[CHAPTER XIX.]
Wherein Captain Galligasken shows how six Months were spent around Vicksburg by the illustrious Soldier, and how the President rather liked the Man, and thought he would try him a little longer.
The second line of rebel defences had been broken. Memphis, Corinth, and the towns on the Tennessee River, in Northern Alabama, connecting links in the chain, were in possession of the national forces. But Buell had failed in his expedition to East Tennessee. He had made no impression upon Chattanooga; he had been beaten at Perrysville, and had been superseded by Rosecrans.
After the departure of General Halleck from the West to act as general-in-chief, Grant was left virtually in charge of the department of the Tennessee, and discharged all the duties of that important position. On the 16th of October, 1862, he was formally assigned to the command, and near the close of the month issued his order to that effect, and defined the limits of his jurisdiction. Very soon after, he proposed to Halleck to commence a movement upon Vicksburg; and this was the first mention which had been made by either of them of this important point. But Grant meekly and modestly added that he was ready to do with all his might whatever his superior, should order, and without criticism, which, I humbly submit, was a magnificent position for a man of his enlarged and comprehensive views to take, for most of our generals believed they were nothing unless they were critical. He was a grand exception, and we do not, in a single instance, outside of the line of his duty, find him analyzing and carping at the operations of others.
Vicksburg was now the objective point, for Halleck gave the commander of the department of the Tennessee full power and permission to carry out his own plans and purposes in his own way. From this time there was no clashing between the two generals. They heartily supported each other, as Grant had always been willing to do, and Halleck afforded him every assistance and encouragement in his power. It is possible that he had received a new revelation in regard to the abilities of the hero of Donelson and Shiloh; that Grant's exhibition of his skill in constructing earthworks at Corinth had won the heart of the general-in-chief, or that his handsome strategic movements in the operations which had included Iuka, Corinth, and the Hatchie had demonstrated the fact that he was not a mere bull-dog thirsting for blood, and without any perception of military tact and skill. It was rather late for Halleck to learn this; but to his honor and glory let it be said, that he no longer permitted himself to be a stumbling-block in the path of his subordinate; that he fairly and squarely sustained him in his grand enterprises.
From the beginning of the war the Confederacy had been fully alive to the vital importance of the Mississippi River. From Columbus to the Gulf it had been fortified and protected by every means which the skill and resources of the South could afford. Forts Jackson and St. Philip guarded its lower part, and covered New Orleans; though these were nullified by the daring of Farragut, and the city fell early in the war. But there were half a dozen other "Gibraltars" on its long line—Columbus, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, Memphis, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson. Foote had used up Island No. 10, after the rebels were compelled to evacuate Columbus. Fort Pillow and Memphis had yielded before the persuasive force of the naval squadron, and only Vicksburg and Port Hudson were left to dispute the passage of the great river. Between these two points the enemy, depending almost wholly upon Texas for its supplies of cattle, ferried them over, and by the line of railroads from Vicksburg to Charleston, not yet approached by the national arms, were enabled still to send food to all their armies in the east and south.
Bold Farragut had passed the batteries at Port Hudson with his squadron, and sailed up to Vicksburg, more than five hundred miles from the Gulf. Here he had bombarded the strong works which protected the city; but as they were planted on high bluffs, all the advantage was in favor of the enemy, and the result was not a success. The troops which accompanied him under General Williams attempted to open the canal, which was to form a new bed for the river, and enable the fleet to pass the city. But this scheme also failed, and though a part of the squadron ran the gantlet of the batteries, and joined the naval force above the city, the expedition was obliged to return to New Orleans to escape the diseases incident to the climate.