General George E. Pickett.[[242]]

525. Battle of Gettysburg.—During the first and second days’ engagements, July 1 and 2, the Confederates had the advantage. Culp’s Hill was taken, and the Union right was pushed back from its strong defensive line. On the left, however, the Unionists took and held Little Round Top. On the other parts of the field the repeated onsets of the Confederates were not successful. Early on the morning of the third day, the Federals assaulted Culp’s Hill, and, after most desperate fighting, succeeded in retaking it. Lee then made the mistake of deciding to stake everything on a mighty effort to break the Union center. General George E. Pickett’s division of Longstreet’s corps, consisting of about fifteen thousand veterans, was ordered forward for a charge. After a tremendous fire of one hundred and thirty cannon for two hours, for the purpose of throwing the Union line into confusion, this division, made up of the flower of the Confederate army, rushed forward to the assault. For about one mile they were within range of the Federal guns. No men ever fought more bravely, but success was impossible. The dead and the dying strewed the ground along the way. Only a few of the fifteen thousand reached the Union line, and most of these were obliged to give themselves up as prisoners. The effort failed, and the battle was lost. Lee magnanimously took the whole blame of the defeat upon himself, although he might, seemingly, have thrown part of it on subordinates. The Confederate loss was about twenty thousand, while that of Meade was about twenty-three thousand.[[243]] Lee conducted a most skillful retreat, and was slowly followed by the tired Unionists across Maryland into Virginia, until the two armies confronted each other on the Rapidan, a branch of the Rappahannock. There they remained more or less inactive until the following spring.

EMBARRASSMENT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

526. The Conscription of Troops in the North.—As the war dragged along, the novelty of it wore off, and enlistments in the North began to flag. The discouraging outcome of the Peninsula campaign and of the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville caused a rapid decrease in the number of volunteers. Draft, or conscription, was therefore resorted to by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863. This Act of Conscription, however, allowed exemption on payment of three hundred dollars, an amount deemed sufficient for securing a substitute. As only fifty thousand men were thus obtained, the three hundred dollar clause was repealed, July 4, 1864, and a new act declared that the conscript must serve or provide a substitute. To furnish the means of avoiding such an alternative, insurance companies were sometimes formed, and at times as much as one thousand dollars was paid for a substitute. By this system the service was much demoralized, for the large sums offered attracted great numbers who had little or no interest in the cause. Thousands of this class deserted, and to secure bounty, reënlisted, in some instances many times over. Thus “bounty jumper” became a term of deserved reproach. To the first of the Conscription Acts there was much resistance, especially in New York City. On July 13, 1863, a mob took possession of the streets and had entire control of the city for several days. The rioters burned about fifty buildings, and hanged negroes to lamp-posts. The colored orphan asylum was burned, and the inmates were with difficulty rescued from the flames. It was not until troops sent from Gettysburg had come to assist the police that order was restored. About twelve hundred of the rioters were killed. Though conscription did not of itself yield very many soldiers to the army, it greatly stimulated volunteering.

527. Conscription in the South.—As early as April, 1862, all able-bodied white men in the South between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were conscripted (§ [454]); and in February, 1864, the age limit was extended, so as to include all from seventeen to fifty. Thus, from almost the very beginning of the war, not only agriculture, but all the other industries of the South were thrown into the hands of men beyond fifty, of women, of negroes, and of children. The suffering that ensued may be imagined, but can hardly be described.[[244]]

528. The Vallandigham Case.—In 1863 there was not a little excitement over the case of Clement L. Vallandigham, a member of Congress from Ohio, who was the most extreme of Northern sympathizers with the Confederacy. For utterances disloyal to the government he was arrested by General Burnside, and, after trial by a military commission, was imprisoned, and, a little later, banished. He went first within the limits of the Confederacy, and then to Canada. By the Democracy of his state his arrest was regarded as arbitrary and his sentence unlawful, and to show their displeasure, they nominated him for governor. Though he was defeated by about one hundred thousand majority, the size of the vote in his favor was a significant indication of public feeling. The legality of his arrest and banishment was tested by an appeal to the Supreme Court, which decided that under the Constitution it had no power to review the action of a general officer of the army.

529. Financial Conditions.—It was at this time that the enormous cost of the war required the new efforts for raising money which have already been described (§§ [456]-[458]). In the North industries flourished and the bills of the government were promptly paid; but in the South a similar result was impossible. The blockade prevented an income from tariff and from the sale of cotton (§ [455]). The bonds payable “six months after the ratification of peace with the United States” sank in value as the success of the South became more and more doubtful, until finally they almost ceased to have any value whatever. A similar fate befell the Confederate bank notes. As these notes were the only currency in circulation, the prices of all articles rose enormously. In 1864 a pair of shoes was worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars in Confederate currency; a barrel of flour, two hundred and twenty-five dollars; a pound of butter, fifteen dollars, and a bushel of potatoes, twenty-five dollars. In one instance, thirty cords of wood were sold for thirty teacupfuls of salt. Prices in general were about fifty times as high as they had been when currency was at par.

References.—Grant, Memoirs, Vol. I., 437-570; Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. III., 154-255, 493, 638; Dodge, View, 93-101, 172-183, 241-261; Johnston, Orations, Vol. III., 82-92; Sherman, Memoirs, Vol. II., 638. The Histories of Rhodes and Schouler are valuable on all points. Writings of the leading statesmen and generals are indicated in Channing and Hart’s Guide, §§ 32-33. See also De Leon, Four Years in Rebel Capitals; McCulloch, Men and Measures; Greeley, Recollections; Cable, Strange, True Stories of Louisiana; J. E. Cooke, Hilt to Hilt; Trowbridge, Drummer Boy, and Cudjo’s Cave.