Major-General James B. McPherson to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, July 1, 1863

[July 1, 1863.]

The mine was successfully Exploded today damaging the enemy's works considerably & killing & wounding a number of their men Six men were blown out on our side of the defensive four of them killed one mortally wounded & one a negro slightly hurt the seige guns a portion of Logans & Ransoms arty opened on them with good effect as well as Ransoms Sharp shooters Ransom who was in a position to see the inside of the works says the rebels must have lost a good many men it has just been reported to me by Lt Branigan 1st infy in chg of 30 pdr parrotts that three rebel regts were seen crossing the bottom running towards our right Shermans Command beyond the range of any of our guns except the 30 pdrs from which he fired as long as they could be seen . . .

P. S. The explosion today evidently took the rebels by Surprise

SOURCE: John Y. Simon, Editor, The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 8, p. 448-9

Major-General William T. Sherman: General Orders, No. 44, June 9, 1863

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 44.}

HDQRS. FIFTEENTH ARMY CORPS,        

Walnut Hills, Miss., June 9, 1863.

To prevent communication between the enemy, now closely invested in Vicksburg, and their friends and adherents without, the following rules must be observed on the north front:

A continuous chain of sentinels must extend from the Mississippi River to the main Jackson road, along our front trenches. These sentinels will act as sharpshooters or pickets, and must be posted daily, and be instructed that no human being must pass into or out of Vicksburg, unless on strictly military duty, or as prisoners.

These sentinels must connect, one with another, the whole line; but division commanders may prescribe the posts, so that the length of line for each sentinel will depend on its nature.

All the ground, no matter how seemingly impracticable, must be watched.

The reserves and reliefs will be by brigades or divisions, according to the nature of the ground; but the post of his reserve must be known to each sentinel, and be within call.

I. General Steele will be held responsible for the front, from the Mississippi to the valley now occupied by General Thayer, to be known as "Abbott's Valley."

II. General Tuttle, from Abbott's Valley to the Graveyard road, at the point near the head of our "sap," to be known as "Washington Knoll?

III. General Blair, from Washington Knoll to where he connects with General McPherson's troops, at or near the point now occupied by General Ransom's advanced rifle-pits, to be known as "Ransom's Hill."

IV. The battalion of regulars, commanded by Captain Smith, will keep guards along all the roads leading to the front, and will arrest all soldiers absent from their regiments without proper authority, and turn back all officers not provided with written orders or passes from the commanders of their brigades or divisions.

Soldiers or citizens (not regular sutlers within the proper limits of their regiments) found peddling will be put under guard, and set to work on roads or trenches, and their wares turned into the hospital or distributed among the soldiers on duty.

Horses, mules, or any species of property found in possession of stragglers or absentees from duty, will be turned in to the corps quartermaster, a memorandum receipt taken, and sent to the corps inspector-general.

V. Colonel Eldridge, One hundred and twenty-seventh Illinois, will guard the Yazoo City road, at Chickasaw Creek, and also the bridges across the bayou, and will enforce at those points the same general orders as above prescribed.

VI. Colonel Judy, of the One hundred and fourteenth Illinois, will guard the road at the picket station near Templeton's, with vedettes on the by-roads leading therefrom north and east, and enforce similar general orders.

VII. In every regiment, troop, or company there must be at least three roll-calls daily—at reveille, retreat, and tattoo, and any commander who cannot account for every man in his command, at all times, will be liable for neglect of duty. He cannot shift his responsibility to an orderly sergeant.

The inspector-general of the corps may, and will, frequently visit camps, call for the rolls, and see that captains and colonels can account for every man.

VIII. Surgeons in charge of corps and division hospitals will notify regimental commanders of the admission and discharge of men at their hospitals, and furnish lists of men so admitted or discharged to the proper military commander.

Corps and division inspector-generals may, and will, frequently visit such hospitals, and satisfy themselves that no officers or soldiers are in hospital, except such as are admitted for treatment or regularly detailed as nurses.

IX. All commanders of divisions, brigades, regiments, and detached companies will be held responsible that their camps are not encumbered with surplus wagons, tents, horses, mules, tools, sutlers' trash, or anything that will prevent their raising camp at a moment's notice and taking up the march against an enemy to our front, flank, or rear.

X. The magnificent task assigned to this army should inspire every officer and soldier to sacrifice everything of comfort, ease, or pleasure to the one sole object, "success," now apparently within our grasp. A little more hard work, great vigilance, and a short struggle, and Vicksburg is ours.

By order of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman:

R. M. SAWYER,        

Assistant Adjutant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 24, Part 3 (Serial No. 38), p. 394-5

Charles A. Dana to Edwin M. Stantion, June 19, 1863—10. a.m.

BEHIND VICKSBURG, MISS., June 19 1863 - 10 a.m.,                

VIA MEMPHIS, TENN., June 22 - 9 a.m.        

(Received June 24 - 3.35 a.m.)

McClernand last night was relieved of his command and ordered to report to Washington for orders. As the matter may be of some importance, I telegraph the correspondence connected with it. The congratulatory address spoken of in General Grant's first letter is one that first reached here in the Missouri Democrat of June 11. In it he claims for himself most of the glory of the campaign; reaffirms that on May 22 he held two rebel forts for several hours, and imputes to other commanders a failure to aid him to keep them and take the city. The letters are as follows:

• Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General John A. McClernand, June 17, 1863
• Major-General John A. McClernand to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, June 18, 1863
• Major-General Ulysses S. Grant: Special Orders, No. 164, June 18, 1863
• Major-General John A. McClernand to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, June 18, 1863

Though the congratulatory address in question is the occasion of McClernand's removal, it is not its cause, as McClernand intimates when he says incorrectly that General Grant has taken exceptions to this address. That cause, as I understand it, is his repeated disobedience of important orders, his general insubordinate disposition, and his palpable incompetence for the duties of the position. As I learned by private conversation, it was, in General Grant's judgment, also necessary that he should be removed, for the reason, above all, that his relations with other corps commanders rendered it impossible that the chief command of this army should devolve upon him, as it would have done were General Grant disabled, without most pernicious consequences to the cause.

Lauman's division, having for some days past been temporarily attached to the Thirteenth Corps, will remain under Ord's command. Herron will continue to report directly to department headquarters. Captain Comstock takes general charge of the siege works on the lines of both Lauman and Herron. The siege works here are steadily progressing on the right and center, rather in the way of enlargement of covered ways and strengthening of the lines than of direct advances. On the front of the Thirteenth Corps and the extreme left, our works constantly approach those of the enemy. On the right of our center, however, an important advantage was this morning gained by General Ransom, who during the night pushed his trenches so that at daylight his sharpshooters were able to take in reverse the whole right flank of the main rebel fort in his front, called Fort Hill. He soon drove out the enemy, killing and wounding many, and will be able to crown the rebel parapet with his artillery whenever the order is given. The rebels are constructing an interior battery to cover the works they have thus virtually lost. Trustworthy advices from Jackson to the 16th show that Joe Johnston had withdrawn his troops thence. A few guards were all the troops there. As I have before reported, Breckinridge was at Clinton. The rebels are endeavoring to establish at Demopolis, on the Tombigbee, the gun-carriage factory we burned at Jackson. Ten thousand troops from Bragg had passed through that place—re-enforcements to Joe Johnston. No cavalry was among them nor any heavy artillery.

Weather is hot; thermometer at 95 degrees. The springs from which we get water are becoming bad. They are full of lime from decayed shells.

C. A. DANA.

Hon. E. M. STANTON,
        Secretary of War.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 24, Part 1 (Serial No. 36), p. 102-4

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: March 20, 1864

Our Lent services in St. Paul's Lecture-room, at seven o'clock in the morning, are delightful. The room is always crowded to overflowing — the old, the young, the grave, the gay, collect there soon after sunrise; also military officers in numbers. When General Lee is in town, as he now is, he is never absent, and always one of the most devout worshippers. Within a few days I have seen General Whiting there; also Generals Ransom, Pegram, and others. Starred officers of all grades, colonels, majors, etc., together with many others belonging to the rank and file; and civilians of every degree. It is delightful to see them, all bending together before high Heaven, imploring the help which we so much need.

The Transportation Office is just opposite to us, where crowds of furloughed soldiers, returning to their commands, are constantly standing waiting for transportation. As I pass them on my way to the office in the morning, I always stop to have a cheerful word with them. Yesterday morning I said to them: “Gentlemen, whom do you suppose I have seen this morning?” In answer to their inquiring looks, I said: “General Lee.” “General Lee,” they exclaimed: “I did not know he was in town; God bless him!” and they looked excited, as if they were about to burst forth with “Hurrah for General Lee!” “And where do you suppose I saw him so early?” “Where, Madam — where?” “At prayer-meeting, down upon his knees, praying for you and for the country.” In an instant they seemed subdued; tears started to the eyes of many of those hardy, sunburnt veterans. Some were utterly silent, while others exclaimed, with various ejaculations, “God bless him!” “God bless his dear old soul!” etc. As I walked away, some followed me to know where he was to be seen. One had never seen him at all, and wanted to see him “monstrous bad;” others had seen him often, but wanted to see him in town, “just to look at him.” I told them where his family residence was, but as they feared that they could not leave the Transportation Office long enough to find “Franklin Street,” I dare say the poor fellows did not see General Lee. This morning I had almost the same conversation with another crowd in the same place. It is delightful to see how they reverence him, and almost as much for his goodness as for his greatness.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 255-7

Brigadier-General John A. Rawlins to Mary Emeline Hurlburt Rawlins, April 20, 1864

Culpepper C. H., Va., April 20, 1864.

. . . The news is that Longstreet has at last reached Lee and that thirteen thousand troops are on the way from Mobile to join Lee. There is no doubt of the truth of this information. General Banks has been badly defeated near Shreveport, we learn through the press, but no official intelligence has yet been received from him. The fact is, he has permitted his expedition to straggle in detachments up the Red River, instead of moving in mass, so as to be able to meet the enemy in force should he venture an attack. Finding him advancing in this loose and desultory manner, they concentrated heavily against Banks's advance, and severely defeated it, with a loss of 2,000 men.

Among the killed I notice Cyrus E. Dickey, captain and assistant adjutant general to General Ransom. He was a brave and noble soldier and worth a dozen of the Banks Union Sliding Generals. General Ransom, also a personal friend of mine, was severely wounded. I hope this blunder of Banks may place him where he really belongs — in retirement.

The success of our Republican institutions depends upon our defeating the armies of the rebellion in battle, and while the God of humanity and of liberty is on our side, He will not permit us to triumph except through honest, patriotic, unselfish men. Banks is in the wrong place. I pray God different fortune may attend him hereafter than heretofore. Much, very much, depends upon the faithful execution of the orders entrusted to him in the coming campaign. May he lose sight of self and for once become imbued with the true spirit that ever insures success. Up to this time he seemed to have studied how to make his Government responsible for his failures, and he certainly reads military instructions with a view to giving them a different construction from that which their author intended. I measure the man aright, you can be assured.

The enemy is reported to be massing a heavy force on our left near Fredericksburg, some suppose with a design to attack us. For my part, I do not believe he means any such purpose, especially in that direction. We are fast assembling a large army here, and perhaps ere you read what I am now penning, especially if it takes my letters as long to reach you as it does yours to reach me, a terrible battle will be fought and the campaign in this quarter ended. I pray for victory to our arms; I know the same prayers go up daily from your pure heart and that our prayers meet in Heaven far separated as we are. Should I meet my fate in the conflict, know, dearest, that one at least has fallen whose every heart's pulsation was for his God, his country's honor and the welfare of his dear wife and children. . . .

SOURCE: James H. Wilson, The Life of John A. Rawlins, p. 420-1

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Eliza Walter Smith, November 18, 1864

Headquarters Armies Of The United States,

City Point, Va., Nov. 18, 1864.

I wrote a hurried note to wife a day or two ago upon my first arrival at General Grant's headquarters, simply to advise you all of my health and well-being. I was received here with open arms, unfeigned, and bounteous hospitality. I proposed returning with the General the day after my arrival, as he was about paying a visit to his wife at Burlington, but he pressed me to remain and inspect the lines, for that purpose mounting me on his own best horse with his own equipments, and assigning his chief aide-de-camp as my escort. The day before yesterday I rode the lines of the “Army of the James.” For this purpose a steamboat was detailed which took me up the river to a point just above the famous “Dutch gap” canal, where the extreme left of the army now under command of General Butler rests. Mounting our horses, we struck the field works at this point, and rode the whole circuit, visiting each fort en route, not forgetting the famous “Fort Harrison,” which cost us so dearly to wrest from the enemy; we were frequently in sight and within rifle range of the enemy's pickets, indeed at points within an hundred and fifty yards, and almost with the naked eye the lineaments of their countenances could be discerned; but we were not fired upon, for both armies on these lines decry the abominable practice of picket shooting, which for the most part is assassination, save when works are to be attempted by assault, and, relying on each other's honor, observe a sort of truce. I was so often within gunshot of them this day, and they so well observed the tacit understanding, that I did not dismount as is usual in exposed places, but always from the saddle made careful survey of their works. I rode as close as three miles from Richmond, whose spires could be discerned glittering in the hazy distance. General Butler had not then returned, but I was glad to be able to renew with my old friend General Weitzel then in command, an acquaintance formed at Port Hudson, which ripened into intimacy at New Orleans. He is an elegant fellow, and well worthy of the honors he enjoys. You may be sure he was glad to see me, and that he did all one soldier can do to make another happy, giving me his personal escort through the whole day. I also called upon General Terry, also in command of a corps, and two or three brigadiers. Their lines of fortifications display splendid engineering, their army in good condition and spirits, and the soldiers in first rate fighting trim. The enemy lies at short distance like a couchant tiger watching for the expected spring. There will be desperate fighting when we close. At night I re-embarked and returned to these headquarters. Yesterday our horses were placed upon a special railroad train provided for the purpose, and after breakfast we started for the headquarters of General Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac. At “Meade's Station” our horses were unshipped and we mounted, riding a short distance to the general's tent. He received me with profound respect and consideration, excused himself upon the plea of urgent business from giving me personal escort over the lines, but assigned his chief aide-de-camp, Colonel Riddle, who gave me guidance. I rode through his entire army of sixty thousand infantry, and surveyed their lines of fortifications, in close view of the lines of the enemy, and of the town of Petersburg. It would be neither proper for me, nor interesting to you, to give close description of all I saw; suffice it to say, that I found a splendidly appointed army in tip-top condition, behind works that, well-manned, are impregnable, close to an enemy who are watching with argus eyes and making defences with the arms of Briareus. I called in the course of the day upon Major-Generals Parke and Warren. Parke I knew at Vicksburg, and should have called upon Hancock, who had made preparation to entertain me, but the night was closing in murky with promise of storm, and I felt compelled to hasten to the depot. Thus in these two days I have made very extensive reconnaissance, inspection and survey of these two great armies upon the movements of which the destiny of a nation, if not of a world, seems to rest. An incident occurred yesterday that may serve to interest the children. We often were, as on the day previous, very close to the picket lines and fortifications of the enemy, and upon one occasion, as we halted to make close observation of a certain point, the enemy sent over a dog with a tag of paper attached to his collar, upon which was written, “Lincoln's majority 36,000.” We detached the paper, offered the dog something to eat, which he refused, turned him loose, when he forthwith returned to his master. Surely this is one of the “dogs of war.”

I have been called off from writing, a moment, to be introduced to General Butler, who has called, and who invites me to dine with him to-morrow. If the day is not very stormy I shall go to his headquarters.

At Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, I have been really oppressed, overwhelmed, with polite attentions. In the War Department, every officer I met, the Secretary, the Adjutant-General, the Assistant, were eager to give facilities. So at the Treasury, where I had occasion to transact some business. The Postmaster-General, our Mr. Dennison, promptly offered me every politeness, and here at these headquarters, from the General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States down, all have done me, and all have seemed eager to do me honor. I am informed that none others save the General, since he has come into his possession, has ridden or been offered his favorite horse, a magnificent animal, which, caparisoned with his own splendid housings, he ordered for me, and has left subject to my order while I remain. His Chief of Staff offered me the General's tent and bed during his absence; this I refused. I am the honored guest at the long mess-table. Well these are trifles in themselves, but taken together are gratifying to me and will doubtless be to you. I am very proud to have the good opinion of my commanding generals. I believe I mentioned to you in a former letter that I had introduced myself to the President, who was pleased to say he had heard of me, and who, in our interview, was exceedingly polite. Of course, I take all this just for what it is worth, and nothing more, and should be mean to attempt self-glorification upon the reception of courtesy that costs so little. But I am writing to my mother, and to her I cannot refrain some hints of my position towards those who are now most prominent in the world's history, and who give countenance and support to me, because I have cheerfully given my humble efforts to uphold the glory of a nation, the sustaining of a wise and beneficent government, the crushing of an unholy rebellion, the exposition of a devilish heresy, the elevation of truth as opposed to error. Those efforts for a while have been paralyzed and even now I am warned that the flesh is weak. I am not as I have been. This poor abused body fails me when the spirit is most strong, and truly with me is the conviction forced, that just as I am learning to live I must prepare to die. And the world and its glories to me are so pleasant. No day, no night, is long, “every moment, lightly shaken, runs itself in golden sands.” My comrades are fast passing away. You have noted, of course, the death of poor Ransom, my comrade in battle, my bosom friend, whom I dearly loved. After being four times wounded in battle, he went back to the field to die like a dog of this disease, this scourge of the soldier, dysentery. I saw his physician a day or two ago, who told me his bowels were literally perforated. He retained his mind clear to the last moment, said he was dying, and called in his staff as he lay in his tent to take a final leave, and issue a final order. How much better to die as McPherson, with the bullet in the breast. I sometimes think my health is improving, and I run along for several days feeling pretty well, but I have had recent evidence that at this time I am unfit for active service in the field. A Major-General's commission is just within my grasp, but a week's march and bivouac, I fear, would give me my final discharge. Still, it is all as God wills. The God of Heaven has watched over all my steps, and with that careful eye which never sleeps, has guarded me from death and shielded me from danger. Through the hours, the restless hours of youth, a hand unseen has guarded all my footsteps in the wild and thorny battles of life, and led me on in safety through them all. In later days still the same hand has ever been my guard from dangers seen and unseen. Clouds have lowered, and tempests oft have burst above my head, but that projected hand has warded off the thunder-strokes of death, and still I stand a monument of mercy. Years have passed of varied dangers and of varied guilt, but still the sheltering wings of love have been outspread in mercy over me; and when the allotted task is done, when the course marked out by that same good God is run, then, and not till then, shall I, in mercy, pass away. Meanwhile, give me your prayers, dear mother, for in your prayers, and in those of the dear good women who remember me in their closets, alone with their God, do I place all faith. Pray for me that I be not led into temptation, that I may be delivered from evil.

We do not hear from General Sherman, but we have the fullest faith that all will be well with him, and that he will accomplish his great undertaking. My own command is by this time with Thomas at Paducah. Say to Joe and Margaret, that the same servants are about General Grant's headquarters, each man remaining true at his post, that they all inquired after Joe and Margaret and old Uncle Jeff, and that all of them were very much mortified when I felt compelled to tell them that Uncle Jeff had abandoned me. They were all glad to hear that Joe and Margaret were married, and all sent kind messages to them. General Rawlins's little black boy Jerry has got to be a first rate servant, and so has Colonel Duff's boy Henry; Douglass, and General Grant's William, are all on hand. Colonel Duff's sorrel horse, John, that great walking horse he was afraid of, the one that used to run away and that he got me to ride (Joe will remember him), was captured by the enemy. The General's little bay stallion, he thought so much of, is dead. He sent the cream-colored stallion home. I write this to interest Joe. Tell him to keep quiet, that I shall soon be home, and don't want him to leave me till the war is over, and then I will make provision for him.

Just as I am writing now, I am being complimented by a serenade from a splendid brass band. I would give a good deal if you were all here on the banks of the James, to hear the thrilling music, though I should want you away as soon as it was over. My best and dearest love to all my dear ones.

Blessings rest upon you all, forgive my haste and crude expressions. It is always hard to write in camp, but impossible almost to me with music in my ear.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 365-70

Brigadier-General John A. Rawlins to Mary Emeline Hurlburt Rawlins, January 16, 1864

Nashville, Jan. 16, 1864.

I arrived here last night¹ and found all well and delighted to see me.  . . . I myself am still troubled with my cold. I mention this not to cause you uneasiness . . . but simply because I promised you I would write you the exact state of my health, whether good or bad, and this I shall always do. This morning was delightful, just cold enough to be bracing to those who sought the street for a stroll either for pleasure or business. Don't understand me to say there were any pleasure promenaders, for, dearest, if there ever was a city over which the shadow of gloom hung darkly it is this. It is literally the City of Woe. Nineteen out of twenty of the inhabitants are in mourning for friends who have been killed in battle.  . . . The very buildings seem to lift their darkened and dingy walls in consciousness of the gloom above them. . . .

I have just written a letter to General Ransom, one of my warmest and most intimate friends, and send you an extract from it. “While North, at Danbury, Connecticut, on the 23rd ultimo, I married Miss Mary E. Hurlbut, whom I met first at our headquarters in Vicksburg, where she had been during the siege, having gone South with friends previous to the outbreak of the rebellion.  . . . She was for the Union after my acquaintance with her and will instruct and educate my children in the spirit and sentiment of patriotism which I hope will always actuate them.” . . .

The following extract from a letter written by Mr. C. A. Dana, the Assistant Secretary of War, to General Wilson I send you, knowing how pleased you are at everything said pleasantly of me. Don't, however, indulge in Mr. Dana's forebodings as to my health. “Mrs. Rawlins I had no opportunity of seeing, but I hope she will add nothing but happiness to the life of her most excellent husband. His appearance made me somewhat anxious about him. I feared that his lungs might be more seriously affected than I had supposed. His loss would be a great misfortune, not only for his friends, but still more for the country. Public servants of his quality will always be few. There are plenty of men whose names will flourish largely in history without having rendered a tithe of his unostentatious and invaluable contributions to the great work of the nation.”

_______________

¹ From the leave of absence which he took to be married.

SOURCE: James H. Wilson, The Life of John A. Rawlins, p. 384-5

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, July 19, 1863

Headquarters U. S. Forces,

Natchez, Miss., July 19, 1863.

My Dear Wife:

To-day is Sunday, one week since I wrote you from Vicksburg. I had then just returned from Port Hudson, and a reconnoissance of the river, bringing with me the news of the reduction or rather surrender of Port Hudson, and despatches from General Banks. Having impressed upon General Grant the importance of occupying this point, I was sent back to take possession of Natchez, by aid of General Ransom and his brigade. This was accomplished without opposition, to the immense and mingled surprise, grief, and indignation of the people, as well as officers and soldiers whom we took as prisoners. We captured some five thousand head of fine cattle, three thousand of which we have shipped to Port Hudson and to Vicksburg. We captured and destroyed large quantities of ordnance and ordnance stores, and great numbers of small arms. We are in the process of taking large quantities of sugar, molasses, corn, and cotton, belonging to the so-called Confederate government; also immense quantities of lumber, at this time of large value to our army. Our occupation has been most fertile in results. The plan of operations was suggested, and carried into effect by me. I shall never be known in it to the world at large, nor is it of vast moment, but it has been an expedition fraught with success, and I congratulate myself at least, so let it pass.

Natchez is a beautiful little city of about seven thousand or eight thousand inhabitants, a place for many years past of no great business significance, but rather a congregation of wealthy planters and retired merchants and professional men, who have built magnificent villas, along the bluffs of the river and in the rear, covering for the city a large space of ground. Wealth and taste, a most genial climate and kindly soil have enabled them to adorn these in such manner as almost to give the Northerner his realization of a fairy tale. Tourists, who, in times past, have visited the South, have usually selected winter as the season for their journeyings, and for the most part, have confined themselves to the limits of city and steamboat. They have told us little of rural life amid the opulent of the South, their efforts give but faint ideas of the clime or country. The grand luxuriance of foliage and flower and fruit of which this sunny clime can boast, has been denied them, and is seen in its perfection now and where my footsteps lead me.

The house of . . . where I have been quartered for the past week, is one of the largest and most elegantly appointed mansions in all the South. Any description that I can give of its superb appointments will be but feeble. The proprietor counts his plantations by the dozens, his slaves by the thousands, those people, I mean, who were his slaves. He has travelled most extensively all over Europe; his summers, for almost his lifetime, have been passed in Europe or at our Northern watering places. His family consists only of himself and wife, a lady of some thirty-five years, not beautiful, but thoroughbred, tall figure, fine eyes, good refined features, a gentle, musical voice, and a sweet smile. He, fifty. The mansion is very large, great rooms with high ceilings, long wide halls, ample piazzas, windows to the floor and opening upon grassy terrace. Walls hung with chefs d'ceuvre of Europe's and America's best artists. Busts from Powers and Crawford, paintings from Landseer and Sully and Peal. Everything that ministers to refined taste almost is here. For the grounds, you must imagine a chain of very high and steep bluffs, bordering a wide river which winds in silvery sheen far below, and is so serpentine in its course, that miles and miles away, . . . you can see its waters glittering in the last sun rays, while intervening there are plain and forest, plantations highly cultivated, and dotted with the whitewashed negro quarters, and the damp green swamp land. The river disappears amid waving, moss-grown trees, to reappear tortuously ribboned amid canebrake and plain, always on calm days a mirror of the bright blue skies, and fleecy clouds of ever-changing forms of beauty. As you approach upon the broad carriage way that gracefully sweeps past the high-columned portico, which is shaded by the cypress and magnolia and crape myrtle, gorgeous in its bloom and blooming always, your feet crackling the gravel and sea shells, you are almost lost in labyrinthine ways which pass over terrace and undulating sward, over rustic bridges, through cool and verdurous alleys of gloria mundi, Japan plum, the live and water oak, making literally a flowery pathway of exotics of gorgeous coloring and startling magnificence, and almost indigenous to the soil in which they grow, the river view bursts suddenly upon you, and in the beautiful summer house you sit down entranced, wondering if it is all real, or if the scene has not been suddenly conjured by an enchanted wand. Flowers and bloom and fruit are all around, and almost sick with perfume one can dream away the hours in ecstacy of enjoyment, the air so soft and balmy, all so still, so peaceful, apparently ; one must here awhile forget the lurking serpent.

You return to the house by the orchards and cultivated lands by the greenhouse, hothouse, and pineries. A house that cost a small fortune has been built to shelter a single banana tree that grows within its hot atmosphere, bears fruit and puts forth its great green leaves three feet or more in length. Unheard-of plants are clambering about the conservatories; the more ordinary beauties of the greenhouse and of the parterre smile in boundless profusion and perfection of bloom. Pines and figs of three or four varieties, melons I should be afraid to tell you how large, for you would not credit me. Cantaloupes, peaches, pears, and the most delicious nectarines are brought fresh to the table every day. Shooting galleries and billiard rooms, elegantly fitted up for ladies as well as gentlemen, are placed in picturesque positions in the grounds and gardens. Stables and offices all concealed, nothing to offend the most fastidious taste. One continually wonders that such a Paradise can be made on earth.

. . . My duties are very nominal. Indeed, I have nothing to do but represent General Grant ... I ride a little way morning and evening for exercise. I take good care of myself, and do not suffer much from the heat. I should be very happy if you were with me, for amid all this almost voluptuous luxury, I have no one to love me; they minister from fear, not affection. Amid the busiest throng I am very lonely. The “months that are passing slowly away into years” are hurrying us forward to the sea of eternity. The prime and vigor of my life is going oh, so fast! And all these months I have laid in the saps, and trenches, and swamps, and by the roadside and in the forest. Sometimes like a stag at bay, ever ready to spring upon an assailant, a heart so longing for home and sweet home affections, yet so hardened to suffering, so strange to all that is homelike.

I sit me down in quiet and think. I have not the excitement of the battle and skirmish, bivouac and march, to drain all my physical energies and keep my heart from throbbing, at times anxiously throbbing with anguish unspeakable. I think of you all at home, of you and my dear little children, of my darling mother and sweetest sister. How I am blessed in all of you, how proud I am of all of you, and yet sweetest intercourse by hard sad fate is denied. I must work on in the storm of battle, borne forward on the wings of the whirlwind of the strife of the people, the tornado of political elements, far behind I leave you all in flowery meads and pastures green. The storm has passed you and all is serene, only on either side you see the wreck of those who have fallen. My mission is not yet done. I go to prepare you all a way, if not for you, for my children, if not for them, still for those who come after. God's hand is in all this, be of good cheer, and fear not. I complain a little to myself; sometimes I could cry aloud in very agony of spirit; I have been so desolate, but it is all wrong. I have been selected for some purpose or I should not be here and hindered as I am from the heart's best affections; it is meet that I should suffer. I propose to bear my cross gracefully and without murmur. As for you all, all who are dear, oh, how dear to me, sister, mother, children, wife, weld your affections, be all in all to one another, bear with each other, it will be but a little while; in all your sufferings, there will be much joy, and soon, if not in this world, in another we shall be together and at peace.

How long I shall stay here, I am uncertain. I want to go to Mobile and shall try to get in with a flag of truce, if I cannot arrange it otherwise. We sent there yesterday, by steamboat City of Madison, a large number of wounded and sick rebel officers. I shall return to Vicksburg first, however, and perhaps before the close of this week. Simultaneously with the reception of this letter, if I am fortunate enough in getting it off, you will have heard of General Sherman's success at Jackson, where Johnson had fortified himself. The victory is complete. Now we have the Mississippi River open, we have the capital and two principal towns of his State, the control of the whole State, I wonder how Mr. Jefferson Davis feels. My plans may be altered upon my return to Vicksburg. I cannot tell yet.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 323-7

Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, June 19, 1862

Corinth, Mississippi,

June 19, 1862.

YOUR letter of the 8th inst., addressed to me at Covington, Ky., has just reached me. At the time the one was written to which it is an answer I had leave to go home or to Covington, but General Halleck requested me to remain for a few days. Afterward when I spoke of going he asked that I should remain a little longer if my business was not of pressing importance. As I really had no business, and had not asked leave on such grounds, I told him so, and that if my services were required I would not go at all. This settled my leave for the present, and for the war. So long as my services are required I do not wish to leave. I am exceedingly obliged to you for the interest you have taken in the appointment recommended by me, and also for the assurance that the Secretary of War receives it with such favor. I will endeavor never to make a recommendation unsafe to accede to.

I shall leave here on the 21st for Memphis, where my headquarters will be located for the time being. Western Tennessee is fast being reduced to working order, and I think, with the introduction of the mails, trade, and the assurance that we can hold it, it will become loyal or, at least, law-abiding. It will not do, however, for our arms to meet with any great reverse and still expect this result. The masses this day are more disloyal in the South from fear of what might befall them in case of defeat to the Union cause than from any dislike to the Government. One week to them (after giving in their adhesion to our laws) would be worse under the so-called Confederate Government than a year of martial law administered by this army. It is hard to say what would be the most wise policy to pursue toward these people, but for a soldier his duties are plain. He is to obey the orders of all those placed over him, and whip the enemy wherever he meets him. “If he can” should only be thought of after an unavoidable defeat. If you are acquainted with Senator Collamore of Vermont, I would be pleased if you would say to him that there is a young colonel in the Eleventh Illinois Regiment, a native of his State, that I have taken a great interest in for his gallantry and worth. I mean Colonel Ransom.⁶ He has now been wounded three times in separate engagements, but never showed a willingness to relinquish his command until the day was decided, and always declines a leave to recover from his wounds lest something should transpire in his absence.

__________

⁶Colonel Ransom. Thomas E. G. Ransom (1834-1864), major Eleventh Illinois Infantry, July 30, 1861; colonel, February 15, 1862; and brigadier general, November 29, 1862. He was among the most gallant of our young volunteer officers of the Army of the Tennessee.

SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 15-7, 114