HANCOCK ADVANCES TO HATCHER'S RUN. 595 with a loss of 300. On our side, Gen. | Charles City and Williamsburg roads Ord was wounded, and Brig.-Gen. on our left, the Army of the PoBurnham killed. tomac, leaving only men enough to hold its works before Petersburg, and 80 Fort Harrison was so important to Richmond, that Field resolved to re-taking three days' rations, marched suddenly by the left against the enemy's works covering Hatcher's run and the Boydton plank-road. In other words, Meade's army was here pushed forward to find and turn the right flank of the enemy. take it, but deferred the assault till next morning, when he hurled three brigades against it on one side, while Gen. Hoke charged on the other. These assaults failed to be made simultaneously, and of course were both repulsed with slaughter; as they probably would have been at any rate. But, a few days thereafter, the Rebels surprised at dawn our right, held by Kautz's cavalry, which had been pushed up the Charles City road, to within 4 or 5 miles of Richmond, and drove it; capturing 9 guns and perhaps 500 prisoners. A desperate fight ensued, in which the Rebel Gen. Gregg, of Texas, was killed. Both sides claimed a clear advantage, but neither obtained much, save in the capture of Fort Harrison; while the losses of each had been quite heavy. Butler pushed forward a strong reconnoissance on the 13th, and assaulted some new works that the enemy had constructed on a part of their front; but they were firmly held, and the attack was not long persisted in. After a considerable pause, spiced only by cannonading and picketfiring along the intrenched front of both armies, and some sanguinary encounters around Fort Sedgwick (nicknamed by our soldiers Fort Hell') covering the Jerusalem plankroad, Gen. Grant again sounded a general advance. While Gen. Butler demonstrated in force on our extreme right-the 18th corps moving on the Richmond defenses by both the Starting before dawn, the 9th corps, under Parke, on the right, with the 5th, under Warren, on its left, struck, at 9 A. M., the right of the Rebel intrenchments, which rested on the east bank of Hatcher's run; assaulting, but failing to carry them. Warren thereupon undertook, as had been arranged, to come in on its flank by a turning movement; while Hancock, who had simultaneously advanced still farther to our left, and had found but a small force to dispute his passage of Hatcher's run where he struck it, moved north-westward by Dabney's mill, gained the Boydton plankroad, and pushed up to strike the Lynchburg railroad in the enemy's rear. Gregg, with his cavalry division, was thrown out on Hancock's left. Hancock had reached, with little opposition, the Boydton plank-road, and was pushing farther, when, at 1 P. M., he was halted by an order from Meade. Warren, upon the failure of Parke to carry the intrenchment in his front, had pushed Crawford's division, strengthened by Ayres's brigade, across the run, with orders to move down the north bank of that stream, so as to turn the Rebel defenses. Hancock, hitherto several miles distant, it was intended to connect with by this movement. 80 Oct. 27. CONFLICT Crawford, with great difficulty, ad- | guns; and, as the enemy, emerging vanced as ordered, through woods into the cleared space along the and swamps all but impenetrable, Boydton road, pushed across that road and in which many of his men were in pursuit of Mott's fugitives, firing lost, while regiments were hopelessly and yelling, Egan struck them in separated from their division, until flank with two brigades, sweeping he was directly on the flank of the down the road, retaking the lost guns, Rebel intrenchments; when he, too, and making over 1,000 prisoners. was halted by Warren to give time The disconcerted Rebels retreated as for consultation with Meade-the rapidly as they had advanced; but, country having proved entirely dif- over 200 of them, fleeing in utter ferent from what was expected. Han- confusion toward the run, fell into cock was now but a mile from Craw- Crawford's lines, and were captured. ford's left; but the dense woods left Could Crawford have instantly comthem in entire ignorance of each prehended the situation and adother's position. And now, of course, vanced, their loss must have been far as Hancock was extending his right greater. (Gibbon's division, now under Egan) to find Crawford's left, and receiving a mistaken report that the connection had been made, though a space of 1,200 yards still intervened, Lee threw forward Hill to strike Hancock's right and roll it up after the established fashion. Hill's leading division, under Heth, crossed the run, making for Hancock, and, following a forest path, swept across in front of Crawford's skirmishers and across the interval between Crawford and Hancock, without clearly knowing where it was. Arriving opposite Hancock's position, Hill, seeing but unseen, silently deployed in the woods, and, at 4 P. M., charged; striking Mott's division, whose first notice of an enemy's approach was a volley of musketry. The brigade (Pierce's) thus charged gave way; a battery was lost; and, for a moment, there was a prospect of another Reams's station disaster. Hancock of course instantly sent word to Egan to change front and hurry to the rescue; but Egan had already done that at the first sound of Hill's Warren was with Meade in the rear of Crawford's line, when Hill's blow was struck, and at once ordered up Ayres to the support of Hancock; but night fell before Ayres could get up. Simultaneously with the charge on Hancock's front, Wade Hampton, with five brigades of cavalry, charged his left and rear, guarded by Gregg's cavalry; and Hancock was required to send all his available force to Gregg's support. Hampton persisted till after dark, but gained no ground, and was ultimately beaten off. Hancock's total loss by the day's operations was 1,500; that of the enemy was greater. Hancock was now authorized by Meade either to withdraw or to hold on and attack next morning, if he could do so safely with the aid of Ayres and Crawford. Being short of ammunition, with no certainty that any more would reach him, or that Ayres and Crawford could bring up their divisions in season for the attack that would naturally be made on him at daybreak, Hancock pru END OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1864-LOSSES. 597 dently decided to draw off," and, at | right, being in the nature of a feint, Here ended, practically, for the year 1864, Grant's determined, persistent, sanguinary campaign against Lee's army and Richmond: and the following tabular statement of the losses endured by the Army of the Potomac, having been furnished by one of Gen. Grant's staff to the author of "Grant and his Campaigns,” can not be plausibly suspected of exag Butler's advance on our farthest gerating them: Tabular Statement of Casualties in the Army of the Potomac, from May 5, 1864, to November 1, 1864. NOTE.-The first line of the above table includes several days' desperate fighting at Spottsylvania, in which our losses were fully 10,000. Our actual losses in the Wilderness were rather under than over 20,000, and at Spottsylvania just about as many. These corrections, however, make no differenco in the aggregates given above. Whether the foregoing returns of | and 24,000 missing (most of the latlosses do or do not include those of Burnside's (9th) corps before it was formally incorporated with the Army of the Potomac, is not stated; but, as they do not include the losses in the Army of the James, it is safe to conclude that the killed, wounded, and missing of 1864, in our armies operating directly for the reduction of Richmond, reached the appalling aggregate of 100,000 men. If we assume that, of nearly 54,000 wounded Heth says that, if he had remained, he would have been attacked next morning by ter prisoners, of whom few of the able-bodied were exchanged during that year), 30,000 recovered of their wounds, or were recaptured, or escaped from the enemy, it leaves our net losses in that campaign not less than 70,000. The enemy's net loss, including 15,373 prisoners, after deducting the wounded who recovered and returned to their colors, we may safely estimate at 40,000, though they would doubtless make it less. Dur15,000 infantry and Hampton's cavalry. His lack of ammunition compelled withdrawal. ing the many desperate combats of this bloody year, the Army of the Potomac lost only 25 and gained but 32 guns. Its losses of guns were mainly incurred at Reams's station; its gains were chiefly made at Spottsylvania. Grant's conduct of this campaign was not satisfactory to the Confederate critics, who gave a decided preference to the strategy of McClellan. They hold that the former aimed only to overpower and crush by brute force by the employment of overwhelming numbers-and by a lavish expenditure of blood. Doubtless, a great military genius, such as appears once in two or three centuries, might have achieved them at a smaller cost; as a timid, hesitating, | purposeless commander would have failed to achieve them at all. The merit which may be fairly claimed for Grant is that of resolutely undertaking a very difficult and formidable task, and executing it to the best of his ability-at all events, doing it. That, when south of the James, he was just where the Rebels wished him not to be, they showed by desperate and hazardous efforts to draw him thence; and the proof was duplicated in the final collapse of the Rebellion. Other campaigns were more brilliant; but none contributed more positively and eminently to break the power of the Confederates than that which began on the Rapidan and ended in front of Petersburg and across the Weldon road. XXVI. WEST VIRGINIA AND NORTH OF THE RAPIDAN IN 1864. at Jonesville, in the extreme west of old Virginia, near Cumberland gap, held by Maj. Beers with 300 Illinoisans and 3 guns, who were surround Jones, after a smart contest, in which our loss was 60. The excuse for hold THE 'ANACONDA' is a clumsy, slug- | northern Virginia. The first occurred1 gish beast; effecting his ends by an enormous, even lavish expenditure of force; but Grant's anaconda differed from that of Scott and McClellan in being thoroughly alive. The si-ed, surprised, and captured by Sam. 'multaneous National advance in 1864 from all points, against the armies and remaining strongholds of the Re-ing an outpost thus exposed was the bellion, was not merely ordered; it necessity of collecting forage for our was actually attempted-with many larger force at Cumberland gap. reverses at the outset, and no decidedly encouraging results for some months, but with ultimately overwhelming success. Before Gen. Grant had been placed in chief command, there had been several collisions in western and 1 1 Jan. 3, 1864. A nearly simultaneous raid by FitzHugh Lee's cavalry, on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad west of Cumberland, came to nothing; but a later expedition, sent under Rosser over into West Virginia from the Valley by Early, surprised' a train * Jan. 30. BRECKINRIDGE DEFEATS SIGEL AT NEWMARKET. 599 moving from New creek to Peters- | Gen. Crook, aiming at the Rebel reburg, Hardy county; and, after a brief struggle, captured 270 prisoners, 93 six-mule wagons, heavily lafor den, and brought away 1,200 cattle and 500 sheep, in addition. Of many raids from 'Dixie' into West Virginia, hardly another was so cheaply successful as this. 1 2. to: ed Rosser next surprised' the Baltimore and Ohio railroad station at Patterson creek bridge, 8 miles west of Cumberland, capturing a company which held it; but was struck, on his return, at Springfield, near Romney, by Gen. Averill, with a far superior Union force, and chased out of the new State; losing his Patterson creek prisoners and a considerable portion of his own men and horses. Col. Gallup, commanding on the border of eastern Kentucky, surprised Col. Ferguson, a Rebel guerrilla, at the Rock House, Wayne co., West Virginia, killing 15 and taking 50 prisoners, including Ferguson. Gen. Scammon, commanding at Charlestown, had been surprised and captured, with the steamboat Levi, on the Kanawha, by Lt. Verdigan, one of Ferguson's subordinates, a few days before. Verdigan, with but 10 men, captured a General, 4 other of ficers, and 25 privates, beside the steamboat and her crew; throwing overboard the captured arms so fast as he could seize them, so as to preclude the danger of a rescue. Scammon and his two aids were sent prisoners to Richmond; the residue paroled. sources in the vicinity of Staunton Crook had moved from Charles- Gen. Grant's comprehensive plan of campaign embraced a cooperative movement up the Shenandoah under Gen. Sigel, and up the Kanawha by 7 66 |
