further. His disappointment was manifest. He had hoped, by concert of action on the part of the officers of the army of the West, to exert a powerful influence in shaping the public thought on this momentous question, and to assist in persuading the Confederate Congress to favor the arming and mobilization of the able-bodied Southern slaves.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately for the future of the Southern States, neither the soldiers in the field nor the citizens at home, as a general rule, favored the project; and when the Confederate Congress, moved by the exigency, enacted a law providing for the employment of negro slaves in the military service of the Confederacy, matters were so evidently in extremis, and the fall of the Confederate government was so close at hand, that no opportunity was afforded for testing an experiment which, to say the least, savored of desperation and betokened the early abolition of slavery.

In the light of subsequent events, the tenacity with which the Southern owner endeavored to shield his slave from danger, and the aversion he exhibited to exposing him to the perils of camp, march, and battle, may appear surprising. But an explanation will be found in the fact that he realized in the enlistment of the negro as a soldier an extinction of slavery within the limits of the Confederacy. That institution had been so long and so thoroughly interwoven with the domestic economy, the comfort, and the traditions of Southern society, that the common thought revolted at any suggestion which contemplated its eradication either proximate or remote. The masses were not prepared for such a sacrifice.

AT THE 66 DEATH ANGLE"

MAY 12, 1864

The movement across the Rapidan had been successfully accomplished; the Army of the Potomac, 120,000 strong, with its immense trains of artillery and supplies, had advanced in the face of an active and ablycommanded foe, and had reached the southerly side of the river without a mishap or delay. In their front was the dreaded Wilderness, and, while entangled in its forest roads, Lee had forced terrible battle upon them, and two days of bitter strife seemed to have made no impression upon his stronghold. But Grant, with that grim determination and push so lamentably lacking in previous commanders, proposed to flank what he was unable to break through, and the astonished Federal Army was ordered forward instead of backward.

All night long the forest arches resounded with the clatter of cavalry and the tramp of infantry, the heavy rumble of artillery trains and the rattling of baggage wagons, as the weary columns pressed on toward Richmond. But the indomitable Lee, divining the purpose of the movement, kept equal pace upon the shorter line, and at Spottsylvania, on chosen ground, threw his cavalry in front of the Federal advance and once more hurled down the gauntlet. The topography of the country, surrounding this second battle-ground of the campaign, differed from that of the Wilderness in that it was more open and undulating; the forests, although dense, were broken here and there by open fields, giving better opportunities for attack or defense and allowing the use of artillery, but, still, it was a position extremely difficult for combined operations. The Confederate lines were upon high ground in somewhat the shape of the letter V, and were protected, in front, by heavy slashings and formidable abatis, and in the rear a strong second line of intrenchments gave added protection and support.

Behind these formidable defenses was the undaunted Army of Northern Virginia, less than half the Federal numbers, but exceedingly toughgrained and filled with all the esprit de corps which ever inspired that remarkable body of troops. Grant could easily have flanked this position, rendering it untenable and forcing Lee from his vantage-ground, but, unwilling to believe that the inferior force in his front could withstand the

onslaught of his powerful battalions, he undertook to annihilate Lee by breaking his center.

The

From May 8th to the 11th the fighting was more or less continuous and spirited as the Federals endeavored to find the vulnerable point of the Confederate position, the charge of May 10th, commanded by Colonel Upton, being the most brilliant operation, although productive of no real benefit. On the afternoon of May 11th, General Hancock was ordered to prepare the Second Corps for an assault upon the apex of the angle, finally considered to be the key to the position, and in the storm and intense darkness of the night he withdrew his command, without the knowledge of the enemy, from the right to the center and formed for the attack. assailing column was Barlow's Division, with the First and Fourth Brigades in the front line and the Second and Third Brigades in the second, the other divisions under Birney, Mott, and Gibbon supporting to right and left. Early on the morning of the 12th, under cover of a dense fog, they started up the slope with silent, rapid tread; they surprised and captured the Confederate pickets, and, with cheers, broke into double-quick. The frowning works were instantly lined with startled infantry, but nothing could stop the impetus of the charge, and the Second Corps rushed through and over the abatis to the top of the parapets; the places of the fallen were filled at once, and the excited lines surged over the works carrying all before them. Four thousand men, thirty stands of colors, and over twenty pieces of artillery were captured and sent to the rear, and onward swept the mass, with yells and shouts of victory, toward Spottsylvania CourtHouse.

Now was the golden opportunity, Lee's center was broken, the famous "last ditch" was close at hand, but, as in so many other critical moments, supports which could have followed, in plenty, failed to receive the orders to advance, and the Second Corps, with its lines confused and demoralized by the wild excitement of the charge, was left alone to bear the brunt of Lee's blows. The Confederates were in their path, massed on the second line, and deadly musketry and raking artillery fire checked all further advance. The victorious, but disorganized Federal lines, were driven steadily back, till, at last, they formed outside the works so gloriously won in the early dawn. The veteran brigades of Ewell's Corps were hurriedly thrown forward to retake the "salient" and western line of the angle, and Longstreet and Hill poured in all the men they could spare. The fiery Mahone pushed his famous troops into the breach, followed by the fighting divisions of Gordon and Wilcox. All that a commander could do Lee tried to do to retrieve the disaster of the morning. Warren

and Burnside were powerless to draw his attention from the captured angle. It was a Gettysburg reversed, and Lee from his concentrated position easily brushed aside every attempt of Grant's lines to relieve the pressure upon the Second Corps. On the Federal side divisions and brigades of the Sixth Corps were moved in to reinforce, and began attack close up to the angle. Batteries were posted which kept up incessant fire upon the advancing foe; other batteries were run up close to the works and poured in an enfilading fire of grape and canister, but suffered terribly in men and horses. All day long and far into the night the deadly struggle continued around the spot to be forever known in history as the "death angle."

Lee must hold back the Federal columns from his center or be annihilated, and he spurred his brave but exhausted army up to the work. In five successive charges did he endeavor to push back the gallant veterans from their hold on the angle, but they maintained their position in spite of all he could do.

Piled-up logs alone separated the combatants and these were being rapidly splintered into chips by the concentration of the furious storm of shot and shell, bullet and canister. Men fought almost hand to hand, firing, and stabbing with the bayonet, in each other's faces; once the Confederate flag floated out with the wind until it could be grasped by a Federal soldier; the color-bearer rose to his feet clinging to the staff and the Federal arose clinging to the flag; with disengaged hands they sought each other's life; both sides ceased firing to watch the conflict till finally the flag was torn from its staff and the victor, with shattered arm, was hailed with cheers. For twenty hours death held high carnival about this bloody spot. The ground was literally covered with the slain, on both sides of the works; the incessant fire tore and mangled them. The Confederate trenches were slippery with blood, and the bodies piled up several deep in them had to be removed more than once to allow the living space to work. The charges and countercharges, the cheers and yells, the roar of artillery and the never-ending rattle of musketry with Heaven's deepvoiced thunders rolling above the pouring rain, made a scene around this historic angle which has perhaps never been witnessed in warfare.

From dawn till dusk and from dusk till midnight the terrible tempest of shot and shell shrieked through the forests and plowed up the fields, but both sides held on to their positions with a courage nothing could subdue.

Behind these works stood the celebrated oak upon whose trunk the Confederate colors were lashed, causing it to become the center of such a

furious rain of lead, that, although twenty-two inches in diameter, it was literally cut in twain, and falling injured many of the foe. This event stands unparalleled in the annals of war and will ever bear unquestioned. witness to the hurricane of missiles that swept this fatal spot.

Near this angle also stood the abandoned gun which the Confederates determined should not be carried away; scarring its sides, gnawing away its spokes, shattering its hubs, the merciless bullets kept guard around it. No venturesome dash from either side could move it from its position. All other attempts proving futile a battery was, at last, posted covering the piece and a rapid cannonade opened upon the enemy's riflemen. After a certain number of shots the firing was suddenly stopped and a team of horses quickly run out, attached to the piece, and it was brought in triumph to the Union lines before the enemy, seeking shelter behind the works, could recover from their astonishment.

Such was the terrific struggle around this famous angle. No such slaughter occurred in the entire war in so limited an arena; over eight thousand men yielding up life or limb on one side or the other of its parapets. In the darkness of midnight Lee withdrew to his second and still stronger line in the rear, and the "death-angle" with its bloody mementoes was left in Union hands. So closed the real struggle of Spottsylvania. It had been but two weeks since the Army of the Potomac broke camp by the banks of the Rapidan, but a loss of 35,000 men had shown the impossibility of forcing Lee from his positions by direct advance, and on May 19th the head of the column was again ordered to the left.