1862 IN THE WEST
War’s full fury struck in 1862. To understand the complicated movements of many armies, bear in mind two points:
(1) Not one, but two, separate areas of military operations existed. The Appalachian Mountains, extending in an almost unbroken line from Pennsylvania to Alabama, prevented armies from moving freely from eastern states (Virginia, the Carolinas, etc.) to western or trans-Appalachian states (Tennessee, Kentucky, etc.), and vice versa. As a result, different armies in the East (east of the mountains) and in the West fought practically two almost independent wars. Only in 1864 were the campaigns of the two areas effectively coordinated.
(2) In the 1800’s, in contrast to modern military tactics, an invading army did not always move directly against an enemy force. Rather, its primary target was usually an important city. Once the invading army was in motion, the defending force then tried to place itself between the invader and his target. This set the stage for battle. Five such Confederate cities became principal Federal targets. In the East was Richmond; in the West were New Orleans and Vicksburg, both strongholds on the all-important Mississippi River, and Chattanooga and Atlanta, vital railroad centers.
Bearing these two points in mind, let us turn to the Western campaigns of 1862.
At the beginning of 1862 some 48,000 Confederate soldiers guarded a 600-mile line extending from the Appalachian Mountains westward to the Mississippi River. Obviously the Southern defenses were thinly manned. Early in February, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant left Cairo, Ill., with 15,000 men to attack the center of this line. His goal was to gain control of two important rivers, the Tennessee and the Cumberland.
To protect these streams, the Confederates had constructed twin forts in Tennessee just south of the Kentucky border. Fort Henry guarded the Tennessee; Fort Donelson stood menacingly on the banks of the Cumberland. On February 6 a Federal river fleet cooperating with Grant battered Fort Henry into submission. Ten days later Grant had surrounded Fort Donelson and its 12,000 defenders. Answering the Confederate commander’s request for surrender terms, Grant replied: “No terms but unconditional surrender.” Thereafter, U. S. Grant was “Unconditional Surrender” Grant.
Grant’s victories brought great rejoicing in the North. Some writers consider the Henry-Donelson campaign as “the critical operation” of the Civil War. Capture of these forts assured Union control of Kentucky and Tennessee and opened Mississippi and Alabama to Federal invasion. The loss of the forts was a severe blow to Southern morale. With these successes the North had also demonstrated its ability and willingness to fight.
Meanwhile, an important battle occurred farther to the west for control of Arkansas and Missouri. On March 7-8, at Pea Ridge (or Elkhorn Tavern), Ark., a Confederate army of 16,000 men attacked 12,000 Federals under Gen. Samuel R. Curtis. Most of the Confederates lacked uniforms and were armed with shotguns and squirrel rifles. This force also included 3,500 Indians of the Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw and Seminole tribes. After two days of fighting, a Federal counterattack broke the Confederate “army.” With the defeat at Pea Ridge the Confederates permanently lost Missouri and northern Arkansas.
Gunfire and fighting at Shiloh was so intense that one area of the battlefield became known as the “Hornet’s Nest.” This drawing depicts the stubborn resistance of two Federal divisions in that area.
By the end of March Grant’s army was near the Mississippi border. Just across the line Gens. Albert Sidney Johnston and Beauregard had collected a force of 40,000 Confederates. Even though most of his troops were ill-equipped, Johnston attacked Grant’s encamped forces in an effort to destroy the Federal invaders. The battle of Shiloh (April 6-7), one of the war’s most costly engagements, followed.
The initial Confederate attack caught Grant by surprise, bent his line, but never broke it. Several events then swung the battle to the North’s favor. Gen. Johnston bled to death from a leg wound. Exhaustion and disorganization blunted the drive of the Southerners, and Federal artillery posted in great strength near the Tennessee River proved an effective barrier to the Confederate advance. Heavy Federal reinforcements under Gen. Don C. Buell arrived during the night. The next morning Grant counterattacked. The Confederates retreated grudgingly to Corinth, thus ending the battle. Grant’s hard-won victory cost him 13,047 casualties. The Confederates lost 10,694 soldiers, roughly one-fourth of Johnston’s forces.
For the next four months the armies of Grant and Bragg (who eventually succeeded to command) did not meet in battle. However, three significant events took place elsewhere in the Western theater.
One was the Federal capture of the mouth of the Mississippi River. In April a fleet under Flag Officer David G. Farragut blasted its way upriver past Forts Jackson and St. Philip. By the end of May the strategic river cities of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Natchez were under Federal control. Yet a river attack on Vicksburg failed.
The second event was one of the boldest raids in American history. In April James J. Andrews, a Federal espionage agent, and twenty-one Northern soldiers sneaked through Confederate territory to Big Shanty Station, Ga., only thirty miles from Atlanta. There they stole the engine “General” and two cars of a Western & Atlantic passenger train. The Federals’ plan was to race up the tracks to Chattanooga, removing rails, burning bridges, and thus ruining this important line.
The coup might have succeeded but for the perseverance of a handful of citizens and soldiers, who gave immediate pursuit on foot, by handcar, and eventually on an engine (“The Texas”) running in reverse. All of the raiders were soon captured. Andrews and seven of his men were subsequently hanged in Atlanta.
Southern raiders soon gained a measure of revenge. In July, 1862, Col. John Hunt Morgan led his Confederate cavalrymen on a two-week slash through Kentucky. Morgan won four small battles, captured 1,200 Federals, and returned safely to Tennessee with less than 100 casualties. In December Morgan again struck into Kentucky. This “Christmas Raid” netted 1,900 prisoners and large quantities of horses and military stores.
Shortly after Morgan’s First Kentucky Raid, Gen. Bragg invaded the same state. Bragg hoped to occupy the chief cities and, by “military persuasion,” to bring Kentucky into the Confederacy. Yet caution eventually got the better of Bragg. He retreated, even after winning a tactical victory over Gen. Don C. Buell at Perryville on October 8. This invasion marked the end of Confederate efforts to wrest Kentucky from the Union.
Braxton Bragg is one of the most controversial generals of the Civil War. Although a devoted soldier and skillful organizer, he lacked that necessary spark of leadership.
William S. Rosecrans was a tireless, conscientious officer whom the men affectionately called “Old Rosy.”
Bragg returned to Tennessee. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, who had gained fame in two Mississippi campaigns, assumed command of the Federal army opposing Bragg. Then in November Grant started southward from Tennessee through Mississippi toward Vicksburg, the chief Confederate stronghold on the “Father of Waters.” Grant’s strategy called for a two-pronged attack: he and Gen. William T. Sherman would deliver simultaneous assaults on Vicksburg from different directions. The plan was a costly failure. Confederate cavalry under Gen. Earl Van Dorn destroyed Grant’s main supply base at Holly Springs. Grant was forced to fall back to Memphis. Sherman’s assaults on December 28-29 at Chickasaw Bayou were repulsed with heavy losses. Grant then moved his entire army down the Mississippi and prepared to take Vicksburg by attack or siege.
The final Western engagement of 1862 began on the last day of the year near Murfreesboro, Tenn. For the better part of four days Bragg’s Confederate army waged a desperate fight along the banks of Stone’s River with Rosecrans’s Federal forces. Tactically the battle was a draw. Yet the Federals lost 31% in killed, wounded, and missing, while the Confederates suffered 25% casualties.