as if declining further to side with the abolition banners of the east. A reconnoissance made in our front showed that the enemy had fallen back from that portion of the field. At this critical juncture, it being now about one P.M., the lion-hearted Longstreet ordered General Buckner to advance, which he did as a second line to McLaws's and Hood's divisions. This movement, effected by Longstreet, was in the nature of a left wheel upon his right, Hood's division being as a centre. By this manoeuvre he advanced one mile and a half, and formed at right angles with the Chattanooga road, the movement at the same time uniting Buckner's corps, by bringing Preston's division within a short interval on Stewart's left. Longstreet's corps proper, Hindman's and Bushrod Johnson's divisions now advanced like tigers on the foe. The second line of the enemy, who had taken up a position on a ridge or range of hills, with temporary breastworks formed of rails and fallen timber, had been driven back with great slaughter, Hood's corps having captured thirteen pieces of artillery and a large number of prisoners. The North-Carolinians of McNair's gallant brigade on this occasion made their mark. Lieutenant-Colonel Frank A. Reynolds, of the Thirtyninth North-Carolina, capturing ten pieces of cannon, seven of which were brought off the field, with two standards of colors, the regiment losing one hundred men out of two hundred and thirtyeight. The glorious Hood himself was seriously wounded, having his leg amputated on the field. Longstreet now took command of Hood's corps in person with other troops, when charge after charge was made, pressing back the enemy's right, until their line was doubled on their centre, for a distance of three miles. Kershaw's South-Carolinians and Humphrey's Mississippians now advanced to the assault of the ridge, and soon became engaged in a desperate struggle, the tide of victory vacillating, when the peerless Preston was ordered to advance his division of united troops, Gracie's, Kelley's, and Trigg's brigades, who had never before been in action, to their aid. They moved forward through a deadly fire with the firmness and courage, of veterans, exciting the highest admiration, when a simultaneous assault was made, and the enemy driven from and over the crest of the ridge with great slaughter, thus wresting from him his supposed impregnable position. General Longstreet, in passing over the scene afterward, remarked that the troops who could take such a stronghold could carry any works the enemy could construct. It was now about five o'clock when the enemy's right wing had been driven back in dismay, and Rosecrans, to check our further advance and save his army, attempted to reënforce his right by throwing over a heavy body of troops from his left. The movement was at once perceived by the eagle eyes of Longstreet and Buckner, who had reconnoitred the ground, and it being suggested by General Law, commanding Hood's division, that we could enfilade the enemy as he approached by placing artillery near the Chattanooga road, and opposite the angle formed by the enemy's lines, Major Williams, commanding a battery of artillery, of Buckner's corps, was ordered to concentrate his batteries at the point it was supposed. the enemy would cross. Soon after, as was expected, the heavy columns of the enemy made their appearance and were about wheeling into line, when Williams opened on them a terrific fire with grape, canister, and shrapnel, mowing down the abolition foe, and shivering the woods behind which they attempted to take shelter. At the same time, Stewart's division, which had been ordered forward by General Longstreet, fell furiously upon the flank of the column, on the right of the road, while Law opened a most unmerciful fire on the left. The enemy's right and centre gave way before the mighty shock, and broke with frantic confusion; over twenty pieces of artillery were captured, and several thousand made prisoners. General Bragg, upon whom rested the mighty responsibility of the immense stake at hazard, and who, upon every part of the battle-field, watched with intense anxiety the fate of the day-as he directed the storm of death-then felt that the God of battles would award to him the victory. The western horizon, crimsoned with vermilion hues, now shed its ruddy light on the hill-top and forest-plain, painting the bloody battle-field still reeking with human gore-but the battle strife had not yet ceased. Driven to desperation, and determined at all hazards to hold their position on their left wing, the enemy with a resolute ferocity hurled his battalions upon our right, at the same time opening his batteries with a storm of shell and grape. Liddell and Gist, of Walker's corps, who had been again ordered forward, being their fifth engagement with the enemy, were met by a most destructive fire, which enfiladed them on both flanks and drove them back. Our line of battle on the right was now about half a mile from the Chattanooga road. The enemy_was sorely pressing our wavering lines. General Polk, who had borne the brunt of the battle during the day, and fought his wing against the concentrated masses of the enemy with unequalled bravery and endurance, had now marshaled his forces for a last desperate charge, on which depended the fate of the day. His flashing eye at this moment discovered that Granger's reserve corps of abolition troops was moving down upon us, and not a moment was to be lost. At the same time it was reported that Longstreet was driving the enemy's right flank, which added fresh nerve and vigor to our already exhausted men. The signal being given, the whole line advanced, Breckinridge leading off on the extreme right, the division making a left half wheel, which brought it parallel to the enemy's lines, whose artillery belched forth a blasting fire. Forward pressed Stovall, Gibson, and Helm, in perfect order, cheered by other lines of troops as they advanced, and passing through the "unterrified" of Walker's line, who was then engaging the enemy, without halting, and reserving their fire until within a few yards of the foe, when they sprang forward with a wild yell to the charge, receiving a volley from the enemy without effect. A second volley from the barricades of trees and stones checked Breckinridge for a mo- the numerous personal heroic deeds, or the valorment, and many a brave, with the noble Helm, ous and chivalrous incidents, recalling the exploits fell, but the officers rushed forward, mounting the of the knights of romance, which occurred on the barricades, followed by their men, dealing destruc-ever-memorable field of Chickamauga, even were tion to the panic-stricken hordes, who fled on every they known to the writer, while it is a source of side, a brigade of U. S. regulars, under General regret that I cannot do full justice to companies King, being perfectly routed by Gibson. Still and regiments by recording here the noble and onward pressed the division of Breckinridge, driv- heroic part which they bore on this bloody battleing the enemy for three quarters of a mile, cap- field, where all were alike distinguished for heroturing nine pieces of cannon and hundreds of pris- ism and bravery. oners, until entering the woods about seventy yards west of the Chattanooga road, the enemy's killed and wounded making its bloody track in the pursuit. It is but justice to General Longstreet to accord to him the turning of the tide of victory by his masterly manoeuvre, which was followed up and completed by General Polk, while it must be conceded that the resolute decision of General Bragg in checking the enemy's advance into Georgia, striking him at a disadvantage, with great odds against us, and driving him from the State, defeated and routed, deserves the gratitude of our countrymen. M. Law, called forth the high praise and congratulations of General Longstreet. The most eminent service had been rendered by our bold dragoons under the daring chieftains Forrest, Wheeler, Wharton, and Scott, who drove back and checked the enemy's advances, and during the fight greatly annoyed their flanks, capturing a large number of prisoners. At the same time on came the chivalrous Cleburn, with the brave Deshler, Wood, and Polk, who soon came in conflict with Granger's corps, sweeping them before their ranks like leaves, and facing the murderous fire of their barricades. The heroic and dashing Deshler went down, but still the men pressed forward; Wood, with Lucius Too much praise cannot be given to the gallant Polk's brigade, storming breastwork after breast- Georgians. In Hood's division thirteen pieces of work, until the third work was carried-Polk cap- artillery were captured, to secure which our boys turing three pieces of cannon, the standards of the forced the abolition prisoners to haul them off the Second Ohio, Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania, field. It was a novel sight to see two confederate Seventy-ninth Illinois, and five hundred prison- soldiers mounted on a gun-carriage, with their ers. Like the ocean's wave, rolled onward the rifles in hand, driving a team of "abolish," which brigades of the warrior Cheatham toward the had been harnessed up for the occasion. The centre of the enemy's works, which were car-able manner in which Hood's division was hanried with an irresistible impetuosity. Maney's dled by the accomplished Brigadier-General E. brigade adding new laurels to its fame, as well as Strahl's, Wright's, Jackson's, and the lamented Preston Smith's capturing several pieces of artillery, and a large number of prisoners. This sealed our victory. The enemy was totally routed from right, left, and centre, and was in full retreat to Chattanooga, night alone preventing their further pursuit. Then arose along our lines, from wing to wing for miles, one wild, tumultuous yell, Not since the battle of Cressy, 1346, when and cheers which made the hills and forest shake cannon were first used, was the artillery arm of again. The day was ours; while the croaking the service more effective on both sides, or more raven of the night perched on the ill-starred ban- chivalry shown. During the evening of the ner of the vain, boasting Rosecrans, now crest- twentieth, when Liddell's brigades were in desfallen, defeated, and humiliated. Polk's wing perate conflict with the enemy, Captain Sweet's captured twenty-eight pieces of artillery, and battery silenced a battery of the enemy, which Longstreet's twenty-one, making forty-nine pieces was afterward captured. The officer in comof cannon, both wings taking nearly an equal number of prisoners, amounting to over eight thousand, with thirty thousand stand of arms, and forty stands of regimental colors. The enemy's loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, by their own account, is not less than thirty thousand. Ours is computed at twelve thousand, our wounded being unusually large compared to the killed. The enemy is known to have had all his available force on the field, including his reserve, with a portion of Burnside's corps, numbering not less than eighty thousand, while our whole force did not exceed fifty thousand. Nothing was more brilliant in all Bonaparte's Italian campaigns; it was equally as desperate as the battle of Arcola, and far more decisive in its results. So far it exceeds all previous battles of our revolution, and nothing could surpass the irresistible courage and heroic intrepidity of our officers and soldiers. It is impossible to crowd into this limited space mand, on being taken prisoner, inquired the name of the confederate officer who served the guns, as he desired to present him with his sword and glass, for his gallantry and great skill. The officer referred to was the brave Lieutenant Shannon, and the glass and sword were left with Major M. Smith for the heroic artillerist. The batteries commanded by Captains Cobb, Carns, Lumsden, Fowler, and indeed all our artillery officers, rendered distinguished service, and none more so than the lamented Major E. E. Graves, chief of artillery of Breckinridge's division, who was killed on the field. Major J. K. Porter, Chief of Artillery of Buckner's corps, Lieutenant-Colonel James H. Hallonquist, Chief of Artillery of General Bragg's staff, and Major Palmer also rendered distinguished service An idea of the desperation of the fight may be had from the casualties in Govan's and Walthall's brigades, which suffered the largest loss of any were wounded, six company officers were killed, and two color-bearers were shot down. During the evening of the twentieth, this gallant regiment became disconnected from Bate's brigade, and fought independently, capturing, with a portion of the Fourth Alabama, a fine battery, the men of the regiment managing the guns and carrying them to the rear, the horses being all killed. During the night after the battle, Preston's division captured two regiments, being part left. Major J. Stoddard Johnson, A. A. G.; Major T. H. Clay, Inspector-General; Major A. C. Gibson, Chief of Ordnance, and Major T. K. Porter, Chief of Artillery, of General Buckner's staff, were distinguished for the gallant service which they rendered on the field. two brigades in the army. But one colonel was hundred and two men. All the field-officers left in command in Govan's brigade. Colonel Featherston, of the Fifth Arkansas, fell in the first engagement while gallantly taking a bat tery; Lieutenant-Colonel Baucum, of the Eighth Arkansas, and Colonel Gillespie, of the Seventh, were both wounded. Ten company officers out of twelve, in the First Louisiana and Eighth Arkansas, consolidated, were killed and wounded. In the two brigades one thousand and six hundred men and officers were killed and wounded in five desperate engagements. Eight field of a small force which held its position on our officers out of ten were killed and wounded in Walthall's brigade, and Colonel J. J. Scales, of the Thirtieth Mississippi, captured. In the Twenty-fourth Mississippi, Lieutenant-Colonel R. P. Mackelvaine and Major W. C. Staples were wounded; also, Lieutenant-Colonel A. J. Jones, of the Twenty-seventh; Lieutenant-Colonel L. B. Morgan, of the Twenty-ninth; Major J. M. Johnson, of the Thirtieth; Major W. G. Pegram, and Captain Fowler, afterward commanding Thirtyfourth Mississippi. Lieutenant-Colonel H. A. Reynolds, Thirty-fourth Mississippi, was killed. Colonel Brantley, of Twenty-ninth, and Colonel Campbell, Twenty-seventh, were the only officers uninjured. Whole loss, seven hundred and eighty-one killed, wounded, and missing. On Monday, twenty-first, Forrest and Wheeler pursued the enemy, who did not stop until they reached Chattanooga, the former keeping up a running fire and capturing a number of prisoners. Wheeler also destroyed a wagon train and captured one hundred prisoners. Major John Taylor, of the First Louisiana cavalry, went within five miles of Chattanooga, and captured the splendid colors of the Thirtieth Indiana, with one hundred prisoners. Our whole army moved forward on Tuesday, and formed in front of Missionary Ridge, taking possession of Lookout Mountain, and securing the river road toward Bridgeport. It is stated that the enemy had already crossed a portion of his army over the river, but finding he was not pursued, returned. There is hardly a doubt, however, that if our troops could have pursued him that night, we would have at least occupied Chattanooga, as the enemy was most precipitous in his flight, leaving his hospitals, wounded and dead alike, abandoned, on the banks of the "River of Death!" The Louisiana, Kentucky, and Alabama troops were also conspicuous for their gallantry. Sergeant J. C. McDevitt, the color-bearer of Gibson's regiment, Adams's brigade, was mortally wounded in both legs with canister. The brave Major Loudon Butler, of the Nineteenth Louisiana, was killed at the head of his regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Turner, of same regiment, was wounded, also Captain E. P. Guilliet, of General Adams's staff. Colonel Daniel Gober and Major C. H. Moore, of Sixteenth and Twenty-fifth Louisiana; Colonel L. Von Zinken and Captain E. M. Dubroca, of Thirteenth and Twentieth Louisiana; Captain John W. Labouisse, A. I. G.; Major J. C. Kimball, Thirtysecond Alabama, and Lieutenants S. L. Ware PROCLAMATION OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. and Scott Yerger, were distinguished for their gallantry and bravery. Major James Wilson, A. A. G.; Captains Cabell, Breckinridge, Clay, Coleman, and Maston, of General Breckinridge's staff, also won additional distinction. The brave and chivalrous Colonel Hewitt, of the Second Kentucky, and Lieutenant-Colonel Inge, of the Eighteenth Alabama, were killed. Bate's brigade, of Stewart's division, retook a gun and confederate flag which had been captured by the enemy the evening before. General Bate had two horses shot under him, suffering considerably from the fall of the last. General Brown was struck in the breast by a spent ball, which shocked him severely, and General Clayton was struck with a fragment of shell on the side. Bate's brigade lost six hundred and eight, out of one thousand and eighty-five, including sixty-seven officers. Every staff-officer had his horse shot under him. Colonel R. C. Tyler, of the Fifteenth and Thirty-seventh Tennessee, lost one hundred and twenty out of two Doc. 106. JULY 25TH, 1863. AGAIN do I call upon the people of the Confederacy-a people who believe that the Lord reigneth and that his overruling providence ordereth all things-to unite in prayer and humble submission under his chastening hand, and to beseech his favor on our suffering country. It is meet that when trials and reverses befall us we should seek to take home to our hearts and consciences the lessons which they teach, and profit by the self-examination for which they prepare us. Had not our successes on land and sea made us self-confident and forgetful of our reliance on him; had not love of lucre eaten like a gangrene into the very heart of the land, converting too many among us into worshippers of gain and rendering them unmindful of their duty to their country, to their fellow-men, and to their God-who then will presume to complain that we have been chastened or to despair of our just cause and the protection of our heavenly Father! Let us rather receive in humble thankfulness ment; without sound judgment there can be no the lesson which he has taught in our recent re- wise government. verses, devoutly acknowledging that to him, and not to our own feeble arms, are due the honor and the glory of victory; that from him, in his paternal providence, come the anguish and sufferings of defeat, and that, whether in victory or defeat, our humble supplications are due at his footstool. Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of these confederate States, do issue this, my proclamation, setting apart Friday, the twenty-first day of August ensuing, as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer; and I do hereby invite the people of the confederate States to repair on that day to their respective places of public worship, and to unite in supplication for the favor and protection of that God who has hitherto conducted us safely through all the dangers that environed us. In faith whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and the seal of the confederate SEAL. States, at Richmond, this twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three. JEFFERSON DAVIS. By the President: J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of State. Doc. 107. MILITARY ARRESTS. THE following is a correct copy of the correspondence between President Lincoln and the committee appointed by the Ohio Democratic State Convention to ask for permission for Hon. C. L. Vallandigham to return to Ohio:* THE LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT. WASHINGTON CITY, June 26, 1863. To His Excellency the President of the United States: 2. That it is an inherent and constitutional right of the people to discuss all measures of their government, and to approve or disapprove, as to their best judgment seems right. That they have a like right to propose and advocate that policy which in their judgment is best, and to argue and vote against whatever policy seems to them to violate the Constitution, to impair their liberties, or to be detrimental to their welfare. 3. That these and all other rights guaranteed to them by their constitutions are their rights in time of war as well as in time of peace, and of far more value and necessity in war than in peace, for in peace, liberty, security, and property are seldom endangered; in war they are ever in peril. 4. That we now say to all whom it may concern, not by way of threat, but calmly and firmly, that we will not surrender these rights nor submit to their forcible violation. We will obey the laws ourselves, and all others must obey them. 11. That Ohio will adhere to the Constitution and the Union as the best, it may be the last, hope of popular freedom, and for all wrongs which may have been committed or evils which may exist will seek redress, under the Constitution and within the Union, by the peaceful but powerful agency of the suffrages of a free people. 14. That we will earnestly support every constitutional measure tending to preserve the Union of the States. No men have a greater interest in its preservation than we have-none desire it more; there are none who will make greater sacrifices or endure more than we will to accomplish that end. We are, as we ever have been, the devoted friends of the Constitution and the Union, and we have no sympathy with the enemies of either. 15. That the arrest, imprisonment, pretended trial, and actual banishment of Clement L. ValThe undersigned, having been appointed a comlandigham, a citizen of the State of Ohio, not bemittee, under the authority of the resolutions of longing to the land or naval forces of the United the State Convention, held at the city of Colum-States, nor to the militia in actual service, by albus, Ohio, on the eleventh instant, to communi- leged military authority, for no other pretended cate with you on the subject of the arrest and banishment of Clement L. Vallandigham, most respectfully submit the following as the resolutions of that Convention, bearing upon the subject of this communication, and ask of your Excellency their earnest consideration. And they deem it proper to state that the Convention was one in which all parts of the State were represented, and one of the most respectable as to character and numbers, and one of the most earnest and sincere in support of the Constitution and Union ever held in that State. Resolved, 1. That the will of the people is the foundation of all free government; that to give effect to this will, free thought, free speech, and a free press are absolutely indispensable. Without free discussion there is no certainty of sound judg*See Doc. 07, page 298, ante. crime than that of uttering words of legitimate criticism upon the conduct of the Administration in power, and of appealing to the ballot-box for a change of policy-said arrest and military trial taking place where the courts of law are open sphere of active military operations in carrying the following provisions of the Constitution of the on the war-we regard as a palpable violation of United States: and unobstructed, and for no act done within the abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized." 3. "No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger." 4. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law." And we furthermore denounce said arrest, trial, and banishment, as a direct insult offered to the sovereignty of the people of Ohio, by whose organic law it is declared that no person shall be transported out of the State for any offence committed within the same. 16. That Clement L. Vallandigham was, at the time of his arrest, a prominent candidate for nomination by the Democratic party of Ohio, for the office of Governor of the State; that the Democratic party was fully competent to decide whether he is a fit man for that nomination, and that the attempt to deprive them of that right, by his arrest and banishment, was an unmerited imputation upon their intelligence and loyalty, as well as a violation of the Constitution. 17. That we respectfully, but most earnestly, call upon the President of the United States to restore Clement L. Vallandigham to his home in Ohio, and that a committee of one from each Congressional district of the State, to be selected by the presiding officer of this Convention, is hereby appointed to present this application to the President. The undersigned, in the discharge of the duty assigned them, do not think it necessary to reiterate the facts connected with the arrest, trial, and banishment of Mr. Vallandigham-they are well known to the President, and are of public history-nor to enlarge upon the positions taken by the Convention, nor to recapitulate the constitutional provisions which it is believed have been contravened; they have been stated at length, and with clearness in the resolutions which have been recited. The undersigned content themselves with brief reference to other suggestions rtinent to the subject. They do not call upon your Excellency as sup, praying the revocation of the order banTr. Vallandigham, as a favor; but, by the of a convention representing a majority ns of the State of Ohio, they respecta right due to an American citizen, al injury the sovereignty and dige of Ohio, as a free State, have d this duty they perform the 'he consideration that, at a mergency, pregnant with ion, it is all-important Constitution and the pt 2. liant. hority ose person the peopl fended. An rdially from great national our Federal U1. ue friends of the rever they may a. iffer as to the mode of administering the Government, and the measures most likely to be successful in the maintenance of the Constitution and the restoration of the Union, should not be thrown into hostile conflict with each other. The arrest, unusual trial and banishment of Mr. Vallandigham have created widespread and alarming disaffection among the people of the State, not only endangering the harmony of the friends of the Constitution and the Union, and tending to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the State, but also impairing that confidence in the fidelity of your administration to the great landmarks of free government, essential to a peaceful and successful enforcement of the laws in Ohio. You are reported to have used, in a public communication on this subject, the following language: "It gave me pain when I learned that Mr. Vallandigham had been arrested—that is, I was pained that there should have seemed to be a necessity for arresting him; and that it will afford me great pleasure to discharge him, so soon as I can by any means believe the public safety will not suffer by it." The undersigned assure your Excellency, from our personal knowledge of the feelings of the people of Ohio, that the public safety will be far more endangered by continuing Mr. Vallandigham in exile than by releasing him. It may be true, that persons differing from him in political views may be found in Ohio and elsewhere, who will express a different opinion. But they are certainly mistaken. Mr. Vallandigham may differ with the President, and even with some of his own political party, as to the true and most effectual means of maintaining the Constitution and restoring the Union; but this difference of opinion does not prove him to be unfaithful to his duties as an American citizen. If a man devotedly attached to the Constitution and the Union conscientiously believes that from the inherent nature of the Federal compact the war, in the present condition of things in this country, cannot be used as a means of restoring the Union; or that a war to subjugate a part of the States, or a war to revolutionize the social system in a part of the States, could not restore, but would inevitably result in the final destruction of both the Constitution and the Union, is he not to be allowed the right of an American citizen to appeal to the judgment of the people for a change of policy by the constitutional remedy of the ballot-box? During the war with Mexico many of the political opponents of the administration then in power thought it their duty to oppose and denounce the war, and to urge before the people of the country that it was unjust, and prosecuted for unholy purposes. With equal reason it might have been said of them that their discussions before the peo, ple were calculated to discourage enlistments, "to prevent the raising of troops," and to induce de sertions from the army and leave the Government without an adequate military force to carry on the war. If the freedom of speech and of the |