The History of Mississippi

Secession of Mississippi.

Immediately after the election of President Lincoln, Gov. John J. Pettus issued a call for a special session of the legislature of the state to meet in Jackson, Nov. 26, 1860. In accordance with the advice of the representatives of the state in both branches of Congress, who met in Jackson four days before the legislature assembled, the governor inserted in his message to that body a recommendation that it call a convention for the purpose of withdrawing from the Union without awaiting the action of other states. On the third day of the legislative session the recommendation was formally approved by the adoption of a resolution, providing for a convention to meet at Jackson, Jan. 7, 1861, and declaring that "secession by the aggrieved states, for their grievances, is the remedy" to be applied to the emergency then confronting the South.

Upon the recommendation of Governor Pettus the legislature authorized him to appoint commissioners to visit the other Southern states to inform them that Mississippi did not "intend to submit to the sectional administration about to be inaugurated at Washington," and to secure their cooperation in the establishment of an independent nation. The reports and speeches of nine out of the sixteen men chosen for this important service are still preserved. They show that the commissioners were received by the states to which they were accredited as the ambassadors from a sovereign and independent nation, and as such were treated with great distinction.

The special session of the legislature then adjourned after providing for a new coat of arms for the state and adopting a joint resolution justifying its action.

The secession convention assembled in the hall of representatives at Jackson, Jan. 7, 1861. Ninety-eight delegates answered to the first roll-call, and the two absentees were in their seats on the following morning. The delegates were divided into two classes—the "unconditional secessionists," who were determined on secession at any cost, and the "cooperationists," who were in favor of secession "only upon condition that the border states between the two sections would cooperate in the movement." The latter class constituted only about one-third of the convention.

Upon the organization of the convention by the election of William S. Barry, of Lowndes county, president, Mr. L. Q. C. Lamar, then in his thirty-seventh year, presented a resolution providing for the appointment of a commission of fifteen "with instructions to prepare and report as speedily as possible an ordinance providing for the withdrawal of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union, with a view to the establishment of a new Confederacy, to be composed of the seceding states." The resolution was passed, and on the third day of the convention Mr. Lamar, as chairman of the committee, reported "an ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Mississippi and the states united with her under the compact entitled 'The Constitution of the United States of America.' " A substitute motion "providing for the final adjustment of all difficulties between the free and slave states of the United States, by securing further constitutional guarantees within the present Union," was promptly rejected by a vote of twenty-one to seventy-eight. An amendment to postpone the application of the ordinance until, at least, the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana had taken a similar step, and another to submit the question to the qualified electors of the states were defeated by overwhelming majorities, the votes being twenty-five to seventy-four on the former, and twenty-nine to seventy on the latter proposition. The yeas and nays having been ordered on the final passage of the ordinance, the secretary called the roll slowly, the first name being James L. Alcorn. As he had been an ardent "cooperationist," all who were present awaited his vote with much interest. He arose and responded with much feeling: "Mr. President, the die is cast ; the rubicon is crossed; I follow the army that goes to Rome; I vote for the ordinance." When the roll-call had proceeded until it was manifest that the state would sever its connection with the Union, tears came into the eyes of the delegates and of the large throng of spectators who had assembled to view the solemn proceedings.

In less than an hour from the time of its introduction, the ordinance was adopted by a vote of eighty-four to fifteen, only one delegate being absent. The profound silence which followed the announcement of the vote was finally broken by the earnest tones of a minister who, in eloquent words, invoked the Divine blessings on the step just taken, while the delegates and spectators, standing with bowed heads, joined in the invocation.

Immediately thereafter a gentleman entered the hall bearing "a beautiful silk flag with a single white star in the centre," which the president of the convention received, remarking, after a brief pause, that it was the first flag to be unfolded "in the young republic." The delegates then saluted it by rising, and the hall rang with the shouts of applause from the multitude of spectators. This scene gave rise to the popular war-song "The Bonnie Blue Flag that Bears a Single Star," written by one of the spectators, who first sang it in the old theatre in Jackson on the night of the following day. An eye witness of many of these stirring scenes says that "illuminations and artillery salutes in Jackson and elsewhere * * expressed the popular approval of this drama in the history of the state."

The ordinance having been engrossed on parchment was signed by ninety-eight members of the convention in the presence of the governor and the members of the legislature on Jan. 15, 1861. Although one of the delegates present, Dr. J. J. Thornton, of Rankin county, refused to sign the document, he was one of the first volunteers to enter the army of the Confederacy. The only other delegate who failed to sign the ordinance, John W. Wood, of Attala, did not attend the final session of the convention.

The secession convention also adopted "An address setting forth the Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of Mississippi from the Federal Union." It placed the state on a war footing, and elected a major-general (Jefferson Davis) and four brigadier-generals (Earl Van Dorn, Charles Clark, James L. Alcorn and C. H. Mott) to take charge of the military forces of the little nation. Wiley P. Harris, Walter Brooke, William S. Wilson, A. M. Clayton, W. S. Barry, James T. Harrison and J. A. P. Campbell were chosen to represent the state in a convention of the seceding states to meet in Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 14, 1861, for the purpose of framing a constitution for the new Confederacy. After a session of seventeen days the secession convention of Mississippi then adjourned subject to the call of the president. It reassembled on March 25, 1861, and ratified the Constitution of the Confederate States by a vote of seventy-eight to seven.

When notified of the action of the state in seceding from the Union, the senators and representatives from Mississippi in Congress promptly resigned their seats and returned to their homes. In his farewell address to the United States Senate, Jefferson Davis made a brief and dignified defense of the step which his state had taken. This memorable address, "neither apologetic nor aggressive," but chaste in diction and elevated in sentiment, was widely published and everywhere received as a statement of the views and incentives that actuated the people of the seceding states. On February 9 he was elected by the Montgomery convention to serve as President of the Confederacy. Although he had neither sought nor desired this position, he promptly went to Montgomery, where he was inaugurated, Feb. 18, 1861.

Preparations for the Conflict.

As a result of the election of President Lincoln in November, 1860, military companies were organized in Mississippi at the rate of from seven to eight a week, numbering from fifty to sixty men each. At the time of the signing of the ordinance of secession (Jan. 15, 1861) there were sixty-five companies of volunteers in the state. On Jan. 23, 1861, the secession convention revised the military law of 1860 and placed the state on a war footing, as stated above.

Wiley P. Harris, of Jackson, Miss., wrote to President Davis, Sept. 30, 1861: "You would be struck with the aspect which our state now presents. Except in the principal towns, the country appears to be deserted. There are not more men left than the demands of society and the police of the slave-holding country actually require. The state has put in the field and in camp about 25,000 men. This exceeds her proportion." A few weeks later Governor Pettus estimated that the number of Mississippi volunteers had increased to over 35,000, "which is probably," he adds, "a larger proportion of the adult male population than any state or nation has sent to war in modern times."

The problem of arming and equipping this large number of troops was a serious one. A few of the most wealthy planters in the state equipped companies at their own expense. Flintlock muskets were changed for the use of percussion caps, and with these a large number of troops were armed for battle. Churches gave their bells and housewives their copper and brass cooking utensils to be used in making cannon. Spinning wheels and looms were taxed to their utmost capacity to make clothing for the use of the soldiers.

Several days before the meeting of the Montgomery convention for the purpose of forming the Confederacy, Mississippi had entered actively into military operations on her own account. In obedience to an order from Governor Pettus to "prevent any hostile expedition from the Northern states descending the river" (Mississippi), troops stationed at Vicksburg fired upon the steamer 0. A. Tyler, from Cincinnati, on Jan. 11, 1861. Another force of about 1,500 men, ordered to meet at Enterprise on the same day, was soon (January 13) on its way to Pensacola to help capture Fort Pickens. On January 15 Mississippi troops made an attack upon the Federal naval works on Ship Island, capturing the same in a third assault on the morning of the 20th.

In the latter part of March, 1861, twenty companies of Mississippi troops were sent to Pensacola under the command of Gen. Charles Clark. They were there organized into two regiments and transferred (April 14) to the command of General Bragg, being the first Mississippi troops to enter the provisional army of the Confederate states.

Beginning of Hostilities in the State.

The advance into Mississippi of 100,000 Federal troops under General Grant after the battle of Shiloh (April 6, 1862) marks the beginning of hostilities in the northern part of the state. When this formidable army entrenched itself before Corinth, General Beauregard, having only 53,000 men, was forced to evacuate the place and retire fifty-five miles south to Tupelo, which he made a base of operations. Here he was superseded by General Bragg. General Rosecrans fortified Corinth and made it a base of supplies. About this time Holly Springs was captured by a Federal force. General Rosecrans attacked General Price at Iuka on September 19, and forced him to retreat to Baldwin.

General Van Dorn made a daring and bloody attempt to recapture Corinth (Oct. 3-4, 1862), but was repulsed with great loss after having taken part of the town. The Confederate army then retreated toward Ripley and later to Grenada, where it was stationed when the second campaign was inaugurated against Vicksburg. As the campaigns against Vicksburg were among the most important of the war, a more detailed account of them will now be given.

Campaigns Against Vicksburg.

The Confederate government depended on a small fleet of gunboats above Memphis and a few guns at Memphis, and the two forts, Jackson and St. Philip, near the mouth of the river, for the protection of the river and for keeping it under Confederate control. Early in the war the Union troops had gained Kentucky and Tennessee, destroyed the Confederate gunboats and taken possession of the upper river almost to Memphis.

The United States government sent a large squadron under Admiral Farragut, with a flotilla of gunboats, mortar-boats and transports bearing an army under Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, to the mouth of the Mississippi (May, 1862). By capturing the forts at the mouth of the river and taking possession of New Orleans, this force opened the river as far north as Vicksburg.

Admiral Farragut at once steamed up the river to Vicksburg, carrying with him thirty-five vessels, including nine ocean war vessels, eighteen mortar-boats and transport boats, with 3,000 troops. He appeared before Vicksburg May 18, 1862. About the same time Memphis fell, and the upper river gunboat fleet came down the river and anchored above the city.

Upon the fall of New Orleans the Confederate government, seeing the danger that threatened Vicksburg, hastily sent a few heavy guns and troops to defend it. These were scarcely mounted when Farragut demanded the surrender of the city. The citizens of the place were well-nigh unanimous in saying "the city must be defended, even if all our houses and property are destroyed." The two great Federal fleets then bombarded the city until July 18—two months.

We are told that "one of the most brilliant naval feats recorded in the annals of naval warfare" occurred on July 15, 1862. On that day the Confederate ram Arkansas, which had been built partly at Memphis and partly near Yazoo City, under the direction of the gallant Mississippian, Capt. Isaac N. Brown, ran out of the mouth of the Yazoo River, and "single-handed attacked the whole Federal fleet, including Admiral Farragut's squadron of eight vessels and Admiral Davis's gunboat fleet of twelve vessels." She reached the wharf at Vicksburg after losing about half of her crew, but, being disabled, was finally blown up by her officers to prevent her capture by the Union fleet. The Federal authorities having decided that Vicksburg could not be taken from the water front, brought the first campaign to an end.

The second campaign against Vicksburg was begun in December, 1862. Gen. W. T. Sherman, after being largely reinforced, was directed to move rapidly down the river with his fleet to take Vicksburg, which was then held by only about 5,000 Confederate troops, before General Pemberton with 21,000 men could go from Grenada to the relief of the city.

General Grant, then in the vicinity of Oxford and Water Valley, with an army of 50,000 Federal troops, had planned to attack the Confederate army at Grenada or to follow it towards Vicksburg if it left his front. Although these expeditions were well planned, both of them failed. General Sherman with his force of 33,000 men and sixty guns descended the river and disembarked near the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou, ten miles from Vicksburg. In attempting to lead his army to the hills several miles distant, he encountered a small Confederate force of about 2,500 men under Gen. Stephen D. Lee and was disastrously repulsed with an Union loss of 1,776 killed, wounded and prisoners, and a Confederate loss of only 120 men. This battle took place near the head of Chickasaw Bayou six miles from Vicksburg on Dec. 29, 1862.

General Grant's plans also failed of execution because of cavalry raids under Gen. N. B. Forrest and Gen. Earl Van Dorn. The first of these raids in west Tennessee destroyed bridges and tore up sixty miles of the railroad over which the supplies for the Federal army were to be transported. The second, captured and destroyed the Federal stores amounting to several million dollars that had been collected at Holly Springs. These two skilfully-planned raids forced General Grant to move his army to Memphis and enabled General Pemberton to go to the relief of Vicksburg. When the Confederate reinforcements from Grenada began to arrive in Vicksburg, General Sherman reembarked his army upon his transports (Jan. 3, 1863) and disappeared from before the city.

The third campaign against Vicksburg was begun in January, 1863, immediately upon the failure of the preceding one. It terminated successfully for the Union army on July 4, 1863. Upon his return to Memphis General Grant put his army on transports and descended the Mississippi River, being reinforced by General McClernand, who had superseded General Sherman after his failure to take Vicksburg.

The united armies, which numbered over 50,000 men, encamped on the Louisiana side of the river. During the months of January, February, March and part of April, numerous attempts were made in connection with Admiral Porter's gunboat fleet and the transports to force a passage through the bayous and rivers in the delta between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers and to reach the highlands north of Vicksburg. By cutting the levee at Yazoo Pass on the Mississippi side a force under General McPherson was enabled to enter the Coldwater and Tallahatchie rivers, and the smaller gunboats and transports succeeded in getting within a few miles of the Yazoo River, where they were stopped by the guns at Fort Pemberton on the Tallahatchie River. About 30,000 Union troops were engaged in this attempt. A similar attempt was made by Admiral Porter and General Sherman to get through Steele's Bayou and Deer Creek into Sunflower River and into the Yazoo. This also failed. An unsuccessful effort was then made to get below Vicksburg from Lake Providence through a bayou into the Red River and thence into the Mississippi. General Grant also attempted to change the channel of the Mississippi by means of a canal dug opposite the city of Vicksburg, so as to cause the river to make a new bed with its waters emptying below the city. This plan also failed.

General Grant then decided upon the bold plan of running his gunboats and transports by the batteries at Vicksburg in order to provide facilities for crossing to the Mississippi side below the city with a part of his army which he marched below Vicksburg on the Louisiana side of the river. His boats successfully passed the batteries on the night of April 16 and again a few nights later. General Grant then landed with two corps of nearly 35,000 men at Bruinsburg, Miss., leaving a third corps on the opposite side of the river to threaten the bluffs to the north of Vicksburg. With his troops that had crossed the river he marched rapidly toward Port Gibson before General Pemberton could concentrate his forces to check the advance. General Bowen with about 5,000 men stationed at Grand Gulf attempted to stop General Grant, but was defeated near Port Gibson (May 1) and driven across the Big Black River.

In the meantime several Federal cavalry raids into different parts of Mississippi forced General Pemberton to send Confederate troops from Vicksburg for the protection of public and private property, thereby greatly reducing the forces available for the protection of the city. The most celebrated of these raids was that made by a force under General Grierson, who passed through the state from La Grange, Tenn., to Baton Rouge, La. (April 17-May 2, 1863). Other similar raids penetrated to different parts of the state from the Memphis and Charleston railroad between Memphis and Corinth.

After the battle near Port Gibson, General Grant's army rested near the Big Black River until he was reinforced by General Sherman. About May 8 the Federal army, numbering about 42,000 men, moved toward Raymond and Jackson. They succeeded in cutting off Confederate reinforcements attempting to reach Vicksburg. On May 12, a Confederate brigade was encountered at Raymond and forced back to Jackson. One corps of General Grant's army then marched to Jackson by way of Clinton, while another corps went to the same destination by another route. As Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who had reached Jackson on the evening of May 13, had only a small body of Confederate troops at his command, he was forced to evacuate the city. He made a show of resistance, however, in order to gain time to move some of his supplies and the state archives before the entrance of the Federal army. After an engagement which lasted several hours, the Union army marched in and destroyed the supplies that had been left and burned several buildings, including the Catholic church and the penitentiary.

General Johnston, having withdrawn from the city to the north, sent dispatches to General Pemberton, who was near Vicksburg, suggesting that he attack the Union army at Clinton. These dispatches were delivered by a Union spy to General Grant, who promptly arranged to thwart the plans of the Confederates. In order to prevent the junction of Pemberton's and Johnston's forces, he planned to concentrate several divisions of the Federal army near Edwards. Then followed the battle of Champion Hill or Baker's Creek, May 16, in which the Confederates with only 15,000 men, after offering a gallant resistance to 35,843 Union soldiers, were forced to retreat across Baker's Creek. After another small engagement at a railroad bridge over Big Black River (May 17), the greater part of General Pemberton's army retired within the intrenchments surrounding Vicksburg.

The memorable siege of Vicksburg began after General Pemberton's return to the city, and lasted forty-seven days (from May 18 to July 4, 1863). On May 19 and May 22 General Grant attempted to take the city by assault, but was repulsed with a loss of about 5,000 men. He was rapidly reinforced, however, until his army numbered about 75,000 men. He placed about 220 guns in position, and the city was encircled on the land side by his troops and on the river front by Admiral Porter's formidable fleet. The besieged city, containing only 17,000 effective Confederate troops, was virtually surrounded by "a sheet of bayonets and fire." General Johnston, who had succeeded in collecting an army of 25,000 or 30,000 men, planned in vain to go to the relief of General Pemberton. We are told that the fleet threw into the city "day and night the largest shells and shots known in modern warfare." The besieging infantry and artillery on the land side kept up a continuous fire on the entrenched army within the city. The scream of shells and the roar of cannon were at times almost deafening. The inhabitants sought refuge in caves dug into the hillsides. As the siege advanced the supply of food was exhausted, and hunger and exposure produced diseases which became so widespread that, when the heroic resistance of the besieged city came to an end on July 4, 1863, 8,000 men were reported sick. With the fall of Port Hudson, four days later, the work of opening the Mississippi River to Federal commerce was completed.
Closing Incidents of the War in the State.

On July 12, 1863, General Sherman made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Jackson, from which the Federal army had withdrawn May 14. General Johnston again evacuated the city because of the superior numbers of the Union force, and retreated to Brandon on July 16. He was followed by part of General Sherman's army which, after capturing Brandon and destroying the railroad, returned with the rest of the Federal forces to Vicksburg.

After the fall of Vicksburg the greater part of the Confederate forces were transferred to other states, leaving only a small infantry force in the state. In the autumn of 1863 and the winter following, cavalry forces were organized by Gen. Stephen D. Lee and Gen. N. B. Forrest to protect the state against Federal raids. Many small engagements followed in which the Confederates were generally victorious. One of the most disastrous raids was made in the winter of 1864 by General Sherman with a force of over 30,000 men. He made an expedition from Vicksburg to Meridian along the line of the Alabama and Vicksburg railroad, being ineffectually opposed from the Big Black River to the latter place by General Lee with a small cavalry force of only 2,500 men. In this raid the Federal forces laid waste the country through which they passed, burning and destroying public and private property. They burned Meridian and destroyed the railroads leading into that city, warping the railroad irons so as to make them utterly useless. They returned to Vicksburg by a route to the north of the one they had just traveled, continuing their work of destruction. The following extracts from General Sherman's reports give an insight into the character of his work: "We are absolutely stripping the country of corn, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, everything, and the new-growing corn is being thrown open as pasture fields or hauled for the use of our animals. The wholesale destruction to which the country is now being subjected is terrible to contemplate." "We have desolated this land for thirty miles round about [Jackson]. There are about eight hundred women and children who will perish unless they receive some relief." "There was and is too great a tendency to plunder and pillage, confined to a few men, that reflects discredit on us all."

Gen. William Sooy Smith with a cavalry force of 7,000 men made a cavalry raid into north Mississippi, intending to unite with General Sherman's force at Meridian. This expedition got only as far as West Point, Miss., where its work of destruction was arrested by General Forrest. This raid resulted in the destruction of the railroads and much property as far as it extended, over 3,000 mules and as many negroes being carried off.

Shortly after these raids Mississippi was again deprived of a large part of the troops that had been collected for her defense, General Lee's division of cavalry with what infantry had been left in the state being sent to reinforce Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army in Georgia. The only troops left in Mississippi were Forrest's cavalry in the northern part of the state, and a small brigade under Gen. Wirt Adams near Jackson.

At Brice's Cross-Roads (June 10) General Forrest met and completely routed a large Federal force of cavalry and infantry that had been sent from Memphis to defeat him, gaining one of the most signal victories of the war for the forces engaged. In the following month another Federal force of about 15,000 men under Gen. A. J. Smith was sent against General Forrest. Several engagements were fought near Pontotoc and Tupelo, July 16-19, ending in a drawn battle at Harrisburg, near the latter place, in which Generals Lee and Forrest lost nearly 1,000 men. The Federal force then retreated to Memphis.

Mississippi Troops in Other States.

Before the end of hostilities, Mississippi furnished over 70,000 troops to the armies of the Confederacy. They did heroic services in the armies of Robert E. Lee, the Johnstons, Beauregard, Bragg, Hood, and of other Confederate generals in less important commands. In the battle of Shiloh the Sixth Mississippi Regiment lost 70.5 per cent. of those engaged; at Sharpsburg the Sixteenth Mississippi lost 63.1 per cent.; at Chickamauga the Twenty-ninth Mississippi lost 52.7 per cent.; at Murfreesboro the Eighth Mississippi lost 47.1 per cent.; in the Seven Days' battle around Richmond, at Gaines' Mill and Glendale, Featherston's Mississippi Brigade lost 49.3 per cent. and Longstreet's division 50 per cent.

A list of all the gallant officers who were furnished by the state to the Confederate army cannot be given in this connection. No treatment of the military record of Mississippi would be completed, however, without mentioning the following commanders whose valuable services reflect credit upon the history of the state : Maj.-Gen. Earl Van Dorn, the dashing cavalry leader ; Capt. Isaac N. Brown, the brave commander of the Confederate ram Arkansas; Brig.-Gen. Richard Griffith, who fell in the Seven Days' battle around Richmond ; Brig.-Gen. Carnot Posey, who was killed at the head of his command at Bristow Station; Brig.-Gen. William Barksdale, whose services at Gettysburg have made "the place where Barksdale fell" a spot of historic interest, and Maj.-Gen. E. C. Walthall, who served throughout the war without asking for "a hard place for glory" or "a soft place for comfort." In the Georgia campaign Maj.-Gen. William T. Martin and Brigadier-Generals Wirt Adams, W. S. Featherston, S. W. Ferguson, M. P. Lowrey, C. W. Sears, J. H. Sharp and J. A. Smith rendered conspicuous services. Mississippi was represented in Virginia by Brigadier-Generals B. G. Humphreys, Nathaniel H. Harris, Joseph R. Davis and Col. J. M. Stone. Generals J. R. Chalmers, Robert Lowry, S. G. French and others also rendered valuable services in this great conflict.

Government During the War Period.

The history of the government of Mississippi while in the Confederacy may be briefly summarized as follows : John J. Pettus, who was chief executive of the state when it seceded from the Union, was reelected almost without opposition in October, 1861. He was succeeded by Charles Clark, who was governor of the state from Nov. 16, 1863, to May 22, 1865, when he was removed by Federal troops, being followed by Judge William L. Sharkey as provisional governor by the appointment of President Johnson.

During the greater part of the connection of the state with the Confederacy, the sessions of the state legislature were devoted to the consideration of matters pertaining to the war and to the welfare of the soldiers in the army. In anticipation of the capture of the state capital by the Federal army in 1863, the public records of Mississippi were removed to Meridian. They were afterwards moved to Enterprise, Columbus and Macon, in the order named. The legislature met at Macon and at Columbus, General Clark being inaugurated at the latter place.

Upon the fall of the Confederacy in 1865, Governor Clark issued a proclamation from Meridian the day after the surrender of General Taylor near that place in which he directed the legislature to assemble in extraordinary session at Jackson on May 18 to provide for a state convention. In this proclamation he enjoined all county officers to be watchful in the preservation of order and the protection of property. "Let all citizens," he said, "fearlessly adhere to the fortunes of the state, assist the returning soldiers to obtain civil employment, and meet facts with fortitude and common sense." The legislature was in session only about one hour when the report came that General Osband, of the Federal army, had received orders to arrest the members. It was hastily dissolved and the members left the capital in great confusion. In its brief session, however, provision was made for the appointment of a committee to go to Washington in order to confer with the President in regard to the situation.

In a short time a Federal officer demanded that Governor Clark vacate his office and surrender the archives of the state. Upon leaving the office the governor said : "I comply with your demands only because I am forced to do so, and protest in the name of freedom and justice against this act of lawless usurpation on the part of the President of the United States." Governor Clark was then arrested and sent to Fort Pulaski, Savannah, where he was imprisoned. This act marks the beginning of the period of Federal interference with the civil affairs of the state.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Lowry and McCardle: History of Mississippi; Riley, Franklin L.: School History of Mississippi; Rowland: Mississippi Official and Statistical Register (1908). Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society: Lee, Stephen D.: The Campaign of Vicksburg, Miss., in 1863 from April 15th to and Including the Battle of Champion Hill, or Baker's Creek, May 16, 1863, and Siege of Vicksburg (Vol. III.); Deupree, J. G.: Capture of Holly Springs, Dec. 20, 1862; Gordon, James: Battle of Corinth and Subsequent Retreat; Lee, Stephen D.: Campaign of Generals Grant and Sherman against Vicksburg, December, 1862, and January 1 and 2, 1863, known as the Chickasaw Bayou Campaign and Sherman's Meridian Expedition from Vicksburg to Meridian February 3 to March 6, 1863 (Vol. IV.); Battlefields of Mississippi (Vol. V.); Lee, Stephen D.: Battle of Brice's Cross Roads and Battle of Harrisburg, or Tupelo; Wood, Thomas H.: Secession Convention of 1860 (Vol. VI.); Dowman, Robert: Yazoo County in the Civil War; Deupree, J. G.: Reminiscences of Service in the First Mississippi Cavalry; Jones, J. H.: The Rank and File at Vicksburg; McNeilly, J. S.: A Mississippi Brigade in the Last Days of the Confederacy (Vol. VII.); Lee, Stephen D.: Index to Campaigns, Battles and Skirmishes in Mississippi from 1861 to 1865 (Vol. VIII.); Love, Wm. A.: Mississippi at Gettysburg; McFarland, Baxter: A Forgotten Expedition to Pensacola, January, 1861 (Vol. IX.). Consult also Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.

FRANKLIN LAFAYETTE RILEY,
Professor of History, University of Mississippi.