ry line of Tennessee and putting the
mountain range between himself and the pursuing Federal commander. The
converging lines of Federal good luck came together on this great day of
the nation, in a way that touches the superstitious chord; for still
farther west another and a momentous event was taking place.

General Grant, at Corinth, had been pondering a great scheme which he
meant to undertake so soon as his scanty army should be sufficiently
reinforced. If Richmond had an artificial value as a token of final
triumph, the Mississippi River had scarcely less value of a practical
character. Vicksburg and Port Hudson cut out a mid-section of about 200
miles of the great stream, which section still remained under
Confederate control. Vicksburg was General Grant's objective point. Even
to conceive the capture of this stronghold seemed in itself evidence of
genius; no mere pedant in warfare could have had the conception. Every
difficulty lay in the way of the assailant. The Confederates had spared
no skill, no labor, no expense in fortifying the town; yet after all had
been done that military science could do, human achievement counted for
little in comparison with the surpassing arrangements of Nature. If what
she intended could be inferred from what she had done, she clearly had
designed this town to be through all time a veritable "virgin fortress;"
she had made for its resting-place a great bluff, which jutted
insolently out into the channel of the Mississippi River, and upon the
summit of which the cluster of buildings resembled rather an eyrie of
eagles than a place of human habitation; the great stream, as if
confounded by the daring obstruction, before it could recover its
interrupted course spread itself far over the surrounding country in a
tangle of bayous and a vast expanse of unwholesome, impassable swamp;
the high ridges which lay inland around the place were intersected by
frequent long, deep, and precipitous ravines, so that by this side also
hostile approach had apparently been rendered impossible. Nevertheless,
that one of the Northern generals to whom nothing ever seemed
impossible, having cast the eye of desire upon this especial spot, now
advanced upon it, and began operations in his silent, enduring,
pertinacious way, which no men and no intrenchments could permanently
withstand. His lieutenant, Sherman, made one desperate assault,--not, as
it seemed, because there was a possibility of taking the plac