CHAPTER XIX.

CAMPAIGN OF 1862.

The military operations of the year, both in the East and the West, may be divided into three distinct periods. In the first our armies took the offensive, in the second the defensive, and in the third they again resumed the offensive.

FIRST PERIOD.

In the East during the latter part of March, the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General McClellan, transferred its base from Washington to Fort Monroe; advanced up the peninsula on the 4th of April; engaged in the siege of Yorktown from April 5 to May 4; fought the battle of Williamsburg May 5, West Point May 7, Hanover Court House May 27, and Seven Pines or Fair Oaks May 31 and June 1.

The only other battle in the East was that of Winchester, fought by General Shields, on the 23d of March. In all these battles the Union troops were victorious. The general position of the enemy at the beginning of this period was with his right near Aquia Creek, blockading the Potomac; his center at Manassas, and his left in the Shenandoah Valley. He was also in possession of Norfolk, whence on the 8th of March the Confederate ironclad Merrimac proceeded to Hampton Roads and sank the sloop-of-war Cumberland and frigate Congress. The next day she resumed the attack, but, defeated by the Monitor, was compelled to return to Norfolk. The position of the enemy at the end of the period was with his main army around Richmond, his left under Stonewall Jackson, in the Shenandoah Valley, both forces being under the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The position of the Union troops at the close of the first period was as follows:

June 1, the Army of the Potomac, about 100,000, present for duty, on both banks of the Chickahominy, within 6 miles of Richmond; May 26, General McDowell, commanding Department of the Rappahannock, with 41,000 men at Fredericksburg, his advance but 15 miles from the right of the Army of the Potomac; May 24, General Banks, commanding Department of the Shenandoah, with 6,000 men at Strasburg; Major-General Fremont, commanding the Mountain Department, with 15,000 men at Franklin, W. Va., one brigade within 10 miles of Staunton; General Wool at Fort Monroe and Norfolk with 10,000. Besides troops in Virginia, General Burnside was in North Carolina with an expedition of 11,500 men; General Thomas W. Sherman, with another expedition fitted out in the previous November, was in South Carolina.

In Virginia our military forces, including those in the defenses of Washington, were under six independent commanders, whose movements could only be combined by the personal supervision and orders of the President. The lines of operations of the Army of the Potomac and of the troops in the Department of the Rappahannock converged upon Richmond. Those of the Mountain Department and the Department of the Shenandoah converged upon Staunton. Traversed by mountains and rivers, the front of operation of these six separate forces, extending from Norfolk up the Chickahominy to near Richmond, thence on to Fredericksburg, Washington, Strasburg, and Franklin, exceeded 250 miles.

Leaving our forces thus exposed to being attacked and beaten in detail, let us turn our attention to the West. At the beginning of the year Major-General Halleck was in command of the Department of the Missouri, the eastern limit of which was the Cumberland River. The part of Kentucky east of the Cumberland was occupied by the Army of the Ohio, commanded by Major-General Buell.

The enemy's front of operations or line of defense extended from Bowling Green on the right to Columbus on the left, a distance of 175 miles. His center was at Forts Henry and Donelson, the former on the Tennessee and the latter on the Cumberland River. The military operations of the year opened with the victory of Mill Spring, Ky., gained by General Thomas on the 19th of January. Under direction of General Halleck, General Grant moved from Cairo up the Tennessee River, and on the 6th of February, in cooperation with the Navy, captured Fort Henry. Crossing over the peninsula, he appeared on the 12th before Fort Donelson, and on the 16th received the surrender. The Union loss was 446 killed, 1,735 wounded, and 150 missing. The Confederate loss was 231 killed, 1,007 wounded, and 13,829 prisoners, besides 65 guns and 17,600 small arms. The Confederate army at the beginning of the siege was estimated at 21,123 men, of whom 4,000 escaped; the Union troops began the investment with 15,000 men, but were reenforced before the surrender to 27,000.

Never was the value of professional training more conspicuously illustrated than in the conception and execution of the Fort Donelson campaign. General Sherman, who was at St. Louis, Mo., during the winter of 1861-62, under the command of General Halleck, relates:

I remember one night sitting in his room on the second floor of the Planter's House with him and General Cullum, his chief of staff, talking of things generally, and the subject then was of the much talked of “advance" as soon as the season would permit. Most people urged the movement down the Mississippi River; but Generals Polk and Pillow had a large rebel force, with heavy guns, in a very strong position, at Columbus, Kentucky, about 18 miles below Cairo. Commodore Foote had his gunboat fleet at Cairo, and Gen. U. S. Grant, who commanded the district, was collecting a large force at Paducah, Cairo, and Birds Point. General Halleck had a "map" on his table, with a large pencil in his hand, and asked, "Where is the rebel line?" Cullum drew the pencil through Bowling Green, Forts Donelson and Henry, and Columbus, Kentucky. "That is their line," said Halleck; "now, where is the proper place to break it?" And either Cullum or I said, "Naturally the center." Halleck drew a line perpendicularly to the other, near its middle, and it coincided nearly with the general course of the Tennessee River, and he said, "That's

a Medical and Surgical History of the War the Rebellion, pt. 1, Chronological Summary of Engagements and Battles, p. lxi.

Same.

c Rations were issued at Cairo to 14,623 prisoners.

d Badeau's Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, vol. 1, p. 51.

the true line of operations." This occurred more than a month before General Grant began the movement, and as he was subject to General Halleck's orders I have always given Halleck the full credit for that movement, which was skillful, successful, and extremely rich in military results; indeed it was the first real success on our side in the civil war.a

As the regular officers may be said to have planned the campaign, so in the army which executed it were three officers, and only threeGeneral Grant, General C. F. Smith, and Lieutenant-Colonel McPherson-who at the time held, or had previously held, commissions in the Regular Army. The former, when the battle of the 15th began, was holding a consultation with the wounded Commodore Foote on board his gunboat on the Cumberland River. Going ashore and riding rapidly from the extreme left to the right of his line, he arrived after a severe engagement, only to find his troops in great confusion and disorder and their ammunition nearly expended. The enemy, whose well-filled haversacks indicated a design to cut his way out, had ceased to attack. Judging, with the intuition of a great commander, that the Confederates had massed on their left and that their failure to renew the battle denoted a demoralization as great as that among his own troops, the Union general instantly resolved to take the offensive, and ordered his left to lead the attack. In executing this order General Smith, who commanded the left wing, performed alike the duties of a division and a regimental commander.

To insure success and spare the lives of his men, he first posted in front of the embrasures of the enemy's guns, sharpshooters, whose fire was so effective that scarcely a piece could be discharged. He next formed the leading regiment, the Second Iowa, in two lines, and, placing himself between them, marched triumphantly to the assault. The struggle was soon over. The night of the 15th closed with the Union troops in possession of the key to Fort Donelson, and next morning the enemy surrendered.

b

The strategical effect of this victory was the immediate evacuation by the Confederates of Missouri, Kentucky, and nearly all of Tennessee. West of the Mississippi, General Curtis, on the 11th of February, advanced into Arkansas from Lebanon, Mo., with a force of 10,500 men; March 7 and 8, being attacked, he defeated, at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, the combined forces of Van Dorn and McCullough, numbering not less than 20,000 men. The Union loss was 1,175 killed and wounded and 174 missing. The Confederate loss was estimated

a Sherman's Memoirs, vol. 1, pp. 219, 220.

In all great enterprises, whether civil or military, chance diminishes in proportion to the skill of the agents selected to conduct them.

General Buell, another professional soldier, as early as the 3d of January, 1862, wrote to General Halleck at St. Louis that the probable force of the enemy was 40,000 at Bowling Green, 20,000 at Columbus, and 20,000 in the center.

He then added, "You will at once see the importance of a combined attack on its center and flanks, or at least of demonstration which may be converted into real attack and fully occupy the enemy on the whole front.

*

* *

"The attack upon the center should be made by two gunboat expeditions, with, I should say, 20,000 men on the two rivers." (Van Horne's Army of the Cumberland, vol. 1, p. 90.)

Whether this letter was received before or after the conversation above related, can not be stated. It shows, however, that our commanders at this stage of the war were acting according to strict military principles and that their movements were deserving of success.

Draper's History of the American Civil War, vol. 2, p. 237.

Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, p. LXII.

in their official reports at about 600 killed and wounded." After the battle Curtis fell back to Missouri, while Price and Van Dorn were ordered east of the Mississippi.

March 11, the Army of the Ohio was added to the command of General Halleck, who directed all military operations from his headquarters at St. Louis. The Army of the Ohio at this time numbered, present and absent, 94,783 men; present for duty, 73,472 men. Of the latter number General Halleck designated 36,000, who besides protecting Kentucky and middle Tennessee were to be organized into two expeditions—one under Brigadier-General G. W. Morgan to move upon Cumberland Gap and if possible occupy East Tennessee; the other, under General Ò. M. Mitchell, was to advance into north Alabama and operate against the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.

After the capture of Fort Donelson, an expedition, under the command of General C. F. Smith, was fitted out from the Army of the Tennessee and sent up the river to Eastport, Miss., to strike the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, but heavy rains having made the roads impassable the troops fell back and disembarked on the west bank at Pittsburg Landing, 25 miles from Corinth.

March 17, General Grant resumed command at Savannah, and immediately ordered to Pittsburg Landing all his available troops. The Confederates in the meantime were not idle. Recognizing Corinth, the intersection of the two great lines of the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile and Ohio railroads, as the next objective point of the Union forces, General Albert Sidney Johnston summoned to its defense troops from Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Florida, until by the end of March he found himself at the head of an effective force of 40,000 men.

March 15, General Buell, with the main body of the Army of the Ohio, composed of five divisions, numbering 37,000 men for duty, left Nashville via Columbia, to unite with General Grant at Savannah on the Tennessee River, 9 miles below Pittsburg Landing.

Determined, if possible, to destroy the Army of the Tennessee before the impending junction could be effected, General Johnston left Corinth April 3, and on the 6th assaulted the Union lines at Shiloh. After a furious battle, lasting nearly a day, the last desperate charge was repulsed just as the leading division of Buell's army succeeded in crossing the river. Two more divisions coming up during the night the combined armies took the offensive in the morning, and after a severe engagement drove the enemy in disorder from the field. The five divisions of the Army of the Tennessee present at the beginning of the battle numbered 32,000. The subsequent arrival of the remaining division, which was on the right, at Crumps Landing, with the three divisions of Buell's army, increased the Union forces on the morning of the 7th to 59,000 men.

The Confederate loss in killed and wounded and missing was 10,699. Among the killed was their commander, General Johnston. The Union loss was 1,700 killed, 7,495 wounded, and 3,022 missing, aggregate, 12,217. The losses in killed and wounded of the five divisions of the Army of the Tennessee, which bore the brunt of the battle, were 7,032,

a Their loss is given in Medical History of War at 3,600 killed and 1,600 missing. b Sherman's Memoirs, vol. 1, p. 247.

• General Beauregard's official report.

or nearly one-fourth of the force engaged." At the same time General Beauregard was leading his shattered troops back to Corinth, victory again declared for the Union.

Descending the Mississippi with an army of about 25,000 men, General Pope on the 7th and 8th of April in cooperation with the Navy, captured Island No. 10 with 6,700 prisoners. April 11, General Halleck took the field in person at Shiloh. April 13, General Pope appeared before Fort Pillow and made preparations to attack, but before they could be completed he received orders to march across to the Tennessee River.

On his arrival at Shiloh, General Halleck reorganized the three armies into one; the right wing commanded by Major-General Thomas; the left wing by Major-General Buell; the center by Major-General Pope. General Grant held the nominal position of second in command. From the first to the middle of May, General Mitchel advancing from middle Tennessee destroyed about 100 miles of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, extending from Tuscumbia on the right, to Stephenson on the left. May 30, after fortifying, step by step, and consuming nearly six weeks in advancing less than 20 miles, General Halleck occupied Corinth, which the enemy evacuated the previous evening, falling back to Tupelo, Miss. June 6, the Navy destroyed the Confederate fleet above Memphis and the same day received the surrender of the city. June 7, General Negley, operating under General Mitchel, bombarded Chattanooga, from the north bank of the Tennessee."

June 15, General Morgan occupied Cumberland Gap.

West of the Mississippi, General Curtis, on the 6th of May, advanced to Batesville and White River, whence he intended to march upon Little Rock; but receiving no supplies, besides losing a large part of his troops who were ordered to Corinth, he marched on the 26th of June for Clarendon, where he arrived on the 9th of July. Again disappointed in not meeting gunboats and supplies, he was compelled to cross over to Helena, on the Mississippi.

While these operations for opening the Mississippi were proceeding, from the north, important events were taking place at its mouth.

February 25, General Butler sailed from Hampton Roads with a force of 18,000 men to cooperate with the Navy in an attack upon New Orleans.c

April 24, after a brilliant engagement, Rear-Admiral Farragut destroyed the Confederate fleet and ran by the batteries of Forts St. Phillip and Jackson. April 25, anchored off New Orleans; demanded

a The value of professional training again asserted itself in this battle. The only two general officers of military education and experience present on the first day of the struggle were Grant and Sherman, whose subsequent skill raised them to the grade of generals of our armies. Immediately after repelling the last assault General Grant ordered General Sherman, "to be ready to assume the offensive in the morning, saying that, as he had observed at Fort Donelson at the crisis of the battle, both sides seemed defeated, and whoever assumed the offensive was sure to win." (Sherman's Memoirs, vol. 1, p. 254.)

In respect to General Sherman, General Halleck wrote, after arriving at Shiloh: "It is the unanimous opinion here that Brig. Gen. W. T. Sherman saved the fortunes of the day on the 6th and contributed largely to the glorious victory of the 7th."

› Van Horne's History of the Army of the Cumberland, vol. 1, p. 132.

C Draper's History of the American Civil War, vol. 2, p. 328.

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