While McClellan was thus halting in tragic indecision one of the unforeseen accidents of war occurred which put him in possession of Lee"s plan of campaign and should have led to the annihilation of the Southern army. A copy of the order directing the movement of the Confederates from Frederick, Maryland, was thrown to the ground by a petulant officer to whom it was directed. It fell into the hands of a Federal soldier who hurried to McClellan"s headquarters with the fateful doc.u.ment.
Jackson"s corps had been sent on one of his famous "foot cavalry"
expeditions to sweep the Federal garrison from Martinsburg, surround and capture Harper"s Ferry. McClellan at once moved a division of his army to crush the small command Lee had stationed at South Mountain to guard Jackson"s movement.
McClellan threw his men against this little division of the Confederates and attempted to force his way to the relief of Harper"s Ferry. The battle raged with fury until nine o"clock at night. Their purpose accomplished Lee withdrew them to his new position at Sharpsburg to await the advent of Jackson.
The "foot cavalry" had surrounded Harper"s Ferry, a.s.saulted it at dawn and in two hours the garrison surrendered. Thirteen thousand prisoners with their rifles and seventy-three pieces of artillery fell into Jackson"s hands. Leaving General A. P. Hill to receive the final surrender of the troops Jackson set out at once for Sharpsburg to join his army with Lee"s.
The Southern Commander had but forty thousand men with which to meet McClellan"s ninety thousand, but at sunrise on September seventeenth, his batteries opened fire and the bloodiest struggle of the Civil War began. Through the long hours of this eventful day the lines of blue and gray charged and counter-charged across the scarlet field. When darkness fell neither side had yielded. The dead lay in ghastly heaps and the long pitiful wail of the wounded rose to Heaven.
Lee had lost two thousand killed and six thousand wounded. McClellan had lost more than twelve thousand. His army was so terribly shattered by the b.l.o.o.d.y work, he did not renew the struggle on the following day. Lee waited until night for his a.s.sault and learning that reenforcements were on the way to join McClellan"s command withdrew across the Potomac.
It was a day later before Lee"s movements were sufficiently clear for McClellan to claim a victory.
On September nineteenth, he telegraphed Washington:
"I do not know if the enemy is falling back or recrossing the river. We may safely claim the victory as ours."
Abraham Lincoln hastened to take advantage of McClellan"s claim to issue his Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation. And yet so utter had been the failure of his general to cope with Lee and Jackson, the President of the United States relieved McClellan of his command.
While Lee"s invasion had failed of the larger purpose, its moral effect on the North had been tremendous. He carried back into Virginia fourteen thousand prisoners, eighty pieces of artillery and invaluable equipment for his army.
In the meantime the Western army under Bragg had invaded Kentucky, sweeping to the gates of Cincinnati and Louisville and retiring with more than five thousand prisoners, five thousand small arms and ten pieces of artillery.
The gain in territory by the invasion of Maryland and Kentucky had been nothing but the moral effect of these movements had been far reaching.
The daring valor of the small Confederate armies fighting against overwhelming odds had stirred the imagination of the world. In the west they had carried their triumphant battle flag from Chattanooga to Cincinnati, and although forced to retire, had shown the world that the conquest at the southwestern territory was a gigantic task which was yet to be seriously undertaken.
The London _Times_, commenting on these campaigns, declared:
"Whatever may be the fate of the new nationality or its subsequent claims to the respect of mankind, it will a.s.suredly begin its career with a reputation for genius and valor which the most famous nations may envy."
On McClellan"s fall he was succeeded by General Burnside who found a magnificently trained army of veteran soldiers at his command. It was now divided into three grand divisions of two corps each, commanded by three generals of tried and proven ability, Sumner, Hooker and Franklin.
Burnside quickly formed and began the execution of an advance against Richmond. He moved his army rapidly down the left bank of the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg, and ordered pontoon bridges to cross the stream. His army could thus defend Washington while moving in force on the Confederate Capital.
When Burnside led his one hundred and thirteen thousand men across the river and occupied the town of Fredericksburg, Lee and Jackson were ready to receive him. Lee had entrenched on the line of crescent-shaped hills behind the town.
When the new Northern Commander threw his army, with its bands playing and its thousand flags flying, against these hills on the morning of December 13, 1862, he plunged headlong and blindfolded into a death trap.
Charge after charge was repulsed with unparalleled slaughter. Lee"s guns were planted to cross fire on each charging line of blue. Burnside"s men were mowed down in thousands until their sublime valor won the praise and the pity of their foe.
When night at last drew the veil over the awful scene the shattered ma.s.ses of the charging army were huddled under the shelter of the houses in Fredericksburg leaving the field piled high with the dead and the wounded. The wounded were freezing to death in the pitiless cold.
Burnside had lost thirteen thousand men--the flower of his troops--the bravest men the North had ever sent into battle.
Jackson"s keen eye was quick to see the shambles into which this demoralized army had been pushed. The river behind them could be crossed only on a narrow pontoon bridge. A swift and merciless night attack would either drive the bleeding lines into the freezing river, annihilate or capture the whole army. He urged Lee to this attack. Lee demurred. He could not know the extent of the enemy"s losses. It was inconceivable to the Southern Commander that Burnside with his one hundred and thirteen thousand picked soldiers, could be repulsed with such slight losses to the South. Only a small part of the army under his command had been active in the battle and their losses were insignificant in comparison with the records of former struggles.
Burnside would renew the attack with redoubled vigor. He refused to move his men from their entrenchments into the open field where they would be exposed to the batteries beyond the river.
Jackson turned his somber blue eyes on Lee:
"Send my corps into Fredericksburg alone to-night. Hold the hills with the rest of the army. I"ll do the work."
"You cannot distinguish friend from foe, General Jackson--"
"I"ll strip my men to the waist and tie white bands around their right arms."
"In this freezing cold?"
"They"ll obey my orders, General Lee--"
"It"s too horrible--"
"It"s war, sir," was Jackson"s reply. "War means fighting--fighting to kill, to destroy--fighting with tooth and nail--"
Lee shook his head. He refused to take the risk. Jackson returned to his headquarters with heavy heart. His chief of medical staff was busy preparing bandages for his men. He had been sure of Lee"s consent. He countermanded the order and Burnside"s army was saved from annihilation.
When the sun rose next morning half his men were safely across the river--and the remainder quickly followed.
Again the North was stunned. Another wave of horror swept its homes as the lists of the dead and wounded were printed.
Burnside resigned his command and "Fighting" Joe Hooker was placed at the head of the Northern troops. Since June first, Lee and Jackson had destroyed four blue armies and driven their commanders from the field,--McClellan twice, John Pope and now Burnside.
The political effects of these brilliant achievements of Davis" army had been paralyzing on the administration of Lincoln. The Proclamation of Emanc.i.p.ation which he had issued immediately after the b.l.o.o.d.y battle in Maryland had not only fallen flat in the North, it had created a reaction against his policies and the conduct of the war. The November elections had gone against him and his party had been all but wiped out.
The Democrats in New York had reversed a majority of one hundred and seven thousand against them in 1860 and swept the State, electing their entire ticket. The administration was defeated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
The voters of the North not only condemned the administration for declaring the slaves free, but they a.s.saulted the war policy of their Government with savage fury. They condemned the wholesale arrest of thousands of citizens for their political opinions and arraigned the Government for its incompetence in conducting the military operations of an army of more than twice the numbers of the triumphant South.
The Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation and the victories of Davis" army had not only divided and demoralized the North, they had solidified Southern opinion.
Even Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice-President of the Confederacy, who had been a thorn in the flesh of Davis from the beginning in his advocacy of foolish and impossible measures of compromise now took his position for war to the death. In a fiery speech in North Carolina following Lincoln"s proclamation Stephens said:
"As for any reconstruction of the Union--such a thing is impossible--such an idea must not be tolerated for an instant.
Reconstruction would not end the war, but would produce a more horrible war than that in which we are now engaged. The only terms on which we can obtain permanent peace is final and complete separation from the North. Rather than submit to anything short of that, let us resolve to die as men worthy of freedom."
A few days after the defeat of Burnside"s army at Fredericksburg the South was thrilled by the feat of General McGruder in Galveston harbor.
The daring Confederate Commander had seized two little steamers and fitted them up as gun boats by piling cotton on their sides for bulwarks. With these two rafts of cotton cooperating on the water, his infantry waded out into the waters of Galveston Bay and attacked the Federal fleet with their bare hands.
When the smoke of battle lifted the city of Galveston was in Confederate hands, the fleet had been smashed and scattered and the port opened to commerce. Commodore Renshaw had blown up his flag ship to prevent her falling into McGruder"s hands and gone down with her. The garrison surrendered.
Jackson had invented a "foot cavalry." McGruder had supplemented it by a "foot navy."
At Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on the same day General Bragg had engaged the army of Rosecrans and fought one of the bloodiest engagements of the war. Its net results were in favor of the Confederacy in spite of the fact that he permitted Rosecrans to move into Murfreesboro. The Northern army had lost nine thousand men, killed and wounded, and Bragg carried from the field six thousand Federal prisoners, thirty pieces of artillery, sixty thousand stand of small arms, ambulances, mules, horses and an enormous amount of valuable stores.
His own losses had been great but far less than those he inflicted on Rosecrans. He had lost one thousand two hundred and ninety-two killed, seven thousand nine hundred and forty-five wounded and one thousand twenty-seven missing.
At Charleston a fleet of iron-clads on the model of the _Monitor_ had been crushed by the batteries and driven back to sea with heavy loss.
The _Keokuk_ was left a stranded wreck in the harbor.
A second attack on Vicksburg had failed under Sherman. A third attack by Grant had been repulsed. Farragut"s attack on Port Hudson had failed with the loss of the _Richmond_.