"From 5,000 to 7,000 of these people accompanied the triumphal return of Sherman's expedition, and I defy any human being with as much feeling in his bosom as even Legree in Mrs. Stowe's immortal story to look on such a scene unmoved. Old men with the frosts of 90 years upon their heads, men in the prime of manhood, youth, and children that could barely run, women with their babies at their breasts, girls with the blood of white men in their veins, old women tottering feebly along, leading children and grandchildren, dear to them as our own sons and daughters are to us. They came, many of them, it is true, with shout and careless laughter, but silent tears coursed down many a cheek--tears of thankfulness for their great deliverance, and there were faces in that crowd which shone with a joy which caused them to look almost inspired. Those may smile who will, but the story of the coming up of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt can never call up to my mind a more profound emotion than the remembrance of that scene. "When I looked upon the long lane filing in through roads along which our slaughtered brothers lie buried thicker than sheaves in a harvest field, and reflected on the horrors to which this race had been subjected, I felt faith in a God of Justice renewed in my heart, and hope in the success of our cause rekindle to a brighter flame." From Vicksburg Sherman went to New Orleans to arrange with Banks and Porter the details of the Red River expedition. Banks wanted 10,000 of Sherman's men for thirty days, and Sherman promised that he should have them. So, returning to Vicksburg, Sherman directed A. J. Smith to take 7,500 men of Hurlbut's corps (Sixteenth), and 2,500 of McPherson's (Seventeenth), and report to Banks for thirty days and no more, at the end of which time he was to return to Vicksburg. The Red River expedition was not successful, and it was two and a-half months before A. J. Smith returned to Vicksburg, much of the delay being caused by low water in the rivers, and consequent difficulties of transportation. CHAPTER XXI. THE BEGINNING OF THE END. GRANT MADE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL--CORRESPONDENCE WITH SHERMAN--THEIR MEMORABLE INTERVIEW--PLANNING A SCIENTIFIC CAMPAIGN--GENERAL HOWARD'S PEN PICTURE OF THE TWO SOLDIERS--SCHOFIELD, McPHERSON AND THOMAS--GRANT'S FINAL ORDERS--SHERMAN'S ARMY IN LINE-- STRENGTH OF JOHNSTON'S ARMY--GENERAL HOWARD'S ACCOUNT OF THE ADVANCE.