Cavalry Operations against Richmond

Across the Chickahominy River was the only direct pathway to the Confederate capital, and to pursue it, Lee must be dislodged. The cavalry of both armies had sharp engagements at the close of May, while reconnoissances were going on; when Grant, believing he could not successfully assail his antagonist in his strong position, began another flanking movement with the intention of crossing the Chickahominy near Cool Arbor, where Sheridan had gained an advantageous foothold. There the army was reinforced by ten thousand men sent from Bermuda Hundred, led by General W. F. Smith; and there, from the 1st to the 3d of June (1864), there was a fearful struggle on the old battle-ground of Lee and McClellan two years before. On the 3d, one of the most sanguinary battles of the war was fought. It was brief, but terrible. Within the space of twenty minutes after the first shot was fired, ten thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded. The battle ended at one o'clock in the afternoon, the Nationals holding their ground. They moved gradually to the left, and on the 7th of June that wing touched the Chickahominy River. Then Sheridan was sent to destroy the railways on Lee's left, which he did as far as Gordonsville.

General Grant now determined to transfer his army to the south side of the James River, cut off the chief sources of supply of men and provisions for Lee's army from the South, and attempt the capture of Richmond from that direction. At near the middle of June the whole army crossed the Chickahominy at Long Bridge, and moved to the James by way of Charles City Court-House. They crossed that river in boats and on pontoon bridges; and on the 16th of June, when the entire army was over, General Grant made his headquarters at City Point. A portion of the Army of the James, under General Butler, had made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Petersburg before Lee should send down troops to reinforce Beauregard, who had cast up strong lines of intrenchments around that city. These works were confronted by the Army of the Potomac on the evening of the 16th of June; and from that time until the 30th of July, there was much severe fighting, with great loss of life, in unsuccessful attempts of the Union troops to take the place by storm and destroy railway communications with it.

There was a brief lull in the operations against Petersburg and Richmond, at about the beginning of July. During that time, General Early, with about fifteen thousand Confederate troops, swept down the Shenandoah Valley and across the Potomac at Williamsport, driving General Sigel before him, and penetrating Maryland to Hagerstown and Frederick. This formidable raid was designed to draw a large body of troops from Grant to the defence of the National Capital; also for plunder. When Grant heard of it, he sent General Wright, with the Sixth corps, to protect Washington. General Lewis Wallace, then in command of the Middle Department, with his headquarters at Baltimore, proceeded from that city, with a few troops hastily collected, to confront the invaders, and on the 9th of July he met and fought Early's host on the Monocacy River not far from Frederick. Wallace had been joined by a portion of Ricketts's brigade from the advance of the Sixth corps. This handful of warriors, after fighting overwhelming numbers eight hours, were defeated, with heavy loss, when Early pushed on toward Washington. But the vanquished troops had really won a victory for their country, for they detained the invaders long enough to allow the Sixth and Nineteenth corps to reach and secure the National Capital. When General Early perceived this, he pushed across the Potomac with a large amount of plunder, closely pursued by General Wright to the Shenandoah Valley, through Snicker's Gap, where, after a sharp conflict on the 19th (July), the invaders retreated up the Valley and the pursuers returned to Washington.

It was soon discovered that Early had not gone to join Lee, as was suspected, but remained in the Valley with all his force. Some of his troops were worsted in a fight with Nationals under General Averill, near Winchester, on the 20th; and they soon afterward pushed General Crook, in command of the Army of Western Virginia, back toward the Potomac, with considerable loss. Then Early sent General McCausland, Bradley Johnson and other officers, with three thousand followers, all mounted, on a plundering tour in Maryland and Pennsylvania. They swept, in excentric lines, over the country, thereby distracting the armed defenders of it; and on the 30th of July entered the defenceless and almost deserted village of Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where they demanded a tribute of $200,000 in gold, or $500,000 in paper currency, to insure the town from destruction. It was impossible to give the tribute, and two-thirds of the village was laid in ashes. No time was given for the removal of the infirm, the sick, or the women and children. The incendiaries did not remain long enough to see the ruin they had initiated; for General Averill, who was ten miles distant, moved against them, and chased them back into Virginia. This raid caused the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, commanded respectively by Generals Wright and Emory, to be sent into the Shenandoah Valley, where the National forces, now thirty thousand strong, were placed under the chief command of General Sheridan, early in August.