Resource Center OLLibrary
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FOURTH AND LAST YEAR OF THE WAR (APRIL, 1864--APRIL, 1865)
348. Grant and Sherman agree on a
"Hammering Campaign." Early in the spring (1864) Grant and
Sherman met and decided on a plan of action. The Confederates had
been driven from the Mississippi; they now had two chief centers
of power left. First, Lee, with an army of about 60,000, held the
southern banks of the Rapidan and the Rappahannock (Map, p. 312),
thus guarding Richmond and all the country south of it. Secondly,
J. E. Johnston, with about 75,000, held Dalton, Georgia (a town a
short distance below Chattanooga, Tennessee) (Map, p. 292), and
all the country south and east of it.
Grant and Sherman agreed to divide their work:
the first, with 120,000 men, was to move on Lee and compel him to
surrender Richmond; the second, then at Chattanooga with an army
of 100,000, was to march the same day on Johnston, beat him, and
then push his way through to the sea. This was "the famous
hammering campaign."' Grant and Sherman agreed "to hammer"
together, "to hammer" with all their might, and never to leave off
"hammering," until they had given the finishing blow, and
permanently established peace, union, and freedom for the whole
country.
349. The Battles of the Wilderness. South and
east of the Rapidan is a desolate region known as "the
Wilderness." (Map, p. 312.) Much of it is covered with a
scraggy growth of oak, pine, and tangled underbrush. Grant's army
began to advance into that region (May 4, 1864). Grant was headed
for Richmond, and, sitting on a log in the Wilderness, he
telegraphed to Sherman at Chattanooga (§ 348) to begin his
march into Georgia. From that time until June, or about a month in
all, Grant was "hammering" at Longstreet and other noted fighters
of the Confederate army, first in the thick of the Wilderness
itself, then at Spottsylvania Courthouse (May 8-18, 1864), then at
Cold Harbor (June 3, 1864), on
1 "Hammering" in the
sense of giving the Confederates no rest; Grant did this, largely,
by direct attack; Sherman, largely by indirect or flank
attack.
VIEW FROM LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN SHOWING THE TENNESSEE RIVER
The mountain rises to the south of the city of
Chattanooga and commands a
view extending into seven states. To the east rises Missionary
Ridge.
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the edge of the fortifications of Richmond, where, it
is said, 10,000 of our "men in blue" fell in twenty
minutes. (Map, below.) |
It
was a terrible series of battles, costing the Union army
a loss of an immense number. Lee did not lose so many men
because he knew the country perfectly, and was acting on
the defensive. Grant had vowed that he would not turn
back, but would fight it out on that line if it took all
summer. He did not turn back, but he had to give up his
direct line of advance and take another. Lee had
retreated, and intrenched himself inside the
fortifications of Richmond; in order to draw him out to a
battle in the open field, or to find a more favorable
point of attack, Grant now moved round to Petersburg on
the south of the Confederate capital. (See Map.)
GENERAL GRANT
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city, and then had to retreat up the Shenandoah valley. He
carried off with him about 5000 horses and 2000 cattle to recruit
the fast-failing fortunes of the men in "Dixie's
land."1 Later in the same month Early's cavalry made a
raid into Pennsylvania and burned Chambersburg.
351. Sheridan's Raid in the Shenandoah
Valley. Grant now (August 7, 1864) sent General Sheridan
2 with a strong force of Union cavalry to lay waste the
Shenandoah valley. (Map, p. 312.)
GRANT SHELLING PETERSBURG
Notice the defenses formed of stakes and trees in front of the Union army.
This valley was one of the chief strongholds of the Confederates, and Grant was determined to destroy everything in it which could support their men. Sheridan went to work with a will, and in the course of a few weeks he burned so many barns and mills filled
And live or die for Dixie!"
This was one of the most
famous of the Confederate war songs; it was originally a negro
melody sung in praise of the South or "Dixie's land." It was a
great favorite with President Lincoln.
2 General Philip H. Sheridan was of
Irish descent, and was born in Albany, New York, in 1831; died,
1888. He graduated at West Point in 1853. In 1864 he was appointed
commander of all the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, and after
his famous "ride" to Winchester he was made a major
general.
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with grain, and drove off so many sheep and cattle, that it was
said, "If a crow wants to fly down the valley, he must carry his
provisions with him." Could "Stonewall" Jackson (§ 342) have
revisited that beautiful country, -- the pride of his heart, -- he
would have wept fierce tears over its heaps of desolate ashes, as
the women and children of Chambersburg (§ 350) had wept and
wrung their hands at the sight of their blazing homes.
352. The Petersburg Mine; Sheridan's
Ride. Meanwhile (July 30, 1864), General Burnside (§
339), acting under General Grant's order, had undermined the
Confederate fortifications at Petersburg (§ 349) and placed
8000 pounds of powder in the mine. When it exploded it made a deep
chasm or "crater" nearly 200 feet long. The Union soldiers rushed
into the breach, hoping to enter the city; but the Confederate
fire made it a gigantic grave for hundreds of brave fellows, while
those who got out found themselves prisoners in the hands of Lee's
army.
In September (1864) there was fighting in the
Shenandoah valley between Sheridan and Early (§§ 350,
351), in which Sheridan gained the day. Later, Early took
advantage of Sheridan's absence from his army to surprise the
Union forces at Cedar Creek in the valley. They retreated, and the
retreat soon became a panic. Sheridan was then at Winchester,
about twenty miles away. He heard the cannon with their
Telling the battle was on once more." 1
Mounting his horse, he hurried to the scene of disaster. As he
came up, the Union cavalry greeted him with a great cheer. "Face
the other way!" shouted Sheridan to the retreating men. They did
face the other way, and drove the Confederates "flying" out of
that part of the valley.
353. The War in the West; Sherman's Advance
to Atlanta. According to agreement (§ 348), Sherman began
his advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta the same day (May 4, 1864)
that Grant marched forward into the Wilderness. Atlanta was not
only a
I See Read's poem of
"Sheridan's Ride" in "Heroic Ballads" [Ginn and Company];
then read Sheridan's own modest account of the "ride" in his
"Personal Memoirs,"II, 66-92.
