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commanded the cavalry. The battle of the Wilderness took
place near Hooker's battle-ground of the year before.1
The field was covered with a dense undergrowth. Neither artillery
nor cavalry could 
be
brought into action. In this thicket the opposing armies met in a
deadly conflict which no man could see, and whose progress could
only be followed by the sharp crackling volleys of musketry, and
the Union cheer or rebel yell which told how the varying fight
swayed to and fro. In this battle the Union General James S.
Wadsworth was mortally wounded.
Grant next moved to
Spottsylvania, where he found Lee behind intrenchments,
again prepared to resist his progress. The fighting here continued
more or less severely for twelve days. On the 9th General Sedgwick
was killed by a rebel sharpshooter during a time of comparative
quiet. General Wright2 succeeded to his command. On the
12th the Federals assailed and captured a part of the enemy's line
of defence, but were unable to gain any further advantage. On the
19th the Confederates, sallying out, made an attack, but were
gallantly repulsed. The next day Grant proceeded to turn Lee's
right, and the Confederates fell back towards Richmond. On the 23d
the national army reached the North Anna, only to find the
rebels on the opposite side. A passage was effected, but the enemy
were so strongly posted that Grant returned to the north bank,
moved down to the Pamunkey, which he crossed at Hanovertown, and
pushed on for the Chickahominy. At Cold Harbor his progress
was again arrested. After some lighter attempts to carry the
enemy's position, a general assault was made, June 3, which was
repulsed with frightful slaughter. The loss of the rebels was
comparatively small.3 Their position being too strong
to be carried, and too near the defences of Richmond to be turned,
Grant threw his army across the James.
13. While the Army
of the Potomac was at Spottsylvania, Sheridan, with a picked body
of cavalry, passed around east of the enemy, crossed the
North Anna in their rear, destroyed many miles of railroad,
recaptured some four hundred prisoners on their way to Richmond,
and approaching the rebel capital, May 11, encountered a cavalry
force, and defeated it in an action which cost the rebels the life
of their dashing leader, General Stuart.4 After
carrying the outer defences of Richmond, Sheridan was obliged to
withdraw. He returned by way of White House to the Army of the
Potomac, after an absence of but little more than two weeks -- in
season to take part in the battles at Cold Harbor.
14. On the night that
Grant crossed the Rapidan, General Butler5
embarked his army, and, convoyed by gunboats,
1 The battle of the Wilderness began just a year and a day after the close of the battle Chancellorsville. See p. 282, ¶ 71. 2 See p. 296, ¶ 22.
3 "Twenty minutes after the first shot was fired, fully ten thousand of our men were stretched writhing on the sod, or still and calm in death while the enemy's loss was little more than one thousand." -- Greeley's American Conflict.
4 See p. 271, ¶ 41. 5 See p. 291, ¶ 10.
QUESTIONS. -- 12. What particulars can you give of the battle of the Wilderness? -- Of the battles at Spottsylvania? Of the movements from Spottsylvania to Cold Harbor? Of the battle at Cold Harbor? What did Grant do after his repulse at Cold Harbor? 13. Give an account of the operations of the cavalry under Sheridan. 14. What is said of the movement of General Butler?
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proceeded up the James River. On the next day
he landed the main body of his troops at Bermuda Hundred,
and intrenched himself there. He had about thirty thousand
men.
His command consisted of the corps of
General William F. Smith and of a corps recently brought from
South Carolina by General Gillmore.1 About the middle
of May Butler moved towards Richmond. Approaching Drury's Bluff,
he gained some of the outworks of Fort Darling, and planned
an assault on that stronghold for the 16th. But
Beauregard2 had come up from the Carolinas, and on the
morning of that day, under cover of a dense fog, attacked Butler,
who fell back within the defences at Bermuda Hundred,
having lost nearly four thousand men. The Confederate loss was
somewhat less. Beauregard was afterwards repulsed in several
assaults upon Bermuda Hundred. Butler remained here, and Smith's
corps was taken from him to aid the army at Cold Harbor.
15. While the Army of the
Potomac was crossing the James, Grant attempted the capture of
Petersburg, with Butler's command, bringing up, in support
of the movement, the troops as they crossed the river. Lee,
however, rapidly threw his forces into the defences of that city
and of Richmond, and compelled the Union army to sit down
before them for a regular siege. Grant, while conducting this
siege, by heavy blows upon the rebel lines, now north of
the James, now south of it, by threatening one point and attacking
another, by sending off his cavalry on various expeditions, kept
Lee constantly occupied. The rebel chieftain repelled every
attempt to gain the Confederate capital, but he witnessed from day
to day his army wearing away faster than it could be replenished,
while the heavy Union losses were made good by frequent
reënforcements. In vain did Lee try to break through the
Union army; in vain did he try to divert the attention of his
antagonist, who only drew his lines more closely and securely
around the enemy in and near their capital.
16. We can make special mention
only of some of the more important operations about Petersburg and
Richmond. In the latter part of June the Union troops took up an
intrenched position north of the James, above Malvern Hill, at a
place known as Deep Bottom, and sustained themselves there
in spite of a vigorous opposition. An attempt was
made,
1 See p. 289, ¶ 6, and p. 282, ¶ 69. 2 See p. 255, ¶ 7.
QUESTIONS. -- What is said of Butler's advance towards Richmond, and repulse? Of his subsequent operations at Bermuda Hundred? 15. What did Grant attempt while the Army of the Potomac was crossing the James? How was he repelled, and what was the Union army compelled to do? What is said of Grant's operations during the siege? What of the rebel chieftain? 16. What can you tell of the Union operations at Deep Bottom? Of an attempt to breakthrough the rebel lines by exploding a mine?
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July 30, to break through the rebel lines of defence by
exploding a mine under one of the strongest of the works
before Petersburg. In an instant a six-gun fort, with its garrison
and armament, was thrown
high into the air, and a strong storming party was ordered to
press through the gap thus formed. But the assault was a miserable
failure, and ended in a bloody repulse. While Lee weakened his
southern wing to oppose the operations north of the James, a Union
force, August 18, got possession of the Weldon Railroad,
which connects Weldon with Petersburg and Richmond, and continued
to hold it against the repeated and violent efforts of the enemy
to regain it. During the next month General Butler captured an
important rebel fort north of the James. Another effort to extend
the Union lines south-west of Petersburg led to a severe action at
Hatcher's Run, October 27. These operations of siege,
assault, and defence, cost the Union army, before the close of the
year, near forty thousand men. The Confederates not more than half
that number.1
17. The coöperating
force2 in the Shenandoah Valley and West
Virginia, at first commanded by General Sigel and afterwards
by General Hunter,3 began its movement May 1. But so
far was it from rendering any important assistance to Grant's
advance to the James, that it was driven out of the valley, which
was thus left open to the rebels.
Sigel sent a detachment under General
Crook, with a division of cavalry under General
Averill,4 to operate upon the Kanawha and upon
the railroads of South-western Virginia, while be himself,
advancing up the Shenandoah Valley, met the enemy, May 15, and was
routed near Newmarket. He was then superseded by Hunter,
who defeated the rebels at Piedmont, near Staunton, June 5,
and then, joined by Crook's detachment, marched upon Lynchburg;
but this place was too strong to be prudently attacked, and he was
compelled to retire into West Virginia.
18. There was now nothing to obstruct the
way to the Potomac, and Lee determined to try the experiment of a
third invasion5 of the loyal states. He hoped
thus to compel Grant to raise the siege of Richmond, and hurry to
the defence of the national capital. The rebel commander
despatched General Early,6 who, with a large army,
marching rapidly down the Shenandoah Valley, crossed the Potomac
early in July, threatened Baltimore and Washington, and cut off
communication by railroad and telegraph with the north. But
the
1 See p. 307, ¶ 50. 2 See p. 291, ¶ 10. 3 See p. 264, ¶ 24.
4 See p. 285, ¶ 76. 5 See p. 283, ¶ 73. 6 See p. 306, ¶ 48.
QUESTIONS. -- What can you tell of getting possession of the Weldon Railroad? Of the action at Hatcher's Run? 17. What is said of the coöperating force in West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley? -- For what purpose did Sigel send away a detachment under Crook? Where was Sigel routed? By whom superseded? Give an account of Hunter's victory at Piedmont, and his subsequent movements. 18. What did Lee determine to try? What did he hope to accomplish? Give an account of Early's invasion.
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invasion failed of its object. Grant was able
to provide for the defence of Washington, without relaxing his
grasp upon Richmond, and Early was driven back into Virginia. He,
however, hovered near the Potomac till August.
19.
Entering upon this third invasion with a force not
exceeding twenty thousand men, Early drove across the Potomac the
few Federal troops remaining in the Valley, and followed them into
Maryland. Again the excitement attendant upon the former invasions
was renewed. Washington was nearly defenceless, and the loyal
states sent troops to protect it. Grant spared
Wright's1 corps from the James, and other troops were
forwarded to repel the invader. Early defeated General Lewis
Wallace,2 who, on the 8th of July, with a handful of
men, withstood him for a time on the Monocacy River, near
Frederick, Maryland. He next sent a body of cavalry towards
Baltimore, and cut off that city from the north, while he himself
marched upon Washington. After some skirmishing before the
capital, he retreated across the Potomac. The Union troops pressed
after him, and had several encounters with him. On the 24th of
July the rebels fell upon the Federals, then under General
Crook,3 routed and drove them across the Potomac, and
followed them into Maryland. A body of rebel cavalry advancing
upon Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, July 30, demanded a ransom
of five hundred thousand dollars, which not being paid, the
raiders set fire to the town, and burned two thirds of it. On the
retreat this force was overtaken by Averill,3 near
Moorefield,4 and routed, losing artillery,
trains, and many prisoners.
20. Sheridan5
was now appointed to command on the Potomac. He struck Early a
succession of telling blows, and sent him "whirling up the Valley"
of the Shenandoah. Then laying waste this fertile region, so that
the rebels could draw no further supplies from it, he returned
northward, and took position
1 See p. 292, ¶ 12. 2 See p. 247, ¶ 16. 3 See p. 294, ¶ 17.
4 On the South branch of the Potomac, south-west of Romney. 5 See p. 291, ¶ 12.
QUESTIONS. -- 19. Give some further particulars of this invasion, and the efforts to resist it. What can you tell of the action on the Monocracy River, and of Early's operations in Maryland after the action? What of his retreat across the Potomac, and the Federal pursuit? Of the return of the rebels into Maryland? Of the burning of Chambersburg? Of the second retreat of the enemy and the action at Moorefield? 20. Who was now appointed to command on the Potomac? What is said of Sheridan's first operations against Early and in the Valley?
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behind Cedar Creek. Here Early, who had
been reënforced, 1864. suddenly
fell upon the Union army, October 19, in the absence of the
commanding general, and drove it from the field; but Sheridan,
arriving, turned the disaster into a glorious victory. After this,
the Shenandoah Valley ceased to be the theatre of important
operations. The shattered remnants of Early's army joined Lee at
Richmond, and a large part of Sheridan's force joined Grant.
21. Sheridan had about thirty
thousand men, Early probably one third less. The former did not
assume a vigorous offensive till about the middle of September,
and on the 19th he attacked the enemy near
Winchester,1 and drove them from the field. They
fled to Fisher's Hill, and took refuge behind earthworks.
The Union commander lost no time in following, and again put them
to utter rout, September 22. The rebels lost, in prisoners alone,
more than four thousand men. Sheridan pursued as far as Staunton,
and on his return swept the Valley -- which had been a
great storehouse and granary for the rebel armies in Virginia --
of cattle, crops, and everything that could be of use to the
enemy. He also destroyed many houses which had sheltered
guerrillas, who had murdered his troops.
22. Reënforcements were now
sent to Early, and he again advanced down the Valley. After
several minor engagements, be suddenly fell upon the Union forces
at Cedar Creek, on the morning of October 19, while
Sheridan was absent. The attack was furious. The Confederates
swept over the defences, and in a short time had driven the
Federals back four miles. General Wright,2 temporarily
in command, made great efforts to stem the tide of disaster, and
succeeded in arresting the retreat. Just then Sheridan, who, on
his way from Winchester, had caught the distant sound of battle,
dashed up to the front, and by his voice and presence infused
fresh confidence into his disheartened troops, and the exultant
rebels were driven in total disorder back, over all the ground
they had gained, abandoning in their flight, besides their
captures in the early part of the day, many cannon and a great
amount of army equipage. This victory cost the national army three
thousand men. The rebel loss was greater; Early's army was
virtually broken up.3
23. While such had been the progress of
the war in Virginia, General Sherman,4 in the
west, had been conducting one of the most remarkable campaigns
on record. He moved, with an army of Dearly one hundred thousand
men, from the neighborhood of Chattanooga, May 6, on his march
to Atlanta.
1 This action is also called the battle of Opequan Creek. 2 See p, 295, ¶ 19.
3 See p. 306, ¶ 48. 4 See p 291, ¶ 10.
QUESTIONS. -- Give an account of the battle at Cedar Creek. Result of this victory? 21. What further particulars can you give of Sheridan's operations, including the victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill? Of his laying waste the Shenandoah Valley? 22. What more can you tell of the battle at Cedar Creek? 23. Meanwhile what had Sherman been doing in the west?
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By successive flank
movements he obliged General Johnston,1 confronting him
with about fifty-five thousand men, to fall back from one strong
position to another, pushed him across the 
Chattahoochee,
and, about the middle of July, forced him to take refuge within
the intrenchments of Atlanta. He then laid siege to the city.
During this march severe battles were fought at Resaca,
Dallas, and on Kenesaw Mountain.
24. Sherman's army consisted of
the commands of Generals McPherson,2
Thomas,3 and Schofield.4 His course lay
through a country full of mountains, ravines, and rivers, and
hence peculiarly adapted to the defensive warfare which Johnston
adopted. The Confederate position about Dalton was too
strong to be carried by assault, and Sherman, while a part of his
army threatened the enemy in front, flanked them on the west with
the rest, and compelled them to fall back to Resaca. After
a battle there, May 15, they retreated to Allatoona Pass.
Attempting to turn this position, the Union army encountered the
Confederates at Dallas, in several engagements, May 25-28,
and the enemy fell back, making a stand on Kenesaw Mountain
and the neighboring heights, where they held Sherman at bay for
nearly a month, with frequent skirmishes and engagements, in one
of which the rebel General Polk5 was killed. At length,
July 2, Sherman again, by a flank march, made it necessary for
Johnston to retreat, and shelter himself within the fortifications
of Atlanta. After driving the Confederates from Resaca, Sherman
sent out a detachment, under General Jefferson C. Davis, which
captured Rome, where the enemy had founderies, mills, and
military stores.
25. At Atlanta,
Johnston was superseded by General John B. Hood, who made (July
20, 22, and 28) three furious assaults upon the Union lines, but
was repulsed in each with great loss.
1 See p. 290, ¶ 9. 2 See p. 281, ¶ 66. 3 See p. 276, ¶ 54.
4 See p. 305, ¶ 44. 5 See p. 250, ¶ 26.
QUESTIONS. -- Give an account of Sherman's march to Atlanta. What severe battles were fought during this march? 24. What is said of Sherman's army and the country through which it passed? Of driving the enemy from Dalton? From Resaca? Of the attempt to turn Allatoona Pass? After the battles at Dallas, where did the enemy make a stand? What is said of the operations about Kenesaw Mountain, and of the next flank march? What can you tell of the capture of Rome? 25. Who superseded Johnston at Atlanta? What of Hood's three assaults upon the Union lines?
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© 1999, 2000, 2001 for NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller