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48. This year the
Federal blockade1 of the southern ports had
become still more effective. The rebels made great efforts
not only to prepare a navy at home, but to procure abroad
vessels to prey upon northern ships. 
In
this they were so far successful that the commerce of the United
States was, in a great measure, driven from the seas, except when
it could be under the protection of armed vessels.
The Oreto,2 and later,
the Alabama, built in England, were permitted by the
British government to pass into rebel hands. Unable to enter any
Confederate port, and forbidden to take their prizes into the
ports of any nation, they usually burned the ships which they
captured, and the principal part of their
cargoes.3
49. The Sioux War. -- The summer
of 1862 was sadly distinguished in Minnesota by frightful
massacres perpetrated by some bands of Sioux Indians, under Little
Crow and other chiefs. They began their outrages about the middle
of August, and kept them up for more than a month, when they were
driven into Dakota, except several hundred who were captured,
thirty-eight of whom were bung in punishment for their murders. It
has been estimated that more than seven hundred whites were slain,
and twenty-five thousand were driven from their homes; and, for
some time, a third of this number was dependent upon charity for
support. The next summer the savages renewed their outrages, which
were not suppressed till after a tedious campaign, lasting into
September.
50. For a long time the
Indians had been dissatisfied. They especially complained
of the course pursued by the traders, and of the delay of the
national government in making the annual payment due them by
treaty. On the 17th of August a party of Indians murdered some
whites near the town of Acton, and this taste of blood was
followed the next day by a general massacre of the settlers on the
Upper Minnesota River. Successful in an encounter with a
few troops who first went against them, the savages urged on the
work of death throughout the whole western part of the state, and
in Iowa and Dakota. Every species of fiendish atrocity was
perpetrated on their victims. A fierce attack made upon New
Ulm, an isolated town containing some fifteen hundred persons,
was repulsed with difficulty. The place was then abandoned by
its
1 See p. 252, ¶¶ 32, 33. 2 Afterwards called the Florida.
3 See p. 285, ¶ 77. Occasionally a prize was released on a bond, signed by the captain, to pay a certain sum of money after the independence of the confederacy had been established.
QUESTIONS. -- 48. What is said of the Federal blockade? Of efforts made by the prepare a navy? How far were they successful in this? -- What is said of the rebel privateers Oreto and Alabama? 49. What can you tell of the Sioux war in Minnesota? 50. Of what had the Indians complained? What can you tell of their massacres on the 17th and 18th of August? Of their first encounter with troops, and of their atrocity? Of their attack upon New Ulm?
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inhabitants. Fort Ridgely, after enduring a siege for
several days, was relieved by Colonel (since General) Henry H.
Sibley, who led an expedition up the Minnesota Valley to suppress
the ravages of the Indians. After some fighting, Little Crow and
his followers fled far into Dakota. Meanwhile General
Pope1 was sent to take command in this department.
Renewing their outrages the next year, the savages were hunted
down; their chief, Little Crow, was killed; and an expedition,
under General Sibley, pursued the hostile tribes, and, after
considerable fighting, drove them across the Missouri River. Yet
the Indians remained restive and troublesome, and ready for
another outbreak.
51. Events of
1863. -- President Lincoln signalized the opening of the new
year by issuing an Emancipation Proclamation,2
which declared forever free all slaves in the insurgent states,
except in such parts of Louisiana and Virginia as were under
national authority.
This proclamation was not issued without
due deliberation. Many had urged the earlier adoption of such a
policy, believing that it would give to the Union cause strength
at home and sympathy abroad; but the president had resisted every
attempt to move him faster in this direction than he believed
necessary in order to prosecute the war to its legitimate issue of
subduing the rebellion.3 He was especially desirous of
having the support of the people in this step, and he therefore
delayed taking it until he saw that the public mind was fully
prepared for it.
52. In Tennessee,4 at
the beginning of the year, the great battle of Murfreesboro' was
concluded by the success of the Federal arms. Bragg,5
after his defeat, retreated south, and took position at Tullahoma
and along Duck River. Rosecrans6 remained at
Murfreesboro' till the latter part of June, when he began a series
of movements, which, in a brief campaign of nine days, and with
small Union loss, compelled the enemy to abandon Middle Tennessee,
and retreat over the Cumberland Mountains to Chattanooga. Before
the Union advance was made, there were frequent reconnoissances,
raids, and expeditions of minor importance from both armies.
1 See p. 272, ¶ 43, and p. 271, ¶ 39.
2 One hundred days before (September 22), the president had issued a proclamation, which declared that the slaves of those in rebellion on the 1st of January, 1863, should be free. The proclamation of the latter date designated the states in rebellion, and was confirmatory of the first.
3 See p. 249, ¶ 22, and p. 294, ¶ 24. 4 See pp. 254, ¶ 4--258, ¶ 14.
5 See p. 257, ¶ 11. 6 See p. 258, ¶ 14.
QUESTIONS. -- What can you tell or the siege of Fort Ridgely? Of the pursuit of the Indians into Dakota? Of operations against them the next year? In what condition did they continue? 61. How did President Lincoln signalize the opening of the new year? What did the Emancipation Proclamation declare? -- What is said of the course of the president in regard to issuing this proclamation? 52. How was the beginning of the year marked in Tennessee? What was the position of the opposing armies after the battle of Murfreesboro'? Give an account of Rosecrans's nine days' campaign. What took place before the Union advance?
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53. Early in
February a detachment of rebels was repulsed in an assault on
Fort Donelson. On the 5th of March, Colonel Coburn, with
about two thousand men, was surrounded by a greatly superior force
of rebels, under 
General
Van Dorn,1 at Spring Hill, and after a severe
conflict, more than two thirds of his whole command were captured.
Soon afterwards, General Philip H. Sheridan2 chased Van
Dorn back to the rebel camp on Duck River. About two weeks later,
Colonel Hall, while on a reconnoissance, encountered the rebel
General Morgan,3 and defeated him near
Milton.4 In the latter part of April, Colonel
Streight, with about sixteen hundred men, set out on a raid
into Northern Georgia. Having penetrated as far as Cedar
Bluff, he was forced to surrender to a body of cavalry, under the
rebel General Forrest.3
54. About the middle of
August, Rosecrans again moved, and, by threatening Bragg's
communications with the south, compelled him to retreat. The Union
general occupied Chattanooga, September 9. Leaving a force here,
he pressed on after the enemy, who, being reënforced,
outnumbered their pursuers, and turned upon them near the
Chickamauga. A battle followed, September 19 and 20, in
which the Federal army was beaten and forced to fall back to
Chattanooga. General Thomas's5 corps alone held its
ground, and saved the army from total defeat.
This battle took place on West Chickamauga
Creek, about ten or twelve miles south of Chattanooga. Rosecrans
had about fifty-five thousand troops. Bragg had been
reënforced by Longstreet,6 from Lee's army, by
troops from Johnston7 in Mississippi, by
Buckner8 from East Tennessee, and by prisoners taken at
Vicksburg9 and Port Hudson,10 who, in
violation of their parole, had been forced to serve in the field,
so that his army numbered about seventy thousand men. The rebels
gained the battle, but not the prize for which they were fighting,
namely, Chattanooga, the key to East Tennessee. Rosecrans lost
more than sixteen thousand men; the Confederates more than
eighteen thousand.
55. The Federal army was
now shut up in Chattanooga by the enemy, who had intrenched
themselves on the mountain ranges near the town. So confident did
Bragg feel of his prey that he sent Longstreet,6 with
his command, against Knoxville.8 Soon the besieged were
in danger of starvation. Their critical situation gave the
national government great anxiety, and all possible efforts were
made to sustain them. Grant9 was
appointed
1 See p. 256, ¶ 10. 1 2 See p. 308, ¶ 52. 3 See p. 257, ¶ 12.
4 Twelve miles north-east of Murfreesboro'. 5 See p. 254, ¶ 4.
6 See p. 285 ¶ 75. 7 See p. 280, ¶ 66. 8 See p. 277, ¶ 57. See p. 279, ¶ 61.
10 See p. 281, ¶ 67.
QUESTIONS. -- 53. Give some account of the more important of these expeditions. 64. What can you tell of Rosecrans's second movement, and of the battle near the Chickamauga? -- What further particulars can you give of this battle? 55. What was now the condition of the Federal army? Against what place did Bragg send Longstreet? What changes in command were made?
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to the chief command of all the armies of the
west east of the Mississippi, his previous command devolving upon
Sherman.1 Rosecrans was superseded by Thomas, to whose
aid came Sherman from Vicksburg, and Hooker2 with
troops from the Army of the Potomac. Grant directed the operations
in person, and in a three days' battle, beginning November 23,
drove the enemy from their strong positions with great loss, and
forced them to retreat southward.
56. Bragg's army
extended from the vicinity of the Tennessee River above
Chattanooga, along Missionary Ridge, across the Chattanooga Valley
and Lookout Mountain, and west of the last to the Tennessee, below
the town. Grant first drove the enemy back from the river, south
of Chattanooga, thus opening a free passage for supplies. He next
prepared for a general advance, and on the 23d of November Thomas
captured the strong works of the enemy on Orchard Knob, in
Chattanooga Valley. The next day Sherman seized a position on
their right, above the town, while Hooker, on their left, scaled
the heights of Lookout Mountain, and far up its rugged
sides fought a battle which forced the rebels to abandon the
summit. On the 25th, Sherman began the attack on Missionary
Ridge. Finally the whole army pressed up the steep mountain
side, in the face of a murderous fire, and swept the rebels from
their intrenchments. The battle was won. The raising of the siege
of Chattanooga, when we consider the strength of Bragg's positions
and the rapidity and completeness of his defeat, has scarcely a
parallel in history. The Union loss was over five thousand killed
and wounded; that of the rebels was less in killed and wounded,
but they lost more than six thousand prisoners. Two days after
this victory a pursuing column, under Hooker, attacked the foe in
a strong position at Ringgold, and suffered severe loss.
The enemy were, however, compelled to continue their retreat.
57. In Kentucky
General Gillmore3 routed a strong rebel force near
Somerset, March 30. Later in the spring,
Burnside4 was appointed to command in this
department. In coöperation with Rosecrans's movement upon
Chattanooga, he entered East Tennessee, where he was
joyfully welcomed by the Unionists, who had been so long oppressed
in that region. On the 1st of September he occupied
Knoxville, the rebels, under Buckner,5
retreating, at his approach, to join Bragg.
1 See p. 280, ¶ 66. 2 See p. 285, ¶ 75. 3 see p. 264, ¶ 24.
4 See p. 282, ¶ 71. 5 See p. 255, ¶ 5.
QUESTIONS. -- What reënforcements were brought to the besieged? What is said of the battle before Chattanooga? 56. Describe the position of the besieging army. What did Grant first do? What can you tell of the capture of Orchard Knob? Of the scaling of Lookout mountain? Of the final assault on Missionary Ridge? What is said of the raising of the siege of Chattanooga? Of the losses on each side? Of the attack at Ringgold? 57. When and where did General Gillmore rout a rebel force? Who was appointed to command in Kentucky later in the spring? Give an account of Burnside's movements in coöperation with Rosecrans.
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A few days afterwards he seized Cumberland
Gap, with its garrison of two thousand men. About the middle
of November he was besieged in Knoxville by
Longstreet.1 After the victory of
Chattanooga, Sherman was sent to aid Burnside. Learning this,
Longstreet made a desperate assault upon the place, was repulsed,
and returned to Lee in Virginia.
58. About the time of Rosecrans's advance
from Murfreesboro', the Confederate ranger General
Morgan,2 with three thousand cavalry and a battery of
artillery, made a daring raid through Kentucky into Indiana
and Ohio. Crossing the Ohio at Brandenburg, he swept eastward,
destroying property and levying contributions on the inhabitants.
The militia rose to repel the invaders, and Burnside sent a
detachment in pursuit of them. Morgan attempted to recross the
Ohio a little above Pomeroy, but was driven back, and in less than
a month after he set out on his raid his whole band was killed,
scattered, or captured. Among the captured was Morgan
himself.3
59. In Missouri and
Arkansas4 the rebels maintained a restless
activity this year, but accomplished little.
The rebel General Marmaduke, with a part
of the army which had been defeated at Prairie Grove, appeared
before Springfield4 Missouri, January 8, but was
beaten and driven back. He experienced a like fate at
Hartsville three days later, and at Cape Girardeau,
April 26, where was a large depot of stores for Grant's army. Many
of the Federal troops having been transferred to aid in the siege
of Vicksburg,5 the rebel General Holmes seized the
opportunity to attack General Prentiss, in command of the Union
garrison at Helena,6 Arkansas, but he was
repulsed with heavy loss, July 4.
60. After the fall of
Vicksburg,5 General Frederick Steele7 was
sent, in command of an army, to suppress the rebellion in
Arkansas. On the 10th of September he took Little
Rock, and the whole state was soon restored to Federal
authority, except the western part, over which bands of
guerrillas continued to roam in their plundering excursions
into Missouri and Kansas. These bands made frequent dashes into
towns, and robbed and murdered loyal soldiers and citizens.
1 See p. 276, ¶¶ 54,55. 2 See p. 276, ¶ 53. 3 See p. 287, ¶ 1.
4 See pp. 258, ¶ 15. 5 See p. 279 ¶ 61. 6 See p. 259, ¶ 15.
7 See p. 289, ¶ 5.
QUESTIONS. -- Give an account of the siege of Knoxville by Longstreet, and the raising of the Siege. 58. Give an account of Morgan's raid north of the Ohio. 69. What is said of affairs in Missouri and Arkansas this year? -- What can you tell of the rebel Marmaduke at Springfield, Hartsville, and Cape Girardeau? Of the rebel repulse at Helena? 60. What can you tell of Steele's operations in Arkansas? Of guerrilla excursions west of the Mississippi?
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One of the most
atrocious outrages of the war was perpetrated, August 21, by a
band of these outlaws from Western Missouri, under the notorious
Quantrell.1 In the early morning, they entered the
thriving city of Lawrence, Kansas, and murdered in cold
blood one hundred and forty of its unarmed inhabitants. Houses,
stores, and churches were burned, and other property was stolen or
destroyed, the whole estimated at two millions of dollars in
value. The guerrillas were pursued and some of them were slain,
but the greater part escaped, laden with their
plunder.2
61. But the great
enterprise in the west this year was the opening of the
Mississippi,3 and the most important step towards
the accomplishment of this object was the capture of
Vicksburg. General Grant,4 after a series of
brilliant victories, invested this stronghold, and, July 4,
received its surrender. In this campaign Grant took more than
thirty thousand prisoners, including the rebel commander, General
John C. Pemberton, and fourteen other general officers, together
with arms and munitions of war for an army of sixty thousand
men.
62. After the failure of the
attack upon Vicksburg4 in December, 1862, General John
A. McClernand took command, in place of Sherman. While waiting for
Grant to get his forces ready for a second attack, he, in
conjunction with Admiral Porter,5 captured a large
rebel garrison at Arkansas Post,6 January 11.
Vicksburg is situated on a high bluff, on the east bank of
the Mississippi, about four hundred miles above New Orleans.
Formidable batteries and forts crowned the bluff for miles, and
completely commanded the river. Farragut,7 with a fleet
from below, and Davis,4 from above, bombarded the city
during the spring and early summer of 1862, but with little
effect. In front of Vicksburg the river makes a bend, forming a
tongue of land opposite the city. Grant attempted to cut a canal
across this tongue, and thus open a new channel for the river
beyond the reach of the rebel batteries. This and other attempts,
both to pass the city in front and to get to its rear,
failed.
63. When the season had so far
advanced that the low marshy ground west of the river became
passable for troops, Grant suddenly marched his army from
Milliken's Bend, above Vicksburg, to a point on the river below,
while Porter, under cover of night, ran past the batteries with
gunboats and transports. Grant crossed the river at Bruinsburg on
the last day of April, and then, by a succession of rapidly
executed movements,
1 Quantrell was but an assumed name of this bandit.
2 See p. 289, ¶ 5, and p. 301, ¶ 33. 3 See pp. 259, ¶ 18-264, ¶ 23.
4 See p. 260, ¶ 19. 5 See p. 261, ¶ 20.
6 The rebels had a fort here, called Fort Hindman, which commanded the Arkansas River.
7 See p. 261, ¶ 22, and p. 260, ¶ 20.
QUESTIONS. -- Give an account of the guerrilla attack on Lawrence. 61. What was the great enterprise in the west this year? What was the most important step towards the opening of the Mississippi? Give an account of the capture of Vicksburg. 62. What can you tell of the capture of Arkansas Post? What of the situation of Vicksburg, and of the earlier attempts to capture it? 63. How were the army and fleet brought below Vicksburg?
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