Life and Letters of General W. H. L. Wallace

XII. Colonel Wallace's Regiment Enlists for the War. His Command Moves to Bird's Point, Missouri.

CHAPTER XII. COLONEL WALLACE'S REGIMENT ENLISTS FOR THE WAR. HIS COMMAND MOVES TO BIRD'S POINT, MISSOURI. A LITTLE glance at the general plans of the North and the South will be necessary to understand the movements of Colonel Wallace and his regiment as spoken of in his letters. The great aim of the contending armies was to protect their respective capitols, Washington and Richmond, from capture, each city building ample fortifications around itself . Each held its own in the four years' struggle, but neither gained the capitol of the other, although the continual struggle in the Peninsular was to that end. But Lee was too great a General and moving on his own ground. The Northern Generals who commanded, from McClellan on would, perhaps, ably plan a campaign to have it countermanded by the authorities at Washington; hence, in the East very little was gained; but in the West it was different, as were also the strategic measures different. "The Confederates desired to make the border slave States, such as Maryland, Northern and Western Virginia, Kentucky , Northern Arkansas and Missouri, the battle ground of the war, hence can be seen the reasons for the invasion of Kentucky, together with the movements of General Price and his associates in Arkansas and Missouri. This was to secure the command of the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers by means of the fortifications of Henry, Donelson, Columbus, and Island No. 10. It was considered important in the beginning of the war by both parties to get possession of the great rivers, because troops could be transported much easier by water than by land. The Confederates saw if they could establish themselves at Cairo in Illinois on the point between the Ohio and Mississippi , they could keep the Unionists from coming down the Ohio and going up the Mississippi, which, below that point, ran wholly through slave States. But the Federalists were [115] LIFE AND LETTERS OF GENERAL W. H. L. WALLACE also alive to the importance of the place and were ahead of them, establishing a camp there in May, 1861, of several thousand men, throwing up earthworks mounted with heavy cannon commanding both rivers. . "The Confederates, thus foiled, made plans for the capture of Cairo. So in September, 1861, General Polk seized Hickman and Columbus on the Kentucky side of the river, but twenty miles distant from Cairo. Kentucky had remained neutral. "The Confederates built two strong forts in Tennessee just below the border of Kentucky on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, eighty and ninety miles above their mouths, Henry and Donelson, to prevent the Federals from securing these rivers, and with them Kentucky and Tennessee , so their capture was of great importance to the Northern side." In the latter part of May Colonel Wallace made a hurried trip to Washington City. On his return he wrote his wife of passing through all the lines beyond the river, and how war-like it looked, and also of his errand there: "CAMP HARDIN, June 2d, 1861. "I had a very hurried and exciting trip to Washington. I went to Alexandria and Arlington Heights, saw many Illinois friends, all of whom congratulated me. I can now tell you the object of my visit. General Prentiss had tendered his brigade of three months' men for the war, and sent me on to urge its acceptance, in which I was successful . If not more than one-fifth of the men in the regiments decline to go for the war the regiments will be mustered into service for the war. I think my regiment will be almost unanimous. "I know, dear Ann, what your first feeling will be, but a little reflection will satisfy you that the step I have taken is not only right, but one that I could not avoid. The country demands the service of her citizens in the field. Our regiments are the best drilled and the nearest ready for efficient service of any in the State. Being thus situated and having the opportunity of going into the service for the [116] LIFE AND LETTERS OF GENERAL W. H. L. WALLACE war, we would justly and doubtless receive censure of all loyal people should we decline. "The impulses of patriotism and the desire for distinction in the war-the two great incentives to a soldier's calling -lead us to accept the place opened for us-the other considerations I...