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ANALYSIS.
PERIOD VI. -- THE GREAT REBELLION.
I. From
the Beginning of Lincoln's Administration to the Close of the
Year. -- The Growth of the
Rebellion.
Beginning of hostilities, and
preparation for war, p. 239.
Operations in Virginia and West
Virginia, p. 242, 418. -- west of the Mississippi, p. 248, ¶
18. -- in Kentucky and Tennessee, p. 260, ¶ 26. -- on the
Mississippi and in the Gulf States, p. 251, ¶ 29. -- on the
Atlantic seaboard, p. 251, ¶ 31.
Naval affairs, p. 252, ¶ 32.
European powers, p. 252, ¶ 34.
II. From
the Beginning of the Year 1862 to the Close of the Year 1863. --
The Rebellion in its Strength.
The Federal and Confederate
governments and armies, p. 253, ¶ 1.
Operations in the West, east of the
Mississippi, p. 254, ¶ 4, and p. 275, ¶ 52. -- west of
the Mississippi, p. 258, ¶ 15, and p. 278, ¶ 59. -- on
the Mississippi and in the Gulf States, p. 259, ¶ 18, and p.
279, ¶ 61. -- on the Atlantic seaboard, p. 264, ¶ 24,
and p. 282, ¶ 69. -- in Virginia and West Virginia, and
invasions of the loyal states, p. 266, ¶ 27, and p. 282,
¶ 71.
Naval affairs, p. 274, ¶ 48,
and p. 285, ¶ 77. The Sioux War, p. 274, ¶ 49. The
Emancipation Proclamation, p. 275, ¶ 51. Opposition to the
draft, and review of the year 1863, p. 286, ¶ 79.
III. From
the Beginning of the Year 1864 to the Close of the
War. -- The Rebellion in its
Decline.
Earlier Operations of 1864, p. 287,
¶ 1.
Preparations for the final struggle
-- armies -- situation at the beginning of 1865, p. 290, ¶ 8,
and p. 303, ¶ 38.
Grant's campaign in Virginia, and
coöperative movements -- third invasion of the loyal states
-- surrender of Lee, p. 291, ¶ 11, and p. 306, ¶ 48.
Operations in the West and South,
east of the Mississippi -- Sherman's famous march to the sea, and
through the Carolinas, p. 296, ¶ 23, and p. 304, ¶ 40.
Operations west of the Mississippi, p. 301, ¶ 33.
Naval affairs, p. 301, ¶
34.
Reelection of Lincoln, p. 303,
¶ 36. Assassination of Lincoln, and accession of Johnson, p.
308, ¶ 54.
Close of the war -- cost of the war
-- financial matters -- prisoners -- charities, p. 309, ¶
56.
IV. From the Close of the War to the Close of the Period. -- Peace. -- Reconstruction, p. 314.
Chronology,
p. 328.
PERIOD VI.
DISTINGUISHED FOR THE GREAT REBELLION.
EXTENDING FROM THE INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN, IN
1861,
TO THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, 1862.
LINCOLN'S AND JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATIONS.1
I. FROM
THE BEGINNING OF
LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION TO
THE CLOSE OF THE
YEAR. -- GROWTH OF
THE REBELLION. -- Events
of 1861. -- 1. When, on the 4th of March, 1861, Mr. Lincoln
became president of the United States, he found himself in the
midst of difficulties greater than had ever before beset any chief
magistrate of the nation.2
The treasury was embarrassed; the little
army was on the remote frontiers, and the navy chiefly in foreign
seas, both too far away to aid the government. Large transfers of
arms had been made from northern to southern arsenals, where they
fell into the hands of the secessionists.
1 See Appendix, p. 22; and Maps, pp. 244, 262, and 263.
2 In his inaugural the president declared that he had neither the right nor the inclination to interfere with slavery in the states; that no state could secede from the Union, and that ordinances to that effect were void. He also expressed his determination to faithfully execute the laws of the Union in all the states, using every proper effort to avoid irritating the disaffected.
QUESTIONS. -- 1. What is said of the difficulties which surrounded Mr. Lincoln? -- What of the treasury? The army? The navy? Transfers of arms?
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2.
The rebel government1 had organized an army,
officered, in large part, by persons who had 
abandoned
the Federal Service.2 One of these, Pierre G. T.
Beauregard,3 commissioned brigadier-general, was in
command of several thousand insurgent troops about Charleston,
South Carolina. Learning that the Federal government intended to
send supplies to Fort Sumter, he demanded its surrender.
Major Anderson4 refusing, Beauregard opened upon it
from the forts in the harbor, and from powerful batteries which
had been thrown up on all sides. Anderson made a spirited defence;
but after withstanding a furious bombardment of more than thirty
hours, his provisions nearly exhausted, his ammunition nearly
expended, his men worn out by constant labor, the
officers' quarters and the barracks on fire, he
capitulated, April 13. The next day he evacuated the fort, and
embarked for New York.5
3. Hitherto the president
had hoped for reconciliation; but now accepting the issue of war
thus forced upon the country, he called, April 15, for
seventy-five thousand troops, to serve three months, and summoned
Congress to assemble, July 4, in extra session.6 News
of the fall of Sumter excited throughout the free states
sentiments of the most enthusiastic loyalty, and the response to
the president's call was prompt, patriotic, and cordial.
1 See p. 227, ¶ 11.
2 Young men of the north had been more inclined to seek the employments of lucrative industry than offices in the army and navy, in time of peace. Hence both these branches of public service were, in great proportion, officered by natives of the south, many of whom, now in sympathy with the rebellion, resigned the government that they might aid the foes of the government which they had sworn to protect; and though announcing their intended treason, their resignations were accepted and they honorably discharged by Secretaries Floyd and Toucey (see App., p. 22).
3 See p. 217, note 2, and p. 305, ¶ 42. 4 See p. 197, note 3; P. 228, ¶ 12; and p. 305, note 3.
5 Notwithstanding the severity of the cannonade, not a man was killed on either side, during the bombardment. One Federal soldier was killed, and several were wounded, from the explosion of a gun, while saluting the flag, which was lowered as the garrison left the fort.
6 See Appendix, p. 13, Sec. III., Art. II., Const. U. S.
QUESTIONS. -- 2. Was the rebel army officered? Who was in command of insurgent troops about Charleston? Give an account of the attack upon Fort Sumter. 3. What did the president now do? What effect was produced throughout the free states by news if the fall of Sumter?
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Party spirit was for a time forgotten. Within
two weeks three hundred thousand men offered themselves to
preserve the integrity of the Union, and to defend the honor of
the flag. The whole north became one vast camp of
preparation.
4. Patriotic
individuals and associations came forward to relieve,
with their time and their money, the overtaxed energies of the
government. The loyal states made liberal appropriations
for the public defence. Troops began to gather in Boston on the
evening of the 15th, and the next day, one regiment, the Sixth
Massachusetts, was on its way to answer to the president's call.
Scarcely less prompt were the other loyal states. The national
capital was in danger,1 and the volunteers rushed to
protect it. A few companies of Pennsylvania troops were the first
to reach Washington, April 18. The next day (the anniversary of
the battles of Lexington and Concord2) the Sixth
Massachusetts, on its way through Baltimore, was attacked
by a rebel mob, which killed three and wounded others, one
mortally. The soldiers fired a few scattering allots into the
crowd, killing nine and wounding several. The mob next attacked a
body of unarmed troops from Pennsylvania, and compelled them to
return to Philadelphia. Other troops were crowding to the defence
of the capital. All were expecting a bloody battle in the streets
of Baltimore; but this was avoided by General Benjamin F.
Butler,3 who, embarking his men at Havre de Grace,
reached Washington by way of Annapolis.
5. The action of
the slave states in this emergency of the government was
not uniform. Delaware promptly ranged herself with the
loyal north. Maryland would at first furnish troops only
for the defence of the capital; but the schemes of the
secessionists in Baltimore were thwarted by General
Butler,3 who took possession of Federal Hill, which,
with Fort McHenry,4 commands the city and its
approaches, and the state was not long in deciding to support the
Federal government. The other slave states refused to furnish
troops at the president's call. Virginia, Arkansas,
Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the
Confederacy.5 Virginia troops seized the United States
armory at Harper's Ferry (April 18), and the navy yard at Norfolk
(April 21), the Union troops having evacuated these
posts,
1 Leroy Pope Walker, the rebel secretary of war, said, on learning of the fall of Fort Sumter, "I will prophesy that the flag [the secession flag] that now flaunts the breeze here, will float over the dome of the Capitol at Washington before the 1st of May."
2 See p. 111. 3 See p. 304, ¶ 40. 4 See p. 186, ¶ 6. 5 See p. 227. note 6, and p. 814, ¶ 2.
QUESTIONS. -- 4. What was done by patriotic individuals and associations? What by the loyal states? What is said of the national capital? What troops first reached Washington for its protection? Give an account of the attack made by the mob in Baltimore upon the Sixth Massachusetts regiment? Upon unarmed troops from Pennsylvania? Where was it expected that a bloody battle would take place? How was this avoided? 5. What is said of Delaware? Of Maryland? Of the other slave states? Which of them joined the Confederacy? What was seized by Virginia troops?
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after destroying such of the public property as
they could, to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy.
Fortress
Monroe remained in the possession of the Federal government.
Kentucky1 at first determined to side with
neither party, but finally took a firm stand in favor of the
Union. Missouri2 was saved from secession by the
efficient support given to her loyal people by Captain Nathaniel
Lyon,3 who commanded the Federal arsenal at St. Louis.
In Missouri, as in several other slave states, the majority of the
people were loyal, but the plotters of treason bad managed to
secure a governor and other high officers who were in league with
the secessionists.
6. The news of the fall of Fort Sumter
also roused a high degree of military enthusiasm in the
Confederate States.4 Already the rebels had a
large force in the field. Now they urged forward troops towards
Virginia, where they soon held an irregular line from a point
opposite Williamsport, on the Potomac, to the James River, near
Fortress Monroe. They also erected batteries at various points on
the Virginia side of the Potomac, rendering the navigation of that
river perilous. Richmond was made the rebel capital, and
there the Confederate Congress assembled on the 20th of July.
7. As an offset to President Lincoln's
call for troops, Jefferson Davis issued, April 17, a proclamation,
offering letters of marque and reprisal to all who would
prey upon the commerce of the United States. In response,
President Lincoln proclaimed the rebel ports in a state of
blockade.5 In May, additional volunteers were
called for,6 to serve in the army as well as to man the
navy, which was rapidly preparing from steamers and vessels of
every description, built, purchased, and chartered for the
emergency:
8. The veteran Scott7
Was general-in-chief of the Union forces. To defend the
line of the Potomac, and to penetrate
1 See p. 250, ¶ 26. 2 See p. 248, ¶ 18. 3 See p. 217, note 2, and p 249, ¶ 21. 4 See p. 227, ¶ 11.
5 The blockade was proclaimed April 19, and extended April 27. See p. 252, ¶ 32.
6 See p. 311, note 1. 7 See p. 230, ¶ 17.
QUESTIONS. -- What is said of Kentucky? How was Missouri saved from secession? 6. What effect was produced in the Confederate States by news of the fall of Sumter? What line did rebel troops soon hold in Virginia? Where did they erect batteries? What city became the rebel capital, and when did the Confederate Congress assemble there? 7. What did Jefferson Davis do as an offset to the president's call for troops? How did the president respond to Davis's proclamation? When and for what purpose did the president call out additional volunteers? 8. Who was general-in-chief of the Union forces?
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Virginia from that quarter, troops were
collecting at Fortress Monroe, at Washington, and on the Upper
Potomac.
General Butler1 took command
at Fortress Monroe. Before the end of May he had advanced a
force a few miles up the James River, and formed an intrenched
camp at Newport News. He also suggested that slaves who had
escaped from rebel owners be regarded as contraband of war -- a
suggestion not without its influence upon the government in its
treatment of fugitive slaves, and which gave them their popular
designation of contrabands. On the 10th of June some Union
troops in this department were repulsed in an attack upon the
rebel works at Big Bethel.2
9. Federal troops crossed from
Washington into Virginia on the night of the 23d of May, and
took possession of Arlington Heights, opposite the capital, and of
Alexandria, in which place was captured a small body of rebel
cavalry.3 The troops on the Upper Potomac
crossed the river at Williamsport.
10. Early in July the opposing forces
were confronting each other at various points on a line extending
from Maryland westward beyond the Mississippi. But all eyes were
now turned towards the Potomac. Congress assembled,
agreeably to the president's call,4 and its action
would determine the measures to be taken for crushing the
rebellion. It was evident, too, that in that neighborhood was to
be the first great shock of arms.
11. About the middle of the month,
General Irvin McDowell,5 with the troops opposite
Washington, began his march to attack the main body of the
southern army, near Manassas Junction, commanded by General
Beauregard.6 He found the enemy intrenches beyond Bull Run.
Here a desperate battle was fought, July 21. It began a little
before noon; at two victory seemed secure for the Federals, but
later in the afternoon the enemy were largely reënforced, and
the tide of battle turned: the Union army was thrown into
disorder, and retreated panic-stricken to the fortifications
opposite Washington.
1 See p. 241, ¶¶ 4, 5.
2 In addition to a loss of about fifty men this disaster cost the Union cause the brave officers Major Theodore Winthrop and Lieutenant John T. Greble, who were killed.
3 Soon after entering Alexandria, the brave Colonel Ephraim E. Ellsworth was shot while in the act of taking a secession flag from a tavern on which it had been displayed.
4 See p. 240, ¶ 3. 5 See p. 213, note 1, and p. 271, ¶ 39. 6 See p. 240, ¶ 2.
QUESTIONS. -- Where were Union troops collecting to enter Virginia from the East? -- Who took command at Fortress Monroe? Where did he form an intrenched camp? What suggestion did he make concerning slaves who had escaped from rebel owners? What is said of the repulse of Union troops at Big Bethel? 9. When did Federal troops cross from Washington? Of what did they take possession? Where did troops on the Upper Potomac cross? 10. What is said of the opposing forces early in July? Why were all eyes turned towards the Potomac? 11. Who led the troops opposite Washington to attack the southern army? Where did McDowel find the enemy, and by whom commanded? Give an account of the battle of Bull Run.
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