The Civil War through the camera : hundreds of vivid photographs actually taken in Civil War times, together with Elson's new history . desperate effortto break through the tightening Fed-eral lines. March 1865. Lee wasconfronted by the dilemma of eitherbeing starved out of Petersburg andRichmond, or of getting out himselfand uniting his army to that of John-ston in North Carolina, to crush Sher-man before Grant could reach was to begin this latter,almost impossible, task by an attackon Fort Stedman, which the Confed-erates believed to be the weakest pointin the Federal fortifi
The Civil War through the camera : hundreds of vivid photographs actually taken in Civil War times, together with Elson's new history . desperate effortto break through the tightening Fed-eral lines. March 1865. Lee wasconfronted by the dilemma of eitherbeing starved out of Petersburg andRichmond, or of getting out himselfand uniting his army to that of John-ston in North Carolina, to crush Sher-man before Grant could reach was to begin this latter,almost impossible, task by an attackon Fort Stedman, which the Confed-erates believed to be the weakest pointin the Federal fortifications. Theposition had been captured from themin the beginning, and they knew thatthe nature of the ground and its near-ness to their own lines had made itdifficult to strengthen it very was planned tosurprisethe fort beforedaylight. Below are seen the rabbit-like burrows of Grades Salient, pastwhich Gordon led his famished the order came to go forward,they did not flinch, but hurled them-selves bravely against fortifications far stronger than their columns of a hundred picked men each moved down the. GENERAL JOHN C. S. Stedman. They were to be followedby a division. Through the gapwhich the storming parties wereexpected to open in the Federal lines,Gordons columns would rush in bothdirections and a cavalry force was tosweep on and destroy the pontoonbridges across the Appomattox and toraid City Point, breaking up the Fed-eral base. It was no light task, foralthough Fort Stedman itself wasweak, it was flanked by Batter} on the right and by Battery Xo. 11on the left. An attacking party on theright would be exposed to an enfilad-ing fire in crossing the plain; while onthe left the approach was difficult be-cause of ravines, one of which the Con-federate engineers had turned into apond by damming a creek. All nightlong General Gordons wife, with thebrave women of Petersburg, sat uptearing strips of white cloth, to be tiedon the arms of the men in
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcivilwarthro, bookyear1912
