eracy. The movements they had heretofore proposed now fell into neglect, and in their place appeared those grand manoeuvres which brought the war to a close.

The Western Army

leads in the decision of the campaigns.

Conceding, therefore, to the foregoing considerations the weight which they appear to possess, I shall consider the movements of the Western armies in 1863 as having the precedence of all others. The various events to be described fall at once spontaneously into their proper places-the siege of Vicksburg, the opening of the river, the march of Rosecrans to Chattanooga, the capture of that place, the battle of Chickamauga, the transfer of Grant from the Mississippi, the relief of Chattanooga, the great and decisive battle of that name, and the raising of the siege of Knoxville. With that I consider that this act of the Great Drama closes.

Then, in the next section, I shall relate the struggles of the Army of the Potomac with the Army of Northern Virginia.

CHAPTER LXVI.

ADVANCE OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE.-THE SECOND VICKS-
BURG CAMPAIGN.-SIEGE AND FALL OF VICKSBURG.-THE OPEN-
ING OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ACCOMPLISHED.

Grant, after several unsuccessful attempts on the west and east banks of the Missis-
sippi to gain access to Vicksburg, commenced a second and formal campaign.
He marched his army down the west bank of the Mississippi, crossed the river at
Bruinsburg, defeated the Confederates in five battles, captured the capital of the
State of Mississippi, shut up the Confederate army in the fortifications of Vicks-
burg, besieged it, and eventually compelled it to surrender unconditionally.
Sherman forced the Confederate General Johnston to retreat to Meridian. Port
Hudson was surrendered, and the Mississippi opened throughout its entire length.

THE capture of New Orleans by Farragut had opened the Lower Mississippi; the victories of Shiloh and Memphis had removed all obstructions down to Vicksburg.

Vicksburg occupies a high bluff immediately below the mouth of the Yazoo. A railroad eastward connects it with all the roads of the South, and one westward was in course of construction toward Shreveport.

Importance of

The point of intersection of this west-east line of railroads with the Mississippi, the strategic di Vicksburg to the rectrix of the North American continent, was Confederacy. therefore of vital importance to the Confederacy. The loss of Vicksburg meant not only the surren der of the great river, but also the bisection of the Confederate territory.

Accordingly, no pains had been spared to render this position impregnable. Batteries had been placed at every available point, and at the time now under consideration the defenses were held by a powerful army under Pemberton.

Though other points on the river toward New Orleans were guarded, and one of them, Port Hudson, had been

strengthened by formidable works, they could only be considered as presenting a subordinate character-the fall of Vicksburg necessarily implied their surrender. Practically, therefore, all that was necessary for the reopening of the Mississippi throughout its entire length was the capture or neutralization of that strong-hold.

Possibility of neu

tralizing it.

The capture or neutralization-for either was possible. Looking at the map, it may be seen that in front of Vicksburg the Mississippi makes a sharp bend, forming the peninsula on which De Soto stands. Now if a canal were cut across this tongue of land, a direct passage being given to the river current, Vicksburg would be thrown inland, its military capabilities be rendered useless-it would be neutralized.

Construction of
Williams's canal.

When General Williams came up the river with Farragut in the summer of 1862, he undertook to cut such a canal, and for that purpose gathered more than 1200 negroes from the adjacent plantations. His intention was to make a water-way of such width that vessels might pass through it out of reach of the guns of Vicksburg. Owing to an error committed in locat ing its mouth, the canal proved to be a failure-the river was not diverted from its course. Toward the close of that year Grant commenced his first operations for the reduction of Vicksburg. These were checked by the capture and destruction of his dépôt at Holly Springs, and by the repulse of Sherman at Chickasaw Bayou (vol. ii., p. 321). The Army of the Tennessee at this time consisted of four corps: the 13th (McClernand), the 15th (Sherman), the 16th (Hurlbut), the 17th (McPherson). On the return of the successful expedition from Arkansas my of the Tennessee, Post, Grant ordered it back to Young's Point, the nearest landing west and north of Vicksburg, with the intention of operating from the river. By degrees, however, he saw that a decisive blow could only be delivered from the south. He therefore spared no pains

Grant, with the Ar

prepares to attack Vicksburg.

to secure transportation below the strong- hold, either through the abandoned canal of Williams, or by cutting channels from the Mississippi into the bayous. These laborious but abortive attempts constitute the prelude to a more daring and successful operation.

He recommences

On the 22d of January, Grant, encouraged by the circumstance that the river was rising very fast, recomWilliams's canal, menced the cutting of Williams's canal. He hoped to make a channel which would pass transports for moving the army and carrying supplies to a new base of operations against Pemberton's army. The work was energetically pushed forward by a large force day and night, the task proving more herculean, as Grant himself reports, than was expected. To the labor was added discomfort and embarrassment arising from heavy rains, which fell during the whole time.

To turn the Mississippi from its course was certainly a daring adventure, but it had already been done successfully at Island No. 10 (vol. ii., p. 276). Some of the celebrated sieges of antiquity had been illustrated by similar engi neering triumphs. Thus Cyrus, the Median general, after besieging Babylon ineffectually for two years, took that city by turning a branch of the River Euphrates from its course, his troops penetrating the defensive works through the drained bed of the river.

but is obliged to abandon it.

Grant's attempt was, however, unsuccessful. On the 8th of March the pressure of the rising river broke the dam across the canal near its upper end. A torrent of water inundated the works. The middle of the peninsula was lower than the sides, and hence the water spread out and flooded the central swamp. Some endeavors were made to repair the damage, but it was found that the plan must be abandoned.

In the mean time the engineers had surveyed a route He attempts a pas- through the bayous from Milliken's Bend on Roundaway Bayou, the north, and New Carthage on the south,

sage through