BRIG.-GEN. FELIX K. ZOLLICOFFER.

CHAPTER LXV.

His early life as a politician and member of Congress.-Appointed a Brigadier-General in the Confederate States Army.-His leniency to the people of East Tennessee.-At Cumberland Gap.-Letter to Governor Magoffin.-The "wild-cat stampede.”—Killed in the battle of Mill Springs.-How the enemy insulted his corpse. His character.-Extraordinary public regret of his death.

THE record of Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer in the war was brief; he fell in the first year of the contest; but at this period of the war there had been no death that inspired a profounder sorrow, for he was a man peculiarly beloved, one who had a wide range of virtues, and a popularity extending over the space of many years.

He was born in Tennessee. He was of Swiss descent, but in what degree the writer is unable to state. His early education was limited, and he was thrown with but little preparation upon his own resources. In his boyhood, he was employed in a printingoffice, where he soon became proficient, and was advanced to the editorship of a political newspaper. In 1835, he was editor of the Columbia Observer; and afterwards was editor of the Nashville Banner, which paper he conducted with ability and success as an exponent of the Whig creed of that day. Here he earned for himself considerable celebrity as a leader and partisan. In 1841, he was appointed Attorney-General of the State. In the same year he was elected Comptroller by the Legislature, and in 1849 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1853, he was sent to Congress from the Nashville district, which position he continued to hold by several re-elections, acquiring much popular distinction as a debater on the leading issues of the day. In the arena of politics he was remarkable for the array of facts which he brought to bear upon

all the subjects he discussed; and in this respect, he was a very formidable and dangerous opponent. He was not eloquent, but he was powerful in amassing and wielding figures and statistics, and he often vanquished superiour rhetoric by superiour facts.

In the time of Zollicoffer, to be a Whig in Tennessee was to be for the Union. He shared this view of his party, until the excitement arose on the Kansas-Nebraska question, when he began gradually to coincide with the extreme Southern view of the difficulties then besetting the country. Meanwhile, he had taken an earnest and prominent part in advocating a reform of the naturalization policy, believing that the preservation of the Union, in a great measure, depended upon a more restricted system with regard to foreigners. In 1860, he was an earnest advocate of the Bell and Everett Presidential ticket, and so active was his interest in its success that he canvassed the State of New York for it, declaring his conviction that the election of Abraham Lincoln would result in a sectional war. Having done all he could to avert the catastrophe, according to his theory, and regarding the weakness of the South in the face of impending hostilities, he did not hesitate to gird on his sword, and risk all for his native land. Public opinion had already designated him as a conspicuous actor in the new drama.

He took part in the first stages of the war, assisted in the organization of the provisional army of Tennessee, and was appointed by the Governor a Brigadier-General. This grade was afterwards confirmed by the Confederate Government, and he was assigned a command in the eastern part of Tennessee. In his new sphere of duty he was distinguished by the same patience, industry and moderation which had marked his former life. He had many difficulties to encounter, especially in the strong sentiment of opposition to the Southern movement, which obtained in that part of the State where he commanded. But it is historical now that he acted with great justice and moderation. The following order was issued on his taking command, and in the lenient spirit of it he continued to act, despite of its abuse by the enemy:

"BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS, “KNOXVILLE, August 18, 1861.

"The General in command, gratified at the preservation of peace and the rapidly increasing evidences of confidence and good

will among the people of East Tennessee, strictly enjoins upon those under his command the most scrupulous regard for the personal and property rights of all the inhabitants. No act or word will be tolerated calculated to alarm or irritate those who, though heretofore advocating the National Union, now acquiesce in the decision of the State and submit to the authority of the Government of the Confederate States. Such of the people as have fled from their homes, under an apprehension of danger, will be encouraged to return, with an assurance of entire security to all who wish to pursue their respective avocations peacefully at home. The Confederate Government seeks not to enter into questions of difference of political opinions heretofore existing, but to maintain the independence it has asserted by the united feeling and action of all its citizens. Colonels of regiments and Captains of companies will be held responsible for a strict observance of this injunction within their respective commands, and each officer commanding a separate detachment or post will have this order read to his command."

No one can lay at the door of this just and humane commander, the responsibility for any outrages upon person or property. But time and emergency pressed, and he was precipitated forward to Cumberland Gap, and into Kentucky. On the 14th September, 1861, he wrote to Gov. Magoffin as follows: "The safety of Tennessee requiring, I occupy the mountain passes at Cumberland, and the three long mountains in Kentucky. For weeks I have known that the Federal commander at Hoskins' Cross Roads was threatening the invasion of East Tennessee, and ruthlessly urging our people to destroy our railroad and bridges. I postponed this precautionary movement until the despotic government at Washington, refusing to recognize the neutrality of Kentucky, has established formidable camps in the centre and other parts of the State, with the view first to subjugate your gallant State and then ourselves.

* * * If the Federals will now withdraw from their menacing position, the force under my command shall be immediately withdrawn."

Finding this proposition scoffed, Gen. Zollicoffer advanced a portion of his command to Barboursville, and dispersed a Federal camp there without any serious struggle. Thence he moved in the direction of Somerset, causing the retreat of Gen. Schoepff, the Fede

ral commander, which from its frantic disorder took the name of "the wild cat stampede." In January, 1862, his command (about 4,000 men) was on the upper waters of the Cumberland, near Mill Springs, Maj.-Gen. Crittenden ranking him; and here occurred the unfortunate battle of the 19th January, in which this small force was thrown against enormous odds, and suffered a defeat which broke the right of the Confederate defensive line in Kentucky. It was a sad affair, and for Zollicoffer a short record-a single campaign, a single battle, and then death. In the attack he commanded the first column, consisting of four regiments of infantry and four guns. The day at first went well for the Confederates, and Zollicoffer's command was ascending a hill where the enemy had col lected his strength, when the General fell, to the consternation and dismay of his troops, whose disorder and rout were then soon completed.

He fell near the camp of the enemy. As he rode forward, as he believed, to victory, he came upon a regiment of Kentuckians, commanded by Col. Fry, concealed in a piece of woods. The first intimation he had of his dangerous position was received when it was too late. Although a rubber overcoat concealed his uniform, his features were recognized, and a man called out "There's Zollicoffer, kill him." At that moment an aide to Gen. Zollicoffer drew his revolver and fired, killing the person who first recognized the General. Col. Fry was within a short distance of Zollicoffer, and the latter, hoping yet to deceive the enemy, rode within a few feet of him and said, "You are not going to fight your friends, are you?" pointing to a Mississippi regiment in the distance. The reply was a pistol shot from the Colonel and a volley of musket balls, and Gen. Zollicoffer fell from his horse a mangled corpse.

His body was treated with a brutal curiosity, at the bare recital of which the blood runs cold. A correspondent of a Northern newspaper says that as it lay upon the ground it was surrounded by Federal soldiers, when an officer rode up exclaiming to the men: "What in h-l are you doing here? Why are you not at the stretchers bringing in the wounded?" "This is Zollicoffer," said a soldier. "I know that," replied the officer, "he is dead, and could not have been sent to h-1 by a better man, for Col. Fry shot him—leave him and go to your work." Another correspondent indulged in the following survey of the corpse: "It lay by

the side of the road along which we all passed, and all had a fair view of what was once Zollicoffer. I saw the lifeless body as it lay in a fence-corner by the side of the road, but Zollicoffer himself is now in hell. Hell is a fitting abode for all such arch-traitors. May all the other chief conspirators in this rebellion soon share Zollicoffer's fate-shot dead through the instrumentality of an avenging God-their spirits sent straightway to hell, and their lifeless bodies lie in a fence-corner, their faces spattered with mud, and their garments divided up, and even the hair of their head cut off and pulled out by an unsympathizing soldiery of a conquering army, battling for the right." Comment is unnecessary, further than to say that it is seldom the death of a brave enemy has been thus viewed by the worst savages, or by the filthiest cowards, or, in brief, by any form of men, short of incarnate devils.

There is good reason to believe that Gen. Zollicoffer, in agreeing to the experiment of attack at Mill Springs, was imposed upon by spies, and that the information he acted on, as to the force and position of the enemy, was designedly false. While he was as brave a man as ever lived, he was eminently cautious and circumspect. He was slow to form his conclusions, deliberate in all his purposes, as well as firm and tenacious in following up what he had resolved upon. Those who knew him best have long persisted in the belief that he would never have made the movement he did upon the camps of the enemy, unless upon apparent facts far more satisfactory than the sequel would seem to warrant.

Gen. Zollicoffer, at the time of his death, must have been between forty-five and fifty years of age. He was a man of unblemished moral character. He was amiable and modest in his deportment, but quick as lightning in resenting an insult or a reflection upon his honour. No man possessed a cooler courage or superiour perseverance. In his mental characteristics he was not brilliant; he had but little imagination, and never aspired to ornament in his literary style. But he was untiring in his application; he took clear and solid views of all subjects; and he would undoubtedly have become eminent in the war as a division commander, if courage, firmness, industry and high moral conduct could have achieved the distinction. His life was without a stain, and his death was heroic. Many public honours were paid to his memory in the South; the Provisional Government of Kentucky