EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., December 7, 1863. 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 grest advancement of the national cause. A. LINCOLN. The following day he sent the following dispatch to Major-General Grant: MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT: WASHINGTON, Dec. S. 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. The campaign ended, General Grant issued the following congratulatory orders to the army: HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, December 10, 1863. [General Orders No.9.] 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 successes achieved over the enemy. In 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 ro ted and discomfited, 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 defences, however formidable, can check your onward march. By order of T. S. BOWERS, A. A.-G. Maj. Gen. U. S GRANT. CHAPTER XI. PUBLIC HONORS-GRADE OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL REVIVED. General Grant's successful Vicksburg campaign opened the Mississippi, severing the Confederacy; thereby cutting off the great supplies of cattle from Texas for the support of their armies. The Chattanooga-Knoxville extraordinary campaign had virtually closed the war for the time in the Southwest, and shut the rebels out from the rich granaries of Tennessee and Kentucky. With the single exception of Virginia, their forces had been driven from their strongholds, and so scattered that they could present no effectual barrier to the onward movement of the victorious Union forces. The repeated LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U. S. GRANT. defeat of the Confederates operating against General Grant, had carried dismay to the people throughout the South, and they began to lose hope of the issue; the cause of the rebellion fell rapidly in the opinion of political speculators, both at home and abroad; while at the North the faith of the wavering was confirmed, and the patriots were reassured. General Grant was not quite forty-three years of age; his personal appearance at this time is thus described by a correspondent: "The appearance of General Grant is far from what an idealist would picture of a great hero. He is a man of medium height, and but little above the minimum standard of officers of the army. The appearance of his countenance during repose is far from commanding; but on the field there seems to be something in the determined glance of his eye, the contracted brow, and the firm-set teeth, that would imply that his wishes "must and shall be carried out." Otherwise there is but little in his countenance that could be called striking. "His brow is straight and square, but cannot be characterized as lofty, although it is far from ignoble. His head is covered by a fair quantity of light brownish hair. His eyes are blue, sharp, and expressive, yet at times, calm and mild. His nose is aquiline, its bold lines delicately chiseled. His mouth and chin are well formed, but are concealed under a heavy reddish beard and moustache, which is kept cut somewhat shorter than it deserves. “His manner is mild, even in times of the greatest excitement, and the humblest drummer-boy can as easily reach the General with his complaints, as could his corps, or departmental commanders. "His style of dress has often been alluded to in the course of this narrative. He assumes no gaudy plumes nor trappings, and takes but little consideration as to his personal appearance. This apparent carelessness is a conclusive evidence that his mind is employed with more important matters." The first announcement of General Grant's victorious campaign in Georgia and Tennessee was made on the day of the first assembling of Congress for 1863-4. Mr. Washburne, Member of the House from Galena, Illinois, immediately gave notice of the introduction of two bills, one, “To revive the grade of Lieutenant-General of the Arm " and the other, "To provide that a medal be struck for General Grant and the officers of the army." When the latter resolution was brought up, it was passed by both Houses of Congress without opposition, receiving the signature of the President, and became the first law of the session of 1863-4. The following is a copy of the official document: GENERAL ORDERS No. 398. JOINT RESOLUTION of thanks to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant and the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion; and providing that the President of the United States shall cause a medul to be struck, to be presented to Major-General Grant in the name of the people of the United States of America. Be it resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby are, presented to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct in the battles in which they have been engaged; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to Major-General Grant. SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That, when the said medal shall have been struck, the President shall cause a copy of this joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall transmit the same, together with the said medal, to Major-General Grant, to be presented to him in the name of the people of the United States of America. SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That a sufficient sum of money to carry this resolution into effect is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Vice-President of the United States. and President of the Senate. Approved, December 17, 1863: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The medal, as selected by the committee having the matter in charge, was designed by Leutze, and is thus described by the N. Y Evening Post: |