a +flag and bore it in advance of his brigade; how Color-Sergeant William +Ferguson of the Thirteenth Missouri was shot down, how Sergeant Beem of +Company C seized the flag before it touched the ground, and advanced it +still farther; how Beauregard was riding madly along the lines by the +church, trying to rally his men, when Thurber’s battery opened, and +broke them up again; how, at noon, he saw it was no use; how he drew off +his men, burned his own camp, and went back to Corinth, defeated, his +troops disheartened, leaving his killed and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>hundreds of his wounded on +the field; how the Union army recovered all the cannon lost on +Sunday;—if I were to write it all out, I should have no room to tell +you what Commodore Foote was doing all this time on the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>It was a terrible fight. The loss on each side was nearly equal,—about +thirteen thousand killed, wounded, and missing, or twenty-six thousand +in all.</p> + +<p>I had a friend killed in the fight on Sunday,—Captain Carson, +commanding General Grant’s scouts. He was tall and slim, and had +sparkling black eyes. He had travelled all over Missouri, Kentucky, and +Tennessee, had often been in the Rebel camps. He was brave, almost +fearless, and very adroit. He said to a friend, when the battle began in +the morning, that he should not live through the day. But he was very +active, riding recklessly through showers of bullets. It was just at +sunset when he rode up to General Grant with a despatch from General +Buell. He dismounted, and sat down upon a log to rest, but the next +moment his head was carried away by a cannon-ball. He performed his +duties faithfully, and gave his life willingly to his country.</p> + +<p>You have seen how the army was surprised, how desperately it fought, how +the battle was almost lost, how the gunboats beat back the exultant +Rebels, how the victory was won. Beauregard <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>was completely defeated; but +he telegraphed to Jefferson Davis that he had won a great victory. This +is what he telegraphed—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Corinth</span>, April 8th, 1862.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">“To the Secretary of War, Richmond</span>:—<br /> + +“We have gained a great and glorious victory. Eight to ten thousand +prisoners and thirty-six pieces of cannon. Buell reinforced Grant, +and we retired to our intrenchments at Corinth, which we can hold. +Loss heavy on both sides.</p> + +<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Beauregard.</span>”</p></div> + +<p>You see that, having forsworn himself to his country, he did not +hesitate to send a false despatch, to mislead the Southern people and +cover up his mortifying defeat.</p> + +<p>The Rebel newspapers believed Beauregard’s report. One began its account +thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Glory! glory! glory! victory! victory! I write from Yankee papers. Of +all the victories that have ever been on record, ours is the most +complete. Bull Run was nothing in comparison to our victory at Shiloh. +General Buell is killed, General Grant wounded and taken prisoner. Soon +we will prove too much for them, and they will be compelled to let us +alone. Our brave boys have driven them to the river, and compelled them +to flee to their gunboats. The day is ours.”<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>The people of the South believed all this; but when the truth was known +their hopes went down lower than ever, for they saw it was a disastrous +defeat.</p> + +<p>On the Sabbath after the battle, the chaplains of the regiments had +religious exercises. How different the scene! Instead of the cannonade, +there were prayers to God. Instead of the musketry, there were songs of +praise. There were tears shed for those who had fallen, but there were +devout thanksgivings that they had given their lives so freely for their +country and for the victory they had achieved by their sacrifice.</p> + +<p>One of the chaplains, in conducting the service, read a hymn, +commencing:</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"><div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">“Look down, O Lord, O Lord forgive;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Let a repenting rebel live.”</span></div></div> + +<p>But he was suddenly interrupted by a patriotic soldier, who cried, “No +sir, not unless they lay down their arms, every one of them.”</p> + +<p>He thought the chaplain had reference to the Rebels who had been +defeated.</p> + +<p>After the battle, a great many men and women visited the ground, +searching for the bodies of friends who had fallen. Lieutenant Pfieff, +an officer of an Illinois regiment, was killed, and his wife came to +obtain his body. No one knew where he was buried. The poor woman +wandered through the forest, examining all the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>graves. Suddenly a dog, +poor and emaciated, bounded towards her, his eyes sparkling with +pleasure, and barking his joy to see his mistress. When her husband went +to the army, the dog followed him, and was with him through the battle, +watched over his dead body through the terrible contest, and after he +was buried, remained day and night a mourner! He led his mistress to the +spot. The body was disinterred. The two sorrowful ones, the devoted wife +and the faithful brute, watched beside the precious dust till it was +laid in its final resting-place beneath the prairie-flowers.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>EVACUATION OF COLUMBUS.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> +Rebels, at the beginning of the war fortified Columbus, in Kentucky, +which is twenty miles below Cairo on the Mississippi River. There the +bluffs are very high, and are washed at their base by the mighty stream. +Cannon placed on the summit have long range. A great deal of labor was +expended to make it an impregnable place. There were batteries close +down to the water under the hill, with heavy guns. A gallery was cut +along the side of the bluff, a winding, zigzag passage, which, with many +crooks and turns, led to the top of the hill. They had numerous guns in +position on the top, to send shot and shell down upon Commodore Foote, +should he attempt to descend the river. They built a long line of +earthworks to protect the rear, intrenchments and stockades,—which are +strong posts set in the ground, making a close fence, with holes here +and there through which the riflemen and sharpshooters could fire.</p> + +<p>They cut down the trees and made <i>abatis</i>. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>There were several lines of +defence. They stretched a great iron chain across the river, supporting +it by barges which were anchored in the stream. They gave out word that +the river was effectually closed against commerce till the independence +of the Confederacy was recognized.</p> + +<p><a name="torpedo" id="torpedo"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 437px;"> +<img src="images/i239.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="437" height="400" alt="A Rebel Torpedo." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A Rebel Torpedo.</span> +</div> + +<p>When the war commenced, there was a man named Maury, a lieutenant in the +United States service, and who was connected with the National +Observatory in Washington. He was thought to be a scientific, practical +man. He had been educated by the government, had received great pay, and +was in a high position; but he forgot all that, and joined the Rebels. +He imitated General Floyd, and stole public property, carrying off from +the National Observatory valuable scientific papers which did not belong +to him. He was employed by the Rebel government to construct torpedoes +and infernal machines for blowing up Commodore Foote’s gunboats. He had +several thousand made,—some for the land, which were planted around +Columbus in rear of the town, and which were connected with a galvanic +battery by a telegraph wire, to be exploded at the right moment, by +which he hoped to destroy thousands of the Union troops. He sunk several +hundred in the river opposite Columbus. They were oblong cylinders of +wrought iron, four or five feet in length; inside were two or three +hundred <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>pounds of powder. Two small anchors held the cylinder in its +proper place. It was air tight, and therefore floated in the water. At +the upper end there was a projecting iron rod, which was connected with +a percussion gun-lock. If anything struck the rod with much force, it +would trip the lock, and explode the powder. At least, Mr. Maury thought +so. The above engraving will show the construction of the torpedoes, and +how they were placed in the water. The letter A represents the iron rod +reaching up almost to the surface of the water. At B it is connected +with the lock, which is inside the cylinder, and not represented. C +represents the powder. The arrows show the direction of the current.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>One day he tried an experiment. He sunk a torpedo, and let loose a +flat-boat, which came down with the current and struck the iron rod. The +powder exploded and sent the flat high into the air. Thousands of Rebel +soldiers stood on the bluffs and saw it. They hurrahed and swung their +hats. Mr. Maury was so well pleased that the river was planted with +them, above, in front, and below the town. He thought that Commodore +Foote and all his gunboats would be blown out of the water if they +attempted to descend the stream.</p> + +<p>But the workmanship was rude. The parts were not put together with much +skill. Mr. Maury showed that his science was not practical. He forgot +that the river was constantly rising and falling, that sometimes the +water would be so high the gunboats could glide over the iron rods with +several feet between, he forgot that the powder would gather moisture +and the locks become rusty.</p> + +<p>It was discovered, after a while, that the torpedoes leaked, that the +powder became damp, and changed to an inky mass, and that the hundreds +of thousands of dollars which Mr. Maury had spent was all wasted. Then +they who had supposed him to be a scientific man said he was a humbug.</p> + +<p>The taking of Fort Donelson compelled the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>Rebels to evacuate +Columbus,—the Gibraltar of the Mississippi, as they called it,—and all +the work which had been done was of no benefit. Nashville was evacuated +on the 27th of February. On the 4th of March Commodore Foote, having +seen signs that the Rebels were leaving Columbus, went down the river, +with six gunboats, accompanied by several transports, with troops, under +General Sherman, to see about it. The Cincinnati, having been repaired, +was the flag-ship. Commodore Foote requested me to accompany him, if I +desired to.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps we shall have hot work,” he said, as I stepped on board in the +evening of the 3d.</p> + +<p>“We shall move at four o’clock,” said Captain Stemble, commanding the +ship, “and shall be at Columbus at daybreak.”</p> + +<p>It was a new and strange experience, that first night on a gunboat, with +some probability that at daybreak I might be under a hot fire from a +hundred Rebel guns. By the dim light of the lamp I could see the great +gun within six feet of me, and shining cutlasses and gleaming muskets. +Looking out of the ward-room, I could see the men in their hammocks +asleep, like orioles in their hanging nests. The sentinels paced the +deck above, and all was silent but the sound of the great wheel of the +steamer turning lazily in the stream, and the gurgling of the water +around the bow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>“We are approaching Columbus,” said an officer. It was still some time +to sunrise, but the men were all astir. Their hammocks were packed away. +They were clearing the decks for action, running out the guns, bringing +up shot and shell, tugging and pulling at the ropes. Going on deck, I +could see in the dim light the outline of the bluff at Columbus. Far up +stream were dark clouds of smoke from the other steamers.</p> + +<p>Commodore Foote was on the upper deck, walking with crutches, still lame +from the wound received at Donelson.</p> + +<p>“I always feel an exhilaration of spirits before going into a fight. I +don’t like to see men killed; but when I have a duty to perform for my +country, like this, all of my energies are engaged,” said the Commodore.</p> + +<p>Right opposite, on the Missouri shore, was the Belmont battle-ground, +where General Grant fought his first battle, and where the gunboats +saved the army.</p> + +<p>There was a house riddled with cannon-shot; there was a hole in the roof +as big as a bushel-basket, where the shell went in, and in the gable an +opening large enough for the passage of a cart and oxen, where it came +out. It exploded, and tore the end of the building to pieces.</p> + +<p>One by one the boats came down. The morning brightened. We could see men +on the bluff, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>and a flag flying. Were the Rebels there? We could not +make out the flag. We dropped a little nearer. More men came in sight.</p> + +<p>“Four companies of cavalry were sent out from Paducah on a +reconnoissance day before yesterday. Perhaps the Rebels have all gone, +and they are in possession of the place,” said General Sherman.</p> + +<p>“I will make a reconnoissance with a party of soldiers,” he added. He +jumped on board his tug, and went off to get his soldiers.</p> + +<p>“Captain Phelps, you will please to take my tug and drop down also,” +said Commodore Foote. “If you are willing to run the risk, you are at +liberty to accompany Captain Phelps,” were his words to me. What is a +thing worth that costs nothing?</p> + +<p>We drop down the stream slowly and cautiously.</p> + +<p>“We are in easy range. If the Rebels are there, they could trouble us,” +says Captain Phelps.</p> + +<p>We drop nearer. The flag is still waving. The man holding it swings his +hat.</p> + +<p>They are not Rebels, but Union cavalry! Away we dash. The other tug, +with General Sherman, is close behind.</p> + +<p>“A little more steam! Lay her in quick!” says Captain Phelps.</p> + +<p>He is not to be beaten. We jump ashore, scramble up the bank ahead of +all the soldiers, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>reach the upper works, and fling out the Stars and +Stripes to the bright morning sunshine on the abandoned works of the +Rebel Gibraltar!</p> + +<p>The crews of the boats crowd the upper decks, and send up their joyous +shouts. The soldiers farther up stream give their wild hurrahs. Around +us are smoking ruins,—burned barracks and storehouses, barrels of flour +and bacon simmering in the fire. There are piles of shot and shell. The +great chain has broken by its own weight. At the landing are hundreds of +Mr. Maury’s torpedoes,—old iron now. We wander over the town, along the +fortifications, view the strong defences, and wonder that the Rebels +gave it up,—defended as it was by one hundred and twenty guns,—without +a struggle, but the fall of Fort Donelson compelled them to evacuate the +place. They carried off about half of the guns, and tumbled many of +those they left behind down the embankment into the river. The force +which had fled numbered about sixteen thousand. Five thousand went down +the river on steamboats, and the others were sent to Corinth on the +cars.</p> + +<p>This abandonment of Columbus freed Kentucky of Rebel troops. It had been +invaded about six months, and Jeff Davis hoped to secure it as one of +the Confederate States, but he was disappointed in his expectations. The +majority of the people in that noble State could not be induced to go +out of the Union.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>OPERATIONS AT NEW MADRID.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">here</span> +are many islands in the Mississippi, so many that the river pilots +have numbered them from Cairo to New Orleans. The first is just below +Cairo. No. 10 is about sixty miles below, where the river makes a sharp +curve, sweeping round a tongue of land towards the west and northwest, +then turning again at New Madrid, making a great bend towards the +southeast, as you will see by the map. The island is less than a mile +long, and not more than a fourth of a mile wide. It is ten or fifteen +feet above high-water mark. The line between Kentucky and Tennessee +strikes the river here. The current runs swiftly past the island, and +steamboats descending the stream are carried within a stone’s throw of +the Tennessee shore. The bank on that side of the stream is also about +fifteen or twenty feet above high water.</p> + +<p>The Rebels, before commencing their works at Columbus, saw that Island +No. 10 was a very strong position, and commenced fortifications <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>there. +When they evacuated Columbus, they retired to that place, and remounted +the guns which they had brought away on the island and on the Tennessee +shore. They thought it was a place which could not be taken. They held +New Madrid, eight miles below, on the Missouri side, which was defended +by two forts. They held the island and the Tennessee shore. East of +their position, on the Tennessee shore, was Reelfoot Lake, a large body +of water surrounded by hundreds of acres of impassable swamp, which +extended across to the lower bend, preventing an approach by the Union +troops from the interior of the State upon their flank. The garrison at +the island, and in the batteries along the shore, had to depend upon +steamboats for their supplies.</p> + +<p>The distance across the lower promontory from the island to Tiptonville, +along the border of Reelfoot Lake, is about five miles, but the distance +from the island by the river to Tiptonville is over twenty miles.</p> + +<p>On the 22d of February, General Pope, with several thousand men, left +the little town of Commerce, which is above Cairo, on the Mississippi, +for New Madrid, which is forty miles distant. It was a slow, toilsome +march. The mud was very deep, and he could move scarcely five miles a +day, but he reached New Madrid on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>3d of March, the day on which we +raised the flag on the heights at Columbus.</p> + +<p><a name="islandten" id="islandten"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 369px;"> +<img src="images/i247.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="369" height="500" alt="Island No. 10." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Island No. 10.</span></span> +</div> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"><div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary="ISLAND10"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Commodore Foote’s fleet.</td> +<td align="right">4</td> +<td align="left">Rebel boats.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">2</td> +<td align="left">Island No. 10 and Rebel floating-battery.</td> +<td align="right">5</td> +<td align="left">2 Forts at New Madrid.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">3</td> +<td align="left">Shore batteries.</td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"> </td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>The Rebels had completed their forts. The one above the town mounted +fourteen heavy guns, and the one below it seven. Both were strong works, +with bastions and angles, and ditches that could be swept by an +enfilading fire. There was a line of intrenchments between the two +forts, enclosing the town.</p> + +<p>There were five regiments of infantry and several batteries of +artillery, commanded by General McCown, at New Madrid. General Mackall +was sent up by Beauregard to direct the defence there and at Island No. +10. When he arrived, he issued an address to the soldiers. He said:—</p> + +<p>“Soldiers: We are strangers, commander and commanded, each to the other. +Let me tell you who I am. I am a General made by Beauregard,—a General +selected by Beauregard and Bragg for this command, when they knew it was +in peril.</p> + +<p>“They have known me for twenty years; together we stood on the fields of +Mexico. Give them your confidence now; give it to me when I have earned +it.</p> + +<p>“Soldiers: The Mississippi Valley is intrusted to your courage, to your +discipline, to your patience; exhibit the coolness and vigilance you +have heretofore, and hold it.”<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>They thought they could hold the place. A Rebel officer wrote, on the +11th of March, to his friends thus: “General Mackall has put the rear <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>in +effective defence. The forts are impregnable. All are hopeful and ready. +We will make this an American Thermopylæ, if necessary.”<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>By this he intended to say that they would all die before they would +surrender the place, and would make New Madrid as famous in history as +that narrow mountain-pass in Greece, where the immortal three hundred +under Leonidas fought the Persian host.</p> + +<p>The Rebels had several gunboats on the river, each carrying three or +four guns. The river was very high, and its banks overflowed. The +country is level for miles around, and it was an easy matter for the +gunboats to throw shells over the town into the woods upon General +Pope’s army. The Rebels had over sixty pieces of heavy artillery, while +General Pope had only his light field artillery; but he sent to Cairo +for siege-guns, meanwhile driving in the enemy’s pickets and investing +the place.</p> + +<p>He detached Colonel Plummer, of the Eleventh Missouri, with three +regiments and a battery of rifled Parrott guns, to take possession of +Point Pleasant, ten miles farther down. The order was admirably +executed. Colonel Plummer planted his guns, threw up intrenchments, and +astonished the Rebels by sending his shells into a steamboat which was +passing up with supplies.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>Commodore Hollins, commanding the Rebel gunboats, made all haste down to +find out what was going on. He rained shot and shell all day long upon +Colonel Plummer’s batteries, but could not drive him from the position +he had selected. He had made holes in the ground for his artillery, and +the Rebel shot did him no injury. Hollins began at long range, then +steamed up nearer to the batteries, but Plummer’s artillerymen, by their +excellent aim, compelled him to withdraw. The next day Hollins tried it +again, but with no better success. The river was effectually blockaded. +No Rebel transport could get up, and those which were at Island No. 10 +and New Madrid could not get down, without being subjected to a heavy +fire.</p> + +<p>General Mackall determined to hold New Madrid, and reinforced the place +from Island No. 10, till he had about nine thousand troops. On the 11th +of March four siege-guns were sent to General Pope. He received them at +sunset. Colonel Morgan’s brigade was furnished with spades and +intrenching tools. General Stanley’s division was ordered under arms, to +support Morgan. The force advanced towards the town at dark, drove in +the Rebel pickets, secured a favorable position within eight hundred +yards of the fort. The men worked all night, and in the morning had two +breastworks thrown up, each eighteen feet thick, and five feet high, +with a smaller <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>breastwork, called a curtain, connecting the two. This +curtain was nine hundred feet long, nine feet thick, and three feet +high. On each side of the breastworks, thrown out like wings was a line of +rifle-pits. Wooden platforms were placed behind the breastworks, and the +guns all mounted by daylight. Colonel Bissell, of the engineers, managed +it all. In thirty-four hours from the time he received the guns at +Cairo, he had shipped them across the Mississippi River, loaded them on +railroad cars, taken them to Sykestown, twenty miles, mounted them on +carriages, then dragged them twenty miles farther, through almost +impassable mud, and had them in position within eight hundred yards of +the river! The work was done so quietly that the Rebel pickets did not +mistrust what was going on. At daybreak they opened fire upon what they +supposed was a Union rifle-pit, and were answered by a shell from a +rifled thirty-two pounder.</p> + +<p>It was a foggy morning. The air was still, and the deep thunder rolled +far away along the wooded stream. It woke up the slumbering garrison. +Commodore Hollins heard it, and immediately there was commotion among +the Rebel gunboats. They came to New Madrid. Hollins placed them in +position above the town to open fire. The fog lifted, and all the guns +of the fleet and the forts began to play upon the breastworks. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>General +Pope brought up his heavy field guns, and replied. He paid but little +attention to the fort, but sent his shot and shell at the gunboats. +Captain Mower, of the First United States artillery, commanded the +batteries, and his fire was so accurate that the gunboats were obliged +to take new positions. Shortly after the cannonade began, a shot from +the fort struck one of Captain Mower’s thirty-two pounders in the muzzle +and disabled it; but he kept up his fire through the day, dismounting +three guns in the lower fort and disabling two of the gunboats. Nearly +all of the shells from the Rebel batteries fell harmlessly into the soft +earth. There were very few of General Pope’s men injured. They soon +became accustomed to the business, and paid but little attention to the +screaming of the shot and the explosions of the shells. They had many +hearty laughs, as the shells which burst in the ground frequently +spattered them with mud.</p> + +<p>There was one soldier in one of the Ohio regiments who was usually +profane and wicked; but he was deeply impressed with the fact that so +few were injured by such a terrific fire, and at night said to his +comrades, seriously: “Boys, there is no use denying it; God has watched +over us to-day.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>His comrades also noticed that he did not swear that night.</p> + +<p>Just at night, General Paine’s division made a demonstration towards the +lower fort, driving in the enemy’s pickets. General Paine advanced +almost to the ditch in front of the fort. Preparations were made to hold +the ground, but during the night there came up a terrific thunder-storm +and hurricane, which stopped all operations.</p> + +<p>The Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio, and the Tenth and Sixteenth +Illinois, were the grand guard for the night. They had been under fire +all day. They had endured the strain upon their nerves, but through the +long night-hours they stood in the drenching rain, beneath the sheets of +lurid flame, looking with sleepless eyes towards the front, prepared to +repel a sortie or challenge spies.</p> + +<p>At daybreak there was no enemy in sight. The fort was deserted. A +citizen of the town came out with a flag of truce. The General who had +called upon his men in high-sounding words, the officer who was going to +make New Madrid a Thermopylæ, and himself a Leonidas in history,—the +nine thousand infantry had gone! Two or three soldiers were found +asleep. They rubbed their eyes and stared wildly when they were told +that they were prisoners, that their comrades and commander had fled.</p> + +<p>During the thunder-storm, the Rebel gunboats and steamers had taken the +troops on board, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>ferried them to the Tennessee shore near Island No. +10. They spiked their heavy guns, but Colonel Bissell’s engineers were +quickly at work, and in a few hours had the guns ready for use again.</p> + +<p>The Rebels left an immense amount of corn, in bags, and a great quantity +of ammunition. They tumbled their wagons into the river.</p> + +<p>General Pope set his men to work, and before night the guns which had +been pointed inland were wheeled the other way. He sent a messenger to +Commodore Foote, with this despatch:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“All right! River closed! No escape for the enemy by water.”</div> + +<p>All this was accomplished with the loss of seven killed and forty-three +wounded. By these operations against New Madrid, and by the battle at +Pea Ridge, in the southwestern part of the State, which was fought about +the same time, the Rebels were driven from Missouri!</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>OPERATIONS AT ISLAND NUMBER TEN.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">C</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">ommodore</span> +Foote, having repaired the gunboats disabled at Fort Donelson, +sailed from Cairo the day that New Madrid fell into the hands of General +Pope. He had seven gunboats and ten mortars, besides several tugs and +transports. Colonel Buford, with fifteen hundred troops, accompanied the +expedition.</p> + +<p>The mortars were untried. They were the largest ever brought into use at +that time, weighing nineteen thousand pounds, and throwing a shell +thirteen inches in diameter. The accompanying diagram will perhaps give +you an idea of their appearance. You see the mortar mounted on its +carriage, or bed as it is called. The figures 1, 1 represent one cheek +of the bed, a thick wrought-iron plate. The figures 2, 2 represent the +heads of the bolts which connect the cheek in view to the one on the +other side. The bed stands on thick timbers, represented by 3, and the +timbers rest on heavy sleepers, 4. Figure 5 represents a thick strap of +iron which clasps the trunion <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>or axis of the mortar, and holds it in its +place. This strap is held by two other straps, 6, 6, all iron, and very +strong. The figure 7 represents what is called a bolster. You see it is +in the shape of a wedge. It is used to raise or depress the muzzle of +the mortar. The figure 8 represents what is called a quoin, and keeps +the bolster in its place. The figure 9 represents one of the many bolts +by which the whole is kept in place on the boat.</p> + +<p><a name="mortar" id="mortar"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i256.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="274" alt="A Mortar" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">A Mortar.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>The boat is built like a raft, of thick timbers, laid crosswise and +bolted firmly together. It is about thirty feet long and twelve wide, +and has iron plates around its sides to screen the men from Rebel +sharpshooters. The mortar is more than four feet in diameter. It is +thicker than it is long. To fire a mortar accurately requires a good +knowledge of mathematics, of the relations <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>of curves to straight lines, +for the shell is fired into the air at an angle of thirty or forty +degrees. The gunner must calculate the distance from the mortar to the +enemy in a straight line, and then elevate or lower the muzzle to drop +his shell not too near, neither too far away. He must calculate the time +it will take for the shell to describe the curve through the air. Then +he must make his fuses of the right length to have the shell explode at +the proper time, either high in the air, that its fragments may rain +down on the encampment of the enemy, or close down to the ground among +the men working the guns. It requires skill and a great deal of practice +to do all this.</p> + +<p>The mortar flotilla was commanded by Captain Henry E. Maynadier, +assisted by Captain E. B. Pike of the engineers. There were four Masters +of Ordnance, who commanded each four mortars. Each mortar-boat had a +crew of fifteen men; three of them were Mississippi flatboatmen, who +understood all about the river, the currents and the sand-bars.</p> + +<p>Commodore Foote’s flotilla consisted of the Benton, 16 guns, which was +his flag-ship, covered all over with iron plates, and commanded by +Captain Phelps; the Mound City, 13 guns, commanded by Captain Kelty; the +Carondelet, 13 guns, Lieutenant Walke; the Cincinnati, 13 guns, Captain +Stemble; the St. Louis, 13 guns, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>Captain Dove; the Louisville, 13 guns, +Lieutenant Paulding; the Pittsburg, 13 guns, Lieutenant Thompson; the +Conestoga, 9 guns, Lieutenant Blodgett; in all, 103 guns and 10 mortars. +The Conestoga was used to guard the ammunition-boats, and took no part +in the active operations. Commodore Foote had several small steam-tugs, +which were used as tenders, to carry orders from boat to boat.</p> + +<p>The Southern people thought that Island No. 10 could not be taken. On +the 6th of March a newspaper at Memphis said:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“For the enemy to get possession of Memphis and the Mississippi Valley +would require an army of greater strength than Secretary Stanton can +concentrate upon the banks of the Mississippi River. The gunboats in +which they have so much confidence have proved their weakness. They +cannot stand our guns of heavy calibre. The approach of the enemy by +land to New Madrid induces us to believe that the flotilla is one grand +humbug, and that it is not ready, and does not intend to descend the +river. Foote, the commander of the Federal fleet, served his time under +Commodore Hollins, and should he attempt to descend the river, Hollins +will teach him that some things can be done as well as others.”<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></div> + +<p>On Saturday, the 15th of March, the fleet approached <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>the island. The +clouds were thick and lowering. The rain pattered on the decks of the +gunboats, the fog settled upon the river. As the boats swept round a +point of land, the old river pilot, who was on the watch, who knew every +crook, turn, sand-bar, and all the objects along the bank, sung out, +“Boat ahead!”</p> + +<p>The sailors scrambled to the portholes; Captain Phelps sprang from the +cabin to the deck.</p> + +<p>There she was, a steamer, just visible through the fog a mile ahead. It +was the Grampus, owned by Captain Chester of the steamer Alps, who had +two of the mortar-boats in tow. He belonged to Pittsburg, and used to +carry coal to Memphis. When the war broke out the Rebels seized his +steamboats and his coal-barges, and refused to pay him for the coal they +had already purchased. The act roused all his ire. He was a tall, +athletic man, and had followed the river thirty years. Although +surrounded by enemies, he gave them plain words.</p> + +<p>“You are a set of thieves and rascals! You are cowards, every one of +you!” he shouted.</p> + +<p>He took off his coat, rolled up his shirt-sleeves, bared his great +brawny arms, dashed his hat upon the ground.</p> + +<p>“Now come on! I’ll fight every one of you, you infernal rascals! I’ll +whip you all! I challenge you to fight me! You call yourselves +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>chivalrous people. You say you believe in fair play. If I whip, you +shall give up my boats, but if I am beaten, you are welcome to them.”</p> + +<p>They laughed in his face, and said: “Blow away, old fellow. We have got +your boats. Help yourself if you can.”</p> + +<p>A hot-headed secessionist cried out, “Hang the Yankee!”</p> + +<p>The crowd hustled him about, but he had a few old friends, who took his +part, and he succeeded in making his escape.</p> + +<p>Captain Phelps looked a moment at the Grampus. He saw her wheels move. +She was starting off.</p> + +<p>“Out with the starboard gun! Give her a shot!”</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Bishop runs his eye along the sights of the great eleven-inch +gun, which has been loaded and run out of the porthole in a twinkling.</p> + +<p>There is a flash. A great cloud puffs out into the fog, and the shot +screams through the air and is lost to sight. We cannot see where it +fell. Another—another. Boom!—boom!—boom!—from the Cincinnati and +Carondelet. But the Grampus is light-heeled. The distance widens. You +can hardly see her, and at last she vanishes like a ghost from sight.</p> + +<p>We were not more than four or five miles from the head of the island. +One by one the boats <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>rounded to along the Kentucky shore. The sailors +sprang upon the land, carrying out the strong warps, and fastening us to +the trunks of the buttonwood-trees.</p> + +<p>There was a clearing and a miserable log-hut near by. The family had +fled, frightened by the cannonade. We found them cowering in the +woods,—a man, his wife and daughter. The land all around them was +exceedingly rich, but they were very poor. All they had to eat was hog +and hominy. They had been told that the Union troops would rob them of +all they had, which was not likely, because they had nothing worth +stealing! They were trembling with fear, but when they found the +soldiers and sailors well-behaved and peaceable, they forgot their +terror.</p> + +<p>The fog lifts at last, and we can see the white tents of the Rebels on +the Tennessee shore. There are the batteries, with the cannon grim and +black pointing up stream. Round the point of land is the island. A +half-dozen steamboats lie in the stream below it. At times they steam up +to the bend and then go back again,—wandering back and forth like rats +in a cage. They cannot get past General Pope’s guns at New Madrid. On +the north side of the island is a great floating-battery of eight guns, +which has been towed up from New Orleans. General Mackall has sunk a +steamboat in a narrow part of the channel on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>north side of the +island, so that if Commodore Foote attempts to run the blockade he will +be compelled to pass along the south channel, exposed to the fire of all +the guns in the four batteries upon the Tennessee shore, as well as +those upon the island.</p> + +<p>Two of the mortar-boats were brought into position two miles from the +Rebel batteries. We waited in a fever of expectation while Captain +Maynadier was making ready, for thirteen-inch mortars had never been +used in war. The largest used by the French and English in the +bombardment of Sebastopol were much smaller.</p> + +<p>There came a roar like thunder. It was not a sharp, piercing report, but +a deep, heavy boom, which rolled along the mighty river, echoing and +re-echoing from shore to shore,—a prolonged reverberation, heard fifty +miles away. A keg of powder was burned in the single explosion. The +shell rose in a beautiful curve, exploded five hundred feet high, and +fell in fragments around the distant encampment.</p> + +<p>There was a flash beneath the dark forest-trees near the encampment, a +puff of white smoke, an answering roar, and a shot fell into the water a +half-mile down stream from the mortars. The Rebels had accepted the +challenge.</p> + +<p>Sunday came. The boats having the mortars in tow dropped them along the +Missouri shore. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>The gunboats swung into the stream. The Benton fired her +rifled guns over the point of land at the Rebel steamboats below the +island. There was a sudden commotion. They quickly disappeared down the +river towards New Madrid, out of range. During the morning there was a +deep booming from the direction of Point Pleasant. The Rebel gunboats +were trying to drive Colonel Plummer from his position.</p> + +<p>Ten o’clock came, the hour for divine service. The church flag was flung +out on the flagstaff of the Benton, and all the commanders called their +crews together for worship. I was on board the Pittsburg with Captain +Thompson. The crew assembled on the upper deck. There were men from +Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, from the Eastern +as well as the Western States. Some of them were scholars and teachers +in Sabbath-schools at home. They were dressed in dark-blue, and each +sailor appeared in his Sunday suit. A small table was brought up from +the cabin, and the flag of our country spread upon it. A Bible was +brought. We stood around the captain with uncovered heads, while he read +the twenty-seventh Psalm. Beautiful and appropriate was that service:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is +the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>After the Psalm, the prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven.”</p> + +<p>How impressive! The uncovered group standing around the open Bible, and +the low voices of a hundred men in prayer. On our right hand, looking +down the mighty river, were the mortars, in play, jarring the earth with +their heavy thunders. The shells were sweeping in graceful curves +through the air. Upon our left hand, the Benton and Carondelet were +covering themselves with white clouds, which slowly floated away over +the woodlands, fragrant with the early buds and blossoms of spring. The +Rebel batteries below us were flaming and smoking. Solid shot screamed +past us, shells exploded above us. Away beyond the island, beyond the +dark-green of the forest, rose the cloud of another bombardment, where +Commodore Hollins was vainly endeavoring to drive Colonel Plummer from +his position. So the prayer was mingled with the deep, wild thunders of +the cannonade.</p> + +<p>A light fog, like a thin veil, lay along the river. After service, we +saw that strange and peculiar optical illusion called <i>mirage</i>, so often +seen in deserts, where the thirsty traveller beholds lakes, and shady +places, cities, towns, and ships. I was looking up stream, and saw, +sweeping round the wooded point of land, something afloat. A boat or +floating battery it seemed to be. There were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>chimneys, a flagstaff, a +porthole. It was seemingly two hundred feet long, coming broadside +towards us.</p> + +<p>“Captain Thompson, see there!”</p> + +<p>He looked at it, and jumped upon the pilot-house, scanned it over and +over. The other officers raised their glasses.</p> + +<p>“It looks like a floating battery!” said one.</p> + +<p>“There is a porthole, certainly!” said another.</p> + +<p>It came nearer. Its proportions increased.</p> + +<p>“Pilot, put on steam! Head her up stream!” said Captain Thompson.</p> + +<p>“Lieutenant, beat to quarters! Light up the magazine! We will see what +she is made of.”</p> + +<p>There was activity on deck. The guns were run out, shot and shell were +brought up. The boat moved up stream. Broadside upon us came the unknown +craft.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the illusion vanished. The monster three hundred feet long, +changed to an old coal-barge. The chimneys became two timbers, the +flagstaff a small stick of firewood. The fog, the currents of air, had +produced the transformation. We had a hearty laugh over our preparations +for an encounter with the enemy in our rear. It was an enemy more +quickly disposed of than the one in front.</p> + +<p>The Rebels in the upper battery waved a white flag. The firing ceased. +Commodore Foote sent <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>Lieutenant Bishop down with a tug and a white flag +flying, to see what it meant. He approached the battery.</p> + +<p>“Are we to understand that you wish to communicate with us?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said an officer wearing a gold-laced coat.</p> + +<p>“Then why do you display a white flag?”</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake, sir. It is a signal-flag. I regret that it has +deceived you.”</p> + +<p>“Good morning, sir.”</p> + +<p>“Good morning, sir.”</p> + +<p>The tug steams back to the Benton, the white flag is taken down, and the +uproar begins again. Lieutenant Bishop made good use of his eyes. There +were seven thirty-two-pounders and one heavy rifled gun in the upper +battery.</p> + +<p>Commodore Foote was not ready to begin the bombardment in earnest till +Monday noon, March 17th.</p> + +<p>The Benton, Cincinnati, and St. Louis dropped down stream, side by side, +and came into position about a mile from the upper batteries. Anchors +were dropped from the stern of each gunboat, that they might fight head +on, using their heavy rifled guns. Their position was on the east side +of the river. The Mound City and Carondelet took position near the west +bank, just below the mortars. The boats were thus placed to bring a +cross fire upon the upper Rebel battery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>“Pay no attention to the island, but direct your fire into the upper +battery!” is the order.</p> + +<p>A signal is raised upon the flag-ship. We do not understand the +signification of the flag, but while we look at it the ten mortars open +fire, one after another, in rapid succession. The gunboats follow. There +are ten shells, thirteen inches in diameter, rising high in air. There +are handfuls of smoke flecking the sky, and a prolonged, indescribable +crashing, rolling, and rumbling. You have seen battle-pieces by the +great painters; but the highest artistic skill cannot portray the scene. +It is a vernal day, as beautiful as ever dawned. The gunboats are +enveloped in flame and smoke. The unfolding clouds are slowly wafted +away by the gentle breeze. Huge columns rise majestically from the +mortars. A line of white—a thread-like tissue—spans the sky. It is the +momentary and vanishing mark of the shell in the invisible air. There +are little splashes in the stream, where the fragments of iron fall. +There are pillars of water tossed upward in front of the earthwork, +which break into spray, painted with rainbow hues by the bright +sunshine. A round shot skips along the surface and pierces the +embankment. Another just clears the parapet, and cuts down a tree +beyond. The air is filled with sticks, timbers, branches of trees, and +earth, as if a dozen thunderbolts <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>had fallen upon the spot from a +cloudless sky. There are explosions deep under ground, where the great +shells have buried themselves in their downward flight. There are +volumes of smoke which rise like the mists of a summer morning.</p> + +<p>There are some brave fellows behind that breastwork. Amid this storm +they come out from their shelter and load a gun. There it comes! A +flash, a cloud, a hissing, a crash! The shot strikes the upper deck of +the Benton, tears up the iron plates, breaks the thick timbers into +kindlings, falls upon the lower deck, bounds up again to the beams +above, and drops into Commodore Foote’s writing-desk!</p> + +<p>All around, from the gunboats, the mortars, from all the batteries, are +flashes, clouds of smoke, and thunderings, which bring to mind the +gorgeous imagery of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, +descriptive of the scenes of the Last Judgment.</p> + +<p>The firing ceased at sunset. The Benton was struck four times, and the +Cincinnati once. No one was injured by these shots, but one of the guns +of the St. Louis burst, killing two men instantly, and wounding +thirteen.</p> + +<p>When the bombardment was at its height, Commodore Foote received a +letter from Cairo, containing the sad information that a beloved son <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>had +died suddenly. It was a sore bereavement, but it was no time for him to +give way to grief, no time to think of his great affliction.</p> + +<p>After the firing had ceased, I sat with him in the cabin of the Benton. +There were tears upon his cheeks. He was thinking of his loss.</p> + +<p>Were he living now, I should have no right to give the conversation I +had with him, but he has gone to his reward, leaving us his bright +example. These were his words, as I remember:—</p> + +<p>“It is a terrible blow, but the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; +blessed be His name. It is hard for me to bear, but no harder than it +will be for the fathers of the noble men who were killed on the St. +Louis. Poor fellows! I feel bad for the wounded.”</p> + +<p>He called the orderly who stood outside the cabin.</p> + +<p>“Orderly, tell the surgeon that I want to see him.”</p> + +<p>The surgeon came in.</p> + +<p>“Surgeon, I wish you to do everything you can for those poor fellows on +the St. Louis. Don’t omit anything that will contribute to their +comfort.”</p> + +<p>“It shall be done, sir,” said the surgeon, as he left the cabin.</p> + +<p>“Poor fellows! I must see them myself. It is a great deal worse to have +a gun explode than to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>have the men wounded by the enemy’s shot, for they +lose confidence. I have protested again and again to the Department +against using these old thirty-two-pounders, which have been weakened by +being rifled; but I had to take them or none. I had to pick them up +wherever I could find them. I have tried my best to get the fleet in +good trim, and it is too bad to have the men slaughtered in this way. I +shall try to do my duty. The country needs the services of every man. We +shall have a long war. I would like to rest, and have a little breathing +spell, but I shall not ask for it. I shall try to do my duty to my +country and to God. He is leading this nation in a way we know not of. +My faith is unshaken in Him. He will bring us out of all trouble at +last.”</p> + +<p>Thus, in the hour of battle, while attending to his duties, while +bearing up under the intelligence that a beloved son had died, he talked +calmly, cheerfully, and hopefully of the future, and manifested the care +and tenderness of a father for the wounded.</p> + +<p>Although the gunboats ceased firing at sunset, the mortars were in play +all night. It was beautiful to see the great flash, illuminating all the +landscape, the white cloud rolling upward and outward, unfolding, +expanding, spreading over the wide river, and the bright spark rising +high in the air, turning with the revolving shell, reaching its <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>altitude +and sailing straight along the arch of the parabola, then descending +with increasing rapidity, ending in a bright flash, and an explosion +which echoes and re-echoes far away. The next day I went with Captain +Maynadier across the point to reconnoitre the batteries on the island +and watch the explosions of the shells. We passed a deserted farm-house, +and saw a squad of Colonel Buford’s soldiers running down pigs and +chickens. Crossing a creek upon a corduroy bridge, we came to a second +squad. One was playing a violin, and several were dancing; they were as +happy as larks. We stood upon the bank of the river opposite the island. +Before us was the floating battery, which was formerly the New Orleans +dry-dock. It mounted eight guns. There were four batteries on the +Tennessee shore and several on the island. We could see the artillerists +at their guns. They saw us, and sent a shell whizzing over our heads, +which struck in a cornfield, and ploughed a deep furrow for the farmer +owning it. We went where they could not see us, and mounted a fence to +watch the effect of the mortar-firing. It was interesting to sit there +and hear the great shells sail through the air five hundred feet above +us. It was like the sound of far-off, invisible machinery, turning with +a constant motion, not the sharp, shrill whistle of a rifled-bolt, but a +whirr and roll, like that which <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>you may sometimes hear above the clouds +in a thunder-storm. One shell fell like a millstone into the river. The +water did not extinguish the fuse, and a great column was thrown up +fifty feet high. Another buried itself deep in the ground before it +burst, and excavated a great hole. I learned, after the place +surrendered, that one fell through a tent where several officers were +sitting, playing cards, and that the next moment the tent, furniture, +officers, and fifty cartloads of earth were sailing through the air! +None of them were wounded, but they were bruised, wrenched, and their +nice clothes covered with dirt.</p> + +<p>At night there was a storm, with vivid lightning and heavy thunder. The +mortars kept up their fire. It was a sublime spectacle,—earth against +heaven, but the artillery of the skies was the best.</p> + +<p>You would have given a great deal, I dare say, to have seen all this; +but there is another side to the story. Can you eat dirt? Can you eat +grease in all its forms,—baked, boiled, fried, simmered? Can you bear +variegated butter, variable in taste and smell? Can you get along with +ham, hash, and beans for breakfast, beans, hash, and ham for dinner, and +hash, ham, and beans for supper, week after week, with fat in all its +forms, with cakes solid enough for grape-shot to fire at the Rebels, +with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>blackest coffee and the nearest available cow fifty miles +off?—with sour molasses, greasy griddle-cakes, with Mississippi water +thick with the filth of the great valley of the West, with slime from +the Cincinnati slaughter-houses, sweepings from the streets, slops from +the steamboats, with all the miasma and mould of the forests? The +fairest countenance soon changes to a milk and molasses color, and +energy lags, and strength becomes weakness under such living.</p> + +<p>In boyhood, at the sound of a bugle, a drum, or the roar of a cannon, +how leaped the blood through my veins! But it becomes an old story. I +was quartered within a stone’s-throw of the mortars, which fired all +night long, and was not disturbed by the explosions. One becomes +indifferent to everything. You get tired of watching the cannonade, and +become so accustomed to the fire of the enemy, that after a while you do +not heed a shot that ploughs up the dirt or strikes the water near at +hand.</p> + +<p>General Pope sent word, that, if he had transports and a gunboat, he +could cross to the Tennessee shore and take the batteries in the rear. +The river was very high and the country overflowed. Near New Madrid +there is a bayou, which is the outlet of a small lake. It was determined +to cut a canal through the forest to the lake. Colonel Bissell with his +regiment of engineers <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>went to work. Four steamboats were fitted up, two +barges, with cannon on board, were taken in tow, and the expedition +started. They sailed over a cornfield, where the tall stalks were waving +and swinging in the water, steamed over fences, and came to the woods. +There were great trees, which must be cut away. The engineers rigged +their saws for work under water. The path was fifty feet wide and the +trees were cut off four feet below the surface. In eight days they cut +their way to New Madrid, a distance of twelve miles. In one place they +cut off seventy-five trees, all of which were more than two feet in +diameter.</p> + +<p>While this was doing, Commodore Foote kept the Rebels awake by a regular +and continuous bombardment, mainly upon the upper battery. He determined +to capture it.</p> + +<p>On the night of the 1st of April, an armed expedition is fitted out from +the squadron and the land forces. There are five boats, manned by picked +crews from the gunboats, carrying forty men of the Forty-second +Illinois, under command of Colonel Roberts. The party numbers one +hundred. It is a wild night. The wind blows a gale from the south, +swaying the great trees of the forest and tossing up waves upon the +swift-running river, which boils, bubbles, dashes, and foams in the +storm. There are vivid lightning <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>flashes, growls and rolls of deep, +heavy thunder. The boats cast off from the fleet. The oars have been +muffled. No words are spoken. The soldiers sit, each with his gun half +raised to his shoulder and his hand upon the lock. The spray dashes over +them, sheets of flame flash in their faces. All the landscape for a +moment is as light as day, and then all is pitch darkness.</p> + +<p>Onward faster and faster they sweep, driven by the strong arms of the +rowers and the current. It is a stealthy, noiseless, rapid, tempestuous, +dangerous, daring enterprise. They are tossed by the waves, but they +glide with the rapidity of a race-horse. Two sentinels stand upon the +parapet. A few rods in rear is a regiment of Rebels. A broad +lightning-flash reveals the descending boats. The sentinels fire their +guns, but they are mimic flashes.</p> + +<p>“Lay in quick!” shouts Colonel Roberts.</p> + +<p>The oars bend in the row-locks. A stroke, and they are beside the +parapet, climbing up the slippery bank. The sentinels run. There is a +rattling fire from pistols and muskets; but the shots fall harmlessly in +the forest. A moment,—and all the guns are spiked. There is a commotion +in the woods. The sleeping Rebels are astir. They do not rally to drive +back the invaders, but are fleeing in the darkness.</p> + +<p>Colonel Roberts walks from gun to gun, to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>see if the work has been +effectually accomplished.</p> + +<p>“All right! All aboard! Push off!” He is the last to leave. The boats +head up-stream. The rowers bend to their oars. In a minute they are +beyond musket range. Their work is accomplished, and there will be no +more firing from that six-gun battery. Now the gunboats can move nearer +and begin their work upon the remaining batteries.</p> + +<p>In the morning General Mackall was much chagrined when he found out what +had been done by the Yankees. It is said he used some hard words. He +flew into a rage, and grew red in the face, which did not help the +matter in the least.</p> + +<p>At midnight, on the night of the 3d of April, the Carondelet, commanded +by Captain Walke, ran past the batteries and the island. It was a dark, +stormy night. But the sentinels saw her coming down in the darkness, and +every cannon was brought to bear upon the vessel. Shells burst around +her; solid shot, grape, and canister swept over her; but she was not +struck, although exposed to the terrific fire over thirty minutes. We +who remained with the fleet waited in breathless suspense to hear her +three signal-guns, which were to be fired if she passed safely. They +came,—boom! boom! boom! She <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>was safe. We cheered, hurrahed, and lay +down to sleep, to dream it all over again.</p> + +<p>The Carondelet reached New Madrid. The soldiers of General Pope’s army +rushed to the bank, and gave way to the wildest enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>“Three cheers for the Carondelet!” shouted one. Their caps went into the +air, they swung their arms, and danced in ecstasy.</p> + +<p>“Three more for Commodore Foote!”</p> + +<p>“Now three more for Captain Walke!”</p> + +<p>“Three more for the Navy!”</p> + +<p>“Three more for the Cabin-Boy!”</p> + +<p>So they went on cheering and shouting for everything till they were +hoarse.</p> + +<p>The next day the Carondelet went down the river as far as Point +Pleasant, had an engagement with several batteries on the Tennessee +shore, silenced them, landed and spiked the guns. The next night the +Pittsburg, Captain Thompson ran the blockade safely. The four steamboats +which had worked their way through the canal were all ready. The Tenth, +Sixteenth, Twenty-first, and Fifty-first Illinois regiments were taken +on board. The Rebels had a heavy battery on the other side of the river, +at a place called Watson’s Landing. The Carondelet and Pittsburg went +ahead, opened fire, and silenced it. The steamers advanced. The Rebels +saw the preparations and fled towards Tiptonville. By midnight <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>General +Pope had all his troops on the Tennessee shore. General Paine, +commanding those in advance, pushed on towards Tiptonville and took +possession of all the deserted camps. The Rebels had fled in confusion, +casting away their guns, knapsacks, clothing, everything, to escape. +When the troops in the batteries heard what was going on in their rear, +they also fled towards Tiptonville. General Pope came up with them the +next morning and captured all who had not escaped. General Mackall and +two other generals, nearly seven thousand prisoners, one hundred and +twenty-three pieces of artillery, seven thousand small arms, and an +immense amount of ammunition and supplies fell into the hands of General +Pope. The troops on the island, finding that they were deserted, +surrendered to Commodore Foote. It was almost a bloodless victory, but +one of great importance, opening the Mississippi River down to Fort +Pillow, forty miles above Memphis.</p> + +<p>When the State of Tennessee was carried out of the Union by the +treachery of Governor Harris, and other men in high official position, +there were some men in the western part of the State, as well as the +eastern, who remained loyal. Those who were suspected of loving the +Union suffered terrible persecutions. Among them was a citizen of Purdy. +His name was Hurst. He told me the story of his wrongs.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>Soon after the State seceded, he was visited by a number of men who +called themselves a vigilance committee. They were fierce-looking +fellows, armed with pistols and knives.</p> + +<p>“We want you to come with us,” said the leader of the gang.</p> + +<p>“What do you want of me?”</p> + +<p>“We will let you know when you get there.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Hurst knew that they wanted to take him before their own +self-elected court, and went without hesitation.</p> + +<p>He was questioned, but would not commit himself by any positive answer, +and, as they could not prove he was in favor of the Union, they allowed +him to go home.</p> + +<p>But the ruffians were not satisfied, and in a few days had him up again. +They tried hard to prove that he was opposed to the Confederacy, but he +had kept about his own business, had refrained from talking, and they +could not convict him. They allowed him to go for several months. One +day, in September, 1861, while at work in his field, the ruffians came +again. Their leader had a red face, bloated with whiskey, chewed +tobacco, had two pistols in his belt, and a long knife in a sheath. He +wore a slouched hat, and was a villanous-looking fellow.</p> + +<p>“Come, you scoundrel. We will fix you this time,” said the captain of +the band.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>“What do you want of me?”</p> + +<p>“You are an Abolitionist,—a Yankee spy. That’s what you are. We’ll make +you stretch hemp this time,” they said, seizing him and marching him +into town, with their pistols cocked. Six or eight of them were ready to +shoot him if he should attempt to escape. They called all who did not go +for secession Abolitionists.</p> + +<p>“I am not an Abolitionist,” said Hurst.</p> + +<p>“None of your sass. We know what you are, and if you don’t hold your +jaw, we will stop it for you.”</p> + +<p>They marched him through the village, and the whole population turned +out to see him. He was taken to the jail, and thrust into a cage, so +small that he could not lie down,—a vile, filthy place. The jailer was +a brutal, hard-hearted man,—a rabid secessionist. He chuckled with +delight when he turned the key on Hurst. He was kept in the cage two +days, and then taken to Nashville, where he was tried before a military +court.</p> + +<p>He was charged with being opposed to the Confederacy, and in favor of +the Union; also that he was a spy.</p> + +<p>Among his accusers were some secessionists who owed him a grudge. They +invented lies, swore that Hurst was in communication with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>the Yankees, +and gave them information of all the movements of the Rebels. This was +months before General Grant attacked Donelson, and Hurst was two hundred +miles from the nearest post of the Union army; but such was the hatred +of the secessionists, and they were so bloodthirsty, that they were +ready to hang all who did not hurrah for Jeff Davis and the Confederacy. +He was far from home. He was not permitted to have any witnesses, and +his own word was of no value in their estimation. He was condemned to be +hung as a spy.</p> + +<p>They took him out to a tree, put the rope round his neck, when some of +his old acquaintances, who were not quite so hardened as his accusers, +said that the evidence was not sufficient to hang him. They took him +back to the court. He came under heavy bonds to report himself often and +prove his whereabouts.</p> + +<p>He was released, and went home, but his old enemies followed him, and +dogged him day and night.</p> + +<p>He discovered that he was to be again arrested. He told his boy to +harness his horse quick, and take him to a side street, near an +apothecary’s shop. He looked out of the window, and saw a file of +soldiers approaching to arrest him. He slipped out of the back door, +gained the street, and walked boldly through the town.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>“There he goes!” said a fellow smoking a cigar on the steps of the +hotel. A crowd rushed out of the bar-room to see him. They knew that he +was to be arrested; they expected he would be hung.</p> + +<p>As he walked into the apothecary’s shop, he saw his boy coming down the +alley with his horse. He did not dare to go down the alley to meet him, +for the crowd would see his attempt to escape. They saw him enter the +door, and rushed across the street to see the fun when the soldiers +should arrive.</p> + +<p>“Come in here,” he said to the apothecary, as he stepped into a room in +the rear, from which a door opened into the alley.</p> + +<p>The apothecary followed him, wondering what he wanted.</p> + +<p>Hurst drew a pistol from his pocket, and held it to the head of the +apothecary, and said, “If you make any noise, I will blow your brains +out!” He opened the door, and beckoned to his boy, who rode up. “I have +four friends who are aiding me to escape,” said he. “They will be the +death of you if you give the alarm; but if you remain quiet, they will +not harm you.” He sprang upon his horse, galloped down the alley, and +was gone.</p> + +<p>The apothecary dared not give the alarm, and was very busy about his +business when the soldiers came to arrest Hurst.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>When they found he was gone, they started in pursuit, but were not able +to overtake him. He made his way to the woods, and finally reached the +Union army.</p> + +<p>When General Lewis Wallace’s division entered the town of Purdy, Hurst +accompanied it. He asked General Wallace for a guard, to make an +important arrest. His request was granted. He went to the jail, found +the jailer, and demanded his keys. The jailer gave them up. Hurst +unlocked the cage, and there he found a half-starved slave, who had been +put in for no crime, but to keep him from running away to the Union +army.</p> + +<p>He released the slave and told him to go where he pleased. The colored +man could hardly stand, he was so cramped and exhausted by his long +confinement and want of food.</p> + +<p>“Step in there!” said Hurst to the jailer. The jailer shrunk back.</p> + +<p>“Step in there, you scoundrel!” said Hurst, more determinedly.</p> + +<p>“You don’t mean to put me in there, Hurst!” said the jailer, almost +whining.</p> + +<p>“Step in, I say, or I’ll let daylight through you!” He seized a gun from +one of the soldiers and pricked the jailer a little with the bayonet, to +let him know that he was in earnest. The other soldiers fenced him round +with a glittering line <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>of sharp steel points. They chuckled, and thought +it capital fun.</p> + +<p>The jailer stepped in, whining and begging, and saying that he never +meant to harm Hurst. Having got him inside, Hurst locked the door, put +the key in his pocket, dismissed the soldiers, and went away. He was +gone two days, and when he returned, <i>had lost the key</i>!</p> + +<p>The cage was built of oak logs, and bolted so firmly with iron that it +took half a day, with axes, to get the jailer out. He never troubled +Hurst again, who joined the Union army as a scout, and did excellent +service, for he was well acquainted with the country.</p> + +<p>While operations were going on at Island No. 10, I went up the river one +day, and visited the hospitals at Mound City and Paducah. In one of the +wards a surgeon was dressing the arm of a brave young Irishman, who was +very jolly. His arm had been torn by a piece of shell, but he did not +mind it much. The surgeon was performing an operation which was painful.</p> + +<p>“Does it hurt, Patrick?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Ah! Doctor, ye nadent ask such a question as that; but if ye’ll just +give me a good drink of whiskey, ye may squeeze it all day long.”</p> + +<p>He made up such a comical face that the sick and wounded all around him +laughed. It did them good, and Patrick knew it, and so, in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>kindness +of his heart, he kept on making up faces, and never uttered a word of +complaint.</p> + +<p>“He is a first-rate patient,” said the surgeon as we passed along. “He +keeps up good spirits all the time, and that helps all the rest.”</p> + +<p>In another part of the hospital was one of Birges’s sharpshooters, who +did such excellent service, you remember, at Fort Donelson. He was a +brave and noble boy. There were several kind ladies taking care of the +sick. Their presence was like sunshine. Wherever they walked the eyes of +the sufferers followed them. One of these ladies thus speaks of little +Frankie Bragg:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Many will remember him; the boy of fifteen, who fought valiantly at +Donelson,—one of the bravest of Birges’s sharpshooters, and whose +answer to my questioning in regard to joining the army was so well +worthy of record.</p> + +<p>“‘<i>I joined, because I was so young and strong, and because life would +be worth nothing to me unless I offered it for my country!</i>’”<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p></div> + +<p>How noble! There are many strong men who have done nothing for their +country, and there are some who enjoy all the blessings of a good +government, who are willing to see it destroyed rather than lift a +finger to save it. Their names shall go out in oblivion, but little +Frankie Bragg shall live forever! His body lies in the hospital <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>ground +at Paducah, but the pure patriotism which animated him, and the words he +uttered, will never die!</p> + +<p>The good lady who took care of him writes:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“I saw him die. I can never forget the pleading gaze of his violet eyes, +the brow from which ringlets of light-brown hair were swept by strange +fingers bathed in the death-dew, the desire for some one to care for +him, some one to love him in his last hours. I came to his side, and he +clasped my hand in his own, fast growing cold and stiff.</p> + +<p>“‘O, I am going to die, and there is no one to love me,’ he said. ‘I did +not think I was going to die till now; but it can’t last long. If my +sisters were only here; but I have no friends near me now, and it is so +hard!’</p> + +<p>“‘Frankie,’ I said, ‘I know it is hard to be away from your relatives, +but you are not friendless; I am your friend. Mrs. S—— and the kind +Doctor are your friends, and we will all take care of you. More than +this, God is your friend, and he is nearer to you now than either of us +can get. Trust him, my boy. He will help you.’</p> + +<p>“A faint smile passed over the pale sufferer’s features.</p> + +<p>“‘O, do you think he will?’ he asked.</p> + +<p>“Then, as he held my hands closer, he turned his face more fully toward +me, and said: ‘My <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>mother taught me to pray when I was a very little boy, +and I never forgot it. I have always said my prayers every day, and +tried not to be bad. Do you think God heard me always?’</p> + +<p>“‘Yes, most assuredly. Did he not promise, in his good Book, from which +your mother taught you, that he would always hear the prayers of his +children? Ask, and ye shall receive. Don’t you remember this? One of the +worst things we can do is to doubt God’s truth. He has promised, and he +will fulfil. Don’t you feel so, Frankie?’</p> + +<p>“He hesitated a moment, and then answered, slowly: ‘Yes, I do believe +it. I am not afraid to die, but I want somebody to love me.’</p> + +<p>“The old cry for love, the strong yearning for the sympathy of kindred +hearts. It would not be put down.</p> + +<p>“‘Frankie, I love you. Poor boy! you shall not be left alone. Is not +this some comfort to you?’</p> + +<p>“‘Do you love me? Will you stay with me, and not leave me?’</p> + +<p>“‘I will not leave you. Be comforted, I will stay as long as you wish.’</p> + +<p>“I kissed the pale forehead as if it had been that of my own child. A +glad light flashed over his face.</p> + +<p>“‘O, kiss me again; that was given like my sister. Mrs. S——, won’t you +kiss me, too? I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>don’t think it will be so hard to die, if you will both +love me.’</p> + +<p>“It did not last long. With his face nestled against mine, and his large +blue eyes fixed in perfect composure upon me to the last moment, he +breathed out his life.”</p></div> + +<p>So he died for his country. He sleeps on the banks of the beautiful +Ohio. Men labor hard for riches, honor, and fame, but few, when life is +over, will leave a nobler record than this young Christian patriot.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>FROM FORT PILLOW TO MEMPHIS.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">O</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> +the 6th of May, 1861, the Legislature of Tennessee, in secret +session, voted that the State should secede from the Union. The next +day, Governor Harris appointed three Commissioners to meet Mr. Hilliard, +of Alabama, who had been sent by Jefferson Davis to make a league with +the State. These Commissioners agreed that all the troops of the State +should be under the control of the President of the Confederacy. All of +the public property and naval stores and munitions of war were also +turned over to the Confederacy. The people had nothing to do about it. +The conspirators did not dare to trust the matter to them, for a great +many persons in East Tennessee were ardently attached to the Union. In +Western Tennessee, along the Mississippi, nearly all of the people, on +the other hand, were in favor of secession.</p> + +<p>At Memphis they were very wild and fierce. Union men were mobbed, tarred +and feathered, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>ridden on rails, had their heads shaved, were robbed, +knocked down, and warned to leave the place or be hung. One man was +headed up in a hogshead, and rolled into the river, because he stood up +for the Union! Memphis was a hotbed of secessionists; it was almost as +bad as Charleston.</p> + +<p>A Memphis newspaper, of the 6th of May, said:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Tennessee is disenthralled at last. Freedom has again crowned her with +a fresh and fadeless wreath. She will do her entire duty. Great +sacrifices are demanded of her, and they will be cheerfully made. Her +blood and treasure are offered without stint at the shrine of Southern +freedom. She counts not the cost at which independence may be bought. +The gallant volunteer State of the South, her brave sons, now rushing to +the standard of the Southern Confederacy, will sustain, by their +unflinching valor and deathless devotion, her ancient renown achieved on +so many battle-fields.</p> + +<p>“In fact, our entire people—men, women, and children—have engaged in +this fight, and are animated by the single heroic and indomitable +resolve to perish rather than submit to the despicable invader now +threatening us with subjugation. They will ratify the ordinance of +secession amid the smoke and carnage of battle; they will write out +their indorsement of it with the blood <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>of their foe; they will enforce +it at the point of the bayonet and sword.</p> + +<p>“Welcome, thrice welcome, glorious Tennessee, to the thriving family of +Southern Confederate States!”<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p></div> + +<p>On the same day the citizens of Memphis tore down the Stars and Stripes +from its staff upon the Court-House, formed a procession, and with a +band of music bore the flag, like a corpse, to a pit, and buried it in +mock solemnity. They went into the public square, where stands the +statue of General Jackson, and chiselled from its pedestal his memorable +words: “The Federal Union,—it must be preserved.” They went to the +river-bank, and seized all the steamboats they could lay their hands +upon belonging to Northern men.</p> + +<p>They resolved to build a fleet of gunboats, which would ascend the river +to St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg, and compel the people of those +cities to pay tribute, for the privilege of navigating the river to the +Gulf.</p> + +<p>The entire population engaged in the enterprise. The ladies held fairs +and gave their jewelry. The citizens organized themselves into a gunboat +association. When the boats were launched, the ladies, with appropriate +ceremonies, dedicated them to the Confederacy. They <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>urged their +husbands, brothers, sons, and friends to enlist in the service, and the +young man who hesitated received presents of hoop-skirts, petticoats, +and other articles of female wearing apparel.</p> + +<p>Eight gunboats were built. Commodore Hollins, as you have seen, +commanded them. He attempted to drive back General Pope at New Madrid, +but failed. He went to New Orleans, and Captain Montgomery was placed in +command.</p> + +<p>When Commodore Foote and General Pope took Island No. 10, those that +escaped of the Rebels fell back to Fort Pillow, about forty miles above +Memphis. It was a strong position, and Commodore Foote made but little +effort to take it, but waited for the advance of General Halleck’s army +upon Corinth. While thus waiting, one foggy morning, several of the +Rebel gunboats made a sudden attack upon the Cincinnati, and nearly +disabled her before they were beaten back. Meanwhile, Commodore Foote, +finding that his wound, received at Donelson, was growing worse, was +recalled by the Secretary of the Navy, and Commodore Charles Henry +Davis, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was placed in command.</p> + +<p>Besides the gunboats on the Mississippi, was Colonel Ellet’s fleet of +rams,—nine in all. They were old steamboats, with oaken bulwarks three +feet thick, to protect the boilers and engines. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>Their bows had been +strengthened with stout timbers and iron bolts, and they had iron prows +projecting under water. They carried no cannon, but were manned by +sharpshooters. There were loop-holes through the timbers for the +riflemen. The pilot-house was protected by iron plates. They joined the +fleet at Fort Pillow.</p> + +<p>The river is very narrow in front of the fort,—not more than a third of +its usual width. It makes a sharp bend. The channel is deep, and the +current rushes by like a mill-race. The Tennessee shore was lined with +batteries on the bluff, which made it a place much stronger than +Columbus or Island No. 10. But when General Beauregard was forced to +evacuate Corinth, the Rebels were also compelled to leave Fort Pillow. +For two or three days before the evacuation, they kept up a heavy fire +upon the fleet.</p> + +<p>On the 3d of June,—a hot, sultry day,—just before night, a huge bank +of clouds rolled up from the south. There had been hardly a breath of +air through the day, but now the wind blew a hurricane. The air was +filled with dust, whirled up from the sand-bars. When the storm was at +its height, I was surprised to see two of the rams run down past the +point of land which screened them from the batteries, vanishing from +sight in the distant cloud. They went to ascertain what the Rebels were +doing. There was a sudden waking <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>up of heavy guns. The batteries were in +a blaze. The cloud was thick and heavy, and the rams returned, but the +Rebel cannon still thundered, throwing random shots into the river, two +or three at a time, firing as if the Confederacy had tons of ammunition +to spare.</p> + +<p>The dust-cloud, with its fine, misty rain, rolled away. The sun shone +once more, and bridged the river with a gorgeous arch of green and gold, +which appeared a moment, and then faded away, as the sun went down +behind the western woods. While we stood admiring the scene, a Rebel +steamer came round the point to see what we were about. It was a black +craft, bearing the flag of the Confederacy at her bow. She turned +leisurely, stopped her wheels, and looked at us audaciously. The +gunboats opened fire. The Rebel steamer took her own time, unmindful of +the shot and shell falling and bursting all around her, then slowly +disappeared beyond the headland. It was a challenge for a fight. It was +not accepted, for Commodore Davis was not disposed to be cut up by the +shore-batteries.</p> + +<p>The next day there were lively times at the fort. A cannonade was kept +up on Commodore Davis’s fleet, which was vigorously answered. We little +thought that this was to blind us to what was going on. At sunset the +Rebels set fire to their barracks. There were great pillars <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>of flame and +smoke in and around the fort. The southern sky was all aglow. +Occasionally there were flashes and explosions, sudden puffs of smoke, +spreading out like flakes of cotton or fleeces of white and crimson +wool. It was a gorgeous sight.</p> + +<p>In the morning we found that the Rebels had gone, spiking their cannon +and burning their supplies. That which had cost them months of hard +labor was abandoned, and the river was open to Memphis.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of June, Commodore Davis’s fleet left Fort Pillow for +Memphis. I was sitting at dinner with the Commodore and Captain Phelps, +on board the Benton, when an orderly thrust his head into the cabin, and +said, “Sir, there is a fine large steamer ahead of us.”</p> + +<p>We are on deck in an instant. The boatswain is piping all hands to +quarters. There is great commotion.</p> + +<p>“Out with that gun! Quick!” shouted Lieutenant Bishop. The brave tars +seize the ropes, the trucks creak, and the great eleven-inch gun, +already loaded, is out in a twinkling. Men are bringing up shot and +shell. The deck is clearing of all superfluous furniture.</p> + +<p>There she is, a mile distant, a beautiful steamer, head up-stream. She +sees us, and turns her bow. Her broadside comes round, and we read +“Sovereign” <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>upon her wheelhouse. We are on the upper deck, and the +muzzle of the eleven-inch gun is immediately beneath us. A great flash +comes in our faces. We are in a cloud, stifled, stunned, gasping for +breath, our ears ringing; but the cloud is blown away, and we see the +shot throw up the water a mile beyond the Sovereign. Glorious! We will +have her. Another, not so good. Another, still worse.</p> + +<p>The Louisville, Carondelet, and Cairo open fire. But the Sovereign is a +fast sailer, and is increasing the distance.</p> + +<p>“The Spitfire will catch her!” says the pilot. A wave of the hand, and +the Spitfire is alongside, running up like a dog to its master. +Lieutenant Bishop, Pilot Bixby, and a gun crew jump on board the tug, +which carries a boat howitzer. Away they go, the tug puffing and +wheezing, as if it had the asthma.</p> + +<p>“Through the <i>chute</i>!” shouts Captain Phelps. <i>Chute</i> is a French word, +meaning a narrow passage, not the main channel of the river. The +Sovereign is in the main channel, but the Spitfire has the shortest +distance. The tug cuts the water like a knife. She comes out just astern +of the steamer.</p> + +<p>Bang! goes the howitzer. The shot falls short. Bang! again in a +twinkling. Better. Bang! It goes over the Sovereign.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>“Hurrah! Bishop will get her!” The crews of the gunboats dance with +delight, and swing their caps. Bang! Right through her cabin. The +Sovereign turns towards the shore, and runs plump against the bank. The +crew, all but the cook, take to the woods, and the steamer is ours.</p> + +<p>It would astonish you to see how fast a well-drilled boat’s-crew can +load and fire a howitzer. Commodore Foote informed me that, when he was +in the China Sea, he was attacked by the natives, and his boat’s-crew +fired four times a minute!</p> + +<p>The chase for the Sovereign was very exciting,—more so than any +horse-race I ever saw.</p> + +<p>The crew on board the Sovereign had been stopping at all the farm-houses +along the river, setting fire to the cotton on the plantations. They did +it in the name of the Confederate government, that it might not fall +into the hands of the Yankees. In a great many places they had rolled it +into the river, and the stream was covered with white flakes. The bushes +were lined with it.</p> + +<p>As soon as the people along the banks saw the Federal steamboats, they +went to work to save their property. Some of them professed to be Union +men. I conversed with an old man, who was lame, and could hardly hobble +round. He <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>spoke bitterly against Jeff Davis for burning his cotton and +stealing all his property.</p> + +<p>While descending the river, we saw a canoe, containing two men, push out +from a thick canebrake. They came up to the Benton. We thought they were +Rebels, at first, but soon saw they were two pilots belonging to the +fleet, who had started the day before for Vicksburg, to pilot Commodore +Farragut’s fleet to Memphis. They had been concealed during the day, not +daring to move. The evacuation of Fort Pillow rendered it unnecessary +for them to continue the voyage. They said that eight Rebel gunboats +were a short distance below us.</p> + +<p>We moved on slowly, and came to anchor about nine o’clock, near a place +called by all the rivermen Paddy’s Hen and Chickens, about two miles +above Memphis.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS.</h3> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">O</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> +the evening of the 5th of June, while we were lying above Memphis, +Commodore Montgomery, commanding the fleet of Rebel gunboats built by +the citizens and ladies of Memphis, was making a speech in the Gayoso +Hall of that city. There was great excitement. It was known at noon that +Fort Pillow was evacuated. The stores were immediately closed. Some +people commenced packing up their goods to leave,—expecting that the +city would be burned if the Yankees obtained possession. Commodore +Montgomery said:—</p> + +<p>“I have no intention of retreating any farther. I have come here, that +you may see Lincoln’s gunboats sent to the bottom by the fleet which you +built and manned.”</p> + +<p>The rabble cheered him, and believed his words. On the morning of the +6th, one of the newspapers assured the people that the Federal fleet +would not reach the city. It said:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“All obstructions to their progress are not yet <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>removed, and probably +will not be. The prospect is very good for a grand naval engagement +which shall eclipse anything ever seen before. There are many who would +like the engagement to occur, who do not much relish the prospect of its +occurring very near the city. They think deeper water and scope and +verge enough for such an encounter may be found farther up the river. +All, however, are rejoiced to learn that Memphis will not fall till +conclusions are first tried on water, and at the cannon’s mouth.”<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p></div> + +<p>I was awake early enough to see the brightening of the morning. Never +was there a lovelier daybreak. The woods were full of song-birds. The +air was balmy. A few light clouds, fringed with gold, lay along the +eastern horizon.</p> + +<p>The fleet of five gunboats was anchored in a line across the river. The +Benton was nearest the Tennessee shore, next was the Carondelet, then +the Louisville, St. Louis, and, lastly, the Cairo. Near by the Cairo, +tied up to the Arkansas shore, were the Queen City and the Monarch,—two +of Colonel Ellet’s rams. The tugs Jessie Benton and Spitfire hovered +near the Benton, Commodore Davis’s flag-ship. It was their place to be +within call, to carry orders to the other boats of the fleet.</p> + +<p>Before sunrise the anchors were up, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>boats kept their position in +the stream by the slow working of the engines.</p> + +<p>Commodore Davis waved his hand, and the Jessie Benton was alongside the +flag-ship in a moment.</p> + +<p>“Drop down towards the city, and see if you can discover the Rebel +fleet,” was the order.</p> + +<p>I jumped on board the tug. Below us was the city. The first rays of the +sun were gilding the church-spires. A crowd of people stood upon the +broad levee between the city and the river. They were coming from all +the streets, on foot, on horseback, in carriages,—men, women, and +children—ten thousand, to see Lincoln’s gunboats sent to the bottom. +Above the court-house, and from flagstaffs, waved the flag of the +Confederacy. A half-dozen river steamers lay at the landing, but the +Rebel fleet was not in sight. At our right hand was the wide marsh on +the tongue of land where Wolfe River empties into the Mississippi. Upon +our left were the cotton-trees and button-woods, and the village of +Hopedale at the terminus of the Little Rock and Memphis Railroad. We +dropped slowly down the stream, the tug floating in the swift current, +running deep and strong as it sweeps past the city.</p> + +<p>The crowd increased. The levee was black with the multitude. The windows +were filled. The flat roofs of the warehouses were covered <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>with the +excited throng, which surged to and fro as we upon the tug came down +into the bend, almost within talking distance.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a boat came out from the Arkansas shore, where it had been +lying concealed from view behind the forest,—another, another, eight of +them. They formed in two lines, in front of the city.</p> + +<p>Nearest the city, in the front line, was the General Beauregard; next, +the Little Rebel; then the General Price and the Sumter. In the second +line, behind the Beauregard, was the General Lovell; behind the Little +Rebel was the Jeff Thompson; behind the General Price was the General +Bragg; and behind the Sumter was the Van Dorn.</p> + +<p>These boats were armed as follows:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary="SHIPS"> + +<tr> +<td align="left">General Beauregard,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4 guns</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Little Rebel (flag-ship),</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">2</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">General Price,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Sumter,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">3</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">General Lovell,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">General Thompson,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">General Bragg,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">3</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">General Van Dorn,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="left">—</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">Total, </td> +<td align="left">28</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The guns were nearly all rifled, and were of long range. They were +pivoted, and could be whirled in all directions. The boilers of the +boats <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>were casemated and protected by iron plates, but the guns were +exposed.</p> + +<p><a name="memphis" id="memphis"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 362px;"> +<img src="images/i303.jpg" width="362" class="jpg2 ispace" height="400" alt="Naval Fight at Memphis, June 6, 1862." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Naval Fight at Memphis</span>, June 6, 1862.</span></div> + +<div class="centerbox bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="MEMPHIS"> + +<tr><td align="right">1</td> +<td align="left">Federal Gunboats.</td> +<td align="right">7,7</td> +<td align="left">General Thompson.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">2,2</td> +<td align="left">General Beauregard.</td> +<td align="right">8,8</td> +<td align="left">General Bragg.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">3,3</td> +<td align="left">Little Rebel.</td> +<td align="right">9,</td> +<td align="left">General Van Dorn.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">4,4</td> +<td align="left">4,4 General Price.</td> +<td align="right">Q</td> +<td align="left">Queen City.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">5,5</td> +<td align="left">Sumter.</td> +<td align="right">M</td> +<td align="left">Monarch.</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">6,6</td> +<td align="left">General Lovell.</td> +<td align="right"> </td> +<td align="left"> </td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>The accompanying diagram will show you the position of both fleets at +the beginning and at the close of the engagement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>Slowly and steadily they came into line. The Little Rebel moved through +the fleet, and Commodore Montgomery issued his orders to each captain in +person.</p> + +<p>The Benton and St. Louis dropped down towards the city, to protect the +tug. A signal brought us back, and the boats moved up-stream again, to +the original position.</p> + +<p>There was another signal from the flag-ship, and then on board all the +boats there was a shrill whistle. It was the boatswain piping all hands +to quarters. The drummer beat his roll, and the marines seized their +muskets. The sailors threw open the ports, ran out the guns, brought up +shot and shells, stowed away furniture, took down rammers and sponges, +seized their handspikes, stripped off their coats, rolled up their +sleeves, loaded the cannon, and stood by their pieces. Cutlasses and +boarding-pikes were distributed. Last words were said. They waited for +orders.</p> + +<p>“Let the men have their breakfasts,” was the order from the flag-ship.</p> + +<p>Commodore Davis believed in fighting on full stomachs. Hot coffee, +bread, and beef were carried round to the men.</p> + +<p>The Rebel fleet watched us awhile. The crowd upon the shore increased. +Perhaps they thought the Yankees did not dare to fight. At length the +Rebel fleet began to move up-stream.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>“Round to; head down-stream; keep in line with the flag-ship,” was the +order which we on board the Jessie Benton carried to each boat of the +line. We returned, and took our position between the Benton and +Carondelet.</p> + +<p>I stood on the top of the tug, beside the pilot-house. Stand with me +there, and behold the scene. The sun is an hour high, and its bright +rays lie in a broad line of silver light upon the eddying stream. You +look down the river to the city, and behold the housetops, the windows, +the levee, crowded with men, women, and children. The flag of the +Confederacy floats defiantly. The Rebel fleet is moving slowly towards +us. A dense cloud of smoke rolls up from the chimneys of the steamers, +and floats over the city.</p> + +<p>There is a flash, a puff from the Little Rebel, a sound of something +unseen in the air, and a column of water is thrown up a mile behind us. +A second shot, from the Beauregard, falls beside the Benton. A third, +from the Price, aimed at the Carondelet, misses by a foot or two, and +dashes up the water between the Jessie Benton and the flag-ship. It is a +sixty-four-pounder. If it had struck us, our boat would have been +splintered to kindlings in an instant.</p> + +<p>Commodore Montgomery sees that the boats of the Federal fleet have their +iron-plated bows <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>up-stream. He comes up rapidly, to crush them at the +stern, where there are no iron plates. A signal goes up from the Benton, +and the broadsides begin to turn towards the enemy. The crowd upon the +levee think that the Federal boats are retreating, and hurrah for +Commodore Montgomery.</p> + +<p>There has been profound silence on board the Union gunboats. The men are +waiting for the word. It comes.</p> + +<p>“Open fire, and take close quarters.”</p> + +<p>The Cairo begins. A ten-inch shot screams through the air, and skips +along the water towards the Little Rebel. Another, from the St. Louis. A +third, from the Louisville. Another, from the Carondelet, and lastly, +from the Benton. The gunners crouch beside their guns, to track the +shot. Some are too high, some too low. There is an answering roar from +all the Rebel boats. The air is full of indescribable noises. The water +boils and bubbles around us. It is tossed up in columns and jets. There +are sudden flashes overhead, explosions, and sulphurous clouds, and +whirring of ragged pieces of iron. The uproar increases. The cannonade +reverberates from the high bluff behind the city to the dark-green +forest upon the Arkansas shore, and echoes from bend to bend.</p> + +<p>The space between the fleets is gradually lessening. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>The Yankees are not +retreating, but advancing. A shot strikes the Little Rebel. One tears +through the General Price. Another through the General Bragg. Commodore +Montgomery is above the city, and begins to fall back. He is not ready +to come to close quarters. Fifteen minutes pass by, but it seems not +more than two. How fast one lives at such a time! All of your senses are +quickened. You see everything, hear everything. The blood rushes through +your veins. Your pulse is quickened. You long to get at the enemy,—to +sweep over the intervening space, lay your boat alongside, pour in a +broadside, and knock them to pieces in a twinkling! You care nothing for +the screaming of the shot, the bursting of the shells. You have got over +all that. You have but one thought,—<i>to tear down that hateful +flaunting flag, to smite the enemies of your country into the dust</i>!</p> + +<p>While this cannonade was going on, I noticed the two rams casting loose +from the shore. I heard the tinkle of the engineer’s bell for more fire +and a full head of steam. The sharpshooters took their places. The Queen +came out from the shelter of the great cottonwoods, crossed the river, +and passed down between the Benton and Carondelet. Colonel Ellet stood +beside the pilot, and waved his hand to us on board the Jessie Benton. +The Monarch was a little later, and, instead of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>following in the wake of +the Queen, passed between the Cairo and the St. Louis.</p> + +<p>See the Queen! Her great wheels whirl up clouds of spray, and leave a +foaming path. She carries a silver train sparkling in the morning light. +She ploughs a furrow, which rolls the width of the river. Our boat +dances like a feather on the waves. She gains the intervening space +between the fleets. Never moved a Queen so determinedly, never one more +fleet,—almost leaping from the water. The Stars and Stripes stream to +the breeze beneath the black banner unfolding, expanding, and trailing +far away from her smoke-stacks. There is a surging, hissing, and +smothered screaming of the pent-up steam in her boilers, as if they had +put on all energy for the moment. They had;—flesh, blood, bones, iron, +brass, steel,—animate and inanimate,—were nerved up for the trial of +the hour!</p> + +<p>Officers and men behold her in astonishment and admiration. For a moment +there is silence. The men stand transfixed by their guns, forgetting +their duties. Then the Rebel gunners, as if moved by a common impulse, +bring their guns to bear upon her. She is exposed on the right, on the +left, and in front. It is a terrible cross-fire. Solid shot scream past. +Shells explode around her. She is pierced through and through. Her +timbers crack. She quivers beneath the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>shock, but does not falter. +On—on—faster—straight towards the General Beauregard.</p> + +<p>The commander of that vessel adroitly avoids the stroke. The Queen +misses her aim. She sweeps by like a race-horse, receiving the fire of +the Beauregard on one side and the Little Rebel on the other. She comes +round in a graceful curve, almost lying down upon her side, as if to +cool her heated smoke-stacks in the stream. The stern guns of the +Beauregard send their shot through the bulwarks of the Queen. A splinter +strikes the brave commander, Colonel Ellet. He is knocked down, bruised, +and stunned for a moment, but springs to his feet, steadies himself +against the pilot-house, and gives his directions as coolly as if +nothing had happened.</p> + +<p>The Queen passes round the Little Rebel, and approaches the General +Price.</p> + +<p>“Take her aft the wheelhouse,” says Colonel Ellet to the pilot. The +commander of the Price turns towards the approaching antagonist. Her +wheels turn. She surges ahead to escape the terrible blow. Too late. +There is a splintering, crackling, crashing of timbers. The broadside of +the boat is crushed in. It is no more than a box of cards or thin +tissue-paper before the terrible blow.</p> + +<p>There are jets of flame and smoke from the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>loop-holes of the Queen. The +sharpshooters are at it. You hear the rattling fire, and see the crew of +the Price running wildly over the deck, tossing their arms. The +unceasing thunder of the cannonade drowns their cries. A moment, and a +white flag goes up. The Price surrenders.</p> + +<p>But the Queen has another antagonist, the Beauregard. The Queen is +motionless, but the Beauregard sweeps down with all her powers. There is +another crash. The bulwarks of the Queen tremble before the stroke. +There is a great opening in her hull. But no white flag is displayed. +There are no cries for quarter, no thoughts of surrendering. The +sharpshooters pick off the gunners of the Beauregard, compelling them to +take shelter beneath their casemates.</p> + +<p>We who see it hold our breaths. We are unmindful of the explosions +around us. How will it end? Will the Queen sink with all her brave men +on board?</p> + +<p>But her consort is at hand, the Monarch, commanded by Captain Ellet, +brother of Colonel Ellet. He was five or ten minutes behind the Queen in +starting, but he has appeared at the right moment. He, too, has been +unmindful of the shot and shell falling around him. He aims straight as +an arrow for the Beauregard. The Beauregard is stiff, stanch, and +strong, but her timbers, planks, knees, and braces are no more than +laths before <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>the powerful stroke of the Monarch. The sharpshooters pour +in their fire. The engineer of the Monarch puts his force-pumps in play +and drenches the decks of the Beauregard with scalding water. An officer +of the Beauregard raises a white cloth upon a rammer. It is a signal for +surrender. The sharpshooters stop firing. There are the four boats, +three of them floating helplessly in the stream, the water pouring into +the hulls, through the splintered planking.</p> + +<p>Captain Ellet saw that the Queen was disabled, and took her in tow to +the Arkansas shore. Prompted by humanity, instead of falling upon the +other vessels of the fleet he took the General Price to the shore.</p> + +<p>The Little Rebel was pierced through her hull by a half-dozen shots. +Commodore Montgomery saw that the day was lost. He ran alongside the +Beauregard, and, notwithstanding the vessel had surrendered, took the +crew on board, to escape. But a shot from the Cairo passed through the +boilers. The steam rushed out like the hissing of serpents. The boat was +near the shore, and the crew jumped into the water, climbed the bank, +and fled to the woods. The Cairo gave them a broadside of shells as they +ran.</p> + +<p>The Beauregard was fast settling. The Jessie Benton ran alongside. All +had fled save the wounded. There was a pool of blood upon the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>deck. The +sides of the casemate were stained with crimson drops, yet warm from the +heart of a man who had been killed by a shell.</p> + +<p>“Help, quick!” was the cry of Captain Maynadier.</p> + +<p>We rushed on board in season to save a wounded officer. The vessel +settled slowly to the bottom.</p> + +<p>“I thank you,” said the officer, “for saving me from drowning. You are +my enemies, but you have been kinder to me than those whom I called my +friends. One of my brother officers when he fled, had the meanness to +pick my pocket and steal my watch!”</p> + +<p>Thus those who begun by stealing public property, forts, and arsenals, +did not hesitate to violate their honor,—fleeing after surrendering, +forsaking their wounded comrade, robbing him of his valuables, and +leaving him to drown!</p> + +<p>There is no cessation of the cannonade. The fight goes on. The Benton is +engaged with the General Lovell. They are but a few rods apart, and both +within a stone’s-throw of the multitude upon the shore.</p> + +<p>Captain Phelps stands by one of the Benton’s rifled guns. He waits to +give a raking shot, runs his eye along the sights, and gives the word to +fire. The steel-pointed shot enters the starboard side of the hull, by +the water-line. Timbers, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>braces, planks, the whole side of the boat +seemingly, are torn out.</p> + +<p>The water pours in. The vessel settles to the guards, to the ports, to +the top of the casemate, reels, and with a lurch disappears. It is the +work of three minutes.</p> + +<p>The current sets swiftly along the shore. The plummet gives seventy-five +feet of water. The vessel goes down like a lump of lead. Her +terror-stricken crew are thrown into the current. It is an appalling +sight. A man with his left arm torn, broken, bleeding, and dangling by +his side, runs wildly over the deck. There is unspeakable horror in his +face. He beckons now to those on shore, and now to his friends on board +the boats. He looks imploringly to heaven, and calls for help. +Unavailing the cry. He disappears in the eddying whirlpool. A hundred +human beings are struggling for life, buffeting the current, raising +their arms, catching at sticks, straws, planks, and timbers. “Help! +help! help!” they cry. It is a wild wail of agony, mingled with the +cannonade.</p> + +<p>There is no help for them on shore. There, within a dozen rods, are +their friends, their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, +children, they who urged them to join the service, who compelled them to +enlist. All are powerless to aid them!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>They who stand upon the shore behold those whom they love defeated, +crushed, drowning, calling for help! It is an hour when heart-strings +are wrung. Tears, cries, prayers, efforts, all are unavailing.</p> + +<p>Commodore Davis beholds them. His heart is touched. “Save them, lads,” +he says.</p> + +<p>The crews of the Benton and Carondelet rush to their boats. So eager are +they to save the struggling men that one of the boats is swamped in the +launching. Away they go, picking up one here, another there,—ten or +twelve in all. A few reach the shore and are helped up the bank by +lookers-on; but fifty or sixty sink to rise no more. How noble the act! +How glorious! Bright amid all the distress, all the horror, all the +infamous conduct of men who have forsworn themselves, will shine +forever, like a star of heaven, this act of humanity!</p> + +<p>The General Price, General Beauregard, Little Rebel, and General +Lovell—one half of the Rebel fleet—were disposed of. The other vessels +attempted to flee. The Union fleet had swept steadily on in an unbroken +line. Amid all the appalling scenes of the hour there was no lull in the +cannonade. While saving those who had lost all power of resistance, +there was no cessation of effort to crush those who still resisted.</p> + +<p>A short distance below the Little Rebel, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>Jeff Thompson, riddled by +shot, and in flames, was run ashore. A little farther down-stream the +General Bragg was abandoned, also in flames from the explosion of a +nine-inch shell, thrown by the St. Louis. The crews leaped on shore, and +fled to the woods. The Sumter went ashore, near the Little Rebel. The +Van Dorn alone escaped. She was a swift steamer, and was soon beyond +reach of the guns of the fleet.</p> + +<p>The fight is over. The thunder of the morning dies away, and the birds +renew their singing. The abandoned boats are picked up. The Jeff +Thompson cannot be saved. The flames leap around the chimneys. The +boilers are heated to redness. A pillar of fire springs upward, in long +lances of light. The interior of the boat—boilers, beams of iron, +burning planks, flaming timbers, cannon-shot, shells—is lifted five +hundred feet in air, in an expanding, unfolding cloud, filled with loud +explosions. The scattered fragments rain upon forest, field, and river, +as if meteors of vast proportions had fallen from heaven to earth, +taking fire in their descent. There is a shock which shakes all Memphis, +and announces to the disappointed, terror-stricken, weeping, humiliated +multitude that the drama which they have played so madly for a +twelvemonth is over, that retribution for crime has come at last!</p> + +<p>Thus in an hour’s time the Rebel fleet was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>annihilated. Commodore +Montgomery was to have sent the Union boats to the bottom; but his +expectations were not realized, his promises not fulfilled. It is not +known how many men were lost on the Rebel side, but probably from eighty +to a hundred. Colonel Ellet was the only one injured on board the Union +fleet. The gunboats were uninjured. The Queen of the West was the only +boat disabled. In striking contrast was the damage to Montgomery’s +fleet:—</p> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="DAMAGE"> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Sunk,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">General Price,</span></td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4 guns</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> “</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">General Beauregard,</span></td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4 “</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> “</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">General Lovell,</span></td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4 “</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Burned,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">Jeff Thompson,</span></td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">4 “</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> “</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">General Bragg,</span></td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">3 “</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">Captured,</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">Sumter,</span></td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">3 “</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> “</td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">Little Rebel,</span></td> +<td align="left"><span class="add5em">2 “</span></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="left">—</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="left">24</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + +<p>The bow guns of Commodore Davis’s fleet only were used in the attack, +making sixteen guns in all brought to bear upon the Rebel fleet. The +Cairo and St. Louis fired broadsides upon the crews as they fled to the +woods.</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>The retreating of the Rebel fleet carried the Union gunboats several +miles below the city before the contest was over. At ten o’clock +Commodore Davis steamed back to the city. There <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>stood the multitude, +confounded by what had taken place. A boat came off from the shore, +pulled by two oarsmen, and bringing a citizen, Dr. Dickerson, who waved +a white handkerchief. He was a messenger from the Mayor, tendering the +surrender of the city. There were some men in the crowd who shook their +fists at us, and cried, “O you blue-bellied Yankees! You devils! You +scoundrels!” We could bear it very well, after the events of the +morning. A few hurrahed for Jeff Davis, but the multitude made no +demonstration.</p> + +<p>A regiment landed, and marched up Monroe Street to the court-house. I +had the pleasure of accompanying the soldiers. The band played Yankee +Doodle and Hail Columbia. How proudly the soldiers marched! They halted +in front of the court-house. An officer went to the top of the building, +tore down the Rebel flag, and flung out the Stars and Stripes.</p> + +<p>Wild and hearty were the cheers of the troops. The buried flag had risen +from its grave, to wave forevermore,—the emblem of power, justice, +liberty, and law!</p> + +<p>Thus the Upper Mississippi was opened again to trade and the peaceful +pursuits of commerce. How wonderfully it was repossessed. The fleet lost +not a man at Island No. 10, not a man at New Madrid, not a man at Fort +Pillow, not a man at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>Memphis, by the fire of the Rebels! How often had +we been told that the strongholds of the Rebels were impregnable! How +often that the Union gunboats would be blown up by torpedoes, or sent to +the bottom by the batteries or by the Rebel fleet! How often that the +river would never be opened till the Confederacy was recognized as an +independent power! General Butler was in possession of New Orleans, +Memphis was held by Commodore Davis, and the mighty river was all but +open through its entire length to trade and navigation. In one year this +was accomplished. So moves a nation in a career unparalleled in history, +rescuing from the grasp of pirates and plunderers the garnered wealth of +centuries.</p> + +<p>In 1861, when Tennessee seceded, the steamer Platte Valley, owned in St. +Louis, belonging to the St. Louis and Memphis Steamboat Company, was the +last boat permitted to leave for the North. All others were stolen by +the secessionists, who repudiated the debts they owed Northern men. The +Platte Valley, commanded by Captain Wilcox, was in Commodore Davis’s +fleet of transports. Captain Wilcox recognized some of his old +acquaintances in the crowd, and informed them that in a day or two he +would resume his regular trips between St. Louis and Memphis! They were +ready to send up cargoes of sugar and cotton. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>So trade accompanies the +flag of our country wherever it goes.</p> + +<p>This narrative which I have given you is very tame. Look at the scene +once more,—the early morning, the cloudless sky, the majestic river, +the hostile fleets, the black pall of smoke overhanging the city, the +forest, the stream, the moving of the boats, the terrific cannonade, the +assembled thousands, the glorious advance of the Queen and the Monarch, +the crashing and splintering of timbers, the rifle-shots, the sinking of +vessels, the cries of drowning men, the gallantry of the crews of the +Benton and Carondelet, the weeping and wailing of the multitude, the +burnings, the explosions, the earthquake shock, which shakes the city to +its foundations! These are the events of a single hour. Remember the +circumstances,—that the fight is before the city, before expectant +thousands, who have been invited to the entertainment,—the sinking of +the Union fleet,—that they are to see the prowess of their husbands, +brothers, and friends, that their strength is utter weakness,—that, +after thirteen months of robbery, outrage, and villany, the despised, +insulted flag of the Union rises from its burial, and waves once more +above them in stainless purity and glory! Take all under consideration, +if you would feel the moral sublimity of the hour!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>In these pages, my young friends, I have endeavored to make a +contribution of facts to the history of this great struggle of our +beloved country for national life. It has been my privilege to see other +engagements at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, and if this +book is acceptable to you, I hope to be able to tell the stories of +those terrible battles.</p> + +<h3>THE END</h3> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Quarry.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Richmond Enquirer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Rebel reports in Rebellion Record.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Estvan.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Charleston Mercury.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Mobile Tribune.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Lynchburg Republican.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> “Thirteen Months in the Rebel Service.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Bragg’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Stevenson.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Stevenson.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Bragg’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Bragg’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Colonel Moore’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Ruggles’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Chalmers’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Colonel Fagan’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Colonel Allen’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Beauregard’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Beauregard’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Nelson’s Report.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Captain Geer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Rebellion Record.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Memphis Appeal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Memphis Argus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Hospital Incidents, New York Post, October 22, 1863.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Memphis Avalanche.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Memphis Avalanche, June 6, 1862</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Notes:</span></h3> + +<p>1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters’ errors; +otherwise every effort has been made to be faithful to the author’s +words and intent.</p> + +<p>2. In the edition from which this e-text has been transcribed, the +printers omitted the words “At a” from the 9th paragraph of Chapter IV. +The research staff at the University of Northern Colorado, Greely, +Colorado, were kind enough to locate their edition, and find the correct +words to commence the sentence.</p> + +<p>3. Page numbering in the List of Diagrams for “A Rebel Torpedo” has +been changed to reflect the illustration’s final placement in this +e-text.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field, by +Charles Carleton Coffin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS AND NIGHTS ON BATTLEFIELD *** + +***** This file should be named 28571-h.htm or 28571-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/7/28571/ + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field + +Author: Charles Carleton Coffin + +Release Date: April 21, 2009 [EBook #28571] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS AND NIGHTS ON BATTLEFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + + + + + MY DAYS AND NIGHTS + ON THE + BATTLE-FIELD. + + BY + + CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN, + + AUTHOR OF "STORY OF LIBERTY," "BOYS OF '76," "OUR NEW WAY + ROUND THE WORLD," "FOLLOWING THE FLAG," + "WINNING HIS WAY," ETC. + + BOSTON + + DANA ESTES AND COMPANY + + PUBLISHERS + + + + + _Copyright_, 1887, + + BY ESTES AND LAURIAT + + + + + [Illustration: "The brigade goes down the road upon the run."] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTORY. PAGE + + TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 1 + Chap. I. HOW THE REBELLION CAME ABOUT 3 + II. THE GATHERING OF A GREAT ARMY 22 + III. THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN 37 + IV. THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY 65 + V. THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON 89 + Thursday 98 + Friday 104 + Saturday 111 + VI. THE SURRENDER 132 + VII. THE ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING 153 + VIII. THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING + From Daybreak till Ten o'clock 171 + From Ten o'clock till Four 197 + Sunday Evening 205 + Monday 210 + IX. EVACUATION OF COLUMBUS 229 + X. OPERATIONS AT NEW MADRID 237 + XI. OPERATIONS AT ISLAND NUMBER TEN 247 + XII. FROM FORT PILLOW TO MEMPHIS 281 + XIII. THE NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS 291 + + + + +LIST OF DIAGRAMS. + + + PAGE + + Bull Run Battle-Ground 60 + The Fight at Blackburn's Ford 62 + The Country around Fort Henry and Fort Donelson 69 + Fort Henry 81 + Fort Donelson 95 + The Attack on McClernand 114 + The Second Engagement 123 + The Charge of Lauman's Brigade 128 + Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity 155 + Disposition of Troops at the Beginning of the Battle 173 + The Fight at the Ravine 208 + A Rebel Torpedo 230 + Island No. 10 239 + A Mortar 248 + The Naval Fight at Memphis 295 + + + + +MILITARY TERMS. + + +_Abatis._--Trees cut down, their branches made sharp, and used to block +a road, or placed in front of fortifications. + +_Advance._--Any portion of an army which is in front of the rest. + +_Aides-de-camp._--Officers selected by general officers to assist them +in their military duties. + +_Ambulances._--Carriages for the sick and wounded. + +_Battery._--A battery consists of one or more pieces of artillery. A +full battery of field artillery consists of six cannon. + +_Battalion._--A battalion consists of two or more companies, but less +than a regiment. + +_Bombardment._--Throwing shot or shells into a fort or earthwork. + +_Canister._--A tin cylinder filled with cast-iron shot. When the gun is +fired, the cylinder bursts and scatters the shot over a wide surface of +ground. + +_Caisson._--An artillery carriage, containing ammunition for immediate +use. + +_Casemate._--A covered chamber in fortifications, protected by earth +from shot and shells. + +_Columbiad._--A cannon, invented by Colonel Bomford, of very large +calibre, used for throwing shot or shells. A ten-inch columbiad weighs +15,400 pounds, and is ten and a half feet long. + +_Column._--A position in which troops may be placed. A column en route +is the order in which they march from one part of the country to +another. A column of attack is the order in which they go into battle. + +_Countersign._--A particular word given out by the highest officer in +command, intrusted to guards, pickets, and sentinels, and to those who +may have occasion to pass them. + +_Embrasure._--An opening cut in embankments for the muzzles of the +cannon. + +_Enfilade._--To sweep the whole length of the inside of a fortification +or a line of troops. + +_Field-Works._--An embankment of earth excavated from a ditch +surrounding a town or a fort. + +_Flank._--The right or left side of a body of men, or place. When it is +said that the enemy by a flank march outflanked our right wing, it is +understood that he put himself on our right hand. When two armies stand +face to face the right flank of one is opposite the left flank of the +other. + +_File._--Two soldiers,--a front rank and a rear rank man. + +_Fuse._--A slow-burning composition in shells, set on fire by the flash +of the cannon. The length of the fuse is proportioned to the intended +range of the shells. + +_Grape._--A large number of small balls tied up in a bag. + +_Howitzer._--A cannon of large calibre and short range, commonly used +for throwing shells, grape, and canister. + +_Limber._--The fore part of a field gun-carriage, to which the horses +are attached. It has two wheels, and carries ammunition the same as the +caisson. + +_Pontoon._--A bridge of boats for crossing streams, which may be carried +in wagons. + +_Parabola._--The curve described by a shell in the air. + +_Range._--The distance to which shot, shells, or bullets may be fired. + +_Reveille._--The first drum-beat in the morning. + +_Rifle-Pits._--Excavations in the earth or other shelter for riflemen. + +_Spherical Case._--A thin shell of cast-iron filled with bullets, with a +fuse, and a charge of powder sufficient to burst it. It contains about +ninety bullets. + +_Wings._--The right and left divisions of a body of troops, +distinguished from the centre. + + + + +MY DAYS AND NIGHTS +ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + +TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES. + + +In my boyhood, my young friends, I loved to sit beside my grandfather +and listen to his stories of Bunker Hill and Saratoga,--how he and his +comrades stood upon those fields and fought for their country. I could +almost see the fight and hear the cannon's roar, the rattle of the +musketry, and the shouts of victory. They won their independence, and +established the best government the world ever saw. But there are men in +this country who hate that government, who have plotted against it, and +who have brought about the present Great Rebellion to destroy it. I have +witnessed some of the battles which have been fought during this war, +although I have not been a soldier, as my grandfather was, and I shall +try, in this volume, to picture those scenes, and give correct +descriptions of the ground, the marching of the troops, the positions +they occupied, and other things, that you may understand how your +father, or your brothers, or your friends, fought for the dear old flag. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HOW THE REBELLION CAME ABOUT. + + +Many of you, my young readers, have seen the springs which form the +trickling rivulets upon the hillsides. How small they are. You can +almost drink them dry. But in the valley the silver threads become a +brook, which widens to a river rolling to the far-off ocean. So is it +with the ever-flowing stream of time. The things which were of small +account a hundred years ago are powerful forces to-day. Great events do +not usually result from one cause, but from many causes. To ascertain +how the rebellion came about, let us read history. + +Nearly three hundred years ago, when Elizabeth was Queen of England, Sir +Walter Raleigh sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to explore the newly +discovered Continent of America. Sir Walter was a sailor, a soldier, and +one of the gentleman attendants of the Queen. He was so courteous and +gallant that he once threw his gold-laced scarlet cloak upon the ground +for a mat, that the Queen might not step her royal foot in the mud. At +that time America was an unexplored wilderness. The old navigators had +sailed along the coasts, but the smooth waters of the great lakes and +rivers had never been ruffled by the oars of European boatmen. + +Sir Walter found a beautiful land, shaded by grand old forests; also +fertile fields, waving with corn and a broad-leaved plant with purple +flowers, which the Indians smoked in pipes of flint and vermilion stone +brought from the cliffs of the great Missouri River. + +The sailors learned to smoke, and when Sir Walter returned to England +they puffed their pipes in the streets. The people were amazed, and +wondered if the sailors were on fire. So tobacco began to be used in +England. That was in 1584. We shall see that a little tobacco-smoke +whiffed nearly three hundred years ago has had an influence in bringing +about the rebellion. + +Twenty years rolled by. London merchants dreamed of wealth in store for +them in Virginia. A company was formed to colonize the country. Many of +the merchants had spendthrift sons, who were also idle and given to bad +habits. These young fellows thought it degrading to work. In those +Western woods across the ocean, along the great rivers and upon the blue +mountains, they saw in imagination a wild, roving, reckless life. They +could hunt the wild beasts. They could live without the restraints of +society. They had heard wonderful stories of exhaustless mines of gold +and silver. There they could get rich, and that was the land for them. + +A vessel with five hundred colonists was fitted out. There were only +sixteen men of the five hundred accustomed to work; the others called +themselves gentlemen and cavaliers. They settled at Jamestown. They +found no rich gold-mines, and wealth was not to be had on the fertile +plains without labor. Not knowing how to cultivate the soil, and hating +work, they had a hard time. They suffered for want of food. Many died +from starvation. Yet more of the same indolent class joined the +colony,--young men who had had rows with tutors at school, and who +had broken the heads of London watchmen in their midnight revels. A +historian of those times says that "they were fitter to breed a riot +than found a colony." + +The merchants, finding that a different class of men was needed to save +the colony from ruin, sent over poor laboring men, who were apprenticed +to their sons. Thus the idle cavaliers were kept from starvation. +Instead of working themselves, they directed the poor, hard-working men, +and pocketed the profits. + +Smoking began to be fashionable in England. Lawyers in big wigs, +ministers in black gowns, merchants seated in their counting-houses, +ladies in silks and satins, all took to this habit of the North American +Indians. Tobacco was in demand. Every ship from America was freighted +with it. The purple-flowered plant grew luxuriantly in the fields +of Virginia, and so through the labor of the poor men the indolent +cavaliers became rich. + +As there were no women in the colony, some of the cavaliers sent over to +England and bought themselves wives, paying a hundred pounds of tobacco +for a wife. Others married Indian wives. + +The jails of London were crowded with thieves and vagabonds. They +had committed crime and lost their freedom. To get rid of them, the +magistrates sent several ship-loads to Virginia, where they were sold to +the planters as servants and laborers. Thus it came to pass that there +were distinct classes in the colony,--men having rights and men without +rights,--men owning labor and men owing labor,--men with power and men +without power,--all of which had something to do in bringing about the +rebellion. + +In August, 1620, a Dutch captain sailed up James River with twenty +negroes on board his ship, which he had stolen from Africa. The planters +purchased them, not as apprentices, but as slaves. The captain, having +made a profitable voyage, sailed for Africa to steal more. Thus +the African slave-trade in America began, which became the main +fountain-head and grand cause of the rebellion. + +The Virginia planters wanted large plantations. Some of them had +influence with King James, and obtained grants of immense estates, +containing thousands of acres. All the while the common people of +England were learning to smoke, snuff, and chew tobacco, and across the +English Channel the Dutch burghers, housewives, and farmers were +learning to puff their pipes. A pound of tobacco was worth three +shillings. The planters grew richer, purchased more land and more +slaves, while the apprenticed men, who had no money and no means of +obtaining any, of course could not become land-owners. Thus the three +classes of men--planters, poor white men, and slaves--became perpetually +distinct. + +By the charter which the company of London merchants had received from +the King, owners of land only were allowed to have a voice in the +management of public affairs. They only could hold office. A poor man +could not have anything to do with enacting or administering the laws. +In 1705, a historian, then writing, says:-- + + "There are men with great estates, who take care to supply + the poor with goods, and who are sure to keep them always in + debt, and consequently dependent. Out of this number are + chosen the Council, Assembly, Justices of the Peace, and + other officers, who conspire together to wield power."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Quarry.] + +Thus a few rich men managed all the affairs of the colony. They were +able to perpetuate their power, to hand these privileges to their sons, +through successive generations. + +At the present time there are many men and women in Virginia who +consider themselves as belonging to the first families, because they are +descendants of those who settled the country. The great estates have +passed from the family name,--squandered by the dissolute and indolent +sons. They are poor, but very proud, and call themselves noble-born. +They look with contempt upon a man who works for a living. I saw a great +estate, which was once owned by one of these proud families, near the +Antietam battle-field, but spendthrift sons have squandered it, and +there is but little left. The land is worn out, but the owner of the +remaining acres,--poor, but priding himself upon his high birth, looking +with haughty contempt upon men who work,--in the summer of 1860, day +after day, was seen sitting upon his horse, with an umbrella over his +head to keep off the sun, _overseeing his two negro women, who were +hoeing corn_! + +All of these springs which started in Virginia tinged, entered into, and +gave color to society throughout the South. There were great estates, +privileged classes, a few rich and many poor men. There were planters, +poor white men, and slaves. + +In those old times pirates sailed the seas, plundering and destroying +ships. They swarmed around the West India Islands, and sold their spoils +to the people of Charleston, South Carolina. There, for several years, +the freebooters refitted their ships, and had a hearty welcome. But the +King's ships of war broke up the business, and commerce again had +peaceful possession of the ocean. + +These things gave direction to the stream, influencing the development +and growth of the colonies, which became States in the Union, and which +seceded in 1861. + + * * * * * + +While the Dutch captain was bargaining off his negroes to the planters +in 1620 at Jamestown, another vessel was sailing from Plymouth harbor, +in England, for a voyage across the Atlantic. Years before, in the +little town of Scrooby, a man with a long white beard, by the name of +Clifton, had preached what he called a pure religious doctrine. Those +who went to hear him, and who believed what he preached, soon came to be +called Puritans. Most of them were poor, hard-working English farmers +and villagers. There was much discussion, controversy, bigotry, and +bitterness in religion at that time, and these poor men were driven from +county to county, till finally they were obliged to flee to Holland to +escape persecution and save their lives. King James himself was one of +their most bitter persecutors. He declared that he would "harry every +one of them out of England." After remaining in Holland several years, +they obtained permission of the King to sail for North America. + +On a December morning the vessel, after five months' tossing upon the +ocean, lay at anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod. Those on board had no +charter of government. They were not men who had had midnight revels in +London, but men who had prayers in their families night and morning, and +who met for religious worship on the Sabbath. They respected law, loved +order, and knew that it would be necessary to have a form of government +in the colony. They assembled in the cabin of the ship, and, after +prayer, signed their names to an agreement to obey all the rules, +regulations, and laws which might be enacted by the majority. Then they +elected a governor, each man having a voice in the election. It was what +might be called the first town-meeting in America. Thus democratic +liberty and Christian worship, independent of forms established by kings +and bishops, had a beginning in this country. + +The climate was cold, the seasons short, the soil sterile, and so the +settlers of Cape Cod were obliged to work hard to obtain a living. In +consequence, they and their descendants became active, industrious, and +energetic. Thus they laid the foundations for thrift and enterprise. +They did not look upon labor as degrading, but as ennobling. They passed +laws, that men able to work should not be idle. They were not rich +enough to own great estates, but each man had his own little farm. There +was, therefore, no landed aristocracy, such as was growing into power in +Virginia. They were not able to own labor to any great extent. There +were a few apprenticed men, and some negro slaves, but the social and +political influences were all different from those in the Southern +colonies. The time came when apprenticed men were released from service, +and the slaves set free. + +These hard-working men did not wish to have their children grow up +in ignorance. In order, therefore, that every child might become an +intelligent citizen and member of society, they established common +schools and founded colleges. In 1640, just twenty years after the +landing at Plymouth, they had a printing-press at Cambridge. + +The cavaliers of Virginia, instead of establishing schools, sent their +sons to England to be educated, leaving the children of the poor men to +grow up in ignorance. They did not want them to obtain an education. In +1670, fifty years after the Dutch captain had bartered off his negroes +for tobacco,--fifty years from the election of the first governor by the +people in the cabin of the Mayflower,--the King appointed Commissioners +of Education, who addressed letters to the governors of the colonies +upon the subject. The Governor of Connecticut replied, that one fourth +of the entire income of the colony was laid out in maintaining public +schools. Governor Berkeley, of Virginia, who owned a great plantation +and many slaves, and who wanted to keep the government in the hands of +the few privileged families, answered,-- + + "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing in this + colony, and I hope we shall not have them these hundred + years." + +All the Northern colonies established common schools, and liberally +supported them, that every child might obtain an education. The Southern +colonies, even when they became States, gave but little attention to +education, and consequently the children became more ignorant than their +fathers. Thus it has come to pass, that in the Northern States nearly +all can read and write, while in the Southern States there are hundreds +of thousands who do not know the alphabet. + +In 1850 the State of Maine had 518,000 inhabitants; of these 2,134 could +not read nor write, while the State of North Carolina, with a white +population of 553,000, _had eighty thousand native whites, over twenty +years of age, who had never attended school_! + +The six New England States, with a population of 2,705,000, had in 1850 +but eight thousand unable to read and write, while Virginia, North +Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama--five States, with a +population of 2,670,000 whites--_had two hundred and sixty-two thousand, +over twenty years of age, unable to read a word_! In the Northern States +educational facilities are rapidly increasing, while in the South they +are fast diminishing. In 1857 there were 96,000 school-children in +Vermont, and all but six thousand attended school. South Carolina the +same year had 114,000 school-children; of these _ninety-five thousand_ +had no school privileges. Virginia had 414,000 school-children; _three +hundred and seventy-two thousand_ of them had no means of learning the +alphabet! + +In Missouri, in some of the counties, the school lands given by Congress +have been sold, and the money distributed among the people, instead +of being invested for the benefit of schools. With each generation +ignorance has increased in the Southern States. It has been the design +of the slaveholders to keep the poor white men in ignorance. There, +neighbors are miles apart. There are vast tracts of land where the +solitude is unbroken by the sounds of labor. Schools and newspapers +cannot flourish. Information is given by word of mouth. Men are +influenced to political action by the arguments and stories of +stump-speakers, and not by reading newspapers. They vote as they are +told, or as they are influenced by the stories they hear. So, when the +leading conspirators were ready to bring about the rebellion, being in +possession of the State governments, holding official positions, by +misrepresentation, cunning, and wickedness, they were able to delude the +ignorant poor men, and induce them to vote to secede from the Union. + +Two thousand years ago the natives of India manufactured cloth from the +fibres of the cotton-plant, which grew wild in the woods. The old +historian, Herodotus, says that the trees bore fleeces as white as snow. +A planter of South Carolina obtained some of the seeds, and began to +cultivate the plant. In 1748 ten bags of cotton were shipped to +Liverpool, but cotton-spinning had not then begun in England. In 1784 +the custom-house officers at Liverpool seized eight bags which a planter +had sent over, on the ground that it was not possible to raise so much +in America. The manufacture of cotton goods was just then commencing in +England, and cotton was in demand. The plant grew luxuriantly in the +sunny fields of the South, but it was a day's work for a negro to +separate the seed from a pound, and the planters despaired of making it +a profitable crop. + +A few years before the Liverpool custom-house officers seized the eight +bags, a boy named Eli Whitney was attending school in Westboro', +Massachusetts, who was destined to help the planters out of the +difficulty. He made water-wheels, which plashed in the roadside brooks, +and windmills, which whirled upon his father's barn. He made violins, +which were the wonder and admiration of all musicians. He set up a shop, +and made nails by machinery, and thus earned money through the +Revolutionary War. When not more than twelve years old, he stayed at +home from meeting one Sunday alone, and took his father's watch to +pieces, and put it together again so nicely that it went as well as +ever. It was not the proper business for Sunday, however. + +When a young man, he went South to teach school. He happened to hear +General Greene, the brave and noble man who had been a match for Lord +Cornwallis, wish that there was a machine for cleaning cotton. He +thought the matter over, went to work, and in a short time had a machine +which, with some improvements, now does the work of a thousand negroes. +He built it in secret, but the planters, getting wind of it, broke open +his room, stole his invention, built machines of their own, and cheated +him out of his property. + +About this time there was a poor cotton-spinner in England who thought +he could invent a machine for spinning. He sat up late nights, and +thought how to have the wheels, cranks, and belts arranged. At times +he was almost discouraged, but his patient, cheerful, loving wife +encouraged him, and he succeeded at last in making a machine which would +do the work of a thousand spinners. He named it Jenny, for his wife, who +had been so patient and cheerful, though she and the children, some of +the time while he was studying upon the invention, had little to eat. + +The gin and the jenny made cotton cloth much cheaper than it had been. +Many manufactories were built in England and in the New England States. +More acres of cotton were planted in the South, and more negroes stolen +from Africa. In the North, along the mill-streams, there was the click +and clatter of machinery. A great many ships were needed to transport +the cotton from the agricultural South to the manufactories of the +commercial, industrious, trading North. The cotton crop of the South in +1784 was worth only a few hundred dollars, but the crop of 1860 was +worth hundreds of millions, so great had been the increase. + +This great demand for cotton affected trade and commerce the world over. +The planters had princely incomes from the labor of their slaves. Some +of them received $50,000 to $100,000 a year. They said that cotton was +king, and ruled the world. They thought that the whole human race was +dependent upon them, and that by withholding their cotton a single year +they could compel the whole world to acknowledge their power. They were +few in number,--about three hundred thousand in thirty millions of +people. They used every means possible to extend and perpetuate their +power. They saw that the Northern States were beehives of industry, and +that the boys swarming from the Northern school-houses were becoming +mechanics, farmers, teachers, engaging in all employments, and that +knowledge as a power was getting the better of wealth. + +The men of the North were settling the new States of the West, and +political power in Congress was slipping from the hands of the South. To +retain that power they must bring additional Slave States into the +Union. They therefore demanded the right to take their slaves into new +Territories. The Northern school-boys who had grown to be men, who had +gone into the far West to build them homes, could not consent to see +their children deprived of that which had made them men. They saw that +if slavery came in, schools must go out. They saw that where slavery +existed there were three distinct classes in society,--the few rich, +unscrupulous, hard-hearted slaveholders, the many poor, ignorant, +debased white men, and the slaves. They saw that free labor and slave +labor could not exist together. They therefore rightfully resisted the +extension of slavery into the Territories. But the slaveholders carried +the day. The North was outvoted and obliged to yield. + +The descendants of the first families of Virginia raised slaves for a +living. It was degrading to labor, but a very honorable way of getting a +living to raise pigs, mules, and negroes,--to sell them to the more +southern States,--to sell their own sons and daughters! Their fathers +purchased wives: why should they not sell their own children? + +It was very profitable to raise negroes for the market, and the +ministers of the South, in their pulpits on the Sabbath, said it was a +Christian occupation. They expounded the Bible, and showed the +benevolent designs of God in establishing slavery. It was right. It had +the sanction of the Almighty. It was a Divine missionary institution. + +Their political success, their great power, their wealth,--which they +received through the unpaid labor of their slaves, and from selling +their own sons and daughters,--developed their bad traits of character. +They became proud, insolent, domineering, and ambitious. They demanded +the right not only to extend slavery over all the Territories of the +United States, but also the right to take their slaves into the Free +States. They demanded that no one should speak or write against slavery. +They secured the passage of a law by Congress enabling them to catch +their runaway slaves. They demanded that the Constitution should be +changed to favor the growth and extension of slavery. For many years +they plotted against the government,--threatening to destroy it if they +could not have what they demanded. They looked with utter contempt upon +the hard-working men of the North. They determined to rule or ruin. +Every Northern man living at the South was looked upon with suspicion. +Some were tarred and feathered, others hung, and many were killed in +cold blood! No Northern man could open his lips on that subject in the +South. Men of the North could not travel there. The noble astronomer, +Mitchell, the brave general who has laid down his life for his country, +was surrounded by an ignorant, excited mob in Alabama, who were ready to +hang him because he told them he was in favor of the Union. But Southern +orators and political speakers were invited North, and listened to with +respect by the thinking, reasoning people,--the pupils of the common +schools. + +Climate, trade, commerce, common schools, and industry have made the +North different from the South; but there was nothing in these to bring +on the war. + +When the slaveholders saw that they had lost their power in Congress to +pass laws for the extension of slavery, they determined to secede from +the Union. When the North elected a President who declared himself +opposed to the extension of slavery, they began the war. They stole +forts, arsenals, money, steamboats,--everything they could lay their +hands on belonging to government and individuals,--seceded from the +Union, formed a confederacy, raised an army, and fired the first gun. + +They planned a great empire, which should extend south to the Isthmus of +Darien and west to the Pacific Ocean, and made slavery its cornerstone. +They talked of conquering the North. They declared that the time would +come when they would muster their slaves on Bunker Hill, when the +laboring men of the North, "with hat in hand, should stand meekly before +them, their masters."[2] + +[Footnote 2: Richmond Enquirer.] + +They besieged Fort Sumter, fired upon the ships sent to its relief, +bombarded the fort and captured it. To save their country, their +government, all that was dear to them, to protect their insulted, +time-honored flag, the men of the North took up arms. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE GATHERING OF A GREAT ARMY. + + +The Rebels began the war by firing upon Fort Sumter. You remember how +stupefying the news of its surrender. You could not at first believe +that they would fire upon the Stars and Stripes,--the flag respected and +honored everywhere on earth. When there was no longer a doubt that they +had begun hostilities, you could not have felt worse if you had heard +of the death of a very dear friend. But as you thought it over and +reflected upon the wickedness of the act, so deliberate and terrible, +you felt that you would like to see the traitors hung; not that it would +be a pleasure to see men die a felon's death, but because you loved your +country and its flag, with its heaven-born hues, its azure field of +stars! Not that the flag is anything in itself to be protected, honored, +and revered, but because it is the emblem of constitutional liberty and +freedom, the ensign of the best, freest, noblest government ever +established. It had cost suffering and blood. Kings, aristocrats, +despots, and tyrants, in the Old World and in the New hated it, but +millions of men in other lands, suffering, abused, robbed of their +rights, beheld it as their banner of hope. When you thought how it had +been struck down by traitors, when you heard that the President had +called for seventy five thousand troops, you hurrahed with all your +might, and wished that you were old enough and big enough to go and +fight the Rebels. + +The drums beat in the street. You saw the soldiers hasten to take +their places in the gathering ranks. You marched beside them and kept +step with the music. The sunlight gleamed from their bayonets. Their +standards waved in the breeze, while the drum, the fife, the bugle, and +the trumpet thrilled you as never before. You marched proudly and +defiantly. You felt that you could annihilate the stoutest Rebel. You +followed the soldiers to the railroad depot and hurrahed till the train +which bore them away was out of sight. + +Let us follow them to Washington, and see the gathering of a great army. +The Rebels have threatened to capture that city and make it their seat +of government, and it must be saved. + +We have been a quiet, peaceable nation, and have had no great standing +armies of a half-million men. We know but little about war. The Northern +States are unprepared for war. President Buchanan's Secretary of War, +Floyd, has proved himself a thief. He has stolen several hundred +thousands of muskets, thousands of pieces of artillery, sending them +from the Northern arsenals to the South. The slaveholders have been for +many years plotting the rebellion. They are armed, and we are not. Their +arsenals are well filled, while ours are empty, because President +Buchanan was a weak old man, and kept thieves and traitors in places of +trust and power. + +At the call of the President every village sends its soldiers, every +town its company. When you listened to the soul-thrilling music of the +band, and watched the long, winding train as it vanished with the troops +in the distance, you had one little glimpse of the machinery of war, as +when riding past a great manufactory you see a single pulley, or a row +of spindles through a window. You do not see the thousands of wheels, +belts, shafts,--the hundred thousand spindles, the arms of iron, fingers +of brass, and springs of steel, and the mighty wheel which gives motion +to all,--and so you have not seen the great, complicated, far-reaching, +and powerful machinery of war. + +But there is activity everywhere. Drums are beating, men assembling, +soldiers marching, and hastening on in regiments. They go into camp and +sleep on the ground, wrapped in their blankets. It is a new life. They +have no napkins, no table-cloths at breakfast, dinner, or supper, no +china plates or silver forks. Each soldier has his tin plate and cup, +and makes a hearty meal of beef and bread. It is hard-baked bread. They +call it _hard-tack_, because it might be tacked upon the roof of a house +instead of shingles. They also have Cincinnati _chicken_. At home they +called it pork; fowls are scarce and pork is plenty in camp, so they +make believe it is chicken! + +There is drilling by squads, companies, battalions, and by regiments. +Some stand guard around the camp by day, and others go out on picket at +night, to watch for the enemy. It is military life. Everything is done +by orders. When you become a soldier, you cannot go and come as you +please. Privates, lieutenants, captains, colonels, generals, all are +subject to the orders of their superior officers. All must obey the +general in command. You march, drill, eat, sleep, go to bed, and get up +by order. At sunrise you hear the reveille, and at nine o'clock in the +evening the tattoo. Then the candle, which has been burning in your tent +with a bayonet for a candlestick, must be put out. In the dead of night, +while sleeping soundly and dreaming of home, you hear the drum-beat. It +is the long roll. There is a rattle of musketry. The pickets are at it. +Every man springs to his feet. + +"Turn out! turn out!" shouts the colonel. + +"Fall in! fall in!" cries the captain. + +There is confusion throughout the camp,--a trampling of feet and loud, +hurried talking. In your haste you get your boots on wrong, and buckle +your cartridge-box on bottom up. You rush out in the darkness, not +minding your steps, and are caught by the tent-ropes. You tumble +headlong, upsetting to-morrow's breakfast of beans. You take your place +in the ranks, nervous, excited, and trembling at you know not what. The +regiment rushes toward the firing, which suddenly ceases. An officer +rides up in the darkness and says it is a false alarm! You march back to +camp, cool and collected now, grumbling at the stupidity of the picket, +who saw a bush, thought it was a Rebel, fired his gun, and alarmed the +whole camp. + +In the autumn of 1861 the army of the Potomac, encamped around +Washington, numbered about two hundred thousand men. Before it marches +to the battle-field, let us see how it is organized, how it looks, how +it is fed; let us get an insight into its machinery. + +Go up in the balloon which you see hanging in the air across the Potomac +from Georgetown, and look down upon this great army. All the country +round is dotted with white tents,--some in the open fields, and some +half hid by the forest-trees. Looking away to the northwest you see the +right wing. Arlington is the centre, and at Alexandria is the left wing. +You see men in ranks, in files, in long lines, in masses, moving to and +fro, marching and countermarching, learning how to fight a battle. There +are thousands of wagons and horses; there are from two to three hundred +pieces of artillery. How long the line, if all were on the march! Men +marching in files are about three feet apart. A wagon with four horses +occupies fifty feet. If this army was moving on a narrow country road, +four cavalrymen riding abreast, and men in files of four, with all the +artillery, ammunition-wagons, supply-trains, ambulances, and equipment, +it would reach from Boston to Hartford, or from New York city to Albany, +a hundred and fifty miles! + +To move such a multitude, to bring order out of confusion, there must be +a system, a plan, and an organization. Regiments are therefore formed +into brigades, with usually about four regiments to a brigade. Three or +four brigades compose a division, and three or four divisions make an +army corps. A corps when full numbers from twenty-five to thirty +thousand men. + +When an army moves, the general commanding it issues his orders to the +generals commanding the corps; they issue their orders to the division +commanders, the division commanders to the brigadiers, they to the +colonels, and the colonels to captains, and the captains to the +companies. As the great wheel in the factory turns all the machinery, so +one mind moves the whole army. The general-in-chief must designate the +road which each corps shall take, the time when they are to march, where +they are to march to, and sometimes the hour when they must arrive at an +appointed place. The corps commanders must direct which of their +divisions shall march first, what roads they shall take, and where they +shall encamp at night. The division commanders direct what brigades +shall march first. No corps, division, or brigade commander can take any +other road than that assigned him, without producing confusion and +delay. + +The army must have its food regularly. Think how much food it takes to +supply the city of Boston, or Cincinnati every day. Yet here are as many +men as there are people in those cities. There are a great many more +horses in the army than in the stables of both of those cities. All must +be fed. There must be a constant supply of beef, pork, bread, beans, +vinegar, sugar, and coffee, oats, corn, and hay. + +The army must also have its supplies of clothing, its boots, shoes, and +coats. It must have its ammunition, its millions of cartridges of +different kinds; for there are a great many kinds of guns in the +regiments,--Springfield and Enfield muskets, French, Belgian, Prussian, +and Austrian guns, requiring a great many different kinds of ammunition. +There are a great many different kinds of cannon. There must be no lack +of ammunition, no mistake in its distribution. So there is the +Quartermaster's Department, the Commissary, and the Ordnance Department. +The Quartermaster moves and clothes the army, the Commissary feeds it, +and the Ordnance officer supplies it with ammunition. The +general-in-chief has a Quartermaster-General, a chief Commissary and a +chief Ordnance officer, who issue their orders to the chief officers in +their departments attached to each corps. They issue their orders to +their subordinates in the divisions, and the division officers to those +in the brigades. + +Then there is a Surgeon-General, who directs all the hospital +operations, who must see that the sick and wounded are all taken care +of. There are camp surgeons, division, brigade, and regimental surgeons. +There are hospital nurses, ambulance drivers, all subject to the orders +of the surgeon. No other officer can direct them. Each department is +complete in itself. + +It has cost a great deal of thought, labor, and money to construct this +great machinery. In creating it there has been much thinking, energy, +determination, and labor; and there must be constant forethought in +anticipating future wants, necessities, and contingencies, when to move, +where, and how. The army does not exist of its own accord, but by +constant, unremitting effort. + +The people of the country determined that the Constitution, the Union, +and the government bequeathed by their fathers should be preserved. They +authorized the President to raise a great army. Congress voted money and +men. The President, acting as the agent of the people, and as +Commander-in-Chief, appointed men to bring all the materials together +and organize the army. Look at what was wanted to build this mighty +machine and to keep it going. + +First, the hundreds of thousands of men; the thousands of horses; the +thousands of barrels of beef, pork, and flour; thousands of hogsheads of +sugar, vinegar, rice, salt, bags of coffee, and immense stores of other +things. Thousands of tons of hay, bags of oats and corn. What numbers of +men and women have been at work to get each soldier ready for the field. +He has boots, clothes, and equipments. The tanner, currier, shoemaker, +the manufacturer, with his swift-flying shuttles, the operator tending +his looms and spinning-jennies, the tailor with his sewing-machines, the +gunsmith, the harness-maker, the blacksmith,--all trades and occupations +have been employed. There are saddles, bridles, knapsacks, canteens, +dippers, plates, knives, stoves, kettles, tents, blankets, medicines, +drums, swords, pistols, guns, cannon, powder, percussion-caps, bullets, +shot, shells, wagons,--everything. + +Walk leisurely through the camps, and observe the little things and the +great things, see the men on the march. Then go into the Army and Navy +Departments in Washington, in those brick buildings west of the +President's house. In those rooms are surveys, maps, plans, papers, +charts of the ocean, of the sea-coast, currents, sand-bars, shoals, the +rising and falling of tides. In the Topographical Bureau you see maps of +all sections of the country. There is the Ordnance Bureau, with all +sorts of guns, rifles, muskets, carbines, pistols, swords, shells, +rifled shot, fuses which the inventors have brought in. There are a +great many bureaus, with immense piles of papers and volumes, containing +experiments upon the strength of iron, the trials of cannon, guns, +mortars, and powder. There have been experiments to determine how much +powder shall be used, whether it shall be as fine as mustard-seed or as +coarse as lumps of sugar, and the results are all noted here. All the +appliances of science, industry, and art are brought into use to make it +the best army the world ever saw. + +It is the business of the government to bring the materials together, +and the business of the generals to organize it into brigades, +divisions, and corps,--to determine the number of cavalry and batteries +of artillery, to place weak materials in their proper places, and the +strongest where they will be most needed. + +The general commanding must have a plan of operations. Napoleon said +that war is like a game of chess, and that a commander must make his +game. He must think it out beforehand, and in such a manner that the +enemy will be compelled to play it in his way and be defeated. The +general-in-chief must see the end from the beginning, just as Napoleon, +sticking his map of Europe full of pins, decided that he could defeat +the Austrians at Austerlitz, the Prussians at Jena. That is genius. The +general-in-chief makes his plan on the supposition that all his orders +will be obeyed promptly, that no one will shirk responsibility, that not +one of all the vast multitude will fail to do his duty. + +The night before the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon sent an order to an +officer to take possession of a little hillock, on which stood a +farm-house overlooking the plain. The officer thought it would do just +as well if he let it go till morning, but in the morning the English had +possession of the spot, and in consequence of that officer's neglect +Napoleon probably lost the great battle, his army, and his empire. Great +events often hang on little things, and in military operations it is of +the utmost importance that they should be attended to. + +From the beginning to the end, unless every man does his duty, from the +general in command to the private in the ranks, there is danger of +failure. + +Thus the army is organized, and thus through organization it becomes a +disciplined body. Instead of being a confused mass of men, horses, +mules, cannon, caissons, wagons, and ambulances, it is a body which can +be divided, subdivided, separated by miles of country, hurried here and +there, hurled upon the enemy, and brought together again by the stroke +of a pen, by a word, or the click of the telegraph. + +When a battle is to be fought, the general-in-chief must not only have +his plan how to get the great mass of men to the field, but he must have +a plan of movement on the field. Each corps must have its position +assigned. There must be a line of battle. It is not a continuous line of +men, but there are wide spaces, perhaps miles wide, between the corps, +divisions, and brigades. Hills, ravines, streams, swamps, houses, +villages, bushes, a fence, rocks, wheat-fields, sunlight and shade, all +must be taken into account. Batteries must be placed on hills, or in +commanding positions to sweep all the country round. Infantry must be +gathered in masses in the centre or on either wing, or deployed and +separated according to circumstances. They must be sheltered. They must +be thrown here or there, as they may be needed to hold or to crush the +enemy. They are to stand still and be ploughed through by shot and +shell, or rush into the thickest of the fight, just as they may be +ordered. They are not to question the order;-- + + "Theirs not to make reply, + Theirs not to reason why, + Theirs but to do and die." + +There are sleepless nights in the tent of the general-in-chief. When all +others except the pickets are asleep, he is examining maps and plans, +calculating distances, estimating the strength of his army, and asking +himself whether it will do to attack the enemy, or whether he shall +stand on the defensive? can this brigade be relied upon for a desperate +charge? will that division hold the enemy in check? At such times, the +good name, the valor, the bravery of the troops and of the officers who +command them is reviewed. He weighs character. He knows who are reliable +and who inefficient. He studies, examines papers, consults reports, +makes calculations, sits abstractedly, walks nervously, and lies down to +dream it all over again and again. + +The welfare of the country, thousands of lives, and perhaps the destiny +of the nation, is in his hands. How shall he arrange his corps? ought +the troops to be massed in the centre, or shall he concentrate them on +the wings? shall he feel of the enemy with a division or two, or rush +upon him like an avalanche? Can the enemy outflank him, or get upon his +rear? What if the Rebels should pounce upon his ammunition and +supply-trains? What is the position of the enemy? How large is his +force? How many batteries has he? How much cavalry? What do the scouts +report? Are the scouts to be believed? One says the enemy is retreating, +another that he is advancing. What are the probabilities? A thousand +questions arise which must be answered. The prospect of success must be +carefully calculated. Human life must be thrown remorselessly into the +scale. All the sorrows and the tears of wives, mothers, fathers, +brothers, and sisters far away, who will mourn for the dead, must be +forgotten. He must shut up all tender thoughts, and become an iron man. +Ah! it is not so fine a thing to be a general, perhaps, as you have +imagined! + +It is an incomplete, imperfect, and unsatisfactory look which you have +taken of the machinery of a great army. But you can see that a very +small thing may upset the best-laid plan of any commander. The cowardice +of a regiment, the failure of an officer to do his duty, to be at a +place at an appointed moment, the miscarriage of orders, a hundred +things which you can think of, may turn a victory into a defeat. You can +see that a great battle must be a grand and terrible affair; but though +you may use all your powers of imagination in endeavoring to picture the +positions of the troops,--how they look, how they act, how they stand +amid the terrible storm, braying death, how they rush into the thickest +fire, how they fall like the sere leaves of autumn,--you will fail in +your conceptions of the conflict. You must see it, and be in it, to know +what it is. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. + + +The first great battle of the war was fought near Bull Run, in Virginia. +There had been skirmishing along the Potomac, in Western Virginia, and +Missouri; but upon the banks of this winding stream was fought a battle +which will be forever memorable. The Rebels call it the battle of +Manassas. It has been called also the battle of Stone Bridge and the +battle of Warrenton Road. + +Bull Run is a lazy, sluggish stream, a branch of the Occoquan River, +which empties into the Potomac. It rises among the Bull Run Mountains, +and flows southeast through Fairfax County. Just beyond the stream, as +you go west from Washington, are the plains of Manassas,--level lands, +which years ago waved with corn and tobacco, but the fields long since +were worn out by the thriftless farming of the slaveholders, and now +they are overgrown with thickets of pine and oak. + +Two railroads meet upon the plains, one running northwest through the +mountain gaps into the valley of the Shenandoah, and the other running +from Alexandria to Richmond, Culpepper, and the Southwest. The junction, +therefore, became an important place for Rebel military operations. +There, in June, 1861, General Beauregard mustered his army, which was to +defeat the Union army and capture Washington. The Richmond newspapers +said that this army would not only capture Washington, but would also +dictate terms of peace on the banks of the Hudson. Hot-headed men, who +seemed to have lost their reason through the influence of slavery and +secession, thought that the Southern troops were invincible. They were +confident that one Southerner could whip five Yankees. Ladies cheered +them, called them chivalrous sons of the South, and urged them on to the +field. + +But General Beauregard, instead of advancing upon Washington, awaited an +attack from the Union army, making Bull Run his line of defence, +throwing up breastworks, cutting down trees, and sheltering his men +beneath the thick growth of the evergreen pines. + +The army of the Union, called the Army of the Potomac, assembled at +Arlington Heights and Alexandria. General McDowell was placed in +command. Half of his soldiers were men who had enlisted for three +months, who had suddenly left their homes at the call of the President. +Their term of service had nearly expired. The three years' men had been +but a few days in camp. Military duties were new. They knew nothing of +discipline, but they confidently expected to defeat the enemy and move +on to Richmond. Few people thought of the possibility of defeat. + +Let us walk up the valley of Bull Run and notice its fords, its wooded +banks, the scattered farm-houses, and fields of waving grain. Ten miles +from the Occoquan we come to the railroad bridge. A mile farther up is +McLean's Ford; another mile carries us to Blackburn's, and another mile +brings us to Mitchell's. Above these are Island Ford, Lewis Ford, and +Ball's Ford. Three miles above Mitchell's there is a stone bridge, where +the turnpike leading from Centreville to Warrenton crosses the stream. +Two miles farther up is a place called Sudley Springs,--a cluster of +houses, a little stone church, a blacksmith's shop. The stream there has +dwindled to a brook, and gurgles over a rocky bed. + +Going back to the stone bridge, and standing upon its parapet, you may +look east to Centreville, about four miles distant, beautifully situated +on a high ridge of land, but a very old, dilapidated place when you get +to it. Going west from the bridge, you see upon your right hand a swell +of land, and another at your left hand, south of the turnpike. A brook +trickles by the roadside. Leaving the turnpike, and ascending the ridge +on the north side, you see that towards Sudley Springs there are other +swells of land, with wheat-fields, fences, scattered trees, and groves +of pines and oaks. Looking across to the hill south of the turnpike, a +half-mile distant, you see the house of Mr. Lewis, and west of it Mrs. +Henry's, on the highest knoll. Mrs. Henry is an old lady, so far +advanced in life that she is helpless. Going up the turnpike a mile from +the bridge, you come to the toll-gate, kept by Mr. Mathey. A cross-road +comes down from Sudley Springs, and leads south towards Manassas +Junction, six miles distant. Leave the turnpike once more, and go +northwest a half-mile, and you come to the farm of Mr. Dogan. There are +farm-sheds and haystacks near his house. + +This ground, from Dogan's to the ridge east of the toll-gate, across the +turnpike and the trickling brook to Mr. Lewis's and Mrs. Henry's, is the +battle-field. You see it,--the ridges of land, the houses, haystacks, +fences, knolls, ravines, wheat-fields, turnpike, and groves of oak and +pine,--a territory about two miles square. + +On Saturday, June 20th, General Johnston, with nearly all the Rebel army +of the Shenandoah, arrived at Manassas. Being General Beauregard's +superior officer, he took command of all the troops. He had about thirty +thousand men. + +On Thursday, General Richardson's brigade of General McDowell's army had +a skirmish with General Longstreet's brigade at Blackburn's Ford, which +the Rebels call the battle of Bull Run, while that which was fought on +the 21st they call the battle of Manassas. General Beauregard expected +that the attack would be renewed along the fords, and posted his men +accordingly. + +Going down to the railroad bridge, we see General Ewell's brigade of the +Rebel army on the western bank guarding the crossing. General Jones's +brigade is at McLean's Ford. At Blackburn's Ford is General +Longstreet's, and at Mitchell's Ford is General Bonham's. Near by +Bonham's is General Earley's, General Bartow's, and General Holmes's. +General Jackson's is in rear of General Bonham's. At Island Ford is +General Bee and Colonel Hampton's legion, also Stuart's cavalry. At +Ball's Ford is General Cocke's brigade. Above, at the Stone Bridge, is +the extreme left of the Rebel army, General Evans's brigade. General +Elzey's brigade of the Shenandoah army is on its way in the cars, and is +expected to reach the battle-field before the contest closes. General +Johnston has between fifty and sixty pieces of artillery and about one +thousand cavalry. + +General McDowell had also about thirty thousand men and forty-nine +pieces of artillery. His army was in four divisions,--General Tyler's, +General Hunter's, General Heintzelman's, and General Miles's. One +brigade of General Tyler's and General Miles's division was left at +Centreville to make a feint of attacking the enemy at Blackburn's and +Mitchell's Fords, and to protect the rear of the army from an attack by +Generals Ewell and Jones. The other divisions of the army--five +brigades, numbering eighteen thousand men, with thirty-six +cannon--marched soon after midnight, to be ready to make the attack by +sunrise on Sunday morning. + +General Tyler, with General Keyes's brigade, General Sherman's, and +General Schenck's, marched down the turnpike towards the Stone Bridge, +where General Evans was on the watch. General Tyler had twelve pieces of +artillery,--two batteries, commanded by Ayer and Carlisle. + +It is sunrise as they approach the bridge,--a calm, peaceful Sabbath +morning. The troops leave the turnpike, march into a cornfield, and +ascend a hill overlooking the bridge. As you stand there amid the +tasselled stalks, you see the stream rippling beneath the stone arches, +and upon the other bank breastworks of earth and fallen trees. Half hid +beneath the oaks and pines are the Rebel regiments, their gun-barrels +and bayonets flashing in the morning light. Beyond the breastworks upon +the knolls are the farm-houses of Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Henry. + +Captain Ayer, who has seen fighting in Mexico, brings his guns upon the +hill, wheels them into position, and sights them towards the +breastworks. There is a flash, a puff of smoke, a screaming in the air, +and then across the stream a handful of cloud bursts into view above the +Rebel lines. The shell has exploded. There is a sudden movement of the +Rebel troops. It is the first gun of the morning. And now, two miles +down the Run, by Mitchell's Ford, rolling, echoing, and reverberating +through the forests, are other thunderings. General Richardson has been +waiting impatiently to hear the signal gun. He is to make a feint of +attacking. His cannonade is to begin furiously. He has six guns, and all +of them are in position, throwing solid shot and shells into the wood +where Longstreet's men are lying. + +All of Ayer's guns are in play, hurling rifled shot and shells, which +scream like an unseen demon as they fly over the cornfield, over the +meadow lands, to the woods and fields beyond the stream. + +General Hunter and General Heintzelman, with their divisions, have left +the turnpike two miles from Centreville, at Cub Run bridge, a rickety, +wooden structure, which creaks and trembles as the heavy cannon rumble +over. They march into the northwest, along a narrow road,--a round-about +way to Sudley Springs. It is a long march. They started at two o'clock, +and have had no breakfast. They waited three hours at Cub Run, while +General Tyler's division was crossing, and they are therefore three +hours behind the appointed time. General McDowell calculated and +intended to have them at Sudley Springs by six o'clock, but now it is +nine. They stop a half-hour at the river-crossing to fill their canteens +from the gurgling stream. + +Looking south from the little stone church, you see clouds of dust +floating over the forest-trees. The Rebels have discovered the movement, +and are marching in hot haste to resist the impending attack. General +Evans has left a portion of his command at Stone Bridge, and is +hastening with the remainder to the second ridge of land north of the +turnpike. He plants his artillery on the hill, and secretes his infantry +in a thicket of pines. General Bee is on the march, so is General Bartow +and General Jackson, all upon the double-quick. Rebel officers ride +furiously, and shout their orders. The artillerymen lash their horses to +a run. The infantry are also upon the run, sweating and panting in the +hot sunshine. The noise and confusion increase. The booming deepens +along the valley, for still farther down, by Blackburn's Ford, Hunt's +battery is pouring its fire upon Longstreet's, Jones's, and Ewell's men. + +The Union troops at Sudley Springs move across the stream. General +Burnside's brigade is in advance. The Second Rhode Island infantry is +thrown out, deployed as skirmishers. The men are five paces apart. They +move slowly, cautiously, and nervously through the fields and thickets. + +Suddenly, from bushes, trees, and fences there is a rattle of musketry. +General Evans's skirmishers are firing. There are jets of flame and +smoke, and a strange humming in the air. There is another rattle, a +roll, a volley. The cannon join. The first great battle has begun. +General Hunter hastens to the spot, and is wounded almost at the first +volley, and compelled to leave the field. The contest suddenly grows +fierce. The Rhode Island boys push on to closer quarters, and the Rebels +under General Evans give way from a thicket to a fence, from a fence to +a knoll. + +General Bee arrives with his brigade to help General Evans. You see him +swing up into line west of Evans, towards the haystacks by Dogan's +house. He is in such a position that he can pour a fire upon the flank +of the Rhode Island boys, who are pushing Evans. It is a galling fire, +and the brave fellows are cut down by the raking shots from the +haystacks. They are almost overwhelmed. But help is at hand. The +Seventy-first New York, the Second New Hampshire, and the First Rhode +Island, all belonging to Burnside's brigade, move toward the haystacks. +They bring their guns to a level, and the rattle and roll begin. There +are jets of flame, long lines of light, white clouds, unfolding and +expanding, rolling over and over, and rising above the tree-tops. Wilder +the uproar. Men fall, tossing their arms; some leap into the air, some +plunge headlong, falling like logs of wood or lumps of lead. Some reel, +stagger, and tumble; others lie down gently as to a night's repose, +unheeding the din, commotion, and uproar. They are bleeding, torn, and +mangled. Legs, arms, bodies, are crushed. They see nothing. They cannot +tell what has happened. The air is full of fearful noises. An unseen +storm sweeps by. The trees are splintered, crushed, and broken as if +smitten by thunderbolts. Twigs and leaves fall to the ground. There is +smoke, dust, wild talking, shouting, hissings, howlings, explosions. It +is a new, strange, unanticipated experience to the soldiers of both +armies, far different from what they thought it would be. + +Far away, church-bells are tolling the hour of Sabbath worship, and +children are singing sweet songs in many a Sunday school. Strange and +terrible the contrast! You cannot bear to look upon the dreadful scene. +How horrible those wounds! The ground is crimson with blood. You are +ready to turn away, and shut the scene forever from your sight. But the +battle must go on, and the war must go on till the wicked men who began +it are crushed, till the honor of the dear old flag is vindicated, till +the Union is restored, till the country is saved, till the slaveholder +is deprived of his power, and till freedom comes to the slave. It is +terrible to see, but you remember that the greatest blessing the world +ever received was purchased by blood,--the blood of the Son of God. It +is terrible to see, but there are worse things than war. It is worse to +have the rights of men trampled in the dust; worse to have your country +destroyed, to have justice, truth, and honor violated. You had better be +killed, torn to pieces by cannon-shot, than lose your manhood, or yield +that which makes you a man. It is better to die than give up that rich +inheritance bequeathed us by our fathers, and purchased by their blood. + +The battle goes on. General Porter's brigade comes to the aid of +Burnside, moving towards Dogan's house. Jackson's Rebel brigade is there +to meet him. Arnold's battery is in play,--guns pouring a constant +stream of shot and shells upon the Rebel line. The Washington Artillery, +from New Orleans, is replying from the hill south of Dogan's. Other +Rebel batteries are cutting Burnside's brigade to pieces. The men are +all but ready to fall back before the terrible storm. Burnside sends to +Porter for help,--he asks for the brave old soldiers, the regulars, who +have been true to the flag of their country, while many of their former +officers have been false. They have been long in the service, and have +had many fierce contests with the Indians on the Western plains. They +are as true as steel. Captain Sykes commands them. He leads the way. You +see them, with steady ranks, in the edge of the woods east of Dogan's +house. They have been facing southwest, and now they turn to the +southeast. They pass through the grove of pines, and enter the open +field. They are cut through and through with solid shot, shells burst +around them, men drop from the ranks, but the battalion does not falter. +It sweeps on close up to the cloud of flame and smoke rolling from the +hill north of the turnpike. Their muskets come to a level. There is a +click, click, click, along the line. A broad sheet of flame, a white, +sulphurous cloud, a deep roll like the angry growl of thunder. There is +sudden staggering in the Rebel ranks. Men whirl round, and drop upon the +ground. The line wavers, and breaks. They run down the hill, across the +hollows, to another knoll. There they rally, and hold their ground a +while. Hampton's legion and Cocke's brigade come to their support. +Fugitives are brought back by the officers, who ride furiously over the +field. There is a lull, and then the strife goes on, a rattling fire of +musketry, and a continual booming of the cannonade. + +General Heintzelman's division was in rear of General Hunter's on the +march. When the battle begun the troops were several miles from Sudley +Church. They were parched with thirst, and when they reached the stream +they, too, stopped and filled their canteens. Burnside's and Porter's +brigades were engaged two hours before Heintzelman's division reached +the field. Eight regiments had driven the Rebels from their first +position. + +General Heintzelman marched upon the Rebels west of Dogan's house. The +Rebel batteries were on a knoll, a short distance from the toll-gate. +Griffin and Ricketts opened upon them with their rifled guns. Then came +a great puff of smoke. It was a Rebel caisson blown up by one of +Griffin's shells. It was a continuous, steady artillery fire. The +gunners of the Rebel batteries were swept away by the unerring aim of +Griffin's gunners. They changed position again and again, to avoid the +shot. Mingled with the constant crashing of the cannonade was an +irregular firing of muskets, like the pattering of rain-drops upon a +roof. At times there was a quicker rattle, and heavy rolls, like the +fall of a great building. + +General Wilcox swung his brigade round upon Jackson's flank. The Rebel +general must retreat or be cut off, and he fell back to the toll-gate, +to the turnpike, across it, in confusion, to the ridge by Mrs. Henry's. +Evans's, Bee's, Bartow's, and Cocke's brigades, which have been trying +to hold their ground against Burnside and Porter's brigades, by this +movement are also forced back to Mr. Lewis's house. The Rebels do not +all go back. There are hundreds who rushed up in hot haste in the +morning lying bleeding, torn, mangled, upon the wooded slopes. Some are +prisoners. + +I talked with a soldier of one of the Virginia regiments. We were near +the Stone Bridge. He was a tall, athletic young man, dressed in a gray +uniform trimmed with yellow braid. + +"How many soldiers have you on the field?" I asked. + +"Ninety thousand." + +"Hardly that number, I guess." + +"Yes, sir. We have got Beauregard's and Johnston's armies. Johnston came +yesterday and a whole lot more from Richmond. If you whip us to-day, you +will whip nigh to a hundred thousand." + +"Who is in command?" + +"Jeff Davis." + +"I thought Beauregard was in command." + +"Well, he was; but Jeff Davis is on the field now. I know it; for I saw +him just before I was captured. He was on a white horse." + +While talking, a shell screamed over our heads and fell in the woods. +The Rebel batteries had opened again upon our position. Another came, +and we were compelled to leave the spot. + +The prisoner may have been honest in his statements. It requires much +judgment to correctly estimate large armies. He was correct in saying +that Jeff Davis was there. He was on the ground, watching the progress +of the battle, but taking no part. He arrived in season to see the close +of the contest. + +After Burnside and Porter had driven Evans, Bee, and Bartow across the +turnpike, General Sherman and General Keyes crossed Bull Run above the +Stone Bridge and moved straight down the stream. Schenck's brigade and +Ayer's and Carlisle's batteries were left to guard the rear. + +Perhaps you had a brother or a father in the Second New Hampshire, or in +the Seventy-first New York, or in some other regiment; or perhaps when +the war is over you may wish to visit the spot and behold the ground +where the first great battle was fought. You will wish to see just where +they stood. Looking, then, along the line at one o'clock, you see +nearest the stream General Keyes's brigade, composed of the First, +Second, and Third Connecticut regiments and the Fourth Maine. Next is +Sherman's brigade, composed of the Sixty-ninth and Seventy-ninth New +York Militia, the Thirteenth New York Volunteers, and the Second +Wisconsin. Between these and the toll-gate you see first, as you go +west, Burnside's brigade, composed of the First and Second Rhode Island, +the Seventy-first New York Militia, and the Second New Hampshire, and +the Second Rhode Island battery; extending to the toll-house is Porter's +brigade. He has Sykes's battalion of regulars, and the Eighth and +Fourteenth regiments of New York Militia and Arnold's battery. Crossing +the road which comes down from Sudley Springs, you see General +Franklin's brigade, containing the Fifth Massachusetts Militia, the +First Minnesota Volunteers, and the Fourth Pennsylvania Militia. Next +you come to the men from Maine and Vermont, the Second, Fourth, and +Fifth Maine, and the Second Vermont, General Howard's brigade. Beyond, +upon the extreme right, is General Wilcox with the First Michigan and +the Eleventh New York. Griffin's and Rickett's batteries are near at +hand. There are twenty-four regiments and twenty-four pieces of +artillery. There are two companies of cavalry. If we step over to the +house of Mr. Lewis, we shall find General Johnston and General +Beauregard in anxious consultation. General Johnston has sent officers +in hot haste for reinforcements. Brigades are arriving out of +breath,--General Cocke's, Holmes's, Longstreet's, Earley's. Broken +regiments, fragments of companies, and stragglers are collected and +brought into line. General Bonham's brigade is sent for. All but General +Ewell's and General Jones's; they are left to prevent General Miles from +crossing at Blackburn's Ford and attacking the Rebel army in the rear. +General Johnston feels that it is a critical moment. He has been driven +nearly two miles. His flank has been turned. His loss has been very +great, and his troops are beginning to be disheartened. They have +changed their opinions of the Yankees. + +General Johnston has Barley's brigade, composed of the Seventh and +Twenty-fourth Virginia, and the Seventh Louisiana; Jackson's brigade, +composed of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-seventh, and Thirty-third +Virginia, and the Thirteenth Mississippi; Bee's and Bartow's brigades +united, composed of two companies of the Eleventh Mississippi, Second +Mississippi, First Alabama, Seventh and Eighth Georgia; Cocke's brigade, +the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-eighth Virginia, seven companies +of the Eighth, and three of the Forty-ninth Virginia; Evans's brigade, +composed of Hampton's legion, Fourth South Carolina, and Wheat's +Louisiana battalion; Holmes's brigade, composed of two regiments of +Virginia infantry, the First Arkansas, and the Second Tennessee. Two +regiments of Bonham's brigade, and Elzey's brigade were brought in +before the conflict was over. Putting the detached companies into +regiments, Johnston's whole force engaged in this last struggle is +thirty-five regiments of infantry, and about forty pieces of artillery, +all gathered upon the ridge by Mr. Lewis's and Mrs. Henry's. + +There is marching to and fro of regiments. There is not much order. +Regiments are scattered. The lines are not even. This is the first +battle, and officers and men are inexperienced. There are a great many +stragglers on both sides; more, probably, from the Rebel ranks than from +McDowell's army, for thus far the battle has gone against them. You can +see them scattered over the fields, beyond Mr. Lewis's. + +The fight goes on. The artillery crashes louder than before. There is a +continuous rattle of musketry. It is like the roaring of a hail-storm. +Sherman and Keyes move down to the foot of the hill, near Mr. Lewis's. +Burnside and Porter march across the turnpike. Franklin and Howard and +Wilcox, who have been pushing south, turn towards the southeast. There +are desperate hand-to-hand encounters. Cannon are taken and retaken. +Gunners on both sides are shot while loading their pieces. Hundreds +fall, and other hundreds leave the ranks. The woods toward Sudley +Springs are filled with wounded men and fugitives, weak, thirsty, +hungry, exhausted, worn down by the long morning march, want of sleep, +lack of food, and the excitement of the hour. + +Across the plains, towards Manassas, are other crowds,--disappointed, +faint-hearted, defeated soldiers, fleeing for safety. + +"We are defeated!" + +"Our regiments are cut to pieces!" + +"General Bartow is wounded and General Bee is killed!" + +Thus they cry, as they hasten towards Manassas.[3] Officers and men in +the Rebel ranks feel that the battle is all but lost. Union officers and +men feel that it is almost won. + +[Footnote 3: Rebel reports in Rebellion Record.] + +The Rebel right wing, far out upon the turnpike, has been folded back +upon the centre; the centre has been driven in upon the left wing, and +the left wing has been pushed back beyond Mr. Lewis's house. Griffin's +and Rickett's batteries, which had been firing from the ridge west of +the toll-gate, were ordered forward to the knoll from which the Rebel +batteries had been driven. + +"It is too far in advance," said General Griffin. + +"The Fire Zouaves will support you," said General Barry. + +"It is better to have them go in advance till we come into position; +then they can fall back," Griffin replied. + +"No; you are to move first, those are the orders. The Zouaves are +already to follow on the double-quick." + +"I will go; but, mark my words, they will not support me." + +The battery galloped over the fields, descended the hill, crossed the +ravine, advancing to the brow of the hill near Mrs. Henry's, followed by +Rickett's battery, the Fire Zouaves, and the Fourteenth New York. In +front of them, about forty or fifty rods distant, were the Rebel +batteries, supported by infantry. Griffin and Ricketts came into +position, and opened a fire so terrible and destructive that the Rebel +batteries and infantry were driven beyond the crest of the hill. + +The field was almost won. Read what General Johnston says: "The long +contest against fivefold odds, and heavy losses, especially of field +officers, had greatly discouraged the troops of General Bee and Colonel +Evans. The aspect of affairs was critical." + +The correspondent of the Charleston Mercury writes: "When I entered on +the field at two o'clock, the fortunes of the day were dark. The +remnants of the regiments, so badly injured or wounded and worn, as they +staggered out gave gloomy pictures of the scene. We could not be routed, +perhaps, but it is doubtful whether we were destined to a victory." + +The correspondent of the Richmond Despatch writes: "Fighting for hours +under a hot sun, without a drop of water near, the conduct of our men +could not be excelled; but human endurance has its bounds, _and all +seemed about to be lost_." + +The battle surges around the house of Mrs. Henry. She is lying there +amidst its thunders. Rebel sharpshooters take possession of it, and pick +off Rickett's gunners. He turns his guns upon the house. Crash! crash! +crash! It is riddled with grape and canister. Sides, roof, doors, and +windows are pierced, broken, and splintered. The bed-clothes are cut +into rags, and the aged woman instantly killed. The Rebel regiments melt +away. The stream of fugitives toward Manassas grows more dense. Johnston +has had more men and more guns engaged than McDowell; but he has been +steadily driven. But Rebel reinforcements arrive from an unexpected +quarter,--General Smith's brigade, from the Shenandoah. It comes into +action in front of Wilcox. There are from two to three thousand men. +General Smith is wounded almost at the first fire, and Colonel Elzey +takes command. General Bonham sends two regiments, the Second and Eighth +South Carolina. They keep south of Mrs. Henry's, and march on till they +are in position to fire almost upon the backs of Griffin's and Rickett's +gunners. They march through a piece of woods, reach the top of the hill, +and come into line. Captain Imboden, of the Rebel battery, who is +replying to Griffin, sees them. Who are they? He thinks they are Yankees +flanking him. He wheels his guns, and is ready to cut them down with +grape and canister. Captain Griffin sees them, and wheels his guns. +Another instant, and he will sweep them away. He believes them to be +Rebels. His gunners load with grape and canister. + +"Do not fire upon them; they are your supports!" shouts Major Barry, +riding up. + +"No, sir; they are Rebels." + +"They are your supports, just ordered up." + +"As sure as the world, they are Rebels." + +"You are mistaken, Captain; they are your supports." + +The cannoneers stand ready to pull the lanyards, which will send a +tornado through those ranks. + +"Don't fire!" shouts the Captain. + +The guns are wheeled again towards Mrs. Henry's, and the supposed +supports are saved from destruction at the hand of Captain Griffin. + +Captain Imboden, before ordering his men to fire upon the supposed +Yankees, gallops nearer to them, to see who they are. He sees them raise +their guns. There is a flash, a rattle and roll. Griffin's and Rickett's +men and their horses go down in an instant! They rush on with a yell. +There is sharp, hot, decisive work. Close musket-shots and +sabre-strokes. Men are trampled beneath the struggling horses. + +There are shouts and hurrahs. The few soldiers remaining to support +Griffin and Rickett fire at the advancing Rebel brigade, but the contest +is unequal; they are not able to hold in check the three thousand fresh +troops. They fall back. The guns are in the hands of the Rebels. The day +is lost. At the very moment of victory the line is broken. In an instant +all is changed. A moment ago we were pressing on, but now we are falling +back. Quick almost as the lightning's flash is the turning of the tide. +All through a mistake! So great events sometimes hang on little things. + +The unexpected volley, the sudden onset, the vigorous charge, the +falling back, produces confusion in the Union ranks. Officers and men, +generals and soldiers alike, are confounded. By a common impulse they +begin to fall back across the turnpike. Unaccountably to themselves, and +to the Rebel fugitives streaming towards Manassas, they lose strength +and heart. The falling back becomes a retreat, a sudden panic and a +rout. Regiments break and mix with others. Soldiers drop their guns and +cartridge-boxes, and rush towards the rear. + +I had watched the tide of battle through the day. Everything was +favorable. The heat was intense, and I was thirsty. A soldier came past +with a back-load of canteens freshly filled. + +[Illustration: BULL RUN BATTLE-GROUND, July 21, 1861. + + 1 Stone Bridge. + 2 Sudley Springs. + 3 Toll-gate kept by Mr. Mathey. + 4 Mr. Dogan's house. + 5 Mrs. Henry's. + 6 Mr. Lewis's. + 7 Wilcox's, Howard's, and Franklin's + brigades. + 8 Porter's and Burnside's brigades. + 9 Sherman's and Keyes's brigades. + 10 Griffin's and Rickett's batteries. + 11 Rebel reinforcements which fired upon + Griffin. + 12 Position of Rebel army when the + Union line gave way. + 13 Ridge where the battle began.] + +"Where did you find the water?" + +"Over there in the woods, in the rear of Schenck's brigade." + +I passed the brigade. Ayers's and Carlisle's batteries were there. I +found the spring beyond a little hillock. While drinking, there was +sudden confusion in Schenck's brigade. There was loud talking, cannon +and musketry firing, and a sudden trampling of horses. A squadron of +Rebel cavalry swept past within a few rods of the spring, charging upon +Schenck's brigade. The panic tide had come rolling to the rear. Ayers +lashed his horses to a gallop, to reach Cub Run bridge. He succeeded in +crossing it. He came into position to open upon the Rebels and to check +their pursuit. The road was blocked with wagons. Frightened teamsters +cut their horses loose and rode away. Soldiers, officers, and civilians +fled towards Centreville, frightened at they knew not what. Blenker's +brigade was thrown forward from Centreville to the bridge, and the rout +was stopped. The Rebels were too much exhausted, too much amazed at the +sudden and unaccountable breaking and fleeing of McDowell's army, to +improve the advantage. They followed to Cub Run bridge, but a few cannon +and musket shots sent them back to the Stone Bridge. + +But at Blackburn's Ford General Jones crossed the stream to attack the +retreating troops. General Davies, with four regiments and Hunt's +battery, occupied the crest of a hill looking down towards the ford. The +Rebels marched through the woods upon the bank of the stream, wound +along the hillside, filed through a farm-yard and halted in a hollow +within a quarter of a mile of General Davies's guns. + +[Illustration: FIGHT AT BLACKBURN'S FORD, July 21, 1863. + + 1 Blackburn's Ford. + 2 Mitchell's Ford. + 3 Rebel troops. + 4 Davies's brigade and batteries. + 5 Richardson's brigade.] + +"Lie down," said the General, and the four regiments dropped upon the +ground. The six cannon and the gunners alone were in sight. + +"Wait till they come over the crest of the hill; wait till I give the +word," said the General to Captain Hunt. + +The men stand motionless by their pieces. The long column of Rebels +moves on. There is an officer on his horse giving directions. The long +dark line throws its lengthening shadows upward in the declining +sunlight, toward the silent cannon. + +"Now let them have it!" The guns are silent no longer. Six flashes of +light, and six sulphurous clouds are belched towards the moving mass. +Grape and canister sweep them down. The officer tumbles from his horse, +and the horse staggers to the earth. There are sudden gaps in the ranks. +They stop advancing. Officers run here and there. Another merciless +storm,--another,--another. Eighteen flashes a minute from those six +pieces! Like grass before the mower the Rebel line is cut down. The men +flee to the woods, utterly routed. + +The attempt to cut off the retreat signally failed. It was the last +attempt of the Rebels to follow up their mysterious victory. The +rear-guard remained in Centreville till morning recovering five cannon +which had been abandoned at Cub Run, which the Rebels had not secured, +and then retired to Arlington. + +So the battle was won and lost. So the hopes of the Union soldiers +changed to sudden, unaccountable fear, and so the fear of the Rebels +became unbounded exultation. + +The sun had gone down behind the Blue Mountains, and the battle-clouds +hung thick and heavy along the winding stream where the conflict had +raged. It was a sad night to us who had gone out with such high hopes, +who had seen the victory so nearly won and so suddenly lost. Many of our +wounded were lying where they had fallen. It was a terrible night to +them. Their enemies, some of them, were hard-hearted and cruel. They +fired into the hospitals upon helpless men. They refused them water to +quench their burning thirst. They taunted them in their hour of triumph, +and heaped upon them bitterest curses. They were wild with the delirium +of success, and treated their prisoners with savage barbarity. Any one +who showed kindness to the prisoners or wounded was looked upon with +suspicion. Says an English officer in the Rebel service:--[4] + +[Footnote 4: Estvan.] + + "I made it my duty to seek out and attend upon the wounded, + and the more so when I found that the work of alleviating + their sufferings was performed with evident reluctance and + want of zeal by many of those whose duty it was to do it. I + looked upon the poor fellows only as suffering + fellow-mortals, brothers in need of help, and made no + distinction between friend and foe; nay, I must own that I + was prompted to give the preference to the latter, for the + reason that some of our men met with attention from their + relations and friends, who had flocked to the field in + numbers to see them. But in doing so I had to encounter + opposition, and was even pointed at by some with muttered + curses as a traitor to the cause of the Confederacy for + bestowing any attention on the d---- Yankees." + +Notwithstanding the inhuman treatment they received at the hands of +their captors, there were men on that field who never quailed,--men with +patriotism so fervent, deep, and unquenchable, that they lay down +cheerfully to their death-sleep. This officer in the Rebel service went +out upon the field where the fight had been thickest. It was night. +Around him were the dying and the dead. There was a young Union officer, +with both feet crushed by a cannon-shot. There were tears upon his +cheeks. + +"Courage, comrade!" said the officer, bending over him; "the day will +come when you will remember this battle as one of the things of the +past." + +"Do not give me false hopes, sir. It is all up with me. I do not grieve +that I must die, for with these stumps I shall not live long." + +He pointed to his mangled feet, and added: "_I weep for my poor, +distracted country. Had I a second life to live, I would willingly +sacrifice it for the cause of the Union!_" + +His eyes closed. A smile lighted his countenance, as if, while on the +border of another world, he saw once more those who were dearest on +earth or in heaven. He raised himself convulsively, and cried, "Mother! +Father!" + +He was dead. + +He sleeps upon the spot where he fell. His name is unknown, but his +devotion to his country shall shine forevermore like a star in heaven! + +When the Union line gave way, some of the soldiers were so stupefied by +the sudden change that they were unable to move, and were taken +prisoners. Among them was a Zouave, in red trousers. He was a tall, +noble fellow. Although a prisoner, he walked erect, unabashed by his +captivity. A Virginian taunted him, and called him by hard names. + +"Sir," said the Zouave, "I have heard that yours was a nation of +gentlemen, but your insult comes from a coward and a knave. I am your +prisoner, but you have no right to fling your curses at me because I am +unfortunate. Of the two, I consider myself the gentleman."[5] + +[Footnote 5: Charleston Mercury.] + +The Virginian hung his head in silence, while other Rebel soldiers +assured the brave fellow that he should not again be insulted. So +bravery, true courage, and manliness will win respect even from enemies. + +No accurate reports have been made of the number of men killed and +wounded in this battle; but each side lost probably from fifteen hundred +to two thousand men. + +It was a battle which will always have a memorable place in the history +of this Rebellion, because having won a victory, the slaveholders +believed that they could conquer the North. They became more proud and +insolent. They manifested their terrible hate by their inhuman treatment +of the prisoners captured. They gave the dead indecent burial. The Rebel +soldiers dug up the bones of the dead Union men, and carved them into +ornaments, which they sent home to their wives and sweethearts. One girl +wrote to her lover to "be sure and bring her Old Lincoln's _skelp_" +(scalp), so that the women as well as the men became fierce in their +hatred. I have seen the letter, which was found upon a prisoner. + +The North, although defeated, was not discouraged. There was no thought +of giving up the contest, but, as you remember, there was a great +uprising of the people, who determined that the war should go on till +the Rebellion was crushed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY. + + +Tennessee joined the Southern Confederacy, but Kentucky resisted all the +coaxing, threatening, and planning of the leaders of the Rebellion. Some +Kentuckians talked of remaining neutral, of taking no part in the great +contest; but that was not possible. The Rebels invaded the State, by +sailing up the Mississippi and taking possession of Columbus,--a town +twenty miles below the mouth of the Ohio. They also advanced from +Nashville to Bowling Green. Then the State decided for the Union,--to +stand by the old flag till the Rebellion should be crushed. + +The Rebels erected two forts on the northern line of Tennessee. Looking +at your map, you see that the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers are near +together where they enter the State of Kentucky. They are not more than +twelve miles apart. The fort on the Tennessee River was named Fort +Henry, the one on the Cumberland, Fort Donelson. A good road was cut +through the woods between them, so that troops and supplies could be +readily removed from one to the other. Fort Henry was on the eastern +bank of the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on the western bank of the +Cumberland. They were very important places to the Rebels, for at high +water in the winter the rivers are navigable for the largest +steamboats,--the Cumberland to Nashville and the Tennessee to Florence, +in Northern Alabama,--and it would be very easy to transport an army +from the Ohio River to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. The +forts were built to prevent any such movement of the Union troops. + +[Illustration: THE FORTS.] + +The bluffs of the Mississippi River at Columbus are two hundred feet +high. There the Rebels erected strong batteries, planting heavy guns, +with which they could sweep the Mississippi far up stream, and pour +plunging shots with unobstructed aim upon any descending gunboat. They +called it a Gibraltar, because of its strength. They said it could not +be taken, and that the Mississippi was closed to navigation till the +independence of the Southern Confederacy was acknowledged. + +Early in the war it was seen that a fleet of gunboats would be needed on +the Western rivers, and Captain Andrew H. Foote of the navy was placed +in charge of their construction. They were built at Cincinnati and St. +Louis, and taken to Cairo, where they received their armament, crews, +and outfit. + +You have heard of Cairo. I do not mean the ancient city on the banks of +the Nile, but the modern town on the tongue of land at the mouth of the +Ohio. Charles Dickens has given a description of the place in one of his +delightful books,--Martin Chuzzlewit. It was a forest, with a few +log-huts, when Mark Tapley resided there, and all the people were +smitten with fever and ague. It is a town now, with several thousand +inhabitants. In the spring the town is sometimes overflowed, and the +people navigate the streets with boats and rafts. Pigs look out of the +chamber windows, and dogs, cats, and chickens live on the roofs of +houses at such times. + +Let us take a look at the place as it appeared the first day of +February, 1862. Stand with me on the levee, and look up the broad +Ohio,--the "la belle riviere," as the French called it. There are from +fifty to a hundred steamboats lying along the bank, with volumes of +black smoke rolling up from their tall chimneys, and puffs of steam +vanishing in the air. Among them are the gunboats,--a cross between a +floating fort, a dredging-machine, and a mud-scow. The sailors, who have +been tossed upon the ocean in stately ships, call them mud-_turkles_. +There are thousands of soldiers on the steamboats and on the shore, +waiting for the sailing of the expedition which is to make an opening in +the line of Rebel defences. There are thousands of people busy as bees, +loading and unloading the steamboats, rolling barrels and boxes. + +When Mark Tapley and Martin Chuzzlewit were here it was muddy, and it is +muddy now. There is fine, thin, sticky, slimy, splashy, thick, heavy, +dirty mud. Thousands of men and thousands of mules and horses are +treading it to mortar. It is mixed with slops from the houses and straw +from the stables. You are reminded of the Slough of Despond described by +Bunyan in the Pilgrim's Progress,--a place for all the filth, sin, and +slime of this world. Christian was mired there, and Pliable nearly lost +his life. If Bunyan had seen Cairo, he might have made the picture still +more graphic. There are old houses, shanties, sheds, stables, pig-sties, +wood-piles, carts, wagons, barrels, boxes, and all the old things you +can imagine. Pigs live in the streets, and there are irrepressible +conflicts between them and the hundreds of dogs. Water-carts, drays, +army-wagons, and artillery go hub deep in the mud. Horses tug and +strive, rear, kick, and flounder. Teamsters lose their footing. Soldiers +wade leg deep in the street. There are sidewalks, but they are slippery, +dangerous, and deceptive. + +It is Sunday. A sweet day of rest in peaceful times, but in war there is +not much observance of the Sabbath. It is midwinter, but a south-wind +sweeps up the Mississippi, so mild and balmy that the blue-birds and +robins are out. The steamboats are crowded with troops, who are waiting +for orders to sail, they know not where. Groups stand upon the topmost +deck. Some lie at full length in the warm sunshine. The bands are +playing, the drums beating. Tug-boats are dancing, wheezing, and puffing +in the stream, flitting from gunboat to gunboat. + +The shops are open, and the soldiers are purchasing +knickknacks,--tobacco, pipes, paper, and pens, to send letters to loved +ones far away. At a gingerbread stall, a half-dozen are taking a lunch. +The oyster-saloons are crowded. Boys are crying their newspapers. There +are laughable and solemn scenes. Yonder is the hospital. A file of +soldiers stand waiting in the street. A coffin is brought out. The fife +begins its mournful air, the drum its muffled beat. The procession moves +away, bearing the dead soldier to his silent home. + +A few months ago he was a citizen, cultivating his farm upon the +prairies, ploughing, sowing, reaping. But now the great reaper, Death, +has gathered him in. He had no thought of being a soldier; but he was a +patriot, and when his country called him he sprang to her aid. He +yielded to disease, but not to the enemy. He was far from home and +friends, with none but strangers to minister to his wants, to comfort +him, to tell him of a better world than this. He gave his life to his +country. + +Although there is the busy note of preparation for the sailing of the +fleet, there are some who remember that it is Sunday, and who find time +to worship. The church-bells toll the hour. You tuck your pants into +your boots, and pick your way along the slippery, slimy streets. There +are a few ladies who brave the mud, wearing boots suited to the walking. +Boots which have not been blacked for a fortnight are just as shiny as +those cleaned but an hour ago. At the door of the church you do as +everybody else does,--take a chip and scrape off the mud. + +Half of the congregation are from the army and navy. Commodore Foote is +there, a devout worshipper. Before coming to church he visited each +gunboat of his fleet, called the crews together, read to them his +general orders, that no unnecessary work should be done on the Sabbath, +and enjoining upon the commanders the duty of having worship, and of +maintaining a high moral character before the men. + +Let us on Monday accept the kind invitation of Commodore Foote, and go +on board the Benton, his flag-ship, and make an inspection of the +strange-looking craft. It is unlike anything you ever saw at Boston or +New York. It is like a great box on a raft. The sides are inclined, made +of stout oak timbers and plated with iron. You enter through a porthole, +where you may lay your hand upon the iron lips of a great gun, which +throws a ball nine inches in diameter. There are fourteen guns, with +stout oaken carriages. The men are moving about, exercising the +guns,--going through the motions of loading and firing. How clean the +floor! It is as white as soap and sand can make it. You must not spit +tobacco-juice here, if you do, the courteous officer will say you are +violating the rules. In the centre of the boat, down beneath the +gun-deck in the hull, are the engines and the boilers, partly protected +from any shot which may happen to come in at a porthole, or which may +tear through the sides,--through the iron and the oak. Near the centre +is the wheel. The top of the box, or the _casemate_, as it is called, is +of oak timbers, and forms the upper deck. The pilot-house is on this +upper deck, forward of the centre. In shape it is like a tunnel turned +down. It is plated with thick iron. There, in the hour of battle, the +pilot will be, peeping out through narrow holes, his hands grasping the +wheel and steering the vessel. + +Its guns, which the sailors call its battery, are very powerful. There +are two nine-inch guns, and also two sixty-four-pounders, rifled, at the +bow. There are two forty-two-pounders at the stern, and those upon the +side are thirty-twos and twenty-fours. There are rooms for the officers, +but the men sleep in hammocks. They take their meals sitting on the +gun-carriages, or cross-legged, like Turks, on the floor. + +Captain Foote is the Commodore of the fleet. He points out to you the +_Sacred Place_ of the ship,--a secluded corner, where any one of the +crew who loves to read his Bible and hold secret devotion may do so, and +not be disturbed. He has given a library of good books to the crew, and +he has persuaded them that it will be better for them to give up their +allowance of grog than to drink it. He walks among the men, and has a +kind word for all, and they look upon him as their father. They have +confidence in him. How lustily they cheer him! Will they not fight +bravely under such a commander? + + * * * * * + +On Monday afternoon, February 2d, the gunboats Cincinnati, Essex, St. +Louis, Carondelet, Lexington, Tyler, and Conestoga sailed from Cairo, +accompanied by several river steamboats with ten regiments of troops. +They went up the Ohio to Paducah, and entered the Tennessee River at +dark. The next morning, about daylight, they anchored a few miles below +Fort Henry. Commodore Foote made the Cincinnati his flag-ship. + +A party of scouts went on shore and called at a farm-house. "You never +will take Fort Henry," said the woman living there. + +"O yes, we shall; we have a fleet of iron-clad gunboats," said one of +the scouts. + +"Your gunboats will be blown sky-high before they get up to the fort." + +"Ah! how so?" + +The woman saw that she was letting out a secret, and became silent. The +scouts mistrusted that she knew something which might be desirable for +them to know, and informed her that, unless she told all she knew, she +must go with them a prisoner. She was frightened, and informed them that +the river was full of torpedoes, which would blow up the gunboats. + +The scouts reported to Commodore Foote. The river was searched with +grappling-irons, and six infernal machines were fished up; but they were +imperfectly constructed, and not one of them would explode. + +Looking up the river from the deck of one of Commodore Foote's gunboats +you see Panther Island, which is a mile from the fort. It is a long, +narrow sand-bank, covered with a thicket of willows. There is the fort +on the eastern bank. You see an irregular pile of earth, about fifteen +feet above the river, with sand-bag embrasures, which at first sight you +think are blocks of stone, but they are grain-sacks filled with sand. +You count the guns, seventeen in all. One ten-inch columbiad, one +sixty-pounder, twelve thirty-two-pounders, one twenty-four-pounder, and +two twelve-pounders. They are nearly all pivoted, so that they may be +pointed down the river against the boats or inland upon the troops. The +river is nearly a half-mile wide, and on the opposite bank is another +fort, not yet completed. All around Fort Henry you see rifle-pits and +breastworks, enclosing twenty or thirty acres. Above and below the fort +are creeks. The tall trees are cut down to obstruct the way, or to form +an _abatis_, as it is called. It will not be an easy matter to take the +fort from the land side. Inside these intrenchments is the Rebel +camp,--log-huts and tents, with accommodations for several thousand men. + +Commodore Foote has planned how to take the fort. He is confident that +he can shell the Rebels out just as you can pound rats from a barrel or +a box, and if General Grant will get in rear and watch his opportunity, +they will all be caught. + +General Grant lands two brigades of troops on the west side of the +river, and three brigades on the east side, about four miles below the +fort. Those on the west side are to look after any Rebels which may be +in or around the unfinished fort, while those upon the east side, under +General McClernand, work their way through the woods to gain the rear of +the fort. This is the order to General McClernand:-- + + "It will be the special duty of this command to prevent all + reinforcements of Fort Henry or escape from it. Also to be + held in readiness to charge and take Fort Henry by storm, + promptly on receipt of orders." + +General Grant and Commodore Foote agreed that the gunboats should +commence the attack at twelve o'clock. + +"I shall take the fort in about an hour," said the Commodore. "I shall +commence firing when I reach the head of Panther Island, and it will +take me about an hour to reach the fort, for I shall steam up slowly. I +am afraid, General, that the roads are so bad the troops will not get +round in season to capture the enemy. I shall take the fort before you +get into position." + +General Grant thought otherwise; but the roads were very muddy, and when +the engagement commenced the troops were far from where they ought to +have been. + +Commodore Foote had prepared his instructions to the officers and crews +of the gunboats several days before. They were brief and plain. + +"The four iron-clad boats--the Essex, Carondelet, St. Louis, and +Cincinnati--will keep in line. The Conestoga, Lexington, and Tyler +will follow the iron-clads, and throw shells over those in advance." + +To the commanders he said:-- + +"_Do just as I do!_" + +Addressing the crews, he said:-- + +"Fire slowly, and with deliberate aim. There are three reasons why you +should not fire rapidly. With rapid firing there is always a waste of +ammunition. Your range is imperfect, and your shots go wide of the mark, +and that encourages the enemy; and it is desirable not to heat the guns. +If you fire slowly and deliberately, you will keep cool yourselves, and +make every shot tell." + +With such instructions, with all things ready,--decks cleared for +action, guns run out, shot and shell brought up from the magazines and +piled on deck,--confident of success, and determined to take the fort or +go to the bottom, he waited the appointed hour. + +The gunboats steam up slowly against the current, that the troops may +have time to get into position in rear of the Rebel intrenchments. They +take the channel on the west side of the island. The Essex is on the +right of the battle line, nearest the island. Her Commander is William +D. Porter, who comes from good stock. It was his father who commanded +the Essex in the war with Great Britain in 1813, and who fought most +gallantly a superior force,--two British ships, the Phebe and +Cherub,--in the harbor of Valparaiso. + +Next the Essex is the Carondelet, then the Cincinnati,--the flag-ship, +with the brave Commodore on board,--and nearest the western shore the +St. Louis. These are all iron-plated at the bows. Astern is the +Lexington, the Conestoga, and the Tyler. + +[Illustration: FORT HENRY. + + 1 Essex. + 2 Carondelet. + 3 Cincinnati. + 4 St. Louis. + 5 Lexington. + 6 Conestoga. + 7 Tyler. + 8 & 9 Rebel intrenchment.] + +The boats reach the head of the island, and the fort is in full view. It +is thirty-four minutes past twelve o'clock. There is a flash, and a +great creamy cloud of smoke at the bow of the Cincinnati. An eight-inch +shell screams through the air. The gunners watch its course. Their +practised eyes follow its almost viewless flight. Your watch ticks +fifteen seconds before you hear from it. You see a puff of smoke, a +cloud of sand thrown up in the fort, and then hear the explosion. The +commanders of the other boats remember the instructions,--"Do just as I +do!"--and from each vessel a shell is thrown. All fall within the fort, +or in the encampment beyond, which is in sight. You can see the tents, +the log-huts, the tall flagstaff. The fort accepts the challenge, and +instantly the twelve guns which are in position to sweep the river open +upon the advancing boats. The shot and shell plough furrows in the +stream, and throw columns of water high in air. + +Another round from the fleet. Another from the fort. The air is calm, +and the thunder of the cannonade rolls along the valley, reverberating +from hill to hill. Louder and deeper and heavier is the booming, till it +becomes almost an unbroken peal. + +There is a commotion in the Rebel encampment. Men run to and fro. They +curl down behind the stumps and the fallen trees, to avoid the shot. +Their huts are blown to pieces by the shells. You see the logs tossed +like straws into the air. Their tents are torn into paper-rags. The +hissing shells sink deep into the earth, and then there are sudden +upheavals of sand, with smoke and flames, as if volcanoes were bursting +forth. The parapet is cut through. Sand-bags are knocked about. The air +is full of strange, hideous, mysterious, terrifying noises. + +There are seven or eight thousand Rebel soldiers in the rifle-pits +and behind the breastworks of the encampment in line of battle. They +are terror-stricken. Officers and men alike lose all self-control. +They run to escape the fearful storm. They leave arms, ammunition, +tents, blankets, trunks, clothes, books, letters, papers, +pictures,--everything. They pour out of the intrenchments into the road +leading to Dover, a motley rabble. A small steamboat lies in the creek +above the fort. Some rush on board and steam up river with the utmost +speed. Others, in their haste and fear, plunge into the creek and sink +to rise no more. All fly except a brave little band in the fort. + +The gunboats move straight on, slowly and steadily. Their fire is +regular and deliberate. Every shot goes into the fort. The gunners are +blinded and smothered by clouds of sand. The gun-carriages are crushed, +splintered, and overturned. Men are cut to pieces. Something unseen +tears them like a thunderbolt. The fort is full of explosions. The heavy +rifled gun bursts, crushing and killing those who serve it. The +flagstaff is splintered and torn, as by intensest lightning. + +Yet the fort replies. The gunners have the range of the boats, and +nearly every shot strikes the iron plating. They are like the strokes of +sledge-hammers, indenting the sheets, starting the fastenings, breaking +the tough bolts. The Cincinnati receives thirty-one shots, the Essex +fifteen, the St. Louis seven, and the Carondelet six. + +Though struck so often, they move on. The distance lessens. Another gun +is knocked from its carriage in the fort,--another,--another. There are +signs that the contest is about over, that the Rebels are ready to +surrender. But a shot strikes the Essex between the iron plates. It +tears through the oaken timbers and into one of the steam-boilers. There +is a great puff of steam. It pours from the portholes, and the boat is +enveloped in a cloud. She drops out of the line of battle. Her engines +stop and she floats with the stream. Twenty-eight of her crew are +scalded, among them her brave commander. + +The Rebels take courage. They spring to their guns, and fire rapidly and +wildly, hoping and expecting to disable the rest of the fleet. But the +Commodore does not falter; he keeps straight on as if nothing had +happened. An eighty-pound shell from the Cincinnati dismounts a gun, +killing or wounding every gunner. The boats are so near that every shot +is sure to do its work. The fire of the boats increases while the fire +of the fort diminishes. Coolness, determination, energy, perseverance, +and power win the day. The Rebel flag comes down, and the white flag +goes up. They surrender. Cheers ring through the fleet. A boat puts out +from the St. Louis. An officer jumps ashore, climbs the torn embankment, +stands upon the parapet and waves the Stars and Stripes. "Hurrah! +hurrah! hurrah!" You hear it echoing from shore to shore. + +General Lloyd Tilghman commanded in the fort. He went on board the +flag-ship. + +"What terms do you grant me?" he asked. + +"Your surrender must be unconditional, sir. I can grant you no other +terms." + +"Well, sir, if I must surrender, it gives me pleasure to surrender to so +brave an officer as you." + +"You do perfectly right to surrender, sir; but I should not have done it +on any condition." + +"Why so? I do not understand you." + +"Because I was fully determined to capture the fort or go to the +bottom." + +"I thought I had you, Commodore, but you were too much for me." + +"How could you fight against the old flag, General?" + +"Well, it did come hard at first; but if the North had only let us +alone, there would have been no trouble. They would not abide by the +Constitution." + +"You are mistaken, General, and the whole South is mistaken. The North +have always been willing that the South should have all her rights, +under the Constitution. The South began the war, and she will be +responsible for the blood which has been shed to-day." + +Thus, in an hour and twelve minutes, the fort which the Rebels +confidently expected would prevent the gunboats from ascending the river +was forced to surrender, and there was unobstructed water communication +to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. Their line of defence was +broken. + +There was but little loss of life in this engagement,--twenty to thirty +killed and wounded on each side. If the Rebel army had not fled almost +at the first fire, there would have been terrible slaughter. When +Commodore Foote was informed that there were several thousand troops in +the fortifications, said he, "I am sorry for it, because if they stand +their ground there will be great destruction of life from the heavy +shells; for I shall take the fort or sink with the ships." + +If the troops under General Grant had been in position to have +intercepted the Rebel force, the whole panic-stricken crowd would have +been captured, but being delayed by the mud, the fleet-footed Rebels +were far on their way towards Fort Donelson when General Grant reached +the rear of the intrenchments. In their haste and terror the Rebels +abandoned nine pieces of field artillery on the road, and a large supply +of ammunition. + +The battle was fought on Thursday. On Friday Commodore Foote returned to +Cairo, to send his despatches to Washington, also to repair his gunboats +and to see that the poor scalded men on the Essex were well taken care +of. + +I was writing, at Cairo, the account of the battle. It was past midnight +when the Commodore came to my room. He sat down, and told me what I have +written of his plan of the battle, and his talk with General Tilghman. +He could not sit still. He was weary and exhausted with his labors. "I +am afraid, Commodore, that you have overworked. You must have rest and +sleep," I remarked. + +"Yes, I have been obliged to work pretty hard, and need rest, but I +never slept better in my life than night before last, and I never prayed +more fervently than on yesterday morning before going into the battle; +but I couldn't sleep last night for thinking of those poor fellows on +board the Essex," was the reply. + +On Sunday morning he was at church as usual. The minister was late. The +people thought there would be no meeting, and were about to leave the +house. Commodore Foote went to one of the Elders of the church, and +urged him to conduct the worship. The Elder declined. But the Commodore +never let slip an opportunity for doing good. He was always ready to +serve his country and his God. He went into the pulpit, read a chapter, +offered a prayer, and preached a short sermon from the words,--"Let not +your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God; believe also in me." It was +an exhortation for all men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the +Saviour of the world. Some who heard him, as they went home from church, +said that they also believed in Commodore Foote! + +To him belongs the credit not only of taking Fort Henry, but of planning +the expedition. When the true history of this Rebellion is written, you +will see how important a thing it was, how great its results, and you +will admire more and more the sterling patriotism and unswerving +Christian principles of a man who struck this first great blow, and did +so much towards crushing the Rebellion. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. + + +General Grant's plan for taking Fort Donelson was, to move the first and +second divisions of his army across the country, and attack the fort in +the rear, while another division, accompanied by the gunboats, should go +up the Cumberland and attack the fort from that direction. Commodore +Foote informed the General that it was necessary to repair the gunboats +which had been injured before commencing operations; but General Grant +determined to make no delay on that account. Without fully perfecting +his arrangements, or calculating the time needed for the steamboats to +go from Fort Henry down to the Ohio and up the Cumberland, he ordered +the two divisions to march. General Lewis Wallace was left at Fort Henry +with a brigade, while six regiments of his division, the third, were +embarked on the steamboats, which sailed down the Tennessee in fine +style, turning back other boats, and all proceeded up the Cumberland. + +There are steep hills, sandy plains, deep ravines, trickling brooks, and +grand old forest-trees between Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The road +winds along the hillsides, over the plains, and descends into the +ravines. There are but few farm-houses, for the soil is unproductive and +the forests remain almost as they have been for hundreds of years. The +few farmers who reside there live mainly on hog and hominy. They +cultivate a few acres of corn, but keep a great many pigs, which live in +the woods and fatten upon acorns and hickory-nuts. + +The regiments which marched to Fort Donelson bivouacked the first night +beside a stream of water about four miles from Fort Henry. They had no +tents. They had been in barracks at Cairo through December and January, +but now they must lie upon the ground, wrapped in their blankets. The +nights were cold, and the ground was frozen. They cut down the tall +trees and kindled great fires, which roared and crackled in the frosty +air. They scraped the dead leaves into heaps and made them beds. They +saw the pigs in the woods. Crack! crack! went their rifles, and they had +roast sparerib and pork-steaks,--delicious eating to hungry men. The +forest was all aglow with the hundreds of fires. The men told stories, +toasted their toes, looked into the glowing coals, thought perhaps of +home, of the dear ones there, then wrapped their blankets about them and +went to sleep. Out towards Fort Donelson the pickets stood at their +posts and looked into the darkness, watching for the enemy through the +long winter night. But no Rebels appeared. They had been badly +frightened at Fort Henry. They had recovered from their terror, however, +and had determined to make a brave stand at Fort Donelson. They had been +reinforced by a large body of troops from General Albert Sidney +Johnston's army at Bowling Green, in Kentucky, and from General Lee's +army in Virginia. + +General Grant's two divisions, which marched across the country, +numbered about fifteen thousand. There were four brigades in the first +division,--Colonel Oglesby's, Colonel W. H. L. Wallace's, Colonel +McArthur's, and Colonel Morrison's. Colonel Oglesby had the Eighth, +Eighteenth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Illinois +regiments. Colonel Wallace's was composed of the Eleventh, Twentieth, +Forty-fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois regiments. In Colonel McArthur's +were the Second, Ninth, Twelfth, and Forty-first Illinois, and in +Colonel Morrison's the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth Illinois regiments. + +Schwartz's, Taylor's, Dresser's, and McAllister's batteries accompanied +this division. + +There were three brigades in the second division. The first, under the +command of Colonel Cook, was composed of the Seventh Illinois, Twelfth +Iowa, Thirteenth Missouri, and Fifty-second Indiana. + +Colonel Lauman commanded the second brigade, composed of the Second, +Seventh, Fourteenth, and Twenty-eighth Iowa regiments, the Fifty-second +Indiana, and Colonel Birges's regiment of sharpshooters. + +The third brigade, commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, was composed of +the Eighth Missouri and Eleventh Indiana. + +Major Cavender's regiment of Missouri artillery was attached to this +division, composed of three full batteries,--Captain Richardson's, +Captain Stone's, and Captain Walker's. + +The Fourth Illinois cavalry and three or four companies of cavalry were +distributed among the brigades. + +Colonel Birges's sharpshooters were picked men, who had killed many +bears, deer, and wolves in the Western woods. They could take unerring +aim, and bring down a squirrel from the top of the highest trees. They +wore gray uniforms of felt, with close-fitting skull-caps, and +buffalo-skin knapsacks, and a powder-horn. They were swift runners. Each +man carried a whistle. They had signal-calls for advancing, or +retreating, or moving to the right or the left. They glided through the +forests like fleet-footed deer, or crept as stealthily as an Indian +along the ravines and through the thickets. They were tough, hearty, +daring, courageous men. They thought it no great hardship to march all +day, and lie down beside a log at night without supper. They wanted no +better fun than to creep through the underbrush and pick off the Rebels, +whirling in an instant upon their backs after firing a shot, to reload +their rifles. Although attached to Lauman's brigade, they were expected +in battle to go where they could do the most service. + +As you go up the Cumberland River, and approach the town of Dover, you +see a high hill on the west bank. It is crowned with an embankment of +earth, which runs all round the top with many angles. At the foot of the +hill are two other embankments, fifteen or twenty feet above the water. +There are seventeen heavy guns in these works. Two of them throw long +bolts of iron, weighing one hundred and twenty-eight pounds, but most of +the guns are thirty-two-pounders. + +If you go into the batteries and into the fort, and run your eye along +the guns, you will see that all of them can be aimed at a gunboat in the +river. They all point straight down stream, and a concentrated fire can +be poured upon a single boat. The river makes a bend as it approaches +the batteries, so that the boats will be exposed on their bows and +sides. + +A mile above the fort you see the little village of Dover. Beyond the +village a creek comes in. It is high water, and the creek is too deep to +be forded. + +On the south side of the hill, beyond the fort, between the fort and the +village, are log-huts, where the Rebel troops have been encamped through +the winter. A stream of clear running water comes down from the hills +west of the village, where you may fill your canteen. + +Going up the hill into the fort, and out to its northwest angle, you see +that the fortifications which the Rebels have thrown up consist of three +distinct parts,--the fort and the water-batteries, a line of breastworks +west of the village, called field-works, and a line of rifle-pits +outside of the field-works. You begin at the northwest angle of the +fort, face to the southwest, and walk along the field-work which is on +the top of a sharp ridge. The embankment is about four feet high. There +are a great many angles, with embrasures for cannon. You look west from +these embrasures, and see that the ground is much broken. There are +hills and hollows, thick brush and tall trees. In some places the trees +have been cut down to form an _abatis_, an obstruction, the limbs lopped +off and interlocked. + +[Illustration: FORT DONELSON. + + 1 The Fort. + 2 Field-works. + 3 8 Rifle-pits. + 4 Town of Dover. + 5 Log-huts. + 6 Water-batteries. + 7 General McClernand's division. + 8 General Lewis Wallace's division. + 9 General Smith's division. + 10 General Grant's Head-quarters. + 11 Gunboats. + 12 Light Creek.] + +As you walk on, you come to the Fort Henry and Dover road. Crossing +that, instead of walking southwest, you make a gradual turn towards the +southeast, and come to another road, which leads from Dover southwest +towards Clarksville and Nashville. Crossing that, you come to the creek +which empties into the Cumberland just above the town. The distance from +the creek back to the fort, along the line of breastworks, is nearly two +miles. Going back once more to the northwest angle of the fort, you see +that the slope of the hill is very steep outside the works. You go down +the slope, planting your feet into the earth to keep from tumbling +headlong. When you reach the bottom of the ravine you do not find a +level piece of ground, but ascend another ridge. It is not as high as +the ridge along which you have travelled to take a view of the works. +The slope of this outer ridge runs down to a meadow. The Rebels have cut +down the tall trees, and made a line of rifle-pits. The logs are piled +one above another, as the backwoodsman builds a log-fence. There is a +space five or six inches wide between the upper log and the one below +it. They have dug a trench behind, and the dirt is thrown outside. + +The Rebel riflemen can lie in the trench, and fire through the space +between the logs upon the Union troops if they attempt to advance upon +the works. You look down this outer slope. It is twenty rods to the +bottom, and it is covered with fallen trees. You think it almost +impossible to climb over such a hedge and such obstructions. You see a +cleared field at the base of the hill, and a farm-house beyond the +field, on the Fort Henry road, which is General Grant's head-quarters. +The whole country is broken into hills, knolls, and ridges. It reminds +you of the waves you have seen on the ocean or on the lakes in a storm. + +General Floyd, who was Secretary of War under Buchanan, and who stole +all the public property he could lay his hands on while in office, +commanded the Rebel forces. He arrived on the 13th. General Pillow and +Brigadier-General Johnson were placed in command of the troops on the +Rebel left wing west of the town. General Buckner commanded those in the +vicinity of the fort. General Floyd had the Third, Tenth, Eighteenth, +Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth, Thirty-second, Forty-first, Forty-second, +Forty-Eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty-first, and Fifty-third +regiments of Tennessee troops, the Second and Eighth Kentucky, the +First, Third, Fourth, Fourteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-sixth +Mississippi regiments, the Seventh Texas, Fifteenth and Twenty-seventh +Alabama, the Thirty-sixth, Fiftieth, Fifty-first, and Fifty-sixth +Virginia, also two battalions of Tennessee infantry, and a brigade of +cavalry. He had Murray's, Porter's, Graves's, Maney's, Jackson's, Guy's, +Ross's, and Green's batteries, in all about twenty-three thousand men, +with forty-eight pieces of field artillery, and seventeen heavy guns in +the fort and water-batteries. + +General Grant knew but little of the ground, or the fortifications, or +of the Rebel forces, but he pushed boldly on. + +On the morning of the 12th the troops left their bivouac, where they had +enjoyed their roast spareribs and steaks, and marched towards the fort. +The cavalry swept the country, riding through the side roads and +foot-paths, reconnoitring the ground, and searching for Rebel pickets. + +Soon after noon they came in sight of the Rebel encampments. The ground +was thoroughly examined. No Rebels were found outside the works, but +upon the hills within the intrenchments dark masses of men could be +seen, some busily at work with axes and shovels. Regiments were taking +positions for the expected attack; but it was already evening, and the +advancing army rested for the night. + + +THURSDAY. + +The night had been cold, but on the morning of the 13th there were +breezes from the southwest, so mild and warm that the spring birds came. +The soldiers thought that the winter was over. The sky was cloudless. +All the signs promised a pleasant day. The troops were early +awake,--replenishing the fading fires, and cooking breakfasts. With the +dawn the sharpshooters and pickets began their work. There was a +rattling musket-fire in the ravines. + +Before the sun rose the Rebel batteries began throwing shells across the +ravines and hills, aiming at the camp-fires of Colonel Oglesby's +brigade. Instantly the camp was astir. The men fell into line with a +hurrah, the cannoneers sprang to their guns, all waiting for the orders. + +The clear, running brook which empties into the Cumberland between Dover +and Fort Donelson winds through a wide valley. It divides the Rebel +field-works into two parts,--those west of the town and those west of +the fort. The road from Fort Henry to Dover crosses the valley in a +southeast direction. As you go towards the town, you see at your left +hand, on the hill, through the branches of the trees, the Rebel +breastworks, and you are almost within musket-shot. + +General McClernand moved his division down the Dover road, while General +Smith remained opposite the northwest angle of the fort. Oglesby's +brigade had the advance, followed by nearly all of the division. The +batteries moved along the road, but the troops marched through the woods +west of the road. The artillery came into position on the hills about a +half-mile from the breastworks, and opened fire,--Taylor, Schwartz, and +Dresser west of the town, and Cavender, with his heavy guns, west of the +fort. + +The Rebel batteries began a furious fire. Their shells were excellently +aimed. One struck almost at the feet of Major Cavender as he was +sighting a gun, but it did not disturb him. He took deliberate aim, and +sent shell after shell whizzing into the fort. Another shot fell just in +rear of his battery. A third burst overhead. Another struck one of +Captain Richardson's men in the breast, whirling him into the air, +killing him instantly. + +Major Cavender moved his pieces, and then returned the fire with greater +zeal. Through the forenoon the forests echoed the terrific cannonade, +mingled with the sharp crack of the riflemen, close under the +breastworks. + +At noon the infantry fight began. West of the town, in addition to the +line of rifle-pits and breastworks, the Rebels had thrown up a small +redoubt, behind which their batteries were securely posted. General +McClernand decided to attack it. He ordered Colonel Wallace to direct +the assault. The Forty-eighth, Seventeenth, and Forty-ninth Illinois +regiments were detached from the main force, and placed under the +command of Colonel Hayne, of the Forty-eighth, for a storming party. +McAllister's battery was wheeled into position to cover the attack. + +They form in line at the base of the hill. The shells from the Rebel +batteries crash among the trees. The Rebel riflemen keep up a rattling +fire from the thickets. The troops are fresh from the prairies. This is +their first battle, but at the word of command they advance across the +intervening hollows and ascend the height, facing the sheets of flame +which burst from the Rebel works. They fire as they advance. It is not a +rush and a hurrah, but a steady movement. Men begin to drop from the +line, but there is no wavering. They who never before heard the sounds +of battle stand like veterans. The Rebel line in front of them extends +farther than their own. The Forty-fifth Illinois goes to the support of +Wallace. The Rebels throw forward reinforcements. There is a continuous +roll of musketry, and quick discharges of cannon. The attacking force +advances nearer and still nearer, close up to the works. Their gallantry +does not fail them; their courage does not falter; but they find an +impassable obstruction,--fallen trees, piles of brush, and rows of sharp +stakes. Taylor's battery gallops up the road, and opens a rapid fire, +but the Rebel sharpshooters pick off his gunners. It is madness to +remain, and the force retires beyond the reach of the Rebel musketry; +but they are not disheartened. They have hardly begun to fight. + +Colonel Birges's sharpshooters are sent for. They move down through the +bushes, and creep up in front of the Rebel lines. There are jets of +flame and wreaths of blue smoke from their rifles. The Rebel pickets are +driven back. The sharpshooters work their way still nearer to the +trenches. The bushes blaze. There are mysterious puffs of smoke from the +hollows, from stumps, and from the roots of trees. The Rebel gunners are +compelled to let their guns remain silent, and the infantry dare not +show their heads above the breastworks. They lie close. A Rebel soldier +raises his slouched hat on his ramrod. Birges's men see it, just over +the parapet. Whiz! The hat disappears. The Rebels chuckle that they have +outwitted the Yankee. + +"Why don't you come out of your old fort?" shouts a sharpshooter, lying +close behind a tree. + +"Why don't you come in?" is the answer from the breastworks. + +"O, you are cowards!" says the voice at the stump. + +"When are you going to take the fort?" is the response from the +breastwork. + +The cannonade lasted till night. Nothing had been gained, but much had +been lost, by the Union army. There were scores of men lying in the +thickets, where they had fallen. There were hundreds in the hospitals. +The gunboats and the expected reinforcements had not arrived. The Rebels +outnumbered General Grant's force by several thousand, but fortunately +they did not know it. General Grant's provisions were almost gone. There +was no meat, nothing but hard bread. The south-wind of the morning had +changed to the east. It was mild then, but piercing now. The sky, so +golden at the dawn, was dark and lowering, with clouds rolling up from +the east. The rain began to fall. The roads were miry, the dead leaves +slippery. The men had thrown aside their overcoats and blankets. They +had no shelter, no protection. They were weary and exhausted with the +contest. They were cold, wet, and hungry. The rain increased. The wind +blew more furiously. It wailed through the forest. The rain changed to +hail. The men lay down upon frozen beds, and were covered with icy +sheets. It grew colder. The hail became snow. The wind increased to a +gale, and whirled the snow into drifts. The soldiers curled down behind +the stumps and fallen trees. They built great fires. They walked, ran, +thumped their feet upon the frozen ground, beat their fingers till the +blood seemed starting from beneath the nails. The thermometer sank +almost to zero. It was a night of horror, not only outside, but inside +the Rebel lines. The Southern soldiers were kept in the intrenchments, +in the rifle-pits, and ditches, to be in readiness to repel an assault. +They could not keep up great, roaring fires, for fear of inviting a +night attack. Through the long hours the soldiers of both armies kept +their positions, exposed to the fury of the winter storm, not only the +severest storm of the season, but the wildest and coldest that had been +known for many years in that section of the country. + + +FRIDAY. + +Friday morning dawned, and with the first rays of light the rifles +cracked in the frosty air. The sharpshooters, though they had passed a +sleepless night, were in their places behind rocks and stumps and trees. +Neither army was ready to recommence the struggle. General Grant was out +of provisions. The transports, with supplies and reinforcements, had not +arrived. Only one gunboat, the Carondelet, had come. + +It was a critical hour. What if the Rebels, with their superior force, +should march out from their intrenchments and make an attack? How long +could the half-frozen, exhausted, hungry men maintain their ground? +Where were the gunboats? Where the transports? Where the reinforcements? +There were no dark columns of smoke rising above the forest-trees, +indicating the approach of the belated fleet. + +General Grant grew anxious. Orders were despatched to General Wallace at +Fort Henry to hasten over with his troops. There was no thought of +giving up the enterprise. + +"We came here to take the fort, and we intend to do it," said Colonel +Oglesby. + +A courier came dashing through the woods. He had been on the watch three +miles down the river, looking for the gunboats. He had descried a dense +cloud of black smoke in the distance, and started with the welcome +intelligence. They were coming. The Carondelet, which had been lying +quietly in the stream below the fort, steamed up against the current, +and tossed a shell towards the Rebels. The deep boom of the columbiad +echoed over the hills of Tennessee. The troops answered with a cheer +from the depths of the forest. They could see the trailing black banners +of smoke from the steamer. They became light-hearted. The wounded lying +in the hospitals, stiff, sore, mangled, their wounds undressed, chilled, +frozen, covered with ice and snow, forgot their sufferings. So the fire +of patriotism burned within their hearts, which could not be quenched by +sufferings worse than death itself. + +The provisions, troops, and artillery were landed at a farm, three miles +below the fort. A road was cut through the woods, and communication +opened with the army. + +A division was organized under General Lewis Wallace. Colonel Cruft +commanded the first brigade, composed of the Thirty-first and +Forty-fourth Indiana, the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky +regiments. + +The second brigade was composed of the Forty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and +Fifty-eighth Illinois regiments. It had no brigade commander, and was +united to the third brigade, commanded by Colonel Thayer. The third +brigade was composed of the First Nebraska, the Sixteenth, Fifty-eighth, +and Sixty-eighth Ohio regiments. Several other regiments arrived while +the fight was going on, but they were held in reserve, and had but +little if any part in the action. + +Wallace's division was placed between General Smith's and General +McClernand's, near General Grant's head-quarters, on the road leading +from Fort Henry to Dover. It took all day to get the troops into +position and distribute food and ammunition, and there was no fighting +except by the skirmishers and sharpshooters. + +At three o'clock in the afternoon the gunboats steamed slowly up stream +to attack the water-batteries. Commodore Foote repeated the instructions +to the commanders and crews that he made before the attack at Fort +Henry,--to fire slow, take deliberate aim, and keep cool. + +The Pittsburg, St. Louis, Louisville, and Carondelet, iron-plated boats, +had the advance, followed by the three wooden boats,--the Tyler, +Lexington, and Conestoga. A bend in the river exposed the sides of the +gunboats to a raking fire from the batteries, while Commodore Foote +could only use the bow guns in reply. The fort on the hill was so high +above the boats that the muzzles of the guns could not be elevated far +enough to hit it. Commodore Foote directed the boats to engage the +water-batteries, and pay no attention to the guns of the fort till the +batteries were silenced; then he would steam past them and pour +broadsides into the fort. + +As soon as the gunboats rounded the point of land a mile and a half +below the fort, the Rebels opened fire, and the boats replied. There was +excellent gunnery. The shots from the fort and batteries fell upon the +bows of the boats, or raked their sides; while the shells from the boats +fell plump into the batteries, cutting the embankments, or sinking deep +in the side of the hill and bursting with tremendous explosions, +throwing the earth upon the gunners in the trenches. Steadily onward +moved the boats, pouring all their shells into the lower works. It was a +continuous storm,--an unbroken roll of thunder. There were constant +explosions in the Rebel trenches. The air was filled with pieces of iron +from the exploding shells and lumps of frozen earth thrown up by the +solid shot. The Rebels fled in confusion from the four-gun battery, +running up the hill to the intrenchments above. + +The fight had lasted an hour, and the boats were within five hundred +feet of the batteries; fifteen minutes more and the Commodore would be +abreast of them, and would rake them from bottom to top with his +tremendous broadsides. But he had reached the bend of the river; the +eight-gun battery could cut him through crosswise, while the guns on the +top of the hill could pour plunging shots upon his decks. The Rebels saw +their advantage, and worked their guns with all their might. The boats +were so near that every Rebel shot reached its mark. A solid shot cut +the rudder-chains of the Carondelet and she became unmanageable. The +thirty-two-pound balls went through the oak sides of the boats as you +can throw peas through wet paper. Another shot splintered the helm of +the Pittsburg, and that boat also became unmanageable. A third shot +crashed through the pilot-house of the St. Louis, killing the pilot +instantly. The Commodore stood by his side, and was sprinkled with the +blood of the brave, unfortunate man. The shot broke the wheel and +knocked down a timber which wounded the Commodore in the foot. He sprang +to the deck, limped to another steering apparatus, and endeavored with +his own hands to keep the vessel head to the stream; but that apparatus +also had been shot away. Sixty-one shots had struck the St. Louis; some +had passed through from stem to stern. The Louisville had received +thirty-five shots. Twenty-six had crashed into and through the +Carondelet. One of her guns had burst, killing and wounding six of the +crew. The Pittsburg had been struck twenty-one times. All but the +Louisville, of the iron-plated boats, were unmanageable. At the very +last moment--when the difficulties had been almost overcome--the +Commodore was obliged to hoist the signal for retiring. Ten minutes +more,--five hundred feet more,--and the Rebel trenches would have been +swept from right to left, their entire length. When the boats began to +drift down the stream they were running from the trenches, deserting +their guns, to escape the fearful storm of grape and canister which they +knew would soon sweep over them. Fifty-four were killed and wounded in +this attack. + +At night Commodore Foote sat in the cabin of the St. Louis and wrote a +letter to a friend. His wound was painful, but he thought not of his own +sufferings. He frequently asked how the wounded men were getting along, +and directed the surgeons to do everything possible for their comfort. +This is what he wrote to his friend:-- + + "While I hope ever to rely on Him who controls all things, + and to say from my heart, 'Not unto us, but unto thee, O + Lord, belongs the glory,' yet I feel bad at the result of our + attack on Fort Donelson. To see brave officers and men, who + say they will go where I lead them, fall by my side, it makes + me sad to lead them to almost certain death." + +So passed Friday. The gunboats were disabled. No impression had been +made on the fort. General Grant determined to place his army in position +on the hills surrounding the fort, throw up intrenchments, and wait till +the gunboats could be repaired. Then there would be a combined attack, +by water and by land, which he hoped would reduce the place. + +On Friday evening there was a council of war at General Floyd's +head-quarters in the town. General Buckner, General Johnson, General +Pillow, Colonel Baldwin, Colonel Wharton, and other commanders of +brigades were present. General Floyd said that he was satisfied that +General Grant would not renew the attack till the gunboats were +repaired, and till he had received reinforcements. He thought that the +whole available force of Union troops would be hurried up by steamboat +from St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cairo; and that when they arrived a +division would be marched up the river towards Clarksville, above Dover, +and that they in the fort would be starved out and forced to surrender +without a battle. It was very good and correct reasoning on the part of +General Floyd, who did not care to be taken prisoner after he had stolen +so much public property. It was just what General Grant intended to do. +He knew that by such a course the fort would be obliged to surrender, +and he would save the lives of his men. + +General Floyd proposed to attack General Grant at daylight on Saturday +morning, by throwing one half of the Rebel army, under Pillow and +Johnson, upon McClernand's division. By making the attack then in +overwhelming force, he felt pretty sure he could drive McClernand back +upon General Wallace. General Buckner, with the other half of the army, +was to push out from the northwest angle of the fort at the same time, +attack General Wallace, and force him back upon General McClernand, +which would throw the Union troops into confusion. By adopting this plan +he hoped to win a victory, or if not that, he could open a way of escape +to the whole army. The plan was agreed to by the other officers, and +preparations were made for the attack. The soldiers received extra +rations and a large quantity of ammunition. The caissons of the +artillery were filled up, and the regiments placed in position to move +early in the morning. + + +SATURDAY. + +General B. R. Johnson led the Rebel column, and Colonel Baldwin's +brigade the advance. It was composed of the First and Fourteenth +Mississippi and the Twenty-sixth Tennessee regiments. The next brigade +was Colonel Wharton's. It was composed of the Fiftieth and Fifty-first +Virginia. McCousland's brigade was composed of the Thirty-sixth and +Fifty-sixth Virginia; Davidson's brigade was composed of the Seventh +Texas, Eighth Kentucky, and Third Mississippi; Colonel Drake's brigade +was composed of the Fourth and Twentieth Mississippi, Garven's battalion +of riflemen, Fifteenth Arkansas, and a Tennessee regiment. Hieman's +brigade was composed of the Tenth, Thirtieth, and Forty-eighth +Tennessee, and the Twenty-seventh Alabama. There were about thirty +pieces of artillery, and twelve thousand men in this column. + +McArthur's brigade of McClernand's division was on the extreme right, +and a short distance in rear of Oglesby. The Rebels moved down the Union +Ferry road, which leads southwest towards Clarksville, which brought +them nearly south of Oglesby and McArthur. Oglesby's regiments stood, +the Eighth Illinois on the right, then the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and +Thirty-first, counting towards the left. Schwartz's battery was on the +right and Dresser's on the left. Wallace's brigade was formed with the +Thirty-first Illinois on the right, close to Oglesby's left flank +regiment, then the Twentieth, Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Forty-ninth, +and Seventeenth Illinois. McAllister's battery was between the Eleventh +and Twentieth, and Taylor's between the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth. +Colonel Dickey's cavalry was in rear, his horses picketed in the woods +and eating corn. North of the Fort Henry road was Colonel Cruft's +brigade of General Lewis Wallace's division, the Twenty-fifth Kentucky +having the right, then the Thirty-first Indiana, the Seventeenth +Kentucky, the Forty-fourth Indiana, with Wood's battery. + +These are all the regiments which took part in the terrible fight of +Saturday forenoon. They were unprepared for the assault. The soldiers +had not risen from their snowy beds. The reveille was just sounding when +the sharp crack of the rifles was heard in the thickets on the extreme +right. Then the artillery opened. Schwartz's, Dresser's, McAllister's, +and Taylor's men sprang from their blankets to their guns. It was hardly +light enough to see the enemy. They could only distinguish the flashes +of the guns and the wreaths of smoke through the branches of the trees; +but they aimed at the flashes, and sent their shells upon the advancing +columns. + +The Rebel batteries replied, and the wild uproar of the terrible day +began. + +Instead of moving west, directly upon the front of Oglesby, McArthur, +and Wallace, the Rebel column under Pillow marched down the Union Ferry +road south a half-mile, then turned abruptly towards the northwest. You +see by the accompanying diagram how the troops stood at the beginning of +the battle. There is McArthur's brigade with Schwartz's battery, +Oglesby's brigade with Dresser's battery, Wallace's brigade with +McAllister's and Taylor's batteries,--all facing the town. Across the +brook, upon the north side of the ravine, is Cruft's brigade. You see +Pillow's brigades wheeling upon McArthur and Oglesby, and across the +Fort Henry road, coming down from the breastworks, are General Buckner's +brigades. + +[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON McCLERNAND. + + 1 McArthur's brigade. + 2 Oglesby's brigade. + 3 W. H. L. Wallace's brigade. + 4 Cruft's brigade. + 5 Pillow's divisions. + 6 Buckner's divisions.] + +Schwartz, Dresser, and McAllister wheel their guns towards Pillow's +column. The Rebels open with a volley of musketry. The fire is aimed at +the Eighth and Twenty-ninth Illinois regiments, which, you remember, are +on the right of Oglesby's brigade. The men are cold. They have sprung +from their icy beds to take their places in the ranks. They have a scant +supply of ammunition, and are unprepared for the assault, but they are +not the men to run at the first fire. The Rebel musketry begins to thin +their ranks, but they do not flinch. They send their volleys into the +face of the enemy. + +Another Rebel brigade arrives, and fires upon the Thirtieth and +Thirty-first Illinois,--the two regiments on the left of Oglesby's +brigade. Colonel John A. Logan commands the Thirty-first. He told the +Southern conspirators in Congress, when they were about to secede from +the Union, that the men of the Northwest would hew their way to the Gulf +of Mexico with their swords, if they attempted to close the Mississippi. +He is not disposed to yield his ground. He encourages his men, and they +remain immovable before the Rebel brigades. Instead of falling back, he +swings his regiment towards the Rebels, and stands confronting them. + +But while this is going on, the Rebel cavalry have moved round to the +rear of McArthur. They dash down a ravine, through the bushes, over the +fallen trees, and charge up the hill upon the Ninth and Eighteenth +regiments of McArthur's brigade. They are sent back in confusion, but +the onset has been so fierce and the charge so far in the rear, that +McArthur is compelled to fall back and form a new line. The Rebels have +begun to open the door which General Grant had closed against them. The +brigades in front of Oglesby are pouring murderous volleys upon the +Eighth and Twenty-ninth. The falling back of McArthur to meet the attack +on his rear has enabled the enemy to come up behind these regiments, and +they are also compelled to fall back. + +The Rebels in front are elated. They move nearer, working their way +along a ravine, sheltered by a ridge of land. They load their muskets, +rush up to the crest of the hill, deliver their fire, and step back to +reload; but as often as they appear, McAllister and Dresser and Taylor +give them grape and canister. + +The Eleventh and Twentieth Illinois, on the right of Wallace's brigade, +join in the conflict, supporting the brave Logan. Colonel Wallace swings +the Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, and half of the Forty-ninth round towards +Pillow's brigades, leaving the other half of the Forty-ninth and the +Seventeenth to hold the line towards the Fort Henry road. If you study +the diagram carefully, you will see that this manoeuvre was a change +of front. At the beginning the line of battle faced northeast, but now +it faces south. + +There is a ridge between Wallace's brigade and the Rebels. As often as +the Rebels advance to the ridge, Taylor and McAllister with the infantry +drive them back. It is an obstinate and bloody contest. The snow becomes +crimson. There are pools of clotted blood where the brave men lie down +upon the ground. There are bayonet-charges, fierce hand-to-hand +contests. The Rebels rush upon McAllister's guns, but are turned back. +The lines surge to and fro like the waves of the sea. The dying and the +dead are trampled beneath the feet of the contending hosts. + +Wallace hears a sharp fire in his rear. The Rebels have pushed out once +more towards the west and are coming in again upon the right flank of +the new battle line. McClernand sees that he is contending against +overwhelming numbers, and he sends a messenger in haste to General Lewis +Wallace, who sends Cruft's brigade to his assistance. The brigade goes +down the road upon the run. The soldiers shout and hurrah. They pass in +rear of Taylor's battery, and push on to the right to help Oglesby and +McArthur. + +The Rebels have driven those brigades. The men are hastening to the rear +with doleful stories. Some of them rush through Cruft's brigade. Cruft +meets the advancing Rebels face to face. The din of battle has lulled +for a moment, but now it rolls again louder than before. The Rebels dash +on, but it is like the dashing of the waves against a rock. Cruft's men +are unmoved, though the Rebels advance till they are within twenty feet +of the line. There are deafening volleys. The smoke from the opposing +lines becomes a single cloud. The Rebels are held in check on the right +by their firmness and endurance. + +But just at this moment General Buckner's brigades come out of their +intrenchments. They pass in front of their rifle-pits at the base of the +hill, and march rapidly down to the Dover road. Colonel Wallace sees +them. In a few minutes they will pour their volleys into the backs of +his men. You remember that the Seventeenth and part of the Forty-ninth +Illinois regiments were left standing near the road. You hear from their +muskets now. They stand their ground and meet the onset manfully. Two +guns of Taylor's battery, which have been thundering towards the south, +wheel round to the northeast and sweep the Rebels with grape and +canister. + +Three fourths of the Rebel army is pressing upon McClernand's one +division. His troops are disappearing. Hundreds are killed and wounded. +Men who carry the wounded to rear do not return. The Rebels see their +advantage, and charge upon Schwartz's and McAllister's batteries, but +are repulsed. Reinforced by new regiments, they rush on again. They +shoot the gunners and the horses and seize the cannon. The struggle is +fierce, but unequal. Oglesby's men are overpowered, the line gives way. +The Rebels push on with a yell, and seize several of Schwartz's and +McAllister's guns. The gunners fight determinedly for a moment, but they +are few against many, and are shot or taken prisoners. A Mississippi +regiment attempts to capture Taylor's guns, but he sweeps it back with +grape and canister. + +Up to this moment Wallace has not yielded an inch. Two of Oglesby's +regiments next to his brigade still hold their ground, but all who +stood beyond are in full retreat. The Rebels have picked off a score +of brave officers in Oglesby's command,--Colonels Logan, Lawler, and +Ransom are wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel White of the Thirty-first, +Lieutenant-Colonel Smith of the Forty-eighth, Lieutenant-Colonel Irvin +of the Twentieth, and Major Post of the Eighth are killed. The men of +Oglesby's brigade, although they have lost so many of their leaders, are +not panic-stricken. They are overpowered for the moment. Some of the +regiments are out of ammunition. They know that reinforcements are at +hand, and they fall back in order. + +To understand Wallace's position at this stage of the battle, imagine +that you stand with your face towards the south fighting a powerful +antagonist, that a second equally powerful is coming up on your right +hand, and that a third is giving heavy blows upon your left shoulder, +almost in your back. Pillow, with one half of his brigades, is in front, +Johnson, with the other half of Pillow's command, is coming up on the +right, and Buckner, with all of his brigades, is moving down upon the +left. + +Wallace sees that he must retreat. The Eleventh and +Thirty-first--Ransom's and Logan's regiments--are still fighting on +Wallace's right. There is great slaughter in their ranks, but they do +not flee. They change front and march a few rods to the rear, come into +line and fire a volley at the advancing Rebels. Forest's cavalry dashes +upon them and cuts off a few prisoners, but the line is only bruised, +not broken. Thus loading and firing, contesting all the ground, the +troops descend the hill, cross the clear running brook, and march up the +hill upon the other side. + +But there are some frightened men, who fling away their guns and rush +wildly to the rear. An officer dashes down the road, crying: "We are cut +to pieces! The day is lost!" + +"Shut up your head, you scoundrel!" shouts General Wallace. + +It has had an effect upon his troops. They are nervous, and look round, +expecting to see the enemy in overwhelming numbers. General Wallace sees +that there has been disaster. He does not wait for orders to march. + +"Third brigade, by the right flank, double-quick, Forward, March!" +Colonel Thayer commanding the brigade repeats the order. The men break +into a run towards the front along the road. General Wallace gallops in +advance, and meets Colonel Wallace conducting his brigade to the rear. + +"We are out of ammunition. The enemy are following. If you will put your +troops into line till we can fill our cartridge-boxes, we will stop +them." He says it so coolly and deliberately that it astonishes General +Wallace. It reassures him. He feels that it is a critical moment, but +with men retiring so deliberately, there is no reason to be discouraged. + +He leads Thayer's brigade up to the crest of the hill, just where the +road begins to descend into the ravine, through which gurgles the clear +running brook. + +"Bring up Company A, Chicago Light Artillery!" he shouts to an aid. A +few moments, and Captain Wood, who commands the battery, leads it along +the road. The horses are upon the gallop. The teamsters lash them with +their whips. They leap over logs, stones, stumps, and through the +bushes. They halt at the crest of the hill. + +"Put your guns here, two pieces in the road, and two on each side, and +load with grape and canister." + +The men spring to their pieces. They throw off their coats, and work in +their shirt-sleeves. They ram home the cartridges and stand beside their +pieces, waiting for the enemy. + +The battery faces southeast. On the right of the battery, next to it, is +the First Nebraska, and beyond it the Fifty-eighth Illinois. On the left +of the battery is Captain Davison's company of the Thirty-second +Illinois, and beyond it the Fifty-eighth Ohio. A few rods in rear is the +Seventy-sixth Ohio and the Forty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Illinois. + +McArthur, Oglesby, Wallace, and Cruft have all fallen back, and their +regiments are reforming in the woods west of Thayer's position, and +filling their cartridge-boxes. + +The Rebels halt a little while upon the ground from which they have +driven McClernand, rifling the pockets of the dead and robbing the +wounded. General Pillow feels very well. He writes a despatch, which is +telegraphed to Nashville,-- + +"On the honor of a soldier, the day is ours!" + +Buckner unites his brigades to Pillow's, and they prepare for a second +advance. It gives General Wallace time to perfect his line. Willard's +battery, which was left at Fort Henry, has just arrived. It gallops into +position in the woods west of Thayer's brigade. Dresser and Taylor also +come into position. They are ready. + +The Rebels descend the hill on the east side of the brook, and move up +the road. They are flushed with success, and are confident of defeating +General Grant. General Floyd has changed his mind; instead of escaping, +as he can do by the road leading to Nashville, he thinks he will put the +army of General Grant to rout. + +[Illustration: + + 1 Thayer's brigade with Wood's battery. + 2 McClernand's brigades. + 3 Cruft's brigade. + 4 Rebels.] + +The advancing columns step across the brook, and begin to ascend the +hill. The artillery opens its fire. The Rebel batteries reply. The +infantry rolls its volleys. The hill and the hollow are enveloped in +clouds of smoke. Wood's, Dresser's, Willard's, and Taylor's batteries +open,--twenty-four guns send their grape and canister, shrapnel and +shells, into the gray ranks which are vainly endeavoring to reach the +top of the hill. The Rebels concentrate their fire upon Wood's battery +and the First Nebraska, but those hardy pioneers from beyond the +Missouri, some of them Rocky Mountain hunters, cannot be driven. The +Rebels fire too high. The air is filled with the screaming of their +bullets, and a wild storm sweeps over the heads of the men from +Nebraska, who lose but ten men killed and wounded in this terrible +contest. The Nebraska men are old hunters, and do not fire at random, +but take deliberate aim. + +The Rebels march half-way up the hill, and then fall back to the brook. +They have lost courage. Their officers rally the wavering lines. Again +they advance, but are forced back by the musketry and the grape and +canister. + +They break in confusion, and vain are all the attempts of the officers +to rally them. General Floyd's plan, which worked so successfully in the +morning, has failed at noon. General Pillow's telegram was sent too soon +by a half-hour. The Rebels retire to the hill, and help themselves to +the overcoats, blankets, beef, bread, and other things in McClernand's +camp. + +General Grant determined to assault the enemy's works. He thought that +the rifle-pits at the northwest angle of the fort could be carried; that +then he could plant his batteries so near that, under their fire, he +could get into the fort. General Smith's division had not been engaged +in the battles of the morning. His troops had heard the roar of the +conflict and the cheers of their comrades when the Rebels were beaten +back. + +They were ready for action. They were nerved up to attempt great deeds +for their country. The Rebels had been repulsed, and now they could +defeat them. + +General Grant directed General Wallace to move forward from his +position, across the brook, drive the Rebels back, and then assault +their works. A large body of Rebels still held the ground, from which +McClernand had been driven. + +General Wallace placed Colonel Morgan L. Smith's brigade in front. There +was contention between the Eighth Missouri and Eleventh Indiana, for +each wanted the honor of leading the assault. The Eleventh yielded to +the Eighth, with the understanding that in the next assault it should +have the advance. Thus with generous rivalry and unbounded enthusiasm +they prepared to advance. + +The Eleventh followed the Eighth. Colonel Cruft's brigade, with two Ohio +regiments under Colonel Ross, completed the column. Colonel Cruft formed +in line of battle to the right of Colonel Smith. They crossed the brook. +It was a dark and bloody ravine. The Rebel dead and wounded were lying +there, thick almost as the withered forest-leaves. The snow was crimson. +The brook was no longer a clear running stream, but red with blood. + +General Wallace was aware of the desperate character of the enterprise. +He told his men what they were to do,--to drive the enemy, and storm the +breastworks. + +"Hurrah! that's just what we want to do. Forward! Forward! We are +ready!" were their answers. They could see the Rebel lines on the hill. +The Rebels knew that they were to be attacked, and were ready to receive +them. + +Colonel Smith moved up the road. His point of attack was clear, but +Cruft's was through brush and over stony ground. A line of skirmishers +sprang out from the Eighth Missouri. They ran up the hill, and came face +to face with the Rebel skirmishers. + +They fought from tree to tree, firing, picking off an opponent, then +falling upon the ground to reload. + +The regiments followed. They were half-way up the hill, when a line of +fire began to run round the crest. + +"Down! down!" shouted Colonel Smith. The regiments fell flat, and the +storm swept harmlessly over their heads. The Rebels cheered. They +thought they had annihilated Colonel Smith's command. Up they rose, and +rushed upon the enemy, pouring in their volleys, falling when the fight +was hottest, rising as soon as the Rebels had fired. Thus they closed +upon the enemy, and pushed him back over all the ground he had won in +the morning, driving him into his works. + +General Wallace was preparing to assault the works, when an officer +dashed down the line with cheering news of success upon the left. + +Returning now to General Smith's division, we see him preparing to storm +the works near the northwest angle of the fort. Colonel Cook's brigade +is directed to make a feint of attacking the fort. Major Cavender brings +his heavy guns into position, and opens a furious cannonade, under cover +of which Colonel Lauman is to advance upon the rifle-pits on the outer +ridge. If he can get possession of those, Cavender can plant his guns +there and rake the inner trenches. + +Colonel Hanson's brigade,--the Second Kentucky, Twentieth Mississippi, +and Thirtieth Tennessee, are in the rifle-pits. There are six pieces of +artillery and another brigade behind the inner intrenchments, all ready +to pour their fire upon the advancing columns. Colonel Hanson's men lie +secure behind the trunks of the great forest oaks, their rifles thrust +through between the logs. It is fifteen or twenty rods to the bottom of +the slope, and there you find the fallen trees, with their branches +interlocked, and sharp stakes driven into the ground. Beyond is the +meadow where Lauman forms his brigade. The Rebels have a clear sweep of +all the ground. + +General Smith leads Lauman's men to the meadow, while Colonel Cook moves +up on the left and commences the attack. The soldiers hear, far down on +the right, Wallace's brigades driving the enemy from the hill. + +[Illustration: THE CHARGE OF LAUMAN'S BRIGADE. + + 1 Lauman's brigade. + 2 Cook's brigade. + 3 Cavender's batteries, with infantry. + 4 Rebel rifle-pits. + 5 Rebel inner works.] + +It is almost sunset. The rays of light fall aslant the meadow, upon the +backs of Lauman's men, and into the faces of the Rebels. The advancing +brigade is in solid column of regiments, the Second Iowa in front, then +the Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Seventh and Fourteenth Iowa,--four firm, +unwavering lines, which throw their shadows forward as they advance. +Birges's sharpshooters, with their unerring rifles, are flung out on +each flank. + +The brigade halts upon the meadow. General Smith rides along the line, +and informs them that they are to take the rifle-pits with the bayonet +alone. He sits firmly on his horse, and his long gray hair, falling +almost to his shoulders, waves in the evening breeze. He is an iron man, +and he leads iron men. The Rebel cannon cut them through with solid +shot, shells burst above and around them, with loud explosions and +terrifying shrieks from the flying fragments, men drop from the ranks, +or are whirled into the air torn and mangled. There are sudden gaps, but +not a man flinches. They look not towards the rear, but towards the +front. There are the fallen trees, the hill, the line of two thousand +muskets poised between the logs, the cannon thundering from the height +beyond. There is no whispering in those solid ranks, no loud talking, +nothing but the "Steady! steady!" of the officers. Their hearts beat +great throbs. Their nerves are steel, their muscles iron. They grasp +their muskets with the grip of tigers. Before them rides their General, +his cap upon his sword, his long hair streaming like a banner in the +wind. The color-bearer, waving the stars and stripes, marches by his +side. + +They move across the meadow. All around them is the deafening roar of +the conflict. Cavender is behind them, Cook is upon their left, the +enemy is in front, and Wallace away upon their right. They reach the +fallen trees at the foot of the hill. The pile of logs above them bursts +into flame. A deadly storm, more terrible than the fiercest winter +blast, sweeps down the slope into their faces. There are lightning +flashes and thunderbolts from the hill above. Men drop from their +places, to lie forever still among the tangled branches. But their +surviving comrades do not falter. On,--on,--creeping, crawling, climbing +over the obstructions, unterrified, undaunted, with all the energy of +life centred in one effort; like a tornado they sweep up the +slope,--into the line of fire, into the hissing storm, up to the logs, +into the cloud, leaping like tigers, thrusting the bayonet home upon the +foe. The Rebels reel, stagger, tumble, run! + +"HURRA----H!" + +It is a wild, prolonged, triumphant shout, like the blast of a trumpet. +They plant their banners on the works, and fire their volleys into the +retreating foe. Stone's battery gallops over the meadow, over the logs, +up the hill, the horses leaping and plunging as if they, too, knew that +victory was hanging in the scale. The gunners spring from their seats, +wheel their pieces and throw their shells, an enfilading fire, into the +upper works. + +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" rings through the forest, down the line to +Wallace's men. + +"We have carried the works!" "We are inside!" shouts an officer bearing +the welcome news. + +The men toss their caps in the air. They shake hands, they shout, and +break into singing. They forget all their hardships and sufferings, the +hungry days, the horrible nights, the wounded and the dead. The success +is worth all the sacrifice. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SURRENDER. + + +All through the night the brave men held the ground they had so nobly +won. They rested on snowy beds. They had no supper. They could kindle no +fires to warm the wintry air. The cannon above them hurled down shells, +and sent volleys of grape, which screamed above and around them like the +voices of demons in the darkness. The branches of the trees were torn +from their trunks by the solid shot, and the trunks were splintered from +top to bottom, but they did not falter or retire from that slope where +the snow was crimsoned with the life-blood of hundreds of their +comrades. Nearly four hundred had fallen in that attack. The hill had +cost a great deal of blood, but it was worth all it cost, and they would +not give it up. So they braved the leaden rain and iron hail through the +weary hours of that winter night. They only waited for daybreak to storm +the inner works and take the fort. Their ardor and enthusiasm was +unbounded. + +As the morning approached they heard a bugle-call. They looked across +the narrow ravine, and saw, in the dim light of the dawn, a man waving a +white flag upon the intrenchments. It was a sign for a parley. He jumped +down from the embankment, and descended the hill. + +"Halt! Who comes there?" shouted the picket. + +"Flag of truce with a letter for General Grant." + +An officer took the letter, and hastened down the slope, across the +meadow, up to the house on the Dover road, where General Grant had his +head-quarters. + +During the night there had been a council of war at General Floyd's +head-quarters. Nearly all the Rebel officers commanding brigades and +regiments were there. They were down-hearted. They had fought bravely, +won a victory, as they thought, but had lost it. A Rebel officer who was +there told me what they said. General Floyd and General Pillow blamed +General Buckner for not advancing earlier in the morning, and for making +what they thought a feeble attack. They could have escaped after they +drove McClernand across the brook, but now they were hemmed in. The +prospect was gloomy. The troops were exhausted by the long conflict, by +constant watching, and by the cold. What bitter nights those were to the +men who came from Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi, where the roses bloom +and the blue-birds sing through all the winter months. + +What should be done? Should they make another attack, and cut their way +out, or should they surrender? + +"I cannot hold my position a half-hour. The Yankees can turn my flank or +advance directly upon the breastworks," said General Buckner. + +"If you had advanced at the time agreed upon, and made a more vigorous +attack, we should have routed the enemy," said General Floyd. + +"I advanced as soon as I could, and my troops fought as bravely as +others," was the response from General Buckner,--a middle-aged, +medium-sized man. His hair is iron gray. He has thin whiskers and a +moustache, and wears a gray kersey overcoat, with a great cape, and gold +lace on the sleeves, and a black hat with a nodding black plume. + +"Well, here we are, and it is useless to renew the attack with any hope +of success. The men are exhausted," said General Floyd,--a stout, heavy +man, with thick lips, a large nose, evil eyes, and coarse features. + +"We can cut our way out," said Major Brown, commanding the Twentieth +Mississippi,--a tall, black-haired, impetuous, fiery man. + +"Some of us might escape in that way, but the attempt would be attended +with great slaughter," responded General Floyd. + +"My troops are so worn out and cut to pieces and demoralized, that I +can't make another fight," said Buckner. + +"My troops will fight till they die," answered Major Brown, setting his +teeth together. + +"It will cost the command three quarters of its present number to cut +its way through, and it is wrong to sacrifice three quarters of a +command to save the other quarter," Buckner continued. + +"No officer has a right to cause such a sacrifice," said Major Gilmer, +of General Pillow's staff. + +"But we can hold out another day, and by that time we can get steamboats +here to take us across the river," said General Pillow. + +"No, I can't hold my position a half-hour, and the Yankees will renew +the attack at daybreak," Buckner replied. + +"Then we have got to surrender, for aught I see," said an officer. + +"I won't surrender the command, neither will I be taken prisoner," said +Floyd. He doubtless remembered how he had stolen public property, while +in office under Buchanan, and would rather die than to fall into the +hands of those whom he knew would be likely to bring him to an account +for his villany. + +"I don't intend to be taken prisoner," said Pillow. + +"What will you do, gentlemen?" Buckner asked. + +"I mean to escape, and take my Virginia brigade with me, if I can. I +shall turn over the command to General Pillow. I have a right to escape +if I can, but I haven't any right to order the entire army to make a +hopeless fight," said Floyd. + +"If you surrender it to me, I shall turn it over to General Buckner," +said General Pillow, who was also disposed to shirk responsibility and +desert the men whom he had induced to vote to secede from the Union and +take up arms against their country. + +"If the command comes into my hands, I shall deem it my duty to +surrender it. I shall not call upon the troops to make a useless +sacrifice of life, and I will not desert the men who have fought so +nobly," Buckner replied, with a bitterness which made Floyd and Pillow +wince. + +It was past midnight. The council broke up. The brigade and regimental +officers were astonished at the result. Some of them broke out into +horrid cursing and swearing at Floyd and Pillow. + +"It is mean!" "It is cowardly!" "Floyd always was a rascal." + +"We are betrayed!" "There is treachery!" said they. + +"It is a mean trick for an officer to desert his men. If my troops are +to be surrendered, I shall stick by them," said Major Brown. + +"I denounce Pillow as a coward, and if I ever meet him, I'll shoot him +as quick as I would a dog," said Major McLain, red with rage. + +Floyd gave out that he was going to join Colonel Forrest, who commanded +the cavalry, and thus cut his way out; but there were two or three small +steamboats at the Dover landing. He and General Pillow jumped on board +one of them, and then secretly marched a portion of the Virginia brigade +on board. Other soldiers saw what was going on, that they were being +deserted. They became frantic with terror and rage. They rushed on +board, crowding every part of the boat. + +"Cut loose!" shouted Floyd to the captain. The boats swung into the +stream and moved up the river, leaving thousands of infuriated soldiers +on the landing. So the man who had stolen the public property, and who +did all he could to bring on the war, who induced thousands of poor, +ignorant men to take up arms, deserted his post, stole away in the +darkness, and left them to their fate. + +General Buckner immediately wrote a letter to General Grant, asking for +an armistice till twelve o'clock, and the appointment of commissioners +to agree upon terms by which the fort and the prisoners should be +surrendered. + +"No terms, other than unconditional and immediate surrender can be +accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works," was General +Grant's reply. + +General Buckner replied, that he thought it very _unchivalrous_, but +accepted the terms. He meant that he did not think it very honorable in +General Grant to require an unconditional surrender. He professed to +have a high sense of all that was noble, generous, honorable, and +high-minded. But a few days before he had so forgotten those qualities +of character, that he took some cattle from Rev. Mr. Wiggin of +Rochester, Kentucky, one of his old acquaintances, and paid him with a +check of three hundred dollars on the Southern Bank at Russelville. When +Rev. Mr. Wiggin called at the bank and presented the check, the cashier +told him that General Buckner never had had any money on deposit there, +and the bank did not owe him a dollar! He cheated and swindled the +minister, and committed the crime of forgery, which would have sent him +to the state-prison in time of peace. + +The morning dawned,--Sunday morning, calm, clear, and beautiful. The +horrible nights were over and the freezing days gone by. The air was +mild, and there was a gentle breeze from the south, which brought the +blue-birds. They did not mind the soldiers or the cannon, but chirped +and sang in the woods as merrily as ever. + +I saw the white flag flying on the breastworks. The soldiers and sailors +saw it, and cheered. General Grant had moved his head-quarters to the +steamboat Uncle Sam, and, as I happened to be on board that boat, I saw +a great deal that took place. + +The gunboats, and all the steamboats, fifty or more, began to move up +the river. Dense clouds of smoke rolled up from the tall chimneys. The +great wheels plashed the sparkling stream. Flags were flying on all the +staffs. The army began its march into the fort. The bands played. How +grand the crash of the drums and the trumpets! The soldiers marched +proudly. The columns were winding along the hills,--the artillery, the +infantry, the cavalry, with all their banners waving, and the bright +sunshine gleaming and glistening on their bayonets! They entered the +fort, and planted their standards on the embankments. The gunboats and +the field artillery fired a grand salute. From the steamboats, from the +hillside, from the fort, and the forest there were answering shouts. The +wounded in the hospitals forgot, for the moment, that they were torn and +mangled, raised themselves on their beds of straw, and mingled their +feeble cheers in the universal rejoicing! + +Thirteen thousand men, sixty-seven pieces of artillery, and fifteen +thousand small arms were surrendered. A motley, care-worn, haggard, +anxious crowd stood at the landing. I sprang ashore, and walked through +the ranks. Some were standing, some lying down, taking no notice of what +was going on around them. They were prisoners of war. When they joined +the army, they probably did not dream that they would be taken +prisoners. They were to be victorious, and capture the Yankees. They +were poor, ignorant men. Not half of them knew how to read or write. +They had been deluded by their leaders,--the slaveholders. They had +fought bravely, but they had been defeated, and their generals had +deserted them. No wonder they were down-hearted. + +Their clothes were of all colors. Some wore gray, some blue, some +butternut-colored clothes,--a dirty brown. They were very ragged. Some +had old quilts for blankets, others faded pieces of carpeting, others +strips of new carpeting, which they had taken from the stores. Some had +caps, others old slouched felt hats, and others nothing but straw hats +upon their heads. + +"We fought well, but you outnumbered us," said one. + +"We should have beaten you as it was, if it hadn't been for your +gunboats," said another. + +"How happened it that General Floyd and General Pillow escaped, and left +you?" I asked. + +"They are traitors. I would shoot the scoundrels, if I could get a +chance," said a fellow in a snuff-colored coat, clenching his fist. + +"I am glad the fighting is over. I don't want to see another such day as +yesterday," said a Tennesseean, who was lying on the ground. + +"What will General Grant do with us? Will he put us in prison?" asked +one. + +"That will depend upon how you behave. If you had not taken up arms +against your country, you would not have been in trouble now." + +"We couldn't help it, sir. I was forced into the army, and I am glad I +am a prisoner. I sha'n't have to fight any more," said a blue-eyed young +man, not more than eighteen years old. + +There were some who were very sullen and sour, and there were others who +did not care what became of them. + +I went up the hill into the town. Nearly every house was filled with the +dying and the dead. The shells from the gunboats had crashed through +some of the buildings. The soldiers had cut down the orchards and the +shade-trees, and burned the fences. All was desolation. There were sad +groups around the camp-fires, with despair upon their countenances. O +how many of them thought of their friends far away, and wished they +could see them again! + +The ground was strewed with their guns, cartridge-boxes, belts, and +knapsacks. There were bags of corn, barrels of sugar, hogsheads of +molasses, tierces of bacon, broken open and trodden into the mud. + +I went into the fort, and saw where the great shells from the gunboats +had cut through the embankments. There were piles of cartridges beside +the cannon. The dead were lying there, torn, mangled, rent. Near the +intrenchments, where the fight had been fiercest, there were pools of +blood. The Rebel soldiers were breaking the frozen earth, digging +burial-trenches, and bringing in their fallen comrades and laying them +side by side, to their last, long, silent sleep. I looked down the slope +where Lauman's men swept over the fallen trees in their terrible charge; +then I walked down to the meadow, and looked up the height, and wondered +how men could climb over the trees, the stumps, the rocks, and ascend it +through such a storm. The dead were lying where they fell, heroes every +one of them! It was sad to think that so many noble men had fallen, but +it was a pleasure to know that they had not faltered. They had done +their duty. If you ever visit that battle-field, and stand upon that +slope, you will feel your heart swell with gratitude and joy, to think +how cheerfully they gave their lives to save their country, that you and +all who come after you may enjoy peace and prosperity forever. + +How bravely they fought! There, upon the cold ground, lay a soldier of +the Ninth Illinois. Early in the action of Saturday he was shot through +the arm. He went to the hospital and had it bandaged, and returned to +his place in the regiment. A second shot passed through his thigh, +tearing the flesh to shreds. + +"We will carry you to the hospital," said two of his comrades. + +"No, you stay and fight. I can get along alone." He took off his +bayonet, used his gun for a crutch, and reached the hospital. The +surgeon dressed the wound. He heard the roar of battle. His soul was on +fire to be there. He hobbled once more to the field, and went into the +thickest of the fight, lying down, because he could not stand. He fought +as a skirmisher. When the Rebels advanced, he could not retire with the +troops, but continued to fight. After the battle he was found dead upon +the field, six bullets having passed through his body. + +One bright-eyed little fellow, of the Second Iowa, had his foot crushed +by a cannon-shot. Two of his comrades carried him to the rear. An +officer saw that, unless the blood was stopped, he never would reach the +hospital. He told the men to tie a handkerchief around his leg, and put +snow on the wound. + +"O, never mind the foot, Captain," said the brave fellow. "We drove the +Rebels out, and have got their trench; that's the most I care for!" The +soldiers did as they were directed, and his life was saved. + +There in the trenches was a Rebel soldier with a rifle-shot through his +head. He was an excellent marksman, and had killed or wounded several +Union officers. One of Colonel Birges's sharpshooters, an old hunter, +who had killed many bears and wolves, crept up towards the breastworks +to try his hand upon the Rebel. They fired at each other again and +again, but both were shrewd and careful. The Rebel raised his hat above +the breastwork,--whi----z! The sharpshooter out in the bushes had put a +bullet through it. "Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the Rebel, sending his own +bullet into the little puff of smoke down in the ravine. The Rocky +Mountain hunter was as still as a mouse. He knew that the Rebel had +outwitted him, and expected the return shot. It was aimed a little too +high, and he was safe. + +"You cheated me that time, but I will be even with you yet," said the +sharpshooter, whirling upon his back, and loading his rifle and whirling +back again. He rested his rifle upon the ground, aimed it, and lay with +his eye along the barrel, his finger on the trigger. Five minutes +passed. "I reckon that that last shot fixed him," said the Rebel. "He +hasn't moved this five minutes." + +He raised his head, peeped over the embankment, and fell back lifeless. +The unerring rifle-bullet had passed through his head. + +If you could go over the battle-ground with one of those sharpshooters, +he would show you a little clump of bushes, and some stumps, where three +or four of them lay on Saturday, in front of one of the Rebel batteries, +and picked off the gunners. Two or three times the artillerymen tried to +drive them out with shells; but they lay close upon the ground, and the +shells did not touch them. The artillerymen were obliged to cease +firing, and retreat out of reach of the deadly bullets. + +Some of the Rebel officers took their surrender very much to heart. They +were proud, insolent, and defiant. Their surrender was unconditional, +and they thought it very hard to give up their swords and pistols. One +of them fired a pistol at Major Mudd, of the Second Illinois, wounding +him in the back. I was very well acquainted with the Major. He lived in +St. Louis, and had been from the beginning an ardent friend of the +Union. He had hunted the guerillas in Missouri, and had fought bravely +at Wilson's Creek. It is quite likely he was shot by an old enemy. +General Grant at once issued orders that all the Rebel officers should +be disarmed. General Buckner, in insolent tones, said to General Grant +that it was barbarous, inhuman, brutal, unchivalrous, and at variance +with the rules of civilized warfare! General Grant replied:-- + +"You have dared to come here to complain of my acts, without the +right to make an objection. You do not appear to remember that your +surrender was unconditional. Yet, if we compare the acts of the +different armies in this war, how will yours bear inspection? You have +cowardly shot my officers in cold blood. As I rode over the field, I +saw the dead of my army brutally insulted by your men, their clothing +stripped off of them, and their bodies exposed, without the slightest +regard for common decency. Humanity has seldom marked your course +whenever our men have been unfortunate enough to fall into your hands. +At Belmont your authorities disregarded all the usages of civilized +warfare. My officers were crowded into cotton-pens with my brave +soldiers, and then thrust into prison, while your officers were +permitted to enjoy their parole, and live at the hotel in Cairo. Your +men are given the same fare as my own, and your wounded receive our +best attention. These are incontrovertible facts. I have simply taken +the precaution to disarm your officers and men, because necessity +compelled me to protect my own from assassination." + +General Buckner had no reply to make. He hung his head in shame at the +rebuke. + +Major Mudd, though severely wounded, recovered, but lost his life in +another battle. One day, while riding with him in Missouri, he told me a +very good story. He said he was once riding in the cars, and that a very +inquisitive man sat by his side. A few rods from every road-crossing the +railroad company had put up boards with the letters W. R. upon them. + +"What be them for?" asked the man. + +"Those are directions to the engineer to blow the whistle and ring the +bell, that people who may be on the carriage-road may look out and not +get run over by the train," the Major answered. + +"O yes, I see." + +The man sat in silence awhile, with his lips working as if he was trying +to spell. + +"Well, Major," he said at last, "it may be as you say. I know that +w-r-i-n-g spells ring, but for the life of me I don't see how you can +get an R into whistle!" + +The fall of Fort Donelson was a severe blow to the Rebels. It had a +great effect. It was the first great victory of the Union troops. It +opened all the northwest corner of the Confederacy. It compelled General +Johnston to retreat from Bowling Green, and also compelled the +evacuation of Columbus and all Central Tennessee. Nashville, the capital +of that State, fell into the hands of the Union troops. + +On Sunday morning the Rebels at Nashville were in good spirits. General +Pillow had telegraphed on Saturday noon, as you remember, "On the honor +of a soldier, the day is ours." The citizens shouted over it. + +One sober citizen said: "I never liked Pillow, but I forgive him now. He +is the man for the occasion." + +Another, who had been Governor of the State,--a wicked, profane +man,--said: "It is first-rate news. Pillow is giving the Yankees hell, +and rubbing it in!"[6] It is a vile sentence, and I would not quote it, +were it not that you might have a true picture from Rebel sources. + +[Footnote 6: Mobile Tribune.] + +The newspapers put out bulletins:-- + + "ENEMY RETREATING! GLORIOUS RESULT!! OUR BOYS FOLLOWING AND + PEPPERING THEIR REAR!! A COMPLETE VICTORY!" + +The bell-ringers rang jubilant peals, and the citizens shook hands over +the good news as they went to church. Services had hardly commenced, +when a horseman dashed through the streets, covered with mud, and almost +breathless from hard riding, shouting, "Fort Donelson has surrendered, +and the Yankees are coming!" + +The people poured out from the churches and their houses into the +street. Such hurrying to and fro was never seen. Men, women, and +children ran here and there, not knowing what to do, imagining that the +Yankees would murder them. They began to pack their goods. Carts, +wagons, carriages, drays, wheelbarrows,--all were loaded. Strong men +were pale with fear, women wrung their hands, and children cried. + +Before noon Generals Floyd and Pillow arrived on steamboats. The people +crowded round the renegade officers, and called for a speech. General +Floyd went out upon the balcony of the hotel, and said:-- + +"Fellow-Citizens: This is not the time for speaking, but for action. It +is a time when every man should enlist for the war. Not a day is to be +lost. We had only ten thousand effective men, who fought four days and +nights against forty thousand of the enemy. But nature could hold out no +longer. The men required rest, and having lost one third of my gallant +force I was compelled to retire. We have left a thousand of the enemy +dead on the field. General Johnston has not slept a wink for three +nights; he is all worn out, but he is acting wisely. He is going to +entice the Yankees into the mountain gaps, away from the rivers and the +gunboats, and then drive them back, and carry the war into the enemy's +country."[7] + +[Footnote 7: Lynchburg Republican.] + +General Johnston's army, retreating from Bowling Green, began to pass +through the city. The soldiers did not stop, but passed on towards the +South. The people had thought that General Johnston would defend the +place, the capital of the State; but when they saw that the troops were +retreating, they recklessly abandoned their homes. It was a wild night +in Nashville. The Rebels had two gunboats nearly completed, which were +set on fire. The Rebel storehouses were thrown open to the poor people, +who rushed pell-mell to help themselves to pork, flour, molasses, and +sugar. A great deal was destroyed. After Johnston's army had crossed the +river, the beautiful and costly wire suspension bridge which spanned it +was cut down. It cost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and +belonged to the daughters of the Rebel General Zollicoffer, who was +killed at the battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky. The Rebel officers +undertook to carry off the immense supplies of food which had been +accumulated; but in the panic, barrels of meat and flour, sacks of +coffee, hogsheads of sugar were rolled into the streets and trampled +into the mire. Millions of dollars' worth were lost to the Confederacy. +The farmers in the country feared that they would lose their slaves, and +from all the section round they hurried the poor creatures towards the +South, hoping to find a place where they would be secure. + +Throughout the South there was gloom and despondency. But all over the +North there was great rejoicing. Everybody praised the brave soldiers +who had fought so nobly. There were public meetings, speeches, +processions, illuminations and bonfires, and devout thanksgivings to +God. + +The deeds of the brave men of the West were praised in poetry and song. +Some stanzas were published in the Atlantic Monthly in Boston, which are +so beautiful that I think you will thank me for quoting them. + + "O gales that dash the Atlantic's swell + Along our rocky shores, + Whose thunders diapason well + New England's glad hurrahs, + + "Bear to the prairies of the West + The echoes of our joy, + The prayer that springs in every breast,-- + 'God bless thee, Illinois!' + + "O awful hours, when grape and shell + Tore through the unflinching line! + 'Stand firm! remove the men who fell! + Close up, and wait the sign.' + + "It came at last, 'Now, lads, the steel!' + The rushing hosts deploy; + 'Charge, boys!'--the broken traitors reel,-- + Huzza for Illinois! + + "In vain thy rampart, Donelson, + The living torrent bars, + It leaps the wall, the fort is won, + Up go the Stripes and Stars. + + "Thy proudest mother's eyelids fill, + As dares her gallant boy, + And Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill + Yearn to thee, Illinois." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING. + + +On the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, one of the greatest battles of the +war was fought near Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee, on the west bank of +the Tennessee River, about twelve miles from the northeast corner of the +State of Mississippi. The Rebels call it the battle of Shiloh, because +it was fought near Shiloh Church. I did not see the terrible contest, +but I reached the place soon after the fight, in season to see the guns, +cannon, wagons, knapsacks, cartridge-boxes, which were scattered over +the ground, and the newly-made graves where the dead had just been +buried. I was in camp upon the field several weeks, and saw the woods, +the plains, hills, ravines. Officers and men who were in the fight +pointed out the places where they stood, showed me where the Rebels +advanced, where their batteries were, how they advanced and retreated, +how the tide of victory ebbed and flowed. Having been so early on the +ground, and having listened to the stories of a great many persons, I +shall try to give you a correct account. It will be a difficult task, +however, for the stories are conflicting. No two persons see a battle +alike; each has his own stand-point. He sees what takes place around +him. No other one will tell a story like his. Men have different +temperaments. One is excited, and another is cool and collected. Men +live fast in battle. Every nerve is excited, every sense intensified, +and it is only by taking the accounts of different observers that an +accurate view can be obtained. + +After the capture of Fort Donelson, you remember that General Johnston +retreated through Nashville towards the South. A few days later the +Rebels evacuated Columbus on the Mississippi. They were obliged to +concentrate their forces. They saw that Memphis would be the next point +of attack, and they must defend it. All of their energies were aroused. +The defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, you remember, caused a great +uprising of the North, and so the fall of Donelson stirred the people of +the South. + +If you look at the map of Tennessee, you will notice, about twenty miles +from Pittsburg Landing, the town of Corinth. It is at the junction of +the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile and Ohio Railroads, which made +it an important place to the Rebels. + +"Corinth must be defended," said the Memphis newspapers. + +[Illustration: PITTSBURG LANDING AND VICINITY.] + +Governor Harris of Tennessee issued a proclamation calling upon the +people to enlist. + + "As Governor of your State, and Commander-in-Chief of its + army, I call upon every able-bodied man of the State, without + regard to age, to enlist in its service. I command him who + can obtain a weapon to march with our armies. I ask him who + can repair or forge an arm to make it ready at once for the + soldier." + +General Beauregard was sent in great haste to the West by Jeff Davis, +who hoped that the fame and glory which he had won by attacking Fort +Sumter and at Bull Run would rouse the people of the Southwest and save +the failing fortunes of the Confederacy. + +To Corinth came the flower of the Southern army. All other points were +weakened to save Corinth. From Pensacola came General Bragg and ten +thousand Alabamians, who had watched for many months the little frowning +fortress on Santa Rosa Island. The troops which had been at Mobile to +resist the landing of General Butler from Ship Island were hastened +north upon the trains of the Mobile and Ohio road. General Beauregard +called upon the Governors of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and +Louisiana for additional troops. + +General Polk, who had been a bishop before the war, sent down two +divisions from Columbus on the Mississippi. General Johnston with his +retreating army hastened on, and thus all the Rebel troops in the +Southwestern States were mustered at Corinth. + +The call to take up arms was responded to everywhere; old men and boys +came trooping into the place. They came from Texas, Arkansas, and +Missouri. Beauregard labored with unremitting energy to create an army +which would be powerful enough to drive back the Union troops, recover +Tennessee, and invade Kentucky. + +General Grant, after the capture of Donelson, moved his army, on +steamboats, down the Cumberland and up the Tennessee, to Pittsburg +Landing. He made his head-quarters at Savannah, a small town ten miles +below Pittsburg Landing, on the east side of the river. + +General Buell, who had followed General Johnston through Nashville with +the army of the Ohio, was slowly making his way across the country to +join General Grant. The Rebel generals had the railroads, by which they +could rapidly concentrate their troops, and they determined to attack +General Grant at Pittsburg, with their superior force, before General +Buell could join him. Beauregard had his pickets within four miles of +General Grant's force, and he could move his entire army within striking +distance before General Grant would know of his danger. He calculated +that he could annihilate General Grant, drive him into the river, or +force him to surrender, capture all of his cannon, wagons, ammunition, +provisions, steamboats,--everything,--by a sudden stroke. If he +succeeded, he could then move against General Buell, destroy his army, +and not only recover all that had been lost, but he would also redeem +Kentucky and invade Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. + +All but one division of General Grant's army was at Pittsburg. Two miles +above the Landing the river begins to make its great eastern bend. Lick +Creek comes in from the west, at the bend. Three miles below Pittsburg +is Snake Creek, which also comes in from the west. Five miles further +down is Crump's Landing. General Lewis Wallace's division was near +Crump's, but the other divisions were between the two creeks. The banks +of the river are seventy-five feet high, and the country is a succession +of wooded hills, with numerous ravines. There are a few clearings and +farm-houses, but it is nearly all forest,--tall oak-trees, with here and +there thickets of underbrush. The farmers cultivate a little corn, +cotton, and tobacco. The country has been settled many years, but is +almost as wild as when the Indians possessed the land. + +Pittsburg is the nearest point to Corinth on the river. The road from +the Landing winds up the bank, passes along the edge of a deep ravine, +and leads southwest. As you go up the road, you come to a log-cabin +about a mile from the river. There is a peach-orchard near by. There the +roads fork. The left-hand road takes you to Hamburg, the middle one is +the Ridge road to Corinth, and the third is the road to Shiloh Church, +called also the Lower Corinth road. There are other openings in the +woods,--old cotton-fields. Three miles out from the river you come to +Shiloh Church. A clear brook, which is fed by springs, gurgles over a +sandy bed, close by the church. You fill your canteen, and find it +excellent water. On Sunday noons, the people who come to church sit down +beneath the grand old trees, eat their dinners, and drink from the +brook. + +It is not such a church as you see in your own village. It has no tall +steeple or tapering spire, no deep-toned bell, no organ, no +singing-seats or gallery, no pews or carpeted aisles. It is built of +logs. It was chinked with clay years ago, but the rains have washed it +out. You can thrust your hand between the cracks. It is thirty or forty +feet square. It has places for windows, but there are no sashes, and of +course no glass. As you stand within, you can see up to the roof, +supported by hewn rafters, and covered with split shingles, which shake +and rattle when the wind blows. It is the best-ventilated church you +ever saw. It has no pews, but only rough seats for the congregation. A +great many of the churches of this section of the country are no better +than this. Slavery does not build neat churches and school-houses, as a +general thing. Around this church the battle raged fearfully. + +Not far from the church, a road leads northeast towards Crump's Landing, +and another northwest towards the town of Purdy. By the church, along +the road leading down to the Landing, at the peach-orchard, and in the +ravines you find the battle-ground. + +General Johnston was senior commander of the Rebel army. He had +Beauregard, Bragg, Polk, Hardee, Cheatham,--all Major-Generals, who had +been educated at West Point, at the expense of the United States. They +were considered to be the ablest generals in the Rebel service. General +Breckenridge was there. He was Vice-President under Buchanan, and was +but a few weeks out of his seat in the Senate of the United States. He +was, you remember, the slaveholders' candidate for President in 1860. +Quite likely he felt very sour against the Northern people, because he +was not elected President. + +The Rebel army numbered between forty and fifty thousand men. General +Johnston worked with all his might to organize into brigades the troops +which were flocking in from all quarters. It was of the utmost +importance that the attack should be made before General Buell joined +General Grant. The united and concentrated forces of Beauregard, Bragg, +and Johnston outnumbered Grant's army by fifteen thousand. General Van +Dorn, with thirty thousand men, was expected from Arkansas. They were to +come by steamboat to Memphis, and were to be transported to Corinth by +the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; but Van Dorn was behind time, and, +unless the attack was made at once, it would be too late, for the +combined armies of Grant and Buell would outnumber the Rebels. At +midnight, on the 1st of April, Johnston learned that General Buell's +advance divisions were within two or three days' march of Savannah. He +immediately issued his orders to his corps commanders, directing the +routes which each was to take in advancing towards Pittsburg. + +The troops began their march on Thursday morning. They were in excellent +spirits. They cheered, swung their hats, and marched with great +enthusiasm. The Rebel officers, who knew the situation, the ground where +General Grant was encamped, believed that his army would be annihilated. +They assured the troops it would be a great and glorious victory. + +The distance was only eighteen miles, and General Johnston intended to +strike the blow at daylight on Saturday morning, but it rained hard +Friday night, and the roads in the morning were so muddy that the +artillery could not move. It was late Saturday afternoon before his army +was in position. It was too near night to make the attack. He examined +the ground, distributed ammunition, posted the artillery, gave the men +extra rations, and waited for Sunday morning. + +The Union army rested in security. No intrenchments were thrown up on +the hills and along the ridges. No precautions were taken against +surprise. The officers and soldiers did not dream of being attacked. +They were unprepared. The divisions were not in order for battle. They +were preparing to advance upon Corinth, and were to march when General +Halleck, who was at St. Louis, commanding the department, should take +the field. + +On the evening of Friday the pickets on the Corinth road, two miles out +from Shiloh Church, were fired upon. A body of Rebels rushed through the +woods, and captured several officers and men. The Seventieth, +Seventy-second, and Forty-eighth Ohio, of General Sherman's division, +were sent out upon a reconnoissance. They came upon a couple of Rebel +regiments, and, after a sharp action, drove them back to a Rebel +battery, losing three or four prisoners and taking sixteen. General +Lewis Wallace ordered out his division, and moved up from Crump's +Landing a mile or two, and the troops stood under arms in the rain, that +poured in torrents through the night, to be ready for an attack from +that direction; but nothing came of it. There was more skirmishing on +Saturday,--a continual firing along the picket lines. All supposed that +the Rebels were making a reconnoissance. No one thought that one of the +greatest battles of the war was close at hand. General Grant went down +the river to Savannah on Saturday night. The troops dried their clothes +in the sun, cooked their suppers, told their evening stories, and put +out their lights at tattoo, as usual. + +To get at the position of General Grant's army, let us start from +Pittsburg Landing. It is a very busy place at the Landing. Forty or +fifty steamboats are there, and hundreds of men are rolling out barrels +of sugar, bacon, pork, beef, boxes of bread, bundles of hay, and +thousands of sacks of corn. There are several hundred wagons waiting to +transport the supplies to the troops. A long train winds up the hill +towards the west. + +Ascending the hill, you come to the forks of the roads. The right-hand +road leads to Crump's Landing. You see General Smith's old division, +which took the rifle-pits at Donelson, on the right-hand side of the +road in the woods. It is commanded now by W. H. L. Wallace, who has been +made a Brigadier-General for his heroism at Donelson. There have been +many changes of commanders since that battle. Colonels who commanded +regiments there are now brigade commanders. + +Keeping along the Shiloh road a few rods, you come to the road which +leads to Hamburg. Instead of turning up that, you keep on a little +farther to the Ridge road, leading to Corinth. General Prentiss's +division is on that road, two miles out, towards the southwest. Instead +of taking that road, you still keep on the right-hand one, travelling +nearly west all the while, and you come to McClernand's division, which +is encamped in a long line on both sides of the road. Here you see +Dresser's, Taylor's, Schwartz's, and McAllister's batteries, and all +those regiments which fought so determinedly at Donelson. They face +northwest. Their line is a little east of the church. + +Passing over to the church, you see that a number of roads centre +there,--one coming in from the northwest, which will take you to Purdy; +one from the northeast, which will carry you to Crump's Landing; the +road up which you have travelled from Pittsburg Landing; one from the +southeast, which will take you to Hamburg; and one from the southwest, +which is the lower road to Corinth. + +You see, close by the church, on both sides of this lower road to +Corinth, General Sherman's division, not facing northwest, but nearly +south. McClernand's left and Sherman's left are close together. They +form the two sides of a triangle, the angle being at the left wings. +They are in a very bad position to be attacked. + +Take the Hamburg road now, and go southeast two miles and you come to +the crossing of the Ridge road to Corinth, where you will find General +Prentiss's division, before mentioned. Keeping on, you come to Lick +Creek. It has high, steep banks. It is fordable at this point, and +Colonel Stuart's brigade of Sherman's division is there, guarding the +crossing. The brook which gurgles past the church empties into the +creek. You see that Prentiss's entire division, and the left wing of +McClernand's, is between Stuart's brigade and the rest of Sherman's +division. There are detached regiments encamped in the woods near the +Landing, which have just arrived, and have not been brigaded. There are +also two regiments of cavalry in rear of these lines. There are several +pieces of siege artillery on the top of the hill near the Landing, but +there are no artillerists or gunners to serve them. + +You see that the army does not expect to be attacked. The cavalry ought +to be out six or eight miles on picket; but they are here, the horses +quietly eating their oats. The infantry pickets ought to be out three or +four miles, but they are not a mile and a half advanced from the camp. +The army is in a bad position to resist a sudden attack from a superior +force. McClernand ought not to be at right angles with Sherman, Stuart +ought not to be separated from his division by Prentiss, and General +Lewis Wallace is too far away to render prompt assistance. Besides, +General Grant is absent, and there is no commander-in-chief on the +field. You wonder that no preparations have been make to resist an +attack, no breastworks thrown up, no proper disposition of the forces, +no extended reconnoissances by the cavalry, and that, after the +skirmishing on Friday and Saturday, all hands should lie down so quietly +in their tents on Saturday night. They did not dream that fifty thousand +Rebels were ready to strike them at daybreak. + +General Johnston's plan of attack was submitted to his corps commanders +and approved by them. It was to hurl the entire army upon Prentiss and +Sherman. He had four lines of troops, extending from Lick Creek on the +right to the southern branch of Snake Creek on the left, a distance of +about two miles and a half. + +The front line was composed of Major-General Hardee's entire corps, with +General Gladden's brigade of Bragg's corps added on the right. The +artillery was placed in front, followed closely by the infantry. +Squadrons of cavalry were thrown out on both wings to sweep the woods +and drive in the Union pickets. + +About five hundred yards in rear of Hardee was the second line, Bragg's +corps in the same order as Hardee's. Eight hundred yards in rear of +Bragg was General Polk, his left wing supported by cavalry, his +batteries in position to advance at a moment's notice. The reserve, +under General Breckenridge, followed close upon Polk. Breckenridge's and +Polk's corps were both reckoned as reserves. They had instructions to +act as they thought best. There were from ten to twelve thousand men in +each line. + +The Rebel troops had received five days' rations on Friday,--meat and +bread in their haversacks. They were not permitted to kindle a fire +except in holes in the ground. No loud talking was allowed; no drums +beat the tattoo, no bugle-note rang through the forest. They rolled +themselves in their blankets, knowing at daybreak they were to strike +the terrible blow. They were confident of success. They were assured by +their officers it would be an easy victory, and that on Sunday night +they should sleep in the Yankee camp, eat Yankee bread, drink real +coffee, and have new suits of clothes. + +In the evening General Johnston called his corps commanders around his +bivouac fire for a last talk before the battle. Although Johnston was +commander-in-chief, Beauregard planned the battle. Johnston was +Beauregard's senior, but the battle-ground was in Beauregard's +department. He gave directions to the officers. + +Mr. William G. Stevenson, of Kentucky, who was in Arkansas when the war +broke out, was impressed into the Rebel service. He acted as special +_aide-de-camp_ to General Breckenridge in that battle. He escaped from +the Rebel service a few months later, and has published an interesting +narrative of what he saw.[8] He stood outside the circle of generals +waiting by his horse in the darkness to carry any despatch for his +commander. He gives this description of the scene:-- + +[Footnote 8: "Thirteen Months in the Rebel Service."] + + "In an open space, with a dim fire in the midst, and a drum + on which to write, you could see grouped around their 'Little + Napoleon,' as Beauregard was sometimes fondly called, ten or + twelve generals, the flickering light playing over their + eager faces, while they listened to his plans, and made + suggestions as to the conduct of the fight. + + "Beauregard soon warmed with his subject, and, throwing off + his cloak, to give free play to his arms, he walked about the + group, gesticulating rapidly, and jerking out his sentences + with a strong French accent. All listened attentively, and + the dim light, just revealing their countenances, showed + their different emotions of confidence or distrust of his + plans. + + "General Sidney Johnston stood apart from the rest, with his + tall, straight form standing out like a spectre against the + dim sky, and the illusion was fully sustained by the + light-gray military cloak which he folded around him. His + face was pale, but wore a determined expression, and at times + he drew nearer the centre of the ring, and said a few words, + which were listened to with great attention. It may be he had + some foreboding of the fate he was to meet on the morrow, for + he did not seem to take much part in the discussion. + + "General Breckenridge lay stretched out on a blanket near the + fire, and occasionally sat upright and added a few words of + counsel. General Bragg spoke frequently, and with + earnestness. General Polk sat on a camp-stool at the outside + of the circle, and held his head between his hands, buried in + thought. Others reclined or sat in various positions. + + "For two hours the council lasted, and as it broke up, and + the generals were ready to return to their respective + commands, I heard General Beauregard say, raising his hand + and pointing in the direction of the Federal camp, whose + drums we could plainly hear, 'Gentlemen, we sleep in the + enemy's camp to-morrow night.'" + +The Confederate General, the same writer says, had minute information of +General Grant's position and numbers. This knowledge was obtained +through spies and informers, some of whom lived in the vicinity, had +been in and out of Grant's camp again and again, and knew every foot of +ground. + +Under these circumstances, with a superior force, with accurate +knowledge of the position of every brigade in General Grant's army, with +troops in the best spirits, enthusiastic, ardent, expecting a victory, +stealing upon a foe unsuspicious, unprepared, with brigades and +divisions widely separated, with General Grant, the commander-in-chief, +ten miles away, and General Buell's nearest troops twenty miles distant, +the Rebel generals waited impatiently for the coming of the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BATTLE. + + +FROM DAYBREAK TILL TEN O'CLOCK. + +It was a lovely morning. A few fleecy clouds floated in the sky. The +trees were putting out their tender leaves. The air was fragrant with +the first blossoms of spring. The birds were singing their sweetest +songs. + +At three o'clock the Rebel troops were under arms, their breakfasts +eaten, their blankets folded, their knapsacks laid aside. They were to +move unencumbered, that they might fight with more vigor. The morning +brightened, and the long lines moved through the forest. + +The Union army was asleep. The reveille had not been beaten. The +soldiers were still dreaming of home, or awaiting the morning drum-beat. +The mules and horses were tied to the wagons, whinnying for their oats +and corn. A few teamsters were astir. Cooks were rekindling the +smouldering camp-fires. The pickets, a mile out, had kept watch through +the night. There had been but little firing. There was nothing to +indicate the near approach of fifty thousand men. Beauregard had ordered +that there should be no picket-firing through the night. + +General Prentiss had strengthened his picket-guard on the Corinth Ridge +road Saturday night. Some of his officers reported that Rebel cavalry +were plenty in the woods. He therefore doubled his grand guard, and +extended the line. He also ordered Colonel Moore, of the Twenty-first +Missouri, to go to the front with five companies of his regiment. +Colonel Moore marched at three o'clock. General Prentiss did not expect +a battle, but the appearance of the Rebels along the lines led him to +take these precautions. + +About the time Colonel Moore reached the pickets the Rebel skirmishers +came in sight. The firing began. The pickets resolutely maintained their +ground, but the Rebels pushed on. Colonel Moore, hearing the firing, +hastened forward. It was hardly light enough to distinguish men from +trees, but the steady advance of the Rebels convinced him that they were +making a serious demonstration. He sent a messenger to General Prentiss +for the balance of his regiment, which was sent forward. At the same +time General Prentiss issued orders for the remainder of his division to +form. + +[Illustration: PITTSBURG LANDING. + + 1 Hurlburt's division. + 2 W. H. L. Wallace's division. + 3 McClernand's division. + 4 Sherman's division. + 5 Prentiss's division. + 6 Stuart's brigade. + 7 Lewis Wallace's division. + 8 Gunboats. + 9 Transports. + 10 Ravine. + A Hardee's line. + B Bragg's line. + C Polk's line. + D Breckenridge's reserves.] + +His entire force was seven regiments, divided into two brigades. The +first brigade was commanded by Colonel Peabody, and contained the +Twenty-fifth Missouri, Sixteenth Wisconsin, and Twelfth Michigan. The +second brigade was composed of the Eighteenth and Twenty-third Missouri, +Eighteenth Wisconsin, and Sixty-first Illinois. The Twenty-third +Missouri was at Pittsburg Landing, having just disembarked from a +transport, and was not with the brigade till nearly ten o'clock. When +the firing began, its commander, having been ordered to report to +General Prentiss, moved promptly to join the division. + +General Prentiss also sent an officer to Generals Hurlburt and Wallace, +commanding the divisions in his rear, near the Landing, informing them +that the Rebels were attacking his pickets in force. The firing +increased. The Twenty-first Missouri gave a volley or two, but were +obliged to fall back. + +There had been a great deal of practising at target in the regiments, +and every morning the pickets, on their return from the front, +discharged their guns, and so accustomed had the soldiers become to the +constant firing, that these volleys, so early in the morning, did not +alarm the camp. + +The orders which General Prentiss had issued were tardily acted upon. +Many of the officers had not risen when the Twenty-first Missouri came +back upon the double-quick, with Colonel Moore and several others +wounded. They came in with wild cries. The Rebels were close upon their +heels. + +General Johnston had, as you have already seen, four lines of troops. +The third corps was in front, commanded by Major-General Hardee, the +second corps next, commanded by General Bragg; the first corps next, +commanded by Major-General Polk, followed by the reserves under General +Breckenridge. + +General Hardee had three brigades, Hindman's, Cleburn's, and Wood's. +General Bragg had two divisions, containing six brigades. The first +division was commanded by General Ruggles, and contained Gibson's, +Anderson's, and Pond's brigades. The second division was commanded by +General Withers, and contained Gladden's, Chalmers's, and Jackson's +brigades. + +General Polk had two divisions, containing four brigades. The first +division was commanded by General Clark, and contained Russell's and +Stewart's brigades. The second division was commanded by Major-General +Cheatham, and contained Johnson's and Stephens's brigades. + +Breckenridge had Tabue's, Bowen's and Statham's brigades. General +Gladden's brigade of Withers's division was placed on the right of +Hardee's line. It was composed of the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, +Twenty-sixth Alabama, and First Louisiana, with Robertson's battery. +Hindman's brigade joined upon Gladden's. Gladden followed Colonel +Moore's force, and fell upon Prentiss's camp. + +Instantly there was a great commotion in the camp,--shouting, hallooing, +running to and fro, saddling horses, seizing guns and cartridge-boxes, +and forming in ranks. Gladden advanced rapidly, sending his bullets into +the encampment. Men who had not yet risen were shot while lying in their +tents. + +But General Prentiss was all along his lines, issuing his orders, +inspiring the men who, just awakened from sleep, were hardly in +condition to act coolly. He ordered his whole force forward, with the +exception of the Sixteenth Iowa, which had no ammunition, having arrived +from Cairo on Saturday evening. + +There was a wide gap between Prentiss's right and Sherman's left, and +Hardee, finding no one to oppose him, pushed his own brigades into the +gap, flanking Prentiss on one side and Sherman on the other, as you will +see by a glance at the diagram on page 173. + +Behind Gladden were Withers's remaining brigades, Chalmers's, and +Jackson's. Chalmers was on the right, farther east than Gladden. He had +the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth Mississippi, and Fifty-second +Tennessee, and Gage's battery. + +Jackson had the Second Texas, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth +Alabama, and Girardey's battery. Chalmers moved rapidly upon Prentiss's +left flank. Gage's and Robertson's batteries both opened with shell. +Jackson came up on Prentiss's right, and in a short time his six +regiments were engaged with twelve of Bragg's and two batteries. + +They curled around Prentiss on both flanks, began to gain his rear to +cut him off from the Landing, and separate him from Stuart's brigade of +Sherman's division, which was a mile distant on the Hamburg road. The +regiments on the left began to break, then those in the centre. The +Rebels saw their advantage. Before them, dotting the hillside, were the +much-coveted tents. They rushed on with a savage war-cry. + +General Prentiss, aided by the cool and determined Colonel Peabody, +rallied the faltering troops in front, but there was no power to stop +the flood upon the flanks. + +"Don't give way! Stand firm! Drive them back with the bayonet!" shouted +Colonel Peabody, and some Missourians as brave as he remained in their +places, loading and firing deliberately. + +"On! on! forward boys!" cried General Gladden, leading his men; but a +cannon-shot came screaming through the woods, knocked him from his +horse, inflicting a mortal wound. The command devolved on Colonel Adams +of the First Louisiana. + +But the unchecked tide was flowing past Prentiss's gallant band. +Prentiss looked up to the right and saw it there, the long lines of men +steadily moving through the forest. He galloped to the left and saw it +there. The bayonets of the enemy were glistening between him and the +brightening light in the east. His men were losing strength. They were +falling before the galling fire, now given at short range. They were +beginning to flee. He must fall back, and leave his camp, or be +surrounded. His troops ran in wild disorder. Men, horses, +baggage-wagons, ambulances, bounded over logs and stumps and through +thickets in indescribable confusion. Colonel Peabody was shot from his +horse, mortally wounded, and his troops, which had begun to show pluck +and endurance, joined the fugitives. + +Prentiss advised Hurlburt of the disaster. Hurlburt was prepared. He +moved his division forward upon the double-quick. Prentiss's +disorganized regiments drifted through it, but his ranks were unshaken. + +The Rebels entered the tents of the captured camp, threw off their old +clothes, and helped themselves to new garments, broke open trunks, +rifled the knapsacks, and devoured the warm breakfast. They were +jubilant; they shouted, danced, sung, and thought the victory won. Two +or three hundred prisoners were taken, disarmed, and their pockets +searched. They were obliged to give up all their money, and exchange +clothes with their captors, and then were marched to the rear. + +While this was taking place in Prentiss's division, Sherman's pickets +were being driven back by the rapid advance of the Rebel lines. It was a +little past sunrise when they came in, breathless, with startling +accounts that the entire Rebel army was at their heels. The officers +were not out of bed. The soldiers were just stirring, rubbing their +eyes, putting on their boots, washing at the brook, or tending their +camp-kettles. Their guns were in their tents; they had a small supply of +ammunition. It was a complete surprise. + +Officers jumped from their beds, tore open the tent-flies, and stood in +undress to see what it was all about. The Rebel pickets rushed up within +close musket range and fired. + +"Fall in! Form a line! here, quick!" were the orders from the officers. + +There was running in every direction. Soldiers for their guns, officers +for their sabres, artillerists to their pieces, teamsters to their +horses. There was hot haste, and a great hurly-burly. + +General Hardee made a mistake at the outset. Instead of rushing up with +a bayonet-charge upon Sherman's camp, and routing his unformed brigades +in an instant, as he might have done, he unlimbered his batteries and +opened fire. + +The first infantry attack was upon Hildebrand's brigade, composed of the +Fifty-third, Fifty-ninth, and Seventy-sixth Ohio, and the Fifty-third +Illinois, which was on the left of the division. Next to it stood +Buckland's brigade, composed of the Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and +Seventy-second Ohio. On the extreme right, west of the church, was +McDowell's brigade, composed of the Sixth Iowa, Fortieth Illinois, and +Forty-sixth Ohio. Taylor's battery was parked around the church, and +Waterhouse's battery was on a ridge a little east of the church, behind +Hildebrand's brigade. + +Notwithstanding this sudden onset, the ranks did not break. Some men +ran, but the regiments formed with commendable firmness. The Rebel +skirmishers came down to the bushes which border the brook south of the +church, and began a scattering fire, which was returned by Sherman's +pickets, which were still in line a few rods in front of the regiments. +There was an open space between the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-third +regiments of Hildebrand's brigade, and Waterhouse, under Sherman's +direction, let fly his shells through the gap into the bushes. Taylor +wheeled his guns into position on both sides of the church. + +Hindman, Cleburn, and Wood advanced into the gap between Sherman and +Prentiss, and swung towards the northwest upon Sherman's left flank. +Ruggles, with his three brigades, and Hodgson's battery of Louisiana +artillery, and Ketchum's battery, moved upon Sherman's front. He had +Gibson's brigade on the right, composed of the Fourth, Thirteenth, and +Nineteenth Louisiana, and the First Arkansas. Anderson's brigade was +next in line, containing the Seventeenth and Twentieth Louisiana, and +Ninth Texas, a Louisiana and a Florida battalion. Pond's brigade was on +the left, and contained the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Louisiana, +Thirty-eighth Tennessee, and two Louisiana battalions. + +When the alarm was given, General Sherman was instantly on his horse. He +sent a request to McClernand to support Hildebrand. He also sent word to +Prentiss that the enemy were in front, but Prentiss had already made the +discovery, and was contending with all his might against the avalanche +rolling upon him from the ridge south of his position. He sent word to +Hurlburt that a force was needed in the gap between the church and +Prentiss. He was everywhere present, dashing along his lines, paying no +attention to the constant fire aimed at him and his staff by the Rebel +skirmishers, within short musket range. They saw him, knew that he was +an officer of high rank, saw that he was bringing order out of +confusion, and tried to pick him off. While galloping down to +Hildebrand, his orderly, Halliday, was killed. + +The fire from the bushes was galling, and Hildebrand ordered the +Seventy-seventh and Fifty-seventh Ohio to drive out the Rebels. They +advanced, and were about to make a charge, when they saw that they were +confronted by Hardee's line, moving down the slope. The sun was just +sending its morning rays through the forest, shining on the long line of +bayonets. Instead of advancing, Hildebrand fell back and took position +by Waterhouse, on the ridge. When Hildebrand advanced, two of +Waterhouse's guns were sent across the brook, but they were speedily +withdrawn, not too soon, however, for they were needed to crush Hindman +and Cleburn who were crossing below Hildebrand. + +Upon the south side of the brook there was a field and a crazy old +farm-house. Ruggles came into the field, halted, and began to form for a +rapid descent to the brook. His troops were in full view from the +church. + +"Pay your respects to those fellows over there," said Major Taylor to +the officer commanding his own battery. Taylor was chief of artillery in +Sherman's division, and was not in immediate command of his own battery. +When he first saw them come into the field he thought they were not +Rebels, but some of Prentiss's men, who had been out on the front. He +hesitated to open fire till it was ascertained who they were. He rode +down to Waterhouse, and told him to fire into the field. He galloped up +to McDowell's brigade, where Barrett's battery was stationed, and told +the officer commanding to do the same. In a moment the field was smoking +hot, shells bursting in the air, crashing through Ruggles's ranks, and +boring holes in the walls of the dilapidated old cabin. The Rebels could +not face in the open field so severe a fire. Instead of advancing +directly against the church, they moved into the woods east of the +field, and became reinforcements to the brigades already well advanced +into the gap between Sherman and Prentiss. + +They came up on Hildebrand's left flank. The thick growth of hazel and +alders along the brook concealed their movements. They advanced till +they were not more than three hundred feet from the Fifty-third and +Fifty-seventh Ohio before they began their fire. They yelled like +demons, screeching and howling to frighten the handful of men supporting +Waterhouse. Taylor saw that they intended an attack upon Waterhouse. He +rode to the spot. "Give them grape and canister!" he shouted. It was +done. The iron hail swept through the bushes. The yelling suddenly +ceased. There were groans and moans instead. The advance in that +direction was instantly checked. + +But all the while the centre brigades of Hardee were pushing into the +gap, and, without serious opposition, were gaining Sherman's left flank. +Waterhouse began to limber up his guns for a retreat. Taylor feared a +sudden panic. + +"Contest every inch of ground. Keep cool. Give them grape. Let them have +all they want," said Taylor. + +Waterhouse unlimbered his guns again, wheeled them a little more to the +east, almost northeast, and opened a fire which raked the long lines and +again held them in check. Taylor sent to Schwartz, Dresser, and +McAllister, connected with McClernand's division, to come into position +and stop the flank movement. + +This took time. The Rebels, seeing their advantages, and hoping to cut +off Sherman, pushed on, and in five minutes were almost in rear of +Waterhouse and Hildebrand. They gained the ridge which enfiladed +Hildebrand. Cleburn and Wood swung up against Waterhouse. He wheeled +still farther north, working his guns with great rapidity. They rushed +upon him with the Indian war-whoop. His horses were shot. He tried to +drag off his guns. He succeeded in saving three, but was obliged to +leave the other three in their hands. + +General McClernand had promptly responded to Sherman's request to +support Hildebrand. Three regiments of Raitt's and Marsh's brigades were +brought round into position in rear of Hildebrand. You remember that +McClernand's division was facing northwest, and this movement, +therefore, was a change of front to the southeast. The Eleventh Illinois +formed upon the right of Waterhouse. The other two, the Forty-third and +Thirtieth Illinois, were on the left, in rear. The fight was in +Hildebrand's camp. There was a fierce contest. Two thirds of +Hildebrand's men had been killed and wounded, or were missing. Most of +the missing had fled towards the river. The regiments that remained were +mixed up. The sudden onset had thrown them into confusion. There was but +little order. Each man fought for himself. It was a brave little band, +which tried to save the camp, but they were outnumbered and outflanked. +The Eleventh Illinois lost six or eight of its officers by the first +volley, yet they stood manfully against the superior force. + +Meanwhile, Buckland and McDowell were in a hot fight against Anderson +and Pond, who had moved to the western border of the field, and were +forming against McDowell's right. Barrett and Taylor were thundering +against them, but there were more cannon replying from the Rebel side. +They were so far round on McDowell's flank, that the shells which flew +over the heads of McDowell's men came past the church into Hildebrand's +ranks. Sherman tried to hold his position by the church. He considered +it to be of the utmost importance. He did not want to lose his camp. He +exhibited great bravery. His horse was shot, and he mounted another. +That also was killed, and he took a third, and, before night, lost his +fourth. He encouraged his men, not only by his words, but by his +reckless daring. Buckland's and McDowell's men recovered from the shock +they first received. They became bull-dogs. Their blood was up. As often +as the Rebels attempted to crowd McDowell back, they defeated the +attempt. The two brigades with Taylor's and Barrett's batteries held +their ground till after ten o'clock, and they would not have yielded +then had it not been for disaster down the line. + +Hildebrand rallied his men. About one hundred joined the Eleventh +Illinois, of McClernand's division, and fought like tigers. + +In the advance of Bragg's line, Gibson's brigade became separated from +Anderson and Pond, Gibson moving to the right towards Prentiss, and they +to the left towards Sherman. Several regiments of Polk's line +immediately moved into the gap. It was a reinforcement of the centre, +but it was also a movement which tended to disorganize the Rebel lines. +Gibson became separated from his division commands, and the regiments +from Polk's corps became disconnected from their brigades, but General +Bragg directed them to join General Hindman. + +They moved on towards McClernand, who was changing front and getting +into position a half-mile in rear of Sherman. They were so far advanced +towards Pittsburg Landing, that Sherman saw he was in danger of being +cut off. He reluctantly gave the order to abandon his camp and take a +new position. He ordered the batteries to fall back to the Purdy and +Hamburg road. He saw Buckland and McDowell, and told them where to +rally. Captain Behr had been posted on the Purdy road with his battery, +and had had but little part in the fight. He was falling back, closely +followed by Pond. + +"Come into position out there on the right," said Sherman, pointing to +the place where he wanted him to unlimber. There came a volley from the +woods. A shot struck the Captain from his horse. The drivers and gunners +became frightened, and rode off with the caissons, leaving five unspiked +guns to fall into the hands of the Rebels! Sherman and Taylor, and other +officers, by their coolness, bravery, and daring, saved Buckland and +McDowell's brigades from a panic; and thus, after four hours of hard +fighting, Sherman was obliged to leave his camp and fall back behind +McClernand, who now was having a fierce fight with the brigades which +had pushed in between Prentiss and Sherman. + +The Rebels rejoiced over their success. Their loud hurrahs rose above +the din of battle. They rushed into the tents and helped themselves to +whatever they could lay their hands on, as had already been done in +Prentiss's camps. Officers and men in the Rebel ranks alike forgot all +discipline. They threw off their old gray rags, and appeared in blue +uniforms. They broke open the trunks of the officers, and rifled the +knapsacks of the soldiers. They seized the half-cooked breakfast, and +ate like half-starved wolves. They found bottles of whiskey in some of +the officers' quarters, and drank, danced, sung, hurrahed, and were +half-crazy with the excitement of their victory. + +Having taken this look at matters in the vicinity of the church, let us +go towards the river, and see the other divisions. + +It was about half past six o'clock in the morning when General Hurlburt +received notice from General Sherman that the Rebels were driving in his +pickets. A few minutes later he had word from Prentiss asking for +assistance. + +He sent Veatch's brigade, which you remember consisted of the +Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-eighth +Illinois, to Sherman. The troops sprang into ranks as soon as the order +was issued, and were on the march in ten minutes. + +Prentiss sent a second messenger, asking for immediate aid. Hurlburt in +person led his other two brigades, Williams's and Lauman's. He had +Mann's Ohio battery, commanded by Lieutenant Brotzman, Ross's battery, +from Michigan, and Meyer's Thirteenth Ohio battery. He marched out on +the Ridge road, and met Prentiss's troops, disorganized and broken, with +doleful stories of the loss of everything. Prentiss and other officers +were attempting to rally them. + +Hurlburt formed in line of battle on the border of an old cotton-field +on the Hamburg road. There were some sheds, and a log-hut with a great +chimney built of mud and sticks, along the road. In front of the hut was +a peach-orchard. Mann's battery was placed near the northeast corner of +the field. Williams's brigade was placed on one side of the field, and +Lauman's on the other, which made the line nearly a right angle. Ross's +battery was posted on the right, and Meyer's on the left. This +disposition of his force enabled Hurlburt to concentrate his fire upon +the field and into the peach-orchard. + +You see the position,--the long line of men in blue, in the edge of the +woods, sheltered in part by the giant oaks. You see the log-huts, the +mud chimney, the peach-trees in front, all aflame with pink blossoms. +The field is as smooth as a house floor. Here and there are handfuls of +cotton, the leavings of last year's crop. It is perhaps forty or fifty +rods across the field to the forest upon the other side. Hurlburt and +his officers are riding along the lines, cheering the men and giving +directions. The fugitives from Prentiss are hastening towards the +Landing. But a line of guards has been thrown out, and the men are +rallying behind Hurlburt. The men standing in line along that field know +that they are to fight a terrible battle. At first there is a little +wavering, but they gain confidence, load their guns, and wait for the +enemy. + +Withers's division, which had pushed back Prentiss, moved upon +Hurlburt's right. Gage's and Girardey's batteries opened fire. The first +shot struck near Meyer's battery. The men never before had heard the +shriek of a Rebel shell. It was so sudden, unexpected, and terrifying, +that officers and men fled, leaving their cannon, caissons, horses, and +everything. Hurlburt saw no more of them during the day. Indignant at +the manifestation of cowardice, he rode down to Mann's battery, and +called for volunteers to work the abandoned guns; ten men responded to +the call. A few other volunteers were picked up, and although they knew +but little of artillery practice, took their places beside the guns and +opened fire. The horses with the caissons were dashing madly through the +forest, increasing the confusion, but they were caught and brought in. +You see that in battle men sometimes lose their presence of mind, and +act foolishly. It is quite likely, however, that the troops fought all +the more bravely for this display of cowardice. Many who were a little +nervous, who had a strange feeling at the heart, did not like the +exhibition, and resolved that they would not run. + +At this time the fortunes of the Union army were dark. Prentiss had been +routed. His command was a mere rabble. Hildebrand's brigade of Sherman's +division was broken to pieces; there was not more than half a regiment +left. The other two brigades of Sherman's division by the church were +giving way. Half of Waterhouse's battery, and all but one of Behr's guns +were taken. Sherman and Prentiss had been driven from their camps. Four +of the six guns composing Meyer's battery could not be used for want of +men. The three regiments which McClernand had sent to Sherman were badly +cut to pieces. The entire front had been driven in. Johnston had gained +a mile of ground. He had accomplished a great deal with little loss. + +General Grant heard the firing at Savannah, ten miles down the river. It +was so constant and heavy that he understood at once it was an attack. +He sent a messenger post haste to General Buell, whose advance was ten +miles east of Savannah, and then hastened to Pittsburg on a steamboat. +He arrived on the ground about nine o'clock. Up to that hour there was +no commander-in-chief, but each division commander gave such orders as +he thought best. There was but little unity of action. Each commander +was impressed with a sense of danger, and each was doing his best to +hold the enemy in check. + +The wide gap between Prentiss and Sherman, and the quick routing of +Prentiss's regiments, enabled Hardee to push his middle brigades to the +centre of the Union army without much opposition. Both of Hardee's +flanks had been held back by the stout fight of Sherman on one side, the +weaker resistance of Prentiss on the other. This gradually made the +Rebel force into the form of a wedge, and at the moment when Hurlburt +was waiting for their advance, the point of the wedge had penetrated +beyond Hurlburt's right, but there it came against General W. H. L. +Wallace's division. + +When Hurlburt notified Wallace that Prentiss was attacked, that noble +commander ordered his division under arms. You remember his position, +near Snake Creek, and nearer the Pittsburg Landing than any other +division. He at once moved in the direction of the firing, which brought +him west of Hurlburt's position. + +You remember that General McClernand had sent three regiments to General +Sherman, and that they were obliged to change front. Having done that, +he moved his other two brigades, the first under the command of Colonel +Hare, including the Eighth and Eighteenth Illinois infantry and the +Eleventh and Thirteenth Iowa, with Dresser's battery, and the third +brigade with Schwartz's and McAllister's batteries. It was a complete +change of front. These movements of Wallace and McClernand were directly +against the two sides and the point of the wedge which Hardee was +driving. Wallace marched southwest, and McClernand swung round facing +southeast. They came up just in season to save Sherman from being cut +off and also to save Veatch's brigade of Hurlburt's division from being +overwhelmed. + +McClernand's head-quarters were in an old cotton-field. The camps of his +regiments extended across the field and into the forest on both sides. +He established his line on the south side of the field in the edge of +the forest, determined to save his camp if possible. His men had seen +hard fighting at Fort Donelson, and so had General Wallace's men. They +were hardened to the scenes of battle, whereas Sherman's, Prentiss's, +and Hurlburt's men were having their first experience. Schwartz, +McAllister, and Dresser had confronted the Rebels at Donelson, and so +had Major Cavender with his eighteen pieces, commanded by Captains +Stone, Richardson, and Walker. + +This is a long and intricate story, and I fear you will not be able to +understand it. The regiments at this hour were very much mixed up, and +as the battle continued they became more so. Later in the day there was +so much confusion that no correct account can ever be given of the +positions of the regiments. Thousands of you, I doubt not, had friends +in that battle, and you would like to know just where they stood. Let us +therefore walk the entire length of the line while the Rebels are +preparing for the second onset. Commencing on the extreme right, we find +Sherman reforming with his left flank a little in rear of McClernand's +right. There is McDowell's brigade on the right, the Sixth Iowa, Fourth +Illinois, and Forty-sixth Ohio. Buckland's brigade next, the +Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and Seventy-second Ohio. A few men of +Hildebrand's brigade, not five hundred in all, of the Fifty-third, +Fifty-seventh, and Seventy-sixth Ohio. Next the regiments of +McClernand's division, the Eleventh Iowa, Eleventh, Twentieth, +Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, Twenty-ninth, Forty-ninth, +Forty-third, Eighth, and Eighteenth Illinois. Next Wallace's division, +Seventh, Ninth, Twelfth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-second Illinois, the +Twelfth, Thirteenth Iowa, and the Twenty-fifth, Fifty-second, and +Fifty-sixth Indiana. I think that all of those regiments were there, +although it is possible that one or two of them had not arrived. These +are not all in the front line, but you see them in two lines. Some of +them lying down behind the ridges waiting the time when they can spring +up and confront the enemy. + +Next in line you see Veatch's brigade of Hurlburt's division, the +Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-sixth +Illinois; then Williams's brigade, the Third Iowa, the Twenty-eighth, +Thirty-second, and Forty-first Illinois, by the log-huts of the +cotton-field on the Hamburg road. Here are Cavender's guns, eighteen of +them. Next is Lauman's brigade,--not the one he commanded at Donelson in +the victorious charge, but one composed of the Thirty-first and +Forty-fourth Indiana, and the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky. + +Behind Wallace and Hurlburt Prentiss is reforming his disorganized +regiments, the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fifth Missouri, +Sixteenth and Eighteenth Wisconsin, and the Twelfth Michigan. + +You remember that Stuart's brigade of Sherman's division was keeping +watch on the Hamburg road at the Lick Creek crossing, towards the river +from Prentiss. When Prentiss was attacked, he sent word to Stuart, who +ordered his brigade under arms at once. He waited for orders. He saw +after a while the Rebel bayonets gleaming through the woods between +himself and Prentiss. He placed the Seventy-first Ohio on the right, the +Fifty-fifth Illinois in the centre, and the Fifty-fourth on the left. +These three regiments compose his brigade, and complete the list of +those engaged in the fight on Sunday. + +When the fight began in the morning, Stuart sent two companies across +the creek to act as skirmishers, but before they could scale the high +bluffs upon the south side, Statham's and Bowen's brigades, of +Breckenridge's reserves, had possession of the ground, and they +returned. Statham's batteries opened upon Stuart's camp. Breckenridge +had moved round from his position in rear, and now formed the extreme +right of Johnston. There were eight regiments and a battery in front of +Stuart. The battery forced the Seventy-first Ohio from its position. It +retired to the top of the ridge behind its camp-ground, which Stuart +could have held against a superior force, had he not been outflanked. +The Seventy-first, without orders, abandoned the position, retreated +towards the Landing, and Stuart saw no more of them during the day. + +He took a new position, with his two regiments, on the crest of the +hill. East of him was a ravine. Breckenridge sent a body of cavalry and +infantry across the creek to creep up this ravine, get in rear of +Stuart's left flank, and with the masses hurrying past his right cut him +off. Stuart determined to make a gallant resistance. He sent four +companies of the Fifty-fourth Ohio, who took their position at the head +of the ravine or gully which makes up from the creek towards the north. +They crept into the thick bushes, hid behind the trees, and commenced a +galling fire, forcing the cavalry back and stopping the advance of the +infantry. The remainder of his force kept Statham back on the front. His +line of fire was across an open field, and as often as Statham attempted +to cross it, he was sent back by the well-directed volleys. Stuart +received assurances from General McArthur, commanding one of Wallace's +brigades, that he should be supported, but the supports could not be +spared from the centre. Stuart maintained his position more than two +hours, till his cartridge-boxes were emptied. When his ammunition +failed, Statham and Bowen made another rush upon his left, and he saw +that he must retreat or be taken prisoner. He fell back to Hurlburt's +line, and formed the remnant of his brigade on the left, thus completing +the line of battle which was established at ten o'clock. + + +FROM TEN O'CLOCK TILL FOUR. + +Generals Bragg and Polk directed the attack on McClernand and Wallace. +Pond's brigade was northwest of the church, Anderson's by the church, +Cleburn's and Wood's east of it. Hindman's and the regiments of Polk's +corps which had broken off from their brigades were in front of +Wallace's right. These regiments belonged to Cheatham's division. The +whole of his division was in front of Wallace. + +Russell, Stewart, and Gibson were in front of Wallace's left. Gladden, +Chalmers, and Jackson were on Hurlburt's right, while Breckenridge, +having driven back Stuart, came up on his left. + +The Rebels, confident of final victory, came up with great bravery, and +commenced attacking McClernand, but they were confronted by men equally +brave. Pond and Anderson charged upon the regiments on McClernand's +right, but the charge was broken by the quick volleys of the Eleventh, +Twentieth, and Forty-eighth Illinois. Cleburn and Wood rushed upon the +Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, and Forty-ninth, which were in the centre of +the division, but were repulsed. Then they swung against the Eleventh +and Eighteenth, in front of McClernand's head-quarters, but could not +break the line. For a half-hour more, they stood and fired at long +musket range. Dresser, McAllister, and Schwartz gave their batteries +full play, but were answered by the batteries planted around the church, +on the ground from which Sherman had been driven. Bragg advanced his men +to short musket range, fifteen to twenty rods distant. Trees were broken +off by the cannon-shot, splintered by the shells; branches were wrenched +from the trunks, the hazel-twigs were cut by the storm of leaden hail. +Many trees were struck fifty, sixty, and a hundred times. Officers and +men fell on both sides very fast. Polk's brigades came up, and the +united forces rushed upon the batteries. There was a desperate struggle. +The horses were shot,--Schwartz lost sixteen, Dresser eighteen, and +McAllister thirty. The guns were seized,--Schwartz lost three, +McAllister two, and Dresser three. The infantry could not hold their +ground. They fell back, took a new position, and made another effort to +save their camp. + +The woods rang with the hurrahs of the Rebels. The ground was thick with +their dead and wounded, but they were winning. They had the largest +army, and success stimulated them to make another attack. Bragg reformed +his columns. + +McClernand's second line of defence was near his camp. His men fought +bravely to save it. Polk's brigades moved to the front, and charged upon +the line, but they were checked. McClernand charged upon them, and in +turn was repulsed. So the contest went on hour after hour. + +Buckland and McDowell, of Sherman's command, were too much exhausted and +disorganized by their long contest in the morning to take much part in +this fight. They stood as reserves. Barrett and Taylor had used all +their ammunition, and could not aid. + +McClernand's right was unprotected. Bragg saw it, and moved round +Anderson's, Pond's, and a portion of Stewart's brigades. There was a +short struggle, and then the troops gave way. The men ran in confusion +across the field swept by the Rebel artillery. The pursuers, with +exultant cheers, followed, no longer in order, but each Rebel soldier +running for the plunder in the tents. The contest was prolonged a little +on the left, but the camp was in the hands of the Rebels, and McClernand +and Sherman again fell back towards Wallace's camp. + +Wallace was already engaged. The tide which had surged against Sherman +and McClernand now came with increased force against his division. +Beauregard aimed for the Landing, to seize the transports, using his +force as a wedge to split the Union army off from the river. He might +have deflected his force to Grant's right, and avoided what, as you will +presently see, prevented him from accomplishing his object; but having +been thus far successful in his plan, he continued the direct advance. + +General Wallace was a very brave man. He was cool, had great presence of +mind, and possessed the rare qualification of making his soldiers feel +his presence. He could bring order out of confusion, and by a word, a +look, or an act inspire his men. He posted Cavender's three batteries in +commanding positions on a ridge, and kept his infantry well under cover +behind the ridge. Cavender's men had fought under the brave General Lyon +at Wilson's Creek in Missouri, and had been in half a dozen battles. The +screaming of the shells was music to them. + +From eleven till four o'clock the battle raged in front of Wallace. The +men who had fought their first battle so determinedly at Donelson were +not to be driven now. + +Four times Hardee, Bragg, and Cheatham rushed upon Wallace's line, but +were in each instance repulsed. Twice Wallace followed them as they +retired after their ineffectual attempts to crush him, but he had not +sufficient power to break their triple ranks. He could hold his ground, +but he could not push the superior force. His coolness, endurance, +bravery, stubbornness, his quick perception of all that was taking +place, his power over his men, to make each man a hero, did much towards +saving the army on that disastrous day. + +General Bragg says: "Hindman's command was gallantly led to the attack, +but recoiled under a murderous fire. The noble and gallant leader +(Hindman) fell severely wounded. The command returned to its work, but +was unequal to the heavy task. I brought up Gibson's brigade, and threw +them forward to attack the same point. A very heavy fire soon opened, +and after a short conflict this command fell back in considerable +disorder. Rallying the different regiments by my staff officers and +escort, they were twice more moved to the attack only to be driven +back."[9] + +[Footnote 9: Bragg's Report.] + +In the morning, when the Rebels commenced the attack, you remember that +Breckenridge, with the Rebel reserves, was in the rear; that he moved +east, and came down towards the river in front of Stuart's brigade. +General Johnston and staff were upon the hills which border the creek, +examining the ground in front of Stuart and Hurlburt. Ross, Mann, and +Walker were throwing shells across the creek. + +General Breckenridge rode up to General Johnston and conversed with him. + +"I will lead your men into the fight to-day, for I intend to show these +Tennesseeans and Kentuckians that I am no coward," said Johnston to +Breckenridge.[10] + +[Footnote 10: Stevenson.] + +The people of the Southwest thought he was a coward, because he had +abandoned Nashville without a fight. + +Breckenridge brought up Statham's and Bowen's brigades against Hurlburt. +He formed his line in the edge of the woods on the opposite side of the +field. After an artillery fire of an hour, he moved into the centre of +the field, rushed through the peach-orchard, and came close to +Hurlburt's line by the log-cabin. But the field was fenced with fire. +There was constant flashing from the muskets, with broad sheets of flame +from the artillery. The Rebels were repulsed with shattered ranks. + +Breckenridge sent his special aid to General Johnston for +instructions.[11] As the aid rode up, a shell exploded above the General +and his staff. A fragment cut through General Johnston's right thigh, +severing an artery. He was taken from his horse, and died on the field +at half past two o'clock. + +[Footnote 11: Stevenson.] + +General Beauregard assumed command, and gave orders to keep General +Johnston's death a secret, that the troops might not be discouraged. + +Three times Breckenridge attempted to force Hurlburt back by attacking +him in front, but as often as he advanced he was driven back. It was sad +to see the wounded drag themselves back to the woods, to escape the +storm, more terrible than the blast of the simoom, sweeping over the +field. Hurlburt's regiments fired away all their ammunition, and +Prentiss who had rallied his men, advanced to the front while the +cartridge-boxes were refilled. + +While this was doing, General Bragg gave up the command of his line in +front of Wallace to another officer and rode down towards the river in +front of Hurlburt and Prentiss. He says:-- + +"There I found a strong force, consisting of three parts without a +common head; being General Breckenridge with his reserve division +pressing the enemy; Brigadier-General Withers with his division +utterly exhausted, and taking a temporary rest; and Major-General +Cheatham's division of Major-General Polk's command to their left and +rear. The troops were soon put in motion again, responding with great +alacrity to the command, 'Forward!'"[12] + +[Footnote 12: Bragg's Report.] + +Just at this moment General Wallace, on the right, was mortally wounded. + +It was like taking away half the strength of his division. The men lost +heart in a moment. The power which had inspired them was gone. The brave +man was carried to the rear, followed by his division. The giving way of +this division, and the falling back of Prentiss before the masses +flanking the extreme left, was most disastrous. Prentiss was surrounded +and taken prisoner with the remnant of his division, and Hurlburt's camp +fell into the hands of the Rebels. + +Of this movement General Bragg says: "The enemy were driven headlong +from every position, and thrown in confused masses upon the river-bank, +behind his heavy artillery and under cover of his gunboats at the +Landing. He had left nearly all his light artillery in our hands, and +some three thousand or more prisoners, who were cut off from their +retreat by the closing in of our troops on the left under Major-General +Polk, with a portion of his reserve corps, and Brigadier-General +Ruggles, with Anderson's and Pond's brigades of his division."[13] + +[Footnote 13: Bragg's Report.] + +The woods rang with the exultant shouts of the Rebels, as Prentiss and +his men were marched towards Corinth. They had possession of the camps +of all the divisions except Wallace's. Beauregard had redeemed his +promise. They could sleep in the enemy's camps. + + +SUNDAY EVENING. + +Look at the situation of General Grant's army. It is crowded back almost +to the Landing. It is not more than a mile from the river to the extreme +right, where Sherman and McClernand are trying to rally their +disorganized divisions. All is confusion. Half of the artillery is lost. +Many of the guns remaining are disabled. Some that are good are deserted +by the artillerymen. There is a stream of fugitives to the Landing, who +are thinking only how to escape. There are thousands on the river-bank, +crowding upon the transports. They have woeful stories. Instead of being +in their places, and standing their ground like men, they have deserted +their brave comrades, and left them to be overwhelmed by the superior +force of the enemy. + +As you look at the position of the army and the condition of the troops +at this hour, just before sunset, there is not much to hope for. But +there are some men who have not lost heart. "We shall hold them yet," +says General Grant. + +An officer with gold-lace bands upon his coat-sleeve, and a gold band on +his cap, walks up-hill from the Landing. It is an officer of the gunboat +Tyler, commanded by Captain Gwin, who thinks he can be of some service. +Shot and shells from the Rebel batteries have been falling in the river, +and he would like to toss some into the woods. + +"Tell Captain Gwin to use his own discretion and judgment," is the +reply. + +The officer hastens back to the Tyler. The Lexington is by her side. The +men spring to the guns, and the shells go tearing up the ravine, +exploding in the Rebel ranks, now massed for the last grand assault. All +day long the men of the gunboats have heard the roar of the conflict +coming nearer and nearer, and have had no opportunity to take a part, +but now their time has come. The vessels sit gracefully upon the placid +river. They cover themselves with white clouds, and the deep-mouthed +cannon bellow their loudest thunders, which roll miles away along the +winding stream. It is sweet music to those disheartened men forming to +resist the last advance of the Rebels, now almost within reach of the +coveted prize. + +Colonel Webster, General Grant's chief of staff, an engineer and +artillerist, with a quick eye, has selected a line of defence. There is +a deep ravine just above Pittsburg Landing, which extends northwest half +a mile. There are five heavy siege-guns, three thirty-two-pounders, and +two eight-inch howitzers on the top of the bluff by the Landing. They +have been standing there a week, but there are no artillerists to man +them. Volunteers are called for. Dr. Cornyn, Surgeon of the First +Missouri Artillery, offers his services. Artillerists who have lost +their guns are collected. Round shot and shell are carried up from the +boats. Fugitives who have lost their regiments are put to work. +Pork-barrels are rolled up and placed in a line. Men go to work with +spades, and throw up a rude embankment. The heavy guns are wheeled into +position to sweep the ravine and all the ground beyond. Everything is +done quickly. There is no time for delay. Men work as never before. +Unless they can check the enemy, all is lost. Energy, activity, +determination, endurance, and bravery must be concentrated into this +last effort. + +[Illustration: THE FIGHT AT THE RAVINE. + + 1 Union batteries. + 2 Rebel batteries. + 3 Ravine. + 4 Gunboats. + 5 Transports.] + +Commencing nearest the river, on the ridge of the ravine, you see two of +McAllister's twenty-four-pounders, next four of Captain Stone's ten +pounders, then Captain Walker with one twenty-pounder, then Captain +Silversparre with four twenty-pounder Parrott guns, which throw rifled +projectiles, then two twenty-pound howitzers, which throw grape and +canister. Then you come to the road which leads up to Shiloh church. +There you see six brass field-pieces; then Captain Richardson's battery +of four twenty-pounder Parrott guns; then a six-pounder and two +twelve-pound howitzers of Captain Powell's battery; then the siege-guns, +under Surgeon Cornyn and Captain Madison; then two ten-pounders, under +Lieutenant Edwards, and two more under Lieutenant Timony. There are more +guns beyond,--Taylor's, Willard's, and what is left of Schwartz's +battery, and Mann's, Dresser's, and Ross's,--about sixty guns in all. +The broken regiments are standing or lying down. The line, instead of +being four miles long, as it was in the morning, is not more than a mile +in length now. The regiments are all mixed up. There are men from a +dozen in one, but they can fight notwithstanding that. + +The Rebel commanders concentrate all their forces near the river, to +charge through the ravine, scale the other side, rush down the road and +capture the steamboats. They plant their batteries along the bank, +bringing up all their guns, to cut their way by shot and shell. If they +can but gain a foothold on the other side, the day is theirs. The Union +army will be annihilated, Tennessee redeemed. Buell will be captured or +pushed back to the Ohio River. The failing fortunes of the Confederacy +will revive. Recognition by foreign nations will be secured. How +momentous the hour! + +Beauregard's troops were badly cut to pieces, and very much +disorganized. The Second Texas, which had advanced through the +peach-orchard, was all gone, and was not reorganized during the fight. +Colonel Moore, commanding a brigade, says: "So unexpected was the shock, +that the whole line gave way from right to left in utter confusion. The +regiments became so scattered and mixed that all efforts to reform them +became fruitless."[14] + +[Footnote 14: Colonel Moore's Report.] + +Chalmers's brigade was on the extreme right. What was left of Jackson's +came next. Breckenridge, with his shattered brigades, was behind +Chalmers. Trabue, commanding a brigade of Kentuckians, was comparatively +fresh. Withers's, Cheatham's, and Ruggles's divisions were at the head +of the ravine. Gibson, who had been almost annihilated, was there. +Stewart, Anderson, Stephens, and Pond were on the ground from which +Wallace had been driven. As the brigades filed past Beauregard, he said +to them, "Forward, boys, and drive them into the Tennessee."[15] + +[Footnote 15: Ruggles's Report.] + +The Rebel cannon open. A sulphurous cloud borders the bank. The wild +uproar begins again. Opposite, another cloud rolls upward. There are +weird shriekings across the chasm, fierce howlings from things unseen. +Great oaks are torn asunder, broken, shattered, splintered. Cannon are +overturned by invisible bolts. There are explosions in the earth and in +the air. Men, horses, wagons, are lifted up, thrown down, torn to +pieces, dashed against the trees. Commands are cut short; for while the +words are on the lips the tongue ceases to articulate, the muscles +relax, and the heart stops its beating,--all the springs of life broken +in an instant. + +Wilder, deeper, louder the uproar. Great shells from the gunboats fly up +the ravine. The gunners aim at the cloud along the southern bank. They +rake the Rebel lines, while the artillery massed in front cuts them +through and through. + +Bragg orders an advance. The brigades enter the ravine, sheltered in +front by the tall trees above and the tangled undergrowth beneath. They +push towards the northern slope. + +"Grape and canister now!" + +"Give them double charges!" + +"Lower your guns!" + +"Quick! Fire!" + +The words run along the line. Moments are ages now. Seconds are years. +How fast men live when everything is at stake! Ah! but how fast they die +down in that ravine! Up, down, across, through, over it, drive the +withering blasts, cutting, tearing, sweeping through the column, which +shakes, wavers, totters, crumbles, disappears. + +General Chalmers says: "We received orders from General Bragg to drive +the enemy into the river. My brigade, together with General Jackson's +brigade, filed to the right, formed facing the river, and endeavored to +press forward to the water's edge; but in attempting to mount the last +ridge, we were met by a fire from a whole line of batteries, protected +by infantry and assisted by shells from the gunboats. Our men struggled +vainly to ascend the hill, which was very steep, making charge after +charge without success; but continued the fight till night closed +hostilities."[16] + +[Footnote 16: Chalmers's Report.] + +Says Colonel Fagan, of the First Arkansas, of Gibson's brigade:-- + +"Three different times did we go into that 'Valley of Death,' and as +often were forced back by overwhelming numbers, intrenched in a strong +position. That all was done that could possibly be done, the heaps of +killed and wounded left there give ample evidence."[17] + +[Footnote 17: Colonel Fagan's Report.] + +Colonel Allen, of the Fourth Louisiana, says:-- + +"A murderous fire was poured into us from the masked batteries of grape +and canister, and also from the rifle-pits. The regiment retired, formed +again, and again charged. There fell many of my bravest and best men, in +the thick brushwood, without ever seeing the enemy."[18] + +[Footnote 18: Colonel Allen's Report.] + +It is sunset. The day has gone. It has been a wild, fierce, disastrous +conflict. Beauregard has pushed steadily on towards the Landing. He is +within musket-shot of the steamers, of the prize he so much covets. He +has possession of all but one of the division camps. He can keep his +promise made to his soldiers; they can sleep in the camps of the Union +army. This is his first serious check. He has lost many men. His +commander-in-chief is killed, but he is confident he can finish in the +morning the work which has gone on so auspiciously, for Buell has not +arrived. + +He has done a good day's work. His men have fought well, but they are +exhausted. Tomorrow morning he will finish General Grant. Thus he +reasons.[19] + +[Footnote 19: Beauregard's Report.] + +General Grant was right in his calculations. The Rebels have been +checked at last. At sunset they who stand upon the hill by the Landing +discover on the opposite bank men running up the road, panting for +breath. Above them waves the Stars and Stripes. There is a buzz, a +commotion, among the thousands by the river-side. + +"It is Buell's advance!" + +"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" + +The shouts ring through the forest. The wounded lift their weary heads, +behold the advancing line, and weep tears of joy. The steamers cast off +their fastenings. The great wheels plash the gurgling water. They move +to the other side. The panting soldiers of the army of the Ohio rush on +board. The steamer settles to the guards with her precious cargo of +human life; recrosses the river in safety. The line of blue winds up the +bank. It is Nelson's division. McCook's and Crittenden's divisions are +at Savannah. Lewis Wallace's division from Crump's Landing is filing in +upon the right, in front of Sherman and McClernand. There will be four +fresh divisions on Monday morning. The army is safe. Buell will not be +pushed back to the Ohio. Recognition will not come from France and +England in consequence of the great Rebel victory at Shiloh. + +Through the night the shells from the gunboats crashed along the Rebel +lines. So destructive was the fire, that Beauregard was obliged to fall +back from the position he had won by such a sacrifice of life. There was +activity at the Landing. The steamers went to Savannah, took on board +McCook's and Crittenden's divisions of Buell's army, and transported +them to Pittsburg. Few words were spoken as they marched up the hill in +the darkness, with the thousands of wounded on either hand, but there +were many silent thanksgivings that they had come. The wearied soldiers +lay down in battle line to broken sleep, with their loaded guns beside +them. The sentinels stood, like statues, in silence on the borders of +that valley of death, watching and waiting for the morning. + +The battle-cloud hung like a pall above the forest. The gloom and +darkness deepened. The stars, which had looked calmly down from the +depths of heaven, withdrew from the scene. A horrible scene! for the +exploding shells had set the forest on fire. The flames consumed the +withered leaves and twigs of the thickets, and crept up to the helpless +wounded, to friend and foe alike. There was no hand but God's to save +them. He heard their cries and groans. The rain came, extinguishing the +flames. It drenched the men in arms, waiting for daybreak to come to +renew the strife, but there were hundreds of wounded, parched with +fever, restless with pain, who thanked God for the rain. + + +MONDAY. + +Beauregard laid his plans to begin the attack at daybreak. Grant and +Buell resolved to do the same,--not to stand upon the defensive, but to +astonish Beauregard by advancing. Nelson's division was placed on the +left, nearest the river, Crittenden's next, McCook's beyond, and Lewis +Wallace on the extreme right,--all fresh troops,--with Grant's other +divisions, which had made such a stubborn resistance, in reserve. + +In General Nelson's division, you see nearest the river Colonel Ammen's +brigade, consisting of the Thirty-sixth Indiana, Sixth and Twenty-fourth +Ohio; next, Colonel Bruer's brigade, First, Second, and Twentieth +Kentucky; next, Colonel Hazen's brigade, Ninth Indiana, Sixth Kentucky, +and Forty-first Ohio. Colonel Ammen's brigade arrived in season to take +part in the contest at the ravine on Sunday evening. + +General Crittenden's division had two brigades: General Boyle's and +Colonel W. L. Smith's. General Boyle had the Nineteenth and Fifty-ninth +Ohio, and Ninth and Thirteenth Kentucky. Colonel Smith's was composed of +the Thirteenth Ohio, and Eleventh and Twenty-sixth Kentucky, with +Mendenhall's battery, belonging to the United States Regular Army, and +Bartlett's Ohio battery. + +General McCook's division had three brigades. The first was commanded by +General Rousseau, consisting of the First Ohio, Sixth Indiana, Third +Kentucky, and battalions of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Nineteenth +Regular Infantry. The second brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General +Gibson, and consisted of the Thirty-second and Thirty-ninth Indiana, and +Forty-ninth Ohio. The third brigade was commanded by Colonel Kirk, and +consisted of the Thirty-fourth Illinois, Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth +Indiana, and Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania. + +General Lewis Wallace's division, which had been reorganized after the +battle of Fort Donelson, now consisted of three brigades. The first was +commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, and consisted of the Eighth +Missouri, Eleventh and Twenty-fourth Indiana, and Thurber's Missouri +battery. The second brigade was commanded by Colonel Thayer, and +contained the same regiments that checked the Rebels at the brook west +of Fort Donelson,--the First Nebraska, Twenty-third and Sixty-eighth +Ohio, with Thompson's Indiana battery. The third brigade was commanded +by Colonel Whittlesey, and was composed of the Twentieth, Fifty-sixth, +Seventy-sixth, and Seventy-eighth Ohio. + +Two brigades of General Wood's division arrived during the day, but not +in season to take part in the battle. + +Beauregard's brigades were scattered during the night. They had retired +in confusion before the terrible fire at the ravine from the gunboats. +Officers were hunting for their troops, and soldiers were searching for +their regiments, through the night. The work of reorganizing was going +on when the pickets at daylight were driven in by the advance of the +Union line. + +Beauregard, Bragg, Hardee, and Polk all slept near the church. There was +no regularity of divisions, brigades, or regiments. Ruggles was west of +the church with two of his brigades. Trabue's brigade of Breckenridge's +reserves was there. Breckenridge, with his other brigades, or what was +left of them, was east of the church, also the shattered fragments of +Withers's division. Gladden's brigade had crumbled to pieces, and +Colonel Deas, commanding it, was obliged to pick up stragglers of all +regiments. Russell and Stewart were near Prentiss's camp. Cheatham was +in the vicinity, but his regiments were dwindled to companies, and +scattered over all the ground. + +Beauregard had established a strong rear-guard, and had issued orders to +shoot all stragglers. The order was rigidly enforced, and the runaways +were brought back and placed in line. Although exhausted, disorganized, +and checked, the Rebels had not lost heart. They were confident of +victory, and at once rallied when they found the Union army was +advancing. + +Look once more at the position of the divisions. Nelson is on the ground +over which Stuart and Hurlburt retreated. Crittenden is where Prentiss +was captured, McCook where McClernand made his desperate stand, and +Lewis Wallace where Sherman's line gave way. + +The gunboats, by their constant fire during the night, had compelled the +Rebels to fall back in front of Nelson. It was a little after five +o'clock when Nelson threw forward his skirmishers, and advanced his +line. He came upon the Rebels half-way out to Lick Creek, near the +peach-orchard. The fight commenced furiously. Beauregard was marching +brigades from his left, and placing them in position for a concentrated +attack to gain the Landing. General Crittenden had not advanced, and +Nelson was assailed by a superior force. He held his ground an hour, but +he had no battery. He had been compelled to leave it at Savannah. He +sent an aid to General Buell requesting artillery. Mendenhall was sent. +He arrived just in time to save the brigade from an overwhelming onset. +The Rebels were advancing when he unlimbered his guns, but his quick +discharges of grape at short range threw them into confusion. + +It astonished General Beauregard. He had not expected it. He was to +attack and annihilate Grant, not be attacked and driven.[20] He ordered +up fresh troops from his reserves, and the contest raged with increased +fury. + +[Footnote 20: Beauregard's Report.] + +Nelson, seeing the effect of Mendenhall's fire, threw Hazen's brigade +forward. It came upon the battery which had been cutting them to pieces. +With a cheer they sprang upon the guns, seized them, commenced turning +them upon the fleeing enemy. The Rebel line rallied and came back, +followed by fresh troops. There was a short, severe struggle, and Hazen +was forced to leave the pieces and fall back. Then the thunders rolled +again. The woods were sheets of flame.[21] The Rebels brought up more of +their reserves, and forced Nelson to yield his position. He fell back a +short distance, and again came into position. He was a stubborn man,--a +Kentuckian, a sailor, who had been round the world. His discipline was +severe. His men had been well drilled, and were as stubborn as their +leader. + +[Footnote 21: Nelson's Report.] + +"Send me another battery, quick!" was his request, made to General +Buell. + +Tirrell's battery, which had just landed from a steamer, went up the +hill, through the woods, over stumps and trees, the horses leaping as if +they had caught the enthusiasm of the commander of the battery. Captain +Tirrell had a quick eye. + +"Into position there. Lively, men! Caissons to the rear!" were his words +of command. The gunners sprang from the carriages to the ground. The +caissons wheeled, bringing the heads of the horses towards the Landing, +trotted off eight or ten rods and took position sheltered by a ridge of +land. Captain Tirrell rode from gun to gun. + +"Fire with shell, two-second fuses," he said to the lieutenants +commanding his two ten-pounder Parrott guns. + +"Grape and canister," he said to the officers commanding the four brass +twelve-pounders. Its fire was terrific. Wherever his guns were turned +there was silence along the Rebel lines. Their musketry ceased. Their +columns staggered back. All the while Mendenhall was pounding them. The +Nineteenth Ohio, from Crittenden's division, came down upon the run, +joined the brigade, and the contest went on again. The Rebels, instead +of advancing, began to lose the ground they had already won. + +Crittenden and McCook advanced a little later. They came upon the enemy, +which had quiet possession of McClernand's and Sherman's camps. +Beauregard's head-quarters were there. The Rebels, finding themselves +assailed, made a desperate effort to drive back the advancing columns. +Rousseau advanced across the open field, over the ground so hotly +contested by McClernand the day before. This movement made a gap between +McCook and Crittenden. Beauregard saw it, threw Cheatham and Withers +into the open space. They swung round square against Rousseau's left, +pouring in a volley which staggered the advancing regiments. The +Thirty-second Indiana regiment, Colonel Willich commanding, was on the +extreme right of McCook's division. They had been in battle before, and +were ordered across to meet the enemy. You see them fly through the +woods in rear of Rousseau's brigade. They are upon the run. They halt, +dress their ranks as if upon parade, and charge upon the Rebels. Colonel +Stambough's Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania follows. Then all of Kirk's +brigade. It is a change of position and a change of front, admirably +executed, just at the right time, for Rousseau is out of ammunition, and +is obliged to fall back. McCook's third brigade, General Gibson, comes +up. Rousseau is ready again, and at eleven o'clock you see every +available man of that division contending for the ground around the +church. Meanwhile Wallace is moving over the ground on the extreme +right, where Sherman fought so bravely. Sherman, Hurlburt, and the +shattered regiments of W. H. L. Wallace's division, now commanded by +McArthur, follow in reserve. Driven back by Nelson, the Rebel forces +concentrate once more around the church for a final struggle. Wallace +watches his opportunities. He gains a ridge. His men drop upon the +ground, deliver volley after volley, rise, rush nearer to the enemy, +drop once more, while the grape and canister sweep over them. Thus they +come to close quarters, and then regiment after regiment rises, and +delivers its fire. It is like the broadsides of a man-of-war. + +The time had come for a general advance. Nelson, Crittenden, McCook, +Wallace, almost simultaneously charged upon the enemy. It was too +powerful to be resisted. The Rebels gave way, retreated from the camps +which they had occupied a single night, fled past the church, across the +brook, up through the old cotton-field on the south side, to the shelter +of the forest on the top of the ridge beyond. The battle was lost to +them. Exultant cheers rang through the forest for the victory won. + +If I were to go through all the details, as I might, and write how +Crittenden's brigades pressed on, and captured Rebel batteries; how the +Rebels tried to overwhelm him; how the tide of battle surged from hill +to hill; how the Rebels tried to cut McCook to pieces; how Wallace's +division flanked the enemy at Owl Creek; how Rousseau's brigade fought +in front of McClernand's camp; how the Fifth Kentucky charged upon a +battery, and captured two guns which were cutting them up with grape and +canister, and four more which were disabled and could not be dragged off +by the enemy; how Colonel Willich, commanding the Thirty-second Indiana, +finding some of his men were getting excited, stopped firing, and +drilled them, ordering, presenting, and supporting arms, with the balls +whistling through his ranks; how the men became cool and steady, and +went in upon a charge at last with a wild hurrah, and a plunge of the +bayonet that forced the Rebels to give up McClernand's camp; how Colonel +Ammen coolly husked ears of corn for his horse, while watching the +fight, with the shells falling all around him; how Colonel Kirk seized a +flag and bore it in advance of his brigade; how Color-Sergeant William +Ferguson of the Thirteenth Missouri was shot down, how Sergeant Beem of +Company C seized the flag before it touched the ground, and advanced it +still farther; how Beauregard was riding madly along the lines by the +church, trying to rally his men, when Thurber's battery opened, and +broke them up again; how, at noon, he saw it was no use; how he drew off +his men, burned his own camp, and went back to Corinth, defeated, his +troops disheartened, leaving his killed and hundreds of his wounded on +the field; how the Union army recovered all the cannon lost on +Sunday;--if I were to write it all out, I should have no room to tell +you what Commodore Foote was doing all this time on the Mississippi. + +It was a terrible fight. The loss on each side was nearly equal,--about +thirteen thousand killed, wounded, and missing, or twenty-six thousand +in all. + +I had a friend killed in the fight on Sunday,--Captain Carson, +commanding General Grant's scouts. He was tall and slim, and had +sparkling black eyes. He had travelled all over Missouri, Kentucky, and +Tennessee, had often been in the Rebel camps. He was brave, almost +fearless, and very adroit. He said to a friend, when the battle began in +the morning, that he should not live through the day. But he was very +active, riding recklessly through showers of bullets. It was just at +sunset when he rode up to General Grant with a despatch from General +Buell. He dismounted, and sat down upon a log to rest, but the next +moment his head was carried away by a cannon-ball. He performed his +duties faithfully, and gave his life willingly to his country. + +You have seen how the army was surprised, how desperately it fought, how +the battle was almost lost, how the gunboats beat back the exultant +Rebels, how the victory was won. Beauregard was completely defeated; but +he telegraphed to Jefferson Davis that he had won a great victory. This +is what he telegraphed-- + + "CORINTH, April 8th, 1862. + + "TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR, RICHMOND:-- + + "We have gained a great and glorious victory. Eight to ten thousand + prisoners and thirty-six pieces of cannon. Buell reinforced Grant, + and we retired to our intrenchments at Corinth, which we can hold. + Loss heavy on both sides. + + "BEAUREGARD." + +You see that, having forsworn himself to his country, he did not +hesitate to send a false despatch, to mislead the Southern people and +cover up his mortifying defeat. + +The Rebel newspapers believed Beauregard's report. One began its account +thus:-- + + "Glory! glory! glory! victory! victory! I write from Yankee + papers. Of all the victories that have ever been on record, + ours is the most complete. Bull Run was nothing in comparison + to our victory at Shiloh. General Buell is killed, General + Grant wounded and taken prisoner. Soon we will prove too much + for them, and they will be compelled to let us alone. Our + brave boys have driven them to the river, and compelled them + to flee to their gunboats. The day is ours."[22] + +[Footnote 22: Captain Geer.] + +The people of the South believed all this; but when the truth was known +their hopes went down lower than ever, for they saw it was a disastrous +defeat. + +On the Sabbath after the battle, the chaplains of the regiments had +religious exercises. How different the scene! Instead of the cannonade, +there were prayers to God. Instead of the musketry, there were songs of +praise. There were tears shed for those who had fallen, but there were +devout thanksgivings that they had given their lives so freely for their +country and for the victory they had achieved by their sacrifice. + +One of the chaplains, in conducting the service, read a hymn, +commencing: + + "Look down, O Lord, O Lord forgive; + Let a repenting rebel live." + +But he was suddenly interrupted by a patriotic soldier, who cried, "No +sir, not unless they lay down their arms, every one of them." + +He thought the chaplain had reference to the Rebels who had been +defeated. + +After the battle, a great many men and women visited the ground, +searching for the bodies of friends who had fallen. Lieutenant Pfieff, +an officer of an Illinois regiment, was killed, and his wife came to +obtain his body. No one knew where he was buried. The poor woman +wandered through the forest, examining all the graves. Suddenly a dog, +poor and emaciated, bounded towards her, his eyes sparkling with +pleasure, and barking his joy to see his mistress. When her husband went +to the army, the dog followed him, and was with him through the battle, +watched over his dead body through the terrible contest, and after he +was buried, remained day and night a mourner! He led his mistress to the +spot. The body was disinterred. The two sorrowful ones, the devoted wife +and the faithful brute, watched beside the precious dust till it was +laid in its final resting-place beneath the prairie-flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +EVACUATION OF COLUMBUS. + + +The Rebels, at the beginning of the war fortified Columbus, in Kentucky, +which is twenty miles below Cairo on the Mississippi River. There the +bluffs are very high, and are washed at their base by the mighty stream. +Cannon placed on the summit have long range. A great deal of labor was +expended to make it an impregnable place. There were batteries close +down to the water under the hill, with heavy guns. A gallery was cut +along the side of the bluff, a winding, zigzag passage, which, with many +crooks and turns, led to the top of the hill. They had numerous guns in +position on the top, to send shot and shell down upon Commodore Foote, +should he attempt to descend the river. They built a long line of +earthworks to protect the rear, intrenchments and stockades,--which are +strong posts set in the ground, making a close fence, with holes here +and there through which the riflemen and sharpshooters could fire. + +They cut down the trees and made _abatis_. There were several lines of +defence. They stretched a great iron chain across the river, supporting +it by barges which were anchored in the stream. They gave out word that +the river was effectually closed against commerce till the independence +of the Confederacy was recognized. + +[Illustration: A REBEL TORPEDO.] + +When the war commenced, there was a man named Maury, a lieutenant in the +United States service, and who was connected with the National +Observatory in Washington. He was thought to be a scientific, practical +man. He had been educated by the government, had received great pay, and +was in a high position; but he forgot all that, and joined the Rebels. +He imitated General Floyd, and stole public property, carrying off from +the National Observatory valuable scientific papers which did not belong +to him. He was employed by the Rebel government to construct torpedoes +and infernal machines for blowing up Commodore Foote's gunboats. He had +several thousand made,--some for the land, which were planted around +Columbus in rear of the town, and which were connected with a galvanic +battery by a telegraph wire, to be exploded at the right moment, by +which he hoped to destroy thousands of the Union troops. He sunk several +hundred in the river opposite Columbus. They were oblong cylinders of +wrought iron, four or five feet in length; inside were two or three +hundred pounds of powder. Two small anchors held the cylinder in its +proper place. It was air tight, and therefore floated in the water. At +the upper end there was a projecting iron rod, which was connected with +a percussion gun-lock. If anything struck the rod with much force, it +would trip the lock, and explode the powder. At least, Mr. Maury thought +so. The above engraving will show the construction of the torpedoes, and +how they were placed in the water. The letter A represents the iron rod +reaching up almost to the surface of the water. At B it is connected +with the lock, which is inside the cylinder, and not represented. C +represents the powder. The arrows show the direction of the current. + +One day he tried an experiment. He sunk a torpedo, and let loose a +flat-boat, which came down with the current and struck the iron rod. The +powder exploded and sent the flat high into the air. Thousands of Rebel +soldiers stood on the bluffs and saw it. They hurrahed and swung their +hats. Mr. Maury was so well pleased that the river was planted with +them, above, in front, and below the town. He thought that Commodore +Foote and all his gunboats would be blown out of the water if they +attempted to descend the stream. + +But the workmanship was rude. The parts were not put together with much +skill. Mr. Maury showed that his science was not practical. He forgot +that the river was constantly rising and falling, that sometimes the +water would be so high the gunboats could glide over the iron rods with +several feet between, he forgot that the powder would gather moisture +and the locks become rusty. + +It was discovered, after a while, that the torpedoes leaked, that the +powder became damp, and changed to an inky mass, and that the hundreds +of thousands of dollars which Mr. Maury had spent was all wasted. Then +they who had supposed him to be a scientific man said he was a humbug. + +The taking of Fort Donelson compelled the Rebels to evacuate +Columbus,--the Gibraltar of the Mississippi, as they called it,--and all +the work which had been done was of no benefit. Nashville was evacuated +on the 27th of February. On the 4th of March Commodore Foote, having +seen signs that the Rebels were leaving Columbus, went down the river, +with six gunboats, accompanied by several transports, with troops, under +General Sherman, to see about it. The Cincinnati, having been repaired, +was the flag-ship. Commodore Foote requested me to accompany him, if I +desired to. + +"Perhaps we shall have hot work," he said, as I stepped on board in the +evening of the 3d. + +"We shall move at four o'clock," said Captain Stemble, commanding the +ship, "and shall be at Columbus at daybreak." + +It was a new and strange experience, that first night on a gunboat, with +some probability that at daybreak I might be under a hot fire from a +hundred Rebel guns. By the dim light of the lamp I could see the great +gun within six feet of me, and shining cutlasses and gleaming muskets. +Looking out of the ward-room, I could see the men in their hammocks +asleep, like orioles in their hanging nests. The sentinels paced the +deck above, and all was silent but the sound of the great wheel of the +steamer turning lazily in the stream, and the gurgling of the water +around the bow. + +"We are approaching Columbus," said an officer. It was still some time +to sunrise, but the men were all astir. Their hammocks were packed away. +They were clearing the decks for action, running out the guns, bringing +up shot and shell, tugging and pulling at the ropes. Going on deck, I +could see in the dim light the outline of the bluff at Columbus. Far up +stream were dark clouds of smoke from the other steamers. + +Commodore Foote was on the upper deck, walking with crutches, still lame +from the wound received at Donelson. + +"I always feel an exhilaration of spirits before going into a fight. I +don't like to see men killed; but when I have a duty to perform for my +country, like this, all of my energies are engaged," said the Commodore. + +Right opposite, on the Missouri shore, was the Belmont battle-ground, +where General Grant fought his first battle, and where the gunboats +saved the army. + +There was a house riddled with cannon-shot; there was a hole in the roof +as big as a bushel-basket, where the shell went in, and in the gable an +opening large enough for the passage of a cart and oxen, where it came +out. It exploded, and tore the end of the building to pieces. + +One by one the boats came down. The morning brightened. We could see men +on the bluff, and a flag flying. Were the Rebels there? We could not +make out the flag. We dropped a little nearer. More men came in sight. + +"Four companies of cavalry were sent out from Paducah on a +reconnoissance day before yesterday. Perhaps the Rebels have all gone, +and they are in possession of the place," said General Sherman. + +"I will make a reconnoissance with a party of soldiers," he added. He +jumped on board his tug, and went off to get his soldiers. + +"Captain Phelps, you will please to take my tug and drop down also," +said Commodore Foote. "If you are willing to run the risk, you are at +liberty to accompany Captain Phelps," were his words to me. What is a +thing worth that costs nothing? + +We drop down the stream slowly and cautiously. + +"We are in easy range. If the Rebels are there, they could trouble us," +says Captain Phelps. + +We drop nearer. The flag is still waving. The man holding it swings his +hat. + +They are not Rebels, but Union cavalry! Away we dash. The other tug, +with General Sherman, is close behind. + +"A little more steam! Lay her in quick!" says Captain Phelps. + +He is not to be beaten. We jump ashore, scramble up the bank ahead of +all the soldiers, reach the upper works, and fling out the Stars and +Stripes to the bright morning sunshine on the abandoned works of the +Rebel Gibraltar! + +The crews of the boats crowd the upper decks, and send up their joyous +shouts. The soldiers farther up stream give their wild hurrahs. Around +us are smoking ruins,--burned barracks and storehouses, barrels of flour +and bacon simmering in the fire. There are piles of shot and shell. The +great chain has broken by its own weight. At the landing are hundreds of +Mr. Maury's torpedoes,--old iron now. We wander over the town, along the +fortifications, view the strong defences, and wonder that the Rebels +gave it up,--defended as it was by one hundred and twenty guns,--without +a struggle, but the fall of Fort Donelson compelled them to evacuate the +place. They carried off about half of the guns, and tumbled many of +those they left behind down the embankment into the river. The force +which had fled numbered about sixteen thousand. Five thousand went down +the river on steamboats, and the others were sent to Corinth on the +cars. + +This abandonment of Columbus freed Kentucky of Rebel troops. It had been +invaded about six months, and Jeff Davis hoped to secure it as one of +the Confederate States, but he was disappointed in his expectations. The +majority of the people in that noble State could not be induced to go +out of the Union. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OPERATIONS AT NEW MADRID. + + +There are many islands in the Mississippi, so many that the river pilots +have numbered them from Cairo to New Orleans. The first is just below +Cairo. No. 10 is about sixty miles below, where the river makes a sharp +curve, sweeping round a tongue of land towards the west and northwest, +then turning again at New Madrid, making a great bend towards the +southeast, as you will see by the map. The island is less than a mile +long, and not more than a fourth of a mile wide. It is ten or fifteen +feet above high-water mark. The line between Kentucky and Tennessee +strikes the river here. The current runs swiftly past the island, and +steamboats descending the stream are carried within a stone's throw of +the Tennessee shore. The bank on that side of the stream is also about +fifteen or twenty feet above high water. + +The Rebels, before commencing their works at Columbus, saw that Island +No. 10 was a very strong position, and commenced fortifications there. +When they evacuated Columbus, they retired to that place, and remounted +the guns which they had brought away on the island and on the Tennessee +shore. They thought it was a place which could not be taken. They held +New Madrid, eight miles below, on the Missouri side, which was defended +by two forts. They held the island and the Tennessee shore. East of +their position, on the Tennessee shore, was Reelfoot Lake, a large body +of water surrounded by hundreds of acres of impassable swamp, which +extended across to the lower bend, preventing an approach by the Union +troops from the interior of the State upon their flank. The garrison at +the island, and in the batteries along the shore, had to depend upon +steamboats for their supplies. + +The distance across the lower promontory from the island to Tiptonville, +along the border of Reelfoot Lake, is about five miles, but the distance +from the island by the river to Tiptonville is over twenty miles. + +On the 22d of February, General Pope, with several thousand men, left +the little town of Commerce, which is above Cairo, on the Mississippi, +for New Madrid, which is forty miles distant. It was a slow, toilsome +march. The mud was very deep, and he could move scarcely five miles a +day, but he reached New Madrid on the 3d of March, the day on which we +raised the flag on the heights at Columbus. + +[Illustration: ISLAND NO. 10. + + 1 Commodore Foote's fleet. + 2 Island No. 10 and Rebel floating-battery. + 3 Shore batteries. + 4 Rebel boats. + 5 2 Forts at New Madrid.] + +The Rebels had completed their forts. The one above the town mounted +fourteen heavy guns, and the one below it seven. Both were strong works, +with bastions and angles, and ditches that could be swept by an +enfilading fire. There was a line of intrenchments between the two +forts, enclosing the town. + +There were five regiments of infantry and several batteries of +artillery, commanded by General McCown, at New Madrid. General Mackall +was sent up by Beauregard to direct the defence there and at Island No. +10. When he arrived, he issued an address to the soldiers. He said:-- + +"Soldiers: We are strangers, commander and commanded, each to the other. +Let me tell you who I am. I am a General made by Beauregard,--a General +selected by Beauregard and Bragg for this command, when they knew it was +in peril. + +"They have known me for twenty years; together we stood on the fields of +Mexico. Give them your confidence now; give it to me when I have earned +it. + +"Soldiers: The Mississippi Valley is intrusted to your courage, to your +discipline, to your patience; exhibit the coolness and vigilance you +have heretofore, and hold it."[23] + +[Footnote 23: Rebellion Record.] + +They thought they could hold the place. A Rebel officer wrote, on the +11th of March, to his friends thus: "General Mackall has put the rear in +effective defence. The forts are impregnable. All are hopeful and ready. +We will make this an American Thermopylae, if necessary."[24] + +[Footnote 24: Memphis Appeal.] + +By this he intended to say that they would all die before they would +surrender the place, and would make New Madrid as famous in history as +that narrow mountain-pass in Greece, where the immortal three hundred +under Leonidas fought the Persian host. + +The Rebels had several gunboats on the river, each carrying three or +four guns. The river was very high, and its banks overflowed. The +country is level for miles around, and it was an easy matter for the +gunboats to throw shells over the town into the woods upon General +Pope's army. The Rebels had over sixty pieces of heavy artillery, while +General Pope had only his light field artillery; but he sent to Cairo +for siege-guns, meanwhile driving in the enemy's pickets and investing +the place. + +He detached Colonel Plummer, of the Eleventh Missouri, with three +regiments and a battery of rifled Parrott guns, to take possession of +Point Pleasant, ten miles farther down. The order was admirably +executed. Colonel Plummer planted his guns, threw up intrenchments, and +astonished the Rebels by sending his shells into a steamboat which was +passing up with supplies. + +Commodore Hollins, commanding the Rebel gunboats, made all haste down to +find out what was going on. He rained shot and shell all day long upon +Colonel Plummer's batteries, but could not drive him from the position +he had selected. He had made holes in the ground for his artillery, and +the Rebel shot did him no injury. Hollins began at long range, then +steamed up nearer to the batteries, but Plummer's artillerymen, by their +excellent aim, compelled him to withdraw. The next day Hollins tried it +again, but with no better success. The river was effectually blockaded. +No Rebel transport could get up, and those which were at Island No. 10 +and New Madrid could not get down, without being subjected to a heavy +fire. + +General Mackall determined to hold New Madrid, and reinforced the +place from Island No. 10, till he had about nine thousand troops. On +the 11th of March four siege-guns were sent to General Pope. He +received them at sunset. Colonel Morgan's brigade was furnished with +spades and intrenching tools. General Stanley's division was ordered +under arms, to support Morgan. The force advanced towards the town at +dark, drove in the Rebel pickets, secured a favorable position within +eight hundred yards of the fort. The men worked all night, and in +the morning had two breastworks thrown up, each eighteen feet thick, +and five feet high, with a smaller breastwork, called a curtain, +connecting the two. This curtain was nine hundred feet long, nine feet +thick, and three feet high. On each side of the breastworks, thrown +out like wings was a line of rifle-pits. Wooden platforms were placed +behind the breastworks, and the guns all mounted by daylight. Colonel +Bissell, of the engineers, managed it all. In thirty-four hours from +the time he received the guns at Cairo, he had shipped them across +the Mississippi River, loaded them on railroad cars, taken them to +Sykestown, twenty miles, mounted them on carriages, then dragged them +twenty miles farther, through almost impassable mud, and had them in +position within eight hundred yards of the river! The work was done +so quietly that the Rebel pickets did not mistrust what was going on. +At daybreak they opened fire upon what they supposed was a Union +rifle-pit, and were answered by a shell from a rifled thirty-two +pounder. + +It was a foggy morning. The air was still, and the deep thunder rolled +far away along the wooded stream. It woke up the slumbering garrison. +Commodore Hollins heard it, and immediately there was commotion among +the Rebel gunboats. They came to New Madrid. Hollins placed them in +position above the town to open fire. The fog lifted, and all the guns +of the fleet and the forts began to play upon the breastworks. General +Pope brought up his heavy field guns, and replied. He paid but little +attention to the fort, but sent his shot and shell at the gunboats. +Captain Mower, of the First United States artillery, commanded the +batteries, and his fire was so accurate that the gunboats were obliged +to take new positions. Shortly after the cannonade began, a shot from +the fort struck one of Captain Mower's thirty-two pounders in the muzzle +and disabled it; but he kept up his fire through the day, dismounting +three guns in the lower fort and disabling two of the gunboats. Nearly +all of the shells from the Rebel batteries fell harmlessly into the soft +earth. There were very few of General Pope's men injured. They soon +became accustomed to the business, and paid but little attention to the +screaming of the shot and the explosions of the shells. They had many +hearty laughs, as the shells which burst in the ground frequently +spattered them with mud. + +There was one soldier in one of the Ohio regiments who was usually +profane and wicked; but he was deeply impressed with the fact that so +few were injured by such a terrific fire, and at night said to his +comrades, seriously: "Boys, there is no use denying it; God has watched +over us to-day." + +His comrades also noticed that he did not swear that night. + +Just at night, General Paine's division made a demonstration towards the +lower fort, driving in the enemy's pickets. General Paine advanced +almost to the ditch in front of the fort. Preparations were made to hold +the ground, but during the night there came up a terrific thunder-storm +and hurricane, which stopped all operations. + +The Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio, and the Tenth and Sixteenth +Illinois, were the grand guard for the night. They had been under fire +all day. They had endured the strain upon their nerves, but through the +long night-hours they stood in the drenching rain, beneath the sheets of +lurid flame, looking with sleepless eyes towards the front, prepared to +repel a sortie or challenge spies. + +At daybreak there was no enemy in sight. The fort was deserted. A +citizen of the town came out with a flag of truce. The General who had +called upon his men in high-sounding words, the officer who was going to +make New Madrid a Thermopylae, and himself a Leonidas in history,--the +nine thousand infantry had gone! Two or three soldiers were found +asleep. They rubbed their eyes and stared wildly when they were told +that they were prisoners, that their comrades and commander had fled. + +During the thunder-storm, the Rebel gunboats and steamers had taken the +troops on board, and ferried them to the Tennessee shore near Island No. +10. They spiked their heavy guns, but Colonel Bissell's engineers were +quickly at work, and in a few hours had the guns ready for use again. + +The Rebels left an immense amount of corn, in bags, and a great quantity +of ammunition. They tumbled their wagons into the river. + +General Pope set his men to work, and before night the guns which had +been pointed inland were wheeled the other way. He sent a messenger to +Commodore Foote, with this despatch:-- + + "All right! River closed! No escape for the enemy by water." + +All this was accomplished with the loss of seven killed and forty-three +wounded. By these operations against New Madrid, and by the battle at +Pea Ridge, in the southwestern part of the State, which was fought about +the same time, the Rebels were driven from Missouri! + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +OPERATIONS AT ISLAND NUMBER TEN. + + +Commodore Foote, having repaired the gunboats disabled at Fort Donelson, +sailed from Cairo the day that New Madrid fell into the hands of General +Pope. He had seven gunboats and ten mortars, besides several tugs and +transports. Colonel Buford, with fifteen hundred troops, accompanied the +expedition. + +The mortars were untried. They were the largest ever brought into use at +that time, weighing nineteen thousand pounds, and throwing a shell +thirteen inches in diameter. The accompanying diagram will perhaps give +you an idea of their appearance. You see the mortar mounted on its +carriage, or bed as it is called. The figures 1, 1 represent one cheek +of the bed, a thick wrought-iron plate. The figures 2, 2 represent the +heads of the bolts which connect the cheek in view to the one on the +other side. The bed stands on thick timbers, represented by 3, and the +timbers rest on heavy sleepers, 4. Figure 5 represents a thick strap of +iron which clasps the trunion or axis of the mortar, and holds it in its +place. This strap is held by two other straps, 6, 6, all iron, and very +strong. The figure 7 represents what is called a bolster. You see it is +in the shape of a wedge. It is used to raise or depress the muzzle of +the mortar. The figure 8 represents what is called a quoin, and keeps +the bolster in its place. The figure 9 represents one of the many bolts +by which the whole is kept in place on the boat. + +[Illustration: A MORTAR.] + +The boat is built like a raft, of thick timbers, laid crosswise and +bolted firmly together. It is about thirty feet long and twelve wide, +and has iron plates around its sides to screen the men from Rebel +sharpshooters. The mortar is more than four feet in diameter. It is +thicker than it is long. To fire a mortar accurately requires a good +knowledge of mathematics, of the relations of curves to straight lines, +for the shell is fired into the air at an angle of thirty or forty +degrees. The gunner must calculate the distance from the mortar to the +enemy in a straight line, and then elevate or lower the muzzle to drop +his shell not too near, neither too far away. He must calculate the time +it will take for the shell to describe the curve through the air. Then +he must make his fuses of the right length to have the shell explode at +the proper time, either high in the air, that its fragments may rain +down on the encampment of the enemy, or close down to the ground among +the men working the guns. It requires skill and a great deal of practice +to do all this. + +The mortar flotilla was commanded by Captain Henry E. Maynadier, +assisted by Captain E. B. Pike of the engineers. There were four Masters +of Ordnance, who commanded each four mortars. Each mortar-boat had a +crew of fifteen men; three of them were Mississippi flatboatmen, who +understood all about the river, the currents and the sand-bars. + +Commodore Foote's flotilla consisted of the Benton, 16 guns, which was +his flag-ship, covered all over with iron plates, and commanded by +Captain Phelps; the Mound City, 13 guns, commanded by Captain Kelty; the +Carondelet, 13 guns, Lieutenant Walke; the Cincinnati, 13 guns, Captain +Stemble; the St. Louis, 13 guns, Captain Dove; the Louisville, 13 guns, +Lieutenant Paulding; the Pittsburg, 13 guns, Lieutenant Thompson; the +Conestoga, 9 guns, Lieutenant Blodgett; in all, 103 guns and 10 mortars. +The Conestoga was used to guard the ammunition-boats, and took no part +in the active operations. Commodore Foote had several small steam-tugs, +which were used as tenders, to carry orders from boat to boat. + +The Southern people thought that Island No. 10 could not be taken. On +the 6th of March a newspaper at Memphis said:-- + + "For the enemy to get possession of Memphis and the + Mississippi Valley would require an army of greater strength + than Secretary Stanton can concentrate upon the banks of the + Mississippi River. The gunboats in which they have so much + confidence have proved their weakness. They cannot stand our + guns of heavy calibre. The approach of the enemy by land to + New Madrid induces us to believe that the flotilla is one + grand humbug, and that it is not ready, and does not intend + to descend the river. Foote, the commander of the Federal + fleet, served his time under Commodore Hollins, and should he + attempt to descend the river, Hollins will teach him that + some things can be done as well as others."[25] + +[Footnote 25: Memphis Argus.] + +On Saturday, the 15th of March, the fleet approached the island. The +clouds were thick and lowering. The rain pattered on the decks of the +gunboats, the fog settled upon the river. As the boats swept round a +point of land, the old river pilot, who was on the watch, who knew every +crook, turn, sand-bar, and all the objects along the bank, sung out, +"Boat ahead!" + +The sailors scrambled to the portholes; Captain Phelps sprang from the +cabin to the deck. + +There she was, a steamer, just visible through the fog a mile ahead. It +was the Grampus, owned by Captain Chester of the steamer Alps, who had +two of the mortar-boats in tow. He belonged to Pittsburg, and used to +carry coal to Memphis. When the war broke out the Rebels seized his +steamboats and his coal-barges, and refused to pay him for the coal they +had already purchased. The act roused all his ire. He was a tall, +athletic man, and had followed the river thirty years. Although +surrounded by enemies, he gave them plain words. + +"You are a set of thieves and rascals! You are cowards, every one of +you!" he shouted. + +He took off his coat, rolled up his shirt-sleeves, bared his great +brawny arms, dashed his hat upon the ground. + +"Now come on! I'll fight every one of you, you infernal rascals! I'll +whip you all! I challenge you to fight me! You call yourselves +chivalrous people. You say you believe in fair play. If I whip, you +shall give up my boats, but if I am beaten, you are welcome to them." + +They laughed in his face, and said: "Blow away, old fellow. We have got +your boats. Help yourself if you can." + +A hot-headed secessionist cried out, "Hang the Yankee!" + +The crowd hustled him about, but he had a few old friends, who took his +part, and he succeeded in making his escape. + +Captain Phelps looked a moment at the Grampus. He saw her wheels move. +She was starting off. + +"Out with the starboard gun! Give her a shot!" + +Lieutenant Bishop runs his eye along the sights of the great eleven-inch +gun, which has been loaded and run out of the porthole in a twinkling. + +There is a flash. A great cloud puffs out into the fog, and the shot +screams through the air and is lost to sight. We cannot see where it +fell. Another--another. Boom!--boom!--boom!--from the Cincinnati and +Carondelet. But the Grampus is light-heeled. The distance widens. You +can hardly see her, and at last she vanishes like a ghost from sight. + +We were not more than four or five miles from the head of the island. +One by one the boats rounded to along the Kentucky shore. The sailors +sprang upon the land, carrying out the strong warps, and fastening us to +the trunks of the buttonwood-trees. + +There was a clearing and a miserable log-hut near by. The family had +fled, frightened by the cannonade. We found them cowering in the +woods,--a man, his wife and daughter. The land all around them was +exceedingly rich, but they were very poor. All they had to eat was hog +and hominy. They had been told that the Union troops would rob them of +all they had, which was not likely, because they had nothing worth +stealing! They were trembling with fear, but when they found the +soldiers and sailors well-behaved and peaceable, they forgot their +terror. + +The fog lifts at last, and we can see the white tents of the Rebels on +the Tennessee shore. There are the batteries, with the cannon grim and +black pointing up stream. Round the point of land is the island. A +half-dozen steamboats lie in the stream below it. At times they steam up +to the bend and then go back again,--wandering back and forth like rats +in a cage. They cannot get past General Pope's guns at New Madrid. On +the north side of the island is a great floating-battery of eight guns, +which has been towed up from New Orleans. General Mackall has sunk a +steamboat in a narrow part of the channel on the north side of the +island, so that if Commodore Foote attempts to run the blockade he will +be compelled to pass along the south channel, exposed to the fire of all +the guns in the four batteries upon the Tennessee shore, as well as +those upon the island. + +Two of the mortar-boats were brought into position two miles from the +Rebel batteries. We waited in a fever of expectation while Captain +Maynadier was making ready, for thirteen-inch mortars had never been +used in war. The largest used by the French and English in the +bombardment of Sebastopol were much smaller. + +There came a roar like thunder. It was not a sharp, piercing report, but +a deep, heavy boom, which rolled along the mighty river, echoing and +re-echoing from shore to shore,--a prolonged reverberation, heard fifty +miles away. A keg of powder was burned in the single explosion. The +shell rose in a beautiful curve, exploded five hundred feet high, and +fell in fragments around the distant encampment. + +There was a flash beneath the dark forest-trees near the encampment, a +puff of white smoke, an answering roar, and a shot fell into the water a +half-mile down stream from the mortars. The Rebels had accepted the +challenge. + +Sunday came. The boats having the mortars in tow dropped them along the +Missouri shore. The gunboats swung into the stream. The Benton fired her +rifled guns over the point of land at the Rebel steamboats below the +island. There was a sudden commotion. They quickly disappeared down the +river towards New Madrid, out of range. During the morning there was a +deep booming from the direction of Point Pleasant. The Rebel gunboats +were trying to drive Colonel Plummer from his position. + +Ten o'clock came, the hour for divine service. The church flag was flung +out on the flagstaff of the Benton, and all the commanders called their +crews together for worship. I was on board the Pittsburg with Captain +Thompson. The crew assembled on the upper deck. There were men from +Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, from the Eastern +as well as the Western States. Some of them were scholars and teachers +in Sabbath-schools at home. They were dressed in dark-blue, and each +sailor appeared in his Sunday suit. A small table was brought up from +the cabin, and the flag of our country spread upon it. A Bible was +brought. We stood around the captain with uncovered heads, while he read +the twenty-seventh Psalm. Beautiful and appropriate was that service:-- + + "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? + The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be + afraid?" + +After the Psalm, the prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven." + +How impressive! The uncovered group standing around the open Bible, and +the low voices of a hundred men in prayer. On our right hand, looking +down the mighty river, were the mortars, in play, jarring the earth with +their heavy thunders. The shells were sweeping in graceful curves +through the air. Upon our left hand, the Benton and Carondelet were +covering themselves with white clouds, which slowly floated away over +the woodlands, fragrant with the early buds and blossoms of spring. The +Rebel batteries below us were flaming and smoking. Solid shot screamed +past us, shells exploded above us. Away beyond the island, beyond the +dark-green of the forest, rose the cloud of another bombardment, where +Commodore Hollins was vainly endeavoring to drive Colonel Plummer from +his position. So the prayer was mingled with the deep, wild thunders of +the cannonade. + +A light fog, like a thin veil, lay along the river. After service, we +saw that strange and peculiar optical illusion called _mirage_, so often +seen in deserts, where the thirsty traveller beholds lakes, and shady +places, cities, towns, and ships. I was looking up stream, and saw, +sweeping round the wooded point of land, something afloat. A boat or +floating battery it seemed to be. There were chimneys, a flagstaff, a +porthole. It was seemingly two hundred feet long, coming broadside +towards us. + +"Captain Thompson, see there!" + +He looked at it, and jumped upon the pilot-house, scanned it over and +over. The other officers raised their glasses. + +"It looks like a floating battery!" said one. + +"There is a porthole, certainly!" said another. + +It came nearer. Its proportions increased. + +"Pilot, put on steam! Head her up stream!" said Captain Thompson. + +"Lieutenant, beat to quarters! Light up the magazine! We will see what +she is made of." + +There was activity on deck. The guns were run out, shot and shell were +brought up. The boat moved up stream. Broadside upon us came the unknown +craft. + +Suddenly the illusion vanished. The monster three hundred feet long, +changed to an old coal-barge. The chimneys became two timbers, the +flagstaff a small stick of firewood. The fog, the currents of air, had +produced the transformation. We had a hearty laugh over our preparations +for an encounter with the enemy in our rear. It was an enemy more +quickly disposed of than the one in front. + +The Rebels in the upper battery waved a white flag. The firing ceased. +Commodore Foote sent Lieutenant Bishop down with a tug and a white flag +flying, to see what it meant. He approached the battery. + +"Are we to understand that you wish to communicate with us?" he asked. + +"No, sir," said an officer wearing a gold-laced coat. + +"Then why do you display a white flag?" + +"It is a mistake, sir. It is a signal-flag. I regret that it has +deceived you." + +"Good morning, sir." + +"Good morning, sir." + +The tug steams back to the Benton, the white flag is taken down, and the +uproar begins again. Lieutenant Bishop made good use of his eyes. There +were seven thirty-two-pounders and one heavy rifled gun in the upper +battery. + +Commodore Foote was not ready to begin the bombardment in earnest till +Monday noon, March 17th. + +The Benton, Cincinnati, and St. Louis dropped down stream, side by side, +and came into position about a mile from the upper batteries. Anchors +were dropped from the stern of each gunboat, that they might fight head +on, using their heavy rifled guns. Their position was on the east side +of the river. The Mound City and Carondelet took position near the west +bank, just below the mortars. The boats were thus placed to bring a +cross fire upon the upper Rebel battery. + +"Pay no attention to the island, but direct your fire into the upper +battery!" is the order. + +A signal is raised upon the flag-ship. We do not understand the +signification of the flag, but while we look at it the ten mortars open +fire, one after another, in rapid succession. The gunboats follow. There +are ten shells, thirteen inches in diameter, rising high in air. There +are handfuls of smoke flecking the sky, and a prolonged, indescribable +crashing, rolling, and rumbling. You have seen battle-pieces by the +great painters; but the highest artistic skill cannot portray the scene. +It is a vernal day, as beautiful as ever dawned. The gunboats are +enveloped in flame and smoke. The unfolding clouds are slowly wafted +away by the gentle breeze. Huge columns rise majestically from the +mortars. A line of white--a thread-like tissue--spans the sky. It is the +momentary and vanishing mark of the shell in the invisible air. There +are little splashes in the stream, where the fragments of iron fall. +There are pillars of water tossed upward in front of the earthwork, +which break into spray, painted with rainbow hues by the bright +sunshine. A round shot skips along the surface and pierces the +embankment. Another just clears the parapet, and cuts down a tree +beyond. The air is filled with sticks, timbers, branches of trees, and +earth, as if a dozen thunderbolts had fallen upon the spot from a +cloudless sky. There are explosions deep under ground, where the great +shells have buried themselves in their downward flight. There are +volumes of smoke which rise like the mists of a summer morning. + +There are some brave fellows behind that breastwork. Amid this storm +they come out from their shelter and load a gun. There it comes! A +flash, a cloud, a hissing, a crash! The shot strikes the upper deck of +the Benton, tears up the iron plates, breaks the thick timbers into +kindlings, falls upon the lower deck, bounds up again to the beams +above, and drops into Commodore Foote's writing-desk! + +All around, from the gunboats, the mortars, from all the batteries, are +flashes, clouds of smoke, and thunderings, which bring to mind the +gorgeous imagery of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, +descriptive of the scenes of the Last Judgment. + +The firing ceased at sunset. The Benton was struck four times, and the +Cincinnati once. No one was injured by these shots, but one of the guns +of the St. Louis burst, killing two men instantly, and wounding +thirteen. + +When the bombardment was at its height, Commodore Foote received a +letter from Cairo, containing the sad information that a beloved son had +died suddenly. It was a sore bereavement, but it was no time for him to +give way to grief, no time to think of his great affliction. + +After the firing had ceased, I sat with him in the cabin of the Benton. +There were tears upon his cheeks. He was thinking of his loss. + +Were he living now, I should have no right to give the conversation I +had with him, but he has gone to his reward, leaving us his bright +example. These were his words, as I remember:-- + +"It is a terrible blow, but the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; +blessed be His name. It is hard for me to bear, but no harder than it +will be for the fathers of the noble men who were killed on the St. +Louis. Poor fellows! I feel bad for the wounded." + +He called the orderly who stood outside the cabin. + +"Orderly, tell the surgeon that I want to see him." + +The surgeon came in. + +"Surgeon, I wish you to do everything you can for those poor fellows on +the St. Louis. Don't omit anything that will contribute to their +comfort." + +"It shall be done, sir," said the surgeon, as he left the cabin. + +"Poor fellows! I must see them myself. It is a great deal worse to have +a gun explode than to have the men wounded by the enemy's shot, for they +lose confidence. I have protested again and again to the Department +against using these old thirty-two-pounders, which have been weakened by +being rifled; but I had to take them or none. I had to pick them up +wherever I could find them. I have tried my best to get the fleet in +good trim, and it is too bad to have the men slaughtered in this way. I +shall try to do my duty. The country needs the services of every man. We +shall have a long war. I would like to rest, and have a little breathing +spell, but I shall not ask for it. I shall try to do my duty to my +country and to God. He is leading this nation in a way we know not of. +My faith is unshaken in Him. He will bring us out of all trouble at +last." + +Thus, in the hour of battle, while attending to his duties, while +bearing up under the intelligence that a beloved son had died, he talked +calmly, cheerfully, and hopefully of the future, and manifested the care +and tenderness of a father for the wounded. + +Although the gunboats ceased firing at sunset, the mortars were in play +all night. It was beautiful to see the great flash, illuminating all the +landscape, the white cloud rolling upward and outward, unfolding, +expanding, spreading over the wide river, and the bright spark rising +high in the air, turning with the revolving shell, reaching its altitude +and sailing straight along the arch of the parabola, then descending +with increasing rapidity, ending in a bright flash, and an explosion +which echoes and re-echoes far away. The next day I went with Captain +Maynadier across the point to reconnoitre the batteries on the island +and watch the explosions of the shells. We passed a deserted farm-house, +and saw a squad of Colonel Buford's soldiers running down pigs and +chickens. Crossing a creek upon a corduroy bridge, we came to a second +squad. One was playing a violin, and several were dancing; they were as +happy as larks. We stood upon the bank of the river opposite the island. +Before us was the floating battery, which was formerly the New Orleans +dry-dock. It mounted eight guns. There were four batteries on the +Tennessee shore and several on the island. We could see the artillerists +at their guns. They saw us, and sent a shell whizzing over our heads, +which struck in a cornfield, and ploughed a deep furrow for the farmer +owning it. We went where they could not see us, and mounted a fence to +watch the effect of the mortar-firing. It was interesting to sit there +and hear the great shells sail through the air five hundred feet above +us. It was like the sound of far-off, invisible machinery, turning with +a constant motion, not the sharp, shrill whistle of a rifled-bolt, but a +whirr and roll, like that which you may sometimes hear above the clouds +in a thunder-storm. One shell fell like a millstone into the river. The +water did not extinguish the fuse, and a great column was thrown up +fifty feet high. Another buried itself deep in the ground before it +burst, and excavated a great hole. I learned, after the place +surrendered, that one fell through a tent where several officers were +sitting, playing cards, and that the next moment the tent, furniture, +officers, and fifty cartloads of earth were sailing through the air! +None of them were wounded, but they were bruised, wrenched, and their +nice clothes covered with dirt. + +At night there was a storm, with vivid lightning and heavy thunder. The +mortars kept up their fire. It was a sublime spectacle,--earth against +heaven, but the artillery of the skies was the best. + +You would have given a great deal, I dare say, to have seen all this; +but there is another side to the story. Can you eat dirt? Can you eat +grease in all its forms,--baked, boiled, fried, simmered? Can you bear +variegated butter, variable in taste and smell? Can you get along with +ham, hash, and beans for breakfast, beans, hash, and ham for dinner, and +hash, ham, and beans for supper, week after week, with fat in all its +forms, with cakes solid enough for grape-shot to fire at the Rebels, +with blackest coffee and the nearest available cow fifty miles +off?--with sour molasses, greasy griddle-cakes, with Mississippi water +thick with the filth of the great valley of the West, with slime from +the Cincinnati slaughter-houses, sweepings from the streets, slops from +the steamboats, with all the miasma and mould of the forests? The +fairest countenance soon changes to a milk and molasses color, and +energy lags, and strength becomes weakness under such living. + +In boyhood, at the sound of a bugle, a drum, or the roar of a cannon, +how leaped the blood through my veins! But it becomes an old story. I +was quartered within a stone's-throw of the mortars, which fired all +night long, and was not disturbed by the explosions. One becomes +indifferent to everything. You get tired of watching the cannonade, and +become so accustomed to the fire of the enemy, that after a while you do +not heed a shot that ploughs up the dirt or strikes the water near at +hand. + +General Pope sent word, that, if he had transports and a gunboat, he +could cross to the Tennessee shore and take the batteries in the rear. +The river was very high and the country overflowed. Near New Madrid +there is a bayou, which is the outlet of a small lake. It was determined +to cut a canal through the forest to the lake. Colonel Bissell with his +regiment of engineers went to work. Four steamboats were fitted up, two +barges, with cannon on board, were taken in tow, and the expedition +started. They sailed over a cornfield, where the tall stalks were waving +and swinging in the water, steamed over fences, and came to the woods. +There were great trees, which must be cut away. The engineers rigged +their saws for work under water. The path was fifty feet wide and the +trees were cut off four feet below the surface. In eight days they cut +their way to New Madrid, a distance of twelve miles. In one place they +cut off seventy-five trees, all of which were more than two feet in +diameter. + +While this was doing, Commodore Foote kept the Rebels awake by a regular +and continuous bombardment, mainly upon the upper battery. He determined +to capture it. + +On the night of the 1st of April, an armed expedition is fitted out from +the squadron and the land forces. There are five boats, manned by picked +crews from the gunboats, carrying forty men of the Forty-second +Illinois, under command of Colonel Roberts. The party numbers one +hundred. It is a wild night. The wind blows a gale from the south, +swaying the great trees of the forest and tossing up waves upon the +swift-running river, which boils, bubbles, dashes, and foams in the +storm. There are vivid lightning flashes, growls and rolls of deep, +heavy thunder. The boats cast off from the fleet. The oars have been +muffled. No words are spoken. The soldiers sit, each with his gun half +raised to his shoulder and his hand upon the lock. The spray dashes over +them, sheets of flame flash in their faces. All the landscape for a +moment is as light as day, and then all is pitch darkness. + +Onward faster and faster they sweep, driven by the strong arms of the +rowers and the current. It is a stealthy, noiseless, rapid, tempestuous, +dangerous, daring enterprise. They are tossed by the waves, but they +glide with the rapidity of a race-horse. Two sentinels stand upon the +parapet. A few rods in rear is a regiment of Rebels. A broad +lightning-flash reveals the descending boats. The sentinels fire their +guns, but they are mimic flashes. + +"Lay in quick!" shouts Colonel Roberts. + +The oars bend in the row-locks. A stroke, and they are beside the +parapet, climbing up the slippery bank. The sentinels run. There is a +rattling fire from pistols and muskets; but the shots fall harmlessly in +the forest. A moment,--and all the guns are spiked. There is a commotion +in the woods. The sleeping Rebels are astir. They do not rally to drive +back the invaders, but are fleeing in the darkness. + +Colonel Roberts walks from gun to gun, to see if the work has been +effectually accomplished. + +"All right! All aboard! Push off!" He is the last to leave. The boats +head up-stream. The rowers bend to their oars. In a minute they are +beyond musket range. Their work is accomplished, and there will be no +more firing from that six-gun battery. Now the gunboats can move nearer +and begin their work upon the remaining batteries. + +In the morning General Mackall was much chagrined when he found out what +had been done by the Yankees. It is said he used some hard words. He +flew into a rage, and grew red in the face, which did not help the +matter in the least. + +At midnight, on the night of the 3d of April, the Carondelet, commanded +by Captain Walke, ran past the batteries and the island. It was a dark, +stormy night. But the sentinels saw her coming down in the darkness, and +every cannon was brought to bear upon the vessel. Shells burst around +her; solid shot, grape, and canister swept over her; but she was not +struck, although exposed to the terrific fire over thirty minutes. We +who remained with the fleet waited in breathless suspense to hear her +three signal-guns, which were to be fired if she passed safely. They +came,--boom! boom! boom! She was safe. We cheered, hurrahed, and lay +down to sleep, to dream it all over again. + +The Carondelet reached New Madrid. The soldiers of General Pope's army +rushed to the bank, and gave way to the wildest enthusiasm. + +"Three cheers for the Carondelet!" shouted one. Their caps went into the +air, they swung their arms, and danced in ecstasy. + +"Three more for Commodore Foote!" + +"Now three more for Captain Walke!" + +"Three more for the Navy!" + +"Three more for the Cabin-Boy!" + +So they went on cheering and shouting for everything till they were +hoarse. + +The next day the Carondelet went down the river as far as Point +Pleasant, had an engagement with several batteries on the Tennessee +shore, silenced them, landed and spiked the guns. The next night the +Pittsburg, Captain Thompson ran the blockade safely. The four steamboats +which had worked their way through the canal were all ready. The Tenth, +Sixteenth, Twenty-first, and Fifty-first Illinois regiments were taken +on board. The Rebels had a heavy battery on the other side of the river, +at a place called Watson's Landing. The Carondelet and Pittsburg went +ahead, opened fire, and silenced it. The steamers advanced. The Rebels +saw the preparations and fled towards Tiptonville. By midnight General +Pope had all his troops on the Tennessee shore. General Paine, +commanding those in advance, pushed on towards Tiptonville and took +possession of all the deserted camps. The Rebels had fled in confusion, +casting away their guns, knapsacks, clothing, everything, to escape. +When the troops in the batteries heard what was going on in their rear, +they also fled towards Tiptonville. General Pope came up with them the +next morning and captured all who had not escaped. General Mackall and +two other generals, nearly seven thousand prisoners, one hundred and +twenty-three pieces of artillery, seven thousand small arms, and an +immense amount of ammunition and supplies fell into the hands of General +Pope. The troops on the island, finding that they were deserted, +surrendered to Commodore Foote. It was almost a bloodless victory, but +one of great importance, opening the Mississippi River down to Fort +Pillow, forty miles above Memphis. + +When the State of Tennessee was carried out of the Union by the +treachery of Governor Harris, and other men in high official position, +there were some men in the western part of the State, as well as the +eastern, who remained loyal. Those who were suspected of loving the +Union suffered terrible persecutions. Among them was a citizen of Purdy. +His name was Hurst. He told me the story of his wrongs. + +Soon after the State seceded, he was visited by a number of men who +called themselves a vigilance committee. They were fierce-looking +fellows, armed with pistols and knives. + +"We want you to come with us," said the leader of the gang. + +"What do you want of me?" + +"We will let you know when you get there." + +Mr. Hurst knew that they wanted to take him before their own +self-elected court, and went without hesitation. + +He was questioned, but would not commit himself by any positive answer, +and, as they could not prove he was in favor of the Union, they allowed +him to go home. + +But the ruffians were not satisfied, and in a few days had him up again. +They tried hard to prove that he was opposed to the Confederacy, but he +had kept about his own business, had refrained from talking, and they +could not convict him. They allowed him to go for several months. One +day, in September, 1861, while at work in his field, the ruffians came +again. Their leader had a red face, bloated with whiskey, chewed +tobacco, had two pistols in his belt, and a long knife in a sheath. He +wore a slouched hat, and was a villanous-looking fellow. + +"Come, you scoundrel. We will fix you this time," said the captain of +the band. + +"What do you want of me?" + +"You are an Abolitionist,--a Yankee spy. That's what you are. We'll make +you stretch hemp this time," they said, seizing him and marching him +into town, with their pistols cocked. Six or eight of them were ready to +shoot him if he should attempt to escape. They called all who did not go +for secession Abolitionists. + +"I am not an Abolitionist," said Hurst. + +"None of your sass. We know what you are, and if you don't hold your +jaw, we will stop it for you." + +They marched him through the village, and the whole population turned +out to see him. He was taken to the jail, and thrust into a cage, so +small that he could not lie down,--a vile, filthy place. The jailer was +a brutal, hard-hearted man,--a rabid secessionist. He chuckled with +delight when he turned the key on Hurst. He was kept in the cage two +days, and then taken to Nashville, where he was tried before a military +court. + +He was charged with being opposed to the Confederacy, and in favor of +the Union; also that he was a spy. + +Among his accusers were some secessionists who owed him a grudge. They +invented lies, swore that Hurst was in communication with the Yankees, +and gave them information of all the movements of the Rebels. This was +months before General Grant attacked Donelson, and Hurst was two hundred +miles from the nearest post of the Union army; but such was the hatred +of the secessionists, and they were so bloodthirsty, that they were +ready to hang all who did not hurrah for Jeff Davis and the Confederacy. +He was far from home. He was not permitted to have any witnesses, and +his own word was of no value in their estimation. He was condemned to be +hung as a spy. + +They took him out to a tree, put the rope round his neck, when some of +his old acquaintances, who were not quite so hardened as his accusers, +said that the evidence was not sufficient to hang him. They took him +back to the court. He came under heavy bonds to report himself often and +prove his whereabouts. + +He was released, and went home, but his old enemies followed him, and +dogged him day and night. + +He discovered that he was to be again arrested. He told his boy to +harness his horse quick, and take him to a side street, near an +apothecary's shop. He looked out of the window, and saw a file of +soldiers approaching to arrest him. He slipped out of the back door, +gained the street, and walked boldly through the town. + +"There he goes!" said a fellow smoking a cigar on the steps of the +hotel. A crowd rushed out of the bar-room to see him. They knew that he +was to be arrested; they expected he would be hung. + +As he walked into the apothecary's shop, he saw his boy coming down the +alley with his horse. He did not dare to go down the alley to meet him, +for the crowd would see his attempt to escape. They saw him enter the +door, and rushed across the street to see the fun when the soldiers +should arrive. + +"Come in here," he said to the apothecary, as he stepped into a room in +the rear, from which a door opened into the alley. + +The apothecary followed him, wondering what he wanted. + +Hurst drew a pistol from his pocket, and held it to the head of the +apothecary, and said, "If you make any noise, I will blow your brains +out!" He opened the door, and beckoned to his boy, who rode up. "I have +four friends who are aiding me to escape," said he. "They will be the +death of you if you give the alarm; but if you remain quiet, they will +not harm you." He sprang upon his horse, galloped down the alley, and +was gone. + +The apothecary dared not give the alarm, and was very busy about his +business when the soldiers came to arrest Hurst. + +When they found he was gone, they started in pursuit, but were not able +to overtake him. He made his way to the woods, and finally reached the +Union army. + +When General Lewis Wallace's division entered the town of Purdy, Hurst +accompanied it. He asked General Wallace for a guard, to make an +important arrest. His request was granted. He went to the jail, found +the jailer, and demanded his keys. The jailer gave them up. Hurst +unlocked the cage, and there he found a half-starved slave, who had been +put in for no crime, but to keep him from running away to the Union +army. + +He released the slave and told him to go where he pleased. The colored +man could hardly stand, he was so cramped and exhausted by his long +confinement and want of food. + +"Step in there!" said Hurst to the jailer. The jailer shrunk back. + +"Step in there, you scoundrel!" said Hurst, more determinedly. + +"You don't mean to put me in there, Hurst!" said the jailer, almost +whining. + +"Step in, I say, or I'll let daylight through you!" He seized a gun from +one of the soldiers and pricked the jailer a little with the bayonet, to +let him know that he was in earnest. The other soldiers fenced him round +with a glittering line of sharp steel points. They chuckled, and thought +it capital fun. + +The jailer stepped in, whining and begging, and saying that he never +meant to harm Hurst. Having got him inside, Hurst locked the door, put +the key in his pocket, dismissed the soldiers, and went away. He was +gone two days, and when he returned, _had lost the key_! + +The cage was built of oak logs, and bolted so firmly with iron that it +took half a day, with axes, to get the jailer out. He never troubled +Hurst again, who joined the Union army as a scout, and did excellent +service, for he was well acquainted with the country. + +While operations were going on at Island No. 10, I went up the river one +day, and visited the hospitals at Mound City and Paducah. In one of the +wards a surgeon was dressing the arm of a brave young Irishman, who was +very jolly. His arm had been torn by a piece of shell, but he did not +mind it much. The surgeon was performing an operation which was painful. + +"Does it hurt, Patrick?" he asked. + +"Ah! Doctor, ye nadent ask such a question as that; but if ye'll just +give me a good drink of whiskey, ye may squeeze it all day long." + +He made up such a comical face that the sick and wounded all around him +laughed. It did them good, and Patrick knew it, and so, in the kindness +of his heart, he kept on making up faces, and never uttered a word of +complaint. + +"He is a first-rate patient," said the surgeon as we passed along. "He +keeps up good spirits all the time, and that helps all the rest." + +In another part of the hospital was one of Birges's sharpshooters, who +did such excellent service, you remember, at Fort Donelson. He was a +brave and noble boy. There were several kind ladies taking care of the +sick. Their presence was like sunshine. Wherever they walked the eyes of +the sufferers followed them. One of these ladies thus speaks of little +Frankie Bragg:-- + + "Many will remember him; the boy of fifteen, who fought + valiantly at Donelson,--one of the bravest of Birges's + sharpshooters, and whose answer to my questioning in regard + to joining the army was so well worthy of record. + + "'_I joined, because I was so young and strong, and because + life would be worth nothing to me unless I offered it for my + country!_'"[26] + +[Footnote 26: Hospital Incidents, New York Post, October 22, 1863.] + +How noble! There are many strong men who have done nothing for their +country, and there are some who enjoy all the blessings of a good +government, who are willing to see it destroyed rather than lift a +finger to save it. Their names shall go out in oblivion, but little +Frankie Bragg shall live forever! His body lies in the hospital ground +at Paducah, but the pure patriotism which animated him, and the words he +uttered, will never die! + +The good lady who took care of him writes:-- + + "I saw him die. I can never forget the pleading gaze of his + violet eyes, the brow from which ringlets of light-brown hair + were swept by strange fingers bathed in the death-dew, the + desire for some one to care for him, some one to love him in + his last hours. I came to his side, and he clasped my hand in + his own, fast growing cold and stiff. + + "'O, I am going to die, and there is no one to love me,' he + said. 'I did not think I was going to die till now; but it + can't last long. If my sisters were only here; but I have no + friends near me now, and it is so hard!' + + "'Frankie,' I said, 'I know it is hard to be away from your + relatives, but you are not friendless; I am your friend. Mrs. + S---- and the kind Doctor are your friends, and we will all + take care of you. More than this, God is your friend, and he + is nearer to you now than either of us can get. Trust him, my + boy. He will help you.' + + "A faint smile passed over the pale sufferer's features. + + "'O, do you think he will?' he asked. + + "Then, as he held my hands closer, he turned his face more + fully toward me, and said: 'My mother taught me to pray when + I was a very little boy, and I never forgot it. I have always + said my prayers every day, and tried not to be bad. Do you + think God heard me always?' + + "'Yes, most assuredly. Did he not promise, in his good Book, + from which your mother taught you, that he would always hear + the prayers of his children? Ask, and ye shall receive. Don't + you remember this? One of the worst things we can do is to + doubt God's truth. He has promised, and he will fulfil. Don't + you feel so, Frankie?' + + "He hesitated a moment, and then answered, slowly: 'Yes, I do + believe it. I am not afraid to die, but I want somebody to + love me.' + + "The old cry for love, the strong yearning for the sympathy + of kindred hearts. It would not be put down. + + "'Frankie, I love you. Poor boy! you shall not be left alone. + Is not this some comfort to you?' + + "'Do you love me? Will you stay with me, and not leave me?' + + "'I will not leave you. Be comforted, I will stay as long as + you wish.' + + "I kissed the pale forehead as if it had been that of my own + child. A glad light flashed over his face. + + "'O, kiss me again; that was given like my sister. Mrs. + S----, won't you kiss me, too? I don't think it will be so + hard to die, if you will both love me.' + + "It did not last long. With his face nestled against mine, + and his large blue eyes fixed in perfect composure upon me to + the last moment, he breathed out his life." + +So he died for his country. He sleeps on the banks of the beautiful +Ohio. Men labor hard for riches, honor, and fame, but few, when life is +over, will leave a nobler record than this young Christian patriot. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +FROM FORT PILLOW TO MEMPHIS. + + +On the 6th of May, 1861, the Legislature of Tennessee, in secret +session, voted that the State should secede from the Union. The next +day, Governor Harris appointed three Commissioners to meet Mr. Hilliard, +of Alabama, who had been sent by Jefferson Davis to make a league with +the State. These Commissioners agreed that all the troops of the State +should be under the control of the President of the Confederacy. All of +the public property and naval stores and munitions of war were also +turned over to the Confederacy. The people had nothing to do about it. +The conspirators did not dare to trust the matter to them, for a great +many persons in East Tennessee were ardently attached to the Union. In +Western Tennessee, along the Mississippi, nearly all of the people, on +the other hand, were in favor of secession. + +At Memphis they were very wild and fierce. Union men were mobbed, tarred +and feathered, ridden on rails, had their heads shaved, were robbed, +knocked down, and warned to leave the place or be hung. One man was +headed up in a hogshead, and rolled into the river, because he stood up +for the Union! Memphis was a hotbed of secessionists; it was almost as +bad as Charleston. + +A Memphis newspaper, of the 6th of May, said:-- + + "Tennessee is disenthralled at last. Freedom has again + crowned her with a fresh and fadeless wreath. She will do her + entire duty. Great sacrifices are demanded of her, and they + will be cheerfully made. Her blood and treasure are offered + without stint at the shrine of Southern freedom. She counts + not the cost at which independence may be bought. The gallant + volunteer State of the South, her brave sons, now rushing to + the standard of the Southern Confederacy, will sustain, by + their unflinching valor and deathless devotion, her ancient + renown achieved on so many battle-fields. + + "In fact, our entire people--men, women, and children--have + engaged in this fight, and are animated by the single heroic + and indomitable resolve to perish rather than submit to the + despicable invader now threatening us with subjugation. They + will ratify the ordinance of secession amid the smoke and + carnage of battle; they will write out their indorsement of + it with the blood of their foe; they will enforce it at the + point of the bayonet and sword. + + "Welcome, thrice welcome, glorious Tennessee, to the thriving + family of Southern Confederate States!"[27] + +[Footnote 27: Memphis Avalanche.] + +On the same day the citizens of Memphis tore down the Stars and Stripes +from its staff upon the Court-House, formed a procession, and with a +band of music bore the flag, like a corpse, to a pit, and buried it in +mock solemnity. They went into the public square, where stands the +statue of General Jackson, and chiselled from its pedestal his memorable +words: "The Federal Union,--it must be preserved." They went to the +river-bank, and seized all the steamboats they could lay their hands +upon belonging to Northern men. + +They resolved to build a fleet of gunboats, which would ascend the river +to St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg, and compel the people of those +cities to pay tribute, for the privilege of navigating the river to the +Gulf. + +The entire population engaged in the enterprise. The ladies held fairs +and gave their jewelry. The citizens organized themselves into a gunboat +association. When the boats were launched, the ladies, with appropriate +ceremonies, dedicated them to the Confederacy. They urged their +husbands, brothers, sons, and friends to enlist in the service, and the +young man who hesitated received presents of hoop-skirts, petticoats, +and other articles of female wearing apparel. + +Eight gunboats were built. Commodore Hollins, as you have seen, +commanded them. He attempted to drive back General Pope at New Madrid, +but failed. He went to New Orleans, and Captain Montgomery was placed in +command. + +When Commodore Foote and General Pope took Island No. 10, those that +escaped of the Rebels fell back to Fort Pillow, about forty miles above +Memphis. It was a strong position, and Commodore Foote made but little +effort to take it, but waited for the advance of General Halleck's army +upon Corinth. While thus waiting, one foggy morning, several of the +Rebel gunboats made a sudden attack upon the Cincinnati, and nearly +disabled her before they were beaten back. Meanwhile, Commodore Foote, +finding that his wound, received at Donelson, was growing worse, was +recalled by the Secretary of the Navy, and Commodore Charles Henry +Davis, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was placed in command. + +Besides the gunboats on the Mississippi, was Colonel Ellet's fleet of +rams,--nine in all. They were old steamboats, with oaken bulwarks three +feet thick, to protect the boilers and engines. Their bows had been +strengthened with stout timbers and iron bolts, and they had iron prows +projecting under water. They carried no cannon, but were manned by +sharpshooters. There were loop-holes through the timbers for the +riflemen. The pilot-house was protected by iron plates. They joined the +fleet at Fort Pillow. + +The river is very narrow in front of the fort,--not more than a third of +its usual width. It makes a sharp bend. The channel is deep, and the +current rushes by like a mill-race. The Tennessee shore was lined with +batteries on the bluff, which made it a place much stronger than +Columbus or Island No. 10. But when General Beauregard was forced to +evacuate Corinth, the Rebels were also compelled to leave Fort Pillow. +For two or three days before the evacuation, they kept up a heavy fire +upon the fleet. + +On the 3d of June,--a hot, sultry day,--just before night, a huge bank +of clouds rolled up from the south. There had been hardly a breath of +air through the day, but now the wind blew a hurricane. The air was +filled with dust, whirled up from the sand-bars. When the storm was at +its height, I was surprised to see two of the rams run down past the +point of land which screened them from the batteries, vanishing from +sight in the distant cloud. They went to ascertain what the Rebels were +doing. There was a sudden waking up of heavy guns. The batteries were in +a blaze. The cloud was thick and heavy, and the rams returned, but the +Rebel cannon still thundered, throwing random shots into the river, two +or three at a time, firing as if the Confederacy had tons of ammunition +to spare. + +The dust-cloud, with its fine, misty rain, rolled away. The sun shone +once more, and bridged the river with a gorgeous arch of green and gold, +which appeared a moment, and then faded away, as the sun went down +behind the western woods. While we stood admiring the scene, a Rebel +steamer came round the point to see what we were about. It was a black +craft, bearing the flag of the Confederacy at her bow. She turned +leisurely, stopped her wheels, and looked at us audaciously. The +gunboats opened fire. The Rebel steamer took her own time, unmindful of +the shot and shell falling and bursting all around her, then slowly +disappeared beyond the headland. It was a challenge for a fight. It was +not accepted, for Commodore Davis was not disposed to be cut up by the +shore-batteries. + +The next day there were lively times at the fort. A cannonade was kept +up on Commodore Davis's fleet, which was vigorously answered. We little +thought that this was to blind us to what was going on. At sunset the +Rebels set fire to their barracks. There were great pillars of flame and +smoke in and around the fort. The southern sky was all aglow. +Occasionally there were flashes and explosions, sudden puffs of smoke, +spreading out like flakes of cotton or fleeces of white and crimson +wool. It was a gorgeous sight. + +In the morning we found that the Rebels had gone, spiking their cannon +and burning their supplies. That which had cost them months of hard +labor was abandoned, and the river was open to Memphis. + +On the 5th of June, Commodore Davis's fleet left Fort Pillow for +Memphis. I was sitting at dinner with the Commodore and Captain Phelps, +on board the Benton, when an orderly thrust his head into the cabin, and +said, "Sir, there is a fine large steamer ahead of us." + +We are on deck in an instant. The boatswain is piping all hands to +quarters. There is great commotion. + +"Out with that gun! Quick!" shouted Lieutenant Bishop. The brave tars +seize the ropes, the trucks creak, and the great eleven-inch gun, +already loaded, is out in a twinkling. Men are bringing up shot and +shell. The deck is clearing of all superfluous furniture. + +There she is, a mile distant, a beautiful steamer, head up-stream. She +sees us, and turns her bow. Her broadside comes round, and we read +"Sovereign" upon her wheelhouse. We are on the upper deck, and the +muzzle of the eleven-inch gun is immediately beneath us. A great flash +comes in our faces. We are in a cloud, stifled, stunned, gasping for +breath, our ears ringing; but the cloud is blown away, and we see the +shot throw up the water a mile beyond the Sovereign. Glorious! We will +have her. Another, not so good. Another, still worse. + +The Louisville, Carondelet, and Cairo open fire. But the Sovereign is a +fast sailer, and is increasing the distance. + +"The Spitfire will catch her!" says the pilot. A wave of the hand, and +the Spitfire is alongside, running up like a dog to its master. +Lieutenant Bishop, Pilot Bixby, and a gun crew jump on board the tug, +which carries a boat howitzer. Away they go, the tug puffing and +wheezing, as if it had the asthma. + +"Through the _chute_!" shouts Captain Phelps. _Chute_ is a French word, +meaning a narrow passage, not the main channel of the river. The +Sovereign is in the main channel, but the Spitfire has the shortest +distance. The tug cuts the water like a knife. She comes out just astern +of the steamer. + +Bang! goes the howitzer. The shot falls short. Bang! again in a +twinkling. Better. Bang! It goes over the Sovereign. + +"Hurrah! Bishop will get her!" The crews of the gunboats dance with +delight, and swing their caps. Bang! Right through her cabin. The +Sovereign turns towards the shore, and runs plump against the bank. The +crew, all but the cook, take to the woods, and the steamer is ours. + +It would astonish you to see how fast a well-drilled boat's-crew can +load and fire a howitzer. Commodore Foote informed me that, when he was +in the China Sea, he was attacked by the natives, and his boat's-crew +fired four times a minute! + +The chase for the Sovereign was very exciting,--more so than any +horse-race I ever saw. + +The crew on board the Sovereign had been stopping at all the farm-houses +along the river, setting fire to the cotton on the plantations. They did +it in the name of the Confederate government, that it might not fall +into the hands of the Yankees. In a great many places they had rolled it +into the river, and the stream was covered with white flakes. The bushes +were lined with it. + +As soon as the people along the banks saw the Federal steamboats, they +went to work to save their property. Some of them professed to be Union +men. I conversed with an old man, who was lame, and could hardly hobble +round. He spoke bitterly against Jeff Davis for burning his cotton and +stealing all his property. + +While descending the river, we saw a canoe, containing two men, push out +from a thick canebrake. They came up to the Benton. We thought they were +Rebels, at first, but soon saw they were two pilots belonging to the +fleet, who had started the day before for Vicksburg, to pilot Commodore +Farragut's fleet to Memphis. They had been concealed during the day, not +daring to move. The evacuation of Fort Pillow rendered it unnecessary +for them to continue the voyage. They said that eight Rebel gunboats +were a short distance below us. + +We moved on slowly, and came to anchor about nine o'clock, near a place +called by all the rivermen Paddy's Hen and Chickens, about two miles +above Memphis. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS. + + +On the evening of the 5th of June, while we were lying above Memphis, +Commodore Montgomery, commanding the fleet of Rebel gunboats built by +the citizens and ladies of Memphis, was making a speech in the Gayoso +Hall of that city. There was great excitement. It was known at noon that +Fort Pillow was evacuated. The stores were immediately closed. Some +people commenced packing up their goods to leave,--expecting that the +city would be burned if the Yankees obtained possession. Commodore +Montgomery said:-- + +"I have no intention of retreating any farther. I have come here, that +you may see Lincoln's gunboats sent to the bottom by the fleet which you +built and manned." + +The rabble cheered him, and believed his words. On the morning of the +6th, one of the newspapers assured the people that the Federal fleet +would not reach the city. It said:-- + + "All obstructions to their progress are not yet removed, and + probably will not be. The prospect is very good for a grand + naval engagement which shall eclipse anything ever seen + before. There are many who would like the engagement to + occur, who do not much relish the prospect of its occurring + very near the city. They think deeper water and scope and + verge enough for such an encounter may be found farther up + the river. All, however, are rejoiced to learn that Memphis + will not fall till conclusions are first tried on water, and + at the cannon's mouth."[28] + +[Footnote 28: Memphis Avalanche, June 6, 1862] + +I was awake early enough to see the brightening of the morning. Never +was there a lovelier daybreak. The woods were full of song-birds. The +air was balmy. A few light clouds, fringed with gold, lay along the +eastern horizon. + +The fleet of five gunboats was anchored in a line across the river. The +Benton was nearest the Tennessee shore, next was the Carondelet, then +the Louisville, St. Louis, and, lastly, the Cairo. Near by the Cairo, +tied up to the Arkansas shore, were the Queen City and the Monarch,--two +of Colonel Ellet's rams. The tugs Jessie Benton and Spitfire hovered +near the Benton, Commodore Davis's flag-ship. It was their place to be +within call, to carry orders to the other boats of the fleet. + +Before sunrise the anchors were up, and the boats kept their position in +the stream by the slow working of the engines. + +Commodore Davis waved his hand, and the Jessie Benton was alongside the +flag-ship in a moment. + +"Drop down towards the city, and see if you can discover the Rebel +fleet," was the order. + +I jumped on board the tug. Below us was the city. The first rays of the +sun were gilding the church-spires. A crowd of people stood upon the +broad levee between the city and the river. They were coming from all +the streets, on foot, on horseback, in carriages,--men, women, and +children--ten thousand, to see Lincoln's gunboats sent to the bottom. +Above the court-house, and from flagstaffs, waved the flag of the +Confederacy. A half-dozen river steamers lay at the landing, but the +Rebel fleet was not in sight. At our right hand was the wide marsh on +the tongue of land where Wolfe River empties into the Mississippi. Upon +our left were the cotton-trees and button-woods, and the village of +Hopedale at the terminus of the Little Rock and Memphis Railroad. We +dropped slowly down the stream, the tug floating in the swift current, +running deep and strong as it sweeps past the city. + +The crowd increased. The levee was black with the multitude. The windows +were filled. The flat roofs of the warehouses were covered with the +excited throng, which surged to and fro as we upon the tug came down +into the bend, almost within talking distance. + +Suddenly a boat came out from the Arkansas shore, where it had been +lying concealed from view behind the forest,--another, another, eight of +them. They formed in two lines, in front of the city. + +Nearest the city, in the front line, was the General Beauregard; next, +the Little Rebel; then the General Price and the Sumter. In the second +line, behind the Beauregard, was the General Lovell; behind the Little +Rebel was the Jeff Thompson; behind the General Price was the General +Bragg; and behind the Sumter was the Van Dorn. + +These boats were armed as follows:-- + + General Beauregard, 4 guns + Little Rebel (flag-ship), 2 + General Price, 4 + Sumter, 3 + General Lovell, 4 + General Thompson, 4 + General Bragg, 3 + General Van Dorn, 4 + -- + Total, 28 + +The guns were nearly all rifled, and were of long range. They were +pivoted, and could be whirled in all directions. The boilers of the +boats were casemated and protected by iron plates, but the guns were +exposed. + +[Illustration: NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS, June 6, 1862. + + 1 Federal Gunboats. + 2,2 General Beauregard. + 3,3 Little Rebel. + 4,4 General Price. + 5,5 Sumter. + 6,6 General Lovell. + 7,7 General Thompson. + 8,8 General Bragg. + 9,9 General Van Dorn. + Q Queen City. + M Monarch.] + +The accompanying diagram will show you the position of both fleets at +the beginning and at the close of the engagement. + +Slowly and steadily they came into line. The Little Rebel moved through +the fleet, and Commodore Montgomery issued his orders to each captain in +person. + +The Benton and St. Louis dropped down towards the city, to protect the +tug. A signal brought us back, and the boats moved up-stream again, to +the original position. + +There was another signal from the flag-ship, and then on board all the +boats there was a shrill whistle. It was the boatswain piping all hands +to quarters. The drummer beat his roll, and the marines seized their +muskets. The sailors threw open the ports, ran out the guns, brought up +shot and shells, stowed away furniture, took down rammers and sponges, +seized their handspikes, stripped off their coats, rolled up their +sleeves, loaded the cannon, and stood by their pieces. Cutlasses and +boarding-pikes were distributed. Last words were said. They waited for +orders. + +"Let the men have their breakfasts," was the order from the flag-ship. + +Commodore Davis believed in fighting on full stomachs. Hot coffee, +bread, and beef were carried round to the men. + +The Rebel fleet watched us awhile. The crowd upon the shore increased. +Perhaps they thought the Yankees did not dare to fight. At length the +Rebel fleet began to move up-stream. + +"Round to; head down-stream; keep in line with the flag-ship," was the +order which we on board the Jessie Benton carried to each boat of the +line. We returned, and took our position between the Benton and +Carondelet. + +I stood on the top of the tug, beside the pilot-house. Stand with me +there, and behold the scene. The sun is an hour high, and its bright +rays lie in a broad line of silver light upon the eddying stream. You +look down the river to the city, and behold the housetops, the windows, +the levee, crowded with men, women, and children. The flag of the +Confederacy floats defiantly. The Rebel fleet is moving slowly towards +us. A dense cloud of smoke rolls up from the chimneys of the steamers, +and floats over the city. + +There is a flash, a puff from the Little Rebel, a sound of something +unseen in the air, and a column of water is thrown up a mile behind us. +A second shot, from the Beauregard, falls beside the Benton. A third, +from the Price, aimed at the Carondelet, misses by a foot or two, and +dashes up the water between the Jessie Benton and the flag-ship. It is a +sixty-four-pounder. If it had struck us, our boat would have been +splintered to kindlings in an instant. + +Commodore Montgomery sees that the boats of the Federal fleet have their +iron-plated bows up-stream. He comes up rapidly, to crush them at the +stern, where there are no iron plates. A signal goes up from the Benton, +and the broadsides begin to turn towards the enemy. The crowd upon the +levee think that the Federal boats are retreating, and hurrah for +Commodore Montgomery. + +There has been profound silence on board the Union gunboats. The men are +waiting for the word. It comes. + +"Open fire, and take close quarters." + +The Cairo begins. A ten-inch shot screams through the air, and skips +along the water towards the Little Rebel. Another, from the St. Louis. A +third, from the Louisville. Another, from the Carondelet, and lastly, +from the Benton. The gunners crouch beside their guns, to track the +shot. Some are too high, some too low. There is an answering roar from +all the Rebel boats. The air is full of indescribable noises. The water +boils and bubbles around us. It is tossed up in columns and jets. There +are sudden flashes overhead, explosions, and sulphurous clouds, and +whirring of ragged pieces of iron. The uproar increases. The cannonade +reverberates from the high bluff behind the city to the dark-green +forest upon the Arkansas shore, and echoes from bend to bend. + +The space between the fleets is gradually lessening. The Yankees are not +retreating, but advancing. A shot strikes the Little Rebel. One tears +through the General Price. Another through the General Bragg. Commodore +Montgomery is above the city, and begins to fall back. He is not ready +to come to close quarters. Fifteen minutes pass by, but it seems not +more than two. How fast one lives at such a time! All of your senses are +quickened. You see everything, hear everything. The blood rushes through +your veins. Your pulse is quickened. You long to get at the enemy,--to +sweep over the intervening space, lay your boat alongside, pour in a +broadside, and knock them to pieces in a twinkling! You care nothing for +the screaming of the shot, the bursting of the shells. You have got over +all that. You have but one thought,--_to tear down that hateful +flaunting flag, to smite the enemies of your country into the dust_! + +While this cannonade was going on, I noticed the two rams casting loose +from the shore. I heard the tinkle of the engineer's bell for more fire +and a full head of steam. The sharpshooters took their places. The Queen +came out from the shelter of the great cottonwoods, crossed the river, +and passed down between the Benton and Carondelet. Colonel Ellet stood +beside the pilot, and waved his hand to us on board the Jessie Benton. +The Monarch was a little later, and, instead of following in the wake of +the Queen, passed between the Cairo and the St. Louis. + +See the Queen! Her great wheels whirl up clouds of spray, and leave a +foaming path. She carries a silver train sparkling in the morning light. +She ploughs a furrow, which rolls the width of the river. Our boat +dances like a feather on the waves. She gains the intervening space +between the fleets. Never moved a Queen so determinedly, never one more +fleet,--almost leaping from the water. The Stars and Stripes stream to +the breeze beneath the black banner unfolding, expanding, and trailing +far away from her smoke-stacks. There is a surging, hissing, and +smothered screaming of the pent-up steam in her boilers, as if they had +put on all energy for the moment. They had;--flesh, blood, bones, iron, +brass, steel,--animate and inanimate,--were nerved up for the trial of +the hour! + +Officers and men behold her in astonishment and admiration. For a moment +there is silence. The men stand transfixed by their guns, forgetting +their duties. Then the Rebel gunners, as if moved by a common impulse, +bring their guns to bear upon her. She is exposed on the right, on the +left, and in front. It is a terrible cross-fire. Solid shot scream past. +Shells explode around her. She is pierced through and through. Her +timbers crack. She quivers beneath the shock, but does not falter. +On--on--faster--straight towards the General Beauregard. + +The commander of that vessel adroitly avoids the stroke. The Queen +misses her aim. She sweeps by like a race-horse, receiving the fire of +the Beauregard on one side and the Little Rebel on the other. She comes +round in a graceful curve, almost lying down upon her side, as if to +cool her heated smoke-stacks in the stream. The stern guns of the +Beauregard send their shot through the bulwarks of the Queen. A splinter +strikes the brave commander, Colonel Ellet. He is knocked down, bruised, +and stunned for a moment, but springs to his feet, steadies himself +against the pilot-house, and gives his directions as coolly as if +nothing had happened. + +The Queen passes round the Little Rebel, and approaches the General +Price. + +"Take her aft the wheelhouse," says Colonel Ellet to the pilot. The +commander of the Price turns towards the approaching antagonist. Her +wheels turn. She surges ahead to escape the terrible blow. Too late. +There is a splintering, crackling, crashing of timbers. The broadside of +the boat is crushed in. It is no more than a box of cards or thin +tissue-paper before the terrible blow. + +There are jets of flame and smoke from the loop-holes of the Queen. The +sharpshooters are at it. You hear the rattling fire, and see the crew of +the Price running wildly over the deck, tossing their arms. The +unceasing thunder of the cannonade drowns their cries. A moment, and a +white flag goes up. The Price surrenders. + +But the Queen has another antagonist, the Beauregard. The Queen is +motionless, but the Beauregard sweeps down with all her powers. There is +another crash. The bulwarks of the Queen tremble before the stroke. +There is a great opening in her hull. But no white flag is displayed. +There are no cries for quarter, no thoughts of surrendering. The +sharpshooters pick off the gunners of the Beauregard, compelling them to +take shelter beneath their casemates. + +We who see it hold our breaths. We are unmindful of the explosions +around us. How will it end? Will the Queen sink with all her brave men +on board? + +But her consort is at hand, the Monarch, commanded by Captain Ellet, +brother of Colonel Ellet. He was five or ten minutes behind the Queen +in starting, but he has appeared at the right moment. He, too, has +been unmindful of the shot and shell falling around him. He aims +straight as an arrow for the Beauregard. The Beauregard is stiff, +stanch, and strong, but her timbers, planks, knees, and braces are +no more than laths before the powerful stroke of the Monarch. The +sharpshooters pour in their fire. The engineer of the Monarch puts his +force-pumps in play and drenches the decks of the Beauregard with +scalding water. An officer of the Beauregard raises a white cloth upon +a rammer. It is a signal for surrender. The sharpshooters stop firing. +There are the four boats, three of them floating helplessly in the +stream, the water pouring into the hulls, through the splintered +planking. + +Captain Ellet saw that the Queen was disabled, and took her in tow to +the Arkansas shore. Prompted by humanity, instead of falling upon the +other vessels of the fleet he took the General Price to the shore. + +The Little Rebel was pierced through her hull by a half-dozen shots. +Commodore Montgomery saw that the day was lost. He ran alongside the +Beauregard, and, notwithstanding the vessel had surrendered, took the +crew on board, to escape. But a shot from the Cairo passed through the +boilers. The steam rushed out like the hissing of serpents. The boat was +near the shore, and the crew jumped into the water, climbed the bank, +and fled to the woods. The Cairo gave them a broadside of shells as they +ran. + +The Beauregard was fast settling. The Jessie Benton ran alongside. All +had fled save the wounded. There was a pool of blood upon the deck. The +sides of the casemate were stained with crimson drops, yet warm from the +heart of a man who had been killed by a shell. + +"Help, quick!" was the cry of Captain Maynadier. + +We rushed on board in season to save a wounded officer. The vessel +settled slowly to the bottom. + +"I thank you," said the officer, "for saving me from drowning. You are +my enemies, but you have been kinder to me than those whom I called my +friends. One of my brother officers when he fled, had the meanness to +pick my pocket and steal my watch!" + +Thus those who begun by stealing public property, forts, and arsenals, +did not hesitate to violate their honor,--fleeing after surrendering, +forsaking their wounded comrade, robbing him of his valuables, and +leaving him to drown! + +There is no cessation of the cannonade. The fight goes on. The Benton is +engaged with the General Lovell. They are but a few rods apart, and both +within a stone's-throw of the multitude upon the shore. + +Captain Phelps stands by one of the Benton's rifled guns. He waits to +give a raking shot, runs his eye along the sights, and gives the word to +fire. The steel-pointed shot enters the starboard side of the hull, by +the water-line. Timbers, braces, planks, the whole side of the boat +seemingly, are torn out. + +The water pours in. The vessel settles to the guards, to the ports, to +the top of the casemate, reels, and with a lurch disappears. It is the +work of three minutes. + +The current sets swiftly along the shore. The plummet gives seventy-five +feet of water. The vessel goes down like a lump of lead. Her +terror-stricken crew are thrown into the current. It is an appalling +sight. A man with his left arm torn, broken, bleeding, and dangling by +his side, runs wildly over the deck. There is unspeakable horror in his +face. He beckons now to those on shore, and now to his friends on board +the boats. He looks imploringly to heaven, and calls for help. +Unavailing the cry. He disappears in the eddying whirlpool. A hundred +human beings are struggling for life, buffeting the current, raising +their arms, catching at sticks, straws, planks, and timbers. "Help! +help! help!" they cry. It is a wild wail of agony, mingled with the +cannonade. + +There is no help for them on shore. There, within a dozen rods, are +their friends, their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, +children, they who urged them to join the service, who compelled them to +enlist. All are powerless to aid them! + +They who stand upon the shore behold those whom they love defeated, +crushed, drowning, calling for help! It is an hour when heart-strings +are wrung. Tears, cries, prayers, efforts, all are unavailing. + +Commodore Davis beholds them. His heart is touched. "Save them, lads," +he says. + +The crews of the Benton and Carondelet rush to their boats. So eager are +they to save the struggling men that one of the boats is swamped in the +launching. Away they go, picking up one here, another there,--ten or +twelve in all. A few reach the shore and are helped up the bank by +lookers-on; but fifty or sixty sink to rise no more. How noble the act! +How glorious! Bright amid all the distress, all the horror, all the +infamous conduct of men who have forsworn themselves, will shine +forever, like a star of heaven, this act of humanity! + +The General Price, General Beauregard, Little Rebel, and General +Lovell--one half of the Rebel fleet--were disposed of. The other vessels +attempted to flee. The Union fleet had swept steadily on in an unbroken +line. Amid all the appalling scenes of the hour there was no lull in the +cannonade. While saving those who had lost all power of resistance, +there was no cessation of effort to crush those who still resisted. + +A short distance below the Little Rebel, the Jeff Thompson, riddled by +shot, and in flames, was run ashore. A little farther down-stream the +General Bragg was abandoned, also in flames from the explosion of a +nine-inch shell, thrown by the St. Louis. The crews leaped on shore, and +fled to the woods. The Sumter went ashore, near the Little Rebel. The +Van Dorn alone escaped. She was a swift steamer, and was soon beyond +reach of the guns of the fleet. + +The fight is over. The thunder of the morning dies away, and the birds +renew their singing. The abandoned boats are picked up. The Jeff +Thompson cannot be saved. The flames leap around the chimneys. The +boilers are heated to redness. A pillar of fire springs upward, in long +lances of light. The interior of the boat--boilers, beams of iron, +burning planks, flaming timbers, cannon-shot, shells--is lifted five +hundred feet in air, in an expanding, unfolding cloud, filled with loud +explosions. The scattered fragments rain upon forest, field, and river, +as if meteors of vast proportions had fallen from heaven to earth, +taking fire in their descent. There is a shock which shakes all Memphis, +and announces to the disappointed, terror-stricken, weeping, humiliated +multitude that the drama which they have played so madly for a +twelvemonth is over, that retribution for crime has come at last! + +Thus in an hour's time the Rebel fleet was annihilated. Commodore +Montgomery was to have sent the Union boats to the bottom; but his +expectations were not realized, his promises not fulfilled. It is not +known how many men were lost on the Rebel side, but probably from eighty +to a hundred. Colonel Ellet was the only one injured on board the Union +fleet. The gunboats were uninjured. The Queen of the West was the only +boat disabled. In striking contrast was the damage to Montgomery's +fleet:-- + + Sunk, General Price, 4 guns. + " General Beauregard, 4 " + " General Lovell, 4 " + Burned, Jeff Thompson, 4 " + Captured, General Bragg, 3 " + " Sumter, 3 " + " Little Rebel, 2 " + -- + 24 + +The bow guns of Commodore Davis's fleet only were used in the attack, +making sixteen guns in all brought to bear upon the Rebel fleet. The +Cairo and St. Louis fired broadsides upon the crews as they fled to the +woods. + + * * * * * + +The retreating of the Rebel fleet carried the Union gunboats several +miles below the city before the contest was over. At ten o'clock +Commodore Davis steamed back to the city. There stood the multitude, +confounded by what had taken place. A boat came off from the shore, +pulled by two oarsmen, and bringing a citizen, Dr. Dickerson, who waved +a white handkerchief. He was a messenger from the Mayor, tendering the +surrender of the city. There were some men in the crowd who shook their +fists at us, and cried, "O you blue-bellied Yankees! You devils! You +scoundrels!" We could bear it very well, after the events of the +morning. A few hurrahed for Jeff Davis, but the multitude made no +demonstration. + +A regiment landed, and marched up Monroe Street to the court-house. I +had the pleasure of accompanying the soldiers. The band played Yankee +Doodle and Hail Columbia. How proudly the soldiers marched! They halted +in front of the court-house. An officer went to the top of the building, +tore down the Rebel flag, and flung out the Stars and Stripes. + +Wild and hearty were the cheers of the troops. The buried flag had risen +from its grave, to wave forevermore,--the emblem of power, justice, +liberty, and law! + +Thus the Upper Mississippi was opened again to trade and the peaceful +pursuits of commerce. How wonderfully it was repossessed. The fleet lost +not a man at Island No. 10, not a man at New Madrid, not a man at Fort +Pillow, not a man at Memphis, by the fire of the Rebels! How often had +we been told that the strongholds of the Rebels were impregnable! How +often that the Union gunboats would be blown up by torpedoes, or sent to +the bottom by the batteries or by the Rebel fleet! How often that the +river would never be opened till the Confederacy was recognized as an +independent power! General Butler was in possession of New Orleans, +Memphis was held by Commodore Davis, and the mighty river was all but +open through its entire length to trade and navigation. In one year this +was accomplished. So moves a nation in a career unparalleled in history, +rescuing from the grasp of pirates and plunderers the garnered wealth of +centuries. + +In 1861, when Tennessee seceded, the steamer Platte Valley, owned in St. +Louis, belonging to the St. Louis and Memphis Steamboat Company, was the +last boat permitted to leave for the North. All others were stolen by +the secessionists, who repudiated the debts they owed Northern men. The +Platte Valley, commanded by Captain Wilcox, was in Commodore Davis's +fleet of transports. Captain Wilcox recognized some of his old +acquaintances in the crowd, and informed them that in a day or two he +would resume his regular trips between St. Louis and Memphis! They were +ready to send up cargoes of sugar and cotton. So trade accompanies the +flag of our country wherever it goes. + +This narrative which I have given you is very tame. Look at the scene +once more,--the early morning, the cloudless sky, the majestic river, +the hostile fleets, the black pall of smoke overhanging the city, the +forest, the stream, the moving of the boats, the terrific cannonade, the +assembled thousands, the glorious advance of the Queen and the Monarch, +the crashing and splintering of timbers, the rifle-shots, the sinking of +vessels, the cries of drowning men, the gallantry of the crews of the +Benton and Carondelet, the weeping and wailing of the multitude, the +burnings, the explosions, the earthquake shock, which shakes the city to +its foundations! These are the events of a single hour. Remember the +circumstances,--that the fight is before the city, before expectant +thousands, who have been invited to the entertainment,--the sinking of +the Union fleet,--that they are to see the prowess of their husbands, +brothers, and friends, that their strength is utter weakness,--that, +after thirteen months of robbery, outrage, and villany, the despised, +insulted flag of the Union rises from its burial, and waves once more +above them in stainless purity and glory! Take all under consideration, +if you would feel the moral sublimity of the hour! + +In these pages, my young friends, I have endeavored to make a +contribution of facts to the history of this great struggle of our +beloved country for national life. It has been my privilege to see other +engagements at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, and if this +book is acceptable to you, I hope to be able to tell the stories of +those terrible battles. + + THE END + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + +1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; +otherwise every effort has been made to be faithful to the author's +words and intent. + +2. In the edition from which this e-text has been transcribed, the +printers omitted the words "At a" from the 9th paragraph of Chapter IV. +The research staff at the University of Northern Colorado, Greely, +Colorado, were kind enough to locate their edition, and find the correct +words to commence the sentence. + +3. Page numbering in the List of Diagrams for "A Rebel Torpedo" has +been changed to reflect the illustration's final placement in this +e-text. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field, by +Charles Carleton Coffin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS AND NIGHTS ON BATTLEFIELD *** + +***** This file should be named 28571.txt or 28571.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/7/28571/ + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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