2 Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city.... The general sentiment was that we were marching for Richmond, and that there we should end the war, but how and when they seemed to care not; nor did they measure the distance, or count the cost in life, or bother their brains about the great rivers to be crossed, and the food required for man and beast, that had to be gathered by the way. The first night out the whole horizon was lurid with the bonfires of rail-ties, and groups of men all night were carrying the heated rails to the nearest trees, and bending them around the trunks. . . . I attached much importance to this destruction of the railroad, gave it my own personal attention, and made reiterated orders to others on the subject. The next day we passed through the handsome town of Covington, the soldiers closing up their ranks, the color-bearers unfurling their flags, and the bands striking up patriotic airs. The white people came out of their houses to behold the sight, spite of their deep hatred of the invaders, and the negroes were simply frantic with joy. Whenever they heard my name, they clustered about my horse, shouted and prayed in their peculiar style, which had a natural eloquence that would have moved a stone. I have witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of such scenes. . . . We found abundance of corn, molasses, meal, bacon, and sweetpotatoes. We also took a good many cows and oxen, and a large number of mules. In all these the country was quite rich, never before having been visited by a hostile army; the recent crop had been excellent, had been just gathered and laid by for winter. a rule, we destroyed none, but kept our wagons full, and fed our teams bountifully.372 As On reaching Savannah in December, Sherman laid siege to it, and after eight days it fell into his hands. After remaining here until February, Sherman started northward toward Virginia. Of the march through South Carolina, a private writes: I dreaded to start out on the road through South Carolina, knowing the settled hate of the soldiers toward the state, and their settled determination to destroy all they could, as they marched through it.... As I anticipated, fire and smoke and complete destruction marked our pathway. We arrived at Columbia, the state capital, on the 16th February. ... It was not the intention of our commanding officers that Columbia should be sacked and burned, and stringent orders were given to prevent this. But the saloons and cellars of the city were full of intoxicating drinks. The boys found them, got drunk, and broke from all restraint. . . . Nothing could stay them.... Saturday morning the City of Columbia was in ashes. . . . ... ... On But the great evil of all is the destitution in which we leave the poorer classes of these people. I have often seen them sitting with rueful faces as we passed, sometimes weeping. Not a thing has been left to eat in many cases; not a horse, or an ox, or a mule to work with. . . . A woman told me, with her cheeks wet with tears, that she drew the plough herself while her husband, old and quite decrepit, held it, to prepare the soil for all the corn they raised last year. ... It was not the intention of the commanding officers that the poor people should be thus . . . stripped. But unprincipled. stragglers ramble out of the lines, . . . and show no mercy or heart. They are the "bummers" of the army. 373 The aim of Sherman's march was to join Grant in Virginia, massing all forces against Lee. But Johnston had been recalled to the command, and gathering up all available forces, he threw himself in Sherman's way, and gave him battle near Goldsboro. The battle was long doubtful, but Sherman at last prevailed. Here both armies waited to see how things would go with Lee before Richmond. STUDY ON 15. 1. When Grant took command of the armies, what important cities had fallen into the hands of the Union or Federal troops? (See list of events.) 2. What great armies confronted each other on the borders of Tennessee and Georgia, and who commanded each? 3. What great armies confronted each other in Virginia, and who commanded each? 4. Make a list of the ways in which Sherman's march injured the South. 5. Why should the commanding officers be allowed to destroy mills and cotton-gins? 6. What was done along this march that ought not to have been done? 7. What do you understand by a bummer? 8. Mark on your Outline Map for the Civil War, the Confederate victories of 1864 with red, the Union victories with blue. 9. What states were commanded by Union forces at the close of this year? 10. What Southern cities had fallen into the hands of the Union troops? Supplementary Reading. For Sherman's march, see Harper's Monthly, XXXI. 571; XXXII. 367. 16. THE LAST CAMPAIGNS OF THE WAR; GRANT'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST LEE. LINCOLN, President. Still in his veterans' hearts to-day His bugles always blew advance. -Poem on Grant.374 Honor followed as his shadow Valor lightened all his cares; - Poem on Lee.375 Grant and Lee before Richmond. At the opening of the campaign of 1864 in Virginia, heavy fighting began at once with the three days' battles of the Wilderness. Then came the battles of Spottsylvania Court-House, lasting for ten days. It was during this last series of battles that Grant sent Sheridan on a famous raid, of which Grant writes: ... I directed Sheridan . . . to cut loose from the Army of the Potomac, [and] pass around . . . the entire rear of Lee's army.... He started at daylight the next morning, and accomplished more than was expected. It was sixteen days before he got back to the Army of the Potomac. . . . Sheridan in this memorable raid passed entirely around Lee's army; encountered his cavalry in four engagements and defeated them in all; recaptured 400 Union prisoners and killed and captured many of the enemy; destroyed and used many supplies and munitions of war; destroyed miles of railroad and telegraph, and freed us from annoyance by the cavalry for more than two weeks.376 But in spite of all this heavy fighting, in which tens of thousands of men perished, Lee could not force Grant to retreat, nor could Grant break through Lee's army to make a way to Richmond. After the short and terrible fight at Cold Harbor, in which Grant lost 15,000 men, as against Lee's loss of 1700, Grant decided to try the defences of Richmond from the south. But there Lee met him again behind the lines of Petersburg, and there both armies lay till the spring of 1865, neither general being able to get a positive advantage over the other. Condition of Lee's Army. The condition of Lee's army during this year may be seen in the following extracts from Lee's letters to Davis: Jan. 18, 1864. — The want of shoes and blankets in this army continues to cause much suffering.... In one regiment I am informed that there are only fifty men with serviceable shoes, and a brigade that recently went on picket was compelled to leave several hundred men in camp who were unable to endure the exposure. being destitute of shoes and blankets. . . . Sept. 2, 1864. — ... Our ranks are constantly diminishing by battle and disease, and few recruits are received. . . . The time has come when no man capable of bearing arms should be excused.377 The End at Appomattox. - Grant was constantly trying to get around to the rear of Lee's army, while Lee steadily lengthened his line of defence. This could not go on always, and Grant was able at last to break his way with his 100,000 men through Lee's weakened lines, and entered Petersburg and Richmond, April second and third. Mr. Davis and the Confederate government escaped by rail to Georgia. Lee began a rapid retreat to join Johnston's army; but before he reached Lynchburg, Sheridan had cut off his retreat, while Grant was in full pursuit. Between two strong Union armies, Lee surrendered his own at Appomattox Court-House on the ninth of April. Grant's account of the surrender is as follows: When I went into the house I found General Lee. We greeted each other, and after shaking hands took our seats. . . . What General Lee's feelings were I do not know. As he was a man of much dignity, . . . it was impossible to say whether he felt inwardly glad that the end had finally come, or felt sad over the result, and was too manly to show it. Whatever his feelings, they were entirely concealed from my observation; but I felt like anything rather than rejoicing over the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly. . . . General Lee . . . asked. . . from me the terms I proposed to give his army. I said that I meant merely that his army should lay down their arms, not to take them up again during the continuance of the war. . . . I... said to him that I thought this would be the last battle of the war-I sincerely hoped so; and I said further I took it that most of the men in the ranks were small farmers. . . . It was doubtful whether they would be able to put in a crop to carry themselves and their families through the next winter without the aid of the horses they were then riding. The United States did not want them and I would, therefore, instruct the officers . . . to let every man of the Confederate army who claimed to own a horse or mule take the animal to his home. . . General Lee . . . remarked that. his men had been living for ... |