Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 32.djvu/322

 310 Southern Historical Society Papers.

of the South, and the last impartial epitaph shall be inscribed upon it, it will rob the great names of Southern history of none of their glory that the monument is surmounted by the marble effigy of the common soldier and the inscription a testimonial to his sublime courage and pre-eminent services to the South.

The loyalty of his life, the firmness of his principles and the serenity of his bearing make him more magnificient than all the arguments of a century.

[From the New Orleans, La., Picayune, July.27, 1904.]

SHERMAN'S EXPEDITION FROM VICKSBURG TO MERIDIAN, FEB. 3, TO MARCH 6, 1864.

By GEN. STEPHEN D. LEE.

In July, 1863, the Confederacy was cut in two by the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, including the Confederate garrison, composing the army of General Pemberton, which had been used to keep the Mississippi river closed to navigation, and to preserve communication between the States of the Confederacy on the east and west of the great river. At the close of the Vicksburg cam- paign, the river and its tributaries were almost in full and complete control of the Federal government, being protected so thoroughly from Cairo to New Orleans by the fleet of Admiral Porter, com- posed of heavy and light gunboats, that it was difficult for even an individual to get across. It was essentially free from annoyances, even of field batteries and riflemen on either bank.

About the time of the surrender of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, General Joseph E. Johnston, who had succeeded in collecting a Confederate army of 30,000 men near Jackson, Miss, (the present effective force being about 28,000 men), had moved towards Vicks- burg to attempt its relief. He had arrived in the vicinity of Me- chanicsburg, when, on July 4, he heard of the surrender of the city. He immediately retreated to the city of Jackson, arriving there July 7, and placed his army in the intrenchments surrounding the city from the river on the north to the river on the south. General Sherman followed with an army of about 50,000 men, arriving before