THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OPENED. 193 in command. General Burnside states his loss at 12,321, in killed, wounded, and missing. On the night of the 14th he retreated to the north side of the river without further molestation. The Confederate loss was inconsiderable. They fought behind their entrenchments, while the Unionists were the assailants. In February, 1862, Commodore Farragut led a naval expedition for the capture of New Orleans. Commodore David D. Porter was second Gen. B. F. Butler, with about fifteen thousand men, accompanied the naval force. The Confederates had possession of the old United States forts, Jackson on the right, or west bank of the Mississippi, and St. Philip on the left. They had armed them with 126 guns. These fortifications are situate about seventy-five miles below New Orleans, and twenty-five miles from the mouth of the river. Farragut's fleet consisted of seven steam sloops of nine to twenty-six guns, ten gunboats of four to twelve guns, and a sailing sloop of seventeen guns. His mortar fleet consisted of twenty schooners, each mounting one large mortar and two small guns. He had also five other steamers, mounting twenty-eight guns. It was not until April 8th, that all the vessels were got over the bar. The bombardment commenced on the 18th. It was continued almost incessantly until the 24th. After a terrific cannonade, the fleet passed above the forts, leaving them in a crippled condition. Farragut proceeded up the river to New Orleans. He demanded of the mayor the surrender of the city. After some hesitation the demand was complied with, and General Butler, with his military force, took possession and established martial law. Forts St. Philip and Jackson surrendered to Porter on the 27th, after some further resistance. During the conflict with the forts the Confederate iron-clad fleet came down the river to their assistance. But to the last one these formidable floating batteries were captured or destroyed. The passage of these forts, supported by the Confederate fleet, is regarded as one of the most heroic achievements of the war. After taking possession of New Orleans and adjacent parts of Louisiana, Commodore Farragut penetrated up the Mississippi with his gunboats, and having passed the strong fortifications at Vicksburg, aided the military in an unsuccessful attempt upon that strongly fortified place. CHAPTER X. THE END OF THE WAR. OF GRANT-BANKS AT HE ARRESTS VALLANDIGHAM VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN OF 1863-OTHER MOVEMENTS Ο N the last day of the year 1862, General Sherman was removed from the command of the Army of the Tennessee, and General McClernand, of Illinois, appointed to take his place. The campaign of 1863, against the Confederate army in Mississippi, was planned and entered upon by General Grant in November, 1862. He proposed to send Gen. W. T. Sherman and General McClernand down the Mississippi River with a strong force, to be aided by a fleet of gunboats, to assail the fortified city of Vicksburg in front and rear, while he, with the body of his army, was to operate in the state north and east of Vicksburg. It is probable that this plan would have been attended with immediate success, but for the enterprise of General Van Dorn. That Confederate leader came up behind Grant as he was advancing south, and on December 20th, captured and destroyed his vast stores of arms, provisions, clothing, and ammunition at Holly Springs, — a place situated on the Mississippi Central Railroad, about forty miles southeast of Memphis. The stores destroyed here were valued at between four and five millions of dollars. Their destruction had the effect of arresting the operations against Vicksburg. The commander at Holly Springs was Colonel Murphy. Grant, in a general order, denounced the surrender as disgraceful. This and other dashes of the enemy upon his rear, caused him to fall back SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG. 195 upon Holly Springs. He had already reached Oxford, thirty miles further south. The delay occasioned by Van Dorn's success gave General Pemberton time to march into Vicksburg with a large force of Confederates, to meet and thwart the operations of Sherman. The latter, in conjunction with Commodore Porter, commenced operations against the city, in the expectation that General Grant would co-operate; but after some severe fighting, the enterprise had to be abandoned. The loss of the Unionists in this attempt upon Vicksburg was 191 killed, 982 wounded, and 756 missing. The capture of Arkansas Post was made on the 11th of January. It is situated a few miles up the river from its mouth, and was defended by a large Confederate force. The movement was planned by General Sherman and Commodore Porter before General McClernand took command of the army. To those officers belongs the honor of its execution. The loss of the Unionists was 600 in killed and wounded. The Confederates lost only sixtyfive in killed, and eighty-three wounded; but their whole force of 7,000 men and officers was surrendered, with 8,000 stands of arms, twenty cannon, and a large amount of stores. -was con General Grant, whose headquarters were at Memphis, now began the campaign which resulted in the siege and capture of Vicksburg. This great event of the war- the capitulation of Pemberton and his armycluded on the 4th of July, 1863. Its effect was to open the Mississippi to northern commerce, to divide the Confederacy into two parts, and, taken in connection with the Gettysburg victory of the same day, greatly to revive the hopes of Northern people that the restoration of the Union was at hand. The result of the campaign, as stated by General Grant, was the defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of Vicksburg, the occupation of Jackson, the capital of the State of Mississippi, and the capture of Vicksburg, its garrison and munitions of war, with 37,000 prisoners, including fifteen general officers, while at least ten thousand of the enemy were killed and wounded, and thousands straggled off, never to be collected again. Besides railroad cars, locomotives, steamboats, and cotton, the arms and munitions of war surrendered were sufficient for an army of sixty thousand men. The Union losses in the series of battles around and at Vicksburg were 1,243 killed, 7,095 wounded, and 537 missing; total, 8,875. President Lincoln, in a brief letter to General Grant, made his "grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service" he had done the country. He admitted that in the progress of the campaign, where he feared a mistake had been made in the course pursued, the general was right, and he was wrong. The achievements in this campaign permanently established the supremacy of General Grant in military affairs. They promoted him to the chief command, and afterward added civic honor to his laurels. The fall of Jackson, the capital of the State of Mississippi, followed that of Vicksburg within two weeks. It involved a loss by the Confederates of an immense quantity of military stores. In March, General Banks, with an army of 15,000 men, and accompanied by a naval force under Admiral Farragut, laid siege to Port Hudson. This was a strongly fortified position on the Mississippi, about twenty-five miles above Baton Rouge. The investment was, however, rather formal, than substantial. After an unsuccessful bombardment by the fleet, the enterprise was suspended. The Union troops crossed the river, into the Teche country, in pursuit of the enemy. In this expedition a great quantity of Confederate munitions of war was captured and destroyed without much resistance. The siege of Port IIudson was again commenced by Banks on May 21st. Some progress had been made in pushing the approaches, when, on the 7th of July, the Confederate commander, Gen. Frank Gardner, heard through some Union soldiers, that Vicksburg had fallen. He thereupon addressed a note to General Banks, stating that if it were true that Vicksburg had surrendered, his position at Port Hudson would be no longer tenable, and that he would agree to terms of surrender. On being assured by a dispatch from General Grant that the information was correct, he promptly agreed to surrender. The terms were agreed on by a commission of officers, on July 8th. The surrender embraced 6,233 prisoners, fifty-one pieces of artillery, and a large supply of ammunition and small arms. At the beginning of the year the Union cause was not in a prosperous condition in the East. After the battle of Fredericksburg, the Army of the Potomac, under General Burnside, remained comparatively quiet for some weeks. Then a movement was made to cross the Rappahannock above Fredericksburg in mid-winter, which failed, owing to the impassable condition of the roads. The soldiers of the Army of the Potomac ever after humorously called this movement- "Burnside's Mud March." After this a serious quarrel was developed between Burnside and his commanders. He recommended the dismissal of Generals Hooker, Newton, and Brooks; and that Generals Franklin, W. F. Smith, Sturgis, and others be relieved from duty. If the President refused to sanction these recommendations, General Burnside tendered his resignation. The President declined to sanction the dismissal and removal of the officers named, and also declined to accept the resignation. Burnside was soon after transferred to the West, and placed in command of the Department of the Ohio. He was succeeded in the Army of the Potomac by Gen. Joseph Hooker, whose dismissal from the army he had recommended. General Burnside, in the beginning of May, 1863, was stationed at Cincinnati. Ohio was not in flagrant war, in any sense, yet this defeated general began belligerent operations at once. He sent a portion of his staff in citizen's dress to Mount Vernon, in that state, to report Mr. Vallandigham's GENERAL HOOKER AT CHANCELLORSVILLE. 197 speech! As the testimony turned out, and as the author of this book testified on oath, fortified by Vallandigham's statement, the words alleged against the latter were spoken by the writer. The arrest of Vallandigham followed on the 5th of May, 1863. It was not a brave exploit, though eminently strategic. It was described at that time by the author, with Cæsar's brevity, thus: "Night- special train-house guarded near V.'s residence - depot under guard-quick, cautious movement- doors broken-bedroom entered prisoner captured-placed in cars and gone-all in thirty minutes!" The mind that planned this dash on the bedroom of a Democrat had just felt the stings of defeat at Fredericksburg! The author had been summoned by telegraph to Cincinnati, to appear at the trial forthwith. It was a rude and impudent missive. He was commanded to leave on the night train. He went through Dayton, the residence of the arrested statesman. The excitement was intense. So it was at Hamilton. The depot had been burned. Arriving at Cincinnati at daylight he had a conference with General Burnside. There was little talk about the arrested man, as the General said that word might be sent to Mrs. Vallandigham that her husband would soon be released. But there was much talk about the late Virginia battles; and, to do General Burnside justice, he yearned to go back, as he said, to take a subordinate command under General McClellan, on whom he passed unmeasured encomiums. He asked the writer to present his wishes to President Lincoln. In the latter part of April, General Hooker commenced operations against the enemy, who was entrenched on the opposite side of the Rappahannock. In the battles of the Wilderness and Chancellorsville, like that at Fredericksburg in the winter, while the commander of the Union army had perhaps the advantage in the number of men, the Confederates had the advantage of acting on the defensive. They fought their assailants on their own chosen ground. It is true, also, that General Hooker brought only a part, as it is said less than half, of his force into action. He crossed the Rappahannock about twelve miles above Fredericksburg with the main body of the army, and sent General Sedgwick with the Sixth Corps across, a few miles below that town, to take and hold the heights where Burnside had failed. The intention was to hold these heights while Hooker would push toward them in rear of Fredericksburg, and thus force Lee out of his works, or capture him. These movements were made with great celerity. Sedgwick took the heights, and Hooker simultaneously reached the strong position at Chancellorsville. Here, while Hooker was about to push on, Sedgwick, instead of remaining in the captured works, finding, apparently, a small force in his front, marched out to join the advancing columns of Hooker. At this moment, Lee threw a crushing force against Sedgwick and drove him back to the river; then by a rapid march he advanced with his whole force on Hooker. Jackson ("Stonewall") struck |