CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA. 527 side, but it began again the next morning, and resulted in a Confederate gain, for Rosecrans was forced to fall back to Chattanooga, which he fortified. There he was besieged for two months by Bragg, when he was superseded by Grant, who was joined by Sherman on the fifteenth of November. General Hooker also arrived from Virginia to take part in the decisive battles that were to follow on a field thirteen miles in length. On the twenty-fourth of November, Hooker advanced up Lookout Mountain, in the face of great difficulties, forcing the Confederates from their positions, and the next morning he moved down, driving them from the Chattanooga Valley. At the same time Sherman had crossed the Tennessee River, and taken possession of the north end of Missionary Ridge. The morning of the twenty-fifth, Sherman pushed forward, and assisted by Thomas and Sheridan, pushed the Confederates under Bragg from their positions. By evening they were routed. The next day was a day of thanksgiving. Burnside had been shut up at Knoxville, and now Sherman pushed on to his relief. But before he could arrive there, he heard that Longstreet had been repulsed, and was in full retreat towards Virginia. Early in the new year, General Sherman received. orders to destroy the railroads centring at Meridian, Miss., and he carried them out so successfully that the Confederates were prevented from moving large bodies of men in the State, or of drawing supplies from it. He left Vicksburg on the third of February, and was back again followed by crowds of negro fugitives, on the twentieth. In the meantime he had destroyed railway-stations, machine-shops and bridges and had twisted the rails in such a manner that they could not be used again. It was a heavy blow to the Confederates.* Sherman Following this stroke came the revival of the grade of lieutenant-general in the army, which had been borne by Washington, and, by brevet, by Scott. It was conferred upon Grant, who was thus (March 9) placed at the head of all the armies. Taking a month to determine his plans, and consulting Sherman, Grant determined upon two general simultaneous movements, to which all others were to be subordinate. was to march against Atlanta, then defended by General Joseph E. Johnston, and the army of the Potomac under Meade and Grant, was to operate against the army of Northern Virginia, under General Robert E. Lee. After severe fighting, both of these plans proved successful. Meade broke camp on the third of May, and began his march to Richmond, entering "the Wilderness," where every obstacle had been placed in his way.† He was attacked by the enemy, and fearful struggles occurred on the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth, the Federals gaining some ground at great loss. Hancock captured General Edward Johnson, and three thousand men, among whom was General George H. Stewart. Sherman destroyed one hundred and fifty miles of railroad, sixtyseven bridges, seven hundred trestles, twenty locomotives, twenty-eight cars, several thousand bales of cotton, several steam mills, and over two million bushels of corn. †The Wilderness is a region of thick woods to the south of Chancellorsville. The country is more open towards Fredericksburg, which lies to the east. The old "Wilderness Tavern," the headquarters of Meade, near the middle of the desolate region, was the scene of the battle of May 5th. Spottsylvania Court House lies further South. IN THE WILDERNESS. 529 At the same time General Sheridan was destroying the railways in the rear of Lee, and endeavoring to cut off his connection with Richmond. During this dash he encountered General J. E. B. Stuart, who was killed. Sheridan rejoined Grant May 25. It was after the battle of Spottsylvania Court House (May 9-12) that Grant telegraphed that he proposed to "fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." It took much longer than "all summer," but still Grant persevered. While these operations were going on, there was active work in the valley of the Shenandoah, where General Sigel was operating against General Breckenridge. He was routed May 15, and his command transferred to General Hunter, who gained a victory at Piedmont, but was afterwards obliged to retreat to West Virginia, when General Early was sent to invade Maryland and threaten Washington. Early crossed the Potomac, July 5, with twenty-thousand men, but was repulsed at the battle of Monocacy, July 9, by General Lewis Wallace, and retreated to Baltimore, where he was received with acclamations by those who sympathized with the Confederate cause. He proceeded towards Washington, which was in great danger, but he was finally forced to retreat across the Potomac, July 12. He was pursued, and again defeated at Winchester, but he rallied and entered Pennsylvania at Chambersburg, which he offered to spare for half a million dollars. This the inhabitants refused, and the soldiers rifled the houses of all they could carry, and set the town on fire. Sheridan was then sent to oppose Early, and defeated him September 19, on Opequam Creek. The valley was devas tated by both armies. After receiving reënforcements, Early returned, and surprised Sheridan's army at Winchester. Sheridan, who was absent, arrived at the front in time to change a rout to a victory, and sent Early permanently from the valley, October 19. Mr. Pollard, the historian of "The Lost Cause," thinks that when Sheridan had made the supremacy of the Union arms in the valley a fixed fact, the way in which the long struggle was to terminate was decided, though Northern writers have considered that Vicksburg or Gettysburg was the decisive battle. Grant's first intention had been to make General W. B. Franklin commander in this campaign, and after *Philip Henry Sheridan, a native of Ohio, was born March 6, 1831. graduated at West Point in 1853. His first duty was in Texas, after and which, in 1855, he was sent to Oregon, where he remained until 1861, when he was appointed quartermaster in Missouri. He was in the battle of Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862, and for his service on that occasion was made major-general of volunteers. He was engaged in the battle of Chickamauga. His subsequent service was in connection with the army of the Potomac. March 4, 1869, he was made majorgeneral of the regular army. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 531 him he had selected General Meade, before appointing Sheridan. Meanwhile Sherman had begun his operations in the West, moving from Chattanooga, May 7, arriving near Atlanta July 17. Johnston had retired his forces within the fortifications of Atlanta, but was on the seventeenth succeeded by General Hood, who on the twentieth, made a sally from the works. He was repulsed, and Sherman began a siege which soon showed Hood that he was out generaled. He therefore destroyed all his material that he could, and began a retreat September 1st. General Grant wrote to Sherman, "I feel that you have performed the most gigantic undertaking given to any general in this war, and with a skill and ability that will be acknowledged in history as unsurpassed, if not unequalled." President Lincoln also wrote a letter of thanks. Sherman saw that Hood was capable of doing a great deal of harm with his army of forty thousand with which he had retreated into Tennessee, expecting to be followed, and he sent Thomas to take care of him, while he removed all families from Atlanta, making it a military post, and then set out on his "March to the sea," November 15. He moved in four columns, subsisting upon the country, and destroying the railways as he went, and arrived at Savannah, December 10. On the twentieth, General Hardee, with fifteen thousand men, escaped from Savannah, and retreated to Charleston. On the twenty-second, General Sherman established his headquarters at Savannah, having lost less than six hundred men on his march from Atlanta. Hood, marching towards Tennessee, arrived at |