A Picture of the Desolated States, and the Work of Restoration. 1865-1868

by J. T. Trowbridge

“Ulysses was then nine or ten years old. He was fond of making money, and fond of that kind of business, and he answered, ‘I will go.’

“Just as he was starting off the owner of the horse cried out after him, ‘I want you to teach that horse to pace.’

“The horse had never paced a step before. But Ulysses accomplished the task. He returned the horse at night a perfect pacer. The letter was all a sham. Ulysses found out the trick, and nobody after that could ever get him to break a horse to pace.”

When only ten or twelve years of age, the boy’s energy and fertility of resource enabled him to render to his father assistance equal to that of a full-grown man. A remarkable feat, by which, with only the help of a large stout horse, he contrived to do the loading and hauling of a large quantity of fourteen-feet logs for a building which his father was erecting, is thus described in the fathers own words: “A large sugar-tree had been felled, so that it lay aslant, one end resting on the ground and the other elevated. He had hitched the horse Dave to the end of a hewn log, and hauled it upon this sugar-tree, the end projecting over far enough to back the wagon under it. Three made a load; and when he had got three hauled up in this way, he backed the hind end of the wagon up under them, and hitching the powerful horse in front by means of a long chain which extended over the whole length of the wagon-body, he pulled them, one at a time, into the wagon. This was much talked of in the neighborhood, as it was considered a great achievement for a boy of his size. He worked the whole seven months, and until the job was finished.”

The lad, however, showed an evident disrelish for his father’s business, and a decided preference for some active out-of-door employment, or for a thorough education. These, Mr. Grant’s somewhat straitened circumstances prevented him from attaining; but finally, through the kindness of Senator Thomas Morris, of Ohio, he heard that the Hon. Thos. L. Hamer, member of Congress from his own district, had an appointment to the Military Academy at West Point at his disposal. On application to him, Ulysses was appointed, and having passed the preliminary examinations, he entered the Academy on the 1st of July, 1839. There he manifested the same studious qualities which he had while in school, ranking No. 21 in his class, of which only thirty-nine out of nearly one hundred graduated in 1843, his standing being best in artillery and infantry tactics, mathematics, engineering, and horsemanship. Upon graduating he was, in consequence of there being no existing vacancy, made brevet Second Lieutenant of the Tenth Infantry Regiment, and performed duty as a private for a while after joining it at Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis. In 1844, his regiment removed to Red River in Louisiana; and in 1845, formed a part of the “army of occupation” on the Texan Border at the beginning of the war with Mexico. Meanwhile, he had declined the higher rank of First Lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry; preferring to share the fortunes of his old regiment, where chance of service seemed more immediate. In May, 1846, he was distinguished for gallantry and courage at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma; received honorable mention for good conduct at the storming of Monterey; participated, in 1847, in the capture of Vera Cruz, and was made quartermaster of his regiment, serving in this capacity during the remainder of the campaign, but showing no disposition to avail himself of his privilege of remaining in his own department in time of battle. At the assault of Molino del Rey, and the storming of Chapultepec, his daring and skill elicited the highest commendations of his superiors, and he was made a first lieutenant on the spot. Indeed, the flanking maneuver by which, with a few men only, he turned and carried the first barrier at Chapultepec, seems to have been the germ of the celebrated flanking movements which he has so often since tried, and with such brilliant success, upon larger battle-fields. He was brevetted captain for this achievement, his commission dating from September 13, 1847. He participated in fourteen battles during the Mexican War, and soon after its close in August, 1848, was married to Miss Julia A. Dent, residing near St. Louis, and whose brother, now General Dent, was one of his West Point classmates. Shortly after this he was ordered with his regiment to Detroit, Mich., and subsequently to Sackett’s Harbor, N. Y. In the autumn of 1851, his regiment was sent to Oregon, with head-quarters at Fort Dallas, and while on duty there, August, 1853, he received his full commission as captain. Seeing but little prospect, either of active employment or of further promotion, Grant now decided to return to civil life, and, on the 31st of July, 1854, resigned his commission in the army.

Retiring to a farm which his wife had received from her father, about nine miles from St. Louis, Mo., and which his own father had stocked completely, he entered upon his new life with his accustomed energy and fidelity, and no man ever worked harder. He built, in part with his own hands, a small house of hewn logs, for his family to live in; and in all the departments of husbandry proved himself a thorough farmer. In winter he hired help to cut wood, and hauled it to St. Louis and Carondelet, where he found a market; and there are many now living who distinctly remember the present General, as he then appeared, dressed in his blouse, with old felt hat, and pants tucked into the tops of his boots. In summer he “turned an honest penny” by acting as collector of taxes in his county; but, though honest and persevering, he lacked the stern and unscrupulous character which is essential to success in that line of business; and the duties of an auctioneer, at which he occasionally tried his hand, were equally unsuited to his tastes. After four years of arduous farming, at the end of which he was not as well off as when he began, he quitted it and removed to St. Louis, where he entered the real estate business with a Mr. Boggs. Finding, after a few months’ trial, that the profits were hardly sufficient to support two families, he gave up his interest to his partner, and next obtained a position in the Custom House, which, however, he held but two months. In 1859 he accepted an offer of partnership from his father, who with two other sons was conducting a well-established and profitable leather business at Galena, Illinois. He entered upon it, taking hold of the business with his accustomed industry, and speedily becoming an excellent salesman. Yet he took so little pains to extend his acquaintance in the place, that his father relates that “after he had joined the army and had begun to be distinguished, citizens of the town would stop in front of our store, within six feet of the windows, and look in to see which of the Grants it was that was absent and had suddenly become famous.”

On the eventful morning when the telegraph flashed to every corner of this western continent, the news that Sumter had been fired upon by Southern guns, and with that news the President’s proclamation calling for 75,000 troops, Grant was at his store, and his response was prompt and characteristic. Taking his coat from the counter where it lay, he drew it on, simply remarking, “Uncle Sam educated me for the army, and although I have served through one war, I feel I am still a little in debt for my education, and I am ready and willing to discharge the obligation. I am for the war, to put down this wicked rebellion.” Into the street he went, talked with some of his acquaintances, and speedily raised a company of volunteers, with which he repaired to Springfield and tendered their services to Governor Yates. That indefatigable and patriotic State officer has since given the following interesting account of his first acquaintance with the future hero of the war: “In April, 1861, he tendered his personal services to me, saying, that he ‘had been the recipient of a military education at West Point, and that now, when the country was involved in a war for its preservation and safety, he thought it his duty to offer his services in defense of the Union, and that he would esteem it a privilege to be assigned to any position where he could be useful.’ The plain, straightforward demeanor of the man, and the modesty and earnestness which characterized his offer of assistance, at once awakened a lively interest in him, and impressed me with a desire to secure his counsel for the benefit of volunteer organizations then forming for government service. At first I assigned, him a desk in the Executive office; and his familiarity with military organizations and regulations made him an invaluable assistant in my own and the office of the Adjutant-General. Soon his admirable qualities as a military commander became apparent, and I assigned him to the camps of organization at ‘Camp Yates,’ Springfield, ‘Camp Grant,’ Mattoon, and ‘Camp Douglas,’ at Anna, Union County, at which the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 18th, 19th, and 21st regiments of Illinois Volunteers, raised under the call of the President of the 15th of April, and under the ‘Ten Regiment Bill,’ of the extraordinary session of the legislature convened April 23, 1861, were rendezvoused. His employment had special reference to the organization and muster of these forces—the first six into the United States, and the last three into the State service. This was accomplished about the 10th of May, 1861, at which time he left the State for a brief period on a visit to his father, at Covington, Kentucky.” At this juncture Governor Yates found himself greatly perplexed to find a competent officer to command the 21st regiment, Illinois Volunteers, in camp at Mattoon, and which had become much demoralized by the incompetency of its officers. Acting upon his own favorable impressions of Grant, and by the earnest advice of those who knew him best, he telegraphed to Grant to take the charge of the refractory regiment and bring it into a proper state of discipline. Grant promptly appeared at Mattoon, assumed command of the regiment, June 15, 1861, and removed it to Caseyville for reorganization. In Governor Yates’s words: “Thirty days previous to that time, the regiment numbered over 1000 men; but in consequence of laxity in discipline of the first commanding officer, and other discouraging obstacles connected with the acceptance of troops at that time, but 603 were found willing to enter the three years’ service. In less than ten days Colonel Grant filled the regiment to the maximum standard, and brought it to a state of discipline seldom attained in the volunteer service in so short a time.” Quincy, Illinois, was at this time supposed to be in danger from attack by Missouri rebels, and an application reached Governor Yates for a force sufficient for its protection. The railroads were lacking in the necessary facilities for transportation, and the Governor was sorely puzzled how to meet the demand, when he received word from Colonel Grant saying, “Send my regiment, and I will find the transportation.” At once the order was given to send the 21st, and before night it commenced the march on foot, accomplishing the whole distance of 120 miles on foot (the only regiment that left the camp of organization on foot), and arrived in good time and excellent order. The duty to which the 21st, in company with others, was assigned, was the protection of the Hannibal and St. Louis Railroad, and it being necessary that a brigadier-general should be assigned to the command of the regiments employed upon this service, the choice fell upon Grant (although the youngest colonel on the ground), who took command at Mexico, Missouri, upon the 31st of July, 1861, being fully commissioned on the 9th of the following month.

Brigadier-General Grant was now sent with a large force into Southern Missouri, then threatened by the rebel general, Jeff. Thompson. He superintended the erection of fortifications at Ironton and Marble Creek, and having garrisoned both places, hastened to the defense of Jefferson City, which he protected from rebel attack for ten days. Thompson having abandoned his purpose, Grant was next ordered to the command of the important post of Cairo, Ill., which commanded the Ohio and Upper Mississippi rivers, and was a depot of supplies for an extensive region. This district included Western Kentucky, whose citizens were at that time trying to remain “on the fence,” until they could better see which side was to succeed; and General Grant, learning that the rebels had finally crossed the lines, and possessed themselves of Columbus and Hickman, on the Mississippi, and Bowling Green, on the Green River, promptly availed himself of the opportunity of seizing positions within the State furnished by these violations of Kentucky’s proposed neutrality, and quietly sent troops (September 6) up the Ohio, to Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee, and (on the 25th) to Smithland, at the mouth of the Cumberland River—thus effectually closing two of the principal avenues through which the rebels obtained supplies of food, clothing, arms, etc., from the North. He next turned his attention to Columbus, Ky., then held by the rebel Major-General Polk, but was prevented from attacking him by the withdrawal of a large portion of his force to St. Louis; and on the 11th, learning that the rebel general, Jeff. Thompson, was contemplating a raid through southwestern Missouri, he sent an expedition which defeated and routed him near Dallas, on the 21st of October. Then, being apprised of Jeff. Thompson’s intention to blockade the Mississippi River, and move upon his own position at Cairo, he determined to break up the camp at Belmont, Mo., where the rebels were concentrating. At the head of two brigades, he moved down the Mississippi in steamers. On the 6th of November they reached Belmont, marched rapidly upon the enemy’s camp, two and a half miles distant, forced their way over all obstructions, and surprised the rebels, capturing camp equipage, artillery, small arms; burning tents, blankets, etc., and capturing many prisoners. On their return to the steamers, however, the victorious Union army was met by about 4,000 rebel troops, who, under command of Generals Polk, Pillow, and Cheatham, were hastening to reinforce their comrades, and a fierce battle ensued. The Union force, although losing some of the prisoners it had taken, succeeded in reaching the river, and embarking again in safety, under cover of gun-boats, bringing with them two cannon which they had taken, and spiking two others, which they were obliged to leave. The advantages of this fight, on the whole, were with the Union troops, who also gained new confidence in themselves, and in their commander.

General Grant remained for some time in command of the Cairo district (which was subsequently enlarged, so as to include all the southern portion of Illinois, that part of Kentucky west of the Cumberland River, and the southern counties of Missouri), and performed a most important work in reorganizing, training, and distributing to various posts, the large number of newly mustered troops constantly sent into his district. On the 14th of January, 1862, he made an extended reconnoissance in force for the purpose of ascertaining the rebel strength and position around Columbus; and in fact, kept up such a feint of attack upon that point as led to large concentration there of the rebel forces. Meanwhile a fleet of gun-boats had been constructed above Cairo, manned and placed under command of Flag-officer A. H. Foote. Then, when all was ready, Grant secretly withdrew the two divisions with which he had been threatening Columbus, and leaving one to defend his base at Cairo, joined the other to two large divisions, which had been concentrated at Paducah (at the mouth of the Tennessee), and at Smithland (at the mouth of the Cumberland). With these, he then moved on Fort Henry, on the Tennessee; at which point, also, the gun-boats arrived on the morning of February 6, in advance of the troops, who had been delayed by the condition of the roads. The fleet, however, attacked at once, and after a brief but spirited engagement, the fort surrendered, the rebels outside making their escape to Fort Donelson. Grant, whose plans had thus been anticipated by the gallant Foote, now undertook the capture of Fort Donelson, a larger and stronger work, garrisoned by over 20,000 troops, and which still obstructed the passage of the Cumberland River, and the advance of the Union army southward. By the evening of the 12th, the fort was invested on all but the river front, which was, however, covered on the 14th by the arrival of the gun-boats, and a combined land and water attack was made, which, owing to damage done to the boats, was unsuccessful. On the following morning, a sortie by the rebel garrison broke the Union right and captured two batteries. Rallying to their work, the Union troops recaptured nearly all their guns, and then ensued a desperate, shifting, uncertain, hand-to-hand fight, unfavorable on the whole to the Union side. But the cool, calm judgment, and the indomitable tenacity of Grant wrested victory from the very jaws of defeat; and the desperate heroism of his men, inspired by his example, secured for his army by nightfall, a position which, it was evident, would give them the possession of the fort on the morrow. Generals Floyd and Pillow escaped during the night with a brigade of rebel troops, and Buckner, who was left in command, sent to General Grant, at early dawn on the following morning (16th), a proposition for an armistice pending negotiations for surrender. To this Grant sent his brief but famous reply: “No other terms than unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.” Finding parley useless, the rebel General was obliged to surrender, which he did rather ungraciously; and the fort, with 13,000 prisoners, 3,000 horses, 48 field-pieces, 17 heavy guns, 20,000 stand of arms, and a large quantity of stores, etc., fell into the possession of the Union army; and on the following day, two rebel Tennesseean regiments, uninformed of the surrender, marched into the fort with colors flying, and were made prisoners. The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, rendered Columbus and Bowling Green untenable by the rebel forces,—General Polk retreating to Island No. 10, and Johnson to Nashville. General Grant was now commissioned a Major-General of Volunteers, dating from February 16, 1862; and March 5th was assigned to the command of the new military district of West Tennessee, bounded on the south by the Tennessee River and the Mississippi State line, and on the west by the Mississippi River, as far north as Cairo. From this district, Grant now proposed to drive out the rebels, and he accordingly sent gun-boats up the Cumberland, accompanied along the west bank of the river by a division of troops. Clarksville, an important base of supplies on the river, was captured soon after, garrisoned, and held,—the gun-boats ascending the river to open the way for General Buell’s army, then marching on Nashville. After the fall of that place, they returned to the Ohio, and reconnoitred the Tennessee River as far as Florence, Alabama. Grant, who meanwhile had been engaged in reorganizing, and sending forward troops and supplies, then moved his head-quarters to Fort Henry, from whence he scoured the country in all directions. Meanwhile General Albert Sydney Johnston, who had been obliged to vacate Nashville, had concentrated an army of 45,000 men, under able generals, at Corinth, Miss., at the junction of the Mobile and Ohio and Memphis and Charleston railroads. It was but twenty miles from Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh, on the west bank of the Tennessee, which had already been selected as a base of operations for the Union forces; and General Buell’s army of the Ohio was now en route from Nashville to meet Grant’s command there, with such haste as the roads permitted. Johnston attempted to attack Grant’s army before Buell’s arrival, and while Lew. Wallace’s division was yet at Crump’s Landing, some six miles distance from the battle-field, hoping thus to be able to conquer the Union forces in detail. At daybreak of April 6, the blow suddenly fell upon Grant’s left (Prentiss’s division), which, although surprised, fought bravely, but finally gave way under the pressure, and were hurried as prisoners to the rebel rear. Next the rebels massed upon W. H. L. Wallace’s and Sherman’s divisions, and the former General being mortally wounded, his troops were driven back. Sherman’s force, however, held its position, and repulsed the enemy in two several attacks. Meanwhile, other parts of the Union line had been fiercely attacked by large bodies of rebel troops, and had been gradually pressed back nearly two and a half miles toward the Tennessee River. Sherman had by this time taken a new position, which he held firmly against all attack; and the scattered Union batteries, being collected by General Webster (Grant’s chief of artillery), opened a steady fire upon the rebels, who were attempting to flank the Union left, with a view to possess themselves of the landing. This fire, together with that of two gun-boats in the river, and the news of the near approach of Buell’s advance, which had just arrived across the river from the scene of action, checked the rebels, and both armies rested on their arms until the following morning. In the evening, Lew. Wallace’s division reached the battle-field, and during the night, General Nelson’s division of Buell’s army crossed the river; the remainder, however, did not come over until the morning of the 7th. Assigning to the centre the troops which had stood their ground on the previous day, General Grant placed Wallace’s division on the right, and Nelson’s on the left, and boldly attacked the rebel line. The fighting, although not so heavy as on the preceding day, was spirited, and the field was substantially won by the Union troops by noon, at which time the remainder of Buell’s army came up. By about 5 P. M., the rebels, defeated, routed, and much demoralized, abandoned the field, and night fell upon what had been thus far the most sanguinary contest of the war. The Union loss, in killed, wounded, missing, and prisoners, was 13,298; that of the rebels 10,699, with a remarkable loss of general officers. The wearied troops spent the night upon the battle-field, and pursuit was made on the 8th by General Sherman, who destroyed the rebel camp and a large amount of ammunition.

On the 13th of April, General Halleck, with a powerful army, composed of sixteen divisions under Generals Grant, Buell, and Pope, advanced from Pittsburg Landing to the attack of Corinth. On the 17th May, the Union army commenced a series of regular approaches to the town, which Grant was anxious to carry (as he was confident of his ability to do) by assault. Halleck refused, and a quarrel ensued between the two, the only one recorded in Grant’s military career. On the night of the 28th, the rebels evacuated the closely invested city, moving southward along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, to a safer position. New Orleans and Memphis had, meanwhile, surrendered to the Union flag. On the 17th, General Halleck was appointed General-in-Chief of the United States armies, and Grant was assigned to the command of a newly created department of West Tennessee, embracing Northern Mississippi, West Tennessee, Western Kentucky, and Southern Illinois. His head-quarters were at Memphis, which he quickly cleared of the illicit traffic carried on by crafty secessionists, gamblers, speculators, and smugglers. Grant now determined to attempt the reduction of Vicksburg, the key to the navigation of the Mississippi, strong by nature, and rendered apparently impregnable by military science. Even before its fortifications were completed, in the summer of 1862, Admiral Farragut’s squadron had made no impression upon it; and General Williams’s attempt to turn the current of the river through a canal cut across the peninsula, formed by the bend of the stream in front of the city, had proved a failure. After full preparation for the enterprise, General Grant, in December, began his movement down the Mississippi Central Railroad, in order to flank Vicksburg, which was to be attacked at the same time on the north and northwest, by Sherman descending the river from Memphis. His plans, however, were deranged by the pusillanimity of the colonel commanding at Holly Springs, where his chief depot of supplies was established, and he was obliged to forego his expected junction with Sherman. The latter general, unsupported by Grant, and unaware of the cause of his failure, attacked Vicksburg; but after three days’ hard fighting, was obliged to abandon the assault. Grant next descended the Mississippi to Young’s Point, a little above Vicksburg, and at first renewed the canal project, which was rendered futile by a sudden flood in the river; then he attempted an entrance to the Yazoo, by the old Yazoo Pass, and afterwards by a circuit through Steel’s and Black’s bayous, Duck and Deer creeks, and Rolling Fork and Sunflower rivers. All these attempts failing to meet the emergency, he determined—despite the numerous and apparently insuperable difficulties which presented themselves—to attack the fortress and city from below. Sending a part of the gun-boat fleet, and sixteen or eighteen transports laden with forage and supplies, past the batteries on two different nights,—a most heroic act, which was accomplished with only the loss of two transports,—General Grant marched his army through the country west of the Mississippi to Hard Times, La., a distance of seventy miles, over roads well-nigh impassable, accomplishing the distance in thirty days. The gun-boats, after an ineffectual attempt to capture Grand Gulf as a base of operations, ran the batteries in the night, and on the morning of March 30, commenced to ferry over the troops to Bruinsburg, ten miles below. This was more easily effected, inasmuch as a simultaneous demonstration by General Sherman against Haines’s Bluff, attracted all their attention in that direction. From Bruinsburg, Grant’s army moved rapidly to Port Gibson, thus flanking Grand Gulf, which was evacuated by the rebels, and immediately occupied by the Union forces as a base of operations. Here, also, they were quickly joined by General Sherman’s army, and, as had been previously arranged by Grant, Colonel Grierson starting from Lagrange, at the junction of the Mississippi Central with the Memphis and Charleston railroads, and following the lines of the Mobile and Ohio and Mississippi Central railroads, and the Meridian and Jackson roads, reached Baton Rouge on the 1st of May, having very thoroughly cut the rebel communications. Grant now threw his army between Johnston and Pemberton, routed the former, and drove the latter into Vicksburg, and by the 18th, had completely invested that city on the land side, and was in communication with the squadron and transports by way of Walnut Bluffs, above the river. On the 19th and 22d, assaults were made upon the city, but without decisive results, and a regular siege was commenced, which, after a prolonged and heroic resistance by the people and garrison, resulted in its unconditional surrender on the 4th of July, 1863. 34,620 prisoners, 211 field-pieces, 90 siege guns, and 45,000 small arms fell into the hands of the victors; in addition to which the rebels sustained a loss of 11,800 killed, wounded, or deserters. The Union losses had been 8,575 killed, wounded, and missing. Sending Sherman to Jackson, to defeat and break up the rebel General Johnston’s army, Grant sought and obtained a brief furlough—the first he had enjoyed during the two and a quarter years he had been in the army—in order to visit his family. Returning down the Mississippi—now, thanks to his genius and skill, open to navigation for its whole length—he visited General Banks at New Orleans, and while there (September 4), was seriously injured by a fall from his horse, so that it was not until November that he was able to take an active part in military affairs. He was then given the command of the Grand Military Division of the Mississippi, comprising the armies of the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Ohio, and promptly undertook the expulsion of the rebels from the Chattanooga Valley, and the possession of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, from which points they were enabled to impede all railroad and river communication with Louisville and Nashville. The rebel General Bragg, who was besieging Chattanooga, sent word, on the 21st of November, to General Grant, that “humanity would dictate the removal of all non-combatants” from the city, as he was about to shell it. Grant’s plans, however, had all been carefully laid, and were now in course of execution, and the only reply to this rebel braggart was in the shape of quick, hard blows. Burnside was engaged in luring Longstreet’s force of 20,000 men, which had been detached from the rebel army for operations in East Tennessee, to such a distance as would render it impossible for them to aid General Bragg when the final movement should be made on him. Another force cut the railroads leading to Knoxville; General Hooker, by a fine strategic movement, seized Lookout Mountain; and Thomas, moving out from Chattanooga, had obtained, with some hard fighting, possession of Orchard Knob, and another hill in front of the city, which commanded a part of Mission Ridge and the rebel forts situated thereon. On the 25th, Grant ordered Sherman to demonstrate strongly and persistently against Fort Buckner, at the northern extremity of Mission Ridge, with a view of drawing thither the greater part of the rebel troops in Forts Breckinridge and Bragg, which would thus fall an easier prey to a strong force sent to attack them in the rear. It is needless to write the record of that battle; sufficient to say, that the genius of Grant and his generals, and the wonderful heroism of their men, overcame all obstacles, carried the rebel positions, and drove Bragg’s routed army into the Valley of the Chickamauga, pursuing them beyond Red Clay Station, on the Dalton and Cleveland Railroad, which line of communication was also most effectually destroyed.