The Project Gutenberg eBook, Destruction and Reconstruction:, by Richard Taylor
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Title: Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War
Author: Richard Taylor
Release Date: December 5, 2007 [eBook #23747]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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DESTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION:
Personal Experiences of the Late War.
by
RICHARD TAYLOR,
Lieutenant-General in the Confederate Army.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 549 and 551 Broadway. 1879.
Copyright by D. Appleton and Company, 1879.
PREFACE.
These reminiscences of Secession, War, and Reconstruction it has seemed to me a duty to record. An actor therein, accident of fortune afforded me exceptional advantages for an interior view.
The opinions expressed are sincerely entertained, but of their correctness such readers as I may find must judge. I have in most cases been a witness to the facts alleged, or have obtained them from the best sources. Where statements are made upon less authority, I have carefully endeavored to indicate it by the language employed.
R. TAYLOR.
December, 1877.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
SECESSION. 9
Causes of the Civil War--The Charleston Convention--Convention of Louisiana--Temper of the People.
FIRST SCENES OF THE WAR. 15
Blindness of the Confederate Government--General Bragg occupies Pensacola--Battle of Manassas--Its Effects on the North and the South--"Initiative" and "Defensive" in War.
AFTER MANASSAS. 22
General W.H.T. Walker--The Louisiana Brigade--The "Tigers"--Major Wheat--General Joseph E. Johnston and Jefferson Davis--Alexander H. Stephens.
OPENING OF THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN. 31
McClellan as an Organizer--The James River Route to Richmond--Army of Northern Virginia moved to Orange Court House--Straggling--General Ewell--Bugeaud's "Maxims"--Uselessness of Tents--Counsels to Young Officers.
THE VALLEY CAMPAIGN. 42
The Army moved to Gordonsville--Joseph E. Johnston as a Commander--Valley of Virginia--Stonewall Jackson--Belle Boyd--Federals routed at Front Royal--Cuirassiers strapped to their Horses--Battle of Winchester--A "Walk Over" at Strasburg--General Ashby--Battle of Port Republic.
"THE SEVEN DAYS AROUND RICHMOND." 83
Clever Strategy--The Valley Army summoned to the Defense of Richmond--Battles of Cold Harbor, Frazier's Farm, Malvern Hill--Ignorance of the Topography--McClellan as a Commander--General R.E. Lee--His magnificent Strategy--His Mistakes.
THE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA. 99
General Bragg--Invasion of Kentucky--Western Louisiana--Its Topography and River Systems--The Attakapas, Home of the Acadians--The Creole Population.
OPERATIONS IN LOUISIANA AND ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 111
Federal Post at Bayou Des Allemands Surprised--Marauding by the Federals--Salt Mines at Petit Anse--General Pemberton--Major Brent Chief of Artillery--Federal Operations on the Lafourche--Gunboat Cotton--General Weitzel Advances up the Teche--Capture of Federal Gunboats--General Kirby Smith.
ATTACKED BY THE FEDERALS--ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE VICKSBURG--CAPTURE OF BERWICK'S BAY. 129
Federal Advance against Bisland--Retreat of the Confederates--Banks's Dispatches--Relief of Vicksburg impracticable--Capture of Federal Post at Berwick's Bay--Attack on Fort Butler--Fall of Vicksburg and of Port Hudson.
MOVEMENT TO THE RED RIVER--CAMPAIGN AGAINST BANKS. 148
The Confederate Losses at Vicksburg and Port Hudson--Federals beaten at Bayou Bourbeau--Trans-Mississippi Department, its Bureaux and Staff--A Federal Fleet and Army ascend Red River--Battle of Pleasant Hill--Success of the Confederates--Perilous Situation of Banks's Army and the Fleet.
ESCAPE OF BANKS AND PORTER. 176
The Fleet descends Red River to Grand Ecore--Banks concentrates his Army there--Taylor's Force weakened by General Kirby Smith--Confederates harass Rear of Federal Column--The Federals cross the River at Monette's Ferry and reach Alexandria--Retreat of the Fleet harassed--It passes over the Falls at Alexandria.
EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 196
The Mississippi controlled by the Federals--Taylor assigned to the Command of Alabama, Mississippi, etc.--Forrest's Operations--General Sherman in Georgia--Desperate Situation of Hood--Remnant of his Army sent to North Carolina.
CLOSING OPERATIONS OF THE WAR--SURRENDER. 221
Fall of Mobile--Last Engagement of the War--Johnston-Sherman Convention--Taylor surrenders to General Canby--Last Hours of the "Trans-Mississippi Department."
CRITICISMS AND REFLECTIONS. 230
Gettysburg--Shiloh--Albert Sidney Johnston--Lack of Statesmanship in the Confederacy--"King Cotton"--Carpet-Baggers.
RECONSTRUCTION UNDER JOHNSON. 239
Interceding for Prisoners--Debauchery and Corruption in Washington--General Grant--Andrew Johnson--Stevens, Winter Davis, Sumner--Setting up and pulling down State Governments--The "Ku-Klux"--Philadelphia Convention.
RECONSTRUCTION UNDER GRANT. 256
Demoralization at the North--a Corrupt Vice-President--a Hypocritical Banker--a Great Preacher profiting by his own Evil Reputation--Knaves made Plenipotentiaries--A Spurious Legislature installed in the Louisiana State House--General Sheridan in New Orleans--An American Alberoni--Presidential Election of 1876--Congress over-awed by a Display of Military Force.