The Closing Conflicts.—Events of 1864 and 1865.
EARLY in February, 1864, General Sherman moved from Vicksburg to Meridian. In this vicinity the railroad tracks were torn up for a hundred and fifty miles. At Meridian General Sherman expected a force of Federal cavalry, which had been sent out from Memphis under General Smith. The latter advanced into Mississippi, but was met by the cavalry of Forrest, and driven back to Memphis. General Sherman thereupon retraced his course to Vicksburg. Forrest continued his raid northward to Paducah, Kentucky, and made an assault on Fort Anderson, but was repulsed with a severe loss. Turning back into Tennessee, he came upon Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi, and carried the place by storm.
The Red River Expedition.
2. In the spring of 1864, the Red River Expedition was undertaken by General Banks. The object was to capture Shreveport, the seat of the Confederate government of Louisiana. On the 14th of March the Federal advance captured Fort de Russy, on Red River. The Confederates retreated to Alexandria, which was taken on the 16th by the Federals.
3. At Mansfield, on the 8th of April, the advancing Federals were attacked by the Confederates, and completely routed. At Pleasant Hill, on the next day, the main body of the Union army was badly defeated. The flotilla now descended the river from the direction of Shreveport. The whole expedition returned as rapidly as possible to the Mississippi. General Steele had, in the mean time, advanced from Little Rock to aid in the reduction of Shreveport; but learning of the Federal defeats, he withdrew after several severe engagements.
4. On the 2d of March, 1864, General Grant was appointed general-in-chief of all the armies of the United States. Seven hundred thousand soldiers were now to move at his command. Two great campaigns were planned for the year. The army of the Potomac, under Meade and the general-in-chief, was to advance upon Richmond. General Sherman, with one hundred thousand men, was to march from Chattanooga against Atlanta.
Sherman's Advance on Atlanta.
5. On the 7th of May General Sherman moved forward. At Dalton he succeeded in turning General Johnston's flank, and obliged him to fall back to Resaca. After two hard battles, on the 14th and 15th of May, this place was carried, and the Confederates retreated to Dallas. Here, on the 28th, Johnston made a second stand, but was again outflanked, and compelled to fall back to Lost Mountain. He was forced from this position on the 17th of June. The next stand was made on Great and Little Kenesaw Mountains. From this line on the 22d of June the division of General Hood made a fierce attack, but was repulsed with heavy losses. Five days afterward, General Sherman attempted to carry Great Kenesaw by storm; but the assault ended in a dreadful repulse. Sherman resumed his former tactics, and by the 10th of July the whole Confederate army had retired to Atlanta.
William T. Sherman.
6. This stronghold was at once besieged. Here were the machine shops, foundries, and car works of the Confederacy. At the beginning of the siege the cautious General Johnston was superseded by the rash General J. B. Hood. On the 20th, 22d and 28th of July, the latter made three assaults on the Union lines, but was repulsed with dreadful losses. At last Hood was obliged to evacuate Atlanta; and on the 2d of September the Union army marched into the captured city.
Sherman's Campaign, 1864.
Hood's Nashville Campaign.
7. General Hood now marched northward through Northern Alabama, and advanced on Nashville. Meanwhile, General Thomas, with the Army of the Cumberland, had been detached from Sherman's army and sent northward to confront Hood. General Schofield, who commanded the Federal forces in Tennessee, fell back before the Confederates, and took post at Franklin. Here, on the 30th of November, he was attacked by Hood's legions, and held them in check until nightfall, when he retreated within Thomas's defenses at Nashville. Hood followed, but on the 15th of December General Thomas fell upon the Confederate army, and, routing it with a loss of twenty-five thousand men, drove it back into Alabama.
Sherman's Great March.
8. On the 14th of November General Sherman burned Atlanta and began his March to the Sea. His army numbered sixty thousand men. He cut his communications with the North, abandoned his base of supplies, and struck out for the sea-coast, two hundred and fifty miles away. The Union army passed through Macon and Milledgeville, crossed the Ogeechee, captured Gibson and Waynesborough, and on the 10th of December arrived in the vicinity of Savannah. On the 13th, Fort McAllister was carried by storm. On the night of the 20th, General Hardee, the Confederate commandant, escaped from Savannah and retreated to Charleston. On the 22d, General Sherman made his headquarters in the city.
Joseph E. Johnston.
9. January, 1865, was spent by the Union army at Savannah. On the 1st of February, General Sherman began his march against Columbia, South Carolina. The Confederates had not sufficient force to stay his progress. On the 17th of the month, Columbia was surrendered. On the same night, Hardee, having destroyed the public property of Charleston, and kindled fires which laid four squares in ashes, evacuated the city; and on the following morning the national forces entered. From Columbia General Sherman marched into North Carolina, and on the 11th of March captured the town of Fayetteville.
Surrender of Gen. Johnston.
10. General Johnston was now recalled to the command of the Confederate forces, and the advance of the Union army began to be seriously opposed. On the 19th of March, General Sherman was attacked by Johnston near Bentonville; but Johnston was defeated, and on the 21st Sherman entered Goldsborough. Here he was reinforced by Generals Schofield and Terry. The Federal army turned to the northwest, and on the 13th of April entered Raleigh. This was the end of the great march; and here, on the 26th of the month, General Sherman received the surrender of Johnston's army.
Farragut at Mobile.
11. Meanwhile, important events had occurred on the Gulf. Early in August, 1864, Admiral Farragut bore down on the defenses of Mobile. The harbor was defended by a Confederate fleet and the monster iron-clad Tennessee. On the 5th of August, Farragut ran past Forts Morgan and Gaines into the harbor. In order to direct the movements of his vessels, the old admiral mounted to the maintop of the Hartford, lashed himself to the rigging, and from that high perch gave his commands during the battle. One of the Union ships struck a torpedo and sank. The rest attacked and dispersed the Confederate squadron; but just as the day seemed won, the Tennessee came down at full speed to strike the Hartford. Then followed one of the fiercest conflicts of the war. The Union iron-clads closed around their antagonist and battered her with fifteen-inch bolts of iron until she surrendered.
Fort Fisher.
12. Next came the capture of Fort Fisher, at the entrance to Cape Fear River. In December, Admiral Porter was sent with a powerful American squadron to besiege and take the fort. General Butler, with six thousand five hundred men, accompanied the expedition. On the 24th of the month, the troops were sent ashore with orders to storm the works. When the generals in command came near enough to reconnoiter, they decided that an assault could only end in disaster, and the enterprise was abandoned. Admiral Porter remained before Fort Fisher with his fleet, and General Butler returned to Fortress Monroe. Early in January, the siege was renewed, and on the 15th of the month Fort Fisher was taken by storm.
13. In the previous October, Lieutenant Cushing, with a number of volunteers, embarked in a small steamer and entered the Roanoke. A tremendous iron ram, called the Albemarle, was discovered lying at the harbor of Plymouth. Cautiously approaching, the lieutenant sank a torpedo under the Confederate ship, exploded it, and left the ram a ruin. The adventure cost the lives or capture of all of Cushing's party except himself and one other, who made good their escape.
Confederate Cruisers.
14. During the progress of the war the commerce of the United States was greatly injured by the Confederate cruisers. The first ship sent out was the Savannah, which was captured on the same day that she escaped from Charleston. In June of 1861, the Sumter, commanded by Captain Semmes, ran the blockade at New Orleans, and did fearful work with the Union merchantmen. But in February of 1862, Semmes was chased into the harbor of Gibraltar, where he was obliged to sell his vessel. The Nashville ran out from Charleston, and returned with a cargo worth three millions of dollars. In March of 1863 she was sunk by a Union iron-clad in the Savannah River.
15. The ports of the Southern States were now closely blockaded. In this emergency the Confederates turned to the ship-yards of Great Britain, and began to build cruisers. In the harbor of Liverpool the Florida was fitted out; and going to sea in the summer of 1862, she succeeded in running into Mobile Bay. She afterward destroyed fifteen merchantmen, and was then captured and sunk in Hampton Roads. The Georgia, the Olustee, the Shenandoah and the Chickamauga, all built at the ship-yards of Glasgow, Scotland, escaped to sea and made great havoc with the merchant-ships of the United States.
The Alabama.
16. Most destructive of all was the Alabama, built at Liverpool. Her commander was Captain Raphael Semmes. A majority of the crew were British subjects; and her armament was entirely British. In her whole career, involving the destruction of sixty-six vessels and a loss of ten million dollars, she never entered a Confederate port. In the summer of 1864 Semmes was overtaken in the harbor of Cherbourg, France, by the steamer Kearsarge. On the 19th of June, Semmes went out to give his antagonist battle. After a desperate fight of an hour's duration, the Alabama was sunk. Semmes was picked up by the English Deerhound and carried to Southampton.
Grant's Advance on Richmond.
17. On the night of the 3d of May, 1864, the national camp at Culpepper was broken up, and the march on Richmond was begun. On the first day of the advance, Grant crossed the Rapidan and entered the Wilderness, a country of oak woods and thickets. He was immediately attacked by the Confederate army. During the 5th, 6th, and 7th of the month, the fighting continued incessantly with terrible losses; but the results were indecisive. Grant next made a flank movement in the direction of Spottsylvania Courthouse. Here followed, from the 9th until the 12th, one of the bloodiest struggles of the war. The Federals gained some ground and captured the division of General Stewart; but the losses of Lee were less than those of his antagonist.
18. Grant again moved to the left, and came to Cold Harbor, twelve miles northeast of Richmond. Here, on the 1st of June, he attacked the Confederates, but was repulsed with heavy losses. On the morning of the 3d the assault was renewed, and in half an hour nearly ten thousand Union soldiers fell dead or wounded before the Confederate intrenchments. The repulse of the Federals was complete, but they held their lines as firmly as ever.
19. General Grant now changed his base to James River. General Butler had already taken City Point and Bermuda Hundred. Here, on the 15th of June, he was joined by General Grant's whole army, and the combined forces moved forward and began the siege of Petersburg.
Operations in the Valley.
20. Meanwhile important movements were taking place on the Shenandoah. When Grant moved from the Rapidan, General Sigel marched up the valley to New Market, where he was met and defeated by the Confederate cavalry, under General Breckinridge. The latter then returned to Richmond, whereupon the Federals faced about, overtook the Confederates at Piedmont, and gained a signal victory. From this place Generals Hunter and Averill advanced against Lynchburg. By this movement the valley of the Shenandoah was again exposed to invasion.
Philip H. Sheridan.
21. Lee immediately dispatched General Early to cross the Blue Ridge, invade Maryland and threaten Washington City. With twenty thousand men Early began his march, and on the 5th of July crossed the Potomac. On the 9th he defeated the division of General Wallace on the Monocacy. But the battle saved Washington and Baltimore from capture.
22. General Wright followed Early as far as Winchester. But the latter wheeled upon him, and the Union troops were driven across the Potomac. Early next invaded Pennsylvania and burned Chambersburg. General Grant now appointed General Philip H. Sheridan to command the army on the Upper Potomac. The troops placed at his disposal numbered nearly forty thousand. On the 19th of September, Sheridan marched upon Early at Winchester, and routed him in a hard-fought battle. On the 22d of September he gained another complete victory at Fisher's Hill.
Sheridan's Ride from Winchester.
23. Sheridan next turned about to ravage the valley. The ruinous work was fearfully well done. Nothing worth fighting for was left between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies. Maddened by his defeats, Early rallied his forces, and again entered the valley. Sheridan had posted his army on Cedar Creek, and, feeling secure, had gone to Washington. On the 19th of October, Early surprised the Union camp, captured the artillery, and sent the routed troops flying in confusion toward Winchester. The Confederates pursued as far as Middletown, and there paused to eat and rest. On the previous night, Sheridan had returned to Winchester, and was now coming to rejoin his army. He rode twelve miles at full speed, rallied the fugitives, and gained one of the most signal victories of the war. Early's army was completely ruined.
Operations in Virginia, 1864 and 1865.
24. All fall and winter General Grant pressed the siege of Petersburg. On the 30th of July a mine was exploded under one of the forts; but the assaulting column was repulsed with heavy losses. On the 18th of August a division of the Union army seized the Weldon Railroad and held it against several assaults. On the 28th of September, Battery Harrison was stormed by the Federals, and on the next day General Paine's brigade carried the redoubt on Spring Hill. On the 27th of October, there was a battle on the Boydton road; and then the army went into winter quarters.
The Fall of Richmond.
25. On the 27th of February, Sheridan gained a victory over Early at Waynesboro, and then joined the general-in-chief. On the 1st of April, a severe battle was fought at Five Forks, in which the Confederates were defeated with a loss of six thousand prisoners. On the next day Grant ordered a general assault on the lines of Petersburg, and the works were carried. On that night Lee's army and the Confederate government fled from Richmond; and on the following morning the Federal troops entered the city. The warehouses were fired by the retreating Confederates, and the better part of the city was reduced to ruins.
Lee's Surrender.
26. General Lee retreated as rapidly as possible to the southwest. Once the Confederates turned and fought, but were defeated with great losses. For five days the pursuit was kept up; and then Lee was brought to bay at Appomattox Courthouse. There, on the 9th of April, 1865, the work was done. General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, and the Confederacy was hopelessly overthrown. General Grant signalized the end of the strife by granting to his antagonist the most liberal terms. How the army of General Johnston was surrendered a few days later has already been narrated. After four dreadful years of bloodshed and sorrow, THE CIVIL WAR WAS AT AN END.
Jefferson Davis Captured.
27. The Federal authority was rapidly extended over the South. Mr. Davis and his cabinet escaped to Danville, and there for a few days kept up the forms of government. From that place they fled into North Carolina. The ex-President continued his flight into Georgia, and encamped near Irwinsville, where, on the 10th of May, he was captured by General Wilson's cavalry. He was conveyed to Fortress Monroe, and kept in confinement until May of 1867, when he was taken to Richmond to be tried for treason. He was admitted to bail; and his case was finally dismissed.
Nevada Admitted.
28. At the presidential election of 1864, Mr. Lincoln was chosen for a second term. As Vice-president, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was elected. In the preceding summer, the people of Nevada framed a constitution, and on the 31st of October the new commonwealth was proclaimed as the thirty-sixth State. The gold and silver mines of Nevada soon surpassed those of California in their yield of precious metals.
The Finances of the War.
29. At the outbreak of the civil war the financial credit of the United States sank to a very low ebb. Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, first sought relief by issuing Treasury Notes, receivable as money. By the beginning of 1862, the expenses of the government had risen to more than a million of dollars daily. To meet these tremendous demands on the government, Congress next provided Internal Revenue. This was made up from two general sources: first, a tax on manufactures, incomes and salaries; second, a stamp-duty on all legal documents. The next measure was the issuance of Legal Tender Notes of the United States, to be used as money. These are the notes called Greenbacks. The third great measure adopted by the government was the sale of United States Bonds. The interest upon them was fixed at six per cent., payable semi-annually in gold. In the next place, Congress passed an act providing for the establishment of National Banks. National bonds, instead of gold and silver, were used as a basis of the circulation of these banks; and the redemption of their bills was guaranteed by the treasury of the United States. At the end of the conflict, the national debt had reached nearly three thousand millions of dollars.
Pres. Lincoln's Assassination.
30. On the 4th of March, 1865, President Lincoln was inaugurated for his second term. Three days after the evacuation of Richmond by Lee's army, the President made a visit to that city. On the evening of the 14th of April, he, with his wife and a party of friends, attended Ford's Theater in Washington. As the play drew near its close, an actor, named John Wilkes Booth, stole into the President's box and shot him through the brain. Mr. Lincoln lingered in an unconscious state until morning, and died. It was the greatest tragedy of modern times. The assassin, after the murder, escaped into the darkness.
Secretary Seward Stabbed.
31. At the same hour another murderer, named Lewis Payne Powell, burst into the bed-chamber of Secretary Seward, sprang upon the couch of the sick man, and stabbed him nigh unto death. The city was wild with alarm. Troops of cavalry departed in all directions to hunt down the assassins. On the 26th of April, Booth was found concealed in a barn south of Fredericksburg. Refusing to surrender, he was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett. Powell was caught and hanged. David E. Herrold and Geo. A. Atzerott, together with Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, at whose house the plot was formed, were also condemned and executed. Michael O'Laughlin, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, and Samuel Arnold were sentenced to imprisonment for life, and Edward Spangler for six years.
32. So ended in darkness, but not in shame, the career of Abraham Lincoln—one of the most remarkable men of any age or country. He was prudent, far-sighted, and resolute; thoughtful, calm, and just; patient, tender-hearted, and great. The manner of his death consecrated his memory. From city to city, in one vast funeral procession, the mourning people followed his remains to their last resting-place at Springfield, Illinois.