The National tribune., 1910-05-26
THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN
.lcontinued from page one.)

cover it. II the city became too un-
safe for Jefferson Davis and the Con-
federate Government to stay there,
Lees army would have to follow it OF.
into the interior, where the process Of
diGn aea wSHf Wh fBiye B bssS sSn eHs 10 @Gas fS
rivers and bases of supplies, Grants
army could fight to advantage, while
Lee would have the disadvantage of
long and difficult lines of supply to con-
tend against. Anywhere away from
Richmond the conditions would have
been very different, and these advan-
tages transferred to Lees army. There
fore, Sheridan had his troopers turn
away from the city, which they held in
their hands, renouncing with sigh the
opportunity for brilliant but unsub-
stantial fame, and turned his men to
their proper duty as soldiers in carry
ing out the real purpose of the cam
paign.
Sheridan's first thought was as to
roads which would lead him across the
fateful Chickahominy, either to juno
ton with Buffers army on the James
or with Meade's army, which he felt
must now be approaching the Pamun-
key. Altho he knew that the panic
stricken jefferson Davis would be call
ing for all the troops within reach to
save Richmond and that within few
hours there would be enough infantry
in that city to grind his cavalry to
pieces, he made his dispositions with
much deliberation. No one appreciat-
ed better than Sheridan when instants
of time We're more precious than ru-
bieS. When it was his cue to strike he
was lightninglike. He also knew when
to wait.
Now, wise deliberation was his role.
The longer he remained in the vicinity
of Richmond the more troops the
vic h
protect the city, and the more would
be drawn away from those in front of
Butler and Grant. Then, Sheridan says
he wanted to give his troopers more con-
fidence in themselves; he wanted
them 20 feel that they could handle
themselves with entire satisfaction, no
matter where they were nor how many
of their foes might gather around
them. In tolerably open country the
true cavalryman laughs at the numbers
of his enemy. What he cannot fight
successfully he can gallop away from
or around.
Crossing the ChickahOminy.
Sheridan's chief concern, however,
was not the maSsing of the troops in
Richmond nor the detachments from
Lees army, but that Slough of Despond
for the Union army, the sluggish,
swamp bordered little Chickahominy
around Richmond. like a wet ditch
around great fortress. The rains
which had been such an impedment
to the Union army in '62 had now swol-
len the Chickahominy into a widespread
flood that could only be crossed at a
few places. Sheridan's first idea was
to move during the night, between the
two lines of works, down to the Me-
chanicsville pike, where he would find
a bridge to cross over to Fair Oaks and
there join onto the right of Buffers
army on the James. He expected to
make this crossing at Haxalrs Landing.
and by doing so possibly help Buffers
advance on Richmond. Therefore, after |
making all the wounded as comfortable |
as possible, he started about midnight |
on May IL for the plateau south of
what is known as the Meadow Bridge, |
across the Chickahominy.
1t was raining then, as we remember |
1t rained terribly On the night of May |
II, when Hancock was massing for his |
brilliant assault upon the Bloody Angle. |
Nearly at the same time, tho 40 miles
apart, the infantry of the Second Corps (
was plodding thru the solid downpour
and the thick woods in the direction of |
the Brown house, while Sheridan's cav
airy struggled forward thru the ever
increasing mud and binding rain to-
ward Meadow Bridge.
A Hard Night for the Cavalry.
Capt. Field, 4th U. S. Art, gives this
description of that trying nights
march:
I'VE marched all night virtually. The