14. In Virginia the first scenes of the year were enacted in the Shenandoah Valley. General Banks was sent forward with a strong division, and in the last of March occupied the town of Harrisonburg. To counteract this movement, Stonewall Jackson was sent with twenty thousand men to pass the Blue Ridge and cut off Banks's retreat. At Front Royal, the Confederates fell upon the Federals, routed them, and captured their guns and stores. Banks succeeded, however, in passing with his main division to Strasburg and escaping out of the valley.
15. Jackson now found himself in great peril, for General Fremont had been sent into the valley to intercept the Confederate retreat. But he succeeded in reaching Cross Keys before Fremont could attack him. The battle at Cross Keys was not decisive, and Jackson pressed on to Port Republic, where he attacked and defeated the division of General Shields.
Vicinity of Richmond, 1862.
16. On the 10th of March the Army of the Potomac set out from the camps about Washington to capture the Confederate capital. The advance proceeded as far as Manassas Junction, where McClellan, changing his plan, embarked a hundred and twenty thousand of his men for Fortress Monroe. From that place, on the 4th of April, the Union army advanced to Yorktown. This place was defended by ten thousand Confederates, under General Magruder; and here McClellan's advance was delayed for a month. On the 4th of May, Yorktown was taken and the Federal army pressed on to West Point. McClellan reached the Chickahominy without serious resistance, and crossed at Bottom's Bridge.
17. On the 10th of May General Wool, the commandant of Fortress Monroe, led an expedition against Norfolk and captured the town. On the next day the Confederate iron-clad Virginia was blown up to save her from capture. The James River was thus opened for the supply-transports of the Army of the Potomac. On the 31st of May that army was attacked at a place called Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines. Here for a part of two days the battle raged with great fury. At last the Confederates were driven back; but McClellan's victory was by no means decisive. General Joseph E. Johnston, the commander-in-chief of the Confederates, was severely wounded; and the command devolved on General Robert E. Lee.
Robert E. Lee.
18. McClellan now formed the design of retiring to a point on the James below Richmond. Before the movement fairly began, General Lee, on the 25th of June, struck the right wing of the Union army at Oak Grove, and a hard-fought battle ensued. On the next day another engagement occurred at Mechanicsville, and the Federals won the field. On the following morning Lee renewed the struggle at Gaines's Mill, and came out victorious. On the 29th McClellan's army was attacked at Savage's Station and again in the White Oak Swamp—but the Confederates were kept at bay. On the 30th was fought the desperate battle of Glendale, or Frazier's Farm. On that night the Federal army reached Malvern Hill, twelve miles below Richmond. General Lee determined to carry the place by storm. On the morning of the 1st of July the whole Confederate army rushed forward to the assault. All day long the struggle for the possession of the high grounds continued. Not until nine o'clock at night did Lee's columns fall back exhausted. For seven days the roar of battle had been heard almost without cessation.
19. On the 2d of July McClellan retired with his army to Harrison's Landing, a few miles down the river; and the great campaign was at an end. The Federal army had lost more than fifteen thousand men, and the losses of the Confederates had been still greater.
20. General Lee now formed the design of capturing the Federal capital. The Union troops between Richmond and Washington were under command of General John Pope. Lee moved northward, and, on the 20th of August, Pope retreated beyond the Rappahannock. Meanwhile, General Banks was attacked by Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain, where nothing but hard fighting saved the Federals from a rout.
21. Jackson next dashed by with his division, on a flank movement to Manassas Junction, where he made large captures. Pope then threw his army between the two divisions of the Confederates. On August 28th and 29th, there was terrible fighting on the old Bull Run battle-ground. At one time it seemed that Lee's army would be defeated; but Pope's reinforcements were withheld by General Porter, and on the 31st the Confederates struck the Union army at Chantilly, winning a complete victory. Pope withdrew his broken columns as rapidly as possible, and found safety within the defences of Washington.
22. General Lee crossed the Potomac, and on the 6th of September captured Frederick. On the 10th Hagerstown was taken, and on the 15th Stonewall Jackson seized Harper's Ferry, with nearly twelve thousand prisoners. On the previous day, there was a hard-fought engagement at South Mountain, in which the Federals were victorious. McClellan's army was now in the rear of Lee, who fell back to Antietam Creek and took a strong position near Sharpsburg. Then followed two days of skirmishing, which terminated on the 17th in one of the great battles of the war. From morning until night the struggle continued with unabated violence, and ended in a drawn battle, after a loss of more than ten thousand men on each side. Lee withdrew his forces from the field and recrossed the Potomac.
23. General McClellan moved forward to Rectortown, Virginia. Here he was superseded by General Burnside, who changed the plan of the campaign, and advanced against Fredericksburg. At this place the two armies were again brought face to face. Burnside's movement was delayed, and it was not until the 12th of December that a passage could be effected. Meanwhile, the heights south of the river had been fortified, and the Union columns were hurled back in several desperate assaults which cost the assailants more than twelve thousand men. Thus in disaster to the Federal cause ended the campaigns of 1862.
THE war had now grown to enormous proportions. The Confederate States were draining every resource of men and means. The superior energies of the North were greatly taxed. On the day after the battle of Malvern Hill, President Lincoln issued a call for three hundred thousand troops. During Pope's retreat from the Rappahannock he sent forth another call for three hundred thousand, and to that was added a draft of three hundred thousand more. Most of these demands were promptly met, and it became evident that in resources the Federal government was vastly superior to the Confederacy.
2. On the 1st day of January, 1863, the President issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The war had been begun with no well-defined intention to free the slaves of the South. But during the progress of the war the sentiment of abolition had grown with great rapidity; and when at last it became a military necessity to strike a blow at the labor-system of the South, the step was taken with but little opposition. Thus, after an existence of two hundred and forty-four years, African slavery in the United States was swept away.
3. Early in January General Sherman dispatched an expedition to capture Arkansas Post, on the Arkansas River. The Union forces reached their destination on the 10th of the month, fought a battle with the Confederates and gained a victory. On the next day the post was surrendered with nearly five thousand prisoners.
4. Soon afterwards the Union forces were concentrated for the capture of Vicksburg. Three months were spent by General Grant in beating about the bayous around Vicksburg, in the hope of getting a position in the rear of the town. A canal was cut across a bend in the river with a view to opening a passage for the gunboats. But a flood washed the works away. Then another canal was begun, only to be abandoned. Finally, it was determined to run the fleet past the Vicksburg batteries. On the night of the 16th of April the boats dropped down the river. All of a sudden the guns of the enemy burst forth with shot and shell, pelting the passing steamers; but they went by with little damage.
5. General Grant now marched his land-forces down the Mississippi and formed a junction with the squadron. On the 1st day of May he defeated the Confederates at Port Gibson. The evacuation of Grand Gulf followed immediately. The Union army now swept around to the rear of Vicksburg. On the 12th of May a Confederate force was defeated at Raymond. On the 14th of the month a decisive battle was fought near Jackson; the Confederates were beaten, and the city captured. General Pemberton, sallying forth with his forces from Vicksburg, was defeated by Grant on the 16th at Champion Hills, and again on the 17th at Black River Bridge. Pemberton then retired within the defences of Vicksburg.
Vicksburg and Vicinity, 1863.
6. The city was now besieged. On the 19th of May Grant made an assault, but was repulsed with terrible losses. Three days afterwards the attempt was renewed with a still greater destruction of life. But the siege was pressed with ever-increasing severity. Admiral Porter bombarded the town incessantly. Reinforcements swelled the Union ranks. Pemberton held out until the 4th of July, and was then driven to surrender. The defenders of Vicksburg, numbering thirty thousand, became prisoners of war. Thousands of small arms, hundreds of cannon, and vast quantities of ammunition and stores were the fruits of the great victory.
7. Meanwhile, General Banks had been conducting a campaign on the Lower Mississippi. From Baton Rouge he advanced into Louisiana, and gained a victory over the Confederates at Bayou Teche. He then moved northward and besieged Port Hudson, the last fort held by the Confederates on the Mississippi. The garrison made a brave defence; and it was not until the 8th of July that the commandant, with his force of six thousand men, was obliged to capitulate.
8. In the latter part of June Rosecrans succeeded in crowding General Bragg out of Tennessee. The Union general followed and took post at Chattanooga, on the left bank of the Tennessee. During the summer Bragg was reinforced by the corps of Johnston and Longstreet.
9. On the 19th of September he turned upon the Federals at Chickamauga Creek, in the northwest angle of Georgia. A hard battle was fought, but night came with the victory undecided. On the following morning the fight was renewed. Bragg cut through the Union battle line and drove the right wing into a rout. General Thomas, with desperate firmness, held the left until nightfall, and then withdrew into Chattanooga. The Union loss amounted to nearly nineteen thousand, and that of the Confederates was even greater.
MAP SHOWING STATES IN SECESSION during the CIVIL WAR
10. General Bragg pressed forward to besiege Chattanooga. But General Hooker arrived with two corps from the Army of the Potomac, opened the Tennessee River, and brought relief. At the same time General Grant assumed the direction of affairs at Chattanooga. General Sherman arrived with his division, and offensive operations were at once renewed. On the 24th of November Lookout Mountain, overlooking the town and river, was stormed by the division of General Hooker. On the following day, Missionary Ridge was also carried, and Bragg's army fell back in full retreat toward Ringgold.
A Truce in the Trenches.
11. On the 1st of September General Burnside arrived with his command at Knoxville. After the battle of Chickamauga General Longstreet was sent into East Tennessee, where he arrived and began the siege of Knoxville. On the 29th of November the Confederates attempted to carry the town by storm, but were repulsed with heavy losses. General Sherman soon marched to the relief of Burnside; and Longstreet retreated into Virginia.
12. Early in 1863 the Confederates resumed activity in Arkansas and southern Missouri. On the 8th of January they attacked Springfield, but were repulsed. Several other attempts were made with similar results. On the 13th of August Lawrence, Kansas, was sacked, and a hundred and forty persons killed, by a band of desperate fellows, led by a chieftain called Quantrell. On the 10th of September the Federal general Steele captured Little Rock, Arkansas.
13. In the summer of this year General John Morgan made a great raid through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. He crossed the Ohio at Brandenburg, and began his march to the north. At Corydon and other points he was resisted by the home guards and pursued by General Hobson. Morgan crossed into Ohio, made a circuit north of Cincinnati, and attempted to recross the river. But the raiders were driven back. The Confederate leader pressed on until he came near New Lisbon, where he was captured by the brigade of General Shackelford. After a four months' imprisonment Morgan escaped and made his way to Richmond.
14. On the 1st of January General Magruder captured Galveston, Texas. By this means the Confederates secured a port of entry in the Southwest. On the 7th of April Admiral Du Pont, with a fleet of iron-clads, attempted to capture Charleston, but was driven back. In June the city was besieged by a strong land-force, under General Q. A. Gillmore, assisted by Admiral Dahlgren's fleet. After the bombardment had continued for some time, General Gillmore, on the 18th of July, attempted to carry Fort Wagner by assault, but was repulsed with severe loss. The siege progressed until the 6th of September, when the Confederates evacuated the fort and retired to Charleston. Gillmore now brought his guns to bear on the wharves and buildings in the lower part of the city. But Charleston still held out; and the only gain of the Federals was the establishment of a complete blockade.
15. After his repulse at Fredericksburg, General Burnside was superseded by General Joseph Hooker, who, in the latter part of April, crossed the Rappahannock and reached Chancellorsville. Here, on the morning of the 2d of May, he was attacked by the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Lee and Jackson. The latter general, at the head of twenty-five thousand men, outflanked the Union army, burst upon the right wing, and swept everything to destruction. But it was the last of Stonewall Jackson's battles. As night came on the Confederate leader received a volley from his own lines, and fell to rise no more.
Stonewall Jackson.
16. On the 3d the battle was renewed. General Sedgwick was defeated and driven across the Rappahannock. The main army was crowded between Chancellorsville and the river, where it remained until the 5th, when General Hooker succeeded in withdrawing his forces to the northern bank. The Union losses amounted in killed, wounded, and prisoners to about seventeen thousand; that of the Confederates was less by five thousand.
17. Next followed the cavalry raid of General Stoneman. On the 29th of April he crossed the Rappahannock with ten thousand men, tore up the Virginia Central Railroad, cut General Lee's communications, swept around within a few miles of Richmond, and then recrossed the Rappahannock in safety.
18. General Lee now determined to carry the war into the North. In the first week of June he crossed the Potomac, and captured Hagerstown. On the 22d he entered Chambersburg, and then pressed on through Carlisle to within a few miles of Harrisburg. The militia of Pennsylvania was called out, and volunteers came pouring in from other States. General Hooker pushed forward to strike his antagonist. General Lee rapidly concentrated his forces near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On the eve of battle the command of the Union army was transferred to General George G. Meade, who took up a position on the hills around Gettysburg. Here the two armies, each numbering about eighty thousand men, were brought face to face.
19. On the 1st of July the struggle began, and for three days the conflict raged. The battle reached its climax on the 3d, when a Confederate column, three miles long, headed by the Virginians under General Pickett, made a final charge on the Union center. But the onset was in vain, and the men who made it were mowed down with terrible slaughter. The victory remained with the National army, and Lee was obliged to turn back to the Potomac. The entire Confederate loss was nearly thirty thousand; that of the Federals twenty-three thousand one hundred and eighty-six. General Lee withdrew his forces into Virginia, and the Union army resumed its position on the Potomac.
20. The administration of President Lincoln was beset with many difficulties. The last calls for volunteers had not been fully met. The anti-war party of the North denounced the measures of the government. On the 3d of March the Conscription Act was passed by Congress, and the President ordered a draft of three hundred thousand men. The measure was bitterly opposed, and in many places the draft-officers were resisted. On the 13th of July, in the city of New York, a mob rose in arms, demolished buildings, burned the colored orphan asylum, and killed about a hundred people. For three days the authorities were set at defiance; but a force of regulars and volunteers gathered at the scene, and the riot was suppressed.
21. Only about fifty thousand men were obtained by the draft. But volunteering was quickened by the measure, and the employment of substitutes soon filled the ranks. In October the President issued another call for three hundred thousand men. By these measures the columns of the Union army were made more powerful than ever. In the armies of the South, on the other hand, there were already symptoms of exhaustion. On the 20th of June in this year West Virginia was separated from the Old Dominion and admitted as the thirty-fifth State of the Union.
EARLY in February, 1864, General Sherman moved from Vicksburg to Meridian. In this vicinity the railroad tracks were torn up for a hundred and fifty miles. At Meridian General Sherman expected a force of Federal cavalry, which had been sent out from Memphis under General Smith. The latter advanced into Mississippi, but was met by the cavalry of Forrest, and driven back to Memphis. General Sherman thereupon retraced his course to Vicksburg. Forrest continued his raid northward to Paducah, Kentucky, and made an assault on Fort Anderson, but was repulsed with a severe loss. Turning back into Tennessee, he came upon Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi, and carried the place by storm.
2. In the spring of 1864, the Red River Expedition was undertaken by General Banks. The object was to capture Shreveport, the seat of the Confederate government of Louisiana. On the 14th of March the Federal advance captured Fort de Russy, on Red River. The Confederates retreated to Alexandria, which was taken on the 16th by the Federals.
3. At Mansfield, on the 8th of April, the advancing Federals were attacked by the Confederates, and completely routed. At Pleasant Hill, on the next day, the main body of the Union army was badly defeated. The flotilla now descended the river from the direction of Shreveport. The whole expedition returned as rapidly as possible to the Mississippi. General Steele had, in the mean time, advanced from Little Rock to aid in the reduction of Shreveport; but learning of the Federal defeats, he withdrew after several severe engagements.
4. On the 2d of March, 1864, General Grant was appointed general-in-chief of all the armies of the United States. Seven hundred thousand soldiers were now to move at his command. Two great campaigns were planned for the year. The army of the Potomac, under Meade and the general-in-chief, was to advance upon Richmond. General Sherman, with one hundred thousand men, was to march from Chattanooga against Atlanta.
5. On the 7th of May General Sherman moved forward. At Dalton he succeeded in turning General Johnston's flank, and obliged him to fall back to Resaca. After two hard battles, on the 14th and 15th of May, this place was carried, and the Confederates retreated to Dallas. Here, on the 28th, Johnston made a second stand, but was again outflanked, and compelled to fall back to Lost Mountain. He was forced from this position on the 17th of June. The next stand was made on Great and Little Kenesaw Mountains. From this line on the 22d of June the division of General Hood made a fierce attack, but was repulsed with heavy losses. Five days afterward, General Sherman attempted to carry Great Kenesaw by storm; but the assault ended in a dreadful repulse. Sherman resumed his former tactics, and by the 10th of July the whole Confederate army had retired to Atlanta.
William T. Sherman.
6. This stronghold was at once besieged. Here were the machine shops, foundries, and car works of the Confederacy. At the beginning of the siege the cautious General Johnston was superseded by the rash General J. B. Hood. On the 20th, 22d and 28th of July, the latter made three assaults on the Union lines, but was repulsed with dreadful losses. At last Hood was obliged to evacuate Atlanta; and on the 2d of September the Union army marched into the captured city.
Sherman's Campaign, 1864.
7. General Hood now marched northward through Northern Alabama, and advanced on Nashville. Meanwhile, General Thomas, with the Army of the Cumberland, had been detached from Sherman's army and sent northward to confront Hood. General Schofield, who commanded the Federal forces in Tennessee, fell back before the Confederates, and took post at Franklin. Here, on the 30th of November, he was attacked by Hood's legions, and held them in check until nightfall, when he retreated within Thomas's defenses at Nashville. Hood followed, but on the 15th of December General Thomas fell upon the Confederate army, and, routing it with a loss of twenty-five thousand men, drove it back into Alabama.
8. On the 14th of November General Sherman burned Atlanta and began his March to the Sea. His army numbered sixty thousand men. He cut his communications with the North, abandoned his base of supplies, and struck out for the sea-coast, two hundred and fifty miles away. The Union army passed through Macon and Milledgeville, crossed the Ogeechee, captured Gibson and Waynesborough, and on the 10th of December arrived in the vicinity of Savannah. On the 13th, Fort McAllister was carried by storm. On the night of the 20th, General Hardee, the Confederate commandant, escaped from Savannah and retreated to Charleston. On the 22d, General Sherman made his headquarters in the city.
Joseph E. Johnston.
9. January, 1865, was spent by the Union army at Savannah. On the 1st of February, General Sherman began his march against Columbia, South Carolina. The Confederates had not sufficient force to stay his progress. On the 17th of the month, Columbia was surrendered. On the same night, Hardee, having destroyed the public property of Charleston, and kindled fires which laid four squares in ashes, evacuated the city; and on the following morning the national forces entered. From Columbia General Sherman marched into North Carolina, and on the 11th of March captured the town of Fayetteville.
10. General Johnston was now recalled to the command of the Confederate forces, and the advance of the Union army began to be seriously opposed. On the 19th of March, General Sherman was attacked by Johnston near Bentonville; but Johnston was defeated, and on the 21st Sherman entered Goldsborough. Here he was reinforced by Generals Schofield and Terry. The Federal army turned to the northwest, and on the 13th of April entered Raleigh. This was the end of the great march; and here, on the 26th of the month, General Sherman received the surrender of Johnston's army.
11. Meanwhile, important events had occurred on the Gulf. Early in August, 1864, Admiral Farragut bore down on the defenses of Mobile. The harbor was defended by a Confederate fleet and the monster iron-clad Tennessee. On the 5th of August, Farragut ran past Forts Morgan and Gaines into the harbor. In order to direct the movements of his vessels, the old admiral mounted to the maintop of the Hartford, lashed himself to the rigging, and from that high perch gave his commands during the battle. One of the Union ships struck a torpedo and sank. The rest attacked and dispersed the Confederate squadron; but just as the day seemed won, the Tennessee came down at full speed to strike the Hartford. Then followed one of the fiercest conflicts of the war. The Union iron-clads closed around their antagonist and battered her with fifteen-inch bolts of iron until she surrendered.
12. Next came the capture of Fort Fisher, at the entrance to Cape Fear River. In December, Admiral Porter was sent with a powerful American squadron to besiege and take the fort. General Butler, with six thousand five hundred men, accompanied the expedition. On the 24th of the month, the troops were sent ashore with orders to storm the works. When the generals in command came near enough to reconnoiter, they decided that an assault could only end in disaster, and the enterprise was abandoned. Admiral Porter remained before Fort Fisher with his fleet, and General Butler returned to Fortress Monroe. Early in January, the siege was renewed, and on the 15th of the month Fort Fisher was taken by storm.
13. In the previous October, Lieutenant Cushing, with a number of volunteers, embarked in a small steamer and entered the Roanoke. A tremendous iron ram, called the Albemarle, was discovered lying at the harbor of Plymouth. Cautiously approaching, the lieutenant sank a torpedo under the Confederate ship, exploded it, and left the ram a ruin. The adventure cost the lives or capture of all of Cushing's party except himself and one other, who made good their escape.
14. During the progress of the war the commerce of the United States was greatly injured by the Confederate cruisers. The first ship sent out was the Savannah, which was captured on the same day that she escaped from Charleston. In June of 1861, the Sumter, commanded by Captain Semmes, ran the blockade at New Orleans, and did fearful work with the Union merchantmen. But in February of 1862, Semmes was chased into the harbor of Gibraltar, where he was obliged to sell his vessel. The Nashville ran out from Charleston, and returned with a cargo worth three millions of dollars. In March of 1863 she was sunk by a Union iron-clad in the Savannah River.
15. The ports of the Southern States were now closely blockaded. In this emergency the Confederates turned to the ship-yards of Great Britain, and began to build cruisers. In the harbor of Liverpool the Florida was fitted out; and going to sea in the summer of 1862, she succeeded in running into Mobile Bay. She afterward destroyed fifteen merchantmen, and was then captured and sunk in Hampton Roads. The Georgia, the Olustee, the Shenandoah and the Chickamauga, all built at the ship-yards of Glasgow, Scotland, escaped to sea and made great havoc with the merchant-ships of the United States.
16. Most destructive of all was the Alabama, built at Liverpool. Her commander was Captain Raphael Semmes. A majority of the crew were British subjects; and her armament was entirely British. In her whole career, involving the destruction of sixty-six vessels and a loss of ten million dollars, she never entered a Confederate port. In the summer of 1864 Semmes was overtaken in the harbor of Cherbourg, France, by the steamer Kearsarge. On the 19th of June, Semmes went out to give his antagonist battle. After a desperate fight of an hour's duration, the Alabama was sunk. Semmes was picked up by the English Deerhound and carried to Southampton.
17. On the night of the 3d of May, 1864, the national camp at Culpepper was broken up, and the march on Richmond was begun. On the first day of the advance, Grant crossed the Rapidan and entered the Wilderness, a country of oak woods and thickets. He was immediately attacked by the Confederate army. During the 5th, 6th, and 7th of the month, the fighting continued incessantly with terrible losses; but the results were indecisive. Grant next made a flank movement in the direction of Spottsylvania Courthouse. Here followed, from the 9th until the 12th, one of the bloodiest struggles of the war. The Federals gained some ground and captured the division of General Stewart; but the losses of Lee were less than those of his antagonist.
18. Grant again moved to the left, and came to Cold Harbor, twelve miles northeast of Richmond. Here, on the 1st of June, he attacked the Confederates, but was repulsed with heavy losses. On the morning of the 3d the assault was renewed, and in half an hour nearly ten thousand Union soldiers fell dead or wounded before the Confederate intrenchments. The repulse of the Federals was complete, but they held their lines as firmly as ever.
19. General Grant now changed his base to James River. General Butler had already taken City Point and Bermuda Hundred. Here, on the 15th of June, he was joined by General Grant's whole army, and the combined forces moved forward and began the siege of Petersburg.
20. Meanwhile important movements were taking place on the Shenandoah. When Grant moved from the Rapidan, General Sigel marched up the valley to New Market, where he was met and defeated by the Confederate cavalry, under General Breckinridge. The latter then returned to Richmond, whereupon the Federals faced about, overtook the Confederates at Piedmont, and gained a signal victory. From this place Generals Hunter and Averill advanced against Lynchburg. By this movement the valley of the Shenandoah was again exposed to invasion.
Philip H. Sheridan.
21. Lee immediately dispatched General Early to cross the Blue Ridge, invade Maryland and threaten Washington City. With twenty thousand men Early began his march, and on the 5th of July crossed the Potomac. On the 9th he defeated the division of General Wallace on the Monocacy. But the battle saved Washington and Baltimore from capture.
22. General Wright followed Early as far as Winchester. But the latter wheeled upon him, and the Union troops were driven across the Potomac. Early next invaded Pennsylvania and burned Chambersburg. General Grant now appointed General Philip H. Sheridan to command the army on the Upper Potomac. The troops placed at his disposal numbered nearly forty thousand. On the 19th of September, Sheridan marched upon Early at Winchester, and routed him in a hard-fought battle. On the 22d of September he gained another complete victory at Fisher's Hill.
23. Sheridan next turned about to ravage the valley. The ruinous work was fearfully well done. Nothing worth fighting for was left between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies. Maddened by his defeats, Early rallied his forces, and again entered the valley. Sheridan had posted his army on Cedar Creek, and, feeling secure, had gone to Washington. On the 19th of October, Early surprised the Union camp, captured the artillery, and sent the routed troops flying in confusion toward Winchester. The Confederates pursued as far as Middletown, and there paused to eat and rest. On the previous night, Sheridan had returned to Winchester, and was now coming to rejoin his army. He rode twelve miles at full speed, rallied the fugitives, and gained one of the most signal victories of the war. Early's army was completely ruined.
Operations in Virginia, 1864 and 1865.
24. All fall and winter General Grant pressed the siege of Petersburg. On the 30th of July a mine was exploded under one of the forts; but the assaulting column was repulsed with heavy losses. On the 18th of August a division of the Union army seized the Weldon Railroad and held it against several assaults. On the 28th of September, Battery Harrison was stormed by the Federals, and on the next day General Paine's brigade carried the redoubt on Spring Hill. On the 27th of October, there was a battle on the Boydton road; and then the army went into winter quarters.
25. On the 27th of February, Sheridan gained a victory over Early at Waynesboro, and then joined the general-in-chief. On the 1st of April, a severe battle was fought at Five Forks, in which the Confederates were defeated with a loss of six thousand prisoners. On the next day Grant ordered a general assault on the lines of Petersburg, and the works were carried. On that night Lee's army and the Confederate government fled from Richmond; and on the following morning the Federal troops entered the city. The warehouses were fired by the retreating Confederates, and the better part of the city was reduced to ruins.
26. General Lee retreated as rapidly as possible to the southwest. Once the Confederates turned and fought, but were defeated with great losses. For five days the pursuit was kept up; and then Lee was brought to bay at Appomattox Courthouse. There, on the 9th of April, 1865, the work was done. General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, and the Confederacy was hopelessly overthrown. General Grant signalized the end of the strife by granting to his antagonist the most liberal terms. How the army of General Johnston was surrendered a few days later has already been narrated. After four dreadful years of bloodshed and sorrow, THE CIVIL WAR WAS AT AN END.
27. The Federal authority was rapidly extended over the South. Mr. Davis and his cabinet escaped to Danville, and there for a few days kept up the forms of government. From that place they fled into North Carolina. The ex-President continued his flight into Georgia, and encamped near Irwinsville, where, on the 10th of May, he was captured by General Wilson's cavalry. He was conveyed to Fortress Monroe, and kept in confinement until May of 1867, when he was taken to Richmond to be tried for treason. He was admitted to bail; and his case was finally dismissed.
28. At the presidential election of 1864, Mr. Lincoln was chosen for a second term. As Vice-president, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was elected. In the preceding summer, the people of Nevada framed a constitution, and on the 31st of October the new commonwealth was proclaimed as the thirty-sixth State. The gold and silver mines of Nevada soon surpassed those of California in their yield of precious metals.
29. At the outbreak of the civil war the financial credit of the United States sank to a very low ebb. Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, first sought relief by issuing Treasury Notes, receivable as money. By the beginning of 1862, the expenses of the government had risen to more than a million of dollars daily. To meet these tremendous demands on the government, Congress next provided Internal Revenue. This was made up from two general sources: first, a tax on manufactures, incomes and salaries; second, a stamp-duty on all legal documents. The next measure was the issuance of Legal Tender Notes of the United States, to be used as money. These are the notes called Greenbacks. The third great measure adopted by the government was the sale of United States Bonds. The interest upon them was fixed at six per cent., payable semi-annually in gold. In the next place, Congress passed an act providing for the establishment of National Banks. National bonds, instead of gold and silver, were used as a basis of the circulation of these banks; and the redemption of their bills was guaranteed by the treasury of the United States. At the end of the conflict, the national debt had reached nearly three thousand millions of dollars.
30. On the 4th of March, 1865, President Lincoln was inaugurated for his second term. Three days after the evacuation of Richmond by Lee's army, the President made a visit to that city. On the evening of the 14th of April, he, with his wife and a party of friends, attended Ford's Theater in Washington. As the play drew near its close, an actor, named John Wilkes Booth, stole into the President's box and shot him through the brain. Mr. Lincoln lingered in an unconscious state until morning, and died. It was the greatest tragedy of modern times. The assassin, after the murder, escaped into the darkness.
31. At the same hour another murderer, named Lewis Payne Powell, burst into the bed-chamber of Secretary Seward, sprang upon the couch of the sick man, and stabbed him nigh unto death. The city was wild with alarm. Troops of cavalry departed in all directions to hunt down the assassins. On the 26th of April, Booth was found concealed in a barn south of Fredericksburg. Refusing to surrender, he was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett. Powell was caught and hanged. David E. Herrold and Geo. A. Atzerott, together with Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, at whose house the plot was formed, were also condemned and executed. Michael O'Laughlin, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, and Samuel Arnold were sentenced to imprisonment for life, and Edward Spangler for six years.
32. So ended in darkness, but not in shame, the career of Abraham Lincoln—one of the most remarkable men of any age or country. He was prudent, far-sighted, and resolute; thoughtful, calm, and just; patient, tender-hearted, and great. The manner of his death consecrated his memory. From city to city, in one vast funeral procession, the mourning people followed his remains to their last resting-place at Springfield, Illinois.