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this it was disappointed. The European nations all stood neutral. The British government excited the anger of the North by recognizing the South as belligerents, though, as we have said, the declaration of blockade had already in reality so recognized them. In the winter of 1861 an event occurred which threatened to embroil the Federal government with Great Britain. The Confederate government sent two agents, Messrs. Slidell and Mason, to England. They ran the blockade, and then sailed in an English steamer, the Trent, from Havana. Captain Wilkes, in the Federal war-ship San Jacinto, intercepted the Trent, ordered her to heave to, and, when she refused, fired upon her. He then sent a party on board, and carried off the agents to New York. This act was, in kind, not unlike those which had driven the Americans into the war of 1812, though it was a far more distinct and glaring breach of the law of nations. The British government at once demanded the liberation of the Southern agents, giving the Federal government seven days to consider the matter. President Lincoln and Mr. Seward, the secretary of state, saw that the act could not be justified, and the agents were released.

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McClellan's Campaign in Virginia.-We must now go back somewhat in time to trace the operations on the Virginian frontier since Bull Run. vast Federal force, called the Army of the Potomac, was being concentrated near Washington under General McClellan. In his hands it was gradually changed from a mere horde of undisciplined recruits into a well-drilled and well-appointed army. By February, 1862, this force had grown to about two hundred thousand. The autumn and winter of 1861 had passed, and nothing was done. For this inactivity McClellan was greatly blamed. He was a Democrat, and it was thought that his political sympathies withheld him from inflicting a crushing blow on the South. It must be said in his defence that, before he could fight, he had to create a serviceable army. The president, too, interfered with his arrangements by detaching troops under separate commands, and thwarted his wishes by sacrificing every other military object to the defence of Washington. In April, 1862, McClellan set out against Richmond with more than one hundred thousand men. He first marched into the peninsula between the Rappahannock and the James

river. His first proceeding was to lay siege to Yorktown, a place garrisoned by eight thousand men under General Magruder. Elaborate preparations were made for opening fire, but, before they were completed, Magruder had withdrawn. An attempt was made to pursue Magruder, but his rear-guard checked the Federals at Williamsburg and inflicted on them considerable loss. After this, McClellan advanced slowly on Richmond, while the Confederates retired before him. At this time the Federal army suffered severely from sickness. On May 31st the Confederates turned upon their pursuers at Fair Oaks, and, though overpowered by superior numbers, dealt them a serious blow. Soon after, Stuart, a Confederate general of cavalry, performed an exploit which deserves special mention. With one thousand five hundred horsemen he rode right around the Federal army, doing great damage, and for a while cutting off McClellan's communications with the rear.

In the meantime operations were going on further to the west, which had an important influence on McClellan's movements. The Shenandoah river runs north-west and joins the Potomac about fifty miles above Washington. Here Jackson had been. fighting with extraordinary success against a Federal force far larger than his own. By falling on the different divisions of the enemy in succession, he had inflicted on them three severe defeats, and, by seriously alarming the Federal government as to the safety of Washington, he had drawn off large forces which would otherwise have joined McClellan. He then by forced marches withdrew from the Shenandoah valley, and he had joined the Confederate army near Richmond before the enemy knew of his departure. That army was now under the command of General Lee. Lee was a Virginian of an old family, several of whose members had distinguished themselves in the Revolutionary War. Like many other Virginians, he had reluctantly joined the secessionists in obedience to the commands of his state. It would have been hard to find a general more peculiarly fitted for the command of the Southern forces. An army far inferior to the enemy in number and resources specially needs the encouragement of personal loyalty and love for their commander, and no general ever called out those feelings more fully or more deserv edly than Lee. Moreover his dashing and enter

prising system of warfare was exactly suited to troops of great natural courage, who required to be buoyed up in a seemingly hopeless task by the prospect of brilliant success.

Late in June Lee advanced against McClellan and defeated him. In order to effect this, Lee had to leave Richmond in a great measure unguarded. McClellan did not avail himself of this by advancing, as he feared that he might be cut off from his supplies. He soon abandoned all hope of an attack on Richmond, and withdrew his army. An attempt to harass his retreat was repulsed with severe loss, and he retired to a secure position on the James river. Though the loss suffered by the two armies was nearly equal, yet his whole campaign must undoubtedly be set down as a failure. Considering how much time had been spent in organizing his army, and remembering that no cost had been spared in making all needful preparations for the campaign, it is impossible to acquit McClellan of the charges brought against him of over-caution and want of decision. His troops were indeed raw, but not more so than those with which Grant and Lee had successfully carried out a far bolder policy, while McClellan was better furnished with supplies of every kind than those commanders. This much praise, however, must be given to him, that he never placed his troops in a position where a defeat would be fatal, that he conducted his retreat without suffering his army to become demoralized, and that the discipline which he introduced did much towards training the Northern armies for their later victories.

Pope's Campaign in Virginia.-In June, 1862, the three armies which had been opposed to Jackson were placed under the command of Pope, fresh from his successes in the west. He issued a boastful address, contrasting the success of the western army with the failure in Virginia, and sneering at McClellan's inaction. As might be supposed, after such a beginning, there was no cordial co-operation between the armies. In August, Pope advanced to the Rapidan river. Before marching he issued orders that his army was to live on the enemy's country, that, if any Federal soldier was fired at from a house, it was to be pulled down, and that Southern citizens refusing to give security for good conduct were to be sent south, and, if they returned, to be treated as spies. In this Pope contrasted un

favorably with McClellan, who had done his best during his march through Virginia to save the country from the horrors of war. Pope's conduct excited great indignation in the South, and the Confederate government issued orders that Pope and his commissioned officers should, if captured, be treated as common prisoners, not as prisoners of war. On August 9th Pope encountered a detachment of Lee's army under Jackson. The Federals were defeated in two battles, the first at Cedar Mountain, the other, somewhat later, at Gainesville, near the field of Bull Run. Early in September Pope was driven back into the works of Washington, having lost thirty thousand men. He laid the blame of these defeats on McClellan, who, he said, had withheld from him the support which he needed and to which he was entitled. Pope however was superseded, and McClellan was placed in command of the whole army.

Operations in the west in the Autumn of 1862.– By the defeat at Shiloh and the earlier Federal successes, the Confederate line was a second time driven back. Halleck advanced with great caution and deliberation towards Corinth, but before he could reach the place Beauregard had secretly withdrawn his forces. For this he was severely, though it would seem unjustly, blamed in the South, and was superseded by General Bragg. Soon after Halleck was called off to undertake the defence of Washington, now threatened by the Confederate successes in Virginia. This left Grant in command of the western army. A large portion of his forces was sent off under Buell to attack Chattanooga. This place is on the west frontier of Georgia, on the Tennessee river, and was of great importance as a centre of railway communication for the southwest. The Confederates now set to work resolutely to repair their losses in the west. Fresh troops were raised. Not only was Bragg thus largely reinforced, but his position was a much stronger one than that which the Confederates had before held. The country through which the right of the Federal line now had to advance was swampy and difficult to march through. Accordingly, while the main body of the Confederates faced Buell, two smaller forces under Generals Van Dorn and Price were left to deal with Grant. Their first attempt was to dislodge the Federal force, twenty thousand strong, under General Rosecrans, from Corinth. But,

though the Confederates were superior in numbers, they were defeated with heavy loss. Grant would have followed up this success by an advance on Vicksburg, but was withheld by a brilliant and successful attack made by Van Dorn on the Federal supply-depot at Holly Springs. By this the Federals lost supplies to the value of two million dollars. Soon after this the Federal general Sherman was defeated at Chickasaw, while attempting to penetrate through the country between the Yazoo river and Vicksburg.

Bragg's Invasion of Kentucky.-In the autumn of 1862 the war assumed a new character. Hitherto the Confederates had stood entirely on the defensive. Now they ventured to invade their enemy's territory, both in the west and near the coast. As we have seen, Bragg was set free with a strong army to act against Buell in Kentucky. His plan was to invade that state, both for the sake of the supplies which it contained and with the view of diverting the Federal forces from their operations on the Mississippi. Hopes too were entertained that Kentucky might be induced by this pressure to join the Southern Confederacy. Serious operations were preceded by some dashing raids of irregular cavalry under Morgan and Forrest, two Southern officers who specially distinguished themselves in such warfare. Bragg's invading army numbered fifty thousand. Buell's force against him was raised by detachments from Grant's army and other reinforcements to a hundred thousand. Thus outnumbered, Bragg withdrew, after a single battle at Perryville, in which the loss on each side was about equal. But for the large supplies which he carried off, this invasion would have been a complete fail

ure.

The Federal government, considering that Buell had not followed up his success as he might have done, transferred the command to Rosecrans. Bragg again advanced, and was met by Rosecrans at Murfreesboro. On December 31 a fierce battle followed, in which the Federals were defeated with heavy losses of men and artillery. Bragg, however, retreated, and thus ended the Confederate attempt to carry the war into the enemy's territory in the west.

Lee's Invasion of Maryland.-Meanwhile, Lee had been carrying out a yet bolder policy, with better, though not with complete success. On September 5, 1862, he crossed the Potomac. The

conduct of his army contrasted favorably with that of Pope's. Nevertheless the Confederates were disappointed in the hope of support from the Marylanders. That had been one of the main objects of the invasion. But the sight of the ill-supplied, illclad, often unshod, soldiers from the South, was not encouraging. Lee's order for the campaign accidentally fell into McClellan's hands. Thus instructed, McClellan followed the line of Lee's march. Pressed as he was by superior numbers, Lee daringly detached twenty-five thousand men, under Jackson, to cross the Potomac and attack Harper's Ferry. The place was garrisoned by fourteen thousand men, of whom the cavalry, twenty-five hundred in number, cut their way out. The rest surrendered, and the place, with large stores, fell into the hands of the Confederates. Jackson at once hurried back and joined Lee, who had been brought to bay by his pursuer at Antietam. There a battle was fought with a loss of about thirteen thousand on each side. Lee then withdrew across the Potomac. McClellan might, it was thought, by a vigorous advance, have crushed the Confederate army before it could reach the river. But it must be said in his defence, that on his army rested the last hopes of the Federals in the east, and that defeat might have involved the capture of Washington. Soon, however, McClellan crossed the Potomac, but was superseded by Burnside, who had won some credit for small successes, while holding an independent command in North Carolina, but had been brought up to reinforce Pope in Virginia. In December Burnside forced a crossing at Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock, and assaulted the Confederate lines in force, but was repulsed with great slaughter, losing twelve thousand men, while the Confederate losses but little exceeded five thousand. The battle was little more than a butchery, and revealed Burnside's incapacity for a high command.

Lincoln Emancipates the Slaves.-From the beginning of the war, a number of Acts had been passed by Congress with reference to the Southern slaves. As early as August, 1861, it had been enacted that all slaves used by the Confederates for military purposes, such as constructing batteries, entrenching, and the like, should be free. Another Act forbade the surrender of slaves who should take refuge within the Federal lines. Laws were

also passed, carrying out two measures which the anti-slavery party had always advocated, namely, the abolition of slavery in the district of Columbia, and the prohibition of it in the territories. In July, 1862, two Acts of great importance were passed. One ordered that all slaves escaping from, or taken from, Southern masters should be free. This was passed, after considerable opposition. The other provided for the enlistment of negroes as soldiers. Such negroes were to obtain, not only their own freedom, but that of their wives, mothers, and children. This went further in the direction of emancipation, and of the equality of the races, than any previous measure. So far the president had taken no decided line on the subject of slavery, but had remained firm to the principle which he had laid down, that he had no power to meddle with slavery where it already existed.

The war, however, greatly altered the state of affairs. It might fairly be urged that the seceding states had forfeited their constitutional rights. There was too the yet stronger plea of necessity. There were obvious motives for emancipation. It might serve to convert the war in the eyes of a large and influential class into a crusade against slavery, and to call out an enthusiasm which the mere cause of the Union could not kindle. Besides it would sap the resources of the South. The slave system set the whole white population free to fight, while the slaves produced all the needful supplies. Led by these motives, perhaps too in some measure by his personal antipathy to slavery, on January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation, declaring all the slaves in the seceding states, free. Even though it were unconstitutional, the measure cut a knot which perhaps, if this opportunity had passed, no state craft could have untied. It was no small thing to put an end, by whatever means, and at whatever cost, to a system fraught with so much guilt and misery. But, while emancipation in some ways strengthened the hands of the North, it united the Southerners, and hardened them in their resistance. The abolition of slavery meant the utter overthrow of all their accustomed modes of life. The war was no longer for political independence; it became almost a struggle for existence. Battle of Chancellorsville. Hooker was now placed in command of the Army of the Potomac. In April, he crossed the Rappahannock with one

hundred and thirty thousand men. Lee's forces numbered but fifty-five thousand. On April 30, Hooker issued an order to his men, in which he told them that the Confederate forces were "the legitimate property of the Army of the Potomac." In the face of this overwhelming force, Lee divided his army, and, while he himself kept Hooker in check, he threw the other half, under Jackson on the Federal right. Jackson's attack was successful, but the victory was purchased at a fearful price. He himself rode out to reconnoitre. When riding back, he and his staff were mistaken for Federal cavalry. The Confederates fired, and Jackson fell, mortally wounded. His death turned what might have been an utter defeat into a mere check. On the morrow the engagement became general, and, after two days' hard fighting, Hooker retreated towards the Potomac, having lost about eighteen thousand men, against ten thousand of the enemy.

Terrible as the Federal loss was, it did not equal that which the Confederates had sustained in the death of Jackson. His promptness and rapidity of movement, and his power of striking with a speed and a certainty which made no second blow needful, have probably never been surpassed. His personal character too, like Lee's, begat in his soldiers a love and enthusiasm for their general which alone could. carry them through the tasks that he set them. Only by movements like his could the smaller armies of the South make head against the overwhelming masses of their enemy, and it was no common good fortune that gave Lee a subordinate so peculiarly fitted to carry out plans, often daring even to rashThe qualities which distinguished Jackson were not indeed wanting in other Confederate generals, and the later events of the war showed that he had no unworthy successor in Longstreet. But, though Longstreet might fitly succeed, he could not equal Jackson, and Lee hardly overstated the loss when he said that it would have been better for the South if he himself had fallen.

ness.

Lee's Invasion of Pennsylvania.-In May, Lee again marched northward. Rumors were prevalent of disaffection in the North, and it was thought that the appearance of a Confederate army might strengthen this feeling. At the outset of the campaign, Lee captured a Federal force of about four thousand men at Winchester. Soon afterwards another change was made in the command of the

Army of the Potomac, and Meade succeeded to that post in which Hooker, Burnside, and Pope had failed, and in which McClellan had achieved but a doubtful and chequered success. On June 3d the Southern army had crossed the Potomac. Soon after, Stuart, repeating his brilliant exploit of the previous year, led his cavalry right around the Federal army, and for a time cut off Washington from its defending force. Meade, like McClellan in the previous invasion, got information as to his enemy's doings from an intercepted letter sent by Davis to Lee. This told Meade that the South was utterly stripped of troops, that no reinforcements could be sent to Lee, and that Richmond was without defenders. He then posted his forces at Gettysburg, in a strong position, covering Washington and Baltimore. Lee attacked him on July 1, and was defeated after three days' hard fighting, with the loss of thirty-one thousand men. The Federal loss was twenty-three thousand. Meade made no immediate attempt to follow up his victory, and the defeated Confederates retreated across the Potomac. Meade followed them, and the war was again transferred to Virginia. Lee now avoided an engagement, and Meade advanced to the Rappahannock.

Capture of Vicksburg.-Vicksburg was, as we have seen, the chief stronghold of the Confederates on the Mississippi. It was well garrisoned and covered by a large force under General Pemberton. During the spring of 1863 repeated attempts were made upon Vicksburg by water, but without success. In May, Grant proceeded to surround the place. Johnston, who was in command of the Confederate armies in the south-west, tried to join Pemberton, but, before he could do so, Grant had thrown himself between the two armies. He then defeated Pemberton in two engagements, and drove him back into Vicksburg. Grant then assaulted the place three times, but in vain. Then, having brought up all the reinforcements he could to guard against an attack by Johnston, he invested Vicksburg.

Pemberton held out for nearly seven weeks, but no assistance reached him, and, on July 3, he surrendered. Next day, on the anniversary of Independence and the day after the Federal victory of Gettysburg, Grant took possession of the place, which opened the Mississippi down to Port Hudson, a strong fortification near the mouth of the Red river, now closely invested by an army under Gen

eral Banks. Four days later the post surrendered on receiving the news of the fall of Vicksburg, giv ing the North complete command of the Mississippi.

Campaign of Chattanooga.-In June, 1863, the Federal army in Tennessee under Rosecrans advanced upon Chattanooga. This place was the key to the Southern States on their western frontier, and the capture of it would lay the South open to invasion. The Confederate army under Bragg had been weakened in order to reinforce Johnston, and was now reduced to forty-six thousand, fourteen thousand less than the enemy's force. Bragg made but little attempt to check Rosecran's advance or to hold Chattanooga. On September 8, the town was abandoned, and the Federal army took possession of it. Bragg then rallied his troops at Lafayette. Fortunately for him, the Virginian army was able to spare him a detachment, and twelve thousand of Lee's best troops under Longstreet were hurried up to his assistance. Thus reinforced, Bragg gave battle at Chickamauga on September 19. The Federals were worsted, and their defeat would have been far more serious but for the firmness with which General Thomas stood his ground. Longstreet would have followed up his success, and would perhaps have converted defeat into destruction. But Bragg restrained him, and the Federals withdrew into Chattanooga. Their loss was about sixteen thousand; that of the Confederates about twelve thousand. Bragg then stationed his forces on the heights above the town. In consequence of this defeat, Rosecrans was superseded, and Thomas was appointed in his stead. The position of his army, with its communications harassed and interrupted, became one of serious danger.

The Federal government, fully alive to the importance of holding Chattanooga, took active measures for its relief. Grant was appointed commanderin-chief in the west, and was sent to take charge of the defence of Chattanooga in person, and twenty thousand men under Hooker were brought from Virginia. At the same time Sherman's force was hurried up from Iuka, two hundred miles off. On the other hand Bragg had imprudently weakened his army by detaching Longstreet with fifteen thousand men to besiege Burnside in Knoxville, a hundred miles to the north-east of Chattanooga. In the battle which ensued Grant showed greater skill in combining the movements of large bodies of

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