MAKE-SHIFTS OF THE CONFEDERACY. 489 of dollars; and the proposition was seriously entertained in the newspapers. But what shall be said of the government that actually and officially, in the course of a system of finance to meet necessities counted by thousands of millions of dollars, made appeals to the people to donate silver plate and jewelry, and published monthly lists of contributions of rings, sugar-pots and spoons! These curious lists may still be found in the files of the Richmond newspapers. Such vagaries are subjects of grave consideration by the historian. They illustrate the general character of make-shifts in the war. He who seeks to solve the problem of the downfall of the Southern Confederacy, must take largely into consideration the absence of any intelligent and steady system in the conduct of public affairs; the little circles. that bounded the Richmond Administration; the deplorable want of the commercial or business faculty in the Southern mind. CHAPTER XXX. A TRAIN OF CONFEDERATE SUCCESSES IN THE BEGINNING OF 1864.—THE BATTLE OF OCEAN POND.-GEN. SEYMOUR'S EXPEDITION INTO FLORIDA.—ITS DEFEAT AND COMPLETE DISASTER. SHERMAN'S EXPEDITION IN THE SOUTHWEST.-HIS FIRST EXPERIMENT OF THE MOVABLE COLUMN."-HIS DESIGNS UPON MOBILE AND THE CONFEDERATE LINES IN NORTH GEORGIA.—THE CO-OPERATING COLUMN OF CAVALRY.-GEN. POLK EVACUATES MERIDIAN, AND FALLS BACK TO DEMOPOLIS.-FORREST DEFEATS THE FEDERAL CAVALRY.—DISASTROUS AND DISGRACEFUL CONCLUSION OF SHERMAN'S ADVENTURE.—THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION.-GEN. BANKS' DESIGNS UPON TEXAS.—THE CONFEDERATE COMMANDS IN THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI.—THE FEDERAL ADVANCE UP RED RIVER. THE CONFEDERATES FALL BACK TOWARDS SHREVEPORT.-BATTLE OF MANSFIELD.-HOW THE ACTION WAS BROUGHT ON.-ROUT OF THE ENEMY.-SINGULAR SCENES ON THE PURSUIT.-BATTLE OF PLEASANT HILL.—AN UNFORTUNATE MISTAKE OF ORDERS.-CHURCHILL'S CORPS PANIC-STRICKEN. GEN. WALKER HOLDS THE FIELD.—THE ENEMY CONTINUES HIS RETREAT TO ALEXANDRIA.HIS MARCH A CAREER OF UNPARALLELED COWARDICE AND CRIME.-LARGE SPOILS OF THE CONFEDERATES.—THE EXTENT OF BANKS' DISASTER.—TERMINATION OF HIS VISION OF EMPIRE WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.-FORREST'S EXPEDITION UP THE MISSISSIPPI.—CAPTURE OF FORT PILLOW.-HOKE'S OPERATIONS ON THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST.-COMPARATIVE UNIMPORTANCE OF THESE CONFEDERATE SUCCESSES.-THE RAID OF ULRIC DAHLGREN. THE PARTS OF CUSTER AND KILPATRICK.-FAILURE AND LUDICROUS COWARDICE OF THE SEVERAL EXPEDITIONS.-DAHLGREN'S ATROCIOUS DESIGNS.—HE RETREATS, AND IS CHASED BY POLLARD.-MANNER OF HIS DEATH.-DISCOVERY OF THE DAHLGREN PAPERS. -SENSATION IN RICHMOND.—PRESIDENT DAVIS' MELODRAMA.—STATEMENT OF EDWARD W. HALBACH IN RELATION TO THE DAHLGREN PAPERS. -THE PAPERS FIRST FOUND BY THE SCHOOLBOY LITTLEPAGE.-HOW TRANSMITTED TO RICHMOND.—THE THEORY OF FORGERY.-ITS UTTER ABSURDITY. ALTHOUGH the Northern public was gratified in contemplating the sum of Federal victories in the year 1863, it had yet to see in the early months of 1864 a remarkable train of Confederate successes, which, in the aggregate, did much to re-animate the Confederates, and to subdue expectation at Washington. These successes were principally a decisive victory in Florida; the defeat of Sherman's expedition in the Southwest; and a triumphant issue in the most important campaign that had yet taken place west of the Mississippi River. SHERMAN'S EXPEDITION IN THE SOUTHWEST. 491 BATTLE OF OCEAN POND. The operations against Charleston having been virtually abandoned, it was decided at Washington to use the surplus troops in an attempt upon Florida. A command of six or seven thousand men, including two regiments of negroes, was organized under Gen. Seymour, left Charleston harbour in eighteen transports, and in the month of February ascended the St. Mary's River. The enemy was allowed to land, as the small Confederate force under Gen. Finnegan was unequal for anything like a battle, and was awaiting reinforcements despatched by Gen. Beauregard, in whose military department the State of Florida was included. Colquitt's brigade arrived in time to unite with Finnegan and hold the position at Oulustre not far from Ocean Pond, an inland lake, where it was proposed to cover the capital of the State and defend the road from Lake City to Tallahassee. The joint Confederate force did not number more than five thousand men. On the 20th February, this little force was advanced several miles to meet the enemy. A severe battle opened in the afternoon; for two hours the enemy was steadily pushed back; until at last about sunset, a simultaneous attack of the Twenty-Seventh and Sixth Georgia Regiments on the enemy's centre and flank broke his whole line into confusion. Five pieces of artillery were taken, two thousand small arms, and five hundred prisoners. The enemy left upon the field three hundred and fifty dead, and abandoned all of his severely wounded. The action was decisive, as it resulted in the expulsion of the enemy from Florida, and the preservation of this State to the Confederacy. SHERMAN'S EXPEDITION IN THE SOUTHWEST. Another notable event about this time was Sherman's expedition into Central Mississippi, in which, with an army of about thirty thousand men, he proposed to sever his communications behind him, and to strike off into the heart of the country. It was his first experiment of "the movable column," but unlike that in the later months of 1864, it had opposing military forces to encounter, and came to the most wretched grief. The conceit of the Federal commander was to operate upon what was called a "strategic triangle "-to move from Vicksburg to Mobile, by the way of Selma; a heavy column of cavalry to start from Memphis, move rapidly across Mississippi and Alabama, come upon the flank of Gen. Polk's army, and harass his retreat while Sherman rushed upon him in front; and thus by the possession of Mobile and Selma to obtain two important water-bases-the one on the Mississippi at Vicksburg, the other at |