Grant made Lieutenant-General—Correspondence with Sherman—Their Memorable Interview—Planning a Scientific Campaign—General Howard's Pen Picture of the Two Soldiers—Schofield, McPherson and Thomas—Grant's Final Orders—Sherman's Army in Line—Strength of Johnston's Army—General Howard's Account of the Advance.

March 4th, 1864, marked the beginning of the end of the great rebellion. A law had been made by Congress, authorizing the appointment of a Lieutenant-General, to command all the armies of the Nation. President Lincoln promptly selected Grant for the position, and on the date above named telegraphed to him at Nashville to come at once to Washington. Grant received this exalted honor with his characteristic modesty, and assumed the vast responsibility without hesitation. But in this "crowded hour of glorious life," which to him was surely "worth an age without a name," the great soldier instinctively turned his earliest thoughts toward his comrades in arms, and first and most toward Sherman. In the very hour in which he received the dispatch from Washington, he wrote to Sherman, telling him the news, and generously attributing a large share of his success to his faithful aids.

"Dear Sherman," he said. "... I want to express my thanks to you and McPherson, as the men to whom, above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I have had of success. How far your advice and assistance have been of help to me, you know. How far your execution of whatever has been given you to do entitles you to the reward I am receiving, you cannot know as well as I. I feel all the gratitude this letter would express, giving it the most flattering construction. The word you I use in the plural, intending it for McPherson also. I should write to him, and will some day, but starting in the morning, I do not know that I will find time just now."

Equally generous and noble was Sherman's reply. After referring to the transcendent importance of Grant's new rank, as "Washington's legitimate successor," he said: "You do McPherson and myself too much honor. At Belmont you manifested your traits—neither of us being near. At Donelson, also, you illustrated your whole character. I was not near, and General McPherson in too subordinate a capacity to influence you. Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost cowed by the terrible array of anarchical elements that presented themselves at every point; but that admitted a ray of light I have followed since.

"I believe you are as brave, patriotic, and just as the great prototype, Washington—as unselfish, kind-hearted, and honest as a man should be—but the chief characteristic is the simple faith in success you have always manifested, which I can liken to nothing else than the faith a Christian has in the Saviour.

"This faith gave you the victory at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Also when you have completed your best preparations, you go into battle without hesitation, as at Chattanooga—no doubts—no reserves; and I tell you, it was this that made us act with confidence. I knew, wherever I was, that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would help me out, if alive.

"My only point of doubts was, in your knowledge of grand strategy, and of books of science and history; but, I confess, your common sense seems to have supplied all these."

The appointment of Grant was confirmed, and on March 9th, 1864, in the presence of the Cabinet, Lincoln gave him his commission as Lieutenant-General, saying as he did so:

"General Grant: The Nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now present with this commission constituting you Lieutenant-General of the Armies of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I need scarcely add that with what I here speak for the Nation goes my own hearty personal concurrence."

Grant's reply was brief and modest. He said:

"Mr. President: I accept the commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving upon me, and I know that if they are met it will be due to these armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men."

By the same order that put Grant in command of all the armies, Sherman was made commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi; and McPherson, of the Department and Army of the Tennessee. This order reached Sherman at Memphis on March 14th, just as he was starting for Huntsville to prepare for a campaign in Georgia. Accompanying it was a dispatch from Grant, asking Sherman to meet him at Nashville. Sherman accordingly went to the last named place, met Grant there, and travelled with him as far as Cincinnati on his way to Washington. In the newspapers of March 21st appeared the following inconspicuous news items:

"Louisville, Saturday, March 19th 1864.

"Lieutenant-General Grant passed through here to-night en route for Washington.

"Major-General Sherman also passed through here to-night en route for Cincinnati.

"Cincinnati, March 20th, 1864.

"Lieutenant-General Grant and staff arrived here this morning, and left to-night for Washington.

"Major-General Sherman also arrived here this morning."

On that journey to Cincinnati, the death-warrant of the Southern Confederacy was made out, and it was signed and sealed in the parlor of the Burnet House, Cincinnati, when the two Generals bent together over a map, marked out the great Richmond and Atlanta campaigns, and then, with a silent hand-clasp, parted, not to meet again until each had done deeds that made the world ring with his fame.

Of these interviews and the illustrious men who participated in them, and of the events immediately following, General O.O. Howard speaks as follows:

"Now behold these men together, Grant and Sherman! Grant of medium size, of short neck, square shoulders, well proportioned head, and firmly knit frame. His heavy brow and large eye, changeable surely, but always masked by his strong self-control, accorded him quiet dignity and becoming respect. His smile, which never failed him up to the last sickness, lighted his face, bespoke humor and good-fellowship, and to Sherman the utmost friendliness. Sherman appeared tall beside him; his forehead high, his hair light and sandy, his eye keen and piercing, and his frame though not so compact as Grant's, supple and expressive of health and energy. Grant inspired you in his wholeness like a fertile prairie, Sherman like a hill-country abounding in choice knolls and mountain heights. His buoyant coming put one at ease. His deep pleasant voice riveted attention, and his fast flowing conversation rewarded your silence.

"There at Nashville they met, and Grant turned over to Sherman the Western armies. Grant hastened back to Washington, Sherman went with him as far as Cincinnati. In a sentence, Sherman has summed up their prolonged council of war: Amidst constant interruptions of a business and social nature we reached the satisfactory conclusion that as soon as the season would permit, all the armies of the Union would assume the 'bold offensive' by 'concentric lines' on the common enemy, and would finish up the job in a single campaign if possible. The main objectives were Lee's Army behind the Rapidan in Virginia, and Joseph E. Johnston's Army at Dalton, Georgia."

"Johnston's army was our work, in a nut-shell. Substantially, take a bold offensive—Beat Johnston—Get into the interior—Inflict damage, and keep our enemy so busy that he cannot reinforce elsewhere.

"To catch glimpses of how the work so ordered was undertaken, there are other pictures. General Sherman had some original ways of rapid transit. A special car took him, the 25th of March, to General G.M. Dodge, a Corps Commander, then at Pulaski, Tennessee. Next he joined McPherson at Huntsville, Alabama. The two latter were very soon with Thomas at Chattanooga; and were after that speedily with Schofield a hundred miles eastward without rail-cars at Knoxville. Schofield turned back with them, so that shortly after, at Chattanooga, in the left hand room of a one story house, now owned by Mr. J.T. Williams, took place before the end of March another memorable war-meeting.

"One figure there was that of General Schofield. He was to bring into the field about fourteen thousand men. He was in form more like Grant than Sherman. He combined intellectual vigor with marked judiciousness. Another figure was McPherson. He had to furnish some twenty-five thousand soldiers. He was equal to Sherman in quickness of thought, but, like all engineers, more wary in his execution.

"With his genial face, his large high head and fine figure, he stood with the noblest. The third, General George H. Thomas, with his nearly seventy thousand aggregate. He was tall and broad, and heavy and handsome, of good judgment and sterling record. These three army commanders were thus assembled, and the hearty Sherman was with them. Of this group, Sherman in his story has said: 'We had nothing like a council of war, but consulted freely and frankly on all matters of interest to them, then in progress or impending.' At farthest the first of May was to end the period of preparation, when the different clans should be gathered and ready for the fray. The leaders of corps and divisions, and the essential consolidations were there fixed upon; and the great problem of safe supply was, at least to themselves, satisfactorily solved. "The meeting broke up, the commanders returned to their places, taking Sherman for awhile to Nashville. No man can tell the amount of hard work that resulted from this interview. The next month was pregnant with the faith and hope of the coming campaign. Behold the loaded trains, following untiringly in sight of each other; but do not stop to count the broken engines by the wayside, or the cars turned topsy turvey.

"Behold the duplicate and triplicate bridges, the hosts of mules and horses in motion, the redoubts and blockhouses constructed, or building, the sugar, the coffee, and the hard-bread and other supplies, coming into Chattanooga, and the herds of cattle lowing along the dusty roads leading to the front, all the way from Louisville and Nashville. The soldiers said, 'Tecumseh is a great fellow. He means business.' Thorough and confident preparations are always a source of encouragement and inspiration."

The nation was now to see scientific warfare. The campaigns of the Union armies were planned with mathematical accuracy. There were three grand divisions of attack upon the Rebellion. At the east, moving directly against the Rebel capital, was Grant with the Army of the Potomac. West of the Mississippi River was Banks. The great central region was left to Sherman, and his objective point was Atlanta. The Mississippi Valley was fully wrested from Rebel control, and a series of brilliant victories marked the whole line from Vicksburg, on that river, to Chattanooga, among the Appalachian Mountains. Between the river and the mountains the war was practically ended and the Confederacy crushed. But in the rich and populous country between the mountains and the Atlantic coast the insurgents were still strong. There was concentrated all the power that the Richmond Government now possessed. And the people of Georgia and the Carolinas actually believed themselves to be secure from "Yankee invasion," guarded as they were by the powerful armies of Lee and Jackson, and by the mighty natural ramparts of the mountain range.

But Sherman proposed to cross the mountains and march through the heart of this country to Atlanta, which was its industrial centre. This city was the converging point of many important railroads, and here were the principal machine shops and other factories of the Rebel Government. To capture it would break the spirit of the South and cripple its military power as no other blow, not even the capture of Richmond, could do.

On April 4th, Grant outlined to Sherman his plans for the campaign, as follows:

"It is my design, if the enemy keeps quiet, and allows me to take the initiative in the spring campaign, to work all parts of the army together, and somewhat toward a common centre. For your information I now write you my programme as at present determined upon.

"I have sent orders to Banks, by private messenger, to finish up his present expedition against Shreveport with all dispatch; to turn over the defence of Red River to General Steele and the navy, and return your troops to you, and his own to New Orleans; to abandon all Texas except the Rio Grande, and to hold that with a force not exceeding 4,000 men; to reduce the number of troops on the Mississippi to the lowest necessary to hold it, and to collect from his command not less than 25,000 men. To this I will add 5,000 from Missouri. With this force he is to commence operations against Mobile as soon as he can. It will be impossible for him to commence too early. "Gilmore joins Butler with 10,000 men, and the two operate against Richmond from the south side of James River. This will give Butler 33,000 men, W.F. Smith commanding the right wing of his forces, and Gilmore the left wing. I will stay with the Army of the Potomac, increased by Burnside's Corps of not less than 25,000 effective men, and operate directly against Lee's army wherever it may be found. Sigel collects all his available force in two columns—one, under Ord and Averill, to start from Beverley, Virginia, and the other, under Crook, to start from Charleston, on the Kanawha—to move against the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Crook will endeavor to get in about Saltville, and move east from there to join Ord. His force will be all cavalry, while Ord will have from 10,000 to 12,000 men of all arms. You I propose to move against Johnston's army, to break it up and get into the enemy's country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources.

"I do not propose to lay down for you a plan of campaign, but simply to indicate the work it is desirable to have done, and leave you free to execute it in your own way. Submit to me, however, as soon as you can, your plan of operation.

"As stated, Banks is ordered to commence operations as soon as he can; Gillmore is ordered to report at Fortress Monroe by the 18th, or as soon thereafter as practicable; Sigel is concentrating now. None will move from their places of rendezvous until I direct, except Banks. I want to be ready to move by the 25th instant, if possible; but all I can now direct is that you get ready as soon as you can. I know you will have difficulties to encounter in getting through the mountains to where supplies are abundant, but I believe you will accomplish it."

And ten days later he added:

"What I now want more particularly to say is that, if the two main attacks, yours and the one from here, should promise great success, the enemy may, in a fit of desperation, abandon one part of their line of defence and throw their whole strength upon a single army, believing a defeat with one victory to sustain them better than a defeat all along their whole line, and hoping, too, at the same time, that the army, meeting with no resistance, will rest perfectly satisfied with its laurels, having penetrated to a given point south, thereby enabling them to throw their force first upon one and then on the other.

"With the majority of military commanders they might do this; but you have had too much experience in travelling light, and subsisting upon the country, to be caught by any such ruse. I hope my experience has not been thrown away. My directions, then, would be, if the enemy in your front shows signs of joining Lee, follow him up to the extent of your ability. I will prevent the concentration of Lee upon your front if it is in the power of this army to do it."

Grant proposed to move against Lee on May 5th, and it was arranged that Sherman should at the same time move against Johnston. For this work Sherman now put forward his preparations with all possible zeal and thoroughness. On April 27th he ordered all his troops to Chattanooga, and the next day placed his own headquarters there. On May 6th his mighty host was marshalled for the advance. Three armies were under his command. The Army of the Tennessee was on the bank of Chickamauga Creek, near Gordon's Mill. It comprised the Fifteenth and parts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, under Generals Logan, Dodge and Blair, with the gallant McPherson in general command. The Army of the Cumberland was at Ringgold. It included the Fourth, Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, under Generals Howard, Palmer and Hooker, with Thomas in general command. The Army of the Ohio was near Red Clay, north of Dalton, Georgia. It consisted of the Ninth and Twenty-third Corps, and was commanded by General Schofield. The strength of these armies was as follows: Tennessee—Infantry, 22,437; Artillery, 1,404; Cavalry, 624; total, 24,465; guns, 96. Cumberland—Infantry, 54,568; Artillery, 2,377; Cavalry, 3,828; total, 60,773; guns, 130. Ohio—Infantry, 11,193; Artillery, 679; Cavalry, 1,697: total, 13,559; guns, 28. Sherman had planned an army of 100,000 men and 250 guns. He actually had, according to the above statement, 98,797 men and 254 guns.

The opposing Rebel army was now commanded by Joseph E. Johnston, who had succeeded Bragg, and comprised three corps, under Hardee, Hood and Polk. According to Johnston's official statement, its total strength in April, 1864, was 52,992, and at the middle of May, when the battle of Resaca was fought, 71,235. The number of guns on both sides was about equal.

The Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan on May 4th, and Grant, sitting on a log in the Virginia woods, telegraphed to Sherman at Chattanooga to move forward. General Howard's account of the opening of the great march is as follows:

"When we were ready for the bold offensive, the left of Thomas, (Howard's Corps) rested at Catoosa Springs his centre, (Hooker) at Ringgold, and his right, (Palmer) at Leet's Tan Yard. McPherson was near Villanow, and Schofield moving southward from Cleveland, Tennessee, approached Dalton. It was the sixth of May. "Notice Catoosa Springs, a summer resort. The surrounding hills were covered with trees, light green, in tender leaf; and the mountain ranges on two sides, Lookout and Taylor's Ridge, gave substantial back ground to a variegated and charming landscape. The effect of war had already nearly depopulated the village, so that there was little use for the large hotel buildings or the smaller boarding-houses—a few trembling citizens and a few dubious black people were all that remained to satisfy official curiosity and supply local knowledge.

"This bright May morning I saw Thomas and Sherman together. Sherman, now that things were in motion, appeared happy and confident. With a map before him, he gave us briefly the entire situation. Here is Dalton,—there your force—on this side Schofield. Down there McPherson, soon to pass the Snake Gap and strike Johnston's line. Thomas in his quiet way put forth then the bolder view, viz: send at once the larger force, not the smaller, through the gap. Sherman shook his head, and signified that he was not yet ready to exchange bases with Johnston. But there was no jar, only confidence in each other and strong hope in our hearts as we separated that day.

"Early the next morning was another meeting, out in the open field. Stanley with his strong build, fine face and long beard. T.J. Wood of smaller stature, grayish hair and decisive, caustic ways; and Newton with his handsome figure and keen sensitive looks, never thoroughly contented till the conflict was actually joined. These Division Commanders of the fourth corps stood near each other intently gazing upon the crest of Tunnel Hill. Our troops were already deployed and advancing in the beautiful morning light—arms were never brighter—and the Confederate cavalry, in full array, coming up from beyond the ridge, with skirmish interval, added interest and emotion to the parade. A battery or so, hastening to place, only deepened the feeling in the breasts of our experienced veterans.

"At a word of command and a bugle call the outer line took up the run, and soon cleared the whole front. A few zip, zips of the foremost rifles, a few cannon salutes, a few screeches of shells, a few men wounded to the death or maimed for life! and that was all! When I took my stand by Stanley's side on the crest of the hill just gained, and thence sought to reconnoitre Tailor's craggy mountain range which still sheltered the bulk of Johnston's host, Stanley cried out: General, the ball is opened! And so it had. It was a curious ball, a long dance, for more than one hundred days. And it was a terrible dance, wilder at times than comes to foresters amid the bending and falling of trees in a hurricane; it was fearfully suggestive of the savage war-dance of the red men that ends in death to white men and desolation to homes.

"Far off to the centre and right, Palmer with his strongly marked face and Thomas-like proportions, and the handsome, 'fighting Joe' Hooker, always a law unto himself, bore their part in the opening ball, closing up speedily to the rocky face barrier, and estopping that mouth of Georgia, whence issued stranger, screeching, whizzing birds than those which gave the gaping mouth its name of Buzzard's Gap. One such savage bird in the shape of a minie-ball flew between Howard and Thomas, wound its way through their group of staff officers, grazed the limb of a tree and fell upon the ground, tearing in its flight a general's coat in three rents, and pecking an uncouth hole through the rim of a staff hat. Mean while Newton and his brave men, against bloody resistance, were dragging cannon to the very hostile crest northward; and Hooker was ascending the mountain against heavy odds southward of the old Buzzard's formidable roosts."