Before the battle of Shiloh, I had been cast down by a mere newspaper assertion of 'crazy;' but that single battle had given me new life, and now I was in high feather; and I argued with him that, if he went away, events would go right along, and he would be left out; whereas, if he remained, some happy accident might restore him to favor and his true place. He certainly appreciated my friendly advice, and promised to wait awhile; at all events, not to go without seeing me again, or communicating with me.
Very soon after this, I was ordered to Chewalla, where, on the 6th of June, I received a note from him, saying that he had reconsidered his intention, and would remain. I cannot find the note, but my answer I have kept." 28
The following is Sherman's response to Grant's note of June 6th.
CHEWALLA, June 6, 1862.
Major-General GRANT.
MY DEAR SIR: I have just received your note, and am rejoiced at your conclusion to remain; for you could not be quiet at home for a week when armies were moving, and rest could not relieve your mind of the gnawing sensation that injustice had been done you. 29
It would appear from Sherman's narrative that he was taking no small credit for keeping Grant in the service. Compare this with Grant's cursory observation. "I then obtained permission to leave the department, but General Sherman happened to call on me as I was about starting and urged me so strongly not to think of going, that I concluded to remain." 30
Sherman's memoirs were published in 1875 and Grant's in 1885. Being the kind hearted person Ulysses was it is not difficult to imagine that Grant was being kind to his friend by confirming the gist of the story.
Compare their recollections of this incident to some of Grant's correspondence written during that time. On June 1, 1862, Grant wrote to Congressman Washburne about another topic, but included the following remarks. "I leave here in a day or two for Covington, Ky., on a short leave of absence. I may write you again from there if I do not visit Washington in person." 31 On June 19th, Grant wrote Washburne again. "Your note of the 8th inst. addressed to me at Covington Ky. has just reached.----At the time the one was written to which it is an answer I had leave to go home, or to Covington [here Grant added 'for a few days,' then crossed the phrase out] but Gen Halleck requested me to remain for a few days. Afterwards when I spoke of going he asked that I should remain a little longer if my business was not of pressing importance. As I really had no business, and had not asked leave on such grounds, I told him so and that if my services were required I would not go atal. This settled my leave for the present, and for the war, so long as my services are required I do not wish to leave." 32
There are a number of obvious contradictions to these accounts. From Sherman's account; Grant was going to St. Louis not Covington, Kentucky, where Julia spent a good deal of her time during the war; Sherman clearly indicated it was his conversation which kept Grant in the service, yet in his own account Sherman mentioned that Grant had received permission to take thirty days' leave. This would hardly have taken him out of the war.
In Grant's memoirs, he stated that he obtained permission to leave the department. While, he technically would be out of the department, he only obtained permission for leave. In his correspondence with Washburne, he mentioned he might visit Washington on his leave. He could have been trying to obtain a new command. In his other correspondence with the congressman, Grant clearly stated it was Halleck who talked him into staying. Remember Grant did not find out until after the war the underhanded conniving Halleck had perpetrated upon him. During the war, their relationship, while not friendly, was businesslike. Halleck could hardly rid himself of Grant by him going on leave.
Suffice it to say, no matter how the events transpired the important thing for the country was Grant stayed and as they say, the rest is history.
On June 10, 1862, Grant was restored to command of the Army of the Tennessee and after obtaining permission to move his headquarters to Memphis he did so on June 23rd. Grant's occupation of Memphis lasted from June 23rd until July 13th and proved uneventful. This was his first encounter with occupying a populated southern city and was amazed by some of the unusual requests which found their way to his desk.
While Grant was in Memphis he did have an opportunity to meet a War Department official named Charles A. Dana. Dana had been brought into the War Department by Edwin Stanton. Dana was a former newspaperman whose opinions ranked high with Stanton. He had been investigating alleged quartermaster corruption in Cairo and had come down to Memphis to meet the general during the Fourth of July celebrations. McFeely wrote about their encounter. "Dana knew Grant was 'under a cloud' because of Shiloh, but received a 'pleasant impression....of a man of simple manners, straight-forward, cordial, and unpretending.' He found the general self-possessed and eager to make war." 33 During the remainder of the war, Dana would play a significant, behind the scenes role in Grant's career.
Grant's stay in Memphis was short-lived. Recall Sherman's advise to Grant in his memoirs that if "he remained, some happy accident might restore him to favor and his true place." 34 From Grant's point of view, fate intervened on July 11, 1862. On that date, Halleck received telegraphic orders appointing him General-in-Chief of all the United States Armies. He was to have his headquarters in Washington.
Grant was telegraphed the same day to report to department headquarters in Corinth. At last, Grant was to have a truly independent command.
CHAPTER SIX
"I was put entirely on the defensive"
July 17, 1862 - October 25, 1862
Freed at Last
Shortly after the capture of Corinth, the military situation changed. Jefferson Davis was furious that Beauregard failed to put up a fight for Corinth, even though Beauregard was outnumbered roughly 120,000 to 50,000. Consequently, Davis relieved Beauregard and replaced him with Braxton Bragg.
The Federals had control of the Mississippi as far south as Vicksburg and from New Orleans north to Port Hudson. This left the Confederacy with only one east-west railroad connecting the southern states west of the Mississippi River with the remainder of the Confederacy.
In early June, Halleck was forced to send off Buell’s army after being directed to have Buell make a move against Chattanooga. This move commenced around June 10th. The reader will recall Lincoln's obsession with the pro-unionists of east Tennessee. Buell's movement was an attempt to free the loyal people of that region.
Back east events had not gone well for the Nationals in their battle for control of the Shenandoah Valley. In their efforts to confront Stonewall Jackson, the War Department created the Army of Virginia and named General John Pope its commander. So, in addition to sending off Buell’s army, Halleck was directed to send General Pope back east. Halleck was also ordered to send reinforcements to General Curtis in Arkansas. Many of the remaining troops were dispersed to guard the important railroad supply lines.
On July 11, 1862, Halleck was summoned to Washington to become General-in-Chief. It is easy to look back and see this dispersion was a tragic mistake, but Lincoln had no way of knowing. After all, his eastern army had suffered ignominious defeat, while the western armies, predominately in Halleck's department, had won victory after victory. It was only logical for Lincoln to assume that the supreme commander in the West had been responsible for this string of victories.
On July 11, 1862 Grant was summoned to Corinth to take command of the remaining forces. In essence, Grant was the only one remaining after the departure of Buell, Pope and Halleck.
Halleck made one last attempt to circumvent the chain of command hoping to avert naming Grant the commander of the remaining army. He offered the command to Colonel Robert Allen who had recently joined Halleck's staff as chief quartermaster. Allen declined, stating he had not the rank and felt he had too many other duties weighing heavily on his mind. So Halleck was forced to summon Grant.
Grant arrived in Corinth on July 15th and Halleck signed Special Field Orders No. 161 on July 16th. This enlarged Grant's old District
of West Tennessee to include the Districts of Cairo and Mississippi. This meant Grant controlled everything between the Mississippi and Cumberland Rivers all the way back to Cairo, Illinois. He also controlled General Pope's old army which was now commanded by General Rosecrans. Grant stated in his memoirs, Halleck was very uncommunicative leaving him with no direction whatsoever. In fact, there was no department head appointed over Grant, so he would continue to report directly to Halleck albeit in Washington.
Halleck departed for Washington on July 17th. By the end of July, Grant's force had fallen to between 60,000 and 65,000 men from a high of some 120,000 under Halleck. Halleck's magnificent army had been dispersed and with it an opportunity to crush the one remaining Confederate army in the West. Another opportunity to destroy part of the Confederacy was missed. It was the same pattern which followed the victories of Donelson and Shiloh.
By the 1st of September, Grant was forced to send two divisions to Buell and another division to Louisville, thus diminishing his force to approximately 45,000 men. With this paltry force, he would have to guard his entire region.
This was the situation facing Grant during the latter part of the summer of 1862. In his memoirs, he said, "I was put entirely on the defensive." 1
The best part of the situation he inherited was that he finally had an independent command. He may have felt he was on the defensive, but with him in charge that state of affairs would not last long.
Characteristically, Grant always made do with what he had. One of his first actions was to reconstruct the fortifications around Corinth so as to be held by a small garrison. This freed up many men to be used offensively. The fortifications Halleck had constructed were huge requiring a large army to man the defenses. Grant said they were so big that it appeared, "this one point must be held if it took the whole National army to do it." 2
The first six weeks of Grant's new command were uncharacteristically tranquil due to the reasons listed above. Grant dispatched as few forces as possible to guard important arteries necessary for the survival of his command, namely the rivers and railroads. The remaining forces were concentrated at three critical points; Jackson, Tennessee, Corinth, Mississippi and Bolivar, Tennessee.
On the Confederate side, Bragg moved his Army of the Mississippi toward Chattanooga to confront Buell. This left the enemy with approximately 30,000 men in northern Mississippi under Generals Price and Van Dorn. Bragg left orders to watch Grant and prevent him from sending reinforcements to Buell.
Little significant military activity occurred in Grant's jurisdiction during this time, but there was a marked rise in guerilla warfare. The Yankees found themselves deep inside a hostile country where every farmer could become an enemy combatant under the cloak of darkness. Up to this time, Grant and the Union armies had taken every precaution to safeguard private property, but things were about to change.
On August 2, 1862, Grant was ordered by "Washington to live upon the country, on the resources of citizens hostile to the government, so far as practicable. I was also directed to 'handle rebels within our lines without gloves,' to imprison them, or to expel them from their homes and from our lines." 3
The war was taking a harsher tone. Grant was becoming a hard war man. It became apparent that the North was going to have to completely destroy the South's means to wage war and one such means was the slave population.
During the summer of 1862, Lincoln decided to emancipate the slaves. He was not yet ready to issue his Emancipation Proclamation, but the issue only awaited a victory. The Union was moving toward making war on the South's ability to fight which meant waging war on Confederate property and the South's largest piece of property were slaves. The Union could do no small amount of damage by freeing as many slaves as possible.
In the middle of July, the United States' Congress "passed a Confiscation Act, decreeing freedom for the slaves of all persons who supported the rebellion." 4
Grant had no problem enforcing this policy. As early as November, 1861, while he was still in Cairo, he stated his views to his father. "My inclination is to whip the rebellion into submission, preserving all constitutional rights. If it cannot be whipped in any other way than through a war against slavery, let it come to that legitimately. If it is necessary that slavery should fall that the Republic may continue its existence, let slavery go." 5
Now in the light of the War Department's new order concerning the confiscation of property, and the new act of Congress, Grant again wrote to his father. "I am sure that I have but one desire in this war, and that is to put down the rebellion. I have no hobby of my own with regard to the Negro, either to effect his freedom or to continue his bondage. If Congress pass any law and the President approves, I am willing to execute it." 6 A short time later Grant continued on the subject in a letter to his sister. "The war is evidently growing oppressive to the Southern people. Their institution are beginning to have ideas of their own; every time an expedition goes out many of them follow in the wake of the army and come into camp. I am using them as teamsters, hospital attendants, company cooks and so forth, thus saving soldiers to carry the musket. I don't know what is to become of these poor people in the end, but it weakens the enemy to take them from them." 7
In essence, if the Confederates turned more and more, to guerilla warfare, the Northerners would answer in kind by enforcing a harsher policy against tangible property.
The remainder of July and August passed in relative calm. So much so that Julia and the children paid Grant a visit for a couple of weeks prior to being enrolled in school for the fall session. Grant always wanted the company of his wife and children whenever it was possible. He enjoyed frolicking with the kids, in his own manner, never saying a word.
Battle of Iuka
With the approach of autumn, the calm was about to be broken. To the east, Bragg had outmarched and outmaneuvered Buell in the race to Chattanooga. From there it was all downhill for the Union.
By early September, Bragg was marching northward threatening Kentucky and Ohio and Lee was marching north threatening Maryland. The Confederacy was on the rebound and in the Western Theater Buell was on the verge of losing all that had been gained since Donelson, Shiloh and Corinth.
By early September, Grant had sent three divisions to reinforce Buell which left him with about 46,000 men in his command. On September 12th, Grant's forces were placed as follows: "Rosecrans with 17,000 men at Corinth, Rienzi, Jacinto and Danville; Ord and 10,000 at Jackson and Bolivar; Sherman and 7,000 at Memphis; Quinby and 6,000 in reserve near Columbus, and Hurlbut and 6,000 near Brownsville." 8
On September 7th Grant learned of Van Dorn's and Price's advance, their objective apparently being Corinth. Grant recalled one of his primary concerns during this period in his memoirs. "I was much concerned because my first duty, after holding the territory acquired within my command, was to prevent further reinforcing of Bragg in Middle Tennessee." 9
Grant notified Halleck about the possibility of Van Dorn's force attempting to slip by him into Middle Tennessee and his intention to prevent this from happening. Halleck responded immediately that Grant should prevent this from occurring at all costs. On September 9th, Grant replied to Halleck as follows: "Should the enemy come, I will be as ready as possible with the means at hand. I do not believe that a force can be brought against us at present that cannot be successfully resisted." 10
On September 13th, General Sterling Price entered the town of Iuka with nearly 17,000 men. 11 Grant was also aware that Van Dorn was about four days' march south of Corinth with another large force. Grant was exceedingly short-handed, but he knew what he had to do to relieve his dilemma. He could not allow the two forces to concentrate bringing their strength to a level exceeding his own. He wrote in his memoirs, "My desire was to attack Price before Van Dorn could reach Corinth or go to his relief." 12 In other words, Grant would attack each of the enemy forces in detail hoping to defeat one force before the other could come to its relief. Grant would rely extensively on
this mode of operation during the Vicksburg campaign.
What Grant did was forward all the spare forces he could muster from Bolivar and Jackson to Corinth. General Ord was placed in command of this force of approximately 8000 men. General Rosecrans, who had been in command at Iuka, had fallen back to a position south of Corinth with about 9000 men.
Grant The Forgotten Hero Page 16
