Part 30 (1/2)

From this eventful Fourth of July in 1863 the strength of the Confederacy began to decay. There was little hope for its final success after this time. All its future contests only delayed the inevitable end.

=318. Two Other Important Victories in the West.=--In September occurred the severe battle of Chickamauga, where the Union army would probably have been utterly defeated but for the valor of General Thomas, who thus won for himself the name of the ”Rock of Chickamauga.” Late in November the Union army was shut in at Chattanooga by the ever alert Confederates, and was relieved only by General Grant's skillful planning and hard fighting.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL THOMAS.]

This battle was fought on a cold, drizzly day. The fog, settling on the valley and sides of Lookout Mountain, up which our brave boys climbed, covered the lower part of the advancing army so that only the upper lines were visible. This brilliant victory is popularly known as ”the Battle above the Clouds.” These movements ended the army operations of 1863.

=319. Sherman's Famous March to the Sea.=--The year 1864 saw two great movements, both planned by General Grant, who had now been called by President Lincoln to come to Was.h.i.+ngton and take control of all the armies of the Republic. One was his own advance against Richmond, and the other General Sherman's famous ”March to the Sea.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN.]

General W. T. Sherman, a brilliant officer and General Grant's dear comrade and lifelong friend, had driven his opponents southward and captured Atlanta. General Hood then very boldly but injudiciously led a Confederate army up to Nashville, where General Thomas attacked and utterly defeated him.

Meanwhile Sherman had begun his celebrated march to the sea. Having burned the mills, foundries, and workshops at Atlanta which had been of great value to the Confederates, he started in November with an army of sixty thousand on a three-hundred-mile expedition to the Atlantic! They marched on three and sometimes four parallel roads, foraging on the country, destroying railroads, burning bridges, and devastating a belt of territory from forty to sixty miles wide. Our army was followed by thousands of negroes, enjoying their new freedom.

In December Sherman reached the sea and telegraphed to President Lincoln the capture of Savannah as a Christmas present! Resting there, he then marched his conquering legions north, through both Carolinas, up to Goldsboro, having met and defeated Johnston's army at several points along the way. He was now able to aid General Grant, whose campaign against Richmond we must now consider.

=320. Grant's Advance on Richmond; Lee's Surrender at Appomattox.=--Early in May, Grant had started with a hundred and twenty thousand men on his advance against Richmond. He pushed his work with great vigor, fighting almost daily, but after every battle flanking Lee's right, and thus working constantly southward. It was a series of b.l.o.o.d.y battles, and the slaughter was enormous; but such is war. He continued slowly advancing all summer, and in the fall of 1864 began the siege of Richmond.

Finally, in April, 1865, General Sheridan had cut the last of the railroads supplying the Confederate capital. Then with Grant's army on one side and Sheridan's on the other, the Confederacy quickly collapsed.

Jefferson Davis fled and a panic seized upon the people in the doomed city, while fire and havoc ran riot. The Union army soon marched in and restored order.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL SHERMAN ON HIS MARCH TO THE SEA.]

One week later Lee surrendered his whole army at Appomattox. General Grant treated his fallen foes with great generosity, requiring only the oath of officers and men not to fight further against the United States. The victorious general permitted all the men to keep their horses, to enable them, as he said, ”to do their spring plowing on their farms.”

=321. The Story of Sheridan's Famous Ride.=--Read's stirring poem, ”Sheridan's Ride,” has always been a favorite, for it records in verse the gallant deed of one of the most brilliant generals in the war for the Union. In the early fall of 1864 Grant sent General Sheridan with a large force of cavalry to lay waste the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan did the work so well that it was said, ”If a crow wants to fly down the valley, he must carry his provisions with him.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL SHERIDAN.]

The story runs as follows:--

One morning in October the Confederates approached under cover of a fog and surprised the Union forces at Cedar Creek and put them to flight.

Sheridan was then at Winchester, twenty miles away, slowly riding back to join his army. A messenger met him with the bad news. On his famous black horse he dashed forward at full speed down that ”good broad highway, as with eagle flight,” towards the line of battle. As he came nearer he met the first of the fugitives and rallied them with fierce and forcible words. At once they were as eager to fight again as they had been ready to fly.

A brave nucleus of the army which had not shared in the surprise was fighting with determined pluck to prevent disaster from becoming disgrace. Men said, ”Oh for one hour of Sheridan!” All at once a deafening cheer was heard above the roar of musketry and artillery as the tired men recognized the long-looked-for Sheridan. The news flashed from brigade to brigade along the front with telegraphic speed. As the gallant general, cap in hand, dashed along the retreating lines, a continuous cheer burst from the whole army.

The entire aspect of affairs seemed changed in a moment. Further retreat was no longer thought of. ”This retreat must be stopped!” shouted Sheridan to his officers as he galloped down the lines. The line of battle was speedily re-formed; the retreating army turned its face to the foe.

The ranks of the Confederates swayed and broke everywhere before the charge of the Union cavalry and the impetuous advance of the infantry.

They were completely defeated, with the loss of many prisoners, and nearly all of their guns.

Sheridan's ride to the front, October 19, 1864, has pa.s.sed into history as one of the most thrilling events that have ever given interest to a battle scene. Stripped of all poetic gloss, the result achieved by Sheridan's superb generals.h.i.+p, after reaching his shattered army on the field of Cedar Creek, still stands, with few if any parallels in history, as an ill.u.s.tration of the magnetic influence of one man over many, and as an example of s.n.a.t.c.hing a great victory from an appalling defeat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHERIDAN RALLYING HIS TROOPS AT CEDAR CREEK.]

=322. Death of Lincoln.=--Wild was the delight of the country when peace came. There were public meetings, processions, bonfires, every possible display of universal joy!