rial upon the great central
lines of operations, roughly indicated by the mention of Chattanooga
and Atlanta,--the road eventually followed by Sherman in his
triumphant march to the sea. Apart, however, from considerations
strictly tactical, the importance of cutting off the trans-Mississippi
region as a source of supply for the main Confederate armies was
obvious; while from the governments of Europe, of England and France
above all, the pressure was great for cotton, partly, indeed, as
a pretext for interfering in our domestic struggle to their own
advantage, but largely, also, to enable those governments to quiet
the cry of the starving millions of their people.

Instructed, as well as warned, by the events of the previous summer,
the President now resolved on a combined attempt by two strong
columns. On the 21st of October he sent Major-General John A.
McClernand to Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, with confidential orders,
authorizing him to raise troops for an expedition, under his command,
to move against Vicksburg from Cairo or Memphis as a place of
rendezvous, and "to clear the Mississippi River and open navigation
to New Orleans." Perhaps because of the confidence still felt in
Grant by the President himself, although within narrowing limits,
Grant was not to share the fate of McClellan, of Buell, and of so
many others. The secret orders were not made known to him, yet it
was settled that he was to retain the command of his department,
while the principal active operations of the army within its limits
were to be conducted by another. Even for this consideration it
is rather more than likely he was indebted in a great degree to
the exceptional advantage he enjoyed in having at all times at the
seat of government, in the person of Washburne, a strong and devoted
party of one, upon whose assistance the government daily found it
convenient to lean.

A few days later, on the 31st of October, Major-General Nathaniel
P. Banks was sent to New York and Boston, with similar orders, to
collect in New England and New York a force for the co-operating
column from New Orleans. On the 8th of November this was followed
by the formal order of the President assigning Banks to the command
of the Department of the Gulf, including the State of Texas.

This assignment was wholly unexpected by Banks. It was, indeed,
unsought and unsolicited, and the first offer, from the President
himself, came as a surprise. At the close o