[BANJO PLAYING DIXIE]
"IN THIS ARMY,
"ONE HOLE IN THE SEAT OF THE BRITCHES
"INDICATES A CAPTAIN,
"TWO HOLES--A LIEUTENANT,
"AND THE SEAT OF THE PANTS ALL OUT
INDICATES THAT THE INDIVIDUAL IS A PRIVATE."
THEY BOTH HAD A PARTICULAR WAY OF YELLING.
THE NORTHERN TROOPS MADE A SORT OF HURRAH.
IT WAS CALLED BY ONE SOLDIER,
"THE DEEP, GENEROUS, MANLY SHOUT" OF THE NORTHERN SOLDIER.
THE CONFEDERATES, OF COURSE, HAD WHAT WAS CALLED THE REBEL YELL.
WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THAT SOUNDED LIKE.
ONE NORTHERNER DESCRIBED IT, HE SAID,
HE DESCRIBED IT BY DESCRIBING THE PECULIAR CORKSCREW SENSATION
THAT GOES UP YOUR BACKBONE WHEN YOU HEAR IT,
AND HE SAID, "IF YOU CLAIM YOU'VE HEARD IT
"AND WEREN'T SCARED,
THAT MEANS YOU NEVER HEARD IT."
IT WAS...
IT WAS BASICALLY, I THINK, A SORT OF FOX HUNT YIP,
AND SWIRLED IT AROUND IN THE GREASE
MIXED UP WITH A SORT OF BANSHEE SQUALL.
AND IT WAS USED ON THE ATTACK.
AND AN OLD CONFEDERATE VETERAN AFTER THE WAR
WAS ASKED AT A UDC MEETING IN TENNESSEE SOMEWHERE
TO GIVE THE REBEL YELL.
THE LADIES HAD NEVER HEARD IT.
AND HE SAID, "IT CAN'T BE DONE EXCEPT AT A RUN,
"AND I COULDN'T DO IT ANYHOW
"WITH A MOUTH FULL OF FALSE TEETH
AND A STOMACH FULL OF FOOD."
SO THEY NEVER GOT TO HEAR WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE.
THE CIVIL WAR WAS FOUGHT IN 10,000 PLACES.
MURFREESBORO, CHAMBERSBURG, DRANESVILLE, AND OPELOUSAS,
APACHE CANYON, ST. AUGUSTINE,
PADUCAH, AND BRANDY STATION,
ON THE RED RIVER, THE RAPPAHANNOCK,
AND THE RAPIDAN,
ACROSS THE SUSQUEHANNA AND THE MONONGAHELA,
FROM MOUNT IDA AND MOUNT OLIVE
TO MOUNT ZION,
FROM NINEVAH AND NICKAJACK GAP
TO NEW BERNE, NEW CARTHAGE,
NEW IBERIA, NEW LISBON,
AND NEW HOPE,
FROM THE YAZOO DELTA
TO THE CHICKASAW BLUFFS.
BY 1863, THE TAIPING REBELLION IN CHINA
HAD ENTERED ITS 13th YEAR.
CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT IN AFGHANISTAN.
IN AMERICA, EDDIE CUTHBERT OF THE PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES
STOLE THE FIRST BASE IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
WAS FOUNDED IN WASHINGTON.
THE ROLLER SKATE WAS PATENTED,
AND HENRY FORD AND WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST
WERE BORN.
IN 1863, CONFEDERATE GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSON
WOULD BECOME A TERROR TO THE UNION ARMY
AND A LEGEND NORTH AND SOUTH.
JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN,
A COLLEGE PROFESSOR FROM MAINE,
WOULD LEAD HIS REGIMENT TO GLORY
ON HILLSIDES IN VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA.
IN THE WILDERNESS WEST OF FREDERICKSBURG,
ROBERT E. LEE WOULD DEVISE
ONE OF THE MOST DARING AND BRILLIANT BATTLE PLANS
OF THE WAR,
WHILE 1,000 MILES TO THE WEST,
ULYSSES S. GRANT CONTINUED TO HAMMER AWAY
AT THE REBEL STRONGHOLD AT VICKSBURG.
CONFEDERATE PRIVATE SAM WATKINS
WOULD FIGHT AT MURFREESBORO, SHELBYVILLE,
CHICKAMAUGA, LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, AND MISSIONARY RIDGE,
AND SOMEHOW SURVIVE,
WHILE ELISHA HUNT RHODES
WOULD HAVE THE BEST 4th OF JULY OF HIS LIFE.
IN 1863, DESPITE A NORTHERN VICTORY AT ANTIETAM,
DESPITE EMANCIPATION,
THE UNION SEEMED CLOSE TO FUMBLING ALL IT HAD.
MEANWHILE, FROM VICKSBURG TO CHARLESTON,
THE FRAGILE CONFEDERATE COALITION
WAS COMING APART,
AND YET SOMEHOW THE CONFEDERACY STAYED ALIVE
BY THE DARING AND LUCK AND GENIUS
BUT THE BIGGEST TESTS WERE COMING THAT SUMMER
WHERE THE MISSISSIPPI TOOK A SHARP TURN AT VICKSBURG
AND AT A SLEEPY CORNER OF PENNSYLVANIA.
"MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE, JANUARY 1, 1863.
"MARTHA, I CAN INFORM YOU
"THAT I HAVE SEEN THE MONKEY SHOW AT LAST,
"AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT NO MORE.
"I NEVER WANT TO GO ON ANOTHER FIGHT ANYMORE, SISTER.
"I WANT TO COME HOME WORSE THAN I EVER DID BEFORE.
THOMAS WARWICK."
"CHARLES COFFIN, BOSTON JOURNAL.
"ALL THE SURROUNDING FORESTS HAD DISAPPEARED,
"BUILT INTO HUTS WITH CHIMNEYS OF STICKS AND MUD
"OR CUT FOR BURNING IN THE STONE FIREPLACES.
"THE SOLDIERS WERE DISCOURAGED.
"THEY KNEW THAT THEY HAD FOUGHT BRAVELY
"BUT THAT THERE HAD BEEN MISMANAGEMENT
AND INEFFICIENT GENERALSHIP."
"FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA.
"THIS MORNING, WE FOUND OURSELVES COVERED
"WITH SNOW THAT HAD FALLEN DURING THE NIGHT.
"IT IS TOO COLD TO WRITE.
"SOME OF THOSE ON TO RICHMOND FELLOWS OUT HERE WITH US.
ELISHA HUNT RHODES."
THE MEN OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
HAD NOT BEEN PAID FOR SIX MONTHS,
AND WHILE ARMY WAREHOUSES AT WASHINGTON BULGED WITH FOOD,
LITTLE OF IT GOT TO THE WINTER CAMP.
"I HAVE EVER SEEN GREATER MISERY FROM SICKNESS
"THAN NOW EXISTS IN OUR ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
THOMAS F. PERLY, INSPECTOR GENERAL."
ONE WISCONSIN OFFICER
CALLED THE WINTER CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA,
THE UNION'S VALLEY FORGE.
HUNDREDS DIED FROM SCURVY, DYSENTERY,
TYPHOID, DIPHTHERIA, PNEUMONIA.
THERE WERE EPIDEMICS OF MEASLES, MUMPS,
AND OTHER CHILDHOOD DISEASES.
AND FARM BOYS,
CROWDED WITH OTHER MEN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES,
WERE ESPECIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE.
DISEASE WAS THE CHIEF KILLER OF THE WAR,
TAKING TWO FOR EVERY ONE WHO DIED OF BATTLE WOUNDS.
"ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THESE TIMES
"WAS THE ARMY COUGH.
"IT IS ALMOST A LITERAL FACT
"THAT WHEN 100,000 MEN BEGAN TO STIR AT REVEILLE,
"THE SOUND OF THEIR COUGHING
WOULD DROWN OUT THAT OF THE BEATING DRUMS."
"THE NEWSPAPERS SAY THE ARMY IS EAGER FOR ANOTHER FIGHT.
"IT IS FALSE.
"THEY ARE HEARTILY SICK OF BATTLES
THAT PRODUCE NO RESULTS."
"I DON'T THINK I HAVE RECEIVED HALF OF MY LETTERS.
"IT CANNOT BE POSSIBLE THAT ONE IS MY QUOTA
"IN OVER THREE WEEKS FROM HOME.
"I'VE WRITTEN CONSTANTLY FROM EVERY PLACE
"WHERE WE HAVE STOPPED LONG ENOUGH TO WRITE
"AND COULD MAIL A LETTER.
EDWARD HASTINGS RIPLEY."
200 MEN DESERTED EVERY DAY.
BY LATE JANUARY, 1/4 OF THE UNION ARMY
WAS ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE.
ADDED TO THE MEN'S MISERY
WERE MEMORIES OF THE BATTLE THEY HAD FOUGHT
ACROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK AT FREDERICKSBURG IN DECEMBER.
AT FREDERICKSBURG, THERE WAS A...AN EXCHANGE
ACROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
ONE OF THEM HOLLERED, "HEY, REB,"
AND THEY SAID, "YEAH?"
"WHEN ARE YOU FELLAS GOING TO COME OVER?"
THEY SAID, "WHEN WE GET GOOD AND READY.
WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
AND THEY SAID, "WANT FREDERICKSBURG."
"DON'T YOU WISH, YOU MAY GET IT!"
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
THERE WERE A LOT OF THOSE EXCHANGES.
A LINE OF HILLS OVERLOOKED FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA,
A KEY CONFEDERATE TRANSPORTATION LINK
MIDWAY BETWEEN RICHMOND AND WASHINGTON.
UNION GENERAL AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE'S PLAN
HAD BEEN TO CROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK BY PONTOON,
OCCUPY THE TOWN,
THEN TAKE THE THINLY DEFENDED HEIGHTS.
BOLD ACTION DID NOT COME NATURALLY TO AMBROSE BURNSIDE,
THOUGH HE HAD LED HIS MEN TO FREDERICKSBURG
DETERMINED TO DISPLAY
THE FIGHTING SPIRIT HIS PREDECESSOR GEORGE McCLELLAN
HAD SO CONSPICUOUSLY LACKED.
BUT NOW THE WAR DEPARTMENT FAILED HIM,
AND 17 DAYS PASSED
WAITING FOR PONTOON BRIDGES TO ARRIVE.
BY THE TIME THE BRIDGE WAS IN PLACE,
LEE HAD 75,000 MEN WAITING IN THE HILLS.
STONEWALL JACKSON WAS ON THE RIGHT,
JAMES LONGSTREET ON THE LEFT
ALONG A BLUFF CALLED MARYE'S HEIGHTS.
FROM THE TOP OF THE HEIGHTS,
LEE COULD JUST SEE CHATHAM MANSION
ACROSS THE RIVER ON THE UNION SIDE,
WHERE 30 YEARS BEFORE
HE HAD COURTED HIS WIFE MARY CUSTIS.
IT WAS NOW BURNSIDE'S HEADQUARTERS.
UNION GUNS BEGAN SHELLING FREDERICKSBURG,
SETTING MUCH OF THE TOWN ON FIRE.
THEN THE TROOPS STARTED ACROSS THE RIVER.
SOME WONDERED WHY THE CONFEDERATES
DID NOT MAKE IT HARDER FOR THEM TO CROSS.
"THEY WANT TO GET US IN," ONE PRIVATE SAID.
"GETTING OUT WON'T BE QUITE SO SMART AND EASY."
WHILE WAITING TO ATTACK THE HEIGHTS,
UNION MEN LOOTED WHAT WAS LEFT OF THE TOWN.
THE GREAT ASSAULT CAME TWO DAYS LATER ON DECEMBER 13th.
FEDERAL FORCES ADVANCED TOWARD MARYE'S HEIGHTS.
LEE COULD NOT BELIEVE THE ENEMY WOULD BE SO FOOLISH.
HIS ARTILLERY COVERED ALL THE APPROACHES.
FOUR LINES OF RIFLEMEN WAITED BEHIND A STONE WALL
THAT RAN ALONG THE BASE OF THE HILL.
"GENERAL," AN OFFICER ASSURED JAMES LONGSTREET,
"A CHICKEN COULD NOT LIVE IN THAT FIELD
WHEN WE OPEN ON IT."
"HOW BEAUTIFULLY THEY CAME ON.
"THEIR BRIGHT BAYONETS GLISTENING IN THE SUNLIGHT
"MADE THE LINE LOOK LIKE A HUGE SERPENT OF BLUE AND STEEL.
"WE COULD SEE OUR SHELLS BURSTING IN THEIR RANKS,
"MAKING GREAT GAPS,
"BUT ON THEY CAME,
"AS THOUGH THEY WOULD GO STRAIGHT THROUGH US AND OVER US.
"NOW WE GAVE THEM CANISTER, AND THAT STAGGERED THEM.
"AND THE GEORGIANS IN THE ROAD BELOW US ROSE UP
"AND LET LOOSE A STORM OF LEAD
INTO THE FACES OF THE ADVANCING BRIGADE."
"THE BRILLIANT ASSAULT OF THEIR IRISH BRIGADE
"WAS BEYOND DESCRIPTION.
"WE FORGOT THEY WERE FIGHTING US,
"AND CHEER AFTER CHEER AT THEIR FEARLESSNESS WENT UP
"ALONG OUR LINES.
GENERAL GEORGE PICKETT."
IT WAS SUICIDE.
"THEY CAME FORWARD," ONE MAN SAID,
"AS THOUGH THEY WERE BREASTING A STORM OF RAIN AND SLEET.
"FACES AND BODIES HALF TURNED TO THE STORM.
SHOULDERS SHRUGGED."
THE IRISH BRIGADE GOT WITHIN 25 PACES OF THE WALL.
THE MEN OF THE 24th GEORGIA WHO SHOT THEM DOWN
WERE IRISH, TOO.
A UNION OFFICER WATCHING FROM A CHURCH STEEPLE
SAW BRIGADE AFTER BRIGADE CHARGE THE STONE WALL.
"THEY SEEMED TO MELT," HE SAID,
"LIKE SNOW COMING DOWN ON WARM GROUND."
THEY STILL BELIEVED THAT TO TAKE A POSITION,
YOU MASSED YOUR MEN AND MOVED UP
AND GAVE THEM THE BAYONET.
THERE WERE PRACTICALLY NO BAYONET WOUNDS
IN THE CIVIL WAR MUCH MORE THAN THERE WERE
IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR OR THE SECOND.
THEY NEVER CAME IN THAT KIND OF CONTACT,
OR AT LEAST VERY SELDOM CAME IN THAT KIND OF CONTACT,
BUT THEY STILL THOUGHT THAT TO MASS THEIR FIRE
THEY HAD TO MASS THEIR MEN.
SO THEY LINED UP
AND MARCHED UP TOWARD AN ENTRENCHED LINE
AND GOT BLOWN AWAY.
[HORSE NEIGHS] 14 ASSAULTS WERE BEATEN BACK FROM MARYE'S HEIGHTS
BEFORE BURNSIDE DECIDED IT COULD NOT BE TAKEN.
9,000 MEN FELL BEFORE THE CONFEDERATE GUNS.
MORE CREDIT FOR VALOR IS GIVEN TO CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS.
THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE HAD MORE ELAN AND DASH.
ACTUALLY, I KNOW OF NO BRAVER MEN IN EITHER ARMY
THAN THE UNION TROOPS AT FREDERICKSBURG,
WHICH IS A SERIOUS DEFEAT.
BUT TO KEEP CHARGING THAT WALL
AT THE FOOT OF MARYE'S HEIGHTS,
AFTER ALL THE FAILURES THERE HAVE BEEN,
AND THEY WERE ALL FAILURES, IS A SINGULAR INSTANCE OF VALOR.
WATCHING FROM ABOVE, EVEN ROBERT E. LEE WAS MOVED.
"IT IS WELL," HE SAID, "THAT WAR IS SO TERRIBLE.
WE SHOULD GROW TOO FOND OF IT."
COLONEL JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN AND HIS 20th MAINE
WERE AMONG THE THOUSANDS OF UNION MEN
PINNED DOWN AT THE FOOT OF THE HEIGHTS.
THAT NIGHT, THE TEMPERATURE FELL BELOW FREEZING,
AND A STIFF WIND BLEW.
MEN NOW FROZE AS WELL AS BLED TO DEATH.
NIGHT BROUGHT QUIET.
"BUT OUT OF THAT SILENCE ROSE NEW SOUNDS,
"MORE APPALLING STILL-- STRANGE VENTRILOQUISM,
"OF WHICH YOU COULD NOT LOCATE THE SOURCE.
"A SMOTHERED MOAN,
"AS IF A THOUSAND DISCORDS WERE FLOWING TOGETHER
"INTO A KEYNOTE--
"WEIRD, UNEARTHLY, TERRIBLE TO HEAR AND BEAR,
"YET STARTLING WITH ITS NEARNESS.
"THE WRITHING CONCORD BROKEN BY CRIES FOR HELP.
"SOME BEGGING FOR A DROP OF WATER.
"SOME CALLING ON GOD FOR PITY
"AND SOME ON FRIENDLY HANDS TO FINISH
"WHAT THE ENEMY HAD SO HORRIBLY BEGUN.
"SOME WITH DELIRIOUS, DREAMY VOICES
"MURMURING LOVED NAMES
AS IF THE DEAREST WERE BENDING OVER THEM."
"AND UNDERNEATH, ALL THE TIME,
"THE DEEP BASS NOTE FROM CLOSED LIPS
TOO HOPELESS OR TOO HEROIC TO ARTICULATE THEIR AGONY."
"AT LAST, OUTWEARIED AND DEPRESSED,
"I MOVED TWO DEAD MEN A LITTLE
"AND LAY DOWN BETWEEN THEM,
"MAKING A PILLOW OF THE BREAST OF A THIRD,
"DREW THE FLAP OF HIS OVERCOAT OVER MY FACE
"AND TRIED TO SLEEP.
JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN."
THEY WERE STUCK THERE ALL NIGHT
AND ALL THE NEXT DAY,
CROUCHING BEHIND A WALL OF THEIR OWN DEAD,
TRYING NOT TO HEAR THE CONFEDERATE BULLETS
THUDDING INTO THE CORPSES OF THEIR FRIENDS.
BURNSIDE, OPENLY WEEPING,
DECLARED THAT HE HIMSELF WOULD LEAD THE NEW ATTACK.
SUBORDINATES TALKED HIM OUT OF IT.
THAT NIGHT, CHAMBERLAIN AND HIS MEN
SCRAPED OUT SHALLOW GRAVES FOR THE DEAD.
AS THEY WORKED,
THE NORTHERN LIGHTS BEGAN TO DANCE
IN THE WINTER SKY.
"WHO WOULD NOT PASS ON AS THEY DID?
"DEAD FOR THEIR COUNTRY'S LIFE
"AND LIGHTED TO BURIAL BY THE METEOR SPLENDORS
OF THEIR NATIVE SKY."
IT WAS VERY UNUSUAL TO SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
THAT FAR SOUTH,
BUT THE WHOLE HEAVENS WERE LIT UP WITH STREAMERS OF FIRE,
AND WHATEVER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ARE.
AND THE CONFEDERATES TOOK IT AS A SIGN
THAT GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF
WAS CELEBRATING A CONFEDERATE VICTORY.
"THE SLAUGHTER IS TERRIBLE,
"THE RESULT, DISASTROUS.
"UNTIL WE HAVE GOOD GENERALS,
IT IS USELESS TO FIGHT BATTLES."
THE UNION HAD LOST 12,600 MEN.
THE SOUTH HAD LOST 5,300 MEN,
BUT MANY OF THEM WERE ONLY MISSING--
GONE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.
THE BATTERED UNION ARMY LIMPED BACK ACROSS THE RIVER.
ICY RAIN BEGAN TO FALL.
FROM THE RUINS OF FREDERICKSBURG,
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS OPENLY TAUNTED THE UNION TROOPS
HUDDLED MISERABLY ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
AFTER THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG,
THE CONFEDERATES WENT BACK INTO THE TOWN.
THEY SAW ALL THE DAMAGE THAT HAD BEEN DONE
DURING THE UNION OCCUPATION OF THE TOWN--
IT WAS A GREAT DEAL OF DAMAGE, REAL VANDALISM--
AND THEY WERE SHOCKED.
AND SOMEONE ON JACKSON'S STAFF SAID,
"HOW ARE WE GOING TO PUT AN END
TO ALL THIS KIND OF THING?"
AND JACKSON SAID, "KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL."
"CLARKSVILLE.
"THOSE HATEFUL GUNBOATS.
"THEY LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE FROM THE LOWER REGIONS.
"NOW THIS IS THE SECOND NIGHT
"THAT FOUR OF THEM HAVE BEEN ANCHORED IN THE RIVER
"OPPOSITE OUR HOUSE.
"I SEE THE MEN CRAWLING ABOUT ON THE BOATS
"LIKE SO MANY BLACK SNAKES.
NANNIE HASKINS."
1,500 UNION MEN WERE NOW STATIONED
AT CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE.
NO ONE COULD ENTER OR LEAVE THE TOWN
WITHOUT A MILITARY PASS.
"EVERY DAY," MRS. D.N. KENNEDY WROTE HER HUSBAND IN GEORGIA,
"THE REIGNS ARE TIGHTENED."
ON DEER ISLE, MAINE,
THE PARENTS OF PRIVATE HARLTON POWERS
LEARNED THAT HE WAS AMONG THE MISSING AT FREDERICKSBURG.
IN FACT, HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS WERE CERTAIN HE WAS DEAD,
BUT HAD BEEN UNABLE TO RECOGNIZE HIS BODY
AMONG THE SWOLLEN, BLACKENED UNION CORPSES.
HIS FATHER PLACED A STONE TO HIS MEMORY ANYWAY
IN THE LITTLE CEMETERY AT SOUTHWEST HARBOR.
PRIVATE ALFRED ROBBINS, AGE 20,
COLLAPSED AND DIED WHILE ON HIS WAY TO MAIL A LETTER
MEANING MUD,
THE CAUSE WAS NEVER DISCOVERED.
IN MARCH, CORPORAL FARNUM HASKELL'S COFFIN
CAME HOME FROM LOUISIANA
AND WAS BURIED AT MOUNT ADAMS CEMETERY,
DESPITE THE GREAT DIFFICULTY OF DIGGING A GRAVE
IN THE FROZEN GROUND.
DURING THE LONG, COLD, RAINY WINTER OF 1863,
CONFEDERATE FORCES HUDDLED IN DEFENSIVE POSITIONS
SOUTH OF THE DUCK RIVER NEAR TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE.
CONFEDERATE OFFICERS LIKED TO EXPLAIN
THAT TULLAHOMA CAME FROM THE GREEK WOTULLA,
AHOMA,MA, MEANING MORE MUD.
THE CONFEDERACY WAS ON THE MOVE.
CONFEDERATE GENERAL JOHN C. PEMBERTON
BEAT BACK UNION FORCES
TRYING TO TAKE THE CHICKASAW BLUFFS
NORTH OF VICKSBURG.
JOHN MORGAN'S CONFEDERATE CAVALRY
RAIDED KENTUCKY, BURNING BRIDGES,
TWISTING TRAIN TRACKS,
AND TAKING 2,000 UNION PRISONERS.
AND NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST
WAS DRIVING THE UNION ARMY MAD EVERYWHERE HE WENT--
STEALING HORSES, HARRYING SUPPLY LINES,
ATTACKING ARMIES FOUR TIMES THE STRENGTH OF HIS,
THEN DISAPPEARING WITHOUT A TRACE.
IN TWO WEEKS, FORREST STOLE 10,000 RIFLES,
WRECKED $3 MILLION WORTH OF EQUIPMENT,
CUT U.S. GRANT'S LIFE LINES,
AND FORCED HIM TO RETREAT.
WENT ABOARD THE BADLY HIT U.S.S. HARRIET LANE.
CAPTURED A UNION FLOTILLA AT GALVESTON.
AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT WAS OVER,
CONFEDERATE MAJOR A.M. LEA
THERE HE FOUND HIS SON, A FEDERAL LIEUTENANT,
DYING ON THE DECK.
"JANUARY 24, NEAR FALMOUTH.
"DAYLIGHT SHOWED A STRANGE SCENE.
"MEN, HORSES, ARTILLERY, PONTOONS, AND WAGONS
"WERE STUCK IN THE MUD.
"REBELS PUT UP A SIGN MARKED,
"BURNSIDE STUCK IN THE MUD.
"WE CAN FIGHT REBELS BUT NOT IN THE MUD.
ELISHA HUNT RHODES."
"I WISH YOU COULD HEAR JOSHUA GIVE OFF A COMMAND
"AND SEE HIM RIDE ALONG THE BATTALION
"ON HIS WHITE HORSE.
"HE LOOKED SO SPLENDIDLY.
"HE TOLD ME LAST NIGHT
"THAT HE NEVER FELT SO WELL IN HIS LIFE.
TOM CHAMBERLAIN."
"WHAT MAKES IT STRANGE
"IS THAT I SHOULD HAVE GAINED 12 POUNDS
LIVING ON WORMS."
"WE LIVE SO MEAN HERE THAT HARD BREAD IS ALL WORM,
"AND THE MEAT STINKS LIKE HELL.
"AND RICE TWO OR THREE TIMES A WEEK,
"AND WORMS AS LONG AS YOUR FINGER.
I LIKED RICE ONCE, BUT GOD DAMN THE STUFF NOW."
"IT WAS NO UNCOMMON OCCURRENCE
"FOR A MAN TO FIND THE SURFACE OF HIS POT OF COFFEE
"SWIMMING WITH WEEVILS
"AFTER BREAKING UP HARDTACK IN IT,
"BUT THEY WERE EASILY SKIMMED OFF
AND LEFT NO DISTINCTIVE FLAVOR BEHIND."
"TELL MA THAT I THINK OF HER BEANS AND COLLARDS OFTEN
"AND WISH FOR SOME, BUT WISHING DOES NO GOOD.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN JACKSON."
UNION TROOPS WERE ISSUED BEANS, BACON,
PICKLED BEEF-- CALLED SALT HORSE BY THE MEN--
DESICCATED, COMPRESSED MIXED VEGETABLES,
AND HARDTACK--SQUARE FLOUR AND WATER BISCUITS
HARD ENOUGH, SOME SAID, THEY COULD STOP BULLETS.
IN THE SOUTHERN ARMY, YOU ATE SOMETHING CALLED SLOOSH.
YOU GOT ISSUED CORNMEAL AND BACON,
AND YOU FRIED THE BACON,
WHICH LEFT A GREAT DEAL OF GREASE IN THE PAN.
THEN YOU TOOK THE CORNMEAL
TO MAKE THE DOUGH.
THEN YOU MIGHT TAKE THE DOUGH AND MAKE A SNAKE OF IT
AND PUT IT AROUND YOUR RAMROD
AND COOK IT OVER THE CAMPFIRE.
THAT WAS CALLED SLOOSH.
THEY ATE A LOT OF THAT.
COFFEE WAS THE PREFERRED DRINK OF BOTH ARMIES.
UNION TROOPS CRUSHED THE BEANS WITH THEIR RIFLE BUTTS,
DRANK FOUR PINTS OF IT A DAY--
STRONG ENOUGH, ONE MAN SAID, TO FLOAT AN IRON WEDGE.
WHEN THEY COULD NOT BUILD A FIRE,
WERE CONTENT TO CHEW THE GROUNDS.
SOUTHERNERS MADE DO WITH SUBSTITUTES
BREWED FROM PEANUTS, POTATOES, AND CHICORY.
"WE HAVE BEEN LIVING ON THE CONTENTS
"OF THOSE BOXES YOU SENT TO US.
"NOTHING WAS SPOILED EXCEPT THAT CARD OF BISCUITS.
"THOSE WERE MOLDED SOME,
"BUT WE USED OVER HALF OF THEM IN A SOUP.
"THANK MR. BERDICTS A THOUSAND TIMES FOR ME.
"AND THE DRIED BEEF AND APPLESAUCE--
"ALSO MRS. MAXSON FOR THOSE PIES,
"AND THOSE FRIED CAKES AND GINGERSNAPS
"AND THE DRIED BERRIES, THEY'RE NICE,
THAT WAS FIRST-RATE."
"NO ONE AGENT SO MUCH OBSTRUCTS THIS ARMY
"AS THE DEGRADING VICE OF DRUNKENNESS.
"TOTAL ABSTINENCE WOULD BE WORTH 50,000 MEN
"TO THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
GENERAL GEORGE McCLELLAN."
IF A SOLDIER COULDN'T BUY IT, HE MADE IT.
ONE UNION RECIPE CALLED FOR BARK JUICE,
TAR WATER, TURPENTINE, BROWN SUGAR,
LAMP OIL, AND ALCOHOL.
SOUTHERNERS SOMETIMES DROPPED IN RAW MEAT
AND LET THE MIXTURE FERMENT FOR A MONTH OR SO
TO ADD WHAT ONE VETERAN REMEMBERED
AS "AN OLD AND MELLOW TASTE."
THE MEN CALLED THEIR HOME BREW "NOCKUM STIFF,"
"POP SKULL," AND "OH! BE JOYFUL."
"I INVITED MY COMRADES TO ASSIST ME
"IN EMPTYING THREE CANTEENS OF OH! BE JOYFUL,
"THEN SPENT THE BALANCE OF THE EVENING SINGING.
THEN WE PARTED IN GOOD SPIRITS."
IN MARCH 1863, JOHN MOSBY'S CONFEDERATE RANGERS
RAIDED FAIRFAX COURTHOUSE, VIRGINIA,
CAPTURING TWO CAPTAINS,
30 PRIVATES, 58 HORSES,
AND BRIGADIER GENERAL EDWIN STOUGHTON.
"FOR THAT I AM SORRY," LINCOLN SAID
WHEN TOLD OF THE CAPTURE,
"FOR I CAN MAKE BRIGADIER GENERALS,
BUT I CAN'T MAKE HORSES."
GENERAL MOSBY HAD MADE LIFE MISERABLE
FOR NORTHERN COMMANDERS THROUGHOUT THE WAR.
NO OTHER CONFEDERATE OFFICER WAS MENTIONED FAVORABLY
AS MANY TIMES IN ROBERT E. LEE'S DISPATCHES
AS JOHN SINGLETON MOSBY.
[SHELBY FOOTE] THERE WERE NO MEDALS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY--
NOT ONE IN THE WHOLE COURSE OF THE WAR.
THE CONFEDERATE REASON FOR THAT GIVEN
WAS THAT THEY WERE ALL HEROES,
AND IT WOULD NOT DO TO SINGLE ANYONE OUT.
THEY WERE NOT ALL HEROES,
BUT THERE WAS A SUGGESTION, MADE TO LEE
THAT THERE BE A ROLL OF HONOR
FOR THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
LEE DISALLOWED IT.
THE HIGHEST HONOR YOU COULD GET IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY
WAS TO BE MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES.
THAT WAS CONSIDERED ABSOLUTELY ENOUGH.
"MARCH 5, 1863.
"THE ARM OF THE SLAVES
"IS THE BEST DEFENSE
"AGAINST THE ARM OF THE SLAVE HOLDER.
"WHO WOULD BE FREE THEMSELVES
"MUST STRIKE THE BLOW.
"I URGE YOU TO FLY TO ARMS
"AND SMITE WITH DEATH
"THE POWER THAT WOULD BURY THE GOVERNMENT
"AND YOUR LIBERTY
"IN THE SAME HOPELESS GRAVE.
"THIS IS OUR GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS."
"THE COLORED POPULATION
"IS THE GREAT AVAILABLE, AND YET UNAVAILED OF, FORCE
"FOR RESTORING THE UNION.
"THE BARE SIGHT OF 50,000 ARMED AND DRILLED BLACK SOLDIERS
"UPON THE BANKS OF THE MISSISSIPPI
"WOULD END THE REBELLION AT ONCE,
"AND WHO DOUBTS THAT WE CAN PRESENT THAT SIGHT
"IF WE BUT TAKE HOLD IN EARNEST?
ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
THE PEOPLE MOST AFFECTED BY THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
OBVIOUSLY DID NOT RECEIVE IT AS NEWS
BECAUSE THEY KNEW BEFORE LINCOLN KNEW
THAT THE WAR WAS ABOUT EMANCIPATION,
AND MOREOVER, THEY KNEW,
AS PERHAPS LINCOLN DID WITHOUT FULLY REALIZING IT
AND CERTAINLY AS MANY PEOPLE TODAY DO NOT REALIZE,
THAT THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION DID NOTHING
TO GET THEM THEIR FREEDOM.
IT SAID THAT THEY HAD A RIGHT
TO GO AND PUT THEIR BODIES ON THE LINE
IF THEY HAD THE NERVE TO BELIEVE IN IT,
AND MANY OF THEM HAD THE NERVE TO BELIEVE IN IT,
AND MANY SUFFERED FOR THAT.
TO LINCOLN, IT WAS NOW CLEAR
THAT HARSHER MEASURES WERE NEEDED
TO DESTROY THE CONFEDERACY.
HE CALLED FOR MORE TROOPS,
AND IN FEBRUARY,
PUSHED A CONSCRIPTION ACT THROUGH CONGRESS.
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION HAD ALREADY AUTHORIZED
THE ARMING OF FREED SLAVES.
"AS TO THE POLITICS OF WASHINGTON,
"THE MOST STRIKING THING
"IS THE ABSENCE OF PERSONAL LOYALTY TO THE PRESIDENT.
"IT DOES NOT EXIST.
"HE HAS NO ADMIRERS, NO ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTERS,
NO ONE TO BET ON HIS HEAD."
THE FALL ELECTIONS HAD NOT GONE WELL.
FREDERICKSBURG ONLY MADE MATTERS WORSE.
IN WASHINGTON, TALK OF THE DISASTER WAS EVERYWHERE.
"IF THERE IS A WORSE PLACE THAN HELL,"
LINCOLN TOLD A VISITOR, "I'M IN IT."
THE SINGLE MOST UNPOPULAR ACT OF LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION
WAS THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
IT NOT ONLY WAS HORRIBLY UNPOPULAR IN THE CONFEDERACY,
WHERE JEFFERSON DAVIS CALLED IT
"THE MOST WICKED THING
THAT THE DARK SIDE OF HUMANKIND HAD EVER CAME UP WITH,"
BUT MILLIONS OF NORTHERNERS RESPONDED TO IT AS WELL.
THEY DID NOT REALLY WANT THE--
A GREAT MANY NORTHERNERS DID NOT WANT THE WAR
TO BE CHANGED TO A WAR OVER SLAVE LIBERATION.
OPPOSITION TO THE WAR WAS SPREADING,
ESPECIALLY AMONG DEMOCRATS IN THE HEARTLAND--
MICHIGAN, OHIO, IOWA, INDIANA,
AND THE SOUTHERN HALF OF LINCOLN'S OWN ILLINOIS.
THE PROCLAMATION IGNITED AN ANTIWAR MOVEMENT
IN THE NORTH.
ALL BUT 35 MEN OF THE 138th ILLINOIS
DESERTED OVER EMANCIPATION,
DECLARING THEY WOULD LIE IN THE WOODS
UNTIL MOSS GREW ON THEIR BACKS
RATHER THAN HELP FREE THE SLAVES.
GROUPS WITH NAMES LIKE THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
AND SONS OF LIBERTY MET IN SECRET
AND MUTTERED OF FORCING AN END TO THE WAR.
THEIR ENEMIES CALLED THEM COPPERHEADS,
AND THEY WORE ON THEIR LAPELS THE HEAD OF LIBERTY,
SNIPPED FROM A COPPER PENNY.
THEIR LEADER WAS CONGRESSMAN CLEMENT VALLANDIGHAM OF OHIO.
LINCOLN HAD HIM THROWN IN JAIL
AND LATER BANISHED TO THE CONFEDERACY.
"YOU HAVE NOT CONQUERED THE SOUTH. YOU NEVER WILL.
"WAR FOR THE UNION WAS ABANDONED.
"WAR FOR THE NEGRO OPENLY BEGUN
"AND WITH STRONGER BATTALIONS THAN BEFORE.
"WITH WHAT SUCCESS?
LET THE DEAD AT FREDERICKSBURG ANSWER."
ALL OF THESE THINGS BORE IN ON HIM,
PLUS THE FACT THAT THE SOUTH HAD A STRONG ARMY
AND A GOOD LEADERSHIP,
BUT THEN HE WOULD PICK UP A RICHMOND NEWSPAPER,
AND HE'D SAY, "HERE'S WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"ABOUT JEFF DAVIS...DOWN HERE.
YOU KNOW, I DON'T LOOK SO BAD."
BECAUSE THE SOUTH HAD A FREE PRESS, TOO.
AND HE REALIZED, YOU KNOW,
THAT JEFF WAS NOT DOING ANY BETTER THAN HE WAS
DAVIS WAS WALKING DOWN THE STREET IN RICHMOND ONE DAY, AS FAR AS THEY WERE CONCERNED.
AND A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER,
WHO WAS IN RICHMOND ON FURLOUGH, PASSED HIM
AND STOPPED HIM AND SAID,
"SIR, MISTER, BE YOU JEFFERSON DAVIS?"
DAVIS SAID THAT HE WAS.
THE SOLDIER SAID, "WELL, I THOUGHT SO.
YOU LOOK SO MUCH LIKE A CONFEDERATE POSTAGE STAMP."
JEFFERSON DAVIS WAS TRYING TO WIN A WAR
WHILE FORGING A NATION OUT OF 11 STATES
SUSPICIOUS OF EVEN THE MOST TRIVIAL MOVE
TOWARD CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT.
WHEN DAVIS CALLED FOR A DAY OF NATIONAL FASTING,
THE GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA IGNORED IT,
THEN NAMED A DIFFERENT FAST DAY OF HIS OWN.
"I ENTERED INTO THIS REVOLUTION
"TO CONTRIBUTE MY MIGHT
"TO SUSTAIN THE RIGHTS OF STATES
"AND TO PREVENT CONSOLIDATION OF THE GOVERNMENT.
"AND I AM STILL A REBEL, NO MATTER WHO MAY BE IN POWER.
GOVERNOR JOSEPH BROWN OF GEORGIA."
"THE CONFEDERACY HAS BEEN DONE TO DEATH BY POLITICIANS.
MARY CHESNUT."
"PARDON ME," A SOUTH CAROLINIAN WROTE HIS CONGRESSMAN,
"IS THE MAJORITY ALWAYS DRUNK?"
VICE PRESIDENT ALEXANDER STEPHENS
BELIEVED DAVIS WEAK AND VACILLATING,
TIMID, PETULANT, PEEVISH, OBSTINATE.
STEPHENS LEFT RICHMOND IN 1862, RARELY TO RETURN.
"I MAKE NO TERMS," DAVIS ONCE SAID.
"I ACCEPT NO COMPROMISE."
HE REFUSED TO UNBEND IN PUBLIC
OR TO CURRY FAVOR WITH THE PRESS.
PRIVATELY, HE COMMUTED NEARLY EVERY DEATH SENTENCE
FOR DESERTION THAT REACHED HIS DESK,
EXPLAINING THAT THE POOREST USE OF A SOLDIER
WAS TO SHOOT HIM.
HE'S OFTEN DESCRIBED AS A BLOODLESS PEDANT,
A MAN WHO FILLED ALL HIS TIME
WITH SMALL TIME PAPERWORK AND NEVER ANYTHING ELSE,
AN ICY-COLD MAN WHO HAD NO FRIENDLINESS IN HIM.
I FOUND THE OPPOSITE TO BE TRUE
IN ALL THOSE RESPECTS.
DAVIS WAS AN OUTGOING, FRIENDLY MAN,
A GREAT FAMILY MAN--
LOVED HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN--
AN INFINITE STORE OF COMPASSION.
LEE SAID IT BEST--
HE SAID, "I DON'T THINK ANYONE COULD NAME ANYONE
"WHO COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB THAN DAVIS DID.
"AND I PERSONALLY DON'T KNOW OF ANYONE
WHO COULD HAVE DONE AS GOOD A JOB."
THAT'S FROM ROBERT E. LEE,
WHICH IS PRETTY GOOD AUTHORITY.
DAVIS MAY WELL HAVE BEEN THE ONLY SOUTHERNER
WHO UNDERSTOOD SOUTHERN NATIONALITY,
WHO UNDERSTOOD WHAT SACRIFICES HAD TO BE MADE
IF THE CONFEDERACY WAS EVER GOING TO GEL AS A NATION.
HE KEPT SAYING, "I NEED THE KIND OF POWERS THAT LINCOLN GOT.
"I NEED THE KIND OF RESOURCES THAT HE GOT IN THE DRAFT LAWS.
"I NEED TO BE ABLE TO SUSPEND
THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS LIKE HE DID."
HE WOULD HAVE SAID,
"WE CAN'T LIVE BY THE DOGMAS OF THE QUIET PAST ANY LONGER."
HE DIDN'T SAY THAT, BUT HE ACTED THAT OUT.
HE SAID, "I HAVE TO BE GIVEN THE KINDS--
"THIS CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT
NEEDS THE KIND OF NATIONAL AUTHORITY--NATIONAL POWER
THAT THE UNION HAD IN ORDER TO WIN."
AND THEY DIDN'T GET IT
BECAUSE STATES' RIGHTS HELPED KILL THE CONFEDERACY.
A SINGLE CAKE OF SOAP NOW COST $1.10--
1/10 OF A SOLDIER'S MONTHLY PAY.
AT THE BEGINNING OF 1863,
A BARREL OF FLOUR COST $70 IN THE SOUTH.
BY YEAR'S END, IT COST $250.
THE CONFEDERATE TREASURY CRANKED OUT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
IN NOTES UNBACKED BY GOLD.
SOUTHERN PRINTING WAS SO PRIMITIVE
THAT COUNTERFEITERS WERE SOMETIMES CAUGHT
BECAUSE THEIR WORK WAS TOO GOOD.
BY 1862 AND 1863, THE SOUTH SUFFERED
FROM TERRIBLE INFLATIONARY CURRENCY.
WHAT WAS REALLY AT A PREMIUM WAS A UNION GOLD DOLLAR.
SO THAT THE CONFEDERATE PEOPLE
COULD NEVER GET AWAY FROM THE UNION,
NOT EVEN ECONOMICALLY.
"IF THE CONFEDERACY IS DEFEATED,
"IT WILL BE BY THE PEOPLE AT HOME.
ATLANTA SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY."
THOUSANDS OF WOMEN, INFURIATED BY SOARING PRICES,
STORMED THROUGH DOWNTOWN RICHMOND SHOPS,
SMASHING WINDOWS
AND GATHERING UP ARMFULS OF FOOD AND CLOTHING.
TROOPS TRIED TO STOP THEM,
AND JEFFERSON DAVIS HIMSELF CAME OUT,
THROWING WHAT MONEY HE HAD IN HIS POCKETS TO THE CROWD
AND BEGGING THEM TO BLAME THE YANKEES,
NOT THE GOVERNMENT.
THEN HE WARNED THE TROOPS WOULD OPEN FIRE
IF THEY DID NOT DISPERSE.
THE WOMEN STRAGGLED HOME.
"PATRIOTIC PLANTERS WOULD WILLINGLY PUT
"THEIR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD INTO THE ARMY,
"BUT WHEN THEY WERE ASKED FOR A NEGRO,
"IT WAS LIKE DRAWING AN EYETOOTH.
SENATOR LOUIS T. WIGFALL, TEXAS."
FARMERS WERE CALLED UPON
TO CONTRIBUTE 1/10 OF THEIR PRODUCE,
AND THE CONFEDERATE ARMY WAS EMPOWERED
TO IMPRESS MALE SLAVES AS LABORERS,
PROVIDED A MONTHLY FEE WAS PAID TO THEIR MASTERS.
PLANTERS MOVED THEIR SLAVES INLAND,
AWAY FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND THE FIGHTING.
150,000 SLAVES WERE MARCHED ALL THE WAY TO TEXAS.
HUNDREDS, PERHAPS THOUSANDS, DIED ALONG THE WAY.
"WARTRACE, TENNESSEE, JUNE 10, 1863.
"I HAVE JUST HEARD FROM HILLIARD'S LEGION.
"THEY'RE DESERTING EVERY DAY.
"THEY SAY THEY DON'T GET ENOUGH TO EAT.
"I HAVE JUST BOUGHT ME A TESTAMENT.
"I GAVE $2.00 FOR IT.
"EVERYTHING'S HIGH HERE.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN JACKSON."
"I SAW A SIGHT TODAY THAT MADE ME FEEL MIGHTY BAD.
"I SAW A MAN SHOT FOR DESERTING.
"THERE WAS 24 GUNS AT HIM.
"THEY SHOT HIM ALL TO PIECES.
"HE WENT HOME, AND THEY BROUGHT HIM BACK,
"AND THEN HE WENT HOME AGAIN, SO THEY SHOT HIM FOR THAT.
MARTHA, IT WAS ONE SIGHT THAT I DID HATE TO SEE."
BY THE END OF THE YEAR,
2/5 OF THE SOUTHERN ARMY WOULD BE ABSENT,
WITH OR WITHOUT LEAVE.
DESERTERS SOMETIMES BANDED TOGETHER,
OFTEN FED AND CLOTHED BY UNION SYMPATHIZERS.
IN NORTH CAROLINA, THE PRO-UNION HEROES OF AMERICA
HAD OVER 10,000 MEMBERS.
BY THE END OF THE WAR,
UNIONISTS FROM EVERY CONFEDERATE STATE EXCEPT SOUTH CAROLINA
HAD SENT REGIMENTS TO THE NORTH.
IN JONES COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI,
A GUERRILLA BAND RAN OFF TAX COLLECTORS, BURNED BRIDGES,
AND AMBUSHED CONFEDERATE COLUMNS FOR THREE YEARS.
REPORTERS CALLED THE REGION
THE KINGDOM OF JONES.
"HOW I WISH YOU COULD HEAR
"THE MUSIC OF THIS ENCAMPMENT TONIGHT.
"JUST STAND OUT IN THE OPEN AIR A LITTLE WHILE AND LISTEN.
"ALL SEEMS HAPPY, AND ALL SEEMS GAY,
"BUT STILL, COULD YOU LOOK INTO THEIR HEARTS,
"YOU WOULD SEE THOUGHTS OF THE LOVED ONES
"THAT THEY'VE LEFT AT HOME
"RISE ABOVE THEIR MIRTH AND GAIETY.
"YET THEY ARE CONTENTED, THOUGH NOT HAPPY--
"CONTENTED TO DO THEIR DUTY,
"CONTENTED TO BEAR THEIR PART IN THIS WAR
AND SING SAD THOUGHTS AWAY."
"DEAR FANNY,
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT OUR BAND.
"IT'S ACKNOWLEDGED BY EVERYONE
"TO BE THE BEST IN THE DIVISION.
"EVERY NIGHT ABOUT SUNDOWN,
"GILMORE GIVES US A SPLENDID CONCERT,
"PLAYING SELECTIONS FROM THE OPERAS,
"SOME VERY PRETTY MARCHES, QUICKSTEPS,
WALTZES, AND THE LIKE."
TROOPS SANG IN CAMP AND ON THE WAY TO BATTLE.
CONFEDERATES FAVOREDIXIEI
ANTHE BONNIE BLUE FLAG.
UNION SOLDIERS STILL PREFERRED AN OLD METHODIST TUNE.
MOSTLY THEY LIKED SENTIMENTAL SONGS--
JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE, MOTHER,
THE VACANT CHAIR,
ALL QUIET ALONG THE POTOMAC,
AND HOME SWEET HOME.
IN MANY CAMPS, THE MEN WERE FORBIDDEN TO PLAY
A SONG CALLED WEEPING, SAD AND LONELY,
OFFICERS CONSIDERING IT DESTRUCTIVE OF MORALE.
BOTH SIDES LOVEDLORENA.
[LOPLAYS]
"APRIL 14, 1863,
"RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER, VIRGINIA, NEAR FRANKLIN'S CROSSING.
"GENERAL THOMAS J. JACKSON CAME DOWN TO THE RIVER BANK TODAY
"WE RAISED OUR HATS TO THE PARTY AND STRANGE TO SAY,
"THE LADIES WAVED THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS IN REPLY.
"GENERAL JACKSON TOOK HIS FIELD GLASSES
"AND COOLLY SURVEYED OUR PARTY.
"WE COULD HAVE SHOT HIM WITH A REVOLVER,
"BUT WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT
"THAT NEITHER SIDE WILL FIRE,
"AS IT DOES NO GOOD AND IN FACT, IS SIMPLY MURDER.
ELISHA HUNT RHODES."
"GENERAL, I HAVE PLACED YOU
"AT THE HEAD OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
"I'VE HEARD IN SUCH A WAY AS TO BELIEVE IT
"OF YOUR RECENTLY SAYING THAT BOTH THE ARMY AND THE GOVERNMENT
"NEEDED A DICTATOR.
"OF COURSE, IT WAS NOT FOR THIS
"BUT IN SPITE OF THIS THAT I'VE GIVEN YOU COMMAND.
"ONLY THOSE GENERALS WHO GAIN SUCCESSES
"CAN SET UP AS DICTATORS.
"WHAT I NOW ASK OF YOU IS MILITARY SUCCESS,
"AND I WILL RISK THE DICTATORSHIP.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
AGAIN LINCOLN TURNED TO A NEW GENERAL.
HE REPLACED BURNSIDE WITH JOSEPH HOOKER,
A TENACIOUS WEST POINTER CALLED FIGHTING JOE,
WHO DRANK AND TALKED TOO MUCH FOR HIS OWN GOOD.
IT WAS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, LINCOLN TOLD HIM,
TO DESTROY LEE'S ARMY.
"MY PLANS ARE PERFECT.
"MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON GENERAL LEE,
FOR I WILL HAVE NONE."
HOOKER'S PLANS CALLED
FOR ONE PART OF HIS ENORMOUS ARMY
TO FEIGN AN ASSAULT ON LEE'S FRONT,
STILL AT FREDERICKSBURG,
WHILE THE REST MARCHED UP THE RAPPAHANNOCK,
CROSSED THE RIVER,
AND ATTACKED LEE FROM THE REAR.
ON APRIL 30th,
HOOKER'S MAIN FORCE-- 70,000 STRONG--
REACHED CHANCELLORSVILLE--
A LONE HOUSE IN A CLEARING
SURROUNDED BY A THICK FOREST CALLED THE WILDERNESS.
HOOKER AND HIS OFFICERS MOVED IN DOWNSTAIRS
AND CONTINUED TO MAP OUT THE ASSAULT
THEY WERE SURE WOULD TRAP LEE.
"THE ENEMY MUST EITHER INGLORIOUSLY FLY
"OR COME OUT FROM BEHIND HIS DEFENSES
"AND GIVE US BATTLE UPON OUR OWN GROUND,
WHERE CERTAIN DESTRUCTION AWAITS HIM."
"THE HEN IS THE WISEST OF ALL THE ANIMAL CREATION
"BECAUSE SHE NEVER CACKLES
UNTIL AFTER THE EGG IS LAID."
BUT ROBERT E. LEE, OUTNUMBERED NEARLY TWO TO ONE,
WAS NOT FOOLED BY HOOKER'S PLAN.
DEFYING ALL MILITARY CONVENTION,
HE DIVIDED HIS OWN MUCH SMALLER FORCE,
LEAVING ONLY 1/4 OF HIS MEN AT FREDERICKSBURG
BEFORE RUSHING WEST TO SHORE UP HIS FLANK.
WHEN LEE'S CONFEDERATES REACHED THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS,
UNION TROOPS MOVED OUT TO ENGAGE THEM.
[CANNON FIRE]
FIRE!
BUT THE FIGHTING HAD HARDLY BEGUN
WHEN FIGHTING JOE HOOKER INEXPLICABLY ORDERED HIS FORCES
BACK TO DEFENSIVE POSITIONS AROUND THE CHANCELLOR HOUSE.
"TO TELL THE TRUTH," HE LATER TRIED TO EXPLAIN,
"I JUST LOST CONFIDENCE IN JOE HOOKER."
LEE SENSED HOOKER'S CONFUSION
AND THE NEXT DAY DIVIDED HIS ARMY A SECOND TIME,
SENDING 28,000 MEN UNDER STONEWALL JACKSON
ON AN EXTRAORDINARY 14-MILE MARCH
THROUGH THE DENSE WILDERNESS
AND AROUND THE UNION'S RIGHT FLANK.
[CANNON FIRE]
HOOKER SOMEHOW PERSUADED HIMSELF
THAT JACKSON WAS ACTUALLY RETREATING
AND DESPITE THE SKELETAL REBEL FORCE
REMAINING IN FRONT OF HIM,
CHOSE TO STAY IN CAMP.
ALL DAY LONG CAME REPORTS FROM TERRIFIED UNION PICKETS
OF A HUGE REBEL FORCE
MOVING JUST BEYOND THE SCREEN OF TREES TO THE WEST.
THEY WERE IGNORED.
LATE THAT AFTERNOON,
UNION TROOPS WERE BOILING COFFEE AND PLAYING CARDS
WHEN DEER CAME BOUNDING OUT OF THE FOREST
AND THROUGH THEIR CAMP.
JACKSON'S ARMY WAS RIGHT BEHIND THEM.
[CANNON FIRE]
"IT WAS A PERFECT WHIRLWIND OF MEN," A SURVIVOR SAID.
"THE ENEMY SEEMED TO COME FROM EVERY DIRECTION."
THE FEDERALS FELL BACK NEARLY TWO MILES
BEFORE DARKNESS STOPPED THE CONFEDERATE SWEEP.
IT'S WHERE THE ODDS WERE LONGEST.
IT'S WHERE HE TOOK THE GREATEST RISK
IN THE PRESENCE OF A SUPERIOR ENEMY
AND KEPT THE PRESSURE ON.
THE REAL FAULT AT CHANCELLORSVILLE
WAS THE ATTACK WAS STAGED SO LATE IN THE DAY
THAT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO PUSH IT
TO THE EXTENT THAT JACKSON HAD INTENDED TO.
AND HE WAS EVEN ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A NIGHT ATTACK--
A VERY RARE THING IN THE CIVIL WAR--
EE'S MASTERPIECE.
BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT HE HADN'T FINISHED UP
WHAT HE HAD STARTED TO BEGIN.
EAGER TO FIGHT ON,
JACKSON RODE OUT BETWEEN THE LINES THAT EVENING
TO SCOUT FOR A NIGHT ATTACK.
WHEN HE TURNED BACK TOWARD HIS MEN,
NERVOUS CONFEDERATE PICKETS OPENED FIRE.
[GUNFIRE]
TWO OF HIS AIDES FELL DEAD.
JACKSON WAS HIT TWICE IN THE LEFT ARM.
HIS SHATTERED ARM WAS AMPUTATED THE NEXT MORNING.
LEE WAS HORRIFIED.
"HE HAS LOST HIS LEFT ARM," HE SAID,
"BUT I HAVE LOST MY RIGHT."
[CANNON FIRE]
HOOKER CONTINUED TO BUMBLE.
AS HE NERVOUSLY WATCHED THE FIGHTING
FROM THE PORCH OF THE CHANCELLOR HOUSE,
A SHELL SPLIT THE PILLAR HE WAS LEANING AGAINST
AND KNOCKED HIM SENSELESS.
GROGGY ALL DAY,
HE REFUSED TO RELINQUISH COMMAND.
FINALLY, HE ORDERED RETREAT.
THE DEFEAT WAS TOTAL.
AGAIN THE UNION ARMY WITHDREW ACROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
HOOKER HAD LOST 17,000 MEN,
EVEN MORE THAN AT FREDERICKSBURG.
"MY GOD, MY GOD," SAID LINCOLN WHEN HE GOT THE NEWS,
"WHAT WILL THE COUNTRY SAY?"
CHANCELLORSVILLE WAS LEE'S MOST BRILLIANT VICTORY
AND ONE OF THE COSTLIEST.
13,000 OF HIS MEN WERE DEAD OR OUT OF ACTION,
BUT IT WAS THE LOSS OF ONE MAN THAT CONCERNED HIM MOST.
STONEWALL JACKSON SEEMED TO BE RECUPERATING.
THEN ON SUNDAY, MAY 10th,
HE TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE.
THE SCENE IS IN A BEDROOM
IN WHICH HE'S COMING IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
PNEUMONIA'S WHAT HE DIED OF,
NOT THE LOSS OF HIS ARM.
AND HIS WIFE GOT THERE TO BE WITH HIM,
AND THE SURGEON, DR. McGUIRE,
TOLD MRS. JACKSON THAT HER HUSBAND WOULD DIE THAT DAY,
AND SHE TOLD HIM, SAID,
"THE DOCTOR SAYS THAT YOU WON'T LAST THE DAY OUT,"
AND HE SAID, "OH, NO, MY CHILD. IT'S NOT THAT SERIOUS."
AND THEN FINALLY SHE SAID,
"YOU'LL BE WITH THE LORD THIS DAY,"
AND HE WENT OFF INTO SOME SORT OF SLEEPY DELIRIUM.
PNEUMONIA AFFECTS PEOPLE IN STRANGE WAYS.
HE CALLED THE DOCTOR OVER
AND SAYS, "DR. McGUIRE, MY WIFE TELLS ME I'M GONNA DIE TODAY.
IS THAT TRUE?"
AND THE DOCTOR SAID, "YES, IT IS."
HE SAID, "GOOD. VERY GOOD.
I ALWAYS WANTED TO DIE ON A SUNDAY."
AND WHEN THEY OFFERED HIM BRANDY OR MORPHINE,
HE SAID, "NO. I WANT TO KEEP MY MIND CLEAR,"
AND THE LAST THING HE SAID--IT SORT OF--
HE WANDERED IN HIS MIND.
HE WAS CALLING ON A.P. HILL, "PREPARE FOR ACTION."
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN,
HE WAS QUIET, VERY QUIET FOR A SPELL,
AND HE SAID IN A CLEAR, DISTINCT VOICE,
"LET US CROSS OVER THE RIVER
AND REST UNDER THE SHADE OF THE TREES,"
AND THEN DIED.
"THE DEATH OF OUR PIOUS, BRAVE,
"AND NOBLE GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSON
IS A GREAT BLOW TO OUR CAUSE."
WINFIELD SCOTT.
HENRY HALLECK.
IRVIN McDOWELL.
GEORGE McCLELLAN.
JOHN POPE.
GEORGE McCLELLAN AGAIN.
AMBROSE BURNSIDE.
JOSEPH HOOKER.
LINCOLN COULD NOT FIND THE GENERAL HE NEEDED.
HE NOW KNEW THAT TO WIN THE WAR,
THE SOUTHERN ARMIES HAD TO BE CRUSHED.
HE HAD THE MEN,
BUT HE NEEDED A GENERAL WITH THE WILL TO USE THEM.
"NO GENERAL YET FOUND CAN FACE THE ARITHMETIC,
"BUT THE END OF THE WAR WILL BE AT HAND
"WHEN HE SHALL BE DISCOVERED.
"VICKSBURG IS THE KEY.
"THE WAR CAN NEVER BE BROUGHT TO A CLOSE
UNTIL THE KEY IS IN OUR POCKET."
"A LONG LINE OF HIGH, RUGGED, IRREGULAR BLUFFS
"CLEARLY CUT AGAINST THE SKY,
"CROWNED WITH CANNON, WHICH PEERED OMINOUSLY
"FROM EMBRASURES TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT
"AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE.
THAT IS VICKSBURG."
FOR 2 1/2 MONTHS, ULYSSES S. GRANT
DOGGEDLY ATTEMPTED TO DIG OR HACK OR FLOAT HIS ARMY
THROUGH THE TANGLED BAYOUS AND SEIZE THE TOWN OF VICKSBURG.
NOTHING WORKED.
THE PRESS ACCUSED HIM OF SLOTH AND STUPIDITY,
HINTED HE WAS DRINKING AGAIN.
FINALLY, GRANT DECIDED ON A DARING PLAN.
HE WOULD MARCH DOWN RIVER
THROUGH THE SWAMPS ON THE WESTERN SIDE,
CROSS BELOW VICKSBURG,
AND WITHOUT HOPE OF RESUPPLY OR REINFORCEMENT,
COME UP FROM BEHIND AND ATTACK THE CITY.
BY EARLY MAY, GRANT HAD CROSSED THE RIVER.
"WHEN THIS WAS EFFECTED,
"I FELT A DEGREE OF RELIEF
"SCARCELY EVER EQUALED SINCE.
"I WAS NOW IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY
"WITH A RIVER AND THE STRONGHOLD OF VICKSBURG
"BETWEEN ME AND MY BASE OF SUPPLY,
"BUT I WAS ON DRY GROUND
ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE RIVER WITH THE ENEMY."
THE MEN KNEW THEY WERE CUT LOOSE FROM THEIR BASE,
KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO BE DEPENDENT FOR SUPPLIES
ON A VERY TENUOUS SUPPLY LINE,
BUT GRANT HIMSELF GAVE THEM CONFIDENCE.
THEY BELIEVED GRANT KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING.
AND ONE GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THEIR BELIEVING THAT
WAS QUITE OFTEN ON THE MARCH,
WHETHER AT NIGHT OR IN THE DAYTIME,
THEY'D BE MOVING ALONG A ROAD OR OVER A BRIDGE
AND RIGHT BESIDE THE ROAD WOULD BE GRANT ON HIS HORSE--
A DUST-COVERED MAN ON A DUST-COVERED HORSE,
SAYING "MOVE ON, CLOSE UP."
SO THEY FELT VERY MUCH
THAT HE PERSONALLY WAS IN CHARGE OF THEIR MOVEMENT.
AND IT GAVE THEM AN ADDED CONFIDENCE.
IN THREE WEEKS, GRANT'S ARMY,
CUT OFF FROM ALL COMMUNICATION WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD,
MARCHED 180 MILES,
FOUGHT AND WON FIVE BATTLES
AT PORT GIBSON...
RAYMOND...
JACKSON...
CHAMPION'S HILL...
AND BIG BLACK RIVER...
AND FINALLY SURROUNDED VICKSBURG ITSELF,
TRAPPING 31,000 CONFEDERATES.
ON MAY 19th,
GRANT TRIED TO TAKE THE TOWN BY DIRECT ASSAULT
BUT WAS BEATEN BACK.
[CANNON FIRE]
[BELLS RING]
"MAY 19th.
"THANKS BE TO THE GREAT RULER OF THE UNIVERSE.
"VICKSBURG IS STILL SAFE.
"THE FIRST GREAT ASSAULT
"HAS BEEN MOST SUCCESSFULLY REPELLED.
"ALL MY FEARS IN REFERENCE TO TAKING THE PLACE BY STORM
"NOW VANISHED.
"REVEREND WILLIAM LOVELACE FOSTER,
CHAPLAIN, 35th MISSISSIPPI VOLUNTEERS."
GRANT SETTLED IN FOR A SIEGE,
RESOLVED, HE SAID, TO "OUTCAMP THE ENEMY."
"IT IS SUCH FOLLY FOR THEM
"TO WASTE THEIR AMMUNITION LIKE THAT.
"HOW CAN THEY EVER TAKE A TOWN
"WE'LL JUST BURROW INTO THESE HILLS
AND LET THEM BATTER AWAY AS HARD AS THEY PLEASE."
ON MAY 15th, JEFFERSON DAVIS
SUMMONED GENERAL LEE TO RICHMOND.
SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE ABOUT GRANT.
DAVIS WANTED TO SEND PART OF LEE'S ARMY
TO RELIEVE VICKSBURG.
LEE WAS AGAINST IT.
HE HAD A BOLDER PLAN.
THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA
SHOULD INVADE THE NORTH AGAIN,
STRIKING THIS TIME INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
LEE WOULD ATTACK HARRISBURG AND PHILADELPHIA
AND FORCE GRANT NORTH TO DEFEND WASHINGTON.
WITH LUCK, WASHINGTON ITSELF MIGHT FALL.
IT MIGHT EVEN FORCE LINCOLN TO SUE FOR PEACE
AND RECOGNIZE THE CONFEDERACY.
DAVIS AGREED.
EVERYTHING NOW HUNG ON VICKSBURG IN THE WEST
AND PENNSYLVANIA IN THE EAST.
AS GRANT PRESSED HIS SIEGE AT VICKSBURG,
LEE MOVED NORTH.