ment, both from General Rains and from the residents along the route. Such is the statement of several of our men. General Rains ordered an entire flock of sheep to be given to them, and there was no time lost in apportionment or appropriation. The inhabitants also liberally gave them provisions. Waggons were provided for those unable to walk, either from wounds or fatigue, and the whole party thus came through with extraordinary expedition."*

Another incident exhibited the feeling of the people thus invaded. An eye-witness of the whole affair says "I saw one case that shows the confederate style of fighting. An old Texan, dressed in buckskin, and armed with a long rifle, used to go up to the works every morning about seven o'clock, carrying his dinner in a tin pail. Taking a good position behind a stump or a bush, he banged away at the federals till noon; then rested an hour; ate his dinner; after which he resumed operations till 6 P.M., when he returned home to supper and a night's sleep. The next day, a little before seven, saw him, dinner and rifle in hand, trudging up street to begin again his regular day's work; and in this style he continued till the surrender."+

The campaign in Missouri continued with varied success, the operations sometimes resulting favourably to the confederate, at others to the federal side. The capture of Lexington had thrown a halo of triumph over the troops of General Price; but, at this stage, he found himself suddenly arrested in his progress by the retrograde movements of the confederate forces under Generals Pillow and Hardee, both of which had been withdrawn from the state. General M'Culloch, also, had retired to Arkansas; and thus Price was left, with his comparatively trifling force, to sustain the pressure of a federal army 70,000 strong, and, at the same time, almost destitute of ammunition. This exigency was aggravated by the refusal of General M'Culloch to furnish an escort for the train from Jackson's Port, Arkansas, that was to bring a supply, and, eventually, by his stopping the transit altogether. Under such circumstances, General Price had no alternative but to make a retrograde movement, even in the midst of victory, or to allow himself to be surrounded by a formidable enemy.

* Document 33-Rebellion Record, vol. iii., p. 74. † Ibid., p. 76.

Unfortunately, when he had determined upon this movement for the safety of his army, he had no means of transport for the greater portion of his troops, and no choice left but to disband a considerable portion of his forces, advising those who could not remain with him, to take care of their arms, and hold themselves ever ready to obey his summons once more to the battle-field.

The movements of General Fremont encouraged Price to attack him; the confederate general being determined not to abandon Missouri without a battle. But at the very moment when his gallant band were anticipating victory, intelligence reached the camp that the federal commander had been superseded, and that it was deemed necessary to withdraw the Union troops from their advantageous position at Springfield. They were harassed during their retreat by the confederate troops, and sustained serious loss at Occola. Priee then again fell back to Springfield for forage and supplies, and, for the present, terminated his campaign in Missouri.

The hostile operations on both sides assumed a desultory and fitful character during the remainder of the year, no event of any real importance occurring to give a decided preponderance to either of the combatants. A spirited engagement near Leesburg, in October, dispelled the monotony of the war at this juncture, and added fresh lustre to the arms of the confederates.

The federal troops, under General Stone, were directed to cross the Potomac on the 20th of October, and drive the secession troops out of Virginia. The army crossed in two divisions-the one commanded by Colonel Devins, at Harrison's Island, equidistant from Edward's Ferry and from Leesburg: the other division, under Colonel Baker-who assumed the command of all the federal troops on the Virginia side of the river-crossed at Conrad's Ferry; the whole force being between seven and eight thousand strong. To meet these, there was the brigade of General Evans, which had distinguished itself in the decisive victory at Bull-Run, consisting of four regiments in position at Goose Creek: a division consisting of four companies of the Mississippi regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Jenifer, watched the approach of the enemy in the direction of Leesburg. A Virginia regiment, under Colonel

Hunton, was afterwards sent to the support of the Mississippians; and, about noon, both divisions were hotly engaged in strife with the invaders.

*

As the latter were able to send continual reinforcements to the troops, General Evans saw the necessity for bringing the contest to an issue before his brigade had become exhausted. He therefore directed Colonel Featherstone to hasten with his regiment to the support of Colonel Burt, who had become hard pressed by the enemy, and the action was continued with unabated vigour for more than two hours. At length the federals were pushed nearer the banks of the river; and their commander, Colonel Baker, having fallen, Evans seized the opportune moment, and ordered the final charge. The narrative already referred to, says of this incident of the day "The rout of the enemy near the bluffs of the Potomac was appalling. The crossing of the river had gone on until 7,500 men, according to the report of General Stone, were thrown across it. Some of these never saw the field of battle. They had to climb the mud of the bluff, dragging their dismounted guns after them before they could reach the field, expecting to find there a scene of victory. The difficult ascent led them to a horrible Golgotha. The forces that had been engaged in front were already in retreat; behind them rolled the river, deep and broad, which many of them were never to repass; before them glared the foe. The spectacle was that of a whole army retreating-tumbling, rolling, leaping down the steep heights; the enemy following them, killing and taking prisoners. The one boat in the channel between the Virginian shore and the island, was speedily filled with the fugitives. Hundreds plunged into the raging current; and the shrieks of the drowning added to the horror of sounds and sights. The last act of the tragedy was the most sickening and appalling of them all: a flat boat, on returning to the island, was laden with the mangled, the weary, and the dying. The quick and the dead were huddled together in one struggling, mingled mass; and all went down together in that doleful river, never again to rise."

An attempt by the federals, under Generals Grant and M'Clernand, upon a confederate force under General Polk, at Belmont, a village on the Missouri shore, on

the 7th of November, was attended with results equally disastrous to the troops of the Union; and, after an engagement of some duration, which, at one time, appeared likely to end in the defeat of the confederates, the critical moment was seized by Polk, who had brought reinforcements from Columbus; and he ordered that the enemy should be driven into the river. The order was obeyed with enthusiasm : the federals gave way, and the pursuit was continued until the retreat became a rout. The loss of the confederates in this affair, amounted, in killed, wounded, and missing, to 632; that of the federals was estimated at treble the number. A proposition of General Polk to the federal General Grant, for an exchange of prisoners upon this occasion, was rejected by the latter, who refused to recognise a southern confederacy.

On the same day the affair of Belmont was decided, an attack was made, by a fleet of the United States, upon Forts Walker and Beauregard, at the entrance of the harbour of Port Royal. The fight continued for five hours before the batteries were silenced, and the Union flag again floated over the soil of South Carolina.

On the 31st of October, General Scott announced his resignation of the command of the United States' army, upon the ground of advanced age and infirmity; and, on the following day, the same was formally accepted by the president of the United States. The veteran was succeeded by General M'Clellan. General Fremont having, about the same time, signed an agreement with General Price, of the confederate army, for an exchange of prisoners of war (with a stipulation that, in future, none others than men actually engaged in warfare should be arrested), was, on the 2nd of November, relieved of his command in Missouri, General Hunter being appointed to succeed him.

It was about the 8th of November, 1861, that the affair of the Trent very nearly led to a rupture between the United States' government and that of Great Britain. The occurrence was as follows:-The British mail steamer, Trent, on her homeward voyage, having called at the Bahamas for mails, &c., was overhauled by the United States' steam-ship of war, San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, in the Bahama channel, and searched. On board the mail steamer, and under the protection of its flag, were Messrs.

southern states to the governments of France and England; who, with their suites and families, were proceeding to Europe. The two gentlemen, and their secretaries, were forcibly removed from the British ship to the San Jacinto, and conveyed as prisoners to a port in the United States. The occurrence gave occasion for a vast display of exultation on the one side, and of indignation on the other; but the abducted commissioners having been restored to liberty, and forwarded to Europe, upon the demand of the British government, the affair ended with the mere expenditure of some diplomatic correspondence; and the amicable relations of the Russell and Seward cabinets remained unaltered. It was not, however, to the pacific influence of Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, that this consummation was arrived at; as, on the 16th of December, that gentleman proposed a resolution for the adoption of congress, eulogistic of the conduct of Captain Wilkes, and urging the president "to approve and adopt the act in spite of any menace or demand of the British government." It is curious to trace subsequent events in connection with this gentleman.

The island of Roanoke, situate between the sounds of Croatan and Roanoke, was, on the surrender of forts Hatteras and Clarke, only secondary, as a defensive position, to Fortress Monroe: it became the key which unlocked all north-eastern North Carolina to the federals, and, consequently, exposed Portsmouth and Norfolk to imminent danger. Such being its importance, it was very soon threatened by one of the most formidable naval armaments yet fitted out by the north, which was placed under the command of General Burnside, of Rhode Island; while, at the same time, its means of protection from attack seem to have been wholly inadequate, either by land or water, to resist the force brought to bear against it; which consisted of seven armed vessels, and thirty gunboats and schooners, conveying from 15,000 to 20,000 men. The confederate force on the island amounted to less than 2,000.

The same neglect that had left the island without defensive works, had also prevented the arrival of sufficient means of transport for the troops, in case the evacuation of the island should become necessary. The consequence followed, that when the officer in command, Colonel Shaw, after being driven from his defences, retired

to the northern end of the island, intending to cross with his whole force, no transports were at hand to receive it. He had, therefore, to choose between sacrificing his few troops in a hopeless and unequal struggle, or surrendering them as prisoners of war; and he resolved upon the latter course. The loss of the federals, in this unequal contest, was officially reported as fifty killed, and 222 wounded. The southern returns of the confederate loss, gave twentythree killed, fifty-eight wounded, and sixtytwo missing; the remainder of the force became prisoners of war. The Union general claimed 2,527 prisoners of all ranks, 3,500 stand of arms, more than seventyfive tons of ammunition, and other matériel of war.

One of the most extraordinary incidents of the war, and which, in degree, took it out of all parallel with modern warfare, occurred in December, 1861. Desiring to strike a blow at the capital of the south from which it could never recover, the federal government resolved upon the destruction of the harbour of Charleston, by sinking at its entrance a whole fleet of vessels laden with granite. Accordingly, on the 17th of December, sixteen ships, varying in tonnage from 270 to 500 tons, deeply laden with the blocks, sailed from Port Royal, under convoy; and having arrived at their destination, proceeded with their vindictive purpose. The whole of the ships were sunk in the main channel, across the bar; and, on the 20th of the month, the commander of the fleet wrote"The work of the expedition is a complete success: the bar is paved with granite, and the harbour a thing of the past."*

An

In February, 1862, Fort Donalson, situate on a high bluff of Cumberland river, and, in a military sense, the key to Nashville, was invested by a federal force of some 40,000 men, under the command of General Grant. The possession of this fort was of the highest importance, as, from it, Nashville could be reached in a few hours. ticipating the probability of an attack in this quarter, General Pillow had been ordered to proceed thither, and take the command; and, by his energy and tact, the works were quickly got into as good a state of defence as circumstances permitted. The armament of the batteries consisted of thirteen guns, of various calibres; but the site of the fortification was untenable on the *Rebellion Record, vol. iii., p. 508.

In the course of the destruction of the navy-yard at Norfolk, shortly after the war broke out, the steam-frigate Merrimac had been burnt out, sank, and her engines greatly damaged. As, however, the bottom of the hull, boilers, and the heavy and costly parts of the engine were but little injured, it was proposed, of them, to construct a casemated vessel, with inclined iron-plated sides, and submerged ends. This plan of submerging the ends of the ship, and the eaves of the casement, was the peculiar and destructive feature of the new ship, and had never before been adopted in naval architecture. The novel construction was named the Virginia; and, besides that vessel, which carried ten guns, the confederate squadron in the James river, under the command of Flag-officer Franklin Buchanan, consisted of the steamer Patrick Henry, twelve guns; steamer Jamestown, two guns; and three gunboats-the Teazer, Beaufort, and Raleigh each carrying one gun: making, in the whole, twenty-seven pieces of ordnance of various calibre.

About an hour before noon, on the morning of the 8th of March, the Virginia, accompanied by the Raleigh and Beaufort gun-boats, left the navy-yard at Norfolk, and proceeded to Newport News, for the purpose of engaging the federal frigates, Cumberland and Congress. At this time the latter vessel was lying close to the batteries at Newport News, but a little below them. As the Virginia passed the Congress, she gave her a broadside, which was returned with little effect on the other side. Standing rapidly on for the Cumberland, which Buchanan had determined. to sink with the prow of his ship, the jeers and bravado of the federal ship's crew were distinctly heard on board the iron-clad; but the amusement was suddenly interrupted by a discharge from the Virginia's bow gun, which swept from one end of the Cumberland's deck to the other, and carried carnage through the ship. In a few minutes after, the Virginia struck her on her starboard bow, and, in fifteen minutes, the Cumberland sunk with all hands on board, her guns being fought to the last, and her flag still flying at the peak.

lowered, and replaced by white flags at the gaft and half-inast, and another at the main. A great part of the crew took to the boats, and escaped on shore; and, in consequence of the treacherous conduct of those remaining on board, and of the shore forts, which opened fire while the white flags were yet flying, the Congress was destroyed by hot shot and incendiary shell. The explosion of the magazine was of terrific effect. At this juncture, the federal steamfrigates, Minnesota and Roanoke, and the sailing frigate St. Lawrence, came up from Old Point, and opened fire upon the Virginia, but without any serious effect. The Minnesota soon grounded in the north channel, and at nightfall the Virginia anchored off Sewell's Point.

The next morning (Sunday) the work of death was resumed; but the federal ships, Roanoke and St. Lawrence, had retreated to Old Point during the night, their place being supplied by the Monitor (Ericson battery), which had come up to assist the Minnesota. As day broke, the latter vessel was observed, with two tugs alongside to assist her off. The evolutions of the Monitor were wonderful, and the rapidity of her movements excited the admiration of those who would gladly have destroyed her. The fire from the Virginia continued without interruption; and at length a shot, well directed upon one of the tugs, decided the fate of the vessel it had been sent to aid. A great white column ascended from the gallant ship: the boiler of one of the tugs had been exploded by a shot, and death and carnage covered the deck of the Minnesota.