On the outbreak of the war, Slocum applied for a commission as captain of artillery in the regular army, that being the highest grade for which, as he then considered, his experience qualified him; but failing to receive the appointment, he shortly afterwards yielded to the current of events, and accepted the colonelcy of the Twenty-seventh Regiment of New York Volunteers, raised in Onondaga County. This regiment was among the first troops sent from the State for three years, or during the war. At the battle of Bull Run it formed a part of Franklin's brigade of Hunter's division, and did good service. In the organization of the Army of the Potomac, in the fall of 1861, by General McClellan, Franklin received the command of a division on the left of the line, in front of Alexandria, and Colonel Slocum, being promoted to be a brigadier-general of volunteers, succeeded to the command of Franklin's brigade. In March, 1862, when the army was divided into army corps, Franklin's division became a part of McDowell's first corps, and remained with it on the lines of the Potomac and the Rappahannock, but in April was sent to join the main army before Yorktown.

Arriving there just before the conclusion of the siege, General Franklin was presently placed by General McClellan in command of the Sixth Provisional Army Corps, afterwards regularly constituted the Sixth Army Corps, consisting of W. F. Smith's division detached from Keyes' fourth corps and of Franklin's own, to the command of which Slocum succeeded. The division took part on the Peninsula in the battles of West Point, Goldings' Farm, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. For his services in this campaign Slocum was promoted to be a major-general from the 4th of July, 1862. In the Maryland campaign, in the fall of the same year, Slocum led the division with great distinction in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. After the latter he was selected, in consideration of the high qualities he had displayed, for the command of the Twelfth Army Corps, made vacant by the fall of General Mansfield, and continued to command it with ability and gallantry

throughout the campaigns of Burnside, Hooker, and Meade of 1862 and 1863, including the three great battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. At Chancellorsville, Slocum, by his bold and rapid change of front, saved the army from the disastrous consequences that might have followed the rout of the Eleventh Corps. In the fall of 1863, when the Eleventh and Twelfth corps, united under Hooker, were sent to Nashville to re-enforce Thomas' army at Chattanooga, General Slocum, preferring not to serve again under General Hooker, was, at his own request, relieved from command of the corps and ordered to Vicksburg. Here he fell under the keen eye and appreciating judgment of General Sherman, and was wisely selected by him for the command of the Twentieth Corps, when Hooker, indignant in his turn at the promotion of Howard, quitted the Army of the Cumberland.*

On the 9th of November, at Kingston, Sherman issued the following orders for the government of his subordinate commanders :

:

"I. The habitual order of march will be, whenever practicable, by four roads, as nearly parallel as possible, and converging at points hereafter to be indicated in orders. The cavalry, Brigadier-General Kilpatrick commanding, will receive special orders from the commander-in-chief.

"II. There will be no general trains of supplies, but each corps will have its ammunition and provision train, distributed habitually as follows: Behind each regiment should follow one wagon and one ambulance; behind each brigade should follow a due proportion of ammunition wagons, provision wagons, and ambulances. In case of danger, each army corps commander should change this order of march by having his advance and rear brigade unencumbered by wheels. The separate columns will start habitually at seven A. M., and

* General Slocum having been nominated by the Democratic party of New York for Secretary of State, resigned his commission in the army.

make about fifteen miles per day, unless otherwise fixed in orders.

"III. The army will forage liberally on the country during the march. To this end, each brigade commander will organize a good and sufficient foraging party, under the command of one or more discreet officers, who will gather near the route travelled corn or forage of any kind, meat of any kind, vegetables, corn-meat, or whatever is needed by the command; aiming at all times to keep in the wagon trains at least ten days' provisions for the command and three days' forage. Soldiers must not enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, or commit any trespass: during the halt or at camp they may be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes, and other vegetables, and drive in stock in front of their camps. To regular foraging parties must be intrusted the gathering of provisions and forage at any distance from the road travelled.

"V. To army commanders is intrusted the power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, etc., and for them this general principle is laid down: In districts and neighborhoods where the army is unmolested, no destruction of such property should be permitted; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest our march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or otherwise manifest local hostility, then army corps commanders should order and enforce a devastation more or less relentless according to the measure of such hostility.

"VI. As for horses, mules, wagons, etc., belonging to the inhabitants, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate freely and without limit, discriminating, however, between the rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious, usually neutral or friendly. Foraging parties may also take mules or horses to replace the jaded animals of their trains, or to serve as pack-mules for the regiments or brigades. In all foraging, of whatever kind, the parties engaged will refrain from abusive or threatening language, and may, when the officer in command thinks proper, give written certificates of the facts, but no receipts; and they will endeavor to leave with each family a reasonable portion for their maintenance.

"VII. Negroes who are able-bodied, and can be of service to the several columns, may be taken along; but each army commander will bear in mind that the question of supplies is a very important one, and that his first duty is to see to those who bear arms.

"VIII. The organization at once of a good pioneer battalion for each corps, composed, if possible, of negroes, should be attended to. This battalion should follow the advance guard, should repair roads, and double them if possible, so that the columns will not be delayed after reaching bad places. Also, army commanders should study the habit of giving the artillery and wagons the road, and marching their troops on one side; and also instruct their troops to assist wagons at steep hills or bad crossings of streams.

"IX. Captain O. M. Poe, chief engineer, will assign to each wing of the army a pontoon-train, fully equipped and organized, and the commanders thereof will see to its being properly protected at all times."

Captain Poe had thoroughly destroyed Atlanta, save its mere dwelling-houses and churches; General Corse had done the same with regard to Rome; and the right wing, with General Kilpatrick's cavalry, was put in motion in the direction of Jonesboro' and McDonough, with orders to make a strong feint on Macon, to cross the Ocmulgee about Planters' Mills, and rendezvous in the neighborhood of Gordon in seven days, exclusive of the day of march. On the same day, General Slocum was to move with Williams' twentieth corps by Decatur and Stone Mountain, with orders to tear up the railroad from Social Circle to Madison, to burn the large and important railway bridge across the Oconee, east of Madison, and turn south and reach Milledgeville on the seventh day, exclusive of the day of march. Sherman in person left Atlanta on the 16th, in company with Jefferson C. Davis' fourteenth corps, marching by Lithonia, Covington, and Shady Dale, directly on Milledgeville. All the troops were provided with good wagon-trains, loaded with ammunition, and supplies

approximating forty days' bread, sugar, and coffee, a double allowance of salt for the same period, and beef-cattle equal to forty days' supplies. The wagons were also supplied with about three days' forage in grain. All the commanders were instructed, by a judicious system of foraging, to maintain this order of things as long as possible, living chiefly, if not solely, upon the country, which was known to abound in corn, sweet potatoes, and meats. The first object was, of course, to place the army in the very heart of Georgia, interposing between Macon and Augusta, and obliging the enemy to divide his forces, in order to defend not only those points, but also Millen, Savannah, and Charleston.

Howard, with the right wing, marched from Whitehall on the 15th of November, dividing his army into two columns. The right-hand column, consisting of Osterhaus' fifteenth corps, General Howard's headquarters train, and the cattleherds, marched by Rough and Ready, turning to the left towards McDonough when about five miles from Jonesboro'. The left-hand column, comprising Blair's seventeenth corps, the bridge train, and First Missouri Engineer Regiment, Kilpatrick's supply train and the First Alabama Cavalry leading the advance, marched on McDonough by the direct road. Kilpatrick, who accompanied the right wing during this stage of the campaign, met the enemy's cavalry skirmishers near East Point, and drove them before him to the crossing of Flint River; and Osterhaus also met them near Rough and Ready, and again near Stockbridge.

On the 16th, Howard marched to the vicinity of McDonough by three routes. At the crossing of the Cotton River, Osterhaus once more met the enemy's cavalry, who retreated rapidly, setting fire to the bridge. Some mounted infantry in advance drove them off in time to put out the fire, and save every thing but the planking, and the bridge was immediately repaired, having detained the column but forty minutes. Kilpatrick crossed the Flint River at the bridge near Jonesboro', at 7 A. M. Finding the enemy had left that place, he followed them to Lovejoy's, where they occupied a strong position,