January and February, 1864.
The winter of 1863-’64 opened
very cold and severe; and it was manifest after the
battle of Chattanooga, November 25, 1863, and the
raising of the siege of Knoxville, December 5th, that
military operations in that quarter must in a measure
cease, or be limited to Burnside’s force beyond
Knoxville. On the 21st of December General Grant
had removed his headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee,
leaving General George H. Thomas at Chattanooga, in
command of the Department of the Cumberland, and of
the army round about that place; and I was at Bridgeport,
with orders to distribute my troops along the railroad
from Stevenson to Decatur, Alabama, and from Decatur
up toward Nashville.
General G. M. Dodge, who was in command
of the detachment of the Sixteenth Corps, numbering
about eight thousand men, had not participated with
us in the battle of Chattanooga, but had remained
at and near Pulaski, Tennessee, engaged in repairing
that railroad, as auxiliary to the main line which
led from Nashville to Stevenson, and Chattanooga.
General John A. Logan had succeeded to the command
of the Fifteenth Corps, by regular appointment of the
President of the United States, and had relieved General
Frank P. Blair, who had been temporarily in command
of that corps during the Chattanooga and Knoxville
movement.
At that time I was in command of the
Department of the Tennessee, which embraced substantially
the territory on the east bank of the Mississippi
River, from Natchez up to the Ohio River, and thence
along the Tennessee River as high as Decatur and Bellefonte,
Alabama. General McPherson was at Vicksburg and
General Hurlbut at Memphis, and from them I had the
regular reports of affairs in that quarter of my command.
The rebels still maintained a considerable force
of infantry and cavalry in the State of Mississippi,
threatening the river, whose navigation had become
to us so delicate and important a matter. Satisfied
that I could check this by one or two quick moves
inland, and thereby set free a considerable body of
men held as local garrisons, I went up to Nashville
and represented the case to General Grant, who consented
that I might go down the Mississippi River, where the
bulk of my command lay, and strike a blow on the east
of the river, while General Banks from New Orleans
should in like manner strike another to the west;
thus preventing any further molestation of the boats
navigating the main river, and thereby widening the
gap in the Southern Confederacy.
After having given all the necessary
orders for the distribution, during the winter months,
of that part of my command which was in Southern and
Middle Tennessee, I went to Cincinnati and Lancaster,
Ohio, to spend Christmas with my family; and on my
return I took Minnie with me down to a convent at
Reading, near Cincinnati, where I left her, and took
the cars for Cairo, Illinois, which I reached January
3d, a very cold and bitter day. The ice was forming
fast, and there was great danger that the Mississippi
River, would become closed to navigation. Admiral
Porter, who was at Cairo, gave me a small gunboat
(the Juliet), with which I went up to Paducah, to
inspect that place, garrisoned by a small force; commanded
by Colonel S. G. Hicks, Fortieth Illinois, who had
been with me and was severely wounded at Shiloh.
Returning to Cairo, we started down the Mississippi
River, which was full of floating ice. With
the utmost difficulty we made our way through it, for
hours floating in the midst of immense cakes, that
chafed and ground our boat so that at times we were
in danger of sinking. But about the 10th of
January we reached Memphis, where I found General Hurlbut,
and explained to him my purpose to collect from his
garrisons and those of McPherson about twenty thousand
men, with which in February to march out from Vicksburg
as far as Meridian, break up the Mobile & Ohio Railroad,
and also the one leading from Vicksburg to Selma,
Alabama. I instructed him to select two good
divisions, and to be ready with them to go along.
At Memphis I found Brigadier-General W. Sooy Smith,
with a force of about twenty-five hundred cavalry,
which he had by General Grant’s orders brought
across from Middle Tennessee, to assist in our general
purpose, as well as to punish the rebel General Forrest,
who had been most active in harassing our garrisons
in West Tennessee and Mississippi. After staying
a couple of days at Memphis, we continued on in the
gunboat Silver Cloud to Vicksburg, where I found General
McPherson, and, giving him similar orders, instructed
him to send out spies to ascertain and bring back timely
information of the strength and location of the enemy.
The winter continued so severe that the river at
Vicksburg was full of floating ice, but in the Silver
Cloud we breasted it manfully, and got back to Memphis
by the 20th. A chief part of the enterprise
was to destroy the rebel cavalry commanded by General
Forrest, who were a constant threat to our railway
communications in Middle Tennessee, and I committed
this task to Brigadier-General W. Sooy Smith.
General Hurlbut had in his command about seven thousand
five hundred cavalry, scattered from Columbus, Kentucky,
to Corinth, Mississippi, and we proposed to make up
an aggregate cavalry force of about seven thousand
“effective,” out of these and the twenty-five
hundred which General Smith had brought with him from
Middle Tennessee. With this force General Smith
was ordered to move from Memphis straight for Meridian,
Mississippi, and to start by February 1st. I
explained to him personally the nature of Forrest
as a man, and of his peculiar force; told him that
in his route he was sure to encounter Forrest, who
always attacked with a vehemence for which he must
be prepared, and that, after he had repelled the first
attack, he must in turn assume the most determined
offensive, overwhelm him and utterly destroy his whole
force. I knew that Forrest could not have more
than four thousand cavalry, and my own movement would
give employment to every other man of the rebel army
not immediately present with him, so that he (General
Smith) might safely act on the hypothesis I have stated.
Having completed all these preparations
in Memphis, being satisfied that the cavalry force
would be ready to start by the 1st of February, and
having seen General Hurlbut with his two divisions
embark in steamers for Vicksburg, I also reembarked
for the same destination on the 27th of January.
On the 1st of February we rendezvoused
in Vicksburg, where I found a spy who had been sent
out two weeks before, had been to Meridian, and brought
back correct information of the state of facts in the
interior of Mississippi. Lieutenant-General (Bishop)
Polk was in chief command, with headquarters at Meridian,
and had two divisions of infantry, one of which (General
Loring’s) was posted at Canton, Mississippi,
the other (General French’s) at Brandon.
He had also two divisions of cavalry — Armstrong’s,
composed of the three brigades of Ross, Stark, and
Wirt Adams, which were scattered from the neighborhood
of Yazoo City to Jackson and below; and Forrest’s,
which was united, toward Memphis, with headquarters
at Como. General Polk seemed to have no suspicion
of our intentions to disturb his serenity.
Accordingly, on the morning of February
3d, we started in two columns, each of two divisions,
preceded by a light force of cavalry, commanded by
Colonel E. F. Winslow. General McPherson commanded
the right column, and General Hurlbut the left.
The former crossed the Big Black at the railroad-bridge,
and the latter seven miles above, at Messinger’s.
We were lightly equipped as to wagons, and marched
without deployment straight for Meridian, distant
one hundred and fifty miles. We struck the rebel
cavalry beyond the Big Black, and pushed them pell-mell
into and beyond Jackson during the 6th. The
next day we reached Brandon, and on the 9th Morton,
where we perceived signs of an infantry concentration,
but the enemy did not give us battle, and retreated
before us. The rebel cavalry were all around
us, so we kept our columns compact and offered few
or no chances for their dashes. As far as Morton
we had occupied two roads, but there we were forced
into one. Toward evening of the 12th, Hurlbut’s
column passed through Decatur, with orders to go into
camp four miles beyond at a creek. McPherson’s
head of column was some four miles behind, and I personally
detached one of Hurlbut’s regiments to guard
the cross-roads at Decatur till the head of McPherson’s
column should come in sight. Intending to spend
the night in Decatur, I went to a double log-house,
and arranged with the lady for some supper. We
unsaddled our horses, tied them to the fence inside
the yard, and, being tired, I lay down on a bed and
fell asleep. Presently I heard shouts and hallooing,
and then heard pistol-shots close to the house.
My aide, Major Audenried, called me and said we were
attacked by rebel cavalry, who were all around us.
I jumped up and inquired where was the regiment of
infantry I had myself posted at the cross-roads.
He said a few moments before it had marched past
the house, following the road by which General Hurlbut
had gone, and I told him to run, overtake it, and
bring it back. Meantime, I went out into the
back-yard, saw wagons passing at a run down the road,
and horsemen dashing about in a cloud of dust, firing
their pistols, their shots reaching the house in which
we were. Gathering the few orderlies and clerks
that were about, I was preparing to get into a corn-crib
at the back side of the lot, wherein to defend ourselves,
when I saw Audenried coming back with the regiment,
on a run, deploying forward as they came. This
regiment soon cleared the place and drove the rebel
cavalry back toward the south, whence they had come.
It transpired that the colonel of
this infantry regiment, whose name I do not recall,
had seen some officers of McPherson’s staff
(among them Inspector-General Strong) coming up the
road at a gallop, raising a cloud of duet; supposing
them to be the head of McPherson’s column, and
being anxious to get into camp before dark, he had
called in his pickets and started down the road, leaving
me perfectly exposed. Some straggling wagons,
escorted by a New Jersey regiment, were passing at
the time, and composed the rear of Hurlbut’s
train. The rebel cavalry, seeing the road clear
of troops, and these wagons passing, struck them in
flank, shot down the mules of three or four wagons,
broke the column, and began a general skirmish.
The escort defended their wagons as well as they
could, and thus diverted their attention; otherwise
I would surely have been captured. In a short
time the head of McPherson’s column came up,
went into camp, and we spent the night in Decatur.
The next day we pushed on, and on
the 14th entered Meridian, the enemy retreating before
us toward Demopolis, Alabama. We at once set
to work to destroy an arsenal, immense storehouses,
and the railroad in every direction. We staid
in Meridian five days, expecting every hour to hear
of General Sooy Smith, but could get no tidings of
him whatever. A large force of infantry was kept
at work all the time in breaking up the Mobile & Ohio
Railroad south and north; also the Jackson & Selma
Railroad, east and west. I was determined to
damage these roads so that they could not be used
again for hostile purposes during the rest of the war.
I never had the remotest idea of going to Mobile,
but had purposely given out that idea to the people
of the country, so as to deceive the enemy and to
divert their attention. Many persons still insist
that, because we did not go to Mobile on this occasion,
I had failed; but in the following letter to General
Banks, of January 31st, written from Vicksburg before
starting for Meridian, it will be seen clearly that
I indicated my intention to keep up the delusion of
an attack on Mobile by land, whereas I promised him
to be back to Vicksburg by the 1st of March, so as
to cooperate with him in his contemplated attack on
Shreveport:
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE
VICKSBURG, January 31, 1864
Major-General N. P. Banks, commanding
Department of the Gulf, New Orleans.
General: I received yesterday,
at the hands of Captain Durham, aide-de-camp, your
letter of the 25th inst., and hasten to reply.
Captain Durham has gone to the mouth of White River,
en route for Little Rock, and the other officers who
accompanied him have gone up to Cairo, as I understand,
to charter twenty-five steamboats for the Red River
trip. The Mississippi River, though low for the
season, is free of ice and in good boating order; but
I understand that Red River is still low. I
had a man in from Alexandria yesterday, who reported
the falls or rapids at that place impassable save
by the smallest boats. My inland expedition is
now moving, and I will be off for Jackson and Meridian
to-morrow. The only fear I have is in the weather.
All the other combinations are good. I want
to keep up the delusion of an attack on Mobile and
the Alabama River, and therefore would be obliged if
you would keep up an irritating foraging or other
expedition in that direction.
My orders from General Grant will
not, as yet, justify me in embarking for Red River,
though I am very anxious to move in that direction.
The moment I learned that you were preparing for it,
I sent a communication to Admiral Porter, and dispatched
to General Grant at Chattanooga, asking if he wanted
me and Steele to cooperate with you against Shreveport;
and I will have his answer in time, for you cannot
do any thing till Red River has twelve feet of water
on the rapids at Alexandria. That will be from
March to June. I have lived on Red River, and
know somewhat of the phases of that stream.
The expedition on Shreveport should be made rapidly,
with simultaneous movements from Little Rock on Shreveport,
from Opelousas on Alexandria, and a combined force
of gunboats and transports directly up Red River.
Admiral Porter will be able to have a splendid fleet
by March 1st. I think Steele could move with
ten thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry.
I could take about ten thousand, and you could, I
suppose, have the same. Your movement from Opelousas,
simultaneous with mine up the river, would compel
Dick Taylor to leave Fort De Russy (near Marksville),
and the whole combined force could appear at Shreveport
about a day appointed beforehand.
I doubt if the enemy will risk a siege
at Shreveport, although I am informed they are fortifying
the place, and placing many heavy guns in position.
It would be better for us that they should stand
there, as we might make large and important captures.
But I do not believe the enemy will fight a force
of thirty thousand men, acting in concert with gunboats.
I will be most happy to take part
in the proposed expedition, and hope, before you have
made your final dispositions, that I will have the
necessary permission. Half the Army of the Tennessee
is near the Tennessee River, beyond Huntsville, Alabama,
awaiting the completion of the railroad, and, by present
orders, I will be compelled to hasten there to command
it in person, unless meantime General Grant modifies
the plan. I have now in this department only
the force left to hold the river and the posts, and
I am seriously embarrassed by the promises made the
veteran volunteers for furlough. I think, by
March 1st, I can put afloat for Shreveport ten thousand
men, provided I succeed in my present movement in
cleaning out the State of Mississippi, and in breaking
up the railroads about Meridian.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
W. T. Sherman, Major-General, commanding.
The object of the Meridian expedition
was to strike the roads inland, so to paralyze the
rebel forces that we could take from the defense of
the Mississippi River the equivalent of a corps of
twenty thousand men, to be used in the next Georgia
campaign; and this was actually done. At the
same time, I wanted to destroy General Forrest, who,
with an irregular force of cavalry, was constantly
threatening Memphis and the river above, as well as
our routes of supply in Middle Tennessee. In
this we failed utterly, because General W. Sooy Smith
did not fulfill his orders, which were clear and specific,
as contained in my letter of instructions to him of
January 27th, at Memphis, and my personal explanations
to him at the same time. Instead of starting
at the date ordered, February 1st, he did not leave
Memphis till the 11th, waiting for Warings brigade
that was ice-bound near Columbus, Kentucky; and then,
when he did start, he allowed General Forrest to head
him off and to defeat him with an inferior force,
near West Point, below Okalona, on the Mobile & Ohio
Railroad.
We waited at Meridian till the 20th
to hear from General Smith, but hearing nothing whatever,
and having utterly destroyed the railroads in and
around that junction, I ordered General McPherson
to move back slowly toward Canton. With Winslow’s
cavalry, and Hurlbut’s infantry, I turned north
to Marion, and thence to a place called “Union,”
whence I dispatched the cavalry farther north to Philadelphia
and Louisville, to feel as it were for General Smith,
and then turned all the infantry columns toward Canton,
Mississippi. On the 26th we all reached Canton,
but we had not heard a word of General Smith, nor
was it until some time after (at Vicksburg) that I
learned the whole truth of General Smith’s movement
and of his failure. Of course I did not and could
not approve of his conduct, and I know that he yet
chafes under the censure. I had set so much
store on his part of the project that I was disappointed,
and so reported officially to General Grant.
General Smith never regained my confidence as a soldier,
though I still regard him as a most accomplished gentleman
and a skillful engineer. Since the close of
the war he has appealed to me to relieve him of that
censure, but I could not do it, because it would falsify
history.
Having assembled all my troops in
and about Canton, on the 27th of February I left them
under the command of the senior major-general, Hurlbut,
with orders to remain till about the 3d of March, and
then to come into Vicksburg leisurely; and, escorted
by Winslow’s cavalry, I rode into Vicksburg
on the last day of February. There I found letters
from General Grant, at Nashville, and General Banks,
at New Orleans, concerning his (General Banks’s)
projected movement up Red River. I was authorized
by the former to contribute aid to General Banks for
a limited time; but General Grant insisted on my returning
in person to my own command about Huntsville, Alabama,
as soon as possible, to prepare for the spring campaign.
About this time we were much embarrassed
by a general order of the War Department, promising
a thirty-days furlough to all soldiers who would
“veteranize” — viz., reenlist
for the rest of the war. This was a judicious
and wise measure, because it doubtless secured the
services of a very large portion of the men who had
almost completed a three-years enlistment, and were
therefore veteran soldiers in feeling and in habit.
But to furlough so many of our men at that instant
of time was like disbanding an army in the very midst
of battle.
In order to come to a perfect understanding
with General Banks, I took the steamer Diana and ran
down to New Orleans to see him. Among the many
letters which I found in Vicksburg on my return from
Meridian was one from Captain D. F. Boyd, of Louisiana,
written from the jail in Natchez, telling me that
he was a prisoner of war in our hands; had been captured
in Louisiana by some of our scouts; and he bespoke
my friendly assistance. Boyd was Professor of
Ancient Languages at the Louisiana Seminary of Learning
during my administration, in 1859-’60; was an
accomplished scholar, of moderate views in politics,
but, being a Virginian, was drawn, like all others
of his kind, into the vortex of the rebellion by the
events of 1861, which broke up colleges and every thing
at the South. Natchez, at this time, was in
my command, and was held by a strong division, commanded
by Brigadier-General J. W. Davidson. In the
Diana we stopped at Natchez, and I made a hasty inspection
of the place. I sent for Boyd, who was in good
health, but quite dirty, and begged me to take him
out of prison, and to effect his exchange. I
receipted for him; took him along with me to New Orleans;
offered him money, which he declined; allowed him to
go free in the city; and obtained from General Banks
a promise to effect his exchange, which was afterward
done. Boyd is now my legitimate successor in
Louisiana, viz., President of the Louisiana University,
which is the present title of what had been the Seminary
of Learning. After the war was over, Boyd went
back to Alexandria, reorganized the old institution,
which I visited in 1866 but the building was burnt
down by an accident or by an incendiary about 1868,
and the institution was then removed to Baton Rouge,
where it now is, under its new title of the University
of Louisiana.
We reached New Orleans on the 2d of
March. I found General Banks, with his wife
and daughter, living in a good house, and he explained
to me fully the position and strength of his troops,
and his plans of action for the approaching campaign.
I dined with him, and, rough as I was — just
out of the woods — attended, that night,
a very pleasant party at the house of a lady, whose
name I cannot recall, but who is now the wife of Captain
Arnold, Fifth United States Artillery. At this
party were also Mr. and Mrs. Frank Howe. I found
New Orleans much changed since I had been familiar
with it in 1853 and in 1860-’61. It was
full of officers and soldiers. Among the former
were General T. W. Sherman, who had lost a leg at
Port Hudson, and General Charles P: Stone, whom
I knew so well in California, and who is now in the
Egyptian service as chief of staff. The bulk
of General Banks’s army was about Opelousas,
under command of General Franklin, ready to move on
Alexandria. General Banks seemed to be all ready,
but intended to delay his departure a few days to
assist in the inauguration of a civil government for
Louisiana, under Governor Hahn. In Lafayette
Square I saw the arrangements of scaffolding for the
fireworks and benches for the audience. General
Banks urged me to remain over the 4th of March, to
participate in the ceremonies, which he explained
would include the performance of the “Anvil Chorus”
by all the bands of his army, and during the performance
the church-bells were to be rung, and cannons were
to be fired by electricity. I regarded all such
ceremonies as out of place at a time when it seemed
to me every hour and every minute were due to the
war. General Banks’s movement, however,
contemplated my sending a force of ten thousand men
in boats up Red River from Vicksburg, and that a junction
should occur at Alexandria by March 17th. I
therefore had no time to wait for the grand pageant
of the 4th of March, but took my departure from New
Orleans in the Diana the evening of March 3d.
On the next day, March 4th, I wrote
to General Banks a letter, which was extremely minute
in conveying to him how far I felt authorized to go
under my orders from General Grant. At that time
General Grant commanded the Military Division of the
Mississippi, embracing my own Department of the Tennessee
and that of General Steele in Arkansas, but not that
of General Banks in Louisiana. General Banks
was acting on his own powers, or under the instructions
of General Halleck in Washington, and our assistance
to him was designed as a loan of ten thousand men for
a period of thirty days. The instructions of
March 6th to General A. J. Smith, who commanded this
detachment, were full and explicit on this point.
The Diana reached Vicksburg on the 6th, where I found
that the expeditionary army had come in from Canton.
One division of five thousand men was made up out
of Hurlbut’s command, and placed under Brigadier-General
T. Kilby Smith; and a similar division was made out
of McPherson’s and Hurlbut’s troops, and
placed under Brigadier-General Joseph A. Mower; the
whole commanded by Brigadier-General A. J. Smith.
General Hurlbut, with the rest of his command, returned
to Memphis, and General McPherson remained at Vicksburg.
General A. J. Smith’s command was in due season
embarked, and proceeded to Red River, which it ascended,
convoyed by Admiral Porter’s fleet. General
Mower’s division was landed near the outlet
of the Atchafalaya, marched up by land and captured
the fort below Alexandria known as Fort De Russy, and
the whole fleet then proceeded up to Alexandria, reaching
it on the day appointed, viz., March 17th, where
it waited for the arrival of General Banks, who, however,
did not come till some days after. These two
divisions participated in the whole of General Banks’s
unfortunate Red River expedition, and were delayed
so long up Red River, and subsequently on the Mississippi,
that they did not share with their comrades the successes
and glories of the Atlanta campaign, for which I had
designed them; and, indeed, they, did not join our
army till just in time to assist General George H.
Thomas to defeat General Hood before Nashville, on
the 15th and 16th of December, 1864.
General Grant’s letter of instructions,
which was brought me by General Butterfield, who had
followed me to New Orleans, enjoined on me, after
concluding with General Banks the details for his Red
River expedition, to make all necessary arrangements
for furloughing the men entitled to that privilege,
and to hurry back to the army at Huntsville, Alabama.
I accordingly gave the necessary orders to General
McPherson, at Vicksburg, and continued up the river
toward Memphis. On our way we met Captain Badeau,
of General Grant’s staff, bearing the following
letter, of March 4th, which I answered on the 10th,
and sent the answer by General Butterfield, who had
accompanied me up from New Orleans. Copies of
both were also sent to General McPherson, at Vicksburg:
[Private.]
Nashville, Tennessee, March 4, 1864
Dear Sherman: The bill
reviving the grade of lieutenant-general in the army
has become a law, and my name has been sent to the
Senate for the place.
I now receive orders to report at
Washington immediately, in person, which indicates
either a confirmation or a likelihood of confirmation.
I start in the morning to comply with the order, but
I shall say very distinctly on my arrival there that
I shall accept no appointment which will require me
to make that city my headquarters. This, however,
is not what I started out to write about.
While I have been eminently successful
in this war, in at least gaining the confidence of
the public, no one feels more than I how much of this
success is due to the energy, skill, and the harmonious
putting forth of that energy and skill, of those whom
it has been my good fortune to have occupying subordinate
positions under me.
There are many officers to whom these
remarks are applicable to a greater or less degree,
proportionate to their ability as soldiers; but what
I want is to express my thanks to you and McPherson,
as the men to whom, above all others, I feel indebted
for whatever I have had of success. How far
your advice and suggestions have been of assistance,
you know. How far your execution of whatever
has been given you to do entitles you to the reward
I am receiving, you cannot know as well as I do.
I feel all the gratitude this letter would express,
giving it the most flattering construction.
The word you I use in the plural,
intending it for McPherson also. I should write
to him, and will some day, but, starting in the morning,
I do not know that I will find time just now.
Your friend,
U. S. Grant, Major-General.
[Private and confidential]
Near Memphis, March 10, 1864
General grant.
Dear general: I have
your more than kind and characteristic letter of the
4th, and will send a copy of it to General McPherson
at once.
You do yourself injustice and us too
much honor in assigning to us so large a share of
the merits which have led to your high advancement.
I know you approve the friendship I have ever professed
to you, and will permit me to continue as heretofore
to manifest it on all proper occasions.
You are now Washington’s legitimate
successor, and occupy a position of almost dangerous
elevation; but if you can continue as heretofore to
be yourself, simple, honest, and unpretending, you
will enjoy through life the respect and love of friends,
and the homage of millions of human beings who will
award to you a large share for securing to them and
their descendants a government of law and stability.
I repeat, you do General McPherson
and myself too much honor. At Belmont you manifested
your traits, neither of us being near; at Donelson
also you illustrated your whole character. I
was not near, and General McPherson in too subordinate
a capacity to influence you.
Until you had won Donelson, I confess
I was almost cowed by the terrible array of anarchical
elements that presented themselves at every point;
but that victory admitted the ray of light which I
have followed ever since.
I believe you are as brave, patriotic,
and just, as the great prototype Washington; as unselfish,
kind-hearted, and honest, as a man should be; but
the chief characteristic in your nature is the simple
faith in success you have always manifested, which
I can liken to nothing else than the faith a Christian
has in his Saviour.
This faith gave you victory at Shiloh
and Vicksburg. Also, when you have completed
your best preparations, you go into battle without
hesitation, as at Chattanooga — no doubts,
no reserve; and I tell you that it was this that made
us act with confidence. I knew wherever I was
that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place
you would come — if alive.
My only points of doubt were as to
your knowledge of grand strategy, and of books of
science and history; but I confess your common-sense
seems to have supplied all this.
Now as to the future. Do not
stay in Washington. Halleck is better qualified
than you are to stand the buffets of intrigue and
policy. Come out West; take to yourself the whole
Mississippi Valley; let us make it dead-sure, and
I tell you the Atlantic slope and Pacific shores will
follow its destiny as sure as the limbs of a tree
live or die with the main trunk! We have done
much; still much remains to be done. Time and
time’s influences are all with us; we could
almost afford to sit still and let these influences
work. Even in the seceded States your word now
would go further than a President’s proclamation,
or an act of Congress.
For God’s sake and for your
country’s sake, come out of Washington!
I foretold to General Halleck, before he left Corinth,
the inevitable result to him, and I now exhort you
to come out West. Here lies the seat of the coming
empire; and from the West, when our task is done,
we will make short work of Charleston and Richmond,
and the impoverished coast of the Atlantic. Your
sincere friend,
W. T. SHERMAN
We reached Memphis on the 13th, where
I remained some days, but on the 14th of March received
from General Grant a dispatch to hurry to Nashville
in person by the 17th, if possible. Disposing
of all matters then pending, I took a steamboat to
Cairo, the cars thence to Louisville and Nashville,
reaching that place on the 17th of March, 1864.
I found General Grant there.
He had been to Washington and back, and was ordered
to return East to command all the armies of the United
States, and personally the Army of the Potomac.
I was to succeed him in command of the Military Division
of the Mississippi, embracing the Departments of the
Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Arkansas. General
Grant was of course very busy in winding up all matters
of business, in transferring his command to me, and
in preparing for what was manifest would be the great
and closing campaign of our civil war. Mrs.
Grant and some of their children were with him, and
occupied a large house in Nashville, which was used
as an office, dwelling, and every thing combined.
On the 18th of March I had issued
orders assuming command of the Military Division of
the Mississippi, and was seated in the office, when
the general came in and said they were about to present
him a sword, inviting me to come and see the ceremony.
I went back into what was the dining-room of the
house; on the table lay a rose-wood box, containing
a sword, sash, spurs, etc., and round about the
table were grouped Mrs. Grant, Nelly, and one or two
of the boys. I was introduced to a large, corpulent
gentleman, as the mayor, and another citizen, who
had come down from Galena to make this presentation
of a sword to their fellow-townsman. I think
that Rawlins, Bowers, Badeau, and one or more of General
Grant’s personal staff, were present.
The mayor rose and in the most dignified way read
a finished speech to General Grant, who stood, as
usual, very awkwardly; and the mayor closed his speech
by handing him the resolutions of the City Council
engrossed on parchment, with a broad ribbon and large
seal attached. After the mayor had fulfilled
his office so well, General Grant said: “Mr.
Mayor, as I knew that this ceremony was to occur, and
as I am not used to speaking, I have written something
in reply.” He then began to fumble in
his pockets, first his breast-coat pocket, then his
pants, vest; etc., and after considerable delay
he pulled out a crumpled piece of common yellow cartridge-paper,
which he handed to the mayor. His whole manner
was awkward in the extreme, yet perfectly characteristic,
and in strong contrast with the elegant parchment
and speech of the mayor. When read, however,
the substance of his answer was most excellent, short,
concise, and, if it had been delivered by word of
mouth, would have been all that the occasion required.
I could not help laughing at a scene
so characteristic of the man who then stood prominent
before the country; and to whom all had turned as
the only one qualified to guide the nation in a war
that had become painfully critical. With copies
of the few letters referred to, and which seem necessary
to illustrate the subject-matter, I close this chapter:
Headquarters department of the
Tennessee
steamer Diana (under weigh), March
4, 1864
Major-General N. P. Banks, commanding Department
of the Gulf, New
Orleans.
General: I had the honor
to receive your letter of the 2d instant yesterday
at New Orleans, but was unable to answer, except verbally,
and I now reduce it to writing.
I will arrive at Vicksburg the 6th
instant, and I expect to meet there my command from
Canton, out of which I will select two divisions of
about ten thousand men, embark them under a good commander,
and order him:
1st. To rendezvous at the mouth
of Red River, and, in concert with Admiral Porter
(if he agree), to strike Harrisonburg a hard blow.
2d. To return to Red River and
ascend it, aiming to reach Alexandria on the 17th
of March, to report to you.
3d. That, as this command is
designed to operate by water, it will not be encumbered
with much land transportation, say two wagons to a
regiment, but with an ample supply of stores, including
mortars and heavy rifled guns, to be used against
fortified places.
4th. That I have calculated,
and so reported to General Grant, that this detachment
of his forces in no event is to go beyond Shreveport,
and that you will spare them the moment you can, trying
to get them back to the Mississippi River in thirty
days from the time they actually enter Red River.
The year is wearing away fast, and
I would like to carry to General Grant at Huntsville,
Alabama, every man of his military division, as early
in April as possible, for I am sure we ought to move
from the base of the Tennessee River to the south
before the season is too far advanced, say as early
as April 15th next.
I feel certain of your complete success,
provided you make the concentration in time, to assure
which I will see in person to the embarkation and
dispatch of my quota, and I will write to General
Steele, conveying to him my personal and professional
opinion that the present opportunity is the most perfect
one that will ever offer itself to him to clean out
his enemies in Arkansas.
Wishing you all honor and success,
I am, with respect, your friend and servant,
W. T. Sherman, Major-General.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE
VICKSBURG, March 6, 1864
Brigadier-General A. J. Smith,
commanding Expedition up Red River, Vicksburg, Mississippi.
General: By an order this
day issued, you are to command a strong, well-appointed
detachment of the Army of the Tennessee, sent to reinforce
a movement up Red River, but more especially against
the fortified position at Shreveport.
You will embark your command as soon
as possible, little encumbered with wagons or wheeled
vehicles, but well supplied with fuel, provisions,
and ammunition. Take with you the twelve mortars,
with their ammunition, and all the thirty-pound Parrotts
the ordnance-officer will supply. Proceed to
the mouth of Red River and confer with Admiral Porter.
Consult with him, and in all the expedition rely
on him implicitly, as he is the approved friend of
the Army of the Tennessee, and has been associated
with us from the beginning. I have undertaken
with General Banks that you will be at Alexandria,
Louisiana, on or before the 17th day of March; and
you will, if time allows, cooperate with the navy
in destroying Harrisonburg, up Black River; but as
I passed Red River yesterday I saw Admiral Porter,
and he told me he had already sent an expedition to
Harrisonburg, so that I suppose that part of the plan
will be accomplished before you reach Red River; but,
in any event, be careful to reach Alexandria about
the 17th of March.
General Banks will start by land from
Franklin, in the Teche country, either the 6th or
7th, and will march via Opelousas to Alexandria.
You will meet him there, report to him, and act under
his orders. My understanding with him is that
his forces will move by land, via Natchitoches, to
Shreveport, while the gunboat-fleet is to ascend the
river with your transports in company. Red River
is very low for the season, and I doubt if any of the
boats can pass the falls or rapids at Alexandria.
What General Banks proposes to do in that event I
do not know; but my own judgment is that Shreveport
ought not to be attacked until the gunboats can reach
it. Not that a force marching by land cannot
do it alone, but it would be bad economy in war to
invest the place with an army so far from heavy guns,
mortars, ammunition, and provisions, which can alone
reach Shreveport by water. Still, I do not know
about General Banks’s plans in that event; and
whatever they may be, your duty will be to conform,
in the most hearty manner.
My understanding with General Banks
is that he will not need the cooperation of your force
beyond thirty days from the date you reach Red River.
As soon as he has taken Shreveport, or as soon as
he can spare you, return to Vicksburg with all dispatch,
gather up your detachments, wagons, tents, transportation,
and all property pertaining to so much of the command
as belongs to the Sixteenth Army Corps, and conduct
it to Memphis, where orders will await you. My
present belief is your division, entire, will be needed
with the Army of the Tennessee, about Huntsville or
Bridgeport. Still, I will leave orders with
General, Hurlbut, at Memphis, for you on your return.
I believe if water will enable the
gunboats to cross the rapids at Alexandria, you will
be able to make a quick, strong, and effective blow
at our enemy in the West, thus widening the belt of
our territory, and making the breach between the Confederate
Government and its outlying trans-Mississippi
Department more perfect.
It is understood that General Steele
makes a simultaneous move from Little Rock, on Shreveport
or Natchitoches, with a force of about ten thousand
men. Banks will have seventeen thousand, and
you ten thousand. If these can act concentrically
and simultaneously, you will make short work of it,
and then General Banks will have enough force to hold
as much of the Red River country as he deems wise,
leaving you to bring to General Grant’s main
army the seven thousand five hundred men of the Sixteenth
Corps now with you. Having faith in your sound
judgment and experience, I confide this important
and delicate command to you, with certainty that you
will harmonize perfectly with Admiral Porter and General
Banks, with whom you are to act, and thereby insure
success.
I am, with respect, your obedient servant,
W. T. Sherman, Major-General commanding.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS, March 14, 1864
Major General McPHERSON, commanding, etc, Vicksburg,
Mississippi
Dear general: I wrote
you at length on the 11th, by a special bearer of
dispatches, and now make special orders to cover the
movements therein indicated. It was my purpose
to await your answer, but I am summoned by General
Grant to be in Nashville on the 17th, and it will
keep me moving night and day to get there by that
date. I must rely on you, for you understand
that we must reenforce the great army at the centre
(Chattanooga) as much as possible, at the same time
not risking the safety of any point on the Mississippi
which is fortified and armed with heavy guns.
I want you to push matters as rapidly as possible,
and to do all you can to put two handsome divisions
of your own corps at Cairo, ready to embark up the
Tennessee River by the 20th or 30th of April at the
very furthest. I wish it could be done quicker;
but the promise of those thirty-days furloughs in
the States of enlistment, though politic, is very
unmilitary. It deprives us of our ability to
calculate as to time; but do the best you can.
Hurlbut can do nothing till A. J. Smith returns from
Red River. I will then order him to occupy Grenada
temporarily, and to try and get those locomotives
that we need here. I may also order him with
cavalry and infantry to march toward Tuscaloosa, at
the same time that we move from the Tennessee River
about Chattanooga.
I don’t know as yet the grand
strategy of the next campaign, but on arrival at Nashville
I will soon catch the main points, and will advise
you of them..
Steal a furlough and run to Baltimore
incog.; but get back in time to take part in the next
grand move.
Write me fully and frequently of your
progress. I have ordered the quartermaster to
send down as many boats as he can get, to facilitate
your movements. Mules, wagons, etc., can
come up afterward by transient boats. I am truly
your friend,
W. T. Sherman, Major-General commanding.
[Special Field Order N.]
Headquarters department of the
Tennessee
Memphis, March 14, 1864
1. Major-General McPherson will
organize two good divisions of his corps (Seventeenth)
of about five thousand men, each embracing in part
the reenlisted veterans of his corps whose furloughs
will expire in April, which he will command in person,
and will rendezvous at Cairo, Illinois, and report
by telegraph and letter to the general commanding
at department headquarters, wherever they may be.
These divisions will be provided with new arms and
accoutrements, and land transportation (wagons and
mules) out of the supplies now at Vicksburg, which
will be conveyed to Cairo by or before April 15th.
4. During the absence of General
McPherson from the district of Vicksburg, Major-General
Hurlbut will exercise command over all the troops
in the Department of the Tennessee from Cairo to Natchez,
inclusive, and will receive special instructions from
department headquarters.
By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman:
L. M. Dayton, Aide-de-Camp.