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CH. IX.]

GRANT MADE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.

ruled alternately an uninstructed enthusiasm and a purblind pedantry."

A change seemed to be imperatively called for; and whether it was Halleck's fault or not, it was a settled fact, in the judgment of the people, that there must be a new head to the army; a "live" head, as the phrase was, one able to grasp the situation fully and firmly, and possessing comprehensive and administrative ability sufficient to regu late, control, and direct to the one great result, the vast military power in the hands of the government for crushing the rebellion. Gen. Grant, who had been unusually successful in his career in the West, and who seemed to be possessed of very high qualifications for the important duties of commander in chief, was fixed upon by popular consent as the man for the existing emergency. Congress and the president eagerly ratified this conviction of the people. Grant had been made a majorgeneral in the regular army, July 4th, 1863; and in order to place him in the rank above all others, and meet all the demands of military etiquette, there was revived the grade of lieutenant-general. The bill passed by Congress for this purpose was approved by Mr. Lincoln, February 29th; he immediately nominated Gen. Grant, who was confirmed by the Senate on the 2d of March, 1864, and thus elevated to the rank which Washington alone had ever held in the army of the United States.

421

tire cabinet, Gen. Rawlins, Grant's chief of staff, Gen. Halleck, and a few others, bestowed the high commission upon Grant. His address was brief and dig. nified, fully recognizing the solemnity of the occasion:

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1864.

Gen.

"GEN. GRANT,The nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains to be done in the existing great struggle, is now presented with this commission, constituting you lieutenant-general in the army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. scarcely need to add, that, with what I here speak for the nation, goes my own hearty personal concurrence." Grant, in simple but pertinent language, replied, as follows: "MR. PRESIDENT: -I accept the commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expec tations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving upon me ; and I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men."

The day following, March 10th, by special order of the president, Grant was "appointed to the command of the Grant was summoned to Washington armies of the United States." On the to receive his commission as lieutenant- 11th of March, he returned to Nashgeneral and arrived on the 8th of March. ville, Tenn., and on the 12th, the order The next day, in the executive chamber, was issued by the war department, re the president, in the presence of the en-organizing the chief military commands

for the ensuing campaign. Halleck was made chief of staff of the army, under the direction of the secretary of war and the lieut.-general commanding. Sherman was assigned to the command of the military division, composed of the department of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Arkansas. McPherson was assigned to the command of the department and Army of the Tennessee.

On the 17th of March, at Nashville, Grant issued an order, in which he said: “I assume command of the armies of the United States. My headquarters will be in the field, and until further orders will be with the Army of the Potomac. There will be an officers' headquarters in Washington, to which all official communications will be sent, except those from the army where headquarters are at the date of this address." Two days later, Grant left Nashville for Washington, and proceeded thence to the Army of the Potomac, to prepare for active measures at the earliest moment.

were far inferior to ours; but as an offset to this, we had a vast territory, with a population hostile to the government, to garrison, and long lines of river and railroad communication to protect, to enable us to supply the operating armies.

1864.

"The armies of the East and West acted independently and without con cert, like a balky team, no two ever pulling together, enabling the enemy to use to great advantage his interior lines of communication for transporting troops from East to West, reinforcing the army most vigorously pressed, and to furlough large num bers, during seasons of inactivity on our part, to go to their homes and do the work of producing, for the support of their armies. It was a question whether our numerical strength and resources were not more than balanced by these disadvantages and the enemy's superior position.

"From the first, I was firm in the conviction that no peace could be had that would be stable and conducive to At this point the reader will be in- the happiness of the people, both North terested in having the lieut.-general's and South, until the military power of views upon the great question at issue, the rebellion was entirely broken. I as well as upon the steps necessary to therefore determined, first, to use the be taken in so grave an emergency. greatest number of troops practicable We quote from the beginning of his against the armed force of the enemy; official report, made in July, 1865. preventing him from using the same "From an early period in the rebellion force at different seasons against first I had been impressed with the idea one and then another of our armies, and that active and continuous operations the possibility of repose for refitting and of all the troops that could be brought producing necessary supplies for carryinto the field, regardless of season and ing on resistance. Second, to hammer weather, were necessary to a speedy continuously against the armed force of termination of the war. The resources the enemy and his resources, until by of the enemy and his numerical strength mere attrition, if in no other way, there

CH. IX.]

POSITION OF MILITARY AFFAIRS.

should be nothing left to him but an equal submission with the loyal section of our common country to the Constitution and laws of the land."

423

1864.

nooga, a small foothold had been ob tained in Georgia, sufficient to protect East Tennessee from incursions from the enemy's force at Dalton, Georgia. In connection with these statements, West Virginia was substantially within it is important to notice the situation our lines. Virginia, with the exception of of the loyal forces at this date, as well the northern border, the Potomac River, as of those in array against them. The a small area about the mouth of Mississippi River was strongly garri- the James River, covered by the soned by our troops from St. Louis, troops at Norfolk and Fort Monroe, and Missouri, to its mouth. The line of the the territory covered by the Army of Arkansas was also held, which gave us the Potomac lying along the Rapidan, possession of all west of the Mississippi was in the possession of the enemy. and north of the Arkansas. A few Along the sea-coast footholds had points were held in Southern Louisiana, been obtained at Plymouth, Washand there was a small garrison at the ington, and Newbern, in North Carmouth of the Rio Grande. All the olina; Beaufort, Folly, and Morris balance of the vast territory of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas was in possession of the rebels, who numbered in the field not less probably than 80,000 effective men, and could, had occasion required, have brought them all into active service against our forces. But, in Grant's opinion, "the let-alone policy had demoralized this force of the rebels so much, that probably little more than one-half of it was ever present in garrison at any one time. The one-half, however, or 40,000 men, with the bands of guerrillas scattered through Missouri, Arkansas, and along the Mississippi River, and the disloyal character of much of the population, compelled the use of a large number of troops to keep navigation open on the river, and to protect the loyal people to the west of it. To the east of the Mississippi we held substantially with the line of the Tennessee and Holston Rivers, running eastward to include nearly all of the state of Tennessee. South of Chatta

Islands, Hilton Head, Fort Pulaski, and Port Royal, in South Carolina; Fernandina and St. Augustine, in Florida. Key West and Pensacola were also in our possession, while all the important ports were blockaded by our navy." Bands of guerrillas behind our lines and a population largely disaffected and hostile, made it necessary to guard every foot of road or river used in supplying our armies. And as military despotism prevailed in the South, to which we have before referred, every man and boy of eighteen was made a soldier, (p. 259), and the rebels were able to bring into the field their entire strength; conscious, as they were, that the last great struggle was at hand, and that if they did not succeed now in their ambitious designs, the so-called "Confederacy" would be swept away for ever.

Grant, immediately on assuming command of all the armies of the Uni ted States, directed a re-organization of

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