This Site:
Civil War
Civil War Overview
Civil War 1861
Civil War 1862
Civil War 1863
Civil War 1864
Civil War 1865
Civil War Battles
Confederate Generals
Union Generals
Confederate History
Robert E. Lee
Civil War Medicine
Lincoln Assassination
Slavery
Site Search
Civil War Links
Revolutionary War
Mexican War
Republic of Texas
Indians
Winslow Homer
Thomas Nast
Mathew Brady
Western Art
Civil War Gifts
Robert E. Lee Portrait
|
SPOT
OF McPHERSON'S
DEATH.
THE adjoining cut, from an
excellent photograph by GEORGE N. BARNARD, shows the scene and surroundings of
General M'PHERSON'S death. A simple inscription upon a tree tells the story so
far as he was concerned, while the details of the picture the shot and shell,
the broken artillery wagon, with the skeletons of the horses lying where they
fell, the soldier's dilapidated bat and shoe indicate the scene of carnage just
as it was left after the battle had swayed from this to some other portion of
the field.
On the morning of July 22 General
M'PHERSON, commanding the Army of the Tennessee, then at Decatur, anticipating
an attack upon his left, ordered the Sixteenth Corps to form on the left of the
Seventeenth. While this movement was going on the rebel assault was made,
advantage being taken of the gap which still remained between the two corps. The
flank of the Seventeenth was turned and a battery lost, when M'PHERSON,
approaching the scene of the fight, was shot by the force of the enemy which had
advanced between the right and left wing. A charge was then made to recapture
the artillery and recover the General's body. The guns were taken, the enemy
repulsed, and STRONG and BUELL, of M'PHERSON'S staff, returned with an ambulance
bearing the body.
These officers had been guided to
the spot by Private GEORGE J. REYNOLDS. The latter, a member of the fifteenth
Iowa, had been on skirmish duty, and was wounded. In attempting to evade capture
he came upon the spot where M'PHERSON was lying, mortally wounded. Forgetting
his own wound REYNOLDS clung to his old commander, and, exposed to the shots of
the enemy, administered to his wants, bringing water to quench his thirst,
affording him every possible comfort in his last moments; and finally, his own
wound still uncared for, sought cut the General's staff and guided them to the
fatal spot. M`PHERSON'S name had been the battle cry of the corps in the
struggle which ended in forcing the rebels from the field :
"Ah! giants we became, When
through the battle-flame We saw our hero fall ; We forced the foe to yield His
body on the field, That our breasts might be its pall."
There was no more gallant soldier
in the army than General JAMES B. M'PHERSON, and none more beloved by his
command.
THE
PEACE COMMISSION.
THREE Commissioners, appointed by
the rebel authorities to treat informally upon terms of peace,
have been within our lines, and
have had an interview with the President and Secretary of State near Fortress
Monroe. The facts, so far as known in connection with this mission, are these :
Having been detained for some time at City Point, the rebel Commission,
consisting of ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS, R. M. T. HUNTER, and JOHN A. CAMPBELL, was
admitted by
General GRANT, and conveyed to Fortress Monroe
on that General's flagship, where
it arrived at 5 P.M. February 2.
Here Secretary SEWARD was found in waiting on board the River Queen. The
Secretary invited the Commissioners to dinner upon his flag-boat, which
invitation was accepted. About ten o'clock in the evening the President arrived,
and a conference began which lasted sixteen hours. On the 4th the President and
Secretary returned to
Washington, and it was given out that the
result of the negotiation was a failure.
So far as its immediate result is
concerned the Commission has probably failed. But it will at least produce a
better understanding between our Government and the rebels. The President's
course was clearly defined by the necessities of the case. His official oath
forbade him to permit secession. In order to any negotiation at all, it must
proceed upon the basis of a restored Union. In all other respects
President LINCOLN was limited to the exercise
of the functions proper to him as Commander-in-Chief. He could repeal his
confiscation measures, and could grant a general pardon. If other conditions
were necessary to satisfy the rebel Commissioners, Mr. LINCOLN could only have
replied that it was not in his power to grant them. If they wanted guarantees
for slavery, Mr. LINCOLN had no more power to grant them than he would have to
abolish slavery. If they wanted an alliance offensive and defensive, still
maintaining a separate Confederation, he had no power to grant it.
The Commissioners have returned
to Richmond, carrying with them the views of our Government. They are all men to
whom the people of the South render respect. There will never occur a better
opportunity than now occurs for them to exert their influence in favor of peace
on the basis of Union. The country still remembers the force and foresight
displayed by STEPHENS in his argument against the secession of Georgia. Mr.
HUNTER, too, although a States-Rights man, had endeavored in Virginia to prevent
a collision between the Government and the State. He was subsequently appointed
Secretary of State under the Confederate Government, and upon his resignation of
that office was elected Senator, and made President pro tem. of the Senate.
Judge CAMPBELL, of Alabama, also, was very reluctant to leave the Union. He was
at Washington when the Commissioners sent by DAVIS in March, 1861, were there
seeking an official interview with time President in regard to the evacuation of
Fort Sumter; and when these Commissioners
demanded recognition, he wrote to DAVIS "to restrain his Commissioners."
It may be, however, that no peace
will come until we shell have absolutely conquered it. While the Comissioners
were steaming down the James, SHERMAN'S columns were marching northward from the
Savannah. If he is successful in the
campaign now opening, peace can
not long be delayed.
It can certainly no longer be
charged against the Administration that it has neglected an opportunity to
obtain peace on the basis of Union. The members of the Opposition have no longer
an argument against vigorous war measures. These rebels say that they mean
exactly what they meant four years ago : we must answer that we also are
unchanged.
THE SPOT WHERE GENERAL JAMES B. McPHERSON FELL,
NEAR DECATUR, GEORGIA, JULY 22, 1864. [PHOTOGRAPHED BY GEO. N. BARNARD.]
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS, OF GEORGIA.
R. M. T. HUNTER, OF VIRGINIA.
|