Part 36 (1/2)

Price moved southward and Lexington was retaken by the Unionists, who also occupied Springfield. The Legislature sitting at Neocho pa.s.sed an ordinance of secession, but most of the State remained in the hands of the Federals until they finally gained entire possession.

General Fremont's course was unwise and made him unpopular. He issued what was in reality an emanc.i.p.ation proclamation, which President Lincoln was compelled to modify. He was fond of show and ceremony, and so extravagant that he was superseded in November by General Hunter, who was soon sent to Kansas, and was in turn succeeded by General Halleck. The fighting in the State was fierce but of an indecisive character.

The expected neutrality of Kentucky was speedily ended by the entrance of a body of Confederates under the command of General Leonidas Polk, a graduate of West Point and a bishop of the Episcopal Church. General U.S. Grant was dispatched with a force from Cairo, as soon as it became known that Polk had entered Kentucky. Grant destroyed a Confederate camp at Belmont, but was attacked by Polk and compelled to retreat to his gunboats.

OPERATIONS ON THE COAST.

A formidable coast expedition, with land and naval forces on board, under command of General B.F. Butler and Commodore Stringham, in August, 1861, captured Hatteras Inlet and the fort defending it. Establis.h.i.+ng themselves at that point, they made other attacks along the adjoining coast of North Carolina. A still larger expedition left Fort Monroe in November under Commodore Dupont and General T.W. Sherman and captured Port Royal. The fleet was so powerful, numbering nearly one hundred vessels and transports, that the garrisons were easily driven out of the forts, after which the land forces took possession of them. The islands between Charleston and Savannah were seized, and in September a Union fleet took possession of s.h.i.+p Island, not far from the mouth of the Mississippi, with a view of aiding an expedition against New Orleans.

THE TRENT AFFAIR.

It was all important for the Confederacy to secure recognition from England and France. The Confederate government thought they could be induced to act, if the proper arguments were laid before the respective governments. Accordingly, James M. Mason, of Virginia, and John Slidell, of Louisiana, both of whom had been United States senators, were appointed commissioners, the former to England and the latter to France.

They succeeded in running the blockade to Havana, where they took pa.s.sage on the British steamer _Trent_ for England. Captain Charles Wilkes, of the steamer _San Jacinto_, knew of their intended sailing and was on the lookout for them. Before they were fairly on their way, Captain Wilkes stopped the _Trent_, and, despite the protests of the captain and the rebel commissioners, he forcibly took them off and carried them to the United States.

In acting thus Captain Wilkes did the very thing that caused the war with England in 1812. It was our opposition to the search of American vessels by British cruisers that caused that war, while England was as persistent in her claim to the right to make such search. The positions were now reversed, and England expressed indignation, and demanded the return of the commissioners and a disavowal of the act of Captain Wilkes. The position of our government was untenable, and Secretary Seward gracefully confessed it, and surrendered the prisoners, neither of whom was able afterward to be of the slightest benefit to the Confederacy.

SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS.

The close of 1861 was to the advantage of the Confederates. The two real battles of the war--Bull Run and Wilson's Creek--had been won by them.

In the lesser engagements, with the exception of West Virginia, they had also been successful. This was due to the fact that the people of the North and West had been so long at peace that they needed time in which to learn war. In the South the men were more accustomed to the handling of firearms and horseback riding. Moreover, they were on the defensive, and fighting, as may be said, on inner lines.

It must not be forgotten, however, that the Union forces had saved Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri from joining the Confederacy, despite the strenuous efforts of their disunion governors and an aggressive minority in each State. Was.h.i.+ngton, which more than once had been in danger of capture, was made safe, and the loyal section of Virginia in the West was cut off and formed into a separate State. In wealth and resources the North vastly preponderated. An immense army had been raised, money was abundant, commerce thriving, the sentiment overwhelmingly in favor of the prosecution of the war, and the manufactories hummed with work made necessary by the building of hundreds of s.h.i.+ps for the navy and the furnis.h.i.+ng of supplies and equipments to the armies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ATTACK ON FORT DONELSON.

This memorable battle of February, 1862, was the first serious blow to the Confederate cause. It was also Grant's first victory of importance, and marks the beginning of his rise to fame. Fifteen thousand prisoners were taken. Grant generously allowed the Confederates to retain their personal baggage, and the officers to keep their side arms. General Buckner expressed his thanks for this chivalrous act, and later in life became Grant's personal friend.]

CHAPTER XVI.

ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.

WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1862.

Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson--Change in the Confederate Line of Defense--Capture of Island No. 10--Battle of Pittsburg Landing or s.h.i.+loh--Capture of Corinth--Narrow Escape of Louisville--Battle of Perryville--Battle of Murfreesboro' or Stone River--Battle of Pea Ridge--Naval Battle Between the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_--Fate of the Two Vessels--Capture of New Orleans--The Advance Against Richmond--McClellan's Peninsula Campaign--_The First Confederate Invasion of the North_--_Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg_--_Disastrous Union Repulse at Fredericksburg_--_Summary of the Wars Operations_--_The Confederate Privateers_--_The Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation_--_Greenbacks and Bond Issues_.

CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON.

The fighting of the second year of the war opened early. General Albert Sidney Johnston, one of the ablest leaders of the Confederacy, was in chief command in the West. The Confederate line ran through southern Kentucky, from Columbus to Mill Spring, through Bowling Green. Two powerful forts had been built in Tennessee, near the northern boundary line. One was Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and the other Fort Donelson, twelve miles away, on the c.u.mberland.

Opposed to this strong position were two Union armies, the larger, numbering 100,000, under General Don Carlos Buell, in central Kentucky, and the lesser, numbering 15,000, commanded by General U.S. Grant, at Cairo. Under Buell was General George H. Thomas, one of the finest leaders in the Union army. In January, with a division of Buell's army, he attacked the Confederates, routed and drove them into Tennessee. In the battle, General Zollicoffer, the Confederate commander, was killed.

Embarking at Cairo, General Grant steamed up the Tennessee River, intending to capture Fort Henry. Before he could do so, Commodore Andrew H. Foote, with his fleet of gunboats, compelled it to surrender, though most of the garrison escaped across the neck of land to Fort Donelson.

CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.

Upon learning that Fort Henry had fallen, Grant steamed up the c.u.mberland to attack Fort Donelson, which was reinforced until the garrison numbered some 20,000 men. It was a powerful fortification, with many rifle-pits and intrenchments on the land side, and powerful batteries commanding the river. The political General Floyd was in chief command, the right wing being under General Simon B. Buckner and the left in charge of General Gideon J. Pillow.