was flowing peacefully to the sea, with no Confederate cannon commanding its waters.

The troops of the North-west had declared to the world that thenceforth it should flow through an undivided country, and together with the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg had manifested to the nations of Europe that thenceforth the country was to be one nation, under one flag, with Union and Liberty forever.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XIV.

(1) “A Woman's Diary, Siege of Vicksburg," Century Magazine, September, 1885. (2) Abrahams, "Siege of Vicksburg," p. 29.

(3) General Grant, Century Magazine, September, 1885.

( 1) Abrahams, “Siege of Vicksburg,” p. 42.

(5) Idem.

(6) Idem.

(7) Idem.

(8) "A Woman's Diary," Century Magazine, April, 1885. ( *) Abrahams, "Siege of Vicksburg,” p. 67.

(10) "A Woman's Diary," Century Magazine, April, 1885. (1) Idem.

THE

CHAPTER XV.

MIDSUMMER, 1863.

HE midsummer days, bright with sunshine, perfumed with flowers, were days of gloom throughout the States of the Confederacy. The month of June had been one of confident expectation, exhilaration of spirit -a looking forward to the time, near at hand, when the army of General Lee would be in Philadelphia or Baltimore, or flinging out the flag of the Confederacy above the marble walls of the Capitol, to be followed by recognition as a nation by France, England, and the other European powers. Instead of this the Confederate troops were once more in Virginia, having met with a disastrous defeat and frightful losses, which carried sorrow and mourning to thousands of homes. More than this, Vicksburg and Port Hudson had surrendered, with all their cannon and material, and more than thirty-five thousand troops as prisoners of war. During the summer months, the losses of the Confederacy, by battle and surrender, aggregated not far from seventy-five thousand men. The States west of the Mississippi were cut off from those east. In addition to these disasters, Rosecrans, by a strategic movement from Murfreesboro, was forcing General Bragg out of the State of Tennessee. Of the situation of affairs a Richmond paper said, "The sadness which lately seized the Southern people, though not without cause, was without justification. It was the result of heavy and sudden disappointment overtaking the public mind while in a high state of exhilaration, confidence, and expectation. It was due to two great misfortunes occurring simultaneously in quarters where nothing of the sort was at all apprehended. The repulse at Gettysburg was certainly an event which there was no reason to anticipate. It was the result of an attack where an attack was desperate and hopeless. But for that attack Lincoln would now have been a fugitive from his Capitol, and Meade's army a scattered and demoralized mob."() "The news of the Vicksburg surrender is not less astonishing than unpleasant. It is the most unexpected announcement which has been made in this war."(2)

The Richmond newspaper which was regarded as the organ of Jefferson Davis said, "Despondency is both folly and treason. The men had greater cause for unutterable disgust and loathing of our fiendish enemies, who this day prefer going under the sod to going under their yoke. This is not the hour for lassitude or discouragement, but for new efforts and a higher resolve."()

"Our Yankee enemies," said a Charleston paper, "are very exultant at the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson into their hands. If they were any other people than they are, they would be ashamed of their success. They have succeeded not by their valor or skill in arms; every effort they made to take the fortified position by storm failed. . . . Confederate imbecility, not their courage or energy, occasioned the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson. Yet after being thrashed a dozen times, and our troops, surrounded by overwhelming numbers, surrender to starvation, they rejoice with frantic exultation. This is characteristic of the people. They have no delicacy, no pride, no conscience. Coarse, brutal, and unscrupulous, it is a matter of no consequence to them how they obtain success. . . . They are humiliated by no disaster; they are mortified by no defeats. They fight for gain, and know neither honor nor glory nor shame in obtaining it."(*)

Gettysburg and Vicksburg together marked the beginning of the ebbtide in the fortunes of the Confederacy. Never again to the people of the South would return the high hope and exultant expectations of those early summer days.

There was joy in the loyal States-church-bells ringing joyful peals, cannon thundering salutes. From every State men and women and maidens hastened to Gettysburg to the hospitals there, or to those on the Mississippi, or wherever there were sick or wounded, to minister to their wants, to sit by their beds through the sultry nights, watching the ebb and flow of life; listening to the last words of the dying, writing down the last prayer or blessing to be read by loved ones far away-caring alike for Union and Confederate. Never in the history of the world had there been such an outpouring of sympathy, devotion, and tenderness. On the battle-field and in the hospital patriotism and all the highest and noblest qualities of heart and soul shone resplendent as the midday sun.

"Can I do anything for you?" was the question kindly put to a Confederate officer from South Carolina.

"No," the surly reply.

The day was hot, the air offensive from the thousands of wounded in