Lee discovered, at daybreak of the 13th, that Grant had left his front. After advancing his skirmishers for nearly two miles, without finding the enemy, he moved his army to conform to Grant's movement, sending Anderson and Hill to the right to cover his front from White Oak swamp to Malvern hill, and Hoke to Petersburg, to anticipate Grant's next attack. His whole force north of the James, when Grant retreated, was less than 30,000 men. On the 14th, the Federal cavalry came to Malvern hill, to make a demonstration to cover Grant's crossing the James. Gen. W. H. F. Lee easily drove these back, while a brigade of infantry, supporting the cavalry at Smith's store, drove the enemy from that point.

On the 16th of June, Lee sent the divisions of Pickett and Field across the James, and on the 17th these drove Butler from a portion of Beauregard's old line, which he held in front of Bermuda Hundred. A cheerful dispatch from Lee reads: "We tried very hard to stop Pickett's men from capturing the breastworks of the enemy, but couldn't do it." The spirit of the Confederate army, and of its leader, at this time, could not well have been better expressed.

Satisfied that Grant would make no further attacks north of the James, but would again essay to make one in force on the south and against Petersburg, from the stronghold which he had secured south of the Appomattox to fall back upon in case of disaster, Lee sent the rest of his army across the James, and, on the afternoon of the 18th of June, joined Beauregard, who, from the 15th to the 18th, with some 10,000 men, had beaten back numerous assaults of nearly half of Grant's army, decreasing his numbers by fully 10,000 men during four days. These, added to those lost between the Rapidan and the James, made Grant's aggregate loss up to June 18th, nearly 65,000 men, which had been made good by the addition of 55,000 reinforcements to his ranks.

The armies of the Potomac and the James, and that of Northern Virginia, under their respective generals commanding, now confronted each other, south of the James, and the long and memorable siege of Petersburg began. Grant, after Butler's repulse of the 18th, wrote to Meade, giving the keynote of his future intentions: "Now we will rest the men and use the spade for their protection, until a vein can be struck."

CHAPTER XXVIII.

EARLY'S LYNCHBURG AND VALLEY CAMPAIGNS.

C

ONSIDERING the great disparity of forces engaged and the results accomplished, the Shenandoah Valley campaigns of 1864, by Lieut.-Gen. Jubal Anderson Early against the forces of Gen. David Hunter at and beyond Lynchburg, including the advance on Washington and the subsequent numerous contentions with the large army commanded by General Sheridan, were among the most remarkable and brilliant of the Confederate war in Virginia and Maryland. Unfortunately the record of these campaigns, as officially published, is a very meager one, as scarcely any reports concerning its operations were sent in to the Confederate government, and consequently few were found among the archives that were captured by the Federal forces during the retreat from Richmond, and since so impartially published. The Confederate portion of the story of these campaigns is mainly told by the maps and accompanying brief report and personal diary of the writer of this vol ume, which were furnished to the United States war department and are published in serial No. 90 of the War Records of the Union and Confederate armies, and in part 17 of the great Atlas accompanying these records. Aided by these, General Early wrote and published his brief, truth-telling narrative of the events of these campaigns. The Federal reports of these campaigns, as published in the Official Records, are voluminous, and numbers of the officers connected with the portion of the Federal army that Early contended with, have published narratives and magazine articles concerning these unique and but little understood campaigns.

The Second corps of the army of Northern Virginia, after participating in all the battles and engagements of the Wilderness campaign, from the 3d of May until the 8th of June, 1864, was resting, in reserve, in a camp to the west of Gaines' mill, until the morning of the 13th

of June. Just preceding this date, two Federal armies— one under Hunter, coming up the Shenandoah valley, and another, under Crook, coming from the Kanawha from the west by way of the White Sulphur Springs-had made a junction at Staunton and moved up the valley to Lexington. Hunter had, on the 5th of June, encountered and defeated a small Confederate force, under Jones and Imboden, at Piedmont, a hamlet some fourteen miles northeast of Staunton, on the road leading to Port Republic. The force that was there defeated fell back to and held Rockfish gap, of the Blue ridge, where the Virginia Central railroad runs through a tunnel, and thus diverted Hunter's army from going in that direction toward Richmond to join Grant, and decided him to follow up the Valley to Lexington, where he had skirmishes with the cadets of the Virginia military institute and with a small force of Confederates that had fallen back as he advanced. Thence, after burning the Virginia military institute and committing other deeds of barbaric vandalism, he moved on to Buchanan, where he had another skirmish, June 14th, after which he turned across the Blue ridge toward Lynchburg, in front of which he appeared on the 17th of June; thus menacing not only Lee's communications with one of his principal bases of supplies, but also the rear of his army.

On the 13th of June, Lieut.-Gen. Jubal A. Early, who had been promoted and put in command of the Second corps, was detached from the army of Northern Virginia, and marched, at 3 a. m., by way of the Mountain road, to Auburn mills, on the South Anna, where he encamped that night. On the 14th, he marched to Gardiner's cross roads; on the 15th to the vicinity of Trevilian's, and on the 16th to the vicinity of Charlottesville. Thence, on the 17th, a portion of his command was taken by the trains of the Orange & Alexandria railroad to Lynchburg, and a portion of it marched to North Garden depot, whence, later, it was carried to Lynchburg by rail. Arriving at Lynchburg with Ramseur's and Gordon's divisions at 1 p. m., of the 17th, Early at once marched out on the Salem road, and taking command, put his men in position with those of General Breckinridge's command, consisting of Wharton's division of infantry, King's artillery, and Jackson's, Imboden's, McCausland's and Jones' brigades of cavalry, which he found holding

and constructing a line of defenses in front of that city. On the 18th, Rodes' division arrived, brought by rail from North Garden. Early, his command now concentrated, formed a line of battle some three miles west and in front of Lynchburg; in the afternoon met and repulsed Hunter's attack, and compelled him to retreat that night by the Salem road. The next morning the "army of the Valley District," which the Second corps had again become, promptly pursued Hunter, over a hot and dusty road, and attacked his rear in a skirmish at Liberty, and there encamped for the night. On the 20th, Early continued the pursuit to the entrance to Buford's gap, where he had another skirmish with Hunter's rear guard. From Liberty he had sent most of his cavalry across the Blue ridge, by way of the Peaks gap, to Buchanan, to hold the Valley and prevent Hunter from retreating in the direction of Lexington. This force turned from Buchanan toward Salem, and was ready to fall on Hunter's right flank and co-operate with Early's pursuit, on the 21st, to Big Lick, and then across to Hanging Rock, a gap in the North mountains, on the Salem and Sweet Springs turnpike. There it struck the flank of Hunter's retreat, which had been expedited by Imboden's cavalry, which had marched to the left and crossed the Blue ridge southwest of Buford's gap and fallen upon Hunter's rear and left flank at Big Lick (now Roanoke) and forced him in rapid retreat through Salem, harassing and damaging his rear and capturing a portion of his train at Hanging Rock, as he escaped into the mountains west of the Valley. Imboden followed the rear of Hunter's retreating army across to New Castle, on the 21st and 22d. Ransom's cavalry, the command that had marched by way of Buchanan, attacked Hunter's line of retreat at in a. m. of the 21st, at Hanging Rock, and also in the vicinity of Salem, aiding Imboden in creating dismay in the ranks of the baffled and retreating army at the latter place; Early's strategy having attacked it in the rear and on both flanks at the same time.

The night of the 21st, the Valley army encamped between Big Lick and Hanging Rock, and there it remained on the 22d, except Ramseur's division, which moved eastward to the vicinity of Botetourt Springs, where headquarters were established, while Ransom's cavalry marched northward to the vicinity of Fincastle.

Hunter's army now disposed of and sent in disastrous defeat through the mountains to the Kanawha, and the Valley of Virginia now cleared of the enemy, Early started on June 23d, by easy marches, for Staunton, whither he had been ordered by Lee, there to await further instructions. He encamped the night of the 23d at Buchanan, and that of the 24th at Buffalo creek. On the 25th, reaching Lexington, he divided his command; one portion followed the Middlebrook road and encamped at Brownsburg, and the other the Greenville road and encamped at Midway, both of these roads leading to Staunton. A portion of the army marched to Middlebrook on the 25th. Ransom's cavalry had proceeded from Fincastle across to Clifton Forge, to intercept a possible turning of Hunter to the eastward, and thence, by way of Lucy Salina furnace, across the North mountain, and encamped at Collierstown on the 24th, then had marched to Middlebrook for the night of the 25th, thus covering widely the flank and front of the infantry movement against any possible attack by a force of the enemy coming in by any of the great highways leading from the west to Early's line of march. On the 26th, the cavalry continued along the highway on the western side of the Shenandoah valley and encamped near Buffalo gap and Churchville, covering the two great highways leading from Staunton toward the west and northwest. The same day the infantry reached Staunton, where it rested and refitted during the 27th.

Having received instructions from General Lee to march down the Shenandoah valley and make demonstrations toward Washington, General Early lost no time in obeying his orders, and on the 28th, took up his line of march down the Valley turnpike, with most of his command, and encamping that night near North river, while the remainder of his infantry, taking the Keezletown road at Mt. Sidney, encamped on the south bank of the same North river at Rockland mills. The cavalry followed the back road parallel to and on the left of the infantry advance. On the 29th, a long march was made, through Harrisonburg and Keezletown, to Sparta, where the command was reunited and encamped.

The troops, animated by the familiar scenes of the Shenandoah valley and inspired by these with the remembrance of their famous exploits under Stonewall