A distance of but seven miles separated the rifle-pits around this fort from
those of Fort Donelson, which commanded the point where the Confederate
line crossed the Cumberland river. Marching overland with about 15,000
men, Grant invested Fort Donelson, and began the first Federal siege of the
war. The surrender of the fort (Feb. 16) broke up the Confederate line
and forced it back into southern Tennessee. Grant was more popular with
the general public than with his superiors, and his experience with them
was so unpleasant that he asked to be relieved. Matters were patched up,
and he was allowed to push southward. Here the battle of Pittsburgh
Landing, in which Grant seems to have been taken by surprise, intensified
the doubts his superiors had of his capacity, and he was for some time under
a cloud, Halleck assuming command himself, and really retiring Grant for
some months. A fully counterbalancing result of the battle was the
establishment of perfect sympathy between Grant and Sherman, who had shared its
dangers and what odium had come out of it. Grant himself has written
that, in the Mexican war, his service “gave no indication that he would
ever be equal to the command of a brigade,” and that in 1861 he “had
never looked at a copy of tactics since his graduation.” His training for
supreme command was now completed, and it had qualified him for the
defence of Corinth, to which all his subsequent successes may be directly
traced. Left there almost in isolation, and exposed to the attacks of all
the forces which the Confederates chose to bring against him, his
successful battles of Iuka (Sept. 19, 1862) and Corinth (Oct. 3-5) left him
master of the route along the Mississippi. In January 1863 Grant and
Sherman succeeded in taking the west bank of the Mississippi to a point
opposite Vicksburgh. Failing to reduce the city from this point, Grant
crossed the river below Vicksburgh in April, and began the remarkable
campaign which ended with the surrender of Pemberton. It showed that
he had strategic ability as well as fighting power, and that he was able to
discern the characteristics of his opponents and to calculate on their probable
errors, and it gave him an official as well as a popular respect which
he never lost. Followed by the victories of Lookout Mountain and
Missionary Ridge, it made him the acknowledged leader of the United States
armies, and his appointment as lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief
was a foregone conclusion. When Grant assumed command in Virginia in
March 1864, Lee's unaccustomed tendency to maintain a strict defensive
showed his underlying consciousness that he had before him at last a man
who was ready and willing to answer an attack by a counter-attack. Grant's
military ability had now reached its highest developments: he handled his
120,000 men with as complete control as he had shown with his 15,000 at
Donelson. It is not probable that anything but the vigour and intensity
of Grant's operations could have met successfully the problem offered to any
commander by Lee behind intrenchments arranged by himself and manned
by the army of northern Virginia, or could have reduced that army to the
condition which it presented in the winter of 1864-65. The end of the war
and the death of President Lincoln left Grant the foremost man of the
North and West, and it was really inevitable that he should be elected
president in 1868. From the moment of Lee's surrender the people had
shown a disposition to put upon his shoulders any work which called for
prompt completion. The Republican leaders relied on him to hold all that
had been secured by the war until the Congressional plan of reconstruction
should be fully carried out, and he did the work as probably no other man
could have done it. His public life is really the history of the country for
the eight years after 1869, and its errors were largely the result of the
intrusion of some of his best personal qualities into it. The rule in the
civil service still was that of appointment by favour of the political leaders
of the dominant party; Grant, bewildered by the constant and tremendous
pressure for appointments, undoubtedly selected some men who were
no credit to his administration; when the appointment had been made, his
own bitter experience of unjust criticism led him to look with suspicion
on any accusation against those whom he had appointed; and his military
habits of unquestioning obedience gave him a tendency to expect the same
thing from men in politics, and to regard independence as a sort of treason,
disqualifying the man guilty of it for any useful criticism. His second term
was therefore filled with scandals which are likely to overshadow the solid
and enduring achievements of his first. Retiring to private life, he found
needed rest in a tour of the world; he was, however, a candidate for the
Republican nomination for the presidency in 1880, and engaged in business
in which he had no experience, and in which he lost his all. Attacked
by an incurable disease, he spent his last few months of life in the
preparation of his autobiography, knowing that its sale would be so large as to put
his family out of reach of pecuniary distress. He died at Mount M‘Gregor,
N.Y., July 23, 1885.
Hancock, Winfield Scott (1824-1886), American officer, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., Feb. 14, 1824. He graduated at West Point in 1844, served with credit in Scott's campaign in Mexico and on frontier duty until 1861, when he held the rank of captain. Having been appointed brigadier-general of volunteers in 1861, he served in the army of the Potomac throughout its existence. For distinguished service on the peninsula and at South Mountain and Antietam, he was given a division and the rank of major-general, and in 1863 he was placed in command of the second corps for his services at Fredericksburgh and Chancellorsville. His crowning glory was won at Gettysburgh. Reynolds fell on the first day, and Hancock was sent forward by Meade to arrange the line until the commander could arrive. On the second and third days Hancock commanded the left centre, on Cemetery Ridge, where, just in the moment of victory, he was severely wounded. He received the thanks of Congress, and returned to the command of his corps early in 1864, in time to take part in Grant's campaigns of that year. He distinguished himself again and again at the Wilderness, at Spotsylvania, and in the Cold Harbor and Petersburgh operations. At the end of the war he commanded various departments, having been made a major-general in the regular army. From September 1867 to March 1868 he commanded the department of the Gulf, under the Reconstruction Acts; and certain orders issued by him, particularly those of Nov. 29 and Dec. 5, 1867, declaring that the military power was meant only to uphold, not to control, the civil power, and declining to exercise arbitrary powers, were so satisfactory to the Democratic party that in 1880 it nominated him for the presidency. He was defeated by Garfield, but retained his position as senior major-general of the army, and the warm regard of the country. He died at Governor's Island, N.Y., Feb. 9, 1886.
Hendricks, Thomas Andrews (1819-1885), vice-president of the United States in 1885, was born in Muskingum county, O., Sept. 7, 1819. He removed with his father to Shelby county, Ind., in 1822, graduated at Hanover College in 1841, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He was a member of the State legislature in 1848-49, a Democratic member of the house of representatives, 1851-55, and commissioner of the land office, 1855-59. He served as United States senator, 1863-69, and as governor of Indiana, 1873-77. In 1876 he was nominated for the office of vice-president by the Democrats, but was defeated. In 1876, 1880, and 1884 he was a prominent candidate for the nomination for the presidency; and in 1884, when Cleveland was nominated, he consented to take the nomination for the vice-presidency, and was elected. He died at Indianapolis, Ind., Nov. 25, 1885.
Hood, John Bell (1831-1879), American officer in the Confederate service, was born at Owingsville, Ky., June 29, 1831. He graduated at West Point in 1853, and continued to serve in the United States army until 1861, when he entered the Confederate service. Rising rapidly from a first-lieutenancy to the command of the Texas brigade, he distinguished himself on the peninsula, in the seven days battles at Antietam, and at Gettysburgh, where he lost the use of an arm. He was now a major-general, and was sent to command a division in Bragg's army. He took a leading part in the battle of Chickamauga, where he lost a leg, but returned to duty within six months. He commanded a corps during Johnston's retreat before Sherman, in the early months of 1864; and, when Davis had decided on removing Johnston, Hood was appointed to the command of the army. He accepted reluctantly, and his position was not a pleasant one. He succeeded a general in whom the army had confidence; he was to reverse that general's policy, and he was to carry out a plan of campaign which had been prepared for him by the Confederate president. His obedience was painfully accurate. He assumed the offensive as soon as he took command, fought several severe battles, and soon found himself under necessity of evacuating Atlanta (Sept. 2, 1864). Sherman had outflanked him; and the Confederate administration came to the desperate resolution of ordering him to move west and then north into Tennessee. He was checked at Franklin, where he lost many of his best officers; and in the final battle of Nashville (Dec. 15) his army was completely beaten, and almost lost its organization. The command of its remnants was transferred to General Richard Taylor, and Hood retired from active service. He died of yellow fever at New Orleans, Aug. 30, 1879.
Hull, Isaac (1775-1843), naval officer, was born at Derby, Conn., March 9, 1775. In 1798 he became lieutenant in the new navy created by Congress during the difficulties with France. He served with credit in the West Indies and Mediterranean, and, on the outbreak of war in 1812, was captain of the frigate “Constitution.” By skilful seamanship he escaped the close pursuit of five British vessels, and on Aug. 19 he captured the British frigate “Guerriere” off Newfoundland, after a conflict in which the “Guerriere” was so severely cut up that Hull was forced to burn her. A gold medal was given him by Congress. He died at Philadelphia, Feb. 13, 1843.
Knox, Henry, major-general in the American revolutionary army, was born at Boston, July 25, 1750. Beginning life as a bookseller, he commanded an independent company in Boston, and was made an engineer and artillery officer by Washington at the opening of the revolution. Under his charge the artillery arm of the service came to be of essential value. He was made secretary of war in 1785, and Washington, on becoming president in 1789, gave him the same office under the new Government. He resigned in 1794, and retired to private life in Maine. He died at Thomaston, Me., Oct. 25, 1806.—See Drake's Life of Knox (1874).
Lawrence, James (1781-1813), captain in the United States navy, was born at Burlington, N.J., Oct. 1, 1781, and entered the navy as a midshipman in 1798. He commanded the “Hornet” in the capture of the “Peacock,” Feb. 24, 1813. Placed in command of the frigate “Chesapeake,” he accepted the challenge of Captain Broke of the “Shannon” to a single battle, off Boston harbour. The “Chesapeake” was captured, and Lawrence, mortally wounded, died June 6, 1813.—See Irving's Spanish Papers, vol. ii.
M‘Clellan, George Brinton (1826-1885), general in the United States army, was born at Philadelphia, Dec. 3, 1826. He graduated at West Point in 1846, served in the Mexican war with such ability as to win the brevet of captain, and attained full rank as captain in 1855. His services until 1857 were mainly scientific, with the exception of a military report on the organization of European armies in 1856, the result of a commission from the Government to follow the progress of the Crimean War. In 1857 he resigned and entered the service of a Western railway, becoming its president. At the outbreak of the civil war he was engaged by Ohio as major-general commanding her volunteers, and was soon given the same rank in the United States army by President Lincoln. It fell to M‘Clellan to cross into West Virginia and begin the campaign there, which he did during the early summer, the campaign ending with the surrender of the Confederate forces at Rich Mountain and the expulsion of the opposing armies from his department, on July 14, 1861. This sudden and brilliant success, followed almost immediately by the collapse of the Manassas campaign against Richmond, brought M‘Clellan into notice as the most likely leader to restore public confidence in the army of the Potomac. He was called to Washington, given command of the army, and, when Scott retired, was made commander of all the armies until March 1862, when his command was reduced again to the army of the Potomac. The winter of 1861-62 was spent in organizing his new army, and in the spring he was at last almost forced, by public outcry and the impatience of the administration, to attempt the task of wielding the weapon which he had created. Following what seems now the most feasible method of attack on Richmond, M‘Clellan appears to have begun with little confidence in the administration, and it was not long before the administration lost confidence in him. His campaign on the peninsula is historical; but the time involved should be taken carefully into account in estimating M‘Clellan's abilities. It was on Sept. 2 that he was recalled and given command of “all the troops for the defence of the capital.” He found the armies in almost complete confusion; he organized and united them, marched them through Maryland to its northern border, attacked Lee's rear so vigorously at South Mountain as to force him to turn and fight, and defeated him after a two days battle; and all this work was done in fifteen days, Sept. 2-17. He was removed, however, Nov. 7, 1862, for slowness in pursuing Lee, and Burnside became his successor. M‘Clellan was nominated for the presidency in 1864, and had much difficulty in reconciling the peace platform of his party with his own feelings. Defeated by Lincoln, he retired to private business as a civil engineer, in which he was very successful. He was elected governor of New Jersey in 1877, serving 1878-81. He died at Orange Mountain, N.J., Oct. 29, 1885. The literature in attack and defence of his military reputation is voluminous; for his own version of his career see M‘Clellan's Own Story.
Marcy, William Learned (1786-1857), was born at Sturbridge, Mass., Dec. 12, 1786. He graduated at Brown University in 1808, was admitted to the bar in 1810, and began practice at Troy, N. Y. He soon became a leading Democratic politician, and one of the “Albany regency” which was supposed to control the action of the party in New York State. He was United States senator in 1831-32, and during his term he incidentally made use of the phrase so frequently afterwards heard, “To the victor belong the spoils.” He resigned to become governor of New York, 1833-39. He was secretary of war under Polk, 1845-49, and secretary of state under Pierce, 1853-57. As secretary of state he conducted with success the Koszta case in 1854, involving a collision with Austria on the subject of the right of expatriation. All his political leanings were to that branch of the Democratic party in New York which made the strength of the new Republican party in 1856, and he would have been its natural leader if he had followed his own convictions on the Kansas-Nebraska bill. He hesitated, and other men took his place. He died at Ballston Spa, N.Y., July 4, 1857.—See Jenkins's Governors of New York.
Mason, George (1726-1792), member of the Federal convention of 1787, was born in Fairfax county, Va., in 1726. He served in the Virginia conven-
