On the 18th September, the President reached Hood’s head-quarters, and on the following day reviewed the whole army. He addressed the troops in terms of encouragement, and his promise to them of an advance northward, was received with unbounded enthusiasm. The situation in Georgia admitted a very limited consideration of expedients, by which to obtain compensation for the loss of Atlanta. Sherman’s presence, unmolested, in the interior of Georgia, during the autumn and winter, would be fatal. He would then be in a position to assail, at leisure, the only remaining source of supplies for the Confederate armies. His cavalry could safely penetrate in every direction, destroying communications and supplies, and producing universal demoralization.
Hood was confident that his army was capable of better fighting than it had performed against Sherman, provided it could meet the enemy under such circumstances as should promise the recovery of the ground lost, in the event of victory. To attack Sherman in Atlanta was not to be considered, and to await the development of the enemy’s plan would be dangerous. Sherman had already announced his purpose to rest his army at Atlanta, with a view to its preparation for the arduous enterprises yet before it. Hence, it became necessary to adopt a plan, which should draw him away from his defenses, and compel him to fight upon equal ground.
It may be briefly stated that the subsequent operations of General Hood, when they ceased to menace the enemy’s flank, and assumed the character of a mere detachment upon the Federal rear, was not the plan of campaign which Mr. Davis expected to be carried into execution. He approved a concentration upon the Federal flank, which it was not likely Sherman would permit to be endangered. Seeing, however, the exposed situation of the country south of Atlanta, in consequence of the movement into Alabama, Mr. Davis opposed any operations which should place Hood’s army beyond striking distance of Sherman, should the latter move southward from Atlanta.
It is remarkable to what extent the movements of Sherman demonstrated the judicious character of the Confederate movement, so long as it was in conformity with these views of Mr. Davis. Puzzled, at first, as to Hood’s purposes, Sherman was no longer perplexed as to what his own course should be, when it was evident that Hood was making a serious demonstration for the recovery of Tennessee, meanwhile giving up Georgia entirely to Federal possession. When these larger and more doubtful enterprises were added to the original scope of the Confederate movement, Mr. Davis was too remote from the scene to assume the responsibility of recalling the army from an enterprise which he felt assured would not be attempted without justifying information by the commander.[80]
But, after all, the disastrous consequences, following the uncovering of Georgia, are to be attributed less to the intrinsically erroneous strategy of Hood, than to the consummate vigor and promptitude of Sherman. Odious to the South as Sherman is, by reason of his cruelties and barbarities, he can not be denied the merit of an immediate grasp of the critical situation, and a no less prompt execution. A commander of less self-possession, and less audacity, would have been bewildered by the transfer of an army from his immediate front to his rear, and placed astride his communications. The “march to the sea” was no military exploit, and only a brazen charlatanism could exalt it as an illustration of genius. The proof of Sherman’s merit is to be seen in the quick determination and execution of his purpose, when the real significance of Hood’s operations was revealed. His telegram to Washington fully described the situation and prophesied the sequel: “Hood has crossed the Tennessee. Thomas will take care of him and Nashville, while Schofield will not let him into Chattanooga or Knoxville. Georgia and South Carolina are at my mercy, and I shall strike. Do not be anxious about me. I am all right.”
We are not permitted to trace the unfortunate Tennessee campaign of General Hood, culminating in his disastrous defeat at Nashville, in December, and in the virtual destruction of the gallant but ill-starred army, upon whose bayonets the Confederate power, west of the Alleghanies, was so long upheld. It was the final campaign of the Confederacy in that quarter, and, with its failure, perished forever the hope of defending the western and central sections of the South.[81] Meanwhile, Sherman, unopposed, had marched like Fate through Georgia, to Savannah, realizing Grant’s assertion that the Confederacy was a mere shell, and revealing a fact, until then not clearly appreciated, of the exhaustion and demoralization of its people.
CHAPTER XX.
INCIDENTS ON THE LINES OF RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG DURING THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN—CAPTURE OF FORT HARRISON—OTHER DEMONSTRATIONS BY GRANT—THE SITUATION NEAR THE CONFEDERATE CAPITAL—EARLY’S VALLEY CAMPAIGN—POPULAR CENSURE OF EARLY—INFLUENCE OF THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN UPON THE SITUATION NEAR RICHMOND—WHAT THE AGGREGATE OF CONFEDERATE DISASTERS SIGNIFIED—DESPONDENCY OF THE SOUTH—THE INJURIOUS EXAMPLES OF PROMINENT MEN—THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL LEE—MR. DAVIS’ POPULARITY—WHY HE DID NOT FULLY COMPREHEND THE DEMORALIZATION OF THE PEOPLE—HE HOPES FOR POPULAR REANIMATION—WAS THE CASE OF THE CONFEDERACY HOPELESS?—VACILLATING CONDUCT OF CONGRESS—THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS A WEAK BODY—MR. DAVIS’ RELATIONS WITH CONGRESS—PROPOSED CONSCRIPTION OF SLAVES—FAVORED BY DAVIS AND LEE—DEFEATED BY CONGRESS—LEGISLATION DIRECTED AGAINST THE PRESIDENT—DAVIS’ OPINION OF LEE—RUMORS OF PEACE—HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE—THE FEDERAL ULTIMATUM—THE ABSURD CHARGE AGAINST MR. DAVIS OF OBSTRUCTING NEGOTIATIONS—HIS RECORD ON THE SUBJECT OF PEACE—A RICHMOND NEWSPAPER ON THE FEDERAL ULTIMATUM—DELUSIVE SIGNS OF PUBLIC SPIRIT—NO ALTERNATIVE BUT CONTINUED RESISTANCE—REPORT OF THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE.