14. On the 1st of January General Magruder captured Galveston,
Texas. By this means the Confederates secured a port of entry in
the Southwest. On the 7th of April Admiral Du Pont, with a fleet of
iron-clads, attempted to capture Charleston, but was driven back. In
June the city was besieged by a strong land-force, under General Q. A.
Gillmore, assisted by Admiral Dahlgren's fleet. After the bombardment
had continued for some time, General Gillmore, on the 18th of July,
attempted to carry Fort Wagner by assault, but was repulsed with
severe loss. The siege progressed until the 6th of September, when the
Confederates evacuated the fort and retired to Charleston. Gillmore now
brought his guns to bear on the wharves and buildings in the lower part
of the city. But Charleston still held out; and the only gain of the
Federals was the establishment of a complete blockade.
[Sidenote: =Battle of Chancellorsville.=]
15. After his repulse at Fredericksburg, General Burnside was
superseded by General Joseph Hooker, who, in the latter part of April,
crossed the Rappahannock and reached Chancellorsville. Here, on the
morning of the 2d of May, he was attacked by the Army of Northern
Virginia, led by Lee and Jackson. The latter general, at the head of
twenty-five thousand men, outflanked the Union army, burst upon the
right wing, and swept everything to destruction. But it was the last of
Stonewall Jackson's battles. As night came on the Confederate leader
received a volley _from his own lines_, and fell to rise no more.
[Illustration: Stonewall Jackson.]
16. On the 3d the battle was renewed. General Sedgwick was defeated
and driven across the Rappahannock. The main army was crowded between
Chancellorsville and the river, where it remained until the 5th, when
General Hooker succeeded in withdrawing his forces to the northern
bank. The Union losses amounted in killed, wounded, and prisoners to
about seventeen thousand; that of the Confederates was less by five
thousand.
17. Next followed the cavalry raid of General Stoneman. On the 29th
of April he crossed the Rappahannock with ten thousand men, tore up
the Virginia Central Railroad, cut General Lee's communications,
swept around within a few miles of Richmond, and then recrossed the
Rappahannock in safety.
[Sidenote: Lee Invades Pennsylvania.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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