A School History of the United States Part 45

%426. The Life of the Republic at Stake%.--Thus was begun the greatest war in modern history. It was no vulgar struggle for territory, or for maritime or military supremacy. The life of the Union was at stake. The questions to be decided were: Shall there be one or two republics on the soil of the United States? Shall the great principle of all democratic-republican government, the principle that the will of the majority shall rule, be maintained or abandoned? Shall state sovereignty be recognized? Shall states be suffered to leave the Union at will, or shall the United States continue to exist as "an indestructible Union of indestructible States"? As Mr. Lincoln said, "Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish."

%427. The South better prepared%.--For the struggle which was to decide these questions neither side was ready, but the South was better prepared than the North. The South was united as one man. The North was divided and full of Southern sympathizers. She knew not whom to trust.

Officers of the army, officers of the navy, were resigning every day.

The great departments of government at Was.h.i.+ngton contained many men who furnished information to Southern officials. Seventeen steam war vessels (two thirds of all that were not laid up or unfit for service) were in foreign parts. Large quant.i.ties of military supplies had been stored in Southern forts. All the great powers of Europe save Russia were hostile to our republic, and would gladly have seen it rent in twain. The South, again, had the advantage in that she was to act on the defensive.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The United States July 1861 Showing the greatest extension of the Southern Confederacy]

%428. Results of firing on the Flag.%--Not a man was killed on either side during the bombardment of Sumter. Yet the battle was a famous one, and led to greater consequences:

1. Lincoln at once called for 75,000 militia to serve for three months.

2. Four "border states," as they were called, thus forced to choose their side, seceded. They were Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

3. The Congress of the United States was called to meet at Was.h.i.+ngton, July 4, 1861.

4. After Virginia seceded, the capital of the Confederacy, at the invitation of the Virginia secession convention, was moved from Montgomery to Richmond, and the Confederate Congress adjourned to meet there July 20, 1861.

%429. West Virginia.%--The act of secession by Virginia was promptly repudiated by the people of the counties west of the mountains, who refused to secede, and voted to form a new state under the name of Kanawha. They adopted a const.i.tution and were finally admitted in 1863 as the state of West Virginia[1].

[Footnote 1: A state made out of part of another state cannot be admitted into the Union without the consent of that state first obtained. But as Congress and the people of West Virginia considered that Virginia consisted of that part of the Old Dominion which remained loyal to the Union, the people practically asked their own consent.]

%430. The Call to Arms.%--Lincoln held that no state could ever leave the Union, and that therefore no state had left the Union. Those which had pa.s.sed ordinances of secession were to his mind states whose machinery of government had been seized on by persons in insurrection against the government of the United States. When, therefore, he made his call for 75,000 militia to defend the Union, he apportioned the number among all the states, slave and free, north and south, east and west, according to their population. Those forming the Confederacy paid no attention to the call. The governors of the border slave states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri) returned evasive or insulting answers.

But the people of the loyal states responded instantly, and tens of thousands of troops were soon on their way to Was.h.i.+ngton. To get there was a hard matter. Baltimore lay on the most direct railroad route between the Eastern and Middle States and Was.h.i.+ngton. But Baltimore was full of disloyal men, who tore up the railroads, burned bridges, cut the telegraph wires, and as the Ma.s.sachusetts 6th regiment was pa.s.sing through the city from one railroad station to another, attacked it, killing some and wounding others of its soldiers. This forced the troops from the other states to go by various routes to Annapolis and then to Was.h.i.+ngton, so that it was late in April before enough arrived to insure the safety of the city.

Though none of the border and seceded states sent troops, the response of the loyal states to Lincoln's call was so hearty that more than 75,000 men were furnished. The President decided to turn this outburst of patriotism to good purpose, and May 3, 1861, asked for 42,034 volunteers for three years unless sooner discharged, and ordered 18,000 seamen to be enlisted, and 22,714 men added to the regular army.

Baltimore was now occupied by Union troops, and communication with Was.h.i.+ngton through that city was restored and protected.

On July 1, 1861, there were 183,588 "boys in blue" under arms and present for duty. These were distributed at various places north of the line, 2000 miles long, which divided the North and South. This line began near Fort Monroe, in Virginia, ran up Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac to the mountains, then across Western Virginia and through Kentucky, Missouri, and Indian Territory to New Mexico.

This line was naturally divided into three parts:

1. That in Virginia and along the Potomac.

2. That occupied by Kentucky, a state which had declared itself neutral.

3. That west of the Mississippi.

%431. The Battle of "Bull Run" or Mana.s.sas%.--General Winfield Scott was in command of the Union army. Under him, in command of the troops about Was.h.i.+ngton, was General Irwin McDowell. Further to the west, near Harpers Ferry, was a Union force under General Patterson. In western Virginia, with an army raised largely in Ohio, was General George B.

McClellan. In Missouri was General Lyon, aided by all the Union people in the state, who were engaged in a desperate struggle to keep her in the Union.

In northern Virginia and opposed to the Union forces under General McDowell, was a Confederate army under General Beauregard, and these troops the people of the North demanded should be attacked. "The Confederate Congress must not meet at Richmond!" "On to Richmond! On to Richmond!" became the cries of the hour. General McDowell, with 30,000 men, was therefore ordered to attack Beauregard. McDowell found him near Mana.s.sas, some thirty miles southwest of Was.h.i.+ngton, and there, on the field of "Bull Run," on Sunday, July 21, 1861, was fought a famous battle which ended with the defeat and flight of the Union army[1].

[Footnote 1: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. I., pp.

229-239.]

General George B. McClellan, who had defeated the Confederate forces in western Virginia in several battles, was now placed in command of the troops near Was.h.i.+ngton, and spent the rest of 1861 and part of 1862 in drilling and organizing his army. Bull Run had taught the people two things: 1. That the war was not to end in three months; 2. That an army without discipline is not much better than a mob.

%432. Fort Donelson and Fort Henry%.--While McClellan was drilling his men along the Potomac, the Union forces drove back the Confederates in the West. The Confederate line at first extended as shown by the heavy line on the map on p. 390. In order to break it, General Buell sent a small force under General Thomas, in January, 1862, to drive back the Confederates near Mill Springs. Next, in February, General Halleck authorized General U. S. Grant and Flag Officer Foote to make a joint expedition against Fort Henry on the Tennessee. But Foote arrived first and captured the fort, whereupon Grant marched to Fort Donelson on the c.u.mberland, eleven miles away, and after three days of sharp fighting was asked by General Buckner what terms he would offer. Grant promptly answered,

[Ill.u.s.tration: Handwritten note of Grant]

No terms excepting unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.

I propose to receive immediately upon your word.

I am Sir: very respectfully your ** **

U. S. Grant Brig. Gen.

Buckner at once surrendered (February 16, 1862), and Grant won the first great Union victory of the war.[1]

[Footnote 1: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,_ Vol. I., pp.

398-429; Grant's _Memoirs_, Vol. I., pp. 285-315.]

%433. The Battle of s.h.i.+loh, or Pittsburg Landing.%--After the fall of Fort Donelson, the Confederates, abandoning Columbus and Nashville, hurried south toward Corinth in Mississippi, whither Halleck's army followed in three parts. One under General S. E. Curtis moved to southwestern Missouri, and beat the Confederates at Pea Ridge, Ark.

(March 6-8). The second, under General John Pope, cooperated with Flag Officer Foote, from the west bank of the Mississippi, in the capture of Island No. 10 (April 7). Pope then joined Halleck in the movement against Corinth, while the fleet went on down the river, attacked Fort Pillow three times, captured it (June 4), and two days later took Memphis.

Meanwhile the third part of Halleck's army, under Grant, following the Confederates, had reached Pittsburg Landing, where (April 6) he was suddenly attacked by General A. S. Johnston and driven back. But General Buell coming up with fresh troops, the battle was resumed the next day (April 7), when Grant regained his lost ground, and the Confederates fell back to Corinth.[1]

[Footnote 1: _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,_ Vol., pp. 465-486.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Driving back the Confederate line in the West]

At this point General Henry Halleck arrived and took command, and at the end of May occupied Corinth. Memphis then fell, and the Mississippi River was opened as far south as Vicksburg. After the capture of Memphis, Halleck went to Was.h.i.+ngton to take command of the armies of the United States.

%434. Bragg's Raid into Kentucky.%--The Confederate line which in January, 1862, had pa.s.sed across Kentucky had thus by June been driven southward to Chattanooga, Iuka, and Holly Springs. The Union line ran from near Chattanooga to Corinth and Memphis. Against this the Confederates now moved, with the hope of breaking through and driving it back. Gathering his forces at Chattanooga, General Bragg rushed across Tennessee and Kentucky toward Louisville. But General Buell, perceiving his purpose, outmarched him, reached the Ohio, and forced Bragg to fall back. At Perryville (October 8, 1862), Bragg turned furiously on Buell and was beaten.

%435. Iuka and Corinth.%--While Bragg was raiding Kentucky, Generals Price at Iuka and Van Dorn at Holly Springs, knowing that Grant's army had been greatly weakened by sending troops to Buell, prepared to attack Corinth. But Grant, thinking he could fight them separately, sent Rosecrans to Iuka (September 19). Price was not captured, but retreated to Van Dorn, and the two then fell upon Rosecrans at Corinth (October 4), only to be beaten and chased forty miles.

%436. Murfreesboro.%--For these successes Rosecrans (October 30) was given command of Buell's army, then centering at Nashville. Bragg went into winter quarters at Murfreesboro, and thither Rosecrans advanced to attack him. The contest at Murfreesboro (December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863) was one of the most b.l.o.o.d.y battles of the whole war. Bragg was again defeated, and retreated to a position farther south.

%437. Arkansas%.--In January, 1862, the Confederate line west of the Mississippi extended from Belmont across southern Missouri to the Indian Territory. Against the west end of this line General Curtis moved in February, 1862, and after driving the Confederates under Van Dorn and Price out of Missouri, beat them in the desperate battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas (March 6-8, 1862), and moved to the interior of the state.

Price and Van Dorn went east into Mississippi (see -- 435), and when the year closed the Union forces were in control north of the Arkansas River, and along the west bank of the Mississippi. On the east bank the only fortified positions in Confederate hands were Vicksburg, Grand Gulf, and Port Hudson.

%438. Farragut captures New Orleans.%--While Foote was opening the upper part of the Mississippi, a naval expedition under Farragut, supported by an army under Butler, had cleared the lower part of the river. These forces had been sent by sea to capture New Orleans. The defenses of the city consisted of two strong forts almost directly opposite each other on the banks of the river, about seventy-five miles south of the city; of two great chain cables stretched across the river below the forts to prevent s.h.i.+ps coming up; and of fifteen armed vessels above the forts. New Orleans was thought to be safe. But Farragut was not dismayed. Sailing up the river till he came to the chains, he bombarded the forts for six days and nights, while the forts did their best to destroy him. Then, finding he could do nothing in this way, he cut the chains, ran his s.h.i.+ps past the forts in spite of a dreadful fire (April 24, 1862), destroyed the Confederate fleet (April 25), and took the city. General Butler, who had been waiting at s.h.i.+p Island with 15,000 men, then entered and held New Orleans.[1]

[Footnote 1: Farragut, after taking New Orleans, went up the river and captured Baton Rouge and Natchez.]

%439. The Peninsular Campaign against Richmond.%--The signal success of Grant and Farragut in the West was more than offset by the signal failure of McClellan in the East. The wish of the administration, and indeed of the whole North, was that Richmond should be captured. Against it, therefore, the Army of the Potomac was to move. But by what route?

The government wanted McClellan to march south across Virginia, so that his army should always be between the Confederate forces and Was.h.i.+ngton.

McClellan insisted on moving west from Chesapeake Bay. The result was a compromise:

1. Forces under Fremont and Banks were to operate in the Shenandoah valley and prevent a Confederate force attacking Was.h.i.+ngton from the west.

2. An army under McDowell was to march from Fredericksburg to Richmond.

3. McClellan was to take the main army from Was.h.i.+ngton by water to Fort Monroe, and then march up the peninsula to Richmond, where McDowell was to join him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Peninsula Campaign]

This peninsula, from which the campaign gets its name, lies between the York and James rivers. Landing at the lower end of it, McClellan was met by General Joseph E. Johnston, who caused a long delay by forcing him to besiege Yorktown. McClellan then advanced up the peninsula, fighting the battle of Williamsburg on the way. At White House Landing he turned toward Richmond, extending his right flank to Hanover Courthouse, where McDowell was expected to join him. But this was not to be, for General T. J. Jackson ("Stonewall" Jackson) rushed down the Shenandoah valley, driving Banks over the Potomac into Maryland, and retreated south before Fremont or McDowell could cut him off; during this campaign he won four desperate battles in thirty-five days. Jackson's success alarmed Was.h.i.+ngton, and McDowell was held in northern Virginia. McClellan's army, meanwhile, advanced on both sides of the Chickahominy River to within eight miles of Richmond. At Fair Oaks and Seven Pines (May 31) his left flank was almost overwhelmed by Johnston; but the latter was wounded and his troops defeated. Johnston was then succeeded by R. E.