The Fourth Minnesota

This regiment, whose martial appearance attracted so much attention in our city, a few weeks ago, met with a very serious accident, the telegraph informs us, while going up the Tennessee river.  They were on the steamer Gladiator, when the upper deck gave way, and five or six were killed, and a number of others injured.  Their names have not transpired.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, December 22, 1862

The rebels before leaving town burned several houses, altogether some two or three squares, besides burning about one million of our rations, and we are again short of food. On that account the boys are not in the best of humor, and every man has practically a free hand to take anything that he can use or that he may want; and there are no officers out looking for corporals to reduce to the ranks as was done on our way south. Any citizen who in any way had aided the Union army found his property set on fire by the rebels under the pretext that it had caught fire from our burning supplies. We received word that we are to stay here until further orders.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 88-9

Lt. Col. 2d Regiment

The Washington Press learns that Capt. Cowles, of Co. H, 2nd Regiment, from Washington county, has been elected Lieutenant-Colonel of that regiment.  Capts. Huston and Littler, of Companies A and B, are the only Captains now left who held that position in the 2d regiment when it was first organized.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, January 28, 1863

CAMP NEAR VICKSBURG, January 28, 1863.

... The politician thinks results can be had by breath, but how painfully it begins to come home to the American people that the war which all have striven so hard to bring on and so few to avert is to cost us so many thousands of lives. Indeed do I wish I had been killed long since. Better that than struggle with the curses and maledictions of every woman that has a son or brother to die in any army with which I chance to be associated. Of course Sherman is responsible. Seeing so clearly into the future I do think I ought to get away. The President's placing McClernand here and the dead set to ruin me for McClernand's personal glory would afford me a good chance to slide out and escape the storm and trouble yet in reserve for us. Here we are at Vicksburg on the wrong side of the river trying to turn the Mississippi by a ditch, a pure waste of human labor. Grant has come and Prime¹ is here and they can figure it out, but the canal won't do. We must carry out the plan fixed up at Oxford. A large army must march down from Oxford to Grenada and so on to the rear of Vicksburg, and another army must be here to cooperate with the gun-boats at the right time. Had Grant been within sixty miles of Vicksburg, or Banks near, I could have broken the line of Chickasaw Bayou, but it was never dreamed by me that I could take the place alone. McClernand or Grant will not undertake it. Not a word of Banks. I doubt if he has left or can leave or has any order to leave New Orleans. Therefore here we are to sit in the mud till spring and summer and maybe another year. Soldiers will soon clamor for motion, life, anything rather than canal digging. The newspapers are after me again; I published an order they must not come along on pain of being treated as spies. I am now determined to test the question. Do they rule or the commanding general? If they rule I quit. I have ordered the arrest of one, shall try him, and if possible execute him as a spy. They publish all the data for our enemy and it was only by absolute secrecy that we could get to the Post of Arkansas without their getting ahead. They did reveal our attempt to attack Haines's Bluff. I will never again command an army in America if we must carry along paid spies. I will banish myself to some foreign country first. I shall notify Mr. Lincoln of this if he attempt to interfere with the sentence of any court ordered by me. If he wants an army he must conform to the well established rules of military nations and not attempt to keep up the open rules of peace. The South at the start did these things, and the result has been, they move their forces from Virginia to Mississippi and back without a breath spoken or written. . . .

__________

¹ Captain Prime of the Engineer Corps.

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 237-9.  A full copy of this letter can be found in the William T Sherman Family papers (SHR), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556, Folder CSHR 1/150.

The Muscatine Journal . . .

. . . in noticing the death of Rev. J. S. Whittlesey, Chaplain of the 11th Iowa Regiment, says that a son of his died quite recently from a wound received at the battle of Shiloh.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, August 9, 1861

Valley Mountain, August 9, 1861.

I have been three days coming from Monterey to Huntersville. The mountains are beautiful, fertile to the tops, covered with the richest sward and blue grass and white clover. The enclosed fields wave with a natural growth of timothy. This is a magnificent grazing country, and all it wants is labor to clear the mountainsides of timber. It has rained, I believe, some portion of every day since I left Staunton. Now it is pouring. Colonel Washington, Captain Taliaferro and myself are in one tent, which as yet protects us. I have enjoyed the company of our son ["Rooney"] while I have been here. He is very well and very active, and as yet the war has not reduced him much. He dined with me yesterday and preserves his fine appetite. Today he is out reconnoitering, and has the full benefit of this fine rain. I fear he is without his overcoat, as I do not recollect seeing it on his saddle. I told you he had been promoted to a major in the cavalry, and he is the commanding cavalry officer on this line at present. He is sanguine, cheerful, and hearty as ever. I sent him some cornmeal this morning, and he sent me some butter — a mutual exchange of good things. The men are suffering from measles and so on, as elsewhere, but are cheerful and light-hearted. Send word to Miss Lou Washington that her father is sitting on his blanket sewing a strap on his haversack. I think she ought to be here to do it.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 145-6

Wounded

Capt. Egbert, of the 2d Cavalry, arrived in town last evening, and is stopping at the Pennsylvania House.  He was wounded in the leg, last Saturday in the skirmish between Pope’s forces and those of Price.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

In The Review Queue: Greyhound Commander

Greyhound Commander:

Confederate General John G. Walker's

History of the Civil War West of the Mississippi

Edited By Richard Lowe

While a political refugee in London, former Confederate general John G. Walker wrote a history of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River. Walker’s account, composed shortly after the war and unpublished until now, remains one of only two memoirs by high-ranking Confederate officials who fought in the Trans-Mississippi theater. Edited and expertly annotated by Richard Lowe — author of the definitive history of Walker’s Texas division — the general’s insightful narrative describes firsthand his experience and many other military events west of the great river. Before assuming command of a division of Texas infantry in early 1863, Walker earned the approval of Robert E. Lee for his leadership at the Battle of Antietam. Indeed, Lee later expressed regret at the transfer of Walker from the Army of Northern Virginia to the Trans-Mississippi Department. As the leader of the Texas Division (known later as the Greyhound Division for its long, rapid marches across Louisiana and Arkansas), Walker led an attempt to relieve the great Confederate fortress at Vicksburg during the siege by the Federal army in the spring and summer of 1863. Ordered to attack Ulysses Grant’s forces on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Walker unleashed a furious assault on black and white Union troops stationed at Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana. The encounter was only the second time in American history that organized regiments of African American troops fought in a pitched battle. After the engagement, Walker realized the great potential of black regiments for the Union cause.

Walker’s Texans later fought at the battle of Bayou Bourbeau in south Louisiana, where they helped to turn back a Federal attempt to attack Texas via an overland route from New Orleans. In the winter of 1863–1864, Walker’s infantry and artillery disrupted Union shipping on the Mississippi River. According to Lowe, the Greyhound Division’s crucial role in throwing back the Union’s 1864 Red River Campaign remains its greatest accomplishment. Walker led his men on a marathon operation in which they marched about nine hundred miles and fought three large battles in ten weeks, a feat unmatched by any other division — Union or Confederate — in the war. Expertly edited by Richard Lowe, General Walker’s history stands as a testament to his skilled leadership and provides an engaging primary source document for scholars, students, and others interested in Civil War history.

ISBN 978-0807152508, Louisiana State Univ Press, © 2013, Hardcover, 135 Pages, Maps, Footnotes, Bibliography & Index. $3600.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Major General George G. Meade to John Sergeant Meade, November 14, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 14, 1861.

I am very badly off for horses. The horse³ I first got has been an excellent horse in his day, but General Hunter broke him down at Bull Run.⁴ The other one has rheumatism in his legs, and has become pretty much unserviceable. This has always been my luck with horses; I am never fortunate with them. I should like much to have a really fine horse, but it costs so much I must try to get along with my old hacks.

I am very well satisfied with all my staff, and believe I have as nice a set of gentlemen as any brigadier in the field. Both Kuhn and Watmough are particularly clever fellows, and Captain Baird is a very nice fellow, too. We all get along most harmoniously and only want a little more to do. You have of course rejoiced over the glorious achievement of our navy at Port Royal.

__________

³ “Baldy,” remained with General Meade in the field until the spring of 1864. He was wounded twice at the first battle of Bull Run under General Hunter, and under General Meade he was wounded in the flank at the second battle of Bull Run, shot through the neck at Antietam, wounded at Fredericksburg, and again at Gettysburg, the ball remaining in his body. In the spring of 1864, General Meade, fearing that he might become an embarrassment in the campaign which was about to commence, sent him to Philadelphia, where he outlived his master.

⁴ First battle of Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 227

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, December 21, 1862

We left Abbeville this morning and marched through to Holly Springs, twenty-two miles. It was warm and dusty traveling. We arrived at dark, going into bivouac in the north edge of town, and I tell you the boys made the boards fly, for as the teams had not yet arrived with our tents, we pulled down vacant houses to build bunks and windbreaks to protect us from the cold wind.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 88

Providence, R. I., May 14 [1862].

Jabez C. Knight was re-elected Mayor without opposition.  The other Republican officers on the ticket with him were also chosen.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, January 12, 1863

POST OF ARKANSAS, January 12, 1863.

We carried the Post of Arkansas yesterday and captured all its stores and garrison, and Brigadier-General Churchill, and three brigades of soldiers, I cannot tell yet how many. They now stand clustering on the bank, and will today be put on board of boats and sent to Cairo. This relieves our Vicksburg trip of all appearances of a reverse, as by this move we open the Arkansas and compel all organized masses of the enemy to pass below the Arkansas River, and it will also secure this flank when we renew our attack on Vicksburg. . . .

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 237.  A full copy of this letter can be found in the William T Sherman Family papers (SHR), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556, Folder CSHR 1/150.

Southern News

Special to the Chicago Tribune.

CAIRO, May 14.

Memphis papers of the 9th, 10th and 11th, are just received, by special express.  They state, on the authority of a dispatch from Natchez, that the Federal fleet had returned down the river to New Orleans.

The Appeal, commenting upon the growing disposition of the part of citizens of Memphis to refuse Confederate notes, characterizes the parties as traitors, and threatens to publish their names in its columns.

The same journal says that the only condition upon which the South will accept peace is the recognition of the independence, not only of the cotton States, but of every border State whose people desire an alliance with the Confederacy.

The Appeal contains an account of the surprise and capture of the Federal cavalry by Col. Claiborne, with 15, 000 cavalry, near Dresden – substantially as I have before telegraphed.  The prisoners were taken to Jackson, Tenn.

The following telegraphic dispatch is published:

CORINTH, May 8.

The anniversary of Palo Alto opened with skirmishing between Gen. Pope’s forces and Gen. Price’s troops on the Farmington & Rienza roads.  At 2 o’clock the firing of the artillery was brisk.  Cox’s Alabama cavalry had several wounded.  There was heavy infantry firing late in the evening in which the enemy were driven back with great loss.  Surgeon W. R. Florall, of the 27th Ohio, and Maj. Applington, of the 42d Illinois were killed.  A flag of truce was sent by the enemy yesterday, asking for an exchange of Lt. Col. Adams, of Mo., and was refused.  The telegraph office at Farmington communicating directly with Washington City, was captured.

The Avalanche, of the 10th says that it has learned from reliable sources that the actual Federal loss at Shiloh exceeded forty thousand.

The Provost Marshal of Memphis has ordered the arrest of all persons refusing to accept Confederate money in payment of debts, or for goods purchased.  “Noting in the least degree calculated to discredit the operation of the Government will be tolerated.”

The Appeal of the 11th, says, “We have certain intelligence that Gen. Halleck has lost over 5,000 of his army by desertion.  The country between the Tennessee river and Kentucky is full of them.  The whole of the 40th Ohio deserted and disbanded after the battle of the 7th, and number of Kentuckians and Missourians have followed their example.  In consequence of disaffection produced by the late anti-slavery movements in Congress; one entire Kentucky regiment had unceremoniously quit Halleck’s army and gone home.

Five hundred Federal cavalry and 1,000 infantry have occupied Paris in consequence of the attack made by our cavalry on the Federal Camp at Dresden, a few days ago.

A report is brought from Little rock that Gen. Curtis’ division of the Federal army have commenced to march upon the capital of Arkansas.  Gen. Steel is marching upon the same point from Pocahontas.

The Appeal of the 11th, has the following special dispatches:

DES ARC, Ark., May 10.

The enemy are reported to be at Augusta, Jackson Co.  They took possession of all the cotton in the neighborhood.  They are reported to be in considerable force at Jacksonport and Batesville.  Their destination is unknown.

Some of the Federals, in disguise, entered this place to-day, and after reconnoitering, returned, pursued by the citizens.

Seventeen hundred bales of cotton were offered upon the shrine of liberty to-day by the citizens of this place.

The enemy are supposed to be under the command of Curtis.  His forces are reported to be between 8,000 and 10,000.

CORINTH, May 10.

Since the terrible thrashing administered to Pope’s command on yesterday, by Price and Van Dorn, we have had no further demonstrations.  Matters are accordingly quiet this morning.

The Appeal of the same date, also contains the following characteristic message from Thompson, relative to the great naval fight of Saturday:

FT. PILLOW RIVER DEFENCE FLEET,

GUNBOAT LITTLE REBEL, May 10.

Editors Appeal:  We Missourians concluded to celebrate to-day, the anniversary of the Camp Jackson massacre.  We have shown the enemy that we will still own the Mississippi river, and can run the blockade whenever we choose.  We gave them a few bullets this morning to show them our power, and after a handsome little skirmish of 30 minutes, we backed down the river with 2 men killed, and 8 slightly wounded.  The officers are all safe, with more confidence than ever, and our boats are uninjured.  The Van Dorn, Capt. Folkerson, has covered our fleet with glory; and all, from Com. Montgomery down to the powder boys, behaved like soldiers and gentlemen, and as good men as ever feathered an or round a quarter deck, or butted a Yankee.

Signed,

JEFF. THOMPSON.

The Appeal published this message without editorial comment.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, August 4, 1861

Huntersville, August 4, 1861

I reached here yesterday to visit this portion of the army. The points from which we can be attacked are numerous, and the enemy's means unlimited, so we must always be on the alert; it is so difficult to get our people, unaccustomed to the necessities of war, to comprehend and promptly execute the measures required for the occasion. General Jackson, of Georgia, commands on the Monterey line, General Loring on this line, and General Wise, supported by General Floyd, on the Kanawha line. The soldiers everywhere are sick. The measles are prevalent throughout the whole army. You know that disease leaves unpleasant results and attacks the lungs, etc., especially in camp, where the accommodations for the sick are poor. I traveled from Staunton on horseback. A part of the road I traveled over in the summer of 1840 on my return to St. Louis after bringing you home. If any one had told me that the next time I traveled that road would have been my present errand, I should have supposed him insane. I enjoyed the mountains as I rode along. The views were magnificent. The valleys so peaceful, the scenery so beautiful! What a glorious world Almighty God has given us! How thankless and ungrateful we are!

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 145

From Washington

WASHINGTON, May 14.

The first bill reported by Mr. Elliott, from the special committee; provides that all the estate, property, and money, stocks, credit and effects of the person or persons hereinafter named are declared forfeited to the Government of the U. S., and are declared lawful subjects of seizure, and prize and capture, wherever found, for the indemnity of the U. S. against the expenses for suppressing the present rebellion, that is to say:

1.  Of any person hereafter acting as an officer in the army of navy of the rebels, now or hereafter in arms against the Government of the U. S.

2.  Any person hereafter acting as President, Vice President, member of Congress, Judge of any Court, Cabinet Officer, Foreign Minister, Commissioners or Consuls of the so-called Confederate States.

3d.  Any person acting as Governor of a State, member of convention or legislature, judge of any court of the so-called Confederate States.

4th.  Any person who having held an office of honor, trust or profit in the United States, shall hereafter hold an office in the so-called Confederate States, after holding any office or agency under the so-called Confederacy, or under any of the Several States of said Confederacy or laws, whether such office or agency be national, State, or municipal, in name or character.  Any person who holds any property in any loyal State or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, who shall hereafter assist, or give aid or comfort, or countenance to such rebellion, the said estate, property or money, stock, credits and effects of the persons are declared lawful subjects of capture, wherever found, and the judges of the United States shall cause the same to be seized, to the end that they may be confiscated and condemned to the use of the United States, and all sales, transfers, or conveyances shall be null and void, and it shall be sufficient to any suit brought by such person for the possession and use of such property, to allege and prove that he is one of the persons described in this section.

The second section provides that if any person with any State or territory of the United States, other than already specified shall not within 60 days after public warning and proclamation by the President cease to aid or countenance and abet such rebellion, and return their allegiance, their property, in like manner, shall be forfeited for the use of the United States; all sales and transfers of such property, after the expiration of 60 days from the date of the warning , shall be null and void.

The third section provides that to secure the possession, condemnation and sale of such property, situated or being in any State, district or territory of the United States, proceedings shall be instituted in the name of the United States, in any District Court, or any Territorial Court, or in the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in which the property may be found, or into which the same, if [movable], may be first brought,  which proceedings shall conform, as nearly as may be, to the proceedings in prizes cases or cases of forfeiture, arising under the revenue laws; and the property so seized and condemned, whether real or personal, shall be sold under the decree of the Court having cognizance of the case, and the proceeds deposited in the Treasure of the United States for their use and benefit.  The remainder of the sections provide the necessary machinery for carrying the act into effect.

The second bill of the select committee is as follows:  If any person or persons within the United States shall, after the passage of this act, willfully engaged in armed rebellion against the Government of the United States, or shall willfully aid or abet such rebellion, giving them aid and comfort; every such person shall thereby forfeit all claims to the service or labor of any persons commonly known as slaves and such slaves are hereby declared free and forever discharged from servitude, anything in the laws of the U. S., or any State to the contrary notwithstanding; and whenever thereafter any person claiming the labor or service of any such slave shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be sufficient defense thereto that the claimant was engaged in said rebellion, or aided or abetted the same, contrary to the provisions of this act; whenever any person claiming to be entitled to the service or labor of any other person, shall seek to enforce such claim he shall in the first instance, and before any order shall be made for the surrender of the person whose service or labor is claimed, establish not only his claim to such service or labor, but also that such claimant had not in any way aided, assisted or countenanced the rebellion existing against the Government of the U. S.

WASHINGTON, May 14.

Tribune’s Special

The French Minister has received intelligence from his Consul at Richmond, to the effect that the rebel government had notified him that should it be necessary to evacuate the city, the French tobacco must be destroyed with the rest.  At the same time the rebels offered to pay for it – a proposition not much relished by the Frenchman.  The French minister discredits the rumor of European intervention in our affairs, and it is generally thought here, that whatever purposes may have been entertained by England and France, the news from New Orleans, will cause their indefinite postponement.

The 885 prisoners, recently released from the Richmond prisons, will arrive here by way of the Potomac to-morrow.  A few who came through Baltimore arrived to-day.  They say the rebels are as determined as ever, and believe that after the two great impending battles they will, if whipped bad, herd together in small guerilla parties, and fight to the very last.  They represent the treatment of our prisoners as barbarous in the extreme; that our officers, who alone remain in the prisons, all the privates being set free, will not be released at all.  Col. Corcoran’s health is good.  He is anxious to be released, and contradicts the statement made some time since, that he said he would prefer remaining where he is, believing that he could be of more service there, and adds that the only way he wishes to serve his country is on the battle field.  Col. Bowman’s health is failing rapidly, and his eyesight nearly lost.  He can survive his present treatment only a few weeks longer.  His long confinement has afflicted his mind so much, that at times he is looked upon as insane.  The rebels offer every inducement to our prisoners to join their army, but only two have done so; namely, John A. Wicks, quartermaster of the Congress, and a private of the 7th Ohio, named Wilson.  As soon as it became known to the prisoners that Wilson intended to desert them they proceeded to hang him.  The guard, however, entered and in time to cut him down before his life was extinct.  In punishment for this act, the prisoners were put upon bread and water for ten days.

The House committee on foreign affairs having authorized Mr. Gooch to report the Senate bill establishing diplomatic relations with Hayti and Siberia, it will doubtless be pressed to a vote at an early day.

Herald’s Dispatch.

WASHINGTON, May 14.

The steamer Kennebec arrived here this afternoon, with 213 wounded rebels and 24 wounded Union soldiers, from Williamsburg.  Among the latter is Col. Dwight. – His wounds are less dangerous than at first supposed.

The rebels receive precisely the same treatment as our wounded, and are sent to the same hospitals.

The report that Gen. McCall had resigned the command of the Pennsylvania reserve corps is unfounded.  He has no intention to resign until the Union army has accomplished its mission – to suppress the rebellion.

Times’ Dispatch.

Gov. Sprague says our losses at Williamsburg, in killed, wounded and missing, will amount to about 2000, and that the rebel loss was not less.  He says the battle at West Point, under Franklin was much more severe than reported.  That at least 500 of our men were taken prisoners – the enemy taking advantage of the landing of our troops.

The gunboats came up in good time, and saved Franklin from Suffering a sever disaster.

WASHINGTON, May 14.

It is ordered that all applications for passes to visit Ft. Monroe, Norfolk, Yorktown, or other places on the waters of the Chesapeake, be hereafter made to Mag. Gen. Dix, of Baltimore.

(Signed)

EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

In addition to the steamers Hero and Kent which brought hither the released Union prisoners last night, the Kennebec has arrived with upwards of 500 wounded rebels from Williamsburg.  These men are for the greater part slightly wounded, and are attended by rebel surgeons and nurses.  A strict guard is kept over this boat.  No visitors are permitted.

The steamer State of Maine has also arrived with about 330, the Warrior with 400, and Elm City with 450 sick soldiers, from different places.  They are being removed to the various hospitals today.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, November 12, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 12, 1861.

This afternoon, while at dinner, I was greatly surprised and delighted at seeing a carriage drive up with Captain and Mrs. Scott. He said he was in Washington before a Court of Inquiry; that he had not the slightest fear of the result, having conscientiously performed his duty. He explained the cause of complaint, which was his not having reported to the Gulf Squadron; which he could not do, having captured a vessel that he had evidence would not have been condemned at Key West, though a legal capture. I hope his expectations will be realized, and that no harm will come to him. They had driven out to see Baldy Smith and myself. After spending a little while in my tent, I rode part of the way back with them. Today we have the cheering news from the Naval Expedition;¹ du Pont² has covered himself with glory. The whole affair was most skillfully executed, and reflects great credit on the navy. It has inspirited all of us, and the talk is now, When are we going to do something? I should not be surprised if a movement was made in a very few days. For my part I hope so.

__________

¹ Battle of Port Royal, S. C., November 7, 1861.

² Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, U. S. N., in command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 226-7

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, December 20, 1862

We struck our tents early this morning and marched twenty-one miles back toward Holly Springs. It is a disappointment to have to retrace our steps and the boys are not as jolly as they were when going south. Holly Springs is said to have been taken and our supplies cut off. We have been put on half rations.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 88

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, January 4, 1863

ON BOARD Forest Queen,

MILLIKEN'S BEND, January 4, 1863.

Well, we have been to Vicksburg and it was too much for us, and we have backed out. I suppose the attack on Holly Springs and the railroad compelled Grant to fall behind the Tallahatchie, and consequently the Confederates were enabled to reinforce Vicksburg. Besides, its natural strength had been improved by a vast amount of labor, so that it was impossible for me to capture or even to penetrate to the road from which alone I could expect to take it. For five days we were thundering away, and when my main assault failed, and Admiral Porter deemed another requiring the cooperation of the gunboats “too hazardous,” I saw no alternative but to regain my steamboats and the main river, which I did unopposed and unmolested. To re-embark a large command in the face of an enterprising and successful enemy is no easy task, but I accomplished it. McClernand has arrived to supersede me by order of the President himself.¹ Of course I submit gracefully. The President is charged with maintaining the government and has a perfect right to choose his agents. My command is to be an army corps composed of Morgan L. Smith's old command (poor Morgan now lies wounded badly in the hip on board the Chancellor, and his division is commanded by Stuart), and the troops I got at Helena commanded by Fred Steele whom I know well. These are all new and strange to me but such is life and luck. Before I withdrew from the Yazoo I saw McClernand and told him that we had failed to carry the enemy's line of works before Vicksburg, but I could hold my ground at Yazoo — but it would be useless. He promptly confirmed my judgment that it was best to come out into the main river at Milliken's Bend. We did so day before yesterday, and it has rained hard two days and I am satisfied that we got out of the Swamp at Chickasaw Bayou in time, for now water and mud must be forty feet deep there. . . .  Regulars did well, of course, but they or no human beings could have crossed the bayou and live. People at a distance will ridicule our being unable to pass a narrow bayou, but nobody who was there will. Instead of lying idle I proposed we should come to the Arkansas and attack the Post of Arkansas, fifty miles up that river, from which the enemy has attacked the river capturing one of our boats, towing two barges of navy coal and capturing a mail, so I have no doubt some curious lieutenant has read your letters to me. We must make the river safe behind us before we push too far down. We are now on our way to the Post of Arkansas. McClernand assumed command to-day, so I will not be care-worn again by the duty of looking to supplies, plans, etc. . . .  It will in the end cost us at least ten thousand lives to take Vicksburg. I would have pushed the attack to the bitter end, but even had we reached the city unassisted we could not have held it if they are at liberty to reinforce from the interior. . . .

__________

¹ On January 2, Sherman had learned that McClernand had “orders from the War Department to command the expeditionary force on the Mississippi River” (Memoirs, I, 322). On January 24, Sherman wrote to his wife: “It was simply absurd to supersede me by McClernand, but Mr. Lincoln knows I am not anxious to command, and he knows McClernand is, and must gratify him. He will get his fill before he is done.”

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 235-7.  A full copy of this letter can be found in the William T Sherman Family papers (SHR), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556, Folder CSHR 1/150.

Major Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, December 2, 1859

December 2d.

John Brown was hung to-day at about half-past eleven A. M. He behaved with unflinching firmness. The arrangements were well made and well executed under the direction of Colonel Smith. The gibbet was erected in a large field, southeast of the town. Brown rode on the head of his coffin from his prison to the place of execution. The coffin was of black walnut, enclosed in a box of poplar of the same shape as the coffin. He was dressed in a black frock-coat, black pantaloons, black vest, black slouch hat, white socks, and slippers of predominating red. There was nothing around his neck but his shirt collar. The open wagon in which he rode was strongly guarded on all sides. Captain Williams (formerly assistant professor at the Institute) marched immediately in front of the wagon. The jailer, high-sheriff, and several others rode in the same wagon with the prisoner. Brown had his arms tied behind him, and ascended the scaffold with apparent cheerfulness. After reaching the top of the platform, he shook hands with several who were standing around him. The sheriff placed the rope around his neck, then threw a white cap over his head, and asked him if he wished a signal when all should be ready. He replied that it made no difference, provided he was not kept waiting too long. In this condition he stood for about ten minutes on the trap-door, which was supported on one side by hinges and on the other (the south side) by a rope. Colonel Smith then announced to the sheriff “all ready” — which apparently was not comprehended by him, and the colonel had to repeat the order, when the rope was cut by a single blow, and Brown fell through about five inches, his knees falling on a level with the position occupied by his feet before the rope was cut. With the fall his arms, below the elbows, flew up horizontally, his hands clinched; and his arms gradually fell, but by spasmodic motions. There was very little motion of his person for several moments, and soon the wind blew his lifeless body to and fro. His face, upon the scaffold, was turned a little east of south, and in front of him were the cadets, commanded by Major Gilman. My command was still in front of the cadets, all facing south. One howitzer I assigned to Mr. Trueheart on the left of the cadets, and with the other I remained on the right. Other troops occupied different positions around the scaffold, and altogether it was an imposing but very solemn scene. I was much impressed with the thought that before me stood a man in the full vigor of health, who must in a few moments enter eternity. I sent up the petition that he might be saved. Awful was the thought that he might in a few minutes receive the sentence, “Depart, ye wicked, into everlasting fire!”  I hope that he was prepared to die, but I am doubtful. He refused to have a minister with him. His wife visited him last evening. His body was taken back to the jail, and at six o'clock P. M. was sent to his wife at Harper's Ferry. When it arrived, the coffin was opened, and his wife saw the remains, after which it was again opened at the depot before leaving for Baltimore, lest there should be an imposition. We leave for home via Richmond to-morrow.

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 130-2

Major General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, July 27, 1861

July 27, 1861

That, indeed, was a glorious victory, and has lightened the pressure upon us amazingly. Do not grieve for the brave dead, but sorrow for those they left behind — friends, relatives, and families. The former are at rest; the latter must suffer. The battle will be repeated there in greater force. I hope God will again smile on us and strengthen our hearts and arms. I wished to participate in the former struggle, and am mortified at my absence. But the President thought it more important that I should be here. I could not have done as well as has been done, but I could have helped and taken part in a struggle for my home and neighborhood. So the work is done, I care not by whom it is done. I leave tomorrow for the army in western Virginia.

SOURCES: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 144; Henry Alexander White, Robert E. Lee and the Southern Confederacy, 1807-1870, p. 113