The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-13
H..

Mr. Fi.ka asCribes To- "Ha'leck's imhecllitv'
the fact that Grant wa not permitted to taks
Nickshurg IN 1862. soon after the ocrnt atun
OF Corinth by the Union forces, IouchlDI
the surrender Of that stronghold q tNo.ye-
months later We read on page "a The
canture of pemberton's army Na~ th" ,Nrce~t
that. up TO that time, had been made IN modern
warfare. The nearest approach To 4 had
been Napoleon's capture of the Austrian army
at Ilm in 1905, when he took aoooo ION
and sixty cannon. Al NirhsbnrG Grant took
81 100 men and l72 cannon, Sedan and Metz
were still in the future. There was no longer
any question a. to Grants military "npacliT.
The Northern people were Wild With delight,
lille the first Ch'lls oF despair began 10 creep
over the southern COniedcrary TIA" 'ap'3re
of Vicksburg on July 4 1893, with the victory
Just won mt Getty oburg, marked the turning
point of the Civil War. FV" day later Fort
Hudson. which had with-tood a sS Wooks
sioge and two assaults surrendered upon
hearing of the fail o. \IckSaurE On Ju."
10 a merchant steamer, which had started
for 81. Louis on the sth, drew mp At the wharf
Al New Orleans. and. in Idncoln's words. Tie
father of waters rolled rnveyed 10 the ga"
After nOtng certain ueldllS oI 'HF bh''" ~
Chattanooga, which are sometimes overlooked.
Mr.. Fske writes; Il an particular in cmpha-
| sizing these point, because. n few years agN
there was a visible tendency toward the growth
Of a Grant legend in which that Generals
| reputation was made 10 suffer from misplaced
and undiscriminating praise, Among other
things. il was asserted by Grants inludicious
admirers that, among the worlds great fights,
~ al. -, ,.,a y.al pttlt . LLAMA
in having been fought from beginning to 'nd
exactly as it was first planned in the brain
Of the Union commander. Now, If anything
in this world can he said 10 be- clear. il Is That
the battle Of Chattanooga was not fought B
| Grant had planned il; while, nj the same tine,
a correct history ot it shows US that one mark
| Of a great General is the ability to modify hs
| plans on IL" spur of the moment, and to turn
une1 pectcd incidents 10 his own advantage
| The author of this book. however, is far from
undertaking the Importance Of the battle Ils
notes that the next day after the storming 81
| Missionary Ridge was Thanksgiving Day, AID
that. as Halleck said in his congratulations tele-
/ gram. Grant had made il a day of 1hnnk'giv-
ing indeed 1T was IN some respects the most
brilliant victory Of the war. For n ba,tln n
such dimensions. the losses in killed ard
wounded were remarkably small; some 5000
on the Federal side, something lnsS on the sidA
OF the Confederatps, who fought mostly No-
hind intrenchments. Grant captured some
5000 prisoners, 10 pieces Of artillery ard ZOO
stand of arms That the destruction Of 10
was so much less than at Shiloh. or Stone River.
or C~hickamauga was largely due 10 the adfoit
manpuvring which made tho enemv's almost
impregnable positions avail him 80 ht'," In
this respect the battle o. (hattanoOga I- u'o
Of the most interesting In modern history
We are also reminded That II wa~ one Of ~" n,-'
picturesque. The immense length oi ban"
iroaI, thirteen miles from ST, rnau'- let -
Hookor's right, tine extraordinary duN,u.N
Of the ground, the dizzy heights scaled and
the grandeur Of the sceDery, all combined 20
make it a wonderful spectacle. ~ W. rot
only however. for its picturesque features
or its interesting tactics. but still more for it,
strategic importance, that the battle Of iIaitS
nooCa was so brilliant, The virtory gave %
henceforth undisputHi possession Of ''al'a'
no"gn, with all that this implied N-th .r-
ture Of NickSbVrg had cl"Ii The toA'Di"lt'"
in twain or the linz OF tn Mi-,l.s ru', 81" NJ"
victor, At chattanooga clt iutwo hat H.,."'t
OF il on the line Of Tho AllcsnNulos
In his final chapter Nr. Fisk" points ogt hat
the true character Of the final effort of u" var.
which began with the appointment NJ Grant n
be General-in-Chief Of all the armies Of 'he
Union, cannot he understood without keeping
clearly before tho mind the mutual relations
between the grand operations in The Eastern
and Western theatres Of war. Tho work x
oyerthrowlng Lee called into play other ageN-
cies. besides the campaigns in Virginia, wh.rn
Grant superintended in person. With r"rardto
the friGhtful tale Of bloodShed rrcount"d from
the Wilderness 10 Petersburg, Mr.. Fisko doubts
whether il added anything 10 Gr0r'7 l.-t
reputation as a soldier. TO start win, an
army twice rs large rs the encmy's. and thono
throw away 10000 men in Killed. and wou'ird,
without either i~rflicting a proportIonatn ims' or
advancing p%erceptibly toward the goal ~ ne
campaign. l. hardly a record Of great genera
ship, nor Is II the kind of record which Nrut
had made FOR himself NJ Vck~burg and 'hAi'a-
nooRa. When Grant. after three we"k. ~
slaughter. arrived at the North Anna t|'or'
there could be no doubt that he had boon "it-
generated. or. to use col podgc'S expression.
had received n complete stalemAte. Then 'An'
the horror Of Cold Harhor. which Grant HIM
solr. with manly candor. n~Iterward d~"tIar"d'
and then the change Of base 10 the James RIVER
n point which might have been reached d,r'.hY
with small loss By the end Of July. 1884, a''e'
2 InTPe InOllNNS 81 hllfINt" MANUEL NlNNN N'
hammcring against an ARMY scarcely MALT 70
size OF his own, Grants policy was rrar' r''.'
reduced to Obtaining Lee At Petersburg pn''
tho whole Of the Confectionery should t'
knocked away from behind him, leaving hI''
In the air without a prop Tn" Business 20
knocking away the Confrdcrlcy from be-
hind Ice was performed, not hy Grant
but by the army With which Sl"rW1H'
in May, 1854. started from Cr:''7oos'
toward Atlanta When sherman arrived
~ Raleigh. within 100 miles of Ice, WAlI" N'"N'-
man, SoiIing the RAILWAY between lNu,'' ~
and knoxville, cut of tho pOs-ibility 10 r''i"'f
from Virginia into the Tenn"~-ee nolir'nia
the IouiedsraCy had evidently rrA,''i '.'
last ditch. Lees position, 50 long and r'
full' held, had become uEtsnuFlr lI" "''
question was whether he should -u'rgrH
Richmond, or. letting tho Confederate ,ll.iI
70. should unite hi forces with iHo-c NJ J''h-
StOn Sheridan victory at Five Fork
away the laitnr alternative. and virtually "nd"n
the proceedings which had begun atSt lou-on
that day ri spring In 1891 when Grant and Sh.r.
man congratulated Lyon and Blair upos ~
1 capture OF Camp Jackson.