West melted away and disappeared before the enemy; Wilmington, the last port connecting the Confederacy with Europe and the rest of the world, had just fallen into the hands of Sherman ; the Richmond Congress were displaying such indecision and feebleness as we so often find in assemblies in moments of crisis; the grand figure of Lee alone stood out luminous from this gloomy and stormy background. He remained an anchor of safety to his agonising fatherland.

Informed of the bill which nominated him commander-in-chief of all the Southern armies, he did not conceal the embarrassment in which this new and undesired honour placed him. The reciprocal relations of friendship and confidence between him and President Davis made him hesitate to accept a title, vain, it is true, and henceforth useless-which seemed likely to bring about a coolness between himself and the executive power. But the unanimous wish of all carried the day; he was obliged to yield, although he felt that the nearly absolute power decreed to him could no longer save the country.

When the result of the conferences between the delegates assembled at Fortress Monroe was known, the indignation at Richmond and in the army was great. President Davis had declared that the independence of the South was the absolute basis of all ulterior negotiation. This, in the eyes of President Lincoln and his councillors, was an inadmissible condition. All parleying was therefore broken off. Many meetings at Richmond testified to a deep feeling of irritation at the humiliating propositions made by the North. This manifestation of public opinion assumed various forms; addresses signed by the army appeared in the newspapers, affirming anew an unshaken resolution to struggle to the end for the sacred cause of the fatherland.

The will was there, but the fenders were necessary to the Iwant of soldiers and material.

means were wanting. More decause, which was collapsing for How could the Government arm

and equip new levies when it could not sufficiently minister to the necessities of those already under its flags? Early in the war the arming of the negroes was discussed. The proposition was so ill-received that it had to be given up. When, however, later, it was perceived that the law of conscription, which it was hoped would give 400,000 men, did not furnish near that number, a law for the enrolment of the blacks was presented to the Chamber of Representatives at Richmond. To this General Lee was favourable, and in February he wrote on the subject a letter to a commission of the Chamber, in which, among other things, he says :—“I think the measure not only expedient, but necessary. The enemy will certainly use them against us if he can get possession of them; and as his present numerical superiority will enable him to penetrate many parts of the country, I cannot see the wisdom of the policy of holding them to await his arrival, when we may, by timely action and judicious management, use them to arrest his progress."

In his opinion they might have been made good soldiers with the help of a severe discipline. He adds, "My notion is that those of them who serve in the army ought, in consequence, to be declared free. It would be neither just nor wise to expose them to the greatest of all dangers, risk of losing their lives, and refuse them the finest of rewards-liberty."

The bill, which was passed in March, too late to be of any use, did not correspond to the lofty ideas enunciated by Lee. The pro-slavery party, in the narrow acceptation of the term, had dictated the terms of it.

On accepting the new position forced on him by circumstances General Lee published an order of the day, in which he humbly invoked the support of the Almighty, and addressed a warm appeal to the patriotism of his fellow-citizens, expressing the hope that thus the end so ardently wished for would be reached-peace and independence.

The concentration of all military powers in Lee's hands, and

the evacuation of Charleston, preceded by the destru works, seemed to announce a defence à outrance, ▾

On

the North with a legitimate disquietude. Northern writer expresses himself in terms endeavouring to realise the signification of the

its

pired

ject, a

e: "While at change in

the Southern system of defence, the future ap ars to us more gloomy and impenetrable than ever. It is to a single head, and we know how fertile that head is in resources-it is to a single heart, and we know the firmness and courage of that heart-it is to a single man, and we know to what a high degree he is endowed with intelligence to plan, to strike, to counteract, to repair errors, to profit by the blunders of his adversaries, that henceforth the military destinies of the South are confided."

But he was not permitted to put in execution the projects indicated. Had he been able to obtain the authority of the Richmond Government to evacuate both Petersburg and the Confederate capital, very probably the war would have had another issue.

CHAPTER XVI.

CONTINUATION OF THE SIEGE. THE LAST COMBATS.-LEE'S RETREAT.— HIS CAPITULATION.

GENERAL LEE, about the end of March, perceived that preparations were making in the Federal army for some important movement, a movement, for that matter, easy to divine. The Federal left having gradually gained ground in the direction of Southside, it became evident that Grant was contemplating an offensive movement in this direction. He hoped thus to acquire the only line of retreat open to Lee, and finish the war at a blow.

The catastrophe foreseen by the Southern chief for months was getting ready threateningly before his eyes. Unless he had recourse to some means as desperate as his situation, all struggling was at an end. Retreat appeared the only means open to him, but retreat was no longer an easy thing. His adversary had the command of forces placed not far from the roads over which Lee must necessarily pass. Without a diversion, the chances of retiring his army from the awkward position in which it was, seemed hopeless. He therefore decided on this.

His plan was, boldly to assume the offensive. It was of the utmost urgency to remedy the extreme pressure on his right wing, about to succumb to the accumulated masses of the enemy concentrated against it, and, by striking a blow elsewhere, to divert the danger threatening the Southside Railroad. By attacking the Federal centre, east of Petersburg, Lee would force Grant to partly strip his left wing. Should the Confederates succeed in introducing

themselves between the two Federal wings, and likewise in menacing the railway coming from City Point, a place on the James where the steamers disembarked their cargoes, and where Grant received his supplies, affairs would wear an altered appearance. At the worst, admitting that Lee might judge it most prudent to beat a retreat, this offensive movement would permit him, while his adversary was occupied in massing his troops on his front with the object of arresting the attack on his centre, to retire suddenly by the Southside Railway to North Carolina, as he had originally intended.

General Gordon commanded the part of the Confederate army immediately before Petersburg; it was composed of three small divisions. Longstreet had the left wing, which extended to the north of the James, and the right wing was under the orders of A. P. Hill, stationed at Hatcher's Run.

To Gordon, therefore, fell the principal part in the battle of the 25th of March. The positions to be taken were on Hase's Hill, two hundred and fifty yards at east from the Confederate lines. The interval was defended by felled trees, trenches, and chevaux-de-frise; but should the first assault succeed, should the dash of the troops carry them on, and they be supported by sufficient reinforcements, the hill behind would fall into their hands, and, to maintain his position, Grant would be compelled to concentrate his army on the point menaced.

Before dawn, on March 25th, everything was ready. The attacking column was composed of from 3000 to 4000 men under General Gordon. In reserve enough forces were held to support him. With daylight Gordon gave the signal. His soldiers rapidly and silently crossed the space separating them from Fort Steadman, the most advanced of the Federal lines. Scrambling over the felled trees, they rushed to the parapets. The surprised garrison scarcely attempted a defence. To drive it out and turn the guns against the other Federal works, was the task of a moment. A cry of triumph announced that the Confederates

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