The Times Great Military Lives: Leadership and Courage – from Waterloo to the Falklands in Obituaries. Ian Brunskill

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СКАЧАТЬ were found intrenched in an impregnable position. Grant had got his army reinforced up to 150,000 men, while Lee had about 50,000. Grant determined to advance against the intrenchments, and in the grey, rainy dawn of June 3 the rush was made, the Union troops being, however, everywhere repulsed with heavy losses. A desultory contest was kept up during the day, but the attack was not renewed, Grant having lost 7,000 killed and wounded, the Confederate loss being less than half that number. For nearly two weeks the armies lay in position watching each other, when Grant made up his mind to abandon this plan of attack and to adopt a new one, by which Richmond, like Vicksburg, might be outflanked and taken from the rear.

      These successive contests, which aggregated Union losses of about 55,000 men and Confederate losses of 32,000, showed the character of Grant’s military tactics. He knew that in the tottering condition of the Confederacy it must ultimately succumb to starvation and the waste of battle, and so long as men enough were given him to throw upon the enemy he would keep it up. The Government gave him everything he asked, and sent constant reinforcements to Virginia, which was then the principal theatre of the war. To prevent the Confederates from getting reinforcements, other detachments of Union troops were being advanced in the Shenandoah Valley and along the Kanawha, in West Virginia, while the Confederates west of the mountains were fully engaged in caring for Sherman’s advance to Atlanta. Grant had also hoped that General Butler, south of the James, might have captured Petersburg, so as to invest Richmond from the southern side. Butler had been foiled, however, and, crossing the James river in June, Grant personally began the siege of Petersburg.

      The crossing of the James river, which was the beginning of the operations against Petersburg as directed by General Grant personally, was made upon June 12, 1864, and the army encamped at City Point, the junction of the Appomattox river with the James. Butler’s troops were at Bermuda Hundred, a peninsula formed by a bend of the James above City Point. Lee withdrew his forces into Richmond and took new positions east and south of the city, his force, with the men he found at Richmond, being about 70,000, while Grant had 100,000. Grant immediately began attacks upon the enemy’s position. On June 15 a corps of Butler’s forces made an unsuccessful assault, and on the 16th a combined attack was made by Hancock’s, Burnside’s, and Butler’s troops, which was repulsed with great slaughter. These preliminary engagements, Grant reported, had only the result that ‘the enemy was merely forced into an interior position,’ yet they cost the Union army the loss of 10,203 men. Grant then proceeded to invest Petersburg, which is about six miles south-west up the Appomattox from City Point, and the siege began on the 19th of June.

      Lee, leaving about half his force at Richmond, went with the remainder to defend Petersburg, establishing strong lines around the town east, south, and south-west. Grant approached from the east, and on the 21st made a movement to seize the Weldon Railroad, which runs southward from the town. This attack, was repulsed, but Grant’s cavalry, about 8,000 strong, made an extensive raid through the country south and south-west of Petersburg for many miles, tearing up this and other railroads, so that Lee was reduced to sore straits for want of supplies. Thus matters rested during July, when Grant made a new plan. He sent a force across the James and up the eastern bank to a place called Deep Bottom, near Richmond, to threaten an attack, in the hope that Lee would withdraw part of his force from Petersburg to meet this new movement. In the meantime a mine had been dug under a fort occupying an advanced position in the Confederate defensive lines, directly behind which was Cemetery hill, the most commanding ground in Petersburg.

      This mine was a gallery 520ft. long, terminating in lateral branches 40ft. long in each direction, and it was charged with 8,000 pounds of powder. General Burnside had it in charge, and if the Confederate works were blown up by the explosion other troops were disposed so as to quickly reinforce him. The Deep Bottom expedition having reached its post, the mine was exploded on July 30 about daybreak, blowing up the fort and its garrison of about 500 Confederates, belonging to a South Carolina Regiment. The explosion made a crater about 30ft.deep, 200ft. long, and 60ft. wide, and the Confederates fled from their works on either hand. The sides of the crater were rough and steep, so that they could not be mounted in military order. A single Union regiment managed to climb up, and made for Cemetery Hill; but, others not following, they faltered and finally fell back into the crater. The Confederates quickly rallied, poured in shells, and planted guns to command the approach. Four hours were spent in this ineffectual effort, and then the Union forces were withdrawn, leaving 1,900, prisoners, their entire loss being about 4,000, while the Confederates lost about 1,000.

      This result was disheartening, and a long period of comparative inaction followed, Grant making movements to get possession of the railways south and west of Petersburg, which Lee steadily foiled. Butler tried to cut the Dutch Gap Canal across a narrow neck of land to divert the James, but this was also unsuccessful. Nothing of interest occurred in the autumn or winter, the two armies watching each other, although movements elsewhere were gradually enclosing the Confederacy in narrower limits, until, when spring opened and Sherman’s march from Atlanta had come out to the sea, it was practically reduced to southern Virginia and northern North Carolina. Lee and Johnston, all told, then had less than 100,000 rebels, while Grant, Sherman, and others were pressing them in all directions. Petersburg and Richmond were successfully held, but their supplies were endangered, and at times cut off.

      Lee in March planned to abandon Petersburg and Richmond, and to unite with Johnston, who was on the Carolina border. Lee to facilitate his withdrawal threw an offensive movement against the Union right. On the morning of March 25, squads of Confederates announcing themselves as deserters approached the Union lines, and this being a common occurrence no suspicion was aroused. Suddenly, however, these squads overpowered the pickets, and a Confederate column 5,000 strong rushed out and seized a fort. In a few minutes the Union guns from all sides began playing upon the fort, and it was speedily retaken, less than half the Confederates being able to regain their lines. The contest extended, and the Confederates lost altogether 4,500 and the Union army 2,000. Grant then began a movement westward to turn the Confederate right, the troops being in full motion by March 29. The moving columns were about 50,000, including 10,000 cavalry under Sheridan. Lee had an intrenched line at Petersburg about 10 miles long, and leaving 10,000 men to defend it, collected all his remaining force, not 20,000 men, to oppose this flanking movement.

      A furious storm next day made the roads almost impassable, but on the 31st the two forces met at Five Forks, about eight miles south-west of Petersburg, and had a severe conflict. Lee gained some advantage, and on April the 1st drove the Union advance about three miles southward to Dinwiddie. Reinforcements coming up, Sheridan, who was in command, forced the Confederates back to Five Forks and then beyond it, routing them at Hatcher’s Run and the cavalry pursuing them for miles. This broke up the two corps of Lee’s army upon which he had placed the most reliance, the Confederates losing 6,000 prisoners, besides large numbers killed and wounded. Simultaneously with this movement a heavy bombardment was made upon the works at Petersburg and a general assault was ordered on April 2, the outposts being captured. Lee that night abandoned both Petersburg and Richmond. The Confederates still had 40,000 men, but they were widely scattered and the only forlorn hope was in concentration. Before daybreak on April 3 the Confederates had all withdrawn from Petersburg, crossed the Appomattox and burnt the bridges behind them, at the same time blowing up the magazines on the whole line to Richmond. The Union troops immediately advanced, and were met by the Mayor of Petersburg, who surrendered the city. To unite their forces, Lee moved north-west from Petersburg and Longstreet south-west from Richmond, and they came together at Chesterfield. Thence they moved westward, Grant pursuing on parallel roads to the southward. Lee had ordered a provision train to meet him at Amelia, but through mistake of orders it went on to Richmond without unloading, so that when he arrived he found no rations for the famishing troops and had to halt and send out foraging parties. This delay was fatal, for Grant’s troops came up and surrounded him, so that further resistance was useless. On April 8 Grant sent Lee a message to the effect that there was no hope of any further successful resistance and demanding surrender in order to avoid further shedding of blood.

      Lee replied, asking the terms upon which a surrender would be received. Grant named as the sole condition that ‘the men aud СКАЧАТЬ