Chapter LVI: Section 10: And be it further enacted, That when any person (9)

"By the end of February, 1862, Major-General Halleck commanded
all the armies in the valley of the Mississippi, from his
headquarters in St. Louis. These were, the Army of the Ohio,
Major-General Buell, in Kentucky; the Army of the Tennessee,
Major-General Grant, at Forts Henry and Donelson; the Army of
the Mississippi, Major-General Pope; and that of General S. R.
Curtis, in Southwest Missouri. He posted his chief of staff,
General Cullum, at Cairo, and me [General Sherman] at Paducah,
chiefly to expedite and facilitate the important operations
then in progress up the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. …
General Buell had also followed up the rebel army, which had
retreated hastily from Bowling Green to and through Nashville,
a city of so much importance to the South that it was at one
time proposed as its capital. Both Generals Grant and Buell
looked to its capture as an event of great importance. On the
21st General Grant sent General Smith with his division to
Clarksville, 50 miles above Donelson, toward Nashville, and on
the 27th went himself to Nashville to meet and confer with
General Buell, but returned to Donelson the next day." Orders
sent by General Halleck to Grant did not reach the latter, and
a supposed disobedience occurred which caused him to be
hastily relieved from his command, which was transferred to
General C. F. Smith, on the 4th of March. Halleck's purpose
"was evidently to operate up the Tennessee River, to break up
Bear Creek Bridge and the railroad communications between the
Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers, and no doubt he was provoked
that Generals Grant and Smith had turned aside to Nashville.
In the mean time several of the gunboats, under Captain
Phelps, United States Navy, had gone up the Tennessee as far
as Florence, and on their return had reported a strong Union
feeling among the people along the river. On the 10th of
March, having received the necessary orders from General
Halleck, I embarked my division at Paducah. … I … steamed up
the Tennessee River, following the two gunboats, and, in
passing Pittsburg Landing, was told by Captain Gwin that, on
his former trip up the river, he had found a rebel regiment of
cavalry posted there, and that it was the usual landing-place
for the people about Corinth, distant 30 miles. I sent word
back to General Smith that, if we were detained up the river,
he ought to post some troops at Pittsburg Landing. We went on
up the river cautiously, till we saw Eastport and Chickasaw,
both of which were occupied by rebel batteries and a small
rebel force of infantry. We then dropped back quietly to the
mouth of Yellow River, a few miles below," where the troops
were landed and an attempt made to push out and destroy the
Memphis and Charleston railroad; but heavy rains had so
swollen all the streams that the expedition was foiled and
returned. "Once more embarked, I concluded to drop down to
Pittsburg Landing, and to make the attempt from there. During
the night of the 14th, we dropped down to Pittsburg Landing,
where I found Hurlbut's division in boats. Leaving my command
there, I steamed down to Savannah, and reported to General
Smith in person, who saw in the flooded Tennessee the full
truth of my report; and he then instructed me to disembark my
own division, and that of General Hurlbut, at Pittsburg
Landing; to take positions well back, and to leave room for
his whole army; telling me that he would soon come up in
person, and move out in force to make the lodgment on the
railroad, contemplated by General Halleck's orders. … Within a
few days, Prentiss's division arrived and camped on my left,
and afterward McClernand's and W. H. L. Wallace's divisions,
which formed a line to our rear. Lew Wallace's division
remained on the north side of Snake Creek, on a road leading
from Savannah or Crump's Landing to Purdy. General C. F. Smith
remained back at Savannah, in chief command, and I was only
responsible for my own division. I kept pickets well out on
the roads, and made myself familiar with all the ground inside
and outside my lines. … We were all conscious that the enemy
was collecting at Corinth, but in what force we could not
know, nor did we know what was going on behind us. On the 17th
of March, General U. S. Grant was restored to the command of
all the troops up the Tennessee River, by reason of General
Smith's extreme illness, and because he had explained to
General Halleck satisfactorily his conduct after Donelson; and
he too made his headquarters at Savannah, but frequently
visited our camps. … From about the 1st of April we were
conscious that the rebel cavalry in our front was getting
bolder and more saucy. … On Sunday morning, the 6th, early,
there was a good deal of picket-firing, and I got breakfast,
rode out along my lines, … and saw the rebel lines of battle
in front coming down on us as far as the eye could reach. All
my troops were in line of battle, ready, and the ground was
favorable to us. … In a few minutes the battle of 'Shiloh'
began with extreme fury, and lasted two days. … Probably no
single battle of the war gave rise to such wild and damaging
reports. It was publicly asserted at the North that our army
was taken completely by surprise; that the rebels caught us in
our tents; bayoneted the men in their beds; that General Grant
was drunk; that Buell's opportune arrival saved the Army of
the Tennessee from utter annihilation, etc. These reports were
in a measure sustained by the published opinions of Generals
Buell, Nelson, and others, who had reached the
steamboat-landing from the east, just before nightfall of the
6th, when there was a large crowd of frightened, stampeded
men, who clamored and declared that our army was all destroyed
and beaten. Personally I saw General Grant, who with his staff
visited me about 10 A. M. of the 6th, when we were desperately
engaged. But we had checked the headlong assault of our enemy,
and then held our ground. This gave him great satisfaction,
and he told me that things did not look as well over on the
left. … He came again just before dark, and described the last
assault made by the rebels at the ravine, near the
steamboat-landing, which he had repelled by a heavy battery
collected under Colonel J. D. Webster and other officers, and
he was convinced that the battle was over for that day. He
ordered me to be ready to assume the offensive in the morning,
saying that, as he had observed at Fort Donelson at the crisis
of the battle, both sides seemed defeated, and whoever assumed
the offensive was sure to win.
{3453}
General Grant also explained to me that General Buell had
reached the bank of the Tennessee River opposite Pittsburg
Landing, and was in the act of ferrying his troops across at
the time he was speaking to me. About half an hour afterward
General Buell himself rode up to where I was. … Buell said
that Nelson's, McCook's, and Crittenden's divisions of his
army, containing 18,000 men, had arrived and could cross over
in the night, and be ready for the next day's battle. I argued
that with these reënforcements we could sweep the field. Buell
seemed to mistrust us, and repeatedly said that he did not
like the looks of things, especially about the boat-landing,
and I really feared he would not cross over his army that
night, lest he should become involved in our general disaster.
… Buell did cross over that night, and the next day we assumed
the offensive and swept the field, thus gaining the battle
decisively. Nevertheless, the controversy was started and kept
up, mostly to the personal prejudice of General Grant, who as
usual maintained an imperturbable silence. … Beauregard [who
took the rebel command after General Albert Sidney Johnston
fell in the first day's battle afterward reported his entire
loss as 10,699. Our aggregate loss, made up from official
statements, shows 1,700 killed, 7,495 wounded, 3,022
prisoners; aggregate, 12,217, of which 2,167 were in Buell's
army, leaving for that of Grant 10,050. This result is a fair
measure of the amount of fighting done by each army. … The
battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, was one of the most
fiercely contested of the war. On the morning of April 6,
1862, the five divisions of McClernand, Prentiss, Hurlbut, W.
H. L. Wallace, and Sherman, aggregated about 32,000 men. We
had no intrenchments of any sort, on the theory that as soon
as Buell arrived we would march to Corinth to attack the
enemy. The rebel army, commanded by General Albert Sidney
Johnston, was, according to their own reports and admissions,
45,000 strong."

_W. T. Sherman,
Memoirs, 4th edition,
chapter 10 (volume 1);
or 1st edition, chapter 9 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_U. S. Grant,
Personal Memoirs,
chapters 23-25._

_W. P. Johnston,
Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston,
chapters 30-35._

_U. S. Grant, D. C. Buell, and others,
Shiloh
(Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, volume 1)._

_Official Records,
Series 1, volume 10._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (March).
President Lincoln's proposal of Compensated Emancipation
approved by Congress.

On the 6th of March President Lincoln addressed to Congress
the following Special Message: "Fellow-citizens of the Senate
and House of Representatives: I recommend the adoption of a
joint resolution by your honorable bodies, which shall be
substantially as follows: Resolved, That the United States
ought to cooperate with any State which may adopt gradual
abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to
be used by such State, in its discretion, to compensate for
the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such
change of system. If the proposition contained in the
resolution does not meet the approval of Congress and the
country, there is the end; but if it does command such
approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people
immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified
of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to
accept or reject it. The Federal Government would find its
highest interest in such a measure, as one of the most
efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of the
existing insurrection entertain the hope that this government
will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of
some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave
States north of such part will then say, 'The Union for which
we have struggled being already gone, we now choose to go with
the Southern section.' To deprive them of this hope
substantially ends the rebellion; and the initiation of
emancipation completely deprives them of it as to all the
States initiating it. The point is not that all the States
tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate
emancipation; but that while the offer is equally made to all,
the more Northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain
to the more Southern that in no event will the former ever
join the latter in their proposed confederacy. I say
'initiation' because, in my judgment, gradual and not sudden
emancipation is better for all. In the mere financial or
pecuniary view, any member of Congress, with the census tables
and treasury reports before him, can readily see for himself
how very soon the current expenditures of this war would
purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves in any named
State. Such a proposition on the part of the General
Government sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to
interfere with slavery within State limits, referring, as it
does, the absolute control of the subject in each case to the
State and its people immediately interested. It is proposed as
a matter of perfectly free choice with them. In the annual
message, last December, I thought fit to say, 'The Union must
be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be
employed.' I said this not hastily, but deliberate]y. War has
been made, and continues to be, an indispensable means to this
end. A practical reacknowledgment of the national authority
would render the war unnecessary, and it would at once cease.
If, however, resistance continues, the war must also continue;
and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may
attend and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem
indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency,
toward ending the struggle, must and will come. The
proposition now made, though an offer only, I hope it may be
esteemed no offense to ask whether the pecuniary consideration
tendered would not be of more value to the States and private
persons concerned than are the institution and property in it,
in the present aspect of affairs? While it is true that the
adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely
initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is
recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important
practical results. In full view of my great responsibility to
my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of
Congress and the people to the subject. Abraham Lincoln,
Washington, March 6, 1862."

_Abraham Lincoln,
Complete Works,
volume 2, pages 129-130._

{3454}

"Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, having moved and carried a
reference of this Message by the House to a Committee of the
Whole on the State of the Union, and Mr. R. Conkling, of New
York, having moved the resolve above recommended, a debate
sprung up thereon; which is notable only as developing the
repugnance of the Unionists of the Border Slave States, with
that of the Democrats of all the States, to compensated or any
other Emancipation. … It passed the House by 89 Yeas
(Republicans, West Virginians, and a few others not strictly
partisans) to 31 Nays." On the 2d of April, the resolution
passed the Senate, by 32 Yeas to 10 Nays. "The President of
course approved the measure; but no single Slave State ever
claimed its benefits; and its only use inhered in its
demonstration of the willingness of the Unionists to increase
their already heavy burdens to pay for the slaves of the
Border States—a willingness which the infatuation of the
ruling class in those States rendered abortive."

_H. Greeley,
The American Conflict,
volume 2, chapter 12._

ALSO IN:
_H. Wilson,
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America,
volume 3, chapter 23._

_J. G. Nicolay and J. Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
volume 5, chapter 12._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (March).
The Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac.

"In August 1861 the Northern States had determined to obtain
ironclad steam vessels, and at the end of that month Ericsson
offered to construct in a few months a vessel which would
destroy the rebel squadron. A board of officers was appointed
to consider plans proposed, and in September it recommended
that a vessel on Ericsson's design should be built. She was
commenced in October, launched on January 30th, 1862, and
completed on February 15th, 1862. The design provided for a
hull not more than 2 ft. above the water, and with a flat
bottom, that the draught might not exceed 10 ft. The sides, to
a short distance below the water line, were protected with
4-in. plates. In the centre of the deck was built a circular
turret, revolving on a central spindle, and protected with 8
in. of iron. Inside the turret were mounted two 11-in. smooth
bore guns, pointing through port holes. They could thus fire
in any direction without turning the vessel, an obvious
advantage not only on the open sea but especially in narrow
waters, for which she was more intended. Such was the famous
'Monitor,' a name given by Ericsson to his creation to
admonish the leaders of the Southern Rebellion, and to be also
a monitor to the Lords of the Admiralty in England, suggesting
to them doubts as to the propriety of their building four
broadside ironclads at three and a half million dollars each."

_S. Eardley-Wilmot,
The Development of Navies,
chapter 4._

"While the Secretary of the Navy was urging forward the
construction of the first iron-clads, it was known that the
rebel government was making great exertions in the same
direction. Iron-clad vessels were under way at New Orleans,
Charleston, and at some other points, while at Norfolk the
Merrimack [the old frigate of that name, roofed slopingly with
railroad iron, was very near completion in the winter of
1861-62.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 1861 (APRIL)
ACTIVITY OF REBELLION.

The formidable character of this mailed frigate constrained
the Government to make every effort to complete the Monitor
[the first of the turreted iron-clads, invented by John C.
Ericsson] in season to meet her whenever she should come out;
and it is stated that information obtained by a rebel spy of
the state of forwardness in which the Monitor was, induced the
rebels to put a double force upon their frigate, so that she
might be able to attack our fleet in Hampton Roads before the
Monitor's arrival, and, if possible, also to make a raid upon
Washington or the Northern cities. This extra labor, it is
said, gained the one day in which the Merrimack destroyed the
Cumberland and Congress. … The Monitor, commanded by
Lieutenant John L. Worden, reached the scene of late disaster
to our cause, and of her coming triumph, on the 8th of March,
at 9 o'clock P. M., and Lieutenant Worden reported for orders
to Captain Marston, the commander of the Roanoke. The
Minnesota, one of our noblest frigates, the Roanoke of the
same class, but partially disabled, the frigate Congress, and
the sloop Cumberland, had been stationed at the mouth of the
James River to watch for, to engage, and, if possible,
destroy, capture, or stop the expected rebel iron-clad frigate
then ready for sea at Norfolk. These vessels carried very
heavy batteries, and it was hoped that they would be able to
cope with the Merrimack. How vain such an expectation was, her
first day's operations fully and sadly demonstrated. It is
probably no exaggeration to say that she would have destroyed
easily, and without any material damage to herself, every
wooden ship then in our Navy, had they been within her reach,
and with none but themselves to oppose her."

_C. B. Boynton,
History of the Navy during the Rebellion,
chapter 21._

"Such was the state of affairs when the Monitor arrived at
Hampton Roads, that the sturdy commanders trembled in face of
the coming day, and all was silence and gloom. The
sloop-of-war Cumberland, having a crew of 300 men, and
mounting 24 guns, now lay on the bottom with only her
top-gallant masts and pennant above the water, marking the
spot where 117 mangled bodies lay buried beneath the waves.
The Congress, a 50-gun frigate, had also met her destruction,
and now lay on shore with the flames kindled by hot shot of
the Merrimac sweeping out her hull. The Roanoke and Minnesota,
steam frigates of 40 guns each, the pride of the navy and the
most perfect of any men-of-war of the period, laid hard and
fast on shore, with broken machinery and as powerless as if
they had been unarmed. The capture or entire destruction of
the Federal fleet at Hampton Roads and the escape of the
Merrimac and the rebel cruisers seemed inevitable." Arriving
in the evening of the 8th, the Monitor anchored near the
frigate Minnesota at Newport News. "At half-past five in the
morning all hands were called, and the ship was immediately
cleared of her sea-rig and got ready for battle. … At
half-past seven o'clock a long line of black smoke was seen,
preceded by the steamers Jamestown, Patrick Henry and Teazer.
It was the signal for battle. The crews of the different
vessels stood by their guns, fuzes in hands. The Monitor
steamed slowly from beneath the bows of the Minnesota, where
she had been partly concealed, to meet the challenger in an
open field. It was alike an astonishment to the rebels and our
own people; neither had seen her when she arrived, and many
were the conjectures of what it could be. Some said a huge
water tank; others an infernal machine; none that she had
guns, and not till they saw steam rise from her deck did they
think she had power to move herself. … The Merrimac stopped
her engines, as if to survey and wonder at the audacity of the
nondescript. The Monitor was approaching on her starboard bow.
{3455}
Then, as if seized with impulsive rage, and as if a huge
breath would waft her enemy away, the Merrimac poured a
broadside of solid shot at her. For an instant she was
enveloped in smoke, and people who were looking on held their
breath in doubt of seeing the Monitor again. It was a moment
of great suspense. Then as a gentle breeze swept over the
scene the Monitor appeared. At this instant the flash of her
own guns was seen, and then their report, louder than any
cannon that had ever been heard, thundered across the sea. It
seemed to jar the very earth, and the iron scales of the
invincible crumbled and cracked from their fastenings. One on
board the Merrimac at this time has told me that, though at
first entirely confident of victory, consternation took hold
of them all. 'D-n it!' said one, 'the thing is full of guns!'
The enthusiasm at this moment among the thousand of civilians
and soldiers, who lined the shore to witness the fight, was
beyond description and their own control. Such a spontaneous
burst of cheers was never before heard. Men were frantic with
joy. The Monitor continued her approach, reserving fire that
every shot might take effect, until she came parallel with the
Merrimac, but heading in the opposite direction. In this way
they passed slowly within a few yards of each other, both
delivering and receiving the other's fire. … Captain Worden
headed again towards the Merrimac with renewed confidence and
engaged her at close quarters. Again they joined in close
combat, the Monitor lying bow on, at times touching, both
delivering their fire as rapidly as possible. At the same time
the marines on the Merrimac poured an incessant fire of
musketry at the peek-holes about the pilot-house and turret.
The speed of the two vessels was about equal, but the light
draught of the Monitor gave her an advantage. The rebels
finding that they could make nothing of the invulnerable
cheese-box, as they called her, and foiled and maddened at the
loss of their coveted prize, turned towards the Minnesota,
determined, if possible, to destroy her. The Merrimac went
head on and received a full broadside of the Minnesota. Fifty
solid nine-inch shot struck square. Any wooden vessel that
ever floated would have gone to pieces under such a fire. The
Merrimac was unharmed. She returned the fire with her forward
rifle guns. One shell passed through four rooms, tearing away
partitions and setting the ship on tire. Another passed
through the boiler of the steamer Dragon which lay alongside,
blowing her up and killing and wounding 17 men. Before a third
was fired the Monitor interposed, compelling the Merrimac to
change her position. The two combatants then made a complete
circle in their endeavors to get a favorable position, each
seeking to discharge a broadside into some vital part. The
Merrimac then turned sharp and made a plunge towards the
Minnesota, but Worden was vigilant, and crossed the stern of
the Merrimac, sending two solid shot into her. To get back
again between her and the Minnesota, the Monitor had almost to
cross her bow. The Merrimac steamed up quickly, and finding
that the Monitor would be struck with her prow Worden sheered
towards the enemy's stern, avoiding a direct blow, and, as
they came into collision, each vessel delivered a broadside
into the other. At this point a shell from the Merrimac struck
the pilot-house exactly over the peek-hole through which
Captain Worden was looking. The shell exploding, filled his
face and eyes with powder and fragments of iron, utterly
blinding and for a time rendering him unconscious. Lieutenant
Greene, who had been in charge of the turret division,
immediately left the guns and spent full thirty minutes
nursing the wounded commander, during which time the gunners
shotted the guns, and, as the Merrimac was turning away,
discharged them at close range into her stern, a blow that
made her whole frame shudder and seemed at once to be fatal.
There was no officer to direct the movements of the vessel
except the pilot Howard. As the two combatants parted from the
struggle they were headed in opposite directions, both away
from their goal. Presuming that the fight would be continued,
Pilot Howard ran the vessel a short distance down the channel
and turning brought her again close to the protection of the
Minnesota, when Lieutenant Greene stepped into the pilot-house
and assumed command. It was then observed that the Merrimac
had taken the channel and was heading towards Norfolk. She was
soon joined by her consorts, and taken up to their refuge
under the batteries of Craney Island, the Merrimac apparently
sagging down astern. Thus ended the greatest naval battle of
the world. … The only perceptible danger to those on board the
Monitor, after the first round from the Merrimac, was to those
in the turret, who were in great danger from the flying of
bolt heads driven with great force across the turret, and from
the concussion, which would for a time paralyze a man if he
should in any way be in contact with the turret when struck by
a shot."

_F. B. Butts,
The Monitor and the Merrimac
(Soldiers' and Sailors' Historical Society of Rhode Island,
Fourth series, Number 6)._

"The engagement in Hampton Roads on the 8th of March, 1862,
between the Confederate iron-clad Virginia, or the Merrimac,
as she is known at the North, and the United States wooden
fleet, and that on the 9th, between the Virginia and the
Monitor, was, in its results, in some respects the most
momentous naval conflict ever witnessed. No battle was ever
more widely discussed or produced a greater sensation. It
revolutionized the navies of the world. … Rams and iron-clads
were in future to decide all naval warfare. In this battle old
things passed away, and the experience of a thousand years of
battle and breeze was forgotten. The naval supremacy of
England vanished in the smoke of this fight, only to reappear
some years later more commanding than ever. The effect of the
news was best described by the London 'Times,' which said:
'Whereas we had available for immediate purposes 149
first-class war-ships: we have now two, these two being the
Warrior and her sister Ironside. There is not now a ship in
the English navy apart from these two that it would not be
madness to trust to an engagement with that little Monitor.'
The Admiralty at once proceeded to reconstruct the navy. … The
same results were produced in France, which had but one
sea-going iron-clad, La Gloire, and this one, like the
Warrior, was only protected amidships. … And so with all the
maritime powers. In this race the United States took the lead,
and at the close of the war led all the others in the numbers
and efficiency of its iron-clad fleet. … Our loss [that is,
the Confederate loss on the Virginia, or Merrimac, in the
first day's battle, with the wooden ships] in killed and
wounded was 21.
{3456}
The armor was hardly damaged, though at one time our ship was
the focus on which were directed at least 100 heavy guns
afloat and ashore. But nothing outside escaped. … We slept at
our guns, dreaming of other victories in the morning. But at
daybreak we discovered, lying between us and the Minnesota, a
strange-looking craft, which we knew at once to be Ericsson's
Monitor, which had long been expected in Hampton Roads, and of
which, from different sources, we had a good idea. She could
not possibly have made her appearance at a more inopportune
time for us, changing our plans, which were to destroy the
Minnesota, and then the remainder of the fleet below Fortress
Monroe. She appeared but a pigmy compared with the lofty
frigate which she guarded. But in her size was one great
element of her success. … After an early breakfast, we got
under way and steamed out toward the enemy, opening fire from
our bow pivot, and closing in to deliver our starboard
broadside at short range, which was returned promptly from her
11-inch guns. Both vessels then turned and passed again still
closer. The Monitor was firing every seven or eight minutes,
and nearly every shot struck. Our ship was working worse and
worse, and after the loss of the smoke-stack, Mr. Ramsay,
chief engineer, reported that the draught was so poor that it
was with great difficulty he could keep up steam. Once or
twice the ship was on the bottom. Drawing 22 feet of water, we
were confined to a narrow channel, while the Monitor, with
only 12 feet immersion, could take any position, and always
have us in range of her guns. … Several times the Monitor
ceased firing, and we were in hopes she was disabled, but the
revolution again of her turret and the heavy blows of her
11-inch shot on our sides soon undeceived us. … Lieutenant
Jones now determined to run her down or board her. For nearly
an hour we manœuvred for a position. … The ship was as
unwieldy as Noah's Ark. … And so, for six or more hours, the
struggle was kept up. At length, the Monitor withdrew over the
middle ground where we could not follow. … The battle was a
drawn one, so far as the two vessels engaged were concerned.
But in its general results the advantage was with the
Monitor."

_J. T. Wood,
The First Fight of Iron Clads
(Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,
volume 1, pages 692-711)._

ALSO IN:
_J. Ericsson,
The Building of the Monitor
(Battles and Leaders. volume 1, pages 730-744)._

_W. C. Church,
Life of John Ericsson,
chapters 15-18 (volume 1)._

_Gideon Welles,
The First Iron-Clad Monitor
(Annals of the War by leading Participants),
page 17._

_C. B. Boynton,
History of the Navy during the Rebellion,
chapter 21._

On the evacuation of Norfolk by the Confederates, in May,
1862, the Merrimac was destroyed. The following December the
Monitor went down in a storm at sea, while on her way to
Charleston, and only a few of her crew were saved.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (March).
Amendment of the Military Code.
Officers forbidden to surrender fugitive Slaves.

"As the formal orders of the government regarding the
treatment of slaves who sought refuge near the armies were not
always executed, Congress determined to give them a legal
sanction; and on the 25th of February and the 13th of March
both the Senate and the House of Representatives introduced a
new article in the military code, prohibiting officers, at the
risk of dismissal, from interfering to restore fugitive slaves
to their masters. Notwithstanding the powers with which the
government was thus armed, great difficulty was experienced in
applying this law in those regiments whose commanders openly
professed their sympathies in favor of slavery."

_Comte de Paris,
History of the Civil War in America,
volume 2, page 733._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (March-April: On the Mississippi). New Madrid and Island No. 10.

On the surrender of Fort Donelson to General Grant, Columbus,
on the Mississippi, was hastily abandoned by the rebels, who
fell back to Island Number Ten, thirty miles below, where
strong works had been erected. These it was hoped would
command the passage of the river. "Following the course of the
Mississippi, this island is about ten miles above New Madrid,
Missouri, which is 79 miles below Cairo; but on account of a
long bend in the river … the island is really further south
than New Madrid. New Madrid is at the most northerly part of
the bend, and its guns were so placed as to be able to fire at
vessels coming either way. Besides Fort Thompson, named after
Jeff Thompson, it was defended by several batteries and by six
gunboats, mounting heavy guns, which had come up the river
from New Orleans and were under the command of Commodore
Hollins. … As the land around New Madrid is very flat, these
gunboats could fire upon troops approaching the place by land.
On the same day when the flag of the Union was hoisted over
the deserted works of the Confederates at Columbus [March 4],
a Union army under General John Pope, who had been commanding
in eastern Missouri, appeared before New Madrid. Seeing that
he could do but little with his field artillery, he sent to
Cairo for heavy guns; and while waiting for these he built a
battery at Point Pleasant, about ten miles below New Madrid,
so as to blockade the river at that place and prevent supplies
from being sent up to the town. Meanwhile the Confederates
strengthened their works and reinforced the garrison with men
from Island Number Ten, while their fleet of gunboats was
increased to nine. Four heavy guns were sent from Bird's Point
to General Pope by the Cairo and Fulton Railway, which brought
them within 20 miles of where they were wanted. … On the night
of March 12 a thousand spades were at work within half a mile
of Fort Thompson, and at daylight the guns were in position
ready for action. Pope opened a cannonade at once on the
gunboats and on Fort Thompson, both of which replied
vigorously. The fight raged all day long; several of the gun
boats were disabled and the Union army was gradually shutting
in the Confederates on the land side, when their commander,
General McCown, seeing the danger of capture, left the place
in the night, during a heavy thunder-storm, and removed all
his troops to Island Number Ten. … General Pope lost 51 men in
killed and wounded during the day's bombardment; the loss of
the Confederates is not known, but is thought to have been
more than a hundred. About the time of the capture of New
Madrid, Commodore Foote sailed from Cairo with a fleet of
seven iron-clad gunboats, one wooden gunboat, and ten
mortar-boats, for the purpose of aiding General Pope in the
attack on Island Number Ten. He came in sight of the island on
Saturday, March 15, and on the next morning opened the
bombardment with the rifled guns of the Benton, his flag-ship.
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The mortar-boats, moored at convenient places along the shore,
soon took part in the firing, and rained bombs into the
Confederate works. … Commodore Foote kept up the bombardment
for many days, without doing much damage to the Confederate
works. But while he kept the enemy busy, General Pope had been
engaged in digging a canal across the swampy peninsula formed
by the bend of the river, so that vessels could go through to
New Madrid without having to pass Island Number Ten. … A large
number of men were employed, and after nineteen days of hard
labor a channel deep enough for light-draught vessels was cut
through. In the night of April 1 a few men from the gunboats,
aided by some of Pope's soldiers, landed on the Kentucky
shore, opposite Island Number Ten, took one of the batteries
by surprise and spiked its six guns. … A few nights afterward
the Carondelet [gunboat] ran safely by all the batteries at
midnight, during a heavy thunderstorm. … Two nights afterward
the Pittsburgh, another gunboat, performed the same feat, with
the same good fortune; and a few days later the Confederates
were astonished to see a fleet of transports laden with troops
and several floating batteries join the gunboats at New
Madrid. … The gunboats soon silenced the one-gun batteries on
the opposite side of the river below New Madrid," and the
Confederates, attempting to escape, were intercepted and
captured (April 7), both those on the mainland and those on
the Island.

_J. D. Champlin, Jr.,
Young Folks' History of the War for the Union,
chapter 16._

Said General Pope in his report: "It is almost impossible to
give a correct account of the immense quantity of artillery,
ammunition, and supplies of every description which fell into
our hands. Three generals, 273 field and company officers,
6,700 privates, 123 pieces of heavy artillery, 35 pieces of
field artillery (all of the very best character and latest
patterns), 7,000 stand of small-arms, tents for 12,000 men,
several wharf-boat loads of provisions, an immense quantity of
ammunition of all kinds, many hundred horses and mules, with
wagons and harness, &c., are among the spoils. Very few, if
any, of the enemy escaped, and only by wading and swimming
through the swamps. The conduct of the troops was splendid
throughout, as the results of this operation and its whole
progress very plainly indicate. We have crossed this great
river, the banks of which were lined with batteries and
defended by 7,000 men. We have pursued and captured the whole
force of the enemy and all his supplies and material of war,
and have again recrossed and reoccupied the camps at New
Madrid, without losing a man or meeting with any accident.
Such results bespeak efficiency, good conduct, high
discipline, and soldierly deportment of the best character far
more conclusively than they can be exhibited in pitched battle
or the storming of fortified places."

_Official Records,
series 1, volume 8._

"In the years since 1862, Island No. 10 … has disappeared. The
river, constantly wearing at its upper end, has little by
little swept away the whole. … On the other shore a new No. 10
has risen."

_A. T. Mahan,
The Navy in the Civil War: The Gulf and Inland Waters,
chapter 2._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (March-May: Virginia).
The Peninsular Campaign.
McClellan before Yorktown.

"When Manassas had been abandoned by the enemy [see UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861-1862 (December-March: Virginia)]
and he had withdrawn behind the Rapidan, the Urbana movement
lost much of its promise, as the enemy was now in position to
reach Richmond before we could do so. The alternative remained
of making Fort Monroe and its vicinity the base of operations.
The plan first adopted was to commence the movement with the
First Corps as a unit, to land north of Gloucester and move
thence on West Point; or, should circumstances render it
advisable, to land a little below Yorktown to turn the
defenses between that place and Fort Monroe. The Navy
Department were confident that we could rely upon their
vessels to neutralize the Merrimac and aid materially in
reducing the batteries on the York River. … As transports
arrived very slowly, especially those for horses, and the
great impatience of the Government grew apace, it became
necessary to embark divisions as fast as vessels arrived, and
I decided to land them at Fort Monroe, holding the First Corps
to the last, still intending to move it in mass to turn
Gloucester. On the 17th of March the leading division embarked
at Alexandria. The campaign was undertaken with the intention
of taking some 145,000 troops, to be increased by a division
of 10,000 drawn from the troops in the vicinity of Fort
Monroe. … On the 12th of March I learned that there had
appeared in the daily papers the order relieving me from the
general command of all the armies and confining my authority
to the Department of the Potomac. I had received no previous
intimation of the intention of the Government in this respect.
… On my arrival at Fort Monroe on the 2d of April, I found
five divisions of infantry, Sykes's brigade of regulars, two
regiments of cavalry, and a portion of the reserve artillery
disembarked. Another cavalry regiment and a part of a fourth
had arrived, but were still on shipboard; comparatively few
wagons had come. … The best information obtainable represented
the Confederate troops around Yorktown as numbering at least
15,000, with about an equal force at Norfolk; and it was clear
that the army lately at Manassas, now mostly near
Gordonsville, was in position to be thrown promptly to the
Peninsula. … On my arrival at Fort Monroe I learned, in an
interview with Flag-Officer Goldsborough, that he could not
protect the James as a line of supply, and that he could
furnish no vessels to take an active part in the reduction of
the batteries at York and Gloucester or to run by and gain
their rear. He could only aid in the final attack after our
land batteries had essentially silenced their fire. I thus
found myself with 53,000 men in condition to move, faced by
the conditions of the problem just stated. Information was
received that Yorktown was already being reenforced from
Norfolk, and it was apprehended that the main Confederate army
would promptly follow the same course. I therefore determined
to move at once with the force in hand, and endeavor to seize
a point—near the Halfway House—between Yorktown and
Williamsburg, where the Peninsula is reduced to a narrow neck,
and thus cut off the retreat of the Yorktown garrison and
prevent the arrival of reenforcements.
{3458}
The advance commenced on the morning of the 4th of April, and
was arranged to turn successively the intrenchments on the two
roads; the result being that, on the afternoon of the 5th, the
Third Corps was engaged with the enemy's outposts in front of
Yorktown and under the artillery fire of the place. The Fourth
Corps came upon Lee's Mills and found it covered by the
unfordable line of the Warwick, and reported the position so
strong as to render it impossible to execute its orders to
assault. Thus all things were brought to a stand-still, and
the intended movement on the Halfway House could not be
carried out. Just at this moment came a telegram, dated the
4th, informing me that the First Corps [McDowell's] was
withdrawn from my command. Thus, when too deeply committed to
recede, I found that another reduction of about 43,000 …
diminished my paper force to 92,000, instead of the 155,000 on
which the plans of the campaign had been founded, … which
reduced the numbers actually available for battle to some
67,000 or 68,000. The order withdrawing the First Corps also
broke up the Department of the Potomac, forming out of it the
Department of the Shenandoah, under General Banks, and the
Department of the Rappahannock, under General McDowell, the
latter including Washington. … In our front was an intrenched
line, apparently too strong for assault, and which I had now
no means of turning, either by land or water. … Whatever may
have been said afterward, no one at the time—so far as my
knowledge extended—thought an assault practicable without
certain preliminary siege operations. … We were thus obliged
to resort to siege operations in order to silence the enemy's
artillery fire, and open the way to an assault. All the
batteries would have been ready to open fire on the 5th, or,
at latest, on the morning of the 6th of May; … but during the
night of the 3d and 4th of May the enemy evacuated his
positions. … Meanwhile, on the 22d of April, Franklin's
division of McDowell's corps had joined me by water, in
consequence of my urgent calls for reënforcements … [and, May
7th] disembarked near West Point and took up a suitable
position to hold its own and cover the landing of
reënforcements."

_G. B. McClellan,
The Peninsular Campaign
(Battles and Leaders, volume 2, pages 160-187)._

General Joseph E. Johnston, who assumed command of the
Confederate forces on the Peninsula, April 17, says in his
"Narrative": "I went to the Peninsula as soon as possible,
reaching General Magruder's headquarters early in the morning.
… That officer had estimated the importance of at least
delaying the invaders until an army capable of coping with
them could be formed; and opposed them with about a tenth of
their number, on a line of which Yorktown, intrenched, made
the left flank. This boldness imposed upon the Federal
general, and made him halt to besiege instead of assailing the
Confederate position. This resolute and judicious course on
the part of General Magruder was of incalculable value. It
saved Richmond, and gave the Confederate Government time to
swell that officer's handful to an army. … The arrival of
Smith's and Longstreet's divisions increased the army on the
Peninsula to about 53,000 men, including 3,000 sick. … I could
see no other object in holding the position than that of
delaying the enemy's progress, to gain time."

_J. E. Johnston,
Narrative of Military Operations,
chapters 4-5._

ALSO IN:
_J. C. Palfrey,
The Siege of Yorktown
(Massachusetts Military Historical Society Papers,
volume 1, pages 31-92)._

_Comte de Paris,
History of the Civil War in America,
volume 2, book 1, chapter 1._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (March-June).
Appointment of Military Governors in Tennessee,
North Carolina, and Louisiana.

"By the Union victories in the spring of 1862 very
considerable areas of territory in States in rebellion came
under the control and occupation of the Union armies. … The
sudden change from Confederate to Federal authority involved
everywhere either a serious derangement or total cessation of
the ordinary administration of local civil law, and the
displacement from the occupied territory of State governments
and State officials who claimed to be exercising functions
under ordinances of secession, and yielding obedience to the
self-styled Confederate States. A similar displacement had
occurred in Virginia and in Missouri during the year 1861, but
in those States prompt remedies were available," by means of
popular movements, through delegated conventions, which
abrogated the rebellious and reinstated loyal State
governments in operation. The courses pursued in Virginia and
Missouri were not practicable, however, in other cases, and "a
substitute was found in the appointment of military governors
to represent and exert such State and local authority as the
anomalous conditions made practicable, and as the supreme
military necessities might allow. The first of these
appointments occurred in Tennessee. Nashville, the capital,
having been evacuated about February 23, 1862, President
Lincoln nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Andrew Johnson
(March 4, 1862) as military governor with the rank of
brigadier-general. … Conforming to this precedent, Mr.
Lincoln, through the Secretary of War, appointed Edward
Stanley military governor of North Carolina, 'with authority
to exercise and perform, within the limits of that State, all
and singular the powers, duties, and functions pertaining to
the office of military governor (including the power to
establish all necessary offices and tribunals, and suspend the
writ of habeas corpus) during the pleasure of the President,
or until the loyal inhabitants of that State shall organize a
civil government in conformity with the Constitution of the
United States.' … In like manner, soon after news was received
of the successes in the Gulf, Colonel G. F. Shepley (of the
12th Maine Infantry) of Butler's army was appointed military
governor of Louisiana, this selection being made because
General Butler had already designated him to act as mayor of
the city of New Orleans, and it was thought best to combine
both functions in the same individual."

_J. G. Nicolay and J. Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
volume 6, chapter 16._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (April: On the Mississippi).
Farragut's passage of the lower forts
and capture of New Orleans.

"About the close of the gloomy and disastrous year 1861, the
Government of the United States determined to regain control
of the Mississippi. … After long consideration, Farragut was
chosen as the naval officer to command in the Gulf. The story
of his southern birth, and of his steadfast loyalty to his
flag, is too well known to be here repeated. His formal orders
put him in command of the 'Western Gulf Blockading Squadron,'
and these were issued in January, 1862.
{3459}
But confidential instructions were also given him, by which he
was especially charged with the 'reduction of the defences
guarding the approaches to New Orleans, and the taking
possession of that city.' He was to be assisted by a
mortar-fleet of schooners, under commander D. D. Porter. … On
February 2d, 1862, Farragut sailed for the Gulf, in the
sloop-of-war Hartford, which was so long to bear his flag,
successfully, through manifold dangers. The Hartford was a
wooden screw-steamer, full ship-rigged, and of 1,900 tons
burthen. She was of comparatively light draught, and,
therefore, well suited to the service she was called upon to
perform. … The Hartford arrived at her rendezvous, Ship
Island, 100 miles north-northeast of the mouths _ of the
Mississippi, on February 20th. A military force, to co-operate
with Farragut's fleet, was sent out, under General B. F.
Butler, and arrived at Ship Island on March 25th."

_E. Shippen,
Naval Battles,
chapter 41._