make an advance upon the works at Deep Bottom. Fort Harrison, the strongest work north of the James, was captured, with 15 guns and several hundred prisoners. On the 30th the enemy made three attempts to retake it by assault, but was each time repelled with heavy loss. On the same day Meade moved out and carried two redoubts and a line of rifle-pits at Peebles's farm, two miles west of the Weldon railroad. On 1 Oct., Meade's left was attacked; but it successfully repelled the assault, and he advanced his line on the 2d. Butler lost, in the engagements of the 29th and 30th, 394 killed, 1,554 wounded, and 324 missing. Meade lost, from 30 Sept. to 2 Oct., 151 killed, 510 wounded, and 1,348 missing. On 19 Oct., Sheridan's army was attacked by Early at Cedar Creek. Sheridan, who was on his return from Washington, rode twenty miles from Winchester, turned a defeat into a decisive victory, captured 24 guns, 1,600 prisoners, and 300 wagons, and left the enemy a complete wreck. On 27 Oct., Butler was ordered to make a demonstration against the enemy's line in his front, and had some fighting. At the same time, Meade moved out to Hatcher's run; but the enemy was found strongly intrenched, the ground very difficult, and no assault was attempted. In the afternoon a heavy attack was made by the enemy, but was successfully resisted. That night the National forces were withdrawn to their former positions. Meade's loss was 143 killed, 653 wounded, and 488 missing. The enemy's casualties were greater, as he lost in prisoners alone about 1,300 men. Butler lost on this day 700 in killed and wounded, and 400 prisoners.
Sherman destroyed the railroad in his rear, cut loose from his base, and set out from Atlanta, 16 Nov., on his march to Savannah. Gen. John D. Hood, who had superseded Johnston, instead of following Sherman, turned northward and moved his army against Thomas, who had been placed in command of the troops left for the defence of Tennessee. Thomas concentrated his forces in the vicinity of Nashville. Schofield was at Franklin, twenty-five miles from Nashville, with about 26,000 men. Hood attacked him on 30 Nov., but after a hotly contested battle was repelled with heavy loss. Thomas, with his entire army, attacked Hood, and in the battle of Nashville, 15 and 16 Dec., completely defeated the enemy, capturing 53 guns and 4,462 prisoners, and drove him south of Tennessee river. Sherman reached the sea-coast near Savannah on 14 Dec., after destroying about 200 miles of railroad and $100,000,000 worth of property. He invested Savannah, and forced the enemy to evacuate it on the night of 20 Dec. Grant had sent Butler in charge of an expedition against Fort Fisher, at the mouth of Cape Fear river, to act in conjunction with the naval fleet under Admiral Porter. He sailed from Fort Monroe, 14 Dec., landed his troops 25 Dec., and advanced against the fort, which had been vigorously shelled by the navy; but, while the assaulting party had every prospect of entering the work, they received an order to fall back and re-embark. The expedition reached Fort Monroe, on its return, 27 Dec. Butler was relieved, and Gen. E. O. C. Ord was assigned to the command of the army of the James. Grant fitted out another expedition against Fort Fisher, under Gen. Alfred H. Terry, which sailed from Fort Monroe on 6 Jan., 1865. On the 13th the navy directed a heavy fire against the fort. Terry landed his troops, intrenched against a force of the enemy threatening him from the direction of Wilmington, and on the 15th made a vigorous assault, capturing the fort with its garrison and 169 heavy guns, and a large quantity of ammunition. It was at first thought best to transfer Sherman's army by sea to Virginia, but this plan was abandoned, and on 27 Dec. he was ordered to move north by land. His army numbered 60,000 men, and was accompanied by 68 guns and 2,500 wagons. On 7 Jan., Schofield was directed to bring his army, then at Clifton, Tenn., to the sea-coast. It reached Washington and Alexandria, 31 Jan., and on 9 Feb. arrived at the mouth of Cape Fear river, with instructions to operate against Wilmington and penetrate the interior. He entered Wilmington on 22 Feb., it having been evacuated by the enemy, and took 51 heavy guns, 15 light guns, and 800 prisoners. His own loss in these operations was about 200 in killed and wounded. He moved thence to Goldsboro, where it was intended he should form a junction with Sherman. On 2 March, Lee addressed a letter to Grant, suggesting a personal meeting with a view to arranging subjects of controversy between the belligerents to a convention; but Grant replied that he had no authority to accede to the proposition; that he had a right to act only on subjects of a purely military character.
Sheridan moved down the valley of Virginia, from Winchester, 27 Feb., and defeated Early at Waynesboro, 2 March, capturing and scattering nearly his entire command. He then turned eastward, destroyed many miles of the James river canal, passed around the north side of Richmond, and tore up the railroads, arrived at White House on the 19th, and from there joined the Army of the Potomac. Grant had been anxious for some time lest Lee should suddenly abandon his works and fall back to unite with Johnston's forces in an attempt to crush Sherman and force Grant to pursue Lee to a point that would compel the Army of the Potomac to maintain a long line of communications with its base, as there would be nothing left in Virginia to subsist on after Lee had traversed it. Sleepless vigilance was enjoined on all commanders, with orders to report promptly any movement looking to a retreat. Sherman captured Columbia on 17 Feb., and destroyed large arsenals, railroad establishments, and forty-three cannon. The enemy was compelled to evacuate Charleston. On 3 March, Sherman struck Cheraw, and seized a large quantity of material of war, including 25 guns and 3,600 barrels of powder. At Fayetteville, on the 11th, he captured the finely equipped arsenal and twenty guns. On the 16th he struck the enemy at Averysboro, and after a stubborn fight drove him from his position, losing 554 men. The Confederates reported their loss at 500. On the 19th Johnston's army attacked a portion of Sherman's forces at Bentonville, and made six heavy assaults, which were all successfully met, and on the night of the 21st the enemy fell back. The National loss was 191 killed and 1,455 wounded and missing; that of the Confederates was reported at 223 killed, 1,467 wounded, 653 missing, but Sherman reports his captures of prisoners at 1,621. On the 23d Sherman reached Goldsboro, where Schofield had arrived two days before, and was again in communication with the sea-coast, and able to draw supplies. On 20 March, Gen. George Stoneman set out to march eastward from east Tennessee, toward Lynchburg, and on the same day Gen. E. R. S. Canby moved against Mobile. Gen. Pope, who had succeeded Rosecrans in Missouri, was ordered to drive Price beyond Red river. Hancock had been assigned to command the middle division when Sheridan joined the Army of the Potomac, and the troops under him near Washington were held in readiness to move.
