Opening Mississippi. ful. Foote, with his gunboats, in co-operation with General Pope, captured Island Number 10; and, further down the river, defeated the Confederate flotilla before Fort of the Pillow (map 5). Foote having been wounded, Commodore Davis, taking command of the fleet, attacked the Confederate boats that were protecting the city of Memphis. He was successful, and the city, in consequence, fell into his hands (June 6). Near the mouth of the river the Union movements were attended with like result. A fleet, under Captain (afterward Admiral) Farragut, entered the river from the Gulf of Mexico, bombarded forts, ran by them, encountered rams and fire rafts, and, to the utter astonishment of the Confederates, anchored before New Orleans.* On the first of May the city was occupied by Union troops commanded by General Butler. Battle of the Iron Ships. 29. Meanwhile important operations were going on at the East. Expeditions from the North were sent against forts and coast towns of the Carolinas and Georgia, and a wonderful naval battle was fought between two iron-clad ships, the Virginia and the Monitor. The former vessel was originally called the Merrimac. When the government property at Norfolk fell into the hands of the Confederates, she was a part of their gain (§ 17). They cut down her hull almost to the water's edge, covered it and her sides with a thick plating of iron, fastened an iron beak to her bow, and gave her the new name. 30. Steaming out of Norfolk, this iron-clad ram, the "The scene of confusion that ensued in New Orleans when the people awoke to the news that the enemy's fleet had passed the forts and was actually approaching the city, defies all description. They went to the various cotton-presses, rolled out thousands of bales and applied the torch. Countless cotton ships were also sunk or fired, and steamboats by the dozen were in like manner destroyed."-Pollard's Lost Cause. 29. State what is said of the iron ship Virginia ? 30. What is said of the iron ship Monitor? Of the battle between the two ships? Where is Hampton Roads (map 7) ? Virginia, attacked the Union fleet in Hampton Roads, and destroyed the Cumberland and the Congress, two of the finest ships in the navy (map 7). Night coming on, the Virginia retired, intending to continue the work of destruction in the morning. That night, however, a newly invented fighting ship, the Monitor, arrived from New York. Next day was Sunday. As the Virginia, in the early Sunday morning, steamed toward the Roads, her crew discovered the newcomer. Some said she was "a cheese-box on a plank," others that she was 66 a tin can on a shingle." On her deck of iron, which rose only a few inches above the water, was an iron tower containing two heavy guns. "Insignificant as she appeared, she was at that moment the most powerful war ship in the world." The two strange vessels met, and fought desperately. History calls it a drawn battle, but the Virginia, in a disabled condition, put back to Norfolk (March 9).* 31. The result of this combat lifted a load of anxiety from the hearts of the Northern people. They had feared that the Confederate steamer, the Virginia, would be able to enter their ports one after another, and destroy warehouses and shipping with little hindrance. The combat marks a notable change in the world's naval warfare. The day of wooden navies was over. Nations began to build war ships of iron and steel, instead of wood. 32. Under the eye of McClellan a grand army had been formed. Its first object was the capture of the Confederate capital. "On to Richmond was still the cry McClellan's from the North. The troops went by boats to Fortress Monroe, whence they marched up the peninsula, on the one side of which is the York River, on the Peninsular Campaign. *The Monitor's commander was John L. Worden. The Virginia's, Franklin Buchanan, was wounded on the 8th, and was succeeded by Catesby Jones. 31. Of what fear was the North relieved? What notable change took place? 32. How did McClellan begin his campaign in Virginia? Give an account of its first events. What change in Confederate commauders was made? opposite side is the James River (map 7). At Yorktown they met their first check (April 5). The Confederates, after suffering a month's siege, evacuated the place, but at Williamsburg were overtaken and attacked (May 5). At night they retreated. McClellan took a position on the east and west of the Chickahominy River, where he was attacked, but the Confederates, after hard fighting,-one day successful, the next defeated,-retreated toward Richmond (June 1). Their commander, General Joseph E. Johnston, being wounded, General Robert E. Lee was appointed in his place. 66 33. McClellan, while engaged in these operations, asked for more troops, but the President did not comply with the request. What was the reason? In the Shenandoah Valley a Confederate army under General T. J. Jackson was threatening Washington. This brilliant leader had performed signal service for the South at the battle of Bull Run. “Look at Jackson's brigade!" exclaimed a Confederate officer there. "It stands like a stone wall." And "Stonewall" Jackson was the name the people of the South thereafter delighted to call him. This skilful general so baffled the efforts of three Union generals, and so excited fears for the safety of the Federal capital, that no troops, it was thought, could be spared for McClellan. Jackson, having done the work required of him, joined his forces to Lee's for the defense of Richmond. A series of terrible contests, known as the Seven Days' Battles, followed. After the last, July 1st, though Lee was repulsed, McClellan's movement against Richmond was abandoned. 34. Richmond being now safe from capture, it was in Lee's power to menace Washington. A march northward and through Maryland was resolved upon. To oppose Lee 33. What is said of Jackson and his achievements? Name the three generals he baffled. Ans. Fremont, McDowell, and Banks. What is said of the Seven Days' Battles? 34. Give an account of the battles of Cedar Mountain and the Second Bull Run Where are the two places (map 7) ? |