Problems of war.
Plan of the March to the Sea.
424. Plans of Campaign.--Hood now led his army northward to Tennessee. But Sherman, instead of following him, sent only Thomas and Schofield. Sherman knew that the Confederacy was a mere shell. Its heart had been destroyed. What would be the result of a grand march through Georgia to the seacoast, and then northward through the Carolinas to Virginia? Would not this unopposed march show the people of the North, of the South, and of Europe that further resistance was useless? Sherman thought that it would, and that once in Virginia he could help Grant crush Lee. Grant agreed with Sherman and told him to carry out his plans. But first we must see what happened to Thomas and Hood.
Hood in Tennessee.
Battle of Franklin, November, 1864.
Thomas destroys Hood's army, December, 1864.
425. Thomas and Hood, 1864.--Never dreaming that Sherman was not in pursuit, Hood marched rapidly northward until he had crossed the Tennessee. He then spent three weeks in resting his tired soldiers and in gathering supplies. This delay gave Thomas time to draw in recruits. At last Hood attacked Schofield at Franklin on November 30, 1864. Schofield retreated to Nashville, where Thomas was with the bulk of his army, and Hood followed. Thomas took all the time he needed to complete his preparations. Grant felt anxious at his delay and ordered him to fight. But Thomas would not fight until he was ready. At length, on December 15, he struck the blow, and in two days of fighting destroyed Hood's whole army. This was the last great battle in the West.
The March to the Sea, 1864.
Fall of Savannah, December, 1864.
426. Marching through Georgia.--Destroying the mills and factories of Atlanta, Sherman set out for the seashore. He had sixty thousand men with him. They were all veterans and marched along as if on a holiday excursion. Spreading out over a line of sixty miles, they gathered everything eatable within reach. Every now and then they would stop and destroy a railroad. This they did by taking up the rails, heating them in the middle on fires of burning sleepers, and then twisting them around the nearest trees. In this way they cut a gap sixty miles long in the railroad communication between the half-starved army of northern Virginia and the storehouses of southern Georgia. On December 10, 1864, Sherman reached the sea. Ten days later he captured Savannah and presented it to the nation as a Christmas gift. Sherman and Thomas between them had struck a fearful blow at the Confederacy. How had it fared with Grant?
Grant's plan of campaign, 1864.
Objections to it.
427. Grant in Virginia, 1864.--Grant had with him in Virginia the Army of the Potomac under Meade, the Ninth Corps under Burnside, and a great cavalry force under Sheridan. In addition General Butler was on the James River with some thirty thousand men. Lee had under his orders about one-half as many soldiers as had Grant. In every other respect the advantage was on his side. Grant's plan of campaign was to move by his left from the Rappahannock southeastwardly. He expected to push Lee southward and hoped to destroy his army. Butler, on his part, was to move up the James. By this plan Grant could always be near navigable water and could in this way easily supply his army with food and military stores. The great objection to this scheme of invasion was that it gave Lee shorter lines of march to all important points. This fact and their superior knowledge of the country gave the Confederates an advantage which largely made up for their lack in numbers.
Battle of the Wilderness, May, 1864.
428. The Wilderness, May, 1864.--On May 4 and 5 the Union army crossed the Rapidan and marched southward through the Wilderness. It soon found itself very near the scene of the disastrous battle of Chancellorsville (p. 335). The woods were thick and full of underbrush. Clearings were few, and the roads were fewer still. On ground like this Lee attacked the Union army. Everything was in favor of the attacker, for it was impossible to foresee his blows, or to get men quickly to any threatened spot. Nevertheless Grant fought four days. Then he skillfully removed the army and marched by his left to Spotsylvania Court House.