fedi rate States of America" was given to the new organization. Jefferson
Davis, of Mississippi, was elected President, and Alexander H.Stephens,
of Georgia, was elected Vice-President of the confederacy. Hostilities
commenced with the bombardment of Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861), which
was held for the Federal government by Major Anderson, with 70 men.
The fori was several times set on fire, and on the 14th of April the garrison
surrendered and marched out with the honors of war. On the following
day President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling out 75,000 volunteers
i'ni- three months, which was speedily followed (May 3) by a call for 64,000
men for the army and 18,000 for the navy, to serve "during the war."
The President also declared the ports of the seceded States blockaded
(April 19). In the South preparations for war were vigorously carried
on. ( reneral Robert E. Lee was appointed commander of the Confederate
troops in Virginia i May 10), and the Mississippi Liver was blockaded at
Memphis May 23). A Union force numbering 6000 men was repulsed
at Big Bethel, Va. (June 10); and the main body of the Confederates.
about 30,000 strong, which was concentrated at Manasses Junction, defeated
an equal number of Federal troops, under General McDowell, in the famous
battle of Lull Run (July 21). On the following day General George B.
McClellan was appointed commander of the army of the Potomac. He
had been successful in wresting the western part of Virginia out of tie
hand- of the Confederates, and in the following year (Dee. 31, 1862) that
section was admitted into the Union under the name of "West Virginia."
When the Federal Congress met (July 5, 1861), the President had asked
for K iti.ooo men and 8400,000,000. The result of the battle of Lull Run
Bhowed that the war was likely to he protracted, and Congress voted 500,000
men and $500,000,000. The Confederate Congress authorized the enlist-
ment of loo oiiii men. During the remainder of this year (1861 I, however,
the military operation- were not very decisive, both sides being fully occu-
pied in arming and disciplining troops. The Union force, 1900 strong,
commanded by < General Stone, which was sent across the Potomac al Ball's
Bluff, and hit without support, was attacked by a superior force of Con-
federates and nearly annihilated. On the 7th of November a Union force
under General Grant, after capturing the Confederate camp at Belmont,
Mo., was finally repulsed with loss. < >n the same day a naval force under
Admiral Du Pont made it- way into Porl Loyal entrance, on the coast of
South Carolina, and captured Fort- Walker and Beauregard. On theday



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 139

after this victory, Captain Wilkes, commanding the United States frigate
San Jacinto, overhauled the British mail steamer Trent, and took from her
Messrs. Mason and Slidell, Confederate ambassadors to England and France.
This act caused great excitement in Great Britain and in the United States;
another war seemed inevitable; but the disavowal of the act by the Federal
government and the surrender of the envoys averted the threatened danger.
At the beginning of the year 1862 the entire Union force in the field
was about 450,000 men, 200,000 of whom were in the vicinity of Wash-
ington, under McClellan. The whole Confederate force was not far from
350,000 men, occupying about half of the States of Kentucky, Missouri
and Virginia, and the whole of the remaining Southern States. During
the month of' January, Kentucky was the sole field of military operations.
Colonel Humphrey Marshall was defeated near Prestonburg (Jan. 10) by
a Union force under Colonel Garfield, and driven into Virginia, and Gen-
eral Thomas defeated the Confederates under Generals Crittenden and
Zollicoffer, in the battle of Mill Spring (Jan. 19). General Grant, assisted
by Commodore Foote with his flotilla of gunboats, took Fort Henry, on
the Tennessee River (Feb. 6). The greater part of the garrison escaped
to Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River, which General Grant cap-
tured, together with 12,000 prisoners and 40 cannon, ten days later. An
expedition under General Burnside and Commodore Goldsborough, which
sailed from Fortress Monroe (Jan. 12,4862), captured Roanoke Island
(Feb, 8), Newbern, N. C. (March 14), and Beaufort (April 25)/ On the
9th of March occurred one of the most remarkable naval battles on record.
The Confederate iron-clad Virginia, formerly the United States frigate
Merrimac, had made a descent upon the Union fleet, near Fortress Mon-
roe, on the preceding day, and had destroyed the wooden vessels Cumber-
land and Congress. During the night the floating battery Mon itor arrived ;
and when the Virginia returned to the attack, she was beaten off, after an
action of five hours, and forced to return to Norfolk. This was the " trial
trip" of the Monitor, and the result was so satisfactory to the Federal
government that a fleet of monitors was built with all possible despatch.
On the 8th of March an important battle was finished at Pea Ridge, in
the western part of Arkansas, between Union troops under General S. R.
Curtis and Confederates under General Earl Van Dorn. The conflict had
lasted for three days, and the Union forces were finally victorious. The
great activity now displayed at so many different points was owing to an
order issued by President Lincoln commanding all the Union armies to
advance on the 22d of February, 1862. On the 6th of April, General
Grant was defeated and driven back to the Tennessee River, in the battle
of Shiloh, losing 2500 prisoners, including General Prentiss. On the fol-
lowing day reinforcements arrived under General Buell ; the battle was
renewed, and the Confederates were forced to retreat. On the same day



I 10 V.VIILKY'S UNITED STATES

'April 7), bland No. 10, in the Mississippi River, a short distance below
its junction with the Ohio, was taken from the Confederates l>y General
Pope an<l Commodore Fuote, wlio had been acting together, the one with
land-forces, the other with a flotilla of gunboats. The prisoners numbered
8000. Fori Pulaski, near Savannah, Ga., was captured, altera bombard-
ment of 30 hours, by Captain (afterward Major-General) Gillraore (April

I I . and during the same month Parragut and Porter, with a gunboat and
mortar fleet, began April 24) to bombard Fort St. Philip, on the eastern
hank, and Fort Jackson, on the western bank, of the Mississippi, below
New Orleans. < >n the 24th the fleet ran past the forts and fought a ter-
rific battle with a Confederate fleet. On the 26th New Orleans was taken,
and it remained from that time in the possession of the Union forces.
\\'i have reserved the most important movements, or at lea<t those of the
larg( si army, for the last. The army of the Potomac, having been taken
in transports to Fortress .Monroe, commenced (April 3d > its march toward
Richmond, under the command of General McClellan. The siege of York-
town consumed a month ; and when that place was evacuated (May 4), the
Confederates had greatly strengthened the defences of their capital. On
the 23d of -May, McClellan reached a point within 7 miles of Richmond,
but hi- efficient force was very much diminished, while that of the Con-
federates was constantly increasing. "Stonewall Jackson" and Ewell
had forced General Banks out of the Shenandoah valley, and threatened
Washington. Not only the forces intended for McClellan, but militia
called from the Northern States, were required for the defence of the Fed-
eral capital. McClellan gained (May 31) the battle of Fair Oaks, or
Seven Fines; but Jackson now moved rapidly southward to co-operate
with Lee. McClellan was obliged to change his base of supplies from the
York Fiver to the James. This hazardous movement was accomplished
at the expense of a succession of the most desperate battles ever fought

uj this continent — viz., those of Oak Grove (June 25), Mechanicsville

• .Inn.- 26 i, ( fines' Mill (June 27 |, Savage's Station (June 29 I, White < >ak
Swamp (June 30) and Malvern Hill July 1). Both armies fought with
desperate valor, the advantage finally remaining with the Confederate-:
for though the Union forces reached the dames River, the peninsular cam-
paign was a failure so far as its object < the taking of Richmond) was con-
cerned, and the Confederates were so encouraged that they assumed the
offensive during the month of August. McClellan was recalled and placed

Sept. 1 in command of all the troops aboul Washington. Lee pushed
across the Potomac into Maryland, and occupied Frederick (Sept. 6) and
Hagerstown (Sept 10), hut was defeated at Smith Mountain (Sept. 14 i and
at Anlietam Sept. 17 .the latter battle lasting from early dawn until twi-
light Lee was forced to recross the Potomac. The campaign in Mary-
land had C08l the Confederates 30,000 men; but between the battles of



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 141

South Mountain and Antietara Stonewall Jackson had taken Harper's
Ferry (Sept. 15), with 11,583 men and an immense quantity of munitions
of war. On the 7 th of November, McClellan was superseded by General
Burnside, who led the army against the Confederates massed at Freder-
icksburg, Va., and there met (Nov. 13) with a disastrous defeat, losing
12,000 men. During the year 1862, President Lincoln had issued a call
for 300,000 volunteers for the war, and on the 9th of August another for
300,000 men for nine months, who were to be drafted unless they volun-
teered promptly. On the 2d of September was issued the notice of the
memorable emancipation proclamation, declaring that all the slaves in the
States and portions of States which should be " in rebellion against the
United States" on the 1st of January, 1863, should be "thenceforward
and for ever free." The proclamation itself was issued on the day just
named. This measure gave rise to much excited discussion. On the 25th
of January, 1863, General Burnside was relieved, at his own request, and
succeeded by General Joseph Hooker. The latter led his army across
the Rappahannock (April 28), and six days afterward fought the battle
of Chancellorsville, in which, on the 2d of May, the Union troops were
disastrously defeated. On the 3d they recovered all that they had lost;
but on the 4th they were forced to retire, having lost more than 11,000
men. In the following month, Lee, emboldened by his success, invaded
Maryland (June 14), and moved on toward' Pennsylvania. The army of
the Potomac, the command of which was transferred (June 28) from Gen-
eral Hooker to General George G. Meade, followed on the right flank of
the Confederates, and General Lee was forced to concentrate his forces at
Gettysburg, Pa., and to give battle (July 1). The struggle was contested
for three days with the most desperate courage on both sides, and Lee was
finally defeated, with the loss of thirty thousand killed and wounded, 14,000
prisoners and 25,000 stand of small arms. The Federal loss was nearly
23,000 in killed, wounded and missing. The Confederates recrossed the
Potomac and retreated slowly through Virginia to a good position on the
Flapidan. Meade followed closely but cautiously, and by the middle of
August he also was beyond the Rappahannock, and there the armies lay
for a long time confronting each other. On the 5th of October, Lee again
advanced northward and compelled Meade to fall back upon the line of
Bull's Run. After destroying the railroad from Manassas Junction to the
Rapidan River, he established a strongly-fortified camp between that
stream and Orange Court-House. During these manoeuvres, from the 8th
to the 23d of October, there was heavy skirmishing. On the 7th of No-
vember, 2000 Confederates were captured by Generals Sedgwick and
French, and on the 20th the army of the Potomac advanced against Lee;
but his position was found to be too strong, and the Federals returned to
their previous camps on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. During



1 I "J BUBLET'8 UNITED STATES

i

the spring of this year (lsr».°, , important events wore taking place on the
Mississippi. After the fall of Memphis, Vicksburg was the only remain-
ing Confederate stronghold on that river; and several naval and land
attacks were made upon this important post, beginning in June, 1862, and
extending over a period of more than a year. The first effort to take the
place being unsuccessful, an attempt was made to change the course of the
Mississippi River by digging a canal, with the design of making Vicksburg
an inland town. Various endeavors to reach the rear of the place were
made, in one of which General Sherman was repulsed with heavy loss
Dec. 27, 1862). During the following month, with the assistance of
Admiral Porter, he captured Arkansas Post, with 5000 prisoners. On the
2d of February, General Grant assumed the command of the army of
the Mississippi, which In' moved down the west side of the river, while
Porter boldly ran by Vicksburg with his fleet and met Farragut coming
up. On the 30th of April, Grant recrossed the river at Bruinsburg,
and inarched inland to the rear of Vicksburg, which place he regularly
invested on the 18th of May, after fighting the battles of Port Gibson
-May 1 . Raymond 'May 12), Jackson (May 14), Champion Hills
(May K'>< and Black River Bridge (May 17). Attempts were made to
take the town by assault (May 21 and 22), but the assailants were
repulsed with heavy loss, and it was therefore resolved to resort to a reg-
ular siege. The approaches and parallels were daily pushed nearer and
nearer, the city was exposed to an almost constant bombardment from the
army and from the gunboats on the river. The garrison held out as long
a- possible, in the hope that General Johnston, who was straining every
nerve to raise a sufficient army for the purpose, would come to their relief.
This hope was vain, as the reinforcements were driven back. Provisions
grew scarce; even the flesh of mules began to fail. On the 4th of July
the day after the battle of Gettysburg, General Pemberton surrendered
the place with .')ii,0(>o prisoners, arms and munitions of war for an army
1,000 men, together with steamboats, cotton and other property of
immense value. During June and duly, 1863, a raid was made by Gen-
eral Morgan, a famous Confederate leader, with about 3000 cavalry and
-i\ cannon. They crossed the Ohio River into Indiana, and moved rapidly
eastward, plundering a- they went. Home-troops killed or captured nearly
all of tlii- force, and General Morgan, with a remnant of 400 men, sur-
rendered to Genera] Bhackleford, in Morgan county, Ohio, on the 26th of
July. During this Bame period, General Rosecrans, by a series of vigor-
ous movements, had driven the Confederates under General Bragg out of
Middle Tennessee, and in August the Federals followed them over the
Cumberland Mountain-, and by a flank movement compelled them to

march on in the direction of Georgia. Bragg was afterward reinforced
by Longstreet and hi- corps, from Lee's army, and turned suddenly upon



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 143

his pursuer. They fought until night; the battle was renewed on the fol-
lowing day, and the Federals were compelled to fall back to Chattanooga.
General Grant, a large portion of whose army had been ordered from
Vicksburg to Chattanooga, now superseded Kosecrans, and was not long
in assuming the offensive. Lookout Mountain was brilliantly carried
(Nov. 24) by Hooker's men, who fought much of the time above the
clouds, and were thus hidden from the view of the anxious spectators
below. On the 25th the Confederates were driven from Missionary
Ridge, and Bragg and his army were retreating toward Georgia. The
Federal army had made great progress during the year 1863. They held
Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, a large portion of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Florida, and the Rio Grande frontier of Texas, and had
the control of the Mississippi River. Some of these districts were great
food-producing regions, which made their loss a serious matter for the
Confederates. Early in May, 1863, a draft for 300,000 men was ordered
by President Lincoln, in accordance with an act of Congress previously
passed (March 3); but as exemption could be purchased for 8300, this
measure had resulted at the end of the year, in the twelve States in which
it had been enforced, in adding 50,000 men to the army and in the accu-
mulating of a fund of $10,518,000, to be used for bounties, etc.

The opening military events of the year 1864 were, on the whole, favor-
able to the Confederates. On the 10th of March General A. J. Smith left
Vicksburg with a large body of troops and went up the Red River, accom-
panied by the fleet of Admiral Porter. On the 13th he captured Fort de
Russey from the Confederates; and on the 16th he entered Alexandria,
where he was joined by General Banks with a large force from New Orleans.
The fleet and a portion of Smith's army advanced toward Shreveport. At
Cane River they met and defeated the Confederates (March 26) ; but near
Mansfield they were drawn into an ambuscade, and were attacked in front
and on both flanks by the whole force of the Confederates. The Federals
were driven back to Pleasant Hill, where, on the following day, they re-
pulsed another attack, and finally reached the river with the loss of 3000
men and 20 pieces of artillery. Banks now directed Porter, who had gone
on toward Shreveport, to return, as he could afford him no support. The
fleet started back, annoyed all the way by Confederate batteries and sharp-
shooters. The water had fallen very low, and the fleet would have been
lost had not Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, of "Wisconsin, proposed and super-
intended the construction of a dam across the river, by means of which the
fleet was extricated (May 11). The Federal armies met with disasters
elsewhere. On the 5th of February General Seymour left Port Royal for
a campaign in Florida; but on the 20th he was met by a superior force at
Olustee, 50 miles south-west of Jacksonville, and defeated with the Loss <>t'
1200 killed, wounded and missing. On the 3d of February General Sher-



Ill BUBLET'S UNITED STATES

man started from Vicksburg and penetrated the State of Mississippi as far
easl as Meridian, where he expected a cavalry force from Memphis to join
him; bu1 this force having been driven back, General Sherman was forced
to retrace his steps to Vicksburg. On the 12th of April Fort Pillow, on
the Mississippi, Tit miles above Memphis, was taken by the Confederates;
and a few days later they captured Fori Williams, near Plymouth, N. C,
her with L600 men. These and other successes on the part of the Con-
federate- ,-howed the necessity <>f abandoning the desultory mode of warfare
which had caused the loss of so many lives upon both sides, yet had not,
apparently, brought about the beginning of the end. General Grant was
accordingly promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general (Mar. 3, 1864),
and given the powers of commander-in-chief (Mar. 14). Turning over the
army of LOO.UOO men at Chattanooga to General Sherman, and making his
headquarters in the field, with the army of the Potomac, Graut ordered a
simultaneous advance to be made by both bodies early in May — by the
former upon Atlanta, Ga., and by the latter against Richmond. Sherman's
men were in motion on the 7th of May. The Confederate general John-
ston, with (i0,000 men, was posted at Daltou, which place he was forced
from by a flank movement. He fell back to Besaca, where a desperate
battle was fought (May 13, 14), in which he was defeated. The Confed-
erate- continued their retreat, occasionally stopping to give battle; but they
W( re finally (July 10) driven into their strong fortifications before Atlanta.
Johnston was severely censured by the Confederates for retreating, and was
superseded by ( Seneral Hood, who made three furious attacks on Sherman's
army before Atlanta (July 20,22,28), but was defeated iu all with very
heavy in—. After a siege of nearly two months, Sherman at last (Sept. 2)
gained possession of the city. In the mean time, the army of the Potomac
was nol idle, but broke camp (May 3) under the immediate command of
General Meade, crossed the Rapidan, and soon reached "the Wilderness."
Here the advance was met ou the oth, and a battle began which raged furi-
ously all <lay. At sunrise on the 6th the conflict was renewed, and it did
nol close until darkness set in. On the 7th Lee fell back to Spottsylvania,
where Bis days of continuous fighting ensued, the advantage remaining
with the Federals. Lee again fell back; and by flanking and fighting he
was forced back early in June to a point within a few miles of Richmond.
Finding the defences upon the north and east of Richmond too strong to
beal that time successfully attacked, ( reneral Grant abandoned his northern
line of advance, and with little opposition, between the 12th and loth of
June, removed his army to the smith side of the James Liver. He did
this with the view of taking Petersburg, 22 miles south of Richmond, and
thus neot Bsitating the evacuation of the latter city. During this campaign

of 43 day- more than LOO, I men upon each side, each receiving frequent

reinforcements, had ben engaged in almost one continual battle, resulting



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 145

in heavy but nearly equal losses to both. Lee at once threw a large por-
tion of his army into the defences of Petersburg, the siege of which was
vigorously pushed. On the 30th of July a mine was exploded under one
of the Confederate forts ; but the assault that followed through the breach
thus made was repulsed, with a loss to the Federal army of 5000 men. On
the 18th of August the Federals seized and held the Weldon Railroad,
despite the most desperate efforts of the Confederates to recover it. Nothing
further of a decisive nature occurred before Petersburg during the re-
mainder of the year. On the loth of November Sherman left Atlanta and
started to Savannah, in the neighborhood of which city he arrived on the
10th of December. On the loth Fort McAllister was carried by assault,
and on the 20th Savannah was evacuated by the Confederates and occupied
by the Federal troops. "While Sherman was thus engaged, the Confederate
general Hood invaded Tennessee and drove back the Federal forces under
General Thomas from point to point ; but was finally defeated near Nash-
ville (Dec. 15), with a loss of over 13,000 prisoners and 72 pieces of artil-
lery. During the year 1864, 1,200,000 men were called for by President
Lincoln. The first call (Feb. 1) was for 500,000 men ; but it was interpreted
to mean the deficiency under the previous call and 200,000 additional men.
The second (March 14) was for 200,000 men; the third (July 18), for
500,000 volunteers ; the fourth (Dec. 20), for 300,000.

At the presidential election of 1864 two candidates were presented —
Abraham Lincoln by the Republicans, for re-election, and General McClel-
lan by the Democrats. Twenty-five States took part in this election, and
the electoral vote cast was 233, of which Lincoln received 212, and
McClellan 21, being the votes of New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky.
The popular vote of Lincoln and Johnson was 2,223,035, and that of
McClellan and Pendleton was 1,811,714.

After Sherman had allowed his army a short rest at Savannah, he again
took the field (Feb. 1, 1865). He marched through South Carolina, took
possession of Columbia (Feb. 17), and on the following day the force under
Gillmore, which had been besieging Charleston, entered that city, which
had been under bombardment 542 days. Sherman pushed on toward
North Carolina; while Schofield, from Newbern, and Terry, from Wilming-
ton, were co-operating with him. After some fighting, the three armies
met at Goldsborough (Mar. 22); while General J. E. Johnston, with the
main army of the Confederates in that region, was held at bay at Raleigh.
At last, on the 24th of March, General Grant issued orders for a general
movement of the armies operating against Richmond, to be made on the
29th. On the 25th, however, Lee made a desperate effort to break through
the Federal lines on the Appomattox River, and Fort Steedman was taken
by the Confederates, but was soon recaptured. Sheridan, after a partial
repulse on the 31st of March, the next day defeated the Confederates at

10



146 BURLET'S UNITED STATES

I' Forks, aud took 6000 prisoners. Inamediately afterward (Apr.
•_' i Grant made an attack along the whole line in front of Petersburg, and
was <vt rywhere successful. Petersburg was evacuated thai evening; Rich-