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diff --git a/old/8tlgl10.txt b/old/8tlgl10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..56b13f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8tlgl10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6389 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of On the Trail of Grant and Lee +by Frederick Trevor Hill + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other +Project Gutenberg file. + +We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your +own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future +readers. Please do not remove this. + +This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to +view the etext. 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"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 Page + 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 reënforcement 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 reënforcements 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 reënter +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 Frémont 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 reënter 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 reënforce 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 coöperation +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 reënlisting 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 reënforcing +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 reënforcements, 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 reënforcements 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. + +A portion of this letter is found at +http/www.livinghistoryonline.com/surrendr.htm] + + +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 reënforcements +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 reënforcements. +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 rôle 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 reënforcements 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 reënforcements 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 reënforcement, +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 reënforce 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 reënforce 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 reënforced; 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 reënforced, 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 reënforcements +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 reënforcements, 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 reënforcement 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 coöperate 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 +reënforced and, to offset this, more Confederates were ordered to +the support of their comrades. Once more Union reënforcements 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 reënforcements +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 reënforcements 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 reënforcement +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. Reënforcements 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 coöperate 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 reënforce 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 reënforcements 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 coöperate 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 reënforce 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 reënforcements 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 coöperating 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 reënforcements, 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 reënforcements 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 reënforcements +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 reëstablish 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 reëlected 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 Etext of On the Trail of Grant and Lee +by Frederick Trevor Hill + diff --git a/old/8tlgl10.zip b/old/8tlgl10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1802bfa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8tlgl10.zip |