for the comprehension, and too liberal for the vindictive temper of the
dominant party, and he was forced to relinquish the command of tho
superb army he had organized, and to resign a commission which he might
have illustrated by splendid achievements.
It is some consolation to reflect that the verdict of history is neither
the sensation of a mob nor the fiat of a political faction. Gen. Grant will
have his proper place surely and exactly assigned in the ultimate records
of merit in the war. No one will deny this man credit for many good
qualities of heart and great propriety of behaviour. He had that coarse,
heavy obstinacy, which is as often observed in the Western backwoodsman
as in a higher range of character. But he contained no spark of military
genius ; his idea of war was to the last degree rude — no strategy, the
mere application of the vis inertim / he had none of that quick perception
on the field of action which decides it by sudden strokes ; he had no con-
ception of battle beyond the momentum of numbers. Such was the man
who marshalled all the material resources of the North to conquer the little
army and overcome the consummate skill of Gen. Lee. He, who was de-
clared the military genius of the North, had such a low idea of the contest,
such little appreciation of the higher aims and intellectual exercises of war
that he proposed to decide it by a mere competition in the sacrifice of
human life. His plan of operations, as lie himself described it, was " to
hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy and his re-
sources, until by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing
left to liim but an equal submission with the loyal section of our common
country to the Constitution and laws of the land."
At Washington, the arrangements for the spring campaign of 1864
were made, on the part of the government, to put forth its strength. In
all the bureaus of the War Department supplies were provided on a scale
of great magnitude, to meet any exigency that could be foreseen. The
estimates were based upon an army organization of one million of men.
The States were called upon to strengthen the armies by volunteers ; new
drafts were ordered and put in execution throughout all the Northern
States ; vast supplies ot" arms, ammunition, clothing, subsistence, medical
stores and forage were provided and distributed in depots to meet the
wants of the troops wherever they might operate ; horses, mules, wagons,
railroad iron, locomotives and cars, bridge timber, telegraph cable and
wire, and every material for transportation and communication of great
armies under all conditions were supplied. Congress, with unstinting
hand, voted large appropriations for recruiting, paying and supplying tho
troops.
Gen. Grant assumed command as Lieutenant-General of the armies of
the United States on the ITtli day of March, 1864. The distribution of
the Federal armies operating in Virginia was as follows : The Army of
THE CONFEDEKATE ARMY ON THE KAPmAN. 511
the Potomac, commanded by Major-General Meade, had its headquarters
on the north side of the Rapidan. The Ninth Corps, under Major-Gen-
eral Burnside, was, at the opening of the campaign, a distinct organization,
but on the 24:th day of May, 186i, it was incorporated into the Army of
the Potomac. The Army of the James was commanded by Major-Gen.
Butler, whose headquarters were at Fortress Monroe. The headquarters
of the Army of the Shenandoah, commanded by Major-Gen. Sigel, were
at Winchester.
The available strength of the enemy's force on the line of the Rapidan,
including the Ninth Corps, was 141,166 men. Besides there were in what
was known as the Department of Washington and the Middle Department
47,Y51 men, available as reinforcements to the Army of the Potomac ;
making tlierefore a total of about 180,000 men, as the force which Gen.
Lee had to meet with less than forty thousand muskets I
The Confederate army on the Rapidan, at the beginning of the campaign,
consisted of two divisions of Longstreet's corps, Ewell's corps, A. P. Hill's
corps, three divisions of cavalry, and the artillery. Ewell's corps did not
exceed fourteen thousand muskets at the beginning of the campaign. On
the 8th of May, the effective strength of Hill's corps was less than thirteen
thousand muskets, and it could not have exceeded eighteen thousand in the
beginning of the month. Longstreet's corps was the weakest of the three
when all the divisions were present, and the two with him had just re-
turned from an arduous and exhausting winter campaign in East Tennes-
see. His effective strength could not have exceeded eight thousand mus-
kets. Gen. Lee's whole effective infantry, therefore, did not exceed forty
thousand muskets, if it reached that number. The cavalry divisions were
weak, neither of them exceeding the strength of a good brigade. The
artillery was in proportion to the other arms, and was far exceeded by
Grant's, not only in the number of men and guns, but in weight of metal,
and especially in the quality of the ammunition. Gen. Lee's whole effect-
ive strength at the opening of the campaign was not over fifty thousand
men of all arms. There were no means of recruiting the ranks of his
army, and no reinforcements were received until the 23d of May.
The Confederate public was but little aware of this terrible disparity
of force ; but Gen. Lee was greatly affected by it as he contemplated the
thin line which stood between the insolent host of the enemy and the
Capital of the Confederacy. In April he issued a general order directing
to be observed " a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer." All military
duties, unless absolutely necessary, were to be suspended, and the chap-
lains were desired to hold divine service in their regiments and brigades.
Officers and men were " requested " to attend. This passed, the final prep-
arations were made for the deadly struggle that, it was evident, would
soon commence. " For your stricken country's sake, and ours," eald the
512 THE LOST CAUSE.
"wives, daughters, sisters, and friends" of tlie Confederate soldiers in a
published address to them, " be true to youreelves and our glohious cause.
Never turn your back on tlie flag, nor desert the ranks of honour, or the
post of danger. You are constantly present to our minds. The women of
the South bestow all their respect and affection on the heroes who defend
them"
THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS.
Gen. Lee was not idle in adopting all precautionary measures to meet
the enemy. He strongly intrenched his lines, dug rifle-pits at the fords of
the Rapid an, and kept a good force on the Gordons ville road so as to hold
the communication open to Richmond by that route, while by the way of
Fredericksburg he destroyed the bridges and rails in order to prevent, or
make more diflicult, the enemy's advance in that direction.
The works occupied by Lee's army on the Rapidan extended on the
right three miles below Raccoon ford. Swell's coi-ps and Hill's lay behind
those defences, and stretched out on each side of Orange Court-House,
along a line of twenty miles. Longstreet occupied the country around
Gordousville, thirteen miles southwest of the position on the Rapidan.
Grant, having declined to assail Lee's front, determined to turn it by a
movement on the Confederate right. On Tuesday night. May 3d, the
Federal army broke up its encampment in the county of Culpepper, and
at dawn of next morning crossed the Rapidan at the old fords — Ely's and
Germania — and in much the same line that Meade attempted in the pre-
vious I^ovember, and where Lee had caused Hooker to retreat a year be-
fore. The Second corps, commanded by Gen, Hancock, in front, crossed
at Ely's ford, the Fifth corps, under "Warren, took the Germania ford,
wdiile the Sixth, Sedgwick's, followed immediately upon it.
As soon as Gen. Lee ascertained that Grant had certainly cut loose
from his base at Culpepper Court House, and was moving rapidly past his
right, he put his own army in motion, sending Ewell's corps down the
turnpike and A. P. Hill's down the plank road, and ordering Longstreet,
who had arrived at Gordousville, to move his corps down on the right of
Ewell's line of march, so as to strike the head of the enemy's column.
The advance of Ewell's corps — Edward Johnson's division — arrived
within three miles of Wilderness Run in the evening, and encamped.
Rodes lay in his rear ; and Early was next at Locust Grove, all ready to
strike at Grant's advance the next morning. At about six o'clock in tho
morning of the 6th May the enemy was discovered by the skirmishers
thrown out, and Johnson immediately pressed forward to gaia a hill where
he proceeded to form his troops in line of battle.
BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 513
The enemy advanced in snch order as was practicable in a tangled for-
est. The Fifth corps, accompanied by two pieces of artillery, that came
timnderiug along the turnpike, assailed the Confederate line at the inter-
section of the road, deceiving, as it advanced, a terrible fusilade without
any sign of wavering, the rear rank pressing forward those of the front,
the attacking masses delivered from a forest of rifles a fast and furious fire
upon Johnson's line. Closing in upon it with great spirit in front, and
threatening to envelop it on its right, they succeeded, after a brief strug-
gle, in forcing back part of the brigade of Gen. J. M. Jones that had been
formed across the turnpike. Jones strove, in desperation, to rally his
broken troops, but with no avail ; and, as the brave general was imploring
his men to stop their flight, a ball struck him, and he fell from his saddle
a bleeding corpse.
The decisive moment of the battle was now at hand. Stewart moved
from his position in the line of battle to close the gap left in it by the bri-
gade of Jones. As the Federal masses poured through, his men rushed
forward with a cheer ; and, driving them back by the impetus of their
charge, cajDtured their guns. At the same time Ewell ordered Daniels' and
Gordon's brigades of Kodes' division to form on the right and charge.
Gordon, holding command of the movement, crushed through the enemy's
first lines and captured as he went forward a whole regiment, men, ofiicers,
and colors. Driving on furiously he struck back the Federal front in con-
fusion upon its supports ; and scattering both like leaves before a storm,
forced them off the field in utter rout for a mile and a half.
Soon after the onslaught upon the Confederate front, the Sixth corps
of the Federal army advanced upon its left flank. The attack here was
repulsed by Pegram's and Hay's division. The furious onslaught of Hay's
men did not expend itself until they had forced the enemy to retreat in
confusion for nearly a mile. In advance of all others on that face of the
attack, these splendid troops, having left nearly one-third of their number
on the field, fell back with Pegram's gallant men to the general line of
battle.
Skirmishing continued outside the lines. Immediately before the close
of the evening, the skirmishers of Pegram, on Johnson's left, came run-
ning in, and soon afterwards his sharpshooters sprang back from their rifle-
pits in his immediate front. A column, three lines deep, moved upon him
from the depths of the forest, and, firing heavily as they came on, pressed
towards his works furiously. His stanch Virginians, however, met the
attack resolutely, and, covered partially by their works, hurled volley after
volley in withering blasts, breast high, into its serried ranks.
But the work of carnage was not yet sufiicient for Grant. In five lines
a column renewed the attack after nightfall ; but did so without other re-
sult than to increase terribly the hundreds of men that, dead or dying out-
33
514 'IHB U\<V vWlSK,
side tlio Oontovlorato workts Inv weltennj; in tlioir gore. Pegraui tell in
this la^t attack severelv >voin\vK\i. The ivpulse which he iriiidcd as ho
tvlU cKvjevl the work of war for the dav on the K^ft, and witiu^inl the
Coufeileratcs still in j^H^ssessiou of their iuipiv>veii position and advanced
lino^
The rt»ults of the dav woro ih:\: the eneuiv had been boaton back jis
jktVMi as he ad\"anctxl, with b>o;.v\ lv^^, iucludiuix two thous^iud prisoners
and four giuis. Longstivo: r.o; having arrived, owing to the givater dis-
lanet? he had to uiarvh, Cion. l.ee n^fn\int.\l fivni pivssing his advantage,
and slept u^xmi the battle-ticld. His own loss was comparatively slight,
his ti\>ops understanding how to take advantage of the rough country and
entangled vtvkhIs in whicli they fought. Longstreet ivacheil a point ten
miles tVom the battle-tield by the middle of the atUn-noon. but, owing to
the peeuliar condition of the atuiosphejre, and the density of the forest, he
'WT»$ unable to hear the rejvrt of Hill's and EweU's guns, and was ignorant
that the two armies had been engagevl until midnight, when he ixvcived
an order from Gen. Loe to cioss over to the plank rvn^d to the aid of IliU.
It w^is two o'chvlv in the morning of the i>th when Lougstreot aroused
Ids sleeping men from their bivouac, and marchcvl on to the tield of lv\tth\
HilFs troops "wrer« awaro of his approach, and that he was to take their
place on the line, and. having been marching and lighting all the previous
day. and sleeping but little that night, they got ready to retire as the head
of Longstreet's corps reached the groimd. Unfortunately, Grant renewed
the attack just at this time, threw Heth's and Wilcox's divisions of IliU'a
corps into confusion, and pusheil them back u}x>n Longstreet's column,
which had not yet deployed into line.
The disordered ranks surged already within one himdred and fitly
yards of the position of Gen. Leo, But at this moment three K^iments of
Kershaw's division came into line, and this Spartan baud held the enemy
in check until the remainder of the division and finally Longstreet's entire
corps could be brouglit up. Then ensued a furious and bloody combat all
along Longstreet's firont. His veteran corj>s, which had made the circuit
of half the Confederacy within the last tAvelve months, never fought better
or more successfully. Grant had taken advantage of the disorder among
Hill's ttvv^ps, and hurled heavy masses upon the point, hoping to turn the
Confederate right wing, and tlirow himself between Lee and Kichmond.
He would have succeevlevl but for Longstreet's timely arrival.
At 11 o'clock Long^treet was ordered, with some select brig;\des, to
pas to the right and attack the enemy in flank. The order was promptly
executed. Tailing suddenly upon Grant's lefV, he drove the enemy in
eonAision, bending ids line back upon itself, and gaining the plank road a
mile in advance of the scene of the recent conflict.
The iVntnnes of the day •were evidently turned. Gen. Longsrreet novr
UArn.l.H OK TIIK WII-bKKNKKH. 515
moved forw.'inl with hh Htufl" to luko liin place at tlic licad of tlic advance ;
and was received aH lie j>aHKed along IIkj moving inuKH willi Hlnriifi of up-
plaiiKc. Ah lie galloped forward, Gen. JenkinH fipurrcd to his side to gruHp
his lian«l, willi tlio pleaBure of an old friend, — for LongHtreet had but
newly arrived from Bcveral moniliH' campaign in EaHtern Tenn(*8ee. Jiut,
hardly had the mutual congratulationB pasBcd each other's lij>H, wIxmi a
deadly volley from Malione's brigade, concealed in busljeH along tli(i joad
— mistaking LongKtreet, JenkinH, and tlie rent, for a party of the flying foe
— [Kjurcd into tlicra, at short range. JenkinH fell inntantly from his horws
a lifeleHS cor]>se, while Longntreet received a ball that entered IiIh throat
and pasHcd out througli his right nhouldc^r. lileeding profunely, lie wan
helped from his horse so prostrated that fears were entertained of his im-
mediate dcjath. l^laced on a litter, the wound(;d General was removed
from the iield ; but feelde though he was from Iohh of blood, he did not
fail to lift his hat from time to time as he passed down the column, in
a^;knowledgment of its cheers of apjilanne and Hympathy,
The fall of J.ongHtreet was an untimely event, and the delay it occa-
sioned gave opportunity to the enemy to reform his line. The field was
well contested on both sides ; but at one time the aspect of affairs wag so
alarming that Gen. Lee had, as Fields' division cauje under fire, placed
himself at the head of Gregg's brigade of Texans, With that devotion
which constituted the great charm of his character, he ordered them to fol-
low him in a charge upon a line of the cnamy, sweeping down upon his
front. The response was not shouts. A grim and ragged soldier of the
line raised his voice in determined remonstrance. lie was immediately
followed by the rank and file of the whole brigade in positive refusal to
advance until their beloved commander had gone to his proper position
of safety. Yielding to this touching solicitude. Gen. Lee withdrew, while
the brave Texans fulfilled the promise by which they ha^l urged his with-
drawal, and, breasting a storm of bullets, drove the enemy on their front
back to his entrenchments. What was the exposure of the devoted com-
mander during the day, may be judged from the circumstances of the
explosion of a shell under his own horse, the killirjg of the horse of his
Adjutant-Gen., Lieut.-Col. Taylor, and the wounding of another officer
attached to his person, Lieut.-Col. Marshall, — events which caused great
and most affectionate anxiety in the army, and determined the troops t^j
watch more carefully over a life in which they considered were bound up
the fortunes of their country.
So far the enemy had been driven back on the Confederate right, and
was firmly held in check ; while on the left, Ew'ell, battling severely, and
defeating an attempt of the enemy to outflank him, held his own, and
joined his line of battle with that which ha^l been restored on the right
■•^•ing. During the aftemcian Brig.-Gcn. Wofford, of Anderson's corpg,
516 THE LOST CAUSE.
was permitted, at his own request, to move upon tlie rear of the Federa.
left wing. He got possession of their camps, destroyed and brought off a
good deal of material, and created great consternation among the teamsters
and quartermasters. About twilight Brig.-Gen. Gordon, of Swell's corps,
attacked the enemy's left, caj)tured Gen. Seymour and a large portion ot
his brigade, and excited a panic which put Grant's whole army on the
verge of irretrievable rout. Brigade after brigade fled from the Federal
works, and, attempting, one after another, to wheel around into line in
order to check the advance, was borne back under the rapidity of Gor-
don's movement. The woods in front were alive with masses of men,
struggling to escape with life. Gordon swejDt all before him for a distance
of two miles. But the forest through which he advanced was so dense
with undergrowth, that by the nightfall he had become separated from his
supports. He paused before he had completed a movement that came
near completely routing the entire Federal right. The enterprise, not-
withstanding its incompleteness, was crowned with brilliant success. The
Confederate loss in that service numbered, in killed and wounded, but
twenty-seven, while on the enemy's side Gens. Shaler and Seymour, with
the greater part of their commands, were taken prisoners, and the entire
Sixth corps of the Army of the Potomac had been broken up in panic.
In these two days of terrible battle in the Wilderness the Confederate
wounded, by the official reports of the surgeons, were estimated at six
thousand, and their killed at less than one thousand. The wounds were
comparatively slight, owing to the protection afforded by the trees and
the absence of artillery, which could not be used in consequence of the
dense and almost unbroken forest. The loss of the enemy was out of all
proportion to what it had inflicted : 269 officers and 3,019 men killed ;
1,017 officers and 18,261 men wounded, and 177 officers and 6,667 men
missing — making an aggregate of 27,310.
On the 7th May, both armies moved their position — Grant's to take an
interiour road towards Richmond by the Spottsylvania Court-house, and
Lee's, back, apparently, towards Orange Court-house, but in reality to
reach Spottsylvania before the enemy. The advance of Lee arrived first
and took up a good position, the main army quickly following. Tlie situ-
ation which the Korthern newspapers interpreted as " the retreat of Lee"
bore in every respect the evidences of his generalship and success. He
had succeeded in throwing his entire army right across the path by which
Grant must march if he would get " on to Richmond." — He had not only
repulsed all his assaults at the "Wilderness, but held him there until he
could throw his own army in front of him. It was a masterly perform-
ance, and made it necessary for Grant to deliver battle there or make
another effort to turn the Confederate position.
To this movement there was an episode, which is chiefly remarkable
DEATU OF GEN. J. E, B. STUART 517
for the fall in it of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, the brilliant commander of the
Confederate cavalry in Yirginia. An expedition of Federal cavalry, com-
manded by Gen. Sheridan, was directed to make a bold dash around Lee's
fiank towards Richmond. It passed around the right flank of the Con-
federates to the I^orth Anna River ; committed some damage at Beaver
Dam ; moved thence to the South Anna and Ashland Station, where the
railroad was destroyed ; and finally found its way to the James River,
where it joined the forces of Butler. On the 10th May, a portion of Sher
idan's command, under Custer and Merrill, were encountered by a body
of Stuart's cavalry near Ashland, at a place called Yellow Tavern, on the
road to Richmond, An engagement took place here. In a desperate
charge, at the head of a column. Gen. Stuart fell, terribly wounded. He
was immediately taken to Richmond, and every effort made to save his
valuable life ; but in vain. He died the next day.*
* From some memoirs of Gen. Stuart, collected from his staff officers, we extract some incidents
indicative of the character of the man, designated as the " Prince Rupert of the Confederate
Army : "
" One of the marked traits of this preux chevalier was his indifference to danger, which im-
pressed every one. It would be difficult to imagine a coolness more supreme. It was not that he
seemed to defy peril — he appeared unconscious of it. At the battle of Oxhill, in September, 1862,
he advanced a piece of artillery down the road to Fairfax Court-house, and suddenly found himself
in the presence of a buzzing hornet's nest of Federal sharp-shooters, who rose from the tall weeds
a few score yards distant, and poured a deadly fire into the cannoniers. Stuart was at the gim
directing the firing, and sat on his horse, full front to the fire, with so perfect an air of unconscious-
ness that it was hard to believe that he realized his danger. When a staff officer said, ' This fire
is rather peculiar. General,' Stuart seemed to wake up, as it were, to whistling bullets, and said,
indifferently, ' It is getting rather warm.' He met his death in this way, and the only matter for
astonishment is that he was not killed long before. He was constantly on the most advanced line
of skirmishers, cheering them on, the most conspicuous mark to the enemy. He used to laugh
when he was warned against such exposure of himself, and said that he was not afraid of any ball
' aimed at him ; ' but I know that he never expected to get through the war. He deeply deplored
its existence, and said, one day, ' I would lay down my right haud and have it cut off at the wrist
to end it.' But he was conscientious in his espousal of the Southern cause, and was ready to die
for it.
" The habitual temper of his mind toward his adversaries was cool and soldierly. Federal pris-
oners were treated by him with uniform courtesy, and often left his headquarters declaring that they
would never forget the kindness they had experienced. I remember an appeal once made to him
by a prisoner, which amused everybody. One of his escort spoke roughly to the prisoner, when the
latter, seeing the General, exclaimed : ' Gen. Stuart, I did not come here to be blackguarded,' at
vrhich Stuart laughed good-humouredly, and reprimanded the person who had addressed the pris-
oner.
" At Yerdiersville, in August, 1862, Stuart stopped at a deserted bouse on the roadside, and lay
down with his staff and escort, without videttes, pickets, or other precaution. The consequence was