fro, between victory and defeat. It was desperate work; brigades and
regiments were repulsed and by turns advanced--the brave commands
disputing every inch of the rocky and difficult battle-field. When Grant
reached the scene it was 'to find his right thrown back, ammunition
exhausted, and the ranks in confusion.' With quick inspiration he took
in the situation at a glance, comprehended that the enemy had exhausted
his greatest strength, and ordered an immediate attack by the left on
the Confederate works in front. General Smith was in command of this
portion of the army, and had not actively participated in the conflict.
He therefore brought fresh troops to the assault. McClernand was also
ordered to reform his shattered ranks and advance. The combined forces
charged with splendid valor up the rocky steeps, in the blaze of a
withering fire poured down upon them from the fort. They did not falter
for a single instant, but reaching the summit, swept over and into the
Confederate works with ringing cheers. On the next morning a white flag
was seen flying from the fort, and under its protection, proposals for
an armistice were sent in. Grant replied that unconditional surrender,
and that immediately, must be made, or he would move on their works at
once. Thereupon, Buckner, who was in command, surrendered the fort with
its thirteen thousand men. This splendid victory blazoned the name of
Grant all over the country, and he immediately became the people's
hero."

* * * * *

"His next achievement, the capture of Vicksburg, was wonderful indeed.
Its natural strength of position on a high bluff, one hundred feet
above the water level, added to the formidable array of defences which
bristled defiance to all foes, made Vicksburg a very citadel of power,
and the fifty thousand men stationed there under Pemberton and Price did
not lessen the difficulties to be overcome. A fort, mounting eight guns,
sentineled the approach to the city from beneath, while the heights
above were guarded by a three-banked battery. Eight miles of batteries
lined the shore above and below Vicksburg. Grant made several fruitless
attempts to get to the rear of the city by digging canals across the
strip of land on which it stood, and making an inland route; but each
one, after herculean labor, had been abandoned. He now decided on the
bold enterprise of running the gauntlet of these batteries with his
transports. This desper