SHERMAN'S MERIDIAN EXPEDITION.

689

CHAPTER LVI.

SHERMAN'S MERIDIAN EXPEDITION-THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS AND THEIR FAILURETHE MOVABLE COLUMN-ADVANCE INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY-RETURN-GENERAL GRANT PROMOTED TO THE LIEUTENANT-GENERALSHIP, AND SHERMAN APPOINTED TO COMMAND THE MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI-SKETCH OF SHERMAN-OTHER CHANGES IN COMMANDS-REORGANIZATION OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN ARMIES-IMPROVEMENT IN DISCIPLINE AND MORALE-FORREST AND CHALMERS SET OUT ON AN EXPEDITION FOR PLUNDER AND MURDER-ATTACK ON UNION CITY-ON PADUCAH-THE MASSACRE AT FORT PILLOW ATROCITY OF THE CONDUCT OF THE REBELS-THE REBEL GOVERNMENT PROMOTE FORREST AND CHALMERS FOR IT-BUFORD'S DEMAND FOR THE SURRender of colUMBUS, KENTUCKY-FORREST'S RETREAT

IN the early part of the year 1864, the War Department, acting upon the suggestion of General Grant, determined upon a series of co-operative movements, looking to the repossession of Mississippi and Alabama, and the menacing of the strong Rebel position of Atlanta, the Gate City, as it was called, which commanded the entrance from the mountainous region. of north Georgia into the rich and fertile plains of the central and southern portions of the State. The operations finally determined upon were, a naval attack on Mobile and its defences in the lower bay, under the direction of Rear-Admiral Farragut, to prevent the blockade-running which, in spite of the exertions of the West Gulf blockading squadron, was now and then successful; an expedition across the country, east from Vicksburg, toward Selma and Montgomery, with a column of twenty or twenty-five thousand men, under the command of General Sherman, to hold Polk's army in check from reinforcing Mobile; and a cavalry expedition from Memphis and La Grange, southward, along the line of the Mobile and Ohio railroad, to join Sherman at Meridian, under the command of General W. Sooy Smith, General Grant's chief of cavalry.

Of these expeditions, two were unsuccessful, while the third, though proving very effective in destroying the enemy's property, and carrying terror and alarm into regions which had hitherto not been visited by the war, did not accomplish so much as it would have done had the cavalry column succeeded in effecting a junction with it.

Admiral Farragut approached Forts Morgan, Powell, and Gaines, situated at the entrance of Mobile bay, with his squadron, and bombarded them for six days (February 23-29), but they could not, at that time, be reduced without the aid of a land force, and having become convinced of this, he withdrew, without having received or inflicted serious loss.

The force detailed for General Sherman's expedition consisted of four divisions, of twelve regiments each, from the sixteenth army corps, under the command of General S. A. Hurlbut, and the whole of the seventeenth

army corps, under command of General James B. McPherson. The whole force numbered twenty-one thousand infantry, twelve hundred cavalry, forty pieces of artillery, with the full quota of artillery troops for them, and eight hundred wagons. The cavalry column, under General Smith's command, numbered about nine thousand mounted troops, with a light artillery train.

General Sherman's command embarked at Memphis, about the 28th of January, for Vicksburg, where it arrived, without serious casualty (though fired upon several times by the Rebels), on the 1st and 2d of February. Here the troops were ordered to take twenty days' rations, but no tents, either for officers or men, all bivouacking in the open air during the entire campaign. It was the aim of General Sherman to bring his army into the lightest possible marching order, that they might move with the greater celerity and certainty in the enemy's country. It was the first attempt at a movement of such extent, with so large a force, and for so long a time, into the heart of the enemy's country without a base of supplies, and was destined to be the precursor of other and still more extended applications of the movable column. General Grant had, indeed, cut loose from his base for ten or twelve days, in his march from Grand Gulf to Jackson and the rear of Vicksburg, but he had at no time penetrated more than two or three days' forced march into the interior, and that only for a brief period. General Lee, in his Gettysburg expedition, had given an example of the movable column on a large scale, but his distance from points of supply in his own territory was not great, and the lack of supplies had as much to do with his somewhat precipitate retreat across the Potomac, as the loss of men and ammunition.

On the 3d of February, the Union army left its camps at Vicksburg, and the same evening reached and crossed the Big Black river, the left wing the sixteenth corps-crossing at Messenger's ferry, and the right wing-seventeenth corps-at the railroad bridge, eight miles below. On the 4th, they met a Rebel cavalry force of about seven thousand men, under command of the Rebel General S. D. Lee, at Champion hills. The Union advance-guard was at first driven back, but their supports coming! up, forced the Rebels back to the west side of Baker's creek, where they occupied a commanding position, but were driven from it about sundown. The next morning, a brigade of McPherson's corps engaged them, and after a sharp action, defeated and drove them to Jackson, twenty-three miles distant, inflicting upon them a loss of one hundred and fifty killed and wounded, while their own loss was but thirty. McPherson's corps moved on to Jackson, where they were joined, on the evening of the 5th, by the sixteenth-Hurlbut's corps-the two having previously moved on different roads. The Rebel force made their escape from the capital with such precipitancy, that they had not time even to destroy their pontoon bridge. On the 6th of February, the Union troops destroyed all the

ADVANCE INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.

691

public stores and arms accumulated at Jackson for the use of the Rebel army, broke up and rendered useless the track of the Mississippi Central railroad for some miles, and put the pontoon bridge in complete order for crossing Pearl river. On the 7th, they resumed their march, and though the Rebel cavalry hovered on their flanks, they inflicted no serious loss. On reaching Brandon, they found and destroyed a large quantity of Rebel commissary stores. During the next day-February 8th-the Rebel cavalry continued to skirmish with the Union troops, but only lost a considerable number of prisoners by doing so.

At Moreton, thirty-six miles from Jackson, the Rebel troops were found drawn up in line of battle, but as the Union advance approached they retreated, and one hundred and fifty of their number were taken prisoners, and some papers of importance captured, showing that the Rebel troops had orders to fall back to Mobile. For the next two days, the Union army found, all along their route, abundant evidence of the precipitancy and disorderly character of the Rebel retreat, in the vast quantity of abandoned stores, and the great numbers of dead horses and mules. On the 11th, at Lake station, on the southern Mississippi railroad (which leads from Vicksburg to Meridian), the Union troops destroyed the depot and machine shop, two locomotives, thirty-five cars, and three steam mills. On the 12th, the army reached Decatur, where they destroyed a large tannery; and a body of Rebel cavalry, under General Adams, attacked their train, but was driven off with but trifling loss. A part of the Union force here turned aside, and visited Quitman and Enterprise, destroying stores belonging to the Rebel Government in both places. On the 13th of February, they were together again on the banks of the Big Chunkey river, from whence they marched to Meridian, which they entered on the morning of the 15th, and from which General Polk and his army had retreated but half an hour previously. Meridian was of importance only as the point of junction of the Mobile and Ohio with the southern Missis sippi, and Alabama and Mississippi railroads, and as the principal depot of supplies-quartermasters' and commissary stores-for the Rebel armies of Mississippi and Alabama. General Sherman gave orders at once to seize and use or destroy these stores, and to burn the store-houses, depots, officers' quarters, and hospitals. The last named would have been spared, but for the uniform practice of the Rebels to destroy the Union hospitals, whenever they fell into their power. Among the stores captured was a large quantity of corn, and the grist mills in the vicinity were put in order, and this corn ground, and used by General Sherman's army during his stay at Meridian. Detachments were sent out in all directions to destroy the railroads and railroad bridges. General Smith's cavalry column was, as we have said, to have joined Sherman's army at this point, and for this purpose he had been ordered to leave Colliersville, near Memphis, on the 3d of February; but he was delayed waiting for General

Waring's brigade of cavalry until the 11th, and this delay enabled Forrest, Rhoddy, and Chambers, to concentrate their forces in such positions as to check his progress. With the utmost exertion, and without opposition, he could not now reach Meridian till about the close of the time set for the junction of the two forces (the 15th to the 19th of February); but, for some reason, General Smith made but slow progress, averaging not over fifteen miles a day, and did not reach Oakland, one hundred and twentyseven miles from Meridian, and one hundred and thirty-five from Memphis, until the 18th, and on the 21st was at West Point, but twentynine miles farther. Here he encountered so large a Rebel force, so advantageously posted, and offering him such determined opposition, that he was compelled to fall back on Memphis, which he reached on the 26th, having made the return march in four days.

This failure to connect was greatly to be regretted, as, with the aid of this cavalry, General Sherman could have penetrated readily and safely to Selma and Montgomery, while without cavalry to cover his flanks, he could not go much farther than he had already done into the enemy's country, without encountering obstructions and resistance which an infantry column would find it difficult to overcome. Having waited till one day beyond the utmost limit set for effecting the junction of the two corps, and being unable to ascertain, through his scouts, any indications of General Smith's approach, General Sherman did not deem it wise to delay longer, but gave orders, on the morning of the 20th, to return to Vicksburg. Marching as far as Hillsboro, by the same route by which they had gone eastward, they diverged at that point to the northward, and, on the 26th, arrived at Canton, twenty-three miles north of Jackson, on the Mississippi Central railroad. At this point General Sherman left the army, the next day, in charge of General Hurlbut, and taking a small escort, proceeded at once to Vicksburg, and descended the river to New Orleans. The army remained at Canton for several days, in the hope of hearing from General Smith's cavalry. They had some skirmishes here with the Rebel General Adams' cavalry, and in one of them lost sixteen forage wagons. The Union troops destroyed here twenty-one locomotives, a large number of cars, and other Rebel property; but the town itself, and the property of private citizens, were uninjured, in consequence of the friendly conduct of the citizens. On the 2d of March, the Union troops resumed their march for Vicksburg, which they reached on the 4th. Their total loss during the expedition had been one hundred and seventy in killed, wounded, and missing. On arriving at Vicksburg, General McPherson's corps went into camp there, while General Hurlbut's returned at once to Memphis.

General Sherman made the following official statement of the results of the expedition: One hundred and fifty miles of railway rendered useless, thirty mills and ten thousand bales of cotton burned, two millions of

SKETCH OF MAJOR-GENERAL SHERMAN.

693

bushels of corn either used or destroyed, twenty-three locomotives, eightyeight cars, sixty-seven bridges, and seven thousand feet of trestle work, were burned, or otherwise destroyed. The Union army also killed and wounded about three hundred Rebel soldiers, took two hundred prisoners, liberated nearly eight thousand negroes, and brought back several thousand more horses and mules, and three hundred more wagons than they had when they left Vicksburg. They had subsisted almost entirely upon the country. General Sherman estimated the damage done to the Rebel cause from this expedition as more than fifty millions of dollars.

On the 2d of March, Major-General Grant, then in command of the grand military division of the Mississippi, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General, and the command, under the President, of all the armies of the United States; and, at the same time, Major-General Sherman was advanced to the command vacated by General Grant's promotion. Other changes were made about the same time, but before noticing them let us sketch briefly the life-history of this new general of the military division of the Mississippi, who was henceforth Grant's most efficient lieutenant in the prosecution of the war. Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, on the 8th of February, 1820. He is a son of the late Hon. Charles R. Sherman, at the time of his death one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Soon after his father's death, in 1829, he was adopted by Hon. Thomas Ewing, and at the age of sixteen, after receiving a good preliminary education, appointed a cadet at West Point, where he graduated, June 30th, 1840, ranking sixth in his class. He was appointed immediately second lieutenant in the third artillery, and ordered to duty in Florida, where, in November, 1841, he was promoted to a first lieutenantcy. He was soon after assigned to duty at Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbor, where he remained for several years. In 1846, he was ordered to California, where he was made acting assistant adjutant-general, and performed his duties with such ability that he received a brevet of captain, dating from May 30th, 1848, "for meritorious services in California during the war with Mexico." In 1850, he was promoted to the rank of captain, and appointed commissary of subsistence, being assigned to the staff of the commander of the Department of the West, with headquarters at St. Louis. He was soon after transferred to the military post of New Orleans. In the duties of the office of commissary, he acquired his aptitude for bringing together the necessary supplies for an army, with a promptness which has never been surpassed by any military commander. On the 6th of September, 1853, he resigned his commission in the army, and for the next four years resided in California, as the manager of the banking house of Lucas Turner & Co., at San Francisco. In 1857, he was invited by some of the friends whom he had made in New Orleans to take the superintendency of the State Military Institute of Louisiana, then just