1863 V FREDERICKSBURG AND CHANCELLORSVILLE Meantime the President had come to the conclusion that McClellan was not aggressive enough to cope with Lee, and he felt keenly that with a splendid army almost double that of his enemy he had not crushed it when opportunity had been offered. General McClellan was accredited an excellent organizer, extremely cautious, and possessed the confidence of his men in a rare degree, but he lacked confidence in himself and won too few victories. There was much criticism of the President's action in making the removal, and to this day it is asserted by some that the displacement of the gallant little commander was the result of political intrigue. It was well known that McClellan was a Democrat in politics, and it was already rumored that he would be a candidate for the Presidency against Lincoln in 1864. Many of McClellan's friends, therefore, found it easy to believe that Lincoln did not desire the military success of his prospective opponent for the Presidency. It is difficult to believe, however, that so reprehensible a motive, which only political malignity could suggest, ever influenced Lincoln in his action, although it must be recorded that there were many who thought otherwise at the time. Burnside, McClellan's successor, was a graduate of West Point and a veteran of the Mexican War. At the outbreak of the Civil War he went to the front as colonel of a Rhode Island regiment and rose rapidly to the rank of major general. Handsome and prepossessing in personal appearance, he lacked McClellan's cautiousness and genius for organization, rather going to the other extreme of rashness and heedlessness. With an army of 122,000 men he at once proceeded to attack Lee, who had placed his army of 78,000 men in a well fortified position on the hills behind the town of Fredericksburg.20 With Lee thus protected, Burnside crossed the river, and on December 13 made a desperate assault upon the enemy, only to be repulsed with terrible slaughter. The center of Lee's army occupied an eminence called Marye's Heights, which was defended by a stone wall and commanded by artillery. Burnside rashly decided to attack this impregnable position, and 20 J. C. Ropes, "Story of the Civil War," vol. ii. p. 455. 1863 against it six frantic dashes were made, each being repulsed with frightful slaughter. The fire of the Confederates was so terrible as the Union soldiers pressed up the hill, and the slaughter so great, that they found it difficult to advance on account of the heaps of their own dead. It was an example of endurance and exhibition of courage with few parallels in history, and yet wholly unnecessary. In fact it lost the character of a battle and became outright slaughter.21 Almost a whole Irish brigade was sacrificed, and dead men were piled up as high as the stone wall. When darkness closed over the scene the Union army had withdrawn. Their loss was about 13,000 men, the flower of the army, that of the Confederates something over 4,000,22 among those killed being Generals Gregg and Cobb. The rejoicing was great at the South and the impatient public criticised Lee for not taking the offensive against Burnside's shattered army. The Confederate hopes were greater now than they were ever destined to be again. Throughout the North, on the other hand, all was gloom. Thousands of homes were filled with mourning, and all on account of the rash action of a commanding general. Burnside bewailed bitterly the fate of his men who fell before Marye's Heights, but frankly assumed the entire responsibility himself and offered to resign. Eventually his resignation was accepted by the President and General Joseph Hooker was selected as his successor. "Fighting Joe Hooker," as he was called, was a graduate of West Point and had gained his sobriquet by his bravery in the Peninsular Campaign and at Antietam. In notifying him of his promotion President Lincoln in his characteristic way took occasion to tell him frankly of his faults, criticised him for allowing his ambition to lead him to thwarting in every way possible the success of General Burnside, admonished him what was wanted was "military, success," and warned him to beware of rashness.23 This was in January, 1863. Hooker at once took command of the shattered and demoralized army, restored its morale, infused confidence into the men and by April had at least 113,000 efficient soldiers ready to follow anywhere he chose to lead.24 Lee's army, now reduced 21 See article by General J. C. Longstreet in "Battles and Leaders," vol. iii. p. 81. 22 J. C. Ropes, "Story of the Civil War," vol. ii. p. 467; "Battles and Leaders," vol. iii. p. 145. 23 Rhodes, "History of the United States," vol. iv. p. 256. 1863 to 60,000 by the detachment of Longstreet's corps, remained in occupation of the heights at Fredericksburg. Toward the middle of April Hooker, in obedience to the instructions of President Lincoln that he must give his attention to Lee's army, rather than the Confederate capital, crossed the Rappahannock, and before the Confederate commander had divined his real purpose massed 40,000 of his men on Lee's left wing at a little place called Chancellorsville, several miles west of Fredericksburg. Instead of an immediate attack Hooker paused long enough to enable Lee to prepare to meet him. In this position on May 2 Lee sent Jackson with 30,000 men around to attack Hooker's right, commanded by General Howard. This he did, with astonishing success, throwing it into panic and confusion. Howard's corps were cut to pieces and driven off, leaving thousands of their dead on the ground. Early next morning the battle was renewed, and again the Confederates drove back the Union troops with heavy loss, throwing them into confusion. Fighting Joe" was completely demoralized and hardly seemed to know what to do. On the next day, May 4, Lee turned upon General Sedgwick and after a long fight forced him back across the river. Hooker followed two days later, leaving the two armies to occupy the same relative positions they had held before he took command. 66 The result of the several battles of Chancellorsville was unfavorable to the cause of the Union. Hooker had lost over 17,000 men, and although he undertook to fix the responsibility upon Generals Howard and Sedgwick, public opinion of the North placed the blame chiefly on him alone.25 It was very poor consolation to the brave army of the Potomac to be told, as they were, in a congratulatory address of their commander, that they had captured 5,000 prisoners, 15 colors, 7 pieces of artillery, and rendered hors de combat 18,000 of his chosen troops." Everywhere Lee's consummate generalship was a subject of praise, and it must be admitted this was the master stroke of his military career. But the losses of the Confederates were proportionately as large as those of the Union army, being about 12,000 men out of a total of 60,000.26 66 To the Confederates the greatest disaster was the irreparable loss of "Stonewall" Jackson. On the first day of the battle, after 25" Battles and Leaders," vol. iii. p. 237. 1863 having driven the Union forces back, toward evening he had ridden forward to reconnoiter, and while returning after dark was fired upon through mistake by soldiers of a North Carolina regiment. Jackson fell, struck by three balls, and was carried to a small farmhouse, where he died a few days later.27 By the common consensus of opinion he was regarded as one of the most brilliant soldiers which the war produced on either side. Graduating from West Point, he resigned from the army and was serving as professor of mathematics in the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington when the war broke out. At the Institute he was looked upon as a quiet, harmless man, and was frequently the butt of college wits. But as a commander in the Valley of the Shenandoah he astonished the whole country by his military genius, and from that time until the Confederacy was deprived of his services by a Confederate bullet his fame rose like a star. Personally his character had something of the mysterious in it. By nature deeply religious, prayer meetings and revivals were common in his camps, itinerant preachers and army colporteurs never failed to receive a welcome from him, and usually before a battle he spent hours on his knees invoking divine guidance. He possessed superhuman endurance, frequently marched his men thirty miles at night through mud and rain, seemed to care little or nothing for the comforts of life, wore a uniform so shabby that he was seldom recognized except by his own men, and on account of his extraordinary vigilance was popularly believed never to sleep. Yet he was ambitious, planned his battles carefully, and fought them with desperate courage. His death cast a shadow over the fortunes of the Confederacy, and General Lee is reported to have said that he would have willingly sacrificed himself in order that Jackson might be spared for the South. 27 See the account of his death by General J. P. Smith in "Battles and Leaders," vol. iii. pp. 203-214. I' Chapter XXXII VICKSBURG AND GETTYSBURG. 1863 I OPERATIONS IN TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI T is necessary now to turn to the West and follow the movements of the armies in that region. We left the Union army under Halleck at Corinth, in May, 1862. Having secured control of the western division of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, Halleck sent a portion of his army under General Buell to capture Chattanooga at the other end of the line in east Tennessee, leaving Grant and Rosecrans in North Mississippi. General Bragg, a dashing leader of Mexican War fame, had succeeded Beauregard as Confederate commander in this quarter in June, 1862. Eluding Buell, he reached Chattanooga ahead of him and held it securely for the Confederates. With substantial reënforcements he now set out northward from Chattanooga for the purpose of invading East Tennessee and Kentucky, Louisville being his objective point. To head him off Buell set out at the same time. on a parallel line of march and the movement took the form of a race across the State of Kentucky. Bragg, although having a shorter line of march, was encumbered with a wagon train forty miles in length, as a result of which Buell won the race and entered Louisville ahead of his adversary in the latter part of September. He thereupon turned against Bragg, overtook his retreating army at Perryville, and on October 8 gave him battle. A sharp fight ensued, but during the night following the Confederates withdrew and a few days later took up their march for Chattanooga.1 Bragg's proposed invasion of the North was accordingly abandoned, but Buell's failure to pursue him and crush his army created the usual dissatisfaction and impatience at the North. President 1 See article on "Bragg's Invasion of Kentucky," by General Joseph Wheeler, Battles and Leaders," vol. viii. pp. 1-25. |