Twenty Years of Congress Volume I Part 25

PENNSYLVANIA.--_William E. Lehman_; John P. Verree; William D.

Kelley; William M. Davis; John Hickman; _Thomas B. Cooper_, died April 4, 1862; _John D. Stiles_, elected in place of Cooper, deceased; _Sydenham E. Ancona_; Thaddeus Stevens; John W. Killinger; James H. Campbell; _Hendrick R. Wright_; Philip Johnson; Galusha A. Grow, Speaker; James T. Hale; _Joseph Bailey_; Edward McPherson; Samuel S. Blair; John Covode; _Jesse Lazear_; James K. Moorhead; Robert McKnight; John W. Wallace; John Patton; Elijah Babbitt; _Charles J. Biddle_.

RHODE ISLAND.--William P. Sheffield; George H. Browne.

TENNESSEE.--GEORGE W. BRIDGES; ANDREW J. CLEMENTS; HORACE MAYNARD.

VERMONT.--Portus Baxter; Justin S. Morrill; Ezekiel P. Walton.

VIRGINIA.--Jacob B. Blair, elected in place of Carlile; William G.

Brown, John S. Carlile, elected Senator July, 1861; Joseph E. Segar; Charles H. Upton; Kililan V. Whaley.

WISCONSIN.--Luther Hanchett, died Nov. 24, 1862; Walter D. McIndoe, elected in place of Hanchett; John F. Potter; A. Scott Sloan.

_Territorial Delegates_.--Colorado, Hiram P. Bennett; Dakota, John B. S. Todd; Nebraska, Samuel G. Daily; Nevada, John Cradlebaugh; New-Mexico, John S. Watts; Utah, John M. Bernhisel; Washington, William H. Wallace.]

[**** It should be stated that the so-called "California" regiment of Colonel Baker was recruited princ.i.p.ally in Philadelphia from the young men of that city.]

CHAPTER XVI.

Second Session of Thirty-seventh Congress.--The Military Situation.

--Disaster at Ball's Bluff.--Death of Colonel E. D. Baker.--The President's Message.--Capital and Labor.--Their Relation discussed by the President.--Agitation of the Slavery Question.--The House refuses to re-affirm the Crittenden Resolution.--Secretary Cameron resigns.--Sent on Russian Mission.--Succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton.

--His Vigorous War Measures.--Victories in the Field.--Battle of Mill Spring.--General Order of the President for a Forward Movement.

--Capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.--Prestige and Popularity of General Grant.--Illinois Troops.--General Burnside's Victory in North Carolina.--Effect of the Victories upon the Country.--Continued Success for the Union in the South-West.--Proposed Celebration.-- The Monitor and the Merrimac.--Ericsson.--Worden.--Capture of New Orleans by Farragut.--The Navy.--Its Sudden and Great Popularity.

--Legislation in its Favor.--Battle of Shiloh.--Anxiety in the North.--Death of Albert Sidney Johnston.--General Halleck takes the Field.--Military Situation in the East.--The President and General McClellan.--The Peninsular Campaign.--Stonewall Jackson's Raid.--Its Disastrous Effect.--Fear for Safety of Washington.--Anti- Slavery Legislation.--District of Columbia.--Compensated Emanc.i.p.ation.

--Colonization.--Confiscation.--Punishment of Treason.

The first session of the Thirty-seventh Congress came to an end amid the deep gloom caused by the disastrous defeat at Bull Run.

The second session opened in December, 1861, under the shadow of a grave disaster at Ball's Bluff, in which the eloquent senator from Oregon, Edward D. Baker, lost his life. Despite these reverses the patriotic spirit of the country had constantly risen, and had increased the Union forces until the army was six hundred thousand strong. Winfield Scott had gone upon the retired list at the ripe age of seventy-five, and George B. McClellan had succeeded him in command of the army. The military achievements thus far had been scarcely more then defensive. The National Capital had been fortified; Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri had been wrenched from rebel domination; while on our Southern coast two landings had been effected by the Union troops,--the first at Hatteras in North Carolina, the second at Port Royal in South Carolina. There was serious danger of a division of popular sentiment in the North growing out of the Slavery question; there was grave apprehension of foreign intervention from the arrest of Mason and Slidell. The war was in its eighth month; and, strong and energetic as the Northern people felt, it cannot be denied that a confidence in ultimate triumph had become dangerously developed throughout the South.

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, 1861.

The message of Mr. Lincoln dealt with the situation in perfect candor. He did not attempt to withhold any thing or to color any thing. He frankly acknowledged that "our intercourse with foreign nations had been attended with profound solicitude." He recognized that "a nation which endured factious domestic division is exposed to disrespect abroad; and one party, if not both, is sure, sooner or later, to invoke foreign intervention." With his peculiar power of condensing a severe expression, he said that "the disloyal citizens of the United States have offered the ruin of our country in return for the aid and comfort which they have invoked abroad."

This offer was made on the presumption that some commercial or substantial gain would accrue to other nations from the destruction of the Republic; but Mr. Lincoln believed with confidence that "foreign governments would not in the end fail to perceive that one strong nation promises more durable peace, and a more extensive, valuable, and reliable commerce, than can the same nation broken into hostile fragments," and for this reason he believed that the rebel leaders had received from abroad "less patronage and encouragement than they probably expected."

The President dwelt with satisfaction upon the condition of the Border States, concerning whose course he had constantly exhibited the profoundest solicitude. He now informed Congress that "n.o.ble little Delaware led off right, from the first," and that Maryland, which had been "made to seem against the Union," had given "seven regiments to the loyal cause, and none to the enemy, and her people, at a regular election, have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a larger aggregate vote than they ever before gave to any candidate on any question." Kentucky, concerning which his anxiety had been deepest, was now decidedly, and, as he thought, "unchangeably, ranged on the side of the Union." Missouri he announced as comparatively quiet, and he did not believe she could be again overrun by the insurrectionists. These Border slave States, none of which "would promise a single soldier at first, have now an aggregate of not less than forty thousand in the field for the Union; while of their citizens certainly not more than a third of that number, and they of doubtful whereabouts and doubtful existence, are in arms against it." Beyond these results the President had some "general accounts of popular movements in behalf of the Union in North Carolina and Tennessee," and he expressed his belief that "the cause of the Union is advancing steadily and certainly Southward."

The one marked change in the popular opinion of the free States, now reflected in Congress, was in respect to the mode of dealing with Slavery. Mr. Lincoln was conservative, and always desired to keep somewhat in the rear rather than too far in advance of the public judgment. In his message he avoided all direct expression upon the Slavery question, but with the peculiar shrewdness which characterized his political discussion he announced a series of general truths respecting labor and capital which, in effect, were deadly hostile to the inst.i.tution. He directed attention to the fact the "the insurrection is largely if not exclusively a war upon the first principle of popular government--the rights of the people."

Conclusive evidence of this appeared in "the maturely considered public doc.u.ments as well as in the general tone of the insurgents."

He discerned a disposition to abridge the right of suffrage and to deny to the people the "right to partic.i.p.ate in the selection of public officers except those of the Legislature." He found indeed that "monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people." While he did not think it fitting to make "a general argument in favor of popular inst.i.tutions," he felt that he should scarcely be justified were he "to omit raising a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism." It was, he said, "the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in the structure of government," and it a.s.sumed "that labor is available only in connection with capital; that n.o.body labors unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor."

THE PRESIDENT'S ANTI-SLAVERY ARGUMENT.

Mr. Lincoln found that the next step in this line of argument raised the question, "whether it is best that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or buy them, and drive them to it without their consent?" thus leading to the conclusion that "all laborers are either hired laborers or what we call slaves," and that "whoever is once a hired laborer is fixed in that condition for life." From all these theories Mr. Lincoln radically dissented, and maintained that "labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." "No men living," said he, "are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty--none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to close the door of advancement, and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost." If Mr. Lincoln had directly attempted at that early stage of the contest to persuade the laboring men of the North that it was best for them to aid in abolishing Slavery, he would have seriously abridged the popularity of his administration.

He pursued the wiser course of showing that the spirit of the Southern insurrection was hostile to all free labor, and that in its triumph not merely the independence of the laborer but his right of self-defense, as conferred by suffrage, would be imperiled if not destroyed. Until the discussion reached the higher plane on which Mr. Lincoln placed it, the free laborer in the North was disposed to regard a general emanc.i.p.ation of the slaves as tending to reduce his own wages, and as subjecting him to the disadvantage of an odious contest for precedence of race. The ma.s.ses in the North had united with the Republican party in excluding Slavery from the Territories because the larger the area in which free labor was demanded the better and more certain was the remuneration.

But against a general emanc.i.p.ation Mr. Lincoln was quick to see that white laborers might be readily prejudiced by superficial reasoning, and hence he adduced the broader argument which appealed at once to their humanity, to their sense of manly independence, and to their instinct of self-preservation against the mastery and the oppression of capital.

The agitation of the Slavery question, while unavoidable, was nevertheless attended with serious embarra.s.sments to the Union cause. The great outburst of patriotism which followed the fall of Sumter contemplated a rally of the entire North for the defense of the Flag and the preservation of the Union. Neither political party was to take advantage of the situation, but all alike were to share in the responsibility and in the credit of maintaining the government inviolate. Every month however had demonstrated more and more that to preserve the government without interfering with Slavery would be impossible; and as this fact became clearly evident to the Republican vision, a large section of the Democratic party obdurately refused to acknowledge it or to consent to the measures which it suggested. It was apparent therefore within the first six months of the struggle that a division would come in the North, which would be of incalculable advantage to the insurrectionists, and that if the division should go far enough it would insure victory to the Confederate cause. If the Democratic party as a whole had in the autumn of the year 1861 taken the ground which a considerable section of it a.s.sumed, it would have been impossible to conduct the war for the Union successfully. Great credit therefore was due and was cordially given to the large element in that party which was ready to brave all the opprobrium of their fellow-partisans and to accept the full responsibility of co- operating with the Republicans in war measures.

Congress had hardly come together when the change of opinion and action upon the Slavery question became apparent. Mr. Holman of Indiana, reciting the Crittenden resolution which had been pa.s.sed the preceding session with only two adverse votes, offered a resolution that its principles "be solemnly re-affirmed by this House." Objection was made by several members. Mr. Thaddeus Stevens moved to lay the resolution on the table, and the motion prevailed on a yea and nay vote by 71 to 65. The majority were all Republicans. The minority was princ.i.p.ally made up of Democrats, but Republicans as conspicuous as Mr. Dawes of Ma.s.sachusetts and Mr. Sh.e.l.labarger of Ohio voted in the negative. The wide divergence between this action on the part of the Republicans on the third day of December, 1861, and that which they had taken on the preceding 22d of July, was recognized and appreciated by the country, and thus began the open division on the Slavery question which continually widened, which consolidated the Republican party in support of the most radical measures, and which steadily tended to weaken the Democratic party in the loyal States.

SECRETARY CAMERON RESIGNS.

At the height of the excitement in Congress over the engagement at Ball's Bluff there was a change in the head of the War Department.

The disasters in the field and the general impatience for more decisive movements on the part of our armies led to the resignation of Secretary Cameron. He was in his sixty-third year, and though of unusual vigor for his age, was not adapted by education or habit to the persistent and patient toil, to the wearisome detail of organization, to the oppressive increase of responsibility, necessarily incident to military operations of such vast proportions as were entailed by the progress of the war. He was nominated as Minister to Russia, and on the eleventh day of January, 1862, was succeeded in the War Department by Edwin M. Stanton.

Mr. Stanton signalized his entrance upon duty by extraordinary vigor in war measures, and had the good fortune to gain credit for many successes which were the result of arrangements in progress and nearly perfected under his predecessor. A week after he was sworn in, an important victory was won at Mill Springs, Kentucky, by General George H. Thomas. The Confederate commander, General Zollicoffer, was killed, and a very decisive check was put to a new development of Secession sympathy which was foreshadowed in Kentucky. A few days later, on the 27th of January, under the inspiration of Mr. Stanton, the President issued a somewhat remarkable order commanding "a general movement of the land and naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces on the 22d of February." He especially directed that the army at and about Fortress Monroe, the Army of the Potomac, the Army of Western Virginia, the army near Munfordsville, Kentucky, the army and flotilla at Cairo, and the naval force in the Gulf of Mexico be ready for a movement on that day. The order did not mean what was stated on its face. It was evidently intended to mislead somebody.

The Illinois colonel who had taken possession of Paducah in the preceding September was now known as Brigadier-General Grant. He had been made prominent by a daring fight at Belmont, Missouri, on the 7th of November (1861) against a largely superior force under the command of the Confederate General Pillow. For the numbers engaged it was one of the most sanguinary conflicts of the war.

The quarter-master of the expedition intimated to General Grant that in case of a reverse he had but two small steamers for transportation to the Illinois sh.o.r.e. The General's only reply was that in the event of his defeat "the steamers would hold all that would be left." He was now in command at Cairo, and co-operating with him was a flotilla of hastily constructed gunboats under the command of Flag-officer A. H. Foote of the navy. General Grant evidently interpreted Mr. Lincoln's order to mean that he need not wait until the 22d, and he began his movement of the first day of February.

By the 16th he had captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The flotilla had been more active than the troops, against Fort Henry, which was speedily evacuated, but Fort Donelson did not surrender until after a hard-fought land battle in which the characteristic tenacity, skill, and bravery of General Grant were for the first time fully shown to the country. "The victory achieved," he announced in his congratulatory order to the troops, "is not only great in the effect it will have in breaking down the rebellion, but has secured the greatest number of prisoners of war ever taken in a single battle on this continent." The number of prisoners exceeded ten thousand; forty pieces of cannon and extensive magazines of ordnance with military stores of all kinds were captured. The Confederate commander was General S. B. Buckner, who had joined the rebellion under circ.u.mstances which gained him much ill will in the Loyal States. Under a flag of truce he asked General Grant on the morning of the 16th for an armistice to "settle the terms of capitulation." General Grant's answer was, "No terms except unconditional surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately on your works." General Buckner felt himself "compelled to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms" which General Grant proposed. It is due to General Buckner to say that he had been left in a humiliating position. The two generals who ranked him, Gideon J. Pillow and John B. Floyd, seeing the inevitable, had escaped from the fort the preceding night with five thousand men, leaving to Buckner the mortification of surrender. In view of this fact the use of the term "unchivalrous" by the Confederate commander can be justly appreciated.

VICTORY AT FORT DONELSON.

The effect of the victory upon the country was electric. The public joy was unbounded. General Grant had become in a day the hero of the war. His fame was on every tongue. The initials of his name were seized upon by the people for rallying-cries of patriotism, and were woven into songs for the street and for the camp. He was "Unconditional Surrender," he was "United States," he was "Uncle Sam." Not himself only but his State was glorified. It was an Illinois victory. No less than thirty regiments from that State were in General Grant's command, and they had all won great credit.

This fact was especially pleasing to Mr. Lincoln. Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Kentucky were all gallantly represented on the field, but the prestige of the day belonged to Illinois. Many of her public men, prominent in political life before and since the war, were in command of regiments. The moral force of the victory was increased by the fact that so large a proportion of these prominent officers had been, like General Grant, connected with the Democratic party,--thus adding demonstration to a.s.surance that it was an uprising of a people in defense of their government, and not merely the work of a political party seeking to extirpate slavery. John A. Logan, Richard J. Oglesby, William R. Morrison, and William Pitt Kellogg were among the Illinois officers who shared in the renown of the victory. General Lewis Wallace commanded a division made up of Indiana and Kentucky troops, and was honorably prominent.

The total force under General Grant was nearly fifty regiments, furnishing about twenty-eight thousand men for duty. They had captured the strongest Confederate intrenchment in the West, manned by nearly seventeen thousand men. The defeat was a great mortification to Jefferson Davis. He communicated intelligence of the disaster to the Confederate Congress in a curt message in which he described the official reports of the battle as "incomplete and unsatisfactory,"

and stated that he had relieved Generals Floyd and Pillow from command.

Two important results followed the victory. The strong fortifications erected at Columbus, Kentucky, to control the pa.s.sage of the Mississippi, were abandoned by the Confederates; and Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, was surrendered to the Union army without resistance. The Confederate force at the latter point was under command of General Albert Sidney Johnston, who, unable to offer battle, sullenly retreated southward. If the Confederate troops had been withdrawn from Fort Donelson in season to effect a junction with Johnston at Nashville, that able general might have delivered battle there on terms possibly advantageous to his side. It was this feature of the case which rendered the loss of Donelson so serious and so exasperating to the Confederate Government, as shown in the message of Jefferson Davis.

Another victory for the Union was gained on the coast of North Carolina under the joint efforts of the army and the navy. General Burnside was in command of the former and Commodore Gouldsborough of the latter. The battle of Roanoke Island was fought the day after the capture of Fort Henry, and the Union victory led to a lodgment of the national forces on the soil of North Carolina, which was held firmly to the end. Events beyond the Mississippi were also favorable to the National Government. General Sterling Price had been the cause of much trouble in Missouri, where he was personally popular. He had led many young men into rebellion, and his efforts to carry the State into the Confederacy were energetic and unremitting. He had been dominating a large section of Missouri and creating grave apprehensions for its safety. On the 18th of February General Halleck, who had succeeded General Fremont in the command of the Western Department, telegraphed the Secretary of War: "General Curtis has driven Price from Missouri, and is several miles across the Arkansas line, cutting up Price's army and hourly capturing prisoners and stores. The Army of the South-West is doing its duty n.o.bly. The flag of the Union is floating in Arkansas."

These victories coming almost simultaneously produced a profound impression throughout the Loyal States. Men rushed to the conclusion that the war would be closed and the Union restored before the end of the year. The most sedate communities become mercurial and impressible in time of deep excitement. The rejoicing was universal.

Congress ordered the illumination of the Capitol and other public buildings in Washington on the 22d of February "in honor of the recent victories of our army and navy;" and "as a mark of respect to the memory of those who had been killed and in sympathy with those who have been wounded" the House of Representatives on the 19th of February, on the motion of Mr. Washburne of Illinois, adjourned without transacting business. The flags taken in the recent victories were to be publicly exhibited, and a day of general congratulation was to be a.s.sociated with the memory of Washington and "the triumph of the government which his valor and wisdom had done so much to establish." In the midst of the arrangements for this celebration, the members of the Cabinet jointly communicated to Congress on the 21st of February the intelligence that "the President of the United States is plunged into affliction by the death of a beloved child." Congress immediately ordered that the illumination of the public buildings be omitted, and "entertaining the deepest sentiments of sympathy and condolence with the President and his family," adjourned. The reading of Washington's Farewell Address on the 22d, before the two Houses, was the only part accomplished of the brilliant celebration that had been designed.

THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC.

A fortnight later, on the 8th of March (1862), came the remarkable engagement in Hampton Roads between the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_.

The former vessel arrived at Fortress Monroe after the _Merrimac_ had destroyed the United-States sloop-of-war _c.u.mberland_ and the frigate _Congress_, and had driven the steam-frigate _Minnesota_ aground just as darkness put an end to the fight. On Sunday morning, March 9, the _Merrimac_ renewed her attack upon the _Minnesota_, and was completely surprised by the appearance of a small vessel which, in the expressive description of the day, resembled a cheese- box on a raft. She had arrived from New York at the close of the first day's fight. From her turret began a furious cannonade which not only diverted the attack from the _Minnesota_ but after a ferocious contest of many hours practically destroyed the _Merrimac_, which was compelled to seek the shelter of Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point, and never re-appeared in service. The relief to the North by this victory was incalculable. Not only had the _Merrimac_ been stopped in her expected bombardment of Northern cities, but the success of the _Monitor_ a.s.sured to the government a cla.s.s of armor-plated vessels that could be of great value in the coast service to which our naval operations were princ.i.p.ally confined. Against land batteries they would prove especially formidable. Ericsson who constructed the _Monitor_ and Lieutenant Worden who commanded her, divided the honors, and were everywhere regarded as having rendered an invaluable service to the country.

The modesty and heroism of Worden secured him an unbounded share of popular admiration and respect.

In the ensuing month of April the navy performed another great service by the capture of New Orleans. The fleet was in command of Captain Farragut, and successfully pa.s.sed the fortifications which had been erected by the National Government to prevent a foreign foe from entering the Mississippi. New Orleans made no resistance to the approach of the fleet, and General B. F. Butler, in command of the Department of the Gulf, established his headquarters in the city. The importance of this conquest to the Union cause could hardly be estimated. It enabled the government to embarra.s.s the trans-Mississippi States in their support of the rebel army, and thus inflicted a heavy blow upon the fortunes of the Confederacy.

New Orleans in the control of the National Government was easy to defend, and it afforded a base of offensive operations in so many directions that no amount of vigilance could antic.i.p.ate the attacks that might be made by the Union forces.

Viewed in connection with the effective work of Flag-officer Foote in supporting General Grant in the Henry and Donelson campaign, and of Gouldsborough in supporting Burnside on the coast of North Carolina, these later and greater achievements of the navy served to raise that branch of the service in popular esteem. Besides the intrinsic merit which attached to the victories, they had all the advantage of a genuine surprise to the public. Little had been expected from the navy in a contest where the field of operation seemed so restricted. But now the people saw that the most important post thus far wrenched from the Confederacy had been taken by the navy, and that it was effectively sustaining and strengthening the army at all points. It was no longer regarded as a mere blockading force, but was menacing the coast of the Confederate States, penetrating their rivers, and neutralizing the strength of thousands of Rebel soldiers who were withdrawn from armies in the field to man the fortifications rendered necessary by this unexpected form of attack. These facts made a deep impression of Congress. Since the close of the second war with Great Britain the navy had enjoyed no opportunity for distinction. The war with Mexico was wholly a contest on land, and for a period of forty-five years the navy of the United States had not measured its strength with any foe.

Meanwhile however it had made great advance in the education and training of its officers and in the general tone of the service.

Under the secretaryship of George Bancroft, the eminent historian, (in the cabinet of Mr. Polk,) an academy had been established at Annapolis for the scientific training of naval officers. By this enlightened policy, inaugurated if not originally conceived by Mr.

Bancroft, naval officers had for the first time been placed on an equal footing with the officers of the army who had long enjoyed the advantages of the well-organized and efficient school at West Point. The academy had borne fruit, and at the outbreak of the war, the navy was filled with young officers carefully trained in the duties of their profession, intelligent in affairs, and with an _esprit de corps_ not surpa.s.sed in the service of any other country. Their efficiency was supplemented by that of volunteer officers in large numbers who came from the American merchant marine, and who in all the duties of seamanship, in courage, capacity, and patriotism, were the peers of any men who ever trod a deck.

Congress now realized that a re-organization of the naval service was necessary, that the stimulus of promotion should be more liberally used, the pride of rank more generously indulged. An Act was therefore pa.s.sed on the 16th of July greatly enlarging the scope of the naval organization and advancing the rank of its officers. Farragut had won his magnificent triumph at New Orleans while holding the rank of captain,--the highest then known to our service,--and Worden had achieved his great fame at Hampton Roads with the commission of a lieutenant. David D. Porter, with no higher rank, had been exercising commands which in any European government would have been a.s.signed to an admiral. Perhaps no navy in the world had at that time abler officers than ours, while the rank and emolument, except for the lowest grades, was shamefully inadequate. The old navy had only the ranks of pa.s.sed-midshipman, lieutenant, commander, and captain. The new law gave nine grades, --midshipman, ensign, master, lieutenant, lieutenant-commander, commander, captain, commodore, and rear-admiral. The effect of the increased rank was undoubtedly stimulating to the service and valuable to the government. Two higher grades of vice-admiral and admiral were subsequently added, and were filled by Farragut and Porter to whom in the judgment of the Department special and emphatic honor was due. The navy had conquered its own place in the public regard, and had performed an inestimable service in the contest against the rebellion.

THE DESPERATE BATTLE OF SHILOH.

The brilliant success in the early spring, both of the army and navy, was unfortunately not continued in the subsequent months.

General Grant, after the fall of Nashville, marched southward to confront the army of General A. S. Johnston, and on the 6th and 7th of April a terrible battle was fought at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The battle was originally called by that name in the annals of the Union, but the t.i.tle of "Shiloh" given to it by the Confederate authorities, is the one more generally recognized in history. In the first day's engagement the Union army narrowly escaped a crushing defeat; but before the renewal of the contest on the following morning General Buell effected a junction with the forces of General Grant, and the two, united, recovered all the lost ground of the day before and gained a substantial victory for the Union, though at great cost of life. The Union army lost some eighteen hundred men killed and nearly eight thousand wounded.

The Confederate loss was not less. There is no doubt that General Grant was largely outnumbered on the first day, but after the junction of Buell he probably outnumbered the Confederates. Sixty thousand was perhaps the maximum of the Union forces on the second day, while the Confederate army, as nearly as can be ascertained, numbered fifty thousand. One great event of the battle was the death of Albert Sidney Johnston, a soldier of marked skill, a man of the highest personal character. Jefferson Davis made his death the occasion of a special message to the Confederate Congress, in which he said that "without doing injustice to the living, our loss is irreparable." The personal affliction of Mr. Davis was sore.

The two had been at West Point together, and had been close friends through life. William Preston Johnston, son of the fallen General, a young man of singular excellence of character and of most attractive personal traits, was at the time private secretary to Mr. Davis.

He has since been widely known in the South in connection with its educational progress.

Deep anxiety had preceded the battle throughout the North, and the relief which followed was grateful. It was made the occasion by the President for a proclamation in which the people were asked "to a.s.semble in their places of public worship and especially acknowledge and render thanks to our Heavenly Father for the successes which have attended the Army of the Union." But after the first flush of victory, the battle became the subject of controversy in the newspapers. Criticism of officers was unsparing, the slaughter of our soldiers was exaggerated, crimination and recrimination were indulged in respecting the conduct of troops from certain States.

General Grant was accused of having been surprised and of having thereby incurred a danger which narrowly escaped being a defeat.

The subject was brought into Congress and warmly debated. Senator Sherman of Ohio introduced a resolution calling for all the reports from the officers in command, and made a speech defending the conduct of the Ohio troops, upon which some reflections had been inconsiderately and most unjustly cast. Mr. Elihu Washburne made an elaborate speech in the House on the 2d of May, in which he gave a full account of the battle, and defended General Grant with much warmth against all possible charges which, either through ignorance or malice, had been preferred against him for his conduct of the battle. This speech, which was of great value to General Grant, both with the Administration and the country, laid the foundation of that intimate friendship which so long subsisted between him and Mr. Washburne. Mr. Richardson of Illinois followed his colleague, and expressed his disgust with even the introduction of the subject in Congress. He felt that our armies would gain more renown and secure greater victories if the "Riot Act" could be read, and both Houses of Congress dispersed to their homes at the very earliest moment.