CHAPTER LVII.

Close of the War.
1. THERE was severe fighting, in the autumn of 1863, in the mountain region
William T. Shermanof eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia. General Rosecrans, after a series of successes, was defeated on the Chickamauga River, near Chattanooga, in which town he was besieged for two months by General Bragg. He was then relieved of his command, and General Grant assumed charge of all the armies in the West.

2. The Union forces were heavily re-enforced, and gained a victory on Lookout Mountain. The decisive triumph of Missionary Ridge immediately followed. Chattanooga remained in the hands of the Federals. and Bragg's army was routed.
  (208)


Close of the War.            209

3. Burnside, at that time, was besieged in Knoxville by Longstreet, who made a fierce assault on the fortifications, but was repulsed. Re-enforcements reached Burnside, when Longstreet retreated into Virginia, and East Tennessee, which was strongly loyal, was disturbed no more.

4. The success of General Grant in the West caused him to be made Lieutenant-
Phillip SheridanGeneral, with command of all military operations of the government. At the opening of 1864, there were two powerful Confederate armies in the field. One was in Georgia, under General Johnston, and the other was the Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederacy could not be conquered until they were destroyed.

5. To Sherman was given the charge of operations in the South-west, while Grant made Richmond his objective point. He directed the movements, and General Meade held immediate command. An immense force of cavalry was in charge of General Sheridan.

6. Sherman, with an army of sixty thousand veterans, left Chattanooga and captured Atlanta. He destroyed the foundries and an immense amount of stores, and then resumed his resistless march toward (May, 1864)
  E. P. H. --14.


March to the sea

Close of the War.            211
the sea, leaving a wide track of desolation behind him. He took possession of Savannah in December, and once more the Confederacy was cut in twain.

7. Meanwhile, General Grant had pressed his campaign against Richmond. He was at the head of an army of one hundred and forty thousand men, which failed, after several attempts, to reach the Confederate capital from the northern side.

8. Grant, therefore, crossed the James River, and Lee withdrew within the intrenchments of Richmond and Petersburg. His army was greatly reduced by losses in battle, and could not be recruited, for all the able-bodied men of the Confederacy had long been in the ranks.

9. During those eventful times, the state of West Virginia, which was strongly in favor of the Union, was organized (1862). Nevada was admitted into the Union in 1864. In the fall of the same year, Abraham Lincoln was re-elected President.

10. With the opening of the year 1865, Sherman moved northward from Savannah. Columbia was captured, Charleston evacuated, and the flag of the Union was once more raised over the ruins of Fort Sumter. Sherman continued his march northward, there being no Confederate army strong enough to check him.

11. At the same time, Grant was closing in upon Richmond. Lee was forced to abandon the city, and thc Union forces took possession. Seeing that it was useless to resist longer, General Lee surrendered to General Grant, and the few battle-scarred veterans that were left of the once terrible army of Northern Virginia, laid down their arms. This surrender took place at Appomattox (April 3, 1865)


212          Eclectic Primary History

Court-house, April 9, 1865. General Johnston surrendered his army to General Sherman during the same month, and, within the following month, all armed resistance to the Union ceased, and the Civil War was over.

Lee's surrender

12. While the North was rejoicing over the news, the whole country was shocked by the assassination of President Lincoln. He was shot in a theater in Washington, on the evening of April 14, by an actor, and died the next


Close of the War.   213
morning. His murderer, John Wilkes Booth, fled on horseback, but was pursued and killed.
QUESTIONS.

1. Where was there severe fighting in the autumn of 1863? What of General Rosecrans? Who succeeded him? --2. What of the battle of Lookout Mountain? What followed? --3. What is said of Burnside at Knoxville? What followed the arrival of re-enforcements? --4. What of General Grant? What confronted the Union forces at the opening of 1864? What was necessary? --5. What was given to Sherman? What did Grant do? What of Sheridan? --6. Describe Sherman's march to the sea.

7. What of General Grant? --8. What change did he make in the plan of the campaign? What is said of Lee's army? --9. What two states were formed during those times? What was the result of the Presidential election of 1864? 10. Describe Sherman's march northward from Savannah.--11. Give the particulars of Lee's surrender. When did all armed resistance to the Union end? 12. Give an account of the assassination of President Lincoln.

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