was on foot, for from the moment our troops came into position until the explosion took place their sharpshooters kept up an incessant fire from the whole line of their works.

At length all was in readiness; the fuse train was fired, and it went fizzing and popping through the zigzag line of trenches, until for a moment it vanished. Its disappearance was quickly succeeded by the explosion, and the mine was sprung. So terrible a spectacle is seldom witnessed. Dust, dirt, smoke, gabions, stockades, timber, gun-carriages, logs-in fact, everything connected with the fortrose hundreds of feet into the air, as if vomited forth from a volcano. Some who were close spectators even say that they saw the bodies of the poor wretches who a moment before had lined the ramparts of the work.

The Union lines were still pressed forward and on the 3d of July were within a few hundred feet of the rebel defenses. It was understood in both armies that the time had come for the final assault, and that July 4 was the day selected. General Pemberton was well aware that he could not repel the assault, and that he would be unable to cut his way out; further resistance was hopeless, and would cause unwarranted sacrifice of life.

On the morning of the 3d, Pemberton sent a flag of truce borne by General Bowen and Colonel Montgomery to General Grant proposing an armistice with the object of arranging terms of capitulation, stating that it was his wish to save further effusion of blood. General Grant replied: HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE,

IN THE FIELD, NEAR VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL J. C. PEMBERTON,

Commanding Confederate Forces, etc.:

GENERAL:-Your note of this date, just received, proposes an armistice of several hours, for the purpose of arranging terms of capitulation through commissioners to be appointed, etc. The effusion of blood you propose stopping by this course, can be ended at any time you may choose, by an unconditional surrender of the city and garrison. Men who have shown so much endurance and courage as those now

in Vicksburg, will always challenge the respect of an adversary, and I can assure you will be treated with all the respect due them as prisoners of war. I do not favor the proposition of appointing commissioners to arrange terms of capitulation, because 1 have no other terms than those indicated above.

I am, General, very respectfully your obedient servant,

U. S. GRANT, Major-General.

General Bowen requested that General Grant meet General Pemberton in a personal interview. General Grant readily agreed to do this, and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon a conference was held, resulting in no definite decision. A further correspondence between the commanders resulted in General Grant agreeing to certain modifications of his first letter, and General Pemberton immediately forwarded his acceptance of the terms proposed. At 10 o'clock on the morning of July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered. By the act of capitulation the defenders, numbering over thirty thousand men, became prisoners of war; 213 pieces of artillery, 35,000 stand of arms, and an immense amount of ordnance and other matter fell into the hands of the victors. On the afternoon of the same day General Grant's army marched into the city. Headley in his valuable work, "Grant and his Campaigns," closes his article on the surrender of Vicksburg with the following comments:

"In a review of this great campaign, Grant's actions shine so preeminently, that an estimate of the biographer, in the way of a summury, is totally unnecessary. He was active, versatile, tenacious of purpose, Napoleonic in his judgment and use of men, with moral courage to assign or remove them according to their merits. And, combined with all these high qualities, he had exhibited remarkable skill in manœuvring large armies in the field; in learning instant lessons from repulses; in conducting an arduous siege; in brushing away a succoring army-always preserving that equal mind which it is more difficult to keep in the extreme of prosperity than in that of adversity.

Undisturbed by his great troubles, he was not puffed up by the great success, but was ready for new labors, and, if God should send them, final successes.

"It is no injustice to others to say that his chief supporters were Sherman, McPherson and Logan. Sherman, like Grant, has achieved such universal reputation, that we need not pause to eulogize him. McPherson here exhibited to the public those qualities which Grant had long known him to possess, and which were to shine with increasing luster until his lamentable fall in the Georgia campaign. Logan's dashing valor was eminently conspicuous. Having declared that the Western men would hew their way to the Gulf, he was a bright example of the truth of his prediction; ever at his post, and always distinguished for that fearless impetuosity which the world now considers his characteristic."

Grant had now become the "ideal" General of the Union. His name was a household word, and his portrait adorned every home, high or low, throughout the land.

When the news of this glorious victory officially reached President Lincoln, he wrote an autograph letter to Grant, as follows:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 13, 1863.

To Major-General Grant:

My Dear GENERAL:—I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgement for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did-march the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could succeed. When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General Banks; and when you turned northward east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make a personal acknowledgement that you were right and I was wrong. Yours very truly,

A. LINCOLN.

The brilliant success of Vicksburg did not induce Grant to rest his army, but only spurred him on to renewed efforts to disperse all organized troops in his district. General Sherman, with a strong force, was sent to drive Johnston out of Jackson, he having fallen back within the defenses of that city. Sherman prepared at once for the investment of the place. Johnston, fearing the fate of Vicksburg, after slight skirmishing, evacuated

the

town. While this was taking place Grant sent Herron with his division to Yazoo City, where there was a considerable rebel force, resulting in its capture with several hundred prisoners, artillery and public stores. On the 8th of July Port Hudson surrendered to General Banks. By its capitulation the Mississippi River was absolutely in control of the Union from its source to the Gulf, and never again passed into the hands of the Confederacy. The Mississippi Valley campaign was now virtually closed. President Lincoln honored the victor by nominating him to the vacant MajorGeneralship in the Regular Army of the United States, his commission dating from July 4, 1863.

UNION MONUMENT AT VICKSBURG.

CHAPTER IX.

PREPARATIONS AT CHATTANOOGA.

Immediately succeeding the close of the Vicksburg campaign General Grant gave his time to the reorganization and administration of his department. Visiting from point to point, he personally inspected the condition and needs of each locality, settling all perplexing questions that naturally arose, owing to the absence of civil authority, regulating the military and civic jurisdiction over the conquered territory, all of which were settled with great good judgment, and met with the hearty concurrence of the gov ernment at Washington. Various expeditions were sent out in every direction to "spy out the nakedness of the land." An important one under General Ransom captured Natchez; among the "spoils" were five thousand head of cattle designed for the Confederates. General Steele

NATHANIEL P. BANKS.

was dispatched to Helena to render important aid to General Schofield, commanding Department of the Missouri. Ord and Herron joined General Banks to take part