three o'clock the order was given to the Union troops, “The entire line advance." On they went in a determined charge upon the hitherto exultant foe, driving them back over the ground they had gained, in great disorder and utter rout. The famished infantry sank down in their recovered quarters to shiver through the night, as the rations and cooks that were there in the morning had long since paid tribute to the enemy, or found shelter in Winchester.

The Union loss was about three thousand in the double battle. The Confederate loss was heavier, including 1,500 prisoners, 23 guns (not counting 23 guns lost by the Federals in the morning, and recovered at night), besides small arms, wagons, etc.

This battle practically closed the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. Several small cavalry skirmishes occurred after this. Early's army was practically destroyed. He had lost, as Sheridan says, more men killed, wounded and captured, than he (Sheridan) had commanded from first to last. What remained of Early's forces, with the exception of one division of infantry and a little cavalry, was sent to Richmond. After the withdrawal of the Confederate forces most of the Union troops were sent to reinforce the army of the Potomac.

This victory, snatched from the jaws of defeat, affords one of the rare instances in which an army thoroughly defeated in the morning is more thoroughly victorious in the evening, being reinforced in the meantime by a single man.

The battle of Cedar Creek has been dedicated to all lovers of poetry, in the popular poem, "Sheridan's Ride," by Thomas Buchanan Read.

CHAPTER XIX.

PEACE COMMISSIONS, AND SURRENDER OF LEE.

PEACE COMMISSIONS OF JULY, 1864.-Two unsuccessful efforts were made during July, 1864, to open the door to the termination of hostilities between the North and the South. One of these originated with certain Confederates, then in Canada, viz.: Messrs. Clement C. Clay, of Alabama; James P. Holcombe, of Virginia; and Geo. N. Sanders. They agreed to proceed to Washington in the interests of peace, if full protection were guaranteed them. Horace Greeley was appointed a commissioner to go to Niagara to meet the gentlemen, and inaugurate proceedings which might lead to the restoration of peace, the abandonment of slavery, and the preservation of the whole Union. Nothing, however, came of the interview.

Another irregular and wholly clandestine negotiation had been at the same time in progress at Richmond, with similar results. Rev. Col. James F. Jaques, Seventy-third Illinois, with Mr. J. R. Gilmore, of New York, had, with President Lincoln's knowledge but not with his formal permission, paid a visit to Richmond on a peace errand. A long, familiar and earnest discussion occurred between these men and President Davis. The Confederate chief presented his ultimatum, which, after stating that he had tried to avert war, read as follows: "War came; and now it must go on until the last man of this gener

ation falls in his tracks and his children seize his musket and fight our battle, unless you acknowledge our right to selfgovernment. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for independence; and that or extermination we will have."

The knowledge of the fact that the South was fighting not only against the abolition of slavery but against the Union, was worth a great deal to the Union cause in the North. Factions hitherto opposed to the continuation of the war were by this proclamation rallied to the support of a vigorous prosecution of war measures.

HAMPTON ROADS PEACE COMMISSION, FEBRUARY, 1865.Negotiations for the termination of hostilities were again set on foot, in February, 1865. Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States; John A. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War; and Robert M. T. Hunter, a Confederate Senator from Virginia, were permitted to pass Grant's lines before Petersburg, and proceeded to Fortress Monroe. They were met by Secretary Seward and President Lincoln. But as the commissioners were not authorized to concede the reunion of the States, and as the President would not treat on any other basis, the meeting was of short duration, and the parties separated without accomplishing anything.

THE CONFEDERATE GLOOM AND DESPAIR.-The winter after the departure of the Peace Commission was spent in comparative quiet. It was one of gloom and despair to the Confederates as they beheld their own numbers diminish in spite of every effort to increase them, and witnessed their adversaries tighten

ing their hold, which would inevitably crush them. Their desertions were numerous, not only among those who were with Lee around Richmond, but throughout the whole Confederacy. At the eleventh hour they attempted to recruit their depleted ranks by freeing and arming such slaves only as were deemed fit for military service. They had already conscripted all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. Now they passed a law conscripting the boys from fourteen to eighteen, calling them junior reserves, and the men from forty-five to sixty, calling them senior reserves.

South of Lee was Sherman, moving with unimpeded progress. West of him was Stoneman's cavalry division, and Thomas with his victorious army which had overwhelmed Hood. North of him was Sheridan with 10,000 cavalry at Winchester, ready to destroy the remnant of Early's force. And in his front stood Gen. Grant with a force outnumbering his two to one, and ready to lock him in the embrace of death. The number of Confederate desertions indicated that they had lost hope and had become despondent. Many in the South were making application to be sent North, where they might find employment until the war was over, when they would return to their Southern homes.

SHERIDAN OPENS THE CAMPAIGN, MARCH, 1865.-Setting out from Winchester on the 27th of February, Sheridan began

* Gen. Butler, in alluding to their conscription, remarked that they were thus "robbing the cradle and the grave."

a magnificent cavalry raid, aimed at Lynchburg and the enemy's communications generally. His instructions from Grant left him the liberty of joining Sherman to the south, or uniting with the Army of the Potomac, as conditions might arise. Passing down through Staunton with a force of 10,000 mounted men, on March 2d he fell upon Early at the head of some 2,500 men intrenched at Waynesboro. His force was almost instantly routed, and 1,600 prisoners taken. In fact, there was little. left of Early's force excepting himself, who, perceiving the drift of the battle, absented himself, and found refuge in some of the neighboring houses or in the woods. This was Early's last appearance in public life.

Lynchburg had taken the warning, and received reinforcements. While the continuous spring rains flooded the streams so as to make them unfordable with pontoon trains, Sheridan destroyed the James river canal, and tore up the Lynchburg Railroad as far west as Amherst Court House. Some 2,000 negroes had joined his command, assisting considerably in the tearing-up of the railroad and in the work of destroying the canal. Passing through Columbia, he reached White House on March 19; and after resting here, he passed down to the James, and reported to Gen. Grant for orders before Petersburg on the 27th, in time to take part in the reduction of the Confederate capital.

LEE'S ATTACK UPON FORT STEDMAN, MARCH 25, 1865.Foreseeing the speedy downfall of the Confederate cause, unless a telling blow should be struck against some part of the encir