REASONS FOR UNION SUCCESS.

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try were different. In the West the river-courses are mostly north and south, just the direction needed for invading the southern states; and so far from being obstacles, they offered a natural way of approach. In the East the river-courses run southeast and northwest; and so, in order to attack Richmond, they would have to be crossed. In the short distance which intervened between Washington and the capital of the Confederacy there are a dozen or more streams, not large ones, but such as are liable to rise rapidly after rains, - thus admirably fitted to aid a defensive army, and at the same time seriously to interfere with an attacking one. Besides, the soil in eastern Virginia is clay, and much of the country is swamp. There are also many plantations of scrubby and rough woodland, all of which render successful military advance movements exceedingly difficult. It was mainly on account of these reasons that McClellan when in command had determined upon the Peninsular1 campaign. Had he been more rapid in his movements, it is not unlikely that he would have been successful in taking Richmond, and the whole history of the war been changed. But perhaps a more important reason for the greater success of the western armies was the fact that their generals were left to use their own judgment far more than were their comrades of the Army of the Potomac.

1 See Sect. 315.

CHAPTER XVI.

CIVIL WAR CONTINUED.

REFERENCES.

Note. - See references for Chap. xv.

General. John C. Ropes, The Story of the Civil War; Bryant and Gay, Popular History of the United States, iv. 569-600; James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, i. 488-549; Horace Greeley, The American Conflict, ii. 528-759; W. Wilson, Division and Reunion (Epochs of American History), pp. 233-252; E. Channing, The United States, pp. 289-300; John J. Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln, vols. viii.-x.; Goldwin Smith, The United States, pp. 274-298; Alex. H. Stephens, The War between the States, ii. 576630; Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, ii. 515-717; E. A. Pollard, The Lost Cause, pp. 588-729.

Biographies. H. McCulloch, Men and Manners of Half a Century; Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography.

Special. Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia, 1863-1865; A. Johnston, American Politics, Chap. xx.; A. Johnston, American Orations, iii. 198-268; E. McPherson, Political History of the Rebellion; E. Stanwood, History of Presidential Elections, Chap. xxi.; James Russell Lowell, Political Essays, pp. 118-176. Lincoln's Second Inaugural: Appendix iv. to this volume; Old South Leaflets, No. 11. G. W. Nichols, Story of the Great March; St. Nicholas, xiv. 533 ff. The Confederate Cruisers: J. R. Soley, The Blockade and the Cruisers; J. Bigelow, France and the Confederate Navy. Fall of Richmond: Harper's Monthly, xxxiii. 92. Appomattox: U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, ii. 483-498. A. Lincoln C. Schurz, Atlantic Monthly, lxvii. 721. Assassination of Lincoln: Century Magazine, xxxix. 428. R. E. Lee: Century Magazine, xxxviii. 271. Sanitary and Christian Commissions: C. J. Stillé, History of the Sanitary Commission; H. Greeley, The American Conflict, ii. 760; Mary A. Livermore, My Story of the Civil War.

GRANT AT THE HEAD OF THE ARMIES.

311

337. Grant placed at the Head of the Armies; Sherman. (1864.) The war had now gone on for two years and a half. The South was rapidly using up her resources and was suffering from lack of men and supplies. But there were not a few in the North who did not see this, who were tired of the war, and did not hesitate to say so. Moreover, it was getting near the time for the Presidential election, and unless there should be some signal success, the war party feared that Lincoln might not be re-elected, and that a compromise might be made with the South. It was evident that a single head for all the armies in the field was needed, a man who should be responsible for the whole plan of operations everywhere. Accord

ingly, Congress revived the

rank of lieutenant-general, which had previously been held only by Washington and Scott. Lincoln at once bestowed it upon the man whom public opinion, as well as military judgment, pointed out as fitted to receive it, and for whom the rank was really created, General Ulysses S. Grant. This was on March 3, 1864. At once the wisdom of the step was made manifest.

WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.

A plan of connected action was arranged. Grant came East and made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, Meade carrying out his orders. In the West the most important movements were entrusted to General Sherman. William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Ohio, 1820. Educated at West Point, he served in the Mexican

War, and then entered mercantile life. Entering the service again in May, 1861, he was promoted to a major-generalship.'

(1864.) ·

338. Grant's Plan of Attack. (1864.) Grant determined to approach Richmond by the direct route, and when all was ready he telegraphed to Sherman to begin his part of the plan of united action. This plan, briefly, was that, while the Army of the Potomac was to attack Richmond, Sherman should move southeastward from Chattanooga towards the sea, thus penetrating the very heart of the Confederacy, and so engaging the Confederate forces in that part of the country that no reinforcements nor supplies could be sent to Lee and his army. The part of the South to be invaded had been entirely free from the actual presence of armies. It was now to experience in a marked degree many of the harshest of war measures. Grant and Sherman were convinced that the Confederacy was a hollow shell, and that vigorous measures could make it collapse. The march was begun simultaneously by Grant and Sherman May 5, 1864. They had the ablest generals of the Confederacy to contend with, Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston.

339. "On to Richmond"; Early's Raid. (1864.)- Grant, with an army of 120,000 men, nearly double that of Lee, started to attempt what had been the ruin of brave men before him, a Virginia campaign. The Union forces entered the rough country near the Rapidan, known as the "Wilderness," and Lee's 62,000 men were quite a match for Grant's larger num

1 When Grant resigned the generalship of the army upon becoming President, Sherman succeeded him, holding the office until his retirement in 1883 on full pay, having reached the age of sixty-three. He was a thorough soldier, and war with him meant war indeed. He himself is reported to have said, "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it." He died in New York City, 1891.

ON TO RICHMOND; EARLY'S RAID.

313

ber. For two weeks there was a terrible struggle, and fighting occurred almost every day, with a fearful loss of life. Gradually Lee was forced to move back his lines until Grant reached Cold Harbor, about eight miles from Richmond. A brave but fruitless attack upon Lee's works, in which it is said that 8000 men were shot down in half an hour, convinced Grant that it was useless to attempt to take Richmond from the north. Altogether he had lost in a campaign of a month nearly 60,000 men, and his antagonist half as many. He now determined to cross the James River and attack from the south, hoping also to cut off the railroads which brought supplies from the southern states to Lee's army and to Richmond. Lee resolved to try the plan which had been so successful when McClellan had been in command of the Army of the Potomac, and so sent Early down the Shenandoah valley. Early succeeded in badly scaring the authorities at Washington, and justly so; for, at Monocacy in Maryland, he defeated General Lew Wallace, who courageously faced certain defeat in order to delay Early, a matter of the highest importance. Early then pushed on towards Washington and actually appeared before the defences on the north side of the city, which he might possibly have carried at first had he known how poorly they were manned; he, however, retreated, having captured much during his expedition. One incident of the raid was the taking of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, by one of his commanders, and, on the refusal of the inhabitants to pay $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in greenbacks," burning the greater part of the town.

66

340. Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley; Petersburg. (1864.) -After the battle of the "Wilderness," Lee is reported to have said: "At last the Army of the Potomac has a head." Grant, though he sent reinforcements to Washington, was in