CHAPTER IX.

Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-two-The Plan of the War, and Strength of the Armies-General M'Clellan-The General Movement, January 27th, 1862-The brilliant Western Campaign-Removal of M'Clellan-The Monitor-Battle of Fredericksburg-Vallandigham and Seymour-The Alabama-President Lincoln declines all Foreign Mediation.

THE year 1861 had been devoted rather to pre

paration for war than to war itself; for every day brought home to the North the certainty that the struggle would be tremendous-that large armies must fight over thousands of miles-and that to conquer, men must go forth not by thousands, but by hundreds of thousands, and endure such privations, such extremes of climate, as are little known in European warfare. But by the Ist Dec., 1861, 640,000 had been enrolled. The leading features of the plan of war were an entire blockade of the rebel coast, the military control of the border Slave States, the recovery of the Mississippi river, which is the key of the continent, and, finally, the destruction of the rebel army in Virginia, which continually threatened the North, and the conquest of Richmond, the rebel capital. General M'Clellan had in the army of the Potomac, which occupied Washington and adjacent places, more than 200,000

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men, well armed and disciplined. In Kentucky, General Buell had over 100,000. The rebel force opposed to General M'Clellan was estimated at 175,000, but is now known to have been much less. General M'Clellan made little use of the spy-service, and apparently cared very little to know what was going on in the enemy's camp-an indifference which before long led him into several extraordinary and ridiculous blunders. As Commander-in-Chief, General M'Clellan had control over Halleck, Commander of the Department of the West, while General Burnside commanded in North Carolina, and Sherman in South Carolina.

But though General M'Clellan had, as he himself said, a "real army, magnificent in material, admirable in discipline, excellently equipped and armed, and well officered," and though his forces were double those of the enemy, he seemed to be possessed by a strange apathy, which, at the time, was at first taken for prudence, but which is perhaps now to be more truthfully explained by the fact that this former. friend of Jefferson Davis, and ardent admirer of Southern institutions, was at heart little inclined to inflict great injury on the enemy, and was looking forward to playing the rôle which has led so many American politicians to their ruin-of being the great conciliator between the North and South. Through the autumn and winter of 1861-62, he did

literally nothing beyond writing letters to the President, in which he gave suggestions as to the manner in which the country should be governed, and asked for more troops. All the pomp and style of a grand generalissimo were carefully observed by him; his personal camp equipage required twenty-four horses to draw it-a marvellous contrast to the rough and ready General Grant, who started on his vigorous campaign against Vicksburg with only a clean shirt and a tooth-brush. Before long, notwithstanding the very remarkable personal popularity of General M'Clellan, the country began to murmur at his slowness; and while the President was urging and imploring him to do something, the malcontents through the North began to blame the Administration for these delays. It was said to be doing all in its power to crush M'Clellan, to keep him from advancing, and to protract the war for its own political purposes.

Weary with the delay, President Lincoln (January 27th, 1862) issued a war order, to the effect that, on the 22nd February, 1862, there should be a general movement of all the land and naval forces against the enemy, and that all commanders should be held to strict responsibility for the execution of this duty. In every quarter, save that of the army of the Potomac, this was at once productive of energetic movements, hard fighting, and splendid Union victories. On the

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6th November, General U. S. Grant had already taken Belmont, which was the first step in his military career, and on January 10th, Colonel Garfield defeated Humphrey Marshall at Middle Creek, Kentucky, while on January 19th, General G. H. Thomas gained a victory at Mill Spring over the rebel General Zollikoffer. The rebel positions in Tennessee and Kentucky were protected by Forts Henry and Donelson. In concert with General Grant, Commodore Foote took Fort Henry, while General Grant attacked Fort Donelson. After several days' fighting, General Buckner, in command, demanded of General Grant an armistice, in which to settle terms of surrender. To this General Grant replied, "No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately on your works." General Buckner, with 15,000 men, at once yielded. From this note, General U. S. Grant obtained the name of "Unconditional Surrender Grant." These successes obliged the rebels to leave Kentucky, and Tennessee was thus accessible to the Federal forces. On the 15th February, General Mitchell, of General Buell's army, reached Bowling Green, executing a march of forty miles in twentyeight hours and a-half, performing, meanwhile, incredible feats in scaling a frozen steep pathway, a position of great strength, and in bridging a river. On the 24th February, the Union troops seized on Nashville,

and on February 8th, Roanoke Island, North Carolina, with all its defences, was captured by General Burnside and Admiral Goldsborough. In March and April, Newbern, Fort Pulaski, and Fort Mason were taken from the rebels. On the 6th, 7th, and 8th of March was fought the great battle of Pea Ridge, in Arkansas, by Generals Curtis and Sigel, who had drawn General Price thither from Missouri. In this terrible and hard-contested battle the Confederates employed a large body of Indians, who, however, not only scalped and shamefully mutilated Federal troops, but also the rebels themselves. On the 7th April, General Pope took the strong position, Island No. 10, in the Mississippi, capturing with it 5000 prisoners and over 100 heavy siege guns. These great and rapid victories startled the rebels, who had been taught that the Northern foe was beneath contempt. They saw that Grant and Buell were rapidly gaining the entire south-west. They gathered together as large an army as possible, under General Albert S. Johnson and Beauregard, and the opposing forces fought, April 6th, the battle of Shiloh. Beauregard, with great sagacity, attacked General Grant with overwhelming force before Buell could come up. "The first day of the battle was in favour of the rebels, but night brought Buell, and the morrow victory, to the Union army." The shattered rebel army retreated into their strong works at Corinth,