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diff --git a/42892-0.txt b/42892-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c92dd3 --- /dev/null +++ b/42892-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8815 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42892 *** + + RECOLLECTIONS + + OF THE CIVIL WAR + + _With the Leaders at Washington + and in the Field in the Sixties_ + + BY + + CHARLES A. DANA + + _ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR FROM 1863 TO 1865_ + + WITH PORTRAIT + + + [Illustration: Publisher's seal] + + + NEW YORK + _D. Appleton and Company_ + 1902 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1898, + BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + + + + +[Illustration: C. A. Dana. (Signature)] + + + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR + + + + + THE WORKS OF CHARLES A. DANA. + + + =Recollections of the Civil War.= + + By CHARLES A. DANA. With Portrait. Large 12mo. + Cloth, gilt top, uncut, $2.00. + + The late Charles A. Dana's "Recollections of the Civil War" forms + one of the most remarkable volumes of historical, political, and + personal reminiscences which have been given to the public. Mr. Dana + was not only practically a member of the Cabinet and in the + confidence of the leaders of Washington, but he was also the chosen + representative of the War Department with General Grant and other + military commanders, and he was present at many of the councils + which preceded movements of the greatest importance. + + + =Appletons' American Cyclopædia.= + + A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. Edited by + CHARLES A. DANA and GEORGE RIPLEY. Complete in + 16 volumes of over 800 pages each. Fully illustrated with + several thousand Wood Engravings and numerous Colored + Lithographic Maps. _Sold only by subscription._ + + + =The Household Book of Poetry.= + + Edited by CHARLES A. DANA. Illustrated with Steel Engravings. + New and enlarged edition. Royal 8vo. Cloth, + $5.00; morocco, antique, $10.00; tree calf, $12.00. + + + =Fifty Perfect Poems.= + + Selected and edited by CHARLES A. DANA and ROSSITER + JOHNSON. Royal 8vo. Illustrated. White silk, $10.00; + morocco, $15.00. + + + =The Household Book of Songs.= + + Collected and arranged by CHARLES A. DANA and F. A. + BOWMAN. Half roan, cloth sides, $2.50. + + + =The Art of Newspaper Making.= + + Three Lectures. 16mo. Cloth, $1.00. + + + =Eastern Journeys.= + + Some Notes of Travel in Russia, in the Caucasus, and to + Jerusalem. 16mo. Cloth, $1.00. + + D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Mr. Dana wrote these Recollections of the civil war according to a +purpose which he had entertained for several years. They were completed +only a few months before his death on October 17, 1897. A large part of +the narrative has been published serially in McClure's Magazine. In the +chapter about Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln Cabinet Mr. Dana has drawn +from a lecture which he delivered in 1896 before the New Haven Colony +Historical Society. The incident of the self-wounded spy, in the chapter +relating to the secret service of the war, was first printed in the +North American Review for August, 1891. A few of the anecdotes about Mr. +Lincoln which appear in this book were told by Mr. Dana originally in a +brief contribution to a volume entitled Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln +by Distinguished Men of his Time, edited by the late Allen Thorndike +Rice, and published in 1886. + +Although Mr. Dana was in one sense the least reminiscent of men, living +actively in the present, and always more interested in to-morrow than +in yesterday, and although it was his characteristic habit to toss into +the wastebasket documents for history which many persons would have +treasured, he found in the preparation of the following chapters +abundant material wherewith to stimulate and confirm his own memory, in +the form of his official and unofficial reports written at the front for +the information of Mr. Stanton and Mr. Lincoln, and private letters to +members of his family and intimate friends. + +Charles Anderson Dana was forty-four years old when his appointment as +Assistant Secretary of War put him behind the scenes of the great drama +then enacting, and brought him into personal relations with the +conspicuous civilians and soldiers of the war period. Born in New +Hampshire on August 8, 1819, he had passed by way of western New York, +Harvard College, and Brook Farm into the profession which he loved and +in which he labored almost to the last day of his life. When Secretary +Stanton called him to Washington he had been engaged for nearly fifteen +years in the management of the New York Tribune, the journal most +powerful at that time in solidifying Northern sentiment for the crisis +that was to come. When the war was over and the Union preserved, he +returned at once to journalism. His career subsequently as the editor of +The Sun for thirty years is familiar to most Americans. + +It is proper to note the circumstance that the three years covered by +Mr. Dana's Recollections as here recorded constitute the only term +during which he held any public office, and the only break in more than +half a century of continuous experience in the making of newspapers. His +connection with the Government during those momentous years is an +episode in the story of a life that throbbed from boyhood to age with +intellectual energy, and was crowded with practical achievement. + + NEW YORK, _October 17, 1898_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I.--FROM THE TRIBUNE TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT 1 + + First meeting with Mr. Lincoln--Early correspondence + with Mr. Stanton--A command obtained for General + Frémont--The new energy in the military operations--Mr. + Stanton disclaims the credit--The War Secretary's opinion + of McClellan--Mr. Dana called into Government service--The + Cairo investigation and its results--First acquaintance + with General Grant. + + II.--AT THE FRONT WITH GRANT'S ARMY 16 + + War speculation in cotton--In business partnership + with Roscoe Conkling--Appointed special commissioner + to Grant's army--The story of a cipher code--From Memphis + to Milliken's Bend--The various plans for taking + Vicksburg--At Grant's headquarters--The beginning of + trouble with McClernand. + + III.--BEFORE AND AROUND VICKSBURG 35 + + The hard job of reopening the Mississippi--Admiral + Porter runs the Confederate batteries--Headquarters moved + to Smith's plantation--Delay and confusion in McClernand's + command--The unsuccessful attack on Grand Gulf--The + move to the east shore--Mr. Dana manages with + Grant's help to secure a good horse. + + IV.--IN CAMP AND BATTLE WITH GRANT AND HIS GENERALS 47 + + Marching into the enemy's country--A night in a + church with a Bible for pillow--Our communications are + cut--Entering the capital of Mississippi--The War + Department gives Grant full authority--Battle of Champion's + Hill--General Logan's peculiarity--Battlefield + incidents--Vicksburg invested and the siege begun--Personal + traits of Sherman, McPherson, and McClernand. + + V.--SOME CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITS 61 + + Grant before his great fame--His friend and mentor, + General Rawlins--James Harrison Wilson--Two semi-official + letters to Stanton--Character sketches for the information + of the President and Secretary--Mr. Dana's early + judgment of soldiers who afterward won distinction. + + VI.--THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG 78 + + Life behind Vicksburg--Grant's efforts to procure + reinforcements--The fruitless appeal to General Banks--Mr. + Stanton responds to Mr. Dana's representations--A steamboat + trip with Grant--Watching Joe Johnston--Visits to Sherman + and Admiral Porter--The negro troops win glory--Progress + and incidents of the siege--Vicksburg wakes up--McClernand's + removal. + + VII.--PEMBERTON'S SURRENDER 91 + + The artillery assault of June 20th--McPherson springs + a mine--Grant decides to storm the city--Pemberton asks + for an interview and terms--The "unconditional surrender" + note--At the meeting of Grant and Pemberton between + the lines--The ride into Vicksburg and the Fourth + of July celebration there. + + VIII.--WITH THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND 103 + + Appointment as Assistant Secretary of War--Again to + the far front--An interesting meeting with Andrew + Johnson--Rosecrans's complaints--His view of the situation + at Chattanooga--At General Thomas's headquarters--The + first day of Chickamauga--The battlefield telegraph + service--A night council of war at Widow Glenn's--Personal + experiences of the disastrous second day's battle--The + "Rock of Chickamauga." + + IX.--THE REMOVAL OF ROSECRANS 120 + + Preparing to defend Chattanooga--Effect on the army + of the day of disaster and glory--Mr. Dana suggests Grant + or Thomas as Rosecrans's successor--Portrait of Thomas--The + dignity and loyalty of his character illustrated--The + army reorganized--It is threatened with starvation--An + estimate of Rosecrans--He is relieved of the command + of the Army of the Cumberland. + + X.--CHATTANOOGA AND MISSIONARY RIDGE 132 + + Thomas succeeds Rosecrans in the Army of the + Cumberland--Grant supreme at Chattanooga--A visit to the + army at Knoxville--A Tennessee Unionist's family--Impressions + of Burnside--Grant against Bragg at Chattanooga--The + most spectacular fighting of the war--Watching + the first day's battle--With Sherman the second day--The + moonlight fight on Lookout Mountain--Sheridan's + whisky flask--The third day's victory and the glorious + spectacle it afforded--The relief of General Burnside. + + XI.--THE WAR DEPARTMENT IN WAR TIMES 156 + + Grant's plans blocked by Halleck--Mr. Dana on duty at + Washington--Edwin McMasters Stanton--His deep religious + feeling--His swift intelligence and almost superhuman + energy--The Assistant Secretary's functions--Contract + supplies and contract frauds--Lincoln's intercession + for dishonest contractors with political influence--A + characteristic letter from Sherman. + + XII.--ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS CABINET 168 + + Daily intercourse with Lincoln--The great civil leaders + of the period--Seward and Chase--Gideon Welles--Friction + between Stanton and Blair--Personal traits of the + President--Lincoln's surpassing ability as a politician--His + true greatness of character and intellect--His genius + for military judgment--Stanton's comment on the Gettysburg + speech--The kindness of Abraham Lincoln's heart. + + XIII.--THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC IN '64 186 + + Mr. Lincoln sends Mr. Dana again to the front--General + Halleck's character--First visit to the Army of the + Potomac--General Meade's good qualities and bad--Winfield + Scott Hancock--Early acquaintance with Sedgwick--His + death--Humphreys's accomplishments as a soldier and as + a swearer--Grant's plan of campaign against Lee--Incidents + at Spottsylvania--The "Bloody Angle." + + XIV.--THE GREAT GAME BETWEEN GRANT AND LEE 200 + + Maneuvering and fighting in the rain, mud, and + thickets--Virginian conditions of warfare--Within eight + miles of Richmond--The battle of Cold Harbor--The + tremendous losses of the campaign--The charge of butchery + against Grant considered in the light of statistics--What + it cost in life and blood to take Richmond. + + XV.--THE MARCH ON PETERSBURG 212 + + In camp at Cold Harbor--Grant's opinion of Lee--Trouble + with newspaper correspondents--Moving south of + the James River--The great pontoon bridge--The fighting + of the colored troops--Failure to take Petersburg at first + attack--Lee loses Grant and Beauregard finds him--Beauregard's + service to the Confederacy. + + XVI.--EARLY'S RAID AND THE WASHINGTON PANIC 224 + + President Lincoln visits the lines at Petersburg--Trouble + with General Meade--Jubal Early menaces the Federal + capital--The excitement in Washington and Baltimore--Clerks + and veteran reserves called out to defend Washington--Grant + sends troops from the front--Plenty of generals, but no + head--Early ends the panic by withdrawing--A fine letter + from Grant about Hunter. + + XVII.--THE SECRET SERVICE OF THE WAR 235 + + Mr. Stanton's agents and spies--Regular subterranean + traffic between Washington and Richmond--A man who + spied for both sides--The arrest of the Baltimore + merchants--Stanton's remarkable speech on the meaning + of disloyalty--Intercepting Jefferson Davis's letters + to Canada--Detecting the plot to burn New York, and the + plan to invade Vermont--Story of the cleverest and + pluckiest of spies and his remarkable adventures. + + XVIII.--A VISIT TO SHERIDAN IN THE VALLEY 248 + + Mr. Dana carries to Sheridan his major-general's + commission--A ride through the Army of the Shenandoah--The + affection of Sheridan's soldiers for the general--How + he explained it--His ideas about personal courage in + battle--The War Department and the railroads--How the + department worked for Lincoln's re-election--Election + night of November, 1864--Lincoln reads aloud passages + from Petroleum V. Nasby while the returns come in. + + XIX.--"ON TO RICHMOND" AT LAST! 263 + + The fall of the Confederacy--In Richmond just after + the evacuation--A search for Confederate archives--Lincoln's + propositions to the Virginians--A meeting with the + Confederate Assistant Secretary of War--Andrew Johnson + turns up at Richmond--His views as to the necessity of + punishing rebels--The first Sunday services at the + Confederate capital under the old flag--News of Lee's + surrender reaches Richmond--Back to Washington with Grant. + + XX.--THE CLOSING SCENES AT WASHINGTON 273 + + Last interview with Mr. Lincoln--Why Jacob Thompson + escaped--At the deathbed of the murdered President--Searching + for the assassins--The letters which Mr. Lincoln + had docketed "Assassination"--At the conspiracy + trial--The Confederate secret cipher--Jefferson Davis's + capture and imprisonment--A visit to the Confederate + President at Fortress Monroe--The grand review of the + Union armies--The meeting between Stanton and Sherman--End + of Mr. Dana's connection with the War Department. + + INDEX. 293 + + + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +FROM THE TRIBUNE TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT. + + First meeting with Mr. Lincoln--Early correspondence with Mr. + Stanton--A command obtained for General Frémont--The new energy in + the military operations--Mr. Stanton disclaims the credit--The War + Secretary's opinion of McClellan--Mr. Dana called into Government + service--The Cairo investigation and its results--First acquaintance + with General Grant. + + +I had been associated with Horace Greeley on the New York Tribune for +about fifteen years when, one morning early in April, 1862, Mr. +Sinclair, the advertising manager of the paper, came to me, saying that +Mr. Greeley would be glad to have me resign. I asked one of my +associates to find from Mr. Greeley if that was really his wish. In a +few hours he came to me saying that I had better go. I stayed the day +out in order to make up the paper and give them an opportunity to find a +successor, but I never went into the office after that. I think I then +owned a fifth of the paper--twenty shares; this stock my colleagues +bought. + +Mr. Greeley never gave a reason for dismissing me, nor did I ever ask +for one. I know, though, that the real explanation was that while he +was for peace I was for war, and that as long as I stayed on the Tribune +there was a spirit there which was not his spirit--that he did not like. + +My retirement from the Tribune was talked of in the newspapers for a day +or two, and brought me a letter from the Secretary of War, Edwin M. +Stanton, saying he would like to employ me in the War Department. I had +already met Mr. Lincoln, and had carried on a brief correspondence with +Mr. Stanton. My meeting with Mr. Lincoln was shortly after his +inauguration. He had appointed Mr. Seward to be his Secretary of State, +and some of the Republican leaders of New York who had been instrumental +in preventing Mr. Seward's nomination to the presidency, and in securing +that of Mr. Lincoln, had begun to fear that they would be left out in +the cold in the distribution of the offices. General James S. Wadsworth, +George Opdyke, Lucius Robinson, T. B. Carroll, and Henry B. Stanton were +among the number of these gentlemen. Their apprehensions were somewhat +mitigated by the fact that Mr. Chase, to whom we were all friendly, was +Secretary of the Treasury. But, notwithstanding, they were afraid that +the superior tact and pertinacity of Mr. Seward and of Mr. Thurlow Weed, +Seward's close friend and political manager, would get the upper hand, +and that the power of the Federal administration would be put into the +control of the rival faction; accordingly, several of them determined to +go to Washington, and I was asked to go with them. + +I believe the appointment for our interview with the President was made +through Mr. Chase; but at any rate we all went up to the White House +together, except Mr. Henry B. Stanton, who stayed away because he was +himself an applicant for office. + +Mr. Lincoln received us in the large room upstairs in the east wing of +the White House, where he had his working office. The President stood up +while General Wadsworth, who was our principal spokesman, and Mr. Opdyke +stated what was desired. After the interview had begun, a big Indian, +who was a messenger in attendance in the White House, came into the room +and said to the President: + +"She wants you." + +"Yes, yes," said Mr. Lincoln, without stirring. + +Soon afterward the messenger returned again, exclaiming, "I say, she +wants you!" + +The President was evidently annoyed, but instead of going out after the +messenger he remarked to us: + +"One side shall not gobble up everything. Make out a list of places and +men you want, and I will endeavor to apply the rule of give and take." + +General Wadsworth answered: + +"Our party will not be able to remain in Washington, but we will leave +such a list with Mr. Carroll, and whatever he agrees to will be +agreeable to us." + +Mr. Lincoln continued: "Let Mr. Carroll come in to-morrow, and we will +see what can be done." + +This is the substance of the interview, and what most impressed me was +the evident fairness of the President. We all felt that he meant to do +what was right and square in the matter. While he was not the man to +promote factious quarrels and difficulties within his party, he did not +intend to leave in the lurch the friends through whose exertions his +nomination and election had finally been brought about. At the same time +he understood perfectly that we of New York and our associates in the +Republican body had not gone to Chicago for the purpose of nominating +him, or of nominating any one in particular, but only to beat Mr. +Seward, and thereupon to do the best that could be done as regards the +selection of the candidate. + +My acquaintance with Mr. Stanton had come about through an editorial +which I had written for the Tribune on his entrance to the War +Department. I had sent it to him with a letter calling his attention to +certain facts with which it seemed to me the War Department ought to +deal. In reply I received the following letter: + + + WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1862_. + + MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 22d only reached me this evening. The + facts you mention were new to me, but there is too much reason to + fear they are true. But that matter will, I think, be corrected + _very speedily_. + + You can not tell how much obligation I feel myself under for your + kindness. Every man who wishes the country to pass through this + trying hour should stand on watch, and aid me. Bad passions and + little passions and mean passions gather around and hem in the + great movements that should deliver this nation. + + Two days ago I wrote you a long letter--a three pager--expressing + my thanks for your admirable article of the 21st, stating my + position and purposes; and in that letter I mentioned some of the + circumstances of my unexpected appointment. But, interrupted before + it was completed, I will not inflict, or afflict, you with it. + + I know the task that is before us--I say _us_, because the Tribune + has its mission as plainly as I have mine, and they tend to the + same end. But I am not in the smallest degree dismayed or + disheartened. By God's blessing we shall prevail. I feel a deep, + _earnest_ feeling growing up around me. We have no jokes or + trivialities, but all with whom I act show that they are now in + dead earnest. + + I know you will rejoice to know this. + + As soon as I can get the machinery of the office working, the rats + cleared out, and the rat holes stopped we shall _move_. This army + has got to fight or run away; and while men are striving nobly in + the West, the champagne and oysters on the Potomac must be stopped. + But patience for a short while only is all I ask, if you and others + like you will rally around me. + + Yours truly, + EDWIN M. STANTON. + + C. A. DANA, Esq. + + +A few days after this I wrote Mr. Stanton a second letter, in which I +asked him to give General Frémont a chance. At the breaking out of the +war Frémont had been made a major general in the regular army and the +command of the Western Department had been given to him. His campaign in +Missouri in the summer of 1861 gave great dissatisfaction, and in +November, 1861, he was relieved, after an investigation by the Secretary +of War. Since that time he had been without a command. I believed, as +did many others, that political intrigue was keeping Frémont back. I was +anxious that he should have fair play, in order that the great mass of +people who had supported him for the presidency in 1856, and who still +were his warm friends, might not be dissatisfied. To my letter Mr. +Stanton replied: + + + WASHINGTON, _February 1, 1862_. + + DEAR SIR: If General Frémont has any fight in him, he shall (so far + as I am concerned) have a chance to show it, and I have told _him_ + so. The times require the help of every man according to his gifts, + and, having neither partialities nor grudges to indulge, it will be + my aim to practice on the maxim, "the tools to him that can handle + them."[A] + + There will be serious trouble between Hunter and Lane. What Lane's + expedition has in view, how it came to be set on foot, and what is + expected to be accomplished by it, I do not know and have tried in + vain to find out. It seems to be a haphazard affair that no one + will admit himself to be responsible for. But believing that Lane + has pluck, and is an earnest man, he _shall have fair play_. If you + know anything about him or his expedition pray tell it to me. + + To bring the War Department up to the standard of the times, and + work an army of five hundred thousand with machinery adapted to a + peace establishment of twelve thousand, is no easy task. This was + Mr. Cameron's great trouble, and the cause of much of the + complaints against him. All I ask is reasonable time and patience. + The pressure of members of Congress for clerk and army + appointments, notwithstanding the most stringent rules, and the + persistent strain against all measures essential to obtain time for + thought, combination, and conference, is discouraging in the + extreme--it often tempts me to quit the helm in despair. The only + consolation is the confidence and support of good and patriotic + men; to their aid I look for strength. + + Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON. + + C. A. DANA, Esq., Tribune Office. + + +Very soon after Mr. Stanton went into office military affairs were +energized, and a forward movement of the armies was apparent. It was +followed by several victories, notably those of Fort Henry and Fort +Donelson. On several occasions the Tribune credited to the head of the +War Department this new spirit which seemed to inspire officers and men. +Mr. Stanton, fearful of the effect of this praise, sent to the paper the +following dispatch: + + + _To the Editor of the New York Tribune:_ + + SIR: I can not suffer undue merit to be ascribed to my official + action. The glory of our recent victories belongs to the gallant + officers and soldiers that fought the battles. No share of it + belongs to me. + + Much has recently been said of military combinations and organizing + victory. I hear such phrases with apprehension. They commenced in + infidel France with the Italian campaign, and resulted in Waterloo. + Who can organize victory? Who can combine the elements of success + on the battlefield? We owe our recent victories to the spirit of + the Lord that moved our soldiers to rush into battle and filled the + heart of our enemies with dismay. The inspiration that conquered in + battle was in the hearts of the soldiers and from on high; and + wherever there is the same inspiration there will be the same + results. Patriotic spirit, with resolute courage in officers and + men, is a military combination that never failed. + + We may well rejoice at the recent victories, for they teach us that + battles are to be won now and by us in the same and only manner + that they were ever won by any people, or in any age, since the + days of Joshua, by boldly pursuing and striking the foe. What, + under the blessing of Providence, I conceive to be the true + organization of victory and military combination to end this war, + was declared in a few words by General Grant's message to General + Buckner: "_I propose to move immediately on your works._" + + Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON. + + +On receiving this I at once wired to our representative in Washington to +know if Mr. Stanton meant to "repudiate" the Tribune. I received my +answer from Mr. Stanton himself: + + + WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1862_. + + DEAR SIR: It occurred to me that your kind notice of myself might + be perverted into a disparagement of the Western officers and + soldiers to whom the merit of the recent victories justly belongs, + and that it might create an antagonism between them and the head of + the War Department. To avoid _that_ misconstruction was the object + of my dispatch--leaving the matter to be determined as to + publication to the better judgment of the Tribune, my own mind not + being clear on the point of its expediency. Mr. Hill called to see + me this evening, and from the tenor of your dispatch it seemed to + me that your judgment did not approve the publication, or you would + not speak of me as "repudiating" anything the Tribune says. On + reflection _I am convinced the communication should not be + published_, as it might imply an antagonism between myself and the + Tribune. On this, as on any future occasion, I defer to your + judgment. We have one heart and mind in this great cause, and upon + many essential points you have a wider range of observation and + clearer sight than myself; I am therefore willing to be guided by + your wisdom. + + Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON. + + C. A. DANA, Esq. + + +On receiving this letter we of course published his telegram at once. + +When Mr. Stanton went into the War Department there was great +dissatisfaction in the Tribune office with McClellan. He had been placed +in command of the Army of the Potomac in the preceding August, and since +November 1st had been in command of all the armies of the United States; +but while he had proved himself an excellent drillmaster, he had at the +same time proved that he was no general at all. His friends were loyal, +however, and whatever success our armies met with was attributed to his +generalship. + +When the capture of Fort Donelson was announced, McClellan's friends +claimed that he had directed it by telegraph from his headquarters on +the Potomac. Now the terminus of the telegraph toward Fort Donelson was +many miles from the battlefield. Besides, the absurdity of a general +directing the movements of a battle a thousand miles off, even if he had +fifty telegraph wires leading to every part of the field, was apparent. +Nevertheless, McClellan's supporters kept up their claim. On February +20th the Associated Press agent at Washington, in reporting a railroad +convention in Washington at which Mr. Stanton had spoken, said: + +"Secretary Stanton in the course of his address paid a high compliment +to the young and gallant friend at his side, Major-General McClellan, in +whom he had the utmost confidence, and the results of whose military +schemes, gigantic and well matured, were now exhibited to a rejoicing +country. The Secretary, with upraised hands, implored Almighty God to +aid them and himself, and all occupying positions under the Government, +in crushing out this unholy rebellion." + +I did not believe Stanton had done any such thing, so I sent the +paragraph to him. The Secretary replied: + + + [Private.] + + WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1862_. + + DEAR SIR: The paragraph to which you called my attention was a + ridiculous and impudently impertinent effort to puff the general by + a false publication of words I never uttered. Sam Barlow, one of + the secretaries of the meeting, was its author, as I have been + informed. It is too small a matter for _me_ to contradict, but I + told Mr. Kimlen, the other secretary, that I thought the gentlemen + who invited me to be present at their meeting owed it to themselves + to see that one of their own officers should not misrepresent what + I said. It was for them, and due to their own honor, to see that an + officer of the Government might communicate with them in safety; + and if it was not done, I should take care to afford no other + opportunity for such practices. + + The fact is that the agents of the Associated Press and a gang + around the Federal Capitol appear to be organized for the purpose + of magnifying their idol. + + And if such men as those who composed the railroad convention in + this city do not rebuke such a practice as that perpetrated in this + instance, they can not be conferred with in future. + + You will of course see the propriety of my not noticing the matter + and thereby giving it importance beyond the contempt it inspires. I + think you are well enough acquainted with me to judge in future the + value of any such statement. + + I notice the Herald telegraphic reporter announces that I had a + second attack of illness on Friday and could not attend the + department. I was in the department, or in the Cabinet, from nine + in the morning until nine at night, and never enjoyed more perfect + health than on that day and at present. + + For _your_ kind solicitude accept my thanks. I shall not needlessly + impair my means of usefulness. + + Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON. + + C. A. DANA, Esq. + + P.S.--Was it not a funny sight to see a certain military hero in + the telegraph office at Washington last Sunday organizing victory, + and by sublime military combinations capturing Fort Donelson _six + hours_ after Grant and Smith had taken it sword in hand and had + victorious possession! It would be a picture worthy of Punch. + + +Thus, when the newspapers announced my unexpected retirement from the +Tribune, I was not unknown to either the President or the Secretary of +War. + +To Mr. Stanton's letter asking me to go into the service of the War +Department, I replied that I would attempt anything he wanted me to do, +and in May he wrote me that I was to be appointed on a commission to +audit unsettled claims against the quartermaster's department at Cairo, +Ill. I was directed to be in Cairo on June 17th. My formal appointment, +which I did not receive until after I reached Cairo, read thus: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _June 16, 1862_. + + SIR: By direction of the President, a commission has been + appointed, consisting of Messrs. George S. Boutwell, Stephen T. + Logan, and yourself, to examine and report upon all unsettled + claims against the War Department, at Cairo, Ill., that may have + originated prior to the first day of April, 1862. + + Messrs. Boutwell and Logan have been requested to meet with you at + Cairo on the eighteenth day of June instant, in order that the + commission may be organized on that day and enter immediately upon + the discharge of its duties. + + You will be allowed a compensation of eight dollars per day and + mileage. + + Mr. Thomas Means, who has been appointed solicitor for the + Government, has been directed to meet you at Cairo on the + eighteenth instant, and will act, under the direction of the + commission, in the investigation of such claims as may be + presented. + + EDWIN M. STANTON, + _Secretary of War_. + + Hon. CHARLES A. DANA, of New York, + Cairo, Ill. + + +On reaching Cairo on the appointed day, I found my associates, Judge +Logan, of Springfield, Ill., one of Mr. Lincoln's friends, and Mr. +Boutwell, of Massachusetts, afterward Governor of his State, Secretary +of the Treasury, and a United States senator. We organized on the 18th, +as directed. Two days after we met Judge Logan was compelled by illness +to resign from the commission, and Shelby M. Cullom, now United States +senator from Illinois, was appointed in his place. + +The main Union armies had by this time advanced far to the front, but +Cairo was still an important military depot, almost an outpost, in +command of General William K. Strong, whom I had known well in New York +as a politician. There was a large number of troops stationed in the +town, and from there the armies on the Mississippi River, in Missouri, +and in Kentucky, got all their supplies and munitions of war. The +quartermaster's department at Cairo had been organized hastily, and the +demands upon it had increased rapidly. Much of the business had been +done by green volunteer officers who did not understand the technical +duties of making out military requisitions and returns. The result was +that the accounts were in great confusion, and hysterical newspapers +were charging the department with fraud and corruption. The War +Department decided to make a full investigation of all disbursements at +Cairo from the beginning. Little actual cash had thus far been paid out +upon contracts, and it was not too late to correct overcharges and +straighten out the system. The matter could not be settled by any +ordinary means, and the commission went there as a kind of supreme +authority, accepting or rejecting claims and paying them as we thought +fit after examining the evidence. + +Sixteen hundred and ninety-six claims, amounting to $599,219.36, were +examined by us. Of those approved and certified for payment the amount +was $451,105.80. Of the claims rejected, a considerable portion were for +losses suffered in the active operations of the army, either through +departure from discipline on the part of soldiers, or from requisitions +made by officers who failed to give receipts and certificates to the +persons concerned, who were thus unable to support their claims by +sufficient evidence. Many claims of this description were also presented +by men whose loyalty to the Government was impeached by credible +witnesses. In rejecting these the commission set forth the disloyalty of +the claimants, in the certificates written on the face of their +accounts. Other accounts, whose rightfulness was established, were +rejected on proof of disloyalty. The commission regarded complicity in +the rebellion as barring all claims against the United States. + +A question of some interest was raised by the claim of the trustees of +the Cairo city property to be paid for the use by the Government wharf +boats of the paved portion of the levee which protected the town against +the Ohio River. We were unable to see the matter in the light presented +by the trustees. Our judgment was that the Government ought not to pay +for the use of necessary landing places on these rivers or elsewhere +during the exigencies of the war, and we so certified upon the face of +the claims. A similar principle guided our decision upon several claims +for the rent of vacant lots in Cairo, which had been used by the +military authorities for the erection of temporary barracks or stables. +We determined that for these no rent ought, under the circumstances, to +be allowed, but we suggested that in justice to the owners this +temporary occupation should be terminated as soon as possible by the +sale and removal of the buildings. + +A very small percentage of the claims were rejected because of fraud. In +almost every case it was possible to suppose that the apparent fraud was +accident. My observation throughout the war was the same. I do not +believe that so much business could be transacted with a closer +adherence to the line of honesty. That there were frauds is a matter of +course, because men, and even some women, are wicked, but frauds were +the exception. + +Our commission finished its labors at Cairo on July 31, 1862, and I went +at once to Washington with the report, placing it in the hands of Mr. +Stanton on August 5th. It was never printed, and the manuscript is still +in the files of the War Department. + +There was a great deal of curiosity among officers in Washington about +the result of our investigation, and all the time that I was in the city +I was being questioned on the subject. It was natural enough that they +should have felt interested in our report. The charges of fraud and +corruption against officers and contractors had become so reckless and +general that the mere sight of a man in conference with a high official +led to the suspicion and often the charge that he was conspiring to rob +the Government. That in this case, where the charges seemed so well +based, so small a percentage of corruption had been proved was a source +of solid satisfaction to every one in the War Department. + +All the leisure that I had while in Cairo I spent in horseback riding up +and down the river banks and in visiting the adjacent military posts. My +longest and most interesting trip was on the Fourth of July, when I went +down the Mississippi to attend a big celebration at Memphis. I remember +it particularly because it was there that I first met General Grant. The +officers stationed in the city gave a dinner that day, to which I was +invited. At the table I was seated between Grant and Major John A. +Rawlins, of his staff. I remember distinctly the pleasant impression +Grant made--that of a man of simple manners, straightforward, cordial, +and unpretending. He had already fought the successful battles of Fort +Donelson and Shiloh, and, when I met him, was a major general in command +of the district of West Tennessee, Department of the Missouri, under +Halleck, with headquarters at Memphis. Although one would not have +suspected it from his manners, he was really under a cloud at the time +because of his operations at Shiloh. Those who did not like Grant had +accused him of having been taken by surprise there, and had declared +that he would have been beaten if Buell had not come up. I often talked +later with Grant's staff officers about Shiloh, and they always affirmed +that he would have been successful if Buell had not come to his relief. +I believe Grant himself thought so, although he never said so directly +in any one of the many talks I had with him about the battle. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[A] A month later General Frémont was assigned to the command of the +"Mountain Department," composed of parts of Virginia, Kentucky, and +Tennessee. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AT THE FRONT WITH GRANT'S ARMY. + + War speculation in cotton--In business partnership with Roscoe + Conkling--Appointed special commissioner to Grant's army--The story + of a cipher code--From Memphis to Milliken's Bend--The various plans + for taking Vicksburg--At Grant's headquarters--The beginning of + trouble with McClernand. + + +As Mr. Stanton had no immediate need of my services, I returned in +August to New York, where I was occupied with various private affairs +until the middle of November, when I received a telegram from +Assistant-Secretary-of-War P. H. Watson, asking me to go immediately to +Washington to enter upon another investigation. I went, and was received +by Mr. Stanton, who offered me the place of Assistant Secretary of War. +I said I would accept. + +"All right," said he; "consider it settled." + +As I went out from the War Department into the street I met Major +Charles G. Halpine--"Miles O'Reilly"--of the Sixty-ninth New York +Infantry. I had known Halpine well as a newspaper man in New York, and I +told him of my appointment as Mr. Stanton's assistant. He immediately +repeated what I had told him to some newspaper people. It was reported +in the New York papers the next morning. The Secretary was greatly +offended and withdrew the appointment. When I told Halpine I had, of +course, no idea he was going to repeat it; besides, I did not think +there was any harm in telling. + +Immediately after this episode I formed a partnership with Roscoe +Conkling and George W. Chadwick to buy cotton. The outcry which the +manufacturers had raised over the inability to get cotton for their +industries had induced the Government to permit trading through the +lines of the army, and the business looked profitable. Conkling and I +each put ten thousand dollars into the firm, and Chadwick gave his +services, which, as he was an expert in cotton, was considered equal to +our capital. To facilitate our operations, I went to Washington to ask +Mr. Stanton for letters of recommendation to the generals on and near +the Mississippi, where we proposed to begin our purchases. Mr. Stanton +and I had several conversations about the advisability of allowing such +traffic, but he did not hesitate about giving me the letters I asked. +There were several of them: one to General Hurlbut, then at Memphis; +another to General Grant, who had begun his movement against Vicksburg; +and another to General Curtis, who commanded in Arkansas. The general +purport of them was: "Mr. Dana is my friend; you can rely upon what he +says, and if you can be kind to him in any way you will oblige me." + +It was in January, 1863, that Chadwick and I went to Memphis, where we +stayed at the Gayoso House, at that time the swell hotel of the town and +the headquarters of several officers. + +It was not long after I began to study the trade in cotton before I saw +it was a bad business and ought to be stopped. I at once wrote Mr. +Stanton the following letter, which embodied my observations and gave my +opinion as to what should be done: + + + MEMPHIS, _January 21, 1863_. + + DEAR SIR: You will remember our conversations on the subject of + excluding cotton speculators from the regions occupied by our + armies in the South. I now write to urge the matter upon your + attention as a measure of military necessity. + + The mania for sudden fortunes made in cotton, raging in a vast + population of Jews and Yankees scattered throughout this whole + country, and in this town almost exceeding the numbers of the + regular residents, has to an alarming extent corrupted and + demoralized the army. Every colonel, captain, or quartermaster is + in secret partnership with some operator in cotton; every soldier + dreams of adding a bale of cotton to his monthly pay. I had no + conception of the extent of this evil until I came and saw for + myself. + + Besides, the resources of the rebels are inordinately increased + from this source. Plenty of cotton is brought in from beyond our + lines, especially by the agency of Jewish traders, who pay for it + ostensibly in Treasury notes, but really in gold. + + What I would propose is that no private purchaser of cotton shall + be allowed in any part of the occupied region. + + Let quartermasters buy the article at a fixed price, say twenty or + twenty-five cents per pound, and forward it by army transportation + to proper centers, say Helena, Memphis, or Cincinnati, to be sold + at public auction on Government account. Let the sales take place + on regular fixed days, so that all parties desirous of buying can + be sure when to be present. + + But little capital will be required for such an operation. The + sales being frequent and for cash, will constantly replace the + amount employed for the purpose. I should say that two hundred + thousand dollars would be sufficient to conduct the movement. + + I have no doubt that this two hundred thousand dollars so employed + would be more than equal to thirty thousand men added to the + national armies. + + My pecuniary interest is in the continuance of the present state of + things, for while it lasts there are occasional opportunities of + profit to be made by a daring operator; but I should be false to my + duty did I, on that account, fail to implore you to put an end to + an evil so enormous, so insidious, and so full of peril to the + country. + + My first impulse was to hurry to Washington to represent these + things to you in person; but my engagements here with other persons + will not allow me to return East so speedily. I beg you, however, + to act without delay, if possible. An excellent man to put at the + head of the business would be General Strong. I make this + suggestion without any idea whether the employment would be + agreeable to him. + + Yours faithfully, CHARLES A. DANA. + + Mr. STANTON. + + P.S.--Since writing the above I have seen General Grant, who fully + agrees with all my statements and suggestions, except that imputing + corruption to every officer, which of course I did not intend to be + taken literally. + + I have also just attended a public sale by the quartermaster here + of five hundred bales of cotton confiscated by General Grant at + Oxford and Holly Springs. It belonged to Jacob Thompson and other + notorious rebels. This cotton brought to-day over a million and a + half of dollars, cash. This sum alone would be five times enough to + set on foot the system I recommend, without drawing upon the + Treasury at all. In fact, there can be no question that by adopting + this system the quartermaster's department in this valley _would + become self-supporting_, while the army would become honest again, + and the slaveholders would no longer find that the rebellion had + quadrupled the price of their great staple, but only doubled it. + + +As soon as I could get away from Memphis I went to Washington, where I +had many conversations with Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton about +restricting the trade in cotton. They were deeply interested in my +observations, and questioned me closely about what I had seen. My +opinion that the trade should be stopped had the more weight because I +was able to say, "General Grant and every general officer whom I have +seen hopes it will be done." + +The result of these consultations was that on March 31, 1863, Mr. +Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring unlawful all commercial +intercourse with the States in insurrection, except when carried on +according to the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the +Treasury. These regulations Mr. Chase prepared at once. At the same time +that Mr. Lincoln issued his proclamation, Mr. Stanton issued an order +forbidding officers and all members of the army to have anything to do +with the trade. In spite of all these regulations, however, and the +modifications of them which experience brought, there was throughout the +war more or less difficulty over cotton trading. + +From Washington I went back to New York. I had not been there long +before Mr. Stanton sent for me to come to Washington. He wanted some one +to go to Grant's army, he said, to report daily to him the military +proceedings, and to give such information as would enable Mr. Lincoln +and himself to settle their minds as to Grant, about whom at that time +there were many doubts, and against whom there was some complaint. + +"Will you go?" Mr. Stanton asked. "Yes," I said. "Very well," he +replied. "The ostensible function I shall give you will be that of +special commissioner of the War Department to investigate the pay +service of the Western armies, but your real duty will be to report to +me every day what you see." + +On March 12th Mr. Stanton wrote me the following letter: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, _March 12, 1863_. + + DEAR SIR: I inclose you a copy of your order of appointment and the + order fixing your compensation, with a letter to Generals + Sumner,[B] Grant, and Rosecrans, and a draft for one thousand + dollars. Having explained the purposes of your appointment to you + personally, no further instructions will be given unless specially + required. Please acknowledge the receipt of this, and proceed as + early as possible to your duties. + + Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON. + + C. A. DANA, Esq., New York. + + +My commission read: + + ORDERED, That C. A. Dana, Esq., be and he is hereby appointed + special commissioner of the War Department to investigate and report + upon the condition of the pay service in the Western armies. All + paymasters and assistant paymasters will furnish to the said + commissioner for the Secretary of War information upon any matters + concerning which he may make inquiry of them as fully and + completely and promptly as if directly called for by the Secretary + of War. Railroad agents, quartermasters, and commissioners will give + him transportation and subsistence. All officers and persons in the + service will aid him in the performance of his duties, and will + afford him assistance, courtesy, and protection. The said + commissioner will make report to this department as occasion may + require. + + +The letters of introduction and explanation to the generals were +identical: + + + GENERAL: Charles A. Dana, Esq., has been appointed a special + commissioner of this department to investigate and report upon the + condition of the pay service in the Western armies. You will please + aid him in the performance of his duties, and communicate to him + fully your views and wishes in respect to that branch of the service + in your command, and also give to him such information as you may + deem beneficial to the service. He is specially commended to your + courtesy and protection. Yours truly, + + EDWIN M. STANTON. + + +I started at once for Memphis, going by way of Cairo and Columbus. + +I sent my first dispatch to the War Department from Columbus, on March +20th. It was sent by a secret cipher furnished by the War Department, +which I used myself, for throughout the war I was my own cipher clerk. +The ordinary method at the various headquarters was for the sender to +write out the dispatch in full, after which it was translated from plain +English into the agreed cipher by a telegraph operator or clerk retained +for that exclusive purpose, who understood it, and by another it was +retranslated back again at the other end of the line. So whatever +military secret was transmitted was at the mercy always of at least two +outside persons, besides running the gantlet of other prying eyes. +Dispatches written in complex cipher codes were often difficult to +unravel, unless transmitted by the operator with the greatest precision. +A wrong word sometimes destroyed the sense of an entire dispatch, and +important movements were delayed thereby. This explains the oft-repeated +"I do not understand your telegram" found in the official correspondence +of the war period. + +I have become familiar since the war with a great many ciphers, but I +never found one which was more satisfactory than that which I used in my +messages to Mr. Stanton. In preparing my message I first wrote it out in +lines of a given number of words, spaced regularly so as to form five, +six, seven, eight, nine, and ten columns. My key contained various +"routes," to be followed in writing out the messages for transmission. +Thus, a five-column message had one route, a six-column another, and so +on. The route was indicated by a "commencement word." If I had put my +message into five columns, I would write at the beginning the word +"Army," or any one in a list of nine words. The receiver, on looking for +that word in his key, would see that he was to write out what he had +received in lines of five words, thus forming five columns; and then he +was to read it down the fifth column, up the third, down the fourth, up +the second, down the first. At the end of each column an "extra" or +"check" word was added as a blind. A list of "blind" words was also +printed in the key, with each route, which could be inserted, if wished, +at the end of each line so as still further to deceive curious people +who did not have the key. The key contained also a large number of +cipher words. Thus, P. H. Sheridan was "soap" or "Somerset"; President +was "Pembroke" or "Penfield." Instead of writing "there has been," I +wrote "maroon"; instead of secession, "mint"; instead of Vicksburg, +"Cupid." My own cipher was "spunky" or "squad." The days, months, hours, +numerals, and alphabet all had ciphers. + +The only message sent by this cipher to be translated by an outsider on +the route, so far as I know, was that one of 4 P.M., September 20, 1863, +in which I reported the Union defeat at Chickamauga. General R. S. +Granger, who was then at Nashville, was at the telegraph office waiting +for news when my dispatch passed through. The operator guessed out the +dispatch, as he afterward confessed, and it was passed around Nashville. +The agent of the Associated Press at Louisville sent out a private +printed circular quoting me as an authority for reporting the battle as +a total defeat, and in Cincinnati Horace Maynard repeated, the same day +of the battle, the entire second sentence of the dispatch, "Chickamauga +is as fatal a name in our history as Bull Run." + +This premature disclosure to the public of what was only the truth, well +known at the front, caused a great deal of trouble. I immediately set on +foot an investigation to discover who had penetrated our cipher code, +and soon arrived at a satisfactory understanding of the matter, of which +Mr. Stanton was duly informed. No blame could attach to me, as was +manifest upon the inquiry; nevertheless, the sensation resulted in +considerable annoyance all along the line from Chattanooga to +Washington. I suggested to Mr. Stanton the advisability of concocting a +new and more difficult cipher, but it was never changed, so far as I now +remember. + +It was from Columbus, Ky., on March 20, 1863, that I sent my first +telegram to the War Department. I did not remain in Columbus long, for +there was absolutely no trustworthy information there respecting affairs +down the river, but took a boat to Memphis, where I arrived on March +23d. I found General Hurlbut in command. I had met Hurlbut in January, +when on my cotton business, and he gave me every opportunity to gather +information concerning the operations against Vicksburg. Four different +plans for reaching the city were then on foot, the essential element of +all of them being to secure for the army on the high ground behind the +city a foothold whence it could strike, and at the same time be supplied +from a river base. The first and oldest and apparently most promising of +these plans was that of the canal across the neck of the peninsula +facing Vicksburg, on the Louisiana side. When I reached Memphis this +canal was thought to be nearly done. + +The second route was by Lake Providence, about forty miles north of +Vicksburg, in Louisiana. It was close to the western bank of the +Mississippi, with which it was proposed to connect it by means of a +canal. The Bayou Macon connected Lake Providence with the Tensas River. +By descending the Tensas to the Washita, the Washita to the Red, the +Red to the Mississippi, the army could be landed on the east bank of the +Mississippi about one hundred and fifty miles south of Vicksburg, and +thence could be marched north. McPherson, with his Seventeenth Corps, +had been ordered by Grant on January 30th to open this route. It was +reported at Memphis when I arrived there that the cutting of Lake +Providence was perfectly successful, but that Bayou Macon was full of +snags, which must be got out before the Tensas would be accessible. + +The third and fourth routes proposed for getting behind +Vicksburg--namely, by Yazoo Pass and Steele's Bayou--were attracting the +chief attention when I reached Memphis. Yazoo Pass opened from the +eastern bank of the Mississippi at a point about one hundred and fifty +miles above Vicksburg into Moon Lake, and thence into the Coldwater +River. Through the Coldwater and the Tallahatchie the Yazoo River was +reached. If troops could follow this route and capture Haynes's Bluff, +fourteen miles from the mouth of the Yazoo, Vicksburg at once became +untenable. The Yazoo Pass operation had begun in February, but the +detachment had had bad luck, and on my arrival at Memphis was lying up +the Yallabusha waiting for re-enforcements and supplies. + +An attempt was being made also to reach the Yazoo by a roundabout route +through Steele's Bayou, Deer Creek, the Rolling Fork, and the Big +Sunflower. Grant had learned of this route only a short time before my +arrival, and had at once sent Sherman with troops and Admiral Porter +with gunboats to attempt to reach the Yazoo. On March 27th reports came +to Memphis that Sherman had landed twenty regiments on the east bank of +the Yazoo above Haynes's Bluff, and that the gunboats were there to +support him. Reports from other points also were so encouraging that the +greatest enthusiasm prevailed throughout the army, and General Grant was +said to be dead sure he would have Vicksburg within a fortnight. + +Five days later, however, we heard at Memphis that there had been a +series of disasters in these different operations, that the Yazoo Pass +expedition was definitely abandoned, and that General Grant had an +entirely new plan of campaign. + +I had not been long at Memphis before I decided that it was impossible +to gather trustworthy news there. I had to rely for most of my +information on the reports brought up the river by occasional officers, +not all of whom were sure of what they told, and on the stories of +persons coming from the vicinity of the different operations. +Occasionally an intelligent planter arrived whom I was inclined to +believe, but on the whole I found that my sources of information were +few and uncertain. I accordingly suggested to Mr. Stanton, three days +after my arrival, that I would be more useful farther down the river. In +reply he telegraphed: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, _March 30, 1863_. + + C. A. DANA, Esq., Memphis, Tenn., via Cairo: + + Your telegrams have been received, and although the information has + been meager and unsatisfactory, I am conscious that arises from no + fault of yours. You will proceed to General Grant's headquarters, + or wherever you may be best able to accomplish the purposes + designated by this department. You will consider your movements to + be governed by your own discretion, without any restriction. + + EDWIN M. STANTON, + _Secretary of War_. + + +As soon after receiving his telegram as I could get a boat I left +Memphis for Milliken's Bend, where General Grant had his headquarters. I +reached there at noon on April 6th. + +The Mississippi at Milliken's Bend was a mile wide, and the sight as we +came down the river by boat was most imposing. Grant's big army was +stretched up and down the river bank over the plantations, its white +tents affording a new decoration to the natural magnificence of the +broad plains. These plains, which stretch far back from the river, were +divided into rich and old plantations by blooming hedges of rose and +Osage orange, the mansions of the owners being inclosed in roses, +myrtles, magnolias, oaks, and every other sort of beautiful and noble +trees. The negroes whose work made all this wealth and magnificence were +gone, and there was nothing growing in the fields. + +For some days after my arrival I lived in a steamboat tied up to the +shore, for though my tent was pitched and ready, I was not able to get a +mattress and pillow. From the deck of the steamer I saw in those days +many a wonderful and to me novel sight. One I remember still. I was +standing out on the upper deck with a group of officers, when we saw far +away, close to the other shore of the river, a long line of something +white floating in the water. We thought it was foam, but it was too long +and white, and that it was cotton which had been thrown into the river, +but it was too straight and regular. Presently we heard a gun fired, +then another, and then we saw it was an enormous flock of swans. They +arose from the water one after the other, and sailed away up the river +in long, curving, silver lines, bending and floating almost like clouds, +and finally disappearing high up in the air above the green woods on the +Mississippi shore. I suppose there were a thousand of them. + +I had not been long at Milliken's Bend before I was on friendly terms +with all the generals, big and little, and one or two of them I found +were very rare men. Sherman especially impressed me as a man of genius +and of the widest intellectual acquisitions. Every day I rode in one +direction or another with an officer, inspecting the operations going +on. From what I saw on my rides over the country I got a new insight +into slavery, which made me no more a friend to that institution than I +was before. I had seen slavery in Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, and +Missouri, but it was not till I saw these great Louisiana plantations +with all their apparatus for living and working that I really felt the +aristocratic nature of the institution, and the infernal baseness of +that aristocracy. Every day my conviction was intensified that the +territorial and political integrity of the nation must be preserved at +all costs, no matter how long it took; that it was better to keep up the +existing war as long as was necessary, rather than to make arrangement +for indefinite wars hereafter and for other disruptions; that we must +have it out then, and settle forever the question, so that our children +would be able to attend to other matters. For my own part, I preferred +one nation and one country, with a military government afterward, if +such should follow, rather than two or three nations and countries with +the semblance of the old Constitution in each of them, ending in wars +and despotisms everywhere. + +As soon as I arrived at Milliken's Bend, on April 6th, I had hunted up +Grant and explained my mission. He received me cordially. Indeed, I +think Grant was always glad to have me with his army. He did not like +letter writing, and my daily dispatches to Mr. Stanton relieved him from +the necessity of describing every day what was going on in the army. +From the first neither he nor any of his staff or corps commanders +evinced any unwillingness to show me the inside of things. In this first +interview at Milliken's Bend, for instance, Grant explained to me so +fully his new plan of campaign--for there was now but one--that by three +o'clock I was able to send an outline of it to Mr. Stanton. From that +time I saw and knew all the interior operations of that toughest of +tough jobs, the reopening of the Mississippi. + +The new project, so Grant told me, was to transfer his army to New +Carthage, and from there carry it over the Mississippi, landing it at or +about Grand Gulf; to capture this point, and then to operate rapidly on +the southern and eastern shore of the Big Black River, threatening at +the same time both Vicksburg and Jackson, and confusing the Confederates +as to his real objective. If this could be done he believed the enemy +would come out of Vicksburg and fight. + +The first element in this plan was to open a passage from the +Mississippi near Milliken's Bend, above Vicksburg, to the bayou on the +west side, which led around to New Carthage below. The length of +navigation in this cut-off was about thirty-seven miles, and the plan +was to take through with small tugs perhaps fifty barges, enough, at +least, to transfer the whole army, with artillery and baggage, to the +other side of the Mississippi in twenty-four hours. If necessary, troops +were to be transported by the canal, though Grant hoped to march them by +the road along its bank. Part of McClernand's corps had already reached +New Carthage overland, and Grant was hurrying other troops forward. The +canal to the bayou was already half completed, thirty-five hundred men +being at work on it when I arrived. + +The second part of the plan was to float down the river, past the +Vicksburg batteries, half a dozen steamboats protected by defenses of +bales of cotton and wet hay; these steamboats were to serve as +transports of supplies after the army had crossed the Mississippi. + +Perhaps the best evidence of the feasibility of the project was found in +the fact that the river men pronounced its success certain. General +Sherman, who commanded one of the three corps in Grant's army, and with +whom I conversed at length upon the subject, thought there was no +difficulty in opening the passage, but that the line would be a +precarious one for supplies after the army was thrown across the +Mississippi. Sherman's preference was for a movement by way of Yazoo +Pass, or Lake Providence, but it was not long before I saw in our daily +talks that his mind was tending to the conclusion of General Grant. As +for General Grant, his purpose was dead set on the new scheme. Admiral +Porter cordially agreed with him. + +An important modification was made a few days after my arrival in the +plan of operations. It was determined that after the occupation of Grand +Gulf the main army, instead of operating up the Big Black toward +Jackson, should proceed down the river against Port Hudson, co-operating +with General Banks against that point, and that after the capture of +Port Hudson the two united forces should proceed against Vicksburg. + +There seemed to be only one hitch in the campaign. Grant had intrusted +the attack on Grand Gulf to McClernand. Sherman, Porter, and other +leading officers believed this a mistake, and talked frankly with me +about it. One night when we had all gathered at Grant's headquarters and +were talking over the campaign very freely, as we were accustomed to do, +both Sherman and Porter protested against the arrangement. But Grant +would not be changed. McClernand, he said, was exceedingly desirous of +the command. He was the senior of the other corps commanders. He was an +especial favorite of the President, and the position which his corps +occupied on the ground when the movement was first projected was such +that the advance naturally fell to its lot; besides, he had entered +zealously into the plan from the first, while Sherman had doubted and +criticised, and McPherson, whom Grant said he would really have much +preferred, was away at Lake Providence, and though he had approved of +the scheme, he had taken no active part in it. + +I believed the assignment of this duty to McClernand to be so dangerous +that I added my expostulation to those of the generals, and in reporting +the case to Mr. Stanton I wrote: "I have remonstrated so far as I could +properly do so against intrusting so momentous an operation to +McClernand." + +Mr. Stanton replied: "Allow me to suggest that you carefully avoid +giving any advice in respect to commands that may be assigned, as it may +lead to misunderstanding and troublesome complications." Of course, +after that I scrupulously observed his directions, even in extreme +cases. + +As the days went on everybody, in spite of this hitch, became more +sanguine that the new project would succeed. For my part I had not a +doubt of it, as one can see from this fragment written from Milliken's +Bend on April 13th to one of my friends: + +"Like all who really know the facts, I feel no sort of doubt that we +shall before long get the nut cracked. Probably before this letter +reaches New York on its way to you the telegraph will get ahead of it +with the news that Grant, masking Vicksburg, deemed impregnable by its +defenders, has carried the bulk of his army down the river through a +cut-off which he has opened without the enemy believing it could be +done; has occupied Grand Gulf, taken Port Hudson, and, effecting a +junction with the forces of Banks, has returned up the river to +threaten Jackson and compel the enemy to come out of Vicksburg and fight +him on ground of his own choosing. Of course this scheme may miscarry in +whole or in parts, but as yet the chances all favor its execution, which +is now just ready to begin." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[B] General E. V. Sumner, who had just been relieved, at his own +request, from the Army of the Potomac and appointed to the Department of +the Missouri. He was on his way thither when he died, on March 21st. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +BEFORE AND AROUND VICKSBURG. + + The hard job of reopening the Mississippi--Admiral Porter runs the + Confederate batteries--Headquarters moved to Smith's + plantation--Delay and confusion in McClernand's command--The + unsuccessful attack on Grand Gulf--The move to the east shore--Mr. + Dana secures a good horse. + + +On the new lines adopted by General Grant, the work went on cheeringly, +though every day changes were made in the details. I spent my days in +riding from point to point, noting the progress. I went out often with +Colonel G. G. Pride, the engineer officer, in whose mess I was, and who +was superintending the construction of the canal which led from Duckport +to the bayou. The work on this canal was a curious sight to see, for +there was a force equal to five regiments at the digging, while a large +number of pioneers were engaged in clearing the bayou beyond. The canal +was opened on April 13th, and the authorities agreed that there was no +reason to doubt its usefulness, though the obstructions in the bayou +were so numerous that it was thought that it would require several days +more to clear a passage for tugs and barges. + +One of my most interesting trips from Milliken's Bend was made with +Major James H. Wilson to view the casemated batteries our engineers were +constructing on the shore opposite Vicksburg. They hoped with the +thirty-pound Parrotts they were putting in to be able to destroy any +building in the town. From behind the levee of the peninsula we were +able with our glasses to examine the fortifications of Vicksburg. + +The best look I had at that town, however, while I was at Milliken's +Bend was not from the peninsula opposite, but from a gunboat. On April +12th I went down with a flag of truce to the vicinity of Vicksburg, so +that I got a capital view. It was an ugly place, with its line of bluffs +commanding the channel for fully seven miles, and battery piled above +battery all the way. + +Admiral Porter's arrangements for carrying out the second part of +Grant's scheme--that is, running the Vicksburg batteries--were all +completed by April 16th, the ironclads and steamers being protected in +vulnerable parts by bulwarks of hay, cotton, and sand bags, and the +barges loaded with forage, coal, and the camp equipment of General +McClernand's corps, which was already at New Carthage. No doubt was felt +that the design was known in Vicksburg, and it was arranged that Admiral +Porter should open fire there with all his guns as he swept past the +town, and that the new batteries on the levee opposite the city should +also participate. Admiral Porter was to go with the expedition on a +small tug, and he invited me to accompany him, but it seemed to me that +I ought not to get out of my communications, and so refused. Instead, I +joined Grant on his headquarters boat, which was stationed on the right +bank of the river, where from the bows we could see the squadron as it +started, and could follow its course until it was nearly past Vicksburg. + +Just before ten o'clock on the night of April 16th the squadron cast +loose its moorings. It was a strange scene. First a mass of black things +detached itself from the shore, and we saw it float out toward the +middle of the stream. There was nothing to be seen except this big black +mass, which dropped slowly down the river. Soon another black mass +detached itself, and another, then another. It was Admiral Porter's +fleet of ironclad turtles, steamboats, and barges. They floated down the +Mississippi darkly and silently, showing neither steam nor light, save +occasionally a signal astern, where the enemy could not see it. + +The vessels moved at intervals of about two hundred yards. First came +seven ironclad turtles and one heavy armed ram; following these were two +side-wheel steamers and one stern-wheel, having twelve barges in tow; +these barges carried the supplies. Far astern of them was one carrying +ammunition. The most of the gunboats had already doubled the tongue of +land which stretches northeasterly in front of Vicksburg, and they were +immediately under the guns of nearly all the Confederate batteries, when +there was a flash from the upper forts, and then for an hour and a half +the cannonade was terrific, raging incessantly along the line of about +four miles in extent. I counted five hundred and twenty-five discharges. +Early in the action the enemy put the torch to a frame building in front +of Vicksburg to light up the scene and direct his fire. + +About 12.45 A.M. one our steamers, the Henry Clay, took fire, and +burned for three quarters of an hour. The Henry Clay was lost by being +abandoned by her captain and crew in a panic, they thinking her to be +sinking. The pilot refused to go with them, and said if they would stay +they would get her through safe. After they had fled in the yawls, the +cotton bales on her deck took fire, and one wheel became unmanageable. +The pilot then ran her aground, and got upon a plank, on which he was +picked up four miles below. + +The morning after Admiral Porter had run the Vicksburg batteries I went +with General Grant to New Carthage to review the situation. We found the +squadron there, all in fighting condition, though most of them had been +hit. Not a man had been lost. + +As soon as we returned to Milliken's Bend Grant ordered that six +transport steamers, each loaded with one hundred thousand rations and +forty days' coal, should be made ready to run the Vicksburg batteries. +The order was executed on the night of the 22d. The transports were +manned throughout, officers, engineers, pilots, and deck hands, by +volunteers from the army, mainly from Logan's division. This dangerous +service was sought with great eagerness, and experienced men had been +found for every post. If ten thousand men had been wanted instead of one +hundred and fifty, they would have engaged with zeal in the adventure. +In addition to bulwarks of hay, cotton, and pork barrels, each transport +was protected by a barge on each side of it. Orders were to drop +noiselessly down with the current from the mouth of the Yazoo, and not +show steam till the enemy's batteries began firing, when the boats were +to use all their legs. The night was cloudy, and the run was made with +the loss of one of the transports, the Tigress, which was sunk, and a +few men wounded. + +The day after these transports with supplies ran the Vicksburg batteries +General Grant changed his headquarters to Smith's plantation, near New +Carthage. All of McClernand's corps, the Thirteenth, was now near there, +and that officer said ten thousand men would be ready to move from New +Carthage the next day. McPherson's corps, which had been busy upon the +Lake Providence expedition and other services, but which had been +ordered to join, was now, except one division, moving over from +Milliken's Bend. Sherman's corps, the Fifteenth, which had been +stationed at Young's Point, was also under marching orders to New +Carthage. + +Grant's first object now was to cross the Mississippi as speedily as +possible and capture Grand Gulf before it could be re-enforced; but +first it was necessary to know the strength of this point. On the 22d +Admiral Porter had gone down with his gunboats and opened fire to +ascertain the position and strength of the batteries. He reported them +too strong to overcome, and earnestly advised against a direct attack. +He suggested that the troops either be marched down the west side from +New Carthage to a point where they could be ferried over the Mississippi +just below Grand Gulf, or that they be embarked on the transports and +barges and floated past the batteries in the night. + +The day after Grant changed his headquarters to Smith's plantation he +went himself with General Porter to reconnoiter Grand Gulf. His +reconnoissance convinced him that the place was not so strong as Admiral +Porter had supposed, and an attack was ordered to be made as soon as the +troops could be made ready, the next day, April 26th, if possible. + +An irritating delay occurred then, however. McClernand's corps was not +ready to move. When we came to Smith's plantation, on the 24th, I had +seen that there was apparently much confusion in McClernand's command, +and I was astonished to find, now that he was ordered to move across the +Mississippi, that he was planning to carry his bride with her servants, +and baggage along with him, although Grant had ordered that officers +should leave behind everything that could impede the march. + +On the 26th, the day when it was hoped to make an attack on Grand Gulf, +I went with Grant by water from our headquarters at Smith's plantation +down to New Carthage and to Perkins's plantation below, where two of +McClernand's divisions were encamped. These troops, it was supposed, +were ready for immediate embarkation, and there were quite as many as +all the transports could carry, but the first thing which struck us both +on approaching the points of embarkation was that the steamboats and +barges were scattered about in the river and in the bayou as if there +was no idea of the imperative necessity of the promptest movement +possible. + +We at once steamed to Admiral Porter's flagship, which was lying just +above Grand Gulf, and Grant sent for McClernand, ordering him to embark +his men without losing a moment. In spite of this order, that night at +dark, when a thunderstorm set in, not a single cannon or man had been +moved. Instead, McClernand held a review of a brigade of Illinois troops +at Perkins's about four o'clock in the afternoon. At the same time a +salute of artillery was fired, notwithstanding the positive orders that +had repeatedly been given to use no ammunition for any purpose except +against the enemy. + +When we got back from the river to headquarters, on the night of the +26th, we found that McPherson had arrived at Smith's plantation with the +first division of his corps, the rear being not very far behind. His +whole force would have been up the next day, but it was necessary to +arrest its movements until McClernand could be got out of the way; this +made McClernand's delay the more annoying. General Lorenzo Thomas, who +was on the Mississippi at this time organizing negro troops, told me +that he believed now that McPherson would actually have his men ready to +embark before McClernand. + +Early the next morning, April 27th, I went with Grant from Smith's +plantation back to New Carthage. As soon as we arrived the general wrote +a very severe letter to McClernand, but learning that at last the +transport steamers and barges had been concentrated for use he did not +send the rebuke. Grant spent the day there completing the preparations +for embarking, and on the morning of the 28th about ten thousand men +were on board. This force was not deemed sufficient for the attack on +Grand Gulf, so the troops were brought down to Hard Times landing, on +the Louisiana side, almost directly across the river from Grand Gulf, +where a portion of them were debarked, and the transports sent back for +Hovey's division, six thousand strong. We spent the night at Hard Times +waiting for these troops, which arrived about daylight on the morning of +the 29th. + +There were now sixteen thousand men at Hard Times ready to be landed at +the foot of the Grand Gulf bluff as soon as its batteries were silenced. +At precisely eight o'clock the gunboats opened their attack. Seven, all +ironclads, were engaged, and a cannonade was kept up for nearly six +hours. We soon found that the enemy had five batteries, the first and +most formidable of them being placed on the high promontory close to the +mouth of the Big Black. The lower batteries, mounting smaller guns and +having no more than two pieces each, were silenced early in the action, +but this one obstinately resisted. For the last four hours of the +engagement the whole seven gunboats were employed in firing at this one +battery, now at long range, seeking to drop shells within the parapet, +now at the very foot of the hill, within about two hundred yards, +endeavoring to dismount its guns by direct fire. It was hit again and +again, but its pieces were not disabled. At last, about half past one +o'clock, Admiral Porter gave the signal to withdraw. The gunboats had +been hit more or less severely. I was on board the Benton during the +attack, and saw that her armor had been pierced repeatedly both in her +sides and her pilot house, but she had not a gun disabled; and except +for the holes through her mail, some of them in her hull, she was as +ready to fight as at the beginning of the action. + +The batteries having proved too much for the gunboats, General Grant +determined to execute an alternative plan which he had had in mind from +the first; that was, to debark the troops and march them south across +the peninsula which faces Grand Gulf to a place out of reach of the +Confederate guns. While the engagement between the gunboats and +batteries had been going on, all the rest of McClernand's corps had +reached Hard Times, having marched around by land, and three divisions +of McPherson's corps had also come up. This entire body of about +thirty-five thousand men was immediately started across the peninsula to +De Shroon's plantation, where it was proposed to embark them again. + +Late in the evening I left Hard Times with Grant to ride across the +peninsula to De Shroon's. The night was pitch dark, and, as we rode side +by side, Grant's horse suddenly gave a nasty stumble. I expected to see +the general go over the animal's head, and I watched intently, not to +see if he was hurt, but if he would show any anger. I had been with +Grant daily now for three weeks, and I had never seen him ruffled or +heard him swear. His equanimity was becoming a curious spectacle to me. +When I saw his horse lunge my first thought was, "Now he will swear." +For an instant his moral status was on trial; but Grant was a tenacious +horseman, and instead of going over the animal's head, as I imagined he +would, he kept his seat. Pulling up his horse, he rode on, and, to my +utter amazement, without a word or sign of impatience. And it is a fact +that though I was with Grant during the most trying campaigns of the +war, I never heard him use an oath. + +In order to get the transports past Grand Gulf, Porter's gunboats had +engaged the batteries about dusk. This artillery duel lasted until about +ten o'clock, the gunboats withdrawing as soon as the transports were +safely past, and steaming at once to De Shroon's plantation, where +General McClernand's corps was all ready to take the transports. The +night was spent in embarking the men. By eleven o'clock the next +morning, April 30th, three divisions were landed on the east shore of +the Mississippi at the place General Grant had selected. This was +Bruinsburg, sixty miles south of Vicksburg, and the first point south of +Grand Gulf from which the highlands of the interior could be reached by +a road over dry land. + +I was obliged to separate from Grant on the 30th, for the means for +transporting troops and officers were so limited that neither an extra +man nor a particle of unnecessary baggage was allowed, and I did not get +over until the morning of May 1st, after the army had moved on Port +Gibson, where they first engaged the enemy. As soon as I was landed at +Bruinsburg I started in the direction of the battle, on foot, of course, +as no horses had been brought over. I had not gone far before I overtook +a quartermaster driving toward Port Gibson; he took me into his wagon. +About four miles from Port Gibson we came upon the first signs of the +battle, a field where it was evident that there had been a struggle. I +got out of the wagon as we approached, and started toward a little white +house with green blinds, covered with vines. The little white house had +been taken as a field hospital, and the first thing my eyes fell upon as +I went into the yard was a heap of arms and legs which had been +amputated and thrown into a pile outside. I had seen men shot and dead +men plenty, but this pile of legs and arms gave me a vivid sense of war +such as I had not before experienced. + +As the army was pressing the Confederates toward Port Gibson all that +day I followed in the rear, without overtaking General Grant. While +trailing along after the Union forces I came across Fred Grant, then a +lad of thirteen, who had been left asleep by his father on a steamer at +Bruinsburg, but who had started out on foot like myself as soon as he +awoke and found the army had marched. We tramped and foraged together +until the next morning, when some officers who had captured two old +horses gave us each one. We got the best bridles and saddles we could, +and thus equipped made our way into Port Gibson, which the enemy had +deserted and where General Grant now had his headquarters. I rode that +old horse for four or five days, then by a chance I got a good one. A +captured Confederate officer had been brought before General Grant for +examination. Now this man had a very good horse, and after Grant had +finished his questions the officer said: + +"General, this horse and saddle are my private property; they do not +belong to the Confederate army; they belong to me as a citizen, and I +trust you will let me have them. Of course, while I am a prisoner I do +not expect to be allowed to ride the horse, but I hope you will regard +him as my property, and finally restore him to me." + +"Well," said Grant, "I have got four or five first-rate horses wandering +somewhere about the Southern Confederacy. They have been captured from +me in battle or by spies. I will authorize you, whenever you find one of +them, to take possession of him. I cheerfully give him to you; but as +for this horse, I think he is just about the horse Mr. Dana needs." + +I rode my new acquisition afterward through that whole campaign, and +when I came away I turned him over to the quartermaster. Whenever I went +out with General Grant anywhere he always had some question to ask about +that horse. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +IN CAMP AND BATTLE WITH GRANT AND HIS GENERALS. + + Marching into the enemy's country--A night in a church with a Bible + for pillow--Our communications are cut--Entering the capital of + Mississippi--The War Department gives Grant full authority--Battle + of Champion's Hill--General Logan's peculiarity--Battlefield + incidents--Vicksburg invested and the siege begun--Personal traits + of Sherman, McPherson, and McClernand. + + +It was the second day of May, 1863, when I rode into Port Gibson, Miss., +and inquired for Grant's headquarters. I found the general in a little +house of the village, busily directing the advance of the army. He told +me that in the battle of the day before the Confederates had been driven +back on the roads to Grand Gulf and Vicksburg, and that our forces were +now in full pursuit. By the next morning, May 3d, our troops had +possession of the roads as far as the Big Black. As soon as he was sure +of this, General Grant started with a brigade of infantry and some +twenty cavalrymen for Grand Gulf. I accompanied him on the trip. When +within about seven miles of Grand Gulf we found that the town had been +deserted, and leaving the brigade we entered with the cavalry escort. + +During this ride to Grand Gulf Grant made inquiries on every side about +the food supplies of the country we were entering. He told me he had +been gathering information on this point ever since the army crossed +the Mississippi, and had made up his mind that both beef and cattle and +corn were abundant in the country. The result of this inquiry was that +here at Grand Gulf Grant took the resolve which makes the Vicksburg +campaign so famous--that of abandoning entirely his base of supplies as +soon as the army was all up and the rations on the way arrived, boldly +striking into the interior, and depending on the country for meat and +even for bread. + +We did not reach Grand Gulf until late on May 3d, but at one o'clock on +the morning of the 4th Grant was off for the front. He had decided that +it was useless to bring up the army to this place, to the capture of +which we had been so long looking, and which had been abandoned so +quickly now that our army was across the Mississippi. I did not follow +until later in the day, and so had an opportunity of seeing General +Sherman. His corps was marching from above as rapidly as possible down +to Hard Times landing, and he had come over to Grand Gulf to see about +debarking his troops there; this he succeeded in doing a couple of days +later. + +That evening I joined Grant at his new headquarters at Hankinson's Ferry +on the Big Black, and now began my first experience with army marching +into an enemy's territory. A glimpse of my life at this time is given in +a letter to a child, written the morning after I rejoined Grant: + +"All of a sudden it is very cold here. Two days ago it was hot like +summer, but now I sit in my tent in my overcoat, writing, and thinking +if I only were at home instead of being almost two thousand miles away. + +"Away yonder, in the edge of the woods, I hear the drum-beat that calls +the soldiers to their supper. It is only a little after five o'clock, +but they begin the day very early and end it early. Pretty soon after +dark they are all asleep, lying in their blankets under the trees, for +in a quick march they leave their tents behind. Their guns are all ready +at their sides, so that if they are suddenly called at night they can +start in a moment. It is strange in the morning before daylight to hear +the bugle and drums sound the reveille, which calls the army to wake up. +It will begin perhaps at a distance and then run along the whole line, +bugle after bugle and drum after drum taking it up, and then it goes +from front to rear, farther and farther away, the sweet sounds throbbing +and rolling while you lie on the grass with your saddle for a pillow, +half awake, or opening your eyes to see that the stars are all bright in +the sky, or that there is only a faint flush in the east, where the day +is soon to break. + +"Living in camp is queer business. I get my meals in General Grant's +mess, and pay my share of the expenses. The table is a chest with a +double cover, which unfolds on the right and the left; the dishes, +knives and forks, and caster are inside. Sometimes we get good things, +but generally we don't. The cook is an old negro, black and grimy. The +cooking is not as clean as it might be, but in war you can't be +particular about such things. + +"The plums and peaches here are pretty nearly ripe. The strawberries +have been ripe these few days, but the soldiers eat them up before we +get a sight of them. The figs are as big as the end of your thumb, and +the green pears are big enough to eat. But you don't know what beautiful +flower gardens there are here. I never saw such roses; and the other day +I found a lily as big as a tiger lily, only it was a magnificent red." + +Grant's policy now was to push the Confederates ahead of him up the Big +Black River, threatening Jackson, the State capital, and the Big Black +bridge behind Vicksburg, and capturing both if necessary. His opinion +was that this maneuver would draw Pemberton out of Vicksburg and bring +on a decisive battle within ten days. + +From Hankinson's Ferry, the headquarters were changed on the 7th to +Rocky Springs, and there we remained until the 11th. By that time +McClernand and McPherson had advanced to within ten or twelve miles of +the railroad which runs from Vicksburg to Jackson, and were lying nearly +in an east and west line; and Sherman's entire corps had reached +Hankinson's Ferry. Supplies which Grant had ordered from Milliken's Bend +had also arrived. The order was now given to Sherman to destroy the +bridge at Hankinson's Ferry, the rear guards were abandoned, and our +communications cut. So complete was our isolation that it was ten days +after we left Rocky Springs, on May 11th, before I was able to get +another dispatch to Mr. Stanton. + +This march toward Jackson proved to be no easy affair. More than one +night I bivouacked on the ground in the rain after being all day in my +saddle. The most comfortable night I had, in fact, was in a church of +which the officers had taken possession. Having no pillow, I went up to +the pulpit and borrowed the Bible for the night. Dr. H. L. Hewitt, who +was medical director on Grant's staff, slept near me, and he always +charged me afterward with stealing that Bible. + +In spite of the roughness of our life, it was all of intense interest to +me, particularly the condition of the people over whose country we were +marching. A fact which impressed me was the total absence of men capable +of bearing arms. Only old men and children remained. The young men were +all in the army or had perished in it. The South was drained of its +youth. An army of half a million with a white population of only five +millions to draw upon, must soon finish the stock of raw material for +soldiers. Another fact of moment was that we found men who had at the +first sympathized with the rebellion, and even joined in it, now of +their own accord rendering Grant the most valuable assistance, in order +that the rebellion might be ended as speedily as possible, and something +saved by the Southern people out of the otherwise total and hopeless +ruin. "Slavery is gone, other property is mainly gone," they said, "but, +for God's sake, let us save some relic of our former means of living." + +In this forward movement the left of the army was ordered to hug the Big +Black as closely as possible, while the right moved straight on Raymond. +On the 12th, the right wing, under McPherson, met the enemy just west of +Raymond. Grant at the time had his headquarters about at the center of +the army, with Sherman's corps, some seven miles west of Raymond. I left +him to go to the scene of the battle at once. It was a hard-fought +engagement, lasting some three hours. McPherson drove the Confederates +back to and through Raymond, and there stopped. The next day the advance +of the army toward Jackson was continued. It rained heavily on the march +and the roads were very heavy, but the troops were in the best of +spirits at their successes and prospects. This work was a great +improvement on digging canals and running batteries. On the afternoon of +the 14th, about two and a half miles west of Jackson, McPherson and +Sherman were temporarily stopped by the enemy, but he was quickly +defeated, and that night we entered the capital of Mississippi. + +At Jackson I received an important telegram from Stanton, though how it +got to me there I do not remember. General Grant had been much troubled +by the delay McClernand had caused at New Carthage, but he had felt +reluctant to remove him as he had been assigned to his command by the +President. My reports to the Secretary on the situation had convinced +him that Grant ought to have perfect independence in the matter, so he +telegraphed me as follows: + + + WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 6, 1863_. + + C. A. DANA, Esq., Smith's Plantation, Ia. + + General Grant has full and absolute authority to enforce his own + commands and to remove any person who by ignorance in action or any + cause interferes with or delays his operations. He has the full + confidence of the Government, is expected to enforce his authority, + and will be firmly and heartily supported, but he will be + responsible for any failure to exert his powers. You may + communicate this to him. + + E. M. STANTON, _Secretary of War_. + + +The very evening of the day that we reached Jackson, Grant learned that +Lieutenant-General Pemberton had been ordered by General Joe Johnston to +come out of Vicksburg and attack our rear. Grant immediately faced the +bulk of his army about to meet the enemy, leaving Sherman in Jackson to +tear up the railroads and destroy all the public property there that +could be of use to the Confederates. I remained with Sherman to see the +work of destruction. I remember now nothing that I saw except the +burning of vast quantities of cotton packed in bales, and that I was +greatly astonished to see how slowly it burned. + +On the afternoon of the 15th I joined Grant again at his headquarters at +Clinton. Early the next morning we had definite information about +Pemberton. He was about ten miles to the west, with twenty-five thousand +men, as reported, and our advance was almost up with him. We at once +went forward to the front. Here we found Pemberton in a most formidable +position on the crest of a wooded ridge called Champion's Hill, over +which the road passed longitudinally. About eleven o'clock in the +morning of the 16th the battle began, and by four in the afternoon it +was won. + +After the battle I started out on horseback with Colonel Rawlins to +visit the field. When we reached Logan's command we found him greatly +excited. He declared the day was lost, and that he would soon be swept +from his position. I contested the point with him. "Why, general," I +said, "we have gained the day." + +He could not see it. "Don't you hear the cannon over there?" he +answered. "They will be down on us right away! In an hour I will have +twenty thousand men to fight." + +I found afterward that this was simply a curious idiosyncrasy of +Logan's. In the beginning of a fight he was one of the bravest men that +could be, saw no danger, went right on fighting until the battle was +over. Then, after the battle was won, his mind gained an immovable +conviction that it was lost. Where we were victorious, he thought that +we were defeated. I had a very interesting conversation with Logan on +this day, when he attempted to convince me that we had lost the battle +of Champion's Hill. It was merely an intellectual peculiarity. It did +not in the least impair his value as a soldier or commanding officer. He +never made any mistake on account of it. + +On leaving Logan, Rawlins and I were joined by several officers, and we +continued our ride over the field. On the hill where the thickest of the +fight had taken place we stopped, and were looking around at the dead +and dying men lying all about us, when suddenly a man, perhaps +forty-five or fifty years old, who had a Confederate uniform on, lifted +himself up on his elbow, and said: + +"For God's sake, gentlemen, is there a Mason among you?" + +"Yes," said Rawlins, "I am a Mason." He got off his horse and kneeled by +the dying man, who gave him some letters out of his pocket. When he came +back Rawlins had tears on his cheeks. The man, he told us, wanted him +to convey some souvenir--a miniature or a ring, I do not remember +what--to his wife, who was in Alabama. Rawlins took the package, and +some time afterward he succeeded in sending it to the woman. + +I remained out late that night conversing with the officers who had been +in the battle, and think it must have been about eleven o'clock when I +got to Grant's headquarters, where I was to sleep. Two or three officers +who had been out with me went with me into the little cottage which +Grant had taken possession of. We found a wounded man there, a tall and +fine-looking man, a Confederate. He stood up suddenly and said: "Kill +me! Will some one kill me? I am in such anguish that it will be mercy to +do it--I have got to die--kill me--don't let me suffer!" We sent for a +surgeon, who examined his case, but said it was hopeless. He had been +shot through the head, so that it had cut off the optic nerve of both +eyes. He never could possibly see again. Before morning he died. + +I was up at daylight the next day, and off with Grant and his staff +after the enemy. We rode directly west, and overtook Pemberton at the +Big Black. He had made a stand on the bottom lands at the east head of +the Big Black bridge. Here he fought in rifle-pits, protected by abatis +and a difficult bayou. Lawler's brigade, of McClernand's corps, charged +the left of the Confederate rifle-pits magnificently, taking more +prisoners than their own numbers. The others fled. Pemberton burned his +bridge and retreated rapidly into Vicksburg, with only three cannon out +of sixty-three with which he had entered upon this short, sharp, and +decisive campaign. + +There was nothing for Grant to do now but build bridges and follow. +Before morning four bridges had been thrown across the Big Black, and by +the evening of that day, the 18th, the army had arrived behind +Vicksburg, which was now its front. In twenty-four hours after Grant's +arrival the town was invested, the bluffs above the town had been seized +so that we could get water from the Mississippi, and Haynes's Bluff up +the Yazoo had been abandoned by the Confederates. With the Yazoo +highlands in our control there was no difficulty in establishing a line +of supplies with our original base on the Mississippi. On the 20th I was +able to get off to Mr. Stanton the first dispatch from the rear of +Vicksburg. In it I said, "Probably the town will be carried to-day." + +The prediction was not verified. The assault we expected was not made +until the morning of the 22d. It failed, but without heavy loss. Early +in the afternoon, however, McClernand, who was on the left of our lines, +reported that he was in possession of two forts of the rebel line, was +hard pressed, and in great need of re-enforcements. Not doubting that he +had really succeeded in taking and holding the works he pretended to +hold, General Grant sent a division to his support, and at the same time +ordered Sherman and McPherson to make new attacks. McClernand's report +was false, for, although a few of his men had broken through in one +place, he had not taken a single fort, and the result of the second +assault was disastrous. We were repulsed, losing quite heavily, when +but for his error the total loss of the day would have been +inconsiderable. + +The failure of the 22d convinced Grant of the necessity of a regular +siege, and immediately the army settled down to that. We were in an +incomparable position for a siege as regarded the health and comfort of +our men. The high wooded hills afforded pure air and shade, and the deep +ravines abounded in springs of excellent water, and if they failed it +was easy to bring it from the Mississippi. Our line of supplies was +beyond the reach of the enemy, and there was an abundance of fruit all +about us. I frequently met soldiers coming into camp with buckets full +of mulberries, blackberries, and red and yellow wild plums. + +The army was deployed at this time in the following way: The right of +the besieging force was held by General Sherman, whose forces ran from +the river along the bluffs around the northeast of the town. Sherman's +front was at a greater distance from the enemy than that of any other +corps, and the approach less advantageous, but he began his siege works +with great energy and admirable skill. Everything I saw of Sherman at +the Vicksburg siege increased my admiration for him. He was a very +brilliant man and an excellent commander of a corps. Sherman's +information was great, and he was a clever talker. He always liked to +have people about who could keep up with his conversation; besides, he +was genial and unaffected. I particularly admired his loyalty to Grant. +He had criticised the plan of campaign frankly in the first place, but +had supported every movement with all his energy, and now that we were +in the rear of Vicksburg he gave loud praise to the commander in chief. + +To the left of Sherman lay the Seventeenth Army Corps, under +Major-General J. B. McPherson. He was one of the best officers we had. +He was but thirty-two years old at the time, and a very handsome, +gallant-looking man, with rather a dark complexion, dark eyes, and a +most cordial manner. McPherson was an engineer officer of fine natural +ability and extraordinary acquirements, having graduated Number One in +his class at West Point, and was held in high estimation by Grant and +his professional brethren. Halleck gave him his start in the civil war, +and he had been with Grant at Donelson and ever since. He was a man +without any pretensions, and always had a pleasant hand-shake for you. + +It is a little remarkable that the three chief figures in this great +Vicksburg campaign--Grant, Sherman, and McPherson--were all born in +Ohio. The utmost cordiality and confidence existed between these three +men, and it always seemed to me that much of the success achieved in +these marches and battles was owing to this very fact. There was no +jealousy or bickering, and in their unpretending simplicity they were as +alike as three peas. No country was ever more faithfully, unselfishly +served than was ours in the Vicksburg campaign by these three Ohio +officers. + +To McPherson's left was the Thirteenth Army Corps, under Major-General +John A. McClernand. Next to Grant he was the ranking officer in the +army. The approaches on his front were most favorable to us, and the +enemy's line of works evidently much the weakest there, but he was very +inefficient and slow in pushing his siege operations. Grant had resolved +on the 23d to relieve McClernand for his false dispatch of the day +before stating that he held two of the enemy's forts, but he changed his +mind, concluding that it would be better on the whole to leave him in +his command till the siege was concluded. From the time that I had +joined Grant's army at Milliken's Bend and heard him criticising Porter, +Sherman, and other officers, I had been observing McClernand narrowly +myself. My own judgment of him by this time was that he had not the +qualities necessary for commander even of a regiment. In the first +place, he was not a military man; he was a politician and a member of +Congress. He was a man of a good deal of a certain kind of talent, not +of a high order, but not one of intellectual accomplishments. His +education was that which a man gets who is in Congress five or six +years. In short, McClernand was merely a smart man, quick, very +active-minded, but his judgment was not solid, and he looked after +himself a good deal. Mr. Lincoln also looked out carefully for +McClernand, because he was an Illinois Democrat, with a considerable +following among the people. It was a great thing to get McClernand into +the war in the first place, for his natural predisposition, one would +have supposed, would have been to sympathize with the South. As long as +he adhered to the war he carried his Illinois constituency with him; and +chiefly for this reason, doubtless, Lincoln made it a point to take +special care of him. In doing this the President really served the +greater good of the cause. But from the circumstances of Lincoln's +supposed friendship, McClernand had more consequence in the army than he +deserved. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +SOME CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITS. + + Grant before his great fame--His friend and mentor, General + Rawlins--James Harrison Wilson--Two semi-official letters to + Stanton--Character sketches for the information of the President and + Secretary--Mr. Dana's early judgment of soldiers who afterward won + distinction. + + +Living at headquarters as I did throughout the siege of Vicksburg, I +soon became intimate with General Grant, not only knowing every +operation while it was still but an idea, but studying its execution on +the spot. Grant was an uncommon fellow--the most modest, the most +disinterested, and the most honest man I ever knew, with a temper that +nothing could disturb, and a judgment that was judicial in its +comprehensiveness and wisdom. Not a great man, except morally; not an +original or brilliant man, but sincere, thoughtful, deep, and gifted +with courage that never faltered; when the time came to risk all, he +went in like a simple-hearted, unaffected, unpretending hero, whom no +ill omens could deject and no triumph unduly exalt. A social, friendly +man, too, fond of a pleasant joke and also ready with one; but liking +above all a long chat of an evening, and ready to sit up with you all +night, talking in the cool breeze in front of his tent. Not a man of +sentimentality, not demonstrative in friendship, but always holding to +his friends, and just even to the enemies he hated. + +After Grant, I spent more time at Vicksburg with his assistant adjutant +general, Colonel John A. Rawlins, and with Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, +than with anybody else. Rawlins was one of the most valuable men in the +army, in my judgment. He had but a limited education, which he had +picked up at the neighbourhood school and in Galena, Ill., near which +place he was born and where he had worked himself into the law; but he +had a very able mind, clear, strong, and not subject to hysterics. He +bossed everything at Grant's headquarters. He had very little respect +for persons, and a rough style of conversation. I have heard him curse +at Grant when, according to his judgment, the general was doing +something that he thought he had better not do. But he was entirely +devoted to his duty, with the clearest judgment, and perfectly fearless. +Without him Grant would not have been the same man. Rawlins was +essentially a good man, though he was one of the most profane men I ever +knew; there was no guile in him--he was as upright and as genuine a +character as I ever came across. + +James H. Wilson I had first met at Milliken's Bend, when he was serving +as chief topographical engineer and assistant inspector general of the +Army of the Tennessee. He was a brilliant man intellectually, highly +educated, and thoroughly companionable. We became warm friends at once, +and were together a great deal throughout the war. Rarely did Wilson go +out on a specially interesting tour of inspection that he did not +invite me to accompany him, and I never failed, if I were at liberty, to +accept his invitations. Much of the exact information about the +condition of the works which I was able to send to Mr. Stanton Wilson +put in my way. + +I have already spoken of McClernand, Sherman, and McPherson, Grant's +three chief officers, but there were many subordinate officers of value +in his army, not a few of whom became afterward soldiers of distinction. +At the request of Secretary Stanton, I had begun at Vicksburg a series +of semi-official letters, in which I undertook to give my impressions of +the officers in Grant's army. These letters were designed to help Mr. +Lincoln and Mr. Stanton in forming their judgments of the men. In order +to set the _personnel_ of the commanding force distinctly before the +reader, I quote here one of these letters, written at Cairo after the +siege had ended. It has never been published before, and it gives my +judgment at that time of the subordinate officers in the Vicksburg +campaign: + + + CAIRO, ILL., _July 12, 1863_. + + DEAR SIR: Your dispatch of June 29th, desiring me to "continue my + sketches," I have to-day seen for the first time. It was sent down + the river, but had not arrived when I left Vicksburg on the 5th + instant. + + Let me describe the generals of division and brigade in Grant's + army in the order of the army corps to which they are attached, + beginning with the Thirteenth. + + The most prominent officer of the Thirteenth Corps, next to the + commander of the corps, is Brigadier-General A. P. Hovey. He is a + lawyer of Indiana, and from forty to forty-five years old. He is + ambitious, active, nervous, irritable, energetic, clear-headed, + quick-witted, and prompt-handed. He works with all his might and + all his mind; and, unlike most volunteer officers, makes it his + business to learn the military profession just as if he expected to + spend his life in it. He distinguished himself most honorably at + Port Gibson and Champion's Hill, and is one of the best officers in + this army. He is a man whose character will always command respect, + though he is too anxious about his personal renown and his own + advancement to be considered a first-rate man morally, judged by + the high standard of men like Grant and Sherman. + + Hovey's principal brigadiers are General McGinnis and Colonel + Slack. McGinnis is brave enough, but too excitable. He lost his + balance at Champion's Hill. He is not likely ever to be more than a + brigadier. Slack is a solid, steady man, brave, thorough, and + sensible, but will never set the river afire. His education is + poor, but he would make a respectable brigadier general, and, I + know, hopes to be promoted. + + Next to Hovey is Osterhaus. This general is universally well spoken + of. He is a pleasant, genial fellow, brave and quick, and makes a + first-rate report of a reconnoissance. There is not another general + in this army who keeps the commander in chief so well informed + concerning whatever happens at his outposts. As a disciplinarian he + is not equal to Hovey, but is much better than some others. On the + battlefield he lacks energy and concentrativeness. His brigade + commanders are all colonels, and I don't know much of them. + + The third division of the Thirteenth Corps is commanded by General + A. J. Smith, an old cavalry officer of the regular service. He is + intrepid to recklessness, his head is clear though rather thick, + his disposition honest and manly, though given to boasting and + self-exaggeration of a gentle and innocent kind. His division is + well cared for, but is rather famous for slow instead of rapid + marching. McClernand, however, disliked him, and kept him in the + rear throughout the late campaign. He is a good officer to command + a division in an army corps, but should not be intrusted with any + important independent command. + + Smith's principal brigadier is General Burbridge, whom I judge to + be a mediocre officer, brave, rather pretentious, a good fellow, + not destined to greatness. + + The fourth division in the Thirteenth Corps is General Carr's. He + has really been sick throughout the campaign, and had leave to go + home several weeks since, but stuck it out till the surrender. This + may account for a critical, hang-back disposition which he has + several times exhibited. He is a man of more cultivation, + intelligence, and thought than his colleagues generally. The + discipline in his camps I have thought to be poor and careless. He + is brave enough, but lacks energy and initiative. + + Carr's brigadiers comprise General M. K. Lawler and General Lee, of + Kansas. Lawler weighs two hundred and fifty pounds, is a Roman + Catholic, and was a Douglas Democrat, belongs in Shawneetown, Ill., + and served in the Mexican War. He is as brave as a lion, and has + about as much brains; but his purpose is always honest, and his + sense is always good. He is a good disciplinarian and a first-rate + soldier. He once hung a man of his regiment for murdering a + comrade, without reporting the case to his commanding general + either before or after the hanging, but there was no doubt the man + deserved his fate. Grant has two or three times gently reprimanded + him for indiscretions, but is pretty sure to go and thank him after + a battle. Carr's third brigadier I don't know. + + In the Fifteenth Corps there are two major generals who command + divisions--namely, Steele and Blair--and one brigadier, Tuttle. + Steele has also been sick through the campaign, but has kept + constantly at his post. He is a gentlemanly, pleasant fellow.... + Sherman has a high opinion of his capacity, and every one says that + he handles troops with great coolness and skill in battle. To me + his mind seems to work in a desultory way, like the mind of a + captain of infantry long habituated to garrison duty at a frontier + post. He takes things in bits, like a gossiping companion, and + never comprehensively and strongly, like a man of clear brain and a + ruling purpose. But on the whole I consider him one of the best + division generals in this army, yet you can not rely on him to make + a logical statement, or to exercise any independent command. + + Of Steele's brigadiers, Colonel Woods eminently deserves promotion. + A Hercules in form, in energy, and in pertinacity, he is both safe + and sure. Colonel Manter, of Missouri, is a respectable officer. + General Thayer is a fair but not first-rate officer. + + Frank Blair is about the same as an officer that he is as a + politician. He is intelligent, prompt, determined, rather inclining + to disorder, a poor disciplinarian, but a brave fighter. I judge + that he will soon leave the army, and that he prefers his seat in + Congress to his commission. + + In Frank Blair's division there are two brigadier generals, Ewing + and Lightburne. Ewing seems to possess many of the qualities of his + father, whom you know better than I do, I suppose. Lightburne has + not served long with this army, and I have had no opportunity of + learning his measure. Placed in a command during the siege where + General Sherman himself directed what was to be done, he has had + little to do. He seems to belong to the heavy rather than the rapid + department of the forces. + + Colonel Giles Smith is one of the very best brigadiers in Sherman's + corps, perhaps the best of all next to Colonel Woods. He only + requires the chance to develop into an officer of uncommon power + and usefulness. There are plenty of men with generals' commissions + who in all military respects are not fit to tie his shoes. + + Of General Tuttle, who commands Sherman's third division, I have + already spoken, and need not here repeat it. Bravery and zeal + constitute his only qualifications for command. His principal + brigadier is General Mower, a brilliant officer, but not of large + mental calibre. Colonel Wood, who commands another of his brigades, + is greatly esteemed by General Grant, but I do not know him; + neither do I know the commander of his third brigade. + + Three divisions of the Sixteenth Corps have been serving in Grant's + army for some time past. They are all commanded by brigadier + generals, and the brigades by colonels. The first of these + divisions to arrive before Vicksburg was Lauman's. This general got + his promotion by bravery on the field and Iowa political influence. + He is totally unfit to command--a very good man but a very poor + general. His brigade commanders are none of them above mediocrity. + The next division of the Sixteenth Corps to join the Vicksburg army + was General Kimball's. He is not so bad a commander as Lauman, but + he is bad enough; brave, of course, but lacking the military + instinct and the genius of generalship. I don't know any of his + brigade commanders. The third division of the Sixteenth Corps now + near Vicksburg is that of General W. S. Smith. He is one of the + best officers in that army. A rigid disciplinarian, his division is + always ready and always safe. A man of brains, a hard worker, + unpretending, quick, suggestive, he may also be a little crotchety, + for such is his reputation; but I judge that he only needs the + opportunity to render great services. What his brigade commanders + are worth I can't say, but I am sure they have a first-rate + schoolmaster in him. + + I now come to the Seventeenth Corps and to its most prominent + division general, Logan. This is a man of remarkable qualities and + peculiar character. Heroic and brilliant, he is sometimes unsteady. + Inspiring his men with his own enthusiasm on the field of battle, + he is splendid in all its crash and commotion, but before it begins + he is doubtful of the result, and after it is over he is fearful we + may yet be beaten. A man of instinct and not of reflection, his + judgments are often absurd, but his extemporaneous opinions are + very apt to be right. Deficient in education, he is full of + generous attachments and sincere animosities. On the whole, few can + serve the cause of the country more effectively than he, and none + serve it more faithfully. + + Logan's oldest brigade commander is General John D. Stevenson, of + Missouri. He is a person of much talent, but a grumbler. He was one + of the oldest colonels in the volunteer service, but because he had + always been an antislavery man all the others were promoted before + him. This is still one of his grounds for discontent, and in + addition younger brigadiers have been put before him since. Thus + the world will not go to suit him. He has his own notions, too, of + what should be done on the field of battle, and General McPherson + has twice during this campaign had to rebuke him very severely for + his failure to come to time on critical occasions. + + Logan's second brigade is commanded by General Leggett, of Ohio. + This officer has distinguished himself during the siege, and will + be likely to distinguish himself hereafter. He possesses a clear + head, an equable temper, and great propulsive power over his men. + He is also a hard worker, and whatever he touches goes easily. The + third brigade of this division has for a short time been commanded + by Colonel Force. I only know that Logan, McPherson, and Grant all + think well of him. + + Next in rank among McPherson's division generals is McArthur. He + has been in the reserve throughout the campaign, and has had little + opportunity of proving his mettle. He is a shrewd, steady + Scotchman, trustworthy rather than brilliant, good at hard knocks, + but not a great commander. Two of his brigadiers, however, have + gained very honorable distinction in this campaign, namely Crocker, + who commanded Quinby's division at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, + and Champion's Hill, and Ransom. Crocker was sick throughout, and, + as soon as Quinby returned to his command, had to go away, and it + is feared may never be able to come back. He is an officer of great + promise and remarkable power. Ransom has commanded on McPherson's + right during the siege, and has exceeded every other brigadier in + the zeal, intelligence, and efficiency with which his siege works + were constructed and pushed forward. At the time of the surrender + his trenches were so well completed that the engineers agreed that + they offered the best opportunity in the whole of our lines for the + advance of storming columns. Captain Comstock told me that ten + thousand men could there be marched under cover up to the very + lines of the enemy. In the assault of May 22d, Ransom was equally + conspicuous for the bravery with which he exposed himself. No young + man in all this army has more future than he. + + The third brigade of McArthur's division, that of General Reid, has + been detached during the campaign at Lake Providence and elsewhere, + and I have not been able to make General R.'s acquaintance. + + The third division of the Seventeenth Corps was commanded during + the first of the siege by General Quinby. This officer was also + sick, and I dare say did not do justice to himself. A good + commander of a division he is not, though he is a most excellent + and estimable man, and seemed to be regarded by the soldiers with + much affection. But he lacks order, system, command, and is the + very opposite of his successor, General John E. Smith, who, with + much less intellect than Quinby, has a great deal better sense, + with a firmness of character, a steadiness of hand, and a freedom + from personal irritability and jealousy which must soon produce the + happiest effect upon the division. Smith combines with these + natural qualities of a soldier and commander a conscientious + devotion not merely to the doing but also to the learning of his + duty, which renders him a better and better general every day. He + is also fit to be intrusted with any independent command where + judgment and discretion are as necessary as courage and activity, + for in him all these qualities seem to be happily blended and + balanced. + + Of General Matthias, who commands the brigade in this division so + long and so gallantly commanded by the late Colonel Boomer, I hear + the best accounts, but do not know him personally. The medical + inspector tells me that no camps in the lines are kept in so good + condition as his; and General Sherman, under whom he lately served, + speaks of him as a very valuable officer. The second brigade is + commanded by Colonel Sanborn, a steady, mediocre sort of man; the + third by Colonel Holmes, whom I don't know personally, but who made + a noble fight at Champion's Hill, and saved our center there from + being broken. + + General Herron's division is the newest addition to the forces + under Grant, except the Ninth Corps, of which I know nothing except + that its discipline and organization exceed those of the Western + troops. Herron is a driving, energetic sort of young fellow, not + deficient either in self-esteem or in common sense, and, as I + judge, hardly destined to distinctions higher than those he has + already acquired. Of his two brigadiers, Vandever has not proved + himself of much account during the siege; Orme I have seen, but do + not know. Herron has shown a great deal more both of capacity and + force than either of them. But he has not the first great requisite + of a soldier, obedience to orders, and believes too much in doing + things his own way. Thus, for ten days after he had taken his + position he disregarded the order properly to picket the bottom + between the bluff and the river on his left. He had made up his own + mind that nobody could get out of the town by that way, and + accordingly neglected to have the place thoroughly examined in + order to render the matter clear and certain. Presently Grant + discovered that men from the town were making their escape through + that bottom, and then a more peremptory command to Herron set the + matter right by the establishment of the necessary pickets. + + I must not omit a general who formerly commanded a brigade in + Logan's division, and has for some time been detached to a separate + command at Milliken's Bend. I mean General Dennis. He is a + hard-headed, hard-working, conscientious man, who never knows when + he is beaten, and consequently is very hard to beat. He is not + brilliant, but safe, sound, and trustworthy. His predecessor in + that command, General Sullivan, has for some time been at Grant's + headquarters, doing nothing with more energy and effect than he + would be likely to show in any other line of duty. He is a + gentlemanly fellow, intelligent, a charming companion, but heavy, + jovial, and lazy. + + I might write another letter on the staff officers and staff + organization of Grant's army, should you desire it. + + Yours faithfully, C. A. DANA. + + Mr. STANTON. + + +The day after sending to Mr. Stanton this letter on the generals of +divisions and of brigades in the army which besieged Vicksburg, I wrote +him another on the staff officers of the various corps. Like its +predecessor, this letter has never appeared in the records of the war: + + + CAIRO, ILL., _July 13, 1863_. + + DEAR SIR: In my letter of yesterday I accidentally omitted to + notice General C. C. Washburn among the generals of division in + Grant's army. He is now in command of two of the divisions detached + from the Sixteenth Army Corps--namely, that of Kimball and that of + W. S. Smith--and, as I happen to know, is anxious to be put in + command of an army corps, for which purpose it has been suggested + that a new corps might be created out of these two divisions, with + the addition of that of Lauman, also detached from the Sixteenth, + or that of Herron. But I understand from General Grant that he is + not favorable to any such arrangement. Washburn being one of the + very youngest in rank of his major generals, he intends to put him + in command of a single division as soon as possible, in order that + he may prove his fitness for higher commands by actual service, and + give no occasion for older soldiers to complain that he is promoted + without regard to his merits. + + I know Washburn very well, both as a politician and a military man, + and I say frankly that he has better qualities for the latter than + for the former function. He is brave, steady, respectable; receives + suggestions and weighs them carefully; is not above being advised, + but acts with independence nevertheless. His judgment is good, and + his vigilance sufficient. I have not seen him in battle, however, + and can not say how far he holds his mind there. I don't find in + him, I am sorry to say, that effort to learn the military art which + every commander ought to exhibit, no matter whether he has received + a military education or not. Washburn's whole soul is not put into + the business of arms, and for me that is an unpardonable defect. + But he is a good man, and above the average of our generals, at + least of those in Grant's command. + + I now come to the staff organization and staff officers of this + army, beginning, of course, with those connected with the head of + the department. Grant's staff is a curious mixture of good, bad, + and indifferent. As he is neither an organizer nor a disciplinarian + himself, his staff is naturally a mosaic of accidental elements and + family friends. It contains four working men, two who are able to + accomplish their duties without much work, and several who either + don't think of work, or who accomplish nothing no matter what they + undertake. + + Lieutenant-Colonel Rawlins, Grant's assistant adjutant general, is + a very industrious, conscientious man, who never loses a moment, + and never gives himself any indulgence except swearing and + scolding. He is a lawyer by profession, a townsman of Grant's, and + has a great influence over him, especially because he watches him + day and night, and whenever he commits the folly of tasting liquor + hastens to remind him that at the beginning of the war he gave him + [Rawlins] his word of honor not to touch a drop as long as it + lasted. Grant thinks Rawlins a first-rate adjutant, but I think + this is a mistake. He is too slow, and can't write the English + language correctly without a great deal of careful consideration. + Indeed, illiterateness is a general characteristic of Grant's + staff, and in fact of Grant's generals and regimental officers of + all ranks. + + Major Bowers, judge-advocate of Grant's staff, is an excellent man, + and always finds work to do. Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, inspector + general, is a person of similar disposition. He is a captain of + engineers in the regular army, and has rendered valuable services + in that capacity. The fortifications of Haynes's Bluff were + designed by him and executed under his direction. His leading idea + is the idea of duty, and he applies it vigorously and often + impatiently to others. In consequence he is unpopular among all who + like to live with little work. But he has remarkable talents and + uncommon executive power, and will be heard from hereafter. + + The quartermaster's department is under charge of + Lieutenant-Colonel Bingham, who is one of those I spoke of as + accomplishing much with little work. He is an invalid almost, and I + have never seen him when he appeared to be perfectly well; but he + is a man of first-rate abilities and solid character, and, barring + physical weakness, up to even greater responsibilities than those + he now bears. + + The chief commissary, Lieutenant-Colonel Macfeely, is a jolly, + agreeable fellow, who never seems to be at work, but I have heard + no complaints of deficiencies in his department. On the contrary, + it seems to be one of the most efficacious parts of this great + machine. + + Lieutenant-Colonel Kent, provost-marshal general, is a very + industrious and sensible man, a great improvement on his + predecessor, Colonel Hillyer, who was a family and personal friend + of Grant's. + + There are two aides-de-camp with the rank of colonel, namely, + Colonel ---- and Colonel ----, both personal friends of Grant's. + ---- is a worthless, whisky-drinking, useless fellow. ---- is + decent and gentlemanly, but neither of them is worth his salt so + far as service to the Government goes. Indeed, in all my + observation, I have never discovered the use of Grant's + aides-de-camp at all. On the battlefield he sometimes sends orders + by them, but everywhere else they are idle loafers. I suppose the + army would be better off if they were all suppressed, especially + the colonels. + + Grant has three aides with the rank of captain. Captain ---- is a + relative of Mrs. Grant. He has been a stage driver, and violates + English grammar at every phrase. He is of some use, for he attends + to the mails. Captain ---- is an elegant young officer of the + regular cavalry. He rides after the general when he rides out; the + rest of the time he does nothing at all. Captain Badeau, wounded at + Port Hudson since he was attached to Grant's staff, has not yet + reported. + + I must not omit the general medical staff of this army. It is in + bad order. Its head, Dr. Mills, is impracticable, earnest, + quarrelsome. He was relieved several weeks since, but Grant likes + him, and kept him on till the fall of Vicksburg. In this he was + right, no doubt, for a change during the siege would have been + troublesome. The change, I presume, will now be made. It must be + for the better. + + The office of chief of artillery on the general staff I had + forgotten, as well as that of chief engineer. The former is + occupied by Lieutenant-Colonel Duff, of the Second Illinois + Artillery. He is unequal to the position, not only because he is + disqualified by sickness, but because he does not sufficiently + understand the management of artillery. The siege suffered greatly + from his incompetence. General Grant knows, of course, that he is + not the right person; but it is one of his weaknesses that he is + unwilling to hurt the feelings of a friend, and so he keeps him on. + + The chief engineer, Captain Comstock, is an officer of great merit. + He has, too, what his predecessor, Captain Prime, lacked, a talent + for organization. His accession to the army will be the source of + much improvement. + + If General Grant had about him a staff of thoroughly competent men, + disciplinarians and workers, the efficiency and fighting quality of + his army would soon be much increased. As it is, things go too much + by hazard and by spasms; or, when the pinch comes, Grant forces + through, by his own energy and main strength, what proper + organization and proper staff officers would have done already. + + The staff of the Thirteenth Corps was formed by General McClernand. + The acting adjutant general, Lieutenant-Colonel Scates, is a man of + about fifty-five or sixty years old; he was a judge in Illinois, + and left an honored and influential social position to serve in the + army. General Ord speaks in high terms of him as an officer. The + chief of artillery, Colonel ----, is an ass. The chief + quartermaster, Lieutenant-Colonel ----, General McClernand's + father-in-law, lately resigned his commission. He was + incompetent.... His successor has not yet been appointed. The chief + commissary, Lieutenant-Colonel ----, is a fussy fellow, who with + much show accomplishes but little. General McClernand's aides went + away with him or are absent on leave. Not a man of them is worth + having. The engineer on his staff, Lieutenant Hains, is an + industrious and useful officer. The medical director, Dr. Hammond, + had just been appointed. + + In the Fifteenth Corps staff all have to be working men, for + Sherman tolerates no idlers and finds something for everybody to + do. If an officer proves unfit for his position, he shifts him to + some other place. Thus his adjutant, Lieutenant-Colonel Hammond, a + restless Kentuckian, kept everything in a row as long as he + remained in that office. Sherman has accordingly made him inspector + general, and during the last two months has kept him constantly + employed on scouting parties. In his place as adjutant is Captain + Sawyer, a quiet, industrious, efficient person. The chief of + artillery, Major Taylor, directed by Sherman's omnipresent eye and + quick judgment, is an officer of great value, though under another + general he might not be worth so much. The chief engineer, Captain + Pitzman, wounded about July 15th, is a man of merit, and his + departure was a great loss to the regular ranks. General Sherman + has three aides-de-camp, Captain McCoy, Captain Dayton, and + Lieutenant Hill, and, as I have said, neither of them holds a + sinecure office. His medical director, Dr. McMillan, is a good + physician, I believe; he has been in a constant contention with Dr. + Mills. The quartermaster, Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Smith, is a most + efficient officer; he has been doing duty as commissary also. + + On the whole, General Sherman has a very small and very efficient + staff; but the efficiency comes mainly from him. What a splendid + soldier he is! + + The staff of the Seventeenth Army Corps is the most complete, the + most numerous, and in some respects the most serviceable in this + army. + + The adjutant general, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, is a person of + uncommon quickness, is always at work, and keeps everything in his + department in first-rate order. The inspector general, + Lieutenant-Colonel Strong, does his duties with promptness and + thoroughness; his reports are models. The chief of artillery, + Lieutenant-Colonel Powell, thoroughly understands his business, and + attends to it diligently. The provost-marshal general, + Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, is a judicious and industrious man. Both + the quartermaster and commissary are new men, captains, and I do + not know them, but McPherson speaks highly of them. The medical + director, Dr. Boucher, has the reputation of keeping his hospitals + in better order and making his reports more promptly and + satisfactorily than any other medical officer in this army. General + McPherson has four aides-de-camp: Captain Steele, Captain Gile, + Lieutenant Knox, and Lieutenant Vernay. The last of these is the + best, and Captain Steele is next to him. The engineer officer, + Captain Hickenlooper, is a laborious man, quick, watchful, but not + of great capacity. The picket officer, Major Willard, whom I + accidentally name last, is a person of unusual merit. + + In the staffs of the division and brigadier generals I do not now + recall any officer of extraordinary capacity. There may be such, + but I have not made their acquaintance. On the other hand, I have + made the acquaintance of some who seemed quite unfit for their + places. I must not omit, however, to speak here of Captain + Tresilian, engineer on the staff of Major-General Logan. His + general services during the siege were not conspicuous, but he + deserves great credit for constructing the wooden mortars which + General McPherson used near its close with most remarkable effect. + Both the idea and the work were Tresilian's. + + Very possibly you may not wish to go through this mass of details + respecting so many officers of inferior grades, upon whose claims + you may never be called to pass judgment. But if you care to read + them here they are. I remain, dear sir, + + Yours very faithfully, C. A. DANA. + + Mr. STANTON. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG + + Life behind Vicksburg--Grant's efforts to procure + reinforcements--The fruitless appeal to General Banks--Mr. Stanton + responds to Mr. Dana's representations--A steamboat trip with + Grant--Watching Joe Johnston--Visits to Sherman and Admiral + Porter--The negro troops win glory--Progress and incidents of the + siege--Vicksburg wakes up--McClernand's removal. + + +We had not been many days in the rear of Vicksburg before we settled +into regular habits. The men were detailed in reliefs for work in the +trenches, and being relieved at fixed hours everybody seemed to lead a +systematic life. + +My chief duty throughout the siege was a daily round through the +trenches, generally with the corps commander or some one of his staff. +As the lines of investment were six or seven miles long, it occupied the +greater part of my day; sometimes I made a portion of my tour of +inspection in the night. One night in riding through the trenches I must +have passed twenty thousand men asleep on their guns. I still can see +the grotesque positions into which they had curled themselves. The +trenches were so protected that there was no danger in riding through +them. It was not so safe to venture on the hills overlooking Vicksburg. +I went on foot and alone one day to the top of a hill, and was looking +at the town, when I suddenly heard something go whizz, whizz, by my ear. +"What in the world is that?" I asked myself. The place was so desolate +that it was an instant before I could believe that these were bullets +intended for me. When I did realize it, I immediately started to lie +down. Then came the question, which was the best way to lie down. If I +lay at right angles to the enemy's line the bullets from the right and +left might strike me; if I lay parallel to it then those directly from +the front might hit me. So I concluded it made no difference which way I +lay. After remaining quiet for a time the bullets ceased, and I left the +hill-top. I was more cautious in the future in venturing beyond cover. + +Through the entire siege I lived in General Grant's headquarters, which +were on a high bluff northeast of Sherman's extreme left. I had a tent +to myself, and on the whole was very comfortable. We never lacked an +abundance of provisions. There was good water, enough even for the bath, +and we suffered very little from excessive heat. The only serious +annoyance was the cannonade from our whole line, which from the first of +June went on steadily by night as well as by day. The following bit from +a letter I wrote on June 2d, to my little daughter, tells something of +my situation: + + It is real summer weather here, and, after coming in at noon to-day + from my usual ride through the trenches, I was very glad to get a + cold bath in my tent before dinner. I like living in tents very + well, especially if you ride on horseback all day. Every night I + sleep with one side of the tent wide open and the walls put up all + around to get plenty of air. Sometimes I wake up in the night and + think it is raining, the wind roars so in the tops of the great oak + forest on the hillside where we are encamped, and I think it is + thundering till I look out and see the golden moonlight in all its + glory, and listen again and know that it is only the thunder of + General Sherman's great guns, that neither rest nor let others rest + by night or by day. + +We were no sooner in position behind Vicksburg than Grant saw that he +must have reinforcements. Joe Johnston was hovering near, working with +energy to collect forces sufficient to warrant an attempt to relieve +Vicksburg. The Confederates were also known to be reorganizing at +Jackson. Johnston eventually gathered an army behind Grant of about +twenty-five thousand men. + +Under these threatening circumstances it was necessary to keep a certain +number of troops in our rear, more than Grant could well spare from the +siege, and he therefore made every effort to secure reinforcements. He +ordered down from Tennessee, and elsewhere in his own department, all +available forces. He also sent to General Banks, who was then besieging +Port Hudson, a request to bring his forces up as promptly as +practicable, and assuring him that he (Grant) would gladly serve under +him as his senior in rank, or simply co-operate with him for the benefit +of the common cause, if Banks preferred that arrangement. To Halleck, on +May 29th, he telegraphed: "If Banks does not come to my assistance I +must be reinforced from elsewhere. I will avoid a surprise, and do the +best I can with the means at hand." This was about the extent of +Grant's personal appeals to his superiors for additional forces. No +doubt, however, he left a good deal to my representations. + +As no reply came from Banks, I started myself on the 30th for Port +Hudson at Grant's desire, to urge that the reinforcements be furnished. + +The route used for getting out from the rear of Vicksburg at that time +was through the Chickasaw Bayou into the Yazoo and thence into the +Mississippi. From the mouth of the Yazoo I crossed the Mississippi to +Young's Point, and from there went overland across the peninsula to get +a gunboat at a point south of Vicksburg. As we were going down the river +we met a steamer just above Grand Gulf bearing one of the previous +messengers whom Grant had sent to Banks. He was bringing word that Banks +could send no forces; on the other hand, he asked reinforcements from +Grant to aid in his siege of Port Hudson, which he had closely invested. +This news, of course, made my trip unnecessary, and I returned at once +to headquarters, having been gone not over twenty-four hours. + +As soon as this news came from Banks, I sent an urgent appeal to Mr. +Stanton to hurry reinforcements sufficient to make success beyond all +peradventure. The Government was not slow to appreciate Grant's needs or +the great opportunity he had created. Early in June I received the +following dispatch from Mr. Stanton: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, _June 5, 1863_. + + Your telegrams up to the 30th have been received. Everything in the + power of this Government will be put forth to aid General Grant. + The emergency is not underrated here. Your telegrams are a great + obligation, and are looked for with deep interest. I can not thank + you as much as I feel for the service you are now rendering. You + have been appointed an assistant adjutant general, with rank of + major, with liberty to report to General Grant if he needs you. The + appointment may be a protection to you. I shall expect daily + reports if possible. + + EDWIN M. STANTON, + _Secretary of War_. + + C. A. DANA, Esq., + Grant's Headquarters near Vicksburg. + + +My appointment as assistant adjutant general was Stanton's own idea. He +was by nature a very anxious man. When he perceived from my dispatches +that I was going every day on expeditions into dangerous territory, he +became alarmed lest I might be caught by the Confederates; for as I was +a private citizen it would have been difficult to exchange me. If I were +in the regular volunteer service as an assistant adjutant general, +however, there would be no trouble about an exchange, hence my +appointment. + +The chief variations from my business of watching the siege behind +Vicksburg were these trips I made to inspect the operations against the +enemy, who was now trying to shut us in from the rear beyond the Big +Black. His heaviest force was to the northeast. On June 6th the reports +from Satartia, our advance up the Yazoo, were so unsatisfactory that +Grant decided to examine the situation there himself. That morning he +said to me at breakfast: + +"Mr. Dana, I am going to Satartia to-day; would you like to go along?" + +I said I would, and we were soon on horseback, riding with a cavalry +guard to Haynes's Bluff, where we took a small steamer reserved for +Grant's use and carrying his flag. Grant was ill and went to bed soon +after he started. We had gone up the river to within two miles of +Satartia, when we met two gunboats coming down. Seeing the general's +flag, the officers in charge of the gunboats came aboard our steamer and +asked where the general was going. I told them to Satartia. + +"Why," said they, "it will not be safe. Kimball [our advance was under +the charge of Brigadier-General Nathan Kimball, Third Division, +Sixteenth Army Corps] has retreated from there, and is sending all his +supplies to Haynes's Bluff. The enemy is probably in the town now." + +I told them Grant was sick and asleep, and that I did not want to waken +him. They insisted that it was unsafe to go on, and that I would better +call the general. Finally I did so, but he was too sick to decide. + +"I will leave it with you," he said. I immediately said we would go back +to Haynes's Bluff, which we did. + +The next morning Grant came out to breakfast fresh as a rose, clean +shirt and all, quite himself. "Well, Mr. Dana," he said, "I suppose we +are at Satartia now." + +"No, general," I said, "we are at Haynes's Bluff." And I told him what +had happened. + +He did not complain, but as he was short of officers at that point he +asked me to go with a party of cavalry toward Mechanicsburg to find if +it were true, as reported, that Joe Johnston was advancing from Canton +to the Big Black. We had a hard ride, not getting back to Vicksburg +until the morning of the eighth. The country was like all the rest +around Vicksburg, broken, wooded, unpopulous, with bad roads and few +streams. It still had many cattle, but the corn was pretty thoroughly +cleared out. We found that Johnston had not moved his main force as +rumored, and that he could not move it without bringing all his supplies +with him. + +Throughout the siege an attack from Johnston continued to threaten Grant +and to keep a part of our army busy. Almost every one of my dispatches +to Mr. Stanton contained rumors of the movements of the Confederates, +and the information was so uncertain that often what I reported one day +had to be contradicted the next. About the 15th of June the movements of +the enemy were so threatening that Grant issued an order extending +Sherman's command so as to include Haynes's Bluff, and to send there the +two divisions of the Ninth Corps under General Parke. These troops had +just arrived from Kentucky, and Grant had intended to place them on the +extreme left of our besieging line. + +Although our spies brought in daily reports of forces of the enemy at +different points between Yazoo City and Jackson, Johnston's plan did not +develop opportunity until the 22d, when he was said to be crossing the +Big Black north of Bridgeport. Sherman immediately started to meet him +with about thirty thousand troops, including cavalry. Five brigades more +were held in readiness to reinforce him if necessary. The country was +scoured by Sherman in efforts to beat Johnston, but no trace of an enemy +was found. It was, however, ascertained that he had not advanced, but +was still near Canton. As there was no design to attack Johnston until +Vicksburg was laid low, Sherman made his way to Bear Creek, northwest of +Canton, where he could watch the Confederates, and there went into camp. + +I went up there several times to visit him, and always came away +enthusiastic over his qualities as a soldier. His amazing activity and +vigilance pervaded his entire force. The country where he had encamped +was exceedingly favorable for defense. He had occupied the commanding +points, opened rifle-pits wherever they would add to his advantage, +obstructed the cross-roads and most of the direct roads also, and +ascertained every point where the Big Black could be forded between the +line of Benton on the north and the line of railroads on the south. By +his rapid movements, also, and by widely deploying on all the ridges and +open headlands, Sherman produced the impression that his forces were ten +times as numerous as they really were. Sherman remained in his camp on +Bear Creek through the rest of the siege, in order to prevent any +possible attack by Joe Johnston, the reports about whose movements +continued to be contradictory and uncertain. + +Another variation in my Vicksburg life was visiting Admiral Porter, who +commanded the fleet which hemmed in the city on the river-side. Porter +was a very active, courageous, fresh-minded man, and an experienced +naval officer, and I enjoyed the visits I made to his fleet. His boats +were pretty well scattered, for the Confederates west of the Mississippi +were pressing in, and unless watched might manage to cross somewhere. +Seven of the gunboats were south of Vicksburg, one at Haynes's Bluff, +one was at Chickasaw Bayou, one at Young's Point, one at Milliken's +Bend, one at Lake Providence, one at Greenell, one at Island Sixty-five, +two were at White River, and so on, and several were always in motion. +They guarded the river so completely that no hostile movement from the +west ever succeeded, or was likely to do so. + +The most serious attack from the west during the siege was that on June +7th, when a force of some two thousand Confederates engaged about a +thousand negro troops defending Milliken's Bend. This engagement at +Milliken's Bend became famous from the conduct of the colored troops. +General E. S. Dennis, who saw the battle, told me that it was the +hardest fought engagement he had ever seen. It was fought mainly hand to +hand. After it was over many men were found dead with bayonet stabs, and +others with their skulls broken open by butts of muskets. "It is +impossible," said General Dennis, "for men to show greater gallantry +than the negro troops in that fight." + +The bravery of the blacks in the battle at Milliken's Bend completely +revolutionized the sentiment of the army with regard to the employment +of negro troops. I heard prominent officers who formerly in private had +sneered at the idea of the negroes fighting express themselves after +that as heartily in favor of it. Among the Confederates, however, the +feeling was very different. All the reports which came to us showed that +both citizens and soldiers on the Confederate side manifested great +dismay at the idea of our arming negroes. They said that such a policy +was certain to be followed by insurrection with all its horrors. + +Although the presence of Joe Johnston on the east, and the rumors of +invasion by Kirby Smith from the west, compelled constant attention, the +real work behind Vicksburg was always that of the siege. No amount of +outside alarm loosened Grant's hold on the rebel stronghold. The siege +went on steadily and effectively. By June 10th the expected +reinforcements began to report. Grant soon had eighty-five thousand men +around Vicksburg, and Pemberton's last hope was gone. The first troops +to arrive were eight regiments under General Herron. They came from +Missouri, down the Mississippi to Young's Point, where they were +debarked and marched across the peninsula, care being taken, of course, +that the Confederate garrison at Vicksburg should see the whole march. +The troops were then ferried across the Mississippi, and took a position +south of Vicksburg between Lauman's troops and the Mississippi River, +completely closing the lines, and thus finally rendering egress and +ingress absolutely impossible. Herron took this position on June 13th. +He went to work with so much energy that on the night of the 15th he was +able to throw forward his lines on his left, making an advance of five +hundred yards, and bringing his artillery and rifle-pits within two or +three hundred yards of the enemy's lines. + +Herron was a first-rate officer, and the only consummate dandy I ever +saw in the army. He was always handsomely dressed; I believe he never +went out without patent-leather boots on, and you would see him in the +middle of a battle--well, I can not say exactly that he went into battle +with a lace pocket-handkerchief, but at all events he always displayed a +clean white one. But these little vanities appeared not to detract from +his usefulness. Herron had already proved his ability and fighting +qualities at the battle of Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862. + +Just as our reinforcements arrived we began to receive encouraging +reports from within Vicksburg. Deserters said that the garrison was worn +out and hungry; besides, the defense had for several days been conducted +with extraordinary feebleness, which Grant thought was due to the +deficiency of ammunition or to exhaustion and depression in the +garrison, or to their retirement to an inner line of defense. The first +and third of these causes no doubt operated to some extent, but the +second we supposed to be the most influential. The deserters also said +that fully one third of the garrison were in hospital, and that +officers, as well as men, had begun to despair of relief from Johnston. + +These reports from within the town, as well as the progress of the siege +and the arrival of reinforcements, pointed so strongly to the speedy +surrender of the place that I asked Mr. Stanton in my dispatch of June +14th to please inform me by telegram whether he wished me to go to +General Rosecrans after the fall of Vicksburg or whether he had other +orders for me. + +The next day after this letter, however, the enemy laid aside his +long-standing inactivity and opened violently with both artillery and +musketry. Two mortars which the Confederates got into operation that day +in front of General A. J. Smith particularly interested our generals. I +remember going with a party of some twenty officers, including Sherman, +Ord, McPherson, and Wilson, to the brow of a hill on McPherson's front +to watch this battery with our field glasses. From where we were we +could study the whole operation. We saw the shell start from the mortar, +sail slowly through the air toward us, fall to the ground and explode, +digging out a hole which looked like a crater. I remember one of these +craters which must have been nine feet in diameter. As you watched a +shell coming you could not tell whether it would fall a thousand feet +away or by your side. Yet nobody budged. The men sat there on their +horses, their reins loose, studying and discussing the work of the +batteries, apparently indifferent to the danger. It was very interesting +as a study of human steadiness. + +By the middle of June our lines were so near the enemy's on Sherman's +and McPherson's front that General Grant began to consider the project +of another general assault as soon as McClernand's, Lauman's, and +Herron's lines were brought up close. Accordingly, Sherman and McPherson +were directed to hold their work until the others were up to them. +Herron, of course, had not had time to advance, though since his arrival +he had worked with great energy. Lauman had done little in the way of +regular approaches. But the chief difficulty in the way was the +backwardness of McClernand. His trenches were mere rifle-pits, three or +four feet wide, and would allow neither the passage of artillery nor the +assemblage of any considerable number of troops. His batteries were, +with scarcely an exception, in the position they apparently had held +when the siege was opened. + +This obstacle to success was soon removed. On the 18th of June +McClernand was relieved and General Ord was put into his place. The +immediate occasion of McClernand's removal was a congratulatory address +to the Thirteenth Corps which he had fulminated in May, and which first +reached the besieging army in a copy of the Missouri Democrat. In this +extraordinary address McClernand claimed for himself most of the glory +of the campaign, reaffirmed that on May 22d he had held two rebel forts +for several hours, and imputed to other officers and troops failure to +support him in their possession, which must have resulted in the capture +of the town, etc. Though this congratulatory address was the occasion of +McClernand's removal, the real causes of it dated farther back. These +causes, as I understood at the time, were his repeated disobedience of +important orders, his general unfortunate mental disposition, and his +palpable incompetence for the duties of his position. I learned in +private conversation that in General Grant's judgment it was necessary +that McClernand should be removed for the reason, above all, that his +bad relations with other corps commanders, especially Sherman and +McPherson, rendered it impossible that the chief command of the army +should devolve upon him, as it would have done were General Grant +disabled, without some pernicious consequence to the Union cause. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +PEMBERTON'S SURRENDER. + + The artillery assault of June 20--McPherson springs a mine--Grant + decides to storm the city--Pemberton asks for an interview and + terms--The "unconditional surrender" note--At the meeting of Grant + and Pemberton between the lines--The ride into Vicksburg and the + Fourth of July celebration there. + + +Two days after McClernand's removal General Grant attempted to settle +the question whether he should make a further attempt to storm Vicksburg +or leave its reduction to the regular progress of siege operations. To +test what an assault would do, he began, at four o'clock on the morning +of June 20th, an artillery attack, in which about two hundred cannon +were engaged. During the attack no Confederates were visible, nor was +any reply made to our artillery. Their musketry fire also amounted to +nothing. Of course, some damage was done to the buildings of the town by +our concentrated cannonade, but we could not tell whether their mills, +foundry, or storehouses were destroyed. Their rifle-pits and defenses +were little injured. At ten o'clock the cannonade ceased. It was evident +that the probabilities of immediate success by assault would not +compensate for the sacrifices. + +After the artillery attack on the 20th, the next exciting incident of +the siege was the springing of a mine by McPherson. Directly in front +of his position the enemy had a great fort which was regarded as the key +of their line. As soon as McPherson had got into position behind +Vicksburg he had begun to run trenches toward this fort, under which he +subsequently tunneled, hoping that by an explosion he would open it to +our occupation. The mine was sprung about four o'clock on the afternoon +of June 25th. It was charged with twelve hundred pounds of powder. The +explosion was terrific, forming a crater fully thirty-five feet in +diameter, but it did not open the fort. There still remained between the +new ground which we had gained by the explosion and the main works of +the fort an ascent so steep that an assault was practically impossible. +The enemy very soon opened a galling fire from within the fort with +shells with short fuses, thrown over the ridge by hand, like grenades, +and these did some execution. The wounds inflicted by these missiles +were frightful. To this we replied as actively as possible, and this +conflict between parties invisible to each other, not only on account of +the darkness, but also on account of the barrier between them, was kept +up with fury during the night and the next forenoon. Immediately on the +springing of the mine a tremendous cannonade was opened along our whole +line, accompanied by active firing from the rifle-pits. This fire was +continued with little relaxation during the night and the next day. +After several days of this kind of warfare, we had made no progress +whatever, not being able either to plant a battery or to open a +rifle-pit upon the new ground. + +Eventually McPherson completed another mine, which he exploded on the +first day of July. Many Confederates were killed, and six were thrown +over into our lines by the explosion. They were all dead but one, a +negro, who got well and joined our army. McPherson did not, however, get +possession of the place through this mine, as he had hoped. + +Little advancement was made in the siege after McPherson sprang his +first mine on the 25th of June, except in the matter of time and in the +holding of the lines of investment. Several things conspired to produce +inactivity and a sort of listlessness among the various commands--the +heat of the weather, the unexpected length of the siege, the endurance +of the defense, the absence of any thorough organization of the engineer +department, and, above all, the well-grounded general belief of our +officers and men that the town must presently fall through starvation, +without any special effort or sacrifice. This belief was founded on the +reports from within Vicksburg. Every new party of deserters which +reached us agreed that the provisions of the place were near the point +of total exhaustion, that rations had been reduced lower than ever, that +extreme dissatisfaction existed among the garrison, and it was generally +expected--indeed, there was a sort of conviction--on all hands that the +city would be surrendered on Saturday, July 4th, if, indeed, it could +hold out so long as that. + +While apathy grew in our ranks, the Confederates displayed more activity +than ever. On the morning of June 27th they sprang a countermine on +Sherman's front, which destroyed the mines Sherman's engineers had +nearly finished, and threw the head of his sap into general confusion. +McPherson was prevented from taking possession of the fort, which had +been partially destroyed. Ord's (lately McClernand's) working parties, +which were now well up to the Confederate lines, were checked by hand +grenades. Lauman was almost nightly assailed by little sorties of the +enemy, and always lost a few men in them, killed, wounded, or captured. + +The operations west of the Mississippi became more threatening, too. Our +scouts brought in word that Price and Kirby Smith were about to attempt +to provision Vicksburg by way of Milliken's Bend. There were rumors also +that some two thousand or more skiffs had been prepared within the town, +by which it was thought the garrison might escape. + +The general indisposition of our troops to prosecute the siege +zealously, and the evident determination on the part of the enemy to +hold out until the last, caused General Grant to hold a council of war +on the morning of June 30th, to take judgment on the question of trying +another general assault, or leaving the result to the exhaustion of the +garrison. The conclusion of the council was in favor of the latter +policy, but two days later, July 2d, Grant told me that if the enemy did +not give up Vicksburg by the 6th he should storm it. + +Happily, there was no need to wait until the 6th. The general +expectation that something would happen by July 4th was about to be +confirmed. On the morning of Friday, July 3d, a soldier appeared on the +Confederate line, in McPherson's front, bearing a flag of truce. +General A. J. Smith was sent to meet this man, who proved to be an +officer, General J. S. Bowen. He bore a letter from Pemberton addressed +to Grant. The letter was taken to headquarters, where it was read by the +general and its contents were made known to the staff. It was a request +for an armistice to arrange terms for the capitulation of Vicksburg. To +this end Pemberton asked that three commissioners be appointed to meet a +like number to be named by himself. Grant immediately wrote this reply: + + The useless effusion of blood you propose stopping by this course + can be ended at any time you may choose by an unconditional + surrender of the city and garrison. Men who have shown so much + endurance and courage as those now in Vicksburg will always + challenge the respect of an adversary, and I can assure you will be + treated with all the respect due to prisoners of war. + + I do not favor the proposition of appointing commissioners to + arrange terms of capitulation, because I have no terms other than + those indicated above. + +Bowen, the bearer of Pemberton's letter, who had been received by A. J. +Smith, expressed a strong desire to converse with General Grant. While +declining this, Grant requested Smith to say to Bowen that if General +Pemberton desired to see him an interview would be granted between the +lines in McPherson's front at any hour in the afternoon which Pemberton +might appoint. After Bowen's departure a message was soon sent back to +Smith, accepting the proposal for an interview, and appointing three +o'clock as the hour. Grant was there with his staff and with Generals +Ord, McPherson, Logan, and A. J. Smith. Sherman was not present, being +with his command watching Joe Johnston, and ready to spring upon the +latter as soon as Pemberton was captured. Pemberton came late, attended +by General Bowen and Colonel L. M. Montgomery. + +It must have been a bitter moment for the Confederate chieftain. +Pemberton was a Northern man, a Pennsylvanian by birth, from which State +he was appointed to West Point, graduating in 1837. In the old army he +fell under the spell of the influence of Jefferson Davis, whose close +friend he was. Davis appears to have thought Pemberton was a military +genius, for he was jumped almost at a stroke, without much previous +service, to be a lieutenant general, and the defense of the Mississippi +River was given over to his charge. His dispositions throughout the +entire campaign, after Grant crossed at Bruinsburg, were weak, and he +was easily overcome, although his troops fought well. As Joe Johnston +truthfully remarks in his Narrative, Pemberton did not understand +Grant's warfare at all. Penned up and finally compelled to surrender a +vital post and a great army to his conqueror, an almost irremediable +disaster to his cause, Pemberton not only suffered the usual pangs of +defeat, but he was doubly humiliated by the knowledge that he would be +suspected and accused of treachery by his adopted brethren, and that the +result would be used by the enemies of Davis, whose favorite he was, to +undermine the Confederate administration. As the events proved, it was +indeed a great blow to Davis's hold upon the people of the South. These +things must have passed through Pemberton's mind as he faced Grant for +this final settlement of the fate of Vicksburg. + +The conversation was held apart between Pemberton and his two officers +and Grant, McPherson, and A. J. Smith, the rest of us being seated on +the ground near by. + +We could, however, see that Pemberton was much excited, and was +impatient in his answers to Grant. He insisted that his army be paroled +and allowed to march beyond our lines, officers and all, with eight +days' rations, drawn from their own stores, officers to retain their +private property and body servants. Grant heard what Pemberton had to +say, and left him at the end of an hour and a half, saying that he would +send in his ultimatum in writing before evening; to this Pemberton +promised to reply before night, hostilities to cease in the meantime. +Grant then conferred at his headquarters with his corps and division +commanders, all of whom, except Steele, who advised unconditional +surrender, favored a plan proposed by McPherson, and finally adopted by +Grant. The argument against the plan was one of feeling only. In its +favor it was urged that it would at once not only tend to the +demoralization of the enemy, but also release Grant's whole army for +offensive operations against Joe Johnston and Port Hudson, while to +guard and transport so many prisoners would require a great portion of +our army's strength. Keeping the prisoners would also absorb all our +steamboat transportation, while paroling them would leave it free to +move our troops. Paroling would also save us an enormous expenditure. + +After long consideration, General Grant reluctantly gave way to these +reasons, and at six o'clock in the afternoon he sent a letter by the +hands of General Logan and Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, in which he stated +as terms that, as soon as rolls could be made out and paroles signed by +officers and men, Pemberton would be allowed to march out of our lines, +the officers taking with them their side-arms and clothing, and the +field, staff, and cavalry officers one horse each. The rank and file +were to retain all their clothing, but no other property. If these +conditions were accepted, any amount of rations deemed necessary was to +be taken from the stores they had, besides the necessary cooking +utensils. Thirty wagons also, counting two two-horse or mule teams as +one, were to be allowed to transport such articles as could not be +carried along. The same conditions were allowed to all sick and wounded +officers and soldiers as fast as they became able to travel. + +The officer who received this letter stated that it would be impossible +to answer it by night, and it was not till a little before peep of day +that the reply was furnished. In the main the terms were accepted, but +Pemberton proposed as amendments: + + At 10 A.M. to-morrow I propose to evacuate the works in and around + Vicksburg, and to surrender the city and garrison under my command + by marching out with my colors and arms, stacking them in front of + my present lines, after which you will take possession. Officers to + retain their side-arms and personal property, and the rights and + property of citizens to be respected. + +General Grant immediately replied: + + I can make no stipulations with regard to the treatment of citizens + and their private property.... The property which officers will be + allowed to take with them will be as stated in my proposition of + last evening.... If you mean by your proposition for each brigade to + march to the front of the line now occupied by it, and stack arms at + 10 A.M., and then return to the inside and there remain as prisoners + until properly paroled, I will make no objection to it. + + Should no notification be received of your acceptance of my terms + by 9 A.M., I shall regard them as having been rejected, and shall + act accordingly. + +The answer came back promptly, "The terms proposed by you are accepted." + +We had a glorious celebration that day. Pemberton's note had been +received just after daylight, and at the appointed hour of ten o'clock +the surrender was consummated, the Confederate troops marching out and +stacking arms in front of their works, while Pemberton appeared for a +moment with his staff upon the parapet of the central fort. At eleven +o'clock Grant entered the city. He was received by Pemberton with more +marked impertinence than at their former interview. Grant bore it like a +philosopher, and in reply treated Pemberton with even gentler courtesy +and dignity than before. + +I rode into Vicksburg at the side of the conqueror, and afterward +perambulated among the conquered. The Confederate soldiers were +generally more contented even than we were. Now they were going home, +they said. They had had enough of the war. The cause of the Confederacy +was lost. They wanted to take the oath of allegiance many of them. I +was not surprised to learn a month later that of the twenty-odd thousand +well men who were paroled at Vicksburg the greater part had since +dispersed, and I felt sure they could never be got to serve again. The +officers, on the other hand, all declared their determination never to +give in. They had mostly on that day the look of men who have been +crying all night. One major, who commanded a regiment from Missouri, +burst into tears as he followed his disarmed men back into their lines +after they had surrendered their colors and the guns in front of them. + +I found the buildings of Vicksburg much less damaged than I had +expected. Still, there were a good many people living in caves dug in +the banks. Naturally the shells did less damage to these vaults than to +dwellings. There was a considerable supply of railroad cars in the town, +with one or two railroad locomotives in working condition. There was +also an unexpected quantity of military supplies. At the end of the +first week after our entrance sixty-six thousand stand of small arms had +been collected, mainly in good condition, and more were constantly being +discovered. They were concealed in caves, as well as in all sorts of +buildings. The siege and seacoast guns found exceeded sixty, and the +whole captured artillery was above two hundred pieces. The stores of +rebel ammunition also proved to be surprisingly heavy. As Grant +expressed it, there was enough to have kept up the defense for six years +at the rate they were using it. The stock of army clothing was +officially invoiced at five million dollars--Confederate prices. Of +sugar, molasses, and salt there was a large quantity, and sixty thousand +pounds of bacon were found in one place. + +The way in which Grant handled his army at the capitulation of Vicksburg +was a splendid example of his energy. As soon as negotiations for +surrender began on the 3d, he sent word to Sherman, at his camp on Bear +Creek, to get ready to move against Johnston. Sherman always acted on +the instant, and that very afternoon he threw bridges across the Big +Black. He started his forces over the river on the 4th as soon as he +received word that Pemberton had accepted Grant's ultimatum. + +In the meantime Grant had ordered part of Ord's corps, all of Steele's +division, and the two divisions of the Ninth Corps, which was at +Haynes's Bluff, to be ready to join Sherman as soon as the capitulation +was effected. Their movement was so prompt that by Sunday night, July +5th, part of Ord's force was across the Big Black and Steele was well up +to the river. + +As Grant supposed that Banks needed help at Port Hudson, he had sent a +messenger to him on the 1st of the month telling him the surrender was +imminent, and offering aid if he needed it. A division--that of +Herron--was now made ready to march as soon as word came back. In the +city itself there was the greatest activity. The occupation of the place +by our forces was directed by General McPherson, who was appointed to +the command. Three divisions were detailed to garrison the line of +fortifications and to furnish the guards for the interior of the city. +By the night of the 5th no troops remained outside of Vicksburg. + +The paroling of the Confederate troops began as soon as the occupation +was complete, and was pushed with all possible rapidity. At the same +time those parts of the fortifications which we were now to defend were +selected, and the men began to obliterate the siege approaches at which +they had worked so hard and so long. So busy was Grant with the +mobilization of his army for offensive field operations and the +garrisoning of Vicksburg that he did not take time even to write to +Washington. My telegram of July 5th to Mr. Stanton describing the +surrender and the condition of things in Vicksburg conveyed this request +from Grant for instructions from Washington: + + General Grant, being himself intensely occupied, desires me to say + that he would like to receive from General Halleck as soon as + practicable either general or specific instructions as to the future + conduct of the war in his department. He has no idea of going into + summer quarters, nor does he doubt his ability to employ his army so + as to make its blows tell toward the great result; but he would like + to be informed whether the Government wishes him to follow his own + judgment or to co-operate in some particular scheme of operations. + +With the fall of Vicksburg my mission was at an end. On the 6th of July +I left Grant for the North, stopping at Helena, Ark., on my way up the +river long enough to get news of Gen. Prentiss's recent operations. +Thence I went on to Cairo and Washington. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WITH THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND. + + Appointment as Assistant Secretary of War--Again to the far + front--An interesting meeting with Andrew Johnson--Rosecrans's + complaints--His view of the situation at Chattanooga--At General + Thomas's headquarters--The first day of Chickamauga--The battlefield + telegraph service--A night council of war at Widow Glenn's--Personal + experiences of the disastrous second day's battle--The "Rock of + Chickamauga." + + +I happened to be the first man to reach the capital from Vicksburg, and +everybody wanted to hear the story and to ask questions. I was anxious +to get home and see my family, however, and left for New York as soon as +I could get away. A few days after I arrived in New York I received an +invitation to go into business there with Mr. Ketchum, a banker, and +with George Opdyke, the merchant. I wrote Mr. Stanton of the opening, +but he urged me to remain in the War Department as one of his +assistants, which I consented to do.[C] + +The first commission with which Mr. Stanton charged me after my +appointment as his assistant was one similar to that which I had just +finished--to go to Tennessee to observe and report the movements of +Rosecrans against Bragg. General Rosecrans, who, after the battle of +Stone's River, or Murfreesboro, on December 31st to January 2, 1863, had +lain for nearly six months at Murfreesboro, obstructing on various +excuses all the efforts Lincoln and Stanton and Halleck put forth to +make him move against Bragg, who occupied what was known as the +Tullahoma line, had toward the end of June moved on Bragg and driven him +across the Tennessee River. He had then settled down to rest again, +while Bragg had taken possession of his new line in and about +Chattanooga. + +Burnside, who was in Kentucky, had been ordered to unite with Rosecrans +by way of East Tennessee, in order that the combined force should attack +Bragg, but, despite the urgency of the administration, no movement was +made by Rosecrans until the middle of August. As soon as it was evident +that he was really going out against the Confederates, Mr. Stanton asked +me to join the Army of the Cumberland. My orders were to report directly +to Rosecrans's headquarters. I carried the following letter of +introduction to that general: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, _August 30, 1863_. + + MAJ.-GEN. ROSECRANS, Commanding, etc. + + GENERAL: This will introduce to you Charles A. Dana, Esq., one of + my assistants, who visits your command for the purpose of + conferring with you upon any subject which you may desire to have + brought to the notice of the department. Mr. Dana is a gentleman of + distinguished character, patriotism, and ability, and possesses the + entire confidence of the department. You will please afford to him + the courtesy and consideration which he merits, and explain to him + fully any matters which you may desire through him to bring to the + notice of the department. + + Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON. + + +As soon as my papers arrived I left for my post. I was much delayed on +railroads and steamboats, and when I reached Cincinnati found it was +impossible to join Burnside by his line of march to Knoxville and from +him go to Rosecrans, as I had intended. Accordingly I went on to +Louisville, where I arrived on September 5th. I found there that +Burnside had just occupied Knoxville; that the Ninth Corps, which two +months before I had left near Vicksburg, was now about to go to him from +near Louisville; and that Rosecrans had queerly enough telegraphed to +the clergy all over the country that he expected a great battle that day +and desired their prayers. + +I went directly from Louisville to Nashville, where I found General +Gordon Granger in command. As he and Governor Johnson were going to the +front in a day or two, I waited to go with them. The morning after my +arrival at Nashville I went to call on Johnson. I had never met him +before. + +Andrew Johnson was short and stocky, of dark complexion, smooth face, +dark hair, dark eyes, and of great determination of appearance. When I +went to see him in his office, the first thing he said was: + +"Will you have a drink?" + +"Yes, I will," I answered. So he brought out a jug of whisky and poured +out as much as he wanted in a tumbler, and then made it about half and +half water. The theoretical, philosophical drinker pours out a little +whisky and puts in almost no water at all--drinks it pretty nearly +pure--but when a man gets to taking a good deal of water in his whisky, +it shows he is in the habit of drinking a good deal. I noticed that the +Governor took more whisky than most gentlemen would have done, and I +concluded that he took it pretty often. + +I had a prolonged conversation that morning with Governor Johnson, who +expressed himself in cheering terms in regard to the general condition +of Tennessee. He regarded the occupation of Knoxville by Burnside as +completing the permanent expulsion of Confederate power, and said he +should order a general election for the first week in October. He +declared that slavery was destroyed in fact, but must be abolished +legally. Johnson was thoroughly in favor of immediate emancipation both +as a matter of moral right and as an indispensable condition of the +large immigration of industrious freemen which he thought necessary to +repeople and regenerate the State. + +On the 10th of September we started for the front, going by rail to +Bridgeport, on the Tennessee River. This town at that date was the +terminus of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. The bridge across +the river and part of the railroad beyond had been destroyed by Bragg +when he retreated in the preceding summer from Tullahoma. It was by way +of Bridgeport that troops were joining Rosecrans at the far front, and +all supplies went to him that way. On reaching the town, we heard that +Chattanooga had been occupied by Crittenden's corps of Rosecrans's army +the day before, September 9th; so the next day, September 11th, I pushed +on there by horseback past Shellmound and Wauhatchie. The country +through which I passed is a magnificent region of rocks and valleys, and +I don't believe there is anywhere a finer view than that I had from +Lookout Mountain as I approached Chattanooga. + +When I reached Chattanooga I went at once to General Rosecrans's +headquarters and presented my letter. He read it, and then burst out in +angry abuse of the Government at Washington. He had not been sustained, +he said. His requests had been ignored, his plans thwarted. Both Stanton +and Halleck had done all they could, he declared, to prevent his +success. + +"General Rosecrans," I said, "I have no authority to listen to +complaints against the Government. I was sent here for the purpose of +finding out what the Government could do to aid you, and have no right +to confer with you on other matters." + +He quieted down at once, and explained his situation to me. He had +reached Chattanooga, he said, on the 10th, with Crittenden's troops, the +Twenty-first Corps, the town having been evacuated the day before by the +Confederates. As all the reports brought in seemed to indicate that +Bragg was in full retreat toward Rome, Ga., Crittenden had immediately +started in pursuit, and had gone as far as Ringgold. On the night before +(September 11th) it had seemed evident that Bragg had abandoned his +retreat on Rome, and behind the curtain of the woods and hills had +returned with the purpose of suddenly falling with his whole army upon +the different corps and divisions of our army, now widely separated by +the necessity of crossing the mountains at gaps far apart. + +This was a serious matter for Rosecrans, if true, for at that moment his +army was scattered over a line more than fifty miles long, extending +from Chattanooga on the north to Alpine on the south. Rosecrans pointed +out to me the positions on the map. Crittenden, he explained, had been +ordered immediately to leave Ringgold and move westward to the valley of +the West Chickamauga. He was near a place known as Lee and Gordon's +Mills. General Thomas, who commanded the Fourteenth Corps, had marched +across Lookout Mountain and now held Stevens's Gap, perhaps twenty-five +miles south of Chattanooga. McCook, with the Twentieth Corps, had been +ordered, after crossing the Tennessee, to march southeast, and now was +at Alpine, fully thirty-five miles south of Crittenden. Orders had been +sent McCook, when it was found that Bragg had made a stand, to rest his +left flank on the southern base of Mission Ridge, and, extending his +line toward Summerville, fall on the flank of the enemy should he follow +the valley that way. The reserve, under Gordon Granger, was still north +of the Tennessee, although one division had reached Bridgeport and the +rest were rapidly approaching. Notwithstanding the signs that Bragg +might not be retreating so fast as he at first appeared to have been, +Rosecrans was confident as late as the 12th that the Confederate +commander was merely making a show of the offensive to check pursuit, +and that he would make his escape to Rome as soon as he found our army +concentrated for battle east of Lookout Mountain. + +The next day (the 13th) I left Chattanooga with Rosecrans and his staff +for Thomas's headquarters at Stevens's Gap. We found everything +progressing favorably there. The movements for the concentration of the +three corps were going forward with energy. Scouts were coming in +constantly, who reported that the enemy had withdrawn from the basin +where our army was assembling; that he was evacuating Lafayette and +moving toward Rome. It seemed as if at last the Army of the Cumberland +had practically gained a position from which it could effectually +advance upon Rome and Atlanta, and deliver there the finishing blow of +the war. The difficulties of gaining this position, of crossing the +Cumberland Mountains, passing the Tennessee, turning and occupying +Chattanooga, traversing the mountain ridges of northern Georgia, and +seizing the passes which led southward had been enormous. It was only +when I came personally to examine the region that I appreciated what had +been done. These difficulties were all substantially overcome. The army +was in the best possible condition, and was advancing with all the +rapidity which the nature of the country allowed. Our left flank toward +East Tennessee was secured by Burnside, and the only disadvantage which +I could see was that a sudden movement of the enemy to our right might +endanger our long and precarious line of communications and compel us to +retreat again beyond the Tennessee. I felt this so keenly that I urged +Mr. Stanton, in a dispatch sent to him on the 14th from Thomas's +headquarters, to push as strong a column as possible eastward from +Corinth, in northeastern Mississippi. It seemed to me that it would be +better to recall the troops from the West rather than to risk a check +here, where the heart of rebellion was within reach and the final blow +all prepared. + +But, after all, there was something of a mystery about the real location +of Bragg's army, its strength, and the designs of its chief. At any rate +it was soon manifest that Bragg was not withdrawing to the southward, as +at first supposed. Some queer developments down the Chickamauga on the +16th and 17th caused Rosecrans considerable anxiety for Chattanooga. The +impression began to grow, too, that Bragg had been playing 'possum, and +had not retreated at all. Rosecrans at once abandoned all idea of +operations against the Confederate line of retreat and supply, drew his +army in rapidly, and began to look sharply after his own communications +with Chattanooga, which had now become his base. + +By noon of September 18th the concentration was practically complete. +Our army then lay up and down the valley, with West Chickamauga Creek in +front of the greater part of the line. The left was held by Crittenden, +the center by Thomas, and the right by McCook, whose troops were now all +in the valley except one brigade. The army had not concentrated any too +soon, for that very afternoon the enemy appeared on our left, and a +considerable engagement occurred. It was said at headquarters that a +battle was certain the next day. The only point Rosecrans had not +determined at five o'clock on the afternoon of the 18th was whether to +make a night march and fall on Bragg at daylight or to await his onset. + +But that night it became pretty clear to all that Bragg's plan was to +push by our left into Chattanooga. This compelled another rapid movement +by the left down the Chickamauga. By a tiresome night march Thomas moved +down behind Crittenden and below Lee and Gordon's Mills, taking position +on our extreme left. Crittenden followed, connecting with Thomas's +right, and thus taking position in the center. McCook's corps also +extended down stream to the left, but still covered the creek as high up +as Crawfish Spring, while part of his troops acted as a reserve. These +movements were hurriedly made, and the troops, especially those of +Thomas, were very much exhausted by their efforts to get into position. + +Rosecrans had not been mistaken in Bragg's intention. About nine o'clock +the next morning at Crawfish Spring, where the general headquarters +were, we heard firing on our left, and reports at once came in that the +battle had begun there, Bragg being in command of the enemy. Thomas had +barely headed the Confederates off from Chattanooga. We remained at +Crawfish Springs on this day until after one o'clock, waiting for the +full proportions of the conflict to develop. When it became evident that +the battle was being fought entirely on our left, Rosecrans removed his +headquarters nearer to the scene, taking a little house near Lee and +Gordon's Mills, known as the Widow Glenn's. Although closer to the +battle, we could see no more of it here than at Crawfish Springs, the +conflict being fought altogether in a thick forest, and being invisible +to outsiders. The nature of the firing and the reports from the +commanders alone enabled us to follow its progress. + +That we were able to keep as well informed as we were was due to our +excellent telegraphic communications. By this time the military +telegraph had been so thoroughly developed that it was one of the most +useful accessories of our army, even on a battlefield. For instance, +after Rosecrans had taken Crawfish Springs as his headquarters, he had +given orders, on September 17th, to connect the place with Chattanooga, +thirteen miles to the northwest. The line was completed after the battle +began on the 19th, and we were in communication not only with +Chattanooga, but with Granger at Rossville and with Thomas at his +headquarters. When Rosecrans removed to the Widow Glenn's, the +telegraphers went along, and in an hour had connections made and an +instrument clicking away in Mrs. Glenn's house. We thus had constant +information of the way the battle was going, not only from the +orderlies, but also from the wires. + +This excellent arrangement enabled me also to keep the Government at +Washington informed of the progress of the battle. I sent eleven +dispatches that day to Mr. Stanton. They were very brief, but they +reported all that I, near as I was to the scene, knew of the battle of +September 19th at Chickamauga. + +It was not till after dark that firing ceased and final reports began +to come in. From these we found that the enemy had been defeated in his +attempt to turn and crush our left flank and secure possession of the +Chattanooga roads, but that he was not wholly defeated, for he still +held his ground in several places, and was preparing, it was believed, +to renew the battle the next day. + +That evening Rosecrans decided that if Bragg did not retreat he would +renew the fight at daylight, and a council of war was held at our +headquarters at the Widow Glenn's, to which all the corps and division +commanders were summoned. There must have been ten or twelve general +officers there. Rosecrans began by asking each of the corps commanders +for a report of the condition of his troops and of the position they +occupied; also for his opinion of what was to be done. Each proposition +was discussed by the entire council as it was made. General Thomas was +so tired--he had not slept at all the night before, and he had been in +battle all day--that he went to sleep every minute. Every time Rosecrans +spoke to him he would straighten up and answer, but he always said the +same thing, "I would strengthen the left," and then he would be asleep, +sitting up in his chair. General Rosecrans, to the proposition to +strengthen the left, made always the same reply, "Where are we going to +take it from?" + +After the discussion was ended, Rosecrans gave his orders for the +disposition of the troops on the following day. Thomas's corps was to +remain on the left with his line somewhat drawn in, but substantially as +he was at the close of the day. McCook was to close on Thomas and cover +the position at Widow Glenn's, and Crittenden was to have two divisions +in reserve near the junction of McCook's and Thomas's lines, to be able +to succor either. These orders were written for each corps commander. +They were also read in the presence of all, and the plans fully +explained. Finally, after everything had been said, hot coffee was +brought in, and then McCook was called upon to sing the Hebrew Maiden. +McCook sang the song, and then the council broke up and the generals +went away. + +This was about midnight, and, as I was very tired, I lay down on the +floor to sleep, beside Captain Horace Porter, who was at that time +Rosecrans's chief of ordnance. There were cracks in the floor of the +Widow Glenn's house, and the wind blew up under us. We would go to +sleep, and then the wind would come up so cold through the cracks that +it would wake us up, and we would turn over together to keep warm. + +At daybreak we at headquarters were all up and on our horses ready to go +with the commanding general to inspect our lines. We rode past McCook, +Crittenden, and Thomas to the extreme left, Rosecrans giving as he went +the orders he thought necessary to strengthen the several positions. The +general intention of these orders was to close up on the left, where it +was evident the attack would begin. We then rode back to the extreme +right, Rosecrans stopping at each point to see if his orders had been +obeyed. In several cases they had not been obeyed, and he made them more +peremptory. When we found that McCook's line had been elongated so that +it was a mere thread, Rosecrans was very angry, and sent for the +general, rebuking him severely, although, as a matter of fact, General +McCook's position had been taken under the written orders of the +commander in chief, given the night before. + +About half past eight or nine o'clock the battle began on the left, +where Thomas was. At that time Rosecrans, with whom I always remained, +was on the right, directing the movements of the troops there. Just +after the cannon began I remember that a ten-pound shell came crashing +through our staff, but hurting nobody. I had not slept much for two +nights, and, as it was warm, I dismounted about noon and, giving my +horse to my orderly, lay down on the grass and went to sleep. I was +awakened by the most infernal noise I ever heard. Never in any battle I +had witnessed was there such a discharge of cannon and musketry. I sat +up on the grass, and the first thing I saw was General Rosecrans +crossing himself--he was a very devout Catholic. "Hello!" I said to +myself, "if the general is crossing himself, we are in a desperate +situation." + +I was on my horse in a moment. I had no sooner collected my thoughts and +looked around toward the front, where all this din came from, than I saw +our lines break and melt away like leaves before the wind. Then the +headquarters around me disappeared. The gray-backs came through with a +rush, and soon the musket balls and the cannon shot began to reach the +place where we stood. The whole right of the army had apparently been +routed. My orderly stuck to me like a veteran, and we drew back for +greater safety into the woods a little way. There I came upon General +Porter--Captain Porter he was then--and Captain Drouillard, an +aide-de-camp infantry officer attached to General Rosecrans's staff, +halting fugitives. They would halt a few of them, get them into some +sort of a line, and make a beginning of order among them, and then there +would come a few rounds of cannon shot through the tree-tops over their +heads and the men would break and run. I saw Porter and Drouillard plant +themselves in front of a body of these stampeding men and command them +to halt. One man charged with his bayonet, menacing Porter; but Porter +held his ground, and the man gave in. That was the only case of real +mutiny that I ever saw in the army, and that was under such +circumstances that the man was excusable. The cause of all this disaster +was the charge of the Confederates through the hiatus in the line caused +by the withdrawal of Wood's division, under a misapprehension of orders, +before its place could be filled. + +I attempted to make my way from this point in the woods to Sheridan's +division, but when I reached the place where I knew it had been a little +time before, I found it had been swept from the field. Not far away, +however, I stumbled on a body of organized troops. This was a brigade of +mounted riflemen under Colonel John T. Wilder, of Indiana. "Mr. Dana," +asked Colonel Wilder, "what is the situation?" + +"I do not know," I said, "except that this end of the army has been +routed. There is still heavy fighting at the left front, and our troops +seem to be holding their ground there yet." + +"Will you give me any orders?" he asked. + +"I have no authority to give orders," I replied; "but if I were in your +situation I should go to the left, where Thomas is." + +Then I turned my horse, and, making my way over Missionary Ridge, struck +the Chattanooga Valley and rode to Chattanooga, twelve or fifteen miles +away. The whole road was filled with flying soldiers; here and there +were pieces of artillery, caissons, and baggage wagons. Everything was +in the greatest disorder. When I reached Chattanooga, a little before +four o'clock, I found Rosecrans there. In the helter-skelter to the rear +he had escaped by the Rossville road. He was expecting every moment that +the enemy would arrive before the town, and was doing all he could to +prepare to resist his entrance. Soon after I arrived the two corps +commanders, McCook and Crittenden, both came into Chattanooga. + +The first thing I did on reaching town was to telegraph Mr. Stanton. I +had not sent him any telegrams in the morning, for I had been in the +field with Rosecrans, and part of the time at some distance from the +Widow Glenn's, where the operators were at work. The boys kept at their +post there until the Confederates swept them out of the house. When they +had to run, they went instruments and tools in hand, and as soon as out +of reach of the enemy set up shop on a stump. It was not long before +they were driven out of this. They next attempted to establish an office +on the Rossville road, but before they had succeeded in making +connections a battle was raging around them, and they had to retreat to +Granger's headquarters at Rossville. + +Having been swept bodily off the battlefield, and having made my way +into Chattanooga through a panic-stricken rabble, the first telegram +which I sent to Mr. Stanton was naturally colored by what I had seen and +experienced. I remember that I began the dispatch by saying: "My report +to-day is of deplorable importance. Chickamauga is as fatal a name in +our history as Bull Run." By eight o'clock that evening, however, I +found that I had given too dark a view of the disaster. + +Early the next morning things looked still better. Rosecrans received a +telegram from Thomas at Rossville, to which point he had withdrawn after +the nightfall, saying that his troops were in high spirits, and that he +had brought off all his wounded. A little while before noon General +James A. Garfield, who was chief of Rosecrans's staff, arrived in +Chattanooga and gave us the first connected account we had of the battle +on the left after the rout. Garfield said that he had become separated +from Rosecrans in the rout of our right wing and had made his way to the +left, and spent the afternoon and night with General Thomas. There he +witnessed the sequel of the battle in that part of the field. Thomas, +finding himself cut off from Rosecrans and the right, at once marshalled +the remaining divisions for independent fighting. Refusing both his +right and left, his line assumed the form of a horseshoe, posted along +the slope and crest of a partly wooded ridge. He was soon joined by +Granger from Rossville, with Steedman and most of the reserve; and with +these forces, more than two thirds of the army, he firmly maintained +the fight till after dark. Our troops were as immovable as the rocks +they stood on. Longstreet hurled against them repeatedly the dense +columns which had routed Davis and Sheridan in the early afternoon, but +every onset was repulsed with dreadful slaughter. Falling first on one +and then another point of our lines, for hours the rebels vainly sought +to break them. Thomas seemed to have filled every soldier with his own +unconquerable firmness, and Granger, his hat torn by bullets, raged like +a lion wherever the combat was hottest with the electrical courage of a +Ney. When night fell, this body of heroes stood on the same ground they +had occupied in the morning, their spirit unbroken, but their numbers +greatly diminished. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[C] Although appointed some months before, Mr. Dana was not nominated in +the Senate as Second Assistant Secretary of War until January 20, 1864; +the nomination was confirmed on January 26. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE REMOVAL OF ROSECRANS. + + Preparing to defend Chattanooga--Effect on the army of the day of + disaster and glory--Mr. Dana suggests Grant or Thomas as Rosecrans's + successor--Portrait of Thomas--The dignity and loyalty of his + character illustrated--The army reorganized--It is threatened with + starvation--An estimate of Rosecrans--He is relieved of the command + of the Army of the Cumberland. + + +All the news we could get the next day of the enemy's movements seemed +to show that the Confederate forces were concentrating on Chattanooga. +Accordingly, Rosecrans gave orders for all our troops to gather in the +town at once and prepare for the attack which would probably take place +within a day or two. By midnight the army was in Chattanooga. The troops +were in wonderful spirits, considering their excessive fatigues and +heavy losses, and the next morning went to work with energy on the +fortifications. All the morning of the 22d the enemy were approaching, +resisted by our advance parties, and by the middle of the afternoon the +artillery firing was so near that it seemed certain that the battle +would be fought before dark. No attack was made that day, however, nor +the next, and by the morning of the 24th the Herculean labors of the +army had so fortified the place that it was certain that it could be +taken only by a regular siege or by a turning movement. The strength of +our forces was about forty-five thousand effective men, and we had ten +days' full rations on hand. Chattanooga could hold out, but it was +apparent that no offensive operations were possible until +re-enforcements came. These we knew had been hurried toward us as soon +as the news of the disaster of the 20th reached Washington. Burnside was +coming from Knoxville, we supposed, Hooker had been ordered from +Washington by rail, Sherman from Vicksburg by steamer, and some of +Hurlbut's troops from Memphis. + +The enemy by the 24th were massed in Chattanooga Valley, and held +Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. The summit of Lookout Mountain, +almost the key to Chattanooga, was not given up by Rosecrans until the +morning of the 24th; then he ordered the withdrawal of the brigade which +held the heights, and the destruction of the wagon road which winds +along its side at about one third of its height and connects the valleys +of Chattanooga and Lookout. Both Granger and Garfield earnestly +protested against this order, contending that the mountain and the road +could be held by not more than seven regiments against the whole power +of the enemy. They were obviously right, but Rosecrans was sometimes as +obstinate and inaccessible to reason as at others he was irresolute, +vacillating, and inconclusive, and he pettishly rejected all their +arguments. The mountain was given up. + +As soon as we felt reasonably sure that Chattanooga could hold out until +re-enforcements came, the disaster of the 20th of September became the +absorbing topic of conversation in the Army of the Cumberland. At +headquarters, in camp, in the street, on the fortifications, officers +and soldiers and citizens wrangled over the reasons for the loss of the +day. By the end of the first week after the disaster a serious +fermentation reigned in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Army Corps, and, +indeed, throughout the whole army, growing out of events connected with +the battle. + +There was at once a manifest disposition to hold McCook and Crittenden, +the commanders of the two corps, responsible, because they had left the +field of battle amid the rout of the right wing and made their way to +Chattanooga.[D] It was not generally understood or appreciated at that +time that, because of Thomas's repeated calls for aid and Rosecrans's +consequent alarm for his left, Crittenden had been stripped of all his +troops and had no infantry whatever left to command, and that McCook's +lines also had been reduced to a fragment by similar orders from +Rosecrans and by fighting. A strong opposition to both sprang up, which +my telegrams to Mr. Stanton immediately after the battle fully reflect. +The generals of division and of brigade felt the situation deeply, and +said that they could no longer serve under such superiors, and that, if +this was required of them, they must resign. This feeling was universal +among them, including men like Major-Generals Palmer and Sheridan and +Brigadier-Generals Wood, Johnson, and Hazen. + +The feeling of these officers did not seem in the least to partake of a +mutinous or disorderly character; it was rather conscientious +unwillingness to risk their men and the country's cause in hands which +they thought to be unsafe. No formal representation of this +unwillingness was made to Rosecrans, but he was made aware of the state +of things by private conversations with several of the parties. The +defects of his character complicated the difficulty. He abounded in +friendliness and approbativeness, and was greatly lacking in firmness +and steadiness of will. In short, he was a temporizing man; he dreaded +so heavy an alternative as was now presented, and hated to break with +McCook and Crittenden. + +Besides, there was a more serious obstacle to Rosecrans's acting +decisively in the fact that if Crittenden and McCook had gone to +Chattanooga, with the sound of artillery in their ears, from that +glorious field where Thomas and Granger were saving their army and their +country's honor, he had gone to Chattanooga also. It might be said in +his excuse that, under the circumstances of the sudden rout, it was +perfectly proper for the commanding general to go to the rear to prepare +the next line of defense. Still, Rosecrans felt that that excuse could +not entirely clear him either in his own eyes or in those of the army. +In fact, it was perfectly plain that, while the subordinate commanders +would not resign if he was retained in the chief command, as I believe +they certainly would have done if McCook and Crittenden had not been +relieved, their respect for Rosecrans as a general had received an +irreparable blow. + +The dissatisfaction with Rosecrans seemed to me to put the army into a +very dangerous condition, and, in writing to Mr. Stanton on September +27th, I said that if it was decided to change the chief commander I +would suggest that some Western commander of high rank and great +prestige, like Grant, would be preferable as Rosecrans's successor to +one who had hitherto commanded in the East alone. + +The army, however, had its own candidate for Rosecrans's post. General +Thomas had risen to the highest point in their esteem, as he had in that +of every one who witnessed his conduct on that unfortunate and glorious +day, and I saw that, should there be a change in the chief command, +there was no other man whose appointment would be so welcome. I +earnestly recommended Mr. Stanton that in event of a change in the chief +command Thomas's merits be considered. He was certainly an officer of +the very highest qualities, soldierly and personally. He was a man of +the greatest dignity of character. He had more the character of George +Washington than any other man I ever knew. At the same time he was a +delightful man to be with; there was no artificial dignity about Thomas. +He was a West Point graduate, and very well educated. He was very set +in his opinions, yet he was not impatient with anybody--a noble +character. + +In reply to my recommendation of Thomas, I received a telegram from the +Secretary of War, saying: "I wish you to go directly to see General +Thomas, and say to him that his services, his abilities, his character, +his unselfishness, have always been most cordially appreciated by me, +and that it is not my fault that he has not long since had command of an +independent army." + +Accordingly, I went at once over to General Thomas's headquarters. I +remember that I got there just after they had finished dinner; the table +was not cleared off, but there was nobody in the dining room. When +General Thomas came in, I read to him the telegram from the Secretary. +He was too much affected by it to reply immediately. After a moment he +said: + +"Mr. Dana, I wish you would say to the Secretary of War that I am +greatly affected by this expression of his confidence; that I should +have long since liked to have had an independent command, but what I +should have desired would have been the command of an army that I could +myself have organized, disciplined, distributed, and combined. I wish +you would add also that I would not like to take the command of an army +where I should be exposed to the imputation of having intrigued or of +having exercised any effort to supplant my previous commander." + +This was on October 4th. Four days later General Thomas sent a +confidential friend to me, saying rumors had come to him that he was to +be put in Rosecrans's place; that, while he would gladly accept any +other command to which Mr. Stanton should see fit to assign him, he +could not consent to become the successor of General Rosecrans. He would +not do anything to give countenance to the suspicion that he had +intrigued against his commander's interest. He declared that he had +perfect confidence in the fidelity and capacity of General Rosecrans. + +The first change in the Army of the Cumberland was an order from +Washington consolidating the Twentieth and Twenty-first Corps. The news +reached Chattanooga on October 5th in a Nashville newspaper, and, not +having been previously promulgated, it caused a sensation. Crittenden +was much excited, and said that, as the Government no longer required +his services, he would resign; at any rate, he would not hibernate like +others, drawing pay and doing no work. McCook took it easily. The +consolidation of the two corps was generally well received, and, as it +was to be followed by a general reorganization of the army, it seemed as +if the most happy consequences would be produced. The only serious +difficulty which followed the change was that the men in the +consolidated corps were troubled by letters from home, showing that +their friends regarded a consolidation as a token of disgrace and +punishment. + +Although the reorganization of the army was going on, there was no real +change in our situation, and by the middle of October it began to look +as if we were in a helpless and precarious position. No re-enforcements +had yet reached us, the enemy was growing stronger every day, and, worse +still, we were threatened with starvation. Rosecrans's error in +abandoning Lookout Mountain to the enemy on September 24th was now +apparent. Our supplies came by rail from Nashville to Bridgeport; but +the enemy controlled the south shore of the Tennessee between us and +Bridgeport, and thus prevented our rebuilding the railroad from +Bridgeport to Chattanooga; with their shore batteries they stopped the +use of our steamboats. They even made the road on the north shore +impassable, the sharpshooters on the south bank being able to pick off +our men on the north. The forage and supplies which we had drawn from +the country within our reach were now exhausted, and we were dependent +upon what could be got to us over the roads north of the river. These +were not only disturbed by the enemy, but were so bad in places that the +mud was up to the horses' bellies. The animals themselves had become too +weak to haul the empty train up the mountain, while many had died of +starvation. On October 15th the troops were on half rations, and +officers as they went about where the men were working on the +fortifications frequently heard the cry of "Crackers!" + +In the midst of these difficulties General Rosecrans seemed to be +insensible to the impending danger; he dawdled with trifles in a manner +which scarcely can be imagined. With plenty of zealous and energetic +officers ready to do whatever needed to be done, precious time was lost +because our dazed and mazy commander could not perceive the catastrophe +that was close upon us, nor fix his mind upon the means of preventing +it. I never saw anything which seemed so lamentable and hopeless. Our +animals were starving, the men had starvation before them, and the enemy +was bound soon to make desperate efforts to dislodge us. Yet the +commanding general devoted that part of the time which was not employed +in pleasant gossip to the composition of a long report to prove that the +Government was to blame for his failure on the 20th. + +While few persons exhibited more estimable social qualities, I have +never seen a public man possessing talent with less administrative +power, less clearness and steadiness in difficulty, and greater +practical incapacity than General Rosecrans. He had inventive fertility +and knowledge, but he had no strength of will and no concentration of +purpose. His mind scattered; there was no system in the use of his busy +days and restless nights, no courage against individuals in his +composition, and, with great love of command, he was a feeble commander. +He was conscientious and honest, just as he was imperious and +disputatious; always with a stray vein of caprice and an overweening +passion for the approbation of his personal friends and the public +outside. + +Although the army had been reorganized as a result of the consolidation +of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Corps, it was still inefficient and +its discipline defective. The former condition proceeded from the fact +that General Rosecrans insisted on directing personally every +department, and kept every one waiting and uncertain till he himself +could directly supervise every operation. The latter proceeded from his +utter lack of firmness, his passion for universal applause, and his +incapacity to hurt any man's feelings by just severity. + +My opinion of Rosecrans and my fears that the army would soon be driven +from Chattanooga by starvation, if not by the Confederates, I had +reiterated in my letters to Mr. Stanton. On the morning of October 19th +I received a dispatch from Mr. Stanton, sent from Washington on October +16th, asking me to meet him that day at the Gait House in Louisville. I +wired him that, unless he ordered to the contrary, Rosecrans would +retreat at once from Chattanooga, and then I started for Louisville. It +was a hard trip by horseback over Walden's Ridge and through Jasper to +Bridgeport, and the roads were not altogether safe. Ten days before +this, in riding along the edge of a bank near the river shore, the earth +had given way under my horse's hind feet, and he and I had been tumbled +together down a bank, about fourteen feet high; we rolled over each +other in the sand at the bottom. I got off with no worse injury than a +bruise of my left shoulder and a slight crack on the back of my head +from the horse's hind foot, which made the blood run a little. The roads +over Walden Ridge and along the river were even worse now than when I +got my tumble, and, besides, they were filled with wagons trying to get +supplies to Chattanooga. It took at that time ten days for wagon teams +to go from Stevenson, where we had a depot, to Chattanooga. Though +subsistence stores were so nearly exhausted, the wagons were compelled +to throw overboard portions of their precious cargo in order to get +through. The returning trains were blockaded. On the 17th of October +five hundred teams were halted between the mountain and the river +without forage for the animals, and unable to move in any direction; +the whole road was strewn with dead animals. + +The railway from Bridgeport to Nashville was not much more comfortable +or safer than the road. Early in the month I had gone to Nashville on +business, and had come back in a tremendous storm in a train of eighteen +cars crowded with soldiers, and was twenty-six hours on the road instead +of ten. On the present trip, however, I got along very well until within +about eight miles from Nashville, when our train narrowly escaped +destruction. A tie had been inserted in a cattle guard to throw the +train down an embankment, but it had been calculated for a train going +south, so that ours simply broke it off. From what we learned afterward, +we thought it was intended for a train on which it was supposed General +Grant was going to Bridgeport. + +My train was bound through to Louisville. Indeed, I think there was no +one with me except the train hands and the engineer. We reached +Nashville about ten o'clock on the night of October 20th, and there were +halted. Directly there came in an officer--I think it was +Lieutenant-Colonel Bowers, of General Grant's staff--who said: + +"General Grant wants to see you." + +This was the first that I knew Grant was in Tennessee. I got out of my +train and went over to his. I hadn't seen him since we parted at +Vicksburg. + +"I am going to interfere with your journey, Mr. Dana," he said as soon +as I came in. "I have got the Secretary's permission to take you back +with me to Chattanooga. I want you to dismiss your train and get in +mine; we will give you comfortable quarters." + +"General," I said, "did you ask the Secretary to let me go back with +you?" + +"I did," he said; "I wanted to have you." + +So, of course, I went. On the way down he told me that he had been +appointed to the command of the "Military Division of the Mississippi," +with permission to leave Rosecrans in command of the Department of the +Cumberland or to assign Thomas in his place. He had done the latter, he +said, and had telegraphed Thomas to take charge of the army the night +after Stanton, at Louisville, had received my dispatch of the 19th +saying Rosecrans would retreat from Chattanooga unless ordered to +remain. Rosecrans was assigned to the Department of the Missouri, with +headquarters at St. Louis. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[D] The feeling of the army toward McCook and Crittenden was afterward +greatly modified. A court of inquiry examined their cases, and in +February, 1864, gave its final finding and opinion. McCook it relieved +entirely from responsibility for the reverse of September 20th, +declaring that the small force at his disposal was inadequate to defend, +against greatly superior numbers, the long line he had taken under +instructions, and adding that, after the line was broken, he had done +everything he could to rally and hold his troops, giving the necessary +orders to his subordinates. General Crittenden's conduct, the court +likewise declared, showed no cause for censure, and he was in no way +responsible for the disaster to the right wing. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CHATTANOOGA AND MISSIONARY RIDGE. + + Thomas succeeds Rosecrans in the Army of the Cumberland--Grant + supreme at Chattanooga--A visit to the army at Knoxville--A + Tennessee Unionist's family--Impressions of Burnside--Grant against + Bragg at Chattanooga--The most spectacular fighting of the + war--Watching the first day's battle--With Sherman the second + day--The moonlight fight on Lookout Mountain--Sheridan's whisky + flask--The third day's victory and the glorious spectacle it + afforded--The relief of General Burnside. + + +With Grant I left Nashville for the front on the morning of the 21st. We +arrived safe in Bridgeport in the evening. The next morning, October +22d, we left on horseback for Chattanooga by way of Jasper and Walden's +Ridge. The roads were in such a condition that it was impossible for +Grant, who was on crutches from an injury to his leg received by the +fall of a horse in New Orleans some time before, to make the whole +distance of fifty-five miles in one day, so I pushed on ahead, running +the rebel picket lines, and reaching Chattanooga in the evening in +company with Colonel Wilson, Grant's inspector general. + +The next morning I went to see General Thomas; it was not an official +visit, but a friendly one, such a visit as I very often made on the +generals. When we had shaken hands, he said: + +"Mr. Dana, you have got me this time; but there is nothing for a man to +do in such a case as this but to obey orders." + +This was in allusion to his assignment to the command of the Army of the +Cumberland. The change in command was received with satisfaction by all +intelligent officers, so far as I could ascertain, though, of course, +Rosecrans had many friends who were unable to conceive why he was +relieved. They reported that he was to be put in command of the Army of +the Potomac. The change at headquarters was already strikingly +perceptible, order prevailing instead of universal chaos. + +On the evening of the 23d Grant arrived, as I stated in my dispatch to +Mr. Stanton, "wet, dirty, and well." The next morning he was out with +Thomas and Smith to reconnoiter a position which the latter general had +discovered at the mouth of Lookout Valley, which he believed, if it +could be taken possession of and at the same time if Raccoon Mountain +could be occupied, would give us Lookout Valley, and so enable us again +to bring supplies up the river. In preparation for this movement, Smith +had been getting bridges ready to throw across the river at the mouth of +the valley, and been fitting up a steamer to use for supplies when we +should control the river. + +The Confederates at that time were massed in Chattanooga Valley, south +of Chattanooga. They held Missionary Ridge to the east, and Lookout +Mountain to the west. They had troops in Lookout Valley also, and their +pickets extended westward over Raccoon Mountain to the river. South of +the river, at Brown's Ferry, were several low mamelons. Smith's idea +was to surprise the Confederate pickets here at night and seize the +position in time to unite with Hooker, who in the meantime should be +ordered up from Bridgeport by way of Shellmound, Whiteside, and +Wauhatchie. That night Grant gave orders for the movement; in fact, he +began it by sending Palmer's division across Walden's Ridge to Rankin's +Ferry, where he was to cross and occupy Shellmound, thus guarding +Hooker's rear. Hooker he ordered to march from Bridgeport on the morning +of the 26th. + +I went to Bridgeport on the 25th to observe Hooker's movement, but found +he was not there, and would not be ready to march the next morning as +ordered. Hooker came up from Stevenson to Bridgeport on the evening of +the 26th. He was in an unfortunate state of mind for one who had to +co-operate--fault-finding and criticising. No doubt it was true that the +chaos of the Rosecrans administration was as bad as he described it to +be, but he was quite as truculent toward the plan that he was now to +execute as toward the impotence and confusion of the old _régime_. By +the next morning he was ready to start, and the troops moved out for +Shellmound about half past six. By half past four in the afternoon we +arrived at Whiteside Valley; thence the march was directly to +Wauhatchie. Here there was an insignificant skirmish, which did not stop +us long. By the afternoon of the 28th we were at the mouth of the +Lookout Valley, where we found that General Smith, by an operation whose +brilliancy can not be exaggerated, had taken the mamelons south of the +river. The only serious opposition to our occupancy of the position +came that night, but the enemy was successfully repulsed. + +Our forces now held Lookout Valley and controlled the river from Brown's +Ferry to Bridgeport. The next day supplies were started up the river. At +first they came no farther than Kelley's Ferry, which was about ten +miles from Chattanooga. This was because the steamer at Bridgeport could +not get through the Suck, an ugly pass in the mountains through which +the river runs; but on the night of the 30th we succeeded in getting our +steamer at Chattanooga past the pickets on Lookout Mountain and down to +Brown's Ferry. She could pass the Suck, and after that supplies came by +water to Brown's Ferry. + +Within a week after Grant's arrival we were receiving supplies daily. +There was no further danger of the Army of the Cumberland being starved +out of Chattanooga. The Confederates themselves at once recognized this, +for a copy of the Atlanta Appeal of November 3d which reached me said +that if we were not dislodged from Lookout Valley our possession of +Chattanooga was secure for the winter. + +It was now certain that we could hold Chattanooga; but until Sherman +reached us we could do nothing against the enemy and nothing to relieve +Burnside, who had been ordered to unite with Rosecrans in August, but +had never got beyond Knoxville. He was shut up there much in the same +way as we were in Chattanooga, and it was certain that the Confederates +were sending forces against him. + +The day after Grant arrived we had good evidence that the Confederates +were moving in large force to the northeastward of Chattanooga, for +heavy railroad trains went out in that direction and light ones +returned. Deserters to us on the morning of the 25th reported that a +large force was at Charleston, Tenn., and that fully five thousand +mounted infantry had crossed the Tennessee River above Washington. That +night it was noticed that the pickets on Lookout Mountain, and even down +into the valley on the Chattanooga side, were much diminished. We judged +from this that the enemy had withdrawn both from the top of the mountain +and from the valley. There were other rumors of their movements toward +Burnside during the next few days, and on November 6th some definite +information came through a deserter, a Northern man who had lived in +Georgia before the war and had been forced into the service. He reported +that two divisions had moved up the Tennessee some time ago, and +confirmed our suspicion that the troops had been withdrawn from Lookout +Mountain. He said it was well understood among the Confederates that +these forces were going by way of Loudon to join those which had already +gone up the river, to co-operate with a force of Lee's army in driving +Burnside out of East Tennessee. + +Grant's first move to meet this plan of the enemy was to direct Sherman, +who had been trying to rebuild and hold the railroad from Memphis as he +marched forward, to abandon this work and hasten up to Stevenson. Grant +then considered what movement could be made which would compel the +enemy to recall the troops sent against Burnside. + +Grant was so anxious to know the real condition of Burnside that he +asked me to go to Knoxville and find out. So on November 9th I started, +accompanied by Colonel Wilson of Grant's staff. The way in which such a +trip as this of Wilson and mine was managed in those days is told in +this letter to a child, written just before we left Chattanooga for +Knoxville: + + I expect to go all the way on horseback, and it will take about five + days. About seventy horsemen will go along with their sabers and + carbines to keep off the guerillas. Our baggage we shall have + carried on pack mules. These are funny little rats of creatures, + with the big panniers fastened to their sides to carry their burdens + in. I shall put my bed in one pannier and my carpet bag and + India-rubber things in the other. Colonel Wilson, who is to go with + me, will have another mule for his traps, and a third will carry the + bread and meat and coffee that we are to live on. At night we shall + halt in some nice shady nook where there is a spring, build a big + roaring fire, cook our supper, spread our blankets on the ground, + and sleep with our feet toward the fire, while half a dozen of the + soldiers, with their guns ready loaded, watch all about to keep the + rebels at a safe distance. Then in the morning we shall first wake + up, then wash our faces, get our breakfasts, and march on, like John + Brown's soul, toward our destination. How long I shall stay at + Knoxville is uncertain, but I hope not very long--though it must be + very charming in that country of mountains and rivers--and then I + shall pray for orders that will take me home again. + +We were not obliged to camp out every night on this trip. One evening, +just about supper time, we reached a large stone house, the home of a +farmer. The man, we found, was a strong Unionist, and he gave us a +hearty invitation to occupy his premises. Our escort took possession of +the barn for sleeping, and we cooked our supper in the yard, the family +lending us a table and sending us out fresh bread. After supper Wilson +and I were invited into the house, where the farmer listened eagerly to +the news of the Union army. There were two or three young and very +pretty girls in the farmer's family, and while we talked they dipped +snuff, a peculiar custom that I had seen but once or twice before. + +We reached Knoxville on the 13th, and I at once went to headquarters to +talk over the situation with Burnside. This was the first time I had met +that general. He was rather a large man physically, about six feet tall, +with a large face and a small head, and heavy side whiskers. He was an +energetic, decided man, frank, manly, and well educated. He was a very +showy officer--not that he _made_ any show; he was naturally that. When +he first talked with you, you would think he had a great deal more +intelligence than he really possessed. You had to know him some time +before you really took his measure. + +I found that Burnside's forces, something like thirty-three thousand men +of all arms, were scattered all the way from Kentucky, by Cumberland +Gap, down to Knoxville. In and about Knoxville he had not concentrated +more than twelve thousand to fourteen thousand men. The town was +fortified, though unable to resist an attack by a large force. Up to +this time Burnside and his army had really been very well off, for he +had commanded a rich region behind Knoxville, and thence had drawn food +and forage. He even had about one hundred miles of railroad in active +operation for foraging, and he had plenty of mills and workshops in the +town which he could use. + +After a detailed conversation with Burnside, I concluded that there was +no reason to believe that any force had been sent from Lee's army to +attack him on the northeast, as we had heard in Chattanooga, but that it +was certain that Longstreet was approaching from Chattanooga with thirty +thousand troops. Burnside said that he would be unable long to resist +such an attack, and that if Grant did not succeed in making a +demonstration which would compel Longstreet to return he must retreat. + +If compelled to retreat, he proposed, he said, to follow the line of +Cumberland Gap, and to hold Morristown and Bean's Station. At these +points he would be secure against any force the enemy could bring +against him; he would still be able to forage over a large extent of +country on the south and east, he could prevent the repair of the +railroads by the rebels, and he would still have an effective hold on +East Tennessee. + +A few hours after this talk with Burnside, about one o'clock in the +morning of the 14th, a report reached Knoxville that completely upset +his plan for retreating by Cumberland Gap. This was the news that the +enemy had commenced building bridges across the Tennessee near Loudon, +only about twenty-five miles south of Knoxville. Burnside immediately +decided that he must retreat; and he actually dictated orders for +drawing his whole army south of the Holston into Blount County, where +all his communications would have been cut off, and where on his own +estimate he could not have subsisted more than three weeks. General +Parke argued against this in vain, but finally Colonel Wilson overcame +it by representing that Grant did not wish Burnside to include the +capture of his entire army among the plans of his operations. He then +determined to retreat toward the gaps, after destroying the workshops +and mills in Knoxville and on the line of his march. + +Before we left, however, which was about six o'clock in the morning of +the 14th, General Burnside had begun to feel that perhaps he might not +be obliged to pass the mountains and abandon East Tennessee entirely. He +had even decided to send out a force to attack the enemy's advance. When +Wilson and I reached Lenoir's Station that morning on our way to +Chattanooga, we discovered that the enemy's attack was not as imminent +as Burnside feared. Their bridges were not complete, and no artillery or +cavalry had crossed. From everything I could learn of their strength, in +fact, it seemed to me that there was a reasonable probability that +Burnside would be able to hold Knoxville until relieved by operations at +Chattanooga. + +We found that our departure from Knoxville had been none too soon. So +completely were the Confederates taking possession of the country +between Knoxville and Chattanooga that had we delayed a single day we +could have got out only through Cumberland Gap or that of Big Creek. We +were four days in returning, and Mr. Stanton became very uneasy, as I +learned from this dispatch received soon after my return: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D.C., _November 19, 1863_. + + Hon. C. A. DANA, Chattanooga. + + Your dispatches of yesterday are received. I am rejoiced that you + have got safely back. My anxiety about you for several days had + been very great. Make your arrangements to remain in the field + during the winter. Continue your reports as frequently as possible, + always noting the hour. + + EDWIN M. STANTON. + + +Colonel Wilson and I reached Chattanooga on November 17th. As soon as I +arrived I went to Grant's and Thomas's headquarters to find out the +news. There was the greatest hopefulness everywhere. Sherman, they told +me, had reached Bridgeport, and a plan for attacking Bragg's position +was complete and its execution begun by moving a division of Sherman's +army from Bridgeport to Trenton, where it ought to arrive that day, +threatening the enemy by Stevens's Gap. The remainder of that army was +to move into Lookout Valley by way of Whiteside, extending its lines up +the valley toward Trenton, as if to repeat the flanking movement of +Rosecrans when he followed Bragg across the Tennessee. Having drawn the +enemy's attention to that quarter, Sherman was to disappear on the night +of the 18th and encamp his forces behind the ridge of hills north of the +Tennessee, opposite to Chattanooga, and keep them there out of sight of +the enemy during the 19th. That same night a bridge was to be thrown +across the river just below the mouth of Chickamauga Creek, so that on +Saturday morning, November 20th, Sherman's command would be across +before daylight, if possible. As soon as over he was to push for the +head of Missionary Ridge, and there engage the enemy. + +At the same time that Sherman's wing advanced, Granger, with about +eighteen thousand men, was to move up on the left of the Chattanooga +lines and engage the Confederate right with all possible vigor. Hooker, +who had been in the Lookout Valley ever since he joined the army in +November, was to attack the head of Lookout Mountain simultaneously with +Sherman's attack at the head of Missionary Ridge, and, if practicable, +to carry the mountain. + +It is almost never possible to execute a campaign as laid out, +especially when it requires so many concerted movements as this one. +Thus, instead of all of Sherman's army crossing the Tennessee on the +night of the 18th, and getting out of sight as expected behind the hills +that night, a whole corps was left behind at daylight, and one division +had to march down the valley on the morning of the 20th in full view of +the enemy, who now understood, of course, that he was to be attacked. +Bragg evidently did not care to risk a battle, for he tried to alarm +Grant that afternoon by sending a flag over, and with it a letter, +saying, "As there may still be some non-combatants in Chattanooga, I +deem it proper to notify you that prudence would dictate their early +withdrawal." Of course, we all knew this was a bluff. + +On the morning of the 20th a heavy rain began, which lasted two days and +made the roads so bad that Sherman's advance was almost stopped. His +march was still further retarded by a singular blunder which had been +committed in moving his forces from Bridgeport. Instead of moving all +the troops and artillery first, the numerous trains which had been +brought from West Tennessee were sent in front rather than in rear of +each division. Grant said the blunder was his; that he should have given +Sherman explicit orders to leave his wagons behind; but no one was so +much astonished as Grant on learning that they had not been left, even +without such orders. + +Owing to these unforeseen circumstances, Sherman's rear was so far +behind on the morning of the 23d, three days after Grant had planned for +the attack, that it was doubtful whether he could be ready to join the +movement the next day, November 24th. It was also feared that the enemy, +who had seen the troops march through Lookout Valley and then disappear, +might have discovered where they were concealed, and thus surmise our +movements. + +On account of these hitches in carrying out the operations as speedily +as Grant had hoped, it was not until November 23d that the first +encounter in the battle of Chattanooga occurred. It was the beginning of +the most spectacular military operations I ever saw--operations +extending over three days and full of the most exciting incidents. + +Our army lay to the south and east of the town of Chattanooga, the river +being at our back. Facing us, in a great half circle, and high above us +on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, were the Confederates. Our +problem was to drive them from these heights. We had got our men well +together, all the re-enforcements were up, and now we were to strike. + +The first thing Grant tried to do was to clear out the Confederate lines +which were nearest to ours on the plain south of Chattanooga, and to get +hold of two bald knobs, or low hills, where Bragg's forces had their +advance guard. As the entire field where this attack was to be made was +distinctly visible from one of our forts, I went there on the 23d with +the generals to watch the operations. The troops employed for the attack +were under the immediate orders of Gordon Granger. There were some +capital officers under Granger, among them Sheridan, Hazen, and T. J. +Wood. Just before one o'clock the men moved out of their intrenchments, +and remained in line for three quarters of an hour in full view of the +enemy. The spectacle was one of singular magnificence. + +Our point of view was Fort Wood. Usually in a battle one sees only a +little corner of what is going on, the movements near where you happen +to be; but in the battle of Chattanooga we had the whole scene before +us. At last, everything being ready, Granger gave the order to advance, +and three brigades of men pushed out simultaneously. The troops advanced +rapidly, with all the precision of a review, the flags flying and the +bands playing. The first sign of a battle one noticed was the fire +spitting out of the rifles of the skirmishers. The lines moved steadily +along, not halting at all, the skirmishers all the time advancing in +front, firing and receiving fire. + +The first shot was fired at two o'clock, and in five minutes Hazen's +skirmishers were briskly engaged, while the artillery of Forts Wood and +Thomas was opening upon the rebel rifle-pits and camps behind the line +of fighting. The practice of our gunners was splendid, but it elicited +no reply from the camps and batteries of the enemy, about a mile and +three quarters distant; and it was soon evident that the Confederates +had no heavy artillery, in that part of their lines at least. Our +troops, rapidly advancing toward the knobs upon which they were +directed, occupied them at twenty minutes past two. Ten minutes later +Samuel Beatty, who commanded a brigade, driving forward across an open +field, carried the rifle-pits in his front, the occupants fleeing as +they fired their last volley; and Sheridan, moving through the forest +which stretched before him, drove in the enemy's pickets. Sheridan +halted his advance, in obedience to orders, on reaching the rifle-pits, +where the rebel force was waiting for his attack. No such attack was +made, however, the design being to secure only the height. The entire +movement was carried out in such an incredibly short time that at half +past three I was able to send a telegram to Mr. Stanton describing the +victory. + +We took about two hundred prisoners, mostly Alabama troops, and had +gained a position which would be of great importance should the enemy +still attempt to hold the Chattanooga Valley. With these heights in our +possession, a column marching to turn Missionary Ridge was secure from +flank attack. The Confederates fired three small guns only during the +affair, and that tended to confirm the impression that they had +withdrawn their main force. About four o'clock in the afternoon the +enemy opened fire from the top of Missionary Ridge, the total number of +cannon they displayed being about twelve, but nothing was developed to +show decisively whether they would fight or flee. Grant thought the +latter; other judicious officers the former. + +That evening I left Chattanooga to join General Sherman, who had his +troops north of the river concealed behind the hills, and ready to +attempt to cross the Tennessee that very night, so as to be able to +attack the east head of Missionary Ridge on the night of the 24th or the +morning of the 25th. + +Sherman had some twenty-five thousand men, and crossing them over a +river as wide and rapid as the Tennessee was above Chattanooga seemed to +me a serious task, and I watched the operations of the night with great +curiosity. The first point was to get a sufficient body of troops on the +south bank to hold a position against the enemy (the Confederates had +pickets for a long distance up and down the Tennessee, above +Chattanooga), and then from there commence building the pontoon bridge +by which the bulk of the men were to be got over. + +About one o'clock in the morning the pontoon boats, which had been sent +up the river some distance, were filled with men and allowed to drop +down to the point General Sherman had chosen for the south end of his +bridge. They landed about 2.30 in the morning, seized the pickets, and +immediately began to fortify their position. The boats in the meantime +were sent across the river to bring over fresh loads of men. They kept +this up until morning. Then a small steamer which Sherman had got hold +of came up and began to bring over troops. At daybreak some of the boats +were taken from the ferrying and a bridge was begun. It was marvelous +with what vigor the work went on. Sherman told me he had never seen +anything done so quietly and so well, and he declared later in his +report that he did not believe the history of war could show a bridge of +that length--about thirteen hundred and fifty feet--laid down so +noiselessly and in so short a time. By one o'clock in the afternoon +(November 24th) the bridge was done, and the balance of his forces were +soon marching briskly across. As soon as Sherman saw that the crossing +was insured, he set the foremost of his column in motion for the head of +Missionary Ridge. By four o'clock he had gained the crest of the ridge +and was preparing for the next day's battle. + +As soon as I saw Sherman in position, I hurried back to Chattanooga. I +reached there just in time to see the famous moonlight battle on Lookout +Mountain. The way this night battle happened to be fought was that +Hooker, who had been holding Lookout Valley, had been ordered to gain a +foothold on Lookout Mountain if possible, and that day, while I was with +Sherman, had really succeeded in scaling the side of the mountain. But +his possession of the point he had reached had been so hotly disputed +that a brigade had been sent from Chattanooga to aid him. These troops +attacked the Confederate lines on the eastern slope of the mountain +about eight o'clock that evening. A full moon made the battlefield as +plain to us in the valley as if it were day, the blaze of their camp +fires and the flashes of their guns displaying brilliantly their +position and the progress of their advance. No report of the result was +received that night, but the next morning we knew that Bragg had +evacuated Lookout Mountain the night before, and that our troops +occupied it. + +After the successes of the two days a decisive battle seemed inevitable, +and orders were given that night for a vigorous attack the next morning. +I was up early, sending my first dispatch to Mr. Stanton at half past +seven o'clock. As the result of the operations of the day before, Grant +held the point of Lookout Mountain on the southwest and the crest of the +east end of Missionary Ridge, and his line was continuous between these +points. As the result of the movement on November 23d, our lines in +front had been advanced to Orchard Knob. The bulk of the Confederate +force was intrenched along Missionary Ridge, five to six hundred feet +above us, and facing our center and left. From Chattanooga we could see +the full length of our own and the enemy's lines spread out like a scene +in a theater. + +About nine o'clock the battle was commenced on Sherman's line on our +left, and it raged furiously all that forenoon both east of Missionary +Ridge and along its crest, the enemy making vigorous efforts to crush +Sherman and dislodge him from his position on the ridge. All day, while +this battle was going on, I was at Orchard Knob, where Grant, Thomas, +Granger, and several other officers were observing the operations. The +enemy kept firing shells at us, I remember, from the ridge opposite. +They had got the range so well that the shells burst pretty near the top +of the elevation where we were, and when we saw them coming we would +duck--that is, everybody did except Generals Grant and Thomas and Gordon +Granger. It was not according to their dignity to go down on their +marrow bones. While we were there Granger got a cannon--how he got it I +do not know--and he would load it with the help of one soldier and fire +it himself over at the ridge. I recollect that Rawlins was very much +disgusted at the guerilla operations of Granger, and induced Grant to +order him to join his troops elsewhere. + +As we thought we perceived, soon after noon, that the enemy had sent a +great mass of their troops to crush Sherman, Grant gave orders at two +o'clock for an assault upon the left of their lines; but owing to the +fault of Granger, who was boyishly intent upon firing his gun instead of +commanding his corps, Grant's order was not transmitted to the division +commanders until he repeated it an hour later. + +It was fully four o'clock before the line moved out to the attack. It +was a bright, sunny afternoon, and, as the forces marched across the +valley in front of us as regularly as if on parade, it was a great +spectacle. They took with ease the first rifle-pits at the foot of the +ridge as they had been ordered, and then, to the amazement of all of us +who watched on Orchard Knob, they moved out and up the steep ahead of +them, and before we realized it they were at the top of Missionary +Ridge. It was just half past four when I wired to Mr. Stanton: + + Glory to God! the day is decisively ours. Missionary Ridge has just + been carried by the magnificent charge of Thomas's troops, and the + rebels routed. + +As soon as Grant saw the ridge was ours, he started for the front. As he +rode the length of the lines, the men, who were frantic with joy and +enthusiasm over the victory, received him with tumultuous shouts. The +storming of the ridge by our troops was one of the greatest miracles in +military history. No man who climbs the ascent by any of the roads that +wind along its front can believe that eighteen thousand men were moved +in tolerably good order up its broken and crumbling face unless it was +his fortune to witness the deed. It seemed as awful as a visible +interposition of God. Neither Grant nor Thomas intended it. Their orders +were to carry the rifle-pits along the base of the ridge and capture +their occupants; but when this was accomplished, the unaccountable +spirit of the troops bore them bodily up those impracticable steeps, in +spite of the bristling rifle-pits on the crest, and the thirty cannons +enfilading every gully. The order to storm appears to have been given +simultaneously by Generals Sheridan and Wood because the men were not to +be held back, dangerous as the attempt appeared to military prudence. +Besides, the generals had caught the inspiration of the men, and were +ready themselves to undertake impossibilities. + +The first time I saw Sheridan after the battle I said to him, "Why did +you go up there?" + +"When I saw the men were going up," he replied, "I had no idea of +stopping them; the rebel pits had been taken and nobody had been hurt, +and after they had started I commanded them to go right on. I looked up +at the head of the ridge as I was going up, and there I saw a +Confederate general on horseback. I had a silver whisky flask in my +pocket, and when I saw this man on the top of the hill I took out my +flask and waved my hand toward him, holding up the shining, glittering +flask, and then I took a drink. He waved back to me, and then the whole +corps went up." + +All the evening of the 25th the excitement of the battle continued. +Bragg had retreated down the Chickamauga Valley and was burning what he +could not carry away, so that the east was lit by his fires, while +Sheridan continued his fight along the east slope of Missionary Ridge +until nine o'clock in the evening. It was a bright moonlight night, and +we could see most of the operations as plainly as by day. The next +morning Bragg was in full retreat. I went to Missionary Ridge in the +morning, and from there I could see along ten miles of Chickamauga +Valley the fires of the depots and bridges he was burning as he fled. + +At intervals throughout the day I sent dispatches to Washington, where +they were eagerly read, as the following telegram sent me on the 27th +shows: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, _November 27, 1863_. + + Hon. C. A. DANA, Chattanooga, Tenn.: + + The Secretary of War is absent and the President is sick, but both + receive your dispatches regularly and esteem them highly, not + merely because they are reliable, but for their clearness of + narrative and their graphic pictures of the stirring events they + describe. + + The patient endurance and spirited valor exhibited by commanders + and men in the last great feat of arms, which has crowned our cause + with such a glorious success, is making all of us hero worshipers. + + P. H. WATSON, + _Acting Secretary of War_. + + +The enemy was now divided. Bragg was flying toward Rome and Atlanta, and +Longstreet was in East Tennessee besieging Burnside. Our victorious army +was between them. The first thought was, of course, to relieve Burnside, +and Grant ordered Granger with the Fourth Corps instantly forward to his +aid, taking pains to write Granger a personal letter, explaining the +exigencies of the case and the imperative need of energy. It had no +effect, however, in hastening the movement, and a day or two later Grant +ordered Sherman to assume command of all the forces operating from the +south to save Knoxville. Grant became imbued with a strong prejudice +against Granger from this circumstance. + +As any movement against Bragg was impracticable at that season, the only +operations possible to Grant, beyond the relief of Burnside, were to +hold Chattanooga and the line of the Hiwassee, to complete and protect +the railroads and the steamboats upon the Tennessee, and to amass food, +forage, and ordnance stores for the future. But all this would require +only a portion of the forces under his command; and, instead of holding +the remainder in winter quarters, he evolved a plan to employ them in +an offensive winter campaign against Mobile and the interior of Alabama. +He asked me to lay his plan before Mr. Stanton, and urge its approval by +the Government, which, of course, I did at once by telegraph. + +I did not wait at Chattanooga to learn the decision of the Government on +Grant's plan, but left on November 29th, again with Colonel Wilson, to +join Sherman, now well on his way to Knoxville, and to observe his +campaign. + +I fell in with Sherman on November 30th at Charleston, on the Hiwassee. +The Confederate guard there fled at his approach, after half destroying +the bridges, and we had to stay there until one was repaired. When we +reached Loudon, on December 3d, the bridge over the Tennessee was gone, +so that the main body of the army marched to a point where it was +believed a practicable ford might be found. The ford, however, proved +too deep for the men, the river being two hundred yards wide, and the +water almost at freezing point. We had a great deal of fun getting +across. I remember my horse went through--swam through, where his feet +could not strike the ground--and I got across without any difficulty. I +think Wilson got across, too; but when the lieutenant of our squad of +cavalrymen got in the middle of the river, where it was so deep that as +he sat in the saddle the water came up to his knees almost, and a little +above the breast of the mule he rode, the animal turned his head upward +toward the current, at that place very strong, and would not stir. This +poor fellow sat there in the middle of the stream, and, do his best, he +could not move his beast. Finally, they drove in a big wagon, or truck, +with two horses, and tied that to the bits of the mule, and dragged him +out. + +Colonel Wilson at once set about the construction of a trestle bridge, +and by working all night had it so advanced that the troops could begin +to cross by daylight the next morning. + +While the crossing was going on, we captured a Confederate mail, and +first learned something authentic about Burnside. He had been assailed +by Longstreet on the 29th of November, but had repulsed him. He was +still besieged, and all the letter writers spoke of the condition in the +town with great despondency, evidently regarding their chance of +extrication as very poor. Longstreet, we gathered from the mail, thought +that Sherman was bringing up only a small force. + +By noon of December 5th we had our army over, and, as we were now only +thirty-five miles from Knoxville, we pushed ahead rapidly, the enemy +making but little resistance. When Longstreet discovered the strength of +our force he retreated, and we entered Knoxville at noon on the 6th. We +found to our surprise that General Burnside had fully twenty days' +provisions--much more, in fact, than at the beginning of the siege. +These supplies had been drawn from the French Broad by boats, and by the +Sevierville road. The loyal people of East Tennessee had done their +utmost through the whole time to send in provisions and forage, and +Longstreet left open the very avenues which Burnside most desired. We +found ammunition very short, and projectiles for our rifle guns had +been made in the town. The utmost constancy and unanimity had prevailed +during the whole siege, from Burnside down to the last private; no man +thought of retreat or surrender. + +The next morning after our arrival, December 7th, Sherman started back +to Chattanooga with all his force not needed there. Colonel Wilson and I +returned with him, reaching Chattanooga on December 10th. + +Everything in the army was now so safe, quiet, and regular that I felt I +could be more useful anywhere else, so the day I got back I asked leave +of Mr. Stanton to go North. I did not wait for his reply, however. The +morning of the 12th Grant sent for me to come to his headquarters, and +asked me to go to Washington to represent more fully to Stanton and +Halleck his wishes with regard to the winter campaign. As the matter was +important, I started at once, telegraphing Mr. Stanton that, if he +thought it unnecessary for me to go, orders would reach me at any point +on the railroad. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE WAR DEPARTMENT IN WAR TIMES. + + Grant's plans blocked by Halleck--Mr. Dana on duty at + Washington--Edwin McMasters Stanton--His deep religious feeling--His + swift intelligence and almost superhuman energy--The Assistant + Secretary's functions--Contract supplies and contract + frauds--Lincoln's intercession for dishonest contractors with + political influence--A characteristic letter from Sherman. + + +I reached Washington about the middle of December, and immediately gave +to Mr. Stanton an outline of Grant's plan and reasons for a winter +campaign. The President, Mr. Stanton, and General Halleck all agreed +that the proposed operations were the most promising in sight; indeed, +Mr. Stanton was enthusiastic in favor of the scheme as I presented it to +him. He said that the success of Grant's campaign would end the war in +the Mississippi Valley, and practically make prisoners of all the rebel +forces in the interior of Mississippi and Alabama, without our being at +the direct necessity of guarding and feeding them. But Halleck, as a +_sine qua non_, insisted that East Tennessee should first be cleared out +and Longstreet driven off permanently and things up to date secured, +before new campaigns were entered upon. + +The result was that no winter campaign was made in 1863-'64 toward the +Alabama River towns and Mobile. Its success, in my opinion, was certain, +and I so represented to Mr. Stanton. Without jeoparding our interests in +any other quarter, Grant would have opened the Alabama River and +captured Mobile a full year before it finally fell. Its success meant +permanent security for everything we had already laid hold of, at once +freeing many thousands of garrison troops for service elsewhere. As long +as the rebels held Alabama, they had a base from which to strike +Tennessee. I had unbounded confidence in Grant's skill and energy to +conduct such a campaign into the interior, cutting loose entirely from +his base and subsisting off the enemy's country. At the time he had the +troops, and could have finished the job in three months. + +After I had explained fully my mission from Grant, I asked the Secretary +what he wanted me to do. Mr. Stanton told me he would like to have me +remain in the department until I was needed again at the front. +Accordingly, an office in the War Department was provided for me, and I +began to do the regular work of an assistant to the Secretary of War. +This was the first time since my relations with the War Department began +that I had been thrown much with the Secretary, and I was very glad to +have an opportunity to observe him. + +Mr. Stanton was a short, thick, dark man, with a very large head and a +mass of black hair. His nature was intense, and he was one of the most +eloquent men that I ever met. Stanton was entirely absorbed in his +duties, and his energy in prosecuting them was something almost +superhuman. When he took hold of the War Department the armies seemed to +grow, and they certainly gained in force and vim and thoroughness. + +One of the first things which struck me in Mr. Stanton was his deep +religious feeling and his familiarity with the Bible. He must have +studied the Bible a great deal when he was a boy. He had the firmest +conviction that the Lord directed our armies. Over and over again have I +heard him express the same opinion which he wrote to the Tribune after +Donelson: "Much has recently been said of military combinations and +organizing victory. I hear such phrases with apprehension. They +commenced in infidel France with the Italian campaign, and resulted in +Waterloo. Who can organize victory? Who can combine the elements of +success on the battlefield? We owe our recent victories to the Spirit of +the Lord, that moved our soldiers to rush into battle, and filled the +hearts of our enemies with dismay. The inspiration that conquered in +battle was in the hearts of the soldiers and from on high; and wherever +there is the same inspiration there will be the same results." There was +never any cant in Stanton's religious feeling. It was the +straightforward expression of what he believed and lived, and was as +simple and genuine and real to him as the principles of his business. + +Stanton was a serious student of history. He had read many books on the +subject--more than on any other, I should say--and he was fond of +discussing historical characters with his associates; not that he made a +show of his learning. He was fond, too, of discussing legal questions, +and would listen with eagerness to the statement of cases in which +friends had been interested. He was a man who was devoted to his +friends, and he had a good many with whom he liked to sit down and talk. +In conversation he was witty and satirical; he told a story well, and +was very companionable. + +There is a popular impression that Mr. Stanton took a malevolent delight +in browbeating his subordinates, and every now and then making a +spectacle of some poor officer or soldier, who unfortunately fell into +his clutches in the Secretary's reception room, for the edification of +bystanders. This idea, like many other false notions concerning great +men, is largely a mistaken one. The stories which are told of Mr. +Stanton's impatience and violence are exaggerated. He could speak in a +very peremptory tone, but I never heard him say anything that could be +called vituperative. + +There were certain men in whom he had little faith, and I have heard him +speak to some of these in a tone of severity. He was a man of the +quickest intelligence, and understood a thing before half of it was told +him. His judgment was just as swift, and when he got hold of a man who +did not understand, who did not state his case clearly, he was very +impatient. + +If Stanton liked a man, he was always pleasant. I was with him for +several years in the most confidential relations, and I can now recall +only one instance of his speaking to me in a harsh tone. It was a +curious case. Among the members of Congress at that period was a Jew +named Strouse. One of Strouse's race, who lived in Virginia, had gone +down to the mouth of the James River when General Butler was at +Fortress Monroe, and had announced his wish to leave the Confederacy. +Now, the orders were that when a man came to a commanding officer with a +request to go through the lines, he was to be examined and all the money +he had was to be taken from him. General Butler had taken from this +Virginian friend of Strouse between fifty thousand and seventy-five +thousand dollars. When a general took money in this way he had to +deposit it at once in the Treasury; there a strict account was kept of +the amount, whom it was taken by, and whom it was taken from. Butler +gave a receipt to this man, and he afterward came to Washington to get +his money. He and Strouse came to the War Department, where they +bothered Mr. Stanton a good deal. Finally, Mr. Stanton sent for me. + +"Strouse is after me," he said; "he wants that money, and I want you to +settle the matter." + +"What shall I do?" I asked; "what are the orders?" He took the papers in +the case and wrote on the back of them: + + Referred to Mr. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, to be settled as + in his judgment shall be best. + + E. M. STANTON. + +The man then turned his attention from the Secretary to me. I looked +into the matter, and gave him back the money. The next day Mr. Stanton +sent for me. I saw he was angry. + +"Did you give that Jew back his money?" he asked in a harsh tone. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Well," he said, "I should like to know by what authority you did it." + +"If you will excuse me while I go to my room, I will show my authority +to you," I replied. + +So I went up and brought down the paper he had indorsed, and read to +him: + +"Referred to Mr. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, to be settled as in +his judgment shall be best." Then I handed it over to him. He looked at +it, and then he laughed. + +"You are right," he said; "you have got me this time." That was the only +time he spoke to me in a really harsh tone. + +At the time that I entered the War Department for regular duty, it was a +very busy place. Mr. Stanton frequently worked late at night, keeping +his carriage waiting for him. I never worked at night, as my eyes would +not allow it. I got to my office about nine o'clock in the morning, and +I stayed there nearly the whole day, for I made it a rule never to go +away until my desk was cleared. When I arrived I usually found on my +table a big pile of papers which were to be acted on, papers of every +sort that had come to me from the different departments of the office. + +The business of the War Department during the first winter that I spent +in Washington was something enormous. Nearly $285,000,000 was paid out +that year (from June, 1863, to June, 1864) by the quartermaster's +office, and $221,000,000 stood in accounts at the end of the year +awaiting examination before payment was made. We had to buy every +conceivable thing that an army of men could need. We bought fuel, +forage, furniture, coffins, medicine, horses, mules, telegraph wire, +sugar, coffee, flour, cloth, caps, guns, powder, and thousands of other +things. Sometimes our supplies came by contract; again by direct +purchase; again by manufacture. Of course, by the fall of 1863 the army +was pretty well supplied; still, that year we bought over 3,000,000 +pairs of trousers, nearly 5,000,000 flannel shirts and drawers, some +7,000,000 pairs of stockings, 325,000 mess pans, 207,000 camp kettles, +over 13,000 drums, and 14,830 fifes. It was my duty to make contracts +for many of these supplies. + +In making contracts for supplies of all kinds, we were obliged to take +careful precautions against frauds. I had a colleague in the department, +the Hon. Peter H. Watson, the distinguished patent lawyer, who had a +great knack at detecting army frauds. One which Watson had spent much +time in trying to ferret out came to light soon after I went into +office. This was an extensive fraud in forage furnished to the Army of +the Potomac. The trick of the fraud consisted in a dishonest mixture of +oats and Indian corn for the horses and mules of the army. By changing +the proportions of the two sorts of grain, the contractors were able to +make a considerable difference in the cost of the bushel, on account of +the difference in the weight and price of the grain, and it was +difficult to detect the cheat. However, Watson found it out, and at once +arrested the men who were most directly involved. + +Soon after the arrest Watson went to New York. While he was gone, +certain parties from Philadelphia interested in the swindle came to me +at the War Department. Among them was the president of the Corn +Exchange. They paid me thirty-three thousand dollars to cover the sum +which one of the men confessed he had appropriated; thirty-two thousand +dollars was the amount restored by another individual. The morning after +this transaction the Philadelphians returned to me, demanding both that +the villains should be released, and that the papers and funds belonging +to them, taken at the time of their arrest, should be restored. It was +my judgment that, instead of being released, they should be remanded to +solitary confinement until they could clear up all the forage frauds and +make complete justice possible. Then I should have released them, but +not before. So I telegraphed to Watson what had happened, and asked him +to return to prevent any false step. + +Now, it happened that the men arrested were of some political importance +in Pennsylvania, and eminent politicians took a hand in getting them out +of the scrape. Among others, the Hon. David Wilmot, then Senator of the +United States and author of the famous Wilmot proviso, was very active. +He went to Mr. Lincoln and made such representations and appeals that +finally the President consented to go with him over to the War +Department and see Watson in his office. Wilmot remained outside, and +Mr. Lincoln went in to labor with the Assistant Secretary. Watson +eloquently described the nature of the fraud, and the extent to which it +had already been developed by his partial investigation. The President, +in reply, dwelt upon the fact that a large amount of money had been +refunded by the guilty men, and urged the greater question of the safety +of the cause and the necessity of preserving united the powerful support +which Pennsylvania was giving to the administration in suppressing the +rebellion. Watson answered: + +"Very well, Mr. President, if you wish to have these men released, all +that is necessary is to give the order; but I shall ask to have it in +writing. In such a case as this it would not be safe for me to obey a +verbal order; and let me add that if you do release them the fact and +the reason will necessarily become known to the people." + +Finally Mr. Lincoln took up his hat and went out. Wilmot was waiting in +the corridor, and came to meet him. + +"Wilmot," he said, "I can't do anything with Watson; he won't release +them." + +The reply which the Senator made to this remark can not be printed here, +but it did not affect the judgment or the action of the President. + +The men were retained for a long time afterward. The fraud was fully +investigated, and future swindles of the kind were rendered impossible. +If Watson could have had his way, the guilty parties--and there were +some whose names never got to the public--would have been tried by +military commission and sternly dealt with. But my own reflections upon +the subject led me to the conclusion that the moderation of the +President was wiser than the unrelenting justice of the Assistant +Secretary would have been. + +Not a little of my time at the department was taken up with people who +had missions of some kind within the lines of the army. I remember one +of these particularly, because it brought me a characteristic letter +from General Sherman. There was much suffering among the loyal citizens +and the Quakers of East Tennessee in the winter of 1863-'64, and many +relief committees came to us seeking transportation and safe conduct for +themselves and their supplies into that country. Some of these were +granted, to the annoyance of General Sherman, then in command of the +Military Division of the Mississippi. The reasons for his objections he +gave in this letter to me: + + + HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, + NASHVILLE, TENN., _April 21, 1864_. + + C. A. DANA, Esq., Ass't Sec. of War, Washington. + + MY DEAR FRIEND: It may be parliamentary, but is not military, for + me to write you; but I feel assured anything I may write will only + have the force of a casual conversation, such as we have indulged + in by the camp fire or as we jogged along by the road. The text of + my letter is one you gave a Philadelphia gentleman who is going up + to East Tennessee to hunt up his brother Quakers and administer the + bounties of his own and his fellow-citizens' charity. Now who would + stand in the way of one so kindly and charitably disposed? Surely + not I. But other questions present themselves. We have been working + hard with tens of thousands of men, and at a cost of millions of + dollars, to make railroads to carry to the line of the Tennessee + enough provisions and material of war to enable us to push in our + physical force to the next stop in the war. I have found on + personal inspection that hitherto the railroads have barely been + able to feed our men, that mules have died by the thousand, that + arms and ammunition had [have] laid in the depot for two weeks for + want of cars, that no accumulation at all of clothing and stores + had been or could be moved at Chattanooga, and that it took four + sets of cars and locomotives to accommodate the passes given by + military commanders; that gradually the wants of citizens and + charities were actually consuming the real resources of a road + designed exclusively for army purposes. You have been on the spot + and can understand my argument. At least one hundred citizens daily + presented good claims to go forward--women to attend sick children, + parents in search of the bodies of some slain in battle, sanitary + committees sent by States and corporations to look after the + personal wants of their constituents, ministers and friends to + minister to the Christian wants of their flocks; men who had fled, + anxious to go back to look after lost families, etc.; and, more + still, the tons of goods which they all bore on their merciful + errands. None but such as you, who have been present and seen the + tens, hundreds, and thousands of such cases, can measure them in + the aggregate and segregate the exceptions. + + I had no time to hesitate, for but a short month was left me to + prepare, and I must be ready to put in motion near one hundred + thousand men to move when naught remains to save life. I figured up + the mathematics, and saw that I must have daily one hundred and + forty-five car loads of essentials for thirty days to enable me to + fill the requirement. Only seventy-five daily was all the roads + were doing. Now I have got it up to one hundred and thirty-five. + Troops march, cattle go by the road, sanitary and sutler's stores + limited, and all is done that human energy can accomplish. Yet come + these pressing claims of charity, by men and women who can not + grasp the great problem. My usual answer is, "Show me that your + presence at the front is more valuable than two hundred pounds of + powder, bread, or oats"; and it is generally conclusive. I have + given Mr. Savery a pass on your letter, and it takes two hundred + pounds of bread from our soldiers, or the same of oats from our + patient mules; but I could not promise to feed the suffering + Quakers at the expense of our army. I have ordered all who can not + provide food at the front to be allowed transportation back in our + empty cars; but I can not undertake to transport the food needed by + the worthy East Tennesseeans or any of them. In peace there is a + beautiful harmony in all the departments of life--they all fit + together like the Chinese puzzle; but in war all is ajar. Nothing + fits, and it is the struggle between the stronger and weaker; and + the latter, however it may appeal to the better feelings of our + nature, must kick the beam. To make war we must and will harden our + hearts. + + Therefore, when preachers clamor and the sanitaries wail, don't + join in, but know that war, like the thunderbolt, follows its laws, + and turns not aside even if the beautiful, the virtuous, and + charitable stand in its path. + + When the day and the hour comes, I'll strike Joe Johnston, be the + result what it may; but in the time allotted to me for preparation + I must and will be selfish in making those preparations which I + know to be necessary. + + Your friend, + W. T. SHERMAN, _Major General_. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS CABINET. + + Daily intercourse with Lincoln--The great civil leaders of the + period--Seward and Chase--Gideon Welles--Friction between Stanton + and Blair--Personal traits of the President--Lincoln's surpassing + ability as a politician--His true greatness of character and + intellect--His genius for military judgment--Stanton's comment on + the Gettysburg speech--The kindness of Abraham Lincoln's heart. + + +During the first winter I spent in Washington in the War Department I +had constant opportunities of seeing Mr. Lincoln, and of conversing with +him in the cordial and unofficial manner which he always preferred. Not +that there was ever any lack of dignity in the man. Even in his freest +moments one always felt the presence of a will and of an intellectual +power which maintained the ascendancy of his position. He never posed, +or put on airs, or attempted to make any particular impression; but he +was always conscious of his own ideas and purposes, even in his most +unreserved moments. + +I knew, too, and saw frequently, all the members of his Cabinet. When +Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated as President, his first act was to name his +Cabinet; and it was a common remark at the time that he had put into it +every man who had competed with him for the nomination. The first in +importance was William H. Seward, of New York, Mr. Lincoln's most +prominent competitor. Mr. Seward was made Secretary of State. He was an +interesting man, of an optimistic temperament, and he probably had the +most cultivated and comprehensive intellect in the administration. He +was a man who was all his life in controversies, yet he was singular in +this, that, though forever in fights, he had almost no personal enemies. +Seward had great ability as a writer, and he had what is very rare in a +lawyer, a politician, or a statesman--imagination. A fine illustration +of his genius was the acquisition of Alaska. That was one of the last +things that he did before he went out of office, and it demonstrated +more than anything else his fixed and never-changing idea that all North +America should be united under one government. + +Mr. Seward was an admirable writer and an impressive though entirely +unpretentious speaker. He stood up and talked as though he were engaged +in conversation, and the effect was always great. It gave the impression +of a man deliberating "out loud" with himself. + +The second man in importance and ability to be put into the Cabinet was +Mr. Chase, of Ohio. He was an able, noble, spotless statesman, a man who +would have been worthy of the best days of the old Roman republic. He +had been a candidate for the presidency, though a less conspicuous one +than Seward. Mr. Chase was a portly man; tall, and of an impressive +appearance, with a very handsome, large head. He was genial, though very +decided, and occasionally he would criticise the President, a thing I +never heard Mr. Seward do. Chase had been successful in Ohio politics, +and in the Treasury Department his administration was satisfactory to +the public. He was the author of the national banking law. I remember +going to dine with him one day--I did that pretty often, as I had known +him well when I was on the Tribune--and he said to me: "I have completed +to-day a very great thing. I have finished the National Bank Act. It +will be a blessing to the country long after I am dead." + +The Secretary of the Navy throughout the war was Gideon Welles, of +Connecticut. Welles was a curious-looking man: he wore a wig which was +parted in the middle, the hair falling down on each side; and it was +from his peculiar appearance, I have always thought, that the idea that +he was an old fogy originated. I remember Governor Andrew, of +Massachusetts, coming into my office at the War Department one day and +asking where he could find "that old Mormon deacon, the Secretary of the +Navy." In spite of his peculiarities, I think Mr. Welles was a very +wise, strong man. There was nothing decorative about him; there was no +noise in the street when he went along; but he understood his duty, and +did it efficiently, continually, and unvaryingly. There was a good deal +of opposition to him, for we had no navy when the war began, and he had +to create one without much deliberation; but he was patient, laborious, +and intelligent at his task. + +Montgomery Blair was Postmaster-General in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet. He was +a capable man, sharp, keen, perhaps a little cranky, and not friendly +with everybody; but I always found him pleasant to deal with, and I saw +a great deal of him. He and Mr. Stanton were not very good friends, and +when he wanted anything in the War Department he was more likely to come +to an old friend like me than to go to the Secretary. Stanton, too, +rather preferred that. + +The Attorney-General of the Cabinet was Edward Bates, of Missouri. Bates +had been Mr. Greeley's favorite candidate for the presidency. He was put +into the Cabinet partly, I suppose, because his reputation was good as a +lawyer, but principally because he had been advocated for President by +such powerful influences. Bates must have been about sixty-eight years +old when he was appointed Attorney-General. He was a very eloquent +speaker. Give him a patriotic subject, where his feelings could expand, +and he would make a beautiful speech. He was a man of very gentle, +cordial nature, but not one of extraordinary brilliancy. + +The relations between Mr. Lincoln and the members of his Cabinet were +always friendly and sincere on his part. He treated every one of them +with unvarying candor, respect, and kindness; but, though several of +them were men of extraordinary force and self-assertion--this was true +especially of Mr. Seward, Mr. Chase, and Mr. Stanton--and though there +was nothing of self-hood or domination in his manner toward them, it was +always plain that he was the master and they the subordinates. They +constantly had to yield to his will in questions where responsibility +fell upon him. If he ever yielded to theirs, it was because they +convinced him that the course they advised was judicious and +appropriate. I fancied during the whole time of my intimate intercourse +with him and with them that he was always prepared to receive the +resignation of any one of them. At the same time I do not recollect a +single occasion when any member of the Cabinet had got his mind ready to +quit his post from any feeling of dissatisfaction with the policy or +conduct of the President. Not that they were always satisfied with his +actions; the members of the Cabinet, like human beings in general, were +not pleased with everything. In their judgment much was imperfect in the +administration; much, they felt, would have been done better if their +views had been adopted and they individually had had charge of it. Not +so with the President. He was calm, equable, uncomplaining. In the +discussion of important questions, whatever he said showed the +profoundest thought, even when he was joking. He seemed to see every +side of every question. He never was impatient, he never was in a hurry, +and he never tried to hurry anybody else. To every one he was pleasant +and cordial. Yet they all felt it was his word that went at last; that +every case was open until he gave his decision. + +This impression of authority, of reserve force, Mr. Lincoln always gave +to those about him. Even physically he was impressive. According to the +record measurements, he was six feet four inches in height. That is, he +was at least four inches taller than the tall, ordinary man. When he +rode out on horseback to review an army, as I have frequently seen him +do, he wore usually a high hat, and then he looked like a giant. There +was no waste or excess of material about his frame; nevertheless, he was +very strong and muscular. I remember that the last time I went to see +him at the White House--the afternoon before he was killed--I found him +in a side room with coat off and sleeves rolled up, washing his hands. +He had finished his work for the day, and was going away. I noticed then +the thinness of his arms, and how well developed, strong, and active his +muscles seemed to be. In fact, there was nothing flabby or feeble about +Mr. Lincoln physically. He was a very quick man in his movements when he +chose to be, and he had immense physical endurance. Night after night he +would work late and hard without being wilted by it, and he always +seemed as ready for the next day's work as though he had done nothing +the day before. + +Mr. Lincoln's face was thin, and his features were large. His hair was +black, his eyebrows heavy, his forehead square and well developed. His +complexion was dark and quite sallow. His smile was something most +lovely. I have never seen a woman's smile that approached it in its +engaging quality; nor have I ever seen another face which would light up +as Mr. Lincoln's did when something touched his heart or amused him. I +have heard it said that he was ungainly, that his step was awkward. He +never impressed me as being awkward. In the first place, there was such +a charm and beauty about his expression, such good humor and friendly +spirit looking from his eyes, that when you were near him you never +thought whether he was awkward or graceful; you thought of nothing +except, What a kindly character this man has! Then, too, there was such +shrewdness in his kindly features that one did not care to criticise +him. His manner was always dignified, and even if he had done an +awkward thing the dignity of his character and manner would have made it +seem graceful and becoming. + +The great quality of his appearance was benevolence and benignity: the +wish to do somebody some good if he could; and yet there was no flabby +philanthropy about Abraham Lincoln. He was all solid, hard, keen +intelligence combined with goodness. Indeed, the expression of his face +and of his bearing which impressed one most, after his benevolence and +benignity, was his intelligent understanding. You felt that here was a +man who saw through things, who understood, and you respected him +accordingly. + +Lincoln was a supreme politician. He understood politics because he +understood human nature. I had an illustration of this in the spring of +1864. The administration had decided that the Constitution of the United +States should be amended so that slavery should be prohibited. This was +not only a change in our national policy, it was also a most important +military measure. It was intended not merely as a means of abolishing +slavery forever, but as a means of affecting the judgment and the +feelings and the anticipations of those in rebellion. It was believed +that such an amendment to the Constitution would be equivalent to new +armies in the field, that it would be worth at least a million men, that +it would be an intellectual army that would tend to paralyze the enemy +and break the continuity of his ideas. + +In order thus to amend the Constitution, it was necessary first to have +the proposed amendment approved by three fourths of the States. When +that question came to be considered, the issue was seen to be so close +that one State more was necessary. The State of Nevada was organized and +admitted into the Union to answer that purpose. I have sometimes heard +people complain of Nevada as superfluous and petty, not big enough to be +a State; but when I hear that complaint, I always hear Abraham Lincoln +saying, "It is easier to admit Nevada than to raise another million of +soldiers." + +In March, 1864, the question of allowing Nevada to form a State +government finally came up in the House of Representatives. There was +strong opposition to it. For a long time beforehand the question had +been canvassed anxiously. At last, late one afternoon, the President +came into my office, in the third story of the War Department. He used +to come there sometimes rather than send for me, because he was fond of +walking and liked to get away from the crowds in the White House. He +came in and shut the door. + +"Dana," he said, "I am very anxious about this vote. It has got to be +taken next week. The time is very short. It is going to be a great deal +closer than I wish it was." + +"There are plenty of Democrats who will vote for it," I replied. "There +is James E. English, of Connecticut; I think he is sure, isn't he?" + +"Oh, yes; he is sure on the merits of the question." + +"Then," said I, "there's 'Sunset' Cox, of Ohio. How is he?" + +"He is sure and fearless. But there are some others that I am not clear +about. There are three that you can deal with better than anybody else, +perhaps, as you know them all. I wish you would send for them." + +He told me who they were; it isn't necessary to repeat the names here. +One man was from New Jersey and two from New York. + +"What will they be likely to want?" I asked. + +"I don't know," said the President; "I don't know. It makes no +difference, though, what they want. Here is the alternative: that we +carry this vote, or be compelled to raise another million, and I don't +know how many more, men, and fight no one knows how long. It is a +question of three votes or new armies." + +"Well, sir," said I, "what shall I say to these gentlemen?" + +"I don't know," said he; "but whatever promise you make to them I will +perform." + +I sent for the men and saw them one by one. I found that they were +afraid of their party. They said that some fellows in the party would be +down on them. Two of them wanted internal revenue collector's +appointments. "You shall have it," I said. Another one wanted a very +important appointment about the custom house of New York. I knew the man +well whom he wanted to have appointed. He was a Republican, though the +congressman was a Democrat. I had served with him in the Republican +county committee of New York. The office was worth perhaps twenty +thousand dollars a year. When the congressman stated the case, I asked +him, "Do you want that?" + +"Yes," said he. + +"Well," I answered, "you shall have it." + +"I understand, of course," said he, "that you are not saying this on +your own authority?" + +"Oh, no," said I; "I am saying it on the authority of the President." + +Well, these men voted that Nevada be allowed to form a State government, +and thus they helped secure the vote which was required. The next +October the President signed the proclamation admitting the State. In +the February following Nevada was one of the States which ratified the +Thirteenth Amendment, by which slavery was abolished by constitutional +prohibition in all of the United States. I have always felt that this +little piece of side politics was one of the most judicious, humane, and +wise uses of executive authority that I have ever assisted in or +witnessed. + +The appointment in the New York Custom House was to wait until the term +of the actual incumbent had run out. My friend, the Democratic +congressman, was quite willing. "That's all right," he said; "I am in no +hurry." Before the time had expired, Mr. Lincoln was murdered and Andrew +Johnson became President. I was in the West, when one day I got a +telegram from Roscoe Conkling: + +"Come to Washington." So I went. + +"I want you to go and see President Johnson," Mr. Conkling said, "and +tell him that the appointment of this man to the custom house is a +sacred promise of Mr. Lincoln's, and that it must be kept." + +Then I went to the White House, and saw President Johnson. + +"This is Mr. Lincoln's promise," I urged. "He regarded it as saving the +necessity of another call for troops and raising, perhaps, a million +more men to continue the war. I trust, Mr. President, that you will see +your way clear to execute this promise." + +"Well, Mr. Dana," he replied, "I don't say that I won't; but I have +observed in the course of my experience that such bargains tend to +immorality." + +The appointment was not made. I am happy to say, however, that the +gentleman to whom the promise was given never found any fault either +with President Lincoln or with the Assistant Secretary who had been the +means of making the promise to him. + +One of the cleverest minor political moves which Mr. Lincoln ever made +was an appointment he once gave Horace Greeley. Mr. Greeley never +approved of Mr. Lincoln's manner of conducting the war, and he sometimes +abused the President roundly for his deliberation. As the war went on, +Greeley grew more and more irritable, because the administration did not +make peace on some terms. Finally, in July, 1864, he received a letter +from a pretended agent of the Confederate authorities in Canada, saying: + + I am authorized to state to you for our use only, not the public, + that two ambassadors of Davis and Company are now in Canada with + full and complete powers for a peace, and Mr. Sanders requests that + you come on immediately to me at Cataract House to have a private + interview; or, if you will send the President's protection for him + and two friends, they will come on and meet you. He says the whole + matter can be consummated by me, them, and President Lincoln. + +This letter was followed the next day by a telegram, saying: "Will you +come here? Parties have full power." + +Upon receiving this letter, Mr. Greeley wrote to President Lincoln, more +or less in the strain of the articles that he had published in the +Tribune. He complained bitterly of the way the business of the +Government was managed in the great crisis, and told the President that +now there was a way open to peace. He explained that the Confederates +wanted a conference, and he told Mr. Lincoln that he thought that he +ought to appoint an ambassador, or a diplomatic agent, of the United +States Government, to meet the Confederate agents at Niagara and hear +what they had to say. Mr. Lincoln immediately responded by asking Mr. +Greeley to be himself the representative and to go to Niagara Falls. + +"If you can find any person anywhere," the President wrote, "professing +to have any proposition of Jefferson Davis, in writing, for peace, +embracing the restoration of the Union, and abandonment of slavery, +whatever else it embraces, say to him he may come to me with you, and +that if he really brings such proposition he shall at the least have +safe conduct with the paper (and without publicity, if he chooses) to +the point where you shall have met him. The same, if there be two or +more persons." + +Mr. Greeley went to Niagara, but his mission ended in nothing, except +that the poor man, led astray by too great confidence, failed in his +undertaking, and was almost universally laughed at. I saw the President +not long after that, and he said, with a funny twinkle in his eye: "I +sent Brother Greeley a commission. I guess I am about even with him +now." + +Lincoln had the most comprehensive, the most judicious mind; he was the +least faulty in his conclusions of any man I have ever known. He never +stepped too soon, and he never stepped too late. When the whole Northern +country seemed to be clamoring for him to issue a proclamation +abolishing slavery, he didn't do it. Deputation after deputation went to +Washington. I remember once a hundred gentlemen, dressed in black coats, +mostly clergymen, from Massachusetts, came to Washington to appeal to +him to proclaim the abolition of slavery. But he did not do it. He +allowed Mr. Cameron and General Butler to execute their great idea of +treating slaves as contraband of war and protecting those who had got +into our lines against being recaptured by their Southern owners; but he +would not prematurely make the proclamation that was so much desired. +Finally the time came, and of that he was the judge. Nobody else decided +it; nobody commanded it; the proclamation was issued as he thought best, +and it was efficacious. The people of the North, who during the long +contest over slavery had always stood strenuously by the compromises of +the Constitution, might themselves have become half rebels if this +proclamation had been issued too soon. At last they were tired of +waiting, tired of endeavoring to preserve even a show of regard for what +was called "the compromises of the Constitution" when they believed the +Constitution itself was in danger. Thus public opinion was ripe when +the proclamation came, and that was the beginning of the end. He could +have issued this proclamation two years before, perhaps, and the +consequence of it might have been our entire defeat; but when it came it +did its work, and it did us no harm whatever. Nobody protested against +it, not even the Confederates themselves. + +This unerring judgment, this patience which waited and which knew when +the right time had arrived, is an intellectual quality that I do not +find exercised upon any such scale and with such absolute precision by +any other man in history. It proves Abraham Lincoln to have been +intellectually one of the greatest of rulers. If we look through the +record of great men, where is there one to be placed beside him? I do +not know. + +Another interesting fact about Abraham Lincoln is that he developed into +a great military man; that is to say, a man of supreme military +judgment. I do not risk anything in saying that if one will study the +records of the war and study the writings relating to it, he will agree +with me that the greatest general we had, greater than Grant or Thomas, +was Abraham Lincoln. It was not so at the beginning; but after three or +four years of constant practice in the science and art of war, he +arrived at this extraordinary knowledge of it, so that Von Moltke was +not a better general, or an abler planner or expounder of a campaign, +than was President Lincoln. To sum it up, he was a born leader of men. +He knew human nature; he knew what chord to strike, and was never afraid +to strike it when he believed that the time had arrived. + +Mr. Lincoln was not what is called an educated man. In the college that +he attended a man gets up at daylight to hoe corn, and sits up at night +by the side of a burning pine-knot to read the best book he can find. +What education he had, he had picked up. He had read a great many books, +and all the books that he had read he knew. He had a tenacious memory, +just as he had the ability to see the essential thing. He never took an +unimportant point and went off upon that; but he always laid hold of the +real question, and attended to that, giving no more thought to other +points than was indispensably necessary. + +Thus, while we say that Mr. Lincoln was an uneducated man in the college +sense, he had a singularly perfect education in regard to everything +that concerns the practical affairs of life. His judgment was excellent, +and his information was always accurate. He knew what the thing was. He +was a man of genius, and contrasted with men of education the man of +genius will always carry the day. Many of his speeches illustrate this. + +I remember very well Mr. Stanton's comment on the Gettysburg speeches of +Edward Everett and Mr. Lincoln. "Edward Everett has made a speech," he +said, "that will make three columns in the newspapers, and Mr. Lincoln +has made a speech of perhaps forty or fifty lines. Everett's is the +speech of a scholar, polished to the last possibility. It is elegant, +and it is learned; but Lincoln's speech will be read by a thousand men +where one reads Everett's, and will be remembered as long as anybody's +speeches are remembered who speaks in the English language." + +That was the truth. Who ever thinks of or reads Everett's Gettysburg +speech now? If one will compare those two speeches he will get an idea +how superior genius is to education; how superior that intellectual +faculty is which sees the vitality of a question and knows how to state +it; how superior that intellectual faculty is which regards everything +with the fire of earnestness in the soul, with the relentless purpose of +a heart devoted to objects beyond literature. + +Another remarkable peculiarity of Mr. Lincoln's was that he seemed to +have no illusions. He had no freakish notions that things were so, or +might be so, when they were not so. All his thinking and reasoning, all +his mind, in short, was based continually upon actual facts, and upon +facts of which, as I said, he saw the essence. I never heard him say +anything that was not so. I never heard him foretell things; he told +what they were, but I never heard him intimate that such and such +consequences were likely to happen without the consequences following. I +should say, perhaps, that his greatest quality was wisdom. And that is +something superior to talent, superior to education. It is again genius; +I do not think it can be acquired. All the advice that he gave was wise, +and it was always timely. This wisdom, it is scarcely necessary to add, +had its animating philosophy in his own famous words, "With malice +toward none, with charity for all." + +Another remarkable quality of Mr. Lincoln was his great mercifulness. A +thing it seemed as if he could not do was to sign a death warrant. One +day General Augur, who was the major general commanding the forces in +and around Washington, came to my office and said: + +"Here is So-and-So, a spy. He has been tried by court-martial; the facts +are perfectly established, he has been sentenced to death, and here is +the warrant for his execution, which is fixed for to-morrow morning at +six o'clock. The President is away. If he were here, the man certainly +wouldn't be executed. He isn't here. I think it very essential to the +safety of the service and the safety of everything that an example +should be made of this spy. They do us great mischief; and it is very +important that the law which all nations recognize in dealing with +spies, and the punishment which every nation assigns to them, should be +inflicted upon at least one of these wretches who haunt us around +Washington. Do you know whether the President will be back before +morning?" + +"I understand that he won't be back until to-morrow afternoon," I +replied. + +"Well, as the President is not here, will you sign the warrant?" + +"Go to Mr. Stanton," I said; "he is the authority." + +"I have been to him, and he said I should come to you." + +Well, I signed the order; I agreed with General Augur in his view of the +question. At about eleven o'clock the next day I met the general. "The +President got home at two o'clock this morning," he said, "and he +stopped it all." + +But it was not only in matters of life and death that Mr. Lincoln was +merciful. He was kind at heart toward all the world. I never heard him +say an unkind thing about anybody. Now and then he would laugh at +something jocose or satirical that somebody had done or said, but it was +always pleasant humor. He would never allow the wants of any man or +woman to go unattended to if he could help it. I noticed his sweetness +of nature particularly with his little son, a child at that time perhaps +seven or nine years old, who used to roam the departments and whom +everybody called "Tad." He had a defective palate, and couldn't speak +very plainly. Often I have sat by his father, reporting to him some +important matter that I had been ordered to inquire into, and he would +have this boy on his knee. While he would perfectly understand the +report, the striking thing about him was his affection for the child. + +He was good to everybody. Once there was a great gathering at the White +House on New Year's Day, and all the diplomats came in their uniforms, +and all the officers of the army and navy in Washington were in full +costume. A little girl of mine said, "Papa, couldn't you take me over to +see that?" I said, "Yes"; so I took her over and put her in a corner, +where she beheld this gorgeous show. When it was finished, I went up to +Mr. Lincoln and said, "I have a little girl here who wants to shake +hands with you." He went over to her, and took her up and kissed her and +talked to her. She will never forget it if she lives to be a thousand +years old. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC IN '64. + + Mr. Lincoln sends Mr. Dana again to the front--General Halleck's + character--First visit to the Army of the Potomac--General Meade's + good qualities and bad--Winfield Scott Hancock--Early acquaintance + with Sedgwick--His death--Humphreys's accomplishments as a soldier + and as a swearer--Grant's plan of campaign against Lee--Incidents at + Spottsylvania--The "Bloody Angle." + + +I remained in Washington the entire winter of 1863-'64, occupied mainly +with the routine business of the department. Meantime the Chattanooga +victory had made Grant the great military figure of the country, and +deservedly so. The grade of lieutenant general had been immediately +revived by act of Congress, and the President had promptly promoted him +to the new rank, and made him general in chief of all the armies of the +United States. His military prestige was such that everything was put +into his hands, everything yielded to his wishes. The coming of Grant +was a great relief to the President and the Secretary. Halleck, the late +general in chief, consented to serve as Grant's chief of staff in +Washington, practically continuing his old service of chief military +adviser to the President and the Secretary of War, while Grant took the +field in active direction of operations against Richmond. + +Halleck was not thought to be a great man in the field, but he was +nevertheless a man of military ability, and by reason of his great +accomplishments in the technics of armies and of war was almost +invaluable as an adviser to the civilians Lincoln and Stanton. He was an +honest man, perhaps somewhat lacking in moral courage, yet earnest and +energetic in his efforts to sustain the national government. I have +heard Halleck accused of being unjust to his inferiors in rank, +especially to Grant. I believe this wrong. I never thought him unjust to +anybody. He always had his own ideas, and insisted strenuously on +following his own course, but I never detected a sign of injustice in +his conduct toward others. I think this false impression came from the +fact that he was a very critical man. The first impulse of his mind +toward a new plan was not enthusiasm; it was analysis, criticism. His +habit of picking men and manners to pieces to see what they were worth +gave the idea that he was unjust and malicious toward certain of his +subordinates. + +It was March when Grant came to Washington to receive his new grade of +lieutenant general. Soon afterward he joined the Army of the Potomac. On +the 4th of May he had moved out from Culpeper, where the army had been +in winter quarters since the previous December, and crossed the Rapidan +with an effective force of one hundred and twenty thousand men. General +Lee, his opponent, had about seventy thousand. + +For two days after Grant moved we had no authentic reports from the +army, although it was known that great events were occurring. Mr. +Stanton and Mr. Lincoln had begun to get uneasy. The evening of May 6th +I was at a reception when a messenger came with summons to the War +Department. I hurried over to the office in evening dress. The President +was there, talking very soberly with Stanton. + +"Dana," said Mr. Lincoln, "you know we have been in the dark for two +days since Grant moved. We are very much troubled, and have concluded to +send you down there. How soon can you start?" + +"In half an hour," I replied. + +In about that time I had an engine fired up at Alexandria, and a cavalry +escort of a hundred men awaiting me there. I had got into my camp +clothes, had borrowed a pistol, and with my own horse was aboard the +train at Maryland Avenue that was to take me to Alexandria. My only +baggage was a tooth-brush. I was just starting when an orderly galloped +up with word that the President wished to see me. I rode back to the +department in hot haste. Mr. Lincoln was sitting in the same place. + +"Well, Dana," said he, looking up, "since you went away I've been +thinking about it. I don't like to send you down there." + +"But why not, Mr. President?" I asked, a little surprised. + +"You can't tell," continued the President, "just where Lee is or what he +is doing, and Jeb Stuart is rampaging around pretty lively in between +the Rappahannock and the Rapidan. It's a considerable risk, and I don't +like to expose you to it." + +"Mr. President," I said, "I have a cavalry guard ready and a good horse +myself. If we are attacked, we probably will be strong enough to fight. +If we are not strong enough to fight, and it comes to the worst, we are +equipped to run. It's getting late, and I want to get down to the +Rappahannock by daylight. I think I'll start." + +"Well, now, Dana," said the President, with a little twinkle in his +eyes, "if you feel that way, I rather wish you would. Good night, and +God bless you." + +By seven o'clock on the morning of May 7th I was at the Rappahannock, +where I found a rear guard of the army. I stopped there for breakfast, +and then hurried on to Grant's headquarters, which were at Piney Branch +Meeting House. There I learned of the crossing of the Rapidan by our +army, and of the desperate battle of the Wilderness on May 5th and 6th. + +The Army of the Potomac was then composed of the Second, Fifth, Sixth, +and Ninth Army Corps, and of one cavalry corps. In command of the army +was Major-General George C. Meade. He was a tall, thin man, rather +dyspeptic, I should suppose from the fits of nervous irritation to which +he was subject. He was totally lacking in cordiality toward those with +whom he had business, and in consequence was generally disliked by his +subordinates. With General Grant Meade got along always perfectly, +because he had the first virtue of a soldier--that is, obedience to +orders. He was an intellectual man, and agreeable to talk with when his +mind was free, but silent and indifferent to everybody when he was +occupied with that which interested him. + +As a commander, Meade seemed to me to lack the boldness that was +necessary to bring the war to a close. He lacked self-confidence and +tenacity of purpose, and he had not the moral authority that Grant had +attained from his grand successes in other fields. As soon as Meade had +a commander over him he was all right, but when he himself was the +commander he began to hesitate. Meade had entirely separate headquarters +and a separate staff, and Grant sent his orders to him. + +In command of the Second Army Corps was Major-General W. S. Hancock. He +was a splendid fellow, a brilliant man, as brave as Julius Cæsar, and +always ready to obey orders, especially if they were fighting orders. He +had more of the aggressive spirit than almost anybody else in that army. +Major-General G. K. Warren, who commanded the Fifth Army Corps, was an +accomplished engineer. Major-General John Sedgwick commanded the Sixth +Army Corps. I had known him for over twenty years. Sedgwick graduated at +West Point in 1837, and was appointed a second lieutenant in the Second +Artillery. At the time of the McKenzie rebellion in Canada Sedgwick's +company was stationed at Buffalo during a considerable time. I was +living in Buffalo then, and in this rebellion the young men of the town +organized a regiment of city guards, and I was a sergeant in one of +those companies, so that I became quite familiar with all the military +movements then going on. Then it was that I got acquainted with +Sedgwick. He was a very solid man; no flummery about him. You could +always tell where Sedgwick was to be found, and in a battle he was apt +to be found where the hardest fighting was. He was not an ardent, +impetuous soldier like Hancock, but was steady and sure. + +Two days after I reached the army, on May 9th, not far from +Spottsylvania Courthouse, my old friend Sedgwick was killed. He had gone +out in the morning to inspect his lines, and, getting beyond the point +of safety, was struck in the forehead by a sharpshooter and instantly +killed. The command of the Sixth Army Corps was given to General H. G. +Wright. Wright was another engineer officer, well educated, of good, +solid intellect, with capacity for command, but no special predilection +for fighting. From the moment Meade assumed command of the army, two +days before Gettysburg, the engineers rapidly came to the front, for +Meade had the pride of corps strongly implanted in his heart. + +Major-General Burnside, whom I had last seen at Knoxville in December, +was in command of the Ninth Army Corps. Immediately after the siege of +Knoxville, at his own request, Burnside had been relieved of the command +in East Tennessee by Major-General John G. Foster. The President somehow +always showed for Burnside great respect and good will. After Grant's +plans for the spring campaign were made known, the Ninth Corps was moved +by rail to Annapolis, where it was recruited up to about twenty-five +thousand men. As the time for action neared it was set in motion, and by +easy marches reached and re-enforced the Army of the Potomac on the +morning of the 6th of May, in the midst of the battle of the Wilderness. +It was not formally incorporated with that army until later, but, by a +sort of fiction, it was held to be a distinct army, Burnside acting in +concert with Meade, and receiving his orders directly from Grant, as did +Meade. These two armies were the excuse for Grant's personal presence, +without actually superseding Meade. + +In my opinion, the great soldier of the Army of the Potomac at this time +was General Humphreys. He was the chief of staff to General Meade, and +was a strategist, a tactician, and an engineer. Humphreys was a fighter, +too, and in this an exception to most engineers. He was a very +interesting figure. He used to ride about in a black felt hat, the brim +of which was turned down all around, making him look like a Quaker. He +was very pleasant to deal with, unless you were fighting against him, +and then he was not so pleasant. He was one of the loudest swearers that +I ever knew. The men of distinguished and brilliant profanity in the war +were General Sherman and General Humphreys--I could not mention any +others that could be classed with them. General Logan also was a strong +swearer, but he was not a West Pointer: he was a civilian. Sherman and +Humphreys would swear to make everything blue when some dispatch had not +been delivered correctly or they were provoked. Humphreys was a very +charming man, quite destitute of vanity. I think he had consented to go +and serve with Meade as chief of staff out of pure patriotism. He +preferred an active command, and eventually, on the eve of the end, +succeeded to the command of the Second Corps, and bore a conspicuous +part in the Appomattox campaign. + +Meade was in command of the Army of the Potomac, but it was Grant, the +lieutenant general of the armies of the United States, who was really +directing the movements. The central idea of the campaign had not +developed to the army when I reached headquarters, but it was soon clear +to everybody. Grant's great operation was the endeavor to interpose the +Federal army between Lee's army and Richmond, so as to cut Lee off from +his base of supplies. He meant to get considerably in advance of +Lee--between him and Richmond--thus compelling Lee to leave his +intrenchments and hasten southward. If in the collision thus forced +Grant found that he could not smash Lee, he meant to make another move +to get behind his army. That was to be the strategy of the campaign of +1864. That was what Lee thwarted, though he had a narrow escape more +than once. + +The first encounter with Lee had taken place in the Wilderness on May +5th and 6th. The Confederates and many Northern writers love to call the +Wilderness a drawn battle. It was not so; in every essential light it +was a Union victory. Grant had not intended to fight a battle in those +dense, brushy jungles, but Lee precipitated it just as he had +precipitated the battle of Chancellorsville one year before, and not six +miles to the eastward of this very ground. In doing so he hoped to +neutralize the superior numbers of Grant as he had Hooker's, and so to +mystify and handle the Union leader as to compel a retreat across the +Rapidan. But he failed. Some of the fighting in the brush was a draw, +but the Union army did not yield a rood of ground; it held the roads +southward, inflicted great losses on its enemy, and then, instead of +recrossing the river, resumed its march toward Richmond as soon as +Lee's attacks had ceased. Lee had palpably failed in his objects. His +old-time tactics had made no impression on Grant. He never offered +general battle in the open afterward. + +The previous history of the Army of the Potomac had been to advance and +fight a battle, then either to retreat or to lie still, and finally to +go into winter quarters. Grant did not intend to proceed in that way. As +soon as he had fought a battle and had not routed Lee, he meant to move +nearer to Richmond and fight another battle. But the men in the army had +become so accustomed to the old methods of campaigning that few, if any, +of them believed that the new commander in chief would be able to do +differently from his predecessors. I remember distinctly the sensation +in the ranks when the rumor first went around that our position was +south of Lee's. It was the morning of May 8th. The night before the army +had made a forced march on Spottsylvania Courthouse. There was no +indication the next morning that Lee had moved in any direction. As the +army began to realize that we were really moving south, and at that +moment were probably much nearer Richmond than was our enemy, the +spirits of men and officers rose to the highest pitch of animation. On +every hand I heard the cry, "On to Richmond!" + +But there were to be a great many more obstacles to our reaching +Richmond than General Grant himself, I presume, realized on May 8, 1864. +We met one that very morning; for when our advance reached +Spottsylvania Courthouse it found Lee's troops there, ready to dispute +the right of way with us, and two days later Grant was obliged to fight +the battle of Spottsylvania before we could make another move south. + +It is no part of my present plan to go into detailed description of all +the battles of this campaign, but rather to dwell on the incidents and +deeds which impressed me most deeply at the moment. In the battle of +Spottsylvania, a terrific struggle, with many dramatic features, there +is nothing I remember more distinctly than a little scene in General +Grant's tent between him and a captured Confederate officer, General +Edward Johnson. The battle had begun on the morning of May 10th, and had +continued all day. On the 11th the armies had rested, but at half past +four on the morning of the 12th fighting had been begun by an attack by +Hancock on a rebel salient. Hancock attacked with his accustomed +impetuosity, storming and capturing the enemy's fortified line, with +some four thousand prisoners and twenty cannon. The captures included +nearly all of Major-General Edward Johnson's division, together with +Johnson himself and General George H. Steuart. + +I was at Grant's headquarters when General Johnson was brought in a +prisoner. He was a West Pointer, and had been a captain in the old army +before secession, and was an important officer in the Confederate +service, having distinguished himself in the Valley in 1863, and at +Gettysburg. Grant had not seen him since they had been in Mexico +together. The two men shook hands cordially, and at once began a brisk +conversation, which was very interesting to me, because nothing was +said in it on the subject in which they were both most interested just +then--that is, the fight that was going on, and the surprise that +Hancock had effected. It was the past alone of which they talked. + +It was quite early in the morning when Hancock's prisoners were brought +in. The battle raged without cessation throughout the day, Wright and +Hancock bearing the brunt of it. Burnside made several attacks, in which +his troops generally bore themselves like good soldiers. The results of +the battle of Spottsylvania were that we had crowded the enemy out of +some of his most important positions, had weakened him by losses of +between nine thousand and ten thousand men killed, wounded, and +captured, besides many battle flags and much artillery, and that our +troops rested victorious upon the ground they had fought for. + +After the battle was over and firing had nearly ceased, Rawlins and I +went out to ride over the field. We went first to the salient which +Hancock had attacked in the morning. The two armies had struggled for +hours for this point, and the loss had been so terrific that the place +has always been known since as the "Bloody Angle." The ground around the +salient had been trampled and cut in the struggle until it was almost +impassable for one on horseback, so Rawlins and I dismounted and climbed +up the bank over the outer line of the rude breastworks. Within we saw a +fence over which earth evidently had been banked, but which now was bare +and half down. It was here the fighting had been fiercest. We picked our +way to this fence, and stopped to look over the scene. The night was +coming on, and, after the horrible din of the day, the silence was +intense; nothing broke it but distant and occasional firing or the low +groans of the wounded. I remember that as I stood there I was almost +startled to hear a bird twittering in a tree. All around us the +underbrush and trees, which were just beginning to be green, had been +riddled and burnt. The ground was thick with dead and wounded men, among +whom the relief corps was at work. The earth, which was soft from the +heavy rains we had been having before and during the battle, had been +trampled by the fighting of the thousands of men until it was soft, like +thin hasty pudding. Over the fence against which we leaned lay a great +pool of this mud, its surface as smooth as that of a pond. + +As we stood there, looking silently down at it, of a sudden the leg of a +man was lifted up from the pool and the mud dripped off his boot. It was +so unexpected, so horrible, that for a moment we were stunned. Then we +pulled ourselves together and called to some soldiers near by to rescue +the owner of the leg. They pulled him out with but little trouble, and +discovered that he was not dead, only wounded. He was taken to the +hospital, where he got well, I believe. + +The first news which passed through the ranks the morning after the +battle of Spottsylvania was that Lee had abandoned his position during +the night. Though our army was greatly fatigued from the enormous +efforts of the day before, the news of Lee's departure inspired the men +with fresh energy, and everybody was eager to be in pursuit. Our +skirmishers soon found the enemy along the whole line, however, and the +conclusion was that their retrograde movement had been made to correct +their position after the loss of the key points taken from them the day +before, and that they were still with us in a new line as strong as the +old one. Of course, we could not determine this point without a battle, +and nothing was done that day to provoke one. It was necessary to rest +the men. + +In changing his lines Lee had left more uncovered the roads leading +southward along his right wing, and Grant ordered Meade to throw the +corps of Warren, which held the right, and the corps of Wright, which +held the center of Meade's army, to the left of Burnside, leaving +Hancock upon our right. If not interrupted, Grant thought by this +maneuvre to turn Lee's flank and compel him to move southward. + +The movement of the two corps to our left was executed during the night +of May 13th and 14th, but for three days it had rained steadily, and the +roads were so bad that Wright and Warren did not get up to surprise the +enemy at daylight as ordered. The only engagement brought on by this +move was an active little fight over a conspicuous hill, with a house +and plantation buildings upon it. The hill, which was on our left and +the enemy's right, was valuable as a lookout rather than for offensive +operations. Upton took it in the morning, and later the enemy retook it. +General Meade, who was there at that moment, narrowly escaped capture. +Our men very handsomely carried the hill again that evening. + +The two armies were then lying in a semicircle, the Federal left well +around toward the south. We were concentrated to the last degree, and, +so far as we could tell, Lee's forces were equally compact. On the 15th, +16th, and 17th, we lay in about the same position. This inactivity was +caused by the weather. A pouring rain had begun on the 11th, and it +continued until the morning of the 16th; the mud was so deep that any +offensive operation, however successful, could not be followed up. There +was nothing to do but lie still and wait for better weather and drier +roads. + +While waiting for the rain to stop, we had time to consider the field +returns of losses as they were handed in. The army had left winter +quarters at Culpeper Courthouse on May 4th, and on May 16th the total of +killed, wounded, and missing in both the Army of the Potomac and the +Ninth Corps amounted to a little over thirty-three thousand men. The +missing alone amounted to forty-nine hundred, but some of these were, in +fact, killed or wounded. When Grant looked over the returns, he +expressed great regret at the loss of so many men. Meade, who was with +him, remarked, as I remember, "Well, General, we can't do these little +tricks without losses." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE GREAT GAME BETWEEN GRANT AND LEE. + + Maneuvering and fighting in the rain, mud, and thickets--Virginian + conditions of warfare--Within eight miles of Richmond--The battle of + Cold Harbor--The tremendous losses of the campaign--The charge of + butchery against Grant considered in the light of statistics--What + it cost in life and blood to take Richmond. + + +By the afternoon of May 17th the weather was splendid, and the roads +were rapidly becoming dry, even where the mud was worst. Grant +determined to engage Lee, and orders for a decisive movement of the army +were issued, to be executed during the night. At first he proposed an +attack upon the enemy's right, but changed the plan. Instead of +attacking there, Hancock and Wright made a night march back to our right +flank, and attacked at daylight upon the same lines where Hancock made +his successful assault on the 12th. They succeeded in pressing close to +the enemy's lines, and for a time were confident that at last they had +struck the lair of the enemy, but an impassable abatis stopped them. One +division of Hancock's corps attempted in vain to charge through this +obstacle, and held the ground before it for an hour or more under a +galling fire of canister. The difficulty of storming the enemy's +intrenched camp on that side being evidently of the most extreme +character, and both corps having artfully but unsuccessfully sought for +a weak point where they might break through, Grant, at nine o'clock, +ordered the attack to cease. The attempt was a failure. Lee was not to +be ousted; and Grant, convinced of it, issued orders for another +movement which he had had in contemplation for several days, but which +he did not wish to try till after a last attempt to get the enemy out of +his stronghold. This was nothing less than to slip away from Lee and +march on toward Richmond again. + +The new order directed that Hancock's corps should march by night from +its present position southeast as far toward Richmond on the line of the +Fredericksburg road as he could go, fighting his way if necessary. +Warren was to follow, and, if Lee did not come out and attack when our +army was thus weakened, Wright and Burnside also were to march +southward. + +This movement was begun on the night of the 20th. By the night of the +21st Hancock was across the Mattapony River at Milford. Warren had +crossed the same river at Guiney's Station, the point to which Grant had +moved his headquarters. By the morning of the 22d Wright and Burnside +were up in safety, and the forward movement was continued. We were now +in a fine, clear country, good to move in and fight in, and the advance +of the 22d was most successful. By night our army lay in an east and +west line along the Mattapony River, holding the crossings. On the right +was Wright; close to him at the left, Warren; in the center, Burnside; +on the left, Hancock. Our headquarters were at New Bethel Church. Our +talk that night was that in all probability we should meet the enemy on +the North Anna, a day's march to the south of our position. + +The operations of the next day were much embarrassed by our ignorance of +the road and the entire incorrectness of our maps; nevertheless, by one +o'clock in the afternoon our right wing, under Warren, reached the North +Anna. The stream there was about one hundred and fifty feet wide, with +bluff banks from fifty to seventy-five feet high. Wright followed after +Warren. As soon as Warren reached Jericho Mills he pushed his +sharpshooters across the stream, which was easily fordable at that +place, following them with a compact body of infantry. A Confederate +regiment posted to watch the crossing at once gave way, leaving a single +prisoner in our hands. From this man Warren learned that another of the +enemy's divisions was drawn up to receive him near by. Under the orders +of General Grant, he promptly threw across the pontoon bridge, over +which he rapidly moved his artillery, at the same time urging forward +his infantry by the ford as well as by the bridge; and by five o'clock +he had transported his entire command, and had taken up a position of +great strength. Here he rapidly commenced intrenching himself. + +Grant had by this time moved his headquarters up to Mount Carmel Church, +some four miles from Jericho Mills. About six o'clock we knew from the +firing that Warren had been attacked. I never heard more rapid or +heavier firing, either of artillery or musketry. It was not until about +half past ten that evening that we knew surely how the fight had gone; +then a dispatch from Warren announced that he had triumphantly repulsed +the enemy, and made considerable captures of prisoners. + +About the same time that Warren was fighting for his position at Jericho +Mills, Hancock advanced on our left. By a vigorous charge of two +brigades of Birney's division, the enemy was driven over the North Anna +River. The next morning Hancock crossed over. That same morning, May +24th, we found that, as a result of the operations of the previous day, +we had about one thousand prisoners. They were more discouraged than any +set of prisoners I ever saw before. Lee had deceived them, they said, +and they declared that his army would not fight again except behind +breastworks. + +The general opinion of every prominent officer in the army on the +morning of the 24th was that the enemy had fallen back, either to take +up a position beyond the South Anna or to go to Richmond, but by noon +the next day we knew this was a mistake. All through the day of the 24th +Lee blocked our southward march. The opinion prevailed that the enemy's +position was held by a rear guard only, but the obstinacy of their +skirmishers was regarded as very remarkable. About dark Hancock made an +attack, breaking into the Confederate line of works, taking some +prisoners, and satisfying himself that a whole corps was before him. +Soon afterward the division of Gibbon was attacked, but it beat back the +assault handsomely without any considerable loss. Just before dark +Crittenden--the same Crittenden who was at Chickamauga--was also +suddenly attacked, and one of his brigades damaged. No fighting of any +moment took place on the morning of the 25th, but the enemy showed such +strength as to leave no doubt that Lee's whole army was present. His +intrenchments were in the form of the letter V. He showed artillery on +both faces. By the morning of the 25th Grant was sure that Lee was +before him and strongly intrenched. He soon determined on a new move. +This was to withdraw his whole army as quickly as possible, and, before +Lee discovered his intention, to move it southeast, across the Pamunkey, +and perhaps on across the Chickahominy and the James, if he could not +meanwhile get Lee out of his earthworks. + +The orders for the new move were received with the best spirit by the +army, in spite of the fact that the men were much jaded. Indeed, one of +the most important results of the campaign thus far was the entire +change which had taken place in the feelings of the armies. The +Confederates had lost all confidence, and were already morally defeated. +Our army had learned to believe that it was sure of ultimate victory. +Even our officers had ceased to regard Lee as an invincible military +genius. On the part of the enemy this change was evinced not only by +their not attacking, even when circumstances seemed to invite it, but by +the unanimous statements of prisoners taken from them. + +The morning after we began to move from our position on the North Anna I +was so confident that I wrote Mr. Stanton, "Rely upon it, the end is +near as well as sure." + +It was on the night of the 26th that our army was withdrawn from the +North Anna, without loss or disturbance, and by the evening of the 27th +Grant had his headquarters ten miles from Hanovertown, and his whole +army was well up toward the crossing. We had no news of Lee's movements +that day, though we heard that there was a force of the enemy at Hanover +Courthouse. Grant himself was very doubtful that day of our getting +across the Hanover Ferry; he told me that we might be obliged to go +farther to the southeast to get over. On the morning of the 27th +Sheridan and his cavalry seized the ferry, laying bridges, and, after +crossing, advancing well beyond. Everything went on finely that night +and during the 28th, the troops passing our headquarters in great +numbers and very rapidly. By noon of the 28th the movement of the army +across the Pamunkey was complete, with the exception of Burnside, who +did not arrive until midnight. The movement had been executed with +admirable celerity and success. The new position was one of great +strength, our lines extending from the Pamunkey to Totopotomoy Creek. +Wright was on the Pamunkey, Hancock on his left, and Warren on the +Totopotomoy. The orders for that day were to let the men rest, though +both officers and men were in high spirits at the successful execution +of this long and difficult flank movement. + +We were now south of the Pamunkey, and occupying a very strong position, +but we did not know yet where Lee was. A general reconnoissance was at +once ordered, and the enemy was found in force south of the Totopotomoy +Creek; by the 30th there was no doubt that Lee's whole army, now +re-enforced by thirteen thousand men, was close at hand and strongly +intrenched again. Grant said he would fight here if there was a fair +chance, but he declared emphatically he would not run his head against +heavy works. + +Our line began to push forward on the 30th. All the afternoon of that +day at headquarters, which were now at Hawes's Shop, we heard the noise +of fighting. First Warren on the left, who had reached a point only +about seven miles and a half from Richmond, had a short, sharp, and +decisive engagement with Early; and later an active conflict raged for +some time with our right on the Totopotomoy. We were successful all +along the line. The next day, the 31st, we pushed ahead until our lines +lay from Bethesda Church, on the east, to the railroad, on the west. +Desultory firing was constantly heard, but there was no very active +fighting that day until about five o'clock in the afternoon, when +Sheridan's cavalry, by hard work, drove out the enemy and secured Cold +Harbor, which was at that moment of vast importance to us strategically. + +It was determined to make a fight here before the enemy could intrench. +Wright was at once ordered to have his whole force on the ground by +daylight on the 1st of June, to support Sheridan and take the offensive. +"Baldy" Smith, of Butler's army, who had landed at White House on the +31st with twelve thousand five hundred men, was ordered to the aid of +Wright and Sheridan. But there was an error in Smith's orders, and +Wright's march was so long that his corps did not get up to Cold Harbor +until the afternoon of the 1st. Meanwhile Sheridan's cavalry had +repulsed two attacks by two brigades of Kershaw's infantry. + +It was not until six o'clock in the afternoon that we at headquarters at +Bethesda Church heard the cannon which indicated that an attack had at +last been made by Wright and Smith. From the sounds of artillery and +musketry, we judged the fight was furious. Rickett's division broke +through the rebel lines between Hoke and Kershaw, capturing five hundred +prisoners, and forcing the enemy to take up a new position farther back. +Smith's troops effected lodgments close up to the Confederate +intrenchments. Our losses this day were twenty-two hundred men in these +two corps. Warren was slightly engaged. Altogether they had done very +well, but meanwhile Lee was again concentrated and intrenched in our +front. + +Hancock was ordered to move during the night, and his advance arrived at +Cold Harbor about daylight. When I got up in the morning--I was then at +Bethesda Church--his rear was marching past our headquarters. In +conjunction with Wright and Smith, he was to fall upon Lee's right that +day. Warren and Burnside were also ordered in as soon as they heard that +the three corps on our left had begun battle. There was no battle that +day, however. Hancock's men were so tired with their forced march of +nearly twelve miles, and the heat and dust were so oppressive, that +General Grant ordered the attack to be postponed until half past four +o'clock the next morning. + +So the battle Grant sought did not come until June 3d--that of Cold +Harbor. On the morning of the 3d our line lay with the right at Bethesda +Church, the left extending to the Chickahominy. Hancock commanded the +left; next to him was Wright, with his corps drawn up in three lines; +next, Smith, with the Eighteenth Corps in two lines; next, Warren, who +had his whole command in a single line, the distance he covered being +fully three miles. With this thin order of battle he was necessarily +unable to make any effective assault. Burnside held the extreme right. +Hancock, Wright, and Smith were to make the main attacks at daybreak. +Promptly at the hour they dashed out toward the rebel lines, under a +fearful fire of musketry and a cross fire of artillery. The losses were +great, but we gained advantages here and there. The entire charge +consumed hardly more than an hour. Barlow, of Hancock's corps, drove +through a very strong line, and at five o'clock reported that he had +taken intrenchments with guns and colors, but he could not stay there. +An interior breastwork commanded the one he had carried, and his men had +to withdraw, leaving behind them the captured cannon, and bringing out a +single Confederate standard and two hundred and twenty prisoners as +tokens of their brief success. Wright and Smith succeeded in carrying +the first line of rifle-pits, but could get no farther to the front. All +our forces held ground close up to the enemy. At some points they were +intrenched within a hundred feet of the rebel breastworks. Burnside, on +the right, captured some rifle-pits. Later he was attacked by Early, who +was roughly handled and repulsed. Warren was active, and repulsed a +vigorous attack by Gordon. + +Thus by noon we had fully developed the Confederate lines, and Grant +could see what was necessary in order to get through them. Hancock +reported that in his front it could not be done. Wright was decidedly of +the opinion that a lodgment could be made in his front, but it would be +difficult to make much by it unless Hancock and Smith could also +advance. Smith thought he could carry the works before him, but was not +sanguine. Burnside also thought he could get through, but Warren, who +was nearest him, did not seem to share his opinion. In this state of +things, at half past one o'clock, General Grant ordered the attack to be +suspended. He had told Meade as early as seven in the morning to suspend +the movement if it became evident that success was impossible. + +This was the battle of Cold Harbor, which has been exaggerated into one +of the bloodiest disasters of history, a reckless, useless waste of +human life. It was nothing of the kind. The outlook warranted the +effort. The breaking of Lee's lines meant his destruction and the +collapse of the rebellion. Sheridan took the same chances at Five Forks +ten months later, and won; so did Wright, Humphreys, Gibbon, and others +at Petersburg. They broke through far stronger lines than those at Cold +Harbor, and Lee fled in the night toward Appomattox. So it would have +been at Cold Harbor if Grant had won, and who would have thought of the +losses? + +While we lay at Cold Harbor, as when we had been at Spottsylvania, the +principal topic of conversation was the losses of the army. The +discussion has never ceased. There are still many persons who bitterly +accuse Grant of butchery in this campaign. As a matter of fact, Grant +lost fewer men in his successful effort to take Richmond and end the war +than his predecessors lost in making the same attempt and failing. An +official table, showing the aggregate of the losses sustained by the +armies of McDowell, McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Meade, Butler, +and Ord, in the effort to capture the Confederate capital, is appended: + + _Comparative Statement of the Losses sustained in Action by the Army + of Northeastern Virginia, the Army of the Potomac, and the Army of + Virginia, under Command of Generals McDowell, McClellan, Pope, + Burnside, Hooker, and Meade, from May 24, 1861, to May 4, 1864, and + the Army of the Potomac (Meade) and the Army of the James (Butler + and Ord), constituting the Armies operating against Richmond under + General Grant, from May 5, 1864, to April 9, 1865_: + + ----------------------------+-------+--------+--------+---------- + | | |Captured|. + |Killed.|Wounded.| or |Aggregate. + | | |missing.| + ----------------------------+-------+--------+------- +---------- + Losses from May 24, 1861, | | | | + to May 4, 1864: | | | | + | | | | + McDowell, May 24 | | | | + to August 19, 1861 | 493| 1,176| 1,342| 3,011 + | | | | + McClellan, August 20, 1861, | | | | + to April 4, 1862 | 80| 268| 815| 1,163 + | | | | + McClellan, April 5 | | | | + to August 8, 1862 | 3,263| 13,868| 7,317| 24,448 + | | | | + Pope, June 26 | | | | + to September 2, 1862 | 2,065| 9,908| 4,982| 16,955 + | | | | + McClellan, September 3 | | | | + to November 14, 1862 | 2,716| 11,979| 13,882| 28,577 + | | | | + Burnside, November 15, 1862,| | | | + to January 25, 1863 | 1,296| 9,642| 2,276| 13,214 + | | | | + Hooker, January 26 | | | | + to June 27 | 1,955| 11,160| 11,912| 25,027 + | | | | + Meade, June 28, 1863, | | | | + to May 4 1864 | 3,877| 18,078| 9,575| 31,530 + +-------+--------+--------+---------- + Total | 15,745| 76,079| 52,101| 143,925 + | | | | + | | | | + Grant's losses from May 5, | | | | + 1864, to April 9, 1865: | | | | + | | | | + | | | | + May 5 to June 24, | | | | + 1864--Army of the | | | | + Potomac, from the | | | | + Rapidan to the James | 7,621| 38,339| 8,966| 54,926 + | | | | + May 5 to June 14--Army of | | | | + the James, south of | | | | + James River | 634| 3,903| 1,678| 6,215 + | | | | + June 15 to July 31--Army | | | | + of the Potomac and Army | | | | + of the James | 2,928| 13,743| 6,265| 22,936 + | | | | + August 1 to December | | | | + 31--Army of the Potomac | | | | + and Army of the James | 2,172| 11,138| 11,311| 24,621 + | | | | + | | | | + January 1 to April 9, | | | | + 1865--Army of the | | | | + Potomac and Army of | | | | + the James and | | | | + Sheridan's cavalry | 1,784| 10,625| 3,283| 15,692 + +-------+--------+--------+---------- + Total | 15,139| 77,748 | 31,503| 124,390 + | | | | + SUMMARY: | | | | + Armies of McDowell, | | | | + McClellan, Pope, Burnside,| | | | + Hooker, and Meade | 15,745| 76,079| 52,101| 143,925 + Armies under Grant | 15,139| 77,748| 31,503| 124,390 + +-------+--------+--------+---------- + Grand aggregate | 30,884| 153,827| 83,604| 268,315 + | | | | + Aggregate of losses from | | | | + May 24, 1861, to May 4, | | | | + 1864 | | | | 143,925 + Aggregate of losses from | | | | + May 4, 1864, to April 9, | | | | + 1865 | | | | 124,390 + | | | +---------- + Difference in Grant's favor | | | | 19,535 + ----------------------------+-------+--------+--------+---------- + +This table shows exactly what Richmond cost us from May 24, 1861, when +McDowell crossed the Potomac into Virginia, to Lee's surrender at +Appomattox; and it proves that Grant in eleven months secured the prize +with less loss than his predecessors suffered in failing to win it +during a struggle of three years. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE MARCH ON PETERSBURG. + + In camp at Cold Harbor--Grant's opinion of Lee--Trouble with + newspaper correspondents--Moving south of the James River--The great + pontoon bridge--The fighting of the colored troops--Failure to take + Petersburg at first attack--Lee loses Grant and Beauregard finds + him--Beauregard's service to the Confederacy. + + +The affair of June 3d at Cold Harbor showed that Lee was not to be +driven from his position without a great sacrifice of life. A left flank +movement south of the James River was accordingly decided upon by Grant. +This was no new idea; that eventuality had been part of the original +plan of campaign, and preparations for bridging the James had been +ordered as early as the 15th of April, three weeks before the battle of +the Wilderness. One object of the movement across the James was to cut +off Richmond's line of supplies from the south. But before this could be +done another matter had to be attended to. + +In General Grant's plan of campaign the effectual destruction of the +Virginia Central Railroad was an indispensable feature. In moving from +Culpeper he had expected that before reaching the Chickahominy he would +have a chance to crush Lee's army by fighting. This would have allowed +him an undisturbed opportunity to destroy that road, as well as the +Fredericksburg road from the Chickahominy to the North Anna. The +expectation had been disappointed by Lee's success in avoiding a +decisive battle. Before moving farther in accomplishing the great object +of the campaign, these roads must be so thoroughly destroyed that when +Richmond was cut off from other lines of communication with the south +the attempt to repair and use the line through Gordonsville and +Lynchburg would be hopeless. The work was first to be attempted by +Sheridan with cavalry. If he was not able to complete it, the whole army +was to be swung around for the purpose, even should it be necessary to +abandon temporarily our communications with White House. + +This necessity, as well as that of making thorough preparations for the +difficult march south of the James and for the perfect co-operation of +Butler at Bermuda Hundred, detained Grant at Cold Harbor until June +12th. Two officers of his staff, Colonel Comstock and Colonel Porter, +had been sent to General Butler to arrange for co-operation in the +movement of the army to Bermuda Hundred, and to look over the ground to +be traversed and the means of crossing the river. Grant would not order +the movement until they returned. They did not get back until the 12th. + +During this time the opposing lines of Grant and Lee were very close +together, and on our side the troops made regular siege approaches to +the Confederate works. The days passed quietly, with no fighting except +an occasional rattle of musketry and now and then a cannon shot. There +was occasionally a scare on the line. On the evening of June 5th +Wright's and Hancock's line responded to a stiff assault; the firing +lasted for twenty minutes, and it was very loud, but it was all about +nothing and no harm was done. The enemy were so near that in the dark +our men thought they were coming out to attack. On June 6th there was an +onslaught on Burnside just after midnight, which was successfully +repulsed, and in the afternoon a rush was made by a party of a hundred +picked men of the enemy, who came to find out what was the meaning of +Hancock's advancing siege lines. As a rule, everything was quiet except +the picket firing, which could not be prevented when the men were so +close together. The picket firing ceased only during the occasional +truces to bury the dead. + +The operations around Cold Harbor, the close proximity of the two lines, +the unceasing firing, with no hour in the day or night when one could +not hear the sound of musketry and cannon, were precisely like the +conditions at Spottsylvania and those on the North Anna. It was a +constant feeling for the weak spot in Lee's armor. There was far less +maneuvering at Cold Harbor after the first efforts than during the long +struggle at Spottsylvania. We were merely waiting for the proper moment +to withdraw toward the James. Grant, Meade, and all the leading officers +were certain of ultimate success; although the fighting had been more +severe and continuous than anything in the previous history of the army, +I must say a cheerful, confident tone generally prevailed. All acted as +if they were at a job which required only time to finish. + +Grant was disappointed, and talked to me a good deal about the failure +to get at Lee in an open battle which would wind up the Confederacy. The +general was constantly revolving plans to turn Lee out of his +intrenchments. The old-time fear of Lee's superior ability that was rife +among the officers of the Army of the Potomac had entirely disappeared. +They had begun to look upon him as an ordinary mortal, making a fairly +good effort to ward off fate, and nothing more. I think Grant respected +Lee's military ability and character, yet the boldness with which he +maneuvered in Lee's presence is proof that he was not overawed by Lee's +prestige as a strategist and tactician. He thought Lee's great forte was +as a defensive fighter, a quality displayed at Antietam and +Fredericksburg; but held no high opinion of his Chancellorsville +operations, where he had recklessly laid himself open to ruin. To me the +views of the military men at the different headquarters were interesting +and instructive. + +While we were encamped at Cold Harbor, General Meade was very much +disturbed by a letter published in a Cincinnati paper, saying that after +the battle of the Wilderness he counselled retreat--a course which would +have destroyed the nation, but which Grant prohibited. This was entirely +untrue. Meade had not shown any weakness since moving from Culpeper, nor +once intimated doubt as to the successful issue of the campaign. Nor had +he intimated that any other plan or line would be more likely to win. +The newspaper correspondent who was responsible for the misstatement was +with us, and Meade ordered that, as a punishment, he should be paraded +through the lines and afterward expelled from the army. This was done +on June 8th, the correspondent being led through the army on horseback +by the provost-marshal guard. On his back and breast were tacked +placards inscribed, "Libeller of the Press." + +It was not often, considering the conditions, that correspondents got +into trouble in the army. As a rule, they were discreet. Besides this +case of Meade, I remember now only one other in which I was actively +interested; that was a few months later, after I had returned to the +department. Mr. Stanton had been annoyed by a telegram which had been +published about Sherman's movements, and he ordered me to send it to the +general, so that we might know how much truth there was in it. I wired +him as follows: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, _November 9, 1864_. + + Major-General SHERMAN, Kingston, Ga.: + + Following, copied from evening papers, is sent for your + information: + + CINCINNATI, _November 9, 1864_. + + "Yesterday's Indianapolis Journal says: 'Officers from Chattanooga + report that Sherman returned to Atlanta early last week with five + corps of his army, leaving two corps in Tennessee to watch Hood. He + destroyed the railroad from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and is sending + the iron into the former place. Atlanta was burned, and Sherman is + now marching for Charleston, S.C.'" + + +Sherman sent back two characteristic dispatches. The first ran: + + + KINGSTON, GA., _November 10, 1864_. + + Hon. C. A. DANA: + + Dispatch of 9th read. Can't you send to Indianapolis and catch + that fool and have him sent to me to work on the forts? All well. + + W. T. SHERMAN, _Major General_. + + +The second: + + + KINGSTON, GA., _November 10, 1864_. + + Hon. C. A. DANA, Assistant Secretary of War: + + If indiscreet newspaper men publish information too near the truth, + counteract its effect by publishing other paragraphs calculated to + mislead the enemy, such as "Sherman's army has been re-enforced, + especially in the cavalry, and he will soon move several columns in + circuit, so as to catch Hood's army"; "Sherman's destination is not + Charleston, but Selma, where he will meet an army from the Gulf," + etc. + + W. T. SHERMAN, _Major General_. + + +So I telegraphed to Indianapolis to General A. P. Hovey, who was +stationed there: + + + WAR DEPARTMENT, _November 10, 1864_. + + Major-General A. P. HOVEY, Indianapolis: + + In compliance with the request of Major-General Sherman, the + Secretary of War directs that you ascertain what persons furnished + the information respecting Sherman's alleged movement published in + the Indianapolis Journal of the 8th inst. You will arrest them and + send them under guard to such point in the Department of the + Cumberland as Major-General Thomas may prefer, where they will be + employed in hard labor upon the fortifications until General + Sherman shall otherwise order. + + +General Hovey never found the man, however. + +By the morning of the 12th of June Grant was ready for his last flank +movement of the campaign. Our army at that time, including Sheridan's +cavalry, consisted of approximately one hundred and fifteen thousand +fighting men. The plan for moving this great body was as follows: The +Eighteenth Corps was to move to White House without baggage or +artillery, and there embark for City Point. The Fifth Corps was to cross +the Chickahominy at Long Bridge, and take a position to secure the +passage of the remainder of the army, after which it was to cover the +rear. The Second, Sixth, and Ninth Corps were to cross in two columns at +Long Bridge and Jones's Bridge. At first it had been hoped, if not +opposed by the enemy in force, to strike James River immediately +opposite Bermuda Hundred; if resisted, then lower down, where General +Butler had been ordered to throw a bridge across and to corduroy the +approaches. + +The Fifth Corps having prepared the way, the whole army left the lines +about Cold Harbor on schedule time, just as soon after nightfall on the +12th as its movements could be concealed from the observation of the +enemy. It was in drawing orders for such complicated movements as these, +along different roads and by different crossings, that the ability of +General Humphreys, the chief of staff, was displayed. Everything went +perfectly from the start. That evening at seven o'clock, when I reached +Moody's, four miles from Long Bridge, the Fifth Corps (Warren's) was +moving rapidly past us. Our cavalry advance, under General Wilson, who +had also been transferred to the East, had previously taken Long Bridge +and laid a pontoon bridge in readiness for the crossing, so that by nine +o'clock that evening the Fifth Corps was south of the Chickahominy, well +out toward the approaches from Richmond, and covering them. All day, +the 13th, the army was hurrying toward the James. By night the Sixth +Corps had reached the river, and the rest of the troops were on the +march between there and the Chickahominy, which was our rear. + +When I reached the James early the next day, the 14th, large numbers of +men were hard at work on the pontoon bridge and its approaches, by which +it was intended that the artillery and trains should cross. It was a +pretty heavy job to corduroy the marsh, which was fully half a mile wide +and quite deep. The bridge itself was unprecedented in military annals, +except, perhaps, by that of Xerxes, being nearly seven hundred yards +long. + +All day on the 14th everything went like a miracle. The pontoon bridge +was finished at two o'clock the next morning, and the cavalry of +Wilson's leading brigade, followed by the artillery trains, instantly +began crossing. By ten o'clock on the 15th Hancock's corps had been +ferried over, and he was off toward Petersburg to support Smith, who had +taken the Eighteenth Corps around by water from the White House, and had +been ordered to attack Petersburg that morning. All the news we had that +night at City Point, where headquarters had been set up, was that Smith +had assaulted and carried the principal line of the enemy before +Petersburg. + +The next morning early I was off for the heights southeast of the town. +Smith's success appeared to be of the most important kind. He had +carried heights which were defended by very formidable works. He +thought--and, indeed, we all thought for the moment--that his success +gave us perfect command of the city and railroad. I went over the +conquered lines with General Grant and the engineer officers, and they +all agreed that the works were of the very strongest kind, more +difficult even to take than Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga. + +General Smith told us that the negro troops fought magnificently, the +hardest fighting being done by them. The forts they stormed were, I +think, the worst of all. After the affair was over, General Smith went +to thank them, and tell them he was proud of their courage and dash. He +said they had no superiors as soldiers, and that hereafter he should +send them into a difficult place as readily as the best white troops. +They captured six out of the sixteen cannons which he took. + +It soon appeared, however, that Smith was far from having captured +points which commanded Petersburg. His success had but little effect in +determining the final result. He had stopped his advance a few minutes +and a considerable space too soon, because, as he subsequently alleged, +it was too dark and his men were too much fatigued for further +operations; and he feared Lee had already re-enforced the town. This +turned out not to be so; Lee did not know until the 17th that Grant had +crossed the James. And up to that date Lee's position was a mystery to +us; we could hardly suppose he had remained at Cold Harbor. + +When Grant discovered exactly how much had been gained and lost, he was +very much dissatisfied. There was a controversy between Hancock and +Smith subsequently about the responsibility for this failure. + +On June 16th, the day after Smith's attack, more of the troops arrived +before Petersburg. General Meade also arrived on the ground, and the job +of capturing Petersburg was now taken up in earnest by the whole Army of +the Potomac. It was no longer a mere matter of advancing eighty or one +hundred rods, as on the night previous, for meanwhile the enemy had been +largely and rapidly re-enforced. Much time and many thousands of +valuable lives were to be expended in getting possession of this vital +point, which had really been in our grasp on the evening of the 15th. +That afternoon there began a series of assaults on the works of the +enemy. The fighting lasted all night, the moonlight being very clear. +Our loss was heavy. + +The next day, the 17th, another attack was made at Petersburg. It was +persistent, but Meade found that his men were so worn out with marching, +fighting, and digging that they must have rest, and so laid off until +noon of the 18th, when, all of the army being up, a general assault was +ordered. Nothing important was gained, and General Grant directed that +no more assaults should be made. He said that after this he should +maneuver to get possession of Petersburg. + +I saw nothing of the fighting of June 16th and 17th, being ill in camp, +but the members of Grant's staff told me that our operations were +unsatisfactory, owing to our previous heavy loss in superior officers. +The men fought as well as ever, Colonel Comstock told me, but they were +not directed with the same skill and enthusiasm. + +While these operations were going on, I made two or three trips to the +river to watch the crossing of the troops. It was an animated and +inspiring sight, for the great mass of men, animals, and baggage was +handled with the greatest intelligence. By the 17th our entire army was +south of the James, and the bridge over the river by which the trains +had crossed was taken up. + +During all this period, from Cold Harbor to Petersburg, we knew nothing +of Lee. In making the disposition for this great and successful +movement--a far more brilliant evolution than McClellan's "change of +base" two years before over almost the same roads--the purpose was, of +course, to deceive Lee as to the ultimate direction of the army. The +design succeeded far beyond Grant's most sanguine hopes. As soon, on the +morning of the 13th, as the Confederate chieftain discovered our +withdrawal, he moved his army across the Chickahominy in hot haste, +flinging it between his capital and the foe, supposed to be advancing on +a new line between the James and the Chickahominy. He held and fortified +a line from White Oak swamp to Malvern Hill, and here he remained stock +still for four days, wondering what had become of Grant. + +Lee had been completely deceived, and could not be made to believe by +Beauregard, on the 15th, 16th, and 17th, that Grant's whole army had +turned up before Petersburg. His troops, as we know now, did not cross +the James, to go to the relief of Beauregard until the 17th. He was +caught napping, and, but for mistakes by subordinates in carrying out +Grant's plans, Lee's cause would have been lost. In the operations from +the night of the 12th, when Grant changed his line and base with an army +of one hundred and fifteen thousand men, and all its vast trains of +artillery, crossing a wide and deep river on a temporary bridge, until +June 18th, when at last Lee awoke to the situation, General Beauregard +shines out on the Confederate side far more brilliantly than the general +in chief. He unquestionably saved Petersburg, and for the time the +Confederacy; but for him Lee had at that time lost the game. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +EARLY'S RAID AND THE WASHINGTON PANIC. + + President Lincoln visits the lines at Petersburg--Trouble with + General Meade--Jubal Early menaces the Federal capital--The + excitement in Washington and Baltimore--Clerks and veteran reserves + called out to defend Washington--Grant sends troops from the + front--Plenty of generals, but no head--Early ends the panic by + withdrawing--A fine letter from Grant about Hunter. + + +Although Grant had decided against a further direct attack on the works +of Petersburg, he was by no means idle. He sent out expeditions to break +up the railroads leading into the town. He began extending his lines +around to the south and southwest, so as to make the investment as +complete as possible. Batteries were put in place, weak spots in the +fortifications were felt for, and regular siege works were begun. +Indeed, by July 1st the general opinion seemed to be that the only way +we should ever gain Petersburg would be by a systematic siege. + +A few days later we had an interesting visit from President Lincoln, who +arrived from Washington on June 21st, and at once wanted to visit the +lines before Petersburg. General Grant, Admiral Lee, myself, and several +others went with him. I remember that, as we passed along the lines, Mr. +Lincoln's high hat was brushed off by the branch of a tree. There were a +dozen young officers whose duty it was to get it and give it back to +the President; but Admiral Lee was off his horse before any of these +young chaps, and recovered the hat for the President. Admiral Lee must +have been forty-five or fifty years old. It was his agility that +impressed me so much. + +As we came back we passed through the division of colored troops which +had so greatly distinguished itself under Smith on the 15th. They were +drawn up in double lines on each side of the road, and they welcomed the +President with hearty shouts. It was a memorable thing to behold him +whose fortune it was to represent the principle of emancipation passing +bareheaded through the enthusiastic ranks of those negroes armed to +defend the integrity of the nation. + +I went back to Washington with the presidential party, but remained only +a few days, as Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton were anxious for my daily +reports of the operations around Petersburg. On the return, I arrived at +City Point on July 1st. The army occupied about the same positions as +when I had left it a week before. Two corps were engaged in siege work, +their effort being to get possession of a ridge before them, supposed to +command Petersburg; if they succeeded in this, Grant thought that the +enemy would have to abandon the south side of the Appomattox, and, of +course, the town. On the left our line extended southward and westward +across what was known as the Jerusalem road, but at so great a distance +from the Confederate fortifications as to have no immediate effect upon +them. Farther around to the west, toward the Appomattox above +Petersburg, the enemy's works extended, and the idea of enveloping them +for the whole distance had been given up. The efforts to break up the +railroads leading from Petersburg had been very successful, Grant told +me. There were plans for assault suggested, but Grant had not considered +any of them seriously. + +Before the army had recovered from its long march from Cold Harbor and +the failure to capture the town, there was an unusual amount of +controversy going on among the officers. Smith was berated generally for +failing to complete his attack of June 15th. Butler and "Baldy" Smith +were deep in a controversial correspondence; and Meade and Warren were +so at loggerheads that Meade notified Warren that he must either ask to +be relieved as corps commander or he (Meade) would prefer charges +against him. It seemed as if Meade grew more unpopular every day. +Finally the difficulties between him and his subordinates became so +serious that a change in the commander of the Army of the Potomac seemed +probable. Grant had great confidence in Meade, and was much attached to +him personally; but the almost universal dislike of Meade which +prevailed among officers of every rank who came in contact with him, and +the difficulty of doing business with him, felt by every one except +Grant himself, so greatly impaired his capacities for usefulness and +rendered success under his command so doubtful that Grant seemed to be +coming to the conviction that he must be relieved. + +I had long known Meade to be a man of the worst possible temper, +especially toward his subordinates. I think he had not a friend in the +whole army. No man, no matter what his business or his service, +approached him without being insulted in one way or another, and his own +staff officers did not dare to speak to him unless first spoken to, for +fear of either sneers or curses. The latter, however, I had never heard +him indulge in very violently, but he was said to apply them often +without occasion and without reason. At the same time, as far as I was +able to ascertain, his generals had lost their confidence in him as a +commander. His orders for the last series of assaults upon Petersburg, +in which we lost ten thousand men without gaining any decisive +advantage, were greatly criticised. They were, in effect, that he had +found it impracticable to secure the co-operation of corps commanders, +and that, therefore, each one was to attack on his own account and do +the best he could by himself. The consequence was that each gained some +advantage of position, but each exhausted his own strength in so doing; +while, for the want of a general purpose and a general commander to +direct and concentrate the whole, it all amounted to nothing but heavy +loss to ourselves. General Wright remarked confidentially to a friend +that all of Meade's attacks had been made without brains and without +generalship. + +The first week of July the subject came to pretty full discussion at +Grant's headquarters on account of an extraordinary correspondence +between Meade and Wilson. The Richmond Examiner had charged Wilson's +command with stealing not only negroes and horses, but silver plate and +clothing on a raid he had just made against the Danville and Southside +Railroad, and Meade, taking up the statement of the Examiner for truth, +read Wilson a lecture, and called on him for explanations. Wilson denied +the charge of robbing women and churches, and said he hoped Meade would +not be ready to condemn his command because its operations had excited +the ire of the public enemy. Meade replied that Wilson's explanation was +satisfactory; but this correspondence started a conversation in which +Grant expressed himself quite frankly as to the general trouble with +Meade, and his fear that it would become necessary to relieve him. In +that event, he said, it would be necessary to put Hancock in command. + +In the first days of July we began to get inquiries at City Point from +Washington concerning the whereabouts of the Confederate generals Early +and Ewell. It was reported in the capital, our dispatches said, that +they were moving down the Shenandoah Valley. We seemed to have pretty +good evidence that Early was with Lee, defending Petersburg, and so I +wired the Secretary on July 3d. The next day we felt less positive. A +deserter came in on the morning of the 4th, and said that it was +reported in the enemy's camp that Ewell had gone into Maryland with his +entire corps. Another twenty-four hours, and Meade told me that he was +at last convinced that Early and his troops had gone down the valley. In +fact, Early had been gone three weeks. He left Lee's army near Cold +Harbor on the morning of the 13th of June, when we were on the march to +the James. Hunter's defeat of Jones near Staunton had forced Lee to +divide his army in order to stop Hunter's dangerous advance on +Lynchburg. + +On the 6th General Grant was convinced that Washington was the +objective. The raid threatened was sufficiently serious to compel the +sending of troops to the defense of the capital, and a body of men +immediately embarked. Three days later I started myself to Washington, +in order to keep Grant informed of what was going on. When I arrived, I +found both Washington and Baltimore in a state of great excitement; both +cities were filled with people who had fled from the enemy. The damage +to private property done by the invaders was said to be almost beyond +calculation. Mills, workshops, and factories of every sort were reported +as destroyed, and from twenty-five to fifty miles of the Baltimore and +Ohio Railroad torn up. + +During my first day in town, July 11th, all sorts of rumors came in. +General Lew Wallace, then in command at Baltimore, sent word that a +large force of the enemy had been seen that morning near that city. The +Confederate generals were said to have dined together at Rockville a day +or two before. The houses of Governor Bradford, Francis P. Blair, +senior, and his son, Montgomery, the Postmaster General, were reported +burned. We could see from Washington clouds of dust in several quarters +around the city, which we believed to be raised by bodies of hostile +cavalry. There was some sharp skirmishing that day, too, on the +Tennallytown road, as well as later in front of Fort Stevens, and at +night the telegraph operators at the latter place reported a +considerable number of camp fires visible in front of them. + +I found that the Washington authorities had utilized every man in town +for defense. Some fifteen hundred employees of the quartermaster's +department had been armed and sent out; the veteran reserves about +Washington and Alexandria had likewise been sent to the front. General +Augur, commanding the defenses of Washington, had also drawn from the +fortifications on the south side of the town all the men that in his +judgment could possibly be spared. To this improvised force were added +that day some six boatloads of troops which General Grant had sent from +the Army of the Potomac. These troops went at once to Fort Stevens. + +With the troops coming from Grant, there was force enough to save the +capital; but I soon saw that nothing could possibly be done toward +pursuing or cutting off the enemy for want of a commander. General +Hunter and his forces had not yet returned from their swing around the +circle. General Augur commanded the defenses of Washington, with A. McD. +McCook and a lot of brigadier generals under him, but he was not allowed +to go outside. Wright commanded only his own corps. General Gilmore had +been assigned to the temporary command of those troops of the Nineteenth +Corps just arrived from New Orleans, and all other troops in the Middle +Department, leaving Wallace to command Baltimore alone. But there was no +head to the whole. General Halleck would not give orders, except as he +received them from Grant; the President would give none; and, until +Grant directed positively and explicitly what was to be done, everything +was practically at a standstill. Things, I saw, would go on in the +deplorable and fatal way in which they had been going for a week. Of +course, this want of a head was causing a great deal of sharp comment on +all sides. Postmaster-General Blair was particularly incensed, and, +indeed, with real cause, for he had lost his house at Silver Springs. +Some of his remarks reached General Halleck, who immediately wrote to +Mr. Stanton the following letter: + + + HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON, _July 13, 1864_. + + Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War. + + SIR: I deem it my duty to bring to your notice the following facts: + I am informed by an officer of rank and standing in the military + service that the Hon. M. Blair, Postmaster General, in speaking of + the burning of his house in Maryland this morning, said, in effect, + that the officers in command about Washington are poltroons; that + there were not more that five hundred rebels on the Silver Springs + road, and we had one million of men in arms; that it was a + disgrace; that General Wallace was in comparison with them far + better, as he would at least fight. As there have been for the last + few days a large number of officers on duty in and about Washington + who have devoted their time and energies, night and day, and have + periled their lives in the support of the Government, it is due to + them, as well as to the War Department, that it should be known + whether such wholesale denouncement and accusation by a member of + the Cabinet receives the sanction and approbation of the President + of the United States. If so, the names of the officers accused + should be stricken from the rolls of the army; if not, it is due + to the honor of the accused that the slanderer should be dismissed + from the Cabinet. + + Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + H. W. HALLECK, + _Major General and Chief of Staff_. + + +The very day on which Halleck wrote this letter we had evidence that the +enemy had taken fright at the arrival in Washington of the troops sent +by Grant, and were moving off toward Edwards Ferry. It was pretty +certain that they were carrying off a large amount of cattle and other +plunder with them. By the end of another day there seemed no doubt that +Early had got the main body of his command across the river with his +captures. What they were, it was impossible to say precisely. One herd +of cattle was reported as containing two thousand head, and the number +of horses and mules taken from Maryland was reported as about five +thousand. This, however, was probably somewhat exaggerated. + +The veterans, of course, at once moved out to attempt to overtake the +enemy. The irregulars were withdrawn from the fortifications, General +Meigs marching his division of quartermaster's clerks and employees back +to their desks; and Admiral Goldsborough, who had marshalled the marines +and sailors, returned to smoke his pipe on his own doorstep. + +The pursuit of Early proved, on the whole, an egregious blunder, +relieved only by a small success at Winchester in which four guns and +some prisoners were captured. Wright accomplished nothing, and drew +back as soon as he got where he might have done something worth while. +As it was, Early escaped with the whole of his plunder. + +One of the best letters Grant sent me during the war was at the time of +this Early raid on Washington. When the alarms of invasion first came, +Grant ordered Major-General David Hunter, then stationed at Parkersburg, +W. Va., to take the direction of operations against the enemy's forces +in the valley. Hunter did not come up to Mr. Stanton's expectations in +this crisis, and when I reached Washington the Secretary told me to +telegraph Grant that, in his opinion, Hunter ought to be removed. Three +days later I repeated in my dispatch to Grant certain rumors about +Hunter that had reached the War Department. The substance of them was +that Hunter had been engaged in an active campaign against the +newspapers in West Virginia, and that he had horsewhipped a soldier with +his own hand. I received an immediate reply: + + + CITY POINT, VA., _July 15, 1864_--8 P.M. + + C. A. DANA, Assistant Secretary of War: + + I am sorry to see such a disposition to condemn so brave an old + soldier as General Hunter is known to be without a hearing. He is + known to have advanced into the enemy's country toward their main + army, inflicting a much greater damage upon them than they have + inflicted upon us with double his force, and moving directly away + from our main army. Hunter acted, too, in a country where we had no + friends, while the enemy have only operated in territory where, to + say the least, many of the inhabitants are their friends. If + General Hunter has made war upon the newspapers in West Virginia, + probably he has done right. In horsewhipping a soldier he has laid + himself subject to trial, but nine chances out of ten he only acted + on the spur of the moment, under great provocation. I fail to see + yet that General Hunter has not acted with great promptness and + great success. Even the enemy give him great credit for courage, + and congratulate themselves that he will give them a chance of + getting even with him. + + U. S. GRANT, _Lieutenant General_. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE SECRET SERVICE OF THE WAR. + + Mr. Stanton's agents and spies--Regular subterranean traffic between + Washington and Richmond--A man who spied for both sides--The arrest + of the Baltimore merchants--Stanton's remarkable speech on the + meaning of disloyalty--Intercepting Jefferson Davis's letters to + Canada--Detecting the plot to burn New York, and the plan to invade + Vermont--Story of the cleverest and pluckiest of spies and his + remarkable adventures. + + +After Early's invaders had retired and quiet was restored, I went to Mr. +Stanton for new orders. As there was no probability of an immediate +change in the situation before Petersburg, the Secretary did not think +it necessary for me to go back to Grant, but preferred that I remain in +the department, helping with the routine work. + +Much of my time at this period was spent in investigating charges +against defaulting contractors and dishonest agents, and in ordering +arrests of persons suspected of disloyalty to the Government. I +assisted, too, in supervising the spies who were going back and forth +between the lines. Among these I remember one, a sort of peddler--whose +name I will call Morse--who traveled between Washington and Richmond. +When he went down it was in the character of a man who had entirely +hoodwinked the Washington authorities, and who, in spite of them, or by +some corruption or other, always brought with him into the Confederate +lines something that the people wanted--dresses for the ladies or some +little luxury that they couldn't get otherwise. The things that he took +with him were always supervised by our agents before he went away. When +he came back he brought us in exchange a lot of valuable information. He +was doubtless a spy on both sides; but as we got a great deal of +information, which could be had in no other way, about the strength of +the Confederate armies, and the preparations and the movements of the +enemy, we allowed the thing to go on. The man really did good service +for us that summer, and, as we were frequently able to verify by other +means the important information he brought, we had a great deal of +confidence in him. + +Early in October, 1864, he came back from Richmond, and, as usual, went +to Baltimore to get his outfit for the return trip. When he presented +himself again in Washington, the chief detective of the War Department, +Colonel Baker, examined his goods carefully, but this time he found that +Morse had many things that we could not allow him to take. Among his +stuff were uniforms and other military goods, and all this, of course, +was altogether too contraband to be passed. We had all his bills, +telling where he had bought these things in Baltimore. They amounted to +perhaps twenty-five thousand dollars, or more. So we confiscated the +contraband goods, and put Morse in prison. + +But the merchants in Baltimore were partners in his guilt, and Secretary +Stanton declared he would arrest every one of them and put them in +prison until the affair could be straightened up. He turned the matter +over to me then, as he was going to Fort Monroe for a few days. I +immediately sent Assistant-Adjutant-General Lawrence to Baltimore with +orders to see that all persons implicated were arrested. Lawrence +telegraphed me, on October 16th, that the case would involve the arrest +of two hundred citizens. I reported to the Secretary, but he was +determined to go ahead. The next morning ninety-seven of the leading +citizens of Baltimore were arrested, brought to Washington, and confined +in Old Capitol Prison, principally in solitary cells. There was great +satisfaction among the Union people of the town, but great indignation +among Southern sympathizers. Presently a deputation from Baltimore came +over to see President Lincoln. It was an outrage, they said; the +gentlemen arrested were most respectable merchants and faultless +citizens, and they demanded that they all be set instantly at liberty +and damages paid them. Mr. Lincoln sent the deputation over to the War +Department, and Mr. Stanton, who had returned by this time, sent for me. +"All Baltimore is coming here," he said. "Sit down and hear the +discussion." + +They came in, the bank presidents and boss merchants of Baltimore--there +must have been at least fifty million dollars represented in the +deputation--and sat down around the fire in the Secretary's office. +Presently they began to make their speeches, detailing the circumstances +and the wickedness of this outrage. There was no ground for it, they +said, no justification. After half a dozen of them had spoken, Mr. +Stanton asked one after another if he had anything more to say, and they +all said no. Then Stanton began, and delivered one of the most eloquent +speeches that I ever heard. He described the beginning of the war, for +which, he said, there was no justification; being beaten in an election +was no reason for destroying the Government. Then he went on to the fact +that half a million of our young men had been laid in untimely graves by +this conspiracy of the slave interest. He outlined the whole conspiracy +in the most solemn and impressive terms, and then he depicted the +offense that this man Morse, aided by these several merchants, had +committed. "Gentlemen," he said, "if you would like to examine the bills +of what he was taking to the enemy, here they are." + +When Stanton had finished, these gentlemen, without answering a word, +got up and one by one went away. That was the only speech I ever +listened to that cleared out the entire audience. + +Early in the winter of 1863-'64 a curious thing happened in the secret +service of the War Department. Some time in the February or March +before, a slender and prepossessing young fellow, between twenty-two and +twenty-six apparently, had applied at the War Department for employment +as a spy within the Confederate lines. + +The main body of the Army of Northern Virginia was then lying at +Gordonsville, and the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac were at +Culpeper Courthouse. General Grant had not yet come from the West to +take command of the momentous campaign which afterward opened with his +movement into the Wilderness on the 5th of May. + +The young man who sought this terrible service was well dressed and +intelligent, and professed to be animated by motives purely patriotic. +He was a clerk in one of the departments. All that he asked was that he +should have a horse and an order which would carry him safely through +the Federal lines, and, in return, he undertook to bring information +from General Lee's army and from the Government of the Confederacy in +Richmond. He understood perfectly the perilous nature of the enterprise +he proposed. + +Finding that the applicant bore a good character in the office where he +was employed, it was determined to accept his proposal. He was furnished +with a horse, an order that would pass him through the Union lines, and +also, I believe, with a moderate sum of money, and then he departed. Two +or three weeks later he reported at the War Department. He had been in +Gordonsville and Richmond, had obtained the confidence of the +Confederate authorities, and was the bearer of a letter from Mr. +Jefferson Davis to Mr. Clement C. Clay, the agent of the Confederate +Government in Canada, then known to be stationed at St. Catherine's, not +far from Niagara Falls. Mr. Clay had as his official associate Jacob +Thompson, of Mississippi, who had been Secretary of the Interior in the +Cabinet of President Buchanan, and, like Mr. Clay, had been serving the +Confederate Government ever since its organization. + +The letter from Mr. Davis the young man exhibited, but only the outside +of the envelope was examined. The address was in the handwriting of the +Confederate chief, and the statement of our young adventurer that it was +merely a letter of recommendation advising Messrs. Clay and Thompson +that they might repose confidence in the bearer, since he was ardently +devoted to the Confederate cause and anxious to serve the great purpose +that it had in view, appeared entirely probable; so the young man was +allowed to proceed to Niagara Falls and Canada. He made some general +report upon the condition of the rebel army at Gordonsville, but it was +of no particular value, except that in its more interesting features it +agreed with our information from other sources. + +Our spy was not long in returning from St. Catherine's with a dispatch +which was also allowed to pass unopened, upon his assurance that it +contained nothing of importance. In this way he went back and forward +from Richmond to St. Catherine's once or twice. We supplied him with +money to a limited extent, and also with one or two more horses. He said +that he got some money from the Confederates, but had not thought it +prudent to accept from them anything more than very small sums, since +his professed zeal for the Confederate cause forbade his receiving +anything for his traveling expenses beyond what was absolutely +necessary. + +During the summer of 1864 the activity of Grant's campaign, and the +fighting which prevailed all along the line, somewhat impeded our young +man's expeditions, but did not stop them. All his subsequent dispatches, +however, whether coming from Richmond or from Canada, were regularly +brought to the War Department, and were opened, and in every case a copy +of them was kept. As it was necessary to break the seals and destroy the +envelopes in opening them, there was some difficulty in sending them +forward in what should appear to be the original wrappers. Coming from +Canada, the paper employed was English, and there was a good deal of +trouble in procuring paper of the same appearance. I remember also that +one important dispatch, which was sealed with Mr. Clay's seal, had to be +delayed somewhat while we had an imitation seal engraved. But these +delays were easily accounted for at Richmond by the pretense that they +had been caused by accidents upon the road and by the necessity of +avoiding the Federal pickets. At any rate, the confidence of the +Confederates in our agent and in theirs never seemed to be shaken by any +of these occurrences. + +Finally our dispatch bearer reported one day at the War Department with +a document which, he said, was of extraordinary consequence. It was +found to contain an account of a scheme for setting fire to New York and +Chicago by means of clock-work machines that were to be placed in +several of the large hotels and places of amusement--particularly in +Barnum's Museum in New York--and to be set off simultaneously, so that +the fire department in each place would be unable to attend to the great +number of calls that would be made upon it on account of these +Confederate conflagrations in so many different quarters, and thus these +cities might be greatly damaged, or even destroyed. + +This dispatch was duly sealed up again and was taken to Richmond, and a +confidential officer was at once sent to New York to warn General Dix, +who was in command there, of the Confederate project. The general was +very unwilling to believe that any such design could be seriously +entertained, and Mr. John A. Kennedy, then superintendent of police, was +equally incredulous. But the Secretary of War was peremptory in his +orders, and when the day of the incendiary attempt arrived both the +military and the police made every preparation to prevent the threatened +catastrophe. The officer who went from Washington was lodged in the St. +Nicholas Hotel, one of the large establishments that were to be set on +fire, and while he was washing his hands in the evening, preparatory to +going to dinner, a fire began burning in the room next to his. It was +promptly put out, and was found to be caused by a clock-work apparatus +which had been left in that room by a lodger who had departed some hours +before. Other fires likewise occurred. In every instance these fires +were extinguished without much damage and without exciting any +considerable public attention, thanks to the precautions that had been +taken in consequence of the warning derived from Mr. Clay's dispatch to +Mr. Benjamin in Richmond. The plan of setting fire to Chicago proved +even more abortive; I do not remember that any report of actual burning +was received from there. + +Later in the fall, after the military operations had substantially +terminated for the season, a dispatch was brought from Canada, signed by +Mr. Clay, and addressed to Mr. Benjamin, as Secretary of State in the +Confederate Government, conveying the information that a new and really +formidable military expedition against northern Vermont--particularly +against Burlington, if I am not mistaken--had been organized and fitted +out in Canada, and would make its attack as soon as practicable. This +was after the well-known attempt upon St. Albans and Lake Champlain, on +October 19, 1864, and promised to be much more injurious. The dispatch +reached Washington one Sunday morning, and was brought to the War +Department as usual, but its importance in the eyes of the Confederate +agents had led to its being prepared for transportation with uncommon +care. It was placed between two thicknesses of the pair of re-enforced +cavalry trousers which the messenger wore, and sewed up so that when he +was mounted it was held between his thigh and the saddle. + +Having been carefully ripped out and opened, it was immediately carried +to Mr. Stanton, who was confined to his house by a cold. He read it. +"This is serious," he said. "Go over to the White House and ask the +President to come here." Mr. Lincoln was found dressing to go to church, +and he was soon driven to Mr. Stanton's house. After discussing the +subject in every aspect, and considering thoroughly the probability that +to keep the dispatch would put an end to communications by this channel, +they determined that it must be kept. The conclusive reason for this +step was that it established beyond question the fact that the +Confederates, while sheltering themselves behind the British Government +in Canada, had organized and fitted out a military expedition against +the United States. But while the dispatch afforded evidence that could +not be gainsaid, the mere possession of it was not sufficient. It must +be found in the possession of the Confederate dispatch bearer, and the +circumstances attending its capture must be established in such a manner +that the British Foreign Office would not be able to dispute the +genuineness of the document. "We must have this paper for Seward," said +Mr. Lincoln. "As for the young man, get him out of the scrape if you +can." + +Accordingly, the paper was taken back to the War Department and sewed up +again in the trousers whence it had been taken three hours before. The +bearer was instructed to start at dusk on the road which he usually took +in passing through the lines, to be at a certain tavern outside of +Alexandria at nine o'clock in the evening, and to stop there to water +his horse. Then information was sent through Major-General Augur, +commandant of Washington and the surrounding region, to Colonel Henry H. +Wells, then provost marshal general of the defenses south of the +Potomac, stationed at Alexandria, directing him to be at this tavern at +nine o'clock in the evening, and to arrest a Confederate dispatch +bearer, concerning whom authentic information had been received at the +War Department, and whose description was furnished for his (Wells's) +guidance. He was to do the messenger no injury, but to make sure of his +person and of all papers that he might have upon him, and to bring him +under a sufficient guard directly to the War Department. And General +Augur was directed to be present there, in order to assist in the +examination of the prisoner, and to verify any dispatches that might be +found. + +Just before midnight a carriage drove up to the door of the War +Department with a soldier on the box and two soldiers on the front seat +within, while the back seat was occupied by Colonel Wells and the +prisoner. Of course, no one but the two or three who had been in the +secret was aware that this gentleman had walked quietly out of the War +Department only a few hours previously, and that the paper which was the +cause of the entire ceremony had been sewed up in his clothes just +before his departure. Colonel Wells reported that, while the prisoner +had offered no resistance, he was very violent and outrageous in his +language, and that he boasted fiercely of his devotion to the +Confederacy and his detestation of the Union. During the examination +which now followed he said nothing except to answer a few questions, but +his bearing--patient, scornful, undaunted--was that of an incomparable +actor. If Mr. Clay and Mr. Benjamin had been present, they would have +been more than ever certain that he was one of their noblest young men. +His hat, boots, and other articles of his clothing were taken off one by +one. The hat and boots were first searched, and finally the dispatch was +found in his trousers and taken out. Its nature and the method of its +capture were stated in a memorandum which was drawn up on the spot and +signed by General Augur and Colonel Wells and one or two other officers +who were there for the purpose, and then the dispatch bearer himself was +sent off to the Old Capitol Prison. + +The dispatch, with the documents of verification, was handed over to Mr. +Seward for use in London, and a day or two afterward the warden of the +Old Capitol Prison was directed to give the dispatch bearer an +opportunity of escaping, with a proper show of attempted prevention. One +afternoon the spy walked into my office. "Ah!" said I, "you have run +away." + +"Yes, sir," he answered. + +"Did they shoot at you?" + +"They did, and didn't hit me; but I didn't think that would answer the +purpose. So I shot myself through the arm." + +He showed me the wound. It was through the fleshy part of the forearm, +and due care had been taken not to break any bones. A more deliberate +and less dangerous wound could not be, and yet it did not look trivial. + +He was ordered to get away to Canada as promptly as possible, so that he +might explain the loss of his dispatch before it should become known +there by any other means. An advertisement offering two thousand dollars +for his recapture was at once inserted in the New York Herald, the +Pittsburgh Journal, and the Chicago Tribune. No one ever appeared to +claim the reward, but in about a week the escaped prisoner returned from +Canada with new dispatches that had been entrusted to him. They +contained nothing of importance, however. The wound in his arm had borne +testimony in his favor, and the fact that he had hurried through to St. +Catherine's without having it dressed was thought to afford conclusive +evidence of his fidelity to the Confederate cause. + +The war was ended soon after this adventure, and, as his services had +been of very great value, a new place, with the assurance of lasting +employment, was found for the young man in one of the bureaus of the War +Department. He did not remain there very long, however, and I don't know +what became of him. He was one of the cleverest creatures I ever saw. +His style of patriotic lying was sublime; it amounted to genius. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A VISIT TO SHERIDAN IN THE VALLEY. + + Mr. Dana carries to Sheridan his major-general's commission--A ride + through the Army of the Shenandoah--The affection of Sheridan's + soldiers for the general--How he explained it--His ideas about + personal courage in battle--The War Department and the + railroads--How the department worked for Lincoln's + re-election--Election night of November, 1864--Lincoln reads aloud + passages from Petroleum V. Nasby while the returns from the States + come in. + + +It was just after the arrest of the Baltimore merchants, in October, +1864, that I visited Sheridan at his headquarters in the Shenandoah +Valley. He had finished the work of clearing out the valley by the +battle of Cedar Creek on October 19th, and the Government wanted to +recognize the victory by promoting him to the rank of major general in +the regular army. There were numerous volunteer officers who were also +officers in the regular army, and it was regarded as a considerable +distinction. The appointment was made, and then, as an additional +compliment to General Sheridan, instead of sending him the commission by +an ordinary officer from the department, Mr. Stanton decided that I +would better deliver it. I started on October 22d, going by special +train to Harper's Ferry, whither I telegraphed for an escort to be ready +for me. I was delayed so that I did not get started from Harper's Ferry +until about five o'clock on the morning of October 23d. It was a +distance of about fifty miles to Sheridan, and by riding all day I got +there about eleven o'clock at night. Sheridan had gone to bed, but in +time of war one never delays in carrying out orders, whatever their +nature. The general was awakened, and soon was out of his tent; and +there, by the flare of an army torch and in the presence of a few sleepy +aides-de-camp and of my own tired escort, I presented to Sheridan his +commission as major general in the regular army. + +Sheridan did not say much in reply to my little speech, nor could he +have been expected to under the circumstances, though he showed lively +satisfaction in the Government's appreciation of his services, and spoke +most heartily, I remember, of the manner in which the administration had +always supported him. + +The morning after this little ceremony, when we had finished our +breakfast, the general asked me if I would not like to ride through the +army with him. It was exactly what I did want to do, and we were soon on +horseback and off, accompanied by four of his officers. We rode through +the entire army that morning, dismounting now and then to give me an +opportunity to pay my respects to several officers whom I knew. I was +struck, in riding through the lines, by the universal demonstration of +personal affection for Sheridan. Everybody seemed personally to be +attached to him. He was like the most popular man after an election--the +whole force everywhere honored him. Finally I said to the general: "I +wish you would explain one thing to me. Here I find all these people of +every rank--generals, sergeants, corporals, and private soldiers; in +fact, everybody--manifesting a personal affection for you that I have +never seen in any other army, not even in the Army of the Tennessee for +Grant. I have never seen anything like it. Tell me what is the reason?" + +"Mr. Dana," said he, "I long ago made up my mind that it was not a good +plan to fight battles with paper orders--that is, for the commander to +stand on a hill in the rear and send his aides-de-camp with written +orders to the different commanders. My practice has always been to fight +in the front rank." + +"Well," said I, "General, that is dangerous; in the front rank a man is +much more liable to be killed than he is in the rear." + +"Well," said he, "I know that there is a certain risk in it; but, in my +judgment, the advantage is much greater than the risk, and I have come +to the conclusion that that is the right thing to do. That is the reason +the men like me. They know that when the hard pinch comes I am exposed +just as much as any of them." + +"But are you never afraid?" I asked. + +"If I was I should not be ashamed of it," he said. "If I should follow +my natural impulse, I should run away always at the beginning of the +danger; the men who say they are never afraid in a battle do not tell +the truth." + +I talked a great deal with Sheridan and his officers while at Cedar +Creek on the condition of the valley, and as to what should be done to +hold it. The active campaign seemed to be over in this region for that +year. The enemy were so decidedly beaten and scattered, and driven so +far to the south, that they could scarcely be expected to collect their +forces for another attempt during the season. Besides, the devastation +of the valley, extending as it did for a distance of about one hundred +miles, rendered it almost impossible that either the Confederates or our +own forces should make a new campaign in that territory. It looked to me +as if, when Sheridan had completed the same process down the valley to +the vicinity of the Potomac, and when the stores of forage which were +yet to be found were all destroyed or removed, the difficulty of any new +offensive operations on either side would be greatly increased. + +The key to the Shenandoah Valley was, in Sheridan's judgment, the line +of the Opequan Creek, which was rather a deep cañon than an ordinary +watercourse. Sheridan's idea I understood to be to fall back to the +proper defensive point upon that creek, and there to construct +fortifications which would effectually cover the approach to the +Potomac. + +I left Sheridan at Cedar Creek, and went back to Washington by way of +Manassas Gap. + +All through the fall of 1864 and the following winter I remained in +Washington, very much occupied with the regular routine business of the +department and various matters of incidental interest. Some of these +incidents I shall group together here, without strict regard to +sequence. + +An important part of the work of the department was in relation to the +railroads and to railroad transportation. Sometimes it was a whole army +corps to be moved. At another time the demand would be equally sudden +and urgent, if less vital to the Union cause. I remember particularly +the great turkey movement in November of that year. The presidential +election was hardly over before the people of the North began to prepare +Thanksgiving boxes for the army. George Bliss, Jr., of New York, +telegraphed me, on November 16th, that they had twenty thousand turkeys +ready in that city to send to the front; and the next day, fearing, I +suppose, that that wasn't enough, he wired: "It would be a very great +convenience in our turkey business if I could know definitely the +approximate number of men in each of armies of Potomac, James, and +Shenandoah, respectively." + +From Philadelphia I received a message asking for transportation to +Sheridan's army for "boxes containing four thousand turkeys, and Heaven +knows what else, as a Thanksgiving dinner for the brave fellows." And so +it was from all over the country. The North not only poured out food and +clothing generously for our own men, but, when Savannah was entered by +Sherman, great quantities of provisions were sent there for gratuitous +distribution, and when Charleston fell every effort was made to relieve +destitution. + +A couple of months later, in January, 1865, a piece of work not so +different from the "turkey business," but on a rather larger scale, fell +to me. This was the transfer of the Twenty-third Army Corps, commanded +by Major-General John M. Schofield, from its position on the Tennessee +River to Chesapeake Bay. There being no prospect of a winter campaign +under Thomas, Grant had ordered the corps transferred as quickly as +possible, and Mr. Stanton turned over the direction to me. On January +10th I telegraphed to Grant at City Point the plan to be followed. This, +briefly, was to send Colonel Lewis B. Parsons, chief of railroad and +river transportation, to the West to take charge of the corps. I +proposed to move the whole body by boats to Parkersburg if navigation +allowed, and thence by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Annapolis, for +I remembered well with what promptness and success Hooker's forces, the +Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, were moved into Tennessee in 1863 by that +road. A capital advantage of that line was that it avoided all large +towns--and the temptations of large towns were bad for the soldiers in +transit. If the Ohio River should be frozen, I proposed to move the +corps by rail from Cairo, Evansville, and Jeffersonville to Parkersburg +or Bellaire, according to circumstances. + +Commanders in the vicinity of the corps were advised of the change, and +ordered to prepare steamboats and transports. Loyal officers of +railroads were requested to meet Colonel Parsons at given points to +arrange for the concentration of rolling stock in case the river could +not be used. Liquor shops were ordered closed along the route, and +arrangements were made for the comfort of the troops by supplying to +them, as often as once in every hundred miles of travel, an abundance of +hot coffee in addition to their rations. + +Colonel Parsons proceeded at once to Louisville, where he arrived on the +13th. By the morning of the 18th he had started the first division from +the mouth of the Tennessee up the Ohio, and had transportation ready +for the rest of the corps. He then hurried to Cincinnati, where, as the +river was too full of ice to permit a further transfer by water, he +loaded about three thousand men on the cars waiting there and started +them eastward. The rest of the corps rapidly followed. In spite of fogs +and ice on the river, and broken rails and machinery on the railroads, +the entire army corps was encamped on the banks of the Potomac on +February 2d. + +The distance over which the corps was transported was nearly fourteen +hundred miles, about equally divided between land and water. The average +time of transportation, from the embarkment on the Tennessee to the +arrival on the banks of the Potomac, did not exceed eleven days; and +what was still more important was the fact that during the whole +movement not a single accident happened causing loss of life, limb, or +property, except in a single instance where a soldier improperly jumped +from the car, under apprehension of danger, and thus lost his life. Had +he remained quiet, he would have been as safe as were his comrades of +the same car. + +Much of the success of the movement was due to the hearty co-operation +of J. W. Garrett, president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Colonel +Parsons did not say too much when he wrote, in his report of the +transfer of Schofield's troops: + + The circumstances, I think, render it not invidious that I should + especially refer to the management of the Baltimore and Ohio + Railroad, where indomitable will, energy, and superior ability have + been so often and so conspicuously manifested, and where such + invaluable service has been rendered to the Government; a road + nearly four hundred miles in length, so often broken and apparently + destroyed, so constantly subjected to rebel incursions, that, had it + been under ordinary management, it would long since have ceased + operation; yet, notwithstanding all the difficulties of the severe + winter season, the great disorganization of employees necessarily + incident to a road thus situated, its most extraordinary curves, + grades, bridges, tunnels, and the mountain heights it scales, it has + moved this large force in the shortest possible time, with almost + the exactness and regularity of ordinary passenger trains, and with + a freedom from accident that, I think, has seldom, if ever, been + paralleled. + +At the end of the war, when the department's energies were devoted to +getting itself as quickly and as thoroughly as possible upon a peace +footing, it fell to me to examine the condition of the numerous +railroads which the Government had seized and used in the time of active +military operations, and to recommend what was to be done with them. +This readjustment was not the least difficult of the complicated +questions of disarmament. The Government had spent millions of dollars +on improvements to some of these military railroads while operating +them. My report was not finished till late in May, 1865, and as it +contains much out-of-the-way information on the subject, and has never +been published, I introduce it here in full: + + + WASHINGTON CITY, _May 29, 1865_. + + Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. + + SIR: I have the honor to report that I have examined the subject of + the disposition to be made of the railroads in the States lately in + rebellion, referred to me in connection with the report of the + quartermaster general, and the rules which he has recommended to be + established. The second rule proposed by the quartermaster general + provides that no charge shall be made against a railroad for + expense of materials or expense of operation while it has been in + the hands of the military authorities of the United States. In + other words, he proposes to restore every railroad to its claimants + without any special consideration from them for any improvements + which the United States may have made upon it. + + It is true in his fourth rule he includes past expenditures of + defense and repair as an equivalent for the use of the road while + it has been in the public service, but in many cases this does not + appear to me to be sufficient. Our expenditures upon some of these + roads have been very heavy. For instance, we have added to the + value of the road from Nashville to Chattanooga at least a million + and a half dollars. When that road was recaptured from the public + enemy it was in a very bad state of repair. Its embankments were in + many places partially washed away, its iron was what is known as + the U rail, and was laid in the defective old-fashioned manner, + upon longitudinal sleepers, without cross ties. These sleepers were + also in a state of partial decay, so that trains could not be run + with speed or safety. All these defects have now been remedied. The + roadbed has been placed in first-rate condition. The iron is now a + heavy T rail, laid in new iron the entire length of the line. + Extensive repair shops have also been erected, well furnished with + the necessary tools and machinery. I do not conceive that it would + be just or advisable to restore this road, with its improved tracks + and these costly shops, without any equivalent for the great value + of these improvements other than the use we have made of it since + its recapture. The fact that we have replaced the heavy and + expensive bridges over Elk, Duck, and Tennessee Rivers, and over + Running Water Creek, should also not be forgotten in deciding this + question. + + The above general remarks are also applicable to that portion of + the Orange and Alexandria Railroad between the Potomac and the + Rapidan. Very extensive repair shops have been erected at + Alexandria, and furnished with costly machinery for the use of the + road, and I understand that the iron and the roadbed are now much + better than when the Government began to use it. + + The same is still more the case with the road between City Point + and Petersburg. When that road was recaptured from the public enemy + not only was the roadbed a good deal washed away and damaged, but + neither rails nor sound ties were left upon it. Now it is in the + best possible condition. Can any one contend that it ought to be + restored to its claimants without charge for the new ties and iron? + + The case of the railroad from Harper's Ferry to Winchester is no + less striking. It was a very poor road before the war, and was + early demolished by the rebels. Not a pound of iron, not a sound + tie, was to be found upon the line when we began its reconstruction + in December last. We have spent about five hundred thousand dollars + in bringing it to its present condition, and I have no doubt our + improvements could be sold for that sum to the Baltimore and Ohio + Company should they obtain the title to the roadbed from the proper + authorities of Virginia. Why, then, should we give them up for + nothing? + + On the Morehead City and Goldsboro' Railroad we have rebuilt + twenty-seven miles of the track, and furnished it with new iron and + laid new ties on many miles more since February last. These views + also hold good, unless I am misinformed, with regard to the + railroad leading into New Orleans, the Memphis and Little Rock + Railroad, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and the Mobile and + Ohio Railroad. They have all been improved at great expense while + in our hands. + + In the third rule proposed by the quartermaster general it is + provided that all materials for permanent way used in the repair + and construction of any road, and all damaged material of this + class which may be left along its route, having been thrown there + during operation of destruction and repair, shall be considered as + part of the road, and given up with it also without compensation. + If this means to give up any new iron that we have on the line of + any road, it seems to me to concede to the parties to whom the + roads are to be surrendered more than they have a right to claim. + For instance, there is now lying at Alexandria, on the line of the + Orange and Alexandria road, iron sufficient to lay thirty miles of + track. It seems manifest to me that this iron should not be + surrendered to the road without being paid for. In my judgment it + is also advisable to establish the principle that the Government + will not pay for the damages done any road in the prosecution of + hostilities, any more than it will pay for similar damages done by + the enemy. With these exceptions, the principles proposed by the + quartermaster general appear to be correct. + + In accordance with these observations, I would recommend that the + following rules be determined upon to govern the settlement of + these matters: + + 1. The United States will, as soon as it can dispense with military + occupation and control of any road of which the Quartermaster's + Department is in charge, turn it over to the parties asking to + receive it who may appear to have the best claim, and be able to + operate it in such a manner as to secure the speedy movement of all + military stores and troops, the quartermaster general, upon the + advice of the commander of the department, to determine when this + can be done, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. + + 2. Where any State has a loyal board of works, or other executive + officers charged with the supervision of railroads, such road shall + be turned over to such board of officers rather than to any + corporations or private parties. + + 3. When any railroad shall be so turned over, a board of + appraisers shall be appointed, who shall estimate and determine the + value of any improvements which may have been made by the United + States, either in the road itself or in its repair shop and + permanent machinery, and the amount of such improvements shall be a + lien upon the road. + + 4. The parties to whom the road is turned over shall have the + option of purchasing at their value any tools, iron, or any other + materials for permanent way which have been provided by the United + States for the improvement of the road and have not been used. + + 5. All other movable property, including rolling stock of all + kinds, the property of the United States, to be sold at auction, + after full public notice, to the highest bidder. + + 6. All rolling stock and materials of railroads captured by the + forces of the United States, and not consumed, destroyed, or + permanently fixed elsewhere--as, for instance, when captured iron + has been laid upon other roads--shall be placed at the disposal of + the roads which originally owned them, and shall be given up to + these roads as soon as it can be spared and they appear by proper + agents authorized to receive it. + + 7. No payment or credit shall be given to any railroad recaptured + from the enemy for its occupation or use by the United States to + take possession of it, but its capture and restoration shall be + considered a sufficient consideration for all such use; nor shall + any indemnity be paid for injuries done to the property of any road + by the forces of the United States during the continuance of the + war. + + 8. Roads which have not been operated by the United States + Quartermaster's Department not to be interfered with unless under + military necessity; such roads to be left in the possession of such + persons as may now have possession, subject only to the removal of + every agent, director, president, superintendent, or operative who + has not taken the oath of allegiance to the United States. + + 9. When superintendents in actual possession decline to take the + oath, some competent person shall be appointed as receiver of the + road, who will administer its affairs and account for its receipts + to the board of directors, who may be formally recognized as the + legal and formal board of managers, the receiver to be appointed by + the Treasury Department, as in the case of abandoned property. + + I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + C. A. DANA, + _Assistant Secretary of War_. + + +These recommendations were carried out partly in the transfer, which was +practically complete by the end of 1865. The department decided upon a +somewhat more liberal policy than I had thought justifiable. The roads +and bridges were transferred practically in the same condition as they +were in at the time of transfer. It was believed that this generosity +would react favorably upon the revenue and credit of the nation, and +there is no doubt that it did have a good influence. + +During the presidential campaign of 1864, which resulted in Lincoln's +re-election and in the further prosecution of the war upon the lines of +Lincoln's policy, we were busy in the department arranging for soldiers +to go home to vote, and also for the taking of ballots in the army. +There was a constant succession of telegrams from all parts of the +country requesting that leave of absence be extended to this or that +officer, in order that his district at home might have the benefit of +his vote and political influence. Furloughs were asked for private +soldiers whose presence in close districts was deemed of especial +importance, and there was a widespread demand that men on detached +service and convalescents in hospitals be sent home. + +All the power and influence of the War Department, then something +enormous from the vast expenditure and extensive relations of the war, +was employed to secure the re-election of Mr. Lincoln. The political +struggle was most intense, and the interest taken in it, both in the +White House and in the War Department, was almost painful. After the +arduous toil of the canvass, there was naturally a great suspense of +feeling until the result of the voting should be ascertained. On +November 8th, election day, I went over to the War Department about half +past eight o'clock in the evening, and found the President and Mr. +Stanton together in the Secretary's office. General Eckert, who then had +charge of the telegraph department of the War Office, was coming in +constantly with telegrams containing election returns. Mr. Stanton would +read them, and the President would look at them and comment upon them. +Presently there came a lull in the returns, and Mr. Lincoln called me to +a place by his side. + +"Dana," said he, "have you ever read any of the writings of Petroleum V. +Nasby?" + +"No, sir," I said; "I have only looked at some of them, and they seemed +to be quite funny." + +"Well," said he, "let me read you a specimen"; and, pulling out a thin +yellow-covered pamphlet from his breast pocket, he began to read aloud. +Mr. Stanton viewed these proceedings with great impatience, as I could +see, but Mr. Lincoln paid no attention to that. He would read a page or +a story, pause to consider a new election telegram, and then open the +book again and go ahead with a new passage. Finally, Mr. Chase came in, +and presently somebody else, and then the reading was interrupted. + +Mr. Stanton went to the door and beckoned me into the next room. I shall +never forget the fire of his indignation at what seemed to him to be +mere nonsense. The idea that when the safety of the republic was thus at +issue, when the control of an empire was to be determined by a few +figures brought in by the telegraph, the leader, the man most deeply +concerned, not merely for himself but for his country, could turn aside +to read such balderdash and to laugh at such frivolous jests was, to his +mind, repugnant, even damnable. He could not understand, apparently, +that it was by the relief which these jests afforded to the strain of +mind under which Lincoln had so long been living, and to the natural +gloom of a melancholy and desponding temperament--this was Mr. Lincoln's +prevailing characteristic--that the safety and sanity of his +intelligence were maintained and preserved. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +"ON TO RICHMOND" AT LAST! + + The fall of the Confederacy--In Richmond just after the + evacuation--A search for Confederate archives--Lincoln's + propositions to the Virginians--A meeting with the Confederate + Assistant Secretary of War--Andrew Johnson turns up at Richmond--His + views as to the necessity of punishing rebels--The first Sunday + services at the Confederate capital under the old flag--News of + Lee's surrender reaches Richmond--Back to Washington with Grant. + + +It was evident to all of us, as the spring of 1865 came on, that the war +was drawing to a close. Sherman was coming northward from his triumphant +march to the sea, and would soon be in communication with Grant, who, +ever since I left him in July, 1864, had been watching Petersburg and +Richmond, where Lee's army was shut up. At the end of March Grant +advanced. On April 1st Sheridan won the battle of Five Forks; then on +April 2d came the successful assaults which drove Lee from Petersburg. + +On the morning of April 3d, before I had left my house, Mr. Stanton sent +for me to come immediately to the War Department. When I reached his +office, he told me that Richmond had surrendered, and that he wanted me +to go down at once to report the condition of affairs. I started as soon +as I could get a steamboat, Roscoe Conkling and my son Paul accompanying +me. We arrived at City Point early on April 5th. Little was known there +of the condition of things in Richmond. There were but a few officers +left at the place, and those were overwhelmed with work. I had expected +to find the President at City Point, he having been in the vicinity for +several days, but Mr. Lincoln had gone up to Richmond the day before. + +I started up the river immediately, and reached the town early in the +afternoon. I went at once to find Major-General Godfrey Weitzel, who was +in command of the United States forces. He was at his headquarters, +which were in Jefferson Davis's former residence. I had heard down the +river that Davis had sold his furniture at auction some days before the +evacuation, but I found when I reached the house that this was a +mistake--the furniture was all there. + +Weitzel told me that he had learned at three o'clock in the morning of +Monday, April 3d, that Richmond was being evacuated. He had moved +forward at daylight, first taking care to give his men breakfast, in the +expectation that they might have to fight. He met no opposition, and on +entering the city was greeted with a hearty welcome from the mass of +people. The mayor went out to meet him to surrender the city, but missed +him on the road. + +I took a walk around Richmond that day to see how much the city was +injured. The Confederates in retreating had set it on fire, and the +damage done in that way was enormous; nearly everything between Main +Street and the river, for about three quarters of a mile, was burned. +The custom house and the Spotswood Hotel were the only important +buildings remaining in the burned district. The block opposite the +Spotswood, including the Confederate War Department building, was +entirely consumed. The Petersburg Railroad bridge, and that of the +Danville road, were destroyed. All the enemy's vessels, excepting an +unfinished ram which had her machinery in perfect order, were burned. +The Tredegar Iron Works were unharmed. Libby Prison and Castle Thunder +had also escaped the fire. + +Immediately upon arriving I began to make inquiries about official +papers. I found that the records and documents of the departments and of +Congress had generally been removed before the evacuation, and that +during the fire the Capitol had been ransacked and the documents there +scattered. In the rooms of the Secretary of the Senate and of the +Military Committee of the House of Representatives in the State House we +found some papers of importance. They were in various cases in drawers, +and all in great confusion. They were more or less imperfect and +fragmentary. In the State Engineer's office also there were some boxes +of papers relating to the Confederate works on the Potomac, around +Norfolk, and on the Peninsula. I had all of these packed for shipment, +without attempting to put them in order, and forwarded at once to +Washington. + +General Weitzel told me that he had found about twenty thousand people +in Richmond, half of them of African descent. He said that when +President Lincoln entered the town on the 4th he received a most +enthusiastic reception from the mass of the inhabitants. All the members +of Congress had escaped, and only the Assistant Secretary of War, Judge +John Archibald Campbell, remained in the fallen capital of the +Confederacy. Most of the newspaper editors had fled, but the Whig +appeared on the 4th as a Union paper, with the name of its former +proprietor at its head. The night after I arrived the theater opened. + +There was much suffering and poverty among the population, the rich as +well as the poor being destitute of food. Weitzel had decided to issue +supplies to all who would take the oath. In my first message to Mr. +Stanton I spoke of this. He immediately answered: "Please ascertain from +General Weitzel under what authority he is distributing rations to the +people of Richmond, as I suppose he would not do it without authority; +and direct him to report daily the amount of rations distributed by his +order to persons not belonging to the military service, and not +authorized by law to receive rations, designating the color of the +persons, their occupation, and sex." Mr. Stanton seemed to be satisfied +when I wired him that Weitzel was working under General Ord's orders, +approved by General Grant, and that he was paying for the rations by +selling captured property. + +The important question which the President had on his mind when I +reached Richmond was how Virginia could be brought back to the Union. He +had already had an interview with Judge Campbell and other prominent +representatives of the Confederate Government. All they asked, they +said, was an amnesty and a military convention to cover appearances. +Slavery they admitted to be defunct. The President did not promise the +amnesty, but he told them he had the pardoning power, and would save any +repentant sinner from hanging. They assured him that, if amnesty could +be offered, the rebel army would be dissolved and all the States return. + +On the morning of the 7th, five members of the so-called Virginia +Legislature held a meeting to consider written propositions which the +President had handed to Judge Campbell. The President showed these +papers to me confidentially. They were two in number. One stated reunion +as a _sine qua non_; the second authorized General Weitzel to allow +members of the body claiming to be the Legislature of Virginia to meet +in Richmond for the purpose of recalling Virginia's soldiers from the +rebel armies, with safe conduct to them so long as they did and said +nothing hostile to the United States. In discussing with me these +documents, the President remarked that Sheridan seemed to be getting +rebel soldiers out of the war faster than the Legislature could think. + +The next morning, on April 8th, I was present at an interesting +interview between General Weitzel and General Shepley, who had been +appointed as Military Governor of Richmond, and a committee of prominent +citizens and members of the Legislature. Various papers were read by the +Virginian representatives, but they were told plainly that no +propositions could be entertained that involved a recognition of the +Confederate authorities. The committee were also informed that if they +desired to prepare an address to the people, advising them to abandon +hostility to the Government at once, and begin to obey the laws of the +United States, they should have every facility for its circulation +through the State, provided, of course, that it met the approval of the +military authorities. The two Union generals said that if the committee +desired to call a convention of the prominent citizens of the State, +with a view to the restoration of the authority of the United States +Government, they would be allowed to go outside the lines of Richmond +for the purpose of visiting citizens in different parts of the State and +inducing them to take part in a convention. Safe conduct was promised to +them for themselves and such citizens as they could persuade to attend +the convention. They were also told that if they were not able to find +conveyances for themselves for the journey into the country, horses +would be loaned to them for that purpose. All this, they were informed, +was not to be considered as in any manner condoning any offense of which +any individual among them might have been guilty. + +Judge Campbell said that he had no wish to take a prominent part in the +proceedings, but that he had long since made up his mind that the cause +of the South was hopeless. He had written a formal memorial to Jefferson +Davis, immediately after the Hampton Roads conference, urging him and +the Confederate Congress to take immediate steps to stop the war and +restore the Union. He had deliberately remained in Richmond to meet the +consequences of his acts. He said that if he could be used in the +restoration of peace and order, he would gladly undertake any labor that +might be desired of him. + +The spirit of the committee seemed to be generally the same as Judge +Campbell's, though none of them equalled him in ability and clearness of +thought and statement. They were thoroughly conscious that they were +beaten, and sincerely anxious to stop all further bloodshed and restore +peace, law, and order. This mental condition seemed to me to be very +hopeful and encouraging. + +One day, after the meeting of this committee, I was in the large room +downstairs of the Spotswood Hotel when my name was called, and I turned +around to see Andrew Johnson, the new Vice-President of the United +States. He took me aside and spoke with great earnestness about the +necessity of not taking the Confederates back without some conditions or +without some punishment. He insisted that their sins had been enormous, +and that if they were let back into the Union without any punishment the +effect would be very bad. He said they might be very dangerous in the +future. The Vice-President talked to me in this strain for fully twenty +minutes, I should think. It was an impassioned, earnest speech that he +made to me on the subject of punishing rebels. Finally, when he paused +and I got a chance to reply, I said: + +"Why, Mr. Johnson, I have no power in this case. Your remarks are very +striking, very impressive, and certainly worthy of the most serious +consideration, but it does not seem to me necessary that they should be +addressed to me. They ought to be addressed to the President and to the +members of Congress, to those who have authority in the case, and who +will finally have to decide this question which you raise." + +"Mr. Dana," said he, "I feel it to be my duty to say these things to +every man whom I meet, whom I know to have any influence. Any man whose +thoughts are considered by others, or whose judgment is going to weigh +in the case, I must speak to, so that the weight of opinion in favor of +the view of this question which I offer may possibly become +preponderating and decisive." + +That was in April. When Mr. Johnson became President, not long after, he +soon came to take entirely the view which he condemned so earnestly in +this conversation with me. + +Toward the end of the first week after we entered Richmond the question +about opening the churches on Sunday came up. I asked General Weitzel +what he was going to do. He answered that all the places of worship were +to be allowed to open on condition that no disloyalty should be uttered, +and that the Episcopal clergymen should read the prayer for the +President of the United States. But the next day General Shepley, the +military governor, came to me to ask that the order might be relaxed so +that the clergy should be required only not to pray for Davis. I +declined giving any orders, having received none from Washington, and +said that Weitzel must act in the matter entirely on his own judgment. +Judge Campbell used all his influence with Weitzel and Shepley to get +them to consent that a loyal prayer should not be exacted. Weitzel +concluded not to give a positive order; his decision was influenced by +the examples of New Orleans, Norfolk, and Savannah, where, he said, the +requirement had not been at first enforced. In a greater measure, +however, his decision was the result of the President's verbal direction +to him to "let the people down easy." The churches were all well filled +on Sunday, the ladies especially attending in great numbers. The sermons +were devout and not political, the city was perfectly quiet, and there +was more security for persons and property than had existed in Richmond +for many months. + +On Monday morning the news of Lee's surrender reached us in Richmond. It +produced a deep impression. Even the most intensely partisan women now +felt that the defeat was perfect and the rebellion finished, while among +the men there was no sentiment but submission to the power of the +nation, and a returning hope that their individual property might escape +confiscation. They all seemed most keenly alive to this consideration, +and men like General Anderson, the proprietor of the Tredegar works, +were zealous in their efforts to produce a thorough pacification and +save their possessions. + +The next morning I received from Mr. Stanton an order to proceed to +General Grant's headquarters and furnish from there such details as +might be of interest. It was at this time that I had an interesting talk +with Grant on the condition of Lee's army and about the men and arms +surrendered. He told me that, in the long private interview which he had +with Lee at Appomattox, the latter said that he should devote his whole +efforts to pacifying the country and bringing the people back to the +Union. Lee declared that he had always been for the Union in his own +heart, and could find no justification for the politicians who had +brought on the war, the origin of which he believed to have been in the +folly of extremists on both sides. The war, Lee declared, had left him a +poor man, with nothing but what he had upon his person, and his wife +would have to provide for herself until he could find some employment. + +The officers of Lee's army, Grant said, all seemed to be glad that it +was over, and the men still more so than the officers. All were greatly +impressed by the generosity of the terms finally granted to them, for at +the time of the surrender they were surrounded and escape was +impossible. General Grant thought that these terms were of great +importance toward securing a thorough peace and undisturbed submission +to the Government. + +I returned to Washington with General Grant, reaching there the 13th, +and taking up my work in the department at once. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE CLOSING SCENES AT WASHINGTON. + + Last interview with Mr. Lincoln--Why Jacob Thompson escaped--At the + deathbed of the murdered President--Searching for the assassins--The + letters which Mr. Lincoln had docketed "Assassination"--At the + conspiracy trial--The Confederate secret cipher--Jefferson Davis's + capture and imprisonment--A visit to the Confederate President at + Fortress Monroe--The grand review of the Union armies--The meeting + between Stanton and Sherman--End of Mr. Dana's connection with the + War Department. + + +It was one of my duties at this time to receive the reports of the +officers of the secret service in every part of the country. On the +afternoon of the 14th of April--it was Good Friday--I got a telegram +from the provost marshal in Portland, Me., saying: "I have positive +information that Jacob Thompson will pass through Portland to-night, in +order to take a steamer for England. What are your orders?" + +Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, had been Secretary of the Interior in +President Buchanan's administration. He was a conspicuous secessionist, +and for some time had been employed in Canada as a semi-diplomatic agent +of the Confederate Government. He had been organizing all sorts of +trouble and getting up raids, of which the notorious attack on St. +Albans, Vt., was a specimen. I took the telegram and went down and read +it to Mr. Stanton. His order was prompt: "Arrest him!" But as I was +going out of the door he called to me and said: "No, wait; better go +over and see the President." + +At the White House all the work of the day was over, and I went into the +President's business room without meeting any one. Opening the door, +there seemed to be no one there, but, as I was turning to go out, Mr. +Lincoln called to me from a little side room, where he was washing his +hands: + +"Halloo, Dana!" said he. "What is it? What's up?" + +Then I read him the telegram from Portland. + +"What does Stanton say?" he asked. + +"He says arrest him, but that I should refer the question to you." + +"Well," said the President slowly, wiping his hands, "no, I rather think +not. When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he's trying to +run away, it's best to let him run." + +With this direction, I returned to the War Department. + +"Well, what says he?" asked Mr. Stanton. + +"He says that when you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is +trying to run away, it's best to let him run." + +"Oh, stuff!" said Stanton. + +That night I was awakened from a sound sleep by a messenger with the +news that Mr. Lincoln had been shot, and that the Secretary wanted me at +a house in Tenth Street. I found the President with a bullet wound in +the head, lying unconscious, though breathing heavily, on a bed in a +small side room, while all the members of the Cabinet, and the Chief +Justice with them, were gathered in the adjoining parlor. They seemed to +be almost as much paralyzed as the unconscious sufferer within the +little chamber. The surgeons said there was no hope. Mr. Stanton alone +was in full activity. + +"Sit down here," said he; "I want you." + +Then he began and dictated orders, one after another, which I wrote out +and sent swiftly to the telegraph. All these orders were designed to +keep the business of the Government in full motion until the crisis +should be over. It seemed as if Mr. Stanton thought of everything, and +there was a great deal to be thought of that night. The extent of the +conspiracy was, of course, unknown, and the horrible beginning which had +been made naturally led us to suspect the worst. The safety of +Washington must be looked after. Commanders all over the country had to +be ordered to take extra precautions. The people must be notified of the +tragedy. The assassins must be captured. The coolness and +clearheadedness of Mr. Stanton under these circumstances were most +remarkable. I remember that one of his first telegrams was to General +Dix, the military commander of New York, notifying him of what had +happened. No clearer brief account of the tragedy exists to-day than +this, written scarcely three hours after the scene in Ford's Theater, on +a little stand in the room where, a few feet away, Mr. Lincoln lay +dying. + +I remained with Mr. Stanton until perhaps three o'clock in the morning. +Then he said: "That's enough. Now you may go home." + +When I left, the President was still alive, breathing heavily and +regularly, though, of course, quite unconscious. About eight o'clock I +was awakened by a rapping on a lower window. It was Colonel Pelouze, of +the adjutant-general's office, and he said: + +"Mr. Dana, the President is dead, and Mr. Stanton directs you to arrest +Jacob Thompson." + +The order was sent to Portland, but Thompson couldn't be found there. He +had taken the Canadian route to Halifax. + +The whole machinery of the War Department was now employed in the effort +to secure the murderer of the President and his accomplices. As soon as +I had recovered from the first shock of Mr. Lincoln's death, I +remembered that in the previous November I had received from General Dix +the following letter: + + + HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST, + NEW YORK CITY, _November 17, 1864_. + + C. A. DANA, Esq. + + MY DEAR SIR: The inclosed was picked up in a Third Avenue railroad + car. I should have thought the whole thing got up for the Sunday + Mercury but for the genuine letter from St. Louis in a female hand. + The Charles Selby is obviously a manufacture. The party who dropped + the letter was heard to say he would start for Washington Friday + night. He is of medium size, has black hair and whiskers, but the + latter are believed to be a disguise. He had disappeared before the + letter was picked up and examined. + + Yours truly, JOHN A. DIX. + + +There were two inclosures, this being one of them: + + + DEAR LOUIS: The time has at last come that we have all so wished + for, and upon you everything depends. As it was decided before you + left, we were to cast lots. Accordingly we did so, and you are to be + the Charlotte Corday of the nineteenth century. When you remember + the fearful, solemn vow that was taken by us, you will feel there is + no drawback--Abe must die, and now. You can choose your weapons. The + cup, the knife, the bullet. The cup failed us once, and might again. + Johnson, who will give this, has been like an enraged demon since + the meeting, because it has not fallen upon him to rid the world of + the monster. He says the blood of his gray-haired father and his + noble brother call upon him for revenge, and revenge he will have; + if he can not wreak it upon the fountain-head, he will upon some of + the bloodthirsty generals. Butler would suit him. As our plans were + all concocted and well arranged, we separated, and as I am + writing--on my way to Detroit--I will only say that all rests upon + you. You know where to find your friends. Your disguises are so + perfect and complete that without one knew your face no police + telegraphic dispatch would catch you. The English gentleman + "Harcourt" must not act hastily. Remember he has ten days. Strike + for your home, strike for your country; bide your time, but strike + sure. Get introduced, congratulate him, listen to his stories--not + many more will the brute tell to earthly friends. Do anything but + fail, and meet us at the appointed place within the fortnight. + Inclose this note, together with one of poor Leenea. I will give the + reason for this when we meet. Return by Johnson. I wish I could go + to you, but duty calls me to the West; you will probably hear from + me in Washington. Sanders is doing us no good in Canada. + + Believe me, your brother in love, + CHARLES SELBY. + + +The other was in a woman's handwriting: + + + ST. LOUIS, _October 21, 1864_. + + DEAREST HUSBAND: Why do you not come home? You left me for ten days + only, and you now have been from home more than two weeks. In that + long time only sent me one short note--a few cold words--and a + check for money, which I did not require. What has come over you? + Have you forgotten your wife and child? Baby calls for papa until + my heart aches. We are so lonely without you. I have written to you + again and again, and, as a last resource, yesterday wrote to + Charlie, begging him to see you and tell you to come home. I am so + ill, not able to leave my room; if I was, I would go to you + wherever you were, if in this world. Mamma says I must not write + any more, as I am too weak. Louis, darling, do not stay away any + longer from your heart-broken wife. + + LEENEA. + + +On reading the letters, I had taken them at once to President Lincoln. +He looked at them, but made no special remark, and, in fact, seemed to +attach very little importance to them. I left them with him. + +I now reminded Mr. Stanton of this circumstance, and he asked me to go +immediately to the White House and see if I could find the letters. I +thought it rather doubtful, for I knew the President received a great +many communications of a similar nature. However, I went over, and made +a thorough search through his private desk. He seemed to have attached +more importance to these papers than to others of the kind, for I found +them inclosed in an envelope marked in his own handwriting, +"Assassination." I kept the letters by me for some time, and then +delivered them to Judge John A. Bingham, special judge advocate in the +conspiracy trial. Judge Bingham seemed to think them of importance, and +asked me to have General Dix send the finder down to Washington. I wired +at once to the general. He replied that it was a woman who had found +the letters; that she was keeping a small store in New York, had several +children, was a widow, and had no servant; that she would have to find +some one to take care of her house, but would be in Washington in a day +or two. + +A few days later she came. I was not in town when Mrs. Hudspeth, as her +name proved to be, arrived. I had gone to Chicago, but from the woman's +testimony on May 12th, I learned that in November, 1864, just after the +presidential election, and on the day, she said, on which General Butler +left New York, she had overheard a curious conversation between two men +in a Third Avenue car in New York city. She had observed, when a jolt of +the car pushed the hat of one of the men forward, that he wore false +whiskers. She had noticed that his hand was very beautiful; that he +carried a pistol in his belt; that, judging from his conversation, he +was a young man of education; she heard him say that he was going to +Washington that day. The young men left the car before she did, and +after they had gone her daughter, who was with her, had picked up a +letter from the floor. Mrs. Hudspeth, thinking it belonged to her, had +carried it from the car. She afterward discovered the two letters +printed above, and took them to General Scott, who, upon reading them, +said they were of great importance, and sent her to General Dix. When a +photograph of Booth was shown to Mrs. Hudspeth, she swore that it was +the man in disguise whom she had seen in the car. It was found that +Booth was in New York on the day that she indicated--that is, the day +General Butler left New York, November 11th--and likewise that Booth +had gone from there to Washington, as she had heard this man say he was +going to do. The inference was that the man who had dropped the letter +was Booth. + +I was afterward called to the stand, on June 9th, to testify about the +letters. Judge Bingham used these documents as a link in his chain of +evidence showing that a conspiracy existed "to kill and murder Abraham +Lincoln, William H. Seward, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Edwin M. +Stanton, and others of his advisers," and that Booth was a partner in +this conspiracy. + +I have said that I was in Chicago when Mrs. Hudspeth gave her testimony. +Just after I reached there I received from Major T. F. Eckert, the head +of the military telegraph, a message saying that the court wanted me +immediately as a witness in the conspiracy trial. I returned at once, +and on the 18th of May appeared in court. I was wanted that I might +testify to the identity of a key to a secret cipher which I had found on +the 6th of April in Richmond. On that day I had gone into the office of +Mr. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of State; on a shelf, among Mr. +Benjamin's books and other things, I had found a secret cipher key.[E] I +saw it was the key to the official Confederate cipher, and, as we had +at times to decipher at the War Department a good many documents written +in that cipher, it seemed to me of interest, and I brought it away, with +several other interesting documents. When I returned to Washington I +gave it to Major Eckert, who had charge of cipher dispatches in the War +Department. + +Now, on the night of Mr. Lincoln's assassination, Lieutenant W. H. Terry +had been sent to the National Hotel to seize the trunk of J. Wilkes +Booth. Among other things, he had found a paper containing a secret +cipher. When this was given to Major Eckert, he immediately saw that it +was the same as the one which I had found in Richmond. It was thought +that possibly by means of this evidence it could be shown that Booth was +in communication with the Confederate Government. I was called back to +identify the cipher key. Major Eckert at the same time presented +dispatches written in the cipher found in Booth's trunk and sent from +Canada to the Confederates. They had been captured and taken to the War +Department, where copies of them were made. By the key which I had found +these dispatches could be read. These dispatches indicated plots against +the leaders of our Government, though whether Booth had sent them or not +was, of course, never known. + +Throughout the period of the trial I was constantly receiving and +answering messages and letters relative to the examination or arrest of +persons suspected of being connected with the affair. In most cases +neither the examinations nor arrests led to anything. The persons had +been acquaintances of the known conspirators, or they had been heard to +utter disloyal sentiments and had been reported to the department by +zealous Unionists. It was necessary, however, under the circumstances, +to follow up every clew given us, and, under Mr. Stanton's directions, I +gave attention to all cases reported. + +While the trial was going on in Washington, Jefferson Davis was +captured, on May 10th, near Irwinsville, Ga., by a detachment of General +Wilson's cavalry. Mr. Davis and his family, with Alexander H. Stephens, +lately Vice-President of the Confederacy, John H. Reagan, Postmaster +General, Clement C. Clay, and other State prisoners, were sent to +Fortress Monroe. The propeller Clyde, with the party on board, reached +Hampton Roads on May 19th. The next day, May 20th, Mr. Stanton sent for +me to come to his office. He told me where Davis was, and said that he +had ordered General Nelson A. Miles to go to Hampton Roads to take +charge of the prisoners, transferring them from the Clyde to the +fortress. Mr. Stanton was much concerned lest Davis should commit +suicide; he said that he himself would do so in like circumstances. "I +want you to go to Fortress Monroe," he said, "and caution General Miles +against leaving Davis any possible method of suicide; tell him to put +him in fetters, if necessary. Davis must be brought to trial; he must +not be allowed to kill himself." Mr. Stanton also told me that he wanted +a representative of the War Department down there to see what the +military was doing, and to give suggestions and make criticisms and send +him full reports. + +The status of Jefferson Davis at the time explains Mr. Stanton's +anxiety. It should be remembered that Davis had not surrendered when the +capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, was captured; neither had he +surrendered with either of the two principal armies under Lee and +Johnston. At that time the whole Confederate army west of the +Mississippi was still at large. To allow Davis to join this force was +only to give the Confederacy an opportunity to reassemble the forces +still unsurrendered and make another stand for life. Even more important +than this consideration was the fact that Davis was charged, in +President Johnson's proclamation of May 2, 1865, offering a reward for +his capture, with instigating the assassination of President Lincoln: + + _Whereas_, It appears, from evidence in the Bureau of Military + Justice, that the atrocious murder of the late President, Abraham + Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of the Hon. W. H. Seward, + Secretary of State, were incited, concerted, and procured by and + between Jefferson Davis, late of Richmond, Va., ... and other rebels + and traitors against the Government of the United States, harbored + in Canada; + + Now, therefore, to the end that justice may be done, I, Andrew + Johnson, President of the United States, do offer and promise for + the arrest of said persons or either of them, within the limits of + the United States, so that they can be brought to trial, the + following rewards: One hundred thousand dollars for the arrest of + Jefferson Davis ... The provost marshal general of the United + States is directed to cause the descriptions of said persons, with + notice of the above rewards, to be published. + +It was with the above facts in mind that I started for Hampton Roads on +May 20th. On the 22d the prisoners were transferred from the Clyde to +the fortress. The quarter selected for Davis's prison was a casemate +such as at that time, as well as at the present, is occupied by officers +and their families. In fact, an officer with his family was moved out of +the particular casemate in which Davis was placed. Any one who will take +the trouble to visit Fortress Monroe can see the place still, and it +certainly has not to-day a gloomy or forbidding appearance. The whole +scene of the transfer I described in a long telegram which I sent to Mr. +Stanton on the 22d. As it contains my fresh impressions, and has never +before been published, I give it here in full: + + + From FORTRESS MONROE, 1 P.M., _May 22, 1865_. + + Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War: + + The two prisoners have just been placed in their respective + casemates. The sentries are stationed both within and without their + doors. The bars and locks are fastened, and the regular routine of + their imprisonment has begun. At precisely one o'clock General + Miles left with a tug and a guard from the garrison to go for Davis + and Clay. At half past one the tug left the Clyde for the fortress. + She landed at the engineers' wharf, and the procession, led by the + cavalrymen of Colonel Pritchard's command, moved through the water + battery on the east front of the fortress and entered by a postern + leading from that battery. The cavalrymen were followed by General + Miles, holding Davis by the right arm. Next came half a dozen + soldiers, and then Colonel Pritchard with Clay, and last the guard + which Miles took out with him. The arrangements were excellent and + successful, and not a single curious spectator was any where in + sight. + + Davis bore himself with a haughty attitude. His face was somewhat + flushed, but his features were composed and his step firm. In + Clay's manner there was less expression of bravado and dramatic + determination. Both were dressed in gray, with drab slouched hats. + Davis wore a thin dark overcoat. His hair and beard are not so gray + as has been reported, and he seems very much less worn and broken + by anxiety and labor than Mr. Blair reported when he returned from + Richmond last winter. The parties were not informed that they were + not to be removed to the fortress until General Miles went on board + the Clyde, but they had before learned generally what was their + destination. + + From his staff officers Davis parted yesterday, shedding tears at + the separation. The same scene has just been renewed at his parting + from Harrison, his private secretary, who left at one o'clock for + Washington. In leaving his wife and children he exhibited no great + emotion, though she was violently affected. He told her she would + be allowed to see him in the course of the day. Clay took leave of + his wife in private, and he was not seen by the officers. Both + asked to see General Halleck, but he will not see them. + + The arrangements for the security of the prisoners seem to me as + complete as could be desired. Each one occupies the inner room of a + casemate; the window is heavily barred. A sentry stands within, + before each of the doors leading into the outer room. These doors + are to be grated, but are now secured by bars fastened on the + outside. Two other sentries stand outside of these doors. An + officer is also constantly on duty in the outer room, whose duty is + to see his prisoners every fifteen minutes. The outer door of all + is locked on the outside, and the key is kept exclusively by the + general officer of the guard. Two sentries are also stationed + without that door, and a strong line of sentries cuts off all + access to the vicinity of the casemates. Another line is stationed + on the top of the parapet overhead, and a third line is posted + across the moats on the counterscarps opposite the places of + confinement. The casemates on each side and between these occupied + by the prisoners are used as guard rooms, and soldiers are always + there. A lamp is constantly kept burning in each of the rooms. The + furniture of each prisoner is a hospital bed, with iron bedstead, + chair and table, and a movable stool closet. A Bible is allowed to + each. I have not given orders to have them placed in irons, as + General Halleck seemed opposed to it, but General Miles is + instructed to have fetters ready if he thinks them necessary. The + prisoners are to be supplied with soldiers' rations, cooked by the + guard. Their linen will be issued to them in the same way. I shall + be back to-morrow morning. + + C. A. DANA. + + +Before leaving Fortress Monroe, on May 22d, I made out for General Miles +the order here printed in facsimile: + +[Illustration: Fortress Monroe May 22, 1865. + +Brevet Major General Miles is hereby authorized and directed to +place manacles and fetters upon the hands and feet of Jefferson Davis +and Clement C. Clay Jr, whenever he may think it advisable in order to +render their imprisonment more secure. + +By order of the Secretary of War. + +C. A. Dana. A. Secretary of War.] + +This order was General Miles's authority for placing fetters upon Davis +a day or two later, when he found it necessary to change the inner doors +of the casemate, which were light wooden ones, without locks. While +these doors were being changed for grated ones, anklets were placed on +Davis; they did not prevent his walking, but did prevent any attempt to +jump past the guard, and they also prevented him from running. As soon +as the doors were changed (it required three days, I think), the anklets +were removed. I believe that every care was taken during Mr. Davis's +imprisonment to remove cause for complaint. Medical officers were +directed to superintend his meals and give him everything that would +excite his appetite. As it was complained that his quarters in the +casemate were unhealthy and disagreeable, he was, after a few weeks, +transferred to Carroll Hall, a building still occupied by officers and +soldiers. That Davis's health was not ruined by his imprisonment at +Fortress Monroe is proved by the fact that he came out of the prison in +better condition than when he went in, and that he lived for twenty +years afterward, and died of old age. + +I hurried back to Washington from Fortress Monroe to be present at the +grand review of the Armies of the Potomac and Tennessee, which had been +arranged for May 23d and 24th. I reached the city early in the morning. +The streets were all alive with detachments of soldiers marching toward +Capitol Hill, for it was there that the parade was to start. Thousands +of visitors were also in the streets. + +May 23d was given up to the review of the Army of the Potomac, and by +nine o'clock General Meade and his staff, at the head of the army, +started from the Capitol. Soon after, I joined the company on the +reviewing officers' stand, in front of the White House, in just the +place which the reviewing stand now occupies on inauguration days. +President Johnson had the central position on the platform. Upon his +right, a seat was retained for the commander of the corps undergoing +review. As soon as the corps commander with his staff had passed the +grand stand at the head of his troops, he rode into the grounds of the +White House, dismounted, and came to take his position at the right of +Mr. Johnson, while his troops continued their march. When all his men +had passed, he gave up his place to the commander of the next corps in +the column, and so on. Next to the corps commanders were seated +Secretary Stanton and Lieutenant-General Grant. On the left of the +President was Postmaster-General Dennison and, on the first day of the +parade, while the Army of the Potomac passed, Major-General Meade; and +on the second day, while the Army of the Tennessee passed, Major-General +Sherman. The other members of the Cabinet, many army officers, the +assistant secretaries in the different departments, and a number of +guests invited by the President and the secretaries, were grouped around +these central personages. + +On the 24th, when Sherman's army was reviewed, I sat directly behind Mr. +Stanton at the moment when General Sherman, after having passed the +grand stand at the head of his army, dismounted and came on to the stand +to take his position and review his soldiers. As he had to pass +immediately in front of Secretary Stanton in order to reach the place +assigned to him on the President's right, I could see him perfectly. I +watched both men closely, for the difficulty between Stanton and Sherman +was at that moment known to everybody. + +The terms upon which Sherman in April had accepted the surrender of +General Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina went beyond the +authority of a military commander, and touched upon political issues. It +is true that these terms were made conditional upon the approval of the +Government; nevertheless, Mr. Stanton was deeply indignant at the +general for meddling with matters beyond his jurisdiction. No doubt his +indignation was intensified by his dislike of Sherman. The two men were +antagonistic by nature. Sherman was an effervescent, mercurial, +expansive man, springing abruptly to an idea, expressing himself +enthusiastically on every subject, and often without reflection. Stanton +could not accommodate himself to this temperament. + +When the memorandum of the agreement between Johnston and Sherman +reached Stanton, he sent Grant to the general in hot haste, and then +published in the newspapers, which need not have known anything of the +affair, a full account of the unwise compact, and an indignant +repudiation of it by the Government. Naturally this brought down a +furious attack upon Sherman. All his past services were forgotten for a +time, and he was even called a "traitor." The public quickly saw the +injustice of this attitude; so did most of the men in the Government, +and they hastened to appease Sherman, who was violently incensed over +what he called Stanton's insult. I think he never forgave the Secretary. +When, on May 19th, he reached Washington with his army, which he had +marched northward across the battlefields of Virginia, he refused to +have anything to do with Stanton, although Grant tried his best to bring +about a reconciliation and the President and several members of the +Cabinet showed him every attention. + +I was, of course, curious to see what General Sherman would do in +passing before Mr. Stanton to take his place on the stand. The general +says in his Memoirs that, as he passed, Stanton offered his hand and he +refused to take it. He is entirely mistaken. I was watching narrowly. +The Secretary made no motion to offer his hand, or to exchange +salutations in any manner. As the general passed, Mr. Stanton gave him +merely a slight forward motion of his head, equivalent, perhaps, to a +quarter of a bow. + +In May I had been asked to become the editor of a new paper to be +founded in Chicago, the Republican. The active promoter was a Mr. Mack, +and the concern was organized with a nominal capital of five hundred +thousand dollars. Only a small part of this was ever paid up; a large +block of the stock was set aside as a bonus to induce a proper man to +become the editor. Mr. Mack had offered the post to me, and, through the +influence of the Hon. Lyman Trumbull and other prominent men of +Illinois, I was persuaded to accept it. In deciding on the change, I had +arranged to stay in Washington until I could finish the routine +business upon which I was then engaged, and until Mr. Stanton could +conveniently spare me. This was not until the 1st of July. On the first +day of the month I sent to the President my resignation as Assistant +Secretary of War, and a few days later I left the capital for Chicago. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[E] The secret cipher key was a model consisting of a cylinder, six +inches in length and two and one half in diameter, fixed in a frame, the +cylinder having the printed key pasted over it. By shifting the pointers +fixed over the cylinder on the upper portion of the frame, according to +a certain arrangement previously agreed upon, the cipher letter or +dispatch could be deciphered readily. The model was put in evidence at +the trial. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Army of the Cumberland reorganized, 126. + + Augur, General, and the spy, 183; + in command at Washington, 244. + + + Baltimore merchants arrested, 236. + + Banks, General, besieges Port Hudson, 80. + + Bates, Edward, impressions of, 171. + + Beauregard, General, 222. + + Blair, Montgomery, character, 170, 231. + + Booth, J. Wilkes, 281. + + Bragg, General, driven across the Tennessee, 104; + maneuvers to reach Chattanooga, 107-111; + evacuates Lookout Mountain, 148; + retreats, 151. + + Burnside, General, shut up in Knoxville, 135; + character, 138; + forces, 138; + repulses Longstreet, 154; + relieved by Sherman, 154; + transferred to command of Ninth Army Corps, 191. + + + Cairo, the claims commission, 12. + + Campbell, Judge, negotiations with President Lincoln, 266, 270. + + Canada, proposed Confederate expedition from, 243. + + Cedar Creek, 248. + + Champion Hill, 53. + + Chase, Salmon P., impressions of, 169. + + Chattanooga, defense of, 120; + battle, 143. + + Chickamauga, 111. + + Cipher dispatches, 22; + Confederate, 280. + + Cold Harbor, 208. + + Conkling, Roscoe, 17, 177, 263. + + Cotton speculation, 17. + + Crittenden, General, censured for conduct at Chickamauga, 122; + relieved, 126. + + + Dana, Charles A., resigns from the Tribune, 1; + first meeting with Lincoln, 2; + early correspondence with Stanton, 4-11; + commissioner of War Department, 21; + at the front with Grant, 30 _et seq._; + gets a horse, 45; + assistant adjutant general, 82; + Assistant Secretary of War, 103; + with the Army of the Cumberland, 105 _et seq._; + at Chattanooga, 132; + interview with Burnside at Knoxville, 138; + on duty at Washington, 156 _et seq._; + relations with Stanton, 159; + with the Army of the Potomac, 189 _et seq._; + with Sheridan in the valley, 248 _et seq._; + at Richmond, 263; + last interview with Lincoln, 274; + becomes editor of the Chicago Republican, 290. + + Davis, Jefferson, capture, 282; + imprisonment, 284. + + Drouillard, Captain, 116. + + + Early, General, menaces the capital, 228; + withdraws, 232. + + Everett, Edward, 182. + + + Five Forks, 263. + + Foster, General J. G., supersedes Burnside, 191. + + Frémont, General, 5, 6. + + + Garfield, General, 118. + + Grand Gulf, attack on, 42. + + Granger, General Gordon, in command at Nashville, 105; + at Chickamauga, 119; + at Missionary Ridge, 149; + fails to relieve Burnside, 152. + + Grant, General, impressions of, 15, 61; + conduct at Shiloh criticised, 15; + plan for Vicksburg campaign, 30; + self-control, 43; + invests Vicksburg, 56; + asks re-enforcements, 80; + enters Vicksburg, 99; + rapid mobilization of his army, 101; + at Chattanooga, 133; + at Missionary Ridge, 148; + made general in chief of the United States army, 186; + crosses the Rapidan, 187; + maneuvers against Lee, 200-207; + at Cold Harbor, 208; + charges of butchery, 209; + in camp at Cold Harbor, 213; + marches on Petersburg, 217 _et seq._; + prepares for siege, 224. + + + Halleck, General, obstructs Grant's plans, 156; + Grant's chief of staff, 186; + character, 187. + + Hancock, General, his energy, 190; + at Spottsylvania, 195; + advancing to Richmond, 201; + at Cold Harbor, 208. + + Herron, General, 70, 87. + + Hooker, General, ordered to Lookout Valley, 134; + at Lookout Mountain, 147. + + Hovey, General, 63, 217. + + Hudspeth, Mrs., gives evidence in conspiracy trial, 279. + + Humphreys, General, 192. + + Hunter, General, defeats Jones, 229; + Grant's defense of, 233. + + + Jackson, entered by United States army, 52. + + Johnson, Andrew, 105; + urges punishment of rebels, 269. + + Johnston, General J. E., threatens Grant during siege of Vicksburg, + 83, 84, 289. + + + Lee, General R. E., defeated in the Wilderness, 193; + maneuvers against Grant, 201-207; + Grant's estimate of, 215; + outwitted by Grant, 222; + driven from Petersburg, 263; + surrender, 271. + + Lincoln, President, impressions of, 171-185; + relations with his cabinet, 171; + as a politician, 174-181; + his mercifulness, 183; + visits the lines before Petersburg, 224; + re-election, 260; + seeming flippancy, 261; + in Richmond after surrender, 266; + propositions to Confederates, 267; + assassinated, 274. + + Logan, General, 53, 67. + + Longstreet, General, 119, 139. + + Lookout Mountain, 147. + + + McClellan, dissatisfaction with, 8; + absurd claims for, 9. + + McClernand, General, commands movement on Grand Gulf, 32; + his annoying delays and inefficiency, 59, 89; + removal, 90. + + McCook, General, censured for conduct at Chickamauga, 122; + relieved, 126. + + McPherson, General, in movement on Grand Gulf, 41; + at Raymond, 51; + ability, 58; + springs the mines before Vicksburg, 91. + + Meade, General, commands army of the Potomac, 189; + character and ability, 189; + before Petersburg, 221; + difficulties with subordinates, 226. + + Milliken's Bend, 86. + + Mississippi, reopening of, 30. + + Missionary Ridge, 148. + + "Morse," case of, 235. + + + Negro troops, their bravery, 86, 220. + + Nevada, why admitted, 174, 175. + + Newspaper correspondents, trouble with, 215. + + New York and Chicago, plans for burning, 241. + + + Ord, General, supersedes McClernand, 90. + + + Parsons, Colonel, 253. + + Pemberton, General, defeated at Champion's Hill, 53; + retreat and losses, 55; + asks for terms, 95; + humiliation, 96; + surrenders Vicksburg, 99. + + Porter, Admiral, runs the Vicksburg batteries, 36; + character, 85. + + Porter, General, halts fugitives at Chickamauga, 116. + + Port Gibson, 44. + + Presidential campaign of 1864, 260. + + + Railroads seized by the Government, disposition of, 255. + + Rawlins, Colonel J. A., and the Confederate Mason, 54; + character, 62, 72. + + Raymond, engagement at, 51. + + Richmond surrendered, 263; + evacuated, 264. + + Rosecrans, General, his delays, 104; + occupies Chattanooga, 107; + concentrates his army, 110; + at Chickamauga, 111; + prepares to defend Chattanooga, 120; + indecision and incapacity, 123, 127; + transferred to Department of the Missouri, 131. + + + Schofield, General, troops transferred, 252. + + Secret service, 235 _et seq._ + + Sedgwick, General John, 190. + + "Selby" and "Leenea" letters, 276, 277. + + Seward, Wm. H., impressions of, 168. + + Shepley, General, military governor of Richmond, 267, 270. + + Sheridan, General, at Chickamauga, 116; + at Chattanooga, 145; + at Missionary Ridge, 150; + major-general, 248; + affection of the army, 249; + wins at Five Forks, 263. + + Sherman, General, impressions of, 29; + commands a corps in Grant's army, 31; + destroys public property in Jackson, 53; + before Vicksburg, 57; + in pursuit of Johnston, 84; + ordered to join the forces at Chattanooga, 136; + bridges the Tennessee, 146; + at Missionary Ridge, 148; + relieves Burnside at Knoxville, 154; + letter on the relief passes, 165; + difficulties with Stanton, 289. + + Smith, General A. J., 64, 95, 97. + + Smith, General "Baldy," 206, 207, 208, 219. + + Spottsylvania, 195. + + Stanton, E. M., early correspondence with Dana, 4-11; + forbids army speculations in cotton, 20; + gives complete authority to Grant, 52; + appearance and character, 157; + relations with his subordinates, 159; + friction with Blair, 170; + arrests the Baltimore merchants, 236. + + Strouse, Congressman, case of, 159. + + + Table of Union losses, 210. + + Thomas, General, heads off the Confederates from Chattanooga, 111; + holds the field at Chickamauga, 118; + his high qualities and Stanton's esteem, 124; + supersedes Rosecrans, 131; + charge of his troops at Missionary Ridge, 150. + + Thompson, Jacob, 239, 273. + + "Turkey movement," 252. + + + Vicksburg, campaign plans, 25, 30; + batteries run, 36; + attack on, 56; + siege, 57, 78-99; + surrender, 99. + + Virginia Legislature, negotiations with President Lincoln, 267. + + + Wallace, General Lew, 229, 231. + + War Department, immense business, 161. + + Warren, General, 190, 202, 206, 209. + + Washburn, General, 71. + + Washington, panic at, 229. + + Watson, P. H., and the forage fraud, 162. + + Weitzel, General, in command at Richmond, 264, 266, 270. + + Welles, Gideon, impressions of, 170. + + Wilmot, David, 163. + + Wilson, General J. H., 137, 227. + + Wright, General, 191, 207, 208. + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + +Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been +retained except in obvious cases of typographical error. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Recollections of the Civil War, by Charles A. Dana + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42892 *** |