The Story of Our Country / Every Child Can Read

by Unknown

When the news of this wonderful sea-fight got to Europe the kings and ministers of war read it with alarm. They saw they had something to do. Their wooden war-vessels were out of date, and they went to work in a hurry to build iron-clad ships. To-day all the great nations of the earth have fleets of steel-covered ships-of-war, and the United States has some of the best and strongest of this kind of ships.

All through the war there were battles of iron-clads. On the western rivers steamboats were plated with iron and attacked the forts on shore. And along the coast iron-clad vessels helped the wooden ships to blockade the ports of the South. More vessels like the "Monitor" were built in the North, and a number somewhat like the "Merrimac" were built in the South. I cannot say that any of them did much good either North or South.

A great naval battle was fought in the Mississippi, which led to the capture of New Orleans, and another was fought in the Bay of Mobile, on the Gulf of Mexico. Here there were some strong forts and a powerful iron-clad ship. Admiral Farragut sailed into the bay with a fleet of wooden ships and several iron vessels like the "Monitor." When he went past the forts he stood in the rigging of his ship, with his spy-glass in his hand. He did not seem to care anything for cannon-balls. He took the forts, and since then Farragut has been one of our great naval heroes.

There was one Confederate privateer, the "Alabama," which caused terrible loss to the merchants of the North. It took in all sixty-five vessels, which were set on fire and burned. In June, 1864, the "Alabama" was met near the coast of France by the frigate "Kearsarge," and a furious battle took place. For two hours they fought, and then the "Alabama" sagged down into the water and sank to the bottom of the sea. She had done much harm to the North, but her career was at an end.

Now let us turn back to the war on land and see what was going on there. I have told you the story of the fighting up to the great 4th of July, 1863, when Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant and General Lee marched away from Gettysburg. That is where we dropped the threads which we have now to take up again.

After Grant had taken Vicksburg and opened the Mississippi from St. Louis to its mouth, he set out for the town of Chattanooga, which is in Tennessee just north of Georgia. Here there had been a great battle in which the Confederate army won the victory, and the Union troops were shut up in Chattanooga with very little to eat.

Grant was not there long before there came a change. General Bragg, the Confederate commander, had his army on the summits of two mountains named Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. These were defended by strong forts. But the Union troops charged up the mountain sides in the face of the fire of rifles and cannon and soon had possession of the forts. General Bragg's army was defeated with great loss. This was one of the most brilliant victories of the war. The battle of Lookout Mountain has been called "the battle above the clouds."

Everybody now saw that General Grant was much the best general on the Union side, and President Lincoln made him commander-in-chief of all the armies in the field. Grant at once laid his plans to have the armies all work together. General Sherman was left in command of the army of the West and Grant came to Virginia to fight General Lee.

In the green month of May, 1864, all the armies were set in motion, and North and South came together for the last great struggle of the war.

Grant led his men into the Wilderness where General Hooker and his army had been sadly defeated the year before. Lee was there to meet him, and a great battle was fought in the depth of the woods and thickets. It lasted two whole days, but neither side won.