Diary of Salmon P. Chase, Tuesday, September 9, 1862

Maj. Andrews came to breakfast. Told him I had seen Secretary of War, who had assured me that Col. Crook's commission as Brigadier had been sent him.

Went to Department. Directed Commission for 10th New York district to be sent to Hyatt. Directed Mr. Rogers to proceed to New York and expedite alteration in Exchange and Custom House, and make proper contracts for the same.

Went to President's to attend Cabinet Meeting, but there was only a talk. I proposed the creation of a Department beyond the Mississippi and that Clay be placed in command, with whom Frank P. Blair should be associated; and that an Expedition should be organized to Petersburgh and afterwards to Charleston.

Genl. Van Ransellaer called to ask my interest for him as Paymaster-General; and Mr. Carroll, to ask the same for Genl. Griffin. — Went to War Department, where Watson told me that Genl. McClellan had telegraphed expressing doubt if there was any large rebel force in Maryland, and apprehension that their movement might be a feint. — Watson dined with me. Read him Denison's letter from New-Orleans about evacuation of Baton Rouge — Butler's black Regiment — etc., etc.

Just after dinner, Capt. —— came in with Mr. G—,who had been arrested near Soldiers' Home as a suspicious character — taken before Genl. Wadsworth, to whom he said he was known to me — sent by Genl. W. to me — identified and discharged. He is an Englishman of a Manchester House, who brought a letter from Mr. Sayard to acting Minister Stuart, by whom he had been commended to me. Riding around to gratify curiosity he had fallen into trouble.

SOURCE: Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 71

Diary of Salmon P. Chase, Sunday, September 7, 1862

Mr. Field called after breakfast, and proposed to go to War Department, and we went together. Met Gurowski, who denounced what he called military usurpation, saying that Franklin's corps, marching out cheered McClellan. Found Stanton, Pope and Wadsworth uneasy on account of critical condition of affairs. Spoke to Stanton about Crook, and he promised to give him a Commission. Saw Halleck and he approved.

Went to President's, and spoke of general Order commending Pope's Army. He thought it due, and said he would speak to Halleck. Coming home met McDowell and I. C. H. Smith. Smith came home with me and spoke of battles, — eulogizing in strong terms both Pope and McDowell. (Referring to my omission to reply to his letter of a year ago, I explained it as well as I could.) Field and Barney came, and I sent for Harrington. Had a long talk about Labor Contract, and dissatisfaction of our friends with Mr. Barney. So far as I could see the dissatisfaction was unreasonable. I said I could not hold the contract to be continuing, unless the Attorney-General should reverse his opinion, of which there was too little probability to warrant postponement of action, and so virtual continuance, until his review of his decision. Said I would gladly oblige party friends, but not at the expense of any breach of public duty. Field and Barney left together, and soon after Harrington.

Received to-day telegram from Paymaster-General of New-York: “Cannot forward troops for want of means to pay State bounty. Will you exchange smaller U. S. Notes for 1000s. and 500s., to enable State to do it?” — Answered “Yes! Be as prompt in sending your troops;” and sent necessary directions to Mr. Cisco.

In the afternoon, McDowell called to say Good-bye. The Court of Inquiry demanded by him had been postponed, and he had fifteen days leave of absence. He went away feeling very sad indeed.

In the night, a large part of the army moved northward, following the force already sent forward to meet the rebels invading Maryland. Generals Burnside, Hooker, Sumner and Reno in command (Burnside chief) as reported.

SOURCE: Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 68-9

John Lothrop Motley to Mary Benjamin Motley, July 21, 1861

Woodland Hill, Sunday, July 21, 1861.

My Dearest Mary: I have not the time nor the matter for anything but a hasty line. I am obliged to write two days before the packet day, as I must go to Nahant to-morrow, Monday, and the next day I have promised to dine with old Mr. Quincy, at Quincy. I came up yesterday to dine with Mr. George Curtis and his wife, Ticknor, Everett, and Felton. You will see in the “Daily Advertiser” the proceedings of one or two public bodies by whom respectful tribute has been paid to Mr. Appleton's character. His mind was singularly calm and lucid to the last. On Wednesday I went to Cambridge, by invitation, to hear the exercises of commencement and to be present at the dinner. The performances were very creditable indeed, and I found at the dinner, at which there were some three hundred of the alumni present, several members of my class, and passed a very pleasant hour, the more so as Felton had faithfully promised me that I should not be called out for a speech. As I had received an LL. D. at the previous commencement in my absence, I could hardly refuse the invitation to the dinner. But two degrees of LL. D. were conferred on this occasion — one on Governor Andrew, and the other on General Scott. The announcement, which was made on the platform in the church, after the conclusion of the college exercises, of the governor's name was very well received, and there was much well-deserved cheering, for he has been most efficient and intelligent in his exertions ever since this damnable mutiny broke out, and it is much owing to his energy that Massachusetts has taken the noble stand which she now occupies in defense of the Constitution and the country.

But when the name of Winfield Scott was announced, there arose a tempest of cheers such as I am sure was never heard before at any academic celebration in Cambridge. I thought the church would have split to pieces like a bombshell, so irrepressible was the explosion of enthusiasm. ’T is a pity the old man couldn't have heard it with his own ears. He is used to huzzas from soldiers and politicians; but here were grave professors and clergymen, judges, young undergraduates and octogenarians, all hallooing like lunatics. And the same thing was repeated at the dinner when his health was drunk. You will see an account of the proceedings in the “Daily Advertiser” of the 18th of July.  . . . You will also observe that I was startled from my repose at the table, not by Felton, but by Everett, who made a most complimentary allusion to me far beyond my deserts, in his after-dinner speech. They insisted on my getting up and saying a few words of acknowledgment; but I was too much moved to make a speech, and they received my thanks with much cordiality.

Nothing can be better than Everett's speech at New York, — one of the most powerful commentaries on this rebellion that has ever been spoken or written, — and he has made several other addresses equally strong in tone. We are now in an era of good feeling throughout the North, and we no longer ask what position any man may have occupied, but where he stands now, and I am glad that we shall henceforth have the benefit of Everett's genius and eloquence on the right side.

Since I wrote last nothing very important has occurred; but now important events are fast approaching. I don't use this expression in the stereotype phraseology of the newspapers, because you must have perceived from all my letters that I did not in the least share the impatience of many people here.

The skirmish of the 18th was by detachments, only 800 men in all, of Tyler's brigade, commanded by him in person, and they are said to have behaved with great skill and gallantry. It is your old friend Daniel Tyler of Norwich, who, you know, was for a considerable part of his life in the army and was educated at West Point. He is now a brigadier-general, and, as you see, commands under McDowell, whom I described to you in my last. Montgomery Ritchie, by the way, is aide to a Colonel Blenker, who has a regiment in Tyler's brigade, and James Wadsworth is aide to McDowell. The affair at Bull Run is of no special importance; of course we don't know what losses the rebels sustained, nor is it material. These skirmishes must occur daily, until it appears whether the enemy mean to risk a pitched battle now, or whether they mean to continue to retire, as they have hitherto been steadily doing, before the advance of the Union forces. The question now is, Will they make a stand at Manassas, or will they retreat to Richmond? Beauregard, who commands at Manassas, is supposed to have at least 60,000 men, and Johnston, who was until two days ago at Winchester, is thought to be falling back to join him. On the other hand, while McDowell is advancing toward Manassas, Patterson, with 35,000 men (with whom is Gordon's regiment, Massachusetts Second), has moved from Martinsburg to Charlestown, and, as I thought, will soon make a junction with him, and McClellan is expected daily out of West Virginia. Thus some 120,000 Union troops are converging at Manassas, and if the rebels have sufficient appetite, there will soon be a great stand-up fight.

If they retreat, however, there will be more delays and more impatience, for it is obvious that the Union troops can gain no great victory until the rebels face them in the field. This has not yet been the case, but they have fired from behind batteries occasionally while our men were in the open. Hitherto nothing of importance has occurred except the slow advance of the Union and the slow retreat of the rebellion. Perhaps before this letter is posted, two days hence, something definite may have occurred in the neighborhood of Manassas. Day before yesterday I saw the Webster regiment reviewed on the Common. On the previous afternoon Governor Andrew had invited me to come to his room at the State House. I did so at the time appointed, and found no one there but the governor, his aides, Colonel Harrison Ritchie, Wetherell and Harry Lee, and Mr. Everett, who was to make a speech on presenting the colors to the regiment. I saw them march along Beacon Street in front of the State House, and thought they had a very knowing, soldierly look. They had been drilling for months down at Fort Independence, and are off for the seat of war to-morrow.

When the regiment had arrived on the Common and was drawn up in the Lower Mall, we proceeded to review them. Governor Andrew, in his cocked hat and general's uniform, took possession of Mr. Everett, and the two were flanked by four aides-de-camp, effulgent in what the newspapers call the “gorgeous panoply of war,” while I was collared by the adjutant-general and the stray colonel, and made to march solemnly between them. What the populace thought of me, I don't know, but I believe that I was generally supposed to be a captured secessionist, brought along to grace the triumph of the governor. Well, we marched on, followed by a battalion of escort guards and preceded by a band of music, to the Mall, and then the Webster regiment went through its manœuvers for our benefit, and that of some thousands of enthusiastic spectators besides.

Of course I am no judge of military matters, but they seemed to be admirably drilled, and one or two army officers with whom I spoke were of the same opinion, — one of these, by the way, was a Virginian, Marshall by name, a stanch Union man and nephew of the General Lee of Arlington, who so recently abandoned the side of General Scott for a high post in the rebel army, — but I am at least a judge of men's appearance, and it would be difficult to find a thousand better-looking men with more determined and resolute faces. They wear the uniform of the regular army, and their officers are nearly all young, vigorous men, of good education and social position. I had a little talk with Fletcher Webster, who seemed delighted to see me. Everett made a magnificent little speech on presenting the standard, and Webster a very manly and simple reply. The standard bears for inscription the motto from Webster's (the father's) famous speech, “Not a single stripe polluted, not a single star effaced,” together with the motto of Massachusetts, "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem,” i. e., “With the sword she seeks tranquillity under the protection of liberty.” This has been the device of the Massachusetts seal for more than a century, I believe; but it is originally a plagiarism from Algernon Sydney.

I am delighted with all that you tell me of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll and their warm and friendly sympathy; of Lord Granville; of Lord de Grey; of Milnes and Forster and Stirling. I haven't time to mention all the names of those whom you speak of as being stanch in our cause — the great cause of humanity and civilization. To check and circumscribe African slavery, and at the same time to uphold free constitutional government, is a noble task. If the great Republic perishes in the effort, it dies in a good cause. But it isn't dying yet; never had so much blood in it. Qui vivra verra.

You say that I have not mentioned Sumner in my letters. I thought that I had. I saw him two or three times before I went to Washington. He is very well in health and unchanged in opinions or expectations, except that, like all of us, he has been made far more sanguine than ever before as to the issue of the struggle. He came to Washington before I left it, but we did not go together. He has of course remained there for the session. I have heard from him twice or thrice; but as I now write from America, I never quote any one's opinions, but send you my own for what they are worth. In this letter there is little of consequence.

I am delighted with what you say about the sea-coast arrangement with the Hugheses, and trust sincerely that it may be made. You cannot but be happy with such charming, sincere, and noble characters, and I envy you the privilege of their society. Pray thank Hughes for that most sympathetic dedication to Lowell.

I am glad that the book is finished, that I may now read it with the same delight which the first one gave me. I saw Lowell commencement day, and promised to go out and dine with him some day next week. He is going to send for Hawthorne. Alas! he meant to have had Longfellow. We shall have Holmes, Agassiz, and others, and shall drink Hughes's health. I forgot to say that I saw at Felton's house young Brownell of the Ellsworth Zouaves. He, you may remember, was at Ellsworth's side as he came down-stairs at the Marshall House, Alexandria, and was shot dead by Jackson. Brownell, who was a corporal in the regiment, immediately shot Jackson through the head. He has since been made a lieutenant in the army, and is here on recruiting service. He is a very quiet, good-looking youth of about twenty-two. The deed has no especial claim to distinction, except its promptness. You remember that it was at the very first occupation of Alexandria, and Jackson supposed, when he came out of a dark closet and fired at Ellsworth, that secession was still triumphant in the town. Brownell took out of his pocket a fragment of the secession flagstaff which Ellsworth had just taken from the housetop, and gave me a bit of it as a relic. The reason why Ellsworth was so anxious to pull down the flag was that it was visible at the White House of Washington, and therefore an eyesore to the President.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition, Volume 2, p. 181-7

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, June 25, 1864

I can only say that I have “sweltered” to-day — that is the word; not only has it been remarkably broiling, but this region is so beclouded with dust and smoke of burning forests, and so unrelieved by any green grass, or water, that the heat is doubled. We have had no drop of rain for twenty days, and but a stray shower for over a month. It is hardly necessary to say that neither army is what it was: the loss of a large proportion of the best officers, the nervous prostration of the men, the immense destruction of life, all tend to injure the morale and discipline and skill of both parties. As to the next step, I do not know; Grant is as calm and as apparently sure as ever. I have got from the region of fighting now, to the realm of lying idle, and it will not be so easy to fill a daily sheet. General Meade asked me to show the Gauls somewhat about; so I clapped them on their two horses, which they had from General Grant, and took them by easy stages to General Wright near by. The good General was comfortably in the woods. I say comfortably, because everything is relative. I mean he had his tents pitched and had iced water, two important elements. He speaks no French — De Chanal no English — so they smiled sweetly at each other. Old D. C. ought to be ashamed of himself. He married an American wife, but, like a true Gaul, utterly refused to learn a word of English. It is ever a part of a Frenchman's religion to speak no language but his own. Little grasshopper Guzman chirped away and made up for two. Then Colonel Kent rode out with us, as a matter of politeness (for I knew that part of the line as well as he), and we showed them how our men made breastworks of rails, logs, and earth; how they lived and cooked; and all sorts of things. After which I took them out towards the picket line and showed them the country, and a tract of dense, young pines, through which our men advanced in double lines — a feat which I can never understand, but which is performed nevertheless. By this time, both distinguished foreigners being powdered a. la marquise, I took them home, only showing them, before coming in, one more thing, only too characteristic of our war — the peculiar graves of our soldiers, marked each by a piece of cracker-box, with the man's name in pencil, or hastily cut with a knife. I recollect sitting on the high bank of the Rapid Ann, at Germanna Ford, and watching the 5th and 6th Corps as they marched up from the pontoon bridges; and I remember thinking how strange it would be if each man who was destined to fall in the campaign had some large badge on! There would have been Generals Sedgwick, Wadsworth, and Rice, and what crowds of subordinate officers and of privates, all marching gaily along, unconscious, happily, of their fate.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 178-80

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, May 15, 1864 – 10 p.m.

Headquarters Army Of Potomac

10 P.M. Sunday, May 15, 1864

Well, to be more or less under fire, for six days out of seven, is not very good for the nerves, or very pleasant. But now that there is a quiet day, I thought I would make a beginning of describing to you the sad, bloody work we have been at. I will write enough to make a letter and so go on in future letters, only writing what can now be of no importance to the enemy. The morning of Wednesday the 4th of May (or rather the night, for we were up by starlight) was clear and warm. By daylight we had our breakfast, and all was in a hurry with breaking up our winter camp. To think of it to-night makes it seem a half-year ago; but it is only eleven days. About 5.30 A.M. we turned our backs on what had been our little village for six months. Already the whole army had been some hours in motion. The 5th Corps, followed by the 6th, was to cross at Germanna Ford, and march towards the Orange pike. The 2d Corps to march on Chancellorsville, crossing at Ely's Ford; each corps was preceded by a division of cavalry, to picket the roads and scour the country. The main wagon-train rested on the north side at Richardsville. So you see the first steps were much like the Mine Run campaign. I have drawn a little map to help you in understanding; not very exact in proportions, but still enough so.

The roads were hard and excellent, full of waggons and black with troops; as we got past Stevensburg and went through a more wooded country, there were the little green leaves just opening, and purple violets, in great plenty, by the wayside. As the sun got fairly up, it grew much warmer, as one could see by the extra blankets and overcoats that our men threw away, whenever they halted. By 8 A.M. we drew near the Ford, and halted at a familiar spot, where we had our camp on the Mine Run campaign. How bitterly cold it was then! And now there was green grass all about, and wild flowers. Griffin's division was already over, and the others were following steadily on. At 9.30 we went over ourselves, and, for a long time, I sat on the high bank, some seventy feet above the river, watching the steady stream of men and cannon and trains pouring over the pontoons. It was towards six in the evening before the last were across; and then one bridge was left for Burnside to cross by; for he was marching in all haste, from Rappahannock station. Meantime the head of the 5th Corps had reached the Orange pike, and that of the 2d, Chancellorsville. The Headquarters pitched their now reduced tents on the bank of the river that night, and I went down and took a slight bath in the stream, by way of celebrating our advance. General Grant came up betimes in the morning and had his tents near ours. He has several very sensible officers on his Staff, and several very foolish ones, who talked and laughed flippantly about Lee and his army. But they have changed their note now, and you hear no more of their facetiousness. The more experienced officers were sober, like men who knew what work was ahead. Our first grief was a ludicrous one. Our cook, a small Gaul, had mysteriously disappeared, and all we had left to cook for us was a waiter lad, who however rose with the occasion and was very conspicuous for activity. It turned out after, that the cook was arrested as a suspicious person, despite his violent protestations. . . .

We were off betimes the next morning (Thursday, May 5th), and about 7 o'clock got to the junction of the plank and pike, the troops meantime marching past us, as we stood waiting news from the front. Presently Griffin (5th Corps), who was two miles out on the pike (going west), reported the enemy in his front; while the cavalry, thrown out on the plank road, towards Parker's Store, sent to say that the Rebel infantry were marching down in force, driving them in. General Wright's division of the 6th Corps was turned off the Germanna plank to the right and ordered to march down the cross-road you see on the map, leading to the pike; and he and Griffin were directed to press the enemy and try to make a junction by their wings. At 10.40 A.M. General Getty's division (6th Corps) was sent to hold the Orange plank road. It marched down the Germanna plank and took the little cross-road where the dotted line is, and got to the Orange plank just in time to stop the advance of A. P. Hill's Corps. Meantime the rest of the 5th Corps was ordered into position on the left of, or in support of, General Griffin, about parallel to the most westerly dotted line, crossing the pike. Word was sent to 2d Corps, near Chancellorsville, that the Rebels were moving on us, and ordering Hancock to at once bring his men across to the Brock road and so take position on the left in support of General Getty. At noon, I was sent to General Getty, to tell him the disposition of the various troops and to direct him to feel along to his right, and find roads to communicate with the left of the 5th Corps, where, you will see, there was a considerable gap. Our Headquarters were on a piney knoll near the join of the Germanna plank and the pike. I rode down the dotted cross-road and came immediately on General Eustis, just putting his brigade into the woods, on Getty's right. I stopped and directed him to throw out well to the right and to try to find Crawford, or a road to him.

Here it is proper to say something of the nature of this country, whereof I have already spoken somewhat during Mine Run times. A very large part of this region, extending east and west along the plank and pike, and the south, nearly to Spotsylvania, is called “The Wilderness,” a most appropriate term — a land of an exhausted, sandy soil, supporting a more or less dense growth of pine or of oak. There are some cleared spaces, especially near Germanna plank, where our Headquarters are marked. The very worst of it is parallel with Orange plank and upper part of the Brock road. Here it is mostly a low, continuous, thick growth of small saplings, fifteen to thirty feet high and seldom larger than one's arm. The half-grown leaves added to the natural obscurity, and there were many places where a line of troops could with difficulty be seen at fifty yards. This was the terrain on which we were called to manoeuvre a great army. I found General Getty at the plank road (a spot I shall remember for some years) and gave him instructions. He told me the whole of Hill's Corps was in his front and the skirmishers only 300 yards from us. For all I could see they might have been in Florida, but the occasional wounded men who limped by, and the sorry spectacle of two or three dead, wrapped in their blankets, showed that some fighting had already taken place. I got back and reported a little before one o'clock, and had scarcely got there when B-r-r-r-r torang went the musketry, in front of Griffin and of Wright, which for the next hour and a half was continuous — not by volley, for that is impossible in such woods; but a continuous crackle, now swelling and now abating, and interspersed with occasional cannon. Very soon the ambulances began to go forward for their mournful freight. A little before two, I was sent with an order to a cavalry regiment, close by. The pike was a sad spectacle indeed; it was really obstructed with trains of ambulances and with the wounded on foot; all had the same question, over and over again; “How far to the 5th Corps’ hospital?” As I returned, I saw, coming towards me, a mounted officer — his face was covered with blood and he was kept in the saddle only by an officer who rode beside him and his servant who walked on the other side. “Hullo, Lyman!” he cried, in a wild way that showed he was wandering; “here I am; hurt a little; not much; I am going to lie down a few minutes, and then I am going back again! Oh, you ought to have seen how we drove ’em — I had the first line!” It was my classmate, Colonel Hayes, of the 18th Massachusetts; as fearless a soldier as ever went into action. There we were, three of us together, for the officer who supported him was Dr. Dalton. Three classmates together, down in the Virginia Wilderness, and a great fight going on in front. I was afraid Hayes was mortally hurt, but I am told since, he will recover. I trust so.

Gradually the musketry died away; and, at a quarter before three, General Griffin rode up — his face was stern and flushed, as it well might be. He said he had attacked and driven Ewell's troops three quarters of a mile, but that Wright had made no join on his right and Wadsworth had been forced back on his left, so that with both flanks exposed he had been obliged to fall back to his former position.¹  Meantime we got word that the head of Hancock's column had moved up the Brock road and made a junction with Getty. At 3.15 I was sent with an order to General Getty to attack at once, and to explain to him that Hancock would join also. He is a cool man, is Getty, quite a wonder; as I saw then and after. “Go to General Eustis and General Wheaton,” he said to his aides, “and tell them to prepare to advance at once.” And so we were getting into it! And everybody had been ordered up, including Burnside, who had crossed that very morning at Germanna Ford. General Grant had his station with us (or we with him); there he took his seat on the grass, and smoked his briarwood pipe, looking sleepy and stern and indifferent. His face, however, may wear a most pleasing smile, and I believe he is a thoroughly amiable man. That he believes in his star and takes a bright view of things is evident. At 4.15 P.M. General Meade ordered me to take some orderlies, go to General Hancock (whose musketry we could now hear on the left) and send him back reports, staying there till dark. Delightful! At the crossing of the dotted cross-road with the plank sat Hancock, on his fine horse — the preux chevalier of this campaign — a glorious soldier, indeed! The musketry was crashing in the woods in our front, and stray balls — too many to be pleasant — were coming about. It's all very well for novels, but I don't like such places and go there only when ordered. “Report to General Meade,” said Hancock, “that it is very hard to bring up troops in this wood, and that only a part of my Corps is up, but I will do as well as I can.” Up rides an officer: “Sir! General Getty is hard pressed and nearly out of ammunition!” “Tell him to hold on and General Gibbon will be up to help him.” Another officer: “General Mott's division has broken, sir, and is coming back.” “Tell him to stop them, sir!!” roared Hancock in a voice of a trumpet. As he spoke, a crowd of troops came from the woods and fell back into the Brock road. Hancock dashed among them. “Halt here! halt here! Form behind this rifle-pit. Major Mitchell, go to Gibbon and tell him to come up on the double-quick!” It was a welcome sight to see Carroll's brigade coming along that Brock road, he riding at their head as calm as a May morning. “Left face — prime — forward,” and the line disappeared in the woods to waken the musketry with double violence. Carroll was brought back wounded. Up came Hays's brigade, disappeared in the woods, and, in a few minutes, General Hays was carried past me, covered with blood, shot through the head.

_______________

1 Of this incident Lyman writes in his journal: "2.45. Griffin comes in, followed by his mustering officer, Geo. Barnard. He is stern and angry. Says in a loud voice that he drove back the enemy, Ewell, ¾ of a mile, but got no support on the flanks, and had to retreat — the regulars much cut up. Implies censure on Wright, and apparently also on his corps commander, Warren. Wadsworth also driven back. Rawlins got very angry, considered the language mutinous, and wished him put in arrest. Grant seemed of the same mind and asked Meade: ‘Who is this General Gregg? You ought to arrest him!’ Meade said: ‘It's Griffin, not Gregg; and it's only his way of talking.’”

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 85-91

Edwin M. Stanton to Major-General George G. Meade, May 12, 1864

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington City, May 12, 1864,

Maj. Gen. GEORGE G. MEADE,

Commanding Army of the Potomac:

GENERAL: This Department congratulates you and your heroic army, and returns its cordial thanks for their gallant achievements during the last seven days, and hopes that the valor and skill thus far manifested will be crowned with the fruits of ultimate and decisive victory. Major-General Wright has been nominated, and will be confirmed to-day by the Senate, as a major-general in the place of General Sedgwick. I am informed that all of the other pending nominations for officers in your command will also be confirmed to-day. The sad casualties that have befallen the officers of your army leave many vacancies to be filled, and if you will send me the names of the persons you desire to have appointed to the rank of brigadier, their nominations will be immediately sent to the Senate.

I beg to suggest that on the first occasion that may offer for a flag of truce, every effort be made to recover the remains of the gallant General Wadsworth, which are understood to be still in the hands of the enemy, and those of any other officers who may be in a like situation.

Trusting that Divine Providence may have you in His keeping, in the midst of the dangers that now surround you, I remain,

Truly, yours,

EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

[Memorandum of answer.]

I have the honor to acknowledge your kind letter of congratulation, and on behalf of this army to return you my thanks for the same. I have communicated to the army the high appreciation entertained by the Department of its services, and I feel confident this appreciation will prove a great incentive to future exertions. I shall avail myself of your generous offer to promote deserving officers, and will, so soon as I can confer with corps commanders, present a list of names for your action.

MEADE.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 36, Part 2 (Serial No. 68), p. 654; George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 196

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, May 11, 1864 – 9 A. M.

Battle-field, Spottyslvania Court House, May 11—9 A. M.

I have only time to tell you we are all safe — that is, George¹ and myself — and as far as I know, all your friends, except General Wadsworth, who fell into the hands of the enemy, mortally wounded, without hopes of life.

We have been fighting continuously for six days, and have gotten, I think, decidedly the better of the enemy, though their resistance is most stubborn.

Return thanks to the Almighty for the gracious protection extended to us, and let us try to deserve its continuance.

I am quite well and in good spirits, and hope we shall continue to be successful and bring this unhappy war to an honorable close.

_______________

¹ Son of General Meade.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 194

Washington News

WASHINGTON, March 26. – The amendments thus far made to the tax bill are not decisive, but, needing the action of the Committee of the Whole, the House having finally to act on them.  It is believed Congress will, in conformity with the proposed bill by the Secretary of the Treasury, increase the tax on tobacco, whiskey and other luxuries.  The hasty clause taxing the stock of whiskey now in the hands of dealers, will probably be reconsidered.  The bill with this clause stricken out will be uniform and more acceptable.

WASHINGTON, March 27. – The causes which prevented a safe conveyance of the mails and the collection of revenues upon the route from Jefferson City to Tuscumbia having been removed, the Postmaster-General has ordered the restoration of full service.

The bill to secure the officers and men actually employed in the Western Department or Department of Missouri their pay, bounty and pensions is now law.

(Special to Commercial Advertiser.)

WASHINGTON, March 27. – News has been received at the Navy Department confirming the statement that the Merrimac is again ready for sea.

Lieut. Jeffries, of the Monitor, sent word up this morning to Capt. James Green that he had no fears of the result of the next contest.

The House of Representatives will strike off the tax on liquors manufactured previous to the first of May.

The Committee of Ways and Means agree to modify the taxes on leather made from hides imported from east of the Cape of Good Hope, and on all damaged leather to half cent per pound; all other hemlock, sole and rough leather is to pay three-quarters of a cent per pound; all leather tanned in part or in whole with oak to pay one cent.

The Republican to-day has positive information that the Democratic caucus night before last agreed to oppose the President’s emancipation plan and favor McClellan’s war policy, which is for a short and desperate, and for our glorious Union as a whole.  This is emphatically Mr. Lincoln’s war policy.

As soon as the bill making appropriations for the Navy comes up in the Senate amendments will be adopted to complete the Stevens battery and for the construction of a number of iron-clad vessels of war.

Secretary Welles is asking congress for thirty millions of dollars to make arion-clad ships and heavy ordnance.

Gen. Adam Duria has arrived here from Baltimore and will act under orders of General Wadsworth.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 3

PRESIDENT'S GENERAL WAR ORDER, No. 2

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

Washington, March 8, 1862.

Ordered, 1. That the major-general commanding the Army of the Potomac proceed forthwith to organize that part of the said army destined to enter upon active operations (including the reserve, but excluding the troops to be left in the fortifications about Washington) into four army corps, to be commanded according to seniority of rank, as follows:

First Corps to consist of four divisions, and to be commanded by Maj. Gen. I. McDowell.

Second Corps to consist of three divisions, and to be commanded by Brig. Gen. E. V. Sumner.

Third Corps to consist of three divisions, and to be commanded by Brig. Gen. S. P. Heintzelman.

Fourth Corps to consist of three divisions, and to be commanded by Brig. Gen. E. D. Keyes.

2. That the divisions now commanded by the officers above assigned to the commands of army corps shall be embraced in and form part of their respective corps.

3. The forces left for the defense of Washington will be placed in command of Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth, who shall also be military governor of the District of Columbia.

4. That this order be executed with such promptness and dispatch as not to delay the commencement of the operations already directed to be undertaken by the Army of the Potomac.

5. A fifth army corps, to be commanded by Maj. Gen. N. P. Banks, will be formed from his own and General Shields' (late General Lander's) divisions.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, vol. 5, p. 18

From Washington

WASHINGTON, March 26.

Special to the Chicago Tribune.

Gen. Halleck’s commissioners, appointed to visit the Fort Donelson prisoners at Chicago, had reported the names of one thousand rebels as willing to take the oath of allegiance, but Schuyler Colfax protested against their release, on these or any other terms, and the President revoked the commission and prohibited the discharge of any more rebels.

World’s Dispatch.

An individual named Pollock reached here to-day, having come from Culpeper, near where the rebel army now lies.  He is known in Washington as reliable and intelligent.  Mr. Pollock states that in the vicinity from which he came there is a local insurrection among the white people who are pitter in opposition to the rule of Jeff. Davis.  The people, he says, feel that the rebel cause is hopelessly lost since the retreat from their stronghold at Manassas. – The rebel defeat at Winchester has also depressed them, though every effort has been made to conceal the bad news from the public and that portion of the army which was not engaged in the fight.  He doubts whether the rebels will have pluck to make a stand if they are attacked at Gordonsville.

Special to Herald.

A few days since the pickets along the lower Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay were drawn in by Gen. Hooker.  The rebel sympathizers in lower Maryland took this as an inclination that the U. S. forces were about to leave, and they immediately commenced to send their slaves to Virginia, for the rebel service.  This movement did not escape the vigilance of the General, who immediately ordered the arrest of some six or eight ringleaders, who are among the most prominent citizens of that section of Maryland.  They will be handed over to the authorities at Washington, with the evidence, which is said to be of the most conclusive character.

The following nominations by the President were referred to the Military Committee: W. B. Burnett, of N. Y., Carl Schurz, of Wis., M. S. Haskell, of Ind., J. W. Geary of Penn., Horace Waltner, of Ill., B. M. McVicker of Ill., J. T. Bradford, of Kentucky., J. D. Hutchitt, of Ky., A. J. Phillips, of Ohio, S. M. Hamilton, of Ill.

The amendments thus far made to the tax bill are not decisive, but merely the action of the committee of the whole – the House having finally to act on them.  It is believed Congress will, in conformity with the bill proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury, increase the tax on tobacco, whiskey and other luxuries.  The hasty clause taxing the stock of whisky now in the hands of dealers will probably be reconsidered.  The bill with this clause stricken out will be uniform and more acceptable.

WASHINGTON, March 27.

The causes which prevented a safe conveyance of mails and the collection of revenues, upon the route from Jefferson City to Tuscumbia, having been removed, the Postmaster General has ordered the restoration of full service thereon.

The bill to secure the officers and men actually employed in the Western Department, or Department of Missouri, their pay, bounty and pensions, is now a law.

News has been received at the Navy department, confirming the statement that the Merrimac is again ready for sea.  Lieut. Jeffries, of the Monitor, sent word to Capt. Dahlgren that he had no fears of the result of the next context.

The House of Representatives will strike off the tax on liquors manufactured previous to May 1^st.  The committee of ways and means have agreed to modify the taxes on leather made from hides imported from east of the Cape of Good Hope and on all damaged leather to half a cent per pound; all leather tanned in part or whole with oak to pay one cent.

The Republican to-day says it has positive information that the Democratic caucus night before last agreed to oppose the President’s emancipation plan and favor McClellan’s war policy, which is for a war short and desperate, and for our glorious Union as a whole.  This is emphatically Mr. Lincoln’s war policy.

As soon as the bill making appropriations for the navy comes up in the Senate, amendments will be adopted to complete the Stevens battery, and for the construction of a number of iron-clad vessels and heavy ordnance.

Gen. Abram Duryea [sic] has arrived here from Baltimore, and will act under orders of the military governor, Gen. Wadsworth.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, March 28, 1862, p. 1

From Washington

Special to the Chicago Tribune.

WASHINGTON, March 23.

The States this evening says it is the impression in naval and military circles, that New Orleans is ours, the mortar fleet having probably attacked the rebel fort Rigolette on the 11^th inst.

Letters from Ship Island confirm the statements.  The fort referred to is Fort Pike commanding one entrance to Lake Ponchartrain.

Gen. Brown has been out in command of the forts in New York harbor.

Gen. Arnold takes his place at Fort Pickens, which illness obliged is abandoning.  He leaves his staff, mustered out of service by recent General Order.

The Roanoke and Vanderbilt are being iron-clad as rapidly as possible.  Ericsson is preparing specifications for a vessel over three hundred feet long.  The smoke stacks on the new vessels will be higher.

Capt. Buchanan’s family still believe him alive.

In spite of a belief in their uselessness the seven millions voted by congress for stone forts are being appropriated for that purpose.

Dr. John Evans of Chicago, Ill., is nominated Governor of Colorado Territory, and Hardin of Indiana, nominated Governor of Utah.

Van Cleve and Asboth were also confirmed Brigadier Generals.  Fremont, at the last moment, concluded not to leave Washington yesterday, his staff not being fully determined upon.

Advices from the Gulf state that the Sickles cut off on the Pensacola is a failure; as a consequence the Pensacola is a failure.

Gen. Wadsworth is authorized to issue passes to the loyal North Carolinians, of whom many desire to reclaim their property from which they have been driven by the rebellion.

For the first time, the President yesterday visited Alexandria.

The Arlington House, hitherto occupied as headquarters, has been converted into a hospital.  The Freedman’s Aid Association, for the assistance of fugitives, has been organized here, with Mr. Hamlin as President.

Lieut. Morris, who fought the Cumberland so gallantly against the Merrimac, has received thanks of Secretary Wells, in a letter which does justice to his heroism.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, March 25, 1862, p. 1

From Washington

WASHINGTON, March 11.

The following orders by the President were published by authority in the Intelligencer this morning.  Their importance and bearing are manifest.

WAR GAZETTE, PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

WASHIGNTON, Jan. 27^th, 1862

THE PRESIDENT'S GENERAL ORDER NO. ONE.

It is ordered that on the 22d day of February, 1862, there be a general movement of the land and naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces.  That especially the army at and about Fortress Monroe, the army of the Potomac, the army of Western Virginia, the army near Munfordsville, the army and flotilla at Cairo, and naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready for a movement on that day.  That all the other forces both land and naval, with their respective commanders, obey the existing order for the time, and be ready to obey additional orders, when duly given.  That the heads of departments, and especially the Secretary of War and the Navy, with all their subordinates, and the General-in-Chief, with other commanders and subordinates of the land and naval forces, will severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities for the prompt execution of this order.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THE PRESIDENT'S GENERAL WAR ORDER NO. TWO

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

WASHINGTON, March 8, 1862.

Ordered, first, that the Major General commanding the army of the Potomac proceed forthwith to organize that part of said army destined to enter upon active operations, including the reserve, but excluding the troops to be left in the fortifications about Washington, into four army corps, to be commanded according to seniority of rank, as follows:

First corps to consist of four divisions, to be commanded by Maj. Gen. McDowell.

Second corps to consist of three divisions, to be commanded by Brig. Gen. Sumner.

Third corps to consist of three divisions, to be commanded by Brig. Gen. Heintzelman.

Fourth corps to consist of three divisions, to be commanded, by Brig. Gen. Keyes.

Ordered, second, that the division now commanded by the officers above assigned the command of corps, shall be embraced in and form parts of their respective corps.

Third, the forces left for the defence of Washington will be placed under command of Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth, who shall also be military Governor of the District of Columbia.

Fourth, that this order be executed with such promptness and dispatch as not to delay the commencement of the operations, directed to be undertaken by the army of the Potomac.

Fifth.  A fifth army corps, to be commanded by Major General N. P. Banks, will be formed from his own and General Shield’s (lat Gen. Lander’s) divisions.

Signed,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THE PRESIDENT'S WAR ORDER NO. THREE

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

WASHINGTON, March 12, 1862.

Maj. Gen. McClellan, having personally taken the field at the head of the army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered he is released from the command of the other military departments, he retaining the command of the department of the Potomac.

Ordered, further, that the two departments now under the respective command of Gens. Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of that of Gen. Buell which lies west of a north and south line indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, be consolidated, and designated the department of the Mississippi; and that until otherwise ordered, Maj. Gen. Halleck have command of the said department.

Ordered also that the country west of the department of the Potomac and east of the department of the Mississippi, be a military department, and the same be commanded by Major Gen. Fremont; that all commanders of departments after the receipt of this order respectively report severally and directly to the Secretary of war, and that prompt and frequent reports will be expected of all.

Signed,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, March 13, 1862, p. 1

From Washington

WASHINGTON, April 22.

The Select Committee, to whom was referred the question of the loyalty of Senator Stark, of Oregon, reported to-day that he is disloyal to the Government of the United States, having found that for many months prior to this that he was an ardent advocate of the rebel cause, and after the formation of the rebel constitution openly declared his admirations for it, and warmly avowed his sympathy with the rebel cause.

A caucus of the Republicans in Congress is called for to-morrow night.

Gen. Wadsworth, the military Governor, has issued an order requiring all farm stock in Prince William, Loudon, Alexandria and Fairfax counties, Va., to be confined and carefully guarded, the destruction of the fences rendering this measure necessary for the cultivation of the land.

The oath of allegiance has been administered to Mansfield S. Walworth, Saratoga county, N. Y., a political prisoner at the old capital prison. He also gave his parole of honor that he would not aid the rebels in any manner.

The Secretary of the Treasury has directed all public treasurers and depositaries to receive no more temporary deposits at rates of interest exceeding four per cent.

Richmond papers of yesterday contain telegraph reports of the landing of our forces near Elizabeth City, N. C., and an engagement at that point. They admit that their forces retired to Dismal Swamp Canal, with the loss of thirty-eight killed and wounded, and say the Federal loss was heavy. They notice the occupation of Fredericksburg, and complain of the withdrawal of their troops, which were in force there, without a contest.

The general commanding at the Warrick Creek fight, whose reported condition on that occasion called forth representative Morrill’s resolution empowering the President to cashier drunken officers is said to be Wm. F. Smith. It is said that he fell from his horse twice, smearing his clothes and face with mud.

Mr. Morrill said that the two companies of Green Mountain Boys stood in the marsh fifty minutes without support or permission to retire.

Most of the friends of Mr. Bingham’s confiscation bill feel sanguine that the house will pass it, under the previous question to-morrow. It is believed the vote will be a rather close one.


Tribune’s Dispatch.

Several Vessels of the river flotilla have been up the Rappahannock, some of them as far as Fredericksburg. About nine miles above Tappahannock schooners had been sunk to obstruct the river, but Commander Wyman, in the Yankee, with his consorts pushed their way through. At one point the boats were fired upon by musketry. – No one on board was injured. Twelve or thirteen vessels, two of them steamers, were found in the creeks, and were seized and brought down stream. The river is now considered open for navigation, and timber for re-building the bridges burned by the rebels, will soon reach Falmouth.

Nothing is heard of the rebel force, but it is believed to be in force not far back of Fredericksburg.

The finance committee of the Senate has done with the machinery sections of the tax bill, having made such amendments as in its judgment were calculated to perfect the system adopted by the House. An effort was made to raise the tax on whisky and other distilled spirits to 25 cts. A gallon, but the committee retained it at 15 cts. The committee decides to impose some change on stock on hand on the 30th of June, when the act is to go into operation, but left it to a sub committee to decide how much it should be. The tax on beer and other fermented liquors will be $2 a barrel instead of $1. No other noteworthy changes have yet been made.

Chas. A. Dana, of N. Y., has been appointed, by Secretary Stanton, one of the commissioners to investigate the war accounts at Cairo.

Prof. Bache and Mr. Westervelt have declined to serve on the Board appointed to examine the Stevens battery.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 24, 1862, p. 2

How General Wadsworth Got Shoes For His Soldiers

The following characteristic anecdote of the fallen hero, from the pen of one of the Editors of The New York Evening Post, will be read with interest.

“He had a reputation in the army for the excellent care he took of those under his command. He would not let them suffer if thoughtfulness, providence and ingenuity could prevent it.

“Make out a requisition for extra shoes,” we heard him say to one of the Brigadiers; “about one pair of shoes for ever two men. I think we can get them of the Quartermaster, but I will see to it, that at any rate they are got. They will not be heavy to carry, and we shall find [t]he value of them before we get through.”

“I remember,” he added, “during the march through Maryland, before the battle of South Mountain, we passed over a tract of country extremely rugged and stony, and I saw not only men, but officers walking along with bleeding feet. The Men’s shoes gave out entirely. It hurt my feelings more than I can tell you, to see the good fellows trudge along so. We came to a town on the line of march, and I, who was riding at the head of the column, spurred ahead to see if there were not some shoe stores where I could purchase what was needed for the men. All the shops were closed, the first men I saw were two sitting outside a closed shop.

“Are there any shoe stores in this town?” I asked. They replied, in a gruff way, that they could not tell, there might be and there might not. I told them that I wanted to buy shoes for my troops, who were barefooted. They replied they guessed I wouldn’t get many.

“At that,” said the General, “I got angry. Said I there are two pair of shoes at any rate which I see on your feet. Take them off instantly! I shouted to them. They were obliged to do it. I went through the town and took the shoes off every man’s feet I could see; and thus I raised about two hundred pairs in all. One fine old fellow, a miller, whom I met, I did not deprive of his own pair; I rode up to him and asked if he and any old shoes he could spare me, describing the pitiful condition of my men. The old man said, “I don’t know if there’s any shoes in the house or not, but,” looking down at his feet – “here’s a pair you’r[e] welcome to at any rate.” I would not let him take them off, but he gave me some from his house. All the rest I stripped.”

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, May 28, 1864