Henry County, Indiana - Chapter 8, 1906

Chapter 8

At twenty minutes after four o'clock, on Friday morning, April 12, 1861, the first gun was fired that inaugurated the Great American Civil War. The cause leading up to this event was not of recent origin ; almost from the foundation of the government the slavery question had been a disturbing element in the politics of the Nation, and as early as 1820 so bitter had the feeling grown that when Missouri asked admission to the Union as a slave State, a threatened disruption Avas only prevented bv the passage of an act through Congress known as the "Missouri Compromise." This bill, which was introduced by Henry Clay, of Kentucky, provided for the admission of Missouri as a slave State, but forever prohibited slavery north of a certain latitude named in the measure. The passage of this law, for a time, satisfied the extreme men of both sections ; but in 1850, California demanded admission to the Union with a constitution forbidding slavery. The contest was re-opened with more determination and bitterness than had existed thirty years before. The trouble was again allayed by a series of compromise measures, carried through Congress by Clay.

For manv years prior to i860, the South had practically controlled legislation in Congress, and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the rendition by the Supreme Court of the Dred Scott Decision, created great indignation at the North, many declaring the acts unchristian and unworthy of a civilized nation, and some of the free States retaliated by passing what were known as Personal Liberty Acts, and when, in 1853, a bill introduced in Congress by Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, was passed by that body, repealing the Compromise of 1820 and reopening the slavery question north of the line described in that act, and giving to the settlers the right to determine for themselves whether slavery should exist within the boundaries of their state when admitted, the excitement became intense and created such a diversity of political opinion that no less than four distinct political parties appeared in the field in i860 and asked for the suffrages of the people at the national election, to be held in November of that year.

One party nominated as its candidate for President John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, then Vice-President of the LTnited States, and Joseph Lane of Oregon for Vice-President, and declared in their jilatform of principles, that the constitution, of its own force, carried slavery into the territories, and that it was the duty of Congress to sanction and maintain the same by appropriate legislation.

ston of Georgia, its nominees for President and Vice-President, declared that Congress had neither the right to sanction or forbid slavery in the territories, but that the people thereof should determine the question for themselves.

A third party presented Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, as its leader, with Hannibal Hamlin of Maine for Vice-President, and denounced as false the doctrine that the constitution carried slavery into the territories; denied that they desired to interfere with the domestic relations of any state, but avowed their determination to resist the extension of slavery by congressional legislation.

Still a fourth party, with John Bell of Tennessee as its candidate for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice-President, adopted the rather vague and indistinct platform of "The Union, the Constitution and the Enforcement of the Laws."

The contest for the supremacy was determined and bitter, and resulted in the election of Mr. Lincoln by a decided majority. As soon as the result was declared by the electoral college, South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession and withdrew from the Union, declaring that a sectional President had been elected, whose views were hostile to the institutions of the South. The action of South Carolina was followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas, in the order named, and later by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.

In February, 1861, delegates from the six first named states met at Montgomery, Alabama, and organized a new government under the name of the "Confederate States of America," adopted a constitution and elected Jeflferson Davis of ^Mississippi, President, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, Mce- President. After the secession of Virginia the seat of government was removed from Montgomery to Richmond, and remained there until the close of the war and the collapse of the Confederacy.

The secession movement was opposed by many of the prominent men of the South, among whom were John Bell of Tennesse, Herschel A'. Johnston and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, and Robert E. Lee of Virginia ; the two latter, however, after the secession of their native states, identified themselves with the cause and became prominent in history, Stephens as Mce-President of the Confederacy, and Lee as Commander-in-Chief of the armies.

John B. Floyd of Virginia, was Buchanan's Secretary of \\^ar, and in full sympathy with the secession cause. During his term of office, he had caused nearly all the arms and munitions of war belonging to the government to be placed in the forts and arsenals at the South, where they were seized and held by the insurgents.

Major Robert Anderson, with eighty soldiers of the United States army, was stationed at Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor, but about the end of the year i860, abandoned it and threw his force into Fort Sumter, a much stronger work commanding the entrance to the harbor.

The authorities of South Carolina demanded of President Buchanan that he order Major Anderson back to Fort Moultrie, but he refused, and also refused to sell Fort Sumter to the State.

On this refusal of the President, the Southern members of his Cabinet resigned their offices and left the Capitol. General Lewis Cass of ^Michigan, Secretary' of

In January, 1861, the steamer Star of the West, was dispatched with supplies for the garrison, but was fired upon and turned back by the Confederate batteries.

On the 4th of March, 1861, i\Ir. Lincoln was inaugurated President and one of the first acts of the new administration was to send re-enforcements and supplies to the fort.

The expedition left New York early in April, and the governor of South Carolina was notified of its departure, whereupon the Confederate government ordered General P. G. Beauregard, commanding the Southern forces at Charleston, to reduce the fort, and accordingly, on the morning of April 12, the Confederate batteries opened on the work, the fort returning the fire. The bombardment was continued until the afternoon of the 13th, when Major Anderson agreed to evacuate, which he did on Sunday, the 14th.

From the time of the secession of South Carolina until after the fall of Sumter, no preparation whatever was made for war at the North, and when the shock finally came the government was almost destitute of all that goes to equip an anny ; meanwhile at the South great activity was displayed in organizing, equipping and drilling their forces, so that when hostilities opened the}^ had a large army fully ready for the field.

It recjuired some time to convince the people of either section that there would be a war of any magnitude. At the South it was thought that the men of the North Avould not fight, while the people of the North did not believe that the South would dare oppose the authority of the government ; but after the battle of Bull Run both were undeceived, and prepared for the great conflict that followed.

The Confederates concentrated their forces at advantageous points in Virginia, and the Federal troops were gathered at Washington, District of Columbia, under General Irwin McDowell, and along the Ohio river under General George B. Mc- Clellan. Hostilities opened in West Virginia, at Phillipi, on the 3d of June, Rich Mountain on the nth of July, and at Carrick's Ford on the 14th of the same month. These engagements all resulted in victories for the Federals, and in driving the Confederates from West Virginia. In July the army at Washington was advanced into Virginia; General McDowell, with a force of 50,000 men, moved toward the Confederates' fortified camp at Manassas Junction, Virginia, while General Patterson, with 20,000, moved up the Valley of Virginia to prevent General Johnston from re-enforcing General Beauregard at Manassas Junction.

General McDowell's and Beauregard's forces met at Bull Run, Virginia, about twenty five miles from Washington City, on Sunday morning, July 21, and a desperate battle ensued, lasting until late in the afternoon. General Johnston, with almost his entire command, 20.000 strong, successfully eluded General Patterson and marched to Bull Run, and just at the moment when victory was in the grasp of the Federal troops, his fresh forces rushed shouting on the field. The Federals, exhausted with the struggles of the day, under an almost tropical sun, could endure no more, and victory was turned, not only into defeat, but into a panic. These men, it will be remembered, were fresh from the fields, shops and offices of the North, without drill or discipUne, and nothing more could have been expected of them. Old and tried veterans have done the same when exposed to like circumstances ; witness the French at Waterloo, on the arrival of Blucher.

General McClellan was now called to the command of the army at Washington, and set to work to repair the damages ; but nothing further was done in the East during the year, except an attack by troops under Colonel Baker on the Confederates at Leesburg, or Ball's Blufif, Virginia. Baker was killed and his forces driven from the field.

In the West, General Nathaniel Lyon, with a force of 5,000, attacked General Sterling Price at Wilson's Creek, near Springfield, Missouri, on the loth of x\ugust. Lvon was killed early in the fight, and after a desperate engagement, the Federals were defeated and retreated to Springfield.

The beginning of this year found both governments with great armies in the field, and hostilities opened in the West early in the year. On the 19th and 20th of January, General George H. Thomas defeated the Confederates under General George B. Crittenden and General Felix K. ZoUicofTer, at Mill Springs, Kentucky, General Zollicofifer being among the killed.

On the 6th of February, Commodore Foote captured Fort Henr}-, on the Cumberland River, and on the i6th. Fort Donelson on the Tennessee surrendered to General Grant, after a three days' battle.

On the 6th, 7th and 8th of March, a great battle was fought at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, between the Federals commanded by General Samuel R. Curtis and the Confederates under General Price, in which the Confederates were overwhelmingly defeated. While this battle was in progress. Island No. 10, in the Mississippi River, an important Confederate position, was surrendered to General John Pope.

x\fter the surrender of Fort Donelson to General Grant, he moved up the Tennessee River and encamped at Pittsburg Landing near Shiloh Church, and on Sunday morning, April 6, his position was furiously assailed by the Confederates under General Albert Sidney Johnston. The Confederates were successful at every point, and at nightfall the Union forces had been driven back to the Tennessee River. During the night General Don Carlos Buell's troops, who had marched through from Nashville, began to arrive, and on Monday morning General Grant turned on the Confederates and defeated them, both sides losing about equally, the aggregate loss being about 25,000 men. General Johnston was killed in the first day's engagement. General Henry W. Halleck now assumed command of the armies of Grant and Buell, and moved forward to lay siege to Corinth, an important railroad center in Mississippi, but on arriving before it found the enemy gone. On the 19th of September, General Price attacked General Grant at luka, Mississippi, but was defeated, and on the 4th of October, having united his forces with (icner;!.! Earl \'an Dorn's. Price attacked General William S. Rosecrans at Corinth, and was again defeated. Toward the close of the year- Grant undertook an expedition against A'icksburg, Mississippi. General William T. Sherman attacked Qiicasaw Bluffs and was defeated, and the expedition proved a failure. Late in the summer, the Confederates under General Braxton Bragg antl Kirby Smith moved round the Federal armies in Tennessee and invaded Kentucky. August 30, Smith defeated General William Nelson with a force of raw troops at Richmond, Kentucky, capturing almost the entire command. General Bragg moved toward Louisville, pursued by General Buell, who reached the city first. General Bragg now began to retire, followed by General Buell, who came up with him at Perryville on Chaplin Hills, on the 8th of October, and an undecisive battle was fought.

In the East, General IMcClellan. with the Army of the Potomac, moved on Richmond from Fortress Monroe, and after severe eng-agements at Yorktown, Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Savage Station. Frazier's Farm and Malvern Hill, he had accomplished little and lost heavily. His army was now withdrawn for the protection of Washington, and ordered to report to General Pope. 'Pope was defeated by General Lee at Gainesville and in the second battle of Bull Run. General Lee boldly crossed the Potomac and invaded Maryland. General McQellan was restored to the command and, overtaking Lee, defeated him at South Mountain on the 14th of September, and at Antietam on the 17th and i8th, Lee retreating into Virginia. General McClellan was removed from the command and General Ambrose E. Burnside placed in his stead. General Lee took position at Fredericksburg, at which place he repulsed Burnside, with great loss, on the 13th of December. General Burnside was relieved at his own request, and was succeeded by General Joseph Hooker.

On the 2 1 St of September, President Lincoln issued a proclamation in which he declared that on and after January i, 1863. the slaves owned and held in any .State then in rebellion against the United States should be declared thenceforw^ard and forever free, jjrovided, however, that if before the time named the insurgents would lay down their arms and return to their allegiance to the laws of the I'nited States, then the proclamation to be void.

The promulgation of this document caused some dissatisfaction in the army, and great indignation at the North among the extreme men in opposition to the administration; but the great majority of the people, believing it to be a war measure, and necessary for the preservation of the I^nion, determined to stand by the President in his efforts to suppress the rebellion.

In April, General Hooker moved to Chancellorsville. A'irginia, and here, on the 2d and 3d of ]\Iay, he was defeated b\- General Lee and driven across the Rappahannock River. Lee then turned on General John Sedgwick at Fredericksburg, and on the 4th compelled him to retire to the north side of the same stream. In the battle of Chancellorsville, General '^'Stonewall" Jackson was killed, an irreparable loss to the South. Both armies remained quiet until July, when, on the 22d of that month. General Lee again crossed the Potomac, passing through Maryland into Pennsylvania. The Army of the Potomac followed. General Hooker resigned on the march and was succeeded by General George G. ]\Ieade. The two armies, of about equal strength, met at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the ist of July, and the most terrific battle of any age was fought, lasting three days. On the night of July 4th, General Lee retreated toward Virginia, and crossed the Potomac on the 13th and 14th, without opposition from the victorious army. The loss in both armies at this battle was appalling. General Meade's total being 23,186, and General Lee's 31,621, a grand total of 54,807. This ended the operations in the East for the year.

In the West a battle was fought on December 31, 1862, and January i and 2, 1863, at Stone's River, Tennessee, between the Federal army under Generel Rosecrans and the Confederate army under General Bragg. After three days' terrible fighting Bragg was repulsed with fearful loss. This portion of the army remained comparatively quiet until Fall, when General Rosecrans advanced into Georgia, and was attacked by Bragg at Chickamauga on the 19th of September and defeated on the 20th, and driven back to Chattanooga, with a loss of 15,851 men, while the Confederate loss, though victorious, was much heavier, being 17,804. Rosecrans was now sent to Missouri, and the command of the army was given to General Thomas, and General Grant assumed command of all the Western armies, and on the 23d, 24th and 25th of November General Bragg's army was defeated at Chattanooga, Orchard Knob and Missionary Ridge.

After General Sherman's repulse at Chicasaw Bluffs, at the close of the year 1862, a portion of his forces, under General John A. McClernand, proceeded up the Arkansas River and captured the garrison at Arkansas Post. General Grant, having collected an army near Vicksburg, crossed the Mississippi River below the city on the 30th of April, and on May ist, defeated the Confederates at Port Gibson or Thompson's Hill, and on the 14th drove Johnston from Jackson, and then turning on General John C. Pemberton, defeated him at Champion Hills on the i6th, and again at Big Black River on the 17th. Pemberton was now shut up in Vicksburg, and Grant laid siege to the place, which surrendered on the 4th of July, after being under fire forty-seven days. A few days later Port Hudson, lower down the river, surrendered to General Nathaniel P. Banks, and the great Mississippi was open to the Gulf.

The first half of this year was very discouraging to the Union arms, the series of reverses during these six months making the outlook for a near termination of the war somewhat gloomy.

In February the expedition of General William Sooy Smith to Meridian, of which great results were expected, was brought to a sudden termination by the defeat and rout of Smith at Okolona, Mississippi.

In March General Napoleon B. Forrest, with a strong force, rode round the Federal armies in Tennessee and captured the garrison at Union City, and even made his way as far north as Paducah on the Ohio River. From here he again turned south, and appearing suddenly before Fort Pillow, Tennessee, demanded the surrender of the garrison, promising that the men who were colored should be treated as prisoners of war, but no sooner had the fort capitulated than an indiscriminate butchery followed, nearly the whole garrison perishing in the massacre.

loss of life and property and gained nothing; and in June, General Samuel D. Sturgis was overwhelmingly defeated at Guntown, Mississippi, and the remnant of his army was hurled back bleeding and broken to Memphis, with the total loss of his artillery and wagon train, and more than forty per cent of his army.

In the East, General Grant's move on Richmond had met with bloody repulses at the Wilderness, Spotts)dvania Court House and Cold Harbor, and by the first of July he was no nearer Richmond than McClellan had been in 1862. Grant had lost 60,000 men out of 140,000, with which he had left the Rapidan in May.

General Jubal A. Early, with an army of Confederates, had swept down the Valley of Virginia, crossed the Potomac, defeated General Lew Wallace at the Monocacy River and marched upon Washington, and was onl}- deterred from capturing the Nation's Capitol by the unexpected arrival of a corps sent hurriedly from the army of the Potomac by Grant.

Thus we find, at the end of six months, nothing in the way of success had been secured to balance the severe reverses sustained; but the tide was about to turn, and the Union arms were pushing on to battle and final victory.

In July, General A. J. Smith defeated General Stephen D. Lee at Tupelo, Mississippi; in September and October. General Philip H. Sheridan almost exterminated Early's army in the Shenandoah Valley. A^irginia, and forever ended the control of that fertile region by the Confederates.

In October General Price's invasion of Missouri had ended in the utter rout and destruction of a corps of 25.000 men, the flower of the trans-Mississippi Confederate army.

General Sherman had maneuvered General John ?>. Hood out of Atlanta, occupied the city and burned the great factories from which the Confederates derived the greater portion of their arms, clothing and munitions of war, and before the close of the year had marched through "Georgia to the Sea."

At Nashville, that grand old soldier, George H. Thomas, when ready, moved out and fell upon Hood's army, and so completely destroyed it that it was never again heard of as an organization.

General Grant had so invested Petersburg and Richmond that it was only a question of time when both should fall, and when the splendid army of Northern A'irginia which, under General Lee, had so long resisted the assaults of the Federals, would be compelled to surrender.

We now find at the end of the year that the only Confederate forces of any magnitude are the armies under General Lee at Richmond, General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina and the garrison at ]\[obile, Alabama.

Nothing of any importance occurred this year until in March, when General Grant again began active operations at Petersburg, Virginia, and General Edward R. S. Canby laid siege to Mobile. Alabama, which surrendered to him on the gth of April.

L\nchburg, \'irginia, but was compelled to surrender to General Grant at Appomattox Court House. Virginia, April 9th. A few days later General Johnston surrendered his army in North Carolina to General Sherman, and the Great Civil War was ended.

The Army Of The Potomac

The following is the correspondence between General U. S. Grant and General R. E. Lee, which resulted in the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9th, 1865, thus practically ending the Civil War :

"April 7, 1865. "General: - The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part ol the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as ray duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.

"April 7, 1865. "General: - I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express on the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender. R. E. Lee, General.

"April 8, 1865. General: - Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same date, asking the condition on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is jusi received. In reply, I would say, that peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, namely, that the men and officers surrendered shall be dis- (lualified for taking up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General.

"April 8, 1865. "General: - I received, at a late hour, your note of today. In mine of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of this army; but as the restoration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desired to know whether your proposals would lead to that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia; but as far as your proposal may affect the Confederate's States' forces under my command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at ten A. M. tomorrow on the old stage road to Richmond, between the picket lines of the two armies.

"April 9, 1865. General: - Your note of yesterday is received. I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace; the 'meeting proposed for ten A. M. today could lead to no good. I will state, however, general, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole North entertains the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Seriously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, etc. "U. S. Gbant, Lieutenant General.

"April 9, 1865. "General: - I received your note of this morning on the picket line, whither I had come to meet you, and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposal of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army. I now ask an interview, in accordance M'ith the offer contained in your letter of yesterday, for that purpose.

VII. Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865. "General: - In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to-wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged; and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be packed and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where thej' may reside.

VIII. "Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, April 9, 1865. "General: - I have received your letter of this date containing the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.