NOTE. IN N presenting this second volume of papers selected by the members of the Illinois Commandery from those that have been read at its regular meetings, the Committee would state that in arranging the same for publication they have grouped together, as well as practicable, in the early part of the volume papers relating to events of the Eastern armies, and these are followed with a group relating to operations in the West. As the first volume of papers seemed to meet with cordial approval, the Committee have not ventured to make any change in the style or form of the book. The thanks of the Committee are tendered to the authors of the various papers for their considerate assistance in preparing them for the press. CHARLES W. DAVIS, WILLIAM ELIOT FURNESS, Committee. MARCH, 1894. CONTENTS. THE CAPTURE OF ALEXANDRIA AND THE DEATH OF 21 33 BY HUNTING- TON W. JACKSON, late Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel U. S. V. 79 THE OPENING HOURS IN THE WILDERNESS IN 1864. BY SARTELL PRENTICE, late Brevet Major U. S. A.. THE DEFENCE OF WASHINGTON AGAINST EARLY'S ATTACK IN JULY, 1864. BY MARTIN D. HARDIN, Briga- dier-General U. S. A. (Retired). 99 121 THE EXPEDITIONS AGAINST FORT FISHER AND WIL- MINGTON. BY EDSON J. HARKNESS, late Brevet Major U. S. V. 145 THE OLD VERMONT BRIGADE. BY ALDACE F. WALKER, late Lieutenant-Colonel First Vermont Heavy Artillery U. S. V. . 189 THE BLOCKADING SERVICE. BY HORATIO L. WAIT, late THE BEGINNINGS OF ΑΝ ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER ... THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST VICKSBURG. BY WILLIAM E. STRONG, late Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. V. AN AMERICAN SOLDIER — MINOR MILLIKIN. BY ALEX- ANDER C. MCCLURG, late Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. V. THE BATTLE OF CORINTH. BY AUGUSTUS L. CHETLAIN, WOMAN AND THE REBELLION. BY ALFRED T. ANDREAS, late First Lieutenant Twelfth Illinois Infantry U. S. V. . MILITARY ESSAYS AND RECOLLECTIONS. THE CAPTURE OF ALEXANDRIA AND BY EDWARD B. KNOX. [Read March 1885.] HE bombardment and fall of Fort Sumter, the Presi TH dent's call for volunteers, and the hurrying forward of troops for the defence of the national capital following each other in rapid succession in April, 1861, aroused the entire North to the highest pitch of excitement and alarm. The troops arriving the first week or ten days were State militia, and were for the most part poorly equipped for active service. Owing to the scarcity of camp equipage, many of them were quartered in the Capitol and other public buildings. On the Virginia side of the Potomac, troops from the neighboring counties of Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, under the command of Colonel G. H. Terrett, of the "Provisional Army of Virginia," in all about five hundred men, were assembled at Alexandria, situated on the right bank of the Potomac, six miles below Washington. The Ordinance of Secession, passed by the Virginia Convention on the 16th of April, was subject to ratifica VOL. II. I |