boats from its source to the sea. The Confederates had but one direct line of railroad from the Mississippi eastward. This ran from Memphis to Chattanooga, where it forked, one branch running thence to Richmond, the other to Charleston. It was of vital importance to the Confederates, that the line from Memphis to Chattanooga should be kept in their hands, for on it they depended for nearly all their supplies and men from beyond the Mississippi and above Vicksburg; and if they lost it, they lost Kentucky and a great part of Tennessee. Hence, they made desperate efforts to retain it. To this end they constructed a chain of forts from Columbus, on the Mississippi, to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and about one hundred and fifty miles north of the railroad. These forts and the intervening lines were defended by sixty thousand men, under the command of General Albert S. Johnston. The most important points of defense were Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland. 232. General Halleck was in command of the Department of Missouri, which included western Kentucky, and to him belongs the praise of planning the advance on forts Henry and Donelson. Draper, in his History of the Civil War, relates that, "One evening Halleck, Sherman, and Cullum were conversing at the Planter's Hotel, in St. Louis, on the proper line of invasion. They saw clearly that the Confederates meant to stand on the defensive, and Halleck asked, Where is their line?' Sherman replied, "Why, from Bowling Green to Columbus.' 'Well, then, where is the true point of attack?' 'Naturally, the center.' " Then let us see what is the direction in which it should be made.' A map lay on the table, and, with a blue pencil, Halleck drew a line from Bowling Green to Columbus, past forts Donelson and Henry, and another per What was the great object of western military operations? Why was the railroad that ran from Memphis eastward important to the South? How was it defended? 232. Who was General Halleck? Relate the conversation of Halleck and Sherman as quoted from Draper. U.S.-18 6 pendicular to its center, which happened to coincide nearly with the Tennessee River. There,' said he, that is the true line of attack."" On that line the attack was successfully made. Halleck ordered General Ulysses S. Grant, who com Ulysses S. Grant. manded the forces at boats reduced Fort less streams; but on the 12th of February he invested Fort Donelson with fifteen thousand troops. Foote's gunboats arrived on the 14th, made an attack, and were repulsed. At five o'clock on the morning of the 15th, a column of ten thousand sallied out of the fort and attempted to force their way through Grant's lines, with the design of escaping to Nashville. After a hard fight, they were driven back. Grant had been re-enforced until his numbers were swelled to twenty-seven thousand men under arms. See Badeau's Military History of General Grant; also works relating to Grant by Phelps, Headley, Richardson, Coppee, and Howland. Who commanded the forces at Cairo? Where were forts Henry and Donelson ? Describe their capture. The capture of Donelson, of whom were killed. It for the whole line of Con On the morning of the 16th, he was ready to renew the attack, when General Simon B. Buckner, commander at Donelson, hung out the white flag, and surrendered the fort with fifteen thousand men. cost the Union 2,041 men, 425 was very important in its results, federate defenses was given up. Nashville was abandoned; Columbus was presently occupied by the Union troops; and the Mississippi was free as far as Island No. 10, which was also taken soon after. 233. After the fall of Fort Donelson, Halleck assigned Grant to the command of the new district of West Tennessee, and ordered him to strike Corinth, at the intersection of the Charleston & Memphis and the Mobile & Ohio Railroads. This was a point of great importance, as it controlled the great railway communications between the Mississippi and the East, and the border slave states and the Gulf of Mexico. On the 14th of March, Grant arrived at Pittsburg Landing, on the west bank of the Tennessee, with a force thirty-five thousand strong. Disembarking, they went into camp at Shiloh meeting-house, two miles back from the river. At early dawn on Sunday, April 6, forty thousand Confederates, under General Albert S. Johnston and General Beauregard, dashed down upon Grant's encampment, taking it completely by surprise. The battle that ensued was a confused one on the part of the Union forces. Grant was eight miles away, and did not reach the field for several hours. The Confederates steadily drove the Union soldiers down the river. At five o'clock in the afternoon, affairs were at their worst—the army was much disorganized and fast becoming a wreck; but the staunchness of Grant and the energy of Sherman saved the day. Night came on, and Beauregard, commander in the place How many men were lost on each side? What did the Union gain by the capture of Fort Donelson? 233. Where is Corinth? Why was Grant sent against that place? Describe the battle of Pittsburg Landing. of Johnston, who was mortally wounded, drew back his troops and resolved to finish the destruction of the Union army in the morning. But when the morning came he found himself confronted by a vastly increased force. General Buell, who had been making forced marches from Nashville, came up in the night, and the combined Union armies, fifty thousand in number, were advancing against an opposing army of but thirty thousand. Before sunrise, an attack was made by a part of the Union troops, and soon the engagement became general. The battle raged till four o'clock in the afternoon, when the Confederates, fairly beaten, gave way at all points, but in good order, and the field was won for the Union. This battle was the bloodiest that had yet been fought on the continent. The Confederates lost nearly 11,000, and the Federals, 15,000. It lost to the South the Mississippi down as far as Vicksburg. Island No. 10, with a large force and many guns, was taken. Corinth was evacuated after a siege of several weeks. Fort Pillow yielded, and Memphis fell, after a short and brilliant attack upon the Confederate fleet which guarded that city. The Memphis Railroad was, of course, now held by the Union army; western Tennessee was reclaimed; and northern Mississippi and Alabama were brought under Federal supremacy. 234. So many men and gun-boats had been drawn toward Corinth, that New Orleans was drained; and when Commodore David G. Farragut,* on April 24, forced his way through rafts and chains, and blazing fire-ships, past forts, up to the city, he found no such determined opposition as he would have encountered had those who were with Beauregard been present. New Orleans surrendered. "It was," says Pollard, "a terrible disaster to the Confederacy. The fall of Donelson broke our center in the West. The fall of *See J. T. Headley's Farragut and Our Naval Commanders. How did it end? What noted officers were engaged in it? Were the losses severe ? What advantages resulted to the Union from this battle? 234. When, by whom, and in what manner was New Orleans taken? |