has received that lesson which he needs.  I would make this war as severe as possible, and show no symptoms of tiring till the South begs for mercy; indeed, I know, and you know, that the end would be reached quicker by such a course than by any seeming yielding on our part.  I don’t want our Government to be bothered by patching up local governments, or by trying to reconcile any class of men.  The South has done her worst, and now is the time for us to pile on our blows thick and fast.

Instead of postponing the draft till after the elections, we ought now to have our ranks full of drafted men; and, at best, if they come at all, they will reach us when we should be in motion.

I think General Halleck would like to have the honest, candid opinions of all of us, viz., Grant, McPherson, and Sherman.  I have given mine, and would prefer, of course, that it should coincide with the others.  Still, no matter what my opinion may be, I can easily adapt my conduct to the plane of others, and am only too happy when I find theirs better, than mine.

If no trouble, please show Halleck’s letter to McPherson, and ask him to write also.  I know his regiments are like mine (mere squads), and need filling up.  Yours truly,

W. T. Sherman, Major-General.

CHAPTER XIV.

Chattanooga and Knoxville.

July to December, 1863.

After the fall of Vicksburg, and its corollary, Port Hudson, the Mississippi River was wholly in the possession of the Union forces, and formed a perfect line of separation in the territories of our opponents.  Thenceforth, they could not cross it save by stealth, and the military affairs on its west bank became unimportant.  Grant’s army had seemingly completed its share of the work of war, and lay, as it were, idle for a time.  In person General Grant went to New Orleans to confer with General Banks, and his victorious army was somewhat dispersed.  Parke’s corps (Ninth) returned to Kentucky, and afterward formed part of the Army of the Ohio, under General Burnside; Ord’s corps (Thirteenth) was sent down to Natchez, and gradually drifted to New Orleans and Texas; McPhersons (Seventeenth) remained in and near Vicksburg; Hurlbut’s (Sixteenth) was at Memphis; and mine (Fifteenth) was encamped along the Big Black, about twenty miles east of Vicksburg.  This corps was composed of four divisions:  Steele’s (the First) was posted at and near the railroad-bridge; Blair’s (the Second), next in order, near Parson Fox’s; the Third Division (Tuttle’s) was on the ridge about the head of Bear Creek; and the Fourth (Ewing’s) was at Messinger’s Ford.  My own headquarters were in tents in a fine grove of old oaks near Parson Fox’s house, and the battalion of the Thirteenth Regulars was the headquarters guard.