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Zane Grey - "To The Last Man"

Kenneth Grahame - "Dream Days, by Kenneth Grahame"

Richard Harding Davis - "Soldiers of Fortune"

Baruch Spinoza - "On the Improvement of the Understanding"

Hero Tales From American History

H >> Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt >> Hero Tales From American History




Efforts were made through the winter to reach Vicksburg from the
north by cutting canals, and by attempts to get in through the
bayous and tributary streams of the great river. All these
expedients failed, however, one after another, as Grant, from the
beginning, had feared that they would. He, therefore, took
another and widely different line, and determined to cross the
river from the western to the eastern bank below Vicksburg, to
the south. With the aid of the fleet, which ran the batteries
successfully, he moved his army down the west bank until he
reached a point beyond the possibility of attack, while a
diversion by Sherman at Haines' Bluff, above Vicksburg, kept
Pemberton in his fortifications. On April 26, Grant began to move
his men over the river and landed them at Bruinsburg. "When this
was effected," he writes, "I felt a degree of relief scarcely
ever equaled since. Vicksburg was not yet taken, it is true, nor
were its defenders demoralized by any of our previous movements.
I was now in the enemy's country, with a vast river and the
stronghold of Vicksburg between me and my base of supplies, but I
was on dry ground, on the same side of the river with the enemy."

The situation was this: The enemy had about sixty thousand men at
Vicksburg, Haines' Bluff, and at Jackson, Mississippi, about
fifty miles east of Vicksburg. Grant, when he started, had about
thirty-three thousand men. It was absolutely necessary for
success that Grant, with inferior numbers, should succeed in.
destroying the smaller forces to the eastward, and thus prevent
their union with Pemberton and the main army at Vicksburg. His
plan, in brief; was to fight and defeat a superior enemy
separately and in detail. He lost no time in putting his plan
into action, and pressing forward quickly, met a detachment of
the enemy at Port Gibson and defeated them. Thence he marched to
Grand Gulf, on the Mississippi, which he took, and which he had
planned to make a base of supply. When he reached Grand Gulf,
however, he found that he would be obliged to wait a month, in
order to obtain the reinforcements which he expected from General
Banks at Port Hudson. He, therefore, gave up the idea of making
Grand Gulf a base, and Sherman having now joined him with his
corps, Grant struck at once into the interior. He took nothing
with him except ammunition, and his army was in the lightest
marching order. This enabled him to move with great rapidity, but
deprived him of his wagon trains, and of all munitions of war
except cartridges. Everything, however, in this campaign,
depended on quickness, and Grant's decision, as well as all his
movements, marked the genius of the great soldier, which consists
very largely in knowing just when to abandon the accepted
military axioms.

Pressing forward, Grant met the enemy, numbering between seven
and eight thousand, at Raymond, and readily defeated them. He
then marched on toward Jackson, fighting another action at
Clinton, and at Jackson he struck General Joseph Johnston, who
had arrived at that point to take command of all the rebel
forces. Johnston had with him, at the moment, about eleven
thousand men, and stood his ground. There was a sharp fight, but
Grant easily defeated the enemy, and took possession of the town.
This was an important point, for Jackson was the capital of the
State of Mississippi, and was a base of military supplies. Grant
destroyed the factories and the munitions of war which. were
gathered there, and also came into possession of the line of
railroad which ran from Jackson to Vicksburg. While he was thus
engaged, an intercepted message revealed to him the fact that
Pemberton, in accordance with Johnston's orders, had come out of
Vicksburg with twenty-five thousand men, and was moving eastward
against him. Pemberton, however, instead of holding a straight
line against Grant, turned at first to the south, with the view
of breaking the latter's line of communication. This was not a
success, for, as Grant says, with grim humor, "I had no line of
communication to break"; and, moreover, it delayed Pemberton when
delay was of value to Grant in finishing Johnston. After this
useless turn to the southward Pemberton resumed his march to the
east, as he should have done in the beginning, in accordance with
Johnston's orders; but Grant was now more than ready. He did not
wait the coming of Pemberton. Leaving Jackson as soon as he heard
of the enemy's advance from Vicksburg, he marched rapidly
westward and struck Pemberton at Champion Hills. The forces were
at this time very nearly matched, and the severest battle of the
campaign ensued, lasting four hours. Grant, however, defeated
Pemberton completely, and came very near capturing his entire
force. With a broken army, Pemberton fell back on Vicksburg.
Grant pursued without a moment's delay, and came up with the rear
guard at Big Black River. A sharp engagement followed, and the
Confederates were again defeated. Grant then crossed the Big
Black and the next day was before Vicksburg, with his enemy
inside the works.

When Grant crossed the Mississippi at Bruinsburg and struck into
the interior, he, of course, passed out of communication with
Washington, and he did not hear from there again until May 11,
when, just as his troops were engaging in the battle of Black
River Bridge, an officer appeared from Port Hudson with an order
from General Halleck to return to Grand Gulf and thence cooperate
with Banks against Port Hudson. Grant replied that the order came
too late. "The bearer of the despatch insisted that I ought to
obey the order, and was giving arguments to support the position,
when I heard a great cheering to the right of our line, and
looking in that direction, saw Lawler, in his shirt-sleeves,
leading a charge on the enemy. I immediately mounted my horse and
rode in the direction of the charge, and saw no more of the
officer who had delivered the message; I think not even to this
day." When Grant reached Vicksburg, there was no further talk of
recalling him to Grand Gulf or Port Hudson. The authorities at
Washington then saw plainly enough what had been done in the
interior of Mississippi, far from the reach of telegraphs or
mail.

As soon as the National troops reached Vicksburg an assault was
attempted, but the place was too strong, and the attack was
repulsed, with heavy loss. Grant then settled down to a siege,
and Lincoln and Halleck now sent him ample reinforcements. He no
longer needed to ask for them. His campaign had explained itself,
and in a short time he had seventy thousand men under his
command. His lines were soon made so strong that it was
impossible for the defenders of Vicksburg to break through them,
and although Johnston had gathered troops again to the eastward,
an assault from that quarter on the National army, now so largely
reinforced, was practically out of the question. Tighter and
tighter Grant drew his lines about the city, where, every day,
the suffering became more intense. It is not necessary to give
the details of the siege. On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered,
the Mississippi was in control of the National forces from its
source to its mouth, and the Confederacy was rent in twain. On
the same day Lee was beaten at Gettysburg, and these two great
victories really crushed the Rebellion, although much hard
fighting remained to be done before the end was reached.

Grant's campaign against Vicksburg deserves to be compared with
that of Napoleon which resulted in the fall of Ulm. It was the
most brilliant single campaign of the war. With an inferior
force, and abandoning his lines of communication, moving with a
marvelous rapidity through a difficult country, Grant struck the
superior forces of the enemy on the line from Jackson to
Vicksburg. He crushed Johnston before Pemberton could get to him,
and he flung Pemberton back into Vicksburg before Johnston could
rally from the defeat which had been inflicted. With an inferior
force, Grant was superior at every point of contest, and he won
every fight. Measured by the skill displayed and the result
achieved, there is no campaign in our history which better
deserves study and admiration.



ROBERT GOULD SHAW

Brave, good, and true,
I see him stand before me now,
And read again on that young brow,
Where every hope was new,
HOW SWEET WERE LIFE! Yet, by the mouth firm-set,
And look made up for Duty's utmost debt,
I could divine he knew
That death within the sulphurous hostile lines,
In the mere wreck of nobly-pitched designs,
Plucks hearts-ease, and not rue.

Right in the van,
On the red ramparts slippery swell,
With heart that beat a charge, he fell,
Foeward, as fits a man;
But the high soul burns on to light men's feet
Where death for noble ends makes dying sweet;
His life her crescent's span
Orbs full with share in their undarkening days
Who ever climbed the battailous steeps of praise
Since valor's praise began.

We bide our chance,
Unhappy, and make terms with Fate
A little more to let us wait;
He leads for aye the advance,
Hope's forlorn-hopes that plant the desperate good
For nobler Earths and days of manlier mood;
Our wall of circumstance
Cleared at a bound, he flashes o'er the fight,
A saintly shape of fame, to cheer the right
And steel each wavering glance.

I write of one,
While with dim eyes I think of three;
Who weeps not others fair and brave as he?
Ah, when the fight is won,
Dear Land, whom triflers now make bold to scorn
(Thee from whose forehead Earth awaits her morn),
How nobler shall the sun
Flame in thy sky, how braver breathe thy air,
That thou bred'st children who for thee could dare
And die as thine have done.
--Lowell.


ROBERT GOULD SHAW

Robert Gould Shaw was born in Boston on October 10, 1837, the son
of Francis and Sarah Sturgis Shaw. When he was about nine years
old, his parents moved to Staten Island, and he was educated
there, and at school in the neighborhood of New York, until he
went to Europein 1853, where he remained traveling and studying
for the next three years. He entered Harvard College in 1856, and
left at the end of his third year, in order to accept an
advantageous business offer in New York.

Even as a boy he took much interest in politics, and especially
in the question of slavery. He voted for Lincoln in 1860, and at
that time enlisted as a private in the New York 7th Regiment,
feeling that there was likelihood of trouble, and that there
would be a demand for soldiers to defend the country. His
foresight was justified only too soon, and on April 19, 1861, he
marched with his regiment to Washington. The call for the 7th
Regiment was only for thirty days, and at the expiration of that
service he applied for and obtained a commission as second
lieutenant in the 2d Massachusetts, and left with that regiment
for Virginia in July, 1861. He threw himself eagerly into his new
duties, and soon gained a good position in the regiment. At Cedar
Mountain he was an aid on General Gordon's staff, and was greatly
exposed in the performance of his duties during the action. He
was also with his regiment at Antietam, and was in the midst of
the heavy fighting of that great battle.

Early in 1863, the Government determined to form negro regiments,
and Governor Andrew offered Shaw, who had now risen to the rank
of captain, the colonelcy of one to be raised in Massachusetts,
the first black regiment recruited under State authority. It was
a great compliment to receive this offer, but Shaw hesitated as
to his capacity for such a responsible post. He first wrote a
letter declining, on the ground that he did not feel that he had
ability enough for the undertaking, and then changed his mind,
and telegraphed Governor Andrew that he would accept. It is not
easy to realize it now, but his action then in accepting this
command required high moral courage, of a kind quite different
from that which he had displayed already on the field of battle.
The prejudice against the blacks was still strong even in the
North. There was a great deal of feeling among certain classes
against enlisting black regiments at all, and the officers who
undertook to recruit and lead negroes were. exposed to much
attack and criticism. Shaw felt,however, that this very
opposition made it all the more incumbent on him to undertake the
duty. He wrote on February 8:

After I have undertaken this work, I shall feel that what I have
to do is to prove that the negro can be made a good soldier. . .
. I am inclined to think that the undertaking will not meet with
so much opposition as was at first supposed. All sensible men in
the army, of all parties, after a little thought, say that it is
the best thing that can be done, and surely those at home who are
not brave or patriotic enough to enlist should not ridicule or
throw obstacles in the way of men who are going to fight for
them. There is a great prejudice against it, but now that it has
become a government matter, that will probably wear away. At any
rate I sha'n't be frightened out of it by its unpopularity. I
feel convinced I shall never regret having taken this step, as
far as I myself am concerned; for while I was undecided, I felt
ashamed of myself as if I were cowardly.


Colonel Shaw went at once to Boston, after accepting his new
duty, and began the work of raising and drilling the 54th
Regiment. He met with great success, for he and his officers
labored heart and soul, and the regiment repaid their efforts. On
March 30, he wrote: "The mustering officer who was here to-day is
a Virginian, and has always thought it was a great joke to try to
make soldiers of 'niggers,' but he tells me now that he has never
mustered in so fine a set of men, though about twenty thousand
had passed through his hands since September." On May 28, Colonel
Shaw left Boston, and his march through the city was a triumph.
The appearance of his regiment made a profound impression, and
was one of the events of the war which those who saw it never
forgot.

The regiment was ordered to South Carolina, and when they were
off Cape Hatteras, Colonel Shaw wrote:

The more I think of the passage of the 54th through Boston, the
more wonderful it seems to me. just remember our own doubts and
fears, and other people's sneering and pitying remarks when we
began last winter, and then look at the perfect triumph of last
Thursday. We have gone quietly along, forming the first regiment,
and at last left Boston amidst greater enthusiasm than has been
seen since the first three months' troops left for the war.
Truly, I ought to be thankful for all my happiness and my success
in life so far; and if the raising of colored troops prove such a
benefit to the country and to the blacks as many people think it
will, I shall thank God a thousand times that I was led to take
my share in it.


He had, indeed, taken his share in striking one of the most fatal
blows to the barbarism of slavery which had yet been struck. The
formation of the black regiments did more for the emancipation of
the negro and the recognition of his rights, than almost anything
else. It was impossible, after that, to say that men who fought
and gave their lives for the Union and for their own freedom were
not entitled to be free. The acceptance of the command of a black
regiment by such men as Shaw and his fellow-officers was the
great act which made all this possible.

After reaching South Carolina, Colonel Shaw was with his regiment
at Port Royal and on the islands of that coast for rather more
than a month, and on July 18 he was offered the post of honor in
an assault upon Fort Wagner, which was ordered for that night. He
had proved that the negroes could be made into a good regiment,
and now the second great opportunity had come, to prove their
fighting quality. He wanted to demonstrate that his men could
fight side by side with white soldiers, and show to somebody
beside their officers what stuff they were made of. He,
therefore, accepted the dangerous duty with gladness. Late in the
day the troops were marched across Folly and Morris islands and
formed in line of battle within six hundred yards of Fort Wagner.
At half-past seven the order for the charge was given, and the
regiment advanced. When they were within a hundred yards of the
fort, the rebel fire opened with such effect that the first
battalion hesitated and wavered. Colonel Shaw sprang to the
front, and waving his sword, shouted: "Forward, 54th!" With
another cheer, the men rushed through the ditch, and gained a
parapet on the right. Colonel Shaw was one of the first to scale
the walls. As he stood erect, a noble figure, ordering his men
forward and shouting to them to press on, he was shot dead and
fell into the fort. After his fall, the assault was repulsed.

General Haywood, commanding the rebel forces, said to a Union
prisoner: "I knew Colonel Shaw before the war, and then esteemed
him. Had he been in command of white troops, I should have given
him an honorable burial. As it is, I shall bury him in the common
trench, with the negroes that fell with him." He little knew that
he was giving the dead soldier the most honorable burial that man
could have devised, for the savage words told unmistakably that
Robert Shaw's work had not been in vain. The order to bury him
with his "niggers," which ran through the North and remained
fixed in our history, showed, in a flash of light, the hideous
barbarism of a system which made such things and such feelings
possible. It also showed that slavery was wounded to the death,
and that the brutal phrase was the angry snarl of a dying tiger.
Such words rank with the action of Charles Stuart, when he had
the bones of Oliver Cromwell and Robert Blake torn from their
graves and flung on dunghills or fixed on Temple Bar.

Robert Shaw fell in battle at the head of his men, giving his
life to his country, as did many another gallant man during those
four years of conflict. But he did something more than this. He
faced prejudice and hostility in the North, and confronted the
blind and savage rage of the South, in order to demonstrate to
the world that the human beings who were held in bondage could
vindicate their right to freedom by fighting and dying for it. He
helped mightily in the great task of destroying human slavery,
and in uplifting an oppressed and down-trodden race. He brought
to this work the qualities which were particularly essential for
his success. He had all that birth and wealth, breeding,
education, and tradition could give. He offered up, in full
measure, all those things which make life most worth living. He
was handsome and beloved. He had a serene and beautiful nature,
and was at once brave and simple. Above all things, he was fitted
for the task which he performed and for the sacrifice which he
made. The call of the country and of the time came to him, and he
was ready. He has been singled out for remembrance from among
many others of equal sacrifice, and a monument is rising to his
memory in Boston, because it was his peculiar fortune to live and
die for a great principle of humanity, and to stand forth as an
ideal and beautiful figure in a struggle where the onward march
of civilization was at stake. He lived in those few and crowded
years a heroic life, and he met a heroic death. When he fell,
sword in hand, on the parapet of Wagner, leading his black troops
in a desperate assault, we can only say of him as Bunyan said of
"Valiant for Truth": "And then he passed over, and all the
trumpets sounded for him on the other side."



CHARLES RUSSELL LOWELL

Wut's wurds to them whose faith an' truth
On war's red techstone rang true metal,
Who ventered life an' love an, youth
For the gret prize o' death in battle?

To him who, deadly hurt, agen
Flashed on afore the charge's thunder,
Tippin' with fire the bolt of men
Thet rived the rebel line asunder?
--Lowell.


CHARLES RUSSELL LOWELL

Charles Russell Lowell was born in Boston, January 2, 1835. He
was the eldest son of Charles Russell and Anna Cabot (Jackson)
Lowell, and the nephew of James Russell Lowell. He bore the name,
distinguished in many branches, of a family which was of the best
New England stock. Educated in the Boston public schools, he
entered Harvard College in 1850. Although one of the youngest
members of his class, he went rapidly to the front, and graduated
not only the first scholar of his year, but the foremost man of
his class. He was, however, much more than a fine scholar, for
even then he showed unusual intellectual qualities. He read
widely and loved letters. He was a student of philosophy and
religion, a thinker, and, best of all, a man of ideals--"the
glory of youth," as he called them in his valedictory oration.
But he was something still better and finer than a mere idealist;
he was a man of action, eager to put his ideals into practice and
bring them to the test of daily life. With his mind full of plans
for raising the condition of workingmen while he made his own
career, he entered the iron mills of the Ames Company, at
Chicopee. Here he remained as a workingman for six months, and
then received an important post in the Trenton Iron Works of New
Jersey. There his health broke down. Consumption threatened him,
and all his bright hopes and ambitions were overcast and checked.
He was obliged to leave his business and go to Europe, where he
traveled for two years, fighting the dread disease that was upon
him. In 1858 he returned, and took a position on a Western
railroad. Although the work was new to him, he manifested the
same capacity that he had always shown, and more especially his
power over other men and his ability in organization. In two
years his health was reestablished, and in 1860 he took charge of
the Mount Savage Iron Works, at Cumberland, Maryland. He was
there when news came of the attack made by the mob upon the 6th
Massachusetts Regiment, in Baltimore. Two days later he had made
his way to Washington, one of the first comers from the North,
and at once applied for a commission in the regular army. While
he was waiting, he employed himself in looking after the
Massachusetts troops, and also, it is understood, as a scout for
the Government, dangerous work which suited his bold and
adventurous nature.

In May he received his commission as captain in the United States
cavalry. Employed at first in recruiting and then in drill, he
gave himself up to the study of tactics and the science of war.
The career above all others to which he was suited had come to
him. The field, at last, lay open before him, where all his great
qualities of mind and hearthis high courage, his power of
leadership and of organization, and his intellectual powers could
find full play. He moved rapidly forward, just as he had already
done in college and in business. His regiment, in 1862, was under
Stoneman in the Peninsula, and was engaged in many actions, where
Lowell's cool bravery made him constantly conspicuous. At the
close of the campaign he was brevetted major, for distinguished
services at Williamsburg and Slatersville.

In July, Lowell was detailed for duty as an aid to General
McClellan. At Malvern Hill and South Mountain his gallantry and
efficiency were strongly shown, but it was at Antietam that he
distinguished himself most. Sent with orders to General
Sedgwick's division, he found it retreating in confusion, under a
hot fire. He did not stop to think of orders, but rode rapidly
from point to point of the line, rallying company after company
by the mere force and power of his word and look, checking the
rout, while the storm of bullets swept all round him. His horse
was shot under him, a ball passed through his coat, another broke
his sword-hilt, but he came off unscathed, and his service was
recognized by his being sent to Washington with the captured
flags of the enemy.

The following winter he was ordered to Boston, to recruit a
regiment of cavalry, of which he was appointed colonel. While the
recruiting was going on, a serious mutiny broke out, but the man
who, like Cromwell's soldiers, "rejoiced greatly" in the day of
battle was entirely capable of meeting this different trial. He
shot the ringleader dead, and by the force of his own strong will
quelled the outbreak completely and at once.

In May, he went to Virginia with his regiment, where he was
engaged in resisting and following Mosby, and the following
summer he was opposed to General Early in the neighborhood of
Washington. On July 14, when on a reconnoissance his advance
guard was surprised, and he met them retreating in wild
confusion, with the enemy at their heels. Riding into the midst
of the fugitives, Lowell shouted, "Dismount!" The sharp word of
command, the presence of the man himself, and the magic of
discipline prevailed. The men sprang down, drew up in line,
received the enemy, with a heavy fire, and as the assailants
wavered, Lowell advanced at once, and saved the day.

In July, he was put in command of the "Provisional Brigade," and
joined the army of the Shenandoah, of which in August General
Sheridan took command. He was so struck with Lowell's work during
the next month that in September he put him in command of the
"Reserved Brigade," a very fine body of cavalry and artillery. In
the fierce and continuous fighting that ensued Lowell was
everywhere conspicuous, and in thirteen weeks he had as many
horses shot under him. But he now had scope to show more than the
dashing gallantry which distinguished him always and everywhere.
His genuine military ability, which surely would have led him to
the front rank of soldiers had his life been spared, his
knowledge, vigilance, and nerve all now became apparent. One
brilliant action succeeded another, but the end was drawing near.
It came at last on the famous day of Cedar Creek, when Sheridan
rode down from Winchester and saved the battle. Lowell had
advanced early in the morning on the right, and his attack
prevented the disaster on that wing which fell upon the surprised
army. He then moved to cover the retreat, and around to the
extreme left, where he held his position near Middletown against
repeated assaults. Early in the day his last horse was shot under
him, and a little later, in a charge at one o'clock, he was
struck in the right breast by a spent ball, which embedded itself
in the muscles of the chest. Voice and strength left him. "It is
only my poor lung," he announced, as they urged him to go to the
rear; "you would not have me leave the field without having shed
blood." As a matter of fact, the "poor" lung had collapsed, and
there was an internal hemorrhage. He lay thus, under a rude
shelter, for an hour and a half, and then came the order to
advance along the whole line, the victorious advance of Sheridan
and the rallied army. Lowell was helped to his saddle. "I feel
well now," he whispered, and, giving his orders through one of
his staff, had his brigade ready first. Leading the great charge,
he dashed forward, and, just when the fight was hottest, a sudden
cry went up: "The colonel is hit!" He fell from the saddle,
struck in the neck by a ball which severed the spine, and was
borne by his officers to a house in the village, where, clear in
mind and calm in spirit, he died a few hours afterward.

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