stroyed from Manassas to Rappahannock Station; and Gen. Lee having placed his troops again in position, on both sides of the railway, upon the line of the Rappahannock, Ewell on the right, Hill upon the left, and the cavalry protecting each flank, quietly awaited the time when Meade, repairing the railroad, should again advance and confront him.

On the 6th November the enemy came in force upon Lee's army at Rappahannock Station and Kelly's Ford. Near the latter place the enemy crossed the river; and Gen. Rodes, who had fallen back before superiour numbers, was reinforced by Johnson's division. To meet the demonstration at the bridge near which Ewell's corps was stationed, Early's division was put in motion, and the two brigades of Hoke and Hayes were passed to the other side, to hold the north bank, and watch the enemy's front. It was believed that these troops would be able to maintain their position if attacked, the nature of the position being such that the enemy could not attack with a front more extended than their own; and that even if they were compelled to withdraw, they might do so safely under cover of the guns on the banks of the river.

The night was excessively dark; a high wind effectually prevented the movements of the enemy being heard; and taking advantage of these circumstances, two entire Federal corps advanced to overwhelm the small force of Confederates exposed on the north side of the river. The first line of the enemy was broken and shattered; but the second and third lines. continued to advance, overwhelming Hayes, and, by a movement towards the left, enclosing Hoke's brigade in a manner that rendered escape impossible. Owing, it is said, to an opposite wind, no information was obtained of the attack on the south side of the river, until too late for the artillery.stationed there to aid in repelling it. The darkness of the night and the fear of injuring our own men, who were surrounded by and commingled with the enemy, prevented Gen. Early from using artillery; and the unlucky commander witnessed the loss of the greater portion of two of his brigades, without, as he declared, the possibility of an effort to extricate them. Many of our men effected their escape in the confusion; some by swimming the river, and others by making their way to the bridge, passing over under a shower of balls. But not less than two thousand prisoners were left in the hands' of the enemy, and was the cost to us of this unfortunate surprise.

On the 27th November, another incident, but without general significance, occurred on the line of the Rappahannock. On that day Meade again advanced upon the Confederates at Germania Ford, his immediate object being to get in the rear of Johnson's division, which was posted in the advance about a mile and a half from the river. In the action thus brought on, the enemy was punished and repulsed with a loss of several hundred in killed and wounded. The next day, Meade withdrew from the front,

CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1868.

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and re-occupied his position about Brandy Station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. This virtually ended the campaign for the year 1863.

In other parts of Virginia there were operations about the close of the year, which must be very briefly and generally referred to, as they belong to a very minor theatre of the war. That theatre lay between Gen. Lee's lines in Virginia and East Tennessee in the district commanded by the active and eccentric Gen. Sam Jones, and almost constantly disturbed by incursions and raids of the enemy. Here the great annoyance was from the famous Federal raider Averill, who, after a various and unequal career, succeeded in December, 1863, in striking the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Salem, and badly severing what was at that time the most important line of communication in the Confederacy.

Gen. Lee finding no prospect of Longstreet's arrival or other reinforcement from the West, retired to the old line of the Rapidan. The Federal forces went into winter-quarters on the line of the Rappahannock about the 6th December; the Confederate army did the same on the Rapidan; and the curtain of winter dropped on the great scenes of the war in Virginia.

CHAPTER XXIX.

EFFROT OF THE FEDERAL SUCCESSES OF 1863 ON THE NORTHERN ELECTIONS.-ESTIMATE IN THE RICHMOND NEWSPAPERS OF THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE IN THE NORTH.-LOSSES OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN THE ELECTIONS OF 1863.-PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S TRIUMPH.—HIS ADMINISTRATION STRENGTHENED.-IT VENTURES TO NEW LENGTHS.-ARREST OF MR. VALLANDIGHAM.-PROTESTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.-THEIR WORTHLESS AND RIDICULOUS CHARACTER.-NEW AND VIGOROUS MEASURES OF WAR AT WASHINGTON.-SCARCITY OF MEN AND OF FOOD THE TWO CONCERNS AT RICHMOND.-MEAGRE RESULTS OF THE CONSCRIPTION LAW.-AN ALARMING STATEMENT FROM THE CONFEDERATE SECRETARY OF WAR. DIMINUTION OF SUBSISTENCE IN THE CONFEDERACY.-SUFFERING AMONG THE PEOPLE AND ARMY.-HISTORY OF THE CONFEDERATE COMMISSARIAT.-REPORT OF THE MEAT SUPPLIES IN THE CONFEDERACY IN JANUARY, 1862.-EFFECT OF THE CAMPAIGNS IN KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE ON THE QUESTION OF SUBSISTENCE.-PROPOSITION TO GET MEAT THROUGH THE ENEMY'S LINES.-OBSTINATE OBJECTIONS OF PRESIDENT DAVIS.—HIS MANIA ABOUT COTTON. THE CONFEDERATE STATES DRAINED OF MEAT IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR.-STATEMENT OF COMMISSARY NORTHROP.-ATTEMPT TO GET SUPPLIES THROUGH THE BLOCKADE.-HOW MISMANAGED. THE CRENSHAW CONTRACT.-SMALL YIELD OF IMPRESSMENTS. THE WHOLE CONFEDERATE POLICY OF SUBSISTENCE A FAILURE. -AN EXTRAORDINARY DEVICE OF SECRETARY SEDDON.-HOW IT PLAYED INTO THE HANDS OF SPECULATORS.-REFLECTION UPON THE WANT OF THE COMMERCIAL OR BUSINESS FACULTY IN THE SOUTHERN MIND.-A STOCK OF CHILDISH EXPEDIENTS.

THE Federal successes of 1863 produced a well-defined effect upon political parties in the North, and the elections there of this year were in remarkable contrast to those of 1862. It is significant of the little virtue of all the political organizations of the North during the time of the war that opposition to the administration at Washington was checked at every success of its arms, and declined in exact proportion as its military power ascended. The weak instinct of politicians readily took to the stronger side; and although there was a large party in the Confederacy that looked for a certain co-operation of the Democratic party in the North, it was readily understood by the intelligent that that co-operation was only to be obtained by making the Confederate side the stronger, by increasing prospects of its success by victories in the field-in short, that the only

the

hope of peace for the South was in the vigour of her resistance and the pressure of the enemy's necessities. This estimate of the Democratic alliance in the North was plainly enough stated in the Richmond journals and put in very blunt English. In anticipation of the elections of 1863, the Richmond Enquirer said: "It is nothing to us which of their factions may devour their 'spoils ;' just as little does it signify to us whether they recover or do not recover that constitutional liberty which they so wan tonly threw away in the mad pursuit of Southern conquest and plunder. But it is of the utmost importance to us to aid in stimulating disaffection among Yankees against their own government, and in demoralizing and disintegrating society in that God-abandoned country. We can do this only in one way—namely, by thrashing their armies and carrying the war to their own firesides. Then, indeed, conscientious constitutional principles will hold sway; peace platforms will look attractive; arbitrary arrests will become odious, and habeas corpus be quoted at a premium. This is the only way we can help them. In this sense and to this extent, those Democrats are truly our allies, and we shall endeavour to do our duty by them."

The Democratic party in the North went into the fall.elections of 1863 on the issue of a general opposition to the Lincoln Administration; at the same time promising a vigorous "constitutional" prosecution of the war. The result was a triumph of the Administration from Minnesota to Maine; the Democrats were everywhere defeated; and the significance of this defeat was that opposition to the authorities at Washington had been subdued either by the strong hand of lawless power or by the appliance of selfish arguments, that they had no longer anything to fear, and that the overthrow of free government in the North was complete. President Lincoln wrote that "the crisis was past." The elections of 1863 had given him, as it were, a carte blanche for his government. Certainly no more striking illustration could be given of this fact than the arrest and exile of Mr. Vallandigham, who was probably the most talented and prominent representative of the so-called "peace party " in the North, and had stood as Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio. This single act of the Washington Administration is sufficient illustration of the license it had now assumed in the insolent and giddy moments of military success, and the lengths to which it now dared to go in defying the Constitution, and involving the liberties of its own people with the designs of the war.*

The following correspondence, with reference to the case of Mr. Vallandigham, discusses the whole subject of Military Arrests, and covers a topic in the war so large and important, that a full copy of it is afforded for the reference of the reader:

"To His Excellency the President of the United States.

"The undersigned, officers of a public meeting held at the city of Albany on the sixteenth day of May, instant, herewith transmit to your Excellency a copy of the resolutions adopted at the said

It is true that the outrage upon Mr. Vallandigham, and, through him, upon the whole body of American liberties, was the occasion of some forcible

meeting, and respectfully request your earnest consideration of them. They deem it proper on their personal responsibility to state that the meeting was one of the most respectable as to numbers and character, and one of the most earnest in the support of the Union ever held in this city. "Yours, with great regard,

"ERASTUS CORNING, President.

"RESOLUTIONS.

Resolved, That the Democrats of New York point to their uniform course of action during the two years of civil war through which we have passed, to the alacrity which they have evinced in filling the ranks of the army, to their contributions and sacrifices, as the evidence of their patriotism and devotion to the cause of our imperilled country. Never in the history of civil wars has a gov. ernment been sustained with such ample resources of means and men as the people have voluntarily placed in the hands of the Administration.

“Resolved, That as Democrats we are determined to maintain this patriotic attitude, and, despite of adverse and disheartening circumstances, to devote all our energies to sustain the cause of the Union, to secure peace through victory, and to bring back the restoration of all the States under the safeguards of the Constitution.

"Resolved, That while we will not consent to be misapprehended upon these points, we are deter mined not to be misunderstood in regard to others not less essential. We demand that the Admin. istration shall be true to the Constitution; shall recognize and maintain the rights of the States and the liberties of the citizen; shall everywhere, outside of the lines of necessary military occupation and the scenes of insurrection, exert all its powers to maintain the supremacy of the civil over military law.

"Resolved, That in view of these principles we denounce the recent assumption of a military commander to seize and try a citizen of Ohio, Clement L. Vallandigham, for no other reason than words addressed to a public meeting, in criticism of the course of the Administration, and in condemnation of the military orders of that General.

"Resolved, That this assumption of power by a military tribunal, if successfully asserted, not only abrogates the right of the people to assemble and discuss the affairs of government, the liberty of speech and of the press, the right of trial by jury, the law of evidence, and the privilege of habeas corpus, but it strikes a fatal blow at the supremacy of law, and the authority of the State and federal constitutions.

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"Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States-the supreme law of the land-has aefined the crime of treason against the United States to consist only in levying war against them, or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort;' and has provided that no person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.' And it further provides that 'no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land and naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger;' and further, that 'in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy and public trial oy an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime was com. mitted.'

“ Resolved, That these safeguards of the rights of the citizen against the pretensions of arbitrary power were intended more especially for his protection in times of civil commotion. They were secured substantially to the English people, after years of protracted civil war, and were adopted into our Constitution at the close of the Revolution. They have stood the test of seventy-six years of trial, under our republican system, under circumstances which show that, while they constitute the foundation of all free government, they are the elements of the enduring stability of the republic.

·

"Resolved, That, in adopting the language of Daniel Webster, we declare, it is the ancient and undoubted prerogative of this people to canvass public measures and the merits of public men.' It