Southern history of the war. The second year of the war

Front matter

Class

Book '-yyeX

' f

Chapter I

The New Orleans Disaster. — Its Consequences and Effects. — Dispatches of the European Commissioners. — Butler "the Beast."— Public Opinion in Europe.— The Atrocities of the Massachusetts Tyrant. — Execution of Mumford. — Lesson of New Orleans. — Spirit of Resistance in the South. — Change in the Fortunes of the Confederacy. — Two Leading Causes for it. — The Eichmond "Examiner." — The Conscription Law. — Governor Brown of Georgia. — Eeorganization of the Army. — Abandonment of our Frontier Defences. — The Policy of Concentration. — Governor Eector's Appeal. — First Movements of the Summer Campaign in Virginia. — The Eetreat from Yorktown. — Evacuation of Norfolk. — Destruction of the "Virginia." — Commodore Tatnall's Eeport.— Secretary Mallory's Visit to Norfolk. — The Engagement of Williamsburg. — The Affair of Barh^msville. — McClellan's Investment of the Lines of the Chickahominy. — Alarm in Eichmond. — The Water Avenue of the James. — The Panic in Official Circles. — Consternation in the President's House. — Correspondence between President Davis and the Legislature of Virginia. — Noble Eesolutions of the Legislature. — Eesponse of the Citizens of Richmond. — The Bombardment of Drewry's Bluff. — The Mass Meeting at the City Hall. — Renewal of Public Confidence. — The Occasions of this. — Jackson's Campaign in the Valley. — The Engagement of McDowell. — The Surprise at Front Royal. — Banks' Retreat down the Valley. — The Engagements of Port Republic. — Eesults of the Campaign. — Death of Turner Ashby. — Sufferings of the People of the Valley of the Shenandoah. — Memoir of Tukner AsHBY Page 17

CHAPTER H.

The Situation of Richmond. — Its Strategic Importance. — What the Yankees had done to secure Eichmond. — The Battle of Seven Pines. — Miscarriage of Gen. Johnston's Plans. — The Battles of the Chiokahomint. — Storming of the Enemy's Intrenchments. — McClellan driven from his Northern Line of Defences. — The Situation on the other Side of the Chickahominy. — Magruder's Comment. — The Affair of Savage Station. — The Battle of Frazier's Farm. — A Terrible Crisis. — Battle of Malvern Hill. — The Enemy in Communication with his Gunboats. — The Failure to cut him off. — Glory and Fruits of our Victory. — Misrepresentations of the Yankees. — Safety of Eichmond. — The War in other Parts of the Confederacy.— The Engagement of Secessionville. — The Campaign of the West. — The Evacuation of Corinth. — More Yankee Falsehoods. — Capture of Memphis. — The Prize of the Mississippi. — Statistics of its Navigation. — Siege of Vicksburg. — Heroism of " the Queen City."— Morgan's Raid into Kentucky.— The Tennessee and Virginia Frontier. — Prospects in the West. — Plan of Campaign there Page 69

C0NTKNT3.

Chapter III

EflFect of McCIellan'8 Defeat in the North.— Call for more Troops.— "Why the North was not easily dispirited. — The War as a Money Job. — Note: Gen. Washington's Opinion of New Enirland.— The Yankee Finances.— Exasperation of Hostilities. — The Yankee Idea of a " Vigorous Prosecution of the War." — Ascendancy of the Radicals. — War Measures at Wasliington. — Anti-Slavery Aspects of the War. — Brutality of the Yankees. — The Insensibility of Europe.— Yankee Chaplains in Virginia.— Seizures of Private Property. — Pope's Orders in Virginia. — Steinwehr's Order respecting Hostages.— The Character and Services of Gen. John Pope.— The " Army of Virginia."— Irruption of the Northern Spoilsmen.— The Yankee Trade in Counterfeit Confederate Notes. — Pope's " Chasing the Rebel Hordes." — Movement against Pope by " Stonewall" Jackson. — Battle of Cedar Mountain.— McClellan recalled from the Peninsula.— The Third Grand Army of the North. — Jackson's Surprise of the Enemy at Manassas. — A Rapid and Masterly Movement. — Change of the Situation. — Attack by the Enemy upon Bristow Station and at Manassas Junction. — Marshalling of the Hosts.— Longstreet's Passage of Thoroughfare Gap.^The Plans of Gen. Lee.— Spirit of our Troops.— Their Painful Marches.- The Second Battle of Manassas.— A terrible Bayonet Charge.— Rout of the Enemy.— A hideous Battle-field.— Gen. Lee and the Summer Campaign of Virginia. — Jackson's Share in it. — E.xtent of the Great Victory of Manassas.— Excitement in Washington. — The Yankee Army falls back upon Alexandria and Washington. — Review of the Situation. — Rapid Change in our Military Fortunes. — What the South had accomplished. — Comparison of Material Strength between North and South.— Humiliating Result to the W.irlike Reputation of the North •' Page 82

Chapter IV

Rescue of Virginia from the Invader.— Gen. Loring's Campaign in the Kanawha Valley.— A Novel Theatre of the War.— Gen. Lee's Passage of the Potomac— His Plans.— Disposition of our Forces.— McClellan again at the Head of the Yankee ^riny. — The Battle of Boonsboeo'. — The Capture of Harper's Ferry. — Its Fruits —The Battle of Sharpsburo.— Great Superiority of the Enemy's Numbers. — Fury of the Battle.— The Bridge of Antietam.— A Drawn Battle.— Spectacles of Carnage.— The Unburied Dead.— Gen. Lee retires into Virginia.- McClellan's Pretence of Victory.— The Affair of Shepherdstown.— Charges against McClellan.— His Disgrace. — Review of the Maryland Campaign. — Misrepresentations of G«n, Lee's Objects. — His Retreat.— Comment of the New York " Tribune."— The Cold Reception of the Confederates in Maryland.— Excuses for the Timidity of the Marylanders.- What was accomplished by the Summer Campaign of 1862.— The Outburst of Applause in Europe.— Tribute from the London " Times."— Public Opinion in England.— Distinction between the People and the Government.— The Mask of England.— Our Foreign Relations in the War.— An Historical Parallel of Secession.— Two Remarks on the "Neutrality" of Europe.— The Yankee Blockade and the Treaty of Paris.— The Confederate Privateers.— Temper of the South.— Fruits of the Blockade Page 123

CHAPTER Y.

Movements in the West.— The splendid Programme of the Yankees.— Kentucky the critical Point.— Gen. Kirby Smith's Advance into Kentucky.— The Battle of Richmond.— Reception of the Confederates in Lexington.— Expectation of an Attack

CONTENTS. 7

on Cinciunati. — Gen. Bragjg's Plans. — Smith's Movement to Bragg's Lines. — Escape of the Yankee Forces from Cumberland Gap.— Affair of Munfordsville.— Gen. Bragjj between the Enemy and the Ohio. — An Opportunity for a decisive Blow.— Buell's Escape to Louisville. — The Inauguration of Governor at Frankfort. — An idle Ceremony.— Probable Surprise of Gen. Bragg.— The Battle of Perryville.— Its Immediate Kesults in our Favor. — Bragg's failure to concentrate his Forces. — His Resolution of Eetreat. — Scenes of the Retreat from Kentucky. — Errors of the Campaign. — A lame Excuse. — Public Sentiment in Kentucky. — The Demoralization of that State. — The Lessons of Submission Page 148

CHAPTER YI.

Our Lines in the Southwest. — Gen. Breckenridge's Attack on Baton Rouge.— Destruction of the Ram Arkansas. — Gen. Price's Reverse at luka. — Desperate Fighting. — The Battle of Cokinth. — Van Doru's hasty Exultations. — The Massacre of College nill. — Wild and terrible Courage of the Confederates. — Our Forces beaten Back. — Our Lines of Retreat secured. — The Military Prospects of the South overshadowed. — The Department of the Tbans-Mississippi. — Romance of the War in Missouri. — Schofield's Order calling out the Militia. — Atrocities of the Yankee Rule in Missouri. —Robbery without "Red Tape."— The Guerrilla Campaign.— The Affair of Kirk sville. — Execution of Col. McCuUough. — The Affair of Lone Jack. — Timely Reinforcement of Lexington by the Yankees. — The Palmyra Massacre. — The Question of Retaliation with the South. — The Military and Political Situation. — Survey of the Military Situation. — Capture of Galveston by the Yankees. — The Enemy's Naval Power. — His Iron-clads. — Importance of Foundries in the South. — Prospect in the Southwest. — Prospect in Teiniessee. — Prospect in Virginia. — Stuart's Raid into Pennsylvania. — Souvenirs of Southern Chivalry. — The "Soft- mannered Rebels." — Political Complexion of the War in <he North. — Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation." — History of Yankee Legislation in the War. — Political Error of the Emancipation Proclamation. — Its Effect on the South. — The Decay of European Sympathy with the Abolitionists. — What the War accomplished for Negro Slavery in the South. — Yankee Falsehoods and Bravadoes in Europe. — Delusion of Conquering the South by Starvation. — Caricatures in the New York Pictorials. — The noble Eloquence of Hunger and Rags. — Manners in the South. — Yankee Warfare. — The Desolation of Virginia. — The Lessons of harsh Necessity. — Improvement of the Civil Administration of the Confederacy. — Ordnance, Manufacturing Kesources, Quartermasters' Supplies, etc Page 164

CHAPTER YII.

The Heroism of Virginia. — Her Battle-fields. — Burnside's Plan of Campaign. — Calculations of his Movement upon Fredericksburg. — Failure to surprise Gen. Lee. — The Battle of Fredericksburg. — The Enemy crossing the River. — Their Bombardment of the Town. — Scenes of Distress. — The Battle on the Eight Wing. — The Story of Marye's Heights. — Repulse of the Enemy. — The old Lesson of barren Victory. — Death of Gen. Cobb. — Death of Gen. Gregg. — Romance of the Story of Fredericksburg. — Her noble Women. — Yankee Sacking of the Town. — A Specimen of Yankee Warfare in North Carolina. — Designs of the Enemy in this State. — The Engagements of Kinston. — Glance at other Theatres of the War. — Gen. Hindman's Victory at Prairie Grove. — Achievements of our Cavalry in the West. — The Affair of Hartsville. — Col. Clarkson's Expedition. — Condition of Events at the Close of the Year 1862 Page IW-

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER YIIL

The eastern Portion of Tennessee. — Its Military Importance. — Composition of Bragg's Army. — The Battle of Murfbeesboro'. — The Eight Wing of the Enemy routed. — Bragg's Exultations. — The Assault of the 2d of January. — " The bloody crossing of Stone River." — The Confederates fall back to TuUahoma. — Review of the Battle-field of Murfreesboro'.— Repulse of the Enemy at Vicksburg.— The Reoap- TiTRE OF Galveston. — The Midnight March. — Capture of the " Harriet Lane." — Arkansas Post taken by the Yankees. — Its Advantages. — The affair of the Rams in Charleston Harbor. — Naval structure of the Confederacy. — Capture of the Yankee gunboat " Queen of the West." — Heroism of George Wood. — Capture of the " Indianola."— The War on the Water. — The Confederate Cruisers. — Prowess of the " Alabama." Page 204

CHAPTER IX.

An extraordinary Lull in the War. — An Affair with the Enemy on the Blackwater. — Raids in the West. — Van Corn's Captures. — The Meeting of Congress. — Character of this Body. — Its Dulness and Servility. — Mr. Foote and the Cabinet. — Two Popular Themes of Confidence. — Party Contention in the North. — Successes of the Democrats there. — Analysis of the Party Politics of the North. — The Interest of New England in the War. — How the War affected the Northwestern Portions of the United States. — Mr. Foote's Resolutions respecting the Northwestern States. — How they were received by the Southern Public. — New War Measures at Washington. — Lincoln a Dictator. — Prospect of Foreign Interference.— Action of the Emperor Napoleon. — Suffering of the Working Classes in England. — The Delusions of an early Peace. — The Tasks before Congress. — Prostrate Condition of the Confederate Finances. — President Davis's Blunder. — The Errors of our Financial System. — The Wealth of the South. — The Impressment Law of Congress. — Scarcity of Supplies. — Inflated Prices. — Speculation and Extortion in the Confederacy. — Three Remarks about these. — The Verdict of History Page 225

CHAPTER X.

■ Character of Military Events of the Spring of 1863. — Repulse of the Enemy at Fort McAllister. — The Siege of Vicksburg. — The Yazoo Pass Expedition. — Confederate Success at Fort Pemberton. — The Enemy's Canals, or " Cut-offs." — Their Failure. — Bombardment of Port Hudson. — Destruction of "The Mississippi." — A Funeral Pyre. — Happy Effects of our Victory. — A Review of the line of inland Hostilities. — Hooker's hesitation on the Rappahannock. — The Assignment of Confederate commands west of the Mississippi. — The Affair of Kelly's Ford. — Death of Major Pelham.— Naval Attack on Charleston. — Destruction of " The Keokuk." — Scenery of the Bombardment. — Extent of the Confederate Success. — Events in Tennessee and Kentucky. — Pegram's Reverse. — The Situation of Hostilities at the close of April, 1862 Page 238

CHAPTER XI.

Close of the Second Year of the War. Propriety of an Outline of some succeeding Events.— Cavalry Enterprises of the Enemy.— The raids in Mississippi and Virginia.— Sketch Off THE Battles of the Rapfahannook.— The Enemy's Plan of Attack.

CONTENTS. 9

— The Fight at Chancellorsville. — The Splendid Charge of" Stouewall" Jacksou. — The Fight at Fredericksburg. — The Fight at Salem Church. — Summary of our Victory. — Death of " Stonewall" Jackson. — His Character and Services Page 254

CHAPTER XII.

A Period of Disasters. — Departicent of the Mississippi. — Grant's March upon Vicksburg. — Its Steps and Incidents. — The Engagement of Port Gibson. — The Evacuation of Jackson. — The Battle of Baker's Creek. — Pemberton's Declarations as to the Defence of Vicksburg. — A grand Assault upon the " Heroic City." — Its Eepulse. — The Final Surrender of Vicksburg. — How the Public Mind of the South was shocked. — Consequences of the Disaster. — How it involved affairs on the Lower Mississippi. — Other Theatres of the War. — The Campaign in Pennsylvania and Maryland. — Hooker manceuvred out of Virginia. — The Recapture of Winchester. — The Second Invasion of the Northern Territory. — The Alarm of the North. — Gen. Lee's object in the Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania. — His Essays at Conciliation. — The Error of such Policy. — The advance of his Lines into Pennsylvania. — The Battle of Gettysburg. — The Three Days' Engagements. — Death of Barksdale. — Pickett's splendid Charge on the Batteries. — Eepulse of the Confederates. — Anxiety and Alarm in Eichmond. — Lee's safe Eetreat into Virginia. — Mystery of his Movement. — Eecovery

of the Confidence of the South Review of the Present Aspects of the

War. — Comparison between the Disasters of 1862 and those of 1863. — The Vitals of the Confederacy yet untouched. — Eeview of the Civil Administration. — President Davis, his Cabinet, and his Favorites. — His private Quarrels. — His Deference to European Opinion. — Decline of the Finances of the Confederacy. — Eeasons of their Decline. The Confederate Brokers. — The Blockade Eunuers. — The Disaffections of Propertyholders. — The Spirit of the Army. — The Moral Resolution of the Confederacy. — How the Enemy has strengthened it. — The Prospects of the Future Page 269

CHAPTER XHL

REVIEW — POLITICAL IDEAS IN THE NORTH, &C.

The Dogma of Numerical Majorities.— Its Date in the Yankee Mind. — Demoraliza<- tion of the Idea of the Sovereignty of Numbers. — Experience of Minorities in American Politics. — Source of the Doctrine of " Consolidation." — The Slavery Question the logical Eesult of Consolidation. — Another Aspect of Consolidation in the Tariff. — Summary of the Legislation on the Tariff.— A Yankee Picture of the Poverty of the South.— John C. Calhoun. — President Davis's Opinion of his School of Politics. — "Nullification," as a Union Measure.— Mr. Webster's "Four Exhaustive Propositions."— The True Interpretation of the Present Struggle of the South.— The Northern Idea of the Sovereignty of Numbers.— Its Eesults in this War.— President Lincoln's Office. — The Eevenge of the Yankee Congress upon the People. — The easy Surrender of their Liberties by the Yankees.— Lincoln and Cromwell.— Explanation of the Political Subserviency in the North.— Superficial Political Education of the Yankee.— His " Civilization."— The Moral Nature of the Yankee unmasked by the War.- His new Political System.— Burnside's "Death Order."— A Bid for Confederate Scalps.— A new Interpretation of the War.— The North as a Parasite.— The Foundations of the National Independence of the South.— Present Aspects of the War.— Its extenu;! Condition and Morals.— The Spirit of the South and the Promises of the Future Page 292

10 CONTENTS.

Appendix

I. The Seven Days' Contests : June 25-July 1, 1862. — By a Prussian Officer in the Confederate Army Page 309

II. The Battle of Gettysbukg and thk Campaign in Pennsylvania. — Diary of an English Officer in the Confederate Army .Page 826

Chbonologt Page 875

THE SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR.

Chapter I

The New Orleans Disaster. — Its Consequences and Effects. — Dispatches of the European Commissioners. — Butler "the Beast." — Public Opinion in Europe. — The Atrocities of the Massachusetts Tyrant. — Execution of Muuiford. — Lesson of New Orleans. — Spirit of Resistance in the South. — Change in the Fortunes of the Confederacy. — Two Leading Causes for it. — The Eichmond " Examiner." — The Conscription Law. — Governor Brown of Georgia. — Reorganization of the Army. — Abandonment of our Frontier Defences. — The Policy of Concentration. — Governor Rector's Appeal. — First Movements of the Summer Campaign in Virginia. — The Retreat from Yorktown. — Evacuation of Norfolk. — Destruction of the "Virginia." — Commodore Tatnall's Report.— Secretary Mallory's Visit to Norfolk. — The Engagement of Williamsburg. — The Affair of Barhamsville. — McClellan's Investment of the Lines of the Chickahominy. — Alarm in Eichmond. — The Water Avenue of the James. — The Panic in Official Circles. — Consternation in the President's House. — Correspondence between President Davis and the Legislature of Virginia. ^Noble Resolutions of the Legislature. — Response of the Citizens of Richmond. —The Bombardment of Drcwry's Bluff. — The Mass Meeting at the City Hall.— Renewal of Public Confidence.— The Occasions of this. — Jackson's Campaign in the Valley. — The Engagement of McDowell. — The Surprise at Front Royal. — Banks' Retreat down the Valley. — The Engagements of Port Republic. — Results of the Campaign. — Death of Turner Ashby. — Sulierings of the People of the Valley of the Shenandoah. — Memoir or Turner

ASHBY.

Thr fall of New Orleans was one of the most extraordinary triumphs which the enemy had ohtained. It waS the crowning stroke of that extraordinary campaign of the winter and spring of the year 1862, in which, by the improvidence of the Southern authorities, and a false military policy which divided their armies and weakened them by undue dispersion, they had lost much of their territory, most of the prestige of their arms, and had fallen upon a train of disasters well calculated to affect the general public, both at home and abroad. The close of this campaign, so ill-starred to the Confederacy, found it with scarcely more than three entire States — Texas, Alabama, and Georgia. Large portions of the territories of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida were occupied by the enemy ; he had broken our line of defences in Tennessee, and held im-

18 THE Sl'X'OND YEAR OF THE WAR.

portant positions on the Upper Mississippi ; and now, by the capture of New Orleans, he had secured the great Southern depot of tlie trade of the immense central valley of the continent, obtained command of an extent of territory accessible by his gunboats greater than the entire country before lost to the Confederacy, and had good reason to hope, by the junction of his fleets on the Mississippi, to open its navigation, and give to the West an outlet to the ocean.

The conquests of the Federal arms made in the winter and spring of 1862, were not without their effect in Europe, and presented to the nations in that part of the world a sombre picture of the Confederacy. The dispatches of our ministers at the courts of England and France declared that the prospect of recognition, of which they had formerly given such warm and sanguine assurances, had been overclouded by the disaster at In ew Orleans. Mr. Slidell wrote from Paris that the French government declared that " if New Orleans had not fallen, our recognition could not have been much longer delayed." He added, however, that he had been assured that " even after that disaster, if we obtained decided successes in Yirginia and Tennessee, or could hold the enemy at bay a month or two, the same result would follow" — a promise, to the breach of which, and to the unhappy expectations which it excited, we shall hereafter have occasion to refer. Mr. Mason, our minister at London, also referred to the opinion that at the time of the enemy's capture of New Orleans, our recognition was on the eve of accomplishment.

The immediate sufferers of the disaster at New Orleans were the people of that city. It was aptly rewarded for its easy submission by the scourge of a tyrant. The corrupt and merciless master of this great emporium, General Butler of Massachusetts, was a man who found no merit in submission, unless such as grovelled in the dust and paid personal court and pecuniary tribute to himself. The rule of this vulgar and drunken man excited the horror and disgust of the civilized world, and secured for him in the South the popular sobriquet of " the Beast." His order Mdiich stigmatized as prostitutes the ladies of New Orleans, who betrayed in the streets or from the balconies their indignation against the invaders of their city, while it made him the hero of the hour in the

THK SECOND YEAR OF THE WAK. 19

North with a people who admired the coarse spirit of the bully, drew upon him the execrations of all humane and honorable people. In the British Parliament, Lord Palmerston declared the proclamation to be " infamous," and the condemnation of the indecent and dirty edict was echoed by the press of Europe.*

The acts of the tyrant of New Orleans surpassed all former atrocities and outrages of the war. In frequent instances, citizens, accused by Butler of contumacious disloyalty, were contined at hard labor, with balls and chains attached to their limbs ; and sometimes this degrading punishment was inflicted upon men whose only offence was that of selling medicines to the sick soldiers of the Confederacy. Helpless women were torn from their homes and confined in prison. One of these — a Mrs. Phillips — was accused of laughing as the funeral train of a Yankee officer passed her doors ; she was seized, and with an ingenious and devilish cruelty, her sentence was pronounced by Butler — imprisonment on an island of barren sand under a tropical sun. Various pretexts were invented for

* The "Order 28," wliicli has stigmatized its hrutal author throughout Christendom, Avas at first refused publication by all the newspapers in New Orleans. It was then copied on sheets of paper and surreptitiously posted on many of the principal corners of the streets in the immediate neighborhood of the St. Charles Hotel. The next day all of the newspaper offices were ordered to be closed for disobedience of orders. On this becoming known, the True Delta paper published the order, and the other newspapers timidly submitted to the force of circumstances, and published it also. The natural excitement and indignation that followed throughout the community is indescribable. Several lady subscribers sent to the newspaper offices and indignantly and positively forbade that such papers should longer be left at their dwellings. Mayor Monroe, with a party of influential citizens, at once called on the Beast and endeavored to obtain some qualification of the order ; buf they could get no satisfaction and were rudely dismissed. Mayor Monroe then wrote an indignant and reproachful communication to Butler, and again pressed him for a modification of the hateful order. Butler then sent for the Mayor. Mayor Monroe replied, " Tell General Butler my office is at the City Hotel, where he can see me, if desirable." Butler retorted, that unless the Mayor came at once to his headquarters, he would send an armed force to arrest and bring him there. Further opposition being useless, the Mayor, chief of police, and several friends, then went to the St. Charles Hotel, where they found the Beast in a towering rae;e. Butler claimed to be much insulted at the conduct of the Mayor, and without ceremony or delay, sent Mr. Monroe and those who accompanied him to prison. In a few days they were all shipped down to Fort Jackson.- plundering the inhabitants of the conquered city ; men were forced to elect between starvation by the confiscation of all their property and taking an oath of allegiance to the invaders of their country ; fines were levied at pleasure, and recusants threatened with ball and chain.

The conduct of the negroes in New Orleans became intolerable to their owners. They were fed, clothed, and quartered by the Yankees, who fraternized with them generally in a shameful way. The planters in the neighborhood of the city were required to share their crops with the commanding general, his brother, Andrew J. Butler, and other officers; and when this partnership was refused, the plantations were robbed of every thing susceptible of removal, and the slaves taken from their owners and compelled to work under the bayonets of Yankee guards.

It would occupy many pages to detail what the people of New Orleans suffered at the hands of the invaders whom they had so easily admitted into their city, in insult, wrongs, confiscation of property, seizure of private dwellings, and brazen robbery. The Yankee officers, from colonel to lieutenant, as the caprice of each might dictate, seized and took possession of gentlemen's houses, broke into their wine-rooms, forced open the wardrobes of ladies and gentlemen, and either used or sent away from the city the clothing of whole families. Some of the private residences of respectable citizens were appropriated to the vilest uses, the officials who had engaged them making them the private shops of the most infamous female characters.

But while Butler was thus apparently occupied with the oppression of " rebels," he was too much of a Yankee to be lost to the opportunity of making his pecuniary fortune out of the exigencies which he had created. The banker and broker of the corrupt operations in which he was engaged was his own brother, who bought confiscated property, shipped large consignments from New Orleans, to be paid for in cotton, and speculated largely in powder, saltpetre, muskets, and other war material sold to the Confederacy, surreptitiously sent out from the city and covered by permits for provisions. Of the trade in provisions for cotton, Butler received his share of the gains, while the robbery was covered up by the pretence of consump-

THE SECOI^D YEAE OF THE WAB. 21

tion ill New Orleans " to prevent starvation," or by reported actual issue to troops. The Yankee general did not hesitate to deal in the very life-blood of his own soldiers.

The rule of Butler in New Orleans is especially memorable for the deliberate murder of William B. Mumford, a citizen of the Confederate States, against whom the tyrant had invented the extraordinary charge that he had insulted the flag of the United States. The fact was, that before the city had surrendered, Mumford had taken down from the mint the enemy's flag. The ensign was wrongfully there ; the city had not surrendered ; and even in its worst aspects, the act of Mumford was simply one of war, not deserving death, still less the death of a felon. The horrible crime of murdering in cold blood an unresisting and non-combatant captive, was completed by But- ' ler on the 7th of June. On that day, Mumford, the martyr, was publicly executed on the gallows. The Massachusetts coward and tyrant had no ear or heart for the pitiful pleadings made to save the life of his captive, especially by his unhappy wife, who in her supplications for mercy was rudely repulsed, and at times answered with drunken jokes and taunts. The execution took place in the sight of thousands of panic-stricken citizens. None spoke but the martyr himself. His voice was loud and clear. Looking up at the stars and stripes which floated high over the scene before him, he remarked that he had fought under that flag twice, but it had become hateful to him, and he had torn it and trailed it in the dust. " I consider," said the brave young man, " that the manner of my death will be no disgrace to my wife and child ; my country will honor them."

The experience of New Orleans gave a valuable lesson to the South. It exhibited the consequences of submission to the enemy in confiscation, brutality, military domination, insult, universal poverty, the beggary of thousands, tlie triumph of the vilest individuals in the community, the abasement of the honest and industrious, and the outlawry of the slaves. The spirit of resistance in the South was fortified by the enemy's exhibitions of triumph, and the resolution gained ground that it was much better to consign the cities of the Confederacy to the flames than to surrender them to the enemy. A time was approaching when Yankee gunboats were to lose their prestige

22 THK SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR.

of terror, when cities were no longer to be abandoned or surrendered on the approach of a foe ; and when the freemen of the South were to be taught how, by a spirit above fear and ready for all sacrifice, they might defy the most potent agencies of modern warfare.