out cost as to his place and condition, if within a year he had been an inmate of any hospital. It had such a record of not less than 900,000 names. Whenever permitted to do so, it sent supplies to the United States prisoners of war in confinement at Andersonville, Salisbury, Richmond. On every flag of truce boat it placed clothing, medicines, cordials, to meet prisoners who had been exchanged. Often they came in rags insufficient to cover them; often devoured by vermin; often in the delirium of fever; sometimes at the point of death. With boundless mercy, it comforted and cared for all. Its sleepless eyes examined with jealous care the government prison camps, extending to the Confederate prisoners of war its charitable supervi sion. Not for a moment would it have tolerated the beginning of the abominations of Andersonville or Richmond.

(4.) Its department of field relief. The duty of this Its department of Was to minister to the wounded on the field field relief. of battle; to furnish bandages, cordials, nourishment; to give assistance to the surgeons, and to supply any deficiencies it could detect in the field hospitals. It had a chief inspector for the armies of the East; another for the Military Department of the Mississippi, with a competent staff for each.

corps.

(5.) Its auxiliary relief corps. This supplied deficienIts auxiliary relief cies in personal attendance and work in the hospitals, or among the wounded on the field. Between May, 1864, when it was first organized, and January, 1865, it gave its services to more than 75,000 patients. It waited on the sick and wounded; wrote letters for them, gave them stationery, postage stamps, newspapers, and whiled away the heavy hours of suffering by reading magazines and books to them. To the Sanitary Commission the government gave a most earnest support; the people gave it their hearts. They furnished it with more than

How it was sustained.

three millions of dollars in money, of which one million came from the Pacific States; they sent it nine millions' worth of supplies. From fairs held in its interest very large sums were derived. One in New York yielded a million and a quarter of dollars; one in Philadelphia more than a million. In towns comparatively small, there were often collected at such fairs more than twenty thousand dollars.

What country, what age of the world can show such a Other relief asso- splendid example of "organized mercy?" And ciations. yet this is not all. Besides the United States Sanitary Commission, there was the "Western Sanitary Commission," with similar duties, though on a smaller scale. It disbursed about one million in money and two millions in supplies. There were also "State Sanitary Commissions," which took charge of matters more directly lo cal, for the special benefit of soldiers of their particular states.

The Christian

The Christian Commission emulated the noble conduct of the United States Sanitary Commission. Commission. It, too, received the recognition and countenance of the government. Its object was to promote the physical and spiritual welfare of soldiers and sailors. Its central office was in Philadelphia, but it had agencies in all the large towns. "It aided the surgeon, helped the chaplain, followed the armies in their marches, went into the trenches and along the picket-line. Wherever there was a sick, a wounded, a dying man, an agent of the Christian Commission was near by." It gave Christian burial whenever possible; it marked the graves of the dead. It had its religious services, its little extemporized chapels, its prayer-meetings. The American Bible Society gave it Bibles and Testaments; the Tract Society its publications. The government furnished its agents and supplies free transportation; it had the use of the telegraph for its purposes. Steam-boat and railroad companies furthered its

They extend their care to the discharged soldier.

objects with all their ability. It distributed nearly five millions of dollars in money and supplies. Faithful to the last, these noble commissions did not forsake the soldier when he had fought through the war and conquered a peace. They threw open their "Homes" to welcome him returning to his home. Their agents met him at railroad stations and steam-boat landings; protected him from impositions, and carried him to their lodges; looked after his arrears of pay, saw that full justice was rendered to him, and that no man took advantage of him. They set up "bureaus of information and employment," to find for each, desirous of obtaining it, a situation such as he was capable of filling.

SECTION XXI.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE CONFEDERACY.

CHAPTER LXXXVIII.

THE

THE EX

OPERATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE FINAL CAMPAIGNS. CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER. THE CAPTURE OF MOBILE. PEDITIONS OF SCHOFIELD, STONEMAN, WILSON, AND SHERIDAN.

Grant caused preparations to be made in North Carolina for the approach of Sherman, who was advancing from Savannah through the Carolinas.

Fort Fisher was reduced, and Wilmington and Goldsboro captured. From General Thomas's army, which, since the battle of Nashville, had no enemy before it, detachments were sent to North Carolina, to Virginia, to Alabama. Sheridan, with his cavalry, moved against the communications of Richmond north of James River.

Necessity of obtaining possession of Wilmington.

WILMINGTON, in North Carolina, was, in the spring of 1865, the only sea-port remaining to the Confederacy through which foreign supplies could be obtained. The navy had used every exertion to blockade it, but such are the peculiarities of the harbor that this could not be accomplished effectually without the capture of Fort Fisher, one of its defensive works. In view of Sherman's contemplated march from Savannah northward, it became necessary to reduce those forts and to capture Wilmington.

Description of

Fort Fisher is situated on the peninsula between Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. For five Fort Fisher. miles north of Federal Point this peninsula is sandy and low, not rising more than 15 feet above high tide. The interior abounds in fresh-water swamps, often wooded, and almost impassable. Much of the dry land to within half a mile of the fort is covered with a low undergrowth. There is a bare strip of about 300 yards in width along the sea-shore.

The fort presents two fronts: the first, or land front, running across the peninsula, at this point 700 yards wide, is 486 yards in length; the second, or sea front, runs from the right of the first parallel to the beach to the Mound Battery, a distance of 1300 yards. The land front is intended to resist any attack from the north; the sea front to prevent any vessels from running through New Inlet, or landing troops on Federal Point.

Arrangements for its capture.

FORT FISHER.

To secure possession of this fort, a formidable armada, under Admiral Porter, was assembled in Hampton Roads. In the latter part of November, 1864, a conference was held between Grant, Butler, and Porter, and suitable arrangements made. General Weitzel was designated to command the land forces. Advantage was taken of the circumstance that a large part of the Confederate force at Wilmington had gone to resist Sherman in Georgia.