CHATTANOOGA.
DARK DAYS IN 1863--A SUNBURST OF VICTORY--SHERMAN LEAVES
VICKSBURG--ORDERS TO HIS TROOPS--THE MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA--THE
BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS--SHERMAN'S ATTACK ON MISSIONARY RIDGE--
THE VICTORY COMPLETE--PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY--A FORCED MARCH
TO RESCUE BURNSIDE--SHERMAN'S REPORT--VIEWS CONCERNING THE
TREATMENT OF THE REBELS.
Seldom has history recorded a more sudden and startling change in
National affairs than that of the United States in the midsummer of
1863. The closing days of June were dark and ominous. Milroy was
almost annihilated at Winchester. Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville
were still wet with fruitless blood. Rosecrans was helpless in
Tennessee. Banks was idle at Port Hudson. Grant had been checked at
Vicksburg. Lee, on the other hand, was carrying fire and sword through
Pennsylvania, while the Army of the Potomac, wandering no one knew
where, seemed given up to experimenting with new leaders. This, at any
rate, was the apparent situation, distressing to the faint-hearted
patriot, and consoling the sympathizer with the South.
And so the Fourth of July came around, a day that a month before
bade fair to be a time of woe rather than of joy. An ex-President of
the United States, Franklin Pierce, was the orator of the day at
Concord, New Hampshire. "We have had," he said, "overwhelming sorrows,
but none like these which come welling up day by day from the great
fountain of National disaster; nor have the sorrows brought with them
any recompense of National pride or victorious arms." And he bitterly
denounced the "fearful, fruitless fatal civil war," and the "harvest
of woe," that it was ripening for the Republic. Other orators and
statesmen, of even more commanding rank than he, spoke that same day
in a similar strain. Yet almost at that very hour, Lee was reeling in
disaster back from "a stubborn Meade and a barren field" at Gettysburg,
Johnston in Mississippi was in full flight before Sherman's conquering
legions, and Grant was raising the Stars and Stripes above the
conquered ramparts of Vicksburg, the "Gibraltar of the South." Truly, a
grim and mighty transformation scene!
For a time now Sherman lay comparatively quiet on the Big Black River,
while other armies in other regions pushed on the game of war. Baffled
and routed in Pennsylvania, the Rebels fell back toward Richmond, and
then strengthened their forces for another rush upon the centre of the
Union line, in Tennessee. There, Rosecrans had made a fair beginning.
He had driven the foe from middle Tennessee, and out-flanked Bragg
and forced him to abandon Chattanooga to a position south of Lookout
Mountain. In Eastern Tennessee, likewise, Burnside had been successful,
wresting Knoxville and Cumberland Gap from the enemy. So, all along the
line, from the Mississippi to the Potomac, the Rebels had been, when
early autumn came, defeated and forced back. They now determined upon
another effort, viz., to assail the National forces in Tennessee with
all possible energy, and "drive the Yankees across the Ohio."
Reinforcements were accordingly sent to Bragg, from all quarters. Lee
sent him Longstreet's corps, or all that remained of it after that
fearful charge at Gettysburg; Johnston sent him Loring's Division,
and detachments were brought in. To meet this coming storm the Union
leaders made full preparation. Burnside moved down toward Loudon. The
Army of the Potomac sent Hooker, with Howard's and Slocum's Corps, to
Stevenson and Bridgport, Ala.; and every man that could be spared by
Hurlbut at Memphis and by Grant and Sherman at Vicksburg, was sent
toward Corinth and Tuscumbia, all to concentrate at last at Chattanooga.
That was in the middle of September. On the 23d of that month Grant
called Sherman to Vicksburg and bade him hasten up to Memphis with his
whole corps, save one division, which should remain under McPherson, to
guard the Big Black. Low water caused slow transportation, and it was
October 4th when all of Sherman's men reached Memphis. Then orders came
from Halleck for them to join Rosecrans. Sherman set out, accordingly,
for Corinth on October 11th, and with his escort reached Colliersville
at noon in time to aid in defeating Chalmers. He hurried Frank P.
Blair with two divisions on to Iuka, and followed in person with the
remainder of the corps, reaching Iuka on the 19th. Again he sent Blair
forward, and the latter presently defeated S. D. Lee, and entered
Tuscumbia on October 27th.
Rosecrans had not been faring well. He had, in fact, been sorely
stricken on the field of Chickamauga, and was now at Chattanooga,
almost surrounded by triumphant and aggressive foes. The army was
starving and the outlook was grave indeed. Secretary Stanton summoned
Grant to Louisville, and there personally invested him with the
command of the Division of the Mississippi and the three armies of the
Ohio, the Cumberland and the Tennessee. Then he, relieving Rosecrans,
made Thomas Commander of the Department of the Cumberland, and Sherman
of the Tennessee. Sherman was at Iuka, on October 25th, when Grant
sent him notice of his appointment, to succeed himself, with orders
to remain in the field. Thereupon Sherman gave McPherson full command
at Vicksburg, for all Mississippi, and Hurlbut at Memphis for Western
Tennessee. Very soon he issued the following remarkable orders, which
covered all the territory brought under his charge by his grand
promotion:
"All officers in command of corps and fixed military posts will assume
the highest military powers allowed by the laws of war and Congress.
They must maintain the best possible discipline, and repress all
disorder, alarms, and dangers in their reach. Citizens who fail to
support the Government have no right to ask favors and protection, but
if they actively assist us in vindicating the national authority, all
commanders will assist them and their families in every possible way.
Officers need not meddle with matters of trade and commerce, which by
law devolve on the officer of the Treasury Department; but whenever
they discover goods, contraband of war, being conveyed towards the
public enemy, they will seize all goods tainted by such transactions,
and imprison the parties implicated, but care must be taken to make
full records and report such case. When a district is infested by
guerrillas, or held by the enemy, horses and mules, wagons, forage,
etc., and all means of war, can be freely taken, but must be accounted
for as public property. If the people do not want their horses and corn
taken, they must organize and repress all guerrillas or hostile bands
in their neighborhood.
"It is represented that officers, provost-marshals, and others in the
military service, are engaged in business or speculation on their own
account, and that they charge fees for permits and passes. All this
is a breach of honor and law. Every salaried officer of the military
service should devote every hour of his time, every thought of his
mind, to his Government, and if he makes one cent profit beyond his
pay, it is corrupt and criminal. All officers and soldiers in this
department are hereby commanded to engage in no business whatever, save
their sworn duty to their Government.... In time of war and rebellion,
districts occupied by our troops are subject to the laws of war.
The inhabitants, be they friendly or unfriendly, must submit to the
controlling power. If any person in an insurgent district corresponds
or trades with an enemy, he or she becomes a spy; and all inhabitants,
moreover, must not only abstain from hostile and unfriendly acts, but
must aid and assist the power that protects them in trade and commerce."
Sherman now marched eastward, with all the men that could be spared,
to join in the impending struggle at Chattanooga. There was no time to
build bridges, so rivers were forded or crossed in scows. On November
15th he rode into Chattanooga, and soon thereafter all his troops were
marshalled at that place, ready to deal with Bragg. Already Hooker's
two corps had entered Lookout Valley, and the Army of the Cumberland
was on the scene. Bragg had sent Longstreet to attack Burnside in
Eastern Tennessee, and Grant was anxious lest Burnside should be
overmatched. So, to prevent Bragg from sending more troops thither, and
even, if possible, to force him to recall Longstreet, Grant determined
upon an immediate attack by Sherman upon Missionary Ridge and Lookout
Mountain.
The situation of the opposing forces, and the important issues at
stake, were well described at the time by Mr. Brigham, in the _New York
Tribune_:
"When General Bragg followed timidly the broken array of General
Rosecrans on its retreat into Chattanooga, instead of pursuing that
part which did not make its escape--(for not doing which he has been
much blamed)--he halted the main body of his army on the morning of
the 23d of September, on Missionary Ridge, immediately in front of
our works, but mainly circling round from the left to the centre of
our line, his right resting on the river about three miles above
Chattanooga. The railroad to Cleveland--about twenty miles--connecting
there with the main line from Knoxville to Atlanta, and the road to
Dalton, some forty miles, connecting there with the same line, entered
Chattanooga through Missionary Ridge, so that their terminus came to
be near Bragg's headquarters, in sight of our works on the left. It
was on the first named road that Longstreet's corps departed lately
for East Tennessee, and over them Bragg has received most of his
supplies, and maintained his connection, not only with East Tennessee,
but with Georgia. The road to Knoxville once cut, or the connection
even rendered precarious, it was plain that the situation of affairs in
East Tennessee, especially with the rebels, would all at once become
materially changed. Should the main line connecting East Tennessee and
Georgia be broken, or seriously menaced, by driving the Rebels from
Missionary Ridge, or by our gaining a foothold on the south side of the
river on the flank of the Rebel position, the principal questions in
the case would be, how would Longstreet get out of East Tennessee, and
how far would Bragg be compelled to retreat?
"To realize this, or any part of this state of things, it would be
necessary to cross the river above Chattanooga with a heavy force, and
assail the Rebels in their flank. To drive them from Missionary Ridge
would be to render the work complete. If, in addition to these, Lookout
Mountain should fall into our hands, little or nothing further could be
desired."
The topography of the place was also described by Mr. Brigham:
"Missionary Ridge is a line of hills, ranging from 100 to 400 feet in
height, sweeping round from Chattanooga Valley on our centre to our
left, to less than one mile of the river above Chattanooga, and sloping
westwardly toward the town, thus confronting our line of defenses at
the point where the Ridge approaches the river, it backs up toward the
east on a general line with, and from one to two miles from the river,
toward which the hills have another sloping but rather abrupt face. On
the westward slope Bragg planted his works; on the north or river slope
he does not seem to have constructed permanent works. To cross the
river and assail the Rebels on their flank, while General Thomas opened
upon them in front, was the plan."
The movement was begun on the morning of November 23d. Sherman's troops
had been joyfully greeted by the Army of the Cumberland as "Grant's
Gophers," in allusion to their sapping and mining achievements at
Vicksburg. They had just completed a long and arduous march, but were
in splendid condition, iron-framed veterans. And they had a task
before them worthy of their prowess. On the night of the 23d, amid fog
and rain, they silently crossed the Tennessee River, stealing up and
capturing the Rebel pickets. The morning of the 24th dawned, cold
and rainy. The crash of musketry was heard at the centre of the Union
line, where Howard and his men pressed close upon the foe. Next Jeff.
C. Davis's fine troops crossed over and joined Sherman, and with pick
and spade the lines of rifle pits were rapidly advanced. At noon the
artillery was taken across, a pontoon bridge having been constructed.
Howard gallantly drove Bragg's right flank skirmishers before him, and
forced a junction with Sherman.
Now off on the other flank of Bragg came the "Battle above the Clouds"
along the grim slopes of Lookout Mountain. On the afternoon of the
24th, Hooker moved Geary's command by an extensive detour to the crest
of Lookout Mountain ridges, and Osterhaus's men were kept waiting in
Lookout Valley until Geary was seen marching along the ridge toward the
enemy's works, when the signal was given and Osterhaus was ordered to
charge up the precipitous height. "The audacity of this attack," said
a correspondent, "was its chief merit, and insured its success. No one
can appreciate the thing without an intimate acquaintance with the
topography of the country thereabout, and that it is useless for me to
attempt to indicate with words merely. To any casual observer it would
have seemed madness. Our men could and would have defended the position
successfully with hand grenades and loose rocks alone. The Rebels,
however, seemed filled with dismay when they saw their foes climbing
up the rocks as nimbly as if they had been so many mountain goats, and
they did not make half of the resistance they might. Then, too, the
disaffection among their conscripts, of which we have heard and read
so much manifested itself most palpably. They in some cases threw away
their arms by platoons and jumping over their breastworks, rushed down
the mountain side exclaiming, 'Don't shoot, we are your friends!' These
men seemed transported with joy on reaching our lines, and not a few
of them declared a willingness to take places in the ranks of our men
to fight those who had subjected them to tyranny unexampled. Those who
did use their weapons against the advancing columns, proved themselves
very poor marksmen. Nearly every shot went whistling down the mountain
over the heads of the men. And thus the chief obstacle to Osterhaus's
progress was from steep and hostile rocks. By dark the whole mountain
was in Hooker's hands, save a small plat of ground on the summit, and
that was virtually in his possession, as he only needed a little more
daylight to complete his victory. The next morning all the Rebels who
were not prisoners had vanished like the air, and our men could quietly
enjoy the view of the territory of four States to be had from this
great eminence. Our prisoners here will number at least 2,000, and the
capture of arms was more than proportionate. The works on the mountain
are not very artistic, nor are they extensive, but they were sufficient
for any purpose the Rebels seem to have had in holding the position.
"The climbing of Lookout, if it were only by a pleasure party, would
necessarily be attended by amusing and stirring incidents; and
though Osterhaus's men believed they were engaged in a hazardous and
apparently foolhardy movement, they joked and laughed at one another
all the way up. Every fall was the signal for a shout of 'grab a root,'
in allusion to a camp story about a certain colonel who issued that
novel command to his regiment just as he lost his footing while making
a rather inglorious retreat down a hill, on an occasion not now to be
mentioned. One man, a Sergeant-Major in one of the Missouri regiments,
did 'grab a root' to swing himself round a sharp and protecting ledge
of rocks in the way of his ascent. The root, however, proved rotten, or
was not deeply imbedded in the ground, and broke just at the critical
moment. The sergeant executed an involuntary somersault or two, and
alighted on his feet unhurt. His regiment witnessed the acrobatic feat
extraordinary, and set up such a shout of applause and laughter as, I
have no doubt, made the butternuts quake in their boots.
"The Twenty-ninth and Thirty-second Missouri Regiments have the honor
of being first to plant foot on the summit. They were closely followed,
however, by the whole of General Osterhaus's Command, and General
Geary's Division shares with this the honors of an achievement which
was beyond the hopes of one party or the fears of the other. So far
as I could learn, there was not a single regiment or even a single
individual that shrank for a moment from the appalling looking service.
An incident will serve to illustrate the common feeling. When the
order to charge up the mountain in the face of the Rebel works was
received, Colonel Peckham of the Twenty-ninth Missouri, an officer who
was himself wounded and who lost over sixty per cent. of his regiment
in the memorable charge upon the enemy's works in the Chickasaw Bayou
fight, in December last, and who was again wounded on the 19th of
May following, in the abortive charge made by his division (Blair's)
upon the enemy's works in the rear of Vicksburg, was fully impressed
with the idea that he was now in the way of another such slaughter.
He turned to one of his men in whose fate he felt a deep personal
interest, and pulling from his pocket a watch presented him by another
regiment in which he had at one time served, told the man to fall back
to the camp and take this watch and a message to his wife in case he
should be killed. The brave fellow demurred to the order, saying he
preferred staying with the regiment. 'I tell you,' said the Colonel,
'your going with the regiment will be but a useless sacrifice of one
more life.' 'I will not leave the regiment,' was the reply, 'unless you
make the order a peremptory one, and I beg you not to disgrace me in
that way.' The Colonel yielded the point. His fears for the man proved
groundless, but when I met him the next day, he could not shake hands
with me. He had a severe wound in the right shoulder, received making
his way on foot up the mountain at the head of his command."
That night old Lookout was ablaze with the camp fires of the Union
army. But while Hooker was warring amid the clouds, his fellow-generals
were busy elsewhere. "Sherman," writes the correspondent, "has, on the
end of Mission Ridge, got his forces in position. His line of battle
is very extended. It is grand as well as formidable. Advancing a heavy
line of skirmishers, he moves over the low ground to the base of the
ridge, where the Rebels but a very short time before were massed in
force. They withdrew, offering but comparatively slight resistance
when Sherman commenced moving. Indeed the firing was mainly by the
skirmishers. Rising the crest of the ridge, Sherman takes possession of
the termini of the two railroads of so much importance to Bragg--that
running to Knoxville (over which Longstreet departed to East
Tennessee), and that running to Atlanta, over which Bragg receives his
supplies. It being near dark, Sherman halts on the ground he has won.
"While these important operations are going on, General Wood's
Division, Granger's Corps, advances on the centre of our left, to
within 1,500 yards of the Rebel works, near the crest of Missionary
Ridge, plants Bride's Battery on Orchard Knob, and opens an enfilading
fire on the enemy, then annoying Howard's Corps."
During the night the Rebels massed themselves in great force against
Sherman, but before daylight of the 25th that intrepid commander
was in the saddle, marshalling his troops to the completion of the
work so well begun. The day dawned clear and frosty, and the whole
vast panorama of war, yesterday veiled in mist, lay open to the eye.
The enemy fell back before Sherman, to the tunnel, but there made a
desperate stand, looking and hoping in vain for Longstreet's return
to their relief. Large portions of Bragg's army were there. He had
been reinforced by Buckner. Sherman (with Bushbeck's Brigade from the
Eleventh Corps added) made two attacks with only a portion of his
army, and was both times repulsed. Still, he sent Grant word that he
would do his work without assistance. Afternoon came, Grant watching
Sherman with an anxious eye, waiting to give Thomas the command to
scale the mountain side. "I saw him," said an eye witness, "frequently
carry his eye along the ridge where the main Rebel line was drawn out,
and survey the steep side up which the assault would be made. How
many thousands of others of the army that rested and waited for the
command, contemplated the ascent and estimated the chances! Taking it
for granted that Bragg was prepared for the assault, the records of
desperate undertakings do not afford many equalling this."
[Illustration: SPRAGUE'S BRIGADE PROTECTING SHERMAN'S WAGON TRAIN AT
DECATUR.]
"The hill which was being attacked by Sherman," said a _Cincinnati
Gazette_ writer, "is the highest peak of Mission Ridge, and though not
so rough and ragged as Lookout Mountain, is nevertheless very difficult
of ascent. The hill or hills taken by General Sherman on Tuesday did
not command this (Tunnel) hill, but from Sherman's position a fine view
could be had of the Rebel position, half a mile distant.
"The fort built by the Rebels was plainly visible, the guns peering
over the ramparts with vicious looks. The hill upon which General
Sherman was posted formed a semi-circle, and lapping around as if to
inclose the Tunnel Hill. When on Sherman's right, you were west of
Tunnel Hill. When you were on Sherman's left, you were east of the
hill. The centre was so thrown out and retired that, like the wings,
it remained a respectful distance from the enemy, who formed the
centre, while Sherman formed the arc of the circle. It will be readily
understood from this that, making separate attacks from his right
and left, General Sherman approached the Rebel position on different
sides of the hill. So far separated were the two columns that the hill
prevented them from seeing each other's movements. They were hence
unable to act in concert--a fact which may have had something to do
with the result of the attacks.
"The first attack was made by the brigades of General John W. Corse
and Colonel Jones, Fourth Virginia, from the left of the line. The
movement began at 11 o'clock in the morning and the assault lasted
only ten minutes. No sooner had our men appeared above the top of the
hill than they were received with a tremendous volley of musketry. But
nevertheless they advanced rapidly, charging a rifle-pit of the enemy,
and after a hand to hand conflict retired in some disorder, leaving
their dead and wounded inside the enemy's outer work. But it must not
be supposed that our men fled to the foot of the hill. No sooner had
they reached the protecting slope of the hill which hid them from
the view of the enemy than they reformed in good style and laid down
under the brow of the hill to await an attack in return. But the enemy
did not dare to attack, but contented himself with the repulse he had
succeeded in at quite heavy cost to both parties. The two brigades
remained quiet for some time. At 11.30 o'clock General Giles Smith with
his brigade, among which is the Fifty-seventh Ohio Infantry, went to
the assistance of General Corse, and after a short delay, the whole
proceeded to make a second attack.
"This attack did not differ from the first in movement or result, but
it was more desperate and was persisted in much longer, the final
retirement of our men not taking place until half past twelve, an hour
having thus been consumed in the assault. There have been few more
desperate encounters in the war than was this engagement of an hour,
and it speaks volumes in praise of the men engaged that at its end,
though much broken, they rallied at the slope of the hill and held the
position gained."
Then Sherman brought up all available troops and prepared for a third
and decisive attack; and the enemy did likewise to meet him. This
attack was not in itself successful. But it turned the fortunes of
the day. It gave Grant the opportunity for which he had been watching
through all those anxious hours. Standing on Orchard Knob, he saw the
Rebels massing against Sherman, and then, precisely at three o'clock,
he signalled to his two storming columns to make the grand assault
upon the works at the base of Missionary Ridge. Says the _Tribune_
correspondent from the field:
"Hardly had the roar of the signal guns ceased, when the cracking of
musketry commenced and vibrated up and down the line, which extended in
an unbroken chain quite two miles. The artillery stationed along the
crest of Missionary Ridge opened vigorously, raining down on our men a
perfect shower of shot and shell. To their fire our artillery replied
no less vigorously, and the attacking column moved forward to the music
of more than a hundred guns.
"The distance between the rifle-pits and our skirmishers was probably
not to exceed three hundred yards. In less than ten minutes the Rebels
began to leave and climb the abrupt slope of the hill, in desperate
eagerness to take shelter in the main line--Hardee's Corps--on the top.
Cheer on cheer now go up from the attacking columns, and a galling fire
is poured into the fleeing Rebels. But not to escape, for so sudden was
the advance that many prisoners were taken in the pits. Notwithstanding
the order was to halt at the rifle pits, at the foot of the Ridge,
in the eagerness of the pursuit it seemed to be forgotten, and the
chase is kept up with eagerness. Seeing this, General Grant, contrary
to his original intention, directs the supporting column at once to
advance, and along the entire line black masses in regular columns move
forward to the grand assault. In the centre, where Wood's Division is
advancing, some of his men are already half way up the rugged steep.
The elevation is almost three hundred feet. Glancing up and down the
Ridge's slope you see a score of battle flags, some further advanced
than others; one or two so far ahead of the supports, save a few
impetuous spirits who seem determined to scale the height first, that
the attempt seems mere hardihood. From the crest of the Ridge the
Rebel artillery now belch forth more furiously than ever, and rain the
iron hail on the masses below. And yet there is no wavering or sign of
it. Cheer on cheer roll in waves up and down the advancing line. The
right, the centre, the left now go forward in order, to the support
of those who seem to have pushed too daringly to the assault, in the
determination to be first to make the ascent where the foe was in force.
"The battle-flags are now seen everywhere, and those that have been
carried with so much daring almost to the crest now receive salvos
of cheers. In the centre, the Sixth Ohio Regiment, Hazen's Brigade,
Wood's Division, has from the first been ahead, the object of special
interest, and those who have watched their progress, while they have
admired their bravery, have almost regretted their impetuosity; for
it can scarcely be otherwise than that they will be hurled back by an
overwhelming opposing force the moment they reach the top. To the right
of this regiment is the Eighth Kansas, sharp competitors in the race,
whose colors have been carried so defiantly ahead. Volleys of musketry
are poured down upon the column of attack, which makes no reply but
keeps right on. The progress is slow, for the ascent is steep. Away
off to the left where the intrepid Howard has during the afternoon
had sharp work, his troops move forward in perfect order, shoulder to
shoulder with the supports of Baird. Howard's Corps passed over to
Sherman's left--except one brigade near the Tunnel. In the centre,
Granger's impetuosity and Wood's zeal have been communicated to the
men. On the right, Palmer is moving on steady, the dashing Sheridan,
with coat off and hat in hand, leading the way.
"Scarcely have we time to take this rapid survey of the columns moving
to the grand assault when cheer on cheer comes rolling down to us from
the summit of the Ridge. The gallant Ohioans have made the ascent. The
Rebels flee before them, and they rest on the heights they have gained
so quickly. But the intrepid Major Irwin has fallen. Now, from the
right to the left of the whole line cheer on cheer announce that other
regiments have gained the summit, and that the Rebels flee. In the next
half hour the crest of the Ridge from right to left is swarming with
our men. And now gallop we to the height that has been gained.
"So precipitately had the Rebels fallen back that _from forty to fifty
pieces of artillery and from three to five thousand prisoners fell into
our hands_. The guns were immediately turned on the foe, for, taking
up positions for which the ground was favorable, the Rebels opened a
vigorous fire of musketry. General Grant was among the first to reach
the summit after it had been carried. By his direction our men were
formed and placed so as to resist any attempt that might be made to
regain their ground. It was not long before almost the entire force of
General Thomas was on the Ridge. From it they could not be dislodged.
Hooker had been thundering on the Rebel flank coming up from the
direction of Rossville. He comes in good time, makes captures of men
and guns, and forms a junction with the main column.
"Thus the Ridge, the portion which might have been made impregnable,
and so important to Bragg, has been carried with so little serious
fighting, with loss so insignificant, and in every respect so easily,
that it is difficult to comprehend the plan of the enemy. I suspect
that Bragg could not help it; that undertaking to defend himself
against Sherman, he lost all in another direction. In fact he was
circumvented, out-generaled. He was not equal to the strategy with
which he had to contend. The assault of Missionary Ridge was an
undertaking before which another army would have quailed. To give the
order required no common nerve, and it shows the manner of man of
General Grant. He had no right to expect the enemy would flee, unless,
indeed, he penetrated so far as to discover, which doubtless was the
fact, that the impetuosity of our men, their almost foolhardy daring,
confounded the enemy and struck him with awe. The assault of Lookout
Mountain and of Missionary Ridge will stand out in the annals of this
war as unequalled performances."
Of the practical results of this victory, Quartermaster General Meigs
said in his report, dated the day after the battle, to the Secretary of
War:
"Bragg's remaining troops left early in the night, and the battle of
Chattanooga, after days of manoeuvring and fighting, was won. The
strength of the rebellion in the centre is broken. Burnside is relieved
from danger in East Tennessee. Kentucky and Tennessee are rescued.
Georgia and the South-East are threatened in the rear, and another
victory is added to the chapter of 'Unconditional Surrender Grant.'
Bragg is firing the railroad as he retreats toward Dalton. Sherman is
in hot pursuit.
"To-day I viewed the battle-field, which extends for six miles along
Mission Ridge and for several miles on Lookout Mountain. Probably not
so well directed, so well ordered a battle has been delivered during
the war. But one assault was repulsed, but that assault by calling to
that point the Rebel reserves, prevented them repulsing any of the
others.
"A few days since, Bragg sent to General Grant a flag of truce,
advising him that it would be prudent to remove any non-combatants
who might be still in Chattanooga. No reply has been returned, but
the combatants having removed from this vicinity it is probable that
non-combatants can remain without imprudence."
Bragg was now retreating, and Sherman adding other troops to his own
was in pursuit. Jeff. C. Davis had hurried across the Chickamauga by
the Pontoon Bridge, to the depot. Howard had reported to Sherman, and
was ordered to repair another bridge over the Chickamauga and then to
go on and join Davis. It was impossible to repair the bridges, however,
so the crossings had to be made by pontoons. Davis reached the depot
only to find it in flames, with the enemy intrenched just beyond. The
Rebels were quickly put to flight and many valuable stores rescued.
Sherman, with Davis and Howard, pressed on till nightfall, engaging the
rear guard of the Rebels just at dark. Next day he reached Greysville,
where he was joined by Palmer's Corps, and where he could hear Hooker's
guns at Ringgold. Then he turned eastward, to keep Longstreet from
rejoining Bragg, leaving the pursuit of Bragg to Hooker. Howard was
sent to Parker's Gap, to destroy the Dalton and Cleveland Railroad, a
task that was promptly and thoroughly performed. Word now came from
Hooker that he wanted Sherman to hurry forward and turn the enemy's
position in the mountain passes near Ringgold. This was at this very
moment being done by Howard, and when Sherman reached Ringgold he found
that the Rebels had abandoned the Chickamauga Valley and the State of
Tennessee. Howard by Sherman's request was now sent on to Cleveland,
East Tennessee; and on the 30th to Charleston, where he put the enemy
to flight and captured valuable stores. Thus ended the first part of
this memorable campaign, with losses to Sherman's own corps of 258
killed, 1,257 wounded and 211 missing, and with incalculable benefits
to the Union cause.
The pursuit of Bragg would have been continued, but Grant saw that
Burnside needed succor at Knoxville, where he was besieged by
Longstreet. Sherman and Howard were accordingly sent thither with
all speed. Their troops were wearied with much fighting and long
marches. Food was scanty. They had no blankets. And the weather was
bitterly cold. But without a murmur from officers or men they faced
for Knoxville, eighty-three miles away, with as blithe a step as
though on a holiday parade. Howard and Sherman were abreast. At Loudon
they struck the enemy, who fled before them, burning the bridge and
forcing them to turn east and trust to crossing the Little Tennessee
by constructing, in a night, temporary bridges. It was now December
2d, and they knew Burnside's supplies would only last another day. So
Sherman told Colonel Long to take his pick of cavalrymen and dash on to
Knoxville regardless of the cost in life and limb. Knoxville was yet
forty miles away, and the roads were as bad as bad could be. The whole
army pressed on, however, with desperate zeal. When past the Little
Tennessee, a courier came from Burnside with the welcome news that
Long and his troopers had arrived, and that all was well at Knoxville.
That night another courier brought them word that Longstreet was
retreating toward Virginia, with the Union cavalry in full pursuit! He
had attacked Burnside, had been repulsed with great slaughter, and had
abandoned the siege at Sherman's near approach.
Sherman and Howard, after a brief visit to Knoxville, then marched
their troops to Chattanooga, to prepare for a yet greater work. Sherman
made a long report on this campaign. A few extracts are of interest
here:
"In reviewing the facts, I must do justice to my command for the
patience, cheerfulness, and courage which officers and men have
displayed throughout, in battle, on the march, and in camp. For long
periods, without regular rations or supplies of any kind, they have
marched through and over rocks, sometimes barefooted, without a murmur,
without a moment's rest. After a march of over 400 miles, without stop
for three successive nights, we crossed the Tennessee, fought our part
of the battle of Chattanooga, pursued the enemy out of Tennessee, and
then turned more than 100 miles north, and compelled Longstreet to
raise the siege of Knoxville, which gave so much anxiety to the whole
country.
"It is hard to realize the importance of these events without recalling
the memory of the general feeling which pervaded all minds at
Chattanooga prior to our arrival. I cannot speak of the Fifteenth Army
Corps without a seeming vanity, but as I am no longer its commander,
I assert that there is no better body of soldiers in America than
it, or who have done more or better service. I wish all to feel a
just pride in its real honors. To General Howard and his command, to
General Jefferson C. Davis and his, I am more than usually indebted for
the intelligence of commanders and fidelity of command. The brigade
of Colonel Bushbeck, belonging to the Eleventh Corps, which was the
first to come out of Chattanooga to my flank, fought at the Tunnel
Hill in connection with General Ewing's Division, and displayed a
courage almost amounting to rashness, following the enemy almost to
the tunnel gorge, it lost many valuable lives, prominent among them
Lieutenant-Colonel Taft, spoken of as a most gallant soldier. In
General Howard throughout I found a polished and Christian gentleman,
exhibiting the highest and most chivalrous traits of the soldier.
"General Davis handled his division with artistic skill, more
especially at the moment we encountered the enemy's rear guard near
Graysville, at nightfall. I must award to this division the credit of
the best order during our marches through East Tennessee, when long
marches and the necessity of foraging to the right and left gave some
reasons for disordered ranks.
"I must say that it is but justice that colonels of regiments who have
so long and so well commanded brigades, as in the following cases,
should be commissioned to the grade which they have filled with so
much usefulness and credit to the public service, namely, Colonels J.
R. Cockerell, Seventieth Ohio Volunteers; J. M. Loomis, Twenty-sixth
Illinois; C. E. Wolcott, Forty-sixth Ohio; J. A. Williamson, Fourth,
Iowa; G. B. Raum, Fifty-sixth Illinois; J. J. Alexander, Fifty-ninth
Indiana."
Early in January Sherman returned to Memphis, to attend to the
administration of affairs in that region. Both civil and military
matters were presented to him for disposal. His attitude toward the
South was here expressed by him in a letter to one of his subordinate
officers, as follows:
"The Southern people entered into a clear compact of government,
but still maintained a species of separate interests, history, and
prejudices. These latter became stronger and stronger, till they have
led to a war which has developed fruits of the bitterest kind.
"We of the North are, beyond all question, right in our lawful cause,
but we are not bound to ignore the fact that the people of the South
have prejudices, which form a part of their nature, and which they
cannot throw off without an effort of reason or the slower process
of natural change. Now, the question arises, should we treat as
absolute enemies all in the South who differ from us in opinion or
prejudice,--kill or banish them? Or should we give them time to think
and gradually change their conduct, so as to conform to the new order
of things which is slowly and gradually creeping into their country?
"When men take arms to resist our rightful authority, we are compelled
to use force, because all reason and argument cease when arms are
resorted to. When the provisions, forage, horses, mules, wagons, etc.,
are used by our enemy, it is clearly our duty and right to take them,
because otherwise they might be used against us.
"In like manner, all houses left vacant by an inimical people, are
clearly our right, or such as are needed as storehouses, hospitals,
and quarters. But a question arises as to dwellings used by women,
children, and non-combatants, So long as non-combatants remain in
their houses and keep to their accustomed business, their opinions and
prejudices can in no wise influence the war, and, therefore, should
not be noticed. But if any one comes out into the public streets
and creates disorder, he or she should be punished, restrained, or
banished, either to the rear or front, as the officer in command
adjudges. If the people, or any of them, keep up a correspondence with
parties in hostility, they are spies, and can be punished with death,
or minor punishment.
"These are well established principles of war, and the people of
the South, having appealed to war, are barred from appealing to our
Constitution, which they have practically and publicly defied. They
have appealed to war, and must abide its rules and laws.
"The United States, as a belligerent party claiming right in the soil
as the ultimate sovereign, have a right to change the population; and
it may be, as is, both politic and just, we should do so in certain
districts. When the inhabitants persist too long in hostility, it may
be both politic and right we should banish them and appropriate their
lands to a more loyal and useful population. No man will deny that the
United States would be benefitted by dispossessing a single prejudiced,
hard-headed, and disloyal planter, and substituting in his place a
dozen or more patient, industrious, good families, even if they be of
foreign birth. I think it does good to present this view of the case
to many Southern gentlemen, who grew rich and wealthy, not by virtue
alone of their industry and skill, but by reason of the protection and
impetus to prosperity given by our hitherto moderate and magnanimous
Government. It is all idle nonsense for these Southern planters to
say that they made the South, that they own it, and that they can do
as they please,--even to break up our Government and to shut up the
natural avenues of trade, intercourse, and commerce.... Whilst I assert
for our Government the highest military prerogatives, I am willing to
bear in patience that political nonsense of slave-rights, State-rights,
freedom of conscience, freedom of press, and such other trash, as have
deluded the Southern people into war, anarchy, bloodshed, and the
foulest crimes that have disgraced any time or any people.
"I would advise the commanding officers at Huntsville, and such other
towns as are occupied by our troops, to assemble the inhabitants and
explain to them these plain, self-evident propositions, and tell them
that it is for them now to say whether they and their children shall
inherit the beautiful land which by the accident of nature has fallen
to their share. The Government of the United States has in North
Alabama any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war--to
take their lives, their homes, their lands, their everything; because
they cannot deny that war does exist there; and war is simply power,
unrestrained by Constitution or compact. If they want eternal war, well
and good; we will accept the issue and dispossess them and put our
friends in possession. I know of thousands and millions of good people
who, at simple notice, would come to North Alabama and accept the
elegant houses and plantations now there. If the people of Huntsville
think differently, let them persist in war three years longer, and then
they will not be consulted. Three years ago, by a little reflection and
patience, they could have had a hundred years of peace and prosperity,
but they preferred war. Very well. Last year they could have saved
their slaves, but now it is too late: all the powers of earth cannot
restore to them their slaves, any more than their dead grandfathers.
Next year their lands will be taken--for in war we can take them, and
rightfully, too,--and in another year they may beg in vain for their
lives. A people who will persevere in war beyond a certain limit ought
to know the consequences. Many, many people, with less pertinacity than
the South, have been wiped out of national existence."