Major General William T. Sherman's General Orders: No. 30

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH DIVISION,

Camp before Corinth, May 31, 1862.

The general commanding Fifth Division, right wing, takes this occasion to express to the officers and men of this command his great satisfaction with them for the courage, steadiness, and great industry displayed by them during the past month. Since leaving our memorable camp at Shiloh we have occupied and strongly intrenched seven distinct camps in a manner to excite the admiration and highest commendation of General Halleck. The division has occupied the right flank of the Grand Army, thereby being more exposed and calling for more hard work and larger guard details than from any other single division, and the commanding general reports that his officers and men have promptly and cheerfully fulfilled their duty, and have sprung to the musket or spade, according to the occasion, and have just reason to claim a large share in the honors that are due to the whole army for the glorious victory terminating at Corinth on yesterday, and it affords him great pleasure to bear full and willing testimony to the qualities of his command that have achieved this victory, a victory none the less decisive because attended with comparatively little loss of life.

But a few days ago a large and powerful army of rebels lay at Corinth, with outposts extending to our very camp at Shiloh. They held two railroads, extending north and south, east and west, across the whole extent of their country, with a vast number of locomotives and cars to bring to them speedily and certainly their re-enforcements and supplies. They called to their aid all their armies from every quarter, abandoning the sea-coast and the great river Mississippi, that they might overwhelm us with numbers in the place of their own choosing. They had their chosen leaders, men of high reputation and courage, and they dared us to leave the cover of our iron-clad gunboats to come and fight them in their trenches and still more dangerous ambuscades of their Southern swamps and forests. Their whole country, from Richmond to Memphis and from Nashville to Mobile, rung with their taunts and boastings as to how they would immolate the Yankees if they dared to leave the Tennessee River. They boldly and defiantly challenged us to meet them at Corinth. We accepted the challenge, and came slowly and without attempt at concealment to the very ground of their selection, and they have fled away. We yesterday marched unopposed through the burning embers of their destroyed camps and property and pursued them to their swamps, until burning bridges plainly confessed they had fled, and not marched away for better ground.

It is a victory as brilliant and important as any recorded in history, and every officer and soldier who has lent his aid has just reason to be proud of his part. No amount of sophistry or words from the leaders of the rebellion can succeed in giving the evacuation of Corinth under the circumstances any other title than that of a signal defeat, more humiliating to them and to their cause than if we had entered the place over the dead and mangled bodies of their soldiers. We are not here to kill and slay, but to vindicate the honor and just authority of that Government which has been bequeathed to us by our honored fathers, and to whom we would be recreant if we permitted their work to pass to our children weaned and spoiled by ambitious and wicked rebels.

The commanding general, while thus claiming for his division their just share in the glorious result, must at the same time remind them that much yet remains to be done, and that all must still continue the same vigilance, patience, industry, and obedience till the enemy lays down his arms and publicly acknowledges for their supposed grievances they must obey the laws of their country, and not attempt its overthrow by threats, by cruelty, and by war. They must be made to feel and acknowledge the power of a just and mighty nation. This result can only be accomplished by a cheerful and ready obedience to the orders and authority of our own leaders, in whom we now have just reason to feel the most implicit confidence. That the Fifth Division of the right wing will do this, and that in due time we will all go to our families and friends at home, is the earnest prayer and wish of your immediate commander,

 W. T. SHERMAN,

 Major-General, Commanding.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume X, Part I (Serial No. 11), pages 233-4

Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, August 30, 1863

Vicksburg, Mississippi,

August 30, 1863.

YOUR letter of the 8th of August, inclosing one from Senator Wilson⁸ to you, reached here during my temporary absence to the northern part of my command; hence my apparent delay in answering. I fully appreciate all Senator Wilson says. Had it not been for General Halleck and Dana,⁹ I think it altogether likely I would have been ordered to the Potomac. My going could do no possible good. They have there able officers who have been brought up with that army, and to import a commander to place over them certainly could produce no good. While I would not positively disobey an order, I would have objected most vehemently to taking that command or any other, except the one I have. I can do more with this army than it would be possible for me to do with any other without time to make the same acquaintance with others I have with this. I know that the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee can be relied on to the fullest extent. I believe I know the exact capacity of every general in my command to lead troops, and just where to place them to get from them their best services. This is a matter of no small importance. . . .

The people of the North need not quarrel over the institution of slavery. What Vice-President Stephens acknowledges the cornerstone of the Confederacy is already knocked out. Slavery is already dead, and cannot be resurrected. It would take a standing army to maintain slavery in the South if we were to make peace to-day, guaranteeing to the South all their former constitutional privileges. I never was an abolitionist, not even what could be called antislavery, but I try to judge fairly and honestly, and it became patent to my mind early in the rebellion that the North and South could never live at peace with each other except as one nation, and that without slavery. As anxious as I am to see peace reestablished, I would not, therefore, be willing to see any settlement until this question is forever settled. Rawlins and Maltby¹⁰ have been appointed brigadier-generals. These are richly deserved promotions. Rawlins especially is no ordinary man. The fact is, had he started in this war in the line instead of in the staff, there is every probability he would be to-day one of our shining lights. As it is, he is better and more favorably known than probably any other officer in the army who has filled only staff appointments. Some men, too many of them, are only made by their staff appointments, while others give respectability to the position. Rawlins is of the latter class. My kind regards to the citizens of Galena.

__________

⁸Henry Wilson of Massachusetts (1812-1875), who in 1872 was elected Vice-President of the United States on the ticket with General Grant.

⁹Charles A. Dana (1819-1897), Assistant Secretary of War, and late editor of the New York Sun.

¹⁰Jasper A. Maltby (1826-1867), lieutenant colonel Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry, August, 1861; colonel, November 29, 1862, and brigadier general, August 4, 1863.

SOURCES: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 27-9, 115;  James H. Wilson, The Life of John A. Rawlins, p. 434

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, January 22, 1862

Orderly Clark, Sergeants Spencer, Sweet and White went out on a scouting expedition and brought in a pair of ponies and some things to eat.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 30

Senator John Sherman to Major General William T. Sherman, May 19, 1862

SENATE CHAMBER, WASHINGTON, May 19, 1862.

Dear Brother:

Your official report was so complete and satisfactory that it has settled forever all the absurd stories about the battle of the 6th and 7th. It also shows me that with all my care to be right I made several mistakes, especially as to the volunteers of the 6th and 7th.

Deep anxiety is felt here as to your position. I talked with the President on Saturday about the general state of the war. He evidently fears the accumulation of forces under Beauregard and said he had and would again telegraph Halleck not to move forward until he was certain to win. If the Mississippi is clear of the enemy and we get Richmond, it is thought that will secure the border States and we can afford to wait. In the mean time, even under terrible financial pressure and drain of active war, the country is flourishing. Our bonds are above par, trade is active and produce bears a good price. Much of this may be induced by the inflation of paper money, but gold is abundant, foreign importations active, and foreigners are making investments here heavily. In my experience in public affairs I have never known times more easy. If the war could only be brought to a close upon the basis of the unity and integrity of the Government, we should have a rebound of national prosperity that would soon heal all the losses and burdens of the war. As to politics now, lines are being drawn. Radicals and Conservatives are taking sides without regard to party reasons. If the rank Secessionists would only give up their insane attempt at division they could easily secure every reasonable right. They must, however, lay aside the insolence and dogmatism with which they have domineered over our better men. If they do not abandon their cause, events will force a war in the cotton States between the whites and blacks. Hunter has already invited it, but his inconsiderate proclamation will be set aside. However, delay, defeat or a much longer continuance in the barbarity of rebel warfare will prepare the public mind in the North for a warfare that will not scruple to avail itself of every means of subjection.

In the course of business I have received many kind messages for you from your many friends, among others from Swords, Van Vleit, Garesche and others.

Affectionately yours,

JOHN SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman letters: correspondence between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 150-1

Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, March 10, 1863

Young’s Point, Mississippi,

March 10, 1863.

NOW that Congress has adjourned, I have thought possible you might want to make a visit to this part of the country. I need not assure you that I would be most glad to see you here, and have you stay during the contest which will take place in the next thirty days from this writing. You will have time to join me if mails are prompt. The canal through would have been a success by today but for the great rise of water. The river is now several feet above the whole country hereabout, and our canal was dependent for its success upon keeping the water out of it. The upper dam has broken and submerged things generally. To stop this off will take a number of days, but we will do it. In the meantime, so far as I now know and have official reports, the Yazoo Pass expedition is going to prove a perfect success. This is highly important if for no other purpose than to destroy the transportation and embyro gunboats the enemy had there. They have been working for one year on one boat of gigantic proportions up that stream.

Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, a young man of great merit, who has been put on General Hunter’s staff, but who was on mine as a lieutenant, and I objected to relieving until the present campaign is over, writes to Rawlins in a private letter that our success in getting into Yazoo Pass is due to the energy of C. C. Washburn. He felt an interest in the enterprise and took hold with a will, and with men worthy of the object to be accomplished. I have ordered the army corps of McPherson through that way with additional forces, making him effective men to the number of about twenty-eight thousand. McPherson is one of my best men, and is fully to be trusted. Sherman stands in the same category. In these two men I have a host. They are worth more than a full brigade each. McPherson will effect a lodgment on the high lands on the Yazoo River east bank, and will co-operate with the troops from here. The class of transports adapted to the pass being so limited, some delay will necessarily take place in getting them to their destination. I have sent up the river for all the small class of boats that can be got.

We are going through a campaign here such as has not been heard of on this continent before. The soldiers see the position of the enemy in front of them, but I presume do not see how they are to attack. Their camp ground is several feet below water, held in its place by the levees. Constant rains falling keep the roads almost impassable. With all this the men are in good spirits, and feel confident of ultimate success.

The health of this command is a subject that has been very much exaggerated by the press. I will venture the assertion that there is no army now in the field showing so large a proportion of those present with their commands being ready for duty. Really our troops are more healthy than could possibly have been expected, with all their trials. Although I have told you but little of plans here, it is more than I am in the habit of writing on this subject. You will excuse me, therefore, from saying how I expect to co-operate with McPherson, at least until you come down. General Washburn will have command of a very important cavalry expedition from the Yazoo River if all other plans succeed. . .

SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 23-6

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, January 21, 1862

Nothing of importance. Everything is very quiet in this locality. We have nothing but the regular camp duty to perform. Mess number 7 have now used up all their cooked rice.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 30

Major General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, May 12, 1862

HEADQUARTERS 5TH DIV., May 12, 1862.

CAMP BEFORE CORINTH.

My Dear Brother:

. . . I was gratified on Monday when I came in contact with my old Kentucky command. They gathered around me and were evidently pleased to meet me again, officers and men. I think Mr. Lincoln is a pure minded, honest and good man. I have all faith in him. . . .

I think it is a great mistake to stop enlistments. There may be enough soldiers on paper, but not enough in fact. My aggregate, present and absent, is 10,452. Present for duty, 5,298; absent sick, 2,557; absent wounded, 855. The rest are on various detached duties, as teamsters or hospital attendance, embracing about 600 sick in camp.

About this proportion will run through the whole army. I have not really one thorough soldier in my whole army. They are all green and raw. . . .

Last evening I had to post my own pickets and come under the fire of the enemies’ pickets. Came near being hit. Of course, being mounted and ahead, I and staff always get an undue share of attention.

I made my official report on the battle of the 6th and 7th on the 11th of April, sent it to Grant, and he to Halleck. It has not been published and it is none of my business. An officer ought not to publish anything. His report is to the Government, may contain confidential matters, and the War Department alone should have the discretion to publish or not, according to the interests of Government. . . .

I have been worried to death by the carelessness of officers and sentinels; have begged, importuned, and cursed to little purpose; and I will not be held responsible for the delinquencies of sentinels fresh from home, with as much idea of war as children. All I know is, we had our entire front, immediate guards and grand guards, and I had all my command in line of battle well selected before we had seen an infantry soldier of the enemy. We had been skirmishing with the cavalry for several days, and we could not get behind them. All we could see was the head of their column, and that admirably qualified by familiarity of the country for the purpose of covering an approach.

Grant had been expecting Buell a whole week before he arrived. We all knew the enemy was in our front, but we had to guess at his purpose. Now that it is known, all are prophets; but before, we were supposed to be a vast aggressive force sent by an intelligent Government to invade the South, and for us to have been nervous on the subject would have indicated weakness. Beauregard then performed the very thing which Johnston should have done in Kentucky last October.

My force was divided; he could have interposed his, attacked McCook at Nolin and Thomas at London, and would have defeated us with perfect ease. The secessionists would then have had Kentucky and Missouri both. Why he did not is a mystery to me. And Buckner told me that Johnston’s neglect on that occasion was so galling to him that he made him give a written order not to attempt to manoeuvre. . . .

We are now encamped six miles from Corinth, pickets about one mile and a half in advance. I am on the extreme right, McClernand is in my rear and guards off to the right. The roads are again pretty good and I don’t bother myself about the plans and aims of our generals. I will do all I can with my division, but regret that I have not better discipline and more reliable men. Too many of the officers are sick of the war and have gone home on some pretence or other. I am in pretty good health and keep close to my work. The success of our arms at Norfolk and Williamsburg are extraordinary and may result in peace sooner than I calculated. All I fear is that though we progress we find plenty of push everywhere. Weather begins to be hot.

Affectionately yours,

W. T. SHERMAN

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman letters: correspondence between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 148-50

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, January 20, 1862

It snowed some today and turned colder; the weather is very changeable. I wrote a letter to father and enclosed $20.00 of the $26.00 I received from the Government on the 8th inst.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 30

Senator John Sherman to Major General William T. Sherman, May 10, 1862

WASHINGTON CITY, May 10, 1862.

My Dear Brother:

I received your recent letter in which you mention your position on the morning of Sunday very opportunely.

It arrived on the morning I had to make a speech on Ohio volunteers. The imputations, whether just or unjust, upon our regiments make it necessary in the opinion of our delegation that someone should speak, and I did so. I was exceedingly anxious for your report and went or sent to the Adjutant General's office daily for several days, but was informed that none of the details or division reports had come, although several were published in the newspapers. I collected all the information I could and made my speech. Whether I am in a mile of the truth is mere chance, but I believe my statement is more accurate than any made. Head it and let me know. You will see from Harlan’s remarks there is much feeling against Grant and I try to defend him, but with little success. Why is not your report sent in? Pray hereafter have a copy sent to me of all future reports. . . .

I never spoke under greater embarrassment than I did yesterday. It was a delicate subject, upon which my constituents were sensitive, and yet I was in ignorance how far your reply would overthrow me. . . .

As to your personal position you need not fear. Halleck’s opinion about your action of Sunday is the opinion of the country. You are as likely to be abused on my account as on your own. I am so accustomed to storms of factious opposition as to be perfectly serene under it. I hope you will become so.

Affectionately,

JOHN SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman letters: correspondence between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 147

Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, November 7, 1862

La Grange, Tennessee,

November 7, 1862.

NOT having much of special note to write you since your visit to Jackson, and knowing that you were fully engaged, I have not troubled you with a letter. I write now a little on selfish grounds. I see from the papers that Mr. Leonard Swett is to be called near the President in some capacity. I believe him to be one of my bitterest enemies. The grounds of his enmity I suppose to be the course I pursued whilst at Cairo toward certain contractors and speculators who wished to make fortunes off of the soldiers and government, and in which he took much interest, whether a partner or not.⁷  He called on me in regard to the rights of a post sutler for Cairo (an appointment not known to the law) whom he had appointed. Finding that I would regard him in the light of any other merchant who might set up there, that I would neither secure him a monopoly of the trade nor his pay at the pay table for such as he might trust out, the sutler never made his appearance. If he did he never made himself known to me. In the case of some contracts that were given out for the supply of forage, they were given, if not to the very highest bidder, to far from the lowest, and full 30 per cent, higher than the articles could have been bought for at that time. Learning these facts, I immediately annulled the contracts.

Quite a number of car-loads of grain and hay were brought to Cairo on these contracts, and a change of Quartermaster having taken place in the meantime the new Quartermaster would not receive them without my order, except at rates he could then get the same articles for from other parties. This I refused to give. The contractors then called on me, and tried to convince me that the obligation was binding, but finding me immovable in the matter, asked if General Allen’s approval to the contract would not be sufficient. My reply was, in substance, that General Allen was Chief Quartermaster of the Department, and I could not control him. They immediately left me, and, thinking over the matter, it occurred to me that they would go immediately to St. Louis and present their contract for approval without mentioning the objection I made to it. I then telegraphed to General Allen the facts, and put him on his guard against these men. For some reason, however, my dispatch did not reach St. Louis for two days. General Allen then replied to it, stating that those parties had been to him the day before, and knowing no objection to the contract he had approved it.

The parties then returned to Cairo evidently thinking they had gained a great triumph. But there being no money to pay at that time, and because of the bad repute the Quartermaster's Department was in, they were afraid to take vouchers without my approval. They again called on me to secure this. My reply to them was that they had obtained their contract without my consent, had it approved against my sense of duty to the government, and they might go on and deliver their forage and get their pay in the same way. I would never approve a voucher for them under that contract if they never got a cent. I hoped they would not. This forced them to abandon the contract and to sell the forage already delivered for what it was worth.

Mr. Swett took much interest in this matter and wrote me one or more letters on the subject, rather offensive in their manner. These letters I have preserved, but they are locked up in Mr. Safford’s safe in Cairo. I afterwards learned from undoubted authority that there was a combination of wealthy and influential citizens formed, at the beginning of this war, for the purpose of monopolizing the army contracts. One of their boasts was that they had sufficient influence to remove any general who did not please them.

The modus operandi for getting contracts at a high rate, I suppose, was for a member of this association to put in bids commencing at as low rates as the articles could be furnished for, and after they were opened all would retire up to the highest one who was below any outside person and let him take it. In many instances probably they could buy off this one for a low figure by assuring him that he could not possibly get the contract, for if he did not retire it would be held by the party below. You will see by the papers that I am on the move. If troops are furnished me to keep open my lines of communication, there will be no delays in this department. Once at Grenada I can draw supplies from Memphis, and save our present very long line.

I do not see my report of the battle of Iuka in print. As the papers in General Rosecrans’s interest have so much misrepresented that affair, I would like to see it in print. I have no objection to that or any other general being made a hero of by the press, but I do not want to see it at the expense of a meritorious portion of the army. I endeavored in that report to give a plain statement of facts, some of which I would never have mentioned had it not become necessary in defense of troops who have been with me in all, or nearly all, the battles where I have had the honor to command. I have never had a single regiment disgrace itself in battle yet, except some new ones at Shiloh that never loaded a musket before that battle. . . .

__________

⁷Leonard Swett (1825-1889), a successful Illinois lawyer and an intimate friend of President Lincoln, made the nomination speech for the latter in the Chicago Convention of 1860, which the writer happened to hear, and in 1887 he delivered the oration at the unveiling of the Lincoln Statue in Chicago. During the war Mr. Swett had charge of a large number of cases for the Government, earning a high reputation both as a civil and as a criminal lawyer. He said to Grant at Cairo, “We are the lowest bidders and insist upon having the contract; if not, the matter will be placed before the President;” to which the General calmly replied, “I shall buy the hay in open market at a lower rate than you offer it, and will transport the hay on your road [the Illinois Central], of which I shall take immediate possession.” Grant then added, “If I find you in this military district at the expiration of twenty-four hours, you will be imprisoned and probably shot.” Hastening to Washington the indignant lawyer laid the matter before Lincoln, who said, “Well, Swett, if I were in your place, I should keep out of Ulysses Simpson's bailiwick, for to the best of my knowledge and belief Grant will keep his promise if he catches you in Cairo. In fact, Leonard, you had better ‘take to de woods,’ as the colored brother remarked.” Mr. Swett, who in later years became one of the General's greatest admirers, and who was one of the 306 that strongly urged Grant’s nomination for a presidential third term, told this story as here related by the present writer.

SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 18-22, 114-5

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, January 19, 1862

Lieutenant Durbin and some of the boys went out scouting. They brought in a lot of corn to feed the horses; also some walnuts, hickory nuts, corn meal and molasses. The lieutenant took a “secesh” flag from a schoolma'am.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 30

Major General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, May 7, 1862

CAMP EIGHT MILES FRONT OF CORINTH,

May 7, 1862.

My Dear Brother:

. . . . . . . . . .

The scoundrels who fled their ranks and left about half their number to do their work have succeeded in establishing their story of surprise, stuck with bayonets and swords in their tents and all that stuff.

They were surprised, astonished and disgusted at the utter want of respect for life on the part of the confederates, whom they have been taught to regard as inferior to them, and were surprised to see them approach with banners fluttering, bayonets glistening and lines dressed on the centre. It was a beautiful and dreadful sight and I was prepared for and have freely overlooked the fact that many wilted and fled, but gradually recovering, rejoined our ranks. But those who did not recover, their astonishment has to cast about for a legitimate excuse; and the cheapest one was to accuse their officers, and strange to say, this story is believed before ours who fought two whole days. . . .

In this instance the scamps will soon learn their mistake. Those who ran and cried “surprise,” “cut up,” &c., expected all who stood to their work to be killed, but all were not killed and enough remained as witnesses, after the public are satisfied with the horrid stories of men butchered, &c. . . .

For two days they hung about the river bank filling the ears of newspaper reporters with their tales of horrid surprise. Regiments all cut up, they the only survivors and to our utter amazement we find it settling down as history. . . .

Every battery (three) was harnessed up in position before called on to fire and cavalry (only 250 in my whole division) was in the saddle at daylight, and the attack did not begin until the sun was two hours high. . . .

Prentiss was not surprised, for I sent him word an hour before the enemie’' infantry began to appear, and he was not made prisoner until after 3 P.M. . . .

I confess I did not think Beauregard would abandon his railroads to attack us on our base (when he knew that by waiting a short time we should be forced to advance) where he would most assuredly have been beaten.

I am on the extreme right and we are in contact with the enemies’ pickets. Some fierce struggle must soon follow, but that the war is ended or even fairly begun I do not believe.

Affectionately your brother,

W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman letters: correspondence between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 145-6

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

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, January 18, 1862

Some of the boys went out on a scouting expedition, but did not meet with any success.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 30

The Fall of Lexington – Why Mulligan was not Re-enforced – Fremont Vindicated

We make the following extract from the speech of Hon. Schuyler Colfax, in defense of Gen. Fremont, delivered on Friday last.  It is but an extract, but sufficient to justify to the General with the honest and patriotic people.  The speech was made in reply to the attack of F. P. Blair:

I come now to the fall of Lexington.  I happened to be in St. Louis on the 14th of September, and found the whole city excited with the news that had just reached there, that Price was marching upon the gallant defender of the town of Lexington, and when my friend speaks about the Home Guard it appears to me that Colonel Mulligan didn’t bear very high testimony to their gallantry then.  But I saw Lieutenant Governor Hall and he told me that Price was marching toward Lexington with fifteen thousand men, and that Fremont ought to send out a column to intercept him.  I asked him how many men Fremont had, and he said he thought he had twenty thousand.  I thought if he had that number he certainly could send out some, and I went to General Fremont, full of zeal for the re-enforcement of Mulligan, and told him what Lieutenant Governor Hall had said, and that if he had twenty thousand men some ought to be sent out. – He said: “I will tell you, confidentially, what I would not have known in the streets of St. Louis for my life.  They have got the opinion that I have twenty thousand men here.  I will show you what I really have got.”  He rang his bell, and his secretary came and brought the muster roll for that day, and by that muster roll he had in St. Louis and within seven miles round about, less than eight thousand men, and only two of them full regiments.  It was a beggarly array of an army, and it was all needed to defend that city at that time.  But I asked him if he could not spare some of these?  Sir, the tears stood in his eyes, as he handed me two telegraphic dispatches he had that day received from Washington.  I will read them, that you may see how little was at his command to re-enforce Mulligan.  Mr. Colfax then read the dispatches, ordering him to send five thousand armed infantry to Washington, and continued: I have shown you that he had the men, but no guns; and when he bought guns, the necessity for which was imperious, he was denounced from one end of this country to the other because they were not Springfield rifles of the best quality.  You must send five thousand well armed infantry to Washington at once, and this draft on him was to be replaced by troops from Kansas, or wherever he could best gather them.  I asked him, “What can you do (and my heart sank within me as I asked the question) here with an inferior force, and your best forces sent away to Washington?”  Said he, “Washington must have my troops, though Missouri fall, and I fall myself.”  After I heard that I would have been a traitor to my convictions if I did not stand up to defend this man, who was willing to sacrifice himself to defend the imperiled capital of the country.

He telegraphed to Washington that he was preparing to obey the order received, and I doubt not it made his heart bleed, knowing the strait Mulligan was in.  Then he telegraphed to Gov. Morton and Gov. Denison for more troops and the answer he received was that they had received orders to send all their troops East.  So there his reliance failed.  My friend says that it cannot be shown that he moved any of his men until after Lexington had fallen.  Lexington fell on Friday, the 22d of September.  I well remember the day.  Here are dispatches to Gen. Pope on the 16th of September, and dispatches from Gen. Sturgis to Col. Davis, hurrying the men.  The wires were hot with orders hurrying the men to re-enforce Mulligan.  Pope telegraphed on the 17th of September that his troops would be there day after to-morrow, which would have been two days before Lexington surrendered, and Sturgis thought he should be there on Thursday.  Col. Mulligan told me himself that if Sturgis had appeared on the opposite side of the river he though Price would have retired.  Thus from three sources Fremont sent on troops to re-enforce Mulligan, but he failed to do it because the elements seemed to be against him, and not because he did not seek to do so in every possible way that he could send succor to him.  At this very time there were all the different posts in Missouri to be held; his three months’ men were rapidly retiring, and his best men sent to Washington, Price, with fifteen thousand me, marching to Lexington; McCullough threatening Rolla, Hardee threatening Ironton, and Polk and Pillow at Columbus; and all over the State where organized bands of rebels – about eighty thousand men – threatening him, and he with an inadequate force to meet them.  And while thus struggling, from every side were launched against him the poisoned arrows of hate and partisan enmity; and while Fremont was out hunting the enemies of his country, somebody was in St. Louis hunting up witnesses against him, and giving ex parte testimony taken there; and while he was facing the foe, endeavoring to secure victory, a synopsis of the testimony was sent upon the wires all over the country, so that the public mind should be poisoned against, and his overthrow might be easier.  I think, in the name of humanity – if there is no such word as justice – they should at least have sent him this evidence after he came back to his post; but to this very hour the committee have not sent him this testimony at all.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 4

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Friday, January 17, 1862

Warm and pleasant. Nothing of importance. Some of the boys are quite sick from the effects of vaccination, though on some of them it did not work. Mine worked fine, and some of the boys took virus from my arm and vaccinated themselves. The surgeon vaccinated a few of the boys as many as four or five times before it took.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 29-30

United States Presidential Candidates who were Veterans of the Civil War

Major General George B. McClellan	1864	Democratic Party
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock	1880	Democratic Party
Brigadier General John W. Phelps	1880	Anti-Masonic Party
Brigadier General Neal Dow	1880	Prohibition Party
Brevet Brigadier General James B. Weaver	1880	Greenback-Labor Party
Major General Benjamin F. Butler	1884	Greenback Party
Brigadier General Clinton B. Fisk	1888	Prohibition Party
Brevet Brigadier General James B. Weaver	1892	People’s Party
Major General John McAuley Palmer1	1896	National Democratic Party

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¹Confederate Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner was his running mate for Vice President.

The Iron Battery Naugatuck

The government is soon to be place in possession of a small but staunch iron gunboat, the gift of Mr. Stevens, contractor for the famous floating battery at Hoboken.  This craft was originally a canal boat, and has been fitted up at Bordentown, N. J., with a screw propellers, water-tight partitions, and at the contrivances for sinking her to a fighting depth which have been introduced in the great battery.  She is, in fact, designed to illustrate on a small scale, the principal novelties and merits of that mammoth concern; and at a preliminary test to which she was subjected some months ago, in the presence of a large number of army and navy officers and scientific gentlemen, she was found to work admirably.  She could be entirely submerged, with the exception of her gunwale, in a few minutes, and could be quickly turned about, like a [teetotum], in her own length.  Since those satisfactory experiments, Mr. Stevens has still further strengthened her and improved her sailing and fighting qualities, and is now prepared to turn her over to the Government free of expense, for active service.  Her name is Naugatuck.  Her dimensions are those of an ordinary canal boat, and she will be sent by canal from New York, where is now is to Washington.  Her speed above water, is ten knots and hour, when submerged to the depth of 7½ feet, about seven.  She can carry coal for twelve days, and a crew large enough to work the vessel and handle her armament.  The latter consists of a single 100 pounder of the Parrott pattern, which experiments have proved to be perhaps the most formidable rifled gun in the world. – Whenever the Naugatuck is sunk to her fighting depth by the admission of water to the chambers in her bow and stern, her entire machinery, steering apparatus and vulnerable parts will be below the water line; and nothing will be exposed to the enemy’s shots but a narrow strip of white pine, (which does not splinter,) constituting the gunwale, and the gun itself.  Her small size and the scantiness of her exposed lines, would enable her to approach close to a hostile vessel in a dark night, and deliver her 100-pounder with terrible effect.  The Naugatuck will start for Washington at an early day.  Captain Faunce, late of the revenue cutter Harriet Lane, has, by directions of the Government, inspected this novel craft during her preparations for service.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 4

How Dr. Russell Got The Letter Of The Washington Telegraph Censor – Stock Gambling – A Banker Goes Shares On The Trent News

The following is taken from the Judiciary Committee’s Report on the Censorship of the press at Washington:

The Censor testified that on Friday, December 27, at 2 o’clock P. M., he received positive orders to suppress all dispatches concerning the matter, but at forty-five minutes after two he allowed the following dispatch to go:

“Samuel Wood, New York Hotel, New York: – Act as though you heard some very good news, for yourself and me, as soon as you get this.

W. H. RUSSELL”

The committee say that any man of ordinary discernment might have detected in that dispatch the contraband information, and that Mr. Russell has not, by his letters to the London Times entitled himself to privileges which were denied to our own citizens.  Stock speculations were active and remunerative, and the committee think Mr. Russell’s friend made a good thing out of the good news.  H. G. Fant, a banker of the city, was examined by the committee, in reference to his operations in stock upon the Trent affair.  Mr. Fant had read in the Herald that Mason and Slidell were to be given up, and he put to work Mr. Robert J. Corwin to ascertain whether the communication had been made to Lord Lyons.  He ascertained in the Department of the Interior, that it had.  Mr. Fant invested in stocks, and Mr. Corwin’s share of the profits was $1,300.

The reporters for the press were not allowed to send a word over the wires about the settlement of the Trent affair.  Mr. Fant, a banker, used Mr. Corwin to pump the Secretary of the Interior.  Mr. Smith was pumped, and Mr. Corwin pocketed, as his share $1,300.  Then, Dr. Russell advised his friend Samuel Wood, of New York.  How much Mr. Wood made, and what fell to the share of the special correspondent of the London Times is not stated.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 4

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, January 16, 1862

A squad of the boys went out scouting¹ and took one man a prisoner, besides bringing in nine mules and six hogs. They took the man to headquarters, turned the mules over to the regimental quartermaster, and the hogs we made use of as so much extra pork for the company.

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¹This was really a foraging expedition which at that time they spoke of as “scouting.” — Ed.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 29