tered Virginia 72 and marched for Warrenton and Culpeper.73 On November 7th, McClellan was relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac and superseded by General Burnside.74 On November 15th the new commander set his troops in movement en route to Richmond,75 and on December 13th he launched them against Lee's entrenchments at Fredericksburg, only to suffer a fearful repulse.76

In the West, Buell, who had been considerably re-enforced, started from Louisville on October 1st in pursuit of Bragg. The latter accepted the challenge at Perryville, Kentucky, on the 8th but was beaten," retreated to Chattanooga but again resumed the offensive and advanced to Murfreesborough, some thirty miles south of Nashville. On October 30th Buell was relieved by General Rosecrans and the title of the Army of the Ohio changed to the Army of the Cumberland. After nearly two months spent in schooling the new recruits, Rosecrans began his movement on December 26th and five days later the opposing forces met at Murfreesborough. The attacks were suspended on January 1st; next day Bragg resumed his assaults but was repulsed, and on the 3rd abandoned the battlefield and retreated to Tullahoma.78

On November 24th, General Grant-who had been assigned to the command of the Department of the Tennessee 79

ordered all his forces to the Tallahatchee River and began the Vicksburg campaign, with the assistance of Admiral Porter's gunboats and a force of 20,000 under General W. T. Sherman. The latter therefore started from Memphis, rallied to him 12,000 troops at Helena, reached the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou on December 27th, and two days later delivered an assault against General Pemberton's formidable entrenchments on the bluffs at that place, but was driven back with considerable loss.80

The year 1862 was characterised by the mismanagement of military legislation by Congress and the mismanagement of the armies in the field by the Union commanders, who suc

ceeded each other in rapid succession and none of whom had the experience necessary to command large forces.

"The military situation at the close of 1862 was far more favorable for the Southern Confederacy than any one could have predicted at the beginning of the year. Great opportunities had been thrown away by the generals on the Union side.

"Twice during the year might the Confederate army of the West have been attacked under exceptionally favorable circumstances by a much more powerful force, but Grant after Shiloh and Halleck after Corinth threw away their chances. No similar opportunities were offered to Buell or to Rosecrans. Hence, at the close of the year we find the army of Bragg resolutely confronting its antagonist on the field of Murfreesborough.

"In the East, by the interference of President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton with McClellan's plan of uniting the force under McDowell to the army near Richmond, the best chance of success was thrown away; while McClellan by not attacking Lee at Sharpsburg 81 on September 16, failed to improve the most promising opportunity for destroying the Army of Northern Virginia which up to that time had been presented.

"The task of the Army of the Potomac had certainly not been lightened by the battle of Fredericksburg, nor had that of the Army of the Cumberland by the battle of Murfreesborough." 82

The results achieved were in inverse ratio to the strength of the opposing forces, as the Northern armies uniformly outnumbered their adversaries.

CHAPTER XI

MILITARY LEGISLATION DURING 1863

HE Act of January 6th "to improve the organization

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of the cavalry forces" was followed a month later by authorization to the Governor of Kentucky "to raise and organize into regiments a volunteer force not exceeding twenty thousand, rank and file" "for the term of twelve months." These troops were to be used for the defence of that State and, as usual, Congress vested the appointment of the officers in the governor.2 Two days later a commissary general of subsistence" was created,3 and the following week a measure was passed "to secure to the officers and men actually employed in the western department, or department of Missouri, their pay, bounty, and pension" which had previously been suspended. The Act of March 2nd provided for the appointment of thirty Major Generals and seventyfive Brigadier Generals in addition to those already authorized or in the regular service, with the very wise stipulation" that the officers to be appointed under this act shall be selected from those who have been conspicuous for gallant or meritorious conduct in the line of duty." s

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On March 3rd three important measures were approved. The first was framed in order "to promote the efficiency of the corps of engineers and of the ordnance department" and effected some notable changes, but it likewise contained a serious defect in the bounty given for new enlistments for comparatively short periods.10 The second law prescribed the organization of the Signal Corps during the war,11 while the third was, by all odds, the most far-reaching military legislation passed during the war.

During the latter part of 1862 the necessity for a radical change in the method of raising troops in order to prosecute the

war to a successful issue became more and more apparent. The demand for reenforcements for the various armies in the field steadily and largely exceeded the current supply of men. The old agencies for filling the ranks proved more and more ineffective. It was evident that the efforts of the government for the suppression of the rebellion would fail without resort to THE UNPOPULAR, BUT NEVERTHELESS TRULY REPUBLICAN, MEASURE OF CONSCRIPTION. The national authorities, no less than the purest and wisest minds in Congress, and intelligent and patriotic citizens throughout the country, perceived that, besides a more reliable, regular, and abundant supply of men, other substantial benefits would be derived from the adoption and enforcement of THE PRINCIPLE THAT EVERY CITIZEN, NOT INCAPACITATED BY PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISABILITY, OWES MILITARY SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY IN THE HOUR OF EXTREMITY. It would effectually do away with the unjust and burdensome disproportion in the number of men furnished by different States and localities. "But it was not easy to convince the public mind at once of the justice and wisdom of conscription. It was a novelty, contrary to the traditional military policy of the nation. The people had become more accustomed to the enjoyment of privileges than to the fulfilment of duties under the general government, and hence beheld the prospect of compulsory service in the army with an unreasonable dread. Among the laboring classes especially it produced great uneasiness. Fortunately, the loyal political leaders and press early realized the urgency of conscription, and, by judicious agitation, gradually reconciled the public to it. When the enrolment act was introduced in Congress in the following winter, the patriotic people of the north were willing to see it become a law.

"After a protracted, searching, and animated discussion, extending through nearly the whole of the short session of the thirty-seventh Congress, the enrolment act was passed, and became a law on the 3d of March, 1863. IT WAS THE FIRST LAW ENACTED BY CONGRESS BY WHICH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES APPEALED DIRECTLY TO THE NATION TO CREATE LARGE ARMIES WITHOUT THE INTERVENTION OF THE AUTHORITIES OF THE SEVERAL STATES.

"The public safety would have been risked by longer delay in the enactment of this law. A general apathy prevailed throughout the country on the subject of volunteering. Recruiting had subsided, while desertion had greatly increased and

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had grown into a formidable and widespread evil. The result of the important military operations during the first months of 1863 had been unfavorable and exercised a depressing effect on the public mind. . . . The rebel army was stronger in numbers than at any other period of the war. And last, not least, a powerful party in the north, encouraged by these events, opposed the raising of the new levies, and especially the enforcement of the new conscription law." 12

The measure in question was entitled "An Act for enroling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes," and "the main objects of the law were, in general terms: first, to enroll and hold liable to military duty all citizens capable of bearing arms not exempted therefrom by its provisions; second, to call forth the national forces by draft when required; third, to arrest deserters and return them to their proper commands." 13

The basis of this legislation was another law which went into effect more than seventy years before,14 and the opening section enunciated the same cardinal principle, with the single difference that the minimum age was raised from 18 to 20 years.15 The earlier law required all persons enrolled in the militia to provide themselves with certain equipment which the law of 1863 by inference obliged the Government to furnish, and the execution of the later law was insured by prescribing 16

"That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and empowered, during the present rebellion, to call forth the national forces by draft, in the manner provided for in this act."

In all its military legislation Congress has rarely, or never, produced a rose without the accompaniment of a thorn, and the present instance was no exception to the general rule. Having declared that every male, with certain exceptions, was amenable to military duty, it proceeded to undo part of its excellent work by permitting substitutes or the payment of $300 in lieu thereof,17 and on top of that granted large boun