attained, and soberly appreciating the grave task yet before him, issued at this time the following proclamation:

TO THE FRIENDS OF UNION AND LIBERTY: Enough is known of army operations within the last five days to claim our special gratitude to God; while what remains undone demands our most sincere prayers to and reliance upon Him, without whom all human effort is vain.

I recommend that all patriots, at their homes, in their places of public worship, and wherever they may be, unite in common thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Gen. Sheridan, directly after the days of the Wilderness, had started on an extensive cavalry expedition around and beyond the army of Lee, toward Richmond. The forces under his command had been brought to a high degree of strength and efficiency, and were prepared to test the vaunted superior ity of the cavalry battalions of the enemy. Sheridan pro ceeded by way of Fredericksburg, to near the Po river, encountering and defeating Stuart's cavalry in a sharp engagement, on the 9th of May. The evening of the same day found Sheridan near Beaver Dam Station, on the Virginia Central (Gordonsville) railroad, where he stopped for the night. During the next five days, the expedition continued on its course across the North and South Anna rivers, to Ashland Station, and onward, to the immediate vicinity of Richmond, destroying railroad tracks, bridges and public property. On the 11th, a battle was fought at Yellow Tavern, in which Sheridan gained another victory over Stuart. The latter was mortally wounded in this fight, and died on the following day, having lived to see his boasted arm of the Rebel service not only repeatedly beaten, but permanently surpassed by the cavalry of Sheridan. Continuing his course, the latter encamped at Mechanicsville on the night of the 13th, and was at Bottom's Bridge, on the Chickahominy, the day following. He penetrated the outer fortifications at Richmond, retiring safely, and finally communicated with the Army of the James. These brilliant

operations between Lee and Richmond, for a time seriously interfered with that general's communications, and created no small excitement at the Rebel capital. This famous raid demonstrated, also, the present decided superiority of the Union cavalry, and marked a positive decline in that of the enemy, from which it never recovered.

During the movement of the main army to the Ny, and while the different corps were taking position and intrenching, there was occasional fighting with the enemy. There was a sharp conflict, on the afternoon of the 8th, between Warren and Longstreet's corps, now temporarily under Anderson, its commander being disabled by the wounds he had received on the 6th. It was during the same day that Maj.-Gen. Sedgwick, while personally aiding to put in position a battery of his own corps, was instantly killed by a Rebel sharpshooter; a loss which occasioned universal sorrow through the army and nation. Maj.-Gen. Wright succeeded to the command of the Sixth Corps, and Gen. Russell was advanced to the head of the First Division.

On the 9th, skirmishing was continued on different portions of the extended lines. A more serious engagement took place on the 10th, Grant having ordered an attack on the enemy's works. The Second and Ninth Corps were in the severest part of the action, which prevailed more or less along the whole line. The wings of Lee were forced backward, and a large number of prisoners captured. Here, as on the previous days, the forces engaged were mostly in the woods, permitting only an occasional use of artillery. The results were not decisive, though favorable to our arms. The fighting on the following day was comparatively slight. armies still occupying nearly the same position as before, is memorable for one of the severest contests of the campaignthe grand culmination of battle in this neighborhood.

The 12th, the two

At daylight, on the 12th, the combined forces of Hancock and Burnside, on the left, advanced on the enemy's lines. A brilliant bayonet charge was made on the right and center of Lee's intrenchments, driving him back for miles, capturing several thousand prisoners, with their general officers, and thirty

pieces of artillery. Most of the noted "Stonewall" brigade, of Ewell's corps, was taken in this brilliant affair. Our victorious forces then advanced upon Early's division, but without equal success. Much of the Fifth Corps was also actively engaged. The Sixth, later in the forenoon, came to the aid of the Second and Ninth, against which a heavy Rebel force was now massed. The enemy fought with great desperation, after his first reverses, and the slaughter on both sides was great. The decided advantages gained in the early part of the day were not counterbalanced by any subsequent results. Though not a decisive victory, properly speaking, it was a substantial triumph for our arms. While the enemy was not ultimately dislodged from his defensive lines, his losses were relatively greater. His prestige was permanently impaired. And yet this close and deadly grapple had also taught Gen. Grant that, while he had wisely determined persistently to "fight it out on this line," and to aim steadily at the destruction of Lee's army, no less than at the capture of Richmond, he had serious work before him, and a sacrifice of life which he, no less than President Lincoln, would gladly have avoided, were not the sacrifice now a certain gain for the future, and a positive economy in the dread losses inseparable from the war which traitors had forced upon the country. It does not appear that even the most unscrupulous Rebel leaders ever claimed a victory in this terrible battle of the 12th. Their losses in prisoners alone were such as they could ill afford, apart from the many thousands killed or wounded. From this day, it is manifest, the army of Lee was seriously crippled, never fully regaining its wonted strength and spirit. Grant, on the other hand, ere long saw his losses fully repaired, and was in good condition to resume his advance-again by flank, in preference to trying further the enemy's continued series of works in the direct line to Richmond. In the absence of official reports, it is hazardous to attempt definite estimates of the losses in these battles at Spottsylvania. The total aggregate, on the Union side, can hardly have fallen short of 15,000. That of the Rebels, including prisoners, undoubtedly exceeded that number. Many

valuable Union officers gave their lives with the noble patriots in the ranks who fell in the glorious cause.

After burying his dead and duly caring for the wounded, during the 13th, Grant advanced a little by the left flank toward the south-east, to a position nearer the Richmond and Fredericksburg railroad. From portions of the lines of his army, Spottsylvania Court House was seen in clear prospect through the trees-in a region more open than that through which the men had marched and fought for the last ten days, yet still divided between cultivated inclosures and unbroken forests. The Rebels were strongly fortified near the village, numerous batteries jealously watching any further advance of the "invader," and an ample series of earth-works evidencing the determination to stay any onward sweep of the waves of assault. On this new ground, Burnside, with his corps of mingled white regiments and black, held the extreme right. The Fifth Corps, with its veteran regulars, and its well-tried volunteers, commanded by the youthful Warren, was next in order toward the left. Then came Wright's corps (the Sixth), lamenting its noble commander, Sedgwick, who had added his own life to the many sacrifices of his heroic followers. On the extreme left was Hancock, worthy leader of a corps renowned for its brilliant achievements, and destined to new honors in the conflicts to come.

Some fighting occured, on the 14th, the Rebels attacking the Fifth Corps in heavy force, but recoiling, with severe loss, from its well-matured intrenchments. Ayres' division then made a gallant charge upon the rear of the retreating enemy, capturing a battery and a number of prisoners. Grant's headquarters were now established on the south bank of the Ny river, Lee's line being about two miles beyond, on the Po. The position of the latter, which it was impracticable to turn, was a strong one, and he indicated a purpose of persistently maintaining his ground. No material change in the position

of the armies occurred until the 18th.

Meanwhile, the subsidiary operatious under Butler, between Petersburg and Richmond; those under Sigel in the Shenandoab Valley, and under Crook and Averill in South-western

Virginia, during these two eventful weeks, had become noteworthy elements of the Eastern Campaign. The two corps constituting the Army of the James, made up of 18,000 men at and near Fortress Monroe, and 20,000 withdrawn from the seaboard of North and South Carolina, had, as before stated, landed near the mouth of the Appomattox, on the 5th of May. This army took up, and fortified, a position at Bermuda Hun dred and westward, its lines extending from the James to the Appomattox, and to a point within about twelve miles of Richmond. The Rebel force opposed to this army was under the command of Beauregard.

Butler, while securely intrenching himself, and during the first surprise which followed his startling and admirably execuetd movement, demonstrated on the roads between Richmond and Petersburg, threatening each of those cities. Still farther to weaken the force opposing Grant, and to divert attention from the cavalry raids of Sheridan and Kautz, (the latter of whom had been sent out by Butler to cut the Danville road) a vigorous demonstration was made on Fort Darling, on the 13th of May, and continued during the two following days, ending in a sally by Beauregard and a battle on the 16th, and in the retirement of Butler within his lines at Bermuda Hundred on the 17th. His losses were somewhat serious, including many prisoners. This advance on Richmond followed the panic created there by the near approach of Sheridan's cavalry on the 11th, when alarm bells were rung, and the greatest excitement prevailed, every available man being put under arms for the defense of the city. On the 12th, Sheridan had penetrated the outer fortifications, and attacked the second line of batteries on the Mechanicsville road. Had the battles of the 10th and 12th at Spottsylvania terminated in the decisive victories hoped for by Grant, his advance would have followed closely upon the adventurous steps of Sheridan, bringing his main army to the James above Mechanicsville-cooping up Lee within his capital, should he continue to retreat thitherwhile Butler should advance on the south side of the James, forming a junction with Grant, and closing around the doomed city. If such were the plan entertained, as all the movements