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The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, June 07, 1905, Image 2

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WAR SI
Sieves of tili
A. C. Chase i;, Moini.l
!i v. many sieges were there in our
Civ il war- the War Uetween ( he
fs'i I'erhaps >ou cannot answer
oil hand, l ut let us pick up a history
and settle the matter. The trouble
jh the differences and discrepancies
of the historic* Me many and sur
prising.
?> t instance, Harper's Encyclope
dia of Cniled States History gives a
list of the sieges id' the war as follows:
"Fort l'ickeu.s, Fla., 1801; Corinth,
Miss., irid-: Fort I'ulaski, Ga.f 1802;
Islac i No. M. Ky., 1802; Fort Wag
ner, S. C, ISO.'!; l'ort Hudon, La.,
LS02 VioUburg, Miss., 180:j; Atlan
ta. <ia., Itfdl; Forts Gaines and Morr
gao, Mobile, Ala., 1801; Fort Fisher,
N. C, IS?l "?, Richmond, Va., 1801
and l'ort Hlakely and Spanish Fort,
Mobile, Ala., ISO."), a total of twelve.''
"Battles and Leaders of the Civil
War" ches not mention all of the
above as -ieges, but further makes
mention of the siege of Vorktown,
the siege of Lexington, the siege
of Charleston and the siege of l'cters
btirg.
No??, the dictionary defines a siego
as "the netting of an army before or
around a fortified place for the pur
pose of compelling the garrison to sur
render, or the surrounding or invest
ing of a place by an army, and ap
proaching it by passages and advan
ced works," to force it to surrender.
VLimbers' Encyclopedia tells us that
"when the assault of a fortified place
Would be too hazardous and costly,
and its reduction by blockade too
Blow, recourse is had to the regular
siege or systematic attack."
It will be seen from the above defi
nitions that a Btrcnuous effort to com
pel the surreuder of a place always
enters into tho idea of a siege, fur
ther, that the element of time as a
necessary factor is essential, and in a
true siege the isolation of the place
attacked from all channels of relief is
understood. Remembering these
points, let us cxamino the list, of so
called sieges, as given above.
Fort Pickens was certainly besieg
ed, though tentatively only. It was
invested at the very outset of the war
for the purpose of forcing the capitu
lation of the small garrison there.
But as the lack of ships made it im
possible for tho Confederacy to pre
vent the re-inforcemeat of this garri
son by way of the sea, the land forces
were soon withdrawn and tho fort left
in the enemy's possession. No seri
ous effort was ever made to bombard
it, since its possession was a moral
advantage only to either side It,
therefore, may be ruled out of its
place on tho list given.
Port Sumter, though not mentioned
above, is incorreotly placed by Borne
historians among the besieged places
of the war. True, it was in a modi
fied state of siege for a time previous
to its bombardment and capture.
However, as it was never wholly cut
off from relief, and as its power of re
sistance was overoome by an attack
lasting but 36 hours, this attack can
act be classed as a siege. .
The first movement uu Corinth was
a farce. Hearing that Beauregard
was massing the Confederate forces
there, Gen. Halleck,' all aglow with
his newly conferred honors as ranking
commander, decided on moving on
that point as soon or he could gather
sufficient troops. This was a time
when every federal general was shak
ing in hin shoes, with fear of the
countless myriads of Confederate sol
diers concealed behind every knee
high breastworks that had been thrown <
up in the South. In response to Hal- i
lOcV? clamorous demand upon the i
p-^esidrnt fer more men to enable him 1
to move omOerinth, Mr. Lincoln re- i
plied irupationbly: "I cast no blame I
when I tell you that each of our com- i
jnanders from Richmond to Corinth 1
believes "himself to be confronted by c
numbers superior to bis own." On <
the 22nd of April, having amassed a f
feiws of nearly 100,000 men, Halleck I
advanced "with the pick and shovel," c
piuarng every few days to construct t
fortifications along his way to grade J
the road, to build bridges, never for- i
getting after the conclusion of an f
elaborate piece of engineering to tele- t
graph to President Lincoln that his t
army ''was at the enemy's throat." f
It was May 29, when he arrived with- i
in eight of Corinth. On the following i
day, when he was at last ready to t
hart his army at the enemy's throat, x
he was surprised to find no enemy i
C^ere. For Beauregard, having no <
desire to see his forces wiped out by '.
aa army that'nearly trebled them in i
owtnber, had taken oounsel with "the (
better part of valor" and had with- <
drawn uuder cover of the night. The
second attack on Corinth was made <
by Van Dorn on the federals under i
^Etosccrans. During a fight of nearly ;
^<pro days the Confederates took the i
?ujfo^w?rk of the intrenchmcnt, but I
X)RIES.
e Civil "War.
ii- < 'ommcrcial-Appeal.
' were driven hack with terrible slaugh
ter before ii:<; inner line of fortifica
ti'ti- Correctly speaking, neith
er, ol tin >c attacks can be called a
: MCtfC.
I --, t I'ulaski, held 1 y the Coufed- I
crate.-*, was blockaded by guns on
Tybce Island and batteries along the |
.Savannah Hiver in the rear, in the
Utter part of February, 1Nu
at lack was made upon it, however,
until April lb, when a demand for its
surrender having been refused, 'HI
cannon ami mortars opened lire upon
it. After a gallant defense of H
hous during which the walls of the
fort were nearly battered to the
ground, it was surrendered. This
was a blockade and assault, not a
siege.
Island No. 10, a strongly fortified
islet in the bend of the Mississippi
Hiver, below Columbus, was held to I
be the key to the navigation of the 1
lower Mississippi, and therefore ltd
possession was valued by both armies.
Gen. Beaurcgaid was on the island
with about 7,001) men. March 15,
1862, Commander Foote, with a fleet
of eight gunboats aud ten mortars,
began a systematic attack on the forti
fications. The bombardment con
tinued for several weeks, with no re
sult apparently but wasted ammuni
tion. During the first week in April
Gen. Beauregurd telegraphed to Rich
mond that the federal guns had
thrown .'?,000 shells and burned 51)
tons of gunpowder without damaging
our batteries or killing more than one
of his men. It was plain that the
stronghold could not be reduced by
attack on its front solely, wherefore a
canal was dug by the federals through
the peninsula formed by the bend of
the river, thus enabling them to
bring a force against the undefended
rear of the island. This compelled its
surrender April 8. The attack on
Island No. )0 was a true siege.
The siege of Charleston?part of
which was the capture of Fort Wag
ner?rnajr bo allowed to retain the
name, though, strictly speaking, it
was mainly a reduction by blockade.
An unsuccessful attack on the i'ortifi
catious in April, ISO!}, beg&n the
work. Then in the summer came
Gen. Gillmoro who, by taking pos
session of and fortifying the southern
part of Morris Island, by planting
batteries not only on all the solid
ground within his reach, but also- on
the soft surface of the marsh ?(wit
ness the famous ''Swamp Angel")?at
last reduced the strong fortress of the
harbor. Tho famous fortress of Sum
tcr was first converted into a "shape
less, iiormless mass of rui^o," then
all the guns were turned on Fort Wag
ner, which, after several thousand
tons of scrap iron and shells had been
hurled upon it, breaking and toaring
its strong sides, was ovaouated by its
defenders the night of September G.
Taking possession of and repairing the
captured forts, Gen. Gillmore began
an irregular bombardment of Charles
ton itself, which was continued for
two months or more, then suspended.
The rigorous blockade was sustained,
but the city did not fall until the
forces of Sherman, IS months later,
came upon it from the rear.
The siege of Port Hudson, L?.,
might bo called a part of tho Yicks
burg campaign, for it was carried on
at the same time and in similar man
ner to tho siege of Vicksburg. At
this point a line of strong batteries
lined the river shore, and were man
ned with a garrison of about 7,500
offiocrs and men. On May 27th at
tack was made simultaneously by Far
ragut with a naval and Banks with a
land force. Attempt made at three
several times to carry the fortifies
.ions by assault only resulted in ter
rible loss of life on the part of the
)eBiCgers. Port Hudson was not the
sent.e of national anxiety and inter
est that Vicksburg was during those
ateful weeks of May and June, 1863,
lut its defense was one of the most
tonspicaooB instances of heroism in
ho wholo reoord of ( the war. The
garrison subsisted on less than half
ations for weeks, meanwhile their
'amished nerves were tortured with
ho roar of the bombardment day and
light, yet they held out with oheer
ul fortitude. However, famine was
ibout to do what shot and shell conld
lot accomplish, and the brave garri
ton was almost on the point of sur
ender when they heard on the morn
ng of July 7th the the enemy's pick
its shouting, "Vicksburg is taken!"
Fhis occurrence making their further
resistance worse tban useless, the
;arrison closed tho bitter siege by
lurrender.
Vicksburg was, of course, the fceno I g
if the great siege of the war, not only ] p
n importance, -but in. fact of the
;reat forco brought to subdue it. Tho
rule of military scienoe that, in order
to render the efforts of a besieged aod
of a besieging army equal, the latter
hhuubl have four times the force of
the former, was fairly fulfilled in this
case. Plans for attaek on this city
were made a subject of study on the
part of the h ading federal generals for
months before the siege was begun.
Fruitless attempts were made to
reach its rear by cutting a caoal and
by tailing down the Va/.oo Hiver,
both scheme- proving impossible.
Finally the only common sense plan
occurred to Gen. Grant, and he cross
ed the river above the Vicksburg guns
arid went down on the Arkansas side
below them, came back to the Missis
sippi ?h?re and marched northward to
t he doo med city.
When he massed his army on three
i-ies (A Vicksburg, cutting oil from
it all supplies and reinforcements,
tirant had such imperfect knowledge
of the strength of the city s defenses
that he fancied they could be readily
carried by assault. Nearly his entire
force was brought up, therefore, to
make the storming attack on May 22,
an incident to be remembered with
horror, not only because of the useless
murder of thousands of brave men,
but because for some reason of care
lessness never explained, the heroes
who perished iu this mad assault lay
r.uburied and uncared for from the
time they fell, on May 22, uutil li p.
in. on May LT), in full view of their
iricnds and brothers of the federal
army. A private soldier, writing of
the occurrence, said: "The dead lay
for all th.s time, decaying under a
burning sun. Tho stench wan unbear
able; the sight was horrible. Tho
recking bodies lay all blackened and
swollen, and some with arms ex
tended as if pleading to heaven for
the burial that was denied them by
mau."
There is no doubt that many help
less wounded men'that might have
been saved perished through this neg
lect. Aud, at the last, it was not
their friends that moved first to end
the scene of horror. It was tho Con
federate Gen. l'omberton, wboscnt a
flag of truce to the union lines, ask
ing for a truce of two hours and a half
to bury the dead and caro for the
wounded, if any still lived, offering to
do it all himself if necessary. Of
course the truce was granted.
May LS the siege of Vicksburg be
gan, and lusted 47 days. During this
time shot aud shell were thrown into
the city incessantly, day and uight.
It was a terrible experienco for the
non-cdinbatauts in the city. Hun
dreds of caves were dug for shelter of
women aud children; for the steady
fire had made of the city's buildings
uj-'iu heaps of ruins. Thoro was no ,
longer the remotest hope that relief
could make its way through the fed
eral lines. Famine began to press
hard upon all. Mines laid by the in
vadiug army under tho d?fensive
works were exploded, tearing them
to ruins. At last Gen. Pembcrton
asked for a cessation of hostilities
July 3, and on the following day be
surrendered. And thus ended what
ivas really the greatest siege in the
biprary of the American republic.
return to the quasi-sieges de
soribed in the histories. There was
the siege of Lexington, Mo., for in
stance, ooourring in September, 1861,
which was a succession cf sharp fights I
anly. A garrison of some 4,000 fed
arals had fortified a hill between Lex
ington and tho river, their earthworks
covering about 18 acres. Price's army
surrounded them Sept. 18 and opened
Ire against them. The commander of
Lhc small garrison thought that if he
jould hold out till the 20th it was
possible that reinforcements oould
each him. By that day, however, ,
lis ammunition was exhausted and no
tid had come, wherefore he was foned
o capitulate.
The siege of Yorktown was oven a
greater farce than the first battle of
Jorinth. A division of the Army of
he Potomao encamped April 5, 1862,
?efore Yorktown, Va., which village
he Confederates had fortified. The
ederuls began the construction of
tarallol redoubts beforeHhe Confed
rate works. These were the days of
.eliberation, when the end of the war
ras so near at hand that it was not
rorth while to push anything. A
oung soldier of this division before
'or k town wrote home that the war
rould oertainly be over before fall,
nd he wanted to engage the village
chool for the winter. At last these
oldiers had corduroyed every road
nd bridged every oreok, and put all
heir guns in position. May 3, 1862,
hey fired several shots. That night
he Confederates inside the works
rithdrew to a more deoided point of
antage, aod this was all there was
? the Yorktown siege.
The fall of Atlanta was aocomplish
d not by siege, but by a series of
radual 1 approaches, made. with the
rimary purpose of destroying the
nemy's railroad communications,
herman's ultimate purpose was to
ake the oity by cutting it off from
onneotion with otaer poires, and this
uvposc he aooomplished, though be
ad to fight for every step (hat he
ained. After he had made a com
ic te circuit of the oity, destroying or
Utting guards over the railroads,
lood's army being cat off from sup-1
lies, was at the invader's meroy. F
)n the night of Sept. 1 that army.I
juin amsJU&Aijy/LI 11V1'?'.
evacuated Atlanta and Sherrys CS
the next day took possessioa of the
city.
Tort Fisher, the lock of the last
gate that could afford retreat for the
blockade runners (off Wilmington, N.
C j was takcu by combined assault
from sea and land Junuary 15, 181m.
The warships began the bombardment
on the 14th and continued it through
the following day. The assault of the
land forces began at V, p. in. on the
15th, and six hours Inter the assail
ants had forced their way through
the breaches made by the shot and
shell of guns into the fort. A two
day siege would be an anomaly, and
this capture must therefore be taken
from the list above noted.
1'ortB Gaines and Morgan were de
fenses in Mobile bay. both of which
were taken at the time of the ?rst
"Bay Tight." August 5, 1864, was
the ?rst day of this fight, during ,
which Farragut disabled the famous
ram Tennessee and literally took pos
session of the waters of the bay.
August 7 Fort Gaines was taken by a
sharp bombardment, and in the same
manner Fort Morgan was captured
August 2;i. Since Mobile was effect
ually blockaded by the federal fleet
that held the bay, no attempt wa8
made against the city, which still re
tained communication by >land with
tho armies of the Confederacy. But
in March, 1H65 the Federal land and
sea forces moved against it. On the
same day, March 27, 1865, FortBlake
ly, ten miles r.orth of the city, was
invested by Gen. Stcele's forces, and
Spanish Fort, seven miles east, was
surrounded by Canby's army. The
last named of thesj strongholds was
taken by assault April 8, the former
April 9. The city of Mobile surren
dered April 12. The final oper
ations against Mobile bay may fairly
be ranked with the sieges, tho others
cannot.
The siege of Petersburg and the so
called siege of Richmond were identi
cal. The Confederate works at
Petersburg were partly invested in
July, 1864, and from that time there
was a gradual encroachment upon
them and a destruction of the defen
ses, the much greater army of tho fede
rals paying for every step of their ad
vance with terrible loss of life. Leo
succeeded by superhuman effort in
keeping his line of communication
with Richmond open, and thus was
able to sustain his army through the
winter, during which time little was
done. But in March fighting began
again, the federal army having increas
ed its numbers by large bands of fresh
recruits. March HO Grant made a
general assault along the whole Con
federate line with such disastrous re
sult that Qen. Lee telegraphed to
President Davis to order the ?vacua
I tioD of Richmond. Lee Litnself hoped
to escape with the bulk of his army
to the mountains, but finding his
force ?|uitc surrounded, he gave up
and ended the long sad drama of
war.
To recapitulate: We find tb?t of
the 17 or more engagements of the
Civil war that have been ranked by
the histories as sieges, only six can
correctly be classed thus, to wit: Is
land No. 10, Port Hudson, Vicks
burg, Charleston (or Fort Wagtier),
the Mobile forts and Peter&burg. All
the others aro more accurately placed
in the list with battles, reduction by
blockade and assaults.
The Legond of Tha Two Sacks.
An ancient legend describes an old
man traveling from place to place with
a sack hanging behind his back and
another in front of him. In the one
behind him ho tossed all the kind
deeds of his friends, which were soon
quite hidden from view and forgotten.
In the one hanging around his neck,
under his chin, ho threw all the sins
which his acquaintances committed;
and these he was in the habit of turn
ing over and looking at as he walked
along day by day, which necessarily
hindered his oourse.
One day, to his surprise, he met a
man also wearing two sacks.
"What have you here?" he asked.
"Why, my good deeds," replied
number two. "I keep them all before
me, and take them out and air them
often."
"What is in the other big saok? It
seems weighty."
"Merely my little mistakes. I el
ways keep them in the saok hanging
over my back.
Presently the two travolers were
joined by a third, who strange to say,
aiso carried two saoks,, one under his
chin and one on his back.
"Lot us see the contents of your
sacks," said the first two travelers.
"With all my heart," quoth the
stranger, "for I have a goodly assort
ment, and I like to show them. This
Hack," said he, pointing to the one
hanging in front of him, "is full of
the good deeds of others."
"Your sacks looks heavy; it must
be very full," observed the old man.
"There you are mistaken," replied
the stranger; "they are big, but not
heavy. The weight is only such as
sails are to a ship. Far from being a
burden, it helps me onward."
"Well, youx saok behind can be of
little use to you," said number two,
"for it appears to be empty. And I
see it has a great hole in the bottom
of it." 1
"I did that on purpose," said the
stranger, "for all the evil I hear of
people I put in there, and it falls
through and is lost. So, you see, I
have no weight to drag me baok
wards." i
Population of the World.
An interesting piece of information
has just been issued by the census bu
reau relative to the theory that the
world is fast becoming so crowded
that at no distant date stauding room
will bo at a premium, and difficulty
will be felt iu feeding the increasing
multitudes.
A close scrutiny of tho conditions
existing in all parts of the world has
J shown that in no country?not even
I in Belgium?has the maximum of pop
I ulation been reached beyond which it
(would be difficult to make the soil sup
port the people.
It is estimated that China can eas
ily support three times the number of
people now occupying that territory;
that the capacity of British India has
by no means been reached, and that
every country of Europe is capable of
sustaining more than twice the
amount of people now crowded into
what appears to be comparatively
limited areas.
As for the capacity of the United
States and Russia, they are estimated
to have hardly been touched, and-,
while it is believed that the next con
I tury or two will show a great increase
both in European and Asiatic Russia,
I it is believed that the greatest field
I for development lies through the
United States and in northwestern
Canada.
I To give an idea as to how scattered
is the population of the world, it has
been shown that all the people now
living in the world could be easily
packed upon the Isle of Wight, a tiny
speck of land off the coast of Great
Britain, so small compared with other
countries that it is hardly diaoernable
upon the map.
The total population of the world is
now estimated at 1,500 millions. Al
lowing two square feet for each, all
could be crowded into a space of 67,
000 acres. The area of the Isle of
Wight is 04,341 acres, and it will,
therefore, he seen that the entire
population of the earth could be gath
ered there and much vacant space be
left aside.
Such comparisons are, of course,
made only for drawing illustration,
but to Americans, who have been un
able to understand how Great Baitain
or Japan could sustain their' com
paratively dense populations with
out actual crowding, it affords a
somewhat striking proof of the as
yet still untouched resources of the
world.
The population of the United States
is now estimated at somewhere be
tween eighty and ninety millions. It
is calculated that this country oan
easily support a population of 1,000
millions, and even ther. the population
will Dot be a6 deuse as it is in certain
portions of China in the valley of the
, Ganges or in the countries surround
ing Antwerp in Belgium.
The French republic has a popula
tion of something like thirty-five mil
lions. Its acreage is not one-half
! that of Texas, and little larger than
I the State of Illinois. Japan, with an
j acreage but little larger than that of
the State of Kentucky, supports a
! population of forty millions against
1 something over two millions in our
! State.
j .Many cities in Europe with a sup
porting country not comparable to
that around Louisville have popula
! tions ranging from half ? million up
ward, while in. China there arc oitios
I of over a million closer together than
I Louisville and Lexington.
It is true that in'such countries as
France and Belgium and in the fer
tile districts of China and India, every
foot of available ground is under con
stant cultivation, while in Kentucky
and elsewhere throughout thp United
States it is not an unaccustomed sight
to sec two-thirds of the arable ground
idle.
It is plain, however, that while even
at the present time the United States
is the greatest power in the world it
is only in its infanoy as far as popu
lation is concerned. How strong will
be the relative position of this coun
try to the rest of the world when
the United States is populated as
densely as are portions of Europe
it is impossible to estimate.?Louis
ville Post.
Hannibal Hamlin's Client.
Hannibal Hamlin, for many years ?
United States senator from Maino, and
vice president during the Civil war,
was wont to tell the following story
on himself, says the Boston Herald:
An Englishman by the nftmo of Pear
son while passing along the main
street in Bangor stepped in a hole in
the sidewalk, and falling, broke his
leg. He brought suit against the
city for $1,000 and engagad Hamlin
for counsel.
Hamlin won his case, but the city
appealed to the Supreme Court.
Here, also, the decision was for Ham
lin's client.
After settling up the claim, Ham
lin sent for his client and handed hint
$1.
"What's this?" asked the English
man. *
"That's yonr damages, after taking
out my fee. the cost of appeal, and '
several other expenses," said Hamlin.
The Englishman looked at the dol
lar, and then at Hamlin. "What's the
matter with this?" he said, "is it
bad?"
I Do IC; 11

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