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lay on their arms, expecting the next rebels, troops were sent out to meet morning to renew the battle. During them, and during the 30th of Septemthe night, however, the rebels evacua- ber and the 1st and 2d of October there ted Iuka, and, though pursued actively, was constant skirmishing kept up on made good their escape to Bay Spring. both sides. On the 3d, the rebel The troops under Grant and Ord, which force was largely increased, and our left Corinth at the same time when men were driven back, with great loss, Rosecrans marched, reached Burnsville to the defences of the town. Rosecrans in the afternoon. The next day, they and his staff were on the field all night, pushed forward until they came up making final preparations to receive with the rebel pickets; but no attack the enemy, and nothing was neglected was made. The morning following, that seemed necessary to insure vicSeptember 20th, a flag of truce was tory.* sent to the rebel camp, which did not return until late in the day; and thus Grant's troops did not engage the enemy as was expected.

Having met with a repulse at Iuka, the rebels now determined to make a vigorous onset on Corinth, where were Rosecrans's headquarters, and where he was anxiously expecting their advance. Price, it was understood, had marched to the vicinity of Ripley, where he was joined by Van Dorn, with all the available troops in North Mississippi. Thence the joint force proceeded northerly, and struck the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, in Tennesse, in the rear of Corinth, at Pocahontas. There they were able to menace alike Grant, at his headquarters at Jackson, and Rosecrans at Corinth; and made their advance upon the latter place by way of the Chewalla road.

Rosecrans, who was in command at Corinth, Grant being at Jackson, and Ord at Bolivar, had made his preparations for an attack, and had so arranged his defences that if the enemy could be drawn under them he was certain of their defeat. On the approach of the

At early dawn, on Saturday, October 4th, the rebels showed themselves eager for the fight, and in the course of an hour or two the battle was begun in earnest by a force numbering nearly 40,000 men. Price led the one wing and Van Dorn the other. Price assaulted the right of our force with intense fury and determination; but so skilfully had Rosecrans arranged his batteries, and so bravely were the rebels met by our men, that Price's advance was repulsed before Van Dorn was able to come up on the left. The attempt was made to recover what was lost, and with valor worthy of a better cause Van Dorn's men strove for success; but in vain. They were beaten in the bloody struggle, and by noon of the same day began their retreat. Pursuit was undertaken as speedily as possible, the enemy taking the Chew

* Van Dorn, it seems, like Pope, (p. 213) was rash

enough on Friday evening, to send a dispatch to Richmond, announcing a glorious victory, before the battle was ended. Pollard finds it hard to excuse "an exultation so hasty and extreme." He is also very

severe on "the blind and romantic generalship, which

carried them (the rebels) into the jaws of destruction.” "Second Year of the War," pp. 164–167.

CH. XXI.J

WASHBURN'S AND DICKEY'S EXPEDITIONS.

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alla road, purposing to cross the Tus-out who destroyed several bridges, and cumbia River, near Pocahontas. A the telegraph wires, on the Mississippi detachment sent forward to protect the Hatchie River bridge, two miles from that across the Tuscumbia, was attack ed on the 4th, the day of the battle, by cur troops under Ord and Hurlbut, and defeated.

Our losses in this hotly contested battle were severe, viz.: 315 killed, 1,812 wounded, and 232 prisoners; the rebel loss was much greater, Rosecrans estimating it at some 5,000 to 6,000.

1862.

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After this second battle at Corinth, the troops returned to their respective positions. No immediate advance into Mississippi was undertaken by Grant, he being content to keep open his communications with Columbus, and hold his positions at Jackson and Bolivar in Western Tennessee. At the beginning of December, he took possession of Holly Springs, on the Mississippi Central Railroad, and advanced some miles beyond to confront Van Dorn, on the Tallahatchie River. To co-operate with this movement and to act on the rebel flank, an expedition set out from Helena, Arkansas, Nov. 27th, under command of Gen. A. P. Hovey, consisting of about 6,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. The latter, commanded by Gen. C. C. Washburn, crossed the low alluvial bottom land from Delta, below Helena, on the Mississippi, and reached the Tallahatchie River at its junction with the Coldwater, the evening of the next day. Having construct ed a bridge across the Tallahatchie, he pushed on towards Grenada, and early on Nov. 30th, was at Preston, sixteen miles from Grenada. Parties were sent

VOL. IV.-29.

and Tennessee, and the Mississippi and Central Railroad. At Mitchell's Crossroads he received a reinforcement from Gen. Hovey of about 1,200 men and four pieces of artillery. A few days after, he fell in with a body of Texan cavalry at Oakland, and captured a number of prisoners, horses, arms, etc. Here he received a dispatch from Hovey, recalling him to Helena, whither he returned, having in six days marched 200 miles in a hostile country, surrounded by enemies.

About the middle of December, another cavalry expedition was undertaken by Col. T. L. Dickey, by Grant's order, against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. It was equally successful with that by Washburn, and to use Dickey's words, "we marched about 200 miles, worked two days at the railroad, captured about 150 prisoners, destroyed thirty-four miles of important railroad and a large amount of public stores of the enemy, and returned, passing round an enemy of nine to our one, without having a man killed, wounded or captured."

Grant did not press the pursuit of the rebels beyond Grenada, in consequence of the bad roads and difficulty of getting supplies. The rebels, how ever, found means of annoying him, by attacks on his long line of communication through Western Tennessee to Columbus. Towards the end of December, they made successful raids upon various points, Holly Springs, Davis's Mills, in the vicinity of Jackson, Tennessee, and upon Humboldt and Tren

ton. At Holly Springs, pillaging and plundering were the order of the day, and to the utter disgrace of Van Dorn and his men, the armory hospital was burned, and the sick and wounded treated with shocking cruelty.

The principal effect of these attacks was to keep Grant within the borders

of Tennessee. Unacquainted with the peculiar difficulties in his way, public expectation had looked for the immediate reduction of Vicksburg; but that was a more serious matter than was contemplated, and was not brought about till the middle of the following summer.

CHAPTER XXII.

1862.

LEE'S INVASION OF MARYLAND: BATTLES OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN AND ANTIETAM.

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State of affairs after Pope's exit - McClellan called on to fill the gap- Enters on command - Lee resolves to invade Maryland - His army crosses the Potomac - Enter Frederick - Course pursued - Lee's address to the people of Maryland - How received - Miserable condition of the rebel army -Apprehensions - Action of governors of Maryland and Pennsylvania-McClellan sets out from Washington after Lee-Enters Frederick on 12th of September - Harper's Ferry held by Halleck's orders - Exposed condition Jackson sent to capture it Lee's order falls into McClellan's hands— Active movements in consequence-Feeble defence of Harper's Ferry - Invested by Jackson and captured — The surrender severely censured as disgracefulMovement in advance to cross South Mountain - Conflict in forcing Turner's Gap and Crampton's Pass — Lee takes position on Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg Judiciously chosen - Preparations for the battle -Action of the 16th and 17th of September-Burnside's failure to move forward in time — Length and severity of the battle - Heavy loss - McClellan does not renew the attack on the 18th - Lee retires to Virginia Invasion of Maryland a failure - McClellan's and Lee's congratulatory addresses to their armies.

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ally suited to the emergency, except McClellan. For he, however the direc tors of military operations at Washington may have acted towards him, however much also he may have failed to accomplish what was expected of him, was certainly immensely popular with the army. If any man could rouse them afresh, and nerve them to a spirited renewal of the contest against the rebels, now flushed with victory and threatening to carry fire and sword into the loyal states, it was McClellan; and, therefore, the president and his advis ers turned to him in their present perplexities and trials. It deserves to be

CH. XXII.]

LEE ENTERS FREDERICK, MARYLAND.

remembered, to McClellan's credit, that be promptly met the call of the government, and devoted his best energies to the important work before him.

Halleck, on the night of the 31st of August, wrote to McClellan, in camp at Alexandria, entreating his help: "I beg of you to assist me in this crisis, with your ability and experience. I am entirely tired out." On the 2d of Sep. tember, the president and Halleck called upon McClellan, then in Washington, and placing before him the fact that Pope's army was in full retreat, that the road was filled with stragglers, etc., required of him to take command of the fortifications, and of all the troops for the defence of the capital. This he at once did, and endeavored as rapidly as possible to restore the morale of the troops, by effective drilling and disciplining for service against the rebels at the earliest moment.

The success of Lee in routing Pope, as he did, seems to have persuaded the rebel authorities that it would be safe and wise to seize the present moment for invading, or, as they called it, delivering Maryland. When Lee left Richmond there was no purpose of the kind had in view, for it could hardly have been imagined what a termination of the campaign would be made by Pope, and how completely, by the

abandonment of the Peninsula added to this, the way would be open for an advance into the loyal states. But the opportunity was now at hand, and though it was something of a venture, still Lee acted with promptitude and decision. He had his choice, either to make an assault upon Washington, or

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to cross the Potomac higher up, and so invade Maryland. The former was not to be thought of, as being entirely beyond Lee's capacity. He accordingly adopted the other alternative. Having advanced from Leesburg to the river, on the 4th of September, he managed, in two or three days, to cross his troops by fords near Point of Rocks.*

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The advance of Lee's army, under Hill, skirting the eastern slope of Catoctin Mountains, marched toward Frederick, the capital of the state, a town of some importance, forty-four miles northwest of Washington, and sixty west of Baltimore. Much alarm was felt in Frederick, and many of the inhabitants hastily departed; the rebel troops, however, quietly entered the town and took possession on the 6th of September. Col. B. T. Johnson, a strong Maryland sympathizer in the rebel army, was appointed provostmarshal, to maintain order and to keep the hungry and ragged invaders within due bounds. Foraging parties were sent out for live stock and provisions, and large purchases were made of drugs, shoes, clothing and other articles, from shopkeepers of the town; but to the tradesmen's infinite disgust, payment was made in the worthless confederate

* The rebel Congress, on the 12th of September, brilliant victory, but also for his "masterly movement" in crossing the Potomac. Most of the members were

praised Gen. Lee in the highest terms not only for his

filled with lofty expectations as to what was to be ac

complished by Lee, and Jackson's opinion was quoted as decidedly in favor of an invasion of the North (see p. 150). Here and there a member pointed out the im

policy and danger of an attempted invasion; it was also noted that the entering Kentucky for a similar purpose turned out a failure (see p. 222); but remon

strance and argument were of no avail. Aggression was voted, 63 to 15.

currency. Beyond this compulsory traffic there appears to have been little if any violation of the ordinary rights and privileges of the inhabitants.

Anxious to conciliate, and acting on the baseless theory that the people of Maryland were desirous to join secession and rebellion, Lee, on the 8th of September, issued an address to the inhabitants of that state. It was well and temperately written, and appealed to the Marylanders to throw off tyranny, to regain their rights in connection with their southern brethren, and to secure, by his aid, their ancient freedom of thought and speech. Col. Johnson also begged the people to enlist at once, and stated that he had arms in abundance for instant use.

1862.

When the invasion became a settled fact, there was much apprehension lest the rebels should advance to the east toward Baltimore, to seize upon the city with the aid of sympathizing insurgents, and cut off Washing ton from its northern communications; there was also a rumor of a probable attempt on the Central Railroad, and movement up the Cumberland Valley into Pennsylvania. Governor Bradford issued a proclamation, calling upon the citizens to enroll themselves in voluntary military organizations of infantry and cavalry to meet the emergency. General Wool, also, in command at Baltimore, gave earnest attention to defensive preparations against a possible advance of Lee's army.

mediately for its defence, and be ready for marching orders at an hour's notice The people freely responded to the call upon them, and hastened in great numbers to Harrisburg. The danger, in fact, appeared nearly equal to Pennsylvania and Maryland, as the rebel army, unless speedily checked, might strike either at Harrisburg or Baltimore.

The invitations of Lee, though In Pennsylvania, Governor Curtin, smoothly and temptingly expressed, warned of impending danger by the were treated with almost entire indiffer- rumored approach of the rebels to ence by the people of Maryland. There Hagerstown, called out all the ablewas no uprising, no enthusiastic recep-bodied men of the state to organize im. tion of the deliverers, no disposition to cast in their lot with Jeff. Davis and his company. As a whole, the state was unquestionably loyal, and adhered to the Union from motives of principle more than those of interest. In addition to all this, the miserably squalid, filthy condition of the troops under Lee did not tend to recommend them or the professed object of their coming. It was enough to "smell" them, as a gentleman in Frederick said, to settle the matter. Barefooted, scant in clothing, and with plenty of vermin on their persons, they certainly offered small inducement for any one to enlist in their ranks, however good they might be at hard fighting.

In this position of affairs, McClellan made his arrangements to follow Lee, and if possible defeat his probable purpose in entering Maryland. Uncertain as to the rebel general's intentions, McClellan moved cautiously from Wash ington. Gen. Banks was placed in command of the defences at the capital.

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