1863 Draft Riot in New York. 281 tire length. His first point of attack was Vicksburg, which had been so strongly fortified that it was considered impregnable. It was held by a powerful army under General Pemberton. 66 38. By a series of skillful movements, Grant seized a posi tion suitable for operations. A number of battles took place, every day Grant's hold on Vicksburg becoming more secure. At last, on the 3d of July, Pemberton saw that he was ready to make a final and fatal assault. That afternoon he wrote to his besieger asking an armistice. To this Grant promptly replied, and an interview consequently took place between the two commanders beneath an old oak tree. Pemberton was irritable and indiscreet. Great and merciful, the conqueror bore, without an unkind remark, the petulance of his vanquished adversary, and returned him no railing reply." The next morning, July 4th, 1863, Vicksburg was surrendered. 39. "While Grant had been besieging Vicksburg, Banks had been besieging Port Hudson; and so closely had the operations been pressed that it was impossible for the place to hold out much longer. When, on the 6th of July, news came that Vicksburg had surrendered, it was needless and hopeless to continue the defense any longer." Port Hudson was accordingly surrendered on the 9th. "Thus the Western armies had accomplished their object, and the Mississippi was now open to the Gulf of Mexico. The Confederacy was cut asunder; its right zone was isolated." Draft riot in 40. An act of Congress empowered President Lincoln to recruit the army by drafting. As a call for three hundred thousand troops under this law was not fully responded to, a less number volunteering, it was found requisite to resort to a draft. This excited great opposition; and, in New York, a riot broke out while New York. the draft was in progress, which lasted four days (July 1316), and was only put down by the most determined efforts of the police and the military. Buildings were sacked and burned, and a large number of persons killed. The colored population of the city, being an object of particular hatred to the rioters, suffered severely. The war 41. As before stated, Rosecrans gained an important vio tory over Bragg, at Murfreesboro. After a half year's inactivity, Rosecrans again advanced against Bragg, compelling him to evacuate Chattanooga. Meanwhile, Lee, in Tennessee having reached a secure position on the Rapidan, and Georgia. in Virginia, hurried re-enforcements to Bragg, who, enjoined by the Richmond government, then turned upon his pursuers. The two armies met near Chickamauga creek, and a battle of two days ensued, the result of which was that the Federal army was partially routed. "On Thomas, who, in allusion to the events of the struggle, is often justly called 'The Rock of Chickamauga,' the weight of the battle now fell. Every thing depended on his firmness. If he, too, should be swept away, there was nothing but a flight across the Tennessee. In this supreme moment Thomas proved equal to his task. Though more than half the army had abandoned him, with inflexible resolution he held his ground. One after another the Confederate regiments surged up against him, and broke at his feet like billows of the sea. It was about sunset when they made their last charge. It was repelled, and they gave way to return no more (Sept. 19, 20)." GENERAL THOMAS. 42. The Union forces, driven behind the intrenchments of Chattanooga, with the Confederates holding the surrounding hills-Lookout mountain and Missionary ridge--their position was critical indeed. They were also in danger of starvation; and "the mud was so deep," wrote one of the soldiers, "that we could not travel by the road, but we got along pretty well by stepping from mule to mule as they lay 1863 West Virginia and Nevada. 283 dead from starvation by the way." Still Thomas telegraphed : "I will hold fast till we starve." It was evident that something must be done at once and quickly. Re-enforcements under Hooker were therefore rushed by rail to the aid of the troops, and Grant was ordered to take the command. General Sherman, who had distinguished himself under Grant at the West, was also called to Chattanooga. 43. On the morning after his arrival Grant decided upon a plan of action. Accordingly, while Sherman began the attack in the valley, Hooker and Thomas advanced to drive the Confederates from the mountains. "All day long there had been a misty rain. The clouds which had hovered over Lookout mountain during the morning, gradually settled into the valley; and it was only from the roar of the battle, and the occasional glimpse that the troops in the valley could catch of the lines and standards that they knew of the strife and its progress. It was a battle above the clouds." All the strong positions of the Confederates were taken, and Bragg's army was completely routed (Nov. 23-25).1 44. The people in the western counties of Virginia were, from the beginning of the war, entirely opposed to secession. They not only refused to obey the secession ordinance passed by their legislature, but they took early measures West to effect a separation from the old State, and ob- Virginia tain admission as a State into the Union. Their and Nevada. efforts were crowned with success, the State being admitted in 1863, under the name of West Virginia. Nevada, the thirty-sixth member of the Union, was admitted the next year. This was originally a part of the territory acquired from Mexico by the treaty of 1848. Its mineral wealth led to its 1 General Longstreet, who had been sent by Bragg against Knoxville, was repulsed by Burnside. In Missouri and Kansas, guerrilla bands, cooperating with the regular Confederate forces, carried on the work of plunder and destruction. A bold raid was made into Indiana and Ohio by the partisan ranger Morgan; but he was pursued day and night for a distance of nearly seven hundred miles, and his band were killed, cap tured, or scattered. Morgan himself was taken prisoner. rapid settlement and increase in population. It was named from the mountain range on its west, called the Sierra Nevada. 66 FOURTH YEAR OF THE WAR. 45. Early in the year (1864), Sherman marched from Vicksburg across the State of Mississippi, and destroyed the railroad system centering at Meridian. On his return march, Red river crowds of fugitive slaves-from four to seven expedition. thousand in number-flocked to his army to make their escape. 'They varied in age from one month to one hundred years. Some were on foot, some on horseback, some in ox-carts. Some were clad in their Sunday best,' the cast-off clothes of their masters. Of the women, some had bandana handkerchiefs twisted in turban fashion round their heads, or were decorated with scraps of ribbon and fantastic finery of every conceivable hue. These simple people believed that the day of Jubilee,' of which they had so often sung in their hymns and begged for in their prayers, had come at last." Sherman's troops were hurried to the aid of Banks, who, with the co-operation of Porter's fleet, was preparing to conduct an expedition against Shreveport, on the Red river. This, however, met with a series of disasters, which caused its entire failure. The vessels, in consequence of a fall in the river, were saved from capture and destruction only by the construction of a dam a mile long across the stream, by means of which the boats were enabled to go over the falls. The loss of men and material in this expedition was very great (March and April).2 1 In February the Union forces sustained a disastrous defeat at Olustee, Florida. The absence of troops to aid Banks in the Red river expedition, induced the Confederates, under General Forrest, to make a raid into Tennesse and Kentucky. Union City was captured. An attack upon Fort Pillow (April 12th), was bravely resisted; but, at last, the place was carried by assault, and three hundred of its defenders, mostly colored troops, were massacred. 2 Sherman, himself, took no part in the Red river expedition. 1864 Sherman's Campaign. 285 46. All eyes were now turned to Grant, as the best and most successful of the Union generals; and the President conferred on him the command of all the forces of the United States, under the title of Lieutenant-General.1 Final plan This appointment produced several changes in the of operations. army. Sherman succeeded Grant in the command at Chattanooga; but Meade, under Grant, retained the command of the Army of the Potomac. Both these armies were to act in concert, the one against Atlanta," the other against Richmond. Every thing unimportant was to be abandoned, and the two centers of power-the army of Lee in Virginia and that of Johnston in Georgia-were to be assailed at the same time, and assailed incessantly, regardless of the sea 66 The 47. "On the 4th of May, the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan, and Grant, sitting on a felled tree, telegraphed to Sherman to advance." Sherman's progress was disputed, but in vain. He won battles, outflanked his Sherman's opponent, drove him from one position after campaign. another, till, in July, he had nearly reached Atlanta. Confederate government, becoming dissatisfied with, what was called, "Johnston's retreating policy," because he had 'failed to arrest the advance of the enemy," put General Hood in command. This general, however, met with still greater disaster. His furious assaults upon the Union army were repulsed with heavy loss; and, at last, when Sherman began to surround Atlanta, and had again defeated a large division of his army, he abandoned the city. "Atlanta is 66 1 An act of Congress was passed in February, 1864, providing for the appointment of a Lieutenant-General to command all the armies of the Union, an honor which had never previously been conferred on any other than Washington, Scott being only such by brevet. President Lincoln immediately nominated General Grant for the office, and the nomination was confirmed on the 3d of March. 2 Atlanta was a great railroad center, and had immense magazines, workshops, and stores, all of the greatest importance to the Confederate government. Hence this city became one of the chief objective points of the war at this time. |