[211] The impression made by newspaper correspondents on the country was very unfavorable, and there was a loud and general demand for the removal of Grant. The feeling took possession of a large majority of Congress and of the President’s most ardent supporters. Delegates waited on Lincoln and urged a change of commanders. Finally, A. K. McClure, a prominent editor of Philadelphia, called on the President at eleven o’clock at night, and for two hours urged Grant’s removal. After a long silence, Lincoln drew himself up in his chair, and simply said, “I can’t spare this man, he fights.”
[212] Born in North Carolina, 1817; died, 1876. Graduated at West Point, 1837; distinguished himself in Mexican War; resigned at close of the war; offered his services to the Confederate cause in 1861; succeeded Beauregard in the West; invaded Kentucky in 1862, but was driven out by Buell; was repulsed by Rosecrans at Stone River, but won the great battle at Chickamauga; was defeated by Grant at Chattanooga in 1863, and superseded in his command by General Joseph E. Johnston.
[213] Born in Ohio, 1819; died, 1898. Graduated at West Point, 1842; colonel of Ohio Volunteers in 1861; served successfully in West Virginia in 1861; succeeded McClellan in command of the Department of the Ohio; succeeded Buell in command of the Army of the Cumberland; fought successfully the great battle of Stone River; was defeated by Bragg at Chickamauga; was superseded and put on waiting orders in the West; resigned in 1867; Minister to Mexico, 1868–1869; congressman from California, 1881–1885; Register of United States Treasury, 1885–1893.
[214] Born in Sweden, 1803; died, 1889. Became a mechanical engineer; came to America in 1839; invented the screw propeller, and in 1843 applied his self-acting gun-lock to a gun on the Princeton; invented the turreted ship, the Monitor, the principle of which soon displaced wooden ships from all the navies in existence; made a large number of other important inventions.
[215] In twenty years there was hardly a wooden ship of war afloat. The Monitor, however, did not prove to be a good sea-going vessel, and sank in December, 1862.
[216] Born in Tennessee, 1801; died, 1870. Entered the United States navy at a very early age; was in the War of 1812; had little opportunity to display his ability till the Civil War, when he adhered to the Union, and was at once assigned an important command; established his permanent fame by the passage of the forts and the capture of New Orleans, April 24, 1862; added to his distinction by the great battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864; was appointed vice-admiral in 1864, and admiral in 1866, both of which offices were created for him by Congress.
[217] Born in Philadelphia, 1826; died, 1885. Graduated at West Point at the head of his class, 1846; served in the Mexican War, and was sent to Europe as expert to study military methods; published Armies of Europe; was appointed major general and commanded successfully in West Virginia; appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac in 1861; succeeded Scott as commanding general, but March 11, 1862, was again limited in command to the Army of the Potomac; rendered invaluable service in organizing and drilling the army, but excess of caution subjected him to severe criticism; commanded in the Antietam campaign; was placed on waiting orders, November 7, 1862; resigned, 1864; was Democratic candidate for President in 1864; was governor of New Jersey, 1878–1881.
[218] Born in Virginia, 1807; died, 1891. Graduated at West Point, 1829; distinguished himself in Indian wars and in War with Mexico; appointed Confederate major general in 1861; had charge of campaigns in Virginia till he was wounded in the battle of Fair Oaks, and was superseded by General Lee; was raised to full rank of general and sent to relieve Vicksburg, but failed; succeeded Bragg; was driven by Sherman from Chattanooga to Atlanta, where he was superseded by Hood; was recalled to confront Sherman in North Carolina; surrendered to Sherman, April 26, 1865. He was one of the ablest strategists of the war.
[219] Born in Virginia, 1824; died, 1863. Graduated at West Point, 1846; fought in Mexican War; taught in the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington; was appointed brigadier general in 1861; held his command with such firmness at Bull Run that the epithet “Stonewall” was given him, 1861; outgeneraled Frémont, Banks, and Pope, May and June, 1862; defeated the Union forces at Cedar Mountain, August 9; seized Harper’s Ferry, September 15; commanded left wing at Antietam, September 17; took important part at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862; made the deciding move at Chancellorsville, where, by mistake, he was shot by one of his own men, May, 1863.
[220] The losses of the Federals were 5031; those of the Confederates, 6134. See Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. II., p. 219.