Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas. Page: 102 of 1,110
vii, 9-1011 p. incl. ill., ports. : ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Major-General in the regular army, and in
October following he was placed in command
of the Division of the Mississippi.
The same month he went to Chattanooga
and saved the Army of the Cumberland
from starvation, and drove Bragg from that
part of the country. This victory overthrew
the last important hostile force west
of the Alleghanies and opened the way for
the National armies into Georgia and Sherman's
march to the sea.
The remarkable series of successes which
Grant had now achieved pointed him out
as the appropriate leader of the National
armies, and accordingly, jn February, 1864,
the rank of Lieutenant-General was created
for him by Congress, and on March 17 he
assumed command of the armies of the
United States. Planning the grand final
campaign, he sent Sherman into Georgia,
Sigel into the valley of Virginia, and Butler
to capture Richmond, while he fought his
own way from the Rapidan to the James.
The costly but victorious battles of the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and
Cold Harbor were fought, more for the
purpose of annihilating Lee than to capture
any particular point. In June, 1864, the
siege of Richmond was begun. Sherman,
meanwhile, was marching and fighting daily
in Georgia and steadily advancing toward
Atlanta; but Sigel had been defeated in the
valley of Virginia, and was superseded by
Hunter. Lee sent Early to threaten the National
capital; whereupon Grant gathered
up a force which he placed under Sheridan,
and that commander rapidly drove Early,
in a succession of battles, through the valley
of Virginia and destroyed his army as an
organized force. The siege of Richmond
went on, and Grant made numerous attacks,
but was only partially successful. The
people of the North grew impatient, and
even the Government advised him to
abandon the attempt to take Richmond or
crush the Confederacy in that way; but henever wavered. He resolved to "fight it
out on that line, if it took all summer."
By September Sherman had made his
way to Atlanta, and Grant then sent him
on his famous "march to the sea," a route
which the chief had designed six months
before. He made Sherman's success possible,
not only by holding Lee in front of
Richmond, but also by sending reinforcements
to Thomas, who then drew off and
defeated the only army which could have
confronted Sherman. Thus the latter was
left unopposed, and, with Thomas and Sheridan,
was used in the furtherance of Grant's
plans. Each executed his part in the great
design and contributed his share to the resuit
at which Grant was aiming. Sherman
finally reached Savannah, Schofield beat
the enemy at Franklin, Thomas at Nashville,
and Sheridan wherever he met him;
and all this while General Grant was holding
Lee, with the principal Confederate
army, near Richmond, as it were chained
and helpless. Then Schofield was brought
from the West, and Fort Fisher and Wilmington
were captured on the sea-coast, so
as to afford him a foothold; from here he
was sent into the interior of North Carolina,
and Sherman was ordered to move
northward to join him. When all this was
effected, and Sheridan could find no one else
to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, Grant
brought the cavalry leader to the front of
Richmond, and, making a last effort, drove
Lee from his entrenchments and captured
Richmond.
At the beginning of the final campaign
Lee had collected 73,000 fighting men in
the lines at Richmond, besides the local
militia and the gunboat crews, amounting.
to 5,000 more. Including Sheridan's force
Grant had I Io,ooo men in the works before
Petersburg and Richmond. Petersburg fell
on the 2d of April, and Richmond on the
3d, and Lee fled in the direction of Lynchburg.
Grant pursued with remorseless
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Lewis Publishing Company. Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas., book, 1892; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20932/m1/102/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Public Library.