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

"At a point about 30 miles above the head of the passes, where
the river makes its last great bend—the lowest favorable
locality for defense before reaching the Gulf—the United
States Government had erected two forts, St. Philip on the
left or north bank, and Jackson a little farther down stream
on the right. … The Confederate Government had early taken
possession of these forts, and put them in complete order.
When Farragut's fleet appeared before them, Fort Jackson, with
its water battery, mounted 75 guns, and St. Philip about 40. …
Just above the forts lay a rebel fleet of 15 vessels, under
Commodore J. K. Mitchell, including the iron-clad ram Manassas
and an immense floating battery covered with railroad iron,
called the Louisiana. Just below Fort Jackson the Confederates
had obstructed the river with a heavy chain, brought from
Pensacola. … The task that lay before Farragut was, to break
through the obstructions, pass between the forts, conquer the
rebel fleet, and then steam up to New Orleans, lay the city
under his guns, and demand its surrender. For its
accomplishment he had 6 sloops-of-war, 16 gunboats, 21
schooners, each carrying a 13-inch mortar, and 5 other
vessels. The fleet carried over 200 guns. … The schooners
sailed up partly, or were towed by steamers, and on the
morning of the 18th of April they had all reached their
positions, ready to open fire. … For six days and nights the
mortars kept up an unremitting fire, mainly on Fort Jackson,
throwing nearly 6,000 shells. The Confederates acknowledged a
loss of 14 killed and 39 wounded by the bombardment. …
Farragut's patience was sorely tried by this delay. He had
never had much faith in the mortars, and now it was evident,
as he had anticipated, that almost the only practical effect
of the bombardment was, to give the enemy long warning of the
attack by the ships. … Having decided to run by the forts, he
confided to his trusted Fleet Captain, Bell, the dangerous
mission of proceeding with the gunboats Pinola and Itasca to
make a passage for his fleet through the chain obstructions. …
A sufficient opening was made for the fleet to pass through,
in spite of the heavy fire to which the party were subjected.
… Farragut had made up his mind to run by the forts at the
close of the fifth day's bombardment; but the necessity of
repairing damages to two of his vessels delayed him
twenty-four hours longer. He had intended to lead the column
in his flag-ship Hartford; but in the final disposition he
gave that post to Captain Theodorus Bailey, at his own earnest
request, who hoisted his red flag on the gunboat Cayuga. … The
attempt to pass was to be made in the night, April 23-24;
and, as the moon would rise about half past 3 o'clock in the
morning, the fleet were warned to expect the signal for
sailing at about 2 o'clock. … Lieutenant Commanding Caldwell
sent up in the Itasca to examine the obstructions and find
whether the passage was still open. At 11 o'clock he gave the
signal that it was, and about the same time the enemy opened
fire on him, sent down burning rafts, and lighted the immense
piles of wood which they had prepared on the shore near the
ends of the chain. … It was half past 3, the hour of moonrise,
before all was ready. In the light of the blazing rafts and
bonfires, moon or no moon made little difference now. …
Captain Bailey led off with his division of 8 vessels, whose
objective was Fort St. Philip, and all of them passed through
the opening in the cable. Both forts opened fire upon his
flag-ship, the Cayuga, soon after she had passed the hulks.
Five minutes later she was pouring grape and canister into St.
Philip, and in ten minutes more she had passed beyond range of
that work, to find herself surrounded by 11 rebel gun-boats.
Three of them attempted to board her at once. An 11-inch shot
was sent through one of them at the close range of 30 yards,
and she immediately ran aground and burned up. The Parrott gun
on the forecastle drove off another; and Bailey was preparing
to close with the third, when the Oneida and Varuna, which had
run in close to St. Philip, thus avoiding the elevated guns of
the fort, while they swept its bastions with grape and
scrapnel, came up to the assistance of the Cayuga. The Oneida
ran under full steam into one of the rebel ships, cut her
nearly in two, and left her to float down stream a helpless
wreck. She fired right and left into the others, and then went
to the assistance of the Varuna, which was ashore on the left
bank, hard pressed by the Governor Moore and another, said to
be the Manassas. The Varuna was rammed by them both, and sank
at the end of 15 minutes; but in that time it is claimed that
she put three 8-inch shells into the Governor Moore, and so
crippled her with solid shot that she surrendered to the
Oneida, and drove five 8-inch shells into another, which sent
her ashore. Still another of her shells exploded the boiler of
a rebel steamer. The Pensacola steamed steadily but slowly by,
firing with great deliberation and regularity. … The
Mississippi was fought regularly in line, like the Pensacola,
but escaped with light losses. She encountered the ram
Manassas, which gave her a severe cut on the port quarter
below the water-line, and disabled her machinery. But she
riddled the ram with shot, boarded her, and set her on fire,
so that she drifted below the forts and blew up. The Katahdin
ran close to the forts, steamed by rapidly, and got near the
head of the line, where she put a few good shots into the
iron-clad Louisiana. The Kineo ran by close under St. Philip,
and then assisted the Mississippi in handling the ram
Manassas; but she was afterward attacked by three rebel gun
boats at once, and, her pivot-gun carriage becoming injured,
she withdrew and continued on up stream.
{3460}
The Wissahickon ran ashore before she reached the forts, got
off, passed them, and above ran ashore again. Most of these
operations were carried on in the darkness occasioned by the
thick smoke, lighted, however, by the lurid flashes of more
than 200 guns. The Hartford, bearing Flag-Officer Farragut,
led the second division of the fleet. … In attempting to avoid
a fire-raft, she grounded on a shoal near St. Philip. At the
same time the ram Manassas pushed a raft upon her port
quarter, and in an instant she was on fire. A part of the crew
went to 'fire quarters' and soon subdued the flames, while the
working of her guns was steadily continued, and she was then
backed off into deep water. This movement turned the ship's
head down stream, and it was with some difficulty that she was
turned around against the current; but this was finally
accomplished, and she continued to steam up the river, firing
into several of the enemy's vessels as she passed. Among these
was a steamer full of men, apparently a boarding-party. She
was making straight for the Hartford when Captain Broome's
gun, manned by marines, planted a shell in her, which
exploded, and she disappeared. … The Brooklyn got out of her
course, ran over one of the hulks, and became entangled in the
raft, where she suffered a raking fire from Fort Jackson, and
a pretty severe one from St. Philip. Scarcely was she
disentangled and on her way up stream when she was butted by
the Manassas, which, however, had not headway enough to damage
her much, and slid off in the darkness. Then she was attacked
by a large rebel steamer, but gave her the port broadside at
fifty yards and set her on fire. Groping along through a black
cloud of smoke from a fire-raft, she came close abreast of St.
Philip, into which she poured such tremendous broadsides that
by the flashes the gunners were seen running to shelter, and
for the time the fort was silenced. The Brooklyn then passed
on, and engaged several of the enemy's gunboats at short
range. One of these, the Warrior, came under the port
broadside, when eleven 5-second shells were instantly planted
in her, all of which exploded, setting her on fire, and she
was run ashore. The Brooklyn was under fire an hour and a
half, and her losses were almost as severe as those of the
Pensacola. The Richmond, a slow ship, brought up the rear of
the second division, steaming steadily and working her guns
with great regularity. … The Sciota, carrying Fleet-Captain
Bell, led the third division. She steamed by the forts, firing
as she passed, and above them burned two steamboats. … The
Iroquois passed within 50 yards of Fort Jackson without
injury, but was subjected to a terrible raking cross-fire from
St. Philip, and was also raked by the McCrea. … Her losses
were heavy. The Pinola passed up in line, firing her 11-inch
pivot-gun and Parrott rifles at the flashes of Fort Jackson's
guns, which at first were all that could be seen; then she
emerged from the cloud of smoke, stood over toward St. Philip,
and in the light of the blazing rafts received the discharges
of its 40 guns. She was the last vessel that passed the forts,
and got up in time to put one or two shells into the gunboats
of the enemy. The Kennebec got out of her course, became
entangled in the rafts, and did not get free till it was broad
daylight and too late to attempt a passage. The Itasca,
arriving in front of Fort Jackson, received a shot in her
boiler, which made it impossible for her to proceed, and was
turned down stream. The Winona got astray among the hulks, and
lost so much time that when she came within range of Fort
Jackson it was daylight, and the fleet had passed on. The
first three or four shots from the fort swept away the entire
crew of her rifled gun, save one man. Still she kept on, until
the lower battery of St. Philip opened on her at less than
point-blank range; this was too much for her, and she
prudently headed down stream and ran out of the fire. Thus was
accomplished a feat in naval warfare which had no precedent,
and which is still without a parallel except the one furnished
by Farragut himself, two years later, at Mobile. Starting with
17 wooden vessels, he had passed with all but 3 of them,
against the swift current of a river but half a mile wide,
between two powerful earthworks which had long been prepared
for him, his course impeded by blazing rafts, and immediately
thereafter had met the enemy's fleet of 15 vessels, two of
them iron-clad, and either captured or destroyed every one of
them. And all this with a loss of but one ship from his own
squadron."

_L. Farragut,
Life of Farragut,
chapters 18-19._

Commander Porter, who kept up the mortar fire while Farragut
was forcing his way, says of the battle: "No grander or more
beautiful sight could have been realized than the scenes of
that night. From silence, disturbed now and then only by the
slow fire of the mortars,—the phantom-like movements of the
vessels giving no sound—an increased roar of heavy guns began,
while the mortars burst forth into rapid bombardment, as the
fleet drew near the enemy's works. Vessel after vessel added
her guns to those already at work, until the very earth seemed
to shake from their reverberations. A burning raft added its
lurid glare to the scene, and the fiery tracks of the
mortar-shells, as they passed through the darkness aloft, and
sometimes burst in mid-air, gave the impression that heaven
itself had joined in the general strife. The succeeding
silence was almost as sudden. From the weighing of the
anchors, one hour and ten minutes saw the vessels by the
forts, and Farragut on his way to New Orleans, the prize
staked upon the fierce game of war just ended."

_D. D. Porter,
Naval History of the Civil War,
page 185._

"General Lovell, who was in command at New Orleans, had come
down the river in a steamboat to observe the operations and
was very nearly captured; he hastened back to the city to
withdraw his forces. When the news spread through the streets
that the Federal fleet had passed the forts and had destroyed
the Confederate flotilla, a strange scene followed; a scene
impossible, perhaps, in any other American city under parallel
circumstances. The brave, active, fighting men of New Orleans
were far away in the armies of the South; but they had left
behind a slinking swarm of human vermin. … These, when they
saw a hopeless panic seize the good people of the city, poured
forth from their dens and began an indiscriminate pillaging of
houses, shops, and storage-sheds. Thus while the better class
of citizens were frantically setting fire to the cotton (some
12,000 bales) the cut-throats and ruffians, the hardened women
and even the lawless children, were raging from place to
place, back and forth, here and there, wildly plundering and
aimlessly destroying. … All the public materials, consisting
of army supplies, were heaped up in the middle of the streets
and burned.
{3461}
General Lovell withdrew his soldiers on the evening of the
24th, leaving the city at the mercy of the Federal fleet,
which at 1 o'clock on the following day steamed up the river
and anchored in the middle of the stream not far from the foot
of Canal Street. … The mob which lately had been committing
such foul deeds, now swayed back and forth in the streets,
hooting, yelling and cursing, urging the people to resist the
landing of the Federals. Commodore Farragut demanded the
formal surrender of the city, but the mayor was powerless. He
could not surrender the city while the people were controlled
by an unreasoning mob. Consequently, on the 20th, a detachment
under command of Fleet Captain H. H. Bell was sent ashore to
take possession of the public buildings."

_M. Thompson,
The Story of Louisiana,
chapter 11._

"The success was almost beyond price to the Union Government
from its moral importance on both sides of the Atlantic. As to
the material advantage won, it may be best judged of by the
statement of the well-known Confederate writer, Mr. Pollard: …
'It was a heavy blow to the Confederacy. It annihilated us in
Louisiana; separated us from Texas and Arkansas; diminished
our resources and supplies by the loss of one of the greatest
grain and cattle countries within the limits of the
Confederacy; gave to the enemy the Mississippi River, with all
its means of navigation, for a base of operations.' … In
calling the capture of New Orleans 'one of the most remarkable
triumphs in the whole history of naval operations' he [Mr.
Welles, Secretary of the Navy] is fully justified."

_C. C. Chesney,
Essays in Military Biog.,
page 167-168._

ALSO IN:
_D. D. Porter, J. R. Bartlett and others,
The Capture of New Orleans
(Battles and Leaders, volume 2)._

_A. T. Mahan,
Admiral Farragut,
chapter 7._

_Official Records,
series 1, volume 6._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (April-May: Alabama).
General Mitchell's expedition.

The division of Buell's army commanded by General Ormsby M.
Mitchell left Nashville with the other divisions of that army,
late in March, but took the road to Murfreesboro, while the
latter marched toward Pittsburg Landing. On the 4th of April
General Mitchell marched from Murfreesboro to Shelbyville, 26
miles distant. "On the 7th he advanced to Fayetteville, 27
miles farther, and the next forenoon, the 8th, 15 miles
beyond, he crossed the State line of Alabama. Continuing his
march six miles farther, and being within ten miles of
Huntsville, Alabama, he halted for the artillery and infantry
to come up." At an early hour the next morning he entered the
town, taking it completely by surprise. "Before the close of
the day 100 miles of the Memphis and Charleston railroad were
in his possession, stretching in one direction as far as
Stevenson, and in the other as far as Decatur. … From Decatur
he pushed on at once to Tuscumbia. Thus, without the loss of a
single life, General Mitchell placed his army midway between
Corinth and Chattanooga, prevented the destruction of a fine
bridge at Decatur, opened communication with General Buell,
and also the navigation of the Tennessee. The occupation of
Huntsville also cut off all communication between the east and
west by the Memphis and Charleston railroad. … This extension
of General Mitchell's lines to hold the railroad rendered his
situation precarious. Soon the enemy began to gather in force
and threaten him. … He was raised to the rank of a
major-general, and ordered to report directly to the [war]
department, and his force was constituted an independent
corps. But he got no reënforcements, he was left in such a
condition that he at first hardly had anything to report but
that he had been gradually driven from those positions, the
gaining of which had made him a major-general." Subsequently
he advanced upon Chattanooga; but that important position was
not secured. A little later General Mitchell was transferred
to Port Royal, South Carolina.

_W. J. Tenney,
Military and Naval History of the Rebellion,
chapter 15._

It was in connection with General Mitchell's expedition that
the thrilling episode of the railroad raid in Georgia
occurred, narratives of which have been published by one of
the participants, Reverend William Pittenger, first under the
title of "Capturing a Locomotive," and afterwards with the
title "Daring and Suffering," and also as "The Great
Locomotive Chase." Volume Two of "Battles and Leaders of the
Civil War" also contains the story, entitled "The Locomotive
Chase in Georgia," preceded by General Buell's critical
account of Mitchell's entire operations.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (April-May: Tennessee-Mississippi). The bloodless and bootless conquest of Corinth.

"General Halleck arrived at Pittsburg landing on the 11th of
April and immediately assumed command in the field. On the
21st General Pope arrived with an army 30,000 strong, fresh
from the capture of Island Number Ten in the Mississippi
River. He went into camp at Hamburg landing five miles above
Pittsburg. Halleck had now three armies: the Army of the Ohio,
Buell commanding; the Army of the Mississippi, Pope
commanding; and the Army of the Tennessee. His orders divided
the combined force into the right wing, reserve, centre, and
left wing. … I [General Grant] was named second in command of
the whole, and was also supposed to be in command of the right
wing and reserve. … Preparations were at once made upon the
arrival of the new commander for an advance on Corinth. …
Corinth, Mississippi, lies in a south-westerly direction from
Pittsburg landing and about 19 miles away as the bird would
fly, but probably 22 by the nearest wagon-road. It is about
four miles south of the line dividing the States of Tennessee
and Mississippi, and at the junction of the Mississippi and
Chattanooga Railroad with the Mobile and Ohio road which runs
from Columbus to Mobile. … Corinth was a valuable strategic
point for the enemy to hold, and consequently a valuable one
for us to possess ourselves of. We ought to have seized it
immediately after the fall of Donelson and Nashville, when it
could have been taken without a battle, but failing then it
should have been taken, without delay, on the concentration of
troops at Pittsburg landing after the battle of Shiloh. In
fact, the arrival of Pope should not have been awaited. There
was no time from the battle of Shiloh up to the evacuation of
Corinth when the enemy would not have left if pushed. … On the
30th of April the grand army commenced its advance from Shiloh
upon Corinth. The movement was a siege from the start to the
close.

{3462}

The National troops were always behind intrenchments, except
of course the small reconnoitring parties sent to the front to
clear the way for an advance. Even the commanders of these
parties were cautioned, 'not to bring on an engagement.' … For
myself, I was little more than an observer. Orders were sent
direct to the right wing or reserve, ignoring me, and advances
were made from one line of intrenchments to another without
notifying me. My position was so embarrassing in fact that I
made several applications during the siege to be relieved. …
On the 28th of May, General Logan, whose command was then on
the Mobile and Ohio railroad, said to me that the enemy had
been evacuating for several days, and that if allowed he could
go into Corinth with his brigade. … Beauregard published his
orders for the evacuation of Corinth on the 26th of May and
fixed the 29th for the departure of his troops, and on the
30th of May General Halleck had his whole army drawn up
prepared for battle and announced in orders that there was
every indication that our left was to be attacked that
morning. Corinth had already been evacuated and the National
troops marched on and took possession without opposition.
Everything had been destroyed or carried away. The Confederate
commander had instructed his soldiers to cheer on the arrival
of every train, to create the impression among the Yankees
that reinforcements were arriving. There was not a sick or
wounded man left by the Confederates, nor stores of any kind.
Some ammunition had been blown up—not removed—but the trophies
of war were a few Quaker guns, logs of about the diameter of
ordinary cannon, mounted on wheels of wagons and pointed in
the most threatening manner towards us. The possession of
Corinth by the National troops was of strategic importance,
but the victory was barren in every other particular. …
General Halleck at once commenced erecting fortifications
around Corinth on a scale to indicate that this one point must
be held if it took the whole National army to do it. … They
were laid out on a scale that would have required 100,000 men
to fully man them. … These fortifications were never used. …
After the capture of Corinth a movable force of 80,000 men,
besides enough to hold all the territory acquired, could have
been set in motion for the accomplishment of any great
campaign for the suppression of the rebellion. In addition to
this fresh troops were being raised to swell the effective
force. But the work of depletion commenced."

_U. S. Grant,
Personal Memoirs,
chapter 26 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_M. F. Force,
From Fort Henry to Corinth
(Campaigns of the Civil War, volume 2),
chapter 8._

_A. Roman,
Military Operations of General Beauregard,
chapter 24 (volume 1)._

_Official Records,
series 1, volume 10._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (April-June).
Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia
and in the Territories.

On the 16th of December, 1861, Mr Wilson, of Massachusetts,
introduced in the Senate of the United States a bill for the
immediate emancipation of the slaves in the District of
Columbia; "for the payment to their loyal owners of an average
sum of $300; for the appointment of a commission to assess the
sum to be paid; and the appropriation of $1,000,000. This bill
was reported back on the 13th of February, 1862, with
amendments. On the 24th he introduced a bill which, he said,
was supplementary to that already before the Senate, to repeal
the act extending the laws of Maryland over the District, and
to annul all those statutes which gave the cities of
Washington and Georgetown authority to pass ordinances
discriminating against persons on account of color. On the
12th of March it came up for debate in committee of the whole.
The debate on these resolutions, the bill, and other cognate
measures exhibit elements of interest hardly found in any
other session of the American Congress on record. It was
emphatically a new departure. … No important change was made,
and on the 3d of April, 1862, the bill introduced by Mr.
Wilson more than three months before was passed by a vote of
29 to 14. The bill was taken up in the House the next week,
and gave rise to a brief but brilliant debate. … The bill …
passed the House by a vote of 92 to 38, and received the
approval of the President on the 16th day of April, 1862. The
President, in his message accompanying his approval of the
bill, had stated some objections to it. These objections were
that certain classes, such as married women, minors, and
persons absent from the District, were not sufficiently
protected and provided for; and he suggested that these
defects should be remedied by additional legislation"—which
was done. "On the 24th of March, 1862, Mr. Arnold, of
Illinois, introduced a bill into the House of Representatives
to render freedom national and slavery sectional. It was
referred to the Committee on Territories, was reported on the
1st of May, with an amendment, and made the order of the day
for the 8th. It provided that freedom should be the
fundamental law of the land, and that slavery should no longer
exist in all places under the direct and exclusive control of
the Federal government. It prohibited slavery in all
Territories, then or thereafter existing; in all places
purchased by the government, with the consent of the
legislatures of the several States, for forts, magazines,
arsenals, doek-yards, and other needful buildings; in all
vessels on the high seas, and on all national highways, beyond
the territory and jurisdiction of the several States. … The
difficulties, … real or seeming, constitutional or other, were
too great to secure the united action of the friends of the
underlying principle of the bill as reported by the committee.
Mr. Lovejoy, therefore, moved a substitute restricting its
action entirely to the Territories. The substitute was
accepted, and the bill as thus amended was carried by a vote
of 85 to 50. The preamble was so amended as to read, 'An act
to secure freedom to all persons within the Territories of
the United States.' In the Senate, on the 15th of May, Mr.
Browning, reported the bill from the Committee on Territories
with an amendment that, from and after the passage of the act,
there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in
any existing Territory, or in any Territory thereafter formed
or acquired. It was, substantially, the application of the
principle of the ordinance of 1787 to all the territory then
possessed or thereafter to be acquired. On the 9th of June the
Senate proceeded to its consideration, adopted the amendment,
and passed the bill by a vote of 28 to 10. The House agreed to
the Senate amendment, and the bill thus amended was passed on
the 17th, and approved by the President on the 19th of June."

_H. Wilson,
History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America,
volume 3, chapters 21 and 24._

ALSO IN:
_M. Tremain,
Slavery in the District of Columbia
(University of Nebraska: Seminary Papers Number 2)._

{3463}

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (May).
Passage of the Homestead Act.

"The homestead bill, or the granting of free homes from and on
the public domain, became a national question in 1852. The
Free Soil Democracy, at Pittsburg, Pa., August 11, 1852, in
National Convention, nominated John P. Hale, of New Hampshire,
and George W. Julian, of Indiana, for President and
Vice-President, and adopted the following as the 12th plank or
resolution in their platform: 'That the public lands of the
United States belong to the people, and should not be sold to
individuals, nor granted to corporations, but should be held
as a sacred trust for the benefit of the people, and should be
granted in limited quantities, free of cost, to landless
settlers.' Thereafter it became a national question until its
passage in 1862, and was in the platforms of political
parties. It was petitioned for and against. Public sentiment
was aroused. It was a serious innovation and would cause an
almost entire change in the settlement laws. Instead of the
public lands being sold for cash, for profit, or being taken,
first, under the pre-emption system, which eventuated in cash
purchases, they were to be given to actual settlers who would
occupy, improve, and cultivate them for a term of years, and
then receive a patent free of acreage charges, with fees paid
by the homesteader sufficient to cover cost of survey and
transfer of title. … The rich and fertile lands of the
Mississippi Valley were fast filling up with settlers.
Agricultural lands in the Middle States, which, after the year
1824, were bought for $1.25 per acre, now sold at from $50 to
$80 per acre. Former purchasers of these Government lands in
the Middle, Western, and Southern States, were selling their
early purchases for this great advance, and moving west, to
Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri, and there again
taking cheap Government lands under the pre-emption laws. The
western emigration caused a rush—a migration of neighborhoods
in many localities of the older Western States. Following the
sun, their pillar of fire, these State founders moved
westward, a resistless army of agents of American
civilization, and there was a demand for homes on the public
lands, and a strong pressure for the enactment of a law which
should confine locators to small tracts, and require actual
occupation, improvement, and cultivation. A fierce political
battle now ensued, beginning in 1854, and continuing until
1862, the year of the passage of the law. The demand of the
settlers was incessant and constant." Mr. Galusha A. Grow, of
Pennsylvania, made himself the special champion of the measure
in Congress. On the 1st of February, 1859, a bill embodying
its principles was carried in the House, but was not permitted
to reach a vote in the Senate. The slaveholding interest was
almost solidly against it. In March, 1860, a similar bill was
again passed by the House. The Senate substituted a bill
granting homesteads to actual settlers at twenty-five cents
per acre, instead of free of cost. After protracted
conferences, the House was forced to accept the Senate bill,
with slight amendments. But if the enemies of the measure had
so nearly lost their control of Congress, they still owned the
President—Buchanan—and he killed it by a veto. Then came the
rebellion and civil war, absorbing all minor questions, and
nearly two years went by before the law which opened the
public lands freely to all actual settlers was adopted. It
became a law by the signature of President Lincoln on the 20th
of May, 1862. The following are the essential provisions of
the Act: "That any person who is the head of a family, or who
has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen
of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration
of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization
laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms
against the United States Government or given aid and comfort
to its enemies, shall, from and after the first January,
eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be entitled to enter one
quarter-section or a less quantity of unappropriated public
lands, upon which said person may have filed a pre-emption
claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be
subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents, or
less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated
lands, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located
in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the
public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed:
Provided, That any person owning or residing on land may,
under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying
contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with the
land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate
one hundred and sixty acres. … That the person applying for
the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the
register of the land office in which he or she is about to
make such entry, make affidavit before the said register or
receiver that he or she is the head of a family, or is
twenty-one or more years of age, or shall have performed
service in the Army or Navy of the United States, and that he
has never borne arms against the Government of the United
States or given aid and comfort to its enemies, and that such
application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit,
and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual
settlement and cultivation, and not, either directly or
indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or
persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with
the said register or receiver, and on payment of ten dollars,
he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity
of land specified: Provided, however, That no certificate
shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration
of five years from the date of such entry; and if, at the
expiration of such time, or at any time within two years
thereafter, the person making such entry—or if he be dead,
his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or
in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in
case of her death—shall prove by two credible witnesses that
he, or she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same
for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of
filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that
no part of said land has been alienated, and that he has borne
true allegiance to the Government of the United States; then,
in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen of
the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other
cases provided for by law:
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And provided, further, That in case of the death of both
father and mother, leaving an infant child or children under
twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the
benefit of said infant child or children; and the executor,
administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years
after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance
with the laws of the State in which such children for the time
being have their domicil, sell said land for the benefit of
said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser
shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be
entitled to a patent from the United States, on payment of the
office fees and sum of money herein specified. … That if, at
any time after the filing of the affidavit, … and before the
expiration of the five years aforesaid, it shall be proven,
after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the
register of the land office, that the person having filed such
affidavit shall have actually changed his or her residence, or
abandoned the said land for more than six months at any time,
then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the
Government.' … This original homestead act has been amended
several times. … The principal amendments were in the nature
of extension of its privileges, and the limit of 80 acres of
land of the double minimum class, $2.50 per acre, within
certain road limits, has since been done away with by acts of
March 3, 1879, July 1, 1879, and June 15, 1880; there now
being but one class of agricultural lands, so for as regards
the minimum quantity in homestead entries. The act of June 8,
1872, was known as the soldiers' and sailors' homestead act.
It gave honorably discharged soldiers and sailors from the
Army and Navy of the United States lands under the homestead
act in any locality, and deducted from the five years'
residence which was required to make title their term of
service in the Army and Navy during the war of the Rebellion.
One year's residence and cultivation, however, were necessary.
… The soldiers' additional homestead provision was to give
those soldiers who had had the benefit of the homestead act,
to the extent of a quantity under 160 acres, an additional
amount, so as to make their allowance 160 acres."

_T. Donaldson,
The Public Domain,
chapter 27._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (May).
General Hunter's Emancipation Order,
rescinded by President Lincoln.

Major General David Hunter, having lately succeeded to the
command at Hilton Head, South Carolina, issued, on the 9th of
May, 1862, a General Order (No. 11), declaring martial law in
Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, and adding: "Slavery and
martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible; the
persons in these States … heretofore held as slaves are
therefore declared forever free." This order was rescinded by
President Lincoln in a Proclamation, dated May 19, in which he
used the following language: "Whether it be competent for me,
as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, to declare the
slaves of any State or States free; and whether at any time,
or in any case, it shall have become a necessity indispensable
to the maintenance of the Government, to exercise such
supposed power, are questions which, under my responsibility,
I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel justified in
leaving to the decision of commanders in the field."

_E. McPherson,
Political History of the United States during
the Great Rebellion,
pages 250—251._

ALSO IN:
_J. G. Nicolay and J. Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
volume 6, ch. 5._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (May: South Carolina).
Employment of the freed Negroes as armed soldiers.

The negroes within the Union lines in South Carolina, at
Hilton Head and elsewhere, were placed under the charge, at
first, of agents appointed by the Treasury Department; but
disagreements arose between these agents and the military
authorities, and the former were recalled. "These several
agents had been replaced by a superior officer of the staff,
General Saxton, who was himself placed under the orders Of
General Hunter with the rank of a military commander. By this
action the government at Washington sustained Hunter in his
conflict with the agents Of the Treasury Department—a
conflict originating in very serious causes, for it affected
the question of slavery in its most vital points. … Mr.
Cameron [Secretary of the Treasury] had authorized General
Sherman to organize the negroes into squads and companies. The
latter had at first only been employed in manual labor, such
as the construction of forts, roads and wharves; but Hunter,
on taking Sherman's place, saw that he could give a much wider
interpretation to the Secretary's instructions. He substituted
muskets for the pick-axes used by the detachments of negro
laborers organized by his predecessor; and, instead of making
them dig the earth, he had them taught military exercises. Nor
did he stop here; but wishing to increase the number of these
new soldiers, he gathered all the adult negroes residing on
the adjoining islands at Hilton Head on the 12th of May, in
order to induce them to enter the military service. … The
civil agents complained bitterly of the trouble this measure
had created among the people entrusted to their charge, and
thence sprung the quarrel which Mr. Lincoln cut short by
deciding in favor of Hunter. The protection granted to
fugitive slaves was the first logical consequence of the war,
their enrolment in the Federal armies was the second. As
untimely and impolitic as was the proclamation by which Hunter
had taken upon himself to free the slaves outside of his
jurisdiction, the creation Of the first negro regiment was an
act skilfully conceived. It was essentially a military act; it
raised and ennobled the freedman by entrusting him with arms;
its legality was unquestionable from the moment that the
President approved of it, for there was no law to prevent him
from enlisting colored volunteers. In short, it showed to the
Confederates that the Washington government was determined not
to allow itself to be any longer paralyzed by the vain hope Of
reconciliation. … But notwithstanding the success of this
first experiment, considerable time elapsed before the Federal
government concluded to follow Hunter in this direction."

_Comte de Paris,
History of the Civil War in America,
volume 2, book 7, chapter 3._

ALSO IN:
_G. W. Williams,
History of Negro troops in the War of the Rebellion,
chapter 5._

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (May: Virginia).
The Peninsular Campaign: The Battle of Williamsburg
and the slow advance to the Chickahominy.

On the evacuation Of the rebel works at Yorktown, "our columns
followed on in pursuit, McClellan remaining in Yorktown, busy
with questions of transportation. The enemy under Longstreet
had awaited our approach at Williamsburg. Hooker first
attacked, having been brought to a stand by a work known as
Fort Magruder, and kept up a heavy pounding all the forenoon
[May 5). Kearny came to his rescue when Hooker's men were all
but spent. Hancock moved around the enemy's left, seized some
abandoned redoubts, and made a brilliant diversion. But there
was no cooperation in our attack; no one on the field was in
supreme command, and the day was fruitlessly spent in partial
blows. The enemy retreated at night. Our loss was 2,200;
theirs in all probability less."

_T. A. Dodge,
Bird's-eye View of our Civil War,
chapter 11._

"General Johnston says [' Narrative,' p. 124]:
'We fought for no other purpose than to hold the ground long
enough to enable our baggage-trains to get out of the way of
the troops. This object was accomplished without difficulty.
There was no time during the day when the slightest
uncertainty appeared.' He also says that Longstreet's and
Hill's divisions slept on the field; that what deserves to be
called fighting ceased two hours before dark, yet the
Confederates held the field until the next morning, when they
resumed their march. … There may be a little rose-color about
these statements, but the substantial facts seem to be
accurately stated. … General McClellan made no pursuit after
Williamsburg, for reasons which he who will may find stated in
his Report; and we may pass on with the single additional
remark that the battle of Williamsburg was unnecessary, for
the position might have been turned by a movement by our
right. This was actually accomplished by Hancock, after Hooker
had met with all his heavy loss; and it might as well have
been done before as after. … The three weeks which followed
the battle of Williamsburg were so devoid of incident that it
seems to be sufficient to say that the Confederates moved up
the Peninsula in two columns. The right column, composed of
the divisions of Smith and Magruder, followed the road by New
Kent Court House, and in three marches reached the Baltimore
Cross Roads, 19 miles from Barhamsville. The left column,
composed of the divisions of Longstreet and D. H. Hill,
reached in the same number of marches the Long Bridges. The
army remained five days in this position, facing to the east.
… The iron-clad Virginia [better known as the Merrimac] was
destroyed on, or just before, the 14th of May. This event
opened the James River to our navy; and, to be ready to meet
an advance up that river as well as from the direction of West
Point, the Confederate forces were ordered to cross the
Chickahominy on the 15th May. On the 17th their army encamped
about three miles from Richmond, in front of the line of
redoubts constructed in 1861. … During this period the weather
was generally fine, cool and breezy, but gradually tending
towards heat. … McClellan sent out cavalry reconnoissances
from Williamsburg on the 5th and 7th May. … The advance of the
main body began on the 8th; and on the 10th headquarters were
at Roper's Church, 19 miles from Williamsburg, with all the
troops which had arrived by land, except Hooker's, in the
vicinity of that place. … By the 15th, headquarters, and the
divisions of Franklin, Porter, Sykes, and Smith, reached
Cumberland on the Pamunkey. … On the 19th of May, headquarters
and the corps of Porter and Franklin moved to Tunstall's
Station on the railroad, five miles from White House. On the
20th, Casey's division forded the Chickahominy, where Bottom's
Bridge had been, and occupied the opposite heights. Bottom's
Bridge was immediately rebuilt. … On the 22d, headquarters
moved to Cold Harbor. On the 24th, we carried the village of
Mechanicsville, but the enemy destroyed the bridge on which
the Mechanicsville Turnpike crossed the river. On the same day
our left advance secured a position at Seven Pines, the point
of junction of the Nine-Mile Road with the Williamsburg road,
which last road crosses the Chickahominy at Bottom's Bridge. …
It is difficult to account for, or justify, the slowness of
McClellan's march. The distance from Williamsburg to the
middle of a line drawn from Bottom's Bridge to Cold Harbor,
measuring by the road, is about 40 miles. That from West Point
to the same point, measuring in the same way, is considerably
less. One might almost say that, in the three weeks which
McClellan took to accomplish this distance, he might have
marched his army all the way in order of battle, bridging
streams, felling trees, making roads, and supplying his army
as he advanced. 'I had hoped,' he says, 'by rapid movements to
drive before me, or capture, the enemy on the Peninsula, open
the James River, and press on to Richmond, before he should be
materially re-enforced.' What was there to hinder his making
the attempt? Instead of that he followed him at the average
rate of rather less than two miles a day."

_F. W. Palfrey,
After the fall of Yorktown
(Massachusetts Military Historical Society Papers,
volume 1, pages 95-114)._

ALSO IN:
_J. E. Johnston,
Narrative of Military Operations,
chapter 5._

_Report of Joint Commission on the Conduct of the War,
38th Congress 2d session, volume 1._

_Official Records,
series 1, volume 11, part 1._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (May: Virginia).
Evacuation of Norfolk by the Rebels.
Destruction of the Merrimac.

"The movement of our grand army up the Peninsula, in
connection with Burnside's successes and captures in North
Carolina, had rendered the possession of Norfolk by the Rebels
no longer tenable. … General Wool, commanding at Fortress
Monroe, having organized an expedition designed to reduce that
important city, led it thither on the 10th; finding the bridge
over Tanner's Creek on fire, but no enemy to dispute
possession of Norfolk, which was quietly surrendered by its
Mayor. The Navy Yard and Portsmouth were in like manner
repossessed; the Rebels, ere they left, destroying every thing
that would burn, partially blowing up the Dry Dock, and
completely destroying their famous iron-clad known to us as
the Merrimac. They left about 200 cannon. … Two unfinished
iron-clads were among the vessels fired by the Rebels ere they
left."

_H. Greeley,
The American Conflict,
volume 2, page 127._

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (May: Virginia).
The Peninsular Campaign: Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines.