JUNE 12, 1864:
The Battle of Trevilian
Station (Day Two):
General Philip Sheridan U.S.A. renews the attack on C.S. Generals Wade
Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee, whose men are fighting from entrenchments. Sheridan
is forced to dehorse his men who approach the Confederate lines on foot. The
expectable happens. The entrenched Confederates blast holes in the Union lines.
Although
this is not Cold Harbor nor The Bloody Angle, the battle costs Sheridan 735
killed, wounded and missing. Confederate losses are at least 1,000. After
darkness, Sheridan decides that he is victorious, and his men mount up and ride
off. Within three days, the Virginia Central R. R. is delivering supplies to
The Army of Northern Virginia.
The Battle
of Cold Harbor (Day Thirteen): Grant gives the order for The Army of The
Potomac to move on Petersburg. Their immediate destination is the James River,
Robert E. Lee’s “red line” after which “it will only be a matter of time.” The
Union crosses the wide river on a 2,100 foot long pontoon bridge.
While
Grant’s men are undoubtedly thanking God that they can finally abandon their
heartbreaking trenches at Cold Harbor, it is a bedraggled, befouled, and mentally
exhausted force that begins moving south. Almost two weeks in the trenches
following the slaughter of June 3rd has not improved the army’s
morale. The force that cheered Grant after the brutal Battle of The Wilderness
is a grumbling, swearing mass of men with no taste for any further combat.
Individual men --- even whole units --- are refusing orders.
Part of
the problem is that for the Union Army the end of the Battle of Cold Harbor
coincides with the expiration of the first of the mass of three year
enlistments of 1861. Many, too many, men are dead. A good part of the survivors
are short-timers, who are refusing to risk their lives in what has become, and
is apparently going to remain, an abattoir. Almost 200,000 men of the Union’s
total strength of 300,000 are looking forward to their discharge papers.
All sorts
of inducements --- signing bonuses, higher pay, extra stripes, field
commissions, 90-day furloughs, drink, prostitutes, and even threats --- are
being offered to encourage men to re-enlist. Briefer enlistment periods are
promised, and better conditions. “The war will be over soon!” is a promise
repeated thousands of times. In the end, 110,000 Union soldiers choose to stay
and fight. The Federal government begins
to organize a summer draft.
Lee has a
similar but far more insoluble problem. He has reached the bottom of his
manpower barrel and needs men desperately. But there is nobody to cajole, no
bonuses to pay, no better food, no pool of draftees; there is nothing to be
done but fight on with his increasingly gaunt armies. Exactly when Lee realizes
that the war will end in a Confederate defeat is unknown. Right now, he is outwardly
concerned about what he assumes will be Grant’s battle for Richmond.
In the interests of history, disregard the disclaimer you will see when you click this link, and listen to the rare full version of this song. The disclaimer is the kind of Politically Correct stupidity that makes me furious. While posting tonight's "Civil War Timeline," I included this link to the song "Bonnie Blue Flag," one of the two unofficial anthems of the Confederacy (the other is "Dixie"). Click on the link and it will give you a warning about "Offensive and inappropriate content" before you hear the song. All there is is a video (with some nice artwork) and the song (with full lyrics). Yes, there are Confederate flags in the video --- it's a Confederate song, after all! But how is displaying a Confederate flag in proper historical context "offensive" or "inappropriate"? That's precisely the proper place for them. The poster includes a blurb that talks of "heritage." Forget that. But "history" is another matter. All Americans share the history of the Civil War by dint of just being Americans --- Konrei
