boats. Their press had defied the patriots to leave the banks of the river, assuring them of speedy annihilation by the rebel chivalry should they venture to do so. Corinth was so strong by nature, and so important to the rebel cause, that it was manifest that it would not be relinquished without a struggle. One of the sternest and most decisive conflicts of the war was apparently approaching. Many of the patriot troops were more than a thousand miles from their homes. Their lines of communication were long, and greatly exposed. The rebels were at home, had chosen their own ground, and the labor of tens of thousands of hands had been employed for many months in constructing a series of the most formidable intrenchments. The advantages were so manifestly with the rebels, that the country looked forward to the final struggle with great solicitude.

Meanwhile some changes in the organization of the army had taken place. General Rosecrans took command of General C. F. Smith's * Division, that officer having died soon after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, of a disease which had prevented him from participating in that conflict. General Grant was appointed second in command to General Halleck, and General George H. Thomas † took General Grant's place in command of the right wing. The reserve was placed under the command of General McClernand.

On the 28th of May, Colonel Elliott, of the Second Iowa Cavalry, was dispatched with nine hundred horsemen to cut the Mobile and Ohio Rail

*Major-General Charles F. Smith was born in Pennsylvania about 1806, and died at Savannah, Tennessee, April 25, 1862. He was a son of the late Dr. Samuel B. Smith, U. S. A., graduated at West Point in 1825, and was made second-lieutenant of artillery on the 1st of July in the same year. In 1829 he was appointed assistant instructor in infantry tactics at West Point; in 1831 was promoted to the adjutancy, and in 1832 was made a first-lieutenant. In 1838 he was appointed instructor in infantry tactics and commandant of cadets, and the same year was promoted to a captaincy. He took an important part in most of the battles of the Mexican war; in 1847 was brevetted major for gallant conduct in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, in Texas, and at the battles of Monterey, Contreras, and Churubusco won the successive brevets of lieutenant-colonel and colonel. In the same year he was appointed acting inspector-general in Mexico. On the 25th of November, 1854, he was made major of the First Artillery, and in the following year lieutenant-colonel of the Tenth Infantry. In September, 1861, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Third Infantry, having the previous month been appointed brigadier-general of volunteers and taken charge of the troops at Paducah, Kentucky. At the attack on Fort Donelson, the most brilliant charge was made by the troops under his command. For his gallantry on that occasion he was promoted to a major-generalship. He died of chronic dysentery contracted during the Mexican war, and fatally aggravated by his exposures in the campaign of the West. America has lost in this war no better soldier, no braver man.-American Cyclopedia for 1862.

+ Major-General George H. Thomas was born in Southampton County, Virginia, in July, 1816. He graduated at West Point in 1840, and was appointed to the Third Artillery. He distinguished himself in the Florida war, and was brevetted first-lieutenant. At Monterey, in Mexico, he won the brevet rank of captain. At Buena Vista he gained the rank of major. At the close of the war he was appointed, in 1850, instructor of artillery and cavalry at West Point. Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, Major Thomas was found "faithful among the faithless," and warmly es poused the National cause. In 1861 he was appointed colonel of the Fifth Cavalry, the post being vacant through the treason of the commanding officer of the regiment, Colonel Robert E. Lee. In August he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and went to the West. Here he distinguished himself as a soldier and an officer. When General Buell was removed, General Thomas was appointed by President Lincoln to take his place. He, however, declined the honor, and upon General Rosecrans assuming the supreme command, he took command of a corps of the Army of the Cumberland.

road south of Corinth. The country was almost uninhabited. It was exceedingly difficult to obtain forage or food. Though the march was attended with great hardships, the object was accomplished. Besides tearing up the track, a train of twenty-six cars, laden with arms and ammunition, was destroyed.

It now seemed evident that a battle could not long be delayed. The National troops were immediately before the last line of rebel works. A step in advance would bring them in contact with the foe. On the 2d of May General Beauregard had issued an appeal to his army, to rally for a decisive battle. Every subsequent step of the patriot troops had been stubbornly resisted. The decisive hour had come. On the morning of the 30th of May, just as our troops were ready for the final rush, heavy explosions were heard in the midst of the enemy's works at Corinth. "About six o'clock in the morning," writes General Sherman, "a curious explosion, sounding like a volley of large siege-pieces, followed by others singly and in twos and threes, arrested our attention. Soon after a large smoke arose from the direction of Corinth, when I telegraphed to General Halleck to ascertain the cause. He answered that he could not explain it, but or dered me to advance my division, and feel the enemy, if still in my front." General Morgan L. Smith's brigade was sent forward. Moving rapidly down the main road, they entered the first redoubt of the enemy at seven o'clock in the morning of May 30th. It was completely evacuated. Not the vestige of an enemy could be seen. The reconnoitring force pushed boldly on into Corinth, and beyond it, to College Hill. Silence, solitude, desolation reigned everywhere. Abandoned camps, a burning town, smouldering ruins, provisions of all kinds scattered wastefully around, broken gun-carriages, and piles of shot and shell, were all that remained to tell of the proud host which, but a few hours before, had garrisoned those almost impregnable ramparts.

It subsequently appeared that the enemy had spent several days in their leisurely retirement. All of the sick, and most of their stores, artillery, and ammunition, had been carefully removed. But even the immense rolling stock of the railroad, at their command, could not remove an army of one hundred thousand men, with the enormous supplies which such a host requires. Most of the troops were compelled to march away. Their retreat commenced at ten o'clock on the night of the 29th. Their dense and massive columns crowded all the roads leading to the south and west. During the evacuation an unbroken line of pickets had been kept out, and a strong show of resistance made. The ruse was quite successful. General Halleck and his army had been kept for more than a month at bay, and now the foe had escaped, leaving nothing of value behind. By some unexplained mistake, General Pope officially announced the capture of ten thousand (probably two was written) prisoners. The public press also announced that the rebel army had fled utterly demoralized. Both of these statements were very far from the truth.*

General Halleck's dispatch to the Secretary of War, dated May 30th, announcing the capture, is as follows:

"The enemy's position and works in front of Corinth were exceedingly strong. He cannot now occupy a stronger position in his flight. This morning he destroyed an immense amount of public

The moral and strategic results of the siege of Corinth were, however, very great. Fort Randolph and Fort Pillow were no longer tenable. Memphis was forthwith surrendered. All Western Tennessee was henceforth under National authority; and a very important and essential step had been taken towards the final opening of the Mississippi River.

General Halleck has been severely criticised for not proceeding with more rapidity in his advance on Corinth. The event did indeed demonstrate that a more vigorous assault would probably have been successful. But it must be remembered that the National arms had already suffered a serious disaster, that another reverse would have been terrible, that the rebels had concentrated a large army in a very commanding position, strongly fortified, and that there was every indication of their resolve to maintain their post at every hazard.

The country over which General Halleck was to pass, full of forests and ravines, was such as required the utmost caution to avoid falling into ambuscades. The advance upon Corinth military men will probably pronounce to have been well conducted. But the allowing the rebels to retreat with their whole army and all their fine material, when our whole army was, for forty-eight hours, within half a mile of their lines, was surely an unmilitary act.

The conduct of the rebels, in thus retreating, is quite incomprehensible. A vigorous defence would have made any attempt to carry Corinth by assault exceedingly difficult, and doubtful of success. Its cowardly evacuation excited general contempt both throughout the North and the South.

"Parson

Historic fidelity compels us to say one word in conclusion. Brownlow" speaks of a disease called "negro on the brain." Many of our officers at that time had this disease dreadfully. Several of our generals would not allow a negro to shoulder a musket, or handle a spade in the trenches, or enter the camp to give any information. There were thousands of these dark-skinned patriots all around, eager to inform General Halleck of the movements of their rebel masters. With patriot zeal and brawny arms they were hungering to relieve the weary soldiers in the trenches, and to lighten much of the most onerous toil of the camp. But by an inexorable decree they were excluded from the lines. General O. M. Mitchel informed the writer that with all his powers of heart and utterance he remonstrated against this insane folly.

The result was as might have been anticipated. As we have narrated, one morning the rebels had all vanished, like the river-fog; and so adroitly did they conduct their retreat, that they left not a gun, a wagon, or a biscuit behind them. It is humiliating to reflect that it took two years of toil and carnage to conquer the prejudice that, though we may

and private property, stores, provisions, wagons, tents, &c. For miles out of the town the roads are filled with arms, haversacks, &c., thrown away by his fleeing troops. A large number of prisoners and deserters have been captured, estimated by General Pope at two thousand. General Beauregard evidently distrusts his army, or he would have defended so strong a position. His troops are generally much discouraged and demoralized. In all the engagements for the last few days their resistance has been slight."

use mules and donkeys in the army, we must not let men help us, whose skins are not as white as, ours. God's dealings with us soon cured the nation of this delusion. Gradually we gathered into the National army between two and three hundred thousand of these patriots of Ethiopic hue.

And when at length the nation saw Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee standing hat in hand before a group of negroes, saying, "Please come and help us; if you will, we will give you your freedom and a farm,” all were compelled to admit that the world does indeed move.

CHAPTER XVIII.

PURSUIT OF THE REBELS.

(From January to March, 1862.)

STATE OF THE ARMY AFTER FREMONT'S REMOVAL.-RETREAT OF THE REBEL PRICE.-CONCENTRATION OF THE PATRIOT ARMY AT ROLLA.-FLIGHT AND PURSUIT OF THE REBELS.-CONFLICT AT SUGAR CREEK.-HEROISM OF COLONEL ELLIS.-THE REBELS PRICE, MCCULLOCH, AND VAN DORN.-MAJESTIC PLAN TO CRUSH THE PATRIOTS.-PRELIMINARIES OF THE BATTLE OF PEA

RIDGE.

HISTORY has no record of any war which, in the magnitude and variety of its operations, will compare with the Civil War in America. It comprises a variety of quite distinct campaigns, often simultaneously in operation, either one of which would, in earlier ages, have sufficed to furnish materials for volumes of history and libraries of romances. The single Department of the West, under General Halleck, embraced three almost independent campaigns. One was the ascent of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, including the attempted occupation of East Tennessee. The second was the descent of the Mississippi River by the gunboat fleet. The third was the campaign to drive the invading rebels from Missouri. To this campaign we now invite the attention of the reader.

It will be remembered that the National army had been withdrawn from Springfield at the time of General Fremont's untoward supersedure. As the disheartened army, declining a battle, was marched back to the vicinity of St. Louis, the exultant rebels, under General Price, occupied the ground they vacated; the rebel general extended his lines as far north as the Little Osage. The southernmost point occupied by the Union forces was the town of Rolla, which was at the southern terminus of the southwestern branch of the Pacific Railroad. General Sigel, who had displayed military ability as yet unsurpassed, was stationed at this point, with the Third Division of the army.

In December, 1861, the rebel General Price fell back to Springfield, built huts for his soldiers, and made extensive preparations to pass the winter comfortably in quarters. He also established a recruiting camp at this spot, and soon augmented his command by an addition of four thou sand volunteers. General Price, however, was not destined long to be left undisturbed. General Halleck, while he was making vigorous preparations for the descent of the Mississippi, and also for a flank movement by the army upon the frowning bluffs of Columbus, by the occupation of Nashville, was also noiselessly but efficiently organizing a force to drive the invading rebels out of the State of Missouri. The rebels had avowed their determination to force into their Confederacy every State in which there was a