PREPARING TO MOVE IN THE DIRECTION OF RICHMOND.

BEFORE Grant issued the order to move from his

position in front of Lee at Spottsylvania, he directed that over 100 pieces of artillery be sent back to Washington. From the time the army had crossed the Rapidan, but few batteries had been used; and Grant did not believe that artillery would play a prominent part in that campaign. He, at the same time, took a retrospective view of the movements of the different armies. Sherman was advancing to suit him, Sigel had been defeated in the Shenandoah, which gave the Confederates a chance to reënforce Lee.

While

He at once resolved to relieve Sigel, and General Hunter's name being mentioned, Grant consented to his being placed in command. Hunter was then directed by Grant to push forward his column up the Shenandoah and unite with Averell and Crook near Staunton, from which place he was to move, by way of Lexington, to Lynchburg, and in that manner draw from Lee's forces, or else unite with the Army of the Potomac, in case he was not opposed, and become its right wing.

Appearing before that Gibraltar, Hunter found it too strongly defended for him to storm; so he withdrew down the Kanawha, fearing to follow the line of the Virginia Central Railway, lest he would be overtaken. This prevented his army from assisting Grant for weeks, until it emerged from the mountain fastnesses of West Virginia.

Turning his eye on General Butler, who was south of the James River, Grant found that he was shut up in

Bermuda Hundred by Beauregard, and that reënforcements were coming from the South to again assist in the defense of Richmond. When General Butler landed at Bermuda Hundred there were but few troops in that vicinity; but when he sent an expedition, on the 7th of May, to destroy the Petersburg and Richmond Railroad, he found it guarded by a strong force. Brooks, who was in command of this expedition, attacked the enemy, and drove him back; but he, rallying, charged Brooks. Finally both parties withdrew.

On the 9th another advance was made, when the troops got within three miles of Petersburg. Butler had two corps, one under Gilmore and the other under General W. F. Smith. The latter was on the right. On the morning of the 16th, under cover of a dense fog, Beauregard advanced a column on Smith's right, which was a mile and a half from the James River, and guarded only by a small squadron of colored cavalry on his right. When Heckman was struck, on Smith's right, his troops were thrown into confusion; but the 9th Maine and the 112th New York coming up, led Beauregard to believe that Smith's line lay further to the right, en echelon. When his troops charged in front, they were tripped by wires which Smith had had stretched there to protect his front. When the Confederates fell, they were fired on by the Union troops.

Being repulsed, Beauregard made an examination, and resolved to make another attack, but this time to move his flanking column closer to the James. Smith, seeing that Beauregard was attempting to gain his rear and seize Bermuda Hundred, where Butler's depot of supplies was located, fell back in that direction.

General Gilmore, who was on Smith's left, had not been pressed by the enemy. Whiting's division at Petersburg had been ordered by Beauregard to assault Gilmore when Smith was, attacked. If Gilmore had swept forward, he could have turned the flank of the troops attacking Smith, and forced them to retire. But when Smith fell back on

his right, he ordered his corps to retire; and soon both corps were shut up in Bermuda Hundred.

Thus, when Grant was ready to move the Army of the Potomac south on Richmond, the armies of Hunter and Butler were both powerless to assist in the siege of that place.

Hancock was ordered to move at two o'clock, on the night of the 20th, in the direction of Guinea Station; but he requested to be permitted to move at dark, so as to pass the enemy's signal stations unobserved. Torbert's cavalry moved in his advance. When Guinea Station was reached, early in the morning, a small force of troops was encountered, but it did not delay the march.

At Milford Station a part of Kemper's brigade was encountered, but was repulsed by Torbert before the infantry came up, and the bridge over the Mattapony was saved from destruction. Hancock's troops began to cross as soon

as the head of the column arrived.

Kemper appeared to be the advance of Pickett's division, on its way to reënforce Lee, and he was evidently surprised by the sudden appearance of Torbert at that place, for the right bank of the Mattapony was a very strong position from which to dispute its passage. As Pickett was on his way to join Lee, he had no expectation that any Union force was in that vicinity, and perhaps he doubted the propriety of attacking a force of whose strength he knew nothing.

Crossing his command to the south side of the Mattapony, Hancock took a strong position until Warren, Wright, and Burnside came up. On the 21st, at half past ten a.m., the artillery of the Fifth Corps started to follow Hancock, with Crawford's division moving closely in its rear. At noon Warren started, with Griffin's and Cutler's divisions. The Fifth Corps arrived at Guinea Station at half past five that afternoon.

Next morning Warren sent the Iron Brigade to the west of the Telegraph road, to learn if the enemy was also mov

ing south.

The information gained was to the effect that Ewell's and Longstreet's corps had marched south all night on the Telegraph road. About the time that this information was received, an order came from Warren to move to Harris' Store. In the morning Cutler's division, which was given the lead, started promptly at five o'clock.

By one o'clock Warren had reached the North Anna River, and began to cross at Jericho Ford about three o'clock in the afternoon. Griffin's division, wading, crossed over without opposition, and formed line of battle. Cutler was directed to cross and form on his right. The Iron Brigade, being in the advance, was ordered to the right of Griffin, while Colonel Bragg, in command of Roy Stone's Bucktail Brigade, was to take position on the right of the Iron Brigade. Colonel Hofmann, in command of the Second Brigade, which was Cutler's old brigade, was ordered to support them, while Lyle was held in reserve.

Crawford had taken position on the left of Griffin, so that Warren's line, from left to right, was Crawford, Griffin, and Cutler. Griffin had scarcely taken his position when he was furiously assaulted; but he repulsed the

enemy.

While Hancock's passage of the North Anna was stubbornly resisted, Warren, several miles above, crossed unopposed; but as soon as he had crossed his center was attacked. Failing to drive Griffin, the Confederate force moved to the right just as Cutler, with Captain Mink, was riding on the line that he was to occupy to select a position for Mink's battery.

As the Iron Brigade was moving into position it was struck by the force that had assaulted Griffin. Not yet in position, the brigade was unable to withstand so heavy a force, the assaulting troops being Wilcox's division, composed of Brown's, Scales', Gordon's, and Thomas's brigades, followed by Heth's division. Mink hurriedly threw his battery into position, and the Iron Brigade, falling back, reformed in its rear.

This movement uncovered Griffin's right. At the same time Bartlett's brigade was sent to assist in restoring the lines. As the troops were rushing to their positions, the 83d Pennsylvania, under Lieutenant Colonel McCoy, came in contact with one of Brown's regiments, while both were marching. McCoy instantly formed line and fired the first volley, which wounded and killed many, and paralyzed the enemy. Seeing an officer of rank, the 83d boys sprang forward and caught him. It proved to be Colonel Brown, in command of the brigade. Colonel Bates reported to Cutler with his brigade; two of his regiments were sent to the right, where the enemy was repulsed with heavy loss.

Hancock was on the Chesterfield road, which crosses the North Anna, about a mile west of the railroad bridge. And here occurred another blunder on the part of the enemythat of leaving troops in an intrenched position on the side of a river which had been evacuated by the main portion of his army, only to be overpowered by the Army of the Potomac when it came up. The same thing was done at Rappahannock Station, when Lee was retreating south, after the battle of Fredericksburg. General Mahone said to me that it was Early's work at Rappahannock Station.

It was, indeed, a strange performance on the part of the Confederates; for all night Hancock's soldiers had to keep a vigilant watch to prevent the bridge from being burned. It was late in the afternoon when Hancock began his movement to take it; so no attempt was made to cross the river that night.

The Confederate troops on the north bank of the North Anna were protected with strong intrenchments; but when the order to assault was given, the veterans of Pierce's and Egan's brigades, of Birney's division, made short work of it, and all were made prisoners who did not escape, or were pushed off the bridge and drowned.

In the morning, when the Second Corps was put in motion, it was discovered that the enemy had evacuated the south bank.