This heroic assault marked the turn of the Confederate tide
Lee never invades again
173. Facing a Powerful Army. General Lee then went back across the Potomac, never to invade the North again. From then onward, little was done until, in 1864, General Grant took command of all the Union forces. Then followed three great battles—the "Wilderness," so called because it was fought in a thick forest of tangled underbrush lying in Virginia just south of the upper portion of the Rapidan; Spottsylvania, fought near the Spottsylvania courthouse a little farther southward, and Cold Harbor, fought a few miles northeast of Richmond.
Lee's troops wearing out
General Lee's troops were wearing out. There were no more men to take the places of those killed and wounded. Food and clothing became scarce, and other supplies were hard to get. General Lee was now made commander in chief over all the Confederate armies. He immediately put Joseph E. Johnston back in command of his old army in the West, but it was too late.
SCENE OF WAR AROUND WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND
Sheridan blocks the way
Lee decided in 1865 that Richmond must be given up. He wanted to take his army to Danville, Virginia, on the way to join the army of General Joseph E. Johnston, in North Carolina, but at Appomattox his troops met General Sheridan's cavalry.