The Greater Republic Part 40

The government was insistent that McClellan should push his advance against Richmond, but the favorable autumn wore away and the wet season arrived before a plan of campaign was formulated. This was to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains from Harper's Ferry, following the southeastern side of the range, leaving detachments to guard all the pa.s.ses, and thus threaten the Confederate communications in the Shenandoah Valley.

McCLELLAN SUPERSEDED BY BURNSIDE.

Accordingly, on the 25th of October, the Army of the Potomac once more faced toward the Confederate capital. In the course of a week, it held the whole region southwest of the Blue Ridge and was near the army of General Lee, who fell back, cautiously followed at a safe distance by the Union commander. On the night of November 7th, while McClellan was talking in his tent with Burnside, a messenger arrived from Washington with an official order, relieving McClellan of the command of the Army of the Potomac and appointing Burnside as his successor. McClellan promptly turned over the care of the army to him, and, as directed, proceeded to Trenton, N.J., to await further orders.

It may be added that General McClellan never served again in the army.

He resigned in 1864, and was nominated the same year for President of the United States, but received only 21 electoral votes. He was Democratic governor of New Jersey 1878-1881, and died at his home in Orange, N.J., October 29, 1885.

Burnside, although a fine corps commander, was not qualified to command the splendid body over which he was thus placed. He devoted a number of days to acquainting himself with his vastly enlarged duties. The six corps were united into three divisions of two corps each, Sumner commanding the right, Hooker the centre, and Franklin the left, while General Sigel had charge of a body of reserve.

After consulting with General Halleck, it was decided that the Army of the Potomac should make a rapid march down the Rappahannock, cross by pontoon-bridges at Fredericksburg, and then advance upon Richmond by way of Hanover Court-House.

Everything depended upon initiating the movement before it was discovered by the enemy, but the delays, which perhaps were unavoidable, revealed the truth to Lee. When Sumner's division reached a point opposite Fredericksburg they saw the Confederates on the other side awaiting them. Still the force was so meagre that Sumner wished to cross and crush it, but Burnside would not permit. The delay gave Lee time to bring up his whole army and make his position impregnable. He stationed a battery some miles below the town to prevent any Union gunboats coming up stream, while every ford was closely guarded.

Burnside faltered before the position that was like a mountain wall, but the North was clamorous for something to be done, and he decided to make the hopeless attack. One hundred and forty-seven cannon were posted, on the night of December 10th, so as to command the town and cover the crossing of the river. Unable to prevent this, Lee made his preparations to annihilate the Unionists after they had crossed.

UNION DISASTER AT FREDERICKSBURG.

In the face of a brisk fire, a force was sent over the river and occupied the town, while Franklin laid his bridges two miles below and crossed without trouble. When the cold, foggy morning of December 13th broke, the whole Army of the Potomac was on the southern sh.o.r.e and the Confederate army was on the heights behind Fredericksburg.

As the fog had cleared to some extent, General Franklin advanced against the Confederate right, but, misunderstanding Burnside's order, he made only a feint. Fighting was kept up throughout the day, and once General Meade forced a gap in the enemy's line, but he was not reinforced, and was driven back with severe loss.

The attack on the right having failed, Sumner threw himself against the left. This required the seizure of Marye's Hill, and was hopeless from the first. As the Union troops emerged from the town they were in fair range of an appalling fire that mowed down scores. Still they pressed on with a courage that could not be surpa.s.sed until one-half lay dead and dying, when the rest staggered backward out of the furnace-blast of death. The gallant Hanc.o.c.k gathered up the fragments of the shattered line, and, uniting them with his own men, numbering 5,000 in all, he led a charge, which in a brief while stretched 2,000 dead or wounded. Still the survivors held their ground and were joined by others, who fell so fast that it was soon evident that every man would be killed. Then grimly remarking, "I guess we have had enough killed to satisfy Burnside," Hanc.o.c.k ordered the brave fellows to fall back.

Burnside was frantic over the repeated failures. He was determined that the heights should be carried, and ordered Hooker, his only remaining general, to do it. Hooker went across with his three divisions, made a careful reconnoissance, and saw that to carry out the command meant the ma.s.sacre of all his troops. He returned to Burnside and begged him to recall his order. He refused, and Hooker attempted to obey, leading 4,000 of as brave men as ever shouldered a musket; but before they could reach the stone wall 1,700 lay helpless on the icy earth and the remainder fled.

Had not night been at hand, Burnside would have ordered another charge and sacrificed hundreds of more lives, but he concluded to let the men live until the next morning. Already 1,200 had been killed, almost 10,000 wounded, and several thousand were missing. The commanders gathered around Burnside and insisted that the army should be brought across the river before it was annihilated, but he refused. He was resolved on sacrificing several thousand more under the ghastly name of a "charge." At last, however, he became more reasonable and listened to his officers. Perhaps the shrieks of the wounded, who lay for two days and nights where they had fallen without help, produced some effect in awaking him to a sense of his horrible blundering and incompetency, for, when the bleak, dismal morning dawned, the intended "charge" was not ordered. The Army of the Potomac had been wounded so well-nigh unto death that it could not stand another similar blow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LATEST MODEL OF GATLING GUN.]

On the cold, rainy night of December 15th, the wretched forces tramped back over the river on the pontoon-bridges, having suffered the worst defeat in the army's whole history. It was in the power of Lee to destroy it utterly, but it slipped away from him, just as it had slipped away from McClellan after the battle of Antietam.

The Union losses at Fredericksburg were: Killed, 1,284; wounded, 9,600; missing, 1,769; total, 12,653. The Confederate losses were: Killed, 596; wounded, 4,068; captured and missing, 651. Total, 5,315.

SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS.

The eventful year had been one of terrible fighting. It had opened with the Union successes of Forts Henry and Donelson, followed by Pea Ridge, Pittsburg Landing, and Corinth in the West, the naval battle between the _Merrimac_ and _Monitor_, the capture of Roanoke Island and of New Orleans. Bragg's invasion of Kentucky was injurious to the Union cause, while, as we have seen, the campaign against Richmond had been a series of disastrous failures. Still, taken as a whole, the year showed a decisive step forward. The Union line had been advanced across the State of Tennessee, substantial progress had been made in opening the Mississippi, and the blockade was enforced with a rigidity that caused great distress in the Confederacy.

Both sides felt the terrific strain of the war. The Confederacy in April pa.s.sed a conscription act, which made all able-bodied males between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years soldiers for the war. All such were taken from the control of the State of which they were residents and placed at the disposal of President Davis until the close of the war. This conscription act was soon made much more severe in its provisions.

THE CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS.

One source of help to the Confederacy was her privateers, which wrought immense damage to northern shipping. England a.s.sisted in fitting them out. Despite the protests of Minister Adams, many of these were allowed to put to sea. One of the first was the _Oreto_, afterward known as the _Florida_. She succeeded in eluding the blockade at Mobile, through flying the British flag, delivered her valuable freight, received her armament, and came forth again in the latter part of December and began her wholesale destruction of American merchantmen.

The privateer _Sumter_ was driven into Gibraltar, and so closely watched by the _Tuscarora_ that Captain Semmes, her commander, sold her, and made his way to England, where the English built for him the most famous privateer the Confederacy ever had--the _Alabama_--of which much more will be told further on.

THE EMANc.i.p.aTION PROCLAMATION.

The national government had learned by this time the full measurement of the gigantic task before it. By the close of the year, 1,300,000 volunteers had been called for, and the daily expenses amounted to $3,000,000. The conviction, too, was growing that slavery was the real cause of the war, and the time had come to treat it with less consideration than many leading officers and men whose patriotism could not be doubted were disposed to show toward the "peculiar inst.i.tution."

President Lincoln was one of the wisest men who ever sat in the executive chair, and none read so unerringly the signs of the times as he. The Abolitionists were impatient with his slowness, while many of the doubting thought he went too fast. He waited until the right hour, and then issued his Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH WAGON.]

This appeared soon after the battle of Antietam, and it is said was the fulfillment of the pledge President Lincoln had made to heaven that, if Lee's invasion was turned back, he would issue the great paper, which, in effect, would see free 4,000,000 bondsmen. In it he warned the seceding States that in every one which failed to return to its allegiance by the first of January, 1863, he would declare the slaves free. The warning was received with scorn, as was expected. From the date named, therefore, all the armed forces of the Union treated the slaves as free wherever encountered. Before long colored men were enlisted as soldiers and sailors, and they bore no inconsiderable part in the prosecution of the war.

"GREENBACKS."

It will be understood that the revenue of the government was altogether unequal to the vast demands upon it. Taxation was increased, and, in 1862, the government began the issue of its own paper money. The backs of the bills being printed in green ink, these bills were known as "greenbacks." They were made a legal tender, despite considerable opposition to the measure. The law gave any person owing a debt, no matter if contracted in gold and silver, the right to pay the same with greenbacks. Since it is impossible to regulate the value of money except by the law of supply and demand, the bills, as compared with gold, depreciated a good deal in value.

The act of February 25, 1862, authorized the issue of $150,000,000, and further issues were made on June 11, 1862, and March 3, 1863. The depreciation of greenbacks was such that the price of gold averaged 2.20 throughout 1864, and at one time reached 2.85. In other words, a greenback dollar was worth only thirty-five cents. Another method of raising money was through the sale of bonds, of which many millions were issued. To encourage their sale, the National Banking System was established in 1863. This required all banks that issued currency to deposit a slightly larger amount of bonds in Washington. Thus the banks were compelled to help the government by loaning it money.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL, JULY 1, 1862

Malvern Hill was a very strong position taken by General McClellan in his retreat before the army of Lee. General Lee made furious and repeated a.s.saults upon this well-nigh impregnable position, each time to meet an inevitable repulse, and in the end a defeat accompanied by severe losses, which necessitated his withdrawal to Richmond.]

CHAPTER XVII.

ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.

WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1863.

The Military Situation in the West--Siege and Capture of Vicksburg--The Mississippi Opened--Battle of Chickamauga--"The Rock of Chickamauga"--The Battle Above the Clouds--Siege of Knoxville--General Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of the Potomac--His Plan of Campaign Against Richmond--Stonewall Jackson's Stampede of the Eleventh Corps--Critical Situation of the Union Army--Death of Jackson--Battle of Chancellorsville--Defeat of Hooker--The Second Confederate Invasion--Battle of Gettysburg--The Decisive Struggle of the War--Lee's Retreat--Subsequent Movements of Lee and Meade--Confederate Privateering--Destruction of the _Nashville_--Failure of the Attacks on Charleston--The Military Raids--Stuart's Narrow Escape--Stoneman's Raid--Morgan's Raid in Indiana and Ohio.

There were now such immense armies in the field and military operations were conducted on so vast a scale that the reader must carefully study the situation in order to gain an intelligent idea of the progress of the momentous events. We will give our attention first to operations in the West.

THE SITUATION IN THE WEST.

There were four Union armies in that section. The first was the one under Rosecrans, which, on the opening days of the year, won the victory at Murfreesboro' or Stone River, an account of which is given in the preceding chapter. The second was near Holly Springs, under General Grant; a third was in New Orleans, under General Banks, who had succeeded General Butler; and the fourth was in Arkansas. The main object of all these armies was to open the Mississippi. When that should be accomplished, the Confederacy would be split in two. Hundreds of thousands of beeves were drawn from Texas and the country beyond the Mississippi, and to shut off this supply would be one of the most effective blows that could be struck against the rebellion.

GRANT BEFORE VICKSBURG.

General Sherman had failed to capture Vicksburg, and General Grant a.s.sumed command of the forces besieging it. He saw that the defenses facing the Mississippi and the lower part of the Yazoo were too powerful to be taken by storm. He decided as a consequence to turn the rear of the lines, and, securing an entrance into the upper part of the Yazoo, reach the rear of the batteries at Haines' Bluff.

In this important work he received valuable help from the ironclads of Admiral Porter. With one of them he opened communication with the squadron in the lower part of the Mississippi and disabled a Confederate steamer under the guns of Vicksburg. Two of the boats groped their way through the swamps and wooded creeks, where nothing more than canoes and dugouts had ventured before, obtained a great deal of cotton and burned much more, disregarded the torpedoes and fought the rebels along the banks, explored new routes, and in the end both were captured by the enemy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ADMIRAL PORTER.]