his knowledge and verify the correctness of his theories by the crucial test of success in the field and siege. It is true that the possibility of the ascent of the other ladder of military promotion may have crossed his mind, but judging from the facts in his history, it appears that this resulted more from the force of circumstances than from any fixed ambitious aspiration of his mind. To be first as an engineer was evidently his chief ambition, until his own merits and circumstances transferred him to the other line. That he merited this distinction in the department to which he belonged, the results of his operations fairly proved. And the following statement by General Grant, in his subsequent recommendation for his appointment as Major-General, certainly imply as much: "He has been with me in every battle except Belmont. At Forts Henry and Donelson and the siege of Corinth, as a staff officer and engineer, his services were conspicuous and highly meritorious."

Praiseworthy as success in this particular line may be, his talents were not limited by its comparatively narrow bounds, and now the time had come in the history of the war for him to test his ability in a broader field as a military commander. On the 15th of May he had been appointed Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and after the capture of Corinth was assigned to duty as military superintendent of railroads in the district of West Tennessee, in charge of which he continued until October 2nd, when he was placed in command of a division at Jackson, Tennessee.

He was ordered to carry re-enforcements to the besieged garrison at Corinth, which was being attacked by the forces under Price and Van Dorn, and although the enemy was between him and the point to be reached, he succeeded in accomplishing his mission. He arrived in time to aid in the enemy's final repulse, and joining in the pursuit of the now baffled and flying foe aided in driving them as far as Ripley, breaking their army into fragments, and scattering it so completely that no organized portion of it remained.

On his return from this march, and before he reached Corinth, he was notified of his appointment as Major-General of Volunteers, to date October 8th, 1862. On the 14th day of the same month he was placed in command at Bolivar, Tennessee, of the two divisions commanded by Generals Lauman and Logan.

Here begins his career as a military commander. From this

time forward new and untried powers of mind and undeveloped talents are brought into requisition. His capacity to organize, to control, to command, to lead and to handle masses of troops is to be tested. In order that we may rightly judge of his ability in this respect, let us briefly sketch the history of his acts during this period of his life.

We have hastily glanced at the history and character of his boyhood, his cadet life and as an engineer, let us now briefly review this the closing period of his career, that we may be enabled to form a more correct opinion of his character as a whole.

McPherson's first step in his new position was to reorganize his command. As soon as this was done he was ordered to take the lead in the Mississippi campaign to the rear of Vicksburg, and continued to command the advance until General Grant's operations in this direction were rendered futile by the surrender of Colonel Murphy at Holly Springs. In the withdrawal he occupied the rear, preserving in a remarkable manner the order of his troops, notwithstanding their hunger and disappointment.

His first action while in sole command, was at Lamar, Mississippi, November 12th, 1862. In this engagement he gave evidence of that skill in handling troops, and that sagacity and foresight in taking advantage of every error on the part of the enemy which placed him among the foremost strategists and tacticians, a fact which the rebels were not long in perceiving, and which, as shown by rebel newspapers that fell into our hands, caused them to dread any movement they supposed him to be the author of.

He continued in command of the forces denominated "The Right Wing" until January, 1863, when under the order of the War Department, he was assigned to duty as commander of the 17th Army Corps. Following out the same method he had adopted in his previous command, his first care was to thoroughly organize this corps according to his ideal of efficiency and thorough discipline.

Having completed this work, on the 20th of February, he left Memphis for Lake Providence, to join in the attack upon Vicksburg. Active movements, exclusive of attempts to turn. Vicksburg by operations through the rivers and bayous, commenced on the 25th of April of that year. General Grant soon perceived that the only road to victory was through the fiery

ordeal of batteries which lined the Mississippi, and which rebel engineers looked upon as invincible; a danger to which our most daring officers hesitated to expose their troops.

But the decision having been made, the soldiers of the 17th Corps, and especially of the 3rd Division, readily volunteered to run the fiery gauntlet. The vessels were chosen, and the soldiers selected and launched into the jaws of seeming death.

The experiment was a complete success, and proved the wisdom of the commanding General. By the 30th of April sufficient transports had run the blockade, and were ready to convey the eager and restless troops from "Hard Times Landing" to Brewinsburg, on the Mississippi side.

On May 1st McPherson engaged in the battle at Port Gibson, and by a skillful flank movement, executed under his own eye, and by his immediate direction, drove the rebels from a position which they had occupied all day, by which the first victory of the Vicksburg campaign was gained.

noon.

Pursuing the advantage thus obtained, the corps was pressed forward after the retreating foe, who contested every inch of ground. The command stripped for a continuous fight. No drum was beat but for the "long roll," and the troops slept on their arms, if they slept at all. At 10 A. M. of the 12th the forces under General Gregg were encountered two miles from Raymond, and defeated, and the town occupied before 6 o'clock in the afterOn the 13th Clinton was captured, and all the railroad transportation and depot buildings at that place destroyed. At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 14th, the corps was again on the march toward Jackson, striking the enemy's pickets at 9 A. M., four miles from the city. After a short delay, caused by a heavy rain, the attack was made. This engagement, which was one of the most brilliant of the campaign, resulted in the capture of Jackson; and before 3 o'clock in the afternoon the stars and stripes waved over the Capitol of Mississippi.

Our rest here was short, for by daylight on the morning of the 15th, the Corps moved and this time with faces turned directly toward Vicksburg. On the 16th, McPherson, with his Corps, aided by Hovey's Division of the 13th Corps, fought the noted battle of Champion Hills, or as sometimes called "Baker's Creek," under the immediate eye of General Grant, who in the order which I shall presently read to you, bears testimony to his gallantry and

ability on this occasion. This decisive victory left the way open to the fortifications of Vicksburg.

I can not give you the numerous incidents of this siege, which might serve as additional illustrations of the character and versatile talents of McPherson as a commander and engineer, it is sufficient to state, that in all the important assaults upon the fortifications, his corps bore a conspicuous part, always directly under his eye, and that it was his command that constructed and exploded, on the 25th of June, the mine in front of my headquarters, and thereby captured the key to the defenses of the place. The effect of this breach, and the combined attack made by all our forces around the city, was to compel a surrender by Pemberton on the 3rd of July.

McPherson was selected as one of the commissioners to fix the terms of surrender, and his corps was ordered to occupy this stronghold of rebellion, and at 10 o'clock on the glorious 4th of July, 1863, the stars and stripes were once more unfurled to the breeze over this Gibraltar of the Mississippi, and rebellion in the Mississippi Valley was virtually dead-one of the heads of the hydra of treason was crushed.

McPherson was at once placed in command of the new District of Vicksburg, and I had the honor of commanding the post or city.

Soon after this, McPherson was recommended by General Grant for promotion in the regular army. This official document speaks in such clear and unmistakable terms of his merits and ability as an engineer and commanding officer, that I can not refrain from reading it to you. It is as follows:

He has been with me in every battle since the commencement of the rebellion except Belmont; at Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh and the siege of Corinth, as a staff officer and engineer his services were conspicuous and highly meritorious. At the second battle of Corinth his skill as a soldier was displayed, in successfully carrying re-enforcements to the besieged garrison, when the enemy was between him and the point to be reached. In the advance to Central Mississippi, General McPherson commanded one wing of the army with all the ability possible to show, he having the lead in the advance, and the rear, retiring. In the campaign and siege terminating with the fall of Vicksburg, General McPherson has filled a conspicuous part. At the battle of Port Gibson, it was under his direction that the enemy was driven, late in the afternoon, from a position they had succeeded in holding all day against an obstinate attack. His corps, the advance always, under his immediate eye, were the pioneers in the movement from Port Gibson to Hankrinson's Ferry.

From the north fork of the Bayou Pierre to Black River it was a constant skirmish, the whole skillfully managed. The enemy was so closely pursued as to be unable to destroy their bridge of boats after them. From Hankrinson's Ferry to Jackson the 17th Army Corps marched on roads not traveled by other troops, fighting the entire battle of Raymond alone, and the bulk of Johnston's Army was fought by his Corps, entirely under the management of General McPherson. At Champion Hill the 17th Corps and General McPherson were conspicuous. All that could be termed a battle there was fought by the divisions of General McPherson's Corps and General Hovey's Division of the 13th Corps. In the assault of 22nd of May on the fortifications of Vicksburg and during the entire siege, General McPherson and his command took unfading laurels. He is one of the ablest Engineers and most skillful Generals. I would respectfully but urgently recommend his promotion to the position of Brigadier-General of the regular army.

The request was granted, and he was confirmed as such, December, 1863.

Passing over the time he remained in command of this district, where the good sense which he displayed was such as to excite the admiration of all, we must follow him to the new field to which he was transferred, and glance hastily at the history of his operations as commander of the Army of the Tennessee, which fell to him in the order of merit, and through the advance of its old chiefs, Grant and Sherman.

He was placed in command of this army on the 26th of March, 1864. Postponing the realization of his dearest hopes in his contemplated marriage, he at once repaired to Nashville, Tennessee, in order to be present when the Georgia campaign was planned. His army was widely scattered; a portion had been sent to reenforce General Banks in the Red river campaign; the 17th Corps was almost all on veteran furlough, and the 15th and 16th Corps. were stationed on the lines from Huntsville to Memphis. But such was the rapidity of concentration that by the 5th of May McPherson had his columns in hand at Ringgold, Georgia. On the 7th he commenced his march upon Resaca, making the first flank movement of the Atlanta campaign, and carrying the enemies works on the 14th, after a severe contest. Still holding the right, he invested Kingston on the 18th. From this point to Dallas there was continual fighting, the enemy, under Johnston, endeavoring to break our lines. Failing in this a determined effort was made to crush the Army of the Tennessee. McPherson prepared to meet the desperate onslaught, and although opposed by many times his own number, inflicted upon Johnston one of