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for this, for he thought that if he had pursued hotly Van Dorn's whole army might have been ruined; and many military writers think the same. Soon after this Rosecrans was transferred to the army of General Buell, of which he was given the command. when that officer was removed. But the battle of Corinth was regarded as a great disaster by the Confederates, and for a time it closed military operations in that region. Van Dorn was removed from his command and his place given to LieutenantGeneral John C. Pemberton.

The army of General Buell had reached Bowling Green in the pursuit of Bragg, when General Buell was superseded in command by General Rosecrans. At that time the Union garrison which had been left in Nashville was closely beset by a Confederate force under Generals Forrest and Breckenridge; but they were driven away by General Negley, then in command there. General Rosecrans hastened forward to relieve the place, which was still threatened, but had to repair the railroad to Louisville, over which his supplies were sent, and it was not until the end of No

WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS.

vember that his whole army was collected at Nashville. In the meantime Bragg had marched through Knoxville to Chattanooga, when he was again ordered to move northward. He marched toward Nashville until he reached Murfreesboro, about forty miles from that city, and took there a strong position, which he fortified by intrenchments. Bragg was visited in Murfreesboro by President Davis, and the occasion was celebrated by many balls and parties. Among the festivities was the marriage of General John H. Morgan, of Kentucky, to Miss Ready, of Murfreesboro. The ceremony was performed by Bishop Polk, of Louisiana, who for the time laid aside his uniform for his clerical dress, in the presence of President Davis

and the principal officers of the army. It is said that the wedding guests danced on a floor covered with Union flags as a carpet, to show how much they despised the once loved emblem of our common country. If the story is true, it is probable that those who took part in so childish a proceeding have since had cause to be ashamed of it.

Bragg did not suppose that Rosecrans would move against him in winter, but the latter had been gathering provisions in Nashville and making ready for a campaign. The Confederate cavalry under Morgan and others were very active, sometimes capturing a supply train, and sometimes a detachment of troops. Morgan at one time took fifteen hundred prisoners, surprising them in their camp early one morning. Cowardly

men often allowed themselves to be captured in this way, for they were generally parolled by the enemythat is, permitted to go after promising not to serve again until exchanged for Confederate prisoners-and they thus got home without the danger of deserting. General Rosecrans determined to put an end to this business, if possible; so he collected about fifty men who had disgracefully surrendered, and putting night-caps adorned with red tassels on their heads, had them paraded through the streets of Nashville, preceded by drums and fifes playing the "Rogue's March." The sidewalks were crowded with people, who hooted them as they passed, and the cowards were glad enough when they had finished their march. Other punishments, some of which are well shown in the picture, were inflicted in the various armies during the war for drunkenness, thieving, and other bad conduct.

On the day after Christmas, 1862, General Rosecrans began the march from Nashville toward Murfreesboro, in a cold, drenching rain-storm, and on the 30th of December, after heavy skirmishing with the Confederate cavalry and other outposts, he took up a position on Stone River, about four miles from

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Murfreesboro. Bragg's army occupied a long line on the other side of the river, between it and the town. Stone River, which thus separated the two armies, is only a shallow stream, fringed with cedars. The lines were so near each other that their camp-fires were in plain sight, and both lay on their arms that night in expectation of a great struggle on the morrow. The Union army numbered forty-three thousand; the Confederates probably very nearly the same, though Bragg says that he had but thirty-five thousand men of all arms.

Rosecrans intended to attack Bragg early the next morning, but Bragg did not wait for him. As soon as day dawned he crossed the stream and furiously attacked the right of Rosecrans's army, which was commanded by General McCook. The valley of the river was covered with a dense fog, and the Confederates rushed upon the Union lines from the woods so unexpectedly that some of their guns were captured before they could be fired-the horses having just before been unhitched and led down to the river to drink. Two divisions of the right wing were driven in rout from the field, leaving their artillery and many prisoners in the hands of the enemy, and the victorious Confederates threw themselves with a yell on the third division. This was commanded by General Philip Sheridan, who made a brave fight against superior numbers; but at last, when nearly surrounded, he fell slowly back, having lost his train and used up all his ammunition. The right wing was thus entirely crushed, and at eleven o'clock it looked as if all of Rosecrans's army would be destroyed. It had been driven from half the ground it held in the morning, had lost many guns and prisoners, and Bragg's cavalry was in the rear destroying its supply trains.

The brunt of the fight now fell on General Thomas, who commanded the centre. He held the Confederates in check while Rosecrans formed a new line of defence in the rear. The artillery was quickly posted on a little hill where it could sweep the whole plain, and as the gray-coats charged out of the cedar thickets across the open ground, they were met with a storm of canister shot and lead, which hurled them back into the thickets again. Again and again they swept on, only to be driven back with immense slaughter. At last Bragg brought his reserve of seven thousand fresh men across the river, and

made two more efforts to storm the position, but in vain; and when night fell the two armies lay where darkness overtook them, ready to renew the fight in the morning.

While the fight was raging in the cedar thickets, the birds and small animals that lived among them were nearly paralyzed with fright. Wild turkeys ran between the lines and tried to hide among the men, and many hopped over the ground like toads, apparently as tame as household pets. Some even sought protection from the men who were lying down to escape the cannon-shot, nestling under their coats and creeping among their legs, as if seeking a place of safety. Flocks of little birds, too, fluttered and circled about the field over the combatants in a state of bewilderment, as if not knowing which way to fly.

When night put an end to the fighting, Bragg was sure of victory. He telegraphed to Richmond, "God has granted us a happy New Year," and claimed that after a ten hours' battle he had driven the enemy from nearly every position, and had captured four thousand prisoners, thirty-one pieces of artillery, and two hundred wagons and teams. He had evidently expected to find Rosecrans in full retreat toward Nashville in the morning, and when day dawned he was surprised to see him in order of battle. That day (New Year's) there was little fighting, excepting some cavalry skirmishing and artillery firing. The two armies watched each other closely, each waiting for the other to make a move, and that night they again slept on their arms. The next day Rosecrans sent a division across Stone River to try to cut Bragg off from Murfreesboro. Bragg sent Breckenridge with orders to drive the Unionists back. partly succeeded in this, the Union troops being forced in confusion to the river; but there the Confederates were met by a heavy artillery fire, and in twenty minutes they lost two thousand men. The Union men then made a charge, forcing the Confederates back in turn, and this ended the battle.

He

The morning of January 3 opened with a violent rainstorm, which prevented further fighting, and during that night Bragg left Murfreesboro and retreated to Tullahoma. Rosecrans was too crippled to follow, and contented himself with taking possession of Murfreesboro, where the army went into winter quarters. The losses in these dreadful battles were nearly twenty-five thousand men, of which the Union loss, including prisoners, was about fourteen thousand.

CHAPTER XXVII.

EMANCIPATION.-CONSCRIPTION.

THE UNION AND SLAVERY.-THE ABOLITIONISTS.-NEW IDEAS ABOUT SLAVERY.-MASSA LINKUM'S SOJERS.-BUTLER AND CONTRABANDS.-FREMONT'S PROCLAMATION.-HUNTER'S ORDER.-PRESIDENT LINCOLN PROPOSES TO BUY THE SLAVES.-HIS LETTER ON THE SUBJECT.— LINCOLN CHANGES HIS VIEWS ABOUT SLAVERY.—HIS FIRST EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.— HIS VOW. THE SECOND EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.-ITS EFFECT IN THE SOUTH AND IN THE NORTH.-ARBITRARY ARRESTS.-SPIES.-COLORED SOLDIERS.-THE CONSCRIPTION BILL.

-DRAFTING.-RIOTS IN NEW YORK.

WH

HEN President Lincoln took the oath of office in 1861, he considered it to be his duty to save the Union without reference to slavery; and it was the general opinion throughout the North that slavery as an institution should not be interfered with. There were some, commonly called Abolitionists, who wished from the beginning to destroy slavery even at the expense of the Union, but they were looked upon as fanatics by the greater part of the people. In the course of time, however, the question began to be looked at in an entirely different light. It soon became evident that slavery gave strength to the Confederacy, because slaves were used not only to raise food for the soldiers, thus permitting many white men to join the army who without them would have to cultivate the plantations themselves, but also for building forts and intrenchments, thus lightening the labor of the soldiers and making them better able to fight. Accordingly, the President, August 6, 1861, approved an act to make free all slaves used by their owners for military purposes.

As the war went on many slaves escaped from their masters and came into the Union lines. They naturally expected to be protected, for the idea had grown up in them that the war was on their account, and for their benefit. This idea they had got partly from agents of abolition societies, and partly from their own masters, who in their private talks and in public meetings before the war had freely said that the election of Lincoln. meant the abolition of slavery. They had therefore learned to look upon Mr. Lincoln as their coming saviour, who was to set them all free; and when "Massa Linkum's sojers" appeared