At escape; that of Grant was to envelop the place with his superiour force, and capture the whole of the inadequate little army defending it, with as little delay as possible. Fort Donelson was only a fort in name. It was simply a place on the left bank of the Cumberland River, at which earthworks had been erected and cannon planted with the single view of resisting the upward passage of gunboats. The troops supporting these batteries were in the open field, protected during the fight only by such rifle-pits as they could form after the fighting commenced, in the intervals between the assaults. Grant assailed these troops with an army at least four times their number, at the same time that he sent his gunboats up the river against the batteries. The fighting lasted through four days and nights in severe winter weather; the Confederate troops having no time for rest or sleep. The conflict was one of the most sanguinary and stubborn that occurred during the war. The loss on each side was very heavy, both in killed and wounded. Gen. Grant was heavily reinforced during each day of the action. No reinforcements were within reach of the Confederates, and none expected or hoped for. the arrival of Gen. Floyd, it had been plain that the assailing force was so large as to forbid the hope of doing more than to extricate the Confederate army from the trap in which it found itself; and all the fighting that ensued was simply an effort on its part to cut its way out. The battle began early on the 13th. By the night of the 16th, it was decided that the army could not be extricated. Saving the whole being impossible, the next question was as to saving a part. Gen. Floyd's command occupied the ground highest up the river, and nearest the point of possible exit; that command could be got out; none of the rest could. It had been taken from another duty and sent there to assist those specially assigned to the task, in holding the place. A council of the principal officers was held on the night of the 16th, when it was determined that the destruction of life attendant upon further effort at extrication would be too great to be thought of. Gen. Buckner, commanding the Kentucky troops, who constituted the bulk of the force, and who were in deep despondency at the recent evacuation of their State, put the case so strongly that no one could gainsay his proposition: it was to sacrifice three-fourths, in order to save one-fourth. As to Gen. Floyd, he says of the affair: "I felt that in this contingency, whilst it might be questioned whether I should, as commander of the army, lead it to certain destruction in an unavailing fight, yet I had a right individually to determine that I would not survive a surrender there. To satisfy both propositions, I agreed to hand over the command to Gen. Buckner, through Gen. Pillow, and to make an effort for my own extrication by any and every means that might present themselves to me." He succeeded in getting away, during the night, a large part of his own command, before the terms of capitulation had been made between Gen. Buckner and Gen. Grant. He reached Nashville on the 18th, where Gen. A. S. Johnston placed him in command of the city during its evacuation.* He then proceeded to Murfreesboro, where Gen. Johnston's retreating army had its first rendezvous. Thence he went to Chattanooga, where he received an order from Richmond, relieving him of command. The rapid and unexpected success of the Federal armies in Kentucky and Tennessee, threw the South into alarm and despondency. When it became known that Gen. A. S. Johnston had for months been in command of less than 30,000 men, great censure * An officer of the army, who assisted in the evacuation of Nashville, thus describes the admirable conduct and manner of Gen. Floyd on that occasion, with an intelligent glance at the character of the man : "I saw a great deal of Gen. Floyd while he was commanding in Nashville, and I was remarkably impressed by him. I was required to report to him almost every hour in the twenty-four, and he was always surrounded by a crowd of applicants for all sorts of favours, and couriers bringing all sorts of news. It was impossible in the state of confusion which prevailed to prohibit or regulate this pressing and noisy attendance, or to judge, without examination, of what was important to be considered. Many matters which ordinarily a general officer would not permit himself to be troubled with, might need attention and action from him at such a time. Irascible and impetuous as Gen. Floyd seemed to be by nature-his nerves unstrung, too, by the fatigues of so many busy days and sleepless nights-and galled as he must have been by the constant annoyances, he yet showed no sign of impatience. I saw him give way once to anger, which was then provoked by the most stupid and insolent pertinacity It was interesting to watch the struggle which would sometimes occur between his naturally violent temper and the restraint he imposed upon it. His eye would glow, his face and his lips turn pale, and his frame shake with passion; he would be silent for minutes, as if not daring to trust himself to speak, looking all the while upon the ground, and he would then address the man, whose brusqueness or obstinacy had provoked him, in the mildest tone and manner. He was evidently endowed with no common nerve, will, and judgment.” was cast upon the Richmond government. It became necessary to divert public attention to some minor issue; and those who felt the popular censure most severely had the address to divert the discussion from the question who was responsible for not reinforcing Gen. Albert Johnston with 50,000 or 75,000 men, to the question whether Gen. Floyd was justifiable in bringing away from Fort Donelson a part of his command after it had become impracticable to bring the whole. The great question of statesmanship and military policy was forgotten, for the pitiful quibble raised by a few martinets. On being relieved from command, Gen. Floyd retired to Virginia, where he remained inactive but a short time. The Legislature of that Commonwealth, indignant at the treatment he had received, conferred upon him the commission of MajorGeneral, and directed him to recruit and organize a division of troops from among the classes not embraced in the Confederate conscription. These classes were so restricted that the task was not easily performed. By the fall, however, he had succeeded in getting together a force of nearly 2,000 men, which he moved into the country embracing the head-waters of the Big Sandy River, where he several times surprised the troops of the enemy posted in that quarter, capturing and destroying their dépôts of supplies. His exposure in this service, however, soon threw him into ill health, and he was ultimately obliged to return home, to occupy for many months what was destined to be a death-bed. His disorder finally took the form of cancer, or rather scirrhus of the stomach, of which he died, on the 26th August, 1863. Such is a brief memoir of one of the most remarkable men of the South, or of his day. His intellect was clear, strong, and practical. His forecast of political events was unerring. His power over the minds of men when present before him, whether singly or collectively, was magical. He was always successful with the people when he went before or among them; he paid no court to politicians, who were for the most part his bitter assailants. He was ever loyal in his personal attachments; he was fearless and defiant of his enemies. He had the faculty of enlisting the devoted affection of those who knew him; he was much misunderstood by those who did not. He was often assailed by good men who were strangers to his real character; but from among those who knew him well, none ever turned upon him but the mean and false. He was peculiarly the friend of young men, encouragin gthem to manly exertion and in honourable ambition. He sympathized with the worthy poor, was fond of conversing with them, and gave to hundreds a help, of which the world knew nothing. His heart was full of kindly affections; he sought out children wherever he came, and these instinctively hung upon and loved him. His habits were frugal, and free from all extravagance. Throughout the last twentyfive years of his life, his circumstances were straitened; and, after passing through many public trusts, he died as he had lived, a poor man. His temperance, both in meat and drink, bordered upon abstemiousness; he eschewed betting and gambling, which he held in repugnance; he was a regular attendant upon religious worship; and he died a respected member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, enjoying, in extremis, the affectionate ministrations and devoted attachment of his minister, who left the army and came far to render these grateful offices. This is the great and generous character which partisan rancour and sectional misconceptions have pictured as a monster in treason and various criminality. LIEUT.-GEN. WILLIAM J. HARDEE. CHAPTER LXXIV. His military life before the War of 1861.-His command in the Trans-Mississippi.— Ordered to Bowling Green, Kentucky.-At Shiloh.-His views and advice in the Kentucky Campaign.-Promoted to a Lieutenant-General.-The first day of Murfreesboro.-Reinforcements wanting at a critical time.-Gen. Hardee as an organizer of troops.-Religious incidents of his camp.-He joins Johnston's army in Mississippi.—Return to the Army of Tennessee.—The battle of Missionary Ridge. Fought against the advice of Gen. Hardee. He takes charge of Bragg's army at Dalton.-Why he declined permanent command of it.-The Atlanta campaign.-Protest against the appointment of Gen. Hood as Commander-inChief. Hardee's desperate fight at Jonesboro.-He is assigned to the command of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.—Condition of this Department at the time of Sherman's "march to the sea."-The evacuation of Savannah.-Campaign of the Carolinas. - Hardee's fight at Averysboro.-Battle of Bentonville.-The General loses a young son in the last affair of arms.-A tribute from Arkansas troops to Gen. Hardee.-Estimate of his military record.-His virtues as a soldier and a citizen. WILLIAM JOSEPH HARDEE was born in Camden county, Georgia, in 1815. He obtained his military education both at West Point and at the celebrated cavalry school of Saumaur, in France. He was the author of one of the best works on military tactics that had ever been published; and, up to the period of the war between the North and the South, his military services had extended over more than twenty years. He had served in Florida; he had been stationed on the Western frontier; he had accompanied Taylor across the Rio Grande in the Mexican campaign, taken part in the siege of Monterey, and in various actions distinguished himself to the gates of Mexico. He was twice brevetted "for gallant and meritorious service" during this war, and came out of it Lieutenant-Colonel by brevet. Thereafter, he was on duty on the Texan frontier until 1853; in 1855, he was appointed |