The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1865-06-29
HOW RICHMOND WAS TAKEN,

" Ihe appointment of Gen. Grant to tn
Al command of all the armies was not onl
: the beginning of a new regime, but th
adoption of a new idea-that Lees arm
was the objective point, rather than tn
city of Richmond.
The power Of the rebellion lies in th
rebel army" said General Grant to tn,
writer one evening in June last w,
had been conversing upon Fort Donelsor
aud Pittsburg Landing. One by one hi
staff officers dropped off to their tents
and we were alone. 1t was a quiet, star
hit night. The Lieutenant General wa,
enjoying his fragrant Havana cigar, and
was in mood of conversation, not upon
what he was going to do, but upon what
had been done. He is always wisely ret
icent upon the present aud future, but a.
greeably communicative upon what has
passed into history.
IL have lost good many men since the
army left the Rapidan, but there was no
help for it. The rebel army must be de-
stroyed before we can put down the re-
bel!ion," he continued.
There was a disposition at that time on
the part Of the disloyal press Of the North
to bring Gen. Grant into bad odor. He
was called "The Butcher" Even some
Republican Congressman were ready to
demand his removal. General Grant al
luded to it and said {:
"God knows | don't want to see men
slaushtcred but we have appealed to
arms, and We have got to fight It out"
He had already given public utterance
to the expression u intend to fight it
out on this line, if it takes all summer"
referring to the successive flank move
ments which had been made, from the
Rapidan to the Wilderness, to Spottsylva-
nion TO the North Anna, to the Chicka-
hominy, to Petersburg, lie said
Only object has been to get between
Lee and his southern communications"
At the time the Weldon road was in the
hands Of the enemy, and Eearly was on a
march down the Valley, towards Wash
inSten. This movement was designed to
friShton Grant and send him back by
steamer to defend the capitol; but the
Sixth Corps only was sent, while the
troops remaining still kept pressing on in
a series Of flank movements, which result
ted in the seizure Of the Weldon road
That WAS the most damaging blow which
Lee had received, lie made desperate
efforts TO recover what had been lost, but
in vain. 1t was the beginning Of the end.
Then the public generally could see the /
meaning Of General Grants strategy /
that the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and /
all the terrible battles which had been
fought, were according to a plan, which,
if carried out, must end in victory. The
Richmond newspapers, which had ridi-
culei The campaign, aud found an echo
in the disloyal press Of the North, began
to discuss the question Of supplies; and
to keep their courage up, they INDUCED
in boasttul declarations that the Southside .
railroad could never be taken
The march OF Sherman from Atlanta
to Savannah and through South Carolina,
destroying railroads aud supplies, the ia
king OF Wilmington, SheridaD's move
ment from Winchester up the Valley of
the Shenandoah, striking the James Riv-
er Canal and the Central Railroad, aud
then the transfer of his whole force frola
the "Nhite House to the left flank of the
Army OF the Potomac, were parts of q
well ulatured design to weaken Lees ar
my.
Everything was ready for final blow. I
The forces of General Grant were dis
posed as follows:
The army Of the James, composed of
the Twenty fourth and Twenty fifth Corps, /
and commanded by General Ord, was
north Of the James River, It's right flank .
resting on the old battlefield of Glendale,
and its left flank on the Appomattox.-
The Ninth Army Corps, the right wing
Of the Army of the Potomac, was next in
line, then the Sixth, and then the Second,
its left resting on Hatcher's Run. The /
Fifth was in rear Of the Second. The |
line thus held was nearly forty miles in
length, defended on the front and rear
by strong earthworks and ahatis.
Gen Grants entire force could not /
have been much less than hundred and
thirty thousand, including Sheridan's cav
airy, the force at City Point, and the pro-
visional brigade at Fort Powhatan. Lees
whole force was not far from seventy
thousand, or seventy five thousand, inclu-
ding the militia of Richmond and Pc
tersburg; but he was upon the defence,
and held an interior and shorter line.
The work which Gen. Grant had in
hand was the seizure Of the Southside
Railroad by an extension Of his left flank.
He had attempted it once with the Fifth
Corps, at Dabney's Mill, and had failed
but that attempt had been Of value; he
had gained knowledge of the country.
His engineers had mapped it, the roads,
the streams, the houses. The fight at
Dabney's Mil was random stroke, a
"feeling the position" to use term com
mon in camp, which euabled him to de-
tect the weak point of Lees lines. 10
comprehend the movement, it is necessa-
ry to understand the geographical and to-
biographical features Of the country, |
which are somewhat peculiar Hatcher's
~ u II