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tion caused by this raid from the statement that Merritt captured three hundred and thirty-eight horses, five thousand five hundred and twenty cattle, five thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven sheep, one thousand one hundred and forty-one swine; that he burned one thousand one hundred and sixty-nine barns, forty-nine mills, two factories, six distilleries, twenty-seven thousand six hundred and twenty tons of hay, fiftyone thousand five hundred bushels of wheat, sixty-two thousand nine hundred bushels of corn, and two thousand and two bushels of oats. The estimated value of the property consumed and captured was $2,508,756.

Soon after this, as there would probably be no further movements in the valley during the winter, the entire Sixth Corps was withdrawn from Sheridan, and sent to General Grant, at Richmond. General Early also sent a large part of his force to Lee, to aid him in the defence of Richmond.

On the 27th of February, General Sheridan left Winchester with a mounted force, consisting of two full divisions and a brigade, with no infantry, and but four pieces of light artillery. In three days he marched eighty-three miles, drove Early from Staunton, pursued him the next day thirteen miles farther to Waynesboro', where he captured thirteen hundred men and eleven guns. He then crossed the mountain to Charlottesville, which place he took, with three more guns. Then he rode down to James River Canal, which he so damaged as seriously to obstruct the transmission of supplies through that important channel to the rebels at Richmond. Early's army was now effectually brushed away, and General Sheridan remained undisputed master of the region for the possession of which the patriot and the rebel armies had so long and so bloodily contended.

From the north side of the James River, Sheridan struck across the country, marching along the Virginia Central Railroad, which he destroyed as he advanced, and also an enormous amount of such rebel property as they could make available in the war. On the 10th of March he reached the north bank of the Pamunkey, which he crossed to White House. From this time his army became essentially merged in that mighty host with which General Grant was thundering at the gates of Petersburg and Richmond. Nearly two hundred negroes followed him into the Union lines. Women, carrying children two years old, kept up with his cavalry all the way from Columbia. So eager were the negroes to escape from their masters, whom it has been said they so ardently love, that at Charlottesville General Sheridan was obliged to station a rear-guard to prevent them from following him by hundreds, as he could neither feed them nor afford them protection.

This raid was one of the most bold and effective of the war. General Sheridan approached within fifteen miles of Lynchburg, and within twelve of Richmond. He left not a bridge standing upon the James River between those two cities. Every railroad bridge was destroyed between Staunton and Charlottesville. The canal was so destroyed that many months would be required to repair it. In several places the river was turned into the canal, washing it out fifteen feet below its level. The property destroyed by General Custer's Division alone, on this raid, exceeded two millions of dollars.

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CHAPTER XLIV.

(June 15 to October 26, 1864.)

SIEGE OF PETERSBURG AND RICHMOND.

DEFENCES OF PETERSBURG.-GENERAL GRANT'S PLANS.-A MISTAKE.-FIRING INTO PETERSBURG. -MOSBY'S RAID INTO MARYLAND. FIGHT AT MONOCACY.-ALARM THROUGH THE NORTH.BLOODY REPULSE AT THE FORT.-DUTCH GAP CANAL-HEAVY REPULSE AT RHEAMS'S STATION. -TREACHERY OF THE REBELS.—JEFF. DAVIS'S TERMS FOR PEACE.-STORMING NEW MARKET HEIGHTS.-DUEL ON THE JAMES.-SURGINGS OF THE BATTLE,

We must now return to General Grant, and the army with which he was besieging both Richmond and Petersburg. We last left him about the middle of June, having just accomplished his wonderful march from the region of the Chickahominy to Bermuda Hundred. He was then, with the main body of his army, struggling with the foe, amidst the ramparts which protected Petersburg on the southeast. The city of Petersburg lies principally on the south banks of the Appomattox. It was defended by concentric lines of earthworks, with square redoubts and rifle trenches. The outer lines had been carried on Wednesday night, June 15. Rebel reënforcements were rapidly crowded down from Richmond, which checked our further advance. All day Thursday there was incessant fighting. At daylight on Friday the conflict was resumed. In a bloody strife across the breastworks, Griffin's and Curtin's Brigades of Potter's Division captured five hundred men, and gained a position but a mile and a half from Petersburg. Occasionally a few shells were thrown into the city. It was a great disappointment to the community, and doubtless to General Grant, to find that the city was so strongly fortified that it could not be taken by assault.

It was the object of General Grant gradually to sweep around Petersburg, so as to destroy the railroads running from the south and the west, by which the city received its supplies. The first road south of the James is that which runs from Petersburg to Norfolk. This was in our possession. The next, which ran due south to Weldon, was the one now to be assailed. On the night of the 20th of June, the Second Corps moved out from its intrenchments to the left, in preparation for the flank movement which was intended. Under General Birney, the troops pressed forward as rapidly as possible in a southerly direction, intending to strike at a distance of several miles from Richmond. They marched until noon, beneath an intensely hot sun, and through blinding clouds of dust. They then, at what is called the Jerusalem road, encountered the enemy in such force as to show that the Weldon Railroad could not be taken without severe fighting. At night the disposition of our army was as follows: At

Deep Bottom, north of the James River, General Foster's Division of the Tenth Corps was established. General Butler had the remainder of the Tenth Corps at Bermuda Hundred. In the intrenchments which had been thrown up east of Petersburg, the Eighteenth Corps held the right, the Ninth the centre, and the Fifth, except Griffin's Division, the left. Three or four miles south were the Second and Sixth Corps, which had been checked in their advance towards the Weldon Railroad.

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On this day, Tuesday, the 21st, President Lincoln visited the army, and held long and confidential interviews with Generals Butler and Grant. Early the next morning the movement against the railroad was resumed. The cavalry of Wilson and Kautz were sent on a detour to cut it, ten miles south of Petersburg. At the same time the Sixth and Second Corps moved directly against the road. As these corps struck into some thick woods, a gap was left in the line. The eagle-eyed foe took prompt advantage of the error. A whole division swept through the space, and, impetuously striking General Barlow's flank of the Second Division, rolled it up, capturing many prisoners. The rebels then rushed on, almost unimpeded, spreading wide havoc. Several whole regiments were captured. The whole of McKnight's Battery was taken, though a few of the men, with most of the horses and caissons, escaped to the rear. The Twentieth Massachusetts, under Captain Patten, at this crisis effected a change of front, and presented such firm resistance to the foe, that his advance was checked. This heroic regiment was already sadly weakened by its previous deeds of daring.

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Gradually the broken corps was rallied. All the day the fight was continued. The disaster in the morning was somewhat repaired in the afternoon. But our loss was great, and we could boast neither of skill nor success in the conflict. Five hundred of our men were killed or wounded, and two thousand were taken prisoners. Nearly the whole of Pierce's Brigade, one of the best in the army, was captured. A reconnoissance the next morning disclosed the enemy strongly intrenched this side of the Weldon Railroad. During the whole of the day there was picket firing, and occasional sharp skirmishes, but no advance was attempted on either side. The heat of the day was terrible. Those engaged in fighting, and also the wounded, suffered severely.

On Thursday, the 23d, there was another cautious movement made, but the enemy in defence of the railroad was found too strongly intrenched to be displaced. Wilson and Kautz had, however, successfully cut it at a point below, and were now sweeping across to cut the Danville road. In the attempt to swing around our extreme left, to reach a point unprotected, we were again assailed by the foe, and met with another mortifying repulse, after having sustained a heavy loss.

Friday was ushered in with a tremendous roar of artillery. Throughout the day there was a great noise from the batteries, and a vast amount of iron was thrown through the air, doing but little harm. Fifty miles north, at White House, on the Pamunkey, Sheridan's cavalry very narrowly escaped destruction. They were attacked and almost overpowered on their march from White House, to join the main body of the army. Saturday was a

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