. A brief history of the United States . lied, and the fighting was sofierce to regain this lost posiiion, that a tree eighteen inches in diameter was cut intwo by the bullets which struck it. Ten thousand men fell on each side. Men inhundreds, killed and wounded together, were piled in hideous heaps, some bodies,which had lain for hours under the concentric fire of the battle, being perforated withwotmds. The writhing of the wounded beneath the dead moved these masses attimes; while often a lifted arm cr a quivering limb told of an agony not quenched bythe Lethe of death around. * It was duri
. A brief history of the United States . lied, and the fighting was sofierce to regain this lost posiiion, that a tree eighteen inches in diameter was cut intwo by the bullets which struck it. Ten thousand men fell on each side. Men inhundreds, killed and wounded together, were piled in hideous heaps, some bodies,which had lain for hours under the concentric fire of the battle, being perforated withwotmds. The writhing of the wounded beneath the dead moved these masses attimes; while often a lifted arm cr a quivering limb told of an agony not quenched bythe Lethe of death around. * It was during this terrible battle that Grant sent his famous despatch, I proposeto fight it out on this line if it takes all summer. + Grant had arranged, in the general plan of the campaign, for three co-operativemovements to attract the attention and divide the strength of the Confederate armybefore Richmond: 1. General Sigel, with ten thousand men, was to advance up theShenandoah Valley and threaten the railroad commonication with Bichmoud. He. 262 EPOCH y. [1864. Attack on Petersburg.—Grant now rapidly pushed hisarmy over the James, and fell upon Petersburg; but hereagain Lee was ahead, and the works could not be was therefore compelled to throw up intrenchmentsand sit down in front of the Confederate lines. The cam-paign now resolved itself into a siege of Eichmond, withPetersburg as its advanced post. Tlie Effect.—The campaign had cost the Union army atleast seventy thousand men, and the Confederates about fortythousand.* The weakened capabilities of the South werenow fairly pitted against the almost exhaustless resources ofthe North. Grants plan was to keep constantly hammeringLees army, conscious that it was the last hope of the Con-federacy. The idea of thus annihilating an army was terri-ble, yet it seemed the only way of closing the awful struggle. The Siege of Richmond continued until the springcampaign of 1865. It was marked by two important events : 1. Mine
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