CHAPTER XXIII.
THE CRITICAL SITUATION.
ARE-SURVEY of the same period already considered will be taken in this chapter on account of the supremely important civil history made during the critical summer months of 1864. These four central months of May, June, July and August, were replete with events both military and political, by which the destiny of the Confederacy was determined. Grant began in May that military policy which appeared to his mind to be the sure winner in a long struggle. All through May and June he "hammered" against Lee’s lines and through July and August laid siege against Richmond with some desperate and unsuccessful assaults. Through the first three months Sherman crept after Johnston with a caution which evinced his esteem of that Southern general s reputation, and in September entered Atlanta, from which he drove the citizens and afterward burned their homes. The Confederate war ship "Alabama" on June 19, 1864, fought the "Kearsarge," whose concealed armor resisted the guns of the Confederate vessel, and at the end of the daring duel the "Alabama" went down, having made its name illustrious in naval story. Early and Breckinridge entered Maryland, de-
