to the different states, and that the party who had opposed the extreme doctrine of state rights in the early days of the Constitution were called Federalists.

THE WAR OF SECESSION.

It may be well, before going further, to give some idea of the means and prospects with which each party entered on the war. As far as mere military resources went, there was no very wide difference. The advantage which the Federal government ought to have enjoyed from the possession of the national arsenals and stores was in a great measure lost, owing to the treachery of those Southerners who had held public offices. Neither side was at first well off for skilled officers. On the other hand, both in the North and South the absence of aristocratic exclusiveness allowed the best men to come quickly to the front. Thus the armies on both sides were soon led by men of ability, while there was a great want of soldierly skill and knowledge among the subalterns. In many ways the South furnished better raw material for soldiers than the North. The Southern planters were more given to outdoor pursuits, to field sports and the like, than the town-bred merchants of the North. Good horses and skilful riders were plentiful, and the cavalry of the South was one of its most efficient supports. Above all, the South was united. It is sometimes said that secession was not the unanimous act of the South, and that a large majority was either beguiled or coerced into a movement which they condemned. But throughout the war, no such division of feeling showed itself, save in Virginia.

There was no such unanimity in the North, at least at the outset of the war. Many actually sympathized with the South, and thought the attempt to detain her unjust; many were indifferent. Jobbery and dishonesty of every kind were rife in the government offices. As the war went on, all this was greatly lessened, and there grew up in the North a resolute determination to preserve the Union at any cost. But, from the very outset of the war, there were three great points of superiority which in the long run turned the scale in favor of the North. Her free population was far more numerous, and could bear the strain of a destructive war, while her opponent was becoming ex- |

hausted. The South too had no manufactures of her own. She had learned to depend entirely on Northern productions, and the loss of them struck a heavy blow at her resources. Lastly, the North had command of the sea. A navy cannot, like an army, be created at a few months' notice, and the vast superiority of the North in wealth, in harbors, and in materials for shipbuilding, gave her in this manner an immense advantage. It enabled the North to recruit her armies with supplies of emigrants drawn from Europe, while the South, with her whole coast blockaded, could not fill the gaps which every campaign made in her population.

Owing to the feeble policy of Buchanan's government, the Confederates were allowed to possess themselves of every national fort and dockyard south of the Chesapeake Bay, save Fort Sumter, and Forts Key West and Pickens off the coast of Florida. The secession of Virginia led to further enterprises of the same kind. The arsenal at Harper's Ferry was seized, but the officers in charge had destroyed the greater part of the stores before evacuating the place. The two most important Federal possessions within Virginia were Fort Monroe and the navy yard at Norfolk. The latter contained two thousand cannon, a quarter of a million pounds of powder, large quantities of shot and shell, and twelve ships of war. A force of about five hundred militia, with ten small field-pieces, threatened the place. Captain M'Cauley, the officer in charge, although he had a force of a thousand men, did not attempt to resist, but scuttled the ships, made an ineffectual attempt to sink the guns, and abandoned the place, leaving the works and a large quantity of stores to fall into the hands of the Confederates. An inquiry was ordered by Congress, and a committee of the Senate decided that both Buchanan's and Lincoln's administrations were to blame for neglecting the proper defence of the place, and that Captain M'Cauley was highly censurable for not attempting to hold it. Fort Monroe was a work of great size and strength commanding the Chesapeake Bay and James River. It was thought that the Virginians might by a prompt attack have seized it, and have dealt the Federal government a heavier blow than it had yet sustained. But the opportunity was allowed to pass, and in May the place was garrisoned with twelve thousand men.

Early in 1861 rumors were afloat that the seces

sionists meant to seize the seat of government. This danger was greatly increased by the secession of Virginia. Troops, however, were hurried down. from the North in sufficient numbers to guard against any surprise. When the war openly broke out, it was clear that Washington, separated as it was from Virginia only by the Potomac, was one of the most vulnerable points in the Northern territory. Accordingly the defence of the capital became the first object with the Federal government. Earthworks were thrown up in the neighboring heights, and troops were posted across the Potomac to cover the city.

Before entering on the detailed history of the war, it will be well to get a general idea of the military position of both parties, and of their main objects. The object of the South was, of course, merely defensive. Her territory may be looked on as a vast fortress bounded by the Potomac, the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Atlantic. Her armies did indeed, more than once, penetrate into the Northern territory. But such measures were merely like the sorties of a besieged garrison, intended to draw off or weaken the assailants, and had no permanent occupation or conquest in view. Four main lines of attack lay open to the Federals:-1. An invasion of Virginia from the north. 2. An invasion of Tennessee to the south-west of the Alleghanies. 3. An attack from the sea-coast. 4. An invasion from the south-west, after they had obtained the control of the Mississippi. As the war showed, the real points on which the military strength of the Confederacy turned were the possession of the Mississippi and of those lines of railway which connected the south-western states with the coast. By mastering the Mississippi, the Federals would cut off their enemies from the rich states to the south of the river, besides interfering with the communication between the west and the sea. Possession of the Mississippi might be ob.tained either from the sea, or from the west, or by a combined attack in both directions. By bearing

in mind these general features of the war, operations, spreading over many thousand miles, and seemingly unconnected, are at once seen to form part of one distinct scheme of attack and defence. One very interesting feature of the war in a military point of view is that it was the first in which railways had ever played an important part. The

effect of this was to lessen the advantage of superior numbers, as a small body of troops, dexterously handled, might be rapidly moved from point to point, and used successively against different portions of the enemy's force. This was of especial value to an army acting in its own country against invaders.

In July, the Northern and Southern armies con-fronted one another on the south side of the Potomac. The Southern army numbered about thirty thousand men, under Beauregard. The Northerners mustered forty thousand, under McDowell. His troops were ill-drilled and unsoldierly, and his officers inexperienced, but, as many of his men were enlisted only for three months, it was needful to do something at once, and accordingly he advanced. Both armies were in two divisions, the main force to the east, while two bodies of about eight thousand each, the Federals under Patterson, the Confederates under Johnston, faced each other about fifty miles further west. The two divisions of the Confederates enjoyed the great advantage of being connected by a line of railway. McDowell's plan was that Patterson should keep Johnston in check, while he himself attacked Beauregard. But this plan was thwarted by the difficulty so often met with before in American history. The Pennsylvanian volunteers under Patterson refused to serve for a day longer than their engagement bound. them. Patterson was obliged to withdraw, leaving McDowell to cope single-handed with Johnston and Beauregard. Johnston at once hurried, with all the troops he could bring up, to the assistance of the main body.

On the morning of July 21, McDowell fell upon the right of the Confederate line, and drove them back. The Federal advance was stopped only by the Virginian troops under General Jackson. "There's Jackson standing like a stone wall," cried the Southern general Bee, to encourage his men, and "Stonewall Jackson" was the name by which the Virginian commander was ever after known. This check on the Federal right was soon turned into a repulse along the whole line. At the very crisis of the battle, the remainder of Johnston's force came up from the west, fell upon the Federal right, and rendered the victory complete. From a military point of view the result was of no great importance. The Federal loss was not more than

three thousand in all, and their enemies gained no advantage of position. The real value of victory to the South was the confidence and enthusiasm which was called out by so complete a triumph at the very outset of the war. But probably the hopeful and exulting spirit which the battle kindled in the South was equalled, if not outweighed, by its effect on the Northerners. Their defeat did not so much dishearten as sober them. They saw that a great war was before them, which would tax their energies and their resources to the utmost. They learned that success could be bought only at a heavy price, and they soon showed that they were not unwilling o pay it.

It will be impossible in the history of the war to take in all the events in strict order of time. If we did so, we should be constantly shifting our view from one scene of operations to another, and be unable to get any connected idea of each. Many different sets of operations were going on together, which can only be kept clear and distinct by tracing out one for a considerable time, and then going back to another. We must now go back to events earlier than Bull Run. Virginia, as we have seen, was not unanimous in its resolution to secede. The wish to remain in the Union prevailed in the western part of the state beyond the Alleghanies. The inhabitants of this district wished to form themselves into a separate state, and to cleave to the Union. A convention met, which carried out the wishes of the inhabitants by establishing a separate government.

This was regarded by the other Virginians as treachery to the state, which had a higher claim on their loyalty than the Union. Accordingly it became of importance both to the Federals and to the Confederates to secure this district. The West Virginians themselves raised six thousand soldiers; and troops from Ohio, Indiana, and other Western States were brought rapidly forward in their defence.

Active operations began towards the close of May, under General McClellan, who advanced with a large force. The defending force, numbering about eight thousand, was stationed at Rich Mountain, on the western slope of the Alleghanies. When McClellan approached, they attempted to retreat, but were forced to give battle, and were completely defeated. Later in the year a Confederate force under Lee attempted to dislodge the Federals,

but without success. It was not, however, till two years later that West Virginia was admitted into the Union as a separate state.

During the summer and autumn of 1861 important operations went forward in the west. The states of Missouri and Kentucky were, from their position, of great importance in the war. They commanded the Upper Mississippi and the southwest portion of the seceding states. Accordingly, it was an object with each party to secure them. Both states would have wished to remain neutral, if they could have done so, but, as with Virginia, this was impossible. In each the sympathies of the inhabitants were about equally balanced. As Kentucky would not join the Southern Confederacy, in September General Polk, a Louisianian bishop who had turned soldier, invaded and took possession of it. In Missouri, a long and severe struggle between. the two parties within the state was settled by the Federals occupying it with an army. In both Kentucky and Missouri there was some fighting during the autumn of 1861, which resulted somewhat in favor of the Confederates, but nothing decisive was done.

In the autumn of 1861, the Federal government created a separate military province, called the Western Department, with its centre at St. Louis on the Mississippi. This was placed under the command of General Halleck. His part in the war, though not a conspicuous, was a very important one. He never distinguished himself in the field, but his understanding of military geography and his judgment as to the general course of operations were probably equal to that of any man in either army. He saw that the true policy of the Federals was to advance up the Tennessee and the Cumberland, a river which runs for the most part parallel to it, and so to penetrate into the south-western states, and to master the upper valley of the Mississippi. To carry out this it was necessary to take Fort Henry on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. Accordingly, at the beginning of 1862, General Grant with seventeen thousand men was sent against Fort Henry. It was evident that the place could not be held, but Tilghman, the Confederate general in command, made a determined resistance, and enabled the main body of his troops to escape to Fort Donelson.

The Federal gunboats then attacked Fort Donel

son, but were beaten off. The Confederates, however, finding themselves outnumbered by the besieging force, attempted to cut their way through, but were driven back, mainly through the resolution of Grant and his subordinate Smith. Several thousand of the garrison escaped at night by means of small steamboats. The remainder surrendered. By this victory, the Federals gained ten thousand prisoners, twenty thousand small-arms, and sixtyfive guns, with a loss of little more than two thousand men. It also gave them possession of Kentucky, and of a large part of Tennessee. Moreover, the Confederate line of defence was driven back some fifty miles, and Nashville, a large and important town, and Columbus, a fortress which commanded the upper waters of the Mississippi, were abandoned to the Federals. This was soon followed up by further successes.

The Confederates held New Madrid on the right bank of the Mississippi, and No. 10 Island just opposite. General Pope was sent from St. Louis to attack them. Batteries were erected against New Madrid, whereupon the garrison fled, leaving large quantities of arms and ammunition. No. 10 Island was then bombarded from the river, but to no purpose. Pope could not attack it, as it could only be reached from the left bank, and he could not bring up boats to carry his troops across, owing to the Confederate batteries which commanded the river. This difficulty was at length overcome by cutting a canal twelve miles long across a horseshoe formed by the river. By this means transports were brought down the river, Pope crossed, and the island surrendered, with nearly seven thousand men and large supplies. Following up this success, the Federals in two engagements defeated the Confederate fleet of gunboats and obtained possession of the Upper Mississippi as far as the frontier of Tennessee.

The Battle of Shiloh.-In spite of these disasters, the Confederate forces in the west proceeded to act on the offensive. The position of the two armies was not altogether unlike that at Bull Run. Each was in two divisions, the main bodies facing each other under Grant and Beauregard, the smaller divisions also facing each other under Buell and Sydney Johnston. This Johnston must not be confounded with the other Confederate general of that name, Joseph Johnston, the hero of Bull Run.

As at Bull Run, the Southern armies had the advantage of railway communication. Their commanders resolved to unite, and to deal with Grant before Buell could join him. This scheme was successful, and the whole Confederate army under Johnston marched against Grant. The numbers were about equal, forty thousand on each side. Early on the morning of April 6th the Confederates attacked. Many of the Federal troops were taken completely by surprise, and fell back in confusion.

A second Bull Run seemed to be at hand, with this addition, that the Federals had a river immediately at their back, and were thus cut off from retreat. Such a misfortune was warded off by the determination with which General Sherman held his ground, and by the death of Johnston. Struck by a bullet, in the eagerness of victory he disregarded the wound, and only learned its severity when he found himself fast bleeding to death. The delay saved the Federals. Grant was joined by Buell with twenty thousand men, and, with that dogged courage which distinguished him throughout the war, he returned next day to the attack. His troops, by rallying so readily and so successfully, showed that the panic of the day before was due to want of discipline, and not to cowardice. In the second engagement the Confederates were worsted, and withdrew in good order; their total loss in the two days was about eleven thousand, that of the Federals some three thousand more.

Throughout these two days' engagements, called the Battle of Shiloh, there was little room for skilful tactics. It has been described as a gigantic bush-fight. From the nature of the ground, neither commander could get any comprehensive idea of the state of affairs, or even attempt to exercise control over more than a part of his army. Soon after this, the Confederate government, considering its forces unequal to the task of holding Missouri and Arkansas, abandoned those states to the enemy. The troops withdrawn thence were concentrated under Beauregard at Corinth. Shortly after the Federals took Memphis on the Mississippi, a town of considerable commercial importance, and valuable as a centre of railway communication.

On the Lower Mississippi the Federals had achieved even more brilliant and valuable successes. In no department was the North weaker at

the outset than in its navy, and in none were so much energy and determination shown in rapidly making up for short-comings. At the beginning of 1861 there were only four ships fit for duty in harbors held by the Federal government. All the rest of the national navy was either seized by the Confederates or was at foreign stations. Yet, by the end of the year, the blockade had been so successfully maintained, that a hundred and fifty vessels had been captured in the attempt to break through. Moreover the Federals had taken Port Royal, a fortress on the coast between Charleston and Savannah, and of importance for the defence of those two places. This was soon followed by an unsuccessful endeavor to block up Charleston harbor by sinking ships, filled with stone, across its mouth. This attempt to destroy for ever a valuable harbor, of great importance to Southern commerce, was not much credit to the Federal government.

On

The next important naval attempt was of a far more glorious character. This was the capture of New Orleans by Admiral Farragut, whereby the Southern States were cut off from the lower waters of the Mississippi. Considering the great importance of the place, the Confederate government do not seem to have done enough for its defence. In April, 1862, the Federal fleet entered the mouth of the river, and for six days and nights bombarded the fortification which guarded the entrance. the morning of the 24th, before daybreak, the Federals fought their way up the river, past the forts, and through the gunboats of the enemy. The Confederate flotilla was completely destroyed, while the assailants only lost one vessel. General Lovell, the commander at New Orleans, considering that it would be impossible to hold the city, withdrew his troops. Farragut took possession of the place, and was joined by General Butler with a land force, which had been at hand, though it had taken no part in the attack. The city was then placed under the military government of Butler. He kept order, and the inhabitants do not seem to have suffered much under his rule. But his overbearing manner, his summary and, as it was considered, illegal execution of a citizen who had cut down the United States flag, and the brutal language of his public documents, earned for him, alone among all the Federal commanders, the universal hatred of the South.

But the chief Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi still remained. Vicksburg stands on a horseshoe of land and commands the river in both directions. Moreover, it is protected on the northwest by the Yazoo, a river which flows into the Mississippi above the town, and it is also surrounded by swamps and forest. On June 24 the Federal fleets from New Orleans and St. Louis united. The same manoeuvre was tried here which had succeeded at New Madrid. A canal was cut across the horseshoe, and thus the Federal fleet was enabled to command the whole river without passing the batteries of the town. The siege was marked by a most brilliant exploit on the part of a small Confederate ram, the Arkansas. She steamed out of the mouth of the Yazoo, fought her way through the Federal fleet of fifteen vessels, doing much damage to them, and anchored safely under the guns of Vicksburg. In July, after a futile. bombardment, the Federals abandoned the attack.

The "Merrimac" and "Monitor."-One feature in the naval history of the war deserves notice, since it ushered in a change of the greatest importance in naval warfare. This was the use of iron-clad vessels. The first of these that appeared in the war was a somewhat roughly-built ram with iron plating, called the Manassas, devised by a Confederate officer, Commodore Hollins. She fell upon the Federal squadron which was blockading the mouth of the Mississippi, dashed into the midst of it, and put it to flight. Soon afterwards it became known that the Confederates were preparing a large ironclad. This was the Merrimac, a steamer which had belonged to the Federal government, and had been captured in Norfolk navy yard. The Federals set to work to build an iron-clad turret-ship, called the Monitor, to match her. Each worked hard to be the first in the field. In this the Confederates succeeded. On March 8, 1862, the Merrimac appeared in the mouth of the James river, and immediately destroyed two Federal vessels. She attacked a third, but, before she could complete its destruction, the Monitor, just launched, came to the rescue. She stood the shock of the Merrimac, which had been fatal to the wooden ships, and at last beat her off with much damage. This fight was the first fair trial of iron-clad ships.

The Southern Confederacy at the outset confidently expected help from foreign powers. But in