網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

GEN. HALLECK'S APPROACHES TO CORINTH.

71

and the killed and wounded in Pren- | increased by accessions from various tiss's, McClernand's, and Lew. Wal-quarters to a little over 100,000 men. lace's divisions-the latter known to be very light—and our actual losses in these two days' desperate conflict can hardly have been less than 15,000 men; and it is probable that Beauregard's, including the skulkers who here saw enough of fighting and never rejoined their regiments, was barely, if any thing, less than this."

The victory was clearly ours; for we had the field and the dead; but the losses were fairly equalized, while the Rebels had the spoil of our camps -though they could carry off but little of it—and the prisoners.

Maj. Gen. Halleck, commanding the Department of the Mississippi, left St. Louis directly after receiving news of the Shiloh battles," and reached Pittsburg Landing by steamboat two or three days thereafter. Meantime, and for weeks following, no attempt was made against the Rebel army at Corinth; and, though Gen. Pope arrived from Missouri on the 22d, with a rëenforcement of 25,000 men, even Monterey was not occupied by us till the 1st of May, when Gen. Halleck's army had been

**** An Impressed New-Yorker," writing of the retreat from this Rebel victory, says:

I

"I made a detour from the road on which the army was retreating, that I might travel faster and get ahead of the main body. In this ride of twelve miles alongside of the routed army, saw more of human agony and woe than I trust I will ever again be called to witness. The retreating host wound along a narrow and almost impassable road, extending some seven or eight miles in length. Here was a long line of wagons loaded with wounded, piled in like bags of grain, groaning and cursing; while the mules plunged on in mud and water belly-deep, the water sometimes coming into the wagons. Next came a straggling regiment of infantry, pressing on past the train of wagons; then a stretcher borne upon the shoulders of four men, carrying a wounded officer; then soldiers staggering along, with an arm broken and hanging down, or other!

All this time, and afterward, Gen. Beauregard industriously strengthened his works, covering Corinth with an irregular semicircle of intrenchments, 15 miles long, and well-mounted with artillery; destroying the roads and bridges beyond, and blocking the approaches with abatis. Gen. Halleck saw fit not to flank these formidable defenses, but to overcome them by regular and necessarily slow approaches, involving constant and mutual artillery practice and picket fighting, with very little loss; three weeks of which brought our nearest batteries within three miles of Corinth." A reconnoissance under Gen. Paine to Farmington," five miles N. W. of Corinth, had brought on a skirmish, in which he took 200 prisoners, striking the Charleston and Memphis Railroad at Glendale, three miles farther, and partially destroying it; while the Ohio road was in like manner broken at Purdy.

Col. Elliott, with two regiments of cavalry, was dispatched on the night of the 27th to flank Corinth and cut the railroad south of it, so as to intercept the enemy's supplies.

He

fearful wounds, which were enough to destroy life. And, to add to the horrors of the scene, the elements of heaven marshaled their forcesa fitting accompaniment of the tempest of human desolation and passion which was raging. A cold, drizzling rain commenced about nightfall,

and soon came harder and faster, then turned to pitiless, blinding hail. This storm raged with unrelenting violence for three hours. I passed long wagon-trains filled with wounded and dying soldiers, without even a blanket to shield them from the driving sleet and hail, which fell in stones as large as partridge-eggs, until it lay on the ground two inches deep.

"Some 300 men died during that awful rotreat, and their bodies were thrown out to make room for others who, although wounded, had struggled on through the storm, hoping to find shelter, rest, and medical care.”

[merged small][ocr errors]

"April 19, 1862. TO May 21.

71

"May 21.

struck it on the 30th, at Booneville, | had taken, with 159 prisoners, two

24 miles from Corinth, in the midst of an unexpected retreat of the Rebel army, which had commenced on the 26th. Beauregard had held Corinth so long as possible against Halleck's overwhelming force, and had commenced its evacuation by sending off a part of his sick and wounded. Elliott captured 20 cars, laden with small arms, ammunition, stores, baggage, &c., with some hundreds of Confederate sick, whom he paroled, burning the engine and trains. The evacuation was completed during the night of the 20th; the Rebel musketry-firing having ceased at 9 a. M. of the preceding day. Explosions and fires during the night gave plain intimations of the enemy's departure; so that some of our officers in the advance rode safely into town at 6 next morning, and reported no enemy present. Piles of provisions were found in flames, and one full warehouse undamaged; but never a gun. Beauregard retreated to Tupelo, pursued by Gen. Pope so far as Baldwin and Guntown, but without material results. Our army was disposed along the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; which, by the falling of the Tennessee to a Summer stage, had become its line of supply.

hours before. Thus provided, he had uncontested possession of 100 miles of the Memphis and Charleston road before night, or from Stevenson on the east to Decatur on the west; seizing five more locomotives at Stevenson, and pushing on so far west as Tuscumbia, whence he sent an expedition so far south as Russelville, Ala., capturing and appropriating Confederate property on all hands, without the loss of a life. He took" Bridgeport, Ala., with a force of five regiments, by striking rapidly and attacking from a quarter whence he was not looked for, driving out a force nearly equal in number to his own, with a loss of 72 killed and wounded, 350 prisoners, and 2 guns; while his own loss was inconsiderable. He was soon compelled, by the gathering of Rebel forces around him, to abandon Tuscumbia and all south of the Tennessee, burning the railroad bridges at Decatur and Bridgeport, but holding firmly and peaceably all of Alabama north of that river. Had he been even moderately rëenforced, he would have struck and probably could have destroyed the great Rebel armories and founderics in Georgia, or have captured Chattanooga; which was assailed," under his orders, by Gen. Negley, who was driven off by a Rebel force under Gen. E. Kirby Smith. Mitchel's activity and energy poorly qualified him for a subordinate position under Buell; so he was transferred, in June, to the command at Port Royal, S. C., where he died." Gen. Halleck was likewise summoned" from the West to serve as General-in-Chief at Washington, leaving Grant in command at Corinth. 7 July 23.

Gen. O. M. Mitchel, with a division of Buell's army, had left Nashville simultaneously with his commander, but by a more easterly route, advancing through Murfreesboro', Shelbyville, Fayetteville, to Huntsville, Ala., which he surprised at daylight," capturing 17 locomotives and a large number of passenger and freight-cars, beside a train which he Gen. "April 9. 13 April 29.

14 June 6.

15 Oct. 20.

GEN. BURNSIDE AT HATTERAS INLET.

73

IV.

BURNSIDE IN NORTH CAROLINA.

GEN. AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE and | tle still deeper in the sand, until she Com. L. M. Goldsborough led an became a perfect wreck-her masts expedition, which had in good part and smoke-stack cut away, her crew, been fitted out in New York, and with life-preservers tied about them, which left Fortress Monroe at the lashed to the rigging to save themopening of the year; and, doub- selves from being washed overboard ling Cape Henry, moved southward by each succeeding billow; and at to Hatteras Inlet, whose defenses had last, after an endurance of 12 to 15 been quietly held by our troops since hours, the raging sea began to lift their capture by Gen. Butler and the deck from the hull with every Com, Stringham five months before." surge. Ere this, her fires had been The naval part of this expedition con- extinguished, her boats, all but one, sisted of 31 steam gunboats, mount-filled or stove, and her men utterly ing 94 guns; the military of about exhausted by long fasting and expo11,500 men, mainly from New Eng- sure to the cold waves which broke land, organized in three brigades, un- over them continually; while no atder Gens. Foster, Reno, and Parke, tention was paid from the fleet to and embarked with their material on their signal of distress, or even their some 30 to 40 steam transports. The hail to the S. R. Spaulding, which van of the expedition reached the passed out to sea. At length, two entrance of the Inlet on the 13th; mechanics, W. H. and Charles A. when it was found that, though care Beach, of Newark, N. J., launched had been taken to select or obtain the yawl, and, aided by engineer gunboats of such draft as could read- Wm. Miller, steward Geo. Mason, ily be worked over the bar at high and Hugh McCabe, fireman, pulled water, yet a large proportion of the successfully through the surf, over the transports, through the incompetence bar, to the fleet, whence boats were or dishonesty of those employed to at once dispatched to take off the reprocure them, were of such draft as mainder of the crew, who were speedrendered them totally unfit for this ily rescued. The vessel and cargo service. Of these, the propeller City were totally lost; as were the steam of New York, 600 tons, heavily laden gunboat Zouave, the transports Louwith rifles, ammunition, tents, bed- isiana and Pocahontas, and two or ding, and forage, and drawing 16 feet three others. Col. J. W. Allen and water, when the greatest depth attain- Surgeon S. F. Weller, 9th New Jerable on the bar was but 13, grounded, sey, were drowned by the upsetting of course, in attempting to pass it; of their small boat in the breakers, as when the sea broke completely over they returned to the transport Ann her stern, every breaker lifting her, E. Thompson from reporting the arand causing her, as it subsided, to set- rival of their regiment to Gen. Burn

Jan. 11-12, 1862.

"See Vol. I., p. 599.

3 Jan. 13.

4 Jan. 15.

side. The National loss in precious | Bartow, when the Rebel gunboats halted and added their fire to that of the fort. A line of piles driven across the channel was evidently ex

time, as well as life and property, by the villainy which palmed off on the Government vessels totally unfit for this service, can hardly be overesti-pected to obstruct our advance, but mated. Two or three weeks of desperately hard work were expended on getting over such of the craft as were not wrecked; giving the alarmed Rebels the amplest time to concentrate and fortify.

At length, every thing being in readiness, our fleet moved slowly up Pamlico and Croatan Sounds; the gunboats in advance and on the flanks of the transports, formed in three columns, each headed by its flagship, every large steamer having one or two schooners in tow, with the spaces between the columns kept carefully clear, and all moving at the regulated pace of four miles per hour. The fleet consisted in all of 65 vessels, covering a space about two miles square; some 50 transports, mainly schooners, having been left at the Inlet. The day was beautiful; the distance made about 28 miles, when they halted, near sunset, still 10 miles from the southern point of ROANOKE ISLAND, and lay undisturbed through the bright, moonlit night.

At 8 A. M., the signal to weigh anchor was given. At 11, progress was arrested, near the south point, by a storm; and the fleet again lay at anchor till next morning, when, at 10 A. M., the order was given to move forward, and the gunboats led the way through the narrow passage known as Roanoke Inlet, into Croatan Sound, driving 7 Rebel gunboats before them. At noon, our gunboats were under fire of the chief Rebel battery on the Island, known as Fort ⚫ February 5.

proved inadequate. Soon, our soldiercrowded transports were seen swarming through the Inlet, and preparations were made for landing at Ashby's Harbor, two miles below the fort, which had now been set on fire by our shells. The flames were soon checked, however, and the cannonade on both sides continued; while the Rebel gunboats, which had retreated up the Sound, again appeared and engaged our fleet, till the Curlew, their flag-ship, was struck by a 100-pound shell from the Southfield, and soon enveloped in flames. The firing was continued on both sides till night, without serious loss in men on either. The Rebel barracks in the rear of the fort were destroyed by fire, and their remaining gunboats compelled to withdraw from the contest. All our transports had passed through the Inlet and anchored by 4 P. M., when debarkation commenced under the fire of our gunboats; and 7,500 men were ashore, and most of them in bivouac, before 11 P. M.

The Rebel forces in that region were commanded by Brig.-Gen. Henry A. Wise, whose headquarters were at Nag's Head, across Roanoke Sound, and whose forces numbered from 3,000 to 4,000; but hardly 1,000 of them were on the Island prior to the approach of our fleet, when rëenforcements were hurried over, raising the number of its defenders to about 3,000. Col. Shaw, 8th North Carolina, was in immediate command. Fort Bartow, otherEx-Governor of Virginia.

6

ATTACK ON ROANOKE ISLAND.

wise Pork Point battery, was a substantial earthwork, strengthened by abatis and a moat, and mounting 10 guns; battery Huger, on Weir's Point, farther north, had likewise 10 guns; battery Blanchard, midway, but 4. The swampy nature of the approaches, covered with thick ets of shrubs and bushes, was counted on to bar access to Fort Bartow, save by a causeway road completely commanded by its fire.

[blocks in formation]

After crouching through a rainy night, some of them in miry bogs, our soldiers were formed and led on at an early hour of the morning.' A large portion of the Rebel force was deployed as skirmishers, and contested our floundering advance through the bog with spirit and effect until near 10 A. M., when our leading regiments were close under the fire of the fort. They had by this time found it impossible to obey the orders which

[blocks in formation]
« 上一頁繼續 »