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diff --git a/4098.txt b/4098.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9ea83d --- /dev/null +++ b/4098.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5938 @@ +Project Gutenberg's On the Trail of Grant and Lee, by Frederick Trevor Hill + +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: On the Trail of Grant and Lee + +Author: Frederick Trevor Hill + + +Release Date: May, 2003 [Etext #4098] +The actual date this file first posted = 11/27/01 +Last Updated: July 8, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE TRAIL OF GRANT AND LEE *** + + + + +Produced by William Fishburne and Jenny Francisco + + + + + + + + +ON THE TRAIL OF GRANT AND LEE + +By Frederick Trevor Hill + + +To Howard Ogden Wood, Jr. + + + + +Forward + + +During the early years of the Civil War someone tauntingly asked Mr. +Charles Francis Adams, the United States Minister to England, what he +thought of the brilliant victories which the confederate armies were +then gaining in the field. "I think they have been won by my fellow +countrymen," was the quiet answer. + +Almost half a century has passed since that reproof was uttered, but +its full force is only just beginning to be understood. For nearly fifty +years the story of the Civil War has been twisted to suit local pride or +prejudice in various parts of the Union, with the result that much which +passes for American history is not history at all, and whatever else it +may be, it is certainly not American. + +Assuredly, the day has now arrived when such historical "make-believes" +should be discountenanced, both in the North and in the South. Americans +of the present and the coming generations are entitled to take a common +pride in whatever lent nobility to the fraternal strife of the sixties, +and to gather equal inspiration from every achievement that reflected +credit on American manhood during those years when the existence of the +Union was at stake. Until this is rendered possible by the elimination +of error and falsehood, the sacrifices of the Civil War will, to a large +extent, have been endured in vain. + +In some respects this result has already been realized. Lincoln is no +longer a local hero. He is a national heritage. To distort or belittle +the characters of other men who strove to the end that their land "might +have a new birth of freedom," is to deprive the younger generations of +part of their birthright. They are entitled to the facts from which +to form a just estimate of the lives of all such men, regardless of +uniforms. + +It is in this spirit that the strangely interwoven trials of Grant and +Lee are followed in these pages. Both were Americans, and widely as they +differed in opinions, tastes and sympathies, each exhibited qualities +of mind and character which should appeal to all their fellow countrymen +and make them proud of the land that gave them birth. Neither man, in +his life, posed before the public as a hero, and the writer has made no +attempt to place either of them on a pedestal. Theirs is a very human +story, requiring neither color nor concealment, but illustrating a +high development of those traits that make for manhood and national +greatness. + +The writer hereby acknowledges his indebtedness to all those historians +whose scholarly research has made it possible to trace the careers of +these two great commanders with confidence in the accuracy of the facts +presented. Where equally high authorities have differed he has been +guided by those who, in his judgment, have displayed the most scrupulous +impartiality, and wherever possible he has availed himself of official +records and documents. + +The generous service rendered by Mr. Samuel Palmer Griffin in testing +the vast record upon which these pages are based, his exhaustive +research and scientific analysis of the facts, have given whatever of +authority may be claimed for the text, and of this the writer hereby +makes grateful acknowledgment. To Mr. Arthur Becher he is likewise +indebted for his careful studies at West Point and elsewhere which have +resulted in illustrations conforming to history. + +Frederick Trevor Hill. + +New York, September, 1911. + + + + + +Contents + + + + +Chapter + + I.--Three Civil Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + II.--Washington and Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 + III.--Lee at West Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + IV.--The Boyhood of Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 + V.--Grant at West Point . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 + VI.--Lieutenant Grant Under Fire . . . . . . . . 35 + VII.--Captain Lee at the Front . . . . . . . . . . 44 + VIII.--Colonel Lee After the Mexican War . . . . . 52 + IX.--Captain Grant in a Hard Fight . . . . . . . 59 + X.--Grant's Difficulties in Securing a Command . 67 + XI.--Lee at the Parting of the Ways . . . . . . . 75 + XII.--Opening Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 + XIII.--Grant's First Success . . . . . . . . . . . 93 + XIV.--The Battle of Shiloh . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 + XV.--Lee in the Saddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 + XVI.--A Game of Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 + XVII.--Lee and the Invasion of Maryland . . . . . . 133 + XVIII.--The Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg . . . . 141 + XIX.--Lee Against Burnside and Hooker . . . . . . 148 + XX.--In the Hour of Triumph . . . . . . . . . . . 163 + XXI.--Grant at Vicksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 + XXII.--The Battle of Gettysburg . . . . . . . . . . 180 + XXIII.--In the Face of Disaster . . . . . . . . . . 193 + XXIV.--The Rescue of Two Armies . . . . . . . . . . 201 + XXV.--Lieutenant-General Grant . . . . . . . . . . 213 + XXVI.--A Duel to the Death . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 + XXVII.--Check and Countercheck . . . . . . . . . . . 238 + XXVIII.--The Beginning of the End . . . . . . . . . . 248 + XXIX.--At Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 + XXX.--The Surrender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 + XXXI.--Lee's Years of Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 + XXXII.--The Head of the Nation . . . . . . . . . . . 294 + + + + + +List of Illustrations + + + + Illustrations in Color + + + Grant running the gauntlet of the Mexicans at Monterey + in riding to the relief of his comrades . . Frontispiece + September 23, 1846. + + Lee with Mrs. Lewis (Nellie Custis) applying to General + Andrew Jackson to aid in securing his cadetship at + West Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 1825. + + Grant on his horse, "York," making exhibition jump in + the Riding Academy at West Point . . . . . . . . . . 32 + June, 1843. + + Lee sending the Rockbridge battery into action for the + second time at Antietam or Sharpsburg . . . . . . . 144 + September 17, 1862. + + Lee rallying his troops at the Battle of the + Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 + May 6, 1864. + + Grant at the entrenchments before Petersburg . . . . . 260 + March, 1865. + + + Illustrations in the Text + + + Signature of Grant on reporting at West Point . . . . 25 + (From the original records of the U. S. Military + Academy.) + + First signature of Grant as U. S. Grant . . . . . . . 27 + (From the original records of the U.S. Military + Academy.) + + Grant's letter demanding unconditional surrender of + forces at Fort Donnelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 + + Diagram map (not drawn to scale) showing strategy of + the opening of the Battle of Chancellorsville, May + 1 and 2, 1863 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 + + Diagram map (not drawn to scale) showing Grant's series + of movements by the left flank from the Wilderness + to Petersburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 + + Facsimile of telegraphic message drafted by Lieutenant- + General Grant, announcing Lee's surrender, May 9, + 1865 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 + + Lee's letter of August 3, 1866, acknowledging receipt of + the extension of his furlough . . . . . . . . . . . 283 + + + + + +Chapter I. -- Three Civil Wars + + +England was an uncomfortable place to live in during the reign of +Charles the First. Almost from the moment that that ill-fated monarch +ascended the throne he began quarreling with Parliament; and when he +decided to dismiss its members and make himself the supreme ruler of +the land, he practically forced his subjects into a revolution. +Twelve feverish years followed--years of discontent, indignation and +passion--which arrayed the Cavaliers, who supported the King, against +the Roundheads, who upheld Parliament, and finally flung them at each +other's throats to drench the soil of England with their blood. + +Meanwhile, the gathering storm of civil war caused many a resident of +the British Isles to seek peace and security across the seas, and among +those who turned toward America were Mathew Grant and Richard Lee. It is +not probable that either of these men had ever heard of the other, for +they came from widely separated parts of the kingdom and were even more +effectually divided by the walls of caste. There is no positive proof +that Mathew Grant (whose people probably came from Scotland) was a +Roundhead, but he was a man of humble origin who would naturally have +favored the Parliamentary or popular party, while Richard Lee, whose +ancestors had fought at Hastings and in the Crusades, is known to have +been an ardent Cavalier, devoted to the King. But whether their opinions +on politics differed or agreed, it was apparently the conflict between +the King and Parliament that drove them from England. In any event +they arrived in America at almost the same moment; Grant reaching +Massachusetts in 1630, the year after King Charles dismissed his +Parliament, and Lee visiting Virginia about this time to prepare for his +permanent residence in the Dominion which began when actual hostilities +opened in the mother land. + +The trails of Grant and Lee, therefore, first approach each other from +out of the smoke of a civil war. This is a strangely significant fact, +but it might be regarded merely as a curious coincidence were it not for +other and stranger events which seem to suggest that the hand of Fate +was guiding the destinies of these two men. + +Mathew Grant originally settled in Massachusetts but he soon moved to +Connecticut, where he became clerk of the town of Windsor and official +surveyor of the whole colony--a position which he held for many years. +Meanwhile Richard Lee became the Colonial Secretary and a member of +the King's Privy Council in Virginia, and thenceforward the name of his +family is closely associated with the history of that colony. + +Lee bore the title of colonel, but it was to statesmanship and not to +military achievements that he and his early descendants owed their fame; +while the family of Grant, the surveyor, sought glory at the cannon's +mouth, two of its members fighting and dying for their country as +officers in the French and Indian war of 1756. In that very year, +however, a military genius was born to the Virginia family in the person +of Harry Lee, whose brilliant cavalry exploits were to make him known to +history as "Light Horse Harry." But before his great career began, the +house of Grant was represented in the Revolution, for Captain Noah Grant +of Connecticut drew his sword in defense of the colonies at the outbreak +of hostilities, taking part in the battle of Bunker Hill; and from that +time forward he and "Light Horse Harry" served in the Continental army +under Washington until Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. + +Here the trails of the two families, AGAIN DRAWN TOGETHER BY A CIVIL +STRIFE, merge for an historic moment and then cross; that of the +Grants turning toward the West, and that of the Lees keeping within the +confines of Virginia. + +It was in 1799 that Captain Noah Grant migrated to Ohio, and during the +same year Henry Lee delivered the memorial address upon the death of +Washington, coining the immortal phrase "first in war, first in peace +and first in the hearts of his countrymen." + +Ulysses Grant, the Commander of the Union forces in the Civil War, was +the grandson of Captain Grant, who served with "Light Horse Harry" Lee +during the Revolution; and Robert Lee, the Confederate General, was +"Light Horse Harry's" son. + +Thus, for the THIRD time in two and a half centuries, a civil conflict +between men of the English-speaking race blazed the trails of Grant and +Lee. + + + + +Chapter II. -- Washington and Lee + + +"Wakefield," Westmoreland County, Virginia, was the birthplace of +Washington, and at Stratford in the same county and state, only a few +miles from Wakefield, Robert Edward Lee was born on January 19, 1807. +Seventy-five years had intervened between those events but, except in +the matter of population, Westmoreland County remained much the same as +it had been during Washington's youth. Indians, it is true, no longer +lurked in he surrounding forests or paddled the broad Potomac in their +frail canoes, but the life had much of the same freedom and charm which +had endeared it to Washington. All the streams and woods and haunts +which he had known and loved were known and loved by Lee, not only for +their own sake, but because they were associated with the memory of the +great Commander-in-Chief who had been his father's dearest friend. + +It would have been surprising, under such circumstances, if Washington +had not been Lee's hero, but he was more than a hero to the boy. From +his father's lips he had learned to know him, not merely as a famous +personage of history, but as a man and a leader of men. Indeed, his +influence and example were those of a living presence in the household +of "Light Horse Harry;" and thus to young Lee he early became the ideal +of manhood upon which, consciously or unconsciously, he molded his own +character and life. But quite apart from this, the careers of these two +great Virginians were astonishingly alike. + +Washington's father had been married twice, and so had Lee's; each was +a son of the second marriage, and each had a number of brothers and +sisters. Washington lost his father when he was only eleven years old, +and Lee was exactly the same age when his father died. Mrs. Washington +had almost the entire care of her son during his early years, and Lee +was under the sole guidance of his mother until he had almost grown to +manhood. Washington repaid his mother's devotion by caring for her +and her affairs with notable fidelity, and Lee's tenderness and +consideration for his mother were such that she was accustomed to remark +that he was both a son and a daughter to her. + +Washington's ancestors were notable, if not distinguished, people in +England; while Lee could trace his descent, through his father, to +Lancelot Lee, who fought at the battle of Hastings, and through his +mother to Robert the Bruce of Scotland. Neither man, however, prided +himself in the least on his ancestry. Indeed, neither of them knew +anything of his family history until his own achievements brought the +facts to light. + +Washington was a born and bred country boy and so was Lee. Both +delighted in outdoor life, loving horses and animals of all kinds and +each was noted for his skillful riding in a region which was famous +for its horsemanship. There was, however, a vast difference between +Washington's education and that of Lee. The Virginian schools were +very rudimentary in Washington's day; but Lee attended two excellent +institutions of learning, where he had every opportunity, and of this +he availed himself, displaying much the same thoroughness that +characterized Washington's work, and the same manly modesty about any +success that he achieved. + +By reason of his father's death and other circumstances Washington was +burdened with responsibility long before he arrived at manhood, making +him far more reserved and serious-minded than most school boys. This was +precisely the case with Lee, for his father's death, the ill health of +his mother and the care of younger children virtually made him the head +of the family, so that he became unusually mature and self-contained +at an early age. Neither boy, however, held aloof from the sports and +pastimes of his schoolmates and both were regarded as quiet, manly +fellows, with no nonsense about them, and with those qualities of +leadership that made each in turn the great military leader of his age. + +Never has history recorded a stranger similarity in the circumstances +surrounding the youth of two famous men, but the facts which linked +their careers in later years are even stranger still. + + + + +Chapter III. -- Lee at West Point + + +As his school days drew to a close, it became necessary for Lee to +determine his future calling. But the choice of a career, often so +perplexing to young men, presented no difficulty to "Light Horse +Harry's" son. He had apparently always intended to become a soldier +and no other thought had seemingly ever occurred to any member of his +family. Appointments to the United States Military Academy were far more +a matter of favor than they are to-day, and young Lee, accompanied by +Mrs. Lewis (better known as Nellie Custis, the belle of Mount Vernon +and Washington's favorite grandchild), sought the assistance of General +Andrew Jackson. Rough "Old Hickory" was not the easiest sort of person +to approach with a request of any kind and, doubtless, his young visitor +had grave misgivings as to the manner in which his application would be +received. But Jackson, the hero of the battle of New Orleans in the +War of 1812, only needed to be told that his caller was "Light Horse +Harry's" son to proffer assistance; and in his nineteenth year, the boy +left home for the first time in his life to enroll himself as a cadet at +West Point. + +Very few young men enter that institution so well prepared for military +life as was Lee, for he had been accustomed to responsibility and had +thoroughly mastered the art of self-control many years before he stepped +within its walls. He was neither a prig nor a "grind," but he regarded +his cadetship as part of the life work which he had voluntarily chosen, +and he had no inclination to let pleasure interfere with it. With his +comrades he was companionable, entering into all their pastimes with +zest and spirit, but he let it be understood, without much talk, that +attention to duty was a principle with him and his serious purpose soon +won respect. + +Rigid discipline was then, as it is to-day, strictly enforced at West +Point, and demerits were freely inflicted upon cadets for even the +slightest infraction of the rules. Indeed, the regulations were so +severe that it was almost impossible for a cadet to avoid making at +least a few slips at some time during his career. But Lee accomplished +the impossible, for not once throughout his entire four years did he +incur even a single demerit--a record that still remains practically +unique in the history of West Point. This and his good scholarship won +him high rank; first, as cadet officer of his class, and finally, as +adjutant of the whole battalion, the most coveted honor of the +Academy, from which he graduated in 1829, standing second in a class of +forty-six. + +Men of the highest rating at West Point may choose whatever arm of +the service they prefer, and Lee, selecting the Engineer Corps, was +appointed a second lieutenant and assigned to fortification work at +Hampton Roads, in his twenty-second year. The work there was not hard +but it was dull. There was absolutely no opportunity to distinguish +oneself in any way, and time hung heavy on most of the officers' hands. +But Lee was in his native state and not far from his home, where he +spent most of his spare time until his mother died. Camp and garrison +life had very little charm for him, but he was socially inclined and, +renewing his acquaintance with his boyhood friends, he was soon in +demand at all the dances and country houses at which the young people of +the neighborhood assembled. + +Among the many homes that welcomed him at this time was that of Mr. +George Washington Parke Custis (Washington's adopted grandson), whose +beautiful estate known as "Arlington" lay within a short distance of +Alexandria, where Lee had lived for many years. Here he had, during +his school days, met the daughter of the house and, their boy-and-girl +friendship culminating in an engagement shortly after his return from +West Point, he and Mary Custis were married in his twenty-fifth year. +Lee thus became related by marriage to Washington, and another link was +formed in the strange chain of circumstances which unite their careers. + +A more ideal marriage than that of these two young people cannot be +imagined. Simple in their tastes and of home-loving dispositions, they +would have been well content to settle down quietly to country life in +their beloved Virginia, surrounded by their family and friends. But the +duties of an army officer did not admit of this, and after a few years' +service as assistant to the chief engineer of the army in Washington, +Lee was ordered to take charge of the improvements of the Mississippi +River at St. Louis, where, in the face of violent opposition from the +inhabitants, he performed such valuable service that in 1839 he was +offered the position of instructor at West Point. This, however, he +declined, and in 1842 he was entrusted with the task of improving the +defenses of New York harbor and moved with his family to Fort Hamilton, +where he remained for several years. Meanwhile, he had been +successively promoted to a first lieutenancy and a captaincy, and in his +thirty-eighth year he was appointed one of the visitors to West Point, +whose duty it was to inspect the Academy and report at stated intervals +on its condition. This appointment, insignificant in itself, is notable +because it marks the point at which the trails of Grant and Lee first +approach each other, for at the time that Captain Lee was serving as an +official visitor, Ulysses Grant was attempting to secure an assistant +professorship at West Point. + + + + +Chapter IV. -- The Boyhood of Grant + + +Deerfield, Ohio, was not a place of any importance when Captain Noah +Grant of Bunker Hill fame arrived there from the East. Indeed, it was +not then much more than a spot on the map and it has ever won any great +renown. Yet in this tiny Ohio village there lived at one and the same +time Owen Brown, the father of John Brown, who virtually began the +Civil War, and Jesse Grant, the father of Ulysses Grant, who practically +brought it to a close. + +It is certainly strange that these two men should, with all the world to +choose from, have chanced upon the same obscure little village, but it +is still stranger that one of them should have become the employer of +the other and that they should both have lived in the very same house. +Such, however, is the fact, for when Jesse Grant first began to earn his +living as a tanner, he worked for and boarded with Owen Brown, little +dreaming that his son and his employer's son would some day shake the +world. + +It was not at Deerfield, however, but at Point Pleasant, Ohio, that +Jesse Grant's distinguished son was born on April 27, 1822, in a cottage +not much larger than the cabin in which Abraham Lincoln first saw the +light. Mr. and Mrs. Grant and other members of their family differed +among themselves as to what the boy should be called, but they settled +the question by each writing his or her favorite name on a slip of paper +and then depositing all the slips in a hat, with the understanding that +the child should receive the first two names drawn from that receptacle. +This resulted in the selection of Hiram and Ulysses, and the boy +was accordingly called Hiram Ulysses Grant until the United States +government re-christened him in a curious fashion many years later. To +his immediate family, however, he was always known as Ulysses, which +his playmates soon twisted into the nickname "Useless," more or less +good-naturedly applied. + +Grant's father moved to Georgetown, Ohio, soon after his son's birth, +and there his boyhood days were passed. The place was not at that +time much more than a frontier village and its inhabitants were mostly +pioneers--not the adventurous, exploring pioneers who discover new +countries, but the hardy advance-guard of civilization, who clear the +forests and transform the wilderness into farming land. Naturally, there +was no culture and very little education among these people. They were +a sturdy, self-respecting, hard-working lot, of whom every man was the +equal of every other, and to whom riches and poverty were alike unknown. +In a community of this sort there was, of course, no pampering of the +children, and if there had been, Grant's parents would probably have +been the last to indulge in it. His father, Jesse Grant, was a stern and +very busy man who had neither the time nor the inclination to coddle the +boy, and his mother, absorbed in her household duties and the care of a +numerous family, gave him only such attention as was necessary to +keep him in good health. Young Ulysses was, therefore, left to his +own devices almost as soon as he could toddle, and he quickly became +self-reliant to a degree that alarmed the neighbors. Indeed, some of +them rushed into the house one morning shouting that the boy was out +in the barn swinging himself on the farm horses' tails and in +momentary danger of being kicked to pieces; but Mrs. Grant received the +announcement with perfect calmness, feeling sure that Ulysses would +not amuse himself in that way unless he knew the animals thoroughly +understood what he was doing. + +Certainly this confidence in the boy's judgment was entirely justified +as far as horses were concerned, for they were the joy of his life +and he was never so happy as when playing or working in or about the +stables. Indeed, he was not nine years old when he began to handle a +team in the fields. From that time forward he welcomed every duty that +involved riding, driving or caring for horses, and shirked every other +sort of work about the farm and tannery. Fortunately, there was plenty +of employment for him in the line of carting materials or driving the +hay wagons and harrows, and his father, finding that he could be trusted +with such duties, allowed him, before he reached his teens, to drive a +'bus or stage between Georgetown and the neighboring villages entirely +by himself. In fact, he was given such free use of the horses that when +it became necessary for him to help in the tannery, he would take a team +and do odd jobs for the neighbors until he earned enough, with the aid +of the horses, to hire a boy to take his place in the hated tan-yard. + +This and other work was, of course, only done out of school hours, for +his parents sent him as early as possible to a local "subscription" +school, which he attended regularly for many years. "Spare the rod and +spoil the child" was one of the maxims of the school, and the first duty +of the boys on assembling each morning was to gather a good-sized bundle +of beech-wood switches, of which the schoolmaster made such vigorous use +that before the sessions ended the supply was generally exhausted. Grant +received his fair share of this discipline, but as he never resented it, +he doubtless got no more of it than he deserved and it probably did him +good. + +Among his schoolmates he had the reputation of talking less than any +of the other boys and of knowing more about horses than all of them put +together. An opportunity to prove this came when he was about eleven, +for a circus appeared in the village with a trick pony, and during the +performance the clown offered five dollars to any boy who could ride +him. Several of Ulysses' friends immediately volunteered, but he sat +quietly watching the fun while one after another of the boys fell victim +to the pony's powers. Finally, when the little animal's triumph seemed +complete, Grant stepped into the ring and sprang upon his back. A +tremendous tussle for the mastery immediately ensued, but though he +reared and shied and kicked, the tricky little beast was utterly unable +to throw its fearless young rider, and amid the shouts of the audience +the clown at last stopped the contest and paid Ulysses the promised +reward. + +From that time forward his superiority as a horseman was firmly +established, and as he grew older and his father allowed him to take +longer and longer trips with the teams, he came to be the most widely +traveled boy in the village. Indeed, he was only about fifteen when he +covered nearly a hundred and fifty miles in the course of one of his +journeys, taking as good care of his horses as he did of himself, and +transacting the business entrusted to him with entire satisfaction +to all concerned. These long, and often lonely, trips increased his +independence and so encouraged his habit of silence that many of the +village people began to think him a dunce. + +His father, however, was unmistakably proud of the quiet boy who did +what he was told to do without talking about it, and though he rarely +displayed his feelings, the whole village knew that he thought "Useless" +was a wonder and smiled at his parental pride. But the smile almost +turned to a laugh when it became known that he proposed to send the boy +to West Point, for the last cadet appointed from Georgetown had failed +in his examinations before he had been a year at the Academy, and few +of the neighbors believed that Ulysses would survive as long. Certainly, +the boy himself had never aspired to a cadetship, and when his father +suddenly remarked to him one morning that he was likely to obtain the +appointment, he receive the announcement with uncomprehending surprise. + +"What appointment?" he asked + +"To West Point," replied his father. "I have applied for it." + +"But I won't go!" gasped the astonished youth. + +"I think you will," was the quiet but firm response, and Grant, who had +been taught obedience almost from his cradle, decided that if his father +thought so, he did, too. + +But, though the young man yielded to his parent's wishes, he had no +desire to become a soldier and entirely agreed with the opinion of the +village that he had neither the ability nor the education to acquit +himself with credit. In fact, the whole idea of military life was +so distasteful to him that he almost hoped he would not fulfill the +physical and other requirements for admission. Indeed, the only thought +that reconciled him to the attempt was that it necessitated a trip from +Ohio to New York, which gratified his longing to see more of the world. +This was so consoling that it was almost with a gay heart that he set +out of the Hudson in the middle of May, 1839. + +For a boy who had lived all his life in an inland village on the +outskirts of civilization the journey was absolutely adventurous, for +although he was then in his eighteenth year, he had never even as much +as seen a railroad and his experiences on the cars, canal boats and +steamers were all delightfully surprising. Therefore, long as the +journey was, it was far too short for him, and on May 25th he reached +his destination. Two lonely and homesick weeks followed, and then, much +to his astonishment and somewhat to his regret, he received word that he +had passed the examination for admission and was a full-fledged member +of the cadet corps of West Point. + + + + +Chapter V. -- Grant at West Point + + +Grant's father had obtained his son's appointment to the Academy through +the intervention of a member of Congress, who, remembering that the boy +was known as Ulysses and that his mother's name before her marriage was +Simpson, had written to the Secretary of War at Washington, requesting +a cadetship for U. S. Grant. This mistake in his initials was not +discovered until the young man presented himself at West Point, but when +he explained that his name was Hiram Ulysses Grant and not U. S. Grant, +the officials would not correct the error. The Secretary of War had +appointed U. S. Grant to the Academy and U. S. Grant was the only person +they would officially recognize without further orders. They, therefore, +intimated that he could either enroll himself as U. S. Grant or stay out +of the Academy, making it quite plain that they cared very little +which course he adopted. Confronted with this situation, he signed the +enlistment paper as U. S. Grant and the document, bearing his name, +which thus became his, can be seen to-day among the records at West +Point. This re-christening, of course, supplied his comrades with +endless suggestions for nicknames and they immediately interpreted his +new initials to suit themselves. "United States," "Under Sized" and +"Uncle Sam" all seemed to be appropriate, but the last was the favorite +until the day arrived when a more significant meaning was found in +"Unconditional Surrender" Grant. + +The restrictions and discipline of West Point bore much more harshly +on country-bred boys in those years than they do to-day when so many +schools prepare students for military duties. But to a green lad +like Grant, who had been exceptionally independent all his life, the +preliminary training was positive torture. It was then that his habitual +silence stood him in good stead, for a talkative, argumentative boy +could never have survived the breaking-in process which eventually +transformed him from a slouchy bumpkin into a smart, soldier-like young +fellow who made the most of his not excessive inches. Still, he hated +almost every moment of his first year and ardently hoped that the bill +for abolishing the Academy, which was under discussion in Congress, +would become a law and enable him to return home without disgrace. But +no such law was passed and more experience convinced him that West Point +was a very valuable institution which should be strengthened rather than +abolished. He had not reached this conclusion, however, at the time of +his first furlough, and when he returned to his more and found that +his father had procured a fine horse for his exclusive use during +his holiday, it was hard to tear himself away and resume his duties. +Nevertheless, he did so; and, considering the fact that he was not fond +of studying, he made fair progress, especially in mathematics, never +reaching the head of his class, but never quite sinking to the bottom. +Indeed, if he had not been careless in the matter of incurring demerits +from small infractions of the rules, he might have attained respectable, +if not high rank in the corps, for he was a clean living, clean spoken +boy, without a vicious trait of any kind. Even as it was, he became a +sergeant, but inattention to details of discipline finally cost him his +promotion and reduced him again to the ranks. At no time, however, did +he acquire any real love for the military profession. His sole ambition +was to pass the examinations and retire from the service as soon as he +could obtain a professorship at some good school or college. At this, +he might easily have succeeded with his unmistakable talent for +mathematics, and it is even conceivable that he might have qualified as +a drawing master or an architect, if not as an artist, for he was +fond of sketching and some of his works in this line which have been +preserved shows a surprisingly artistic touch. + +Graduation day at the Academy brought no distinguished honors to Grant, +where he stood twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine, but it did win +him one small triumph. As almost everyone knows, the West Point cadets +are trained for all arms of the service, sometimes doing duty as +infantry, sometimes as artillery and at other times acting as engineers +or cavalry; and during the closing week of the year, they give public +exhibitions of their proficiency before the official visitors. On this +particular occasion the cavalry drill was held in the great riding hall, +and after the whole corps had completed their evolutions and were +formed in line ready to be dismissed, the commanding officer ordered +an extraordinarily high hurdle to be placed in position, and while the +great throng of spectators were wondering what this meant they heard the +sharp command, "Cadet Grant." + +A young man of slight stature, not weighing more than a hundred and +twenty pounds, and mounted on a powerful chestnut horse, sprang from the +ranks with a quick salute, dashed to the further end of the hall and, +swinging his mount about, faced the hurdle. There was a moment's pause +and then the rider, putting spurs to his steed, rushed him straight at +the obstruction and, lifting him in masterly fashion, cleared the bar as +though he and the animal were one. A thunder of applause followed as the +horseman quietly resumed his place in the ranks, and after the corps had +been dismissed Grant was sought out and congratulated on his remarkable +feat. But his response was characteristic of the boy that was, and the +man that was to be. "Yes, 'York' is a wonderfully good horse," was all +he said. + +A lieutenancy in the engineers or cavalry was more than a man of low +standing in the Academy could expect, and Grant was assigned to the +Fourth Infantry, with orders to report for duty at Jefferson Barracks, +St. Louis, Missouri, at the end of a short leave of absence. The +prospect of active service, far from his native state, was anything but +pleasing to the new officer; but he had come home with a bad cough, +and had he not been ordered to the South, it is highly probable that he +would have fallen a victim to consumption, of which two of his uncles +had already died. The air of Camp Salubrity, Louisiana, where his +regiment was quartered, and the healthy, outdoor life, however, quickly +checked the disease, and at the end of two years he had acquired a +constitution of iron. + +Meanwhile, he had met Miss Julia Dent, the sister of one of his +classmates whose home was near St. Louis, and had written to the +Professor of Mathematics at West Point, requesting his aid in securing +an appointment there as his assistant, to which application he received +a most encouraging reply. Doubtless, his courtship of Miss Dent made him +doubly anxious to realize his long-cherished plan of settling down +to the quiet life of a professor. But all hope of this was completely +shattered by the orders of the Fourth Infantry which directed it to +proceed at once to Texas. Long before the regiment marched, however, he +was engaged to "the girl he left behind him" and, although his dream +of an instructorship at West Point had vanished, he probably did not +altogether abandon his ambition for a career at teaching. But Fate had +other plans for him as he journeyed toward Mexico, where the war clouds +were gathering. Lee was moving in the same direction and their trails +were soon to merge at the siege of Vera Cruz. + + + + +Chapter VI. -- Lieutenant Grant Under Fire + + +The movement of the United States troops towards Mexico did not take the +country by surprise. It was the direct result of the action of Congress +admitting Texas to the Union. Ever since it had won its independence +from Mexico, Texas had been seeking to become part of the United States; +but there had been violent objection in the North to the admission of +any new slave state, and this opposition had effectually prevented its +annexation. At the last election (1844), however, a majority of the +voters apparently favored the admission of Texas, which was accordingly +received into the Union, and the long-standing dispute which it had +waged with Mexico as to its proper boundaries was assumed by the United +States. + +Texas claimed to own far more territory than Mexico was willing to +concede, but the facts might easily have been ascertained had the United +States government desired to avoid a war. Unfortunately, it had no +such desire, and General Zachary Taylor was soon ordered to occupy the +disputed territory with about 3,000 men. This force, of which Grant's +regiment formed a part, was called the Army of Observation, but it might +better have been called the Army of Provocation, for it was obviously +intended to provoke an attack on the part of Mexico and to give the +United States an excuse for declaring war and settling the boundary +question to suit itself. + +Probably, there were not many in the army who thought much about the +rights or the wrongs of the impending war. There had been no fighting in +the United States for more than thirty years, and most of the officers +were more interested in seeing real service in the field than they +were in discussing the justice or injustice of the cause. Grant was as +anxious for glory as any of his comrades, but he cherished no illusions +as to the merits of the dispute in which his country was involved. With +the clear vision of the silent man who reads and thinks for himself, +he saw through the thinly disguised pretenses of the politicians and, +recognizing that force was being used against a weaker nation in order +to add more slave states to the Union, he formed a very positive +opinion that the war was unjustifiable. But though he was forced to this +disagreeable conclusion, the young Lieutenant was not the sort of man to +criticize his country once she was attacked, or to shirk his duty as +a soldier because he did not agree with his superiors on questions of +national policy. He thought and said what he liked in private, but he +kept his mouth closed in public, feeling that his duties as an officer +were quite sufficient without assuming responsibilities which belonged +to the authorities in Washington. + +War was inevitable almost from the moment that Texas was annexed, but +with full knowledge of this fact neither the President nor Congress made +any effective preparations for meeting the impending crisis, and when +hostilities actually began, General Taylor was directed to advance under +conditions which virtually required him to fight his way to safety. +Indeed, he was practically cut off from all hope of reenforcement as +soon as the first shot was fired, for his orders obliged him to move +into the interior of the country, and had his opponents been properly +commanded, they could have overwhelmed him and annihilated his whole +force. The very audacity of the little American army, however, seemed +to paralyze the Mexicans who practically made no resistance until Taylor +reached a place called Palo Alto, which in Spanish means "Tall Trees." + +Meanwhile Grant had been made regimental quartermaster, charged with +the duty of seeing that the troops were furnished with proper food and +caring for all property and supplies. Heartily as he disliked this task, +which was not only dull and difficult, but also bade fair to prevent him +from taking active part in the prospective battles, he set to work with +the utmost energy. By the time the enemy began to dispute the road, +he had overcome the immense difficulty of supplying troops on a march +through a tropical country and was prepared to take part in any fighting +that occurred. But the Mexicans gathered at TALL TREES on May 8, 1846, +were not prepared for a serious encounter. They fired at the invaders, +but their short-range cannon loaded with solid shot rarely reached the +Americans, and when a ball did come rolling towards them on the ground, +the troops merely stepped to one side and allowed the missile to pass +harmlessly through their opened ranks. After the American artillery +reached the field, however, the enemy was driven from its position +and the next day the advance was resumed to Resaca de la Palma, where +stronger opposition was encountered. + +Grant was on the right wing of the army as it pressed forward through +dense undergrowth to drive the Mexicans from the coverts in which +they had taken shelter. It was impossible to give any exact orders +in advancing through this jungle, and the men under Grant's command +struggled forward until they reached a clearing where they caught sight +of a small body of Mexicans. The young Lieutenant instantly ordered a +charge and, dashing across the open ground, captured the party only to +discover that they were merely stragglers left behind by other American +troops who had already charged over the same ground. No one appreciated +the humor of this exploit more than Grant. It reminded him, he said, of +the soldier who boasted that he had been in a charge and had cut off the +leg of one of the enemy's officers. "Why didn't you cut off his head?" +inquired his commander. "Oh, somebody had done that already," replied +the valiant hero. + +Slight as the fighting was at Resaca, it completely satisfied the +Mexicans, and for over three months they left the Americans severely +alone. Meanwhile, General Taylor received reenforcements and in August, +1846, he proceeded against the town of Monterey, which the enemy had +fortified with considerable skill and where they were evidently prepared +to make a desperate resistance. Grant was again quartermaster, and +the terrific heat which forced the army to do its marching at night or +during the early hours of the morning, greatly increased his labors and +severely tested his patience. Almost all the transportation animals were +mules, and as very few of them were trained for the work, they were hard +to load and even harder to handle after their burdens were adjusted. +One refractory animal would often stampede all the rest, scattering +provisions and ammunition in their tracks, driving the teamsters to the +point of frenzy and generally hurling confusion through the camp. Even +Grant, who never uttered an oath in his life, was often sorely tried by +these exasperating experiences, but he kept command of his temper and by +his quiet persistence brought order out of chaos in spite of beasts and +men. + +His disappointment was bitter, however, when the attack on Monterey +began and he found himself left without any assignment in the field. +Lieutenant Meade, destined at a later date to command the Union forces +at Gettysburg, was one of the officers entrusted with the preliminary +reconnoissance against the city, and when the fighting actually +commenced on September 21st, 1846, the deserted Quartermaster mounted +his horse and rode to the scene of the action, determined to see +something of the battle even if he could not take part in it. He arrived +at the moment when his regiment was ordered to charge against what was +known as the Black Fort, and dashed forward with his men into the very +jaws of death. Certainly "someone had blundered," for the charge which +had been intended merely as a feint was carried too far and scores +of men were mowed down under the terrible fire of the enemy's guns. +Temporary shelter was at last reached, however, and under cover of it +the Adjutant borrowed Grant's horse; but he fell soon after the charge +was renewed and the Colonel, noticing the impetuous Quartermaster, +promptly appointed him to take the fallen officer's place. By this time +the troops had fought their way into the town and the enemy, posted in +the Plaza or Principal Square, commanded every approach to it. As long +as the Americans kept in the side streets they were comparatively safe, +but the moment they showed themselves in any of the avenues leading to +the Plaza, they encountered a hail of bullets. This was serious enough; +but at the end of two days the situation became critical, for the +ammunition began to run low, and it was realized that, if the Mexicans +discovered this, they would sweep down and cut their defenseless +opponents to pieces. Face to face with this predicament, the Colonel +on September 23rd, called for a volunteer to carry a dispatch to +Headquarters, and Grant instantly responded. + +To reach his destination it was necessary to run the gantlet of the +enemy, for every opening from the Plaza was completely exposed to their +fire. But trusting in the fleetness of his horse, the young lieutenant +leaped into the saddle and, swinging himself down, Indian fashion, on +one side of his steed so as to shield himself behind its body, he dashed +away on his perilous mission. A roar of muskets greeted him at every +corner, but he flashed safely by, leaping a high wall which lay across +his path and then, speeding straight for the east end of the town, +reached the commanding General and reported the peril of his friends. + +Meanwhile the Americans began one of the most curious advances ever +made by an army, for General Worth, finding that he could not force his +troops through the streets leading to the Plaza without great loss of +life, ordered them to enter the houses and break down the intervening +walls, so that they could pass from one adjoining house to another under +cover, directly to the heart of the city. This tunneling maneuver was +executed with great skill, and when the walls of the houses nearest the +Plaza were reached and masses of men stood ready to pour through the +openings into the Square, its astonished defenders gave up the fight and +promptly surrendered the city. + + + + +Chapter VII. -- Captain Lee at the Front + + +Astonishing as General Taylor's success had been, the authorities at +Washington decided, largely for political reasons, to appoint a new +commander, and three months after the battle of Monterey, General +Winfield Scott, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States army, was +ordered to the seat of the war. + +It would be impossible to imagine two officers more utterly different +than Taylor and Scott, but each in his own way exerted a profound +influence upon the careers of Grant and Lee. Taylor was a rough, +uncultivated man, fearless, shrewd and entirely capable, but with +nothing to suggest the soldier in his appearance, dress or dignity. On +the contrary, he usually appeared sitting slouchily on some woe-begone +old animal, his long legs dangling on one side of the saddle, the +bridle rein looped over his arm and a straw hat on his head, more like +a ploughman than an officer of high rank. Indeed, he seldom donned a +uniform of any description, and his only known appearance in full dress +occurred during an official meeting with an admiral, when, out of regard +for naval etiquette, he attired himself in his finest array. But this +effort at politeness was not calculated to encourage him, for the +admiral, knowing his host's objection to uniforms, had been careful to +leave his on his ship and appeared in civilian attire. + +Scott, on the other hand, was a fussy and rather pompous individual, +who delighted in brass buttons and gold lace and invariably presented +a magnificent appearance. But, like Taylor, he was an excellent officer +and thoroughly competent to handle an army in the field. He was, +moreover, entirely familiar with the material of which the American +army was composed, and his first move on assuming command was to order +practically all the regular United States troops and their officers to +join him near Vera Cruz, leaving Taylor virtually nothing but volunteer +regiments. The Fourth Infantry accordingly parted with its old commander +and reported to Scott, where it was assigned to the division of General +Worth, and for the first time Grant met many of the men with and against +whom he was to be thrown during the Civil War. + +It was certainly a remarkable body of officers that Scott gathered about +him at the outset of his campaign, for it included such men as Stonewall +Jackson, Jefferson Davis, McClellan, Joseph Johnson, Jubal Early, A. P. +Hill, Meade, Beauregard, Hooker, Longstreet, Hancock, Thomas and, last +but not least, Ulysses Grant and Robert Lee. Lee had arrived in Mexico +soon after the battle of Monterey, but he had no opportunity for +distinction until the spring of 1847, when preparations were begun +for the siege of Vera Cruz. He had, however, already demonstrated his +ability as an engineer, and with Lieutenant Beauregard who, fourteen +years later, commanded the attack on Fort Sumter, he was entrusted +with posting the American batteries at Vera Cruz. This he did to such +advantage that they made short work of the city which fell into the +invaders' hands, March 29, 1847, after a week's siege. Scott was quick +to recognize the merit of officers, and Lee was straightway attached to +his personal staff, with the result that when the army began its forward +movement most of the difficult and delicate work was confided to his +care. + +Scott's object was the capture of the City of Mexico, the capital of the +Republic, and against this stronghold he moved with energy and skill. +At Cerro Gordo the Mexicans opposed him with considerable force, but +maneuvers, suggested by Lee, enabled him to outflank the enemy and drive +them, without much trouble, from his path. Again at Contreras a check +occurred, part of the army having advanced over a well-nigh impassable +country and lost touch with the Commander-in-Chief. One after another +seven officers were dispatched to carry the necessary orders, but all +returned without effecting their purpose. But at midnight, in the midst +of a torrential storm Lee arrived from the front, having overcome all +difficulties--an achievement which Scott subsequently described as "the +greatest feat of physical and moral courage performed by any individual +in my knowledge, pending the campaign." + +But Lee was more than merely brave and daring. He was thorough. When +work was entrusted to his care he performed it personally, never relying +on others further than was absolutely necessary, and never resting +satisfied until he was certain that he had accomplished his task. On one +of his most important reconnoissances he rode into the interior of the +country at night to locate the position of the enemy, and after he had +proceeded a considerable distance his guide informed him that if he +went any further he would be a prisoner, for the whole Mexican army lay +directly in his path. He, accordingly, advanced more cautiously, but the +guide again begged him to halt, declaring that he could already see the +enemies' tents lying on the hillside below. Peering through the darkness +in the direction indicated, Lee discovered what appeared to be an +encampment of many thousand men, and for the moment he was tempted to +accept his companion's conclusion that this was the main force of the +Mexicans. Second thoughts, however, convinced him that he ought not to +make a report based upon the eyes of the guide, and, despite the +man's frightened protests, he decided to stay where he was and see +the situation for himself by daylight. But, before the morning fairly +dawned, it was apparent that the supposed army of Mexicans was nothing +but a huge flock of sheep and, galloping back with the news that the +road was clear, he led a troop of cavalry forward and located the enemy +posted many miles away in an entirely different position. + +The Mexicans stubbornly, though unsuccessfully, resisted the American +army as it pushed toward their capital, and in the battles which ensued +Lee was so active that his gallant conduct was praised in almost every +dispatch of his Chief, who subsequently attributed much of his success +"to the skill and valor of Robert E. Lee," whom he did not hesitate to +describe as "the greatest military genius in America." Continuous praise +from such a source would have been more than sufficient to turn the +average officer's head, but Lee continued to perform his duties without +showing the least sign of vanity or conceit. Quiet, thoughtful, quick +to take advantage of any opportunity, but greedy of neither honors nor +personal distinction of any kind, he won the admiration of his comrades +as well as the confidence of his superiors, and his promotion, first +to the rank of major and then to that of lieutenant-colonel, was +universally approved. + +Meanwhile, Grant had been acquitting himself with high credit in all the +work which fell to his share. He was in no position to render service of +anything like the importance of Lee's, but he did what he was ordered to +do and did it well, being brevetted a first lieutenant for conspicuous +gallantry at the battle of Molino del Rey, September 8, 1847. Again, +on September 13, in the fighting around Chapultepec, where Lee, though +wounded, remained in the saddle until he fell fainting from his horse, +Grant gained considerable distinction by his quick action in relieving a +dangerous pressure on part of the American lines by posting a small gun +in the belfry of a church and galling the enemy with his deadly accurate +fire. It was characteristic of the man that when complimented upon +this achievement and told that a second gun would be sent to him, Grant +merely saluted. He might, with truth, have informed his commanding +officer that the belfry could not accommodate another gun, but it was +not his habit to talk when there was no need of it, or to question the +wisdom of his superior officer. He, therefore, quietly accepted the +praise and the superfluous gun and, returning to his post, resumed +his excellent service. This and other similar conduct won him further +promotion, and on September 14, 1847, when the Americans marched +triumphantly into the Mexican capital, he was brevetted a captain. + +The war practically ended with this event and within a year Grant was +married to Miss Julia Dent and stationed at Sackett's Harbor, New York, +while Lee was assigned to the defenses of Baltimore, not far from his +old home. + + + + +Chapter VIII. -- Colonel Lee After the Mexican War + + +It is probable that Lee would have been well content to remain +indefinitely at Baltimore, for his duties there enabled him to be more +with his family than had been possible for some years. To his boys and +girls he was both a companion and a friend and in their company he took +the keenest delight. In fact, he and his wife made their home the center +of attraction for all the young people of the neighborhood, and no +happier household existed within the confines of their beloved Virginia. + +It was not to be expected, however, that an officer of Lee's reputation +would be allowed to remain long in obscurity, and in 1852, he was +appointed Superintendent at West Point. A wiser selection for this +important post could scarcely have been made, for Colonel Lee, then +in his forty-sixth year, possessed rare qualifications for the duties +entrusted to his charge. He was not only a man whose splendid presence, +magnificent physique and distinguished record were certain to win the +admiration and respect of young men, but he combined in his character +and temperament all the qualities of a tactful teacher and an inspiring +leader. Quiet and dignified, but extremely sympathetic, he governed +the cadets without seeming to command them and, as at his own home, he +exerted a peculiarly happy influence upon all with whom he came into +personal contact. Among the cadets during his service at West Point were +J. E. B. Stuart, who was to prove himself one of the greatest cavalry +leaders that this country has ever produced, and his elder son, Custis +Lee, who, improving on his father's almost perfect record, graduated +first in his class. + +About this time certain important changes were effected in the +organization of the regular army, and the popular Superintendent of West +Point was immediately appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the newly formed +Second Cavalry, with orders to proceed to Texas and protect the settlers +against the attacks of hostile Indians. It was with keen regret that +Lee received this assignment, for, though intended as a promotion, it +removed him from the corps of engineers to which he had always been +attached and obliged him to break all his home ties for what was +practically police duty in the wilderness. Nevertheless, no thought of +resigning from the army apparently crossed his mind. He soon joined +his regiment in Texas, where, for almost three years, he patrolled the +country, ruling the Indians by diplomacy or force, as occasion required, +practically living in the saddle and experiencing all the discomforts +and privations of garrison life at an outpost of civilization. + +Almost his only relaxation during this lonely and exhausting service was +his correspondence with his wife and children, and his letters to them, +written in rough camps and on the march, show that his thoughts were +constantly with his home and loved ones. "It has been said that our +letters are good representations of our minds," he wrote his youngest +daughter from Texas in 1857; and certainly Lee's correspondence, +exhibiting as it does, consideration for others, modesty, +conscientiousness, affection and a spirit of fun, affords an admirable +reflection of the writer. + +"Did I tell you that 'Jim Nooks,' Mrs. Waite's cat, was dead?" he wrote +one of his girls. "He died of apoplexy. I foretold his end. Coffee +and cream for breakfast, pound cake for lunch, turtle and oysters for +dinner, buttered toast for tea and Mexican rats, taken raw, for supper! +He grew enormously and ended in a spasm. His beauty could not save +him.... But I saw 'cats as is cats' at Sarassa.... The entrance of +Madame [his hostess] was foreshadowed by the coming in of her stately +cats with visages grim and tails erect, who preceded, surrounded and +followed her. They are of French breed and education, and when the +claret and water were poured out for my refreshment they jumped on the +table for a sit-to.... I had to leave the wild-cat on the Rio Grande; +he was too savage and had grown as large as a small sized dog. He would +pounce on a kid as Tom Tita [his daughter's cat] would on a mouse and +would whistle like a tiger when you approached him." + +But it was not always in this chatty fashion that he wrote, for in 1856, +when the question of slavery was being fiercely discussed throughout +the country, he expressed his views on the subject with a moderation and +broadmindedness exceedingly rare in those excited times. + +"In this enlightened age," he wrote his wife, "there are few, I believe, +but will acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and +political evil in any country. I think it, however, a greater evil to +the white than to the black race; and while my feelings are strongly +interested in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are stronger for +the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in +Africa--morally, socially and physically. The painful discipline they +are undergoing is necessary for their instruction as a race and I hope +it will prepare and lead them to better things. How long this subjection +may be necessary is known and ordered by a wise and merciful Providence. +Their emancipation will sooner result from a mild and melting influence +than from the storms and contests of fiery controversy. This influence +though slow is sure." + +Such were the views of Robert Lee on this great question of the day, and +even as he wrote the country was beginning to notice a country lawyer +named Abraham Lincoln, who was expressing almost identically the same +opinions in no uncertain terms. + +But the calm advice of Lincoln and Lee did not appeal to the hot-heads +who were for abolishing slavery instantly at any and every cost. In +October, 1859, when Lee was on a short visit to Arlington, John Brown, +whose father had once lived with Grant's father, attempted to take +the whole matter into his already blood-stained hands. It is a strange +coincidence that Lee should have chanced to be in Virginia just at this +particular crisis, and still stranger that the errand which had called +him home should have related to the emancipation of slaves. But the +facts were that Mr. Custis, his father-in-law, had died a few weeks +previously, leaving him as the executor of his will, which provided, +among other things, for the gradual emancipation of all his slaves. +Lee had accordingly obtained leave of absence to make a flying trip to +Virginia for the purpose of undertaking this duty, and he was actually +making arrangements to carry out Mr. Custis's wishes in respect to his +slaves when the news of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry reached +Arlington. Word of this reckless attempt to free the slaves by force +reached him in the form of a dispatch from the Secretary of War, +ordering him to take immediate charge of the United States marines who +were being hurried to the scene of action. He instantly obeyed and, +with Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart as his second in command, hastened to +Harper's Ferry and, directing his troops to storm the engine-house where +Brown and his followers had taken refuge, effected their capture almost +without striking a blow. Then, after delivering his prisoners to the +proper authorities, he completed his work at Arlington and returned to +Texas and the rough life of guarding the frontier line. + +From this duty he was recalled to Washington in March, 1861, when the +Southern States were rapidly forming the Confederacy, the whole country +was in wild confusion and the nation was facing the prospect of a +terrific civil war. + + + + +Chapter IX. -- Captain Grant in a Hard Fight + + +Meanwhile, what had become of Grant? The War Department did not know +and apparently did not care. Jefferson Davis, the Secretary of War, +responded to his father's anxious inquiry that Captain U. S. Grant +had resigned from the army in July, 1854, but that he had no official +knowledge as to why he had taken this action. Mr. Grant, however, soon +learned the facts from other sources, and in his bitter disappointment +was heard to exclaim that "West Point had ruined one of his boys for +him." + +It was natural enough that the stern and proud old gentleman should have +blamed West Point for the heart-breaking failure of his favorite son, +but, as a matter of fact, West Point was in no way responsible for what +had occurred. Neither during his cadetship at the Academy nor for some +years after his graduation from that institution had Ulysses Grant +touched wine or stimulants in any form. He had, indeed, tried to learn +to smoke during his West Point days but had merely succeeded in making +himself ill. During his hard campaigning in Mexico, however, he had +learned not only to smoke, but to drink, though it was not until some +years after the war closed that he began to indulge to excess. As a +matter of fact, he ought never to have touched a drop of any intoxicant, +for a very little was always too much for him, and the result was that +he soon came to be known in the army as a drinking man. Had he been at +home, surrounded by his wife and children and busily engaged, perhaps +he might not have yielded to his weakness. But his orders carried him +to lonely posts on the Pacific, many hundreds of miles away from his +family, with no duties worthy of the name, and the habit grew on him +until the exasperated Colonel of his regiment at last gave him the +choice of resigning or being court-martialed for conduct unbecoming an +officer and a gentleman. Face to face with this ugly alternative, he +chose resignation, and the army, officially, knew him no more. + +It was not only social and professional disgrace, but financial ruin +which confronted the broken officer as he bade good-bye to his regiment +at its desolate quarters in California, after fifteen years of service +to the army. He was absolutely without money and, at the age of +thirty-two, it was by no means easy for him to begin life all over again +and earn his own living at a new calling. His fellow officers provided +him with enough cash for his immediate wants, and with their help he +managed to find his way back to Sackett's Harbor, New York, where there +was a little money owing him. But he failed to collect this and remained +hopelessly stranded until another officer came to his rescue and +provided him with sufficient funds to take him to his home. This friend +in time of need was Simon B. Buckner, whom he was to meet again under +strange and dramatic circumstances. + +It was hardly to be expected, under such conditions, that stern +old Jesse Grant would welcome the home-coming of his eldest son. +Nevertheless, he helped him on his way to his wife and children, and, +sick at heart and broken in health, the young man joined his family and +began a desperate struggle to earn his own living. Mrs. Grant's father +was a slave owner and a sympathizer with the South in the growing +trouble between that section of the country and the North. But the +quarrel had not yet reached the breaking point, and although he did not +approve of his son-in-law's northern views and heartily disapproved of +his conduct, he gave him a start as a farmer and then left him to work +out his own salvation. + +Farming was the only occupation at which Grant could hope to make a +living, but he soon found that he did not know enough about this to make +a success of it, and gradually fell back on his youthful experience as +a teamster, hauling wood to the city where he sold it to the railroad +or to anyone that would buy. At this he was fairly successful and, +encouraged by his wife who stood bravely by him, he built a house with +his own hands, which, although it was not much more than a log cabin, +was sufficiently large to shelter his small family. All this time he +was making a hard fight to conquer his drinking habits, but the vice had +taken a terrible hold on him and he could not easily shake it off. It +was only a matter of time, therefore, before his experiment at farming +failed and with the aid of his father-in-law he entered business as +a real estate broker in St. Louis. But for this calling he had no +qualification whatsoever, and after a disheartening experience in +attempting to secure the post of county engineer, he accepted his +father's suggestion that he join his brothers in the leather business +in Galena, Illinois, and retired there with his family in the spring of +1860. + +The position which his father had made for him was not much more than +a clerkship and the work was dull for a man who had been accustomed to +active, outdoor life; but he was received with tact and kindness, no +reference was made to his past record of failure and all this helped +him to continue the successful struggle which he was making to regain +control of himself and his habits. + +Indeed, from the time he began his residence in Galena he already had +the battle well in hand and he fought it out with such grim resolution +that before a year had passed his victory was complete. Scarcely anyone +in the little town knew of this silent struggle for self-mastery. +Indeed, very few people knew anything at all about the newcomer, save +that he was a quiet, hard-working man who occasionally appeared on the +streets wearing a blue army overcoat which had seen rough service. This +weather-stained garment, however, forced Grant to break his habitual +silence, for he fully shared General Taylor's prejudice against a +uniform and felt obliged to apologize for wearing even part of one. So +one day he explained to a neighbor that he wore the coat because it was +made of good material and he thought he ought to use it as long as it +lasted. That was all the citizens of Galena then learned of the record +of the man who had served with high honor in well-nigh every battle +of the Mexican War. Had it depended upon him, their information would +probably have begun and ended there. + +During all this time the feeling between the North and the South was +growing more and more bitter, but Galena was a town divided against +itself on the slavery question. Grant himself was a Democrat. If he +was not in favor of slavery, he certainly was not opposed to it, for he +favored Douglas and not Lincoln in the contest for the Presidency, and +Douglas was strongly against any interference with slavery. Indeed, it +is a curious coincidence that at or about the time when Lee's family was +ceasing to own slaves, Grant's family acquired some. Such, however, is +the fact, for on the death of her father, Mrs. Grant inherited several +Negroes and there is some evidence that Grant himself sold or attempted +to sell them. + +But, though he was at that time no champion of the black race, Grant was +always a strong Union man, opposed heart and soul to secession. Indeed, +when news of the attack upon Fort Sumter arrived in Galena, he arrayed +himself with the defenders of the flag gathered at a mass meeting held +in the town to form a company in response to the President's call for +75,000 volunteers. Moreover, this meeting had no sooner been called +to order than someone proposed him as chairman, and to his utter +astonishment, he found himself pushed from the rear of the room to the +front and from the front to the platform. Probably few in the audience +knew who or what he was, and his embarrassment was such that for a +few minutes no words came to his lips. Finally, however, he managed to +announce the object of the meeting, warning those who intended to enlist +that they would be engaged in serious business involving hard work +and privation, expressing his willingness to aid in forming the Galena +Company and ending with a simple statement of his own intention to +reenter the army. + +There was nothing eloquent about his short speech but it had the tone +of a man who knew what he was talking about, and the audience, availing +itself of his military experience, immediately voted to entrust the +organization and drilling of the volunteers to his care, and from that +moment he never again entered his father's place of business. + + + + +Chapter X. -- Grant's Difficulties in Securing a Command + + +The command of the local company was, of course, offered to Grant as +soon as it was formed, but he declined, believing himself qualified for +somewhat higher rank than a captaincy of volunteers. Nevertheless, he +did all he could to prepare the recruits for active service in the field +and when they were ordered to Springfield, the capital of Illinois, he +journeyed there to see them properly mustered into the service of the +state. + +Springfield was a hubbub of noise and a rallying point for well-meaning +incompetence when he arrived upon the scene. New officers in new +uniforms swaggered in every public meeting place, bands of music played +martial airs at every street corner and volunteers sky-larked and +paraded in all sorts of impossible uniforms and with every form of +theatric display. But system and order were absolutely lacking, and the +adjutant-general's office, littered with blanks and well-nigh knee deep +with papers, was the most helpless spot in the welter of confusion. All +the material for a respectable army was at hand, but how to form it +into an effective force was more than anyone seemed to know. The mass of +military forms and blanks intended for that purpose was mere waste paper +in the hands of the amiable but ignorant insurance agent who bore +the title of adjutant-general, and no one of the patriotic mob had +sufficient knowledge to instruct him in his duties. In the midst of all +this hopeless confusion, however, someone suggested that a man by the +name of Grant, who had come down with the Galena Company, had been in +the army and ought to know about such things. The Governor accordingly +sought out "the man from Galena" just as he was starting for his home, +with the result that he was soon at a desk in the adjutant's office, +filling out the necessary papers at three dollars a day, while the brand +new captains, colonels and generals posed in the foreground to the tune +of popular applause. + +From this time forward order gradually took the place of chaos and the +political generals and comic-opera soldiers were slowly shifted from the +scene. But scarcely anyone noticed the silent man, hard at work in his +shirt sleeves in a corner of the adjutant's room, and such inquiries as +were made concerning him elicited the information that he was a cast-off +of the regular army, with a dubious reputation for sobriety, who had +been hired as a clerk. But the Governor of Illinois was an intelligent +man, and he was well aware of the service which the ex-Captain of +regulars was performing for the State, and on the completion of his work +in the adjutant's office Grant was given a nominal title and assigned to +visit the various regiments at their encampments to see that they were +properly mustered in. He, accordingly, straightway set to work at +this task, and his brisk, business-like manner of handling it made +an impression upon those with whom he came in contact, for one of the +temporary camps became known as Camp Grant. + +Meanwhile, seeing his duties coming to an end without much hope +of further employment, he wrote the following letter to the +Adjutant-General of the United States Army at Washington: + + +"Sir: + +"Having served for fifteen years in the regular army, including four +years at West Point, and feeling it the duty of every one who has been +educated at the Government expense to offer their services for the +support of that Government, I have the honor, very respectfully, to +tender my services until the close of the war in such capacity as may be +offered. I would say in view of my present age and length of service, +I feel myself competent to command a regiment, if the President, in his +judgment, should see fit to entrust one to me. Since the first call of +the President I have been serving on the staff of the Governor of this +State, rendering such aid as I could in the organization of our State +militia, and am still engaged in that capacity. A letter addressed to me +at Springfield, Ill., will reach me." + + +But the authorities at Washington took no notice whatsoever of +this modest letter, which was evidently tossed aside and completely +forgotten. Indeed, it was so completely buried in the files of the +War Department that it disappeared for years and, when it was at last +discovered, the war was a thing of the past. + +This silent rebuff was enough to discourage any sensitive man and Grant +felt it keenly, but he did not entirely despair of accomplishing +his end. He tried to gain an interview with General Fremont who was +stationed in a neighboring state and, failing in this, sought out +McClellan, his comrade in the Mexican War, who had been made a +major-general and was then in the vicinity of Covington, Kentucky, where +Grant had gone to visit his parents. But McClellan either would not or +could not see him. Indeed, he had about reached the conclusion that his +quest was hopeless, when he happened to meet a friend who offered to +tell the Governor of Ohio that he wished to reenter the army, with +the result that before long he was tendered the colonelcy of an Ohio +regiment. In the meantime, however, he had unexpectedly received a +telegram from the Governor of Illinois, appointing him to the command of +the 21st Illinois regiment, and this he had instantly accepted. Had he +known the exact circumstances under which this post was offered him, +perhaps he might not have acted so promptly, but he knew enough to make +him aware that the appointment was not altogether complimentary and it +is quite likely that he would have accepted it in any event. + +The facts were, however, that the Colonel of the 21st Regiment had +proved to be an ignorant and bombastic adventurer, who had appeared +before his troops clothed in a ridiculous costume and armed like a +pirate king, and there was such dissatisfaction among both the officers +and men that a new commander was urgently demanded. Of this Grant +already knew something, but he was not advised that the regiment had +become so utterly demoralized by its incompetent leader that it was +nothing less than a dangerous and unruly mob, of which the Governor +could not induce any self-respecting officer to take charge. He had, +indeed, offered the command to at least half a dozen other men before +he tendered it to Grant, and he must have been intensely relieved to +receive his prompt acceptance. + +The new Colonel did not wait to procure a new uniform before reporting +for duty, but, hastening to the Fair Grounds close to Springfield where +his troops were stationed, ordered them to assemble for inspection. +But incompetent leadership had played havoc with the discipline of the +regiment, and the men shambled from their tents without any attempt at +military formation, more from curiosity than in obedience to orders. + +The new Colonel stepped to the front, wearing a rusty suit of civilian's +clothes, his trousers tucked into his dusty boots, a battered hat on his +head, a bandanna handkerchief tied around his waist in place of a sash +and carrying a stick in place of a sword. Altogether he presented a +most unimpressive figure and it would not have been surprising if a wild +guffaw of laughter had greeted him, but the troops, studying his strong, +calm face, contented themselves with calling for a speech. Then they +waited in silence for his response and they did not have to wait long. + +"Men!" he commanded sharply. "Go to your quarters!" + +The regiment fairly gasped its astonishment. It had never heard a speech +like that before and, taken completely by surprise, it moved quietly +from the field. + +Sentries were instantly posted, camp limits established and preparations +made for enforcing strict discipline. It was not to be supposed that +such prompt reforms would pass unchallenged, but arrests followed the +first signs of disobedience and punishment swiftly followed the arrests. + +"For every minute I'm kept here I'll have an ounce of your blood!" +threatened a dangerous offender whom the Colonel had ordered to be tied +up. + +"Gag that man!" was the quiet response. "And when his time is up I'll +cut him loose myself." + +Before night, all was quiet in the camp of the 21st Regiment of Illinois +Volunteers. + +Grant was in command. + + + + +Chapter XI. -- Lee at the Parting of the Ways + + +While Grant was thus striving to reenter the army, Lee was having a +struggle of a very different sort. Summoned from his distant post in +Texas, where only an occasional rumble of the coming tempest reached +his ears, he suddenly found himself in the center of the storm which +threatened to wreck the Republic. In the far South seven states had +already seceded; in Washington, Congressmen, Senators, and members +of the Cabinet were abandoning their posts; in the army and navy his +friends were daily tendering their resignations; and his own state, +divided between love for the Union and sympathy with its neighbors, was +hovering on the brink of secession. + +The issue in Lee's mind was not the existence of slavery. He had long +been in favor of emancipation, and Virginia had more than once come +so close to abolishing slavery by law that its disappearance from her +borders was practically assured within a very short period. All his own +slaves he had long since freed and he was gradually emancipating his +father-in-law's, according to the directions of Mr. Custis's will. But +the right of each state to govern itself without interference from the +Federal Government seemed to Lee essential to the freedom of the people. +He recognized, however, that secession was revolution and, calmly and +conscientiously examining the question, he concluded that, if force were +used to compel any state to remain in the Union, resistance would +be justifiable. Most Virginians reached this decision impulsively, +light-heartedly, defiantly or vindictively, and more or less angrily, +according to their temperaments and the spirit of the times, but not so +Lee. He unaffectedly prayed God for guidance in the struggle between his +patriotism and his devotion to a principle which he deemed essential to +liberty and justice. He loved his country as only a man in close touch +with its history and with a deep reverence for its great founder, +Washington, could love it; he had fought for its flag; he wore its +uniform; he had been educated at its expense; and General Scott, the +Commander of the army, a devoted Union man, was his warm personal +friend. Patriotism, personal pride, loyalty and even gratitude, +therefore, urged him toward the support of the Union, and only his +adherence to a principle and the claims of his kinsmen and friends +forbade. + +For a time Virginia resisted every effort to induce her to cast her lot +with the Confederacy. Indeed she actually voted against secession when +the question was first presented. But when Fort Sumter resisted attack +on April 12, 1861, and the President called upon the various states +to furnish troops to enforce the national authority, practically all +affection for the Union disappeared and by a decisive vote Virginia +determined to uphold the Southern cause. + +At that crisis President Lincoln made a strong effort to induce Lee to +support the Union, for he actually offered him the command of the United +States Army which was about to take the field. The full force of this +remarkable tribute to his professional skill was not lost upon Lee. +He had devoted his whole life to the army, and to be a successor of +Washington in the command of that army meant more to him than perhaps +to any other soldier in the land. Certainly, if he had consulted his own +ambition or been influenced by any but the most unselfish motives, he +would have accepted the call as the highest honor in the gift of the +nation. But to do so he would have been obliged to surrender his private +principles and desert his native state, and it is impossible to imagine +that a man of his character would, even for an instant, consider such +a course. Gravely and sadly he declined the mighty office, and two days +later he tendered his resignation from the service he had honored for +almost six and thirty years. + +For this and his subsequent action Lee has been called a traitor and +severely criticized for well-nigh fifty years. But, when a nation has +been divided against itself upon a great issue of government, millions +upon one side and millions upon the other, and half a century has +intervened, it is high time that justice be given to the man who did +what he thought right and honorably fought for a principle which he +could have surrendered only at the expense of his conscience and his +honor. Lee was a traitor to the United States in the same sense that +Washington was a traitor to England. No more and no less. England takes +pride to-day in having given Washington to the world. Americans deprive +their country of one of her claims to greatness when they fail to honor +the character and the genius of Robert Lee. + +It was in a letter to his old commander, Scott, that Lee announced his +momentous decision, and its tone well indicated what the parting cost +him. + + +"Arlington, Va., April 20, 1861. + +"General: + +"Since my interview with you on the 18th inst., I have felt that I ought +not longer to retain my commission in the army. I, therefore, tender my +resignation, which I request you will recommend for acceptance. It +would have been presented at once but for the struggle it has cost me to +separate myself from a service to which I have devoted the best years +of my life and all the ability I possessed. During the whole of that +time...I have experienced nothing but kindness from my superiors and +a most cordial friendship from my comrades. To no one, General, have +I been as much indebted as to yourself for uniform kindness and +consideration.... Save in the defense of my native State, I never desire +again to draw my sword." + + +Lee was fully aware of the serious nature of the conflict in which +the country was about to engage. Americans were to be pitted against +Americans and he knew what that meant. Wise men, both North and South, +were prophesying that the war would not last more than ninety days, +and foolish ones were bragging of their own powers and questioning the +courage of their opponents, quite oblivious of the adage that when Greek +meets Greek there comes a tug of war. But Lee did not concern himself +with such childish exhibitions of judgment and temper. + +"Do not put your faith in rumors of adjustment," he wrote his wife +before serious fighting had begun. "I see no prospect of it. It cannot +be while passions on both sides are so infuriated. MAKE YOUR PLANS FOR +SEVERAL YEARS OF WAR. I agree with you that the inflammatory articles +in the papers do us much harm. I object particularly to those in the +Southern papers, as I wish them to take a firm, dignified course, +free from bravado and boasting. The times are indeed calamitous. The +brightness of God's countenance seems turned from us. It may not always +be so dark and He may in time pardon our sins and take us under his +protection." + +Up to this time his son Custis, who had graduated first in his class +at West Point, was still in the service of the United States as a +lieutenant in the Engineers and of him Lee wrote to his wife in the same +comradely spirit that he had always shown toward his boys. "Tell Custis +he must consult his own judgment, reason and conscience, as to the +course he may take. The present is a momentous question which every man +must settle for himself, and upon principle. I do not wish him to be +guided by my wishes or example. If I have done wrong let him do better." + +Virginia was not slow in recognizing that she had within her borders the +soldiers whom the chief general of the United States described as +the greatest military genius in America, and within three days of his +resignation from the old army, Lee was tendered the command of all the +Virginia troops. Convinced that the brunt of the heavy fighting would +fall on his native state, to whose defense he had dedicated his sword, +he accepted the offer and thus there came to the aid of the Confederacy +one of the few really great commanders that the world has ever seen. + + + + +Chapter XII. -- Opening Moves + + +It was to no very agreeable task that Lee was assigned at the outset of +his command. The forces of the Confederacy were even less prepared to +take the field than those of the United States, and for three months +Lee was hard at work organizing and equipping the army for effective +service. This important but dull duty prevented him from taking any +active part in the first great battle of the War at Bull Run (July 21, +1861), but it was his rare judgment in massing the troops where +they could readily reenforce each other that enabled the Confederate +commanders on that occasion to form the junction which resulted in the +overwhelming defeat of the Union army. This fact was well recognized by +the authorities and, when the situation in western Virginia assumed a +threatening aspect, he was ordered there with the highest hopes that he +would repeat the success of Bull Run and speedily expel the Union forces +from that part of the state. + +A more unpromising field of operation than western Virginia could +scarcely have been selected for the new commander. The people of that +region generally favored the Union, and the Federal troops had already +obtained possession of the strongest positions, while some of the +Confederate commanders were quarreling with each other and otherwise +working at cross purposes. For a time, therefore, Lee had to devote +himself to smoothing over the differences which had arisen among his +jealous subordinates, but when he at last began an aggressive movement, +bad weather and a lack of cooeperation between the various parts of his +small army defeated his designs, and in October, 1861, the three-months' +campaign came to an inglorious close. + +This complete failure was a bitter disappointment to the Confederate +hopes and Lee was severely blamed for the result. Indeed, for the +time being he was regarded as an overrated individual who had had his +opportunity and had proved unequal to the task of conducting military +operations on a large scale. It was not easy to suffer this unjust +criticism to pass unnoticed, but the discipline of the army life had +taught Lee to control his tongue, and he made no protest even when he +found himself removed from the front to superintend the fortifying +of the coast. A small-minded man would probably have retired in sulky +silence under such circumstances, but Lee entered upon his new duties +with cheerful energy, and in four months he devised such skillful +defenses for Charleston, Savannah and other points on the Confederate +coast line, that they were enabled to defy all assaults of the Union +army and navy until almost the close of the war. This invaluable service +attracted no public attention, but it was fully appreciated by the +Confederate authorities, who in no wise shared the popular opinion +concerning Lee's talents. On the contrary, President Jefferson Davis, +himself a graduate of West Point, continued to have the highest regard +for his ability, and in March, 1862, he reappointed him as his chief +military adviser at Richmond. + +It was about this time that the roar of cannon in the West attracted the +attention of the country, making it realize for the first time how far +flung was the battle line of the contending armies; and on hard-fought +fields, hundreds and hundreds of miles away from Washington and +Richmond, the mud-splashed figure of Grant began to loom through heavy +clouds of smoke. + +It was by no brilliant achievement that Grant regained his standing in +the army. The unruly 21st Illinois had been sufficiently disciplined +within a fortnight after he assumed command to take some pride in +itself as an organization and when its short term of service expired, +it responded to the eloquence of McClernand and Logan, two visiting +orators, by reenlisting almost to a man. Then the Colonel set to work in +earnest to make his regiment ready for the field, drilling and hardening +the men for their duties and waiting for an opportunity to show that +this was a fighting force with no nonsense about it. The opportunity +came sooner than he expected, for about two weeks after he had assumed +command, his regiment was ordered to northern Missouri, and a railroad +official called at his camp to inquire how many cars he would need +for the transportation of his men. "I don't want any," was the bluff +response; and, to the astonishment of the local authorities who, at +that period of the war, never dreamed of moving troops except by rail +or river, the energetic Colonel assembled his regiment in marching order +and started it at a brisk pace straight across country. + +But, though he had moved with such commendable promptness, Grant was not +nearly so confident as his actions seemed to imply. In fact, before he +reached his destination, he heartily wished himself back again, and by +the time he arrived at the point where the enemy was expected his +nerves were completely unstrung. It was not the fright of cowardice that +unmanned him, but rather the terror of responsibility. Again and again +he had braved death in battle but now, for the first time, the safety of +an entire regiment depended solely upon him as he approached the summit +of the hill from which he expected to catch sight of his opponents he +dreaded to fight them, lest he prove unequal to the emergency. But, +while he was tormenting himself with this over-anxiety, he suddenly +remembered that his opponent was just as new at his duties as he was and +probably quite as nervous, and from that moment his confidence gradually +returned. As a matter of fact, Colonel Harris, who commanded the +Confederate force, displayed far more prudence than valor, for, on +hearing of the advance of the Union troops, he speedily retreated and +the 21st Illinois encountered no opposition whatever. But the march +taught Grant a lesson he never forgot and, thereafter, in the hour of +peril, he invariably consoled himself by remembering that his opponents +were not free from danger and the more he made them look to their own +safety the less time they would have for worrying him. + +It was in July, 1861, when Grant entered Missouri, and about a month +later the astonishing news reached his headquarters that President +Lincoln had appointed him a Brigadier General of Volunteers. The +explanation of this unexpected honor was that the Illinois Congressmen +had included his name with seven others on a list of possible +brigadiers, and the President had appointed four of them without +further evidence of their qualifications. Under such circumstances, the +promotion was not much of an honor, but it placed Grant in immediate +command of an important district involving the control of an army of +quite respectable size. + +For a time the new General was exclusively occupied with perfecting the +organization of his increased command, but to this hard, dull work he +devoted himself in a manner that astonished some of the other brigadiers +whose ideas of the position involved a showy staff of officers and a +deal of picturesque posing in resplendent uniforms. But Grant had no +patience with such foolery. He had work to do and when his headquarters +were established at Cairo, Illinois, he took charge of them himself, +keeping his eyes on all the details like any careful business man. In +fact he was, as far as appearances were concerned, a man of business, +for he seldom wore a uniform and worked at his desk all day in his shirt +sleeves, behind ramparts of maps and papers, with no regard whatever for +military ceremony or display. + +A month of this arduous preparation found his force ready for active +duty and about this time he became convinced that the Confederates +intended to seize Paducah, an important position in Kentucky at the +mouth of the Tennessee River, just beyond the limits of his command. +He, accordingly, telegraphed his superiors for permission to occupy the +place. No reply came to this request and a more timid man would have +hesitated to move without orders. But Grant saw the danger and, assuming +the responsibility, landed his troops in the town just in time to +prevent its capture by the Confederates. Paducah was in sympathy with +the South, and on entering it the Union commander issued an address to +the inhabitants which attracted far more attention than the occupation +of the town, for it contained nothing of the silly brag and bluster so +common then in military proclamations on both sides. On the contrary, +it was so modest and sensible, and yet so firm, that Lincoln, on reading +it, is said to have remarked: "The man who can write like that is fitted +to command." + +Paducah was destined to be the last of Grant's bloodless victories, +for in November, 1861, he was ordered to threaten the Confederates near +Belmont, Missouri, as a feint to keep them from reenforcing another +point where a real assault was planned. The maneuver was conducted with +great energy and promised to be completely successful, but after Grant's +raw troops had made their first onslaught and had driven their opponents +from the field, they became disorderly and before he could control them +the enemy reappeared in overwhelming numbers and compelled them to fight +their way back to the river steamers which had carried them to the scene +of action. This they succeeded in doing, but such was their haste to +escape capture that they actually tumbled on board the boats and pushed +off from the shore without waiting for their commander. By this time the +Confederates were rapidly approaching with the intention of sweeping the +decks of the crowded steamboats before they could get out of range, +and Grant was apparently cut off from all chance of escape. Directly +in front of him lay the precipitous river bank, while below only +one transport was within hail and that had already started from its +moorings. Its captain, however, caught sight of him as he came galloping +through a corn field and instantly pushed his vessel as close to the +shore as he dared, at the same time throwing out a single plank about +fifteen feet in length to serve as an emergency gangway. To force a +horse down the cliff-like bank of the river and up the narrow plank to +the steamer's deck, was a daring feat, but the officer who was riding +for his life had not forgotten the skill which had marked him at West +Point and, compelling his mount to slide on its haunches down the +slippery mud precipice, he trotted coolly up the dangerous incline to +safety. + +The battle of Belmont (November 7, 1861), as this baptism of fire was +called, is said to have caused more mourning than almost any other +engagement of the war, for up to that time there had been but little +loss of life and its list of killed and wounded, mounting into the +hundreds, made a painfully deep impression. In this respect, it was +decidedly ominous of Grant's future record, but it accomplished his +purpose in detaining the Confederates and he was soon to prove his +willingness to accept defeats as necessary incidents to any successful +campaign and to fight on undismayed. + + + + +Chapter XIII. -- Grant's First Success + + +Up to this time the war in the West had been largely an affair of +skirmishes. A body of Union troops would find itself confronting a +Confederate force, one of the two commanders would attack and a fight +would follow; or the Confederates would march into a town and their +opponents would attempt to drive them out of it, not because it was +of any particular value, but because the other side held it. +"See-a-head-and-hit-it" strategy governed the day and no plan worthy +of the name had been adopted for conducting the war on scientific +principles. + +But Grant had studied the maps to some purpose in his office at Cairo +and he realized that the possession of the Mississippi River was the +key to the situation in the West. As long as the Confederates controlled +that great waterway which afforded them free access to the ocean +and fairly divided the Eastern from the Western States, they might +reasonably hope to defy their opponents to the end of time. But, if they +lost it, one part of the Confederacy would be almost completely cut off +from the rest. Doubtless, other men saw this just as clearly and quite +as soon as Grant did; but having once grasped an idea he never lost +sight of it, and while others were diverted by minor matters, he +concentrated his whole attention on what he believed to be the vital +object of all campaigning in the West. + +The Tennessee River and the Cumberland River both flow into the Ohio, +not far from where that river empties into the Mississippi. They, +therefore, formed the principal means of water communication with the +Mississippi for the State of Tennessee, and the Confederates had created +forts to protect them at points well within supporting distance of each +other. Fort Henry, guarding the Tennessee River, and Fort Donelson, +commanding the Cumberland River, were both in Grant's district, and in +January, 1862, he wrote to General Halleck, his superior officer in St. +Louis, calling attention to the importance of these posts and offering +suggestions for their capture. But Halleck did not take any notice of +this communication and Grant thereupon resolved to go to St. Louis and +present his plans in person. This was the first time he had been in the +city since the great change in his circumstances and those who had known +him only a few years before as a poverty-stricken farmer and wagoner +could scarcely believe that he was the same man. He had, as yet, done +nothing very remarkable, but he held an important command, his name was +well and favorably known and he had already begun to pay off his old +debts. All this enabled his father and mother to regain something of the +pride they had once felt for their eldest son, and his former friends +were glad to welcome him and claim his acquaintance. + +Pleasant as this was, the trip to St. Louis was a bitter disappointment +in other respects, for Halleck not only rejected his subordinate's +proposition for the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, but +dismissed him without even listening to the details of his plan. Most +officers would have been completely discouraged by such treatment, but +Grant had been accustomed to disappointments for many years and did not +readily despair. Meeting Flag-Officer Foote who had charge of a fleet +of gun boats near Cairo, he explained his idea and finding him not only +sympathetic, but enthusiastic, he and Foote each sent a telegram to +Halleck assuring him that Fort Henry could be taken if he would only +give his consent. These messages brought no immediate response, but +Grant continued to request permission to advance until, on the 1st of +February, 1862, the necessary order was obtained and within twenty-four +hours the persistent officer had his expedition well upon its way. + +His force consisted of some 15,000 men and seven gun boats, and Halleck +promised him reenforcements, sending a capable officer to see that they +were promptly forwarded. This officer was Brigadier General Sherman who +thus, for the first time, came in touch with the man with whom he was +destined to bring the war to a close. Four days after the troops started +they were ready to attack and the gun-boats at once proceeded to +shell the fort, with the result that its garrison almost immediately +surrendered (February 6, 1862), practically all of its defenders having +retreated to Fort Donelson as soon as they saw that their position was +seriously threatened. + +Grant promptly notified his Chief of this easy conquest, at the same +time adding that he would take Fort Donelson within forty-eight hours, +but he soon had reason to regret this boast--one of the few of which +he was ever guilty. Indeed, his troops had scarcely started on their +journey when rapid progress became impossible, for the rain descended +in torrents, rendering the roads impassable for wagons and cannon, and +almost impracticable for infantry or cavalry. Moreover, many of the men +had foolishly thrown away their blankets and overcoats during the march +from Fort Henry and their suffering under the freezing winter blasts was +exceedingly severe, especially as camp fires were not permitted for +fear that their smoke would attract the gunners in the fort. Under these +circumstances the advance was seriously delayed, and it was February +14, 1862--six days after he had prophesied that he would take the +place--before Grant had his army in position. By this time, however, +the gun-boats had arrived and he determined to attack at once, although +Halleck had advised him to wait for reenforcements to occupy Fort Henry, +lest the Confederates should recapture it while his back was turned. +There was, of course, a chance of this, but Grant felt sure that if he +delayed the Confederates would seize the opportunity to strengthen +Fort Donelson, and then 50,000 men would not be able to accomplish what +15,000 might immediately effect. He, accordingly, directed Foote +to bombard the fort at once from the river front and try to run its +batteries. Desperate as this attempt appeared his orders were instantly +obeyed, the fearless naval officer forcing his little vessels into the +very jaws of death under a terrific fire, to which he responded with a +hail of shot and shell. + +Grant watched this spectacular combat with intense interest, waiting for +a favorable moment to order an advance of his troops, but to his bitter +disappointment one after another of Foote's vessels succumbed to the +deadly fire of the water batteries and drifted helplessly back with the +current. Indeed, the flagship was struck more than sixty times and Foote +himself was so severely wounded that he could not report in person, +but requested that the General come on board his ship for a conference, +which disclosed the fact that the fleet was in no condition to continue +the combat and must retire for repairs. + +There was nothing for Grant to do, therefore, but prepare for a siege, +and with a heavy heart he returned from the battered gun-boat to give +the necessary orders. He had scarcely set his foot on shore, however, +before a staff officer dashed up with the startling intelligence that +the Confederates had sallied forth and attacked a division of the army +commanded by General McClernand and that his troops were fleeing in a +panic which threatened to involve the entire army. Grant knew McClernand +well. He was one of the Congressmen who had made speeches to the 21st +Illinois and, realizing that the man was almost wholly ignorant of +military matters and utterly incapable of handling such a situation, he +leaped on his horse and, spurring his way across the frozen ground to +the sound of the firing, confronted the huddled and beaten division just +in the nick of time. Meanwhile, General Lew Wallace--afterwards famous +as the author "Ben Hur"--had arrived and thrown forward a brigade to +cover the confused retreat, so that for the moment the Confederate +advance was held in check. But despite this, McClernand's men continued +to give way, muttering that their ammunition was exhausted. There were +tons of ammunition close at hand, as the officers ought to have known +had they understood their duties, but even when assured of this the +panic-stricken soldiers refused to return to the field. They were in no +condition to resist attack, they declared, and the enemy was evidently +intending to make a long fight of it, as the haversacks of those who had +fallen contained at least three days' rations. This excuse was overheard +by Grant and instantly riveted his attention. + +"Let me see some of those haversacks," he commanded sharply, and one +glance at their contents convinced him that the Confederates were not +attempting to crush his army, but were trying to break through his lines +and escape. If they intended to stay and defend the fortress, they would +not carry haversacks at all; but if they contemplated a retreat, they +would not only take them, but fill them with enough provisions to last +for several days. In reaching this conclusion Grant was greatly aided +by his knowledge of the men opposing him. He had served in Mexico with +General Pillow, the second in command at Fort Donelson, and, knowing him +to be a timid man, felt certain that nothing but desperation would ever +induce him to risk an attack. He also knew that Floyd, his immediate +superior, who had recently been the United States Secretary of War, +had excellent reasons for avoiding capture and, putting all these facts +together, he instantly rose to the occasion. + +"Fill your cartridge boxes, quick, and get into line," was his order to +the men as he dashed down the wavering lines. "The enemy is trying to +escape and he must not be permitted to do so!" + +The word flew through the disordered ranks, transforming them as it +passed, and at the same time orders were issued for the entire left +wing to advance and attack without a moment's delay. This unexpected +onslaught quickly threw the Confederates back into the fortress, but +before they again reached the shelter of its walls the Union forces had +carried all the outer defenses and had virtually locked the door behind +their retreating adversaries. + +From that moment the capture of the imprisoned garrison was only +a question of time, and within twenty-four hours Grant received a +communication from the Confederate commander asking for a truce to +consider the terms of surrender. To his utter astonishment, however, +this suggestion did not come from either General Floyd or General +Pillow but from Simon Buckner, his old friend at West Point, who had so +generously aided him when he reached New York, penniless and disgraced +after his resignation from the army. This was an embarrassing situation, +indeed, but while he would have done anything he could for Buckner +personally, Grant realized that he must not allow gratitude or +friendship to interfere with his duty. He, therefore, promptly answered +the proposal for a truce in these words: + + +"No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be +accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." + + +[NOTE from Brett: The full letter is also shown in Grant's handwriting +which leaves something to be desired. I will do my best to transcribe it +below: + +Hd Qrs. Army in the Field Camp Fort Donelson, Feb. 16th 1862 + +Cmdr. S. B. Buckner Confed. Army. + +Sir, + +Yours of this inst. proposing armistice, and appointment of +Commissioners to settle terms of Capitulation is just received. No terms +except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. + +I propose to move immediately upon your works. + +I am Sir, very respectfully, your obt. svt. [obedient servant], U. S. +Grant Brig. Gen.] + + +But no more fighting was necessary, for Buckner yielded as gracefully as +he could, and on February 16, 1862, he and the entire garrison of +about 15,000 men became prisoners of war. Generals Pillow and Floyd, it +appeared, had fled with some 4,000 men the night before, leaving Buckner +in charge and as Grant's force had by that time been increased to 27,000 +men, further resistance would have been useless. + +The capture of these two forts gave the Union forces command of the +Tennessee and the Cumberland Rivers, and to that extent cleared the way +for the control of the Mississippi. It was the first real success which +had greeted the Union cause and it raised Grant to a Major-Generalship +of Volunteers, gave him a national reputation and supplied a better +interpretation of his initial than West Point had provided, for from the +date of his letter to Buckner he was known as "Unconditional Surrender" +Grant. + + + + +Chapter XIV. -- The Battle of Shiloh + + +Grant did not waste any time in rejoicing over his success. The capture +of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson was an important achievement but it was +only one step toward the control of the Mississippi River, which was the +main object of the campaign. The next step in that direction was +toward Corinth a strategically important point in Mississippi, and he +immediately concentrated his attention upon getting the army in position +to attack that stronghold. Some of his fellow commanders, however, were +extremely cautious and he had to labor for days before he could persuade +General Buell, who was stationed at Nashville, Tennessee, with a large +army, to advance his troops to a point where they could be of service. +But in the midst of this work he was suddenly interrupted by an order +which removed him from his command and virtually placed him under arrest +on charges of disregarding instructions and of being absent from his +department without permission. + +These astonishing accusations were caused by his failure to answer +dispatches from Headquarters which had never reached him, and by his +visit to General Buell which had obliged him to travel beyond the +strict limits of his command. The whole matter was soon explained by the +discovery that a Confederate had been tampering with the dispatches in +the telegraph office, but it was exceedingly annoying to Grant to find +himself publicly condemned without a hearing. Nevertheless, it supplied +a very fair test of his character, for he neither lost his temper +nor displayed any excitement whatsoever. On the contrary, he remained +perfectly calm in the face of grave provocation, replying firmly but +respectfully to the harsh criticisms of his superiors, and behaving +generally with a dignity and composure that won the silent approval of +all observers. + +Of course, as soon as the facts were known he was restored to his +command with an ample apology, but his preparations for the advance +against Corinth had been seriously interrupted and it was some time +before he again had the work in hand. Nevertheless, within five weeks +of the surrender of Fort Donelson, he was headed toward Mississippi +with over 30,000 men, having arranged with General Buell to follow and +support him with his army of 40,000, the combined forces being amply +sufficient to overpower the Confederates who were guarding Corinth. This +vast superiority, however, probably served to put Grant off his guard, +for on March 16, 1862, his advance under General Sherman reached +Pittsburg Landing, not far from Corinth, and encamped there without +taking the precaution to intrench. Sherman reported on April 5th that +he had no fear of being attacked and Grant, who had been injured the day +before by the fall of his horse and was still on crutches, remained some +distance in the rear, feeling confident that there would be no serious +fighting for several days. + +But the Union commander, who had studied his opponents with such good +results at Fort Donelson, made a terrible mistake in failing to do so on +this occasion, for he knew, or ought to have known, that General Albert +Sidney Johnston and General Beauregard, the Confederate commanders +were bold and energetic officers who were well advised of the military +situation and ready to take advantage of every opportunity. Indeed, +their sharp eyes had already noted the gap between Grant's and Buell's +armies and at the moment Sherman was penning his dispatch to his +superior, informing him that all was well, a force of 40,000 men was +preparing to crush his unprotected advance guard before Buell could +reach the field. + +It was Sunday morning, April 6, 1862, when the ominous sound of firing +in the direction of Shiloh Church smote Grant's ears. For a few moments +he could not believe that it indicated a serious attack, but the roar +of heavy guns soon convinced him that a desperate battle had begun and, +directing his orderlies to lift him into the saddle, he dashed to the +nearest boat landing and proceeded to the front with all possible speed. +Before he reached the ground, however, the Confederates had driven the +Union outposts from the field in frightful disorder and were hurling +themselves with ferocious energy upon those who still held fast. The +surprise had been well-nigh complete and the first rush of the gray +infantry carried everything before it, leaving the foremost Union camp +in their hands. Indeed, for a time the Federal army was not much more +than a disorganized mob, completely bewildered by the shock of battle, +and thousands of men blindly sought refuge in the rear, heedless of +their officers who, with a few exceptions, strove valiantly to organize +an effective defense. + +The tumult and confusion were at their worst when Grant reached the +field and it seemed almost hopeless to check the panic and prevent +the destruction of his entire army. But in the midst of the maddening +turmoil and wild scenes of disaster he kept his head and, dashing from +one end of the line to the other, ordered regiments into position with +a force and energy that compelled obedience. There was no time to +formulate any plan of battle. Each officer had to do whatever he thought +best to hold back the Confederates in his immediate front, and for hours +the fight was conducted practically without orders. But Grant supplied +his gallant subordinates with something far more important than orders +at that crisis. Undismayed by the chaos about him he remained cool and +inspired them with confidence. Not for one instant would he admit the +possibility of defeat, and under his strong hand the huddled lines were +quickly reformed, the onrush of the Confederates was gradually checked +and a desperate conflict begun for every inch of ground. + +For a time the victorious gray-coats continued to push their opponents +back and another line of tents fell into their hands. But their advance +was stubbornly contested and knowing that Buell was at hand, Grant +fought hard for delay, using every effort to encourage his men to stand +fast and present the boldest possible front to the foe. Meanwhile, +however, Sherman was wounded, and when darkness put an end to the +furious combat the shattered Union army was on the verge of collapse. So +perilous, indeed, was the situation that when Buell arrived on the field +his first inquiry was as to what preparations Grant had made to effect +a retreat. But the silent commander instantly shook his head and +announced, to the intense astonishment of his questioner, that he did +not intend to retreat but to attack at daylight the next morning with +every man at his disposal, leaving no reserves. + +Such was Grant at one of the darkest moments of his career. Behind him +lay the battered remnants of regiments, screening a welter of confusion +and fear; before him stretched the blood-soaked field of Shiloh held +by the confident Confederate host; while at his elbow stood anxious +officers, well satisfied to have saved the army from destruction and +ready to point out a convenient line of retreat. All his surroundings, +in fact, were calculated to discourage him and the intense pain of his +injured leg, which allowed him neither rest nor sleep, was a severe +strain upon his nerves. Yet he would not yield to weakness of any kind. +He was responsible for the position in which the Union army found itself +and he determined to retrieve its fortunes. Therefore, all night long +while reenforcements were steadily arriving, he developed his plans for +assuming the offensive, and at break of day his troops hurled themselves +against the opposing lines with dauntless energy. + +Meanwhile the Confederates had sustained an irreparable loss, for Albert +Sidney Johnston, their brilliant leader, had fallen. Moreover, they +had no reserves to meet the Union reenforcements. Nevertheless, they +received the vigorous onslaught with splendid courage and another +terrible day of carnage followed. Again and again Grant exposed himself +with reckless daring, narrowly escaping death from a bullet which +carried away the scabbard of his sword as he reconnoitered in advance +of his men, but despite his utmost efforts the gray lines held fast, and +for hours no apparent advantage was gained. Then, little by little, the +heavy Union battalions began to push them back until all the lost ground +was recovered, but the Confederates conducted their retreat in good +order and finally reached a point of safety, leaving very few prisoners +in their pursuers' hands. + +Grant had saved his army from destruction and had even driven his +adversary from the field, but at a fearful cost, for no less than +10,000 Union soldiers were killed or wounded in the two days' desperate +fighting at Shiloh and almost 3,000 had been captured. The Confederates, +it is true, had lost nearly 10,000 men, but their army, which should +have been crushed by the combined efforts of Grant and Buell, was still +in possession of Corinth and had come dangerously near to annihilating +half of the Union forces. + +The results of the battle were, therefore, received at Washington +with surprise and indignation; the country at large, horrified at the +frightful slaughter, denounced it as a useless butchery; Halleck hastily +assumed charge of all the forces in the field and from that time forward +Grant, though nominally the second in command, was deprived of all power +and virtually reduced to the role of a mere spectator. Indeed, serious +efforts were made to have him dismissed from the service, but Lincoln +after carefully considering the charges, refused to act. "I can't spare +this man," was his comment. "He FIGHTS." + +Lincoln intended to imply by that remark that there were generals in the +army who did not fight, and Halleck was certainly one of them, for he +took thirty-one days to march the distance that the Confederates had +covered in three. Indeed, he displayed such extraordinary caution that +with an army of 100,000 at his back he inched his way toward Corinth, +erecting intrenchments at every halt, only to find, after a month, that +he had been frightened by shadows and dummy guns and that the city had +been abandoned by the Confederates. No commander responsible for such +a ridiculous performance could retain the confidence of an army in the +field, and Sherman assured Grant that Halleck would not long survive +the fiasco. This advice was sorely needed, for Grant had grown tired of +being constantly humiliated and had already requested Halleck to +relieve him from duty when Sherman persuaded him to remain and wait for +something to happen. + +Something happened sooner then either man expected, for Halleck was +suddenly "kicked up stairs" by his appointment to the chief command with +headquarters in Washington, and on July 11, 1862, about three months +after the battle of Shiloh, Grant found himself again at the head of a +powerful army. + + + + +Chapter XV. -- Lee in the Saddle + + +While Grant was earning a reputation as a fighting general in the West, +Lee had been at a desk in Richmond attending to his duties as chief +military adviser to the Confederate President, which prevented him from +taking active part in any operations in the field. As a matter of fact, +however, there had been no important engagements in the East, for "On to +Richmond!" had become the war cry of the North, and all the energies of +the Federal government had been centered on preparations for the capture +of the Southern capital. Indeed, if Richmond had been the treasure house +and last refuge of the Confederacy, no greater efforts could have been +made to secure it, although it was by no means essential to either the +North or the South and the war would have continued no matter which flag +floated above its roofs. Nevertheless, the idea of marching into the +enemy's capital appealed to the popular imagination and this undoubtedly +dictated much of the early strategy of the war. + +At all events, while the opening moves in the campaign for the +possession of the Mississippi were being made, a vast army was being +equipped near Washington for the express purpose of capturing Richmond. +The preparation of this force had been entrusted to General George B. +McClellan whose ability in organizing, drilling and disciplining the +troops had made him a popular hero and given him such a reputation as a +military genius that he was universally hailed as "the young Napoleon." +He had, indeed, created the most thoroughly equipped army ever seen in +America, and when he advanced toward Virginia in April, 1862, at the +head of over 100,000 men the supporters of the Union believed that the +doom of the Confederacy was already sealed. + +From this office in Richmond Lee watched these formidable preparations +for invading the South with no little apprehension. He knew that the +Confederates had only about 50,000 available troops with which to oppose +McClellan's great army and had the Union commander been aware of this he +might have moved straight against the city and swept its defenders from +his path. But McClellan always believed that he was outnumbered and on +this occasion he wildly exaggerated his opponents' strength. In fact, +he crept forward so cautiously that the Confederates, who had +almost resigned themselves to losing the city, hastened to bring +up reenforcements and erect defensive works of a really formidable +character. The best that was hoped for, however, was to delay the Union +army. To defeat it, or even to check its advance, seemed impossible, +and doubtless it would have proved so had it not been for the brilliant +exploits of the man who was destined to become Lee's "right hand." + +This man was General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, who had earned the +nickname of "Stonewall" at Bull Run and was at that time in command of +about 15,000 men guarding the fertile Shenandoah Valley, the "granary +of Virginia." Opposing this comparatively small army were several +strong Union forces which were considered amply sufficient to capture +or destroy it, and McClellan proceeded southward, with no misgivings +concerning Jackson. But the wily Confederate had no intention of +remaining idle and McClellan's back was scarcely turned before he +attacked and utterly routed his nearest opponents. A second, third and +even a fourth army was launched against him, but he twisted, turned and +doubled on his tracks with bewildering rapidity, cleverly luring his +opponents apart; and then, falling on each in turn with overwhelming +numbers, hurled them from his path with astonishing ease and suddenly +appeared before Washington threatening its capture. + +Astounded and alarmed at this unexpected peril, the Federal authorities +instantly ordered McDowell's corps of 40,000 men, which was on the +point of joining McClellan, to remain and defend the capital. This was +a serious blow to McClellan who had counted upon using these troops, +though even without them he greatly outnumbered the Confederates. But +the idea that he was opposed by an overwhelming force had taken such a +firm hold on his mind that he was almost afraid to move, and while he +was timidly feeling his way General Joseph Johnston, commanding the +defenses at Richmond, attacked his advance corps at Seven Pines, May +31, 1862. A fierce contest followed, during which Johnston was severely +wounded, and Jefferson Davis, who was on the field, promptly summoned +General Lee to the command. + +It was a serious situation which confronted Lee when he was thus +suddenly recalled to active duty, for McClellan's army outnumbered his +by at least 40,000 men and it was within six miles of Richmond, from +the roofs of whose houses the glow of the Union campfires was plainly +visible. Nevertheless, he determined to put on a bold front and attack +his opponent at his weakest point. But how to discover this was a +difficult problem and the situation did not admit of a moment's delay. +Under ordinary circumstances the information might have been secured +through spies, but there was no time for this and confronted by the +necessity for immediate action, Lee thought of "Jeb" Stuart, his son's +classmate at West Point, who had acted as aide in the capture of John +Brown. + +Stuart was only twenty-nine years old but he had already made a name for +himself as a general of cavalry, and Lee knew him well enough to feel +confident that, if there was any one in the army who could procure the +needed information, he was the man. He, accordingly, ordered him to take +1,200 troopers and a few field guns and ride straight at the right flank +of the Union army until he got near enough to learn how McClellan's +forces were posted at that point. + +This perilous errand was just the opportunity for which Stuart had been +waiting, and without the loss of a moment he set his horsemen in motion. +Directly in his path lay the Federal cavalry but within twenty-four +hours he had forced his way through them and carefully noted the exact +position of the Union troops. His mission was then accomplished, but by +this time the Federal camp was thoroughly aroused and, knowing that if +he attempted to retrace his steps his capture was almost certain, he +pushed rapidly forward and, passing around the right wing, proceeded to +circle the rear of McClellan's entire army. So speedily did he move that +the alarm of his approach was no sooner given in one quarter than he +appeared in another and thus, like a boy disturbing a row of hornets' +nests with a long stick, he flashed by the whole line, reached the Union +left, swung around it and reported to Lee with his command practically +intact. + +That a few squadrons of cavalry should have been able to ride around +his army of 100,000 men and escape unscathed astonished and annoyed +McClellan but he utterly failed to grasp the true purpose of this +brilliant exploit, and Lee took the utmost care to see that his +suspicions were not aroused. Stuart's information had convinced him that +the right wing of the Union army was badly exposed and might be attacked +with every prospect of success, but to insure this it was necessary +that McClellan's attention should be distracted from the real point of +danger. The Confederate commander thoroughly understood his opponent's +character and failings, for he had taken his measure during the Mexican +War and knowing his cautious nature, he spread the news that heavy +reenforcements had been forwarded to Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. +This he felt sure would confirm McClellan's belief that he had such +overwhelming numbers that he could afford to withdraw troops from +Richmond, and the ruse was entirely successful, for the Union commander +hesitated to advance, and the Federal authorities, hearing of Jackson's +supposed reenforcement, became increasingly alarmed for the safety of +Washington. + +Meanwhile, a courier had been secretly hurried to Jackson, ordering him +to rush his troops from the Shenandoah Valley and attack McClellan's +right wing from the rear while Lee assaulted it from the front. But the +Union right wing numbered fully 25,000 men and Jackson had only 15,000. +So to make the attack overwhelming it was necessary for Lee to withdraw +40,000 men from the defenses of Richmond, leaving the city practically +unprotected. Unquestionably, this was a most dangerous move, for had +McClellan suspected the truth he might have forced his way into the +capital without much difficulty. But here again Lee counted upon his +adversary's character, for he directed the troops that remained in the +trenches to keep up a continuous feint of attacking the Union left wing, +in the hope that this show of force would cause McClellan to look to his +safety in that quarter, which is precisely what he did. Indeed, he was +still busy reporting the threatening movements against his left, when +Lee and Jackson's combined force of 55,000 men fell upon his right with +fearful effect at Gaines' Mill (June 27, 1862). From that moment his +campaign for the capture of Richmond became a struggle to save his own +army from capture or destruction. + +The only safety lay in flight but at the moment of defeat and impending +disaster it was not easy to extricate the troops from their dangerous +position, and McClellan showed high skill in masking his line of +retreat. Lee did not, therefore, immediately discover the direction +in which he was moving and this delay probably prevented him from +annihilating the remnants of the Union army. Once on the trail, however, +he lost no time and, loosing "his dogs of war," they fell upon the +retreating columns again and again in the series of terrible conflicts +known as the "Seven Days' Battles." But the Union army was struggling +for its life and, like a stag at bay, it fought off its pursuers with +desperate courage, until finally at Malvern Hill (July 1, 1862), it +rolled them back with such slaughter that a bolder leader might have +been encouraged to advance again toward Richmond. As it was, however, +McClellan was well content to remove his shattered legions to a point of +safety at Harrison's Landing, leaving Lee in undisturbed possession of +the field dyed with the blood of well-nigh 30,000 men. + + + + +Chapter XVI. -- A Game of Strategy + + +While the remnants of McClellan's fine army were recuperating from the +rough handling they had received, Lee was developing a plan to remove +them still further from the vicinity of Richmond. Harrison's Landing +was too close to the Confederate capital for comfort and the breastworks +which the Union commander erected there were too formidable to be +attacked. But, though he could not hope to drive his adversary away +by force, Lee believed that he could lure him from his stronghold by +carrying the war into another part of Virginia. The opportunity to +do this was particularly favorable, for the Union forces in front of +Washington, consisting of about 45,000 men, had been placed under +the command of General John Pope. Pope had served with Grant in the +Mississippi campaign and had begun his career in the East by boasting of +the great things he was about to accomplish, referring contemptuously +to his opponents and otherwise advertising himself as a braggart and a +babbler. He had come, so he told his soldiers in a flamboyant address, +from an army which had seen only the backs of its enemies. He had +come to lead them to victories. He wanted to hear no more of "lines of +retreat" or backward movements of any kind. His headquarters were "in +the saddle" and his mission was to terrorize the foe. + +These absurd proclamations pretty thoroughly exposed Pope's character, +but he had been at West Point with General Longstreet, one of Lee's +ablest advisers, and that officer speedily acquainted his chief with the +full measure of his opponent's weaknesses. This was exceedingly useful +to Lee and when he discovered that McClellan and Pope were pulling at +different directions like balky circus horses, while Halleck with one +foot on each was in imminent peril of a fall, he determined to take +advantage of the situation and hasten the disaster. + +McClellan, having 90,000 men, wanted Pope to reenforce him with his +45,000, and thus insure a renewal of his campaign against Richmond. +But this, of course, did not suit Pope who wished McClellan's army to +reenforce him and march to victory under his banner. But while each of +the rivals was insisting that his plan should be adopted and Halleck, +who held the chief of command, was wobbling between them, trying to make +up his mind to favor one or the other, Lee took the whole matter out +of his hands and decided it for him. He did not want McClellan to be +reenforced; first, because he was the abler officer and, second, because +he had or soon would have more than sufficient men to capture Richmond +and might wake to a realization of this fact at any moment. From the +Confederate standpoint it was much safer to have Pope reenforced, for he +did not have the experience necessary to handle a large army. Therefore, +the more troops he had to mismanage the better. Moreover, Lee knew that +McClellan would cease to be dangerous as soon as he was obliged to +send any part of his forces away, for, as usual, he imagined that his +opponents already outnumbered him and that the withdrawal of even a +single regiment would place him practically at their mercy. + +Carefully bearing all these facts in mind and thinking that it was about +time to force Halleck to transfer some of McClellan's troops to Pope, +Lee ordered Jackson to attack the man who thus far had seen "only the +backs of his foes." But at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, which followed +(August 9, 1862), his enemies would not turn their backs and the fact +evidently alarmed him, for he immediately began shouting lustily for +help. Perhaps he called a little louder than was necessary in order to +get as many of his rival's men as possible under his own command, but +the result was that McClellan's army began rapidly melting away under +orders to hurry to the rescue. + +Lee's first object was, therefore, accomplished at one stroke and, +as fast as McClellan's troops moved northward, he withdrew the forces +guarding Richmond and rushed them by shorter routes to confront Pope, +whom he had determined to destroy before his reenforcements reached +the field. Indeed, a very neat trap had already been prepared for that +gentleman who was on the point of stepping into it when he intercepted +one of his adversary's letters which gave him sufficient warning to +escape by beating a hasty retreat across the Rappahannock River. This +was a perfectly proper movement under the circumstances, but in view of +his absurd ideas concerning retreats it opened him up to public ridicule +which was almost more than a man of his character could endure. He +was soon busy, therefore, complaining, explaining, and protesting his +readiness to recross the river at a moment's notice. + +But, while he was thus foolishly wearing out the telegraph lines between +his headquarters and Washington, Lee was putting into operation a plan +which would have been rash to the point of folly against a really able +soldier but which was perfectly justified against an incompetent. This +plan was to divide his army, which numbered less than 50,000 men, into +two parts, sending "Stonewall" Jackson with 25,000 to get behind the +Union forces, while he attracted their commander's attention at the +front. Of course, if Pope had discovered this audacious move, he could +easily have crushed the divided Confederate forces in turn before either +could have come to the other's rescue, for he had 70,000 at his command. +But the armies were not far from Manassas or Bull Run, where the first +important engagement of the war had been fought and Lee know every inch +of the ground. Moreover, he believed that all Pope's provisions and +supplies upon which he depended for feeding his army were behind him, +and that, if Jackson succeeded in seizing them and getting between the +Union army and Washington, Pope would lose his head and dash to the +rescue regardless of consequences. + +Great, therefore, as the risk was he determined to take it, and Jackson +circled away with his 25,000 men, leaving Lee with the same number +confronting an army of 70,000 which might have swept the field. But its +commander never dreamed of the opportunity which lay before him and he +remained utterly unsuspicious until the night of August 26, 1862, when +his flow of telegrams was suddenly checked and he was informed that +there was something the matter with the wires connecting him to +Washington. There was, indeed, something the matter with them, for +Jackson's men had cut them down and were at that moment greedily +devouring Pope's provisions, helping themselves to new uniforms and +shoes and leaving facetious letters complaining of the quality of the +supplies. + +For a while, however, the Union general had no suspicion of what was +happening, for he interpreted the interference with the telegraph wires +as the work of cavalry riders whom a comparatively small force could +quickly disperse. But when the troops dispatched for this purpose came +hurrying back with the news that Jackson's whole army was behind them, +he acted precisely as Lee had expected, and completely forgetting to +close the doors behind him, dashed madly after "Stonewall," whom he +regarded as safe as a cat in a bag. + +The door which he should have closed was Thoroughfare Gap, for that was +the only opening through which Lee could have led his men with any hope +of arriving in time to help his friends, and a few troops could have +blocked it with the utmost ease. But it was left unguarded and Pope had +scarcely turned his back to spring on Jackson before Lee slid through +the Gap and sprang on him. + +The contest that followed, called the Second Battle of Bull Run or +Manassas (August 30, 1862), was almost a repetition of the first, except +that in the earlier battle the Union soldiers had a fair chance and on +this occasion they had none at all. Indeed, Lee and Jackson had Pope so +situated that, despite the bravery of his men, they battered and +pounded him until he staggered from the field in a state of hysterical +confusion, wildly telegraphing that the enemy was badly crippled and +that everything would be well, and following up this by asking if the +capital would be safe, if his army should be destroyed. It is indeed +possible that his army would have been reduced to a mere mob, had it not +been for the proximity of the fortifications of Washington, into which +his exhausted regiments were safely tumbled on the 2nd of September, +1862. + +Thus, for the second time in two months, Lee calmly confronted the +wreck of an opposing host, which, at the outset, had outnumbered him and +confidently planned for his destruction. + + + + +Chapter XVII. -- Lee and the Invasion of Maryland + + +Lee's masterly defense of Richmond, and his complete triumph over +McClellan and Pope had, in three months, made him the idol of the +Confederacy. In all military matters his word was law, while the army +adored him and the people of the South as a whole regarded him with +a feeling akin to reverence. This was not entirely the result of his +achievements on the field. Jackson had displayed an equal genius for the +art of war and in the opinion of many experts he was entitled to more +credit than his chief. But Jackson was regarded with awe and curiosity +rather than affection. He was hailed as a great commander, while Lee was +recognized as a great man. + +It was not by spectacular efforts or assertiveness of any kind that Lee +had gained this hold upon his countrymen. He avoided everything that +even tended toward self-display. His army reports were not only models +of modesty, but generous acknowledgements of all he owed to his officers +and men. He addressed none but respectful words to his superiors +and indulged in no criticisms or complaints. He accepted the entire +responsibility for whatever reverses occurred to the forces under his +command and never attempted to place the blame on the shoulders of any +other man. In a word, he was so absolutely free from personal ambition +that the political schemers unconsciously stood abashed in his presence, +and citizens and soldiers alike instinctively saluted the mere mention +of his name. + +Never by any chance did he utter a word of abuse against the North. +Even when his beloved Arlington was seized, and the swords, pictures, +silverware and other precious mementos of Washington were carried off, +his protest was couched in quiet and dignified language, well calculated +to make those to whom it was addressed (and later every American) blush +with shame. Likewise in the heat of battle, when wild tongues were +loosed and each side accused the other of all that hate could suggest, +he never forgot that his opponents were Americans. "Drive those people +back," or "Don't let those people pass you," were the harshest words he +ever uttered of his foes. + +To him war was not a mere license to destroy human life. It was +a terrible weapon to be used scientifically, not with the idea of +slaughtering as many of the enemy as possible, but to protect the +State for whose defense he had drawn his sword. This was distinctly his +attitude as he watched Pope's defeated columns reeling from the field. +Neither by word nor deed did he exult over the fallen foe or indulge in +self-glorification at his expense. His sole thought was to utilize the +victory that the war would be speedily brought to a successful close; +and, spreading out his maps in the quiet of his tent, he proceeded to +study them with this idea. + +Almost directly in front of his victorious army stretched the +intrenchments of Washington but, although he knew something of the panic +into which that city had been thrown by the last battle, he had not +troops enough to risk assaulting fortifications to the defense of which +well-nigh every able-bodied man in the vicinity had been called. The +fall of Washington might perhaps have ended the war, but the loss of the +neighboring state of Maryland and an attack on some of the Pennsylvania +cities, such as Harrisburg and Philadelphia, promised to prove equally +effective. The chances of wresting Maryland from the Union seemed +particularly favorable, for it had come very close to casting its lot +with the Confederacy and thousands of its citizens were serving in +the Southern ranks. He, accordingly, made up his mind to march through +Maryland, arousing its people to the support of the Confederate cause, +and then carry the war into Pennsylvania where a decisive victory might +pave the way to an acknowledgment of the independence of the Southern +States and satisfactory terms of peace. + +Thus, four days after Pope's defeat at Manassas saw Lee's tattered +battle flags slanted toward the North, and on September 6, 1862, +the vanguard under "Stonewall" Jackson passed through the streets of +Frederick City, singing "Maryland, My Maryland!" This was the moment +which Whittier immortalized in his verses recording the dramatic meeting +between "Stonewall" and Barbara Frietchie [Note from Brett: The poem +is entitled "Barbara Frietchie" and there is some question as to the +accuracy of the details of the poem. In general, however, Whittier +retold the story (poetically) that he claims he heard ("from respectable +and trustworthy sources") and Barbara Frietchie was strongly against the +Confederacy and was not a fictional character. It is believed that +Ms. Frietchie, who was 95 at the time, was sick in bed on the day the +soldiers marched through, but did wave her flag when the Union army +marched through two days later. A Ms. Quantrill and her daughters, +however, did wave the Union flag as the Confederate soldiers marched +through the town, so there is some thought that the two got combined.]; +but, though no such event ever took place, the poet was correctly +informed as to the condition of Jackson's men, for they certainly were a +"famished rebel horde." Indeed, several thousand of them had to be left +behind because they could no longer march in their bare feet, and those +who had shoes were sorry-looking scarecrows whose one square meal had +been obtained at Pope's expense. For all practical purposes Maryland was +the enemy's country, but into this hostile region they advanced carrying +very little in the way of provisions except salt for the ears of corn +that they might pick up in the fields. + +The authorities at Washington watched Lee's movement with mingled +feelings of anxiety and relief. They were relieved because he was +evidently not aiming at the national capital. They were alarmed because +the real point of attack was unknown. Sixty thousand men, flushed with +triumph and under seemingly invincible leadership were headed somewhere, +and as the rumor spread that that "somewhere" was Harrisburg or +Philadelphia, the North stood aghast with consternation. + +Face to face with this desperate crisis, McClellan, who had been +practically removed from command, was restored to duty and given charge +of all the Union forces in the field. Had he been invested with supreme +authority, at least one grievous blunder might have been avoided, for as +he proceeded to the front, calling loudly as usual for reenforcements, +he advised the evacuation of Harper's Ferry, garrisoned by some 12,000 +men who were exposed to capture by Lee's advance on Frederick City. +But Halleck rejected this advice and on September 15, 1862, "Stonewall" +Jackson, with about 20,000 men, swooped down upon the defenseless post +and gobbled up almost the entire garrison with all its guns and stores. +To accomplish this, however, he was forced to separate himself from +Lee, and while McClellan, with over 87,000 men, was protesting that +his opponent had 120,000 and that it was impossible to win against such +odds, Lee's strength had been reduced to about 35,000 and his safety +absolutely depended upon his adversary's fears. It was hardly to be +hoped, however, that McClellan's imagination would cause him to see +three men for every one opposed to him, but such was the fact, and even +when one of Lee's confidential orders fell into his hands, revealing +the fact that Jackson's whole force was absent, he still thought himself +outnumbered. + +The discovery of this order was a serious blow to Lee, for it not only +exposed his immediate weakness, but actually disclosed his entire plan. +How it was lost has never been explained, for its importance was so +fully realized that one of the officers who received a copy pinned it +in the inside pocket of his coat, another memorized his copy and then +chewed it up and others took similar precautions to protect its secret. + +Some officer, however, must have been careless, for when the Union +troops halted at Frederick City, through which the Confederates had just +passed, a private in an Indiana regiment found it lying on the ground +wrapped around some cigars and, recognizing its value, carried it +straight to his superiors who promptly bore it to Headquarters. + +Had Lee remained ignorant of this discovery it is possible that +McClellan might have effected the capture of his army. But a civilian, +favoring the South who happened to be present when the paper reached +Headquarters, slipped through the Union lines and put the Confederate +commander on his guard. + +Lee had already noted that McClellan was moving toward him at unusual +speed for so cautious an officer and, this was readily explained by +the news that his plans were known and Jackson's absence discovered. He +accordingly posted his troops so that he could form a junction with +the rest of the army at the earliest possible moment and halted in the +vicinity of Sharpsburg near Antietam Creek. + + + + +Chapter XVIII. -- The Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg + + +Had McClellan not absurdly overestimated the number of troops opposed to +him when his army neared Sharpsburg on the 15th of September, 1862, he +might have defeated Lee and possibly destroyed or captured his entire +force. Never before had a Union commander had such an opportunity +to deliver a crushing blow. He had more than 80,000 men under his +control--fully twice as many as his adversary; he had the Confederate +plan of campaign in his hands and such fighting as had occurred with +the exception of that at Harper's Ferry had been decidedly in his favor. +Moreover, Lee had recently met with a serious accident, his horse having +knocked him down and trampled on him, breaking the bones of one hand, +and otherwise injuring him so severely that he had been obliged to +superintend most of the posting of his army from an ambulance. By a +curious coincidence, too, "Stonewall" Jackson had been hurt in a similar +manner a few days previously, so that if the battle had begun promptly, +it is highly probable that he, too, would have been physically +handicapped, and it is certain that his troops could not have reached +the field in time to be of any assistance. + +To Lee's immense relief, however, McClellan made no serious attack +on either the 15th or 16th of September, but spent those two days +in putting his finishing touches on his preparations, and before he +completed them that Opportunity "which knocks but once at each man's +gate" had passed him by, never to return. + +The battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg began at dawn of the 17th, but by +that time Jackson had arrived and both he and Lee had so far recovered +from their injuries that they were able to be in the saddle and +personally direct the movements of their men. The Confederate position +had been skillfully selected for defense on the hills back of Antietam +Creek and McClellan's plan was to break through his opponent's line, +gain his rear and cut him off from retreat. But Lee, who had closely +watched the elaborate massing of the Union forces for this attempt, +was fully prepared for it and the first assault against his line was +repulsed with fearful slaughter. No subtle strategy or brilliant tactics +of any kind marked McClellan's conduct of the battle. Time and again +he hurled his heavy battalions against his opponent's left, center and +right in a desperate effort to pierce the wall of gray, and once or +twice his heroic veterans almost succeeded in battering their way +through. But at every crisis Lee rose to the emergency and moved his +regiments as a skillful chess player manipulates his pieces on the +board, now massing his troops at the danger point and now diverting +his adversary's attack by a swift counter-stroke delivered by men +unacquainted with defeat. Both his hands were heavily swathed in +bandages and far too painful to admit of his even touching the bridle +rein, but he had had himself lifted into the saddle and for fully +fourteen hours he remained mounted on "Traveller," his famous war horse, +watching every movement with the inspiring calmness of a commander born +to rule the storm. + +The situation was perilous and no one realized its dangers more keenly +than he, but not a trace of anxiety appeared upon his face. Only twice +was he betrayed into an expression of his feelings, once when he asked +General Hood where the splendid division was which he had commanded in +the morning and received the reply: "They are lying in the field where +you sent them," and again when he directed the Rockbridge battery to +go into action for a second time after three of its four guns had been +disabled. The captain of this battery had halted to make a report of +its condition and receive instructions, and Lee, gazing at the group of +begrimed and tattered privates behind the officer, ordered them to renew +their desperate work before he recognized that among them stood his +youngest son, Robert. + +Very few men in the Confederate commander's position would have suffered +a son to serve in the ranks. A word from him would, of course, have +made the boy an officer. But that was not Lee's way. To advance an +inexperienced lad over the heads of older men was, to his mind, unjust +and he would not do it even for his own flesh and blood. Nor had his son +himself expected it, for he had eagerly accepted his father's permission +to enter the ranks and had cheerfully performed his full duty, never +presuming on his relationship to the Commander-in-Chief or asking favors +of any kind. All this was known to Lee but this unexpected meeting at +a moment when privates were being mowed down like grass was a terrible +shock and strain. Nevertheless, it was characteristic of the man that no +change was made in the orders of the Rockbridge battery, which continued +on its way to the post of danger and, with young Lee, gallantly +performed the work he had called on it to do. + +By night the Confederates still held the field, but the struggle had +cost them nearly 11,000 men, reducing their force to less than 45,000, +while McClellan, despite even heavier losses, had more than 74,000 left. +Lee, accordingly, withdrew his army under cover of darkness to another +part of the field and again awaited attack. But McClellan neither +attacked nor attempted anything like a pursuit until his opponent +was safely out of reach, being well satisfied with having checked +the advance of his formidable foe and spoiled his plans. This he was +certainly entitled to claim, for Lee's campaign against Maryland and +Pennsylvania was effectually balked by his enforced retreat. + +Indeed, it is quite possible that had McClellan been adventurous he +might have ended the war at Antietam, for the day after the battle he +outnumbered his opponents at least two to one and possessed enormous +advantage in the way of equipment and supplies. But the Union commander, +though he possessed a genius for army organization and knew the art of +inspiring confidence in his men, was no match for Lee in the field, and +he probably realized this. At all events, he displayed no anxiety to +renew hostilities and when urged, and at last positively ordered to +advance, he argued, protested, offered excuses for delay and in fact did +everything but obey. + +Weeks thus slipped by and finally Lee himself became impatient to know +what his adversary was doing. He, accordingly, again summoned Stuart and +ordered him to repeat the experiment of riding around the opposing army. +News of this second, almost derisive defiance of McClellan soon reached +the North, for Stuart, swiftly circling his right flank, suddenly +appeared with 1,800 men at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, terrorizing the +country and destroying vast quantities of stores. Stern and indignant +orders from Washington warned the Union Commander that this time he must +not permit the daring troopers to escape. But only a few scouts were +captured, and once more Stuart sped safely back to his chief with full +information as to the strength and position of the Federal lines. + +Even this did not arouse McClellan, and two more weeks of inaction +passed before he again set his vast army in motion. But by this time, +the demand for his dismissal had become clamorous and, on November 5, +1862, President Lincoln reluctantly removed him from command. + + + + +Chapter XIX. -- Lee against Burnside and Hooker + + +Lincoln had good reason for hesitating to change commanders, for, +unsatisfactory as McClellan had proved, the President was by no means +sure that any of his other generals would do better. In fact, with +all his defects, there was much to be said in McClellan's favor. As an +organizer of troops or chief of staff he had displayed talents of the +highest possible order, transforming the armed mob which had flocked to +the defense of the Union at the opening of the war into a well-drilled +and disciplined army. That he had not accomplished much with this great +engine of war after it had been constructed, had not been wholly his +fault, for he had never been entirely free from interference at the +hands of incompetent superiors, and he had had the misfortune to be +pitted against a past master of the art of war. Moreover, he had been +called to the chief command at a moment of panic and peril and, if he +had not succeeded in defeating Lee, he had, at Antietam, given the +North the only semblance of victory which it could claim in all its +campaigning in the South. But that one taste of triumph had whetted the +public appetite for more. Despite McClellan's continuous talk about the +overpowering numbers of his foes, the supporters of the Union knew +that they outmatched the Confederacy in men, arms, ships, money, and +resources of every kind. They accordingly insisted that the immense army +which had lain idle in its camps for almost two months after the drawn +battle at Antietam should be set to work. + +In response to this popular demand, General Ambrose Burnside was +appointed to take McClellan's place, and a more utterly unfitted man for +prosecuting a successful campaign against Lee could scarcely have been +selected. He himself fully realized this. Indeed, he had already twice +refused the chief command on the ground that he did not feel competent +to conduct a great campaign. But the public, which had become disgusted +with boasters, admired his modesty, and his preparations for carrying +the war again into Virginia were followed with high hopes for his +success. The officers of the army, however, did not share the popular +confidence in their new chief and some of those highest in authority +gave him only a half-hearted support. + +But nothing could have saved Burnside's extraordinary campaign. Had he +been assigned to lead a forlorn hope, regardless of consequences, his +plan, if it can be called a plan, might have been justified, but under +the existing circumstances it was reckless to the point of madness. His +first moves, however, were characterized by an excess of caution and so +slowly did he advance that before he was fairly started for the South, +Lee blocked the road, concentrating his whole army on the hills behind +the City of Fredericksburg in a position practically defying attack. + +To attempt a direct assault against this fortress-like post was +suicidal, but apparently no thought of maneuvering crossed Burnside's +mind. His one idea was to brush aside the foe. But before he could even +reach him his army had to cross the Rappahannock, a formidable river, +and march over an open plain, absolutely at the mercy of its intrenched +opponents, who could, as one of their artillery officers expressed it, +"comb the ground" with their cannon. Nevertheless, into this death trap +the Union troops were plunged on the 13th of December, 1862, and they +advanced to destruction with a dash and courage that won the admiration +of friends and foes alike. The result was, of course, inevitable. No +human beings could withstand the storm of shot and shell which burst +upon them, and though some of the devoted columns actually reached the +foot of the Confederate breastworks, they could do no more, and over +12,000 men fell victims to the disastrous attack. + +For once, Lee was at an utter loss to comprehend his adversary's plan. +He could not believe that this wanton butchery of men was all there was +to the contest. To his mind such an awful sacrifice of human life +would never have been made unless for the purpose of paving the way for +another enterprise absolutely certain of success. But nothing more was +attempted and the battle of Fredericksburg, reflecting the conception of +a disordered brain rather than the trained intelligence of a graduate +of West Point, was added to the already long list of blunders which +prolonged the war. + +Burnside brought severe charges against several of his generals for +their failure to support his sorry tactics, and even went so far as to +demand their dismissal from the army. There was undoubtedly some ground +for his complaints, but such obviously incompetent leadership was enough +to demoralize any army, and not long after his crippled battalions +retreated behind the Rappahannock he was relieved of his command, +which was given to General Joseph Hooker, one of the officers he most +seriously accused. + +Hooker was familiarly known to the country as "Fighting Joe," a name he +had well earned on many a hard-fought field. He, like his predecessors, +was a graduate of West Point and his record, in many respects worthy of +the best traditions of that famous school, inspired the army with +the belief that it had, at last, found a leader who would pilot it to +victory. + +Certainly, the new commander was not troubled with Burnside's +self-distrust. His confidence in himself and in his plans was unbounded, +and there was no little justification for his hopes, for his campaign +was well thought out and he had a force of over 130,000 men under his +orders--fully 70,000 more than his adversary could bring into the field. + +Lee still lay intrenched on the hills behind Fredericksburg, and there +Hooker ordered General Sedgwick to hold him with part of the army +while he himself, with another and more powerful part, crossed the +Rappahannock River by a ford twenty-seven miles above. By this move he +hoped to get behind Lee and then crush him, as nut-crackers would crush +a nut, by closing in on him with a front and rear attack. + +This was not a strikingly original plan. It was in fact merely +a flanking movement on a huge scale, but compared to Burnside's +performance it was highly scientific and the vast superiority of the +Union forces almost insured its success. Hooker was certainly convinced +that he had at last solved the great problem of the war and that Lee was +practically in his power. Indeed, as his flanking army forded the river, +he issued an address of congratulation in which he informed his troops +that they had the Confederates in a position from which they must either +"ingloriously fly" or come out in the open where certain defeat awaited +them. But "Fighting Joe" was soon to learn the folly of crowing until +one is out of the woods, for as he emerged from the forests sheltering +the fords, he discovered that Lee's army had not remained tamely in its +intrenchments, but had quietly slipped away and planted itself squarely +across his path. + +For a moment the Union commander was fairly astounded. He had prophesied +that his adversary would fly from Fredericksburg, but he had not +expected him to move so soon or in this direction. Indeed, his +well-matured plans were based on the supposition that Lee would remain +where he wanted him to be until he was ready to spring his trap, quite +forgetting that though it is easy to catch birds after you have put salt +on their tails, it is rather difficult to make them wait while you salt +them. As a matter of fact, Lee had taken alarm the moment his cavalry +scouts reported his opponent's movement towards the fords and, realizing +that he would be caught if he remained where he was, he had rapidly +departed from Fredericksburg, leaving only enough force to occupy +Sedgwick's attention. Even then he was in a precarious position, for +Hooker's flanking army alone outnumbered him and the force threatening +Fredericksburg would certainly start in pursuit of him as soon as it +discovered that the bulk of his army had withdrawn from that city. All +this was equally clear to Hooker after his first gasp of astonishment, +and as he hurriedly ordered Sedgwick to attack Fredericksburg with part +of his forces and to send the rest as reenforcement against Lee, he +confidently believed that his foe had delivered himself into his hands. + +But Lee, though cornered, was not yet caught. He had to think and act +quickly but though he had only 45,000 men and Hooker had 70,000 on the +spot, his idea was not to escape but to attack. A close examination +of the opposing lines in front and at the Federal left disclosed no +weakness, but the right beyond Chancellorsville looked more hopeful. +Then a brilliant idea suddenly occurred to his mind. The Union commander +was evidently awaiting or meditating a direct attack and had no fear +except that his prey might escape him. Might it not be possible to keep +him busily occupied in front, while a force stole behind his right wing +and caught it between two fires? + +This was precisely what Hooker had been endeavoring to do to him, but +Lee was well aware that what was safe for a large army might be ruinous +for a small one and that his proposed maneuver would require him to +divide his small army into two smaller parts, both of which would be +annihilated if the move was discovered. But capture or destruction +stared him in the face any way, so, learning from a certain Colonel +Welford that a road used by him in former years for transporting +materials to a local furnace could be utilized to swing a considerable +force behind Hooker's right, he determined to take the desperate chance. + +The necessary orders were accordingly issued during the night of May 1, +1863, and by daylight the next morning Jackson started off on the +back trail with about 30,000 men, leaving Lee with only 15,000 to +face Hooker's overwhelming array. The success of the whole enterprise +depended upon the secrecy and speed with which it was conducted, but +Jackson had already proved his ability in such work and his men set off +at a brisk pace well screened by vigilant cavalry. It was not possible, +however, wholly to conceal the march, and not long after it began +several quite definite reports of its progress reached Hooker. But +though he duly warned his Corps Commanders to be on their guard against +a flank movement, he himself evidently interpreted it as the beginning +of a retreat. Indeed, by four o'clock in the afternoon of May 2nd +he became convinced that his victims were striving to escape, for he +advised Sedgwick, "We know that the enemy is fleeing, trying to save his +trains." But even as he dispatched this message Jackson was behind at +the Union right and his men were forming in line of battle under cover +of a heavy curtain of woods. + +Meanwhile, some of the division commanders at the threatened position +had become disquieted by the reports that a large body of Confederates +was marching somewhere, though just where no one seemed to know. Two +of them accordingly faced their men toward the rear in readiness for an +attack from that direction. But the assurances which reached them from +headquarters that the enemy was in full flight discouraged precautions +of this kind, and when Jackson crept up a neighboring hill to examine +the Union position, he found most of the troops had their backs turned +to the point of danger. In fact, the camp, as a whole presented a most +inviting spectacle, for the soldiers were scattered about it, playing +cards or preparing their evening meal, with their arms stacked in the +rear, little dreaming that one of their most dreaded foes was watching +them from a hilltop, behind which crouched thousands of his men. Every +detail of the scene was impressed on Jackson's memory when he quietly +slipped back into the woods, and for the next two hours he busied +himself posting his troops to the best advantage. + +It was six o'clock when the order to attack was given and most of the +Union soldiers were still at their suppers when deer, foxes, rabbits and +other animals, alarmed by a mass of men advancing through the forest, +began to tear through the camp as though fleeing from a prairie fire. +But before the startled soldiers could ask an explanation of this +strange stampede, the answer came in the form of a scattering musketry +fire and the fearsome yells of 26,000 charging men. + +The panic that followed beggars description. Regiments huddled against +regiments in helpless confusion; artillery, infantry and cavalry became +wedged in narrow roads and remained hopelessly jammed; officers and men +fought with one another; generals were swept aside or carried forward +on the human waves, hoarsely bellowing orders which no one heeded, while +into the welter the Confederates poured a deadly fire and rounded up +masses of bewildered prisoners. It was well-nigh dusk before even the +semblance of a line of defense could be formed to cover the disorganized +masses of men, but the gathering darkness increased the terror of the +hapless fugitives, who, stumbling and crashing their way to safety, +carried confusion in their wake. + +Meanwhile Lee, advised of what was happening at the Union right, +vigorously attacked Hooker's left, and a fierce conflict at that point +added to the general turmoil until the contending forces could no longer +distinguish each other, save by the flashing of their guns. The fighting +then ceased all along the line and both sides busied themselves with +preparations for renewing the struggle at the earliest possible +moment. Jackson, accompanied by some of his staff, instantly began a +reconnoissance of the Union position. He had just completed this and was +returning to his lines when some of his own pickets, mistaking his party +for Union cavalry, fired on them killing a captain and a sergeant. The +Confederate commander immediately turned his horse and sought safety at +another point, but he had not progressed far before he drew the fire of +another picket squad and fell desperately wounded. + +General A. P. Hill then assumed command, but fighting had scarcely been +resumed the next morning before he was wounded and Jeb Stuart took his +place. Meanwhile, Hooker had been injured and the next day Lee fiercely +assailed Sedgwick. For the best part of two days the battle raged with +varying success. But, little by little, the Confederates edged their +opponents toward the Rappahannock, and by the night of May 5th, 1863, +Hooker withdrew his exhausted forces across the river. + +The battle of Chancellorsville cost Lee over 12,000 men; but with a +force which never exceeded 60,000, he had not only extricated himself +from a perilous position, but had inflicted a crushing blow on an army +of 130,000, an achievement which has passed into history as one of the +most brilliant feats of modern warfare. + + + + +Chapter XX. -- In the Hour of Triumph + + +Great as Lee's reputation had been before the battle of +Chancellorsville, it was immensely increased by that unexpected triumph. +But no trace of vanity or self-gratulation of any kind marked his +reception of the chorus of praise that greeted him. On the contrary, he +modestly disclaimed the honors from the very first and insisted that to +Jackson belonged the credit of the day. "Could I have directed events," +he wrote the wounded General, "I should have chosen to have been +disabled in your stead. I congratulate you on the victory which is due +to your skill and energy." Indeed, when the news first reached him that +Jackson's left arm had been amputated, he sent him a cheery message, +saying, "You are better off than I am, for while you have only lost +your LEFT, I have lost my RIGHT arm." And when, at last, he learned that +"Stonewall" had passed away, he no longer thought of the victory but +only of his dead comrade and friend. "Any victory would be dear at such +a price," was his sorrowful comment on the day. + +Jackson was indeed Lee's "right arm" and his place among the great +captains of the world is well indicated by the fact that a study of his +campaign is to-day part of the education of all English and American +officers. Nevertheless, it was unquestionably Lee's genius that enabled +his great Lieutenant to accomplish what he did, and this Jackson himself +fully realized. "Better that ten Jacksons should fall than one Lee," was +his response to his commander's generous words. + +But though Lee had won an international reputation, anyone seeing him in +the field among his soldiers might well have imagined that he was wholly +unaware that the world was ringing with his fame. He steadily declined +all offers to provide comfortable quarters for his accommodation, +preferring to live in a simple tent and share with his men the +discomforts of the field. Indeed, his thoughts were constantly of +others, never of himself, and when gifts of fruit and other dainties for +his table were tendered him, he thanked the givers but suggested that +they were needed for the sick and wounded in the hospitals, where they +would be gratefully received. + +"...I should certainly have endeavored to throw the enemy north of the +Potomac," he wrote his wife, "but thousands of our men were barefooted, +thousands with fragments of shoes, and all without overcoats, +blankets or warm clothing. I could not bear to expose them to certain +suffering.... I am glad you have some socks for the army. Send them to +me.... Tell the girls to send all they can. I wish they could make some +shoes, too." + +Even the hardships of the dumb animals moved him to a ready sympathy, +and he was constantly planning to spare them in every possible way. + +"Our horses and mules suffer most," he wrote one of his daughters. "They +have to bear the cold and rain, tug through the mud and suffer all the +time with hunger." + +And again on another occasion he wrote his wife: + +"This morning the whole country is covered with a mantle of snow, +fully a foot deep.... Our poor horses were enveloped. We have dug them +out...but it will be terrible.... I fear our short rations for man and +horse will have to be curtailed." + +The whole army realized the great-hearted nature of its Chief, and its +confidence in his thought and care is well illustrated by a letter +which a private addressed to him, asking him if he knew upon what +short rations the men were living. If he did, the writer stated, their +privations were doubtless necessary and everyone would cheerfully accept +them, knowing that he had the comfort of his men continually in mind. + +War had no illusions for this simple, God-fearing man. He regarded it as +a terrible punishment for the shortcomings of mankind. For him it had no +glory. + +"The country here looks very green and pretty, notwithstanding the +ravages of war," he wrote his wife. "What a beautiful world God, in His +loving kindness to His creatures, has given us! What a shame that men +endowed with reason and knowledge of right should mar His gifts." + +The awful responsibility of his public duty was almost more than any man +could bear, but he had also to endure personal anxiety and sorrow of the +keenest kind. During his absence in the field one of his daughters died, +his wife was in failing health and his three sons were in the army daily +exposed to injury and death. Fitzhugh and Custis had been made generals, +and Robert had been promoted to a lieutenancy and assigned to his elder +brother's staff. Up to the battle of Chancellorsville they had escaped +unharmed, but while the contending armies lay watching each other on +either side of the Rappahannock, Fitzhugh was severely wounded in a +cavalry engagement and Lee's first thought was to comfort and reassure +the young man's wife. + +"I am so grieved," ...he wrote her, "to send Fitzhugh to you wounded.... +With his youth and strength to aid him, and your tender care to nurse +him, I trust he will soon be well again. I know that you will unite with +me in thanks to Almighty God, who has so often sheltered him in the hour +of danger." + +Then came the news that the young General had been captured by Federal +troops who surrounded the house to which he had been removed, and again +Lee sought, in the midst of all his cares, to cheer his daughter-in-law +who was herself becoming ill. + +"I can see no harm that can result from Fitzhugh's capture except his +detention.... He will be in the hands of old army officers and surgeons, +most of whom are men of principle and humanity. His wound, I understand, +has not been injured by his removal, but is doing well. Nothing would +do him more harm than for him to learn that you were sick and sad. How +could he get well? So cheer up and prove your fortitude.... You may +think of Fitzhugh and love him as much as you please, but do not grieve +over him or grow sad." + +But the young wife grew steadily worse and, when her life was despaired +of, Custis Lee offered to take his brother's place in prison, if the +authorities would allow him to visit his dying wife. But, when this +was refused and news of her death reached Lee, he refrained from all +bitterness. + +"...I grieve," he wrote his wife, "...as a father only can grieve for a +daughter, and my sorrow is heightened by the thought of the anguish her +death will cause our dear son, and the poignancy it will give to +the bars of his prison. May God in His mercy enable him to bear the +blow...." + +It was in the midst of such severe afflictions that Lee conducted some +of the most important moves of his campaign, and while family anxieties +were beginning to crowd on him, the condition of his army and the +political situation were already demanding another invasion of the +North. As far as spirit and discipline were concerned, his troops +were never more ready for active service and their numbers had been +so considerably increased during the weeks that followed the battle of +Chancellorsville that by the 1st of June, 1863, he could count on almost +70,000 fairly well-armed men, supported by over two hundred cannon. + +But the question of supplying food for this great array was every day +becoming more urgent, and the remark of the Commissary-General that +his Chief would soon have to seek his provisions in Pennsylvania was +significant of the situation. Lee thoroughly realized that the strength +of the Confederacy was waning and that unless some great success in the +field should soon force the Union to make terms, the end of the struggle +was in sight. Great victories had already been won, but always on +Southern soil, and the news that Grant was closing in on Vicksburg +demanded that a supreme effort be made to offset that impending disaster +in the West. + +If the Southern army could force its way into the North and there +repeat its triumphs, England and France would probably recognize the +Confederacy and the half-hearted supporters of the Union, already +murmuring against the war, would clamor for peace. With this idea Lee +devoted the month following the battle of Chancellorsville to recruiting +his strength and watching for some move on Hooker's part. But Hooker +remained quietly within his lines, so on June 3, 1863, his opponent, +concealing his purpose, moved rapidly and secretly toward Pennsylvania. + + + + +Chapter XXI. -- Grant at Vicksburg + + +While Lee had been disposing of McClellan, Pope and Burnside, Grant had +remained in comparative idleness near Corinth, Mississippi. He had, +it is true, been assigned to high command in the West when Halleck +was ordered to Washington, but the battle of Shiloh had prejudiced the +authorities against him and his troops were gradually transferred to +other commanders, leaving him with an army barely sufficient to guard +the territory it already held. This treatment seriously depressed him +and with plenty of time to brood over his troubles, he was in some +danger of lapsing into the bad habits which had once had such a fatal +hold upon him. But at this crisis his wife was by his side to steady and +encourage him, and the Confederates soon diverted his thoughts from +his own grievances by giving him plenty of work to keep them at arm's +length. Meanwhile, however, something much more disturbing occurred, for +he suddenly discovered that preparations were being made to place his +long-cherished campaign for the opening of the Mississippi River in +the hands of McClernand, the political General whose conduct at Fort +Donelson had demonstrated his ignorance of military affairs. + +That aroused Grant to action and hastily summoning Admiral Porter and +General Sherman to his aid, he started towards Vicksburg, Mississippi, +on November 2, 1862, determined to be the first in the field and thus +head off any attempt to displace him from the command. + +McClernand's project was accordingly nipped in the bud, for, of course, +he could not be authorized to conduct a campaign already undertaken by +a superior officer, and the troops which had been intended for him +were immediately forwarded to Grant. Doubtless, the President was not +displeased at this turn of affairs, for although McClernand was a +highly important person in the political world and had rendered valuable +services in raising troops, his defects as a general were widely +recognized, and there had been grave doubts as to the wisdom of +permitting him to attempt so difficult an undertaking as the capture of +Vicksburg. Within a few months, however, there were even graver doubts +as to the wisdom of having entrusted the enterprise to Grant, for by the +end of March, 1863, the general opinion was that no one could have +made a worse mess of it than he was making, and that it was hopeless to +expect anything as long as he was in authority. + +As a matter of fact, the immense difficulty of capturing a city such as +Vicksburg had not been realized until the work was actually undertaken. +It was practically a fortress commanding the Mississippi, and whoever +held it ruled the river. The Confederate leaders understood this very +thoroughly and they had accordingly fortified the place, which was +admirably adapted for defense, with great care and skill. In front of +it flowed the Mississippi, twisting and turning in such snake-like +conditions that it could be navigated only by boats of a certain length +and build, and on either side of the city stretched wide swamp lands and +bayous completely commanded by batteries well posted on the high ground +occupied by the town. All this was formidable enough in itself, but +shortly after Grant began his campaign, the river overflowed its banks +and the whole country for miles was under water which, while not deep +enough for steamers, was an absolute barrier to the approach of an army. + +Indeed, the capture of the city seemed hopeless from a military +standpoint, but Grant would not abandon the task. Finding traces of an +abandoned canal, he attempted to complete it in the hope of changing the +course of the river, or at least of diverting some of the water from the +overflowed land, but the effort was a stupendous failure almost from +the start. Then he ordered the levees of the Mississippi protecting two +great lakes to be cut, with the idea of flooding the adjacent streams +and providing a waterway for his ships. This gigantic enterprise was +actually put into operation, the dams were removed, and gun-boats were +forced on the swollen watercourses far into the interior until some of +them became hopelessly tangled in the submerged forests and their crews, +attacked by the Confederate sharpshooters, were glad to make their +escape. Week after week and month after month this exhausting work +continued, but, at the end of it all, Vicksburg was no nearer capture +than before. Indeed, the only result of the campaign was the loss of +thousands of men who died of malaria, yellow fever, smallpox, and all +the diseases which swamp lands breed. For this, of course, Grant was +severely criticized and the denunciations at last became so bitter that +an order removing him from the command was entrusted to an official who +was directed to deliver it, if, on investigation, the facts seemed to +warrant it. + +But the visiting official, after arriving at the front, soon learned +that the army had complete confidence in its commander and that it would +be a mistake to interfere with him. Indeed, by this time "the silent +General," who had neither answered the numerous complaints against him +nor paid the least attention to the storm of public indignation raging +beyond his camp, had abandoned his efforts to reach Vicksburg from the +front and was busily engaged in swinging his army behind it by a long +overland route in the face of appalling difficulties, but with a grim +resolution which forced all obstructions from his path. Meanwhile, the +gun-boats under Admiral Porter were ordered to attempt to run the +land batteries, and April 16, 1863, was selected as the date for their +perilous mission. Each vessel had been carefully protected by cotton +bales, and the crews stood ready with great wads of cotton to stop +leaks, while all lights were extinguished except one in the stern of +each ship to guide the one that followed. + +It was a black night when the Admiral started down the river in his +flagship, and for a while it was hoped that the fleet would slip by +the batteries under cover of darkness. The leading vessels did, indeed, +escape the lookouts of the first forts, but before long a warning rocket +shot into the sky and the river was instantly lit by immense bonfires +which had been prepared for just this emergency, and by the glare of +their flames the gunners poured shot and shell at the black hulls as +they sped swiftly by. Shot after shot found its mark, but still the +fleet continued on its course. Then, after the bonfires died down, +houses were set on fire to enable the artillerists to see their targets, +but before daylight the whole fleet had run the gauntlet and lay almost +uninjured below Vicksburg, ready to cooeperate with Grant's advancing +army. + +By this time the Confederates must have realized that they were facing +defeat. Nevertheless, for fully a month they stubbornly contested every +foot of ground. But Grant, approaching the rear by his long, roundabout +marches, handled his veteran troops with rare good judgment, moving +swiftly and allowing his adversaries no rest, so that by the 17th of +May, 1863, General Pemberton, commanding the defenses of Vicksburg, was +forced to take refuge in the town. Grant immediately swung his army into +position, blocking every avenue of escape and began a close siege. The +prize for which he had been struggling for more than half a year was now +fairly within his grasp, but there was still a chance that it might slip +through his fingers, for close on his heels came General Joseph Johnston +with a powerful army intent upon rescuing General Pemberton and his +gallant garrison. + +If Johnston could come to Pemberton's relief or if Pemberton could break +through and unite with Johnston, they could together save Vicksburg. But +Grant had resolved that they should not join forces, and to the problem +confronting him he devoted himself body and mind. Constantly in the +saddle, watching every detail of the work as the attacking army slowly +dug its way toward the city and personally posting the troops holding +Johnston at bay, his quiet, determined face and mud-splashed uniform +became familiar sights to the soldiers, and his appearance on the lines +was invariably greeted with inspiring cheers. By July, the trenches of +the besieged and the besiegers were so close together that the opposing +pickets could take to each other, and the gun-boats threw shells night +and day into the town. Still Pemberton would not surrender and many of +the inhabitants of Vicksburg were forced to leave their houses and dig +caves in the cliffs upon which the city was built to protect themselves +and their families from the iron hail. + +It was only when food of every kind had been practically exhausted and +his garrison was threatened with starvation that Pemberton yielded. On +July 3, 1863, however, he realized that the end had come and raised +the white flag. Nearly twenty-four hours passed before the terms of +surrender were agreed upon, but Grant, who had served in the same +division with Pemberton in the Mexican War, was not inclined to exact +humiliating conditions upon his old acquaintance whose men had made +such a long and gallant fight. He, accordingly, offered to free all the +prisoners upon their signing a written promise not to take arms again +unless properly exchanged, and to allow all the officers to retain their +side arms and horses. These generous terms were finally accepted, and on +July 4, 1863, the Confederate army, numbering about 30,000, marched out +in the presence of their opponents and stacked their arms, receiving the +tribute of absolute silence from the 75,000 men who watched them from +the Union ranks. + +Four months before this event, Halleck, the Commander-in-Chief, had +advised Grant and other officers of his rank that there was a major +generalship in the Regular Army for the man who should first win a +decisive victory in the field. The captor of Vicksburg had certainly +earned this promotion, for with its fall the Mississippi River was +controlled by the Union and, in the words of Lincoln, "The Father of +Waters again ran unvexed to the sea." + + + + +Chapter XXII. -- The Battle of Gettysburg + +The news that Grant was slowly, but surely, tightening his grip upon +Vicksburg, and that nothing but an accident could prevent its capture, +was known to the whole country for fully a week before the surrender +occurred, but it neither encouraged the North nor discouraged the South. +To the minds of many people no victory in the West could save the +Union, for Lee was already in Pennsylvania, sweeping northward toward +Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and even threatening New York. Hooker, in +the field, and Halleck, in Washington, were squabbling as to what should +be done, and the Union army was groping blindly after the invaders +without any leadership worthy of the name. + +It was certainly a critical moment demanding absolute harmony on the +part of the Union leaders; but while the fate of the Union trembled in +the balance, Hooker and Halleck wrangled and contradicted each +other, apparently regardless of consequences, and the climax of this +disgraceful exhibition was a petulant telegram from Hooker (June 27, +1863) resigning his command. Had "Fighting Joe" been the greatest +general in the world this resignation, in the presence of the enemy, +would have ruined his reputation, and the moment President Lincoln +accepted it Hooker was a discredited man. + +To change commanders at such a crisis was a desperately perilous move, +but the President knew that the army had lost confidence in its leader +since the battle of Chancellorsville and the fact that he could even +think of resigning on the eve of a battle demonstrated his utter +unfitness for the task at hand. It was, therefore, with something of +relief that Lincoln ordered General Meade to take immediate charge +of all the troops in the field, and the new commander assumed the +responsibility in these words, "As a soldier I obey the order placing +me in command of this army and to the utmost of my ability will execute +it." + +At the moment he dispatched this manly and modest response to the +unexpected call to duty, Meade knew little of Hooker's plans and had +only a vague idea of where his troops were posted. Under such conditions +success in the coming battle was almost impossible, but he wasted no +time in complaints or excuses, but instantly began to move his forces +northward to incept the line of Lee's advance. Even up to this time, +however, the exact position of the Confederate army had not been +ascertained, for Lee had concealed his infantry behind his cavalry, +which effectually prevented his adversaries from getting near enough to +discover the direction of his march. + +Another "cavalry screen," however, covered the Union forces and though +Lee dispatched Stuart to break through and discover what lay behind it, +the daring officer for once failed to accomplish his purpose and Lee had +to proceed without the information he usually possessed. This was highly +advantageous to Meade, for his forces were badly scattered and had Lee +known that fact he might have crushed the various parts of the army +before they united, or at least have prevented some of them from +reaching the field in time. He soon learned, of course, that Meade had +taken Hooker's place, but if he had not heard the news directly, +he would have guessed that some great change had occurred in the +generalship of his opponents, for within twenty-four hours of his +appointment Meade had his army well in hand, and two days later the +rapid and skillful concentration of his force was clear to Lee's +experienced eyes. By this time both armies had passed beyond their +cavalry screens, and on the 30th of June, 1863, the advance of the +Confederate troops neared the little town of Gettysburg. + +But Lee was not yet ready to fight, for, although he was better prepared +than his adversary, he wanted to select the best possible ground before +joining battle. By a strange chance, however, it was not Lee but his +bare-footed followers who decided where the battle should be fought, for +as his advance-guard approached Gettysburg one of the brigade commanders +asked and received permission from his superior to enter the town and +procure shoes for his men. But Gettysburg was found to be occupied by +Union cavalry and the next day (July 1st) a larger force was ordered +forward to drive them away and "get the shoes." Meanwhile, the Union +cavalry had been reenforced and, to offset this, more Confederates were +ordered to the support of their comrades. Once more Union reenforcements +were hurried to the front, and again the Confederates responded to the +challenge, until over 50,000 men were engaged in a savage conflict, and +before noon the battle of Gettysburg, one of the greatest battles of +history, had begun. + +The men in gray, who thus unwittingly forced the fighting, were veterans +of many campaigns and they attacked with a fury that carried all before +them. The Union troops fought with courage, but General Reynolds, their +commander, one of the ablest officers in the army, was soon shot through +the head and instantly killed, and from that moment the Confederates +crowded them to the point of panic. Indeed, two of Meade's most +effective fighting corps were practically annihilated and the shattered +remnants of the defenders of Gettysburg were hurled through the town in +headlong flight toward what was known as Cemetery Hill, where their new +commander, General Hancock, found them huddled in confusion. + +Meade had displayed good judgment in selecting Hancock to take Reynolds' +place, for he was just the man to inspire confidence in the disheartened +soldiers and rise to the emergency that confronted him. But, though he +performed wonders in the way of restoring order and encouraging his +men to make a desperate resistance, it is more than probable that +the Confederates would have swept the field and gained the important +position of Cemetery Hill had they followed up their victory. +Fortunately for the Union cause, however, the pursuit was not continued +much beyond the limits of Gettysburg and, as though well satisfied to +have got the shoes they came for, the victors contented themselves with +the undisputed possession of the town. + +Neither Lee nor Meade took any part in this unexpected battle, but Lee +arrived during the afternoon while the Union troops were in full flight +for the hills and, seeing the opportunity of delivering a crushing +blow, advised Ewell, the commanding General, to pursue. His suggestion, +however, was disregarded, and being unwilling to interfere with another +officer in the midst of an engagement, he did not give a positive order, +with the result that Cemetery Hill was left in possession of the Federal +troops. Meanwhile Meade, having learned of the situation, was hurrying +to the scene of action, where he arrived late at night, half dead +with exhaustion and on the verge of nervous collapse from the fearful +responsibilities which had been heaped upon him during the previous +days. But the spirit of the man rose superior to his physical weakness +and, keeping his head in the whirlwind of hurry and confusion, he +issued orders rushing every available man to the front, made a careful +examination of the ground and chose an admirable position for defense. + +To this inspiring example the whole army made a magnificent response, +and before the 2nd of July dawned the widely scattered troops began +pouring in and silently moving into position for the desperate work +confronting them. Meade had determined to await an attack from Lee and +he had accordingly selected Cemetery Ridge as the position best adapted +for defense. This line of hills not only provided a natural breastwork, +but at the left and a little in front lay two hillocks knows as Round +Top and Little Round Top, which, when crowned by artillery, were perfect +fortresses of strength. Strange as it may seem, however, Round Top was +not immediately occupied by the Union troops and had it not been for the +quick eye and prompt action of General Warren, Little Round Top, the key +to the entire Union position, would have been similarly neglected. + +Lee was reasonably assured, at the end of the first day's fighting, that +his adversary had not succeeded in getting all his troops upon the field +and, realizing what an advantage this gave him, he determined to begin +the battle at daylight, before the Union reenforcements could arrive. +But for once, at least, the great commander received more objections +than obedience from his subordinates, General Longstreet, one of his +most trusted lieutenants, being the principal offender. Longstreet had, +up to this moment, made a splendid record in the campaigns and Lee had +such confidence in his skill that he seldom gave him a peremptory order, +finding that a suggestion carried all the weight of a command. But, on +this occasion, Longstreet did not agree with the Chief's plan of battle +and he accordingly took advantage of the discretion reposed in him to +postpone making an attack until he received a sharp and positive order +to put his force in action. By this time, the whole morning had passed +and every hour had brought more and more Union troops into the field, +so that by the afternoon Meade had over 90,000 men opposing Lee's 70,000 +veterans. + +There was nothing half-hearted about Longstreet once he was in motion +and the struggle for the possession of Little Round Top was as desperate +a conflict as was ever waged on any field. Again and again the gray +regiments hurled themselves into the very jaws of death to gain the +coveted vantage ground, and again and again the blue lines, torn, +battered and well-nigh crushed to earth, re-formed and hurled back +the assault. Dash and daring were met by courage and firmness, and +at nightfall, though the Confederates had gained some ground, their +opponents still held their original position. Both sides had paid +dearly, however, for whatever successes they had gained, the Union army +alone having lost at least 20,000 men [Note from Brett: While this is +possible, it is highly unlikely as the total casualties for the three +day battle from the Unionist side were 23,053 according to official +records. Current (circa 2000) estimates are that both sides lost about +9,000 soldiers on this day.]. Indeed, the Confederate attack had been +so formidable that Meade called a council of war at night to determine +whether the army should remain where it was for another day or retreat +to a still stronger position. The council, however, voted unanimously +to "stay and fight it out," and the next morning (July 3rd) saw the two +armies facing each other in much the same positions as they had occupied +the day before, the Unionists crowding the heights of Cemetery Ridge and +the Confederates holding the hills known as Seminary Ridge and clinging +to the bases of Round Top and Little Round Top, to which point the tide +of valor had carried them. + +A mile of valley and undulating slopes separated Cemetery Hill from +Seminary Ridge, and their crests were crowded with artillery when the +sun rose on July 3, 1863. But for a time the battle was confined to the +infantry, the Confederates continuing fierce assaults of the previous +evening. Then, suddenly, all their troops were withdrawn, firing ceased +and absolute silence ensued along their whole lines. At an utter loss to +understand this complete disappearance of the foe, the Union commanders +peered through their glasses at the silent and apparently deserted +heights of Seminary Ridge, growing more and more nervous as time wore +on. What was the explanation of this ominous silence? Was it possible +that Lee had retreated? Was he trying to lure them out of their position +and catch them in some giant ambuscade? Was he engaged in a flanking +movement such as had crumpled them to pieces at Chancellorsville? +Doubtless, more than one soldier shot an apprehensive glance toward the +rear during the strange hush as he remembered the terrifying appearance +of Jackson on that fearful day. + +But no Jackson stood at Lee's right hand, and suddenly two sharp reports +rang out from the opposing height. Then, in answer to this signal, came +the crash of a hundred and thirty cannon and instantly eighty Union guns +responded to the challenge with a roar which shook the earth, while +the air was filled with exploding shells and the ground was literally +ploughed with shot. For an hour and a half this terrific duel continued; +and then the Union chief of artillery, seeing that his supply of +ammunition was sinking, ordered the guns to cease firing and the +Confederates, believing that they had completely demolished the opposing +batteries, soon followed their example. Another awful silence ensued and +when the Union troops peered cautiously from behind the stone walls and +slopes which had completely protected them from the wild storm of shot +and shell, they saw a sight which filled them with admiration and awe. + +From the woods fringing the opposing heights 15,000 men [Note from +Brett: (circa 2000) just under 12,000 men] were sweeping in perfect +order with battle flags flying, bayonets glistening and guidons +fluttering as though on dress parade. Well to the front rode a gallant +officer with a cap perched jauntily over his right ear and his long +auburn hair hanging almost to his shoulders flying in the wind. This was +General Pickett, and he and the men behind him had almost a mile of open +ground to cross in the charge which was to bring them immortal fame. +For half the distance they moved triumphantly forward, unscathed by +the already thundering artillery, and then the Union cannon which had +apparently been silenced by the Confederate fire began to pour death and +destruction into their ranks. Whole rows of men were mowed down by the +awful cannonade, but their comrades pressed forward undismayed, halting +for a moment under cover of a ravine to re-form their ranks and then +springing on again with a heroism unsurpassed in the history of war. A +hail of bullets from the Union trenches fairly staggered them, yet +on and on they charged. Once they actually halted in the face of the +blazing breastworks, deliberately fired a volley and came on again +with a rush, seized some of the still smoking guns that had sought +to annihilate them and, beating back the gunners in a hand-to-hand +conflict, actually planted their battle flags on the crest of Cemetery +Ridge. Then the whole Union army seemed to leap from the ground and hurl +itself upon them. They reeled, turned, broke into fragments and fled, +leaving 5,000 dead and wounded in their trail. + +Such was Pickett's charge--a wave of human courage which recorded "the +high-water mark of the Rebellion." + + + + +Chapter XXIII. -- In the Face of Disaster + + +As the survivors of Pickett's heroic legion came streaming back toward +the Confederate lines Lee stood face to face with defeat for the first +time in his career. His long series of victories had not spoiled him and +the hour of triumph had always found him calm and thankful, rather than +elated and arrogant. But many a modest and generous winner has proved +himself a poor loser. It is the moment of adversity that tries men's +souls and revels the greatness or smallness of character, and subjected +to this test more than one commander in the war had been found wanting. +McClellan, staggering from his campaign against Richmond, blamed +almost everyone but himself for the result; Pope, scurrying toward the +fortifications of Washington, was as ready with excuses as he had been +with boasts; Burnside, reeling from the slaughter-pen of Fredericksburg, +had demanded the dismissal of his principal officers, and Hooker hurled +accusations right and left in explaining the Chancellorsville surprise. + +But Lee resorted neither to accusation nor excuse for the battle of +Gettysburg. With the tide of disaster sweeping relentlessly down upon +him, he hastened to assume entire responsibility for the result. "It is +all my fault," he exclaimed, as the exhausted and shattered troops were +seeking shelter from the iron hail, and then as calmly and firmly +as though no peril threatened, he strove to rally the disorganized +fugitives and present a bold front to the foe. It was no easy task, even +with a veteran army, to prevent a panic and restore order and confidence +in the midst of the uproar and confusion of defeat, but the quiet +dignity and perfect control of their commander steadied the men, and +at sight of him even the wounded raised themselves from the ground and +cheered. + +"All this will come right in the end," he assured the wavering troops, +as he passed among them. "We'll talk it over afterwards, but in the +meantime all good men must rally." + +Not a sign of excitement or alarm was to be detected in his face, as +he issued his orders and moved along the lines. "All this has been my +fault," he repeated soothingly to a discouraged officer. "It is I that +have lost this fight and you must help me out of it the best way you +can.... Don't whip your horse, Captain," he quietly remarked, as he +noted another officer belaboring his mount for shying at an exploding +shell.... "I've got just another foolish horse myself, and whipping does +no good." + +Nothing escaped his watchful eyes, nothing irritated him, and nothing +provoked him to hasty words or actions. Completely master of himself, he +rose superior to the whirling storm about him and, commanding order out +of chaos, held his shattered army under such perfect control that had +Meade rushed forward in pursuit he might have met with a decisive check. + +But Meade did not attempt to leave his intrenchments and the Confederate +army slowly and defiantly moved toward the South. The situation was +perilous--desperately perilous for Lee. His troops were in no condition +to fight after battling for three days, their ammunition was almost +exhausted, their food supply was low and they were retreating through a +hostile country with a victorious army behind them and a broad river in +their path. But not a man in the gray ranks detected even a shadow of +anxiety on his commander's face, and when the Potomac was reached and +it was discovered that the river was impassable owing to an unexpected +flood, the army faced about and awaited attack with sublime confidence +in the powers of its chief. + +Meanwhile Meade, who had been cautiously following his adversary, began +to receive telegrams and dispatches urging him to throw himself upon the +Confederates before they could recross the Potomac and thus end the war. +But this, in the opinion of the Union commander, was easier said than +done, and he continued to advance with the utmost deliberation while +Lee, momentarily expecting attack, ferried his sick and wounded across +the river and prepared for a desperate resistance. Absolute ruin now +stared him in the face, for no reenforcements of any kind could reach +him and a severe engagement would soon place him completely at his +opponent's mercy. Nevertheless, he presented a front so menacing and +unafraid that when Meade called his officers to a council of war all but +two voted against risking an attack. + +In the meantime the river began to fall, and without the loss of a +moment Lee commenced building a bridge across which his troops started +to safety on the night of July 13th, ten days after the battle. Even +then the situation was perilous in the extreme, for had Meade discovered +the movement in time he could undoubtedly have destroyed a large part of +the retreating forces, but when he appeared on the scene practically the +whole army was on the other side of the river and only a few stragglers +fell into his hands. + +Great as Lee's success had been he never appeared to better advantage +than during this masterly retreat, when, surrounded by difficulties and +confronted by overwhelming numbers, he held his army together and led it +to safety. Through the dust of defeat he loomed up greater as a man and +greater as a soldier than at any other moment of his career. + +Even the decisive victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg failed to offset +President Lincoln's bitter disappointment at Lee's miraculous escape, +and had it not been for his success on the field of battle, Meade +would undoubtedly have been removed from the chief command. As it was, +however, he retained his position and for months he lay comparatively +idle, watching his opponent who busied himself with filling the broken +ranks of his army for a renewal of the struggle. + +Meanwhile, the Confederate newspapers began a bitter criticism of Lee, +charging that he had displayed bad judgment and worse generalship +in attempting to invade the North. A man of different caliber would, +doubtless, have answered these attacks by exposing some of the officers +whose conduct was largely responsible for the failure of the campaign. +Indeed, the facts would have justified him in dismissing more than one +of his subordinates from the army in disgrace, and had he chosen to +speak the word he might easily have ruined the reputation of at least +one distinguished general. + +But no such selfish or vindictive thought ever crossed Lee's mind. +Keenly as he suffered from the abuse which was heaped upon him, he +endured it without a murmur and, when at last he felt obliged to notice +it, his reply took the form of a letter to the Confederate President +requesting his permission to resign. + +"The general remedy for the want of success in a military commander is +his removal," he wrote a month after the battle of Gettysburg. "I do not +know how far the expressions of discontent in the public journals extend +in the army. My brother officers have been too kind to report it and, so +far, the troops have been too generous to exhibit it. I, therefore, beg +you to take measures to supply my place, because if I cannot accomplish +what I myself desire, how can I fulfill the expectations of others? I +must confess, too that my eyesight is not good and that I am so dull +that in making use of the eyes of others I am frequently misled. +Everything, therefore, points to the advantages to be derived from a +new commander. A younger and abler man can readily be obtained--one that +would accomplish more than I can perform and all that I have wished. I +have no complaints to make of anyone but myself. I have received nothing +but kindness from those above me and the most considerate attention from +my comrades and companions in arms." + +This generous, dignified statement, modest to the point of +self-effacement, instantly hushed all discontent and, before it, even +the newspaper editors stood abashed. + +"Where am I to find the new commander who is to possess that greater +ability which you believe to be required?" wrote Jefferson Davis in +reply. "If Providence should kindly offer such a person I would +not hesitate to avail myself of his services. But my sight is not +sufficiently penetrating to discover such hidden merit, if it exists. To +ask me to substitute you by someone more fit to command is to demand an +impossibility." + +In the face of this graceful response Lee could no longer urge his +resignation, and after waiting for more than three months for Meade +to attack, he suddenly assumed the offensive and during the next five +months he and Meade maneuvered their armies as two chess experts handle +the pieces on the board. Again and again, Meade swung his powerful army +into a favorable position and, again and again, Lee responded with a +move which placed his opponent on the defensive. + +But while this game of check and countercheck was being played, the +North was becoming more and more impatient and events were rapidly +bringing another player to the fore. + + + + +Chapter XXIV. -- The Rescue of Two Armies + +The defeats and disappointments of the various campaigns in Virginia had +gradually convinced the authorities at Washington that too many people +were trying to direct the Union forces. With Lee there was practically +no interference; but the commanders who opposed him were subject to the +orders of the General-in-Chief at Washington, who was, to some extent, +controlled by the Secretary of War, whose superior was the President, +and after almost every engagement a Congressional Committee, known as +the "committee on the conduct of the war," held a solemn investigation +in which praise and blame were distributed with the best intentions and +worst possible results. All these offices and officials were accordingly +more or less responsible for everything that occurred, but not one of +them was ever wholly to blame. This mistake, however, was at last fully +realized and a careful search began for some one man to whom the supreme +command could be entrusted. But for a long time no one apparently +thought that the Western army contained any very promising material. +Nevertheless, Grant, Sheridan, Sherman and Rosecrans were then in that +army and, of these four; Rosecrans was regarded by many as the only real +possibility. + +Indeed, at the moment when Grant was closing in upon Vicksburg, and +Lee and Meade were struggling at Gettysburg, Rosecrans, who had been +entrusted with the important duty of conducting a campaign to drive the +Confederates out of Tennessee, was fully justifying the high opinions of +his admirers. Between June 24, 1863, and September 9th of that year +he certainly outmaneuvered his opponents, occupying the all-important +position of Chattanooga, and forcing the able Confederate General Bragg +to fall back with more speed than order. + +During all this time the North had been insisting that the army should +be placed in charge of some commander who could master Lee, and this +demand had found expression in a popular poem bearing the refrain +"Abraham Lincoln! Give us a Man!" To the minds of many people Rosecrans +had clearly demonstrated that he was "the Man," and it is possible that +his subsequent acts were prompted by over-eagerness to end his already +successful campaign with a startlingly brilliant feat of arms. At all +events, he determined not to rest satisfied with having driven the +Confederates from the field, but to capture or destroy their entire +force. + +With this idea he divided his army and rushed it by different routes +over the mountains in hot pursuit of the foe. But the trouble with this +program was that Bragg had not really retreated at all, having merely +moved his army aside waiting for an opportunity to strike. Indeed, +Rosecrans had barely plunged his troops into the various mountain passes +on their fruitless errand before the whole Confederate force loomed up, +threatening to destroy his widely-separated, pursuing columns, one by +one, before they could be united. + +This unexpected turn of affairs utterly unnerved the Union General, and +although he did manage by desperate exertions to collect his +scattered army, he completely lost his head when Bragg attacked him at +Chickamauga, Georgia, on the 19th of September, 1863, and before +the savage battle of that name had ended he retired from the field, +believing that his army had been totally destroyed. + +Such, undoubtedly, would have been its fate had not General Thomas and +his brave troops covered the retreat, by holding the whole Confederate +army in check for hours and even forcing it to yield portions of the +bloody field. From that day forward Thomas was known as "The Rock of +Chickamauga," but the heroic stand of his gallant men barely sufficed to +save the Union army, which reached the intrenchments of Chattanooga only +just in time, with the Confederates hot upon its trail. + +Had Bragg overtaken his flying opponent, he would doubtless have made an +end of him then and there, but it was not altogether with regret that he +saw him enter Chattanooga, for with the roads properly blocked he knew +the place would prove a perfect trap. He, accordingly, began a close +siege which instantly cut off all Rosecrans' communication with the +outside world, except by one road which was in such a wretched condition +as to be impossible for a retreating army. Indeed, the heavy autumn +rains soon rendered it impracticable even for provision wagons, and as +no supplies could reach the army by any other route, it was not long +before starvation began to stare the besieged garrison in the face. + +Meanwhile, Rosecrans, almost wild with anxiety and mortification, sent +dispatch after dispatch to Washington describing his condition and +imploring aid, but though he still had an effective army under his +command and plenty of ammunition, he made no attempt whatever to save +himself from his impending doom. Day by day the situation grew more and +more perilous; thousands upon thousands of horses and mules died for +lack of food and the men were so nearly reduced to starvation that they +greedily devoured the dry corn intended for the animals. + +All this time the authorities in Washington were straining every nerve +to rescue the beleaguered army. Sixteen thousand men under General +Hooker were rushed to its relief, provisions were forwarded within a +day's march of the town, awaiting the opening of new roads, and finally, +when the stream of frantic telegrams from the front showed that the army +had practically no leadership, hurried orders were forwarded to Grant, +authorizing him to remove Rosecrans, place Thomas temporarily in control +and take the field himself at the earliest possible moment. + +This unexpected summons found Grant in a serious condition, for some +weeks earlier his horse had fallen under him, crushing his leg so +severely that for a time it was feared he might be crippled for life, +and he was still on crutches suffering intense pain when the exciting +orders were placed in his hands. Nevertheless, he promptly started on +his desperate errand, traveling at first by rail and steamer and then +in an ambulance, until its jolting motion became unbearable when he had +himself lifted into the saddle with the grim determination of riding the +remainder of the way. Even for a man in perfect physical condition the +journey would have been distressing, for the roads, poor at their best, +were knee deep in mud and a wild storm of wind and rain was raging. Time +and again his escort had to lift the General from his horse and carry +him across dangerous washouts and unaffordable streams, but at the +earliest possible moment they were always ordered to swing him into the +saddle again. + +Thus, mile after mile and hour after hour, the little cavalcade crept +toward Chattanooga, Grant's face becoming more haggard and furrowed with +pain at every step, but showing a fixed determination to reach his goal +at any cost. On every side signs of the desperate plight of the besieged +garrison were only too apparent. Thousands of carcasses of starved +horses and mules lay beside the road amid broken-down wagons, abandoned +provisions and all the wreckage of a disorganized and demoralized army. + +But if the suffering officer noted these ominous evidences of disaster, +his face afforded no expression of his thought. Plastered with mud and +drenched to the skin, he rode steadily forward, speaking no word +and scarcely glancing to the right or left, and when at last the +excruciating journey came to an end, he hastened to interview Thomas and +hear his report, without even waiting to change his clothes or obtain +refreshment of any kind. + +It was not a very cheerful story which Thomas confided to his Chief +before the blazing headquarters' fire, but the dripping and exhausted +General listened to it with no indication of discouragement or dismay. +"What efforts have been made to open up other roads for provisioning the +army?" was the first question, and Thomas showed him a plan which he and +Rosecrans had worked out. Grant considered it in silence for a moment +and then nodded his approval. The only thing wrong with the plan was +that it had not been carried out, was his comment, and after a personal +inspection of the lines he gave the necessary authority for putting +it into immediate operation. Orders accordingly began flying right +and left, and within twenty-four hours the army was busily engaged in +gnawing a way out of the trap. + +Additional roads were essential for safety but to gain them the +Confederates had to be attacked and a heavy force was therefore ordered +to seize and hold a point known as Brown's Ferry. This relieved the +situation at once and meanwhile the new commander had hurried a special +messenger to Sherman, ordering him to drop everything else and march his +Vicksburg veterans toward Chattanooga without an instant's delay. The +advance of this strong reenforcement was promptly reported to Bragg, who +saw at a glance that unless it could be stopped there was every prospect +that his Chattanooga victims would escape. + +He accordingly determined upon a very bold but very dangerous move. +Not far away lay General Burnside and a small Union army, guarding the +important city of Knoxville, Tennessee, and against this the Confederate +commander dispatched a heavy force, in the hope that Grant would be +compelled to send Sherman to the rescue. + +But the effect of this news upon Grant was very different from Bragg's +expectations, for realizing that his adversary must have seriously +weakened himself in sending the expedition against Burnside, he ordered +Hooker, whose 16,000 men were already on hand, to make an immediate +attack with a force drawn from various parts of the army, and on +November 24, 1863, after a fierce engagement known as the battle of +Lookout Mountain, the Union troops drove their opponents from one of the +two important heights commanding Chattanooga. + +In this success Sherman had effectively cooperated by attacking and +holding the northern end of Missionary Ridge and Grant determined to +follow up his advantage by moving the very next morning against this +second and more formidable range of hills. Therefore, ordering Hooker to +attack the Confederate right on Missionary Ridge and get in their rear +at that point while Sherman assaulted their left, he held Thomas's +troops lying in their trenches at the front awaiting a favorable +opportunity to send them crashing through the center. + +The main field of battle was plainly visible to the silent commander as +he looked down upon it from a hill known as Orchard Knob, and he watched +the effect of the attacks on both wings of the Confederate line with +intense interest. Reenforcements were evidently being hurried to the +Confederate right and left and Hooker, delayed by the destruction of a +bridge, did not appear at the critical moment. Nevertheless, for some +time Sherman continued to advance, but as Grant saw him making slower +progress and noted the heavy massing of troops in his path, he ordered +Thomas's waiting columns to attack the center and carry the breastworks +at the foot of Missionary Ridge. + +With a blare of bugles, 20,000 blue-coated men seemed to leap from the +ground and 20,000 bayonets pointed at Missionary Ridge whose summits +began to blaze forth shot and shell. Death met them at every stride but +the charging troops covered the ground between them and the rifle pits +they had been ordered to take in one wild rush and tore over them like +an angry sea. Then, to the utter astonishment of all beholders, instead +of halting, they continued charging up the face of Missionary Ridge, +straight into the mouths of the murderous cannon. + +"By whose order is this?" Grant demanded sternly. + +"By their own, I fancy," answered Thomas. + +Incredible as this suggestion seemed, it offered the only possible +explanation of the scene. No officer would have dared to order troops to +such certain destruction as apparently awaited them on the fire-crowned +slopes of Missionary Ridge. Spellbound Grant followed the men as they +crept further and further up the height, expecting every instant to see +them hurled back as Pickett's heroes were at Gettysburg, when suddenly +wave upon wave of blue broke over the crest, the Union flags fluttered +all along the line and before this extraordinary charge the Confederates +broke and fled in disorder. + +Setting spur to his horse, Grant dashed across the hard-fought field and +up the formidable ridge, issuing orders for securing all that had been +gained. An opening wedge had now been inserted in Chattanooga's prison +doors, and by midnight the silent captain had thrown his whole weight +against them and they fell. Then calmly turning his attention to +Burnside, he ordered him to hold his position at every hazard until he +could come to the rescue and, setting part of his victorious veterans in +motion toward Knoxville, soon relieved its garrison from all danger. + +With the rescue of two Union armies to his credit Grant was generally +regarded as the most fitting candidate for the chief command of the +army, but by this time it was fully realized that the man who held that +position would have to be invested with far greater powers than any +Union general had thus far possessed. Halleck expressed himself as +only too anxious to resign; Congress passed a law reviving the grade of +lieutenant-general with powers which, up to that time, had never been +entrusted to anyone save Washington, and responded to the cry, "Abraham +Lincoln! Give us a MAN!" the President, on March 1st, 1864, nominated +Ulysses Grant as Commander-in-Chief of all the armies of the United +States. + + + + +Chapter XXV. -- Lieutenant-General Grant + +Until he arrived in Washington Lincoln had never met the man to whom he +had entrusted the supreme command of the army, and the new General was +a very different individual from those who had been previously appointed +to high rank. Some of his predecessors had possessed undoubted ability, +but most of them had soon acquired an exaggerated idea of their own +importance, surrounding themselves with showy staffs in gorgeous attire, +delighting in military pomp and etiquette of every kind, and generally +displaying a great weakness for popular admiration and applause. +Moreover, all of them, with the exception of Meade, had talked too much +for their own good and that of the army, so that many of their plans had +become known in Richmond almost as soon as they had been formed. Indeed, +they not only talked, but wrote too much, and in discussions with their +superiors and wrangling with their fellow officers more than one proved +far mightier with the pen than with the sword. All this, to a very large +extent, was the fault of the public, for it had made an idol of each new +General, deluging him with praise, flattering his vanity and fawning on +him until he came to regard the war as a sort of background for his own +greatness. Thus, for almost three years, the war was conducted more like +a great game than a grim business, and not until it began visibly to sap +the life blood and resources of the nation did the people, as a whole, +realize the awful task confronting them. + +Both sides had begun the conflict in much the same careless fashion, but +the South had immediately become the battle ground, and the horrors of +war actually seen and felt by its people quickly sobered even the most +irresponsible. But from the very first Lee had taken a serious view +of the whole situation. Every word he spoke or wrote concerning it +was distinctly tinged with solemnity, if not sadness, and his sense of +responsibility had a marked influence upon the whole Confederacy. It had +taken the North almost three years to respond in a similar spirit, but +by that time it was ready for a leader who knew what war really meant +and for whom it had no glory, and such a leader had undoubtedly been +found in Grant. + +In the evening of March 8, 1864, the new commander arrived in Washington +and made his way, without attracting any attention, to one of the +hotels. There was nothing in his presence or manner to indicate that +he was a person of any importance. Indeed, he presented a decidedly +commonplace appearance, for he walked with an awkward lurch and bore +himself in a slouchy fashion which made him even shorter than he was. +Moreover, his uniform was faded and travel-stained, his close-cropped +beard and hair were unkempt, and his attire was careless to the point +of slovenliness. There was, however, something in the man's clear-cut +features, firm mouth and chin and resolute blue eyes which suggested +strength, and while his face, as a whole, would not have attracted any +particular notice in a crowd, no one in glancing at it would have been +inclined to take any liberties with its owner. + +But though Grant had arrived unheralded and unrecognized at the national +capital, he had barely given his name to the hotel clerk before the +whole city was surging about him eager to catch a glimpse of the new +hero and cheer him to the echo. But however much notoriety of this sort +had pleased some of his predecessors, Grant soon showed that he wanted +no applauding mob to greet him in the streets, for he quickly escaped +to the seclusion of his own room. But the same public that had cheered +itself hoarse for McClellan, Pope and Hooker, and then hissed them all +in turn, had found another hero and was not to be cheated of its prey. +Indeed, the newcomer was not even allowed to eat his dinner in peace, +for a crowd of gaping and congratulating enthusiasts descended upon +him the moment he reappeared and soon drove him from the dining room in +sheer disgust. + +Possibly the fate of the fallen idols had warned Grant against making a +public exhibition of himself or encouraging the hysterical acclamations +of the crowd, but he was naturally a man of sound, common sense, +entirely free from conceit, and he had no idea of allowing the idle or +curious mob to amuse itself at his expense. He, therefore, quickly made +it plain that he had serious work to do and that he intended to do it +without nonsense of any kind. + +Ceremonies and forms with such a man would have been impossible, and +on March 9, 1864, President Lincoln handed him his commission as a +Lieutenant-General, with a few earnest words to which he made a modest +reply, and then, with the same calmness he had displayed in assuming the +colonelcy of the 21st Illinois, he turned to the duties involved in the +command of half a million men. + +From that time forward no more councils of war were held at the White +House and no more military secrets were disclosed to the Confederate +chiefs. "I do not know General Grant's plans, and I do not want to know +them!" exclaimed Lincoln with relief. But other people did want to know +them and the newspaper reporters and busybodies of all sorts incessantly +buzzed about him, employing every device from subtle flattery to masked +threats to discover his designs. But Grant knew "how to keep silent in +seven different languages" and no one could beguile him into opening +his lips. Neither had he time nor inclination to listen to other people +talk. His troops were spread over a thousand miles of territory, and +never before had they been under the absolute control of any one man. +With the Army of the Potomac he had had but little practical experience; +of the country in which its campaigns had been conducted he knew nothing +at first hand; with a few exceptions he had no personal acquaintance +with the officers under his immediate command, and there were countless +other difficulties which had to be overcome. He, therefore, had no +leisure for trifling and quickly sent all intruders about their business +while he attended to his own. + +The problem involved in a grand campaign was in many respects new to +him, but doing his own thinking in silence, instead of puzzling himself +with the contradictory opinions of other men, Grant reached a more +accurate conclusion in regard to the war than any of his predecessors. +In the first place, he saw that the various campaigns which had been +conducted in different parts of the country would have been far more +effective had they all formed part of one plan enabling the different +armies to cooeperate with each other. He, accordingly, determined to +conduct the war on a gigantic scale, keeping the Confederates in the +West so busy that they would not be able to reenforce Lee and giving Lee +no chance to help them. In a word, he intended to substitute team play +for individual effort all along the line. + +Again, he saw the capture of Richmond, upon which the Army of the +Potomac had expended all its efforts, would be futile if Lee's army +remained undefeated in the field, and he resolved that Lee and not +Richmond should thereafter be the main object of the campaign. "Where +Lee's army goes, there you will go also," was the substance of his first +order to Meade who virtually became his Chief of Staff, and those who +were straining every nerve to discover his plan and expecting something +very brilliant or subtle never guessed that those nine words contained +the open secret of his whole campaign. + +Such, however, was the fact. "I never maneuver," he remarked to his +Chief of Staff; and Meade, who had spent the best part of a year in a +great series of maneuvers with Lee, listened to this confession with +astonishment and dismay, scarcely believing that his superior really +meant what he said. But Grant did mean it. No elaborate moves or +delicate strategy had been employed in any of his campaigns and he +had yet to meet with a serious defeat. To make his first experiment in +maneuvering against such an expert in the science of war as Lee, would +have been to foredoom himself to defeat. With a far smaller force then +either McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker or Meade had possessed, the +Confederate leader had practically fought a drawn battle with them for +three years. His science had not, it is true, been able to overcome +their numbers, but their numbers had not overpowered him. This, as far +as anyone could see, might go on forever. + +But Grant knew that the North had long been tiring of the war and that +unless it were speedily closed the Union might be sacrificed in order +to obtain peace. Moreover, he saw that every day the war lasted cost an +enormous sum of money, and that the loss of life on the battle field was +nothing compared to that in the hospitals and prisons, where disease and +starvation were claiming scores of victims every hour. + +He, therefore, determined to fight and continue fighting until +he pounded his opponent to pieces, well knowing that almost every +able-bodied man in the South was already in the army and that there was +practically no one left to take the place of those who fell. + +This policy, in the minds of many people, proves that Grant was no +general, but merely a brute and a butcher. But history has never yet +revealed a military leader who, having the advantage of numbers, did not +make the most of it. Had Grant been waging war for war's sake, or been +so enamored with his profession as to care more for its fine points than +for the success of his cause, he might have evolved some more subtle and +less brutal plan. But he had no love for soldiering and no sentimental +ideas whatever about the war. Common sense, with which he was liberally +supplied, told him that the only excuse for fighting was to uphold +principles which were vital to the national life and the only way to +have those principles upheld was to defeat those who opposed them and to +do this he determined to use all the resources at his command. + +The two men whom Fate or Chance had been drawing together for over two +hundred years were utterly different in appearance and manner, but in +other respects they were singularly alike. Lee was, at the time of their +meeting, already in his 58th year, his hair and beard were almost white, +but his calm, handsome face, clear eyes and ruddy complexion, made him +appear younger than he was. His bearing also was that of a young man, +for his erect, soldierly carriage showed his height to full advantage; +his well-knit figure was almost slight for a man standing over six +feet, and, mounted on his favorite horse "Traveller," he was the ideal +soldier. Grant was barely forty-two years of age, short of stature, +careless in dress and generally indifferent to appearances. His face, +though strong, was somewhat coarse, his manners were not polished and +he had nothing of the cultivation or charm which Lee so unmistakably +possessed. + +But though Grant thus reflected his Roundhead ancestors and Lee his +Cavalier descent, the contrast between them was mainly external. Both +were modest and courageous; both were self-contained; each had his +tongue and temper under complete control; each was essentially an +American in his ideas and ideals; each fought for a principle in which +he sincerely believed, and neither took the least delight in war. Had +they met in times of peace, it is not probable that they would have +become intimate friends, but it is certain that each would have +respected, if not admired the other for his fine qualities, and this was +undoubtedly their attitude toward each other from the beginning of the +struggle. + + + + +Chapter XXVI. -- A Duel to the Death + +For nearly two months after Grant assumed command no important move +was attempted by either the Union or the Confederate forces except in +Mississippi. Both sides realized that a desperate struggle was impending +and each needed all the time it could gain to prepare for the coming +fray. Heavy reenforcements were hurried to Grant, until the Army of the +Potomac under his immediate command included over 120,000 men; a hundred +thousand more were assembled at Chattanooga in charge of Sherman; and +two other forces of considerable size were formed to cooeperate with +Grant--one being entrusted to General Benjamin Butler and the other to +General Franz Sigel. + +To oppose this vast army Lee had less than 65,000 men in the Army of +Northern Virginia and the only other formidable Confederate force in +the field was that commanded by General Joseph Johnston, who, with some +53,000 men, was stationed in Georgia guarding the cotton states and +the far South. If these two armies could be captured or destroyed, +all organized resistance to the Union would be at an end, and Grant, +accordingly, determined to throw his entire weight upon them, sending +Sherman against Johnston, Butler against the City of Richmond and Sigel +against the rich Shenandoah Valley which supplied the Confederate armies +with food, while he himself attacked Lee with an overwhelming force. + +Never before had a Union general undertaken a campaign covering such a +vast extent of country and never before had such a united effort been +made to exhaust the armies and the resources of the South. With his own +forces threatened by superior numbers Lee would not be able to reenforce +Johnston with safety and, confronted by Sherman, Johnston would find it +impossible to send assistance to Lee. This promised to bring the war to +a speedy close, and the supporters of the Union redoubled their praises +of the Lieutenant-General as they began to understand his plan. Indeed, +the more he avoided publicity and applause and the more indifference +he showed for popular opinion, the more the newspapers and the general +public fawned upon him, and when, on May 3, 1864, he ordered his armies +to advance, the whole North was fairly aflame with enthusiasm. + +It was certainly a momentous occasion. Three years earlier Grant had +been utterly unknown to the country at large and the small group who +acknowledged his acquaintance had regarded him as a rather pitiful +failure, while the Government to whom he had offered his services had +ignored him altogether. Now, at his nod, hundreds of thousands of men +instantly sprang to arms and the most powerful armies that America +had ever seen moved forward in obedience to his will, Sherman marching +southward, Butler creeping toward Richmond, Sigel advancing into the +fertile Shenandoah Valley, and the Army of the Potomac crossing the +Rapidan River to renew its struggle with Lee. + +Lee had watched the elaborate preparations of his new antagonist with +keen interest and no little apprehension, for Grant's record as a +fighting man promised a duel to the death and the South had no more men. + +The situation was certainly serious but, anxious as he was, the +Confederate commander did not by any means despair. He was familiar with +every inch of the country through which Grant would have to advance and +the chances were that this would, sooner or later, give him not only +the advantage of position, but possibly the choice of weapons. With this +idea he allowed the Union forces to cross the Rapidan unopposed, hoping +that he would soon be able to drive them back and that the river would +then be as valuable as cavalry in hampering their retreat. Just beyond +the Rapidan lay the dense thickets and waste lands of scrub oak +and undergrowth known as the Wilderness, which had witnessed the +Chancellorsville surprise and virtually sealed the fate of Hooker's +army. If the Union forces advanced directly through this jungle, there +was more than a possibility that they might outflank their opponents +and gain the road to Richmond, but Lee scarcely dared hope that +his adversary would attempt so dangerous a route. Nevertheless, he +maneuvered to leave the trap undisturbed, and when he saw the Union +columns entering the forests he felt that they were actually being +delivered into his hands. Once in those tangled thickets he knew that +Grant's artillery and cavalry would be practically useless and without +them his superiority in numbers disappeared. Of course, it would be +impossible to conduct a scientific battle in such a region, for it +would virtually be fighting in the dark, but knowing that his men were +thoroughly familiar with the ground, Lee determined to hurl them upon +the advancing bluecoats, trusting to the gloom and the terrors of the +unknown to create confusion and panic in their ranks. + +But the men whom Grant commanded were no longer the inexperienced +volunteers who had been stampeded at Bull Run. They were veterans of +many campaigns and, though they staggered for a moment under the shock +of battle, they speedily rallied and fought with stubborn courage. The +conflict that followed was one of the most brutal recorded in the annals +of modern war. Whole regiments sprang at each other's throats, the men +fighting each other like animals; trees were cut down by the bullets +which tore through them from every direction; bursting shells set fire +to the woods, suffocating the wounded or burning them to death; wild +charges were made, ending in wilder stampedes or bloody repulses; the +crackle of flames rose high above the pandemonium of battle and dense +smoke-clouds drifted chokingly above this hideous carnival of death. +Thus for two days the armies staggered backward and forward with no +result save a horrible loss of life. Once the Union forces almost +succeeded in gaining a position which would have disposed of their +adversaries, but Lee saw the danger just in the nick of time and, +rushing a Texas brigade to the rescue, led the charge in person until +his troops recognized him and forced him to retire. + +It was May 7, 1864, when this blind slaughter known as the Battle of +the Wilderness ceased, but by that time nearly 18,000 Union soldiers and +12,000 Confederates lay upon the field. Lee could not claim a victory +but he still held his ground and he felt confident that Grant would fall +back behind the Rapidan River to recuperate his shattered forces. No +Union commander, thus far, had tarried long on Virginian soil after +such a baptism of blood, and when the news that Grant's columns were +retreating reached the Confederate commander he breathed a sigh of +thanksgiving and relief. + +To the veterans who had served under McClellan, Pope, Burnside and +Hooker, retreats were a wretchedly familiar experience, but they had not +been long on the road before they realized that they were not retreating +but were marching southward. As the truth of this dawned upon the +disheartened columns they burst into frantic cheers for Grant and +pressed forward with springy steps, shouting and singing for joy. + +A less able commander would have been fatally misled by Grant's apparent +retreat, but Lee knew that he might again attempt to swing around his +right flank and edge toward Richmond by way of Spotsylvania, and to +guard against this a body of troops had been ordered to block that road. +Therefore, by the time Grant began his great turning movement, Lee was +planted squarely across his path and another series of battles followed. +Here the Union commander was able to make some use of his cavalry +and artillery, but the Confederates offset this by fighting behind +intrenchments and they repulsed charge after charge with fearful +slaughter. Again, as at the Battle of the Wilderness, the gray line was +pierced, this time at a point known as the "Bloody Angle" or "Hell's +Half Acre," and twice Lee sprang forward to lead a desperate charge to +recover the lost ground. But each time the troops refused to advance +until their beloved leader retired to a point of safety, and when he +yielded they whirled forward, sweeping everything before them. + +These charges saved the battle of Spotsylvania for the Confederates. But +though Lee had again blocked his opponent, the fact that he had thrice +had to rally his troops at the peril of his life showed that he had +been harder pressed than in any of his other Virginia campaigns. +Nevertheless, when the last furious attack had been repulsed and Grant +began moving sullenly away, it seemed as though he had at last been +compelled to abandon the campaign. But the wearied Confederates had yet +to learn that their terrible opponent was a man who did not know when +he was beaten, for in spite of his awful losses he had written his +government May 11, 1864, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it +takes all summer," and his army, instead of retreating, continued to +move southward, crossing the North Anna River and circling once more +toward the left flank. + +Again Grant was on the road to Richmond, but in crossing the North Anna +River he left an opening between the two wings of his army and before he +could close it Lee threw his whole force into the breach and, completely +cutting off one part of the Union army from the other, held both firmly +in check. This masterly move might have brought Grant's campaign to a +disastrous end, but just as he was planning to take full advantage of +it, Lee fell ill and during his absence from the field Grant made his +first backward move, recrossing the North Anna River and, bringing the +two wings of his army together, rescued it from its perilous position. + +The moment he reached a point of safety, however, the persistent +commander recommenced his march by the left flank, sidling once more +toward Richmond until he reached Cold Harbor, only eight miles from the +Confederate capital. Here Lee once more interposed his battered forces, +strongly intrenching them in a position that fairly defied attack. With +any other adversary against him he would have concluded that the game +was won, for by all the rules of war the Union army was completely +balked and could not avoid a retreat. But Grant was a man of a different +caliber from any he had encountered heretofore. In spite of checks and +disasters and unheard-of slaughter he had pushed inexorably forward; +foiled in front he had merely turned aside to hew another bloody path. +To him defeat only seemed to mean delay, and apparently he could not be +shaken from his dogged purpose, no matter what the cost. At Cold Harbor, +however, the Confederate position was so strong that to assault it was +madness, and Lee could not believe that even his grim opponent would +resort to such a suicidal attempt. But retreat or attack offered no +choice to Grant's mind, and on June 2, 1864, the troops were fiercely +hurled against the Confederate works, only to be repulsed with fearful +slaughter. A few hours later orders were issued to renew the assault, +and then postponed for a day. + +That delay gave the soldiers an opportunity to understand the desperate +nature of the work that lay before them and, realizing that charging +against murderous batteries and trenches meant rushing into the jaws of +death, they offered a silent protest. Not a man refused to obey orders, +not one fell from his place in the line, but to their coats they sewed +strips of cloth bearing their names and addresses so that their bodies +might be identified upon the field. + +This dramatic spectacle might well have warned their commander of the +hopelessness of his attempt, but fixed in his resolve to thrust his +opponent from his path, he gave the fatal order to charge, and twenty +minutes later 3,000 of his best troops fell before the smoking trenches +and the balance reeled back aghast at the useless sacrifice. This +horrifying slaughter, which Grant himself confessed was a grievous +blunder, brought the first stage of his campaign to a close. In but +little over a month he had lost nearly 55,000 men--almost as many as +Lee had had in his entire army, and almost in sight of the spires of +Richmond his adversary held him securely at arm's length. + +A wave of horror, indignation and disappointment, swept over the North. +Another campaign had proved a failure. There were, however, two men who +did not agree with this conclusion. One was Grant, pouring over the maps +showing the movements of all his armies. The other was Lee, looking in +vain for reenforcements to fill the gaps in his fast thinning lines. + + + + +Chapter XXVII. -- Check and Countercheck + +The six-weeks' campaign in Virginia had been quite sufficient to check +all enthusiasm for Grant, but the fact that he was no longer a +popular hero did not trouble him at all. Indeed, he displayed the same +indifference to the storm of angry criticism that he had shown for the +salvos of applause. He had made no claims or boasts before he took the +field and he returned no answers to the accusations and complaints after +his apparent failures. Had he posed before the public as a hero or been +tempted to prophesy a speedy triumph for his army, the humiliation and +disappointment might have driven him to resign from the command. But +he had recognized the difficulty of his task from the outset, modestly +accepting it with no promise save that he would do his best, and he +silently resolved to pursue the campaign he had originally mapped out in +spite of all reverses. + +Certainly, he required all his calmness and steadfastness to overcome +his discouragement and disgust at the manner in which the cooeperating +armies had been handled. In the Shenandoah Valley Sigel had proved +utterly incompetent and the Confederates, instead of having been driven +from that important storehouse, had tightened their hold upon it. +Moreover, Butler, who was supposed to threaten Richmond while Grant +fought Lee, had made a sorry mess of that part of the program. In fact +he had maneuvered in such a ridiculous fashion that he and about 35,000 +troops were soon cooped up by a far smaller force of Confederates who +held them as a cork holds the contents of a bottle; and last, but not +least, the Army of Potomac lay badly mutilated before the impassable +intrenchments of Lee. + +In one particular, however, Grant's expectations bade fair to be +realized, for Sherman was steadily pushing his way through Georgia, +driving Johnston before him, and inflicting terrible damage upon the +country through which he passed. As Grant watched this triumphant +advance he silently resolved upon another move. The north or front door +of Richmond was closed and firmly barred. There was nothing to be gained +by further battering at that portal. But the southern or rear door +had not yet been thoroughly tried and upon that he concluded to make +a determined assault. To do this it would be necessary to renew his +movement around his opponent's right flank by crossing the formidable +James River--a difficult feat at any time, but double difficult at that +moment, owing to the fact that Butler's "bottled" force might be crushed +by a Confederate attack while the hazardous passage of the river was +being effected. Nevertheless, he decided to risk this bold stroke, and +during the night of June 12, 1864, about ten days after the repulse at +Cold Harbor, the great movement was begun. + +Meanwhile Lee, confident that he had completely checked his opponent, +but disappointed that he had not forced him to retreat, determined to +drive him away by carrying the war into the North and threatening the +Federal capital. That he should have been able to attempt this in the +midst of a campaign deliberately planned to destroy him, affords some +of the indication of the brilliant generalship he had displayed. But +it does not fully reflect his masterful daring. At the outset of the +campaign the Union forces had outnumbered him two to one and its losses +had been offset by reenforcements, while every man that had fallen in +the Confederate ranks had left an empty space. It is highly probable, +therefore, that at the moment he resolved to turn the tables on his +adversary and transform the campaign against Richmond into a campaign +against Washington, he had not much more than one man to his opponent's +three. Nevertheless, in the face of these overwhelming numbers, he +maintained a bold front towards Grant and detached General Jubal Early +with 20,000 men to the Shenandoah Valley, with orders to clear that +region of Union troops, cross the Potomac River and then march straight +on Washington. + +It was at this moment that Grant began creeping cautiously away toward +the rear door of Richmond. To keep a vigilant enemy in entire ignorance +of such a tremendous move was, of course, impossible, but the system and +discipline which he had instilled into his army almost accomplished the +feat. Indeed, so rapidly and silently did the troops move, so perfect +were the arrangements for transporting their baggage and supplies, +so completely were the details of the whole undertaking ordered and +systematized, that over a hundred thousand men, infantry, cavalry, and +artillery, with their horses, hospital and wagon trains, and all the +paraphernalia of a vast army virtually faded away, and when Lee gazed +from his intrenchments on June 13, 1864, there was no sign of his +opponent and he did not discover where he had gone for fully four days. + +In the meantime, Grant had thrown his entire army across the James +River and was advancing, horse and foot, on Petersburg, the key to the +approach to Richmond from the south, and Butler, whose troops had been +extricated from their difficulties, was ordered to seize it. Petersburg +was at that moment wholly unprepared to resist a strong attack. Indeed, +there were only a handful of men guarding the fortification, the capture +of which would case the fall of Richmond, but Butler was not the man to +take advantage of this great opportunity. On the contrary, he delayed +his advance and otherwise displayed such wretched judgment that the +Confederates had time to rush reenforcements to the rescue, and when +Grant arrived on the scene the intrenchments were strongly occupied. +Notwithstanding this the Union commander ordered a vigorous assault, and +for three days the troops were hurled against the breastworks without +result. The last attack was made on June 18, 1864, but by this time +10,000 Union soldiers had been sacrificed and Lee had arrived in person +with strong support. Grant accordingly, abandoning his efforts to carry +the place by storm, began to close in upon it for a grimly sullen siege. + +Meanwhile, General Early, to whom Lee had entrusted his counter-move, +was sweeping away the Federal forces in the Shenandoah Valley with +resistless fury, and suddenly, to the intense surprise and mortification +of the whole North, advanced upon Washington, threatening it with +capture. Washington was almost as completely unprepared for resistance +as Petersburg had been, its defenses being manned by only a small force +mainly composed of raw recruits and invalid soldiers, while outside +the city there was but one body of troops near enough to oppose the +Confederate advance. That little army, however, was commanded by General +Lew Wallace, later the famous author of "Ben Hur," and he had the +intelligence to see that he might at least delay Early by offering +battle and that gaining time might prove as valuable as gaining a +victory. Accordingly, he threw himself across the Confederate's path +and, though roughly handled and at last driven from the field, he hung +on long enough to accomplish his purpose and although his adversary +attempted to make up for lost time by rapid marching he did not succeed. +This undoubtedly saved Washington from capture, for shortly after +Early appeared on the 7th Street Road leading to the capital, the +reenforcements which Grant had rushed forward reached the city, and +before any attack on the intrenchments was attempted they were fully +defended and practically unassailable. Seeing this, Early retreated with +the Union troops following in half-hearted pursuit. + +It was the 12th of July, 1864, when, with a sigh of intense relief, +Washington saw the backs of the retreating Confederates, but its +satisfaction at its escape was mingled with indignation against Grant +for having left it open to attack. Indeed, he was regarded by many +people as the greatest failure of all the Union commanders, for he had +lost more men in sixty days than McClellan had lost in all his campaigns +without getting any nearer to Richmond, and by the end of July another +lamentable failure was recorded against him. + +In the intrenchments facing Petersburg lay the 48th Pennsylvania +Volunteers, largely composed of miners from the coal regions of that +state. Late in June Colonel Pleasants of this regiment had submitted a +plan whereby his men were to dig a tunnel to a point directly under one +of the Confederate forts, plant a gunpowder mine there and blow a +breach in the defenses through which troops could be poured and the town +carried by assault. The scheme was plausible, provided the tunnel could +be bored and Grant gave his consent, with the result that within a month +an underground passage over 500 feet long was completed, a mine was +planted with four tons of powder and elaborate preparations made +for storming the Confederate works. Grant's orders were that all +obstructions in front of the Union lines should be removed to enable the +troops to charge the moment the explosion occurred, and that they +should be rushed forward without delay until they were all within the +Confederate lines. Accordingly, in the dead of night on July 29th, the +assaulting columns were moved into position and when everything was in +apparent readiness the signal was given to explode the mine. But though +the match was applied no explosion occurred, and in the awful hush that +followed Lieut. Jacob Douty and Sergeant Henry Rees volunteered to crawl +into the tunnel and see what was wrong. To enter the passage at that +moment was almost defying death, but the two men took their lives in +their hands and, creeping in, discovered that the fuse had smoldered +and gone out. They then relit it and made their escape just as a fearful +explosion rent the air and great masses of earth, stones and timbers, +intermingled with human bodies, leaped toward the sky. + +For a moment the waiting troops watched this terrifying spectacle +and then, as the cloud of wreckage apparently swerved toward them +threatening to descend and bury them beneath it, they fell back in great +confusion and some time elapsed before order was restored and the charge +begun. But Grant's orders to clear their path had not been obeyed, and +the charging troops had to climb over their own breastworks, causing +more delay and confusion. Finally, however, the leading brigades reached +the great excavation torn by the mine, and there they halted awaiting +further orders. But no orders came, for their terror-stricken commander +had sought safety in a bomb-proof and when his hiding place was +discovered the miserable cur merely mumbled something about "moving +forward" and remained cowering in his refuge. Meanwhile, other regiments +rushed forward, tumbling in upon one another, until the chasm was +choked with men upon whom the Confederates began to pour shot, shell and +canister. From that moment everything was lost and at last orders came +from Grant to rescue the struggling mass of men from the awful death +trap into which they had been plunged, but despite all exertions fully +4,000 were killed, wounded or captured. + +Again his subordinates had blundered terribly but Grant accepted the +responsibility and assumed the blame, waiting patiently for the hour, +then near at hand, when he would find commanders he could trust to carry +out his plans. + + + + +Chapter XXVIII. -- The Beginning of the End + +The right man to conduct the Shenandoah campaign was already in the Army +of the Potomac, but it was not until about a week after the failure of +the Petersburg mine that circumstances enabled Grant to place General +Philip Sheridan in charge of that important task. + +Sheridan, like Sherman, had served with Grant in the West and had +developed into a brilliant cavalry leader. Indeed, he was the only man +in the Northern armies whose record could be compared with that of Jeb +Stuart and many other great cavalry commanders in the South. But Grant +felt that Sheridan could handle an entire army as well as he had handled +the cavalry alone and he soon showed himself fully worthy of this +confidence, for from the moment he took over the command of the Union +forces in the Shenandoah Valley, the Confederates were compelled to +fight for it as they had never fought before. + +Up to this time, the war had been conducted with comparatively little +destruction of private property on either side. But the moment had +now arrived for harsher measures, for Sherman had occupied Atlanta on +September 2, 1864, and was preparing to march to the sea coast and cut +the Confederacy in two. If Grant's plan of depriving Lee of the fertile +valley to the north was to be put in operation, there was no time +to lose. Sheridan, accordingly, at once proceeded to attack the +Confederates with the utmost vigor, defeating them in two engagements +at Winchester and Fisher's Hill, and following up this success by laying +waste the fields and ruthlessly destroying all the stores of grain and +provisions which might prove useful to Lee's army. For a month or more +he continued to sweep through the country practically unchecked. But +on October 19.1864, during his absence, his army was surprised and +furiously attacked by General Early's men at Cedar Creek, and before +long they had the Union troops in a perilous position which threatened +to end in their destruction and the recapture of the entire valley. + +Sheridan was at Winchester on his way to the front from Washington when +the news of this impending disaster reached him and, mounting his horse, +he dashed straight across country for the scene of action. He was then, +however, fully twenty miles from the field and there seemed but little +chance of his reaching it any time to be of any service. Nevertheless, +he spurred forward at a breakneck pace and his splendid horse, +responding gamely, fairly flew over the ground, racing along mile after +mile at killing speed in a lather of foam and sweat, until the +battle field was reached just as the Union troops came reeling back, +panic-stricken, under cover of a thin line of troops who had at last +succeeded in making a stand. + +Instantly, the General was among the fugitives ordering them to turn and +follow him and inspired by his presence, they wheeled as he dashed down +their broken lines and, madly cheering, hurled themselves upon their +pursuers. Completely surprised by this unexpected recovery, the +Confederates faltered and the Union troops, gathering force as they +charged, rolled them back with irresistible fury and finally swept them +completely from the field. Indeed, Early's force was so badly shattered +and scattered by this overwhelming defeat that it virtually abandoned +the Valley and Sheridan continued his work of destruction almost +unopposed, until the whole region was so barren that, as he reported, a +crow flying across it would have to carry his own provisions or starve +to death. + +Meanwhile, Sherman had begun to march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, +where he intended to get in touch with the navy guarding the coast and +then sweep northward to Grant. Behind him lay the Confederate army, +formerly commanded by General Joseph Johnston but now led by General +Hood, a daring officer who was expected to retrieve Johnston's failure +by some brilliant feat of arms. Whether he would attempt this by +following Sherman and attacking him at the first favorable moment +or take advantage of his departure to turn north and play havoc with +Tennessee and the region thus exposed to attack, was uncertain. To meet +either of these moves Sherman sent a substantial part of his army to +General Thomas at Nashville, Tennessee, and swung off with the rest of +his troops toward the sea. Hood instantly advanced against Thomas, +and Grant at Petersburg, closely watching the movement saw a +great opportunity to dispose of one of the Confederate armies. He, +accordingly, ordered Thomas to attack with his whole strength as soon as +Hood reached Nashville, but although the Confederates reached that +point considerably weakened by a partial defeat inflicted on them by +a retreating Union column, Thomas delayed his assault. Days of anxious +waiting followed and then Grant hurried General Logan, one of his most +trusted officers, to the scene of action with orders to take over the +command, unless Thomas immediately obeyed his instructions. In the +meantime, however, Thomas, slow but sure, had completed his preparations +and, hurling himself upon Hood with a vastly superior force, pursued his +retreating columns (Dec. 16, 1864) until they were split into fragments, +never again to be reunited as a fighting force. + +It was not until this practical annihilation of Hood that the North +began to realize how far reaching and complete Grant's plans were. +But that event and the Shenandoah campaign made it clear that he +had determined that no army worthy of the name should be left to +the Confederacy when he finally closed in upon Lee, so that with his +destruction or surrender there should be no excuse for prolonging the +war. It was in furtherance of this plan that Sherman left ruin and +desolation behind him as he blazed his way up from the South. The +inhabitants of the region through which he was marching had, up to this +time, been living in perfect security and Sherman intended to make war +so hideous that they would have no desire to prolong the contest. He, +accordingly, tore up the railroads, heating the rails and then twisting +them about trees so that they could never be used again, burned public +buildings and private dwellings, allowed his army to live on whatever +food they could find in the houses, stores or barns, and generally made +it a terror to all who lay in the broad path he was sweeping towards +Petersburg. + +Grant then had Lee fairly caught. His only possible chances of +prolonging the contest lay in taking refuge in the mountains or joining +his forces with the remnants of Hood's army which had been gathered +together and again entrusted with other troops to the command of General +Joseph Johnston. Had it been possible to do this, nothing practical +would have been achieved, for he had less than 30,000 effective men and +Johnston's whole force did not amount to much more than 30,000, while +Grant, Sherman and Sheridan together had a quarter of a million men +under arms. From a military standpoint Lee knew that the situation was +hopeless, but until the authorities who had placed him in the field gave +up the cause he felt in duty bound to continue the fight to the bitter +end. Had the Union army been his only opponent, it is possible that +he might have succeeded in escaping the rings of steel which Grant was +daily riveting around him. But he had to fight hunger, and from the day +that Sheridan mastered the Shenandoah Valley and Sherman cut off all +supplies from the South starvation stared him in the face. + +Meanwhile, his troops, though almost reduced to skeletons and clothed +in rags, confidently believed that in spite of everything he would find +some way of leading them out of Grant's clutches and, inspired by this +implicit faith, they hurled themselves again and again upon the masses +of troops which were steadily closing around them. But though they +frequently checked the advancing columns and sometimes even threw them +back, inflicting heavy losses and taking many prisoners, the blue lines +soon crept forward again, closing up gap after gap with a resistless +tide of men. At last the road to the west leading toward the mountains +beyond Lynchburg alone remained open. But to avail himself of this +Lee knew that he would have to abandon Petersburg and Richmond and he +hesitated to take this step; while Grant, seeing the opening and fearing +that his opponent would take advantage of it, strained every nerve to +get his troops into a position where they could block the road. + +Such was the condition of affairs at the end of March, 1865, but neither +the starving soldiers in the Confederate trenches nor the people of +Richmond or Petersburg imagined that the end was desperately near. While +"Marse Robert," as Lee's men affectionately called him, was in command +they felt that no real danger could come nigh them, and their idol was +outwardly as calm as in the hour of his greatest triumph. + + + + +Chapter XXIX. -- At Bay + + +It would be impossible to imagine a more hopeless situation than +that which had confronted Lee for many months. To guard the line of +intrenchments stretching around Petersburg and Richmond for more than +thirty-five miles, he had less than 30,000 effective men, and starvation +and disease were daily thinning their impoverished ranks; the soldiers +were resorting to the corn intended for the horses, and the cavalry were +obliged to disperse through the country seeking fodder for their animals +in the wasted fields; the defenders of the trenches, barefooted and +in rags, lay exposed to the cold and wet, day and night; there were no +medicines for the sick and no great supply of ammunition for the guns. + +Perhaps no one but Lee fully realized to what desperate straits his +army had been reduced. Certainly his opponents were ignorant of the real +condition of affairs or they would have smashed his feeble defenses at +a blow, and the fact that he held over a hundred thousand troops at bay +for months with a skeleton army shows how skillfully he placed his men. + +But though his brilliant career threatened to end in defeat and +disaster, no thought of himself ever crossed Lee's mind. Regardless of +his own comfort and convenience, he devoted himself day and night to +relieving the suffering of his men, who jestingly called themselves +"Lee's Miserables," but grimly stuck to their posts with unshaken faith +in their beloved chief who, in the midst of confusion and helplessness, +remained calm and resourceful, never displaying irritation, never +blaming anyone for mistakes, but courageously attempting to make the +best of everything and finding time, in spite of all distractions, for +the courtesy and the thoughtfulness of a gentleman unafraid. + +His letters to his wife and children during these perilous days reveal +no anxiety save for the comfort of his men, and no haste except to +provide for their wants. At home his wife--confined to an invalid's +chair--was busily knitting socks for the soldiers, and to her he wrote +in the face of impending disaster: + + +..."After sending my note this morning I received from the express +office a bag of socks. You will have to send down your offerings as soon +as you can, and bring your work to a close, for I think General Grant +will move against us soon--within a week if nothing prevents--and no man +can tell what will be the result; but trusting to a merciful God, who +does not always give the battle to the strong, I pray we may not be +overwhelmed. I shall, however, endeavor to do my duty and fight to the +last. Should it be necessary to abandon our position to prevent being +surrounded, what will you do? You must consider the question and make up +your mind. It is a fearful condition and we must rely for guidance and +protection upon a kind Providence...." + + +Shortly after this letter was written Lee made a desperate effort to +force his adversary to loosen his grip but though the exhausted and +starved troops attacked with splendid courage, they could not pierce the +solid walls of infantry and fell back with heavy losses. Then Sheridan, +who had been steadily closing in from the Shenandoah, swung 10,000 +sabres into position and the fate of Petersburg was practically sealed. +But, face to face with this calamity, Lee calmly wrote his wife: + + +"I have received your note with a bag of socks. I return the bag and +receipt. I have put in the bag General Scott's autobiography which +I thought you might like to read. The General, of course, stands out +prominently and does not hide his light under a bushel, but he appears +the bold, sagacious, truthful man that he is. I enclose a note from +little Agnes. I shall be very glad to see her to-morrow but cannot +recommend pleasure trips now...." + + +At every point Grant was tightening his hold upon the imprisoned +garrison and difficulties were crowding fast upon their commander, but +he exhibited neither excitement nor alarm. Bending all his energies upon +preparations for a retreat, he carefully considered the best plan for +moving his troops and supplying their needs on the march, quietly giving +his orders to meet emergencies, but allowing no one to see even a shadow +of despair on his face. Concerning the gravity of the situation he +neither deceived himself nor attempted to deceive others who were +entitled to know it, and with absolute accuracy he prophesied the +movements of his adversary long before they were made. + +..."You may expect Sheridan to move up the Valley," he wrote the +Confederate Secretary of War.... "Grant, I think, is now preparing to +draw out by his left with the intent of enveloping me. He may wait till +his other columns approach nearer, or he may be preparing to anticipate +my withdrawal. I cannot tell yet.... Everything of value should be +removed from Richmond. It is of the first importance to save all the +powder. The cavalry and artillery of the army are still scattered for +want of provender and our supply and ammunition trains, which ought to +be with the army in case of a sudden movement, are absent collecting +provisions and forage. You will see to what straits we are reduced; but +I trust to work out." + +At last, on March 29th, 1865, Grant pushed forward 50,000 cavalry and +infantry to execute the very move which Lee had outlined and for which +he was as thoroughly prepared as it was possible to be with the men he +had on hand. But to check this advance which threatened to surround his +army and cut off his retreat, he had to withdraw the troops guarding the +defenses of Petersburg, abandoning some of the intrenchments altogether +and leaving nothing much more formidable than a skirmish line anywhere +along his front. Even then he could not stop the onrush of the Union +troops, which, under Sheridan, circled his right on April 1st and drove +back his men in the fierce engagement known as the battle of Five Forks. +With the news of this success Grant promptly ordered an assault against +the intrenchments and his troops tore through the almost defenseless +lines in several places, encountering little or no resistance. + +Petersburg was not yet taken, but Lee immediately saw that to protect +it further would be to sacrifice his entire army. He, therefore, sent a +dispatch to Richmond, advising the immediate evacuation of the city. "I +see no prospect of doing more than hold our position here till night. +I am not certain that I can do that," he wrote. But he did hold on till +the Confederate authorities had made their escape, and then on the night +of April 2nd he abandoned the capital which he had successfully defended +for four years and started on a hazardous retreat. + +The one chance of saving his army lay in reaching the mountains to the +west, before Grant could bar the road, but his men were in no condition +for swift marching and the provision train which he had ordered to meet +him at Amelia Court House failed to put in an appearance, necessitating +a halt. Every moment was precious and the delay was exasperating, but he +did his best to provide some sort of food for his famished men and again +sent them on their way. + +By this time, however, the Union troops were hot upon their trail and +soon their rear-guard was fighting desperately to hold the pursuit in +check. Now and again they shook themselves free, but the moment they +paused for food or rest they were overtaken and the running fight went +on. Then, little by little, the pursuing columns began to creep past +the crumbling rear-guard; cavalry pounced on the foragers searching the +countryside for food and captured the lumbering provision-wagons and the +railroad supply trains which had been ordered to meet the fleeting army, +while hundreds upon hundreds of starving men dropped from the ranks as +they neared the bypaths leading to their homes. + +Still some thousands held together, many begging piteously for food at +every house they passed and growing weaker with each step, but turning +again and again with a burst of their old spirit to beat back the +advance-guard of the forces that were slowly enfolding them. + +"There was as much gallantry displayed by some of the Confederates in +these little engagements as was displayed at any time during the war, +notwithstanding the sad defeats of the past week," wrote Grant many +years later, and it was this splendid courage in the face of hardship +and disaster that enabled the remnants of the once invincible army to +keep up their exhausting flight. As they neared Appomattox Court House, +however, the blue battalions were closing in on them from every side +like a pack of hounds in full cry of a long-hunted quarry and escape was +practically cut off. + +For five days Grant had been in the saddle personally conducting the +pursuit with restless energy, and he knew that he was now in a position +to strike a crushing blow, but instead of ordering a merciless attack, +he sent the following letter to Lee: + + +"Headquarters Armies of the U.S. "5 P.M. Apr. 7, 1865. + +"General R. E. Lee,--Commanding Confederate States Armies. + +"The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of +further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this +struggle. I feel that it is so and regard it as my duty to shift from +myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of +you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States Army known +as the Army of Northern Virginia. + +"U. S. Grant, + +"Lieut. General." + + +Meanwhile the retreating columns staggered along, their pace growing +slower and slower with every mile, and at last a courier arrived bearing +Lee's reply. + + +"General: + +"I have received your note of this day. Though not entertaining the +opinion you express on the hopelessness of further resistance on the +part of the Army of Northern Virginia I reciprocate your desire to +avoid useless effusion of blood and therefore, before considering your +proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender. + +"R. E. Lee, + +"General." + + +Grant promptly responded that peace being his great desire, there +was only one condition he would insist upon and that was that the +surrendered men and officers should not again take up arms against the +United States until properly exchanged. + +But Lee was not yet ready to yield and continuing to move forward with +his faithful veterans, he sent a dignified reply, declining to surrender +but suggesting a meeting between himself and Grant, with the idea of +seeing if some agreement could not be reached for making peace between +the two sections of the country. + +This was not the answer that Grant had hoped for, but he had too much +admiration for his gallant adversary to ride rough shod over him when he +held him completely in his power, and while he gave the necessary orders +to prepare for closing in, he sent another courteous note to Lee dated +April 9, 1865: + + +"General. + +"Your note of yesterday is received. I have no authority to treat on the +subject of peace; the meeting proposed for 10 A.M. today could lead to +no good. I will state, however, General, that I am equally anxious for +peace with yourself and the whole North entertains the same feeling. +The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood.... Seriously +hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of +another life, I subscribe myself, etc., + +"U. S. Grant, + +"Lt. General." + + +The courier bearing this message dashed off and disappeared and the +chase continued, masses of blue infantry pressing forward under cover of +darkness and overlapping the weary columns of gray that stumbled on +with lagging steps. Meanwhile, the morning of April 9th dawned and Lee +determined to make one more desperate effort at escape. Behind him an +overwhelming force was crowding and threatening to crush his rear-guard; +on either flank the blue-coated lines were edging closer and closer; but +in front there appeared to be only a thin screen of cavalry which might +be pierced; and beyond lay the mountains and safety. At this cavalry +then he hurled his horsemen with orders to cut their way through and +force an opening for the rest of the army, who vigorously supported the +attack. It was, indeed, a forlorn hope that was thus entrusted to the +faithful squadrons, but they responded with matchless dash and spirit, +tearing a wide gap through the opposing cavalry and capturing guns and +prisoners. Then they suddenly halted and surveyed the field with dumb +despair. Behind the parted screen of horsemen lay a solid wall of blue +infantry arrayed in line of battle and hopelessly blocking the road. +One glance was enough to show them what Grant's night march had +accomplished, and the baffled riders wheeled and reported the situation +to their chief. + +Lee listened calmly to the news which was not wholly unexpected. There +was still a chance that a portion of his force might escape, if he was +willing to let them attempt to fight their way out against awful odds, +but no thought of permitting such a sacrifice crossed his mind. + +"Then there is nothing left for me but to go and see Gen. Grant," he +observed to those around him. + +But desperate as their plight had been for days, his officers were +unprepared for this announcement. + +"Oh, General!" one of them protested, "What will history say of the +surrender of the army in the field?" + +"Yes," he replied. "I know they will say hard things of us; they will +not understand how we were overwhelmed by numbers. But that is not the +question, Colonel. The question is, is it right to surrender this army? +If it is right, then I will take all the responsibility." + +No response was offered by the little group and turning to one of his +staff, Lee quietly gave an order. A few moments later white flags were +fluttering at the head of the halted columns and an officer rode out +slowly from the lines bearing a note to Grant. + + + + +Chapter XXX. -- The Surrender + + +While Lee's messenger was making his way toward the Union lines, +Grant was riding rapidly to the front where his forces had foiled the +Confederate cavalry. For more than a week he had been constantly in the +saddle, moving from one point on his lines to another and begrudging +even the time for food and sleep in his efforts to hasten the pursuit. +But the tremendous physical and mental strain to which he had subjected +himself had already begun to tell upon him, and he had passed the +previous night under a surgeon's care endeavoring to put himself in fit +condition for the final struggle which Lee's refusal to surrender led +him to expect. The dawn of April 9th, however, found him suffering with +a raging headache, and well-nigh exhausted after his sleepless night he +rode forward feeling more like going to the hospital than taking active +command in the field. He had already advanced some distance and was +within two or three miles of Appomattox Court House, when an officer +overtook him and handed him these lines from Lee: + + +"Apr. 9, 1865. + +"General: + +"I received your note of this morning on the picket line whither I had +come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in +your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army. +I now ask an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your +letter of yesterday for that purpose. + +"R. E. Lee, + +"General." + + +The moment Grant's eyes rested on these words his headache disappeared, +and instantly writing the following reply, he put spurs to his horse and +galloped on: + + +"Apr. 9, 1865. + +"Your note of this date is but this moment (11:50 A. M.) received in +consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburg Road to +the Farmville and Lynchburg Road. I am at this writing about four miles +west of Walker's Church and will push forward to the front for the +purpose of meeting you. Notice sent to me on this road where you wish +the interview to take place will meet me. + +"U. S. Grant, + +"Lt. General." + + +The troops under Sheridan were drawn up in line of battle when Grant +arrived on the scene and his officers, highly excited at the favorable +opportunity for attacking the Confederates, urged him to allow no +cessation of hostilities until the surrender was actually made. But +Grant would not listen to anything of this sort, and directing that he +be at once conducted to General Lee, followed an orderly who led him +toward a comfortable two-story, brick dwelling in Appomattox village +owned by a Mr. McLean who had placed it at the disposal of the +Confederate commander. + +Mounting the broad piazza steps, Grant entered the house, followed by +his principal generals and the members of his staff, and was ushered +into a room at the left of the hall, where Lee, accompanied by only one +officer, awaited him. + +As the two commanders shook hands the Union officers passed toward the +rear of the room and remained standing apart. Then Lee motioned Grant +to a chair placed beside a small marble-topped table, at the same time +seating himself near another table close at hand. Neither man exhibited +the slightest embarrassment and Grant, recalling that they had served +together during the Mexican War, reminded Lee of this fact, saying that +he remembered him very distinctly as General Scott's Chief of Staff but +did not suppose that an older and superior officer would remember him. +But Lee did remember him and in a few minutes he was chatting quietly +with his former comrade about the Mexican campaign and old army days. + +It would be impossible to imagine a greater contrast than that afforded +by the two men as they thus sat conversing. Lee wore a spotless gray +uniform, long cavalry boots, spurs and gauntlets, and carried the +beautiful sword given to him by Virginia, presenting altogether a most +impressive appearance; and his tall, splendidly proportioned figure and +grave dignified bearing heightened the effect. His well-trimmed hair and +beard were almost snow white, adding distinction to his calm, handsome +face without suggesting age, and his clear eyes and complexion and erect +carriage were remarkable for a man of fifty-eight. Grant was barely +forty-three, and his hair and beard were brown with a touch of gray, +but his face was worn and haggard from recent illness, and his thickset +figure and drooping shoulders were those of a man well advanced in +years. For uniform he wore the blouse of a private, to which the +shoulder straps of a lieutenant-general had been stitched; his trousers +were tucked into top boots worn without spurs; he carried no sword and +from head to foot he was splashed with mud. + +He, himself, was conscious of the strange contrast between his +appearance and that of his faultlessly attired opponent, for he +apologized for his unkempt condition, explaining that he had come +straight from active duty in the field, and then as the conversation +regarding Mexico continued he grew so pleasantly interested that the +object of the meeting almost passed from his mind, and it was Lee who +first recalled it to his attention. + +He then called for pencil and paper, and without having previously +mapped out any phrases in his mind, he began to draft an informal letter +to Lee, outlining the terms of surrender. Nothing could have been more +clear and simple than the agreement which he drafted, nor could the +document have been more free from anything tending to humiliate or +offend his adversary. It provided merely for the stacking of guns, the +parking of cannon and the proper enrollment of the Confederate troops, +all of whom were to remain unmolested as long as they obeyed the laws +and did not again take up arms against the Government, and it concluded +with the statement that the side arms of the officers were not to be +surrendered and that all such officers who owned their own horses should +be permitted to retain them. + +Lee watched the writing of this letter in silence, and when Grant handed +it to him he read it slowly, merely remarking as he returned it that the +provision allowing the officers to keep their horses would have a happy +effect, but that in the Confederate army the cavalry and artillerymen +likewise owned their own horses. That hint was quite sufficient for +Grant, who immediately agreed to make the concession apply to all the +soldiers, whether officers or privates, observing as he again handed the +paper to Lee that his men would probably find their horses useful in the +spring ploughing when they returned to their farms. Lee responded that +the concession would prove most gratifying to his soldiers, and, turning +to his secretary, dictated a short, simple reply to his opponent, +accepting his conditions. + +While these letters were being copied in ink, Grant introduced his +officers to Lee and strove to make the situation as easy as possible +for him. Indeed, throughout the whole interview he displayed the most +admirable spirit, tactfully conceding all that his adversary might +reasonably have asked, thus saving him from the embarrassment of making +any request and generally exhibiting a delicate courtesy and generosity +which astonished those who judged him merely by his rough exterior. But +Grant, though uncouth in appearance and unpolished in manners, was a +gentleman in the best sense of the word, and he rose to the occasion +with an ease and grace that left nothing to be desired. + +As soon as the letters were signed the Confederate commander shook his +late opponent's hand and turned to leave the room. The Union officers +followed him to the door as he departed but tactfully refrained from +accompanying him further and attended only by his secretary, he passed +down the broad steps of the piazza, gravely saluted the group of +officers gathered there who respectfully rose at his approach, mounted +his old favorite "Traveller" and rode slowly toward his own lines. + +By this time the news of the surrender had reached the Union army and +cannon began booming a salute in honor of the joyful tidings. But +Grant instantly stopped this and ordered that there should be no +demonstrations or exultation of any kind which would offend Lee's men. +In the same generous spirit he kept his men strictly within their own +lines when the Confederates stacked their guns and no one, except the +officers assigned to receive the arms, was permitted to witness this +final act of surrender[1]. He likewise declined to visit Richmond lest +his presence should be regarded as the triumphal entry of a conqueror +or smack of exulting over his fallen foes, and with fully a million +bayonets behind him ready to win him further glory, his foremost thought +was to end the war without the loss of another life. With this idea, on +the morning after the surrender, he sought another interview with Lee. + +[1]Since the first edition of this volume was published the writer +has been furnished, through the courtesy of Mr. Jefferson K. Cole of +Massachusetts, with documentary proof that the formal surrender of +what remained of Lee's infantry was made in the presence of the First +Division of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac, General Joshua +L. Chamberlain commanding. Therefore, although it is true that Grant +avoided all humiliation of the Confederates, it is evident that a small +portion of his troops did witness the final act of surrender, and the +statement in the text should be accordingly amended. + + + + +Chapter XXXI. -- Lee's Years of Peace + + +Desperate as their plight had been for many days, Lee's men had not +wholly abandoned the hope of escape, but when their beloved commander +returned from the Federal lines they saw by his face that the end +had come, and crowding around him, they pressed his hands, even the +strongest among them shedding bitter tears. For a time he was unable +to respond in words to this touching demonstration, but finally, with a +great effort, he mastered his emotion and bravely faced his comrades. + +"Men," he said, "we have fought through the war together; I have done my +best for you; my heart is too full to say more." + +Brief as these words were, all who heard them realized that Lee saw +no prospect of continuing the struggle and meant to say so. He was, of +course, well aware that the Confederates had many thousand men still in +the field, and that by separating into armed bands they could postpone +the end for a considerable period. But this to his mind was not war +and he had no sympathy with such methods and no belief that they could +result in anything but more bloodshed and harsher terms for the South. +A word from him would have been quite sufficient to encourage the other +commanders to hold out and prolong the cruelly hopeless contest, but he +had determined not to utter it. + +Grant was firmly convinced that this would be his attitude, but whether +he would actually advise the abandonment of the cause was another +question, and it was to suggest this course that the Union commander +sought him out on the morning after the surrender. This second interview +occurred between the lines of the respective armies and as the former +adversaries sat conversing on horseback, Grant tactfully introduced the +subject of ending the war. + +He knew, he told Lee, that no man possessed more influence with the +soldiers and the South in general than he did, and that if he felt +justified in advising submission his word would doubtless have all the +effect of law. But to this suggestion Lee gravely shook his head. +He frankly admitted that further resistance was useless, but he was +unwilling to pledge himself to give the proposed advice until he had +consulted with the Confederate President, and Grant did not urge him, +feeling certain that he would do what he thought right. Nor was this +confidence misplaced, for though Lee never positively advised a general +surrender, his opinions soon came to be known and in a short time all +the Confederate forces in the field yielded. + +But though peace was thus restored, the war had left two countries where +it had found one, and to the minds of many people they could never be +united again. It was then that Lee showed his true greatness, for from +the moment of his surrender he diligently strove by voice and pen and +example to create harmony between the North and South and to help in the +rebuilding of the nation. To those who asked his opinion as to whether +they should submit to the Federal authorities and take the required oath +of allegiance, he unhesitatingly replied, "If you intend to reside in +this country and wish to do your part in the restoration of your state +and in the government of the country, which I think is the duty of every +citizen, I know of no objection to your taking the oath." + +He denounced the assassination of Lincoln as a crime to be abhorred by +every American, discountenanced the idea of Southerners seeking refuge +in foreign lands, scrupulously obeyed every regulation of the military +authorities regarding paroled prisoners and exerted all the influence +at his command to induce his friends to work with him for the +reconciliation of the country. Even when it was proposed to indict and +try him for treason he displayed no resentment or bitterness. "I have no +wish to avoid any trial that the Government may order. I hope others may +go unmolested," was his only comment. But no such persecution was to +be permitted, for Grant interfered the moment he heard of it, insisting +that his honor and that of the nation forbade that Lee should be +disturbed in any way, and his indignant protest straightway brought the +authorities to their senses. + +In the meanwhile, innumerable propositions reached Lee, offering +him great monetary inducements to lend his name and fame to business +enterprises of various kinds, but although he had lost all his property +and was practically penniless, he would not consent to undertake +work that he did not feel competent to perform and would listen to no +suggestion of receiving compensation merely for the use of his name. His +desire was to identify himself with an institution of learning where he +could be of some public service, and at the same time gain the peaceful +home life of which he had dreamed for so many years. As soon as this was +understood offers came to him from the University of Virginia and the +University of the South at Suwannee, Tennessee, but he feared that his +association with a State institution like the University of Virginia +might create a feeling of hostility against it on the part of the +Federal Government, and the Vice-Chancellorship of the Tennessee +university would have required him to leave his native state. + +Finally, the Trustees of Washington College offered him the Presidency +of that institution and the fact that it bore the name of the first +President and had been endowed by him straightway appealed to his +imagination. At one time the college had been in a flourishing condition +but it had suffered severely from the war, much of its property having +been destroyed and only a handful of students remained when he was +invited to take charge of its tottering fortunes. Indeed, the Trustees +themselves were so impoverished that none of them possessed even a +decent suit of clothes in which to appear before Lee and submit their +proposition. Nevertheless, one of them borrowed a respectable outfit for +the occasion and presented the offer with much dignity and effect +and Lee, after modestly expressing some doubts as to whether he could +"discharge the duties to the satisfaction of the Trustees or to the +benefit of the country," accepted the office at a merely nominal salary, +closing his formal acceptance of Aug. 11, 1865, with these words: "I +think it the duty of every citizen in the present condition of the +country to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and +harmony and in no way to oppose the policy of the state or general +Government directed to that object." + +This was the key-note of his thought from this time forward. "Life is +indeed gliding away and I have nothing of good to show for mine that is +past," he wrote shortly after assuming his new duties. "I pray I may be +spared to accomplish something for the benefit of mankind and the honor +of God." + +It was no easy task to reestablish an institution practically destitute +of resources in a poverty-stricken community struggling for a bare +subsistence after the ravages of war. But Lee devoted himself body and +soul to the work, living in the simplest possible fashion. Indeed, he +refused to accept an increase in his meager salary, which would have +provided him with some of the ordinary comforts of life, on the +ground that the institution needed every penny of its funds for its +development. But though the work was hard he took keen pleasure in +seeing it grow under his hands, and, little by little, the college +regained its prestige, while with the help of his daughters he made his +new home a place of beauty, planting flowers about the little house and +doing all in his power to make it attractive for his invalid wife. + +Thus, for five years he lived far removed from the turmoil of public +life, performing a constant public service by exerting a direct personal +influence upon the students who came under his charge, and by doing +everything in his power to reunite the nation. Suggestions were +constantly made to him to enter politics and had he cared to do so, he +could undoubtedly have been elected to the Governorship of Virginia. But +he steadily declined to consider this, declaring that it might injure +the state to have a man so closely identified with the war at its head +and that he could best help in restoring harmony to the country in the +capacity of a private citizen. + +During all this time he took an active interest in his sons, encouraging +them in their efforts to establish themselves and earn their own living, +visiting their farms and advising them in the comradely spirit which had +always characterized his relations with them. Indeed, every moment he +could spare from his collegiate duties was devoted to his family, +and his letters to his children, always cheerful and affectionate and +sometimes even humorously gay, expressed contentment and unselfishness +in every line. + +At times it required great self-restraint to avoid bitterness toward the +Government, but even when Congress refused his wife's petition for +the restoration of the mementos of Washington, taken from her home in +Arlington during the war, he refrained from making any public protest +and his private comment showed how completely he subordinated his +personal wishes to the good of the country. + +"In reference to certain articles which were taken from Arlington..." +he wrote, "Mrs. Lee is indebted...for the order from the present +Administration for their restoration to her. Congress, however, passed a +resolution forbidding their return. They were valuable to her as having +belonged to her great grandmother (Mrs. General Washington) and having +been bequeathed to her by her father. But as the country desires them +she must give them up. I hope their presence at the capital will keep +in the remembrance of all Americans the principles and virtues of +Washington." [These articles were restored to Lee's family by the order +of President McKinley in 1903.] + +Toward the individuals, however, who had looted his house and +appropriated its treasures to their own use, he felt rather differently. +But his rebuke to them was written rather more in sorrow than in anger +and it likewise reflects the regard for his country which was ever the +uppermost thought in his mind. + +"...A great many things formerly belonging to General Washington, +bequeathed to Mrs. Lee by her father, in the shape of books, furniture, +camp equipage, etc., were carried away by individuals and are now +scattered over the land," he wrote. "I hope the possessors appreciate +them and may imitate the example of their original owners whose conduct +must at times be brought to their recollection by these silent monitors. +In this way they will accomplish good to the country...." + +For his first four years at Washington College Lee accomplished his +arduous duties with scarcely a sign of fatigue, but from that time +forward his health began to fail and though he kept at his work, it told +so heavily upon him that his friends at last persuaded him to take a +vacation. He, accordingly, started south with his daughter in March, +1870. Had he permitted it, his journey would have been one continual +ovation, for this was the first time he had traveled any considerable +distance from his home since the war and people flocked to greet him +from all sides with bands and speeches and cart-loads of flowers +and fruits. Indeed, it was extremely difficult to escape the public +receptions, serenades and other honors thrust upon him, and though he +returned to his duties in somewhat better condition, he was soon obliged +to retire to Hot Springs, Virginia, for another rest, from which he +returned toward the end of the summer vacation apparently restored to +health. + +Meanwhile he had undertaken various other duties in addition to his +collegiate work and some two weeks after the reopening of the college he +attended a vestry meeting of the Episcopal Church. At this meeting the +subject of rebuilding the church and increasing the rector's salary was +under discussion and the session lasted for three hours, at the close +of which he volunteered to subscribe from his own meager funds the sum +needed to complete the proposed increase of the clergyman's salary. By +this time it was seven in the evening and he at once returned to his own +house, and finding his family ready for tea, stood at the head of the +table as he usually did to say grace. But no words came from his lips, +and with an expression of resignation on his face he quietly slipped +into his chair and sat there upright as though he had heard an order to +which he was endeavoring to respond by remaining at "attention." + +Physicians were immediately called who diagnosed the trouble as +hardening of the arteries combined with rheumatism of the heart, and +though their patient never quite lost consciousness, he gradually fell +asleep, and on October 12, 1870, passed quietly away. + +Three days later "Traveller," led by two old soldiers and followed by a +small but distinguished assemblage, accompanied his master to the grave +outside the little chapel which Lee had helped to build for the college +which soon thereafter changed its name to Washington and Lee University. + +Nothing could have been more grateful to Lee then to have his name thus +associated with that of the man whom he revered above all other men and +upon whom he had patterned his whole life, and in this graceful tribute +he had his heart's desire. + + + + +Chapter XXXII. -- The Head of the Nation + + +While Lee was passing the closing years of his life in tranquility, +Grant was entering upon a stormy career in politics. But before he had +any thought of the honors that lay before him he proved himself a +good friend to the South and a really great American. Toward his late +adversaries he maintained that the true policy was "to make friends of +enemies," and by word and deed he earnestly strove to accomplish that +result, never losing an opportunity to protect the people of the South +from humiliation and injustice. Indeed, if he and some of the other +Union commanders had been given complete authority directly after the +war, the South would have been spared much suffering and the nation +would have escaped some of the evils which inflict it to this day. But +Grant's service to the country, as a whole, was far greater than +that which he undertook on behalf of any particular section, for at a +critical moment he held the destiny of the nation in the hollow of his +hand and a word from him would have subjected the people to a military +control from which they might never have recovered. + +At the time of Lee's surrender the United States had probably the most +powerful and the most perfectly equipped army in the world. It was +absolutely at Grant's disposal and there were plenty of excuses for +employing it in the field, had he been ambitious for military glory. An +attack on the French in Mexico or the English in Canada would have been +regarded by many people as perfectly justified by their treatment of the +United States during the Civil War. But no idea of perpetuating his own +power or of making his country a military nation entered Grant's mind. +On the contrary, his first thought was to hasten by every possible means +the disbanding of the mighty army which hailed him as its chief. + +At the close of the war that army numbered over a million men. Six +months later only 183,000 remained in the service, and in eight months +more the whole force of volunteers had disappeared. No other great +commander in the history of the world ever strove thus to deprive +himself of power, or with a gigantic instrument of war under his control +thought only of peace. Grant was not the greatest military genius of +the ages, or even of his own time, but when, with a million bayonets +responsive to his nod, he uttered the benediction, "Let us have peace," +he took a place apart among those Americans whose fame will never die. + +One great triumphant pageant marked the success of the Union cause +when the returning armies were reviewed by the President in Washington, +cavalry, infantry and artillery by the tens of thousands passing +down Pennsylvania Avenue for two whole days, presenting a magnificent +spectacle never surpassed in the military annals of any land. But the +same spirit which had actuated Grant in refusing to visit Richmond +caused him to shun any part of this historic parade, and those who +expected to see him on a prancing horse at the head of his veteran +troops had little knowledge of his character. He had never made an +exhibition of himself at any time during the war, and though he was +present on this occasion, he kept in the background and few people +caught even a glimpse of him as the well-nigh endless ranks of blue +swept by in proud array. + +For a time the work of disbanding the army obliged him to remain at +Washington, but at the first opportunity he started west to revisit +Galena, Georgetown and the scenes of his boyhood days. But, if he hoped +to renew his acquaintance with old friends without public recognition +and acclaim he was speedily disillusioned, for the whole countryside +turned out to welcome him with processions, banners and triumphal +arches, hailing as a hero the man who had lived among them almost +unnoticed and somewhat despised. Many people had already declared that +he would be the next President of the United States, but when some +prophecy of this kind had been repeated to him, he had laughingly +replied that he did not want any political office, though he would like +to be Mayor of Galena long enough to have a sidewalk laid near his home, +and this rumor had reached the town. The first sight that greeted his +eyes, therefore, as he entered Galena was an arch bearing the words +"General, the sidewalk is laid!" and his fellow townsmen straightway +carried him off to inspect this improvement, at the same time showing +him a new house built and furnished by his neighbors for his use and in +which they begged that he would make himself at home. + +It was a proud moment for his father and mother when they saw the son +who had once disappointed them so deeply received with such marks of +affection and honored as the greatest man of his day, and their joy +was the most satisfying reward he was ever destined to obtain. But +gratifying as all these kindly attentions were the returning hero was +somewhat relieved to find that Georgetown, which had largely sympathized +with the Confederacy, offered him a less demonstrative welcome. +Nevertheless, even there curiosity and admiration combined to rob him of +all privacy, and he at last decided to avoid the public gaze by slipping +away for one of those long solitary drives which had been his delight +in boyhood days. But the residents of the village toward which he turned +received word of his coming and started a delegation out to meet him +half way. After journeying many miles, however, without seeing any signs +of the cavalcade they were expecting, the procession encountered a dusty +traveler driving a team in a light road wagon, and halting him asked if +he had heard anything of General Grant. "Yes," he reported, "he's on +the way," and clicking to his horses quickly disappeared from view. Then +someone suggested that perhaps the General might not be traveling on +horseback surrounded by his staff and that the dusty traveler who had +reported Grant as on the way looked somewhat like the man himself. But +the solitary stranger "who looked like Grant" was miles away before this +was realized, and when the procession started on his track he was safely +out of reach. Doubtless, the sight of this unpretentious man in citizen +attire was disappointing to many who expected to see a dashing hero in a +gorgeous uniform, but his dislike of all military parade soon came to be +widely known. His hosts at one village, however, were not well informed +of this, for they urged him to prolong his stay with them in order that +he might see and review the local troops which were to assemble in his +honor, but he quickly begged to be excused, remarking that he wished he +might never see a uniform again. + +Certainly there was nothing of the conquering hero or even of the +soldier about him when a little later in the course of his duty, he made +a tour of the South in order to report on its general condition, and in +many places he came and went entirely unnoticed. But though the mass of +the people did not know of his presence, he formed an unusually accurate +estimate of their views on public questions. "The citizens of the +Southern States,..." he reported, "are in earnest in wishing to do what +is required by the Government, not humiliating them as citizens, and if +such a course was pointed out they would pursue it in good faith." +Happy would it have been for the South and for the whole country if +this advice had been followed, but the President and Congress were soon +engaged in a violent struggle over the reconstruction of the seceded +states, and anger, rather than wisdom, ruled the day. In the course +of this quarrel Stanton, the Secretary of War, was removed and Grant, +temporarily appointed in his place (Aug. 12, 1867), held the office +for about five months, thus taking the first step in the long political +career which lay before him. + +Ten months later he was elected President of the United States and at +the end of his term (1872) he was reelected by an overwhelming vote. +Those eight years were years of stress and strain, and his judgment +in surrounding himself with men unworthy of his confidence made bitter +enemies of many of those who had once supported him. He was, however, +intensely loyal by nature and having once made a friend he stuck to him +through thick and thin, making his cause his own and defending him, even +in the face of the facts, against any and all attack. He, accordingly, +assumed a heavy burden of blame that did not rightly rest upon his +shoulders, but in spite of this many people desired to see him again +elected to the presidency and they were sorely disappointed when he +refused to become a candidate. On the whole, he had deserved well of the +country and the people recognized that he had done much to uphold their +honor and dignity, even though he had been too often imposed upon by +unreliable and even dangerous friends. + +A long tour around the world followed his retirement from the Presidency +and his reception in the various countries was a magnificent tribute to +his record as a general and a ruler. Meanwhile, an effort was being made +by his friends to secure his nomination for a third Presidential term, +and shortly after he returned home (1880) he was persuaded to enter the +field again. At first he regarded the result with indifference, but as +time wore on he warmed with the enthusiasm of his friends and keenly +desired to secure the honor. But no man had ever been elected three +times to the Presidency and there was a deep-centered prejudice against +breaking this tradition. Grant's candidacy therefore encountered bitter +opposition, and though a large number of his friends held out for him to +the last and almost forced his nomination, General Garfield was finally +selected in his place. + +This virtually retired him from politics, and to occupy himself and make +a living he went into business with one of his sons who had associated +himself with certain bankers in Wall Street. Here, however, his +notoriously bad judgment of men and his utter ignorance of the business +world soon brought him to grief, for he and his son left the management +of their firm to the other partners who outrageously imposed upon them +for a time and then left them face to face with ruin and disgrace. + +The shock of this disaster fairly staggered Grant, but he bravely met +the situation and stripping himself of every vestige of his property, +including the swords that had been presented him and the gifts bestowed +by foreign nations, strove to pay his debts. But, though reduced to +penury, he was able to prove his entire innocence of the rascality of +his partners and the general verdict of the country acquitted him of any +dishonorable act. + +To earn sufficient money for his family in their dire necessity he then +began to write the story of his military life and campaigns, but in the +midst of this employment he was stricken with a most painful disease +which incapacitated him for work and left him well-nigh helpless. At +this crisis Congress came to his rescue by restoring him to his former +rank in the army, with sufficient pay to meet his immediate needs. +Then, to the amazement of his physicians, he rallied, and, though still +suffering intensely and greatly enfeebled, he at once recommenced work +upon his book. + +From that time forward his one thought was to live long enough to +complete this task, and to it he devoted himself with almost superhuman +courage and persistence, in the hope of being able to provide for +his wife and family after he had gone. Indeed, in this daily struggle +against disease and death he showed, not only all the qualities that +had made him invincible in the field, but also the higher qualities of +patience and unselfishness with which he had not been fully credited. +Uncomplaining and considerate of everyone but himself, he looked death +steadily in the face and wrote on day after day while the whole nation, +lost in admiration of his dauntless courage, watched at his bedside with +tender solicitude. + +At last, on July 23, 1885, the pencil slipped from his fingers. But +his heroic task was done and no monument which has been or ever will +be erected to his memory will serve as will those pages to insure him +immortality, for "Grant's Memoirs," modest as the man himself, have +become a part of the literature of the world. + + + + +Authorities + + +The following is a partial list of the authorities relied upon in the +text: + +Grant's Personal Memoirs; Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. +Lee (Captain R. E. Lee); Life of Robert E. Lee (Fitzhugh Lee); Robert +E. Lee--Memoirs of His Military and Personal History (Long); Military +History of U. S. Grant (Badeau); Grant in Peace (Badeau); R. E. Lee--The +Southerner (Page); Robert E. Lee (Trent); Robert E. Lee and the Southern +Confederacy (White); McClelland's Own Story; Stonewall Jackson and the +American Civil War (Henderson); The Story of the Civil War (Ropes); +The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (Davis); History of +the United States (1850-1877 Rhodes); The Campaign of Chancellorsville +(Bigelow); Personal Memoirs (Sheridan); Memoirs of General Sherman; +Reminiscences of Carl Shurz; From Manassas to Appomattox (Longstreet); +Abraham Lincoln--A History (Nicolay and Hay); The Army Under Pope +(Ropes); The Antietam and Fredericksburg (Palfrey); The Virginia +Campaign of 1864 and 1865 (Humphreys); Chncellorsville (Doubleday); Life +and Letters of Robert E. Lee (Jones); Ulysses S. Grant (Wister); Ulysses +S. Grant (Garland); Campaigning with Grant (Porter); Autobiography of O. +O. Howard. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Trail of Grant and Lee, by +Frederick Trevor Hill + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE TRAIL OF GRANT AND LEE *** + +***** This file should be named 4098.txt or 4098.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/4098/ + +Produced by William Fishburne and Jenny Francisco + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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