the Oostenaula river, and the capture without serious opposition of Rome and Kingston, some sixty miles further on towards Atlanta. At Rome, large quantities of provisions were captured, and large machine-shops were destroyed. Johnston's retreat had been too rapid to allow of his doing much damage to the railroad along which his army was falling back towards Atlanta; and whatever damage he was enabled to do was at once repaired, and the railroad was put in use to supply our armies in their advance.

The Altoona Mountains were the scene of the next stand made by the rebels. General Sherman continued the flanking system, and moved towards Dallas, where, however, he was met by the rebels, who attacked McPherson's Corps on the 28th of May, and met a disastrous repulse, losing some two thousand five hundred killed and wounded and eight hundred prisoners This movement having drawn the rebels from their position at the pass of the Altoona Mountains, it was occupied and held by our cavalry, becoming at once, as General Sherman said, "as useful to us as it was to the enemy," and the rebels took up a new position at Kenesaw and Lost Mountain. Efforts were made by them, while Sherman was advancing towards this position, to interfere with his communications, and some damage was done to the railroad by rebel cavalry, which was, however, speedily driven off. A more discouraging affair, however, was the defeat of a heavy expedition, which set out from Memphis under command of General Sturges, by the rebel General Forrest, on the 10th of June. The requirements of General Sherman's position were not, however, so great but that he was able at once to make arrangements to repair this disaster. Like General Grant, he was not "jostled from his plans" by these outside manœuvres any more than by the direct blows of the rebel army, and by the 18th of June, when Grant stationed himself before the works of Petersburg after his march of a hundred miles and his many battles, Sherman had arrived before the rebel works at Kenesaw Mountain after a similar march of

fighting and flanking the enemy over something more than a hundred miles of territory.

Both of these movements are now recognized as having been splendid successes. But it is not to be denied that from the time of the commencement of the siege of Petersburg there was a growing feeling of doubt and anxiety in the country in reference to the operations of the army of the Potomac. It had been often announced that Lee's army was cut to pieces and fleeing in disorder, and yet that army had thus far, by repeated stands, been able to prevent Grant from breaking through its lines. Even Petersburg was declared to have been taken by assault on the first attack; and yet it was found that, instead of this, our army was not able at once to draw its lines around the place far enough to cut off the Weldon Railroad. The losses of the army were greatly exaggerated by the opposition, the difficulties of its position magnified, the lack of water and the dust and heat were dilated upon, and even the visit which the President paid to the army on the 22d of June was dwelt upon as an event showing that the difficulties of the situation were great, if not insuperable.

The army, however, did not look at it in that light. The President's visit was for them a gratification, not a cause for anxiety, and they cheered him, as he rode along the lines, with a heartiness which expressed their confidence in him and in the leaders whom he had given them. The President's confident expressions as to the state of affairs on his return went far to encourage the country; for the people had already come in great measure to have that abounding confidence in Mr. Lincoln which displayed itself so wonderfully during the rest of his life. He appreciated in his turn the confidence which the people felt in him. "I do my best to deserve this," said he to a friend, "but I tremble at the responsibility that devolves upon me, a weak, mortal man, to serve such a great and generous people in such a place as I hold, in such an awful crisis as this. It is a terrible responsibility;

but it has been imposed upon me without my seeking, and I trust Providence has a wise purpose for me to fulfil by appointing me to this charge, which is almost too much for a weak mortal to hold.”

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He appreciated not only this confidence in him, but the whole character of the people. "Such a people," said he, can never fail; and they deserve, and will receive, the proudest place in the history of nations." It seems sad to think that he could not have lived to see how speedily the fulfilment of his prophecy approached.

General Grant's purpose was to extend his lines southward, cutting off as speedily as possible the railroads which led from Petersburg to the south; and by the cavalry arm destroying the other railroads leading to Richmond, thus isolating it from the South. In pursuance of this plan Sheridan with his cavalry destroyed a large portion of the railroads between Richmond and Gordonsville, returning to the White House, and there opening communications again with General Grant; and Wilson, on the south, cut the Weldon Railroad, and, reaching Burkesville, did serious damage also to the Danville road. The first move of the army, however, towards the Weldon road resulted disastrously; and Wilson, on his return from his raid, was set upon at Ream's Station, and had to cut his way through with heavy loss, by the aid of a diversion effected by the Sixth Corps, which was sent to his relief. General Hunter, too, was unable to capture Lynchburg, and, falling short of ammunition, was compelled to retreat into Western Virginia by the Valley of the Kanawha.

Amid these various movements, Congress adjourned on the 4th of July.

The feeling at its adjournment was not buoyant, but tending to depression; and, just before it separated, a resolution was passed, requesting the President to appoint a day of fasting and prayer. Accordingly, on the 7th of July, he issued the following proclamation :

PROCLAMATION.

By the President of the United States.

WHEREAS, the Senate and House of Representatives at their last session adopted a concurrent resolution, which was approved on the second day of July instant, and which was in the words following, namely:

That the President of the United States be requested to appoint a day of humiliation and prayer by the people of the United States, that he request his constitutional advisers at the head of the Executive Departments to unite with him, as Chief Magistrate of the nation, at the City of Washington, and the members of Congress, and all magistrates, all civil, military, and naval officers, all soldiers, sailors, and marines, with all loyal and law-abiding people, to convene at their usual places of worship, or wherever they may be, to confess and to repent of their manifold sins, to implore the compassion and forgiveness of the Almighty, that if consistent with His will, the existing rebellion may be speedily suppressed, and the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the United States may be established throughout all the States; to implore Him, as the Supreme Ruler of the world, not to destroy us as a people, nor suffer us to be destroyed by the hostility or connivance of other nations, or by obstinate adhesion to our own counsels which may be in conflict with His eternal purposes, and to implore Him to enlighten the mind of the nation to know and do His will, humbly believing that it is in accordance with His will that our place should be maintained as a united people among the family of nations; to implore Him to grant to our armed defenders, and the masses of the people, that courage, power of resistance, and endurance necessary to secure that result; to implore Him in His infinite goodness. to soften the hearts, enlighten the minds, and quicken the conscience of those in rebellion, that they may lay down their arms, and speedily return to their allegiance to the United States, that they may not be utterly destroyed, that the effusion of blood may be stayed, and that unity and fraternity may be restored, and peace established throughout all our borders. Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, cordially concurring with the Congress of the United States, in the penitential and pious sentiments expressed in the aforesaid resolutions, and heartily approving of the devotional design and purpose thereof, do hereby appoint the first Thursday of August next to be observed by the people of the United States as a day of national humiliation and prayer.

I do hereby further invite and request the heads of the Executive Departments of this Government, together with all legislators, all judges and magistrates, and all other persons exercising authority in the land, whether civil, military, or naval, and all soldiers, seamen, and marines in the national service, and all the other loyal and law-abiding people of the United States, to assemble in their preferred places of public worship on that day, and there to render to the Almighty and merciful Ruler of the

Universe, such homage and such confessions, and to offer to Him such supplications as the Congress of the United States have, in their aforesaid resolution, so solemnly, so earnestly, and so reverently recommended.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

[L. S.]

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

The depressing effect of the apparent check in the onward movement of the work of suppressing the rebellion was, however, much alleviated by the news which arrived on the 6th of July, of the sinking of the rebel cruiser Alabama, on the 19th of June, off Cherbourg, by the Kearsarge, under the command of Captain Winslow. Opportunities for our navy to distinguish itself in battle, except with forts, had been rare, and great rejoicing was felt that Semmes, the commander of the Alabama, had at last given to the Kearsarge an opportunity to prove, in sight of France and England, that Yankee ships and guns and men were, as of old, dangerous enemies in an encounter.

The Shenandoah Valley had been laid open by Hunter's movement into West Virginia, and the rebels took advantage of it to make a push northward. They crossed the Potomac in considerable force, commanded by General Early, and on the 9th of July defeated our troops under General Wallace, at Monocacy. The President called for twelve thousand militia from each of the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, to meet this invasion, from which both Baltimore and Washington were felt to be in some danger. A bold company of raiders even burned the house of Governor Bradford, only four miles from Baltimore, and, passing north of Baltimore, cut the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad, capturing two trains of cars. One of the passengers on the cars was Major-General Franklin, who was taken prisoner, but afterwards succeeded in making his escape near Reisterstown. The raiders met little opposition through the coun