The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1907-06-07

In 1862. unconditional surrender APP
peared. 1t first affected sensitive
gentleman by name of Buckner Then
leans. with the aid of Farragut's fleet.
fell into the fatherly hands of Benja-
| man F. Butler. And the Monitor and
the Merrimac battled for the supremacy
of the sea in ampton Roads. Here
took place. the night before, one of the
most thrilling naval engagements of
any time of place. The Merrimac, had
ofwar Cumberland which soon began
to sink. Matthew Tenney fired the last
gun on a level with the water. He
then tried to escape through the port
hole, but the rushing flood swept him
back. One hundred and twenty more,
some sick, some wounded, and others.
like poor Tenney. unable to eXtricate
themselves, went down, to a watery
grave. Unconquered and her flag fly
ing, the Cumberland sank in fifty-four
feet of water with her guns and gallant
crew.
Another defeat to the federals upon
the old battle ground of Bull Run fol-
lowed. Mcclellan brought his army
within sight of the spires of Richmond.
This stirred the blood of Fighting Joe
Hooker" but that was all there came
Sharpsburg, in the beautiful valley of
Antietam, on Sept. H. This was the
bloodiest battle of the war. Neither
side could claim a victory Five days y
proclamation. Mcclellan was dethroned
and Burnside put in command only to
fight an American Balaklava at Fred
ricksburg where five thousand Union
perate charges as were ever made. AS
the last day of the year was feeting
away, Hazen and Sheridan were busy
wringing- victory out of the, jaws of de.
feat at Murfreesborough only to seal it
completely at the early dawn of the
first day of the new year. In, conster,,
the second act of this might ydrama.
The emancipation proclamation went
into effect on January l. 1869. It re
ceived it's baptism at charlottesville
battle ceased to sparkle in the military
armament of the South one of it's
brightest stars. A blunder OF his own
men cost stonewall Jackson his life.
invaded the soil of the North-cemented
it's people together-and lost the flow
er of his Oftentried veterans at Gettys-
burg. the greatest battle of the war.
coed Hooker but a few days before,
who had in turn succeeded the amiable
Burnside after the Fredericksburg carni--
val of slaughter. Events now crowded
thick and fast. The gales of Vicks-
burg flew open on the morning of July
4th to the strategy and persistency OF
Rosecrans at chickamauga which was.
however, tempered somewhat by the
triumphal tactics of Thomas, slow but
sure. over the braggart Bragg. 1t will
young and fiery Hood had the conceit
taken out of himself by butting up
against the Rock of Chickamauga. ="
Some splendid fighting now took took place
Ridge became historic. Port Hudson
surrendered to Banks. The Confeder-
acy was divided and the Mississippi
freed of hostile craft. And the year
N a nf p1 n
arms.
In March 1864, Grant was placed in
command of all the Union armies. He
promptly proceeded, with the aid of
the life out of the expiring and beaten
foe. Yet it was no easy matter. The
battles of the wilderness were fought
where were assembled the largest I'm
the telegraph became belligerent. Its
vibrating wires spoke in tones Of de-
fiance, 1t Numbered forth: II will
fight it out on this line, if it takes all
sage was no retreating man. So said
the ablest general of the South. Now
came the dashing ride of Philip Sheri-
dan and Early quilted the Shenandoah
valley. Four thousand Union soldiers
fell into a dark and gruesome pit before
the walls of Petersburg and were either
smothered, crushed or shot to death.
to the sea Savannah was abandoned
Mobile was restored to the embraces of
the Union. And the tumultuous year
ended with the reelection of Lincoln.
Sherman pressed southwark. By some
in the North he was regarded as crazy,
while many in the South considered
him a rather careless man with fire. q"
AS luck would have it, he escaped an
alienists commission, performed his
task promptly and well and burned
and harassed perhaps better than he
knew for accnr6inp tO a southern :
tor, from the ashes he left behind him
have sprung the material grandeur OF
the New South; Lees starving army
was soon cooped up within the city of
Richmond and its near surroundings by
Grants one hundred thousand sturdy
veterans, and the end was near. 1t
was in church. He scented trouble and
entered the once proud capital of the
Southern Ssn Confedseracgy -, On April g.
mand at Appomattox Court House and
the rebellion was history; but at the
appalling cost, of the lives of S04, 1863
The fourth anniversary of the fall
of Sumpter was appointed as day of
thanksgiving for the close of the war.
Impressive ceremonies were held at
Charleston where Major Anderson him.
self raised the same flag above the
ruined fort which he had been COM
evening there were gathered together
in a box, in Ford's theatre in Washing
ton, five persons. One of them was
Abraham Lincoln. few minute past
ten O'Clock an assassin entered that
box and laid the nations executive low.
Having done his deed of murder, he
leapt to the stage. In his hand brand
were words Of defiance. By poetic
| Justice. his spur caught in the folds of
the flag of the Union tripping him to
| the floor and tanning him which led to
his discovery few days later when.
refusing to give himself up he was
in the brain of man? Was ever fouler
deed executed by the hand of man?
All the elements of the tragic and the
| pathetic, of injustice and of passion,
| of crime unspeakable and it's quick
| Arrangement, of thwarted ambition and
national sorrow centered in the clos
Ing scene of this world historic drama.
The American Civil war-when fell by
| the hand of a viler Brutus the nation s
| foremost citizen and man, Abraham
| Lincoln.
What was the cause of this awful
conflict? Its root was slavery, its top.
secession sec and its flaming branches
sense, it was contest between the
forces which sought to stem. and the
forces which sought to advance, the
genius OF human progress Free gov
I eminent was on trial. Nor were its
enemies ,,sr3die, all within. The royalists Of
against us. After Fredericksburg an
English correspondent cabled to his pa
per that that day would ever remain
memorable to the historian of the Rise
and Decline of the American Republic y
Little did he understand the forces
1 n xyn1 sracA Oh.