Operations in the West, 1862
General Ulysses S. Grant.
477. First Advances.—The first advance in Kentucky was made by one of Buell’s divisions under General George H. Thomas, who, on the 19th of January, defeated a force of about equal numbers under General Zollicoffer at Mill Spring and drove it back into Tennessee. Rear Admiral A. H. Foote, with a fleet of gunboats, in February advanced up the Tennessee River, and, after a severe engagement, took Fort Henry, with the commanding general and a part of the garrison as prisoners. Grant, who arrived with his army at about the same time, marched rapidly across the country and surrounded Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland. After making rapid preparations for a siege, he carried the outer works of the fort by storm, and then refused to accept any terms but “unconditional surrender.” He took some fifteen thousand prisoners (February 16), including two generals, and about twenty thousand stand of arms. This was the first great victory for the North, and the skill and vigor shown attracted the attention of the whole country. The Confederate line was in consequence so broken that the troops of the Confederacy were obliged to draw back into southern Tennessee. The Union forces soon occupied Nashville, and President Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson, a prominent Tennessee Unionist, as military governor. Grant advanced to Nashville without waiting for orders, or even reporting the nature of his movement to Halleck. The consequence was a formal complaint of Halleck to McClellan, who had now taken the place of Scott as commanding general of all the armies of the United States. McClellan, in reply, authorized Halleck to “arrest Grant and put C. F. Smith in command.” Halleck, however, realizing the immense popularity which the “unconditional surrender” order and the success of Grant had given the latter in the North, decided not to exercise this authority, but ordered Grant back to Fort Henry, and placed C. F. Smith in charge of the expedition up the Tennessee. Grant was offended, and twice asked to be relieved of further duty in that department. But when at length Grant’s reports were received, they were so completely satisfactory that Halleck telegraphed, expressing his confidence, and Grant was satisfied. Grant’s aversion to sending detailed reports of all his movements was such that the Department at Washington sent to his headquarters a special agent, Charles A. Dana, assistant editor of the New York Tribune (afterward editor of the Sun), whose duty it was to send a daily telegraphic report. Thereafter the government was kept fully informed of Grant’s movements.
General Albert Sidney Johnston.
478. Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing.—Grant’s army, now reënforced to about forty thousand men, crossed back to the Tennessee River, and advanced southward as far as Pittsburg Landing, near the border of Mississippi. This point and Corinth, not far below it, were of great strategic importance, because of the facility with which troops and freight could here be exchanged between the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers, and because they commanded the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, which was one of the Confederacy’s chief means of transportation from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic. To seize and hold these points was to prevent the transfer of troops and supplies. Buell’s army was hurried forward to join Grant, but the general in command of the Confederate force, Albert Sidney Johnston,[[209]] hastened to strike the army of Grant before Buell could arrive. Grant’s advance extended a little west of Pittsburg Landing, where the attack was first made. Early on the morning of April 6, the Confederates, led by Johnston in person, attacked with great vigor and drove the Union force back upon the river. Sherman, who commanded this part of the army, still held to the old notion that intrenchment in the field made men cowardly, and, consequently, his force came near being utterly routed. The progress of the Confederates, however, was stubbornly resisted, not only by the troops, but by the gunboats, which threw shells over the Union army into the Confederate ranks. In the afternoon of the first day the Confederates met with an irreparable loss in the death of their very able leader, Johnston, who was killed on the field. General Beauregard succeeded to the command. In the evening Buell arrived with strong reënforcements, and at the dawn of day on the 7th, Grant advanced to the attack. The Confederates made a stout resistance, but were finally driven back and forced to retreat to Corinth. The Unionists lost between thirteen and fourteen thousand, and the Confederates between ten and eleven thousand.[[210]] The general notion prevailed in the North that this greatest battle that had as yet been fought in America, was saved only by the arrival of Buell. Grant’s confidence in the outcome, even after the first day’s repulse, amounted to a calmness that was interpreted by many as stolid indifference.[[211]]
General Braxton Bragg.
479. Capture of Corinth and Memphis.—After the defeat of the Confederates at Pittsburg Landing, or, as it is more frequently called in the South, at Shiloh, the Union force pressed on and took possession of Corinth. In March, a fleet of gunboats, supported by an army under Major General John Pope, after surmounting many and great difficulties, succeeded in opening the Mississippi River from Cairo to Memphis. In June, Memphis was taken, after one of the most remarkable naval engagements of the war. The river was soon afterward opened as far south as Vicksburg. The lower Mississippi had been opened by the taking of New Orleans in April (§ [488]).