Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/902

CIVIL WAB IN AMERICA. ing of Lookout Mountain, November 24, and of Aiissionary Kidge, November 25 ) . Tliis made it possible for Sherman to raise the siege of Knox^'ille, where General Biirnsidc had l)een hard pressed by the Confederates under Longstreet. At the close of the year the Federal forces held Mis- souri, Arkansas. Kentucky, Tennessee, a large part of Louisiana. Mississippi, and Florida, and the Rio Grande frontier of Texas, and had control of the Mississippi River. A draft in the Xorth- ern States for 300,000 men, with an exemption clause, had added 50,000 men to the Federal armies. In the early part of 1864 General Banks, assist- ed by Gen. A. J. Smith and a fleet under Admi- ral Porter, undertook an expedition up the Red River. A defeat at the hands of (^nerals Kirby Smith and Richard Taylor at Sabine Cross Roads. April S. ruined the prospects of the expedition, ■which ended in complete failure. General Grant «as made Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief in March, 18C4. He turned over his command in the West and South to Sherman, and took personal command of the armies of the East. A combined movement against the two remaining armies of the Confed- erates, those of Lee and Johnston, was now to be made under the personal direction of these two great generals. Sherman's army was in motion from Chattanooga by May 7. and forced General Johnston through Georgia as far as Atlanta, de- feating the Confederates at almost every point in a series of vigorous engagements, including those at Dalton. Rome, and Resaca, though he met with a severe defeat at Kenesaw Mountain. <Jenernl Hood, who now replaced General .John- ston, made repeated but disastrous attacks upon Sherman's forces (July 20, 22, 28), and after be- ing beleaguered in Atlanta, evacuated the city, which was occupied by Sherman on September 2. In the meantime the Anny of the Potomac, with General Meade in immediate command, had broken camp on the Rapidan. and undertaken the tremendous campaign of the •Wilderness,' with the design of forcing the fighting straight to Richmond. During this campaign of forty-three days, fully 130,000 men on the Federal side and about 70,000 men on the Confederate side, with constant reinforcements, were engaged almost continuously. On ifay 5-6 was fought the battle of the T^'ildemess, which was followed by the battles of Spottsylvania Court-House, the sharp engagement on the North Anna, and the terrible repulse of the Federal army at Cold Harbor on June 3. Finally, on the night of June 12. the Army of the Potomac crossed the Chickahominy, and took position on the south side of the James River, The design of this movement was to threaten Riclimond by way of Petersburg: and, to thwart it, Lcc at once threw a large portion of his army williin (he defenses of the latter city, which proved to bi' impregnable to assault, and only to be reduced by regular ap- proaches and a skillful siege. The regular in- vestment of Petersburg was begun on June 19. While this protracted siege was in progress, the Confederate General Karly made a rapid move- ment across the Potomac, achieving a success on the Jfonocaey July 0. and threatening Washing- ton itself. lie then withdrew into the Shenan- doah Valley, and engaged in a vigorous campaign against General Sheridan, which ended. afteT'~a defeat near Winchester on September 10, in Gene- r94 CIVIL WAK IN AMERICA. ral Early's utter rout at Cedar Creek October Ifl. On June 19 the Kcarsarye ended the destructive career of the Confederate cruiser Alabainu, by sinking her off Clierbourg, France. In the month of August Admiral Farragut forced his way into Mobile Bay and defeated the Confederate squad- ron. General Sherman set out from Atlanta on his famous 'March to the Sea' on November 15, carrying his compact army of 00,000 men through the heart of (Georgia, and occupied Savannah on December 21, after carrying Fort McAllister by- assault on the 13th. While Slierman was thus successful. Genera! Hood had invaded Tennessee, driving the Federal forces before him. His move- ment ended in the battle of Nashville, Decem- ber 15- 10, where his army was destroyed by General Thomas, Thus at the close "of the year the Federal forces were in jMssession of a large portion of the South, and Sherman was in a position to have the cooperation of the nnvy, and thus to move nortlnvard securely, so that he and Grant might hold between their two armies the weakened forces of both Lee and Johnston. In 1804 Abraham Lincoln was renominated by the Republicans, and Gen- eral McClellan was nominated by the Demo- crats, who put forth a platform declaring the war a failure, Tenty-five States took part in this election : the electoral vote was 233, of which Lincoln received 212; the popular vote of Lincoln and Andrew .Johnson, of Tennessee, was 2.223.03,i, and that of McClellan and Pendleton 1,811,714, During the latter part of December and Janu- ary General Sherman had remained in Savan- nah, resting his troops; but on February 1, 1805. he again took the field, ilarching through South Carolina, he took possession of Columbia on February 17, and on the following day Charles- ton, which had been besieged since 18(53, was occupie<l by the Federals. Sherman now pushed on into North Carolina, where, on .lanuary 15. Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, had been captured, and where now two other Federal armies — under Schoficld from New- Berne, and Terry from W'il- mington — cooperated with him, the three armies meeting at Goldsboro, N. C. Gen. J. E. John- ston, with the main army of the Confe<lerates in that region, made an ineffectual attempt to check Sherman's advance at Bentonville. X. C. On March 24 General Grant issued an order for a combined movement of the armies operating against Richmond, to take place on the 29th. But on the 25th General T^ee made a desperate attempt to break through the Federal line on the Appomattox River, and Fort Stedman was cap- tured by the Confederates, only to be immediately retaken. On March 31-April 1 General Sheridaii defeated the Confederates at Five Forks, which protected the South-Side Railroad, and thereby Lee's connections with Richmond, and captured GOOO prisoners. This was (he final and irretriev- able blow to the Confederate Army. On the fol- lowing day, April 2, General Grant attacked along the whole line in front of Petersburg, and on the evening of that day both Petersburg and Richmond were abandoned. General Lee retreated toward Lynchburg, but was intercepte<i by Sheri- dan, and on April surrendered his army to Gen- eral Grant at Appomattox Court-House. General Johnston finally surrendered his army on April 26. although be had pracdcally surrendered eight days earlier. On May 4 General Taylor sur- rendered the Confederate forces in Alabama to