western bank to Grand Gulf. After joining his forces with Sherman's, he marched westward along the railroad from Jackson, and drove the Confederates into Vicksburg. After a long siege, Pemberton surrendered (July 4). Soon after, Port Hudson and the remaining Confederate posts on the river yielded to General Banks. The Mississippi, from the source to the mouth, was now in control of the Federal government, or, as Lincoln expressed it, "The Father of Waters flowed unvexed to the sea.

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Holly Springs.

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542. The Confederates Abandon Chattanooga-They Defeat the Federals at Chickamauga. After the battle of Murfreesboro, Bragg retreated before Rosecrans into the important stronghold of Chattanooga, and no further decisive military operations took place in Tennessee and Georgia for about six months. Both forces had been greatly weakened by the terrible slaughter during the battles of 1862, while all available troops had been sent to re-enforce the armies, either in Virginia or the Mississippi Valley. Finally, Rosecrans, who had been much criticized for his inactivity, moved southward around Bragg's army, whereupon the Confederate general abandoned Chattanooga and retreated into Georgia toward Atlanta.

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VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN

Rosecrans pursued Bragg, who, however, having received re-enforcements from Lee, unexpectedly faced about and vigorously attacked (September) the Federals at Chickamauga in one of the most desperate battles of the war. As a result of the battle, the Federal troops fell back to Chattanooga, where they were besieged by General Bragg. About seventeen

thousand lives were lost on each side. General Thomas now superseded Rosecrans. During this battle, Thomas greatly distinguished himself. Holding his ground against the persistent

assaults of the enemy, he gave the Union army time to retreat in fair condition to Chattanooga. His skill and gallantry that day won for him the title, "The Rock of Chickamauga."

543. Confederate Defeats at Chattanooga and Knoxville. Grant, who had been put at the head of all the armies west of the Alleghanies, assumed command at Chattanooga and summoned troops from the East and the West. Hooker came from the Army of the Potomac, Sherman from the Army of the Tennessee, while Thomas led the Army of the Cumberland.

Sherman and Thomas attacked and captured Missionary Ridge, while General Hooker stormed Lookout Mountain in the "battle above the clouds." Communications were opened with Chattanooga and Bragg's forces retreated southward (November) to Dalton, Georgia, where Bragg turned over his command to General Johnston.

While Rosecrans was moving on to Chattanooga, Burnside, who had been superseded by Hooker in command of the Army of the Potomac, moved from Cincinnati into Tennessee and occupied Knoxville. Bragg, confident of victory over the Federals at Chattanooga, sent General Longstreet against Burnside. Sherman, immediately after the capture of Missionary Ridge, hastened to relieve Burnside, but on his approach, Longstreet withdrew through the mountains to Virginia. Both the Federal and the Confederate armies now went into winter quarters.

544. Results of the War in the West. The primary object of the war in the West had been achieved. The Mississippi had been opened by the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and Chattanooga, the Confederate gateway of the West, had been taken. Grant's successes at Vicksburg and Chattanooga won for him the rank of lieutenant-general and he succeeded Halleck as general-in-chief of all the Union armies.

OPERATIONS ON THE COAST

545. Confederate Blockade-Runners-The Federals Re-capture Fort Sumter. The Confederate blockade-runners did enormous damage to northern commerce during this year. The Florida ran the blockade at Mobile and, entering upon its career

of destruction, captured some twenty vessels. It was finally seized in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil. Three of her prizes, however, had been fitted out as cruisers and manned from her officers and crew.

During 1863 the Confederates under Magruder captured Galveston, Texas (January). An attack of Commodore Dupont, with a fleet of nine gunboats on Charleston was repulsed by the Confederates (April). General Gilmore now took charge of the Union troops and destroyed Fort Sumter and some of the fortifications nearby. The Federal blockading ships were thus enabled to enter the harbor, and the port of Charleston was entirely closed. At the close of the year, however, Wilmington and Mobile, with their fortifications, the objective points of most blockade-runners, were still in the possession of the Confederates.

546. Indian Massacres. During the course of the Civil War, the Sioux Indians became dissatisfied because of ill-treatment at the hands of the whites and government officials. Bands of warriors under "Little Crow" and other chiefs, perpetrated horrible massacres in Minnesota, Iowa, and Dakota, in which hundreds of whites were slain and thousands made homeless. After months of pursuit, however, Colonel Sibley finally routed them and captured over five hundred prisoners, of whom thirtynine were hanged on one scaffold at Mankato, Minnesota (December 26).

547. Results of 1863. The general results of 1863 were much in favor of the North:

(a) the Union had gained complete control of the Mississippi; (b) it held Chattanooga, the Confederate gateway of the West; (c) it had repulsed Lee's second invasion of the North at the battle of Gettysburg;

(d) it had continued the blockade of the Southern ports and closed the port of Charleston.

(e) the South was fast becoming exhausted, while the North was in the height of its power.

548. The Draft Act. As the war dragged on, there was rapid decrease in the number of Union volunteers. Congress, under its constitutional power "to raise and support armies," resorted to a draft act, or Conscription Bill (March 3), to fill up the Union ranks. Accordingly, all able-bodied men between the ages of twenty and forty-five (later eighteen and forty-five) were enrolled by the Federal officers. If the quota assigned by Congress for each state was not supplied by volunteers after a certain period, the deficiency was made up by drawing names from a box as in a lottery. Exemptions from the draft might be secured by furnishing a substitute, or by paying five hundred dollars (later three hundred dollars). Any person not responding to the draft was treated as a deserter. Lincoln called for three hundred thousand troops in May, and in October for three hundred thousand more. The drafting of these new levies aroused much ill-feeling in the North, especially among the laboring classes and those opposed to the war. In many places the officials were resisted. In New York (July) a "draft riot," by a great mob, controlled the city for several days, burning houses and killing negroes. The Federal troops