same order, so as to fire the other broadside at Fort Walker, and load in time to open on Fort Beauregard on getting within range. This manœuvre doubtless disturbed the aim of the artillerists in the forts; they fired wildly and with but little effect. The dense masses of smoke which the wind drove clear of the ships, and packed against the land batteries, obstructed their aim, and afforded only occasional views of the enemy through the lifting cloud. After sustaining a bombardment of about four hours, the forts surrendered. The condition of Fort Walker, at this time, according to the official report of Gen. Drayton, was "all but three of the guns on the water front disabled, and only five hundred pounds of powder in the magazine." The garrisons and the men outside the forts retreated across the plain separating them from the woods. The Federal loss in the engagement was eight killed and twenty-three wounded. The Confederates lost about one hundred in killed and wounded, all their cannon, a number of small arms, and all the stores collected in and around the forts.

The capture of Port Royal was an important Federal success. It gave to the enemy a point for his squadrons to find shelter, and a convenient naval depot. It gave him also a foothold in the region of the Sea-Islands cotton, and afforded him a remarkable theatre for his anti-slavery experiments. The Beaufort district, commanded now by the enemy's position, was one of the richest and most thickly settled of the State. It contained about fifteen hundred square miles, and produced, annually, fifty millions of pounds of rice, and fourteen thousand bales of cotton, and held a population of nearly forty thousand, of whom more than thirty thousand were slaves.

In the month of November, 1861, there was to occur a naval exploit of the enemy, of little prowess, but of such importance that it was to draw off public attention from the largest operations of the war, and fix it unanimously upon the issues of a single incident.

On the 8th of November, Capt. Wilkes, of the United States steam sloop-of-war San Jacinto, overhauled the English mail steamer Trent in the Bahama Channel, and demanded the surrender of the Confederate emissaries, Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who were passengers on board that vessel, and were proceeding with their secretaries on a mission representing the interests of the Confederacy at the courts of England and France. The San Jacinto had fired a shot across the bows of the mail steamer to bring her to, and as she did not stop for that, had fired a shell which burst close by her. The unarmed vessel was boarded by a party of marines under command of Lieut. Fairfax, who demanded the persons of the commissioners

and their secretaries; and on their claiming the protection of the British flag, and refusing to leave it unless by actual physical force, hands were laid on Mr. Mason, Lieut. Fairfax and another officer taking him by the collar of the coat on each side, and, the three other gentlemen following, the whole party was thus transferred from the decks of the Trent. As this scene was taking place, Commander Williams, of the British Navy, who was in charge of the English mails on board the Trent, said: "In this ship I am the representative of Her Majesty's Government, and I call upon the officers of the ship and passengers generally, to mark my words, when in the name of the British Government, and in distinct language, I denounce this as an illegal act, an act in violation of international law; an act indeed of wanton piracy, which, had we the means of defence, you would not dare to attempt."

The news of this remarkable outrage was received in England with a storm of popular indignation. The very day it reached Liverpool, a public meeting was held, earnestly calling upon the Government to assert the dignity of the British flag, and demand prompt reparation for the outrage. This appeal went up from all classes and parties of the people. The British Government exhibited a determined sentiment and a serious concern in the matter. The Earl of Derby, who had been consulted by the Government, approved the resentful demand which it proposed to make upon the United States, and suggested that ship-owners should instruct the captains of outward-bound vessels to signalize any English vessels, that war with America was probable. The Liverpool underwriters approved the sugges tion. The British Government made actual preparations for war. Reinforcements were sent to Canada, together with munitions of war for the few fortifications England possessed in that colony.

Meanwhile the North was revelling in what it supposed the cheap glory of the Trent affair, and making an exhibition of vanity and insolence concerning it, curious even among the usual exaggerations of that people. The act of Capt. Wilkes was not only approved by the Federal Secretary of the Navy; it was extravagantly applauded by him. He accumulated words of praise, and declared that it had been marked by "intelligence, ability, decision, and firmness." The man who had made himself a hero in a proceeding in which he encountered no peril, received the public and official thanks of the Congress sitting at Washington. The Northern press and people appeared to be almost insane over the wonderful exploit. The city of New York offered Capt. Wilkes the hospitality of the city. Boston gave him a festival. Gov. Andrew of Massachusetts declared that the act of taking four unarmed men from an unarmed vessel was one of the most illustrious services that had rendered the war memorable," and exulted in the idea that Capt. Wilkes had "fired his shot across the bows of the ship that bore the English lion at its head," forgetting that the ship bore no

guns to reply to a courage so adventurous. The New York Times wrote in this strain: "There is no drawback to our jubilation. The universal Yankee nation is getting decidedly awake. As for Capt. Wilkes and his command, let the handsome thing be done. Consecrate another Fourth of July to him; load him down with services of plate, and swords of the cunningest and costliest art. Let us encourage the happy inspiration that achieved such a victory."

But while the "universal Yankee nation" was thus astir, and in a rage of vanity, the South watched the progress of the Trent question with a keen and eager anxiety. It was naturally supposed, looking at the determination of England on the one side and the unbounded enthusiasm in the Northern States in maintaining their side of the question, that war would ensue between the parties. It was already imagined in the South that such a war would break the naval power of the North, distract her means, and easily confer independence on the Southern Confederacy. There were orators in Richmond who already declared that the key of the blockade had been lost in the trough of the Atlantic. If the North stood to the issue, the prospect was clear. Gov. Letcher of Virginia addressed a public meeting in Virginia, and, in characteristic language, declared that he prayed nightly that in this matter, "Lincoln's backbone might not give way.' The one condition of war between England and the North, was that the latter would keep its position, and sustain the high tone with which it had avowed the act of Capt. Wilkes.

But this condition was to fail suddenly, signally; and the whole world was to be amused by a diplomatic collapse, such as is scarcely to be found in the records of modern times. When the arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell was first made known at Washington, Secretary Seward had written to the Federal minister in London, advising him to decline any explanations, and suggesting that the grounds taken by the British Government should first be made known, and the argument commence with it. But the British Government entered into no discussion; it disdained the argument of any law question in the matter; and with singular dignity made the naked and imperative demand for the surrender of the commissioners and their secretaries. Mr. Seward wrote back a letter, which must ever remain a curiosity in diplomacy. He volunteered the argument for the surrender of the parties; he promised that they should be "cheerfully" liberated; he declared that he did it in accordance with "the most cherished principles " of American statesmanship; but in the close of this remarkable letter he could not resist the last resort of demagogueism in mentioning the captured commissioners, who had for weeks been paraded as equal to the fruits of a victory in the field, as persons of no importance, and saying: "If the safety of this Union required the detention of the captured persons, it would be the right and duty of this Government to

detain them." If there was anything wanting to complete the shame of this collapse, it was the shallow show of alacrity at concession, and the attempt to substitute a sense of justice for what all men of common discernment knew was the alarm of cowardice.

The concession of Mr. Seward was a blow to the hopes of the Southern people. The contemplation of the spectacle of their enemy's humiliation in it was but little compensation for their disappointment of a European complication in the war. Indeed, the conclusion of the Trent affair gave a sharp check to the long cherished imagination of the interference of England in the war, at least to the extent of her disputing the blockade, which had begun to tell on the war-power and general condition of the Confederacy. The Trent correspondence was followed by declarations, on the Government side in the British Parliament, too plain to be mistaken. In the early part of February, 1862, Earl Russell had declared that the blockade of the American ports had been effective from the 15th of August, in the face of the facts that the despatches of Mr. Bunch, the English consul at Charleston, said that it was not so; and that authentic accounts and letters of merchants showed that any ships, leaving for the South, could be insured by a premium of seven and a half to fifteen per cent. But in the House of Commons, Mr. Gregory disputed the minister's statement, mentioned the evidence we have referred to, and asserted that England's non-observation of the Treaty of Paris was a deception for the Confederate States, and an ambuscade for the interests of commerce throughout the world.

* The Richmond Examiner had the following to say of the attitude of the enemy in the matter: 'Never, since the humiliation of the Doge and Senate of Genoa before the footstool of Louis XIV., has any nation consented to a degradation so deep. If Lincoln and Seward intended to give them up at a menace, why, their people will ask, did they ever capture the ambassadours? Why the exultant hurrah over the event, that went up from nineteen millions of throats? Why the glorification of Wilkes? Why the cowardly insults to two unarmed gentlemen, their close imprisonment, and the bloodthirsty movements of Congress in their regard? But, most of all, why did the Government of Lincoln indulge a full Cabinet with an unanimous resolution that, under no circumstances, should the United States surrender Messrs. Slidell and Mason? Why did they encourage the popular sentiment to a similar position? The United States Government and people swore the great oath to stand on the ground they had taken; the American eagle was brought out; he screeched his loudest screech of defiance-then

'Dropt like a craven cock his conquered wing'

at the first growl of the lion. This is the attitude of the enemy."

CHAPTER XII.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE MILITARY EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1862.-THE CONFEDERATE SITUATION IN KENTUCKY.-GEN. A. S. JOHNSTON'S COMMAND AND POSITION.-BATTLE OF FISHING CREEK.-THE CONFEDERATE RIGHT IN KENTUCKY.-GEN. CRITTENDEN'S COMMAND IN EXTREME STRAITS.-DIFFICULTY IN SUBSISTING IT.-THE DECISION TO GIVE BAT

TLE TO THE ENEMY.-ZOLLICOFFER'S BRIGADE. THE CONTESTED HILL.-DEATH OF ZOLLICOFFER.-DEFEAT OF THE CONFEDERATES.-CRITTENDEN CROSSES THE CUMBERLAND.HIS LOSSES.-IMPORTANCE OF THE DISASTER.-DESIGNS OF THE ENEMY IN WESTERN KENTUCKY.-POPULAR DELUSION AS TO JOHNSTON'S STRENGTH.-HOPELESSNESS OF HI DEFENCE.-OFFICIAL APATHY IN RICHMOND.-BEAUREGARD'S CONFERENCE WITH JOHNSTON. THE TENNESSEE AND CUMBERLAND RIVERS.-THE AVENUE TO NASHVILLE.GRANT'S ASCENT OF THE TENNESSEE.-CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY.-NOBLE AND GALLANT CONDUCT OF GEN. TILGHMAN.-BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON.-JOHNSTON'S REASONS FOR MAKING A BATTLE THERE.—COMMANDS OF BUCKNER, PILLOW, AND FLOYD.—SITE AND STRENGTH OF THE FORT.-BATTLE OF THE TRENCHES.-ENGAGEMENT OF THE GUNBOATS. -TWO DAYS' SUCCESS OF THE CONFEDERATES.-SUFFERING OF THE TROOPS FROM COLD.EXPOSURE OF THE WOUNDED.-FEDERAL REINFORCEMENTS.-THE CONFEDERATE COUNCIL OF WAR.-PLAN OF ATTACK, TO EXTRICATE THE GARRISON.—A FIERCE AND TERRIBLE CONFLICT. THE FEDERALS FORCED BACK TOWARDS THE WYNN'S FERRY ROAD.—THE OPPORTUNITY OF EXIT LOST.-GEN, BUCKNER'S EXPLANATION. A COMMENTARY ON MILITARY HESITATION.-HOW THE DAY WAS LOST.-NINE HOURS OF COMBAT.-SCENES ON THE BATTLE-field.-couNCIL OF CONFEDERATE GENERALS.-GEN. PILLOW'S PROPOSITION. —LITERAL REPORT OF THE CONVERSATION OF GENS. FLOYD, PILLOW, AND BUCKNER.—A SURRENDER DETERMINED.-ESCAPE OF FLOYD AND PILLOW.-BUCKNER'S LETTER TO GRANT. JOHNSTON'S MOVEMENT TO NASHVILLE.—EXCITEMENT THERE.-RETREAT OF JOHNSTON'S COMMAND TO Murfreesboro'.-PANIO IN NASHVILLE.-CAPTURE OF ROANOKE ISLAND BY THE ENEMY.-BURNSIDE'S EXPEDITION.-GEN. WISE'S ESTIMATE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ROANOKE ISLAND.-HIS CORRESPONDENCE AND INTERVIEWS WITH SECRETARY BENJAMIN.-DEFENCES OF THE ISLAND.-NAVAL ENGAGEMENT.-COMMODORE LYNCH'S SQUADRON.-LANDING OF THE ENEMY ON THE ISLAND.-DEFECTIVE RECONNOISSANCE OF THE CONFEDERATES.-THEIR WORKS FLANKED. THE SURRENDER.—PURSUIT OF THE CONFEDERATE GUNBOATS.-EXTENT OF THE DISASTER.-CENSURE OF THE RICHMOND AUTHORITIES.-SECRETARY BENJAMIN ACCUSED BY THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS.

THE year 1862 is a remarkable one in the history of the war. It opened with a fearful train of disasters to the Confederacy that brought it