316

THE RAVAGES OF WAR.

cumstance of his ammunition being nearly exhausted, he thought it pru dent not to prosecute an attack on the city, but to retire. Neither was it prudent to go back by the way he had advanced, for a heavy Confederate force might easily be thrown upon his rear by means of the Virginia Central railway; so he retired westward to Salem, hotly pursued as far as that place, and then made his way, with a very scanty supply of food for man and beast, over the mountains, by the village of New Castle, to Meadow Bridge, in the direction of the Kanawha. There, only a few days before, Crook and Averill had left a million and a half of rations in charge of two regiments of Ohio one hundred days' men, and expected to find a supply for. the famishing army. They were disappointed. A band of guerrillas had swept away rations and men, and it was not until the 27th that a supply was obtained. The army had suffered dreadfully in that exhausted mountain region, and was much weaker in numbers and moral strength than when it left Staunton. It had inflicted vast injury upon the Confederates in the destruction of founderies, mills, factories, and other property of value to the Confederates, but had achieved little that had any important bearing on the campaign. Its now far distance from the grand theater of operations against Richmond, caused it to be lost to that campaign for several weeks.

June, 1864.

The ravages of the war upon the head waters of the streams between the Potomac and James Rivers, at that time, were dreadful. It was a region

wherein lay the estates of

some of the older and most distinguished families of Virginia, and the sudden change wrought in the condition of the residents was lamentable. It was saddening to see the wealthy and refined, the noble and gentle -men and women who had never experienced poverty nor the necessity for toiling, -instantly reduced from abundance and ease, to want and hardship. Elegant mansions filled with rare and costly furniture, valuable books and works of art, were laid waste; and the broad lands were stripped of laborers, utensils, and almost every living creature. Family coaches, which had descended from generation to generation since colonial times, were converted into ambulances for the sick and wounded, and reduced to ruin by the rough usages of war; and other precious heir-looms, with valuable records, public and private, were sacrificed to the appetite of the demons of Discord and Desolation.

MOVEMENTS OF THE ARMY OF THE JAMES.

317

CHAPTER XII.

OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND.

HILE Meade and Lee were struggling in the vicinity of the Rapid Anna, General Butler, then in command of the Army of the James, was co-operating with the Army of the Potomac in accordance with a plan which he had proposed to the General-in-Chief, and which that officer had approved. That plan contemplated a vigorous movement against Richmond on the south side of the James River, the first objective being City Point, at the mouth of the Appomattox River. Grant issued orders accordingly, and directed General Butler to move simultaneously with Meade.

April 2,

1864.

Butler was well prepared for the execution of his part of the plan, when, at the beginning of May, he received orders to advance. His effective force was about forty thousand men, and was composed chiefly of the Eighteenth Army Corps, commanded by General W. F. Smith, and the Tenth Army Corps, which had lately been ordered from South Carolina, led by General Gillmore, who arrived at Fortress Monroe on the 3d of May.

May 1.

Butler's first care was to mislead the Confederates concerning his intentions. For that purpose he first sent' Henry's brigade of New York troops to West Point, at the head of York River, to begin the construction of wharves,

WILLIAMS
BURG

IT MAGRUDER

YORKTOWN

GLOUCESTER

CHESAPEAKE

HAMPTON

F1 MONRO

NEWPORT NEWCE

RIPRA

ROADS

CONFEDERATE DEFENSES BETWEEN HAMPTON AND WILLIAMSBURG.

while cavalry made a demonstration in the direction of Richmond. He also sent the bulk of his army in that direction as far as the old lines of McClellan' at Yorktown and Gloucester Point; and so successful was the

1 For an account of the operations of McClellan between Fortress Monroe and Williamsburg, see Chapters XIV. and XV., volume II. The route from Hampton; the fortifications at Big Bethel, and in the vicinity of Yorktown and Williamsburg, are indicated in the little map on this page.

318

SEIZURE OF CITY POINT AND VICINITY.

stratagem, that the Confederates were satisfied that Butler was about to move on Richmond in the pathway trodden by McClellan two years before,' and they made preparations accordingly. They were quickly undeceived, but not until it was too late to prevent the mischief wrought by the deception. On the night of the 4th," transports, sent up from HampMay, 1864. ton Roads, conveyed Butler's army around to the James River, and by dawn the next morning, artillery and infantry, to the number of thirty-five thousand men, accompanied by a squadron of war vessels, under Admiral Lee, were rapidly ascending that stream for the purpose of seizing City Point. At the same time General A. V. Kautz, with three thousand cavalry, moved out from Suffolk, forced a passage over the Blackwater River, and, pushing rapidly westward, struck the Weldon railway at Stony Creek, some distance south of Petersburg, and burned the bridge there; while Colonel Robert M. West, with about eighteen hundred cavalry (mostly colored men), advanced from Williamsburg up the north bank of the James River, keeping parallel with the great flotilla of war vessels and transports on its bosom. This expedition, and the advance of the Army of the Potomac from the north, were grand movements preliminary to another dreadful struggle for the possession of Richmond in the vicinity of the Chickahominy River a region made forever memorable by the seven days' battles there, in the summer of 1862.

The expedition moved so unexpectedly and rapidly up the river, that the Confederates could make no effective dispositions for opposing it. Portions of Wilde's brigade of negro troops were landed at Wilson's wharf, on the north side of the river, and at Fort Powhatan, on the south side, thus securing and holding, for the protection of its navigation, important points at bends in the stream. On the afternoon of the same day, Hink's division landed at City Point, and took possession without any opposition. That night General Graham captured the Confederate signal-station near, and the war vessels moved up to a position above the mouth of the Appomattox. At the same time a heavy force landed upon an irregular triangle of land at the mouth of the Appomattox, lying between it and the James River, called Bermuda Hundred, and proceeded to cast up a line of intrenchments across the western side of the camp from river to river, while gun-boats in both streams completely covered each flank of the position. Thus, in the space of twenty-four hours, Butler gained a commanding and important foothold within fifteen miles of Richmond, in a straight line, and only about eight from Petersburg. The movement was a complete surprise to the Confed

3

1 See chapters XIV., XV., and XVI., volume II. The map on the opposite page, omitted by accident when that record was printed, will not only give the reader an idea of the entire region of stirring operations in Southeastern Virginia at that time, but may be usefully consulted when studying the great and decisive campaign we are now considering.

2 The transports were preceded by three army gun-boats, under the command of General Charles R. Graham, formerly of the navy. The remainder of the naval force consisted of four "monitors," the iron-clad Atlanta, and ten gun-boats, commanded by Rear-Admiral S. P. Lee, whose flag-ship was the Malvern, formerly a blockade-runner.

At sunset on the 4th, you were threatening the enemy's capital from West Point and White House, within thirty miles on its eastern side. Within twenty-four hours, at sunset on the 5th of May, by a march of 130 miles, you transported 35,000 men-their luggage, supplies, horses, wagons and artillery-within fifteen miles of the south side of Richmond, with such celerity and secresy, that the enemy were wholly unprepared for your coming, and allowed you, without opposition, to seize the strongest natural position on the continent. A victory all the more valuable because bloodless!"—General Butler's Address to the Soldiers of the Army of the James, October 11, 1864.

320

CONFEDERATE TROOPS CALLED FROM CHARLESTON.

erates, and produced great consternation at Richmond. In the mean time the armed vessels had been busy in keeping the river open, and they now engaged in the perilous work of fishing up torpedoes, with which, in places, its channel had been sown. Notwithstanding the great precautions observed, one of the smaller gun-boats, named Commodore Jones, was totally destroyed by the explosion of one of these mines under it,' by which twenty of its officers and crew were killed, and forty-eight were wounded. In the mean time Colonel West, with his cavalry, had made his way across the Chickahominy to the shore of the James at Harrison's Landing, and been taken. thence, on transports, to Bermuda Hundred.

A quick and vigorous movement upon Petersburg and Richmond at that time might have resulted in the capture of both cities, for very few Confederate troops appear to have then been in either place. That fact was unknown by the Nationals, and a wise caution, rightfully exercised, caused a delay fatal to the speedy achievement of such victories, for strength was quickly imparted to both posts. When the movement of Butler and the arrival of Gillmore with troops from Charleston harbor was first known to the Confederates at Richmond, Beauregard was ordered to hasten from Charleston to the latter place, with all possible dispatch, with the troops. under his command there, others drawn from Georgia and Florida, and such as he might gather in his passage through North Carolina. He instantly obeyed, and when General Kautz struck the Weldon road, as we have seen, he found these re-enforcements for Lee passing over it. A large portion of them were left south of that cutting,' but as Kautz could not hold the road nor advance toward Petersburg, he returned to City Point, leaving the Confederates to make their way without further molestation. Before Petersburg was seriously threatened by Butler, Beauregard's troops were there in strong force.

May 8, 1864.

It was expected that General Butler's movements, after he should gain a position on the south side of the James River, and intrench it, should be governed much by those of the Army of the Potomac, with which he was acting as an auxiliary. It was believed that the latter would march quickly from the Rapid Anna to the lines before Richmond, defeating Lee, or driving him within the intrenchments at the Confederate capital. So soon as Butler should hear the sounds of battle on the north side of the James, in front of the beleaguered city, he was to move against it on the south side, and in perfect co-operation, and even junction, the two armies were thus to work together. But the unexpected detention of the Army of the Potomac at The Wilderness, and at Spottsylvania Court-House, compelled Butler to stand much on the defensive; and in the absence of orders to march on either Richmond or Petersburg immediately after seizing City Point and Bermuda Hundred, he was forced to be governed by circumstances, and assume grave responsibilities. He therefore resolved to do what he might

1 These torpedoes were simply cases of tin, containing about seventy-five pounds of gunpowder, and were exploded by means of a string extending to the shore, which, when pulled, caused an apparatus like that of a gun to explode a percussion cap.

2 D. H. Hill, with 3,000 troops, had passed northward, and Beauregard, with 5,000, was south of Stony Creek Station. Besides the bridge and track, a large quantity of provisions and forage was destroyed at that place.