forever undiminished in number, and undimmed in splendor." Brigadier-General Veatch.

"The President of the United States-He must be sustained." Colonel J. W. Fuller.

"The Star-spangled Banner" was here sung, the whole party joining in the chorus.

"The loyal men of Tennessee-Their devotion to the Union, the cause of republican government, and constitutional liberty, is like gold tried seven times by fire.”—Mr. J. M. Tomony.

The remainder of the toasts were of a local character, with the exception of the closing one, which was as follows:

"General Grant-Your Grant and my Grant. Having granted us victories, grant us the restoration of the 'Old Flag; grant us supplies, so that we may grant to our friends the grant to us."

Dr. Morris read the following lines composed in honor of General Grant:

DE SOTO, FULTON, GRANT.

The daring Spaniard, when his eyes beheld,
For the first time, yon noble river roll
And sparkle in the sunbeams, as it bore
Its mighty current onward to the sea,
Fell upon bended knee and worshiped God
Aloud, for that his painful task was done.
The secret of the ages he had solved-
The Mississippi, sire of floods, stood forth,
Embanked in verdure, bordered by a soil
Richer than Egypt's Delta,

Science and commerce winged their pinions there,
And wrote his name, De Soto, on their scrolls.

Ages rolled by, the tawny savage fled—
The white man launched his boat upon the flood,
The forest fell, the fertile soil gave back

Unto the sower's hand a hundred-fold.
Then rose the genius Fulton, and he taught

To stem the unconquered flood, to push the weight
Of mightiest keels against the heaving mass
That untold centuries had crowned with power;
He sent his messengers in smoke and flame

THE OPENING OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

Up to the Mississippi's very fount;

And by the Spaniard's name he wrote his own—
Fulton, the nation's benefactor.

Yon sire of floods was the great bond that joined
These waters into one: his bosom bore

In precious freightage all that nature yields
From furthest North down to a torrid clime;
Its channel was the highway of the West:
Science had made his heaving mass her own;
Pleasure danced revelry upon its floods;
Beauty and love dwelt by him all secure;
Fraternal hands joined hands along his banks;
His very waters made us all akin.

Then spoke an enemy-and on his banks

Armed men appeared, and cannon-shot proclaimed
The Mississippi closed-that mighty stream
Found by De Soto, and by Fulton won!

One thought to chain him! ignominious thought!
But then the grand old monarch shook his locks

And burst his fetters like a Samson freed!

363

The heights were crowned with ramparts sheltering those
Whose treason knew no bounds: the frowning forts
Belched lightnings, and the morning gun

A thousand miles told mournfully the tale,

The Mississippi closed.

Not long; from the Lord God of Hosts was sent

A leader who with patient vigil planned

A great deliverance: height by height was gained,
Island and hill and woody bank and cliff.
Month followed month, till on our natal day
The last great barrier fell, and never more
The sire of waters shall obstruction know!
Now with De Soto's name, and Fulton's, see
The greater name of Grant!

Our children's children, noble Grant, shall sing
That great deliverance! On the floods of spring
Thy name shall sparkle, smiling commerce tell
Thy great achievement which restores the chain,
Never again to break, which makes us one.

General Grant immediately turned his steps southward again, visiting Natchez and other points in the department.

He proceeded to New Orleans to confer with General Banks on the question of re-opening trade between the North and South. He arrived there on the 2d of September, within one week from the time he left Memphis, and the next day it was announced that the trade of the city of New Orleans with Cairo, St. Louis and the cities and towns of the Upper Mississippi, the Missouri and Ohio Rivers, was declared free from any military restriction whatever. The trade of the Mississippi within the Department of the Gulf was held subject only to such limitations as might prove necessary to prevent the supply of provisions and munitions of war to the enemies of the country.

On the morning of the 4th of September, 1863, General Grant held a grand review of the Thirteenth Army Corps, which had been under his command at Vicksburg, but was afterward transferred to that of General Banks.

General Banks, accompanied by a numerous staff, was at the St. Charles Hotel as early as eight o'clock, and at nine o'clock both generals left for Carrolton, where the review took place. The street was crowded to witness the departure of these officers, all present being desirous of seeing General Grant. He was in undress uniform, without sword, sash, or belt; coat unbuttoned, a low-crowned black felt hat, without any mark upon it of military rank; a pair of kid gloves, and a cigar in his mouth. It must be known, however, that he is never without the latter, except when asleep.

During the review, General Grant, although a good horseman, being mounted on a strange horse, was suddenly thrown from his seat, and severely injured. At this particular time the mishap was of serious consequence with regard to the campaigns in the Southwest, as may be judged from the annual report of the general-in-chief.

It appears, in the following extract from that document, that it was intended that General Grant should take command in September, 1863, of the Union forces moving toward northwestern Georgia; but his accident prevented:

"As three separate armies-those of the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee-were now to operate in the same field, it seemed necessary to have a single commander, in

THE GENERAL-IN-CHIEF'S REPORT.

365

order to secure a more perfect co-operation than had been obtained with the separate commands of Burnside and Rosecrans. General Grant, by his distinguished services and superior rank to all the other generals in the West, seemed entitled to this general command. But, unfortunately, he was at this time in New Orleans, unable to take the field. Moreover, there was no telegraphic communication with him, and the dispatches of September 13th, directed to him and General Sherman, did not reach them until some days after their dates, thus delaying the movement of General Grant's forces from Vicksburg. General Hurlbut, however, had moved the troops of his own corps, then in West Tennessee, with commendable promptness. These were to be replaced by re-enforcements from Steele's corps, in Arkansas, which also formed part of General Grant's army. Hearing nothing from General Grant's or General Sherman's corps at Vicksburg, it was determined, on the 23d, to detach the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps from the Army of the Potomac, and send them by rail, under the command of General Hooker, to protect General Rosecrans's line of communication from Bridgeport to Nashville. It was known that these troops could not go immediately to the front. To send more men to Chattanooga, when those already there could not be fully supplied, would only increase the embarrassment, and probably cause the evacuation of that place. In other words, Hooker's command was temporarily performing the duties previously assigned to the re-enforcements ordered from Grant's army."

General Grant's injuries were of so serious a nature that it was feared he would never be able to take the field again. He was carried from Carrolton, on a litter, to the steamer Franklin, which took him up the river; his breastbone was said to have been crushed, three ribs broken, and one side paralyzed; and his brain was thought to be affected from the concussion of the fall from his horse. Fortunately for the country, by the aid of a good surgeon, he was enabled, after over a month's illness, to take the position destined for him, as chief commander in the West.

CHAPTER XVIII.

A NEW CAMPAIGN.-CHATTANOOGA.

Chickamauga.-Rosecrans defeated there.-Preparations for a new Campaign.General Grant moves up the Mississippi.-Again at Vicksburg, caring for his Command.-A Board and Medal of Honor.-General Sherman on the March for Chattanooga.-General Grant meets the Secretary of War.-Enlarged Command.-The Enemy alarmed.—Affected Mirth.-Chattanooga Relieved.—Preparations for Decisive Battle.-The Bloody Contest.-General O'Meara.

IN southeastern Tennessee, on the Western and Atlantic Railroad, eighteen miles apart, are Chickamauga and Chattanooga. The Tennessee River flows near, and railways run among the wild summits which guard glorious valleys, and make some of the finest scenery in the world. The history of this battle-ground, forever associated with the names of Grant, Sherman, and Thomas, is peculiar and interesting.

This was the Cherokee's favorite hunting-ground. Over it the State of Georgia extended her laws, and imprisoned the missionaries who refused to take the oath of allegiance to them.

While General Grant was a suffering invalid, September 19th, General Rosecrans, at the head of the Army of the Cumberland, met General Bragg at Chickamauga, and, after a desperate conflict, was glad to retreat to Chattanooga, unpursued by his successful enemy.

As soon as he was able to move, the chief began his voyage up the Mississippi River. He stopped at the principal dépôts of his troops, and arranged for their departure eastward, at such times as would enable them to form a combination with the forces at Chattanooga.

While at Vicksburg, he was determined that his men should be paid, and issued his order accordingly. It was also necessary to make a tariff of rates to prevent imposi tions upon the war-ruined people of the Southwest. The