three full companies of volunteers during the first year of the war; that she had also voluntarily contributed as much money to carry on the war as any city of equal population in the Southern Confederacy; and, lastly, that she had conquered and driven back two combined Federal fleets, one of which conquered and subdued New Orleans, the largest city in the Confederacy, and the other the rising and prosperous city of Memphis. It was in fact Vicksburg that gave the lesson to the Southern Confederacy that ironclad gun-boats were not invulnerable.

Gen. Van Dorn's happy and brilliant fortune at Vicksburg did not follow him to the field. When Bragg made his famous campaign into Kentucky, in 1862, Gen. Van Dorn was left to take care of the enemy in West Tennessee, and on the 2d of October he fought the battle of Corinth. Here he failed to carry the strong works of the enemy, and was censured for the desperateness of his enterprise and a want of proper combination in the attack. His sentence for that misadventure was severe. He wrote

And the little children gamboled

Their faces purely raised,

Just for a wondering moment,

As the huge bombs whirled and blazed!

Then turning with silvery laughter

To the sports that children love,

Thrice mailed in the sweet, instinctive thought,
That the good God watched above.

Yet the hailing bolts fell faster
From scores of flame-clad ships,
And above us denser, darker,

Grew the conflict's wild eclipse,
Till a solid cloud closed o'er us,
Like a type of doom and ire,
Whence shot a thousand quivering tongues
Of forked and vengeful fire.

But the unseen hands of angels

These death-shafts warned aside,
And the dove of heavenly mercy

Ruled o'er the battle tide;

In the houses ceased the wailing,

And through the war-scarred marts

The people strode with the steps of hope

To the music in their hearts.

COLUMBIA, S. C., August 6, 1862.

of it: "The attempt at Corinth has failed, and in consequence I am condemned, and have been superseded in my command. In my zeal for my country, I may have ventured too far with inadequate means, and I bow to the opinion of the people whom I serve. Yet I feel, if the spirits of the gallant dead who now lie beneath the batteries of Corinth see and judge the motives of men, they do not rebuke me, for there is no sting in my conscience, nor does retrospection admonish me of error, or of a disregard of their valued lives,"

The true history of the attack on Corinth furnishes much excuse for Gen. Van Dorn, so far as it appears that he made the attempt with inadequate means. In the month of August he had endeavoured to get Gen. Price to join him in an attack on Corinth, when the combined force would have been 30,000 men, and there was every prospect of success. But Price, under the orders received from Gen. Bragg, could not make the junction until the battle of Iuka was fought, and by that time the combined forces had, from various causes, been reduced to about 17,000 men. The Federal commander, General Grant, had about 30,000 men in the works of Corinth, besides the corps under Ord, which Gen. Maury fought at the Hatchie Bridge, which was reported 12,000 strong. The consequence of an attempt against these odds was a bloody field and a disastrous repulse.

But Van Dorn's services in the war did not cease at Corinth; and with a diminished command, mostly cavalry, he performed several exploits in the following winter of the war, the most adventurous and valuable of which was the destruction of the grand depot of Grant's army at Holly Springs, Mississippi. On the 19th December, 1862, he approached the town. The pickets, if there were any, gave no alarm, and whilst a brigade, stationed on rising ground, acted as a reserve, Van Dorn dashed into the place at the head of his cavalry. Little resistance was attempted. A few of the Federal cavalry escaped, but the majority of the garrison of upwards of a thousand men surrendered. Col. Murphy was taken prisoner, and most of the Federal officers-surprised in the houses in which they were lodging-were marched off in succession to Van Dorn's temporary headquarters, and, with their men, paroled. An eye-witness of the confusion and hunt after concealed officers describes some ludicrous scenes. One

lady said: "The Federal commandant of the post is in my house; come and catch him;" and a search was instituted, but without success, when the woman insisted that he was there, concealed; and finally, after much ado, the unhappy Col. Murphy was pulled out from under his bed, and presented himself in his nocturnal habiliments to his captors. The Provost-Marshal was also taken, and, addressing Gen. Van Dorn, said: "Well, General, you've got us fairly this time. I knew it. I was in my bed with my wife when I heard the firing, and I at once said: 'Well, wife, it's no use closing our eyes or hiding under the clothes, we are gone up.'" After the captures commenced the war of destruction. Vast accumulations of flour, cotton and stores of all sorts were burned, the railway was torn up, the station and locomotives set on fire, and at length, the flames spreading to a building used as a magazine, caused it to blow up, and led to the demolition of a considerable portion of the town.

On the 8th May, 1863, the career of Gen. Van Dorn was terminated, and the commander, who had so often braved death in his country's service, fell by the hand of private violence. He was shot dead by Dr. Peters, a citizen of Maury county, Tennessee. The common story of the newspapers was that the unhappy commander had been surprised with Mrs. Peters in a private room at his headquarters, in circumstances which left no doubt of the dishonour of her husband, who took his vengeance on the spot. It is not our office or inclination to go into the details of this domestic tragedy. But it is proper to notice that the staff officers of the deceased General published a card in the newspapers, questioning the common rumour, and suggesting the belief that he had fallen a victim to a private enemy, who, as he had before the act very well prepared his means of escape, might also have provided a story of justification. The homicide escaped into the Federal lines, and was never brought to trial.

The career of Gen. Van Dorn was scarcely a just test of his merits as a commander. That he did have some of the best gifts of a good General is apparent, despite the disasters that clouded his reputation, and drove too readily from the public mind the happier records of his life. The excuse of bad luck is not easily admitted into the judgments of history; but Van Dorn was so plainly a sufferer from circumstances that it may be pleaded in his behalf with

some effect. He never gave way to disaster, and he had that fine courage which draws new inspirations from misfortune. His extrication of his army from the forks of the Hatchie, after its defeat at Corinth on the previous day, with 22,000 men under Rosecrans attacking his rear, and 12,000 under Ord attacking his flank, was a remarkable instance of resource, energy, and unconquerable pluck. But it was as a commander of cavalry that Van Dorn was in his best element. His small, lithe figure was an embodiment of grace and activity; his eyes struck fire into men, and could yet. speak eloquently the tenderest language of love; he had a brilliant and sentimental courage. A gallant companion-in-arms writes: "Gen. Van Dorn was the most daring man I ever knew. He loved danger for its own sake; he rejoiced in the smoke and tumult of battle; there his blue eyes blazed, his nostrils dilated, and he appeared the impersonation of animated, high, exulting courage. Withal, he was kind, gentle, and thoughtful of others. He was incapable of a warm feeling of enmity, or of envy, or of personal resentment. His ear and hand were open to every appeal to his humanity, and no unprotected being failed to find in him a friend." It may be added that his great virtue, courage, was excessive, and ran into something like a defect. If anything brilliant was before his eyes, he could not see, or estimate justly the difficulties which lay between him and his prize. He was impatient of success, which he yet desired in a higher sense than personal gratification; and in his devotion to the cause he fought for, he was as unselfish as he was brave.

BRIG.-GEN. BENJAMIN M'CULLOCH.

CHAPTER LVIII.

Early romance of his life.-His fame as a hunter and pioneer.-Service in the Texan war of independence.-Battle of San Jacinto.-The Mexican War.-Adventure at Buena Vista.-Appointed United States Marshal for Texas.-His life in Washington City. His appearance and manners at the capital-Relations to President Buchanan.-Seizes the property and arms of the United States at San Antonio.Surrender of Gen. Twiggs.—McCulloch's command in the Indian Territory.—His part in Price's Missouri campaign.-Defects of his military character.-Killed in the battle of Elk Horn.

THE life of Benjamin McCulloch, anteriour to the war, was of singular interest. It illustrated much of the romance of the American frontier. Living almost constantly on the limit of the American settlements; remarkable for his singular capacities for Indian warfare; following the track of adventure with wild courage and hardihood, he had already made a name for history, and was pointed out as one of those famous adventurers whose lives were in transition between the backwoods and the present standards of civilization. He had originated the name of "Texas Ranger," and, with Walker, Hays, and Chevallie, had given it a world-wide renown. Twenty-six years before he drew his sword for Southern Independence he had served in the battle of San Jacinto; had afterwards passed his time on the Texan frontier in a succession of hardships and dangers; and subsequently in the Mexican War, on the bloody field of Buena Vista, he had received the public and official thanks of Gen. Taylor for his heroic conduct and services. A career, running through scenes so remarkable and extensive, may be traced with interest from its commencement.

The subject of our sketch was born in Rutherford county, Tennessee, about the year 1814. His father was aide-de-camp to Gen.