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SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What can you tell about the early life of John C. Calhoun? Of Henry Clay? Of Daniel Webster?
2. Why was Clay called "the Great Peacemaker"?
3. Why were the people of South Carolina opposed to the high tariff laws of 1828 and 1832?
4. What was Webster's idea of the Union, and in what way did it differ from Hayne's?
5. What was the Missouri Compromise? What was the Compromise of 1850?
6. What do you admire about each of the three great statesmen?
7. Are you making frequent use of your maps?
CHAPTER XVI
THE CIVIL WAR
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
It was thought by many that the Compromise of 1850 would put an end to the bitter and violent feeling over the spread of slavery, but it did not. For in the North the opposition to its extension into new States became so powerful that in five years there had grown up a great political party—the Republican party—whose main purpose was to oppose the spread of slavery.
One of its ablest and most inspiring leaders was Abraham Lincoln. He was born in a rough cabin in Kentucky, February 12, 1809. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Indiana, and settled about eighteen miles north of the Ohio River. The journey to their new home was very tedious and lonely, for in some places they had to cut a roadway through the forest. It took them three days to travel the last eighteen miles.
Having arrived safely in November, all set vigorously to work to provide a shelter against the winter. The seven-year old boy was healthy, rugged, and active, and from early morning till late evening he worked with his father, chopping trees and cutting poles and boughs for their "camp," the rude shelter in which they were to live until spring.
This "camp" was a mere shed, only fourteen feet square and open on one side. It was built of poles lying one upon another and had a thatched roof of boughs and leaves. As there was no chimney, there could be no fire within the enclosure, and it was necessary to keep one burning all the time just in front of the open side.
During this first winter in the wild woods of Indiana the little boy must have lived a very busy life. There was much to do in building the cabin which was to take the place of the "camp," and in cutting down trees and making a clearing for the corn-planting of the coming spring.
After spending the winter in the "camp," the Lincoln family, in the following spring, moved into the newly built log cabin. This had no windows, and no floor except the bare earth. There was an opening on one side, which was used as a doorway, but there was no door, nor was there so much as an animal's skin to keep out the rain or the snow or to protect the family from the cold wind.
In this rough abode the rude and simple furniture was very much like what we have already seen in the cabins of the Tennessee settlers. For chairs there was the same kind of three-legged stools, made by smoothing the flat side of a split log and putting sticks into auger holes underneath. The tables were as simply made, except that they stood on four legs instead of three. The crude bedsteads in the corners of the cabin were made by sticking poles in between the logs at right angles to the wall, the outside corner where the poles met being supported by a crotched stick driven into the ground. Ropes were then stretched from side to side, making a framework upon which shucks and leaves were heaped for bedding, and over all were thrown the skins of wild animals for a covering. Pegs driven into the wall served as a stairway to the loft, where there was another bed of leaves. Here little Abe slept.
Abraham Lincoln's schooling was brief—not more than a year in all, and the schools he attended were like those we became acquainted with in the early settlements of Kentucky and Tennessee. During his last school-days he had to go daily a distance of four and one-half miles from his home, with probably no roadway except the deer path through the forest. His midday lunch was a corn dodger, which he carried in his pocket.
In spite of this meagre schooling however, the boy, by his self-reliance, resolute purpose, and good reading habits, acquired the very best sort of training for his future life. He had no books at his home, and, of course, there were but few to be had in that wild country from other homes. But among those he read over and over again, while a boy, were the Bible, "AEsop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe," "Pilgrim's Progress," "A History of the United States," and Weems's "Life of Washington," all books of the right kind.
His stepmother said of him: "He read everything he could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage that struck him, he would write it down on boards, if he had no paper, and keep it before him until he could get paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, commit it to memory, and repeat it."
When night came he would find a seat in the corner by the fireside, or stretch out at length on the floor in front of it, and by the firelight write, or work sums in arithmetic, on a wooden shovel, using a charred stick for a pencil. After covering the shovel, he would shave it off and use the surface over again.
The way in which he came to own a "Life of Washington" is interesting. Having borrowed the book, he took it to bed with him in the loft and read until his candle gave out. Then, before going to sleep, he tucked the book into a crevice of the logs in order that he might have it at hand as soon as daylight would permit him to read the next morning. But during the night a storm came up, and the rain beat in upon the book, wetting it through and through. With heavy heart Lincoln took it back to its owner, who gave it to him on condition that he would work three days to pay for it. Eagerly agreeing to do this, the boy carried his new possession home in triumph. This book had a marked influence over his future.
But his time for reading was limited, for until he was twenty his father hired him out to do all sorts of work, at which he sometimes earned six dollars a month and sometimes thirty-one cents a day. Money was always sorely needed in that household, the poor farm yielding only a small return for much hard work. For this reason, just before Abraham Lincoln came of age, his family, with all their possessions packed in a cart drawn by four oxen, moved again toward the West. For two weeks they travelled across the country into Illinois, and finally made a new home on the banks of the Sangamon River.
On reaching the end of the journey (in the spring of 1830), Abraham helped to build a log cabin and to clear ten acres of land for planting. This was the last work he did for his father, as he was now some months over twenty-one and was quite ready to go out into the world and work for himself. When he left his father's house he had nothing, not even a good suit of clothes, and one of the first things he did was to split rails for enough brown jeans to make him a pair of trousers. As he was six feet four inches tall, three and one-half yards were needed! For these he split 1400 rails.
At times throughout life he was subject to deep depression, which made his face unspeakably sad. But as a rule he was cheerful and merry, and on account of his good stories, which he told with rare skill, he was in great demand in social gatherings and at the crossroads grocery store. He was a giant in strength and a skilful wrestler. This helped to make him popular.
For some months after leaving his father's home Lincoln worked in the neighborhood, most of the time as a farmhand and rail-splitter. But he desired something different. From time to time he had watched the boats carrying freight up and down the river and had wondered where the vessels were going. Eager to learn about the life outside his narrow world, he determined to become a boatman. As soon as he could, therefore, he found employment on a flatboat that carried corn, hogs, hay, and other farm produce down to New Orleans.
But tiring at length of the long journeys, he became clerk in a village store at New Salem, Illinois. Many stories are told of Lincoln's honesty in his dealings with the people in this village store. It is said that on one occasion a woman, in making change, overpaid him the trifling sum of six cents. When Lincoln found out the mistake he walked three miles and back that night to give the woman her money.
In less than a year the closing of this village store left him without employment, and after this he had a varied experience, first in a grocery store of his own, next as postmaster in New Salem, and then as a surveyor.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND SLAVERY
After many trials at various occupations, he decided at last to become a lawyer, and after being admitted to the bar, he opened an office at Springfield, Illinois. He succeeded well in his chosen profession, and also took a keen interest in the larger affairs of his community and State.
In this wider field of action certain qualities of mind and heart greatly aided him. For, in spite of scant learning, he was a good public speaker and skilful debater, because he thought clearly and convinced those who heard him of his honesty and high purpose. Such a man is certain to win his way in the world. In due time he was elected to Congress, where his interest in various public questions, especially that of slavery, became much quickened.
On this question his clear head and warm heart united in forming strong convictions that had great weight with the people. He continued to grow in political favor and, in 1858, received the nomination of the Republican party for the United States Senate. His opponent was Stephen A. Douglas, known as the "Little Giant," on account of his short stature and powerful eloquence as an orator.
The debates between the two men, preceding the election, were followed with keen interest all over the country. Lincoln argued with great power against the spread of slavery into the new States, and although he lost the election, he won such favorable notice that two years later a greater honor came to him. In 1860, the Republican National Convention, which met at Chicago, nominated him as its candidate for President, and a few months later he was elected to that office.
The agitation over slavery was growing more and more bitter, and when Lincoln was elected some of the Southern States threatened to go out of the Union. They claimed that it was their right to decide for themselves whether they should secede. On the other hand, the North declared that no State could secede without the consent of the other States.
Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven of the Southern States had carried out their threat to secede, calling themselves the Confederate States of America.[A] The excitement everywhere was intense. Many people regretted that a man of larger experience than Lincoln had not been chosen to be at the head of the government. They were anxious lest this plain man of the people, this awkward backwoodsman, should not be able to lead the nation in those dark and troubled days. But, little as they trusted him, he was well fitted for the work that lay before him.
[A] Jefferson Davis was chosen president and Alexander H. Stephens vice-president. The seven cotton States hoped that they would be joined by the other eight slave States, but only four of these eight seceded. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri remained loyal to the Union.
His inauguration was but a few weeks over when the Civil War began. We cannot here pause for full accounts of all Lincoln's trials and difficulties in this fearful struggle. During those four fateful years, 1861-1865, his burdens were almost overwhelming. But, like Washington, he believed that "right makes might" and must prevail, and this belief sustained him.
Although his whole nature revolted against slavery, he had no power to do away with it in the States where it existed, for by his office he was sworn to defend the Constitution. "My great purpose," he said, "is to save the Union, and not to destroy slavery."
But as the war went on he became certain that the slaves, by remaining on the plantations and producing food for the Southern soldiers, were aiding the Southern cause. He therefore determined to set the slaves free in all the territory where people were fighting to break up the Union, just as far as it was conquered by Union troops. "As commander-in-chief of the Union armies," he reasoned, "I have a right to do this as a war measure." The famous state paper in which Lincoln declared that such slaves were free was called the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863).
This freeing of a part of the slaves not only hastened the end of the war but led, after its close, to the final emancipation of all the slaves. We should remember that the man who did most to bring about this result was Abraham Lincoln, whose name has gone down in history as the great emancipator.
Passing over the events of the war, which we shall consider later in connection with its great generals, let us look ahead two years.
On April 9, 1865, General Lee, as we shall see a little later, surrendered his army to General Grant at Appomattox Court House. By this act the war was brought to a close, and there was great rejoicing everywhere.
But suddenly the universal joy was changed into universal sorrow, for a shocking thing happened. Five days after Lee's surrender, Lincoln went with his wife and friends to see a play at Ford's Theatre, in Washington. In the midst of the play, a Southern actor, John Wilkes Booth, who was familiar with the theatre, entered the President's box, shot him in the back of the head, jumped to the stage, and rushed through the wings to the street. There he mounted a horse in waiting for him and escaped, soon, however, to be hunted down and killed in a barn where he lay in hiding.
The martyr President lingered during the long hours of the sad night, tenderly watched by his family and a few friends. When, on the following morning, he breathed his last, Secretary Stanton said with truth: "Now he belongs to the ages."
The people deeply mourned the loss of him who had wisely and bravely led them through four years of heavy trial and anxiety. We are all richer because of the life of Abraham Lincoln, our countryman, our teacher, our guide, and our friend. And the loss to the South was even greater than to the North. For he was not only just but also kind and sympathetic; and only he could have saved the South from its calamities for years afterward.
ROBERT E. LEE
Having followed a few of the leading events in the remarkable career of our martyr President, let us turn our thoughts to the Civil War, through which it was Lincoln's great work to guide us, as a nation. It was a struggle that tested the manhood, quite as much as the resources, of the warring sections, and each side might well be proud of the bravery and skill of its officers and soldiers. Certainly each side had among its generals some of the greatest military leaders of all time.
One of the ablest generals commanding the Confederate troops was Robert E. Lee. He was born in Virginia, January 19, 1807, his father being the Revolutionary general known as "Light-Horse Harry." Although the records of his boyhood days are scanty, we know that when little Robert was about four years old the Lees removed from Stratford to Alexandria, in order to educate their children. Here the boy was prepared for West Point Academy, which he entered when he was eighteen. At this military school he made such a good record as a student that he was graduated second in his class.
Two years later he married Miss Custis, who was a great-granddaughter of Mrs. George Washington, and through this marriage he shared with his wife the control of large property, which included plantations and a number of slaves.
Immediately after leaving West Point, he entered the army as an engineer, and during the Mexican War distinguished himself for his skill and bravery. A few years later (1852), he was appointed superintendent of West Point Academy, where he remained three years.
At the outbreak of the Civil War he was so highly esteemed as an officer in the United States army, that he would have been appointed commander of the Union armies if he had been willing to accept the position. He loved the Union, and was opposed to secession, but when Virginia, his native State, seceded he felt that it was his duty to go with her.
His struggle in making the decision was a painful one, as was made plain in a letter he wrote to a sister, then living in Baltimore. "With all my devotion to the Union," he said, "and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought right."
Soon after he decided that he must go with Virginia in the great struggle which was to follow, he accepted the command of the Virginia State forces, and within a year from that time became military adviser of Jefferson Davis, who was President of the Confederacy.
In 1862, the second year of the war, Lee took command of the leading Confederate army in Virginia. General McClellan, who commanded a large Union army, had been trying to capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States. After fighting a series of battles, he approached so close to Richmond that his soldiers could see the spires of the churches. But as the city was strongly fortified he retreated to the James River. During this retreat, which lasted a week, were fought what were known as the "Seven Days' Battles."
Having thus saved Richmond from capture, Lee marched north into Maryland, expecting the people to rise and join his forces. But they were loyal to the Union and refused. The terrible battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg was fought (September, 1862), and Lee was obliged to retreat to Virginia.
A few months later (December, 1862), Lee repulsed an attack of the Union army at Fredericksburg with fearful slaughter, and in the following May he won a victory at Chancellorsville.
"STONEWALL" JACKSON
In all these battles Lee's most effective helper was General Thomas J. Jackson, "Stonewall" Jackson, as he was called. Jackson won his nickname at the battle of Bull Run. One of the Confederate generals, who was trying to hearten his retreating men, cried out to them: "See, there is Jackson, standing like a stone wall! Rally round the Virginians!" From that hour of heroism he was known as Stonewall Jackson, and for his bravery in this battle he was made a major-general. He was such a stubborn fighter, and so furious in his enthusiasm that "his soldiers marched to death when he bade them. What was even harder, they marched at the double-quick through Virginia mud, without shoes, without food, without sleep." They cheerfully did his bidding because they loved him. The sight of his old uniform and scrawny sorrel horse always stirred the hearts of his followers.
Jackson was a deeply religious man. In spirit he was so much of a Puritan that it caused him great regret to march or to fight on a Sunday.
He was devoted to Lee and placed the greatest confidence in him. "He is the only man I would follow blindfold," he said, and on his death-bed he exclaimed: "Better that ten Jacksons should fall than one Lee!"
Stonewall Jackson was shot at the battle of Chancellorsville, but not by the enemy. He and his escort had ridden out beyond his line of battle, when, being mistaken for the enemy, they were fired upon by some of their own soldiers, and Jackson was mortally wounded. His death was a great loss to the Southern army.
J.E.B. STUART
Another of General Lee's very able helpers was General Stuart. He wrote his name J.E.B. Stuart. So his admirers called him "Jeb."
He was absolutely fearless. "He would attack anything anywhere," and he inspired his men with the same zeal. He was noted for falling into dangerous situations and then cleverly getting himself out. His men were used to this. They trusted him completely and without question. They loved him, too, for his good comradeship. For although he preserved the strictest discipline, he frolicked with his officers like a boy, playing at snowballs, or marbles, or whatever they chose, and enjoying it all heartily.
He was so fond of gay, martial music that he kept his banjo-player, Sweeney, always with him, and worked in his tent to the cheerful accompaniment of his favorite songs, now and then leaning back to laugh and join in the choruses.
His gay spirit found expression also in the clothes he wore. Listen to this description of him: "His fighting jacket shone with dazzling buttons and was covered with gold braid; his hat was looped up with a golden star and decorated with a black ostrich plume; his fine buff gauntlets reached to the elbow; around his waist was tied a splendid yellow sash, and his spurs were pure gold." These spurs, of which he was immensely proud, were a gift from Baltimore women. His battle-flag was a gorgeous red one, which he insisted upon keeping with him, although it often drew the enemy's fire.
Stuart was very proud of his men and their pluck. He knew by name every man in the first brigade.
It was his strong desire that he might meet his death while leading a cavalry charge, and he had his wish. For he was struck down near Richmond, in 1864, while he was leading an attack against Sheridan.
He died when he was only thirty-one, deeply mourned by all his men.
GETTYSBURG
But to return to General Lee. After winning the two important battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, he decided that he would again invade the North (1863). He believed that a great victory north of the Potomac River might lead to the capture of Philadelphia and Washington and thus end the war.
Having marched boldly into Pennsylvania, he met the Union army, under General Meade, at the little town of Gettysburg, not far from the southern border of the State. There for three days the most terrible battle of the war, and in its results, one of the greatest battles of all history, took place. After three days of fighting, in which the loss on both sides was fearful, Lee was defeated and forced to retreat to Virginia.
The defeat of Lee's army at Gettysburg was a crushing blow to the hopes of the South. Lee himself felt this to be true. And, grieving over the heavy loss of his men in the famous Pickett's Charge, he said to one of his generals: "All this has been my fault. It is I that have lost this fight, and you must help me out of it the best you can."
But even in the face of this defeat his officers and soldiers still trusted their commander. They said: "Uncle Robert will get us into Washington yet."
But the surrender of another division of the army, fighting far away on the Mississippi River, added defeat to defeat. For the day following the battle of Gettysburg, General Grant captured Vicksburg, the greatest Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. The South could no longer hope for victory.
ULYSSES S. GRANT
Before going on with the story of the war, let us pause for a little in order to catch a glimpse of Ulysses S. Grant, the remarkable man who was the greatest general that the North produced throughout the war.
He was born in a humble dwelling at Point Pleasant, Ohio, in April, 1822. The year following his birth the family removed to Georgetown, Ohio, where they lived many years.
The father of Ulysses was a farmer and manufacturer of leather. The boy did not like the leather business, but he did like work on the farm. When only seven years old, he hauled all the wood which was needed in the home and at the leather factory from the forest, a mile from the village.
From the age of eleven to seventeen, according to his own story as told in his "Personal Memoirs," he ploughed the soil, cultivated the growing corn and potatoes, sawed fire-wood, and did any other work a farmer boy might be expected to do. He had his good times also, fishing, swimming in the creek not far from his home, driving about the country, and skating with other boys.
He liked horses, and early became a skilful rider. A story is told of him which indicates not only that he was a good horseman, but that he had "bulldog grit" as well. One day when he was at a circus, the manager offered a silver dollar to any one who could ride a certain mule around the ring. Several persons, one after the other, mounted the animal, only to be thrown over its head. Young Ulysses was among those who offered to ride, but, like the others, he failed. Then, pulling off his coat, he got on the animal again. Putting his legs firmly around the mule's body and seizing it by the tail, Ulysses rode in triumph around the ring amid the cheers of the crowd.
Although he cared little for study, his father wished to give him all the advantages of a good education and secured for him an appointment to West Point. After graduating, he wished to leave the army and become an instructor in mathematics at his alma mater. But, as the Mexican War broke out about that time, he entered active service. Soon he gave striking evidence of that fearless bravery for which he was later to become noted on the battle-fields of the Civil War.
At the close of the Mexican War, Grant resigned from the army and engaged in farming and business until the outbreak of the Civil War.
With the news that the Southern troops had fired on the flag at Fort Sumter, Grant's patriotism was aroused. Without delay he rejoined the army and at once took an active part in getting ready for the war. First as colonel, and then as brigadier-general, he led his troops, and his powers as a leader quickly developed.
The first of his achievements was the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, in Tennessee, the centre of a strong Confederate line of defense. At Fort Donelson he received the surrender of nearly fifteen thousand prisoners, and by his great victory compelled the Confederates to abandon two of their important strongholds, Columbus and Nashville.
After the loss of Fort Donelson the Confederates fell back to a second line of defense and took position at Corinth. General Grant's army was at Pittsburg Landing, eighteen miles away; not far off was the village of Shiloh, from which the battle is now generally named. Here, early on Sunday morning (April 6, 1862), Grant was attacked by Johnston, and his men were driven back a mile and a half toward the river.
It was a fearful battle, lasting until nearly dark. Not until after midnight was Grant able to rest, and then, sitting in the rain, with his back against the foot of a tree, he slept a few hours before the renewal of battle on Monday morning. With reinforcements he was able on the second day to drive the enemy off the field and win a signal victory.
By this battle Grant broke the Confederates' second line of defense. Although they fought bravely and well to prevent the Union troops from getting control of the Mississippi River, by the close of 1862 the South had lost every stronghold on the river except Port Hudson and Vicksburg.
Vicksburg was so strongly defended that the Confederates believed that it could not be taken. A resolute effort to capture it was made by General Grant in 1863. After a brilliant campaign of strategy, by which he got around the defenses, he laid siege to the city itself. For seven weeks the Confederate army held out. During that time the people of Vicksburg sought refuge from the enemy's shells in caves and cellars, their only food at times consisting of rats and mule flesh. But on July 4, 1863, the day after General Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. Four days later Port Hudson, some distance below, was captured, and thus the last stronghold of the Mississippi came under control of the North.
General Grant had become the hero of the Northern army. His success was in no small measure due to his dogged perseverance. While his army was laying siege to Vicksburg, a Confederate woman, at whose door he stopped to ask for a drink of water, inquired whether he expected ever to capture Vicksburg. "Certainly," he replied. "But when?" was the next question. Quickly came the answer: "I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the town, but I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes me thirty years."
General Grant having by his capture of Vicksburg won the confidence of the people, President Lincoln, in 1864, put him in command of all the Union armies of the East and the West. In presenting the new commission, Lincoln addressed him in these words: "As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you."
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN
In the spring of that year the Confederates had two large armies in the field. One of them, under General Lee, was defending Richmond. The other, under General Joseph E. Johnston, was in Tennessee, defending the Confederate cause in that region. General Grant's plan was to send General Sherman, in whom he had great confidence, against General Johnston, with orders to capture Atlanta, which was now the workshop and storehouse of the Confederacy. Grant himself was to march against Lee and capture Richmond. The two great watchwords were: "On to Atlanta!" and "On to Richmond!"
Early in May both Grant and Sherman began their campaigns. Starting from Chattanooga, in Tennessee, Sherman began to crowd Johnston toward Atlanta. In order to keep his line of supplies open from Nashville Sherman kept his army close to the railroad, and to hinder him as much as possible, the Confederates sent back bodies of troops to the rear of the Union army to tear up the railroads. But so quickly were they rebuilt by Sherman's men that the Confederates used to say: "Sherman must carry a railroad on his back." His advance was slow but steady, and on September 2 he captured Atlanta.
A little later Sherman started on his famous march "From Atlanta to the Sea," with the purpose of weakening the Confederate armies by destroying their supplies and their railroads in Southern Georgia. His army marched in four columns, covering a belt of territory sixty miles wide. Four days before Christmas he captured Savannah and sent to President Lincoln the famous telegram: "I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition; also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton." Sherman's "March to the Sea" was a wonderful achievement.
Let us make the acquaintance of this remarkable man. He was at this time forty-four. Standing six feet high, with muscles of iron and a military bearing, he gave the impression of having great physical endurance. And no matter whether he was exposed to drenching rain, bitter cold, or burning heat, he never gave signs of fatigue. Many nights he slept only three or four hours, but he was able to fall asleep easily almost anywhere he happened to be, whether lying upon the wet ground or on a hard floor, or even amid the din and roar of muskets and cannon.
In battle he could not sit calmly smoking and looking on, like General Grant. He was too much excited to sit still, and his face reflected his thoughts. Yet his mind was clear and his decisions were rapid.
His soldiers admired him and gave him their unbounded confidence. One of his staff said of him while they were on the "March to the Sea": "The army has such an abiding faith in its leader that it will go wherever he leads." At Savannah the soldiers would proudly remark as their general rode by: "There goes the old man. All's right."
During the trying experience of this famous march, Sherman's face grew anxious and care-worn. But behind the care-worn face there were kind and tender feelings, especially for the young. Little children would show their trust in him by clasping him about his knees or by nestling in his arms. While he was in Savannah, large groups of children made a playground of the general's headquarters and private room, the doors of which were never closed to them.
While General Sherman, in Georgia, was pushing his army "On to Atlanta" and "On to the Sea," Grant was trying to defeat Lee and capture Richmond. With these aims in view, Grant crossed the Rapidan River and entered the wilderness in direct line for Richmond. Here fighting was stern business. The woods were so gloomy and the underbrush was so thick that the men could not see one another twenty feet away.
Lee's army furiously contested every foot of the advance. In the terrible battles that followed Grant lost heavily, but he pressed doggedly on, writing to President Lincoln his stubborn resolve: "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."
It did take all summer and longer. Moreover, Grant found that he could not possibly capture Richmond from the north. So he crossed the James River and attacked the city from the south. Yet when autumn ended Lee was still holding out, and Grant's army settled down for the winter.
PHILIP H. SHERIDAN
At this time one of Grant's most skilful generals and ablest helpers was Philip H. Sheridan, who was a brilliant cavalry leader. As a boy he had a strong liking for books, and especially those which told of war and the lives of daring men. When he read of their brave deeds perhaps he dreamed of the days when he might be a great soldier.
At the time when he came into most prominent notice—in the summer and autumn of 1864—he was only thirty-three years old. He was short, and as he weighed but one hundred and fifteen pounds, he was not at all impressive in appearance, except in the heat of battle, when his personality was commanding and inspiring.
No matter how trying the situation might be, he never lost self-control and was always kind and friendly toward those working with him. But perhaps his finest quality was a stern devotion to duty. He said, in effect: "In all the various positions I have held, my sole aim has ever been to be the best officer I could and let the future take care of itself." Such a man, whether civilian or soldier, is a true patriot.
It was early in August, 1864, that General Grant placed Sheridan in command of the Union army in the Shenandoah valley, with orders to drive the enemy out and destroy their food supplies.
Sheridan entered the valley from the north, destroyed large quantities of supplies, and after some fighting went into camp on the north side of Cedar Creek, in October. A few days later he was called to Washington. Returning on the eighteenth, he stayed overnight at Winchester, about fourteen miles from Cedar Creek.
About six o'clock the next morning, a picket on duty reported to him before he was up that cannon were being fired in the direction of Cedar Creek. At first Sheridan paid little attention. Then he began to be disturbed. He writes: "I tried to go to sleep again, but grew so restless that I could not and soon got up and dressed myself." Eating a hurried breakfast, he mounted his splendid coal-black steed, Rienzi, and started for the battle-field of Cedar Creek, where his army was. This was the ride that afterward became famous as "Sheridan's Ride."
As he rode forward he could hear the booming of cannon. Then he saw a part of his army in full retreat, and fugitives told him that a battle had been fought against General Early's Confederates and everything lost.
With two aides and twenty men the gallant Sheridan dashed forward to the front as fast as his foaming steed could carry him. On meeting a retreating officer who said, "The army is whipped," Sheridan replied: "You are, but the army isn't."
As he pushed ahead he said to his soldiers: "If I had been with you this morning this disaster would not have happened. We must face the other way. We must go back and recover our camp."
As soon as his troops caught sight of "Little Phil," as they liked to call him, they threw their hats into the air and, with enthusiastic cheers, shouldered their muskets and faced about. Sheridan brought order out of confusion and in the battle that followed drove Early's army from the field in utter rout.
Great was the rejoicing in the North over this victory, and Sheridan himself was raised to the rank of major-general.
This victory was largely due to Sheridan's magnetic influence over his men. The following incident illustrates this remarkable power of "Little Phil": At the battle of Five Forks, which took place near Richmond the next spring (1865), a wounded soldier in the line of battle near Sheridan stumbled and was falling behind his regiment. But when Sheridan cried out, "Never mind, my man; there's no harm done!" the soldier, although with a bullet in his brain, went forward with his fighting comrades till he fell dead.
TWO GREAT GENERALS
Let us now return to Grant. After remaining near Petersburg all winter, in the spring of 1865 he pressed so hard upon the Confederate army that Lee had to leave Richmond and move rapidly westward in order to escape capture. For a week Grant closely followed Lee's troops, who were almost starving; all they had to eat was parched corn and green shoots of trees, and the outlook was so dark that many had deserted and started for home.
There was but one thing left for Lee to do. That was to give up the struggle, for he knew the Southern cause was hopeless. An interview, therefore, was arranged with Grant. It was held on Sunday morning, April 9, in a house standing in the little village of Appomattox Court House.
Grant writes in his "Personal Memoirs": "I was without a sword, as I usually was when on horse-back on the field, and wore a soldier's blouse for a coat, with the shoulder-straps of my rank to indicate to the army who I was.... General Lee was dressed in a full uniform, which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value—very likely the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia.... In my rough travelling suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet tall, and of faultless form."
The result of the interview was the surrender of General Lee and his army. When this took place General Grant showed clearly his great kindness of heart and his delicate feeling. He issued orders that all the Confederates who owned horses and mules should be allowed to take them home. "They will need them for the spring ploughing," he said. He also had abundant food at once sent to the hungry Confederate soldiers. Never did General Grant appear more truly great than on the occasion of Lee's surrender.
He was indeed a remarkable man in many ways. While in the army he seemed to have wonderful powers of endurance. He said of himself: "Whether I slept on the ground or in a tent, whether I slept one hour or ten in the twenty-four, whether I had one meal or three, or none, made no difference. I would lie down and sleep in the rain without caring." This, as you remember, he did at Pittsburg Landing.
Yet his appearance did not indicate robust health. He was only five feet eight inches tall, round-shouldered, and not at all military in bearing or walk. But his brown hair, blue eyes, and musical voice gave a pleasing impression. He was of a sunny disposition and of singularly pure mind. Never in his life was he known to speak an unclean word or tell an objectionable story. In manner he was quiet and simple, and yet he was always ready for the severest ordeal he might have to face.
While the two great commanders, Grant and Lee, were much unlike in personal appearance, they had certain qualities in common, for they were both simple-hearted and frank and men of deep and tender feelings.
April 9 was a sad day for General Lee. As he stepped out of the door of the house where the terms of surrender had been agreed upon and stood in silence, waiting for his horse to be brought to him, he clasped his hands together as if in deep pain and looked far away into the distance. Then, mounting his steed, he rode back to the Confederate camp, where his officers and men awaited his coming.
On his approach they crowded about their beloved chief in their eagerness to touch him, or even his horse. Looking upon his veteran soldiers for the last time, Lee said, with saddened voice: "We have fought through the war together; I have done the best I could for you. My heart is too full to say more." Then he silently rode off to his tent.
These simple, heartfelt words to his "children," as he called his soldiers, were like the man who spoke them. For during the entire war he was always simple in his habits. Rarely did he leave his tent to sleep in a house, and often his diet consisted of salted cabbage only. He thought it a luxury to have sweet potatoes and buttermilk.
The gentleness and kindness of General Lee was seen also in his fondness for animals. When the war was over his iron-gray horse, Traveller, which had been his faithful companion throughout the struggle, was very dear to him. Often, when entering the gate on returning to his house, he would turn aside to stroke the noble creature, and often the two wandered forth into the mountains, companions to the last.
Within a year after the close of the war General Lee was elected President of Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia—now called Washington and Lee University. There he remained until his death, in 1870. His countrymen, in all sections of the Union, think of him as a distinguished general and a high-minded gentleman.
Three years after the close of the war (1868) General Grant was elected President of the United States and served two terms. Upon retiring from the presidency, he made a tour around the world, a more unusual thing in those days than now. He was everywhere received, by rulers and people alike, with marked honor and distinction.
His last days were full of suffering from an illness which proved a worse enemy than ever he had found on the field of battle. After nine months of brave struggle, he died on July 23, 1885. Undoubtedly he was one of the ablest generals of history.
The war, in which these two distinguished commanders had led opposing sides, had cost the nation not only thousands of men, the vast majority in the prime of their young manhood, but millions of dollars. But it had two striking results: it preserved the Union, for it was now clear that no State could secede at will; and it put an end to slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation had set free only those slaves in the States and parts of States which were under the control of Union armies; but after the war the Thirteenth Amendment set free all the slaves in all the States in the Union for all time. These were the benefits purchased by the terrible sacrifice of life.
If we count those who were slain on the field of battle and those who died from wounds, disease, and suffering in wretched prisons, the loss of men was equal to seven hundred a day during the four long years of the war.
When it was over, a wave of intense relief swept over the country. In many homes were glad reunions; in others, saddened memories. But at least a united nation was cause for a new hope, and a patriotism which in time was to bind all sections into closer union.
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. Tell what you can about Lincoln's early life. What kind of boy was he?
2. What was the Emancipation Proclamation? Why did not Lincoln set the slaves free when he became President? What do you admire about him?
3. Why did Lee go with Virginia when this State seceded?
4. Tell as much as you can about Lee, Jackson, Stuart, Sherman, and Sheridan.
5. What kind of boy was Grant? What kind of man? What do you admire about him?
6. What were some of the important results of the Civil War?
7. When did this war begin, and when did it end?
8. Are you locating every event upon the map?
CHAPTER XVII
FOUR GREAT INDUSTRIES
COTTON
Thus far we have been considering mainly the men engaged in exploration, in invention, or in the great national struggles through which our country has passed. But while only a small fraction of the people, as a rule, take an active and prominent part in the stirring events of history, many more work hard and faithfully to furnish all with food, clothing, and other things needful in every-day living. What these many laborers accomplish in the fields of industry, therefore, has a most important bearing upon the life and work of men, leaders and followers alike, in other fields of action. With this thought in mind, let us take a brief glance at a few of our great industries.
First, go with me in thought to the South, where the cotton, from which we make much of our clothing, is raised. Owing to the favorable climate of the Southern States, it being warm and moist, the United States produces more cotton and cotton of a better quality than any other country in the world.
No crop, it is said, is so beautiful as growing cotton. The plants are low, with dark-green leaves, the flowers, which are yellow at first, changing by degrees to white, and then to deep pink. The cotton-fields look like great flower-gardens.
As the blossoms die they are replaced by the young bolls, or pods, which contain the seeds. From the seeds grow long vegetable hairs, which form white locks in the pods. These fibres are the cotton. When the pods become ripe and open, the cotton bursts out and covers them with a puff of soft, white down.
The height of the picking season is in October. As no satisfactory machine for picking cotton has been invented, it is usually done by hand, and negroes for the most part are employed. Lines of pickers pass between the rows, gathering the down and crowding it into wide-mouthed sacks hanging from their shoulders or waists. At the ends of the rows are great baskets, into which the sacks are emptied, and then the cotton is loaded into wagons which carry it to the gin-house.
If damp, the cotton is dried in the sun. The saw-teeth of the cotton-gin, as we have seen, separate the cotton fibre from the seeds. Then the cotton is pressed down by machine presses and packed into bales, each usually containing five hundred pounds, after which it is sent to the factory.
Various processes are employed to free the cotton from dirt and to loosen the lumps. When it is cleaned, it is rolled out into thin sheets and taken to the carding-machine. This, with other machines, prepares the cotton to be spun into yarn, which is wound off on large reels. The yarn is then ready to be either twisted into thread or woven into cloth on the great looms.
The United States produces an average of eleven million bales of cotton every year, and this is nearly sixty-seven per cent of the production of the whole world. Cotton is now the second crop in the United States, the first being Indian corn.
WHEAT
Another great industry is the growing of wheat, which is the foundation of much of our food. Wheat is a very important grain and is extensively cultivated.
There are a great many varieties, the two main kinds found in the United States being the large-kernel winter wheat, grown in the East, and the hard spring wheat, the best for flour-making, which is grown in the West.
Minnesota is the largest wheat-producing State, and I will ask you to go in thought with me to that Middle-West region. The farms there are very level, and also highly productive. The big "bonanza" farms, as they are called, range in size from two thousand to ten thousand acres. Some of these are so large that even on level ground one cannot look entirely across them—so large, indeed, that laborers working at opposite ends do not see one another for months at a time.
During the planting and harvesting seasons temporary laborers come from all over the country. They are well housed and well fed. The farms are divided into sections, and each section has its own lodging-house, dining-hall, barns, and so on. Even then, dinner is carried to the workers in the field, because they are often a mile or two from the dining-hall. The height of the harvest season is at the end of July.
In the autumn, after the wheat has been harvested, the straw is burned and the land is ploughed. In the following April when the soil is dry enough to harrow, the seeds, after being carefully selected and thoroughly cleaned, are planted. For the harvesting a great deal of new machinery is purchased every year. One of these huge machines can cut and stack in one day the grain from a hundred acres of land. Then the grain is threshed at once in the field, before the rain can do it harm.
Through the spout of the thresher the grain falls into the box wagon, which carries it to the grain-elevator, or building for storing grain. Here it remains until it is loaded automatically into the cars, which take it to the great elevator centres. The wheat is not touched by hands from the time it passes into the thresher until it reaches private kitchens in the form of flour.
The great elevator centres are Duluth, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Buffalo. Some elevators in these centres can store as much as a million or more bushels each. They are built of steel and equipped with steam-power or electricity. The wheat is taken from grain-laden vessels or cars, carried up into the elevator, and deposited in various bins, according to its grade. On the opposite side of the elevator the wheat is reloaded into cars or canal-boats.
In 1914 the United States produced nine hundred and thirty million bushels, or between one-fourth and one-fifth of all the wheat produced in the world.
CATTLE-RAISING
The third great industry is that of cattle-raising. To find the ranches we will go a little farther west, perhaps to Kansas. A wide belt stretching westward from the one-hundredth meridian to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains is arid land. It includes parts of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Although the rainfall here is mostly too light to grow corn and wheat without irrigation, these dry plains have sufficient growth to support great herds of sheep and cattle, and supply us with a large part of our beef. Cattle by the hundred thousand feed on these vast unfenced regions.
On the great ranches of this belt, which, we are told, are fast disappearing, there are two important round-ups of the cattle every year. Between times they roam free over vast areas of land. In the spring they are driven slowly toward a central point. Then the calves are branded, or marked by a hot iron, with the owner's special brand. These brands are registered and are recognized by law. This is done in order that each owner may be certain of his own cattle. In July or August the cattle are rounded up again, and this time the mature and fatted animals are selected that they may be driven to the shipping-station on the railroad and loaded on the cars.
The journey to the stock-yards often requires from four to seven days. Once in about thirty hours the cattle are released from the cars in order to be fed and watered. Then the journey begins again.
At the stock-yards the cattle are unloaded and driven into pens. From there the fat steers and cows are sent directly to market. The lean ones go to farmers in the Middle West who make a specialty of fattening them for market, doing it in a few weeks.
In the year 1910 there were ninety-six million six hundred and fifty-eight thousand cattle in the United States. This means that there was one for every human being in the whole country. But the number of beef-cattle is decreasing, as the larger ranches where they graze are disappearing, as we have said, and are being divided into small farms.
COAL
By means of these three industries—cotton, wheat, and cattle—we are provided with food and clothing. But besides these necessaries, we must have fuel. We need it both for heat in our households and for running most of our engines in factories and on trains. Our chief fuel is coal.
To see coal-mining, western Pennsylvania is a good place for us to visit. Were you to go into a mine there you might easily imagine yourself in a different world. In descending the shaft you suddenly become aware that you are cut off from beautiful sunlight and fresh air. You find that to supply these every-day benefits, which you have come to accept as commonplace, there are ventilating machines working to bring down the fresh air from above, and portable lamps, which will not cause explosion, to supply light, and that, where there is water, provision has been made for drainage.
The walls of the mine, also, have to be strongly supported, in order that they may not fall and crush the workers or fill up the shaft. In deep-shaft mines, coal is carried to the surface by cages hoisted through the shaft. It is sorted and cleaned above ground.
One of the largest uses of coal is found in the factories where numerous articles of iron and steel are made. The world of industry depends so much upon iron that it is called the metal of civilization.
The iron and coal industries are closely related, for coal is used to make iron into steel. If you stay in Pennsylvania you may catch a glimpse of the process by which iron is made usable.
As it comes from the mine it is not pure, but is mixed with ore from which it must be separated. In the regions of iron-mines you will see towering aloft here and there huge chimneys, or blast-furnaces, at times sending forth great clouds of black smoke and at times lighting the sky with the lurid glow of flames. In these big blast-furnaces, the iron ore and coal are piled in layers. Then a very hot fire is made, so hot that the iron melts and runs down into moulds of sand, where it is collected. This process is called smelting.
The iron thus obtained, though pure, is not hard enough for most purposes. It must be made into steel. Steel, you understand, is iron which has again been melted and combined with a small amount of carbon to harden it.
At first this was an expensive process, but during the last century ways of making steel were discovered which greatly lowered its cost. As a result, steel took the place of iron in many ways, the most important being in the manufacture of rails for our railroad systems. Since steel rails are stronger than iron, they make it possible to use larger locomotives and heavier trains, and permit a much higher rate of speed and more bulky traffic. All this means, as you can easily see, cheaper and more rapid transportation, which is so important in all our industrial life.
Steel has an extensive use, also, in the structure of bridges, of large buildings, of steamships and war vessels, as well as in the making of heating equipment, tools, household utensils, and hundreds of other articles which we are constantly using in our daily life. If you should write down all the uses for this metal which you can think of, you would be surprised at the length of your list.
These four great industries give us a little idea of how men make use of the products of the farm, the mine, and the factory in supplying human needs. Each fulfils its place, and we are dependent upon all. That means that we are all dependent upon one another. There would be little in life for any one if he were to do without all that others have done for him.
There is something which each member of a community can do to make life better for others. If he does this willingly and well, he co-operates with his fellow men and assists in the great upbuilding of the nation. And the amount of service the man or woman, boy or girl can render those about him is the measure of his worth to his neighborhood, his State, or his country.
It is good for us to ask ourselves this question: How can I be helpful in the community where I live, which has done so much for me? If we try to give faithful service, working cheerfully with others, we are truly patriotic. Are you a patriot?
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. What are the four great industries taken up in this chapter? Can you tell in what ways each of these is of special value to us?
2. Use your map in locating the cotton region; the wheat-growing region; the cattle-raising region.
3. In what ways are coal, iron, and steel especially useful?
4. How are we all dependent upon one another? How may we be truly patriotic?
THE END
INDEX
Adams, John Adams, Samuel Alamo Anna, Santa Antietam, battle of Appomattox Court House, Lee's surrender at Atlanta, capture of
Backwoodsmen, life among Barlow, Joel Bon Homme Richard (bo-nom'-re-shar') Boone, Daniel Boone, Squire "Boston Tea Party" Brandywine Creek Bull Run, battle of Bunker Hill, battle of Burgoyne (ber-goin'), General, his invasion
Cabinet, the President's Calhoun, John C. Camden, battle of Carson, Kit Cattle-raising Cedar Creek, battle of Cherokee Indians Civil War Clark, George Rogers Clark, William Clay, Henry Clermont Clinton, DeWitt Coal Colonies become States Compromise, Missouri Compromise of 1850 Concord, battle of Confederate States of America, organization of Congress, Continental, first meeting of second meeting of Congress, United States Continental Army Cornwallis, General Cotton Cotton-gin, invention of Cowpens, battle of Creek Indians Custis, Mrs. Martha
Davis, Jefferson Dawes, William Declaration of Independence Donelson, Fort Dorchester Heights Douglas, Stephen A.
Early, General, at Cedar Creek Emancipation Proclamation Erie Canal
Ferguson, Major Fitch, John Flatboat Florida, purchase of France aids the Americans Franklin, Benjamin Fremont, John C. French villages, old, life in Fulton, Robert
Gage, General Gates, General George III Gettysburg, battle of Gold, discovery of, in California Grant, Ulysses Greene, Nathanael Guilford Court House, battle of
Hale, Nathan Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton, Colonel Hancock, John Hayne, Senator Henderson, Richard Henry, Fort Henry, Patrick Hessians Houston, Sam Howe, General Hutchinson, Governor
Independence of the United States Iron
Jackson, Andrew Jackson, Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jay, John Jefferson, Thomas Johnston, Albert Sydney Johnston, Joseph E. Jones, John Paul
Kaskaskia (Kas-kas'-ki-a) Kentucky King's Mountain, battle of Knox, Henry
La Fayette (Lae fā-yet) Lee, Robert E. Lewis and Clark's Expedition Lewis, Meriwether Lexington, battle of Lincoln, Abraham; and slavery; and the Emancipation Proclamation; assassinated Lincoln, General Livingston, Chancellor Livingston, Robert R. Long Island, battle of Louisiana Purchase
McClellan, General Mandan Indians Marion, Francis Meade, General Mexican Cession Mexican War Minutemen Missouri Compromise Mohawk Valley Monroe, James Morgan, Daniel Morse, Samuel F.B.
Napoleon I National Road Negroes New Orleans in 1803 Nullification
Old North Church Old South Church
Pack-horse Partisan warfare in the South Pitcairn, Major Pitt, William Pittsburg Landing, battle of Prescott, Samuel Prescott, William Protective tariff Provincial Congress Putnam, General
Railroad Randolph, Edmund Republican Party Revere, Paul Revolution, causes of Robertson, James Rotch, Benjamin Rowe, John Rumsey, John
Scott, General Secession of South Carolina and ten more slave States Seminole Indians Serapis (se-ra-pis) Sevier, John Shelby, Isaac Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan in Sheridan, Philip H. Sherman, William Tecumseh Sherrill, Kate Shiloh, battle of Slavery Smith, Colonel Sons of Liberty South Carolina Stamp Act Steamboat Steel Stephens, Alexander H. Stuart, J.E.B. Sutter, Captain
Tariff Taxation of the Colonies Tea, tax on Telegraph Tennessee Texas Tories Treaty at close of Revolution Trenton, victory at
Valley Forge, sufferings at Vicksburg, capture of Vincennes
Warren, Joseph Washington, D.C., made the national capital Washington, George, in the Revolution as President Watauga Webster, Daniel West, Benjamin Wheat Whitney, Eli Wilderness Road
Yorktown, Cornwallis's surrender at
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