_Wherein Captain Galligasken has something more to say about the
glorious Campaign of Chattanooga, and illustrates some of the
personal Characteristics of the illustrious Soldier_.
In one month from the time of his arrival at Chattanooga, Grant had
swept the rebels from the positions they occupied--had achieved a
success which the enemy had believed was impossible. A woman, whose
home was on the plateau of Missionary Ridge, said to one of our
officers, after the battle had been fought, "Before you all came up
here, I asked General Bragg, 'What are you going to do with me?' He
replied, 'Lord, madam, the Yankees will never dare to come up here.'
But it was not fifteen minutes before you were all around here."
I have not the slightest doubt that Bragg was as confident of his
safety up to the moment his line was broken as he was of his own
existence. Relying on the immense natural advantages of his position,
which had been fortified to the extent of human skill, he believed
it was as impossible to move his army as it was to move the mountain
itself. And it was not a merely blind confidence; for if a man ever had
occasion to congratulate himself upon the security of his troops, Bragg
had.
Grant's plan for the battle, which was strictly followed out, from
beginning to end, in all its details, was a masterpiece of military
skill and combination. Without this the brilliant, daring, and resolute
assault must have ended in total failure. But it is equally certain
that the splendid plan would have failed without the gallant fighting.
In fact, Grant commanded both armies on that day, for Bragg was obliged
to follow out the results of Grant's combinations.
The battle had continued for three days, extending over an area
thirteen miles in length, to say nothing of its perpendicular ascent.
Two of the three subordinate commanders who directed operations under
him were of his own choosing; and Hooker, without being selected by
him, was a man after his own heart, so far, at least, as his promptness
and his fighting inclinations were concerned. Yet it is marvellous that
nothing went wrong on those eventful days; that all minor difficulties
were overcome, and the operations brought into such glorious harmony;
but this is as much due to Grant's genius and foresight as the plan
itself. He had skilfully and prudently weighed the conditions of
success, and while the men fought well, and the generals obeyed their
orders, there was no chance for failure.
Even General Halleck, who had no partiality for the hero, and no
confidence in him which had not been secured by Grant's wonderful
successes, became enthusiastic over this battle. "Considering the
strength of the rebel position and the difficulty of storming his
intrenchments," said the careful general-in-chief, "the battle of
Chattanooga must be considered as one of _the_ _most remarkable in
history_. Not only did the officers and men exhibit great skill and
daring in their operations in the field, but the highest praise is
also due to the commanding general for his admirable dispositions for
dislodging the enemy from a position apparently impregnable. Moreover,
by turning his right flank and throwing him back upon Ringgold and
Dalton, Sherman's forces were interposed between Bragg and Longstreet,
so as to prevent any possibility of their forming a junction."
Halleck was a cautious man, and in no danger of exaggerating the merits
of Grant's deeds, so that the non-military public may receive his
opinion without any grains of allowance. In the theory of warfare, in
his complete knowledge and appreciation of the principles of strategy,
however he may have failed in the practical application of the science
in the field, the general-in-chief had no superior. He was a writer
of no little celebrity, before the war, on military subjects, and is
amply competent to pronounce a safe opinion. When a man of his calibre,
therefore, steps out of the sphere of the Rebellion for a comparison,
and pronounces the battle of Chattanooga "one of the most remarkable in
history," the general public, unlearned in the mysteries of military
science, may justifiably deduce from his statement the belief that
General Grant is one of the most remarkable soldiers the world has ever
seen.
History is but little more than a record of wars, battles, and sieges.
The characters who figure the most extensively in its chronicles are
the warriors of all ages. How stands Grant among them? He has captured
more guns and more prisoners than any general in the whole history of
the world! The campaign and siege of Vicksburg is without a parallel in
the annals of any nation under the sun! Until the American Rebellion
Napoleon was the greatest general the world had ever seen. Grant has
paled even his star; for Grant has no Waterloo, no disastrous retreat,
like that from Russia, in his record.
Not alone in the grandeur of his position as a military genius is Grant
great. In his sterling goodness, in his modesty, in his magnanimity,
in his perception of character, in his quiet winning way, in his
sublime confidence in himself, in his Christian forbearance, in his
absolute self-negation, and in his unselfish love of country, he is a
great man, even without the laurel of victory upon his brow. When I
see him, crippled in body, weakened and physically broken down by long
confinement to his bed, hastening on his crutches to the most desperate
scene which the annals of this terrible war present; hurrying with
the laurel of Vicksburg and Donelson on his brow, without a thought
that he was imperilling his splendid reputation in an almost hopeless
venture; speeding through tempest and desolation, not at the head
of his war-worn and victorious veterans, but alone, to a stricken,
half-starved, beleaguered position, from whose overlooking environments
the cunning foe was gazing down, while they waited for famine and death
to do their certain work; when I see him thus staking his all,--for his
all, in a worldly sense, was his brilliant fame,--sacrificing ease,
comfort, health, exposing his very life, to save the army, to save
Chattanooga, to save the cause,--I cannot but ask, What other man has
done so much? What other man could, or would?
One of his biographers has said that Grant went to Chattanooga with the
reënforcements for which Rosecrans had vainly pleaded; that he went
with two armies to the relief of the town. There was time enough, after
Grant arrived, to have fought half a dozen battles before even the
moral support of either of these forces was available for the relief of
the army of the Cumberland. Sherman was struggling through a hostile
country, battling with swollen rivers, broken roads, and the storms
and tempests of November, a hundred miles away. Hooker was not in a
position to lift a finger till the genius of Grant opened the way for
his movement. Bragg might have swooped down from his mountain holds and
stormed the intrenchments with an overwhelming force at any hour of the
day or the night. We only wondered that he did not do it. But he held
Lookout Valley, held the river, held the railroad above and below the
town, and nothing but his perfect assurance that neither Hooker nor
Sherman could get into Chattanooga before the garrison would be starved
out prevented him from doing so. No! Grant fought the rebels alone
during those five days--the darkest and most perilous in his career. If
he had been beaten in the end, if Chattanooga had fallen before either
of the two armies arrived, he would still have been entitled to the
credit of his most heroic and self-sacrificing conduct.
I repeat, it is not alone the brilliant lustre of his military deeds
which calls forth our admiration: his patriotism, his unselfish
devotion to the cause, entitle him to the highest place in the regards
of the American people.
Occasionally, in the current newspapers of the day, during the
Rebellion, we read the astounding statement that General Fitzfizzle was
under fire; that a shell exploded on the side of the river where he
was; that his staff besought him not to expose his precious person to
the deadly projectiles of the enemy. We are sensationally informed that
General Fitzfizzle told his officers to retire to a safe place if they
were afraid. General Fitzfizzle had evidently screwed his courage up to
the sticking point, and during the long period of three whole minutes
he was exposed to the bullets of the enemy--until, indeed, his presence
was elsewhere required. We tender to General Fitzfizzle the homage of
our grateful admiration. We feel that he was a brave man, for he has
exposed his _corpus_ to the bullet of the foe. But what has he done
for three minutes more than Private McMullen and Corporal Mullinstock
have done during the entire battle? Is it heralded in the newspapers
that by an effort he has exhibited the mere brute courage which has
distinguished thousands of humble privates whose names will never be
printed?
It does not appear from any record that Grant ever uttered a
sensational remark on the field. The terrible earnestness of the man
admitted of no side talk, no silly affectation, no ridiculous farce
which could point a paragraph in the papers. He was always in the
battle, and always a part of the battle. He chose the position best
suited to his purpose for observing the movements of the contending
armies. It mattered not whether it was exposed to the enemy's fire
or not; he never considered that question. I am not aware that he
ever recklessly exposed himself without need, and certainly he never
sought a place of safety during the battle. It does not appear that he
considered the question of personal safety at all. He was where his
presence was required, without regard to peril.
At Belmont he was with the skirmishers in the front line of battle, the
first to go on the field, and the last to leave it. At Shiloh he led
charge after charge, and was in the thickest of the fight. Hundreds of
men behind him, and all around him, fell. He never required an escort,
but rode, with his staff, into the hottest of the fight. So continually
exposed was he, that the whole army wondered he was not killed. At
Ringgold, in the pursuit of Bragg's fleeing army, he rode for half a
mile, at a moderate trot, through a storm of shot and shell. He was not
thinking of danger--only of the enemy's positions. He was studying the
battle, in that moment which would have tried the souls of common men.
There was no consciousness at any time on his face that he was doing
"a big thing." He was simply in earnest, completely absorbed in the
progress of the battle. Where necessity required him to go, he went; if
there was a direct road, by that; if not, over the fields, through the
woods, swimming his horse through any stream that lay in his path.
He did everything with all his might, as if in literal obedience to
the Scripture injunction; and though not physically a powerful man, he
seemed to be superior to fatigue, hunger, cold, and all the ills to
which human flesh is subject. He would ride from breakfast time till
two o'clock the next morning without tasting food, and continue this
severe exertion until his work was finished--till victory had crowned
his operations. He could wear out his staff, who were compelled to
attend him, but he did not wear out himself. He was an earnest man, and
through the might of his earnestness, he conquered all obstacles, and
triumphed over every disadvantage. It was not luck, it was not good
fortune, that gave him the battle; it was genius, fortified by hard,
persistent labor. If he beat down greater obstacles than any other man,
it was because he studied deeper, worked harder, and fought longer than
any other.
Grant's task was not yet finished. Burnside was still in peril, a
hundred miles away. Granger was sent forward to his assistance, but
his movements were too laggard to satisfy the impatience of the heroic
chief, and Sherman was started on the war path to supersede him. The
army of the Ohio had been hemmed in at Knoxville, and its situation
was hazardous in the extreme, though Burnside was fully equal to the
emergency. He had only twelve days' provisions left, but he manfully
stood his ground. Grant had given him the most effectual relief in
driving Bragg away from the valley.
At the time of sending Sherman up the Tennessee, Grant forwarded a
despatch in duplicate to Kingston, one copy of which was for Burnside,
and the other was intended for, and fell into the hands of, the enemy.
Longstreet received his copy; but, before it fell into his hands, he
learned that Bragg had fallen back. He therefore determined to attack
Knoxville without delay. Fort Sanders, the principal defence of the
place, was assaulted, and a fierce struggle ensued, but the rebels were
defeated.
After the battle, Longstreet received the despatch which Grant had
written for his edification. Finding that Sherman was in the vicinity,
he had not a moment to lose, and started in full retreat for Virginia.
Burnside and Sherman conferred together in regard to the situation.
Longstreet was pursued, but the force was insufficient, and the chase
was abandoned. Burnside did not fully appreciate the situation, and
sent Sherman back to Chattanooga, retaining only Granger's command.
Longstreet was a very able general, and took prompt advantage of
the mistake of his antagonist. Finding nothing but a small cavalry
force behind him, he turned, defeated it, and marched back into East
Tennessee, establishing himself at Russellville for the winter, where
the country afforded abundant supplies. If Grant's orders to Burnside
had been fully apprehended and carried out, this mortifying result
could not have transpired. But the winter had set in, and military
operations in that mountain region were impracticable.
The termination of the event was simply mortifying: it in no way
affected the grand result of the Chattanooga campaign, which had been
victorious in all its details. On the 10th of December, after the enemy
had been driven from his strongholds, Grant issued his congratulatory
order to the three armies under his command, which has such a ring of
true steel in it, that I cannot help holding it up to the admiration
of my sympathizing reader.
"HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE }
MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, }
CHATTANOOGA, TENN., Dec. 10, 1863. }
"The general commanding takes this opportunity of returning his
sincere thanks and congratulations to the brave armies of the
Cumberland, the Ohio, the Tennessee, and their comrades from the
Potomac, for the recent splendid and decisive successes achieved
over the enemy. In a short time you have recovered from him the
control of the Tennessee River from Bridgeport to Knoxville. You
dislodged him from his great stronghold upon Lookout Mountain,
drove him from Chattanooga Valley, wrested from his determined
grasp the possession of Missionary Ridge, repelled, with heavy
loss to him, his repeated assaults upon Knoxville, forcing him to
raise the siege there, driving him at all points, utterly routed
and discomfited, beyond the limits of the state. By your noble
heroism and determined courage you have most effectually defeated
the plans of the enemy for regaining possession of the States of
Kentucky and Tennessee. You have secured positions from which
no rebellious power can drive or dislodge you. For all this the
general commanding thanks you collectively and individually. The
loyal people of the United States thank and bless you. Their hopes
and prayers for your success against this unholy Rebellion are with
you daily. Their faith in you will not be in vain. Their hopes will
not be blasted. Their prayers to Almighty God will be answered.
You will yet go to other fields of strife; and, with the invincible
bravery and unflinching loyalty to justice and right which have
characterized you in the past, you will prove that no enemy can
withstand you, and that no defences, however formidable, can check
your onward march.
By order of Major General U.S. GRANT."
This came from the "silent man," who simply never talks without having
something to say; but his pen speaks and reveals the man in all the
towering grandeur of his lofty patriotism and sublime devotion. In
this paper he tells the soldiers what they have done, not what he has
done himself. President Lincoln promptly congratulated the general,
and all under his command, on the decisive victory, and expressed his
profoundest gratitude for the skill, courage, and perseverance with
which the work had been accomplished.
Soon after the assembling of Congress, while the brilliant events I
have written down were still fresh in the minds of the people, both
houses passed a resolution to this effect: "That the thanks of Congress
be, and they are hereby, presented to Major General Ulysses S. Grant,
and through him to the officers and soldiers who have fought under his
command during this Rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct in
the battles in which they have been engaged; and that the President of
the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to Major
General Grant."
These victories were so important, and had such a decided influence
upon the destinies of the nation, that the hearts of the people were
filled with gratitude. The president appointed a day of thanksgiving,
and Grant was renewedly hailed as the savior of the country.
He was not dazzled by the elevated position he had achieved. Not a
vain-glorious remark escaped his lips; not a particle of vanity was
apparent in his looks or his manner. Neither the victories he had
won, nor the spontaneous homage of the people, turned his thought
from the cause to himself. Early in December, as soon as the campaign
was fairly closed, and in the very despatch in which he announced the
final results, he renewed his proposition for an expedition against
Mobile. He does not ask to go home and receive the plaudits of his
fellow-citizens; he does not hint at a moment of respite to enjoy the
laurels he had won; he does not even require time to rest his weary
frame, and recover entirely from his injuries. He is ready to organize
immediately an attack upon Mobile. He mentions his route, and proposes
to take it or invest it before the end of the next month. He was still
in earnest, but the government were not prepared to authorize the
movement.
Burnside had been superseded at Knoxville by Foster, and Grant visited
his headquarters to prepare for a movement against Longstreet as
soon as the season would permit. Foster was soon relieved at his own
request, on account of an old wound, and General Schofield, at Grant's
request, was appointed in his place. Sherman was sent to Vicksburg,
where he organized the celebrated Meridian expedition, and early in
February it started. The rebels were driven out of Mississippi, and its
whole railroad system was destroyed or deranged so that it was useless
to the Confederacy. The army marched four hundred miles in less than a
month, fed upon the country, and returned in better condition than when
it started.
In January Grant obtained permission of the War Department to visit St.
Louis, where his son was dangerously sick. He travelled without show
or parade, and few, if any, found out who he was. At the hotel, on his
arrival, he registered his name as "U.S. Grant, Chattanooga;" but the
news of his coming soon spread, and he was tendered a public reception
and dinner. His son being much better, he accepted the invitation.
His speech at the dinner was a line and a half in length. In the
evening he was serenaded, and his speech was two lines and a half in
length. He had never made a speech, and never intended to do so. The
multitude shouted for a speech. "Tell them you can fight for them, but
cannot talk to them--do tell them this," pleaded an earnest friend
at his side. "I must get some one else to say that for me," replied
the general. Of Grant's "silence," I shall have the honor to speak in
another place.
During the winter, Grant attended to all the vast details of his large
department, and put everything in condition for an early renewal of
the contest in the spring, and on the 3d of March he was ordered to
Washington.