THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
GRANT MADE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL--CORRESPONDENCE WITH SHERMAN--THEIR
MEMORABLE INTERVIEW--PLANNING A SCIENTIFIC CAMPAIGN--GENERAL
HOWARD'S PEN PICTURE OF THE TWO SOLDIERS--SCHOFIELD, McPHERSON
AND THOMAS--GRANT'S FINAL ORDERS--SHERMAN'S ARMY IN LINE--
STRENGTH OF JOHNSTON'S ARMY--GENERAL HOWARD'S ACCOUNT OF THE
ADVANCE.
March 4th, 1864, marked the beginning of the end of the great
rebellion. A law had been made by Congress, authorizing the appointment
of a Lieutenant-General, to command all the armies of the Nation.
President Lincoln promptly selected Grant for the position, and on the
date above named telegraphed to him at Nashville to come at once to
Washington. Grant received this exalted honor with his characteristic
modesty, and assumed the vast responsibility without hesitation. But
in this "crowded hour of glorious life," which to him was surely
"worth an age without a name," the great soldier instinctively turned
his earliest thoughts toward his comrades in arms, and first and most
toward Sherman. In the very hour in which he received the dispatch from
Washington, he wrote to Sherman, telling him the news, and generously
attributing a large share of his success to his faithful aids.
"Dear Sherman," he said. "... I want to express my thanks to you and
McPherson, as the men to whom, above all others, I feel indebted for
whatever I have had of success. How far your advice and assistance have
been of help to me, you know. How far your execution of whatever has
been given you to do entitles you to the reward I am receiving, you
cannot know as well as I. I feel all the gratitude this letter would
express, giving it the most flattering construction. The word you I use
in the plural, intending it for McPherson also. I should write to him,
and will some day, but starting in the morning, I do not know that I
will find time just now."
Equally generous and noble was Sherman's reply. After referring to
the transcendent importance of Grant's new rank, as "Washington's
legitimate successor," he said: "You do McPherson and myself too much
honor. At Belmont you manifested your traits--neither of us being near.
At Donelson, also, you illustrated your whole character. I was not
near, and General McPherson in too subordinate a capacity to influence
you. Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost cowed by the
terrible array of anarchical elements that presented themselves at
every point; but that admitted a ray of light I have followed since.
"I believe you are as brave, patriotic, and just as the great
prototype, Washington--as unselfish, kind-hearted, and honest as a man
should be--but the chief characteristic is the simple faith in success
you have always manifested, which I can liken to nothing else than the
faith a Christian has in the Saviour.
"This faith gave you the victory at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Also when
you have completed your best preparations, you go into battle without
hesitation, as at Chattanooga--no doubts--no reserves; and I tell you,
it was this that made us act with confidence. I knew, wherever I was,
that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would help me
out, if alive.
"My only point of doubts was, in your knowledge of grand strategy, and
of books of science and history; but, I confess, your common sense
seems to have supplied all these."
The appointment of Grant was confirmed, and on March 9th, 1864, in
the presence of the Cabinet, Lincoln gave him his commission as
Lieutenant-General, saying as he did so:
"General Grant: The Nation's appreciation of what you have done, and
its reliance upon you for what remains to be done in the existing
great struggle, are now present with this commission constituting you
Lieutenant-General of the Armies of the United States. With this high
honor devolves upon you also a corresponding responsibility. As the
country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I need
scarcely add that with what I here speak for the Nation goes my own
hearty personal concurrence."
Grant's reply was brief and modest. He said:
"Mr. President: I accept the commission with gratitude for the high
honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on
so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor
not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the
responsibilities now devolving upon me, and I know that if they are met
it will be due to these armies, and, above all, to the favor of that
Providence which leads both nations and men."
By the same order that put Grant in command of all the armies, Sherman
was made commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi; and
McPherson, of the Department and Army of the Tennessee. This order
reached Sherman at Memphis on March 14th, just as he was starting
for Huntsville to prepare for a campaign in Georgia. Accompanying it
was a dispatch from Grant, asking Sherman to meet him at Nashville.
Sherman accordingly went to the last named place, met Grant there, and
travelled with him as far as Cincinnati on his way to Washington. In
the newspapers of March 21st appeared the following inconspicuous news
items:
"LOUISVILLE, Saturday, March 19th 1864.
"Lieutenant-General Grant passed through here to-night en route
for Washington.
"Major-General Sherman also passed through here to-night en route
for Cincinnati.
"CINCINNATI, March 20th, 1864.
"Lieutenant-General Grant and staff arrived here this morning,
and left to-night for Washington.
"Major-General Sherman also arrived here this morning."
On that journey to Cincinnati, the death-warrant of the Southern
Confederacy was made out, and it was signed and sealed in the parlor of
the Burnet House, Cincinnati, when the two Generals bent together over
a map, marked out the great Richmond and Atlanta campaigns, and then,
with a silent hand-clasp, parted, not to meet again until each had done
deeds that made the world ring with his fame.
Of these interviews and the illustrious men who participated in them,
and of the events immediately following, General O. O. Howard speaks as
follows:
"Now behold these men together, Grant and Sherman! Grant of medium
size, of short neck, square shoulders, well proportioned head, and
firmly knit frame. His heavy brow and large eye, changeable surely, but
always masked by his strong self-control, accorded him quiet dignity
and becoming respect. His smile, which never failed him up to the last
sickness, lighted his face, bespoke humor and good-fellowship, and to
Sherman the utmost friendliness. Sherman appeared tall beside him; his
forehead high, his hair light and sandy, his eye keen and piercing, and
his frame though not so compact as Grant's, supple and expressive of
health and energy. Grant inspired you in his wholeness like a fertile
prairie, Sherman like a hill-country abounding in choice knolls and
mountain heights. His buoyant coming put one at ease. His deep pleasant
voice riveted attention, and his fast flowing conversation rewarded
your silence.
"There at Nashville they met, and Grant turned over to Sherman the
Western armies. Grant hastened back to Washington, Sherman went with
him as far as Cincinnati. In a sentence, Sherman has summed up their
prolonged council of war: Amidst constant interruptions of a business
and social nature we reached the satisfactory conclusion that as soon
as the season would permit, all the armies of the Union would assume
the 'bold offensive' by 'concentric lines' on the common enemy, and
would finish up the job in a single campaign if possible. The main
objectives were Lee's Army behind the Rapidan in Virginia, and Joseph
E. Johnston's Army at Dalton, Georgia."
"Johnston's army was our work, in a nut-shell. Substantially, take a
bold offensive--Beat Johnston--Get into the interior--Inflict damage,
and keep our enemy so busy that he cannot reinforce elsewhere.
"To catch glimpses of how the work so ordered was undertaken, there
are other pictures. General Sherman had some original ways of rapid
transit. A special car took him, the 25th of March, to General G. M.
Dodge, a Corps Commander, then at Pulaski, Tennessee. Next he joined
McPherson at Huntsville, Alabama. The two latter were very soon with
Thomas at Chattanooga; and were after that speedily with Schofield a
hundred miles eastward without rail-cars at Knoxville. Schofield turned
back with them, so that shortly after, at Chattanooga, in the left hand
room of a one story house, now owned by Mr. J. T. Williams, took place
before the end of March another memorable war-meeting.
"One figure there was that of General Schofield. He was to bring into
the field about fourteen thousand men. He was in form more like Grant
than Sherman. He combined intellectual vigor with marked judiciousness.
Another figure was McPherson. He had to furnish some twenty-five
thousand soldiers. He was equal to Sherman in quickness of thought,
but, like all engineers, more wary in his execution.
"With his genial face, his large high head and fine figure, he stood
with the noblest. The third, General George H. Thomas, with his
nearly seventy thousand aggregate. He was tall and broad, and heavy
and handsome, of good judgment and sterling record. These three army
commanders were thus assembled, and the hearty Sherman was with them.
Of this group, Sherman in his story has said: 'We had nothing like a
council of war, but consulted freely and frankly on all matters of
interest to them, then in progress or impending.' At farthest the first
of May was to end the period of preparation, when the different clans
should be gathered and ready for the fray. The leaders of corps and
divisions, and the essential consolidations were there fixed upon;
and the great problem of safe supply was, at least to themselves,
satisfactorily solved.
"The meeting broke up, the commanders returned to their places, taking
Sherman for awhile to Nashville. No man can tell the amount of hard
work that resulted from this interview. The next month was pregnant
with the faith and hope of the coming campaign. Behold the loaded
trains, following untiringly in sight of each other; but do not stop
to count the broken engines by the wayside, or the cars turned topsy
turvey.
"Behold the duplicate and triplicate bridges, the hosts of mules
and horses in motion, the redoubts and blockhouses constructed, or
building, the sugar, the coffee, and the hard-bread and other supplies,
coming into Chattanooga, and the herds of cattle lowing along the
dusty roads leading to the front, all the way from Louisville and
Nashville. The soldiers said, 'Tecumseh is a great fellow. He means
business.' Thorough and confident preparations are always a source of
encouragement and inspiration."
The nation was now to see scientific warfare. The campaigns of the
Union armies were planned with mathematical accuracy. There were three
grand divisions of attack upon the Rebellion. At the east, moving
directly against the Rebel capital, was Grant with the Army of the
Potomac. West of the Mississippi River was Banks. The great central
region was left to Sherman, and his objective point was Atlanta.
The Mississippi Valley was fully wrested from Rebel control, and a
series of brilliant victories marked the whole line from Vicksburg, on
that river, to Chattanooga, among the Appalachian Mountains. Between
the river and the mountains the war was practically ended and the
Confederacy crushed. But in the rich and populous country between the
mountains and the Atlantic coast the insurgents were still strong.
There was concentrated all the power that the Richmond Government
now possessed. And the people of Georgia and the Carolinas actually
believed themselves to be secure from "Yankee invasion," guarded as
they were by the powerful armies of Lee and Jackson, and by the mighty
natural ramparts of the mountain range.
But Sherman proposed to cross the mountains and march through the heart
of this country to Atlanta, which was its industrial centre. This city
was the converging point of many important railroads, and here were the
principal machine shops and other factories of the Rebel Government. To
capture it would break the spirit of the South and cripple its military
power as no other blow, not even the capture of Richmond, could do.
On April 4th, Grant outlined to Sherman his plans for the campaign, as
follows:
"It is my design, if the enemy keeps quiet, and allows me to take
the initiative in the spring campaign, to work all parts of the army
together, and somewhat toward a common centre. For your information I
now write you my programme as at present determined upon.
"I have sent orders to Banks, by private messenger, to finish up his
present expedition against Shreveport with all dispatch; to turn over
the defence of Red River to General Steele and the navy, and return
your troops to you, and his own to New Orleans; to abandon all Texas
except the Rio Grande, and to hold that with a force not exceeding
4,000 men; to reduce the number of troops on the Mississippi to the
lowest necessary to hold it, and to collect from his command not less
than 25,000 men. To this I will add 5,000 from Missouri. With this
force he is to commence operations against Mobile as soon as he can. It
will be impossible for him to commence too early.
"Gilmore joins Butler with 10,000 men, and the two operate against
Richmond from the south side of James River. This will give Butler
33,000 men, W. F. Smith commanding the right wing of his forces, and
Gilmore the left wing. I will stay with the Army of the Potomac,
increased by Burnside's Corps of not less than 25,000 effective men,
and operate directly against Lee's army wherever it may be found.
Sigel collects all his available force in two columns--one, under Ord
and Averill, to start from Beverley, Virginia, and the other, under
Crook, to start from Charleston, on the Kanawha--to move against the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Crook will endeavor to get in about
Saltville, and move east from there to join Ord. His force will be all
cavalry, while Ord will have from 10,000 to 12,000 men of all arms. You
I propose to move against Johnston's army, to break it up and get into
the enemy's country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you
can against their war resources.
"I do not propose to lay down for you a plan of campaign, but simply to
indicate the work it is desirable to have done, and leave you free to
execute it in your own way. Submit to me, however, as soon as you can,
your plan of operation.
"As stated, Banks is ordered to commence operations as soon as he can;
Gillmore is ordered to report at Fortress Monroe by the 18th, or as
soon thereafter as practicable; Sigel is concentrating now. None will
move from their places of rendezvous until I direct, except Banks. I
want to be ready to move by the 25th instant, if possible; but all I
can now direct is that you get ready as soon as you can. I know you
will have difficulties to encounter in getting through the mountains to
where supplies are abundant, but I believe you will accomplish it."
[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL SCHOFIELD, U.S.A.]
And ten days later he added:
"What I now want more particularly to say is that, if the two main
attacks, yours and the one from here, should promise great success, the
enemy may, in a fit of desperation, abandon one part of their line of
defence and throw their whole strength upon a single army, believing a
defeat with one victory to sustain them better than a defeat all along
their whole line, and hoping, too, at the same time, that the army,
meeting with no resistance, will rest perfectly satisfied with its
laurels, having penetrated to a given point south, thereby enabling
them to throw their force first upon one and then on the other.
"With the majority of military commanders they might do this; but you
have had too much experience in travelling light, and subsisting upon
the country, to be caught by any such ruse. I hope my experience has
not been thrown away. My directions, then, would be, if the enemy in
your front shows signs of joining Lee, follow him up to the extent of
your ability. I will prevent the concentration of Lee upon your front
if it is in the power of this army to do it."
Grant proposed to move against Lee on May 5th, and it was arranged that
Sherman should at the same time move against Johnston. For this work
Sherman now put forward his preparations with all possible zeal and
thoroughness. On April 27th he ordered all his troops to Chattanooga,
and the next day placed his own headquarters there. On May 6th his
mighty host was marshalled for the advance. Three armies were under
his command. The Army of the Tennessee was on the bank of Chickamauga
Creek, near Gordon's Mill. It comprised the Fifteenth and parts of the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, under Generals Logan, Dodge and
Blair, with the gallant McPherson in general command. The Army of the
Cumberland was at Ringgold. It included the Fourth, Fourteenth and
Twentieth Corps, under Generals Howard, Palmer and Hooker, with Thomas
in general command. The Army of the Ohio was near Red Clay, north of
Dalton, Georgia. It consisted of the Ninth and Twenty-third Corps, and
was commanded by General Schofield. The strength of these armies was
as follows: Tennessee--Infantry, 22,437; Artillery, 1,404; Cavalry,
624; total, 24,465; guns, 96. Cumberland--Infantry, 54,568; Artillery,
2,377; Cavalry, 3,828; total, 60,773; guns, 130. Ohio--Infantry,
11,193; Artillery, 679; Cavalry, 1,697: total, 13,559; guns, 28.
Sherman had planned an army of 100,000 men and 250 guns. He actually
had, according to the above statement, 98,797 men and 254 guns.
The opposing Rebel army was now commanded by Joseph E. Johnston, who
had succeeded Bragg, and comprised three corps, under Hardee, Hood and
Polk. According to Johnston's official statement, its total strength in
April, 1864, was 52,992, and at the middle of May, when the battle of
Resaca was fought, 71,235. The number of guns on both sides was about
equal.
The Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan on May 4th, and Grant,
sitting on a log in the Virginia woods, telegraphed to Sherman at
Chattanooga to move forward. General Howard's account of the opening of
the great march is as follows:
"When we were ready for the bold offensive, the left of Thomas,
(Howard's Corps) rested at Catoosa Springs his centre, (Hooker) at
Ringgold, and his right, (Palmer) at Leet's Tan Yard. McPherson
was near Villanow, and Schofield moving southward from Cleveland,
Tennessee, approached Dalton. It was the sixth of May.
"Notice Catoosa Springs, a summer resort. The surrounding hills were
covered with trees, light green, in tender leaf; and the mountain
ranges on two sides, Lookout and Taylor's Ridge, gave substantial
back ground to a variegated and charming landscape. The effect of war
had already nearly depopulated the village, so that there was little
use for the large hotel buildings or the smaller boarding-houses--a
few trembling citizens and a few dubious black people were all that
remained to satisfy official curiosity and supply local knowledge.
"This bright May morning I saw Thomas and Sherman together. Sherman,
now that things were in motion, appeared happy and confident. With
a map before him, he gave us briefly the entire situation. Here
is Dalton,--there your force--on this side Schofield. Down there
McPherson, soon to pass the Snake Gap and strike Johnston's line.
Thomas in his quiet way put forth then the bolder view, viz: send at
once the larger force, not the smaller, through the gap. Sherman shook
his head, and signified that he was not yet ready to exchange bases
with Johnston. But there was no jar, only confidence in each other and
strong hope in our hearts as we separated that day.
"Early the next morning was another meeting, out in the open field.
Stanley with his strong build, fine face and long beard. T. J. Wood of
smaller stature, grayish hair and decisive, caustic ways; and Newton
with his handsome figure and keen sensitive looks, never thoroughly
contented till the conflict was actually joined. These Division
Commanders of the fourth corps stood near each other intently gazing
upon the crest of Tunnel Hill. Our troops were already deployed and
advancing in the beautiful morning light--arms were never brighter--and
the Confederate cavalry, in full array, coming up from beyond the
ridge, with skirmish interval, added interest and emotion to the
parade. A battery or so, hastening to place, only deepened the feeling
in the breasts of our experienced veterans.
"At a word of command and a bugle call the outer line took up the run,
and soon cleared the whole front. A few zip, zips of the foremost
rifles, a few cannon salutes, a few screeches of shells, a few men
wounded to the death or maimed for life! and that was all! When I took
my stand by Stanley's side on the crest of the hill just gained, and
thence sought to reconnoitre Tailor's craggy mountain range which still
sheltered the bulk of Johnston's host, Stanley cried out: General, the
ball is opened! And so it had. It was a curious ball, a long dance,
for more than one hundred days. And it was a terrible dance, wilder at
times than comes to foresters amid the bending and falling of trees in
a hurricane; it was fearfully suggestive of the savage war-dance of the
red men that ends in death to white men and desolation to homes.
"Far off to the centre and right, Palmer with his strongly marked face
and Thomas-like proportions, and the handsome, 'fighting Joe' Hooker,
always a law unto himself, bore their part in the opening ball, closing
up speedily to the rocky face barrier, and estopping that mouth of
Georgia, whence issued stranger, screeching, whizzing birds than those
which gave the gaping mouth its name of Buzzard's Gap. One such savage
bird in the shape of a minie-ball flew between Howard and Thomas, wound
its way through their group of staff officers, grazed the limb of a
tree and fell upon the ground, tearing in its flight a general's coat
in three rents, and pecking an uncouth hole through the rim of a staff
hat. Mean while Newton and his brave men, against bloody resistance,
were dragging cannon to the very hostile crest northward; and Hooker
was ascending the mountain against heavy odds southward of the old
Buzzard's formidable roosts."