The Morning after the Battle—General Sherman’s column in Motion—
What it did—Corinth the next Goal—The Siege—The Evacuation—
General Sherman’s troops the first to enter the Works—The Hero
is made Major-General—Advance on Holly Springs—Memphis—
General Sherman’s successful Command in that City—The
Guerrillas.
THE eighth of April dawned upon the silent, sanguinary field of recent
conflict. Soon large companies of men were moving from the Union camps
with spades and other implements of burial, to lay in trenches the heaps
of the slain. The weather was warm in that southern latitude, and
General Grant hastened the work of interment alike of slaughtered
friends and foes.
General Beauregard wrote to our commander, requesting leave to take
rebel bodies from our lines under flag of truce; but other hands were
completing the sad labor for the disfigured, blood-stained, and
pulseless warriors.
Look away from that scene, after the battle, along the Corinth road, and
you see the serried files of living men, led by the unresisting Sherman,
dashing along in hot pursuit of the enemy. The chief of the fifth
division, with a force of cavalry and two brigades of infantry, is in
the war-path again. Suddenly appear the white tents of the abandoned
camps of the enemy, and hospital flags are flying over them in the early
breeze. What does it mean? They are _false_ signals, hung out to deceive
the pursuing commander, and protect the deserted canvas cities. Onward
the sagacious, daring leader hurries after the foe.
And now a shout rings from the lips of our “boys.” The rebel cavalry are
in sight. A few moments later swords cross, pistols crack, and horses
rush together in the strife. Then the “graybacks” turn and fly, leaving
the field, camps, and all, to our victorious ranks. The work of
destruction followed. Tents, arms, ammunition, were mingled in a common
ruin. The road for miles was lined with wagons the foe were compelled to
leave in their haste to get out of our way; ambulances stood unused,
although thousands of the mangled were in need of them; limber-boxes,
which belong to the guns, were also abandoned; indeed, every thing
showed a hurried retreat, which but for the cavalry in the rear to cover
the flight of the infantry, would have been a complete rout of the
enemy.
The victor returned from his gallant exploit only to repeat it. The
general advance toward Corinth immediately followed. The fifth division
swept over the country, which was arrayed in vernal verdure and bloom.
The birds sang as sweetly as in any former spring-time, startled beside
the highway only by the tramp of the marching host.
May 17th the first shock came. The division of General Grant’s army
under Sherman, met the rebels in a severe conflict on the road to
Corinth. They had to fall back before the human tide, crested with fire
and steel. This brief contest only opened the way to the fortress of
rebel strength. And the question was, how shall Corinth be taken? It
must either be by direct and bloody assault, or by siege, surrounding
it, and compelling the imprisoned army to surrender.
Beauregard watched with sleepless vigilance his foe. He ordered troops
to intrench on a ridge near Philip’s Creek and oppose the Union forces.
General Jeff. C. Davis approached the works; then, feigning a retreat,
drew the garrison out, when a severe struggle defeated the enemy
completely. This occurred May 21st; and, on the 27th, General Sherman
also had a fight with the rebels.
The decisive hour at length has come; all is activity and excitement. We
cannot furnish you a more vivid description of the stirring and awfully
sublime scenes of such a crisis in army operations, than one given in a
letter from this field of conquest:
“Regiments and artillery are placed in position, and, generally, the
cavalry is in advance; but when the opposing forces are in close
proximity, the infantry does the work. The whole front is covered by a
cloud of skirmishers, then reserves formed, and then, in connection with
the main line, they advance. For a moment all is still as the grave to
those in the background; as the line moves on, the eye is strained in
vain to follow the skirmishers as they creep silently forward; then,
from some point of the line, a single rifle rings through the forest,
sharp and clear, and, as if in echo, another answers it. In a moment
more the whole line resounds with the din of arms. Here the fire is slow
and steady, there it rattles with fearful rapidity; and the whole is
mingled with the roar of the reserves as the skirmishers are at any part
driven in; and if, by reason of superior force, these reserves fall back
to the main force, then every nook and corner seems full of sound. The
batteries open their terrible voices, and their shells sing horribly
while winging their flight, and their dull explosion speaks plainly of
death; their canister and grape go crashing through the trees, rifles
ring, the muskets roar, and the din is terrific. Then the slackening of
the fire denotes the withdrawing of the one party, and the more distant
picket firing that the work was accomplished. The silence becomes almost
painful after such a scene as this, and no one can conceive the effect
who has not experienced it. The line of works was selected, and, at the
word of command, three thousand men, with axes, spades, and picks,
stepped out into the open field from their cover in the woods. In almost
as short a time as it takes to tell it, the fence rails which surrounded
and divided three hundred farm lots, were on the shoulders of the men,
and on the way to the intended line of works. Then, as, for a time, the
ditches deepen, the dirt is packed on the outer side, the bushes and all
points of concealment are cleared from the front, and the centre
divisions of our army has taken a long stride toward the rebel works.
The siege guns are brought and placed in commanding positions. A
log-house furnishes the hewn and seasoned timber for the platforms, and
the plantation of a southern lord has been thus speedily transformed
into one of Uncle Sam’s strongholds, where the Stars and Stripes float
proudly.
“Soon after daylight, on Friday morning, the army was startled by rapid
and long-continued explosions, similar to musketry, but much louder. The
conviction flashed across my mind that the rebels were blowing up their
loose ammunition, and leaving. The dense smoke arising in the direction
of Corinth strengthened this belief, and soon the whole army was
advancing on a grand reconnaissance. The distance through the woods was
short, and in a few minutes shouts arose from the rebel lines, which
told that our army was in their trenches. Regiment after regiment
pressed on, and passing through extensive camps just vacated, soon
reached Corinth, and found half of it in flames.”
The troops under General Sherman were first in the works. Their columns,
as we have seen, were conspicuous in the entire and triumphant progress
from Shiloh, sustaining the heaviest blows, and bearing aloft proudly
the banner of the republic. General Sherman was in subordinate command,
but in his field of action he was the uniformly wise, shrewd, daring,
and successful leader. Wrote General Grant: “His services as division
commander in the advance on Corinth, I will venture to say, were
appreciated by the new general-in-chief beyond any other division
commander.” He was appointed major-general of volunteers, dating from
May 1st, 1862.
Holly Springs, of which you will read more hereafter, is situated on the
railroad from Jackson, Tennessee, to New Orleans. June 20th, General
Sherman coolly relieved the rebels of its care, and took possession
himself, burning long stretches of trestle-work on the Mississippi
Central Railroad, to prevent an unpleasant surprise by the rebels. They
had removed their machinery for making and repairing arms to Atlanta,
Georgia, not dreaming of a visit to that city two years later by the
division-general at Holly Springs.
A few weeks after these events, July 11th, General Halleck was ordered
to Washington in the high position of generalissimo of the Union armies,
and a reorganization of them followed. General Grant was placed in
command of the “Department of West Tennessee,” covering a large
territory bordering the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. Memphis, which
had surrendered June 6th, was a very important base of operations and
supplies. But guerrillas and contraband traders infested the country
around, making the city a dangerous haunt of traitors from the
border-land. General Grant displayed his wisdom in sending General
Sherman to the post, declaring that he could the most effectually
restore order and security to that disturbed district. Soon quiet
reigned, guerrillas disappeared, and villanous traders went to more
comfortable quarters. General Sherman did all and more than General
Grant expected of him. He was just, humane, and yet severe in his
administration, according to his views freely and often expressed; that
when people appeal to war for the settlement of claims, they must abide
entirely by the rules and consequences of so terrible a means of real or
imaginary redress. His ideas were comprehensive, and, had they prevailed
at an earlier period, our Government and commanders would have ended the
civil strife long ago, we cannot doubt.