1862 RUNNING THE GANTLET drove their raft against the "Hartford," Farragut's flagship. All the men on the little "Mosher" paid for their heroism with their lives. The flames of the fire raft lighted the "Hartford's" side and ran up the rigging. In her efforts to avoid the fire raft, the "Hartford" ran aground under the guns of Fort St. Philip. A thrust from the "Manassas," instead of injuring the "Hartford," helped her to get off the shoals. The "Brooklyn" fared even worse. As she passed the boom her propeller was disabled. The forts covered her with their fire. The "Manassas" rammed her at full speed, but only crushed her timbers amidships into a coal bunker. Getting away, she stood by the "Hartford" until she had got off the shoals. By this time the first and second divisions of Farragut's squadron had run the gantlet. Colonel Higgins, the Confederate commander, exclaimed: "Better go to cover, boys; our cake is all dough." The old navy had won. The third division, consisting of the minor ships, fared the worst. Three ships became unmanageable and failed to pass the forts. The "Veruna" was followed in the dark by the Southern gunboat "Governor Moore," which, hoisting Federal lights, came up close enough to ram. While backing out the gunboat was set on fire and disabled by the "Veruna's" shells. She drifted down stream, having lost fifty-seven killed and seventeen wounded out of a crew of ninety-three. Next the "Stonewall Jackson" came out at early dawn, and twice rammed the "Veruna." The "Stonewall Jackson" was likewise set on fire and had to be abandoned, but the “Veruna" sunk. Her crew was rescued by other Federal ships. The last act of the great battle was a final attempt by the "Manassas" to ram the "Pinola." The Federal "Mississippi" cut in and tried to run the "Manassas" down. The little ram in her efforts to escape ran ashore and was burnt. That same morning the Confederate forces at Chalmette surrendered. Forts Jackson and St. Philip still held out, BUTLER'S "ORDER NO. 15" 1862 but, cut off from the Confederacy as they were, their fall was only a question of time. On the morning of April 25 Farragut came around the bend at New Orleans and silenced the batteries. The Confederate general, Lovell, evacuated the city with 3,000 men. As the fleet drew near, piles of cotton, coal, and lumber were burning on the levee. Porter, with the aid of Butler, took possession of the two forts. On May 16 Butler received from Farragut full military possession of the city. He organized a rigorous system, maintained order, kept the city clean and averted a pestilence. For his Order No. 15, "that when any female shall by word or gesture or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier, she shall be held and regarded as a woman of the town plying her trade," he received throughout the South the name of "Beast Butler." President Davis denounced him as an enemy of mankind. On December 15 he was relieved of his command. In the West new advances followed the capture of Fort Donelson. Columbus was evacuated, and there ensued (April 1-7) the withdrawal from Island No. 10, at a point where the Mississippi makes two large bends among impassable swamps. Pope with 20,000 men compelled its surrender to Foote, and 6,000 prisoners were taken. By the capture of Fort Donelson the way was open for a march into the very heart of the Mississippi region. A portion of Grant's army had occupied Nashville in the latter part of February. General Buell arrived at the same time. Johnston was to the southeast, while Beauregard was on the Mississippi. In March A. S. Johnston and Beauregard united their armies near Corinth, Mississippi. Commodore Davis took possession of Memphis, after a fight of twenty minutes, and destroyed seven out of eight Confederate gunboats. On the first day of July, the gunboat 1862 BATTLE OF SHILOH flotilla united above Vicksburg with the Federal fleet from New Orleans. On resuming command, Grant found his columns divided between Savannah and Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee River, which were ten miles apart. Sherman who had gone to the front, was in the advance. Johnston strengthened himself at Corinth, and was there joined by Beauregard. Buell was ordered to join Grant at once at Savannah, but the Confederates fell upon Grant before Buell arrived. On Sunday, April 6, Johnston's line of battle bore down on the Union camp. Near a log meeting-house called Shiloh, two miles south of Pittsburg Landing, the bloodiest battle of the war in the Mississippi Valley was fought. Sherman bore the brunt of the assault. Johnston's army, with Bragg, Polk, and Hardee in important commands, was not quite 40,000 strong. The Union force was probably somewhat less. Hearing the firing, Grant left for Pittsburg Landing by boat, arrived on the field, and gave such orders as the situation suggested. The Confederates pushed forward with wild energy and suffered an immense loss. The Union troops were forced back upon the river, a mile in the rear of their morning position. At this point General Johnston was killed. Beauregard, who was ill, took command, and the advance ceased. Buell's troops began to arrive when the first day's battle had ended, and Lew Wallace came up soon after. On Monday, the 7th, Grant and Buell, now in superior force, pushed forward on the left, recovered the lost ground, and drove the Confederates back to Corinth. Sherman's conduct during the battle made the beginning of his great reputation. McClellan began his second advance on Richmond in the beginning of April. Full four weeks passed before he took Yorktown, which was held by General Magruder with only 11,000 men. On May 5 the battle of Williamsburg was fought; but not until May 15 was Johnston forced to abandon his lines near Williamsburg and to cross the Chicka BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES 1.862 hominy. He then took up a position only three miles from Richmond. In the meantime the situation was so altered by Jackson's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley that some of McClellan's best troops had to be recalled to defend the capital. Early in May Jackson boldly took the offensive. Brushing aside Milroy at McDowell, Jackson made ready to attack General Banks at Strasburg, and by swift movements surprised and defeated the Federals at Fort Royal. This was followed by a blow on Banks's flank near Newton. Banks retreated to Winchester, then passed on down the valley and crossed the Potomac. Jackson followed, and the result was that the authorities at Washington feared for the safety of the capital. At the close of May Johnston took the offensive by attacking two corps of McClellan's army which lay on the south bank of the Chickahominy. This was the Battle of Seven Pines, fought on the last day of May and the first day of June. The losses were heavy on both sides and the result was indecisive. Johnston was wounded, and in consequence, after an interval, during which General G. W. Smith commanded, Robert E. Lee, the most famous of Confederate generals, took command of the Army of Northern Virginia. McClellan still delayed, and Lee and Jackson arranged between them one of the most remarkable pieces of strategy in the history of the war. By a series of wonderfully swift marches and battles Jackson slipped between the armies of Frémont and Shields, left the valley, and joined Lee in front of Richmond, just in time to strike the Federal right in the first of the "Seven Days' Battles." Lee, knowing his man, exposed Richmond to an immediate advance by McClellan, but McClellan failed to take advantage of the opening. The first battle, Mechanicsville, on June 26, was indecisive, General Fitz-John Porter making a splendid resistance to the 1862 BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN Confederate attack. At Gaines's Mill, the next day, Porter again bore the brunt of the fighting. The result of the two battles was McClellan's decision to transfer his base from the Chickahominy to the James. On the 29th the battles of Savage's Station and White Oak Swamp, which were somewhat in the nature of rear-guard engagements, were fought. The fighting was renewed on the next day. While McClellan's movement is by many regarded as a retreat rather than a change of base, his army was not thrown into confusion. By the first of July he was strongly intrenched at Malvern Hill on the James, and he repulsed with heavy losses Lee's several attempts to dislodge him. However, on the night following, McClellan retired to Harrison's Landing, and for the time made no further effort to reach Richmond. In July Lincoln called for 300,000 more volunteers. General John Pope, who had distinguished himself in the West, was put in command of the Army of Virginia, which was to advance across the Rappahannock somewhat on the line of McDowell's movement in 1861. Various portions of McClellan's command were withdrawn by water from the Peninsula, to reenforce Pope, by way of the Potomac River and Acquia Creek. The weakening of the Federal army at Harrison's Landing, and McClellan's inaction, enabled Lee to despatch Jackson against Banks, who was operating in advance of Pope. Banks advanced to Cedar Mountain, where Jackson met him. In the battle which followed, the Confederates had the advantage and Banks withdrew. Lee soon followed Jackson, and in August he and Pope confronted each other on opposite sides of the Rappahannock. Lee, knowing that Pope's army was sure to grow stronger with every delay, daringly took the offensive, and sent Stonewall Jackson on a remarkable flank movement through Thoroughfare Gap to Manassas Junction in Pope's rear, where he seized Pope's line of communications. In this movement, |