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patriotism has so freely and constantly afforded on their country's altar; and to take care that none who owe service in the field shall be sheltered at home from the disgrace of having deserted their duty to their families, to their country, and to their God." There can be no clearer evidence than is afforded by this proclamation that the South was losing heart, and beginning to see the futility of that desperate struggle into which it had been thrust by a conspiracy of madmen and adventurers. The glory of fighting for a Slave Republic had lost its charms, and mercenary motives could hardly be said to exist, for there was no money to pay the

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soldiers of the Confederacy. Bounties were no longer given to volunteers; the depreciation of the currency had reduced the pay of the troops to an amount that was altogether inadequate; and in several of the States it was found necessary to provide for their destitute families. Near the close of the year, the Secretary of War, in a report on the condition of the army, said that its effective force was little more than one-half or two-thirds of the men whose names were on the muster-rolls. He recommended the abrogation of the system of substitutes; and certainly that system had been pushed to the utmost.

VICKSBURG was not yet taken; but the Federal Government was determined on its reduction, and no pains were spared to bring about so desirable a result. Early in the spring, General Grant resolved on cutting off all communication with the east by turning the defences on the Mississippi and the Yazoo. His head-quarters were then at Milliken's Bend, situated on the western shore of the Mississippi-the shore opposite to that on which Vicksburg stands; and on the 29th of March General McClernand was sent to occupy New Carthage, some miles to the south. These operations were assisted by a simultaneous advance of General Banks from New Orleans, so as to threaten Port Hudson in combination with the fleet which was still lying in the neighbourhood. The movements of Banks and of the ships were impeded by the burning of bridges, and the placing of obstructions in the river; and the inhabitants of the countrywhich was in the main a sugar-producing district— fled with their families and slaves into the more

interior parts. Banks subsequently passed into a region west of the Mississippi called the Bayou Teche, after a river of the same name. Constantly driving the enemy before him, with occa

sional actions which call for no detailed account, he advanced on the 20th of April to Opelousas, a town lying about a hundred and eighty miles to the north-west of New Orleans; after which he established himself for a few weeks at Simmsport, on the Atchafalaya River, not far from its junction with the Mississippi. The Red River, another tributary of the principal stream, which it enters between Port Hudson and Natchez, was blockaded by Admiral Farragut after he had succeeded, on the 15th of March, in getting past the river-batteries with two of his vessels. Admiral Porter, who was still above Vicksburg, made frequent attempts to join his comrade, but for a long time without success. On the night of the 16th of April, however, the feat was accomplished by an act of great boldness and resolution.

During that day, eight gunboats, three transports, and several barges laden with supplies, were held in readiness to descend the Mississippi after dark. These vessels slipped their moorings about ten P.M., at which time a light mist, rising from the water, qualified the too great clearness of the night. The movement was watched in breathless silence by the Union troops stationed above the town, and the

passage of the huge, dim, almost shapeless vessels through the wide obscurity was most impressive in its stealthy mystery and lurking possibilities of harm. A spectator of the scene has recorded that they looked like great shadows which had momentarily detached themselves from the darkness, into which they soon melted again, and noiselessly disappeared. Silently and darkly these ghostly figures passed on, and drew near to Vicksburg. The watchers on the bluffs listened with strained attention for the bursting forth of that terrible chorus of artillery which was certain to come sooner or later; but it was strangely long in coming. Three-quarters of an hour elapsed without anything being heard; then, two bright, sharp lines of flame pierced the darkness, and in another moment the whole length of the heights was ablaze. The forts had opened fire on the vessels; the vessels were not long in replying to the forts. It was part of Admiral Porter's plan that his fleet of gunboats, when in front of the batteries, should engage them with their broadside guns, and then endeavour to descend the stream under cover of the smoke. The batteries, however, had been the first to fire, for the presence of the enemy was detected. Presently, all down the river even to Warrenton, the bristling guns of the Confederates poured forth flame, and smoke, and storm of deadly missiles; and the roar and rush of sound, gradually increasing in volume, added another terror to the fierce encounter. passage of the fleet was visible in gliding fire, as point after point was reached, and battery after battery replied to the moving gunboats.

The

After the cannonade had gone on for some time, a gleam of light, different from that of the guns, spread upward into the heavens immediately above the city. This grew and intensified every moment, passing from pallor to redness, and at last glaring upon the night with such fulness and power that the Federal on-lookers exclaimed, "Vicksburg is on fire!" But the light in truth proceeded from a beacon-pile, which had been kindled in order to illuminate both reaches of the river (at that point curving with a rapid bend), and thus to enable the gunners to aim with greater accuracy at the Federal vessels. The flame burned steadily and keenly, without any smoke, and served its purpose well; but it also helped the gunboats to reach the batteries with more certainty than they could have done in the dark. The vessels were still pursuing their way down the river; but the artillery duel continued with the utmost fury. It was a duel in which the boats necessarily had the worst of it. The Forest Queen, one of the transports, received a shot in the hull, and another through the steam

drum, which at once disabled her. In consequence of this accident, the Henry Clay, another transport which came next, was stopped, to prevent her running into her unfortunate comrade. The result was disastrous. The crew of the second vessel became alarmed by the stoppage, which left them exposed to the unmitigated force of the Confederate fire; and in a little while they launched the yawl, sprang into it, and made for the shore. Shortly afterwards, the Henry Clay caught fire, owing to the explosion of a shell amidst the cotton with which the engines were protected, and, giving out great volumes of smoke and flame, floated down the stream until it disappeared below Warrenton. The Forest Queen was taken in tow by a gunboat, and escaped without further injury; while the third transport, the Silver Wave, ran past without being touched. Before the approach of dawn, the whole of the gunboats had got beyond the uttermost batteries without any material damage. On the Benton, Porter's flagship, one man was killed, and two were wounded, by the bursting of a shell; but this was the utmost injury to life. The great exploit had been accomplished, and Porter was now safe in the waters below Vicksburg.

General Grant was so well satisfied with what had taken place that he ordered six more transports to be prepared to run the batteries in the same manner as their predecessors. Their object was to carry supplies for the army, which it was hoped would soon be engaged in an attack on the southern side of Vicksburg, and ultimately to convey the army itself across the river. These six vessels, towing twelve barges, set out on the night of April 22nd, and all but one succeeded in getting past the batteries, though six of the barges were either sunk or injured. By this time, Grant in person had arrived, with two army-corps, at New Carthage, where Admiral Porter's gunboats were stationed. He had been compelled to follow a very circuitous route, and to make his way through a country rendered peculiarly difficult by marshes and streams; but the obstacles were all overcome after much delay, and the General was in a favourable locality for ulterior operations. A few days later, he moved his forces still farther south to a place called Hard Times, lying on the western, or Louisiana, shore of the Mississippi, and thus took up a position just opposite Grand Gulf, which is situated a little below the mouth of the Big Black River. It was essential to Grant's plans that Grand Gulf (which was strongly fortified) should be taken with the utmost expedition; and, before leaving Milliken's Bend, he had repeatedly instructed General McClernand, when at New Car

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thage, to make the attempt. But the latter officer always hesitated as to pursuing such a course. Perpetual excuses for delay were furnished by the unwilling subordinate, and Grant, seeing that the favourable opportunity was rapidly slipping away, determined to go to the front himself, and take immediate command. His vigilance during the whole of these operations was very remarkable. It is recorded by one of his biographers that he "constantly directed the quartermasters and commissaries, the movements of troops, and the transportation of stores and ordnance, the plans of reconnaissances, and the positions of important batteries. Not only was there no movement of a division, from the time he took command, in January, that was not expressly ordered by himself, but his instructions, even to regimental commanders, when these commanded detached posts, were numerous, and constant, and detailed. This course was indispensable, because of the complicated character of the campaign, the vast distances over which he was operating, and the extreme difficulties in transportation, against which he was obliged to contend." *

The upper

On the 29th of April, Grant embarked a portion of his army on board the transports and barges, and moved to the front of Grand Gulf. His scheme was that the gunboats under Porter should silence the fortifications, and that the troops should then land, under cover of the gunboats, and carry the place by storm. The attack from the river began at eight o'clock in the morning, and lasted five hours and a half, at the end of which time Porter had silenced the lower batteries. battery, however, being high, strongly built, and mounted with guns of a very heavy calibre, was able to maintain its fire. All this while, General Grant was watching the engagement from a tug in the river; and, finding that the enemy's works could not be entirely neutralised, he feared to risk the lives of his men in an attempt to storm them, and therefore determined to land lower down the stream, and take the position in reverse. The army was disembarked, and ordered to march down the western side of the Mississippi, and be ready for crossing opposite Bruinsburg. The transports, as soon as it was dark, were to run past the batteries at Grand Gulf, and to take up positions such as would enable them to ferry the troops across.

As soon as

it was dark, the gunboats again engaged the batteries, and all the transports got by without much injury. On the following morning, the soldiers

* Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, by Adam Badeau, Aide-de-Camp to the General-in-Chief. New York, 1868.

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embarked, and the 13th corps landed on the eastern bank of the river, and was pushed forward towards Port Gibson, situated near the Bayou Pierre, and connected with Grand Gulf by a railway. These troops were followed by others; but no action took place that day.

The position of General Pemberton, who commanded at Vicksburg, was becoming grave. He telegraphed for instructions to General Johnston, the chief commander of the Confederate armies in the West, and was ordered to attack Grant at once. Johnston, however, was not able to send his subordinate any reinforcements, being himself closely pressed by Rosecrans in Tennessee. Pemberton was therefore obliged to do the best he could with the troops at his disposal, and he directed General Bowen, commanding at Grand Gulf, to cross the Bayou Pierre, and oppose the march of the Federals to Port Gibson. At two o'clock on the morning of May 1st, the advance of Bowen's division was encountered four miles south of the latter place. A desultory but hotly-contested action followed, and at the close of the day the Confederates were driven towards Port Gibson. The country was so cut up by ravines, swamps, cane-brakes, and jungles, that very little generalship could be exhibited on either side; but the hand-to-hand fighting was furious, and strewed the dismal, solitary ways with the bodies of the fallen. Grant himself was in personal command shortly after the action commenced. Fresh divisions of the Federals continued to arrive throughout the combat, and they were able to advance in force on the morning of the 2nd, when it was found that the Southerners had retreated across the two forks of the Bayou Pierre, on the road to Grand Gulf, and had burned the bridges behind them. So hurried was General Bowen that, in retreating, he abandoned his hospitals and many of his wounded. A brigade of General Logan's division was sent forward on the 2nd, to occupy the attention of the Confederates while a floating bridge was being thrown across the south fork of the bayou at Port Gibson; and, on the bridge being completed, General McPherson's corps got over, and pushed on to the north fork, eight miles off. Here, the bridge at the Grindstone Ford was found still burning; but the fire was extinguished, and the bridge repaired in the night. At five o'clock on the morning of the 3rd, the troops passed over, and the Southerners were pursued to Hankinson's Ferry, on the Big Black River. Skirmishing continued during the whole day, and a great many prisoners were brought in; but the fighting in itself was not important. Nevertheless, the successes of the Federals, taken altogether, were

such as to make their adversaries doubt the possibility of defending Grand Gulf. They accordingly They accordingly evacuated the position, and Admiral Porter, on making a hostile demonstration during the 3rd, discovered that he had no enemy to encounter.

Grant rode into the town of Grand Gulf during that same day, and found Porter's naval force in possession. The place was one of great strength, and was in course of being made still stronger. The Confederates, however, considered it advisable to concentrate their forces at Vicksburg; but before leaving Grand Gulf they blew up their magazines, and buried or spiked their cannon. General Pemberton, in a report to his Government, said that the movements of Grant were so rapid, and his facilities for transportation so great, that his own actions had been seriously embarrassed in consequence. He had been unable to withdraw his heavy guns, and thirteen pieces fell into the hands of the conquerors. The Federal base of operations was now transferred from Bruinsburg to Grand Gulf. For three days, Grant had not been in bed, nor had had his clothes off; but his energy continued unabated, and he wrote to his subordinate commanders at distant points, giving them minute instructions as to what they should do. To Sherman he stated that the road to Vicksburg was open, and there could indeed be little room for doubt that that fortified position would shortly fall into Northern hands.

When the major part of the Federal army moved from Milliken's Bend, Sherman was ordered to make a demonstration against Haines's Bluff, in order to prevent reinforcements leaving Vicksburg for Grand Gulf. Sherman crossed the Mississippi, landed his forces on the left bank of the Yazoo, and, with the aid of the gunboats, made an attack on the position on the 6th of May. It was no part of the Federal design to take the bluff, and on the 7th the expedition returned. The Confederates had been prevented from sending reinforcements to the south, and the divisions under Sherman now prepared for joining General Grant. The chief commander had originally intended to collect his forces at Grand Gulf, and to concentrate at that spot a large supply of provisions and ordnance stores before moving against Vicksburg. An army-corps was then to be detached, to co-operate with General Banks in his movement against Port Hudson, and ultimately a re-combination of the forces was to be effected; but, as General Banks could not return to Bâton Rouge, from his position west of the Mississippi, before the 10th of May, Grant was compelled to abandon this portion of his scheme. Delay might have wholly ruined his chances of success. Troops were to be sent to Jackson by

General Beauregard; and it was therefore essential that Grant should act with promptitude, so as to strike while the adversary was at his weakest. The energy of his own nature, moreover, was such as to make him intolerant of delay, unless some great advantage was manifestly to be gained by it. Everything on the present occasion indicated the propriety of immediate action, and Grant determined to anticipate the arrival of the Confederates at Jackson by attacking that town himself. His forces for a while remained at Hankinson's Ferry, which they had reached on the 3rd. They were waiting for waggons, for supplies, and for the arrival of General Sherman's corps; but it was certain that, when at length in a condition to move, they would be directed with skill towards the accomplishment of some great result. The campaign was being managed by a master, and all the collateral arrangements conspired to a happy issue. A cavalry expedition in the rear of Vicksburg, pursued during the month of April by Colonel B. H. Grierson, was of great service in destroying the enemy's lines of communication, and preventing the early concentration of reinforcements at the chief Confederate position. The colonel was in command of the first cavalry brigade of Grant's army, and the descent into Mississippi was an idea originating with himself. At the head of three regiments, he left La Grange, close to the southern frontiers of Tennessee, on the 17th of April, and, crossing the Tallahatchie, moved southwards until he struck the Macon and Corinth Railway. After tearing up the rails, cutting the telegraph-wires, and burning the stores, he sent out detachments in various directions. When these had executed their several purposes, all tending to the distraction of the enemy, and to the harassing of his lines of communication, the force was once more concentrated, and resumed its principal march. Grierson now turned towards the south-west, seized the bridge over the Pearl River, and burnt a number of locomotives on the Jackson and New Orleans Railway. He next moved along the line of that rail in a southerly direction, crossing many streams, and making his way with difficulty through swamps and marshes. On the 2nd of May, he entered Bâton Rouge, then in possession of the Federals, who were astonished at the feat that had been performed by those jaded and way-worn men. The whole of this great ride had been accomplished in not much more than a fortnight, and in the course of that brief interval several towns had been attacked, many spirited skirmishes had been fought. numerous prisoners had been seized, and Confederate supplies to a large amount had been destroyed.