Mitchell. "Colonel Hardee of the Twenty-third Georgia, commanding a brigade in Hoke's division," replied the messenger. General Mitchell invited the young man to take supper if he had not already done so: and, calling a staffofficer, he sent the messenger to the rear, a prisoner; for, in the confusion which had grown out of the battle, he had made the mistake of communicating his message to the wrong commander. General Mitchell quickly drew his men up in order of battle. One loud tap of the drum, and a volley was fired low; "and the next morning there was displayed in front of our works," says an eye-witness, "among the dead, a line of new Enfield rifles and knapsacks almost as straight as if laid out for a Sunday morning's inspection." Defeat would have been disastrous. Success was bravely won. This was the last and only hard-fought battle between Savannah and Goldsboro'. On the 23d of March the goal was reached, the march was done. Four hundred and twenty-five miles had been tramped in the dead of winter, and Goldsboro' was won. Schofield and Terry joined Sherman at Goldsboro', thus increasing the Union strength to nearly ninety thousand men. There was no lack of provision for such an army; for communication was established with Wilmington, Newbern, and Norfolk. Leaving Schofield in charge of affairs at Goldsboro', Sherman hastened to City Point for consultation with Grant. Mr. Lincoln was also there, full of interest in Sherman's great march, and amused by every incident connected with it. But the President often said that he would feel better if Sherman were back with his army at Goldsboro'. Sherman has thus borne testimony to the character of the kindly President: "Of all the men whom I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of greatness combined with goodness than any other." On the 20th of March, Stoneman left Knoxville, Tenn., at the head of a body of cavalry, and rode into Virginia, destroying the railroad from Tennessee almost to Lynchburg, so as to keep Lee from getting away toward the south. Stoneman then dashed into Salisbury, N.C., routing the Confederates, and capturing the town. The prisoners had already been sent away from the prison-camp, so that he had not the satisfaction of releasing them. He returned to East Tennessee, after destroying every line of railroad in his way and a large amount of rebel property. About the same time Generals Grierson and A. J. Smith, with their forces, were sent to assist General Canby in the capture of Mobile, which was commanded by General D. S. Maury. All that country was subject, however, to General Dick Taylor's orders. General Canby attacked the strongest point, the old Spanish Fort, on the 27th of March. Soon, however, it became apparent that nothing less than a siege could capture it: so both land and naval forces opened a bombardment upon it. At the same time General Steele, with a division of colored troops, battered away upon Fort Blakely, ten miles to the north. A fortnight of hard fighting passed, during which the rebels at the Spanish Fort made some desperate sallies outside of their works. On the 8th, however, the Federals assaulted and carried a part of the works, when the fort was immediately abandoned, and Canby took possession. The fleet then moved up to bombard the city, and the army turned its attention to Fort Blakely. The assault upon the latter resembled, in its determined bravery, that upon Fort McAllister; and, although strongly fortified and gallantly defended, it yielded at last. On the 11th of April, Mobile, the last seaport of the Confederacy, was captured, and with it two hundred guns and four thousand prisoners. While the siege had been going on. General James H. Wilson had moved into the interior of Alabama with a mounted army, to keep the rebels from sending supplies and re-enforcements to Mobile. He constantly encountered the enemy's cavalry; but his advance was not seriously hindered until he met Forrest, with five thousand men, near Plantersville. Here Greek met Greek. After a short but bloody battle, Forrest was defeated. Wilson pursued him to Selma, where, on the 2d of April, the rebel works were taken by assault, with three thousand prisoners. Forrest fled before the Federals; first, however, setting fire to all the cotton on which he could lay his hands. Wilson destroyed arsenals, founderies, and machine-shops at Selma, and then pushed on to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama. The State authorities surrendered without resistance; and the Union flag was raised over the State House, where the first Confederate Congress had met. Wilson then crossed the Chattahoochee, and captured Columbus, Ga., destroying its workshops and Confederate property. On the 21st of April, Macon was peaceably surrendered, with sixty fieldguns, twelve thousand Home Guards, and five generals of the State militia. |