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by Gen. Bragg, with his own troops and Hill's division of the Army of Tennessee. The enemy was completely routed, and fifteen hundred pris oners taken. On the 9th March, Gen. Bragg found the enemy several miles in rear strongly entrenched, and, after a faint attack, drew off.

On the 14th, this body of the enemy, under Schofield, crossed the Neuse River, occupied Kinston, and entered Goldsboro on the 21st. The column from Wilmington reached Cox's Bridge on the Neuse River, ten miles above Goldsboro, on the 22d.

It remained now for Sherman to keep the rendezvous and complete the combination. But to do so and make the last stage of his march, it was clear that he would have to do some more important and severe fighting than he had experienced since he and Johnston parted at Atlanta—the latter General having been put in command of the Confederate forces in the Carolinas. It appeared indeed that a formidable army was at last collecting in his pathway. Beauregard at Charlotte, had been reinforced by Cheatham and the garrison at Augusta, and had had ample time to move in the direction of Raleigh. Hardee had evacuated Charleston, in time to keep ahead of Sherman, and was moving to the same point. It was easy for Bragg and Hoke in North Carolina also to effect a junction with these forces, swelling them, it would be supposed, to a formidable army. But this army, which appeared so imposing in the enumeration of its parts, was no match for Sherman. When the enemy's campaign in South Carolina commenced, Hardee had eighteen thousand men. He reached Cheraw with eleven thousand, and Averysboro with about six thousand. Eleven hundred State troops left him between those places by order of Gov. Magrath of South Carolina; but the balance of his great loss was due, almost entirely, to desertions. These figures are from an official source, and show without the aid of commentary how low had fallen the military organization and spirit of the Confederacy.

On the 15th March Sherman put his army in motion from Fayetteville. In the narrow ground between Cape Fear River and Black Creek, which becomes Black River, and empties into the Cape Fear below Fayetteville, Gen. Hardee was posted, his force consisting of two small divisions under Maj.-Gens. McLaws and Taliaferro. He held his ground, without difficulty, on the 16th. But at night, finding that the Federal right had crossed Black River and moved towards Goldsboro, and that the left was crossing the creek as if to turn his position, he abandoned it before daybreak, and reached Elevation, on the road to Smithfield, at noon of the 17th.

On the 17th Gen. Bragg was encamped near Smithfield with Hoke's North Carolina division, four thousand seven hundred and seventy men. Lieut.-Gen. Stewart was in the same neighbourhood with nearly four thou sand of the Army of Tennessee, under Maj.-Gens. Loring, D. H. Hill, and Stevenson.

BATTLE OF BENTONVILLE.

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At daybreak of the 18th a report was received from Gen. Hampton, to the effect that the Federal army was moving on Goldsboro in two columns: the 15th and 17th corps, on the direct road from Fayetteville to that place, and the 14th and 20th on that from Averysboro. By previous reports the former was nearly a day's march in advance of the latter, which would probably reach the point opposite Bentonsville early on the 19th. That place is about two miles north of the road, and sixteen miles from Smithfield. By the State map the roads followed by the Federal troops are twelve miles apart here, and Elevation twelve miles from Bentonsville. Orders were immediately given for concentration there that evening. Bragg's and Stewart's troops reached the ground easily. But Hardee's were unable to do so. Bentonsville is incorrectly placed on the map, and its distance from Elevation much greater than is indicated, and no direct road could be found. Consequently Hardee arrived not until the morning of the 19th. In the mean time the enemy came up, and attacked Hoke's division, which had been formed across the road, Stewart's corps on its right, its own much thrown forward. This attack was so vigorous that Gen. Bragg called for aid, and McLaw's division then arriving, was sent to him; the other, Taliaferro's, was placed on Stewart's right. Before these troops got into position, the attack on our left had been repulsed, as well as a subsequent one upon Loring's division. Hardee was then directed to charge with Stewart's troops and Taliaferro's division, the latter being thrown on the enemy's left flank. Bragg's troops were ordered to join in the movement successively, from right to left.

On the right, where the ground was open, the attack was perfectly successful, driving the 14th corps back at least a mile and a half into dense thickets; but the progress of the left was soon stopped in very thick woods by entrenchments. The fight began at three o'clock, and continued until dark. Wheeler's cavalry was to have fallen upon the rear of the Federal left; but a swollen creek which intervened kept it out of action. After burying the dead as far as practicable at night, and removing his wounded and many of those of the enemy, Gen. Johnston resumed his first position.

The battle-known as that of Bentonsville-although it had failed to fulfil what was probably Johnston's purpose, to cripple Sherman before he could effect a junction with Schofield, had been a most creditable affair for the Confederates. With fourteen thousand men they had encountered the 14th and 20th corps of the enemy and Kilpatrick's cavalry, an aggregate probably of forty thousand men.

On the 20th the whole Federal army was in Johnston's front, which was changed parallel to the road. The Confederates were compelled to hold their ground that day and the next, to cover the operation of carrying off their wounded. Sherman's whole army was before them, and made many partial attacks, all of which were repulsed. On the afternoon of the

21st, the 17th corps penetrated the thin line of cavalry which formed the Confederate left, and almost reached a bridge in rear of the centre, over which lay the only road left to Johnston. It was easily driven back by the reserve.

Before daybreak on the 22d Gen. Johnston moved towards Smithfield, leaving a few wounded who were too much injured to bear removal. His loss in the three days was two hundred and twenty-four killed, one thousand four hundred and ninety-nine wounded, and more than three hundred prisoners. That of the enemy must have been much greater, as the Confederates had the advantage in the fighting, and generally fought under cover. More than eight hundred prisoners were reported.

The junction of Sherman's and Schofield's forces was effected at Goldsboro' the next day. It made an army of more than one hundred thousand men within one hundred and fifty miles of the lines in Virginia. No sooner had Sherman disposed his army in camp about Goldsboro' than he hastened to City Point, where he had a conference with Gen. Grant, at which President Lincoln was present, and where was settled the final plan of combination against Richmond; it being intended that Sherman should move to the line of the Roanoke and thence on the Richmond and Danville road, or directly to the front of Petersburg. But this plan was never carried into operation; Grant saw reason to anticipate it; and the fate of Richmond was decided without any participation of Sherman in the catastrophe.

CHAPTER XLI.

GEN. LEE'S LINES AROUND RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG.-COMPARISON OF HIS FORCE WITH THAT OF THE ENEMY.-GEN. LEE'S SENTIMENT ABOUT SURRENDER.-DULL CONDITION OF THE POPULACE IN RICHMOND.-EXTRAVAGANT RUMOURS.-STORY OF THE FRENCH MESSENGER. THE FORTRESS MONROE CONFERENCE.-MR. BLAIR'S VISIT TO RICHMOND.-NOTES OF PRESIDENTS DAVIS AND LINCOLN.-CONVERSATION OF THE FORMER WITH ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.-OFFICIAL NARRATIVE OF THE CONFERENCE IN HAMPTON ROADS.-A RHETORICAL APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CONFEDERACY.-A DAY OF SPEECHES IN RICHMOND.-PRESIDENT DAVIS' SPEECH AT THE AFRICAN CHURCH.-ITS EXTRAVAGANT AND SWOLLEN TONE.-A REMARK ON THE TEMPER AND VANITY OF THE PRESIDENT.-BATTLE OF HARE'S HILL.-DESIGN OF THE ACTION ON THE PART OF GEN. LEE.—THE GENERAL DISPOSITION OF HIS FORCES.-CAPTURE OF FORT STEADMAN.-THE CONFEDERATES FALTER.WHAT THE DAY PROVED.-THE LAST BATTLES AROUND PETERSBURG.-WHY GRANT HURRIED THE FINAL OPERATIONS. THE PRELIMINARY EXPEDITION OF SHERIDAN'S CAVALRY.WHAT IT ACCOMPLISHED.-THE ATTEMPT UPON LEE'S RIGHT.-DESPERATE RESOURCE OF THE CONFEDERATE COMMANDER.-BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS.-MISBEHAVIOUR OF THE CONFEDERATES.-GEN. LEE'S REPROACH.-BOMBARDMENT OF THE PETERSBURG LINES. THE ASSAULT. THE CONFEDERATES' LINES BROKEN.-DEFENCE of fort gregg.-A THRILLING SCENE OF SELF-DEVOTION.-THE CONFEDERATES FORCED BACK UPON PETERSBURG.— DEATH OF GEN. A. P. HILL.-EVACUATION OF RICHMOND.-THE CITY UNPREPARED FOR THE NEWS.-FRIGHT AND DISORDER IN THE STREETS.-A CURIOUS SCENE IN THE CAPITOL. -GEN. EWELL'S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE CITY.-HE FIRES A NUMBER OF WAREHOUSES.A FRIGHTFUL CONFLAGRATION.-SCENES OF SUBLIME HORROUR.-GRAND ENTREE OF THE FEDERALS.-RAVAGES OF THE FIRE.-EXULTATION IN NORTHERN CITIES.-STUFF OF YANKEE NEWSPAPERS.-DUE ESTIMATE OF GRANT'S ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FALL OF RICHMOND.-DEFINITION OF GENERALSHIP.-THE QUALITIES OF MIND EXHIBITED BY THE NORTH IN THE WAR.

In the first months of 1865 Gen. Lee held both Richmond and Petersburg with not more than thirty-three thousand men. At this time Grant's strength, as rated at the War Department in Washington, exceeded one hundred and sixty-thousand men. Such was the disparity of force in the final array of the contest for Richmond. Gen. Lee's lines stretched from below Richmond on the north side of the James to Hatcher's Run away beyond Petersburg on the south side. He had forty miles of defence; and it may well be imagined that with his little force posted over such a dis

tance, his line of battle was almost as thin as a skirmish line. Duty was incessant; it was fatiguing in the greatest degree; the Confederates had no reserves, and when a brigade was taken to asssist at some threatened point, the position it left was endangered. But even in this extreme situation, Gen. Lee had not yet despaired of the cause of the Confederacy. He was gravely sensible of the danger; in frequent conference with committees of the Congress at Richmond, he stated frankly his anxiety, but urged levies of negro troops, held out what hope he could, and expressly and firmly discountenanced any surrender of the Confederate cause by premature negotiations with Washington. On one of these occasions he made the personal declaration for himself that he had rather die on the battle-field than surrender-a sentiment which provoked the sneer of a well-known" Union " man in Richmond, and the remark that "Gen. Lee talked like a school-girl."

The populace of Richmond was but little aware of the terrible decrease of Gen. Lee's army; and indeed the people of the Confederacy were studiously kept in the dark as to all details of the military situation. So reticent had the Government become, that the newspapers were forbid publishing anything of military affairs beyond the scanty doles of information and the skeleton telegrams furnished to the reporters by an official authority, and copied at the desks of the War Department. It thus happened that while there was a general despondency of the public mind, there were few outside the severe official circles of Richmond who knew the real extremities to which the arms and affairs of the Confederacy had fallen. There was a dull expectation of what was next to happen; there was a vague condition of the public mind, in which, although not able to discover any substantial and well-defined ground of hope, it yet plodded. on under the shadow of old convictions, and with a dim anticipation of something favourable in the future. While every one affirmed that the affairs of the Confederacy were in a bad way, and while every one ap peared to have a certain sense of approaching misfortune, there were very few who knew the real condition and numbers of the armies of the Confederacy, and realized how far had been undermined its system of defence. It was difficult indeed to believe that the Army of Northern Virginia— that army, whose name had been for four years as the blast of victoryhad declined to a condition in which it was no longer capable of offensive operations. It was difficult indeed to abandon altogether the idea that the happy accident of a victory somewhere in the Confederacy might not, after all, put a new aspect on affairs. Even if the conclusion of subjugation had become probable, its day was at least uncertain, distant; and the opinion of Gen. Lee was quoted in the streets of Richmond that in any event the Southern Confederacy was likely to last another year's campaign. Many lived in the circle of each day; the idea of Independence was yet in the

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