ville turnpike, came up to Stone River the same day, and found the bluffs beyond occupied by a strong force of the enemy. On the following day McCook advanced near the river, and was directed to place his men in position, forming the right of the line; and the corps of Thomas, now arrived, was joined to his left, connecting with Crittenden. The three corps numbered altogether a little less than fifty thousand men. Bragg's line, in a crescent, with Breckinridge's corps over the river forming the extreme right, was extended westward by Polk and Hardee to the intersection of the Nashville road with the railway, and thence across Wilkinson pike and the Franklin road.

Rosecrans planned to advance (on the 31st) against Breckinridge, expecting to rout him, and then to assail Polk and Hardee in flank and rear. McCook was to hold his position against all assaults, and to aid this latter work in front. But Bragg had been planning also, very much after the same fashion-and promptly took the initiative himself.

The movement undertaken by Rosecrans, only to be abandoned after loss of precious time, made his adversary's work less difficult. Bragg massed a heavy force for attack on McCook, and before 7 o'clock the onslaught began; Johnson's division, on the extreme right, was scattered, to be captured or driven back upon that of Davis, and all in turn upon the division of Sheridan, who contested the ground with energy and persistence, inspiring his men with his own fire and pluck. The whole of the corps remaining in organized shape had, in three or four hours, been whirled around, falling back with heavy loss to the Nashville turnpike. The battle seemed to be lost. Still

the tempest came rushing on. Negley's division, next in order, having exhausted its ammunition and lost nearly all its artillery horses, also retreated. Thomas, now in the thickest of the fight, drew Negley and Rousseau (whose division had been in reserve) into a better position, out of the low cedar brushwood, and with batteries delivering a concentrated fire from the ridge south of Nashville turnpike, stopped the further advance of the enemy, while the Union lines were readjusted. Rosecrans labored incessantly, freely exposing himself to danger, reassuring his men, and succeeding in the hard task of establishing and confirming a new line of battle, which remained unshaken when night mantled the field. Both parties claimed the victory. Neither seriously resumed the conflict or materially changed position during the next day the memorable January 1, 1863. On the 2d there was some skirmishing, and a more serious yet profitless attack on the Union left by Breckinridge; but the Confederates began retreating before midnight, on the way to Shelbyville. Rosecrans occupied Murfreesboro, where he had his headquarters for several months following.

The battle (so important in results) has had few equals in relative carnage. The Union losses were reported as 1,533 killed, 7,245 wounded, and less than 2,800 prisoners in all, nearly 12,000. Bragg reported a Confederate loss of 10,000 of whom 9,000 were killed or wounded. (War Records: Union Union killed, 1,730; wounded, 7,802. Confederate - killed, 1,299; wounded, 7,945.)

On the Mississippi River and the Gulf there had

meanwhile been war vicissitudes and personal changes. General Butler maintained rigid rule in New Orleans. He accomplished a marvel in improving its sanitary condition, keeping out that formidable enemy, yellow fever, on whose aid the Confederates had reasonably counted; provided for the poor by furnishing work, or by charities when necessary, levying upon the disloyal rich for the cost; and found use for the colored folk not only as laborers, but by enlisting and training able-bodied men as soldiers. He discovered cotton that had escaped destruction and needed a market; and he extended his authority into the country, within his department, to secure the raising of more. He was firmly master. Too brusque for a diplomat, he was personally uncongenial to foreign residents who sympathized with secession, and they were willing to embarrass his operations. The French consul made complaining representations, which led to diplomatic correspondence of no vital consequence between the governments at Paris and Washington. Secretary Seward was prudently disposed to think Butler a dangerous man, and desired a change of the military command in Louisiana. The change was made, but not until the authority of the Government had become well established at New Orleans and in the State capital. Banks succeeded Butler in December.

Detachments of Farragut's fleet were busy during the early autumn on the Texas coast. Lieutenant Kittredge took Corpus Christi, from which small blockade-runners had carried on a considerable trade with Havana; and an expedition under Acting Master Crocker met with a like success at Sabine City. More important was the capture of Galveston by Commander

Renshaw, on the 9th of October.

Renshaw remained

there, holding the city with an amiable leniency, which the Confederates complimentarily contrasted with Butler's rule at New Orleans. Unhappily, there soon appeared as decided a contrast in the results. On the night of January 1st, when Renshaw was least expecting it, by a combined movement of General Magruder, now military commander in Texas, and Leon Smith, of the Confederate navy, Galveston was recaptured, with the loss of the Harriet Lane and other Government vessels. Renshaw, who made a gallant fight, was killed in the action.

Banks had been expected to give effective aid in establishing a loyal government in Texas, under the appointed Provisional Governor, ex-Congressman A. J. Hamilton, of that State, who was still waiting in New Orleans. But the loss of Galveston, and of Sabine City soon after, abruptly shut the doors that had seemed to open a short and easy way to Houston and the interior.

In an address before the Legislature of Mississippi on the 26th of December,- two years after South Carolina led off in the work of Secession - Jefferson Davis said:

I was among those who, from the beginning, predicted war as the consequence of secession, although I must admit that the contest has assumed proportions more gigantic than : I had anticipated. . You have no doubt wondered that I have not carried out the policy, which I had intended should be our policy, of fighting our battles on the fields of the enemy, instead of suffering him to fight them on ours. This was not the result of my will, but of the power of the enemy. .. Vicksburg and Port Hudson are the Every effort will be made to capture

real points of attack.

those places with the object of freeing the navigation of the Mississippi, of cutting off our communications with the trans-Mississippi department of severing the western from the eastern portion of the Confederacy. Let all who have at heart the safety of the country go without delay to Vicksburg and Port Hudson; let them go for such length of time as they can spare for thirty or sixty, or for ninety days. Let them assist in preserving the Mississippi River, that great artery of the country, and thus conduce more than in any other way to the perpetuation of the Confederacy and the success of the cause.

General Grant, whose department was enlarged, on the 16th of October, to include the State of Mississippi, had planned an attempt against Vicksburg by the rear, part of his army to proceed down the Mississippi Central Railway, under his personal command, and the remainder, under Sherman, to move from Memphis on transports to the mouth of the Yazoo, a few miles. above the city, effecting communication by that stream. Each of these forces was about thirty thousand strong. Grant's advance set forward on the 8th of November, and on the 29th his headquarters were established at Holly Springs, where extensive depots of supplies were established. His progress was unopposed as his lines. of communication with Columbia and Memphis were lengthened to Oxford. He was at that place when, on the 20th of December, Van Dorn, with the entire cavalry force of the army lately under his command (now Pemberton's), captured Holly Springs, and destroyed stores and supplies of over a million dollars in value. Railway and telegraph communication with Memphis and Columbus were about the same time so thoroughly broken by Forrest's cavalry (from Bragg's army) that speedy restoration was impossible, and Grant was forced