[248] Johnston was a very able general, but, like William III., he was more successful in defense than in offense. It is noteworthy that he and his great opponent, Sherman, were and remained fast friends.
[249] It should be noted that Davis had been trained at West Point, was a soldier of ability, and interfered too much in the management of the Confederate armies. Lincoln interfered somewhat, but, being without military training, fortunately distrusted himself in this respect.
[250] Born in Kentucky, 1831; died, 1879. Graduated at West Point, 1853; entered the Confederate service and soon commanded a Texas brigade; was promoted for gallantry at Gaines’s Mill; fought bravely in other important battles; reënforced Bragg at Chickamauga; commanded a corps under Johnston, whom he superseded; was three times defeated by Sherman, and then, turning upon Thomas, was defeated at Franklin and routed at Nashville.
[251] Atlanta was then very unimportant in size, but it was almost the only manufacturing town from which the Confederates could obtain military supplies; hence the significance of the capture.
[252] Hood’s loss at Franklin was 6252, while Schofield’s was only 2326. See Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. III., p. 257.
[253] At Nashville, Hood’s losses were roughly estimated at 15,000, no official returns in detail being made. Thomas’s losses were 3057. See Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. III., p. 258.
[254] August 23, Lincoln wrote this memorandum, which, though unsigned, was found in his handwriting after his death: “This morning, as for some time past, it seems exceedingly probable that this administration will not be reëlected. Then it will be my duty to so coöperate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such grounds that he cannot possibly save it afterward.”
[255] As a campaign document, Buchanan Read’s spirited poem, Sheridan’s Ride, written on the impulse of the moment, was of importance, as it made the nation ring with the praises of Sheridan’s great exploit.
[256] The circumstances attending this singular action are given by Charles A. Dana in his Recollections of the Civil War, pp. 175-178. The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment was announced by Secretary Seward on December 18, 1865. Eleven former slaveholding states joined sixteen free states to make the twenty-seven states necessary to ratification.