GENERAL BURNSIDE'S CONGRATULATORY ORDER. 243 The cember, General Shermans advanced In summing up the campaign in his Official Report, General Grant states the Union losses in the various battles at 757 killed, 4,529 wounded and 330 missing. The loss of the enemy, he says, was probably less, owing to the fact that he was protected by his entrenchments while we were without cover. At Knoxville, however, his loss was many times greater than ours, making his entire loss at the two places equal to, if not exceeding ours. captured 6,142 prisoners, of whom 239 were commissioned officers, 40 pieces of artillery, 69 artillery carriages and caissons, and 7,000 stand of small arms."* We events of the 29th inst., so successful to our arms, seem to present a fitting occasion for the commanding General to thank this army for their conduct through the severe experiences of the past seventeen days, to assure them of the important bearing it has had on the campaign in the West, and to give them the news of the great victory gained by General Grant, toward which their fortitude and their bravery have in a high degree contributed. In every fight in which they have been engaged, and recently in those near Knoxville, at Loudon, at Campbell's Station, and finally around the defenses on both sides of the river, while on the march, and in cold and in hunger, they have everywhere shown a spirit which has given to the Army of the Ohio a name second to none. By holding in check a powerful body of the enemy, they have seriously weakened the rebel army under Bragg, which has been completely defeated by General Grant, and at the latest accounts was in full retreat for Dalton, closely pursued by him, with the loss of 6,000 prisoners, 52 pieces of artillery, and 12 stands of colors. For General Sherman having left the this great and practical result, toward corps of General Granger at Knoxville, which the Army of the Ohio has returned with the rest of his command done so much, the commanding General to Chattanooga. In the valuable recongratulates them, and with the fullest port of his campaign from the time of reliance on their patience and courage his departure from the vicinity of Vicksin the dangers they may yet have to burg, to which we refer the reader for meet, looks forward with confidence, an interesting account of the extraordunder the blessing of Almighty God to a inary services rendered by his Western successful close of the campaign." The army, he says: "In reviewing the facts assault on Fort Saunders was the final I must do justice to my command for effort of Longstreet before Knoxville. the patience, cheerfulness and courage His position was now imperilled by which officers and men have displayed the advance of General Sherman, who throughout, in battle, on the march and after the defeat of Bragg at Chattanooga, in camp. For long periods, without was sent with his own and General regular rations or or supplies of any Granger's forces into East Tennessee, kind, they have marched through mud to cut off his retreat and relieve General Burnside. Anticipating his arrival, Longstreet broke up his camps and retreated on the line of the railway toward Virginia, On the 4th of De and over rocks, sometimes barefooted, without a murmur, without a moment's rest. After a march of over 400 miles * Major-General Grant to Colonel J. C. Kelton, A. A. G., Washington. Chattanooga, Tenn., December 23d, 1863. without stop for three three successive successes achieved over the enemy. In nights, we crossed the Tennessee, fought our-part of the battle of Chattanooga, pursued the enemy out of Tennessee and then turned more than a hundred miles north and compelled Longstreet to raise the siege of Knoxville which gave so much anxiety to the whole country. On receipt of the intelligence of these results at Washington, President Lincoln on the 7th of December issued the following Proclamation and recommendation to the country: "Reliable information being received that the insurgent force is retreating from East Tennessee under circumstances rendering it probable that the Union forces cannot hereafter be dislodged from that important position; and esteeming this to be of high national consequence, I recommend that all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at their places of worship and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God for this great advancement of the national cause." The next day the President also addressed the following cordial letter to Major-General Grant: 'Understanding that your lodgment at Chattanooga and Knoxville is now secure, I wish to tender you and all under your command my more than thanks-my profoundest gratitude for the skill, courage and perseverance with which you and they, over so great difficulties, have effected that important object. God bless you all! A. LINCOLN." General Grant, on the 10th of December, issued the following congratulatory order to his army from his headquarters at Chattanooga: "The General commanding takes this opportunity of returning his sincere thanks and congratulations to the brave armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, the Tennessee, and their comrades from the Potomac, for the recent splendid and decisive a short time you have recovered from him the control of the Tennessee River from Bridgeport to Knoxville. You dislodged him from his great stronghold upon Lookout Mountain, drove him from Chattanooga Valley, wrested from his determined grasp the possession of Missionary Ridge, repelled with heavy loss to him his repeated assaults upon Knoxville, forcing him to raise the siege there, driving him at all points, utterly routed and discomfitted, beyond the limits of the State. By your noble heroism and determined courage, you have most effectually defeated the plans of the enemy for regaining possession of the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. You have secured positions from which no rebellious power can drive or dislodge you. For all this the General commanding thanks you collectively and individually. The loyal people of the United States thank and bless you. Their hopes and prayers for your success against this unholy rebellion are with you daily. Their faith in you will not be in vain. Their hopes will not be blasted. Their prayers to Almighty God will be answered. You will yet go to other fields of strife; and with the invincible bravery and unflinching loyalty to justice and right, which have characterized you in the past, you will prove that no enemy can withstand you, and that no defense, however formidable, can check your onward march." On the 11th of December General Burnside took leave of his army in a general order. "In obedience to orders from the War Department, the commanding General this day resigns to Major-General John G. Foster the command of the Army of the Ohio. On severing the tie which has united him to this gallant army, he cannot express his deep personal feeling at parting with men brought near to him by * Major-General W. T. Sherman to Brigadier General their mutual experiences in the eventful John A. Rawlins, Chief of Staff to General Grant. Bridge-scenes of the past campaign, and who port, Ala., December 19th, 1863. THE REBEL RAM ATLANTA. 245 have always, regardless of every priva- Knoxville, he tenders his warmest tion and of every danger, cheerfully thanks. With the highest confidence and faithfully performed their duty. Associated with many of their number from the earliest days of the war, he takes leave of this army, not only as soldiers to whose heroism many a victorious battle-field bears witness, but as well-tried friends, who in the darkest hours have never failed him. With the sincerest regret he leaves the department without the opportunity of personally bidding them farewell. To the citizen soldiers of East Tennessee who proved their loyalty in the trenches of in the patriotism and skill of the distinguished officer who succeeds him, with whom he has been long and intimately connected in the field, and who will be welcomed as their leader by those who served with him in the memorable campaign in North Carolina, and by all as one identified with some of the most brilliant events of the war, he transfers to him the command, assured that under his guidance the bright record of the Army of the Ohio will never grow dim.' CHAPTER XCI V. DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH. SIEGE OF CHARLESTON, Erc. JUNE-DECEMBER, 1863. pleted her armament, consisting of two 7-inch and two 6-inch rifled guns, and taken on board an ample supply of ammunition and stores for a regular cruise, with a complement, officers and men, of one hundred and sixty-five souls, the Atlanta left Savannah on the evening of the 16th of June, by way of Wil SIMULTANEOUSLY with the appointment | taken and the most liberal means exof General Gilmore in place of General pended in her preparation, correspondHunter at the head of the land forces ing expectations were entertained of in the Department of the South, Rear- her success. At length, having comAdmiral Andrew H. Foote was appointed to succeed Rear-Admiral Dupont in command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Previously to surrendering his position Admiral Dupont had the satisfaction of reporting to the Government, at the close of his administration, a memorable achievement of one of the monitors in the depart- mington, for for Warsaw Sound, fully ment. This was the capture of the rebel ram Atlanta in Warsaw Sound. The enemy had been for months busy equipping this vessel, originally a Clydebuilt steamer, the Fingal, which had run the blockade early in the war and had since been confined at Savannah. She had been razeed, her timbers were strengthened, and her sloping sides provided with an outer covering of four inches of solid iron. A formidable ram of iron armed with a torpedo at its extremity extended from her bows. Her engines were powerful and wellbuilt. As abundance of time had been prepared to attack the blockading squadron. Anticipating this attempt of the rebel vessel to get to sea, in consequence of the intelligence which he had received, Admiral Dupont had dispatched, some days before, the Weehawken, Captain John Rodgers, from Port Royal, and the Nahant, Commander J. Downes, from North Edisto, to the assistance of Commander Drake, who, in the Cimerone, was maintaining the inside blockade at Warsaw Sound. At 6 o'clock on the morning of the 17th, the Atlanta, commanded by Captain William A. Webb, formerly of the whatever lingering hopes the rebels may have had of withstanding our naval power by naval means." To Captain Rodgers himself, Secretary Welles paid a special tribute in a letter from the Navy Department, written on receipt of his dispatch, announcing the capture of the Atlanta. "Your early connection," said he, "with the Mississippi flotilla, and your participation in the projection and construction of the first iron-clads in Western waters; your heroic conduct in the attack on Drury's Bluff; the high moral courage that led you to put to sea in the Weehawken upon the approach of a violent storm, in order to test the seagoing qualities of these new craft, at the United States Navy, came in sight, accompanied by two wooden steamers, filled, it is said, with spectators from Savannah, who, confident of the result, had come out to view the engagement. As she was bearing down reserving her fire for close quarters, she was anticipated by Captain Rodgers, who at once engaged her with the Weehawken. Eleven shots where fired in all-five by the Weehawken and six by the Atlanta. The first 15-inch shot fired by Captain Rodgers took off the top of the Atlanta's pilot-house and wounded two of her three pilots. Another Another 15-inch shot struck half way up her roof, killing one and wounding seventeen men. In consequence of these injuries, the Atlanta grounded, and immediately after sur-time when a safe anchorage was close rendered. The whole action occupied only about fifteen minutes, and was over before the consorts of the Weehawken, hastening to the scene could take part in it. The Weehawken in the contest sustained no injury of any sort. The Atlanta proved to have suffered no serious damage, and was presently brought unaided with her officers and crew to Port Royal.* Reviewing the naval events of the year at its close, Secretary Welles pronounced this "the most marked and extraordinary conflict" in the service during that period; of importance not only for testing the vessels of great disparity in size, but the new 15-inch ordnance, "then for the first time brought into naval warfare, and concerning which there had been, as well as with respect to the vessels themselves, some variety of opinion. This remarkable result (he added) was an additional testimony in favor of the monitor class of vessels for harbor defense and coast service against any naval vessels that have been, or are likely to be, constructed to visit our shores. It appears, also, to have extinguished * Dispatches, Rear-Admiral Dupont, Hilton Head, June 17th, and of Acting Rear-Admiral S. P. Lee, Newport News, June 22d, 1863. under your lee; the brave and daring manner in which you, with four associates, pressed the iron-clads under the concentrated fire of the batteries in Charleston harbor, and there tested and proved the endurance and resisting power of these vessels, and your crowning successful achievement in the capture of the Fingal, alias Atlanta, are all proofs of a skill and courage and devotion to the country and the cause of the Union, regardless of self, that cannot be permitted to pass unrewarded. To your heroic daring and persistent moral courage, beyond that of any other individual, is the country indebted for the development, under trying and varied circumstances on the ocean, under fire from enormous batteries on land, and in successful encounter with a formidable floating antagonist, of the capabilities and qualities of attack and resistance of the monitor class of vessels and their heavy armament. For these heroic and serviceable acts I have presented your name to the President, requesting him to recommend that Congress give you a vote of thanks, in order that you may be advanced to the grade of Commodore in the American Navy." |