BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA.

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corps. Burnside, on the extreme left, pressed on and quickly joined his right to Hancock's left. The Sixth corps urged itself against Ewell's left; Warren's corps, on the extreme (Union) right, became engaged in a hot contest, and the battle rolled along the whole line. The enemy, at nine o'clock A. M., repeatedly charged the Second and Ninth corps, in order to regain the position which he had lost. For three hours the battle fiercely raged, and the carnage was terrible. The masses of the enemy were hurled against the patriot line, only to be repulsed each time with great slaughter, and at noon, they were compelled for a time to cease their attempts to recapture the lost position. The patriot advance, however, was checked, and most of the captured guns were exposed to the aim of sharpshooters, and could be carried off by neither side.

The Unionists, on the centre and right, had made a fierce. assault on the hostile centre, but failed to capture the impregnable position, and the effort was abandoned. There was a brief cessation, and early in the afternoon, General Meade shortened and massed his line on the left, and pressed hard upon the Confederate right and right centre, by a tremendous musketry and artillery fire. The tide of battle rolled with varying success till the approach of night, when finding that the patriot troops had now left their front, the enemy massed on the Union left, and fought with great desperation, yielding only inch by inch, the muddy and bloodstained soil when it could be held no longer. The dead and wounded lay in heaps; the rival bayonets interlocked, and for hours the deadly strife raged over the intrenchments, where the Union banner waved, intertwined with the Confederate flag, and each in turn, riddled and torn, disappeared from view.

The enemy now massed against Wilcox's division, on the extreme Union left, which latter, though gallantly resisting, was borne back; three hundred men of Hartranft's brigade being captured, and as many more killed and wounded. A fierce artillery fire checked and drove the rebels back. The other divisions of the same corps not only held their ground, but penetrated the hostile intrenchments. For the fourteen hours that the battle continued, the fierceness of the conflict was unsurpassed by any action since the beginning of the war. A decided success-the first in the campaign—had been

424

UNION AND REBEL LOSSES.

achieved. Night again shrouded the bloody field. The patriots had gained, and now held, a foothold in the enemy's lines, from which desperate and repeated assaults failed to expel them.

The enemy fell back to a new position during the night, and an attack at dawn by the Fifth and Sixth corps was ordered, but the position was found to be too strong to offer any hope of success. Heavy rains impeded any warlike movements for some days. The lines were again changed; Warren holding the left, Wright the left centre, Burnside the right centre, and Hancock the right.

During the cessation of hostilities for a week, both armies were reinforced with all the troops which they could bring up, for the continuance of a conflict, in which Grant had determined to give the enemy no rest. The first act of the campaign was now ended, and the contending armies buried their dead, and attended to their wounded. The patriots had lost two hundred and sixty-nine officers and three thousand and nineteen men killed, one thousand and seventeen officers and eighteen thousand two hundred and sixty-one men wounded, and one hundred and seventeen officers and six thousand six hundred and sixty-seven men missing, mostly captured; total during the eight days, twenty-nine thousand three hundred and fifty. Among the officers killed, were Major-general Sedgwick, and Brigadier-generals Wadsworth, Hays, Rice, and Stevenson; several general officers were wounded, and two captured. The loss on the side of the enemy was over thirty thousand, of whom eight thousand were captured, as also eighteen cannon, and twenty-two flags. The enemy lost Major-general Samuel Jones, and Brigadier-generals Jenkins, John M. Jones, Daniels, Gordon, Pervin, and Stafford; General Longstreet was severely wounded, and one major-general and one brigadier were taken prisoners.

Reconnoissances were made on the 17th of May, and the forces of the enemy being now massed on his right, it was determined to strike the left flank. The new line was formed on Wednesday, 18th; Wright occupying the right, Hancock joining him on the right centre; Burnside being on the left centre, and Warren on the extreme left. The attack was to be made by Wright, Hancock, and Burnside. The battle began with heavy cannonading from the Union

TORBERT AT GUINNEY'S STATION.

425

right, to which a prompt response was made by the enemy. About five A. M., a general assault was made by the three corps, who rushed forward, drove in the enemy's skirmish. line, and, with little loss, carried two lines of rifle pits. An impenetrable abatis, strong earthworks lined with sharpshooters, and heavy artillery behind, made it impossible to advance without great loss, and the troops were withdrawn in good order. At eleven A. M., the assault was abandoned, and the troops occupied their old position, having lost in the assault one thousand two hundred men killed and wounded. No fighting occurred during the day, and General Grant sent Torbert's cavalry to Guinney's Station, to the right and rear of Lee's position, and threatened his communications with Richmond. The depot, warehouses, and a large amount of supplies were destroyed, and the railroad and telegraphs

cut.

CHAPTER XLII.

MAY-JUNE-JULY, 1864.

GRANT MAKES ANOTHER FLANK MOVEMENT-EWELL REPULSED-FIGHTING ON THE NORTH ANNA-THE RIVER CROSSED-STRENGTH OF THE ENEMY'S POSITION GRANT RECROSSES THE NORTH ANNA-BATTLE OF TOLOPATOMOY CREEK-THE FIGHTING CONTINUOUS-BATTLES OF COLD HARBOR AND THE CHICKAHOMINY-INTRENCHING AND FIGHTING-GRANT'S FAMOUS MARCH ACROSS THE JAMES-ATTACKS ON PETERSBURG; THEIR RESULT— RAIDS OF SHERIDAN-CROOK AND AVERILL IN WESTERN VIRGINIASIGEL'S FAILURE—EARLY DEFEATS HUNTER-SINKING OF THE PIRATE ALA BAMA SHERMAN'S ARMY-THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN-DALTON FLANKED -BATTLE OF RESACA-FIGHT AT DALLAS-ALATOONA FLANKED BATTLE OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN-DEATH OF POLK-SHERMAN'S FIRST DEFEATTHE ARMY REACHES AND CROSSES THE CHATTAHOOCHEE-ATLANTA IN SIGHT.

SOME preliminary changes were now made, in preparation for a flanking movement, and on the 19th of May (Thursday), part of the Sixth corps began to move from the right to the left. Lee, perceiving this design, sent Ewell to check it by a dash upon the Union rear. The latter crossed the Ny, passed the right wing of the Union army undiscovered, and at five P. M. gained its rear. Attacking the wagons, laden with commissary and ordnance supplies, and some ambulances, he captured some, and fired upon the rest; the heavy trains, having passed some time before, fortunately escaped.

General Tyler attacked the rebels, and after a brief contest, drove them into the woods. In this action, the patriots lost twelve hundred men in killed, wounded, and missing. During this attack, the enemy made another on the Union left, doubtless for the purpose of concealing Ewell's movement, but were repulsed, after a brief and spirited action. At three o'clock, on Friday morning, three divisions of the Union army entered the woods quickly and in silence, and attacking the foe in the rear, captured four hundred prisoners. Ewell then recrossed the Ny, and retreated.

The new flanking movement began on Friday, the 19th, at midnight. Torbert's cavalry advanced from Massaponax Church to Guinney's bridge, across the Po, and near its junction with the Ny. Encountering the enemy's cavalry at