track. On the 28th, he encountered a large force on Stony Creek, where the Weldon road crosses it. After a hard but undecisive fight, he was forced to make a detour to Reams' Station, which he supposed to be still in our hands. But he was sadly mistaken: the enemy had occupied it with a large force of infantry and cavalry, and, in his efforts to escape, Wilson lost his artillery and trains; Kautz was separated from him, and made his way in independently; and Wilson, after losing many prisoners, crossed the Nottoway River, and came in, his horses and men in a pitiable condition. Besides the trains, and the guns and prisoners he had lost, the enemy had recaptured a thousand negroes, who had vainly hoped, by following Wilson, to reach our lines, and gain their freedom. But, notwithstanding these disasters, he had succeeded in severing the communication with Richmond, by the railroads, for several weeks. General Grant says that "the damage done to the enemy in this expedition more than compensated for the losses we sustained."

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TEMPORARY REST.

It was now manifest that, after nearly two months of continuous fighting of the most desperate character, and now that we had reached a point where the siege of a stronghold must take the place of battles in the field, there must be a brief period for rest and reorganization. Our losses had been between sixty and seventy thousand, and although corresponding re-enforcements had reached Grant, the losses sustained could not be repaired by the raw troops sent to the army. We

had lost six hundred officers killed, more than two thousand wounded, and three hundred and fifty missing. These could not be immediately replaced. In many places, brigades were commanded by majors, and regiments by captains. Under these circumstances, should new columns of attack be organized, the men could not have the same confidence in their officers the officers, and even the generals, would become confused in the varying pell-mell of the campaign.

The disasters we had sustained were not without their effect. The Second Corps, which had deserved the appellation given by the French army to the Ninth demi-brigade at Marengo "The Incomparables "-had suffered somewhat in the movements against the Weldon road. The Sixth had met with similar disaster. We had not lost prestige, but we needed a brief rest to heal all these wounds.

Added to these, a scorching summer sun and a pitiless drought had supervened: the sky was brass, and the earth was ashes. In many camps the water began to fail. Arrangements were made, however, for the comfort of the troops; the work of filling up and re-officering went bravely on; and a few days would have made all things ready for renewal of attacks, when circumstances in other portions of the theatre, at which we have already hinted, compelled a longer quiet in front of Petersburg, or rather less important and vigorous operations than had been anticipated. In order to come in logical order to these, we now proceed to consider the second set of collateral movements which had a bearing, beneficial or adverse, on Grant's principal operations.

CHAPTER XXXIIL

THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

HUNTER'S INSTRUCTIONS.-HE BEATS THE ENEMY.-W. E. JONES KILLED.-ADVANCE TO LYNCHBURG.-RETREATS TO THE KANAWHA.-WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED.—IN WHAT HE FAILED.-THE ROUTE HE SHould have taken.

WHEN General Sigel was relieved, after his defeat in the Valley, General David Hunter had been placed in command. What was expected of him may be gathered from the following extracts from letters of Grant to Halleck. On the 20th of May he wrote: "The enemy are evidently relying for supplies greatly on such as are brought over the branch road running through Staunton. On the whole, therefore, I think it would be better for General Hunter to move in that direction; reach Staunton and Gordonsville, if he does not meet too much opposition. If he can hold in it a force equal to his own, he will be doing good service."

Again, on the 25th, he writes Halleck: "If Hunter can possibly get to Charlottesville and Lynchburg, he should do soliving on the country. The railroads and canals should be destroyed beyond the possibility of repair for weeks. Completing this, he could find his way back to his original base, or, from about Gordonsville, join this army."

General Hunter, well known as an energetic, brave, and determined officer, but whose generalship had never, thus far, been severely tested, at once assumed a vigorous offensive. Moving up the Shenandoah, he beat up the enemy's quarters on the 5th of June, at Piedmont. He had passed through

Woodstock, Mount Jackson, and New Market, to Harrisonburg; at that point he divided his force into two columns, one of which moved by the Port Republic road, and the other on the direct road to Staunton. Thus he encountered the enemy on North River, twelve miles from Staunton. The battle was fought by both columns, and continued for ten hours. While Hunter was pressing the enemy in front, Crook was approaching from the west. The result was not long doubtful. Hunter routed the enemy's forces, taking fifteen hundred prisoners, three cannon, and three hundred stand of arms, and killing the rebel commander, W. E. Jones, while we sustained a loss of only fifty men.

ADVANCE TO LYNCHBURG.

On the 8th he occupied Staunton, where he was joined by Crook and Averill. Crook had moved through Lewisburg and White Sulphur Springs, to Gaston Depot, on the Virginia and Central Railroad. This he destroyed. From that point he crossed the North Mountain, at Pound Gap, and thus pushed forward by the railroad to Staunton.

The combined forces, now under Hunter, marched, on the 10th of June, towards Lynchburg, by way of Lexington. They reached Lexington on the 11th, where, on the 12th, they burnt the Military Institute, and the house of Governor Letcher. By the 16th of June, Hunter had invested Lynchburg; but that was the end of his success.

Lee-his communication unobstructed-poured re-enforcements into Lynchburg, amounting in numbers almost to a corps. Hunter's ammunition had given out; he was at a long distance from his base, in a hostile country; and, after skirmishing and manoeuvring on the 18th, prudence dictated that he should retire in haste. This retreat was by the line of the railroad through Liberty, Bonsack, and Salem, to the Kanawha. A sad necessity, the result of mistaken strategy.

He had accomplished much; had won a battle; had destroyed important supplies and manufactures; and had com

pelled the enemy to remove a large force from Grant's front; but his retreat, in the wrong direction, towards the Kanawha, lost us the use of his troops for several weeks, when most needed to defend the North, now about to be again threatened by an invading force of the enemy. Had he moved from Staunton, by the railroad, southeast to Charlottesville, instead of to Lexington, and then from Charlottesville to Lynchburg, as Grant's instructions contemplated, he would have continued to cover the Shenandoah Valley against all northern movements of the enemy, should he demonstrate in that direction; otherwise he could have reached the James River Canal, destroyed it, and cut off any force sent for the relief of Lynchburg, and been kept en rapport with Grant by Sheridan's movement upon Gordonsville. These are general criticisms. General Hunter had the right, by the terms of Grant's instructions, to use his discretion, and doubtless thought that he was right in taking the other line. The military critic will find it difficult to agree with him.