Slavery and four years of war (part 3 of 4)

Slavery and four years of war (part 3 of 4)

A short time before we reached Shelbyville, Mitchel sent a party of eight soldiers, in disguise, under the leadership of a citizen of Kentucky, known as Captain J. J. Andrews, to enter the Confederate lines and proceed via Chattanooga to Atlanta, with some vague idea of capturing a train of cars or a locomotive and escaping with it, burning the bridges behind them. The party reached its destination, but for want of an engineer who had promised to join it at Atlanta, the plan was abandoned, and each of the party returned in safety, joining their respective regiments at Shelbyville. Andrews, still desiring to carry out the plan, organized a second party, composed of himself and another citizen of Kentucky, Wm. Campbell, and twenty-four soldiers, detailed from Ohio regiments, seven from the 2d, eight from the 33d, and nine from the 21st.( 1) This party started from Shelbyville, Monday night, April 7, 1862, disguised as citizens, professing to be driven from their homes in Kentucky by the Union Army and going South to join the Confederate Army. They were to travel singly or in couples over roads not frequented by either army, but such as were usually taken by real Kentucky refugees to Chattanooga or some station where passage on cars could be taken to Marietta, Georgia, where the whole party were to assemble in four days ready to take a train northward the following (Friday) morning. Each man was furnished by Andrews with an abundance of Confederate money to pay bills. It was understood that if any were suspected and in danger of capture they were to enlist in the Southern army until an opportunity for escape presented. Mitchel, it was known to Andrews and his party, was to start for Huntsville, Alabama, in a day or two, and Andrews hoped to be able to escape with his captured train through Chattanooga, thence west over the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and join Mitchel at some point east of Huntsville.

The distance was too great for all the party to reach their destination before Friday, and on the way Andrews managed to notify most of his men that the enterprise would not be undertaken until Saturday. About midnight of the 11th of April the members reached Marietta, and, with two exceptions, spent the night at a small hotel near the depot. Big Shanty (where passengers on the early morning train were allowed to take breakfast), north of Marietta, was the place where the party proposed to seize the locomotive and such part of the train as might seem practicable, the engineer (Brown) of the party to run it north, stopping at intervals only long enough to cut telegraph wires, to prevent information being sent ahead, tear up short portions of the track to prevent pursuit, and to burn bridges, the latter being the principal object of the raid. Porter and Hawkins of the party, who had lodging at a different hotel from the others, were not awakened in time, and consequently did not participate in the daring act for which the party was organized.

During the night Andrews carefully instructed those at his hotel, each man being told what was expected of him. The party were almost to a man strangers to him until five days before, and hardly two of them, though of the same regiment, until then knew each other. Never before, for so extraordinary an attempt, was so incongruous a band assembled. I knew one of them--Sergeant-Major Marion A. Ross, of the 2d Ohio. He had no previous training, and no special skill for such an expedition. He was a farmer boy (Champaign Co., Ohio) of more than ordinary retiring modesty, with no element of reckless daring in his nature. He had almost white silky flaxen hair, and at Antioch College, where I first met him, he rarely associated with his schoolmates in play or amusement. He was called a ladies' man; and this because he did not care for the active pursuits usually enjoyed by young men.

It is said that when Ross ascertained the number of trains, regular and irregular, with which the exigencies of war had covered the railroad, and considered also the distance to be passed over, he tried at the last moment to dissuade Andrews from undertaking the execution of the enterprise. In this he failed, but Andrews gave any of the party who regarded the design too hazardous the right to withdraw.( 2) Not one, however, availed himself of this liberty. Ross saw that the scheme must fail, but was too manly to abandon his comrades.

Saturday morning before daylight the party was seated in one passenger car, moving north. In this and other coaches there were several hundred passengers.( 3) At sunrise, when eight miles from Marietta, the train stopped, and the trainmen shouted: "Big Shanty --twenty minutes for breakfast." At this, conductor, engineer, fireman, and train-hands, with most of the passengers, left the train. Thus the desired opportunity of Andrews and his party was presented. They did not hesitate. Three cars back from the tender, including only box-cars, the coupling-pin was drawn, and the passenger cars cut off. Andrews mounted the engine, with Brown and Knight as engineers and Wilson as fireman. Others took places as brakemen, or as helpers and guards, and, to the amazement of the bystanders, the locomotive moved rapidly north. The conductor, engineer, and train-men were dazed. The capture was accomplished, but how were the trains and the stations to be passed on the long journey to Chattanooga; and how was that place to be passed, and still a run of a hundred miles made over the Memphis and Charleston Railroad before they were within the Union lines at Huntsville? The train proceeded only a short distance when it was stopped and the telegraph wires cut, then it moved on again, stopping now and then long enough to enable Andrews and his men to tear up the track behind them. They reached Kingston, thirty-two miles north, where a stop had to be made, but by claiming their train was a powder train hastening to Beauregard's army, they were allowed to pass on; so the flight continued until Dalton and the tunnel north of it were passed. The conductor, Fuller, started from Big Shanty with a small party on foot, then procured a hand-car and at Dalton a locomotive. His pursuit was both energetic and intelligent. At Dalton he succeeded in getting a telegram through to Chattanooga giving notice of the coming of the raiders. The locomotive seized, known as General, proved a poor one, and fuel soon gave out, and finally the pursuers came in sight. Cars were dropped and bridges were fired, but the pursuers pushed the cars ahead and put out the flames. At last, not far from Chattanooga, the General was abandoned, and the raiders scattered to the woods and, generally singly, sought to evade capture; but as the whole country was aroused and Confederate soldiers were at hand, most of the party were soon captured; one or two evaded discovery by going boldly to recruiting stations and enlisting in the Confederate Army. The history of the suffering, trials, and fate of this daring band is one of the most thrilling and tragic of the war. It is too long to be here told. The captured were imprisoned at Chattanooga, and Andrews, the leader (after making one attempt to escape), was heavily ironed, and a scaffold was prepared at Chattanooga for his execution, but for some reason he and his companions were transferred to Atlanta, where, on the day of their arrival, he was taken to a scaffold and hung, and his body buried in an unmarked and still unknown grave.( 3) He died bravely, resigned to his fate. He was a man of quiet demeanor, of extraordinary resolution, and more than ordinary ability. He was tried and sentenced by a sort of drum- head court-martial, charged with being disloyal to the Confederacy and hanged as a spy.( 3) Other men of more fame have died on the gallows, and others of less merit have occupied high positions.

Seven of the band were taken to Knoxville, and in June, 1862, tried by court-martial and condemned to be hanged as spies. Campbell, Wilson, Ross, Shadrack, Slaven, Robinson, and Scott were hanged June 18th, by order of General E. Kirby Smith, at Atlanta.( 3) Their bodies were buried in a rude trench at the foot of the scaffold. A grateful government has caused this trench to be opened and the mortal remains of these unfortunate heroes of cruel war to be removed to the beautiful National Cemetery near Chattanooga and buried amidst the heroes of Chickamauga, there to rest until the Grand Army of Soldier-dead shall be summoned to rise on the resurrection morn.

Eight others, Brown, Knight, Porter, Wood, Wilson, Hawkins, Wallam, and Dorsey, after suffering more than the pangs of death in prison, in various ways and at different times escaped; and after like suffering, six others, Parrot, Buffem, Bensinger, Reddick, Mason, and Pittenger were (March, 1863) exchanged. These fourteen were, save Wood and Buffem, living in 1881, honored and upright citizens. Pittenger was a member of the New Jersey Methodist Episcopal Conference, and the author of Capturing a Locomotive, in which is given the story of the tragic affair in all its painful details.

Mitchel's division resumed its march southward April 9th, and reached Fayetteville the next day; two brigades--Turchin's and Sill's--continued the march towards Huntsville on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. At Fayetteville the inhabitants seemed to be wholly disloyal, and extended no welcome. Huntsville was surprised and captured before daylight on April 11th. A large number of cars and fifteen locomotives were taken.( 4) One train was found at the depot loaded with recruits for Beauregard's army at Corinth. Many Confederates who had been wounded at Shiloh were captured and paroled. The next day, at Stevenson, five more locomotives and a large amount of rolling stock were taken.( 4)

The only instance witnessed by me during the war of a body of soldiers refusing to obey orders was of the 10th Ohio when it was ordered at Fayetteville to prepare to march, each man carrying his knapsack. On some occasions prior to this time the company wagons carried the knapsacks of the men. Colonel Wm. H. Lytle (then commanding a brigade), being greatly chagrined and enraged at the insubordination of his regiment, ordered a section of a battery pointed on it, took out his watch, and gave the men two minutes to take up their knapsacks and be ready to march. The order was obeyed complainingly, and the incident was not again repeated. This regiment was a good one, and later it was distinguished for valor and good soldierly conduct.

As we proceeded south into the cotton regions, the slaves were more numerous and still flocked to the roadsides, seeking and desiring to follow the army. All believed the "Yankee army" had come solely to free them.

Colonel John Beatty was made Provost-Marshal and President of a Board of Administration for Huntsville.

Huntsville was a beautiful, aristocratic little Southern city. A feature of it was a large spring near its centre which furnished an abundant supply of water for the men and animals of a large army. It was the home of the Alabama Clays, all disloyal; of ex- Senator Jerry Clemens, who had early been a Union man, but later was disposed to accept secession as an accomplished fact; then, on the Union occupancy of Northern Alabama, he boldly advocated a restoration of the State to the Union. Colonel Nick Davis, likewise an original Union man, at first opposed secession; then, after Bull run, accepted a colonelcy in an Alabama rebel regiment; then declined it, and thereafter tried to remain loyal to the Union. The conduct of such strong men as Clemens and Davis is not to be wondered at when their surroundings are considered. There were many who, feeling bound to continue their residence in the South, and believing, after Bull Run, that the Confederacy was established, yielded their opposition to it.

Reverend Frederick A. Ross, a distinguished Presbyterian minister, who preached the divinity of slavery, resided here.( 5) Reverend Ross was arrested by General Rousseau and sent north to prison for publicly praying in his church at Huntsville (while occupied by the Union Army) for the success of the Confederacy, the overthrow of the Union, and the defeat of its armies.

There were some men, among whom were Hon. George W. Lane (later appointed a United States Judge), who adhered firmly to the Union. That part of Alabama north of the Tennessee had opposed secession.

Clement Comer Clay, a lawyer, who had been a soldier in the Creek Indian War, Chief-Justice of his State, and had served in both branches of Congress and as Governor of Alabama, was arrested and tried at Huntsville, when seventy-three years of age, by a military commission of which I was president. There were several charges against him, the most serious of which was for aiding and advising guerillas to secretly shoot down Union soldiers, cut telegraph lines, and wreck trains. This charge he vehemently denied until a letter in his own handwriting was produced, recently written to a guerilla chief, advising him and his band to do the things mentioned. He was not severely dealt with, but was sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, for detention. He was later liberated, and died in Huntsville in 1866. His son, Clement Claiborne Clay, had been a judge, and subsequently a United States Senator. He withdrew from the Senate in February, 1861, and was formally expelled in March, 1861. He became a Senator in the Confederate Congress in 1862, and during the last two years of the war was the secret agent of the Confederacy in Canada, where he plotted raids on the Northern frontier.

General O. M. Mitchel held advanced notions on the subject of the treatment and disposition of slaves of masters in arms against the government. The slaves of such masters, he thought, should be confiscated. He used some slaves as spies to gain information of the enemy, and to located secreted Confederate supplies, and to them he promised protection, if not freedom. Secretary Stanton approved his action and views in this matter.( 6)

But Buell, his immediate commander, wholly disapproved of all employment or use of slaves in any manner as instruments to put down the rebellion. Mitchel, therefore, soon fell into disfavor with him. Buell, on learning that Mitchel had employed some able- bodied escaped slaves to aid the soldiers in constructing stockades to protect railroad bridges, necessary to be maintained to enable supplies to be brought up, ordered Mitchel to send an officer to see that slaves thus employed were forthwith returned to their masters. I was accordingly directed by Mitchel to take a small guard, and, with a locomotive and car, go to the bridges west of Huntsville and north of the Tennessee River, on the line of railroad from Decatur through Athens towards Nashville, to execute this order of Buell's. I executed it to the letter--only. While on this unpleasant duty I came to a place where a scouting party, commanded by a lieutenant sent out by Mitchel, had two citizen- disguised Confederate guerillas, just taken in the act of cutting the telegraph wires, an offence, by a proclamation of Mitchel, punishable by death. The scouting party proceeded to hang them with wire to telegraph poles. I did not approve the summary punishment, but was powerless and without authority over the officer; and was then engaged only in returning slaves to their owners.

Prior to this order of Buell's, Congress had passed an act, as an Article of War, prohibiting the employment of any of the United States forces "for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped, and any officer found guilty, by a court-martial, of violating this article to be dismissed from the service."( 7) The order, and my execution of it, were alike in violation of the law, for the issuing and execution of which both Buell and I could have been dismissed from the service. Just after the capture of Fort Donelson Grant issued an order prohibiting the return of the fugitive slaves with his army and of all slaves at Fort Donelson at the time of its capture.( 8)

Both Stevenson and Decatur, to the east and west of Huntsville, were, by the use of captured locomotives and cars, seized by Mitchel on the 12th of April, and his command was soon so extended as to hold the one hundred miles of railroad between Stevenson and Tuscumbia. The last of the same month, however, the troops were withdrawn from Tuscumbia and south of the Tennessee. The 3d and 10th Ohio being in occupancy of Decatur, evacuated it under orders, and, on the night of April 27th, burned the railroad bridge (one half mile in length) over the Tennessee River.

An expedition started the same day for Bridgeport, where the railroad again crosses the Tennessee, and where General Danville Leadbetter had command of a small force on the west side of the river, somewhat intrenched. The expedition consisted of two companies of cavalry, two pieces of artillery, and six regiments of infantry, Mitchel commanding. Owing to the destruction by the Confederates of a bridge over Widow's Creek, it was impossible to transport by rail the artillery with caissons and horses nearer than four miles of Bridgeport. By the use of cotton bales the two guns were floated over the deep stream, and the artillery horses and caissons with extra ammunition were left behind. The guns were dragged by two companies of the 3d Ohio, and the whole expedition pushed on to a ridge within about five hundred yards of Leadbetter's redoubts near the north end of the bridge. The enemy was surprised or demoralized, and Leadbetter did not decide either to retreat or fight until a shot or two from our cannon emptied his redoubts and intrenched position near the end of the bridge.

Precipitately his guns were loaded on a platform-car, and a hasty retreat was made across the Tennessee by the railroad bridge; but before all the Confederate troops had succeeded in crossing Leadbetter caused to be exploded two hundred pounds of powder, with a view of blowing up the east span of the bridge. The explosion did not do the work, hence the drawbridge at the east end was fired, to complete its destruction.( 9) But few captures were made. Leadbetter also abandoned his camp east of the river, and was forced to abandon two guns placed in position on the east bank. One of the Andrews raiders of the 33d Ohio, who, to save himself from capture and punishment, had joined Captain Kain's battery, and was acting as artillery sergeant with the two guns captured, hid under the river bank and signalled his desire to be allowed to surrender. He was permitted to cross over to us, and, his old regiment being present, he at once rejoined it.

Mitchel moved his command on Bridgeport with great rapidity and skill, but he showed a nervous temper, which gave the impression that in a great battle he would become too much excited for a commanding officer.

Just after Leadbetter's retreat a body of cavalry appeared below Bridgeport in an open field, not knowing the place had been taken, and would have been captured had Mitchel not ordered them fired on before they came near enough to be cut off.

I was sent on the morning of the 30th, in command of a detachment, across the Tennessee to reconnoitre towards Chattanooga. We improvised rafts from logs and timber to carry the men, and a few horses for mounted officers were forced into the stream, and by holding their heads to the rafts compelled to swim the east channel of the Tennessee. We secured the two guns mentioned, some muskets and supplies at the enemy's camps, and found evidence of a hasty flight of the Confederates. By a détour we came into a valley flanked to the east by Raccoon Mountain, and we visited a large saltpetre works at Nick-a-Jack Cave. These works we destroyed by breaking the large iron kettles and by burning all combustible structures. A portion of the detachment was sent under cover of the thick woods to the railroad east of Shellmound, a station near the river, where we expected to cut off a train of cars engaged in loading, for removal, supplies of provisions. The engineer, a few moments before the party reached the railroad, had run his engine to a water-station located east of the point of our intersection, and it thus escaped capture. We, however, captured one captain and about a dozen men; also the cars of the train and considerable supplies, all of which we were obliged to destroy, save some choice, much-needed hams. These we loaded on a flat car, which we pushed about ten miles to the east abutment of the broken bridge. This raid caused great consternation at Chattanooga for several days. The detachment was reported as 5000 strong at Shellmound, and Leadbetter ordered "all bridges on the railroad and country roads" burned, and a retreat to Lookout Mountain.(10) It would have been easy then to have taken Chattanooga. A year and a half later it cost many lives and became about the only Union trophy of the battle of Chickamauga.

I learned on this raid, from prisoners, that Farragut and Butler had, on April 29, 1862, obtained possession of New Orleans. This was the first information of their success received at the North.(11)

My expedition was the first armed one of the war upon the mainland of Georgia.

On my return to the west side of the river I found my regiment, with others, under orders to march at 9 o'clock at night for Stevenson, destination Athens, Alabama. The enemy, under Colonel J. S. Scott, attacked (May 1st) and drove out of Athens the 18th Ohio, under Colonel T. R. Stanley. The affair was not a creditable one to either side. The troops under Scott were said to have been harbored in houses from which they fired on Stanley's men as the latter fled through the streets, and it was claimed citizens aided in shooting down Union soldiers, though this was never shown to be true. Scott, in his report to Beauregard, dated the day of the fight, boasted that the "boys took few prisoners, their shots proving singularly fatal."(11)

The affair itself was of but little consequence, as Colonel Scott was driven out of Athens the succeeding night, and the next day across the Tennessee, he only having captured Stanley's baggage, four wagons, and twenty men, having suffered in killed and wounded a greater loss than he had inflicted.

Out of this incident arose one of the most exceptional occurrences of the whole war.

Colonel John Basil Turchin, of the 19th Illinois, in command of a brigade in Mitchel's division, reached Athens, May 2d, and, it was said, in retaliation for the alleged bad conduct of its citizens the day preceding, he retired to his tent and gave the place up for two hours to be sacked by his command. It was asserted that private houses were invaded during this time, money and valuables seized and carried off, and revolting outrages committed. Turchin was a Russian,(12) a soldier of experience, and a military man, educated in the best schools of Europe. He had served on the general staff of the Czar of Russia and in the Imperial Guard, rising to the rank of Colonel, and he had served his Czar also in the Hungarian War, 1848-49, and in the Crimean War of 1854-56.

It is more than possible that he had imbibed notions as to the manner and believed in methods of treating the enemy's property, including their slaves, and of dealing with captured towns and cities and their inhabitants, not in harmony with modern and more humane and civilized rules of war.

He did not believe war could be successfully waged by an invading army with its officers and soldiers acting as missionaries of mercy for and protectors and preservers of the property of hostile inhabitants. Later, and after General McCausland burned Chambersburg, Penna., less criticism fell on Turchin for his behavior at Athens.

His conduct and that of his command were doubtless exaggerated in many particulars, but enough was true to excite much comment and fierce denunciation and condemnation. The affair was especially unfortunate as to place, Athens being justly celebrated for the number of inhabitants who honestly adhered to the Union cause.

General Mitchel repaired to Athens on hearing it had been sacked, addressed the citizens, induced them to organize a committee to hear and report on all complaints; then ordered the brigade commander to cause every soldier under him to be searched, and every officer to state in writing, upon honor, that he had no pillaged property. The committee subsequently reported, but no charge was made against any officer or soldiers by name. The bills of forty-five citizens, however, were presented by it, aggregating $54,689.80, for alleged depredations. The search was made without finding an article and the reports of officers showed that they had no stolen property.

Strict orders against pillaging and plundering were issued and thereafter enforced in Mitchel's division. The outrages upon women, if any occurred, were greatly magnified.(13)

Buell caused Turchin to be placed in arrest, and he was later tried, convicted, and sentenced to be dismissed the service of the United States, the court having found him guilty of "neglect of duty, to the prejudice of good order and military discipline," and of "disobedience of orders," and of certain specifications to the charges, among others one embodying the allegation that he did "on or about the 2d of May, 1862, march his brigade into the town of Athens, State of Alabama, and having had the arms of the regiments stacked in the streets, did allow his command to disperse, and in his presence, or with his knowledge and that of his officers, to plunder and pillage the inhabitants of said town and of the country adjacent thereto, without taking adequate steps to restrain them." He pleaded guilty to one specification only, namely, that of permitting his wife to be with him in Athens, and to accompany him while serving with troops in the field. This court-martial was ordered by Buell, July 5, 1862, and it met first at Athens and then at Huntsville, Alabama, July 20th.(14) General James A. Garfield was its President, and Colonels John Beatty, Jacob Ammern, Curran Pope, J. G. Jones, Marc Mundy, and T. D. Sedgwick were the other members.

During the session of the court, General Garfield and Colonel Ammen were the guests of Colonel Beatty and myself at our camp near Huntsville. Though I had met Garfield, I had no previous acquaintance with either of them. They were even them remarkable men--both accomplished and highly educated, Ammen having previously had a military education. We were enabled to get intimately acquainted with them at our meals and during the long evenings spent in discussing the war and all manner of subjects. Both were fine talkers and enjoyed controversial conversation. Ammen, though not alone from vanity, was disposed to occupy the most of the time, and sometimes he would occupy an entire evening telling stories, narrating an event, or maintaining his own side of a controversy. He was the oldest of the party, and always interesting, so he was tolerated in this--generally. He was superstitious, and believed in the supernatural to a certain extent, denying that such belief was a weakness, else "Napoleon and Sir Walter Scott were the weakest of men." General Beatty relates an incident of an evening's talk (July 24th) at our camp thus:

"We ate supper, and immediately adjourned to the adjoining tent. Before Garfield was fairly seated on his camp stool, he began to talk with the easy and deliberate manner of a man who had much to say. He dwelt eloquently on the minutest details of his early life, as if they were matters of the utmost importance. Keifer was not only an attentive listener, but seemed wonderfully interested. Uncle Jacob undertook to thrust in a word here and there, but Garfield was much too absorbed to notice him, and so pushed on steadily, warming up as he proceeded. Unfortunately for his scheme, however, before he had gone far he made a touching reference to his mother, when Uncle Jacob, gesticulating energetically, and with his forefinger levelled at the speaker, cried: 'Just a word--just one word right there,' and so persisted until Garfield was compelled either to yield or be absolutely discourteous. The General, therefore, got in his word; nay, he held the floor for the remainder of the evening. The conspirators made brave efforts to put him down and cut him off, but they were unsuccessful. At midnight, when Keifer and I had left, he was still talking; and after we had got into bed, he, with his suspenders dangling about his legs, thrust his head into our tent-door, and favored us with the few observations we had lost by reason of our hasty departure. Keifer turned his face to the wall and groaned. Poor man, he had been hoisted by his own petard. I think Uncle Jacob suspected that the young men had set up a job on him."(15)

The court having concluded the case, Buell, August 6, 1862, issued an order approving its proceedings and sentence of dismissal from the service, and declaring that Colonel Turchin ceased "to be in the service of the United States."(16)

Although the charges against him and his trial were notorious, and well known at the War Department and to the country, President Lincoln, the day preceding Buell's order of dismissal, appointed Colonel Turchin a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and the Senate promptly confirmed the appointment, and thus he came out of his trial and condemnation with increased rank. He accepted the promotion, served in the field afterwards, was distinguished in many battles, and left the army October 4, 1864.

Turchin at the time he entered the Union Army was, and still is, a resident of Illinois.

There were many excellent men of foreign birth and residence who found places in the Union Army and filled them with credit.(17)

At Paint Rock, on the railroad east of Huntsville, the train on which the 3d Ohio was being transported from Stevenson (May 2d) was fired upon from ambush by guerillas, and six or eight men more or less seriously wounded.

Colonel Beatty stopped the train, and after giving the citizens notice that all such acts of bushwhacking would bring on them certain destruction of property, as it was known that professed peaceful citizens were often themselves the guilty parties or harbored the guilty ones, himself fired the town as an earnest of what a repetition of such deeds would bring.

Many fruitless small expeditions were undertaken to drive out the constant invasions made by Wheeler's, Morgan's, Adams', and Scott's cavalry north of the Tennessee and upon our lines of communication.

On May 18th, having become restless in camp, I volunteered as special aide to Colonel Wm. H. Lytle on an expedition to Winchester, Tennessee. We passed through a region thickly infested with the most daring bands of guerillas, and at Winchester had an encounter with some of Adams' regular cavalry, who, after making a rash charge into the town while we occupied it and losing a few men, retreated eastward to the mountains.

On May 13th General James S. Negley led a force from Pulaski against Adams' cavalry at Rogersville, north of the Tennessee opposite the Muscle Shoals, and with slight loss drove it across the river. Later there was a more determined effort by the Confederates to occupy, with considerable bodies of cavalry and light artillery, the country north of the Tennessee below Chattanooga, but June 4th, an expedition under Negley, composed of troops selected from Mitchel's command, surprised Adams with his principal force twelve miles northwest of Jasper, and routed him, killing about twenty of his men and wounding and capturing about one hundred more; also capturing arms, ammunition, commissary wagons, and supplies.(18) Negley pushed his command over the mountains up to the Tennessee, threatening to cross to the south side at Shellmound, and at other points, and finally took position opposite Chattanooga.

The expedition caused much consternation among the rebels, though little was actually accomplished. The attack made on Chattanooga, June 7th and 8th, failed, and Negley's command returned.(19) Colonel Joshua W. Sill, 33d Ohio, afterwards Brigadier-General, and killed at the battle of Stone's River, commanded a brigade under Mitchel and in the Chattanooga expedition. He was an accomplished, educated officer, modest almost to a fault, yet brave and capable of great deeds. His body is buried at Chillicothe, Ohio.

Mitchel's position in Northern Alabama was at all times precarious; he covered too much country; lacked concentration, and was constantly in danger of being assailed in detail; besides, his relations to Buell, his immediate commander, were not cordial. He complained frequently directly to the Secretary of War for want of support. Shortly after Buell's arrival from Corinth, the last of June, Mitchel tendered his resignation and asked to be granted immediate leave of absence, but the next day (July 2d) he was, by the Secretary of War, ordered to repair to Washington,(20) and General Lovell H. Rousseau, a Kentuckian, who also believed in a vigorous prosecution of the war, succeeded him. General Mitchel on reaching Washington was selected by President Lincoln for command of an expedition on the Mississippi, but Halleck opposed his suggestion and failed to give the necessary orders for the contemplated movement, consequently Mitchel remained inactive until September, when he was assigned the command of the Department of the South, headquarters Hilton Head. He was stricken with yellow fever and died at Beaufort, South Carolina, October 30, 1862. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N. Y.

( 1) Pittenger, Capturing a Locomotive, pp. 26, 40.

( 2) Capturing a Locomotive, pp. 66-8.

( 3) Capturing a Locomotive, pp. 204-5, 182, 224, 353.

( 4) War Records, vol. x., Part I., p. 641; Part II., p. 104.

( 5) Ante, p. 5.

( 6) War Records, vol. x., Part II., pp. 115, 162-5, 195.

( 7) Quoted in Lincoln's 22d of September, 1862, proclamation.

( 8) McPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 293.

( 9) War Records, vol. x., Part I., p. 657.

(10) Leadbetter's report, War Records, vol. x., Part I., p. 658.

(11) War Records, vol. x., Part I., p. 878.

(12) Russian name--Ivan Vasilevitch Turchinoff. Turchin, Battle of Chickamauga, pp. 5, 6.

(13) War Records, vol. x., Part II., pp. 204, 212, 290, 294-5.

(14) War Records, vol. xvi., Part II., pp. 99, 273.

(15) Citizen Soldier, p. 159.

(16) War Records, vol. xvi., p. 277.

(17) My last letter from Gen. Robert C. Schenck speaks of meeting, while Minister in England, a former Ohio soldier. I give his letter, omitting unimportant parts.

"Marshall House, York Harbor, Maine, July 10, 1889. "My Dear General Keifer,--Your letter came to me just as I was leaving Washington. . . . I keep fairly well and vigorous for an old fellow so near to the octogenarian line. Accept my thanks for your kind remembrance and good wishes. You want to know about Colonel John DeCourcey, who commanded the [16th] regiment of Ohio Infantry for some time during our late war. I have not much to tell you of him, except that I made his acquaintance afterwards as a British nobleman. He was appointed a Union officer, I believe, by Governor Dennison, and had had, as I understand, some previous military experience and training.

"One night, in a party at the house of a friend in London, about 1872, I was told that Lord Kinsale desired especially to be presented to me. I said of course it would be agreeable. On being introduced he explained that, besides a general desire to pay his respects to the American Minister, he took an interest in me as being from Ohio. I was a little surprised to find an English gentleman having any particular knowledge about Ohio. He went on to tell me he had not been in London for some time, and had been ill, or he would have called on me before that time, for that he had served as commander of an Ohio regiment during our late war. This surprised me, but he explained that he was not then Lord Kinsale, else the fact might have attracted some attention, but only John DeCourcey, having succeeded rather unexpectedly to the title. I think he said on the death of a cousin, and perhaps the end of two or three other lives intervening. He was himself then an invalid, apparently, and has since died. I found him an agreeable gentleman.

"The Barony of Kinsale is an old title. I believe this Lord Kinsale was the 31st or 32d Baron. His ancestor, Earl of Ulster, for defending King John, in single combat, with a champion provided by Philip Augustus of France, was granted the privilege for himself and heirs, forever to go with covered head in the presence of Royalty. This, my dear general, must be about all that I told you of John DeCourcey, or could remember when I met you on the occasion you mention, at Springfield. Hope you are in good heart and health, I am

"Very sincerely yours, "Robt. C. Schenck."

(18) War Records, vol. x., Part I., pp. 904, 919-920.

(19) War Records, vol. x., Part I., pp, 904, 919-920.

(20) Battles and Leaders, etc., vol. ii., pp. 706-7; _War Records_, vol. xvi., Part II., p. 92.

CHAPTER VIII Confederate Invasion of Kentucky (1862)--Cincinnati Threatened, and "Squirrel Hunters" Called Out--Battles of Iuka, Corinth, and Hatchie Bridge--Movements of Confederate Armies of Bragg and Kirby Smith--Retirement of Buell's Army to Louisville--Battle of Perryville, with Personal and Other Incidents

As we have seen, Halleck's great army at Corinth was dispersed, the Army of the Ohio going eastward. It spent the month of June, 1862, in rebuilding bridges, including the great bridge across the Tennessee at Decatur, but recently burned under his direction, and soon again to be abandoned to the Confederates.

The Confederate authorities projected an invasion on two lines and with two armies,--one under General E. Kirby Smith and the other under General Braxton Bragg,--the Ohio River and the cities of Louisville and Cincinnati being the objective points; the design being, also, to recruit the Confederate armies in Kentucky, obtain supplies, and force the evacuation by the Union Army of Alabama and Tennessee, and especially of Nashville. Early in August, 1862, these two Confederate armies were assembled at Knoxville and Chattanooga and along the Upper Tennessee, Kirby Smith's main force at the former and Bragg's at the latter place. The objectives of these armies were soon known, and the Army of the Ohio was therefore ordered to concentrate from its scattered situation at Decherd and Winchester, Tennessee.

General Robert L. McCook, late Colonel of the 9th Ohio, commanding a brigade under General George H. Thomas, while riding in an ambulance at the head of his command, ill and helpless, was shot and mortally wounded, August 5th, about three miles eastward of New Market, Alabama, by a body of ambushed men, said to have been guerillas in citizens' dress. He died at 12 M., August 6th. His command, in retaliation, laid the country waste around the scene of his death.( 1) McCook had fought in Western Virginia; at Mill Springs (where he was wounded), at Shiloh, and elsewhere. He was one of the ten sons of Major Daniel McCook, who was killed (July 21, 1863), at sixty-five years of age, near Buffington's Island, during the Morgan raid in Ohio, while leading a party to cut off Morgan's escape across the Ohio River. Two brothers of his were killed in battle--Charles M., at Bull Run, July 21, 1861, and Daniel at Kenesaw, July 21, 1864. Alexander McDowell McCook commanded a corps, and all the brothers had honorable war records. Dr. John McCook, brother of the senior Daniel McCook, likewise served and died in the war. He had five sons, three of whom served with distinction in the volunteer army and two in the navy. I knew John's son, General Anson George McCook, first in Mitchel's division as Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2d Ohio, then in the Forty- fifty, Forty-sixth, and Forty-seventh Congresses, and later as Secretary of the United States Senate.

The killing of General R. L. McCook, under the circumstances, was regarded as murder, and excited deep indignation both in and out of the army. Even Buell issued orders to arrest every able-bodied man of suspicious character within a radius of ten miles of the place where McCook was shot, to take all horses fit for service within that circuit, and to pursue and destroy bushwhackers.( 2) With the arrest of a few men and the taking of some horses, however, the incident closed so far as official action was concerned.

Memphis was taken, on June 6, 1862, by Flag Officer C. H. Davis, who had with him a Ram Fleet under Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., and an Indiana brigade under Colonel G. N. Fitch.( 3)

The plan of the Confederate invasion, as already stated, was to operate on two lines. Kirby Smith from Knoxville was first to move on and take Cumberland Gap, then held by General George W. Morgan. Bragg was at Tupelo, Mississippi, July 18th, but, fired with the idea that on Kentucky being invaded her people would flock to arms under the Confederate standard, he commenced transferring his army to the new field of operations and removed his headquarters, July 29th, to Chattanooga.

Kirby Smith took the field August 13th, moving on Cumberland Gap, but, finding it impregnable by direct attack, he left General Stevenson with a division to threaten it and advanced on Lexington. John Morgan with a considerable body of cavalry preceded Smith into Middle Kentucky, and his incursion was taken as a forerunner of the greater one to follow. Alarm over the audacious movement was not limited to Kentucky; it spread to Ohio, and there were fears for the safety of Cincinnati.

General Horatio G. Wright was assigned to a new Department of the Ohio, composed of the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kentucky east of the Tennessee River, including Cumberland Gap, and he assumed command of it August 23d, headquarters at Cincinnati.( 4) On the 16th, Buell had ordered General Wm. Nelson from the vicinity of Murfreesboro, with some artillery and infantry, to Kentucky, to there organize troops to keep open communications and operate against John Morgan.( 5) Wright, on the 23d, ordered Nelson to Lexington to assume command of the troops in that vicinity and relieve General Lew Wallace. Nelson, with insufficient, and mainly new, undrilled, and undisciplined troops, moved to Richmond, Ky., where (August 30th) he was assailed by Kirby Smith's army and his forces disastrously routed with much loss, principally in captured. He was himself wounded in the leg by a musket ball. There were few organized Union troops now between Smith's army and the Ohio River, and such organizations as could be assembled were new and unable to cope with the Confederate veterans. The news of the defeat at Richmond reached Cincinnati the same evening, and it was at once assumed that Lexington and Frankfort would soon be in the enemy's hands, and Kirby Smith's army would forthwith march on Covington, Newport, and Cincinnati. The assumption proved correct, as the defeated troops retreated through Frankfort and Lexington.

The Mayor (George Hatch) and City Council of Cincinnati acted with courage and energy to meet the impending emergency, and the loyal people earnestly responded to all requirements and submitted to the military authorities, either to take up arms or to work on intrenchments. Lew Wallace, assigned by Wright to the immediate command of the three cities, proclaimed martial law to be executed (until relieved by the military) by the police; and business generally was suspended.

The Mayor, with Wallace's sanction, permitted the banks to remain open from 1 to 2 P.M.; bakers to pursue their occupation; physicians to attend their patients; employees of newspapers to pursue their business; funerals to be permitted, but mourners only to leave the city; all druggists were allowed to do business, but all drinking saloons, eating-houses, and places of amusement were to be kept closed. Governor David Tod, September 1st, authorized the reception of armed citizens from throughout the State, who were denominated "Squirrel Hunters." The patriotism of the people of Ohio and Indiana was heroically shown, and their rushing in large numbers to the defence of Cincinnati and other threatened cities may have had its influence, and was, at least, highly commendable; yet, if a real attack had been made on these cities, it is hardly likely that the "Squirrel Hunters" would have proved efficient as soldiers. Kirby Smith entered Lexington, Ky., September 1st, and two days later he dispatched General Heth with about six thousand men to threaten Cincinnati. Heth was joined the next day by Morgan and his raiders. By the 10th these forces were near Covington and threatened a serious attack. There were some artillery shots fired and some light skirmishing, but the next day it was ascertained the Confederates had commenced a retreat, and in a few days the "Squirrel Hunters" returned to their homes amid the plaudits of a loyal people, and business was resumed in the Queen City. A single act of disorder is reported in Cincinnati on the part of some citizens who began tearing up a street railroad because it was believed to be invidious to allow it to do business "when lager- beer saloons could not."( 6)

The Legislature of Ohio authorized the presentation by the Governor of a lithographic discharge to each "Squirrel Hunter."

Before narrating the movements of Bragg's army from the Tennessee to the vicinity of Louisville, and of Buell's army in pursuit on Bragg's flank and rear, an attempt by another Confederate column to co-operative with Bragg in carrying out his general plan of invading Kentucky should be mentioned.

General Sterling Price, hitherto operating in Arkansas and Missouri, immediately after Shiloh, had been transferred with his army to Corinth to reinforce Beauregard, and when Bragg, who succeeded Beauregard, decided upon his plan of invasion, and had concentrated the bulk of his army at Chattanooga for that purpose, he assigned General Earl Van Dorn to the District of Mississippi and Price to the District of Tennessee, the latter to hold the line of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and both were to confront and watch Grant and prevent him from sending reinforcements to Buell. Price was left at Tupelo, Mississippi, with about 15,000 men. Later, September 11th, President Davis ordered Van Dorn to assume command of both his own and Price's army, the latter then on its march to Iuka, Mississippi, intending to move thence into Middle Tennessee if it should be found, as Bragg was led to believe, that Rosecrans (who, June 11th, had succeeded Pope in command of the Army of the Mississippi) had gone with his army to Nashville to reinforce Buell. Two of Grant's divisions, Paine's and Jeff C. Davis', had gone there, leaving the force for the defence of North Mississippi much reduced. Price entered Iuka September 14th, the garrison retiring without an engagement. Price, on learning that Rosecrans had retired on Corinth, telegraphed Van Dorn that he would turn back and co-operate in an attack on Corinth. Bragg telegraphed him to hasten towards Nashville. Rosecrans wired Grant to "watch the old wood-pecker or he would get away from them." September 17th, Halleck telegraphed Grant to prevent Price from crossing the Tennessee and forming a junction with Bragg. Grant telegraphed he would "do everything in his power to prevent such a catastrophe," and he began concentrating his troops against Price at Iuka. General E. O. C. Ord was moved to Burnsville, where Grant established his headquarters, and Rosecrans marched his two divisions to Jacinto, with orders to move on Iuka, flank Price, and cut off his retreat. General Stephen A. Hurlburt was ordered to make a strong demonstration from Bolivar, Tennessee, against Van Dorn, then near Grand Junction with about 10,000 effective men, and lead him to believe he was in immediate danger of an attack, and thus prevent him from making a diversion in aid of Price by marching on Corinth. This ruse was successful. Orders were given by Grant and preparation was made by Ord to attack Price at Iuka as soon as Rosecrans' guns on the Jacinto road were heard. About 4 P.M., September 19th, C. S. Hamilton's division, under Rosecrans, attacked Little's division of Price's army on the Jacinto road, and a severe combat ensued until night, with varying success, both sides at dark claiming a victory. Neither Grant nor Ord heard the sound of the battle in consequence of the intervening dense woods and an unfavorable wind. Rosecrans did not or could not advise Grant of the state of affairs, and the latter did not learn of the battle until 8.30 A.M. of the 20th. Price retreated in the night with his forces towards Baldwyn, on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, whither Grant ordered Ord with Hamilton's and Stanley's divisions and the cavalry to pursue. The pursuit was ineffectual. The battle of Iuka was fought after 4 P.M., principally by two opposing brigades, each about 4000 strong. The Union loss was, killed 141, wounded 613, missing 36, total 790.

The Confederate loss, as reported, was, killed 85, wounded 410, missing 40, total 535.( 7)

After Iuka Rosecrans was placed in command at Corinth, Grant having established his headquarters at Jackson, Tennessee. Hurlburt was at Bolivar, Tennessee, with his division. Though Halleck had partly constructed defensive works around Corinth on occupying it in May, 1862, they were too remote from the town and too elaborate for a small army.

Grant had, more recently, partly constructed some open batteries with connecting breastworks on College Hill. These Rosecrans further completed, and also constructed some redoubts to cover the north of the town.

From Ripley, Mississippi, September 29th, Van Dorn, with his own and Price's army, his force numbering about 25,000, by a rapid march advanced on Corinth, where Rosecrans could assemble not exceeding 18,500 men, consisting of the divisions of Generals David S. Stanley and C. S. Hamilton and the cavalry division of Colonel John K. Mizner, of the Army of the Mississippi, and the divisions of Generals Thomas A. Davies and Thomas J. McKean, of the Army of the Tennessee. It was not known certainly until the 3d of October whether Van Dorn designed to attack Bolivar, Jackson, or Corinth. The advance of Van Dorn and Price was met on the Chewalla road by Oliver's brigade of McKean's division, which was steadily driven back, together with reinforcements until, at 10 A.M., all the Union troops were inside the old Halleck intrenched line, and by 1.30 P.M. the Confederates had taken it and were pushing vigorously towards the more recently established inner line of intrenchments. Price's army formed on the Confederate left and Van Dorn's on the right. The brunt of the afternoon battle fell on McKean's and Davies' divisions. General Hackleman of Davies' division was killed, and General Richard J. Oglesby of the same division was severely wounded. The Union troops engaged lost heavily. One brigade of Stanley's division and Sullivan's brigade of Hamilton's division late in the day came to the relief of the heavily pressed Union troops. The coming of night put an end to the battle, but with the Confederate Army within six hundred yards of Corinth and the Union troops mainly behind their inner and last line of defence. The situation was critical. The morning of the 4th found Rosecrans' army formed, McKean on the left, Stanley and Davies to his right in the order named, one brigade of Hamilton on the extreme right and the rest of Hamilton's division in reserve behind the right.( 8)

Van Dorn opened fire at 4.30 A.M. with artillery, but he did not advance to the real attack until about 8 A.M. It came from north of town and fell heaviest on Davies' division. His front line gave way, and later his command was broken, and some of the Confederates penetrated the town and to where the reserve artillery was massed. Stanley's reserves, however, speedily fell on them and drove them out with great loss. Then the attack came on Battery-Robinett, to the westward near the Union centre. Three successive charges were made in column on this battery and on the centre with the greatest determination, and much close fighting occurred until the last assault was repulsed about 11 A.M. (October 4, 1862), when the enemy fell back under cover beyond cannon-shot. Van Dorn had hoped to take Corinth on the 3d, and now, being repulsed at every point, he beat a retreat, knowing Grant would not be inactive. It was not until about 2 P.M. that Rosecrans ascertained the enemy had commenced a retreat.( 9) General James B. McPherson arrived, October 4th, from Jackson with five regiments, but too late for the battle. The engagement was a severe one; both armies fought with desperation and skill; the Union troops, being outnumbered, made up the disparity by fighting, in part, behind breastworks.

The losses were heavy, especially in officers of rank. The Union loss was, killed 27 officers and 328 men, wounded 115 officers and 1726 men, captured or missing 5 officers and 319 men; grand total, 2520.(10) The Confederate loss (as stated in Van Dorn's report (11)), including casualties at Hatchie Bridge (October 5th), was, killed 594, wounded 2162, prisoners or missing 2102; grand total, 4858.

Grant, besides sending McPherson to Rosecrans' support, had directed Hurlburt at Bolivar to march with his division on the enemy's rear. Hurlburt started on the 4th by way of Middletown and Pocahontas. At the former place he encountered the enemy's cavalry and forced them by night to and across the Big Muddy, where the division encamped, one brigade having taken and crossed the bridge to the east side. Hurlburt's orders from Grant were to reach Rosecrans at all hazards.(12) The situation for Hurlburt was critical. He had in front of his single division both Van Dorn and Price. But the situation was in a high degree desperate for the retreating army. If its retreat were arrested long enough for Rosecrans' column to assail it in the rear it must be lost or dispersed. It was this that Grant confidently calculated on. On the morning of the 5th Hurlburt pushed vigorously forward to Davis' Bridge over the Hatchie. General Ord arrived about 8 A.M. and took command of Hurlburt's forces. The movement had hardly commenced when strong resistance was met with. Ord pushed the enemy back for about three miles with General Veatch's brigade, taking a ridge--Metamora--about one mile from the Hatchie. Here a severe battle ensued, the enemy was driven from the field across the bridge, and a portion of Ord's command gained a position just east of the river, though not without much loss. Ord was himself wounded at the bridge, and the command again devolved on Hurlburt. The latter soon thereafter secured a permanent lodgement on the east of the Hatchie, thus effectively stopping the retreat of Van Dorn by that route and forcing him to fall back and find another less desirable one. Under cover of night Van Dorn retreated upon another road to the southward, and crossed the Hatchie at Crum's Mill, six miles farther up the river.(13)

The success of Ord and Hurlburt was so complete that Grant believed Van Dorn's army should have been destroyed.(14)

Rosecrans did not move from Corinth until the morning of the 5th of October, and then not fast or far enough to overtake Van Dorn in the throes of battle with Ord and Hurlburt or in time to cut off his retreat by another route. Rosecrans gave as an excuse the exhausted condition of his troops after the battle of the 4th. At 2 P.M., the last day of the battle, he was certain the enemy had decided to retreat, yet he directed the victorious troops to proceed to their camps, provide five days' rations, take food and rest, and be ready to move early the next morning.(15) McPherson, having arrived with a fresh brigade, could have been at once pushed upon the rear of Van Dorn's exhausted troops. Rosecrans' army went into camp again in the afternoon of the 5th, while Ord and Hurlburt were fighting their battle. Although the pursuit was resumed by Rosecrans on the 6th, and thereafter continued to Ripley, it was after the flying enemy had passed beyond reach. But while it is possible that Rosecrans could have done better, it is certain that he and his troops did well; Van Dorn's diversion in favor of Bragg's grand, central invasion, at any rate, failed amid disaster.

But we must return to Bragg and Buell, the principal actors in the march to Kentucky.

Bragg's army commenced to cross the Tennessee at Chattanooga August 26, 1862, and immediately set out to the northward, his cavalry, under Wheeler, keeping well towards the foot of the mountains to the westward, covering and masking the real movement. Buell's army, as we have stated, was concentrated in the neighborhood of Dechard, Tennessee, with detachments of it still holding Huntsville, Battle Creek, and Murfreesboro.

Numerous and generally unimportant skirmishes took place at Battle Creek and other places. Murfreesboro was surprised and disgracefully surrendered to Forrest's cavalry July 13th, and Morgan's forces captured Gallatin, Tennessee, August 12th; but these places were not held.

Bragg continued his march through Pikeville and Sparta, Tennessee, crossing the Cumberland at Carthage and Gainesborough. Uniting his army at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, he proceeded through Glasgow to Munfordville, on Green River, where there was a considerable fortification, occupied by Colonel J. T. Wilder with about 4000 men.

Buell, after having sent some of his divisions as far east into the mountains as Jasper, Altamont, and McMinnville, with no results, moved his army to Nashville, thence with the reinforcements from Grant (two divisions), leaving two divisions and some detachments under Thomas to hold that city, through Tyree Springs and Franklin to Bowling Green, Kentucky, the advance arriving there September 11th.(16) Bragg was then at Glasgow. General James R. Chalmers and Colonel Scott, each with a brigade, the former of infantry, the other of cavalry, attacked, and Chalmers' brigade assaulted Wilder's position September 14th. The assault was repelled with much slaughter, Chalmers' loss being 3 officers and 32 men killed and 28 officers and 225 men wounded.(17) Chalmers then retired to Cave City, but returned with Bragg's main army on the 16th. Bragg having his army up, and Polk's corps north of Munfordville and Hardee's south of the river, opened negotiations for the surrender of the place. Being completely surrounded, with heavy batteries on all sides, Wilder capitulated, including 4133 officers and men. Chalmers was designated to take possession of the surrendered works on the morning of the 17th. Had Buell marched promptly on Munfordville from Bowling Green he would have found Bragg with one half of his army south of Green River and Polk with the other half north of it, and Wilder still holding a position on the river between the two.

Bragg, after the surrender, concentrated his army south of Green River opposite Munfordville along a low crest of hills. He had not yet formed a junction with Kirby Smith, and his force then in position probably did not much exceed 20,000.(18)

The position had no special advantages, was well known to many of Buell's officers, and should have been to Buell himself. In case of defeat, Bragg's army must have been lost and Kirby Smith's left to the same fate. Green River, passable in few places in Bragg's rear and to the north, would have rendered retreat impossible for a defeated army, and, besides, Bragg had no base north to retreat to. The situation was well understood in our army, except by Buell, who seemed to fear a junction with Kirby Smith had been formed, though Wilder (just paroled) and others of his officers on the day of the surrender informed Buell that no junction had been made. Wilder, however, had an exaggerated opinion of Bragg's strength at Munfordville. The junction of the two Confederate armies did not take place until October 9th, at Harrodsburg, the day succeeding the battle of Perryville.(19)

Buell had, south of Bragg, not less than 50,000 effective men. He since admits he had 35,000 men present before he ordered Thomas' division and other troops up from Nashville.(19) Thomas arrived on the 19th and 20th. There was some skirmishing on the 20th, and Bragg was then permitted to withdraw without further molestation across the river, whence he marched northward. The slowness of the movement of Buell's army from Nashville to Bowling Green and, after delaying there five days, thence towards Munfordville, was freely commented on by his army at the time. It was composed of seasoned and experienced troops, eager to find the enemy and give him battle.(20) In the history of no war was a more favorable opportunity presented to fight and reap a victor's fruits than at Green River, but the time and men for great and controlling success were not yet come.

The water supply northward of Bowling Green, already spoken of, was at best poor and deficient, especially in the hot September weather. The pools or ponds, befouled by the shooting in the February preceding of diseased and broken-down animals of Hardee's army on its retirement from Bowling Green, contained the most noxious and revolting water, yet it was at one time, for a large part of the army, all that was to be had for man or beast. I remember Colonel John Beatty and I, on one occasion near Cave City, stood in a hard rain storm holding the corners of a rubber blanket so as to catch a supply of water to slake our thirst. The army, however, as was generally the case when moving, suffered little from sickness.

The wagon train of Buell's army was dispatched with a cavalry guard from Bowling Green on a road to the westward of Munfordville through Brownsville, Litchifield, and Big Spring to West Point at the mouth of Salt River on the Ohio, thence to Louisville.(21)

Bragg continued his march unmolested and unresisted north from Green River along the railroad to near Nolin, thence northwestward by Hodgensville to Bardstown, then through Perryville to Harrodsburg, some part of his army going as far as Lawrenceburg, Lexington, and Frankfort.(21)

Buell marched after Bragg to near Nolin, thence keeping to the west through Elizabethtown and West Point to Louisville, the advance, General Thomas' division, arrived there September 25th, and the last division the 29th. Both train and army reaching the city in safety had the effect, at least, of relieving the place from further danger of capture, and for this Buell had due credit, though the country and the authorities at Washington were highly displeased with the result of his campaign.

Cumberland Gap, for want of supplies, was, on the night of the 17th of September, evacuated by General George W. Morgan, and though pursued by General Stevenson and John Morgan's cavalry, he made his way through Manchester, Booneville, West Liberty, and Grayson to Greenup, on the Ohio, arriving there the 2d of October. Stevenson then rejoined Kirby Smith at Frankfort.

It is true Nashville was still held of the Union forces, but Northern Alabama and nearly all else in Middle Tennessee occupied during the campaigns of the previous spring were lost or abandoned. Grant alone held his ground in Northern Mississippi and Western Tennessee, and his army had been dangerously depleted to reinforce Buell.

Clarksville, on the Cumberland below Nashville, in Grant's department, was captured, August 18th, 1862, and some steamboats and some supplies were there taken and destroyed. Colonel Rodney Mason (71st Ohio) was in command, and had under him at the time only about 225 men. His position was not a good one for defence; he had no fortifications, and was without cavalry to give him information of the approach or strength of the enemy. It was variously claimed that Mason surrendered to only a few irregular cavalry with no artillery, and without firing a gun, on being deceived into the belief that he was surrounded by a superior force with six pieces of artillery.(22) The War Department, somewhat hastily, August 22d, by order, without trial, dismissed Colonel Mason from the service. This order was revoked March 22, 1866.(22) Twelve officers of the regiment signed a statement to the effect that they had advised the surrender. For this the War Department mustered them out August 29, 1862. The President directed the order revoked as to Captain Sol. J. Houck, because he signed the statement under a misapprehension of its contents.(23) The order dismissing the others was revoked after the war, except as to Lieutenant Ira L. Morris, who enlisted in 1864 as a private soldier, and was thereupon honorably discharged as a Lieutenant.

The Confederate Army was now in occupancy of Frankfort, Lexington, Cumberland Gap, and most of middle Kentucky. Buell's army, largely reinforced by fresh troops and numbering, present for duty, 65,886,(24) was apparently besieged at Louisville. Nelson had retired there from his disaster at Richmond (August 30th), and had collected a very considerable army and thrown up some breastworks.

At West Point I obtained permission to proceed with the advance of the army to Louisville, having previously been notified of my appointment as Colonel of a newly-organized regiment.

On reaching Louisville I first saw President Lincoln's 22d of September Proclamation, announcing that on January 1, 1863, he would proclaim all slaves within States or designated parts of a State, the people whereof should be in rebellion, "thenceforward and forever free." The idea of prosecuting the war for the liberation of slaves in rebellious States had, to say the least, had not been fostered in Buell's army, hence there was much criticism of this proclamation by officers, and some foolish threats of resigning rather than "fight for the freedom of the negro." Even the army, fighting patriotically to suppress the rebellion, did not then fully appreciate that it was not in God's divine plan that peace should ever come to our stricken country until our banner of liberty waved over none but freemen.

On the 24th of September the President issued an order creating the Department of the Tennessee and assigned to its command Major- General George H. Thomas; and the same day Buell was ordered to turn his command over to him and to retire to Indianapolis.(25) These orders were forwarded by Colonel McKibben, but not delivered until the 29th.(26) Buell immediately turned over his command to Thomas, but the latter, with his natural modesty, protested against accepting it in the emergency. Halleck suspended the order, and Buell again resumed command, announcing Thomas as second in command.(26)

More than a year elapsed before General Thomas was again given so important a command as the one he thus declined, and then he relieved Rosecrans and took command of the Army of the Cumberland when it was besieged by Bragg at Chattanooga. Thomas, though diffident to a degree, was one of our greatest soldiers. He served uninterruptedly from the opening to the close of the war, distinguishing himself in many battles, especially at Stone's River, at Chickamauga, on the Atlanta campaign (1864), and at Nashville, December 15 and 16, 1864. He was admired, almost adored, by the soldiers of the Army of the Cumberland, and he deserved their affection. His principal characteristics differed from those of Grant, Sherman, Meade, or Sheridan, who, though great soldiers, each differed in disposition, temper, and quality from the others. General Thomas, being a Virginian by birth, was at first expected and coaxed to go into the rebellion, then later he was abused and slandered by statements coming from the South to the effect that he had contemplated going with his State. There is no evidence that he ever wavered in his loyalty to the Union.

I had Grant's opinion of General Thomas as a commanding officer when I was making an official call on him at City Point, December 5, 1864, just at the time Hood was besieging Nashville. Grant had been urging Thomas to fight Hood and raise the siege, fearing, as Grant then said, Hood would cross the Cumberland and make a winter raid into Kentucky. Thomas refused to fight until fully ready. Grant, after inquiring of me about the roads and hills around the south of Nashville, of which I had acquired some knowledge in the spring and fall of 1862, said, somewhat impatiently:

"Thomas is a great soldier, and though able, at any time, with his present force to whip Hood, he lacks confidence in himself and the disposition to assume the offensive until he has seventy-five per centum of the chances of battle, in his own opinion, in favor of success."

Thomas was born July 31, 1816, and died in San Francisco, March 28, 1870. His body is buried at Troy, N. Y. Sherman, in command of the army, in announcing his death, said:

"The very impersonation of honesty, integrity and honor, he will stand to posterity as the beau-ideal of the soldier and gentleman. Though he leaves no child to bear his name, the old Army of the Cumberland, numbered by tens of thousands, called him father, and will weep for him in tears of manly grief."

I witnessed, in principal part, a great tragedy resulting from a quarrel between high officers of the Union Army. This occurred September 29, 1862, at the Galt House, Louisville, whither I had repaired to tender my resignation to Buell as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 3d Ohio Infantry, to enable me to accept promotion.

General Jeff C. Davis had been in command of a division under General William Nelson at Louisville, and had in some way incurred Nelson's censure. Nelson relieved him of command and ordered him to report to Wright, the department commander, at Cincinnati. Wright ordered Davis to return to Louisville and report to Buell for duty. Davis, being from Indiana, returned via Indianapolis, and from there was accompanied to Louisville by Governor Oliver P. Morton, who, with another friend, was with Davis in the vestibule of the Galt House about 9 A.M. when Davis accosted Nelson, demanding satisfaction for the injustice he claimed had been done him, and, it was said, at the same time flipped a paper wad in Nelson's face.(27) Nelson retorted by slapping Davis in the face with the back of his hand, and then, after denouncing Morton as Davis' "abettor of the deliberate insult," at once passed from the vestibule to adjoining hallway and started up the steps of a stairway, apparently going towards his room. He soon, however, returned to the hall and walked quietly in the direction of Davis. The latter meantime had obtained a pistol from his friend, and as Nelson approached fired on him, the bullet striking Nelson in the left breast, just over the heart, producing what proved, in half an hour, to be a mortal wound.(27) The incident was a deplorable one. Nelson was an able, valuable officer, and had proved himself such on many fields. He was known to be hasty, and sometimes unwarrantably rough in his treatment of others, yet he promptly repented of any act of injustice and made amends as far as possible. Davis was placed in military arrest by Buell, but later was released, by orders from Washington, to be allowed to become amenable to civil authority. Still later he was restored to the command of a division, then given a corps, and, by his gallantry, soldierly bearing, and general good conduct to the end of the war, atoned in some degree for the bloody deed.

My resignation was accepted on this memorable 29th of September, 1862, and thenceforth my official connection with my first regiment, its gallant officers and soldiers, and with the noble Army of the Ohio and the other great armies of the West, ceased, and forever, and not without the deepest regret, especially in parting from Colonel John Beatty, with whom I had, as more than a friend and companion, eaten and slept, marched and bivouacked, on the closest terms of confidence, without receiving from him an unkind or ungenerous word, for seventeen months, although he was my immediate superior officer, and we had both gone through many hardships and vexatious trials together. This was the more remarkable as we were each of sanguine temperament and obstinate by nature.

Beatty was appointed by President Lincoln a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, November 29, 1862, and he thereafter, as before at Perryville, especially distinguished himself at Stone's River and Chickamauga. He has since served three terms in Congress with distinction.

It was my good fortune to meet and shake hands, one year and about eight months later, with some of the survivors of this Western army at Greensborough, North Carolina, after Lee's surrender, and on the occasion of the surrender of Joe Johnston's army to Sherman.

Although my humble connection with Buell's army ceased at Louisville, I will summarize its history, covering a few days longer.

Polk's and Hardee's corps constituting Bragg's army we left in the vicinity of Bardstown and Harrodsburg, with some portions at Frankfort and Lexington. Kirby Smith was at Salvisa, about twenty miles northeast of Perryville, with the main body of his army, and, believing he would be the first attacked, called loudly for reinforcement, and Bragg sent him, on the eve of Perryville, Withers and Cheatham's divisions from Polk and Hardee's corps. Bragg placed Polk in command of his army in the vicinity of Perryville, and repaired to Frankfort to witness the inauguration (October 4th) of a new Secession Provisional Governor of Kentucky--Richard Hawes (28)--her former one, George W. Johnson, having been killed at Shiloh while fighting as a private soldier.

Buell, being further reinforced with new troops, mostly from Ohio and Indiana, commenced, October 2d, a general movement against both Bragg and Smith. General Joshua W. Sill's division of General Alexander McD. McCook's corps, followed by General Ebenezer Dumont with a raw division, moved through Shelbyville towards Frankfort. McCook, with the two remaining divisions of the First Corps, commanded, respectively, by Generals L. H. Rousseau and James S. Jackson, moved from Bloomfield to Taylorsville, where he halted the second night. Crittenden's corps marched via Bardstown on the Lebanon and Danville road, which passed about four miles to the south of Perryville, with a branch to it. Gilbert's corps moved on the more direct road to Perryville. Thomas, second in command, accompanied Crittenden on the right, and Buell kept his headquarters with Gilbert's corps, the centre one in the movements. As the Union columns advanced, the armies of Bragg and Kirby Smith found it necessary to commence concentrating. For some reason, not warranted by good strategy, two points of concentration were designated by Bragg, Perryville and Salvisa, twenty miles apart. Smith persisted in the belief he would be the first to be struck by the advancing army.

General Sill, on the road to Frankfort, encountered some opposition on the 3d, but on the 4th pressed the enemy back so close that the booming of his cannon interrupted Richard Hawes in the reading of his inaugural address. Bragg, while witnessing the ceremony, received dispatches announcing the near approach of the Union columns.(29) This led to a general stampede of the assembly, most of which was Confederate military, and the inaugural was never finished. Hawes fled from the capital, half inaugurated, accompanying the army, and this was about the last heard of a secession Governor of Kentucky.

Bragg personally hurried to Harrodsburg and there met Polk, who gave him news of the movements of his army and of the approach of the Union columns. Bragg reached the conclusion that the wide front covered by the Union forces (about fifteen miles) afforded an opportunity to beat a part of them in an early engagement, and he therefore, at 5.40 P.M. of the 7th, ordered Polk to recall Cheatham's division, hitherto ordered to reinforce Smith, and to form a junction with Hardee's corps near Perryville, and there give battle immediately, and then move to Versailles, whither Smith was ordered with his army.(30) McCook was turned directly on Perryville and Sill was ordered in the same direction. Buell, at 7 P.M. of the 7th, seemed to be aware that stubborn resistance would be met with the next day at Perryville. He so advised General Thomas.(31) Polk, with Cheatham's division, reached Perryville about midnight of the 7th, and the troops were placed in position on a line previously established with the expectation that a battle would be opened early the following morning. The Confederate troops thus in position numbered about 18,000, while immediately opposed to them were no divisions yet in position, and, in fact, no real preparation for battle had been made on the Union side. There was some skirmishing on the Confederate extreme left in the night, between Colonel Dan McCook's brigade of Sheridan's division, for the possession of the water in Doctor's Fork, but nothing more.

Bragg, at Harrodsburg, not hearing the battle open at dawn, hastened to Perryville, and there learned at 10 A.M. that a council of Confederate generals had been held, on Polk's suggestion, at which it was determined to act only on the defensive. He, however, after some reconnoissances and adjustment of the lines, ordered Polk to bring on an engagement.(32)

McCook with his two divisions came within about three miles of Perryville about 10.30 A.M. of the 8th, and there encountered some resistance, and later his troops were advanced and formed with the right of Rousseau's division, resting near a barn south of the Perryville and Mackville road, its left extending on a ridge through a corn field to a wood occupied by the 2d and 33d Ohio. The right of General William R. Terrill's brigade of Jackson's division rested on woods to the left of Rousseau, his left forming a crotchet to the rear. Starkweather and Webster's brigades of Rousseau and Jackson's divisions, respectively, were posted by McCook in support of the line named. Sheridan and R. B. Mitchell's divisions of the Third Corps were posted, not in preparation for battle, several hundred yards to McCook's right, but supposed to be near enough to protect it.(33)

Save some clashes of the skirmish lines and bodies seeking positions, no fierce engagement took place until 2 P.M., when a determined attack in force fell on Terrill's brigade, causing it to soon give way, General James S. Jackson, division commander, being killed at the first fire, and Terrill fell soon after. McCook had previously (about 12.30 P.M.) ridden to Buell's headquarters, about two and a half miles distant, and informed him of the situation, but this did not awaken him to the apprehension that a battle was about to be fought. McCook's entire command present on the field was soon engaged against great odds. Of this Captain Fisher of McCook's staff informed Buell in his tent at 3.30 or 4 P.M., and Buell claimed it was his first news that a battle had been raging on his front.

Polk, with three divisions of infantry and a complement of artillery, and with cavalry on each flank, had fallen on the two unsupported divisions of McCook, choosing his place and manner of attack skilfully. Rousseau's right was struck soon after Terrill's brigade was driven back, and the whole of his division was soon in action. The Confederates advanced under cover of their artillery fire, outflanking Rousseau's right. His troops stood to their work against odds and made a most gallant resistance. Their right was turned, when Gilbert's idle corps was near enough to have come at once into action and afforded it protection. McCook's command, though suffering much, was not driven from the field. My old regiment occupied the crest of a hill, its right behind a hay-barn. In this position, under Colonel John Beatty, it fought, exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy's batteries and to a front and flank fire from his infantry. The barn at last took fire, and its flames were so hot the right of the regiment was forced to temporarily give way. Its loss was 190 of its then 500 men in line, including Captains Cunard and McDougal and Lieutenants St. John and Starr among the killed. Colonel W. H. Lytle, commanding the brigade, was wounded and captured.

The Confederates gained possession temporarily of only portions of the battle-ground, and night found McCook's corps still confronting them.

Sheridan and R. B. Mitchell's divisions of the Third Corps in the evening made some diversion, driving back and threatening Polk's left. Buell late in the day ordered reinforcements sent to McCook, but they reached him too late for the battle. Polk claimed a victory, but while he had some temporary success, both armies slept on the field.

The failure of Buell to know or hear of the battle until too late to put his numerous troops near the field into it was the subject of much comment. Had Crittenden and Gilbert been pushed forward while Bragg's forces were engaged with McCook, his army should have been cut off, captured, or dispersed; Kirby Smith's lying farther to the north, would also have been imperilled.

Such an opportunity never occurred again in the war. It is said Buell was in his tent and the winds were unfavorable. But where were his staff officers, who should furnish eyes and ears for their General?

The Union loss was 39 officers and 806 men killed, 94 officers and 2757 men wounded, total 3696; and captured or missing 13 officers and 502 men, grand total 4211. Of these Rousseau's division lost 18 officers and 466 men killed, and 52 officers and 1468 men wounded, total 2004; and Jackson's division lost 6 officers and 81 men killed, and 8 officers and 338 men wounded, total 433; grand total, two divisions, 2437. The few others killed and wounded were of the three divisions of the Third Corps.(34)

The Confederate loss, as reported by General Polk, was 510 killed and 2635 wounded, total 3145; captured 251, grand total 3396.(34)

Bragg withdrew from the field of Perryville during the night after the battle and united his army with Smith's at Harrodsburg. Commencing October 13th, he retreated through Southeastern Kentucky via Cumberland Gap to the Tennessee, thence transferred his army to Murfreesboro, to which place Breckinridge, also Forrest's cavalry, had been previously sent.

Thus the great invasion ended. It bore none of the anticipated fruits. Both Bragg and Kirby Smith felt keenly the disappointment that Kentucky's sons did not rally under their standards. Bragg frequently remarked while in Kentucky: "The people here have too many fat cattle and are too well off to fight."

From Bryantsville he wrote the Adjutant-General at Richmond:

"The campaign here was predicated on the belief and the most positive assurances that the people of this country would rise in mass to assert their independence. No people ever had so favorable an opportunity, but I am distressed to add there is little or no disposition to avail of it."(35)

The conception of the invasion was admirable, and the execution of the campaign was vigorous, and, under all the circumstances, skilful, but if the Army of the Ohio had been rapidly moved and boldly fought, together with its numerous auxiliaries, both Bragg and Kirby Smith's armies would have been separately beaten and destroyed.

Buell's army pursued the enemy from Kentucky, and finally concentrated in front of Nashville. By direction of the President, October 24, 1862, the State of Tennessee east of the Tennessee River and Northern Alabama and Georgia became the Department of the Cumberland, and General W. S. Rosecrans was assigned to its command, his troops to constitute the Fourteenth Army Corps.(36) Buell was, at the same date, ordered to turn over his command to Rosecrans. The latter relived Buell at Louisville October 30th. Buell retired to Indianapolis to await orders. He was never again assigned to active duty, though he held his Major-General's commission until May 23, 1864. He was not without talent, and possessed much technical military learning; was a good organizer and disciplinarian, but was better qualified for an adjutant's office than a command in the field. Many things said of him were untrue or unjust, yet the fact remains that he failed as an independent commander of an army during field operations. With great opportunities, he did not achieve success--the only test of greatness in war--possibly in any situation in life. He was not, however, the least of a class developed and brought to the front by the exigencies of war, who were not equal to the work assigned them, or who could not or did not avail themselves of the opportunities presented.

Rosecrans, while in command of the Army of the Cumberland, won the battle of Stone's River (December 31, 1862); then pushed Bragg across the Tennessee and fought the great battle of Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863. He was relieved at Chattanooga by Thomas, October 19, 1863, and was assigned to the Department of Missouri, January 28, 1864. In this new field Rosecrans displayed much activity and performed good service, but he was relieved again, December 9, 1864, and thereafter was on waiting orders at Cincinnati. Notwithstanding some mistakes, his character as a great soldier and commanding general will stand the severe scrutiny of military critics. He was a man of many attainments, a fine conversationalist, and a genial gentleman who drew to him many devoted friends.

This chapter, already of greater length than was originally designed, must here end, as I must turn to other campaigns, armies, and fields of battle more nearly connected with my further career in the War of the Rebellion.

( 1) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., pp. 838-841.

( 2) Ibid., Part II., p. 290.

( 3) War Records, vol. x., Part I., p. 910.

( 4) Ibid., vol. xvi., Part II., p. 404.

( 5) Battles and Leaders, vol. iii., p. 39, and see War Records, vol. xvi., Part II., pp. 394, 395.

( 6) Ohio in the War, vol. i., p. 93.

( 7) Battles and Leaders, vol. ii., p. 736.

( 8) Battles and Leaders, vol. ii., p. 744, map.

( 9) War Records, vol. xvii., Part I., pp. 158, 170; Battles and Leaders, vol. ii., p. 752.

(10) War Records, vol. xvii., Part I., p. 176.

(11) Ibid., p. 381 (382-4).

(12) Ibid., p. 158, 308.

(13) War Records, vol. xvii., Part I., pp. 205-8, 302, 322.

(14) Ibid., p. 158; Grant's Memoirs, vol. i., p. 417.

(15) Battles and Leaders, vol. ii., p. 753; War Records (Rosecrans' Report), vol. xvii., Part I., p. 170.

(16) Atlas, War Records, Part V., plate 24.

(17) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., p. 978.

(18) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., pp. 966, 970.

(19) Battles and Leaders, vol. iii., pp. 603-42.

(20) While the army was massed at Dripping Springs, a beef-ox escaped from a herd about midnight, and in wild frenzy rushed back and forth through the army, jumping on and running over the bivouacked sleeping soldiers, seriously injuring many, until a large part of the army was alarmed and called up. He was finally surrounded and bayoneted to death.

(21) Atlas, War Records, Part V., plate 24.

(22) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., pp. 862-8.

(23) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., p. 862-8.

(24) Ibid., Part II., p. 564.

(25) Ibid., pp. 539, 554-5, 560.

(26) War Records, vol. xvi., Part II., pp. 554-5, 560.

(27) Battles and Leaders, vol. iii., pp. 43, 61.

(28) Battles and Leaders, vol. iii., pp. 47, 602.

(29) Battles and Leaders, vol. iii., pp. 602, 47.

(30) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., pp. 1092-6.

(31) Ibid., Part II., p. 580.

(32) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., pp. 1092-3.

(33) Ibid., p. 1040.

(34) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., pp. 1033, 1112.

(35) War Records, vol. xvi., Part I., p. 1088.

(36) Ibid., Part II., pp. 641, 654.

CHAPTER IX Commissioned Colonel of 110th Ohio Volunteers--Campaigns in West Virginia under General Milroy, 1862-3--Emancipation of Slaves in the Shenandoah Valley, and Incidents

On September 30, 1862, I arrived at Columbus, Ohio, from Louisville, and was at once commissioned Colonel of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. My regiment was at Camp Piqua, Ohio, not yet organized and without arms or clothing. I found the camp in command of a militia colonel, appointed for the purpose.

The men of the 110th Ohio were for the most part recruited from the country, and were being fed in camp, in large part, by home- food voluntarily furnished by their friends. They were a fine body of young men, but none of the officers had seen military service.

I declined to assume command of the camp or regiment until clothing and arms could be procured. Three or four days sufficed to obtain these supplies, but only percussion-cap smooth-bore .69 calibre muskets could be obtained. These guns were heavy, long, and unwieldy, and much inferior to the Springfield .58 calibre rifle, but I accepted them temporarily rather than be delayed in the drill and discipline of the regiment, which was impossible without them.

On assuming command, I called the officers of the regiment together and explained to them their duties as well as my own, and especially informed each company commander that he would be required to qualify himself to command his company, and that all times he would be held responsible for its soldierly conduct. A school of officers was established, and the whole camp soon wore a military aspect. The work thus commenced in time transformed these raw volunteers into officers and soldiers as good as ever fought in any war or country.( 1)

The environments of Camp Piqua were not favorable to discipline, but on October 19, 1862, the regiment took cars and proceeded via Columbus to Zanesville, thence by water to Marietta, and from the latter place on foot to Parkersburg, West Virginia, where it first occupied and camped in what was called the enemy's country. An early but severe snow-storm came during the first night of our encampment, and suggested the hardship and suffering which were not to cease until the final victory at Appomattox. Drill and discipline went on satisfactorily. New troops will bravely stand to their work in battle if they can be manoeuvred successfully, and also know how to use their arms. General J. D. Cox, in command of the District of West Virginia, with his uniform courtesy welcomed me by telegraph to my new field of operations. In a few days I was ordered to Clarksburg and to a section familiar to me when serving under McClellan.

At Parkersburg I first me the 122d Ohio Infantry, commanded by Col. Wm. H. Ball. He was my junior in date of muster eight days and, consequently, in more than two years our regiments served together, I generally commanded him. He was not an educated soldier, and did not aspire to become one, nor did he take pains to appear well on drill or on parade, yet he was a most valuable officer, loyal and intelligently brave, possessing enough mental capacity to successfully fill any position. He did not aspire to high command, but at all times faithfully performed his duty in camp and on the battle-field. His loyalty to me, while my senior in years, still claims my gratitude.

His regiment, like the volunteer regiments generally, had in it many men who became prominent in the war, and, still later, in peace. Lieutenant-Colonel Moses M. Granger was a most accomplished officer, and deserved a higher rank. In addition to the distinction won by him as a soldier he has attained a high reputation as a citizen, lawyer, and jurist.

The first surgeon (Thaddeus A. Reamy) of the 122d, though not long in the field, has taken a first place in his profession, as has also its next surgeon, Wm. M. Houston, and its assistant surgeon, Wilson G. Bryant. Its chaplain, Charles C. McCabe, was one of the best and most efficient in the war. His zeal in the performance, under all circumstances, of the high duties of his office, and his cheerful disposition, aided in trying times to keep up the spirits and courage of the soldiers. He ministered to the wounded and the dying on the battlefield, and to the sick and disabled in hospital. He was famed throughout the armies he served with for singing at appropriate times, with a strong, melodious voice, patriotic and religious songs, in which, often even on the march, a large part of the army would join.

He has since achieved success in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is now a bishop. William T. Meloy, D. D., of the United Presbyterian Church--now in Chicago--was a lieutenant in this regiment. He has become eminent for his learning and high character. Those named of these companion regiments are examples only of others who voluntarily and heroically endured the trying ordeal of war.

A false report that Stonewall Jackson was threatening a raid on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at New Creek (now Keyser), West Virginia, caused a precipitate transfer by rail of my command to that place. There I came first under the direct command of Major- General Robert H. Milroy, then distinguished for his zeal for the Union and for personal bravery. He was tall and of commanding presence. His head of white, shocky, stiff hair led his soldiers to dub him the "Gray Eagle." He had much military learning, and had fought in many of the bloodiest battles of the war, notably at the second Bull Run under Pope. He had seen service also in the Mexican War. Notwithstanding his excessive impetuosity, he was a just, generous, kind-hearted man, and possessed the confidence of his troops to a high degree. He incurred the ill-will of Secretary of War Stanton, and, regarding himself as unjustly treated, more than reciprocated the Secretary's dislike. He ardently admired President Lincoln, and only criticised him for delay in emancipating the slaves. He believed the slaves of those in rebellion should have been given their freedom from the beginning of the war. He was so bitterly hostile to slavery and to individual Secessionists, and so radical in his methods, that Jefferson Davis, by proclamation, excepted him and his officers from being treated, if captured, as prisoners of war. He was charged with making assessments on inhabitants and of requiring them to take an oath to support the Constitution and the Union. He also had the distinction of being mentioned by Davis in a Message to the Confederate Congress, January 12, 1863. There was much correspondence between the opposing authorities on the subject of his mode of conducting the war,( 2) and it seems General Halleck disavowed and condemned Milroy's alleged acts. Much charged against Milroy was false, though it was true he believed in prosecuting the war with an iron hand. He regarded the Confederate soldier in the field with more favor than the Confederate stay-at-home who acted as a spy, or who, as a guerilla, engaged in shooting from ambush passing soldiers or teamsters and cutting telegraph wires. He did require certain influential persons who resided within his lines to take an oath of allegiance to the United States and to West Virginia or to forfeit all right to the protection of his division. Further than this he did not go.

At New Creek I first met G. P. Cluseret, a French soldier of fortune, but recently appointed a Brigadier-General. He held a command under Milroy in the Cheat Mountain Division. He assumed much military and other learning, was imperious and overbearing by nature, spoke English imperfectly, and did not seem to desire to get in touch with volunteers. With him I had my only personal difficulty of a serious nature during the war.

At New Creek a constant drill was kept up. To avoid surprises by sudden dashes, the companies as well as the battalion were taught to form squares quickly and to guard against cavalry. Early in December Milroy marched to Little Petersburg, on the South Branch of the Potomac, and I was assigned to command a post at Moorefield to include Hardy County, West Virginia, Milroy's headquarters being ten miles distant. General Lee ordered General W. E. Jones, then temporarily in command in the Shenandoah Valley, to retake the county we occupied. A feeble effort to do this failed. We were kept constantly on the alert, however, by annoying attacks of Captain McNeil's irregular cavalry or guerillas. Late in December, 1862, it was decided to make a raid into the lower Shenandoah Valley, and, if found practicable, occupy it permanently. I was designated to lead the raid with about two thousand infantry, cavalry, and artillery. This made it necessary for me to be relieved of the command of the post. Cluseret was therefore ordered from Petersburg to relieve me. He arrived late in the evening with his staff and escort, showed his orders, and I suggested that he assume the command at once. This he declined to do until he ascertained the position of the troops, roads, etc. I provided him comfortable quarters, and everything would have gone along pleasantly but for an unexpected incident.

Before Cluseret's arrival, a lieutenant-colonel of a West Virginia regiment applied for leave to go to Petersburg to visit a lady friend. This I refused, and he undertook to go without leave. After he had proceeded along the river road by moonlight about three miles, he was halted by a man who, from behind a tree, pointed a musket at him and demanded his surrender and that he deliver up his sword, pistols, overcoat, horse, and trappings, all of which he did promptly, and accepted a parole. The man who made the capture claimed to be a regular Confederate soldier returning from a furlough to his command. With the colonel's property and on the horse he proceeded by a mountain path on his journey. The colonel walked back to Moorefield and related his adventure. I at once ordered Captain Rowan with a small number of his West Virginia cavalry to pursue the Confederate. As there was snow on the ground, his pursuit was easy, and before midnight the Captain had captured him and all the colonel's property was returned to Moorefield. When the man was brought before me, I made some examination of him and then ordered him taken to the guard-house. At this time Cluseret appeared on the scene, and in an excited way demanded that I should order the prisoner to be shot forthwith. This being declined, he again produced his order to supersede me, and declared he would at once take command and himself order the man shot that night. I could not deny his right to assume command notwithstanding what had taken place, but I strongly denied his authority to shoot the captive, and insisted that there was no cause for shooting him summarily; that only through a court-martial or military commission could he be condemned, and a sentence to death would, to carry it out, require the approval of the President. (It was not until later in the war that department, district, or army commanders could approve a capital sentence.) Cluseret vehemently denounced the authorities, including the President, for their mild way of carrying on the war, and talked himself into a frenzy. As he was preparing an order to require the Provost-Marshal to shoot the man without trial, I repaired to the telegraph office and made Milroy acquainted with the situation, whereupon he ordered me to retain command of the post until further orders. Milroy, on coming to Moorefield the next day, sustained me, and the soldier was treated as an ordinary prisoner of war. Cluseret pretended to be satisfied, and later succeeded in getting himself assigned to command the expedition to the Shenandoah Valley--not a very desirable one in mid-winter. He reached Strasburg, and moved through the Valley northward to Winchester, but was pursued by a small force under Jones. This made it necessary to reinforce him, and I started under orders for that place via Romney and Blue's Gap, and was joined on the way by Milroy with the body of his division. On leaving Moorefield, on the 30th of December, I with two orderlies rode ahead about a mile to the South Branch of the Potomac to examine the ford, as we had no pontoons, and, having crossed the river, awaited the approach of the wagon train and its guard, which was to take the advance, as no enemy was known to be in that direction. As the head of the train reached the ford Captain J. H. McNeil (whose home was near by), with about fifty of his guerilla band, attacked it by emerging from ambush on the Moorefield side of the river. A short fight ensued, during which I recrossed the river and joined in it. McNeil was driven off with little loss, but for a brief time I was in much danger of capture, at least.

On this day a colored boy, an escaped slave, whom we named Andrew Jackson, joined me. He became my servant to the end of the war. He was always faithful, honest, good-natured, and brave. He was a full-blood African, and during a battle would voluntarily take a soldier's arms and fight with the advance lines. He became widely known throughout the Army of the Potomac and other armies in which I served, and was kindly treated and welcomed wherever he went. He resided after the war in Springfield, Ohio, and died there (1895) of an injury resulting from the kick of a horse.

On the night of December 31, 1862, the command bivouacked on the western slope of the Alleghany Mountains in a fierce snow-storm, and early the next morning my troops led the way in the continuing storm over the summit. Shortly after the head of the column commenced the eastern descent, and when the chilling winter blasts had caused the lowest ebb of human enthusiasm to be reached, shouts were heard by me, at first indistinctly, then nearer and louder. This was so unusual and unexpected under the depressing circumstances that I ordered the column to halt until I could go back and ascertain the cause. My first impression was that a sudden attack had been made on the rear of the troops, but as the shouts came nearer I took them to be for a great victory, news of which had just arrived. When I reached the crest of the mountain I descried, through the flying snow, General Milroy riding along the line of troops and halting at intervals as though to briefly address the men. I awaited his approach, and on his arrival accosted him with the inquiry, "What is the matter, General?" He had his hat and sword in his right hand, and with the other guided his horse at a reckless gallop through the snow, his tall form, shocky white hair fluttering in the storm, and evident agitation making a figure most picturesque and striking. He pulled up his horse abruptly to answer my question. A natural impediment in his speech, affecting him most when excited, caused some delay in his first vehement utterance. He said:

"Colonel, don't you know that this is Emancipation Day, when all slaves will be made free?"

He then turned to the halted troops and again broke forth:

"This day President Lincoln will proclaim the freedom of four millions of human slaves, the most important event in the history of the world since Christ was born. Our boast that this is a land of liberty has been a flaunting lie. Henceforth it will be a veritable reality. The defeats of our armies in the past we have deserved, because we waged a war to protect and perpetuate and to rivet firmer the chains of slavery. Hereafter we shall prosecute the war to establish and perpetuate liberty for all mankind beneath the flag; and the Lord God Almighty will fight on our side, and he is a host, and the Union armies will triumph."

This is the character of speech that aroused the soldiers to voiceful demonstrations on the summit of the Appalachian chain on this cold and stormy mid-winter morning. The sequel shows how Milroy's prophecy was fulfilled; but not always did victory come to the Union arms. As in the days of the Crusades, when the Lord was supposed to battle on the side of the Crusaders, victory was not uniformly with them. Charles Martel, believing in prayer for divine aid on going into battle, yet testified that the "Lord always fights on the side of the heaviest battalions"; which was only another way of saying, "The Lord helps those who help themselves."

Milroy's command debouched into the Valley of the Shenandoah, already memorable for its many bloody conflicts, and destined to become yet more memorable by reason of still other and far bloodier battles.

This war-stricken valley, from Staunton to the Potomac, was beautiful and rich, and its inhabitants were, prior to the war, proud and boastful; they possessed many slaves to till the soil and for personal servants. It was also a breeding-ground for slaves which, in a more southern market, brought great profit to their owners. Winchester was the home of the Masons and others, distinguished as statesmen and soldiers through all the history of Virginia.

But not all the inhabitants of the Shenandoah valley were disloyal. A majority of its voting population was, before the war actually commenced, in favor of the Union, and its Representatives voted against an Ordinance of Secession. I have seen an address of Philip Williams, Esq., an old, respected, and distinguished lawyer of Winchester, made when the question of Secession was pending, in which he attempted to depict the horrors of the war that would follow an attempt to set up an independent government. He prophesied that the valley would be a battle-ground for the contending hosts; that the fields would be overrun, the crops destroyed, grain and stock confiscated; and the slaves carried off and set free. His address brought him for a time into ridicule. He lived to see his word-picture appear as only a vain, faint representation of the reality. When the war came, and his sons and friends joined the Confederate Army, his sympathies were with the South. He often recurred, however, to his more than fulfilled prophecy. He lived to see the valley for ninety or more miles of its length reek with blood; the houses, whether in city or village, turned into hospitals, and the war-lit fires of burning mills, barns, and grain stacks illuminate the valley and the mountain slopes to the summits of the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies on its east and west. Pen cannot adequately describe the hell of agony, desolation, and despair witnessed in this fertile region in the four years of war; and long before the conflict ended not a human slave was held therein. It, however, has long since, under a new civilization, recovered its wonted prosperity, and no inhabitant thereof, though many are the sons and daughters of slaveholders, desires to again hold slaves. Not all the affluent ante-bellum inhabitants of this valley owned slaves or believed in slavery. Many were Quakers, others Dunkards (or Tunkers), all of whom were, by religious training and conviction, opposed to human slavery, hence opposed to Secession and a slave power. Some of the younger men of Quaker or Dunkard families through compulsion joined the Confederate Army, but the number was small. Though opposed to war, no more loyal Union people could be found anywhere. Their Secession neighbors called them "Tories," and the Quakers descendants of Tories of the Revolution. It was common to hear related the story of the imprisonment at Winchester, under General Washington's order, of certain Quakers of Philadelphia, claimed to have been Tories, who were given a twenty-mile prison- bound limit, and who, when peace came, coveting the rich lands of the valley, and being humiliated over their imprisonment, sent for their families and settled there permanently. Whether or not this story gives the true reason for the early settlement of the Quakers in Virginia, certain it is that they were loyal to the Union that Washington helped to found and opposed to human bondage.

Milroy's enthusiasm over Emancipation was put in practice when he entered Winchester. Without seeing the Proclamation of the President, and without knowing certainly it was issued and made applicable to the Shenandoah Valley district, Milroy issued a proclamation headed, "Freedom to Slaves." This had the effect of causing those within the lines of his command at once to leave their masters. Though the slaves could not read, not one failed during the succeeding night to hear that liberty had been proclaimed, and all, even to the most trusted and faithful personal or house servant, regardless of age, sex, or previous kind treatment, so far as known, asserted their freedom. In some way it had been inculcated into the minds of these people that if they, by word or act, however simple or unimportant it might be, after the Proclamation acquiesced in their previous condition they would again for life become slaves. They probably derived this notion from the Bible story of Hebrew slavery, wherein it is said that after six years' service the slave should become free, save when, preferring slavery, he voluntarily permitted his former master to bore his ears with an awl at the door-post and thus consecrate himself to slavery forever.( 3)

So it turned out that many aristocratic matrons and maidens, reared in luxury and accustomed to the personal service of servants, had to cook their own breakfasts or go hungry, as no amount of persuasion, kind treatment, or promises would induce the former slave to do the least act that by possibility could be construed to be an acquiescence in a previous condition of servitude. Even the assurance of a Union officer could not shake their position. The "Year of Jubilee," of which they had sung in their hearts, had been long coming for them, and there was no use for awls and door-posts for their ears, nor were they going to take chances. Many of them, though offered food for their own use by their masters, would not cook it, lest it might be construed as a recognition of a master's continuing authority over them. Most of them gathered up their little property with marvellous dispatch and presented themselves ready to emigrate. General Milroy used the otherwise empty trains going north for supplies to carry these freed people from the land of their birth to where a slave condition could not overtake them. Most of the knew the story of John Brown, and many of them had, in some way, been supplied with cheap wood-cut pictures of this early champion of their liberty. In some way they had learned also to sing songs of John Brown, and other songs of liberty. When the trains proceeded towards the Potomac freighted with these people they commingled songs of freedom and the religious hymns peculiar to their race with the universal but more cheerful music of the fiddle and banjo.

They were light-hearted and free from care, though abandoning all of home they had ever known, and going whither, for home and protection, they knew not,--all was compensated for with them, if only they were forever free. The prompt emancipation of slaves was exceptional in the Shenandoah Valley, especially at Winchester. Most of these freed people soon found homes and employment, some of the younger men with the army, later as soldiers, and others on farms, or as house servants North, where the war had called away the able-bodied men. It was not until after the war that the great trials of the freedmen came.

It must not be assumed that the slave owners in the Valley were, in war times at least, cruel to their slaves; on the contrary, kindness and indulgence were the rule. This was probably true in ante-war days, save when members of families were sold and separated to be transported to distant parts. I recall no word of censure to the blacks for accepting freedom. Pity was in some cases expressed. Tokens of remembrance were offered and accepted with emotion. Those who had been house or personal servants often evinced feelings of compassion for the pitiable and helpless condition of those whom they had so long served. It must be remembered that, regardless of estates once owned, the war had impoverished the people of this Valley, and but few of them could, even with money, secure enough food, clothing, and help to enable them to live in anything approaching comfort. And the future then had no promise of relief.

The plight of some of the affluent people might well excite sympathy. I remember an excellent Winchester family of four ladies, a mother and three grown daughters, who were educated and accomplished, unused to work, and thus far wholly dependent on their slaves. White or black servants could not, after the Proclamation, be procured for money. These ladies therefore held a consultation to determine what could be done. The mother would not attempt to do what she deemed menial service. The daughters at length decided to work "week about," and in this way each could be a lady two weeks out of three. This plan seemed to operate well, and they soon became quite cheerful over it, and boastful of domestic accomplishments.

Cluseret while on his raid into the Valley brooded over the incident which resulted in his being prevented from taking command of the post at Moorefield, and pretended to believe that I had wronged him. He went so far as to talk freely to officers about the incident, and to declare that if he should meet me again he would shoot me unless I made amends. These threats came to me on my arrival at Winchester, and my friends seemed to apprehend serious consequences. As I always deprecated personal conflicts, and was careful to avoid them, I was somewhat annoyed. I knew little of Cluseret or his character, except that he was an adventurer or soldier of fortune. I announced nothing as to what I should do if he attempted to assault me, but I took pains to carry a revolver with which I purposed, if attacked, to kill him if possible before I received any serious injury. I soon met, saluted, and passed him without receiving and recognition in return except a fierce, vicious stare. After this, on several occasions, I passed him about the camps or on the roads without noticing him, and although his threats were repeated I was not molested by him. Soon the incident and his subsequent conduct led to some trouble between him and Milroy. Milroy placed him in arrest, and he was later ordered from the command. On March 2, 1863, he was permitted to resign, having served as a Brigadier-General of Volunteers from October 11, 1862, and having previously, from March 10, 1862, been a Colonel and acting aide-de-camp. He repaired to New York, and there did some newspaper work in which he assailed President Lincoln and the conduct of the war, and subsequently disappeared. Afterwards he became the Secretary of War of the Commune in Paris, near the close of the Franco-Prussian War. He escaped from Paris at its close, and years later, being pardoned, he returned to France, and is now, I am informed, a Socialist member of the Chamber of Deputies.

There were many such adventurers as Cluseret from foreign countries who received commissions in our volunteer army on account of their supposed military knowledge or experience, who almost without exception proved failures or worse. They were generally domineering, and of a temperament not suited to command the American volunteer soldier. They had, in fact, no affinity with him, and did not gain his confidence. This was not true, however, of General John B. Turchin, the Russian, and perhaps a very few others.

Milroy's command during the winter was chiefly engaged in holding the Valley and in protecting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from the raids of small bodies of Confederates. In this it was successful. We were now in the Middle Department, commanded by General Robert C. Schenck, whose headquarters were at Baltimore. Schenck was appointed a Brigadier-General of Volunteers May 17, 1861, and a Major-General August 30, 1862. Prior to his assignment to this department he served with distinction in the Eastern army, and was elected to Congress in 1862, but retained his commission until Congress met, December 5, 1863. Schenck, though without military education or experience, was a man of military instincts and possessed many of the high qualities of a soldier. He was a trained statesman, lawyer, and thinker, and an earnest, energetic, forceful, successful man.

For the most part, while at Winchester I commanded a brigade composed of infantry and artillery, located on the heights, but I was for a time under Brigadier-General Washington L. Elliott, a regular officer, who was amiable and capable in all that pertained to military discipline, but timid and unenterprising. He performed all duty faithfully to orders, but little further. Milroy, on the other hand, was restless and constantly on the alert, eager to achieve all it was possible for his command to accomplish, hence we were frequently sent on raids up the Valley to Staunton, Front Royal, and through the mountains. Colonel Mosby's guerillas infested the country east of the Valley, and frequently dashed into it through the gaps of the Blue Ridge and attacked our supply trains and small scouting parties and pickets, accomplishing little save to keep us on the alert.

Imboden and Jenkins' cavalry held the upper valley in the neighborhood of Mount Jackson and New Market, but generally retired without fighting when an expedition moved against them. As we were in the enemy's country, our movements were generally made known promptly to the Confederates, and our expeditions usually proved fruitless of substantial results. I led a force of about one thousand men in January, 1863, to Front Royal, then held by a small cavalry force which I hoped to surprise and capture, but I succeeded in doing nothing more than take a few prisoners and drive the enemy from the place, with little fighting. We took Front Royal late in the evening of a very cold night, and decided to hold it until the next day. Not being sure of our strength, and to avoid a surprise, I was obliged to keep my men on duty throughout the night. A feeble attack only was made on us at daybreak.

Illustrating the way Union officers were regarded and treated by the Secession inhabitants, I recall an incident which occurred at Front Royal. A member of my staff arranged for supper at the house of Colonel Bacon, an old man and Secessionist. The Colonel treated us politely, but while we were eating a number of ladies of the town assembled in an adjoining parlor in which there was a piano, threw the communicating door open, and proceeded to sing such Confederate war-songs as Stonewall Jackson's Away and My Maryland. We of course accepted good humoredly this concert for our benefit, but when we had finished supper, uninvited, Chaplain McCabe--now Bishop McCabe--and I stepped into the parlor. We were not even offered a seat, and in a short time the music ceased and the lady at the piano left it. Chaplain McCabe at once seated himself at the piano, and, to the amazement of the ladies, commenced singing, with his extraordinarily strong, sonorous voice, "We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more." The ladies stood their ground courageously for a time, but while the Chaplain, playing his own accompaniment, was singing My Maryland, with words descriptive of Lee's invasion and retreat from Maryland, including the words, "And they left Antietam in their track, in their track," the ladies threw open the front door and rushed precipitately to the street and thence to their homes. It was afterwards said that we were ungallant to these ladies.

While at Winchester, besides the usual camp duty and participation in an occasional raid, I was President of a Military Commission composed of three officers, with an officer for recorder. It was modelled on the military commission first established, I believe, by General Scott in Mexico for the trial of citizens for offences not punishable under the Articles of War. There was a necessity for some authority to take jurisdiction of common law crimes, as all courts in the valley were suspended. Besides citizens charged with such crimes, there were referred to the commission for trial citizens charged with offences against the Union Army, such as shooting soldiers from ambush, etc. The constitutionality of the commission was questioned, yet it tried on only formal charges citizens charged with murder, larceny, burglary, arson, and breaches of the peace. Generally its findings and sentences were approved by the War Department or the President, even when the accused was sentenced to imprisonment in a Northern penitentiary. There were one or two cases where the accused were sentenced to be shot, but in no case did the President allow such a sentence to be carried out. During the trial for murder of an old man by the name of Buffenbarger, I learned that he had, at Sharpsburg, Maryland, been a friend of my father when both were young men.( 4) It turned out that Buffenbarger had killed a young and powerful man who had assaulted him violently without good cause. A majority of the commission found him guilty of manslaughter, and the commission gave him the lightest sentence--one year in a penitentiary. His early friendship for my father perhaps caused me to find grounds on which to favor his acquittal. Counsel were allowed in all cases; generally Philip Williams, Esq., an old and distinguished lawyer of Winchester, represented the accused, and Captain Zebulon Baird, Judge-Advocate on Milroy's staff (an able Indiana lawyer), appeared for the prosecution.

( 1) For special mention of the officers of this regiment, see Appendix B.

( 2) War Records, vol. xxi., p. 1054.

( 3) Ex. xxi., 6; Deut. xv., 17.

( 4) My father, Joseph Keifer, was born at Sharpsburg, February 28, 1784.

SLAVERY AND FOUR YEARS OF WAR

A POLITICAL HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES

TOGETHER WITH A NARRATIVE OF THE CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR IN WHICH THE AUTHOR TOOK PART: 1861-1865

BY JOSEPH WARREN KEIFER BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS; EX-SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, U. S. A.; AND MAJOR-GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS, SPANISH WAR.

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME II. 1863-1865

G. P. Putnam's Sons New York and London The Knickerbocker Press 1900

Copyright, 1900

BY JOSEPH WARREN KEIFER

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I General Observations on Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville --Battles at Winchester under General Milroy--His Defeat and Retreat to Harper's Ferry--With Incidents

CHAPTER II Invasion of Pennsylvania--Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg--Lee's Retreat Across the Potomac, and Losses on Both Sides

CHAPTER III New York Riots, 1863--Pursuit of Lee's Army to the Rappahannock--Action of Wapping Heights, and Skirmishes--Western Troops Sent to New York to Enforce the Draft--Their Return--Incidents, etc.

CHAPTER IV Advance of Lee's Army, October, 1863, and Retreat of the Army of the Potomac to Centreville--Battle of Bristoe Station--Advance of the Union Army, November, 1863--Assault and Capture of Rappahannock Station, and Forcing the Fords--Affair Near Brandy Station, and Retreat of Confederate Army Behind the Rapidan--Incidents, etc.

CHAPTER V Mine Run Campaign and Battle of Orange Grove, November, 1863--Winter Cantonment (1863-4) of Army of the Potomac at Culpeper Court-House, and its Reorganization--Grant Assigned to Command the Union Armies, and Preparation for Aggressive War

CHAPTER VI Plans of Campaigns, Union and Confederate--Campaign and Battle of the Wilderness, May, 1864--Author Wounded, and Personal Matters-- Movements of the Army to the James River, with Mention of Battles of Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Other Engagements, and Statement of Losses and Captures

CHAPTER VII Campaign South of James River and Petersburg--Hunter's Raid--Battle of Monocacy--Early's Advance on Washington (1864)--Sheridan's Movements in Shenandoah Valley, and Other Events

CHAPTER VIII Personal Mention of Generals Sheridan, Wright, and Ricketts, and Mrs. Ricketts; also Generals Crook and Hayes--Battle of Opequon, under Sheridan, September 1864, and Incidents

CHAPTER IX Battle of Fisher's Hill--Pursuit of Early--Devastation of the Shenandoah Valley (1864)--Cavalry Battle at Tom's Brook, and Minor Events

CHAPTER X Battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, with Comments thereon-- also Personal Mention and Incidents

CHAPTER XI Peace Negotiations--Lee's Suggestion to Jefferson Davis, 1862-- Fernando Wood's Correspondence with Mr. Lincoln, 1862--Mr. Stephens at Fortress Monroe, 1863--Horace Greeley, Niagara Falls Conference, 1864--Jacquess-Gilmore's Visits to Richmond, 1863-4--F. P. Blair, Sen., Conferences with Mr. Davis, 1865--Hampton Roads Conference, Mr. Lincoln and Seward and Stephens and Others, 1865--Ord-Longstreet, Lee and Grant, Correspondence, 1865; and Lew Wallace and General Slaughter, Point Isabel Conference, 1865

CHAPTER XII Siege of Richmond and Petersburg--Capture and Recapture of Fort Stedman, and Capture of Part of Enemy's First Line in Front of Petersburg by Keifer's Brigade, March 25, 1865--Battle of Five Forks, April 1st--Assault and Taking of Confederate Works on the Union Left, April 2d--Surrender of Richmond and Petersburg, April 3d--President Lincoln's Visit to Petersburg and Richmond, and His Death

CHAPTER XIII Battle of Sailor's Creek, April 6th--Capitulation of General Robert E. Lee's Army at Appomattox Court-House, April 9, 1865--Surrender of Other Confederate Armies, and End of the War of The Rebellion

APPENDICES

A General Keifer Ancestry and Life before the Civil War Public Services in Civil Life Service in Spanish War

B Mention of Officers of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

C Farewell Order of General Keifer in Civil War Casualties in Keifer's Brigade

D Correspondence between Generals Wright and Keifer Relating to Battle of Sailor's Creek

E Letter of General Keifer to General Corbin on Cuba

F List of Officers who Served on General Keifer's Staff in Spanish War

G Farewell Order of General Keifer in Spanish War

ILLUSTRATIONS

Major-General George Gordon Meade, U.S.A., August 18, 1864

Brigadier-General Wesley Merritt [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Major-General Robert C. Schenck [From a photograph taken 1863.]

Major-General Frank Wheaton [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Brevet Brigadier-General J. Warren Keifer [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Major-General William H. French [From a photograph taken 1863.]

Map of Orange Grove Battle-Field, Mine Run, Va. [November 27, 1863.]

Brevet Brigadier-General John W. Horn, Sixth Maryland Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Brevet Brigadier-General M. R. McClennan, 138th Pennsylvania Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Brigadier-General Joseph B. Carr [From a photograph taken since the war.]

Colonel James W. Snyder, Ninth New York Heavy Artillery [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Major Wm. S. McElwain, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1863.]

Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Aaron Spangler, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1863.]

Major-General Horatio G. Wright [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Major-General James B. Ricketts [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Fanny Ricketts [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Captain Wm. A. Hathaway, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1863.]

Brevet Major Jonathan T. Rorer, 138th Pennsylvania Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1865.]

General Philip H. Sheridan, U.S.A. [From a photograph taken 1885.]

Battle-Field of Opequon, Va. [September 19, 1864. From the official map, 1873.]

Brevet Major-General Rutherford B. Hayes [From a photograph taken from a painting.]

Brevet Colonel Moses M. Granger, 122d Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Lieutenant-Colonel Aarom W. Ebright, 126th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Battle-Field of Fisher's Hill, Va. [September, 1864. From the official map.]

Major-General George Crook, U.S.A. [From a photograph taken 1888.]

Major-General Geo. W. Getty [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Brigadier-General Wm. H. Seward [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Map of Cedar Creek Battle-Field, Va. [October 19, 1864.]

Captain J. C. Ullery, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Brevet Colonel Otho H. Binkley, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Petersburg, Va., Fortifications, 1865

Brevet Colonel Clifton K. Prentiss, Sixth Maryland Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. N. Foster, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1863.]

John W. Warrington, Private, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1899.]

John B. Elam, Private, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1899.]

Brevet Major-General J. Warren Keifer and Staff, 1865, Third Division, Sixth Army Corps

J. Warren Keifer, Major-General of Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1898.]

President McKinley and Major-Generals Keifer, Shafter, Lawton, and Wheeler [From a photograph taken on ship-deck at Savannah, Ga., December 17, 1898.]

SLAVERY AND FOUR YEARS OF WAR

CHAPTER I General Observations on Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville --Battles at Winchester under General Milroy--His Defeat and Retreat to Harper's Ferry--With Incidents

The Confederate Army, under Lee, invaded Maryland in 1862, and after the drawn battle of Antietam, September 17th, it retired through the Shenandoah Valley and the mountain gaps behind the Rappahannock.

McClellan had failed to take Richmond, and although his army had fought hard battles on the Chickahominy and at Malvern Hill, it won no victories that bore fruits save in lists of dead and wounded, and his army, on being withdrawn from the James in August, 1862, did not effectively sustain General John Pope at the Second Bull Run. On being given command of the combined Union forces at and about Washington, McClellan again had a large and splendidly equipped army under him. He at first exhibited some energy in moving it into Maryland after Lee, but by his extreme caution and delays suffered Harper's Ferry to be taken (September 15, 1862), with 10,000 men and an immense supply of arms and stores, and finally, when fortune smiled on his army at Antietam, he allowed it to lay quietly on its arms a whole day and long enough to enable Lee to retreat across the Potomac, where he was permitted to leisurely withdraw, practically unmolested, southward. The critical student of the battle of Antietam will learn of much desperate fighting on both sides, with no clearly defined general plan of conducting the battle on either side. As Lee fought on the defensive, he could content himself with conforming the movements of his forces to those of the Union Army. Stonewall Jackson, after maintaining a short, spirited battle against Hooker's corps, withdrew his corps from the engagement at seven o'clock in the morning and did not return to the field until 4 P.M.( 1)

Generally the Union Army was fought by divisions, and seldom more than two were engaged at the same time, often only one. In this way some of the divisions, for want of proper supports, were cut to pieces, and others were not engaged at all. Acting on interior lines, Lee was enabled to concentrate against the Union attacks and finally to repulse them. Notwithstanding this mode of conducting the battle, the Confederate Army was roughly handled and lost heavily.

General Ambrose E. Burnside late in the day succeeded in crossing Antietam Creek at the Stone Bridge and planting himself well on the Confederate right flank. McClellan also had, at night, many fresh troops ready and eager for the next day's battle. Considerable parts of his army had not been engaged, and reinforcements came. The two armies confronted each other all day on the 18th, being partly engaged in burying the dead, as though a truce existed, and at night Lee withdrew his army into Virginia.( 2)

Indecisive as this battle was, it is ever to be memorable as, on its issue, President Lincoln kept a promise to "himself and his Maker."( 3) On September 22, 1862, five days later, he issued a preliminary proclamation announcing his purpose to promulgate, January 1, 1863, a war measure, declaring free the slaves in all States or parts of States remaining at that time in rebellion. He had long before the battle of Antietam contemplated taking this action, and hence had prepared this proclamation, and promised himself to issue it on the Union Army winning a victory. The driving of Lee's army out of Maryland, and thus relieving Washington from further menace, was accepted by him as a fulfilment of the self-imposed condition.

McClellan was relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac while at Orleans, Virginia, November 7, 1862, and Burnside became his successor. McClellan never again held any command.

Burnside moved the army to Falmouth, Virginia, opposite Fredericksburg, on the Rappahannock. Though only urged to prepare for the offensive, he precipitated an attack on the Confederate Army, then strongly intrenched on the heights of Fredericksburg. He suffered a disastrous repulse (December 14, 1862) and next day withdrew his army across the Rappahannock to his camps.

Burnside was relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac January 25, 1863, and Major-General Joseph Hooker succeeded him.

The battle of Chancellorsville was fought, May 1 to 5, 1863, in the Wilderness country, south of the Rapidan, and resulted in the defeat of the Union Army and its falling back to its former position at Falmouth.

The defeats at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville led to a general belief that another invasion of the North would be made by Lee's army. Such an invasion involved Milroy's command at Winchester, then in the Middle Department, commanded by Major-General Robert C. Schenck, whose headquarters were at Baltimore.

This much in retrospect seems necessary to give a better understanding of the events soon to be mentioned.

Soon after Chancellorsville, the Confederate forces in the upper Shenandoah Valley became more active, and frequent indecisive conflicts between them and our scouting parties took place. Our regular scouts, who generally travelled by night in Confederate dress, brought in rumors almost every day of an intended attack on Winchester by troops from Lee's army. In May I was given special charge of these scouts. So uniform were their reports as to the proposed attacks that I gave credence to them, and advised Milroy that unless he was soon to be largely reinforced it would be well to retire from his exposed position. He refused to believe that anything more than a cavalry raid into the Valley or against him would be made, and he felt strong enough to defeat it. He argued that Lee would not dare to detach any part of his infantry force from the front of the Army of the Potomac. But in addition to the reports referred to, I learned as early as the 1st of June, through correspondence secretly brought within our lines from an officer of Lee's army to which I gained access, that Lee contemplated a grand movement North, and that his army would reach Winchester on June 10, 1863. The Secessionists of Winchester generally believed we would be attacked on that day. I gave this information to Milroy, but he still persisted in believing the whole story was gotten up to cause him to disgracefully abandon the Valley.( 4)

The 10th of June came, and the Confederate Army failed to appear. This confirmed Milroy in his disbelief in a contemplated attack with a strong force, and my credulity was ridiculed. As early, however, as June 8th, Milroy wired Schenck at Baltimore that he had information that Lee had mounted an infantry division to join Stuart's cavalry at Culpeper; that the cavalry force there was "probably more than twice 12,000," and that there was "doubtless a mighty raid on foot."( 5) Colonel Don Piatt, Schenck's chief of staff, visited and inspected the post at Winchester on the 10th and 11th, and when he reached Martinsburg, Va., on his return on the 11th, he dispatched Milroy to immediately take steps to remove his command to Harper's Ferry, leaving at Winchester only a lookout which could readily fall back to Harper's Ferry.( 6) This order was sent in the light of what Piatt deemed the proper construction of a dispatch of that date from Halleck to Schenck, and from the latter to him. Milroy at once wired Schenck of the receipt of the Piatt dispatch, saying:

"I have sufficient force to hold the place safely, but if any force is withdrawn the balance will be captured in twenty-four hours. All should go, or none."

This brought, June 12th, a dispatch from Schenck to Milroy in this language:

"Lt.-Col. Piatt has . . . misunderstood me, and somewhat exceeded his instructions. You will make all the required preparations for withdrawing, but will hold your position in the meantime."

On the 12th Milroy reported skirmishes with Confederate cavalry on the Front Royal and Strasburg roads, adding:

"I am perfectly certain of my ability to hold this place. Nothing but cavalry appears yet. Let them come."

As late as the 13th, Halleck telegraphed Schenck, in answer to an inquiry, that he had no reliable information as to rebel infantry being in the Valley, and the same day Schenck wired his chief of staff at Harper's Ferry to "Instruct General Milroy to use great caution, risking nothing unnecessarily, and be prepared for falling back in good order if overmatched."

Milroy advised Schenck of fighting at Winchester on the 13th, and from General Kelley, on the same day, Schenck learned for the first time that General Lee was on his way to drive Milroy out of Winchester. Schenck at once attempted to telegraph Milroy to "fall back, fighting, if necessary, and to keep the road to Harper's Ferry."

Halleck wired Schenck on the 14th: "It is reported that Longstreet and Ewell's corps have passed through Culpeper to Sperryville, towards the Valley."( 7)

This was the first intimation that came from Halleck or Hooker that Lee's army contemplated moving in the direction of the Valley, or that there was any apprehension that it might escape the vigilance of the Army of the Potomac, supposed to be confronting it or at least watching its movements. Another dispatch came on the 14th to General Schenck as follows:

"Get Milroy from Winchester to Harper's Ferry if possible. He will be 'gobbled up' if he remains, if he is not already past salvation.

"A. Lincoln, "President United States."

It remains to narrate what did take place at Winchester, and then, in the full light of the facts, to decided upon whom censure or credit should fall.

When, on the 14th, Halleck announced that Longstreet and Ewell's corps "have passed through Culpeper to Sperryville towards the Valley," we had been fighting Ewell's corps, or parts of it, for two days at Winchester, three days' march from Culpeper, and other portions of Lee's army had reached the Valley and Martinsburg. The report that Winchester was to have been attacked on June 10th was true, but the advance of the Union cavalry south of the Rappahannock, and its battle on the 9th at Brandy Station, north of Culpeper Court House (Lee's then headquarters), so disorganized the Confederate cavalry as to cause a delay in the movement of Ewell's corps into the Valley, then proceeding via Front Royal.

On the night of the 12th of June my scouts found it impossible to advance more than four or five miles on the Front Royal, Strasburg, and Cedar Creek roads before encountering Confederate cavalry pickets. This indicated, as was the fact, that close behind them were heavy bodies of infantry which it was desired to closely mask. At midnight I had an interview at my own solicitation with Milroy at his headquarters, when the whole subject of our situation was discussed. I was not advised of the orders or dispatches he had received, nor of his dispatches to Schenck expressing confidence in his ability to hold Winchester. Milroy persisted in the notion that only cavalry were before him, and he was anxious to fight them and especially averse to retreating under circumstances that might subject him to the charge of cowardice. He also sincerely desired to hold the Valley and protect the Union residents. He reminded me fiercely that I had believed in the attack coming on the 10th, and it had turned out that I was mistaken. I could make no answer to this save to suggest that the cavalry battle at Brandy Station had operated to postpone the attack.

During my acquaintance with Milroy he had evinced confidence in and friendship for me; now he manifested much annoyance over my persistence in urging him to order a retreat at once, and finally he dismissed me rather summarily.( 8)

Early the next morning I received an order to report with my regiment near Union Mills on the Strasburg pike, and to move upon the Cedar Creek road, located west of and extending, in general, parallel with the Strasburg pike. It was soon ascertained that the enemy had massed a heavy force upon that road about three miles south of Winchester. A section of Carlin's battery under Lieutenant Theaker reported to me, and with it my regiment moved about a mile southward, keeping well on the ridge between the pike and the Cedar Creek road. The enemy kept under cover, and not having orders to bring on an engagement I retired the troops to the junction of the two roads. About 2 P.M. I was informed that Milroy desired me to make a strong reconnoissance and develop the strength and position of the enemy. To strengthen my forces, the 12th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Lieutenant-Colonel Moss, and a squadron of the 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry, were assigned to me. I moved forward promptly with the 12th on the left on the plain, the infantry and artillery in the centre covering the Strasburg pike, and the squadron on the ridge to my right, which extended parallel with the pike. We proceeded in this order about a mile, when my skirmishers became closely engaged with those of the enemy. It was soon apparent to me that the enemy extended along a wide front, has advance being only a thin cover. But as my orders were to develop the enemy, I brought my whole command into action, drove in his advance line and with the artillery shelled the woods behind this line. We suffered some loss, but pressed forward until the enemy fell back to the woods on the left of Kearnstown. My artillery opened with canister, and for a few moments our front seemed to be cleared. But my flankers now reported the enemy turning my right with at least a brigade of infantry. I therefore withdrew slowly and in good order, embracing every possible opportunity to halt and open fire. Reinforcements were reported on the way. I directed that they should, on their arrival, be posted on the high ground to the right of the pike in front of the bridge at Union (or Barton's) Mills to cover our retreat, which must be made with the artillery and infantry over this bridge.

Colonel Moss, not believing he could cross the tail-race with its embankments and the stream below the Mills, commenced moving his cavalry towards the bridge. I turned him back with imperative orders to cover the left flank as long as necessary or possible, then find a crossing below the Mills. Unfortunately, when the artillery reached the bridge in readiness to cross, it was found occupied by the 123d Ohio, Colonel T. W. Wilson commanding, marching by the flank to my relief under the guidance of Captain W. L. Shaw, a staff officer of General Elliott. This regiment was directed, as soon as it cleared the bridge, to deploy to the right, advance upon the high ground, and engage the enemy then pressing forward in great numbers. Before Colonel Wilson could get his regiment into battle-line it was under a destructive fire and lost heavily. Nevertheless, though the regiment was a comparatively new one, it soon successfully engaged the enemy, and drove back his advance. A more gallant fight, under all the circumstances, was never made. It enabled me to take the artillery over the bridge, and to withdraw to a new position from which we could cover the bridge with our artillery and easily repulse the enemy. Colonels Wilson and Moss were each withdrawn in good order, the former above and the latter below the bridge. Gordon's brigade of Early's division, in an attempt to cross the bridge, was driven back with considerable loss, and night came to end this opening battle of Winchester. A Confederate prisoner was taken to General Milroy (who, with General Elliott, joined me at nightfall), who frankly said he was of Hays' Louisiana brigade, Early's division, Ewell's corps; that Ewell was on the field commanding in person. Milroy until then was unwilling to believe that troops other than cavalry were in his front.

Besides Early's division of Ewell's corps, we fought Maryland troops which had long been operating in the upper Valley, consisting of a battalion of infantry (Colonel Herbert), a battalion of cavalry (Major W. W. Goldsborough), and a battery of artillery.( 9) I was not forced to order a retreat until the object of the advance had been fully attained, and then only when Hays' Louisiana brigade appeared on my right flank, and the cavalry there were broken and driven back. General John B. Gordon (10) (since Senator from Georgia), who confronted me with five infantry regiments, reports of this battle:

"About 4 o'clock in the afternoon I deployed a line of skirmishers, and moved forward to the attack, holding two regiments in reserve. After advancing several hundred yards, I found it necessary to bring into line these two regiments on the right and on the left. The enemy's skirmishers retreated on his battle-line, a portion of which occupied a strong position behind a stone wall, but from which he was driven. A battery which I had hoped to capture was rapidly withdrawn. In this charge my brigade lost seventy-five men, including some efficient officers."(11)

The total loss of the enemy in this engagement must have been at least as many more. The Union loss, of all arms, was not more than one hundred. It was now obvious Milroy's command could not hold Winchester. I assumed a retreat would be undertaken in the night, but in a brief interview with Milroy at the close of the battle he said nothing on the subject, and the reproof of the night before warned me to make no further suggestions to him with respect to his duty in this emergency.

General Elliott, my immediate superior, informed me, as I rode late at night through Winchester to my camp on the heights northwest of the city, that he thought it was too late to retreat on Harper's Ferry. I suggested that the Romney, Pughtown, and Apple-Pie Ridge, or Back Creek roads were open, and that we could safely retire over one or more of them. He said he would call Milroy's attention to my suggestion and recommend these lines of retreat, but if he did the suggestion was not favorably considered. At daybreak on the 14th of June I received a written order to take the 110th Ohio Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel W. N. Foster, one company of the 116th Ohio Infantry, commanded by Captain Arkenoe, and L Company of the 5th Regular Battery, six guns, commanded by Lieutenant Wallace F. Randolph, and occupy an open, isolated earthwork located three fourths of a mile west of the fortifications on the heights between the Romney and Pughtown roads, but in sight of the main works. The earthwork was barely sufficient for one regiment. The troops assigned me were soon in position, and quiet reigned in my front. The enemy appeared to be inactive. Milroy advised me that the Pughtown and Romney roads were picketed and patrolled by cavalry, and I was not, therefore, charged with the duty of watching them. About 3 P.M. I rode to the main fort, and directed my horse to be unsaddled and fed while I sought an interview with Milroy. I found him in high spirits. He complimented me on the strong fight I put up the previous day, and declared his belief that the enemy were only trying to scare him out of the Valley. He referred to the quiet of the day as evidence that they had no purpose to assail him in his works. He said the cavalry had just reported no enemy in my front on any of the roads.

About 4 P.M. I started leisurely to get my horse to return to the earthwork, when, from the face of Round Mountain, about one mile to the southwest of my command, not less than twenty guns opened fire on it. I dismounted a passing wagon-master, and on his horse in less than five minutes reached the foot of the hill on which the earthwork was situated, and then, hastening on foot through a storm of shot and exploding shell, I was soon in it. Lieutenant Randolph with his six rifle guns replied to the enemy as long as possible, but his battery was soon largely disabled, the horses mostly killed, and most of the ammunition chests exploded. Two of his guns only could be kept in position for the anticipated assault. About 6 P.M., under cover of the cannonade, and protected by some timber and the nature of the ground, Hays' Louisiana brigade of five regiments, supported by Smith and Hoke's brigades, advanced to the assault. My men stood well to their work, and the two guns fired canister into the enemy. Many Confederate officers and men were seen to fall, and the head of the column wavered, but there were no trenches or abattis to obstruct the enemy's advance. There was stubborn fighting over the low breastworks, and some fighting inside of them, but not until our exposed flanks were attacked did I order a retreat. The battery was lost, but most of the command reached the main fortification safely, though exposed to the fire of the enemy for most of the distance. Captain Arkenoe was killed, and Lieutenant Paris Horney of the 110th Ohio was captured. Our loss in killed, wounded, and captured was small. General Milroy, from an observation-stand on a flag-staff at the main fort, witnessed this affair. In his report of it he says:

"The enemy opened upon me with at least four full batteries, some of his guns being of his longest range, under cover of which fire he precipitated a column at least ten thousand strong upon the outer work held by Colonel Keifer, which, after a stubborn resistance, he carried."(12)

General Early, in his report, says twenty guns under Colonel Jones opened fire on this position. General Hays reports his loss, 14 killed, 78 wounded, 13 missing.

Part of the guns left in the earthworks we had abandoned, and the artillery of Colonel Jones now opened on our fortifications. An artillery duel ensued which was maintained until after dark. No other hard fighting occurred on this day, only some slight skirmishing took place with Gordon's brigade south and with portions of Johnson's division east of Winchester.

The most notable event of the day was the opening fire of a score of artillery pieces in broad daylight from a quarter where no enemy was known to be. Captain Morgan (13th Pennsylvania Cavalry), who was charged with the duty of patrolling the Romney and Pughtown roads, was censured for failing to discover and report the presence of the enemy. In a large sense this censure was unjust. His report, made about 2 P.M., that no enemy was found on these roads or near them, was doubtless then true, yet an hour later Early with three of his brigades reached them about one mile in front of the earthwork occupied by me. At that time Captain Morgan had finished his reconnoissance and returned to camp. There was, however, a lack of vigilance on the part of somebody; possibly General Milroy was not altogether blameless.

As has already been stated, I was not charged with the duty of ascertaining the movements of the enemy; on the contrary, I had been informed that pickets and scouts covered my front. It is the only instance, perhaps, in the war of such a surprise.

The situation of Milroy's command was now critical. He had about 7000 men able for duty, more troops than could be used in the forts or protected by them. Colonel A. T. McReynolds, of the 1st New York Cavalry, who commanded Milroy's Third Brigade at Berryville, some ten miles eastward of us, was attacked on the 13th, and, pursuant to orders, retired, reaching Winchester at 9 P.M. It was certainly known on the 14th that Ewell had at least 20,000 men of all arms, and it was clear that while we might stand an assault, our artillery ammunition would soon be exhausted, and the surrender of the entire command, if it remained, become inevitable. About 11 A.M. I was present in the principal fort at what was called a council of war, but my opinion was not asked or expressed as to the propriety of undertaking to escape. I ventured, however, to suggest that if a surrender were contemplated, I could take my infantry command out that night, with perhaps others, by the Back Creek or Apple-Pie Ridge road without encountering the enemy, and could safely reach Pennsylvania by keeping well to the west of Martinsburg. It was decided about midnight, however, to spike the guns, abandon all wagons, and all sick and wounded and stores of all kinds, and evacuate Winchester. The teamsters, artillerists, and camp followers were to ride and lead the horses and mules, following closely the armed troops, who were to move at 1 A.M. on the Martinsburg road. If the enemy were encountered, we were to attack him, and, if possible, cut through. The movement did not commence until 2 A.M., and the night was dark. The great body of horses and mules, being ridden by undisciplined men and unused to riders, fell into great confusion as they crowded on the pike close on the heels of the infantry. The mules brayed a chorus seldom heard, and as if prompted by a malicious desire to notify the enemy of our departure. My regiment was in the advance on the turnpike. Milroy did not accompany the head of the column. Elliott was, however, with it a portion of the time. When we had proceeded about three miles the familiar chuck of the hubs of artillery wheels was heard to the eastward, and it soon became apparent the enemy was moving towards the pike, intending to strike it on our front. Some of our troops were then moving on a line parallel with the pike, eastward of it. When the head of the column had proceeded about four miles, and as it approached Stephenson's Depot (located a short distance east of the Martinsburg pike), firing in a desultory way commenced on my right and soon extended along a line obliquely towards one front. The column was moved by the flank to the left, at right angles with the road, my regiment being followed by the 122d Ohio Regiment. A line of battle was formed with these regiments in the darkness, and skirmishers thrown forward. The line advanced northward, feeling for the enemy, but it was soon halted, and the troops were again moved by the flank. My regiment, being on the left, again took the advance, keeping about one hundred yards westward of the pike. I had been informed that the whole army was to follow and share our fate. When about five miles from Winchester, and when the head of the column was about west of the Depot named, some straggling shots notified us that the enemy were on the pike near us. I halted and faced the men in line of battle towards the pike, and, though still dark, a personal investigation revealed the fact that the Confederates were in confusion, and the commands they were giving indicated also that they were greatly excited. I found Elliott some distance in the rear, and obtained his consent to charge them. Colonel Wm. H. Ball, with the 122d Ohio, was requested to support me on the right. My command charged rapidly across the road without firing. It fortunately struck the enemy's flank. We took a few prisoners and drove the enemy's right through the woods for about two hundred yards and upon his approaching artillery. Our line then halted and opened fire into the enemy's ranks, causing great confusion and killing and wounding large numbers. A battery now opened upon us, but this we soon silenced by killing or driving away its gunners. The enemy retreated for protection to a railroad cut,(13) and the woods were cleared in my front, but my right was unprotected, and at this juncture a considerable force of infantry and two pieces of artillery threatened that flank. I withdrew a short distance, changed direction to the right, and again advanced. Colonel Ball came up gallantly with his regiment on my right, and in twenty minutes our front was cleared, the enemy's guns silenced, the gunners shot down or driven away, and the artillery horses killed. We were only prevented from taking possession of the guns by the appearance of another and larger body of the enemy on our right. Daylight was now approaching. Without waiting the enemy's fire, I ordered both my regiments withdrawn, which was effected in good order, to the west of the pike. The enemy at once reoccupied the woods in our front in superior force, but obviously without a good battle-line. Again I ordered the two regiments to a charge, which was splendidly responded to, although a promised attack in our support was not made. Elliott I did not see or receive any order from after the battle began. Milroy was trying to maintain the fight nearer Winchester, to the east of the pike, and he gave no order that reached me.

After a conflict in which the two lines were engaged in places not twenty feet apart, the enemy gave way, and our line advanced to his artillery, shooting and driving the gunners from their pieces and completely silencing them, the Confederates again taking refuge in the railroad cut. I could learn nothing of the progress of the fight at other points, and could hear no firing, save occasional shots in the direction of Winchester. I concluded the object of the attack was accomplished so far as possible, and that the non- combatants had had time to escape. It was now day-dawn, and we could not hope to further surprise the enemy or long operate on his flank. About 5 A.M., therefore, I ordered the whole line withdrawn from the woods, and resumed the march northward along the Martinsburg road. I was soon joined by Generals Milroy and Elliott and by members of their staffs, but with few men. Milroy had personally led a charge with the 87th Pennsylvania and had a horse shot under him, but there was no concert of action in the conduct of the battle. Colonel Wm. G. Ely and a part of the brigade he commanded were captured between Stephenson's Depot and Winchester, having done little fighting, and a portion of McReynolds' brigade shared the same fate.

The cavalry became panic-stricken and, commingling with the mules and horses on which teamsters and others were mounted, all in great disorder took wildly to the hills and mountains to the northwest, followed by infantry in somewhat better order; the mules brayed, the horses neighed, the teamsters and riders indulged in much vigorous profanity, but the most of the retreating mass reached Bloody Run, Pennsylvania, marching via Sir John's Run, Hancock, and Bath. Citizens on Apple-Pie Ridge who witnessed the wild scene describe it as a veritable bedlam.(14)

Captain Z. Baird, of Milroy's staff, who joined me while engaged in the night fight in the woods, but who was under the erroneous impression Elliott had ordered the attack, in his testimony before the Milroy Court of Inquiry, gives this account of the engagement:

"General Elliott ordered Colonel Keifer with the 110th Ohio to proceed into the woods. The order was promptly obeyed. As soon as the regiment reached the woods, a severe firing of musketry occurred. General Elliott remarked to me that the enemy must be there in force, and that the 110th should be immediately supported by the 122d Ohio. I volunteered to deliver the order to Colonel Ball of the 122d Ohio, and to guide him to the woods, so as to place him on the right flank of the 110th Ohio, and to avoid shooting our own men by mistake. The 122d Ohio arrived on the right flank of the 110th in tolerably good order, and immediately commenced firing. Both regiments then advanced, and drove the enemy out of the woods. There were indications of a surprise to the enemy by the suddenness of their attack. They took one of their caissons or passed it. We could look into their camp and see that their artillery horses were ungovernable. We were so close that we could hear the orders given by their officers in endeavoring to restore order. The fire of the enemy, though rapid, went over us, both of small arms and artillery. As we progressed, we saw evidences from the wounded and slain of the enemy that our fire had been efficient. After this contest had lasted perhaps an hour Colonel Keifer requested me to return to the rear and learn what dispositions were going on on the right to sustain Colonel Ball and himself. I complied with his order. When I arrived at the rear, I noticed the 87th Pennsylvania, the 18th Connecticut, and the 123d Ohio advancing on the right in line of battle, under the immediate command of Colonel Ely of the 18th Connecticut. General Milroy was also present, but dismounted, his horse being, as I supposed, disabled. He was engaged in changing horses. Without reporting to General Milroy, as I now recollect, I returned with all possible expedition to Colonel Keifer, to notify him of the support which he was about to have on the right. I supposed at the time that from the effect of the fire of the 110th and 122d Ohio, that when Colonel Ely with his force attacked on the right we would rout them. I met, however, the 110th and 122d Ohio falling back. The officers were so busy in preserving order that I could not communicate with them. After we had fallen back to the Martinsburg road, I saw Generals Milroy and Elliott. I was informed by the former that the retreat was again in progress."(15)

Colonel Wm. H. Ball (122d Ohio), in his official report speaks of the fight thus:

"I was ordered to follow the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which had been moved off the field some time before, and was out of sight. The regiments being so separated, I did not engage the enemy as soon as the 110th. I formed on the right of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and the two regiments advanced within the skirt of the woods and engaged the enemy, who occupied the woods with infantry and artillery. After a sharp action, the line was advanced at least 100 yards and to within twenty paces of the enemy's artillery, where a terrible fire was maintained for fifteen or twenty minutes by both parties. The artillery was driven back over 100 yards, and for a time silenced by the fire of our rifles. By order of Colonel Keifer the two regiments then retreated beyond the range of the enemy's infantry, reformed, and again advanced within the woods, and, after a sharp engagement, retreated, by order of Colonel Keifer, the enemy then moving on our flank."

The contemplated attack by Colonel Ely and others was not made.

We marched via Smithfield (Wizzard's Clip), Charlestown, and Halltown, and reached Harper's Ferry about 3 P.M., having marched thirty-five miles and fought two hours on the way.

Berryville, held by McReynolds' brigade of Milroy's command, was taken by Rodes' division of five brigades on the 13th of June; Bunker Hill, on the direct road to Martinsburg from Winchester, was occupied by the enemy early the morning of the 14th; and Martinsburg was taken (all by the same division) the evening of that day. General Daniel Tyler and Colonel B. F. Smith (126th Ohio), with a small command of infantry and cavalry and one battery, made a gallant stand for a few hours, to enable their baggage and supply trains, escorted by a small number of cavalry, to escape via Williamsport. A portion of the battery was captured, but Tyler and Smith's troops retreated on Shepherdstown, thence to Harper's Ferry.

We pursued, in the retreat from Stephenson's Depot, the only possible route then open to us to Harper's Ferry. About 2000 men of all arms reached Harper's Ferry with us, and others straggled in later. But much the larger part of Milroy's command escaped with the animals to Pennsylvania; 2700 soldiers assembled at Bloody Run alone. The losses in captured, including the sick and wounded left in hospital, and the wounded left on the field, were about 3000. The losses in my command, considering the desperate nature of the fighting, were small, and but few of my officers and soldiers, fit for duty and not wounded in battle, were captured. Lieutenants T. J. Weakley and C. M. Gross, through neglect of the officer of the day, were left on picket near Winchester, with 60 men of the 110th Ohio, and, consequently captured. The surgeons, with their assistants, were left at the hospital and on the field in charge of the sick and wounded. Chaplain McCabe remained to assist in the care of the wounded left on the battle-field. The enemy's loss in killed and wounded much exceeded the Union loss on each of the three days' fighting. I was bruised by a spent ball on the 13th, and slightly wounded by a musket fired by a soldier not ten feet from me near the close of the fight at the earthwork on the 14th, and my horse was shot under me in the night engagement at Stephenson's Depot. We fought the best of the troops of Lee's army. General Edward Johnson's division of Ewell's corps, in the night engagement, consisted of Stewart, Nicholl, and Walker's (Stonewall) brigades. Johnson was censured for not having reached and covered the Martinsburg road earlier in the night of the 14th of June. He reported his command in a critical situation for a time after our attack upon it; that "two sets of cannoniers (13 out of 16) were killed or disabled."(16)

The war furnishes no parallel to the fighting at Winchester, and there is no instance of the war where a comparatively small force, after being practically surrounded by a greatly superior one, cut its way out.

Johnson's division was so roughly handled on the morning of the 15th that it did not pursue us, nor was it ordered to march again until some time the next day. The plan of Lee was for Ewell's corps to push forward rapidly into Pennsylvania. His delay at Winchester postponed Lee's giving the order to Ewell "to take Harrisburg" until June 21st.(17) The loss of three or more days at Winchester most likely saved Pennsylvania's capital from capture.

The disaster to the Union arms at Winchester was, by General Halleck, charged upon General Milroy, and General Schneck was ordered by Halleck to place Milroy in arrest. In August, 1863, a Court of Inquiry convened at Washington to investigate and report upon Milroy's conduct and the evacuation of Winchester. Schenck's action in relation to the matter was also drawn in question. The court was in session twenty-seven days, heard many witnesses, including Generals Schenck and Milroy, and had before it a mass of orders and dispatches. I was a known friend of Milroy, hence was not called against him, and he did not have me summoned because I had differed so radically with him as to the necessity of evacuating Winchester. The testimony, while doing me ample justice, did not disclose much of the information communicated by me to Milroy, nor my views with respect to the judgment displayed by him in a great emergency. Milroy and his friends maintained, with much force, that his holding Winchester for about three days delayed, for that time or longer, Lee's advance into Pennsylvania, and thus saved Harrisburg from capture, and gave the Army of the Potomac time to reach Gettysburg, and there force Lee to concentrate his army and fight an unsuccessful battle. The Court of Inquiry made no formal report, but Judge-Advocate-General Holt reviewed the testimony, and reached conclusions generally exonerating Milroy from the charge of disobedience of orders and misconduct during the evacuation, but reflecting somewhat on Schenck for not positively ordering the place evacuated. President Lincoln made a characteristic indorsement on this record, not unfavorable to either Schenck or Milroy, concluding with this paragraph:

"Serious blame is not necessarily due to any serious disaster, and I cannot say that in this case any of the officers are deserving of serious blame. No court-martial is deemed necessary or proper in this case."(18)

Halleck did not, however, cease in his hostility to Milroy, and not until in the last months of the war did the "Gray Eagle" have another command in the field. He was a rashly-brave and patriotic man, and his whole heart was in the Union cause. In battle he risked his own person unnecessarily and without exercising a proper supervision over his entire command. He died at Olympia, Washington, March 29, 1890, when seventy-five years of age. The colored people of America should erect a monument to his memory. He was their friend when to be so drew upon him much adverse criticism.

( 1) Manassas to Appomattox (Longstreet), pp. 242, 257, 401.

( 2) Ibid., 263.

( 3) Abraham Lincoln (Nicolay and Hay), vol. vi., p. 159.

( 4) In letters, dated in May, 1863, to Col. Wm. S. Furay (then a correspondent (Y. S.) of the Cincinnati Gazette with Rosecrans' army in Tennessee, I detailed the general plan of Lee's advance northward, and gave the date when the movement would commence.

( 5) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part III., p. 36.

( 6) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 125. Piatt, June 11th, wired Schenck from Winchester, after inspecting the place, that Milroy "can whip anything the rebels can fetch here."--Ibid., p. 161.

( 7) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., pp. 130-7, 159-81.

( 8) A few days before this event I peremptorily ordered all officers' wives and citizens visiting in my command to go North, but the ladies held an indignation meeting and waited on General Milroy, with the request that he countermand my order, which he did, at the same time saying something about my being too apprehensive of danger. I had the pleasure of meeting and greeting these same ladies in Washington, July 5th, on their arrival from Winchester via Staunton, Richmond, Castle-Thunder, the James and Potomac Rivers.

( 9) War Records, Early's Rep., vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 460.

(10) His son, Major Hugh H. Gordon, served efficiently on my staff in Florida, Georgia, and Cuba (Spanish War), as did Captain J. E. B. Stuart, son of the great Confederate cavalry General; also Major John Gary Evans (ex-Governor South Carolina), and others closely related to distinguished Confederate officers. See Appendix F.

(11) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 491.

(12) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 46.

(13) General Johnson's Report (Confederate), War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 501.

(14) An orderly who attempted to carry on horseback a valise containing papers, etc., of mine, threw it way in a field as he rode into the mountains. A Quakeress, Miss Mary Lupton, witnessed the act from her home, and found the valise and returned it to me with all its contents, after the battle of Opequon, Sept. 19, 1864.

(15) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 136.

(16) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., pp. 501-2.

(17) Ibid., p. 443.

(18) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., pp. 88-197.

CHAPTER II Invasion of Pennsylvania--Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg--Lee's Retreat Across the Potomac, and Losses in Both Armies

At Harper's Ferry, June 16th, I was assigned to command a brigade under General W. H. French, a regular officer. General Joseph Hooker, in command of the Army of the Potomac, June 25th, ordered French to be ready to march at a moment's notice. French took position on Maryland Heights, where, June 27th, Hooker visited him and gave him orders to prepare to evacuate both the Heights and Harper's Ferry. French had under him there about 10,000 effective men. Halleck, on being notified of Hooker's purpose to evacuate these places and to unite French's command with the Army of the Potomac for the impending battle, countermanded Hooker's order; thereupon the latter, by telegram from Sandy Hook, requested to be relieved from the command of that army. His request being persisted in, he was, on June 28th, relieved, and Major-General George G. Meade was, by the President, assigned to succeed him. Meade, also feeling in need of reinforcements, on the same day asked permission to order French, with his forces, to join him. Halleck, though placing French under Meade's command, did not consent to this. French, however, with all his troops (save my brigade), under orders from Washington, abandoned Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights, and became a corps of observation to operate in the vicinity of Frederick, Maryland, in the rear of the Army of the Potomac. And though no enemy was threatening, nor likely to do so soon, I was ordered to dismantle the fortified heights, load the guns and stores on Chesapeake and Ohio Canal boats, and escort them to Washington, repairing the canal and locks on the way. This work was done thoroughly, and we arrived with a fleet of twenty-six boats in Washington shortly after midnight, July 4, 1863. It was my first visit to that city.

Under orders from Halleck, I started on the 6th, by rail, to reoccupy Harper's Ferry, but was stopped by Meade at Frederick, and there again reported to French. French had been assigned to command the Third Army Corps (to succeed General Daniel E. Sickles, wounded at Gettysburg), and his late command became the Third Division of that corps, under Elliott; my brigade, consisting of the 110th and 122d Ohio, 6th Maryland, and 138th Pennsylvania Infantry regiments, became the Second Brigade of this division. This brigade (with, later, three regiments added) was not broken up during the war, and was generally known as "Keifer's Brigade."

It is not my purpose to attempt to write the full story of the battle of Gettysburg, the greatest, measured by the results, of the many great battles of the war. Gettysburg marks the high tide of the Rebellion. From it dates the certain downfall of the Confederacy, though nearly two years of war followed, and more blood was spilled after Lee sullenly commenced his retreat from the heights of Gettysburg than before.

About this stage of the war, President Lincoln took an active interest in the movements of the armies, although he generally refrained from absolutely directing them in the field. It was not unusual for army commanders to appeal to him for opinions as to military movements, and he was free in making suggestions, volunteering to take the responsibility if they were adopted and his plans miscarried. Hooker, in an elaborate dispatch (June 15th) relating to the anticipated movements of Lee's army from the Rappahannock to the northward, said:

"I am of opinion that it is my duty to pitch into his rear, although in so doing the head of his column may reach Warrenton before I can return."

The President, answering, said:

"I have but one idea which I think worth suggesting to you, and that is, in case you find Lee coming to the north of the Rappahannock, I would by no means cross to the south of it. If he should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you to fall upon it, it would fight in intrenchments and have you at disadvantage, and so, man for man, worst you at that point, while his main force would in some way be getting the advantage of you northward. In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over the fence and liable to be torn by dogs front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other."( 1)

The President, answering another dispatch from Hooker, June 10th, said:

"I think Lee's army, and not Richmond, is your objective point. If he comes towards the upper Potomac, follow him on his flank and on his inside track, shortening your lines while he lengthens him. Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, fret him and fret him."( 2)

When deeply concerned about the fate of Winchester (June 14th), this dispatch was sent:

"Major General Hooker:

"So far as we can make out here, the enemy have Milroy surrounded at Winchester and Tyler at Martinsburg. If they could hold out a few days, could you help them? If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim somewhere. Could you not break him?"

"A. Lincoln."( 2)

Hooker did not cross the river and attack the rear of Lee's army, nor did he "fret" Lee's army, nor "break" it, however "slim" "the animal" must have been, and hence Milroy was sacrificed, and the rich towns, cities, and districts of Maryland and Pennsylvania were overrun by a hungry and devastating foe; but Gettysburg came; the Union hosts there being successfully led by another commander --Meade!

George Gordon Meade came to the command of the Army of the Potomac under the most trying circumstances. The situation of that army and the country was critical. He had been distinguished as a brigade, division, and corps commander under McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker; in brief, he had won laurels on many fields, especially at Fredericksburg, where he broke through the enemy's right and reached his reserves, yet he never had held an independent command. He was of Revolutionary stock (Pennsylvania), though born in Cadiz, Spain, December 31, 1815, where his parents then resided, his father being a merchant and shipowner there. He was graduated at West Point; was a modest, truthful, industrious, studious man, with the instincts of a soldier. He was wounded at New Market, or Glendale, in the Peninsula campaign (1862). He was commanding in person, and ambitious to succeed, prudent, yet obstinate, and when aroused showed a fierce temper; yet he was, in general, just. On the third day after he assumed command of the army its advance corps opened the battle of Gettysburg. What great soldier ever before took an army and moved it into battle against a formidable adversary in so short a time? It must also be remembered that the troops composing his army were not used to material success. They had never been led to a decisive victory. Some of them had been defeated at Bull Run; some of them on the Peninsula; some of them at the Second Bull Run; some of them were in the drawn battle of Antietam; some of them had suffered repulse at Fredericksburg, and defeat at Chancellorsville, and the army in general had experienced more of defeat than success, although composed of officers and soldiers equal to the best ever called to battle. When Meade assumed command, Lee's army was, in the main, far up the Cumberland Valley, and pressing on; Ewell had orders to take Harrisburg, and was then, with most of his corps, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. York and Wrightsville, Pa., were taken on the 28th by Gordon of Early's division. On the 29th Ewell ordered his engineer, with Jenkins' cavalry, to reconnoitre the defences of Harrisburg, and he was starting for that place himself on the same day when Lee recalled him and his corps to join the main army at Cashtown, or Gettysburg.( 3)

Longstreet's corps marched from Fredericksburg, June 3d, via Culpeper Court-House, thence up the Rappahannock and along the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge; on the 19th occupied Ashby's and Snicker's Gaps, leading to the Valley; on the 23d marched via Martinsburg and Williamsport into Maryland, reaching Chambersburg on the 27th; thence marched on the 30th to Greenwood, and the next day to Marsh Creek, four miles from Gettysburg, Pickett's division and Hood's brigade being left, respectively, at Chambersburg and New Guilford.( 4)

A. P. Hill's corps did not leave Fredericksburg until the 14th of June, just after Hooker put the Army of the Potomac in motion to the northward. Hill marched into the Valley and joined Longstreet at Berryville, and from there preceded him to Chambersburg, and by one day to Cashtown and Gettysburg.( 5)

General J. E. B. Stuart, in command of the Confederate cavalry, crossed the upper Rappahannock, June 16th, and moved east of the Blue Ridge on Longstreet's right flank, leaving only a small body of cavalry on the Rappahannock, in observation, with instructions to follow on the right flank of Hill's corps. Severe cavalry engagements took place at Aldie, the 17th, and at Middleburg, Uppeville, and Snicker's Gap, without decisive results, both sides claiming victories. On the 24th Stuart, with the main body of his cavalry, succeeded in eluding the Union cavalry and Hooker's army (then feeling its way north), and passed east of Centreville, thence via Fairfax Court-House and Dranesville, and crossed, July 27th, the Potomac at Rowser's Ford, and captured a large supply train between Washington and Rockville. Stuart's cavalry caused some damage in the rear and east of the Army of the Potomac, but, on the whole, this bold movement contributed little, if any, towards success in Lee's campaign. Stuart's advance reached the Confederate left via Dover and Carlisle, Pennsylvania, late on the afternoon of the second day of the battle, his troopers and horses in a somewhat exhausted condition. The consensus of opinion among military critics was then, and since is, that Lee committed a great strategic error in authorizing his main cavalry force to be separated from close contact with the right of his moving army. General Lee seems to have come to this conclusion himself, as frequently, in his official reports of the campaign, he deplores the absence of his cavalry and his consequent inability to obtain reliable information of the movements of the Army of the Potomac.( 6) Longstreet severely criticises Stuart's raid, and attributes to the absence of the cavalry, in large part, the failure of the Gettysburg campaign.( 7) Cavalry, under an energetic commander, are the eyes and ears of a large army, especially when it is on an active campaign against a vigilant enemy.

Having with some particularity traced the main bodies composing Lee's army, as to time and routes, to the vicinity of Gettysburg, it remains to briefly follow the Army of the Potomac to the same place. While some of its corps moved earlier, the headquarters of that army did not leave Falmouth until the 14th of June, when it was established at Dumfries; on the next day at Fairfax Station, on the 18th at Fairfax Court-House, on the 26th at Poolesville, Maryland, and the next day at Frederick, Maryland, where Meade succeeded Hooker. Before the Army of the Potomac left Falmouth a division of the Sixth Corps had been thrown across the river to observe the enemy, but it did not attack him, and was withdrawn on the 13th.

Meade found his army, mainly, in the vicinity of Frederick, though some of his corps had passed northward and others were moving up by converging lines, the Sixth Corps having just arrived at Poolesville from Virginia. June 29th, Meade moved his headquarters from Frederick to Middleburg, the next day to Taneytown, Maryland, about fifteen miles south of Gettysburg.

The movements of the Army of the Potomac were such as to cover Washington and Baltimore, and at the same time bring, as soon as possible, the invading army to battle.

The First, Eleventh, and Third Corps, under Major-General John F. Reynolds, were in the advance on Gettysburg on July 1st, the First Corps leading, and preceded only by General John Buford's division of cavalry. Lee was then rapidly concentrating his army at Gettysburg. Reynolds found Buford fiercely engaging infantry of Hill's corps as they were debouching through the mountains on the Cashtown road. He promptly moved the First Corps to Buford's support, and it soon became hotly engaged. The Eleventh Corps, commanded by General Oliver O. Howard, was ordered to hasten to join in the battle. Howard arrived about 11.30 A.M., just as Reynolds fell mortally wounded, and the command of the field devolved on Howard. He pushed forward two divisions of the Eleventh to the support of the First Corps, then engaged on Seminary Hill, northeast of Gettysburg, and posted a third division on Cemetery Ridge, south of the town. The battle continued with great fierceness on the Cashtown road. For a time the Union success was considerable, and the Confederates were forced back, and numerous prisoners, including General Archer, were captured; but reinforcements from Cashtown and the unexpected arrival, at 1.30 P.M., over the York and Harrisburg roads, of Ewell's corps on Howard's right left him outnumbered and outflanked. He maintained the unequal contest until about 4 P.M., then ordered a withdrawal to Cemetery Ridge, which was accomplished with considerable loss, chiefly in prisoners taken in the streets of Gettysburg. Meade, learning of Reynolds' death, dispatched General W. S. Hancock to represent him on the field. Hancock arrived in time to aid Howard in posting the troops advantageously on the Ridge, where they handsomely repulsed an attack on the right flank. Slocum and Sickles' corps arrived about 7 P.M., and were posted on the right and left, respectively, of those in position. Hancock reported to Meade the position held was a strong one, and advised that the army be concentrated there for battle. At 10 P.M. Meade left Taneytown and reached the battle-field at 1 A.M. of the 2d of July, having, on the reports received, decided to stand and give general battle there.( 8) The Second and Fifth Corps and the rest of the Third arrived early on the 2nd. The Second and Third Corps went into position on the Union left on a continuation of the ridge towards Little Round Top Mountain. The Fifth was held in reserve until the arrival of the Sixth at 2 P.M., when it was moved to the extreme left, the Sixth taking its place in reserve owing to the exhaustion of its troops, they having just accomplished a thirty-two mile march from 9 P.M. of the day previous. The Third, under Sickles, was moved by him to a peach orchard about one half mile in advance, and out of line with the corps on its right and left. Here it received the shock of battle, precipitated about 3 P.M. by Longstreet's corps from the Confederate right. The Second and Fifth Corps were hastened to cover the flanks of the Third. The battle raged furiously for some hours and until night put an end to it. The Third was forced, after a desperate conflict, to retire on its proper line. Sickles was severely wounded, losing a leg. The Fifth, after a most heroic conflict, succeeded in gaining and holding Round Top (big) Mountain, the key to the position on the Union left, as were Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill, on its right. Longstreet, at nightfall, after suffering great loss, was forced to retire, having gained no substantial advantage. The Sixth and part of the First Corps, having been ordered to the left, participated in this battle and aided in Longstreet's repulse. Geary's division of the Twelfth, moving from the extreme right, had also reinforced the left. It was this withdrawal from the right which enabled Ewell's corps to capture and occupy a part of the Union line in the vicinity of Culp's Hill. An assault was made about 8 P.M. on the Eleventh Corps at Cemetery Hill, where the enemy penetrated to a battery, over which a melée took place, the Confederates, after a hand-to-hand fight, being driven from the hill and forced to retreat. Thus the second day's fighting at Gettysburg ended, neither side having gained any decisive advantage. Most of the Union Army had been, however, more or less engaged, while Longstreet's corps (save Pickett's division), and only portions of Ewell's corps of the Confederate Army, had been seriously in battle. There had been some spirited artillery duels, but these rarely contribute materially to important results.

The third day opened, at early dawn, by Geary's division (returned from the left) attacking, and after a lively battle retaking its former position on the right. A spirited contest also raged on the right at Culp's Hill and along Rock Creek all the morning, in which Wheaton's brigade of the Sixth Corps participated. With this exception, quiet reigned along the lines of the two great armies during the forenoon of the 3d.

Lee, flushed with some appearance of success on the first and second days, and over-confident of the fighting qualities of his splendid army, born of its defeats of the Army of the Potomac on the Rappahannock, decided to deliver offensive battle, though far from his natural base. Orders were accordingly given to Longstreet to mass a column of not less than 15,000 men for an assault, under cover of artillery, on the Union left centre, to be supported by simultaneous real or pretended attacks by other portions of the Confederate Army.

Longstreet did not believe in the success of the attack, and hence offered many objections to it, and predicted its failure. He advised swinging the Confederate Army by its right around the Union left, and thus compel Meade to withdraw from his naturally strong position.( 9) Lee would not listen to his great Lieutenant. Pickett's division of three brigades was assigned to the right of the column, and it became the division of direction. Kemper's division of four brigades from Hill's corps was formed on the left of Pickett, and Wilcox's brigade of Hill's corps was placed in echelon in support on Pickett's right, and the brigades of Scales and Lane of Hill's corps, under Trimble, were to move in support of Kemper's left. The whole column of ten brigades, composed of forty-six regiments, numbered about 20,000 men.

Generals Pendleton and Alexander, chiefs of artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia and of Longstreet's corps, respectively, massed 150 guns on a ridge extending generally parallel to the left of the Union Army and about one mile therefrom, and so as to be able to pour a converging fire on its left centre.(10) While this preparation for decisive battle went on in the Confederate lines, the Union Army stood at bay, in readiness for the battle-storm foreboded by the long lull and the active preparations observed in its front. At 1 P.M. Longstreet's batteries opened, and the superior guns of the Union Army, though not in position in such great number, promptly responded. This terrific duel lasted about two hours. Meade, recognizing the futility of his artillery fire, and in anticipation of the assault soon to come, ordered a large portion of his artillery withdrawn under cover, to give the guns time to cool and to be resupplied with ammunition. This led the enemy to believe he had silenced them effectively, and the assaulting column went forward.(11) The Union artillery, with fresh batteries added, was again quickly put in position for its real work. The close massed column of assault, well led, gallantly moved to the charge down the slope and across the open ground, directed against a portion of the Union line partially on Cemetery Ridge. The supporting Confederate batteries now almost ceased firing. As the assaulting column went forward the Union guns turned on it, cutting gaps in it at each discharge. These were generally closed from the support, but when the head of the column got well up to, and in one place into, the Union breastworks, the fire of the Union infantry became irresistible. Longstreet ordered the divisions of McLaws and Hood, holding his line on the right of the assaulting column, to advance to battle. Union forces moved out and attacked Pickett's supporting brigade on the right. Under the fierce fire of infantry and artillery the head of the great Confederate column fast melted away. Generals Garnett, Pender, Semmes, Armistead, and Barksdale were killed, Generals Kemper, Trimble, Pettigrew, and many other officers fell wounded, and many Confederate colors were shot down. The Confederates who penetrated the Union line were killed or captured. When success was demonstrated to be impossible, Pickett ordered a retreat, and such of his men as were not cut off by the fire that continued to sweep the field escaped to cover behind the batteries, leaving the broad track of the assaulting column strewn with dead, dying, and wounded. The great battle was now substantially ended. Meade did not draw out his army and pursue the broken Confederates, as their leaders expected him to do. Lee, while personally aiding in restoring the lines of his shattered troops, recognized the fearful consequences of Pickett's assault, and magnanimously said to an officer, "It is all my fault."

Generals Hancock and Gibbon and many important Union officers were wounded. This, together with other causes, prevented Meade from assuming the offensive. Two-thirds of the Confederate Army had not been engaged actively in the last struggle, and the day was too far spent for Meade to make the combinations indispensable to the success of an immediate attack.

Longstreet withdrew McLaws and Hood from their advance position. Kilpatrick moved his cavalry division to attack the Confederate right, and Farnsworth's cavalry brigade made a gallant charge on the rear of Longstreet's infantry, riding over detachments until the dashing leader lost his life and his command was cut to pieces by the terrific fire of the enemy's artillery and infantry. A great fight also ensued on the Union right near Rock Creek, between the Confederate cavalry under Stuart and the main body of the Union cavalry under General Alfred Pleasanton, in which our cavalry held the field and drove back Stuart from an attempt to penetrate behind the Union right. The infantry corps of the two armies were not again engaged at Gettysburg. Lee drew in his left to compact his army, holding his cavalry still on his left.

At nightfall, July 4th, Lee, having previously sent in advance his trains and ambulances filled with sick and wounded, commenced a retreat by the Fairfield and Emmittsburg roads through Hagerstown to the Potomac at Williamsport and Falling Waters, his cavalry covering his rear. The Sixth Corps and our cavalry followed in close pursuit on the morning of the 5th, but the main body of the Army of the Potomac marched on the Confederate flank, directed on Middletown, Maryland. French (left at Frederick) had pushed a column to Williamsport and Falling Waters, and destroyed a pontoon bridge and captured its guard and a wagon train. Buford's cavalry was sent by Meade to Williamsport, where it encountered Lee's advance, destroyed trains, and made many captures of guns and prisoners. Recent heavy rains had swollen the Potomac so that it could not be forded. Most of the Confederate sick and wounded were, with great effort, ferried over the swollen river in improvised boats, but not without several days' delay. Lee's army reached the Potomac on the 11th, having suffered considerable loss during its retreat in prisoners, arms, and trains. It took up a strong position, covering Williamsport and Falling Waters, and intrenched.

The Union Army, after reaching Middletown and being reinforced by French's command and somewhat reorganized, deployed on the 11th for battle, and on the 12th moved close up to the front of the Confederate Army. Orders were issued looking to an attack on the morning of the 13th, but the day was spent in reconnoissances and further preparations. On the following morning the enemy had succeeded in crossing the river, and only a rear-guard was taken.

Great disappointment was felt that Meade did not again force Lee to battle north of the Potomac. Certain it is that Lee's army was deficient in ammunition for all arms, and rations were scarce. Lee, in dispatches to Jefferson Davis, dated July 7th, 8th, and 10th, showed great apprehension as to the result of a battle if attacked in his then situation.(12)

Meade's army was also greatly impeded by circumstances beyond human control. When, on the 13th of July, a general attack was contemplated, rain fell in torrents, and the cultivated fields were so soft as to render the movement of artillery and troops almost impossible. The wheels of the gun-carriages sunk so deep in the soft earth as to forbid the guns being fired safely. Meade was urged, by dispatches from Halleck, and by one from President Lincoln, to attack Lee before he crossed the Potomac.(13) Meade was fully alive to the importance of doing this, but he displayed some timidity peculiar to his nature, and sought to have all the conditions in his favor before risking another battle. His combinations were made with too much precision for the time he had to do it in.

A less cautious commander might, during the first few days, have assailed Lee precipitately on his front or flank, or both simultaneously, relying on his not being able to concentrate his army to resist it. But after Lee had concentrated his forces and intrenched in a well selected position, covering Williamsport and Falling Waters, the result of an attack would have been doubtful, yet, in the light of what was later known, one should have been made. Meade, however, had done well under the circumstances at Gettysburg, and a two-weeks'-old independent commander, not yet accustomed to fighting a large army in aggressive battle, is entitled to considerate judgment.

The revised lists of losses in the battle and campaign of Gettysburg in the Army of the Potomac show 246 officers and 2909 enlisted men killed, 1145 officers and 13,384 enlisted men wounded, total 17,684; also 183 officers and 5182 enlisted men captured, grand total 23,049. The First and Eleventh Corps lost, chiefly on the first day, in captured, 3527.(14)

The imperfect lists of losses in the Army of Northern Virginia do not show the number of killed and wounded officers separately from enlisted men, and from some of the commands no reports are found, yet, so far as made, they show 2592 killed and 12,709 wounded, total 15,301, and 5150 captured, grand total 20,541.(15) The records of prisoners of war in the Adjutant-General's Office, U.S.A., give the names of 12,227 wounded and unwounded Confederates captured at Gettysburg, July 1st to 5th, inclusive.(15)

When the Gettysburg campaign ended I was fairly in the Army of the Potomac, destined to be with it and of it and to share its fortunes for two years and to the end of the war.

( 1) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part I., pp. 30-1.

( 2) Ibid., pp. 35, 39.

( 3) Ewell's Report, War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 443.

( 4) Longstreet's Report, Ibid., 358.

( 5) Lee's Report, Ibid., 317.

( 6) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., pp. 316, 321-2.

( 7) Manassas to Appomattox, pp. 342-3, 351-9, 362.

( 8) Meade's Report, War Records, vol. xxvii., Part I., p. 115.

( 9) Manassas to Appomattox, pp. 386-7.

(10) Pendleton's Report, War Records., vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 352.

(11) Manassas to Appomattox, p. 392.

(12) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., pp. 299-302.

(13) Ibid., p. 82-3.

(14) Ibid., p. 187.

(15) War Records, vol. xxvii., Part II., 346.

CHAPTER III New York Riots, 1863--Pursuit of Lee's Army to the Rappahannock-- Action of Wapping Heights, and Skirmishes--Western Troops Sent to New York to Enforce the Draft--Their Return--Incidents, etc.

During the Gettysburg campaign the organized militia of New York City and the volunteer and regular troops stationed there were sent to Pennsylvania to aid in repelling the invading army, thus leaving that city without its usual protection.

Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State of New York in 1863, was not, at all times, in harmony with President Lincoln and the War Department with respect to the conduct of the war, the necessity for raising troops, and the means by which they were obtained. His opposition to the draft was well understood, and gave encouragement to a turbulent population in New York City who were opposed to the war, and, consequently, to all radical measures to fill the city's quota. The poor believed they had a just ground of complaint. A clause in the Enrollment Act of Congress allowed a drafted man to be discharged upon the payment of three hundred dollars commutation. This gave the wealthier people a right the poor were not able to avail themselves of.

The city of New York had responded loyally with men and money in support of the Union at the breaking out of the war, but as the struggle progressed and the burdens of the city increased and many calls for men came, there occurred some reaction in public sentiment, especially among the masses, who imagined they were the greatest sufferers. Her Mayor, Fernando Wood, prior to the war (January 6, 1861), in a Message to her Common Council, denominated the Union as only a "confederacy" of which New York was the "Empire City"; and said further that dissolution of the Union was inevitable; that it was absolutely impossible to keep the States "together longer than they deemed themselves fairly treated"; that the Union could "not be preserved by coercion or held together by force"; that with the "aggrieved brethren of the slave States" the city had preserved "friendly relations and a common sympathy," and had not "participated in a warfare upon their constitutional rights or their domestic institutions," and, "therefore, New York has a right to expect, and should endeavor to preserve, a continuance of uninterrupted intercourse with every section." He denounced other parts of New York state as a "foreign power" seeking to legislate for the city's government; claimed that "much, no doubt," could "be said in favor of the justice and policy of a separation," and that the Pacific States and Western States as well as the Southern States would each soon set up an independent Republic. But Mayor Wood, not content with all this disunion nonsense, said further:

"Why should not New York City, instead of supporting by her contributions in revenue two thirds of the expenses of the United States, become also equally independent? As a free city, with but nominal duty on imports, her local government could be supported without taxation upon her people. Thus we could live free from taxes, and have cheap goods nearly duty free. In this she would have the whole and united support of the Southern states, as well as all the other States to whose interests and rights under the Constitution she has always been true; and when disunion has become a fixed and certain fact, why may not New York disrupt the bonds which bind her to a venal and corrupt master--to a people and party that have plundered her revenues, taken away the power of self- government and destroyed the Confederacy of which she was the proud Empire City? Amid the gloom which the present and prospective condition of things must cast over the country, New York, as a Free City, may shed the only light and hope of a future reconstruction of our once blessed Confederacy."( 1)

This most audacious communication ante-dated all Ordinances of Secession save that of South Carolina, and preceded President Lincoln's inauguration by about two months. The proposed secession of New York City involved disrupting the bonds which bound her to the State as well as the nation, and could not therefore possess even the shadow of excuse of separate sovereignty, such as was claimed for a State.

The dangerous doctrine of this Message and the suggestions for making New York a free city, and other like political teaching, bore fruit, and had much to do with building up a public sentiment which culminated in resistance to the draft and the monstrous, bloody, and destructive riots that ensued in New York City.

The significance of the defeat of the Confederate Army at Gettysburg and the capture of Vicksburg on the 4th of July, 1863, were not well understood in New York when, on Saturday, July 11, 1863, pursuant to instructions, Provost-Marshal Jenkins commenced the initial work on the corner of 46th Street and Third Avenue, by drawing from the wheel the names of those who must respond to the call of the Government or pay the commutation money.

The first day passed without any open violence, and with even some good-humored pleasantry on the part of the great crowd assembled. The draft was conducted openly and fairly, and the names of the conscripts were publicly announced and published by the press of Sunday morning. It appeared that the names of many men, too poor to pay the commutation, had been drawn from the wheel, and these would therefore have to go to the army in person regardless of inclination or ability to provide for their families in their absence. Others not drawn were apprehensive that their fate would be the same. On Sunday, therefore, in secret places, inhabitants of the district where the draft had commenced, met, and resolved to resist it even to bloodshed. The absence of the organized militia and other regular and volunteer soldiers was, by the leaders of the movement, widely proclaimed, to encourage the belief that resistance would be successful. The police, though efficient, were not much feared, as they would have to be widely scattered over the city to protect persons and property. In the promotion of the scheme of resistance to Federal authority, organized parties went early Monday morning to yard, factory, and shop, and compelled men to abandon their labor and join the procession wending its way to the corner of Third Avenue and 46th Street.

Captain Jenkins and his assistants, not apprehending any danger, recommenced the draft in the presence of a great multitude, many of whom had crowded into his office, and a few names had been called and registered when a paving-stone was hurled through a window, shivering the glass into a thousand pieces, knocking over some quiet observers in the room and startling the officials. This was the initial act of the celebrated New York riots. A second and a third stone now crashed through the broken window at the fated officers and reporters, and with frantic yells the crowd developed into a mob, and, breaking down the doors, rushed into the room, smashed the desks, tables, furniture, and destroyed whatever could be found. The wheel alone was carried upstairs and eventually saved. The Marshal escaped alive, but his deputy, Lieutenant Vanderpoel, was horribly beaten and taken home for dead. The building wherein the office was located was fired, and the hydrants were taken possession of by the mob to prevent the Fire Department from extinguishing the flames, and in two hours an entire block was burned down. Police Superintendent Kennedy was assailed by the rioters and left for dead. The most exaggerated rumors of the success of the mob spread through the city, and other anti-conscript bands were rapidly formed, especially in its southern parts.

While General Sanford of the State Militia, Mayor Opdyke of the city, and General John E. Wool were hastily consulting, and, in the absence of any military force adequate to suppress the already formidable riot, were trying to devise means for its suppression, the mob, joined by numerous gangs of thieves and thugs, grew to the size of a great army, and feeling possessed of an irresistible power, moved rapidly about the apparently doomed city, engaging in murder, pillage, and arson. Neither person nor property was regarded. Peaceful citizens were openly seized, maltreated, and robbed wherever found. Those who tried to resist were often dragged mercilessly about the streets, stamped upon, and left for dead. A brown-stone block on Lexington Avenue was destroyed. An armed detachment of marines, some fifty strong, was sent to quell the riot. At the corner of 43d Street these marines attempted to disperse the mob by firing on it with blank cartridges, but they were rushed upon with such fierce fury that they were broken and overpowered, their guns were taken from then, several of them killed, and all terribly beaten. A squad of the police attempted to arrest some of the leaders at this point, but it was defeated, badly beaten, and one of its number killed. Elated with these triumphs, and excited by the blood already spilled, the passion of the mob knew no bounds, and it proposed an immediate onslaught upon the principal streets, hotels, and public buildings. The city was filled with consternation; all business ceased, public conveyances stopped running, and terror seized the public authorities as well as the peaceful citizens.

The negroes seemed to be the first object of the mob's animosity; public places where they were employed were seized, and the colored servants there employed were maltreated, and in some instances killed. The Colored Half-Orphan Asylum, on Fifth Avenue, near 43d Street, the home for about 800 colored children, was visited, its attendants and inmates maltreated, the interior of the building sacked, and in spite of the personal efforts of Chief Decker, it was fired and burned. Robbery was freely indulged in, and many women who were of the rioters carried off booty.

The armory on Second Avenue, in which some arms and munitions were stored, although guarded by a squad of men, was soon taken possession of, its contents seized, and the building burned. This was not accomplished until at least five of the mob were killed and many more wounded by the police. In the lower part of the city the assaults of the rioters were mainly upon unoffending colored men.

At least one dozen were brutally murdered, while many more were beaten, and others driven into hiding or from the city. One colored man was caught, kicked, and mauled until life seemed extinct, and then his body was suspended from a tree and a fire kindled beneath it, the heat of which restored him to consciousness.

A demonstration was made against the Tribune newspaper office. The great mob from the vicinity of 46th Street reached the park near this office about five o'clock in the evening, and some of its leaders, breaking down the doors, rushed into the building and commenced destroying its contents, and preparing to burn it. A determined charge of the police, however, drove them out, and the building was saved.

The police, though heroic in their efforts to protect the city, were only partially successful. The draft was suspended. The building on Broadway near 28th Street, in part occupied as an office by Provost-Marshal Marriere, was fired, and the entire block burned. The Bull's Head Hotel on 44th Street was likewise burned to the ground because its proprietor declined to furnish liquor to the mob. The residences of Provost-Marshal Jenkins and Postmaster Wakeman and two brown-stone dwellings on Lexington Avenue were also destroyed by fire, and several members of the police and marines were stoned to death, and others fatally injured.

The Board of Aldermen met and adopted a resolution instructing a committee to report a plan whereby an appropriation could be made to pay the commutation ($300) of such of the poorest citizens as might be conscripted. General Wool, who commanded the Department, issued a call to the discharged returned soldiers to tender their services to the Mayor for the defence of the city. This call met with some response on the following morning, and General Harvey Brown assumed command of the troops in the city. The second day (14th) the riot was even more malignant than on the first. The mob had complete control of the city and spread terror wherever it moved.

Governor Horatio Seymour now reached the city, and promptly issued a proclamation, commanding the rioters to disperse to their homes under penalty of his using all power necessary to restore peace and order. The riot continuing, he, on the same day, issued another proclamation, declaring the city in a state of insurrection, and giving notice that all persons resisting any force called out to quell the insurrection would be liable to the penalties prescribed by law. These proclamations, however, had little effect. The second day was attended with still further atrocities upon negroes. The mob in its brutality regarded neither age, infirmity, nor sex. Whenever and wherever a colored population was found, death was their inexorable fate. Whole neighborhoods inhabited by them were burned out.

On several occasions the small military force collected on the second day met and turned back the rioters by firing ball cartridges. Lieutenant Wood, in command of 150 regular troops from Fort Lafayette, in dispersing about 2000 men assembled in the vicinity of Grand and Pitt Streets, was obliged to fire bullets into them, killing about a score, and wounding many, two children among the number. This mob was dispersed. Citizens organized to defend themselves and the city.

Governor Seymour spoke to an immense gathering from the City Hall steps, and counselled obedience to the law and the constituted authorities. He read a letter to show that he was trying to have the draft suspended, and announced that he had information that it was postponed in the city of New York. This announcement did something to allay the excitement and to prevent a spread of the riot.

Colonel O'Brien, with a detachment of troops, was ordered to disperse a mob in Third Avenue. He was successful in turning it back, but sprained his ankle during the excitement, and stopped in a drug store on 32d Street, while his command passed on. A body of rioters discovering him, surrounded the store and threatened its destruction. He stepped out, and was at once struck senseless, and the crowd fell upon his prostrate form, beating, stamping, and mutilating it. For hours his body was dragged up and down the pavement in the most inhuman manner, after which it was carried to the front of his residence, where, with shouts and jeers, the same treatment was repeated.

The absent militia were hurried home from Pennsylvania, and by the 15th the riot had so far spent itself that many of its leaders had fallen or were taken prisoners, and the mob was broken into fragments and more easily coped with. Mayor Opdyke, in announcing that the riot was substantially at an end, advised voluntary associations to be maintained to assure good order, and thereafter business was cautiously resumed.

Archbishop John Hughes caused to be posted about the city, on the 16th, a card inviting men "called in many of the papers rioters" to assemble the next day to hear a speech from him. At the appointed hour about 5000 persons met in front of his residence, when the Archbishop, clad in his purple robes and other insignia of his high sacerdotal function, spoke to them from his balcony. He appealed to their patriotism, and counselled obedience to the law as a tenet of their Catholic faith. He told them "no government can stand or protect itself unless it protects its citizens." He appealed to them to go to their homes and thereafter do no unlawful act of violence. This assembly dispersed peaceably, and the great riot was ended.

But the draft had been suspended for the time, and Governor Seymour had given some assurance it would not again be resumed in the city. The municipal authorities had passed a bill to pay the $300 commutation, or substitute money, to drafted men of the poorer classes.

The total killed and wounded during the riots is unknown. Governor Seymour, in a Message, said the "number of killed and wounded is estimated by the police to be at least one thousand." The rioters, as usual, suffered the most. Claims against the city for damages to property destroyed were presented, aggregating $2,500,000, and the city paid claimants about $1,500,000.

This brief summary of the great New York riot is given to explain movements of troops soon to be mentioned. But in order to afford the reader a fuller conception of the opposition encountered by Federal officers in the enforcement of the conscript laws, it should be said in this connection that draft riots, on a small scale, took place in Boston, Mass.; Troy, N. Y.; Portsmouth, N. H., and in Holmes County, Ohio, and at other places.

We left the Army of the Potomac in Maryland, at the close of the arduous Gettysburg campaign, watching the Army of the Northern Virginia, just escaped across the Potomac.

Harper's Ferry had been reoccupied by Union troops as early as July 6, 1863. Meade moved his army to that place, and promptly crossing the Potomac and the Shenandoah River near its mouth, took possession of the gaps of the Blue Ridge, and marched southward along its eastern slope. Passing through Upperville and Piedmont towards Manassas Gap and Front Royal, he threatened Lee's line of retreat to his old position behind the Rapidan, and thus compelled the Confederate Army to evacuate the Shenandoah Valley somewhat precipitately.

At Wapping Heights, near Manassas Gap, on the 23d of July, a somewhat lively action took place between portions of the two armies in which my troops were engaged and suffered a small loss. The enemy were driven back, and one corps of Lee's army was forced to retreat via routes higher up the valley. There were lively skirmishes between the 14th of July and August 1st, at Halltown, Shepherdstown, Snicker's Gap, Berry's Ferry, Ashby's Gap, Chester Gap, Battle Mountain, Kelly's Ford, and Brandy Station, but each and all of these were without material results. By the 26th of July the Army of the Potomac arrived in the vicinity of Warrenton, Virginia, and occupied the north bank of the Rappahannock, while the Army of Northern Virginia took position behind the Rapidan, covering its fords. Both of these great armies were now allowed by their commanders to remain quiet to recuperate. Occasional collisions occurred between picket posts and scouting detachments, but none worthy of special notice.

It having been determined by the War Department to enforce the draft in New York and Brooklyn, and a recurrence of the riots being again imminent, orders were issued to send veteran troops to New York harbor for such disposition and service as the exigencies might require. Western troops were mainly selected, and, with a view to sending me upon this service, I was ordered on the 14th of August to Alexandria with the 110th and 122d Ohio, the former in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Foster and the latter in that of Colonel Wm. H. Ball. On the 16th I embarked these regiments and the 3d Michigan on a transport ship at Alexandria, with instructions from Halleck to report on my arrival in New York Harbor to General E. R. S. Canby.( 2) On reaching our destination, my troops, with others from the Army of the Potomac, were distributed throughout both cities. My own headquarters were for a short time on Governor's Island, then more permanently at Carroll Park, Brooklyn.

The threatened riots and the incipient movements to again prevent the draft were easily averted, as it was evident that no unlawful assemblage of persons would be tolerated by the authorities when backed by veteran soldiers. This service proved to be a great picnic for the men. Officers and soldiers were received warmly everywhere in the cities, and socially feasted and flattered. It was evident, however, that the good people had not yet recovered from the terrors of the recent riots, and they manifested a painful apprehension that a recurrence of these would take place. The draft, however, went on peacefully, and when all danger seemed past the troops were ordered to return to their proper corps in the Army of the Potomac.

At a public breakfast given to the soldiers of the 110th Ohio in Carroll Park, Brooklyn, a very aged man appeared with a morning paper, and asked and was granted permission to read President Lincoln's memorable and characteristic letter of August 26, 1863, addressed to Hon. James C. Conkling, of Illinois, in response to an invitation to attend a mass-meeting at Springfield, "of unconditional Union men." The letter answered many objections urged against the President on account of the conduct of the war, his Emancipation Proclamation, and his purpose to enlist colored men as soldiers. For perspicuity, terseness, plainness, and conclusiveness of argument this letter stands among the best of all President Lincoln's writings. It came at an opportune time, and it did much to silence the caviler, to satisfy the doubter, and to reconcile honest people who sincerely desired the complete restoration of the Union. Its effect was especially salutary and satisfying to the soldiers in the field, who, somehow, felt that the burden of maintaining the Union rested unequally upon them.

Addressing those who were dissatisfied with him, and desired peace, he said:

"You desire peace, and you blame me that we do not have it. But how can we attain it? There are but three conceivable ways. First, to suppress the rebellion by force of arms. This I am trying to do. Are you for it? If you are, so far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second way is to give up the Union. I am against this, Are you for it? If you are, you should say so plainly. If you are not for force, nor yet for dissolution, there only remains some imaginable compromise. I do not believe that any compromise embracing a maintenance of the Union is now possible."

To those who opposed the Emancipation Proclamation, and desired its revocation, he said:

"You say it is unconstitutional. I think differently. I think the Constitution invests its Commander-in-Chief with the law of war in the time of war. The most that can be said, if so much, is, that slaves are property. Is there, has there ever been, any question that by the laws of war, property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when needed?"

And further:

"But the Proclamation, as law, either is valid or is not valid. If it is not valid it needs no retraction. If it is valid it cannot be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life."

And still further:

"You say that you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you; but no matter. Fight you, then, exclusively to save the Union. I issued the Proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. . . . I thought that whatever negroes can be got to do as soldiers leaves just so much less for white soldiers to do in saving the Union.

"The signs look better. The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest for it; nor yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles up they met New England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right and left. The sunny South, too, in more colors than one, also lent a helping hand. On the spot, their part of the history was jotted down in black and white. The job was a great national one, and let none be slighted who bore an honorable part in it. And while those who have cleared the great river may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard to say that anything has been more bravely and well done than at Antietam, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, and on fields of less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present, not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp they have been and made their tracks. Thanks to all."

During my stay in New York my wife visited me, and accompanied me with the troops to Alexandria.

On the 6th of September the Ohio troops of my command took ship, and when landed at Alexandria, Virginia, marched to Fox's Ford on the Rappahannock, and on the 14th rejoined the Third Corps, having been absent one month.

The next day the whole army moved across the river and encamped around Culpeper Court-House.

( 1) Hist. of Rebellion (McPherson), p. 42.

( 2) War Records, vol. xxix., Part II., pp. 46, 54.

CHAPTER IV Advance of Lee's Army, October, 1863 and Retreat of the Army of the Potomac to Centreville--Battle of Bristoe Station--Advance of the Union Army, November, 1863--Assault and Capture of Rappahannock Station, and Forcing the Fords--Affair near Brandy Station and Retreat of Confederate Army Behind the Rapidan--Incidents, etc.

Events occurred elsewhere that affected the aspect of affairs in Virginia.

General Rosecrans, early in September, commenced to move the Army of the Cumberland across the Tennessee River into Georgia, his objective being Chattanooga. Burnside at about the same time began a movement towards Knoxville, and on the way recaptured Cumberland Gap. The Confederate authorities, fearing Bragg was in danger, decided to send large reinforcements to his army, and, on September 9, 1863, Longstreet, with two divisions of his corps and a complement of artillery, was dispatched by rail from Lee to reinforce Bragg. The sanguinary battle of Chickamauga was fought on the 19th and 20th of September. It resulted in Rosecrans and his army gaining possession of Chattanooga, and Bragg and his army being left in possession of the battlefield. Rosecrans held Chattanooga in little less than a state of siege; his communications were in danger of being effectively cut off, and to aid his imperilled forces the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps of the Army of the Potomac were, on September 24th, ordered west, in command of General Joseph Hooker.

The loss of these corps reduced the relative strength of Meade's army to Lee's materially below what it was before Longstreet's two divisions were detached from the latter's army.

Elliott was relieved of the command of the Third Division, Third Corps of the Army of the Potomac, October 3, 1863, and ordered to report to Rosecrans. General Joseph B. Carr (Troy, N. Y.) succeeded him. Carr was a charming man socially, of fine appearance, amiable and lovable, but not strong as a soldier. He was understood to be a favorite of the President, who appointed him Brigadier-General September 7, 1862; the Senate, however, failing to confirm him, the President reappointed him in March, 1863, with rank from date of first appointment, thus giving him high rank in spite of the Senate. He was finally confirmed, on a third appointment in 1864, through some compromise, after a sharp controversy between the President and the Senate, but with junior rank, and then ordered to Butler's army.( 1)

For a time active operations were not contemplated by Meade. But Lee, about the 9th of October, crossed the Rapidan and commenced a movement around Meade's right, threatening his rear. This compelled Meade to retire across the Rappahannock, and by the 14th to Centreville and Union Mills, near the first Bull Run battle- field.

On the 13th, while my brigade, with a New York battery temporarily attached to it, was holding "Three Mile Station," near Warrenton, and skirmishing with the enemy, ballot-boxes were opened, and a regular election was held for the Ohio troops, both the boxes and ballots being carried to the voters along the battle-line so they might vote without breaking it.( 2)

The Third Corps was encamped that night at Greenwich. The next morning I was ordered with my brigade and Captain McKnight's battery (N. Y.) to cover, as a rear-guard, the retreat of the Third Corps to Manassas Heights via Bristoe Station. My orders were to avoid anything like a general engagement, but to beat back the advancing enemy whenever possible, prevent captures, and baffle him in his endeavors to delay or reach the main column. The successful conduct of a rear-guard of a retreating army, when pursued by an energetic foe, requires not only bravery but skill and tact. After the main body of my corps had left camp on its march towards Bristoe, and soon after daylight, the head of Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill's corps appeared from the direction of Warrenton. I displayed my troops with as much show of strength as possible, and with a few shots from the battery forced the enemy to halt his head of column and form line of battle. I thereupon retired by column quickly, and resumed the march until the enemy again pushed forward by the flank too near for my safety, when, in a chosen position, my troops were again speedily brought into line and a fire opened, which necessarily compelled him to halt and again make disposition for battle. This movement was frequently repeated. At each such halt the enemy necessarily consumed much time, thus giving the main body of the corps ample opportunity to proceed leisurely towards its destination. The weak or broken-down men of the rear-guard were not required to halt and fight, but were allowed to make such speed as they could. The day was almost spent when a courier reached me from French with the information that the corps had passed Bristoe Station, and was on the north side of Broad Run. Having now no further responsibility than for the safety of my own command, I moved more rapidly, and by 4 P.M. I had safely passed Bristoe Station to the high ground north of Broad Run, from whence I could, from a distance of less than a mile, see Bristoe, and, for a considerable distance, the line of railroad running, in general direction, north and south. The Third Corps had moved on out of sight towards the heights at Manassas. My command was much wearied, and I halted it for a short rest, but I soon ordered it forward where it took position in obedience to an order of General Meade to cover a blind road over which he feared the enemy might march to seize the heights.

General A. P. Hill, in his report of the day, says:

"From this point (Greenwich) to Bristoe we followed close upon the rear of the Third Corps, picking up about 150 [?] stragglers. Upon reaching the hills this side of Broad Run, and overlooking the plain on the north side, the Third Corps was discovered resting, a portion of it just commencing the march toward Manassas. I determined that no time must be lost, and hurried up Heth's division, forming it in line of battle along the crest of the hills and parallel to Broad Run. Poague's battalion was brought to the front and directed to open on the enemy. They were evidently taken by surprise, and retired in the utmost confusion [?]. Seeing this, General Heth was directed to advance his line until he reached the run, and then to move by the left flank, cross at the ford, and press the enemy. This order was being promptly obeyed, when I perceived the enemy's skirmishers making their appearance on this side of Broad Run, and on the right and rear of Heth's division. Word was sent to General Cooke, commanding the right brigade of Heth's division, to look out for his right flank, and he promptly changed front of one of his regiments and drove the enemy back. . . . In the meantime I sent back General Anderson to send McIntosh's battalion to the front, and to take two brigades to the position threatened and protect the right flank of Heth. . . . The three brigades advanced in beautiful order and quite steadily, Cooke's brigade, upon reaching the crest of the hill in their front, came within full view of the enemy's line of battle behind the railroad embankment (the Second Corps), and of whose presence I was unaware."( 3)

Hill was unexpectedly caught in a fatal trap. He was mistaken about seeing any considerable portion of the Third Corps north of Broad Run, or as to any of it being taken by surprise and retiring in confusion. But for my halting my command to rest he would have seen little of it. We had baffled the head of his column all day, and had passed beyond danger for the time, and, according to his report, we had killed and wounded many more than we had lost. The stragglers he reported captured could not have been of my command, as it left no men behind.

The fortuitous circumstance of Warren arriving at Bristoe with the head of the Second Corps moving on a road paralleling the railroad, just at the moment Hill was deploying his forces for an attack on the Third Corps, led to a serious and bloody battle. When the rear- guard of the Third Corps passed Bristoe Station, no part of the Second was in sight. I saw no part of it until after Hill commenced arraying his troops on the crest of the hills south of Broad Run. Seeing a battle was on, and my own command too far on its way and too much exhausted to be recalled in time to participate in it, I dismounted from a tired horse and, with a single staff officer, ate a lunch from my orderly's haversack ( 4) and watched the progress of the engagement. It is a rare occurrence that any person has an opportunity to quietly witness the whole of a considerable battle. From my position I could see between the lines of the opposing forces; I could note the manoeuvres of each separate organization; and I could almost anticipate to a certainty the result of the attacks and counter attacks. It was at first plainly evident that each commander knew little of what he had to meet. Lieutenant- General Hill's formation, as described by him in his report, was arranged with reference to a supposed force north of Broad Run, and was consequently very faulty. Warren had no notice of the presence of an enemy until Hill ran unexpectedly into his line of march. Hill seemed to be eager for a fight with the Third Corps, then far beyond his reach, and found one with the Second Corps, which was quietly marching to a concentration near Centreville. General Warren's command was strung out upon the road, and he had no order of battle. Hill, with two divisions, and others soon to arrive, was better prepared, though his formation was bad, to meet the Second Corps. Warren wisely used the slightly raised railroad bed for a breastwork, and promptly opened the battle without giving the enemy time for a change of position or for new formations. The battle was at first with musketry, but artillery soon arrived on both sides and opened fire at short range. Warren, in his report, after describing the preliminary movements of his command for position, says:

"A more inspiring scene could not be imagined. The enemy's line of battle boldly moving forward, one part of our own steadily awaiting it, and another moving against it at double-quick, while the artillery was taking up a position at a gallop and going into action. . . . Under our fire the repulse of the enemy soon became assured, and Arnold's battery arrived in time to help increase the demoralization and reach the fugitives.

"The enemy was gallantly led, as the wounding of three of his general officers in this attack shows, and even in retiring many retired but sullenly. An advance of a thin line along our front secured 450 prisoners, two stand of colors, and five field pieces."( 5)

The battle was of short duration, but owing to the exposed position of the Confederates their losses were great, and out of proportion to short engagements generally. General Warren and his officers justly won honors for meeting the emergency so handsomely.

Hill's command was so signally defeated that the Second Corps remained in possession of the field until 9 P.M., when it pursued its march unmolested to a junction with the main army. Hill reported his loss, killed, wounded, and missing, at 1378,( 6) but it was claimed on good authority to have been much larger. The loss in the Second Corps at Bristoe is not given separately, but its total losses in two engagements of the day, including Bristoe, were 546.( 6)

Hill's conduct was criticised, and his report bears, of dates in November, 1863, the following indorsements:

"General Hill explains how, in his haste to attack the Third Army Corps of the enemy, he overlooked the presence of the Second, which was the cause of the disaster that ensued.

"R. E. Lee, General."

"The disaster at Bristoe Station seems due to a gallant but over- hasty pressing on of the enemy.

"J. A. Seddon, Secretary of War."

"There was a want of vigilance, by reason of which it appears the Third Army Corps of the enemy got a position, giving great advantage to them.

"J. D." (Davis) ( 7)

The last two indorsements do not show that Seddon and Davis clearly comprehended the real situation.

Lee by continued flank movements indicated a purpose to force the Union Army back into its intrenchments at Alexandria, but this plan was abandoned after the disaster at Bristoe. Soon the Confederates commenced falling back towards the Rappahannock, destroying the railroad track and bridges, and Lee finally put his army into camp on the Botts plantation, near Brandy Station. He built winter quarters there, keeping possession of the fords of the Rappahannock, and strongly fortifying north of the river at Rappahannock Station.

The Union Army commenced a cautious forward movement on the 19th of October, keeping close to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. On the 21st I encamped on the battlefield of Bristoe, and we finished the burial of the dead. On the 26th, about 9 P.M., an order came advising me that General John Buford's cavalry division was threatened and in peril near Catlett's Station, and directing me to go to his relief. My brigade, with a battery attached, reached him about midnight, and under his direction formed line of battle, my left resting on the railroad, the cavalry on the flanks. He had been attacked at dark by what seemed to be an overwhelming force of infantry and cavalry, but he had stubbornly held his ground. Buford was an accomplished soldier and a hard fighter. He it was who opened the battle of Gettysburg on Seminary Hill.

When the best possible dispositions had been made for the expected attack of the morning, he invited me to an excuse for a headquarters, consisting of a tattered tent-fly. The night was dark and rainy, and everybody was wet and uncomfortable. The bronzed old soldier, from some hidden recess, had an orderly produce a bottle of whisky, the corkage of which was perfect, and, in the absence of a corkscrew, presented a problem. He said, "All right, you hold the candle." He then held the bottle in his left hand, and with his sword in the right struck the neck of it so skillfully as to cut it off smoothly. The problem was solved. Further details are unnecessary. I understood the art of making drinking-cups by cutting a bottle in two with a strong string, but this feat of Buford's was new to me.( 8)

John Buford died of disease, December 16, 1863, a Major-General of Volunteers. He had won great renown as an able, fighting soldier.

Lee was not to be allowed to rest in his chosen winter quarters. On the 7th of November the Army of the Potomac moved to the fords on the Rappahannock, and preparation was made to pass then, although they were strongly defended by the enemy. The Third Corps massed at Kelly's Ford, some five miles below Rappahannock Station. This corps forced a crossing about 5 P.M., and massed in battle order on the bluffs near the river. My command did no fighting this day. The Third Brigade, with some assistance from the Second Brigade of the First Division of the Sixth Corps, at dusk, under the leadership of the accomplished General David A. Russell, gallantly assaulted and carried the strongly fortified tête-de-pont on the north of the river at Rappahannock Station. The principal parts of Hoke's and Hays' brigades of Early's division of Ewell's corps were captured, numbering, including killed and wounded, 1630. Russell's loss in this affair, all told, was 327. He captured seven battle flags and Green's battery of four rifled guns.( 9) Lee had intended to hold this position as a centre, and then fall, alternately, on the divided portions of the Army of the Potomac after they crossed the river above and below it.(10) Its loss forced him to retire from the river and take position in front of Culpeper Court-House, with his right resting on Mount Pony.

The next day the principal part of Meade's army, having succeeded in crossing the river, was moved forward to tender battle. Late in the afternoon I was ordered to dislodge the enemy from a hill (Miller's) about two miles in front of Brandy Station. The place was held by artillery and infantry, flanked by cavalry. This was Lee's most advanced position, and it was held firmly as a point of observation. My command was disposed for the attack in the following order: The 138th Pennsylvania (Colonel McClennan) was moved on the left of the railroad to threaten the enemy on his right; the 122d Ohio (Colonel W. H. Ball) followed in support. The 110th Ohio (Lieutenant-Colonel Foster) was put on the right of the railroad, with orders to move directly on the height occupied by the enemy; the 6th Maryland (Colonel John W. Horn) in support, but some distance to the right. There was no artillery at hand, and the attack was ordered at once. The distance to the hill was about one half mile. The 138th drew the enemy's artillery fire, but continued its advance. The 6th pushed forward into a wood on the right to make a demonstration, and in person I led the 110th to the real work. Not a gun was fired by my men as they advanced to the charge. I made every exertion possible to hasten the troops, but when they reached the foot of the hill the enemy's artillery was withdrawn, and his infantry made a precipitate retreat. I was the first to gain the crest, being mounted, and with pistol fired on the retiring troops not two hundred feet away. A Confederate was reported wounded with a pistol ball at this place. This is the nearest I can come to having personally injured, in any way, any person in battle. We pushed on to Brandy Station without further orders, driving the enemy until we met a more formidable force, with several batteries of artillery, which compelled us to halt. Night came on, and the day's work ended by our going into bivouac at the Station. Captain Andress of the 138th was the only officer of my command killed, and my loss was otherwise light. We made the charge with the commanding General--Meade--and much of his army looking on. It was Meade's belief that behind the heights assaulted would be found Lee's army arrayed for battle.

Though Lee had selected a strong position (as already stated) in front of Culpeper Court-House, and fortified it somewhat, he decided it was not a good one, and therefore declined battle north of the Rapidan,(11) and, by the morning of the 9th of November, his army was south of this historic stream.

The Army of Northern Virginia never again crossed the Rapidan or Rappahannock. Henceforth it was to be confined to a narrower theatre of operations, and a closer defence of the capital of the Confederate States, but this defence was still to be most memorable and bloody, even in comparison with what had gone before.

( 1) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part II., p. 34.

( 2) This was in the famous Brough-Vallandigham Ohio election for Governor.

( 3) War Records, vol. xxi., Part I., p. 426.

( 4) This lunch consisted of a box of sardines and "hardtack."

( 5) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., p. 242.

( 6) Ibid., pp. 250, 428.

( 7) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., p. 428.

( 8) A string tightly drawn around a bottle where the cut is desired to be made, and then rapidly drawn back and forth until the friction heats the glass, renders it easy to be separated by a sharp jar against the hand or some hard substance.

( 9) Three of these had belonged to Randolph's battery, lost at Winchester.--War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., p. 626.

(10) Ibid., pp. 613-616.

(11) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., pp. 611, 616 (Lee's Report).

CHAPTER V Mine Run Campaign and Battle of Orange Grove, November, 1863--Winter Cantonment (1863-64) of Army of the Potomac at Culpeper Court- House, and its Reorganization--Grant Assigned to Command the Union Armies, and Preparation for Aggressive War

Though the roads were bad from frequent rains and much use, and November winds warned that winter was at hand to stop further field campaigning on an extended scale, and though all attempts to cross the Rapidan in the fine weather of the spring and summer had failed, yet, when the Army of the Potomac was again bivouacked at Culpeper, the public cry was heard--"On to Richmond!"

Lee's last campaign was looked upon in high quarters as a big bluff that should have been "called" by Meade while the Army of Northern Virginia was north of the Rappahannock. Meade, however, acted persistently and conscientiously on his own judgment, formed in the light of the best knowledge he could obtain. He would not stand driving, and was something of a bulldozer himself, and sometimes--said to have been caused by fits of dyspepsia--was unreasonably irascible, and displayed a most violent temper towards superiors and inferiors. Notwithstanding this, he never lost his equipoise or acted upon impulse alone, and he never permitted mere appearances to move him. Nor could his superiors induce him to act against his judgment as to a particular military situation. It will be remembered that he was urged to fight Lee north of the Potomac after Gettysburg. He was urged to bring on a battle before the departure of the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps for the West, and when Lee moved north on his flank his opportunity seemed to have come to fight a battle, but his fear of the same strategy displayed by the Confederate Army in the second Bull Run campaign against Pope induced him to be over-cautious, and to so concentrate his army as to avoid the possibility of its being beaten in detachments.

The next day (October 16th), after Meade reached Centreville, the President, in his anxiety that Lee should not again escape without a general battle, addressed this characteristic note to Halleck:

"If General Meade can now attack him (Lee) on a field no more than equal for us, and do so with all the skill and courage which he, his officers, and men possess, the honor will be his if he succeeds, and the blame may be mine if he fails.

"Yours truly, "A. Lincoln."

This note was forwarded to Meade.

To this he answered that it had been his intention to attack the enemy when his exact whereabouts was discovered; that lack of information as to Lee's position and intentions and the fear of jeopardizing his communications with Washington had prevented his doing so sooner. But the pressure continued. Halleck, the 18th, wired Meade:

"Lee is unquestionably bullying you. If you cannot ascertain his movements, I certainly cannot. If you pursue and fight him, I think you will find out where he is. I know of no other way."

This was too much for Meade's temper. He responded:

" . . . If you have any orders to give me I am prepared to receive and obey them, but I must insist on being spared the infliction of such truisms in the guise of opinion as you have recently honored me with, particularly as they have not been asked for. I take this occasion to repeat what I have before stated, that if my course, based on my own judgment, does not meet with approval, I ought to be, and I desire to be, relieved from command."

Although Halleck apologized "if he had unintentionally given offence," and Meade thanked him for the "explanation," these and other like occurrences had their influence on Meade's conduct.

As he had failed to bring Lee to bay at Culpeper, the only opportunity to do so must be sought south of the Rapidan. Meade was not averse to battle.

On November 26, 1863, Meade's army was put in motion with a view to a general concentration south of the Rapidan, at Robertson's Tavern on the turnpike road, by evening of that day. Lee's army of about 50,000 men was mainly massed and in winter quarters in front of Orange Court-House, with an intrenched line in its front across the plank road and turnpike, extending to the river.

Meade's design was, by a rapid movement, to carry this line before Lee had time to concentrate behind it.

The Fifth Corps (Sykes) was directed to cross the Rapidan at Culpeper Mine Ford, and thence move by the plank road to Parker's Store and the junction of the road to Robertson's Tavern; the First Corps (Newton), with two divisions, to follow the Fifth. The Second Corps (Warren) was to force a crossing at Germanna Ford, thence march directly to Robertson's Tavern, and there await the arrival of other corps.

The Third Corps (General William H. French), followed closely by the Sixth (Sedgwick), was directed to cross at Jacob's Ford (Mill), and continue the march, bearing to the left, to Robertson's Tavern. Jacob's Ford, with its steep banks, proved so difficult to pass that some delay occurred, and the artillery had to be sent around by Germanna Ford, and did not rejoin the corps until the morning of the 27th. Jacob's Ford was the highest up the river, and consequently brought French, on passing it, in close proximity to the enemy. Lee, by the evening of the 26th, had thrown forward cavalry and some infantry of Hill's corps to the vicinity of Robertson's Tavern, though not in sufficient force to prevent Warren taking his designated position. Nor was Sykes seriously interfered with. The cavalry crossed at Ely's and other fords. French, with the aid of pontoons, safely passed the river, but he did not advance on the 26th more than three miles beyond the crossing, time having been lost in hunting blind country roads, waiting for artillery to arrive, and reconnoitering. A force of the enemy showed itself on intersecting roads to his right, where were a number of such roads leading from Sisson, Witchell, Tobaccostick and Morton's Fords, and one which led from Raccoon Ford--still higher up the river--to an intersection at Jones' house, with the most direct road to the Tavern. The enemy's intrenchments covered a considerable part of this last road, from which he could easily debouch and attack the flank and rear or the trains of the marching columns.( 1) These conditions rendered French's situation perilous, and caused him to move with extreme caution, as the Sixth Corps could not arrive until he was out of the way. Notwithstanding French had some miles farther to march than Warren, and unusual difficulties to overcome or guard against, Meade dispatched him, as early as 1 P.M. of the 26th, that his delay was retarding the operations of Warren, and again at 3 P.M. he dispatched French:

"I would not move forward farther from the river than to clear the way for General Sedgwick, until he comes up and crosses."

The Second Division, General Henry Prince, with some cavalry, was in the advance; the Third, Carr's, and the First, General David B. Birney's, following in the order named. At the Widow Morris', a somewhat obscure road bore off abruptly to the left, but which, somewhat circuitously, led to Robertson's Tavern. The head of Prince's column, however, was on the more direct road to Tom Morris' house, with flankers and cavalry well to the right. These were soon attacked and driven in or recalled.

It seems Prince was led to believe he was in communication with Warren's left.( 2)

It soon became evident that the head of French's column was near the Raccoon Ford road, and the intrenchments held by at least two divisions of Ewell's corps of Lee's army, and there seemed to be no possible chance to extricate it without a battle.

At 11.45 A.M., on the 27th, Meade dispatched French:

"If you cannot unite with Warren by the route you are on, you must move through to him by the left."

At 1.45 P.M. Meade again dispatched French:

"Attack the enemy in your front immediately, throwing your left forward to connect with General Warren at Robertson's Tavern. The object of an attack is to form junction with General Warren, which must be effected immediately."

Prince had, by this time, formed line of battle and engaged the enemy. Carr's division was ordered forward to take position on Prince's left, and at 3 P.M. Birney's division was ordered to form in support of Carr.

Prince covered the road leading to a junction with the Raccoon Ford road. The First Brigade of Carr's division (General W. H. Morris) moved to the left of Prince, my brigade--the Second--was ordered to pass behind Morris, and take position on his left, and Colonel B. F. Smith's brigade--the Third--was sent to my left.

Morris became somewhat entangled in a ravine and in thick timber, and was slow in forming good line. In this position he was fired upon from a ridge not two hundred yards from his front, the bullets falling among my men as they passed his rear. I appealed to Morris to face to the front, charge, and take the ridge, but he declined to do so for want of orders.

As soon as I could get my two leading regiments, 110th and 122d Ohio, on Morris' left, I led them to the crest of the ridge, captured some prisoners, and posted the regiments in good position behind a fence on the summit. My other regiments, 6th Maryland and 138th Pennsylvania, successively, on their arrival, took position on the left of the Ohio troops. The ridge which extended to my right along Morris' front was still held by the enemy in strong force, and both my flanks were threatened. Through a misunderstanding of orders the Ohio regiments fell back a short distance, but soon retook the crest and were again fiercely engaged, though under an enfilading fire of artillery and a galling fire of musketry. The ground being somewhat open to the front, I could see the enemy massing for an attack. I again, but vainly, appealed to Morris to advance and close the gap, as otherwise his position in the ravine and thick woods could not be held. The assault came, and Morris was forced, in some confusion, to retire. By refusing my right somewhat, I maintained my isolated position and threatened the enemy's right. The First Brigade, though composed in part of regiments not before in strong battle, was quickly re-formed, and, under Carr's order, soon obtained full possession of the ridge by a splendid charge, and thus the gap was closed. The battle by this time raged furiously all along the front. Colonel Smith, passing too far to the rear, lost his way in the thickets, and failed to come up on my left. He did not rejoin the division until the battle was over. This misfortune was hard to account for, as Colonel Smith was an intelligent, brave, and skilled officer--a graduate of West Point. He met some scouting parties of the enemy, and, as directed, sought to find a connection with troops of Warren's corps. His failure caused my left to remain uncovered.

Two assaults were made upon my line by the enemy in columns not less than three lines deep. The first came in front of Horn's regiment, but was anticipated, and McClennan's regiment, moving into the open ground, struck the right flank of the enemy and (firing buck and ball from .69 calibre muskets) did great execution. McClennan was severely wounded, and in consequence was obliged to leave the field.

The battle raged with unabated fury until dark, and as late as 8 P.M. enfilading shells from heavy guns on our right screamed and crashed through the timber over our heads, bursting with loud noise, producing a most hideous and weird appearance, but really doing little damage.

As night approached, the ammunition of my regiments gave out, and all my command, save one regiment, was relieved by regiments of Birney's division.( 3)

The bravery and fighting skill of Colonels Ball, Horn, and McClennan, also of Lieutenant-Colonels M. M. Granger and W. N. Foster, and Major Otho H. Binkley, and others, was most conspicuous. Lieutenant James A. Fox of the 110th here lost his life. He had risen from the ranks, but was a proud-spirited and promising officer. We buried him at midnight, in full uniform, wrapped in his blanket, behind a near-by garden fence.

I wish to bear testimony also, at this late day, to the quiet gallantry and high soldierly qualities of the long-since-dead General David B. Birney.( 4) He did not obey orders to the letter only. His division being in reserve and support, he took position where he could watch the progress of the battle, and note in time when and where he was needed. He made no display on the field. When he noticed, by the slackening fire of my men, that their ammunition was about exhausted, he rode to my side and quietly suggested that he be allowed to order regiments from his own command to take their places. That there might not be, even momentarily, a break in the line, his regiments were moved up, and my men lay down while his stepped over them and opened fire. The relieved troops were then withdrawn and resupplied with ammunition.

While the battle was in progress, the Sixth Corps, still some distance to the rear, was directed by another road on Robertson's Tavern, and during the night the Third Corps was ordered to withdraw and follow the Sixth.

The enemy retired at the close of the battle, leaving in our possession his dead, unburied, and his wounded on the field and in hospitals. We fought a great part, if not all, of Ewell's corps.

Casualties were reported in thirteen Confederate brigades, in forty- four regiments, and in the artillery of Early, Johnson, and Rodes' divisions, total 601.( 5)

The losses in the Third Corps were 10 officers and 115 enlisted men killed, 28 officers and 719 enlisted men wounded, total 872.

The brigades of Morris and Keifer suffered the most severely, although Prince's division was first engaged. My own killed and wounded numbered 172, those of Prince's division 163. There were no captured or missing men of my command.

This engagement has been called by the Confederates the battle of Payne's Farm;( 5) but by the Union side it is generally known as the battle of Orange Grove; the place, however, is sometimes referred to as Locust Grove, and by both sides it is often mentioned as Mine Run, though in no proper sense did the contest occur on that stream.

The battle, fought by French under the circumstances narrated, gave rise to much crimination and recrimination between Generals Meade and French, and probably led to a reorganization of the Army of the Potomac four months later.

Meade attributed the miscarriage of the campaign to French's failure on the 26th, and his further failure on the 27th, to connect with Warren's left at Robertson's Tavern. He claimed that if such junction had been made he could have fallen on the portion of Lee's army on the turnpike and destroyed it, and that he would then have been able to seize the line behind Mine Run before Lee could occupy it with his united forces. Meade further contended that, on the 27th, French got on the wrong road, and, consequently, had to fight a fruitless battle alone, while the other corps of the army were standing idle, waiting for him. French stoutly insisted that his march, being on the extreme right and exposed flank, on the longest line, and via a difficult ford, without a good guide and over blind roads, with a doubt as to which one should be taken, warranted him in acting with caution, and in fighting where he did when he found his command attacked; and he further claimed that when he brought Ewell's corps to battle, Meade should have fallen on the enemy in Warren's front and overwhelmed it; that by fighting when and where he did, he was doing more than he otherwise could have done to prevent a concentration of the Confederate Army, especially in preventing it from massing in front of Robertson's Tavern. A considerable part of the Union Army sympathized with French, yet the fact remained that Meade's plan of concentration and of battle at the appointed time and place failed.

On the 28th the armies were brought face to face, the Confederate army in fortifications behind and along the high west bank of Mine Run, both armies extending from a short distance south of the plank road to the north of the turnpike, in the direction of the battle- field of the 27th.( 6) The Third Corps held the Union centre. Warren's corps, with a division of the Third Corps, was sent to reconnoitre for a point of attack on the Confederate right. Warren reported an attack there feasible. Other reconnoissances were made on the 29th, and Meade decided to assault from both flanks the next morning, the Sixth and Fifth Corps under Sedgwick on the enemy's left and the Second Corps and two divisions of the Third on his right. Carr's division of the Third marched at 4 A.M. two miles to the left and joined Warren's column. The night was cold and there was much suffering.

Warren had about 20,000 men in readiness, and was to attack at 8 A.M. at a signal from the batteries of the centre. Sedgwick was to attack an hour later. The signal batteries opened, and we stood, in grand array, soberly withing for the order to charge. The enemy's strong works, with guns bristling in the morning sun, were in our immediate front. Minutes of delay were as hours to the waiting troops. Many sent up silent prayers for safety, and not unfrequently through the column there could be seen on a soldier's breast a paper giving his name, company, regiment, and home address, so, if killed, his body could be identified. Warren hesitated, and just before 9 A.M. dispatched Meade, then four miles distant:

"The full light of sun shows me that I cannot succeed."

Meade suspended Sedgwick's attack, then in progress, and hastened to Warren. I saw the two men at a small, green, pine wood fire, earnestly discussing the critical situation. Meade seemed to be censuring Warren, yet the latter adhered to his view that the assault could not be successfully made, and Meade yielded. Somehow the troops of the great column, before the final decision was announced, came to believe the charge would not be made, and they cautiously commenced badgering each other, soldier like, over wasted prayers. The different commands were later ordered to their former positions.

French opposed an assault on the centre. The enemy's position, naturally a strong one, had been greatly strengthened by labor. The wisdom of not making any assault, in the light of all the facts, was, I think, generally recognized. The season was unfavorable; Meade was a long distance from his base; success could only have been temporary and could not have been followed up, and defeat under the circumstances would have been a fatal catastrophe. Even Grant, in 1864, was "all summer" in trying to gather fruits of what were called successes.

The 1st of December was spent by both armies in watching each other, and behaving as if they dared each other to attack.

"One was afraid and the other dare not"--but which?

The campaign had been delayed beyond all expectation; all hope of gaining an advantage by a surprise or otherwise was passed, food was becoming scarce, and hence Meade decided to retire his army to its base of supplies. At dusk of the 1st, therefore, the Union Army moved by different roads to various fords of the Rapidan, the Third Corps to Culpeper Mine Ford, the farthest down the river of any used, and by 8 A.M. of the coming morning all had recrossed, and on the 3d they were in their former camps at Brandy Station. The Army of the Potomac lost in this campaign, killed and wounded, 1272.( 7)

Thus ended the Mine Run campaign; not bloodless, yet disappointing, as were many others. In it Meade demonstrated his willingness to fight, and that his army was loyal to him. Another opportunity to fight a great battle in independent command on the field never came to him. His chief glory for all time must rest on Gettysburg.

Lee, the night of December 1st, feeling certain Meade would not assault him in his strong position, and knowing the latter was far from his base, in an unfamiliar country, encumbered with trains, determined to assume the offensive by throwing two of his divisions against Meade's left on the following morning. But Meade was safely away when morning came, and pursuit impossible.

Lee, it is said, was greatly chagrined over his lost opportunity, and exclaimed to his generals:

"I am too old to command this army; we should never have permitted these people to get away."( 8)

Before starting on this campaign Meade expressed a purpose to take position in front of Fredericksburg, but Halleck disapproved the plan.( 9)

The Army of the Potomac, having ended its historic work of the memorable year 1863, went into winter quarters around Culpeper Court-House, with Brandy Station for its base of supplies. My brigade occupied log huts on John Minor Botts' (10) farm, partly constructed by the Confederates prior to November 8th.

The caring, in winter, for a large army calls for great vigilance, skill, and energy. The season not permitting much opportunity for drill, discipline is hard to maintain. Sickness becomes prevalent, and there is much unrest, both of officers and soldiers.

Camp guards, however, had to be maintained; also grand-guards and pickets around the front and flanks of the whole army. The freezing and thawing and the constant moving of supply trains caused deep mud in the roads and camps. The brigade commanders of the Third Corps, and of other corps as well, were, alternately, detailed as corps officer-of-the-day, the duties of which lasted twenty-four hours, and required the officer to be with the advance-guard and on the corps' picket lines to see that vigilance was preserved; that orders were understood and obeyed, and to report any unusual occurrences. He was required to visit all guards and pickets, personally, at least once by day and once by night. The Third Corps' advance line was from Mt. Pony, its left, around the front of Culpeper Court-House, covering the Madison Court-House road; in length about five miles. This service was arduous, trying, and, by night, attended with danger.

During my service as corps officer-of-the-day, in March, 1864, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Townsend (106th N. Y.), in charge of the grand-guard on the Sperryville road, in violation of orders, admitted some refugee ladies, who presented a pass from an officer of an outer cavalry picket. The orders were to recognize no pass for a citizen not emanating from army headquarters. The Colonel reported the occurrence to me, and I disapproved his action, but made no report of it. The ladies, on some errand, reached headquarters, and told of their admittance on this road. Meade ordered me to report the delinquent officer, which I did, giving all excuses I could for him, but they were unavailing. I was ordered to prefer charges against Colonel Townsend, "for disobedience of orders." A general court-martial was called for his trial, of which General D. B. Birney was President, and, notwithstanding I had preferred the charges, I was made a member of it.

On the trial I protested my interest and asked the court to excuse me from sitting, but my request was refused. The court found Townsend guilty and sentenced him: "To be suspended from rank and pay for two months." This sentence was approved by General Meade, April 1st, but Townsend's suspension from rank was remitted, and he was ordered to duty. He was a gallant and accomplished officer, and, feeling keenly the disgrace, rushed to his death at Cold Harbor just after the sixty days' suspension of pay elapsed. The incident illustrates the severity of discipline and the fate of war.

The soldiers of the army, as far as possible, were kept active, but the cold winter, with frequent rains, caused much discomfort, and many were in hospital; few were furloughed. Many rude log chapels were erected and used, often alternately, for religious worship, lectures, concerts, readings, and dances. Civilian visitors were, at times, numerous. One most notable army ball was given at the headquarters of General Joseph B. Carr. This event took place January 25, 1864, and was attended generally by officers of the army, by some military officials from Washington and elsewhere, by officers' wives and their friends visiting the army, and by invited ladies and gentlemen from Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore. Over four thousand attended. The ball was held in large communicating tents, erected for the purpose. Ample floors were laid for promenades and dancing. Dinner was provided, where everything obtainable from land or sea was served, with liquors and wines without stint. The night was entirely devoted to it. It was brilliant beyond descriptions. To hundreds it was their last ball, or appearance in social life.

Notwithstanding the necessarily promiscuous character of the participants, and though no scandal attended it, and all decorum usual on such occasions was observed, it was at the time the subject of much severe criticism through the press, from the pulpit, and by people generally. General Carr and his good wife were adepts in social affairs, and are entitled to the distinction of having assembled and directed the most numerously attended ball of its kind ever held in the United States.

Horse racing and other sports were indulged in, especially by the cavalry. But all these were mere diversions, and did not indicate that the army was not preparing for the bloody work yet ahead of it.

Grant, with the armies under General George H. Thomas, W. T. Sherman, and Joseph Hooker, November 25, 1863, drove Bragg from his perch on Missionary Ridge and to a precipitate retreat, and the Army of the Tennessee under Sherman subsequently relieved Burnside, besieged at Knoxville by Longstreet, thus closing the campaigns of 1863 in the West about the time they closed in the East. Soon thereafter rumors were current that Grant was to be promoted to chief command of all the Union armies. A law passed Congress February 29, 1864, reviving the grade of Lieutenant-General, and President Lincoln, the next day, appointed Ulysses S. Grant to the office, and the Senate, the succeeding day, confirmed the appointment. March 10, 1864, Halleck was relieved from duty as General-in-Chief, and became thereafter Chief of Staff of the Army. Grant was, the same day, assigned by the President, "pursuant to the act of Congress, to command the Armies of the United States," headquarters of the Army to be in Washington, and "with General Grant in the field." Grant established his field-headquarters at Culpeper Court-House, March 26, 1864, and remained with the Army of the Potomac until Appomattox came. Just prior to his joining the Army of the Potomac, March 23, 1864, it was reorganized, the First and Third Corps being broken up as separate organizations, and the troops composing them distributed to the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps, they retaining their former corps badges. Hancock resumed command of the Second Corps. Warren was assigned to command the Fifth. Carr was transferred to the Second. The Third Division, Third Corps, became the Third Division of the Sixth (Sedgwick's) Corps, the old Third Division of the Sixth being consolidated with its other divisions.

General H. Prince was assigned to command the Third Division of the Sixth. The Second Brigade (Keifer's) of this division, with the 126th Ohio (Colonel Smith) and the 67th Pennsylvania (Colonel Staunton) added, was placed under the command of General David A. Russell,(11) but he was soon transferred to another command, and Colonel B. F. Smith for a time succeeded him. Major-General James B. Ricketts, before April 30, 1864, relieved General Prince, and thereafter the Third Division of the Sixth Corps was known as "Ricketts' Division."

Much bad feeling existed on the part of Generals French, Sykes, Newton, and others over the breaking up of their commands and their being relieved from field duty. The consolidation of divisions and brigades in the corps retained, also caused much discontent, and excited jealousies towards the organizations from the disbanded corps which took their old designations. This was the second time troops I commanded had this experience. While in camp or on marches an officer may become disliked by his men, but a great battle in which he does his duty will always restore him to popularity. The Third Corps badge was a diamond; the Sixth a Greek cross. The Third Division for a time adhered to the diamond, but later, wore both proudly, and finally rejoiced alone under the Greek cross.

The Army of the Potomac was for the first time reduced to three corps. There was, however, belonging to this army, a large artillery reserve, not attached to any corps, but under a chief, General Henry J. Hunt; also a cavalry corps, consisting of three divisions and a reserve brigade, which Major-General Philip H. Sheridan was assigned (April 5, 1864) to command.(12) To each corps was attached an artillery brigade. This army, like any other well-appointed one, also had (each with a chief officer) its Commissary, Quartermaster, Ordnance, and Medical Departments; also a Provost-Guard, consisting of a brigade of infantry and a regiment of cavalry under a Provost Marshal-General;(13) also Signal and Engineer Corps, and other minor and somewhat independent organizations, such as body-guards to commanding generals, pioneers, pontoniers, etc.

The Army of the Potomac, thus organized, commanded, and appointed, with the new commander of all the armies of the Union with it, now awaited good weather to enter upon the bloodiest campaign civilized man has ever witnessed.

( 1) See sketch attached to Meade's report, War Records, vol. xxix, Part I., p. 19.

( 2) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., p. 738.

( 3) Birney's Report, War Records, vol. xxvii., Part I., p. 750.

( 4) He died of disease October 18, 1864.

( 5) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., pp. 836-8.

( 6) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., p. 19. (Sketch).

( 7) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., p. 686.

( 8) Battles and Leaders, vol. iii., p. 241 (Col. Venable).

( 9) War Records, vol. xxix., Part I., p. 18.

(10) Botts was then on his farm--a Union man. He had been an old line Whig, and was personally hostile to Jeff. Davis.

(11) War Records, vol. xxxiii., pp. 717, 722, 732, 745.

(12) Ibid., 798, 806.

(13) A badge for each fighting corps of the Union Army was adopted (January, 1863), its color indicating the number of the division in a corps. Three divisions of three brigades each usually constituted a corps. Each officer and soldier wore on his hat or cap his proper corps badge; the first division being red, second white, and third blue. The badge appeared prominently in the centre of all headquarters flags. Division flags were square, brigade, tri-cornered, all of white ground save those of a second division which were blue; the flag of a second brigade had a red border next to the pole, and of a third brigade a red border on all sides.

CHAPTER VI Plans of Campaigns, Union and Confederate--Campaign and Battle of the Wilderness, May, 1864--Author Wounded, and Personal Matters-- Movements of the Army to the James River, with Mention of Battles of Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Other Engagements, and Statement of Losses and Captures

A full detailed history of the great campaign of the Wilderness and of the many battles fought in the spring and summer of 1864 in Southeast Virginia and around Richmond and Petersburg will not here be attempted. I shall confine myself to a general story of the campaign, with dates, results of engagements and losses, and some details of the fighting participated in by troops I was immediately connected with or interested in.

General Grant (April 9, 1864), in a confidential communication to General Meade,( 1) outlined his plan for the early movements of all the principal Union armies. Texas was to be abandoned, save on the Rio Grande, and General Banks, then on Red River, was to concentrate a force, not less than 25,000 strong, at New Orleans to move on Mobile. Sherman was to leave Chattanooga at the same time Meade moved, "Joe Johnston's army being his objective point and the heart of Georgia his ultimate aim"; if successful, Sherman was to "secure the line from Chattanooga to Mobile, with the aid of Banks." General Franz Sigel (then in command of the Department of West Virginia ( 2)), was to start two columns, one from Beverly under General Ord, to endeavor to reach the Tennessee and Virginia Railroad west of Lynchburg, and the other from Charleston, West Virginia, under General George Crook, to strike at Saltville and go thence eastward to join Ord. General Quincy A. Gilmore was to be transferred, with 10,000 men, from South Carolina to General B. F. Butler at Fortress Monroe, and the latter General was to organize a force of about 23,000 men, under the immediate command of General W. F. Smith, with which, and Gilmore's command, he should "seize City Point and operate against Richmond from the south side of the river," moving simultaneously with Meade's army. To Meade he said: "Lee's army will be your objective point. Wherever Lee goes there you will go also." General Burnside, then at Annapolis organizing the Ninth Army Corps, was to reinforce Meade with probably 25,000 men. There was to be naval co-operation on the James. Grant had not then determined on which flank to attack Lee, or whether he would cross the Rapidan above or below the Confederate Army.

All baggage was reduced to the lowest standard possible. "Two wagons to a regiment of 500 men . . . for all baggage, exclusive of subsistence stores and ordnance stores. One wagon to a brigade and one to a division headquarters, . . . and about two to corps headquarters."

Meade subsequently made a further reduction, and allowed only one wagon to a regiment.

When it was finally determined to move by Lee's right flank, Meade was ordered to have supplies forwarded to White House, on the Pamunkey.( 3)

Sigel was directed to advance a column in co-operation from Martinsburg up the Shenandoah Valley.

Grant, in a confidential dispatch,( 4) April 29th, to Halleck, fixed May 4th as the date for putting the Army of the Potomac in motion, saying:

"My own notions about our line of march are entirely made up, but as circumstances beyond my control may change them, I will only state that my effort will be to bring Butler's and Meade's forces together."

The next day, on the authority of a rebel officer arrested in Baltimore, who left Lee's army on April 17th, Halleck wired Grant that Lee was about to move Longstreet by the mountain road westward over the Blue Ridge with 20,000 men; that Hill, 50,000 strong, was to force Grant's right at Culpeper, and with three divisions form a junction at Warrenton with Ewell; that all Confederate troops from East Tennessee were to strengthen Lee; that Breckinridge, with 25,000 men in West Virginia, accompanied by Morgan's cavalry, was to force his way down the Kanawha into Ohio, near Gallipolis; that if Lee reached Pennsylvania, Breckinridge was to join him, Morgan's cavalry destroying all railroads to east and west; that Lee's general direction was to be towards Wheeling and Pittsburg; that Richmond's defence was to be left to Beauregard, with Pickett's division of 15,000 men, the Maryland Line, details from hospitals, conscripts, militia of Governor Smith's call (fifty to fifty-five years of age), and a foreign legion of forced aliens.( 5)

This plan, if ever formed, comprehensive as it may have been in conception, was never to be even partially put in execution. It probably originated in the fertile imagination of the rebel officer from whom Halleck obtained it.

In March, 1864, an equally comprehensive plan was conceived by Longstreet, then at Greenville, Tennessee, by which Beauregard was to lead an advance column from the borders of North Carolina through the mountain passes, Longstreet to follow through East Tennessee, uniting with Beauregard in Kentucky, and, together, move against the line of railway from Louisville, and thus force Sherman to retire from Johnston's front, allowing him to advance northward, avoiding general battle until all the Confederate columns could form a grand junction on or near the Ohio River. This plan was approved by Lee, and by both Lee and Longstreet laid before President Davis and the War Department at Richmond. Davis disapproved it.

Another plan, submitted by Bragg (then "Commander-in-Chief near the President"), received the approval of Davis. By this Johnston was to march to the headwaters of the Little Tennessee River, Longstreet to the east of Knoxville and join Johnston, and, united, they were to march west into Middle Tennessee and break the Union line of supplies about Nashville. Though some orders were issued looking to the execution of this plan, it was not seriously attempted, as Joe Johnston regarded it as impracticable.( 6) Longstreet, with the part of his command that had served in Virginia, was, early in April, transferred to the Rapidan. Grant alone moved his armies to the execution of his campaigns as planned.

Wilderness

Not until May 2d did Meade send orders to his corps for the movement on the 4th across the Rapidan. On the day of starting he issued a stirring and patriotic address to his soldiers.( 7) Grant had determined to attack and turn Lee's right flank.( 8)

As soon in the early morning as engineers could lay pontoons the cavalry crossed the river at Ely and Germanna Fords, and cleared the way for the infantry. Hancock's (Second) corps crossed at Ely's Ford and marched to the vicinity of Chancellorsville. Warren's (Fifth) corps, with Sedgwick's (Sixth) following, crossed at Germanna Ford. Warren proceeded to the Old Wilderness Tavern. Sedgwick bivouacked on the heights south of the river. The reserve artillery crossed at Ely's Ford, and subsistence and other trains at this and Culpeper Mine Ford. All these movements took place as ordered.( 9)

No serious resistance was met with the first day. On the night of the 4th I encamped immediately south of the Rapidan on the height just above the ford. I was ordered to cover the ford and protect the pontoon bridge until the head of Burnside's column should reach it. The whole army slept without tents. On rising in the early morning, and while standing on a bluff overlooking the river, Major Wm. S. McElwain of my regiment, in a quiet but somewhat troubled way, ventured to suggest that unless I was more prudent than usual I would never recross it. I told him the chances of war were hardly lessened by prudence where duty was involved, and that my chances of going North alive were probably as good as his. He seemed to have no concern about himself.

General Grant, his staff, and escort, rode by while we waited. He was on a fine, though small, black horse, which he set well; was plainly dressed, looked the picture of health, and bore no evidence of anxiety about him. His plain hat and clothes were in marked contrast with a somewhat gaily dressed and equipped staff. He saluted and spoke pleasantly, but did not check his horse from a rather rapid gait.

About 10 A.M. Burnside, at the head of his command, reached the ford. His corps, the Ninth, had been recently organized by him at Annapolis, Maryland, and officers and soldiers were, in general, newly equipped and clothed, and all regiments and headquarters had new flags. The long line, as displayed for miles, moving slowly over the lowlands to the crossing, was most imposing, and gave rise to varied reflections. But the time for strong battle had come. The head of the Fifth Corps was pushed forward on the Orange and Fredericksburg plank road, the purpose being to avoid the intrenchments of Mine Run, but the enemy appearing on the turnpike running, in general, parallel with the plank road and to the north of it, the Sixth Corps (except the Second Brigade, Third Division) moved to position on the right of the Fifth, save Getty's division, which was sent to the intersection of the Brock and Orange plank roads with instructions to hold it, at all hazards, until the arrival of Hancock's corps from Todd's Tavern. About noon two divisions of Warren's corps had a sharp combat with the head of Ewell's corps on the pike, driving it back some distance when, being outflanked, they were in turn forced back, losing two guns. Wadsworth's division of this corps having been sent to the plank road was withdrawn to a junction with Warren's other divisions. Warren suffered some loss in prisoners taken from Crawford's division. Getty, on his arrival on the plank road, found our cavalry being pressed back by Hill's corps, but he deployed on each side of the road, and opening fire on the enemy checked him. Getty was able to hold his position until Hancock arrived about 2 P.M. Hancock, with his corps and Getty's division, assailed the enemy furiously, and for a time successfully, though meeting with stubborn resistance. General Alexander Hays was killed in this action while repairing a break in our line. The enemy moved troops from the turnpike to Hill's relief, and Meade, seeing this, sent Wadsworth's division and Baxter's brigade of the Fifth Corps to Hancock. Night came, and the battle ceased on this part of the field before the reinforcements arrived, both armies holding their positions.

The Sixth Corps (Getty's division absent with Hancock) with much difficulty made its way through the dense low pine thicket, and about 2 P.M. was in position, principally deployed, on the right of the Fifth, Ricketts' division (Second Brigade absent) on the left, and Wright on the right. Soon after the head of Burnside's column reached Germanna Ford, my brigade moved to the battle-ground. As we advanced, firing along the extended front soon told us where serious work had begun. General Truman Seymour (of Olustee fame) was assigned this day to command the brigade, but he did not promptly join it. As we approached the battle, I was ordered by a staff officer of Sedgwick to conduct the brigade to the right of that part of the Sixth Corps already in line and partly engaged. This order being executed, we became the extreme right of the army. The other brigades of the Third Division being in position on the left of the corps, I was not in touch with them, and reported to General H. G. Wright, commanding the First Division.

Heavy firing already extended along the line of the Sixth Corps to the left of us. The brigade, about 2 P.M., was put by me in position in two lines, the 6th Maryland and 110th Ohio, from left to right, in the front, and the 122d and 126th Ohio and the 138th Pennsylvania on the rear line and in reserve. Skirmishers were advanced, who pressed the enemy's skirmishers back a short distance to his main line, and a sharp engagement ensued, lasting until about 5 P.M., when, proper support being promised, an aggressive attack was made.

I quote from my official report, dated November 1, 1864:

"I received orders to assume general charge of the first line, to press the enemy, and, if possible, outflank him upon his left. The troops charged forward in gallant style, pressing the enemy back by 6 P.M. about one half mile, when we came upon him upon the slope of a hill, intrenched behind logs which had been hurriedly thrown together. During the advance the troops were twice halted and the fire opened, killing and wounding a considerable number of the enemy.

"The front line being upon the extreme right of the army, and the troops upon its left failing to move forward in conjunction with it, I deemed it prudent to halt without making an attack upon the enemy's line. After a short consultation with Col. John W. Horn, I sent word that the advance line of the brigade was unsupported upon either flank, and that the enemy overlapped the right and left of the line, and was apparently in heavy force, rendering it impossible for the troops to attain success in a further attack.

"I soon after received an order to attack at once.

"Feeling sure that the word I sent had not been received, I delayed until a second order came to attack. I accordingly made the attack without further delay.

"The attack was made about 7 P.M. The troops were in a thick and dense wilderness. The line was advanced to within 150 yards of the enemy's works, under a most terrible fire from the front and flanks. It was impossible to succeed; but the two regiments, notwithstanding, maintained their ground and kept up a rapid fire for nearly three hours, and then retired under orders, for a short distance only.

"I was wounded about 8.30 P.M. by a rifle ball passing through both bones of the left forearm, but did not relinquish command until 9 P.M.

"The troops were required to maintain this unequal contest under the belief that other troops were to attack the enemy upon his flank.

"In this attack the 6th Maryland lost in killed, two officers and sixteen men, and eight officers and 132 men wounded; and the 110th Ohio lost one officer and thirteen men killed, and six (6) officers and ninety-three (93) men wounded, making an aggregate in the two regiments of 271.

"Major William S. McElwain, 110th Ohio, who had won the commendations of all who knew him, for his skill, judgment, and gallantry, was among the killed.

"Lieutenant Joseph McKnight, 110th Ohio, and Captain Adam B. Martin, 6th Maryland, were mortally wounded, and have since died.

"Captain J. B. Van Eaton and Lieutenants H. H. Stevens and G. O. McMillen, 110th Ohio, Major J. C. Hill, Captains A. Billingslea, J. T. Goldsborough, J. J. Bradshaw and J. R. Rouser, and Lieutenants J. A. Swarts, C. Damuth and D. J. Smith, 6th Maryland, were more or less severely wounded.

"All displayed the greatest bravery, and deserve the thanks of the country.

"Colonel John W. Horn, 6th Maryland, and Lieutenant-Colonel O. H. Binkley, 110th Ohio, deserve to be specially mentioned for their courage, skill, and ability.

"Captains Brown, 110th Ohio, and Prentiss, 6th Maryland, distinguished themselves in their successful management of skirmishers.

"From reports of this night attack published in the Richmond papers it is known that the rebel Brigadier-General J. M. Jones, (commanding the Stonewall Brigade) and many others were killed in the attack."

In consequence of my wound I was absent from the brigade after the battle of the Wilderness until August 26, 1864, and I am therefore unable to give its movements and operations from personal knowledge. Colonel Ball succeeded me on the field in command of the brigade, and Colonel Horn in charge of the advance line in the night attack. Seymour was not present with the attacking troops. He was captured the next day, and the command of the brigade devolved on Colonel B. F. Smith.

To enable the reader to follow it through the battle I quote further from my report of November 1, 1864.

"Early on the morning of the 6th of May, the brigade formed in two lines of battle and assaulted the enemy's works in its front, the 122d and 126th Ohio and 138th Pennsylvania in the front line, and the 110th Ohio and 6th Maryland in the rear line. The brigade was still the extreme right of the army. The assault was most vigorously made, but the enemy was found to be in too great numbers and too strongly fortified to be driven from his position. After suffering very heavy loss, the troops were withdrawn to their original position, where slight fortifications were thrown up. In the charge the troops behaved most gallantly. The 122d and 126th Ohio and 138th Pennsylvania lost very heavily.

"About 2 P.M. Brigadier-General Shaler's brigade, of the First Division, Sixth Army Corps, took position upon the right of this brigade, and became the extreme right of the army.

"Skirmishing continued until about sunset, when the enemy turned the right of the army and made an attack upon its flank and rear, causing the troops to give way rapidly, and compelling them to fall back for some distance before they were reformed. So rapid was the enemy's advance upon the flank and rear, that time was not given to change front to meet him, and some confusion occurred in the retreat. Few prisoners were lost in the brigade. The lines were soon re-established and the progress of the enemy stopped. An attack was made by the enemy upon the re-established line about 8 P.M., but was handsomely repulsed.

"Unfounded reports were circulated that the troops of this brigade were the first to give way, when the first attack of the enemy was made.

"It is not improper to state here that no charges of bad conduct are made against the troops upon its right, but that this brigade remained at its post and successfully resisted a simultaneous attack from the front, until the troops upon its right were doubled back and were retreating in disorder through and along its lines."

The presence of a general officer in authority, or an intelligent staff officer representing him, would have averted the useless slaughter of the evening of the 5th, and the disaster of the evening of the 6th, which, for a time, threatened the safety of the whole army. A brigade or more of troops thrown on the enemy's left by a little détour on either evening would have doubled it back and given us, with little loss, that part of the field and a free swing for the next day.

The success in gaining ground on the 5th left our right in the air, bent to the front, with the enemy on its flank, thus inviting the attack made the next day by General J. B. Gordon, which drove back the main part of the Sixth Corps on the Union centre. Gordon's attack was a repetition of Stonewall Jackson's flank movement at Chancellorsville, and it should have been so far anticipated as to cause its disastrous failure.

In field-hospital, on seeing a staff officer of mine (Captain Thomas J. Black, who was having a wounded hand dressed), I discussed the situation, and predicted the enemy would seize the favorable opportunity of attacking. Anticipating the attack, my servant (Andy Jackson), in his eager solicitude for my safety, kept by horse near the tent, saddled, so I might, when it came, be assisted on him, and escape. Gordon's men advanced far enough for their bullets to pass through the hospital tents, but the hospital was not taken.

General Shaler's brigade of the First Division, Sixth Corps, having been placed on the extreme right of the Sixth, was the first to give way; then, the enemy being well on the rear of the Second Brigade as well as on its flank, and it being at the same time attacked from the front, it also gave way in some confusion, but, under its brave officers, Colonels Ball, Horn, and McClennan, Lieutenant-Colonels Granger, Ebright, Binkley, and others, it was soon assembled in good line in front of Gordon's advancing column, where it did much to arrest it. Generals Seymour and Shaler being separated from their brigades, while searching for them were both captured.(10)

But somebody needed, and sought, a "scapegoat." There were only three regiments in the Second Brigade--6th Maryland, 110th and 122d Ohio, which had served under Milroy in the Shenandoah Valley in 1863. Somebody reported to the press, and probably to Grant, that on the evening of the 6th of May troops that had fought there under Milroy were on the extreme right of the army, and were the first to give way. This was necessarily false, as these troops were not then on the extreme right at all, and did not retire until the force to their right had been broken and routed. General Grant to Halleck, in an excusatory and exculpatory letter (May 7th), as to the disaster on his right, said: "Milroy's old brigade was attacked and gave way in great confusion, almost without resistance, carrying good troops with them."(10) This statement may have been made to tickle Halleck's ear, as he was known to hate Milroy and his friends, but it was, nevertheless, untrue and grossly unjust. Of the three regiments from the Shenandoah Valley, 494 (one third their number) fell dead or wounded on that field, through inefficiency and blunders of high officers who were never near enough to it to hear the fatal thud or passing whiz of a rifle ball. Many others of these regiments had fallen (nearby) on the heights of Orange Grove, the November before. Grant, long after, acknowledged the injustice of his statement.

After I had been wounded, though yet in command of the attacking force, a Major rode up from the left, and reported to me that his officers and men were falling fast, and expressed the fear that they could not be long held to their work. He was directed to cheer them with the hope that the expected support would soon arrive. As he swung his horse around to return, it was shot, fell, and the Major, lighting on his feet, without a word quickly disappeared (as seen by the light of flashing rifles) among the dense scrub pines. He never was seen again, nor his body found. He must have been killed, and his body consumed late by the great conflagration which, feeding on the dry timber and débris, swept the battle-field, licking up the precious blood and cremating the bodies of the martyr dead. This was the gallant McElwain, who, in the early morning, expressed so much anxiety for my safety.

Colonel William H. Ball, on hearing, late at night, of my wound, inquired particularly as to its nature, and being assured it was serious, characteristically exclaimed: "Good! he will get home now and survive the war; his fighting days are over." Not so, nor yet with him. As I was borne to the left along the rear of the line on a stretcher towards the field-hospital, about midnight, a quickened ear caught the sound of a voice, giving loud command, familiar to me years before at my home city. I summoned the officer, and found him to be my fellow-townsman, Colonel Edwin C. Mason, then commanding the 7th Maine. A day or two more and he, too, was severely wounded.

I had seen something of war, but, for the first time, my lot was now cast with the dead, dying, and wounded in the rear. A soldier on the line of battle sees his comrades fall, indifferently generally, and continues to discharge his duty. The wounded get to the rear themselves or with assistance and are seen no more by those in battle line. Some of the medical staff in a well organized army, with hospital stewards and attendants, go on the field to temporarily bind up wounds, staunch the flow of blood, and direct the stretcher- bearers and ambulance corps in the work of taking the wounded to the operating surgeons at field-hospital. The dead need and generally receive no attention until the battle is ended.

On my arrival at hospital, about 2 P.M., I was carried through an entrance to a large tent, on each side of which lay human legs and arms, resembling piles of stove wood, the blood only excepted. All around were dead and wounded men, many of the latter dying. The surgeons, with gleaming, sometimes bloody, knives and instruments, were busy at their work. I soon was laid on the rough board operating table and chloroformed, and skilful surgeons--Charles E. Cady (138th Pennsylvania) and Theodore A. Helwig (87th Pennsylvania) --cut to the injured parts, exposed the fractured ends of the shattered bones, dressed them off with saw and knife, and put them again in place, splinted and bandaged. I was then borne to a pallet on the ground to make room for--"Next." The sensation produced by the anaesthetic, in passing to and from unconsciousness, was exhilarating and delightful. For some hours, exhausted from loss of blood as I was, I fell into short dozes, accompanied with fanciful dreams. Not all have the same experience.

From this hospital, on the 7th, I was taken by ambulance, in the immense train of wounded, towards Spotsylvania Court House, but on nearing that place, the train diverging from the track of the army, moved, with the roar of the battle in our ears, slowly to Fredericksburg. At its frequent halts, great kettles of beef tea were made and brought to us. I drank gallons of it, as did others. It was grateful to a thirsty, fevered palate, but afforded little nourishment. For about ten days I was confined to a bed in a private house--Mrs. Alsop's--taken for an officers' hospital. The wounded from Spotsylvania also soon arrived at Fredericksburg, and surgeons and nurses were overtaxed. Contract surgeons appeared from the North; also nurses and attendants from each of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. I was visited by Miss Dorothea L. Dix (then seventy years of age), who was in charge of a corps of hospital nurses. Horace Mann had, long before, apotheosized her for her philanthropic work for the insane.(11) A highly inflamed condition of my arm threatened my life while here, but finally reaching Acquia Creek, I went by hospital boat to Washington, thence home. Everywhere, hotels, hospitals, boats, and cars were crowded with the wounded, fresh from the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. Philanthropic people of principal cities kept, day and night, surgeons with skilled assistants at depots to care for the travelling wounded.

But to return to the Wilderness. The Sixth Corps, with little fighting, recovered its lost position on the morning of the 7th. The Fifth had a fierce engagement on the 6th, to the left of the Sixth Corps, but without material success. Hancock's corps, with Wadsworth's division of the Fifth and Getty's of the Sixth, opened a brilliant battle on the plank road at early dawn of the 6th, and drove the enemy more than a mile along the road in some confusion, when Longstreet's corps arrived on Hancock's left and turned the tide of battle, and in turn our troops were forced back to their former position on the Brock road. General James S. Wadsworth was mortally wounded while rallying his men, and the heroic Getty was severely wounded. The losses in this engagement on both sides were great. General Jenkins of the Confederate Army was killed, and Longstreet severely wounded. They were shot by mistake, by their own men,(12) as was "Stonewall" Jackson at Chancellorsville. Lee, in person, was on the plank road giving direction to the battle. He exposed himself to danger, and despaired of the result. At a critical moment he sent his "Adjutant-General, Colonel W. H. Taylor, back to Parker's Store to get the trains ready for a movement to the rear."(13) Grant, early on the 6th, put Burnside's corps in between the turnpike and plank roads, and it sustained the battle in the centre throughout the day, both armies holding well their ground. The morning of the 7th found Lee's army retired and strongly intrenched on a new line, with right near Parker's Store, and left extending northward across the turnpike.

On the 5th and 6th, Sheridan with his cavalry held the left flank and covered the rear of the army, fighting and repulsing Stuart's cavalry in attempts to penetrate to our rear. At Todd's Tavern, on the 7th, a severe cavalry engagement took place in which Sheridan was victorious. But the two great armies principally rested in position on that day, and the great battle of the Wilderness, with its alternate successes and repulses and its long lists of dead and wounded, was ended.

Grant, having decided not to fight further in the Wilderness country, on the night of the 7th put his army in motion for Spotsylvania Court-House, the cavalry preceding the Fifth Corps over the Brock road, followed by the Second and Sixth Corps on the plank and turnpike roads, with the army trains in the advance, the Ninth Corps in the rear. Lee, having either anticipated or discovered the movement, threw Longstreet's corps in Warren's front on the Brock road, and heavy fighting ensued on the 8th, most of the corps of both armies being, at different times, engaged. Wilson's cavalry division gained possession of the Court-House, but, being unsupported, withdrew. May 9th, the enemy was pressed and his position developed. Two divisions of the Ninth Corps, finding the enemy on the Fredericksburg road, drove him back and across the Ny River with some loss. This day, Major-General John Sedgwick, commanding the Sixth Corps, while on the advance line looking for the enemy's position, was killed by a sharp-shooter. He had the confidence and love of his corps.

Sheridan, with the cavalry, cut loose from the main army on the 9th, with orders from Meade to move southerly, engage, whenever possible, the enemy's cavalry, cut railroads, threaten Richmond, and eventually communicate with or join the Union forces on James River. He passed around the enemy's right and destroyed the depot at Beaver Dam, two locomotives, three trains of cars, one hundred other cars, and large quantities of stores and rations for Lee's army; also the telegraph line and railroad track for ten miles, and recaptured some prisoners. On the 10th of May he crossed the South Anna at Ground Squirrel Bridge, captured Ashland Station, a locomotive and a train of cars, and destroyed stores and railroad track, and next day marched towards Richmond. At Yellow Tavern he met the Confederate cavalry, defeated it, killing its commander, General J. E. B. Stuart, and taking two pieces of artillery and some prisoners, and forcing it to retreat across the Chickahominy. On the 12th Sheridan reached the second line of works around Richmond, then recrossed the Chickahominy, and after much hard fighting arrived at Bottom's Bridge the morning of the 13th. On the next day he was at Haxall's Landing on the James River, where he sent off his wounded and recruited his men and horses. On the 24th he rejoined the Army of the Potomac at Chesterfield, returning via White House on the Pamunkey.(14)

Fighting at and around Spotsylvania Court-House continued during the 10th and 11th, and on the 12th Hancock's corps assaulted the enemy's centre, capturing Major-General Edward Johnson, with General George C. Steuart and about three thousand men of his division. On advancing to the enemy's second line of breastworks, Hancock met with desperate resistance at what is known as the salient, or "dead angle." This was the key to Lee's position, and concentrating there his batteries and best troops, he mercilessly sacrificed the latter to hold it. The Second Corps was reinforced by the Sixth, under Major-General Horatio G. Wright, the successor of Sedgwick. The most deadly fighting occurred, and the dead and wounded of both sides were greater, for the space covered, than anywhere in the war, if not in all history. Wheaton's brigade of the Sixth Corps fought in the "dead angle"; and the 126th Ohio of the Second Brigade, Third Division, was detached and ordered to assault it. In making the assault it lost every fourth man.(15) The whole of the Second Brigade fought with conspicuous gallantry at Spotsylvania.

The enemy retired to a shorter line during the night. From the 13th to the 17th, both armies being intrenched, nothing decisive transpired, through there were frequent fierce conflicts. The Union sick and wounded were sent to the rear via Fredericksburg and Acquia Creek, and supplies were brought forward.(16)

General Grant, the morning of the 11th, wrote Halleck:

"We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The result to this time is much in our favor. But our losses have been heavy, as well as those of the enemy. We have lost to this time, eleven general officers, killed, wounded, and missing, and probably 20,000 men. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. We have taken over 4000 prisoners in battle, while he has taken but few except stragglers. I am now sending back to Belle Plain all my wagons for a fresh supply of provisions and ammunition, and propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."(17)

The italics are mine, to emphasize the origin of the most frequently quoted phrase of General Grant.

The Union Army was moving by its left flank on the 19th, when Ewell attempted to turn its right flank and get possession of the Fredericksburg road, but he met a new division under General R. O. Tyler, later, two divisions of the Second Corps, and Ferrero's division of colored troops (twelve companies, 2000 strong, recently from the defences of Washington), and was handsomely beaten back.

The 9th New York Heavy Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Seward, son of Secretary Seward, joined the Second Brigade at North Anna River, the 26th of May.(18)

The army, by the 26th, had crossed the North Anna at various fords, and by the 28th it was across the Pamunkey at Hanoverton and Hundley Fords, sharp engagements ensuing constantly. The 29th the enemy was driven into his works behind the Totopotomy, the Sixth Corps occupying Hanover Court-House. Warren was attacked, but repulsed the enemy at Bethesda Church, and Barlow of the Sixth carried a line of rifle-pits south of the river. The cavalry was engaged during these movements in many affairs, and Sheridan with two divisions occupied Cold Harbor the 31st, but was hard pressed until Wright with the Sixth and General W. F. Smith (recently arrived with the Eighteenth Corps from Butler on the James) relieved him. These corps, June 1st, attacked and took part of the enemy's intrenched line.

At 6 P.M., in a general assault upon the enemy's works, Ricketts' division (Third of Sixth) captured many prisoners and the works in its front, and handsomely repulsed repeated efforts to retaken them. In this assault the Second Brigade moved in the following order: 6th Maryland and 138th Pennsylvania in the first line, 9th New York in the second and third lines, and the 122d and 126th Ohio in the fourth line, all preceded by the 110th Ohio on the skirmish line.

General Meade addressed this note to General Wright:

"Please give my thanks to Brigadier-General Ricketts and his gallant command for the very handsome manner in which they have conducted themselves to-day. The success attained by them is of the greatest importance, and if followed up will materially advance our operations."

The morning of the 3d, the division charged forward about two hundred yards under a heavy fire and intrenched, using bayonets, tin cups, and plates for the purpose.(19) At 4 A.M., June 3d, by Grant's order, the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps and Barlow's division of the Second assaulted the strongly fortified works of the enemy, but suffered a most disastrous repulse--the bloodiest of the war. Approximately 10,000 Union men fell. The number and strength of the enemy's position was not well understood. He did not suffer correspondingly. There were found to be deep ravines and a morass in front of his fortifications.

The assault was suspended about 7 A.M. and not renewed. Grant says in his Memoirs:(20)

"I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made."

Other indecisive fighting occurred at Cold Harbor to the 12th, when Lee's army having retired in consequence of further flank movements, the last of the Union Army was withdrawn, and by June 13th, its several corps crossing the Chickahominy at Long and Jones' Bridges, reached the James River at Charles City Court-House. Sheridan, meantime, with two cavalry divisions, was ordered to Gordonsville to destroy the Central Railroad, and to communicate, if practicable, with Hunter's expedition, then in progress in the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan fought a successful battle at Trevilian Station, June 11th, overthrowing Hampton and Fitz Lee's cavalry divisions.

The Union Army soon crossed the James.

Excluding captured and missing, the casualties in the Union Army during the operations mentioned, shown by revised lists, are given in the summary table following:(21)

Killed. Wounded. Aggregate. Officers. Men. Officers. Men. Wilderness, May 5-7 143 2013 569 11,468 14,193 Spotsylvania Court-House, May 8-21 174 2551 672 12,744 16,141 North Anna, Pamunkey, and Totopotomoy, May 21-June 1 41 550 159 2,575 3,325 Cold Harbor, Bethesda Church, etc., June 2-15 143 1702 433 8,644 10,922 Todd's Tavern to James River (Cavalry, Sheridan), May 9-24 7 57 16 321 401 Trevilian raid (Cavalry, Sheridan), June 7-24 14 136 43 695 888 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Totals 522 7009 1892 36,447 45,870.(22)

There do not seem to exist any lists, at all complete, by which a summary of casualties of killed and wounded in the Confederate Army during the Wilderness campaign can be made up, but, barring Cold Harbor, they were, doubtless, approximately as great as in the Union Army. During the campaign the Union Army captured 22 field guns and lost 3. It captured at least 67 colors. And reports show the Army of the Potomac, from May 1 to 12, 1864, took 7078 prisoners, and from May 12 to July 31, 1864, 6506; total, 13,584.

The Union reports show the "captured and missing [Union], May 4th to June 24th," to be 8966.(23)

The killed and wounded in the Sixth Army Corps, May 5 to June 15, 1864, were 10,614; in the Third Division thereof, 1993, and in the Second Brigade of this division, 1246.

( 1) War Records, vol. xxxiii., p. 827.

( 2) War Records, vol. xxxiii., p. 664.

( 3) Ibid., p. 827-9.

( 4) Ibid., p. 1017.

( 5) War Records., vol. xxxiii., p. 1022.

( 6) Manassas to Appomattox (Longstreet), p. 544-5.

( 7) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part II., p. 370.

( 8) Ibid., Part I., p. 189 (Meade's Report).

( 9) Ibid., Part II., p. 331.

(10) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part II., pp. 729, 742, 745, 748.

(11) Twelve Sermons, p. 302.

(12) Manassas to Appomattox, p. 564.

(13) Memoirs of Lee, A. L. Long, p. 330.

(14) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part I., pp. 193, 776-792.

(15) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part I., p. 749.

(16) Ibid., pp. 188-195 (Meade's Report).

(17) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part I., p. 627.

(18) Ibid., pp. 734, 740.

(19) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part I., p. 734-5 (Keifer's Report).

(20) Vol. ii., p. 276.

(21) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part I., p. 188 (119-198).

(22) It is interesting to note that the ratio of killed to wounded, shown by this table is almost exactly 1 to 5, that is 16.6 per cent. of the whole number were killed; that of the killed, 1 out of every 14.6 was an officer; of the wounded, 1 out of 20 was an officer; of the whole number killed and wounded, 1 officer was killed out of every 88, 1 officer was wounded out of every 24.3, and 1 enlisted man was killed out of every 6.5, and one officer was killed or wounded out of every 19.

(23) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part I., pp. 188, 196.

CHAPTER VII Campaign South of James River and Petersburg--Hunter's Raid--Battle of Monocacy--Early's Advance on Washington (1864)--Sheridan's Movements in Shenandoah Valley, and Other Events

In pursuance of the general plan, as we have seen, General B. F. Butler had organized at Fortress Monroe the Army of the James, composed of the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps, commanded, respectively, by Generals Quincy A. Gilmore and W. F. Smith. It moved by transports up the James River on May 4, 1864, and effected a landing without serious resistance at Bermuda Hundred the night of the 5th. At the same time General Kautz, with 3000 cavalry, made a raid from Suffolk and destroyed a portion of the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad. These movements caused a hasty concentration against Butler of all the available troops from the Carolinas. Beauregard was put in command of them. There was some indecisive fighting between parts of Butler's army at Stony Creek, Jarratt's Station, and White Bridge, and there were somewhat general engagements at Port Walthall Junction, Chester Station, Swift Creek, Proctor's Creek, and Drewry's Bluff, and some minor affairs along the James. Kautz, making a second successful raid, cut the Richmond and Danville Railroad at Caulfield, destroying bridges, tracks, and depots. The result of all was to leave Butler's command strongly intrenched at Bermuda Hundred, but unable to advance and seriously threaten Richmond.

The term "Bottled up," an expression used to describe Butler's position, was derived from a dispatch of Grant to the War Department in which he referred to Butler's situation between the James and the Appomattox with the enemy intrenched across his front, as being "like a bottle."( 1)

Grant ordered Smith's corps to reinforce the Army of the Potomac. Butler attacked Petersburg on the 9th of June, chiefly with Gilmore's corps, but, for want of co-operation by the several attacking bodies, the place was not taken. General Butler attributed the defeat to Gilmore's failure to obey orders and act with energy.( 2)

After Smith's withdrawal, Butler did little more than hold his position. The Army of the Potomac crossed to the south of the James on June 14th. An attack was made by Meade on Petersburg on the 16th, principally with troops under Hancock and Burnside, by which a part only of the enemy's works with one battery and some prisoners were taken. Fighting continued on the 17th, and a general assault was ordered at daylight on the 18th, but on advancing it was found that the enemy had retired to an inner and stronger line. Later in the day unsuccessful assaults were made on this new line by portions of the Second, Fifth, and Ninth Corps. It was then ascertained that Lee's main army had reached Petersburg, and further efforts to take it by assault were abandoned.( 3) There was much fighting, extending through June, by detachments of infantry, for possession of roads, all of which, however, was indecisive. Wilson and Kautz's cavalry divisions, on the 22d, in a raid took Reams Station and destroyed some miles of the Weldon Railroad, and the next day, after defeating W. H. F. Lee's cavalry near Nottoway Station, reached Burkeville junction and destroyed the depot and about twenty miles of railroad track. The succeeding day they destroyed the railroad from Meherim Station to Roanoke Bridge, a distance of twenty-five miles, but on returning they encountered at Reams Station, on the 28th, the enemy's cavalry and a strong force of infantry, and were defeated, with the loss of trains and artillery. The Sixth Corps was sent to their relief, but arrived at the Station after the affair was over and the enemy had withdrawn.( 4)

I shall not undertake to give the important movements and operations ( 5) of the troops under Grant in front of Petersburg and Richmond, during the remainder fo the summer and the fall of 1864, as the troops in which I was immediately interested were, early in July, transferred to Maryland and Washington. A summary of the occurrences in the Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia is, however, necessary to enable the reader the better to understand important events soon to be narrated.

General Franz Sigel, in command of the Department of West Virginia, moved up the Valley, and was defeated at New Market on the 15th of May. He retired to the north bank of Cedar Creek. His loss was about 1000 killed, wounded, and captured, and seven pieces of artillery. General George Crook, proceeding via Fayetteville, Raleigh, and Princeton, fought the battle of Cloyd's Mountain on the 9th of May and gained a brilliant victory. He did much damage to the enemy, and returned to Meadow Bluff, on the Kanawha. General David Hunter relieved Sigel in command of the department on the 21st, and joined the troops at Cedar Creek in the Valley, on the 26th. Sigel was assigned to command a Reserve Division along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Hunter and Crook, from their respective positions, moved towards Staunton on the 30th. Hunter met the enemy under General W. E. Jones at Piedmont, on June 5th, and after a severe engagement defeated him, killing Jones and capturing about 1500 prisoners. Hunter reached Staunton on the 6th, and was joined by Crook on the 8th. They here destroyed railroads, Confederate supplies, mills, and factories, and, together, advanced towards Lexington on the 10th. They were now opposed by McCausland, whose command was chiefly cavalry. Lexington was taken on the 11th, after some fighting, and with it large quantities of military supplies. A portion of the James River Canal and a number of extensive iron- works were destroyed. Hunter burned the Virginia Military Institute and all buildings connected therewith on the 12th. He also burned the residence of ex-Governor John Letcher. Doubts have been entertained as to whether the burning of the Institute or Letcher's home could be justified under the rules of modern warfare. The Institute, however, was a preparatory school for Confederate officers, and its Principal, Colonel Smith, with 250 cadets, united with McCausland's troops in the defence of Lexington. Letcher had issued a violent and inflammatory proclamation inciting the population to rise and wage a guerilla warfare on the Union troops.( 6)

Hunter proceeded via Buchanan and by the Peaks of Otter road across the Blue Ridge, and arrived at Liberty, twenty-four miles from Lynchburg, on the 15th. Here he heard rumors through Confederate channels of disasters to Grant and Sherman's armies, and of Sheridan's fighting at Trevilian Station. Hunter was also told Breckinridge was in Lynchburg with all the rebel forces in West Virginia, and that Ewell's corps, 20,000 strong, was arriving to reinforce him. Notwithstanding these reports, Hunter commenced an advance on the 16th on Lynchburg. His several columns met stubborn resistance on this and the succeeding day, but at night, after a spirited affair at Diamond Hill, he encamped his forces near the town. It became known to Hunter on the 18th that Lieutenant-General Jubal A. Early, with Ewell's corps from Lee's army, was at Lynchburg. Early and Breckinridge's combined commands far outnumbered Hunter's forces. The situation was critical for Hunter. He maintained a bold front, however, until nightfall, and then withdrew via Liberty and Buford's Gap to New Castle and Sweet Springs. General Wm. A. Averell with the cavalry covered the rear. The enemy pursued rather tardily to Salem, where Early concentrated his army. Hunter chose, in his retreat, the Lewisburg route to Charleston on the Kanawha, rather than retire down the Shenandoah Valley or by Warm Springs and the South Branch of the Potomac. The latter route would have had the advantage of bringing him out at Cumberland or New Creek on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, much nearer to his proper base at Martinsburg or Harper's Ferry. His retreat, on the line chosen, left the Valley, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Baltimore and Washington practically without defence. Hunter arrived at Charleston on the 30th, having marched through White Sulphur Springs, Lewisburg, and Meadow Bluff. From near Liberty, on the 16th, he sent his supply train of 200 wagons, 141 prisoners, and his sick and wounded in charge of Captain T. K. McCann, A.Q.M. of Volunteers, with orders to reach the Kanawha at Charleston. The train was guarded by parts of the 152d and 161st Ohio Volunteers--one hundred day men, commanded by Colonel David Putnam of the former regiment. At Greenbrier River, on the 22d, the train was attacked by the Thurmond brothers, and forced to return to White Sulphur Springs. From thence it proceeded through Hillsborough to Beverly, where it arrived on the 27th.( 7) Hunter's raid, so brilliantly begun, thus unfortunately ended.

Early reached Lynchburg on the 17th of June and assumed command of all the forces there, including those under Breckinridge. Early pursued Hunter to the mountains, and then, on the 23d, marched rapidly through Staunton and down the Shenandoah Valley, with the purpose of invading Maryland, in pursuance of instructions given him by Lee before being detached from the latter's main army.( 8)

Sigel was now holding Maryland Heights. Early, therefore, on the 8th of July crossed the Potomac higher up the river, and reached Frederick City, Maryland, the morning of the 9th.( 9)

Hunter's command was obliged to descend the Kanawha by boats, then ascend the Ohio to Parkersburg, and from there move by rail to Cumberland and points on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Hunter did not leave Charleston until July 3d, nor Parkersburg until the 8th, and did not reach Cumberland with any part of his army until the 9th. He was then too remote to be available in an effort to resist Early's invasion.(10)

Early's movements in the Valley caused loud calls for troops, and Grant ordered Ricketts' division (Sixth Corps) to Maryland. The division left its camp in front of the Williams house on the 6th of July, and the same day embarked at City Point for Baltimore. It disembarked at Locust Point, near Baltimore, on the morning of the 8th, and took cars for Monocacy Junction, where, on the same day, parts of two brigades of the division joined General Lew Wallace, then in command of the department.

Prior to Ricketts' arrival Wallace had only been able to gather together, under General E. B. Tyler, two regiments of the Potomac Home Brigade, the 11th Maryland Infantry, two Ohio one hundred day regiments (144th and 149th), the 8th Illinois Cavalry, and a detachment of the 159th Ohio (one hundred day regiment), serving as mounted infantry, all new or inexperienced troops.(11) He had only one battery of artillery. Sigel, still at Maryland Heights, was therefore unavailable as against Early. Only the First Brigade, numbering 1750 men, under Colonel Truax, and a part of the Second Brigade (138th Pennsylvania, 9th New York Heavy Artillery, 110th and 126th Ohio), 1600 strong, Colonel McClennan commanding, of Ricketts' veteran troops reached the battle-field. Tyler went into position on the right, covering the stone bridge, and Ricketts on the left. The position chosen by Wallace was good, strategically, and also strong to resist a front attack by a superior force. It was behind the Monocacy River, covering the railroad bridge and the public highway and another bridge, and also had for lines of retreat the turnpikes to Baltimore and Washington. If the position were held, communication could be kept up with these cities, also with Sigel at the Heights. It was Early's purpose to destroy Wallace or brush him aside and move on Washington. Early moved from Frederick at 8 A.M., the 9th of July, and after demonstrating on Wallace's front, marched Gordon's troops around by a ford to fall on Ricketts' left. The latter changed front to the left to meet Gordon. The battle opened in earnest at 10.30 A.M. The enemy's superiority in artillery gave him a great advantage, and most of the day Ricketts' troops held their position under an enfilading fire from Early's batteries. The enemy's front was so great that Ricketts, to meet it, had to put his entire command into one line. Gordon's first and second lines were beaten back, and his third and fourth lines were, later, brought into action on the Union left. Early put in his reserves there, and still Ricketts' troops were unbroken and undismayed. It was, however, evident the unequal contest must result in defeat, hence Wallace ordered a retreat on the Baltimore pike. Ricketts did not commence to retire until 4 P.M., and then in good order. Tyler's troops fought well, and held the stone bridge until Ricketts had passed off the field. Early was so seriously hurt that he did not or could not make a vigorous or immediate pursuit. Save some detachments of cavalry, he halted his army at the stone bridge. The Union loss was 10 officers and 113 men killed and 36 officers and 567 men wounded, total, 726, besides captured or missing.(12) Colonel Wm. H. Seward (9th N. Y. H. A.) was slightly wounded and had an ankle broken by the fall of his horse on its being shot.

The veteran Third Division lost 656 of the killed and wounded, and the troops under Tyler 70. My former assistant adjutant-general, Captain Wm. A. Hathaway, was killed in this action. The total killed and wounded in the Second Brigade, from May 5th to July 9th, inclusive, was 2033,(13) more than half the number lost under Scott and Taylor in the Mexican War.

No report of the Confederate loss has been found, but from the strong Union position, the character of the Confederate attacks, and the number of wounded (400) left in hospital, it must have largely exceeded that of the loyal army. Early says in his report, written immediately after the battle, that his loss "was between 600 and 700."(14)

On the morning of the 10th, Early marched via Rockville towards Washington, and arrived in front of the fortifications on the Seventh Street pike late the next day. He met no resistance on the way. Wallace, with Ricketts, had retired towards Baltimore. Great consternation reigned at the Capital, and the volunteer militia of the District of Columbia were called out.

The defences were, however, feebly manned. The First and Second Divisions of the Sixth Corps embarked at City Point on the 10th, and a portion of the Second reached Fort Stevens on the 11th, about the time Early reached its front, and the First Division, with the remainder of the Second, arrived next morning. Some skirmishing took place in front of the fort, witnessed by President Lincoln. Many government employees and citizens were put in the trenches. Early retreated across the Potomac to Leesburg, somewhat precipitately, commencing after nightfall on the 12th. He again reached the Valley on the 15th. The Sixth Corps under Wright pursued Early on the 13th, but did not come up with him. Ricketts' division rejoined its corps on the 17th. Portions of Hunter and Crook's commands also joined Wright, who moved via Snicker's Gap into the Valley at Berryville. Wright alternately retired and advanced his army, crossing and recrossing the Potomac, until August 5th, when he was at Monocacy Junction, Maryland.

It should be stated in this connection that Early sent General Bradley Johnson with his brigade of cavalry to cut the Northern Central and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads; he succeeded in doing this, and also in destroying some bridges and two passenger trains. One bridge on the railroad between Washington and Baltimore was destroyed by Johnson while on his way to Point Lookout, Maryland, to release Confederate prisoners. One of the principal objects Lee had in ordering Early into Maryland was to release these prisoners.(15) When Early retired from Washington he recalled Johnson.

The most remarkable thing connected with the campaign just described was the utter dispersion of the thousands of troops in West Virginia and the Valley under Hunter, Sigel, Crook, Averell, and B. F. Kelley, so that none of them participated in the battle of Monocacy or the defence of Washington.

Wright had been assigned, July 13th,(16) to command all the troops engaged in the pursuit of Early, including a portion of the Nineteenth Corps under General W. H. Emory, just arriving by transport from the Army of the James. Hunter still remained in command of the Department of West Virginia. The recent failure of Hunter caused him to be distrusted for field work, and another commander was sought. General Sheridan was, by Grant, ordered from the Army of the Potomac, August 2d, to report to Halleck at Washington. In a dispatch to Halleck of August 1st, Grant said he wanted Sheridan put in command of all the troops in the field. On this being shown to President Lincoln (August 3d), he impatiently wired Grant:(17)

"I have seen your dispatch in which you say 'I want Sheridan put in command of all the troops in the field with instructions to put himself south of the enemy and follow him to the death. Wherever the enemy goes let our troops go also.' This, I think, is exactly right as to how our forces should move; but please look over the dispatches you may have received from here ever since you made that order, and discover, if you can, that there is any idea in the head of any one here of 'putting our army south of the enemy,' or of 'following him to the death' in any direction. I repeat to you it will neither be done nor attempted, unless you watch it every day and hour and force it."

Sheridan reached Harper's Ferry, August 7th, and assumed command of the newly constituted Middle Military Division, including the Middle Department, and the Departments of Washington, Susquehanna, and West Virginia.(18) The First Division of the cavalry, commanded by General Alfred T. A. Torbert, reached Sheridan from before Petersburg, August 9th. Sheridan moved on the 10th, and reached Cedar Creek twelve miles south of Winchester on the Strasburg pike on the 12th, encountering some opposition at Opequon Creek, Winchester, and Newtown. Early was reinforced by Kershaw's division of Longstreet's corps, and by other detachments from Lee's army. The enemy manoeuvred on Sheridan's flanks, and by August 22d the Union Army had retired to Halltown and Harper's Ferry.

Thus far Lincoln's predictions were fulfilled. But great events were soon to follow.

( 1) Memoirs of Grant, vol. ii., p. 151.

( 2) War Records, vol. xxxvi., Part II., p. 273, 291. Butler's Book, p. 677.

( 3) Ibid., vol. xl., p. 168.

( 4) War Records, vol. xl., Part II., p. 169.

( 5) The memorable "Mine explosion," under the immediate direction of Burnside, occurred July 30, 1864.

( 6) War Records, vol. xxxvii., Part I., p. 97.

( 7) War Records, vol. xxxvii., Part I., p. 99, 101, 618-19, 683.

( 8) Ibid., 346, 347.

( 9) Ibid., 302.

(10) War Records, vol. xxxvii. Part I., p. 102.

(11) Ibid., 200.

(12) War Records, vol. xxxvii., Part I., p. 201-2.

(13) Ibid., pp. 206-7.

(14) War Records, vol. xxxvii., Part I., pp. 348-9.

(15) War Records, vol. xxxvii., Part I., pp. 349, 767, 769.

(16) Ibid., Part II., pp. 261, 284.

(17) Ibid., Part I., p. 582.

(18) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., pp. 709, 719, 721.

CHAPTER VIII Personal Mention of Generals Sheridan, Wright, and Ricketts, and Mrs. Ricketts--Also Generals Crook and Hayes--Battle of Opequon, Under Sheridan, September, 1864, and Incidents

I had so far recovered from the wound received in the Wilderness as to enable me to reach Baltimore, August 25th, on the way to the army, though my arm was yet in splints and a sling. In response to a telegram, the War Department directed me to report to General Sheridan. I reached Harper's Ferry the next day. When I reported to Sheridan, he looked at me fiercely, and observed: "I want fighting men, not cripples. What can I do with you?" I asked him to order me to General Wright for assignment to my old brigade. He seemed to hesitate. I informed him of my familiarity with the Shenandoah Valley, and told him I thought I was able for duty. He gave the desired order reluctantly.

Sheridan did not impress me favorably then. He seemed restless, nervous, and petulant. I now think I somewhat misjudged him. He was thirty-three years of age,( 1) in full vigor of manly strength. He had, both in infantry and cavalry commands, won renown as a soldier, though his highest fame was yet to be achieved. He was short of stature, especially broad across the shoulders, with legs rather short even for his height. His head was quite large, nose prominent, eyes full; he had a strong face, and was of a cheerful, social disposition, rather than retiring and taciturn. Irish characteristics predominated in him, and when not on duty he was disposed to be rollicking and free and easy. He was not hard to approach by his inferiors, but he was not always discriminating in the language he used to them. He did not seem to be a deliberate thinker or reasoner, and often gave the impression that his decisions or opinions were off-hand and not the result of reflection. In the quiet of camp he seemed to be less able to combine or plan great movements than in emergencies in the field. In a battle he often showed the excitement of his impetuous nature, but he never lost his head or showed any disposition save to push the enemy. These are some opinions formed after seeing him in several great battles, and knowing him personally through all the later years of his life. It remains to say that he was an honest man, and devotedly loyal to his friends. His fame as a soldier of a high class will endure.

Generals Wright and Ricketts each received me warmly, and, as always, showed me the utmost kindness.

Horatio G. Wright was a skilled and educated soldier, of the engineer class. He, like the great Thomas, was of a most lovable disposition and temperament. He had held many important commands during the war; had failed in none, and yet uncomplainingly suffered himself to be assigned from the command of a department to that of a division of troops. He was unfortunate once, as we shall see, and the glory of his chief shone so brightly as to dim the subordinate's well earned fame. But I must not anticipate. Wright was especially fitted to command infantry--a corps or more in battle. His intercourse with his officers was kindly and assuring under all circumstances. His characteristics as a soldier were of the unassuming, sturdy, solid kind--never pyrotechnic. He was modest, and not specially ambitious. In brief, he was a great soldier.

James B. Ricketts was also a highly educated soldier, and when I met him in the Valley he had been in many battles. He was a man of great modesty, of quiet demeanor, and of the most generous impulses. He never spoke unkindly of any person, and was always just to superiors and inferiors. He was wounded at Bull Run (1861), and captured and confined for many months in prison at Richmond. His heroic wife, Fanny Ricketts, on learning of his being wounded, joined him on the battle-field, and shared his six months' captivity to nurse him.( 2) The special mention of Wright and Ricketts and his wife must be pardoned by the reader, as they were of my best friends, not only during, but since the war. Mrs. Ricketts was often in camp with her husband, and though a most refined lady, was, by disposition, education, and spirit quite capable of commanding an army corps. She possessed great executive ability.

Two other officers whose acquaintance I formed in the Valley in 1864, and who were in after life my friends, I venture to mention also.

George Crook was an ideal soldier. He was born near Dayton, Ohio, September 8, 1828, and was a West Point graduate. He was of medium stature, possessed of a gentle but heroic spirit, and justly won renown in the War of the Rebellion, and subsequently in Indian wars. He died suddenly in Chicago, March 21, 1890. His body is buried at Arlington in the midst of his fallen war-comrades. He left no children. His fame as a patriot and soldier belongs to history.

Rutherford B. Hayes, a brigade commander in the opening of Sheridan's Valley campaign, was born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822. He was not educated for a soldier. He was a man of medium height, strong body, sandy hair, sanguine temperament, and was always self- possessed, and gentle in his intercourse with others. He was a most efficient officer and had the power to inspire his men to heroic deeds. He was twice wounded, and retired at the end of the war distinguished as a volunteer soldier. Subsequently he served a term in Congress, three terms as Governor of Ohio, and was President of the United States 1877 to 1881.

I assumed command of my old brigade on the 26th of August, near Halltown. Its ranks had been much depleted, yet it numbered about 2000 effective men, including recruits. It was then composed of the 6th Maryland, 110th, 122d, and 126th Ohio, 67th and 138th Pennsylvania, and 9th New York Heavy Artillery serving as infantry. I found still with it, in command of regiments, Colonels John W. Horn and Wm. H. Ball, Lieutenant-Colonels Otho H. Binkley and Aaron W. Ebright, who had each passed safely through the recent bloody campaigns.

Sheridan's cavalry made daily reconnoissances, and frequently engaged the enemy in advance of Charlestown. A cavalry reconnoissance was made on the 29th which brought on an attack, near Smithfield, by Fitz Lee's cavalry supported by infantry. The report came that our cavalry under General Wesley Merritt were being driven back, and Ricketts was ordered to go to its relief. As I was familiar with the roads and country, he sent me forward with my brigade and some attached troops. We met our cavalry about two miles from Smithfield retiring in a somewhat broken condition. I deployed my command on its left and pushed the enemy back to a ridge about a mile north of that place. Here he made a stand, displaying considerable force. I decided to attack at once. While preparing for an advance, I discovered what appeared to be a considerable body of cavalry forming for a charge on my left flank. My line was single, and I was without support in that direction. At this juncture a small number of mounted officers and men appeared on a knoll to my rear. I supposed them to be a body of cavalry sent forward to participate in the engagement. I rode to advise the officer in command of the threatened danger. I found there Sheridan and his staff and escort; also Merritt and some of his staff. Sheridan had ridden to the front to see the situation. He seemed surprised to see me, and asked sharply, "What are you doing here?" There was no time then for parley, as my command had already begun to advance. I told him of the danger, and pointed out to him the enemy's cavalry on our left, and asked for a force to meet it. He responded that he had no force on hand. I suggested that the cavalry with him, if immediately thrown well out to the left in a threatening position, would answer the purpose. He replied: "---- ----, that is my escort." I rejoined that it was needed badly, and might save disaster. With a somewhat amused expression on his face he ordered it to move as I indicated.( 3)

About the time of this incident a puff of smoke from a rifle, fired on the heights held by the enemy about a mile distant, was seen. Almost instantly a familiar thud was heard, and all looked around to see who of the assembled officers had been hit. Major (Surgeon) W. H. Rulison (9th New York Cavalry), serving as Medical Director of the Cavalry, was killed by the shot.( 4)

The enemy was driven from the ridge and we were soon in possession of Smithfield.( 5) Merritt's cavalry took post at the bridge, and the infantry were withdrawn to camp near Charlestown.

Sheridan threw his whole army forward on September 3d, the infantry stretching from Clifton farm on the right to Berryville on the left. On this day there was short but fierce fighting between Averell and McCausland's cavalry at Bunker Hill, in which the latter was defeated with loss in prisoners, wagons, and supplies, and also between Crook's command and Kershaw's division. The latter seems to have run, at nightfall, unexpectedly, into Crook, near Berryville, and was severely punished. Kershaw was of Longstreet's corps and was then under orders to return to Lee's army at Petersburg. No other event of greater importance than a reconnoissance occurred until the 19th.

Sheridan's army was then composed of the Sixth Corps, under Wright --three divisions, commanded, respectively, by Generals David A. Russell, George W. Getty, and James B. Ricketts, and an artillery brigade of six batteries; the Nineteenth Corps under Emory--two divisions and four batteries; Eighth Corps (Army of West Virginia) under Crook--two divisions, and an artillery brigade of three batteries. Besides the troops mentioned, there were three divisions of cavalry and eight light or horse artillery batteries, commanded by General Alfred A. T. Torbert. The cavalry divisions were commanded, respectively, by Generals Wesley Merritt, Wm. W. Averell, and James H. Wilson.( 6) Although there were in Sheridan's command about 50,000 men present for duty, they were so scattered, guarding railroads and various positions, that he was not able to take into battle more then 25,000 men of all arms.( 7) Early had in the Valley District Ewell's corps, Breckinridge's command, and at least one division of Longstreet's corps, Fitz Lee's and McCausland's cavalry divisions and other cavalry organizations, and it is probable that he was not able to bring into battle more then 25,000 effective men. These estimates will hold good through the months of September and October, though some additions and changes took place in each army. Grant met Sheridan at Charlestown the 16th, to arrange a plan for the latter to attack Early. Sheridan drew from his pocket a plat showing the location of the opposing armies, roads, streams, etc., and detailed to Grant a plan of battle of his own, saying he could whip Early. Grant approved the plan, and did not even exhibit one of his own, previously prepared. This meeting was on Friday. Sheridan was to move the next Monday.( 8)

Sheridan gives much credit to Miss Rebecca M. Wright of Winchester for sending him information by a messenger that Kershaw's division and Cutshaw's artillery, under General Anderson, had started to rejoin General Lee.( 9)

The enemy was in camp about five miles north of Winchester at Stephenson's Depot, his cavalry extending eastward to the crossing of the Opequon by the Berryville pike. Our camps were, in general, about six miles to the northward of Opequon Creek. Sheridan's plan submitted to Grant was to avoid Early's army, pass to the east of Winchester, and strike the Valley pike at Newtown, seven miles south of Winchester, and there, being in Early's rear, force him to give battle.(10) Early moved two divisions to Martinsburg on the 18th, which caused Sheridan suddenly to change his plan and determine to attack the remaining divisions at Stephenson's Depot. Early, however, did not tarry at Martinsburg, but learning there of Grant's visit to Sheridan, and fearing some aggressive movement, returned the same night, leaving Gordon's division at Bunker's Hill with orders to start at daylight the next morning for the Depot. Gordon reached the Depot about the time the battle opened.(11)

Sheridan's final plan for the expected battle was set forth in orders issued on the 18th. It was for Wilson's cavalry and Wright's corps to force a crossing of Opequon Creek on the Berryville pike. Emory was to report to Wright and follow him. As soon as the open country, south of the Opequon, was reached, Wright was to put both corps in line of battle fronting Stephenson's Depot. Crook's command was to move to the same crossing of the Opequon and be held there as a reserve. Merritt and Averell's cavalry divisions under Torbert were to move to the right in the direction of Bunker Hill.(12)

The army moved at 2 A.M. of the 19th as ordered. Wilson's cavalry succeeded in crossing the creek and driving the enemy's cavalry through a deep defile some two miles towards Winchester. Wright followed, Getty's division leading, Ricketts and Russell following. When the defile was passed, Getty went into position on the left of the pike, Ricketts on the right, both in two lines, and Russell's division was held in reserve. My brigade was the right of the corps as formed for battle. The only battery up was put in position on the right. The Nineteenth Corps was ordered to form on the right of the Sixth and to connect with it. Up to this time no severe fighting had taken place. Early was forced to move the main part of his army to his right to cover the Berryville and Winchester pike. Upon our side much delay occurred in getting up the artillery and the Nineteenth Corps, during which time we were exposed to an incessant fire from the enemy's guns. The Nineteenth did not make a close connection on the right of the Sixth. Not until 11.40 A.M. was the order given for a general attack. Ricketts' division was to keep its left on the pike. As soon as the advance commenced the Sixth Corps was exposed to a heavy artillery fire from the enemy's batteries, but it went forward gallantly for about one mile, driving or capturing all before it. General Ricketts, in his report of September 27th, described what took place:

"The Nineteenth Corps did not move and keep connection with my right, and the turnpike upon which the division was dressing bore to the left, causing a wide interval between the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps. As the lines advanced the interval became greater. The enemy, discovering this fact, hurled a large body of men towards the interval and threatened to take my right in flank. Colonel Keifer at once caused the 138th and 67th Pennsylvania and 110th Ohio to break their connection with the right of the remainder of his brigade and move towards the advancing columns of the enemy. These three regiments most gallantly met the overwhelming masses of the enemy and held them in check. As soon as the Nineteenth Corps engaged the enemy the force in my front commenced slowly retiring. The three regiments named were pushed forward until they came upon two batteries (eight guns), silencing them and compelling the enemy to abandon them. The three regiments had arrived within less than two hundred yards of the two batteries when the Nineteenth Corps, after a most gallant resistance, gave way. These guns would have been taken by our troops had our flanks been properly protected. The enemy at once came upon my right flank in large force; successful resistance was no longer possible; the order was given for our men to fall back on our second line, but the enemy advancing at the time in force threw us temporarily in confusion."

The repulse of the Nineteenth, and consequently of my three regiments, left Breckinridge's corps full on our right flank, threatening disaster to the army. Wright promptly put in Russell's division, until then in reserve, and the progress of the enemy was arrested. Here the brave David A. Russell lost his life. My report, written September 27, 1864, described, in general, a further part taken by my brigade:

"The broken troops of my brigade were halted and reformed in a woods behind troops from the reserve, which had come forward to fill up the interval. As soon as reformed, they were moved forward again over the same ground they had traversed the first time. While moving this portion of my brigade forward, I received an order from Brigadier-General Ricketts, commanding division, to again unite my brigade near the centre of the corps, and to the right of the turnpike, near a house. This order was obeyed at once, and my whole brigade was placed on one line, immediately confronting the enemy. The four regiments of my brigade, that were upon the left, kept connection with the First Brigade, Third Division, and fought desperately, in the main driving the enemy. They also captured a considerable number of prisoners in their first advance.

"Heavy firing was kept up along the whole line until about 4 P.M., when a general advance took place. The enemy gave way before the impetuosity of our troops, and were soon completely routed. This brigade pressed forward with the advance line to, and into, the streets of Winchester. The rout of the enemy was everywhere complete. Night came on, and the pursuit was stopped. The troops of my brigade encamped with the corps on the Strasburg and Front Royal roads, south of Winchester."

It was Sheridan's design, if Wright's attack had been completely successful, to push Crook rapidly past Winchester and seize the Strasburg pike, and thus cut off Early's retreat; but the repulse of the Nineteenth Corps made it necessary to move Crook to our right. This caused some delay, during which the Sixth Corps bore the brunt of the battle. General Hayes, in his report, dated October 13, 1864, described the part taken by a division of Crook's command:

"I have to honor to report that at the battle of Opequon, September 19, 1864, the Second Infantry Division, Army of West Virginia, was commanded by Colonel Isaac H. Duval until late in the afternoon of that day, when he was disabled by a severe wound, and the command of the division devolved upon me. Colonel Duval did not quit the field until the defeat of the enemy was accomplished and the serious fighting ended. The division took no part in the action during the forenoon, but remained in reserve at the Opequon bridge, on the Berryville and Winchester pike. The fighting of other portions of the army had been severe, but indecisive. There were some indications as we approached the battle-field soon after noon that the forces engaged in the forenoon had been overmatched. About 1 P.M. this division was formed on the extreme right of the infantry line of our army, the First Brigade, under my command, in advance, and the Second Brigade, Colonel D. D. Johnson commanding, about sixty yards in the rear, forming a supporting line; the right of the Second Brigade being, however, extended about one hundred yards farther to the right than the First Brigade. The division was swung around some distance to the right, so as to strike the rebel line on the left flank. The rebel left was protected by field-works and a battery on the south side of Red Bud Creek. This creek was easily crossed in some places, but in others was a deep, miry pool from twenty to thirty yards wide and almost impassable. The creek was not visible from any part of our line when we began to move forward, and no one probably knew of it until its banks were reached. The division moved forward at the same time with the First Division, Colonel Thoburn, on our left, in good order and without much opposition until they unexpectedly came upon Red Bud Creek. This creek and the rough ground and tangled thicket on its banks was in easy range of grape, canister, and musketry from the rebel line. A very destructive fire was opened upon us, in the midst of which our men rushed into and over the creek. Owing to the difficulty in crossing, the rear and front lines and different regiments of the same line mingled together and reached the rebel side of the creek with lines and organizations broken; but all seemed inspired by the right spirit, and charged the rebel works pell-mell in the most determined manner. In this charge our loss was heavy, but our success was rapid and complete. The rebel left in our front was turned and broken, and one or more pieces of artillery captured. No attempt was made after this to form lines or regiments. Officers and men went forward, pushing the rebels from one position to another until the defeated enemy were routed and driven through Winchester."

About 5 P.M. Sheridan galloped along the front line of the Sixth Corps with hat and sword in hand and assured the men, in more expressive than elegant language, of victory in the final attack, and he, about the same time, ordered Wilson with his cavalry to push out from the left and gain the Valley pike south of Winchester. Torbert, with Merritt and Averell's cavalry, was ordered to sweep down along the Martinsburg pike on Crook's right to strike Early's left. The enemy had been pushed back upon the open plains northeast of Winchester and was trying hard to hold his left against the foot- hills of Apple-Pie Ridge, and to cover the Martinsburg pike.

Most of the enemy's cavalry and much of his artillery were on his left. Getty (Sixth Corps), who from the first held the left of our infantry, steadily advanced, holding whatever ground he gained. The Nineteenth did not participate largely in the battle after its repulse. The cavalry bore a conspicuous part in the battle. The last stand was made by Early one mile from Winchester. About 5 P.M. Wright and Crook's corps, though then in single line, impetuously dashed forward, while Merritt and Averell's cavalry divisions under Torbert, somewhat closely massed, overthrew the Confederate cavalry and swept mercilessly along the Martinsburg pike and the foot of the precipitous ridge. The enemy's artillery was ridden over or forced to fly from the field. Torbert reached the left flank of the Confederate infantry at the moment it was hard pressed by the advancing troops of Wright and Crook. Our cavalry, in deep column, with sabres drawn, charged over the Confederate left, and the battle was won. This charge was the most stirring and picturesque of the war. The sun was setting, but could be seen through the church spires of the city. Its rays glistening upon the drawn sabres of the thousands of mounted warriors made a picture in real war, rarely witnessed. In this charge, besides the division leaders mentioned, were Generals Custer and Devin, and Colonels Lowell, Schoonmaker, and Capehart, leading brigades, all specially distinguished as cavalry soldiers. The fighting continued into and through the streets of Winchester. The pursuit was arrested by the coming of night and the weariness of the soldiers, many of whom had been without food or rest for about eighteen hours. The significance of the victory was great, but it was particularly gratifying to the old soldiers in my command who had fought at Winchester under Milroy. The night battle at Stephenson's Depot, fifteen months before--June, 1863--was within the limits of the field of Opequon. Ewell's corps had driven Milroy from Winchester, but now, in turn, under another commander, it was flying as precipitately from our forces. The war-doomed city of Winchester was never again to see a Confederate Army. Wilson's cavalry division did good service on the Union left, often fiercely attacking the Confederate right flank. Late in the day he pushed past Winchester on the east, and encountered and dispersed Bradley Johnson's cavalry. Wilson, however, was too weak to cut off Early's retreat, but he continued in pursuit until 10 P.M.

This was my first considerable battle after being severely wounded, and candor compels me to say that I do not think being wounded one or more times has a tendency to promote bravery or to steady nerves for future battles. The common experience, however, is that when a soldier is once engaged in the conflict, his nerves, if before affected, become steady, and danger is forgotten.

My horse was shot while leading the three regiments on the right of the corps; later I was severely bruised on the left hip by a portion of an exploded shell, and a second horse was struck by a fragment of one which burst beneath him while I was trying to capture a battery posted on a hill at the south end of the main street of Winchester.

I quote again from my report:

"My brigade lost, in the battle of Opequon, some valiant and superior officers. Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. Ebright, commanding the 126th Ohio, was killed instantly early in the action. He was uniformly brave and skilful. He had fought in the many battles of the Sixth Corps during the past summer's campaign. Captain Thomas J. Hyatt and Lieutenant Rufus Ricksecker, 126th Ohio, and Lieutenant Wm. H. Burns, 6th Maryland, also fell in this action. Each was conspicuous for gallantry on this and other fields upon which he had fought. Colonel John W. Horn, 6th Maryland, whom none excelled for distinguished bravery, was severely if not mortally wounded.(13) Colonel William H. Ball, 122d Ohio, received a wound from a shell, but did not quit the field. He maintained his usual reputation for cool courage and excellent judgment and skill. Captain John S. Stucky, 138th Pennsylvania, lost a leg. Major Chas. M. Cornyn, 122d Ohio; Captain Feight and Walter, 138th Pennsylvania; Captain Williams, Lieutenants Patterson, Wells, and Crooks, 126th Ohio; Captains Hawkins and Rouzer and Lieutenant Smith, 6th Maryland; Lieutenants Fish and Calvin, 9th New York Heavy Artillery; Captains Van Eaton and Trimble and Lieutenants Deeter and Simes, 110th Ohio, are among the many officers more or less severely wounded. (Lieutenant Deeter, 110th Ohio, has since died.)

"Captain J. P. Dudrow, 122d Ohio, and Lieutenant R. W. Wiley, 110th Ohio, were each slightly wounded while acting as A. D. C.'s upon my staff."

Colonel Ebright had a premonition of his death. A few moments before 12 M. he sought me, and coolly told me he would be killed before the battle ended. He insisted upon telling me that he wanted his remains and effects sent to this home in Lancaster, Ohio, and I was asked to write his wife as to some property in the West which he feared she did not know about. He was impatient when I tried to remove the thought of imminent death from his mind. A few moments later the time for another advance came, and the interview with Colonel Ebright closed. In less than ten minutes, while he was riding near me he fell dead from his horse, pierced in the breast by a rifle ball. His apprehension of death was not prompted by fear. He had been through the slaughters of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor; had fought his regiment in the dead angle of Spotsylvania, and led it at Monocacy. It is needless to say I complied with his request.

Incidents like this were not uncommon.

The battle was a bloody one.

The Union killed and wounded were:(14)

Killed. Wounded. Aggregate. Officers. Officers. | Men. | Men. Sixth Army Corps (Wright) 18 193 111 1331 1653 Nineteenth Army Corps (Emory) 22 292 104 1450 1868 Army of W. Va. 6 98 34 649 787 Cavalry 7 61 29 275 372 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Totals 53 644 278 3705 4680

The casualties in my brigade were 4 officers and 46 men killed, 24 officers and 261 men wounded; aggregate, 335.(15) This was little less than the total loss in the three cavalry divisions.

There is no complete list of the Confederate losses so far as I can discover. Early reported his killed and wounded in this battle at 2141, and missing 1818, total, 3959.(16) Doubtless many of the missing were killed or wounded. General R. E. Rodes was killed in a charge with his division.(16) General Godwin and Colonel Patton were also killed; Generals Fitzhugh Lee and York were severely wounded.

This battle was inspiriting to the country. Lincoln, Stanton, and Grant each wired congratulations and thanks.(17)

Sheridan was now appointed a Brigadier-General in the regular army and assigned to the permanent command of the Middle Military District.

The Valley was soon to further reek with blood, and the torch of war was soon to consume it.

( 1) Sheridan was born March 6, 1831, and died August 5, 1888.

( 2) Mrs. Ricketts drove from Washington to Bull Run in her own carriage and besought Gen. J. E. Johnston to parole her husband, and allow her to take him to his home in Washington. This was refused, and her carriage was confiscated. In after years, when the Johnstons were in Washington, he holding high political positions, she refused to recognize them.

( 3) Members of his staff reported Sheridan as saying that the request for his personal body-guard was impudent, but could not be refused.

( 4) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., 145.

( 5) Ibid., 45.

( 6) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., pp. 107-112.

( 7) Ibid., p. 61.

( 8) Grant's Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 328.

( 9) Sheridan's Memoirs, vol. ii., pp. 4-7.

(10) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 46.

(11) Ibid., p. 555.

(12) Ibid., Part II., pp. 102-3.

(13) Colonel Horn survived the war, and died near Mitchellville, Md., October 4, 1897.

(14) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., 118.

(15) Ibid., p. 113.

(16) Ibid., p. 555.

(17) Ibid., pp. 61-2.

CHAPTER IX Battle of Fisher's Hill--Pursuit of Early--Devastation of the Shenandoah Valley (1864)--Cavalry Battle at Tom's Brook, and Minor Events

We left Sheridan's victorious army south of Winchester, five miles from the battle-field. It had only such opportunity for rest as can be obtained on the night succeeding a long day's battle. Some of the officers and soldiers returned to the scene of the conflict through the gloom of night, to minister to the wounded and to find and identify the bodies of dead friends. It was, however, the duty of the surgeons, hospital attendants, ambulance corps, and stretcher- bearers to care for the wounded; and the dead of both armies could be buried later. The bodies of some of the dead of the successful army are always sent home for interment. Chaplains are often instrumental in doing the latter. Rations, forage, and ammunition had now to be brought up and distributed. No matter how well soldiers have been supplied, they generally come out of a great battle with little.

Early's army bivouacked at Newtown, and at 3 A.M. of the 20th of September continued its retreat to Fisher's Hill, about two miles south of Strasburg. Early placed his army in a strong defensive position on this hill, which is an abrupt bluff with a precipitous rocky face, and immediately south of Tumbling Run. His right rested on the Shenandoah River, and his left extended to the narrow Cedar Creek Valley at the foot of Little North Mountain. This naturally strong position was well fortified and impregnable against front attack.

Sheridan's army moved at day-dawn of the 20th in pursuit, Emory in the advance. Wright and Emory occupied the heights around Strasburg on the evening of that day, and Crook's corps was moved to their right and rear, north of Cedar Creek, where it was concealed in the dense timber. Sheridan determined to use Crook to turn the enemy's left, if possible. The Nineteenth and Sixth Corps during the night of the 20th took position in the order named, from left to right, in front of Fisher's Hill. This was not accomplished without some fierce conflicts, brought on in dislodging the enemy from strongly fortified heights which he held in advance of his main line. A portion of my brigade was engaged in these preliminary movements all the night.( 1) The Third--Ricketts' division--was again on the right of the Sixth Corps and of the army as formed on the 21st. Near the close of the day I was informed by a staff officer of General Ricketts that my command was to be held in reserve behind the right, and that I was not likely to be engaged in the coming battle if the plan of the commanding general was carried out. I was directed to get my regiments into as comfortable a situation as possible for rest, and hence selected a good place to bivouac, and was employed in riding through the troops and telling the officers of the prospect of freedom from severe work the coming day when a brisk engagement broke out in my immediate front. A portion of the Second Division of the Sixth Corps was repulsed in an attempt, just at nightfall, to carry a fortified hill in front of our right, which Sheridan and Wright had suddenly decided must be taken for the security of our army.( 2) Wright, seeing my command near at hand, ordered Ricketts to send to me for a regiment to reinforce the repulsed troops. I sent the 126th Ohio under Captain George W. Hoge, and it soon became seriously imperilled in a renewed attack. Discovering this, I followed it with the 6th Maryland under Major C. K. Prentiss, and, uniting the two with other troops, charged the heights just at dark and carried them. My two regiments occupied them for the night.( 3)

Sheridan, on the 21st, ordered Torbert with Merritt and Wilson's cavalry divisions (save Devin's brigade) to the Luray Valley, with instructions to drive out any force of the enemy he might encounter, and, if possible, cross over from that Valley to New Market, and intercept Early's retreat, should the latter be defeated in the impending battle. Averell's cavalry division was on the Back or Cedar Creek road, well advanced.

The Sixth and Nineteenth Corps held their positions of the previous evening, and threatened the enemy in front. Part of my brigade was continued on the advance line during the forenoon of the 22d, the remainder in reserve. The real attack was to be made by Crook, but this rendered it desirable to conceal his movements and deceive the vigilant enemy. While Crook remained in hiding in the timber, Sheridan decided to demonstrate against Early's left centre in such way as to lead him to expect a formidable assault there. Accordingly the whole of Ricketts' division with Averell's cavalry was, about 12 M., rather defiantly displayed and moved conspicuously to our right, and close upon the enemy's front. My position in partial reserve made my command the most available for this movement. I was therefore ordered to take the advance, followed by Colonel Emerson with the First Brigade. The movement was made in full sight of the enemy and under the fire of his guns. We gained, after some fighting, a ridge that extended near to Tumbling Run on the north of the enemy's fortifications. The enemy fought hard to hold possession of this ridge as a protection to his left and as a good lookout. Under Ricketts' orders I continued by repeated charges to push the enemy along this ridge for about three quarters of a mile until he was forced to abandon it, cross the Run, and take refuge within his works. Under such cover as we could get my men were now held within easy musket shot of the enemy. During this movement our guns in the rear tried to aid us, but it was hard to tell which we suffered from the most--our own shells or the enemy's fire. Averell's cavalry pushed back the enemy's skirmishers still farther to our right.

The enemy, from his signal station of Three-Top Mountain, took the movements of Ricketts and Averell to be a preparation for a real attack, designed to fall upon the front of Ramseur's division, and he prepared to meet it. While these operations were taking place, Crook moved his infantry under cover of the thick timber along the face of Little North Mountain, and by 4 P.M. reached a position with his two divisions full on Early's left flank. Crook at once crossed the narrow Valley and bore down on the enemy's extreme left, which at once gave way. Ramseur, in my front, had been attentively watching Ricketts, and now seeing the danger from Crook, commenced drawing his troops out of his breastworks and changing front to his left. I was near enough to discover this movement, and, to prevent its consummation, I ordered an immediate charge, which was executed on a run. Ramseur, discovering the new and seemingly more imminent danger, tried to reoccupy his works, but, simultaneously, Crook charged, and Ramseur's troops, caught in the mist of his movement, fell into confusion, became panic-stricken, and fled through the timber or were captured. This spread a panic to Early's entire army. The troops of my command did not halt to fire in the charge, but crossed the Run and struggled up the precipitous banks and over the breastworks, suffering little loss, and were soon in possession of eight of the enemy's guns and some prisoners. They met inside of the enemy's fortifications and commingled with Crook's men. When the charge was well under way, Colonel George A. (Sandy) Forsyth ( 4) of Sheridan's staff reached me on the gallop. He was the bearer of orders, but did not deliver them. He only exclaimed: "You are all right; you need no orders." He, later, explained that Sheridan had sent him to direct me to assault, if opportunity presented, in co-operation with Crook.

In passing on horseback around the right of the enemy's works to gain an entrance, and while going up a steep hill in the timber, I fell in with a mounted officer wearing a plain blouse and a slouch hat, but with no insignia of rank. We continued together for a short time, he inquiring of the progress of the battle as I had observed it. I asked him if he knew what General Crook was doing. He modestly laughed, and said Crook was just then engaged with me in gaining an entrance to the enemy's fortifications, and that he supposed his command was pursuing Early. Here began an acquaintance with the hero of this battle, that ripened into a friendship which ended only with his death.

Early could not rally his troops to a stand, and all his guns in position behind his works fell into our hands. Night only saved him and his demoralized army from capture. The other divisions of the Sixth and the Nineteenth Corps came up promptly, but the battle was over with the assault.

Captain Jed. Hotchkiss, of the Topographical Engineers serving in Early's army, describes the operations in his journal of the 22d, thus:

"The enemy at 1 P.M. advanced several lines of battle in front of Ramseur, but did not come far, and only drove in our skirmish line. At 4.30 P.M. they drove in the skirmishers in front of Gordon and opened a lively artillery duel. At the same time a flanking force that had come on our left, near the North Mountain, advanced and drove away the cavalry and moved on the left flank of our infantry --rather beyond it. The brigade there (Battle's) was ordered to move to the left, and the whole line was ordered to extend that way, moving along the line of the breastworks. But the enemy attacking just then (5.30 P.M.) the second brigade from the left, instead of marching by the line of works, was marched across an angle by its commander. The enemy seeing this movement rushed over the works, and the brigade fled in confusion, thus letting the enemy into the rear of Early's division, as well as of Gordon's and the rest of Rodes'; our whole line gave way towards the right, offering little or no resistance, and the enemy came on and occupied our line. General Early and staff were near by, and I with others went after Wharton (to the right), but it was too late."

At 4 A.M. next morning Early dispatched Lee:

"Late yesterday the enemy attacked my position at Fisher's Hill and succeeded in driving back the left of my line, which was defended by the cavalry, and throwing a force in the rear of the left of my infantry, when the whole of the troops gave way in a panic and could not be rallied. This resulted in the loss of twelve pieces of artillery, though my loss in men is not large."( 5)

He, later, reported his killed and wounded at Fisher's Hill at 240, missing 995; total, 1235.( 6) Many of his missing were doubtless killed or wounded.

The Union killed and wounded were:( 7)

Killed. Wounded. Aggregate. Sixth Army Corps 27 208 235 Nineteenth Army Corps 15 86 101 Army of W. Va. (Crook) 8 152 160 Cavalry 2 11 13 --- --- --- Totals 52 457 509

The killed and wounded in my brigade were 80, exactly one half the casualties in Crook's command, and above one third in the Sixth Corps.

The victory of Fisher's Hill, though comparatively bloodless, was one of the most complete of the war. But from the inability of Torbert to drive Fitz Lee's cavalry (then under Wickham in consequence of Fitz Lee being wounded at Opequon) from the Luray Valley and to gain a position in Early's rear, the latter's army would have been destroyed. Torbert encountered Wickham in a narrow gorge and was unable to dislodge him in time. Sheridan's infantry assembled on the Valley pike south of Fisher's Hill after dark, and continuing the pursuit all night, capturing many stragglers and two more guns, reached Woodstock twelve miles farther south at daybreak. Averell was ordered to push forward up the Cedar Creek road and debouch at Woodstock in rear of the retreating foe. This, for some reason, he did not do, but soon after dark went into camp and awaited daylight. He reached Woodstock after the infantry corps, too late to cut off or assail the enemy. For this and some other alleged delinquencies Sheridan relieved him from command of his division, and assigned Colonel William H. Powell to succeed him.

Early collected his broken forces and essayed to make a stand at Rude's Hill, east of the Shenandoah and south of Mount Jackson. As our troops advanced to attack him, however, he withdrew rapidly in the direction of Staunton. After passing New Market he took a road leading to Brown's Gap, where he was joined by his cavalry from the Luray Valley and Kershaw's division and Cutshaw's artillery, which had left him at Stephenson's Depot on the 15th.

Not until the 25th did Torbert with his cavalry reach Sheridan at New Market. Some of Sheridan's infantry advanced as far as Mount Crawford and Lacey Springs, while the main body of the cavalry pushed to Staunton and Waynesboro.

An incident occurred on the evening of the 3d of October that had something to do with the severity of the orders relating to the destruction of property in the Shenandoah valley. Lieutenant John R. Meigs, Sheridan's engineer officer, while returning from a topographical survey of the country near Dayton, accompanied by two assistants, fell in with three men in our uniform, and rode with them towards Sheridan's headquarters. Suddenly these men turned on Lieutenant Meigs and, though demanding his surrender, shot and killed him. One of his assistants was captured and one escaped and reported the event. Sheridan was much enraged, as the killing of the Lieutenant was little less than murder, occurring, as it did, within our lines. The three men were probably disguised Confederates operating near their homes. Sheridan ordered Custer, who had succeeded to the command of Wilson's cavalry division, to burn all houses within an area of five miles within the spot where Meigs was killed. The next morning Custer proceeded to execute this order. The designated area included the village of Dayton. When a few houses had been burned the order was suspended, and Custer was required instead to bring in all able-bodied men as prisoners.( 8)

General T. W. Rosser, with a cavalry brigade from Richmond, joined Early on the 5th of October, and the latter's army, being otherwise much strengthened, soon began again to show signs of activity.

As the Sixth Corps was expected to rejoin the Army of the Potomac in front of Petersburg, Sheridan decided to withdraw at least as far as Strasburg, and he determined also to lay waste the Valley, as it was a great magazine of supplies for the Confederate armies. He commenced to move on the 6th, the infantry taking the advance. The cavalry had begun the work of destruction at Waynesboro and Staunton. It usually remained quiet during the day, then at night, while moving, set fire to all grain stacks, barns, and mills, thus leaving behind it nothing but a waste. The fires lit up the Valley and the mountain sides, producing a picture of resplendent grandeur seldom witnessed. The flames lighted up the fertile Valley, casting a hideous glare, commingled with clouds of smoke, over the foot- hills and to the summits of the great mountain ranges on each side of the doomed Valley. The occasional discharge of artillery helped to make the panorama sublime. Fire and sword here literally combined in the real work of war. Of the necessity or wisdom of this destruction of property there may be doubts, yet the war had then progressed to an acute stage. All possible means to hasten its termination seemed justifiable. Chambersburg, Pa., had been wantonly burned July 30, 1864. It has been charged that Sheridan declared that he would so completely destroy everything in the Valley that a "crow would have to carry a haversack when he flew over it." The Confederates, with Rosser, their new cavalry leader, pursued and daily assaulted Sheridan's rear-guard. This continued until the evening of the 8th. Rosser's apparent success was heralded in an exaggerated way at Richmond. He was bulletined there as the "Savior of the Valley." He had recently before his advent in the Valley won reputation in a raid on which he had captured and driven off some cattle belonging to Grant's army. Torbert was ordered by Sheridan, on the night of the 8th, to whip Rosser the next morning or get whipped.

The infantry of the army was halted to await the issue of the cavalry battle. Sheridan informed Torbert that he would witness the fight from Round Top Mountain. Merritt's division was encamped on the Valley pike at the foot of this mountain, just north of Tom's Brook, and Custer's division about five miles farther north and west near Tumbling Run. Custer during the night moved southward by the Back road, which lay about three miles to the westward of the pike. At early daylight, Rosser, believing our army was still falling back, unexpectedly met and assailed Custer with three cavalry brigades, and almost simultaneously Merritt, in turn, assailed Lomax and Johnson's cavalry divisions on the valley pike. Merritt extended his right and Custer his left until the two divisions united, when, under Torbert, they charged upon and broke Rosser's lines all along Tom's Brook. The battle lasted about two hours, when Rosser's entire force fell into the wildest disorder, and in falling back degenerated into a rout. Torbert ( 9) pursued for twenty-five miles, capturing about three hundred prisoners, eleven pieces of artillery with their caissons, and all Rosser's wagons and ambulances, including his headquarters wagons with his official papers. It was said that subsequent bulletins announcing Rosser's anticipated victories for the day were found. Rosser's fame as a soldier, earned by years of hard fighting, was lost at Tom's Brook in two hours.

Disasters had now become so frequent to the Confederates in the Valley that some wag at Richmond marked a fresh shipment of new guns destined for Early's army: "General Sheridan, care of Jubal A. Early."

Sheridan's army retired to the north of Cedar Creek. The Sixth Corps, having orders to rejoin the Army of the Potomac, continued its march eastward towards Front Royal, expecting to proceed to Piedmont and there take cars for Alexandria. It abandoned that route, however, on the 12th, and marched towards Ashby's Gap, with a view of passing through it to Washington, and going thence, by transports, to City Point.(10) When this corps was partly across the Shenandoah near Millwood, on the 13th, an order came from Sheridan for Wright to return with his corps to Cedar Creek. This order was given in consequence of Early's return to Fisher's Hill. The necessity of the Sixth Corps' action will soon be apparent. It reached Cedar Creek and went into camp at noon of the 14th.

I recall the incident of a red fox starting to run through the temporary bivouac of the corps at Millwood. The troops all turned out, about 10,000, formed a ring around it, while a few horsemen rode after it until it fell from fright and exhaustion. The officers and men of an army always enjoyed incidents of this character. There was, however, more serious diversion near at hand for these bronzed soldiers.

( 1) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 152.

( 2) Ibid., p. 152.

( 3) Ibid., p. 223 (Ricketts' Report).

( 4) Forsyth, precisely four years later, while in command of fifty picked scouts was surrounded on Beecher Island, on the Arickaree fork of the Republican River, by about nine hundred Indians, led by the celebrated chief, Roman Nose, and made the most desperate fight known in the annals of our Indian wars. Lieutenant Beecher, Surgeon Movers, and six of the scouts were killed and twenty others severely wounded. Forsyth was himself struck in the right thigh and his left leg was broken by rifle balls. He held out eight days; meantime two of his scouts succeeded in eluding the Indians, and, reaching Fort Wallace, 110 miles distant, returned with a relieving party.--Custer's Life on the Plains, 88-98.

( 5) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 557.

( 6) Ibid., p. 556.

( 7) Ibid., p. 124.

( 8) Memoirs of Sheridan, vol. ii., pp. 50-2.

( 9) General A. T. A. Torbert distinguished himself on many fields and survived the war. While making a voyage on the steamer Vera Cruz he was shipwrecked off the Florida coast, August 29, 1880. He heroically aided others to escape death, and with almost superhuman exertion kept himself afloat on a broken spar for twenty hours, and thus reached shore, only to sink down and die from exhaustion.

(10) Memoirs of Sheridan, vol. ii., p. 59.

CHAPTER X Battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, with Comments Thereon-- Also Personal Mention and Incidents

General Early, upon his arrival at Fisher's Hill with his reorganized army, assumed, on the 13th of October, an aggressive attitude by pushing a division of infantry north of Strasburg and his cavalry along the Back road towards Cedar Creek. This brought on sharp engagements, in which Colonel Thoburn's division of Crook's corps and Custer's cavalry participated. Early seems to have acted in the belief that all but Crook's command had gone to Petersburg. This action resulted in bringing Wright back to Cedar Creek, as we have seen.

Secretary Stanton, by telegram on the 13th, summoned Sheridan to Washington for consultation as to the latter's future operations.

Early, having met unexpected resistance, withdrew his forces at night to Fisher's Hill, and quiet being restored, Sheridan started on the 16th to Washington, via Front Royal and Manassas Gap. He took with him as far as Front Royal his cavalry, under Torbert, intending to push them through Chester Gap to the Virginia Central Railroad at Charlottesville, to make an extensive raid east of the Blue Ridge.

Early had a signal station on Three Top Mountain in plain view of our signal officers, who knew the Confederate signal code. From this station there was flagged, on the 16th, this message:

"To Lieutenant-General Early:

"Be ready to move as soon as my forces join you, and we will crush Sheridan.

"Longstreet, Lieutenant-General."

Wright, who was left in command of the army at Cedar Creek, forwarded this message to Sheridan, who received it when near Front Royal. Wright, also, in a communication accompanying the message, expressed fear of an attack in the absence of the cavalry. He anticipated that it would fall on his right. Sheridan, deeming it best to be on the safe side, abandoned the cavalry raid, and ordered Torbert to report back to Wright, cautioning the latter to be well on his guard, and expressing the opinion to Wright that if attacked he could beat the enemy.( 1) Sheridan with a cavalry escort proceeded to Rectortown, the terminus of the railroad; there took cars, and arrived in Washington the morning of the 17th. He held a consultation with Stanton and Halleck, and with certain members of his staff left Washington at 12 M. by rail, arriving the evening of the same day at Martinsburg. Here he was met by an escort of three hundred cavalry. He left Martinsburg the next morning (18th), and reached Winchester about 3 P.M., twenty-two miles distant. He tarried at the latter place over night, making some survey of the surrounding heights as to their utility for fortifications.

But to return to his army. Torbert reached Cedar Creek with the cavalry on the 17th. The Longstreet message was a ruse. Longstreet, though in Richmond, was not on duty, not having fully recovered from his wound received in the Wilderness.( 2)

The position of the opposing armies the night of the 18th of October can be briefly stated.

The Union Army was encamped on each side of the turnpike, facing southward, and north of Cedar Creek, a tributary of the Shenandoah, which, flowing in general direction from northwest to southeast, empties into the river about two miles west of Strasburg. The north branch of the Shenandoah flows northward to Fisher's Hill, thence bending to the eastward at the foot of and around the north end of Three Top (or Massanutten) Mountain, thence, forming a junction with the south branch, past Front Royal to the west and again northward, emptying into the Potomac at Harper's Ferry.

Crook's two divisions, Colonel Joseph Thoburn and Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes commanding, were wholly to the east of the pike; Thoburn's division well advanced, his front conforming to the course of the creek; the Nineteenth Corps (Emory's), two divisions, lay on each side of the pike, covering the bridge and ford in its immediate front, and the Sixth was on Emory's right. Ricketts, Wheaton, and Getty's divisions of the Sixth were encamped in the order named from left to right. Meadow Brook (sometimes called Marsh Run), a small stream, with rugged banks, flowing from north to south and emptying into Cedar Creek, separated the left of Ricketts' division from the right of the Nineteenth Corps. The Sixth Corps' front conformed to the line of Cedar Creek; Getty's division being retired, and consequently much nearer than the others to Middletown. My brigade was the left of the Sixth, and its left rested on Meadow Brook. Merritt's cavalry was in close proximity to Getty's right. Custer was about one and a half miles to Merritt's right, on the Back road beyond a range of hills and near the foot of Little North Mountain. The whole course of the Back road is through a rough country not adapted to cavalry operations. Powell's cavalry division was near Front Royal. Army headquarters were at the Belle Grove House on the heights west of the pike, immediately in rear of the right of the Nineteenth Corps. Wright's headquarters were a short distance to the rear of Sheridan's.

The supply and baggage trains of our army were about one mile behind its right centre and about the same distance from Middletown, a village twelve miles south of Winchester, and about two miles north of the Cedar Creek bridge. Getty and Merritt's camps were, in general, westward of Middletown. The front of our army covered about two miles; Custer's and Thoburn's divisions, on the right and left, being outside of this limit.

The Union Army was not intrenched, save a portion of the Nineteenth and Eighth Corps. Owing to reports that Early had withdrawn southward, Wright ordered a brigade of the Nineteenth Corps to start at daylight of the 19th to make a strong reconnoissance. The Union troops, except only the usual guards and pickets, quietly slept in their tents the night of the 18th of October.

The Confederate Army was encamped on Fisher's Hill, two miles south of Strasburg and about six miles from the centre of the Union Army, measured by the pike. Three Top Mountain was east and south of a bend of the Shenandoah; its north end abutting close up to the river. General J. B. Gordon and Captain Hotchkiss, from the Confederate signal station of Three Top, on the 18th, with field- glasses, marked the location of all the Union camps, and on their report Early decided to attack the next morning.( 3) Accordingly, Gordon, Ramseur, and Pegram's divisions and Payne's cavalry brigade were moved in the night across the river, thence along the foot of Three Top Mountain, and along its north end eastward to and again across the river at Bowman and McIntorf's Fords below the mouth of Cedar Creek, and thence, by 4 A.M., to a position east of the main camp of Crook's corps. These divisions were under Gordon. Kershaw and Wharton's divisions marched by the pike to the north of Strasburg, and there separated; the former moving to the eastward, accompanied by Early. Kershaw crossed Cedar Creek at Robert's Ford, about one and a half miles above its mouth, which brought him in front of Thoburn of Crook's corps. Wharton, followed by all of Early's artillery, continued on the pike and took position in advance of Hupp's Hill, less than a mile south of the bridge over Cedar Creek. He had orders to push across the bridge as soon as Gordon made an attack on the Union left and rear, and thus bring the artillery into action. Lomax's cavalry division, theretofore posted in Luray Valley, was ordered to elude Powell's cavalry, join the right of Gordon, and co-operate with him in the attack. Rosser's cavalry divisions were pushed up the night of the 18th close in front of Custer, with orders to attack simultaneously with Gordon. The enemy did not know Sheridan was absent from his army, and Payne's cavalry, which accompanied Gordon, was ordered to penetrate to the Belle Grove House and make him a prisoner.( 4)

Wright was in command of the army for all military operations, but otherwise it was commanded in Sheridan's name, during his absence, by his staff. Few of the army knew Sheridan was away when the battle opened.

At 4 A.M. the still sleeping Union Army was aroused by sharp firing far off on its right. Rosser had attacked Custer; but though there was some surprise, Custer held his ground. This was the initial attack, but almost at the moment Rosser's guns were heard came an assault on Thoburn by Kershaw, followed at once by Gordon with his three divisions and Payne's cavalry on Hayes' division of Crook's corps. Besides being surprised Crook's divisions were largely outnumbered, and, consequently, after a short and desperate resistance, both divisions were broken and somewhat dispersed. Thoburn was killed. The officers heroically did all in their power to rally the men, but some were captured, and seventeen pieces of artillery lost. Early soon joined Gordon with Kershaw, and together they fell on the left of the Nineteenth Corps, which was at the same time assailed in front by Wharton with all Early's artillery. The Nineteenth shared the fate of Crook's corps, and was soon broken and flying to the rear. This brought Early's five infantry divisions and his artillery together on the heights near the Belle Grove House, from whence they could operate against the Sixth Corps. Sheridan's headquarters were captured, his staff being forced to fly with such official papers as they could collect. Crook and Emory's commands were routed before it was fully day-dawn. The position of our cavalry was such that it could render no immediate aid against the main attack. Gordon prolonged his line towards Middletown, facing generally to the westward, and was joined on his right by some irregular cavalry, part of which appeared north of Middletown. These forces threatened our ammunition and other trains. A thick fog helped to conceal the enemy's movements. The disaster sustained must not be attributed to a want of skill and bravery on the part of the troops of the Eighth and Nineteenth. Crook, aided by such gallant officers as Colonels Thoburn, Thomas M. Harris, and Milton Wells of the First, and Colonels R. B. Hayes, H. F. Devol, James M. Comly, and B. F. Coates of his Second Division, and Emory, assisted by Generals McMillen and Dwight and Colonels Davis and Thomas of his First, and Generals Grover and Birge and Colonels Porter, Molineux, Dan. McCauley, and Shunk of his Second Division, did all possible under the circumstances to avert calamity. No braver or more skillful officers could be found. These corps were victims of a surprise. Their position was badly chosen, and not well protected by pickets and guards. There is no necessity to defend the good name of the officers and men who were so ingloriously routed. The battle, so successful thus far for Early, was, however, not over, nor was he to have continued good fortune. Wright had retained the active command of the Sixth Corps, though by virtue of seniority he was in command of the army. He, as soon as the attack was made, turned his corps over to Ricketts, who turned the command of his division (Third) over to me, and I turned my brigade over to Colonel Wm. H. Ball of the 122d Ohio. My division was the next to be struck by Early's troops. It had time, however, to break camp, form, and face about to the eastward. Before it was fairly daylight, my old brigade, under Colonel Ball, had crossed Meadow Brook by my order and was advancing up the heights near the Belle Grove House. Ball's brigade was run through by the broken troops of the Nineteenth, and it was feared for a time it could not be held steady. The enemy swung across the Valley pike to my left and rear, and thus completely isolated my division from other Union troops. Notwithstanding this situation the division firmly held its exposed position. To cover a wider front the brigades were fought and manoeuvred separately in single battle line, and often faced in different directions. I soon found I was able to drive or hold back any enemy in front of any part of my command. The fighting became general and furious and promised an early success to our arms. Wheaton, next on my right, and Getty next on his right as camped, likewise faced about and moved eastward towards the pike to meet the enemy already in possession of it immediately south of Middletown. Getty encountered some of Gordon's infantry and cavalry among our trains. Getty and Wheaton were soon widely separated from each other, and Wheaton, the nearest, was still not within a half mile of my division, which was the farthest south. The broken troops of the Eighth and Nineteenth Corps had retreated as far as Middletown, and some soon reached Newtown, pressing onward towards Winchester, carrying exaggerated reports of disaster to the whole army. Custer's cavalry was still held in Cedar Creek Valley by Rosser. Merritt came gallantly to the rescue, and by 7 A.M. the enemy were confronted at every point and held at bay. Getty met a strong force along Meadow Brook, near Middletown, but maintained himself, though his right flank was assailed by one of Gordon's divisions. Wheaton fought his division in the interval between Getty's and my divisions, he having frequently to change front, as had the other divisions, to meet flanking columns of the enemy. The complete isolation of the divisions of the Sixth Corps rendered it impossible for their commanders to know the real situation throughout the field, and neither of them had any assurance of co-operation or assistance from the others. My division, being the farthest south, was in great danger of being cut off. Each division maintained, from 6 A.M. until after 9 A.M., a battle of its own. Neither division was, during that time, driven from its position by any direct attack made on it, and every change of position by any considerable part of the Sixth Corps was deliberately made under orders and while not pressed by the enemy in front. Wright was with Getty or Wheaton until assured of their ability to cover the trains and to hold their ground. Ricketts, in command of the corps, after directing me to hold my position near Cedar Creek until further orders, left me, promising soon to return with assistance, but about 7 A.M. he fell pierced through the chest with a rifle ball, and was borne from the field.( 5) The command of the corps then devolved on Getty, and the command of his division of General L. A. Grant of Vermont.

About 8 A.M. Wright came to me with information of Getty and Wheaton's success. He said he would soon have cavalry on the enemy's right flank, and that he believed the battle could be won. He was tranquil, buoyant, and self-possessed. He did not seem to pay any attention to a wound under his chin, made by a passing bullet, though he was bleeding profusely. He had no staff officer with him, and was without escort.( 6) I ordered Captain Damon of my staff to report to him. Wright repeated Ricketts' order to hold my division behind Meadow Brook well down to Cedar Creek. This I had been enabled to do when not threatened on my left flank. It must be remembered that after 6 A.M. the divisions of the corps having been faced about, and the Eighth and Nineteenth Corps driven to the rear, Getty's division became the left, Wheaton's the centre, and my division the right of the army, the whole line facing, in general, eastward. In this position, isolated as before stated, the divisions maintained the battle. My greatest anxiety arose of the possibility of the ammunition of the men becoming exhausted. One officer conducted to us through the fog, smoke, and confusion a considerable supply of cartridges in boxes strapped on mules. Colonel Ball sent Captain R. W. Wiley of his staff to hasten forward another such mule-caravan. Owing to a change in the location of the brigade, he conducted it within the Confederate lines. Captain Wiley was the only officer of my division captured in the day's battle.

Getty, who had successfully fought with his division near Middletown, took up a position before 10 A.M. with the left of his division resting on the turnpike north of the town about three fourths of a mile.

My division was fiercely engaged all the morning. Colonel Tompkins, Chief of Artillery of the Sixth Corps, assembled a number of guns on the plateau to my left under Captains McKnight and Adams. They were unsupported by infantry. The enemy approached under cover of the smoke and fog and captured most of them. Under my direction, Colonel W. H. Henry and Captain C. K. Prentiss with the 10th Vermont and 6th Maryland changed front and retook them after a fierce struggle. The guns not disabled were drawn off by hand. My position was in open ground along the crest of a ridge, right resting near Cedar Creek, covering Marsh Run (or Meadow Brook). The enemy forced a crossing of the Run near its mouth, but soon were driven back; then a fierce attack came on my left from a large force. This too was repulsed. The battle raged with alternate assaults on the front and flanks of my division. They were each repulsed with considerable loss to the enemy. The situation grew so promising that about 9 A.M. I ordered a general charge along the whole line. This was promptly made, and the enemy were driven to the east of Marsh Run, and complete success seemed assured, when a large force of the enemy again appeared on my left in the direction of Middletown. The charge had to be suspended and combinations made to meet the new danger. The battle still raged with great fury, my line being frequently compelled to change front to meet the flank attacks. Sometimes a portion of it faced northward, another eastward, and another southward. The enemy was at no time able to drive us. All changes of position were made under my orders and after the enemy had been repulsed in his direct attacks. The importance of uniting the divisions of the Sixth Corps was kept in mind, and as the enemy was driven back on my left, my command slowly moved northward towards Getty and Wheaton's battles. My battle had been maintained, in general, a mile and more southwestward of Middletown and in the vicinity of our camps of the night before. Getty and Wheaton had thus far fought their divisions near Marsh Run to the south of Middletown. Before 10 A.M., I reached the Woollen Mill road that ran parallel to the general line my troops were then holding and almost at right angles to the turnpike, westward to Cedar Creek from the south end of Middletown. At this time the enemy was in my front, and our flanks were no longer threatened. He had suspended further attacks with his infantry, but concentrated on us a heavy artillery fire which our guns returned. We had lost few prisoners; even the wounded of the division had been brought off. The men were in compact order and no demoralization had taken place. The captured and missing from the division the entire day was two officers and thirty-four men.( 7) From this last position I leisurely moved the division to the left and rear over the Old Forge road (which extended west from the Valley pike at the north end of Middletown over Middle Marsh Brook and a ridge to the Creek), passing Wheaton's front, and united with Getty's right. Emerson's brigade of the division through a mistake temporarily moved a short distance north of the line designated, but the error was promptly corrected. Colonel Ball was then, by me, directed to cover the front of the entire division with a heavy line of skirmishers, and he accordingly deployed the 110th Ohio and 138th Pennsylvania under Lieutenant-Colonel Otho H. Binkley, and moved them about three hundred yards to the front along the outskirts of a woods, with orders to hold the enemy in check as long as possible if attacked. Orders were at once given to resupply the troops with ammunition. Wheaton's division soon formed on my right, and for the first time after the battle opened the Sixth Corps was united.

The enemy was now in possession of the camps (except of the cavalry) of our army, and was flushed with success. Wright had given orders for all the broken troops to be re-organized, and for Merritt and Custer's cavalry to move from the right to the left of the army,( 8) and the division commanders were told the enemy would be attacked about 12 M.

We left Sheridan at Winchester. He remained there the night of the 18th of October. Before rising in the morning an officer on picket duty in front of the city reported artillery firing in the direction of his army. Sheridan interpreted this as a strong reconnoissance in which the enemy was being felt. He had been notified the night before that Wright had ordered such a reconnoissance. Further reports of heavy firing having reached him, he, at 8.30 A.M. started to join his army. When he reached Mill Creek just south of Winchester, with his escort following, he distinctly heard the continuous roar of artillery, which satisfied him his army was engaged in strong battle. As he approached Kearnstown and came upon a high place in the road, he caught sight of some demoralized soldiers, camp followers, and baggage and sutler wagons, in great confusion, hurrying to the rear. There were in this mixed mass sutlers and their clerks, teamsters, bummers, cow-leaders, servants, and all manner of camp followers. The sight greatly disturbed Sheridan; it was almost appalling to him. Such a scene in greater or less degree may usually be witnessed in the rear of any great army in battle. The common false reports of the army being all overwhelmed and in retreat were proclaimed by these flying men as justification of their own disgraceful conduct. Sheridan, notwithstanding his experience as a soldier, was impressed with the belief that his whole army was defeated and in retreat.( 9) He formed, while riding through these people, erroneous impressions of what had taken place in the morning battle which were never removed from his mind. The steady roar of guns and rattle of musketry should have told him that some organized forces were, at least, baring their breasts bravely to the enemy and standing as food for shot and shell. Sheridan mistook the disorganized horde he passed through for substantial portions of a wholly routed army, and this mistake prevented him, even later, from clearly understanding the real situation.

He first met Torbert, his Chief of Cavalry, and from him only learned what had taken place to the left of and around Middletown. Torbert, who had not been to the right, where the battle with infantry had raged for hours, assumed that demoralization extended over that part of the field. Next Sheridan came to Getty's division (10.30 A.M.),(10) and finding it and its brave commander in unbroken line, facing the foe, assumed without further investigation that no other infantry troops were doing likewise. He justly gives Getty's division and the cavalry credit for being "in the presence of and resisting the enemy."(11) Getty, though theretofore in command of the Sixth Corps, did not pretend to know the position or the previous movements of the army. He had remained constantly with his division, and wisely held the turnpike, covering our left flank and trains. This, too, was according to Wright's order. When Sheridan arrived Getty was not actually engaged, but the enemy were, at long range, firing artillery. A shot passed close to Sheridan as he approached Getty. After the first salutation, Sheridan said to Getty: "Emory's corps is four miles to your rear, and Wheaton's division of your corps is two miles in your rear. I will form them on your division." Sheridan then said nothing of Crook's corps, or of the Third Division of the Sixth, which I commanded.(12)

Up to this time Sheridan had not met Wright, who was on the right of the army, nor could Sheridan see from the pike the troops of my division nor of Wheaton's, still to my right. My division was at no time as far to the rear as the left of Getty's line. Wright confirms my recollection of the position of my division at the time of Sheridan's arrival, but his recollection is that Wheaton had not completed a connection with my right.(13)

Colonel Ball, in his report dated the day after the battle, speaking of the final movement of the Second Brigade of my division to connect with Getty's division, correctly says: "We were ordered to move obliquely to the left and rear and connect with the right of the Second Division." Instead of having to advance to form line with Getty it was necessary to move obliquely to the rear. By about 10 A.M., the divisions of the Sixth Corps were united, the organized troops of our army were in line, and the enemy's flank movements were over. Thenceforth he had to meet us in front. Our trains were protected, and there was no thought of further retiring. The Sixth Corps had not lost any of its camp equipage, not a wagon, nor, permanently, a piece of artillery. Its organization was perfect, and there were no stragglers from its ranks. A strong line of skirmishers had been thrown forward and the men resupplied with ammunition.

An incident here occurred which came near causing my dismissal from the army. Colonel J. W. Snyder, of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery, on being ordered to hold his command ready for an early advance, notified me his men were practically out of ammunition, and that the ordnance officer reported there were no cartridges to be had of suitable size. This was the only regiment in the command armed with smooth-bore .69 calibre muskets. They required buck and ball. The other troops were armed with rifles, .58 calibre. I ordered the Colonel to instruct his men to throw away their muskets as fast as rifles could be found on the field to take their places. This his men eagerly did, and Colonel Snyder soon reported his regiment ready for action, with rifles in their hands and forty rounds of cartridges. This regiment, a very large and splendid one (three battalions, four companies each), was thus kept in line to participate in the impending conflict. After the incident had been almost forgotten a letter came through the army channels from the Chief of Ordnance at Washington, advising me that the captains of companies of the 9th New York had reported, severally, that their men had thrown away their muskets "October 19, 1864, by order of Colonel Keifer, division commander," and asking me for an explanation of the reprehensible order. I plead guilty and stated the circumstances giving rise to the unusual order, but soon received a further communication from the same officer informing me that my name had been sent to the President, through the Secretary of War, for dismissal. I was told some correspondence arose over the matter, in which Generals Sheridan and Wright approved my action fully. This incident serves now to enable me to remember that Wright proposed to attack Early at 12 M.

Two or three statements of Sheridan deserve special mention. Speaking of his appearance on the field, he says:

"When nearing the Valley pike, just south of Newtown, I saw about three fourths of a mile west of the pike a body of troops, which proved to be Ricketts and Wheaton's divisions of the Sixth Corps."

And speaking of a time after he had met Getty and Wright, he says:

"I ordered Custer's division back to the right flank, and returning to the place where my headquarters had been established, I met near them Ricketts' division under General Keifer and General Frank Wheaton's division, both marching to the front."(14)

The distance from Newtown to Middletown is five miles. My division was at no time on that day within four miles of Newtown. This is also true, I am sure, of Wheaton's division. Sheridan was deceived by false reports received before his arrival, and by the sight of magnified numbers of broken troops of other corps, who had continued to the rear. It was impossible for Sheridan to have met Wheaton and myself leading our divisions to the front; besides, our divisions were not at any time within a mile of his then headquarters. Wheaton's and the right of my division were farther advanced than any part of Getty's division. This is proved by the recollection of Wright, Getty, and others, also by the reports written soon after the battle by many officers.(15) Sheridan, when he wrote, must have remembered meeting Wheaton and myself when we, together, rode to him from the right to tell him of the position and situation of our respective commands, and to assure him we could hold our ground and advance as soon as ordered. This ride brought Wheaton and me nearer Newtown than we were at any other time that day. Sheridan was so impressed by the circumstances attending his coming to the field, and by his first meeting with Torbert and Getty, and the previous reports to him, that he assumed a condition of things which did not exist. It has been stated that my division joined Getty on his right. It, however, turned out that a portion of Hayes' division of Crook's corps had united with Getty's right, though not at first distinguished by me from the latter's troops.

Years after the battle, ex-President Hayes referred to some statements in Sheridan's Memoirs thus:

"In speaking of that fight he says that, passing up the pike, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other, coming to Cedar Creek, he struck the First Division of Getty, of the Sixth Corps; that he passed along that division a short distance, when there arose out of a hollow before him a line consisting entirely of officers of Crook's Army of West Virginia and of color-bearers. The army had been stampeded in the morning, but these people were not panic-stricken. They saluted him, but there was nothing now between the enemy and him and the fugitives but this division of Getty's. Said he: 'These officers seemed to rise right up from the ground.' This was twenty-four years afterward, but he recollects it perfectly well except names. Among them, however, he recollects seeing one, Colonel R. B. Hayes, since President of the United States, and drops the story there, leaving the impression that there were no men there--no privates, no army--simply some color- bearers and some officers.

"The fact is that in the hollow, just in the rear, was a line of men, a thousand or twelve hundred, probably, and they had thrown up a little barricade and were lying close behind it. He came up and saw these officers and did not see the men, or seems not to have seen them; but I had no idea at the time that he did not see the private soldiers in that line. He now tells that singular story of a line of officers, a line of color-bearers, and no force. The fact is that first came Getty's division, and then mine, and then came General Keifer's division, all lying down behind that barricade, but in good condition, except that there had been some losses in the morning. General Keifer was next to me, and then came the rest of the Sixth Corps, and farther down I have no doubt the Nineteenth Corps was in line. We had then been, I suppose, an hour or an hour and a half in that position."(16)

Passing from disputed, though important, points relating to the battle, all agree that when Sheridan reached his army a battle had been fought and lost to all appearance, and that the Union Army had been forced to retire to a new position. It should also be regarded beyond controversy that the Sixth Corps had been united before his arrival, that broken troops of other commands were being formed on the Sixth, and that the enemy also had been forced to change front, and was arrested in his advance.

Sheridan's presence went far towards giving confidence to his army, and to inspire the men with a spirit of success. While the army loved Wright, and believed in him, his temperament was not such as to cause him to work an army up to a high state of enthusiasm. A deep chagrin over the morning's disaster pervaded our army, and had much to do with the subsequent efforts to win a victory. Sheridan showed himself to the troops by riding along the front, and he was loudly cheered. He assured them of success before the day ended. During the lull in the day's battle some of the broken troops of the Eighth and Nineteenth Corps were reorganized.

Wright resumed command of his corps and Getty his division. Before Sheridan came Wright had instructed his division commanders that he would assume the offensive, and it was understood our army would advance about 12 M., as soon as an ample resupply of ammunition could be issued. Sheridan, however, postponed the time for assuming the offensive until 3 P.M. Early, still filled with high hopes of complete victory, about 1 P.M. pushed forward on our entire front. He did not drive in the strong line of skirmishers, and the attack was easily repulsed. It seemed to me then, as it did to Wright and others, that our whole army should have been thrown against the enemy on this repulse, and thus decided the day. Sheridan, however, adhered to his purpose to act on the defensive until later in the day. A false report that a Confederate column was moving towards Winchester on the Front Royal road caused Sheridan to delay his attack until about 4 P.M.

Early promptly realized that the conditions had changed, that the armies must meet face to face. It will be kept in mind that our army was now fronting southward instead of eastward, and Early's army was forced to face northward instead of westward, as in the morning's battle.

Early, hoping to hold the ground already won and thus reap some of the fruits of victory, retired, on his repulse, beyond the range of our guns, and took up a strong position, with his infantry and artillery, mainly on a natural amphitheatre of hills, centre a little retired, extending from a point north of Cedar Creek near Middle Marsh Brook on his left to and across the turnpike near Middletown, protecting his flanks west of this brook and east of the town with his cavalry and horse artillery. Early employed his men busily for the succeeding two hours in throwing up lunettes or redans to cover his field guns. His men were skillfully posted behind stone fences, common in the Valley, and on portions of his line behind temporary breastworks.

Early, before 12 P.M., wired Richmond he had won a complete victory, and would drive the Union Army across the Potomac. At 4 P.M. our army went forward in single line, with no considerable reserves, but in splendid style. Getty, with his left still on the turnpike, was the division of direction. My orders were to hold my left on Getty's right. Wheaton was to keep connection with my right, and the Nineteenth Corps with the right of the Sixth Corps; and the cavalry, Merritt east of Middletown and Custer on Cedar Creek, to cover the flanks. In verifying my position just before starting, I found troops of Hayes' command filling a space of two or three hundred yards between Getty's right and my left. I discovered Hayes temporarily resting on the ground a short distance in rear of his men, with his staff around him. From him I learned he had no orders to advance, whereupon I requested him to withdraw his men so I could close the interval before the movement commenced. He promptly rose, mounted his horse, and said: "If this army goes forward I will fill that gap, with or without orders." Unfortunately, orders came to him to withdraw, and with others of his corps (Eighth) form in reserve near the turnpike. His withdrawal left, at the last moment, a gap which could only be filled by obliqueing my division to the left as it was moving forward. This produced some unsteadiness in the line, and the right brigade (Emerson's) continued the movement too long, causing some massing of troops in the centre of the division, and some disorder resulted while they were under a severe infantry and artillery fire. This necessary movement also caused an interval between Wheaton's division and mine, thereby imperilling my right. Our attack, however, was not checked until we had gone forward about one mile. The enemy's centre was driven back upon his partially intrenched line on the heights mentioned. This brought my division under a most destructive fire of artillery and infantry from front and flanks. My right flank was especially exposed, as it had gone forward farther than the troops on the right.

The loss in the division was severe, and it became impossible to hold the exposed troops to the charge. They had not fired as they advanced. The division retired a short distance, where it was halted and promptly faced about. In less than five minutes it was again charging the Confederate left centre. The right of Getty's division and Wheaton's left went forward with the second charge, and an advance position in close rifle range of the enemy was gained and held. My division was partly protected by a stone fence located on the north of an open field, while the Confederates held the farther side of the field, about three hundred yards distant, and were also protected by a stone fence as well as by some temporary breastworks. The enemy occupied the higher ground, and the field was lower in the centre than on either side. The battle here was obstinate and, for a time, promised to extend into the night. Early's artillery in my front did little execution, as it was located on the crest of the hills behind his infantry line, and the gunners, when they undertook to work their guns, were exposed to our infantry fire. Wheaton's division and that part of the Nineteenth Corps to his right, though not keeping pace with the centre, steadily gained ground; likewise the cavalry. Getty, though under orders to hold his left on the pike, moved his division forward slowly, making a left half wheel. In this movement Getty's left reached Middletown, and his right swung somewhat past it on the west.

Merritt's cavalry pushed around east of Middletown. At this juncture, Kershaw's division and part of Gordon's division were in front of my right and part of Ramseur's in front of my left. Pegram's and Wharton's divisions were in front of Getty, Wharton being, in part, east of the pike confronting our cavalry. Early's left was held by Gordon's troops, including some of his cavalry.(17) Early now made heroic efforts to hold his position, hoping at night he could withdraw with some of the fruits of victory. Sheridan made every possible exertion to dislodge the enemy, and to accomplish this he was much engaged, personally, on the flanks with the cavalry. Wright, calm, confident, and unperturbed, gave close attention to his corps, and was constantly exposed. I frequently met him at this crisis. He ordered a further charge upon the enemy's centre. This seemed impossible with the tired troops. Preparation was, however, made to attempt it. The firing in this last position had continued for about an hour, during which both sides had suffered heavily. As the sun was going down behind the mountains that autumnal evening it became apparent something decisive must take place or night would end the day of blood leaving the enemy in possession of the principal part of the battle-field.

So confident was Early of final victory that, earlier, in the day, he ordered up his headquarters and supply trains, and by 4 P.M. they commenced to arrive on the field.

It must be remembered that the two armies had been manoeuvring and fighting for twelve hours, with little food or rest and an insufficient supply of water. Exhausted troops may be held in line, especially when under some cover, but it is difficult to move then in a charge with the spirit essential to success. There remained a considerable interval between Wheaton's left and my right. An illustrative incident again occurred here in resupplying our men with ammunition. Three mules loaded with boxes filled with cartridges were conducted by an ordnance sergeant through the interval on my right in open view of both armies, and with indifferent leisure to and behind the stone wall occupied by the Confederates. The sergeant and his party were not fired on. Word was passed along the line for my division to make a charge on a given signal, and all subordinate officers were instructed to use the utmost exertion to make it a success. The incident of the sergeant and his party going into the enemy's line served to suggest to me the possibility of penetrating it with a small body of our soldiers.

Before giving an order to charge, I instructed Colonel Emerson, commanding the First Brigade, to hastily form, under a competent staff officer, a small body of men, and direct them to advance rapidly along the west of a stone wall extending traversely from my right to the enemy's position, and to penetrate through a gap between two of the enemy's brigades, with instructions to open an enfilading fire on him as soon as his flank was reached. The gap was between two of Gordon's brigades. The order was promptly and handsomely executed, and its execution produced the desired effect. Captain H. W. Day (151st New York, Acting Brigade Inspector) was charged with the execution of this order.(18)

The party consisted of about 125 men, each of whom knew that if unsuccessful death or capture must follow. Colonel Moses H. Granger (122d Ohio) voluntarily aided, and, in some sense, directed the movement of this small party. The gap was penetrated on the run and a fire opened on the exposed flanks of the Confederates which started them from the cover of their works and the stone wall. At this juncture the division, as ordered, poured a destructive fire upon the now exposed Confederates, and at once charging across the field, drove the enemy in utter rout. A panic seized Gordon's troops, who were the first struck, then spread to Kershaw's and Ramseur's divisions, successively on Gordon's right.(19)

I quote from the report of Colonel Emerson, commanding my First Brigade, in which he describes the final battle, including the breaking of Early's line:

"The brigade lay here under a fire of shell until about 4 P.M., when Captain Smith came with an order to move forward connecting on the left with the Second Brigade. The brigade moved through the woods, when it received a very heavy fire on the right flank, under which it was broken, but soon reformed in its old position, and again moved forward to a stone fence, the enemy being behind another stone wall in front with a clear field intervening. There was a stone wall running from the right flank of the brigade to the wall behind which the enemy lay. Some of my men lay scattered along this last named wall. The First Division lay to the right and in advance, nearly parallel with the enemy. Everything appeared to be at a deadlock, with heavy firing of artillery and musketry. At this stage Colonel Keifer, commanding division, came to me and inquired what men were those lying along the wall running from our line to the enemy's, and ordered me to send them forward to flank the enemy and drive them from their position. The execution of the order was entrusted to Captain H. W. Day, Inspector of the [Second] Brigade, who proceeded along the wall, and getting on the enemy's flank dislodged them, when the brigade was moved rapidly forward, in connection with the Second Brigade, and did not stop until we arrived in the works of the Nineteenth Corps, when, in accordance with orders from Colonel Keifer, the brigade went into its position of the morning, got its breakfast, and encamped, satisfied that it had done a good day's work before breakfast."(20)

Also from a report of Colonel Ball, commanding Second Brigade:

"About 3 P.M. the whole army advanced in one line upon the enemy. Immediately before advancing the troops were withdrawn to the left, and my left connected with the Second Division, Sixth Army Corps, while my right connected with the First Brigade, Third Division. We advanced half a mile to the edge of the woods, when we were met by a well-directed fire from the right flank. This fire was returned with spirit some fifteen minutes, when the troops wavered and fell back a short distance in some disorder. The Second and Third Divisions gave way at the same time. The line was speedily reformed and moved forward and became engaged with the enemy again, each force occupying a stone wall. Advantage was taken of a wall or fence running perpendicular to and connecting with that occupied by the enemy. After the action had continued here about three quarters of an hour a heavy volley was fired at the enemy from the transverse wall. A hurried and general retreat of the enemy immediately followed, and our troops eagerly followed, firing upon the retreating army as it ran, and giving no opportunity to the enemy to reform or make a stand.

"Several efforts were made by the enemy during the pursuit to rally, but the enthusiastic pursuit foiled all such efforts. Our troops were subject to artillery fire of solid shot, shell, and grape during the pursuit, and we reached the intrenchments of the Nineteenth Army Corps (which were captured in the morning) as the sun set. Here the pursuit by the infantry was discontinued. The first and second, and probably the third colors planted on the recovered works of the Nineteenth Army Corps were of regiments composing this brigade."(21)

General Early tells the effect on his army of penetrating his line by the small body of our troops:

"A number of bold attempts were made during the subsequent part of the day, by the enemy's cavalry, to break our line on the right, but they were invariably repulsed. Late in the afternoon, the enemy's infantry advanced against Ramseur, Kershaw, and Gordon's lines, and the attack on Ramseur and Kershaw's front was handsomely repulsed in my view, and I hoped that the day was finally ours, but a portion of the enemy had penetrated an interval which was between Evans' brigade, on the extreme left, and the rest of the line, when that brigade gave way, and Gordon's other brigades soon followed. General Gordon made every possible effort to rally his men and lead them back against the enemy, but without avail. The information of this affair, with exaggerations, passed rapidly along Kershaw and Ramseur's lines, and their men, under the apprehension of being flanked, commenced falling back in disorder, though no enemy was pressing them, and this gave me the first intimation of Gordon's condition. At the same time the enemy's cavalry, observing the disorder on our ranks, made another charge on our right, but was again repulsed. Every effort was made to stop and rally Kershaw and Ramseur's men, but the mass of them resisted all appeals, and continued to go to the rear without waiting for any effort to retrieve the partial disaster."(22)

The charge of the division resulted in the total overthrow of Early's army. Pegram and Wharton's divisions on our extreme left near Middletown were soon involved in the disaster, and our whole army went forward, meeting little resistance, taking many prisoners and guns, only halting when Early's forces were either destroyed, captured, or driven in the wildest disorder beyond Cedar Creek.(23) Our cavalry under Merritt and Custer pursued until late in the night to Fisher's Hill, south of Strasburg, and made many captures.

It often has been claimed that the cavalry on the right is entitled to the credit of overthrowing Early's army. It is true Custer did make some attempts on Gordon's left and rear, but the appearance of Rosser's cavalry on Custer's right, north and east of Cedar Creek, called him off, and it was not until after Early's position had been penetrated and a general retreat had commenced that Custer again appeared on the enemy's flank and rear. His presence there had much to do with the wild retreat of Early's men. Custer, who claimed much for his cavalry, and insisted that it captured forty- five pieces of artillery, etc., did not in his report of the battle pretend that his division caused the final break in Early's forces. Speaking of his last charge on the left, Custer says:

"Seeing so large a force of cavalry bearing rapidly down upon an unprotected flank and their line of retreat in danger of being intercepted, the lines of the enemy, already broken, now gave way in the utmost confusion."(24)

Part of Early's artillery and caissons, with ammunition and supply trains, also ambulances and many battle flags, were captured north of Cedar Creek. The cavalry, however, seized, south of the Creek, other substantial fruits of the great victory, including many guns and headquarters baggage and other trains, and some prisoners. A panic seized teamsters on the turnpike; they cut out mules or horses to escape upon, leaving the teams to mingle in the greatest disorder. Drivers of ambulances filled with dead and wounded also fled, and the animals ran with them unguided over the field. The scene was of the wildest ruin. The gloom of night soon fell over the field to add to its appalling character.

The guns lost by the Eighth and Nineteenth Corps were taken in the morning to the public square of Strasburg and triumphantly parked on exhibition. Our cavalry found them there at night. Little that makes up an army was left to Early; the disaster reached every part of his army save, possibly, his cavalry which operated on the remote flanks. In a large sense, Rosser's cavalry, throughout the day, had been neutralized by a portion of Custer's, and Lomax had been held back by Powell on the Front Royal road. Dismay indescribable extended to the Confederate officers as well as the private soldiers. Among the former were some of the best and bravest the South produced. Early himself possessed the confidence of General Lee. Early had, as division commanders, General John B. Gordon (since in the United States Senate), Joseph B. Kershaw, Stephen D. Ramseur, John Pegram, and Gabriel C. Wharton, all of whom had won distinction. Ramseur fell mortally wounded in attempting a last stand near the Belle Grove House, and died there. Early fled from the field, surrounded by a few faithful followers, deeply chagrined and dejected, and filled with unjust censure of his own troops.(25) The next day found him still without an organized army.(26) He seems to have deserved a better fate. His star of military glory had set. It never rose again. A few months later he reached Richmond with a single attendant, having barely escaped capture shortly before by a detachment of Sheridan's cavalry. He finally returned to Southwest Virginia, where Lee relieved him of all command, March 30, 1865.

His misfortunes in the Valley, doubtless, had much to do with his continued implacable hatred to the Union. Sheridan was his nemesis. Just after Kirby Smith had surrendered in 1865 and Sheridan was on his way to the Rio Grande, the latter encountered Early escaping across the Mississippi in a small boat, with his horses swimming beside it. He got away, but his horses were captured.(27)

Sheridan, for his great skill and gallantry, justly won the plaudits of his country, and his fame as a soldier will be immortal, but not alone on account of his victory at Cedar Creek, nor on account of "Sheridan's Ride," as described by the poet Read.(28)

My division, at dark, resumed its camp of the night before, as did other divisions of the army.

When the fifteen hours of carnage had ceased, and the sun had gone down, spreading the gloom of a chilly October night over the wide extended field, there remained a scene more horrid than usual. The dead and dying of the two armies were commingled. Many of the wounded had dragged themselves to the streams in search of the first want of a wounded man--water. Many mangled and loosed horses were straggling over the field to add to the confusion. Wagons, gun-carriages, and caissons were strewn in disorder in the rear of the last stand of the Confederate Army. Abandoned ambulances, sometimes filled with dead and dying Confederates, were to be seen in large numbers, and loose teams dragged overturned vehicles over the hills and through the ravines. Dead and dying men were found in the darkness almost everywhere. Cries of agony from the suffering victims were heard in all directions, and the moans of wounded animals added much to the horrors of the night.

"Mercy abandons the arena of battle," but when the conflict is ended mercy again asserts itself. The disabled of both armies were cared for alike. Far into the night, with some all the long night, the heroes in the day's strife ministered to friend and foe alike, where but the night before our army had peacefully slumbered, little dreaming of the death struggle of the coming day. To an efficient medical corps, however, belong the chief credit for the good work done in caring for the unfortunate.

The loss in officers was unusually great. Besides Colonel Thoburn, killed in the opening of the battle, General D. D. Bidwell fell early in the day, and Colonel Charles R. Lowell, Jr., was killed near its close while leading a charge of his cavalry brigade. Eighty-six Union officers were killed or mortally wounded.

Many distinguished officers were wounded. Of the six officers belonging to my brigade staff who were turned over to Colonel Ball in the early morning, one only (Captain J. T. Rorer) remained uninjured at night. Two were dead.

All was peaceful enough on the 20th, though on every hand the evidence of the preceding day's struggle was to be seen. The dead of both armies were buried--the blue and the gray in separate trenches, to await the resurrection morn.

I have no purpose to speak of individual acts of bravery. The number of killed and wounded of each army was about the same. The casualties in my division, excluding 36 captured or missing, were, killed, 8 officers and 100 men; wounded, 34 officers and 528 men; total, 670. Wheaton lost, killed and wounded, 470; and Getty, 677. The killed and wounded in the Sixth Corps were 1926, including 109 of its artillery.

Much credit for the victory was given by Sheridan to the cavalry. Its total loss, in the three divisions under Torbert, was, killed, 2 officers and 27 men; wounded, 9 officers and 115 men; total, 153; not one fourth the number killed and wounded in my infantry division alone. The killed and wounded in my old brigade, under Colonel Ball, were 421.

The casualties of the Union Army are shown by the following official table:(29)

Killed. Wounded. Captured or Missing. Aggregate. Officers. Officers. Officers. | Men. | Men. | Men. Sixth Army Corps 23 275 103 1525 6 194 2126 Nineteenth Army Corps 19 238 109 1127 14 776 2383 Army of West Virginia 7 41 17 253 10 530 858 Provisional Division 1 11 6 66 18 102 Cavalry 2 27 9 115 43 196 --- --- --- ---- --- ---- ---- Grand total 52 529 244 3186 30 1561 5665

The table includes 156 of the artillery, killed or wounded.

The total Union killed and wounded was 4074.

The dead and wounded in the Sixth Corps, and in some other of the infantry divisions approximated twenty per cent. of those engaged. This was larger by six per cent. than similar losses in the French army at Marengo, where Napoleon won a victory which enabled him, later, to wear the iron crown of Charlemagne; by six per cent. than at Austerlitz, the battle of the "Three Emperors"; by eight per cent. than in Wellington's army at Waterloo, where Napoleon's star of glory set; or in either the German or French army at Gravelotte, or at Sedan, where Napoleon III. laid down his imperial crown; and larger by about fifteen per cent. than the average like losses in the Austrian and French armies at Hohenlinden.

"Where drums beat at dead of night, Commanding the fires of death to light."

The number killed and wounded in this battle is far below that in some other great battles of the Rebellion, yet the loss for the Union Army alone was only a little below the aggregate like losses in the American army from Lexington to Yorktown (1775-1781), and approximately the same as in the American army in the Mexican War, from Palo Alto to the City of Mexico (1846-1848).(30)

If either of two things had not occurred prior to the battle, the result of it might have been different. Had Early not precipitated an attack with an infantry division and Rosser's cavalry on the 13th of October, Wright, with the Sixth Corps, would have gone to Petersburg; and had the fake (Longstreet) dispatch of the 16th not been flagged from the Confederate signal station on Three Top Mountain, Torbert, with the cavalry, would have been east of the Blue Ridge on the intended raid. But for the Longstreet dispatch, Sheridan most likely would have tarried in Washington or delayed his movements on his return trip. Could the Sixth Corps, could the cavalry, or could Sheridan have been spared from the battle?

The principal peculiarities of the engagement were: (1) That an ably commanded army was surprised in its camp, and, in considerable part, driven from it at the opening of the battle; (2) that notwithstanding this, it won, at the close of the day, the most signal and complete field-victory of the war, with the possible exception of those won at Nashville and Sailor's Creek; (3) the Confederate Army was destroyed, so there was no battle for the morrow. In most instances during the Rebellion, it transpired that the defeated army sullenly retired only a short way in condition to renew the fight.

Cedar Creek, in some respects, bears a striking analogy to Marengo. Both were dual in character, each two battles in one day; the victors of the morning being the defeated and routed of the evening. Sheridan's victory over Early, like that of Napoleon over Marshal Melas, left no further fighting for the victors the next day. In one other respect, also, the comparison holds good. The commander of each of the finally routed armies sent a message about the middle of the day of battle announcing to his government a great victory, to be followed at sunset with the news of a most signal disaster.

In other respects, how dissimilar? Napoleon was, from the opening to the close of Marengo, on the field, commanding in person, sharing the defeat, then the victory. Sheridan was absent and did not participate in the discomfiture of his army, but was present at the final success. Napoleon, after his repulse, was reinforced by Desaix with 6000 men; but the Army of the Shenandoah, after the disaster of the morning, was reinforced only by its proper commander --Sheridan.

There was not a great disparity of numbers in the opposing armies at Cedar Creek. Probably 20,000 men of all arms were engaged on each side. Relative position and situation of troops must be taken into account, as well as numbers, in determining the strength of one army over another. Early has tried to excuse his defeat by claiming he had the smaller army. In response to this, Sheridan and his Provost-Marshal, Crowninshield, have tried to show that Early lost in captured more men than he claimed he had present for duty.(31) After Opequon and Fisher's Hill Early was reinforced by Kershaw's division of Longstreet's corps, Cutshaw's three batteries, and Rosser's division of cavalry with light artillery, together with many smaller detachments, all of which participated in Cedar Creek. Sheridan received no reinforcements, and Edwards' brigade of the First Division of the Sixth, Currie's of the Nineteenth, and Curtis' of the Eighth Corps were each detached, after Opequon, on other duties, and were not at Cedar Creek. The surprise and breaking up in the morning of the greater parts of Crook's and Emory's corps eliminated them, in large part, from the day's battle, and left the Sixth Corps and the cavalry to wage an unequal contest.

The war closed on the bloody battle-ground of the Shenandoah Valley, so far as important operations were concerned, with Cedar Creek.

President Lincoln appointed me a Brigadier-General by brevet, November 30, 1864; the commission recited the appointment was "for gallant and meritorious services in the battles of Opequon, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, Virginia," and I was assigned to duty by him as Brigadier-General, December 29, 1864.

Sheridan's army returned to Kearnstown and went into winter quarters. The Sixth Corps was, however, soon transferred by rail and steamboat, via Harper's Ferry and Washington, to City Point, rejoining the Army of the Potomac, December 5, 1864.

( 1) Memoirs of Sheridan, vol. ii., p. 64.

( 2) Manassas to Appomattox (Longstreet), p. 574.

( 3) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 580, Captain Hotchkiss' Journal.

( 4) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 580.

( 5) General Ricketts was supposed to be mortally wounded. His wife a second time came to him on the battle-field. He was taken to Washington, his home, and slowly recovered. He was able again to perform some field service near the close of the war. He died of pneumonia, September 22, 1887, and is buried at Arlington.

( 6) Major A. F. Hayden, of Wright's staff, while the battle was raging in the early morning, was seen galloping towards me with one hand raised to indicate he had some important order. Just before reaching me he was shot through the body and plunged off his horse on the hard ground, rolling over and over until he lay almost in a ball. He was borne off in a blanket for dead. In February following I met him on a steamer on the Chesapeake returning to duty, and I saw him again at the Centennial in Philadelphia in 1876.

( 7) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 132.

( 8) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 53.

( 9) Memoirs of Sheridan, vol. ii., pp. 68-82.

(10) In one account Sheridan fixes his arrival at 9 A.M. In his Memoirs at 10.30 A.M. (p. 86). Getty, in his report of November, 1864, says, "Sheridan arrived at between 11 A.M. and 12 M." I made a note (still preserved), of the time Sheridan was seen by me riding up to the rear of Getty's division.

(11) Memoirs, p. 82.

(12) These facts are as stated in a private letter from General Getty to the writer, dated December 31, 1893.

(13) Here is an extract from a letter of General Wright to me, dated July 18, 1889:

"Orders had been given by me for the establishment of the lines, and Getty's and your divisions (the Second and Third) were in position, and Wheaton's (First) and the Nineteenth Corps were coming into position when General Sheridan arrived upon the ground. I advised him of what had been done and what it was intended to do, and he made no change in the dispositions I had made. Indeed, as I understand, he fully approved them. . . . General Sheridan did later make some change in the disposition of the cavalry."

(14) Memoirs, vol. ii., pp. 82, 85.

(15) Colonel Moses M. Granger, of the Second Brigade, Third Division, says: "It is plain that our brigade was in line on Getty's right a considerable time before Sheridan's arrival."-- Sketches War History, vol. iii., p. 124.

(16) This extract is from remarks of General Hayes made at a Loyal Legion banquet in Cincinnati, May 6, 1889. Sketches War History, vol. iv., p. 23.

(17) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 581.

(18) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 228, 234, 251-2, 202.

(19) Ibid., p. 562 (Early's Report).

(20) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 234.

(21) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., p. 250-1.

(22) Battles and Leaders, etc., vol. iv., p. 528.

(23) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., pp. 562-3, 580.

(24) Ibid., p. 524.

(25) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., pp. 562-3.

(26) Napoleon once remarked, "How much to be pitied is a general the day after a lost battle!"

(27) Memoirs of Sheridan, vol. ii., p. 211.

(28) The distance from Winchester to Middletown is twelve miles.

(29) War Records, vol. xliii., Part I., pp. 131, 137.

(30) Great events in war are not always measured by the quantity of blood shed. Sherman's dead and wounded list on his march from "Atlanta to the Sea" was only 531. Life of Grant (Church), pp. 297-8.

(31) Battles and Leaders, etc., vol. iv., p. 532.

CHAPTER XI Peace Negotiations--Lee's Suggestion to Jefferson Davis, 1862-- Fernando Wood's Correspondence with Mr. Lincoln, 1862--Mr. Stephens at Fortress Monroe, 1863--Horace Greeley--Niagara Falls Conference, 1864--Jacquess-Gilmore Visits to Richmond, 1863-4--F. P. Blair, Sen., Conference with Mr. Davis, 1865--Hampton Roads Conference, Mr. Lincoln and Seward and Stephens and Others, 1865--Ord-Longstreet, Lee and Grant Correspondence, 1865, and Lew Wallace and General Slaughter, Point Isabel Conference, 1865.

The war had now lasted nearly four years, with varied success in all the military departments, and the people North and South had long been satiated with its dire calamities. There had, from the start, been an anti-war party in the North, and in certain localities South there were large numbers of loyal men, many of whom joined the Union Army. The South was becoming exhausted in men and means. The blockade had become so efficient as to render it almost impossible for the Confederate authorities to get foreign supplies. It seemed to unprejudiced observers that the Confederacy must soon collapse. Sherman in his march from "Atlanta to the Sea" had cut the Confederacy in twain. It was without gold or silver, and its paper issues were valueless and passed only by compulsion within the Confederate lines. Provisions were obtainable only by a system of military seizure. The Confederacy had no credit at home or abroad; and there was a growing discontent with President Davis and his advisers. There also came to be a feeling in the South that slavery, in any event, was doomed. Lastly, the "cradle and the grave" were robbed to fill up the army; this by a relentless draft. The Confederate Congress passed an act authorizing the incorporation into the army of colored men--slaves. This was not well received, though General Lee approved of the policy, suggesting, however, that it would be necessary to give those who became soldiers, freedom.( 1)

Notwithstanding the desperate straits into which the Confederacy had fallen it still had in the field not less than 300,000 well- equipped soldiers, generally well commanded, and, although forced to act on the defensive, they were very formidable.

The officers and soldiers of the Union Army longest in the field, though confident of final and complete success, desired very much to see the war speedily terminated--to return to their families and to peaceful pursuits. This desire did not show itself so much as in discontent as in a restless disposition towards those in authority, who, it might be supposed, could in some way secure a peace. The credit of the United States remained good; its bonds commanded ready sale at home and abroad, yet an enormous debt was piling up at the rate of $4,000,000 daily, and its paper currency was depreciated to about thirty-five per cent. of its face value. These and many other causes led to a general desire for peace. On both sides, those in supreme authority were unjustly charged with a disposition to continue the war for ulterior purposes when it had been demonstrated that it was no longer justifiable.

This retrospect seems necessary before giving a summary of the various efforts to negotiate a peace. About the first open suggestion to that end came from General Robert E. Lee in a letter to President Davis written at Fredericktown, Maryland, September 8, 1862. This was just after the Second Bull Run, during the first Confederate invasion of Maryland and in the hey-day of the Confederacy. Davis was requested to join Lee's army, and, from its head, propose to the United States a recognition of the independence of the Confederate States. Lee in this letter showed himself something of a politician. He urged that a rejection of such a proposition would throw the responsibility of a continuance of the war on the Union authorities and thus aid, at the elections, the party in the country opposed to the war.( 2) Nothing, however, came of this suggestion of Lee.

Fernando Wood, who had kept himself in some sort of relations with President Lincoln, though at all times suspected by the latter, pretended in a letter to him, dated December 8, 1862, to have "reliable and truthful authority" for saying the Southern States would send representatives to Congress provided a general amnesty would permit them to do so. The President was asked to give immediate attention to the matter, and Wood suggested "that gentlemen whose former social and political relations with the leaders of the Southern revolt may be allowed to hold unofficial correspondence with them on this subject."

Mr. Lincoln, whose power to discern a sham, or a false pretense, exceeded that of any other man of his time, promptly responded: "I strongly suspect your information will prove groundless; nevertheless, I thank you for communicating it to me." He said further to Mr. Wood that if "the people of the Southern States would cease resistance, and would re-inaugurate, submit to, and maintain the national authority within the limits of such States, the war would cease on the part of the United States, and that if, within a reasonable time, a full and general amnesty were necessary to such an end, it would not be withheld." The President declined to suspend military operations "to try any experiment of negotiation." He expressed a desire for any "exact information" Mr. Wood might have, saying it "might be more valuable before than after January 1, 1863," referring, doubtless, to the promised Emancipation Proclamation. Wood's scheme, evidently having no substantial basis, aborted.( 3)

Others, about the same time, pestered Mr. Lincoln with plans and schemes for the termination of the war. One Duff Green, a Virginia politician, wrote from Richmond in January, 1863, asking the President for an interview "to pave the way for an early termination of the war." He asked the same permission from Jeff. Davis. His efforts came to nothing.

Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, conceiving, in the early summer of 1863, that the times were auspicious for peace negotiations, wrote Mr. Davis, asking to be sent to Washington, ostensibly to negotiate about the exchange of prisoners, but really to try to "turn attention to a general adjustment, upon such basis as might be ultimately acceptable to both parties, and stop the further effusion of blood." He assured Mr. Davis he had but one idea of final adjustment--"the recognition of the sovereignty of the States." Mr. Davis wired Stephens to repair to Richmond, and he arrived on June 22, 1863. Davis and his Cabinet appear to have seconded, with some heartiness, Stephens' scheme; all thinking it might result in aiding the "peace party" North. The Confederate leaders had been greatly encouraged by the gains of the Democratic party in the elections of 1862; by repeated attacks on the Administration by some of Lincoln's party friends; by public meetings held in New York City at which violent and denunciatory speeches were listened to from Fernando Wood and others, and by the nomination of Vallandigham for Governor of Ohio. The military situation was critical to both governments when Stephens reached Richmond. Pemberton was besieged and doomed to an early surrender at Vicksburg. On the other hand Lee was invading Pennsylvania, having just gained some successes in the Shenandoah Valley; and there was a great battle imminent on Northern soil. Stephens was directed to proceed by the Valley to join Lee, and from his headquarters try to reach Washington. Heavy rains and bad roads deterred the frail Vice- President. At length the Secretary of the Confederate Navy sent him in a small steamer (the Torpedo) under a flag of truce, accompanied by Commissioner Robert Ould as his secretary, to Fortress Monroe. He wrote from this place a letter to Admiral S. P. Lee in Hampton Roads, of date of July 4, 1863, saying he was "bearer of a communication in writing from Jefferson Davis, Commander-in- Chief of the land and naval forces of the Confederate States, to Abraham Lincoln, Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval forces of the United States," and that he desired to go to Washington in his own vessel. The titles by which Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Davis were designated had been previously determined on by Davis and his advisers. Anticipating there might be objection to the latter being referred to as President of the Confederacy, the foregoing was adopted as likely to be least objectionable. It was, however, solemnly agreed at Richmond that if the designations or titles adopted were such as to cause Mr. Stephens' communication to be rejected, he was to say that he had a communication to "President Lincoln from the President of the Confederacy." If this were objectionable as an apparent recognition of Davis as President of an independent nation, then Mr. Stephens' mission was to forthwith terminate. Admiral Lee wired to Mr. Lincoln Mr. Stephens' arrival, his mission, and desire to proceed to Washington. Mr. Lincoln did not stand on punctilio. He was, at first, inclined to send a long dispatch refusing Mr. Stephens permission to go to Washington, and saying nothing would be received "assuming the independence of the Confederate States, and anything will be received, and carefully considered by him, when offered by any influential person or persons, in terms not assuming the independence of the so-called Confederate States." This was, however, decided to be too much in detail, and the Secretary of the Navy was ordered to telegraph Admiral Lee:

"The request of A. H. Stephens is inadmissible. The customary agents and channels are adequate for all needful communication and conference between the United States and the insurgents."

This ended Mr. Stephens' first plans to secure peace. He, in his book written since the war, admits or pretends that the ulterior purpose of his proposed trip to Washington was, through a correspondence that would be published, "to deeply impress the growing constitutional (sic!) party at the North with a full realization of the true nature and ultimate tendencies of the war . . . that the surest way to maintain their liberties was to allow us the separate enjoyment of ours."( 4)

Great events took place the day Mr. Stephens reached Fortress Monroe. Vicksburg fell and Lee was, on that memorable Fourth of July, sending off his wounded, preparatory to a retreat from the fated field of Gettysburg.

Horace Greeley, a sincere enemy to slavery, who had somehow become imbued with the notion that the Administration was responsible for a prolongation of the war, became restless and complaining. He, at the head of the New York Tribune, gave vent to much criticism, which encouraged those in rebellion, and their friends in the North. He listened to all sorts of pretenders and, finally, was duped into the belief that a peace could be made through some Southern emissaries in Canada. An adventurer calling himself "William Cornell Jewett of Colorado," from Niagara Falls, July 5, 1864, wrote Mr. Greeley:

"I am authorized to say to you . . . that two ambassadors of Davis & Co. are now in Canada with full and complete powers for 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, you, them, and President Lincoln.( 5)

Mr. Greeley was seemingly so impressed with this as an opening for peace that he wrote a dictatorial letter to Mr. Lincoln reminding him of the long continuance of the war; asserting the country was dissatisfied with the manner in which it was conducted and averse to further calls for troops; avowing that there was a widespread conviction that the government did not desire peace; rebuking the President for not having received Mr. Stephens the year before, and prophesying that unless there were steps taken to show the country that honest efforts were being made to secure an early settlement of our difficulties the Union party would be defeated at the impending Presidential election. Greeley suggested this wholly impracticable and impossible plan of adjustment: (1) The Union to be restored and declared perpetual; (2) slavery abolished; (3) complete amnesty; (4) payment of $400,000,000 to slave States for their slaves; (5) the slave States to have representation based on their total population, and (6) a national convention to be called at once. With a tirade on the condition of the country and its credit and more warnings as to the coming election, Mr. Greeley concluded by demanding that negotiations should be opened with the persons at Niagara.

Mr. Lincoln, though without faith in either the parties in Canada or Greeley's plan, wrote the latter, July 9th, saying:

"If you can find any persons, anywhere, 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."

The President, thus prompt and frank, utterly surprised and disconcerted Mr. Greeley. Mr. Lincoln had accepted two main points in Greeley's plan--restoration of the Union and abandonment of slavery, and waived all others for the time being. The next day Mr. Greeley replied by repeating reproaches over what he called the "rude repulse" of Stephens, saying he thought the negotiators would not "open their budgets"; referring to the importance of doing something to aid the elections, and indicating that he might try to get a look into the hand of the Niagara parties. Again, on the 13th, he wrote Mr. Lincoln he had reliable information that Clement C. Clay of Alabama and Jacob Thompson of Mississippi were at Niagara Falls duly empowered to negotiate for peace, adding that he knew nothing as to terms, and saying that it was high time the slaughter was ended. The President, still without the slightest faith in Greeley or his Canada negotiators, but stung with the unjust assumption that he was averse to peace, wired Mr. Greeley, on the 15th:

"I was not expecting you to send me a letter, but to bring me a man or men," and saying a messenger with a letter was on the way to him.

The letter of Mr. Lincoln was brief, but met the case:

"Yours of the 13th is just received, and I am disappointed that you have not already reached here with those commissioners, if they would consent to come, on being shown my letter to you of the 9th inst. Show that and this to them, and if they will come on the terms in the former, bring them. I not only intend a sincere effort for peace, but I intend you shall be a personal witness that it is made."

Mr. Greeley, on this letter being placed in his hands, expressed much embarrassment, but decided to go in search of the Canada parties provided he had a safe conduct for C. C. Clay, Jacob Thompson, James P. Holcombe, and George N. Sanders to Washington, in company with himself. The safe conduct was obtained through John Hay, the messenger. On Mr. Greeley's arrival at Niagara he fell into the hands of "Colorado Jewett," his vainglorious correspondent, and through him addressed Clay, Thompson, and Holcombe this letter:

"I understand you are duly accredited from Richmond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace; that you desire to visit Washington in fulfilment of your mission; and that you further desire that George N. Sanders shall accompany you. If my information be thus far substantially correct, I am authorized by the President of the United States to tender you his safe conduct on the journey proposed, and to accompany you at the earliest time that will be agreeable to you."

Mr. Greeley, in this communication, ignored all the conditions in Mr. Lincoln's letters to him. Notwithstanding this, two of the persons named responded (Thompson not having been with Clay and Holcombe), saying they had no credentials to treat on the subject of peace, and hence could not accept his offer. Clay and Holcombe did say something about being acquainted with the views of their government, and if permitted to go to Richmond could get, for themselves or others, proper credentials. Mr. Greeley reported the situation, asking of the President further instructions. It now became apparent to everybody connected with the farce that if it was kept up further, Mr. Lincoln would be put in the attitude of suing the Confederacy for a peace. Lincoln determined to end the situation and at the same time define his position before the world, clearly. He dispatched John Hay to Niagara with this famous letter:

"To Whom it May Concern: Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war with the United States, will be received and considered by the Executive of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on other substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways.

"Abraham Lincoln."

This explicit letter was communicated to Holcombe at the Clifton House by Greeley and Hay. Mr. Greeley seems to have expressed to Jewett his regret over the "sad termination of the initiatory steps taken for peace, from the charge made by the President in his instructions given him." Nothing could have been more unjust. The Confederate emissaries wrote a long letter to Mr. Greeley, which they gave to the public, arraigning Mr. Lincoln for bad faith. They assumed Mr. Greeley had been sent by the President, on Mr. Lincoln's own motion, to invite them to Washington to confer as to a peace. It does not appear that Mr. Greeley tried to disabuse the public mind of this error or to make known the truth. He claimed to regard the safe conduct of July 16th as a wavier of all the President's precedent terms; also of his own previously expressed terms. The President did not think best to publish the whole correspondence, preferring to suffer the injustice in silence. Mr. Greeley continued in a bad state of mind. He refused to visit Mr. Lincoln, as requested, for a conference. He wrote the President on the 8th and again on the 9th of August, 1864, abusing certain Cabinet officers, reiterating his reproaches of Mr. Lincoln for not receiving Mr. Stephens, censuring him for not sending, after Vicksburg, a deputation to Richmond to ask for peace, complaining to him for not sending the "three biggest" Democrats in Congress to sue for peace, saying, however, little of his Niagara Falls fiasco, but adding: "Do not let the month pass without an earnest effort for peace," and closing his last letter thus:

"I beg you, implore you, to inaugurate or invite proposals for peace forthwith. And in case peace cannot now be made, consent to an armistice for one year, each party to retain, unmolested, all it now holds, but the rebel ports to be opened. Meantime, let a national convention be held, and there will surely be no more war at all events."

This suggestion of an armistice for one year and the opening of the rebel ports, was equivalent to proposing to give one year for the Confederacy to recuperate at home and from abroad; to strengthen its credit, to arrange new combinations, and to tie the hands of its friends of the Union and the Administration, to say nothing of the confession of failure to suppress the insurrection.

While Mr. Greeley was a Union man and had, throughout his public life, opposed slavery, he had no faith in war, nor did he have any of the instincts of a soldier to enable him to discern its tendencies. He was personally friendly, it may be assumed, to the President, but hostile to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, and probably intensely jealous of all the distinguished generals of the army. Greeley had long been, through the Tribune, a recognized factor in moulding public opinion, and now that war had come to absorb all other interests, his power and influence through the press had waned. He was wholly impracticable in executive matters. His failure to inaugurate a peace and to attain prominence in administrative affairs during the war embittered him through life towards his old- time party friends.

A review of Mr. Lincoln's course relating to Mr. Greeley's attempts to negotiate a peace shows the former acted with the utmost candor, and submitted, for the time, to the latter's dictatorial course and the unjust charge of wavering and acting in bad faith, rather then crush his old friend or endanger the general cause for selfish glory.( 6)

Though in a sense inaugurated in 1863, another quite as futile attempt to bring about peace was in progress in July, 1864. James F. Jaquess, Colonel of the 73d Illinois, serving in Rosecrans' army --a Methodist Episcopal clergyman, a D.D.--in May, 1863, wrote to James A. Garfield, Chief of Staff, calling attention to the fact that his church had divided on the slavery question; saying that the Methodist Episcopal Church South had been a leading element in the Rebellion and prominent in the prosecution of the war; that a considerable part of the territory of that church South was in the possession of the Union Army; that from its ministers, once bitterly opposed to the Union, he had learned in person:

"That they consider the Rebellion has killed the Methodist Episcopal Church South; that it has virtually obliterated slavery, and all the prominent questions of difference between the North and the South; that they are desirous of returning to the 'Old Church'; that their brethren of the South are most heartily tired of the Rebellion; and that they most ardently desire peace, and the privilege of returning to their allegiance to church and state, and that they will do this on the first offer coming from a reliable source. . . . And from these considerations, but not from these alone, but because God has laid the duty on me, I submit to the proper authorities the following proposition, viz.: I will go into the Southern Confederacy and return within ninety days with terms of peace that the government will accept."

He further stated;

"I propose no compromise with traitors--but their immediate return to allegiance to God and their country. . . . I propose to do this work in the name of the Lord; if He puts it in the hearts of my superiors to allow me to do it, I shall be thankful; if not, I have discharged my duty."

This letter Rosecrans forwarded to Mr. Lincoln, approving Jacquess' application. The President, seeing the difficulties, wrote Rosecrans saying Jacquess "could not go with any government authority," yet left to Rosecrans the discretion to grant the desired furlough. The furlough was granted. Jacquess, finding a mere furlough or church influence would not aid him in getting into the Confederate lines, repaired to Baltimore and besought General Schenck to send him via Fort Monore to Richmond. Schenck wired the President (July 13th) Jacquess' wishes and was answered: "Mr. Jacquess is a very worthy gentleman, but I can have nothing to do, directly or indirectly, with the matter he has in view." The Colonel, however, persuaded Schenck to send him to Fort Monroe, from whence he reached Richmond through the connivance of officers conducting the exchange of prisoners. In eleven days he was again in Baltimore asking the President by letter to grant him permission to report the "valuable information and proposals for peace" he had obtained. This permission was not granted. Mr. Lincoln well understood that he could have nothing official to report, and that in the brief time he was South he could have gained no reliable information concerning public sentiment. After lingering in Baltimore a little, this preacher- colonel rejoined his regiment. It does not appear that he ever made, even to Rosecrans or Garfield, any detailed report of this his first trip to Richmond. Though his efforts had so far failed, he was not discouraged, but with faith characteristic of his class, resolved upon another effort. He now associated with him one J. R. Gilmore, a lecturer and literary character known as "Edmund Kirke," who had spent some time in the Western armies. Both were enthusiastic, but their zeal constituted their principal merit in the matter attempted. The President declined a personal interview with Jacquess, but gave, July, 1864, Gilmore a pass, over his own signature, to Grant's headquarters, with a note to Grant to allow both "to pass our lines with ordinary baggage and go South." Mr. Gilmore had previously (June 15, 1864) written Mr. Lincoln telling him something of what Jacquess would propose. In substance he would say: "Lay down your arms and resume peaceful pursuits; the Emancipation Proclamation tells what will be done with the blacks; amnesty will be granted the masses, and no terms with rebels. The leaders to be allowed to seek safety abroad, and at the end of sixty days not one of them must be found in the United States." On the 16th, these two men passed from Butler's lines and were allowed to proceed, under surveillance, to Richmond. Next day they asked, through Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin, for an interview with "President Davis," which was accorded them at nine o'clock that night, both Davis and Benjamin being present.

The volunteer envoys were politely received, and the interview lasted two hours. It seems that Jacquess and Gilmore did not even mention the plan referred to in the latter's letter to Mr. Lincoln. This was, however, immaterial, as they had no authority to submit anything. They asked Mr. Davis if the "dispute" was not "narrowed down to this: Union or Disunion." Davis answered: "Yes, or independence or subjugation." The "envoys" suggested that the two governments should go to the people with two propositions: (1) "Peace with disunion and Southern independence," (2) "Peace with Union, emancipation, no confiscation, and universal amnesty." A vote to be taken on these propositions within sixty days, in which the citizens of the whole United States should participate; the proposition prevailing to be abided by. Pending the vote there should be an armistice. Mr. Davis promptly said:

"The plan is wholly impracticable. If the South were only one State it might work; but as it is, if only one State objected to emancipation, it would nullify the whole thing: for you are aware the people of Virginia cannot vote slavery out of South Carolina, nor the people of South Carolina vote it out of Virginia."

The interview proceeded on these lines without approaching agreement. It is evident that the "envoys" were overmatched by Davis and Benjamin, and were subjected to a charge of ignorance of the form of their own government. Davis indulged in some bluff about caring nothing for slavery, as his slaves were already freed by the war; and he declared the Southern people "will be free"--will govern themselves, if they "have to see every Southern plantation sacked and every Southern city in flames." Davis also announced that he would be pleased, at any time, to receive proposals "for peace on the basis of independence. It will be needless to approach me on any other."

The interview being over, Jacquess and Gilmore got quickly back into the Union lines, and North. The latter published an account of the interview in the Atlantic Monthly for September, 1864. His account does not materially differ from Benjamin's sent to the Confederate diplomatic agents in Europe, or Davis' in his Rise and Fall of the Confederacy.( 7)

On the whole the publication of the story of this visit to Richmond did much good to the Union cause in the pending Presidential campaign. The story closed the mouths of the peace factionists, though a few of Mr. Lincoln's party friends, fearing the result of the election, continued to demand more tangible testimony of his disposition to negotiate a peace; this largely for the purpose of its effect on the November election.

Henry J. Raymond, Chairman of the Republican National Executive Committee, at a meeting of the committee in New York, apprehensive of McClellan's nomination and possible election as President, August 22, 1864, indited a panicky letter to Mr. Lincoln, expressing great fear of the latter's defeat at the polls, giving some unfavorable predictions as to the result of the election by E. B. Washburne, Governor Morton, Simon Cameron, and others, deploring the failure of the army to gain victories, and assigning as a cause for reaction in public sentiment:

"The impression is in some minds, the fear and suspicion in others, that we are not to have peace in any event under this Administration until slavery is abandoned."

Continuing:

"In some way or other the suspicion is widely diffused that we can have peace with Union if we would. It is idle to reason with this belief--still more idle to denounce it. It can only be expelled by some authoritative act, at once bold enough to fix attention and distinct enough to defy incredulity and challenge respect."

Raymond was bold enough to ask that a commission be appointed to offer "peace to Davis, as the head of the rebel armies, on the sole condition of acknowledging the supremacy of the Constitution--all other questions to be settled in a convention of the people of all the States." He stated that if the proffer were accepted the people would put the execution of the details in loyal hands; if rejected "it would plant seeds of disaffection in the South and dispel all delusions about peace that prevail in the North." He demanded the proposal should be made at once, as Mr. Lincon's "spontaneous act." Mr. Raymond seemed to express the concurrent views of his Republican associates.( 8) Three days later he and his committee reached Washington to personally urge prompt action on the President. In the light of recent attempts at Niagara and Richmond the Raymond proposition was inadmissible, yet Mr. Lincoln resolved, if the step must be taken, to again make the proposer the instrument to demonstrate its folly. The President wrote a letter of instructions, which he felt he might have to give to Mr. Raymond, authorizing him to proceed to Richmond, and propose to "Honorable Jefferson Davis that upon the restoration of the Union and the national authority, the war shall cease at once, all remaining questions to be left for adjustment by peaceful modes." If this proposition were not accepted, Mr. Raymond was then "to request to be informed what terms, if any, embracing the restoration of the Union, would be accepted." "If the presentation of any terms embracing the restoration of the Union" were declined, then Mr. Raymond was directed to "request to be informed what terms of peace would be accepted; and on receiving any answer report the same to the Government."

It will be noticed that in the Raymond letter the President left out all reference to slavery. In previous ones he had insisted on the abandonment of slavery by the South as well as the restoration of the Union. On questions of amnesty, confiscation, and all other matters the President was ready to grant everything to the South.( 9)

This letter was never delivered. Mr. Raymond, in personal interviews with Mr. Lincoln, became convinced the latter understood the situation and the sentiment of the country better than he and his committee did, and the matter was dropped.

It must not be assumed that the President for a moment gave up his long settled purpose to insist on the abolition of slavery as a condition of peace. In his annual Message to Congress, December, 1864, in expressing his views and purposes on the subject of terminating the war, he says:

"In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the national authority on the part of the insurgents as the only indispensable condition to ending the war on the part of the government, I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that 'While I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress.' If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their instrument to perform it. In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it."

Mr. Lincoln was triumphantly re-elected, but notwithstanding this and the foreshadowed collapse of the Confederacy, Francis P. Blair, Sen., a veteran statesman who had flourished in Jackson's time, came forward in the hope that he might become a successful mediator between the North and the South. He personally gave the President hints of his wishes in this respect, but received from the latter no encouragement, save the remark: "Come to me after Savannah falls." Sherman took Savannah, December 22, 1864. Mr. Lincoln, without permitting Mr. Blair to reveal to him his plans in detail, on December 28th, wrote and signed a card: "Allow the bearer, F. P. Blair, Sr., to pass our lines, go South, and return."

With this credential Mr. Blair went to Grant at City Point, and under a flag of truce sent communications to "Jefferson Davis, President," etc., etc. The effect of one of the messages was to request an interview with Mr. Davis to confer upon plans that might ultimately "lead to something practicable"--peace. After some vexatious delay, Mr. Blair was allowed to go to Richmond, where, January 12, 1865, Davis accorded him an interview.

Mr. Blair explained to Mr. Davis that he came without President Lincoln's knowledge of his plans but with the latter's knowledge of his purpose to try and open peace negotiations. After some preliminary talk Mr. Blair read to Mr. Davis an elaborate paper containing his "suggestions." These covered a reference to slavery, "the cause of all our woes," saying it was doomed and hence no longer an insurmountable obstruction to pacification, adding that as the South proposed to use slaves to "conquer a peace," and to secure its independence, "their deliverance from bondage" must follow.(10) With slavery abolished, Mr. Blair suggested the war against the Union became a war for monarchy. Reference was then made to Maximilian's reign in Mexico, under Austrian and French protection, and of its danger to free institutions by establishing a "Bonaparte-Hapsburg dynasty on our Southern flank." Mr. Davis was complimented over his position being such as to be the instrument to avert the danger. It was suggested that Juarez at the head of the "Liberals of Mexico" could be persuaded to "devolve all the power he can command on President Davis--a dictatorship if necessary --to restore the rights of Mexico." Mr. Davis was to use his veteran Confederates and Mexican recruits, with, if necessary, "multitudes of the army of the North, officers and men" to drive out the invaders, uphold the Monroe Doctrine, and thus "restore the Mexican Republic." Mr. Blair further suggested that if Mr. Davis accomplished all this it would "ally his name with Washington and Jackson as a defender of the liberty of the country" and if "in delivering Mexico he should model its States in form and principle to adapt them to our Union and add a new Southern constellation to its benignant sky," he would attain further glory. This and more talk of like kind seemed to command Davis' attention, for Mr. Blair says he pronounced the scheme "possible to be solved." Mr. Davis declared he was "thoroughly for popular government."

There was nothing agreed upon, though the interview covered much ground as reported by Mr. Blair. Mr. Davis was evidently anxious for some arrangement, for on the 12th of January he addressed to Mr. Blair, who was still in Richmond, a note saying among other things he had "no disposition to find obstacles in forms," and was willing "to enter into negotiations for peace; that he was ready to appoint a commissioner to meet one on the part of the United States to confer with a view to secure peace to the two countries." This note was carried to Washington by Mr. Blair and shown to President Lincoln, who, January 18th, addressed him a note saying, he had constantly been and still was ready to appoint an agent to meet one appointed by Mr. Davis, "with the view of securing peace to the people of our one common country." With Mr. Lincoln's note Mr. Blair returned to Richmond, and without any authority from any source, shifted to a new project, namely, that Grant and Lee should be authorized to negotiate. This failed to ripen into anything. Mr. Lincoln's note proffering negotiations looking alone to "peace to the people of our one common country" placed Mr. Davis in a great dilemma. The situation was critical in the extreme. The Confederate Congress had voted a lack of confidence in Mr. Davis; Sherman had not only marched to the sea, but was moving up the Atlantic coast through the Carolinas; Lee reported his army had not two days' rations; and many of Davis' advisers had declared success impossible. At last Mr. Davis, on consultation with Vice- President Stephens and his Cabinet, decided to appoint a commission, composed of Mr. Stephens, Senator R. M. T. Hunter, and ex-Secretary of War John A. Campbell. This commission was directed (January 28, 1865) to go to Washington for informal conference with President Lincoln "upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries." Mr. Davis was advised by his Secretary of State, Mr. Benjamin, to instruct the commissioners to confer upon the subject of Mr. Lincoln's letter. The instructions were not in accordance with Mr. Lincoln's note, nor were they warranted by anything he had ever said. Notwithstanding this, the commissioners appeared at the Union lines and asked permission to proceed to Washington as "Peace Commissioners." On this being telegraphed to Washington, Major Eckert of the War Department was sent to Grant's headquarters, with directions to admit them, provided they would say, in writing, they came to confer on the basis of the President's note of January 18th. Before Major Eckert arrived, they had, in violation of their instructions, asked permission "to proceed to Washington to hold a conference with President Lincoln upon the subject of the existing war, and with a view of ascertaining upon what terms it may be terminated, in pursuance of the course indicated by him in his letter to Mr. Blair of January 18, 1865." They were admitted to Grant's headquarters and Mr. Lincoln was advised of their last request. The latter sent Secretary Seward to Fortress Monroe to meet them. Seward was, in writing, instructed to make known to the commissioners that three indispensable things were necessary: "(1) The restoration of the national authority throughout all the States. (2) No receding by the Executive on the slavery question from the position assumed thereon in the late annual Message. (3) No cessation of hostilities short of the end of the war, and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the government." On other questions the Secretary was instructed to say the President would act "in a spirit of sincere liberality." Mr. Seward was not definitely to consummate anything. He started to meet the commissioners on February 1st. Meantime, on the same day, Major Eckert had met them at City Point and informed them of the President's requirements, to which they responded by presenting Davis' written instructions. Major Eckert at once notified them they could not proceed unless strictly in compliance with Mr. Lincoln's terms. This seemingly put an end to the mission of Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell. Grant, being impressed with their anxiety to secure a peace, wired Stanton his impression, and expressed regret that Mr. Lincoln could not have an interview with Stephens and Hunter, if not all three, before their return. The President on reading Grant's dispatch decided to meet the commissioners in person at Fortress Monroe. Mr. Lincoln joined Mr. Seward at this place on the River Queen, where they were met by the commissioners on the morning of February 3d. The conference which ensued was wholly without significance. The President was frank and firm, standing by his hitherto announced ultimatum. Stephens tried to talk about Blair's Mexican scheme; about an armistice and some expedient to "give time to cool." Mr. Lincoln met all suggestions by saying: "The restoration of the Union is a sine qua non;" and that there could be no armistice on any other terms. It is not absolutely certain what was, in detail, proposed or rejected on either side, as no concurrent report was made of the conference and reporters were excluded from it. Mr. Lincoln, according to the commissioners, declared the road to reconstruction for the insurgents was to disband "their armies and permit the national authorities to resume their functions." The President stated he would exercise the power of the Executive with liberality as to the confiscation of property. He is reported to have said also that the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation was to be decided by the courts, giving it as his opinion that as it was a war measure, it would be inoperative for the future as soon as the war ceased; that it would be held to apply only to such slaves as had come under its operation. Mr. Seward called attention to the very recent adoption by Congress of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The commissioners report him as saying that if the seceding States would agree to return to the Union they might defeat the ratification of the amendment.

It is apparent that some coloring entered into the statements of Mr. Stephens and party. About the only good point made in the talk about which there is no controversy was made by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Hunter, in attempting to persuade the latter that there was high precedent for his treating with people in arms, cited the example of Charles I. of England treating with his subjects in armed rebellion. To this the President answered: "I do not profess to be posted in history. On all such matters I will turn you over to Mr. Seward. All that I distinctly recollect about the case of Charles I. is that he lost his head."

The commissioners reached Richmond much disappointed, and reported their failure. The effect on the South was depressing. Mr. Stephens seemed to give up the Confederate cause at this time; he departed from Richmond, abandoned the Rebellion and went into retirement.(11) Mr. Davis transmitted his commissioners' report to the Confederate Congress, stating that no terms of settlement could be obtained "other than the conqueror might grant." The last flicker of the Hampton Roads conference was seen in a public meeting held at the African Church in Richmond, February 6, 1865, at which bravado speeches were made by Mr. Davis and others. Mr. Davis announced a belief that they would "compel the Yankees, in less than twelve months, to petition us for peace on our own terms."(12)

General E. O. C. Ord, commanding the Army of the James, about February 20th, attempted to inaugurate another peace conference to be conducted through military channels, aided by the wives of certain officers of the two armies. To this end he secured, on a trivial pretext, an interview with General James Longstreet, then commanding the Confederate forces immediately north of Richmond. Ord, in the interview, referred to the Hampton Roads' conference, stating (according to Longstreet) that the politicians North were afraid to touch the question of peace; that there was no way to open the subject save through officers of the armies; that on the Union side the war had gone on long enough, and that the army officers "should come together as former comrades and friends and talk a little." Ord is reported as saying that the "work as belligerents" should cease; Grant and Lee should have a talk; that Longstreet's wife with a retinue of Confederate officers should first visit Mrs. Grant within the Union lines; that then Mrs. Grant should return the call at Richmond under escort of Union officers, and that thus the ladies could aid Generals Grant and Lee in fixing up peace on terms honorable to both sides. Longstreet took kindly to Ord's talk. Lee met Longstreet at President Davis' house in Richmond. Breckinridge (then Secretary of War) was present. At this meeting it was decided that Longstreet was to seek a further interview with Ord and see how the subject could be opened between Grant and Lee. Longstreet summoned his wife from Lynchburg to Richmond by telegraph. About the last day of February, Ord and Longstreet had another meeting at which Ord suggested that if Lee would write Grant a letter, the latter was prepared to receive it, and thus a military convention could be brought about. Longstreet reported the result of the talk with Ord, and Lee, March 1st, wrote Grant that he was informed that Ord, in a conversation relating to "the possibility of arriving at a satisfactory adjustment of the present unhappy difficulties by means of a military convention," had stated that if Lee desired an interview with Grant on the subject, the latter would not decline, provided Lee had authority to act. Lee, in his letter, said he was fully authorized in the premises, and proposed a meeting at the place proposed by Ord and Longstreet, on Monday the 6th. Accompanying Lee's letters was the usual "by-play" letter on an immaterial subject. Grant, on receiving Lee's communication, wired its substance to Secretary Stanton, who laid the matter before President Lincoln at his room at the Capitol whither he had gone to sign bills the last night of a session of Congress. Mr. Lincoln, without advice from any person, took his pen, and with his usual precision wrote:

"The President directs me to say that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee unless it be for capitulation of General Lee's army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political questions. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions. Meantime you are to press to the utmost your military advantages."

This perfectly explicit dispatch was shown to Mr. Seward, then handed to Mr. Stanton, who signed and sent it the night of March 3, 1865. Grant, the next day, answered Lee in the light of the dispatch, saying:

"In regard to meeting you, I would state that I have no authority to accede to your proposition for a conference on the subject proposed. Such authority is vested in the President of the United States alone."(13)

Thus ended the Ord-Longstreet attempt to patch up a peace.

There was one more remarkable attempt made (before Lee surrendered) to bring about a peace in part of the Confederacy. General Lew Wallace was ordered, January 22, 1865, "to visit the Rio Grande and Western Texas on a tour of inspection." Shortly after his arrival at Brazos Santiago, by correspondence with the Confederate General J. E. Slaughter, commanding the West District of Texas, and a Colonel Ford, he arranged for a meeting with them at Point Isabel (General Wallace to furnish the refreshments), nominally to discuss matters relating to the rendition of criminals, but really to talk about peace. The conference took place March 12th. General Wallace assumed only to negotiate a peace for States west of the Mississippi. He did not profess to have any authority from Washington, nor did he offer to make the terms final. He must have been wholly ignorant of the President's dispatch to Grant of March 3d. Wallace's plan was, at Slaughter and Ford's instance, reduced to writing, and addressed to them, to be submitted to the Confederate General J. G. Walker, commanding the Department of Texas. Here it is:

"_Proposition.

"I. That the Confederate military authorities of the Trans- Mississippi States and Territories agree voluntarily to cease opposition, armed and otherwise, to the re-establishment of the authority of the United States Government over all the region above designated.

"II. The proper authorities of the United States on their part guarantee as follows:

"1. That the officers and soldiers at present actually comprising the Confederate Army proper, including its bona fide attaches and employees, shall have, each and all of them, a full release from and against actions, prosecutions, liabilities, and legal proceedings of every kind, so far as the government of the United States is concerned: Provided, That if any of such persons choose to remain within the limits of the United States, they shall first take an oath of allegiance to the same. If, however, they or any of them prefer to go abroad for residence in a foreign country, all such shall be at liberty to do so without obligating themselves by an oath of allegiance, taking with them their families and property, with privileges of preparation for such departure.

"2. That such of said officers and soldiers as thus determine to remain in the United States shall, after taking the oath of allegiance to the United States Government, be regarded as citizens of that government, invested as such will all the rights, privileges, and immunities now enjoyed by the most favored citizens thereof.

"3. That the above guaranties shall be extended to all persons now serving as civil officers of the national and State Confederate governments within the region above mentioned, upon their complying with the conditions stated, viz., residence abroad or taking the oath of allegiance.

"4. That persons now private citizens of the region named shall also be included in and receive the same guaranties upon their complying with the same conditions.

"5. As respects rights of property, it is further guaranteed that there shall be no interference with existing titles, liens, etc., of whatever nature, except those derived from seizures, occupancies, and procedures of confiscation, under and by virtue of Confederate laws, orders, proclamations, and decrees, all of which shall be admitted void from the beginning.

"6. It is further expressly stipulated that the right of property in slaves shall be referred to the discretion of the Congress of the United States.

"Allow me to say, in conclusion, that if the above propositions are received in the spirit they are sent, we can, in my opinion, speedily have a reunited and prosperous people.

"Very truly, gentlemen, your friend and obedient servant,

"Lew Wallace, "Major-General of Volunteers, U. S. Army."(14)

General Wallace forwarded this pretentious proposition, with an elaborate letter, through General Dix to General Grant, who received both about March 29, 1865, but probably made no response thereto.

The Confederate officers submitted the plan to their chief, who, besides severely reprimanding them for entertaining it, wrote General Wallace, March 27, rejecting the proposition, "as to accede to it would be the blackest treason"; adding, that "whenever there was a willingness to treat as equal with equal, an officer of your high rank and character, clothed with proper authority, will not be reduced to the necessity of seeking an obscure corner of the Confederacy to inaugurate negotiations."

The whole story of attempts to negotiate a peace is grotesque, yet the conditions surrounding the North and the South and the stress of the times speak in defence of the ambitious spirits who came to the front and essayed, by negotiations, to put an end to the war. Providence had another, more fitting and consummate, ending in store, whereby the war should produce results for the good of mankind commensurate with its cost in tears, treasure, and blood.

( 1) Life of R. E. Lee, White (Putnam's), pp. 416-17.

( 2) Manassas to Appomattox, p. 204.

( 3) Lincoln (Nicolay and Hay), vol. vii., pp. 367-8.

( 4) War Between the States, vol. ii., pp. 557-62, 780; Lincoln (Nicolay and Hay), vol. vii., pp. 371-4.

( 5) Jewett must have attended school where the master required the class to parse the sentence, "Dog, I, and father went a- hunting."

( 6) Lincoln (Nicolay and Hay), vol. ix., pp. 184-200.

( 7) Vol. ii., p. 610. Also see Lincoln (N. and H.), vol. ix., pp. 201-2.

( 8) The attitude of the Democratic party caused the political friends of President Lincoln the deepest anxiety. In its National platform adopted at Chicago, August 30, 1864, it demanded, "that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, immediate efforts should be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States."

( 9) Lincoln (Nicolay and Hay), vol. ix., pp. 216-21.

(10) If the reader is curious to know what effort was made by the Confederate authorities to enlist slaves and free negroes as soldiers, he will find interesting correspondence on the subject between Davis, Lee, Longstreet, and others. War Records, vol. xlvi., Part III., pp. 1315, 1339, 1356, 1348, 1366, 1370.

(11) Alexander H. Stephens had a small body, small head, and his whole appearance was that of a most emaciated person. For many years of his life he was in most delicate health; so feeble he could not stand or walk. He was moved about in a chair with wheels. His intellect, however, was strong and elastic, and his voice was sufficient to enable him to make a public speech. He wrote much. He was not always consistent in his views. He opposed secession, then advocated it; then again denied that secession was warranted by the Constitution. I knew him well in Congress after the war. He asserted when some of his Democratic brethren were denying Mr. Hayes' title to the Presidency, that it was superior to the title of any President who had preceded him--that by virtue of the decision of the commission, it had become res adjudicata.

(12) Lincoln (Nicolay and Hay), vol. x., pp. 113-31; Lost Cause (Pollard), pp. 684-5; War between States (Stephens), vol. ii., pp. 597, 608-12.

(13) Manassas to Appomattox (Longstreet), pp. 584-7; Lincoln (Nicolay and Hay), vol. x., pp. 157-8.

(14) War Records, vol. xlviii., Part I., p. 1281.

CHAPTER XII Siege of Richmond and Petersburg--Capture and Re-capture of Fort Stedman, and Capture of Part of the Enemy's First Line in Front of Petersburg by Keifer's Brigade, March 25, 1865--Battle of Five Forks, April 1st--Assault and Taking of Confederate Works on the Union Left, April 2d--Surrender of Richmond and Petersburg, April 3d--President Lincoln's Visit to Petersburg and Richmond, and His Death

The Sixth Corps, as we have seen, returned from its memorable campaign in Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley to the front of Petersburg about December 5, 1864. It relieved a portion of the Fifth Corps. The right of my brigade rested on the Weldon Railroad, extending to the left to include Forts Wadsworth and Keene. On the night of the 9th, with other troops, the brigade went on an expedition to Hatcher's Run, returning the next day. Again the Sixth Corps constructed winter quarters. The brigade was moved, February 9, 1865, to the extreme left of the army, near the Squirrel Level road, where it took up a position including Forts Welch, Gregg, and Fisher, of which the first two were unfinished and the last named was barely commenced. The brigade completed the construction of these forts. Colonel McClennan, with the 138th Pennsylvania, also occupied Fort Dushane on the rear line.

The brigade, a third time for the winter, constructed quarters.

Discipline in the army continued in all its severity. During my entire service but one instance occurred where I was required to execute a Union soldier of my command. Private James L. Hicks, of the 67th Pennsylvania, a boy nineteen years old, was found guilty of desertion. He had deserted to go to Philadelphia, his home, in company with a soldier of another command, much his senior, who had forged a furlough for himself and Hicks. Both were arrested, returned to the army, and convicted and sentenced to be shot. General Meade ordered me to execute the sentence as to Hicks, February 10, 1865. The man who was largely responsible for Hicks' desertion succeeded, through friends, in inducing President Lincoln to commute his sentence to imprisonment at the Dry Tortugas. I was aware of efforts being made to have Hicks' sentence likewise commuted, and I tried to reach the President with communications asking the same leniency for Hicks. So certain was I that Lincoln had or would reprieve Hicks that I failed to have him shot on the day named. Some officious persons reported my dereliction to Meade, who thereupon (with some censure) ordered me to shoot Hicks on the next day, and to report in person the fact of the shooting. This order I was obliged to obey. The brigade was drawn up on three sides of a square, with ranks opened facing each other, and in the centre of the fourth and open side a grave was dug and a coffin was placed beside it. The condemned soldier was marched between the ranks of the command, preceded by a drum and fife band, playing the "dead-march," and then was taken to the coffin, where he was blindfolded and required to stand in front of six men armed with rifles, five only of which were loaded with ball. At the command "Fire!" from a designated officer, the guns were discharged and poor Hicks fell dead. He was placed in the coffin and forthwith buried. On the same day word came that Lincoln had pardoned Hicks.

Wright's corps became the left of the besieging army, and all the troops were constantly on the alert, never less than one tenth of them on guard or in the trenches.

The several corps of the Army of the Potomac were then commanded as follows: Second, by General A. A. Humphreys; Fifth, by General G. K. Warren; Sixth, by General H. G. Wright; the Ninth, by General J. G. Parke. The last named was on the right and in part south of the Appomattox. The Army of the James was north of Richmond and the James, commanded by General B. F. Butler, until relieved, on the request of General Grant, January 8, 1865, when General E. O. C. Ord succeeded him.

The army under Grant had been engaged since June, 1864, besieging Richmond and Petersburg with no signal success. It had, however, held the main army of the Confederacy closely within intrenchments where it could do little harm, and was difficult to provide with supplies. Prior to this siege the Army of the Potomac had met the enemy, save at Gettysburg, on his chosen battle-fields, and in its forward movements had been forced to attack breastworks, assail the enemy in mountain passes or gaps, force the crossings of deep rivers, always guarding long lines of communications over which supplies must be brought, and it was at all times the body-guard of the Capital--Washington.

The Confederate Army under Lee, when the last campaign opened, was strongly fortified from the James River above Richmond, extending around on the north to the James below Richmond; thence to and across the Appomattox; thence south of Petersburg extending in an unbroken line westward to the vicinity of Hatcher's Run, with interior lines of works and forts for use in case the outer line was forced. Longstreet commanded north of the James. Generals R. S. Ewell, R. H. Anderson, A. P. Hill, and John B. Gordon commanded corps of the Army of Northern Virginia south of Petersburg and the James, the whole under Lee. At the last, Ewell commanded in Richmond and its immediate defences. The Confederates had water-batteries and naval forces on the James immediately below Richmond. Their forts and connecting breastworks had been laid out and constructed by skilled engineers, on a gigantic scale, with months, and, in some places, years of labor. On most of the main line there were enclosed field-forts, a distance of a quarter to a half mile apart, connected by strong earthworks and some masonry, the whole having deep ditches in front, the approaches to which were covered by abattis composed of pickets sunk deep in the ground close together, the exposed ends sharpened, and placed at an angle of about forty- five degrees, the points of the pickets about the height of a man's face. There were in place chevaux-de-frise and other obstructions. These fortifications could not be battered down by artillery; they had to be scaled. They contained many guns ranging from 6 to 200- pounders, all well manned. The Union lines conformed, generally, to the Confederate lines and were near to them, but, being the outer, were necessarily the longer. Richmond and Petersburg were twenty miles apart. The Union works were substantially of the same structure and strength as the Confederate.

Forts Welch, Gregg, and Fisher, and connecting works, held by six of my regiments, formed a loop on the extreme left, to prevent a flank attack. These forts were about nine miles from City Point, Grant's headquarters. In the centre of the loop was a high observation tower.( 1) In our front the Confederates had an outer line of works to cover their pickets, and we had a similar one to protect ours. The main lines were, generally, in easy cannon range, in most places within musket range, and the pickets of the two armies were, for the most part, in speaking distance, and the men often indulged in talking, for pastime. Except in rare instances the sentinels did not fire on each other by day, but sometimes at night firing was kept up by the Confederates at intervals to prevent desertion. During the last months of the siege, circulars were issued by Grant offering to pay deserters for arms, accoutrements, and any other military supplies they would bring with them, and to give them safe conduct north. The circulars were gotten into the enemy's lines by various devices, chief among which was, by flying kits at night when the wind blew in the right direction, to the tail of which the circulars were attached. When the kites were over the Confederate lines the strings were cut, thus causing them to fall where the soldiers might find them.( 2) So friendly were the soldiers of the two armies that by common consent the timber between the lines was divided and cut and carried away for fuel. Petersburg was in plain view, to the northeast, from my headquarters. In front of my line an event took place which brought about the speedy overthrow of the Confederacy.

With Sherman moving triumphantly northward through the Carolinas the time was at hand for the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac. President Lincoln and General Grant were each anxious that army should, without the direct aid of the Western army, overcome and destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, which it had fought during so many years with varying success.( 3)

Grant issued orders, March 24, 1865, for a general movement, to commence the 29th; the objective of the movement to be the Confederate Army as soon as it could be forced out of the fortifications.

At the time Grant was writing these orders, Lee was planning an assault to break the Union lines, hoping he might gain some material success and thereby prevent an aggressive campaign against him. General Gordon, accordingly, at early dawn, March 25th, assaulted Fort Stedman, and, by a surprise, captured it and a portion of our line adjacent to it; but Union troops, from the right and left, assailed and recaptured the works and about four thousand of Gordon's command, the Union loss in killed, wounded, and captured being about twenty-five hundred. This daring attack, instead of delaying, precipitated the preparatory work of opening the campaign. About 1 P.M. I received an order to send two regiments to my advanced line with orders to charge and carry the outer line of the enemy. The latter was strongly intrenched and held by a large number of men, besides being close under the guns of the Confederate main works. The 110th and 122d Ohio were moved outside the forts, and Colonel Otho H. Binkley was ordered to take command of both regiments and the picket guard. He charged the enemy, but being unsupported on the flanks and being exposed to a fierce fire from guns in the enemy's main works, was forced to retire after suffering considerable loss. I protested, vehemently, against the renewal of the attack with so small a force. General Wright thereupon ordered me to assemble the number of men necessary to insure success, take charge of them in person, and make the desired capture. I added to the Ohio regiments mentioned the 67th Pennsylvania, portions of the 6th Maryland and 126th Ohio, and a battalion of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery, and under a severe fire, at 3 P.M., without halting or firing, charged over the enemy's first intrenched line, capturing over two hundred prisoners. Notwithstanding a heavy artillery fire concentrated upon us the captured works were held. Our loss was severe and hardly compensated for by the number of the enemy killed and captured. For my part in this affair I was complimented by Meade in general orders.

It turned out that the section of works taken was more important to us than first estimated.

Sheridan, with his cavalry, having recently arrived from the Shenandoah Valley via the White House, moved to the left on the 29th of March in the direction of Dinwiddie Court-House, where he encountered a considerable force. A battle ensued on the 30th and 31st, in which Sheridan with his cavalry, in part dismounted, fought some of the best cavalry and infantry of Lee's army, the former commanded by Fitzhugh Lee and the latter by Pickett of Gettysburg fame. By using temporary barricades, Sheridan, though outnumbered, repulsed the attacks of Fitz Lee and Pickett, and at nightfall of the 31st was in possession of the Court-House.

In consequence of incessant rain for two days Grant, from his headquarters, then on Gravelly Run, issued orders the evening of the 30th to suspend all further movements until the roads should dry up; but he was visited by Sheridan and persuaded to continue the campaign. Sheridan asked that the Sixth Corps should be ordered to follow and support him.( 4) He claimed this corps had served under him in the Valley and its officers were well known to him. His request was not acceded to, as other work was already assigned to Wright. Grant ordered Meade to send the Fifth Corps under General G. K. Warren to reinforce Sheridan. Meade was directed to "urge Warren not to stop for anything." Sheridan, April 1st, determined to press the enemy, regardless of bad roads and his isolated position. Pickett and Fitz Lee, heavily reinforced from Lee's main army, concentrated in front of Five Forks, where they intrenched.

Warren was ordered to push rapidly on the left of the enemy. Sheridan promptly opened battle, but he was hard pressed throughout the day. Warren, for some not satisfactorily explained cause, did not arrive on the field and bring his three infantry divisions into action until late in the day, but yet in time to strike the enemy on his left and rear, as had been planned. Just at night a combined assault of all arms completely overthrew Pickett and Fitz Lee, taking six of their guns, thirteen battle-flags, and nearly six thousand prisoners. The Confederates who escaped were cut off from the remainder of Lee's army and thrown back on the upper Appomattox.

Warren, in the full flush of the victory, was, by Sheridan, with Grant's previous authority, relieved on the battle-field from the command of his corps for the alleged dilatory march to the relief of the imperilled cavalry. Warren had long commanded the Fifth Corps, and was beloved by it. But the fates of war were inexorable. The removal of Warren was perhaps unjust, in the light of the previous conduct of the war. He had not been insubordinate. He had imbibed the notion too often theretofore acted on, that in the execution of an important order, even when other movements depended on it, the subordinate officer could properly exercise his own discretion as to the time and manner of its execution. Warren was a skilled engineer officer and held too closely in an emergency to purely scientific principles. He had none of Sheridan's precipitancy, and did not believe in violating, under any circumstances, principles of war taught by the books. Before a subsequent court of inquiry Warren produced what appeared to be overwhelming testimony from experienced and distinguished officers of the army to the effect that he had moved his corps to Five Forks with the energy and celerity usually exhibited by an officer of ordinary skill and ability.

Sheridan was called as a witness before the same court, and when interrogated, corroborated the other officers' testimony, adding, that it was not an officer of ordinary skill and ability that was required to meet an emergency when a battle was on, but one of extraordinary skill and ability; that officers of the former class were plenty, but they were not fit to command an army corps in time of battle. Sheridan wanted an officer like Desaix, who, by putting his ear to the ground, heard the thunder of the guns at Marengo, though far off, and marched to their sound without awaiting orders, and to the relief of Napoleon, arriving in time to turn defeat into victory, though losing his own life. Warren had many friends and sympathizers, but he died many years after the war of a broken heart.

In anticipation of Sheridan's success, orders were issued for the Sixth Corps to assault Lee's main fortifications on Sunday morning, April 2d. The place selected for the assault was in front and a little to the left of Forts Fisher and Welch and directly opposite the intrenched line taken by me on March 25th.( 5) Other corps to the right of the Sixth were ordered to be ready to assault also. It was originally intended the troops should be formed in the quiet of the night, and that the assault should be made, as a surprise, at four o'clock in the morning. Grant, fearing that Lee, in the desperation of defeat at Five Forks, would strip his fortified lines of troops to overwhelm and destroy Sheridan, now fairly on Lee's right flank, at 10 P.M. on the night of the 1st ordered all his guns turned loose from the James to the Union left, to give the appearance of a readiness to do just what had been ordered to be done. This fire brought a return fire all along the lines. The night was dark and dismal, and the scene witnessed amid the deafening roar of cannon was indescribably wild and grand. Duty called some of us between the lines of cross-fire when the screaming shot and bursting shell from perhaps four hundred heavy guns passed over our heads. The world's war-history described no sublimer display. Being near the end of the Rebellion, the Confederacy, and the institution of slavery, it was a fitting closing scene. It was supposed that in consequence of this artillery duel, which lasted about two hours, the assault ordered would be abandoned, as a surprise was not possible. But at 12, midnight, the order came to take position for the attack. The Sixth Corps, in the gloom of the damp, chilly night, silently left its winter quarters and filed out to an allotted position within about two hundred yards of the mouths of the enemy's cannon, there to await the discharge of a gun from Fort Fisher, the signal for storming the works. There were no light hearts in the corps that night, but there were few faint ones. The soldiers of the corps knew the strength and character of the works to be assailed. They had watched their completion; they knew of the existence of the abattis and the deep ditches to be passed, as well as the high ramparts to be scaled. The night added to the solemnity of the preparation for the bloody work.

The Second Division was formed on the right, the Third Division on the left, each in two lines of battle, about two hundred feet apart. The First Division (Wheaton's) was in echelon by brigades, in support on Getty's right.( 6) The corps was formed on ground lower than that on which the enemy's fortifications were constructed. There was an angle in the enemy's line in front of the corps as formed at which there was a large fort. Getty's division was to assault to the right and Seymour's to the left of this fort. My brigade was to assault between it and the fort about a third of a mile to its left. The connecting breastworks were strong, as has been explained, with a deep ditch and formidable abattis in their front, and well manned and supplied with artillery. The enemy was alert and opened fire on us with artillery and musketry before we were completely formed, inflicting some loss. Long before the hour for the signal the corps was ready. Much preparation is necessary for a well delivered assault. Every officer should be personally instructed as to his particular duties, as commands can rarely be given after the troops are in motion. The pioneer corps with axe- men were required to accompany the head of the column, to cut down and remove obstructions and to aid the soldiers in crossing trenches and scaling the works. The abattis was to be cut down or torn up, and, wherever possible, used in the ditches to provide means of crossing them.

A narrow opening, just wide enough for a wagon to pass through, was known to exist in the enemy's line in front of my brigade, though it was skillfully covered by a shoulder around it. The existence of this opening was discovered from the observation tower, and deserters told of it. I determined to take advantage of it, and therefore instructed Colonel Clifton K. Prentiss of the 6th Maryland when the time for the attack came to move his regiment by the flank rapidly through this opening without halting or firing, and when within, open on the Confederates behind the works, taking them in flank, and, if possible, drive them out and thus leave for our other troops little resistance in gaining an entrance over the ramparts.

At 4.40 A.M., while still dark, a gray light in the east being barely discernible, Fort Fisher boomed forth a single shot. All suspense here ended. Simultaneously the command, "Forward," was given by all our officers, and the storming column moved promptly; the advance line, with bayonets fixed, guns not loaded, the other line with guns loaded to be ready to fire, if necessary, to protect those in advance while passing the trenches. A few only of the officers were on horseback. The enemy opened with musketry and cannon, but the column went on, sweeping down the abattis, making use of it to aid in effecting a passage of the deep ditches and to gain a footing on the berme of the earthworks. Muskets and bayonets were also utilized by thrusting them into the banks of the ditches to enable the soldiers to climb from them. Men made ladders of themselves by standing one upon another, thus enabling their comrades to gain the parapets. The time occupied in the assault was short. Colonel Prentiss with his Marylanders penetrated the fortifications at the opening mentioned. They surprised the enemy by their presence and a flank fire, and, as anticipated, caused him to fall back. The storming bodies swarmed over the works, and the enemy immediately in their front were soon killed, wounded, captured, or dispersed. Ten pieces of artillery, three battle-flags, and General Heth's headquarters flag were trophies of my command. The Third Division gained an entrance first, owing to the shortness of the distance it had to pass over. Getty's division (Second), however, promptly obtained a foothold within the fortifications to the right of the angle, followed on its right closely by Wheaton's division. The fort at the salient angle was quickly evacuated, and the corps charged forward, taking possession of the enemy's camps. Some hand- to-hand fighting occurred on the ramparts of the fortifications and in the camps, in which valuable lives were lost. A Confederate soldier emerged from a tent, shot and killed Captain Henry H. Stevens (110th Ohio), and immediately offered to surrender. One week before a like incident occurred in my presence, where a Confederate officer shot, with a pistol, a Union soldier, then threw down his arms and proposed to surrender. Officers seldom restrained soldiers from avenging, on the spot, such cowardly and unsoldierly acts. Such incidents were, happily, very rare.

Though thus far the assault had been crowned with success, the greatest danger was still before us. Experience had taught that the fate which one week before befell Gordon at Fort Stedman was a common fate of troops who, in a necessarily broken state, gained an entrance inside of an energetic enemy's lines. Our position was not dissimilar to Gordon's after he had taken Fort Stedman. To our left was a strong, closed star-fort, well manned and supplied with cannon. It was impossible at once to restore order. Many of our men passed, without orders, far to the north, some as far as the Southside Railroad leading into Petersburg, which they began to tear up.

One important incident must be mentioned.

Corporal John W. Mouk (138th Pennsylvania), with one comrade, having penetrated in the early morning some distance in advance of our other troops, was met by a Confederate general officer, accompanied by his staff. The general demanded his surrender, whereupon the corporal fired and killed him. He proved to be Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill, then in command of Lee's right wing, and one of the ablest officers the Confederacy produced. The corporal and his comrade escaped, and Hill's staff bore his body away. It has been claimed the corporal deceived Hill by pretending to surrender until the General was in his power, then shot him. I investigated this incident at the time and became convinced the corporal practised no deception, and that his deliberate conduct--natural to him--led Hill and his staff to assume he intended to surrender.

But to return to the captured works. I entered them on horseback, with some of my staff, close after Colonel Prentiss. Up to this time no general orders had been given, save those promulgated prior to the assault. The ranks were much broken, regiments were intermingled, and excitement prevailed. I was charged with the duty of carrying the next fort to our left. The steady fire on us from this fort helped to recall the troops to a sense of danger. Day was just dawning. I ordered Major S. B. Larmoeaux (9th New York Heavy Artillery) to man such of the captured artillery as was available. He soon had four guns firing on the fort, under cover of which I ordered a general rush of the still disordered Union troops on the fort. This charge resulted in its capture with six more guns and a number of prisoners. The real danger was still not passed. It was soon discovered that a Confederate division was advancing on us from a camp to our left. As the men now in the captured fort were in a disorganized state I made, with the aid of other officers, every effort to withdraw the surplus men for the purpose of formation and to relieve it of a too crowded condition for defence. We also tried to man the guns of the fort. Before we were prepared the enemy was upon us in a counter charge, and the fort, with its guns, was lost, and some of our men were taken; the greater number, however, escaped to a position still within the captured lines. In this affair not many were killed or wounded. The final ordeal was now on us. From the fort again came shot, shell, and rifle-balls on our unprotected men. Under cover of the fire of the before-mentioned captured artillery (having, by that time, discovered an ample supply of ammunition) we succeeded in making a somewhat confused formation, and again charged the fort. The resistance was obstinate, but it was now light enough to distinguish friend from foe. Though of short duration, the most determined and bloody fight of the day took part on the ramparts of and in this fort, resulting in our again taking it, and with it its guns and most of the Confederate division. The brave Colonel Prentiss as he led a storming column over the parapet of the fort, was struck by a ball which carried away a part of his breast-bone immediately over his heart, exposing its action to view. He fell within the fort at the same moment the commander of the Confederate battery fell near him with what proved to be a mortal wound. These officers, lying side by side, their blood commingling on the ground, there recognized each other. They were brothers, and had not met for four years. They were cared for in the same hospitals, by the same surgeons and nurses, with the same tenderness, and in part by a Union chaplain, their brother. The Confederate, after suffering the amputation of a leg, died in Washington in June, 1865, and Colonel Prentiss died in Brooklyn, N. Y., the following August.

Our hard fighting and bloody work for the day ended with the struggle just described. We, a little later, with others of the corps, swept to the left to the vicinity of Hatcher's Run, carrying everything before us. We then, with the other divisions of the corps, turned back towards Petersburg, reaching an inner line of works by 10 A.M.

General Parke with the Ninth Corps made a vigorous assault in front of Fort Sedgwick near the Jerusalem plank-road at the same time the Sixth made its assault, and with some success, but failed to gain a permanent footing inside of the enemy's main fortifications. The Sixth Corps alone made a secure lodgment within Lee's lines. It made a rift in the Confederacy.

The army then believed the end of the war was near, but blood enough had not yet been spilled to destroy human slavery.

General Ord, who had been transferred from the front of Richmond, met and drove back some troops on Hatcher's Run, and Sheridan advanced from Five Forks to the Appomattox, thence, uniting with Ord, proceeded down it towards Petersburg. The left of Grant's army was thrown across the Southside Railroad to the Appomattox above Petersburg, and some isolated inner forts were taken, and the enemy was crowded into his last line in the suburbs of Petersburg. Grant ordered a general assault to be made at 6 A.M. of the 3d. Thus far, since the general movement commenced, Lee had lost about 12,000 prisoners and about 50 guns. The killed and wounded were not proportionately great. Lee had been forced to withdraw Longstreet from north of Richmond, leaving his lines there very slimly defended.( 7) General Weitzel had been left with a division north of the James to threaten Richmond. Lee, early on the 2d, realized the critical situation, and at 10.30 of that memorable Sabbath morning wired Mr. Breckinridge, Secretary of War, at Richmond:

"I see no prospect of doing more than holding our position here until night. I am not certain I can do that. If I can I shall withdraw to-night north of the Appomattox, and, if possible, it will be better to withdraw the whole line to-night from James River. I advise that all preparations be made for leaving Richmond to- night. I will advise you later according to circumstances."

This was handed to Mr. Davis while at church. He arose quietly and retired, but the portent of the message was soon known and caused great consternation among the inhabitants of the Confederate Capital. For almost four years Richmond had been the defiant centre of the rebellion. Now it was to be abandoned on less than twelve hours' notice.

Jefferson Davis wired Lee:

"The Secretary of War has shown me your dispatch. To move to-night will cause the loss of many valuables, both for the want of time to pack and of transportation. Arrangements are progressing, and unless you otherwise advise the start will be made."

Lee responded:

"I think it absolutely necessary that we should abandon our position to-night. I have given all the necessary orders on the subject to the troops, and the operation, though difficult, I hope will be performed successfully. I have directed General Stevens to send an officer to your Excellency to explain the routes to you by which the troops will be moved to Amelia Court-House, and furnish you with a guide and any assistance you may require for yourself."( 8)

Richmond and Petersburg were evacuated the night of April 2d. The troops in and around the two cities commenced to retire at 8 P.M., and were directed to concentrate at Amelia Court-House, about sixty miles distant, where Lee had ordered supplies for his army to be collected. Ewell withdrew the troops north of Richmond and the marines from the James. There was insufficient transportation for the archives and other valuables of the several departments of the Confederacy, to say nothing of other public and private property. Army supplies had to be destroyed or abandoned. A panic seized the city, and in burning some public stores it took fire in two places, and but for the arrival, about 8 A.M. of the 3d, of Union troops from Weitzel's command, it would have burned down. Petersburg suffered little in the evacuation. Its mayor and council surrendered it about 4 A.M. of the 3d. The besieging army, so long striving for its possession, was not permitted to enter it.

President Lincoln was at City Point when the movement of Grant's army commenced, and remained until Richmond and Petersburg fell. Grant, on the 2d, in anticipation of further success, suggested that the President visit him at the front next day. Mr. Lincoln accordingly met Grant in Petersburg the morning of its surrender and held an interview with him of an hour and a half. Secretary Stanton, learning that the President contemplated going to the front, wired from Washington on the morning of the 3d, protesting against his exposing "the nation to the consequence of any disaster to himself in the pursuit of a dangerous enemy like the rebel army."

The President answered from City Point at 5 P.M.:

"Yours received. Thanks for your caution, but I have already been to Petersburg. Staid with Grant an hour and a half and returned here. It is certain now that Richmond is in our hands, and I will go there to-morrow. I will take care of myself."( 9)

Mr. Lincoln made his entry into Richmond on the 4th (on foot from a boat), almost without personal protection, and excited the highest interest of the people, especially of the slaves, who looked upon and adored him as their savior. There were no bounds to their rejoicing. He, while there, in consultation with Judge J. A. Campbell and other former Confederate leaders, talked of plans of reconstruction, and went so far as to sanction the calling of the Confederate Legislature of Virginia together with a view to its withdrawing the Virginia troops from the army.(10)

He was in a generous mood, willing to concede much to secure a speedy restoration of the Union.

Mr. Campbell reports the President's position thus:

"His indispensable conditions are the restoration of the authority of the United States and the disbanding of the troops, and no receding on his part from his position on the slavery question as defined in his message in December and other official documents. All other questions to be settled on terms of sincere liberality. He says that to any State that will promptly accept these terms he will relinquish confiscation, except where third persons have acquired adverse interests."(11)

Abraham Lincoln returned from Richmond to Washington filled to overflowing with hope, joy, and thoughts of generous treatment of his rebellious countrymen. He, too, was soon to become a sacrifice in atonement for his nation's sins. He fell, at the apex of human glory, by the hands of a disloyal assassin, April 14, 1865.(12) The great and the humble friends of freedom, not only of his own country but of the world, wept. He had been permitted, however, to look through the opening portals of peace upon a restored Union with universal freedom, under one flag.

( 1) See map, and Battles and Leaders of the War, vol. iv., p. 538.

( 2) One enterprising Confederate managed to escape to our lines with a wagon and six mules from a party gathering wood. His outfit was valued at $1200.

( 3) Grant's Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 460.

( 4) Memoirs of Sheridan, vol. ii., pp. 145-7.

( 5) General Wright, speaking of this position in his report of the storming of the fortifications at Petersburg, says:

"It should here be remarked that, but for the success of the 25th ultimo, in which was carried the intrenched line of the enemy, though at a cost in men which at the time seemed hardly to have warranted the movement, the attack of the 2d inst. on the enemy's main lines could not have been successful. The position thus gained was an indispensable one to the operations on the main lines, by affording a place for the assembling of assaulting columns within striking distance of the enemy's main intrenchments." War Records, vol. xlvi., Part I., p. 903.

( 6) War Records, vol. xlvi., Part I., p. 954.

( 7) Manassas to Appomattox, pp. 603-5.

( 8) War Records, vol. xlvi., Part III., p. 1378.

( 9) War Records, vol. xlvi., Part III., p. 509.

(10) Ibid., pp. 612, 655-7, 724-5.

(11) War Records, vol. xlvi., Part III., p. 723.

(12) Abraham Lincoln, on the evening of March 14, 1865, attended Ford's Theatre in Washington in company with Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Harris, and Major Henry R. Rathbone (daughter and stepson of Senator Ira Harris of New York), and while in a private box (at 10 P.M.) was shot by John Wilkes Booth. The bullet entered his head on the left side, passed through the brain, and lodged behind the left eye. He was carried to a house across the street, where he died (never being conscious after the shot) at twenty-two minutes after seven the morning of April 15, 1865. Secretary Stanton, standing by him as his life went out, more than prophetically said: "Now he belongs to the ages."

An attempt was made the same night to assassinate Secretary Wm. H. Seward, which came near being successful. He was, also his son Frederick, terribly wounded and beaten.

CHAPTER XIII Battle of Sailor's Creek, April 6th--Capitulation of General Robert E. Lee's Army at Appomattox Court-House, April 9, 1865--Surrender of Other Confederate Armies, and End of the War of the Rebellion

Richmond and Petersburg having been evacuated, the Army of the Potomac, at early dawn, April 3, 1865, under orders, marched westward. Its sole objective now was the Confederate Army. Grant directed some corps of his army to pursue on the line of Lee's retreat, and others to march westward on roads farther to the south to strike other roads necessary for Lee to pursue in gaining North Carolina where he might form a junction with General Joe Johnston who was then trying to stem the advance of Sherman.

It was soon known that Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet had reached Danville, Virginia, and had proclaimed it the seat of the Confederate Government.

To reach Danville Lee bent all his energy.

The sagacious and energetic movements of the several corps of the Union army from the morning of April 3d to the surrender of Lee will stand as a lasting testimonial to Grant's military genius, ranking him with the great strategists of the world. Lee's officers were familiar with the roads; the inhabitants were their friends; his retreat was upon the shorter line, and he had a night's start. Generals Meade, Sheridan, Ord, and the corps commanders also, won just fame for the successful handling of their several commands.

Meade kept his forces in hand and pushed them precipitously on the desired points. Sheridan was indomitable and remorseless in his pursuit with the cavalry. Grant accompanied the army, sometimes with one part of it and then with another, always knowing what was going on and the position of all the troops. His orders were implicitly obeyed. Rest or sleep was impossible for any length of time. Recent and continuing rains rendered the roads almost impassable for artillery trains. Teams were doubled and one half the artillery and wagons were left behind. Lee undertook to order supplies sent to Burkeville, where he expected to meet them. Sheridan's cavalry captured, April 4th, a messenger with dispatches in his boots which he was conveying to Burkeville to be wired to Danville and Lynchburg, directing 300,000 rations to be forwarded to Burkeville. Sheridan, by scouts disguised as rebels, had the dispatches taken to Burkeville and sent, with the expectation he would capture the rations on their arrival. They did not reach Burkeville, but several train loads were sent forward from Lynchburg. Sheridan's cavalry met them at Appomattox Station on the 8th, and received them in bulk, locomotives, trains, and all.( 1)

Late on the 5th, Lee leisurely moved his army from Amelia Court- House towards Burkeville. Sheridan's cavalry, with some infantry, had possession of Jetersville on a road Lee attempted to pursue. Sheridan assailed Lee's advance furiously and drove it back, forcing him to form his army for battle. This occupied so much time that when it was ready to attack, night was approaching, and the Fifth and Sixth Corps were arrived or were arriving. Lee's escape to Danville by the way of Burkeville was no longer possible. The day was too far spent to fight a battle. Grant was still pushing his corps upon different roads to intercept Lee's retreat. Lee's prime mistake was in not concentrating his army, on the 4th, at Burkeville, the junction of the two railroads, instead of at Amelia Court-House. It was supposed that a decisive battle would be fought at Jetersville, but Lee withdrew during the night.

General Lee claimed he lost one day at Amelia Court-House gathering subsistence, because his orders to collect them there in advance of his retreat had been disregarded.( 2)

Jefferson Davis reached Danville, Virginia, with members of his Cabinet, on the 3d of April, and, on the 5th, he issued a proclamation which he subsequently characterized thus:

"Viewed in the light of subsequent events, it may be fairly said it was over-sanguine." In it he used such expressions as:

"Let us but will it and we are free. I announce to you, fellow countrymen, that it is my purpose to maintain your cause with my whole heart and soul; that I will never consent to abandon to the enemy one foot of the soil of any of the States of the Confederacy; that Virginia--noble State, whose ancient renown has been eclipsed by her still more glorious recent history; whose bosom has been bared to receive the main shock of the war; whose sons and daughters have exhibited heroism so sublime as to render her illustrious through all time to come--that Virginia with the help of the people, and by the blessings of Providence, shall be held and defended, and no peace ever made with the infamous invaders of her territory.

"If by the stress of numbers, we should be compelled to a temporary withdrawal from her limits or those of any other border State, we will return until the baffled and exhausted enemy shall abandon in despair his endless and impossible task of making slaves of a free people."( 3)

In consequence of Hill's death, Lee divided his army into two wings, Ewell commanding one and Longstreet the other, his cavalry being under Fitzhugh Lee and his artillery under Pendleton.

The Confederate Army, on the night of April 5th, abandoned Amelia Court-House, and by circuitous country roads endeavored to pass around the Union left through Deatonville and Painesville to Prince Edward's Court-House, hoping still to be able to escape to Danville.

At daylight of the 6th the Union forces at Jetersville advanced in battle array on Amelia Court-House, and some precious hours were lost in ascertaining the direction of Lee's retreat. Our army was, however, soon counter-marched to Jetersville, and thence, by different roads and regardless of them, by forced marches, it sought to intercept Lee. It must be remembered Lee's troops had one day or more rest since leaving Petersburg and Richmond, and Grant's army had none, and the latter had been moved by night as well as by day, and irregularly fed. The most appealing orders were issued by General Meade to his army to make the required sacrifices and efforts to overtake and overthrow Lee's army. I quote from Meade's order of the night of April 4th:

"The Major-General commanding feels he has but to recall to the Army of the Potomac the success of the oft repeated gallant contests with the Army of Northern Virginia, and when he assures the army that, in the opinion of so distinguished an officer as General Sheridan, it only requires these sacrifices to bring this long and desperate conflict to a triumphant issue, the men of this army will show that they are as willing to die of fatigue and starvation as they have ever shown themselves ready to fall by the bullets of the enemy."( 4)

This order, when read to the regiments, was loudly cheered. There was perfect harmony of action among Grant's generals; all putting forth their best efforts. On the 4th, Sheridan dispatched Grant, "If we press on we will no doubt get the whole army." And again on the 6th, "If the thing is pressed I think Lee will surrender." ( 5) On these dispatches being forwarded to President Lincoln, still at City Point, he is reported to have wired Grant, "Let the thing be pressed."( 6)

Grant, personally, gave more attention to the movements of his forces to important places than to fighting battles. He was especially anxious for Ord's command to be hastened forward on a line south of Lee. Grant was always in touch with Meade and Sheridan, but on the 5th and 6th he was with Ord. At night of the 5th he dispatched from Nottoway Court-House to Meade:

"Your movements are right. Lee's army is the objective point, and to capture that is all we want. Ord has marched fifteen miles to- day to reach here, and is going on. He will probably reach Burkeville to-night. My headquarters will be with the advance."( 7)

Sheridan, in command of the cavalry, was often, temporarily, also given command of a corps of infantry.

In the pursuit on the 6th from Jetersville, Wright's corps followed Merritt's cavalry, and about 3 P.M., after a forced march of eighteen miles, partly without roads and over a hilly country and under a hot sun, came up with a portion of it heavily engaged trying to seize a road at a point about two miles from Sailor's Creek on the left and about the same distance from Deatonville on the right, on which Ewell's wing of Lee's army was retreating. Ewell was heading towards Rice's Station to form a junction with Longstreet, both intending to move via Prince Edward's Court-House south. Ord, with the Army of the James, late on this day confronted Longstreet at Rice's Station. The Third Division of the Sixth was in advance, and my brigade went into line of battle and rapidly into action, with scarcely a halt for formation, and, together with the cavalry, charged and drove the enemy across the road, capturing many prisoners, wagons, and some pieces of artillery, including General Heth's headquarters wagons.

An incident occurred soon after we gained this road. Another road from the west intersected at this point the one we had just seized, and on which the enemy had a battery which opened on us furiously. I hastened to the intersecting road to direct some of my regiments to charge and capture the battery or drive it away. Generals Sheridan and Wright, with their staffs, soon galloped up. Sheridan was accompanied by a large mounted brass band that commenced playing Hail to the Chief, or some other then unwelcome music. This drew the fire from the battery with increased fury on the whole party. Both Sheridan and Wright were too proud spirited to retire in the presence of the troops or each other, though not needed at that place. The dry limbs of pine trees rattling down around us and the bursting of shells rendered the situation embarrassing in the extreme, and the lives of others were being sacrificed or imperilled by the presence of the distinguished party. Being in immediate charge of the forces there, I invited the Generals to get out of the way, but as they did not retire I ordered a charge upon the "noisy band," and thus caused the whole party to retire to a place of greater safety. Some of them were quite willing to go.

I gave Colonel Binkley such an imperative order to silence the battery, that he pursued it with a detachment to such a distance that he did not rejoin the brigade in time to participate in the principal battle of the day yet to be fought.

Ewell's wing of the Confederate Army had mainly passed on towards its destination. Pursuit was promptly ordered by Sheridan and conducted by Wright. Ewell's rear-guard fought stubbornly and fell back slowly through the timber until it reached Sailor's Creek. Wheaton's division arrived and joined the Third on the left in the attack and pursuit. Merritt's cavalry passed rapidly around Ewell's right to intercept the retreat. Merritt crossed Sailor's Creek with Custer and Devin's divisions south of the road on which the enemy retreated.

General R. S. Ewell crossed Sailor's Creek, and about 5 P.M. took up a strong position on heights on its west bank. These heights, save on their face, were covered with forest. There was a level, cultivated bottom about one half mile in width, wholly on the east bank of the stream. Sailor's Creek, then greatly swollen, washed the foot of the heights on which Ewell had posted his army. He hoped to be able to hold his position until night, when, under cover of darkness, he might escape towards Danville.

Our troops were temporarily halted on the hills at the eastern edge of the valley, in easy range of the enemy's guns, and the lines were hastily adjusted.( 8) Artillery went into position and at once opened a heavy fire. An effort was made to bring up Getty's division of the Sixth and the detachment of my brigade under Binkley, but the day was too far spent to await their arrival. It was plainly evident that Ewell outnumbered our forces in line, and our men had been on foot for twelve hours. Wright hesitated under the circumstances, but Sheridan, coming to the front, advised an assault.( 9) Wright then promptly ordered the infantry on the field to make one, under cover of the artillery. Colonel Stagg's cavalry brigade was ordered to attack the enemy's right flank, and Merritt and Crook's cavalry were to attack still farther around his right and on his rear.

Ewell covered his front with a strong line of infantry, and massed a large body in column, in rear of his centre, to be used as the exigencies of the battle might require. Ewell's cavalry covered his right and rear. General R. H. Anderson and J. B. Gordon, with their corps, had preceded Ewell in crossing Sailor's Creek, and Sheridan, who had now personally passed from the front around to Merritt, encountered them some distance to the rear of Ewell's position. The Confederate trains were on the road to Rice's Station, where Longstreet was confronting Ord, neither, however, willing to attack the other.

The plan was for Anderson and Gordon to attack and clear the rear, while Ewell stopped the infantry at the Creek.(10) The latter had three infantry divisions, with parts of others, under the command of Generals Kershaw, G. W. Custis Lee, Pickett, Barton, DuBose, Corse, Hunton, and others of the most distinguished officers of the Confederate Army. Commodore John Randolph Tucker, formerly of the United States navy, commanding the Marine Brigade, was posted on the face of the heights on Ewell's front. Colonel Crutchfield, who had been recently in charge of the artillery at Richmond, commanded a large brigade of artillerymen serving as infantry.

About 5 P.M. the two divisions of the Sixth descended from the hills, in a single line, and moved steadily across the valley in the face of a destructive fire, with muskets and ammunition boxes over the shoulder, the men waded the swollen stream. Though the water was from two to four feet deep, the creek was crossed without a halt. Many fell on the plain and in the water, and those who reached the west bank were in some disorder. The command, was, however, given by the officers accompanying the troops to storm the heights, and it was obeyed. Not until within a few yards of the enemy, while ascending the heights, did our men commence firing. The enemy's advance line gave way, and an easy victory seemed about to be achieved, but before the crest was reached, Ewell with his massed troops made an impetuous charge upon and through our line. Our centre was completely broken and a disastrous defeat for us seemed imminent. The large column of Confederate infantry now, however, became exposed to the renewed fire from Wright's massed artillery on the hills east of the valley.

The right and left of the charging line met with better success, driving back all in their front, and, wholly disregarding the defeat of the centre, persisted in advancing, each wheeling as on a pivot in the centre, until the enemy's troops were completely enveloped and subjected to a deadly fire on both flanks, as well as from the artillery in front. The flooded stream forbade an advance on our unguarded batteries. The cavalry, in a simultaneous attack, about this time overthrew all before them on the Confederate right and rear. Ewell's officers gallantly exerted themselves to avert disaster, and bravely tried to form lines to the right and left to repel the now furious flank attacks. This, however, proved impossible. Our men were pushed up firing to within a few feet of the massed Confederates, rendering any reformation or change of front by them out of the question, and speedily bringing hopeless disorder. A few were bayoneted on each side. The enemy fell rapidly, while doing little execution. Flight became impossible, and nothing remained to put an end to the bloody slaughter but for the Confederates to throw down their arms and become captives. As the gloom of approaching night settled over the field, now covered with dead and dying, the fire of artillery and musketry ceased, and General Ewell, together with eleven general officers and about all the survivors of his gallant army, were prisoners. Ewell, Kershaw, G. W. Custis Lee (son of General R. E. Lee), and others surrendered to the Sixth Corps. Barton, Corse, Hunton, DuBose, and others were taken by the cavalry. Crutchfield of the Artillery Brigade was killed near me, and his command captured or dispersed. Generals Anderson and Gordon got away with part of B. R. Johnson's division, and Pickett escaped with about six hundred men.(11) Tucker's Marine Brigade, numbering about two thousand, surrendered to me in a body a little later.(12) It had been passed by in the onset of the charge. About thirty-five of the officers of this brigade had served in the United States Navy before the war. The brigade was made up of naval troops who had recently served on gunboats and river batteries on the James below Richmond. As infantrymen they cut a sorry figure, but they were brave, and stood to their assigned position after all others of their army had been overthrown. They knew nothing about flight, and were taken as a body. By reason of their first position they suffered heavily. When disarmed there was found to be a wagon load or more of pistols of all patterns which had been collected from all the countries of the civilized world. Certain incidents relating to the surrender of this brigade may be of interest.(13)

Tucker's command was not at once engulfed in the general disaster. Tucker had, after making a gallant charge, withdrawn it from its exposed position into the dense timber in a depression in the bluffs. Near the close of the battle, just at dusk, it was reported to me that a force of Confederates was in this timber. I made two vain attempts to get into communication with it and to notify its commanding officer that he was in our power. At last, having some doubts of its presence where reported, and my staff and orderlies being engaged reforming troops and caring for prisoners, I rode alone to investigate. After proceeding in the woods a short distance, to my surprise I came upon Tucker's brigade in line of battle, partly concealed by underbrush. To avoid capture I resorted to a ruse. In a loud voice I gave the command, "Forward," and it was repeated by the Confederate officers all along the line. I turned to ride towards my own troops. The dense thicket prevented speed and the marines therefore kept at my horse's heels. As an open space was approached the nearest Confederate discovered that I was a Union officer, and cried "Shoot him." As I turned to surrender, some confusion arose and a few shots were fired, but Tucker and Captain John D. Semmes, being near me, knocked up the ends of the nearest rifles with their swords and saved my life. From this situation, lying close on my horse's neck, I escaped to my own command. With a detachment I at once returned to the timber, where I met Tucker and explained to him the situation of which he was ignorant, and forthwith received his surrender with his brigade. Later, when Tucker and Semmes were prisoners at Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, the appealed to me to intercede for their release, which I most gladly and successfully did. They had each been, at the beginning of the war, in the United States Navy, which caused them to be exceptionally detained as prisoners under President Johnson's order.(14)

The infantry, under Wright, engaged in the battle at Sailor's Creek at no time exceeded ten thousand men. The number participating in the charge across the plain and in storming the heights did not exceed seven thousand, being fewer in number than the enemy captured on the field. It has been claimed that Humphreys' Second Corps participated in the battle, and some Confederate officers assert that the attack was made with thirty thousand men under Wright. Humphreys did have a lively skirmish the evening of the 6th, and captured a considerable train, far off to the right of the battle- field, and in this the detachment under Colonel Binkley from my brigade participated.(15)

Getty's division of the Sixth did not reach the field in time to become engaged.(16) The results, being so great, naturally led interested parties to exaggerate the number of the attacking forces.(17)

Sheridan, in his report, May 16, 1865, speaking of the infantry attack, says: "It was splendid, but no more than I had reason to expect from the gallant Sixth Corps." And he speaks of the fighting of the cavalry and the captures thus:

"The cavalry in the rear of the enemy attacked simultaneously, and the enemy, after a gallant resistance, were completely surrounded, and nearly all threw down their arms and surrendered. General Ewell, commanding the enemy's forces, a number of other general officers, and about 10,000 other prisoners were taken by us. Most of them fell into the hands of the cavalry, but they are no more entitled to claim them than the Sixth Corps, to which equal credit is due for the result of this engagement."

Our loss in killed and wounded was comparatively small; that of the enemy was great, but not in proportion to his loss in prisoners. One week after the battle I visited the field, and could then have walked on Confederate dead for many successive rods along the face of the heights held by the enemy when the battle opened.

The capture of Ewell and his generals, with the larger part of the forces under them, and the dispersion of the remainder of Ewell's wing of Lee's army were irreparable disasters to the Confederacy. Lee could no longer hope to cope with the pursuing army. The Sixth Corps had the distinguished honor of striking the decisive blows at Petersburg on the 2d, and at Sailor's Creek on the 6th of April, 1865.

Sailor's Creek may fairly be called the last field battle of the war. A distinguished Confederate General, Wade Hampton, in a Century Magazine article, pronounced the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, the "last important one of the war, . . . the last general battle of the Civil War." There may be room for controversy as to where and when the last "general battle" of the war was fought. Certain it is that it was not at Bentonville that the conflict ended on a large scale and blood ceased to flow in the great Rebellion. Bentonville was mainly fought March 19, 1865, and while it may properly be called a field engagement and of no insignificant proportions, it was not the last one. This is not the place to enter into any controversy about last battles, their character and significance, yet it may not be out of place to call attention to the most prominent battles, etc., fought after March 19, 1865.

Fort Stedman, in front of Petersburg, Virginia, was assaulted and temporarily taken by the Confederate General Gordon, March 25, 1865, and while the fighting which ensued in retaking the fort and in driving out the attacking forces may not be denominated a general battle, yet it was a bloody one. Other severe fighting took place in front of Petersburg the same day.

Five Forks, Virginia, fought by General Sheridan's cavalry and the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, April 1, 1865, was fought outside of fortifications by cavalry, infantry, and artillery combined, and there were charges and counter-charges, lasting several hours, the losses being heavy in killed and wounded. Many prisoners were there taken by Sheridan's command. Five Forks was a general field engagement.

The assaults and conflicts on, over, and around the ramparts of the forts and fortifications (incomparably bloody) in front of Petersburg, Virginia, April 2, 1865, which tore open the strong lines of defence held by General Lee's army, forced it to flight, and lost Petersburg and Richmond to the Confederacy, may not be entitled to be classed as general field battles.

Sailor's Creek came next in order, fought April 6, 1865.

The assault and capture of Fort Blakely, near Mobile, Alabama, took place April 9, 1865. If Blakely can be called a general battle it was the last one of the war. It was, however, mainly an assault by the Union forces under General E. R. S. Canby on fortifications, though rich in results. The killed and wounded at Blakely in both armies aggregated about 2000 men. Canby's forces captured 3423 men, 40 pieces of artillery, 16 battle flags, etc. The prize fought for and won was Mobile, its surrounding forts and the Confederate Navy in the harbor of Mobile.

At Palmetto Ranche, Texas, on May 13, 1865, near the battle-field of General Zachary Taylor at Palo Alto (May 8, 1846), the first of the Mexican War, and about two thousand miles from Big Bethel, the scene, June 10, 1861, of the first considerable battle of the Rebellion, a lively engagement took place, hardly, however, rising above the dignity of a skirmish or an affair, though it was by no means bloodless. (The magnitude of the battles of the Rebellion dwarfed to affairs or skirmishes what were formerly in this and other countries called battles.)

Colonel Theodore H. Barrett commanded the Union forces at Palmetto Ranche, and General J. E. Slaughter the Confederates.

The 62d United States Colored Infantry, in this fight, probably fired the last angry volley of the war, and Sergeant Crocket of that regiment (three days after Jefferson Davis' capture) received the last wound from a rebel hostile bullet, and hence shed the last fresh blood in the war resulting in the freedom of his race in the United States. The observation irresistibly comes, that on the scene of the first battle of the Mexican War--a war inaugurated for the acquisition of slave territory--and of the first battle participated in by Lieutenant-General (then Second Lieutenant) U. S. Grant, almost exactly nineteen years later, the last conflict took place in the war for the preservation of the Union, and in which slavery was totally overthrown in our Republic.

But to return from the digression and to conclude the story of Sailor's Creek, or the "Forgotten Battle." It may truthfully be said that it was not only the last general field battle of the war, but the one wherein more officers and men were captured in the struggle of actual conflict than in any battle of modern times.

There was some fighting between the cavalry of the two armies and many minor affairs between the advance- and rear-guards, but the four years' heavy fighting between the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac ended at Sailor's Creek.

During the battle Lee was with Longstreet at Rice's Station, two miles distant, impatiently awaiting news from Lieutenant-Generals Ewell and Anderson. General Mahone states what transpired when Colonel Venable of Lee's staff reported to his chief something of the disaster at Sailor's Creek:

"General Lee exclaimed, 'Where is Anderson? Where is Ewell? It is strange I can't hear from them." Then turning to me, he said, 'General Mahone, I have no other troops, will you take your division to Sailor's Creek?' and I promptly gave the order by the left flank, and off we were for Sailor's Creek, where the disaster had occurred. General Lee rode with me, Colonel Venable a little in the rear. On reaching the south crest of the high ground at the crossing of the river road overlooking Sailor's Creek, the disaster which had overtaken our army was in full view, and the scene beggars description, --hurrying teamsters with their teams and dangling traces (no wagons), retreating infantry without guns, many without hats, a harmless mob, with the massive columns of the enemy moving orderly on. At this spectacle General Lee straightened himself in his saddle, and, looking more the soldier than ever, exclaimed, as if talking to himself, 'My God! has the army dissolved?' As quickly as I could control my own voice I replied, 'No, General, here are troops ready to do their duty'; when, in a mellowed voice, he replied: 'Yes, General, there are some true men left. Will you please keep those people back?' As I was placing my division in position to 'keep those people back,' the retiring herd just referred to had crowded around General Lee while he sat on his horse with a Confederate battle-flag in his hand. I rode up and requested him to give me the flag, which he did.

"It was near dusk, and he wanted to know of me how to get away. I replied: 'Let General Longstreet move by the river road to Farmville, and cross the river there, and I will go through the woods to the High Bridge (railroad bridge) and cross there.' To this he assented."

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