States to their old-time place in the Union. Indeed, the progress of the Union cause in 1863 was so marked that men in the North quite generally believed that the power of the Confederacy was broken. "The success of our arms," said the secretary of war in December, 1863, "during the last year has enabled the department to make a reduction of over $200,000,ooo in the war estimates for the ensuing fiscal year."

THE CLOSE OF THE STRUGGLE

Final

of the

But there was much hard fighting after 1863. In 1864 the The Union forces began to move against the Confederates accord- Plan ing to a plan of coöperation between the armies of the East Campaign and those of the West. The plans for this campaign of concerted action were agreed upon by Grant and Sherman. According to the final plan of campaign, Grant was to fight Lee in Virginia, while Sherman was to attack Johnston at Dalton, conquer Georgia, and move northward with the purpose of joining the Union army in Virginia and assisting Grant in the capture of Richmond. Both generals were to begin their movements on the same day, and both were to keep on fighting continuously, regardless of the season or weather.

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It was to be a concentric movement that was to press the life out of the Confederacy. The struggle was bound to be titanic, for on January 1, 1864, there were on the Union rolls about 860,000 men, while the Confederate armies numbered about 480,000. "All that has gone before," said Sherman on March 12, 1864, "is mere skirmishing. The war now begins."

On the appointed day (May 5, 1864), Sherman, going out from his headquarters in Chattanooga, began the most memorable march in the history of the war. He marched against Johnston at Dalton and drove him from his position. He then pushed on to Atlanta, Johnston stubbornly opposing his advance. Between Dalton and Atlanta the battles of Resaca, Dallas, Lost Mountain, and Kenesaw Mountain were fought.

After Bragg was beaten at Chattanooga he retreated to Dalton in Georgia. He was soon removed, and his command was given to Joseph E. Johnston.

Naval
Successes

Before Atlanta was reached Johnston was relieved of his command and General J. B. Hood was appointed in his place. Hood tried hard to check Sherman but failed. On September 2, 1864, Sherman took possession of Atlanta. This city was a

great railway center, and it furnished to the Confederate armies supplies of ammunition and clothing. Its capture, therefore, was an event of the utmost importance to the Union cause. General Thomas, when he heard that Atlanta had fallen, "gleefully snapped his fingers, whistled, and almost danced."

The news of Atlanta was reinforced by tidings that came from the naval world. In August Farragut entered the harbor of Mobile, the last important Gulf port of the Confederacy, and, having carried the outer defenses, closed the port completely to Confederate commerce. More exciting still was the announcement that the Alabama had been sunk. This vessel was one of a fleet of armed cruisers that the Confederate Government had purchased abroad and had sent out upon the seas to rove about and capture American merchant ships. The Alabama, the most famous of the Confederate commerce-destroyers, had been built in England in the early months of the war and fitted out at British ports with the full knowledge of the English Government, although not with its official sanction. She was manned by English sailors, but was commanded by Confederate officers. Sailing from England in the summer of 1862, she cruised in the Atlantic, and although she was hotly pursued for nearly two years she baffled her enemies. Never before did a single ship work so much destruction upon commerce. Her captures numbered sixty-six merchant vessels. At last, however, she was sunk (June, 1864) off Cherbourg (France) by the American man-of-war Kearsarge.

Sherman, having destroyed everything in Atlanta that might Sherman's be of service to the Confederacy, started on November 16 with 60,000 men on his famous march across Georgia to Savannah. The army moved in four columns by four parallel

March
Through
Georgia

After withdrawing from Atlanta, Hood marched toward Nashville, hoping that Sherman would follow. But since Thomas was at Nashville, Sherman did not follow. Hood attacked Thomas at Nashville, but his army suffered a disastrous rout. The defeat of Hood was the death-blow of the Confederacy west of the Alleghanies.

roads. In its path it laid waste a belt of country sixty miles wide. When the march was at an end its results were summarized by Sherman as follows: "We have consumed the corn and fodder in the region of country thirty miles on either side of a line from Atlanta to Savannah as also the sweet potatoes, cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry, and

have carried away more than 10,000 horses and mules as well as a countless number of their slaves. I estimate the damage done to the State of Georgia and its military resources at $100,000,000; at least $20,000,000 of which has inured to our advantage and the remainder is simple waste and destruction." Nothing impeded Sherman's progress, and on December 21 he entered Savannah in triumph. He at once sent a letter to Lincoln saying, "I beg leave to present to you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah." From Savannah, Sherman, in accordance with the plan of campaign, moved northward to join Grant in Virginia. By the last of March he had subdued the interior of South Carolina and had advanced far into North Carolina. The Confederacy was now shattered. With the exception of Virginia, a part of

W. T. Sherman.

Campaign

Lee

In the meantime, Grant was in Virginia carrying out his Grant's part of the program. On May 4, 1864, with an army of 130,000 Against men he set out to capture Richmond. He met Lee with 70,000 men in a forest known as the Wilderness, and fought a battle in which the loss of life on both sides was frightful. From the

Wilderness, Grant pushed on to Spottsylvania Court-House, where he again fought the Confederates and where he lost many thousands of his men. But whether losing or winning, Grant pressed on, his plan being to defeat Lee by incessant pounding. In this policy of persistence he was supported by the President. "Hold on," said Lincoln in his quaint fashion in a despatch to Grant, "hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew

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and choke as much as possible." At Cold Harbor Grant met the Confederates again and was beaten back with terrible slaughter. He now pushed on to Petersburg, the back door. of Richmond. Here a long siege was necessary. The stronghold maintained its resistance for several months, but Grant drew his lines tighter and tighter, and at last (April 3, 1865) Petersburg fell and with it fell Richmond. Lee, after leaving the city he had defended so bravely for nearly four years, attempted to break through the Union lines, but he was checked

During the siege, Jubal Early with 20,000 Confederates moved down the Shenandoah Valley, threatened Washington, and invaded Pennsylvania. General Philip Sheridan was sent after Early with orders from Grant to "go in." Sheridan "went in " with a vengeance. He defeated Early and laid waste the beautiful valley the devastation being so complete that "a crow flying over the country would need to carry his provisions with him."

at every step by a superior force, and there was nothing for him to do but lay down his arms. On April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court-House, he surrendered to Grant his little army of 28,000 men. On April 26, Johnston surrendered to Sherman near Raleigh, and the war was over.

Collapse

After the fall of Richmond, the Confederate Government The quickly collapsed. President Davis with his cabinet and clerks of the

Confed

eracy

went to Charlotte, North Carolina. Davis was determined to "die in the last ditch," but he could not hold out long. The surrender of Johnston made it necessary for the members of his cabinet to disband and flee. Davis made his way to Georgia but was captured at Irwinsville (May 10, 1865). He was sent to Fortress Monroe, in Virginia, where he was held a prisoner until 1867, when he was released on bail.

Out

of the

At the close of the war there were about 1,000,000 men in Mustering the Union ranks. Immediately after the surrender of Lee the Union army began to be mustered out, and between May and

Union

Army